##VIDEO ID:iLn8r6RMUwI## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e hear me open our mics up so we can hear people at home this is to advise the this is to advise the general public that the public meetings Act theard of Education meeting was advertised in the Park Press Atlantic City Press at the office educ located at 307 Road hary at the office pleas Mr Zone here Mr phello here M Lawrence here Mr Lea here Dr Snider here miss Martin here miss Berber here R cor the Pledge of Allegiance please [Music] approve the agenda I have a motion second question all in favor any opposed any extensions motion passes motion to accept the minutes motion okay any questions that's up to the individual board members think they at the end of the day only in favor I any any [Music] exensions anybody voting no the motion [Music] passes okay public comment agenda items only Board of Education now welc the public to comment on the items which on the agenda tonight community members should first try to resolve their concerns by speaking directly to the school administrators for bringing those to board it may not always be possible or appropriate for the board to directly answer questions public period each speaker is allowed a maximum of 3 minutes to make their statement No one may speak more than once on the same topic you are required to give your name and address before speaking please keep your comments respectful and non defamatory and maintain a level of deorum appropriate for a public meeting miners may be in anybody like to none move on to correspondence informational items discuss [Music] assment everyone who emailed and of the new chairit any discussion on that I would just remind toe discuss with Dr administr Adat yeah so right now the ask is just to get back to um Dr what day is best that's best help then I can work around and I obviously and do you want us to pull the folks on the committee or just kind of okay [Music] yeah no pressure no real just for Budget budget we already have our first meeting January 28 at 6 p.m. budget will meet a few times before the March meeting because it's relevant at a little bit more time now uh 6 p.m. on the 28th else so it is School Board recognition so I'd like to I'd like to uh read that so that it's in the it's resolved that the Board of Education approved the school board recogn recognition resolution whereas the New Jersey school boards Association has declared January 2025 to be Schoolboard recognition month a time when all residents can acknowledge the contribution is made by our local school board members and whereas the little L Harbor board of education is one of 581 local school boards in New Jersey which sets policies and overseas operations for public school districts and whereas the little life Harbor Board of Education Embraces the goal of highquality education for all New Jersey public school students and whereas the new New Jersey's local school boards help determine the educational goals for approximately 1.4 million children in Pre kindergarten through grade 12 and whereas New Jersey's 5,000 local school board members who receive no renumeration for their services act as advocates for public school students as they work with administrators teachers and parents for the betterment of public education and whereas School boards strive to provide the resources necessary to meet the needs of all students including those with special needs and whereas Boards of Education provide accountability to the public they communicate the needs of the school district to the public and they convey to school administrators The public's expectations for the schools and whereas New Jersey can take pride in its schools which rank among the nation's best in key achievement indicators such as the national assessment of educational progress scores and the preparation for college through advanced placement offerings and sat assessments now therefore be it resolved that the Little Egg Harbor board of education does hereby recognize the services of local school board members throughout New Jersey As We join Community Statewide in observing January 2 as school board recognition month and be it further resolved that the little leg Harbor Board of Education urges all New Jersey citizens to work with their local Boards of education and Public School staff toward the advancement of our children's education and this is a so thank you for your your welcome and thank you for your service your community volunteer service to the students and staff of little like Harbor and this is a great segue into the fact that the New Jersey legislature is considering changes to the school funding Reform Act as we discussed several weeks ago and this is the there's the fourth of four meetings are happening tomorrow and it is an opportunity for local Boards of Education to make their voices heard on this a critically important issue but it's also for the public to reach out to the state and the final four public hearings is scheduled for Thursday January 16th not tomorrow Thursday from 600 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Camden County Regional Emergency training center in Blackwood additional information registration and comment forms can be found on the Department's Outreach page along with an overview of the school funding in New Jersey and other informational links the the comment period will close on January 17th so this is the time for everybody to get to the state a huge shout out to our facilities director Seth Cole and our facilities crew both custodial and maintenance for a job well done clearing the snow in all buildings last week another huge shout out to our transportation supervisor Mike coper for his ability to sound perky at 3:30 in the morning when we're on the phone uh while driving throughout the district provided me with weather updates road conditions and pictures so it was interesting I was on a four-way call with Seth Cole Mike ker Rubber creen and myself at 3:15 in the morning and we were talking about the road conditions in at the time at 3:30 was nothing at on Monday but I was also on the phone with other superintendents so huge shout out to both of them if we were going to come to school that day and the side roads weren't as bad as they were our schools would have been ready to go however I stated in my message to the community while we do understand that closing schools may have an impact on our families it remains our number one obligation to ensure the safety of our students and staff the decision to close or delay our schools is most often that involves many variables and many individuals however please know that I will always air on the side of caution rather than place our students and staff at risk these are never easy decisions yet please understand that they are not made without thought and careful deliberation as outlined in the 2425 approved school calendar because we were off on last Monday for snow day we will have Thursday June 19th is our first makeup day for Monday's implement we and that is outlined on the calendar but I want to make sure everybody's aware of that also as you may be aware I sent out a community message earlier this week or actually last week about there's been an uptick in RSV pneumonia flu viruses and Co across the country the New Jersey Department of Health has issued reminders about handwashing covering your cost and sases eating healthy and getting plenty of rest in school we are focusing on using our air purifiers and increasing and maintaining our already rigorous cleaning protocols while being in school is incredibly important we ask that if your children is ill are ill are exhibiting signs of illness please keep your children home we will still follow our attendance protocols however not only do we not want sick children or staff in school but sick children are unable to learn in some cases the L Harbor School District may be required to implement facility and districtwide control measures me including excluding six students and staff until a minimum of 24 to 48 hours after vomiting and diarrhea have ceased enforcing strict handwashing policies for all students and staff and canceling and are postponing Gro activities or events and limiting visitors please do not be surprised should this occur and be prepared in the event this happens as it is a very real possibility our custodial and maintenance staff are trained in the proper protocols for cleaning and disinfection as prevention measures against the spread germs however we need our community to do their part as well also please be aware i' I've said this before but I've gotten some phone calls recently of the homeowners whose houses are within the school area especially during Ral and dismissal time it seems that there are cars lined up along the road and in some cases are entering private property and and blocking the egress and Ingress of the people who live in the house and so personal property has been damaged or destroyed we reached out to the police department and asked them to for assistance and we ask that everyone remain respectful of others properties and remember that we are one Community supporting each other this evening we have many presentations on the on the docket so we're going to get started with those and uh oh [Music] [Music] Mr Zone yes Mr phello yes M Lawrence yes Mr Lea yes Dr Snider yes Miss Martin yes M arber motion passes our presentations of for this month students of the month acknowled [Music] [Music] forell good evening the character trait for