Okay. We just warm up. Remember how we talked about? We're going to slow down on those three quarters. >> Oh yeah. Try that again, please. Slow down. One more time. One more time.
Not too loud. Now, I feel like we shouldn't give away. Can we just do And don't play the note. Don't play the note. You're going to be the only person doing it. Can we just practice at the very opening
just one more time? Um, well, they're going to say a little bit about us. Um, we'll get going. If you have a phone, it needs to be off, silent, whatever. So, Yeah, we'll make sure.
>> Oh. Oh, she probably just go back. Afterwards, remember you have to push the chairs back. It might be a little bit loud and not
just once we're done. Good evening. >> Try again. >> Good evening. Good evening. Hello. Hi. I call the November 18th, 2025 meeting of the Matuchan Board of
Education to order. >> Please stand for the flag salute. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Notice of the meeting, please. Mr. Harveier. >> I hereby make this statement to indicate compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, known as chapter 231, Public Laws
of New Jersey, 1975, which became effective 90 days after enactment January 19th, 1976. Notice of this meeting was given by providing location, time and date of this meeting and posting the same on the front door of board of education offices by delivering copies to the burough hall
and touch public library home tribune and b filing a copy with the burough clerk as prescribed by this law. >> Thank you. Mrs. Alivic, roll call, please. >> Mr. Bot, >> here. >> Miss Cheetum,
>> here. >> Mr. Derlinger, >> here. >> Mr. Dr. Glber >> here. >> Dr. Johnson Marcus >> here. >> Miss Colleen >> here. >> Mr. Lifton >> here. >> Miss Michaels Lamort let us know that she would not going to be here tonight. >> All right. Thank you. Dr. Sper
>> here. >> Mr. Sus. He has let us know that he will not be here today. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Mrs. Alio. I turn at this time for one of the fun things that we get to do, a showcase of success. Dr. Caputo, tell us who we've got here.
>> Yes, thank you very much. Um, Madame President, for allowing us to continue to showcase our our arts, our academics, and our athletics uh as part of the showcase at the board meetings. Tonight, we have the MHS Chamber Orchestra. Those here tonight, Full House, you're you're in for a treat. The uh Chamber Orchestra
consistently receives gold ratings and was selected to perform at both the New Jersey Convention and the National Orchestra Festival. Uh, tonight they'll be performing a portion of Schubert's death in the Maiden String Quartet. Come see chamber orchestra perform the work in its entirety at the winter orchestra
concert here Wednesday, December 10th at 7 o'clock. Mr. Mchuan Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. That's right. Yeah. Heat. WOO! THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. >> Miss McHugh, you picked a great night to come. Um, your your ensemble is excellent. We appreciate that. You folks
picked a great night to come. You got a preview of the concert. Please come out and support all of our musicians with our orchestra concert and all of our concerts throughout the winter either before or after the holidays depending what school we're at. So, thank you, Mr. Mchuan. That was awesome. >> Great job.
>> Indeed. It was a great night for folks to come because we have more. We'll just give the um orchestra just a second to um uh move off the stage. As we do that, um I just want to thank everyone for being here tonight. Um Dr. Johnson Marcus, we'll be honoring our
students across the district alphabetically, first by ELA and then by math and then by science. We'll follow the agenda. And by the way, there are souvenir agendas at the front and the back. I think you may have gotten them. Um and we uh thank you for coming tonight. This is we really appreciate
you coming out to allow us to honor your students for their wonderful achievements. We'll be honoring tonight students that achieve perfect scores on the spring 25 uh SLA tests. Uh ELA first alphabetical uh by last name, then math,
and then science. Please take agendas. We make extras for that reason. Take it, send it to relatives and friends who like to uh follow your your children's um successes. We really appreciate that. Um, I think we're almost ready. I'm going to invite down uh Miss Lindseay
Omar, who has graciously offered to be here tonight to do the names for us. Miss Omar, as you make your way to the podium. Again, thank you for being here tonight. I know you had many of these students, so I know it's probably a proud night for you to be here as well. >> Very excited and honored to read the
following names. Tonight it is my honor to present the awards for the N the perfect NJSLA scores in English language arts, mathematics and science. These students have demonstrated outstanding dedication and academic excellence. And
I will begin with the perfect NJSLA scores for English language arts. And Miss Omark, we'll ask the students to stand and be recognized in their seat today just because of the um the crowdedness up here and um you know and and having them make their way there. So we'll let them to stand their seat and
be recognized. >> Perfect. >> I believe they have certificates already. If they didn't see Mrs. Alvich after the meeting because we have certificates for you. Again, if there's any mistakes, we'll correct it. Um but we appreciate you being here tonight. Miss Omar, sorry for interruption. Continue. Take it away.
