##VIDEO ID:STTkhugeu-8## [Music] good evening everyone we're going to get started welcome to the August 20124 Board of Education meeting thank you all for being here if you are joining us this evening to speak on agenda or non-agenda items please use the signup sheets located down front at the podium Miss Lopez can you please read the statement of compliance this meeting is being held before we to the open public meetings Act njsa 10 4-6 at proper public notice of the meeting was published in the local papers on January 5th 2024 if any board member or member of the public in attendance believes that the meeting is in violation of the public meetings act the Hope Board of Education request that they statement this time [Music] you're you're asking where Mr gagleard is my guess is he's probably trying to park his car we are we are able to start a meeting without Council being present of the with all respect to me said me in my opinion and I great thank you Miss waiters let the records show that Mr gagley already has has not yet joined us at the podium Miss Lopez please continue the board wishes to make those in attendance aware that this meeting is being recorded on video and will be broadcast by the board at a later date on catv channel 77 and bios channel 46 the full meeting recording will also be made available on board docs which can be accessed to the district homepage the hobok board of education is committed to preserving the decorum of the public process and is mindful that we live in the electronic a with computers cell phones and other electronic communication devices nevertheless we respectfully request that all meeting participants kindly silence their electronic devices during the course of the meeting and if use of the device is necessary we ask that you please leave the meeting room if need to conduct personal business please rise for pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repu stands Miss Lopez can you please call a Miss Angley here M here M here Mr delor here Mr BR here M car Mr CL here M Norwood here and this here thank you Miss Lopez Dr Johnson do you have a superintendence report for us to see uh at this time I would like to deliver a superintendent report regarding the launching of a new 5year strategic plan so I'm just going to distribute [Music] so the Hoban public school district is going to be embarking on a comprehensive journey to develop a new 5year strategic plan or a guiding document that will Dev the district and all district actions and decisions in the coming years Central to the process is a revision of the district's vision and mission statements along with the establishment of strategic goals two of these goals will be particularly significant one will be anchored in the portrait of the hokan high school graduate which will Define the skills and attributes our student should possess upon graduation any other in the district's long range facilities plan which will ensure that our educational facilities will support these aspirations tonight I I am going to officially announce the launch of this strategic planning process at this meeting here this evening I'm going to outline the steps that are going to be taken to develop the plan that is going to guide the district over the next 5 years emphasizing the critical importance of revising the district vision and mission statements to reflect the evolving needs of the community I'm going to detail how the process is going to be collaborative involving input from a wide branch of stakeholders and I'm also going to explain a bit about how it will be structured around the Dual pillar of the portrait of the graduate in Long Range facilities plan announcing this this evening will set the stage for the extensive work that's going to follow ensuring that all of our actions will be aligned with the longterm goals of preparing students for success in college careers and life while also addressing the physical infrastructure needs of the district facilities those of you who might not know the portrait of a graduate is a Visionary framework that's designed to articulate the essential skills knowledge and attributes that our students should embody by the time they complete their high school education this portrait is not just a reflection of our aspirations for Student Success it's actually a comprehensive guide that will form and shape every aspect of the educational experience within the hoken public school district from kindergarten through 12th grade develop in collaboration with itel for kids a national leader in educational Innovation and transformation the portrait of a graduate is the result of extensive research stakeholder engagement and a deep understanding of the evolving cans of the 21st century so as we prepare our students for an increasingly complex and interconnected world the portrait of the high school graduate is going to serve as our newth starart ensuring that our District's curriculum instructional practices and student experiences are all aligned with the skills and the competencies that are required for success of the modern error the portrait of the high school graduate um encompasses all kinds of key components um such as representing critical aspects of holistic development of students so for example um it's going to include certain aspects of academic Excellence college and Workforce Readiness Global competence social and emotional intelligence Civic engagement and also uh Innovative and creative Innovation and among these competencies we're also going to uh look at things that students think are going to be Su um that will make them successful for the future as well the goal um all of these goals are going to be outlined and we're going to build upon them to determine the programs in the curriculum that will be needed uh in order to nurture a graduate who will possess all of these competencies and characteristics the portrait of The Graduate is deeply integrated and will be deeply integrated into the district's strategic plan and all of its initiatives in the next 5 years it will serve as a guiding framework for the development of our curriculum our instructional strategies and our extracurricular programs by aligning our educational practices with these attributes um that that will be found in the portrait of The Graduate we're going to ensure that every student is on a path toward achieving their full potential furthermore the portrait will