##VIDEO ID:YQyrHEEqFHE## okay call the meeting to order uh please rise for the flag salute 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 in the event of emergency all people may exit right or left from this room and proceed to an exit door all doors will open from the inside the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Helen board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published in the North JY record Herald News the board's official newspaper on January 15 2025 notices of this meeting indicating date time and place were posted publicly on the door of the main entrance to the school and filed with the clerk in the municipality of Halden roll call please miss SAA Mr Keta present M here Mr Gman Mrs Johnson here Mr Martinez here Mr maxel here Mr Ramadan here and Mrs here okay so Mr Marino said that he's going to do the ethics training during his report okay so we'll skip down to um the committee assign representative assignments can I have a motion to accept uh the Committees for 2025 so move moved by Mr M MO seconded by second PA Please Mr Keta yes m c yes Mrs Johnson yes Mr Martinez yes Mr moel yes Mr Ramadan yes and Mr yes okay can I have a u motion to accept correspondence motion second moved by Miss Johnson seconded by Mr roll call please Mr K yes Miss C yes Mrs Johnson yes Mr Martinez yes Mr moxo yes Mr Ramadan yes and Mr yes okay can I have a motion to approve prior minutes second moved by m p seconded by Mr MCO roll call please Mr Keta yes Mrs GL yes Mrs Johnson yes Mr Martinez yes Mr moxo yes Mr Ramadan yes and Mrs yes okay can I have a motion to open the floor to Citizens on agenda items only move second moved by Mr Ramadan seconded by Mr Rosco uh all in favor I I okay uh the floor is open to Citizens on agenda items only anything Miller okay could I have a motion to close Mo second moved by uh Miss Johnson seconded by Mr mow all in favor I I okay so moving on to committee reports okay so I'm going to start I'm glad we got through the first part quickly because um my report is a little long because I I want to go over several things so just please bear with me um well good evening everyone thank you for joining us tonight um I have several topics that I want to cover so first um is our school board goals so these are different from the district's goals and they focus specifically on our board um the most recent board these most recent goals were developed with the purpose of U maximizing our potential as a team and keeping us accountable so when we're all present and working together that's when we serve our district and our students best uh two protecting the confidentiality of executive session and three increasing our board's professional development and keeping us informed of important education topics so that we can better do the work of the school board so these goals are in no way meant to be P um they were voted on and approved on June 26 of 2024 so these are the board board goals and this is a review for the um you know the incumbent board members but for the new board members um may be hearing this for the first time so these are our board holes number one to increase commissioner attendance at board and committee meetings number two establish a policy on Virtual attendance of board meetings by Commissioners addressing in particular executive session and number three prioritize Dynamic and creative approaches to board professional development which will Foster teamwork and increase commissioner knowledge so in addition to those goals um at our retreat in 2024 we came came up with a couple of recommendations so they are um number one assessing progress of board goals periodically throughout the year so we decided on twice a year like around January and then again um before the next Retreat so we're going to do our our check-in NE today um and then the other recommendation was to include occasional discussion during board meetings of important public education matters via news articles or other credible sources in order to increase knowledge and awareness of critical issues that can or already do affect our district um so goal number one increase commissioner attendance at boate committee meetings so this is a carryover this is the second um year that we've had this goal we approved it for the first time in August uh of 2023 so after our first Retreat so we don't have a full two years yet on that goal but here are some stats so from September of 2023 through December of 2023 we had 13 total absences that means that there were 13 absences of all the board members so in that same time period um September of 2024 through December of 2024 uh we had 11 total absences so a little bit better um however if you look at the whole year of 2024 the calendar year January through December we had 27 total absences so and that averages out to about three you know if you're looking at this as a whole it averages out to about three absences per member so I mean I realize that we're nine board members and people get sick and you know things come up unexpectedly but it it's a lot of absences so and you know when we're absent when people are absent it takes away from the teamwork they have to get caught up that you know it so um looking at this year January through December you know and given our goal let's try to get the number of total absences down you know 27 was for 2024 let's try to get that down and if everyone you know does their best to only miss like one or two meetings that will make a difference and the the result is that you know the the board will be together working together as team which is our our ultimate goal um for committee meetings you know other than the finance committee uh they really are not that frequent and I'm going to talk a little bit later about committees um but you know if you're only meeting a couple of times a year you really shouldn't be missing those committee meetings so um you know that's something to you know keep in mind um also please be aware that as per njsa 18a colon 12-3 and as per New Jersey School Board Association guidelines board members missing three consecutive meetings can be grounds it can be grounds for removal from the board so please don't do don't miss three consecutive meetings it's not that it absolutely will there could be circumstances but it can be grounds for removal so please avoid that um okay so let's go goal number two uh we we did this goal number two was to um develop a virtual attendance policy so everybody should have gotten the the virtual attendance policy today low is to send it around um and I'm not going to read the whole thing but I'm just going to highlight a couple of things this took effect we we voted on it in September and we approved it but it took effect in January so um so the board of of Education also recognizes a board member may be unable to attend a board meeting due to several reasons so one medical condition where the board member is prohibited from leaving their home due to the medical condition to a commitment requiring the board member to be out of state during the time of the board meeting or uh three an unforeseen emergency or circumstance preventing the board member to be uh in attendance in person so those are the three main reasons why you would need to attend virtually um the guidelines I'm just skipping down now the guidelines regarding remote participation of a board member during a regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting are as follows the board member must submit a request or notification to the school business administrator so miss Augustin uh of the intent to participate uh remotely no later than 12:00 p.m. the day of the meeting number two any board member will be permitted to participate remotely in no more than four regularly scheduled meetings in the calendar year from January through December exceptions will only apply to medical conditions um let's see let me skip down three Board of educa if Board of Education if a board member has previously participated remotely in three Board of Education meetings in the calendar year all additional requests require the prior approval of the board president and count towards the four four total allowed regardless of whether the first three instances of virtual attendance were medical related so if you three you can just let Miss Augustine know once you have a virtual attendance you have to email me and you know it says by 12:00 of the day of the meeting but you know I do work so if you know ahead of time please let me know ahead of time because it's you know it's hard to be that day looking through things and and trying to you know make decisions and reading emails so if you know ahead of time please reach out before that um so see requests made to the board president