Okay. Good evening everybody. Today is the regular meeting for the Kennalan Education School Board of May 20th, 2025. The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public
bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provision of the act, the Kennelan Board of Education has caused notice of the meeting to be published in the suburban trends on January 19th, 2025, posted in the Kennelon Public Library, filed with
Burough Clerk, and posted it on the district website. Miss Francisco, will you uh roll call the board, please? Mrs. Leonard, Mr. Meyers, Mrs. Pella, here, Mr. Pepe, Mrs. Portman, Mr. Eisenanger, Mrs. Donaldson
here. No closed sessions needed. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. Okay. Routine matters. Approval of the minutes for the April 29th, 2025 regular meeting. Can I have a motion to approve? Motion. Second. Uh, any questions or
discussion on them? Anyone? No. Okay. Seeing none, please pull the board. Miss Francisco. Sure. Mr. Myers. Yes. Mela. Yes, Mrs. Portman. Yes, Miss Donelsson. Yes. All right, student representative
Saloney. Hi all. So, I'd just like to share some accomplishments of the students from the halls of Kilan Public Schools. So, we'll start off with Kil Cisco. Thank you to all of our students and families for attending our annual Kil Cisco night
show last night, May 19th. It was so nice to see all of the families, including older siblings, return to KE to admire student artwork and accomplishments this school year. Thank you to Mrs. Sonagato for coordinating the art show and Kesha for running the book fair for the duration of the
program. We are also looking forward to a special swim safety presentation on Thursday morning for all KE Cisco students just in time for Memorial Day weekend, which is being donated by the Goldfish Swim School. Next, we are also very excited for our upcoming spring
concerts with the overarching theme, Hello Summer. Our concerts begin next Wednesday, May 28th at 10:00 a.m. KE Cisco will also be hosting a paint with a special someone event next Thursday, May 29th for a sec for second grade
students in commemoration of their years at Keel School. Thank you, Kesha, for coordinating this program. Also, our annual field day is scheduled for June 6th during the school day. It is going to be a blast as usual. Second grade move up day with the visit to Stonybrook
in the morning and afternoon celebration at Keel School will take place on Monday, June June 9th. And lastly, on behalf of Kil Cisco, we wish everyone a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and end of the school year season ahead. Moving on to Stonybrook. May has been a busy
month at Stony Brook School. On May 1st, Stony Brook School participated in a new flag raising ceremony. Our new flag was purchased by our Stony Brook Student Council. Thank you to Mrs. West for working with their students to make this a wonderful ceremony. Then on May 3rd,
our Stony Brook Student Council held their annual car wash. They raised $1,000. Thank you to our families and to the Klan community for supporting this event. During the week of May 5th, Stony Brook recognized Teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you to all of our dedicated
staff members for all that they do. It was a week of wonderful surprises for our teacher. One being a staff lunchon provided by Kesha. Thank you to the Cedar Crest retired educators who recognized our Stony Brook staff during teacher appreciation week. Next on May
7th, the PRM coaches and Mrs. Whitwear visited with our fifth grade students. They spoke to them about all the wonderful intramural sports and activities that are available to them as they prepare to enter PRM in September. Our second K to5 Skate 9 was held on May
8th and it was a huge success. Thank you to our Kil Cisco and Stony Brook families who attended. Also, congratulations to our fourth grade goal students who earned third place honorable mention at the New Jersey State Law Fair. All of our goal students
attended the law fair to watch them present on May 13th. On May 15th, our second to fifth grade goal students showcased their work that they have been working on throughout the school year. Thank you to all of the families that attended. The students did an amazing
job. Our fifth grade end of the year dance was held on May 16th. Our students had a wonderful evening. Thank you to Kesha and our dance committee for making the evening so special for our students. Moving on, on Saturday, May 17th, troop
98342 spent the morning revitalizing the Stony Brook Garden. The girls used this project to complete their Brownie Quest journey. The Stony Brook Art Show was then held on May 19th. Thank you to Mrs. Scully for a wonderful show and to all of our families that attended. Our
fourth grade students also had the opportunity to write a poem about the Memorial Day holiday and what it means to them. And then on May 21st, five students will be sharing their poems at Cedar Crest during a Memorial Day ceremony. Congratulations to Marissa G,
Bode S. Kevin S, Sylum O, and Leo D. We are proud of all of our students that entered the poetry contest. Next, our Stony Brook Field Day will be held on May 30th. And lastly, wishing all of our Stony Brook staff, students, and families a happy Memorial Day. Enjoy the
long weekend. Okay, halfway there. Moving on to PRM. The eighth grade class photo was taken on May 7th, and individual graduation photos have also been taken. We thank Mrs. Marcheso for taking the individual photos and the HSA for
providing volunteer assistance. Our students had an amazing time on the eighth grade field trip to Gettysburg and Philadelphia. We saw many interesting sites and learned a lot. There was also very fun times at Dave Fosters and on the lunch crews on the Delaware River. The orientation meeting
for parents of next year's sixth grade class was held on May 13th. A recording of the session is posted on the PRM website. We would also like to thank the PRM HSA for a delicious teach delicious teacher appreciation lunchon on May
15th. Next, Mrs. Nassau's eighth grade science research students show their projects at the annual science expo last week. The students did an outstanding job of researching and presenting their self- selected topics. We thank Miss Nasso for all of her work with the students throughout the year and Mrs.
