e and then I'm going to be on a meeting Thursday with the Attorney General's office to talk about the various things that are happening coming from Washington which is nice and I'm glad they're doing it but it's just a lot of two budget briefings one from the
governor's office yesterday and one from the Department today an alternate I forgot well that's a good question we just I think they were acting as if it was a d really there was
no okay are we all here and are we all ready yes we are winning are reset okay the board met tonight in executive session we're now ready to start the public portion of our program we have
had a couple of written Communications since our last meeting on January 28th uh one on February 8th from Cynthia Garcia uh with regard to protecting our students particularly transgender students and upholding New Jersey law against
discrimination um as the school Community knows as the board knows we send out an email on that subject uh we also had a communication on the 24th of February from Greg McDonald uh about the grra and the use
of their facilities and the superintendent is following up with that so uh that is an ongoing matter that is written Communications um the president's report there have been two happy things going
going on at um at Raz on the 14th Valentine's Day we had the uh gratitude breakfast and the home and school sent Valentine's baskets to the police to the library to burrow Hall uh to all the crossing guards the crossing guards were
at the breakfast so it was lots of fun to see them in from the cold and um celebrating and active the therapy dog was there he was the star of the show uh but it was just a lovely morning to say good to say thank you to all the people
who made life possible for all of us so that was nice and then on the 6th of February we had the Lunar New Year celebration which was a snow day and uh but the weather improved so we were able to have a really
festive somewhat chaotic Lunar New Year celebration that was just wonderful there were so many families there there was there was tons of food although M Jang said next year they need more food uh because they were also of teenagers present but it was a lovely celebration of the Lunar New Year and finally today
was the governor's budget speech where he outlines his budget proposal for fi 26 um they are investing a large amount of money in education uh the news for us which was conveyed to us from um the the department from the acting commissioner
last week was that there will be Cuts but no district will Cuts could be up to 3% of your Aid um but no more than that which was good news for many districts that have suffered through a lot of draconian cuts the past seven years so
we receive our our figures the state aid figures for Glen Ridge and for every other school district on Thursday so we will then find out what our numbers are which is the piece of the puzzle that uh our business administrator Barbara Murphy has to put into our budget and
then we will be able to start shaping up our budget the governor was in good spirits today uh knowing that depending on you know developments this proposal could fly with the legislature they the governor
proposes the legislature disposes and they have until June 30th to do that things could change drastically depending on developments from the federal government Etc but this was a budget proposal it fully funds the formula it invests uh additional money
in prek expansion for districts that don't have prek yet uh does some invest some money in um they're investing $3 million in cell phone uh banss which basically means helping schools buy technology like the
cell phone Pockets that uh some schools use um they've made a commitment to Science and Technology uh so there are a lot of different sort of pieces in the total bundle um also for us uh in terms of our financial picture historically
when the state calculates the amount of special education Aid that we receive they use a percentage they assume that every school district in state gets 14 point has 14.7% children in special ed uh now they're going to they're going to stop using that they're going to use the
actual numbers uh which may have for some districts that will help for some districts not our percentage is higher than that so that may be a good thing for us so there's some good news there there's some potential questionable news we'll see on Thursday
and that is the president's report thank you okay good evening everybody uh excited to share some highlights from across the district uh happenings and highlights uh but we'll start tonight with Mr Lawler who's gonna uh share the details of a special
award good evening everybody and thank you for the time tonight um prior to the holiday recess we had our winter sports pep rally and um one of the highlights from that event when we recognize our our winter athletes and coaches and participate some games bring
the whole school together uh was recognizing our uh coach Ira Ford who um retired after 40 years in the US Military and you know over the course of that time he served in a variety of different roles uh rising to the rank of
command sergeant major and also um serving in numerous leadership roles as a non-commissioned officer including a squad leader a first sergeant and a drill instructor and for those that you know uh coach Ford um for
his commitment his generosity um he's also been a police officer a college coach and you know we're very fortunate to have him here with us um you know one of my roles as an administrator in this district is to you know
supervise and evaluate teachers and administrators and coaches and when you kind of you know distill it all down one of the things I always look at is you know is this an individual who I'd like to have my own children have as a coach or a teacher and I can say that you know
without hesitation i' love my kids to have you as a coach coach for it and all the things that you do for um The Glen Ridge students and community and building this great program um and I know you have a special presentation you wanted to present to the district uh so I'm going to invite you up now so please
