Welcome to a meeting of the Hunter and Central Regional High School Board of Education. Please be advised that this and all meetings of the board are open to the public and media consistent with the open public meetings act NJSIA 104-6 and that advanced notice required
therein has been provided. Meeting notice was also posted in the boardroom of the upper school campus. Sent to the Courier News, Star Ledger, Express Times, and the Hunter County Democrat, and sent to the clerks of Delaware Township, East Damwell Township,
Flemington Burough, Raritan Township, and Readington Township. The public will have the opportunity to be heard as shown on the agenda. Mrs. Spitzer, roll call. Miss Bryce >> here. >> Miss Gong
>> here. >> Dr. Halpern, >> sorry. Here, >> Miss Laccasta >> here. >> Mrs. Rothell >> here. >> Mrs. Santangelo >> here. >> Ms. Wallace >> here.
>> Reverend Williams >> here. >> And Mrs. Kellogg >> here. All rise for the flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Uh Nikki, would you please read the or Mrs. Bryce, would you please read the mission statement? >> I'd be delighted to. Thank you. Hunter
and Central is an innovative educational community dedicated to the intellectual, social, and emotional safety and growth of all students. While fostering curiosity and promoting wellness, we aspire to create powerful learning experiences, establish strong
partnerships, and serve as contributing members of society. Now, we're going to move on to approval of the minutes. Um, if anyone has comments that they would like to make, either physically raise their hand so I can see it or you can use the hand raise
um function within Zoom. So, do I have a motion for the approval of the December 15th meeting minutes? >> Motion. Do >> I have a second? Second >> you
roll call Mrs. Spitzer. >> You're on mute. >> Pressed the wrong but button. Miss Bryce, >> I will abstain since I was not yet a board member in December. >> Thank you. >> Miss Gong, >> yes.
>> Dr. Halpern, >> yes. >> Miss Lacosta, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rothal, >> yes. >> Mrs. Santangelo, >> yes. >> Miss Wallace, >> abstain. >> Reverend Williams,
>> abstain. >> And Mrs. Kellogg. >> Yes. >> The M majority motion passes. >> Thank you. Um I can we do the approval of the January 26th um both U minutes item six
and seven together. If I can have a motion for that. >> Yeah. I assume you mean January 5th and January 12th. Yeah, it looks like there's a typo on the agenda, but the the January 5th and January 12th um meeting minutes item motion.
>> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Any comments? >> Roll call. Mrs. Spitzer. >> Miss Gong. >> Yes. >> Dr. Halpern. >> Yes.
>> Miss Lacosta. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mrs. Rothal, >> yes. >> Mrs. Santangelo, >> yes. >> Miss Wallace, >> yes. >> Reverend Williams, >> yes. >> Miss Bryce, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Kellogg,
>> yes. >> All yes. Motion carries. >> Thank you. Um, there were several correspondents received by the board this month. Uh, correspondence received by the board will be maintained on file with the board secretary. Um and I will
turn it over to Miss Kangela Zihade for the superintendent report. >> Thank you and thank you um to everyone for attending. Um good evening to you all. I want to again thank you for your flexibility and your support in shifting our meeting to a virtual meeting this
evening. We've had quite a busy January and are coming off of a very successful open house and scheduling information night on January 15th. This me this week will mark the end of the first semester. now on Thursday since we were out of school today indicating that we have hit
the halfway point in our school year. As we prepare for strategic planning to begin in February, I want to provide a brief report on the midyear progress on our district goals. I haven't intentionally tried to include updates at each monthly meeting as well as further information for you all in my
weekly updates, but I want to share an overview of our progress thus far. What I thought I would do, give me one moment. I'm going to put the goals up on the screen, which I understand are challenging to read, but at least as a reference point
so everybody has them. They were approved at our September meeting in case anyone watching at home wants to download them and have them closer um to their eyes than this screen. Um so our administrative team and our staff have been working diligently to meet our
metrics and I'm happy to report that we have already achieved several key milestones at this midyear point. We have successfully finalized the final initiative the following initiatives. Mental health resources as of October 2025. We have updated and expanded our
mental health reference page on our website. Um an external resources web page is now live on the district website to facilitate access to nonprofit and state providers. Seventh and eighth grade marketing plan. We completed our comprehensive communication and marketing plan on
schedule. This included a successful magnet program showcase in October and middle school visits in January to increase awareness of our academic pathways. Long-range facilities plan. You all, the board approved a major amendment to the long range facilities plan during the
November 2025 meeting and architect services for these projects were approved in December, successfully meeting our January 2026 deadline. I wanted to then report on progress in each goal area. So progress on
instructional practices and student achievement in goal one. Um our efforts to increase math proficiency by 3% and to optimize instructor instructional effectiveness are ongoing. So as you know we have put strong um support structures in place. We've strengthened
our tier 1 and tier 2 supports by updating the district MTSS plan. We're um protecting RTI, response to intervention staffing, meaning we have somebody each block prepared for intervention and support for students.
