All right, Mr. Canelis, if you could call roll, please. Miss Carousella here. Mr. Cohen here. Mr. Corey, here. Mr. Hayward here. Miss Parlanis
here. Miss Randelle here. Miss Stevenson here. Miss Calves here. Dr. Robinson here. We have a quorum. Thank you. Um, adequate notice of meeting in accordance with PL1975 chapter 231. Notice of tonight's meeting
was mailed to the record and the Ridgewood News on August 12th, 2025. Notice of this meeting was also mailed to the borrow clerk and was posted on the bulletin board of the board of education office in the administration building on the same date. Copies of the procedures in effect for regular board
meetings are available for public at for the public at tonight's meeting. Miss Calves, are you able to read the mission statement, please? Yes. The Glenrock School District, founded on principles of education in partnership with the supportive community provides an exceptional
education to all students to cultivate resilient, responsible, and engaged global citizens. All right. And Mr. Cohen, are you able to lead us in the flag salute, please? I pledge allegiance 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. All right. Um, so one of the first things, one, I I noticed that there are members of the
public here. Um, I would like to actually have the public comment section up front um, just because of the nature of this um, like board retreat. I think that that probably provides for the greatest input for anybody that may um,
be here to talk about anything that's board related and public related to this um, agenda item. um only um and so are we in agreement there to like to have public comments first?
Okay. All right. Um and then um in addition I am then going to kind of explain uh you know the general hope that I have for uh today's session as well as um introduce uh Miss Martha Newton and then she'll talk about the
the general plan for for today as uh she is our facilitator. All right. Um so this is our board retreat our our our district goals. Um, and I would like to open our first um, public comment session at 5:11 p.m. Um, and if you
could please state your name and uh, you know, state your address and you have three minutes. Good evening. Thank you for uh providing me this opportunity to speak tonight. Firstly, Dr. Robinson,
Dr. Angela Poochie Bender, 55 yardly court, my mistake. I must commend you for having the strength and the ability to acknowledge past mistakes and to attempt to correct them while you move forward. I would like to remind
each of you of the vital roles you play in serving our community. As board members, you are not just representatives of the school system. You are advocates for our students, their families, and the community as a whole, as well as the educators that
serve our children. Beyond the typical responsibilities of making fiscal decisions and considering the impact of your votes that they have on our home values, most importantly, your decisions have a profound impact on our children's
futures. Naturally, the superintendent of schools plays a crucial role. I'm disappointed he's not here tonight as this is supposed to be with him collaborative. I have said this before and I will say it again. He works for you. He works for
us. He works for this community. Collaboratively, you will both be responsible for bridging the gap between the board and the families you serve. It is essential to hold the superintendent accountable.
It is essential to hold him accountable for his actions and his decisions, ensuring that he aligns with the goals and the values of our community. Together, you must foster an environment of transparency,
accountability, and community engagement while also prioritizing fiscal responsibility. It is essential that we manage our resources wisely to ensure that every dollar spent benefits our students and
their education. This board must hold itself accountable. As elected officials, you must listen to the voices of our community and you must act in the best interests of our students. Too many stellar
teachers have left and many solid teachers candidates choose not to come here. There's a reason and the reason is because of the dysfunctional behavior that has been occurring within the school system.
The board members who feel they must continue to have allegiance to the superintendent need to establish the command chain of command in the correct order. He works for us. We You don't work for
him. The board issues directives and he determines how to carry them out. While holding him accountable and bringing the community together, we can build a stronger educational foundation
that prepares our children for future success. Tonight you are setting board and district goals. Thank you for having this comment public comments before. Let's ensure that you create them to
push for and strive toward the excellence our students deserve and that the district was once known for. The scores came out rather the rankings came out today. I saw disappointing.
As a graduate myself and a parent who raised four children through this school system who all have excelled in life, I'm very proud of them and their successes. I believe we need to revive the standards we once had and strive for
them once again. Be sure to prioritize community involvement, transparency, and accountability. Thank you all, each and every one of you, for your commitment to our schools and the community. Let's move forward with purpose, dedication,
fiscal responsibility. Our community of students and their families deserve it. Thank you again. Thank you. Are there any other members of the public um that would like to speak at this time?
Okay. All right. Seeing no uh members of the public that would like to speak, um I am closing our public comments session for our board retreat today at 5:16 p.m. and then uh we will move on to um our
main activity. Um one second, let me just grab something. Thank you. All right. Um so what everybody will see in front of them um is kind of a print out from the NJSBA. Um so the NJSBA
offers um you know goal setting um help with strategic uh alignment and like a variety of other services that um the board can seek to um take advantage of um you know and possibly that's you know something that will come up today as a
result of uh today's work. Um but ultimately what we are used to seeing in our district is um a set of board goals um that the board develops where we're working on the things that the board um internally has wanted to work on and then we have district goals which have
historically been either you know said or suggested by the superintendent and we adopt. Um and what uh many not only the community members but board members have been asking for is a lot more um interactivity with uh developing the the
district goals and and setting a process for the future of our district and um you know being a little bit more involved in the strategic direction of our our district eventually. Um so today's uh board uh retreat or district goal setting um is really just for us to
establish that kind of conversation where we take a look at uh the things that Dr. Charleston has um you know submitted to us that are talking about the things that he thinks are priorities um for the administration and then we utilize that as well as the things that
we've received either um through the work that we we put online like the the the form that um I asked you all to submit um and then talk about how we can come up with um you know three to five uh uh you know like district goals that
we can then um present to Dr. Charleston uh collaboratively. Um I would like to introduce um Miss Martha Newton um who has done a lot of work around um facilitation and I'm going to actually allow her to introduce herself because she can do it so much better than I can.
Um and I'm really thankful again for uh you you know giving us the time here so that we can you know move some issues forward um in our district and and and work for success. Thank you. Thanks um for the opportunity. I'll just
say a few words about myself. I think the board members got a list stuff to know about Martha Newton. Um kind of like the headlines like why me, why I'm doing this. One is I have a
pretty deep connection to Glenrock and Glenrock school system. Um I went to school here K through 12. Um and I it served me well. Um my preparation I got in and out of Harvard,
so Harvard College, so that you know kind of it worked. Um my father was a two-term board of education member. Um, and I have a deep appreciation for public
education from my parents, both public school educators. My mom and Patterson, she was an administrator in elementary education and my dad taught at William Patterson for years, which is a public public college. So my connection and my
affinity, my appreciation for Glenrock, the town education kind of writ large and Glenrock school system is is um I'd say pretty authentic and genuine and enduring. Um the other reason why I
think I might be able to help or add to this process is because um as Dr. Robinson indicated I from my professional career I did a lot of work in strategic planning
um the activities and the process of strategic planning um at the corporate level companies of different sizes um nonprofits in my later years so a variety of situation a variety of
contexts um I also worked as the chief of staff for fizer the pharmaceutical company. So I was very well integrated and a part of the process of strategic planning and goal setting, executive performance
management, that sort of thing for the CEO and his leadership team. Um I worked in corporate governance for credential financials. So I was in the office of the corporate secretary. So basically doing the same types of staff support
activities for the board of directors of credentialed financial. So the the context of strategic planning, goal setting, um performance management, measurability, those sorts of things.
I've done it in a variety of settings over a number of years. And then I um the art of facilitation I learned um at Accenture where I was an associate partner. So I feel as though I have both
context and skills to add to the process. And then the last is um my parents moved to Glenrock in 1958. So we've been paying taxes a long time. And since I'm they're they both um
left us in the last couple of years. My mom was a hundred when she passed. So they were here for a long time. So now as their sole heir, I'm paying taxes, but I don't vote here. So I don't have a child in the district.
