Okay, the time is now 7 o'clock. I'll call the meeting of the Leona Board of Education to order. Um, adequate notice of tonight's meeting, excuse me, has been provided in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, through distribution of notice to the record,
posting of the agenda on the school district website, and through Parent Square. If you're able, please stand for the pledge of allegiance. Dr. Nissanov, can I have a roll call, please? >> Miss Choy, Mr. Growl, >> here.
>> Dr. Meester, >> here. >> Miss Bellman, Mr. Park, >> present. >> Miss Rabana >> here. >> Vice President rather Mr. Zepka, >> Mr. Sigal
>> here. >> Vice President Thompson >> here. >> President Lee >> here. >> We have a quum. >> Thank you. >> Okay, that brings us to our first item on the agenda 1.3 public presentations of which we have a very excellent one
tonight. Yes, we are very excited today to uh be able to present uh the students of our seal of biiteracy program. Um the seal of biiteracy was uh is is a relatively new program. It's been a few years in the district. Um this was uh presented
developed and you know something that uh was uh Dr. Gander who is our supervisor, instructional supervisor uh really launched this program. Um the first year if you remember we had about 10 kids maybe who took the seal and every year she just keeps growing and growing and
growing and it's a great opportunity. Um today we're recognizing the seniors who will be graduating with the seal of bi literacy. Um and I am going to um ask Dr. Gander to come on up and uh present the awards and then we will um Dr. Gander will present the awards. Uh we'll
take a uh a few minute break a few minutes to break after for photos. There's also refreshments in the back. Um, so we'll take a few minutes to break um and then we'll get back to it. Good evening. Um, good evening esteemed member of the
board, Dr. Carammanos, Mr. Cobin, Mr. Calendarer, parents, and students. My name is Lance Scander and I'm the very proud supervisor of the world language department. I am thrilled to be here tonight to present our district's recipients of the New Jersey Seal of
Biiteracy. The New Jersey Seal of Byiteracy program recognizes students in 11th and 12th grade who have achieved high levels of proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in both English and in a language other than English.
The assessment requires an intermediate mid-level of proficiency as demonstrated by a score of a five in all sections of the stamp assessment. This program represents our commitment to honoring and preserving our famil family's home languages while empowering students with
the multilingual skills and global perspectives needed to succeed in an increasingly interconnected world. The linguists being honored today accepted the challenge of not only working diligently to meet and exceed graduation
requirements, but also maintaining their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in another language. This year we are pleased to recognize a diverse group of students earning the seal of biiteracy including those who have demonstrated proficiency in language studied through
the Leonia world language program and those who have maintained their home language. We are extremely proud of their dedication to expanding their linguistic abilities while meeting the district's rigorous academic standards.
The New Jersey Department of Education has certified that 37 seniors have met the rigorous requirement to earn the seal of biling by literacy. These students have demonstrated their fluency through standardized assessments in the
following 10 languages: Arabic, French, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Turkish. And this year we had our first Latin candidates. This group, I'm almost done. This group
of students is not only our largest group, but also represents the largest number of students to take multiple language assessments. Six seniors to took two language assessments and two seniors took three language assessments.
Please join me in congratulating our New Jersey Seal of Biiteracy recipients. We will now present students with their New Jersey seal of biiteracy certificates, the Leonia School District certificate, and a seal of biiteracy
medal. First time ever, very excited to be worn at the graduation ceremony. I'm going to ask Dr. Carammanos and Mr. Calendarer to come help me present. Students, when your name is called, please approach the podium and we will
present you with your certificates and your medal. And everybody should um thank Patrick for advocating for the medal. It was a great idea. >> Yeah. So, I'm going to call all the names. If they were not able to attend, we're just
going to keep going. So, it's So, first we have Hain Alingor for Spanish. Chris Arnulo Alonzo for Spanish. Okay. A Akila Bernell for Latin.
Selene Brazelle for Russian. Not here. Sophia Caston for Spanish. Taung Cha for Korean. Filipe Chavez for Portuguese and Spanish. Hannah Chung for Korean.
No, Ella Cracker for Spanish. Angelica Doe for Ukrainian and Spanish. Johan Dominguez Himenez for Spanish. Nathaniel Feebas for Spanish. Natsu Fujitta for Japanese.
Celeste Garzone for Spanish. Larum Ha, Spanish and Korean. Okay. Chloe Jung, Korean. Nathan Kang Korean Avery Co. Korean Ailen Kulki Turkish.
Joanna Lee Korean. Jonah Lee Korean. Kristen Lee, Korean. Dalia Mavis, Turkish. Marian Monroario, Spanish and French. Leon Utabazi French, Patrick Pasqual, Tagalog and Spanish.
Any medals? Jun Long Korean. No. Korean. Anna Brown Kareem. Julie Roco Spanish. Kadir Sabar Spanish. Barry Celeb Latutin.
