Good evening, everyone. Thank you all for coming. We're gonna start our caucus meeting, and we will start with the pledge. The caucus? Yes. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Then we have the right. We have singers for the actual board meeting. Okay. Thank you. Voice. Yes. Miss McKenzie, would you please do roll call? This meeting is being held in conformity with the open public meetings act,
NJSA 10 colon four dash six et seq. Proper public notice of the meeting was caused to be sent to the Jersey Journal and El Diario, La Prinza 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. The public has been advised that the board meeting may be viewed live via the district website at www.jcb0e.org. I will now take the roll call. Trustee Blunt? Present. Trustee Iofe?
Here. Trustee Morris? Trustee Mohammed. Present. Trustee Patel. Present. Trustee Resabella. Present. Trustee Schneider. Present. Vice president Tisdale. Here. President Velasquez. We have a quorum. Thank you. Again, I'd like to thank everyone for being here. We're going to start with our reports. Okay. And vice president doctor Tisdale will be the first to report. Thank you. Okay. So good evening, everyone. I will be given the ed programs report.
The meeting took place on Thursday, 02/13/2025 at 9AM. We don't need to know specifically who was in attendance, do we? I don't need to read that. No. Okay. So the committee this particular report covers donations, field trips, contracts and approvals, in addition to an update on the bilingual and multicultural programs. I will begin with donations, which was a several significant donations are seeking to be approved, benefit in multiple schools across the district.
PS 15, a performing arts program, donor TMA, which is Tokyo Marine America in the amount of a thousand dollars. They are going to be purchased in band uniforms and instruments for the performing arts program. PS 28, classroom essential donation from Donors Choose, which will support a teacher's initiative to provide essential classroom materials. PS number five is a health and wellness grant from the Center for Prevention and Counseling in the amount of $4,000 It's a grant funded,
no district cost, supports health related activities under the head, Healthy New Jersey project. And then middle school number four, which is the student activity support from Hope Church in the amount of $750 general funding for student activities. McNair academic high school business leadership conference support. The donor, I don't believe was specified, but the funding for students to attend a future business leaders conference in Atlantic City. Field trips the following field trips are seeking to be approved, funded through grants, fundraising,
and student contributions at no cost to the district. So the first one is for PS 41, which is a music technology program. The contract with the music team for, students to participate in music production, ding ding and song recording. The objective is to provide alternative learning methods for music history and production. P s twenty eight Yankee Stadium tour, where students will tour the stadium dugout and locker rooms, but will not attend a game. The Philadelphia trip for eighth graders will take place from June 5 through the sixth
of this year. 28 students with two chaperones covered by student fundraising and PTA contributions. PS 30 seven Washington DC trip for eighth greatest taking place June the sixth of this year, 56 students and eight chaperones fully funded through fundraising activities, including a major event at the chandelier taking place in March. PS '20 '8 space camp in Alabama, twenty five students with five chaperones paid through fundraising and student contributions. It's an annual program that has been running successfully for multiple years.
As far as contracts and approvals are concerned, several contracts are seeking to be reviewed and approved. The first one, music education contract for PS forty one. The purpose is for weekly instruction and music technology, production, and DJing. And the objective, again, is to provide students with alternative ways to engage with music history and industry trends. Teacher professional development is by, inspired solution instruction. Excuse me. And the schools that will be receiving this are the comprehensive schools in the district.
The custom services provided will be custom instructional development for teachers, three ninety minute training sessions per school, in class visits, co planning, and modeling. At the Mahatma Gandhi Community School, which is the health clinic contract PS 23, the vendor is the health and wellness services in Glenrock, New Jersey. The amount is not to exceed a hundred and $29,000. It's an ongoing health care services for students. Bilingual and multicultural program updates, significant progress has been made in supporting multi lingual students across the district,
multi lingual intake and enrollment data. Total students served is over 4,000 students, highest ever recorded. New registrations since September 2024, '12 hundred students, and the students identified as needed services are 990. The largest groups, growth areas are in the, Spanish and Arabic speaking student populations, and BPAC, bilingual parent advisory committee is meeting or met, I should say, February fifth of this year. They met at PS 24, 20 Parents Attendant,
and the topics they discussed was access 10 testing for ELL learners, college and financial aid resources for bilingual students, upcoming job fairs, and STEM testing. The access testing this year for ELL students will well, has already began on February 3 and will run until March fourteenth of this year. It's an annual assessment measuring English proficiency in listening, reading, writing, and speaking. The New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children, NJCIC, pilot program expansion.
Current success provide free level services to immigrant students at Dickerson High School and the expansion plans to extend services to Ferris High School. The stamp state approved biliteracy exam determines students' literacy in their native languages. There's 142 high school juniors who took the test in February of this year on the first to be exact. And the language is tested were Arabic, Bengali, Mandarin, French, Guj among others. Let's just put it that way.
High school and advanced placement AP programs, future business leaders, conference, McNair academic high school, March tenth through the twelfth of two thousand twenty five. Twenty six students plus three teachers are going to Atlanta City not to exceed $1,700 Innovation High School prom approval, 05/21/2025 at the Brownstone in Paterson, not to exceed $5,000. The AP Spanish Saturday Academy, Dickerson High School, it took place February 8. It will again take place on March 1,
March fifteenth, and April 15. The objective is to help students prepare for AP Spanish language and cultural exams. Community engagement and positive initiatives that took place and that would briefly mention where the hip fair showcase which took place on February 8 of this, month. And it was basically done to introduce income in ninth graders to district high school programs. PS17 from 9AM to 1PM of the same day. And also, we noted it was noted at the meeting that immigrant student protection policy updates. The district is recognized,
as a statewide leader in supporting, our students. No students' immigration status is ever tracked or recorded. And even Mayor Philip has confirmed that local law enforcement will not cooperate with any ICE and detain its students. As far as next steps are concerned, we would, ask the board to continue to promote upcoming field trips and academic initiatives in addition to supporting ongoing bilingual and engaging with our families. It was also noted that we would like, the admin to consider not holding events on the same day just to give board members who might be
available an opportunity to attend said events. In addition, I think some of us had to, split our time and didn't give us an opportunity to fully engage in both. So those were the discussions and programs. If there are any questions. Any questions, anyone? I'm sorry? I guess no questions, no comments, no concerns. Thank you so much for that thorough, report, doctor Tisdale. Are you prepared, trustee, Mohammed? Yes. And you have how many reports? I have two reports. I have special education and,
student life and personnel services. Okay. Oh, and before you start your reports, doctor Chisstel, I know that you are, on the executive, board of the, of the county, and you said you were at a meeting. Do you have anything to report on that? You know, is there anything that we need an update on? This is not really an update, but at the meeting, it was basically, they were discussing multiple districts how to address the issue related to ICE. And there was discussion around what districts were moving in the right direction.
And the narrator or I guess the facilitator didn't mention any particular district. So I jumped on the line and mentioned what we were doing here in Jersey City, even pulling up the policies and the information that doctor Fernandez had sent out to not only the district administrators, but also to families. And it was noted that, yes, we were kinda referencing your district, and this is exactly the direction that you all should be going in because, like, it was mentioned, it has to be very well documented and superintendent and legal counsel has to verify
that any said warrant is actually real before someone can go into a school. It's not just, oh, here. Go open the doors. Go check. Do what you want. No. So it was well noted that Jersey City is definitely moving in the right direction. So thank you for mentioning that because I did wanna point that out. So kudos to us for doing that. Yes. Thank you for, to doctor Fernandez also for always staying on top of things, and we're always, like, an example for other districts. We've always been like that. That's who we are.
Okay. Now, Trustee Mohammed, please. Okay, so I'll do special education first. And first we have the staffing updates with Danielle Cruz. There's gonna be a job fair on 03/01/2025. The department is working with HR to fill positions in in the, special education department. I'm sorry. What department is this? Special education. Special ed. Thank you. The CPAC meeting, February topic was understanding the IEP, and the March topic will be women's wellness. There, on the report I have, a few links for videos on the IEP explaining how do kids qualify for IEPs,
I, the disability categories, the 13 disability categories, special education terms and your legal rights, and these are from the understood platform, and they were part of the presentation at the committee. The the DLM meetings with, teachers will begin on February 11 through February thirteenth of twenty twenty five for DLM prep. The links update with Megan. We, over with the went to co drive and is updated, exact was the % of the goal for the 58 coats for 21 schools. Due to a successful coat drive in 2024,
there was a decrease in children needing coats. February's public service announcements is self care and music therapy with Lucas McCarren and missus Endyke. And there's a link for that public announcement there. February professional development, it will be art and music therapy. On 02/05/2025, music therapists Madison Endyke and Lucas McCarron presented, presented attending to students attending to students' needs through various modalities within musical interventions, active listening, sensory input, and self expression.
And this was a, a presentation to the, staff. In bill in business, you had Karen Gullis and New Jersey School Based Health Services or NJSBHS, a special education medical initiative, also known as SEMI. As of 02/01/2025, SEMI revenue is at, 147,000,130 147,000. Excuse me, dollars 137 and 4¢. The 151,006 hundred and $8.44
difference is due to change to recent changes, in the New Jersey state reimbursement formula. But under the IDA grant, the I XLM platform, on 02/05/2025, teachers, trainings were held for professional development day. In response to, trustee Reza Bala's suggestion, there will be a parent workshop on Wednesday, 03/05/2025, at 6PM, and parents will receive their invites. Deaf and hard of hearing. Speech therapist Linda Miller will be teaching American sign language classes,
being offered to staff weekly at PS eleven at 08:05AM on Fridays. Classes are open to parents virtually. New Jersey initiatives, parents of students enrolled in special education programs will receive letters asking them from their input for the survey. Staff will receive intervention and referral service training. And then we have regional day with Colin Henry. We review, January recap, future happenings, or over an overview of upcoming events, and two new student intakes. At Harry Moore with, principal just Jason Jacino,
the February of we had a January recap of the events. February events, so February 7, they had their kickoff, the Super Bowl kickoff activity. And then they have February 13, the Valentine's Day dance. Upcoming March events will be, SEL date and Read Across September kickoff on March 3. Student intake since September is 17. And we have two action items, approval of payment of tuition, approval of twenty twenty five NJSA, convention, and approval of contract award for neuroscience associate. And then for the good of the order, mister David Gibbons shared his experience at the teacher professional development day at PS fifteen.