So I have that kind of unusual combination of skin in the game but neutrality in terms of the decisions that you make, the conclusions that you come to and the actions that you choose to follow
through with. So I I don't have a vote literally or figuratively. I but I have an interest. So that's kind of my background. Um, have you all worked with facilitators
before? So, we did have one um a few years ago at a at a board retreat. Um, it's a kind of a different structure than this. Uh, but we did have one in the past um that helped us um integrate with the community on a variety of things that we
worked um through across the day. Um maybe like a I don't know four hour day or five hour day or something like that. Okay. So, you know that facilitators as a you know try to focus on the process um you know the the conversation
the context clarity that sort of thing. Um, we can we're not your friend, so we can do things or say things that might be a little bit uncomfortable, but that's so that allows you to participate, you know, in the conversation in a
authentic way and say what you think, you know, hopefully in a in an environment that encourages that type of cander and specificity. So, um, with that kind of as a
expectation setting, um, I may get on your nerves, but I'll try to do it in the nicest possible way. Um, so there are a couple of things that we we're thinking about in terms of
um, the flow of today's conversation. Um, one of the and I'm terrible with names, but Mr. Canales, right? um emphasize that this meeting is not an action. It's not for action. Right? So
that means it's a conversation. It's a discussion. It's an opportunity to ask for clarification, ask questions, um add and amplify um your thoughts, ideas, that sort of
thing. So what is going to have to happen as you can imagine because you know you clearly you want to be in a position of moving forward taking action you know not turning this conversation into therapy right you want do something
at the end of it what'll happen is that I'll probably I'm a prolific bullet flip chart maker so I'll try to keep track of what's said here on on the flip chart and then synthesize it into
some type of meeting summary that can then come back for further discussion, refinement hopefully with the superintendent input and other um district experts and stakeholders so that you'll get to something that um the
team can endorse and and move forward with with enthusiasm and conviction. Does that make sense? Yes. And also are you able to um uh bring the mic a little bit closer to where you stand just because I know that there's a
possibility that u public will listen. Okay, I'll try and try to speak loudly. Um so if that make anybody have any questions, suggestions, comments with that approach.
So as Dr. Robinson indicated, we have two primary starting points for today's discussion. one is a set of um initiatives submitted by Dr. Charleston and his team. And then the second is a
summary of some feedback that we asked board members to provide um about their thoughts, you know, so it's kind of unfiltered their thoughts about what district priorities should be. So to
introduce us to the um the proposals, the ideas, the priorities, priority initiatives from the point of view of the district team. Uh Mr. Vanast is going and Mr. Canales are going to add a little color commentary to those. And I
I do have some handouts so you guys can Do you need another one? Pardon? What we're saying? No idea.
No, I hit it out the wrong way. So with that, sorry for the glitch. I don't know all the rules of the road yet. So, does everybody have one piece of paper that's two-sided, which we're going to talk about first, and the second piece of paper that's one-sided?
Um, and we'll start with the district initiatives as submitted by Dr. Charleston. Sure. So, for the board, you know that we usually come up with a couple academic Was that It's all right.
That's all right. just getting a little slow. Yeah, it's summer. I I get it. I get it. Um, so we usually come up with a couple academic goals and one financial goal. And, um, last year, if you remember, what we tend to do is is build on the
goals from the year before. So, we're not spinning people around in circles, chasing our tails here. So, if you remember last year, the first goal was about MTSS, a multi-tered system of supports. um really getting that off the ground and the especially with the restructuring we did with the elementary
coaches and and the uh win periods and all of that stuff. And then the second one was uh focusing on student supports continuing on the the work we had done over the last several years with SEAL training and those things. So this year what what the administrative team has put together instead of following just
those two we kind of separated it into a mil an elementary uh focus and then a a middle and high school focus. So for the elementary focus, the the I'll just read it to you. Uh the district will strengthen tier one and tier 2 instruction in the general education
setting to better meet the diverse academic and social emotional needs of students through targeted professional support, job embedded coaching, responsive instructional support. So last year when we were looking at MTS, MTSS a lot, a lot of what we were looking at is tier one interventions. What can teachers do in the classroom
with the kids in front of them? So now we're expanding a little bit more with tier 2 um which is small groupoup instruction which is you know things that that have to go a little bit beyond what we can do you know in real time is what one teacher in the room. So um some of the the more specific kind of uh
ideas behind this that the administrators pulled together is um streamlining and strengthening data collection and core content areas so teachers can readily utili utilize flexible grouping uh especially during the intervention the win period at the elementary level and throughout the
school day. uh partner with instructional coaches or specialists to refine teaching practices through co-eing, peer observation, feedback cycles, and continue to embed the practices through ruler year three implementation. Uh for example, community circle meetings, mood meter
check-ins, blueprint restorative conversations um to create supportive classroom environments. So you can see we're not ignoring that second goal. We had them split kind of more academic and we're kind of embedding it into that that elementary together. Um
social and emotional learning. Social emotional learning and because you're giving a lot of specificity. So I was just sure I speak very quickly. I have a lot to say.
So when I heard you say data collection data collection and emotional learning that's our ruler program and then the third one third bullet was about wait say it again. So our program is called ruler r u l e r ruler
it goes with seal. What else? And then um the second B third one that you don't have there is uh partner with instructional coaches and specialists uh to refine teaching practices through co-eing peer observation feedback cycles.
And is that just for elementary school kids or for all I'm working just on the elementary side right now. I'll keep going. You ready? Okay. So, the second stuff on elementary. Yes. So, now we're moving on to secondary. Oh, secondary.
And the goal which you all have in front of you or the initiative that you have in front of you is um enhance its assessment practices, which is something we've been working on for the last several years. analyzing assessment data to inform instruction, differentiate learning experiences, support every
student's academic development. Administrators, teachers, and education specialists will work together to report on and utilize data to assess both individual and collective student progress in meeting curricular standards. You have some examples of that? I do. Oh, good. Here we go. Um, common assessments and
data review is the first bullet. So, we're going to be talking about departmentwide common benchmark assessments, which we already have, making sure that they are really tied to standards and um that we're doing a lot of um you know, cross conversation with the teachers teaching the same classes
and the same grades. Um so, we can really track that student growth against curricular standards. Uh the second bullet would be about differentiation through assessment um and really looking at multiple assessment formats to capture different student strengths. And the third under that one would be about
using continue to use data to inform instruction. So um using data to form flexible small groups, targeted support, etc. Those kinds of things. How's this data collected? The data is collected primarily by
teachers. We don't use a lot of external like map data, testing that that kind of stuff. So it's colleated through through teacher observation through assessments through um those benchmark assessments that we use across grade levels
aka grades sometimes. Okay. Just so it's it's clear. Do do any of you guys have questions about the additional description of these kind of high level goals?
Was there in identifying these high level goals, were there specific gaps that the administrative team sought to address? Yeah, there are some, especially in sixth grade, we've been looking very closely at that for the the test scores
and stuff in there. Um, and I don't remember what else was off the top of my head. So, I'd have to get back to you on that. So, math. So, I'm just putting deltas. So, these are kind of changes that you are trying to pursue.
I will also I'll just mention as well that um one you know thank you uh Greg for being able to articulate that. Um but uh I know Dr. Charson wasn't able to be here. So sometimes the things that you might be asking um would be things that maybe he would have like a much
more strategic. So I just wanted to make sure that I appreciate you doing this on the fly. Yep. So you said math scores, math and language arts. Those are the ones in sixth grade that were sixth grade. Yep.
