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Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=dXdh6kk6iFM

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Okay. 603. We'll call the meeting to order. We'll start with our flag salute. >> To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nation indivisible with liberty and justice for

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all. And that can take the >> Mrs. Feny >> here. >> Mrs. Scheler >> here. >> Mrs. Bish >> here. >> Mr. K >> here. >> Miss Decker. >> Mr. Nichol >> here. >> Mr. Quinn >> here.

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>> Mrs. Reynolds >> here. >> Mr. Thornton >> here. >> The New Jersey open public meet. Okay. Start over. The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend

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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 thereof posted on the bulletin board located in the hallway outside of the

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administrative offices. and notice was provided to the Courier News, the Home News Tribune, and the Middle Sex Burough Clerk. We will now open the public comment portion of the meeting. >> Just in the interest of time and because we have board business to attend to, policy

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0167 governing public comment sessions will be strictly followed moving forward. Please have your 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

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constitutes a topic for purposes of these guidelines. Comments can be on any topic. Please come to the podium and 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 Anette Gordano, business

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administrator, board secretary. Direct your comments and questions to the board president. You may speak on two separate topics for up to three minutes each. I have one question. Does it have to be on agenda items? >> No. No. This is um any topic.

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>> Okay. So, can I talk about the agenda for tomorrow? >> Okay. Um my first question is who here is on um is on like the personel committee

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or on agreeing with who we should hire and here the question I have is onel who's on that >> anybody on the personnel want to raise your hand

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>> is it a secret No. Oh, okay. >> I just I don't >> Oh, >> I didn't know how to rattle them all. >> Okay. Okay. So, we have Todd and Okay. Todd and Sharon. Okay. >> So, again, probably know why I'm up here because I'm looking at a fourth grade

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teacher that we're bringing in on step 18 for $13,000 a year. I did a little bit of background because that's what I try and do before I stand up here and I couldn't her salary for 2026, but for

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2025 it was 78,000. So, and we're bringing her in at 103,000. Uh, fourth grade teacher, so no specialty. I saw her video she had

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out there. She [clears throat] looks very enthusiastic. Would be nice to have somebody like that in Morg school. Um, And I feel bad because I'm saying this because she's probably a lovely teacher. I just have a hard time with bringing in

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new teachers, paying them this extraordinary salary. I've said it over and over again, but evidently nobody else cares but me. So that's one. My second one is,

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do we have any information on the lunch readers? because I asked back in March. >> Was that on that was on the um the answer I believe was on the ongoing business on the um agenda for you asked

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in April or March. It would be on the next month >> in March. Yeah. And and you gave me the total. >> Yeah. >> That was for March. >> Yes. >> So what I'm curious to know is like >> okay, we knew how much it was. What what maybe what is it now? And has

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anything been done to circumvent this? >> Okay, we can get you that information. >> Okay, >> and that's it. >> Thank you for today. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Good evening everybody.

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Um, I kind of agree with um what Lisa is saying because I thought that with the um at the budget hearings we had talked about trying to bring in teachers so

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that we could have some retention to help with the budget problem. Um, I don't see where that's happening. And I'm wondering if you know yet for this upcoming school year. You said you had

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no intentions of cutting administration, but that you might cut staff. Do you know what positions you're going to eliminate for next year? >> Um, yeah. I I >> So, the budget presentation was said

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that We are not cutting staff. So that there may be positions that were not filled that may not get filled, but we weren't cutting >> employees now. >> I mean, if you're not going to fill staff, then what are you going to do?

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because you're not filling staff, which means you're not replacing. >> No, I said they they might not if they're if they were open and we found that maybe necessarily it didn't I shouldn't say need to be filled because they all need to be filled, but that was

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a way to so there were there were some positions such as classroom aids that were in the budget for a really long time and they were not filled. So what we did was we repurposed those positions, moving TAs, collapsing those

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and taking TAs that we currently have and placing them out of the gen ed into special education, >> right? You eliminated the TAs that were in kindergarten. >> They weren't they were eliminated in kindergarten, but they continue to work

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in district and special education. >> Okay. So, so people per persons were not let go is what >> right you have. Okay. So, how many positions are open currently for next year?

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>> I think it was >> I I have it. >> Yes, she has. I believe it was You said 17. >> I think it was 17. >> But I want to break it down to be very clear what it is >> of what it is because it's not 17 teaching positions. Some are nine of

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them. I believe are leave replacements. >> So, I just want to be >> if you just give me one second to pull that up. Currently, there are two high school positions, three middle school positions, one elementary position

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position, two districtwide behavioral support positions, and nine lead replacements. And those are longterm. >> A lot of them are >> replacement. Yes. >> Okay.

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>> Okay. And um the update for class three, do you think they'll be in place by September? >> So we have an update if you want me to share it now. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. >> So I spoke to chief guys yesterday. He has made offers all three positions and

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he's waiting to see if the offers will be accepted. Two offers were going out today and one is going out on Thursday. >> Okay. >> That's the goal. >> Accept our offer. >> Exactly.

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>> They have to accept the offer >> from And if they don't, then it's back to the drawing board. He would have to post the position again. So >> yeah, I know there's a lot of positions out there other >> costies.

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Fingers crossed. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We will now close the public comment portion of the meeting. >> We'll move on to our presentation of our 2026 to 2031 [clears throat] district.

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Tonight we have members of our steering committee that are here to present our strategic plan. As you know, we went into strategic planning for the second half of the school year. This is something we've been working on from January to present and will continue to work on, but we have members that are

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with us tonight and they are going to do the presenting of the strategic plan, what our meetings look like, what we talked about. So, I'm very excited. Um, I'll introduce each member and you guys can take it from there. So, first we

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have Mrs. Hollowell who is our representative, our parent representative from grades six through eight. We have Mr. Rean back. You just give us wave and stand up. [laughter] >> We have Mr. Rean back there. He is our

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high school principal. He al he represented the administration on the steering committee. We have Mr. Hall who is our representative for a teacher representative grades 9 through 12. We have Miss Longus who was our support

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staff representative for the steering committee. We and we have Mrs. Perry who was our parent representative for grades K through three. Um our next slide will show the other members of the steering committee but these are the ones that are here with us tonight. also under um

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we did this work with student education. Dr. Reginald Todd was our facilitator. He couldn't be with us tonight. However, he sends his regards and he's really excited that we're presenting this to you um for it to be on tomorrow night's

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agenda for approval. So, that's our steering committee. And with that, Mr. if you would like to. Actually, we're starting out with our vision mission and vision and that's actually Mrs. Schuler. And Mrs. Schuler, I'm sorry I didn't. >> That's okay. Should I go over there?

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>> Sure. >> Hi guys. >> Um, so we had Can you go back a slide? >> We had um a variety of representatives either from the MEA representative, we had um the administrators representative, we had teacher reps, we

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had business leaders, we had other teachers, we had a variety of different people, parents, um as well as other teacher representatives. So, thank you guys for coming tonight. Um when we look

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at the vision you can go can you pick it one >> the microphone sorry >> so um when you look at our vision and mission statement I know it looks

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not wordy not wordy we had a lot of wordsmiths in the room thank you very much people who Um, we reviewed all of the um

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the surveys and information that was received from all of the uh groups that met. And we chose to simplify, shall we say, um the vision and mission, the vision

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and mission statement so that it encompass everyone's thoughts and and opinions. Um so the vision is the Middle Sex Public School District fosters a school community empowered to create a standard

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of excellence, innovation, accountability, and inspiration. And from that vision, our group came up with a mission of our mission is to champion excellence, advance equity, and empower every

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student to thrive. We did not want to we wanted to make it kind of a laser focused vision and mission. So that's what I got. Who's next?

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The strate strategic planning process. Was that you? >> Good evening. Um, I want to briefly explain why I chose to join the board of education's uh,

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strategic planning steering committee before we get into some of the other pieces of this. Many of you know me first as a parent. I have a child um, at W Chong and one at Wager. So the other is about to go to mocker now. And I'm a mother before I'm anything else.

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And like many parents in this community, I first came to this board with concerns, right? Concerns about academic rigor, accountability, teacher performance, student mental health, and bias and whether all of our children are truly being prepared for success. I've

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attended multiple meetings. I've stood before the board and called for change. I've written emails. I've requested meetings with administrators and district leadership and drafted different proposals, right? Not just about what the problems are,

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but how we can actually start to solve them because criticism without contribution is easy. Real change requires work. Professionally, I think it's important to understand that I came to this

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because not only do I hold a jurist doctorate, but I'm also I have a master's degree in education policy and development and serve as the CEO of a behavioral science-based market research firm that focuses on strategy systems improvement and understanding how people

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organized to actually create this type of change. Right? I want to believe I was invited to serve on this committee not because I've been quiet, but because I've been clear, because I've been willing to be critical while staying focused on solutions.

