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Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=k_etYgyUS7I

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I was driving by the school yesterday and like around the front like oh my god this is so exciting all the equipment and everything. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Uh can I have a motion to reconvene?

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>> I'll make a motion. >> I'll second. >> Motion by Mr. Chaffee, seconded by uh, Ms. Gulon. Dr. Capello? Ms. Gabbiares absent. Ms. Schram? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes. >> Ms. Paluchina? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitrick?

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>> Yes. >> Ms. Gulon? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone Schubert is absent this evening. >> Okay. All right. Uh, can I have a motion to open um, a Donaldson hearing? >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> Okay.

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>> I'm out. >> You have a second on the motion. >> One second. >> On the motion by Mr. Chaffee, seconded by Ms. Schram. Dr. Capello? >> Yes. >> Ms. Gabbiares absent. Ms. Schram? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes.

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>> Ms. Paluchina? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitrick? >> Yes. >> Ms. Gulon? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone Schubert is absent. >> All right, good evening. You have requested this hearing before the board in response to the decision to not renew your contract for the 2026-2027

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school year. We are aware that you have received a written statement of the reason for that recommendation. This is your opportunity to address the board and explain why you believe your contract should be renewed. You may present witnesses to speak on your behalf. However, we stress that this is

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an informal, non-adversarial hearing. As such, you and any who speak on your behalf will not be under oath, nor will there be any cross-examination. In terms of procedure, we ask that you We ask that any who speak on your behalf

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introduce himself or herself and explain his or her relationship to you prior to speaking. Remember that you have been given 30 minutes total for your presentation, so you should uh, advise your witnesses to guide their remarks accordingly so that your full presentation can occur within the time

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allotted. Um let's see. Oh, and then thank you for your presentation. Oh, okay. >> you may begin. It's all you. >> Okay, awesome. Thank you. So, I think most of you know me, right? I've been here seven-ish years.

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I have most of your kids. Okay. So, I think my employment I was called unprofessional and um that I caused an issue between the nursing staff. So, I just feel like that needs to be addressed.

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So, that's really why I asked for the hearing. Um first, I just also want to say that the way I found out I was not going to be employed is a little disappointing. I read the board minutes and that's how I found out. Uh the other person who was

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not renewed was spoken to in person days before the meeting. And as for policy, I was supposed to be notified so I could be at that closed meeting. I'm even happy to share that policy with you. So, that's

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should probably follow our our own policies. Um okay. So, also like I said, been here for about 7 years. I've worked with over 10 nurses. Never had an issue.

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So, I think the numbers are in my favor. So, I worked Barbara, Maureen, Rosemary, Jackie Henderson, Barbara Reyes, Amy Langer, Cat Gatto, Ashley Zambra, Amanda McCarty, and uh

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Christie Pasquale. I actually hired like three of those. I sat in with her and Joe and they were my hires. Never had a problem. Actually had them over my house for barbecues and our kids hung out and we actually still keep in touch

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and Rosemary sends me flowers on school nurse day. So, I will actually explain my issue with the nursing department a little bit later. But, nothing that I have ever done or will do

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will ever qualify as unprofessional. Been working since I was 14, 42, not once have I been called unprofessional. Um I had a list of unprofessional things that were done by another nurse, but I'm just going to

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take the high road and not not go there. Not go there right now. Hello. So, I just a little tidbit I got here. I took over for Barbara Beer who went to

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the high school January of 2019. Up until that point, the district had failed every single immunization order at immunization audit by the state.

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The health department comes out usually if you're if you don't have kindergarten, they come in Decemberish. Before me, whatever records I had in my office, they were failed. Since me, not one has been failed.

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Just statistics. I more than do my job. I'll let you guys go through that. >> Another thing we were not following the law. Um parents are supposed to be able to exempt their child from scoliosis

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screenings. That was never done. I actually made a letter and put it up on the nursing website that I also made. Before me there was no nursing website. I actually asked for it to be made. And also we did

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not have the HPV and meningococcal vaccine on our website. That also is supposed to be done by law. Um what else? Oh, there's many things.

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So here's emails between me and the superintendent at that time telling him all the things that need to be done by law that I fixed. Here's that.

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There's another page. Um this is actually type one students, type one diabetes students. I implemented a system here where we were monitoring their blood sugar. The Dexcom, if they have a Dexcom, I was

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able to have an iPad in my office and I could see their blood sugar trends. So instead of them coming out of class all the time, I would call and be like, "Hey, uh I would call the teacher and be like, "Hey, your blood sugar's dipping a little bit. Could they have a glucose tab so we

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could bring it up?" So they don't need to then come to my office, miss class, sit there while their blood sugar goes up, and then um miss 20-30 minutes of class. That's something I implemented and it's still used today.