For student life and personnel services. So that's it for Yes. That is it for special education. Yes. So before you move on, any questions? Any concerns? I just I have one question. Yes. Hundred and $51,000 difference, is that an increased difference or less decrease? Yeah. Because the formula has changed. There's, They've taken out the cost of the IEPs. They don't pay for those anymore. Okay. Thank you. You can proceed now with your next report, which is Student life and Student life services. Student life and personnel services.
So we had, a presentation from Ms. Takiyah Campbell Williams for the citywide student council, and she highlighted the purposes and achievements of the citywide student council and the upcoming events. The citywide student council is a conglomeration of 7,000 students across 12 schools, MS four, MS seven, MS forty, Academy one, Dickinson, and Infinity and Innovation, Liberty, Lincoln, McNair, and Snyder. So it's a, it encourages students to refine their refine skills that propel them towards academic success while
placing emphasis on social emotional learning and mental health care, raise common concerns that are found to occur across the district, and brainstorm possible solutions to promote a safe learning environment for all students. Students, members of the, citywide student council have enhanced their public speaking, time management, and team collaboration through activities such as monthly meetings, career fairs, and the career fair in in, April 2024 in NJCU attending the TCNJ winter conference, student board representation at the Jersey Board of Education monthly meeting.
So the current board representative is Martina Boulez. I I think I'm saying her name right. She's sworn in on 01/22/2025. They have upcoming event for the culture affair, which will be held on April 15 at Lincoln Park. And then they had, for professional development date, director Cacaro shared a presentation to highlight the February 5 professional date, when staff at MS forty received an intro to TICE, which is, trauma informed skills for educators. And school councils and child study team members participated in the pre payer training.
PIP reports for January 2025 are 60 total, 24 founded, 18 founded, 15 inconclusive, three some founded, zero founded, no perp. And that is the good of the order. Thank you. Thank you for both, thorough reports. Any questions with regards to student life? Yes. I'm just wondering with regards to the bullying reports, does this indicate, what the numbers that bullying is going down in the schools? Maybe we should ask Doctor Fernandez I know. The question should go to Doctor Fernandez.
Thank you. Doctor Fernandez. The numbers that trustee Mohammed reported, and can you give the numbers again in terms of the incidents? They were 60 total, 24 founded, 18 unfounded, 15 inconclusive, three some founded, and zero found or no perp. I'm just wondering if these numbers indicate an increase or a decrease in the bullying that's taking place in the schools or the reported bullying, I should say. Director? Director, I know you can recite this in your sleep. Yes. Okay. So what the numbers haven't stayed the same, doesn't necessarily indicate that it's actually going up and or going down.
So what, I guess, are we doing to ensure that it doesn't increase and that maybe we can bring it down? Thank you. Okay. So we are doing social emotional learning lessons on bullying in all the schools. We use the choose love curriculum. We also have in 18 schools this teen safety matters and child safety matters curriculum through the Monique Burr Foundation, and that also addresses bullying. And always seeing that it's working. Is it effective? Yes.
Okay. One other thing I wanted to mention. We also have, the Saturday rejuvenation program. So if a student is, a founded case, a lot of times they are sent to the Saturday rejuvenation program where they have to make restitution for the bullying and repair the harm that they did. Thank you. Okay. Any other question? Okay. So, trustee Iofe, are you ready with your report? Yes. Thank you. You have how many reports? I have finance and facilities as well as policy. Thank you. Finance and facilities met on Tuesday,
February 11. In the finance agenda the acting business administrator Doctor. Luce went over recurring monthly agenda items ten-one through 10.12 and answered questions. She encouraged trustees to reach out with additional questions that they may have on any of the details. New items included 10.13, which is the approval of donation of toys received from Saint Baptist Church and Concentra accepted by the human resources department on behalf of P. S. Number 24. 10 14 asks the board to approve the submission of the proposed regional day school budget, for the twenty twenty five-twenty six school year.
The attachments include budget narrative as well as various programs and services listed by budget categories. And finally 10.15 is a contract award for special education to and from charter schoolbilingual shuttles. The attachment list individual vendor details and costs. In the facilities agenda, there's only two items which eleven oh one asks the board to approve a contract award for certified pool services to Sherwood Pool Consulting Group to service schools district wide as needed. Eleven oh two is the approval of contract to Tectonic for environmental engineering and LSRP
services to review the remaining district obligations to replace all underground tanks with the above ground tanks As for the agreement with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. In technology, there has been no submission. Additional items in the meeting included a presentation by the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority about a prospective sewer pump on school grounds. The committee requested further clarifications and pending further discussion. The acting business administrator will be providing three by three budget preview meetings to all
trustees as per best practices of the district budget planning process. Those who have not yet responded to Doctor Luce with availability, you are encouraged to do so. Thank you. That is it for the facilities and finance and I can move on to the policy if you like unless there's any questions. Any questions with regards to facilities? Is this where we would include the what's the work that's being done to the new to the old Ferris work or or no? If you wanna speak to about it. Would you could we have an update,
doctor Fernandez? One second. Let me find my notes. I'm Give me one minute so I can connect with my notes. Yeah. For the community, as you know, we are, in the process of moving Infinity to the old Kennedy School next to, Ferris High School, and, we just wanna know the update as to how what's going on with, that project. The Wi Fi is down. Yeah. I know. Well, as I sent you the PowerPoint last week,
or this week. I don't know. I sent you the update. So last spring, the, archdiocese of Newark notified us that we would, we lease the building that currently Infinity is using. We lease it from the archdiocese of Newark. It was a former Catholic school. We've been leasing that building for a number of years. Our contract was going to be off this year. It ends on 06/30/2025. They notified us that we would be able to continue the lease,
but we would have to share the building with a Catholic school that was moving into that building. Having said that, we reevaluated. This was not This was not acceptable. As we've looked at our long range facility plan, enrollment in high schools overall is down. Students, the enrollment has gone down. So, we've looked at our schools. Currently, we have, Innovation High School sharing the building with Snyder High School. So two schools within a school. And it's working out very well.
So we looked at what else do we have. Well, Ferris High School has the annex, which is years ago, we closed an elementary school called the Kennedy School, PS number nine. So that school, housed pre k to eighth grade students. It has three floors. It has a gym. It has all the, different areas that our school has. So with that in mind, we said, okay. The visual and performing arts,
it's a program that's dear to our heart and it's a program we want to expand for our high school students. So, and they're currently part of them of that group are housed at Ferris High School. So we said, okay. So if we get all the JC Arts program teachers and programs together, we'll be able to use that building. So we have assessed availability across many of the buildings, but that building housed it was two school buildings that were combined.
It housed some of the junior students as well as the leaps and bounds program. Leaps and bounds is a special needs program for students who are cognitively delayed. They're in self contained classes, and they go, to a workplace in the afternoon or in the morning. So half the day, they're spent in school. Other is job training, teaching of life skills. So that group will remain in that building. It's a similar model to what we use at McNair academic high school,
where we have the win program with the accelerated students, and they share their building. So we modeled a program that will house both the Infinity students at the Ferris Attucks as well as the, you know, the infinity as well as the students from the leaps and bounds program. We also evaluate in the process, one thing we looked at is class sizes.
So we looked at the historical enrollment for Ferris High School going back to 02/2003. And in the report I shared with you, you could see that at one for a few years there, Ferris High School had 1,600 students within the main building. Currently, the enrollment is at thirteen six. So, we know that the main building has space for the general Ferris High School students. It also,
we looked at the number of courses being offered at Ferris Main Building as well as the annex. And in the last few years, enrollment the number of courses have decreased. So we looked at data to determine what is the best that we can do for all our students. It would be great if every building had all the space that they needed, but there are classrooms that are used in the main building for storage,
classes that were closed and never reopened. For instance, we have very large home economics classrooms that are not in use. They're going to be converted into regular classrooms. And so, the Ferris students will be housed in the main building. And Infinity students, at the June, when the school year finishes, will move into what used to be the all number nine, the Kennedy School, and will be housed there. It will be two separate schools with two different identities.
The two are not going to be sharing anything. Infinity will share everything with the leaps and bounds program, and Ferris will house the students within the main building. The numbers are feasible. We already have them there, so they we have documents, and we know that there is the capacity. So we worked out a procedure, plans, tentative plans as to what comes first. So we do this, we do that, and we're working through that process.
So by June 30, we'll finish our lease of Infinity Institute at the Old Saint Paul's Church, and we'll be moving to the old Number 9. It will be housed there. I wish I had my whole document so I could share statistics, but I did send it to you previously this week. Thank you. Thank you, doctor Fernandez, again for that thorough report. And, yes, the Internet is down. So, It's back up? It's back up. We're trying We'll work it out. Thank you.
Natalia, you may continue with the rest of your report. Thank you, board president. The next report will be for the legislative slash policy committee, not necessarily in that order. So in the legislative portion of our committee meeting, we had our guest speaker, congressman for the New Jersey Eighth District, Robert Menendez, Jr. He attended the board's legislative committee and engaged with the trustees and the administration on a variety of pertinent topics including but not limited to the immigration and ICE related concerns for public schools and families and any changes to the Department of Education and
possible cuts in federal funding. The committee shared steps that have been taken by the district and the communications that went out to families to alleviate their concerns, as has been touched upon earlier in the caucus, as well as, shared the most recent federal funding data for Jersey City Public Schools. To note, on jcboe.org under the department's school funding and district budget, on page three of the twenty twenty four-twenty five user friendly district budget indicates that total revenues from federal sources received by the Jersey City public schools have amounted to
$94,800,000 and that included title funds, IDEA grants, which is for handicapped services and the remainder of the ESSER funds, which is the last remainder of the COVID related assistance that the school district received. So just for context for the public, if anything does happen to this funding, we may be in negative of $94,800,000 for a variety of reasons. Additionally, members of the community can learn more by visiting the website, the congressman's website, menendez.house.gov,
specifically related to the issues discussed in the committee. On the congressman's website, the services tab offers the twenty twenty five federal financial assistance freeze impact survey for any individual or organization that has been or expects to be affected by the federal financial assistance freeze. Additionally, the issues tab has a know your rights printable available in 12 languages with helpful tips on understanding one's rights in the event of an encounter with the U. S. Immigration and customs enforcement.