Betaglia and Mrs. Kowalsski for all of the support that they provided. PRM's field day took place this past Friday. Although the weather caused us to move inside for the second half of the day, it didn't diminish the fun at all. We thank our PE teachers for all of their
work in planning and implementing the field day and the PRM HSA for all the support that they provided. Also, our spring concert season is underway. We began with a wonderful chorus concert yesterday evening and we're we're looking forward to the performances by
our honor groups on Wednesday and our bands on Thursday. Also, our eighth grade students will be visiting Kennelon High School this week. They will participate in Shadow Day tomorrow during which they will be able to experience a day of classes that match their interests at
KHS. On Thursday, they will go to KHS in the afternoon for flex day, which will allow them to participate in a variety of activities that promote social and emotional learning, and it will have them interacting with other KHS students. We thank the administration and staff at KHS for making this
possible for our students. A letter was recently emailed to all 8th grade parents about details for the eighth grade promotion ceremony on Thursday, June 12th. The letter is also posted on the PRM website. We're looking forward to celebrating the culmination of our
students middle school careers with our PRM families in June. Lastly, course projections for PRM students for next year are now available in the real time parent portal. A letter about this was emailed to parents this morning. Moving
on to KHS, Dylan Gingold was selected as one of the top nine recipients for the 2025 Morris County Unsung Heroes Award for his commitment to volunteerism and helping others. Also, KHS had had 100% of students earn
the seal of biiteracy in our core languages that includes Latin, French and Spanish. And they also had in additional students earned the seal in Hindi and Russian. Also, the KHS allied health students hosted a community health fair. 14 health organizations
from the surrounding area attended and students presented their research projects making for an interactive hands-on learning environment. In addition, KHS staff re received Narcan training from Hope One. Both KHS nominees of the New Jersey Governor's
School, Salon Mal and Zachary Kesler have been chosen as New Jerseys Governor School Scholars this year. Salon has been selected for the New Jersey Governor's School and the Sciences program which will be held at Drew University this summer and Zachary will represent KHS of Ruckers University in
their NJ governor school program in engineering and technology. Lastly, Kennelan High School and Pearl R Middle School student councils, administrations, and staff hosted the intergenerational prom. Close to 100 senior citizens from the community came
together with our middle school and high school students for an evening of dinner, dancing, trivia, prizes, student performances, and the crowning of a prom king and prom queen. Thank you. Thanks, Salony. It's a busy uh busy
month. Okay, Dave. Thank you, Salon. And and really I feel like every time we have a meeting that our student rep after they're done talking that I just want you to keep talking for me and we could just keep it going. Um and congratulations on your
your achievements and awards. And tonight's about our teachers and our staff recognition, but actually in a few short weeks on June 10th, that'll be all of our uh student end of year recognition. It'll be a big festive night and then also our spring sports. So there's a lot to come out to. Um, as
Salon mentioned, big thank you to, uh, Mr. Suda, Mr. Royo, Mr. Mangan, and Mrs. Joseph, along with at the high school, Mr. Ortega, uh, Mrs. the Stories, and then at PRM, um, Mrs. Keyser and Mrs. Foster for their help in the
intergenerational prom. It was the first time for our middle school students to be immersed. That's part of our goal with student retention to have them be more involved and actively engaged uh, with our shadow days and with the flex day that's coming this week. So, it's quite a bit. We did have a packed house
in here last night and um you know, last month with our uh our budget for 2526, we earmarked uh financials for an acoustic upgrade here that may include some lighting and such. So, continue to make those improvements. I know our track, our athletic office with Mrs.
Whitworth very happy. We had the final quotes for uh track and and the uh pole vault area and all different drainage projects. So little by little we continue to move forward and in our subcommittee as Mrs. Trumpet has shared she is on the docket tonight to become
the district AI coordinator. So between AI and the electronic devices all of that information like anything else that we do here would be vetted out over the summer to our subcommittee to the CAC committee and then also when we welcome back. So there's a lot happening. We're
in transition. It's just an exciting end of time and um with the snow days somehow we managed to gain two back. We are closed again just to remind everybody Friday and next Tuesday but that just shortens it right to right to the end to June 13th. So a lot will
happen fast. Um but a lot to be happy and proud of. So it's just you know a sprint to the end and then over the summer we we recharge and we'll put out all those communications. So, I don't want any anyone to think like they're offput or not. Everybody will have the information. And
um that was a lot. I didn't think I was going to say that much at one one spell, but okay. So, uh at this point, I'm going to stand up and then um we have our I believe our retirees are going to be up first and I believe Mr. Mongan and Mr. Suda are going to come come up with me. So, I'm going to move over and um
these are anytime we have recognition is always the best part of any of our meetings. So, I'm going to shut this mic off and Okay. So, like I shared, Mr. Manga and Mr. Suda both have staff here for tonight uh to recognize, and we do this every year with our retirements before
we go into our teacher of the year and ed specialist of the year. So, I'm going to turn it over. I don't know which one of you gentlemen are going to go first, but I'll get out of the way. Sure, we'll go down the list here. Um, looking at this list and the number of PRM names on there, I think I'm going to
be up here a while. Um, but all for very good reason because, you know, if you look at this, the amount of service up here, you know, the the contribution that these people have made to our school, to our community is really outstanding. So, let's start with
Shelley Battalia. Um, if you look at a map of our school building, the media center is the geographical center of the building. Okay. So, what if you look at the way Mrs.