Francesca Sanilo, Spanish. Alexander Santos, Spanish. Lana Shim, Spanish. Dion Subradi, Japanese. and Luke Yun, French, Spanish, and Korean. Please join me in congratulating this
year's recipients of the seal of bi literacy one more time. Congratulations again to all our students. Um, I think some of the things that bring people together the most are food and if you can speak their language. So,
having the this skill um and having it be certified is an awesome thing to have and carry forward with you. Um, so congratulations to you all and in honor of that, we're going to take a little bit of a recess. We have some coffee and snacks in the back. So please come back and enjoy um some refreshments and then
we'll we'll reconvene the meeting in a in about 5 to 10 minutes. So please, >> yes, and if everyone could get to get gather together, if all the students can get together and and our and our adviser, if you can get together and take a picture real quick and then you
can have have refreshments, please I'm going to give the ring. I love the camera, but we have to get the business eventually. So, ring Okay. Okay. We're back to regular business. Um, please let the record reflect that
Mr. Zupg did join the meeting at 7:10 p.m. Um, that brings us to item 1.4, public comments on agenda items. Anyone from the public wishing to speak? Please provide your name and name and address and you'll have two minutes to speak.
Anyone from the public? Okay. Okay. Seeing none, um and there will be just just for those in the public, there will be a second um portion of the agenda to speak about non-aggenda related items. Um so that brings us to item 1.5, board member comment. U board member comment on any
agenda related items. Um and I do have actually two very important items to start with. So I have before me and which you'll see on the agenda uh further down um two resolutions for our student
representatives Mia Palmary and Archo. Um the resolutions um well before I read the resolution um student participation of the board is absolutely important for us to give us the perspective of what actually occurs in student life um within the schools. Um so our two
student members are absolutely welcomed and appreciated in the comments they share here. I know they have a lot of interactions with our superintendent probably more than with the board. Um, but we absolutely welcome and love having you as part of the board and appreciate the service that you've provided to the community and to your fellow students. So, I'm going to read
the resolution. It's the same resolution for both of you, but but it's in recognition of your service for this year. Um so whereas a resolution honoring student representative Mia Palmer and Ara Cho for the service on the Leonia board of education whereas
Mia and Ara has served have served with distinction as student representatives to the Leonia board of education during the 2025 2026 school year bringing the youth perspective to board deliberations and fostering meaningful communication between the board district
administration and the student body. And whereas through their participation, they have offered fresh insight into student concerns and priorities, serving as credible and consistent voices for their peers. And whereas they have conducted themselves with professionalism and respect, embracing
the responsibilities of board service while continuing to pursue academic excellence. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Leona Board of Education recognizes and commends Mia and Ara for their dedicated service, their commitment to open communication, and the positive contributions they have
made to this district and its students. And be it further resolved that the board extends its s its sincere appreciation and best wishes to Mia and Ara as they move forward in all future endeavors. And be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution shall be
presented to Mia and Ara as a token of the board's esteem and gratitude for their service to the Leon community. Thank you so much. Okay, with that any other board comments on agenda related items? Okay, seeing none, that brings us to
approval of consent agenda. Um, can I have a motion and a second on the consent agenda? >> Motion. Second. >> And can we have roll call, please?
>> Miss Choy? >> Yes. >> Mr. Grow? >> Yes. >> Miss Dr. Meester? >> Yes. >> Miss Melman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Park. >> Yes. >> M. Rabbana.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Zepka. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sigal. >> Yes. >> Vice President Thompson. >> Yes. >> President Lee. >> Yes. Motion passed. >> Thank you. Okay. That brings us down to
item 4.1. Uh Dr. Carmonus' report. >> Okay. So I do want to before I give my report just thank for the work they did this year. Um you know Mia is a junior so I hope that she's going to continue in the role. Know the school's going through an election process now you
know. Um but I hope she continues. If not you know we'll see her next year. She can still contribute if she's not if she's not the official board uh rep. Um but I do want to thank both and our good luck next year. Harvard is very lucky to have you. I want to make that very
clear. you know, they they are the lucky ones, and that's what you should always uh keep in mind. Um, but the the girls have done a amazing job this year, uh, just being a connection for me to the to the student body. Um, they put on a a a
women's expo in March that was so well organized and so well put together. I still hear comments from the community uh you know from from honestly I I had the honor of keynoting it and it was I I didn't realize the impact that my 10-minute short speech that I you know
that I did really had on on the students um and the panelists that were there it was all just so well done and so well put together and I want to thank you for all the work you both did this year um and I look forward are you have to come back and tell us you know what's going to happen you know we want to follow you
so you keep us in the loop Okay. Um, okay. So, some other exciting things happening in our schools. Uh, the class of 2026. We are wrapping up with the class of 2026. Uh, I'm going to let our board reps give an update on senior week
and all that. Um, but we have graduation is around the corner. Uh, we are a few things uh that I did want to mention though about uh the the recent um events in our schools. Uh one thing we have earlier this month we had a
scholarship event uh a senior awards where we gave out scholarships and these scholarships are through the community. Um they're they're either local businesses uh local foundations um definitely uh all from members of the Leonia community or organizations within the community. Uh we gave out about
$70,000 worth of scholarships to our class of 2026 seniors. Uh so we thank just thank the community for all of their support and all the work um that goes behind the scenes for it. But it was an amazing evening for our students.
