e e e e e e 13 2025 meeting of the Hampton Board of Education I'll Now read the open public meetings statement the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to
ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend any meetings of public bodies in which their interests may be discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Hampton board of education has caused the notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time
purpose and place thereof published in The hamton Gazette in the pr City and post on authorized premises roll call Mrs bernado Mrs Burns here Mr Coya here Mrs donio here Mrs Fallon here Mr fudal
here Mrs Hunter is absent Mr paa here Mr chipon Mrs skola here Mr Thomas here Mr Lions here R fls to the flag of the United States of
America and to the stands Nation godible with liy and justice for all it's nice to see a crowd here tonight at the board meeting usually we don't have this many people here um we have a number of things to go over uh first
we're we had planned on having the presentation of our audit but we have no audit findings and I think Mrs prman you'll cover the audit we have Chris here are they here come on up that's
okay good evening everybody thank you for having me um I normally don't get the privilege of presenting before all the fun stuff so I'll be quick um so there's two places in the audit that I usually like to point people out to it's called the letter of transmitt and what's called
the Management's discussion analysis these reports are put together by Management in conjunction with us the Auditors and they do their best job to of summarize all 150 Pages behind them uh it makes it a little bit easier to digest for a common reader uh the next
place that I like to point out is called the independent audits report this is on page 13 this is where we give our opinion uh we do our audit in regards to governmental ordering standards uh generally accepted standards in the United States as well as anything New Jersey comes up with that year uh so we
have an unmodified opinion an unmodified opinion is the cleanest opinion that we can render this means that there are no changes materially to the financial statements as presented by management um next there's another report in the back of the order report called the report on
internal control over financial reporting and on compliance we do not render an opinion here but this is about our internal controls we gain an understanding of them via walkthroughs or uh testing and we found no control deficiencies or compliance issues to
report the last report inside of the report is called the report on compliance and report on on internal control over compliance of major programs this has to do with our federal and state grants um if we spend over a certain amount of money which is
$750,000 for federal Andor State we are required to look more detailed at certain programs and we have a calculation that spits out what program we're supposed to look at this year we looked at the state aid public money the preschool education Aid and for federal
the child nutrition cluster um we have no control deficiencies no issues to report there as well and an unmodified opinion on that as well which again cleanest opinion we can render last thing I want to talk about the only numbers I'll B you with all night um your fund balance on the bottom of your
C1 this is on page 101 of the actual Auto report so the district in total has about 18.1 million in fund balance but that's broken down into different pieces that are restricted to different levels so of that about .6 is in your
maintenance Reserve 14,737 point2 million which 163,000 was utilized in the 2425 budget and another 103 was used to offset Debt Service payments your unemployment Reserve which about 530,000 your excess
Surplus which was about 2.7 million this will be required to be used in your 2526 budget your ass sign designated of about 2.25 that was also used in your 2425 budget assigned incumbrances is about
915,000 and then lastly your unassigned which is like about 1.5 million that's a lot of numbers but I see a lot of them are restricted in different buckets that's it that's all I have for you guys tonight there were no comments or findings um the last thing I always like to say is audits are difficult for the
business office so we'd like to thank M Prettyman and her entire office for helping us out the entire time you know it's a burden they're trying to do their jobs we're trying to do ours and uh thank you if there's any questions tonight or in the future always
available thank Youk you board members any questions anyone from the public have any questions for the auditor okay all right let you guys get to the fun stuff absolutely thank you thank you and certainly our thanks go to
Mrs Prettyman for yet another solid audit with no findings well done thank you and your staff um let's see next we'll go to uh stonia I think you've got some presentations to make yes good evening everyone uh this is one
of the best things I get to do at Board of Education meetings for those of you who don't know me my name is William D i with coper Lon uh where I chair the education law practice where we represent dozens of school districts throughout the state of New Jersey I am a proud devil graduate and class 87
rules and a resident of Hamilton the muber capital of the world so um and my family is in the blueberry business we're top property anyway um beginning in 2008 Cooper Lon
began a program of called let us eat please and what it was is our founder Jim Cooper's daughter was a public school teacher and she went to her dad and he told him you know I have students who have food real food insecurity okay
during the school year they get fed but when school's not in session there are real issues or real problems what happen so we started a foundation called let us eat please and what we do is we raise money so that we can provide summer food programs even for students who aren't in summer school
so that there those students should go hungry and we do this through um publicizing this through our holiday card so since 2008 we've asked area students to send in uh submissions to do our holiday card that we send out to all
of our friends and family and clients and colleagues and I'm proud to say that once again Hamilton has a winner we select five and we used to put them all in the conference room but nobody goes to work anymore so now we put them on a
