WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=GvNoxrvQZvU

Part: 1

1
00:00:28.400 --> 00:05:28.600
Shut up. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. You hold your heat. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Hey everybody. Hey,

2
00:06:15.360 --> 00:10:19.000
Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Hey.

3
00:10:25.040 --> 00:17:09.726
Hey. >> [music] [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. >> [music]

4
00:17:37.919 --> 00:21:51.380
>> Wonder. Hello. Hello. Hey, hey, hey. me. >> [music] [music] >> check. Check. >> [music]

5
00:22:01.150 --> 00:27:11.279
[music] >> Hey. Hey. Heat. Hey, Heat. >> [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

6
00:27:11.279 --> 00:35:03.119
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Shut up. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Are we ready? I'd like to call this

7
00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:26.160
meeting to order. Please, please stand for [music] the pledge of >> allegiance of God for it stands one nation under God, indivisibley and justice for all. >> This meeting is in compliance with the

8
00:35:26.160 --> 00:35:48.480
open public meeting law and has been duly advertised in the newspaper as an official meeting. Roll call. present >> here. >> Oh, there we go. Uh, Mrs. Rivera, >> present. >> Mr. McCarron,

9
00:35:48.480 --> 00:36:06.800
>> present. >> Mrs. Gardella, >> present. Yeah, we have an addition to the agenda under students number eight. And you going to read it? >> Okay. The resolution reads, "Resolved

10
00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:24.079
that the board of education affirms the finding of unconfirmed HI in case number 308437 JTM042-72026. And be it further resolved that the parent shall be provided with a written decision along with information on her

11
00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:40.400
right of appeal to the commissioner of education. >> I need a motion for the approval of the agenda with addendum. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Barooas. >> Yes.

12
00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:56.079
>> Dr. Osmond. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera. >> Yes. >> Mr. McChair. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mrs. Gardella. >> Yes. I'd like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Beginsky for his superintendence report. >> Thank you. So, two weeks on the job.

13
00:36:56.079 --> 00:37:12.640
It's an exciting two weeks. I'm happy to report on some of the great things that we've had going on in the school district. I'm going to start with the graduations. Uh both the middle school and high school graduations were held in late June. Uh both were beautifully done. Uh for those of you who were

14
00:37:12.640 --> 00:37:29.200
there, just really an aesthetically beautiful uh scene for for both graduations, I do want to acknowledge the tremendous logistical planning that went into it. Uh from our building administration, our support staff, our grounds department, transportation,

15
00:37:29.200 --> 00:37:44.880
security, everyone who was involved in planning and putting the graduations on. The JTV staff did a great job. Um and I was extremely impressed with with the product and how things turned out. Obviously with the two schools coming together, uh it was a bigger graduation

16
00:37:44.880 --> 00:38:00.320
than we've had in the past, but it was really well done. Really a special day for the families. Uh also, um it was a very short time off for our ESY students and our ESY staff. They were back at it starting on July 6th. Our classrooms were filled with smiles, excitement, and

17
00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:16.560
plenty of learning. Our ESY program provides eligible students with continued special education and related services during the summer. Uh and that program kicked off uh its uh summer on July 6th. Um child care registration is

18
00:38:16.560 --> 00:38:31.760
open right now is open through the end of July. So I encourage families to avail themselves of the registration process if they haven't done that yet. The registration does close uh on July 30th and then we reopen it again after a couple weeks into the school year. So if

19
00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:48.400
the family if you have uh a need for that, make sure you get on there and register before the end of the month. Uh, also if you haven't followed us on Facebook, uh, it is our intention to share out as many of the good things that are happening here in the school district and celebrating our staff and students. And a great way to do that is

20
00:38:48.400 --> 00:39:06.000
to follow us on Facebook. Um, so I encourage you to do that. And then a message from the uh, Jackson PD. Uh, we put this out at the last board meeting. The ebike law uh, has changed uh, and there's very strict regulations with regard to it. It goes live on July 19th.

21
00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:21.760
the law. Uh they gave plenty of advanced notice and I just wanted to share with everyone there are are certain requirements regarding to the registration and the insurance uh obviously the requirement to wear a helmet and that the Jackson Police Department will be enforcing the law

22
00:39:21.760 --> 00:39:40.240
starting on July 19th. And so um we want all of our students to be safe uh at all times, not just in the summer, but um but certainly if they're riding ebikes. So uh we do have three presentations tonight. They should be relatively brief. Uh we do have um our semiannual

23
00:39:40.240 --> 00:39:57.839
district HI report. We are going to also have our semiannual violence and vandalism report. And then we do have a chronic absenteeism report. And so at this time I'm going to introduce to the microphone our district anti-bullying coordinator, Mr. Dan DeSantis to present

24
00:39:57.839 --> 00:40:13.359
the semiannual district report. >> Hi, good evening. Thank you uh for having me. Uh tonight I'm going to just summarize the data for the second half of the year. Uh is there a little clicker or something I can work with? Oh, thank you. Uh student safety remains our uh main concern. Uh top priority. Uh