And as you know from our committee of the whole meeting two weeks ago, we're launching a weekly invitational tutorial during lunch. Um, for digital optimization, our department supervisors are currently analyzing the balance between digital and non-digital
instruction, and they will do a mid-year check-in with our director of curriculum to evaluate the optimization plans thus far. On discipline and engagement, um, to reduce our classroom distractions, the principal and vice principles are meeting weekly to ensure consistent
enforcement of school rules and disciplinary consequences. Additionally, we have provided students, families, and staff with a copy of the code of conduct chart. As a result of feedback we heard from each of the the stakeholder groups after last year's climate and culture
survey. While the code of conduct chart has always been in the student handbook, this year we sent the chart separately. Um progress along the academic and wellness counseling, which is goal two, um we've held many one-on-one sessions. So counselors have prioritized seniors
for college and career planning during the first third of the year. And we're now shifting focus to junior scheduling sessions and one-to-one meetings for freshman and sophomores. Um referral processes. So we updated our web page, but our referral processes have been
refined and uh integrated our new tier three social worker that we spoke about at committee of the whole um to establish partnerships with community-based organizations. And as you know, we're also working with NJ4s.
Moving on to communication and student voice in goal three. Um we're continuing to enhance gathering feedback from our stakeholders. So our climate and culture survey is huge every year as you know. Um so work is underway with our school improvement panel committee and our
student representative groups to add open-ended questions to our annual survey. um which we're targeting for release in early March. Um we have already met with our parent group for their input. And the second part of this goal in included um student poll
surveys. So as you know we conducted our first poll survey in November. Uh we met with our student leaders, Bronwin and Alexis were critical in that and um a second enhanced version was just sent out this past Friday to address student concerns such as scheduling and
cross-campus passes, cell phones, and bathroom access. And then finally in goal four um on fiscal responsibility and facilities use in addition to the completed long-range facilities plan amendment we're addressing daily operational needs um
which include bathroom access. So we've implemented a plan to ensure at least 85% of mechanically operable bathrooms are accessible. Currently, all supervisable laboratories are open during instructional blocks with expanded
access provided during lunch and before school. We have shifted morning supervision assignments to be by bathrooms before school and we have also utilized substitute teachers to cover bathrooms during the school day. Principal Brandt has communicated the open bathrooms during unit lunch to the
students as well. For our demographic study, the district remains on track to conduct a comprehensive study in February, this this coming month, uh to ensure we maintain low studenttoteer ratios while maintaining um fiscal responsibility.
And additionally, you've heard from both Mrs. Spitzer, our BA, and Maryanne Stokes, our assistant business administrator, regarding the budget process and the challenges we face with the 2026 2027 budget due to increasing health care and utilities costs.
So, as we move into the second half of the school year, our focus will remain on the following key areas. Instructional excellence, such as utilizing our MTSS structures and additional tutorials for support and interventions. Student support, so counseling continues
to remain a priority as we transition from senior college planning to one-toone scheduling sessions for underclassmen. Um, engagement and feedback. We're really looking forward to the results of our January poll survey as well as the upcoming March climate and culture
survey to continue to further refine our school environment based on the stakeholder input. And then operations and fiscal oversight. We remain committed to completing the demographic study and to continue to refine the long-range facilities plan to best inform our budget for the next fiscal
year. So, I look forward to continuing this momentum and keeping the board updated as we work together achieving our targets by the end of the academic year. And I thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. I'm going to stop sharing.
I think I'm going to stop sharing. Yes. Okay. Okay. Um, so along the same thread of goals, as you know, we will kick off strategic planning on February 17th at 6 p.m. in the Commons. Our strategic plan will set the vision and goals for our
district for the next 5 years. It is so important that we have all voices represented, students, staff, parents, and families, community members, and business partners. All information on the RSVP link can be found on our website under quick links. So, I hope
everyone will join us. January is also New Jersey board member recognition month. We have a formal recognition later on this agenda, but I'd also like to take a moment to honor and thank our dedicated board of education members during board member recognition month.
Your unwavering commitment and service are essential to the success of Hunan Central and to upholding our mission as an innovative educational community. This is critical in our district achieving our goals and will be so important as we embark on the strategic planning process. Thank you for your
support in guiding our students not only toward academic achievement but also toward becoming contributing compassionate members of society. It's an honor to work alongside you in this shared mission. So now I'll turn it over to Brahmwin Downey and Alexis Chen, our
student representatives for their report this evening. And I want to give them a shout out for being here because it's a snow day for them and they were still here. Thank you. So, good evening everyone. Like I said, our names are Brahma Downey and Alexis Chen and we are the student representatives on the board of
education. And tonight we are going to be going over student news to kick off 2026. All right. This month, juniors and seniors in world language classes took part in the annual New Jersey state seal of biiteracy tests. This test, which
measures reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills, allows students the opportunity to receive recognition from the New Jersey Department of Education. Those who demonstrate proficiency will receive a note on their transcript and formal recognition at the end of their graduating year. Additionally, the Model
UN club took their annual trip to the Hershey Model UN conference where over 1300 delegates from multiple states convene to simulate the United Nations. Each delegate is given a country to represent and tackle various global issues, international justice, or even
acting in the press corps. We had an incredibly accomplished year this year with Olivia Davis and Adrienne Manuzi and Vivon Burrow all winning premier delegate in their respective committees. Jason Singh and Chinme Cash App for being selected as delegates to the conference on national affairs and