also inform the district's policies and decision making processes ensuring that our mission to prepare students for success in college careers and in life uh will be reflected in every aspect of our educational system from kindergarten 3 12 grade will also serve as a benchmark for measuring the the effectiveness of our programs and initiatives providing us with a very clear understanding of how well we are preparing students for the future and in summary the portrait of the Hoboken high school graduate is more than just a statement of educational descriptors it's a commitment to fostering a learning environment where every student can grow and Thrive and Achieve success in an Ever Changing world it's going to represent our dedication to providing an education that's not only academically RoR but also deeply relevant to the lives of our students and the lives that they will leave after graduation so that's one key element uh that will anchor our new strategic plan the other key element is a longrange facilities plan the long range facilities plan is a comprehensive plan and document that's mandated by the New Jersey Department of Education is required uh by all New Jersey school districts to assess and plan for future needs of their educational facilities for the hen Public School District updating the L range facilities plan has become a critical priority due to steady enrollment growth and the Aging infrastructure of three buildings in particular that were constructed prior to 1910 these factors necessitate the preparation for um new um initiatives in terms of um uh Renovations uh and even uh facilities projects and potentially new construction to secure um safe and and effective school buildings we also um need to look at securing funding to address all of these challenges and whether it be through funding with the SDA um or through a referendum these are things that have to be discussed in the process of upgrading and updating our long range facilities plan the long range facilities plan will outline necessary improvements expansions uh and even in construction ensuring that gloken school facilities are equipped to support both enroll growth and the educational programs and experiences that are envisioned in the portra of The Graduate and strategic plan the strategic planning process will be a collaborative effort the superintendent administrative team the entire Board of Education will all lead parts of the strategic planning process focus groups to solicit impact input and gather feedback while drafting uh goals um of the document and ultimately publishing a final strategic plan tapping into the collective thoughts and aspirations and dreams of both internal and external stakeholders including students staff members parents and Guardians community members elected officials and those professionals that impact the city of Koken is the sincere hope of the Hoboken Public School District that this new 5year strategic plan will Ser this work start so the new strategic plan um that we are going to develop um has a pretty detailed timeline including eight different phases uh that will start um it's already slowly begun to uh kind of roll out um in our early administrative team meetings we've begun to unpack um things like the mission statement and the vision statement um as well as some of the goals and um but on September 9th uh is when we'll really kick the new strategic plan off and the whole planning process will run through February 11th we've had some board of education members who um you know provided some really uh good insight and said kind of slow it down and let's make sure that the process is uh steady and as collaborative as possible so we'll take a good amount of time to ensure that do that uh the process will run from September 9th um through February 11th giving us some key points um in the process where we will um host uh focus groups we will report out at Board of Education meetings um and so in all eight phases you will see uh things from internal and external uh stakeholder surveys to um preparation of draft documents you will see um uh also the conducting of uh focus group meetings you will see um the kind of Hosting of um updated draft documents for people to provide input um and some additional feedback on and then you will also see the reporting out of uh some of that information at public Board of Education as well so there will be a multitude of options for Community input and feedback throughout the process um with the hope that by uh the middle of the school year in February at the February 11 board meeting we will have a final strategic plan to present out um which puts us right at perfect points in the school year um in the budget process to also then link the goals in that strategic plan to uh the preparation of the uh 2025 2026 school year budget um so that we have not only our strategic planning goals um done but also align to the following Year's budget so in the packet that you've received there's a kind of a draft document that will be finalized that'll be posted um on our website and there's also a press release in there um that you can take a look at we can uh revise it a little bit and that will be uh released to our parent and guardan Community our teaching uh staff and our faculty our support staff as well as the community so that everyone is aware of the entire strategic planing process thank you Dr Johnson we'll now move into committee reports uh first oh sorry Miss LZ do you have the business of no thank you uh start with Mr BR and correct okay the uh curriculum committee met on August 22nd in attendance along with myself or Miss cavor Dr Johnson Angley um in terms of the consent agenda there are three items committee would like to review with you they are uh 9.01 um this requires a vote of approval for the district's professional development plans these are obviously developed um in the Des within the district um but they do satisfy through um our approval and our vote uh this State mandate um I've sent I've sent these out in the notes to you uh just note that you know in general there are overlays in terms of our approach which is we embed into all of our devel plans um The District's emphasis on literacy fetting diversity Focus across the entire learning curriculum and social emotional development um n92 is the district's mentorship program it requires affirmative vote uh and the committee recommends um an