Yeah, I am going to call the meeting to order. Will everyone please rise for the flag salute? 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. >> Hey, Rudess. In the event of an emergency, all people may exit right or left in 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 Heldom Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published in the North Jersey Record Herald News, the board's official newspaper on January 15, 2025 and October 19th, 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 Hailen. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerner. Mr. Ketta >> here, >> Miss Gado >> here,
>> Mr. Guzman, Mrs. Johnson >> here, >> Mr. Martinez >> here, >> and Mrs. Zissa >> here. >> Okay. So, uh, we are going to go into executive session. So, the public will have to leave during that
time. Um, we're expecting to be approximately 45 minutes. Um, and action will not be taken. Uh so if you wouldn't mind um stepping outside and when we come out of executive session you'll be
called back in. >> Thank you. >> Motion a motion to go to >> motion to go to executive session. >> A mo moved by Mr. Kleta, seconded by Mr. Martinez. All in favor? >> An action will be taken because we're going to do our board meeting when this
is over. Right. >> Yes. >> Uh but not during the executive during Okay. As long as they're clear on that. >> Right. Right. Right. Okay. Mr. >> There's chairs outside. >> There's chairs in the hallway.
>> So, that was just going to pretend that there's the Let's pick. >> Just give everybody a moment to come in and sit down. >> They were just a little higher. I don't think so. Andy, I want to move the presentations. We're going to do the VP thing first. I'd like to move the
presentations for the for the new board member steps. Is that we need a motion to do that or we just move from the agenda? >> We don't need a motion for that. really just say >> yeah I don't think anyone will reject >> okay okay
>> okay all right thank you everyone for coming um we are going to begin with the appointment of uh board vice president so uh do I have any nominations for board vice president Mr. Martinez,
>> I'd like to nominate Miss CuadraD. >> Okay, Miss CuadraD, do I have any other nominations for but board vice president? Miss Miss Johnson, >> I'd like to nominate.
>> Okay. Okay, Miss Johnson, do we have any other nominations for board vice president? Okay. So, since Miss Quadrad is nominated first, we'll begin voting first for Miss CuadraD. So, um can you
do roll call, Miss Austin? >> So, this is the roll call for the vice presidency for Mrs. >> Miss CuadraD. Okay. Mrs. Cerna. >> No.
Mr. Ketta, >> no. >> Miss, >> can I vote for that? >> Yeah, you vote for yourself. >> Mr. Guzman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Johnson, >> no. >> Mr. Martinez, >> yes. >> Mr.
>> Yes. Okay. So, that's four votes. >> That's four votes. >> So, Miss CuadraD is has is appointed vice president. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Please take your seat. Okay, congratulations. Okay, so um we had on the agenda next
the um interviews for the board members. We are going to actually move up the presentations. So we have three presentations tonight. um the special ed presentation, the NJSLA assessment results, and the um the
HIB report. So, um those are that's really good information and I think you you'll uh get a lot of presentation. So, we're going to move that up first and then we'll do the interviews. >> The board had asked about what is the like the soup to nuts of of how a student becomes an out of district. Uh
and I think it's a really good question. So, we asked Mr. Roberto Mendes, our uh special service director the past few years doing a lot of great things for us. U kind of give us a play by play of how it works. So the floor is yours, Roberto. >> We're going to get the it all set up for
him. Good evening everybody. body. Uh let me formally introduce myself. My name is Roberto Men. I'm the director of special services here. Um and I have a presentation for you as Maka indicated about procedures about um out of district placement.
Okay. So let me begin with um our our guiding bodies that support special education. Um, I'm going to refer to um this the code which is the NJAC um 6A14 of special education. That is
what drives all of our practices and procedures and protocols. Okay. I'm not a black and white person, black and white person. I I believe that there's a lot of shades of gray. Uh but when it comes to implementing the law and and programs and services, we're either implementing or we're not. Um, if we go
to uh B, and this is probably the only um uh under B, I want to highlight a couple things. Um, so I'm going to get closer because my reading lesson. Okay, I want to focus on uh cannot alternative and alternative education. So when when
a student has a disability, we we try to do what is called least restrictive least restrictive environment. um we offer comprehensive services in district which I will explain and go into more detail about but for if if the students needs um are so significant that we
cannot service them in their home school then by law we can look at alternative education and this is directly quoted from the code okay the New Jersey administrative code in special education um under five what we when when that h
when that occurs when we've identified a student that requires a more um restrictive setting. Um we look at new we have a list of New Jersey approved private schools for students with disabilities. >> Thanks. Okay. So um why not add a
district placement? Um we will we will try we have comprehensive uh programs in Hilden uh which I said I'll go into details in my future my next slides. Um but if their needs and when I refer to needs I'm talking about social emotional,
behavioral, medical, health, psychiatric and academic. It could be a combination of all. It could be it can be isolated. Um so when we look at their needs and we see that um they cannot appropriately be serviced in house or in district um then
we have to look at an at a district placement. Um this is not this is not an isolated decision. This is made by the IEP team. The IEP team consists of the child study team, school social worker, school psychologist, learning disability, a teacher consultant, uh
occupational therapist, physical therapists, uh speech and language pathologist, our behaviorists. Okay. Um, so we are what makes the IEP team and we are and besides the child study team also we have parent consent and
involvement because they're they're heavily involved in this this decision making also our teachers which are general and special ed teachers and I as I mentioned before our service um related service personnel. Thank you. >> Okay. So at it I'm going to go through a
step by step and I hope um I clearly define our procedures of how we determine to place student. Okay. The first thing is very simple. Student has to be eligible for uh special education and related services uh under 14 different classifications. Uh and they
have to have a legal document which is the pretty self-explanatory. um out of district consideration like I said when that need that I mentioned before is uh supersedes what we can deliver in your home school um
in the code um there's they refer to the LE which is a least restricted environment basically what that means is that we have to exhaust everything in house supplemental supplemental aids and services one of them and also look at our comprehensive programs that we offer
before it's justified and we have criteria and rationale for that student to go out of district. Um and then once that determination is made that that student qualifies for that district placement or is deemed appropriate for that district placement, the district is
um responsible for the tuition because there's a tuition cost um for those for those students that are placed out of district. Okay. So this these I'm going to I'm going to guide you through the step-by-step decision making how how this decision is deterred. The first
thing is is the case manager which is either the social worker, the school psychologist, the learning disability, a teacher consultant will present their findings, okay, to the director of special services which is me. Okay. Everything also goes to the parent. Parent input. Parent is you know in the
known is an active participant in this decision making. Like I said it's not it's not isolated. Then um all our decisions are data driven based on data collection. What do I mean by that? Um, student observations, um, informal or
formal. Um, we also get our related services personnel involved. Like I said, OTP speech, our behaviorist, um, if there's a behavioral issue, we create a behavioral plan in the IEP. So, we have to look at that. That's all part of our assessment, right? Our data
collection. We also review the records. I'm not going to go I'm not going to read you know everything verbatim but we're looking at the academic the social the emotional the behavioral the medical the physical overall um data to help us make the best informed decision for that
particular student and every decision is case by case and I want to highlight that it's individualized okay we also look at which is very important we review the interventions the strategies the modifications the accommodations that we've implemented we have to look at were they successful And if they
weren't, why not? We have to also give it time, frequency, and duration. Um, we have to rule of thumb, rule of thumb, four to six uh weeks per intervention. All right? And we're have so we're gathering as much data that we can in order to make the best informed decision
for that student. Um, next slide. Um so then by law um according to the code we have to have what is called uh an annual re an annual review in order to assess how that student is doing. However that doesn't necessarily mean
that we're only meeting one time a year multiple times. I'm sorry. >> Um and and this is also important honoring LE. What I mean by least restricted environment all these acronyms. So um when it comes to
programs uh in-house programs um general ed is the least restrictive right and then you have ICR which is uh inclass resource then you have pool replacement then you have self-contained and then you have out of district so least to
most restrict okay so we're really trying to um make sure that that student is supported in district but if if If if based on the data um we feel that their need supersedes what we can offer in their homeschool then we we may have to
for that additional placement. So again exhausting all supports right we also have to give a rationale in the IEP okay under LRE which we were monitored um we have to we have to identify and give a rationale and explanation as to why this
particular student right and document all the interventions and everything that's been um implemented before we consider an added district placement and that's documented in the IEP um the director of special services who I am involved directly with the case manager
um and the IEP team helping this decision. I'm directly involved in all of the decision making. Um then once we determine that we've exhausted everything um and that that particular students need supersedes what we can offer, we have to have an IEP with them.
Okay. And at that time we, you know, the parent, like I said, um they're fully aware, they're informed. We we we give them a step-by-step guide. We're extremely collaborative. um and we obtain consent in order for them to give us permission, you know, authority to
look at out of district placements, right? Um and then what happens is we send those student records to these out of district schools. Typically, uh best practices is we identify three, okay? And the case manager contacts that
school, we send out the records and then we conduct an intake. um the case manager is the district represent representative okay and they agree okay on when they go visit these intakes and these schools we'll look at
the three and then we'll sit back at the table and we'll discuss which one do we think is the most appropriate according to the code the code always says what is the most appropriate setting program for that student and we have those concrete
conversations about it Um uh so then we identify the school that of the school of choice that we feel is most appropriate. Again the IEP team makes that decision cost analysis. Now I want to be very clear about that. So at a district uh as at a district tuition
or schools um come with a price. Okay. What I want to clearly say is that we never compromise the education of that student based on that price. I want to make that very clear. Okay. So there is there is a tuition um and we look we
look at what that tuition is and we try to make the best informed decision for that particular student. Um once we identify uh the the school of choice um the school uh deals that that student is appropriate, they'll send us an an acceptance letter and then with a
student contract and that's signed um and then the student uh attends a school. Um, upon 30 days of placement, the child study team has to have a meeting with the school to make sure everything's okay, how the student is transitioning, how they're how they're
doing in the 30-day placement. Like I mentioned, uh, one time per year, we do what is called the annual review meeting in order to determine whether that program is appropriate and also determine progress. We have to assess progress. Um, and this is very important
too. Um, we're always assessing on a yearly basis whether the possibility of that student returning back to district. Every year that we have that annual review meeting, we're always asking that that school is a student um is a student ready and what does that look like that
transition plan for that student to return back to to district? And what I will tell you is last year we successfully transitioned the student back to district. >> Um, and and we're constantly trying to do that. Um so implementation of for I think I
mentioned that the last uh bullet is something that's really something out of our control. So we have neighboring towns um with students who have IEPs and they attend out of district schools, right? So by law we have to we have to offer them a comparable program and so
we can't control students coming in um and if they attend an out of district school then we have to honor that placement. But again at that annual review with the case managers we'll always assess whether that program is still appropriate for that student.