>> Thank you. English language arts. Uh, Bin Allen, Maline Maline A, Anukica Bania, Hosnney Barath,
Audrey Bonia, Emily Bordilato, Claire Cahill, Sonia Cap, Christopher Chen, Hazel Craft,
David Dickman, Calvin Dupri, Tanya Eturi, Nasheed Farooq, Michael Faucet, Afrael Fernandez, Ashton Gandhi, Java Gandhi,
Olivia Green, Brian Heath, Carara Hore, Moira Hang, Miam Jamali, Aushi Kamath, Catherine Colleen,
Olivia Lamb, Maxwell Leland, Anme Lee, Lucienne Lynn, Sophie Lobo, Kamiya Ledwig Alvarado, Sophia Mala, Erica Merzov,
Eli, Ala Malav, Mikabal, Mikabalo, Mikabalo, Catherine Molenex, Kyash Meyers, William Nusbomb,
Edward Pllin, Sophie Potter, Anukica Ree, Joanna Rachelson, Harini Ralph, Ava Savarek,
Connor Stone, Nicholas Tang, Sonam Vas, Jesse Zang, Sally Zang, Sebastian Zakardi, Mila Zen.
Those were the perfect scores for NJSLA. Um, ELA, will you all please stand up for a round of applause? ELA, English Language Arts. CONGRATULATIONS. Now for the perfect scores for NJSLA mathematics.
Maya Dodson, Nasheed Farooq, Brian Headen Sue, Ian Hua, Steven Jacobson, Vitter Cartik, Ella Meow, Grace Nas,
Sumemed, Nak Nikatam, Edward Perlin, Nicholas Tang, Arjun Venut, Ja Wallia, Eton Wong. Those are our perfect scores for NJSLA
mathematics. Please all stand up. I will now read the perfect NJSLA scores for science. Maya Dodson, Kai Angelert, Alistister Faucet, Asher Greenbomb, Matthew Lifton,
Barnav, Mitra, Reese Osborne Jones and Aiden Ryderowski. Congratulations. Those are the scores for the perfect science. Please stand up. >> Thank you. And congratulations to all. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Mark. Great job. Thank
you for being here. Um just so proud uh Dr. Johnson Marcus of uh of these students of all students but these students not only participate in the testing are great you know individuals but did something pretty amazing scoring you know perfect uh on the SLA test taking the test seriously parents
trusting us that testing is just another part of the regular instructional process sending their kids for tests every year and uh we're happy to honor the ones that got perfect scores >> thank you so much Dr. Kabuto, thank you all of you for entrusting your children to the care of our district and for
shining in the way that you are. Um, this is something that we're all proud of, but I must take a moment to recognize this fourth grade cheering section down here. I mean, the energy they brought to the table is bar none. So, I hope you all have people in your
lives who will cheer for you like these kiddos are cheering for each other. So, thank you so much. Um, and shout out to those of you who I saw pairing with those little asterisks on there a couple of times on these lists. So, well done. Keep up the excellent work. Thank you so much for driving our district forward in
terms of excellence. And give yourselves another round of applause. >> Now, as Dr. Kaputo mentioned there are souvenir uh agendas over there if you'd like to take one for your you know your book your scrapbook etc right over on this table um on your way out we are at
this time open to the public for comment and we usually take this opportunity to allow you a chance for a graceful escape because we know that our meetings are scintillating and very exciting but we know that you also probably have homework to get to. So, thank you all for coming out tonight and letting us
celebrate you and having joy in this moment. Have a great night and we'll resume once you all get yourselves settled. >> That was nice. >> Was this really nice? >> Hello.
>> Okay. >> Look, they got photos. >> I remember there being 75 or so kids. Oh. >> Oh my gosh. >> So good. So good.
>> Wasn't so lucky. So Yeah. somewhat unaware for you now. Just so you know. Just for you. Good job. That's why He does.
