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Okay, it is 607. We will call the meeting to order. We'll start with our flag. I'm so happy of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible

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and justice for all. Annette, can you please take the role? >> Mrs. Feny >> here. >> Mrs. Scheler >> here. >> Mrs. Bich >> here. >> Mr. K. >> Miss Decker. >> Mr. Nikolai >> here. >> Mr. Quinn

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>> here. >> Mrs. Reynolds >> here. Mr. Thornton >> here. >> Thank you. Now, I'd like to introduce our Spanish interpreter, Mrs. Suzanne Carter. >> Hi, everybody. The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of the

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public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meeting of the public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed and acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of the act, the board secretary has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place

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thereof posted in on the bulletin board located in the hallway outside of the administrative offices. A notice was provided to the Courier News, the Home News Tribune, and the Middle Sex Burough Cl. We are going to do our recognitions. Um, and we are going to start with a

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presentation of our championship rings to our high school bowling team. [applause] >> Good evening everyone. If I could first call up coach Bolan and the boys, uh, Reese Castone, Kenton Goodwin, Daniel, Dylano, Jimmy Dine, and Nick Wells.

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Please come on up. [applause] Today, we gather to celebrate a truly historic achievement, one that will forever be remembered in the story of our school. For the first time in school history, our boys bowling team has won the group one state championship. Think about what that means. Every team that

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came before you and helped build the foundation. Every season, every practice, every match contributed to this moment. But this year's team took that legacy and accomplished something that had never been done before. Championships are not won by chance. They're they're earned through countless

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hours of hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and perseverance. Long before the the crowds cheered and the trophies raised, these student athletes were putting in the effort, practicing after school, supporting one another, and striving to improve constantly. What

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makes this achievement even more special is the way the team represented our school. They competed with determination and displayed outstanding sportsmanship. We never they never stopped believing in one another. And when challenges arose, they responded with resilience. And when pressure was the highest, they rose to

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the occasion. The boys finished the season with only one loss which was to number one St. Joseph's of Matuchen. Uh along with the Central Jersey group one championship to group one state champion group one state championship. The boys also won the GMC white division and

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placed in the top four in the GMC and was ranked uh number 17 in New Jersey in the in the the most recent poll. This is a team with zero seniors. So we're looking forward to your hard work and continued success. Years from now,

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student youth students will look back on the record books and see that this was a team that made history. This was a team that brought home the first group one state championship. This was a pro a team that proved what can happen when talent and hard work and teamwork all come together. Congratulations to our

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boys bowling team. You've made your school proud. You've inspired future generations of athletes and secured your place in school history. Let's give one final round of applause to our group one CHAMPION STATE [applause] CHAMPIONSHIP. >> [applause] >> AND WE HAVE A LITTLE VIDEO HERE.

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>> [music] [music] >> HEY, HEY, HEY. >> [applause] >> Maybe they come up here in the front and we'll take a look at these rings. >> [cough] >> Face the crowd.

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Hold them up. [laughter] >> All right, guys. You ready? >> Put them on. Put them on. >> [applause] [applause] >> Get inside. Let's take a picture. Squeeze. Squeeze in a little. >> And everybody,

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two. >> [applause] >> Great job, boys. [applause] What? 15 minutes. Okay, we'll now move on to our staff retirements. Tonight, we are honored to recognize the following educators and support staff

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members who are retiring. The Middle Sex Board of Education extends heartfelt gratitude for their years of dedicated service. As they close this chapter and embark on new adventures, we wish them a long, happy, and healthy retirement. and have a great summer.

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>> See you next year, Miss Walsh. >> Oh, no. You >> [music] >> There you see. [music] >> [music] >> You know, [music] now

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[music] one We got no we got no [music] Oh son to you. [music] No, no,

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no. Teachers [music] [music] are I never [music] >> [applause] [applause] >> And now our retirees. When I call your name, please come to

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the podium to receive a little token of appreciation for your service here in Middle. First up, Tammy Bloom. [applause] >> Sorry. >> One, two, three.

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Andrea H. [applause] Maria Nemo. [applause] [clears throat] [applause] >> Come on down. CAROLYN MUGLIA [applause and cheering] and She already strip.

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[applause] [cheering] >> You're jealous. >> I am. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Do I get a hug, too? >> I heard you met my brother. >> Thank you very much.

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>> Anyone else? >> That's everyone. Yes. Thank you. >> Congratulations. Congratulations everyone and thank you for your dedicated years of service.

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Okay. Right. Um, now we'd like to recognize our student board representative. Whereas Mr. Kevin Ran served as the student board representative to the Middle Sex Burough Board of Education during the 2025 2026 school year. And whereas he faithfully represented the

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voice of the student body by reporting on student activities, achievements, and events throughout the district. And whereas his professionalism, leadership, dedication, and commitment to public service made him a valued member of the board of education. And whereas the Middle Sex Board of Education sincerely

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appreciates his contributions and service to the students, staff, and community during his tenure as student board representative. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Middle Sex Board of Education hereby recognizes and commends Mr. Kevin Rand for his outstanding service as student board representative

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and extends its gratitude, best wishes, and continued success in all of his future endeavors. Kevin couldn't be here tonight, but we've appreciated what everything that he's done this year. He gave great um reports and he always kept us entertained, so we were glad to have him.

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Okay, this time we will open the public comment portion of the meeting. In the interest of time, because we have board businesses to attend to, policy 0167, governing public comment session will be strictly followed moving forward. Please have your comments

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prepared before coming to the podium as each member of the public will be permitted to speak on two topics only and will not be permitted to speak more than twice during each public comment session. Be advised that a question constitutes a topic for purposes of these guidelines. Comments at this time are limited to

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agenda items only. Please come to the podiums and put your name, address, email address, and subject of your comment in the record book. Before speaking, please give your name, address, and subject of your comment. Submit Zanette Gordano, business administrator, board secret [cough and clears throat] director comments and questions to the

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board president. You may speak on two separate topics for up to three minutes each. Melissa Vac 6 Princeton Drive. Um, I have a question. And I don't know if my memory is betraying me, but I did watch the CO

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uh meeting once it was posted today. And I see that there is a memorandum of agreement with the uh administrators of the district. Now, I do believe when the teachers finally got theirs in September, it was read um allowed the

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years the percentages. I didn't see that happen last year. So, uh, last night. So, I was wondering if you could I I see the years go through 2030, but the percentages for the years

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um, and it said there was an attachment, but I didn't. There was no attachment for me to click at 3:00 this afternoon, 4:00 this afternoon. >> Do you know what number that is? >> Oh, I got it. I think I got it. approved.