shall be made a minimum 24 hours in advance of the Board of Education meeting with anticipated circumstances or no later than 12:00 p.m on the day of the Board of Education meeting for unforeseen emergencies and then if the board president is not available to review the responsibility will will fall to the vice president so if you're going to email me just copy Mr MCO so that if I don't respond like I say close of business of that day Mr MCO can reply okay uh uh a board of this is another one a board of education a board member may not attend virtually for more than two consecutive regularly scheduled Board of Education meetings so um only two consecutive uh let's see the board member shall be counted in the Quorum for the meeting and vote on resolutions as if physically present the board member will be visible and audible with your camera on your name on your on your screen um the board of me member shall be situated in a space where there is no disruption uh the board member will listen to all aspects of the public meeting to include but not limited to um board member and administrative comments and deliberations public comments and presentations the board member will participate as usual to include comments questions committee reports uh full participation even if you're virtual um if the now this is this was a really important point and this was one of the reasons why we did this policy if the Board needs to convene to Executive session the virtual board member will be excluded from the executive session if the subject matter of the executive session requires action to be taken by the board the virtual board member shall abstain from voting they're not going to be in the executive session but their participation will go towards uh will be counted towards the Quorum so those are the main things that a couple of just final things here the board member will not participate in only selected portions but shall participate in the entirety of the board so you know if you're participating virtually you can't just come on for a part of the meeting or one part that you want to vote on but then log off for the rest because then it would it won't count towards your attendance um and then the last paragraph here violation of this policy in particular any board member who exce exceeds the allocation of four regularly scheduled meetings attended remotely are who particip Ates in more than two consecutively regular regularly scheduled meetings can be grounds for dismissal from the board of education so any questions on on that on the virtual attendance policy good right moving along um let's see here goal number three so goal number three is to to um increase our um professional development and prioritize dyamic and creative approaches toward professional development that will bloster teamwork and increase commiss knowledge so um this goal includes attendance ad and participation in New Jersey Schoolboard Association activities but you know other activities count towards this as well and this was something that we discussed you know at our Retreat and then in meetings since then um so and this pertains to the recommendation of discuss ing topics education topics at meetings just so that we're all you know aware we're informed um so we ask board members to give topics suggest topics for discussion during board meetings and we have four suggestions um who is the teach what is the teacher staff recruitment screening and hiring process how does HPS develop the update an update grade level curricula cell phone use in schools and then what grants and rfps does HPS seek and why so for the first one the teacher Recruitment and screening Mr wer gave a pretty thorough presentation earlier in the school year um on how he and his team recruit teachers and he discussed challenges especially the CH the challenge of the teacher shortage which is has been a reality for you know several years now um the HPS how does HPS develop an upgrade update grade level curricula Miss Troy um she's an instructional coach here she gave a presentation in I think it was the October or maybe the early November meeting um and she discussed um math coaching how she works with teachers to develop curriculum and lessons and activities and then how the data is used to assess student progress and I think she didn't talk just about math she talked about did she talk about other subjects as well I think she talked about she she would have most likely talked about both because she she specializes in ela I know Miss Ramos kind of is her partner but M Ramos doesn't matter okay so sheal right so then she talked about both okay um so cell phone use in school uh schools uh we discussed this very briefly uh in the fall at a meeting in the fall but uh the US Department of Education has announced they announced in December that they want all schools to develop uh adopt a policy on cell phone use so I think it's um it's worth revisiting HPS is policy um and seeing what other schools in the area and then in the region are doing so um Mr W I'm going to ask you for our next meeting our February 10th meeting if you could um you know prepare some information regarding hbs's current cell phone policy and then I have an article of uh what New York schools are doing and Ramsey started too they started u actually um a few weeks ago um they started the um cell phone lockdown so what they do is they uh they have the kids they actually give what the uh second through fourth grade they just keep it in their book bag in their locker fifth grade and up they have it in a little box that they give you and you actually put it in your locker or something or even if you carry it with you but you can't you can't open it or use it it's a pouch it's p a magnetic pouch right it's a pouch and then and then the high schools are also with the pouches so so given this directive from the US Department of Education a lot of schools are going to be adopting started it they they they are all full effect and I mean I think we have a cell phone policy but it's kind of broad you know so I think that you know we'll we we'll look at it and we'll talk about it we'll see what other schools are doing um and and I have um an article from what new about New York City or not New York City New York State schools so I can ask Lo to share that with everybody before um the next meeting and we can have a discussion about it um so that was one of the topics and then lastly the um what grants or rfps do HPS seek and why what is the process what is our success rate um so that could that would be discussed at a future board meeting and then one other topic that I think it is very important to include because it's here to stay and it absolutely affects students and teachers is artificial intelligence and just you know how it's being used already and how it you know we could leverage it in it to to benefit students um so that could be another topic yeah I know Miss Miss Troy and Miss Ramos they gave a presentation for we like our staff PD on Mondays and that was one of the topics that was the topic that they focused on today so there there's definitely a lot there yeah that that would be a good one okay so any um any questions about the topics okay so next I want want to call your attention to the new committees for 2025 so I did have to change some things around so board members please check your you know to see where you're at um traditionally our committees have we meet other than the finance committee which meets before every single meeting because they have to sign check the budget they you know check bills sign bills um review things uh so other than the finance committee the other committees really meet on an asne basis the policy committee will meet more often because like three or four times a year we have this like a slew of new policies that we have to review so that committee needs a little bit more often but the other committees really just meet on an as needed basis um so you know understanding that the role of the school board and by extension the role of the Committees is to you know govern and oversee and not to manage School operations I think it would be a good idea for the Committees to meet at least twice a year you know even if there's no particular business at hand just a touch base um see how you know uh see how our district is doing um within the the committee scope you know uh and just see if if if there's anything that you know we could improve that uh maybe we're doing a good job um just a touch base I think it would be a good idea but please do note that it's not it's not meant you the Committees don't need to create work you know just for the sake of creating work it's just a matter of touching base see how the district is doing with those areas whatever