It is today, 09/18/1919. There I go. 2025. And, we will begin our caucus meeting of the month if I'll do first. We'll pledge allegiance first. Miss McKenzie, if you would read and then do a roll call, please. Good evening. This meeting is being held in conformity with the Open Public Meetings Act NJSA 10 colon four dash six.
Proper public notice of the meeting was caused to be sent to the El Diario La Frenza newspapers and posted on the District's official website. Public notice was also delivered to those persons requesting that such notice be given to them. I will now take the roll call. Trustee Blunt? Here. Trustee Ioffe? Trustee Morris? Trustee Mohammed? Present. Trustee Patel. Present. Trustee Rezavela. Present. Trustee Schneider. Here. Vice President Tisdale. I see here. President Velasquez. We have a quorum. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will begin with the reading of our our reports. I believe that trustee Matt, you have a report for two committees. Right? Correct. I'll start with, policy. One second. So last week, the policy committee met. We reviewed a new board policy, five 339.01, Student Sun Protection. This is something that stems from new state legislature new legislation from the state, which requires school boards to have a policy that allows students to use sunscreen and
protective clothing at applied to all grades. The second one we discussed and reviewed again was Policy 5,515, Personal Communication Devices, which we'll be making the second reading tonight and voting on. We discussed some of the feedback we've heard from the community and in general, it's been all positive from students, staff and parents. In addition, it's kind of aligning with the New York City public schools among others and banning cell phones to provide a distraction free learning environment. There's also some new research out. There's an article in The Economist as well as actual formal research just looking at
17,000 students and seeing that there is some benefits to getting rid of personal communication devices in the classroom. So that's it from the policy. Any questions? Any questions, anyone? Being none, you're gonna move ahead. You have. Alright. We'll move on to finance and facilities. Give me one second. All right. In the finance section, we reviewed the typical monthly reoccurring agenda items 10.01 to 10.13. You'll note that some of the checks issued prior to Board approval includes data from both systems 3,000 as well as the new LYNX software.
And then similarly for the bills and claims. The Board Secretary Report and Board Reconciliation Report were provided through the month of July 2025. And in terms of contracts, there's two over the bid threshold, JUUL for LED lighting and Granger for scaffolding. For co op purchases, there's one from Spruce Industries to ride hygiene products and scrubbers, actually two from Spruce Industries. And then some new items, a contract award for architectural services for the design and installation of new walk in coolers and freezers at several different schools.
And then there's a fresh fruit and vegetable grant with to include 10 additional Jersey City public schools. In the facilities, the two main ones City of Jersey City and Hudson County Open Space Grant Grant are donating funds to make the renovations possible. The Board is being asked to approve a donation of $300,000 from Jersey City. Thank you. And $750,000 from Hudson County Open Space Grant. So again, thank you. And then we briefly talked about, the owner the ownership and responsibilities around Caveman Point Field.
That is, part of Jersey City Public School, property, but it is leased by the city, the the rec department, for ongoing activities. So I think that is it from those two sections. So any questions? Through the chair? How long will we have the checks issued through both of the systems, the system 3,000 and link? And, also, do we foresee any issues with having them? I see it says two separate reports. Doctor Fernandez? Doctor Luce? I apologize because I just walked in, so I missed a second. If you just Just do we see any patients down the road or is there
So we are working right now, with LINC, with the convert with the merging of the systems. At this point, we are really in almost full implementation on the financial aspect. Their HR payroll is going to happen in January. We are working closely with systems to close systems 3,000 to close out and link to really put everything onto there, all the pertinent information to move forward. We haven't had any issues at all. We do not foresee that. There's a number of trainings that will continue to occur,
and we have continuous support on a daily basis. Are you okay with that, Ms. Rossella? Thank you so much. Thank you, ma'am. Next report, are you are you ready? You're ready? Okay. Trustee, vice president, doctor Tisdale. Okay. So I'm reporting on ed programs. We met on Thursday, September 11 at 9AM. So an overview is the twenty September twenty five educational, programs committee meeting focused on reviewing and approving 13 key resolutions related to academic enrichment,
tutoring, bilingual program, and arts education and community partnerships. The committee emphasized student equity, academic growth, and multilingual services with attention to programs that directly support high needs learners and family engagement. Several questions were raised, and they were clarified during the meeting, ensuring transparency and, thorough understanding of each proposal. The summary of the resolutions is in the report. The arts education grants, eight zero one. Three grants were approved to support English language learners and social emotional learners,
PS 17, MS 27, and PS 30. The grants are awarded on a rotating basis to provide equal access across schools. So different schools get the grant each year. Eight zero two NJSIAA membership for high schools approved membership fees for Dickerson, Ferris, McNair, Lincoln, and Snyder to participate in athletic programs through the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association. The cost is $2,725 per school, $13,625 in total.
Students attending schools without athletic teams are allowed to participate in the schools they are zoned with. Eight zero three, title two adult education grant, $122,696 approved to support adult education in ESL and GED programs based at Doris High School, expanded access to essential skills for adult learners in the community. Eight zero four Rutgers Apple grant expansion to additional paid interns will be added to the existing cohort of 10, bringing the total to 12.
This will strengthen the educator pipeline and and enhances instructional support. Eight zero five life skills program at Regional Day School approved $5,800 to establish a supply account with c town supermarket to support instruction and daily living and vocational skills for students with disabilities. Eight zero six Edmentum tutoring program, has been a a new contract was approved in the amount of $1,264,680.5
to continue targeted tutoring for students demonstrating the greatest point zero Eight point zero seven p s 33, the penguin patch holiday, shop events support. Return to school. Eight 10 STEM club recognition, p s 28. STEMX, Expeditions Club won won third place at a regional environment contest and received a $500 prize to fund ongoing student driven initiatives. The eight eleven art and wellness tree installation at PS 15, which is a community art installation project project tied to newly planted trees,
combining visual art with environmental and mindful education. A 12 arts and physical education grant, also for PS fifteen, which is a Hudson County grant arts grant that will fund a a creative expression and movement based activities for students in grades five through eight. A 13 is the outdoor beautification project for PS 15. They will partner with Jersey Jersey Cares to complete a beautification project involving seating, murals, and landscaping to foster school pride and appearance. Bilingual ESL, world language updates,
multilingual intake center launched in 08/18/2025. 403 students enrolled with 310 qualify for bilingual ESL services. Focus remains on systemized data entry and family communication during intake. The Bilingual Parent Advisory Council meeting dates are set for October 8, December 11, 02/04/2026, and 03/31/1926. The Hispanic Heritage Month, theme for '25 is collective heritage,
honoring the past, inspiring the future. Celebrations will be presented at the October board meeting. Avanza reading program implementation has begun for grades three to five in Spanish language dual language classrooms. Teachers receive classroom coaching and collaborative planning to support and ensure fidelity of the use. Those were the questions questions at the bottom, and that was the end of the report. Are there any questions? Yes. Miss Frascolo. Thank you. I I thanks for the packet because some of the questions were answered on this. I just wanted to understand.
Are we expanding it or is this just because it says tutoring. So I just wanna ask for grades three through eight, is this just an add on for students that need the opportunity to catch up? Or will it the learning paths and diagnostic lowest, achieving students at those grade levels. So they are caught up to their reading level the the appropriate, reading level so that they can address then the content. So these are certain schools, and it will be only third and fourth grade students who are below grade level.
And then my last question is back here where it says appendix a, was this just part of the contract but something we're not using where it says CTE What's the question? I'm sorry. We can't do that. Part of a it's part of appendix a. It says, core courses, CTE elective. Are these just part of what they sent over, but we're not actually using them? Hold on one second. We there is a component that's available to all our students, and that's a tutorial that is without the tutoring. The contract you'll be approving today is the tutoring itself,
and that's for third and fourth graders. The other component is available to all our students. So for equity session for equity, we are providing the the, access to all students, but the intensive tutoring is for specific students. So there's part that is available to all our students, and then the tutoring are below students below grade level. Okay. I apologize, guys. One last question. On average, how long are the students on the screen during the day?
The the ones that will receive it. Doctor Savino, twenty minutes? How long are they online with a tutor? Is there a microphone over there? One second. Doctor Savino, one second. So Please get to a microphone so we can all hear you. Doctor Cervino said that on average, the students will be on for thirty minutes a day. Right. Okay. So only thirty minutes. Yeah. K. Hello? Not working. Okay. Now it is during small group instruction. It's for 30 them. So it's done the entire year. And then like doctor Kananda said,
there's a component that is available for all the students, which the school can use as part of the after school program. And this is during usually when they break out in centers. So instead of working independently on a center, they will have a tutor and the classroom teacher has another group. So it's a way to get another individual working with students during instructional time during small group instruction. Miss Risabella? Thank Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions?
Very none. Trustee Mohammed? My first report is student life and serve, personnel services held on September 9 at 11AM. Doctor Caccaro shared director excuse me. Caccaro shared a presentation overview in the Jersey City Public Schools District Department of Student Life and Personnel Services. The presentation showed the department's organizational chart for the twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six school year. The chart is interactive with links to emails and list of staff and intern, coverage. There's a link in the, in the report for that. And the department uses clusters of professionals to provide effective services for Jersey City public
school students. Cluster one is clinicians. HIB, the updated code of conduct highlighting tier one behaviors and interventions, responses. BARC support, Ignite U-turn program, and wellness club, social emotional learning, and trauma informed skills for educators and adult education. Closer to is presented by super, supervisor Danielle Dimah for, review of Casper and Morning Stars and review of the staff handbook highlighting the act the active arts academy program goals. Last year, twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five, Morning Stars served 604 students.
This year, for 2025 and 2026, they're serving 682 with students, expected to increase. Last year, Casper served 2,003 385 students. This year, for 2025. Currently, 2026. Currently serving 2,400 students with expected increase. Recognition to trustee Tia Reza Bala for her advocacy in the community by informing parents that they would need to request the Morning Stars program to be facilitated at their child's school through their parent group or principal. Cluster three, review of the home instruction manual,
and there's a link for that manual on the report. Plus the four presented by supervisor Takiyah, Campbell Williams with a review of school counselors and how their support is crucial to student success. Overview of pathways to student success, intervention and referral services, a multi tiered system of support. Committee created, the committee created a manual. The manual is aligned with the district's curriculum. It was created to ensure consistency throughout all schools. And, also, the five zero four plans manuals were was reviewed, and there's a link for that in the report.
Cluster five is service brokers, and the review of service brokers, student assistant counselors, interagency task force, Saturday rejuvenation program, and crisis intervention teachers. Saturday re Saturday rejuvenation will start on October. Professional development for staff will begin on October 4. For the twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five school year, 1,558 students attended. Suspensions decreased by 39% of 2346 as of 05/01/2023 to 1,469
as of June 2025. Cluster six is youth mental health and wellness, overview of the community resource guide, and there's a link for that. Project resilience, referral support request form on the department web page. There's a link for that also. And a preview of the professional development opportunities for twenty twenty five, twenty six so far. And that is the good of the order for student life and personnel services. Any questions? Any questions? Very much. Okay. Can continue. My next report is for special education,
and that meeting was held on as well on September 9 at 12PM. And we started off with the action items with, director, Karen Gullis. And those action items are nine point o one, neurological evaluations, nine point o two for non public school services, nursing services. Okay. And then we have the business also with director, Gallas Gallas. So the NJSBHS, for the Jersey City Public Schools final district snapshot for the fiscal year of 2025,
budgeted reimbursement benchmark was $954,280.76 with 2,553 medical Medicaid eligible special education students. Final snapshot for the bud of budgeted reimbursement achieved is 31. Achieved status as of the last snapshot was 21%. Achieved percent change, compared to the last snapshot is 10%. And status, of this of this snapshot last year is a 138%, achieved. For fiscal year twenty twenty six reimbursement,
the benchmark is budgeted at a $150,550.40. The deaf and hard of hearing program updates are the Jersey City Public Schools deaf and hard of hearing program at PS eleven currently serves students from preschool through middle school and is utilized as an out of district placement for other districts. This program is growing yearly to achieve the goal as to expand ASL district wide in all schools and grades. And the d h the deaf and hard of hearing program will be featured in the NJEA review this November.
Four, the augmentative and alternative communication, we had a presentation with, Tiffany Spolonski. And the evaluations and recommendations for the AAC's, devices will be done through JC's speech language pathologist, formerly done through Bergen County Special Services. Alexander Alexander Nickledem will serve as the lead AAC, speech and language pathologist for students and parents. And students and parents will receive trainings on how to use the assistive devices. The state testing updates with, Danielle Gitlin Cruz.
So the DLM or the dynamic learning map, a computer based alternative assessment to measure the performance of students with the most significant intellectual disabilities on grade level linked skills in language arts, math, and science based on state standards and to ensure off all New Jersey students are included in the accountability system. For the twenty twenty four, twenty five school year, 03/1933 students tested at 18 schools with 62 teachers administering the test. The DLM accounts for 2% of each school score at the students,
home schools. The report show the number of students across all grades and schools in the Jersey City public schools achieving at performance level at, so that you have advanced at target, approaching target, and emerging. And this was from the past two years. The DLM, 2024, 2025 school score analysis showed an increase in grades six, eight, and 11 across the district, a slight increase in grades three, four, five, and seven in English language arts. In math, there was an increase in students across the district and 11 showed decrease.
The growth analysis for the DLM, there was an, increase of students scoring advanced and on target in English language arts and math and math in 2025 in comparison to students tested in 2024. The plan for the DLM for 2025, 2026 school year are to increase band analysis during professional development with DLM teachers, review trends and essential elements, bands to assist, guide instruction, and continue to support teachers as they work with new curriculum for this, second year and provide a centralized platform for resources using the DLM Google Classroom.
The DLM will be administered in April on April 6 through from April 6 through 05/09/2026, and that is the good of the order. Any questions? Questions, anyone? Thank you so much. I want to, thank everyone for being so diligent with your reports and quite thorough. I know that there has been some concern expressed about us be saying so much or reading so much, but it's quite important because not all of us are in every committee.
And as we saw today, we had a couple of trustees that actually had questions and and questions that that we should all hear about. So I thank you, and I think we should continue to be thorough. Another reason for being thorough is that in as much as this may be online, everyone doesn't go online, and we must have it for public record. So I thank you all. I I encourage that you continue to be thorough, and, I believe I'm now looking for a motion. Motion by trustee Blunt.