And you chose sixth grade because it's a pivot pivotal year or because that's where you see the most opportunity for improvement. Opportunity for improvement. Anything else? That's all I have right now. That was the the primary
um delta that the team identified. Anything right that I mean tell me if I'm wrong if I'm missing anything? Yeah. As far as Yeah. Was there anything in from the administrative side having to do with staff development
particularly around um because these these priorities here these initiatives are very student focused staff development is kind of implied. I was just wondering if there are any explicit ideas, thoughts, initiatives, pick a
word that related to staff development of facilities or programs. Anything else that you that might add a little color commentary context to the overall district goals? Nothing that that the board isn't aware
of already as far as we've implemented a new elementary supervisor moving forward some restructuring in that way, but uh nothing beyond that right now. This is a topic of discussion and the purpose of the restruct intent of the restructuring is to
support what's on page one there. Okay. because of tal like I guess a need for um differentiation or like to be able to so and and correct me if I'm wrong because this is also my interpretation of the
MTSS is that um you know our goal is overall to keep more more kids in the classroom and allow them to uh for you to have a wide a wider as wide as possible arrange of um learning opportunities that can stay within the classroom and making sure that both the
teachers and the students have the resources that they need and where that you need to be able to pull people out whether it's for um a gifted program education or for students that have a different level of um support that you are doing that at at only the levels
that you absolutely require it and then making sure so I guess it's really just differentiation like and making sure is that generally what we're yeah and as I mentioned before moving from supporting teachers with this tier one support of students to now how are we looking for students who need more support how are we moving on to tier two
how are we referring fewer kids to child study team addressing things through INRS immediately and you know getting them right into the supports that they need when it's beyond the question so the so if again to kind of paraphrase for clarity is that you the
administrative team leadership team are encouraged ed satisfied um with progress progress against tier one. So now the shift is focusing on tier 2. Forgive me if I'm late restating the obvious.
Yeah. No, that's correct. And so last year when I was with you talking about this initiative for MTSS, I said this is going to be multi-year process and here we are in year two. Year two. And just so I can understand also like the tier one and tier two is more so for when the teachers
will reach out if there's children struggling and it's more helping the teachers come up with strategies either through the supervisors or through the coaches that are in the elementary school. So in a sense that is also professional development. It's just not formal somebody coming in. And a lot of what we did,
it's more of a hands-on sort of approach with professional development. And a lot of the support we did last year with the elementary coaches was about how are we using that intervention period effectively. We we carved out more time into their schedules if you remember to provide that in intervention
time. Now what do you do with them when you have kids for for a little bit more time? Yeah. And the goal specifically does say through targeted professional development, job embedded coaching and responsive instructional support. So you guys did already build that in. So the change in the the the kind of
like the administrative layer for that is to facilitate, strengthen, add more capacity for this level of um tier 2 teacher resource expansion. So are there any other type
of administrative changes that you're contemplating and do you have any can you can you describe a little bit more some of the um inservice it's like what what does that mean? Are people going are you going to bring
experts in house and conduct seminars? Are you going to encourage people to um take courses, you know, you know, um college c for credit, external courses or like can you just describe that a
little bit more in terms of resources for teachers to better equip them to support tier 2 intervention and learning support? Yeah. Well, I mean it's it's a bit of all of the above in fact. So it's job
embedded with the coaches and the supervisors and principles supporting staff. It's our PD days that we have three of them coming up next week. It's our professional development days. Uh we have three of them coming up next week. We have half days in October and
March I believe it is for professional development. We bring in speakers. We do I mean it's a little of a little of all of those things that you mentioned. Okay. Anybody have any questions about that? No. Um I guess my one question would be
kind of um feedback from you to hear how how did it go for year one? Like did you do you feel like you fully achieved everything that you needed to or I know that this might not be something that you're able to actually say today. Um but I think it would be great to to
hear how your one went and what impact you think it had on Yeah. And I don't have that data in front of me right now, but anecdotally, yes, it went it went well. Teachers were happy to have the support. They were happy to have the extra time built into it. Um, there was identified that need
for an elementary supervisor to help coordinate a lot of that. Um, I heard very very good things about the coaches and their ability to get into the classrooms and work with teams of teachers much more regularly than when we just had two coaches throughout the whole all four elementary schools. Um,
so yeah, anecdotally, yes, it went well. We we continue to work across the district on on co-eing, you know, and it's it's been a big push of ours and that is involved in elementary as well. Um, with special ed um through this, we've identified, you know, and even
with our um during the CUAC process last year, um, INRS is is an area that we we still need work. Every every district needs work on that. So, so really early identification and how do we how do we support kids in having that be more
uniform across the four buildings. Uh for example, um both INRS plans and also 504 plans are written at the elementary schools, but it's not always seamlessly translated to the middle school and there are different supports that can be offered at a middle school. So like
that's that's an area that we're looking at. So there are lots of little pieces that have come up with that. So now I wouldn't say like home run, we're great, move on to tier two, but there's still a lot going on. And what does INRS stand for again? Intervention and referral services. Thank you.
And again, INRS is is thought of as a student support because it is, but it's almost in some ways more of a a teacher support, right? Here's a kid who it could be a behavioral thing or it could be a reading thing or it could be a math thing or whatever it is. There's a
there's a difficulty here. and I I've tapped out my strategies, right? And so I go to my team, my NRS team to say, "Help me out with additional strategies for this. What else can I do? What what other how can we approach this as a team approach on on this on this kid before
he or she falls farther behind before we have to think about more intensive, you know, services?" And it's usually for for the students that are not eligible for special services, the kids that kind of fall in between. So they have that safety net and the support also for the teachers
which is really it's designed for. So I have a question kind of on that same theme because when you're talking here about the diverse academic and social emotional needs of students in the elementary um
on the elementary tier and then differentiate learning experiences presumably to support different types and levels and ways of academic development. Have you noticed that the diversity is, how do I
articulate this? Are there more kids that are kind of at ends of the bell curve with diverse requirements or is the spectrum of diverse needs that
you're having to address changing and different or both? And could you talk about is it different elementary versus the high school level? I would say a little bit more of the
second which is we have more more types of I don't think it's more types of diverse learners. I think it's a better understanding of the different ways in which people learn right and so whereas a generation ago we might have just said well we don't know what to do with this
kid. Now we understand a lot more about how kids learn and how brains work and how to better service more kids. And so it's it's an issue of getting that knowledge into the teachers hands and supporting them with that. So I think the screening has also
evolved a great deal over the past few years. The screening especially at the early elementary school. Yeah. has just a question about the the process and I'm first time doing this. This is those are initiatives but are we turning
them into goals like measurable goals or like is that that so that that we're going to proceed through this. I think the first part is for us to really fully understand because like as Dr. Charleston said in his email, he said that these were um I forgot the word. He used administrative
um administrative goals or or or something like that. So, ideally, we want to make sure that whatever we're asking for for the district goals are also matching up with the things that he's saying that he's identified that are, you know, needs in in our community. So, I think going through
this and and Martha, please tell me if if I'm off base, but going through this is for us to fully understand and then also see if there's areas where we're aligning, you know, overall um the the district the goals that we're looking for like seeing where we can match up
some of them. Is that what So, kind of along the the lines of what you're saying is like this conversation is a seek to understand conversation. So, some of the annoying questions that ing this event with like this one, right? Is so that it can have a
measurable goal. So is are we measuring greater diversity or are we measuring more kids just as to be blunt, right? Which is why I asked the question that way. Are you is the demand and the challenge for
is the demand and the challenge for teachers that they have more kids with who are not kind of in the middle of the bell curve, right? For whatever reason, you know, doesn't matter, but they have different requirements and needs in
order to succeed at the level that the board and their parents would like them to succeed. Is it that or are teachers having to deal with a broader range of challenges to successful learning? All
right. So that which kind of can lead to like a measurable that the next step, right? Yeah. So part of a conversation here is to get to that next level of understanding about some of these kind these admitted
their initiatives, their aspirations. They're high level. They're, you know, very they're lofty. They're admirable. They're hard to disagree with. But the challenges that these folks have is they have to reduce it to practice. And your questions are
how can we support that with resources. Yep. Um so I I had another um conversation today with our well one of the NGS NJSBA or like our professional association um like one of the field reps um and kind of just around what
what does goal setting look like? If they ran a a goal setting retreat, you know, what would it look like? And it would be kind of like well why do we do goals? Let's review our mission statement. Let's um you know talk about is there do you have a strategic mission statement already? If so, let's review that. Let's review last year's goals and
um and discuss what was were they achieved or were there parts that need to be carried on and why? Which is kind of like what we just um had there. Um it says bring three or four goal statements um as needing the later laser focus for the district, which we have here from Dr. Charleston.