25
00:40:13.359 --> 00:40:31.599
every hip complaint is taken seriously, investigated thoroughly, and addressed according to state law and district policy. Uh proactive. Our goal is prevention before problems occur. Throughout the year, we provide a staff training on threat assessments, school violence prevention, HIP procedures, and

26
00:40:31.599 --> 00:40:48.320
reporting requirements. And we have regular collaboration with our anti-bullying specialists to review data and and to ensure consistency across the district. Preventative initiatives. Every school continues to implement preventive activities throughout the year. These include assemblies, character education,

27
00:40:48.320 --> 00:41:03.599
peer mediation, social emotional learning, climate initi initiatives, and suicide prevention education. here. I'd like to recognize our anti-bullying specialists for the outstanding work that they do. On to the uh elementary data. Uh it's

28
00:41:03.599 --> 00:41:19.200
pretty straightforward. The numbers are the numbers. Uh during this reporting period, elementary schools conducted 33 investigations with 17 meeting the legal criteria for HIT. You can see the 56 building accounted for the largest number uh which is expected given the

29
00:41:19.200 --> 00:41:38.560
size. Secondary uh at the secondary level we completed 25 investigations, nine founded. This included 18 investigations at the middle school and seven at the high school. First half comparison comparing the first year data uh year-over-year, we

30
00:41:38.560 --> 00:41:54.160
saw a decrease in both total investigations and founded HIPS. While numbers naturally fluctuate, it's encouraging to see fewer incidents during that reporting period. On to the second half. uh in the second half of the year uh investigations increased slightly from 53 to 58.

31
00:41:54.160 --> 00:42:10.000
However, founded hip cases actually decreased from 28 to 26. Uh this reflects that while more concerns were reported, which we encourage, uh not every investigation meets the legal definition of HIP. Uh trends and outcomes. The uh the most

32
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:25.920
common motivations in involved appearance and race. Uh most incidents involve verbal behavior such as name calling, offensive comments, and teasing. In addition to appropriate disciplinary consequences, we continue to emphasize emphasize counseling, conferences, mediation, and other restorative interventions to address

33
00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:43.000
student behavior. And to close, I'd like to remind everyone that we investigate every HIP complaint we receive, regardless of how it is reported. We encourage students, parents, and staff to continue reporting concerns so we can quickly respond appropriately. And thank you.

34
00:42:44.960 --> 00:43:02.800
So, does the board have any questions for Mr. Dantis? >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Our next presentation is the semi annual violence and vandalism report and that's going to be presented by our director of security attendance and truency, Mr.

35
00:43:02.800 --> 00:43:20.000
John Powski. >> Good evening everybody. Uh thank you for coming out today. Uh I will presenting the uh report period 2 January through June 2026 the semiannual report for violence of vandalism. So the state of New Jersey began

36
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:36.319
collecting this data back in March uh 2002 with the objective is to collect and report incident data concerning serious student conduct in the areas of violence, vandalism, HIV, weapons and substance abuse. And to the right's a chart uh with the totals for all the

37
00:43:36.319 --> 00:43:54.280
incidents. Uh so it goes uh the previous two report periods to include the most recent January through June of 2026. Uh those are the numbers for violence, vandalism, HIV, alleged and confirmed weapons and substance abuse

38
00:43:55.280 --> 00:44:12.280
violence reports at the elementary level. [clears throat] Uh these include our elementary schools and our 56 school. And the categories are fights, assault, threats, sexual offense, hib, alleged, and confirmed. And those are the numbers.

39
00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:38.240
Continuing at the secondary level, so this is Jackson Township Middle School and Jackson Township High School. Again, the same categories. And those are the numbers for the incidents at those two schools. This is the vandal vandalism in incidents. Again, the previous two

40
00:44:38.240 --> 00:44:54.960
report periods to include the June January and through June of 2026. Uh, initially we had Jackson Township 56. However, we did not have that in January through June of 2025. Uh, then Jackson Township Middle School. Then we showed the gets and cough numbers that

41
00:44:54.960 --> 00:45:14.319
period. Jackson Township High School. We also show those numbers between Liberty and Memorial. And then the chart to the right shows the current numbers. This is the substance abuse uh again for the calendar year. Uh previous uh two

42
00:45:14.319 --> 00:45:31.920
report periods to include the most current one. And those categories are marijuana, alcohol, prescription drug, substance, suspected, and refused exam. And the chart to the right is those numbers. Uh the bottom chart is the substances

43
00:45:31.920 --> 00:45:48.280
possession of marijuana drug paraphernalia alcohol undetermined. Uh the first two uh cate are the first preceding two reports and the third is the most current and those are the numbers

44
00:45:50.880 --> 00:46:06.720
weapons offenses. These are weapons in our building um to include any instrument readily capable of lethal use or inflicting bodily injury. But the category is not limited to handguns, rifles, knives, clubs, chains, slingshots, leather bands