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because I've tried to engage not divide to inform not inflame to move things forward and not to simply perform frustration. I also want to be clear that the

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challenges we face as a district did not begin with any members of the current administration or board. And pretending that they did only distracts us from real progress. Many of the concerns being voiced today and previously about

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rigor and trust and inconsistency and inequity and culture have existed years and in some cases decades before. And if we are serious about change, we have to be honest enough to confront that reality.

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So I didn't come to simply accept recommendations at face value and including those from firms like stutter, but to scrutinize them as both a parent and a researcher and ask what will actually work here for our students in

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Middle Sex. So the introduction of student education as a consultant and the creation of this strategic plan represents something important. An opportunity to pivot the opportunity for Middle Sex to stop operating in cycles of frustration and

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start operating with intention. A strategic plan is not magic and no outside consultant will save us on their own. But both provide us with something we have needed for a long time. an anchor point, structure,

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accountability, and a shared roadmap forward. A clear set of expectations and measurable goals against which every stakeholder, teachers, administrators, the superintendent, parents, students, and yes, even the board can be held

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accountable. It gives us a chance to stop reacting emotionally to every individual issue and instead build a system that addresses root causes, measures progress, and creates sustainable change.

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But opportunity only matters if we choose to use it. If we keep chaining ourselves to nostalgia or completely unrealistic solutions tethered to fundamental lacks of understanding of how the law functions will remain exactly where we are.

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This moment requires us to decide whether we want to per if whether we want performance or progress whether we want to keep reliving the same arguments or finally build something better for our children. The strategic plan is not the finish line. It is the starting

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point. This is about whether we're willing to do the work necessary to ensure that every child in this district receives the kind of K through 12 education or preK through 12 education that creates opportunity not just for

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some but for all. In other words, don't just talk about it, be about it. So the work did not begin with opinions. It began with listening. Students, teachers, administrators, support staff, parents, and community members were

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asked to share their experiences, their concerns, their hopes for the future of our district. That data became the foundation of our work. Rather than allowing the loudest voices or the latest controversy to dictate our priorities, we examined patterns,

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identified recurring themes, and worked to understand both the drivers of success and the barriers preventing Middle Sex from reaching its full potential. That's what good strategic planning is supposed to do. It transforms individual

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stories into meaningful data, data into shared priorities, and priorities into measurable action. It replaces assumptions with evidence. It replaces reaction with intention. And perhaps most importantly, it creates

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a common language that allows an entire community to move into the same direction. So what I want the community now to understand is that with this [clears throat] plan um it was not created in a single meeting nor was it a

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product of one perspective. It was forged through multiple working sessions, thoughtful analysis, respectful disagreement, and genuine collaboration around um the people who brought different experiences, priorities, and expertise

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to the table. We debated difficult issues, challenged one another's assumptions, and refused to settle for easy answers. We carefully dissected the feedback we received from students, parents, teachers, and staff. not simply accepting it at face value, but looking

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for the deeper patterns in testing for competing viewpoints and asking what will actually make a lasting difference for our children. That process was not always easy, but it was exactly what meaningful strategic planning requires. By challenging these beliefs on all sides, rather than protecting

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preconceived notions on all sides, we work to ensure that this strategy is not merely representative of today's conversations, but resilient enough to guide tomorrow's decisions. So from that work emerged the pillars of our strategic plan. student success,

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employee excellence, sustainable schools, and family and friends. Not simply broadest aspirations, but commitments that define how every stakeholder in this district has a role to play. Students, teachers, administrators, support staff, parents,

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and the board, and the community all contribute to the success of our schools. Likewise, every stakeholder deserves to be properly supported, appropriately resourced, clearly informed, and fairly held accountable. What excites me most about this plan is

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not the document itself. It's what the document makes possible. This plan is an anchor. As I said before, it establishes a shared vision and measurable goals. It provides the framework for curriculum improvements, professional development,

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communication strategies, student support and safety, resource allocation, and performance expectations. It gives district leadership a roadmap for translating broad aspirations to day-to-day actions that students, families will ultimately experience in

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classrooms, hallways, athletic fields, arts programs, [snorts] and every other corner of our schools. The next chapter cannot belong to the strategic planning committee alone. It belongs to every one of us. Now is the time for Middle Sex to unite around a

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common purpose. Not because we will suddenly agree on everything, but because we will finally agree on where we are trying to go. We owe it to our children to replace speculation with facts, misinformation with transparency, and division with collaboration.

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If we remain committed to that purpose, this strategic plan will become far more than a document. It will become the foundation upon which we build a stronger school district for generations to come. [laughter] >> What we heard from stakeholders, this is

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Perry. Hi. Um well, she mentioned a lot of what I'm saying, so I'll be nice and quick. Um this our as a part of our strategic planning process, we gathered from or gathered feedback from our parents, students, teachers, staff, and community members. And through focus

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groups and district-wide surveys, um we conducted Oh, no, I'm sorry. through the focus groups and districtwide surveys. While each group shared different perspectives and experiences, several common themes emerged to help us guide our work.

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Overall, the stakeholders express a strong appreciation for the close-knit community, the dedication of our teachers and staff, and the district's commitment to supporting students. There's a great deal of pride in Middle Sex uh Middle Sex Burough Public Schools and to share the desire to see this

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district continue to grow and improve. Um some of the common themes that we noticed across the survey and the focus groups were communication. Um the stakeholders were looking for more of a clear consistent communication and more opportunities for family and community

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members to feel informed, heard, and involved. academic excellence, which is the import um more importance of the consistency of our curriculum and instruction practices across all of our schools. Um the need for strong

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employment support and development and our retention through PDS um and improving our working conditions. also the importance of our safe, inclusive, and sustainable learning environments with strong family and community partnerships.

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Across both of our focus groups and survey responses, one message was clear. Our stare our stakeholders care deeply about Middle Sex Public Middle Sex Bureau public schools. The value um they value the strong sense

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of community we have while encouraging continuing growth in our communication, academic excellence, leadership and opportunities that will best prepare our students for the future. >> Now an overview of our four pillars. >> Yeah. So from that information we

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developed four pillars that people have talked about. Um take a look at them real quick. Right here we have our first one being student success that being the most important. And at the forefront you have employee excellence, right? Building up our employees so that they can provide the best possible education to our students. You have sustainable

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schools and what does that look like? Making sure that we're developing uh and maintaining schools that are conducive to learning and safe. Uh and also family and friends and working with the community. All right. So, the first pillar uh it says creating an environment where every

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student emerges from their educational experience capable of excelling in their chosen path. I'll translate that for everybody who wasn't in the meeting. All right. So, what that really means is in simple terms, our goal is to make sure that every student grows socially, emotionally, and academically uh through the quality learning experiences that we

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provide here at Middle Sex. Our first priority is to evaluate our programs, our pacing guides, our instructional practices, and our resources to ensure that every student has the opportunity to receive the same educational same education as well as approaches throughout each school regardless of

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what school they're in. Right? So, we're going to make that a common practice. Uh, next, we'll make sure that our data review is consistent across all schools and that we are using that data to provide the appropriate support to our students. uh making sure that we're looking at local data like I Ready information or overarching data like our

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NJSLA data to enhance uh education that we provide for our students who are gifted but also use it to address the areas for improvement or areas of weakness or even help a student that might be struggling in certain areas. So making common practice of data review, spreading those common practices

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throughout each school so that each kid gets the best possible education that they can get in whatever path that they choose whether it be an honors one traditional one or path where they need a little bit more help. All right. Um a lot of the feedback that we got focused on career paths. And when we think about career paths we think about the high

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school, right? But it really doesn't start in the high school. It starts right there in kindergarten prek, right? So, we're going to look at opportunities within our curriculum to highlight career paths that kids can take start early on, do career interest surveys, make sure that we're developing classes in fourth, fourth and fifth grade, sixth

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through eight that start with STEM in areas where kids really show interest and that can start to get them thinking about what do I want to do in the future, not when they get to nth grade, but when they're in fourth grade, first grade, second grade, third grade. So, they start building those blocks uh for when they get to the high school. then they can kind of pick and choose where

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they'd like to go so that they know what they want to do once they leave us. All right. Also, we're taking a look at our social emotional learning. Looking at our current program, how does that support students, we're also making sure that we can make sure that our students have

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social emotional support and that we're training our staff to support them. uh as well as providing them with opportunities to learn more about themselves so that they're resilient, can work through tough times uh and really be the best person they can be on emotional and social level, a social level here at Middle Sex School

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District. Pillar number two, uh it was employee excellence, right? And simply put, we're going to commit to high standards each and every employee. It's not just teachers, it's not just principles, it's custodians, it's secretaries, it's our aids, our lunch aids. We're going to put

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a high standard out for them. And then us as a team, we're going to support them to meet that standard. We're going to have them grow through quality through we're going to have them grow and make them master what it is to support themselves and their students and give them the appropriate uh