the scope of the committee may be and then uh report out to the whole committee report out to the whole committee I'm sorry to the whole board um you know how things are doing in that area so chairs I'm going to ask you to work with your committee members to plan two dates to meet this year um come up with a short agenda of appropriate topics to discuss and review and then report out at the next board meeting and um you can ask Lois to schedule the meetings they can be directly before a board meeting or they can be at your convenience um but let's try this let's try this and see how it goes because we do have a couple of committees that really don't meet very often at all so I think it would be good to touch base a couple at least twice a year um all right any questions on that I don't a question that so um you said like we can schedule it on our time that include like if we did like a virtual meeting yeah I mean that's okay you could do committee meeting virtually you know it's really just look at your the committee's convenience um sometimes it's more convenient to to you know come before the board meeting since we're all coming here anyway but if virtual works better and you know maybe during the day or whatever whatever works for the committee yeah absolutely I'm sorry clarification for the me meetings said twice a year or twice a month twice a year yeah because I mean there's no reason to if there's no business at hand but um it is good to touch base at least twice a year just to kind of review your you know your area see how the district is doing like you know for curriculum and Technology you know how are we doing with curriculum and Technology topics come up with a short agenda of topics you know what could we look at um are we meet you know are we meeting does our curricula meet curriculum meet the um state standards things like that you know it just depends on what your committee is what your agenda would be but it doesn't have to be like a lengthy meeting it doesn't have to be a lengthy report just to touch base and see how our district is doing in all those areas any other questions about committees okay so I'm almost done um I did want to call attention to the um student interest survey on cric and Technology 9.7 I think it's a really good idea to take the temperature of the Middle School um there's a lot going on at that age and it is critically important for schools to make sure that their students are equipped with coping strategies and support systems to help them overcome any challenges they may be experien experiencing to help them navigate issues that inevitably will arise whether they're commonplace or specific to certain a group of students or a certain student um you know we want to make sure that we're aware of their issues or concerns so that we can help address them and we also want to make sure that our students feel safe in school and have a healthy environment that is conducive to learning and succeeding um all of hbs's initiatives as well as our everyday activities like clubs initiatives um they're all geared towards helping our students be the best that they can be academically socially emotionally so um Mr Waka once the survey is given out and you have the results and the next steps are determined could we also get like a list of theal activities that have taken place so far this year like I know there have been a lot they they're always on the agenda like assemblies activities yeah um even this new Counseling group that's going to be starting uh you know about regarding grief and loss um just just so that we can all have a big picture A biger pict EAS put together okay great um all right and then the only other thing any any questions on that okay the only other thing I have is um just thank you to Dr um David AI he's the Middle School Ela teacher thank you for his service to to Helen and its students and we wish him the best in our future end in his future endeavors um one housekeeping item especially this is for the new board members um when if you have questions for any of the agenda items you can what we usually do is when we go do roll call when Miss Augustin starts to do the roll call if you have a question before you vote you can ask your questions uh we can have discussion if if if we need to and then you can you know vote um okay well with that thank you for your attention uh with that I'm going to turn it over to Mr Walker thanks uh thank you board presidenta um I want to First give an update on our front door project as I know I've been teasing that for about a month or so uh something seems to have happened whereby the architect um and the door installer seem to have a bit of a difference of opinion regarding what the the design should look like and what the materials that are needed um so that we're waiting for a slight redesign modification from our architect once they and the installers are both comfortable with the design um and an outlay and materials for the project and I'll present the project to the board uh I know that the installer and the architect met at our campus of was last Monday to review the project and uh we're waiting for an update on that very soon nonetheless this is still you know the next high priority project um it was the the expansion then the playground and those got done well uh but this one as well we're going to make sure it gets done well but right now we're in a little bit of a an impath that you know the two our two vendors are going to figure out and then we move forward uh on this agenda you'll see an item referring to the I Sunday uh the board president referred to uh this stems from an initiative given to me by the board that s to gain insight for the Sal need seal needs as well as the postgraduate plans uh and knowledge for our students uh this survey has nothing to do with anything regarding sexuality or gender or any other topics that I know got of a lot of attention in the state recently the J could probably have some memories of that not at hilen uh nonetheless I know that the word survey can trigger a lot of attention uh so I wanted to be fully transparent with the boards that's why I give you a copy of exactly what the questions we're going to ask the students are um the students of course can opt not to take the survey but based on the the questions I reviewed I expect that most if not all of the students will take the survey once we get the data we'll extrapolate it you know we'll look for patterns um and we'll use the takeaways as a survey either as a means to improve existing services or potentially as as a you know the Genesis of new Services we look to offer um so the board approved to this agenda item we'll look to administer the survey the following week um item three on this agenda you also see that we are requesting to hold a dance for Valentine's Day I was really impressed by how well the middle school kids did at the Last Dance uh for the holiday dance and because they did such a good job and the class raised over $2,000 uh they asked to do one for Valentine's Day so to me I think they earned it so we I want to say Yes um I the topics about the cell phone I'm more than happy to talk about kind of where things are at both locally and and kind of projected Statewide even nationally on that um I know that the the the verbiage that came from the governor's office talked about certain things like you know potentially being medical waivers for students that might need a device for medically to be allowed to use it there's a lot of things they're going to have to work through and does a watch count as a a cell phone because they can do a lot of the same thing so I'm interested to see what the the recommended guidance is going to be um I and I also know too like we all went to school we didn't have anything worth $1,000 doll on us but these phones are very very expensive now so if we are going to look as a as a district to kind of prohibit their use or limit their use I want to make sure that we have a system that makes a lot of sense is protected and it's it's not going to put the district in a bad spot or the kids in a bad spot um so there's there's a lot of planning and structure um that we is gonna have to go into something like this philosophically I'm not a huge fan of of I like rule I like I like things being black and white from you know September to to June and then summer times a good to start a new rule change so I really am reluctant to kind of jump midy year into this um but you know just like we talked about you know in the next year's budget we're very likely going to look to put investment towards you know the The Vape detectors in certain areas uh this this is it's very like you know that some kind of cell phone management is something that we're going