45
00:46:06.720 --> 00:46:23.119
studded with metal fillings, razor blades, stun guns, any device that projects, releases, or emits tear gas, or any other substance that is intended to produce temporary discomfort or permanent injury through being vaporized or otherwise dispensed in the air. Some of those examples are

46
00:46:23.119 --> 00:46:41.280
toy guns uh considered as a weapon um and intim imit imitation firearms as well. The first two are the first two market report periods and the third is the most current. So this is action taken by school

47
00:46:41.280 --> 00:46:58.400
district. Uh the action is either police filed complaint that means the police were notified and they actually ended up charging um student uh in school suspension which the police do not get involved with and out of school suspension again which the police do not get involved with. Uh the first two are

48
00:46:58.400 --> 00:47:17.440
the previous report periods and the third column is the most current and these numbers reflect the totals of suspensions reported to the board of ed monthly from the Genesis data. We will continue to strive to ensure a

49
00:47:17.440 --> 00:47:33.599
safe district and school environment by bringing school district safety teams and school anti-bullying specialists together to review data, using this data to plan programs and inform practices, approaches, and curriculum. building strong partnerships with the

50
00:47:33.599 --> 00:47:49.839
Jackson Police Department, specifically the Jackson School resource officers. Providing training for school administrators on the effect, prevention and response to violence, vandalism, and substance use, educating all stakeholders on how they

51
00:47:49.839 --> 00:48:13.839
can make Jackson school safer, and finally preventing community providing community events to educate parents, guardians about school safety. So questions for Mr. Bachki. Yes. >> Any hi um do you have any explanation

52
00:48:13.839 --> 00:48:31.520
for the increase in substance abuse from this year and also last year the same time period from January to June of like 2025 and then also January June 2026. seems like that number doubles in the substance abuse, but just in that time period, >> weather, anything,

53
00:48:31.520 --> 00:48:46.800
>> there's a couple different things that affect that. So, with that, unfortunately, our state, um, when it comes to juveniles, specifically with marijuana and substances, they're making it easier for the juveniles to know that they're not going to get in

54
00:48:46.800 --> 00:49:04.160
trouble. Um, so even though that's not a reflection, even though the school has authority to do discipline, um, the juveniles, they don't correlate that, even though the state says we can't get in trouble, that coming to school and doing it, um, they're going to get in

55
00:49:04.160 --> 00:49:20.000
trouble. They don't they don't understand that piece. Um, two, uh, with the, um, police department, with the school resource officers, one of them unfortunately got injured, so we couldn't get enough class time. uh we tried to get that started. We also uh used the Ocean County Prosecutor's

56
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:37.359
Office to try to come in, but again, they're very stretched, too. And my experience in the past is once we do have classroom assemblies uh to start at the younger levels, um those numbers definitely reduce dramatically. >> I had a question about the suspension

57
00:49:37.359 --> 00:49:55.359
data. The 600 is that like days, >> you know what I'm saying? So like if I was a student and I got a 10day suspension that goes says 10 in there. >> Those those are the incidents uh throughout the school year for that from January through um June. So don't forget we have eight schools uh 90 some odd

58
00:49:55.359 --> 00:50:12.880
days from that start to finish times what do we have about 7,000 students a day give or take you know and the bulk of those numbers unfortunately do come from the high school and middle school. Um so those numbers and then with that we acknowledge that in the beginning the

59
00:50:12.880 --> 00:50:32.640
first report period the OSS's were not working so then we had to um do the inschool suspension to keep them in school and try to provide for them as well. Anything else? Thank you. Thank you. Have a good night. Our

60
00:50:32.640 --> 00:50:53.920
final presentation is going to be a chronic absenteeism report uh by Mr. Ratante, our assistant superintendent. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Pinky. Yeah, I have [clears throat] a a report I'd like to share with with everyone regarding um chronic absenteeism. uh

61
00:50:53.920 --> 00:51:08.880
this is something that is really becoming a significant issue not just throughout the state but throughout really the country and not just in schools as well. It's it's something that's becoming an issue in you know in the workforce and other places. Um so much so you know New Jersey just

62
00:51:08.880 --> 00:51:24.960
recently passed a um they created a a resolution to have a absenteeism chronic absenteeism task force to try and get to the bottom and and and address these issues um specifically in schools. So the definition of chronic absenteeism is

63
00:51:24.960 --> 00:51:41.680
basically somebody who is absent 10% or more of the school days that they're enrolled in. So our school year is 180 days. Uh so 10% of that means a child absent for 18 days. Um typically a child who's chronically absent very not a lot

64
00:51:41.680 --> 00:51:58.000
of our kids hit the 18 number exactly. Some of these are 20, 25, you know, even getting into high 20s for for a lot of our students who are chronically absent. Um, any reason counts for chronic absenteeism. You know, it could be an excused absence, it could be an unexcused absence, it could be, um, as

65
00:51:58.000 --> 00:52:13.760
Mr. Powski just shared, you know, disciplinary action why a kid's out of school. Um, they all count, but at the end of the day, if a child's missing 18 or more days of school, um, they are listed as chronically absent. Uh the one the only exception to that would be um students who are excused for a a