Um we also uh uh where am I? Sorry. Okay. So the um enrollment numbers for so at the end of the year I annually give you your uh our current enrollment numbers where we end the year. Um at ACS our enrollment is at
476. LMS is 679 and LHS is 774. So that's a total of 1929. Um so that's roughly uh where we so we started maybe about 60 kids more. Um so
we've had a few kids leave the district. Um but kind of holding steady where we we see that's an average change that we see every year. Uh we are so for those that have been following um the high school has wrapped up their uh work around the
belltobell policy the legislation that came out around uh cell phones in schools um and uh banning cell phone use or internet enabled devices in schools. Uh the cell phone has w the high school has wrapped up their uh work around it with their committee. They had a committee uh they formed a committee to
work on this policy and what the policy and procedures would be at the high school. Um the uh committee consisted of uh staff members, parents, students, right? The there were student reps per grade level. I think Mia you were on the committee. Yeah. Um you know the
students per grade level uh administrators a diverse group of stakeholders were on this committee. Um and they will be sharing the the high school will be implementing a strict off and away policy. Uh there will be no cell phone use at the high school. uh similar to the elementary school and the middle
school. Uh as per the legislation, it is bell-to-bell. So students will come in after they swipe in and then their cell phones will be away. It is a strict off and away policy. There is no in between class or you know it is a strict off and away. Um the high school will share that
commu that information with the community shortly. uh they'll they'll give constant reminders over the summer as well and then they will start off strong in September with more information and and guidelines for the students and the parents. Um we've been doing a lot of work uh around our
technology usage and and how we're implementing technology in our classrooms and really looking at um what we have available for kids and how how do we really figure out what's most effective. Obviously, there's a lot of research out there and a lot of articles have been coming out. Um so we've been
really diving into all of that um and making sure that the technology we are using is the most appropriate and most effective and impactful for our kids. Um so there will be uh revised deployments of devices next year. Um we are uh you
know in prek to one you know we're revising how those devices look. Uh we are refocusing what educational apps we're providing kids. Uh streamlining removing apps that are unnecessary. no more, you know, silly games that kids will have access to, right? Like we want
if if kids are using a screen, it's going to be for educational purposes. Um the buildings will the building principles will share out that more of that information. Um they're also we're collecting the devices uh from certain grade levels, particularly at ACS, all devices will stay over the summer. Um so
that way kids can go enjoy their summer device free and read a book and play outside and just enjoy the fresh air. Um and but the principles uh the buildings themselves will sh will share out specific information on all of that.
And last but not least, uh we are we've launched since our last board meeting, we've launched a district podcast. It's called Leading Leonia. Um and it is a podcast uh that is meant to share with the community what's going on in their schools. So behind the scene look into our schools. Um we are on about our
fifth episode. Um we've had some students on there. We've had some staff members. The next episode we're about to launch is with uh Mr. Service, the high school uh ele the high school vice principal um where he talks about, you know, um mental health and schools and
um students uh devices, all all of that, you know, screen time, all how all of that connects. Uh so, uh if you follow us on Spotify or YouTube, you can catch the episodes. Um and we if anybody wants to be a podcast, a guest on the podcast, you let me know. Happy to have you. As
long as you can talk for 30 minutes, you'll be fine. >> Thank you very much. Okay, that brings us to item 4.2, a report from our interim uh board administrator. >> Yes. Um first I just uh would like to report a little bit about uh some of the
work we're doing around reviewing the send receive relationship that we have with Edgewater uh a joint effort between both Leonia and Edgewater to take a look at the models that we're using um to uh develop our contracts. I was fortunate
enough to attend a workshop this month on uh presented by several business administrators uh from around the state who described some alternative models that are in place. And so we're really excited about that work. Um Dr. Caram
Manis and myself, we met with um administration from Edgewater just to begin the conversation uh and to uh share what we've learned. The uh uh as we've discussed in the past, several cost-saving initiatives
that we're working on. A few that we've worked on this month include uh looking at alternative methods for procurement of energy supplies, gas, specifically gas and electric. um and we've met with representatives from
uh some consultants who would assist us in that manner. Uh the good news is is that the our current method of procurement probably is the absolute best which is aggregating with uh several hundred members uh or boards of education throughout the state and the
rates that we're getting are probably the best that we possibly can be getting at the this particular time. Our contracts are expiring though and so we want to be proactive and prepare for when those contracts expire. We're also looking at um some of our we the the
board successfully looked at our health insurance policies. We want to look at some of our other insurance policies specifically our property casualty and workers compensation and making sure that we explore any other alternatives that would generate some savings for us.