Okay. And then just finally, I just want to let you know that we were monitored last year in our practices, in our procedure. And I'm very proud to say that, you know, we met all expectations. Okay? And I want to just give a shout out to our special education teachers, our general education teachers, our
child study team, all our related services personnel because without their hard work and their due diligence, this would have been. So I'm open to comments, questions, concerns if you have any. >> I have a question. Thank you so much,
Mr. Mendes. Um so um our special ed students in the school. What is the percentage of the students who ends up you know ballpark getting placed out of district of those special ed students? >> Well I I mean I'm I'm terrible with
math. I was more like an English or history. I mean I can I can give you a number of how many students. We have 137 kids, students that are classified in house and we have 10 that go out of district. So if anybody's a math expert, you can come up with percent.
>> And those 137, they range from like the um the uh you know pull out or like the lowest level up to um self-contained. >> Correct. >> Okay. So 10 out of 137. Correct. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're very welcome.
Um, how much how much input does the parents have on picking the school year? >> A lot. >> So they can pick the most expensive or the cheapest or the middle or is it something that proceeds to the So here's the thing, right? It's about compromise
and the most appropriate. So going back to my one bullet about doing, you know, being cost uh doing that cost analysis or being costly effective. So let's just say concrete example, right? um we're looking at three schools. We got they each run again with a cost, right? So we
we identified two and again I want I want to be very crystal clear when I say this. We will never compromise the quality of education for a student. However, if one if one school is more cost effective to the district, we strongly consider that.
>> And we're legally obligated to show parent at least three schools. >> Well, absolutely. That's best practices. How many schools are in the area? >> So they go out of um the county too. >> Oh yeah, there's P, Bergen County, Hass County. I mean we try to narrow the
transportation between a 30 and 40 45 minute commute because we don't want to go over that. I mean it's not fair for a student to be on a bus at home. >> So we try to always target the more most more closer schools. >> Right. >> Go ahead. Um, has there ever been a comparison on
the total of tuition spent on out of district schools versus providing the services or getting those services in our school? >> That's a great question and what I would tell you is we did a cost an um program analysis last year um and we identified
we're creating it's program it's program development basically. So, we um fortunately were able to um hire a very great teacher and we have a classroom right now that target targets a very specific population of behaviors that
that that's going to help us um keep students in their home community which honors race. >> Thank you. >> You're very welcome. >> How often have I know you haven't brought one back this year. Is it is it rare to bring a student back placement?
>> Is it rare? Um, no. It's rare. It's not rare. No, it's not rare. >> How many qualities do you get back to? >> Well, I what I can say is I can only speak for myself. I've been just in my fourth year here and in my four years we were able to successfully bring back
one. >> Any other questions? Well, thank you so much. Sorry, just >> I'm sorry, Mrs. I thought you were looking this way. >> Yeah, I'm sorry. It's only for the board, but you can always ask questions during the public portion. Okay. Thank
you, Mr. Mendes. >> Thank you very much. for the other. >> Okay. Okay. So, now we will go on to the second presentation which is the NJSLA assessment results. >> Very cool. Thank you, Bill. Hopefully I do well quicker. It works from over
here. Uh so the three things we're going to go over uh the first two required the overview of our test scores or assessment scores from last year. Uh we're going to talk about the summary of each grade and the three subjects for ELA uh mathematics and science. And here's one we don't have to do, but um
this board uh during our when we created our fiveyear strategic plan um I think the board wisely asked like let's see the data of students who are here for more than a year or two uh versus students who come because we have like a probably about 26 27% transcency rate
not even including the kindergarteners and and the preschoolers and the eighth graders. So let's see how kids do that have been here for a while versus kids that you know come and go. So we wanted to take a look at that and then we look by program. So, I'm going to run through some of these. Uh, on this slide, the the first thing that I think should jump
out is our ELA uh went up 5% overall. That's our proficiency. And what upward mobility means is there are five different levels you could score on this assessment. Uh, this is the percentage of students um who went from one level to the next. So, they went from one to
two or two to three or three to four or or four to five. Uh, our math went down 1%. M our math have been doing really well the last couple years and the upper the upward mobility is also at negative -2% there and I don't think you can see the science one on this slide but on my
uh on my screen our science went up a total of 9% and a 2% upward mobility. So if I just click once I should go to the next slide and it worked. So this slide uh talks about our achievement summary by uh subject test
level and I'll let you guys uh you know this is all going to be put on our website. Um, it's all going to be emailed to our parents at the end of next week, so everyone's going to get a chance to kind of digest at their pace. Um, but here's where we're at, uh, with ELA, with math, and with science.
Our next slide is going to talk about u the percent or meet the percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations. So, in order to get uh in order to meet or exceed, you have to get a score of a four or in the five range group. This is the percentage
of our students in these grades that have done that for ELA and math. This slide talks about our comparison with the state for English language arts. Um, we see that the states slightly ahead of us in in in most in all grade levels u to a certain degree
for all the grade levels. And then I'm doing this of my thing as well. Our next slide is going to be um anyway I can get rid of this up top. There we go. The I'm having trouble trying to do from my
screen to yours. Student achievement over time. So the students um in this range these students right here are also these students right here or also these students right here or also these students right here. Um so we're seeing in certain grade and this is what we talk about in our
professional learning communities. Uh we look to see what what each grade level is doing and what each sub and subgrade level is doing uh on a on a variety of skills. Bring this down. Our next slide is going to talk about I wish I could see this as
well as I want to. Uh student achievement over time for um for ELA uh percent meeting and exceeding expectations grade three to grade four, grade four to five, five to six and so on.
Our next slide is our ELA achievement mobility. So this talks about uh the amount of students that have uh went from one range to the next whether from from uh red to yellow or from yellow to
to green uh and vice versa. Now we're going to talk about our math comparison scores with the state. Uh we see that we're slightly behind in every grade except for there in eighth grade where we actually overtake the state by about 10 points. Our
next slide is our student achievement over time in math. It's the same thing that we talked about um with our ELA except these scores are for mathematics. Again, this is a four-year comp. The students at the far right become the ones the next column in the previous year. And you see where the data the
data shows us there. Same thing for ELA. Here, here's our uh math achievement mobility comparison. We see most of our students for for almost all grades in ELA and math are in that yellow that that yellow zone.
And here's my I'll give a little opine about the science test. Um, whenever there's a statewide test and every school district at its best is seeing even the even the highest performing schools are seeing like a 20 25% pass rate, it means that the standards that
the test makers are saying that they're they're testing us on are not the standards they're telling us to to teach. There's a clear disconnect. And when when you see even the highest ranking schools scoring an 8% or a 10% or 12% uh efficiency rating, um it it it
shows that the test is is is flawed. And I also think too with HPS especially, we we kind of dove head first into an idea of problemsbased learning or solutions-based learning uh with our STEM and with our science classes uh where students work together
collaboratively to solve problems and use resources to solve problems. Uh whereas this test is is is mostly a memorization test. So um I I think they're two different and memorization does have value to a degree. Um but but I think the the college and career
readiness I think the problems and solution based learning tasks I know that's what I would want my son to be to be part of. So we're seeing that this data is what it is but you know take it with a grain of salt. Um so now we're at let me move down my
slides to catch up. Um our ELA scores by grade the left is the students that are not meeting. Uh the orange is the partially, the yellow is the approaching and the the ones that are meeting expectation is the I guess the lime
green. This is the same for grade four, grade five. And the dark green is ones that are exceeding expectations. Uh grade six, grade seven, grade eight.
Let me catch up with my screen. So, anybody can get rid of this top thing here. >> Yeah, unfortunately the you're sharing. >> I I can't get rid of it. >> All right. >> Maybe. Oh, look at that. Who thought
whoever said that idea? Thank you. Um I've been out of the class for so long it's showing. Um, grade seven math, >> grade eight ELA. So, now we're going to look at something I think is kind of interesting, and this
is the students um who have been here a couple years versus the students that are taking the test at Hen Public for the first time. Um so you know the the idea was let's see if if you give us time to work with the kid you know what can we do right um and we're seeing here
um the scores of our cohort population here versus the non-cohort scores of our cohort non-cohort cohort non-cohort cohort non-cohort cohort cohort non-cohort and you move this now
they learned how to do it uh overall all we're seeing that if you give us time to work with kids like we're going to be successful but we're going to make inroads and we're going to get the you know the the ball rolling in in a very positive direction. Um and the kids that we just get of course we're still going
to you know do everything we can for them and work with them. Um, and if they ste stay with us for a couple years, we believe we're going to get them to a higher plateau, right? Um, and and like I said, we're at a school where, as any staff member that works here will tell
you, you're going to see an email every two days probably saying, "We're welcoming these new students or we're saying goodbye to these four students." Um, and that's just the reality of being an HBS employee, an HBS teacher, right? Um, so I think that at least gave us
some some some peace of mind to see that. Um, and we see that this is just a a subset of the cohort achievement and their growth. Um, and again, I'll share this with with every parent and uh all the staff and we're going to put it on the website. So, we'll kind of dive into
it a little further. Uh, but you know, Miss Troy and Miss Ramos or their two academic coaches, they they put a whole lot of elbow grease into this and I know Miss Pozano worked very hard in this as well. Same thing with the math cohort and their growth. We see if we have you
for a while. You know, generally speaking, you're going to see positive things. >> And it should be noted that we have to test everybody. So, the kids can come in a week before the test happens, then you have to test. >> You're not supposed to see accordingly. But I I appreciate I I will echo your sentiment. So I appreciate that. Thank
you, Miss Pozano. >> Again, here's more specific minutia data about, you know, what what Miss Poano, Miss Troy, Miss Ramos, and all the PLC teams. This is, you know, familiar territory to them. Um, and now we're going to talk about, you know, we have certain programs. We have our uh English
learners program or ELLL. We have uh students that don't have an IEP, but they have certain accommodations. That's what a section 504 plan is. Our special ed students mean they have an individualized learning plan. Our general ed students are our general ed
students. So our ELLL scores are on the left. Students that don't have an IEP but do have certain modifications to how they're um you know they're assessed and how they're treated and handled. Our special services population and our general education population.