uh join me in welcoming coach Ira [Applause] for yeah hey greetings and good evening to uh superintendent president of the board board members faculty staff and if
social media is out there Township um um the residence of Glen Ridge hey it's truly my honor to be here tonight um I've been coaching in Glen Ridge for 17 years now it's amazing doing the cross country winter track and Spring Track and this is my first time at a board
meeting wow right so I I I I truly thank uh principal Lawler for that introduction but this is not about me this evening the reason I am up here um so um I just retired past November November 5th 2024 and um my last Duty station was uh
Camp hump freeze South Korea so I was was over in Korea with my wife preparing for my um retirement ceremony and my change of responsibility ceremony and as I was sitting down preparing and this was around October um at the end of each fiscal
year members of the National Guard Army Reserve we can nominate our employers for the uh Patriot uh employer Award right and what that is about is we can't do it by
ourselves right um the sacrifices that we make um it's it's a great sacrifice on our families of course our employers but we can't do it by ourselves and the military wants to recognize employers for the sacrifice that you make for us
right so I nominated my athletic director Mr Rob Hill for the pat for the Patriot um award for 2024 and um it was
easy very easy they fit all the criteria um Mr Hill I just want to let you know this and even the pre the previous um athletic director Mr lyy um whenever I went away they've always checked on me checked on my family how are you doing
you know um and making those sacrifices keeping my position so when I do come back you know I have a position to coach I'll still athletes here and I love doing that um you probably can't tell how excited I am because we have the spring season getting ready to start
right around the corner um today was a the probably the warmest day of the year if I'm not mistaken so far so we have a lot to look forward to know um but again we can't do it by ourselves and I I say this to our student athletes all the time you know life is a journey and then
life's journey we're going to have challenges good bad but you know what what we don't have to go through those challenges by ourselves use the support that's out there and the support is here um for me to do what I do for you so
without further Ado I'd like to read this to you the freedom Patriot award and this comes from the office of the Secretary of Defense the Patriot employee award for for for contribution to National
Security and protecting Liberty and Freedom by supporting employee participation in America's national guard and Reserve Force I'd like to With Honor present this award to Mr Rob Hill
[Applause] beautiful um This was um huge sorry there's a huge surprise um I knew that we were
honoring coach Ford that day which I thought was the surprise um thank you everybody um it's a privilege to have Coach Ford here on staff uh as he talked about being in this District um we're very lucky it's a a true team effort
building um it's truly about student athletes they put the student first and I'm fortunate that I get to work with so many great people here from our our students our coaches our parents fellow administrators and staff um and thank you to all of you for doing all the hard work behind the scenes to allow us to do
these things um so coach Ford thank you it's I'm I'm I'm happy to now have you fulltime which is awesome um so we don't have to keep doing this which is it's it's just great seeing what you do with the kids day in and day out so having you be that constant steady um force
with them I'm looking forward to see that that positive impact even more so um but thank you everybody I I appreciate all of you and thank [Applause] [Music] you thank you Mr Hill and Coach Ford
thank you so much for your service enough space thank you coach Ford Mr ler congratulations Rob okay a few more highlights worth sharing uh congratulations yeah okay congratulations to the record ridgers
robotics team say that five times fast on their performance at the Vex high stakes at the Coliseum competition on February 22nd at Franklin High School competing against 40 teams from across New Jersey both the high school teams made it to the quarterfinals the rider
ridlers Dan Stratton Oscar COV and Aaron Foster closed out their season strong special recognition to Aaron for his leadership as robotics Club president in his final competition the grhs robotics team driven by George desis and Neville kentala and coached by Aaron Foster
finished in sixth place a big thank you to the Glenn Ridge Educational Foundation for its continued support of the program the team has made great strides since starting the Vex three years ago and looks forward to the challenges next season will bring at grhs also The English
Department hosted the annual Shakespeare recitation competition where students performed selections from The Bard congratulations to Charlotte pom Rants and beaches Renning who will advance to the regional competition additionally the grhs counceling department will host a college admissions panel on February
27th That's Thursday led by the executive director of colleges that change lives an event open to students and parents of all grade levels at the middle school students and staff celebrated a kindness week with poetry and poster contests a jersey day promoting unity and a schoolwide pajama
day to encourage kindness the eighth graders also enjoyed their annual rainbow breakfast students faced off against teachers in a spirited Family Feud competition building excitement for the upcoming Middle School Olympics academically middle school students excelled at the history plunge
championships in Washington DC securing both first and second place Mark Buco led the seventh grade team to victory over the eighth grade team captained by James Keefe while Olivia Hernandez conro and Nate McCarthy received sportsmanship awards at Ridgewood Avenue School