Um, kudos to Kevin Woods and the maintenance staff. We had a recent uh uh emergency issue at the annex involving the sewage and the sewers in the in that annex. Uh,
kudos to to Mr. Woods who uh rented an excavator, dug it up, solved the problem, fixed the problem, probably saving the district thousands and thousands of dollars. And while we're at patting Mr. Woods on the back, an hour
ago, this air conditioner in this room wasn't working. Uh, and I'm feeling it getting nice and cool now. So, again, thank you to Mr. Woods. We are closing the year in a positive cash and budgetary position. So very excited
about that. And lastly, just looking forward as somebody new to the district to supporting some of the year-end activities that are coming up. So that's it. >> Thank you very much. Um yeah, if it was a sewer line break, I mean that was
probably a 15 to $15,000 savings. So, right, that brings us to item 4.3, student representatives. All right, Mia. >> So, today marks Mia and I's 11th board meeting, and it's ultimately my last one, which feels pretty bittersweet. Um, I ran for this position last year
because I wanted to advocate for student perspectives and relay those views to people who can actually make change for the better. And I think I've been able to achieve that through um working with Mia and Dr. Karammanos who I really want to thank today because you have helped
um me grow so much in this journey and I really hope to continue doing this type of work in college and I'll definitely carry what I've learned here into my future endeavors. Um as for my actual report, there was senior week this month which was so much so much fun as a senior who experienced it. Um we had
prom, we went to Dorney Park all together. Um we had the senior BBQ and yesterday the seniors um walked through the these very halls of ACS and had a clap out from um the all the students at ACS and EVG and that was a super
meaningful experience. Um at the same time, you know, it's been so fun to hang out with everybody and have um these last few moments with our teachers and friends. Um, but it's also like there's there's this duality because the moment we've all been waiting for also means that our time together is ending as
friends, teachers, um, students, and peers. So, um, with that, I'm really grateful for this experience, and I wanted to just express my gratitude one last time. Um, additionally, finals start tomorrow as we reach the last couple days before summer and the LHS graduation day is on
June 25th. Thank you. Talk about duality. >> Okay, so that brings us to item 5.1 and sorry again. Thank you for your service and our good luck with school next year. May we hope you come back to the board. I mean
um so that brings us to item 5.1 uh committee reports. So that's education Thompson. So, we haven't met since our last board meeting, but I would love to highlight how uh much progress we've
made on uh the gifted and talented education in our district, which was a major goal of the education committee this year. And of course, you know, uh most of the work is borne by the district staff and the district leadership and in Dr. Carammanus and Mr.
Coin and and so I really want to thank them for the efforts in that. Uh we've also I think made positive strides on the topic of the use of technology in schools and of course new information comes out all the time and and we'll
have to keep adjusting but but that is a topic also very near and dear uh to the heart of the education committee. And and finally the other thing um our district leadership has has worked on a lot is uh transparency around district data as it relates to education and
performance. And so, you know, I think pretty much everything is now on our website. So, if you're interested, you know, feel free to to go on to leononechools.org and and you can see how our schools are doing and how our kids are doing and and uh and I think you'll find that
interesting. >> Thank you. Okay, that brings us to 5.2, finance and planning. I know this is quiet time of the year for us. >> Um, we haven't met since last time. We didn't really have agenda items. Um we'll schedule next one when it's needed
and all the key updates from last uh meeting is already covered by uh Dr. uh Nonoff. So thank you for that. >> Okay. Thank you. Um so 5.3 is policy. That's myself. Um we did have a few there are a few um policy items on for
first reading for tonight. Most of them were generally housekeeping. Um we met last week I think um to discuss those. Um there's some items with hygiene um as as Miss Thompson mentioned gifted and talented more along the regulation side
not so much the policy. Um there's also a resol or a policy on for law enforcement unit which just essentially identifies who the actual people are going to be. Um we did have discussions about the cell phone policy which Dr. Caramonus reported on. Um, and as Miss
Thompson mentioned, that is something that that we are, you know, very kind of eager to get to. I know the laws are changing around it. Um, but I really do appreciate how Dr. Carmonus has asked the schools to to have, you know, create their own committees around how this is
going to actually come about and how the how the policies should work from a day-to-day perspective. because for us as a board to sit here and make rules and regulations that the school district has to follow and our administrators need to adhere to without that kind of a feedback is kind of it's very very um
it's not a good approach, right? So I do appreciate that that effort that's going into it. So, while we're waiting, I mean, I know the bell to bell is out, but um as we're waiting for our policy guidance company to provide us with their information, but we'll take all
that information into consideration to create the policy that works for our community. Um so, we are looking forward to doing that. We are meeting uh we don't have meetings set yet, but we do have to meet over the summer um to discuss a large packet that has come out uh from from Strauss Esme, which is our