>> He's like ready whenever you want. No, just to just give me the >> uh madame president, members of the board, uh before we move on to district goals update, just wanted to reiterate how how happy I am that you allowed us to do this nights like this. We saw
amazing performance by the um um our orchestra um previewing their upcoming concert. We saw dozens and dozens of students recognized tonight. And what a great turnout. Maybe one of the best ever. Uh I'm glad we're in this big auditorium now because we were in the cafeteria like the old days. It I don't
think we would all fit. It was great to see families and extended families and like you said cheering squads and it was really nice. Obviously the the un unsung heroes um that we didn't mentioned tonight uh the principles and especially the teachers behind the scenes who who just do wonderful work each and every
day with our students. And you know we get a great product to work with but our teachers do amazing work with them. And um and so it's to special shout out to all the teachers in ELA, math, science today. >> Uh Dr. Kudo, really fast. Um across the district, um I know you had to figure
out, I don't know if you still have it. What was our percentage of students taking the NJSLAs's across the district? It was exceedingly high. >> Yeah, it's like 99.5 99.4% Dr. Herszog. It's just incredible. We we I think that goes back to the trust that parents have
in the schools and in the teachers. the fact that we just we don't make testing anything different than it is. It's part of curriculum instruction and assessment and throughout whether it was through COVID or through optout movements, our parents have trusted us that we're going to take good care of their kids and they
they um they trust in the process and the testing is not going to be overwhelming for them. Um, and we think that contributes to, first of all, really good attendance on test days, which gives us great data because we know every student takes the test. And I think it allows students to shine in these circumstances. And that's what we
see tonight. >> No, it's wonderful. I just wanted to to I I I had heard that statistic. I didn't remember was it 99.2 or four or six or I I didn't remember exactly, but over 99%. And that is not typical across the state. And I do think it is tremendous
testament to the trust that the parents place in the administration, you, your principles, your teachers that it testing is going to, it has to progress. The state mandates it certainly, but that the schools will not only use the data appropriately for to
help their students grow and learn, but also that the testing itself will be done in a way that is not overly uh cumbersome and um and contribute instead of detract from the overall teaching. So um I think it is a trends testament to all the administrative administration
and teachers and I just wanted to get that out there. Thank you >> Mr. Lift and Dr. Herszog and the uh school test coordinators and the principles do a great job putting together our manageable schedules and I think that's why you lead with it um in all our presentations because the number is incredibly high and we owe we owe it to the the parents that are here and the parents that are home watching today.
So, thank you for that. Thank you to our teachers and it's the proud night when we were able to celebrate not only the arts but the academics and then next meeting we'll celebrate our athletics when we have our night of champions on December 16th. To our district goals, I'm really excited about this year's
goals. um our our our motto for for lack of a better word is every moment matters and we thought that was especially appropriate for this year in terms of the construction in terms of the importance of student time seat time with teachers um and the idea that every
moment matters really is important it matters in interactions social emotional learning and academics so that's our our our our motto for the year of course we went over our district priorities in the um in August when we introduced these around inclusivity collaboration, communication,
celebration, whole child, social emotional learning, parent and community partnerships, mental health and wellness and academic achievements, enriching experience, and you saw some of that tonight. All these slides are either on the website already. Miss Ali is great with that. It'll be up first thing tomorrow morning. So, and you want to go
back if you're watching from home to see any of these slides, they'll be posted um prominently on the website. As I was saying, I'm especially excited by the goals this year. Um, our goals are not things that administrators do. Our goals are not just simply outcomes
that we wait till, you know, we get scores to see how we did. They're they're important things and items and initiatives that students and teachers can do on a weekly maybe daily basis. Our five goals this year are around classroom and community engagement.
building forward together. Building on building on the idea of the construction happening sky's the limit building on the New Jersey sky survey that we've done for a few years but certainly have placed great emphasis on this year uh last year and this year information literacy my particular um favorite this
year. And then the best me we all can do um more to help each other be better and to be our the best me that we can be. So how do we measure progress? This is a self-designed scale. We didn't we weren't sure. We had gone through a couple of ways over the years to measure
it. About six or seven years ago, we settled on this homegrown scale and it's really hard to get fours and fives. Um, one means we didn't do it. Two, some progress, but it hasn't impacted students yet. Three means good progress, but you know, it's limited impact at
student level. Fours means we did it well and it's impacted students and that's our goal. In rare cases, we hit a five, which means we did it well and had significant evidence of impact at the student level. So certainly, you'll see scores today in the twos, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7.
That's probably where we should be. There's still a lot of work to be done, but I'm really excited to share some of the evidence, the early successes with you tonight. Goal one, I won't read the definition and the key actions, but I will h highlight the the mean score of 2.83. Um
the range is twos, threes, and fours. And we have a piece of evidence at each of the schools. So at Moss, they've established a green team for the first time. They've applied for an NJA sustainability grant. And we'll be excited if they get it because it'll be for a hydroponic tower.