share file okay and they are picked by all the other members of The Firm I we're not involved and once again Hamilton has a winner it's Charlie reer a fifth grader from West come on up
we have a pack for you and uh who's your art teacher [Music] Miss there you go M congratulations Miss reader who also has had numerous winners as well our art teacher a $100 gift card
for art supplies and for our winner we have a $50 gift card for you to use however you want so clearly there's some talent in this family okay right could you tell us what's going on with your with your with your car so I the day
that I found out that this was happening right before I did my homework I started working on this I basically just envisioned what I think of Christmas and Drew it until it looked as realistic as the image in my
head you have to be very proud very proud proud mom proud teacher Linda Burns Mrs Burns started this tradition long long ago and I picked up that tradition the year I actually was pregnant with Charlie so it's full
circle yeah so I I appreciate um everything that do and want to thank you well we're happy we get hundreds of submissions we get them from all over and I can tell you at Hamilton almost always has one of our winners and that is a testament to the
students it's a testament to the staff but it's also a testament to the parents who are involved in your children's education and art education in particular being so important in this world so we thank you and thank you for submitting and congratulations to thank
you thank thank you we have extra parts for you oh thank you all right thank you next we're going to move into some recognition the February board meeting is one of one of the best ones of the Year where we get to recognize our teachers of the year we're
going to combine our principal reports tonight with the teacher of the year recognition so we'll start with Mr matina from Hamington High School come up and talk to us a little bit about one of our honor teachers of high school good
evening good evening Board of Education um so Mrs Kelly Salona graduated from Hamington High School in 1997 after she went afterward she went on to earn her ba in mathematics secondary uh education from TCNJ in 2001
lucky for us she then returned to Hamington High School in 2002 to accept her very first teaching position throughout her 22-year tenure Mrs Sonona has become an intrinsic part of the high school she has contributed to the school's Educational Foundation as well
as its culture Mr Salona has made her Mark as a faculty member by participating in multiple committees assisting in developing and updating our math curriculum throughout the years and through the mentorship of new teachers and student teachers Mrs salon's
dedication reaches Beyond academics as the assistant band director for several years and the chess club adviser since 2015 she's a ble to connect with students in other aspects of their lives giving much of their own time to Hamington High School Mrs Salona has chaperoned multiple senior trips the
prominade since 2002 the annual Powder Puff game and volunteers for family game night showing support for our students and their passions by attending extracurricular activities such as sporting events art shows plays concerts
parades the senior awards ceremony and graduation her Devotion to a high quality educ is obvious and it is no surprise that Kelly Salona was selected as the Hamington High School educator of the
[Applause] Year good evening board members firstly I would like to thank the Board of Education and my colleagues for this incredible honor to be name teacher of the year is something I never imagined
and it truly means the world to me I'm deeply humbled and grateful for this recognition I also owee a tremendous amount of gratitude to my own family for their support and encouragement over the years my parents who helped me every step of the way on the path to becoming a teacher my husband who has read every
single letter of recommendation I have ever written and my two beautiful daughters one is sophomore here at hamton high school and the other in seventh grade at hamton Middle School they've been my rock throughout this entire Journey you make every day brighter and you your love and patience allow me to
give so much to students of this school I'd like to take a moment to reflect on how far I've come since I was a student in Hamilton High School it seems like just yesterday I was sitting in Mrs shelle's class uh Calculus class trying to make sense of the math she was teaching us her enthusiasm for Math and
her positive attitude was an inspiration to me and many other students she had over the years I knew that I wanted to have that same respect from the students and relationships with the students that she had little did I know that one day I would be standing here as a teacher
helping the next generation of students make sense of those same math concepts Mrs shell taught me all those years ago after graduating from Hampton High School in 1997 I attended the College of New Jersey where I earned my degree in mathematics secondary education and in 2002 I was fortunate enough to come back
to my hometown to begin my teaching career Hampton has always been home to me and it has been an honor to give back to this community that gave me so much since then I've had the privilege of working alongside some of the most dedicated passionate educ Educators I could ever ask for as a teacher I have
worn many hats some of which include Matt department chair Mentor adviser to the chess club assistant band director and member of multiple committees and I am proud of all the work we've done together to make hon High School a better place for our students but teaching as we all know is about so much more than the titles we hold or the
accolades we receive it's about the relationships we build with our students and the impact we have on their lives for me that's what this award is truly about it's not about me but about the students who inspire me every day to be better and to do better whether it's in the classroom at after school activities
or at a sporting event I do everything I can to show up for them because I believe in them I am so fortunate to be a part of this wonderful District where the focus is always on doing what's best for our students from helping develop new courses to mentoring new teachers I've had the chance to contribute in
ways that will hopefully make a lasting difference but none of this would be possible without the amazing students faculty staff and administrators who work together every day to make our school the place it is we're all part of this journey together in closing I want to express my deepest thanks to everyone