That concludes the legislative committee discussion. In the policy discussion, on the agenda we have in our books today for the vote, the second reading on the JCBOE policies, which are board bylaws 161, one hundred and 60 four, and one six seven, and you will see them here as the, the call adjournment and cancellation of the meetings, the conduct of board meetings, and the public participation in board meetings. And to summarize, these are changes related to the order of the meeting, and consolidation of the public comment, which means that there will be no longer a bifurcation of the public comment,
we will go back to the original format of having a singular public comment section early on in the meeting, speakers will be able to speak on any topic as before. And, these changes are reflected here in the policies attached. The highlighted section relating to bifurcation will be, taken out after we after the second reading today. The first reading of new changes for policy 07/2022, director of technology proposed revisions of the policy entitled school district provided technology devices to staff members in order to memorialize the JCPS ongoing initiative to mandate the use of
two factor authentication for all JCPS systems and applications in order to enhance security of sensitive data and to protect against unauthorized access. And finally, JCBOE policy and regulation number 9320, First reading tonight, cooperation with law enforcement agency agencies mandatory revisions include, regarding the uniform state memorandum of agreement between the education and law enforcement officials requiring in part that the superintendent or her designee will designate a point of contact for each school building tasked with receiving handle with care notifications.
These notifications are received from law enforcement when a student witnesses something traumatic outside of the school environment. And that concludes the policy discussion policy committee discussions. If there are any questions to the chair. I just have one question. You mentioned, possible 98. I was in the meeting and, you know, was kind of distracted when we were having this conversation. But anyway, you mentioned a possible $98,400,000 cut. Was that in reference to programs? So if you remember at the, that's why I gave a reference for the public as well that on the district's
website anyone can look at our last year's school budget and so on page three of the user friendly budget for last year, you will see that the total sources of federal revenue total revenues from federal sources rather amounted to approximately $94,000,000 received last year by this district. However, out of that 94,000,000, 60 million is the ESSER funding. So ESSER funding is done this year. We will not see it again. That was the last component. So the difference is then approximately 34,000,000
of which slightly over $7,000,000 is the IDEA grant which is handicap services. So one of the concerns that we discussed with the congressman because he actually made a point if you remember that it's important that the numbers tell a story because as our legislators advocate for our public schools, they need to be able to show who exactly will be impacted, which vulnerable, demographics will be impacted by these funds, by these cuts if they happen. So just for context, you know, between 7 and 8,000,000 for handicapped services and the remainder is title funding.
Title funding is what this district uses to maintain community schools, which include medical clinics, dental clinics, mental health services, laundromats, what have you. So many holistic, services that service entire families in our district. We have I think now five or six community schools that the district invests into with the help of title funds. So that that gives you an idea of what will happen if we lose this money. Thank you, trustee I hope you the reason I asked that question, and I'm so glad you elaborated in the way that you did, is because there was an article that came out yesterday relative to the education department
warned schools to cut DEI programs or lose funding altogether. And so, you know, based on that commentary, I was just wondering if that's what we were talking about encapsulating. And so just so people are aware of what's actually going on and what's taking place. So I appreciate your overview of that. Thank you. Any other question with regards to this report? I did have a question and I was asking the attorney, miss Iofe. Did you report and maybe you did? I was speaking to the attorney and I missed it.
Did you report on the issue at Bryce Street? I believe that was discussed in a legal committee. Okay. So I think that's gonna be a closed session. That's gonna be a closed session. Okay. Thank you. That was good. Thank you. We'll discuss it then. Thank you very much, Ms. Ioffe. Again, we are so busy with our reports, I mean, with our, committees and you're bringing on some very thorough and great report and I thank you all. Trustee, Mohammed, you had another report with regards to a new committee. Yes.
Thank you. So, last year during one of our forums, the community suggested that we bring back the parent, outreach committee. So I sat down with doctor Fernandez and also with yourself, president, Velasquez, to discuss, like, topics, dates, and also, how often the the, committee meetings will be. So we came up with the title of the committee to be the student focused community outreach committee so that we have students student priorities put first in this committee.
So what is that? Student focused So it's the student focused community outreach committee. And the purpose is to create a cohesive committee between the board and the public, that will work together to support student success in alignment with the mission possible. I want to introduce who will be on the committee. So, myself is going to be the chair. Doctor. Blount is co chair. Doctor Blount is cochair. We also have, trustee Tia Rezaibala on the committee and also trustee Alpa Patel on the committee.
The topics that we chose are tentative again. So if doctor Fernandez or vice president I mean, president president Velasquez chooses to say we need there's a pressing topic that needs to be addressed to the community. Will that topic will change or they'll be the because the month the meetings are gonna be bimonthly. And if there's an important issue, we can do it within that month that's not being filled. Yeah? Yes. I'm just wondering if if a student centered focused on outreach, is it are the students gonna be allowed to submit their concerns for topics to
be discussed? Yeah. So we also discussed having possibly a student representative to be there. So from the citywide student council, you know, they could have a maybe, you know, if they have pressing topics, they can also tell us, you know, this is an issue that we're having, you know, if they're there at the meeting. And so if people wanna send suggestions, who should they send it to you? Yeah. I guess they can. Well, I'm just asking for the public, not for me. It's for but for the people, like, you know You know, I guess if they reached out to either any one of us,
the the message will get back to doctor Fernandez. And so one last question, And this would be for the administration, Doctor. Fernandez, then you'll put on the district's website this new committee and who's on it? Correct. But the from what I gathered in my conversation with trustee Mohamed is that the goal is to talk about student centered initiatives, services, so not employees, not just about student. How do we help them? How do we work together to for better outcomes?
So any information, if my name is on the website, could email me. I'll forward the information. Miss Mohammed as well. So but it will be listed on the district website once the board agrees that this in the schedule. To the chair, I just I wanted to add, possibly we can discuss having students present at the meeting. They're virtual. So they're gonna be virtual meetings. And the first one is scheduled for April 8. And that was to give time for the district to get everything in order. So we're the first title is student well-being.
Okay. Again, the date so that we can So the so the first meeting is April 8. Then we have June 3, August nineteenth. So June 3 is gonna be in person in, one r at the district. And then, August 19, October seventh, and then December 2. Right. And, the so that we have, 6PM. And they're virtual, so you guys will get the, everyone will get the link that's gonna going All except June. June will not be virtual. Right. June is in person. Okay. Thank you. Any questions, concerns? Okay.
Very good. I guess if we don't have any other questions and any other concerns, we can no. They don't have any yeah. There are no other reports. Then I guess, miss McKenzie, we can close the meeting then. Do we have to have roll call or just move to adjourn? Moved by trustee Blunt. Second. Second by vice president Tisdale. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. Meeting is closed. Well, in about fifteen minutes, we'll come back to for the general meeting.
Thank you very much. We have a quorum, so let's begin, please. I know. Is it working yet? Did you get it to work? 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 Jersey Journal and L 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. The public has been advised that the board meeting may be viewed live via the
district website at www.jcboe.org. I'll now take the roll call. Trustee Blunt. Present. Trustee Ioffe. Out loud. Yes. Trustee Maha. Present. Trustee Morris. Present. Trustee Patel? Present. Trustee Reza Bala? Sit down. Trustee Schneider? Present. Vice president Tisdale? Here. President Velasquez? Present. Our student rep is not here. We have a form. We're going we're gonna present the colors. Doctor Fernandez. Ready? Mhmm. If everyone could stand and remain standing as we present the colors,
sing the national anthem, and then followed by lift every voice that will be performed by our Jersey City Arts Choir from Snyder High School under the direction of mister James Swan. So please remain standing. Thank you. I pledge to the flag of The United States Of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Yes. Oh, say. Can you see by the dawn's early light? What so proudly we at the twilight's last gleaming, whose brush stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight. O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallant. Flees streaming, and the rockets wreck. The bombs bursting in, gave proof through the night
that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled banner and wave? O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. We shall overcome. We shall overcome. We shall overcome. We shall overcome. That's just the beginning. Doctor Fernandez said that's only the beginning. That's only the beginning. Take it. Yes. Yes. There's more. Yes. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Are you going to welcome first and then I'll Yes.
Before I give the program to doctor Fernandez to introduce all the other, performers. First of all, as you're marching out, we wanna thank you. ROTC. The r yes. ROT. ROT. ROT. ROT. Thank you so much. We wanna welcome everyone to our meeting today, And this is always a special meeting for us because we celebrate this great month in this school named after the leader, doctor Martin Luther King.
We take pride in all of our cultures. We take pride in all of our children, and we appreciate that you're here to celebrate with us this month. And now I'll give it to Doctor. Fernandez for the rest of the great program ahead. Good evening, everyone. Thank you, President Velasquez, Vice President Tisdale, parents, community, colleagues, it is a pleasure to be here. And before I we continue with the performance,
I'd like to recognize two schools for their attendance. Typically, on my Sunday, message, I share how important attendance is. Students need to be in school on a regular basis. With the little ones, parents, thank you. Because you make sure that if they're not sick, they get to school on time. With the older ones, parents, thank you again, because you check that they get there on time. But it is so important to provide our students with the best education, and they have to be in school.
Work sometimes could be fun, sometimes could be tedious. At many times, they don't see the connection. But the connection happens with the discipline we learn. It may be a different task that they will do in the future, but what they learn in the discipline of school will help with the self discipline of advanced studies once they get to college, and it will help them in their career to work hard, to move forward, and to be more resourceful and have more opportunities.
So at this time, I'd like to call the, Patricia M. Noonan Elementary twenty six, Public School twenty six for their attendance. PS twenty six, please come forward. Trustees, if you would help me congratulate them, that would be very appreciated. Thank you. Time. Thank you. We also have a school that has really come and made an impact in their achievement and their attendance. And today, we have the proud Lincoln Lions to accept their attendance award.