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training so that everybody gets the support they need. Um, you know, the educational landscape is different than it's ever been, right, when it comes to finding quality candidates here, uh, without not just Middle Sex High School, but within any other school district. So, what we need to do is let potential hires know that

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if you come to Middle Sex, you're going to be supported and that everything we can do, we will do to make sure that you're supported and that you grow and that you master the gra the craft of education so that our kids receive the best education that they can. Um, you

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know, two-way communication is one of the big areas where we want to make sure that we're working with everyone, right? That people feel okay to come to us with a concern or an idea and that we're at least hearing them and then getting back to them and making sure that they feel uh respected, heard, and a part of the

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team, right? So, we want to establish positive communication. Um, so that's what we look at number two when we talk about fostering open communication. We also want to make sure that we're consistent from school to school. Um employees want to make part they want to make sure that their I'm sorry let me go

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back to that. We also want to make sure that all of our educators are on the same page. We want to make sure that educational expectations and systems are the same for each staff member across all of our schools throughout the district and that things aren't being done differently from school to school that each school is doing the same thing

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at the same time in the same way. Um you know as a district we're going to take a look at our professional development. The feedback from our staff is important about how we support our kids and how we support them, right? So, when we're developing best practices and giving to them and developing these professional

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learning opportunities, we're using the information that they give us, whether it be from local data or from anecdotal data to address uh the needs of our students here in Middle Sex. Our next one is sustainable schools and that's going to

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be presented by Mr. Hall, Miss Was. >> Thank you. So, I'll I'll share a little bit about this experience as well because I think that tells a big story about how this all came to be. And I was honored to be on this committee. I was honored to be

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chosen on this committee. Um, it would have made for a good reality TV show to be honest with you. Uh, because it was [laughter] >> Don't do it. >> We had fun. I I won't do it. It was fun. It was difficult. Uh, there was

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laughter. there was some serious tension in the room which there should have been that only contributed and helped things I believe. Um, if we all came in and said, "Oh, let's let's do A, B, and C, and we'll get X, Y, and Z, that's not going to create change. It's not going

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to create success." Um, so the group of people that we got to work with, including Reggie, who had a baby while all this went on. Okay. So, we got to, you know, kind of experience that, too. It was a wonderful experience. Um, but what Miss Hollowwell said is this is

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a starting point. Um, this is just scratching the surface. This is really just coming to the table with something we feel like we spent a lot of time on. We feel like it could add a lot of value over time if um proposed if implemented

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and then obviously monitored and maintained the correct way. So that's why we're here and that's why I'm here tonight. Um I'm blessed to work here. I love my job. I tell Dr. Premier that because I know you do, right? Because I smile every time she sees me. Um,

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I am not a history uh or excuse me, a history buff of Middle Sex Burrow. Uh, when I drove through here for my interview, I didn't know where I was. U, I didn't know that Somerset turned right into Middle Sex and all of a sudden there was a high school off 28. So, as

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you can imagine, I didn't know where the buildings were. I didn't know where the schools were. I didn't know what they were called. I didn't know what age and grades went to school there. I just knew that I was going to see Mr. Rean and Mr. A and potentially have a job. Um but you can imagine in a town like this where

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it's been established for quite a amount of time, the buildings are all different. All right? They all have different qualities. They some are older, some are newer, some facilities have been maintained, sustained um and some have obviously have their struggles

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as you can imagine. Um so can I tell you the history on every school? No. But I know that sustaining something is different than maintaining something. Right? Sustaining is really putting that effort, that energy, and that commitment into fixing the core foundation of a

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problem. Um, and again, I don't like using that word often, problem, right? Not a solution. But, um, there are ways in a room full of such smart, talented, and and good people that we can figure out how to sustain our schools. um try

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to create that equity for our students which is obviously our number one priority and the excellence of our students. Um but again creating those strengthening creating and strengthening flexible and innovative academic

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artistic athletic and enrichment learning activities Mr. talked about career paths, right? Having those those rooms, those learning centers, um those school buildings essentially up to date where students and teachers and

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staff members can start exploring those options of careers um of what they want to do and also just continue their academic excellence within their elementary schools. We talked about ensuring sustainable and future ready technology. We're in a library right now. All right?

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And I don't want to, you know, point any fingers, but I would say 20 years ago, this library was filled with books. It's not right now, and I don't think we're getting, you know, just as many books that are here in the future. So again, those

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technological advances, um, just maintenance needs to be part of our sustainable schools. Um and then of course we need to maintain safe and strategically utilized facilities. Um we often find ourselves saying that we

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don't have enough space. We're working out of closets where you know we're you know struggling to make ends meet here at the school but like I said in a room full of smart people that can figure it out. Feel like sustaining schools is one of the biggest

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pillars that we do have. Um, yeah, I just think that again, you know, making sure that across the board the schools are just as efficient and effective as possible for

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our students and staff as as it as they can be. And I'm I'm quite confident that they they will continue to do that. >> And of course, our goal is to keep everybody safe. All right. So, when we look at the four

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pillars, right, Ryan talked about student success. So, that's obviously is our number one focus and goal. Um, how I look at those pillars, right, is we lay them out in four different pillars. Obviously, student success is our number one priority, but where's our anchor?

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Where is our anchor in this community? It's right here, right? our families, our community members, our friends within the community that support us that contribute um and that have been here for a long time and will continue to be. So the definition we

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building strong partnerships through collaboration, communication, and shared responsibility among schools, families, and the community to support the success of every student, not just students that live on one side of town, not students that go to one

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specific school, everybody as a whole. Um, and I'm gonna ask Miss Schuler to jump in in a minute or so. She I know she's laughing at me. Um, because I already emailed her this morning. She know. Yes. So, strengthening consistent communication. What does that look like?

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Right. That we're we're maintaining different types of communication and it's consistent that we're receiving those forms of communication consistently in different forms, different ways to different families, however they may need that. And again, the challenge and struggles

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of some families may not be the challenges struggles of some other families. And that's important. If your son or daughter, if you don't know what your son or daughter is doing at school or what's going on at their school, it's very difficult to be to fulfill that

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part of their life, their academic life. Um, my wife and I are getting ready to put our third child on a full-size school bus school bus for kindergarten in the fall. And it does not get any easier, right? We want to know everything that's going on. What time is he getting picked up? What time is he

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getting dropped off? What time, you know, where's his home room class? So, that's so important to parents. Um, and so important to you and so important to us. >> Um, so timely, accessible, relevant, ensure accessible and inclusive family

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and community engagement. What does that look like? Do we provide programs online? Do we provide them here at the school? Do we offer parent family friend nights um to inform them to teach them? Um and this is where I'll have you jump

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in if you don't mind. But this is uh a project that Miss Schuler has has >> I have said the name parent university for years years. I'm sorry.

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Um, and we have gotten to a point now where there's a logo. There's been some presentations for Empower Ed, the parent university of Middle Sex Burrow. And we can only

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enhance that and make that greater whether it's just explaining to parents in a short video what a lockdown versus what a um >> shelter in place mean or whether it's how to log into Genesis or whether like

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we can do so much with it and enhance on our new website um how things get done. So, I am so happy to see parent university starting. >> She's gonna ask she's gonna ask me to help with it too, right?

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>> I know that. >> So, the second one again, a sense of belonging, right? Do they feel included? Do they feel like they belong within the school and community? Um, and what's going on there? The collaboration, right? Working with different types of people and then also us making the

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investment in them. So therefore, they'll make the investment into their child's education, um their interests, and then hopefully we we we get those investments back here from those students. Um and lastly, increase family

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engagement through educational initiatives, which is kind of piggybacks on what Michel said. Um how do we learn, how do we connect, how do we work together? Because all those things together contribute to student.

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So we feel I feel really strongly that um again those difficult times, those difficult moments. I I used to text Ryan after we left the meetings and said, "Man, my head hurts." Right? And he'd be like, "Mine, too." So, [laughter] we feel like we spent a lot of time and effort and energy and uh we feel really

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proud about the work we did. >> So, we hope you uh we hope you enjoyed. Uh so those those are the four pillars right vision uh as long as Mr. Paul and I went over the street priorities, the treaty priorities in depth. What are the

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next steps? So the next steps are implementation and what does that look like? That's us getting together with the administrative team and looking at how we can meet the goals that were set uh in large scale by the vision but more directly by the strategic priorities that we just so we have to plan to do

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that. Uh from there we're going to have to figure out what how is that successful and how can we monitor our progress on those goals. Um just like good plan after that. Are we meeting them? Are we not fine? Why not? We refine from there, right? We make adjustments. Here's how we can get better at this. We've done that or this

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isn't working. We figure out as a team how we can do that, right? Then the steering committee will get back together and we'll refct upon the whole process. What worked? What went well? What did we make in kind of halfway on and we go farther? And hey, where can we

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improve that we're working? Right. So kind of comes back and we say, "Hey, did everything So there's multiple meetings that have to happen with administrators leadership throughout the district and then come back. But if you notice the process here from

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I had to put this in here because like my my mind works differently um and I needed that visual. But you see where each each image starts right at our vision, right? where do we start and where do we go from here? So this cyclical process

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or this cascading process really flows all back to the start of our vision. All right. So again, and we felt like um the most important part of this when we get to evaluating ourel is is being honest

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and really, you know, telling ourselves or asking ourselves if what we did worked, you know, or what we're doing worked >> and highlighting what addressing and how to make changes moving forward. >> All right, questions and discussion.

