##VIDEO ID:1r4N6boPzuQ## Education meeting to order please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance IED Al to the flag United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God invisible with liy and justice for all adequate notice of this meeting of the Long Hill Township Board of Education was given as required by the open public meeting act as follows notice was sent to the Sentinel and daily record on September 18th 2023 notices were posted on the bulletin board in the first floor entrance hall of the district uh School District administration building Gillette New Jersey notices were filed with the Township Clerk and notices were mailed to all persons who have requested IND individual notice pursuant to the open public meetings act I had like one too many coffees today sorry roll call please Dad Mrs Butler here Mrs Daly here Mr Foster here Mr Groff here Dr Mah Mrs mclenon here m Quist here miss ruo here Mrs case here we are going to turn over to presentation we have a uh sad moment where we have um the final meeting of uh Melissa today our board member who has been uh a transformative leader in policy without a doubt uh not just in Long Hill but Statewide um very dedicated uh I think you know uh came to this board with such passion uh for her kids and wanting the district to to do better and I think she's done just that by being part of this group and we appreciate everything that she's done um and we will miss her uh terribly I think one of the things that uh makes a good board member is you know really leveraging your expertise and strengths and um outside of being a lawyer which is already uh pretty impressive uh she also owns her own business and I feel like she brought so much value to us uh when it came to finance as well in this District so um I'm going to miss her for sure and she's definitely left the district better than it was when we started and I just want to give people an opportunity if they have uh anything that they' like to say I'm going to miss well besides your humor which really lightens a lot of things especially when we're on policy together but I I love your objectivity and your straightforwardness um it made me all of a sudden say oh my gosh yeah that's it and uh I appreciated that so much I think it gave me a you know a a better or clear insight into so many things it really was fun working with you it really was well I'm definitely going to miss you um you were you know when I got on this board definitely one of my men mentors that I looked up to so definitely going to miss you your humor always yeah definitely brought us or lightened into the air um but we'll still see you around so um I I will miss you too um I I'll follow up just for people um who might be watching at home with what Kim said which is that um work you've done for us has been used as an example for other districts in the states by New Jersey school boards as a best practice for policy and that's that's pretty impressive and I bet they're going to be using it for years to come you might you know show up randomly at a meeting in four or five years like wait a minute that policy grid looks familiar wonderful getting to know you and work with you she know it's very exciting anybody else I'd like to uh Melissa thank you for everything you have a special way of making everybody feel like they you're a long lost friend that smile alone and that laugh going to miss it and I I want to offer you all B trip to this boardroom anytime I appreciate that um I probably wouldn't be on this board if it wasn't for you just because we I reached out and you were welcoming and you really just helped me understand what to do how to get here and I just I wouldn't be here without you thank you I'm trying not to get emotional she's was my two-time running mate uh we met when uh we were very uh disappointed in an action by the uh the board before uh we were on it and uh we were you know fighting for something we thought was unjust and then when it didn't go our way we we had a lot of conversations and like we're going to do it we're going to do it and uh the two moms that could and then we came here and that was an adventure and end of itself and um I couldn't have asked to have a better partner in crime and um you know kept me sane in those early years when we thought we were up against a lot of things and um I'm just so grateful for your friendship and uh just I think we're all going to miss your ability to kind of cut through it all and just say it like it is when no one else is willing to say it and I will always cherish the memory of you telling that uh bus company that there answer wasn't good enough I think half the town who anyone who watched that was just like yes so um I'm very grateful that our sons are such good friends because that means uh I will still get to enjoy you coming and kidnapping my children and uh that was always a great adventure and I just wish you nothing but the best and I think you earned a break from all the crazy meetings that you've attended and all the hours and hours of work not only on um not only on uh policy but you've been on finance committee through a lot of up and ups and downs um especially when you first came in there was a lot of surprising things you got us through covid um so your your steady um look at things really got us through a lot of tough things and um I'm just really grateful for everything you've done for us and I'm going to miss you so don't well you know a lot of people don't know this about me but a after I was practicing law for God it was just a few years I I was about to leave and I went and got my alternate root teaching certificate wow and then uh I realized that teaching was much harder than practicing the law so I decided to stick with the law and that's when I end up uh opening my own firm but uh I always want something to do with children so I'm a family law attorney I figured that that would be something to do with children but this is much more rewarding than that um and and this I don't even get paid for so but uh a lot has changed since uh Katie and I are like you know a lot of people talk but they don't actually do anything so uh a lot has changed and I don't think it's changed because of me I don't think it's uh changed for one reason alone I think it's changed because the board and the administration is truly phenomenal and I don't think anyone in our district can truly appreciate that until you see it from from more than one side I realized it for the first time when Katie and I were going to a um we were at some type of learn Schoolboard Summit and it was about how to make your board mo more cohesive and when we heard the stories when we were watching other board members talking about their experiences we were like well we we don't have it bad you know uh because the way these people were treating one another and the way they were at odds with one another it was just this failure to find common ground and I think that covid changed a lot of us it changed us as parents it changed administrators it changed the board because something that we never thought we'd experience We Were Somehow thrown in the midst to and thrown in the midst of and that was just so eye openening and that's when I really saw the board come together and just say listen we just need to support our teachers we need to support our Administration and we also need to support the parents who are feeling hopeless right now and scared and absolutely overwhelmed and the changes that I've seen over the past six years are not because of me because I'm not the business administrator I'm not the superintendent we're just here to support you and we're just here to make sure that we have the right people in place to make those decisions so the one piece of advice I can give is that I think is what is very important in making a board and a school district very successful is to just always keep the focus on the children and politics especially in the year that we just went through with elections politics have no place whatsoever in a school district and when you you remember that and you focus on what is important to the children what do these children need which transpires into what do these teachers need what do these administrators need and what do these parents need if you keep the focus on the children and you leave politics out of it and your personal beliefs which is why it's so important to maintain that objectivity then you're going to have a phenomenal School District that's not going to get caught up in the bickering that's not going to get caught up in um this the small issues or the menial issues that sometimes don't impact every child and that's that was the key to me being on the board I initially came on cuz I was not happy with how you know having an autistic son I was not happy with how I saw Services provided and my God what a change from six years ago until now um and that really is due to the support of the board but more importantly the people that are put in place to do that every day George Robin the entire Ba's office the administration um and the teachers