students participated in the second annual Day of Service continuing their tradition of giving back the school's also preparing later in the week for its Annual Spelling be at Lyon school students engaged uh in kindness week this week the 28 day love yourself Challenge and 100th day of school
celebration the upcoming science fair in February 26 will showcase student projects and capturing kids Hearts initiatives inspired students and staff to identify 100 reasons to love lynon a testament to the school's strong sense of community at Central School kindness week featured
daily challenges and students created a kindness heart chain that now surrounds the school's social contract as a visual reminder of their commitment to kindness School launched the rise and Roar campaign encouraging students to strive for excellence students also celebrated the 100th day
of school and enjoyed live performances uh by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra thanks to the HSA support finally in honor of block History Month Central students explored the work of Alma Thomas creating their own art inspired by her pieces at F Forest Avenue School
students explored animal adaptations through Hands-On activities uh as part of the wild about Wildlife program also sponsored by the HSA Forest also celebrated glow Gathering which is a kind in action faculty and staff focus on capturing kids Hearts theme spark the
heart kindness activities included a kindness video a read aloud on inclusion and the launch of the uh Forest kindness challenge Fire Glow cards recognize students for demonstrating exceptional character throughout the month uh 100 day of school kindergarteners showed off
Custom Design t-shirts in a fashion show while other uh grades dressed as if they were 100 years old Mr Murphy wants everyone to know that he joined in the Celebration by addressing as half of 100 uh thank you to our administrators teachers and support staff uh families
dedication uh to support making these efforts and many others not mentioned tonight possible looking ahead at a future meeting we plan to invite some of the students recognized in tonight's report to be congratulated in person at our March 11th meeting something to look forward to we also will publicly honor
our Educators and educ educational support Professionals of the Year additionally we'll present the tentative instru structional and operational budget for Board review and adoption moving us toward the public hearing and final budget adoption on April 29th my last good news is congratulations to the
student representative to the board Maggie who shared with me that she uh was accepted to her first Top Choice School Boston [Applause] College that concludes my report and Maggie's dressed for the occasion in her Boston College sweatshirt
unplanned unplanned really okay all right um it is now time for the first public comment period for questions or comments on agenda items only if any of you lovely um staff
members have questions or comments this would be the time the the lecturn is there I hear hear a vast silence all right well if you think of something you know we have public comment at the end of the meeting as well all right um board members going on to uh committee
and leaon reports it is the first and only meeting of the month so um Maggie let's start with you um Mr Arlington already talked about the robotics team so I'll move on um over February break M desis and Miss Herrera led a trip to Coast Rica with 12
upper classmen and it seems like they had a really great time in the warm weather um playoffs start tomorrow for both the girls and boys basketball team as they play whiy park at home the girls will be at 5: and the boys will be at 7 on Tuesday next Tuesday some of the
Juniors will interview to be selected for next year's pure leadership program and finally course of requests recently closed for next year's academic schedules thank you does anyone have questions for Maggie okay thanks Maggie
Ray uh I will report on the uh Central School home and School Association um we met on January 23rd uh Dr Harris highlighted several key initiatives uh including expanding the level up Village program continuing the capturing kids Hearts initiative with monthly
assemblies in the upcoming love your lunch event uh where students will share meals from their culture um there was also discussion of a therapy dog program that's going to begin soon they uh they're going to be starting with second grade um they had two recent assemblies that were uh
sponsored and funded by the HSA one with Liberty Science Center a second with the New Jersey Symphony uh that were big hits um fundraising efforts were discussed with an upcoming Art Auction date TBD um and then March is very big for the book fair and
readathon okay thank you heather sure thanks um curriculum met last week we heard more about the district's transition to a multi-tiered system of support it's kind of a replacing of the IRS system um it involves Universal
screening um to make basically a more consistent and equable implementation of that system um we also talked about um I guess the next steps in that process including um support for teachers in the
tier 2 which happens in the classroom and so that they have the resources they need to support those students um we also briefly talked about grading policies at the high school and felt that um consistency um among the different um courses and that it would
be appropriate to gather more data on that okay thank you Anthony yes Personnel policy um meeting was on the 6th of February feary and there were two
major areas of discussion one was in the Human Resources where audit work in the central office was going was underway and then there was also a discussion about um recruiting through various uh universities and U job
theirs um and also some discussion about what the hiring practices for uh our district are is um based on you know the pressure that we are having everyone's having in in
hiring um the other uh item was a policy item on how AI impacts uh education and how to incorporate um how to incorporate it into the educational environment and
