Good evening everyone. Welcome to the August 14th, 2025 Hamilton Board of Education meeting. I'll read the open public meeting statement. New Jersey open public meetings law is enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced know of and attend any meetings of public bodies of which their
interests may be discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the Hampton Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, purpose, and place thereof published in the Hampton Gazette and the press in Atlantic City and posted on
authorized premises. Roll call. Mrs. Feronado, Mrs. Burns is absent. Mr. Foya here. Mrs. Donio is absent. Mrs. Bon here. Mrs. Hunter here. Mrs. Pratt is absent. Mr. Fa
here. Mr. Shone here. Mrs. Scholola here. Mr. Lions here. And note for the record that Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Rise force to the flag of the United States of
America for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. We're going to begin tonight with a presentation from our assistant
superintendent Lord Shibilia on our uh NJGPA and access testing. Thank you, Mr. Lions. Okay, tonight I'm going to present um our NJ GPA proficiency assessment and access results.
NJPA stands for the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment. The New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment is a statemandated test for 11th grade students to measure the proficiency in English language arts and
mathematics. This test serves as the state testing graduation requirement. The scores range from 650 to 850. Students that are not yet graduation ready will receive a score between 650 and 724.
Students that are graduation ready will receive the scores between 725 and 850. Students who do not receive a minimum score of 725 will have the opportunity to meet the state testing graduation requirement by either retaking the ELI
or math components in the fall. Um and also achieving a passing score on a PSAT, SAT, ACT or ACUPPLACER or completing a portfolio appeal.
So this is the ELA average score compared to the state. The state average this year is 768. Our high school average is 787. So we surpass the state of New Jersey by 19 points.
This is the ELA graduation writing percentages. So the state average was 80.7%. Our high school is 91.8%. So, we're 11% higher than the C average in ELA. We're going to compare now the ELA ELA
graduation ready from last year to this year. Last year in 2024, the average was 89.8%. This year is 91.8%. So, we increased by about 2%.
This is looking at the ELA subgroups. Um, all is 91.8%. We have free and reduced lunch at 85.5%. IEP
are at 65.9% and 504 is at 93.9%. And we are three out of the four percentages higher than last year. This is ELA graduation ready by race and e ethnicity. And you can see
all is 91.8%, white is 95.3%. Hispanic 83.6%. And black 88.9%. Now we're going to take a look at the math average scores. Compared to the state, we're right at the state level at
736. Math graduation ready, the state is at 58% and we're at 57.3%. Compared to last year, we increased by 3%. This year, we're at 57.3%. Compared to last year, at 54.4%.
This is taking a look now at the subgroups. We have 44.4% for free and reduced lunch, 26.2% for special ed students, and 45% for 504
students. This is race and ethnicity. White is at 64.8%. 80%, Hispanic at 42.5% and black at 33.3%. Some intervention strategies we use use
benchmark data to drive instruction and to target skill gaps. Exl is an individualized program for students in math and ELA and it helps master skills measured by the NJGPA. Mathematic and ELA link benchmarks
monitor student progress towards graduation readiness. We give those link benchmarks three times a year and district curriculum has been revised to ensure alignment with the standards. Now we're going to look at the access
testing. Access testing is a largecale standardized assessment of English language proficiency. Access stands for assessing comprehension and communication in English state-to-state. So across all
the states, everyone uses access testing. It's administered to grades K to 12 and English language learners in New Jersey public schools. Students are identified through the home language survey and the language
screening process. We assess students on four domains. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Access testing is organized by six proficiency levels, one being entering,
six being reaching. Students exit the program when scoring a 4.5 or greater on the overall score. Now we're going to look at by building grade K and one. Most of the students are entering. They're new to the
country. They're entering. We have 33 entering, 16 emerging, 10 developing, and three expanding. In grades two to five, we have more students in the developing
level. We have 21 students expanding. Grades 6 through 8, 16 students entering, 14 students emerging, 21 students developing, and two are expanding. So 16 students, these students can be new to
the country, just entering our district. And grades 9 to 12. And in these grades, we also have students new to the country, we have 18. We have 18 emerging, 14 developing, seven
expanding, and one bridging. Thank you. I have your questions. I have a question. Sorry. The students when they take this particular test, I know there's, you know, quality
qualifications that are there any advantages like do they get to take longer? Do they have anything um you know what I mean? Are there any any caveats that help them? So, whoever is in the IP is
so with this test also. Yes. They need it longer to take the test if Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next, we'll go to the superintendent's report, Mr.
Thank you, Mr. Lions. Um, earlier this year, the New uh the school district embarked on strategic planning initiative with the New Jersey School Boards Association. We believe it's important to receive valuable input from all stakeholders, including students, parents, community
members, business owners, teachers, supervisors, administrators, and board of education members on the direction of our district over the next five years. Tonight, I'm proud to report that our strategic plan has been finalized and
submitted to Michelle Kennedy, our field representative from the New Jersey School Boards Association. Michelle will be attending the September Board of Education meeting to present and share our plan with the public and we're certainly looking forward to that.