Campbell is collecting feedback for planting uh trees in the locations provided by the green team and the students. And that's part of that huge uh grant that Miss Lmerch and her team um secured for us that's going to put plantings at all of our schools in addition to the work through the um
that's done through the referendum at Edgar. The environmental club is working on the courtyard learn about the plants and the trees and the species and the crops as well as native flowers and plants. At the high school, the tree ambassador's presentation which was just an incredible presentation to an authentic audience which included Dr.
Herzogamy and others um of the of the where those trees should go. It was reviewed with our um our landscape architect. It was it just he he was amazed by what the students had done. So it's not just some project. It's not just some club. This is real learning
that's happening. And so these key actions are really focused on three things this year. Food equity, reducing waste, reliable meals. You know, when we put these goals together in July and August, we knew that was going to be our goal. We didn't know that November was going to bring about such a um a a a
distinct focus on food insecurity. Um and we're really excited. We've we've we've recovered hundreds and hundreds of meals. Um and I'll be sharing some data out tomorrow with my all users email that then goes to the parents as well. Uh we were powering student leaders and
enhancing critical thinking. And I think you've seen some of those in the um examples from the principles today. Goal two is building forward together. Again, um supporting that idea of as we're building together, we're building structures, but we're also building
individuals. Um our mean score is 2.3. Some of these things haven't really got off the ground yet. So, we have a range of one, twos, and threes. At Moss, we had an amazing um visiting first grade experience where they're looking at lunch and recess. Miss Mrs. aspololis
her team they're visiting with those students who will be transitioning back to Moss for their second grade the boomerang group um so they're already doing that work and that's certainly building forward together fifth grade teachers are participating at Campbell in their meetings included in all the Campbell communications again uh
directly aligned with the items in our key actions at Edgar our solutions committee which meets monthly representatives from each department um building on that idea of labor management collaboration which you know listen we're a model lighthouse district for the state around labor management
collaboration we need to continue to do the good work here and continue to grow and certainly Edgar is doing that at the high school new grading procedures report card planning with those numeric grades that's starting with the fifth grades that was presented to students and staff again directly aligned with our building forward together new grades
number one is updating standards and report cards and aligning grades and reporting practices for their grade configuration so really excited about the instructional spaces that we're working on um the model of collaboration, working on staff assignments. We'll be asking staff the third a third time where they see
themselves in the in the new alignment. And if we can make those desires come true, we're certainly going to try to do that. And what do these new spaces look like? Not just to expand into these new spaces, but how do we have innovative programs, which 25 years from now, people look back and said they built it,
they did a good job building it and sustaining it, and they put great programs in those spaces. Goal three is sky's is the limit uh with two actions here. It's collaborating with our parent, student and and advisories and our school leadership teams to look at that data. We asked all
we had a great response rate last spring. It didn't stop there. It continued into the summer with parent meetings with communications that went out from the principles and then continuing this fall with their parent and student advisories and then engaging in shared decision-m and how to
implement the actions for identified area for growth which is different for each school. So we have a mean score of 2.5 with all twos and threes across the schools in these areas. At Moss that collaboration in September was a multifaceted approach. Uh Campbell,
their first community advisory meeting is occurring in December. At Edgar, they met with the SLT, that's the school leadership team, and their student advisory. And the summer, back in the summer, they had a focus group that worked on analyzing the data. At the high school, the parent advisories reviewing the data and um additional
react additional um actions in sep in October. So again, this is an area that I hope we see a quick jump by the spring break when I do my second update from where it is now 2.5 to hopefully it's starting to impact students because that's the reason we do that kind of
survey. By the way, these are on the you're not going to look at all the numbers tonight, but we included an extra slide with the district-wide aggregate data. For students in grade three to five, there was almost 500 responses last year. for students in grades 6 to 12
there was almost 1100 responses over 200 staff responded and almost 400 parents responded and obviously areas some are higher than others and we're working to sustain the areas that we scored high and areas that are lower. That's why we put those parent advisories or student advisories and that's why we ask for
parents who couldn't attend for their feedback and we still welcome that. Goal four is on information literacy and I'm going to read this one. This is to equip our students with critical thinking and sensemaking strategies to identify, evaluate and navigate a wide
range of information across digital, academic and everyday sources, empowering them to become informed, responsible and engaged citizens. So our first is around using and using real world data, mathematical tools like graphs and stats and data representation
so students can evaluate data and know what's reliable, what's the limitations of it. So when they hear things being being said they they they have a sense to look back to see is that is that accurate? Is there data behind that claim? Implementing artificial intelligence