Olivia as an alternate and Chinme Ion Jane and Sarah Sack all being elected or reelected to serve in the 2027 officer corps where they will lead in the planning of next year's conference. Huge thank you to Miss Rachel, our adviser, Miss Rodriguez, Miss Marcos, Miss
Robertson, Miss Thomas, Senora Aaron, and our bus drivers for making this trip possible. That same weekend, Hundred Central speech and debate team hosted its annual home tournament, welcoming over 600 students to compete in events such as Lincoln Douglas, Congress, Improm 2, and
many more. Of course, the event wouldn't have been possible without the dozens of student, volunteers, and staff who helped. Special thanks to Mr. Leonard and student tournament directors Zara Malik and Vier Cathoria for leading such a successful event and team. And special
congratulations to Noah Angelhart who advanced the finals and placed 12th in congressional debate as well as Leah Brandon and uh Sophia Lopez for qualifying for the national tournament. We are so so so proud of all of our accomplished students. Hunter and
Central Stian Society aren't strangers to winners either. This month, the society also took part in a competition known as Stans, where students perform in various events such as monologues, songs, and group scenes. This year, Sam Gavin and Megan Walsh
took fifth in dramatic pair scenes. Josh Fischer, Cali Colton, Sam Gavin, and Aiden Goodwin took fifth in dramatic group scene. Josh Josh Fischer won third for best actor. And we're so proud to say that Sam Gavin also won first place for best actor and the governor's award
award. All this to say, January was quite a month for Central's wide arrange of talents. And then in winter sports news, Central has had a strong start to the season with our swimming, winter track, basketball, cheerleading, wrestling, ice hockey, fencing, and bowling teams. Our
girls swim team beat Somerville 89 to 70 on Monday, January 6th. The HCRS girls wrestling team placed fourth out of 17 schools at the 101 Sussex tournament on January 4th with a 19.5 point margin between us and the fifth place team,
might I add. Also, girls bowling beat Bridgewater Raritton 70 two Mondays ago on the 12th. For those following our highly talented unified basketball team, they will be having their second game also against Bridgewater Raritin tomorrow. We wish them and all winter athletes the best of luck for the rest
of their season. On December 18th, Alexis and I led our monthly student administration lunch meeting to discuss the more hotend topics that students have submitted to our feedback forms. Since at the time of the meeting, I had lost my voice, Alexis did most of the talking. Um, but we were able to hear
from the form respondents who provided their names um on how to inform students about a open bathrooms and um b unblocking educational sites on Chromebooks. Um, so students suggested having a simple Mac map next to the bathroom signouts in every classroom so
students know where they can go, especially if they are underassmen or new to the school. We also discussed having members of IT attend an upcoming student admin lunch and discuss creating a system for students to make a request for a site to be unblocked if they need it for an assignment or to research a
topic while keeping both computers and students safe online. At our January student admin lunch meeting, we kept the same group of students, but and but this time we developed our second pulse form for this year. We kept some questions the same as the first form in order to
track those results over time. Um, but we also added in a question about what phone policies were most conducive to their learning. Um, and we also included a question at the start of the survey regarding what grade the respondent was in in order to see the differences between under and upperassman responses.
We also look forward to hosting this group as well as class and student council representatives at our extended February student admin lunch meeting. And we will be developing the 2026 climate and culture survey with these diverse student perspectives.
Thank you all for listening to our report tonight. We hope everyone has had a great beginning to 2026 and we're so excited to continue sharing the passion for students at Central as we start off a strong new year. Thank you so much, Brawin and Alexis,
and I'm looking forward to having you definitely in person next month. Um, and I know you have a special presentation planned, which I'm really excited about. So, thank you very much. Um, you'll see on our agenda the HIP and suspension report. I did want to note that these
HIP cases are from our December executive session. Um, lastly, before I conclude my report, I would like to acknowledge the passing of one of our staff members, Yasmin Galarsa. Yasmin was a duty release aid in our district,
a parent in our school community, and 10 central class of 2000 alumni. She served our students and staff with kindness and dedication, and her loss is deeply felt. So many people have described her as a ray of sunshine over this past week, and
that really is the perfect description of her. On behalf of the board of education and our entire school community, we extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and loved ones. At this time, I ask that we observe a moment of silence in her honor.
Thank you. That concludes my report for tonight and I'll pass it back to you, Mrs. Kellogg. Thank you, Miss Cantalissy Hay. Um, this is I guess the next item on the agenda is our first residence forum. Um, members of the public are invited to
speak on me on items that are on the agenda only. Um I believe that Miss Maggala is going to be um bringing people in as as they indicate that they are interested in speaking during this public sess public comment session.
Yes, if you are interested in speaking, please use the raise your hand icon and once I see hands raised, I will move you in. Um you just have to hit join as panelist once I send you an invite. Then you can turn on your video and also your audio.
And just to add, I can um bring up the timer as well like we normally have at meetings. I am not seeing anyone interested in speaking on items on the agenda. Um so I'm going to close public comment and um
we'll move on to our organizational items. So, organizational items um are one through three. The revised uh student calendar is actually the uh next year's calendar. I looked at it today thinking
it was that related to today's snow day. Um but it's actually for the the 2627 school year. So, do I have a motion on items um F1 through three to move the organizational items?
>> I move Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Any questions, comments, Mrs. Santangelo? So, I just I wanted to mention I think one of the things that came up in
workshop this year was some uh specifics about HI reporting and I just wanted to mention a couple of those just to make sure that we're doing that. Um and this pertains to HIVs being reported in executive session. So um they talked
about the result of the investigation, information on any services provided, training established, discipline, and other action taken or recommendations by the superintendent. So I just wanted to make sure all those components were covered. Thank you.