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Also, Bella, we were written about in the patch. I implemented a therapy dog program here. I had a Bernese Mountain Dog named Bella. Most of your children probably met her.

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Unfortunately, she passed away. That's why she's no longer here. I adopted a mini golden doodle that I also had certified, but the administration told me to table the idea, so I did. Um

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I'll say this later. So, I was the lead nurse during COVID. I worked pretty much 24/7. I would get 4:00 a.m. phone calls from the superintendent, the assistant assistant superintendent

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telling me, "Hey, this person was in contact with this person. What do I do?" Like I did all of that, most of it out of contract hours, most of it unpaid. I think we worked for at least a year before getting paid for anything that we

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did COVID-wise. Unfortunately, I also got thyroid cancer during COVID, had a total thyroidectomy. We were so short-staffed nursing-wise that I did three post-op.

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I was doing contact tracing and working from home when I was supposed to be on medical leave. Um I'm from Ukraine, was near Chernobyl, probably because of that, got breast cancer.

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All the cancers. I had a deep flap reconstruction that I had horrible complications from. I had fat necrosis. I had to have six surgeries, um, seven drains, seven hyperbaric

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treatments, in and out of the hospital for eight months. I actually came to work on oxygen cuz my hemoglobin was so low that I felt so short of breath. So, the kids had a nurse cuz I'm just saying, if there's

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unprofessional is not a word I would use to describe myself. In addition, I'm the only nurse who does the holiday gifts every year. We unfortunately have students who would

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not get food or gifts unless we intervene. So, I do. I'm the only nurse in the district who does that. I'm also the only nurse who organizes the dental to come and give oral health presentations. By the way, six and up,

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grade six and up, by law, need to have vaping education and I Again, the only school nurse who does that. I get coats for kids who otherwise would not have coats for the winter. They are

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donated. This is Thanksgiving food that I gave out. This is the giving tree that the staff fill out, um, to get a little ornament with a number that corresponds to a family

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who needs help to provide gifts for kids. Also, I don't know if you guys remember Joanna Ross, she worked here very briefly as an assistant superintendent until her daughter

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got brain cancer and obviously could not work. I threw a fundraiser at my friend's restaurant and we earned over $7,000 for her. This is one of my best friends, Janine Osmus,

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passed away from breast cancer almost 2 years ago, July 6th. I made many fundraisers for her in the district and out of the district cuz she couldn't work when she was on

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chemo. Also raised thousands. I won ESP of the Year. That that was nice. They brought me flowers then that they were giving out to all the winners. Great luncheon.

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So, that right there was cool. That was pretty nice. And great employee. I also was a clinical I had um our nurses that used to work here. I was

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helping them finish their certification and I was their go-to person and they needed so much hours of supervision and help and I did that. For Amy and Cath actually. Oh, I did forget to mention that we do

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get gift cards is year uh during the holiday season. I've actually personally, when we had a roving nurse, I had her cover my school and I went to Walmart and got families food cuz they didn't have any.

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So, I took my car, my lunch break, went, got them food like four or five hundred dollars worth of food. This year we had no roving nurse, so I used those gift cards and I had the food delivered to the family. Cuz mom was sick in the hospital and she

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was an only parent to five kids, I believe. I'll pick this one later. Um Jeff, you must remember this one when I came to you saying I have to leave early, pregnant, cuz my stomach was killing me. They ended up with appendicitis, 25 weeks pregnant.

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I was here I I was Thursday I left around 1:00 2:00 a.m. Friday I was operated on. I had peritonitis because my appendix burst. Monday I took off cuz I was in pain. Tuesday I was already back at work

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because we had no coverage and I had six type one diabetic students. These are just emails back and forth with me letting Jeff know what's going on. Um this is this one is cute. So, I was actually on maternity leave. I found out I was pregnant a week after I took the

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job here. Um my little Jenna bear. And the nurse who was supposed to be covering my maternity leave was less than reliable and administration called me at like 7:00 a.m. and it's like, "We're not going to have a nurse today.

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Help." So, I took my 2-month-old baby on my maternity leave and they watched her in the main office while I worked. Unpaid, by the way, cuz I don't get paid for maternity leave. So, that was a fun fact.