who has been a part of my path whether as a colleague a student or a mentor teaching is a collaborative effort and I am lucky to be surrounded by such an incredible team thank you again for this honor and thank you to the students who keep me inspired every day I'm truly proud to be a part of this wonderful
Community thank you right next Dr okay first I want to congratulate all of our wonderful teachers of the year that are here tonight but it's my great pleasure to introduce Alyssa Walsh our Hamilton Middle School's teacher of the
year Alyssa has worked in our building for the last 16 years and is a valued member of our Middle School family Alyssa is a versatile teacher who not only Embraces change but regularly adjusts her teaching practices to meet
the needs of her Learners Alyssa has taught all levels from General inclusion and multilingual Learners she Embraces the challenges that come with this and works collaboratively with staff to tirelessly differentiate instruction for
all her learning even with multiple levels in the classroom she creates an engaging and positive learning environment as her colleagues State she is a fierce advocate for our atrisk elll and special
education students she creates an inclusive classroom where every student feels valued and supported embracing their diverse perspectives and learning styles she's always happy to accept students into her classroom making them
feel safe safe with a sense of belonging she finds ways to connect with her students her empathy shines through in the way she listens and values her students that's just who she is in the words of her colleagues and friends
she's also extremely Innovative and always willing to try the latest and greatest technology which could be intimidating to most not only is she a teacher but she's also a loyal friend in the words of her peers if she chooses to
give you her friendship you will have a loyal and fierce friend for life or as another pal put it she's very friend oriented witty and loyal to a fault and always has your back I can say personally from the moment I met her she
made me feel welcome like I'd known her forever although she is super friendly with the positive spirit Fierce is a word that keeps popping up when people describe Alyssa Alyssa proves you can be both Fierce and friendly Alysa is
integrally involved in the whole school program she's a member of the ilt our instructional leadership team the founder and adviser of the journalism Academy and an haa building rep in these roles she's not just a passive bystander
she makes her opinions and gives input to the betterment of our programs with the best interest of our school community at heart she also supports the next generation of teachers serving as a Cooperative teacher and a mentor Alyssa has a solid support system at home which
enables her to flourish at school her and her husband Mickey our math and science supervisor another familiar face in our Halls are proud parents to two girls I know she's humble and doesn't love the spotlight but this year it's on you Alysa congratulations is Hamington
Middle School's teacher of the [Applause] year good evening Board of Ed members Mr
Ramsey and other distinguished guests I'd like to thank you all for my recognition as teacher of the year at hton middle school it is an honor to represent the school which has been my home for over 16 years for all 16 years of my teaching career they say that teaching is a calling and I found mine
with the unwavering support of my amazing parents wonderful husband two beautiful and Brilliant daughters as well as family and friends who each encourag me every step of the way my path to teaching wasn't clear from the start though it developed gradually with
the help of many Educators I met along the way so it only feels right to thank them too my love of reading began with my mom who read to me each night and was further supported by my first gr teacher Miss Rob my little six-year-old self was anxious and not so Fierce back then
about starting first grade but all that vanished When Miss Rob greeted us back from Recess each day in her big alphabet carpet with a copy of Ral Do's Charlie and the tra Factory in hand she read to us complete with voices for each character in middle and then High School
Mrs Wick Miss Spina Mr Crowley and Mrs Wing further solidified the role that books and writing would have in my life in college I wasn't sure which career path to take I began by attending gler County College College to start my secondary education journey I moved through quite a few Majors
Communications then journalism even accounting at one point one class required me to interview someone who encouraged us I knew immediately exactly who I wanted to speak with my former High School psychology and history teacher not to mention JB chity coach Mr
Klein after observing one of his lessons I realized that was what I wanted to do his passion and excitement were contagious during student teaching my wonderful cooperating teacher Heather Adams helped me become organized and adapt at planning meaningful and
interesting lessons Mr debow my Rowan student teaching adviser offered insight and advice that I remember and recall and use still to this day nearly 18 years later and now hamton has become my second home the colleagues I work with some of my very best friends I've been
fortunate to always have administrators that are both supportive and encouraging every day I wake up and go to a job that I truly love where my goal is to instill Wonder curiosity and a love of thinking I'm grateful for hamon my family here my
students both past and present and for every single person that has helped me along this journey thank you all right Dr T morning good evening I'd like to congratulate all of our district teachers of the year so quite an accomplishment so
congratulations I am pleased to announce Warren soy Jr Elementary School's 2025 teacher of the year Mrs adalisa Lions Mrs Lions has been a bilingual bicultural teacher here for 19 years and
has been a tremendous contributor to our bilingual program Mrs Lions is an amazing educator who truly cares about her students and her compassion extends beyond our classroom walls she works year round to Advocate and support our multilanguage Learners ensuring every