so if I could have done this longer I absolutely would have because this is so phenomenally rewarding but let's face it it's a lot of work to be on this board it's it's it's a lot of work and I think people sometimes when we first got on it wasn't a lot of work but now rightfully so it is a lot of work and I think all that work that we put in through all those years and understanding that we need to put in more work is what has made such a difference from the board and the school district I saw six years ago till now it's just a wonderful phenomenal change um but I would have done this longer if I could have my personal commitments are are what it there Comes A Time in life where you have to start looking at things to cut out and when PE when if you have children and they tell you it's easier when you get older that is such bull because as they get older they get busier and as they get busier parents have more respons responsibilities and you have more to worry about when that happens so if you hadn't seen me at the last couple meetings that was not that was because I had no other choice not to come I had a beautiful Elvis Vegas costume picked out for the October meeting and I had the wig and the sideburns and and even the chest hair to put on and everything and unfortunately my personal commitments uh really kept me away from wearing that Elvis costume which I would have loved to but um so it's it's it's not so when you're looking at things to cut out it's like in life you know one of the things you look at is is it rewarding that was not the reason I'm not doing this anymore I didn't run because this is phenomenally rewarding it is it is um if you enjoy it that is not the reason why I didn't run again because I really really enjoyed it the third is if you're needed and in this six years I absolutely do not feel needed anymore and that is because we have the best people in place so um thank you to all of you I think everyone uh when you want to understand when you want to complain when you want to pick out what's wrong just there's a way to do it and there's a way to um convey your message bluntly but respectfully and doing it with the right people which is what I've tried to do on the board so you're all so lucky to have this phenomenal phenomenal board where every single person on this board dedicates everything they have without getting paid a dime other than the reward of wanting to do this and of wanting to help every single child in the district and um Robin and George my god when I look back six years ago I wish we had you in place six years ago because you're both phenomenal and every single person on this board deserves the most phenomenal recognition as well as our administrators and our teachers because um it's it's like I said a harder job than what I do and uh and we all respect it so thank thank you we have a little token I don't know I can just hand it over here as I like to call it so thank you very much I'll read it because we're on camera Long Hill Township Board of Education uh presented to Melissa ruelo with grateful appreciation for your leadership dedication it's hard huh and tireless effort on behalf of the Long Hill Township School District years of service it says 2019 2024 thank you thank you so much okay put hang in my office you could add speech Giver to her resume for sure okay I'm going to turn it over to Mr Alexis sure before I introduce um Dr Jones and Miss cologne I just want to add to the chorus and thank you Melissa um everything your colleagues mentioned I saw firsthand uh uh throughout our 18 months together um your legal and financial Insight your organizational skills and your sense of humor are all First Rate but also your kindness and your ability to put others ahead of yourself really what distinguishes you so thank you very much thank you okay next we have our presentation on uh the preschool the current state of the preschool uh I can't believe it's time of year already where we are about to roll out registration in early January and um Dr Jones and Miss cologne are here to talk a little bit about uh anticipated enrollment and give you an overview of the entire program okay thank you okay we thought it was important to present this evening about some preschool information and our program we are also having an information session for parents that will be the fourth one of this year on January 8th at 7 o'clock to go more into details so they can ask a lot of questions that they may not see on our website and just from word of mouth and um up on a Gillette sign we posted this week we we are opening up the interest survey which I will explain what that is in a moment um beginning January 88th and we're going to keep that up on the sign until the DAT closes which will be the 16th at 3 p.m. and then um then we'll change the sign on the 17th for the month and um we're uh all the information we're going to share out we're also going to um put this into the paper at the end of this month the beginning of January just to really give that opportunity for parents we've already been receiving a lot of phone calls asking when registration is so who can register this is just a lot of information for parents who may be watching now or when watch the recording later on who can register it's students who are 3 years old by October 1st and are lill residents our tuition it is a tuition-based program and the monthly tuition fee is $950 it also does not include transportation for general education students that's also questions that come up throughout the year we do offer a full day 5day week program our doors open at 8:45 and close at 9:00 a.m. and we dismiss at 3:10 the makeup is a combination just the last two years it's a combination of three and four-year-olds years ago we used to have three-year-olds in one section four-year-olds in another section now after research and Miss cologne and I went to a lot of work workshops and um we found that it was important and for their growing opportunities for their socialization and to learn from one another to combine the threes and fours and um we are going to loop with the teacher so what that means is if you are a three-year-old and you have one teacher for this year you will have that same teacher for next year now some students pending on their birthday they may be in preschool for 3 years then that's when individual conversations are had with myself Miss cologne and the parents to see if the same teacher three years in a row is beneficial for their Learning and Development but typically it's a two-year process so this year instead of just posting it and putting out an eblast based on some feedback from the last two years we decided to create an interest form I'm actually going to click on it here it is not open yet it will be open on January 8th and it gives a a little bit of a description of what I just said and um what our program focuses on students have to be 3 years old so this interest form and I'll scroll up and down it just collects some information on the date that the parent fills it out students name and birthdaye address information for the parent and what we'll do based on this we'll close it on the 16th at 3:00 and then miss Richie and I and we will have a witness probably Mrs cologne um watch us do the lottery so that if there's any and we'll recorded again like we have the last two years on uh my phone so we'll do the lottery we'll have the makeup of the classes and we will make all of the phone calls to the parents the very next morning because we know a lot of preschools you have to put your deposits down in January in order for other preschools in the area and then we're going to open up Genesis for for one week for you to fill out all that paperwork so that was based on a recommendation that we received last year that we opened it up for everybody you fill out probably an hour worth of paperwork and then we call or send an email saying well you didn't make it but thank you for the information so now you only have to fill out this form then if you get accepted into the program then you continue on with the paperwork so that's what this interest form is and this is on the school um sign outside um I just talked about the date our current preschool students we do get questions about this you do not have to do anything we automatically enroll you into the following year so you automatically have a spot unless you tell us otherwise um this came up last year also um a question if we give preferential spots to current and former students we do not um while it may make sense to some people we just don't feel that we're giving everybody an opportunity to come to our program and um because you could be you could have a lot of relatives that have been in the program so we do not it may sound harsh but we don't mean it that way we don't give preferential preferential spots to any uh current or former students and a wait list um we want to be more clear this year on a wait list so if your child is not accepted into the program based on the lottery you can email myself or miss richy or both of us and let us know that you