Any other questions or comments? Roll call. Mrs. Spitzer, >> Miss Price, >> yes to items one and two. Abstain on item three. >> Miss Gong,
>> yes for all three items. >> Dr. Halpern, >> yes for all three items. Miss Lacosta, >> yes to one and two, but for number three, based on Lisa's call out, I don't know that we covered all of that in
order to vote on number three. So, I'm personally going to abstain, but I think Lisa put that out there kind of asking the question, do we all feel confident that all those bullet points were hit? And I don't think they were. Miss Rothell,
>> I'm also going to vote yes to one and two and abstain from three. >> Mrs. Santangelo, >> I will vote yes to one and two and abstain from three. >> Miss Wallace,
>> yes to one and two, abstain from three. >> Reverend Williams, >> yes to one and two, abstain from three. and Mrs. Kellogg. >> Yes to one through three >> one and two pass three um fails with the
abstensions. So we'll move on to student life and program. Um Dr. Halpern can I believe we have five items to move on. So I want to uh say that we have uh five items that we discussed at the um
committees as a whole on January 12th. Any motion or comments? So, are you moving items one through five? >> Yes, I am move I am moving items one through five. Yes.
>> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion on any of those items? If there's none, um, Mrs. Spitzer, roll call. >> Miss Gong, >> yes.
>> Dr. Halpern, >> yes. Yes. >> Miss Lacosta. >> Yes. >> Miss Rothell, >> yes. >> Mrs. Santangelo, >> yes. >> Miss Wallace, >> yes. Reverend Williams,
>> yes. >> Miss Bryce, >> yes. >> And Miss Kellogg, >> yes. >> Oh, yes. Motion carries. >> Reverend Williams, operation and transportation. >> Thank you. Uh we had 10 items that we
are uh looking to move on on tonight. Uh the operation transportation committee met as part of the committee uh as a whole. Items uh one through three and nine are standard organizational items um that are approved annually or monthly in order to conduct the day-to-day
business of the district. Item four is revised tuition contract agreement with 100 vocational uh district for the 2025 uh academic programs for this school year. Items five uh through 7 and 10 are donations provided to uh to the
district. Uh item five totals $235 for the staff holiday cookies and cocoa uh event. Six is uh totals $3,925 for the staff uh personal development conference. Item seven is the acceptance
of a microscope from car uh from the um HMC laboratory valued at $195. item. Um, and item 10 is our acceptance of the donations for Central's corporate
sponsorship program for the uh this school year. Item eight is our donation of 20 used Chromebooks uh to the uh Shiva Foundation with a recycle value of $400. You will notice however um that
was on our committee agenda was the NJ I believe it's the NJA grant uh that you no longer see on the agenda and that is because uh superintendent uh Kangeloi Hay discovered that the grant was uh was not provided to the district but
provided to uh HCA HCA directly and therefore there's nothing for us to uh to act upon on tonight. And with that I'd like to move items 1 through 10. Thank you, Reverend Williams. Is there a second?
>> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Roll call. Mrs. Spitzer. >> Dr. Halpern. >> Yes. >> Miss Lacosta. >> Yes. >> Miss Rothell. >> Yes. But I will recuse myself from check
number 84424. >> Thank you, Mrs. Santangelo. >> Yes, but I will also recuse myself from item under item number two, check number 84427 for personal reimbursement. >> Miss Wallace,
>> yes. >> Reverend Williams, >> yes. Miss Bryce. >> Um I'm going to abstain on number one again just because I wasn't a board member in that time frame. Um and the
rest yes >> Miss G. >> Yes on everything except for check number 84511 which is a reimbursement from the NJSBA workshop. and Miss Kellogg.
>> Um, yes on everything, but I abstain on check number 84557. >> Carry. Thank you, Miss Spitzer. >> Uh, Miss Gong, personnel committee. >> Uh, thank you. Um, as we discussed uh
several items at our January 12th committee of the whole, I still would like to highlight some items. Um, there are 18 action items and one addendum for today. These are recommendations from the superintendent.
We have many standard personnel actions. Uh, but I would like to highlight the item one separations because there are actually three retirements. So, it's three retirements and one resignation. Michael Couch has 25 years of service um and will be leaving the district along
with Janet Jeans and Patricia Matano. I hope I pronounced that correctly. Um Patricia Matineo has 19 years of service. I'd like to wish these three well in their retirement and thank them for their dedication and service.
We have a contractual salary appointment and that is to fill a vacancy. In item two, we have several appointments in items 3, five, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Um, the one I'd like to highlight that we discussed is the six block stipen where
we have a teacher, Christopher Motti, who is helping the district out by replacing a teacher who is on a leave of absence. Item 11 is uh a really nice item. it is a student who is going to
observe our English teachers. Um, and it's u I think it's good because this person is interested in teaching and maybe someday come back to the district. So again that is item 11. Items 12 and 13 cover professional development. Item
12 should help the district with our software, our genesis. Uh we're trying something new with item 14. These are unit lunch instructors who are available to provide additional academic support
to targeted students. Items 13 and 14 as we said at our committee of the whole are funded through grant money. Item 16 is a list of co-curricular adviserss and volunteers all unpaid. Item 17 lists leaves of absences. Item 18 is to
rescend an appointment. And again, we have an addendum for resignation that was submitted today. With that, I'd like to move items 1 through 18 along with the addendum. >> Thank you, Miss Gong. Do I hear a second?