to look to to budget for so that when we do it or if we do some version of it you know we do it well and the AI is also another really interesting topic um and then I Didn't Know M Troy M Ros did a really good presentation today on that um but if any board members interested I can forward you their their their Google slide I do have one very brief um HIV to present during the executive session it should be really brief and there's G to be no action that the board would need to take okay thank you thank you Mr W any questions for Mr wer okay thank you um Miss auson thank you madam president um just like Madam president say today the finance team committee didn't meet today other than the items that on agenda which I'll go through um I just wanted to remind everyone about their financial disclosure forms that are due the new board members they're due this Friday February 1 not sure if you guys you're done okay great so if that if you're done great if there's any other questions you need or assistance on that just let me know all the other board members are returning April 1st is when it's du and everyone if we can try to get it in way before that because sometimes they return for like you know other questions or what what have that will be helpful because these are qack points so we would like everyone to submit those on time okay uh again also if there's any um training that you have please reach out to me if you don't know if you need update on what your status is as far as which governance you're on let us know so we can get that all done and I believe those are done due by the end of the year but don't wait until the end of the year let's try to get it out as soon as possible because then we're rushing um as far as um what we discussed at the finance committee today we talked about primarily everything that's on the agenda we can um we talked about um all the resolutions specifically um the discarded items that are on the agenda for the furniture this is majority of old furniture that needed um that was replaced during the construction the I believe we went through everything that is needed and everything that's on the agenda now will be discarded and and we will approve that tonight and it will go on Dov deals which is the platform we use to sell outdated items or discarded items and if they're not so there then we officially just you know get rid of them okay 13.2 to 13.9 is all of the monthly Financial um reports for November and December and all of the certifications for the board secretaries report uh believe 1310 and 1311 has to do with the volunteer Val Valentine's stands for the six and 8th graders fundraisers this is the staff members that will be covering it and there's also another resolution on the actual approving the actual fundraiser itself we have our massio statement this is the monthly statement of our food service program showing the profit and loss for our monthly expenses versus our monthly profit and also our year- to-day profit the program is um doing well so there's no concerns there we do have some um equipment and other projects that we may need to look into to spend down the money um because um it's a separate Enterprise and the state doesn't allow us to be no more than three or four months of reserves and if it is they want to see that we're using that money to rate revamp proper program so right now we're good I know that we did receive notice from the state from last year to spend down some of the money and I think we talked about it a couple of months ago and our finance team and one one thing we're doing is buying more new um equipment but we have to figure out what to do with the rest and we're going to be in talks to that we have our annual Chromebook um purchase that we discuss in depth in the finance team because there was wanted um the members wanted to understand why we buy the Chromebooks every year and I explain to them how this is an annual purchase of outdated equipment and we also discard um some of the ones that have expired and they're really of no good you know use at that point we have our camera on 13.6 which is cameras for our vehicle School Bus camera and we discussed the installation process um I think we also discussed why it was on the truck too and why we um to making sure that cameras that are are we installed on our bus and all the contractors that we use have cameras on their bus so we discussed that in length and we also talked about 13.7 through 13 20 which is our um child study team tuitions and transportation approval again of the Valentin Valentine's Day fundraiser wrestling fees and also our monthly bills is there any questions regarding any of the finances yes yes I'm confused about 138 2019 I says terminate contract for ID 1827 and then on 19 you said 1319 18 is terminating it and then 19 a differ student the same idea yes so Lois did explain it to me she said that we um we have a student that we have to approve the contract to um um terminate one contract versus um having us approve it and then we we um terminated we terminate this again on our next board agenda we have to actually in order to take action on any of these we have to have it on the agenda as it is and we have to do it in sequence so you terminated but approve it and then next month we terminate it depend on the um depends on the contract so I'll give you more details about that with the contract but we do have to put it on here to terminate and we do have to approve this route because of this um there's I think she said it was other kids that are on there if I'm not mistaken so I'll find out more details about that but we do have to do this and I asked we her and I discussed that we have to have it on the agenda in order to take action on these and to move these forwards because it was um presented to us so we do because there's a short time period between the um two so any other questions I'm glad we know we have it's the formality that we have to do and then we'll get the contract for the the new contract yes we'll get the new contract and you know if anybody especially the new board members if you have questions about I know when I was in New board member I sat with the business administrator for like an hour and a half just going through budget stuff it's it it's it's very complex no I understand you know it's just that the only thing I'm thinking I'm seeing here the dates are a little different yeah the date that's it's a sequence of things so we have to approve this from 122 to 1224 to June because that is the contract we have prior to January 15 the effective day of the termination you see the effect on 13 18 the effective day is January 15 but the approved contract for that small time period this is what the contract is December of last year we're retro in it to January 15 technically but the contract is up to June that they originally presented to us so this will be prated accordingly okay okay yeah I you okay uh thank you Miss Augustin okay so now we're just going to go through uh quickly the committee so personnel and management uh Mr Martinez are you there Mr Martinez yes uh personnel and management agenda items only okay curriculum and Technology Mr Ramadan um agenda items only okay policy and public relations Mr CL uh nothing for meeting okay security and safety Mr CLA uh again nothing for meeting okay Community engagement uh Miss quadrado nothing on the agenda okay and then finance and physical plant Mr M uh we met we went over the bills business administrator went over everything else jendi okay uh State and County Miss pado um I have a couple things here um so just to recap the month of on the 8th of January and jfb hosted a webinar for best practices for policy development and maintaining the manual um they did go over a couple of strategies that'll help them main the policy throughout the year um and review each section for any updates to keep in compliance with current laws they did suggest maybe hosting um committee meeting with the policy committee like monthly to go through each section separately just to make sure that it's in compliance with the any updates that are in the law now okay um next item I have was a report published on the 7th um where Governor Murphy signs the new law for temporary relief in posting the Public Notices um allowing us to post Public Notices on the um online version of the news um you know as long as as long as they met the requirements for posting Public Notices in 2024 um and that would allow the Board of Education to continue complying with the open public meetings act as well as the ongoing evolution of the media landscape um another item that we did speak about as well is um uh Governor Murphy pushing for the cell phone bands um which we're going to discuss further later on