December for George Mitchell was caring so all the students selected were selected based on that characteristic of caring first we have Giovani Lea in Miss Moscato's Class come on up Giovani so I'm going to read what wi scado had to say Giovani is such a kind and caring friend who is eager to help those around him he displays a positive attitude and enjoys making others smile Giovani is a kindergarten Superstar and I'm so proud of him congratulations [Applause] [Music] all [Music] right next we have Jackson TPAC [Applause] here Jackson I'm going to read what Mrs H had to say Mrs H said Jackson is a kind and caring friend who always brings a smile to everyone he always shows kindness and respect towards his peers and teachers Jackson has a positive attitude and is always ready to help his peers he's a good friend we are so proud of you Jackson keep up the am and work [Applause] next Hannah tickle who was chosen by our special Area Teachers Hannah always shows kindness and compassion to everyone around her whether she's lending a hand encouraging others or just sharing her Bright Smile her caring to me her makes our classrooms and gym a better place to be keep setting your amazing example Hannah we're so lucky to have you in our classes and lorenza Lorenzo brasia and Miss gad's [Applause] class Lorenzo is a caring and kind-hearted student he is responsible eager to learn always willing to help others in the classroom Lorenzo's personality brightens our day keep up the good work with Lorenzo [Music] [Applause] want to go there cing [Music] [Music] [Music] good evening everyone I am proud to announce the names of the Frog Pond Schools students for the month we're going to start in third grade for Mrs Savage's class and that is going to be Liza Taco come on up Mrs Savage says Liza was a very easy choice for student in the month because she's hard working time she comes into the classroom every morning prepared for Learning and follows our class classroom routin routines like she is a professional I love that compliment Liza has a quiet understate of confidence that we can all aspire to model ourselves after now her list of credits includes skills as a talented artist and she creates detailed scenes with comical characters I hope she remembers us when she writes her first bestseller congratulations autograph from fourth grade Mrs Sal's class Juliana young I'm on jul sprinting forward Juliana comes to school every single day dressed to impress with a positive attitude and a desire to do her best in all subjects she's polite and considerate to her teachers and friends she's always willing to help others thank goodness Mr Sor says she reminds me every day to check to pick my kid up app at dismissal so we know who's leaving Mrs S need that much help that is just one example of the multiple things she does to help her class her sense of humor is contagious she's kind to her peers and a positive role model congratulations Julie Adam from Mrs Saunders class fourth grader Niah [Music] Brook she's coming when I first met and this is Mrs sers speaker when I first met nah she would not talk to me now if anyone in this room knows Mrs Saunders she loves to talk to her students so I'm sure that was hard and Mrs solder said maybe nah wasn't loving School fast forward to today she reads aloud to our class she writes our morning messages on the board solves all the math problems independently she is a Fierce and that word underlined three times competitor on the football field and she can hold her own against anyone and Mrs Saunders means anyone she works hard every day and I'm so pleased to witness all of her growth amazing words for Mrs congratul fifth grade from Mrs Simon cen's Home Room Francesca Lucas Franchesca is an amazingly talented young lady she excels in all School subjects and as a role model in our classroom we going to be Spin and face the crowd so they see you they deserve to see your face while we hear these awesome words and next line she always has a smile on her face and so now everyone can see it she is a great friend to all and is willing to help whenever she can congratulations and please keep up the great work Francesca for Mrs Simon and great six from Mr maner Home Room Molly mlen Molly you can Molly want face the crowd Molly is a student who can be counted on to go above and beyond in everything that she does she works hard at applying herself and challenges herself to learn more and more each day Molly carries herself as a friend to all other students and she finds appropriate ways to mix fun with learning she has come far with many positive character traits and she's going to continue to be someone for others to look up to congratulations [Applause] [Music] they're all too short [Music] [Music] [Music] we will continue presentations parents are to stay with the children but we understand can't stay um but do make sure they get a treat before they leave we will go on [Music] [Music] this is the biggest crowd I've ever had [Music] before good evening everyone I'm Jackie chesin and I know we have uh a couple of new board members I am the director of personnel planning and evaluation for the school [Music] district uh in that role I'm also our District's anti- ring coordinator and I'm here to report to you tonight and it's also part of our agenda our SS ssds submission number one which covers September 1st to December 31st 2024 the student safety data system known as ssds is an online program that school districts are required to document um different incidents of violence vandalism suspensions Hib investigations and programs and trainings that we conduct in the school the data that is submitted through the state's database is then used for various different types of federal and state requirements that I have listed there these incidents are submitted twice a year so you are going to hear me speak at least twice a year um from September to December that's our first reporting period and then again from January to June 30th we report all Hib investigations whether they are alleged and unfounded or founded either way they're reported we also report um incidents that happen in school that rise to the level of violence vandalism weapons or substances and we also report um out of school suspensions we would if we did have an in school suspension program those would be reported as well but we don't um the trainings and programs are things that uh we do throughout our three schools related to Hib School climate culture social skills Suicide Prevention peer relations any kind of parent School connections conflict resolution those are the type of things that we are reporting to the state to show that we are trying to minimize negative behaviors and data is submitted for all three schools so this is our breakdown uh that was submitted for fra Pon school we had five hi hibbit investigations that were unfounded we had one founded hi there were no incidences that were deemed violent or vandalism and there were 12 out of school suspensions so the state um then takes all of that information and calculates that we had one total incident which because in that one incident was the confirmed Hill also in frog Pon um part of the revision to the anti-bullying Bill Rights Act we now have to report out how how many times the district makes the decision or the schools make a decision not to investigate a hip um in this case frog pond so far this year has done that four times each time it is done with the approval of the superintendent the parent is notified and they can appeal it if they want I can tell you that most of the time if we choose not to investigate a possible hi it is handled as a discipline code of conduct infraction where I'll give you an example a couple examples that typically come up when there's clearly no distinguishing characteristic that's motivating the act that based upon the parent description it's a conflict and it's handled as such now if we were handling it as a discipline infraction and then we start getting some additional information that wants warrants a hi investigation then we would go right ahead and open that right back up as a hid investigation we also sometimes get duplicate um sometime parents a m Choice um so that would be reflected in there too sometimes um I would assume it's children are playing games with our online system and we'll submit some information that we know is clearly um not a valid submission for the Mitchell school we had four unfounded hi investigations and two confirmed so for the district so far we have three confirmed hibs this year there were no incidents that Rose to the level of violence and vandalism and there were no suspensions at the Mitchell school so those two incidences that um are reflected in our submission are the two confirmed HS only one time at the Mitchell school did we um do a determination not to investigate um a possible hi and handled that the Cod of contct conflict at the ECC beautiful number uh we instigations therefore no confirmed hibs it's rare in the ECC that we have them but we have had them in the past um no suspension no preliminary determination not to investigate to show you some of the trainings and programs that have been conducted so far this year um our staff does um do an online annual uh hi and code of conduct training each year our substitute teachers each month when their board approved do a hi training as well um our anti-bullying Specialists meet with me a minimum of three times a year and we also are required to be trained every single