Please come up. I also would like to, as I said last month, I will begin our meeting with, a book where the author is one of our students, one of our former students. So this month, in honor of African American month, I'm also honoring this young man, Kevin Powell, who was a student at Snyder High School. He's written various books. I went to doctor Fernandez's office the other day and I said,
he wrote four books. She says, no. He wrote like 14. So but this I'm sorry? Oh. But this one, a boy's journey into manhood. It's about us. He talks about Jersey City. He talks about the education that we gave him. He talks about his struggle. He talks about hard times. He speaks about his mom and everything they went through. This I started and I I just had to go to sleep, so I had to put it down. But it's like you wanna get up and continue reading and read and read until
you're done. I can't wait to finish because I wanna start on the other one. He's also written a book about grocery shopping with my mother. How many of us haven't been grocery shopping with our mother? That one, however, is a book of poetry. But again, you know, he speaks about his dreams. He speaks about his troubles. He speaks about his struggles, but he speaks about his successes. And today, we are so proud to celebrate Kevin Powell, one of ours from Snyder.
So many things are always said about our children, our students, very seldom nice things. And I'm gonna try to find good things to celebrate on a monthly basis. So if you find anything that or a book that is written by one of our students, please reach out to me. I gladly will bring it in and present it. And I hope that some of you are reading them. Thank you. Doctor Fernandez. Thank you, president Velasquez. Thank you for the reading assignment. We all appreciate a good book. This month,
during February, we observe Black History Month, an occasion to celebrate the contributions of so many patriots who have shaped our nation. Throughout our history, black Americans have been among our country's most consequential leaders, shaping the cultural and political destiny of our nation in very profound ways. Tonight, we will witness powerful performance from our schools highlighting poetry, music, and dance. At this time,
I'd like to introduce miss Valerie Craig Indi, health and physical education supervisor, Ms. Erica Schultz, English language arts supervisor, and Mr. Frankie Maldonado, social studies supervisor, who will lead us into tonight's presentations. Thank you, and please sit back and enjoy this wonderful time. Thank you. Good evening, superintendent doctor Fernandez, president Velasquez, vice president doctor Tisdale, board trustee, acting deputy and along with my colleague today,
we are very honored to be here. Together, we are honored to highlight the incredible contributions of our students as we celebrate Black History Month. This year's theme, African American and Labor, provides a powerful lens through which we examine the diverse and profound ways that work, whether free or forced, skilled, formal skill, vocational or voluntary, has shaped the experiences of black people throughout history. Work has always been central to black history and culture.
For the agricultural labor of enslaved Africans that sustain the low country colonies to the ongoing debate among black educators about the value of vocational training, self help, initiatives, and entrepreneurships within our communities. We also reflect on the pivotal role of organized labor in fighting for economic and social justice. This theme honors the transformative contributions of black labor across The United States,
Africa and the Disaporas. Recognizing how these contributions have profoundly impacted history and culture. This evening, we are proud to showcase student performances from PS fifteen, PS thirty four, Infinity Institute, Lincoln High School, and MS four. Additional student performances may be viewed at the Jersey City website under the curriculum and instruction department diversity calendar. Enjoy this evening's entertainment. Now it's my pleasure to introduce my colleague,
Frankie Maldonado. Thank you, Valerie. Please direct your attention to the stage as I introduce our first group of performers from Whitney m Young School fifteen under the direction of mister Tom Meaders, music specialist. They will perform Rock of My Soul and the Dream. Our second selection will be Rock of My Soul. What an inspirational performance. Thank you, Whitney m Young School fifteen, for your beautiful performance. We proudly congratulate and introduce Nervi Shaw, an eighth grader from Infinity Institute, who won first place in the thirtieth annual doctor Martin Luther King Junior Oratory Contest
sponsored by the by the city of Jersey City's Office of Cultural Affairs. Nervi will present doctor King's powerful speech, what is your life's blueprint, which inspires young people to dream big, persevere, and live with purpose, an important message that aligns with our theme of labor and transformation. Please join us in welcoming Nervi Shah, who is supported by doctor Dobson and doctor O'Neil. Can I actually have to stand My name is Nirvish Shah? Greetings. We have all gone through this question, how will my life unfold? Respected judges and friends,
what is your life's blueprint? By doctor Martin Luther King Junior, who delivered this speech to the students of Barrett Junior High School in Philadelphia on 10/26/1967. I want to ask you a question, and that is, what is in your life's blueprint? This is the most important and crucial period of your lives. For what you do now and decide now at this age may well determine which way your life shall go. And whenever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws the blueprint,
and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the model, and as the guide for those who are to build the building. And a building is not well erected without a good, a solid, and a sound blueprint. Now, each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives. And the question is whether you have a proper, a solid, and a sound blueprint. And I want to suggest some of the things that should be in your life's blueprint. Number one in your life's blueprint must be a deep belief in your own dignity,
your own worth, and your own somebody ness. Don't allow anybody to make you feel that you are nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth. And always feel that your life has ultimate significance. Now that means that you should not be ashamed of your color. You know, it's very unfortunate that in so many instances, our society has placed a stigma on the Negroes' color. You know there are some Negroes who are ashamed of themselves? Don't be ashamed of your color.
Don't be ashamed of your biological features. Somehow, you must be able to say in your own lives and really believe it, I'm black, but beautiful. And believe that in your heart. And therefore, you need not be lured into purchasing cosmetics that make you appear lighter. Neither do you need to process your hair to make it appear straight. I have good hair and is as good as anybody else's in the world. And we've got to believe that. Now, in your life's blueprint, be sure to include the principle of somebody ness.
Secondly, in your life's blueprint, you must have as the basic principle the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavors. You're going to be deciding, as the days and years unfold, what you want to do in your life, what your life's work will be. And when you decide this, set out to do it, as if God Almighty called upon you at this particular moment in history to do it. And don't just do a good Negro job, but do a good job that anybody can do. Set out to do a good job,
and do that job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn couldn't do it any better. If it follows your law to be a street sweeper, then sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures. Sweep streets like Beethoven composed music. Sweep streets like Leighton Price sang before the Metropolitan Opera. And sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of the heaven and earth will have to pause and say,
Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill, be a scrub in the valley, but be the best little scrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be the highway, just be a trail. If you can't be the sun, just be a star. For it isn't by size that we win or we fail. Be the best of whatever you are. And finally, in your life's blueprint must be a commitment to the eternal principles of beauty,
love, and justice. Don't allow anybody to pull you so low as to make you hate them. Don't allow anybody to cause you to lose your self respect to the point that you do not struggle for justice. However young you are, you have a responsibility to seek to make a better life for everybody. You have a responsibility to seek to make a better nation for everybody. And so, you must be involved in the struggle for freedom and justice. You've heard the word nonviolent,
and you've heard the word violent. I happen to believe in nonviolence. But I believe as we struggle with these issues, we've got to struggle with them in a method that is militant, but at the same time does not destroy life or property. And so, our slogan must not be, Burn, baby, burn. It must be, Build, baby, build. Organize, baby, organize. Yes. Our slogan must be learn, baby, learn. So that we can earn, baby, earn. And with a powerful commitment, I believe that we can transform dark yesteries of injustice into bright tomorrows of justice
and humanity. Let us keep going toward the goal of selfhood, toward the dream of the realization of brotherhood, and toward the dream of the realization of understanding and goodwill. Let nobody stop us. Well, life for none of us has been a crystal stair, but we must keep moving. We must keep going. If you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving. Thank you, Nervi, for the for that powerful performance.
Let's give her another round of applause. At this time, I'd like to welcome the students of the pres of president Barack Obama, school thirty four, to the stage under the direction of miss Sharonda Wadley, physical education teacher, miss Danielle Good, and miss Keisha Davis. The students will perform an African American dance illustrating the profound role of music and dance in shaping social change. Well, I pray that the universe
gives you way more than you deserve. Oh, and it just fall like shooting stars. Remember who you are. Just look up to the sky. Harry, welcome to the Underground Railroad. Thank you, PS thirty four, for that amazing performance. Please don't leave. We'd like to take pictures with you. Thank you. Our next presenter is Mamie Droray, a senior at Abraham Lincoln High School and the Region 6 Poetry Out Loud Recitation Competition winner. Last week, Mamie was named the region six poetry finalist at Passaic County Community College.
And on March 12, Mamie will compete at the state competition at the Count Basie Theater. Tonight, she will recite We Are Not Responsible by Harriet Mullen, one of the three poems that she performed at that event. Mamie is accompanied by language arts teacher Juliet Hewitt Robinson and and here's the support here is mister Gadsden, miss Walker, and missus Leftwich. That's fine. I think so. Yep. Good evening. My name is Maimi, and I am a proud student at Lincoln High School.
And I will be reciting I will be reciting We Are Not Responsible by Harriet Mullen. We are not responsible for your lost or stolen relatives. We cannot guarantee your safety if you disobey our instructions. We do not endorse the causes or claims of people begging for handouts. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. Your ticket does not guarantee that we will honor your reservations. In order to facilitate our procedures, please limit your carrying on.
Before taking off, please extinguish all smoldering resentment. If you cannot understand English, you will be moved out of the way. In the event of a loss, you better look out for yourself. Your insurance was canceled because we can no longer handle your frightful claims. Our handlers lost your luggage, and we are unable to find the key to your legal case. You were detained for interrogation because you fit the profile. You are not presumed to be innocent if the police have reason suspect that you
are carrying a concealed wallet. It's not our fault you were born wearing a gang color. It is not our obligation to inform you of your rights. Step aside, please, while our officer inspects your bad attitude. You have no rights we are bound to respect. Please remain calm or we can't be held responsible for what happens to you. Thank you. Thank you, Maimi, for sharing your powerful and inspiring words. The district is rooting for you at the Count Bessie Theatre on March.
Go for the gold. Next, we have from MS4 a vibrant Motown medley performance. The Conwell choir, joined by students from the Keyboard Ensemble two, will bring to life three Motown classics, My Guy, My Girl, and Ain't No Mountain High Enough. Motown's influence on music and culture is undeniable, with its songs serving as powerful symbols of unity and social change. Please turn your attention to the stage and enjoy this wonderful performance under the direction of mister Mark Ash. If you know the words, please sing as well sing us sing along.