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>> Yeah. So, it's until it's approved, it's in executive contract. Once it is approved, it will be available to the public. Okay. But I'm not >> Ours was read if I remember correctly. >> The whole contract? >> Not the whole contract. >> Just like we came to an agreement for year one teachers are getting, you know,

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3.05, 4.0, 4.0, 3.7, 3.7. >> Yeah, I don't remember that. But I I could be wrong, but I I don't remember that. But once this is approved, it'll be made available. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Um and then the other thing I just want to say is I

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noticed for appointments, there is an appointment replacing the supervisor of curriculum and instruction for gra prek through five. Um again, that's very disappointing, especially I'm sure once the percentages come out. Um these administrators didn't

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have to fight. Good for them. But they we see where their priorities are. And you guys had an opportunity to eliminate 125 almost yeah $125,000 plus salary and benefits from our budget from what the

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taxpayers pay. Um and you know that's not anything different than when we've had for all the years before the past two or three years there's been one person in that position. Um on top of

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prior to that we didn't even have any of the other um positions that went with that. The assistant, the HR, the you know I mean plus the amount of secretaries that went with it. I just you know it doesn't really look like

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anybody's trying to save anybody any money and that's frustrating. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, we'll now close this public comment portion of the meeting. We do not need to go into executive session.

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So, we'll move on to our announcements. I am first and I just want to say that I had the privilege and the joy of attending a bunch of end of the year um events. I went to the living museum at Moger, which is probably

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one of, if not my favorite event of the year. Um, I attended the senior awards banquet and the varsity awards and and all of those things are so wonderful. It's so good to see our students being recognized. Um, showing the living

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museum was uh it was great because those kids work they work really hard on that stuff. you know, you go in there um and you walk up to a kid who doesn't a student who doesn't know you and you know, you push their little button and they go through like a whole I don't know, it feel it feels like it could be

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five minutes long, but they've memorized it and they're, you know, they're there saying it to somebody that basically is a stranger to them. So, the confidence and the and the bravery it takes to do that, not to mention remembering everything that they they're saying. Um, and they do it over and over again

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because every person who comes up they say that thing. But it is it is one of my favorite events of the year. So if next year if you ever have if you have time I highly suggest that you attend because it is it's so wonderful. Um, senior awards and varsity awards obviously were um recognizing students

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for academic achievements, uh, athletic achievements, things like that. Also great events. Um, and I am going to try my best to attend the Husky Awards tomorrow, too. I do have a meeting at work, so I'm trying to get that moved. Um, but I really would like to attend

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that as well. Okay, and that's all that I have. So, we'll move on to our superintendent of schools, Dr. Robera Freeman. And in line with that, next week is just a week full of celebrations. I'm looking forward to the stepping ups, the graduations, and the moving on, the

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clapouts. And I just want to wish everyone a happy summer. Thank you. >> Thank you. Now, our business administrator, board secretary, Miss Annette Gordano. >> Hi, I had no announcements from the business office. I wanted to congratulate all of the retirees, but I

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think they're very quickly moving on. [laughter] >> But, um, it's exciting. The end of the year is coming up, graduation, and, um, everything everything is is nice. So that's all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you. And we'll move on to our

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leazison reports. We'll start with our Middle Sex Public Library Board of Education representative, Miss Aaron Gomez. >> Good evening, everyone. So recently, our preschool team, our Mrs. Collins, our preschool instructional coach, and Miss Singleton, our preschool social worker,

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held an event in conjunction with the public library called Fill Your Summer Bucket. They had parents come in to discuss engaging, practical early learning activities. that parents can use to support their children over the summer. So that way whether they're

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entering kindergarten or entering their four-year-old preschool year that they are, you know, ready to go and having fun. So it was a really rewarding day of learning, bonding, and just inspiring young learners. >> Thank you. And now our NJSBA county

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delegate and our legislative officer, Mrs. Sharon Schuler. >> Uh so the meeting that I had most recently was on Saturday. I had a county leadership meeting which they invited the um members of the legislative committee to also attend. It was virtual

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thankfully. Um we had some uh presentations and discussions about the fiscal cliff. We had um a representative from Brown and Brown. We had two um superintendent that um did speak um Dr.

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Adderall from West Windsor Plains and Dr. um Gonzalez from Westfield. Um uh it's scary to to look at what other districts

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are going through and what looms ahead with um health uh benefits, etc. Um and the other thing we talked um just a little bit about is NJSBA's new um civil initiative. So when I get a document

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that kind of highlights the um what happened at that meeting and the presentations. I will forward that on to everyone. Um and I believe school board sent out a email to everyone about the um

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incentive uh I'm losing my mind the civility initiative. So, um, we can obviously have that discussion. The only other item I wanted to discuss is we, um, I'll

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do that in, um, ongoing business. New business. Sorry. Okay. Thank you. And now our Middle Sex County SBA delegate and our Burrow Alliance liaison, Mr. Tom. >> Good evening. Uh, the

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Middle Sex County, we didn't we had meeting when we had our meeting. [clears throat] So, um there's no report on that. >> Burough alliance um I attended that on the 10th. Um they are looking into more grants. Um

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the main way of getting those grants is to have to be evidence based what they're working on. Uh there is a county meeting on the 25th to go over the grant commitments, what's available, and what the alliance can

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apply for. Also, I want to thank everybody who showed up at all the senior stuff, the parade, everything. It was great and looking forward to the uh graduation. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Thank you. And our burough council

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liazison, Mr. Jeremiah KS. >> Uh, thank you. There's nothing new to my knowledge. I know there's a few conversations going on. Um, but we're working on keeping that relationship healthy and getting things done for you all. Thank you. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Okay, we'll move on to approval of our

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board meeting minutes from last month. Superintendent recommends approval of item 0.71 as presented. So moved. >> Any questions, comments, concerns? Annette, can you please take the role? Mrs. Trent, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scheler, >> yes.