66
00:52:13.760 --> 00:52:29.440
religious holiday reason. Um take your child to work day is an approved absence. There aren't a whole lot of reasons other than that but those dates would be uh not counted towards uh the chronically absenteeism. So the next slide uh this shows where we stand as a district. Um, our enrollment

67
00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:46.640
was uh six just under 7,000 and we had over 1,700 students chronically absent which puts our district at over 25% which is a quarter of our students are missing you know a significant amount of the school year. Um you can see um with this number we are significantly above

68
00:52:46.640 --> 00:53:02.800
the state average of 14.9%. So this is not something that uh is is a good thing but it's where we stand with our numbers right now. On the next slide, you'll see breakdown. Um, this slide is ele is the elementaryaries and the next couple I'll

69
00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:18.000
shift to the older grades, but you can see here um, you know, something that's definitely happening and and as we're looking at this data and really diving into it. You know, we have our preschool program. It's it's fairly new. It's been a couple years now, but we've now expanded to really, you know, being able to offer it to just about all of our

70
00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:34.160
three and four year olds in in the town that want to take advantage of it. And our absenteeism numbers, our chronic absenteem is our chronic absenteeism numbers in those grades is significantly high. You know, 30s and even some 40%s in there. And and I completely understand, you know, I've had three and

71
00:53:34.160 --> 00:53:51.040
four year olds myself. Little kids get sick. It's it's a long 5 day a week, you know, school for a three or fouryear-old. So, I do understand, you know, why parents do sometimes um keep the kids home. But what we're seeing now is is the trickle down where those you know uh bad habits so to speak forming

72
00:53:51.040 --> 00:54:06.880
in preschool are now trickling into kindergarten. Like when you look at kindergarten, you know, the Johnson school, the Holman school, you know, 36%, 42%, that those are critical ages for instruction. You know, your kindergarten, your first grade. And when you have 40% of your

73
00:54:06.880 --> 00:54:22.640
students missing, you know, more than 10% of the school year, more than 10% of instruction, uh that's definitely going to impact um how our students learn, how they're involved in their school, and and their progress, you know, as they get into the older grades moving

74
00:54:22.640 --> 00:54:41.680
forward. The next this slide shows our um both our 56 78 and our high school numbers which are pretty consistent across the board. They're all right around that 25% uh average which is where our district is. So uh again this is something that's

75
00:54:41.680 --> 00:55:02.400
not specific to one grade, one school, one area. This is something that is really uh a concern of ours throughout the entire district. This is a pretty self-explanatory slide, but you know, obviously not being in school is going to affect um how children learn. Uh literacy, delayed

76
00:55:02.400 --> 00:55:17.920
literacy, foundational math skills. Um you know, a child missing that much school, you know, an assignment being done to make it up, something that's on their Google classroom to make it up is never going to replace, you know, 7 hours of instruction in a classroom. uh we we are seeing you know we are run

77
00:55:17.920 --> 00:55:33.680
reports we do look at our test data we do look at our scores and it's no surprise there is a strong correlation with uh children who are chronically absent with lower scores on our state assessments on our in district assessments and and on their school performance. Um there's a lot of

78
00:55:33.680 --> 00:55:50.000
research on middle and high school. You know, students who are not who are showing chronically absent at at those age dropouts are a lot higher. You know, there are kids who do drop out of school. Um high school course failures. Uh lower college enrollment. There's there's stats that show, you know, students with chronic absenteeism

79
00:55:50.000 --> 00:56:04.559
struggle, you know, getting jobs outside of high school, keeping jobs, maintaining proper uh you know, proper responsibilities in the jobs they have. So, it's an issue that doesn't just simply impact school and learning. It also impacts life skills and areas that they need to to follow outside of

80
00:56:04.559 --> 00:56:22.960
school. So the state does require all districts who exceed the 10% number on chronic chronic absenteeism to develop a corrective action plan. Uh some of the steps that are required to be part of that is identifying the problems and barriers. Uh we need to develop

81
00:56:22.960 --> 00:56:39.280
recommendations on how we're going to address it as a district. Uh we need to outline our communication strategies on how we're communicating that with our parents and with our community and with our students especially on the high school level. Uh we need to have our protocols are informing and and engaging parents and trying to you know rectify

82
00:56:39.280 --> 00:56:54.240
you know a lot of these chronic absent students and making sure our policies are up to date making sure our procedures are up to date so that we can really address you know the chronic absenteeism problem. So, what we're doing as a district, um,

83
00:56:54.240 --> 00:57:11.040
we actually today just completed our our third day. We've had our admin team all week in for training, and this has been a heavy emphasis and focus, um, of our planning this week. Uh, attacking and addressing chronic absenteeism is one of our our main district goals in our professional development plan. Um, you

84
00:57:11.040 --> 00:57:25.680
can see some of the things that that we're doing up there to form that. We're going to have a district committee that will identify and implement best practices to try and reduce the um each school is going to have specific grade level and school level goals uh to try and reduce absenteeism. I know a number