Betaglia has run that media center, it is the heart of our building. We're talking about someone that worked handinhand with Miss Nassau on the science expo that just happened, helping those students in that project. We're talking about someone that took time to
sit in world language classes to learn languages so that she could support the work that was going on with those teachers and with those students. I could go on and on about what Mrs. Battalia has done and that is the commitment she has shown day in and day
out. And so uh we congratulate Mrs. Battalia on her 27 years of service and uh are incredibly grateful for the work she has done. Congratulations, Mrs. Battalia, on a retirement well- [Applause] earned. Valerie
Comprell, when first I came to PRM back in 2009, uh Mrs. Comprell was a science teacher and I'm sure many of you remember the outstanding work she did there. But even in that role, it was so obvious that Mrs. Comprell was just a
natural counselor. the care and concern she had for the students. The fact that you could point out any single student in her class any period of the day and she could tell you everything about that student, their interests, what worked for them, what challenges they faced,
but also what could be done to help them through that. Mrs. Comprell is so adept and talented at making those personal connections. It has made her It made her an incredible teacher. It made her an extremely talented counselor. Mrs.
Comprell has done amazing work for our students and you know the students that she has had and have worked with are going to remember her for the rest of our lives for the rest of their lives. So we congratulate Mrs. Comprell, thank her for 26 years of service. We are
incredibly grateful for the work she has done as [Applause] well. Oh, Mrs. Please come on up. Come on.
[Applause] Hey, Joan Bracken, a math teacher. And as I say math, I'm sure there are people among you that say, "Yes, I love it. That's my thing." I'm equally sure there are people among you and when I say
math, you go, I'm glad I'm past that. But let me tell you something. If you had Mrs. Bracken at a as a math teacher, you were going to learn to love math. Mrs. Bracken has a passion for math that is just completely unmatched and it's
shown through in everything that she did. And of course, she's extremely knowledgeable about it. But it's that content knowledge that's only part of the picture. It's the fact that Mrs. Bracken not only was passionate about that, but the love she had for each of
her students and the unfailing idea that it didn't matter if if what we're learning is hard for you today, that's okay because we've got the rest of this lesson and we've got the one that comes after it and the one that comes after that. And over the course of that time,
every single person in Mrs. Bracken's class, no matter where they started, was going to get there. And that is that says everything you need to know about Mrs. Bracken as a math teacher, but also as a person. The work she did, the
impact she had on her students was truly incomparable. So, Mrs. Bracken, congratulations on a well-earned retirement. [Applause]
[Applause] Thank you, Mr. Mongan. Alice Kivlan. Uh Alice uh served our school for 18 years. Uh early on she helped with fall dramas,
the head shot and the musical head shot. And around our school there are imprints of Alice that will be here for many years. The pillars outside in the hallway with the photographs, the pillars up in our library. Alice uh worked with digital imaging, digital
photography. She nurtured hundreds of students in the field of art and she inspired our staff. She was known throughout the world as an artist. She was published throughout the world and she brought that back to our students
and our staff. uh she was so giving in her years here and she is going to uh impact so many of our students for generations with her appreciation for art and uh all the things that she did for us. So Alice could not make it here
this evening but we are so very happy for her and her husband and her retirement and all that she contributed to Kennelan High School. So thank you Alice out there uh watching from home. Thank you so very much. [Applause]
Carrie Lane. Um, and tremendously outstanding art teacher. I think when you walk into PRM, one of the things that really stands out is that what a colorful, inviting environment it is. You know, as you walk through the hallways and you see those ceiling tiles that are part of the eighth grade art
project where every student that comes through PRM gets to leave a little piece of themselves. As a matter of fact, on back to school nights, we have parents who come through looking Okay, we're going to go ahead and get started. We're back up. Okay, so at this point we recognize
building by building our governor uh educator teacher of the year award of the year awards. So, uh, we'll start with Keel School and we're going to work our way up to then KHS. So, Mrs. Olawale, you're up first. Good evening everyone. Thank you so much. I am so honored and excited to be
able to present this evening's word award for a Keel Cisco school. And I'm actually going to go off script and ask Mrs. Utell to come on up and join me. So, and there is a reason for this. So, I'll give you a little bit of a story. Um, Mrs. Pel, whom I'm also going to
invite up at this time, if you can come on up, too. Mrs. Pelik, um, was hired a few years ago at Stony Brook School before our kindergarten teachers were moved over to Keel and we were all united under one roof. So again, you
know, I really want to highlight the fact that Mrs. Utel and I have both had the pleasure of working with Mrs. Pelic between our buildings in kindergarten. She has been such an asset. Like I can't even explain and describe the asset that
Mrs. Pelic Pelik is to our district and to our schools. For those of you who, you know, work in school or are familiar with our education system, it takes a special person to teach kindergarten every single day. just the most basic
skills that one takes for granted such as walking into a classroom and just hanging a bag on a hook or using the restroom, right? The most basic skills our kindergarten teachers work with our students on every single day. And then on top of those basic life skills, they
also have curriculum and our students are learning to read and write and to do basic math, right, that are really going to set them up as lifelong learners. And Mrs. Pelik builds that foundation with her students every single day with a
smile on her face. I I have to tell her all the time, "Mrs. Pel, it's lunchtime." And she's out with the kids helping. Somebody needs something. And I'm like, "It is time for you to eat. You need to recharge." Um, we start school and Keel very late at 9:30. Our
teachers are in the door no later than 9:10. And I bring that up to say because I can't tell you how often Mrs. Mrs. Pel is there at 7 a.m. And she's there at 7 a.m. specifically because if a parent's work schedule is so that they need and
can only talk at 7:15, Mrs. Pel is there and she's on the phone supporting that parent because we know in our age group, too, it is so incredibly critical that there is that connection between school and home. So, I'm giving you a long-winded story, but it's important
because Mrs. Pel does it all. And when I say she does it all, she does it all as a person. She is a friend to her colleagues. There's nothing she doesn't share. She's constantly looking for feedback. How can I help? What can I do differently? And what can I do more for
my students and families, which as a building principal is just a dream? Uh Mrs. Pel is a gem. Not sure Mrs. Utell if you want to add, but we just love Mrs. Pelic. We are so proud and we just again cannot thank you enough for all of your service, everything that you do.