Thank you. Give us a minute, the electricity went out. We'll try to get back into it. In five, six, seven, ten. On a cloudy day, and Okay. This concludes the evening's performances. What an incredible evening of music, poetry, and reflection. The committee is grateful to all administrators, teachers, and students who con whose contributions have made this celebration of Black History Month possible. Thank you for sharing your talents with us and helping to honor the legacy of black Americans and their contributions to labor,
culture, and history. We wanna acknowledge the administrators in attendance tonight. And when I call your name, please stand. Mister Chris Gadsden. Miss Natasha Walker, miss Iguana Leftwich, doctor Janine Maniscalco, mister Chris Denonzio, miss Rolanda Terry, miss Esther Maxey, doctor Tranir Dobson, doctor Kim O'Neil, mister Rich Stellato, miss Lisa Santiago, doctor Alan Lamonica, doctor Iris Campbell, and doctor Cleopatra Wingard.
Thank you so much. If you look at the screen, you'll see all the schools and teachers that participated in tonight's performance. We invite you to return to well, that's another story. No more performances. We would like to thank everyone in attendance, and have a great night. We would like for all the participating administration to go to the stage for a picture Pictures. With our performance today. While they're organizing, we would like to thank all of you for the excellent talent that we have in this district.
You had us dancing. Now we have to have another meeting. Here we go. But thank you all. Thank all the students. I wanna thank, the young girl, Shaw. You were fabulous, phenomenal. The students from the Barack Obama School, excellent. All of the students that performed today were marvelous. These that sang that took me back to the sixties, excellent. And, we want to thank all of the teachers and the administrators for always, always working to get the best out of all of our students.
Thank you all. Pres I agree with everything. You took my words. Congratulations, then thank you. But I also wanna thank the families who brought the children Yes. Who came here this evening. Thank you so much. The teachers, thank you. Thank you for being our partner. We truly enjoy having your students. Thank you. Is is Mimi still here? Yes. Okay. If we guys, if we all can get back to our seats, we'd like to continue our meeting. This has been a great yet lengthy program,
and we still have our job to get done. So You ready? I have one more. You have? Okay. Yes. Doctor Fernandez has one more thing. It's gonna be empty. That's okay. It's a short presentation. No. No, honey. Anything that oh, to to the gavel. Okay. Chris wants me to use the gavel. We're meeting well, doctor Fernandez. Thank you. This is not as exciting, but it's still very important. On 06/05/2019, the New Jersey Department of Education updated the high school graduation assessment requirements in both
English, language arts, and ELA, and mathematics for the classes of 2019 through '22. Then on 05/03/2023, the State Board of Education approved a graduation ready cut score for ELA and mathematics components of the New Jersey NJ GPA. And you will hear that many times this evening. And also the alternative assessments align to the cut score. The New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment,
NJ GPA, is a computer based test that measures a student's readiness for graduation in English language English language arts and mathematics. And students in eleventh grade take the NJ GPA to meet the state's graduation requirements. At this time, I ask miss Ellen Ruane, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, to present the students' progress in meeting their graduation requirements as measured by the NJ
GPA. Miss Ruane, if you would. It's the love there. Excuse me. There ain't no scores like our scores. I just haven't. I've never seen her so animated. Yes. You have. Good evening, president Velasquez, superintendent Fernandez, vice president doctor Tisdale, board trustees, acting deputy doctor Fasanino, my colleagues, and the viewing public. This evening, I am presenting the results of the October administration of the New Jersey graduation profess proficiency assessment. The NJGPA, as it is commonly referred to,
is the state's mandatory testing requirements for all graduating seniors. This presentation is in compliance with the New Jersey administrative code stating that the results must be shared with boards of education within sixty days of the receipt of the report. The code also requires that individual student reports, known as ISRs, are distributed within thirty days to the schools. Each of our high schools receive the individual student reports for all the tested students
with the expectation that they were disseminated to the parents and guardians of the testes. Okay. So the New Jersey graduation proficient assessment. So who was tested this past October? The seniors who took the test as juniors in March of twenty twenty four We have a new year. And who were not successful in earning a graduation score were once again tested in October along with any seniors who entered our schools since September.
In order to be considered graduation ready and pass the testing requirements, every student must achieve a score of 725 or above, the top score being 850 in both ELA and mathematics. If they achieve a score of seven twenty five plus, they are considered graduation ready. If they are not, they are deemed not graduation ready yet. So our current seniors took the test as juniors in March of twenty twenty four.
They took it again in October of twenty twenty four. If you take a look at the next slide, it's giving you the results of the tested students and the percentage of how many were deemed graduation ready and not graduation ready on the October 2024 administration. So we had 144 students or thirty three point two percent who achieved a score of seven twenty five to be deemed graduation ready,
and we had two hundred and ninety sixty six point eight percent in the area of language arts that are currently not considered graduation ready. In the area of math, seventy seven students representing 11.3 of the tested population are graduation ready, while 607, 80 eight point seven percent are not graduation ready according to this test. If you look to the left and you see the bars, these are the subgroups. The subgroups,
first two, the multilingual learners and the students with disabilities. That's a duplication number because they're also representative they're also represented within the ethnicities. For those where we have no number, that's because the total subgroup was less than 10, and we do not report less than 10. Please note that the results you're looking at do not include Infinity and McNair since all seniors were designated graduation ready as a result of the spring twenty twenty four
administration. However, as a result of the fall administration, all seniors at Liberty High School and Innovation High School are deemed graduation ready in the area of ELA. So what happens after a first attempt and a second attempt? The state gives us two more opportunities for these seniors to meet their testing requirements, and it's called graduation pathways. If you go to the next slide, please. So basically, this slide tells us that after completing the test in the fall of twenty twenty
four and still not graduation ready, meaning they did not reach proficiency in either ELA or math or both, students may access the following pathways. The second pathway is by meeting a designated cut score on a substitute competency test such as PSAT, SAT, ACT, or ACCUPLACER. And then the third pathway, which we are currently undergoing in our district, is the portfolio assessment. The next slide is going to show everyone. Right now, this is the cumulative record of our current seniors and how they ought they have
achieved their pathway. Pathway one, they achieved a seven twenty five in either ELA or math. We have 1,125 seniors in ELA, and we have 589 in math. Pathway two, achieved through the PSC, Pathway to achieve the PSA TV S. A. T. The ACCUPLACER please note that the PSA TV S. A. T. Are given to in our district in October so there are many students who achieved the score to reach pathway two. We had 50 in the LA,
and we had 296 in math. Please note that the state looks for the first pathway, so we've had many students who reached by performing well on pathway two, but the state goes to the test as the first pathway. The third are for our special needs students who have completed the dynamic learning map, commonly known as the DLM assessment that is in their IEP. For those students who take the DLM, they they are not responsible for taking the test or any of the pathways.
Pathway three is the portfolio that's what I'm going to speak about. Currently we have three zero five ELA students students taking ELA and five zero nine seniors five hundred 90 nine seniors taking the math portfolio. The last pathway three is the adult learning center, at Dickerson High School and also at Ferris High School, we have 83 students ELA and 81 students in math. So this final pathway is called the portfolio process.
In our district, we refer to it as RASA. And currently, they're seniors in Dickerson, Ferris, Snyder, Lincoln Liberty, Innovation, Renaissance, and Adult Evening who are not graduation ready because they did not pass the test on both attempts or they don't have the second pathway. Right now, they're working in the schools with their teachers either in sat on Saturdays or after school, and they have to go through the portfolio process. The ELA and the math supervisors from the curriculum and instruction department work with the
teachers and the testing coordinators in the high school to make sure that these portfolios are completed and submitted to the state. We have until May 3 to submit all of the portfolios for any student or any senior who has not completed the portfolio by May 3. We also have another option for them. They can attend summer school and go through the portfolio process at that time. It should be noted that we never had any senior who did not graduate because
they didn't reach their testing requirements. I'm going to repeat that. We haven't had any senior in the last few years who have not graduated due to the fact that they didn't pass the test or through pathway one, pathway two, or pathway three. For the portfolio process, the students have to do it in either ELA and math in both, and it's constructive responses. And in mathematics, there's reasoning tasks, modeling tasks.
It's up there that you can take a minute to read. And it should be noted that when we talk about the pathways it's very important because each district must report to the state the pathway that led this senior to graduation. So we, Infinite Campus there's a drop down menu that will have pathway one, pathway two, pathway three and once this is done this is downloaded to NGA homeroom, so the state knows how each of our seniors passed our testing graduation. Thank you.
Any questions? I have one. The portfolio appeals process, you said you uploaded to the state. So the state is grading the student's portfolio, or is it the the teachers? Oh, thank you for that question. No. We grade it in the district. What happens is in order to have an objective process, the teachers in each of the schools, in the after school program and the Saturday programs, they guide the students through this. Once their portfolio is finished, it's collected. And through the supervisors, they give it to readers who are other teachers in the district,
not in the school the student has come from. They read it, they grade it, and then they send it back. And if the score doesn't seem like it's going to be a satisfactory one, the students have the opportunity to do it again. Once that's done, the the submissions are done electronically. They're submitted by Patrick Bender, our supervisor of testing and assessments. He is the one who sends it down to the state electronically. However, at the school level, we have to keep copies of this for our records. Thank you for that question.
To the chair? Yes. Miss Rowan, you mentioned that, Infinity McNair specifically have all their students who are not included in this in this data, and then innovation is proficient in ELA in the latter part of the testing window. I am interested to know, do we know specifically, out of the whole numbers that you presented and the percentages that you gave us, what is the breakdown for the other schools of that number? So if a thousand, how many fall into each category in each school, and what would that percentage look like? Do we have that information?
I have that information that I can share. You also I I did mention that Liberty High School also is graduation ready as a result of the second pathway. So right now And Liberty would be proficient in both math and ELA. Just ELA. Yeah. They had two students that have to take are currently going through the portfolio process for math. So right now in the area of, language arts, we have in our different high schools, we have 78 at Dickerson High School
who have already already considered graduation ready. We have 84 this is in ELA. Eighty four percent of our students at Lincoln, eighty three percent of our students at Snyder, and 65% of our students at Ferris High School. Now these percent percentages that you're providing, are they greater students who are proficient versus those who are not? Are there more proficient students than those who are not proficient? No. These are in in the area of ELA, more. And math? Less. Okay.