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I never asked to be paid, by the way. Did it out of the goodness of my heart, cuz I love the kids. So, I don't know if you guys know my background, education-wise. Um I'm a certified school nurse, but I also have two master's, one as a nurse

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educator, an MSN, and an MEd. So, I have a master's in education and nursing. And I'm actually going to school to be a nurse practitioner starting August 26th. So, and obviously certified school Just a little background.

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Oh, and this is where things started going south, where I was called uh unprofessional because I spoke what I believed in and I spoke up for the kids. Um So, I was diagnosed with celiac, more things

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I blame turnover on, uh last summer. And I had to have an endoscopy. I couldn't do it in the summer. They were booking months in advance. Okay, fine. I I booked it. I needed the day off. We couldn't find coverage.

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So, instead of doing what we did every year forever, which is triaging the schools and putting the nurses, we have four schools, three nurses. We take the schools with the highest acuity, the sickest children, and those are the

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schools who get covered. So, I am I started this when I was head nurse. This was easy for us to keep track of and all administration had this. This is each breakdown of the schools and the children with

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medical needs. Durbin was had zero. Pretty much zero medical needs. She wrote cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, those are not medical issues that ever need medical attention.

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Um unless they fall. But really they're PT, OT, and speech more than anything. So, I asked for my school to be covered. I was said no. Um I do have those emails going back and

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forth that nurses will only go in case of an emergency to the other school. The nurse will stay in her base school. If there's an emergency, she could cover that school with a after a phone call. Well, unfortunately, emergencies are emergencies and a girl had a seizure on

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that day with no nurse in the building. It's black and white. A need is the need. When you go to an emergency room, they're like, "You were here first, so I'm going to take care of your broken finger." They're like, "No, you're having a heart attack. Come on

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in." Same thing should go for schools. Medical professionals make medical decisions. If you're an educator or an administrator, you just don't have the background knowledge for that, unfortunately. And that's when things get dangerous.

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I'll let you catch up with the reading. I have more. And you know what? I also brought all of my summative and evaluations. Do you need these back cuz I don't want to reprint for my lawyer,

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but I was found highly effective every year. You bet me head up. Said that the form didn't fit me and my needs, so he wrote an amazing page about what I do for the kids

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instead of using the form provided. I do need all of those back. I just want you to be able to flip through them. And by the way, the assistant superintendent on April 8th said that he recommends me for reemployment.

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Oh, this is another breast cancer awareness thing I sent to all staff that I made. I have done a bunch of fundraisers for any any staff or kids that have

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something horrible happen. I I try to help them in any way I can. Now, this is the blurb of that I put on the pop on that page where Mr. Carlos Rocha. Oh, here is a

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I sent this to Matt Robinson. I'm always up on how to help the the and sending out resources to everyone. Like Project Self-Sufficiency that

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not everyone may know about, so I asked for glass to be sent out. By the way, that same girl who had a seizure on the day I wasn't here and the school wasn't covered, next time she had a seizure, a few weeks later, thankfully I was here.

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Her pulse ox dipped to 66. She was in complete respiratory arrest until I ate her the Valtoco. Valtoco is supposed to be given within 3 minutes of the seizure starting. There's no way another nurse from another school can come within those 3 minutes.

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And that's permanent brain damage that could be. We go where the acute we is, not where we're stationed. This is why I don't need witnesses, I have documents. Receipts, always have receipts.

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Otherwise, the fight's not worth the fighting. So, I just do want to address my issue with the nursing department, and I sure do have an issue. Um didn't until this year ago. So, the nurse that I

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have the issue with was informed that she would not be employed this this school year. And she took all 14 of her days off within a month and a half time because she didn't want to leave the district

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with days in her bank. Fine. That's your prerogative. Except now we are down a high school nurse because she was on administrative leave and [clears throat] a Durban nurse. She took off either Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday,

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Thursday because then we cannot ask her for a sick note as per our contract. A month and a half later she was made head nurse. I will never and have never respected someone like that. It won't happen.