plan again Dr. Herszog and I will be presenting part of this plan tomorrow. We we present to folks in Newark doing labor management collaboration. One of I think our recent successes around this AI plan. still more work to be done, but it's it's it's implementing tools so
that staff and students are picking their own path. Um, and we want to we're looking at prompt engineering and responsible AI use. We did not take the approach of banning AI just like when cell phones, we didn't ban cell phones, we didn't ban the internet. Um, we're looking at from an instructional point
of view to see how schools can take um play an important part in staff development and student growth. And thirdly, voter rights and registration um which which which happened before the election. Um really looking at civic readiness, granting instruction and
primary documents, current events where students pick, summarize and evaluate information, foster respectful debate, and understand geography like we're not just a the burrow of Matuchen or the state of New Jersey or even the nation of the United States of America, but how the geography influences culture,
society, and nations. We have a lot of work to do in this area. Our range is 1 to three, a mean score of 2.33. But some real early successes I'm happy to report on. So at MOS via readalouds and voting simulations, they prep, they prepared for election day and their visitors from
Malawi, which was like something that was put together short notice, and it was just an amazing day with Miss Asperol, Mayor Bush, and the the the visitors from Malawi. At Campbell, students have provided feedback for lunch seating and rotations. Um again as
Dr. Stanza always talks about um you have to buy in. So if you you have to weigh in so you have buy in at Edgar the AI plan being implemented by everybody in the school. I would say real good success at at Edgar with our scale going from zero no AI one two three go wild
with AI and we've really taken we want to see that expand to the rest of the district. at high school again with looking at those documents um during the media literacy week they shared resources on propaganda political cartoons reliability and censorship um looked at banned books had a whole
display in the library had lessons around that so excited about the evidence still more work to be done here um I'm especially engaged with um district goal four and in goal five the best me um probably I think the highest score 2.67 six, seven, twos, threes, and
fours. At Moss, we have our new counselor leading lunch bunches around student needs like coping skills and relationships. At Campbell, embedded in faculty meetings, Nest presentations on mental health. Nest is our Ruter is a is our program with Rutgers clinicians. Um that came about as a as a result of the
2019 um public referendum. At Edgar, we're focusing on character education through advisory, No Place for Hate, morning announcements, and character ed themes. at the high school, a teen talk group was established. All aligned with our three actions above. So those are our goals for this year. We have a
couple of other slides which we'll have summaries on at the end of the year. We tie our scores to the ASD whole child tenants and we tie our schools to a quality school review indicators and we'll have we'll include those um in our June update. So I'm happy to take questions on our goals. Like I said,
still a lot of work to be done. really excited about the individual uh evidence of success so far this year. >> Thank you Dr. Kaputo. I wanted to kind of commend you for the information literacy goal. I think that is a really
important practical skill that uh is being infused throughout the district. I will be excited to learn more as it progresses how we're doing on that goal. That's a particularly important one. Um, and I also will just in a point of small
point, the solutions committee. I love the name. I think it's so indicative of our collaborative nature. Like, okay, yes, you're going to have problems, but what are the solutions? So, I I commend whoever came up with that name. >> So, I can give a little shout out. So, um, our middle school picked that up
first, but we got that from our friends in Montgomery. Uh, it's an outgrowth of the school leadership team. their experience early on found that their school leadership team was getting swallowed up by like kind of the everyday thickness of paper towels or the parking spots or things that were a
little bit distant from student achievement. So they have an outgrowth their suggest their their solution to that was an outgrowth of the school leadership team called a solutions committee that would handle the day-to-day kind of things and allow the school leadership team to stay
focused on teaching and learning student achievement. So we've picked that up in some of our schools and we talk about that with some of the um the other districts that we talk about labor management collaboration with and so Edgar was something that they picked that up really early. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Questions from my colleagues or comments? Mr. Glassber.
>> I I just want to say that we're you're pretty tough on on yourself or we're tough on ourselves, however you want, you know, cuz a lot a lot of people involved. Um I mean, it would just be so easy to get up there and and just shine a light on the amazing things that are
working and shift everything else to the side and not and not talk about it. But um you know, I don't I don't rate myself that hard when when I'm given the opportunity for self-rating scales. Um, but I appreciate in all in all seriousness, I appreciate that uh it
seems as though a lot of thought it goes into those numbers and working to progress at them over time and to have real examples to back them up and it it's not just something for show. So, I appreciate that. >> I thanks for noticing that. I think um we're trying to set the example to be,
you know, to be tough graders, right? And I think it comes down to trust. I think I trust the principles that they know it's a year-long plan. and they work with their teachers and sometimes, you know, progress happens in fits and spurts and I think they trust me that it's not a gotcha moment. Um, so I think
that's the little bit of trust that we've developed over the years with this. >> Other comments or questions? Dr. Spner. >> Yeah. Vince, really impressive. Um, can you explain a little bit about the priorities and how they fit into the goals or vice versa?