>> Can I ask a question? >> Go ahead. >> Um do they all take the same test? the ELLs and the special ed and the general >> to >> the best of my knowledge gener is govern I can ask you >> yeah now you can talk >> okay um so yes now they do moving into this year they will not this week we're
field testing the test that will be given in the spring and it's adaptive so it's going to be based on the child's ability and everybody's test question will be different so when this data is presented next year the correlation is going to be very different because it's a completely different test that they're
taking >> yeah we don't even know what that looks like we say, right? >> Well, they took a small sampling of, you know, >> questions just to give back to the state, but we're not getting that report back. It doesn't come back. We don't see results. We don't know what the kids are doing. It's just field testing,
different questions to gauge what we need those students to do. So then it could be better. So the results, it's my next question was going to be the adaptive testing. You know, is that going to affect the progress that we're making? it could be better if it's
adaptive because um you know if it's going to be based on their ability they might do >> so I think the right answer is like your train of thoughts are right um I I think the right answer for us is IDK we we don't know really exactly what it's going to look like or how it's going to you know correlate or or compute uh but
I you I'm not all with that said I don't automatically assume it's going to be a negative for us you know so I I agree with that >> okay I'm sorry go ahead >> um again our ELA proficiency um via program, our math proficiencies, uh, ELLL versus
the accommodations, uh, versus special, not versus in accordance to special services, in accordance to our general ed population distribution chart and then our science. And if you really want to get a look at
the science statewide average, it's it's kind of crazy. And that's our presentation. Um, if there's any questions, I can take them now or afterwards or we could go to Mr. Spado's report. >> Any question from board members, >> Mike?
>> All right. Uh, first question. Last year when, uh, we did this testing, we ended up uh, fourth from the bottom uh, in county. Uh, we're again below state average. do you in both math and English? Um it's great to see though
that the students that are here are progressing. Um do you anticipate based on what we have here that we are going to remain in the bottom quarter of the county or do you think we have made improvement in that? >> So the last three years we've seen that positive results and that's what I'm looking to see.
>> Any other questions? >> Yeah. Well, thank you so much Mr. Rocka. think it's very encouraging to see the improvement and I think that's based on the hard work of the teachers >> um the administrators >> and um and the students too you know the
stu I know there's been a big effort yeah yeah there's been a a big effort the past couple of years to really um get students on board with preparing kids for the testing and not not in terms of studying but just getting a good night's sleep having a good meal so
that's the students and that's the parents and families themselves too. So really everybody's, you know, doing a good job and, you know, we we may not be at the top of the list, but we're improving and that's what we want to see. We're going in the right direction. So thank you. >> Um, okay. And then I will turn it over
to Mr. Spazado. >> Good evening. So this is our 2425 HIV self assessment. Just to be clear, it's essentially it has nothing to do with the number of HIVs that were filed in a year. a district essentially could have a hundred complaints that were all founded to be true and still get a high
theoretically get a high score. Conversely, you could have a district that gets zero HIV complaints and have a low score. It's more it's not about the number of HIVs being filed. It's about what a district is doing to combat HIV. So, our score went up from the previous year uh 65 out of 78. That's the third
year in a row it's increased. I'm not going to go through the entire report because it's rather long and kind of rather cumbersome, but I'll spotlight some things I important to know. Um, so we were at 65 of 78. Essentially the way it works is you're going to get a bunch of core components and subsets and then
it's rated zero to three. Zero means essentially you did nothing. The district did nothing in that area. One being you were below expectations or below the state requirements. Two means you met the requirement and three means you exceeded the state requirement in that area. So 4A was the one area that
we increased on from a two which means we were meeting the state requirement. we went went above and beyond uh to this 4. So 4A um credit for this does not go to me. Credit for this goes to Miss Cosgrove, our counselor who we had a every district has a week of respect in
October. We then doubled down our efforts in the spring with a ton of different events for the kids that touched on emotion regulation, anti-bullying, conflict resolution, um information to parents being sent home um through Muzum, which I'll touch on later, but Miss Cosgrove did an amazing
job. She's a tremendous asset to this district in terms of the work she did in the spring which was able to bring that particular score from a two from the previous year to a three. I would also direct your attention to core element seven. This is an area where we were at
all threes last year. We were at all threes the year before that and we were at all threes this previous year. This is in terms of the state reporting the requirements of timelines. So, we have two fantastic anti-bullying specialists, Miss Berus, Miss Costello. Even if
someone's sick, even if we're busy, even if there's a lot going on, we never ever ever miss a deadline in terms of completing the report within 10 school days, in terms of having the written report to the superintendent, in terms of notifying all offenders and victims
of the outcome. All right. So, that is something that our two anti-bullying specialists, it's we have 10 school days. So if someone filed tomorrow, even with teachers convention, it wouldn't affect us. We'd have 10 school days. We usually have them done in half the time. All right? And that's regardless of who's out, who's sick. Um that is kind
of big area of pride for us in terms of like I said, if the parent files, we get back to you with the information, good or bad, offender or victim. All right. I would also direct your attention to the end in terms of the number of reports that were filed but not investigated. So
like most districts, we file the 28 we follow the 2018 amended HIV statute. The original statute allowed essentially a parent or anybody could file an HIV complaint and regardless of witnesses evidence, the school would then have to investigate. So theoretically, if a
parent came in tomorrow and someone filed 25 HIV complaints against 25 students, the district then had to investigate. 2018 the state changed the statute which allows the superintendent to deny a frivolous claim retalatory
claim or just these kids haven't liked each other since first grade or I don't like one mom doesn't like another mom and problems like that. So last year in the previous years we have had a few where we have denied based on lack of evidence or um you know lack lack of evidence is the the major one. Last year
we had none. That was mostly due to our efforts in terms of explaining to parents the difference between bullying and conflict. Two major major things. So even if something happens that's bad, it's it's going to be a code of conduct issue, which means your kid pushed another kid in the playground yesterday,
but they left out the fact the day before that the other kid pushed them. So it's not so much one side, it's mutual. And that's a big issue when we meet with meet with parents, child study team, guidance counselors, explaining to them bullying versus conflict. Two
different things. Either way they're bad. Either way they get handled either code of conduct or through HIV. Um I would also touch upon um what we've done in terms of our HIV education for students. U Miss Cosro again with all the effort she's put in in terms of our
initiatives, assemblies, Miss Costello, Miss Rome pushing into classrooms to get better grades. Um, we pay for Muzum. Woom is our our elementary curriculum. So, for last year, uh, grades K through two, we sent children home with essentially a packet for
parents with, you know, things you can do at home to prevent bullying, conflict resolution, emotional regulation for students. Um, I would also touch on, um, where we Yeah, I would touch on, like I said, the efforts of also our teachers who are the first line of defense in letting someone know,
guidance counselor, an administrator, child study team member of something going on. Even before it gets to a a two, it's at a one. I noticed this. Immediately, let the guidance counselor know. Let the child study team member know. We take care of it. All right? If we find a kid in the hallway crying, we don't just say, "Go back to class." We
always, always, always meet with that student. Mom, what happened? It could be nothing, but we will never abandon a kid who see upset in the hallway for any reason. Could have been they got an argument with their mom coming to school. We will still get them, talk to them. We will not just send them to class and say, "Have a good day." Okay.
So, just to kind of repeat, like I said, 65 of 78 we met or exceeded expectations in every uh category. Um, and the big one, like I said, the reason we went up from last year was we had that that second week of respect in the spring and this Cosgrove's efforts and the efforts
of our our guidance department and our teachers. >> Thanks, Dave. No problem. >> Have any questions for Mr. Spazado? >> Well, thank you so much, Mr. Z and it um we're so pleased that the rate has gone up and we hope that it keeps going up.
>> Alrighty, we get to the agenda. Those were very good presentations and just all good information for the board to know, for the public to know. So, thank you to everybody who presented. Um so, now we
are going to jump back to our uh board candidate interviews. So what during that time um the candidates the candidate who is being interviewed will sit move up
>> and the other candidates will be asked to go I think they're going to be in the teachers lounge >> or they're chairs outside or I think that >> okay yeah so while each inter watch while each candidate is being interviewed and then once that candidate is done they will be asked to go and the
next one will come in. So um we can start with we're going to just go down the list in the order that's here. We will start with um Terrell Hannah. So could u Mr. Hannah please um come forward and will the other candidates
please step outside? I think we're going to need to close the door. >> Yeah. >> Let me just make sure. >> Okay. So, Okay, y'all ready? Okay.
>> All righty. So, uh, Mr. Hannah, thank you so much for, um, applying for this seat. Um, our board is going, we're going to ask you questions. Uh, we're going to go one by one. Um and we will
we'll go from there. Okay. So, we're going to just go in the order of the roll call. So, um Miss Cerna, can you please begin? >> Why do you want to be a boy? >> I think it's good to have a voice in the communities that you live in, especially
when it comes to our children, our youth. Uh I think it's imperative for all of us to play a part and this is one of the ways I think I can play a part in that process. Mr. Plat, >> can you tell us one thing that uh
separates you from the other candidates that you think in your opinion would separate you from the other candidates? >> I have a passion for children. I have three two of my children went to the school. One actually still goes there. Um, not only that, my career path kind of drove me to be part of higher
education, higher learning and understanding the disciplines of managing. And I think having a great educational piece to managing kind of goes hand in hand. So that's what I would say. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Um,
Miss Pado, >> what specific skills would you bring to the board? uh openmindedness um going with the heart and not just an agenda um and having a voice.