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>> Mrs. Bich, >> yes. >> Mr. K, >> yes. >> M. Decker, >> yes. >> Mr. Nicole, >> yes. >> Mr. [snorts] Quinn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Reynolds, [clears throat] >> yes. >> Mr. Thornton, >> yes. >> Thank you. Oftentimes, it may appear to members of our audience that the board

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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

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board of education, excuse me, it is then referred to the appropriate board committee. The members of the board committee work with the administration and the superintendent to ensure that the members fully understand the matter. When the committee is satisfied with the matter, it is presented to the board of education for

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discussion before any final action is taken. Only then is it placed on the on the agenda for action at a public meeting. Okay, we'll move on to our annual appointments and readoptions. Superintendent recommends approval of organizational motions, appointments,

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and readoptions items 0 I'm sorry, items 9.01 to 9.02 as presented. So move. >> Second. >> Any questions, comments, concerns? Okay, Annette, can you please take the role? >> Mrs. Yes,

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>> Mrs. Schuler. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Banch. >> Yes, >> Mr. KS. >> Um, no to 9.021. Yes to the rest. >> Miss Decker, >> yes. >> Mr. Nichol, >> yes. >> Mr. Quinn,

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>> no to 9.021. Yes. Uh, sorry. One. Yes. The rest. >> Mrs. Reynolds. >> Yes. Mr. Dorton. >> Yes. Okay, thank you. We'll move on to our personnel report by our committee chair,

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Mr. Nikolai. >> Thank you, Danielle. Superintendent recommends approval of personnel action items 11.1 through 11.13 as presented. So move >> second.

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>> Any questions, comments, concerns? >> I have just a comment here. I I understand that we need special education teachers, but why are we hired 70? That just seems outside of realistic. Thank you.

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>> Thank you. >> Okay. On that, can you please take the role? >> Mrs. Paren 11, right? Okay. 11.12 number eight. I'm going to recuse on Justin Marsh and Albero Silva Rohoth and

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yes to the rest. >> Mrs. Schuler, >> yes. >> Mrs. Banche, >> yes. >> Mr. K, >> abstain. Um I am saying no to 11:01 for the supervisor curriculum and

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instruction and yes to the rest. >> Mr. Nickel. >> Yes. >> Mr. Quinn. >> Um going to say no to 1101 for Hidleback Manolas and for Welsh. Yes to the rest.

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Mrs. Reynolds. >> Yes. Mr. Thornton. >> Uh 11:01. The last name Welch is no. Yes. The rest. Thank you. Okay. We'll move on to our education

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action items by our committee chair, Mrs. Reynolds. Good evening. Superintendent recommends approval of the acceptance of education items 13.01 through 13.16. So move.

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>> Second. >> That was me. >> Any questions, comments, concerns on education items. Okay. Annette, can you please take the role? >> Mrs. Paren. >> I'm okay. 13.13

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I'm going to refuse from Justin Marsh and myself. Yes to the rest. >> Mrs. Schuler. >> Um I am going to refuse for myself on 1313 and yes to the rest.

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>> Mrs. D going to refuse for 13.13 for myself. Yes to the rest. >> Mr. K. >> Same. Refuse myself from 1313. Yes to the rest. Mcker recus to the rest.

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>> Just yourself on 13. >> Just myself. >> Mr. Nicholas, >> recuse for myself on 1313 and yes to the rest. >> Mr. Quinn. >> Um, I'm going to vote no for myself because I asked for my name to be

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removed last night and yes to the rest. >> Mrs. Reynolds. I'm going to recuse Patricia Reynolds. Yes to the rest. >> Mr. Dorton, >> I'm going to recuse myself on 1313 and

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yes to the rest. >> Thank you. >> Quick question. I'm sorry. I wasn't here last night. If Mr. Quinn accused himself asked to remove, should we take ourselves? Should we take that into account and vote no on that removed or doesn't matter? Certainly didn't. It was

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hoped it would be amended. >> Why wasn't >> I thought you just save money. >> No, I said take me off. >> I did not know that. I was not aware of that. >> Okay. Yeah, you can change your you can change your vote if that if that's what

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you like to do. >> I'll change mine as well to know for Martin Quinn that >> makes it easier. >> Are we amending it to take Mr. Quinn out? >> It looks like if you just vote no. I think the issue I'm not sure but I think the issue is you just don't want to go.

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Correct. >> Yeah. So if everyone votes no, it's resolved. >> Okay. Okay. So you're no and you're 43. >> Why would anybody else want to pay for him if he doesn't want to go? I mean

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>> this is just >> everything on this motion is just in case. >> So we only pay if he actually went that I will refute >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay, we'll move on to our policy action items.

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Superintendent recommends the approval of policy action items for 14.01 to 14.04 as presented. So moved. >> Any questions, comments, concerns on policy action items. >> Okay. Annette, can you please take the role?

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>> Mrs. Cory. >> Yes. Oh, go ahead. >> Before we do, I just want to make sure uh [snorts] 16 point that we're talking about yesterday. >> 16. Okay. Um, so yes for me,

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>> Mrs. Schuler. >> Yes, >> Mrs. B. >> Yes, >> Mr. KS. >> Yes, >> Miss Decker. >> Yes, >> Mr. Nikolai. >> Yes, >> Mr. Quinn. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Reynolds. >> Yes,

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>> Mr. Thornton. >> Yes. Okay, thank you. We'll move on to our facilities and finance items by our committee chair, Mrs. Ray. >> Superintendent recommends approval of facilities and finance action items 16.01 through 16.40.