year the an the three anti-bullying specialist one for each school plus myself we're required to be trained each year um and we did already attend that training this year in the fall um our anti-bullying Specialists are conducting uh different trainings as well we're attending other trainings such as Suicide Prevention mindfulness and bullying prevention different programs in the schools I'm not going to read over every single one of them um but each of the three schools are doing programs um to address their students behaviors a lot I know both frog and Mitchell School uh do periodic assemblies sometimes they're focused on a certain character tra sometimes they are just reminders of our Behavior expectations and they're done throughout the year um each of the Frog Pon and Mitchell School both did them in January because we know that January in the past has been a very high um frequency month for us so we're trying to be proactive there um all schools in New Jersey have to participate in the week of respect and school violence awareness week so we continue to do that we also have as you can see up there different programs um that we're doing to hopefully create a positive School climate for our students I will be reporting on an update in June or July for you all if any questions ever come up please feel free to reach out uh to myself or Dr an tunz and we'll be able to get you um the answers that you need thank you very much question on the inol suspensions do those or why don't we do those in school suspension we do not do in school suspensions because we don't have a staff member that's dedicated to just watching one student on day off and they can't be kept in the main office because main office secretarial staff are not supervisors of students question of the 12 school school suspensions do we know how many related to the those are bus suspensions are not our separate they're not reported um I can find out for you though if any of those out of school suspensions were from bus behaviors I don't think so but we can get you those numbers I okay um you to c yeah if there's [Music] we'll thank you I have a little more on my possibly [Music] okay so we have a presentation district logo unveiling and I I just like to say Mrs over that Chrystal Gerson who's our who works in our tent Department really outfit this project we talked about it and and she's got background in it and she outfit the project with the community and schools and has really come up with a great uh what's it called it's a it's a branding guide branding guide for everybody so I'll let her talk thank you so this is going to be the brand roll out so you guys are going to see the logos you're going to see the fonts the letter head the email signatures everything that's kind of going to make us all one cohesive [Music] unit all right so let's talk [Music] logos uh we did the logo polling with the community we had over 500 votes from staff students different community members and 46% of the votes went to this one so this is going to be your new District logo everyone seemed to kind of like the the cleanness the cohesiveness of the logos so that is the color version gray scale White Version and we also have um just a plain black version so to go along with this one this is the updated Frog Pond school logos again you have a the color gray scale and white um that way in case you have different color backgrounds for different products or different um Graphics that you need we can kind of just interchange the logos this is uh George Jay's again all of the school ones were voted on by the staff and the students so these are the ones that they chose and then this is eccs uh the fonts that we're going to typically go with for Branding the district is um monserat I don't know if anybody's familiar with this um font but it's a very widely used professional clean font that you can pick up on Google has it most computers seem to have it but it's just a very clean professional font these are what we're going to use for the font hierarchy for the headings so they're bold subhead will be the light and the paragraph will just be the regular the colors and the uh different color palettes this is the little Lake Harbor School District um districtwide um color pallets so you'll see different things like the hex code the RGB numbers these are all for if we are printing at different things so we can give them the specific color um for any outside vendor or or anything like that and then these are the Frog Pond colors this is George J and then these are the ECC colors uh these are the different Communications um that we're going to do throughout the district such as uh the letter head this will be the new letter head you'll see the uh Dr Antunez up the top Robert Green and then we also added to the bottom of all of our letter heads all the different schools with the different phone numbers so you can access contact information [Music] easily these will be the school letter heads again similar style but with their respected uh [Music] logos the new um for the District staff uh as well as if we wanted to print up business cards these will be the school ones so all very similar but each one is distinctively their own these are if we decide to do different Spirit well uh spirit wear for the shirts anything can be changed and just created a couple of different things so we have like hoodies t-shirts um just sweatshirts in general we can create anything with the logos however we want them to look these are some other different options like stickers mugs bags tumblers uh different notepads anything like that we can put the logo on and I'm just wanted to go over more that branding is more than just a logo it's kind of the way that we build trust with the community um research shown that using the consistent branding the different colors the logos the fonts it kind of brings a sense of reliability professionalism and authenticity to everybody um so by doing this we're kind of strengthening our community relationships with the school and the uh the community to help bring trust and loyalty amongst community members and that's it hope you like it I like I like the different colors for each School designated for each school I thought it was going to be all one just one no yeah every uh logo I pulled the colors from that so that like and they all kind of go together like they don't like one doesn't out Shadow the other they all kind of coordinate with one another so yeah looks great you did an awesome job thank you good job moving on to the governor's educator of the Year Awards for 2425 okay I get to go first so it gives me great pleasure to uh recognize the teacher of the year for the Robert seawood Early Childhood Center and that is Mrs Tadashi Mrs tesi works with our high needs preschool students she is always looking for new ways to engage with her students and encourage them to grow and develop skills that will last a lifetime she loves each child and is never discouraged by a challenge Mrs teshi teaches not only students but the staff in her room to make sure that everyone is working as a team to give the students the best experience in school woo and we also have an educational services professional of the Year and that is Mrs Megan Gunston Megan gunson is our Pur case manager in a bcba she is the go-to staff member to support the children and teachers in the preschool Mrs Gunston is always ready to respond to a call for help with a student whether in the classroom the playground or on the bus Mrs gunson is a great team player and always provides valuable support to the preschool staff and off the cuff I'm going to say this is an unsung hero job she's always down and dirty with the kids and the staff and she definitely deserves this recognition [Applause] the George mitchal School educator of the year is Mrs car [Applause] Gan congratulations Mrs gallagan is an amazing educator she's always using best practices and welcomes her colleagues into her classroom to see how to do things the best way her students love her and she loves them and it's a great climate when you walk into the classroom and her students um grow academically every year and socially emotionally it she's just a tremendous teacher congratulations [Applause] little side conversation um I am proud to announce teacher of the year for the Frog Pon school and that is Mrs Kristen Beck on so Mrs Beck spent the first 11 years of her career teaching first and second grade at the Mitchell school and the last 14 years teaching grade six Math and also Math and Science and I will tell you that this skill set that it takes to teach first and second grade and then also be super successful teaching grade six is wide and enormous and that speaks to her true professionalism to have the skills to be able to teach in such very great levels that is amazing and we're very lucky to have her I will also tell you that to be a great teacher it takes a lot more than just the skills it takes to be a teacher you have to have that compassion you have to have that sense of humor and energy and Kristen brings that to our school every day and last but not least regardless of your teaching skills if you don't have the ability to make connections with students the ones that it's easy to make connections with and the ones that it could be hard if you can't do that you won't be successful she is amazingly successful frock H school was very lucky to have you Kristen next I would like to announce the Educational Service professional of the year please