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First, thank you for all the effort and time. It was very impressive. >> Do we have a defined set of goals and metrics that we're going to be using to create each of these goals? I didn't see any actual defined anything.

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>> That's how yes, we define the goal. Here's the goals. You know, you kind of get specific each step of the way, right? So, our mission was pretty >> generic but specific. Then you got more specific in your code. The checklist kind of comes in our next meeting. >> So the next meeting is with the

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leadership team because they're the ones who actually they know the measures. They are the ones who will make this vision realistic. Well, what are the measurable means that we can implement and what based on the data that we've

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gathered? What will support that growth >> based on that? Where does the team that came in to kind of set all this up uh education they conduct >> where do they fit into this? >> They conducted they conduct that session. So our next session is August

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24th. Okay. >> With the district not district but the [clears throat] leadership team so building principles, supervisors, directors all in a room >> public meeting. >> No it's not. So this is but it's taking

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exactly what has been done and breaking it down into the measures. >> Okay? >> So it's not changing anything that this committee has done. It's identify well what are those measures? How are we going to measure student success? What does that look like? >> Will the board get a

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>> absolutely >> absolutely >> okay cool. And that's one of the things that in this entire process that well reporting out if you went back from the slide but in that reciprocal

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uh diagram there it's it is about right there monitoring. So you will get consistent updates how are we doing based on what what measures that we're using and then from there that refinement that reflection

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Any other questions? heard a lot of um comments like thank you for but data priorities districtwide surveys like all this information like beautiful but what does it mean for your typical like we talk to our residents

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what do we tell them what that means like that's they're going to hear it they're going to ask us I know they're going to ask us after they listen to the meeting so where is the data what are the priorities and like is those both implemented into socially Are there data and priorities

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for the socially aspect you talked about in pillar one? Are there data and priorities for the emotionally and are there data for the academically mentioned as well? And how are those priorities and data being shown? [snorts] How are how's it going

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to be shown to everybody? >> So I would I would think right that one of the things that we're able to produce is to say based on the feedback right you come up with with those with all those things all those things that were

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shown should be visible to the community. So all of these bullets to say this is how all of that feedback gets distilled into that initial high level. What Dr. Freeman just talked about is taking that and then turning it

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into key performance indicators to say not only are we taking that data and creating this high level road map but now that data is further being broke down to we talk about student success and we start implementing specific programs. How are we going to measure

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that that program actually yielded something from the students? When we talk about engaging parents like myself, how do we make sure that the transparency that's been absent in so much of the feedback that I know you've heard, I know other people have heard

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about. How do we ensure that the individuals responsible for not only being responsive but being transparent actually are? that require further feedback. How else do we make best handfuls to the community? The the idea

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of drilling down into these actual tactical measures is to make what is very high level here. You're absolutely right, Mr. Not just to this board, but to make it tangible to parents like me that the needle is actually being moved. And so

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there's going to be low hanging fruit. You talked a lot about that low hanging fruit. What are going to be the quick wins that people are going to feel relatively immediately? And then how do you create enough communication around longer term goals because this is a fiveyear mission, right? To say some of

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us will have kids out of school before the full brunt of this is truly felt, right? But how do we keep those people invested knowing that you're working towards a better future? So it's about making things tangible in the immediate time and making it tangible for the future.

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>> What are the low you mentioned low pain what are some of those or can we get those different I'm not [clears throat] a full detail but give you an example. >> Can we get that out to them? >> Sure. >> I think in my this is my opinion right you know take that right low hanging

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fruit to me I >> I mean Dr. Freeman knows I stood up here and talked about like my emails don't get answered right like I'm not getting from this teacher or that principal, right? That's low hanging fruit that can be changed pretty immediately, right?

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That's measurable and it's something that is absolutely achievable and that's something that you can feel right now. But talking about how we integrate AI education into the high school or talking about how we we bring in more

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technology in general, that's not going to happen tomorrow, right? Curriculums have to budgets have to be set aside to bring in that technology or something that I suggested again this is my opinion doesn't mean it's going to be in the plant but something like not every child

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is going to go to Harvard right how do we implement programs that speak to brilliant kids who might want to go into the ROC or something like that those are things that probably exist somewhere in the middle between the big lofty goals

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and the really immediate ones but all of can be tangible in different ways. Even now, >> see, when when you were up talking about not getting emails answered and things like that, >> I'd say probably 80% of the board had no

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idea that was going up. >> So, I there's got to be a way to measure that out to the board as well. >> Exactly. Exactly. And I think what Dr. spoken to and so many of and so many of the other members here have spoken to is to say now now that we know can't say we

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didn't know right from the feedback is to say now that we know you have to create a tangible KPI a key performance indicator you know it's a problem can't say you didn't know so now there has to be a measure against that so that when things are brought to the table to say we're seeing improvement doesn't get

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solved in a day but there has to be forward >> yeah absolutely more more to my point though like we knew it happened to you because you came here >> right >> how many parents does it happen to Exactly. >> But how many don't come to the

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superintendent so that even I know >> and I think and I think that's where >> whether it goes to the principal, the teacher, >> the superintendent >> or the board, it somebody should be keeping track of replies that are going

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out. And I think like that's why that became part of one of the the pillars um because that was like they said they came up with these pillars or the steering committee came up with these pillars based on um feedback from the surveys. And so that's how we found out

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like you said a lot of people don't come up here and say that you know so that's why when they people took these surveys it was like oh that that that's how we knew it was happening on a larger scale we're already doing right so you talk about career path things like that next

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year we're starting high school video production class things that kids are going to go you know so the next highlight we're don't need to show and then take that next

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step or lower level. So we're kind of halfway there on some of it. We just have to make sure they know that maybe I haven't done a great job. But when you're building out these processes, I am imagining there's going

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to be like controls put in place, >> right? And there's a process communication for email that somehow there's a checkpoint control to make sure that at each level whether it be the teacher, the principal

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that those emails are being answered. I don't know what that control would be. something between and the team and the administration hopefully you know we can build >> I I'd say that would be more of an IT issue it could take a

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what they're going to decide but they're the types of like across the board that >> I as I asked that same question because I didn't know and not that I don't need I need to know everything but I want to know how how what are we going to do this how are we going to how are we

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measure How then are we going to use that data which speaks the truth to make changes and to grow and to make things different and move in different direction um so I didn't want to use the word smart goals Reggie used that so I

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will throw him under the US uh but again we're use smart goals which again broad acronyms academic words but um they will be measurable and they will be documented and they that's that's how

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this all works. It's really it doesn't work if we don't have that data. If we don't if we're not we don't hold ourselves accountable but also hold what we want to change. >> Another great point is like what happens to the parents who aren't willing to get

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up here in front of the camera and say those things because I remember like but there are a lot of people who also that the noisy duck gets shot, right? And so, you know, how do you create a forum for parents who aren't comfortable

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getting up in front of this mic? And that's a challenge that has to be addressed in this process as well. I believe that it will be and it must because you have to part of the family and friends pillar is creating multiple ways for people to make it to these solutions and for their voices to be

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heard because it's not all happen and it should >> and the surveys provide us with more not listen we always have more right the more parents the more the more feedback the better but that provide us with like

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how many surveys we sent Well, I have to say I want to [clears throat] come back to Mr. Card >> the focus group, the surveys and our little strategic group, >> they there was nothing new. We all agreed on it. There was multiple things that we saw in the focus groups that

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were the same on the survey. So, it was actually it was a difficult job to come up with the pillars. However, it was easy to kind of look at the data and see the correlation between all of the different groups. I don't know what you were going to say. cut you up. I'm

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sorry. The question about the >> surveys were sent out to the community. >> How many? >> So the the survey was made available to all members of the >> Okay. But it wasn't actually >> but not all members of the community

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participated right that's obviously provide that. >> No, absolutely not. >> So the survey was lower than the focus groups. So, one thing that we really focused on that Reggie focused on was

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the information from the folks because he felt that was more representative of the community than the actual surve. >> It was definitely taken into account, but the surveys, like Brenda said, the

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survey repeated. So, just reading this, like this just reads what a school's supposed to be already, right? Like I'm just not being super critical, but like what is a hiring committee? Like what what's a measure for a hiring committee? Like what what does that mean? So like our