85
00:57:25.680 --> 00:57:42.480
of our schools have have been doing this and addressing this. Our JT56 just had a huge push this year with attendance. Uh recognizing perfect attendance every marking period for students who did attend uh providing incentives to classes uh that that did have perfect attendance for a week or a month or

86
00:57:42.480 --> 00:57:59.119
whatever it may be. Um we're going to continue to look at our attendance data um working through through our guidance departments or administration trying to address specific students that we know have had issues in the past with attendance and keeping on them from you know the beginning of the school year. Um each school is going to have weekly

87
00:57:59.119 --> 00:58:15.200
meetings um to address the students that they have. And and the last bullet really is is the key to trying to address this problem because there again this is not a Jackson problem. This is not an Ocean County problem. This is a New Jersey problem. This is a USA problem. The most important thing that

88
00:58:15.200 --> 00:58:32.480
educators can do to get kids here is exciting, energizing, and positive instruction. um the better the more excited that kid is to come into school to learn, to be with their teacher, the more likely that they want to be in school. We also need to make sure that our kids are connected. We want to make

89
00:58:32.480 --> 00:58:49.520
sure that our kids are in a club, in a sport, in an activity. There's something that I'm excited to go to school today because I can't wait to go to wait to go to band practice after school. I'm excited to go to school today because we have a big soccer game and I want to be able to be with my team for the soccer game. uh through some of our grants,

90
00:58:49.520 --> 00:59:05.599
through some of our um you know grants funding that we have our our title funding uh we've been able to implement programs like esports in our five six schools. You know we've had intram mural programs in our in our non middle school or high schools to create activities create things that make kids excited to

91
00:59:05.599 --> 00:59:22.160
come to school so I can be in that esport competition after school. So, those are kind the kinds of things that we've we've been doing and we're looking to expand on that to try and encourage students to want to come to school and make it exciting to come to school. Um, you know, for anyone that's watched or been to any of our board meetings, you

92
00:59:22.160 --> 00:59:38.559
listen to our two senior board members that talk about all the wonderful things that happen in high school that are exciting and fun and engaging. And we want to make sure as many students as possible get involved in those activities so that they want to come to school and they're excited to be in school. So, those those are the the reasons that

93
00:59:38.559 --> 00:59:53.359
we're doing it. We'll be putting together our specific um chronic absenteeism plan, submitting it to the state. Obviously, the board will will see a copy of that once we have our formal plan that we'll be submitting to uh the department of ed. >> Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Dante?

94
00:59:53.359 --> 01:00:10.160
>> I had a question. when you report to the state, if there are students who maybe have moved mid year and maybe they didn't unenroll right away, does that data go to the state and impact us in a negative way? >> And do people have to understand that a little better? >> Yeah, absolutely. Like, you know, we do

95
01:00:10.160 --> 01:00:25.359
have students um we have students maybe from other countries who tell us in December that they're going to their home country for a month and a half and and they won't be back. So, if we don't disenroll those students, that student is marked as absent for 30 days and absolutely would count against us. So,

96
01:00:25.359 --> 01:00:40.079
you know, when we do have students that tell us they they need a a long leave or whatever it is, if if they remain on our books, it can count against us on our chronic absenteeism. >> I have more of a statement than a question. I I personally am not a fan of

97
01:00:40.079 --> 01:00:57.359
especially for younger kids to um encourage like awards for attendance because I think then people send kids who sometimes are sick to school which gets your kids sick which makes it hard you know and it could actually end up hurting your

98
01:00:57.359 --> 01:01:12.079
attendance rates by having those things in place. Um, so when you do put this together, it's just something to really consider because that that could make it worse even though the the intent is very pure and positive. I get that. But, um, I've always kind of been against like

99
01:01:12.079 --> 01:01:28.799
the attendance awards for young kids. >> Yeah, I completely understand. I've, you know, I've been, I've been through a lot of cycles of this and we had all our years of perfect attendance awards and things like that where we want that and then, you know, we got to the place with COVID, we don't want kids coming to school six and then we went away with it and now our attendance is horrible. So,

100
01:01:28.799 --> 01:01:44.240
now do we bring them back? So, it's it's just finding the right special sauce to to make sure we can do something to get our kids to all be here. >> Great. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. And that concludes my superintendent report. >> Thank you very much. I'd like to turn

101
01:01:44.240 --> 01:02:05.760
the meeting now over to Miss Blood for her state monitor report. >> I have nothing to report this evening, but thank you. >> Um, moving on to our standing committee reports. Um, Dr. Osman, you have curriculum and

102
01:02:05.760 --> 01:02:25.040
instruction. Think that that might not be accurate. No problem. Okay. So, I have the notes for the curriculum committee. We met on the 8th of July in attendance with Mr. Beginsky, Dr. Gletki, uh, Mr. Orante, Mrs.