>> Okay, Mr. business. >> What do you see as a role of a school board member >> to participate and help mold and guide and give direction to what we think the curriculum should be as well as communicate well with the rest of the
parents and the communities. >> Okay. Uh Mrs. Johnson, >> please describe your previous community or nonprofit experience. Uh most recently I was part of the planning and zoning board for the city of the
township development. Um yeah. >> Okay. Mr. Martinez, >> what areas would you like to strengthen in our district? >> I think communication curriculum. uh
that probably be my biggest pri you know biggest priority is education and you know strengthen the curriculum. >> Okay. Um please describe a situation in a professional setting so it could be paid or volunteered in which you had to
work as part of a team to overcome a challenge and bring about a successful outcome. What was the challenge? what did you and the others do and what was the outcome? >> Uh, sorry about to speak on the profession side. So, I work for this
small small restaurant chain called Shake Shack and I'm the director of the facilities and construction there. So, one of the things me and my team had to overcome a Sydney ordinance. So, I was in a planning zoning board to open up a
restaurant in uh Kentucky. And so we kind of all worked together, dialed in, understand what we needed to present to the board to get approval for our drive-thru uh concept that we were building. And we pulled from all parts, you know, we pulled from different departments,
different disciplines, uh worked closely with the mayor and the city to to make that happen. And successfully we were able to be granted that those success certifications to move forward in the project. All right. Thank you. Um, Miss Ma, would
you like to ask the second question? >> Um, are we still going from the list? Right. >> Are you aware of the time and training commitments that it takes to do? >> I have an idea. So, to give you a correct answer, I don't, but my schedule
is uh flexible. So, um I will be a bully in present participants. >> Mr. nothing. >> Um, Miss Bado, uh, there's someone ask that one.
>> What areas would you like to strengthen in our district? What would you believe are the are the major strengths of our district? >> What do you believe are the major strengths of our district? uh community. I think we do have a strong community base. Uh it's a small
town, big town, but we kind of seem to all know each other from passing around. I think that's that that culminates a lot u when it comes to, you know, being part of something special like the board of education. >> Um Mr. Guzman,
>> no further questions, Madam President. >> Okay. Uh Mrs. Johnson, >> nothing further. Thank you. >> Okay, Mr. Martinez. >> Okay. And then Alice, if you're appointed, do you plan to run for another term for the Hen Board of Education when this term that you're
applying for has ended? >> Absolutely. >> Okay. Okay. So, those are all the questions that we have. Um we will we're going to ask you to step outside and then if you would like to
wait around we will you know we're going to discuss it in executive session and then we'll come back and hopefully we'll be ready to appoint to Yes. So everybody, you have to ask the same questions that you asked the first
candidate for all of the candidates. Hello. Okay. So, uh, you you jumped right in here. If you could just give give me one moment. Hello Mr. Hussein. Right. So, Mr. Hussein, thank you so much for
applying for the open board seat. Um, we are going to ask you, we're each going to ask you a couple of questions. Um, and just answer to the best of your ability. Okay. >> So, uh, Miss Getta, please I'm sorry, Miss Mrs. Cerna, please begin. >> Uh, why do you want to be a board
member? Well, >> first of I live in seven Bush area. My name is Luke Maros. I'm living there 30 years uh in the corner of the Rosa city hall.
I grew my four kids, four daughter in public school. They all graduate from the public school. The three graduate college already and last one running start in college. This
this this is the first year and I love the header public school and I like to if I get the opportunity love to serve the board of education member commissioner
it is. >> Thank you Mr. Cla. Can you tell us one thing that you believe separates you from the other candidates for this position? >> I don't know. >> No, you don't >> separate the other candidate.
>> No. Uh what makes you what makes you stand out from the candidate? >> Better. So I try to make a good good, you know, better. >> Thank you. Um, Miss Quadrad, >> please give specific examples of your
ability in interpersonal relationships and teamwork. >> Yes, relationship to teamwork. I want to I want to like work with the teamwork the all other teacher everyone.
Okay. Mr. Guzman. >> Sarah, what do you see as a role of a school board member? >> I see everything is good going everything. I like to involve with the
as a as a good team as a good school. I'm trying to get them. >> Understood. Thank you, >> Mrs. Johnson. Could you describe your previous community or nonprofit experience?
>> I serve I serve uh my community lot and I right now I'm as a planning zoning commission for I'm serving this as I try to involve with the school commissioner also that's
why I interview with you guys today. >> Thank you. Okay, Mr. Martinez, >> what areas would you like to strengthen in our district? >> Good work. Good work. I try to do my
best to work with all other >> any specific areas in the district that you'd like to >> Yes. >> Prospect Park is in town north.
>> Right. Right. Um, what I'm saying is, uh, what would you like to strengthen here? >> What would you like to improve at Hen Public School? >> The education. >> Okay. >> Education. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, this is a
multi >> also. Sorry. >> Can I share that? >> Yeah. Also I like to if I get involved I like to uh halal food halal food for our student you know a lot of Muslim student
that we like our student like our kids like the halal food all other neighbor city the prospect part they serve I think halal food they serve halal food we do >> actually public school does offer no absolutely
>> yes We do. >> Um, okay. So, please describe a situation in a professional setting, which could be paid or volunteer, in which you had to work as part of a team to overcome a challenge and bring about
a successful outcome. What was the challenge? What did you and the others do and what was the outcome? >> Work hard. work hard as a my personal with the other all member or commissioner try to bring the best
effort I put my best effort in there and try to do the good job >> okay Miss Jenna um are you aware of the time that you need to have here as a board member
you have the time in order to be a board Okay. Um, Mr. Colada. Oh, no. I'm sorry. You you Yes, you you went. >> Thank you. >> Um, Miss Miss Quadrano, >> what specific skills would you bring to the board? Education
perspective that is the most important thing in student education to the student good result grade put the grade up I try to best >> what are your skills what skills
>> to the grade most good grade for the student >> okay thank you Miss Johnson Mr. Martinez. Okay. So, my second question, if you are appointed, do you plan to run for another term on
the Hailen Board of Education when this term that you're applying for has ended? >> Yes. >> Okay. Okay. And M. Quadrto, please ask that other question that you asked the first candidate, which is uh >> what do you believe are the major strengths in our district?
>> The education. Okay. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Hussein. Um, we're going to now ask you to step outside and we will interview our next speaker. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> See who's next.
>> Okay. question. No, don't ask that other one anymore. Yeah, don't ask it anymore. >> You can just disregard his answer. >> Hello, Mrs. Leon. Thank you so much for
um applying for the position of the open board seat. We're going to ask you some questions and just answer to the best of your ability. >> Absolutely. >> So, Miss Cerna, please begin. >> I want to be a board member because I believe that
one of the best ways to support our children is through making the school as strong as it can possibly be. I spent a lot of time as a teacher myself and that chapter over. But I believe that in supporting the teacher
administration, supporting the school to be as strong as possible, we can create the best environment for our children. >> Thank you. Mr. Ketta, >> can you tell us one thing that in your opinion separates yourself from the other candidates for this position?
Well, I don't know the other candidates, so that's a difficult one to answer. Um, I have experience in the classroom. I was a teacher for a long time. I worked in administration for a while. Um, I
homeschooled my own children. So, I have experience in evaluating curriculum, in looking at evidence-based strategies and methods in the classroom. I have experience implementing those things and knowing what it looks like both from the inside and from the outside. Um, and I
have two little girls in school that mean the world to me and making this a good place for them and supporting them and having the best way is very >> Thank you. >> And what do you believe are the major strengths of our district?
>> Our teachers. Uh, our teachers are incredibly skilled and compassionate. They're well trained and they're incredibly hardworking. Um, aside from that, I believe that the diversity in our community is just incredible. It's unfathomably
incredible. Um, the way that the community has welcomed outsiders. When we moved into this this town in 2018, um our neighbors came out and said hello and met us at the door and when we decided to attend the school
here, we were welcomed with open arms. Um I think that this community is has a lot of strength to it. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Guzman. >> What do you see as a role of a school board member?
The school board should be helping to create and oversee the policies that guide the school. We should not be focused on the minutiae but on the bigger picture so that we can
work to be fiscally responsible to be ethically responsible and to support the community that we're in. Mrs. Johnson, >> please describe your previous community or nonprofit experience.
>> I sit on the board of the NJ um CPM, which is the New Jersey chapter of NACPM, which is the Midwifrey of North America uh governing body. So, in New Jersey, we have the NJCPM, the secretary
on the board. Um, I have I'm a community midwife. Um, so I do a lot of child birth education classes. I as much as possible for free in communities that do not have access to
those. Um, something. >> Thank you. >> Okay, Mr. Martinez, >> what areas would you like to strengthen in our district? I would like to strengthen the support of our
teachers. I would like to strengthen the cooperation between the teachers and the administration and the school board. I would like to bring more a greater sense of community so that there is uh participation and
involvement from the parents. I think that we can achieve that through greater transparency and community involvement from the board to the parents so they know what's being voted on and why they should take part. I think a lot of parents don't know why they should take part and I think that we can do better
job with that. >> Okay. So, please describe a situation in a professional setting, paid or volunteer, in which you had to work as part of a team to overcome a challenge and bring about a successful outcome. What was the challenge? What did you and
the others do and what was the outcome? That's a fun one. Um, I have been recently with the other midwives in the state of New Jersey to join with legislators to pass legislation to protect birth choice in
New Jersey. um that has been especially challenging because there are many misunderstandings and different viewpoints on what should be protected and available for birth choice. Um so having many many many
meetings and call parties and uh sessions to bring education to the public about why this is important to protect has been a particular challenge. um increasing uh participation from the communities
that we are trying to serve has been an incredible challenge. Um we are moving and have some momentum even though there's a lame duck session currently and we are very very hopeful that legislation will be passed in this.
>> Thank you. Okay, back to Miss Cerna. Are you aware of the time and then that is open? >> I believe so. >> Yes. >> Okay. Let's see who has this quadr.