And congratulations our governor's educator of the year for Keel Cisco school this year. Congratulations Mrs. Pelik. We love you. [Applause] At this time, I'm going to call up Miss Susan [Applause]
Hill. So, there is so much I can say about Mrs. Hill, but I'm going to start with one simple thing. The comment if you were to walk into her room at any time at any day is, "You don't know this yet." She not only is a phenomenal
dynamic math teacher, but she focuses on every aspect of a child developmentally. And when they struggle or they are trying to work through a math problem, her phrase is, "You don't know this yet." And they will repeat that day in and day out. There are posters hung on
the walls. There are posters hung on the locker. She is our special ed teacher in class resource. So it is amazing to see what she does with her colleagues, but she gets children to know things that they doubt themselves when they walk in the door on that first day of school.
And by the end of a year, they are doing things that they never imagined they can do, but it is because of what she does in instilling that in their mindset. And it is so much fun to watch her in action. She is an amazing communicator.
She's an amazing educator. Her communication with family, with me, but that collaboration that she has among our staff is just something to be so incredibly proud of. I am so grateful for her to be a Stonyie Brook staff
member. It is just I am in awe of her every day. And this year, I am even more grateful this year because she her flexibility working with me has been unbelievable. She is not only this year an in-class resource teacher, she is also a gened teacher to a fourth grade
math classroom. So when I say she does it all, she truly does, but she does it with such conviction and such compassion and such caring of students that it is something to be honored. So when she was recommended and the essay that was
written about her was just so heartfelt and touching, it spoke to everything that she is. Not just as a person, as a human, as a colleague, but as a teacher. And I know teachers every day go through such a busy schedule and they don't
realize the lives that they touch every single day. But Sue, you truly touch every child that you have ever taught in that classroom. the mindset that you have instilled with them. You should walk out of that school every day knowing what a difference you have made.
I am honored to congratulate you this year as our governor's teacher of the year. [Applause] And I am also very honored to this year recognize our educational specialist of
the year. So I'm going to call down Mrs. Joy Tangga. [Applause] saying that you have a school counselor. I know we talk about our school counselors and what they do, but if you know Mrs. Tangga, you know that
she goes above and beyond in everything that she does every single day. So, my daily routine every single day in the building is I do arrival and then I take a lap around the school and she is my first check-in every single morning. We go through emails. We go through phone
calls. She knows every single student by name. She knows every single family member. She is so communicative with families, but supportive, collaborative. There is not one moment of one day that she will not take the time out of her
day to make sure that every single student in our school is supported. She teaches a lesson every single month. She will go back into those classrooms to work with her students. She does the lunch bunch. She does our new students. She is there with me for student
orientation. She will work with students and their families when they are new to our incredible Kennelon community to make sure that they have every possible resource. She is my right-hand person in our RTI meetings, in 504 meetings. She
truly is the heart of our building in that social emotional aspect and making every student feeling valued, heard, listened to, understood. Her collaboration with our child study team is just impeccable. Joy, it is an
absolute honor to have you as our Stonyie Brook school counselors. I know our staff. They have every excuse me, they they know how lucky we are to have you supporting not only us, our families, but our students. And it is my
incredible honor to recognize you as our educational specialist of the year. It's an honor to work with you. [Applause] Mr. Mongan, this is your your big night
tonight. Come on up, PRM. Hi. Me again. All right, Mr. off. Can you join us up here, [Applause] please? You know, as a former middle
school social studies teacher myself, you know, social studies always has a special place in my heart. And then I see the way that Matt Gooff does it in his classroom where he takes what could be just learning about people that have
been gone for a long time. Learning about things that we already know how they turned out. I mean, it would be pretty easy to just kind of paint by numbers there and let that be that. That is the complete opposite of what Matt does in his classroom. He brings it to
life every day. He puts students in a situation where even though they know how these things turn out. They're thinking about it like if they were there and if they could affect it, how would that work? They're thinking about, hey, wait a minute. Even though this happened hundreds of years ago, this is
why life is like it is today. This is something that really matters now. There's that part of it. Then there's that part of it that Matt is always the person to try something new. I was in his classroom recently where students were interacting with an AI of
historical figures having an actual conversation with them. Matt made that happen for them. Can you imagine a better way to bring history to life to make it seem more present, more relevant or in your face? This is just what goes on in Matt's classroom on a regular day.