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It just won't. You put kids in danger. I was here on oxygen so you could leave with no days in the bank. These are more things she did not do as head nurse. This is the job description that I made

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with our superintendent at the time. The highlighted ones are things she did not do. More than anything she didn't stand up for the kids and do what's right medically. >> Oh, this is our head nurse saying that she agrees with the nurses in our group

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chat. But then does nothing about it instead of standing up for the kids and us about the signing the nurse worthy acuity. >> So Miss Felicia, I'm just going to ask you to focus on your statement of reasons and your your comment. >> That's it. >> Thank you. >> It's

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all the policies that we were not informed about. There was no PE at uh continuing education at all. Really, there was zero meetings which >> So, I just do your the statement of reasons that was provided to you, I wanted you to talk about your

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>> But they're saying I'm unprofessional. >> I understand. >> So, I'm saying that I am. >> I'm just not sure how the conduct of the current head nurse is related, but I just want you to focus on your >> Sure, no problem. >> Thank you. >> I'm more than happy to take that paperwork back if you don't want people

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to look at it. >> you're you're it's your hearing. Your show. >> Thank you. >> You have 5 minutes remaining. >> I'm done. Are they just going through the stuff? I and just >> You're done, that's okay. You don't need to use the full that's fine. You're done.

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>> Yeah, that's it. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Happy to do so. Thank you for your presentation. We will take everything you have shared into consideration. You will receive a written statement of the board's determination within 3 days. >> Okay, how will I be notified? Email? >> It's a written statement. I assume

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you'll probably get an email and a mail copy as well. >> Perfect, thank you. Um can we make a motion to close the hearing? >> I'll make the motion. >> I'll second it. >> On the motion by Mr. Chaffee seconded by Dr. Cappello to close the hearing. Miss

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Cappello? >> Oh, I'm sorry. Miss Goulart? >> Sorry. >> No, that's all right. Dr. Cappello? >> Yes. >> Mr. D'Avella is absent. Miss Schram? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes. >> Miss Paluchina? >> Yes.

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>> Mr. Sitrick? >> Yes. >> Miss Goulart? >> Yes. >> And Miss Falcone Schubert is absent. >> Okay. I need to hear a motion to go into executive session. >> I'll make that motion. >> I'll second it as well. >> On the motion by Mr. Chaffee and

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seconded by Miss Goulart to enter executive session. Dr. Cappello? >> Yes. >> Mr. D'Avella is absent. Miss Schram? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes. >> Miss Paluchina? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitrick? >> Yes.

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>> Ms. Goolan? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone-Schubert is absent. At this time, the board expects to be in executive session for about 10 or 15 minutes. We'll come back out in public and reconvene at that time.

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>> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Really excited about this. >> I'll make the motion to >> I will second it. >> Okay. Motion Superintendent's contract hearing. >> Hang on. Let me get to that.

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>> I'm going to jump in the gun here. You got it. >> On the motion to reconvene by Mr. Chaffee, seconded by Ms. Gulan. Dr. Capello? >> Yes. >> Mr. D'Aviau is absent. Ms. Schramp? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes.

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>> Ms. Paula Cheney? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitrick? >> Yes. >> Ms. Gulan? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone Schubert is absent. Jeff, I don't think she's going to be able to make it. >> Yeah. >> I don't think she's She said her service is shaky. >> Okay. Perfect. Thank you. And you can jump to seven.

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>> All right. Motion to for the Superintendent contract hearing. >> I'll make the motion. >> I'll second. >> Got it. It's okay. I can share. >> On the motion by Mr. Chaffee, seconded by Dr. Capello. Dr. Capello? >> Yes.

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>> Mr. D'Avino is absent. Ms. Schram? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes. >> Ms. Paluchina? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitrick? >> Yes. >> Ms. Goonan? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone-Schubert is absent. So,

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uh for members of the public um who may not know, when I was employed as superintendent, um I was given a five-year contract by this Board of Education. The first two years of that contract, I also served in the separate

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certificated role as business administrator of the school district. Um that requires two separate certificates to hold. As part of that contract, after those first two years, my contract then stipulated that I would move into the role as just superintendent of schools,

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and the Board of Education would go out and look to hire a business administrator to fill that mandatory role. Pursuant to our conversations and our financial situation, um we determined that it would probably be best for the

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remaining three years of my contract if I remained in that role as business administrator. Because that is a material change to that contract, it requires us to get approval from the county superintendent to reopen that contract and to hold a vote on that

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contract uh allowing me to continue the last three years of my contract serving both roles as the superintendent and the business administrator. So, with that in mind, we will uh open up the any comments um from members of the

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public uh on your feedback in terms of the board and the superintendent {slash} business administrator allowing that arrangement for the last three years of the deal. Um we'll open it up to members of the public if anyone has any comments

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that they would like to share on that. Yep. >> Anyone? >> Crickets. >> That's it. >> All right. With that and hearing none, we'll I'll ask for a motion to close the hearing and

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the board will vote on that later in the agenda. Okay? So, can we get a motion to close the public hearing? >> I will motion it. >> I'll second. >> On the motion by Ms. Gulan, seconded by Mr. Chaffee, Dr. Capello? >> Yes.

