Okay, the time is now 7:03 and I will call, excuse me, the reorganization meeting of the Leon Board of Education to order. Um, >> okay. So, adequate notice of tonight's
meeting has been provided in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act by the following methods. Distribution of notice to the record. posting of agenda on the school district website and through parent square. Um, can everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance? Okay. So, we continue to not have a board secretary for the meeting this
evening. Accordingly, I'll appointing Mr. Lurfank as the prom board secretary for the meeting. Uh Mr. Lurfank, if you could please read the resolution and then I'll ask the board for a motion. Second and all in favor vote. So the resolution is resolved that the
board of education hereby appoints Robert Lorfink as the board secretary pro 10 for his meeting of January 6th, 2026. Can I have a motion and a second on that resolution? >> Motion, Mr. Sagal. Second, Miss
Thompson. All in favor? >> Any opposed or absent? Okay, the motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Loric. That will bring us to item 1.3. Um, roll call, please, when you're ready.
>> Mr. Lee, >> present. Melman, >> Miss Troy >> here, >> Mr. Grow >> here, >> Dr. Mester, >> Mr. Park >> present, >> Mr. Zepka
>> present, Mr. Seagull >> here, >> Miss Thompson >> present, >> and Miss Molina. >> And Dr. Please let the record reflect that Dr. Mester did contact um both the superintendent and I. He is at home sick today. We wish him well.
And that brings us to item 1.4, oath to newly elected board members. >> And we are very fortunate to have three board members returning. >> Sure. So, um, Mr. Park, Mr. Zupka, Mr. Sigle, if you would step forward for your oaths of office. Congratulations on
your re-elections. So, the next item on the agenda is the election of a president. Are there any nominations for board president? >> I'd like to nominate Daniel Lee. >> We have a nomination for Mr. Lee. Are
there any other nominations? Hearing none, we'll vote on the nomination of Daniel Lee for board president. Miss Melman, >> yes.
>> Mr. Choy, >> yes. >> Oh, Miss Choy, I'm sorry. Uh, Mr. Grow, >> absolutely. Yes. Mr. Park. >> Carry on.
>> Mr. Zepka. >> Yes. Mr. Seagull. >> Yes. >> Miss Thompson. >> Yes. >> Miss Molina and Mr. Lee. >> Yes. >> The motion carries. Congratulations, President Lee.
>> Thank you very much. Uh, so next up is the election of a vice president. Are there any nominations for the office of vice president? >> I nominate Maria Thompson. >> Are there any other nominations for vice president?
I nominate myself. I'm sorry. >> I nominate myself. >> Okay. >> Mr. Park is also been nominated. Are there any other nominations for the office of vice president? Seeing none, we will vote on the
nominations in the order in which they were made. So, we will first vote on Miss Thompson. So, we're to vote yes or no to essentially elect her as vice president. If she has enough votes, then she will
become the vice president. If not, we will vote on the nomination of Mr. Park. So, for Ms. Thompson for vice president, Mr. Lee, >> yes. Miss Nelman, >> yes.
Mr. Troy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Grow. >> Yes. >> Mr. Park. >> No. >> Mr. Zepka. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Seagull. >> Yes. >> Miss Thompson. >> Yes. and Miss Molina. >> Yes, >> Miss Thompson has been elected vice president. Congratulations.
>> Thank you very much and thank you both for volunteering for the position. Um, brings us to Oh, Miss Thompson, you have to take your seat now. Okay. All right. So that brings us to item 1.7, public comment on agenda items
only. Anyone from the public wishing to speak, please step up to the podium, provide your name and address. And you'll have two minutes to speak. Anyone is allowed to come forward. Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to item
1.8, uh, board member comments. on any comments from the board on agenda related items. I actually do have a statement, so apologize. I know we're we're heading towards a quick meeting, but um I prepared a statement with the possible
anticipation of of tonight's elections, which I do thank the board. Um, so I first wanted to say good evening everyone and happy new year for people that are watching on YouTube and for our three members of the audience. Um, I'd like to begin by congratulating our reelected board members, Isaac Park, Joe
Zapka, and Sid Seagel. Uh, thank you for your continued desire to serve the Leona community. I look forward to continuing to work together. Um, before I congratulate congratulate our new VP, I'd like to take a moment to recognize and thank Miss Melman for more than three years of dedicated service to this
board as the vice president. Among many accomplishments, Miss Melman has fought for quality education, better food services, and a better board process. I'm sad that I'll no longer have the opportunity to work with you as the vice president, but happy that we'll still be working together as board members for
the upcoming year. Kim, we're grateful for your leadership, commitment, and the time you have g you gave so generously to this district as a vice president. So, thank you. Um, Maria, congratulations on your election. I look forward to working with you in the upcoming year. We have a lot to do and
you've got big big shoes to fill. Um, so congratulations again. Um, and also like to extend a special thank you to our relatively new superintendent, uh, Dr. Anthy Caramanos. Dr. Carammanos has
brought enthusiasm, vision, and steady leadership to our district and she has stood with us through a few very challenging years. Um, we're grateful for your perseverance and dedication and we're hopeful and excited about what you'll continue to accomplish as you lead our district into the future. Um, I
also want to give a warm welcome to our new assistant superintendent, Andrew Cobin. Uh, Mr. Cobin couldn't be here tonight because he is homesick. We want him to be healthy, so we're hope hoping that he's resting and getting better. Um, we're excited to have Mr. Coin join our administrative team and look forward to the leadership, perspective, and