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So moved. Second. >> Any questions, comments, concerns on facilities and finance items. Okay. Annette, can you please take the role? >> Mrs. Par. Um, I'm going to refuse on check number 16.01, check number 040574.

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Yes to the rest. >> Mrs. Schuler, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ve, >> yes. >> Mr. KS, >> Mrs. Decker, >> yes. >> Mr. Nicollay, >> yes. >> Mr. Quinn, >> yes.

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>> Mrs. Reynolds, >> yes. >> Mr. Jordan. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Um, so for ongoing business, we do have the um public comment questions and answers linked on the agenda from last. Um, and Sharon, I

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think you said you had something. Um, so I don't know if it's ongoing or new, but I'll just throw it in. We did um complete the CSA evaluation. Um, we had a meeting last night, but for the next um thing that I believe we should work

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on as a board is the self evaluation that is something that all board members are eligible to participate in. There's no issue with any conflicts um and we can get that link out to everyone and then I think Danielle I think you have

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to open it first and then we can all get into it and if we can complete that by the maybe the first week of July we can get it compiled so that we'll have it for our board retreat in our July meeting. So look for that email. Thank you.

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>> Thank you. Okay, we're going to open the second public comment portion of the meeting. As mentioned earlier, in the interest of time, policy 0167 governing public comment sessions will be strictly followed moving forward. Please have your

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comments prepared before coming to the podium as each member of the public will be permitted to speak on two topics only and will not be permitted to speak more than twice during each public comment session. Be advised that a question constitutes a topic for purposes of these guidelines. Comments at this time

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can be on any topic. Please come to the podium and put your name, address, email address, and subject of your comment into the record book. Before speaking, please give your name, address, and subject of your comment to Miss Annette Gordano, business administrator, board secretary. Direct your comments and questions to the board president. You

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may speak on two separate topics for up to three minutes each. Sorry, I was just looking at the ongoing business. Um, there wasn't a link to that today around like late afternoon, just so you know. So, I don't know. >> I did look at it this afternoon. I'm not

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[snorts] sure what time, but I Okay, we will. >> Um, so I was just just reviewing that. Um, and it's actually helpful for one of my issues. Um, sorry, Melissa ZAC, 6 Princeton Drive.

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Um, I didn't say this during the agenda item. Um, but to piggyback on what the one board member said, again, someone is being hired at the top of the guide, uh, clearly experienced. I do understand

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that a preschool disabled teacher is not the easiest teacher and certifications to find. Um but it seems based on last month uh with the $100,000 physical education teacher and this we are

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prioritizing experience in the classroom. Um as someone who speaking of moving up ceremonies has a student going into Woodland where there are still two jobs posted for Woodland Elementary School. I would hope that since the

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trend of the board seems to be to hire people with experience um that that's what we get for those two Woodland positions. People with classroom experience that you're talking about tested areas, okay? Not physical education, um not preschool disabled, you're

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talking about things that affect our test scores. So, I would hope that the board would prioritize teachers with classroom experience um for those two positions. Um my second statement, of course, hold

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your breath, right? Uh I can't go on without my lies of Hazlewood segment, right? So this month, um, as you can see on the ongoing business, uh, Hazwood Elementary School has 51 students in the

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third grade. Uh, for the Hazlewood moving up ceremony, we were given three tickets. Uh, last year, uh, they were given four tickets. So when parents reached out, myself included, um, the emails are now coming

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out. I was not lucky enough to get a response even though I sent an email and a follow-up. So, this should be fun having a kindergartenner going in. Um, it was said that um due to Sorry, I don't want to get this incorrect.

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Due to the increase in students this year, um they can only give three tickets. Student capacity and the increased number of students participating. Um

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seemed kind of off because the grades are pretty cohesive. Uh last year there were 49 third graders and they were given four tickets. This year there are 51 and we are only being given three tickets. And when requesting another ticket, we are

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being told that it's due to capacity and increased number of students. Two students makes that much of a difference that every single person needs to lose a ticket. And frankly, it's insulting to blended families who have four parents

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to make their child choose between actual parents. Okay. Yes, I understand. Maybe some siblings can't come. Yes. Okay. But it's insensitive to the reality of what a lot of families look

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like now. Um, and again, it's a lie. The excuse given to the parents is a lie. Okay? Two students doesn't make that much of a difference. If it does, we have more issues. And we

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know we have more issues. We know we have security issues there. So, what's the reality? The reality is probably it's going to be a lot more work to check in four people for 51 kids than it is to check in three. And because we are not efficient at our job and it takes multiple people to help, now our

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children are once again suffering due to the inefficiency of leadership in that school. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we'll now close the public comment portion of the meeting. And now we are going to move on to our

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>> Oh yeah, we'll move on to a presentation um by New Jersey school boards. Should we move over Good evening everybody. And I did put one over there. How are you all doing tonight?

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>> Good. How are you? >> It's a great time of year. celebrations, right? >> Yeah. >> Going to graduation. >> 500 p.m. football. Enjoy. [laughter] >> Hopefully cooler than

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>> Wednesday. I'll actually be flying, >> but otherwise >> we can get a link. [laughter] I thought it trunk [laughter] everybody to watch How's it? Stay

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outside. >> [laughter] >> Have a great evening. I usually have this [laughter] >> ready when you log in. >> Oh yeah. >> Hence the So hi everybody. I wish I could have watched the next

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game. >> It's being used. [laughter] >> You all were here watching. >> So, my for those of you aren't [clears throat] familiar with me, my name is Maryanne. I'm a senior field service board and um I've had Middle Sex

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County for quite a while with break in between of about two years and now I've been back since 200 22 I think for 23. But it's a pleasure to be here tonight to talk to you about roles and responsibilities.