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>> Mr. D'Amico is absent, Ms. Schram? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes. >> Ms. Paluchaina? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitrick? >> Yes. >> Ms. Gulan? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone Schuberg is absent. >> All right. Number eight, approval of the minutes.

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Can I hear a motion to approve them? >> I'll make it. >> I'll second. >> On the motion by Ms. Schram, seconded by Dr. Capello, Dr. Capello? >> Yes. >> Mr. D'Amico is absent, Ms. Schram? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Going to abstain for that one.

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>> Yep. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, sir. Mr. Warren? >> Yes. >> Ms. Paluchaina? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitrick? Yes. Ms. Gulan? >> Yes to 8A, abstain for 8B since I couldn't get to that. >> And Ms. Falcone Schuberg is absent. Thank you.

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>> All right, moving along. Number nine, Superintendent's report and head report. >> All right, we don't have a formal student representatives report this evening as we will be appointing new student representatives come the fall, but I do

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spy in the back of the room one of our former representatives. Hey, while you're here, would you like to give us an update on year end? I'm putting you on the spot. You didn't prepare. >> Um it was good. I mean >> [laughter] >> How was graduation? >> Man, there's a home run right there.

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>> How was Project Graduation? >> Oh, it was a little bit. >> How about senior? >> I'm a junior. >> You're a junior this year, yeah. >> All right. >> I heard they all had a very good time. Um and then on top of that, after um they went into after graduation the graduating seniors, we had our field day and I'd like to thank everybody that

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made that possible. That was really nice. Um I especially like the pretzels. That was great. And it was it was so hot outside, but there was so much going on that I think it made it like really worth it. Um we all got our yearbooks signed, a lot of pictures were taken. We all um were able to look through the yearbook and

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see what everybody worked on throughout the year. It was a really good end of the school year and I think I mean I know kids that have already started their summer assignments, which I think they should, you know, show off a little, but >> [laughter] >> Competition. >> It was a great end of the school year. Thank you.

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>> Thank you. Thank you. Um as part of my superintendent's report this evening, in executive session, we did talk about uh hib. Before we go through that, um I just want to publicly thank the high school PTO for their

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efforts on field day. Um you know, to have Project Graduation the night before and then have your high school seniors come back and want to be part of field day um was was something that was fantastic and so to Project Graduation who put

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together a fantastic event, who raised a ton of money to help offset those costs for our high school seniors, I want to thank you. To our high school PTO, thank you for your efforts all year long um for our HEPTO volunteers at the

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elementary and middle school level, um thank you so much for everything that you do for our students. Um, to our parent volunteers, to our community representatives, um, this is what makes Oakhaven so special all year long. So, thank you to

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all of those individuals, and let's cap it off with graduation. While we would have loved to have been outside, the logistics of trying to plan for isolated severe weather, um, outdoors and trying to be able to

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rush everybody inside, um, makes it very difficult. Indoor graduation, we don't have air conditioning in our gymnasium. We don't have an auditorium that has air conditioning that's large enough to to host those crowds. Um, our our one of our programs from one

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of our athletic coaches, Miss Douglas and Just Driven Athletics, donated 800 water bottles to hand out to everybody in the crowd who attended and all of the graduates. I want to thank them for their efforts as well. Um, it was a a wonderful ceremony,

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wonderful opportunity to see so many students uh the culmination of their educational careers, um, and the pride on so many parents and grandparents' faces, um, as their children got those diplomas. It was uh it was really the night that as

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educators you don't always get to celebrate the the fruits of your labor. And and to see graduation and some of those students that I have known since kindergarten and first grade, uh to see them graduate was a was another wonderful night. So, thank you to

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everyone who was involved, and again, congratulations to our graduates. In executive session, we did go through our HIP report, um, for uh both uh May uh I just need to change that in the

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agenda, May 2025 and May 2026 and June 2026. Um, we also talked in uh executive session presenting the board with information about our HIB reports year-to-date. So,

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we calculate HIB based on every report that is received, whether it is a founded case of harassment, intimidation, and bullying, whether it is a violation of code of conduct, or whether it doesn't fall into any of those categories and it's simply a

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result a report that is unfounded. There were 35 HIB reports filed during the course of the year across our four school buildings. Of that, there were a total of nine found HIB claims.