would like your child to be on the wait list and we will add you to the wait list um last year we had a weit list of about 11 and we were able to bring in three students based on students who have moved or had turn down the offer so it is possible but I am the parental side comes out of me and I do say to the parents you know don't wait too long I don't want you not to have a spot okay now I'll turn it over to miss cologne for an overview of the creative curriculum that we use hi um so the state New Jersey requires us to pick from one of I believe five curriculums um the district had adopted the creative curriculum a number of years ago over the past two years we've done a lot of work to bring it up to the modern version of it um and who begins teaching it with Fidelity um the creative curriculum is a play-based curriculum it's research-based and it looks at the development of the whole child not only their early academic skills but their play skills their um social skills it's very Project based based and very theme based the themes are not what you would expect from many years ago in preschool they are really broad topics such as like balls boxes and trees um it's amazing how far you can take a tree and what you can do with it over a period of a month um so it they're pretty broad themes and the entire day is arranged around that theme all the small group activities large group activities and play centers all have something associated with the theme the goals of the curriculum is really to get the students to become in independent confident and motivated Learners to have them really kind of be inquisitive about their environment to really engage them in meaningful learning that connects to Everyday experiences and to build on a strong Foundation of academic success and social and emotional well-being a lot of the early academic skills are not directly taught they are taught through more experiential learning within the centers and within the small activities whoops what did I just do nope okay um each classroom is divided into a variety of different in centers um the students spend about an hour every day in these in centers they choose which Center to start in and I did did not touch that computer they choose what Center to start garden and they can move centers as long as the center is not full each Center has about four students at a time in it um there's dramatic play block and construction an art center a math and Movement Center literacy toys and games Discovery and sand and water each Center has a different purpose um but it really the bottom line is really to get them to play to work together to kind of build those creativity skills and in and Inquisition skills there's Project based learning that happens throughout of it throughout the day um one of the units is animals so they'll May learn about a habitat they'll roleplay what animals do um but there's a lot of learning that happens Within These different um themes and these different centers throughout the day I'm not touching this computer um the daily schedule um the students it's a mix of structured activities and free choice activ activties so we do have things such as morning meeting um Circle time things like that there are small group activities there are obviously a lot of time in the play centers there is an outdoor play period every morning and an outdoor play period every afternoon as well as play time within the classroom setting um outdoor play is a really big component of the creative curriculum they really feel that children should be outside exploring their environment there's snack there's lunch there's rest period um um it really kind of the day changes pretty rapidly As you move along because we really do want to keep them attending um little people have short attention spans so we really do want to keep them moving and kind of keep them um going and also by giving it them at the same time the freedom to explore their environment and explore the different play areas one of the things that we were introduced to this year actually from a neighboring district is something called Marco Polo learning it is an new Innovative online platform form that supports the creative curriculum There's an actual connection um it's aligned to the creative curriculum themes and there's videos that are available in English Spanish and Chinese that we can actually send home to supplement the learning that's happening in the classroom um we are using Marco pole poll learning not only in our preschool classes and you'll see it if you walk into one of our classrooms you'll see it often throughout the day being used and we are also using it in our multilingual learner classrooms at this point um but we were really excited they gave us a free trial from now until January and then we'll be purchasing it for each of the preschool classes come January I'm G to hand this back to Dr Jones thank you okay so our registration dates as I said are January 9th through the 16th at 3:00 at that time so the next morning on the 17th after Miss Richie and I make all of the phone calls we're opening up Genesis and that's when you can fill out all of the paperwork we do have 21 spots open this year so we've been asked in the past why don't you share how many spots we don't really have an answer so we um we have 21 spots for this year or for next year we also based on the need of the early intervention students that have come forward this year we are opening up a third section which we have talked about in the past um but the need for opening up an additional section has come this year so that's why we have 21 spots otherwise we would only have five in order to take um new tuition students so the children are chosen by a lottery and we will call you when you're accepted into the program I will also instead of sending out an email this year saying thank you for your interest uh we'll be calling to tell you you we not accepted into the program as well and um again you can add your name to a wait list we are having the parent information session January 8th that's why we're opening up registration on the 9th in case there are any last minute questions where parents want to know more information about our program we will cover all of that on the 8th and we will have a new student orientation session either in the spring or in the summer so we'll have our open house for all of the students at chette anyway the day before the first day of school I had a kindergarten orientation last year two of them one in the morning 1 in the afternoon because I um decided to do it on the same day as the open house at Millington so this year the date will be different I'll also have a kindergarten orientation date and then miss cologne and I will have a preschool orientation date as well okay that's everything are there any questions yes uh for the preschool children admitted into like that get a spot if they live outside of the 2 mile radius or do they also get busing no they do not okay so as far as early intervention is concerned are are those students who will require an IEP or or have early intervention are they also subject to that Lottery no no it this is only for general education students got it so there's three SE three sections three different classrooms Al together yes so what is the average size of each of the sections we will be starting each section in September with 13 students okay doesn't Danielle you have a question yeah I did actually I now have two questions okay to go off of that um when you say so roughly 13 per class so is it when you go ahead and divvy up the gened kids with the kids that are IEP you're going to try and do equal right for each class I assume right right and then um and when you and then my other question was actually about Marco polling the Marco Polo um so since you're going to go ahead and purchase that was that did that come I guess were parents actually using using that is it an app yes so the um multilang multilanguage Learners H the parents have been using it the preschool teachers were hesitant to share it with the parents prior to knowing if we were definitely going to be purchasing it but we have um identified funding to um our preschool Ida funds it's a pretty inexpensive program um so we are going to be P moving forward and purchasing it and the parents will be it will be being shared with them but the parents that have um for the kindergarten first grade parents that have been using it at with with Miss Anderson have really been it's amazing how many um we we actually can see exactly how many times it's been accessed at home and it's amazing how much they are accessing it okay it's for and it's it's for all the kid all the gened kids and IEP kids yes it'll be for each classroom each classroom will have a subscription um and any of the and the families will each have their own kind of like account and then the teacher can share specific videos with them or they can go into the library to see what's available um but the teachers can actually assign videos to the families to to share and watch at home that are connected to the um themes Jerry