come forward Jessica hardigan [Applause] Jessica is in year six as a speech and language therapist at the Frog Pond school and when I first began working with her we had not yet met formally but I knew love her why because she almost ran me over in the hallway about five or six times because she flies through the hallway picking up students in this hallway picking up students in that hallway running to the main office to take a parent phone call or to meet the parent in the lobby so what I learned very quickly was get out of her way and the reason I tell that story honestly is because it highlights the tremendous work ethic and professionalism that she brings to the job every day she truly is a role model for teachers for staff members for students for myself with that energy and with that work ethic that she has she is a Valu member obviously of the speech team but also of the entire child study team again get out of her way but we're also very lucky to have her congratulations [Applause] J okay so now we're going to uh talk about the support staff of the year and for preschool it's Maria Ferguson Maria Ferguson is a superstar teacher assistant she comes to work every day with a smile and and is always willing to land a helping hand she truly cares about our students and goes above and beyond to help them be successful Mrs Ferguson treats them as if they were her own I hope that's right right he can confirm after a weekend with the the students have been known to come in and leap into her arms and tell her how much they missed her the ECC is lucky to have [Applause] [Music] her the George Shane Mitchell support staff person of the year is Miss Michelle mad [Applause] Miss Mersed started in the frag Pond media center and she made the leap into working with students and that is the best place for her Miss Mersed shows love and kindness to every student and they love her back she goes above and beyond her students and whenever she's needed she steps in recently there was a student who parent wasn't at the bus stop and we um the parent didn't have transportation so we got more transportation and we need someone to ride the bus and Miss mon sh said I know him he's he be comfortable with me I'm going to go and she spent extra time with that student and that is the norm for Miss MERS we are so lucky to have you thank [Applause] you all right the FR clad School support staff person of the year is Mr Nikki heckling from all Nikki is in her 21st year at the little Lake Harvard school district and for many years she was a par professional working in classrooms where students were diagnosed with autism students who maybe needed help with her social and emotion today she is an rvt A registered behavioral Tech a registered Behavior technician so there are times when students need help making positive behavior choices and when those moments do arise Nikki is often the first person on the scene and when I I tell you she has an amazing skill set to deescalate situations and to help students turn around a day that perhaps isn't starting in a positive way when they interact with her it often and usually turns very positive very quickly I talked earlier about Mrs Beck having that ability to make connections with students that is also an amazing skill set that Mrs heckelman has um I need some of it I need to learn from her how she does that because it is amazing I can tell you without a doubt the work that she does has such a positive impact on so many other classrooms that we have in our school and they are better places because of you so thank you I believe Seth Co is speaking next uh student of the year we have Steve ly [Applause] from Steve um Steve was deserving of this this year instead of doing a custodian from each building we did one out of the entire district and Steve was our cust of the year he really shows that he's a team player he shows up early ready to go he's assisting new custodians training them on the equipment teaching them how we do things around here he's also adjust his schedule so that he could work day or night for us um he's also available for maintenance he really is an allaround team player and really supports the district so thank you st [Applause] [Music] [Music] you should do it over here the logo in the back the logo in the back yeah give me time give me time I'll take give me time [Music] [Music] [Music] my ability to get [Music] got lines on [Music] my classro [Music] [Music] hey don't forget the donuts donuts okay so I just wanted to say about uh Nikki heckelman she's been with the district a long time is fabulous I remember going on a class trip with her when she was with a student many many years ago my that was with my oldest who is today in slovania so that just tells you how far you come get yes 22 oh my God and um to Mrs hardigan who had work with Addison um you'll be proud to know with much of your help she is going to be have a role in her school play foot loose so I thank you so much from a child who did not speak I can't keep her quiet so job well done thank you both okay next up is our annual ethics training [Music] yeah you [Music] can don't forget Donuts it's working [Music] [Laughter] [Music] get your cookies get your Donuts before this very exciting ethics [Music] presentation all right so um tonight get your ethics presentation this should be your highlight of your board here um so we're going to go through this at any point got questions just stop this is interactive um I am going to do some reading at you which I apologize for but it is the law um this doesn't replace especially for the new new board members you're required ethics training uh for school boards just keep that in mind questions already I like it all right so the New Jersey school ethics Act is what governs uh School ethics for board members um the part I want to re at you here is the highlighted version of respecting confidence of the people and avoid conduct which is in violation their public trust or which creates a justifiable impression among among the public that such trust is being violated so it's not just your it's not your intent it's not whether there's actual conflict it's whether it creates a justifiable impression that's critical for you guys um to know that it's it's not just what you're actually doing but the impression that you you may give to the public just kind of an overview of what your role is as board members what the board's role is the board is the governing body of the school district you're charged with high level policymaking you're the only entity that can take action right um but you're decision making Authority is limited you cannot administer the schools um engage in conflicts and conflicts are governed by the code of ethics which is 18a njsa 18a 12- 24.1 we're going to go through that some great detail to you all right so I'm just going to and I'll give you because it's all 188 tomorrow 24.1 I will just give the letter a uh this is again where I'll read at you because it is the law I will uphold and enforce all laws rules rules and regulations of the State Board of Education and court orders pertaining to schools desired changes shall only be brought about only through legal and ethical procedures follow laws follow the follow the rules that's what you got to remember so what we'll give you is a couple of examples of cases um the school ethics commission U if you go to their website you can find these cases you can find all the detail of these cases uh the if it starts with a C that's a case I I'll Point these out to you and if it starts with an A that's an advisory opinions so um in the case that somebody fought an Ethics charge against somebody else against a board member this is their result if it's an advisory opinion so for example if you guys have a question you come to me and say hey I I don't know if this a conflict or not most of the time I can give you an answer there are times we may say you know what I'm not entirely sure how the ethics commission would rule let's get an advisory opinion from the ethics commission and that keeps you out of Hare so in terms of following the rules and I'll also tell you that a lot of these cases will touch on multiple areas of this law so these are just an examples of this area but it could hit a couple different areas see the 814 a board member violated The Code by trying to issue a rice notice to a district employee without following the proper legal procedures which she can board authority or Consulting with the board so for those of you who are new to the board of rice notice is a notice in go to employees to let them know that they are going to be the terms and conditions of their employment may be discussed in executive session um they can ask for it be in public but that is what right supposed to issue that before we do that um individual board members cannot do that because remember you are a board you are considered one as a board you can act individual c104 where president violated the code when contact a newly hired employee and told them that their was void because he directed the superintendent to remove the individual's name from the agenda but the superintendent to do so po Pap result in movs um so first of all and you we'll talk about this a little bit later but only superintendent can make the recommendations in terms of uh hiring staff in terms of uh moving staff terminating staff board doesn't get to make that decision andless superintendent recommends it um so the board can unilaterally do something like that pretty big