child is set up for Success she plays a huge role in organizing and facilitating our bilingual parent nights and works with others in our school Community to ensure a very large turnout every time Mrs is Lions is also our bilingual ESL Department leader who offers countless
hours of assistance to teachers to ensure that students receive the services and programs they need and deserve she is a role model and support system for teachers staff students and their families born and raised in the Dominican Republic before making
Hamilton her home Mrs Lions brings a bright smile and light-hearted positive energy into her classroom every day following her graduation from Hamilton High School in 2000 Mrs Lions earned an associates degree in the war Arts from
Atlantic c community College in 2002 she then continued her education at Stockton University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in social work in 2006 upon graduating from Stockton Miss Lions began working as a substitute teacher and found her true calling with our
bilingual student Community here in hamton as a part of her training and profession and as professional educator Miss Lions obtained a certif certification in bilingual biculture education from Rowan University in 2009
currently Miss Lions teaches our second grade bilingual class where many of her students are newcomers to this country with little or no schooling she makes her classroom feel like home herti is a true inspiration to many she works to meet students where they are
academically and finds new creative innovative ways to perfect her craft and meet the diverse needs of her class in addition Mrs Lions is currently a mentor to two newly hired teachers helping to familiarize them with best practices and
guiding them in their professional growth she also chairs several committees including the professional development plan committee and the bilingual parent advisory committee she has been instrumental as a grant writer for the bilingual department and is an
active member of our curriculum development team a true veteran teacher Mrs Lions exceeds expectations she is a Class Act and a very positive influence within our school Community we are very fortunate to have her as a colleague friend and
leader her versatility and dedication make her a true asset to our teaching staff and the perfect choice for our teacher of the year a proud mother of two children Selena 13 and Michael 8 Mrs Lions balances her professional life
with a busy Family Life alongside her husband John and their beloved dog Gloria her dedication to her students colleagues and The Wider School Community continues to make a lasting impact inspiring all who have the privilege of working with her please
join me in congratulating our teacher of the year Mrs adelisa [Applause]
allons good evening everyone tonight is truly special moment for me me and I am so grateful to be here surrounded by the people who have shaped my journey before I say anything else I want to take a moment to thank my family for their endless love and support they are the
foundation that allows me to do what I love every single day my two children Selena and Michael are here tonight part of being a teacher is that you have an opportunity to shape the lives of so many kids each year but there's no better job to come home to than being a
mom I'm grateful for the chance to watch watch my children grow and even more grateful to see them Thrive being instructed by so many of my talented colleagues my husband John is here tonight as well but come to think of it he needed to be here
anyway nonetheless it's a special night for both of us that we get to be here for each other the same way we have been here for each other for the last 22 years we've been together my mother Carmen is here tonight she has been one of the greatest influences in my life
teaching me the value of hard work from a young age though she only attended school until the third grade she built a successful business and became a pillar of the Hispanic Community here in Hamilton she has always encouraged me to pursue my education and make something
of myself and nothing makes her prouder than hearing the warm words of her customers many of whom are my students former students and their parents their gratitude and kindness always bring a smile to her face I'm incredibly grateful to be surrounded tonight by my
relatives friends and fellow teachers over the years I've had the privilege of working alongside some of the most dedicated and compassionate Educators people who pour their hearts into their students every single day many of us share a similar story we walked into a
school as kids uncertain and not speaking the language not listening to the same music not wearing the same clothes but we found belonging in a classroom before we even saw it in ourselves it is because of them I'm sorry it is because of them and
because of all of you that I stand here today I also want to take a moment to recognize someone who has been an integral part of my journey Amy Claus Amy has not only been my friend for the past 19 years but also a mentor who has helped shape me into the educator I am
today her guidance and wisdom and unwavering support has challenged me to grow refine my craft and become a better teacher for my students I am incredibly grateful for her leadership and for the friendship that has stood the test of time in
closing I'll close by saying how incredibly honored and grateful I am for this recognition teacher is not not just a profession it's a calling and I am so fortunate to share this journey with such amazing colleagues students and families before I go I want to remind
you all that our next bilingual parent night is on Thursday May 8th at 600 p.m. at the elementary school I can't wait to see you there come ready to connect celebrate and of course come hungry thank
[Applause] you next we have Dr T once again for Dr yes Dr salite couldn't be here tonight it's very easy for me to uh introduce
the ECC teacher of the year she was at the west building um for all of her career and now she's moved on back to EC uh the EC teacher of the year is Mrs Thompson she's in her 16th year with the Hamilton School District a proud
resident of Hamilton she began her career as an instructional Aid before transitioning to a preschool teacher in 2014 after earning her degree in elementary and special education throughout her tenure Miss Thompson has been a beloved teacher known for her