Um and then the difference in a smart goal for the educational world is that um a lot of times like the time the time and measures are are more defined in like the action plan. So you have your like a broader like um a broader like
loftier goal and then whe there would be an action plan that is then like all of the details as to how you're going to get there and whether they're um CSA goals or board goals or district goals like all of those would have like kind of like a blueprint for act how do you
plan on getting there how are you going to um assess uh that you're you know successful over a period of time um with updates um which you have kind of like a sample um you know calendar in front of you. Um and uh the action plan for the
district goals is something that's developed by the superintendent and administration. And I think that um one of the questions that I know Martha you asked me uh with regards to goals was like typically they also have some sort
of like budgetary influence. So if you're having if you're allocating resources and things like that, you want to make sure that that that that aligns and that matches up and making sure that you know like we're prioritizing the things that um we're saying that we need and we have financial backing to support
that those priorities. Um so um that is that's it. So, so yes, theoretically, one day, not this year, but one day, the
the process around strategic planning, strategic intent, strategic planning, and then operational planning, right? So, kind of what Dr. was talking about how do you take this aspiration this kind of high level goal that might be multi-year
three to five years from now you want whatever it is the board says they want and then you have to operationalize that right like what does that mean in terms of steps that we can take to bring this to life and then the other aspect is to
make sure we have the resources that are required in to deliver against that. And the resources could be financial resources that might they could be resources that you know fin we need the financial
wherewithal to acquire. It could be you know kind of soft goals in ter like this is where things like staff satisfaction and morale and community engagement and things like that that you know people kind of talk about but are sometimes
hard to achieve, hard to measure, you know, those sorts of things. But they all contribute to a strategic outcome that you may have articulated, you may want to articulate as a board and as members of the community who are like volunteering their time to to do this.
So as you know they from where we are today to get into that outcome it's going to it might take a couple of iterations of a planning cycle to kind of get this all humming in a way that it's easy it makes
sense. It's repeatable and it's satisfying to the people who are participating in it. And it's genuinely helpful to the frontline folks who have to execute against it because you know they're really on the firing line for
delivering the the goals and the results that the board and even the senior leadership team might for us if that makes sense. So that's why, you know, kind of some of the follow-up questions around
specificity examples to some of these initiatives here that are hard to disagree with just to help make sure that the board has the same or a similar or an aligned level of understanding
um with the administrator. So we're all because as you know and I'm sure it happens with your kids you can use the same words but have completely different meanings and in this situation when we use the same words want everybody around this table and the administrative the
administrative leadership team have the same understanding of what those words mean. So that's why um Dr. is it Dr. Vaness Mr. Vaness is on the hot seat a little bit. So,
anybody else have specific questions about the elementary and the the 6 through 12 initiatives that are listed here in terms of what does it mean exactly andor how it builds on what was
accomplished last year? I don't think so. Mr. Vaness, anything you want to add? No, I think I'm all set. Good. All right. Mr. Canal, finance.
So, the finance initiative is is is really quite cut and dry. Um the uh the health insurance plans have been going
up at rates that are mind-boggling. Um last year we saw an aggregate increase of 15%. Um, AON came out AON consults uh for the state on the state health plan. They came out with a recommendation of a
30 to 35% increase for the 26 fiscal year. So meaning those rates would come into play January 126. Um so the first thing I did when I read that
report was we made this initiative that we need to look into what other alternatives there are. Obviously alternatives would be equal to or greater than the benefits that folks currently have but potentially acquiring them at a lower
cost. The first step to that is um acquiring your claims history. Uh which we submitted for uh we we we did last year as well. Um and our claims rates were uh
too high according to our benefits uh consultant to have any other option other than the state plan. Um we are hoping that given another year, one year falls off, another year falls on. So, we've requested them again. Um, and
hopefully the claims rate will be somewhat lower, making us a bit more of an attractive candidate to whe whether it be a private carrier or a school
health insurance fund or self insurance. there there's a number of options that we could uh explore uh as to how to procure those benefits at a more uh reasonable cost. Okay. So, this is I have I'm not your
friend, but I like you hat on. So, January is like right around the corner. um in terms of a sense of urgency of solving this and possible outcomes. So
there's a no relief outcome possibility. So what what's the implication of a 30% increase as of June January 1st which is right around the corner like
cutbacks like special assessment like renegotiate contracts like so the way it works is the state provides for some relief on increases to the premiums above uh I believe it is
2%. Um which would then flow through through through the taxpayer um with the difference then being absorbed uh by the operating budget. Uh last year I think it was uh in the neighborhood of
300,000. That was our share of the 15% increase. So double that. Um and I don't have these numbers in front of me. Uh so say $400 $500,000. So that would be uh something that we would have to find in
in in our budget. and what that looks like, you know, um there's not a lot of what I'll call fat in our budgets. So, you know, it probably results in program programmatic
changes um and or headcount changes. So from the I'm speaking you guys don't be shy because I'm linking this up in terms of when you think the next board conversation about this with a greater
level of specificity specificity might be or what types of decisions they might have to make and by when and so the conversation begins once we get the claims rates okay um that's coming from the date. Um so
Lord only knows when we will receive that. Um once we do uh then we will review that with our uh insurance broker our health insurance broker uh to determine if there there are options. So obviously I guess a report out would be
uh on our claims rate and then a report out on our conversation with the health benefits uh consultant as to options. Um my my personal opinion is is that um so the state health plan works on a
calendar year while we work on a fiscal year. My guess is that anything we would do would be effective July 1 of 26. So we would have six months of the 30%. Um because I just don't think there's
enough time between now. Um and and again the r the rates aren't even set right. Uh, I think the legislature votes sometime in the fall for the actual uh increase. So, I don't think we'll have time to do the due diligence that's
necessary, have an open enrollment, you know, it's going to be a process. Uh, so I would think it would be a July one uh uh uh launch because after we come up with the option Yes. for relief.