Second. Second by trustee Patel. All in favor? Aye. Meetings closed. Thank you all for coming. This is the general meeting of Jersey City Public School Word of Ed. Today is 09/18/2025. We thank you all for taking time of your, I'm sure, busy and hectic schedules to be here to support and to bring us your concerns. We will begin by the Pledge of Allegiance,
please. At this moment, President Velasquez, if you allow us, we have Genevieve Gaston, NVIDIA Shivnarayan from JC Arts. They're seniors at Ferris High School, who will lead us on the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. Thank you. Thank you. That was lovely. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. And for future reference, I'd like to make it very clear. Thank you, girls. You were wonderful. For future reference, I'd like to make it very clear that,
when we're pledging or when they're singing our national anthem, unless it's a medical or religious reason, we all stand. Thank you. Miss McKenzie, if you would, do roll call and the statement. Yes. Good evening. This meeting is being held in conformity with the Open Public Meetings Act, NJSA 10 colon four dash six, etcetera. Proper public notice of the meeting was caused to be sent to the L. D. Ariel La Penza newspapers and posted on the district's official website. Public notice was also delivered to those persons
requesting that such notice be given to them. I'll now take the roll call. Trustee Blunt? Here. Trustee Ioffe? Trustee Morris? Here. Trustee Mohammed? Trustee Patel? Here. Trustee Rosabella? Here. Trustee Schneider? Present. Vice President Tisdale? Here. President Velasquez? Here. We have a quorum. Thank you. And before we begin our meeting, we've asked, our councilman our councilman, our attorney, mister Rivera, to please make a statement with regards to,
how we should comport ourselves during our meetings. Thank you. Sure. Thank you, Board President. So, at our last meeting, there were some interaction with Board members that led to, a follow-up email for me to all the Board members. Just outlining, what I would recommend as conduct at Board meetings, that, you know, Board members should try to follow. And, at the end of the email that I circulated to the Board, I made a recommendation that the Board should consider adopting a code of conduct for Board members.
And my suggestion is gonna be outlined in the four categories that I'm gonna address. The Board should consider this and, I would recommend passing a resolution to adopt the Code of Conduct at every meeting, reinforcing the Code of Conduct by reading it aloud at the beginning of the meetings, just to remind everyone of what you've agreed to. Certainly up for discussion, what I'm gonna, put forth. And that the point of me doing this is that you do have a discussion about it in open session so that the public can see because it is an open session item. So my recommendation for the proposed,
Code of Conduct will be as follows. Number one, recognition to speak and respectful dialogue. That's the topic. Right? So board members should engage in respectful dialogue at all meetings by waiting to be recognized by to speak. That would be by the Chair, the Board President. Refrain from interrupting other members and avoid personal attacks. This conduct ensures that the Board maintains an atmosphere of professionalism and courtesy. It also helps to ensure that the meetings flow and move forward in a productive manner. Number two,
focus and appropriate comments. Board members are encouraged to limit their comments to questions or factual matters directly related to Board business. While members may have the legal right to express personal views, they should avoid statements such as name calling, derogatory remarks, or or politically motivated commentary that cast a negative light on the District and diminish the professional image of the Board. Three. Adherence to Ethics Guidance. Board members should review and abide by the principles outlined in prior Ethics trainings. This includes refraining again from personal attacks or politically related statements that are unrelated to
the duties of the Board of Education. Commitment to professionalism and excellence. The Board affirms in its collective commitment to conduct itself in a manner that enhances the positive image of the school district. And to reinforce this, and I said this at the beginning, of this commitment, Dakota Conducts grew at the beginning of each meeting, serving as a reminder to all members, the administration, and most importantly, the public of the Board's dedication to professionalism and excellence. Those are the four tenants that I would recommend. You can modify them as you see. But it's really just to enhance, the meetings and ensure that the meetings are run-in the best way possible.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Any questions? Yes. Madam President. Yes, Trustee Morris? So I have a question. So these, what do you call them? Board of what what what are they again? Code of conduct. Oh, code of conduct. So what happens if we don't follow it? What's the consequences? So if, as a board, you agree and pass a resolution that says, here's our code of conduct when Reedman board members choose not to follow them, you run the risk of potentially having ethical charges against you if your conduct violates
ethics rules that I've outlined here. And what if it doesn't violate ethics rules? Then you just violated your own board's code of conduct. But what's the consequences? Besides the ethics board that's already in place, what would be the consequences if someone did not follow your recommendation? To a board member individually? Or to the board as a whole? The code of conduct is for the trustees, correct? Yes. Yes. So what happens if a trustee does not abide by the code of conduct? What happens? If it's not, if it's behavior that's within the ethical confines of a board member,
nothing. Nothing? Nothing happens. So, even if we vote on it today, if a board member does not criticize or do any of the ramifications that fall under the umbrella of epic charges, this means nothing. Well, it does mean something. Well, what does it mean? It means that you've taken, actions or acted in a manner that would be contrary to what the best practices for a board. According to who? According to me in my recommendation. According to you. Okay. So, I'm glad you said that. Because I, and madam president, I'm not gonna be long. When we all of us who are here today,
who are trustees, are elected officials. And when we stood before, the audience and we took our oath, our oath was to the Constitution, both state and federal, and to do what was in the best interest of the community based on the elected role that we were in. We didn't have that. We didn't have the code of conduct. Conduct. And right now, I I personally, I operate under what the Constitution allows me to do as an elected official. And saying whatever it is that I want to say falls under freedom of speech. And not only that, but it also
goes back to this being a democracy not a dictatorship. This is one of the great reasons why we live in The United States Of America because we have freedom of speech. And the great thing about it is I don't have to be nice. I'm not obligated to be nice. We're not obligated to to be professional. We're not obligated to do any of that stuff because if that was the case, then that means that 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, that should be where it starts at. If he can call somebody stupid to tell a reporter to sit down on national television, us having a friendly banter should not be a cause for some form of,
of order of how we should be how we should act. And my last and lastly, Madam President, I am actually shocked. I'm a little surprised at our attorney because, you know, you're one of the, I think out of 28 in the state of New Jersey, most powerful and well received attorneys in the state of New Jersey. And it's a little mind boggling to me that you would actually sit here and entertain this because at the end of the day, your email to us was your recommendation on how you think we should act in a meeting. When you need to realize, I don't work for you.
You actually work for us. That's your job. Your job is to advise us on legal things. So, I don't take my directive from you. I don't work for you. And lastly, lastly, as an elected official, someone who represents myself and my views, even when we had the situation a year ago, even the commissioner of education for the state of New Jersey can tell this board how to act, how to react, or what we're supposed to do. So if this little presentation that you just did is a formality, A show to say,
hey, we want to all get along. I'm gonna vote no to it and I'm gonna continue to ask the questions and do what it is that I think is, that I should do under the Constitution. And that's it. So, first of all, I appreciate your response. And I appreciate where you're coming from. But this is not just simply something that I created in a vacuum. The these four tenets that I bring up are reflected not only in the ethics rules, but in Robert's rules about being recognized to speak. Right? Not interrupting each other. You know, making your comments focused about what's relevant to the board of education.
Mhmm. Those are the takeaways, you know, that that I'd like to emphasize. If you wanna take issue with the fact of, you know, whether someone you have the right to personally attack someone. If it has nothing to do with the board of ed, I stand behind it. And I will say that any of those behaviors that I listed, interrupting, not speaking when not recognized, personal attacks, those are all things that I've consistently, from this scene, emphasized while you were the president and now. So I would absolutely recommend that all board members follow those guidelines. And that's really the basis of what I'm saying here in terms of these goals.
And So, councilor, Rivera, if this was on your heart and you felt like this was something that was needed, why didn't you introduce this to the board when you were hired? Because I wasn't asked to do this. So you were asked to do this? Yeah. The the this came to me because several board members after the last meeting were concerned about behavior and wanted to be addressed. Okay. And I thought it was important to look at it, to research, you know, what's the best practices for boards. I represent numerous boards in the state and this conversation comes up a lot. And many boards will adopt the code of conduct on just what I'm saying.
But if there's no consequence that comes behind the code of conduct, what is the point? There are. If you can't if the president can't say, alright, trustee Morris, you're out of order in violation of section six eighty nine of whatever the code of ethic is. And I hereby silence you and remove you from That's a consequence. What what what what is the purpose of this? All of this is wording of what you recommend. And if we decide that we don't want to do it, what is the consequence? The consequences you won't be recognized to speak. Right? You may be deemed out of order. Okay.
Right? She knows that now. All the things that we have in, it's emphasizing those things that already exist. And as a board affirming them on a regular basis. That's all it is. Alright. Well, I'm gonna continue to operate under the constitution. We In all due respect your recommendation, I decline. Thank you. Question to to to chair? Chair? Trustee, trustee I mean, thank you, trustee. But I also want to remind us that every year at the beginning of the year, we do read, okay, the code of conduct and ethics for all of us,
and we do agree to abide by them. So I So why are we doing it again? No. We're it's a reminder. It's not that we're doing it again. It's a reminder. I I don't see anything wrong with going back. Listen, this is your thing. What you want to do is fine. But I'm just letting you know I operate under the Constitution. And if we will continue to operate And I will. Okay. And we will continue to operate, with Robert's rules. And now, trustee Blunt, please. My question is, is there any other board that you know that has these kinds of,
library Can you please speak into the microphone? My question is, is there other boards that you know of that have these kinds of, of of things in place? Library board. Zip The code of conduct or yes. Many boards do. School boards, municipalities, nonprofits. They many boards will develop these after a retreat, And they all agree, here's how we're gonna engage each other. Things we're gonna emphasize. Boards adopt Robert's Rules as a way to deal with this. Boards will go further and adopt things like this or reinforce the ethics rules. So there are many different ways to address these issues,
and it's certainly, just a way to operate in best practices so you move forward without meetings devolving into arguments, shouting, people talking over each other. Things like that that can lead to just a waste of everyone's time, which, collectively, I think we should all be looking to maximize as much as possible. That's all. Through the chair? Yes. Over here. I'm looking for you over there. I wholeheartedly agree with this proposal. I think it's a great recommendation. It's maybe a little unfortunate that we feel like we have to make it so explicit, but it's it may be the times that we're living in.
And I think we all should hold ourselves to the higher standard and be able to speak to each other responsibly and still have plenty of room to disagree. We all have different experiences, different perspectives. But I think we can do that and still, be respectful. So I'm full, full in support of this. Thank you. Anyone else? Any other question? Any other concern? Do my question to all of you is do we want to make this a motion and vote that we will abide by this, and have it read on a monthly basis?
Well, is this gonna be a policy? Is this gonna be a policy, or is this just a board? It doesn't have to be a policy. I'm asking. No. Okay. So this is just a formality? It's a formality. Okay. Thank you. To the chair? Yes. I'm sorry, miss Mohammed. I I I walked I didn't see the presentation. However, I did see the email. And I just wanted You know, when I read the email, I said, well, if we went by the rules the Roberts' rules, these things would be, that situation would be addressed. And I think that what happened is that we didn't get the Robert's Rules.
I just we just got this book this my last term, my last year in the term. So I think that if we if if the board already adopted the Roberts rules, I think that that's what should be emphasized instead of coming up with a whole another code of conduct as if, you know I personally don't I I don't think I offend anybody here, but it'll come out of order. But I think that if the Roberts rules was reviewed by the board, so that we can say, you know, this is what we're going by. This is how we're gonna address issues.
We're not gonna use a name. We're gonna use the topic and the point that we're talking on. Because it causes confusion when you use a name and address an an, issue that's been verbalized by the, by the individual. So if if we review the Robert's Rules first, we haven't even done that. So I think that's where we should start instead of just coming up with a whole code of conduct. Okay. My first meeting, you were all provided with the Robert's Rules book, number one. Number two,
our first meeting when everyone was sworn in, we each read a portion of, how we will conduct ourselves and general ethics in that. And we, voted to abide by that. Again, I'm just saying we're refreshing our memories so that we can all continue to comport ourselves as professional as possible. And I'm asking for a motion and a vote to bring this on a monthly basis prior to starting our meeting?
Madam president, before we Hold on. Please. Go ahead. Bring what? I don't I didn't To have go ahead. Yes. It's gonna be So I'd like to make a suggestion through the chair. So, my suggestion is that I circulate to the entire board what the proposed, code of conduct is, which are basically four paragraphs. You can have an opportunity to review it, make comments, and share them back to me. And then at next month's meeting, you can decide if you want to move forward and vote on it. So no one feels like they're adopting something without having a chance to review it.
And and we can go from there. If you want to refer it to the policy committee for a committee discussion about it, that's within your purview as well, and move it, to something that will be codified in your policies. Today was just the beginning discussion on on this issue. And I don't want anyone to feel like it it's being motioned, seconded, and voted. I wouldn't rec I I don't want my recommendation is not to do that. You know, you saw the email that I sent. You had a chance to review that. I'll circulate this. We've talked about it in open session, which is appropriate. Now the next step will be to review the text of it.
And then at the next month meeting, you could, you know, make a vote, in accordance with, you know, whether you're gonna pass it or not. Madam president? Yes. Just I just don't understand the redundance of it. If we've already voted on this in January, we've already spoke about it. I do recall everybody saying one portion of it. And we had, what what is the purpose of a reminder? I mean, we're all adults here. I don't think we need to be reminded. Secondly, like, I can understand the administration administration having a code of conduct because they have consequences that will come behind them not following it,
such as suspension, termination, things of that sort when they don't follow the rules administratively. But we're elected officials. In order for me to sit here, I had to have enough bolts to sit here to be able to represent the board of education. Correct? At no time or another, was there on a ballot, and this person has to follow a code of ethics or or or standard operating procedures or things of that sort. So I'm just confused as to why do you think that I'm going to follow these rules that absolutely have no consequence behind them at all.
It's just a simple reminder that our illustrious attorney brought forth, you know. But at the end of the day, I just think that it's ridiculous. It's it's a ridiculous thing. And, of course, certain certain trustees are gonna agree to it because they are the ones that are always, you know, on the other end of the receiving line when it comes to questions, asking questions without any type of Okay. Of of closure or having any type of, positive thing to reflect on if something is going against what they recommended. So I can understand that. But I just don't understand the redundancy. It just doesn't make sense. I feel like I'm in a kindergarten class and you're sitting me in front of a wall and telling me to go over the rules again.
Like, come on. Through the chair? We are wasting time because this is a waste of time. Through the chair? Yes. I just wanna make sure that I'm clear. We're not asking for this to be part of policy. We're just asking for this to be read as a reminder. Right. Which is no different than when we ask the general public, please, when you come up, be respectful. We're people. Don't yell at us. So we're holding ourselves accountable the same way we're asking the the people that come into this building to respect us. Us. I'm I don't know why it's wrong for us to hold ourselves to the same accountability that we ask
everyone as they walk into this building. Could I respond? Because we don't have to. Our constitution allows us to be able to have the right to speak, to say whatever it is that we want to say whenever we wanna say it, and not have to worry about other people's feelings. That is not how it works. We're elected officials. This is Hudson County. So at the end of the day, we could sit here and we could tiptoe around all these little rules. They have no purpose in our job as elected officials. If they wanted us to have these particular ramifications to follow, then when we went to the board of elections to get our petitions to run
for office, they would have also handed us these. This doesn't happen for any office. Through the chair. I ran for you. I know. That's why I'm it was being facetious. Through the chair. We're elected officials. They put us here. You're right. They are directly responsible for allowing us and giving us the opportunity To be here. To be here. Got it. So we do hold accountability to them whether or not we're accountable. They put us here. They trusted us with their vote. I I don't see why we can't be equally accountable for our own actions. And I'm not saying that we don't have to be equally accountable.