dedication to her students and families she has contributed to numerous school activities from family reading night to serving on the school intervention team crisis team and schoolwide planning team as a longtime grade level leader she has supported our colleagues in implementing
curriculum and has organized enriching experience for students including Hands-On activities field trips to theatrical performances visits to local businesses most recently ly a preschool fashion show I heard that was quite an event this year Miss Thompson took the
role of preschool instructional coach and intervention specialist this was a natural progression in her career having served as a curriculum instruction instruction coordinator for nearly a decade she has been instrumental in guiding her team and enhancing classroom
instruction her colleagues speak highly of her generosity as a mentor describing her as someone who is always willing to lend a hand or offer guidance whether assisting with lesson planning providing classroom management strategies or offering words
of encouragement she truly enjoys supporting her fellow Educators Beyond her daily contributions Miss Thompson played a pivotal role in expanding our preschool program first during the transition from half day to full day classes and more recently in opening our
new preschool Wing she spent many hours helping throughout the process while maintaining her own classroom of energetic four-year-olds Miss Thompson is not only a respected educator but she is committed to her own learning she is currently pursuing her master's degree
in school leadership at Wilmington University while balancing time with her husband Lee and their two sons Mason and Noah please join me in celebrating ecc's Teacher of the Year miss Courtney Thompson
[Applause] good evening everyone I'm truly honored and humbled to stand before you tonight as the teacher of the year for ecec this recognition means the world to me and I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude first and foremost
I'd like to thank the board of education for supporting and celebrating the work we do every day your dedication to our schools and students makes a real difference and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this amazing Community to my principal thank you for your leadership and constant encouragement your support has helped me
grow as an educator and pushed me to be the best version of myself in the classroom most importantly I want to thank my co-workers because you are the ones who made this honor possible knowing that this recognition comes from my peers the people I work alongside every day makes it even more meaningful
I am surrounded by some of the most passionate dedicated and talented Educators and I learn from you constantly your support collaboration and friendship inspire me to keep pushing forward to my family thank you for being my RO Your Love patience and
understanding have been my Foundation through the long days and late nights I couldn't do this without you and of course to all the students at the Hamilton ECC especially prek you are the reason I come to work with a smile every day your curiosity joy and resilience
fuel my passion for teaching thank you all again for this incredible honor I am proud to be part of this wonderful community and I look forward to continuing to grow and learn with you thank you all right next we're going to keeping with teacher of the year recognition
we're going to have San teresi a good friend and neighbor came High School along night as well yes thank you president Lian um it's very nice to be here this evening to to recognize and congratulate all the teachers of the year as you said I'm a
graduate of Hamilton High School and uh I know how much it means this award I know my mother was a past iic teacher recipient and what what the teachers go through and each year and to be presented with this award it means so much to them if you want to we could call all four up if you if you would
like um I have on behalf of the state of New Jersey what I'm here to do is present proclamations uh to each teacher from the uh legislature being uh a member of the legislature so it means so much uh as a resent town of Amington so the four
teacher of the year we please come up and we'll uh I'll hand these out and take a picture and thank you so much for all the work you [Applause] did so here we
uh get in here right conratulations thank you so much for an get in there one more picture for okay thank you thank you guys thank you like I said thank you to everyone and of
course all your school board members you do a fantastic job so have have a nice evening thank you thank you all right next we'll have uh some of our representatives from the h from the Hampton Education Foundation come on up good evening members of the School
Board of Education our esteemed superintendent administrators of our wonderful buildings and of course the important people are teachers um it's an honor to be here representing the Hamilton Education Foundation uh with uh my vice president Megan goblish our
Treasurer Karen Littlefield and we have also some members sprinkled there in the back uh they sent me up by myself um it's okay um our Education Foundation was formed in 2004 with the purpose to
raise and distribute funds through grants to enhance the education process here in our facilities that our normal budgeting cannot um we are a group of 30 members that are comprised of some teachers
some parents of students that are in our district some former students some community members all with the goal to further enhance this wonderful education that we have in our Public School System uh we do this through fundraisers we've had our recycling Central which we've
rebranded into collection Central uh we have the blueberry bush that we have actually two of them gratuitous plug it is a wonderful way to memorialize wonderful events like this like being recognized for Teacher of the Year um they are available to purchase leaves or
bushels or any other things on those blueberry bushes in both of the buildings uh we've done the taste of the town before uh we now have had our wonderful thanks forgiving Gala um we do uh in at shop rate to collect money and
have some extra hours for our National Honor Society students to do some Civic Community engagement um so we do a lot of wonderful things with the community I want to thank the school board thank our district for permitting us to
participate in the school uh for letting us use the facilities and for your continued support in what we do um this enormous and continuous support that we get from our community has enabled us to