um he also address the shortage of teachers and how effective January uh 1st the new law which eliminates the basic skilles tests for people teaching uh seeking teaching certifications um I also attended a webinar on January 10th for E eligibility uh and virtualization of Eligibility equipment and cyber security and that just discussed um Category 2 e rate eligibility um so it basically explained NJ sba's tech programs using their procurement um upcoming we have on the 29th which is this Wednesday toate County School Board Association webinar um if you haven't registered please register for that and that topic is going to be transformative power of charter schools in New Jersey public education on also upcoming in March we have um NJ sba's annual women's leadership conference um and with that one you earn three board credits um uh an announcement from P County School Board Association they have open positions for executive for their executive committee um these are two terms from two-ear terms from May of 25 through May of 27 and they're looking for president a first vice president and a second vice president for legislation and the submission deadline is at 11:59 on March 1st um upcoming we also have the equity ESO Expo uh and that one is hosted by njsba um um and its topic is understanding learning Needs school finding and technology and incorporating student uh voices um and that's on April 11th in merer county and that's all I have okay thank you Mr C um the the meeting the county meeting that's this Wednesday it's virtual and you know the topic is Charter Schools which you know we're a public school um so we might think like well Charter Schools don't really pertain to us but there are a lot of charter schools in B County and in New Jersey so it's going to be an interesting topic you know that's also a choice for IR graders you know they can go to a Charter High School um so you know it might be and it's virtual so you don't have to travel anywhere it's a good one to to attend um so I encourage you to oh so for the charter okay so public so you're 90% of this the aid that you get go it's gonna go to them to they're gonna yeah they gonna start receiving aid well not the high school on they're in high school though once they graduate we wouldn't have to pay for that right right we do charter school so we pay charter schools now right but any kids that go from kindergarten to e grade we pay the tuition the child's go if a child's a ninth grade they go to Charter School would that wouldn't be our responsibility scho but we still pay for Charter that's and then you pay and then you pay Transportation on top of that ad doesn't change once once they start receiving aid as well right doesn't W so I know like you know the Char SCH are our enemy right but they do do good things they do and it is another option for students you know it's like a botch so botch is another option too yeah there's a lot of different choices yeah and it's good for parents to have choices so in any case although I suggest you send your P if you in held into H in public school um okay I agree okay uh so now we're gonna go to Mr Marino you're going to do your training so we have mandatory ethics in governance training each each year is annual um and it's a good piggyback after the board president report and some of the other committee reports just to remind you like what what you signed up for here and not to scare your way but but New Jersey school boards Association did a survey they said that the majority of school board members they you volunteer like 10 to 15 hours of your time each month um to the kids really to the kids in the school um and and it's and it's a thankless job you're not paid um you have all these requirements of training and the ethics and you have Financial disclosure um it's it really is a thankless job that not enough people know about but what you donate to back to the kids it's really it's it's so valuable and it's um so so there's there is a board appreciation month I still don't think you get enough appreciation but but but just know that we everybody recognizes you and and appreciates what you do so so 10 to 15 hours a month like I think is that about right what you guys do uh yeah some months it might be more some months it might be a little less with some but you usually have like two board meetings to prepare for that a committee meeting um some of your training some of your the county meetings yeah 10 to 15 hours there a lot there a lot of time away from your family so we appreciate it but so so so what is your role so so we talked we heard a little bit about the role of a board member um number one is you you're oversee you're not running you're not administering the district you're kind of overseeing it the first thing is policies you're adopting policies um if you go on to the website you'll see where it says policies um and you and you should take a look at it um it'll put you to sleep if you read too many of them but but take a look at it every once in a while and you you'll see what they're they're they're well written they're very formal um there's a lot of them um stuff that you probably didn't realize that was thought about and and CAU ified as policies um what this District does and most districts do is we use a law firm Strauss is a law firm it's two two partners names there were South Jersey Schoolboard Law Firm um and what they started doing is the state wanted to Department of Education wanted to have mandated policies so they this Law Firm said you know what we'll help you with do that and they really grew into a monopoly so now they have every District just just about every district and they do all the policy updates and they do a really good job of it so when you look at them if you see an M that's a mandated policy that came right from the Department of Education and that something that we're required to adopt um and then if they do updates you'll see trusts me sends you monthly or like every six weeks or so policy packet like updates and they'll say hey this one is am and it's it's been updated by Department of Education here's those changes and highlight it sometimes they have like ones that are voluntary and sometimes they have recommended ones and there's some options the policy committee and the administration goes through all those each month um and then makes recommendations to the committee as to hey these are the changes that we think are good like the cell phone policy that that is a there is a recommended policy from shs made but there's a lot of options in there so it's that's one that really is a work in progress but it's a good example of of that that really that time commitment and how important it is um understand your responsibilities and that first one is is policy the second one is overseeing the budget this time of year the budget's really up getting a lot of your time right so it's you know it has to be adopted in March and then in April we have the public budget meeting it gets advertised in the newspaper so the budget is is a really important thing it really goes to how much are we going to raise taxes to the local taxpayer um how much are we getting state aid comes at the end of February there's a the governor does um he's done his address he kind of told everybody to to he's kind of warned everybody um and he's done a hiring freeze at the state level so but you'll know in end of February how much individual state aid you get um and then so Theo put that into the form into there there's a an accounting system put it into the into the spreadsheet and come up with a a budget and then the budget committee the finance committee if if you're over budget then hey what what do we cut um what what if you have extra money what do we add maybe a position or some some curriculum um so that's that's number two third thing is you really you're evaluating you're hiring and you're evaluating uh the superintendent um so most important job it really is the most important job here um his job is the most important but you oversee him you evaluate him um and you hire them and you find and you find them um if there's a if there's an opening uh really important job um really you're hiring your CEO you you're the board of directors you're hiring the CEO of a multi-million dollar Corporation really important um you also you represent the the public in contract negotiations so when we have there's you know all the employees have unions um the board members have a committee and we negotiate formal negotiations with the Union um we we've settled one and you have you have many years of of a settled contract but when it's up you'll see it's it's a lot of time uh it's very formal it's it's it's another it's a business transaction um we try to separate