I'm just I'm just saying that it doesn't make sense to have this read every month. We should know what accountability is. I've been in the electoral process for almost twenty years. I'm clear on what the elected official owes the public. But at the end of the day, to have another entity added in to waste time, we already the the president last month already said, Oh, well, we don't have enough time to talk about everything in our, workshop because we're talking about everything. And now we're sitting here talking about something that absolutely has no relevance. Like nothing's going to happen to you. If I say, I don't like you and I don't agree with you,
there's nothing she can do other than hit her gavel. That's it. This is not about me, nor is it for me to, correct to reprimand anybody. Will you ask me a little? This is about us to make sure that we continue to comport ourselves in the most on the utmost professional manner. So I'm now asking, the recommendation of the attorney is to send these to us so that we can review them at our leisure and then discuss them at the next meeting.
And if we wanna make a motion and vote on having it in before every meeting, fine. If not, that is up to the vote. So I'd like to just move on. Thank you very much, everyone. Oh, please. And I want I'm sorry? Yes. No. Yes. Now I'm going to have I have to tell you that we had an event at Number 1515 School two Saturdays ago. And I would like to applaud
Doctor. Fernandez and her staff that worked on this event so hard. It was one of the best that Jersey City has ever seen for our students. If you have an opportunity I think the pictures are up already. Absolutely. Yeah. They're across all social media. Yes. If you have an opportunity if you didn't go, maybe next year, because I'm hoping that this is just the first of an annual thing, maybe next year, you can. But I also want to impress that
it was so satisfying, so satisfying to see it happen and in an area where our children do not do not get this time, this, opportunity to mingle with the staff, parents' opportunity to come up to the staff. I mean, it was we had community organizations that partnership partnered with us to bring this excellent affair to the entire district,
but it was brought when I say brought, I mean brought home to students that very seldom get this opportunity. So, again, I thank, doctor Fernandez. And if she wants to name those that were involved in the organizing, I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Before you go before you take it on, doctor Fernandez, I started, in January with books. Okay? Literacy is my thing. And literacy, whether they like it or not, that's what I'm gonna push all the way. Because it's through reading that our children that cannot get on a plane will travel.
It's through me reading that our children will learn about themselves to find themselves in books. So what I have done is I've highlighted our authors, students that graduated here and have written excellent material for us to read. I started with an African American young man, Kevin Powell. And I've had people say, hey. I read that book, and it was wonderful. So I'm gonna end today. It's Hispanic month,
and I'm gonna end it with a Latina woman, a graduate from Dickinson High School who wrote the Latina Bible among many other, books. And this particular book, I'm interested in because in as much as it's called the Latina Bible, it's not about Latina women. It's about young girls everywhere that have friends, what we call amigas, and we tell everything without secrets to. So these are chats between young ladies.
We can all learn from them, and we have all had this experience. And in as much as this is written about, the women, I am sure that men have the same conversations or maybe even more interesting conversations with their, men, friends. So again, this young lady is Sandra Guzman, a graduate of Dickinson High School. As a matter of fact, she used to live in those little projects right across from Dickinson High School, but now she's really known, worldwide. She has been the
president of an organization of networks for women, an organization of, magazines for women. And I am just so proud that today, in Latina Month, I can represent and bring in one of our own, Sandra Guzman. Thank you. Now, doctor Fernandez, if you will give us your report, and please let us know, who were the people that in charge of the program. We I have a wonderful team, and I am not going to start naming people.
I am very grateful for everyone who participated, who attended, who worked, preparing it behind the scenes, cleaning cleaning, picking, putting out bouncy houses, making sure cars were moved. So I'm going to be very politically correct because I will forget the list is extremely long, but it is not just my staff. There were a lot of community leaders who supported this pop up that we, celebrated at Whitney and Young.
And it wasn't it was the best when community and schools come together to give to our students. So it was a beautiful event. Trustees who were able to come, thank you. And everyone who joined us, some just came to support. Others live in the area. But thank you to everyone who participated in the great event, to just make sure that our students are celebrated. So that was wonderful.
It was probably the hottest Saturday we've had in a long time, but it was beautiful. So thank you so much. And we'll see you again next year. Right? We're gonna try. Definitely. It's on the list of top 10. So good evening, president Velasquez, esteemed trustees, dedicated staff, parents, students, and members of the Jersey City community. Student attendance is extremely important for academic success. So every month, we recognize schools for their attendance and improvement in attendance rate.
This month, we will celebrate two schools from June 2025, and the first school is, PS thirty nine. PS thirty nine, are you here? Could you please come? Thank you. Please come and accept your banner and recognition. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. The second school we recognize this month is the Franklin Williams Middle School, MS seven. Please come to accept your banner. If I may, it is with great pleasure that I welcome our community to our September 25 board
meeting as we embark on the new academic year. I'm filled with optimism and excitement for the journey ahead. Our commitment to providing an exceptional educational experience for every student in the Jersey City Public School District remains unwavering. We continue to build upon strong foundations laid in previous years, striving for excellence in all areas. I want to take a moment, it's going to be short,
don't worry, to reflect on some of our key accomplishments from the past school year, which were made possible through the collective efforts of our entire school community. We continue to invest significantly in our educators, providing targeted professional development sessions to enhance instructional strategies and curriculum implementation. This included comprehensive training for pre k to 12 teachers on newly adopted math and
social studies programs, as well as ongoing support for science and the world language, our sound walls training, and coaching programs that also has been instrumental in improving phonetic awareness and phonics instruction for our second grade teachers. Parents, we have trained teachers and paraprofessionals from preschool to third grade on the importance in science of reading. We remain dedicated to fostering strong partnerships with our families and the wider community.
Our parent workshops covering topics from new math and social studies resources to family literacy have been significant engagement with hundreds of families participating. Bilingual advisory council, continues to be a vital platform for engaging our diverse parent community, and I will continue to meet monthly with the parent ambassadors. Our students demonstrate continue to demonstrate remarkable progress. We saw increased NJSLA
scores in both ELA and math, and the rise in science proficiency. Those reports will present will be presented during the October board meeting. They just came into the district. The number of students achieving scores of three or higher, on AP test increased significantly, and more students achieved exit ready scores on our ACCESS test. We are also proud of our partnership with NJCU for the dual lang dual enrollment
program as well as our JC arts program. And we are scheduling a, opening ceremony so that community members and board trustees can see how the facilities look. Additionally, a 172 seniors were awarded the New Jersey Department of Education Seal of Biliteracy, recognizing their proficiency in multiple languages. We celebrated the achievement of the citywide student council whose leadership was evident in successful
initiatives like the district wide cultural fair. We also proudly observed Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Month with students sharing their talents and educating us on their rich heritage. Similarly, we honored Arab American Heritage Month and celebrated that commitment. Looking ahead, we will continue to prioritize success, student success, teacher development, and strong community partnerships.
We are committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where every student can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Thank you, trustees, for your dedicated support of the Jersey City Public Schools. Together, we will ensure a bright future for our students. This evening, there will be two presentations. First presentation, mister Sanchez Sabru will present the results of the state mandated access assessment that all multilingual students must complete in addition to other state mandated assessment each year.
Then mister Rivera, director of human resources, in response to the recent HR presentation, will be outlining ongoing remedial measures that he has implemented in the HR department. Please keep in mind that I have voluntarily organized various departmental audits to identify and correct deficiencies. As you know, over the last several years, the districts had experienced changes in district leadership and turnover in key personnel in various
departments, as well as the difficulties presented during the COVID period. All of which we continue to address and rectify through the audit process. These orders have brought about efficiencies various areas and will continue to do so to do so as we move forward. At this time, I would like mister Sanchez approved to please present the results of the ACCESS assessment.
Thank you. Good evening, doctor Fernandez, board president, Velasquez, vice president, doctor Tisdale, colleagues, and parents. Today, I'm going to give you the District Access Test Results Report. And before I start, I want to apologize because after going through this probably about fifteen, twenty times, I realized the cover says District Access and AP test results. The test results will be addressed, I believe, at next month's meeting. So the ACCESS for ELL's two point zero assessment is a test of English language
proficiency mandated by the Department of Education for all students in grades enrolled in ELL or bilingual classes and receiving ESL services. The test assesses a student's abilities in the four domains of language: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Those scores are combined into a composite score, which is used in monitoring student growth, program placement, and exiting procedures. The district administered the test in the 2025 to all ML learners.
ML is multilingual. The Access for ELLs two point zero test was administered to 4,081 students from grades K-twelve. Of those, three zero two achieved an exit ready score of 4.5 or higher. And 2,420 showed an increase in scale score from the Spring twenty twenty four administration to the Spring twenty twenty five assessment. The Access Test Scale scores precisely track student growth over time and across grades.
Because scale scores take into account differences in item difficulty, they place all students on a single continuum that stretches from kindergarten through grade 12. This allows for comparison of students' performance across grades. The chart on the left shows the breakdown of proficiency levels by testing grade band. Students within grade bands are given the same test. The chart on the right shows the rate of students increasing in scale score by
how many years they have been enrolled in the ELL programs in our district. And the final column is a summative number of all the students. Students show consistent growth, with the highest rate of growth taking place in the first years of language acquisition. Research shows that it takes an individual five years or more to master a language. If you look at the highlights, three zero two students achieved the exit score of 4.5 or higher as mentioned before. Over 80% of students with consecutive testing years increased in scale score and 13 students
achieved the maximum overall proficiency of a score of six. Next slide, please. These charts show the performance of students by subgroup. As you read the scores, you can see the number and percentage by category. The top chart shows the rate of students achieving the exit cut score of 4.5. The middle chart shows the performance level breakdown and the bottom chart shows the rate of scale score change. In all charts, the count of students in the Students with Disabilities bars are also reflected in the
ethnicity subgroup details and totals. Please note: these students will also take the NJSLA and be reported as ML learners. And we do have some highlights. In each subgroup, over sixty percent of students increased in scale score from 2024. This chart represents the student rate of scale score change by school. Now, there's a word here that I want to clarify and that's called a hub school, is one that houses ELL or bilingual programs that services our multilingual students.
There's a total of 21 HUB Schools. The schools are separated by those that are ELL program hubs and those that are not. In addition to these non hub sites, PS14, PS20, PS29, PS34, MS40, PS41, Liberty High School, Academy One and Innovation did not have enough participating students to meet the reporting threshold and therefore are not included in the chart. And basically what that means is we may have ESL students at those sites,
but they are what are called parent refusals. A parent has the right to refuse ESL services. Once they refuse ESL services, they remain tagged as ESL students. However, they're no longer giving services for ESL. And they remain ESL services until they reach a score of 4.5 or better on the access as noted prior. And lastly, how does the Jersey City Public School District support their multilingual learners? First of all, in terms of academic and linguistic scaffolding,
we identify students new to the country or to the district at the multilingual intake center where we assess their proficiency and place them in the appropriate bilingual ESL instructional setting. We provide teachers with training on Shelton Instruction Observation Protocol, known as SIUP, to ensure grade level content is accessible while supporting English language development. We align content specific objectives with English language objectives to promote both academic achievement and language growth.
We scaffold assignments through the use of bilingual dictionaries, sentence stems, frames and word walls and word banks. In terms of emotional and social support, We monitor students' social emotional adjustment to their new instructional and cultural environment. We foster peer support by encouraging participation in school activities and collaborative classroom tasks. We promote bilingualism by creating a safe and affirming environment where students feel comfortable expressing themselves in multiple languages.
We have a collaborative transition plan. We consistently review students' progress over time utilizing state assessments such as the NJSLA, the WIDA ACCESS, and other classroom performance data to create a transition timeline to transition students from bilingual to ESL only, and to continually monitor performance of language development. We use formative assessments, writing samples, classroom tests, LAS links, STAR reading and benchmark to monitor students' progress and students' transition.
Family engagement: We consistently inform families regarding the transitioning process by providing updates on student progress and achievement over time. And we also invite families to attend school meetings such as open houses, our BPAC meetings and district wide initiatives. Lastly, reevaluation. We reassess students who have transitioned to ESL only during the first marking period to ensure a successful transition and we document all interventions and support provided during the transitional
period. Thank you. Are there any questions? Yes. To the Chair? Yes. I'm just, I was stuck back where you said parents refused the ESL services. What are some of the reasons that that would happen? What are some of the reasons? That's very interesting. So, remember that I said that there are schools that are non hubs and there are schools that are hubs. Right? So, this happens predominantly when a student wants to apply for a high school that is not a non hub. So, sometimes the parents will refuse services and this allows them to apply to other high
schools. Right now, the two high schools that offer bilingual ESL services are Dickinson and Ferris. So, that's one reason. Another reason they've stated to me is sometimes one child requires services, the other child doesn't require services. They want both students to attend the same school, so then they deny the ESL services. Therefore, the two children can be together. Those are the two main reasons why. I it's it's just a concern for me because I I said it's just a concern for me because then the children suffer. And, you know, now he see where that that that NJLA is.
I have a question with that regard as well. Any else anyone else has a question? Mr. You have a question? Okay, go ahead. I'll do mine again. I was curious, can you speak to the trends we're seeing in the kind of in this population? Is it a growing population? Is it fairly stable? Just kind of curious. Well, it's Thank you for that question. Yes, it's a very good question. As a matter of fact, it was stable for some time. We had somewhere in the three plus thousand students for some time. We're over 4,000 now. And, in the last two years,
we registered over 1,400 students. And as of right now, I think we've registered over 400 since the beginning of the school year. So, yes, it's definitely growing. Thank you. Okay. My question, mister Sanchez, is, those students that whose parents refused to have them in their program and they are still labeled ELL students, and you do put them in a monolingual setting or whatever setting other, other than a bilingual. Is there any way or do do we in any way follow them to see if they've achieved
proficiency at the same speed or maybe faster or slower or not at all as the others? Well, that remember, they're included in our totals for our access report. Okay. But one thing and it's a good point is to see how they perform separately from those that continue with ESL services. So that's something that we can look at. The problem is they're not tagged that way, so it would be difficult, but that's something that can be considered. However, we do try to provide regular ed teachers with SIOP training.