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There were 11 or 12 that were violations of the code of conduct and the others didn't fall into either one of those categories. And the state of New Jersey defines a HIB violation. A lot of people refer to it as bullying. It is not

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name-calling just for the sake of name-calling. It is not teasing just for the sake of teasing. It is a a event or an activity, whether it is sustained or isolated, that is specifically directed at a identifying

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characteristic. Could be somebody's gender, could be their ethnicity, could be their religion, and with the specific intent to cause discomfort or harm to that individual that might be part of a protected class. All right.

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So, this evening as part of my superintendent's report, I'll ask that the board approve the May and June readings as well as the summary report that we discussed in executive session this evening. And then I would add

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as part of my superintendent's report, if you pulled into the parking lot and you see all of the white bundles all over, we are in the midst of our referendum projects with the tear-off of the high school roof already underway and the

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construction scheduled to begin on Thursday at Tulsa Trail for that roof replacement project and both of those projects are scheduled to be completed one week before teachers

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return for the school year and by all accounts I have additional follow-up meetings with the architects and the and the construction supervisors tomorrow. By all accounts, we are on target and actually slightly ahead of target at the high school

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with the work that is being undertaken there and most importantly we are on or under budget for those projects as well. Okay. So, with that that concludes my superintendent's report this evening and I'll throw it back over to you. >> All right, can I hear a motion to

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approve 9A through 9C? >> I'll make it. >> Second. >> On the motion by Dr. Capello seconded by Ms. Schram. Dr. Capello? >> Yes. >> Mr. D'Avella was absent. Ms. Schram? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren?

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>> Yes. >> Ms. Palachina? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitric? >> Yes. >> Ms. Goulart? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone Shevlin is absent. >> All right, number 10. Acknowledgements and correspondence. Congratulations to the Hopatcong High School senior award scholarship recipients for the 2025-2026

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school year. Congratulations to the Hopatcong High School students who made high honor roll and honor roll for the fourth marking period for the 2025-2026 school year. Congratulations to the Hopatcong High School students who made high honor roll and honor roll for the fourth marking period 2025-2026 school year.

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Congratulations to the following students who have successfully passed both the New Jersey State Board written and practical cosmetology examinations and are now officially licensed cosmetologist. Jonathan Cortez, Juliana Gonzalez, Ashlyn Lovin, Sabrina

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Naranjo Hurtado, Giano Terracino, Paige Thompson, and Kira Wasylinski. I'm sorry if I butchered your names. Uh number 11, anybody here for parent teacher organization representatives?

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>> Seeing none. >> [laughter] >> Go ahead, Nick. >> Uh there really hasn't been uh there's not anything to add to um my statements from last month except that I'm thinking of band camp starting and how we really can't utilize the space the way we normally would and I

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wanted to acknowledge how amazing Greg Smith is because every single time we have a question, every single time we need something, no matter the time, we call him, we text him, and he's just phenomenal. And I wanted to say that

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because I don't know that people sing his praises enough. He's phenomenal. He's a gift. And I just wanted to say that publicly. >> I'm pretty sure. >> No, he absolutely is. >> He's a gift. >> He loves the kids, he loves the school district. He really works his tail off for us. >> He's really amazing. Yeah. >> Um

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>> And and just so the the board is aware, right? So, band does its band camp, they normally utilize different parts of the auditorium, the cafeteria, they have different classrooms. The high school, because of construction projects over

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the years, has extensive conduits of electric that power that building that have been run on the roof of that building. In order to tear off the roof and do replacements, all of that electric for the building has to be disconnected, right? So, all of the

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offices at Tulsa and the high school have actually been relocated here for the summer. Um that power that building operates the gym for some of our athletics on a generator, but band has been relocated to the middle school to the middle

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school fields to the stadium fields. Um and it really just goes to show all of our different groups really trying to work with what we have available. Um and while they may complain under their breath, um they are really really working hard,

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probably harder than we've ever asked them to work to to make it work and try and have it be as normal as possible and we we promise that you will have a better facility as a result of this inconvenience, but um yeah, the band program, PTO, um everybody's really

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working really hard. So, thank you to to PTO. >> Uh and the other thing I want to say is as far as other organizations go, we all need volunteers. Whether it's Project Graduation, whether it's HEAPTO, uh every single school, every single organization,

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um we all need volunteers to be able to bring these special activities to the kids, to raise the money, to have special field days, to um you know, just just to help out. So, please reach out to your local school for the um to the contact people for the um

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you know, the HEAPTO and the Project Graduation if you're in the high school or anything and and just get involved and volunteer. It really makes a huge difference. All right, number 13, finance. >> Give me uh 12 public comment there. >> Okay. >> Oh, sorry. Skip those. Now, anybody want