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So we're going to talk about what your board member roles and responsibilities are and how to ensure effective meeting. So really this is all everything that you do as a board member is really all about relationships, right? It's about relationships with each other. It's about relationship superintendent and

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business administrator. It's about relationships with your and your students, all of it. It's about collaboration as well, but mostly it's about your students and then building trust. And that's not easy to do. We know that it takes a long time to build

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trust sometimes. And once it's been ignored, then it takes an even longer time to rebuild it. But communication really is the key to this, being fair, consistent, and reliable. And we always talk about being fair and consistent because that's why you have policies, so

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that you are able to consistent throughout and not taking each individual situation and looking at it differently with maybe different people. Also to show empathy and understanding to one another. You have several new board members on this year. And so

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whenever we have new board members on coming on to the board, we always suggest that you show each other some grace and some grace as everybody is getting to know one another and building that collaborative relationship. So how do we know

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what effective board teams are. We know that they have a shared mission and vision for their district and they refer to them constantly for guidance. We know that they work together to maintain a climate of trust and openness. That they understand their roles and responsibilities. That the communication

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that they offer is honest, equal, and timely. The diversity of thought is valued and considered a benefit and an asset, not a liability. Years ago, we used to think that diversity was a liability. Hopefully, not feeling that way anymore. And then that all board

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members stay focused on what's in the best interest of all the students regardless of whether your student is involved or whether your neighbor's kids or your grandkids or nieces or nephew nephews all the children in Middle Culated

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that every single thing that a board does at the board table has to indicate that they are focused on student achievement and on students first. So your viewpoint really is from the balcony. Okay? When you're a community member, when you're a parent, you're at

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the floor level and you're maneuvering around and things like that. When you're a board member, you're at a balcony. And that means that you're looking down on all of Middle Sex to see how things are going and if the students are learning and being taught. And so that really is

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your board role. Your role is not to micromanage the It's not to try and take the job of somebody else and do that work for them. It's making sure that you know that you've hired your superintendent to operate the district on a day-to-day basis. And that

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superintendent is responsible for all of that. So micromanaging really has to do with all of these things. It's trying to control every part no matter how small of an enterprise or activities. So often times micromanagement means requiring approval before action is taken, an

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obsession with constant updates, unwilling to let the individual do their job. And you have a lot of paid individuals in the district as any district does to be able to support student learning, be able to support the staff who support student learning and provide guidance and things like that.

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So that is their job. That is not yours. If somebody's obsessed with details minor and major within a project or an effort, if they don't believe the ability of the individuals is to do their job, that often all can lead to mistrust. So the four functions of a board of

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education are provide guidance through policy. That's your policy um function. Provide for a program of quality instruction for all students to advance student achievement. That's your planning function. provide for the effective management of the district by employing and evaluating the chief

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school administrator. That's your appraisal section, which you've all just gone through all of that with the superintendent evaluation and provide for two-way communication. This doesn't mean though that the individual board member is going out and reporting on everything on social media or blasting

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things, you know, throughout um the community. It means that as a board you are ensuring that communication is being provided to the public through the district. Okay? You always want the people that are calling you and asking

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you is you know talking to you about issues or asking questions. You want them to be able to refer to the board to the district website because that's the place that they should be able to receive timely and important information. >> Now this happened Oh jeez.

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>> But you know what's really funny about this? I have to tell you about a month ago I gave this presentation and it was the first time. Now I remember this from when I was a kid. Okay. >> But it had never popped up before and

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all of a sudden it popped up the >> You got me on that one. >> And I was surprised that it actually came up. >> There are a lot of people who probably before my time. >> So the New Jersey Constitution gives power to the legislators. Okay? The

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legislators give power to the state board of education. The state board staff, the department of education, all carry out the mandates of the higher bodies. And then within the laws and regulations, school boards have ability to develop their own policies that cover

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issues that are relevant to their district. So within that, you must demonstrate that every policy and action that you take again is what's best for the um for all students in education. Listen to the community and public input and take what they say into

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consideration. And then you are state officials who are bound empowered by state law to govern govern your local public schools. Only when you're here at a legally advertised meeting with the quir of board. So the board and the superintendent

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roles. The board and the superintendent hopefully develop the vision, mission, goals, and policy together. And then the superintendent provides develops the objectives for the goals, the procedures, the action plans, and the regulations for the policies. So, it's a

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give and take. And I've often said that you can't exist without each other. The superintendent is the one who has to make all the recommendations. And I couldn't hear everything, but when I was sitting over there, every motion that was made was at the recommendation of the superintendent. And that's the way

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it's supposed to be. Okay. But then the board to approve it because if the board doesn't approve the recommendations of the superintendent, nothing happens. But the superintendent can't recommend and then approve things. So you really do need each other. So developing that

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relationship and that collaboration to be able to work with one another is really key. So then the board can decide, we've often talked about this too with goal setting. The board decides what they would like to see happen in in the upcoming year. You're doing a strategic plan right now. So your

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involved in that also determining what they would like to see happen in the next three to five years. And then the superintendent and the administrative team are going to determine how they're going to get you there. They are the how people and you are the what people. So the superintendent will recommend, the

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board will vote, the superintendent will implement those those action items, and the board gets to evaluate the superintendent on an annual basis. So, just a quick quiz. Is this a board responsibility? Now, I do realize because I didn't for a while that since

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I gave you a package, >> we have the answers. >> You have all the answers. And there was one night when I didn't realize that all the answers were there and I'm thinking, man, this is on fire. They know exactly what they're doing. So, is it your

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responsibility to want the district to offer more steam opportunities for students? >> Yes. [snorts] Good answer. >> Is it the board's responsibility to want the district to offer more extracurricular options for students?