103
01:02:25.040 --> 01:02:42.640
Gardella, and myself. Uh we reviewed the new resources for secondary social studies active learn which is a digital platform for grades 7 through 12 aligned to New Jersey standards offering document-based questions or DBQs, primary source analysis, translation,

104
01:02:42.640 --> 01:02:57.680
text to speech support and data reporting. Uh we also reviewed the AP scores that were shared with us of which the results were very strong. Future discussion regarding AP course enrollment criteria will be discussed in

105
01:02:57.680 --> 01:03:13.520
at a later date. New courses that are being added at the high school for the 2627 school year. AP research, it's a capstone followup to AP Seminar. It's year-long research project culminating in a 4,000 to 5,000word paper in oral

106
01:03:13.520 --> 01:03:29.680
defense at the end. Um, AP cyber security, which is hands-on, uh, a hands-on introduction to protecting digital systems and responding to threats. AP human geography, which is an introlevel course for grades 9 through

107
01:03:29.680 --> 01:03:47.359
12. There will be no prerequisites on uh on population, culture, and urban development. And this one I thought was very cool. They are starting a podcast course, a new high school elective for grades 9 through 12. it would be one semester and students will produce

108
01:03:47.359 --> 01:04:03.760
original podcast content blending language arts, media and digital skills. Uh in addition, we reviewed the mission and format for the flexible learning academy which is to begin in the 2627 school year at the high school and finally the final exam review committee

109
01:04:03.760 --> 01:04:20.319
met on March 23rd and the following will be in place for the 2627 school year. We are going to keep final exams. We believe that they are valuable prep for college level uh people going e freshman going into college uh and college level

110
01:04:20.319 --> 01:04:37.760
courses and other post high school exams and keep their current waiting. There will be no exceptions to final exams. All high school students will partake in the exams and there is a plan to review and update final exams by department in the 2627 school year and also form a new

111
01:04:37.760 --> 01:04:56.400
grading and assessment committee for next year across the district. We don't have a date for our next meeting yet and those are the notes from the curriculum committee. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um moving on to agenda night number letter F. Um, we need a motion

112
01:04:56.400 --> 01:05:13.920
for approval of policy. Second reading, adoption. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Barcus. >> Yes. >> Dr. Osman. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera? >> Yes.

113
01:05:13.920 --> 01:05:27.520
>> Mr. McCarron? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gardella? >> Yes. I need a motion for the approval of the minutes. the close session meeting June 17th, 2026 and the official board meeting June 17th, 2026 business meeting. The official special meeting

114
01:05:27.520 --> 01:05:44.559
June 29th, 2026 for um goal setting. >> Motion. >> Second >> discussion. Roll call. >> Mrs. Barooas? >> Yes. >> Dr. Osman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera. >> Mr. McCarron? >> Yes.

115
01:05:44.559 --> 01:06:01.119
>> Mrs. Gardella? >> Yes. I need a motion for the approval of the bill list. Motion >> second >> discussion roll call >> Mrs. Barous >> yes >> Dr. Osmond >> yes >> Mrs. Rivera

116
01:06:01.119 --> 01:06:17.440
>> yes >> Mr. McCarron >> yes >> Mrs. Gardella >> yes I need a motion for the approval of the treasurers and board secretaries reports >> motion >> second >> discussion roll call >> Mrs. Barous >> yes >> Dr. Rosman,

117
01:06:17.440 --> 01:06:32.640
>> yes. >> Mrs. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. McCarron, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gardella, >> yes. I need a motion to open the public forum on agenda items only. We will hold another public forum during this meeting for any other questions. This public forum

118
01:06:32.640 --> 01:06:48.400
will be for agenda items only. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Please sign in. Oh. All in favor? >> I. Please sign in and state your name and whether or not you are a Jackson resident. Each person is allowed a

119
01:06:48.400 --> 01:07:16.480
maximum of three minutes to speak. No person may speak more than once on the topic until all others have been heard. >> There will be a second public um open public comment. Is this on agenda items? No, I'm a school bus driver here in Jackson Township. I just have a few

120
01:07:16.480 --> 01:07:34.880
concerns. >> So, you have to come at the second public forum. >> Okay. >> It's It'll be in like 15 minutes. >> I'm sorry. [laughter] [gasps] Okay. Any additional agenda only questions?

121
01:07:34.880 --> 01:07:56.039
Seeing no one come forward, I need a motion to close public forum. >> Motion. All in favor? >> I second. All in favor? >> All right. I need a resolution to move finance. >> Motion. >> Motion.

122
01:07:56.079 --> 01:08:18.560
>> Motion. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Barois. Yes, >> Dr. Osman. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Rivera. >> Yes, >> Mr. McCarron. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Gardella.

123
01:08:18.560 --> 01:08:34.560
>> Yes. I need a motion to move facilities. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Baroas? >> Yes. >> Dr. Osmond? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera? >> Yes.