That's something that we're focusing on for the next years to come, so that at least the teachers are informed, are well informed to support them while they have them and not receiving the ESL services that they really require. Yes. And you say they're not tagged that way, but they're still under the ELL umbrella, right? You said They are. But remember, the the only real performance data that we have is the access. Right. And we also have lost links that we'll be administering in October. So perhaps for at least lost links, we can do something so that we could see the differences in how they're So
they're easy to identify because somehow you have it in record that they are they or they would be yellow. We have them on record. It would just be separating them in such a way where we can do a comparison. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for the report. Oh, you're welcome. Thank you, mister Sanchez. At this time, I'd like to call mister Rivera to present the, what has been done to, remedy some of the findings, of the audit report for HR. Through the chair,
while we get these, is it possible just to get them a little bit sooner? It's kinda thick. A little bit what? A little sooner, the like, the reports. A little earlier. It's pretty extensive, and it would be nice to read through it Okay. Ahead of time. Hello? Okay. Good. Good evening, board trustees and colleagues. Actually, the the overview that I'm going over is actually what was shared last board meeting. So I'm going to reiterate many of the things that are that were outlined already
with just some additional steps and actions that, are taking place have taken place since the audit, findings. Just to to remind everyone, this was in 2023. And before I get started, I will not be singing today. So we'll start with the overview. As I mentioned, this was, something that our audit occurred in 2023. And there are three broad process improvements that I'm going to outline, and you'll hear that repeated over and over throughout the, audit findings report that I'm sharing. The first one is going paperless.
I know that sounds, like something in this day and age that we should have done already. But in terms of the district, much of what we have been doing for many, many years was paper heavy. So as a district, we've been moving in that direction, going paperless. And, you know, one of the things that, you're going to hear also, and I'll mention in in number two, is the implementation of link. Currently, our staff, personnel, employee system is called Systems 3,000. We're going to be moving from Systems three thousand to link. Now one of the things that you need to,
know about the difference between the two is that, Systems 3,000 does not has multiple functions. But one of the core issues with Systems 3,000 is that the department information is not shared across the board. Therefore, anything that gets input on the HR side doesn't really isn't really communicated with the payroll side and as well as the benefits side health benefits side. And then the third element that you're going to hear about is the continuous review of employee data.
So that we're clear, this audit report is focused on our non instructional personnel. And the beginning portions of this audit report, I wanna clarify, are not directly connected to HR even though payroll, HR, and benefit, benefits department are linked to the hips. Right? But it's not directly connected to the HR department. And I believe when you, listened to the report last month, you might have heard the term HR audit, but there are portions of this audit report that are directly connected to the payroll
department as well as the health benefits department, and I'll clarify that. I'm gonna repeat the audit findings. Let's go to one one. Here you go. So in order finding 1.1, this is, directly connected to the payroll department even though there are implications for the HR department and the health benefits department. This audit finding was as a result of their search in within the payroll department. And the audit finding, stands as follows. Active employees in the financial reporting system include terminated employees and individuals who declined an
employment offer. The the notes to the profiles present termination dates or declination of employment offers. However, their status is still active in the financial reporting system. So if you look at the first element, it talks about employee deactivation in the system. Something that we need to focus on, obviously, is deactivating employees. But as I mentioned, the HR department and the payroll department in our criminal system, that communication doesn't happen simultaneously. The way that happens is through what we call the personnel action notice.
Short for, PANS. It's short PANS is the term that we use. The HR department, all actions start upon completion of the board docs, in the board meeting. All, employees on the, in the board docs will require a PAN to be completed. PANs are completed for such actions as new hires, termination, leaves of absence, promotions, and higher degree. Every time we take an action with an employee, we have to complete a PAN. That PAN that we complete on the HR side is how we share communication with
the payroll side so that they can take action on their end. Likewise, the health benefits department also receives that information once we've completed the PAN. With regard to the, LINC's implementation, with the new system and its ability now to communicate in one language across the board, no longer will the Payable Department or the Benefits Department have to wait for a PAN to be completed. We will continue to use PANS, but the moment that we enter information into the system, everyone has access to that information.
So now, everyone is in the know, right from the beginning. Let's go to 2.1. In terms of audit findings 2.1, board resolutions adopting resulting in changes in compensation or stipends are not filed and maintained with respective personnel files nor readily available for review. Resolutions were only available through public board documents and found through detailed searches that are neither practical nor expedient and may miss pertinent information. Again, as I mentioned before, all information regarding employees,
hires, terminations, all of that ends up on the board docs. You'll see that also action forms are also part of the board docs. All information related to compensation and stipends. We keep that in any board docs, but we also create a pan for every single employee whose salary gets changed or their title gets changed. And that information is filed in the employee's files. This particular, element is in reference to filing systems in the payroll department. Compensation documentation.
PANs once again are completed and added to the employee files. And then the payroll files, at this current time all payroll files have been scanned and are electronic. The HR department has already begun the system of, scanning all of the personnel files. At this current time, we have our resignations and retirements all scanned and now we're moving towards our active employees. So this way, the next time we have an audit, everything will be electronically shared rather than having to go to a filing system.
Audit finding 2.2. There were 2,631 instances out of 4,229 where employees' Internal Revenue Service W-four forms was not available for review because either missing from personal files or personal files were inaccessible due to the malfunctioning electronic filing cabinet. Again, this particular issue was an issue that occurred in the payroll department. They were unable to retrieve W fours. Eventually, we were able to retrieve all the w fours out of the cabinets and they
were documented and filed. All retrieved w fours have since been scanned. They are all now electronically held. And again, moving into the new system, the new system will be able to complete all of these forms and they will be housed in our new system as opposed to a separate electronic system. Audit finding 3.1. There were 23 instances out of 4,229 where the calculation of regular salary for compensation did not agree with the terms of their respective employment agreements.
There were two thirty instances out of 4,214 where calculation of longevity for compensation did not agree with the terms of their respective employment agreements. So, since the time of the audit, we have had our, collective bargaining agreements approved, already inputted into the system, and all of the compensation, guides, all of the longevities are now aligned and they have been corrected in the system. Again, with the new system, we will have a pay schedule that will automate this. So the collective bargaining agreements and everything will be automated as opposed to us answering
it in on the HR side and then communicating separately with the, payroll side. This is just a breakdown of the various units and the corrections that were made. One of the things that I'd like you to focus in on is the percentage that were correct. The greater majority were correct, with less than 1% that were incorrect. And again, and I'm not sure if I shared this for the last board meeting, it was the question was asked, has this been corrected? And the auditor did, mention that every single audit, finding was corrected since,
the audit, ended. The next piece. This is the longevity piece associated with what I just shared. And again, out of 4,214 employee files that were, reviewed, 3,984 were correct. So a very small percentage were incorrect. And again, the longevity was corrected as a result of the new bargaining agreements and all the information that's been inputted into the system. This next portion is directly connected to the Human Resource Department And it focuses in on the civil service, the camps website, which we'll talk about in a second.
So, finding 4.1, names instead of Social Security numbers are being utilized to synchronize or cross reference active civil service employees to civil service system, county and municipal personnel systems. So when you hear the word camps, that's what that represents. Utilizing names to trace employees to civil service system is not practical nor expedient as the names are not consistent. There were 179 instances out of the eleven ninety five active, full time salary civil service employers review where names did not agree with the civil
service system. So, just to give you, clarification. Civil Service, when we're comparing to our payroll, reports, Civil Service is not utilizing Social Security numbers. They're using a Civil Service employee ID number. So some of the mistakes that we were able to find were misspelled names. There were situations where a name was misspelled in our system versus civil service or vice versa. Maiden names. By the way, maiden names, not just in civil service, also happens to be an issue with our instructional side when teachers achieve their certifications
and they have their maiden name on the certification and we're looking for a certification with the individual's, marriage name. And then also suffixes. Civil service and systems 3,000 at this time, when you input a suffix, you can input j r dot in our system, but in civil service, it doesn't come out. They don't have the, space available to input j r dot. Meaning that it would also come up as a conflict. So those are some of the issues that came up that were corrected. And again, one of the things that, we were able to do,
with this new system that we're going to be moving into is try to tailor it to our needs. We tried over and over with systems three thousand to request changes to the system that would facilitate some of these, corrections early on, and systems three thousand would consistently say they could not change the system. With this new system, we'll be able to now include as part of the new system, their employee, civil service employee ID number. Therefore, whenever we pull an audit report,
we'll be looking at our civil service employees utilizing this civil service employee ID number rather than a social security number, which is something that they would not utilize with civil service. So that's one of our fixes. With regard to the crosswalk data, again, the overwhelming percentage were correct. We have eleven ninety five individuals that were reviewed and ten twenty three were correct. We broke down the units of who was corrected throughout this process.
And you can see that there, and the percentage and the number, that we corrected throughout the year. Next section, audit finding 4.2 again. This is part of the HR portion. There were 136 errors out of the thirteen thirty one active, full time salaried civil service employers review, where employees were either missing or inactive in the civil service system. Now, 119 camps records were corrected, since that time. And 17 individuals were inactive, and we deactivated them through our communication with civil service.
And the improvement process here includes, after every single board meeting, we have to confirm that individuals have been entered into camps. With our new system, and the ability to be able to put, a civil service employee ID number, we will now be able to run an exception report to see what employees, did not receive or were not entered into camps. They will have to, once they approve them in a board meeting, they'll have to enter that information into our new system link. And if the individual is missing that Civil Service Employee ID number,
we'll be able to run an exception report, locate those individuals and make sure that they get entered into camps. And this is just a breakdown of the data once again. And an overwhelming percentage of the, data, individuals that we review were correct. Out of thirteen thirty one, eleven ninety five were correct. Those individuals that needed to be corrected, you can see on the side there, the number of individuals per unit, bargaining unit, as well as the percentage. Order finding 4.3, again, part of the HR Department. There were 69 errors out of eleven ninety five active,
full time salaried Civil Service Employees Review, where employees titles were incorrect. With regard to this particular area, we have staff members, non instructional staff members, that become instructional staff members. And from time to time, you'll see an individual move from a non instructional role to an instructional role. That non instructional employee has the right to request a personal business lead. That allows them to maintain that position open, pending their decision, their final decision to stay in the new instructional role.
We have had many paras, as well as clerical staff that have moved into the area of instruction, the teaching field. And that's a great thing because we have vacancies that we've been trying to fill. And so, those are areas that we utilize to try to fill some of those vacancies. 14 staff members moved from non instructional to the instructional world and as a result, they remained in camps, and were not turned off. Ultimately they were, but in the beginning they were not removed because they were on a personal business leave and they would come up on an exception report.
26 were under review, meaning after the board meeting, we go back and we input information into camps. That doesn't mean that within a day it gets approved. On the civil service side, it may take time before they approve it. If there's a person that has an audit, that takes a little longer. So every time it gets, information gets entered into camps, that doesn't necessarily mean that on the civil service side, they're approving these, these actions immediately. So, during that time, there were 26 employees who were still in that gray zone waiting to be approved.
Also, on the civil service side and camp side, there was no designation for pre k aids. We just requested the designation for pre k aids and got approved to add that as one of the titles. Instead of the pre k aid title, we had our pre k aids listed under the special education aids. You ask why on our end, our Pre K Aids and our Special Ed Aids receive the same salary. It's different than a general, aid. So the reason why we utilize the Special Ed Aid category is because on our
end, on the district's side, the Pre K and Special Ed aids receive the same salary. Moving forward, they will be designated as Pre K aids once that title is made available to us. Again, process improvement. We will continue to review all data that gets, inputted into camps after every board meeting. Within two weeks, my goal is to enter everything that's on the board doc into camps. And again, with our new system, we will have an opportunity to enter the employee the civil service employee ID number
on the links to the new system. In terms of the, charts for 4.3, again, overwhelming percentage were correct. Out of thirteen sixty three, twelve ninety one were correct. And the units that were corrected are outlined. Section 4.4. There were approximately two zero eight instances where individuals are active in civil service system with full time salaried titles, but could not be verified as full time salaried civil service employees. And 20 instances where the individuals are duplicated in the civil service system.
In terms of the duplicates, the duplicates that we found were either mistakes in their names. A letter may have been missed, in one name versus the next. Also, they were missing in terms of ID numbers. Maybe an ID number was changed slightly, so it would have ended up as a duplicate. In terms of the, there were 26 individuals that were on leave. Now, when an individual is on leave, they could be in a category of not being paid. If we run an audit report and we're looking at payroll reports,
they're looking to compare individuals, the pay report. If that report doesn't demonstrate that the individual is on it, it would come up as a discrepancy because they would pop up on the civil service side because they are on leave on civil service side, but they're not coming up on the payroll report because they're not getting paid. The other 182 were either retired or resignations that were from the old system, the AS 400. And those individuals were never rolled over into the new system, systems 3,000.
Well, the system that we're moving away from. All of those individuals have been deactivated in camps and everything has been corrected. In terms of 4.4, again, out of fourteen thirty four, twelve twelve fourteen were correct. And all of the individuals that were corrected are listed. The last section, Order Finding 5.1, is related to the Employee Benefits Department. There were seven instances out of 25 and expanded to 70 where individual calculations for employee benefit contribution withholdings did not agree with the terms of their respective contracts.
Each instance could not be explained because software programming used was not readily available for review or may have been due to retroactive The differences were not substantial and systemic cause could not be identified or isolated to specific populations. They've all been corrected at this time and as a result of the inputting of information, and also the connection now that we're going to have with links with all of our departments being able to simultaneously see information.
This issue shouldn't be an issue moving forward. Everyone will have access to, active and, live data. And that concludes my portion. Wow. Any questions? Thank you, Mr. Rivera. I believe we have a question, Mr. Morris. Yes. Thank you, Madam President. I appreciate it. First of all, Director, let me just commend you on this report. I really appreciate the clarification. But I I have a couple of questions. My first question is, what year did you, take over the HEM of, HR? I took over one month before COVID.
What year was that? Just a year before. February 2020. 2020. Exact date, February 7. Okay. And this and this audit reflects, from 2023? This audit was in 2023. Yes. Yeah. So it's safe to say that most of the errors here happened under your tutelage? No. Mhmm. Who's No. Some of these errors, if you go to section four four, we have carryover errors from AS 400, which is two systems ago. But it fell under HR. Correct? Yes. Okay. Who does payroll work for?
Who does payroll work for? Yeah. Who is their direct, contact? Well Is it you? Was it Luz? Is it who who who had it? The payroll department falls under the business office. So it falls under the, under Doctor. Luce? Ultimately, yes. Okay. So if payroll falls under Doctor. Luce, why did the auditor attest it to your department instead of to the, audit that her office received? So I didn't have an opportunity to ask questions at the last meeting, but I did speak to the auditor and and we clarified that the beginning portions
were payroll related, matters. And, you know, at at that point, it was too late for him to come back and say, I just wanna clarify that these particular areas were associated with either payroll or health benefits. Mister Morris I'm sorry. I think that Doctor, Doctor. Luce, if you could enhance that Yes. Answer. Yes. So the reason why payroll is under here, it's not for payroll purposes in the sense, do you get paid? It's a matter of the personnel information being correct in payroll. So even though that falls under the business department,
under myself, if that's a direct report to me, it is the personnel action. And in many, I would imagine, many districts that are much smaller, the payroll and benefits are directly under HR because it's manageable. In a district of this size, it is not. Yeah. I get that, madam VA. But I was just because director, Rivera made, such emphasis on letting us know that payroll does not that this was payroll or this era was payroll, I wanted to know what administrator they fell under. Because if he's saying that this is payroll,
this is payroll, and this is not my department, then I needed to know whose department do they fall under because a lot of these errors are from payroll. So correct. And so, again, if I may add, that is one of the reasons that we are moving to the link system because under systems 3,000 and the prior system a s 400, the HR information for each employee never connected to payroll. And it's still I mean, until we fully we're in full implementation of link, it's still happening. Question. When did you first realize that this wasn't matching?