>> Second. >> Thank you. Any comments, discussion? Miss Spencer, a roll call, please. Miss Lcasta. >> Um, yes. For 1 through 18 with the exception of
number two in item 16. >> Is that a no? Item two, number 16. No. >> Correct. I apologize. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Rothell. >> Uh, yes to 1 through 15, 17 to 18 and
the addendum with a no to um number two in action item 16, Miss Santangelo. So I am yes to 1 through 15 and 17 through 18. But with regard to number 16, specifically number two, I'm not
approving that. Um, and I'm basing that off of comments that were made by the superintendent on various occasions regarding his employment. So that is why I take pause and concern to vote yes on that. Thank you, >> Miss Wallace.
>> Yes. Reverend Williams, >> yes. >> Miss Bryce, >> yes. >> Miss Gong, >> yes to all. >> Dr. Halpern, >> yes to all.
>> And Mrs. Kellogg, >> yes to all. >> Motions carry. >> Thank you. Miss Bryce, is there anything that you would like to highlight on the policy committee? I know we have no action
items this month. >> Yeah, no action items, but I'll just mention um we do have our February committee meeting that's scheduled. Um we had to rearrange a little bit to not conflict with the parent engagement committee meeting and the first
strategic planning session. And for the month of February, um, Strauss Esme had put out an alert with, uh, several policies that need updating. So, we will be focusing on those. I believe there's
about a dozen or so for February. So, more on that next month. >> Thank you. >> Um, are there any other committee or liaison reports?
I know it's early in the year. I'm not sure if anybody if any of those groups have met yet. And then if there's any additional Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Angelo. Yes. >> I just I just wanted to double check the
one vote that we did with abstensions. Just hear me out for a quick second. If abstensions are not a no and we have the majority of the votes, is that is that would that pass? >> I'm just double checking.
>> I don't believe so. >> Okay. I'm just bringing it up, but just to double check >> because the the yeses are not a majority of the board. There were only there were only two yeses. But let me check. It might have been it might have been more. >> Okay, that's fine. I just want to double
check. Make sure. I believe there were only um maybe three yes S's because three people. Yeah. One, two, I only had three S's, which is not a majority of the board. >> Okay. Okay. >> Okay. Thanks.
>> Um is there any additional board business? Any items that folks would like to have brought to committees for February? Mrs. Price. >> So, um, not items for committee. Um, but
I do have a few things that I just wanted to mention if this is an appropriate spot in the agenda to do so. Um, first just on January 14th, I think a lot of folks are aware um Central
hosted the district coral festival where younger students from all of our sending districts came um to our school. All the students performed for one another. Um they worked together during the day on
three songs and I attended the final performance at the end of the day where they performed the three songs that they learned together and they rehearsed together and I just have to say well done. Um it was so inspiring and so
uplifting to be watching those students. I think some of the students were as young as fourth grade and to be working with other peers all the way up through seniors in high school. Um I think just
a really great opportunity for our teenagers at our school to act as leaders and act as mentors and be role models. And I think just um probably getting a lot of these younger kids
excited to come to Central and hopefully participate in our coral program. It was just really cool to see. Um and I'll say a special shout out. I I know there were probably several staff members that were involved in making this day happen. Um
but I know that Mrs. Patrian was leading the whole effort. Um, so just thank you to her and again very uh great job well done. I was I was really impressed. Um, I also want to mention last week the
members of the admin one team um took the time to hold a a new board member orientation meeting at the school and um they to help us onboard and get up to speed. They went over the district goals
and the progress. um a lot of what you heard from Superintendent Canalosi Hay tonight. Um they went over uh board docs and Google Drive to make sure that we're comfortable with those electronic systems. Um and then gave us a campus
tour focusing on the long range facilities plan. I know everybody's busy, but I feel like it was time well spent. And I just want to thank all of the team members for not only the time to meet with us there in person that
day, um, but it also took some effort to prepare for that meeting and pull everything together. So, I'm very grateful for your time. Um I learned a lot and just um specifically to Superintendent Kangalloi Hay, Principal
Brandt, um Dr. Hall, Miss Spitzer, Miss Dieter, and Mr. Bailey. I I hope I got you all, but um thank you again. And one more thing, thank you. Um this past weekend again as a new board member I attended the New Jersey School Boards
Association uh new board member orientation weekend and um a lot of intensive and immersive training to satisfy our governance one requirements. I'm I'm sure all of you
experienced board members went through this as well. Um but just a wonderful opportunity to learn about ethics and policy and HIB and finance curriculum, labor relations, the the list goes on.
um but also to be in person with other new board members from around the state who we all share this commonality and just to learn together and hear about other districts and um I'm just grateful
for that learning opportunity and I'm excited to apply that newfound knowledge as I continue as a board member. So, thank you for letting me express those. Thank you, Mrs. Bryce.
Does anyone else have anything that they would like to to add? Mrs. Santangelo? So, I have two things. The first thing is I would actually like to move for the board to hold a special meeting within the next two weeks for the purpose of litigation strategy and
consideration of a liability assessment. >> I I would actually like to second that considering um there's over email we've seen some concern any discussion? I think one of the things we can do because of the sensitivity of the topic
and some of the emails going back and forth, it seemed like some of the members were not aware of certain things. Um so perhaps we can talk about it in executive and then decide after. Um you you made the motion now. So, um,
we we kind of you can you would you can withdraw the motion if you'd like or we can can vote on it, but um I'm not without a a specific date and with without specific information to
consider. I'm deciding that we're going to hold a meeting. Uh, you know, again, I this is certainly something we can discuss in executive session. Um, but I I'm I'm
again if if you if you would like to move. Yeah, Mrs. Halp or Dr. Halpern. I think we should take a straw vote just because I think it was a valid point that um um Miss Santangelo raised. Um
and a straw vote would at least give a sense of whether we were going to want to try to do it here or want to try to do it in a special meeting. I'm not sure we can hold a straw vote, Dr. Halpern. Um, I'll I'll defer that to to Mrs. Spencer.