policy guidance company. Um so that will be our next meeting for the policy committee and that brings us to 5.4 board governance. Mr. Sable. So we did actually get a chance to meet uh between the last meeting. The majority of the focus was on our security audit of the
district and those results will be reviewed in close session. >> Thank you. Okay. Okay. Um, so we have several consent agenda items and then that brings us down to
item 10.1, which is public comment on non-aggenda items. 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. Hello. Okay. Um I didn't realize I was going to go that soon. So um um I'm
Lauren Peekarelloo. I live on Van Orton Avenue. Um I am the mom of three Leonia uh students, although one of them is actually at Bergen Tech. Um I have one student who's an eighth grader graduating and another student who is a
fourth grader coming up to the middle school. Um I am here to talk about um an incident that occurred in the um Leonia High School bathroom um about uh two weeks ago, June 2nd actually. And what I'm going to do in my very short time is
outline the sequence of events just so they're on record and also very briefly talk about um some past events that have happened as well. So on June 2nd, my older daughter, who does not go to this school, was notified by a friend um that there was graffiti found um in uh the
high school bathroom. This graffiti depicted um a swat multiple swastikas and um um f Israel, multiple locations. um my understand so that evening I wrote to
the um superintendent um and the principal and the board um of education leadership um to let them know about the incident and my concern. Um uh the next day um board president Mr. Lee responded uh very quickly to my uh concern and the
following day I was notified that um the custodian had removed the graffiti before the administration had seen it. No blame to him. I understand his desire to do that, but I understand that was not typical protocol that um the administration should be made aware of
of at first, but I also was made aware of that the perpetrator was swiftly found and um punishment happened. Um so, so that was all um very good to hear. Um but I wanted to um mention that while
you know this incident or the incidents like this may be rare um I do think that there's an uptick of incidents of anti-semitic um and anti-ionist nature in town and specifically in the schools. Um and I'm going to start I'm just going
to name a couple starting with three years ago. So, three years ago, um some of my uh daughter's friends in the middle school were asked um if they were Jewish and then shown the Hy Hitler sign
um directly to them. Um the following year, my own daughter um who was in sixth grade was shown swastikas on a computer by students in her class. I did not report that. I regret not reporting that, but at the time we were a little
bit um afraid quite honestly to report it. Um the following year, so I guess this is maybe last year, um at least one student was assaulted by another student um called a Jewish slur and um his
Jewish necklace was pulled off of him. Um and uh then this year in the middle school um a there were uh swastikas found either on a desk or on a deck of cards um in the middle school. In
addition to this, there have been events that have happened in town. So not in your purview, but done by kids in town. So, I know that there was a swastika drawn on a door of a Jewish uh woman's home and uh my husband witnessed um two
students, two middle school age students um sort of talking and then um there was a noticeably Jewish man standing outside of um an establishment and they threw money on the ground and were hoping that
he would pick it up. So my point here is that this is not an isolated incident. It may be that the student has only done it once, but there's clearly um a pattern of behaviors. And I I request um that the
board and the administration work with us as parents and some other parents will talk as well to think about some strategies to not just punish people once they've done it, but actually to prevent these kinds of things from happening at all. Um, and obviously I'm I'm sure I've over time, but I obviously
I have um I have some skin in the game in that I have two kids that are still about to come up through the schools, one entering the middle school and one entering the high school who, you know, wear their Jewish stars with pride, and I don't want them to be afraid. Um, and
I promise I wouldn't cry. So, um, my final thing that I want to say is, um, I understand that the procedure is to call the police and to, um, issue a HIP. I think those things were done. I understand that there's a privacy issue there, but I think we can do more. And
I, and I request that, again, we work together to sort of have a three-pronged approach. One is to make sure that parents are made aware. I don't want to be told from my student who doesn't go to the school that something like this is happening. I think we should be made aware when these happen these things
happen even if it's a small minority of people who might be affected. Um I think there should be more education. I don't know what that looks like but I'd love to work with you on it. And I think um we need to make sure that the staff I know the staff has mandatory trainings
but I myself as a physician I have mandatory trainings. I know what that's like. I click click click click click through them. Um, I think we have to have discussions and um, real in-person engagement in these kinds of issues because Holocaust education is great,
but this is not about the Holocaust. This is about what's happening right now. Um, and we need to be um, we need to be teaching ourselves and our children about what hate looks like now. Um, not, you know, 70, 80 years ago. So,
thank you so much for giving me that extra time. I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Hello. Okay. >> Please provide your name and address. >> Oh, and okay. Hi, I'm Avi Lavine. I live on Ames and Broad. I have two little
boys currently still in ACS, but we plan our future here. They will make it to the high school eventually. Um, so I'm here as well because a swastika is painted on a school bathroom wall and a swastika is not graffiti. It's a symbol of hate, violence, and intimidation.