124
01:08:34.560 --> 01:08:48.319
>> Mr. McCarron? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gardella? >> Yes. I need a motion to move programs. motion >> second >> discussion. Um I'd like to point out

125
01:08:48.319 --> 01:09:04.480
I believe it's here. Agenda item 13 is the adoption of flag football as an inter Scholastic spring athletic program at Jackson Township High School beginning in the 2627 school year. um just know that it is recognized by the

126
01:09:04.480 --> 01:09:22.159
NJSIA for anybody wondering and it's an intercolastic sport um operating a lot in our local communities. Uh you know, we did have a young lady who's here with us tonight that brought it to our attention and we want to thank her for a wonderful presentation. It was a very

127
01:09:22.159 --> 01:09:40.000
informative, well put together and we support seeing you out on the field come next spring. I just also want to tackle those sentiments. Uh this is a program that's growing quickly in popularity throughout uh school districts in New Jersey. The

128
01:09:40.000 --> 01:09:56.640
informative email that you put forward made it easy to understand and the presentation outlining the benefits this program could have on our school district. I'm absolutely behind this and I think you did a great job presenting it. Thank you, Paige. >> I'm just going to add one more thing. I was so impressed when I opened that up.

129
01:09:56.640 --> 01:10:17.199
actually came into a meeting and I said, "Oh, this is like really good." And it was so comprehensive. So, keep using your voice because you you did a very good job. Very persuasive. >> Wait, no. >> Oh, sorry. I'm sorry.

130
01:10:17.199 --> 01:10:34.159
>> Paige, you'll be able to talk during the public um comment at the end. Okay, sweetie. Paige, I too want to congratulate you on putting together such a beautiful presentation. You you put the time and energy into it and you just I I just applaud you. Um not

131
01:10:34.159 --> 01:10:49.520
everyone takes the time to do that to get something put forth in front of us and I I really you did a great job. Um I just learned I just listened to uh Eli Manning the other day saying uh flag football is the fastest growing sport in the country right now. So, you should be

132
01:10:49.520 --> 01:11:06.000
super proud of yourself and we're looking forward to seeing you out there in the spring. >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Baro, >> yes. >> Dr. Osmond, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. McCarron, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gardella,

133
01:11:06.000 --> 01:11:23.920
>> yes. I need a motion to move students. Motion. >> Second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Discussion. Roll call. >> Mrs. Baro, >> yes. >> Dr. Osmond, >> Mrs. Rivera, >> yes.

134
01:11:23.920 --> 01:11:43.679
>> Mr. McCarron, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gardella, >> yes. I need a motion to move personnel. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Baroas. >> Yes. >> Dr. Osmond.

135
01:11:43.679 --> 01:12:01.920
>> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera. >> Yes. >> Mr. McCarron. Yes, >> Mrs. Gardella. >> Abstain from 28J and 29X. Yes. Everything else. >> I need a motion to open the public forum on any topic pertaining to the board of

136
01:12:01.920 --> 01:12:18.560
education. Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Please sign in and state your name whether or not you are a Jackson resident. Each person is allowed a maximum of three minutes to speak. No person may speak more than once on a

137
01:12:18.560 --> 01:12:35.679
topic until all others have been heard. Good evening. Um my name is Dian Napsiger. I'm a bus driver here in township and my concerns are we've got the ESY that have the small vans that have air conditioning. Okay. We got a

138
01:12:35.679 --> 01:12:50.560
lot of those buses zooming around town. We have wreck and there's a total of four buses a day that go out and I do Switlick camp and there's two buses that go out. They don't have air conditioning. So I

139
01:12:50.560 --> 01:13:07.360
was just wondering why we don't have air conditioning but the Jackson Board of Ed that works for the summer of um I'm sorry that works for the district of the board of ed why they can get air conditioned buses and we cannot. Now, I've already talked to the director

140
01:13:07.360 --> 01:13:22.880
about this. I wasn't really given a very clear answer. I know the buses are mechanically equipped. We've got maybe 20 some odd buses that are airond conditioned. Like I said, we only need six out of those. I

141
01:13:22.880 --> 01:13:37.360
don't understand what the issue is. I think there should be exceptions with like just meet us halfway. How about anything above 90°? I'm I know I'm traveling probably tomorrow maybe an hour and a half one way with little ones

142
01:13:37.360 --> 01:13:58.560
on my bus. If that driver that driver needs to be, you know, equipped with driving, you know, long distance like that, I I just don't understand. That's why I'm here. >> Um, thank you. And we kind of respond to

143
01:13:58.560 --> 01:14:13.600
public comment at the end of all public comment. I mean, that's our office and you guys work in air conditioned offices. That's our office. We drive a hot box. He said, "It's not fair that you only have air in the front of the bus and not the back of the bus." And he, I mean, Mr. Sodto, the director of

144
01:14:13.600 --> 01:14:31.199
transportation. Um, but it's not fair that the other drivers are driving around with air conditioning and transportation building is air conditioning, but the six buses are not. Are we not cared about? That's, you know, it's it's just I mean

145
01:14:31.199 --> 01:14:47.719
it it just makes more sense just to make sure everybody is safe on these buses, including the students and the little ones that go to camp. All right, thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

146
01:14:57.360 --> 01:15:12.000
Hi, my name is Paige Little. I'm the one that started um the talk about flag football. I emailed the New York Giants about helping us with finances with our flag football. I got an email back on July 13th.