>> What specific skills would you bring to the board? >> I am known for being very calm and being very levelheaded. I believe that I have a particular skill in finding
common ground with people and being able to create relationships um so that we can build from a place of common ground and trust. Uh um my question, if you are appointed, do
you plan to run for another term on the Hamilton Board of Education when this term for which you are applying has ended? >> If I were appointed, yes, I would run. >> Okay, that concludes our questions. Thank you, Miss Leang. And if you please
step outside and then um hopefully you can wait around. Okay. This person. Mr. Garcia, thank you so much for applying for this open board seat. Um, each of the board members is going to
ask you a couple of questions and then just answer to the best of your ability. >> Okay. So, we'll begin with Miss Cerna. >> Um, I'm very passionate about education and so I've seen in education effective leadership and how that can impact
student. >> Hey, Mr. Cla. Can you tell us one thing that's unique to you that separates you from the other candidates for this position? >> Uh, I don't know the other candidates, but I have experience in education and I
oversee a program now. So, I think I can bring my abilities to board as well. >> Thank you, >> Miss Petta. >> What do you believe are the major strengths in our district? U well given the presentations today
that you see in fulfill of growth and continuing that is what is the primary goal at least that's what it should be >> Mr. Gizman. >> Yes ma'am. Um what do you see as a role
of a school board member? >> A school board member uh enforces policies whereas the administrators of the school they follow that. >> Uh Mrs. Johnson please describe your previous community or nonprofit
experience. Well, with community, I have a lot of experience with community just because I'm in education now. Um, so I see a lot of the challenges and rewards in being being in education and some of the challenges can be um
making sure you make a breakthrough for a child or a student. Uh, and some of the rewards is just seeing that growth. Um okay, Mr. Martinez, >> what areas would you like to strengthen
in our district? >> Probably collaboration between the community, the parents and the students itself so that everybody's moving towards a positive direction. Okay. Please describe a situation in a
professional setting, paid or volunteer, in which you had to work as part of a team to overcome a challenge and bring about a successful outcome. What was the challenge? What did you and the others do and what was the outcome?
>> Uh so a challenge that I tend to see a lot in my program is uh what we call remediation or tutoring. if a student is falling behind and making sure that you have all the proper resources, dedicating time to them so that you can
uh make that progress uh be foreseen for that student, helping them where they are able to understand what it is that they're studying or what it is that their goal is and making sure that you're providing all opportunities for them. And so when we tend to do that,
um I can see um like you see the light bulb go off and I think that's a big reward when it comes to challenges with um students overall. >> Thank you. Okay, back to Miss Cerna.
>> Are you aware of the time that it takes? >> Yes, you are willing to commit. I am willing to be dedicated and committed to this. >> See, Miss Bado, >> what specific skills would you bring to the board?
>> Um, I think that in my experience now, I have a lot of organizational skills and I think I can bring that forward. Okay. If you are appointed, do you plan to run for another term on the Halen
Board of Education when this term for which you are applying has ended? Yes. Okay. Okay. Those are our questions. Um, thank you. And if you please step outside, we'll continue with
That's all right. >> Evening, Mrs. Fisher. Thank you so much for applying for the position of the open board seat. Um, each board member is going to ask you a couple of questions and just answer to the best of your ability. Great. >> Okay. So, Mrs. Cerna, >> I'm gonna ask these two together that
way >> the two that you've been asking. >> Okay. Um, why do you want to be a board member and you are you aware of the time and commitment that it takes to do? >> Okay. You have like a half an hour.
All right. Uh why do I want to be a board member? Because I would like to continue the work that I had done here for 21 years as a former board member. 16 years as president of Manchester Regional High School as well. Um I spent
a lot of time here in school. I had two children that went through um Halen in Manchester. Um a lifetime PTA member as well. Um, I worked in the kindergarten. I worked in the office. Um, I've seen
every aspect of how a school is run and I would like to continue that and help out wherever I can. >> Oh, and are you aware of the time commitment? >> Oh, absolutely. Been there for that. Yes. >> Okay. Mr. Plat,
>> can you tell us one thing that is unique to you that separates you from the other candidates? >> Um, just a little bit, right? >> And um like I said, I would love to come back and and help out wherever I can and
to share my expertise on um you know, I'm I can hit the ground running basically because I've taken I've had a lot of training. I've also taught classes on um shared services throughout the district because that was
instrumental in um taking care of doing shared services with the superintendent, BA, and other aspects um of the board. Um so, um I don't want to take too much of your time up by saying all the other things I've done, but uh I think that
>> Thank you. >> No problem. Okay, Miss Vado, >> what specific skills would you bring to the board? >> Specific skills I would bring to the board. Again, my knowledge of the workings um as a board member, I know
the fact that you I well I'm not I do not run the school or any of us do not run the school board members. We make sure the school is running well. We rely on our superintendent VA principles um to give us the information that we need
and to rely on um things like that. >> Thank you. >> Okay, >> Mr. Gizman. >> Go on. >> Okay, >> go ahead. >> What do you see as a role of a school board member? >> I just said that make sure that the
school is run well. We don't run the school. We support our staff. We support our administrators. We make sure that everything is run well. And for our number one priority, which is the students here at Gil Public, um they are
the people that we are here for to serve to serve them. >> Mrs. Johnson. >> Please describe your previous community or nonprofit. Okay. I I'll I'll actually um go through
that again. Um 21 years experience as a board member. Um on Halen, I was elected and then ran for Manchester successfully and became a board member there. again 16 years as president of the Manchester Regional High School of Board of
Education um instrumental in um starting shared services with the district. Um I again worked in the district and also uh lifetime PTA member um a parent of
two children who were um who came through the school and um it's very important to serve our community and to support our students and our staff. >> Mr. Martinez,
>> what areas would you like to strengthen in our district? Um, I would like to have a I would like to strengthen our, you know, work all together as a board to make sure we're all on the same page to
make sure that we have the best uh staff for our students here. And that's what I'd like to strengthen. Our community input is very important and to, like I say, hire the best um personnel for the district.
Okay. >> Please describe a situation in a professional setting, paid or volunteer, in which you had to work as part of a team to overcome a challenge and bring about a successful outcome. What was the challenge? What did you and the others
do? And what was the outcome as a board member? >> It could be anything, volunteer, paid, any professional uh setting. Okay. Um, we like I again talking about how we
were with our superintendent and how we should um how we should go about hiring somebody to do a shared service. That was very challenging because when we first
talked about it uh at the high school and this level here at inhalen there were a lot of people who were a little bit apprehensive about it. Our county superintendent wasn't happy about it. Said we can't do it and it's been very
successful. It was very successful. We saved millions of dollars for the the burrow of Halen with shared services. So that was a challenge to us. Um again a successful role that we played in that
and um I think that that says it all. I like I say it's we do it we are here for the students. We're here for the staff. So as long as everybody we have a good education system here. We are an example. Believe it or not, we are an
example for all a lot of towns around because of our wonderful reputation with our staff, what we offer here in Halen. Um, so we should all be proud of that. Thank you.
Okay, so now let's see, just have a couple more questions. Miss Quad, what do you believe are the major strengths in our district? The >> major strengths of our district. >> Did you ask this one first? I did this.
>> Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> The major strength in this district. >> They are our strengths. They are the ones who are molding our young students. And I I I give them a lot of credit. I really do. >> Sure.
>> They have a lot of them I worked with many many years ago. and they're still here and that's a testament to Halen because you know you look at a lot of districts people it's a it's a revolving door but because of them
that's that makes Hen successful. >> Okay. And the last question um if you are appointed do you plan to run for another term on the Hen Board of Education when this term for which you are applying has ended? >> Oh my goodness. barely throwing that one out there at me
right now. >> Right on the spot. >> Oh, yeah. Um, >> is that your final answer? >> I would have to think about that, but right now I I'm very focused on the job at hand. >> Okay, very good. Thank you. So, that
concludes our questions. Thank you so much. >> Thank you so much. >> Okay, great. >> One of the may >> Okay. Gregory on time. >> Okay. Good evening, Mr. Williams. Thank
you so much for applying for the position of the open board seat. Uh each board member is going to ask you some questions and just answer to the best of your ability. >> Okay, go ahead. Ma, >> um why do you want to be a board member and do you realize the climate
commitment that it takes to be a board member? Um, I want to be a board member because uh I've always liked uh learning and um local government functions and uh half over half my life has been of service to
the country with the military. I'm a sergeant in my local municipality for police department. So my life has always been giving back and um I've worked in school as a school resource officer. So I'll just give back to the kids and just
seeing that learning is a a unique experience for myself. >> Thank you. Mr. Cla, >> can you tell us one thing unique to you that you believe separates you from the other candidates? One thing that separates me from other candidates is uh I would say my
experience around the world and just training and um in different environments, different cultures, different people and being able to adapt and uh be innovative in certain things.
>> Thank what specific skills would you bring to the board? specific skills to board. Um I would say um my communication skills. I went to school for communications. Um
I like dealing with uh children and uh I feel like I have that that niche with I can uh deal with children in certain different ways and reach out to them. So, I don't know if the board deals with that directly, but I feel
like I can have an impact that >> Mr. Gman. >> Yeah. What do you see as a role of a school board member? >> What do I see as the role of a school board member? um being able to I guess manage
the the budget, the resources that the um the school is uh given and to um disseminate it accordingly. >> Mrs. Johnson, please describe your
previous community or nonprofit experience. Well, um my community experience and nonprofit probably coincide together. I'm on a a nonprofit board for charity uh military organization that uh
provides uh resources to soldiers, airmen, marines all around the world. And um we do a lot of um things in conjunction with uh different supermarkets and different uh
corporations to give back to troops all around the world to the moral warfare. >> Thank you. >> Okay, Mr. Martinez. >> Yes. Uh what areas would you like to strengthen in our district?
I would have to um look at the totality of what you have on your table too before I can uh really answer that question. But I would like to put out you know some uh
innovation type of learning resources in conjunction with technologies. >> Okay. Uh please describe a situation in a professional setting paid or volunteer in which you had to work as part of a
team to overcome a challenge and bring about a su successful outcome. What was the challenge? What did you and the others do and what was the outcome? >> You repeat the question. >> Yeah, sure.