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Yes. Want a specific course to be added to the course offerings? No. Want a new policy limiting cell phone usage? Yes. Want to select the class chips each grade attends? No. Want to select a book

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to be used within the English curriculum? >> No. And want to remove a coach because of a poor record and reported interactions with parents. Okay. So, as policy makers, you're going to provide those policies that give the

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superintendent and the administrative team direction on what to do in certain circumstances. You need to make sure that they are um policies that that are um abiding by law, statute, and code. And um you also want to make sure

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sometimes I see see a lot of boards are approving policies that have been sent to them, but there are lots of blanks that haven't been filled in. So, you have to understand that when you get a policy that's new for adoption or revision, you need to go through that

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policy to see if there are any blanks because those blanks tell you, you designate who's going to take that action. It's usually that something needs to be done and you need to identify. It's usually going to be the superintendent, but not necessarily And then your bylaws

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are policies for yourselves. They're how you govern, how you are supposed to be active, what your responsibilities are. Again, all of those kinds of things. How you get items onto the agenda, those things. Your visionaries and your goal setters. You really do set a program for

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quality instruction. And part of the way you do that is through policies and approving your curriculum. Okay? You want to make sure also that your staff gets professional development. And the biggest issue that I is that they make sure that their superintendent, their administrators, and their staff get

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professional development, but they don't ever get develop professional development for themselves. So, you need to have that as well. And part of that can come through me coming in and providing training for you. When a board works together and learns together on different topics, it enables

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them to be more collaborative and to know each other better. And then you're holding administration accountable for the achievement of students and goals. Providing two-way Okay, again this is not you all going out and going onto social media and saying this is what we did tonight or

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this is what we should have done tonight or this is what I wish we had done tonight. Um your responsibility is to make sure that the district is providing that communication both outward to your community and your stakeholders and able to receive that information back. So the

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superintendent's role really is the chief advisor to the board. They're going to make sure that you have background information on emotions that they recommend that you approve and they're going to provide you with briefings on things that are going on in currently in the world of education and

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provide that information to you as well and then they'll evaluate and really assess the policies and because they implement the policies. Okay. The executive officer as I said administers those policies runs the school district also provides progress updates on the

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goals. So hopefully you'll develop district goals and board goals over the summer. I think that's every year and then you'll ask for policy. You'll ask for goal updates through the course of the year. We like to recommend four times a year if you do the developing

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the policy goals, district goals and board goals over the summer. November is a good time to get your first update. Then January is a good time to get your second update. You may have new people joining the board who may not be aware that you have district and board goals. So that gives them the opportunity to

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see what they are and what's been worked on so far. and then March because that's getting ready to do your superintendent evaluation. So the superintendent wants you to know exactly where they are in terms of the district goals and you need to know where they are so you can sit

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down and be an informed evaluator and then they um and then June as a followup and to end the year as an update on what all we accomplished this year and see if anything then needs to be carried over. Your superintendent is also your

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educational leader. in lots of different professional organizations. They provide information on current ideas in education and they can also um bring ideas to the board and to the attention of the community that they think from getting that professional development

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might be beneficial to your district. So really another way to look at this is really a recipe and for success there has to be a good relationship between the board and the superintendent. The board trusts the superintendent. The superintendent gives um loyalty and their best advice. The board respects

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the professional training and expertise of the superintendent. Remember, they have the educational background, the experience, and the certificates to be able to sit in that job and be able to run your district. And then the superintendent provides competent management of the schools. The board has

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confidence in the superintendent's ability to do that. And the superintendencies that the board's policies are implemented. So working together to advance student achievement. The board is the governing body and community relationship and the

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superintendent is chief administrative officer and the educational leader. So ensuring effective meetings trying to make this work. No surprises at board meetings. Okay. When do you get your packet for a Tuesday night? Well, you have a work session on Monday night and

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then a >> we're normally Tuesday, Wednesday. >> Tuesday, Wednesday. So when do you usually get your packet? >> Saturday. >> Saturday. have a couple of days to really look through that and looking through that gives you the opportunity to see what's in there. If there's anything that you think you might have a

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question on and to be able to then Monday morning um give the superintendent a call, give the chairperson a call of the committee if it's a committee situation that you have a question and try and get those questions asked. They may not be able to

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be answered to you until the board meeting, but you get the question. Chances are some if one person has a question, somebody else does as well. But having that no surprises from the superintendent to the to the board or the board to the superintendent can really make things work much much more

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cohesively. So you want to make sure you're studying the agenda, making sure that you're taking a look at things. Use your 12 month planning calendar. Um refer all your questions, try and get those asked so that you can get those answered at the board and then have those surprise

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free meetings. The Only thing that should be a surprise is if you found out about it an hour before you walked into the room or if the superintendent found out about it an hour before you walked into the room. Okay. Give the responsible party time to prepare an

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answer. Again, superintendent or your chairperson may have to look for information on that. They may not have that information completely available. You also want to avoid embarrassment and not try and have somebody unprepared. That doesn't make anybody look It may

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feel momentarily satisfying to make somebody else not look good, but in the end, your public is saying, "Do these people not ever talk to one another? Do they not have a good relationship when they can get these questions asked and answered?" So, you want to avoid embarrassment. And then confidentiality.

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Always what happens in executive session has to stay in executive session. Not playing to the audience. Um, you don't represent a particular area. you represent all of the students in your district. So really any alliances that you may have had before you ran for the

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board really shouldn't be the things that you're focused on as a board member. It should be all students. You want to make sure that you're reasonably informed about votes so that when you get to the board table and the motion is made and seconded that you are ready to

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vote on that item and that you have the information that you needed to be able to participate. If you have conflicts of interest and I Some of you do a board member who has a family member, immediate family member, or relative who works in the district. You probably can't participate in a number of

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different things. Make sure you know what those issu what those individual areas are. It usually has to do with negotiations and it usually has to do with the superintendent um or personnel. Anybody in the chain the chain of supervision above your family member or

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relative, you wouldn't be able to participate in those personnel decisions. And we always want you to check with your board attorney regarding those conflicts. The superintendent in terms of meetings shouldn't have to repeat everything that's been said already. If there's information that's

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been in the packet, they shouldn't have to read everything that's in there. They should be able to trust that you are going to review that packet and have information about what's in the packet when you come to the meeting. And they should also have the necessary staff here to um provide information if