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hiring practices aren't good enough. So we need to get a hiring committee. And what is standard standardizing volunteer classroom shadowing instructional routes? Stuff like that. When I read it, my brain goes, "What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this?" And I don't think we have enough time, and nor do I want to take up all your valuable

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time as it is because volunteering is amazing. So, thank you for doing this. But like, >> what's different? What's different with this? Why shouldn't this already have been in place? And wasn't there one already in place? And did this get updated and you guys worked off something or you just

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created this from scratch and we didn't have a strategic plan at all before? >> No. So, I think it's important like you're want to [clears throat] take up our time, but I think it's also important for you to really understand kind of what went on and kind of go further. So, I know I don't mind um saying and expressing exactly what it

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was as far as what you're saying like this is what a school should look like. You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. And we worked on things that not that are still here in place. It's just strengthening them. So, there's a lot of things there that you might see that we they already do, but

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we're just strengthening that. And then there's also things in there that maybe um are new to the district and that could be brought up. So, it's not the what you're looking at is not like we don't have any of these things. We need to do them. Um a lot of it is

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strengthening it or improving it because >> Yeah. >> What is the Okay, let's break it like what was the thought process between the measures of a hiring committee? >> So, can I can I just So, the goal of this for this evening was to bring to

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forward a vision, mission and the pillars with the um the strategic priorities. When we met, however, we discussed some of the things

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that we thought should kind of be part of the administration's discussion when they get to the measures. So, the measures are not for us to approve tonight. The measures are for the administrators to talk about. There is a hiring process. It has changed in the

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last three years to a panel. Um there's an entire process. There's a panel. There's there's a rubric. There's all kinds of stuff. So that is in place. But there was a a conversation about more

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teachers wanted to be involved because right now it is just administration. This is for teachers. >> But yeah, so what they talked about was and Mr. Regan did a great job of explaining how it was before um in that

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if you want to be on the panel as a teacher, there needs to be some training so you know what questions can be asked legally, what questions should be that you have to ask. So it shouldn't just be putting a teacher on a panel. It should be putting a

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>> trainer >> trainer interviewer on the panel. >> I just said staff. So I thought that applies to anybody, not just teachers. >> The department heads are on the panels already. >> We don't have department head. What do you mean department? >> The

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math department lead whatever. >> No, they are not on the comm. They are not. >> Wow. >> So right now we there's are panels that are put in place where administration and supervisors sit on all panels. Directors sit on panels >> and there's two levels. It starts with

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the initial um hiring or initial screening and then it goes on to a demo in teachers in teachers but also in secretaries also any type of demo that shows their competencies across a rubric

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that is normed and all the administration has been inserviceed on. So they're very familiar with it. So in the steering committee in one of the sessions a teacher expressed that you know at one time teachers were apart and

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it was an entire discussion about why teachers were pulled back and if we are going to move forward with this that let's start with our what was talked about let's start with our teachers of the year let's start with putting together a committee to train the

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teachers of the year and if they would like to sit on these panels that They can, but it's not. And Mr. Rian, you could join if you want to add anything that you said during the session. It was not um hiring in the past was was not

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good. It was not good for the district. The way that individuals were hired, the questions that were asked, there was no consistency. >> Yeah. In the past is what was brought in over the past couple years, which is noring, right? Making sure we're asking the same. We talked about it in some tal

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access what Dr. asking the same questions, not the same candidates, two candidates regardless of what school we specific

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school has questions and we have various levels of checks going through administrators on that panel interview. So it's not just one person opinion on a candidate, but it's also not one set of questions that I think

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ones that are pretty in compiance with laws, right? Make sure that we're following that and it allows us to score our potential candidates and then see if a similar person to the school.

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>> It creates that integrator reliability amongst the administrative team. It also summer they sat down as a team and they evaluated the questions and they were able to re revamp some of the questions. They were able to say you know we don't

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like the way this question reads we would like to change it so that it focuses on this. So they have even fine-tuned their practice. So this this strategic plan and doing this process having teachers involved and saying hey

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at one time we were a part can we how can we be a part again well we can be a part let's write this into the plan so that our teachers are a part of these that we can train them we we have a system that's what was missing a system

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and the system that's been in place in three years it has proven that it's working Now, let's add to it. So, adding teachers, we continue to improve it, but that goes back to that cycle. We'll reflect on that. How has it been working with having teachers involved? What else do we need to do?

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>> And we talked about we talked about, and again, I don't want to like spin this in the wrong direction. Talk about school safety of your children, my children, your children's children, whatever, how whoever it may be. It's the safest way to put adults in a classroom with your

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children. It's the safest way to have that consistent process, that consistent and clear communication, and the consistent and clear vision of the administrators of who they're putting. So that's first and foremost.

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So >> and just to clarify the the measures that I think Mr. are looking at that. That's like that's like a working list um for the admin team to come together and and this is like ideas. How do we

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what measures are we going to put in place to to make sure that these priorities get that we're that we're meeting these priorities of these four pillars that the >> we don't even get about stuff like this is where I'm getting confused because it says outline clear trade-offs

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consolidation and it's redistricting selling property building renovating property and repurposing I'm looking at a lake >> well so that's the thing that they're trying to the measure is to come up with an idea on how to when they come when they come back with the measures that

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they agree on the administration because that's at the point where >> they is not part of the administration deciding on the goal. These measures that you're seeing right here were just >> jotting down ideas that were said in the

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room over the course of the strategic meetings in terms of please don't forget we talked about this >> when you when you get into your room with Dr. Todd, right? >> When you get into your room with Dr.

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Todd, just remember that we had these discussions about these things. So, try to bring that into your and remember this is a five-year plan. This is not something that we think that is any way

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doable in one year. That's when Miss Hollow talked about lowhanging fruit. There's things that we can get done this year, but there's things that we have to make plans for five years out if we want to look at repurposing certain

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facilities or selling like that is not a small process. That's a long drawn out process. So, it was just the measures that you're seeing right now are just placeholders of ideas. So, what we will

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need to approve tomorrow night, correct? is the vision, the mission and the pillars >> pillars >> and the priorities the priorities and that's so that they can go into the next stuff saying that yes we've agreed to this and they can make the next part of

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the plan to be imple implementation portion of the plan >> what other questions I ask a question um for communication like how are you going to get this out

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to everybody that came and gave their input? Like are you planning on presenting this? Like you had said more people came to those meetings and did the survey, right? So I would assume like communicating those

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people are gonna I mean I'm sitting here and I'm enjoying listening to this but I mean there were a lot of people >> and I'm sure they would be glad to see this. >> Now is the way they get to see it is to come to a meeting, a board meeting

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>> and watch things get approved or like >> there there's a website there's a web not website on our website there is a page about the strategic plan so all that like this information I don't know if this is up yet but this information will be there like this presentation will be there

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>> so that's the way of communicating >> but for like until we improve our exactly but that's the conversation that that's the continued conversation that we're going to >> say to me I would think you would have a meeting I don't even there would be nothing voted on so I don't think all

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the board would have to be here either but it would just be so that you guys can present to all of us are that you took our input and this is after it gets approved tomorrow I guess this is what we've come up with >> and I think >> I don't know how many people come

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>> but that's but what you're saying is that's that's the conversation so even when we talk about empowered ed. So that could be the first empowered ed. Before we do anything else, let's talk about our strategic plan.

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>> So yes, I think one of the biggest things we talked about, right, was this idea of how do you make things more accessible to more people huge >> putting on a web page is not >> right. And I 100% right. >> It's nice to be able to go there, but

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>> Right. And it's good to go there, but not everybody's going to go there. >> I think public meetings And I talk a lot about this idea of effort aversion. If it feels too hard for me to do, not going to do it, right? >> And so, how do you make something, how

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do you create ease for a community to engage with this school district, right? And so, to your point, step one is to get everybody to agree, right, that this is what we're going to do. And then after that, it goes, how are you going to make sure that people feel invested in it?

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>> Priority. because that's how young people come. >> And maybe that is having open forums >> on top of the website, on top of, you know, sending sending things home with each kid >> right in their little folder. Right here

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it is. Right. There are all kinds of ways that once we agree that this is the road map that that can then be made accessible to people because people need to be able to engage in multiple ways to feel invested. >> 100% agree. >> And the public has to understand This is

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a fiveyear plan. It's not a six month or one year. You got to follow. It takes time. >> But like she said, if you do those little lowhanging fruits real soon, people are going to feel like they're being heard. They're going to feel like

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>> and you're making progress. You know, >> the whole thing is with the lowhanging fruit. You pick the lowhanging fruit. Guess what the next level is? That's the next level. Low hanging fruit. >> Yeah. Right. >> Maybe put something on your Instagram, >> you know. >> Oh, absolutely.