provide over $635,000 in Grants since we have been formed and 42,000 of that go to the Teacher of the Year Awards um this is a moment where I would like to also gratuitous plug we have grant funding
available for our teachers right now the grant opportunity window is open until March 28th and there is actually a little Grant Training seminar that I believe is going on in our school district as well tomorrow uh so if you are interested have an idea that you
think would better enhance the educational process in your classroom please reach out please apply for that Grant because we would love to give you money to enhance your educational process you may be the next teacher of the year next year all right moving on
teachers are a remarkable part of everyone's development I can personally attest the fact that the impact that teachers have had on me uh I will not name names but a teacher that I had in in 8th grade uh I used to be very shy I
know that might be hard to understand I used to be very shy and afraid to talk in public and this teacher kind of nudged me into going out for the school play which enabled me to realize that public speaking really wasn't that terrible um and just the greeting from
each of these teachers every day there was an art teacher that would always make me feel very happy and comfortable in school uh and was very engaging teachers they mold the minds of our future of our community and it's great that we entrust them with our students
and it is great to reward them and praise them for the job that they do um so it is with great pleasure that I would like to present each of the recipients this year with a $500 grant that they can use in their classroom for
whatever they need for educational purposes um so I that me these come up as well um so I'd like to call up Miss Kelly Salona Miss Alissa Walsh Miss adelisa lions and Miss Courtney Thompson
place to be thank I'm get right chief thank you very much and we enjoy continually working with our district thank you okay what we're going to do now we're going to take a brief five minute recess to the teachers of the
year and their colleagues can take some photos uh Mr donio has graciously made his photog his lers photographer available so he can take some professional photos for you we'll make those available to everyone who needs them but we'll take a 5 minute recess and it'll
Recon e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e and we're gonna pick up with Mr Ramsey
with the superintendent report uh thank you Mr Lions uh first I'd like to take a moment to congratulate our teachers of the year the Hamilton school district has some of the best teachers in New Jersey so it's a distinct honor to be
chosen by your peers for all that you do for your students school and district and we're very proud of our teachers of the year and we're thankful that they teach the children of this educational Community I'd also like to announce that
the Hamington school district will be collaborating with the New Jersey school boards Association in the coming months to develop a strategic plan the Strategic plan will act as a road map for the district over the next 5
years we'll develop goals objectives as we collaborate with parents community Comm members teachers supervisors administrators and Board of Education members uh dates and times for this strategic plan meetings will be
forthcoming and they will be posted on our website on social media platforms and in the paper so please look out for those planning dates and we encourage everyone to participate thank you all right thank you Mr Ramsey we'll
go to board member comments I'll start to my right with Mrs Burns I'd like to just thank all the U the h i mean Hampton Education Association for their foundation for their endorsing what we do here and raising the funds to enhance
what we cannot give our teachers and students and again to thank Mr Doo's firm for keeping the art project going every year thank you thank you thas
pH Mr shio thank you I want to congratulate um all our teachers for for winning teacher of the year I want to thank uh Mrs gecko she her class her students in her class were the
ones that wrote those beautiful cards for us last month um I was able to throw pizza party for them a couple weeks ago and uh they actually let me name with the kids to I had a great time had lots
of fun um more than the kids did but anyway I did I did Mr ramsy was there uh just to make sure I didn't do anything wrong he said he just happened to be walking by but I knew he was purposely there but uh
so so we had a time it was very nice of you to do that thank you it's hard to here it is hard to sit this it is congratulations to I'm sorry for the voice Eagle spot congratulations to our January athletes of the month Aubry
Smith for girls bowling and Shane way for wrestling Aubry has a one 173 average this year putting her in the top 40 girls in the state she also bowled a 256 during January the highest gain by
an HH Hamilton High School female bowler in at least the last 15 years Shane's current season record is 23- one he pinned or had a technical fall versus every opponent in
January congratulations to Coach Dave moriello for achieving his 350th career win on January 18th versus 100 in central Janelle janal gnarley broke the Hamilton High School freshman record in
the 200 100 meter at Ocean Breeze her time of 2723 is also number three in Hamington High School history Natalie Claus broke the indoor School record in the 1600 meter at Ocean
Breeze running 5 minutes 28 seconds Natalie Claus in the 3200 meter Corine Eagan in the 400 meter Mitra Samson in the shop put
Christian Medina in the shop put and Anthony lakovic in the shop put also all qualified for the state group three Championship um that's uh my
report thank you Mr sh Mr thank you Mr President I'd like to start off by thanking all of our teachers and congratulating them that we have a excellent staff and as a lot of the administrators said it's always hard to pick the teachers of the year so so congratulations to all them I'd like to thank the Education Foundation for all
they do for us um they do the things that we can't do my committee is strategic planning our superintendent briefly discussed it I had a meeting with our school board's representative Miss Michelle Kennedy she sort of outlined the procedure on how this would