from emotions and how much you appreciate your staff this is really about you're representing the the the district and the taxpayer and and doing those formal negotiations as to the next collective bargaining agreement with the staff um and then the fifth thing is you're the the spokesperson the public face of of the school district um but that being said and this is where the code of ethics comes you lose your individual voice when you're a board member you have no more individual voice now you're speaking on behalf of the Board of Education really important that you recognize that um so as much as you have might have a personal opinion or a Personal Agenda or something you disagree with um because not everybody agrees with everything but when you're a board when you're a board member you're speaking on behalf of the board and you could only speak on behalf of the board that the majority of the board is taking action on it's really that's the really trickiest thing about being a board member is to realize you no longer can be be you have that you loost you lost your individual voice you can't speak as a parent uh you can't come to the microphone and criticize the administration anymore you you now have to do what the board wants to do and you have to just represent what that board majority wants that's that's the really the biggest biggest learning curve being for so I'm I don't want to take all that this is this outline you can you kind of M on your own but I just wanted to really go through some of the the most important ones so let's go to the code of ethics so unlike US Congress US Congress does again US Congress don't paid um there it's it's a it's a you know paid job and they paid hundreds of thousand dollars you guys are paid nothing you spend 10 to 15 hours a month on this and you have a code of ethics they don't have a code of ethics but you have a very formal code of ethics that even council members don't have um School the New Jersey school board um whatever whatever the the the at the time this is like in the 80s when this came in to me uh really thought it was really important that school board members have this code of ethics um and there's 10 10 covenants really comes down to two things that you should be aware of one is you always have to protect your personnel so School Personnel you always have to protect always um it's so the code of ethics says that even if you disagree you cannot express that out in the public um and even in here you have to protect Personnel so what does that mean so the first Ru so what that means in reality is we can't talk about Personnel in public so if you ever say like if we ever have a question about Personnel we have to go to Executive session because we cannot talk on the microphone about Personnel never talk about Personnel in public somebody comes to the microphone and asks a question about a a teacher or or a staff member we're really H hamstrung we cannot respond we cannot talk about Personnel in public and then the second thing about that's important in these 10 10 covenants is uh confidentiality so things that you learn as a board member um we can't talk like a student matter or again Personnel or School matter you can't talk about it you have to keep it confidential um and I'll give you a good example of of why it's important to remember this confidentiality and how hard or how easy it is to trip up on it a couple years ago a Schoolboard member um you know there's an FYI I don't know if I you know superintendent sends out a Friday package and he sends out an email here's your F FYI some background information about what happened this week um it's all confidential a Schoolboard member in in Morris County he received his his his Friday update um on Friday night Friday evening on Facebook he has a private Facebook page or private I guess a group a small group um it's just family members his spouse um his his brother his sister-in-law very small group um but there was a lot of talk about hey was there the police were there when we heard there was drug dealing in the in the boy's bathroom today and it we heard there was eighth graders involed they were suming drugs he responded he's like well no in my packet today it was that the Vape alarm went off and two boys Johnny and he name he put Johnny and Mikey they were vaping and they got and they got caught the the arms went off and under a policy that means it's a mandatory drug test before they come back and the police get called because that's because the Sr is in the building that's all he did and he's put this on his family's Facebook page as to like this is what happened somebody forwarded it his brother-in-law forwarded it to outside the group saying like because there was a lot of chatter on the PTA and the mom somebody forward is it and now the parents of Mikey and Johnny the two that he outed F ethics complaint against him an Ethics complaint is public it's a public document it ended up on the front page of the New Jersey heral he's got his picture now ethics ethics complaint against a board member for something as innocent as what he did and you know what it cost the district thousand tens of thousands of dollars it went through the the Attorney General's Office Pro became becomes a prosecutor on it it went to court he missed time from work um he had to go down to Newark and there was like a trial on it and he lost and he was kicked off the board for something that innocent so so two things never talk about Personnel anything you learn here is confidential don't even don't don't talk don't even talk to your your spouse or your family members about it um so really really important it was a that was a really hard example as to the realities of this these code of ethics the other thing is so there's 10 things but really comes down to those two and then there's also a separate prohibit prohibited con Acts or conflicts there's another 10 of those but that really comes down to one important one and if you work for a company that company cannot do business with the Board of Ed unless you disclose it and unless you abstain and and refrain and you you can't vote on it you can't be part of discussions and you really have to check with the administration and me as to whether this conflict is so big that that we can't even do business with that your that company so so it's that it's that company conflicts and again the code of ethics Personnel can't talk about it and keep everything confidential those things are really important and um and that and if you just remember those things um I I think I'm sure we'll do you'll do fine but the goal is to keep you up out of the New Jersey heral or the burger record or nor Jersey new jersey.com um because in that that situation like I said it cost a district tens of thousands of dollars in the newspaper now you search his name like if he goes for a job or like a mortgage like you now he's got this a public ethics complaint against them like it's gonna impact his life um or for something he volunteers his time a lot of time 10 to 15 hours a month for which is it's just amazing and it really is unfortunate and it was an honest mistake um but it's something I just wanted just just to make you aware of and that's why we have this annual manager ethics training so I don't want to go through there's a lot of other stuff here um a little bit about Robert trolls the board president mentioned about executive session and I mentioned confiden ity we can't talk about Personnel in public but we can talk about Personnel in in in executive session so we we follow Robert's Rules and Robert's rules say um kind of support that like have an executive session and there's there's nine things that we can talk about executive in executive session and only an executive session and it's Personnel it's contract negotiations it's student matters it's Hib which is a student matter some Family Matters um some construction issues with with vendors those are for ex session um that we can't talk about in public but we we have to talk about an executive and the other thing about execu um I guess Robert rules that's important is that um and it's really it's two things that it's really how many votes and how many affirmative votes we need for to pass motions um really simple thing is anything about personnel and when whatever the board spends money those two things we need a majority yes vote of the core of the majority of the board so not just a quorum but the majority of the board so we need we need yes votes on personnel and spending money contract matters um everything else we need a majority of the quum presid to pass things and the majority when I'm saying the majority it's the yes vote not obss not um recusals but but a yes vote so that's really the important