And I haven't even gotten to all the things he does outside of the classroom as a coach, as one of our trip coordinators who ran, by the way, a very spectacular trip um just recently. I mean, Matt is just he's a go-to person
in every way, shape, or form. He's there for every one of his students, for the PRM families, for every one of the staff members. you can count on him to do whatever needs to be done, not only to get it done right, to get it done in the best possible way. So, you know, I always say that that this award,
Governor's Teacher Award is always prestigious and then when you look at our district and the quality of teachers that we have here, it raises that to an even higher level of honor and Matt Goff is certainly deserving of that honor. So, congratulations, Mr. Goth.
[Applause] [Applause] And now, please join us in welcoming Mrs. Lorie Foster. [Applause] There are so many parts of Mrs. Foster's job. It's kind of hard to think about
where to actually start with this. So, let me start small. Mrs. Foster as our school psychologist, you know, obviously is very heavily involved with our special education population, with special education in general, which does
involve, of course, the student- centered aspect, but a lot of policies, procedures, and things like that. A lot of meetings and things. And I know what you're thinking right now. That sounds fascinating and a lot of fun. Well, it doesn't always come across that way in a meeting until Lori joins us. Lori can be
counted on to always bring some levity to a meeting, accompanied by a tremendous level of expertise, accompanied by tremendous knowledge individually for each one of the students that she works with, of course,
for every aspect of their programs. And with the answer to the question, what does this student need? Lori knows all of that. As our school psychologist, she does counseling for a tremendous number of our students and really gets to know them, really gets to understand them to
know what is the right approach with this student. Do they need it a little more structure? Do they need a little more supportive? Is this, you know, whatever it happens to be. Mrs. Foster always knows the right way to go about that and makes a tremendous different
difference for everyone of her students. when they leave her office, they always leave better off for having been there. I also feel this is important, you may not know, we have um a mental health team in every school uh behavioral,
emotional, and mental health team. That acronym, the beam team, Mrs. Foster came up with that. That may sound small. You have no idea how hard it was to take behavior, mental health, emotional, all
that stuff and come up with a good acronym. Mrs. Foster did that. So maybe one of her smaller accomplishments, but I want you to know that did not go unnoticed. Truly, day in and day out, Mrs. Foster is an outstanding advocate for all of our students. Always finds
the right approach to work with them. always, no matter what challenges they face, is their partner in overcoming those challenges. We are very grateful for for her and for all her work with them, and we congratulate her on being our educational specialist of the year.
[Applause] [Applause] Mr. Suda, Mr. Royal, floor is yours. If I could please have Danielle Alia come down.
It's okay. Thank you. So Danielle Elliot and and much like Mr. Mongan as a former middle school social studies and English teacher and high school social studies teacher um coming here 10 years ago walking in
one of my first lessons and and watching Mrs. Elliot teach it. It kind of brought me back to those middle school and high school years of walking into someone's classroom that was totally immersed with color, collaboration, cooperative
learning, uh, passion. Her enthusiasm was contagious. All those things you want to see. And kids were not only just engaged, they were intellectually engaged. She had technology, she had color, she had art. They were immersed. And I was in awe.
And it's not something that you typically see in many classrooms in a high school environment in social studies because it takes a lot of work, a lot of planning, which then lends itself to the best classroom management
because every teacher knows, or at least in theory, the best form of classroom management is an excellent lesson plan that's engaging and stimulating. And she has that naturally. She's truly a master teacher and she cares. You can just tell
that caring and that enthusiasm resonates. So when a student does want to be funny or crack a joke, she has that disposition of like, come on, come on, knock it off. She's that type of teacher and she's developed that
incredible rapport with her students to talk to them as an authority, but also someone who has seen everything. Why has she seen anything? She went to Kennelan. She lives in Kennowan. She's a She's a wife. She's a mother of two incredible
kids in Kennelan. She goes cruising on the lakes of Kennelon on her paddle boat. Um she has a sandwich named after her at Taste of Reality under her maiden name, Patton's pick. I believe it's chicken and gravy and mozzarella cheese,
something breaded chicken. It's an incredible sandwich. Even that's amazing. So, you know, I think of Danielle and and it couldn't be more fitting. Uh she's an advisor to our peer leaders. She's an advisor to our give back club.