move forward it's a complete thing there hour and a half meetings they're invited the know entire Public's invited to them this is the 5-year plan for the school so if you this this is where we put the input in to plan for the future of the school this is something we've talked about doing for many years and I really
look forward to the committee meaning the board as a whole but the public as a whole was invited to these meetings we're going to break down into small groups Round Table discussions and talk it out and move the plan forward as to what the district should be doing going
forward so I really look forward to you know the meetings once the meetings are posted we'll get everybody out there and let's let's get there and make this as positive and as good as we can and that will be my committee report thank you Mr Alliance and good evening everyone I'd like to also
congratulate all of our teachers of the year and also thank the Hamilton Education Foundation for the job that they always do uh buildings grounds and transportation did meet last week I'll share a quick report or update on a few items discussed
here at the Hamington High School Mr Martina and his staff have been working on some plans and ideas to update our Athletics entrance and Lobby over by the gyms with some new wall coverings showing off our logos and our school colors uh we are also entertaining some
different ideas to have our logo also placed on the large exterior South Wall of the pack Center um over at the Hampton Middle School we were able to have several HVAC components repl placed over the last several weeks bringing our system back
up to 100% efficiency with that said we'll be able to remove and return the rented portable heaters that we had in each classroom uh on the agenda you also see a resolution approving our Engineers to design and apply for permits to pave the
parking lot at capella field which would also create parking access for the handicap this eliminates our one and only dirt parking lot which is definitely a hazard uh for the west building uh as Mr
Ramsey mentioned we uh we applied for a $100,000 Grant which would give us the ability to install a new a new playground where Penny park was um this would be in addition to another uh grant that madami had applied for actually
through the uh habitant Education Foundation and she also received that uh $10,000 Grant um which is going towards a piece of equipment called a supernova it's a big round like tilted mechanism
uh we feel like six or seven students on at the same time it's just a new uh piece of play equipment and it would all be combined to make one nice big playground back there where the uh Penny park used to be uh that concludes my report for this
even all right all right good evening the um sounds redundant but congratulations of course to all of the teachers of the year um and I've always said this it's one thing to be recognized but I think
it's so special to be uh recognized by your peers and tonight you can tell um it was so refreshing their enthusiasm and you can tell they have great pride in what they do and uh we take great pride in all of our teaching staff also
at the curriculum meeting we disced AI policy and uh we're looking into other policies and coming up with a PO uh policy I'm sorry that would encourage students of course and uh keep students safe as to what they're doing with AI
and of course how to use it properly so that's something that we're looking into for the curriculum and the um policy committee also congratulations of course to Mrs Prettyman who came through again with colors we certainly appreciate all
that you do for the district you know that pencil with that raser on it does you well um we have some vacancies if you have have looked at uh item 49 we are um
welcoming a new high school English teacher Frankie veski and uh we welcome her look for and her working with our district also high school special education is Michael husy and uh we welcome him and the cour to uh
what they will bring to our school district part-time um Personal Care Aid GI Smith they made that name easy for me to say GA Smith and another high school parttime by langu
um Miss uh Gonzalez so um they will be um joining our VY so congratulations to them and I guess that's it I that's all I have thank you oh we still have an opening I'm
sorry for a music teacher and we would like to have someone to continue with our string program uh which has been excellent and and very very very good for our community thanks to Mrs Fallon
and her love for music so and that's it thank you um so I just want to say congratulations to our teachers of the Year and thank you Mrs Prettyman for another squeaky clean audit their last so we will be
great we'll be greatly missed um and uh no report from negotiations just the committee look out for an email from me we might uh have something to talk about in the next a week or two okay so uh that would uh that's it for
me all right this is okay um so the Safety and Security meeting um we had met we discussed multiple items uh regarding policy and the safe use of some policies uh including acceptable use of the artificial intelligence intelligence use in our schools also
known as the AI policy uh the committee Mr Ramsey and our district safety specialist Lori shabila brought me up to speed and shared their research gathered as early as last September uh even though this research has taken some time our main goal and concern before a policy is implemented is to ensure our
stud are protected and our liability is kept to a minimum we will continue to view our options uh on this topic and and many more policies regarding safety um it is required by law that we have one fire drill and one security drill per month and I'm pleased to announce
that we're in full compliance with that um I just wanted to give a shout out to the maintenance department um I've heard that they went around and disaffected all four schools um I know right now the flu and and all other illnesses are running rampid um so we really appreciate that effort to keep our
students and our faculty healthy um and of course congratulations to all the teachers of the Year well deserved um and that's all I have for today all right I would also like to congratulate all the teachers of the year um I don't
have any specific committee updates but I wanted to bring something that came up at one of the December Parks and Recreation meetings a resident brought brought up a concern about pfas in artificial turf I don't know if you've seen that um the pine lands also