affirmative vote as such um I sent you a link to all the plans there's a mentor the mentor plan and then the professional development plan at the district level and then all of the five schools Grant Conor Wallace middle school and um and the high school um and then lastly you'll see 93 is about approving on ongoing approval of field trips and um these need our ongoing review and approval um I'm just going to add uh from non-action items um a couple a couple of items here um did I took in the notes one moment please um so recent released in from the superintendent in the sore is Governor Murphy announcing the promises promising practices project to acceler Cate student learning so this is um something that is being driven at the state level and we're very pleased um to note that Joseph at Brand elementary school has been selected as one of the standout institutions to participate um additionally uh believe this October 2nd we are going to have a great opportunity in the community to have a viewing and a Q&A session with Kenneth B who is the director of the documentary till um if people obviously that's a um a serious subject but um one that you know it should be open in the community and the request will also be inmore so if you want to participate that will be the place to go so thank you everyone and there are three items to vote off thank you Mr P will now go to facilities with Mr delor good evening everyone facilities committee met on Thursday August 22nd and were johnsona recommend all items here uh for approval do have a few updates uh new security doors will be installed in about 2 weeks Conor and Wallace do were supposed to be installed earlier this summer but du the shipping delays they have not yet arrived um use Safety Services at Wallace Conor completed after school opens with the work being done on the weekend either contractor play uh thanks to the generosity of the hob public Education Foundation the concession stand at JFK Stadium will be retrofitted and will be supplying new appliances um based on a final engineering report scaffolding and HMS will come down before school starts the majority of it is uh any areas not beinging clearance uh the scaping will be replaced by thank you thank you Mr delor for finance we go to missc thank you good evening the finance committee met on Friday August 23rd at 10:00 a.m. in attendance for Miss good Miss cabor angle Mr clell and myself agenda items in section 11 were reviewed and disc us and we recommend also approval I'd like to um thank all the individuals who donated to the passport to learning after school program under 11.10 and then under 11.11 I'd like to um give a huge thanks to the Hoboken public Education Foundation um for the total amount of $54,000 $54 $500 um to fund the many initiatives and programs as you can see listed so thank you again and that ends my report thank you Mrs con U Miss cator do you have a governance report I do um good evening the governance committee met on Thursday August 22nd 2024 in attendance for Dr Johnson Mr clell Miss Norwood Miss mcer and myself the committee discussed the agenda recommend all agenda items for approval um as is typical year we have a number of agenda items the faculty and staff including resignations modifications various appointments and items related to trainings and workshops uh specifically um today's J is the following items um from 10.1 all the way through 10.8 and including 10.16 and 10.17 those are a number of different um recisions or resignations of res from appointment from of certified staff as well as different appointments of modifications and also transfers um for the quickly approaching school year 10.09 and 10.10 includes the equirement of certain faculty as to serve as lead teachers for the district's passport learning program as well as a blanket appointment of all eligible faculty and staff in connection with that program for the 2425 school year uh 10.11 through 10.13 approves various appointments connection with with the district's theater program including what it can only be described as a wealth of Volunteers in connection with that program and our music programs um we would like to thank all of our generous volunteers for their time and efforts to make sure that our Arts programs are supported and successful uh 10.14 through 10.15 is improval of staed connection with current summer programs um 10.18 covers the approval of Dr David kevic I hope I'm saying that right as position for the High School athletic programs for the school year for the coming school year 2425 this position is an unpaid position and we thank um Dr k for his service to the district 10.19 is the approval of substitutes 10.20 as well as 24 through 25 cover the approval workshops training training compensation and conferences to be attended by our staff and faculty um 10.22 covers the payment of both qualitative and quantitive mer gos to Anam Mar conect her invaluable service to the district Miss maritt has been integral applying for and securing the various grants that hear about at our public meetings and we're very grateful for her dedication to our schools and to our students um 10.23 is a sidebar agreement um to the Hoban administrator and supervising Association contract and it add stiens a stien to the position of assistant to the athletic director in the amount of $9,600 and that is the agenda um one additional item I want to bring up is we as we discussed often in the governance it's the enrollment and updates on enrollment um the committee discussed the current and comparative enrollment numbers from this year and last year specifically we're seeing right now A 286 student increase in the district from PK prek through 12 so that's all the way from prek all the way through 12th grade over last year at this time last year's aggregate enrollment numbers for PK through 12 ended up about 2,51 students while the start of the of the coming year is currently showing enrollment of 3,000 wrong anyway it's a 286 student increase um and as always because we have gold enrollment that number they fluctuate and could increase at any time or decrease sorry and that is my report thank you thank you Miss Kor and now we'll turn it over to miss Norman for wellness thank you the wellness committee met on Thursday August 22nd in attendance for Dr Johnson Miss Angley gelator and myself there are no Wellness items on the agenda however the committee discussed