>> Sorry about that. >> So, but yes. Um, I'm sorry, Miss Lacass. >> What you what you can do is is table it and um move it out of talk about it in executive session and move it out with a real vote after executive session if you'd like.
>> Yeah, Mike. >> I think I think that's a good idea. I'm sorry I didn't raise my hand. Um it's Sandra here. So so that we could actually have a little bit more detail around what the meeting would involve, who's has to be there, what are the topics. Um
so yes, I would uh say this we should discuss this in executive session. >> I'm sorry, Mrs. Laccasta. >> No, that's okay, Miss Gun. kind of covered where my brain was going of what can and can't be discussed in
the form in which we are right now. Executive session is my thought. >> So I guess going back to Mrs. Santangela, would you like to withdraw your your motion or I'm not exactly sure how to how to table
it um at this point, but >> I think you now have to make a motion to table it. Oh, what? I'm sorry. >> Thank you, Mrs. Rodell. That's correct. You need to make a motion to table it >> and then we'll take a roll call and then
it needs to be dealt with by the end of the meeting. >> Okay. So, should I >> So, if I seconded the first one, can I motion to table this? >> Sure. >> I motion to table this into executive. >> There a second on that. I
>> second. I second that. Roll call vote. Mrs. Spitzer, please. >> Yes. Um, Mrs. Santangelo seconded it. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Miss Laccasta. >> Yes.
>> Motion to table um to discuss in executive session with action to be taken coming out of executive session. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Okay. Miss Rothell. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Santangelo? >> Yes. >> Miss Wallace?
>> Yes. Reverend Williams. >> Reverend Williams. >> I'm sorry. I said yes. >> Oh, sorry. You were muted. I didn't say thanks. >> Bryce, >> yes. >> Miss Gong, >> yes. >> Dr. Halpern,
>> yes. >> And Mrs. Kellogg, >> yes. So the motion is tabled to be discussed and action to be taken after exec. Okay. Are there any other comments or actions before we go into Mrs.
Santangela? >> Yeah, I just had one more. I just wanted to bring up in terms of new business if we could discuss in one of the committees um mental health services. So given at the last meeting that administration stated that there was a
lack of data points um that's a bit concerning um so I think we should discuss that also I had mentioned previously about four different um journals that discussed mental health services in the school setting and those
were the Lancet Cambridge and Oxford but this month an additional 19-year metaanalysis study came out by Manhattan an institute and it talks about mental health services, school-based specifically, and there's a lot of concerns around um regulations
um the effectiveness and there are a lot of concerns about it. In fact, they're recommending pulling it because of the lack of guard rails. So, I think, you know, we you know, yes, last year had an opportunity to work on some of this stuff and close some of the critical
gaps based on oversight. So, but I think there's more work to be done, especially in in terms of mentioning for New Jersey 4s coming in uh to the school now. So, I think this is a good opportunity to have that discussion. Um, and I can certainly
send an email to the full board with that information as a reference because I think it's important, but I think if it's not executed properly, you know, some things can go ary. So, I want to make sure that doesn't happen. >> Uh, Dr. Dr. Halpern and then Mrs.
Wallace. >> I would be very interested in reading the materials that um Mrs. Santangelo mentioned. So, a full reference that we could use. I have access to all these journals and so if anybody wants copies of any of these articles, I can get them.
>> Mrs. Wallace, >> um Mrs. Hal, uh Dr. Halpern just addressed it. I would like um other sources that are a little more centrist than uh the Manhattan Institute. >> Going to say and um I'm I'm assuming Mrs. Santangelo that you'd like this
referred to the student life and program committee which is where most of these things are are dealt with. Um and m Mrs. Angelosi Hay, I think we can also pull in um you know your staff that has expertise in this as well to to help
that committee work through any questions. >> Yeah. And I can certainly again put in the email um the journals the four journals so far and then um Ellen can pull whatever information she wants related to that once she has that
reference. So thank you. So, I see Mrs. Gong has her Miss Gong has her hand up. I don't know if Miss Wallace has more to to add. Okay, V down. Miss Gong,
>> um, this is an interesting topic and I I guess I would add our NJSBA material as well. Um, because in their I guess it's their monthly magazines, there are a lot of articles about mental health being
helpful. So um I guess we should have you know sort of all different perspectives if we're going to discuss this along with the appropriate staff or experts in this field. >> Thank you. >> Any other items to discuss before we go
into public comment? Okay, I will take that as a no. Um, so I guess Mrs. Spaggala and Miss Kangala Hayade, uh, this next residence forum is for any topics. Um, we are, I guess,
raise your hand and let Miss Maggala know that you're interested in making a a public comment. Um, right now we are limiting to five minutes and and Miss Canelsey Hay will put a a timer up, but if we end up with a lot of folks, um, we
may revisit that that time limit. So, we have one coming in. Can I be heard? This just reset all my info. >> We can hear you, Miss Peterson, whenever you're ready. >> Thank you. I wanted to discuss briefly uh this year's reorganizational meeting,
which was deeply disturbing, not because of disagreement, but because of how disagreement was treated. When Miss Miss Rothell began a brief statement in support of a candidate other than Miss Kellogg, she was immediately shut down. That kind of silencing has never
happened before. Over the past two years since this board adopted its current nomination process, board members, including Miss Gong, have routinely been permitted to briefly explain their nominations. Miss O'Donnell even seconded a nomination with a statement
despite seconds not being required, but it wasn't shut down. What we saw at reorganization was not neutral enforcement of any rules. It was a concerted effort to silence any dissent or dissatisfaction with Miss Kellogg's behavior and her desire to be president.