For relief. Yes. because then there the other after discussing options the the board then has conversations with uh the unions because there's uh you know a require there's requirements within the contract that's where I said the equal
to or greater um so it's it's a bit of a of a collaborative effort there um so not insan anybody have any more questions about either the scope of this timeline or when it might happen and
because there's a whole lot of follow on questions that you could have. This one is um this one is something that has been hitting us hard uh over the past what like two years. It's hitting districts. It's hitting um the
you know town various town councils and all of the government employees. It's not even just school. Um and and it's also important to note that I believe this came out in like the end of June. Yeah, the end of June is when this was was released. And so it's an abrupt um
change that um not only we have to deal with. And I'm just messaging this out because I know maybe the the board already kind of knows because we kind of always talk about this, but also for any community members that are listening that this is um been a a massive challenge um year over year to see what
is happening with uh state health benefits. And we absolutely do care um that we have the those conversations with information with the unions because they're partners here. And um I don't want the kind of uh negative
relationship that some other school districts have had around this about changing um changing these uh healthcare options and and you know making sure that the needs of of the employees are also um top of
mind. Um, if I said that right, James, are there any other implications to finances either as a result of this or independent of this
that could affect achievement of other goals? or is this the primary one that could actually have an impact on delivering on the the first two sets of intentions initiatives that are here? I mean, are
there any just asking? I mean, the answer might be no. Well, the answer is yes. Um, you have the variabilities of state aid. Um, so variabilities of state aid. Yes. Um, so as state aid goes, that's kind of how your budget goes. Um, and
given that it's an election year, we can I was just on a a a workshop today, you you could throw everything we learned during last year's budget um process and just throw it all away because all of the rules could
change with a new regime uh in power. So, like that's that's the hard part, right? And and and you don't you don't know that until uh the end of February. and then you have like 15 days to put your budget in. But that would be the other variability in terms of being able
to meet goals uh would be that re the primary revenue source after the tax base uh is state. Traditionally your expectation is that the variability would be downward because it could be
what we were it could be flat, it could be up, it could be down. Okay? You know, I mean, I if the governor decides or our new governor decides that they want to take a 20% decrease to educational spending, well,
then one would think that that would flow straight to state aid as well as all of the other uh grants that that that the state provides to public schools. So, it you you just don't know.
One one last annoying question. So, Um these these initiatives are in response to something that's largely out of control of the district. Are there any finance related
initiatives, priorities that are what you would consider more proactive to coin an overused phrase? Just before you switch to other just questions uh just to the initiative and and everything you're talking about are us
with the insurance and things is there u cross towns joint initiatives to find solutions. Uh I know since we're not the only ones who are dealing with this. So that those joint committees would be
the shift which are the school health funds which are a group of school districts that come together and pull their risk and hope that that that risk pool that they bring to the financial market um is lower than what we're
experiencing in the state um health plan. So that that's the opportunity uh to work in conjunction with other school districts in addressing the issue. I guess I guess what I'm asking is are
we going to explore some of those options? We're going to explore every option. Great any other educators plan that the state educator's plan was supposed to be that. Right. Right. from dis from people all over the state,
districts all over the state can go into this and it was supposed to be less expensive and save districts money. It was in the beginning and it was in the beginning. Yeah. So that I mean it was and people switched over some people did it and all in the in the hopes of having quality
health care and saving districts money but it doesn't seem to be working right. I I think there's also something to be said about the pool, the risk pool that currently exists in the health plan. Anyone who
has a um an attractive uh claims rate is no longer in the state health plan. They have left. So, what's I personally coin the state plan the plan of last resort. when you have no
place else to go, that's where you land in the state plan and then you become subject to this variability that we've been seeing. Any other questions before I ask if there's anything from a finance perspective that's more
kind of self motivated, would you say? So, you know, like cost management, I don't know. I'm making it up. Is there anything that you're trying to manage costs on other than health insurance? Are you trying to
um lower energy costs? Are you trying to increase, you know, emp provide more resources for teacher the teacher enrichment programs that Mr. Vaness I mean you you're trying
to do things within rep prioritize within your budget within the things that you have control over to continue to support um in a robust way the educational initiatives that you can talk you know
it might you know that yeah we do that every year business as usual nothing new. So obviously, you know, we we live in a world of low bid and constantly uh looking for the cheapest alternative. Um
even this evening um as we the board members were given partial pieces of notepads, not to use whole notepads. Uh so so we are continuously looking in in
every facet um to try to control those costs. Uh one of the off the top of my head uh you know extending license periods on some of our um electronic textbooks, right? uh you know that's
something that we've been looking into uh and trying to uh experience savings there because the software uh industry uh is is um is is not used to 2%
increases and so trying to figure out how we manage that has been one of the one of the ways that we've been looking to to to try to save money. But in in in in in general um we we've really been focusing on efficiencies
um whether that be in process um uh which by way of example led to the reduction of one person in the business office like things of that nature. Anything with facilities
positive or negative? Negative. um facilities is um is always an area of of of concern because of the fact that our buildings are old. Um and what we are pivoting to
is more of a preventive maintenance uh initiative than a reactionary initiative. Um unfortunately however you you you we have the plant that we have and we are um dealing with those issues
as they come up. The board was uh gracious enough to allow us to pursue a phase one of um replacement of RTU uh rooftop units that provide air conditioning here up at the high school. Um as there are many in need of repair.
We had an evaluation done by our um architects and their engineers in identifying and prioritizing units that need to be changed. Um and we took our first crack at five of them uh which
will be in the 20 526 school year that we'll try and get those replaced. So facilities are an issue. So where we focus because you I can't control the plant that I have. Um we look for efficiency in purchasing um our our
maintenance supplies um efficiency in um the materials that we buy uh and also um bringing more jobs inhouse um that we are not using contractors
for. So for instance uh we have a current initiative where all of the flushometers in the district are going to be changed We're going to do that in house. That that that that will save us. Flushometers. Oh, I'm not going to use that as an example.
Okay. Um those are the things that we're doing on the maintenance side. So, just for perspective because this is another situation where you have a lot that you can't control. You can anticipate but you can't control it in
terms of timing and scope like how big the flood is and when it happens. Um do you but you have with the preventive maintenance approach how far what's your horizon I mean how just for interest purposes of interest of the because you
know scheduling maintenance um sometimes it's a two or three year right so I would say right now we're we're in triage right we're still assessing um and determining
what we have and what we need to do um to get on track. Uh but preventive from a from a preventive maintenance perspective, obviously that could be things that are like monthly uh checking UNI events. Uh it could be something
that's semianual, changing the filters on the RTU unit. So, so things like that we're we're addressing and working into our um job order system. Uh but but the we're still in triage as it results to the larger and then we can start to plan
out the the RTU the RTU project is probably a four five maybe even sixyear project right Mr. Canelis. Um, this might be a shot in the dark, but is there any hope of any the donations? Do donations ever come in of these types? I know this is a very
specific type of stuff that you're mentioning and there's liability and stuff, but is there any um chance that donations would come in to help alleviate costs? So, we have a very um generous community and and many things have been donated.