Two clubs that are all about service. And I, you know, I spent many summers in here in August for our orientation. We're laying out shirts. We're bringing in our eighth graders who are ready to start high school. And she's working. We're creating orientations and tours and she really
cares and her two little daughters are running around and giving them shirts and everybody's getting a shirt and you know she's running here and running there. So um she just does everything and as a colleague as a person I mean
there's many times I'd be walking around in the office and she'd stop by and she would actually look at me and say how are you doing? Like really how are you doing? and I'd say, "Wow, that's not typical." And we'd sit there and talk a little bit about life and about teaching and education. And it was cool. So, it
it really humbled me as an administrator and it humbled me as a professional. And I couldn't thank you more. And I know the generations of Kinoan from when you were here and now all the generations that you've affected. It's really uh it's just exponential in how that will
pay it forward. Um, so I just want to, you know, thank you and I'm honored to have you as our teacher of the year. Thank you. And can I have Stephanie Sopa come down, please? Now, Stephanie started at the middle school,
correct? So, Stephanie was at the middle school and a couple years ago, we had a shakeup. We had case managers shifting around. A little bit of a theme there, shifting around case managers. So, we having the case manager. She was coming
to the high school and we had a current case manager who had to go out on leave. So Stephanie being new to the high school and new as a school psychologist case manager two case loads. She had to
take on two case loads which is an enormous task. Even though we are considered a small high school, it's an enormous task. She's coming up. She's going to be familiar with some from the middle school who've come up to the high school, but anyone else would have
looked at this incredible task and probably been really nervous. And she was a little bit nervous, I would have to say. But when I tell you she was so open with our staff and she was going to work so very hard to know the students,
the cases to get updated on all aspects of um the special education population and also as a school psychologist some of the things that happen. I mean the kids are big at the high school. They're big. We you know larger larger kids some
more challenging situations. So that on the cusp of the double case managements, I think I went to you and I said, "You're going to love the high school. What's your favorite food or dessert?" And what did you say? Chocolate chip cookies. And what was on
your desk in a couple days? I found the best chocolate chip cookies I could find. And I said, "You're going to like it here. Here's your chocolate." Then you shared with me your those are your mother mother-in-laws the best brownies you'll ever taste in the world. So, we were off to a sweet start, so to speak,
and it's only gotten better. Um, she's acclimated so well to the high school. We had challenging situations as a school psychologist and on the fly with all the ch just incredible challenges uh cases that you couldn't fathom that she
stepped in and handled with professionalism, with grace, with empathy, communicating to our staff, to our our parents and our students. And she has and still has a very very challenging job. And uh I'm so pleased
that teachers within our school and staff members nominated and saw within two years her exceptional abilities. So I I can't say enough to say how proud and happy I am for you and thank you for all that you do. So congratulations.
[Applause] Okay. And what we're going to do now is just like take a quick break and for all of our uh educators of the year and teachers of the year and family members or staff that are here, you want to come down, take some pictures and then everybody could go home and the board
has some business to conduct. So, congratulations again. a conclusion um for the policy that we have for first reading tonight. Once that policy is approved, then we will update student handbooks um and communicate in different formats for uh
families and students to really be aware of the upcoming um kind of guidelines for phones and um especially phones um and possible consequences. And then just return to
play and let grow. We're continuing to gather information. We don't want to move too quickly with that. We spent a lot of our time with the AI and the um phone and we'll make that a continuing goal. I think that was everything we talked about. Awesome. Thank you. I was actually at
that meeting. So yeah, I think that was everything. Okay. Um delegates, New Jersey school boards, anything. Yeah. Um there is an AI conference for anybody that wants to attend. It's June 6th. Goes the the
whole day 9:30 to 3:30. It's at Mercer Community College. Um, but there was emails sent out to our board. I just wanted to bring that um to everyone's attention. There's also an educational lab webinar happening this week and
again a different day next week. So, you can look at your emails if you're interested in that. Um, and then I saw that the unsung hero award um petitions are up. So, if there's uh anybody that you know would like to
nominate, it's not meant for like a teacher or administrator. It's meant for those extra personnel that do that extra special behind the scenes work that don't often get acknowledged like coaches, club
advisors, food service workers, um safety personnel, anything like that. So, if there's anyone you have in mind, I'm happy to uh put together the um application and and put that in. It's due by I believe the end of June, so we
would need to start to work on it soon. Thank you. Morris County School Boards. Carl, yeah, I didn't have a chance to connect with them, so I'll follow myself. Legislation legislatively. Yeah, I don't have
anything. Um they're not meeting. They meet next month. June 11th. June 11th. Okay. Um KA liaison. Have you guys We met on Thursday, May 1st and it was a great great meeting. Um we had representatives from every building and they were able to bring forth things
that they really felt strongly about advocating for and the administration was there to kind of work them through that. It was a really productive meeting. Excellent. Thank you. Um All right. All right. Next is petitions and hearings of citizens for agenda
items. If anybody has any Yep. Please come on up. Hello. How are you today? Loretta Orlando parent. Um just a couple of comments based on um what I just heard. Um I I think um you know this thing with excel is great, but we really need to
make sure that we can extract something from the company in exchange for this. um we're doing them a favor. As much as they say they're doing us a favor, we need to get something. Whether it's, you know, some sort of reduction in price, trials of products, whatever it is, we need to get something from them because
ultimately sounds like we're going to be expending time, energy, resources, and whatnot to get this going. Um you mentioned this issue, Miss Prell, about um a screener. Can you explain what that is? You say that's going to be mandatory, I guess, next school year,