a number of items the district will be participating in a Thanksgiving food drive in partnership with obok Community Center each school will be collecting items representing a part of a traditional Thanksgiving meal those items will then be repackaged into a complete meal for families in need the district will be testing no waste food bins for each cafeteria by law students receiving hot lunch are required to take certain items many of which are prepackaged such as milk if they do not want these items in the future they will put these items that are unopened and packaged into the new Bins instead of the garbage this effort will not only reduce food waste but will also allow children that are still hungry after eating their lunch to take additional food items without additional charges vaping is a national problem among young adults the hobo high school and hobok and middle school student codes of conduct expressly prohibit smoking of any kind on school property including vaping and eat cigarettes as a student health protection initiative the district will be rolling out the installation of Vape detectors in the hobok and high school bathrooms the district will be offering CPR and firststate certification for staff the program will be free voluntary and held on a weekend this will be in addition to training provid and purchase finally for years the district has been providing menstrual products to students the New Jersey Department of Education has begun an initiative to provide reimbursement to school districts for menstrual products and the district has signed up for the progam thank you very much Mr I just want to give the correct numbers thank you so um enrollment for last year was at 3,51 again that's peaking through 12 and for this coming year it's showing us 3,787 right now um one other thing I wanted to mention as a result of finally I the right numbers is that um our current for 2425 is actually outpacing the projections from our 2021 demographic study I just want to bring up that important point because we are there or above it thank you thank you Miss P to so I really cannot believe that we are here at the end of August and that in a little more than a week the hallways here at orogen high school as well as the four other District school buildings and all of the prek sites will be filled with students and teachers excited about all the possibilities promised by the start of a new school year for 2024 to 2025 and just even saying that number out loud seems a little I don't know makes me feel old or seems a little shocking but I'm so glad and grateful to Dr Johnson for sharing a highle overview of the strategic planning process and long range facility Plan update that the district will be embarking on this is incredibly important work and it's very fitting that it gets started at the beginning of the school year with all of those promises and possibilities we can start to think about the portrait of The Graduate and all of the good things that this board and all the citizenry of Hoboken want to continue seeing here in our Public Schools so I have two items to provide updates on um first at the August 21st city council meeting there was an ordinance on the agenda for first reading that was sponsored by council person jaor and Ros titled and it's a long one so bear with me ordinance of the city of Hoboken in the county of Hudson New Jersey establishing pilot education trust accounts and approving the contribution of a portion of the annual service charge provided to the city of Hoboken pursuant to financial agreements buy and between the city of Hoboken and Monroe Center Hoboken urban renewal LLC and bu in between the city of Hoboken and OB server Highway urban renewal LLC into the city's pilot education trust accounts this first reading passed with a unanimous vote as many longtime attendees viewers participants at our meetings will remember this board has engaged in an ongoing effort to realize funds from the pilot agreement for 770 house since 2019 this ordinance includes funds from that development and future funds from the NJ connect elcor Redevelopment by PATH station we are grateful to council person Jabor and Ramos for their sponsorship and are cautiously optimistic that this ordinance will pass on September 4th this ordinance is the result of efforts on the part of this board the administration our attorney thank you Mr dag Hardy and board members from the charter schools and their legal representation I want to acknowledge that the board and our attorney worked closely with Charter School leadership to get this ordinance to this very point and that work devolved a lot of listening some compromise and a determination to do the right thing for the students Hoboken I look forward to sharing the status of the ordinance and whether or not it passes at our September meeting I also want to say a giant thank you to the Blue Ribbon Schools of excellent Organization for the time they spent here in Hoboken recognizing not one not two but all five district schools as Blue Ribbon Schools of excellent Lighthouse Award winners we are honored to have had the opportunity to go through and learn from this process and being the first district in New Jersey to have every school achieve Lighthouse status is a testament to all the hard work the teachers administrators and students of the hobok public school district have been doing for many years I personally am constantly inspired by the work that happens here on a daily basis and I know that this recognition is just the tip of the iceberg for what the school year is going to hold for all of our students uh next we'll move on to and that concludes my report next we'll go on to public comments on agenda items all righty with no uh public comments on agenda items we will move on to the consent agenda do I have a [Music] motion Miss Li has we to call the [Music] r m c yes M um I have no doubt that this will pass um and thank you everybody for um volunteering for theer department but I have to obstain because I one of those volunteers so I will um obstain from 102 yes and everything else Mr Del yes Mr gr yes Miss K yes M Mr K yes Miss norwal I'm abstaining on 1108 and 1109 and yes on the rest pleas and M M to abstain on 6.01 and 10.12 and yes on everything else thank you Miss Lopez do we have any speakers signed up for public comments on non-agenda items no thank you Miss Lopez we are going to be uh going into