147
01:15:12.000 --> 01:15:29.920
Um thank you for your talk. Um thank you for talking taking this time to reach out to the New York Giants. We have been working with the short conference since 2021 to help provide resources and opportunities to our schools looking to offer high school flag girls flag

148
01:15:29.920 --> 01:15:48.199
football to their students. I would happy to hop on call to talk through what that pro process could look like on our end. So I will be talking with the New York Giants tomorrow about helping our school with finances.

149
01:15:48.372 --> 01:16:08.159
>> [applause] >> I also today got an email back from the Philadelphia Eagles and they will also be hopping on a call with me in two weeks. So, we have two NFL teams that are willing to help us with finances.

150
01:16:08.159 --> 01:16:32.960
Um, thank you [applause] Should I close public? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Are there any additional questions? Seeing no one come forward, I need a motion to close public forum. >> Motion.

151
01:16:32.960 --> 01:16:48.159
>> Second. >> All in favor? >> Did you want to >> Sure. Yeah. So, I'll I'll answer the question uh to the best of my ability for you. Uh Deian, so we we have from what I understand, our transportation department has one 54 passenger bus that

152
01:16:48.159 --> 01:17:03.760
has air conditioning. And so we do have vans um our smaller school buses that do have air conditioning. Um and so when uh the mayor had reached out to me about the uh the recreation program, um you

153
01:17:03.760 --> 01:17:21.120
know, we were more than happy to try to help. Um, but our need what you needed was 54 passenger buses and the one bus that does have air conditioning was actually out of commission. We couldn't actually use that to transport kids at that time. So, I would be happy to if

154
01:17:21.120 --> 01:17:37.360
you you know if you could leave your name with Allison uh your phone number I don't even know your name. Leave your phone number with Allison. I'd be happy to sit down with Mr. and yourself uh to talk about the air conditioning on the bus and we could kind of let you know, you know, what we've done purchase-wise for school buses lately and the costs

155
01:17:37.360 --> 01:17:53.040
that are involved with getting a 54 passenger bus that has air conditioning and things like that. >> No, I understand that. I I understand that. Um but you know, we only have so many children on that bus where they sit up in front,

156
01:17:53.040 --> 01:18:11.239
which they do. It's cool enough. So, >> so I would h be happy leave your leave your contact information with Allison and we literally we'll get back to you tomorrow about it. >> I appreciate that. >> Sure.

157
01:18:11.280 --> 01:18:29.600
>> I'd like to I'd like to open the meeting to board comments starting with Miss Barus. >> Well, it's nice to be back. Um [laughter] hope everyone's enjoying their summer. Um I I this has been such a great meeting just alone with the uh

158
01:18:29.600 --> 01:18:45.840
flag football just brought me to tears. So thank you Paige for making my night. Um and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the summer and I'm looking forward to uh supporting our new superintendent and working with the board this year. Uh lots of exciting things to that we're

159
01:18:45.840 --> 01:19:01.120
looking forward to and um you know enjoy the rest of your night everyone. Just wanted to formally welcome Dan to the job after his couple of weeks. He did a great job today in the executive session and here and Paige, we wish you

160
01:19:01.120 --> 01:19:18.080
luck and keep us posted on what comes out of those meetings. That's very cool. Very good job. And thank you everybody for coming out tonight. >> I want to thank everyone for coming out this evening. Thank you for viewing us on live stream. Thank you. Um, congratulations to all the graduates and

161
01:19:18.080 --> 01:19:33.199
award recipients and everyone have a wonderful, safe summer. >> Just wanted to highlight uh, two graduates from our school district. uh Zack Crotchfeld who got drafted to the New York Mets in this uh draft a couple

162
01:19:33.199 --> 01:19:49.600
days ago and uh one other graduate from uh Jackson Memorial uh who Ryan Lasco who sustained a pretty catastrophic injury during a a baseball game. Uh our school district's behind you and we support you and we're wishing you a

163
01:19:49.600 --> 01:20:09.760
speeding recovery. Thank you. I echo all of my board members um sentiments and I want to also just say that I agree, Mr. Beginsky, that the graduation was absolutely phenomenal. I thought it ran very smooth. Uh I thought that the district did a great job of

164
01:20:09.760 --> 01:20:24.960
preparing for the amount of guests that we had and I mean no better words. I didn't even feel like I was at a big graduation to be honest. I thought it was amazing. So, you know, thank you to all those people that you shouted out and I'm sure there's many

165
01:20:24.960 --> 01:20:42.600
more PTN and, you know, volunteers that also were there um making that fabulous. Um, so with that, I need a motion to adjourn. Motion >> second >> by acclamation. I

166
01:20:43.600 --> 01:20:53.400
>> guess I'll go later. >> Is that a good man? Everybody can truly like