can you talk a little bit more about that you're the closest to the data and the projected enrollment and the importance of having a healthy balance once in an inclusion class between Jed and special students so we when we first looked at the numbers with two classes for next year we only had enough spots to have seven general education students in a classroom which would have left 11 spots for students with IEPs which in my opinion is not a balanced classroom it really is a special education classroom with a few General ed students kind of sprinkled in um we really didn't feel we spoke we really did not feel that that was really the right balance and really what were aiming for um so by opening the third class we were were actually able to start each of the classes with 10 General ed students and then we would have up to eight spots in each class for students with IEPs we do not project that we would have 24 students with IEPs in preschool though our numbers have increased um every other District in the area every meeting I've gone to in the past three years all they talk about is the increasing preschool enrollment of students with IEPs we were not experiencing we kept saying well where are preschoolers because our numbers were extremely low um we found them this year um our referrals in the preschool level have been pretty high this year and right now we're projecting that each class will start with three or four students with I APS um obviously that can change as the year goes on um right now we know of all birthdays through the middle of April of students that are in the early intervention system um but we still have a lot of months to go in the school year um but right now we do have referrals up through April so right now each class is looking at about starting at about with 10 General ed students and either three or four students with IEPs early intervention means they automatically go into the preschool they if they receive early intervention they're automatically not even automatically If the parents opt to refer them they are it's we would almost automatically test them for preschool services 80% of the students that receive early intervention that come to us as preschoolers are about 80% are eligible um there are some that early intervention is exactly what they needed and they no longer qualify um but a large number of the students that come out of early intervention um do qualify okay thank you I have a question so for the um the the Google form um is it in our interest for the district to have a hard copy available in case people are not Google form Savvy and or have we in the past always done everything Well it can't be too long but do we keep things digital I guess I'm just trying to see if people would like something hard copy that that could be an option over the past couple years registration has been digital you have to be able to access this the system we have had situations where parents are not able to access the system for whatever reason and they have come into the schools and we have you know assigned somebody to help them fill it out out so certainly if somebody needs assistance they're more than welcome to contact us and we can have some one of us sit with them we do have some families that either don't have internet access or um don't read in their own language or as well as English um and they do require a little bit more assistance and we've been able to support that through Staffing and through them coming in and meeting with staff to fill out the forms that's good that's great uh my other question is um I think you answered that one are there any times in the past couple of years that you can recall Dr Jones were people like accepted and then they said no sometimes but not like is there a high amount or that's very low amount and it's either they moved or um they decided to stay in their current preschool for one more year that's it very I would say maybe one a year okay and then my other question and maybe this could be to uh for BA super or you Dr Jones the $950 I mean how do we feel like that month fee compares to surrounding districts and I also feel like that hasn't gone up at all I mean is there can anyone speak to that Jerry you know you know the history of the yeah so $950 is on the there's a few districts that are that high there's some that are are lower um I think that I don't know that anybody's over that at this point so I don't know that it would really be worth looking into raising it at this point um but it's in line with many of the local districts there are some that are lower but there's also a lot of the preschool programs are less hours than ours is um so there's a lot of different factors that play into it some are 4 days a week some are 9 to two um so all of that has to be taken into account um but I don't know at this point looking at the tuitions of some of the other surrounding districts I don't think it's at this point in anybody's best interest to look at the look at raising it okay thank you I remember from just more of a comment from five God it was probably more six seven years ago when my kids were in preschool and we had to pay for a private preschool because uh we weren't offering full-time yet here uh I was paying more than that and that was years ago bear in mind you get longer hours in a daycare setting but that student to teacher ratio is phenomenal yes you're not going to I mean in any dayare setting it was it's twice that you know I my kids were 20 some kids in their pre school class so and and I love how you know you have the ability to mix the Gen Ed and the special ed because that's good for all students it's even even the gened population it's good for them to be surrounded by kids who are different so uh but I'm I'm just blown away by the student teacher ratio because to be one kid in a class of 13 the individualized attention that these kids are going to get is just phenomenal how did we find the room for this wasn't this an issue last year where we're like where are we going to put them closets like like where are they it it's it's always an issue but we're working out the logistics okay yes we're working on that also the preschool students at Gillette are really part of the school community so they participate in our Field Day modified field day um all of our assemblies all of our initiatives so I think that adds to it yes lunch yes Mrs Bomer I think just you have do does alphab best offer before and after care coverage for this AG student yes they do okay and also our our um morning drop off our courtesy morning drop off that starts at 8:30 there's quite a few three three and foury olds that are in there as well who have students at Gillette and at Millington oh and the fource classes include preschool too only only foury olds a handful of them because um it is based on what the teachers who offer because they do we do not do threey olds because sometimes we have kids that aren't trained and Etc and then you have a three-year-old with a six-year-old the same class that's just so four-year-olds just for the audience yes uh for the just a follow question uh are they in the same alphab best class as the kind of the four five year olds are the same room or is they're all in the same room in the gymnasium okay thank you you're welcome um the the lottery is it only for three year olds or is it also for four year olds for both yeah it's for both okay and then the next question I had was um that was the main one so we'll but I will say having more gened kids in the class is such a home run because I had my oldest Marcus yeah barely spoke when he came to uh Gillette and by the time he was one year in can't shut him up and he talked more than me so it was an incredible program to see what the gened being I mean it's one thing to go to I get your uh early intervention but when you actually go with your peers the growth is phenomenal so it's great that you were able to um make the the numbers much more of the gened cas is um the numbers that you have I mean they just the numbers or do you look for we want so many threey olds we want so many four year olds or that doesn't enter it into it or does it um no when we balance the classes we look at the ages and the birth dates but as far as just coming into the program no we don't have a set number we're looking for okay thank you Dr Jones with the um the general ed students who are uh admitted into the program at three years old do they then progress as foury olds or do they enter the lottery again the lottery they're they're yes they don't have to do anything there you didn't get a lottery when you were three years old and you reapply again at four year old years old you may get a spot that year as well yeah gotcha and when they go from three-year-old to the foury old they're going to be with the same exact teacher yes and um also there's Paras in the CL there's par there's A's in the class right yes we have adults other adults in the classroom right okay yeah yeah it's really it's very good that's great any other all right thank you very much yes thank you thank you for coming okay