executive sessions for the purposes of discussing legal matters um that are covered by attorney clent PR we will not taking any action so we'll just be coming back in order to close the [Music] meeting uh we will be approximately 1 hour do I have a motion did you did we can we can can we walk back or por all right may I have a motion to reopen public portion thank you Miss pick aetra I didn't know I was supposed to sign up I apologize um I'll be quick good evening everyone as you know my name is Robin Patra and I am the most senior principal in the district crowly soing hob openen High School I am also the president of of the Hoboken administrators and supervisors Association all five of our schools earn the National Blue ribon Schools of Excellence Lighthouse award the highest distinction from the prestigious organization and I just want to provide some background while we have received an overwhelming outpouring of congratulatory Outreach there have been a few members of the public of a former ad administrative employee who have shown less than supportive comments and actions as a result and on behalf of the administrative team I will provide the overview of our journey prior to the districtwide celebration on September 15th an official receipt of awards at the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence conference in orando in early December back in November 2023 my colleague Julian Addie principal of Connor's Elementary School shared with the superintendent of schools that we wanted to attend the 2023 Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence conference in Orlando Florida to learn more about the organization and about their school Improvement and onsite validation process and recognition award program the superintendent approved our attendance at this conference sending myself J Juliana Addie and Ryan sorine the principal of Hoboken Middle School our attendance was paid for out of the ARP essr Grant at this conference the three of us attended a multitude of professional development workshops we met principles from across the country interested in progress and continuous School Improvement efforts just like those in our district we felt empowered we also attended a meeting about the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence on-site validation process it was great to learn about the nine key performance indicators that the organiz organization evaluates if a school signs on to this process the nine kpis or our key performance indicators are student focus and support school organization and culture challenge standards and curriculum active teaching and learning technology integration professional Community leadership and educational vitality and school family Community Partnerships when we returned from this conference we turn paid the information to Marty Shannon principal of Wallace Elementary School and Charles bartett the principal of brand Elementary School and met with the superintendent and assistant superintendent we were all in all five of our schools wanted to go through the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence onsite validation process there have been a few questions about the on-site process and why we had to pay for it similar to all accreditation processes there is a fee the fee covers travel expenses for the assessor time spent on the process analyzing both quantitative and qu qualitative data along with professional development provided the months that during the months that the process is taking place and the professional review of the rubric based on District evidence the course for each school to go through the process is $6,500 and it was well worth it just as if we would have paid to go through the middle States accreditation process in which there is also a thing there is not a principal in this District or one that we know are connected to in the network that does not agree that this process these that the processes such as sorry that does not agree that processes such as these are powerful in order to get the process started each principal had to complete and submit the summited form once we did so the district was invoiced and paid and the process began again someone from outside of our school Comm Community emailed the Blue Ribbon organization asking who applied for us I thought that was an odd question we applied each principal submitted a summi of form for their own School the individual also wanted to know who paid for the process each principal used a r p SSR purchase professional Services Grant funds to go through this process once we signed on to this process each School committed to the following evaluatory evaluatory actions online survey assessment the individual who may emailed the Blue Ribbon organization ask questions about an opinion call it is important to note that this is not in an opinion poll this online assessment survey is is a research-based tool used to determine strengths and weaknesses of schools as determined by the providers and the users this online survey assessment was open to all internal stakeholders of the hooken public school district not a select few all administrators caran Guardians students and support staff number two the on-site validation visit all schools went underwent a two-day on-site validation visit by nationally recognized and trained principal who conducted classroom walkthroughs interview sessions with parents students and staff members to validate survey results and gather evidence including quantitative and qualitative data this included locally administered benchmark assessments including period grades attended data AP scat Kat njsla PSAT sat link it Dr seal by literacy and more concrete measures for both achievement and growth number three the exit summary all schools had an exit summary conference to review a report an action plan for future growth additional virtual Co sessions were held to discuss strategies for implementing the action plan so that each school could continue to reach Beyond its goals and expectations on August 15th all five of the Hoboken Public Schools were notified by the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence that they had earned the National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Lighthouse award this is their highest distinction and we are all very proud of this Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence is not a pro is a nonprofit 5013c