Was it prior to the audits, or was it after the audit brought it to your attention? From 2020. Yes. This has never if I may, through the chair. Yeah. This has never they the two systems have never been, connected. That's why the district created that PAN system Uh-huh. To send an additional, message. I guess what I'm asking, madam superintendent, is prior to being brought to our attention that payroll actually falls under HR, and certain, certain instances fall under,
the VA's office. Prior to us figuring out that we needed another entity to bring these two together, did we know that they did not connect prior to then? The technology was not available to connect the two. But now that's why we purchased a new link system that in January, when we go live with the payroll using links, it will be automatic from one to the other. Okay. So, Madam B. A, thank you for the clear is it safe to say now that we've clarified that the errors that were obviously
rectified by you was done because of your office now? Because the VA's office just simply said that there's a form of the payroll that falls under you that was incomplete, that caused us these findings. Now that you've recognized that it that they fall under you, you have since rectified it. Is that correct? So to clarify, the payroll department corrected the situations that were directly affected in the payroll department. HR department corrected the things that were directly connected to the HR department.
And the health benefits department corrected the items that were directly related to health benefits department. As I said So the answer to my question is yes. Yes. It's been correct. Alright. I didn't need you to repeat what I said. I understood It's been correct. Okay. And in fact, you I believe you had asked the question last last board meeting and and confirmed that it it had been corrected. Yeah. I just wanted to make sure that, you know, we understand that the that these situations happened, you know, obviously, was under your tutelage, with someone else's. But I just wanted us to also understand that immediately after you received the findings
that you jump right on it to come up with a conclusion and also a resolution to each finding. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. Any other questions? Yes. Thank you. Chair? Since this audit ended in 2023, what have we done in during this time between the auditor coming last month to catch all of the errors that were after they did their audit? And then another thing is I noticed that there's there seems to be one 2262 seems to have the most correction counts on each of them.
What are we doing to mitigate that? Because I know that we focus on I'm sorry. Can we go with your first question and then after that's answered? Okay? Just so that we're not all confused. Thank you. Ask it again, please. Since the audit ended in 2023 and we just found out last month from the auditor that these were issues, what have we done in the two year span now that we know that these have been errors to catch that, post June 2023 audit up until now.
So as we've mentioned, right, one of the issues is that the system doesn't communicate with payroll. So we've taken a much more active approach of verifying the information that's going on to board docs and being approved, and ensuring that those things are corrected and entered into camps. Remember that all of the information that we were given has been corrected. So we're at the starting point of, in our eyes, everything has been corrected. Now moving forward, we're just making sure that anything that gets entered in more recent times is corrected.
You know, with regard to some of the issues that were holdovers from previous systems, they've been corrected. Now, we're entering into a new system. And part of that conversation that we're having with the new system is trying to ensure that we have a smooth transition from our current system to the new system. So that we don't have the same issues that we had in the last, transfer of systems. I suspect that once we have the new system, and all of our departments are in the know at the same exact time,
then it's gonna substantially reduce the errors. In addition, I don't think I mentioned this, employees that come in will now have an employee on our side. Right? Now, as an employee, a new employee, you'll have an opportunity to enter your name and your information correctly. Now, we will have another additional layer of checks and balance on our end. But this is just an additional layer. And the other side to this, and I don't think I mentioned this, in our current system, there are two, there are two sections of it.
You're either active or inactive. There's no middle area. Right? In the new system, we'll be able to have an active, an inactive, and then a holding area for those individuals that are potential employees. I only say that because of one of the findings, it indicated that there were individuals that were not removed that ultimately decided not to take a job. Right? The problem that the reason why that occurs is because right now, we have this dichotomy of either you're active or inactive. In order for us to process a new employee and to start the process,
we have to enter them into our system. And we only have two options. So we can't have them inactive and active at the same time. In our new system, we'll be able to have this holding area for potential employees, which will reduce the chance of putting somebody into the system in the active column, and then here we find out, you know, a month later, wait a minute, this person's not even working for us. So, now, with regard to your Your second question? Your second question, yes. So, I just Could she let her ask it again?
Sure. I know, but we didn't. I just noticed that there's one 2262 seems to have the most errors. Is there a way that we can focus I know we you said focus on what we did right, and there are a lot. I'm not taking that away. The majority, it was a but still, they in each of the, tables you showed us, they had the most errors. Is there a way that we can focus on reducing that as we switch over? I know we're switching. I know we're getting there. I know we'll be there in January. But in the meantime, is there a way for us to Absolutely.
So, look, I wanna clarify, because I think when you look at our unions and you look at the, the number of employees in certain groups, right? ESA, the Paras, Encasa, two two six two. Right? Each one of them have x number of employees. Of the the multiple unions that we have, two two six two is the larger of the group of employees that we're referencing here. ESA has x amount. They don't have the number of employees that two two six two have. There are wider, broader range of titles in two two six two.
It includes food service, transportation department, the custodial, the laborers. There's so many aspects of two two six two that by sheer numbers, you're going to have additional people in those categories that we run into those. Yes. Okay. If I may, through the chair. And the only groups that will be will have errors in, civil service are the non instructional. So none of these errors that you see on the 4.1 4.2
where it's a larger number, that only happens with non instructional personnel. The certificated employees, which are, according to the the few thousand Mhmm. Don't have civil service. So that's why they are the highest even though it's only a 4% of the total number. And I think doctor Luz has more to that or something else. Thank you. Through the chair, if I just may add, also, just to reiterate, this is from 2023. And because we have settled contracts since then,
all of this has been remedied Because we needed to update everyone's salaries to current whatever whatever the collective bargaining units were agreed upon. So all of that has been fixed. If I may, if, some of the trust trustees who've been here for a while if you remember in 2022, there was a contract with 2262 that had a whole pay scale that was incorrect that had to be we I had to go back Mhmm.
And bring in the union, and we had to correct that. So at the time, there were so many issues with that contract that I'm surprised it was this low, to be honest, because it there were a lot of issues with that. Something that we changed since I came in as we negotiated every contract has been to have legal representation at all these meetings and people who handle these pay scales because I'm not an
attorney. The language, the numbers, these are there are people who specialize in this. And so with every negotiation, and we have six bargaining units, we've had individuals on those teams that are experts in negotiations to help us because it's a very specific skill. We're in the business of teaching. And sometimes that's we don't spend that much time with that. But, really, it's the idea of correction. So as you see civil service, it only applies for non instructional personnel,
transportation, clerical, food service, maintenance, custodial, security. That's the only group it applies to, And they're all part of twenty two sixty two. Thank you. Thank you, mister Rivera. Any other question? Thank you, mister Rivera. Thank you. Okay. That was thorough. We've reached the port the portion of public comments. And, before we do public comments I'm sorry. I think we've done we did that. That's what that was done. Lots of Fernandez. This was done. Staff Hold on.
That's your presentation, the marks, and the students, and my presentation. No? Okay. Thank you very much. Mister Rivera, let me just start, please. Good evening, everyone. I'm gonna read the public comment statement. All speakers must adhere to the three minute speaking rule. The clock shall not be stopped. Speakers will be called to the microphone to speak in order that their request is received. All statements or comments shall be directed to the chair. It is the expectation of the board that comments will remain positive and focused around the best interest of students and the District as a whole.
The Board will not condone comments that can be perceived as harassing, insulting, threatening, or lacking in respect or civility. The chair reserves the right to, a, interrupt, warn, and or terminate a participant's statement when that comment is too lengthy, b, interrupt and or warn a participant when the statement or comment is abusive, obscene, or maybe defamatory, c, request any person leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum or presents themselves as a danger to others in the building. D, request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a disorderly person when
that person prevents, disrupts a meeting with an act that obstructs or interferes with the meeting, including threats by words, actions, or objects. E, call a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of public decorum interferes with the orderly conduct of a meeting. And f, waive these rules when necessary for the protection of privacy or to maintain an orderly operation of the board meeting. Thank you. Thank you. And, Kansy, please continue with our, the speakers, please. Okay.
Our first speaker on the list this evening is Joan Terrell Page. Let's see here. Let's see here. Dana Cheatham. Good evening. Good evening. Trustees, Doctor Fernandez. Hey. Hello? Doctor Fernandez. Doctor Fernandez. Alright. My name is Dana. I'm here tonight to address the current issue that I've endured. I was hired as a per diem in 2013. I worked at several different schools, but remained in three different three of them for at least a year at a time. My salary never increased.
In 2018, I was hired full time at PS twenty four where I'm currently working. A day shift available became available recently. And it was posted according to Gary Easley, it shouldn't have been it should have been offered to me because I had seniority on a night shift. Meaning, I witnessed Mr. Eastling speaking to Mr. Rivera about the situation, yet I still had to interview. I'm interested in the position. Furthermore, Article 18 of my union contract states that the person with the most seniority is
given the first preference. Several other employees within the District interviewed as well. If the contract was followed, interviews wouldn't have been necessary. I'm respectfully asking that my union contract is followed. Thank you all for your time. Have a nice evening. Thank you, Ms. Chi. Emily Pico. Hi. My name is Emily Peko. I'm the mother of a 14 year old child with disabilities. For at least seven years, going back to at least 2018, parents have advocated for a special education audit due to clear mismanagement by doctor Gerard
Crocinino and his staff. We were repeatedly told the problem wasn't leadership. It was parents' expectations and even students' needs. Now we have validation that we were right all along. The recent sudden removal of Doctor. Carcinino and Andrea Blake Garrett presents a unique opportunity to create meaningful change in a department that has stagnated for years and brought a hostile environment for students, families, child study teams, and teachers alike. We deserve transparency and accountability. What could have been so serious that they were escorted out of central office?
The lack of transparency is the primary reason that there's such a chasm between parents and this district. When you leave people in the dark, it's natural to assume there's something that you don't want to be seen. Show us the audit. We are stakeholders, and the public deserves to know where our tax dollars have been going and why so many children who need need additional supports have been failed by this department. Students across this district, no matter their needs or financial resources, deserve forward thinking, comprehensive education based on current best practices for children with disabilities and neurodivergence. They deserve a new special education director who is enthusiastic,
holistic in their approach, and willing to reimagine what this this department could be with the resources at hand. This cannot happen with an internal hire who will inevitably carry on the same toxic environment that created this dysfunction. I watched my own daughter's progress stall under his leadership. I was repeatedly dismissed, denied, requested evaluations and services, misled, intimidated, and even personally insulted while simply trying to get my child what she needed. Only after years of advocacy, both personally and with professional help, was my daughter finally placed in an appropriate out of district program.
I've listened to dozens of other parents share stories both publicly and privately with similar problems and the same frustration and heartbreak for their children. All children in this district deserve a good special education program. The possibilities are there, but it takes leaders who both believe in possibilities and are willing to do the strategic work to bring improvements to fruition. Our most vulnerable students deserve nothing less. Our demands are clear and justified. Release the audit and explain why Cristanino was removed. Treat parents as collaborators, not adversaries. Ensure the district spends tax dollars wisely to meet or exceed the legally required services
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Conduct a comprehensive national search for a new special ed director, externally hired. I am extending my trust to the board to handle this with the care our children deserve and the transparency our community demands. Thank you for your time and consideration. Also, please bring back virtual comment. I'm a single mother and this is really hard to get here tonight and it's not right. Thank you. Tara Chipoli. Thank you for having me. My name is Tara Chipoli. I'm eighteen years a special education teacher in New York City. I have worked in classrooms,
homes, and specialized settings, such as shelters, pediatric hospice, and hospital settings. I speak both as a professional and mother of two children in the Jersey City public schools, one of which is a child with a disability. I'm here to shed light on an issue that often gets overlooked. Having worked in both New York and New Jersey, the current state of special education in New Jersey is below par. The stark difference is this. In New York, when a child has a diagnosis or classification, as a teacher, I'm able to directly access the free tools and resources for parents to provide appropriate and fair education and a path forward.
In New Jersey, when a child has a diagnosis or classification, the point or the resources will depend upon a child's ZIP code and come from the parent's bank account. It's much easier for a parent to accept their child that has a deaf disability when there's a path to move forward, a navigation system, if you will. Nothing was more heartbreaking during my decade long parenting journey when I couldn't get a single teacher or administrator to take me seriously regarding my own child's disability. I considered the public school teachers to be my professional colleagues here in New Jersey.
I took them seriously when they told me your child is fine. I was being too sensitive given the nature of my job. But I knew in my core that something was different. And only weeks before the pandemic and the world shut down, I was told my child could not read, a fact I already knew. I was exhausted. And of the thousands of children I've helped throughout my career, I could not help my own daughter in this district. My child is now an honor student in advanced math, but the journey to get her there was arduous and expensive. Even my recent experience at our five zero four meeting last year,
I was being questioned the whole time with the evidence of the neuropsychological exam was not enough. I was actually asked if these were real doctors and real reports. I thought these were my colleagues. I often wondered what other parents do without my background or knowledge to call them out and tell them that they were wrong. In the world I come from, parents are not adversaries. Parents are informed historians. They are witnesses to the phenomenon of human development. I work in a world where the early childhood classroom is a revolving door of speech therapists,
occupational therapists, and physical therapists. This is not out of the pocket of the parent, and I have fifteen seconds on the clock and a lot more to say. I will put forward two points if I can at low cost or very little cost. Number one, we need a ro more robust and in a uniform way to evaluate children with special needs. A streamlined protocol that is easy for parents and teachers to understand. We need to take the parents and teachers seriously and develop a streamlined protocol to help these parents. Thank you so much for having me.
Please keep my microphone open. Jessica Tow. Good evening. My name is Jessica Taub, and I'm a parent to two children in the district's schools. I'm a social worker with vast experience working with youth, families, and educators in public schools. For eight years, I have been an ally to the district, helping out at my kids' schools, supporting other parents, and bringing vital resources to the district through my professional roles. I stood with the superintendent to fight for full funding and clean water access, and I advocated for restorative and trauma informed practices. And then I found myself in a situation where my child needed an IEP due
to a mental health crisis. I took a year off from community advocacy to advocate for him amidst the trauma, but I cannot stay silent anymore. What I experienced as a person with strong relationships in the district and financial, racial, and professional privilege was unacceptable. What are families with less privilege experiencing? I was met with pushback and attempts to fit my child into cookie cutter strategies. He was unable to access school at all, yet I was told he did not qualify for an IEP evaluation because his grades the prior year were too good. When I got home instruction in place is this on?