thank you thank you thank you Mrs ruo thank you for your years okay uh going to move to Communications uh I do not have any Mr Alexis do you have any Communications nothing to report okay uh board committee and liaison reports Karen okay on uh November 13th ed services had a we had a virtual meeting and excuse me um they they um handle Co Cooperative bidding for many districts well this year they added and I guess recently they added extra District but this year they got a whole new 45 new districts so they're now handling 495 of all of the districts out of New Jersey most of the increase is a result because they are the sole um uh provider for Apple so that was a big thing um they finished their work associated with uh Distributing the essr money to the N to the non-public schools so there's a number of um I guess leave uh resignations that are put through for the the employees that were hired specifically to deal with the SR funds and uh as a result of the election they didn't we didn't lose any members but that doesn't mean that come January boards may not boards may choose to assign a different person so uh basically that's it there's another meeting our next meeting is this Wednesday and as I said they're virtual so okay uh with respect to governance uh we spoke about strategic planning again a little more discussion about identifying uh those groups or individuals that are going to get targeted invitations and we did a mockup of the RSVP we said we're going to have an RSVP we'll finalize that at the next meeting which is on the 17th um we the committee reviewed its listing of responsibilities that's listed on the website and there were things that we were were identified with which really should have just been policy and then there's one or two items one a pass to U Personnel um and we and you'll see it it's on the agenda for a first reading a committee chair responsibilities I got I have comments from Tom which were incorporated into something that the governance committee is looking at there any other comments if you could get it to me uh because we'll be discussing it at the next governance meeting and um with respect to the goal review I guess uh Charlene was very impressed with it she thought it was very pointed everybody was prepared uh I don't know my take on it I mean I felt like it was worthwhile how do how did everybody feel about it yes so you know that'll well we're going to have another one coming up so ail so that'll be good I that we handle it the same way with respect to finance we met this past Wednesday okay um as it is now cusac is on schedule uh the next meeting for the committee is on the 11th uh with respect to the the lunch program as they jokingly do robin is still tasting and testing and uh there's a few blips in The Ordering of uh and handling of uh the free and reduced lunches but they're it's being worked on and by the end of the year it should be taken care of uh everybody should have gotten a via email uh order their ordered information okay um anything associated with u B&G work KD will handle with respect to the budget process it's on schedule following the schedule that was previous provided um input is coming from the the principals who got it from the teachers be submitted on by December 20th uh it'll be reviewed then with Mr Alexis uh all the salaries have been updated uh revenues estimated accordingly um there is an increase January 1 in the state of New Jersey about minimum wage so it should be on the agenda that you'll see minimum wage for the lunch AIDS excuse me and uh who is it uh substitute secretaries now the question came up about substitute teacher shortage so Robin provided us to review a listing of the payments in other districts for the substitute teacher salaries and we were not the highest but we were also by no means the lowest and it's viewed that um based on experience just increasing the the dollar amount does not guarantee that you're going to get substitutes to come because it's not a question of of them coming it's a question of them being available so right now we're not going to be changing the substitute uh pay and bills were reviewed and everything is hunky dory okay very good thank you very much thank you any questions for Karen no okay Danielle um as for the community relations committee we last met November 1st and we're supposed to be having one later on this week and I'll be sending out an email with an agenda and showing up the date and the time um so I have nothing to report there and then as far as the PTO um the annual PTO coat drive is taking place now through December 13th um in it's located at every entry entry of each School you use Gently Used new coats um they're also doing this Spirit blanket fundraiser that you can uh go online and go to Longhill pto. membership tool kit.com and purchase there is it inside or outside the school inside okay MH if you haven't gone to that website it's really nice so I encourage you know there there's so much stuff on there so much yeah all the time fundraisers and yeah okay any other questions for Daniel no okay thank you and uh the student achievement and curriculum committee met twice since our last board meeting um on November 13th and then we had our December meeting on December 3rd uh so um in our updates regarding uh the School academic programs which also involved consideration for Budget uh needs for next year uh we um we had an update that Magnolia Consulting had visited the district in mid November and met with our administrative team our basic skills instructional team and the child study team to discuss the implementation of the multi-tiered systems of supports um the consultant was highly effective and emphasized the importance of strategic research-based strategies for targeted for a targeted intervention model uh and the consultant will be returning for a follow-up Workshop in December uh this is a PL um we the district plans on using this consultant and uh budgeting for this uh followup for next year uh part of the discussion um that they had were on fine-tuning the strategy based action plans for intervention uh struggling students and utilizing ski the skills interventionists within the classroom uh to support instruction in addition to pull out Support classes for basic skills instruction um we also uh there's a plan for professional development uh with an ongo this ongoing Initiative for February 15th uh and like I said for next school year as well uh and I'm sure for the rest of this school year we just didn't discuss Beyond February 15th at this meeting uh for math Ela and the social studies program um the ELA curriculum uh the district feels confident with the programs that they're using in place uh we did review that there are multiple programs that District uses to Target the multiple skills it's not just like a one textbook situation but there's a you know the phonics instruction and the you know reading and uh comprehension instruction Grammar and Writing Etc uh but they felt that they had the tools in place although they are working in their meetings and fine-tuning instructional strategies using those materials um for the K8 math the district is planning to implement a new program and is looking um at a new program for the math uh this is a strategic move they've looked at the program we have in place right now which is the Big Ideas Math program and they feel that um some of the gaps we're seeing in our performance data would be better addressed through a new program so that will be something that will be up stated as their search for the the best curriculum to replace it with evolves uh they are looking at um certain programs and they do not anticipate a large difference between the cost of a new program and the current program in place okay uh the social studies program they have been working on further integrating what they call dbqs which are document-based questions into their current uh classroom work uh so this aligns with best practices for the subject matter with the high school approach and it also targets students on uh reading and writing goals for informational text uh and there will be some anticipated again not major cost but uh cost with providing those materials to the teachers and working that into next year's budget um okay uh we talked about the preschool education I think uh Dr Jones and Miss cologne did a great job updating us there uh they're beginning after school math tutoring in grades 3 through 7 um and the invitations went out this week I believe uh so uh the students were invited based on uh a close look at the state data The Benchmark data from our own in-house testing and teacher feedback uh the classes will begin at the end of January and we meet weekly for approximately 8 to 10 weeks and these classes are designed to address targeted needs of the students based on the assessment data that we have um we had a student attendance update uh November is a difficult month for student attendance uh I'm not an expert but we have two long weekends right we have two weeks that are three-day weeks and we do happen to see people taking a