>> Yeah, I could certainly do it. >> Interesting. >> Yeah, if if Dr. Hzog, you know, you have a mic there. Um, I'd love for you to talk a little about the priorities because Dr. Her Herszog was instrumental in like taking the disparit views of what we valued and and skillfully, which
he does really well, skillfully summarizing it to not only a nice visual, but uh something that we use in every aspect of the district. >> Very impressive. Um yeah, I just had the opportunity over the last few years to compile, analyze, and summarize the work
over many years that is represented throughout our decision- making, throughout our discussions, throughout our planning and put it into um into words and into a visual. And Dr. Caputo and I use this and our our whole team
uses this. We use this um when we interview candidates as a in a finalist interview to make sure they're well aligned with our priorities. We um use this in our new teacher orientation and our three-year new teacher academy. We refer to this for our inservice and our
professional development and it is aligned to the district goals in many ways. Um the best me has a lot of mental health and wellness. Um the uh working with um like social emotional learning
is in there. our academic achievements are are part of that celebrations and communications are and collaboration you'll um one of the goals was about um preparing for the realignment and AI work and a lot of work that we do
through those through those committees and um so we we do this work this is it's integral into all of our work these priorities and we just thought it's important to anchor our district goals and all of our decisions around this and
really they've come from years of of the work done in the district before I was here and and um but it just captures the things that are important to our community and that we invest time in and training in and the um the whole child
tenants Dr. Caputo aligns his scoring and and his goals to those um you know parent partnerships. Certainly our community is so invested in our district and we're thankful for that. We passed two referendums and um mental health and the the school
facilities um one and the reorganization social emotional learning built into our curriculum. Inclusivity is important to us for all of our populations. Um, students with disabilities, different um, gender identities, different ethnicities and
cultural um, identities. So, all of that is important to us and our enriching experiences, the arts like you saw here tonight and the opportunities for trips and um, things that students get to do extracurricularly as well. And so while the goal so while the goals change every
year and the actions of the things that we work on every day, this is kind of the umbrella that that you know extends from one year to another, one decade to another, you know, one administration to another. And this is what over the last, you know, many many years, we've found that Matuchin is valued. Even before I
was here 14 years ago, these are things that were valued here. And and Dr. did a great job of kind of developing this umbrella to kind of, you know, enco encompass all that. Yeah, it was really good to hear how it's incorporated into all aspects really of the management and
um you know the implementation hiring. >> Yeah. Curriculum, all of that too. So it's it's good that it's used in a very practical way rather than just a a nice graph that sits in somebody's shelf somewhere, you know. >> So thank you for that. I appreciate it. >> Wonderful. Thank you for that great
question, Dr. Spar. Any other questions, colleagues? >> All right. Thank you so much, Dr. Kabuto for uh sharing with us and uh being a firm grader. I don't like to say tough grader. Firm. You have high expectations. Um so nothing wrong with that at all.
>> Formative test. So we have still time. >> Exactly. >> More firm than Harvard apparently. >> Indeed. Indeed. All right. Uh at this time we turn to reports. At this time I have no report and I believe you've just
given a pretty decent one. Is there anything you'd like to add? I have just a happy Thanksgiving to everybody. I'll be sharing a um in my all users email tomorrow some of the data I talked about um that we always share out the day after a board meeting. >> Wonderful. So folks look out check your emails tomorrow. Make sure you stay
informed and I also would like to at this time wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving in case I forget at the end because we kind of get sped up at the end. Yeah. All right. Um at this time we usually do committee reports. However, we have not collectively met committee-wise except
for I know Mr. Glberg always loves to give us an update and I know that parents wait with baited breath to hear what's happening in construction. Do you want to give an update? And we will also have an update from Mr. Lifton. So, starting with you, Mr. Glber.