things so to just to remember about Robert's Rules Robert's Rules of Order you can look that up on the internet it goes back like 200 years to to the colonial days it came from from from Britain from Great Britain when they came here they brought their their system of of par Parliament and their rules about how they operated government and government meetings we've adopted that and it still goes through through like School boards it goes through Congress um even even private corporations board of directors use it too um it's it's amazing that it survived um not many amendments and it it kind of works to this day um little Antiquated in some things you know some of the some of language but but just through to you know it g it gave us executive session which was which was really necessary and it gives us the meeting structure and Order yeah you know which is really important but any other any questions on ethics well if you if any any anything arises when you look through this um you know ask ask ask you can send the email to president and you'll forward it to me if I if you can't answer it but you've been pretty good at answering everything right and then the last page is um a dis it's just the the annual acknowledgement if you haven't signed this already if you could rip this off and just sign print your name and just give it to um  it we get a point if if you if everybody it says that that we received this training on ethics have a question the gentleman who had name the newspaper did he have to pay any finds himself no he did not so so you're so if he didn't pay financially that way but again he was in the newspaper and he had this he was found guilty of this ethics violation so he paid he paid but he didn't he didn't have to pay the bo have handb have a hand um little bit this a handbook like in terms of what like well I mean when I went to the Govern Workshop every they had a handb I guess in a handbook it probably discuss [Music] like so in the policy so if you look in your policy the policy manual that's online the first section is called the bylaws those are those those are your direct rules about how those are four policies on how the board acts and your roles so you should look at those first there's also there's also like a document on Robert's Rules we got when we went to the workshop in Atlantic City they had they always have that training for Robert's Rules and they give you I think there's like a document it's like a little book I have a little book okay all right yeah just to be so if you want to become familiar with like the you know the protocol I just didn't know question yeah any other questions okay thank you Mr M now all right now let's go back vote um personnel and management Mr Martinez yes I'd like to move 8.1 through 8.12 please I have a second second move by Mr Martinez seconded by Mr mzo roll call please miss Mrs CER I have a question for 8.1 8.6 were there any exit inter conducted 8 one no 8.6 it's not my employee it's not our employee it's it's the Service provider's employee both of them 8.1 is our employee and we did not give an ex interview um he's still working for us for a limited number of time so we can um but for 8.6 it's it's not my employee to interview okay so for 8.1 will there be I don't know I'll get back to meaning who would we haven't done exit interviews um if that's something that thisp you know would like to see us you know do in the future I have no problem saying so so this is right into set that so exit interviews it's one of those management things so so your boards don't get involved in exit interviews the administration can and they and they can share that the the results with their other administrators but it's it's been decided by the school ethics commission that board members don't get involved in exit interviews that's what you hire the superintendent for but it's a good question as is you would think like a good corporate structure would have exited abuse and you may here but it's it's an administrative is that like given a reason for why they're leaving yeah that's yes so I know that reason um but you know it's one of those things this board you know wants to make it so that you know there's some kind of exit interviews that every employ gets when whenever they leave that's something you know like I said I'm not really a a black and white from September to September but that's something where if we made it the new normal starting the school year that's just what Bo wanted to do at have that but if we do if we were to implement a policy like that um you don't discuss you don't get the results you just you just implemented a policy that it's required everybody gets an extra interview but we don't you don't get to see the results right but you can Implement a policy policy requir any other questions Mr um oh I actually have a question on 810 um were there any other candidate yes this this was the reason we Mr the employee that's in that agenda item uh he was hired uh not as a a permanent staff he was in for a lead replacement um but he was doing so well that you know when the opportunity came for us to find a way to to keep him here at HBS um that's why we went to the board maybe a month or so ago and asked to change it for stem to steam uh because his maternity leave in in English was was set to expire I think within a month or so um so we we had seen this this particular individual in action with the kids we were very impressed we're happy to keep them so it was supposed to be stem not steam it used to be stem it used to be stem and then we added the Arts because this this gentleman had a language art certification uh and that allowed him to teach the the steam program so is he gonna be like a floater no he's gonna be Flo because uh the person that's leaving is gone this is going to be he's going to be our full-time steam teacher uh within a couple weeks providing the board proov so he was like I said he was the only one that was you just moved him up from the only person that applied that that for this particular job was there was one other person but then he said that the other candidate said I'm not willing to start until September of next year and that was too late for us so but this candidate was excited to be part of it the amount of uh um there used to be a time where any position we' put in for um my phone used to buzz a lot because we get get so many applicant to the point now where a middle school science technology engineering and math thing um it's crickets um it's the same with you know we're we're going to be looking for certain teachers we know people that have told me they're going to retire um and there's some spots where I know this is it's it's not going to be incredibly difficult to find something good because there's going to be a lot of people because that's their certification uh there's going to be other people that leave where it's going to be wow we're we're going to be fortunate if we get more than one applicant in certain positions so doesn't that leave you in a corner of like whoever comes in the door you're just going to hire sadly uh you know it's by responsibility to hire someone that's certified uh and we' not have certified free agent teachers uh or or teachers whether it's it's it's becoming less and less and less uh it doesn't mean that we're we're going to invest longterm in someone if if we're dissatisfied with their performance results once they get here um but I'm obligated to to if I need a biology teacher I gotta find someone with the with a middle school science degree and a lot of the people with those skills right now could probably make more money than private sector so it's just you're getting those people with those talents that just happen to really like kids but there's there's less and less of them right now so are we short on staff like we're fully staffed but it's it's it's been a a m major major issue priority for us to to keep it that way uh but we're fully separate and you know your presentation in September I think it was September October um explained the very robust process that HPS has for recruiting uh teachers um so and it's like throughout the year it's not just when they have the the job I'll be I'll be job fairs throughout the school year y yeah it's throughout the year and there is a teacher shortage so but not going with we've you know that was our first priority um for our our five years strategic plan was to to keep that is is being fully staffed because everything works better when we fully staffed um unfortunately we've been able to stay just one step ahead of the the acts I guess in that regard any other questions miss turna your vote Yes okay thank you Mr kada yes Miss CAD yes Mrs Johnson yes Mr Martinez yes Mr Moo yes Mr R yes Mr