Wednesday or or a Monday Tuesday Wednesday off uh so November's attendance data was 92.5% attendance uh but our three months of school so far we're at 96% we're hoping to end at 97% for the year so there's some work to be done but not far off uh we uh reviewed the district calendar uh they're beginning to look at that for 2526 and I believe that will be on the next board agenda uh in January um and then uh we talked about uh chronic absentee corrective action plan for Central uh as part of the plan a survey was sent to families of students who had exceeded 18 absences in the last two years to gain feedback from those parents uh I believe it was an anonymous survey but targeted to those particular families to help the uh School District look at that information and that was the update the the uh the the they went back two years not just one year not this year and last year they sent to the families it was only Central that had a it was only Central yeah yeah any other questions foran Tom and how did you get to the 97% as your target I defer that was the district goal that's a district goal we said it cuz we looked at the pre-pandemic levels and so we picked a number that we thought was realistic uh we started off very well in September we were above the 97% October a little bit below but overall districtwide we were still at the 97% and then November kind of took us down a little bit um so we got to get come up with some better ideas for attracting our kids to come to school every day but that was great man very useful very much for that actually go ahead KY I just this just occurred to me um are is one school have a higher percentage of absences than the other for that di uh Central always has you know we we see more absences at Central than we do at the uh at the elementary schools but we have that on the website too we have the data you know on our attendance matters web web page and we have it by month so you you can see September October October and November all listed we'll just leave it as attendance matters attendance does matter okay thank you Ann Tom do you have a report I do indeed uh on Thursday the tech committee met and the attendance was Mr Alexis and Mr hartnet Jack myself Justin Foster and Katie mlon and here's a quick followup uh courtesy and I will expose myself here I mean about this um this this just this does come from Jack mostly and I want to thank him because you should have seen my notes there was so much going on I wasn't sure where what one thing led to another so uh please be please be kind to me as I read this along with this uh first thing uh we talked about was the website followup um our new website is running smoothly with minimum to no reported issues um it's it's it's working really well and uh I I I look at it myself hope others have and you you'll see that very usable final slite of vendor has already provided training to our office staff Jack and Andrew and we'll be conducting follow-up sessions for additional training to ensure everyone is is fully equipped to use the new system uh Instagram all four Instagram accounts have been created and are now active um basically it's lhor District uncore Gillette uncore Millington oror Central those are the four sites all start with others content from these accounts will flow directly to the district website and each respective School website ensuring that all updates and information are always current and easily accessible District branding you've seen it you saw it in tonight's report the beautiful blue and the yellow and the sharp lines oh I like it very much uh George and Jack have made significant progress on unifying our brand The Branding for our district nearly all district Communications and media are now being distributed on standardized templates emails from Administration weekly bulletins Friday flyer presentations printed communication so we have one look and it's across all of our um ways of communicating color printing charg changes I like this um they've recently made an update to the printing process in the district to encourage more efficient use of color printing when color copers were first introduced in 2021 color printing became the default on computers and copies however as of October 4 they switched to Grays scale as the default for all print job sent to our CS this change allows us to reduce unnecessary color printing while still giving the staff the flexibility to print and color whenever needed to print in color the staff can can select the color option before releasing differen we're already seeing significant savings as a result of this change now mind you he says it started in October of 24 but I think Jack was a little ahead of the curve because we have savings even in September $245 October the month that started officially 1,300 and change November 1500 and change so the last three months you're looking at 30 3100 $3,200 in savings just on changing from color to print scale to gra scale um migration to hippoc compliant EA solution now people will say fax machines have gone the way of the dodo bird unfortunately Hippa requires that certain documents be facted because it's very hard to break the encryption and on fa so we are currently in the Pro process of transitioning all fax lines to an eax solution offering a simple way to use Easy to an easy to use online platform for sending and receiving taxes the new system meets all the data privacy requirements as an expected to save a minimum of $3,800 annually by reducing service costs quick look that's almost seven Grand one's over a year one's going hey Jack's saving his money every time I I feel really happy because every time I report about Jack's work we're saving money and we're getting better things for it so Kudos uh cyber security planning endpoint protect protection solution planning the technology department is working on enhancing the security of District workstations servers and networks one of the key steps we're exploring is the implementation of an advanced security solution that will provide real-time threat detection automated response and proactive monitoring across all of our devices and systems solution will integrate data from various sources such as endpoints servers firewalls to quickly identify vulnerabilities and respond to potential risks by adopting this technology will significantly significantly strengthen our District's District's cyber security posture uh cyber security training an anti- fishing solution currently being tested internally the school year all this school year all staff will participate in cyber security training to strengthen our District's overall security awareness in addition the technology department has acquired NOS Fisher tool which enhances our team's ability to detect analyze and respond to those lousy fishing effects and uh our next meeting is to be determined and that's all I have to say any questions who's going to do the the train TR for the staff Jack and Andrew okay is that rightline okay thank you any other questions okay thank you Tom Justin nothing to report okay Katie hi um I want to thank uh Robin for get over you I was unable to the attend the November 26th buildings and ground committee meeting in attendance was George Alexis Kim case uh Karen NIS Tom grov Robin bmer is Adele there uh no no no and then Mark vandery um I'll give a quick overview um they discussed the budget planning for the next year which I believe you'll be talking a little bit more about um there were updates on the plumbing and Sewer um the F basically at at at Millington and Central Middle School um the repairs and the adjustments we made to um the toilets um are all working except for I love this user error which um unfortunately when you have young children sometimes they do silly things and I'll leave it at that um in terms of our Capital Improvement projects uh the stage lighting at Central is scheduled and should be done in about a month um there is a structural investigation going on at Central because there is um potentially some water damage that they're looking into and um they're doing that because they want to install the new um ventilators and they want to make sure that the flooring is okay um there's there's some abatement that needs to be done so they're kind of doing a little research and then once they uh know what's going on they can make more informed decisions on what's going on forward um in terms of Millington unfortunately on uh November 9th there was um some tree damage due to um a tree falling on the roof which damaged part of the roof the um the a the air conditioning unit and also um the unit ventilator which were on the roof um we've already repaired the roof um the claim has gone to our insurance and based on what the insurance does will um will handle what the ventilator installation and and the a replacement um how that goes forward but currently that's not a dire need so they're they're managing that process um as for Gillette um the Gaga pit uh there is a plan in action this were uh donated items from the Long hilled Foundation the Gaga pit was donated last year and then we um the Ed