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to speak public comment? Is anybody on the >> On the board. >> Okay. You have two on here. >> How many of you thought this was a sign-in? Anybody? No worries. No worries. At this time, is there anybody in the public that wants

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to speak on agenda items? Um Go ahead. >> Um I want to start by congratulating the seniors who graduated uh this month. Um I know how stressful this month can be and how exciting everything can be. Um I also want to wish everyone a happy

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and safe summer. Um my question about what's going on in the agenda is item number the merit pay page eight. Number 14, letter K. I was just wondering if this is merit pay, how is

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it evaluated? How is it decided? Um it says successful evaluation. How is that determined? >> So, the evaluation instrument is part of the collective bargaining agreement with the secretarial um contract. And so, based on those

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secretarial employees and their scores that they receive on their evaluation, it determines what percentage of merit they earn as a result of it. >> So, this is just secretarial? >> This is just secretarial merit.

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>> Um is there a way to see how who gets this year after year? Or is this >> To see who are the people that qualify for merit? >> Not qualified, but are given >> secretarial >> the amounts. >> Sure, all of our agendas are posted online. You could go back and look at

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previous board agendas to see who's been awarded merit. Um but you would not be entitled to see their actual evaluations. >> So, how is evaluations determined? Is it just based on the contract language? >> How are the evaluations determined? >> Yeah. >> So, the the individual supervisors

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evaluate the secretaries based on a standardized instrument that district approves and utilizes, just like teachers. >> So, is it just like all fours? >> It's a combination of threes, fours, depending on the different areas that someone might earn uh

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then turns around and gives them a final rating that then determines the amount of merit that they earn. >> Okay. Cuz I've I've never seen merit pay before, so I'm curious how that works. >> Yep. >> Thank you. That's it. >> Anybody else? Um

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Looking All right, number 13, finance. Um can we hear a >> I'll make a motion to move 13 through 17. >> Okay. >> I'll second. >> I'll second. >> Board, I I call the roll. I'll give the board a minute to look at those item

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numbers to determine if you have any questions or concerns we haven't already covered. Uh the motion again from Mr. Chaffee, seconded by Ms. Paluchaina, is items 13 through 17A. Hearing none, Dr. Cabella?

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>> Yes. >> Mr. Daviau is absent. Ms. Schram? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes. >> Ms. Paluchaina? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitrick? >> Yes. >> Ms. Grolan? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone Schubert is absent.

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>> Look at this. >> You were still good. [snorts] And I think that's our system chiming at us. >> Yeah. But we're still live. We're good. >> Yes. Uh item 18, resolutions. There are a bunch here. Um multiple are

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compliance-related. Uh statement of assurance for lead testing in school drinking water, uh annual school safety drill uh statement of assurance. Um again, if you um are not aware, the state of New Jersey requires that all

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school districts conduct two safety and security drills every single month by law. One of which is a fire drill, one is a safety drill that may encompass bomb threats, active shooters, evacuation drills, communication tests, and table top exercises. Uh school

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safety bus evacuation drills, virtual and remote instructional program plans. Hopefully, we'll never have to use those ever again. Uh the superintendent evaluation for the previous year, uh a corrected salary amount for a uh

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custodian. Um we are rejecting our Perkins grant allocation of $3,000. Uh the reason for that is federal regulations prohibit us from spending it on the things that we actually need to spend it on. And the amount of time and

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effort it takes to apply for the grant is not worth the small amount that we would have to join a consortium in order for us to get. Uh item G is the resolution on the extension of the superintendent's contract for my

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remaining term, which is 3 years to be both continue to be both superintendent and business administrator. Item H is allowing us to transfer money into capital reserve at year-end audit.

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Item I is to transfer money into maintenance reserve. Item J is a resolution in support of Assembly Bill A4860, which is the Highlands Act bill.

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Um this board is supporting efforts to receive additional funding. Uh if you're not aware, the Highlands Act prohibits development in certain protected areas in the Highlands region of South Jersey and the north region of New Jersey.

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Hopatcong itself has over 3,300 acres of land that is protected from development. This assembly bill would provide additional funding on a per acreage basis to school districts that are prohibited and municipalities that are

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prohibited from experiencing what one might consider to be full growth and to receive tax on those properties that are protected and cannot be developed. And then item K is authorization for a

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professional services lighting upgrade contract for athletic field lighting and execution of contracts for said purpose. And that is item 18. >> Let's see. Number 19, Sussex County

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Regional Cooperative. I hear a motion to pass that. >> Just need a motion and a second on that. >> Can I hear a motion to approve 18? >> I'll motion it. >> I'll second. >> On the motion by Ms. Gouldon seconded by Dr. Cappello. Dr. Cappello?