In in math, we have, most of our schools are at the mid fifties and below in the area of mathematics. And the schools just one last question. The schools who are pro predominantly, showing nonproficiency, are these our schools in comprehensive status? Yes. Thank you. One thing I did wanna mention, it was on the slide before. In the fall administration at Snyder High School, fifty seven percent fifty seven point four percent of their tested seniors, were graduation ready as a result of taking the test,
which is a nice number. Any other questions? Thank you so much for that very thorough and quick, presentation. Yes. We like to the point. Thank you, President Velasquez. At this time, all my presentations are finished. Thank you so much. And you're welcome. So you you don't that's your report for us? That's it. That's your report. Okay. Actually, I'd like to hear from, the board members if they have any comments with regards. I know we should have done it, while the students were here, but I know,
especially, Doctor. Tisdale, you said that you wanted to speak, on the performance of the students. We'll pretend you're all still sitting in the audience. They can always watch this. Right. Okay. So I did have a few things to say about, the performances. Shall I just make one yeah, we'll go with that first. So I thought that, first of all, the Jersey City arts program, you know, when they came up, the harmony is just outstanding, I just wanted to say. And the young lady who sang the star and spring of banner, Oh. The she was just phenomenal. I think the control in the voice was excellent.
You could hear that she has that built out quality, but, you know, the teacher definitely is working with them and ensuring that they're controlling what it is that is going on and how to maintain. So that's excellent. I thought that the young lady from Lincoln High School, Ms. Mimi, did an outstanding job. One of the things I was most impressed with was the tone in which she delivered the poem in. Tone is very important. I noticed her ELA teacher also, miss Robinson, I believe it was, trying to hide in the background when she was being recognized at the podium.
But I wanted to say to her also, ELA teachers are are very important. We're the ones, or you're the ones, who I should say allow students an opportunity to be free in the classroom, to find their voice, to really dive deep into the text, and to see things from different perspectives. Impression speech by Martin Luther King was also a little on the impressive side. Martin Luther King's speeches, if you studied any of them and or have read them, they are really long. Long. And so for her to be able to remember the words and to, you know,
deliver it in that capacity, I thought it was excellent. Another thing that stood out about her to me was, I knew as soon as I saw her stand up there, and I recognized her name, she placed in the science fair, and I had the privilege of judging her project. And I remembered I was writing it down. I didn't remember exactly what it was, but I knew it had to do with reducing some sort of, waste with mushrooms. So this young lady is definitely going places. And the other young people that came up and did their performance, you gave it a good go, and we appreciate that. So thank you.
That's what I had to say. Anyone else? Yes, Trustee Tia. I wanted to say the same thing about Mamie's poem because it was extremely raw. It's very difficult to get up here and to deliver a piece that can be a little bit controversial. And she got up there and delivered again. The way that she delivered it was the most important part because you could hear the sarcasm coming out. And her ELA teacher, miss Robinson, if you get the chance to go to her classroom, it's amazing. Every book, she's going to make sure not do only do they understand the vocabulary,
but how to break it down. Annotation is huge. She has an amazing classroom, so I know her students are in great hands. Same thing for miss Shaw. When she got to the inflection in her voice to talk about the Langston Humes, like, Langston Hughes poem, life isn't a crystal stair, just chef's kiss. So amazing students and, truly enjoyed the the work that they presented for us. True chair. Yes, doctor. It's it's very difficult to get on stage and do this kind of stuff. Exactly. You know? So when those young people did that,
I know what it takes. Even some professionals can't can't do it like that. And so I just want to say that I'm very pleased to be a part of a district that produces this type of talent. Thank you, Donna. Thank you. Thank you. It's great working with a board that supports these events. Every month, you approve action forms for extra compensation for this project, that project. And this is what. It's really finding giving the students an opportunity to show their voice,
to find their niche, whatever it is that really makes them happy, and so they could follow their dreams and reach their fullest potential. So Yes. Thank you. It's it's a team effort. Yes. There is no I in team. It is a team, all of us. Yes. Trustee of five. A very well put together team and, very student focused. I it's I'm I'm gonna piggyback over what you said with self expression. It might be a student that's up there that might not even be interested in seeing, but they were able to show their, you know,
their work and show what the teacher has taught them, even to give them the confidence to stand up there and perform in front of us. Like, we're like I know. Right? So, you know, it's like, are you enjoying it? So they had me dancing. I'm always dancing with the music that's that's, is performing, especially, mister Splonder. When I love to see mister Splonder, mister Hernandez with their magic, working with the students. I was at the Christmas, at Saint I think Saint Paul's church when they did the Christmas show, and mister Splonder had me in tears. It's not easy to make me it's easy to make me cry, but if that performance,
he had the, the the performance in the audience. So we're just sitting there and he's, like, looking through the audience and he points out the person behind me. And I thought he was talking to me and I'm like, I don't know how to stop singing. But, you know, they started doing this, beautiful performance, and it just was very breathtaking. Just seeing their work and just seeing hearing the the outcomes of their work is beautiful. And, the poetry was awesome tonight. And I liked hearing the young lady talk do the Martin Luther King speech. I think that we should have more of that, Martin Luther King speeches and the speeches from the civil rights era Right.
Among the children because they need to understand the struggle, the real struggle that gave us the freedoms that we're here actually sitting in these buildings right now. Thank you. Trustee Morris? Great job. Thank you. Trustee Patel? I enjoyed all the performances, and I agree. You know, these children, they need to be commended for the hard work. And it shows that to the community, this is what we produce, you know, at Jersey City Public Schools and it's an amazing job. So thank you to all the students performing and as well as the instructors training
them. Thank you. Yes. Trustee Matt. I can't add a whole lot to what has already been said, but I do thank, all the performers. And it was it was amazing to see. And, wow, the talent is is phenomenal. Also, thank you to the administration, the teachers, everyone who's put the time and effort to to bring it to to this and should be able to share it with us. Thank you. Thank you for your words. And, oh, she's not here. In closing with this part, I I I have to say, first of all, we all, I guess, know by heart, the, I have a dream,
speech, but we have not, some have not read all of Martin Luther King's speeches and they are so to the point. And many of them are very, very important even today, to this day. With everything that's going on in the world and in our country, we should look at Martin Luther King's, different essays and teach it to our students. So I'm glad that that school, that teacher stepped out of the box and went beyond I have a dream.
But all in all, I think that this was just as powerful as the Super Bowl halftime. Yes. It was. Anyways, thank you so much to everybody. Let's move on with the rest of our, agenda. I think we're ready to take, to go, have our oh, okay. I'm sorry. We're gonna have public comments before? Okay. The next thing on the agenda is public comments. Public comments. Go ahead. Okay. I'm gonna read the public comment statement. This is, for public comment on agenda items. 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 focused to the the chair. It is the expectation of the board that comments will remain positive and focused around the best interest of the 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 statement or comment when it is too lengthy, b, interrupt and or warn a participant when the statement or comment is abusive,
obscene, or may be defamatory, c, request any person to 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 or 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 the 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. Okay. Here we only have one more session. On Zoom. Miss Harold? Hello? Yes. Good evening. Are you here? Good evening. You are on for public comment. You have three minutes. Okay. Good evening, Superintendent Fernandez, board president and trustees. I just want to just say that this evening's, program with the children was amazing. The teachers and the students did a wonderful job, presenting this month, to highlight the black history.
And I just wanna say thank you for a wonderful performance to the children. Today I would like to, just briefly discuss, 12.12 maintenance number two. This particular position, I'm curious to know why is there a TBD to be determined for a salary. That is not being transparent because once you guys vote on this we can put anybody can plug in any amount of money into this salary.
So I don't I personally feel that it's not appropriate to put something on the agenda unless it's fully prepared to be put on the agenda with the full salary included. And also, there was this position budgeted for, I mean, if I recall, this particular title was removed back in 2018 when they had the mass layoffs. I believe this title belonged to a mister O'Reilly at the time and that they abolished this title and when they laid everyone off. So are you guys bringing this title back into the district?
One. And two, has it been budgeted for? How are you paying for this particular title? And three, what is the salary that's going to be attached to this particular title? When I go back into the previous board docs, I do see that at the time 2018 that the salary for this position was $134,222 will that be the salary or and what was the salary that was posted on the,
on the job spec when it was posted for, the employees to apply? So if there was a salary attached to that, why isn't that salary being attached to the actual hiring and promotion of the individual? Is it possible that we can get some clarification this evening before you guys vote? Once again, great job, young people. Have a great rest of your evening. Thank you. Thank you, miss Harrell. No, you didn't. You're on the other public comment? It's she's here under general.
Yeah. Under general comments. We have two separate public comments at this time. This is only public comments. On agenda items. On agenda items. I'm sorry. It's on agenda items? Okay. Okay. Okay. Please go ahead. We can't hear you. I'm sorry. Go to the Oh, thank you. What item is that? She's speaking the mic now. I know I can't hear her. Are you asking Miss Perry I'm sorry. Miss Perry, we can't hear you. I'm sorry. I said I have a leave in twelve and under suspension number two.
And I'll speak it on one line. Alright. Yeah. It's called 12.9. Okay. And then under suspensions two, that's me. Thank you. And I wanna click on 12:08 appointments, and under clerical number one. So I gave you all a couple of pieces of paper. Please hold the time a minute. You haven't started. You're giving us the items that you're going to speak on. Right? Yes. Okay. Thank you. You ready? Yes. Alright. I'll start with 12:09, my suspension. Okay. Last month, you voted to give me four day suspension for lateness.
I served it. Now, you're voting to give me five more days of suspension for further latenesses. For ten more latenesses after that. Those latenesses probably totaled maybe, think I should be serving you guys nine days or, forty something fifty hours, my time is salary for latencies. But I asked during this process for a SOP. There was none. So I gave you all this is the closest thing I found in your language that can express whether or not somebody has to pay.
And this was found in the, sign in book, but it was for There's nothing that's in my contract. There's nothing anywhere according to the hearing people, Stephen Schwartz and Edwin and whatever, for how do you take fast because I know you're gonna tell me. So this is district policy for attendance. It's 4 2 1 2. And y'all to table this, go over this information. On this, twelve point o eight. Haley Jones. She's a per diem clerk. I interviewed for that position for one. My contract says,
if the two people are equal, then the person with the, seniority should get the position. But you guys have so much animosity and hatred towards me, for speaking out as a person that just doesn't like injustice. Matter how many times I come here and have to deal with you all, you have to deal with me. Y'all come at me with these kind of, things. I'm I'm asking y'all to pay attention when y'all talk about me and the clothes draw. Ask why would somebody have to pay? -Right. -Seven hours, sixty three hours, for whatever amount of time you think I gave up in being a divorce.