expertise he will bring as we continue to strengthen our district. And to all my fellow board members, thank you for your vote of confidence in me as president. Once again, um, I've served in this role for a few years now, and I remain deeply appreciative of the trust you continue to place in me. I
approached this position with humility and with a clear understanding of what this role represents and I think you've all seen that over the years. So I do but I do appreciate all of your trust in that. Um finally I do want to thank my wife Sugong who's probably fuming at home if she's watching this right now. U
and my two boys Elijah and Jonah uh for granting me their time and patience as I commit myself to the school district. Um I couldn't really do any of this without that support and love at home. So I thank you all and I love you all. if you're watching at home. Um, now I do not view the position of board
president as a title to boast about or a position from which to exercise power. I view it as a responsibility, one rooted in service. This role requires bringing people together across both our Leona and Edgewater communities, fostering collaboration and helping guide thoughtful discussion so that we can
work through challenges and arrive at solutions that serve the best interests um amongst our respective communities. Um, friends and family are often surprised when they learn that board members are not paid for our work. We are volunteers and they're they ask,
"You do that all for free?" And the answer, which we all know, including our our student reps, um, is yes. Every board member here serves without compensation. We do it because we care deeply about public education and about giving back to the communities we call
home. Uh, at the same time, this position is unfortunately too often described as a thankless job. Um, this is something that former Governor Murphy and I are trying to change. So, I'll start by saying clearly and
publicly, thank you to each and every one of my fellow board members. Your time, preparation, effort, and willingness to engage in difficult conversations do not go unnoticed. Serving on a board of education is a response to a call for civic duty, one that rel relatively few people are
willing to answer. Each of you step forward because you believe in public education and serving and in serving our community. And that commitment deserves recognition and respect. This commitment has also been honored by Governor Murphy before he left office via this
proclamation. And I left a copy for each of you. Um, and the proclamation declares January as school board recognition month. So, not sure. I emailed the board members just to let you know the other night. Um, but this message is to the
public to let the public know. Um, although we are volunteers, um, we do put in a lot of work and effort to help support the district. So, I appreciate the the proclamation from the governor um that was sponsored by the SBA. And thank you all to all of our board members for all the hard work you put
in. Looking ahead to 2026, we're focused on making meaningful progress in advancing in in advancing our district through our strategic plan which targets the following curriculum instruction and technology for learning, district
culture, health and wellness, above and beyond, fiscal, physical, and human in infrastructure. I'm not going to go into any of these details because I want you all to go to our website which was beautifully redesigned recently uh which
is leonaschools.org strategic plan. You can go there and read a lot more about what we're doing, what we're working towards um and um our progress in those efforts. Just a reminder to the public, this the strategic plan was prepared through
feedback with partnership of all of our community members um as well as staff board members. So, this is a community plan for the school district and and the future of the school district. Uh this coming year presents an opportunity to build on the foundation
we have laid, align our initiatives with our long-term goals, and continue improving outcomes for all students. We are energized by this work and committed to moving the district forward in a thoughtful and deliberate way. So, thank you again to my fellow board members for
your trust, partnership, and service. It truly is an honor to serve alongside you. Um, at this time, if our vice president and our reelected board members would like to make any statements or any other board members, please feel free to do so. Uh, thank you everyone for your support.
I'm honored to uh to step into this role and uh hoping to follow in Kim's footsteps. Uh I, you know, obviously have kids in the school district and really care about the quality of the education and opportunities we provide our kids. I also really care about our
fiscally responsible use of taxpayer funds and I've definitely advocated for that uh throughout my uh eight years on the board. Uh and I also care about promoting a healthy debate so we can see uh the issues from all sides. So those
are are kind of my three priorities. >> Thank you >> Isaac Joe. Um yes, just thanks to the public for voting for me again. Um and congratulations to everyone else who was elected and I look forward to the next
three years. >> I I think I appreciate everyone on on the board as well as community. I think it's so important um being able to respectfully share our feedback or insights, perspectives. We all come from different backgrounds, different ideologies. Yeah, we come together in
service of our students, most importantly st the district um in you know supporting all of them. So really appreciate the opportunity to do this again for another three years. Thank you. >> Uh thanks for the divoring me for the
public and uh the I will help with the president Lee and as other people board members to uh exceed our our uh district uh county and state beyond. >> Thank you so much.