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needed. superintendent. I have a lot of superintendent who actually when they get those phone calls or when they get those emails on Monday morning write down the questions and prepare the answers and then when they come to the board table once that motion is is set

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in motion. There's a first and second and there's discussion. They can then talk about there were some questions about this particular motion and these are the questions and these are the answers. Um and they should be prepared to able to answer a lot of those

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questions also. And the superintendent really is accountable to the board for following through with all of their actions once they're voted on. And reports on progress should be available as well. >> Okay. So, an item is going to appear on the screen. Let me know if it's a board

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responsibility or superintendent responsibility. And I know you have the cheat sheet. I was going to say that's what I was need. After 16 years of doing this and nine years prior to that as a board member, I think

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I have a few of these handled. Approving the the strategic plan is the board's responsibility. Overseeing the instructional programs is the superintendent. Approving curricular materials is the boards. Recommending and implementing policy is the superintendent. Overseeing district leadership is the

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superintendent. Administering the contracts as the superintendent. Establishing and adopting policy. That's the board. and then evaluating your superintendent, that's the board as well. So really staying in your lane is really really important. Okay? And part

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of I part of my job I believe is to help board members not get into trouble. And so sometimes that's easy and sometimes that's not so easy. But you want to make sure that you understand that you have no legal status as a board member unless you're sitting at the board at a legally

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advertised meeting with the board. So it has to be those different um those three different things sitting in a quorum with a quorum of the board legally constituted meeting and um yes so the

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role of board member as individual board members cannot make decisions for the board take action for the board or speak for the board unless the board has said that they can do that so a board would literally have to approve something for one of you to be other than the board

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president who is the spokesperson for the to be able to go out and speak to the board. Okay. The superintendent is the person who is the spokesperson for the district. You're also not to direct any staff member or administrator or direct the superintendent. The board at

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the board table can make a motion to ask the superintendent the superintendent to do something. And if that's passed, then you have provided that direction to the superintendent as a board, as an entity, not as indiv.

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Okay, that's really important. Your essential skill is being able to count to five board of nine. You need five people to be able to do anything. So if you have an idea or you know something that you want to present, you need four other people to be able to go

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along with that because that's your majority. You only have power when you act with a majority of the board. The real power really goes finding common ground and being able to come to consensus. It is your voice is recorded as a majority or

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a minority, but you really do want to try and find common ground with the whole community. Common ground can really only emerge when all voices are are heard and are recognized and are appreciated and respected. And then of running shot over the minority of the

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board, you may find yourself in the minority at some point. In the nine years that I was on on the board, I found myself in the minority about five or six times. away from that nine years on the board. Um, but it did sink. I will tell you it

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did absolutely sink. It didn't feel good. Um, but all of your votes are done in public. So, if somebody calls you and says, "Why did you vote a certain way?" You can say, "I did vote no for something because that's what I believe

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to be true to me, to my conscience. However, I respect the majority opinion of the board." Because if you can't as board members respect the majority opinion of the board, you can't ask anybody in the public to including your staff, your students, um teachers,

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administrators, whatever your community members, you need to be able to respect that majority opinion. Okay? Otherwise, when it comes to your time to be in each party, somebody else won't respect that as well. The code of ethics, um there are 10

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tenants of the code of ethics and I know that we did that back in January or February. Um, so you have that information already. This is really important. This lets you know what the SEC, the school ethics commission says

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you should be doing and can be doing. And variations of this can get you into trouble. And that's what I don't want to see anybody getting into trouble on any of the boards that I work with. you in terms of communicating with your community. You are representatives of

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the local community. People are going to come to you and they're going to ask you to try and take care of something for them. You need to be able to refer them to the chain of command or the chain of resolution. You need to be able to let them know who those folks are that they need to go through before you get up to

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the superintendent or to the board. You are the court of last resort. So, you need to make sure that you're not taking action in any way at the beginning. issue because if it does come to the board, you would have to recuse yourself because you've already been involved.

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And then you're the school's ambassadors to the community as well. So in terms of communicating with the community and the staff, you again, you should not be communicating directly with the staff um or contacting them.

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Okay? If you have something that you need to do as a parent, you want to let the teacher know that you're contacting them as the parent of your child. Okay. Um, you should not be surveying staff, doing any kind of surveys or any kind of quick little polls with staff. Um,

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community members and staff with issues, you need to redirect them to the chain of command. The staff has a chain of command. It's outlined in your negotiated agreement and they have a grievance procedure that they can go through and um, community members, you should know who they should be able to

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contact. And I think you have a chain chain of command on your website, right? on the website. >> We have Yes. >> for community members >> for a resolution. >> Yeah. Okay. And then um visits to the building should only go through the

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superintendent approval. So you have a couple of elementary schools. If you have a new board member, their kids have only gone through one elementary school and they want to see some of the other ones. You need to ask the superintendent if you could have if she could set up a tour for you through the building. And

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that's going to a quick tour, probably not more than a half an hour, and it would you would be guided by either the vice principal or the assistant principal or the principal through the building. It's not to interfere with instruction. So, you have to be really careful about those things as well. But that's through the superintendent's

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approval. So, active listening, you want to be able to listen to all of your your public who come to the podium for public comments. Listen to them. Take into consideration what they have to say. You may not be able to do whatever it is that want you to do, but you need to

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listen and you need to understand exactly what they're trying to to say. And of course, all of those pieces are a part of active listening. Active listening is not listening to make a response. It's listening to understand what somebody else is saying.

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>> Okay? So, if you have children in the school, how can you talk to their teachers now that you're on board? >> Right? So, you would be able to as the parent and say I'm here as of my child. Okay. Is it okay to visit the schools?