Then the campaign rhetoric of the three new board members collapsed under the weight of the votes that followed. We were told that this election was about reducing legal bills and yet they mindlessly elected a person responsible for significant legal waste. We were told that this was about ethics, yet
they elected someone who has at least two ethics complaints. One already found a probable cause. We were told this was about governance, yet the board elected someone who has never bothered to engage in non-mandatory training. In fact, I would not be surprised if Dr. Halpern, Miss
Rothell, and Miss Laccasta individually have more training hours than Miss Kellogg has, despite them having only served one year and Miss Kellogg having served five. That is not reform and that is not doing better. Once in the presidency that Miss Kellogg
has been seeking for years, she made it immediately clear that collaboration was not on the agenda and transparency was not to be had. Committee assignments were made without any input from the three board members. She couldn't even make a public showing of collaboration.
Worse yet, the committee meeting committee meeting days were unilaterally changed again without checking for conflicts with three of the board members. I'm sure D. Kellogg hoped that the three minority members she excluded would not be available for committees.
It's funny because I remember Miss Santangelo and Miss Laccasta when they were in leadership last year working around Dr. Halpin's teaching schedule to ensure she could serve on the three committees that she was on. That was leadership and that was inclusion. This is absent from the current leadership.
Instead, when when Miss Roth Rothell raised concerns about being on one ad hoc committee, she was told, "You can always turn down the assignment, not we will work it out or we'll make it work. It'll happen." That distinction matters. What is most striking is the silence.
The new board members who ran on condemning last year's board and promising to do better have said nothing about the intentional exclusion of one-third of this board from any input. Is exclusion acceptable to you? Your silence says it all. The same
individuals were outraged when board comments were previously removed despite the fact that no board member has been ever has been silenced on an action item until this year. Now, comments have apparently come back with a demand to be civil, which is laughable given last
year's behavior. Additionally, Mr. Williams, who spent last year dissecting every policy and hurling accusations, could not be bothered to read the single one-page policy that was attached to the committee of the whole agenda. A policy
that explicitly addressed parent notification, the very issue he claimed to care about but didn't know was in there. Where is the accountable accountability? Because this is not transparency and this is not collaboration. This is certainly not doing better. This is
exactly what many of us predicted. Camping promises discarded the moment the gang of six apparently secured power. Some of the board members in majority have an interest in being collaborative. I'll name Miss Halpern who decided
tonight that she wanted to hear from other board members. But this community deserves an explanation for many of you. I hope the three new members will use their time in the future to not allow such exclusions to happen.
This is not better so far. And on another note, there was a discussion at the uh reorganization meeting about whether or not to have the attorney present at the board meetings. I would recommend that you do because you would know that that HIV vote
passed. All it requires is a majority. As long as there is a quorum present, then a majority of the v board who is voting, they voted in the affirmative. There were no negative votes cast that passes. Those hibs passed. So in the future, it
might be useful to have Kyle at the table simply to give you information on things like that. And that is all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Peterson. Is there anyone else who would like to make public comment tonight?
>> I'm not seeing any, Miss Kellogg. >> Okay, thank you. Um, with that, I guess we will motion to go into executive session to um discuss
uh personnel litigation and hibs. Um, and there is potential for uh mo action when we come back out of executive session. >> So, I think Miss Mantel, hey, do you want to give us any instructions on
>> Yep. Yep. Thank you. So, we're all with the exception of Miss Maggala going to exit this webinar and go on to the Zoom that you have in your calendar invite for executive session and then Miss Maggala will hold this open um so that the members of the public who want to
wait through executive session and see the vote after um can can do so. Okay. All right. Thank you. Did we do a motion to go into exec did but we never voted. Can Can she come back?
They're coming back in, Miss Spitzer, to do a motion. Sorry everyone. What are we missing? Oh, we're missing Ellen. Okay. Um, so I move to convene into executive session to discuss personnel
litigation and HIVs. Do I have a second? >> Second, >> Mrs. Spitzer. Miss Rothell, >> yes. >> Mrs. Santangelo, >> yes. >> Miss Wallace,
>> yes. >> Reverend Williams, >> yes. >> Miss Bryce, >> yes. >> Gong, >> yes. >> Dr. Halpern, >> yes. >> Miss Lacosta, >> yes. And Mrs. Kellogg,
>> yes. Thank you. >> Okay, see you on the other side. Do you guys have a link for executive session? I think uh it's on your calendar for 8:30, I believe.
Or you can ask Jessica to resend. Did it come from Jessica or did it come from um Chuck? >> I believe Jessica sent it. >> Okay, I think I got it. Do you have it, Marisella?