Foundation donated um kind of matting to go underneath it because it wasn't being used prop not properly but um enough as as a gym class um tool so they are moving it outside and uh that will be installed in the spring when the weather is more appropriate for the installation process so that is very exciting so there'll be another piece of uh playground equipment at uh Gillette and the next buildings and grounds committee meeting will be scheduled after the January reorganization meeting um as for the lill Ed Foundation there are items on the agenda things that we have donated to the district and while it's not on the agenda for this month it will be in the future one of our first sponsored um donations um has been approved and the district has been notified that the fa the family focused legal Solutions family focused legal Solutions is providing a um as one of our gold sponsors is providing a scholarship for musical instruments for children who are on our free and roduced lunch program or any other children that um call Alpha so this will allow starting um in this year um students to rent the instruments who otherwise wouldn't have that available to them so it's a very exciting program I wanted to mention it while Melissa was here we really are appreciative um and it's kind of a nice parting thing that uh they are part of so I want to thank you publicly but and um also your team um and it's exciting um something that really you know I think someone said you know who knows that someone who is given this opportunity could turn out to be a musician or you know a lifelong passion is um is realized so it's very exciting um and then we have we're finishing up our fall Force classes and we will be starting our next session we are currently in signups for that and our next session will start J um January 7th um and then also um we have um we had our our fall fundraisers we had our pie sale which was very successful and we had another um family movie night at Central which was really fun and the kids had a great time and we are planning to have another one I believe in February if all the logistics work out with the availability of the gym and uh the permits for the films so um it's exciting and uh we look forward to sending more information out about um our Color Run in the uh Lake spring which is a h huge head and U so that's all so thank you thank you Katie any questions well I have to say though I want to add to what you said so I think the donation Melissa is so important and I'll tell you because I was a third grader who really wanted to play the flute and I just thought everyone got to pick an instrument but then I didn't realize you had to pay for it so I definitely was the free and reduced kid who didn't get to play the flute but they had a cello in the back room and I was like that's fine I'm going to play this cello and I ended up sitting second chair in the Monclair youth Symphony so it definitely gets it's definitely I think we're going to see something from that so thank you that's exciting thanks Okie doie so to Melissa uh policy committee met on November 12th uh you see a lot of policies that is my fault because I had to cancel the the meeting the month before and I think maybe before that but the committee was fantastic we got everything done in under an hour at the last policy committee meeting we have our next policy committee meeting tomorrow night which I want to talk to the the members about because the purpose of that we're not reviewing any policies we are reviewing the uh policy committee meeting the policy committee manual that I've drafted so that all future policy committees have a manual in order that explains to them what their responsibilities are how to review the policies what to look for and you know uh so they're not going into a blind so with that said in 2024 we reviewed 113 policies most the last [Applause] meeting so um a major a large amount so we are now on track it took a little while to get there but we are now on track to review in policy order 93 policies a year so with that said um the 2024 2025 schedule is already out for the next policy committee uh but that's why and I want to talk to the policy committee afterwards because I have already started the review of all the January policies because you'll have a new policy Committee in place so um no one's going to be able to review the policies by the January meeting so uh Liz ml gave me the policies ahead and I already have the agenda and the minutes partially drafted for the January meeting but that help took me away from the manual so I may want to change tomorrow night's meeting to push it out a week at least so I could just finish the manual and then I hand this over to you we're have to have two do this job I I handed but it's it's not thanks to the hard work of the policy committee over the last few years um it is going to be very easy and manageable going forward it's not going to be hard is Jack aware of things so if they break your spreadsheet Liz Liz Michels and George are going to be the holder of the uh spreadsheet but the great part about it is because because of the way the policy committee's worked in the last few years going forward what you're going to see on the agenda is just really a reopt or uh approving the policies because all the major changes that would have had to be made have been made over the last few years so um down to everything down to the cross references the citations so it's going to be a much you're not going to see as nearly as many red lines as you've seen in the last three years because of the policy committee thank you okay Karen this manual is going to include detailed instructions on how to work detailed instructions with screenshots oh good I was like should we record this meeting no it's going to be with screenshots what to click on on the njsba website to review everything let's hope they don't ever update their website but um but it's going to be very straightforward which I think is is what I know when Katie and I got on like we didn't know what we were doing we're like oh we're just writing policies so hey I have an idea like we had we had no idea remember having to bring my baby into a Duncan into a policy meeting and we were in there and he's running around the off it was horrible it was yeah but yeah it's going to be it's going to be very simple and straightforward so this manual is it marketable you do whatever you want with it I I don't even need any royalties so no that's what I thought we could do we could copyright copyright it and then this will be the Long Hill prize okay and you guys could do whatever you want with it you're G to have it on USB form too that's how fantastic it's all going to be get you in your Elvis costume we put you on the back cover all right yeah Melissa I'd like to thank you for making the policy committee one that's easy to work with the red line that you've added great easy for anybody to take a look say what happened oh just these two things and they're simple great you've done a great job and for you to leave behind instructions I was on policy committee my first year went H doing what when and that was with with Co so there was no time for doing anything and I don't know that we did enough but you've caught us all up so well I think this is something that's transformed over the last six years you know being on the policy committee through all the Committees we were like we uh every sing single committee that every single person who was on the committee in the last six years I mean uh it was it was a Karen took on a tremendous amount uh in in the first few years I was on the policy committee and um hopefully it's done now in a way that's shared across all policy committee members and allows for input so yeah thank you thank you okay superintendent report that's a good segue because uh Karen and I had the honor of presenting at the NJ sba's Mars County meeting last Wednesday and the topic was uh journey to good governance so exactly what you're talking about Melissa over the last six years and all the good work that everyone's done uh we were celebrating that and sharing it with our Mars County uh board colleagues uh the next morning Central Middle School hosted the Regional Learning walk so all the sending districts sent a team the high school sent their team uh and we opened up our math classes for observation so these teams were uh taking a look at a lesson being taught and then we had a round table discussion afterwards it was very productive and we're hosting the ELA sessions this Thursday uh we mentioned the chronic absenteeism corrective action plan for Central Middle School I just want to mention that this is required by New Jersey statute when the percentage of students with 18 or more absences in a school year reaches 10% for that school um our district goal is well align with this requirement so we were ahead of the game uh since this summer uh but you know for parents we we understand it's easy to lose track sometimes of your child's attendance especially if it's just a couple days a month but they all add up and um so