Okay. When I got home instruction in place only due to my own advocacy, the teacher was not allowed to modify anything, making it a frustrating experience for everyone. After his grades fell to f's, he was ultimately classified, but not without barriers to getting the assessments done. Then I had to fight again for home instruction due to his functioning. But when it didn't produce results again because nothing different was done despite my repeated requests, it was used against me to take home instruction away with no notice to me or the case manager. And then in the midst of all of this, I received a truancy notice with a fine when everyone knew where my child was.
I pride myself on being collaborative, but I quickly learned in this process I was going to need to be adversarial and hire a lawyer because my child does not fit into a box. And instead of admitting that the district may not have had a program that suited him, I was met again with pushback and doubt. Now my last IEP meeting, I will say, was significantly different. I did feel heard, understood, and affirmed, and I was given a little bit more flexibility and options. But this was not my experience for an entire year. My child has missed an entire year of school. And regardless of this slight small improvement that I should have had all along,
he's still not in school. He's not receiving any education right now because he's not ready to go back into the classroom. So we are at a turning point with doctor Cristanino gone. We respectfully demand, let parents and taxpayers know the results of the special education audit that was authorized at the 06/15/2023 board meeting and tell us why he was walked out of the district, Conduct a national search for a new director and ensure that whoever takes over the department is innovative, creative, up to date with the latest best practices, and deeply committed to collaborative partnerships with parents. Start to explore new programs here,
which include support for students not with needs not sir currently served in the district. The out of district programs are lifesaving for students, and I'm not against them. But those students should be served here. Finally, stop treating parents like the enemy and treat us as the partners we truly are. Very much. Christania? Julian? No? Okay. Bridget DeSosa? Good evening. I'm here, reading on behalf of a parent who couldn't make it, who wanted to share their story anonymously. This parent shared, I am here tonight to speak about Could you please communicate her name or his name? The parent's name? The parent was just to remain anonymous. My name is Bridget D'Souza.
The parent chooses to remain anonymous. And I don't Okay. Go ahead. Start the clock again for her, please. In community, we listen to each other. And these are comments that were shared by parents who have organized to come to this meeting around this very important issue of special education for children who are not being served, and about an issue where a senior member of this district was walked out without any seeming explanation from the district. So, these comments are from a parent who I wish to I mean,
I I don't have a child in the district right now. I will read the comments. Yeah. I just I just find it I'm here tonight to speak about what happens when a student with multiple disabilities faces a life or death crisis, and the district is nowhere to be found. This student is a high schooler with high functioning autism, severe anxiety, and depression. Last year, they developed a life threatening eating disorder. This was not about picky eating. It was a medical emergency. The family spent six months in intensive insurance funded residential treatment, first for the eating disorder, then for the mental health stabilization.
Doctors were clear, without this care, the student could have died. When the eating disorder was stabilized, the medical team said the student needed a therapeutic residential school to survive and continue learning. A safe, accredited program was found. The student completed nine months there, and for the first time, had a chance to heal and stay on track academically. And where was the district during all of this? Completely absent, no IEP meeting, no placement offer, no home instruction, nothing. Now, the district argues about procedural violations of the placement, when, in truth,
they violated procedure first and prolonged it. The students' survival and progress happened in spite of the district, not because of it. By grace, they are out of immediate danger. But now, even after everything, the district is pushing this family into due process, dragging them toward trial at the very same time they are working to reintegrate their child back home in New Jersey. How is this the system? How can the life of a child with a disability depend on the delays or decisions of a few individuals with no real oversight? Where is the accountability for a process so rigid that it punishes families for doing what doctors said had to be done to save a life.
I ask you, as the board, to look beyond legal gains, look at the child, ask yourselves, Is this how Jersey City wants to treat its most vulnerable students? And I'd like to join these parents and community members to ask that you please release the special education audit that was authorized at the 06/15/2023, board meeting to allow Lurch, Vinci and Bliss CPAs and RMAs to conduct the audit. That audit has not been released. Start a nationwide search for a new special education director to replace Doctor. Carcinino. And begin the process to bring in high quality programs and schools to serve more
students in the district. And I just want to say, it is unconscionable, I just that you cut down this public comment time. These parents deserve to speak their full story. Amanda Hassan. Joel Brooks. Hi there. My name is Joel Brooks. I got in a free second there. And I am a parent. I don't have kids in the district. I have a two year old little girl. But I'm here, in solidarity with the parents, who are requesting or demanding that the audit be released. And I also want to echo the call for,
hybrid comment. I did meet a parent in on the West Side who is she has cancer, but she does have two kids in the district, that are on IEPs. And, you know, there's no physically, she just cannot get here. We have a lot of I see really sophisticated and state of the art AV equipment, and making comment hybrid seems like it's something that could be done relatively easily. So, I won't take up the full three minutes, but I'm here because, a neighbor asked me to come, and I just want to echo the calls for the audit,
to be released. Seems like a reasonable, measure of transparency to these parents. I think there's it's about it's a moving target, but around between 1315% of the district, is special education scholars. So that's a vast swath, of families that are covered, and they deserve transparency. It sounds like there's been some serious challenges with the, outgoing, Doctor. Cristinino, and, people you know, people deserve answers. So I'm just here to, again, to echo those two demands, to release the audit and to bring back,
hybrid comments. And, thank you to the board trustees and, superintendent for the opportunity to speak. I haven't been in a public school gym in a long time, and the lights are, keeping me awake. So I have a two year old who's having a bedtime rebellion. But thanks for all that you do, all the progress that's been made in the district, reaching full funding, getting drinking water for our scholars throughout the district. That's huge. So, let's keep the progress going and release the audit. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Lakisha Jenkins. Good evening. Good evening, doctor I mean, President, the last question, Doctor. Fernandez. Tonight, I wanna speak about November 4. To my understanding, there's rumors running around that, you know, the school well, the calendar has it that the school district is open on November 4. The problem that I have with that is that according to our contract, if we work on, in our contract book, that day is set as a holiday. It's a paid holiday. And if we have to work because schools have to be open, it's double time pay. So, there was no adjustments
to our contract far as November 4 with the recent contract. And thank you. I just wanna know, if we walk through the doors on November 4 well, me. Am I being paid double time? Because that's what the contract book says, and I know we received your letter, doctor Fernandez, in regards to everyone adhering to the contractual agreement. So I'm hoping that the district adhere to to it as well because you guys signed off on it. And we had a during our union meeting,
we did have a vote with miss Hamm, and it was voted down for us to give this day back. So they was talking about something with comp days. Nothing about no comp days was accepted it to with us. We voted it down. It was a no. And because that day, we're normally off. So if I come to work on November 4, I expect to be paid double time because that's what our contract book says. Thank you. Thank you. Cheryl Mays. Good evening, all. Good evening. Okay. I just wanna quickly address the vote to repeal zero one three three.
Requesting that you use it was just an experiment to prove it was nothing but words on paper anyway. So you did exactly what we expected. You never used it. Therefore, it's irrelevant to appeal it. But carry on. Now, obviously, we're taxpayers because we're employees. And we have and we, the people, have every right to bring forth our concerns because we go to the polls and put you in your seats. Now when this gets to the point that we're standing here, it's because policies aren't being adhered to and our contract agreement is being breached.
You board members vote on employees' contracts. Now correct me if I'm wrong. A contract is an agreement, a binding agreement between two sides. If you board members vote on an article as it relates to seniority and then turn around and vote on an agenda item that violates that article, then that's hypocrisy. So should we file a grievance against you board members for failing I'm sorry. Against you board members? I messed up. Should we file a grievance against you board members for failure to ensure that the body that you're supposed to govern isn't complying with the contract?
So maybe you can give me an answer on that one soon. But also, I wanna clear something up. There was a false statement that people are only coming here claiming racism because of the people that sit on the board that is at that sit at the table now. Two Latino women and one white woman. That is absolutely not true because I came here under doctor Lowes. I came here under Walker. And I claimed I came here with accusations of racism. And racism is a system of oppression to hold the people back. And believe me,
I know that you three can't, you know, make that happen. Or you two or you three aren't able to succeed in racism and making racism, powerful. Because that's the white man's game. The old white man's game. You all have a blessed night. Peace. Lorenzo Richardson. Good evening, and happy Hispanic Heritage Month. I first want to start by saying that the audits some of those audits that were ordered were by the board. And I was on the board at that time. And the board also turned down a special,
excuse me, a special education audit back in 2019, if you remember when we met at Dickinson High School. So, there's a history of leaving information on the side, covering information up, or avoiding what's needed to have a look at some things. And I don't know if that had anything to do with what took place with people walking out of here, but, there was a problem there. We knew there was a problem there. And now, we're seeing some things. Right? There was a statement made by Mr. Rivera about,
no, actually, the superintendent. Excuse me. The superintendent. She said that now the technology is here with this link thing, with H. R. And payroll coming together. I can tell you for a fact that because I do payroll, ADP, Paychex and Paycom has done that for years. So I don't know why that statement was made, but, and we had a lot of TBAs, if you remember, in this district. TBAs that they would put on the agenda. And corresponding with that report, it may be tied to some of those TBAs.
Right? How many students and their families this is going back to the ELL report. How many students and their families were followed up on after refusal of the prior year? And by the way, that's federally mandated. That you're supposed to keep going back, keep going back, keep going back to those families for that service. Because we brought extra resources in when I was on the board, over half a million dollars worth. So it's very clear that issues going back prior to 2018 are still prevalent now because
you're saying you're gonna implement this in 2026. And for you board members, to enlighten yourselves, you should go back and get a copy of the 2012 HR report, which will be quite illuminating once you read it. I know my time is short, so I'm gonna pick what I need to talk about. Oh, I'm very concerned that only a little over 7% are, ready based on that test. Thank you. Thank you. Belinda Cote? Good evening. I've spoken about forty one before, and here I am again.
June 18, my child was suspended for defiance. It's not even an option. All because in that moment, the acting principle, she was not comfortable with her. Yet, that's abuse of power. Suspended my child multiple times. Mm-mm. A few days ago, a child called my daughter, excuse my language, a fat bitch. Not only was she a faggot, but what was his consequence? A lunch detention. Let it have been the other way around, my child would have been suspended yet again under the same act and principle. How does she have a title? Don't know. They she can pick on whoever she pleases,
not my child. And I will be here every chance I get. So security guard. Contacted Rudy. Had meetings with Rudy. Nothing is done. Told me an investigation will be done in two to three days. Yet again, my child's suspended. Still, he hasn't replied to not a single email. Told me he was in Turner's affair. Did you think you intimidated me? Absolutely not. What they did was open a HIB. I wasn't informed. Candace appeared to the school, spoke to my child, didn't tell me anything. For some reason, this district, or should I say this school particularly,
you want to continue to use the HIB as a tool. All to say is unfounded, to make it seem as you did so much when you did absolutely nothing. Project resilience. This is a grant to my understanding. My child was referred for grief. The loss of her grandparent her great grandmother at that. Everything was checked off besides grief. Okay. She had a new therapy. He made her feel very uncomfortable with his questions, his concerns. Was a red flag to me. I asked what happened. He never received her referral. I wonder why, Candace. I opened all the information,
but I'm a leave it right here. I got one more thing. Miss Velasquez, if I pardon me if I didn't say your name right. Two meetings ago, you said anything, contact miss Norma. Right? I did. You know what was her email response? Because she didn't know it was for me. Miss Gote is relentless, and I will continue to be. Thank you, miss Gotain. That is the last person that I have on my list. Okay. Thank you very much. I wanna just thank all the speakers and, miss Fernandez doctor Fernandez. I'm sorry. Could you please address this issue? Thank you, President Velasquez.
Just for the public and the parents, any parent who needs to contact the district directly, like the gentleman just left, they can email us or contact the parent support hotline if they have a specific question. So don't hesitate. You don't need to come to a meeting, any day of the week. You can email or call that number, and your specific issue will be addressed. The district will release the special education audit once it's complete.
It is not complete at this time. Any personnel and student items cannot be discussed in public. So thank you. Thank you, President Velasquez. Okay. We you had parents, you had an opportunity, to communicate your concerns. I'm sure if they're not addressed now publicly, you can reach out to doctor Fernandez by email, and they will be addressed. You can communicate. We're not gonna have we're not gonna have this conversation.
We you have a right to speak, and upon completion of that time, we answer, if you're still not satisfied, okay, we'll give you Okay. Excuse me. May I have a motion to go to closed session? Oh, I'm sorry. I believe that, I'm sorry. Our, board members now would like to speak on thank you, madam president. I just I just wanna let the public know that, you know, these audits, they take time. And and as long as it takes,
you will wait until we get it to you. Yelling is not gonna help you. None of your business. Okay. So now let me finish what my actual comment was. Okay. He will finish. Would you please walk the parent out? Thank you, parent. We will address your issues via email. Thank you very much. Continue. Thank you, madam president. I just wanted to, find out if we could give the union some clarification on the term seniority. I think that a lot of the employees who have seniority are a little confused. They think that once they interview for,
regardless if the interview was good or bad, seniority, for some reason, gives them the position all the way. I think that we need to clarify seniority because just because you're senior to someone else doesn't mean that you interview better. I think we need to clarify that. Well, she said that it said seniority. Yeah. I know. It's in the contract, and I want them to clarify it in the contract because for some reason, they think that because they are senior to another employee, that automatically, if they interview for a position, they get it automatically because of their seniority, when it doesn't have anything to do with The seniority has to do with,
like, I believe, vacation time and things of that sort. So I believe some type of clarification needs to be made. Yeah. So I I'm not familiar with the contract. I think you're referring to the contract language that was brought up during the the public comment? Yeah. The the miss, Cheatham was speaking about something with the contract. My recollection is she referred to a provision in the contract that she contended said what she said. I don't know that. And I would also recommend that against us discussing the terms of the collective bargaining agreement without counsel who would have negotiated.
I'm not familiar with those. I was just asking for the seniority word. Maybe it means something different in that wording? I don't know. Through the chair. Trustee Morris, obviously, miss Cheatham has an interpretation of that provision within February collective bargaining agreement. I wouldn't wanna comment on it because it's certainly possible that she or the union may file a grievance, and then, you know, there's going to have to be an interpretation of that language. And so I think at this time,
I I it would be inappropriate for us to, you know, discuss that. Okay. No problem. I understand that. Thank you. All right. I'll I'll hold my next question for closed session. To the chair? Go ahead. Okay. So I just wanted to, because I'm the chair of the Special Education Committee, address some of the, statements. And, and also the Student Life and Services for the last parent who spoke. And I, I think that with the team, my committee, that we could put a little bit of, a task force together to, like, make sure that we're that the students are getting the same services and the same
effectiveness across the board, across the district. Especially with student life and services, when we're talking when we're talking about, social emotional issues, where everything is across the board, where you're not going to one school and there's better services here, and then maybe, you know, different principals have their ideas of of of whatever it is. Children have to be handled with a lot of care. These days, there's a lot going on, and, sometimes their special needs are overlooked and considered emotional issues where it's act or or special
needs, where it's, they might need to be in special education, but it's actually an emotional, area that they need to address. So maybe both team I I I know that you're come they're coming together to talk, like, inter inter department. Just coming together, like, the special education And these and the, sorry. I think this is something we can definitely explore during, the special ed committee and see. But perception, people think the grass is always greener somewhere else.