organization that has been serving schools across the N Nation since 2001 the organization is passionate about education and wants schools to be the very best for students the BR BRS one-of-a-kind assessment process and surveys provide actionable insights that can be used as the starting point for school Improvement their comprehensive approach to helping schools includes professional development and support best practice sharing conferences and networking they do everything possible to create a path forward for all schools and all kids this is separate from the National Blue Ribbon Schools program which operates through the US Department of Education this was clearly delineated in our District's press release on August 15th but to attempt to cut down or minimize our school's accomplishments is simply small ugly and Petty it is disrespectful to our students our teachers and our entire administrative team we have worked very hard and this was a rigorous process in early December we will be attending the 2024 Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence conference attending with me will be my four principal colleagues since there was a question about this as well I'm going to just put it out there all five of us principles receive the registration fee complimentary from the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence because of our Awards the assistant superintendent of schools and the superintendent of schools will be accompanying us as well to celebrate our District's accomplishment as being the first school district in New Jersey to have all schools to earn the distinction and to be recognized as Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Lighthouse District Dr Johnson will be speaking at the conference as well for those curious minds that want to know the cost of the conf conference for the assistant superintendent and the superintendent of schools it will be covered by Essa tit 2A Grant funds now that I have provided this full overview of the Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence process I do hope that you join me in celebrating our Schools staff students and this Monumental Monumental accomplishment I know that Dr Johnson will be announcing a districtwide celebration to distribute batters on September 15th on behalf of my principal colleagues I hope to see you all there thank you for your time hi my name is Melanie tan a hokan resident and parent of incoming freshman um first I want to say thank you to missra for going over that whole like explanation of the um the recognition that the district uh will earned um it's super exciting for all of us and I think one of the things as I was listening to the kind of explanation that Miss P provided was that this is a reflection in like a moment in time of all the work that's been happening in our district for last 15 or so years that every single year every single month all ongoing ongoing there's some new achievement that either our students our faculty our schools our district are accomplishing and this feels like a summation of all of those accomplishments and a representation and a blue ribbon you know that shows you know everything that we've been doing I'm so proud of our district um and everybody in our district Community for all the work that has been put into um whether it's curriculum whether it's student achievement whether it's extracurricular whether it's sports clubs everything that we do to create a well-rounded educational experience for our students that leads to knocking stuff over sorry leads to being able to get recognized in this way and um I'm so proud of all of you sitting here our teachers our families our students all of our staff um and all of our administrators so uh thanks for the work that you're doing and congratulations to the district any further speakers we will be going good evening Roseanne verace um I I would like to Echo um Melanie said and certainly What U what Robin said um when I found out about about uh this achievement I had emailed Dr Johnson and she had said some very lovely things about the staff and I said I happily accept the congratulations on behalf of the staff but I also wanted to recognize her because I've been I've been I've lived in Hoboken practically my whole life and I know what what the challenges that the that the public school dist went through and when I first started teaching just as a as an aside I remember they would we had the both the John's Hopkins program in and they were thinking about moving it to Connors to try to build up Connors and when they did that a lot of parents decided that they weren't going to send their kids there and so the the district went through a lot of different challenges schoolwide and and Citywide and um you know I I taught the elementary lower elementary level and I had kids in first and second grade and then they were gone and so that's not the district that many of you know today um many of the newer parents wouldn't recognize the district that I knew growing up and certainly when I first started teaching so this is a a great honor for the whole district and and certainly for the teachers I mean you know I I represent them so I give them a lot of a lot of props but um but it's it's a collaborative effort and and it's it's the ision of the the superintendent the assistant superintendent all the administration all the hard work that everybody has put into making this District such a premier district and a district that not only we are proud of because we were always proud of the work that we did but a district that I mean when I hear people from Charter School saying like I'm sending my child to hobok and high it just gives me such a a feeling because that was never the case so I think we all need to give ourselves a p on the back and take a lot of pride in in this achievement and I just want to say thank you to everyone for all the support in making Hoboken uh the district that has become so thank you if there are no further speakers I think there's anyone else left we will be going into executive session now for the purpose of discussing matters covered by attorney client privilege we will not be taking AC we will be coming back to close the meeting will we be approximately half hour 45 minutes or so do I have a motion second Miss Lopez please call the rooll miss m Tor yes M TOA yes Mr delor yes Mr gr yes Miss Conor yes M CL yes Miss nor yes and M yes [Music]