we're just trying to make this a point of emphasis because as we've said before uh students learn best when they're in school and engaged there's also the resolution on the agenda approving the use of the climate survey that's NJ SCI we've discussed this previously and we look forward to using it uh in conjunction with strategic planning uh it's great to have our winter Athletics season back in action and I want to wish everyone a joyous holiday season and a relaxing rejuvenating inbr thank you any questions okay Ba's report I just want to update you on the sub portion of what Karen spoke about so in finance we did look at substitutes and neighboring districts and what they what they are paying and because there is a shortage of Subs if you have your thing you can actually sub for us it's too hard I'm going to pass but okay thank you that that during the meeting though um Kim and an um had a great idea saying some of the college students around town right might be willing to sub for us and so we did take that idea Elizabeth Michels um kindly went out and spoke with County College of Morris rattin Valley College of St Elizabeth Union County Community College ruter ftuu seatan Hall Monclair Drew William Patterson Keane ripo and TC andj come far come wide what is it that so they all now have uh postings that we are looking for Subs so with any luck maybe we'll get a sub or two out of a college student who wants to be a teacher and has 60 credits that would be great great yeah so thank you so much for the idea let's hope it pays off thank you Liz y that was a really good idea yeah and that's my report I have nothing else oh okay um something that came to mind um so this Falls to you uh Robin and also to you uh George for the busing are we so I I noticed that there's a substitute bus either substitute or new bus driver for at least one of the routes and there's been some uh chatter about it are we seeing that for any other routes or is it just no I haveen I haven't heard about any I haven't gotten any calls other than the one driver was left and we got a brand new driver on that route I haven't been called about Subs at all um that I will call them tomorrow somebody did email me saying that there were Subs but I where normally they do call me in the morning and tell me that there's a sub I just haven't receive that well so I I will tell you just so on on my my son's route we had a driver that person's not there then there was another driver that person's not there and now there's another driver so something transitioned across two weeks and it seems there was some growing pains with that I guess my question is is that something we're going to just see with one route do you think we're going to see more of this do we know have any more information well no that I mean I'm surpris I'm like I said I'm not happy to hear that because normally they do call me and let me know um and I was not notified that so we'll talk later let me know with the route but I have not seen it of course you know if people are sick or something they have to get subs supposedly they have Subs that at least they're trying to use the same Subs over and over so at least they know our area yeah um that I and I like I said other than you tonight and one other email that I just got as I left the office um I have not heard heard anything negative okay so okay and overall Robin we've seen far fewer Subs this year than compared to last well I'm yeah I'm assuming because I haven't heard although if if they're not telling me I I don't know that that's true but I I like I said I haven't received emails or calls or nothing um and they do call me every day to let me know when the routes are done okay um even today with the sub she called me at 4:20 um to tell me that all the buses were in which is pretty normal so it didn't it didn't seem like it was so behind okay okay okay uh any comments from the public on agenda items no okay we are going to move into resolutions then Karen will you move in the minutes number one so moved second okay any questions roll call please Mrs Butler yes Mrs daily yes Mr Foster yes Mr grof yes Mrs mclennen yes Mrs Nyquist yes Mrs ralo of same and Mrs case yes uh Danielle will you move in financials numbers 2 through 11 so moved second any questions okay Mrs Butler yes Mrs daily yes Mr Foster yes Mr Groff yes Mrs McCannon uh yes but abstain from eight and nine Mrs Nyquist yes Miss ruelo yes and Mrs yes um so that just for that thank you to force for their um grants there and um we appreciate that special services Ann will you move in numbers 12 through 14 so moved second roll call oh questions sorry roll call Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes Mr Groff yes Mrs McCannon yes M Nyquist yes Miss rubo yes Mrs case yes uh Tom will you move in Personnel numbers 15 through 27 so move second any questions I questions okay go ahead K I don't much a question as you know just a comment I know he's resigning but um I got to tell you somebody who is energetic and dedicated to the kids and his field of Music uh I've totally enjoyed every time I've seen the product of Mr R out's work whether it be at the senior center or in an assembly and uh just want to thank him very very much thank you my questions go to two topics um and perhaps we need to take this offline but um I I understand the board granted the superintendent the right to uh fill any um any any positions while we are not meeting uh I assumed at the time it was over the summer and I think that was part of the argument from because we don't really meet you know you have all whole Su summertime off um things positions need to be filled and I'm seeing a couple here that we only met a month ago and the person's hired rather than recommended to hired are these emergency hires is this going to be new no we well but the the same rationale for over the summer when we need to hire people we also wanted to extend that throughout the year so on October 7th at the board meeting we had a resolution authorizing it during the school year for the same reason and we've had a lot of leave Replacements and other hiring that needs to be done so it's helped out a lot fair enough thank you want to be clear on that and there's another one and and I and I think George you had once told me that it has something to do with the Union contract I'm not sure but there are also seven several people who are extending their um leave of absences unpaid um to the end of the school year uh and uh since we don't know who the people are or for what reason uh and there are several uh is is this something that is standard procedure through the Union contract is it just yeah courtesy it's consistent with past practice and the uh the association contract fair enough I appreciate your cander all right any anything else Tom know okay thank you all right um roll call please uh Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes M gr Mr Groff yes Mrs mclennen yes Miss Nyquist yes M ruelo yes and Mrs case yes okay Justin will you move in curriculum number 28 so move second any questions okay roll call please Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes Mr Groff yes Mrs mclennon I have M Nyquist yes M ruo yes Mrs case yes um policy Katie you move in numbers 29 through 32 so moved second any questions no I just want to mention again that um I got comments from Tom on the role of the committee leaders I again if you have comments please get them to me I said the governance committee is meeting on the 17th so we'll finalize uh with all the comments finalize that car to your point there uh at 6:00 tonight I had a chance to read the uh the new bylaw nope well I didn't change it at all so we should have been the one you commented on originally oh okay then it seemed it seemed a little bit neater so I was I was I was confused and I sent you back a a quick oh maybe and okay I saw that I thought it was like the same kind of comments okay I didn't realize that yeah okay if you want to talk about it after gladly sure okay all right roll call please Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes Mr Groff uh yes Mrs mclennon yes Mrs Nyquist yes M rubo yes Mrs case yes okay Melissa for the last time you move in other items number 33 through 37 so moved second yeah any questions okay roll call please Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes Mr Groff yes Mrs McCannon yes M Nyquist yes M Rua yes Mrs case yes uh a lot of fun things here holiday grams at Central Middle School we we have some nice collections of toys um at Central happening for the community service Club um and for the Long Hill PBA Toys for Tots program for children at Overlook and then dog and cat toys so if you guys uh can donate would be great um any items for discussion unfinished business okay any new business any comments from the public okay an will you move us into executive session I'm sure the board will enter into a private executive session to discuss confidential student and Personnel matters action may be taken following the executive session second all in favor I any opposed extensions okay I think we have to say