So please describe a situation in a professional setting which could be paid or volunteer in which you had to work as part of a team to overcome a challenge and bring about a successful outcome. So what was the challenge? What did you and
the others do and what was the outcome? >> Okay. Um I'll jump into my law enforcement experience. Um that's what I do on a daily basis. Um, we had limited time to execute a a search warrant with three different
agencies coming together and no one really had any tactical experience. So, I utilize, you know, my training from the military and just um thinking thinking on our feet, you know, and um
first everybody was safe and uh executed everything efficient. um success was accomplished. >> Thank you. Okay, Miss Pado, >> what do you believe are the major
strengths of our district? living in Halen for over 23 years and knowing some of the teachers and board members personally I would say um probably the diversity and um I've seen
it progress from when I was younger to what it is now. So those are the strengths. I I believe it's the diversity and the uh ability to uh succeed. >> Okay. Um if you are appointed, do you
plan to run for another term on the Hen Board of Education when this term for which you are applying has ended? >> Uh yes. to continue meet the requirements. >> Okay. All right. So, those are all of our questions. Thank you so much. Um and
if you can step outside, we're going to continue with the interviews. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Yeah, might be. >> So, so then Hello everyone. >> Good evening, Mr. Brewington. >> Good evening.
>> Uh, thank you so much for applying for the open school board uh seat. >> Uh, each of the board members is going to ask you a couple questions and just answer to the best of your ability. >> Miss Cerna, >> uh, why do you want to be a board member and are you aware of the time and
commitment that is required? Um, second part first. I'm not fully aware of the time it takes because I'm not in that position. >> 60 hours a week. 60 hours a week. No problem. As long as it's online, no
problem. Um, and why I want to be a board member. Um, I had some interest in being a board member um, for a few years now, but now I just decided to just take that leap and see what the process is
and what it might take. >> Hey, Mr. Fleta, >> can you tell us one thing that's unique to you that you believe would separate you from other candidates? Um, besides me being me, um, I would probably say,
uh, my unique ability to adapt and adjust to just about anything. >> Thank you, >> Mr. What specific skills would you bring to the board
>> on the educational side? Um, I think I have a a unique approach because one, I have children probably like the rest of us who attended from kindergarten through
graduate from Manchester. Um, but I think now is like the the perfect time for somebody like me to come in and and sort of learn the process, see what it take
and and get involved. uh on a bigger scale in terms of what education looks like for not just my children but everybody else. >> Thank you, Mr. Guzman.
>> Sir, um what do you see as the role of a school board member? >> Again, until I'm in that position, I can't speak to what the actual role would be. Um but overall just again uh
trying to keep the needs of the the children first. Um looking forward to what innovative things will come in the future as opposed to just the status quo
in terms of uh reading, writing and other things. But trying to implement certain things that uh for one we didn't have growing up. uh in education, financial literacy, you know, how to own homes and
have trust and all that stuff to kind of give a better insight to the tech side as well. >> Thank you, >> Johnson. >> Please describe your previous community or nonprofit experiences.
Um, well, I grew up in Patterson, New Jersey, where my experience in the community, uh, started when I was about 19. Um, and I've worked with the Patterson Police Department under the tutelage of
Lieutenant Sharon East uh doing community events um all across the city and a wide range of from financial literacy to mental health to safety to drug awareness. Uh so my community
experience is pretty extensive also on a professional side. Um, one of my, uh, duties as a brand consultant is in experiential marketing. So, I do a lot of things in terms of educational
uh, experiences when it comes to uh, tech. One of my biggest clients to date is uh, Microsoft. So, being able to show across the board what that would look like through different uh, mediums
from tech to health to wellness to uh just about um everything that the community as a whole gathers. Uh I have a pretty deep
uh knowledge of what it takes to be in these inner city neighborhoods in the community. So I could adjust from inside and out for what that would take to bring the real feel of what that means for the
community. >> Mr. Martinez. >> Sure. What areas would you like to strengthen in our district? >> Is that a trick question? Uh no. Um, I think again like I can't speak fully to
uh what the position entails because I'm not in it. Um, but as far as my expertise goes on a professional level, I think I can implement uh my skill set to kind of, for lack of better word,
improve um just about every area. Um, so I'm just looking forward to see uh what my capabilities are to improve in any area that needs to be improved. >> Okay. Please describe a situation in a
professional setting, paid or volunteer, in which you had to work as part of a team to overcome a challenge and bring about a success successful outcome. What was the challenge? What did you and the others do and what was the outcome?
>> I think just about every experience comes with some sort of challenge. So, just being able to um you know, for the most part, I've always been in sort of a a leadership
role when it came to it, but having to deal with uh just different personalities and uh different circumstances, it depends on what the actual challenge is. But the challenge
is always more than met when it comes to getting the job done in a specific situation. It's hard to nail down just one because there's so many. Um, and I'm usually faced with those opportunities when I'm in a specific situation. So, if
it was if the question was given in a specific way, I could answer >> just one example. >> Um, one example is uh having to do um a concert in bad weather uh where we
had artists that were missing flights and not able to make uh the event. But we had to of course do an impromptu and because of the connections that we had,
the challenge was to be able to get uh someone at credential center in 40 minutes. And we were able to do that um by opening up the the rolodex to
people that we know. uh called in some favors to a limousine company who was able to get uh an artist that was actually uh scheduled to be in town for a different event convinced them to come over the hours for 30 minutes and then
uh leave. So that was one of the challenges that was meant at that time uh due to weather. >> Thank you. What do you believe are the major strengths in of our community?
>> The major strengths is probably the community itself. I think um it's kind of start from the top. Uh being the mayor, uh the city council, the police department, fire department.
um it's not a one finger point person kind of thing. Um so I would say the strong point itself would be the community itself. >> Thank you.
>> Um if you are appointed, do you plan to run for another term on the Halen board of education when this term for which you are applying has ended? >> Short answer, yes. Um, but again, it would also have a lot to do with being in that
position and getting in on the ground level and seeing what that would be like. >> That's it for us. Thank you so much. Um, and you could um please step outside and we're going to discuss all of the uh interviews because I
believe we have concluded now. >> Yes. Um, so now we are going to call an executive session so that we can discuss the candidates. Um, so can I have a motion to move?
>> Who is first? Mr. Martinez. Second, Mr. Kleta. All in favor? >> Action. Action will be taken back. I know that's >> um I would say maybe between 30 minutes
>> good answer. Just make a motion. What are these appointments? speed through organization of 2026 and one through 2027. >> 2026 goals. >> Well, this the first one here says 2027
and I think >> No, it's then we have to revise that. Okay. Both of them are 202. >> Okay. >> So, we got to make to revise. >> You didn't make a That's why they're confusing. >> I sent in the memo the right one. This
was just a >> Yeah, I just make a note. You know what I'm saying? as they're going on. I just want to point out that after we make these appointments, we still have a whole agenda to get through. You're more than welcome to >> Yeah.
>> Okay. So, thank you everyone for waiting. Most first and foremost, I want to thank all of the candidates. I think everybody knows, anybody who's ever been to an interview, anybody who's ever, um, you know, uh, run for something, it's
it's hard to put yourself out there. So, we really appreciate you stepping up and, um, you know, considering serving on our board. Um, it was a really hard decision, as you can tell. We were, you know, discussing for a long, long time.
Um, we did come we have a consensus on two uh positions. So, can I have a motion to um appoint the first board seat? >> Make a motion to appoint Gregory
Williams to his fire term. >> Okay. Moved by Mr. Kleta, seconded by Mr. Guzman. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. Mr. Kleta, >> yes. >> Miss Gaddle, >> yes. >> Mr. Guzman,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Johnson, >> yes. >> Mr. Martinez, >> yes. >> Mrs. Issa, >> yes. >> Congratulations. >> Okay. Can I have a motion? >> Can I make a motion to uh appoint Mrs. Fischer to the second open position? >> Second.
>> Okay. Moved by Mr. Colada, seconded by Mr. Guzman. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Sarna. >> Yes. Metta, >> yes. >> Miss Gado, >> yes. >> Mr. Guzman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Johnson, >> yes. >> Miss Martinez, >> yes. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Congratulations.
>> Yeah. And I want to just thank all of the candidates for for coming in and stepping up. And um you know, there's always an election next year. So um >> we have an election this year, too, right? So everybody's come out and vote.
>> Yes, we do. We vote on November 4th. Um so, Miss Miss Augustine, the the board the candidates who are appointed, they are not going to take their seats tonight. That's correct. Um you'll have to be Mrs. Fischer and Mr. Williams. You
have to be um fingerprinted. And then if you could get in touch with um Miss Austin and um she can direct you. >> Okay. All right. So now >> president, >> yes, >> I just want to make a quick comment. I just want to say how proud I am of this
board because not only did uh did we appoint these two fine individuals out of a phenomenal slate of candidates, but we also appointed a vice president. We take we came to a consensus and I'm very proud of this board >> unanimously. Absolutely. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Okay, moving on. Let's get now to the general for the board reports. Let me go down here. >> Okay.
>> Okay. Can I have a motion to approve prior minutes? >> Second. >> Moved by Mr. Guzman, seconded by Mr. Martinez. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. >> Mr. Ketta, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Guzman. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Johnson. Mr. Martinez. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Let me find my report. Okay. Okay. Well, good evening again everyone.
Thank you so much for joining us. Um, first I want to welcome our new board members, uh, Mrs. Fischer and Mr. Williams. Um, I'm looking forward to working with you uh to advance our board, the goals of our board and to advance our
district. Um, secondly, I want to congratulate our new board president, Miss CuadraD. Um, next, I would like to thank Motz Ramadan for his service to the Halden Board of Education and the HPS community. We wish him the best in his
future endeavors. And lastly, I want to express my hope that these last few board meetings of the school year or of the year are as productive as possible. I believe everyone wants what is best for our district, meaning for our students,
teachers, and staff and parents and families. I sincerely hope that all stakeholders can work together towards that goal and I am committed to that. Uh just a quick note that because of the very full agenda that we have tonight, I
asked Mr. Waka to present his report on the progress of our district strategic goals at the November meeting. So that's just a a note. Uh and with that, I'm going to turn it over to uh Mr. to Miss Austin. >> Um do you want to consider doing um line
item 11 hearing services? >> Oh, yes. Oh, sure. Okay. Yes. Okay. So, can I have a motion to open the floor to citizens on agenda items only? >> So, second moved by Miss Johnson's, seconded by Mr. Martinez. All in favor?