I've worked in public education for 36 years and I still get excited getting ready for the upcoming school year. I can tell you that our teachers, supervisors, administrators, and board of education members have been working hard making final preparations for the
upcom for the opening of school. The parent portal will open on Friday, August 15th at 3 p.m. So students will be able to find their schedules on the parent portal. PreK3
acceptance letters were mailed home on Monday, August 11th. I'm also very excited to announce that we were able to accommodate more three-year-olds this year than in any other previous year.
Another thing I'm extremely proud about is we're also able to accommodate every single four-year-old without a waiting list. So, every single four-year-old is in our prek program. There is no waiting list and we've accepted more
three-year-olds than ever, which is a great thing. I'd also like to take a moment to announce our upcoming orientation dates. Hamilton High School freshman new student orientation is August 21st at 9:00 a.m.
The Warren Soy Junior Elementary School 2 second grade orientation is on August 25th at 10:00 a.m. Hamilton Middle School 6th grade orientation is on August 26th at 9:00
a.m. The seventh grade new student orientation is on the same day at 11:00 a.m. And last, but certainly not least, the early childhood education center preK orientation is on August 28th at 3
p.m. And the kindergarten new student orientation is on the same day, August 28th at 4 p.m. our faculty and staff uh come back to school on Wednesday, August 27th. I'm looking forward to seeing
them. And the first official day of school for our students will be on Tuesday, September 2nd, and I can't wait. Thank you, Mr. Lions. Thank you, Mr. Ramsey. Uh next, we'll go to board member comments. I'll start to
my left with Mrs. Scott. Super super quick. Um, I just wanted to say that our chief of police and our administration walked the per perimeter of our schools to make sure everything is functioning as it should be. We tested panic buttons, the surveillance system, our doors and entryways and I'm
happy to say no patients were reporting and everything is functioning as it should. Excellent. Excellent. No report. just that um very pleased with our summer programs. Everything went
extremely well and the students were well received and uh there were a lot of uh fun activities for them to do besides learning um daily learning and also on your agenda you'll notice that we also are hiring on page 12 you'll see a list
I think what did we have 40 I forgot how many over 20 people that were hiring either hires. So, all their names are listed. You'll see some replacements, some um and I believe um we need um aids.
Correct. We need aids. So, if you're interested in that um you can certainly apply through the board of education superintendent. Um that's all I have. Thank you. No report this evening.
Okay. split report. I just superintendent says school's opening on Tuesday the 7th for parents to drop off and pick up their kids. There's a lot here. It's 15 minutes in the morning of Mayhem and 15 minutes in the afternoon. It is hectic.
Please be patient. First couple weeks, you know, everybody has to figure out where they're going and get the kinks out, but it does work. The system does work. And just please be patient. Thank you. I just want to thank Our Lady of Mount
Carmel for these beautiful uh coins and cards they they presented to us. They're absolutely stunning and I want to wish everyone good luck in the upcoming year. That's number four. Thank you.
All right, just a few short things, a couple reminders. Tomorrow night is National Night Out here at Hamilton High School. Uh the board and the administration will be out there as well as Mr. Ramsey talked about parent portal opens tomorrow at 3M. So if you have questions, you can find us at National
Night Out and get answers directly from the administrator administrative team and the board to most of your questions. Um, also on August 25th, that's a Monday night, 6 PM here in the PAC Center at Hamilton High School, our athletic
director in the athletics department will be holding a meeting for parents of student athletes. So, if your child is from grades six to 12 who plays a sport, uh not just a fall sport or sport anytime during the school year, it's definitely a good meeting for you to come out and attend. As board members,
we get lots of questions from parents of student athletes. So, I strongly encourage you to make time to come to that meeting. We will, if you cannot be here, we'll make the contents of that meeting available on our website, but is definitely worth your time to get out
here if you can. Um, just a couple quick notes. We received a letter from the Hampton Cancer Foundation thanking uh for them thanking us you for using the middle school facility for their walk this year where they raised more than $24,000 and certainly our thanks as a
board and district community should be to them for the good work they do in the community. But I wanted to acknowledge the good work of Dean Marello and the helping Hamilton Cancer Foundation uh that over the past 19 years they've raised over $600,000 to help cancer patients. So, we're always happy that's
a well attended event both by the staff and our students and it's super we're proud to have that here at Dington Middle School. In addition, uh we received a donation from the Mount Carmel Society with funds that they were able to raise during the drone show in
July. Uh so, it's really really exciting uh to have that and be able to put a good use to the many many programs that we have here. That concludes my report. Now, we'll go to the public comment. This is the first of two opportunities for public comment. Uh there'll be one
now, then there'll be one at the end of the meeting before we conclude. Anybody wishing to address the board, just come up, state your name and your address, and you'll be heard and then uh we can go from there. Um anyway, see none.