-That's why I was so naive to do. -And then, one in the law department over a per diem. And I've been in this district since 02/2007. You demoted me in August. And the last one I gave you, zero one three three. It's still asking y'all to sit down and adjudicate the situation where Doctor Fernandez put me under investigation in May of twenty twenty three. And here we now in February of twenty twenty five, the investigation has never been concluded. There are no notes on it. I'm still being punished.
And now I wanna know how do I get an answer. The only ones that can answer that is the board members. Thank you. Motion. Miss McKenzie, is there anyone else? No. Okay. Thank you. Motion. Thank you, miss Perry. Now we're going to, go I'm sorry. You want to speak? About about the speaker's comments? Cannot discuss personnel. It's gonna be in closeness. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Now we will, go to closed session. So first of all, we're going to do ninety minutes. Yes. Stop
it. Ninety minutes. So, motion. Please. We I need a motion. Motion. Motion from okay. Mister Morris. Second from miss Patel. Press Roll call. Okay. Pursuant to open the open public meeting deck, NJSA ten colon four dash 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 or more of the following to protect the confidentiality of individual privacy rights or
a matter involving the lease or acquisition of property or pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiations. The matters discussed in this closed session can be made public at the time that the need for confidentiality for, no longer exists. We will be it is 07:58. We have scheduled ninety minutes. All in favor to go into closed session. We'll be back. Okay. Ninety minutes. Okay. We are returning. The meeting was, closed at 09:30. And I will now take a roll call.
Trustee Blunt? Here. Trustee Ioffe? Trustee Morris? Is she dead on the phone? Present. Trustee Mohammed? Present. Trustee Patel? Present. Trustee Resballa? Present. Trustee Schneider? Here. Vice president Sissel? Yeah. I'm here. President Velasquez? Here. We have a quorum. Thank you. Okay. If I have, please a motion for adoption of the minutes for the regular meeting of January 22. Motion. Second. Second. Okay. Motion by trustee. Okay.
Move. Any comments, questions, concerns? Okay. Let's vote. Trustee Blank? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Rosabella? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Vice President Tissot? Yes. President Villescaz? Yes. Motion passed. Thank you. Education programs, eight. Motion. Motion. Second. Okay. Motion by trustee Morris, second by trustee Blunt. Questions? Discussion? None? Vote. Trustee Schneider?
Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Rezavela? Yes. Trustee Blank? Yes. Vice President Tisdale? Yes. President Velasquez? Yes. Motion. Thank you. Motion. The nine special ed. Motion. Moved by trustee Second. Second by trustee Mohammed. Discussion? Question? None? Vote. Call the roll. Trustee Reza Bala? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Trustee Mohammed?
Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Vice President Tisdale? Yes. President Velasquez? Yes. Motion passed. Thank you. The tenth, finance motion. Trustee Morris. He should just put his name in my mouth. It. Second? Just tell. Discussion? None? Call to vote. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Rosabella? Yes. Trustee Blair? Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Vice President Tisdale? I'm abstaining on 01/2003 and 01/2004.
I'm gonna vote yes to the rest. Thank you. And President Velasquez? Yes. Okay. Motion passed. Thank you. 11 facilities. Trustee Morris moved second. Trustee Patel. Discussion? None? Let call the vote, please. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Yes. Trustee Reza Bala? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Blair? What's this for? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Vice president Tisdale? I'm voting yes, but I wanna abstain on abstention on suspensions,
and for reasons I've already noted. Where where are you? Yes. For facilities. Okay. President Velasquez. Yes. Most have passed. Okay, now in personnel, do we have to, I'm sorry, do we have to address that issue now? Go ahead, please. Thank you. So, I recommend that the board make a motion to amend 12.12 to reflect that item number two under maintenance regarding Gerry Henderson be modified to replace,
in the salary line where it says 110,087 plus $5,250 to TBD. To reflect the TBD would be replaced with $151,000 Final. And that's the final and capped amount. Is the motion to the replacement or So there'll be two actions. One, to amend the agenda as I stated. So you need a motion to amend as I stated, you don't have to restate it because it's on the record. Right. And then get a second discussion and vote on it.
And then once it's amended, you can vote on the twelves as amended. Madam president, I make a motion to adopt or to, amend this what was already stated by the board attorney Yes. So that we might be able to apply it, to the person So the the amendment to 12.12. Yes. Yes. And second by trustee Blunt. I'm sorry. Any discussion on that? Very none? Okay. Now we're going to have a motion on the twelves. We need to vote on you're gonna vote. You vote on the amendment to to add it.
Thanks. I I actually have a conversation. Did we did we move to next? I just wanna say, madam is it madam president? I I just wanna, thank the, it's important that we, take into consideration all aspects. And, you know, I just want to thank you thank the public for holding us accountable and making us look at that a little bit more closely. That's about it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Any other discussion? Comment? Okay. Call vote. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Rosabella? Yes. Trustee Blank? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Schneider?
Yes. Vice President Tisdale? Yes. With an abstention on 12:09 No. We didn't think you're not voting on that. Oh, yes. Okay. President Velasquez. Yes. So back, motion passed. Motion. Okay. Now, we'll take a motion under 12 personnel. Motion. Motion by Trustee Morris, second by Trustee Patel. Any discussion? Questions? Madam President? Yes. I just think that, you know, in regards to the personnel section, you know, I think that the employees of the Board of Education need to be mindful,
that the trustees, we we take this portion very seriously and we do, go through each section. And the constant reminder of the personnel idols, and the constant, unnecessary complaints, At the end of the day, if it's coming before the Board, we are ultimately the ones that are going to make the decision. But to come and berate or make examples out of whomever in administration that you think, you know, you can do a cheap shot, It doesn't help the process. So my, recommendation to the public is to,
relax when it comes before the board, because ultimately it is our decision, on what it is that we're going to do personnel wise. And so, therefore, we are the ones that will be making that decision in closed session and then ultimately voting when we get up here. So just chill. Thank you. I concur. Any other discussion? So call the vote, please. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes and all. Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Rezavelo? Yes. Vice president, his My vote is the same as the first three times.
Thank you. Which was Which was What was that? I'm sorry. I've been standing on suspensions for reasons I've already stated thousands of times. And I'm going to vote yes to the rest. Thank you. President Velasquez. Yes and no. Motion passed. Thank you. Legal? Motion. Second. Motion by trustee, Morris and second by trustee Blunt. Discussion? To the chair? Yes. I would like to have a little more information on 13 o four, the increase to our legal, expenses. Just a little more clarity on what's happening there.
Can you The, the increase that you see there, doctor Schneider and and fellow trustees, is for our, labor council, the board's labor council, Adams, Latta Boudaire, Crut, and Herman. This year, especially because of a significant tenure case, the details of which I cannot discuss in public, resulted in the increase in legal fees as well as other personnel matters. At the beginning of the fiscal year, those are always difficult to forecast,
but it is really due to an increase in investigations and litigation involving various personnel matters. Thank you. So, it's not something we would expect necessarily to repeat unless more extraordinary circumstances. Correct. Okay. Thank you. Any other question? Call the vote, please. Trustee Rezavela? Yes. Trustee Schneider? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes on 1301, yes on 1302, yes on 1303, no on 1304.
Trustee Patel? Yes. Vice President is due. No to 1304, yes to the other three. And President Velasquez. Yes to all. Motion passed. Okay. Policy machines. Wait. I just had a question for mister Pritzker. Mister Pritzker, do we have to Should we that day to Do we have the second meeting? Are you going to say anything on that? I think president of Alaska's trustee addressed that in her committee report, so I really don't have anything to add further. Okay. Thank you. So,
I'll take a motion. Motion. Motion, trustee Morris second. Trustee Blunt. Discussion? Very none. Oh, I'm sorry. There is a discussion. To to the chair. Yes, trustee. For the cooperation with law enforcement agencies, what changes were made? Says cooperation policy nine three two zero. It says cooperation policy 9320. So we're updating it. Is it just word tweaks? Is there not a not like a a large change, just what's the change? 4291. 90 3 20. Through the chair. Trustee,
Resabella, if you look at the only significant change to this policy is under, section b, 17, and you'll see that that language is highlighted in bold, and that was the only, significant change. And that provision reads as follows. The superintendent or designee shall designate a point of contact for each school building who shall be responsible receive for receiving all, quote, handle with care, close quote, notices for students enrolled in that school building and for disseminating the notices to the
appropriate school staff in accordance with the New Jersey attorney general directive twenty twenty dash o nine and the MOA. And that the MOA refers to the memorandum of agreement between the school district and local, and county law enforcement authorities. And handle with care notices are notices that we receive from outside the district from, law enforcement indicating to us that students, may have been involved in some dangerous activity or exposed to some dangerous activity or
some type of trauma. So they're advising us so that we may address that with our students and their families. So b 12 where it is crossed out with a red line that says this subchapter as it pertains to this NJAC, that is not a current change. Only the bold that is listed at 17 is a change, but not that, cross out through this subchapter, b 12. Yeah. B 12, again, the bold, it's just a slight change in terms of a reference to the New Jersey administrative
code, the state department of, state department of education regulations. The strikeout would be an elimination of doctor Fernandez referred to. The substantive changes that, as I mentioned at paragraph 17. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. K. Thank you. Any other question? Call the vote, please. Trustee Mars. Trustee Patel. Yes. Trustee Schneider. Yes. Yes. Trustee Rosabella? Yes. Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Vice president Tisdale? Yes. President Velasquez? Yes. Just a point of clarification that the meeting,
that we're voting for, is not going to start next month because we need to be here on Wednesday to vote for the budget. So it'll start in in April. Right, doctor Luce? To the chair? Uh-huh. What was that? I don't under what what were you saying? I I don't know clear what you were saying. Okay. We we didn't we didn't we need clarity on what you were saying. We we didn't get it. Okay. We voted for the changes of the meeting. That was one of the policies. This was the second, reading. And what I'm saying is that
we will start at 05:30 next month, but it's not gonna be on a Thursday as we, requested. It's gonna still be on a Wednesday, that particular meeting, only because that very day, the budget has to be submitted. Right? Correct. That is the day of the budget submission. March 19. I'm sorry? March 19 is the date. Nineteenth. So we don't want to lose that time. However, this policy will then madam chair. Through through the chair.