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Not without the superintendent's approval and arranging that for you. Okay. Because you don't want you're really considered me. If you were to come to one of your schools and just go up to the, you know, to the front desk and say, "I'd like to walk around the

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school." Your schools wouldn't let me do that. And they shouldn't let you do that either. Okay. Sometimes they want to because if they know you're a board member, they don't want to upset you and so they might let you do that. But that's where the superintendent comes in to really advise

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the staff front office staff and everybody else that board members if they're coming to the to the office, if they're picking up a sick child, that's one thing. If they're bringing lunch, dropping off lunch, something like that, that's one thing. But if they're there to just walk around the schools, they

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need to contact the superintendent. Okay? And How do you respond to parents calling or emailing about um district staff or other concerns? We already talked about that. That's okay. So, your job is not to run the schools,

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but to see if they're well run. When an upset parent or staff member approaches, don't try to solve the problem. I know that you're all people who care deeply about your community, about your students, and your staff here. And your first inclination is always to try and be helpful. as a board member that will

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get you into trouble. You need to redirect them so that they can try and get the answers themselves. And usually when you direct them to the lowest level of the chain, so a parent calls you without a teacher, you want to let them know that they need to talk to the teacher because that's where that

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situation is going to be resolved mostly. And then if it's not, if they don't get it resolved through the teacher, they don't feel it's resolved, they can go to an assistant principal, vice principal, principal an assistant superintendent or to one of your supervisors and then up to the

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superintendent. Usually if something's getting to the superintendent level, the superintendent is going to let the board know. There's something that may be coming up to the board. It may be coming up to me. It hasn't yet. I hope to be able to resolve it. But if the person doesn't feel it's resolved, then it will

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come to the board just to give you a heads up. >> Okay? And then if it does come to the board, you would take everything into consideration and would act with one vote. So again the communication superintendent spokesperson for the

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district board president spokesperson for the board. No one use your communication protocols. I believe in your packet you have a staple piece on the left hand side that says board superintendent communications. I do recommend that you try it maybe at a

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retreat over the summer. take some time to go through that. That would be deter those um answers would be determined by a majority of the board. But then at least you know what things you're supposed to do and and the superintendent knows how best to reach

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you. Okay? Emiled information that comes out from the board president or the superintendent or the VA should be one way information only. Okay? You don't want to be responding. You never reply to all. And if you have an issue, you can call the person and never ever reply

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to all. So use your district email address. Do you all have a district address? >> Okay. The Supreme Court just um ruled that if you use if you use a personal if you have your

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district email address, districts that go any are related to board business. I'm sorry, this is really bad. I'm not feeling very articulate. Any business relating to the board that goes to your board email address, your

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district email address, if you forward that to a personal email address and those are over requested, you will have to turn over your personal emails to your board attorney and then they will need to go through those. That will cost a lot of money and it's just it's not

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worth it. Who wants somebody else going through their personal emails? Um, so you want to make that you're using the district email account. And then be very careful when you're posting to social media. The SEC strongly recommends not having a board member social media

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account. Okay? Nothing that identifies that you're a board member. You can have a personal um social media account. Just don't talk about board business on it. Okay? Safest way to do things. They recommend that if you use a social media account during campaigning that you

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suspend that once you become sworn on the board because people may not realize that you're not speaking for the SEC has to go by when they look at anything they ask themselves would the average person in in any community be able to think

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that you were speaking for the board and if they think if the SEC says yes they would be able to determine that that you were speaking for even if you felt you weren't, that's when you get okay. You don't want to belong to any private groups on social media. We have lots of people who belong

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to private groups. Um, be careful about that because you never know who else is on those private groups and we had a situation a number of years ago where a superintendent um relayed information to somebody else on a private group.

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Somebody from the private group put that information out on a public post and it was very bad for the superintendent. Very, very bad. Okay. They didn't know that that was going to happen. They thought they were confiding in this person and that still happened. If you

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use the disclaimer, but the SEC feels in any way, shape or form that the content of what you're posting could indicate to somebody in your community that you are speaking to the board, that's going to be a problem. and you will um so despite the disclaimer you may be found to be in

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violation. This is the SEC recommended disclaimer. Following statements are made in my capacity as a private citizen and not in my capacity as a board member. These statements are also not representative of the board or its individual members and solely represent my own personal

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opinions. So they did note that even if the disclaimer proper disclaimer is used, the substance of the post can actually disqualify the disclaimer. Back aund years ago when I was on my board, we had um a board member, we had

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April elections, we voted on budgets. That's how long ago that was. I got off of the board just before November election. Um but one of our board members wrote a letter to the editor included the disclaimer. Okay. But if you send a letter to the

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editor, they can consolidate your your letter. They can take out any piece that they want to. They took out that piece, but they left their name and they were a board member on the local board. You know, it was awful. It was

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absolutely awful. She was very um opinionated about saying people don't care for the, you know, for the schools. They don't care for the district. They for the students because they wouldn't come out to vote on the budget because then you did vote on the budget and it was it was really a mess. So really be

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careful and if you send something if you're sending something to you know editor whatever um editor's letter be very very careful. So every policy the board approves every action that you take has to be based on

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what's in the best interest of education for all of the students in the school district. So, how many board members does it take to change a light bulb for the schools? >> None. >> Oh, it's a trick question. >> It's a trick question. It's not a joke,

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but it's a trick question. It doesn't take any because the superintendent would make those determinations. Okay. And I can also go back to my time on the board. We had a new we had a renovation of our library and we were having one of

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our schools and we were having in that library and a number of board members said you know the lighting so we want new lighting for the for this media center it was all brand new so superintendent said okay I'll I'll figure out you know I'll talk to some

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lighting experts and I'll figure out what's the best thing well three board members decided that they wanted to be able to do that so they went out and they and the superintendent wasn't going to fight with them so okay they went out made a recommendation to the

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superintendent. The superintendent approved it because this is what the board wanted and it was terrible lighting. So then the superintendent had to recommend new lighting. So it cost us three times as much for good lighting as it would have cost us one time. So be

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very careful with that. What questions might you have? Okay, I thank you so much for all that you do for your students, your staff, and your community. And um I hope you all have a great next week with graduation and all the festivities. I hope you have a great summer. If I don't

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get to talk to any of you and otherwise hopefully we'll see you again. >> Thank you very much. Thanks for bringing those chairs.