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>> She has her Instagram out there. So, just say, you know, >> absolutely. >> Look on our website at your strategic plan. >> So, there's an entire I'm dangerous in my mind. Um, there's a whole campaign that's coming, but the

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first step was introducing everything to the board. >> And from there, you will see you will start to see on my Instagram and on the dis on the the district's Instagram different ways to get this information

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out there. Um, and like Mr. Regan said the other day, he has 5,000. You get >> 5,000 views. >> 5,000 views. You're going to know >> viral, >> please. >> So, he'll re he'll repost it. >> Your middle sex viral mystery. >> Yes. But when we talk about lowhanging

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fruit, it it definitely is. Well, how do we get that information out? And it could be, but not everyone's on social media either, but it could be those really quick one minute social media. Did you know that simple? Did you know

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that we were going through the strategic planning process and this is what came out? Learn more here. >> It could be short videos. Exactly. newsletters. You know, we we talked about newsletters and I shared that, you know, tonight's theme is the blueprint

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and that is the the newsletter that I put out for years. But you also have to look at data and one of the reasons why we stopped doing um the blueprint in in the manner that it was being done was because if I when you look at the

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analytics, it was very low. >> So it's like okay, we don't need to reinvent the wheel, but how can we repurpose the blueprint so that you're reaching more people. So these are all the conversations that we started to have, we'll continue to have and we'll

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put those measures in place. >> So when we when we talk about the timeline, we would we would approve what what part we have and then you guys meet at the end of August. >> August 24th. >> So in September hopefully we'll have the measures, >> correct? And the cards and whatever else

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is going to be created >> for, you know, the rest of the plan. >> Correct. >> I'm just thinking maybe >> back to school nights. Uh, did you know >> we did a strategic plan? This is where

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you can find information on it or how to ask questions or like because most people, >> especially in the younger grades, the parents go to the back to school nights. >> Not in the high school. Sorry guys, >> but

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you know we can definitely absolutely >> push it out at that point when we have the full thing also. Absolutely. >> This meeting tonight is being recorded, correct? >> Correct. Yes. >> So that'll be available. >> It's not live stream so we don't know when it's going to go up but

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>> they always go up the following day. >> Yes. I mean the meeting's already over for them. We live stream the other meeting. We should like that's another form of communication, right? We want to start implementing this for communication live stream both meetings. >> Well, we can have that discussion when we talk about bylaw 0168.

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>> Yeah, that's on for discussion tonight too. So, >> okay. Any other questions discussions about strategic plan so far? >> This is a lot. And thank you for your beautiful souls and brains smashing it together. It's not easy.

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>> Thank you. It wasn't easy, but they did tremendous work. And I I just want to thank you and thank you for coming tonight. [applause] >> Well done. Fix the allergens in this room. >> Good buddy. So now we will move on to our review of

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tomorrow night's board agenda. After we do our announcements, we move on to our meeting minutes on day four last month. Committee of the whole and the executive session for committee of the whole on 6:15 and then our regular public meeting on 616.

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Any questions or comments on minutes? Okay. And we will go to our personnel report by our committee chair, Mr. >> Thank you, Danielle. We have um some contractual appointments.

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We do not have any classroom aids. Um do have some hourly positions, substitutes, extracurricular co-curricular stipens, one leave of absence, several leaves of services and services

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transfers. There are no salary adjustments, nor are there any extra teaching assignments. Nothing related to community school. Some other personnel action items.

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That covers personnel agenda for any questions. >> But I do have a question. Sure. Um so on the substitutes there's one two three four five six is that are these six part of the nine

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that we mentioned? >> Yes. >> So that would break it down to three. >> So one two three four um five six. I h I would have to look at

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what's still posted. I'm just wondering if that's going to decrease on that list that you have. >> I'm pretty sure that it is, but please let me check that before I say absolutely. So, I'll have an answer for you tomorrow night,

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>> but yes, they're all relief. I just want to point out number one under other personnel action items and this is the abolishment of the computer literacy to a steam position. So I just want to again this is a

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repurposing of a position. This was um a position um at the elementary schools where students were using or getting receiving tech skills. Um feedback from uh the

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leadership team is that if we could repurpose that to so that it's in line with what happens at Woodland. As you know, at at Woodland, they have um a reach um teacher that also goes does

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basically steam activities with students. So, this would be offering steam to all students in K through three um across each one of the buildings. Um the job description is there. So, this

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isn't a new position. It is repurposing position that seemed to be dated and now aligned with where we're going even with things that we talked about in the strategic plan. Any other questions on personnel items? Okay, we'll move on to our education

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report by our committee chair, Mrs. Reynolds. >> Hello. There are not too many Agenda for the education action items acceptance of anti-bullying report

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tuition placement all the way down to workshop travel and related expenses student safety data systems submission of grant applications that successful and commission for the blind and

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visually impaired. Other action items and corrections. Is there any questions? >> Yeah, I have a question on uh 11.02. It it says none under home instruction, but it then says superintendent recommends approval of home instruction

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is presented, but there it says none. None of the other items that say none have that written. like curriculum approval just it doesn't have superintendent recommends. So what what exactly are we approving?

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>> Yeah, editing >> and let me just check my notes just to make sure we don't have any. So yeah, we don't have home instruction. We have some. So yeah, it is just a clerical that will correct.

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>> It also still says >> um can you explain the school safety data system report? >> So this is a report that is required by the NJ DOA. Um, and it summarizes all instances of any type of, it's done

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twice a year, of violence, vandalism, substance offenses, and other student removals. So, as you know, you all receive monthly, the HIP reports, it takes the information from the HIP reports. Another thing that you receive

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weekly because it's actually in board brief also, the suspensions, it takes information from the suspension reports. And then those areas where um it's not a HIV, it's not a suspension, but it's still identified as um some type of

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behavior that should be reported to the S on the SDSS. So, this is the second um reporting for this report. >> Also, just a note further in 11:07 11:08

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probably need to say correction superintendent. field trips teacher is presented. >> Thank you. >> You said that was 11 left >> 1107 11:08

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for the same reason and 1110 >> and we use this as a template. So >> yeah, >> it was missed. Thank you so much. >> Other questions on discussions on education items.

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Okay. And we move on to our policy action items. There are first readings there. Those are mandated. Most of them are mandated and revised. One is new. So these are the long awaited cell phone

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ban policy um that came hot off the presses last week. So we had meeting also to start because as you can see from the attachments that there are a lot of options that need to be selected. So we

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met initially to um think not to think about because we've been thinking about this for some time but to identify areas that need to be um changed um to be in line with this policy and we'll have another meeting

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to look at those selections prior to the next board meeting. Another thing that we talked about is that it's important that families going back to that communication piece know that this is happening. Yes, it's been in the newspaper. People have been

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talking about it, but exactly what our how we will be implementing it. So, there will be a campaign that starts August 1 that will inform parents, well, this is how you can help us to make sure that this is going to be in place. What

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we're trying to do um support your child and this initiative And do we have a direction on what we're doing? >> Yes. >> See, I'm assuming the yellow that's what we currently have.

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>> Yellow is whenever there is an option. >> Okay. >> So, we are in a very good place when it comes to the cell phone ban because two years ago, Mr. Rean, we we came up

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eliminating cell phones during the instructional day. So, we're we're in a good place that it won't be sticker shock to everyone. What's difficult is that now it's completely out of sight.

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So, even with what we were doing before, children were allowed to use their cell phones during lunch and in the passing of of classes. Now, when they say bell to bell, there is none of that.

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So what we are looking to do what Mr. Regan a team and actually our technology team Miss Lo you also went they went out to um one of the magnet schools because they have piloted an app called Dormund

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and because everyone there's there's different ways you can go with this. You can buy pouches which just is not sustainable. Um you could say put it in your locker. But that's really not

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solving the problem, which we know. And something that the magnet schools um looked into was Doorman was it's an app. And basically what it does is that it takes a smartphone and it turns it into a flip phone. >> A flip phone. So it's still usable. You

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could still make an emergency call. You can still use a calculator if you needed to use a calculator, but it is not an internet um enabled device. >> So they went out, they saw it for themselves. They also they asked

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questions. Um they spoke to students. Um they were presented with data how hibs were decreased in that learning atmosphere. um they talked about options that they provided to parents and they came back to me and they were very excited about

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what they had seen. Another thing is is that compared to putting it in a pouch, it's much more cost effective. Um the people who have created Doraman, they're very responsive in that um you provide them with a suggestion and they're able

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to implement it almost immediately. Um they're very responsive to school districts. So, this is something that many school districts in Middle Sex County is exploring and that's our our top right now top uh

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alternative that we're looking at how they have to download that app on their phone. >> Correct. So, how do you ensure that? >> So, there's an entire system. >> That's what I was asking. That was you as a

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highly sophisticated system. And Michelle, I'm not going to put you on the spot, but if you want to join in, if there's something that I'm not saying that you know better than I do, please join in. But I did intend if this was the row we were going to do is have someone come and present to you all. But

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just so that you know, it it is an app, but it also is a dashboard for teachers. So if if students come into your classroom, you can see on your dashboard who who is in school because it also syncs to Genesis