I thought we were voting to start the meeting at 05:30, not anything about a change of day. Correct. And the change. I concur. I don't I didn't know anything about changing Can I clarify, please? So, the policy changes did not change the day of the meeting, whether it's a Wednesday or a Thursday. Just change the timing and some other things that we had spent time on. If we do plan to change the dates of the meetings, from Wednesday remaining meetings. And my recommendation is we do that at in the March meeting going forward because
we need to preserve the March Wednesday meeting to meet the budget. Madam chair, I just what's the relevance of moving the meeting from Wednesday to Thursday? I I I think I I've, asked time and time again that on Wednesdays, that particular Wednesday, and, like, even tonight, I have a national meeting that I chair. Okay? For the past, few months, I've had the vice chair, take care of the meeting, but I either have to come give a closure or I have to step down. I would rather not step down from my national meeting.
I would appreciate if in the next, if next month, we would consider the resolution for Thursday. So and believe me, I'm Go ahead. I I call I would like to cause trouble with some other issues, but not this one. Okay. But I do have a question. So what if other trustees schedule does not permit for Thursday? Well, can we discuss this, because the resolution we voted as is. But I'm saying, can we then discuss that next I'm sorry. We voted the policy as is. Can we vote on the resolution then next month?
Well, I think it deserves It'll be I will present the resolution. You could vote it up or down. That's every that's everybody's right. Okay? No. I mean, I understand your rationale, but I'm just you know, and you're the chair. But I just wanna be clear Mhmm. That we're not switching a meeting just for the luxury of your schedule. No. It's not the luxury of my schedule. Let's make this clear. When you change the meeting, it was Thursdays, and we gave you the luxury of a schedule. I didn't do it because it because I thought I didn't do it because I
thought it was of my schedule. We're gonna move on, and we're gonna address this next month. Alright. But hold on a second. We're not gonna discuss this. Order. We brought Through the chair, I just wanna remind the board members. Let's allow one at a time. The board chair recognizes you. You speak. When that's done, then she has the floor, and you only speak when you're recognized so we don't interrupt each other and talk over each other. Thank you. So, again, it'll be presented next month. You have the right to vote it up or down, and that's it. Thank you.
Madam chair. And you also have the right to of this discussion then. Right now, it's not the resolution is not on the table. So we're gonna move on. Madam president? Okay. Madam president? Yes. Full transparency. Only reason why I'm in only reason why I'm bringing it up is because you brought it up. Yeah. You stated what you stated, so I'm I'm allowed to question it. Go ahead. And I wanted to know, basically and believe me, Thursday or Wednesday, but I just wanted to know that if it was in conflict with another trustee schedule with the same provisions we made,
let's not make any mistakes. When I change when I changed it last year, it wasn't because of my schedule. It was because we wanted to accommodate the workshop, and we also want to accommodate the, the actual meeting to not conflict to come to an equal meeting between Tuesday and Thursday, which is why we chose Wednesday. So just for clarification for the record Mhmm. You know, I don't want you to to state that I did it because it was because of my personal schedule. But you just stated on the record that the reason why you wanted to switch it to Thursday was because you chair a national committee Yes.
At which point you have a vice chair that's taking your place and it's in conflict with this meeting. But to argue that Mhmm. My question was, if another trustee had a problem with scheduling issues, would the same accommodations be made? And my answer is that the resolution will come, and you, each and every one of you, have the right to vote it up or down. And now we're going to move. Okay. Next So you're evading the question. Got it. Did we vote on on the policies? Yes. We did. So now we're voting, motion for a conference.
Motion. Motion, trustee Morris. Second, trustee Blunt. Call the vote. Trustee Blunt? Yes. Trustee Morris? Yes. Trustee Mohammed? Yes. Trustee Patel? Yes. Trustee Rosabella? Yes. Trustee Snyder? Yes. Vice president Tisdale? Yes. President Velasquez? Yes. Motion passed. Thank you. Okay. Now we're going to, move to public comments. And we have how many people? I have two Two. In person and one Zoom, but I don't see them on the Zoom right now.
Okay. You may call them. You have to reread Read the statement again. Yes. Okay. The public comment statement is as follows. 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. If 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 proceed as as harassing, insulting, insulting,
threatening, or lacking in respect of civility. The chair reserves the right to a, interrupt, warn, and or terminate a participant statement when the comment is too lengthy, b, interrupt and or warn a part in the statement or comment is abusive seen or maybe defamatory, c, request any person to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum or presents himself 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 or 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 the 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. First speaker is Cheryl Mays. Good evening, all. Okay. Thank you, miss McKenzie, for last month because I really don't know what happened. And then in December, I was in the waiting room, like, three hours, but that's cool. Anyway well, once again, argument agreements are being breached. This district continues to put out directives to violate labor and EEOC laws.
For example, you continue to break the earned sick leave in the Americans with Disability Act, and trust that can be proven. And I'm dying to see if you all are going to let someone finesse you into believing that these laws don't apply to the district. Every pay period, this district fails to pay the so called essential employees' earned overtime wages on time. Although article seven of two two six two's contract clearly states that if for any reason, that's any reason, any employee is not paid on time, the district has five days to cut them a check.
Five days, a supplemental payroll can be run with no problem. Miss Robinson did it all the time. Employer purposely hold an employee's wages when clearly the funds are already in the budget, but maybe that's a complaint for somebody outside. If you board officials aren't going to make sure employees' wages are paid on time, then you shouldn't question city and state officials about monies owed to the district. That's the epitome of hypocrisy. Now, most of you know that before I had a title, I was I advocated for employees. And as long as they call me,
I will be of service to them because, unfortunately, their vote was usurped. And y'all know what usurped means. It's sad, but not one bit surprising that in 2024, I sat through a kangaroo court and then was publicly lynched because there was absolutely zero evidence to support the charges filed against me that led to me being unjustly expelled from the union. Trust, it wasn't about my membership. It was about my title. Now we suspect the district had a hand in this because miss Paulette Bankston, a union official, told us that the board had issues with Ms.
Jenkins, I'm sorry, with President Jenkins following protocol, whatever that means in this district. Sounds like collusion to me. Why would the district officials reach out to the union? Dismantled due to fear, because we wouldn't bow down and be look good little yes people. Now, Council sixty three has come in and handpicked really nice tight lipped well behaved black folk who are allowed to access any floor at central office without prior notice. But me but miss Jenkins and I, and I'm pretty sure some of you remember, needed an appointment.
That's not discriminatory, though. Right? But other people can run up there anytime they want to, but it's all good. I know I said I was done coming here. I know I said that, but somebody at 15 school requested that I address the situation. That's not what I'm here to do. But they did remind me that, no, this is what you do. Because I said, why me? They said, this is what you do. So then I said, well, you know what? You're absolutely right. Because as long as evil is playing in the playground, then the justice seekers will have no peace. But trust. It's okay because in the end,
it's God's Thank you very much. Not me. And If you can't celebrate King Thank you. Live by what he lives by. Turn off that mic. The next person is Jennifer Roski. That's the only two people that I have and, Robin Henning was supposed to be on Zoom. No Zoom? I don't see her on Zoom. Okay. Does anyone have any comments? Madam chair? Yes, sir. Alright. So, I just wanted to just address this a little bit further. I don't have a problem with the meeting being switched to Thursday or it's staying
on Wednesday. But what my problem is is that Yes. You stated that you have a vice chair for the other committee that you sit on, and that person has been holding. But you for this committee, you also have a vice chair, a vice president. So if when we further discuss it discuss it, we find that a collective of trustees have a problem with it being on Thursday, would it be a problem for you to alternate your two titles? Discuss that next month. I'm sorry. Isn't this my time? It's but we're going over the same thing we just did. Okay? I understand.
I But you asked if there's anybody that you asked if it might have going to answer your question today. I didn't ask you a question. I'm making a statement. And I believe you said, is there anybody that had something that they wanted to say? So this is what I would like to say. You may not like it, but I'm gonna say it. So, again, I'm not being combative with you. I'm just basically saying well, that's your opinion. But at the end of the day, you can't switch a meeting just for your own personal Just to move on. Motion to adjourn. No. One second. I'll before I'm sorry. I'm still One second.
He let him finish his comment. And I have something I wanna say too. Okay. But I mean, you can't just end the meeting because you don't like what's being said. No. That's I'm not. Because you said here and had a full speech discuss it next and ran the meeting all the way down. Now I'm talking you want a motion to adjourn? Yeah. It doesn't work that way. Because the chair I'm gonna finish. I'm gonna there's a motion to adjourn. If it doesn't get a second, then it fails, and you can continue the open discussion. Even while I was talking? Yes. There's no second, so that motion fails.
Now you can continue. Alright. Again, you can't change a meeting day just because it doesn't fit your personal, time frame. If the board collectively if the board collectively can agree to switch the day based on a personal meeting that you have going on, you can't do that based on what you wanna do. It has to be a collective gonna move on. People wanna leave. Thank you very much. To the chair. Yes. I just wanna say, thanks for having me this evening. Tomorrow is my birthday, and so is doctor Luce's birthday. Oh, and miss Gina Verde Bello,
who sat on the board a while ago. And so happy birthday to us all. It's your birthday. And, have an amazing day. Madam chair, I have a motion to adjourn. I have actually something else that I would like to add. I have something else that I would like to add. Motion. Second. Yeah, I have a discussion. I have a discussion. Okay. Anybody gonna second that motion? They did. Now it's discussion. Okay. On the motion to adjourn. On the motion to adjourn. Why are we doing a motion to adjourn while I'm trying to Because the meeting because our discussions are over. But I had something unrelated to what I was talking about.
Call roll. We are moving. Thank you, madam president. You're welcome. You're doing an amazing job. I know. You are. Okay. Let's call the roll. Call the roll. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Aye. The ayes have it.