See none. We'll close the first public portion and we'll go into the regular agenda. Okay. Finance items 1 through 42. I'll entertain a motion. Motion. Second. Mr. Shipion first. Mr. Koya second. Uh
on the MO, sorry, Mr. Koya first. Mr. Shipion second. Uh please note for the record item number 38, there is a misprint on the published agenda. The dollar amount on item 38 should be reflect $8,211. Now we have that on the record. We'll
have a roll. Mrs. Faronado. Yes. Mr. Foyer. Yes. Mrs. Fallon. Yes. Mrs. Hunter. Yes. To order items 1 through 25. Mr. Fa. Yes. Mr. Shapone. Yes.
Mrs. Fa. Yes. Mr. L. Yes. Motion carried. I'll entertain a motion next on personnel items 43 through 65. Motion. Mrs. Fallon. First. Second. Mrs. Bernado second. Roll call.
Mrs. Fonado. Second. Um, yes. Mr. Poy, yes. Mrs. Fallon, yes. Mrs. Hunter, yes to items 50 through 65. Mr. Po,
yes. Mr. Shapone, yes. Mrs. Schol, uh, yes. Abstain number 62 Mr. Lions. Yes. Motion carried. Next, we'll entertain a motion on program students
and miscellaneous items 66 through 75. Motion. Mrs. Hunter first. Second. Mrs. Scholas. Second. Mrs. Faronado. Um, I'm going to give number 69 a no.
Everything else is yes. Mr. Fu, yes. Mrs. Fallon, yes. Mrs. Hunter, yes. Mr. Fa, yes. Mr. Shabone, yes. Mrs. Skola,
yes. Mr. Lions, yes. With the no on 69 as well. Motion carries. Next, I'll entertain a motion on finance number 76. So moved. Mr. should be on first. Second,
Mrs. Schol. Mrs. Baronado, yes. Mr. Poy, yes. Mrs. Fallon, yes. Mrs. Hunter, I'm sorry. Sorry about that. Mr. Fa,
yes. Mr. Shapone, yes. Mrs. Stala, yes. Mr. Lions, yes. Motion carried. Next, we'll entertain a motion on personnel item number 77. Motion, Mr. Poya, first
second. Mr. Shino, second roll call. Mrs. Baronado, yes. Mr. Puy, yes. Mrs. Ston, yes. Mrs. Hunter, yes. Mr. Floy, yes. Mr. Shian, yes. Mrs. Schol, yes. Mr. Lions,
yes. Motion carried. Now, we've reached the end of the public agenda in the agenda. And now we'll go to the second opportunity for public comment. Anybody wishing to address the board, come on up to the podium, state your name and address and you can speak to the board. Hello everyone. My name is Curtis and I
want to thank you for this wonderful opportunity to be a teachers aid and teachers assistant over at the ECC for the 2025 and 2026 school year. I was born and raised in Hamilton where I went to school, participated in various activities and graduated in 2022. And
I'm just excited to support young young children in their learning journey and help them discover their gifts and talents. I want to thank my family, all my friends, and all my teachers who have supported me and help me get to where I need to be today. And I am confident that my enthusiasm and dedication will
positively impact on children's learning. And again, I want to thank you for this amazing opportunity. and I am grateful to be part of this wonderful organization and community and can't wait to get started this year. Thank you again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay. Seeing anyone else from the public? I think we're good. Okay. So, I will take a motion. Oh, Mr. Don. Yes. I just want to take a quick moment to thank the board of education, uh, superintendent Ramsey, his administrator, uh, Rose, uh,
the assistant superintendent, and the building principal here at the high school. On July 23rd, I don't know if you read the press release, on July 23rd, we had the 26th um, um, award ceremony for the Samuel A. Donio Foundation for Education Scholars. Uh,
we were able to hold it right here in the library because you give us that opportunity. you make your space available for us. You always do a great job. Facilities does a great job. Uh we were able to honor uh 16 local scholars, 12 from Hamilton, three from St. Joe,
two from St. Augustine, and two from ACIT. Uh awarding $50,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors this year. Uh one of the best things is that it's an unrestricted award, and as I tell them, they can use it for anything. So, one of my favorite stories is a
young person came back and invited me. She finally got the MacBook she always wanted. She just never could get the that. So, over the last 26 years, we've given approximately over $750,000. And it's um with great humility and gratitude uh that we're able to hold
that in the library that this board of education uh uh named after my father. So, I want to thank you. I want to thank the board administration. It really means a lot to my siblings and I, my mom, and uh we couldn't do it without the support that we get from our schools, especially from the high school here. Thank you.
Thank you. Certainly appreciate that. Okay. Um so we're going to shortly join during the board meeting, but for those of you here, we'll be holding the uh ceremony honoring uh longtime Gazette sports editor Dan Rusman immediately
following the board meeting. So stick around. We'll entertain a motion to move. This is Hunter. All in favor? We are. Thank you everybody.