creating a a suitable policy that would address that and um also the there was a review of the cell phone policy and I think there probably by now has been a a discussion with with the uh building
administrators on you know what they'd like to see in terms of cell phone policy and use that's my report okay Jocelyn um oh sorry thanks so I'll first
uh just an update on negotiations we met with G following our last last um board meeting and we met with them a second time in a smaller group just before the winter break and we'll be meeting again on March 3D so continuing to have those conversations and looking forward to uh
settling the contract moving forward so that it's supportive for all of our our great teachers um Ridgewood Avenue School had their home and school meeting way back in January so I'm just going to give a few highlights of that are a little bit closer in time than what um
happened back then on the 1 of March is the Ridgewood Avenue School casino night biggest fundraiser of the year and so the tickets are on sale if anyone is interested it will be a great night at the Country Club of all sorts of gambling and good food I'm sure um
they're also beginning to do fundraising and planning for sixth grade promotion which is as big a deal to the sixth grade families as high school graduation is to the high school family so uh be supportive of of those causes moving forward uh treps started it's an
entrepreneur um program for students and there are three classes participating there will be a Marketplace on April 2nd when the students will be selling their wees and um as Bessie mentioned the Gratitude breakfast oh and uh one last thing Grace also had a meeting on the
7th of February and they are starting a book club so if anyone is interested in specifically reading related to um I think currently they're talking about a book around ADHD and another around dyslexia and would like to have a discussion group around a topic along
those lines please get in touch with our Grace leadership okay the Glenridge diversity Association did not have the scheduled meeting in January but they will be meeting again in April uh in the meantime they did uh sponsor the uh
raffle baskets for the uh uh Lunar New Year celebration and they provided quite Sumptuous ra raffle baskets uh we met as we frequently do about every six weeks um representatives from the board met with representatives of the Glen Rich
buau Council um with uh Mr Arlington and burough administrator Mike selli present we talked about a number of different subjects um the most interesting was something that had just happened that day which was the announced closure of the um Immaculate Conception field we
have been apparently taken care of that field for quite some time so the buau is working on um next steps with that field nothing is concrete yet but they're working on it we also talked about um just general
issues in terms of our school budget uh where we were in the process the state budget what we had to look forward to uh updates on the Ridgewood Avenue and Bloomfield intersection and um safe roots to schools we also talked a little bit about one of this um Burrow's major
focuses right now which is storm water and runoff um because we've had so many intense storms and so much rain all of our storm water runoff goes off off into little Tony's Creek in the Glenn and it is not it cannot handle that much storm water
runoff so they are exploring new ways of handling that runoff so we don't have flooding in low spots in town and so they're going to contemplating some rain Gardens uh installing a large sistern to hold a surplus rainwater but it's a big
concern um adap ing the town to the new the exigencies of of climate change so we were updated on that um and also give it a little update on the status of George Washington field and the ongoing conversations with Montclair which are
happening but um have not come to any kind of fruition yet so that is the uh meeting with the buau and now moving down way down row to free ship um let me just ask a quick question before I go
into middle school high school what's what are the conversations about um George Washington field um there's well multiple uh it's almost time to replace the surface okay George Washington field and so there's a
question of you know who is going to provide the money for that and of course ongoing questions about you know the time limits on usage of it because we split it with Monclair ah okay thank you um middle school high school HSA met um
back in January January 28th so a lot of these things are dated um so I'm just going to see if highlights some of the things that um are upcoming which I think Kyle already mentioned um colleges that save Li saves lives that presentation is happening this week
January 20 excuse me um February this Thursday I think what is that the 28th at um Midwood Avenue School and um arts and ecoair May 17th the rain date is May
18th uh and lastly everything else is has um pretty much been happened within the last month so lastly the middle school high school HSA meeting that was scheduled for this Friday has been cancelled the next meeting will be March
25th and also they are currently and actively look for um leadership positions um for the next school year 25 26 school year that's it okay thank you Kristen so like the other schools um the
Lyon uh Avenue School report is um abbreviated because so many things happened in the past unfortunately I wasn't able to attend their last meeting but I do have some highlights to share of events that are coming up um Kyle already um mentioned the science fair
which is happening tomorrow night um in the multi-purpose room one thing that I think was really cool is that there's um doing tiered family visits so it's not like one big free-for-all like you know we had back in the day so um they have U families who are participating um are
visiting from 6:00 to 7: and then non-scientist families if your last name is a through M you're from 6 to 6:30 and last name n through Z is 6:30 to 7: so I think that'll lead to a much um nicer environment so that everybody can really