Um, so we're working with uh Glenrock youth basketball for um a refinishment of uh the basketball floor here up at the high school. Um the boosters uh this past year donated the the new
scoreboard. Um so we we do have generous groups that that that do. Um just in terms of uh just to give you an idea of scope like the average cost of an RTU unit that we're looking at is in
the six to $700,000 range. Um I haven't met that donor yet. Um but if somebody would point them out at the next football game, I will gladly have a conversation. But um yeah, any other questions about finance
comments, suggestions? Thank you. Um Oh, you had you were saying something. Oh um just the bangs. Um thank you um for that um presentation. Well, thank you both. Um, I think it's it's it's consistently a challenge and I'm
appreciative of your preparedness. Just one comment. So, thanks for taking this grilling. I don't think I I didn't expect this today. You you're holding up well. Um, all those small pieces. I hate to say 700K is small, but G, you know,
given the scale of what you're focusing on, I kind of came away with some comfort from your focus on such a huge item that has such a significant uh significant swing and say like we're doing all this the rest of this in the background. And maybe I'm breaking the script a little bit from the retreat to
say I've seen you work and I've seen you cut dollars. A$184 on a budget was one number at the bottom before. So to to say that we're we're tackling this is you're putting that flag up in FL and putting this as a priority attention which is why it's the item on the on the
list. So I think that I think it fits to to the goal on that. Any other comments? Pats on the back. Kudos for the team here. Kudos to Thank you. Thank you for the administration. Um
can flip the page to on the other side this way. So you you folks were very kind and thoughtful in providing some um feedback prior to today's meeting and that's what's kind of summarized in this
chart. Um and hopefully you'll see some of your words reflected here. And the idea is that together with the um the input and proposals and the foundation laid by the
district administrative leadership team. Um these thoughts and ideas from board members can be um incorporated, aligned, matched with, supportive of and amplify
se the the um the um forward vision of the district leadership. Does that make sense? Yes. would this be like um a good way that I can maybe now now having a a greater
understanding of like the the differentiation plan and um looking at the next tier um for a curriculum goal uh I think something so there's so much going on with um artificial intelligence
and uh LLM uh large language models and it would be great if we had a way to address um or examine how we can equip elementary, middle, and high school students with the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and ethical awareness to understand, responsibly use, and
evaluate artificial intelligence, particularly LLMs, um by embedding a comprehensive AI literacy curriculum that uh supports both subject mastery and academic skill building. I think that's something that I'll obviously have to write down. But I
think the gist of it is that um I'm getting the sense not not just here, but that there are many areas where our children um are not em like embracing AI and are still we're still working off of like fear of fear of it. And um if we're
able to equip our kids um to be able to utilize it, it it'll keep them on par with um their peers that are also excelling all across the country um and making sure that they're prepared for uh you know post-secary education or job
experiences where it is actively being used even right now. And so I don't know that there's anything um robust that I've you know seen me please you know educate me um if I'm I'm wrong but I think that what I'm hearing from um many
parents have approached me separately about uh integrating AI and having a more robust experience for their kids or being if not even just leading from the like front but catching up. Um,
and I would like to address that. And I think that in in in looking at some of the especially 6 through 12 because that's probably where it would be, you know, most beneficial if there's a way that we can talk about um you know differentiating the learning experiences
or using the data and looking at maybe some of that data being um implementing artificial intelligence whether for the learning or like the the instruction and um talking about how maybe the teachers can use it to help
them de develop lesson plans that like I don't know that I'm just throwing things out there. So, a couple things with that before I'm going to jump in for just a second because on this curriculum
section so I'll be a little rude. God bless you people. Some of you a lot of a number of you put down curriculum but just one word. So what you meant by that is you're going to have to tell us what you mean by that in this conversation or
elsewhere. So that's just note to self as you're thinking what about what you're going to say after I stop talking. The other thing that's kind of embedded in what Dr. Robinson was just talking about and also this note around
vocational studies and then the use of emerging emerging technologies like AI digital literacy and that sort of thing. It's like it's I'm I'm a boomer, right? When I was here going to Glen Rock
Senior High School, the path to economic success was go to college, right? And so it's pretty straightforward. So measures and metrics for the Glen School District was what percentage of graduating class
is going to college? And the question People are asking is that the path forward for kids now in 2025 and beyond. You know whether or not
it's e where the economic opportunity lies because I'll tell you all the jobs that I told you I had AI is going to wipe them out. I was an analyst. I couldn't I those jobs are gone now.
So that worked for me. All that high price college education worked for me. But it might not be need meeting the needs of the current generation of kids. And so that's one aspect of it. And then you spend a lot of time talking about
diverse needs and requirements of individual kids. Not everybody's wants to go to college. Not everybody likes somebody. People want to have a different type of life than and what my
generation aspired to and what our and the expectations that my parents set. So it might kind of raise. So when we're talking about strategic planning, one of the strategic questions that the district might want to ask itself is how
do we anticipate and describe and serve the changing needs of our students in 2025 and beyond. Um I know we're jumping into this and I just wanted to get an overview here. So
we're we're jumping into the curriculum, but this is all the trustee feedback, correct? Right. Yes. and and you you assembled this and and are we going to have an opportunity to look at the full feedback because I haven't literally um everything Oh, that's not Oh, this is
No, I don't I mean I had a lot of feedback on mine. We I mean most the the sentences here are verbatims what people actually said. They are, but are they called to do highlighted versions be or are they do you not have everyone's in here? Is
everybody bullet point in here. I think it's that was the expectation that everyone's feedback would be in here. Hold on. I have it on email so I can easily just forward it out and you can actually just see like that the print out but yeah you can see that and if there's anything you want to add
I mean you know no I just want to understand because we did we just jumped into it. I just want to understand is this the full feedback of all of the board members for each yeah I'm just asking is it is it it's meant to be. It is meant to be
it's meant to be reflective of not every one like I can easily send that out. So that is not like all the the raw data was was all like uh shifted to Miss Newton and then compile you want to add when we get to the the
section you know but we can we can definitely add it. So, so just on the curriculum, I I don't remember during the year hearing, not not that it's not needed or we shouldn't think about it about vocational, but I did hear from parents about the math and about the
music and about the things that are related to the music and and so I'm surprised that that's missing. I don't remember seeing is it possible to get the raw data? That's what I'm I'm act I'm like literally, you know, saying that I'm like looking for it on my it's all in a
form that I can just because I don't remember because I I was very involved in music when I was here. So if I I don't remember seeing that otherwise I would have put it in because it's something that enhanced my experience here in in the Glenrock
school system. So I apologize for that but I don't remember seeing it. Sure. So I would like to add math and and music uh to the to the curriculum. What what about it more different earlier? I don't have the solution and and maybe we can talk about
it but uh we've definitely heard uh multiple parent concerns about those two things like not enough not enough both both from a grade from success both from an investment of the district in
those elements um and people can jump in. So, investment in math and music. Anything else? Anybody else getting feedback? So, investment that's great. Although, we just heard that we're like
financially kind of strapped. So, adding more seems too much for me. Also, I'm happy as a board of ed trustee to approve the state standards, but I am not comfortable with the board dealing with curriculum. I'd like to keep that
with our educational experts. Okay. So, what does that mean exactly? Yeah, that was going to be kind of my my question was more to Mr. Vanas how the
board could support what kinds of curriculum items that you had that were priority that I wanted to hear and that's not really on the initiatives that you've said. then I kind of defer to what you just mentioned because I feel like we need to empower what you guys are
telling us. So this is this is the this is the part that um I would like us all to also address. Absolutely. It is our job to make sure that we're empowering our administrators
to be able to tell us one, you know, using their expertise what we need, but also as elected officials, it is not without our responsibility to then say like what are like what are also areas that the community is asking for for us to address and then ask the
administration to take a look at that and then determine, you know, like to go from there. And so I wouldn't be coming up with this and asking for us to think outside of the box of what we were traditionally told of the board goals are just the board only things and the administrators are
the only people that touch district goals because district goals are supposed to be collaborative and if we don't actually have any input there then we're basically always just like chasing two different things and it feels like there's there's two things. So there's two things. One is we're having a
conversation and we're providing input to the leadership team. So this is that that's what this conversation is. This is these are these are thoughts. These are ideas. This is feedback that I'm getting. This is what parents are
telling me as their representative is important to them. And I think the opposite of having the trustees feel as though they couldn't give voice to that feedback to their administrative team I think would be
unfortunate. What the administrative team does with that input is part of their professional responsibility. So I think we're kind of saying the same thing because this is this is information for these guys to take away
and say it's we can do that, we shouldn't do that, wouldn't recommend it. It's not consistent. We have to prioritize the state standards in our fiscal crunch, whatever it is. But they're we're going to give that feedback to them and
they're going to come back with their recommendation of how they're going to not appropriate. No, increase investment in math music. So what does that mean? So that's a little bit to what does that mean? Does
that mean more courses? Does that mean start earlier? Does that mean more computers? We don't know. Too early. And parents when they're giving that feedback are probably in articulate. They're just saying
we want more math. It's like, okay, what that actually is is, you know, a conversation or recommendation from the leadership team. Now the other thing just to be a pain in your neck right is is the strategic goal of this board to
just meet requirements or is it to exceed I am saying our job is to approve state standards. Our job lies there and then doesn't go much further. So I just want to make sure we're staying where our job is. That's all that goes that goes without saying. But
in terms of providing inspiration and direction to the leadership team, are it are we saying because somebody just said getting back to standards? This lady here, get back to standards, right? High
standards, the rankings. So we can, you know, see, are we going to be a C district? Are we going to be an A district? That's that's the the challenge that the board has an opportunity to give the leadership team and it's their remitt
and they're skilled and educated and prepared and experienced to come back and say you know what you can't get there from here with the budget that we have but this is what we can deliver or they can they're going to come up with
whatever recommendation they're going to come up with. So any other feedback amplification specificity around curriculum to add here if it's I mean in the vein of what we're
the exercise I will also add in the gifted and talented program. What about it? More richer a richer experience of more continuous experience from the elementary school to the middle school.