>> I >> Okay, the floor is open to citizens on agenda items only. Miss Mrs. Puchalowski. >> Good evening. Uh, my name is Amanda Puchalowski and I am the president of the Halen Education Association. I'd
like to speak on agenda item 13.14. on behalf of the HA. To say the Hilden Education Association is disappointed in the current board of education would be a gross understatement. It is clear to us that this board lacks the ability to
understand their role. >> We started this school year with three special education teacher vacancies, positions that this very board budgeted for, acknowledged as essential, and approved funding to fill. Yet, as of today, October 29th, these positions
still remain empty. Why, you ask? Because this board voted down two potential new hires at the June 9th meeting and another potential new hire at the October 2nd meeting. Let me be clear. Let me remind you that the New Jersey code of ethics for school board
members clearly states, "I will vote to appoint the best qualified personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer." At the present time, there are currently 24 special education students who are not receiving
the services described in their IEPs. Let me repeat that, 24 students. These students depend on specialized instruction, individual attention, and consistent support to succeed. Let me remind you that the New Jersey code of
ethics for schoolboard members also clearly states, "I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race,
creed, sex, or social standing. Since these special education positions have been left unfilled, these students are being denied legal rights to a free and appropriate education and our teachers, aids, and specialists are left carrying workloads that are unsustainable and
unfair. What makes the situation especially troubling is that the board continues to debate their fiscal responsibilities. But let's be clear, budgeting for positions without filling them is not fiscal responsibility. It's
fiscal negligence. Money set aside for student support that sits unused does not reflect wise management. It reflects the failure of leadership and followth through. The Hen Education Association and the Board of Education once shared
the same goal, a school where every student learns and every educator can thrive. It's disheartening that the actions of the board of education no longer support this goal. So tonight, I urge you to change that. Honor your role as a member of the board of education as
stated by the New Jersey code of ethics. I am proud to work at Hilton Public School. The teachers here show up every single day with professionalism and heart and they remain committed to the students of HPS. The teachers and
students deserve a board who will do the same. Thank you. Jalowski. Anybody else? >> Mr. Fischer Fisher, three. Two quick points. I want to thank Rob
for an excellent presentation and also for the work that he does not only here at Gelvin but also he really has kept our special ed program you know on the right track. Hopefully tonight you'll be able to get
hers back on the same track. Uh, and I want to thank uh, Superintendent Waka. Uh, Chris, for many years, I've been trying to get the state or the local to break out the cohorts and show a kid
that's been here for more than two or three years. Do we have the program and the staff, and I believe we do, that can educate our kids at a high quality versus the transient nature of our population. kids that were actually they're coming here and like three months later practicing another district
another country's education. So I want to thank you for that. >> It was uh uh very important. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else on agenda items? >> Motion to close. >> Second.
>> Uh moved by Mr. Guzman, seconded by Mr. Martinez. All in favor? I >> Okay. Okay. Would any board member like to comment? Okay, I just want to thank both Mrs. Pilowski and Mr. Fischer for their messages and they are heard.
Um, okay. Um, moving on to uh Miss Austin, your your VA report. You don't have >> No, I'll put on my notes. >> Okay. All right. So, my report is basically the um agenda items. we met as a finance team to go over all of the um
items on um the finance um portion of the agenda in 18. So, one of the things we did discuss, we clarify 18.3. I believe this was an assembly and we wanted to make sure that it was understood that this was a suggested um um donation if anything for this
particular assembly. We also um talked about other potential matters um um legal matters that were you know will not discuss that um publicly. We also discussed um some items relating to um the transition of some personnel um um
positions in our central office and we sent out a reminder about uh um agenda tonight about um the board interviews. We also noted that um the school board um representative Kelly will be here in
future board meetings to go over board norms and we also um have some suggestion requests for the presentations that we saw tonight specifically the HIP one and also um the district goals one that Mr. the walker will be doing in the upcoming um board
meetings and we discussed um the committee update status and the assessment presentation for November um 17 and that's my uh board members. Any questions for Miss Austin? Okay.
Personnel and management, Mr. Buzzman. >> Yes, Madam President. Um I just want to comment on some on personal um the HA's position is loud and clear. Um,
but I I I as a long serving board member right now, that's about to change when Mrs. Fischer comes up back on the board. But but um I just want to say I have spoken to every board member personally here. No board member here wants to see
anything negative or any adverse effect on our our teachers. You know, I can say that personally because I've spoken to every board member personally. I'm not speaking on behalf of the board. I'm speaking for me. Okay. Each board member here once was best for our students especially, but also for our teachers,
our staff, for every everyone else. The issue here lies is the cut funding and we're having difficulty as to how do we move the district forward. Okay. Um we had a we had a very intense executive session. We discuss a lot of things and
I would hope that you folks don't have to continue seeing us uh go back and forth as to how we're going to get to our destination. But we shouldn't be pointing fingers at each other and we shouldn't be fighting. At the end of the day, we all have to stick together. Meaning this board, our administration,
and the HA and we need to keep that mand have that same energy once the state comes and tries to cut us even more. Okay? And we need to stick together to fight for the state funding that this district needs because that's what's happening. They're going to cut our funding and now here we are all pointing fingers, all having all sorts of
disagreements because again they're not funding us the way they should be funding us. So we have to fight for that state funding so we can move this district forward. Okay? So we have to stick together. Okay? So I just want to point that out and I would hope to my fellow board members that we do stick
together. We did pass a budget back in in the spring. Um, and let's try to give the superintendent what he needs to uh to run the day-to-day operations of the school. And I know speaking to each board member as chair uh personnel.
Again, I'm going to reiterate this. I can't emphasize it enough. No board member here wants to see any adverse effect on any teacher or any student or anyone in our district. again it's just how do we get to our destination and we were having difficulty uh getting through that but I do believe that we
will get it together. Um with that being said um I am going to um again implore our board members to consider the items uh under personnel to consider voting yes. Um,
also we have a a report that uh that this board um um asked for. Um what do we know the status of that? >> November 17th. >> November 17th. Okay. Um so with that being said, I look forward to November
17th and we'll reconvene that. Um but u I implore the board to move uh and approve the items of the personnel. And that's all I ask. Thank you. Sorry about that. Okay. Uh okay. Um
uh curriculum and technology. Miss Pado, >> I'd like to move items. >> We're not moving. We're just doing the report. >> Oh. Um agenda items only. >> Okay. Policy. Mr. Kleta.
>> Agenda items only. >> Okay. Security and safety. Mr. Guzman. Nothing to report that community engagement. Miss Prado, nothing to report. Okay. Finance and physical plant. Mr.
>> On Monday, we spoke we paid bills and uh we can agenda items on >> Okay. State and county, Miss Padto. Um so I I left you guys a handout on your desk in regards to the current um state and county items for October um 25th. I'm not going to read through
everything. I just want to make uh bring out some main points. Um in state policy news, the NJOE announced 13.6 million in literacy grants throughout the comprehensive literacy date um state development program to strengthen
reading initiatives statewide. Um another point that I wanted to add is a new law that now requires instructions on Latino and Hispanic history and contributions across all K to2 social studies curricula. Um
on a county level, what I want to mention besides what's there is um the P County Health Department and United for Prevention Coalition wrapped up a sub a substance abuse prevention month with expanded youth engagement efforts um and
announced new funding opportunities expected in December. Um so that's what it's looking like. um to look ahead in November and JDOE will release updated school performance data and additional guidance for the fiscal year of 2020.
You have more of a broken down uh report. Any questions? Okay. Thank you so much, Mado. Um Mr. Brown, anything for the attorney report? >> Nothing to report. Okay, let's go back to uh personnel and
management. Mr. Desmond, >> Madam President, I would like to move items 13.1 through 13.14. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> Moved by Mr. Guzman, seconded by Mr.
Martinez. Before we uh vote, are there any questions or comments? Okay. Roll call, please. Main from 13.1, 13.2. >> No for 13, four, five, and six. And yes
to everything else. >> Mr. Ka, >> yes to everything except 13.4. I believe that's within the scope of the current appointment. 13.4. Yes to everything else. >> Miss Dorado. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Guzman. >> My vote is yes. >> Mrs. Johnson, I'm sorry. I have a question for one and 13.1 and 13.2. Is that where is that coming from? The
ES fund or general fund? >> Esther fund's gone. >> I'm sorry. >> Esther fund's gone. There's no more ESR fund. >> I think you're saying the ES. >> Oh, that's title. I'm sorry. That's the title funding. So, if it says ESA is title funding. >> Yes. Okay. And for
13.5 itself, right? Kind of >> the the certified angels. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. They they make a lot of money. >> So,
yes. for all um and except for 13.4. >> So yes. >> Okay, Mr. Martinez. >> Yes, Mrs. >> Yes. >> Okay. Curriculum and technology. Miss
CuadraD, >> I'd like to move items 14.1 through 14.5. >> Second. Moved by Miss Padrad, seconded by Mr. Martinez. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? >> I have um so the nurses service plan is
something that's updated yearly. >> Okay. Any other questions? Mr. Fleta, >> what is the on 13 I'm sorry, 14.4. What is the purpose or educational value in the trip to the American Green Mall? >> So, it's the eighth graders. Uh this is where they picked that has their end of the year like trip before they like
before they graduate. >> So like how they used to do like Washington or something. >> Yeah, you might have went there like they want to go to the the gloating place. >> Okay. So any other questions or comments? >> Uh from a security perspective, I appreciate u the actual date not being
on the public agenda but the date on file. Thank you very much for that. Okay. Um, >> Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. >> Mr. Kleta, >> yes. >> Miss Gado, >> yes. >> Mr. Guzman, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Johnson, yes. Mr. Martinez, yes. And Mrs. >> Yes. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay. Policy. Mr. Kleta. >> Like to move 15.1 second. >> Moved by Mr. Kleta, seconded by Mr. Martinez. Before we vote, are there any questions, comments?