And, fortunately, you missed the event at fifteen, but you were there at forty one. And it's that, you know, purse people make assumptions, and they're not always based on what's actually happened. Our services hubs for students with disability. They are for all children regardless. So, but something thank you for your support, and we definitely can discuss further during the special There was just, I'm sorry. I just lost my mind. I'm a train of thought. I I'll come back to it.
Do it here? Yes. Okay. So good evening, everybody. I have a few questions, and then I have a comment. So with regards to the recommendation that was given by both, counsel Rivera and counsel Pruchnik in terms of not discussing the language in the contract relative to article eight, I believe it was, My question is this. Is there something in the agenda that we are expected to vote on tonight without the clarification of the language? Through the chair. Vice president, I believe the answers to that is no, and I think Mr. Edwin Rivera could confirm that.
So my question is, because we don't have clarification on the language, in the contract, right, article eight, is there someone being presented in the I'll be a little more specific. Is there someone being presented in personnel relative to article eight that we're not discussing this evening that you're asking us to vote on without the clarification of the language in the contract. Trustee, Cisdale, just a quick question. When meeting docket that I the particular issue is not on this door for that. Okay. So there's nobody although there were interviews being done,
there's nobody being recommended for hire for that position. Very good. Thank you for that. With regards to November 4, was the district off initially? They were off. Last year, the committee got together. I've been in conversation with the president of 2262, and that's an ongoing discussion. Okay. So there's no conclusion at as of now in terms of the district being on or off on that day or those employees? Classes will be in session. Classes will be in session.
Yes. Interesting. Okay. And then I just wanna say this. Transparency is something that I've always advocated for, and it's something that we're always talking about in general. I think it's very unfortunate that any parent in any facet would feel that they're not being heard in any regards or being supported, with the schools, especially because we have an issue with parental involvement in general. Is there something that we we do realize that the order isn't done? Is there a statement that we can indicate to the public as to why it's not done
and give a projected timeline as to when it will be done? I do think that was a fair question. There is I can't provide a timeline because it's an outside auditing firm, so I cannot speak with them. Special ed is very complex because there are different components and programs within. Special ed is a big umbrella covering a lot of different sections, some that are within the district. It includes non public schools. So it is a more complex they're not all housed in one department.
Right. There are different types of actual results of the full audit cannot be revealed to the public until the actual audit is done. Can we tell the public which section of the audit we're still waiting for? There's still more. We have we only have a very, high level overview of some of the sections. So it's not like one part is complete and could be presented. There's still more to be done in the audit overview. And and just as a wrap up, is there,
someone who can contact the firm and request a projected timeline so that we can issue a statement to the public to give them a rough estimate of when it may be done so that parents can feel a little better at ease with what's taken place. I know we just doctor Luz, you and I had this conversation yesterday. And we're in the process contacting and what are the timelines, who do they have to what documents they have to review. And so we will definitely find get a timeline from them.
Thank you. Through through the chair and just to clear too, we will release the audit even if we have to keep names out of it or what is gonna be available to the public at some point? No. The audit will be available. Because of the nature, some information may have to be redacted because it includes students' IDs and or employees or whatever. So Thank you. It's Okay. Through the chair? Yes. I have a couple of questions as well. Moving away from the special education audit, a few of the parents said that some of their children are not in school
currently. One person was on home instruction, then she received the truancy. Me, I was a homeschooling parent in this district. Is there something that we can do for the parents that are still in the midst of navigating what to do? Because they seem to have hit a road stop and There's, per, information I cannot share because of student confidentiality with that. Students are being serviced, and services are being offered that need their IEP. However, there sometimes,
and in general, the agreement as to what the child needs may be one perception by the parent and the other by the district. So there's more to, you know, some of the comments. Unfortunately, we can't discuss publicly many of the issues that were brought up tonight. Okay. Fair. And the next question is, is there a standard procedure for when kids have, I I don't know what to call it. The the the poor language used against the young woman in school.
Is there a standard procedure that says the the child said something vulgar? This is their penalty. Code of conduct. Okay. So is that what he said to the child, was that the normal penalty that usually follows that language in It depends on the tier. Okay. So I yes. There is a standard operating practice, and that is the code of conduct. Alright. Okay. And so if he was to say it again, we're moving on to the next tier? Yes. Okay.
Any other question? Yeah. But is I'm sorry, madam president. Madam superintendent, is the parent aware of that? Like, do they know that there are tiers? And that, because, you know, she The parent has, not only received the code of conduct that all our parents receive. And to the parents on the board, you you've received them. Additionally, this parent has offered a number of documents. Okay. So yes. So what's the problem? Through the chair? Yes. Just one last question. In response to what, trustee Rezavela said initially, doctor Fernandez,
what is the district's responsibility for students when they're homeschooled? That's the parents' choice. Correct? That's the parent's choice. And does the district then have any obligation to assist the parent in that regard? If a a parent tells us they're going to homeschool their child, it is up to the parent to provide for the child. Thank you. I'm actually But we provide the curricula. Right? I think there's a confusion between homeschooling and home instruction. Oh, okay.
Homeschool. And in homeschool, we don't provide any resources. It's up to them to figure it all out on their own. Yes. Okay. Maybe we need to because, obviously, she's not aware of that. Whoever the parent was asked that question. The the the loud one. What's her name? Jessica. Maybe she's not aware that when you make the the the decision to homeschool your child, that you're also responsible for all of the resources that would fall under the board of education handling it. Maybe that she's unaware of that. Okay. To the chair? Yes. I just wanted to also, request that if, the commenter Tara Chipoli could email her comments so that we could see what she's,
what the rest of her statement was? Do we have her number where we can reach Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Okay. I have I have a couple of, of concerns here too. I never go out to speak to anyone, a parent, and I don't really encourage it. But I thought it was very important to speak to miss Gotay today because I've been receiving emails from miss Gotay for quite some time now. And, I'm just wondering, doctor Fernandez, is there any way that we can come together with miss Gotai and whoever the
other people are with that concern her or that she is upset about. And we can finally give this issue, finalized this issue? President Velasquez Mhmm. We have invited miss Gauteng for numerous meetings. Unfortunately, she hasn't been willing or able to come to these meetings, but we have reached out. The school as well? The school. Actually, she meets with the school officials on a regular basis. Okay. We've had the meet,
request to meet with the division director, with the director of student life and services. But, Ms. Gauteng has not been forthcoming or attending these meetings. Okay. As I said, I just have a concern that, you know, it's an ongoing complaint and the complaint gets larger. The emails are a lot larger. Not that it bothers me to read them. It just we should we need to get to the bottom of these issues and just get them out of the way so that we can all move on as
a district. And our, you know, parents and and students are also, content with what we would like to do as far as, assisting them in any way. Another question I have, isn't there a parent committee for the special ed department? Isn't there, legally, they're supposed to have some kind of committee or parent meeting every so often. Miss Scalise, can you please turn on the microphone for miss Scalise? Thank you. Yes. We have a CPEG that meets monthly and,
actually, those, These parents that were here today, have they been invited? Are there ish have their issues been If their child is currently attending through the school's Mhmm. They are eligible to partake. Do you have in these meetings, other than yourself, special ed personnel that can address specific issues? I'm sure that you're well versed in all of them because I know of your experience, but I'm just saying other than yourself that you could bring to the meeting or that you do bring to the meeting. And this is communicated courses for the parents.
And this is communicated to the entire population. Yeah. Special ed population. Thank you. To the chair? Yes. Hi. I, so maybe we can put promote the CPAC meeting more, maybe on the on the website Mhmm. Or even, like, you know, other ways. But we'll we we gonna talk more in committee about how we could no. I was just saying that we could, promote the meeting, the CPAC meeting, more on the website on the district website. Is it up there? Is it there? Okay.
Your, social Start going. Start going. Because this is probably a little bit more, like a boosted. And then I'll, maybe we can I'll announce it with my reports monthly when we have a meeting. Thank you. Any other I think we're Just one last thing. The in regards to the, the parent with the issue, and I know you went over and spoke to her, whatever, but I think the district has pretty much has pretty much, went through everything that they're supposed to do as far as policy and procedure for this issue. It's not the first time we received an email from her.
But I'm just trying to figure out if you don't show up to any of the meetings that are scheduled by the district, how do you expect resolve? I I was I'm sorry. Mister Morris, I was not aware of that. And, because we're receiving so many emails and they continue to grow, And and she continues to say that she's, you know, not going to stop. I just wanted to know exactly what why is she not, why why doesn't she agree in anything with us? I just wanted to know why are we not meeting her needs. So Well,
when you don't meet in favor of the parent, they are gonna be dissatisfied with the same. Exactly. So maybe this didn't meet, you know, her in her favor. And for her to say that she's just gonna continue to keep doing it, we've exhausted what we're gonna do. She deals with the outcome of it and move on, or she can keep coming to the meeting? I wanna make sure that we have exhausted everything we're going to do. But she can't do the email. Thank you. Okay. I think I'll entertain now a motion for I'm sorry. The the you have nothing today, students? Okay. Thank you for coming, again.
And now I'll entertain a motion. Motion. Second. If maybe you allow me to complete my sentence, I would like to entertain a motion to go to closed session. Motion. Second. Motion by doctor Tisdale, second by mister Morris. Yes. All in favor? Go ahead. No. Pursuant to the open public meetings at NJSA ten:four-twelve, the Jersey City Board of Education will now be going into closed session for the purpose of discussing matters where confidentiality is essential.
In particular, one of the following to protect the confidentiality or individual privacy rights or a matter of involving the lease or acquisition of property or pending or pending or anticipated litigation. The matters discussed in this closed session can be made public at the time that the need for confidentiality no longer exists. We it is now 907. We are going to call ninety minutes. We're not going to use ninety minutes. Okay. For ninety minutes. All in favor? Aye. Miss McKenzie, would you please take a look? We have returned Go ahead.
We have returned from closed session, executive session, and we will have roll call. Trustee Blunt? Here. Trustee Iofe? Trustee Morris. Present account. Trustee Mohammed. Trustee Patel. Trustee Viszabella? Trustee Schneider? Present. Vice President Tisdale? Here. President Velasquez? Here. Trustee Ioffe? Here. We have a quorum. Thank you much. Okay. Now we will continue with our, voting items. 7.1.
Motion. Of minutes. You want a motion, right? Yes. Most motion. Second. Motion by Chisnall, second by Morris. Okay. Discussion? Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Ioffe? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Vice President Tisdale? Yes. President Velasquez. Yes. Motion passed. Education curriculum instruction, eight point o one to Eight fifteen. 8.15. Motion. Motion? Yes. Second? Motion by you have that, miss Ioffe,
second by doctor Blunt. Any questions? Discussion? Vote, please. Trustee Snyder? Yes and all. Trustee Blunt? Yes and all. Trustee Ioffe? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Vice president Tisdale? Yes. President Velasquez? Yes. Motion passed. Special education, 9.01 to 9.06. Motion. Second by mister Morris. Okay. Any discussion, questions? Call. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Patel?
Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes on 9.01. Epstein, a 902. Yes on 903 through 906. Trustee Blank? Yes. Trustee Ioffe? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? These are the nines. Correct? Yes. Yes. Vice President Tisdale? Yes. President Velasquez? Yes. Trustee Rosabella? Yes. And President Velasquez? Yes and no. Alright. Motion passed. Thank you. 10, finance. Motion. Second. Second. Second. Okay. Discussion? There's none, so call the vote,
please. Trustee Schneider? Yes and all. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Ioffe? Yes. Trustee I need to abstain on ten o three and four. Yes to the rest. President Velasquez? Motion passed. Facilities? Eleven point o one to eleven point zero two. Motion. Discussion. Through the chair? Yes. I was late to the meeting. I apologize. I just wanna, make a comment on on these particular items. A note of thanks to doctor Francis Dooley, who initiated the NFL grassroots grant with the district administration
and set in motion these donations, which is wonderful. And it's going to make the renovation of Caveman Point possible. May. We haven't received anything from the NFL yet. So let's keep our fingers crossed. Well, just to to for context in that case, in order for such a grant would even be possible, three parties would need to commit to to their own, contributions towards this renovation. And those parties would be the district, the city of Jersey City, and the Hudson County. In which case,
the parties the local parties have committed. Now it's up to to the grand people. So fingers crossed, but everyone has done their part. Thank you. Thank you. It's NFL season maybe. I just have a question. The, for the cable point, I think eleven point one, who's controlling that donation? They're giving it to the Board of Education, so we control the allocation of the funds, or does the city control the allocation of the funds? No. They come to the district, and it's our property. So we will do the deposit and disperse the payments.
Okay. Correct? Just in case. Any other discussion? Thank you. Please call the vote. Trustee Isabella? Yes. Trustee Ioffe? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Yes. Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Vice President Tisdale? Yes. President Velasquez? Yes. Motion passed. Point zero one to 12.14. Motion. Motion. Second. Second. Discussion? Very well. Call the vote, please. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Iofe? Yes.
Trustee Rosabella? Yes. Trustee Blank? Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Morris? Trustee Schneider? Yes. Vice President Tisdale. Yes. President Velasquez. Yes. Motion passed. Thank you. Excuse me. 13, legal, 13.01. Motion. Motion? Second. Discussion? None. Trustee Ioffe? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Trustee Rezavela? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Vice President Tisdale?
Yes. President Velasquez? Yes. Motion passed. Four Policy, 14.01, 14.02. Motion. Thank you. Second. Second. Discussion? Through the chair, just to verify for everyone's, awareness, once this second reading goes through, this policy goes into effect. Yes? What was that? '14 point zero two. And then, doctor Fernandez, then I guess the next question would be, we will be sending out follow-up information to the people, like some sort of correspondence, letting them know that this has changed and this is now the new expectation.
Yes. I will, send directors to the, district administrators as well as with the parents. We've started with less is best. So less, mobile devices is best for our students. So that will continue. So the chair, I just thought we discussed a potential rollout date of October 1? Yes. Okay. Oh, okay. Not immediately. Not right. Right. Oh, okay. But it as soon as the policy goes into effect Right. Got it. Okay. Great. It would I in my opinion,
it would be best to send it ahead Yes. Of implementation day so there's time to to really plan for it. Thank you. Are there facilities ready for this? Do they have the The policy is flexible enough. We have many schools that are already implementing it, but it's flexible enough that it it has to be away. Devices have to be away. Is Lincoln one of those schools that have already, put into motion, like, what their outline is on how they're gonna Not that I'm aware of. So they have not submitted?