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and you could see at a glance who has has the app and they should not have their phone or a burner cell any type of cell phone whatsoever. And then you also see students who have opted out which means that they do not want to download the app and that means that they do not

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bring their phone to school at home. So right there at a glance on the dashboard. So then you're able to address if there is someone that has a phone in the classroom, you could say, "Wait a minute, you don't have the >> Exactly. Um they they scan it when they

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come in >> and then they also scan it when they leave. Correct." And then that un not unlocks the phone, but it it makes it enable to be have access to the internet. So one of the things that if you look at that policy there's options

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that says okay will this be just during the school day or will this be on the school bus will this be at after school activities so these are the types of things that we're exploring we're t having conversations about we've just last week we had a conversation about

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well if someone doesn't bring their phone will we and we said that we would have an option for them to able to make a phone call after school if they do not have their cell phone. The most important thing also that we talked about was that it's not just cell

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phones. We're also talking about smartwatches and metagasses. So, there's a lot in this. We were supposed to have a session with Strauss asked me tomorrow. Um, however, they have

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cancelled that session and it's moved to the end of the month, but they're providing district but additional support on this. Erin, did I leave anything out? You're coming from the attorney view. >> I think that's,

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you know, and the DO just posted >> the frequently asked question. >> Yes. >> On their website, but sounds like everything you guys are doing is right on track and you have the medical waivers, I'm sure. Absolutely. Excellent point. So, of course, anyone who who has

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their cell phone for a medical reason will continue to be able to do that. >> I have a question to Genesis like how much reliance are we going to be using? So, >> my kids are actually appalled at how often I forget my phone. Imagine walking

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out the door. But if you do have the app and you're scanning every day, are and you forget your phone, are you going to be like is there still going to be the regular protocol of taking the 10? >> Yes, regular protocol that really is um

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the dashboard and Michelle, please chime in. The dashboard is if a a student has their phone and they have it out and they're not supposed to. It's well, what's going on here? You know, it it really is to track. So it's like if

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somebody if the student has their phone out, the teacher can look and say, "Oh yeah, they have the app." So they're okay to have their phone out because >> or Exactly. >> they're using it for they could be using it for a calculator. >> So it's not attendance for

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>> that. And I and we're going to push so that they don't have it out at all. We we had that conversation about the calculator. We really want them using their Chromebooks. You know, when when you take an NJSLA and you and there is a on the Chromebook. That's what we want

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them using their Chromebooks. Michelle, you have want to add anything? >> No, that's pretty good. It's the the dashboard that Dr. Freeman's talking about literally just says that when those students come into my classroom, these are the list of students who should be in my classroom. And then it'll say um it'll have everybody

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highlighted green if they have the app and they've activated the app. the minute a student tries to um deactivate the app. So, you scan it when you go into the building and it activates the app. Kids are smart, right? They think that they know everything. So, they'll

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they'll figure out ways to deactivate the app. When that happens, administration gets a ding. Um Michelle just deactivated her app. when I come into um my math class, right, it will show me

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as being red, meaning I I am not one of the people who have opted out not bringing my cell phone, but I have not activated my app. So, as a teacher, I can see um the students who are green and have their cell phones on them and

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are activated and those that are red, which means they have their cell phone on them, but they haven't activated it. Um, so it's that kind of >> is that IP based >> or once you scan it, you're in essence

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shutting off the >> the app it app is literally just making it like you're in airplane mode. >> Oh, okay. >> Basically, >> quick question. So, I mean, it is going to add another like just an additional thing that the teachers are going to

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have to keep an eye on, which I understand they're probably going to get so much more learning done because the phones won't be out that the minute it takes for them to check the the dashboard is okay. But what about >> So Trish, I don't mean to interrupt your

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train of thought, but um it it interacting with Genesis not only tells the teacher what students are in front of them and if they have activated the app or not, but it the teachers can also take attendance right there on the app. So, as they're not they don't have to go

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to the dashboard and look to see who hasn't um a cell phone activated or not and then go to Genesis and take attendance, which they do anyway, but now they're just doing it indoor. Yeah. >> So, >> I don't know how many students are doing

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this at this point, but on job sites I run into, we're using the translate feature to talk to each other sometimes. Is that still active on the phone during this? >> Probably not because that's an internet based.

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>> Okay. >> Um but translation can be done on the Chromebooks. >> Oh, okay. There you go. >> And so say you're saying so if it shows that they're red, it's saying these um students, they haven't opted out, which means they technically can bring their

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phone into the school, but they haven't activated their app. So, are we saying that if it's in their pocket and it stays in their pocket the entirety of the day, that's not that's okay, right? It's not saying that they can't have it. It's just saying they can't use it.

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Correct. Is that I just want to see if I understand because she's saying it's red. That means they have it on them, >> but but technically they could have forgot it at home. >> It could be that they can't really say, "Show me like you can't search them." >> No. And that and that's not what we're

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I'm just trying to like the way that the red and green work. I'm just trying to like >> figure we really are attacking this. I don't want to say attacking. We are approaching this that this is a bell-to-bell cell phone ban. So, we should not see cell phones with

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with the exception of of course medical. We should not see cell phones. and if there's a reason why it should be in a teacher's lesson plan and that it was prior approval as to why. But we find that the for instance that we talked

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about if they were doing some type of video um project and teachers want them to video each other. Great. Fantastic. It needs prior approval which would have been in your lesson plans, checked by your principal, approved, and then it

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could be implemented. >> And the app also allows the teachers um if it's prior approval for a lesson plan, they can say um you can access Google Classroom with your cell phone.

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You can spec specify um websites that they can get to. The idea I think behind the whole thing is to keep them off of social media more than anything. >> So for this time

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so we did a lot of talk during the strategic plan about doing things very similar between the elementary schools and the middle school. Um how are we I mean I'm sure this is going to be more of a discussion but of how we enforce that the teachers are enforcing

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because you don't want that to be a problem. teachers, right? Somebody is letting it and then the person that's trying to correct the bill ends up being the bad guy and they're really not. >> They're just trying to to do what the school's expectations.

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>> So, we'll put some type of something in place. >> So, we we have an absolute again we have a campaign going out to parents, but we also are developing. We said this has to be discussed at the opening faculty meeting with all teachers. Expectations

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have to be set. It can't be just talking about there has to be a complete system in place and that's the work that we're we're doing right now. We're putting the system in place. What are those expectations of teachers? How will we address it? We talked about consequences

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when it came to to students but also we have to identify that the consistency like you're saying amongst the teachers then you don't want all the kids and parents like complaining about teacher >> right >> and coming to you. >> You're absolutely right. really just

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doing what their you know what their expectations are. You're absolutely right. >> Thank you, Michelle. >> You're welcome. >> The worst case scenario, right, >> where there's an emergency and they need to get access to it, they can quickly deactivate access for

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>> e. Yes, they can. And then that will signal the teacher and it becomes a simple conversation. You deactivated your phone that's going on. >> Yeah. I mean like fire or whatever shooting. But even >> But even with the app activated, they

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can still use it as a phone. Correct. >> Because that's on the internet. So they could like make an emergency call if they needed to without deactivating the app, right? Because you said it makes it like a flip. >> Yes. >> Kids are only making a call. >> No, I know. I'm just saying if it was

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>> Well, we said we were going to put pay phones back in the building. >> Yes, there is one out there. And Damian said he wants it if we if they ever do [laughter] anything. [clears throat] But we we did say that we'll put payones around >> except they don't know how to use

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>> cash. [laughter] Any other questions on policy items? >> Okay. Then we'll move on to our facilities and finance report by our committee chair, >> Mrs. Okay. >> 14.01 we have the bills list

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14.02 monthly budget transfers 14.03 board secretaries report 14.04 treasures report

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14.05 5 school business administrators monthly certification 14.06 board members monthly certification [clears throat] 14.07 we have two building use

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14.08 approval of the school lunch and breakfast prices 14.09 9 community school before and after care rates 14.10 10 Chromebook protection plan

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rates 14.11 Middle Sex Community School Budget Nothing in 14.12 14.13 Submission of toilet room facilities waiverss to the NJ DOE

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14.14 Submission of dual use facilities waiverss to the NJ DOE nothing in 14.15. Um I just the building use the um the first one that's I just know that it's not a holiday

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bizarre because I know I know what they're using it for. Um so I don't know if you just want to put the name Middle Sex that they're using it. It's for their they're doing like choreography or something. Any

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questions, comments, concerns on facilities and finance items? Okay, and we're done with tomorrow night's agenda. We'll go back to tonight's agenda. We are going to do our board retreat for our team huddle, but can we take a quick break to use the

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>> absolutely rest? >> What if she said no? >> Based off of that strategic plan that you heard about tonight. So yes, another thing that Mr. Thornton said, is it a Bob the Builder theme?