And when something like this happens in a school, silence is not acceptable. I've gathered examples from other school districts and how they have responded to similar incidents that I can email to this group. But in those cases, leaders
did a few critical things. One, they acknowledged the incident clearly and quickly to the broader school community. Two, they condemned it without ambiguity. Three, they supported the communities affected. And four, they communicated
what actions were being taken. It doesn't seem that that happened in our case, and it should have. We would like to work together with you to ensure a clear, consistent communication plan is in place moving forward. Other districts have shown it's possible to respond with
urgency, with clarity, and with care. And our town should hold itself to that same standard. >> Thank you. If you could please please email those examples. Oh, yeah. Okay.
>> Yes. Yeah. >> Hi, Shelley Edlesber. 314 Freeland. Um, some of you know me. Uh, I was, uh, my son was, um, uh, involved in one of the stories last year. Uh, in fact, three different incidents. Um, they were
unacceptable. And I just want to reiterate that what we were trying to do as parents and as part of this community is again to emphasize not the punishment of the individual but to treat this as
as as hate speech and regardless of who this is against. This can be against one group today and another group tomorrow. And what we asked was very clearly that the school sends a clear message to the
community to all parents to let them know this happened. No mentioning of the names, no mentioning of anything that is private. It is really irrelevant for for the community to know what's relevant is this happened and very clearly we will
not tolerate that in our town. This town is different from other town around us. It's it's it's all about you know a beautiful community and it needs to be reflected in the school as well. So I hope the other thing is um as Laura
mentioned is the education. We we met um with some of you with the with the representative of the uh Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. I know that ADL can also provide training. We offer that. Um I don't know where it went but really this is not about one
incident. This is something a simple email to send and then training is is is do really doable. So thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else from the police
Marsha Antel 325 Magnolia Place Leonia New Jersey um I have worked in the field of Holocaust education, bias and prejudice reduction for decades. I've published on the subject. I've done public speaking
to schools. This goes back to the 80s and the 90s. I was involved in the development of the Holocaust education mandate for the public schools in New Jersey to teach the Holocaust. And I agree with I guess Shellyley.
It's not working. It's not working because I think of the example that's being brought up today, silence. You know, I I'm not sure why the school in Leonia does not put together some
kind of a task force, meet with parents, reassure the parents, meet with the kids, reassure the Jewish kids, the Muslim kids, the gay kids across the board that they're safe. that when
incidents like this happen, they're not quiet. And the the biggest danger that we learned from the Holocaust education, and by the way, I'm a child of two survivors of Avitz and Dha. I
have a lot of skin in the game, okay? And it is painful and terrifying to live in Leonia today and hear the statement from these parents. And I'm wondering if the school board, the teachers, social
studies, guidance counselor, nurse have appealed to the principal, to the vice principal, to the board for help. I it's a question I'm asking and it's a question you need to answer. Um
hate, bias, prejudice is in it starts with words. It starts with silence. It grows. It's across the world today. And I recently joined Mayor, which is the mayor's advisory committee, committee to
advise the mayor about race relations in Leonia. And I'm trying to spearhead um a committee dealing with anti-semitism and the education of the community. And I agree with you, the educators sitting at
these tables here need to be educated. You need to have a reaction not only from the gut but from the head. You need to understand that when the adults do not respond and
the children don't hear nobody is safe. And just to end with it with Mor right now we're developing what's called a listening session and we're going to get a sample of Leonians to come. Jewish
Leonians and I'm hoping non-Jewish people will be added to the mix to provide experiences of being Jewish in Leonia. And I have to tell you so far the common denominator is I don't feel any
anti-semitism. I don't see it as a problem in this town. Well, not only is it a problem, the problem is not being talked about and not being addressed. So in a nutshell without getting too academic
and too you know pedantic here on the subject I think everybody here needs to gather together with the parents and develop a plan. The ADL is the number one the anti-defamation leap founded in 1922
has been working on prejudice and bias reduction primarily with the Jewish people because this Jews are the easiest target of all and relentless you know um victims of hate and terrorism but with
other groups as well they have the formula they are reaching out to um schools, to administrators, to any system that is involved in a community to educate, to assist. It is
free. It is credible. It's professional. It's tried and true. So if you hear the ADL word, it's a very positive organization to reach out to and say we in Leonia need your help to help us deal
with what is a problem, not what isn't a problem. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other members from the public wish to speak? Yes, please. Hi, my name is Chiwan and I live on Harrison Street here and uh just want to
say as a non Jewish and non you know Israeli that I would also have like to have known what happened so that I could have spoken with my children about the incident. Um so here it's a shared
responsibility right it's not just on the educators it's not just on the school it's not just on the community but it's on the families too so I don't agree with it and I would have loved to have spoken to my children about it so
that you know we could kind of build a community and consensus around it and create some kind of like a positive you know peer pressure that you know somebody may hate but then you know that these group of people support and are there. Um so then you discourage any
hate and I think it would have also been very positive for my children to know that you know this kind of help and response is there in the community not just for you know the Jewish people but for everyone. Thank you.