no so B and this is kind of the overriding principle of everyone who's involved in school districts kids come first right I will make all decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability race Creed sex or social saing I will amend that and tell you every protected category New Jersey Law discrimination should be referenced there but it is not um make the worlds but that uh that's the LA so kids come first see C920 woman violated the code when she refused to leave executive session while the board discussed a matter involving a member of her family um penalty with censure and just so you guys know the the the levels of penalty can be no penalty can be reprimand censure suspension or removal um new the reprimand only was found that lot of the advice of board counsel um but this is a situation there's conflict there's a clear conf conflict um a member you're discussing a member of your family it's being discussed you can't be involved c78 23 uh while discussing the matter of an employees action and possible discipline in an executive session a board member had the VA distribute copies of a letter that the employee wrote to the board but instructed the VA not to give a copy to the superintendent obviously you can't do that um the superintendent is the person that the board comes it's not principles it's not any other administrator not even the ba it's superintendent you can't cut the superintendent ad um especially when heals of personnel matters because that's the person who uh is responsible for the Personnel matters so uh instructed the ba not to give a copy to the superintendent shouldn't be instructed the ba period uh in addition the member stated that she had been in contact with the employee I picked up the letter from the employees home noted that is representing the employee because they are friends question the accuracy of the superintendent's version of the incident motivation for disciplining the employee and indicated that the employee should not be treated this way so as I told you before multiple violations here using bcdf G uh and J so that that that Boog suspended for six [Music] months C look at the big picture I will confine my board policy actually policy planning policym planning and Appraisal and I would help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them that's your main function as boards as board members policy you are the big picture people you're the folks who make the policies make the policy decisions you have policy committees uh that's one of the most critical and important committees uh that you can be on uh as a board member because you are making recommendations concerning policies whether it's Vision whether it's removal whether it's additional um and I was well here's a good example of eight advisory a1015 um we provided The Code by volunteering for a school club where a member had a had contact with and control students Personnel Resources in administration as well as receed quarters from the district Personnel Administration volunteering I I just want to raise volunteering with you guys for a second because it's an issue that comes up a lot obviously you're encouraged to to volunteer what the the ethics commission wants you to volunteer thee wants you to volunteer every do however you got to be a little careful with it because no matter what you're still board members uh and when I talked about justifiable impression [Music] before people see you as board members they don't see you as they may see you as parents but they also see you as board members they may so you got to keep that in mind you cannot direct staff or students so you have to be very careful and you Your Role is now different you may have been a parent in going into school um people are not going to see that they're going to see the board member going into school so when you start directing students directing staff that's where it becomes an issue so when it comes to volunteering we always say just talk to us if you're want to volunteer and it's encouraged just want to make sure that you're conducting yourself in a manner that's not going to get you um in trouble with schic um C 1614 I'm jumping back up there board member conducted a visit to assess a candidate for assistant superintendent without board authority um so I will tell you this you can you policy makers right um the school ethics commission is a little gray on your role in sitting in on certain interviews I'm telling you don't we're not sitting in on interviews the awful awful idea nothing good comes out of it at the end of the day the superintendent makes the recommendation regardless of whether you're sitting on that and the only thing that can happen is you can get yourself in trouble so um while it says here that without board authority I'm telling you you shouldn't do it period [Music] um and and I'm saying Dr Anis never invite them uh no micromanaging is D I will carry out my responsibilities not to administer the schools but together with my fellow board members to see that they are will run um this is an area where where board members do run a foul now and again um it's very easy to kind of there's that that line right and it's kind of easy for it to get blurred sometimes uh your role as policy making it's not to administer the schools um so it's while you direct the superintendent um you can't you can only do that so far you evaluate superintend that's your role you evaluate but you don't get to administer the schools uh evidence of a violation a board member gives a direct to school Personnel or becomes directly involved in activities and function that responsibility of school personnel with a day-to-day administration of the school district or Charter School basically you can't order anybody else other than a superintendent and that's as a full board by the way not an individual board member c1124 prior to being being appointed to the board a member was appointed to be a volunteer coach for a high school football team despite being appointed to the Boe the member continued as volunteer coach the school ethics commission Val simultaneously serving on the board and being a volunteer coach in the district violated the you do get this sometimes people want to be you're not going to have this year this is more on a high school level but it does happen um but it's a good example of hey you're now directing staff here so that's you're have micromanaging for lack of a better term um being a board member you may have been a volunteer coach for years but now you're on the board you got to pull that back a1510 is an advisory opinion the board member violated the act by participating in an execute interview or merely observing the ex interview as we breach the board member's obligation refrain from coming directly involved in activities that are responsibility of school Personnel so difference between interviews and exit interview there's no board vote on this there's at least with a interview you're going to potentially vote on a Personnel action there's no personal action you are acting in Human Resources capacity c646 board member bed the code when he unilaterally visited the school and took pictures of open windows in the middle school and items in the board office bathroom which he then spoke to reporters about so many violations there um the but this is now you're conducting your investigation obviously as board members if you have a problem if you're going to get parents coming to you right as board members you get parents coming to you uh may get staff coming to you and making complaints uh and we'll talk about this later but you don't do your own investigation that parent that staff member it comes to you either refer them to the chain of command or you tell the superintendent this is what's going on nobody else you don't go to you don't go to the principles you don't go to the teachers that is a violation so it certainly don't conduct your own investigation E I can't promise you that so I will recognize that the authority rest with the Board of Education will make no personal promises or take any private action and they compromise the board um this is an interesting one because it seems look on its face it's pretty simple stuff you're not going to make any personal promise or take private action right um as a board member this gets a little funky when it so the SEC has used that language and similar language in another statute when they want to find a violation so we'll talk about social media a little bit and I I'll talk to a little later but just keep that this one in particular in the back of your head about compromising the uh c614 a member bio the code when they made personal promises to a candidate for assistant superintendent by advancing the possibility of his imployment with the district and promising to resolve a contract issue for the district which had the potential to compromise the board obviously you can't have conversations with anyone of the superintendent and you certainly can't resolve contract issues as an individual board member uh C 921 Bo communicated via private text message with a staff member that resigned offering to accuse the board president and the superintendent of M feens for failing to provide a race notice and conspiring to undermine the board and administration uh the board member was reprimanded which by the way I'm shocked it which she never me um this that's pretty bad uh you obviously can't Tex the staff member about board business um so just and you certainly under other parts of