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>> Yes. >> Mr. D'Avella was absent. Ms. Schramm? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes. >> Ms. Paluchina? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitgreaves? >> Yes. >> Ms. Gouldon? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone Schuber is absent.

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>> Now, number 19. Can I hear a motion for the Sussex County Regional Cooperative? >> I'll make it. >> Second. >> Yes, sir. >> Co-op agenda this evening is all of the bid recommendations. Um,

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right now I believe the co-op is up to 97 school districts that it manages and provides transportation services for across the state of New Jersey helping to um reduce costs for districts and

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their associated taxpayers by bidding uh out transportation services. And so item 19A through 19N on the motion by Mr. Chaffee seconded by Dr. Pollichena. Dr. Capello?

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Or excuse me, Mrs. >> Sorry. >> Mrs. >> [laughter] >> Pollichena. >> That was fun. >> Dr. Capello? >> Um Yes, except abstaining to D. >> 19D? Thank you. Mr. D'Avella is absent. Ms. Shramp? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chaffee?

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>> Yes. >> Mr. Warren? >> Yes. >> Ms. Pollichena? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitcerich? >> Yes. >> Ms. Goulart? >> Yes. >> And Ms. Falcone Schubert is absent. >> All right, and on the 20, uh board comments.

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>> Um, oh, okay, we're starting with me. Um I think we had a great school year. Um, congratulations to all our graduating seniors. Uh, just a reminder, um even though school year is out, Hepto is doing their duck duck Hepto. So, um take your ducks on vacation with you, post a

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picture, and put #duckduckhepto and show us where your Hepto duck has been. >> Um, I too think we had a great school year. The spring was crazy with events and different activities for the kids. It was really awesome, but my kids are exhausted still.

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Um thank you to all the parent volunteers. Congrats to our seniors. And I wanted to add to Jeff's thank you to Just Driven. Um Jamie Douglas and Just Driven are constantly giving back to our community. Um sometimes I think she should

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take a little more for herself, but she continues to give back to our community. Um And she really loves Hopatcong. She's born and raised. And I don't think she gets enough thanks. Um and happy summer. Everybody enjoy. >> Um congrats to the seniors and you know,

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thanks to with Jennifer and uh Rachel for the donation to the the gym on here as well. Appreciate that. >> All right. Uh >> What's up? >> Uh congrats to the graduated seniors. Um and a big shout out to Just Driven. That

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water came in clutch during graduation. I definitely needed that. It was so hot. Um and I just wanted to say I was also very impressed with the number of students who are recognized for their proficiency in another language. We had a lot of students that stood up for that recognition and I'm I'm just like blown

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away by that cuz it takes a lot of skill to um to learn another language. So um congrats to those seniors. Um and then also congratulations to our students who are joining the military service. Thank you and best of luck. Um and then to all students and parents, have a wonderful summer.

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>> I have nothing. >> Uh I just want to say congratulations to the class of 2026 and good luck on all your future endeavors, whether it is um going to a tech school, whether it's college, whether it's the military. Good luck. Um I also want to uh I'm just

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looking so forward to seeing all the our hard work finally going off in in the fall. We're going to have the updated field. We're going to have the updated gym. and I'm just I can't wait to see all this. >> Yeah. I just want to I just want to

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point out for the public as well as we talk about congratulations. We mentioned it in our acknowledgements. I just want to mention it again. We had seven students graduate from high school who also passed their New Jersey State Board, their both their

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written and their practical. They are licensed cosmetologists who graduated from our cosmetology program. That is the largest group that has ever successfully passed that examination this early in the year. They are out

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working and and looking for for jobs. Reach out to our high school guidance department. We'd love to be able to put you in contact with some of those students. We still have one or two graduates that are licensed ready to to our high school guidance department. We'd love to be

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able to put you in contact with some of those students. And again, thank you to the board for all that you do all school year long as well. So, thank you. >> Okay, motion to adjourn. >> Make it.

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>> Second. >> Okay, on the motion by Mr. Chaffee seconded by Ms. Schram. All in favor? >> Aye. >> Aye. >> And it is 8:04 p.m. and this meeting is adjourned. Thank you all. >> Don't do the hammer. >> The hammer. Sorry. >> There.

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>> Mhm.