>> Any other members from the public wish to speak? Okay, seeing none, um we do appreciate the comments from the public, especially on this topic. We will move on to the board comment on non-aggenda items. Um do you
want to respond to any of the comments? Well, actually, you know what? Before you do, can I um I appreciate all all the public coming out to speak about the the incident that occurred recently, and it it does take courage to speak in public. Um especially when it comes to incidents of
hate and bias. Um as a minority myself, I mean, I've lived with this growing up. Um I don't see it as much today, which I appreciate because of the community that I live in now. Um, but knowing that the incident did occur, I do want to um
outright say that as a board, I mean, if you look at our board, we are a fair fairly diverse board and a diverse community. That's what I love about this town. Um, and and I think I can safely speak for this board. What I do say that we condemn the actions of what occurred
without ambiguity. Um, and no member of this community, especially our students, should feel unsafe to be in the schools. And and when I listen to the collective of the the communications that u of the information that was shared, that's
that's what I feel when you ask what my gut like how what my heart feels. That's what I feel that that it may be one student, it may be a few, it may be many that feel, you know, that feel unsafe or to be in an unsafe environment. That's not what this board is about. That's not
what this administration strives for. Um, and I just wanted to open before we got into any other board comments in response um, to the incidents that occurred, but but I do appreciate everyone speaking tonight on that. Um, so I'll turn it over to you.
>> Um, I, you know, just for the record, we did speak on the phone, right? And we we had a good I we had a good conversation. I shared, you know, what exactly, you know, our process is. Um, and I'm Not just pass and to to make sure that it's not repeated and you know to to really
understand how to move forward. Um we also recently received a Holocaust grant for education books around uh anti-semitism for hate for our classrooms for our classroom libraries. um you know there's there's a lot of work that we are already doing that
doesn't mean that there's not more work to be done but I do want to share that there's work being done and it's not an issue that we ignore um you know on the phone yesterday I had shared that um I didn't know f I didn't know other districts were sending out communication because that doesn't come to me right I
don't get what other superintendents are sending out um but I did appreciate getting that list I did receive the uh the communication um uh examples that were provided. Um, which is something that as you know, we'll review at the board with the I'll review with the board, but I'll also more review with
the administration and talk to the administration about what that looks like for us moving forward. Um, and I I do want to say like this the the the event did happen, but how we it was reported our students also know the the
the majority of our students. It was reported by students. students came out and reported it to us and they said and they are not not not of not Jewish students not of Jewish descent had nothing to do with they were just two students who saw it and said that's not right. So the majority of our students
um do know that that is not okay and that there is no place for that here in our schools and in our community and our school community. Um, and you know, I I take I think we should take pride in that that our students acknowledge that and they didn't just leave it like our custodian saw it and didn't just well that's a different story, right? That
should have definitely been reported and that's a conversation we had, but you know that's it's we acknowledge that it's not okay and that we need to do better and more for for our community. >> Um, so yeah, thank you all for speaking. Um I I hear this kind of like Zanti was
saying from students themselves. Um and it happens across the board, right? For all different reasons that um students are having bias and and attacks against them. So I was just wondering maybe Zanti you could think about it if we could start with like a climate survey.
Um go out to the parents, go out to the teachers, go out to the students just to see um how they feel. Do they feel safe? Do they feel protected in school through everything? Not just because I want to look at it as a whole picture and make
sure everyone in the community feels safe and heard. We just recently sent out a climate survey across all the schools. So, we hope everybody here and and your kids uh responded because that's what we're counting on for feedback. That's that's a primary way that we get input into the
district. It's a great idea and I think our superintendent has already implemented that doing that for the last three years. Every May there's a school climate survey. It goes to the parents, to the students, and to the staff. And it addresses exactly that. the safety uh
addresses everything from safety to um uh supports and everything in between. So, and that's data that we will look at uh with the administrators over the summer. >> Sorry, any other board members comments? I don't want to dominate the discussion.
Um I did want to ask if um well comment. So, I appreciate Dr. Dr. Carmonus that you're looking into uh the ability or the option to send out more public messaging when incidents like this arise. As I was listening to the comments shared by the public, I
realized that um it is important um for transparency purposes to let families know. But really the thought that kind of dawned on me was more that u because of the laws that we have to follow, right? We can't discuss what we can't
discuss students involved. We can't discuss consequences for students. Um but we can discuss in generalities that an incident occurred. Um and that um that we take it seriously, that we're addressing it. And the audience that's most important for that to receive are
actually the students. Um I think more so than the families because the students are the ones that we're educating now. Um, so I I fully support I'd like to see the examples also from the other school districts. Um, but I do support um, you know, obviously after
speaking with administration and hearing your recommendations, some type of messaging that can be distributed um, for any kinds of hate or bias incidents. And what I do want to go back to is speaking about safety. We we do have a safe community um, and we have a safe
school district. Um, but in terms of the amounts of messaging that go out, I do want to kind of caution, you know, the public and the board and and ask Dr. Caramanos to to to weigh carefully um how often those messages go out.