yes okay curriculum and Technology Mr Ramadan motion to move 9.1 to 9.8 second moved by Mr Ramadan seconded by Mr MCO roll call please Mrs CER I'm going to abstain from 9.2 and yes Mr colada uh questions or discussion if possible um regarding 92 three and four um as the person who always looks at how much we're spending um year since I've joined the board the looking at public records we spent about $1600 to send uh board president Isa to conferences um I don't think it's a good use of taxpayer money to send to these conferences that if you look I have it pulled up it says the goal of this one day event is to empower and uplift leaders and help them strengthen their resilience confidence and communication skills I see four super successful women who have been elected to Board of Education have been successful in the private sector I don't think that there's any need to send to a conference and just waste taxpayer money when we could you know spend that better elsewhere uh it's not our money to spend so I would say yes to 91 no to 9234 and then yes to 95 through 2 three four okay I and I would I would like to since this is a discussion um understood that it is money spent um but there is money allocated in the budget for professional development of the school board is that correct Miss Augustin yes um and this Miss quado and I attended last year it was a very good conference these it's just like professional development for the staff you know it all goes towards our uh know increasing knowledge and being better at the job that we do so um know I respectfully disagree I I think it's a very good use of and it's not I believe it's one19 was the price I think $119 was that the cost can I add to this yeah absolutely I think I I just want to add um from my point of view last year I was a new board member and you know attending that did did give me empowerment to to speak a little bit more and to be more involved in meeting so I I do see the the benefit of so you last year both yeah we both went last year yeah and you know this goes for all of the board members you know there are a lot of most of the trainings uh and the professional development offered by njsba is free because we're members of the association but there are some that have a cost and um it's to me it's money well you know well spent is it a different agenda this time or yeah there will well they haven't released the agenda yet but it surely will because all of those annual conferences always change the topics and they have different speakers and so there will be a different theme this year than last year yes last um like I said it's not anything negative towards anybody on the board I think you're all super successful you all do very well um regarding the statement of while there may be money allocated for it it doesn't mean that we're required to spend the money um we can save money and not spend money I think that would be the more fiscally prudent thing but again like it's not it's not a shot at any at forview you're not listened to a time but it's just that was just a from the fiscal standpoint not anything personal or anything understood okay okay so I think I was on um Miss CAD did you yes okay uh Mrs Johnson yes Mr Martinez yes Mr moxo yes there voting with the recommended ex exceptions right what do you mean John to that was where I could okay yeah so you wanted to abstain from your resolution I believe as well I'm not I'm sorry um Mr Ramadan yes Mrs uh abstain on 9.4 and yes to the rest okay so let's go down to finance and physical plant Mr Moo like to move 13.1 to 13 23 secondry moved by Mr Moo seconded by Mr Peta roll call please this is SAA Mr K yes Miss CAD I'm going to abstain from purchase order 00431 and 5326 on item 132 and yes to the rest Mrs Johnson yes Mr Martinez yes Mr moel yes Mr Ramadan yes Mr z um obstain on uh p 5878 on 13.23 and yes to the restk you okay okay um can I have a motion to open the floor to Citizens so move second moved by Mr mosco seconded by Mr Keta all in favor right okay so the floor is open to Citizens if anybody would like to address the board nobody Mr Miller okay can I have a motion to close to move second moved by mrco seconded by m p All In okay so we do have uh an executive session so um Mr Martinez you you um you will not be able to participate in the executive session so you will have to uh you'll be locked out or or put in the waiting room um no action to follow no action to follow so um Miss Austin Mr Martinez he should stay on so that when we come back we can adjourn it's up to you Mr martinz okay all right so you don't have to stay on then um no problem thank you guys okay thank you um and can I have a motion so we I we will take I I say 10 15 minutes this should be even quicker than I think this should be really really quick okay no action will be taken so can I have a motion to move into executive session so move second moved by Mr Matco second by pad um do we have to do roll call or can we do all in favor I do all in favor okay if you want to participate if you guys can forward it to me through into office you can stop by the office some people you know Z it to me that's fine and I'll go pick up a gift card um before um let's say maybe a week before the PTA um event Tricky Tray which is March 19th so if you guys can make sure you forward that in um the funds to me and I will go out and buy a gift card on behalf of the board and usually this is an annual um tra participation of the board every year okay so if you have any questions about that let me know okay if you guys have other ideas on um what you would like to do for the trick like a maximum li no just whatever you want usually I don't set an amount whatever um everyone wants to donate that's fine and whatever the max is I'll get a gift card on that P I do one question um just to clarify um when we talking about it's from Mr um so if in regards to that new policy that's in effect now if someone is anything wrong with the policy that that would invalidate their meeting right so wouldn't count as them being at the meeting so if they weren't following any of the rules and like you said if they log on log off right any of that stuff it would be that they were not counted as part of the meeting correct or any of those stipulations that are in there I I don't think we're that stct for that so if somebody so if somebody you mean it wouldn't count towards the Quorum of the meeting because I wrote it down um I just happened to look at there there is a Bible about the three in a row right so if if somebody was like say they were they only participated in part of it or any of the other stipulations that you have to be on right if they didn't follow those that wouldn't count as in attendance at the meeting correct I don't think we're that strict on that so I think if if you came on a portion of the meeting I think that would count as that's why I'm asking because it said that it was to be counted make sure I thought it said in the let me look because it said it well actually I don't think it it it it defines that that it wouldn't be celed but it said that you you shall participate so it says the board member requesting participation in a board meeting through the use of an electronic device shall participate in the entire board public meeting under the conditions outlined in this policy the board member will not participate participate in only selected portions but shall participate for the entirety of the Board of Education meeting so it doesn't actually go as far as to say if you violate that you won't it won't count towards your attendance yeah I don't think we're that strict especially with a new policy so so then but what happens if somebody just comes on and they're just on for like two items and then they log off it still counts it's still it would I think it would still count certainly this first year all right well I would encourage everybody to do that even in the past nobody's ever missed three in a row so like I I can't imagine anybody missing three row even if this was one of the three it's not right and I mean I guess we will just strongly encourage if you do have to attend um remotely to please stay on for the entire meeting but we understand like sometimes things happen internet goes down and then you you know it's hard not it's not we're not going to be like that that okay all right well thank you for clarifying that because I was gonna say it won't count but you know I guess if it's not in the policy then we can't really say that so okay but we'll certainly encourage people to stay for the whole meeting okay um can I have can we have did we adjourn no we didn't can I have a motion to adjourn motion by Mr Peta second by Mr moow all in favor okay thank you everyone see you in two weeks yeah