We have not requested any, documentation yet. Madam president, could I make a recommendation that we advise the superintendent to request the principal to give us an update on, when he will have his proper, equipment to house the cell phones in compliance with the policy, please? That particular principal or all principals? I would like all principles, but particularly. All principles, I think I I think we can, agree. Do we have an all all principles is fine Thank you. Just as long as Lincoln is included.
Okay. And how would you like to receive that? No. No. Via email is via email is good. Okay. So If that's okay with you and madam superintendent. Alright. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Through the chair Now can we yes. Just very quickly. I just do wanna point out that I think this is one, policy that you've seen the board work together on. Thank you to Trustee Morris, who really took leadership last year in getting this started. And I think, this is really gonna benefit all of our students. So thank you all. Yes. Definitely. Definitely. Yes. Trustee Esabella. Mister chair, my question was about the sun protection.
Did we have an incident with someone applying too much sunscreen? Or What was that? I'm sorry. What was this incident? The the sun protection. Oh, sorry. Sunscreen policy, it's, actually mandated. It's a mandated policy. So Yes. Yes. This is, compliance. Okay. Are you clear on that now? Is that all year round for this for the summer? Call the vote. It's year round. Year round? Yes. Thank you, madam. Super excited. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Rosabella? Yes. Trustee Ioffe?
Yes. Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Morris? Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Vice President Hisdale? Right. President Velasquez? Yes. Motion passed. Thank you. I think this is where, you can come in. Other business we have before we before we move on that, I think, trustee Scheider, I'm sorry, wants to add an item here. So if we can talk about that first? Yes. I would like to make a motion that we restore the caucus on either Monday
or Tuesday evening for roughly ninety minutes. If we need it or not, I think we can have a lot more discussions that we seem to need to have, like even tonight, some opportunities to discuss more as a full board or at least a majority of the board that we can talk about some of these topics. So you need a second before you have discussion. I need a second before we have discussion. Second. Discussion. Madam President discussion. Yeah. Madam President, I thought that, we agreed last month that we would, in our closed session,
do two hours Mhmm. So that any trustee that had any questions or concerns or or better ways of doing things, we could discuss it there. Today, you guys got through your, workshop with record time, and last month also, was record time. So I'm trying to figure out the relevance of of switching it back. Through the chair, I just wanna clarify something. I believe this discussion last month was we would enlarge the closed session part of the meeting to allow for more discussion around personnel and other closed session items only
that would not, that would traditionally bog down a workshop meeting. So Well, that was the issue that yeah. That's what I'm saying. I just want to point out to the public. So it's not that we were gonna move open items into closed. I just wanna make sure that was clear. Well, that was the the the the conflict was we didn't have enough time to talk about these particular issues Correct. Which is why we extended it for two hours. But I'm just trying to figure out what the relevancy is, of going back to another day. Yes. I trust I think there's plenty of opportunities for other topics to come up that we could discuss a little bit. It may make this meeting a little more efficient.
I think it's some discussion we can have with the district on whether some of these presentations are here in the board meeting or should they be in the caucus. I think there's just some opportunities that we could be, have deeper conversations about some of these topics. Okay. Any other discussion? Any other question? Can we take no. We're voting on making it an item, voting item. So you have a motion and a second. You had discussion on restoring or going back to the the practice of having a workshop meeting on either Monday or Tuesday is what you said?
It goes on a Monday. So let's be definitive. What date are you proposing? Monday? Tuesday? When do we have, when's the the closest day that we can have our books? We could have the well, we used to have them for Monday. So So if we get them Monday If we were to have it on Monday, that means you have to realize we work all Friday night and Saturday to get you the books. Which was the business office. So you'd recommend Tuesday? Or I I don't you know, it's not my recommendation. But regardless, it's just know that it's another added Yeah.
We know that. We're just wondering when is the best for the books. If we had it if you did have it on Tuesday, we would still have to it would still be the weekend because you'd have to have it forty eight hours before. So if you had it on Tuesday, we'd have to get it to you on Sunday. Saturday. Which was one of the reasons why this came up in the original first place. Now okay. So can can we Vote? Yeah. Can we vote? Tuesday is probably a better day because it's we still give you an extra day, past the weekend to to submit it.
Who is that? We would have to By Sunday. We'd have to print Sunday. We would have to work Sunday. That's double time. Which is double time. And if you work Friday? Overtime. Well, Friday and Saturday would be for Monday. It's okay. So is that also double time? It's time and a half for Saturday. Time and a half. Oh, because it's Saturday. Right. How many, staff members do we have for that that do this particular, assignment? Well, it's definitely the entire office staff. It's senior staff because No
matter when No matter when we do it, it's the same routine. Mhmm. It's just a matter of now you're having everyone work the weekends as well. When we receive it on what is it then? You we receive it on Monday. Tuesday. Yeah. We receive we're receiving it on Tuesday now? You receive it on Tuesday for Thursday's meeting. Exactly. Okay. Right. So we go to print either Monday or very early Tuesday, depending on when we have all the submissions. Like, this was a smaller book, so there was a lot less to go through,
but that's during the workday. Point of order. Just a question. I guess my question is, based on the laws, like the agenda is just to review it. It's going to be a nonaction meeting. Do we need to have all the details listed? Or can we get the book on Tuesday and still discuss it that night? That that's because we're not taking action. On Tuesday. Well, we'll still That's what I'm saying. But if we did it Tuesday night, we get the books. Nothing changes. It's just that we actually have the books and time to discuss. Since we're not taking action, is that acceptable? I don't know what the how the reading of the laws are.
Yeah. We want that again. I would like to have a full book if I'm gonna do a whole another day. I I don't know if that's a question for me. Should it, chair? Yes. Please answer this question. So your question is, if you if you have an agenda that is incomplete, can you still have a workshop meeting? Yes. I guess you technically can, but where the holes are, you're going to just skip that item? But we received the books on Tuesday anyway, and it's never Tuesday night. But what's the purpose of having another meeting? So it's never Tuesday night. I just don't I'm I'm concerned that you're gonna get an incomplete book and then
have to have another workshop. But we get the books that we receive on Tuesday are not incomplete. I don't understand. Yeah. But, Matt, trustee Snyder's question was if we do get an incomplete book, can we still have the Well, no. I think there was some comment that they needed to complete the book or the agenda two days before posting the meeting. I'm saying if we just the the agenda of the meeting is reviewing, you know, the the agenda for the meeting, is that sufficient to post? I'd recommend that the full agenda that you're voting on be posted online.
To a chair, exactly. So the public has the the full the benefit of what you're you're talking about and what you're gonna vote on two days later. Right. So your question is if it's not complete, can you still post what you have or not posted? Well, it doesn't need to be done forty eight hours in advance. No. Can it be done the day off? Receive it on Tuesday. So if we receive it Tuesday morning and it's posted and then the caucus meeting, we go in and discuss it, is that sufficient notice? Well, oh, you're legally advertising forty eight hours beforehand. Yes. You should do that for the caucus meeting. Even if you're not voting, it's just you I for a publicly advertised meeting,
the agenda should be out forty eight hours prior. Okay. So the chair? Yes. Hi. I just as we sat through the caucus, like, recently this past year, there's been no great discussions about anything at length. The reports are pretty thorough and explanatory. I don't know, is was it because of the situate the the comments that we had tonight that you need to extend? Like, that you feel like we should extend it or, like, make a make the, caucus on a on a separate day to extend it? Because we stopped at five,
06:00 tonight and had a whole half hour extra. Nobody said asked anything. Well, tonight. But and and I think that it's just too much going you know, just too many changes with the meetings where we just you know, I set my schedule to, you know, my family. And then now, you know, this this works really well for me with the one day where we do the caucus. And not only that, we we're supposed to be able to review that book before we even sit down and discuss anything with each other for two days before you get to the caucus. No?
With the meeting. And some people some some districts only have one meeting. That the it's not a caucus. There's no caucus. I don't think that that I don't think making another day would be necessary. So can we take a vote? Because we've already second, a motion and second. Can we take a vote? And the vote is to make go ahead. The way I understand is the vote is to move the meeting to Tuesdays, two days before the current meeting and and and go back to I don't know if it's in person or virtual, but that wasn't confirmed.
Discussion. Initially, I thought it might have been a good idea, but but what, I hope he said no. I'm sorry. Mohammed said last two meetings had we were finished in a half an hour. It's twenty minutes. Tonight, we will we we said we'll start in a minute in a half an hour. We're sitting around waiting. Yeah. For that very recent, doctor Blunt, we should take a vote. And if you wanna vote it down, you vote it down. If you wanna vote it whichever way we vote, the rest will respect it. Just one clarification. Are you proposing in person on the workshop? Or I think it needs to be in person due to the sensitivity of any
personnel or legal issues that would come up. So again, we vote. We vote. We vote. We vote. So just to to say, we're voting to have a Tuesday caucus meeting before the Thursday board meeting starting at the next month's meeting. So we are in September for the October meeting. Two days before the next scheduled meeting, you'll have an in per person caucus meeting at this location, at at, 6PM, I assume.
It would be probably in central office, not at this location, doctor Fernandez. If I may, through the chair, there's a policy that would not need to be changed before we went to a caucus meeting. What was The policy reads differently. So we would we still have to have a policy committee, have the first reading, and the second reading before we could go. So it It wouldn't be possible for next meeting then? No. It would not. It would require that you get through,
October and November unless you're to schedule a special meeting. I wanna make a motion at this point. I know there's a motion on the table, but I wanna make a motion to close this debate. And you send it to one of these committees to have a conversation. On whether or not we want this, this meeting. So please call the vote. Trustee Rosabella? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? No. Trustee Blunt? No. Trustee Ioffe? Yes. No. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee vice president Tisdale? No. President Velasquez? Yes.
I think he voted for me. Would you stop? Will you stop? Yes. Yes. We'll have motion passed. Okay. So a summary of the of the motion that was just passed is that, the board has, agreed to voted to bring back the workshop meetings on Tuesday, and the administration and I would just recommend, along with my assistance, will work on bringing that to the policy committee to address any policies, and then have these meetings set up as soon as possible by going through the policy revision,
the readings, and etcetera, at a time line that makes sense. So this will not be happening at the next meeting, but we'll have a update on where we are and hopefully a first read on the policy to address this issue. Fair enough? So this is not even happening this year. Very well. This is everything. Okay. Doctor Fernandez? Yes. That make sense what I said? We need to include it in policy. Okay. We have to. Okay. So we haven't voted I have a question. Yes. I'm very concerned to understand why we don't ask questions in conversations during the caucus meeting. Because,
see, the problem I'm having is a lot of this conversation or the the issues that you all are trying to raise, they did not come up until the general meeting occurred. And so then it's like, oh, well, we have to have additional conversation. Where are the questions and the discussion when we're in caucus? Where is that? I don't understand. Where is the conversation and the questions during caucus? Why are they not being asked during that time? I I just really need one of you who voted yes to this spot. Maybe you could tell me. Why where are the questions and the comments and the concerns during the during the
caucus? Where are they? I think we had comments and concerns at the last meeting. Do the chair just one point of I don't believe we voted on 15 o one. No. We haven't. We have one more agenda item. We need a motion and a second on 15 o one. Second. But to answer that question, we did have thorough, conversation at the last meeting. And it was not brought up as a, motion at the end of the at the general meeting. But, you know, there's no reason why we can not have a motion.
And we vote. We voted up. We voted down. To the chair? Okay. Yes. I thought that the whole point of even eliminating the caucus was also to save on funds for the staff. Like, now you're gonna have staff here a whole another day, two more hours, and I I like, that was a relief probably on the budget or or whatever. The staff? The staff? Did you talk to the Did we have a motion on the Second Floor? We have a motion on the floor. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't I didn't know. We can do that.
Let's, we can discuss that in a minute. Let's vote on the motion on the floor, which is fifteen. Yes. Motion in the second on fifteen o one. On fifteen o one, please. Motion. It was Mars and I second I second Okay. The discussion on conferences. Okay. Patel? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Rosabella? Yes. Trustee Aoki? Yes. President Villescaz? Yes. Motion passed. Oh, now, I'm sorry. Trustee Mohammed, you want to discuss? Yeah. So,
you know, we're gonna have the direct the the directors here again on the caucus? Or are they gonna be eliminated I see what you're saying, but you were asking about paying them. I don't think they get extra compensation for it. No. I was just saying, like Well, well, then you'll answer that question. That it would be a statement question, I guess. Like because I thought we were, like, trying to save on funds and even save people's time, you know, where they're not even saying anything. They're not even saying anything. They're mostly you know? Yes. I I think that's an inconsideration where we're switching the meetings like this so much.
It's it's not it's not, conducive to be in a team. Thank you. Okay. Now, miss Resabella? Through the chair. Yes. I understand the frustration, and I don't wanna sit here and be silent, especially if if being asked. But today, we were presented with the HR, and we were also presented with the access testing, something that wasn't in our books. And they were I I still need to look at the data for the access testing. I just think that if we had an additional time to work through some of
them to make sure that our questions I mean, I know trustee Morris' questions were on point. He was very quick with it, but I I could not match you when you came back with questions, which were very good questions. I just think that some of these topics would be better well fleshed out and would be better to also have that conversation more in front of the general public so that they can see that we do ask questions. We're doing our due diligence, and I don't necessarily think that it always happens. That you you asked, and I was just To the chair.
I think it's, very apparent that we do ask questions. We ask questions all the time at the meeting. So I don't see where there's any hidden agendas or or I I can see you asking for a question on the presentation, but on the book itself, the caucus is covered in the book. No? What are we gonna do about the caucus? What is the caucus gonna include? Madam madam president? Yes. So we we all know that the caucus is to discuss the items that were released from committees. Correct? Yes. Yes. So what we did was we condensed that time because everything should have been discussed
in committees. And when you get together for caucus, you talk about the agenda and the same questions that are asked in the caucus is asked on the day of the general meeting, which is one of the reasons why this was changed a couple year a year ago. Also, taking into consideration the time that it that it takes to prepare the book with the information in there. And also the time out of, out of the administration's, day. It's two days. It would be Tuesday and, Thursday to talk about the exact same the exact same thing and to ask the
exact same questions, which is why we thought it was redundant. But I do know that this is election season. And I do know that we have very strong people in the community that are behind certain candidates that would like to see So I understand why this is priority for some of us. But for when this policy goes through, we were not we're not gonna be able to do it this year. It's gonna be for next year. So either three trustees will be here as incumbents or three new trustees will be here. And it and it could get changed all over again. So I just think that this is just like And you're right.
And I'm sorry. You're right, trustee. And if three new trustees are here, then you can deal with it again. I take motion to sorry? To adjourn, please. Motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Nobody wants to leave now. Second. Why don't we do it at the caucus? Thank you. All in favor? Alright. Let's go. I think the vice president's gonna be what's going on. Meeting is closed.