>> Okay. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. Mr. Ketta, >> yes. >> Miss Kadrad, >> yes. >> Mr. Guzman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Johnson, yes. Mr. Martinez, >> Miss Martinez, >> yes. >> And Mrs. >> Yes.
>> Okay. Finance and physical plant. Mr. Martinez, >> I'd like to move 18.1 through 18.13. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. Second 13 18.13 security. Oh no, not security. Um,
sorry. >> Finance. >> Did you do security? I'm sorry. >> Oh, yeah. >> Okay. >> Self assessment. >> So, did we do we did No, no, no, no, no, no, we didn't. But I was just going to just
move it after we did financing. So >> Oh, I'm sorry. No, we'll go back. Okay. Security. Um, Mr. Goodman. >> Sure. Um, first and foremost, I want to thank um, Mr. Spazado for his presentation and for the work that uh, the entire team is doing as it pertains
to harass harassment, HIV. I would like to move item 16.1. >> Moved by Mr. Guzman, seconded by Mr. Martinez. Any questions or comments? Okay. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. >> Mr. Ketta, >> yes. >> Miss Kadrad,
>> yes. >> Mr. Guzman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Johnson, >> yes. >> Mr. Martinez, >> yes. >> And Mr. Za, >> yes. >> Okay. Okay. Now, finance and physical plant. Mr. Martinez, >> like to move 18.1 through 18.13.
>> Second by Mr. Martinez, seconded by Mr. Kleta. Any questions or comments? >> No questions. Um, this is in regards to 18.1 breaking the cycle assembly. >> Um, I basically want to know if I can attend like I want I want to know the
time. Does it have like a time there if it's possible for >> Yeah. Do you have any problem with a board member coming to a free assembly? >> I can't think of a reason why. >> Good. It's usually in the morning. Um Um I don't know if Lauren's here but um we usually do it in the morning hours. So
once we figure it out, we'll let you know. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Anybody else? Okay. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. >> Mr. Ketta, >> yes. >> Miss Kado, >> I need to abstain from um 18.9 purchase
order 6330 and 600597. Everything else? Yes. >> U M Mr. Guzman, >> I just have a comment. >> Um I appreciate what Mrs. uh what Miss Cordo said in terms of her request to
attend the uh the break in the cycle. I think I think our board members should be should be encouraged to attend uh any uh school district sanctioned event. Um again, our role is not to go in there and supervise our teachers. That's Mr. Walker's role and our supervisor's roles. Um but I I think it's important
for us to see what what we're voting on and what's going on. I think that's a good thing. I just want to point that out. Um and um yeah, >> Mrs. Johnson. Yes, >> Mr. Martinez. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. >> Yes. >> Thank you.
>> Okay. So, um I we do have one item for new and old business, but before we go, does anybody else have anything for new and old business? Okay. So, you know, as we've been discussing for a few months now, um we had some board initiatives that stemmed
from the retreat. Um they were based on the discussions that we had during the retreat. Um they're not board goals and we don't have to vote on them. They're just recommendations on best practices that would help our board work better together as a team and in turn advance
the goals of our district and ultimately making our school better for our students, the staff and the HPS community. So, if we all agree on the recommendations, Miss Padra is going to report out on the new member onboarding and I'm going to report out on the committee's initiative. If we all agree on the recommendations from these two
initiatives, um we can plan to implement the new practices in January. Um there was a third initiative but we'll talk about that briefly at the end. So Miss Cordo, do you want to start? >> Sure. Um so I was uh working with
Commissioner Raphael um with the on boarding for the new board members. Um so I did leave you guys a an outline. Um basically the health and board of education onboarding framework is designed to ensure the newly elected or
appointed members are wellprepared, informed and confident in their roles. Uh the structure process promotes transparency, consistency, consistency, excuse me, and collaboration by introducing members to the district policies, governance procedures, clear
uh key through orientation sessions, mentorship, and accessible resources. New board members will gain a clear understanding of their responsibilities and collective goals of the board fost um fostering a unified commitment to serving the students and families of
health and with excellence. In no way is this going to override any trainings. It's not going to be trainings. It's just basic overviews of these. Um so there is an outline of things that we wanted to um present which would include
uh an onboarding survey. Uh we want to propose an orientation meet and greet, a board member handbook with uh different content in it. Um board mentorship and ethics and compliance acknowledgement. Um so you'll have more details in front
of you. I I do have one question. Um well not it's not a question, it's a comment. So if we went ahead with these and especially the you know a lot of these things would take some work, right? especially like the member handbook. So
that could be, you know, an ad hoc committee that could work on that. Um, this is going to take a little while. This would take a while to implement to kind of develop and create and then implement it. So um, you know, I just want to note that this is not something that's just going to happen like you
know January the reorg meeting in January. But um, I really appreciate all the work that you and Mr. Martinez put into this. Um are there any questions for >> No, but I forgot we have for the two new uh appointees and I love held in pen and notebook you know
on the board. So >> very thank you. >> Okay. Okay great. So then I'll just go over um our objective. So um the objective the enhancement of committee structure and function. The objective was to optimize committee operations and
promote accountability and clarabil uh clarity in board committee work. So um we miss it was Mr. Goodman, Miss CuadraD and I met with Mr. Waka and Miss Austinon in August and then again in
September to kind of talk about how we could restructure our committees um and really like kind of activate them so that board members could become more um knowledgeable of the content area of the committees that they're on um kind of
delve into it, take ownership of it of it and then report out at meetings um make recommendations, discuss any questions that come up, any topics. So that was the the basis of our work on this initiative. So our recommendations are and you should also have a handout
of these. Um at each year's reorganization meeting, the board will discuss each uh board committee's purpose and scope. Each committee will meet monthly. Uh the committee meeting agenda can include anything relevant on the general meeting
agenda or any related other related topics. Um, each committee chair in conjunction with the chief school administrator is responsible for setting up and informing the business administrator's office of their monthly meeting schedule in January. And the committee meetings can be in person,
they can be virtual, they can be both. That's that's very flexible. Um, and then the committees will report out to the full board at the general meeting directly after their monthly meeting on what was discussed, including any issues or questions and subsequent
recommendations. Um, and then just real I'm not going to read the scope of all of the the committees, but um, it's on in your handout. um for personnel and management um you know personnel policies hiring and exiting staff professional
development there's curriculum curriculum and technology um the materials the activities uh for policy district policies state policies you know review of neighboring policies um that would all be you know interesting topics to discuss um
security and safety that one's kind of obvious but you know all matters pertaining to student and and staff staff safety as well as the security of the school campus. Um and then community engagement and outreach. Uh really that's you know
to do with any um activities that take that have to do with the community outside of the school. Um you know events that are taking place uh within the community or that that affect the school or in conjunction with the school or outside of the school but they're they have to do with our students or you
know families. um all extracurricular activities and then the finance and physical plan is um all matters relating to the district's budget um you know including expenses, income and savings and capital projects and improvements. So you know those are our
recommendations. Are there any any questions on on these? >> So you know if we're all I if we're all in agreement you know we could start to do this in in January and we don't have to wait. I mean if committees want to meet before they should and and they
certainly can. Um and the same for um you know the the new me new board member onboarding that's something that we could start you know talking about or thinking about now but um it would be kind of officially beginning in January. So and I just want to thank you know the
members in my committee for for their input and their participation. So there was one third one um and actually that was that was one there's only one member left in that group which is Mr. Kleta because Mr. Mat and Mr. Ramadan were on
that group and they no longer are are on the board. So um and the objective of that one was to better understand and monitor student performance relative to general benchmarks. So um would anybody be interested in working with Mr. Getta
on that? uh initiative if not Mr. Martinez. Okay. Um anybody else? Okay. So I can recirculate that charge that with some notes on it that and then if if you two want to meet over
you know you know within the next couple of months and just kind of talk about a plan and I would suggest using that data that Mr. Waka shared with us in July to um you know kind of as a a starting point to see what we could do with that data and how we could use it to help us
here in our district. >> President question. Do you anticipate um any changes in our committees uh before the end of the year? We do have two new uh two board members coming on. >> Yeah. So now that we have a full board again um you know I'm not looking to change any committees, but I I need to
put them I need to fill in some spots. So, I'll see I'll see what you know makes the most sense. >> Yes. >> Um yeah, I just wanted to add um for the onboarding framework, if you uh look at
item three a um it's I I wanted to do like a handbook. Well, we wanted to do like a handbook with our like first pages of our biographies just so that they can get to know who we are like then um when we on board they know who we are. If you guys can start emailing
me your biography, that'd be great. That would be a great place to start. Yes. >> Um, if we're going to do that, I I think that it'll be prudent to put it on the website as well. >> Um, you know, certified boards that, uh, boards that are certified by the NJSBA. They have their bios on, you know, so
it's another check on the check box. Why not? We're going to do it. Let's do it right. >> It's a suggestion. >> Yeah. Let's start by gathering everything. >> Yes, ma'am. No, I I like it for the website, but if we're going to I mean like in the next few years and then there's a new board member. We're going
to keep changing. >> Yeah, it's I mean it's just going to be stapled paper. We just rip it out. >> Oh, okay. Doing like a booklet like kind of like a union contract. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Okay. Um Okay. So, let's see.
>> Okay, that's it. So, there no other um new or there's no other new or old business. >> Um yeah, I' I'd just like to let everybody at at home know that uh elections are on November 4th. This is a non-political uh uh campaign that's
happening and we have different people that are running. So, no matter who you vote for, get out and vote. That's it. >> Thank you. Okay. >> I'm going to make a motion to open up portion. Madam President. >> Yes. >> So moved by Mr. Guzman, seconded by Mr.
Martinez. All in favor? >> Okay. Do we have any person? Do we have anybody here that would like to speak? >> Hold on. Hold on. Anybody on the online? >> Okay. Okay. So, seeing as none, can I
have a motion to close? Mr. Goodman, seconded by Mr. Martinez. All in favor? >> All right. Thank you so much everyone.