but it's not mandatory, but we already have one, I guess. Sure. I'm going to let Mrs. Thomas answer, but I I did just want to explain. Um I I am very excited that the state of New Jersey next year will be mandating this. Um and I'm also really proud of the fact that we're already doing it. Um but Mrs. Thomas can
expand on that. Thank you for that question. So um starting next school year it will be required that all students in grades K through three three will be screened twice a year for reading. So which we do now we have that we utilize as a
screener and we also have the dibbles assessment in house. So we do screen students right now and that's to be able to provide target instruction. So it looks for areas of of strength, looks for areas of focus and then those students that need the focus and target
instruction go through the RTI process and guided study and then receive those supports. So we already do have that in place. The state is now just taking it one step further saying that you must do it two times a year because that will be reported to the state. And then I just wanted a couple more
questions for Mr. Meyers. Um, I I saw the proposal that was submitted for the track. Um, and it didn't have any terms and conditions behind it. Are there terms and conditions? Did they provide you those terms? Are they with our attorney? Um, the document is not
complete. That's in the binder was provided to us. There is a contract that um they provided um and it it will be reviewed. Yes. Oh, great. Great. Thank you. Um and then just more one more question. My
last question then'll be done. The the um issue with the architect. So what's on the agenda is to approve the $100,000 for the architect or to approve the 1.5 plus the 100,000 for the
architect. So the renovation is going to be in two different phases. The first phase is part of the 2526 budget which is uh we budgeted about $750,000 for that. And the architect um proposal
tonight is for all of the components that are required from uh submission of the documents to the state for approval through the construction management of the project. So that's their fee for overseeing the project. And we've
already approved the I guess 750 plus the 750 for the following year. Uh we no the second phase will be in the next budget, the 2627 budget, but they will start um getting all the processes done. The bid documents will be prepared by
the architect. Um go out to bid probably late winter so that they can start the um demolition and whatever um renovations are done um when students get out of school next year in June so
they could have the building completed for September. So I guess there's a risk. We could pay, you know, vote to pay the architect $100,000 to do it and then not get approved for the project. No, the state will approve it. They just have to follow guidelines because it has
to be in compliance with our long range facility plan. So whenever we do a major amendment like that or renovation to our buildings, it requires an amendment to our long range facility. And you feel confident. So it's basically it's all compliance um generated. Um it's just
the state of New Jersey requires certain things. We're not going to get any money back from it. Um you know, if it was a grant u but there's no grants available through the state so the district is funding the entire project but it's
required to have a professional u walk us through the steps for sure okay great thank you also since it's a food related culinary arts we also have to comply with you know FDA stuff so it's very complicated
it's not just a classroom there's also that's that expect that other aspect of it too. And we're transitioning a nonf food space because we don't have pre-existing one. And again, this was the first request of the students when
we did the survey. They really wanted to have a culinary arts and they wanted a wood shop. Um, and we have been looking at trying to implement coursework that is outside of just academics, like things that can teach them life skills. and cooking was really high up there and
basic things like wood shop, which we're also hoping to expand to almost kind of uh basic fixing of things, but that's longer range vision. So, that's kind of where we're trying to go with, you know, life skills type things for our students
as well. But thank you for the questions. Any other agenda item questions? Any online? Okay. No. All right. So now we are to all the agenda items which I would like to do a motion for a roll call on the block vote for
agenda items A, B, C, and D. Can I have a motion? Motion. Second. Okay. Discussion on agenda items A, B, C, D, and E. Only thing I did want to bring up is in
under the policy for the first reading on the um electronic communication devices, we did have some feedback in the citizens advisory committee to amend potentially discussion of the 6 to 12 grades where
there um would be able to use them after school. So right now as written there's no usage throughout K through well pre preschool through 12. And the discussion was brought up in the citizen advisory um premeating about
how I actually feel that will be very hard to enforce and the intention of the policy is actually to make it easier for our staff and to eliminate disruption in the teaching environment. So I think we need to break out when we revisit this
in policy. Um you know this is a first reading for people to provide feedback and that was a feedback from the community and I I did agree with those comments. So I'm just bringing that into your attention. I think we go back to policy and we'll revise that for the second reading. Um but that I just wanted to
call your attention to that one part. Thank you. Anybody have any I also Samantha Beck is here again. She's our math teacher, new math teacher. Very exciting. Um, anybody have anything any other comments or discussion items?
Steve, just a a comment in general when we're talking about all of our our programs and stuff that's coming out of um education, but then it really piggybacks off of whether it's finance, facilities, security, personnel, or even policy that I know we're going to be
gone for a couple days and it'll feel like a lifetime, but when we come back next Wednesday, we do have our tri forum and there is where a lot of the presentation will be presented about next year's when we're talking about math when we're talking about science, when we're talking about our elective
programs and where we're going with things, this is where it comes to to a head. So, that's all positive stuff. That was a year-long work process from last year at this time till now. All that information will be then vetted out to our parents. So, we're doing a lot.
It's a lot of work. And really, that's a compliment to everybody that's involved from up here at the table to the audience to our staff when they get involved. we call on people and they step up and that's what it's about. So, um, lot to be proud of and a lot of accomplishments and I, you know,
sometimes that kind of gets lost in in everything else, but, uh, because it's the work that gets us there. So, okay. Any other comments or questions? No. Miss Francisco, pull the board, please.