>> Okay. Our committee met briefly on uh November 10th and we discussed uh air conditioning in the fitness center at the high school um which um was which is currently broken. Um so that's something
that we were discussing uh fixing. And we also discussed the Edgar Middle School gym uh and the possibility for air conditioning there. That's actually all that we discussed during that uh committee meeting, but I also do have an update on the progress at all the
schools. So, at Moss, we have expected completion on or around January 20th. Uh at that's for everything. So, we'll be done in plenty of time for realignment for the following year, even if that date ends up shifting a little bit. At
Edgar, landscaping there should be done within about a week. Um, other things that need to be completed and should be done again by mid January are the basketball uh hoops that are going in um
near the rain garden, a new LED sign, and some general punch list items like anytime that you have a construction project, there's things that need to uh be taken care of. But the expected completion for all of that is by mid January. But the spaces are being used
well now and uh we're in good shape there. Campbell. Uh Campbell's complete except for some punch list items. Um some new interior doors and hardware that need to go in. All that should happen over winter break. So, we're in good shape
there. Uh you may remember from a previous report that we also decided not as part of the referendum but just separately uh to add on the leveling of the back field at Campbell and that work has is that I know that they've planted
the seed. I believe that the the hard work has been done there. Now we're just waiting for the seed to grow and the field will be able to be used in the springtime at the high school. The furniture for the new board of ed office is scheduled for delivery in mid January. The high
school fieldhouse edition is anticipated to be ready to be used January 15th, 2026. And we hope to have some uh great games that we get to play in there during the season, basketball games. That would be wonderful. And the
completion of the high school cafeteria edition is for February 13th. The reason why that's going to take a little bit longer is because first the board office uh temporary offices have to move into their new space and then some uh
finishing touches need to take place there because right now it's being used for a different purpose. So that's why that's the last thing on the list. The space has been used just not used as a cafeteria uh due to the temporary office space. So we are working our way towards
a finish line here. It is insight and uh as Dr. Caputo mentioned during the goals update, planning is taking place for uh for realignment and surveys with with staff members. So there's just uh so much positivity going on here and it's
exciting to know that it's almost done. Our next meeting is on November 24th. Uh the committee will meet then to get an update on various uh topics. Thank you. >> Wonderful. Thank you, Mr. Glassber. And indeed that excitement is palpable.
We're almost there. Mr. Lifted, could you tell us some good stuff? >> Thank you. It's uh rare I I get a chance to talk at these meetings these days. Um u one of the perils of being the negotiating chair is that there aren't actually that many public uh
pronouncements I can make. And this is really not any different. But I just did want to inform the public and and Phil Bordon that um the uh our negotiating committee was very gratified to have our first negotiating session with the um
the touchen education association last evening, the teachers union here in Matuchen. Um just for the public's information, all of our bargaining unit contracts will be expiring at the end of the school year, um July 1st. And um we
have although it's November and it may seem like a long way away, I assure everyone including our committee that it is not. >> And um we did have um a very congenial and and collaborative meeting last evening as our meetings almost always are with our with our teachers and all
of our bargaining units. Um and we have every um every anticipation of having a successful negotiation as has been the rule in Matuchen for many many years. Uh I don't think anyone can remember if ever um our teachers having to work on
an old contract which happens routinely in other areas of the state but not in Matuchen. And we have every anticipation and every goal of um coming to a successful um agreement for our teachers and all of our bargaining units by the
uh expree of their contracts. And uh it was good to see some you know negotiations as I said last night. um they they they they can be adversarial, but that doesn't mean we're adversaries. And uh it was wonderful to see um our teachers there and be able to speak to
them and tell them how much we truly value them and how much we're going to work with them to get a fair and equitable contract. So, just wanted to give everyone the update. Um I will not be giving um um uh updates each time. All the our discussions with the union prior to an agreement are confidential.
So, there's nothing really to give updates about. But I did I did just want to give the public the assurity that uh the board of education and and all of our employees are are have begun and will be dig diligently working to come to an agreement. Thank you.
>> Thank you so much Mr. Lifton. And for me I sit on this committee as well and I did want to say that this is my second round of negotiations with you as chair and indeed there will be big shoes to fill as you go off into the sunset into your next adventure. So we appreciate
the work that you have put in in maintaining these congenial uh solution focused uh bargaining endeavors and indeed um we will hope to all learn from you as much as we can in these sessions before you leave but thank you for your
service in this particular space. You will be getting lots more accolades as we carry on but I just want to take this moment to congratulate you on your service uh in the negotiation space for sure. Thank you. Thank thank you for your kind words and I have absolutely no doubt that you all will do very well without me. Perhaps it'll be an
improvement. I don't know. But you certainly will. Uh the the leadership on this board is extends to everyone on the board and the negotiating committee has a lot of experience already and and you guys will do a wonderful job once I exit the scene. So, thank you. >> Thank you for this mutually reinforcing
uh thing. We we set this up ahead of time, of course. >> Thank you so much for your update. Are there any other committees where I'm missing a kind of heads up? All right. Most of our committees will meet next week, either Monday or Tuesday. So stay tuned in December for our next set of
updates. Uh we don't have our student board member tonight. So I'm assuming no report has been sent uh at this time. Is there any old business from the board? Seeing none, any new business from the board?