this act you have to support your personnel including the superintendent F I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups or use the school for person gain over the game of friends uh I mean that's I'm not going to go crazy with this one but that's pretty straightforward uh you you can't personally gain from this position um in terms of of this is important so c364 you can endorse candidates for Schoolboard but you can do it as a private citizen not as a board member so this is special sh anytime you're making any comment related to board business uh in writing or even if it's if it's a verbal um what I say you shouldn't be doing that it doesn't really reflect well and it can be a violation but you always have to give the disclaimer that I am making these statements as a private citizen and not as a board member these these uh on my own opinions uh doesn't reflect the opinions of the board so you always have to give that disclaimer um I tell everybody especially with social media well and stay off of it because you see more board members get with social media than anything um if you are on it remember you people still see you as a board member so if you talk on any board business you better have that disclaimer on there the better course is not to talk about board [Music] business 82914 um a board member who owned operating a business could not continue in connection with the Educational Foundation to offer fundra are charging students and splitting profits to the business and Foundation as can be pered as using the position for personal game so this one is this is actually a very good example I think that fundraiser may very well benefited the school district benefited the students um may not even have even splitting the profits that that business owner may have lost money I don't know it's the perception it's a justifiable impression of the public that you are getting a benefit from this let's see uh I'm just reading seats 44 s board member body the co by publicly posted confidential information at a sta member was removed from the school hospitalized for medical condition first all confidential information you would probably get an executive session that you can't uh disclose um so you got to always be careful that type of stuff uh the bo member uh conf we'll talk about conflicts just so you know there are certain very specific conflicts that are outlined in the law uh if you have a conflict and we will actually distribute a questionnaire uh for everybody because of the new board members to determine your conflicts if you were conflicted we will tell you what you can and should vote on and what you can't um you don't know and ask us but if like for example um um you have a family member in the school district anybody in that supervisor chain of command you're not going to vote on for any personal action right so um happens quite a bit um a026 board member would not violate The Code by sending a letter to the editor expressing his opinion about the budget or making a statement to the press as so long as in the letter or statement you don't hold yourself out as a board member and the information is accurate not and not confidential so nothing you're balancing your first amendment rights with being a board member which is a tricky thing admittedly um and I will tell you that the SEC is not always consistent with it which is why I discourage you I certainly exercise your first rights but you got to be very careful and it's why that disclaimer is so critical it does make a difference the SEC does look at whether you have that disclaimer uh and if you don't then they it's a guaranteed uh by G one of your most important uh parts of the statute I will whole confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which if disclos disclosed with de this the injure individuals or the schools in all other matters I will provide accurate information and in concert with my fellow board members interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community for its schools so this is just you're going to be privy to conf are privy to confidential information as board members you have to keep that confidential information confidential when you're in executive session and you get information um that is confidential it doesn't leave that room so you don't discuss it with with anyone else um I'm pretty sure I know this this uh particular one uh but this is where a board member was censured for responding to and having social media messages reposted over an alleged student discipline incident of a high school student message identify the student school grade level gender specific details about the in and the length of suspension so in this particular one the board member just uh reposted so this the public somebody in the public put this on social media the board member who had this information just reposted it it wasn't like they were putting it out there but as a board member because they're a board member and reposted it they were they were censured for so even though that was out there amongst the community all they simply did was posted that was not maintaining confidentiality um and this one this I think this another great example c919 Booker was reprimanded for an inadvertently copying a Community member on an email that was intended to go to all Boe members and the CSA where in discussions that were held in executive session over staff members parents complaint over security issues were revealed so it was just a a mistake they mistakenly put another individual other than the board on on an email still a violation doesn't matter your intent none of that matters you you let the information get released to the public H listen to your superintendent's recommendation I will vote to appoint the best qualified Personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer uh so evidence of a violation uh what acts on a Personnel matter without recommendation to the superintendent uh so I will tell you this and I'm sure we have some examples here superent makes a recommendation for our personel I know you guys have seen this um tell you listen you always take the recommendation should pendent unless you have a justifiable reason not to U so if there's an a Personnel matter um and you don't have a reasonable basis for not agreeing with it or for voting no then it's a violation so it becomes a fact sensitive inquiry but it's got to be some reasonable basis you can't just do it because I don't like this person um so that's why we always encourage you to the superintendent is the person who is vetting these folks who's doing the interviews or involved in the interview process that's the person who is able to give you the recommendation so unless you again a justifiable reason you always follow the recommendation to superintendent um a412 I don't agree with but anyway uh for M May participate in an interview Comm committee for candidates for high level administrative and supervisory positions that will only get you in trouble so it that is an advisory opinion uh but as soon as you start asking questions or making a comment you've already violated end um c3502 board member did not violate the code when they voted to be appoint an employee to form position with the district despite the contrary recommendation the principal and superintendent so you're going to have that this may happen too you bu knows right you're going to get an opportunity with Donaldson heing which if that happens we'll certainly explain to you the process um I know much many of you know that already but superintendent may not renew somebody that person gets an opportunity to come and change your mind and if they change your mind you can bring them back um we can't like if we're not on the interview process just it's no off just take it on their word that's your job um you shouldn't be involved the interview process I don't want to interview but I'm just saying like you know I know you can you can't question it there you go thank you can't question what regation you can always question it or ask for supporting information that's that's that's a different thing you're asking for supporting information you're ask you're asking questions um at the end of the day they're vetting these people they're they're involved in the entire process you're supposed to listen to the superintendent recom recommendation unless you have you're not you can't hire someone so this superent recommends employee a right you said we don't like employee a we like employee B you can't hire employee B you can say no to employee a um but you don't get to hire employee B okay so like yeah let's say we were like are we allowed to be provided resumes so you can of the person who is being hired yes yes person being hired but not everybody's not everybody know but so based on that if we were to say no that's a valid reason to say I don't know that's a valid reason it just based in a resume unless you say hey person has zero experience how can we hire them they don't have their credentials that's a different story so it's a very fact sensitive inquiry so you can look at a resume it has to be a reasonable basis you can't just look at it and say no you can look at it and if there's a reasonable basis based on that resume that questions about that I feeling I mean it's just like a rubber stamp it sounds like I mean it's not a rubber stamp but it's you can ask some questions you can inquire a little bit but at the end of the day you're supporting a superintendent you're making that recommendation