And for transfer students and what when someone comes into the school system too. I'm just going to say better care because I'm thinking on my feet and I haven't had dinner.
Anything else around curriculum? I mean, I would just amplify, you know, that that certainly we've heard from members of the community that they'd like to see the music program look like it's on par with athletics.
I think there's just been year-over-year um discussions about that. And so, I would amplify that one piece. I think also again there's been investments made in in the middle school math curriculum.
Um, but I think we need to continue to articulate that to the community and there might also be some additional tweaks that need to be made to that programming. Anything else around curriculum? And then somebody put instruction like
what is what does that mean exactly around instruction? Because you know the reputation of Glenrock schools is that you have competent, qualified, committed, well-prepared, wellsupported teachers who are doing the inclass, you
know, the instruction. What about instruction? Does anybody want to say anything more about that? All right. It's not It's not last licks yet. Yeah, I would just echo the gifted and talented. Dr. Charleston specifically said that part of the role of the
elementary supervisor is also to support the gifted and talented programs. So 100% accurate particularly at the elementary school level. He mentioned elementary to six six and eight, right? Six to eight as well if I
remember. K. Yes. So K to8. Yeah. to I had one comment uh to follow on to the the math second to eth just to say it's second grade to eighth grade that's really a two looks yes
go ahead so math has been something that's changing I don't know that it's communicated out and I know that the parents find out about it when their student their child has a challenge with it tying back to a previous year board goal we talked about developing changing the way that the board
communicates and basically amplifying the administration's voice. I don't know. I'm not sure how that's going to tie into a later step. But I think that math kind of parlays it itself into just uh policy and um and offerings
communication with uh to and from the community. So it's basically it sounds like the communication between the administrative team among the administrative team and the board should be um mutually um should they should amplify each other.
They shouldn't cancel each other out like each each should make the other's voice stronger in terms of dealing with the community. Is that too abstract away? No. Yeah, that's that's that is not what I said, but I like it.
Um, it was the the students, the children are the are the widgets, right, that we're developing and parents are that that feedback channel. The kids aren't emailing us and saying, "My I'm having
trouble." It's the parents saying, "I I need this. I need that." Um so widening that um when we're changing something so dramatically like we have with middle school math to widen the communication channel there and expect some iterative
development on that. I'm I'm trying not to use army terms but the final step in a plan is supervise and refine and okay we did all the work cool and now you sit back and majority of your work as a leader is to supervise make sure it's going along the plan and refine your
plan because these stakeholders out. Yeah. Okay. I know that's not what it says. Or they feel like it. Yeah. I think well when when we summarize it and reflect it back to see if I got it right. I'm going to try because I know what I
wrote here doesn't say what you said, but hopefully it'll remind me to summarize it correctly. anything else before I like do another thing that will and I I forwarded the the like raw CSV there so I'm not sure what's missing
and again I'm sorry I apologize if I miss somebody's input um it wasn't through malice of forethought so to again you know push the annoy you button
um AI Right? Just like somebody has in here cell phones, use of AI, cell phones, use of technology, that sort of thing.
Do you feel the need to develop a point of view, a position on AI in Glenrock public schools? It's question mark. or to ask the administrative team to do
that. Just to start off, every school in New Jersey has been required to develop an AI plan. I believe we approved one last spring as recommended by Strauss Esme. Um, so we
have a policy on AI. I do agree with everything up there. I think, you know, it's has to be infused and understood part of the curriculum. It is an incredibly broad topic, but it'd be interesting to really talk with the administration, maybe not tonight, about
what they've been doing with it and where it's going and uh what their opinion of the future is of it. Um, so yeah, it's out there, it's present, and I firmly believe it's probably being used in schools a whole lot. I know it's in their curriculum tools. I know it's
in this education tools. So, we see it every day. Just go ahead just a clarification question. Are we doing selecting one goal per subject and and we need to decide which one is
or are we just putting everything? Right now we're just kind of going through this page kind of to understand it. Okay. And add anything, revise the wording, include anything that was missed here, clarify what we meant, that sort of thing.
Okay. And then I don't know I mean I think that I don't know whether it's premature to prioritize particularly without um Dr. Charleston here. I don't I don't I I don't know from a process step. Is there is there a priority you'd like to No sure. I'm just No, no, not a problem.
I'm just I just want because you're emphasizing the AI why choosing the AI compared to I was I was just asking because it it creates a policy question. Okay. Got because it's it's so different in the number of ways that it can be used and affect not just the curriculum
but the methods um who's using it, how they're using it, what kids are learning about it because there's like an implication around values and ethics and cheating and there's a lot of stuff associated with
AI. That's the reason why I asked it. So if you're asking for more If you're asking for a c curriculum development either to prepare kids to use AI appropriately or a curriculum
development that uses AI as a tool, then there are a lot of associated questions that the board and the administrative team may need to address. And
so that's why I raise it because it's so broad and then the pace of change is so fast, you know, so it's it's a moving target with big big implications. So that's why I kind of jumped on that a little bit.
Anything else in terms of curriculum or instruction innovation? Any amplification on innovation? Like what do we mean by that? What the expectations are? What type of innovation challenge does the board want
to set for the admin team? Like what what does that mean exactly? If there if we end up um you know crossing anything and then we don't have any additional uh commentary you know for the sake of time I guess we'll just move on. Yeah.
If if if anybody would like to um elaborate on uh the innovation line, if it rings like something that hasn't been addressed, then yeah, this won't be the last bite of the apple. So, you know, if we don't say it
here, you can say it because it's not going to drop off the list just because we didn't say anything more about it today. Academic performance, same kind of question. It's like what about it? Is that testing? Is that what's the the
metric that we want to make sure either stays the way it is or gets better? Is it more qualitative in terms of fit for the diverse student population that everyone is performing to the best
of their abilities? It's like what does anybody have anything to amplify on academic? I see some um other things here. So when you look at the raw data um some of it is like no cell phones the no cell phone scoops that's that's in there. The last one
uh a few I think the way that this the form looks like in the CSV. So some of the things that are in like other areas actually like technically aligned up under academic performance as like the choice. um in the form. Um so um for
like for instance, one person put academic performance as their um defined their goal. They put no cell phones at the high school um with the success of the no electronic. I know that's in here. I know. Um so I think that there's overlap a little bit in terms of um how some of
the items landed, right? Yeah, it was it was hard to parse. There's no doubt about it. But in terms of academic performance, if I mean we don't have to dwell on it because there are measures and metrics of academic performance that are
standards in the industry. So and we don't have to reinvent them unless someone thinks that there's a gap or a delta that needs to be addressed. We talked a lot about school budgeting
and budget priorities. I think the things that are listed here are kind of consistent with the conversation that Mr. Canales led. Um are people looking through that bullet list and kind of nodding and
saying yes or want to add ask questions? Yeah, just on that and maybe it's it's more related actually from from to the board is uh strengthening the the budget community committee sorry uh I know we took a first step in in budget community
last year uh but with all the additional financial challenges and everything that was that is listed here. Um, I do think that uh we should have a um a more active uh more consistent uh
budget coming in specifically because we we cannot address all of the issues um in the board meetings and it's once every two weeks and there's so many things and so yeah, uh I I'll add when we the bullet point,
what are some things we could do to increase revenue outside of taxes, tuition, and grants? Um you know, exploring any revenue options that we have here. Um I've seen um you know, I know other board members have mentioned it and I've seen it in Ridgewood where
they do uh advertising at the sports facilities. Um, I take my kids to different sporting events and I see different ads from from community businesses. [Applause] Any other ideas?