All right. Good humans. At this time, I'd like to move to approve the October 28th minutes of the Matuchen Board of Education special business meetings one and two and the board meeting. Is there a second? Mr. Bot, are there any
questions or comments on the minutes? Seeing none, roll call, please. Mrs. Ellavich, >> Mr. Bot, >> yes. >> Miss Cheetum, >> yes. >> Mr. Derlinger, >> yes. >> Mr. Glasper, >> yes. >> Dr. Johnson Marcus, >> yes.
Mr. Lifton, >> I abstain. >> Miss Colleen, >> yes. >> Dr. Spner, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Thank you.
All right. At this time, the meeting is open to the public, but I I'm sad to report everybody went home. All right. At this time, we turn to the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. Oftentimes, it may appear to members of our audience that the board
of education takes action with very little comment and in many cases a unanimous vote. Before a matter is placed on the agenda at a public meeting, the administration has thoroughly reviewed the matter with the superintendent of schools. If the superintendent is satisfied that the matter is ready to be presented to the
board of education, it is then referred to the appropriate board committee. The members of the board committee work with administration and the superintendent to asssure that the members fully understand the matter. When the committee is satisfied with the matter, it is presented to the board of education for discussion before any
final action is taken. Only then is it placed on the agenda for action at a public meeting. At this time, I'd like to move personnel items A1 through A5. Is there a second? Mr. Derflinger, are there any questions or comments on
the personnel items? Seeing none, roll call, please. Mrs. Alio. >> Mr. Bot, >> yes. >> Miss Cheetum, >> yes. >> Mr. Deringer, >> yes. >> Mr. Glasper, >> yes. >> Dr. Johnson Marcus, >> yes. >> Miss Colleen, >> yes. >> Mr. Lifton, >> yes. >> Dr. Sper,
>> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you so much. At this time, in Mr. Suss's absence, I'll move the finance items B1 through B6. Is there a second? Ms. Gina, are there any questions or
comments on the finance items? Seeing none, roll call, please. Mrs. Ellovich, >> Mr. Bot, >> yes. >> Miss Cheetum, >> yes. >> Mr. Derfinger, >> yes. >> Mr. Glasber, >> yes. >> Dr. Johnson, >> yes. >> Miss Colleen, >> yes. >> Mr. Lifton, >> yes.
>> Dr. Sper, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Thank you so much. And turning right to you, Dr. Spner, for policy. >> Yes. Can I move items C1 through C3 as listed on the agenda, please? >> Thanks so much. Can I have a second, please, Miss Khen? Any questions or
comments on the policy items? Seeing none, roll call, please. >> Mr. Bot, >> yes. >> Miss Cheetum, >> yes. >> Mr. Derlinger, >> yes. >> Mr. Glasper, >> yes. >> Dr. Johnson Marcus, >> yes. >> Miss Colleen, >> yes. >> Mr. Lipton, >> yes.
>> Dr. Sper, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you, Mr. Derfinger. >> Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to move items D1 through 4 as listed on the agenda, please. >> Thank you so much. A second. Dr. Spner. Any questions or comments on these
curriculum items? All right. Seeing none, roll call, please. Mrs. Elovich. Mr. Bot. >> Yes. >> Miss Cheetum. >> Yes. >> Mr. Derflinger. >> Yes. >> Mr. Glassber. >> Yes. >> Dr. Johnson Marcus. >> Yes. Miss Colleen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lifton. >> Yes. >> Dr. Spner.
>> Yes. Motion carries. Wonderful. Thank you. Uh we are again open to the public, but given how quickly that just transpired, no one else has showed up. So we move at this time to announcements. Mrs. Jetum. Thank you, Madam President. I don't have too many updates today. Um out of Ed
school, just a reminder that well really all schools that report cards will be distributed Friday afternoon. Um conferences can go ahead and be start be scheduled on Friday as well. Um the last book fair went really well and they would like to extend a thank you to all our parent volunteers as always. Um and
then from there on we head to Moss. The next public PTO meeting is the 24th of November at 7 p.m. in the Moss Library. And then finally, just to close this out, our next board of ed meeting is Tuesday, December 16th at 8:00 p.m. >> Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you so much.
Um also, it's a half day next Wednesday. Yes. >> Yes. >> Early dismissal. >> Yes. Yes. Staff and students. >> Yes. Definitely want to make sure we remember that. All right. At this time, I'd like to move to adjourn the meeting. Is there a second? Mr. Lifton. All in
favor? Have a good night, everyone, and happy Thanksgiving.