we can go back and look at it I will vote to appoint the best qualified person now after consideration recommendation the chief of Officer so you're listen to the recommendation um you have to have a basis so it's you're you hired a superintendent to make these decisions you hired a superintendent to make these recommendations if you don't if you have a concern of the recommendations you can always ask those questions if the responses don't meet what you were looking for you can vote no I'm just telling you that's a very fact sensitive increase it depends on the position of the candidates there's a lot of factors that go into it so just need to be a little careful with that that makes any sense so what information can you ask for I'm sorry what information can you ask for when making a decision what information can can you ask for you can ask you so like I said you can ask for the resume um there's I don't know what other information they would have other than the resume um you can ask for like this you can ask maybe like the scoring if there's if that's happening like reviews like what if it's an internal candidate looking to be promoted you ask like their reviews you can ask them not um let this should we be have and this is just hypothetical um are we privy to or should we be given or access to if ask if we asked now that I have a Personnel CL if for for hiring or [Music] renewal no because then you're evaluating staff you evaluate the superintendent you don't eval Val staff you you can determine whether it should be if you have a valid reason if there's something that you're aware of you would ask for you're not evaluate personel files now you're evaluating staff you're trusting superintendent Mak a recommendation to either renew or not renew something questions uh I will support and protect School Personnel in proper performance of duties is I um 4907 board member Abed The Code by sending a letter to the superintendent copying the State Board of Education and executive County Superintendent accusing the superintendent of allowing the employee to violate board policy this is a good example of of not supporting why is he not supporting District Personnel right because it's not that you shouldn't tell the super intended that an employee violate a board policy you absolutely 100% should do that that's actually a duty of yours it's copying the State Board of Education and the county superintendent because now you're not supporting District Personnel meeing uh the superintendent and you're going Beyond and and uh that referral process c355 board member bed The Code by sending an email to the superintendent that was also sent to the ba and all the board members asking the superintendent to provide an accounting of a personal leave so why that's an issue individual board the board as a whole does that also is into to the business administrator um so there's a couple different it's not that you can't question personal because you can the board can as a whole not individual board [Music] members c211 the board president violated The Code by posting a picture of the superintendent on Facebook with a comment I this is one of my favorites now if we can only do something about local terrorists that destroy dreams and brown Futures yeah that's that's real that Happ that is not supportive of your [Music] superintendent Jay I will refer all complaints to the chief administrative officer and will act on the complaints at public meetings only after failure of an administrative solution this is what I was talking about before can't go to the principal can't go to the teacher you everything goes and flows to the superintendent so uh these are some examples C 2505 the bied The Code by going to the principal directly in connection with the parent complaint method play the superintendent I mean this is pretty straightforward stuff I administration of the school was the duty of the administration not the board so you you hire the superintendent you evaluate the superintendent that's the person if for some reason you think something's not going the way you want it to go if you're aware of of certain incidents or issues that need to be uh addressed you go to the superintendent that's who you go to you don't go to the principal you know like I said teaching staff member whoever it may be um that's that's superintend job to take care of that all right conflicts I'm going to tell you uh in terms of conflicts this gets pretty complicated um if I would get into the nuances of what I didn't want is um it would blow your mind like brother-in-law the the spouse of the I can't even get a time we've had to do this analysis of whether it's the staff memb spouse of the staff memb sorry the staff memb uh uh brother or sister or The spouse's brother or sister it actually makes a difference I don't know why but it does uh this really is going to apply like I said said voting on Personnel actions things of that nature um it also can play a role into negotiations whether you can be part of the negotiation committee or not um that is requires um more of an inquiry this is why we say listen tell us who um if you have family in the school district number one but also if you have family members who work in other school districts so um um that that applies to negotiations so if you have family members a spouse who's a teacher in another school district they may be um we're going to ask are they member of the nja njaa or some other labor organization um if they are a member of the nja we're negotiating with an nja uh Association or local what's their role we have to we have to go through this inquiry determine whether there's a violation um so this is one of my partners has has put this in here because he had this issue uh with a long time board member so uh this is why it's important the SEC amended as administrative regulations provide for mandatory penalties for those who do not complete their training requirements in a timely manner so if you don't complete your training requirements by 12:31 you will be getting a letter from the SEC advising of a date that train must be completed or order order to show cause will be issued this is this is all remember him dealing with this the training is not completed until after the order order show cause issue before the SEC issues a decision enture the training is not uh done until after the SEC issues a decision before the commissioner issues a final decision you receive a 30-day suspension if you provide written notice to the to njsba and SEC uh completion or 60 days you know provid notice the training is not completed by the time the commissioner issues a decision you will be removed so it's pretty straightforward but just the more oress is complete your train yeah uh these are just some quick advisory opinions um just so kind of give you a flavor of some of the LCC decisions uh advised that employment of a board member sister by a subtitute staffing company that had a contract with a board for substitutes would not conflict the board members from negotiation or for participating in all issues concerning district superintendent building prison or budget and I'm going to just uh look at a314 where the SEC said in a board member spouse employed as a substitute teacher in District the board may not participate in the Personnel matters of those in the chain of command over the board member spouse the difference is a substitute employed by the district versus a substitute employed by the staffing agency that's the distinction and that's why there was those issues all right social media always we're going to talk about it and we will so bmer was censured for responding to and having a social media message uh reposted over a el student discipline incident of a student the message we talked about this one already so I'm not even going to actually going into that one but that's that was social media issue um this one uh well companion cases the SEC found two board members Viola the act when they posted a Facebook on Facebook that a subtitute teacher was unemployed and engaged in misconduct as a substitute teacher not withstanding the fact that the statements were not true and actually applied to another teacher the commissioner found the board member violated in and as you recomend so here's the ones I like this is this is where the cons there's not consistency and and I want to bring this to your attention so we look at the first one Boe never bied act when he posted offensive posts on his personal Facebook page that were anti-muslim other was around the post for his personal Facebook page were not made in the capacity of a board member and the content of the post were personal opinions the boa member violated to act as it was Private action that made compromise the board I told you we talk about that later private action that may compromise the board and undermine the public trust the member was only censured but uh he had not that's only because they hadn't run for a reelection and therefore removal was not an option now if you look at c1121 SAR case the SEC found that uh allegedly racist remarks on a personal Facebook page did not violate the ACT although the board member claimed they were hacked the SEC found that even if the post were attributed to the board member and he was acting in his capacity as a board member the post didn't constitute personal promises or specific actions and tribul of the board and the complaint was dismissed ask me how to square these I cannot I have no idea how you square these um but