Do you have it? Your mute is on. Check your mute. >> Sorry, the only one I have on my calendar is at 7. >> This the 8:30 one isn't there. >> No, it's not a I have 7 to 9. >> Okay. Let me see if I can get Jessica to
um I'm gonna have Jessica invite you again. Okay. Okay, thanks. waiting on Mrs. Spitzer. Okay, >> Mrs. Spitzer, do we need a motion to return to public session?
>> Thank you. Um so I believe there was a motion on the table um for after executive session. Um would anyone like to withdraw that motion or I I don't believe that well I
what what would we like to do with that motion? Is are we taking it off the table or how how are we doing this? I mean, I guess we're taking it off the table because we sort of had an agreement in executive about moving forward. >> Did we pick the date? I'm sorry, I
missed that. >> We picked an option of three dates. >> I is every Did anybody I I think we should go with the 17th. The sooner the better. Um but we didn't decide that. >> Well, I I think it depends on when we
get the information that that the board needs. So I believe that the 17th, the 23rd and the 26th they're already um options on the calendar and we can use any or all of them as additional executive sessions to discuss the um
information as we get as we get the information. So if the if the board is comfortable with that, I think we can just leave the motion on the table and close the meeting. Okay. So, if
>> I'm not sure if you can leave a tabled motion on on the table, >> we voted to table it, >> right? >> But it can be tabled for any point in time. Correct. Doesn't have to be
resolved at the meeting. No, >> I'm not sure because of the word table. I think technically table is that um you know if Bruce Springsteen came into the auditorium we would table something.
>> That's the definition that I was given. Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, you had wanted the 17th and you had wanted to vote on it and I'm wondering if since since you have been deeply involved with this and
you think we will have the information on the 17th, maybe we should just vote to do it on the 17th or not vote to do it on the 17th. If you if I I do think the idea that we leave it open makes a lot of sense because we don't know what we're going to have when. But you might
you seem like you might know better about what we might have when >> I think we're going to have that by the 17th. >> So let's maybe vote. >> Okay. >> We can always vote again. If we voted
down for some reason, we can always vote it again. Have you not agreed that that if we have the information that the 17th would we would we would do it in in uh uh we would do it on the 17th. >> We can we could if we leave it on the
table it dies there. >> Okay. >> So we don't have to take action. >> So we have a meeting on this all three of those meetings. We already have exempt. Do you think you need to take action to >> Well, I think we would have to
advertise, right, Heather? If we >> It's It's advertised as just a regular meeting. I didn't I So, we just put executive session on it for this purpose. I mean, I could advertise saying, you know, if you wanted to put that in
ex, you know, why we were going into exec, but we tell we would say that at the meeting. I think >> I think we I think we should based on that other information I sent in the email, right? I mean, I don't know if we verified that, but I think we have to be more specific with executive session. I don't I don't know if that's Did you see
that, Heather? >> I did. I did. >> Yeah. Okay. So, I don't know. We could verify that, but that might be necessary. So, I agree. >> But that would I don't know that that would be in an ad, right? I think I think we're okay from an advertisement perspective. >> Correct.
Um, so yeah, I think I I personally think we should just get it on the books for the 17th. That's my vote. >> Okay. Do we do we need >> I was going to say, do we need a vote and a motion for that or can we just agree to it and ask Miss Kelsey Hay to
Mrs. Spitzer to to organize that if if we have the information that we need? Can we just move to hold a meeting on the 17th? Can we do that? >> Well, we already have a meeting on the books for the 17th for strategic
planning that's been advertised. So, I mean, we don't again all that would need to happen is Mrs. Spitzer needs to add an executive session to that advertisement. So, the the meeting already exists. >> Yeah. It's just completely different. So, I just want to make sure it's clear,
right? Go ahead. >> And I could say >> I would advertise it with purposes of strategic planning and executive comment executive session. >> Wouldn't it be >> would it be called a special meeting or no?
>> Um strategic planning theoretically. Let me let me see what we call >> it. Just make it makes sense to vote because it makes the intention clear. We, you know, if we vote on something that then turns out to be impossible, it's not a catastrophe.
We just reschedule it for the next time. I I there is something about the intention that seems meaningful to me. >> I agree with it. It doesn't hurt to vote. >> Okay. Okay. >> Whatever Whatever you would like that to
say. >> So, do I have a motion? >> Would someone like to make a motion? All right. So, I'll make a motion to have a special executive session after the strategic planning meeting on
February 17th. Can I get a And that's to discuss litigation strategy and potential liability assessment for pending litigation. Um, can I get a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Thank you. And then we'll get a
roll call, I guess. Right. >> Yeah. I'm still trying to write. I'm sorry. >> Okay. Sorry. >> It's one thing I never learned was shorthand. Um, litigation strategy and liability assessment, I think you said. >> I said, yeah, potential liability
assessment. Yes. For pending litigation. >> Okay. So, the second was I'm sorry, Mrs. Dr. Halpern. Okay. And the roll call. Miss Bryce, >> yes. >> Miss Gong,
>> yes. >> Dr. Halpern, >> yes. >> Miss Lacosta, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rothell, >> yes. >> Mrs. Santangelo, >> yes. >> Miss Wallace, >> yes. >> Reverend Williams, >> yes.
>> And Mrs. Kellogg, >> yes. >> Oh, yes. Motion carries. >> All right. So, do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion. >> Yes. >> Second. >> Yes. >> All right. Do we need a roll call or can
this be an all in favor? >> All in favor? >> All right. Anyone opposed? >> All right. Have a good night, everyone. >> Thank you, everyone. Thank you.