>> Any other board members? Okay. So, that brings us to item 2.1, approval of consent agenda items. Um, can I have a Can I have a motion in a second, please? Motion,
>> Mr. Brow. And a second, Mr. Zepa. Um, any items? There any items that any board members would like to pull for discussion? Okay, seeing none, can we have roll call, please? Miss Nelman.
>> Miss Troy, >> yes. >> Mr. Gra, >> yes. >> Mr. Park, >> yes. >> Mr. Zepa, >> yes. >> Mr. Seol, >> yes. Miss Thompson, >> yes.
>> Miss Molina, >> yes. >> And Mr. Lee, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Okay, thank you. Okay, that brings us to item 3.1, Dr. Hey, I just have a quick few quick things today. Um, welcome back. Happy
new year 2026, second half of the the school year. It's exciting. Um, it was a nice long break, so I expect everyone came back ready to forge forward into the the rest of the year. Um, last night, uh, just as a reminder, on the
first day of school of the month, don't forget that our district monthly update goes out at 6:30 via parent square. Um, if you miss it on your parents square app, you can, uh, see it on our website. Um, in that update, there was information
about the links that changed for Genesis. So recently we moved our Genesis platform off our internal servers onto a cloud-based server. Um and that was uh for just overall better usage, better security, all of it. Um because of that move, uh that changed
the links. The links have been updated for students and staff and families within Class Link and on our district website. Um but if you saved it on your own computer uh as your own bookmark, you need to update your link. Um and those links were in my update um lesson.
Uh so, and if you have any questions or have any issues, uh feel free to reach out to our tech department via the help desk, the help tech desk ticket system. Uh our new assistant superintendent started yesterday. Um while he is sick, he has
been coming to the office um taking it very slow. Uh he didn't want to miss his first few days. Um, it's been really great having him there, having, you know, even just someone to have to talk to and thought partner and I've been bothering Dan a little bit less and less hopefully.
Um, so no, I'm very excited. Uh, he will be at the next board meeting and moving forward. But tonight I was stay home, get your rest, and we'll hit the ground running at the next board meeting. Um, the on the board agenda tonight there was the code of ethics. Um to our board
members, you have the code of ethics printed out in front of you. Uh you also have an acknowledgement of receipt. Um so please uh after you take a moment to read the code of ethics, uh if you have any questions, please reach out. Uh the code of ethics was also provided to the
board members in advance of the meeting. Um so they did have more time to review it before, you know, 7 o'clock tonight. Um, but once you take that opportunity to review and you're all set, uh, please sign, uh, the acknowledgement or receipt and then hand it back to me and I'll
take care of it. Uh, and then finally, um, as, uh, President Lee said, uh, it is school board recognition month, um, with the proclamation and everything. Um, I did want to thank the school board members. Um, I appreciate, you know,
I've shared this multiple times. Um, Leonia is a great place. It's a great district that I'm really happy to be here. Uh, but all of you are part of that decision and my process for being here. Um, you are great to work with and I it's it's been a lot of work over the
last few years. I hope the next few years are a little less work for you all. Um, because, you know, we we've done a lot of work. Now, it's time to kind of see where we go from here. Um, but I thank you all and I appreciate uh all of your support and uh everything you've done for me and for the district
um and for the students of Leon and Edgewater and I look forward to the next few years together. Thank you. >> All right, that brings us to item 3.2, student representatives. Um, seeing as we just finished holiday break, there's not much to report back
on, but um, we can speak on the future and we're really excited for second semester um, once midterms are finished. And I think I can speak for all seniors when we say we're very excited for the next few months in second semester and just transitioning um, into a new phase
of our lives. And as for the rest of the school, we're going to keep striving, collaborating, and showing up. >> The end is close. Thank you. That brings us to item 5.1, public comment on non-aggenda items. Anyone
from the public wishing to speak on anything, please step forward. You'll have two minutes to speak. Okay. All right. Seeing none, uh we'll move on to item 6.1, board comment. Any board comment on on non-aggenda items?
Okay. Seeing none, um we h we do not have a need for close session tonight. So we just we have to vote on Okay. Uh we do have item 8.1 for DM personnel. Um can I have a motion and a second?
Motion, Mr. Sable. A second >> Mr. Grow. And that requires roll call. Melon. >> M. Choy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Grow. >> Yes. >> Mr. Park.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Zepka. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sigal. >> Yes. >> Miss. Thompson. >> Yes. >> Miss. Molina. And Mr. Lee. >> Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. And finally,
9.1 adjournment. Can I have a motion for adjournment? motion. >> Mr. Zepco, >> it was Mr. Seagel first. Uh, so Mr. Seagel second. Um, can I uh All in favor? >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, we are
adjourned at 7:29 p.m. Thank you all. Happy New Year, everyone.