focus on the um the young students work uh their um annual I mean sorry their March um HSA meeting is happening next Wednesday March 5th at 7M and then the following day is author day with Brian yanish I may be per mispronouncing his
name but Brian is the creator of the shark and Bot series which inspires young readers to think like makers by transforming everyday materials into creative process projects um he will give a special presentation host a Q&A and sign books for the students which is
pretty cool and then 20% of the proceeds will benefit um the lyen hood School Association and then also coming up in March they have spring Discovery program registration the book fair like the other um lower elementary schools return of readathon similarly and then um also
like the other hs's nominations they're actively recruiting for the um HSA positions for the next um for the next school year so that's Lyon and then for gas lamp um things are running smoothly they opened their summer camp
registration on February 8th and we're full within three minutes with it for the junior session that's Rising 1 through 8th grades currently the kids workshop um which is Aristocats is rehearsing at the high school on Fridays in preparation for their show on April
26th at Ridgewood um this program is also immensely popular and is open for students in 1 through fourth grades um it's hard to believe but there are already in discussions about fall programming and Gas Lamp wanted me to
pass along their um continued thanks and and mention that they remain extremely grateful for the gr schools for their support in their programs thank you doal okay great thank you um give a
quick update for the communications committee we met um just before break on February 10th and we discussed ongoing and upcoming um initiatives aimed at strengthening districtwide communication and engagement um we talked a little bit about norms and goals and we'll be uh
reviewing those and working on those um over the next few months um we talked a little bit about um uh our superintendent new Communications that are are fresh to the district such as uh five things to look forward to um our
three cheers uh newsletter which was a a really creative way to Showcase what's happening in little little spots little nuggets of information in the in the district um we also talked about um some other possible uh or some upcoming
Communications around cell phones around the uh Q&A that's coming up with um our uh on digital wellness and um just evaluating kind of what's starting to work what kind of feedback we're hearing but generally it's been very positive
certainly um from what I'm been hearing um we'll revisit our coffee and conversations initiatives um we'll have some dates coming out on those soon but we're really looking to make sure that for those conversations we are keying into
um issues like the budget for examp example or um and also working to Foster more of that informal dialogue with our um our fellow families um we talked a little bit about um uh our presentations
at the Board of Ed and I see tonight that there looks to be a new format for our PowerPoints which is exciting but just generally refreshing a lot of all all of our our communication vehicles um and also taking the opportunity to always uh
celebrate the student and staff achievements whenever we possibly can so more for that's that for that um my other updates will be quite short Forest Avenue's uh home in school has so much
going on and I had a laundry list which I left in the car with my phone so I can't remember it all there was just too much going on but I will tell you that um the next meeting is March 11th which is actually the same date as this meeting but they're having it in the afternoon so I will come fully armed
with lots of information to tell you all about um Forest Avenue Home in school um and then also um with the Educational Foundation they are meeting we are meeting tomorrow so um it's been a bit quiet this winter with the um
Educational Foundation at least quiet behind the scenes so um I will also have more to update in March thank you thank you all right board members in your packets or actually this afternoon you received minutes from the meeting of January 28th uh exact session and
regular session does anyone have any changes to those minutes think it is a tribute to Mrs Murphy's excellent minutes um that being the case may I have a motion uh Joselyn would you move the minutes I move item M1 okay may have a second second second
from was that Anthony okay um Barbara would you call the role Miss Zen wandi I Mr Bonnet hi Mr D loreni hi Miss gotl yes M Graham hi Miss O'Neal yes Dr yarus
Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg hi motion carries okay uh Kristen would you move the administrative items yes I move uh A1 and A2 all right may I have a second second second from Joselyn any questions on the two
administrative items all right that being the case uh Barbara would you call the role please miss Zim wandi I Mr Bonnet I Mr derenzi hi Miss gotle hi Miss Graham hi Miss
O'Neal yes Dr yaros Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg hi motion carries Anthony would you move the Personnel items I move P1 through p8 in the main packet and P2 P1
P2 and P9 from the addendum okay may I have a second second from Ray uh and in keeping with our rules and the board members code of ethics Personnel related matters are discussed in executive session um so
Barbara would you call the role M Aken wandi hi Mr Bonnet hi Mr D lenzi hi Miss gotle hi Miss Graham hi Miss O'Neal yes Dr yarus Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg I motion
carries all right Heather would you move the um curriculum items sure I'll move C1 all right may I have a second second second from Tisha any questions on all these lovely field trips all right uh if there are no
questions Barbara would you call the role Miss zakim wandi hi Mr Bonnet hi Mr D Lorenzi hi Miss gotle yes Miss Graham yes Miss O'Neal yes Dr yarus Ramos hi
Miss Ginsburg I motion car all right before we move the business items I want to draw your attention to B4 on both the regular agenda and the agendum um Glenn Ridge High School donated mon made of