Sometimes we have misguided misguided students that don't even know what they're doing or saying. Um then which does not mean that's still not a hate incident. But then there are there are truly, you know, we do we'll have occasions with students that are, you know, maliciously acting. And I just
don't want to dilute the message by having messages constantly going out or also having the concern that um that it's that we are an unsafe community or an unsafe school. Um so I just want to make sure that we look at that carefully and we we not that we're trying to cover
or hide anything, but that we're looking at it carefully. Um, and I heard a couple times, um, a couple people from the public mentioned skin in the game. You just have to have skin to be in this game. That's really all it is. Whether
you have students in the district, it doesn't really matter. If you live in this community, then you are welcome here and you are welcome to comment and share your concerns and opinions. Um, so I again I do appreciate everyone coming and sharing their comments. Any other board comments?
>> I have a board comment. >> Yes. >> So, I'm going back and revisiting. Well, first I want to say thank you to the public for coming out. Um, I'm going to completely shift gears um now and talk about something near and dear to me um
that I brought up at our February board meeting. Um, and I'm going to read what I have prepared. Um, so after Dr. Kamanos um shared her messaging, I am inspired and relieved to see some of the changes taking place in
Leonia schools in regards to technology in our schools. What we still have work to do. So I'm calling on the board, Dr. Kamonos and Assistant Superintendent Mr. Cohen to do these four additional things. Number one, board members need
to educate themselves on the research and publications related to cell phone usage by kids and teens and edtech. I urge you to reach out to me if you need any recommendations for books or podcasts or experts to listen to. The
data is readily available and we all need to be on the same page about the highly addictive nature of technology especially in the schools. Number two, I am asking our administrators to conduct a deep dive
into the research. I know Dr. Co mentioned that it's coming out, you know, very fast now. Every week we're hearing something new. Um, I especially want them to look into the book, The Digital Delusion, and to put a stop on
all new spending related to edtech. Let's gather the data before we make any more purchases that may actually be decreasing student learning. Number three, edtech has become a problem in all three schools.
Although it may increase engagement, as do many video games, it does not increase learning. It decreases learning in every study that has been conducted over the last 60 years since edtech has been around. Again, please see me if you would like the data and research
articles that support this. We need to get back to good old-fashioned pen and paper, calculations on paper, writing by hand, and not letting AI write and edit for our students. Number four, removal of edte that
includes AI from all classrooms at every grade level. This is especially true with removing the Brisk AI tool that is now on every student Chromebook. For my understanding, teachers benefit from AI. It can be an
amazingly powerful tool um as an educator for lesson planning, composing emails to parents, and making a slide presentation, just to name a few. But AI in the hands of students is harmful and decreases learning and it
really needs to be removed from student use. This should be implemented in our strategic plan as well. We need to work together for the benefit of our kids' education. Thank you for your time and I hope this
continues our conversation um as a full board. >> Thank you. Any other board member comments? Okay, seeing none, that brings us to item 12, which is executive session. We do need to go into executive session
tonight to discuss um some legal matters as well as um Dr. Caramanos's um evaluation. We expect to be closed for about an hour. Um so for those of you here in the public, we appreciate you coming here tonight and speaking. Um
and uh for those watching on YouTube, we'll be away for about an hour after which time we'll come back and take action on personnel and adjournment only. Um just checking to make sure. Um can I have a motion to go into executive session, please? >> Motion,
>> Mr. Seagel. Second, >> Mr. Zepka. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, we are in close session at 89. >> Um, >> all right. Can I have a motion to go
back into open? >> Second, >> Mr. Ziggel. Second, Mr. Park. All in favor? >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, we are back in open session at 9:41 p.m. Um, we are going to take a um take action on
personnel and then we are actually going to go back into executive so that we can allow our staff and professionals to go home while we discuss uh Dr. Caramanos's um uh performance review. So, can I have
a motion and a second on personnel? >> Motion. >> Second, >> Dr. Meester. Second, Mr. Park. And roll call, please. Miss Choy, >> yes. >> Mr. Grow. >> Yes.
>> Dr. Meester. >> Yes. >> Miss Bellman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Park. >> Yes. >> M. Rabbana. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zepka. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sigal. >> Yes. Vice President Thompson. >> Yes.
>> President Lee, >> yes. >> Motion passed. >> Thank you. Uh, can I have a motion to go back into executive session? >> Motion, >> Mr. Park. Second, Dr. Meester. All in favor? >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, we are back.