I I would the the committee comment I would expand that to all committees. Um, the com the ad hoc committee is really a new style for for this board and for the board of ed for a long time. So, um,
having a full year of committees functioning would be a good piece of data just to just review. Yeah. Okay. Other comments? You guys are flagging. It's 10 minutes to 7.
You're out of energy. Anything else? I think this is a good start. I mean this is not the finish but to start budgeting or budgeting anything else. Oh yeah.
So just moving on uh about the cell phone uh when we u revised the uh technology policy this year. We did mention that uh we will uh revisit the cell phone in the high school during the
the session and um I didn't see any activity so um I would hope that we we will look at that. Uh the second thing that we said that and it's not listed anywhere so I would just mention it is the later start time in the middle school and the high school. We said that
we will uh revisit that um and and explore use this the next year to explore the option or what does it mean to uh push the start uh time of the middle school and high school? Push it where which make it later.
similar to other school districts around us and that research that says that young people don't wake up until 10. [Applause] Okay. Anything else in terms of things
that we kind of characterize as um the board's perspective or thoughts on proposed priorities for the district going once sold
um the other sheet that you have and you'll see it because Dr. Robinson gave you the com all the feedback. The other sheet that you have that's just one table summarizes
feedback that seems to be more oriented toward the functioning of the board. So kind of more internally focused and board priorities. it. I'm not sure it makes sense to try to press through these tonight given the journey we've
been on with the district priorities, but as you can see, there is a lot of feedback even summarized here and that you'll you'll see when you go through the originals that you were forwarded
about um community engagement, about um strategic planning, governance, and then board engagement. And so you can see um some of the things that kind of came up in our other conversation around communication,
about dialogue, the method and uh ways of interacting about a um a process that supports strategic operational planning and budgeting in kind of a coherent fashion. Um
or was feas um what people talked about with regard to more personal priorities and I think have a lot to do with the way folks feel about their board
participation. So um unless someone wants to um has any comments or things they want to say, it might make sense to revisit
this list um another meeting because we're close to close to seven. We we would have another meeting just to finish this or can we just extend it to finish it or can we just do it on our own or
we can we can I think that I think that um I mean we can what happened to Oh, that's fine. Yeah, I that's fine. Um, so, um, I think that, um, having, um, a separate discussion about board priorities at another at a at another
meeting like would be retreat 2.0, huh? Retreat 2.0. It doesn't have to be like a retreat. It could literally be like part of our our closed session and it doesn't have to be like something cumbersome, especially since we're going to still do like a a a self-aval process for um the previous um
school year and things like that. So this is not like there there's not like a time constraint to like force everything into a conversation for today and to make us like do these things. I think that what you um would have gotten out of today is like looking at um a little bit more detail with regards to
um the the priorities that the administration have and then also actually discussing um some of the other things that we're saying that we wanted like remember you had mentioned that you wanted um to know kind of like about cell phone policy and like what other kinds of things that we're looking at
and asking for uh you know like a plan around and that's kind kind of what the goal of this conversation um would be is to to find ways that we can group around them, support the initiatives, what we need to figure out
and then put it into a framework where I can turn around and give some uh delineated feedback to Dr. Charleston and say that these are the things that the board is asking for um to be incorporated into the administrative um the the district's plan for the year. I
mean is there what what um go ahead I guess what was the next step to turn everything that we talked about into goals or selecting the goals so so I can my next step is to take the
take this reook at the input that you guys sent um make these bullet points a little bit more obviously more legible will be typed and a little bit more com
um and uh prepare it for you to look at and continue to refine, clarify, fix the things that I might have misunderstood or gotten wrong and then collectively when you feel comfortable
um revisit your the conversation with your administrative leadership team and you know, articulate to them your expectations that you're providing this in a supportive way. Um to
amplify and and make better, stronger um their plans and goals, their goals and plans for 25 26 um in a way that expresses your duty as elected officials
and um your sensibilities as as as people and what you want to for the district. So, what you guys do with the turnaround is in your hands, you know, with the the document that I
turn around. Uh oh. No. So, so I'm trying to No, that makes sense. I'm just trying to understand like we would want to get into this school year with with district goals and and board goals, right? I I I know. So, sometimes as well, um I know Dr. Charleston wasn't able to be
here today. So, you know, identifying and and saying that we're going to develop and write like definitive goals. And I'm not saying that this is what you're exactly saying, but I'm, you know, correct me if I'm wrong. Um, creating like a a specific list and identifying exactly what that would be
would not be collaborative. Um, I think that we have to like part of it is this conversation that we had today, a level of understanding, synthesizing that information and then feeding it back to our administration team and and then having that next discussion. And and I
think that it has to happen, like you said, pretty rapidly because our school year is is is approaching. So, I I don't anticipate that it will take very long for me to turn this information back out to the board so that you can then see it, make sure that it's communicating
what we want to see and making our ask, whatever that ask is from from the board. I have a comment or an observation and a question to our representatives from the leadership team. Was there anything that you heard in tonight's discussion that
you found alarming or confusing or unachievable or inconsistent with what you guys are already planning? Was it informative for you in terms of
I think a lot of it in this document here is is conversations we've been having for well I've been here for six years so this is my sixth year but you know it's it's the it's the ongoing conversation you So, um
the um I forgot what the other thing I was going to say, so it must not have been important. So, um you have my my to-do to turn this around. Oh, I know what the other thing I was going to say is that I didn't hear anybody say to the leadership team
representatives here, stop doing anything or that there's anything that you're seeing that doesn't feel right, smell right, look right, inconsistent with your these priorities or any others. And that
that's a positive thing. That's a foundation for collaboration, I would say, unless somebody heard something different, right? I mean, there was no like danger, danger, stop, don't do that, don't go
that way. So, I think that, you know, there's there's a lot of cause for for optimism in terms of working together in a collaborative way. I think you guys are closer than it might feel on a meeting to meeting, day-to-day basis.
Just to follow up on Mr. Cohen's questions. What is the timeline? I know we have a meeting next week and I know school starts in two weeks and I I'm not clear lately how things have been way information's been shared. Who's actually going to I know we're going to get the report from you. Who's then sharing? Dr. Charleston and the
administrative team and is everyone going to be included on that? Will we see it? What's the exact kind of process that we're going to be following? Um, so when I get that initial compilation document, I'm going to share it with the board and then make sure that, you know, the messaging on it is something that we can agree on. It's all
going to be via email. I'm going to ask that you all submit your comments to me. I will incorporate them, put it back out, and then once it's agreed upon, I would say that we can talk. I'm hopeful. Like, do you think that it's possible to be able to get this in the next couple of days so that when Yeah. when we have our meeting on Monday in our closed
session, we'll be able to either in closed or in public, depending on what it is. um probably in public actually we'll be able to um address that more robustly with the information. So you know stay tuned it'll get to you.
Any other questions, comments. All right. All right. It's seven2. Thank you and thanks everyone for participating. Um All right. So, I need a motion to uh close this meeting. Uh, Mrs. Kel,
seconded by Mr. Hayward. All in favor? Any opposed? Thank you.