recently issued a statement about that and I just wanted to bring it to our attention as well um I'm not some I'm not sure if that's something that we would consider looking or reaching out to the manufacturer of that installed our Turf Farm but it's definitely a
concern um that apparently a lot of turf fields are using this PFA and the way that the water drains can also it needs to be tested so I think we should just make sure that we verify that that's not an issue in our turf field as well
because I know it's come up a lot recently thank you Mr good evening everybody uh hamon High School wrapped up a couple events within the past week uh we did our third spear week of the
year which was always great to see every body dressed up uh and last Friday we had our winter pep rally celebrating our winter sports athletes uh as well as playing a bunch of fun games air mattress race uh tug of war the whole uh
nine yards and right now we are just in the ideas phase we're about to schedule a meeting with Mr matina for what we can do for the upcoming marking period and then the end of the year so that's all I have to report great thank you um I'll echo my board members comments it is
always as I said a great night to do Teacher of the Year Awards uh it is especially special here in Hamington because our teachers of the year are selected by their peers the administration is not involved board's not involved the teachers pick amongst themselves and self- select uh who among
them is to be honored and that's that's a real real nice thing um congratulate Mrs peman again kind of go going out the door keeping our books balanced so thank you for doing great work there a lot of money moves to the business office uh north of $71 million every year and so
there's no small feet and small powerful team to keep the books how they need to be and that doesn't go unnoticed um with that in mind we'll be getting preparation on the budget we'll be hearing from the governor about state aid and what that's to look like for us
and begin that process over the next 45 to 60 days or so so keep an eye out for that last thing I'll talk about is just snow days we've had a couple we've had two closures and one delay this year so far uh we're working real hard and doing all the things we can to hope that we
don't have any more closures for snow um but again we can't control the weather certainly but just want to let the the community know that there's a lot of deliberation that goes into the decisions around what we do when there's bad weather uh Mr Ramsey has lots of
conversation not only with our staff and transportation facilities here but also with the Hamilton Police the the falam superintendent The Waterford superintendent the rest of the Atlanta County and camon County superintendents uh as well as other folks in the region uh that have
information about the weather so we do whatever we can to get the best information then make a decision and try to get everybody here as safely as possible um but again we don't make that decision lightly and we work hard to get the word out to parents at times so that they can make arrangements as needed so
um also uh Mrs Hunter was excused this evening she had a conflict but she did ask me to mention that she did not have a board report tonight that the waterfall board had not met since we last met their next meeting is the 19th at 7 p.m in Waterford so that concludes
my report next we're going to go to the first of two opportunities for public comment there'll be another one at the end of the agenda so anybody wishing to be heard come on up to the podium give your name and address and you can speak Bo see none we'll close the first public
portion again there'll be a second opport to come back we'll go into the published agenda I'll take a motion on finance items number 1 through 32 so move uh first Mr sh second Mrs bernado
one correction item 21 the dollar amount should read $ 32,7 4260 so I'll ask Mr Sho will you agree to amend your motion yes sir yes of course so the corrected
amount will be $ 32742 60 for item number 21 questions on motion call Mrs bernado yes Mrs Burns
yes Mr Coya yes Mrs donio yes Mrs Fallon yes Mr Pia yes Mr chipon yes Mrs Scola yes Mr Wes yes motion carried next we'll take Personnel items 33 50 a motion
motion Mr Coya first second Mr Shel second question roll call M Fado um yes I'm going to abstain on number
49 Mrs Burns yes Mr pya yes Mrs donio yes Mrs Fallen yes Mr fle yes Mr chipon yes Mrs Scola yes Mr Lions yes motion carried next we'll take program students
of miscellaneous items 51- 59 I'll entertain a motion motion this Fallon first second Mrs bernado second W Mrs bernado yes Mrs Burns yes Mr Kua yes Mrs donio yes Mrs Fallon yes
Mr FIA yes Mr chipon yes Mrs skola yes Mr lions yes motion carried next we'll move to the addendum I'll take a motion on finance item number 60 motion Mr Co first second Mrs bernado
second roll call Mrs bernado yes Mrs Burns yes Mr CA yes Mrs donio yes Mrs Fallon yes Mr Pia yes Mr shipon yes Mrs Scola yes Mr Lian yes motion carried this takes us to the end of the agenda
and the second opportunity for the public everybody wishes to be heard come on up to the microphone hello good evening my name is Frankie renesi and I would like to take a moment to thank the entire Board of Education as well as superintendent Mr Ramsey assistant superintendent Miss
shilia Hamilton High School principal Mr matina and assistant principal Mr White for the opportunity to teach English at the high school I was born and raised in Hamilton and graduated from HHS in 2014 in high school I really enjoyed being on the softball and cheer teams but most
importantly thanks to my English teachers I found a love of reading and writing that I've carried with me ever since during years spent working as a journalist including at the Hamilton Gazette covering important Town issues like the school board or when I wrote my Master's thesis on Shakespeare at
Villanova I'm really excited to share my professional writing experiences and love for literature with future Generations here at HHS and get involved in the school in any other way I can including coaching or for helping to advise Student News organizations once again I'm really
thankful for the opportunity and hope to make my community proud as well as my family especially my parents um who have always inspired me to be an educator and a leader thank you all right anyone else close the second public portion and I will
entertain a motion to adjourn so move berado first second SK a second all in favor all right J thank you everybody