it's inconsistent so more or less St is they social media um you will get Robert's going to send you guys a an acknowledgement receive of the code of ethics of the school board members so uh when he sends it to you just sign that acknowledge you you have received it um so we can show that everyone has received their school ethics uh the school ethics act other than that I don't have I know I didn't see the time was but I try to get under 43 minutes uh any questions before I release you [Music] guys an addition that um I just like to say New Jersey school boards Association does post a list of people that are potentially inflicted um you that you can't vote on and I think they alluded to it that spouse's brother words you know they go that far as to make a l is not I just well it's terrible because you do not get you most cases you would not receive bement time in some organizations for your sibling spouse is that terrible but what was the actual order verbal warning Cent it's repand reand uh Cent suspens thank I want you people to get scared governance one is the only thing required in the first n days right um I think that includes encompasses the ethics training I don't think there's another ethics training by itself any questions okay recommend a motion to approve Finance items a through F please I have a motion motion are there any questions okay see none may I have a roll call please Mr s here Mr phello yes M Lawrence yes Mr lean yes Dr Snider yes m m yes M Herber yes motion carries okay recommend a motion to approve facilities item a I have a motion have a [Music] second see none may I have a roll call please Mr s yes Mr phello yes M Lawrence yes Mr Lea yes Dr Snider yes Miss Mar yes M Herber yes the motion carries I recommend a motion to approve School business administrators non-personnel items a through C can I have a motion can I have a second second are there any questions Mr s yes Mr Phil is this the one I refuse myself yes M Lawrence yes Mr Lea yes Dr Snider yes Miss Martin yes miss her yes motion carries okay recommend a motion to approve personel items a through F I have a motion motion I have a second second are there any questions um no I just wanted to speak on some other retirements um my kids have had um quite a few scer M sailor and this slick who I believe was abous teachers and it's going to be a big lost dist so say enjoy your retirement I second that yes congrats to the sailors excellent teachers that's all for all those years of [Music] service any other comments questions have a roll call please Mr Sone yes Mr phello yes M Lawrence yes Mr lasa yes Dr Snider yes M Martin yes M Herber yes motion passes okay recommend a motion to approve superintendent of school's non-personnel items a g um yeah there's an amendment so can I have a motion to amend add an additional uh letter H motion we read that please the motion will be uh for denies the appeal and affirms the holding in case [Music] 27291 that will be letter H correct so [Music] now motion to approve superintend non personel motion thank are there any questions I have a roll call please Mr cull yes Mr phell Yes except I abstain for Le M Lawrence yes Mr Lea yes Dr Snider yes M Martin yes M Herber yes motion passes new business is there any new bus would like to bring to see that public comment the floor is now open to members of the public Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues the board requests that each statement made by a participant is limited to minutes as CED [Music] anyone like to speak see no one we'll move on close public session and U on to board Forum this is a point time where anyone can bring up your thoughts recommendations um questions no ideas we go around the table okay um just uh speaking on behalf of several board members uh we would like to express our paral concern for sergeant Kate and his family following the unfortunate accident on December 2nd however we would like to clarify the circumstances surrounding the event to address some misconceptions making our transportation plan to the incident at the time of the accident there were no buses in the Frog parking lot or on frog Pon Road all 29 buses were at GE J Mitchell at the time traffic in the parking lot and on frog P Road had significantly cleared as most parents had already departed after drop off this incident was tragic is unrelated to our transportation procedures traffic congestion during arrival dismissal is a common challenge for all schools not unique to L Harbor it's a reminder of the inherent risks and traffic control roles as demon at by the recent loss on a crossing guard that in rowy County we commend the Le Police Department for their proactive efforts including securing a speed limit reduction to 25 mph on frog Pon Road and increasing controls during school hours their presence has made a noticeable difference while we cannot undo the past let us use this as an opportunity to reinforce safe driving practices and continue supporting those who protect our school Community our transportation plan was not a factor in this incident and we hope we can refocus on working together for the safety and well-being of all students staff and community members please drive carefully around our school and throughout the community our children are very precious cargo thank you thank you I'll just second that as a public service announcement to the whole Community parents there are so many parents who drop off their children and pick up their children and just please drive safely we have so many um homes on Frog Pond Road and there's recent issues with um people making cave turns and peeling out in driveways and again as Dr ANZ said this is one community and we just need to be aware and drive safe so if you're listening please remember that um and then I'll just reiterate the public hearing on Thursday the 16th in Camden County I know it's very far away from here but please remember what happened with our budget last year and our budget cuts as we prepare for next year's budget because um we're not sure it's going to be any better so your voice matters if you want to do anything it is go to the state of New Jersey go and make yourself heard um there's a way to go online I I think if you cannot be there in person so please reach out and please we need um state and federal funding to to to for the students of little L Harbor and to keep our teaching staff thank you thank you this is 16th right Thursday just to reiterate to say congratulations to all the retired M um and also to the students of the month it's just so nice to to see them recognize and hear all the wonderful things that their teachers have to say about them I i' like to congratulate all the award recipients um tonight and it's so nice to see the teachers recognized for going out work they often do um and I would like to again welcome Mr CH and Mr sh and as I humbly serve as your as your president I want you to remember no one is more important than you're all welcome we all help each other out all bring something to table so I'll be looking for your assistance in that and hopefully I'll provide good leadership and happy birthday [Music] sh thank you for being donut absolutely that was an extra treat [Music] fors yes in the spirit of the new bring of the district [Music] don't know decision exactly I was talking to Dr arunas about that actually and well it might be a member um material under the policy committee uh she had said that when we plan for a stratan plan this summer we would be able to revise that as well so that they're me together well thank you so much for being conern that that's on the the agenda yeah go else like to speak um I would just like to say I'm happy to be here with everybody for my first time it was uh really exciting for the first meeting I'm happy everybody that came out and got to see uh Community a little bit here um I also wanted to say uh congratulations to everybody they got their awards that was also awesome uh to see that and uh as my first time well this is my first time my first meeting um I'm really impressed with the school itself so big shout out to facilities uh with everything that's going on here it looks really good for your expertise that you bring to the table Yeah I just want to Echo um all the winners tonight and a special two personal shout outs one to Nicole heckelman uh her and I graduated high school together 25 years ago and it's really cool to see her stick around with in the district and do amazing things and help so many kids um she was awesome back in high school she's still awesome uh and Jessica hardigan uh my son currently works with her and because of her we had to go out and buy this certain monkey game that he loves playing as a reward when he does good in her class so uh he's doing amazing she's doing amazing so congratulations to her and everybody that it's great thank you and I just forgot to say that um I don't know if everybody got this email but the association little L Harver uh Teachers Association put out some upcoming events did everybody get that okay so so there's opportunities for us to show up as I know encourage us to do so um February 18th bring your family night uh it's a PE class night after school February 27th there's uh bring your family to Multicultural night March 20th bring your family night art steam night and then May 8th bring your family night literacy night so there's opportunities to take part and just witness these things make sure you got that thank you anything else okay motion to ader [Music]