Mr. Myers. Yes. Mela, I know that voting on tonight and we called the role. I did just want to say that under section C in uh number two for the Susana Valley Sports I would like to say no
um for everything else. I'm sorry the which one the the Suana Valley Sports overnight football camp mean East Straburg? It's located at Eastburg but it's Valley. Oh, okay. Okay. So, she is yes for all items
except for C to the KHS football camp. Okay. Um, Mrs. Portman. Yes. Mr. Eisener. Yes. Mrs. Donaldson. Yes. Okay. There's no business for
committee of the whole unfinished business. Does anybody have any unfinished business? Okay, new business. One thing I would like to just bring everybody's attention to, um, I had a community member reach out to me about possibly posting um, kind of a snapshot of everything we've
done in the district and I thought it was an excellent idea and so I mentioned it to Amanda Trumbetta and Lauren Thomas at a meeting and Amanda of course ran with it and produced this amazing post that I was able to put. It's on our
website now and it has icons of everything we've done. It shows our graduation rates, our NJSLA scores, where all our students are graduating to, our budget, and if you click on each icon, it just explodes out or opens up into even more information. And um I
just want to say that the the amazing schools our kids go to and the opportunities that they're afforded when they graduate is really phenomenal. And when you look at all of that thing, all of the stuff that's happening and on one sheet, it's just it really kind of I
don't know, it kind of blew me away actually how much we've we've done in the last few years. It's specifically this year, but when you click on the icons, it'll show you it'll expand into previous years as well. And there's a detailed explanation too on the budget and it explains our teachers. I know
there's been comments about how we only hire step one teachers. Well, if you look today's that's not true even today. We we're hiring other steps and it shows the experience level of our teachers and our 10 to1 you know studenttoteer ratio.
So, it's really a phenomenal district and we should really be proud of all that our students are accomplishing in arts, in athletics, academically, just in and that really shows and highlights it. And my hats off to the board members, the central office, our
administrators, and our teachers, even all our support staff that put all the chairs out and clean them up and are there for all the recognition and even sharing our rec, you know, with the recck department and our fields and cleaning up after those Saturday events that go all day, which you should have
seen this place Saturday. There was zero parking at the municipal building or the high school because there was a there was lacrosse Kennelan lacrosse and Kennelon wrestling and you could not find a spot. It was really it was amazing. This place was humming and um
and we do that. We support that and that's what this is about. So I just wanted to highlight that we did that Amanda did a lot of that work and we posted it. It's on Facebook. It's on our website. It's really easy to see that the amazing things that are going on in this district. So, thank you Amanda for
that work and thank you to everybody who's making that happen. All our staff and administration correspondents, anything? Nothing. Nothing online. Okay. Uh petitions and hearing citizens non-aggenda
items. Nope. Okay. Board member comments. Go. You know, I'm always gonna talk. I just wanted to say that um you know, I I love it that we to recognize our students in a lot of our board meetings, but I think it's even more
special to recognize our teachers because day in day out, they're the ones that are here for our students and make our district the really special place that it is. Um, so many of the teachers that were up here tonight, whether they were retiring or just being selected as the best in their building, um, have
just meant so much to myself and my family personally. Um, and I know that every single parent in this district probably feels the same way. So, thank you to all of our Kinnolan teachers for everything you do every single day for our students. Um, that's what we're all here for. We're all here for the students. So, um, you have the most
direct contact and we appreciate you. Thank you. Have a good night, Jen. It's exactly what I was going to say. Thank you, Carl. You too. I will say that my kids had a blast uh
at the art show at the uh at KE. So, thanks, Mrs. for that. It's awesome. Jonathan, yeah, I was I will embellish just a little um to say that this is the time of year when we get to see the results of all of the effort that goes
into everything. So, you know, you have all the concerts happening. You had the National Honor Society last week and then all the little Sorry for little but you know, the subject area honor, you know, societies and stuff. Um the fifth grade dance and other happening for the
the field days um where you just see how all these young people have grown and progressed for the last year, you know, the their career academically and socially and um it's just a testament to everybody's hard work um to celebrate
together to say, "Hey, look at look what they can do." So, thank you all for for all of that and um keep it up keep it up. Dave, you want to say anything? really anything I have to say encapsulates everything that we've said already here tonight. It's just been
another great year. Um we all support each other. We lift each other up and um I'm just happy and proud and feel blessed to be part of it and let's just finish it strong and July one starts a new calendar and we have to buckle our chin straps and let's go another round.
So I'm excited for it. Um, I would just like to mention um how grateful I am for the collaboration with the KAA and the KEA to work through these contracts. It's a lot and um everybody's been very collaborative and
I really do appreciate that. Um it, you know, it's always struggle because of budgets and uh there's a lot of school districts that are really facing a lot of issues and we were fortunate enough to I think be ahead of the game again um on dyslexia screening. we did that and
now here we are kind of being ahead of our game on budget and so we're able to really collaborate with our unions for our contract. So I'm really appreciative of of the administration representatives and the KA representatives that we've been negoti negotiating with and I just want
to give them a shout out. Okay, I think that's it. That's a wrap. Can I have a motion to adjurnn? Second. All in favor? Bye.