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And no, not quite, but it is a blueprint theme. And as I said during the strategic planning presentation, you know, um when I first became superintendent, I started the blueprint, which was a newsletter. And this was a perfect opportunity to

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revamp that theme, the blueprint. What are we doing here? We're looking at blueprints, the builder haters. We are going to build on the strategic plan. and how are we going to put things in place that it's not just words on a

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paper, but it's actually it's actions. So, it's the board tonight coming up with three possibly hopefully three um draft goals that you'll be accountable

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for also. Okay. So, why do we gather? There's three things we're going to do tonight. We're going to reflect. So, there's going to be a period of reflection. There's going to be a period of connection, getting to know each other a little bit better and

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inspiration. How we're going to move forward. So, we're going to honor the journey, strengthen our relationships, and ignite bold thinking. But I will start with a little public

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service announcement. Okay. Um, at my core, I'm an educator and I know that standing up here and the things that maybe we're going to do tonight may seem a little unconventional, but

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I believe the best learning happens when people have opportunities to reflect, connect, collaborate, and engage with ideas in meaningful ways. Every day, we ask our students to move beyond simply sitting and listening. We ask them to

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think, share, create, and learn from one another because we know these experiences deepen learning and strengthen relationships. Today's retreat reflects that same philosophy. Participation may look different to each

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of us. Some may process by speaking, some by listening, some by writing, and some by observing. All forms of participation are valued and [clears throat] respected. This approach simply reflects who I am

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as a leader, an educator, and a lifong learner. So if it means you have to get up and sing, >> dance, >> okay, no, you're actually not supposed to do that tonight. But we know that learning

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is fun. It's meant to be fun. When we think about our teachers, it's not about sitting and getting. It's about us being actively active participants in our learning. So with that, we're going to start with our team

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building 3.0. Okay, there's four simple things that we're going to do. All right, the first thing we're going to do, it's called design with a purpose. So yes, over here I know you saw the wonderful Jenga, giant Jenga, and it is

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symbolic that we're building something. So you're going to select a card. There's nine cards here for nine members of the board of education. And each card is connected to either reflection, connection,

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or inspiration. You'll read what's on the card and you'll answer it. Once you answer it, you're going to take a Jenga block and move it to the top. Pretty simple, right?

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Yeah, >> we're good. >> Okay. So, to to go over it one more time, first you're going to select a card. You're going to build with intention. Respond openly. Every voice strengthens the structure. And hey, if you want to join in with something, a

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response that someone has, please, by all means do. Okay. Number three, strengthen through commitment. Pull a block and place it on top to keep building. And then our blueprint for the future as we learn and we develop understanding.

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Okay. So, who's going to go first? >> I don't even know. >> Well, I'm gonna pull the first block because it's going to be >> safe is bad. You're right. >> You can't take the top. >> So read what category it is and then

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read the question. >> Inspiration. What would make you most proud of Middle Sex 5 years from now? Very easy. That the community, the board of education and council, mayor all moving in one direction.

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Not necessarily the same thought process, but working together for the best of the community. >> My hands [applause] are >> [clears throat] >> I don't want to knock it over. So,

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[clears throat] >> connection. What do you hope people experience when they interact with Middle Sex? >> Wait, I'm sorry. >> What do you hope people experience when they interact with Middle Sex? With Middle Sex. The entire town. The school

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district. The school district. >> Well, take it any way you want. It's open. experience. I mean, I just hope that they their gut reaction is just a happy one. Like when I am at work and I say I'm from Middle Sex, I'm proud and I

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want people um to know what a great place I think it is. So I I hope that people experience the town the way I look at it, through my point, you know, through my vision, which is pleasant and I like

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Mostly [laughter] I mean the ones I don't know I don't know but it can take the question so it doesn't repeat both looking at each other. >> Okay.

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>> Grab one. >> Even out the sides. Sorry that you got wet. >> Sorry about that. >> Wow. >> Reflection. What accomplishment should we celebrate more

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that individually or >> any way you read it? You I don't want to influence. >> Okay. No, no. I'm just uh >> maybe as a board We're here together.

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>> Nine individuals. Nine individuals and non I'm sorry going through everybody. There's a common goal. We should embrace a common goal. We

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don't have to to agree on everything, but the common goal is for this district to prosper.

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How does that work? Not one person can do it. Not two people can do it. Not three people can do it. Is everybody here? I circled in anybody out there.

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Then we see meetings. We can have accomplishments, but we only have two or three people here. By doing that, showing our accomplishments, letting people know, hey, this is what we did. This is how we did it. That's

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the whole thing with the strategic planning. Let people know, hey, this is the plan. Get it out there. If you have any questions, you know what a meeting is.

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Um, I don't take the my accomplishments I personally take very seriously. on what I'm doing and what I'm doing to help others because that's why I was put

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on this earth for one reason, one reason only, help others. Uh, some of you know already, my best friend of over 50 years. She lost her condo Thursday in the storm.

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Gone. Everything. And she's lived there for 30 years. everything gone. Helping others. It could be financially. It could be

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just being there, holding them, give them a hug, shake their hands, good work, anything positive. My accomplishment in that perspective is being there for others. We're all here for others.

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We should all be here for others, not ourselves, for others. We represent other people. Um, being there for other people. Um, for example, since this happened Thursday,

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I've been leaving work, driving down the old bridge, and getting home at midnight. Um, share my experience. I never experienced that much of a disaster, but I'm there and I learn from others

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how they got through it. And certain things, even in death, a family member, guess what? Anything goes on with me, I let people know because you know what? You let people know. There's a high

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probability that someone you're talking to knows someone who went through exactly what you're going through and you can say, "Hey, how'd you do it?"

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It's accomplishment. They accomplish something. You're using their accomplishment for yourself so you can accomplish. By doing that, you can accomplish anything. Thank you. >> Oh [laughter]

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no. >> Play it safe. >> No one played before. >> Got to test them. I'm glad I didn't have that much coffee.

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>> That would have been real hard if I had a little giving everybody else number. Don't pop it over. >> I probably would trip into it. Reflection. What is one moment related to our schools that makes

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you smile? think of exact ones. You know what I mean? Things that have happened I think are really cool in terms of what Um, I have to say probably I really since being on the board I didn't know about the kindness club. I really was not aware of that and I've really

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enjoyed seeing those presentations and when it comes up and just what they're all about and how I really think that they bring kids together where they feel out, left out, not part of it and I think it's really beautiful thing and when I see those presentations here so I

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can't say one thing when do their presentations. I really think it is something that really makes me smile. Yeah. Makes me happy. It brings kids together, parents together, everyone together. [applause]

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>> My favorite's graduation. >> No, not that one. [laughter] >> No, I don't know why I'm still This is not fun. [laughter] >> Yeah, I I think so. Technically, >> we're not on camera.

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>> Yeah. Yeah, [laughter] that's all I do. >> I am. Is there a difference in the colors? >> Nope. >> A little wet as wet as tops. >> Inspiration.

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If resources were unlimited, what would you create for students? I have a whole list if I won the lottery. What I would um I would

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if resources were unlimited, I would build a new school with everything >> under the sun >> under the sun imaginable to make the students lives

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exciting, fun, and educational. >> [applause] >> You know what you're doing. >> I had to go before it got too high. I couldn't reach. [laughter] stand [laughter] inspiration. What gives you hope about

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the future of education? >> Um, obviously I think the strategic plan. Um, I think that that is a good starting point to get us going in the direction where we're we're continuing to improve our

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schools and doing it to the to the expectation of the community as well. Um, having them be able to see measurable outcomes to know that, you know, this is not something that we just

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did to do. You know, we really we really are improving our school and that gives me a lot of hope about where this district in particular is going. [applause] [laughter] >> I knew I'd be the one Anyone

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else? >> Share with the bar connection. Who was an educator who changed your life and why? >> An educator that changed your life and why. David Deal, high school choir teacher,

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taught me more about the love of music that I was there and I'm still living today. sister Alice, probably the meanest teacher ever, ironically [laughter] enough, and but

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ridiculously organized. Like, you couldn't not learn in her class. Even if you tried, you couldn't not learn. She was that amazing as a teacher. >> Awesome. >> Anyone else? I'm with Mrs. Fitz Morris

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and I was the opposite. She was probably the nicest person and it just made like every time you went into her classroom, you just felt like it was so welcoming and you felt well I felt anyway ready to learn because I felt confident and

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comfortable in her presence. >> Another connection. What makes a team successful? >> Collaboration. No free agents on the team. >> Expand. Expand on that. >> Expand on that. I was waiting for you

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that I knew you were going to say that. >> Of course I was going to say. >> Sure. No free agents. No one person going with one idea and not being open for change. Listening. Um

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the team takes for example we'll use baseball >> you need you need nine players >> I mean we can actually use the world cup the world cup when somebody two they were only playing with 10

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>> they were playing your okay do it this way your star player gets Okay. Where's that 10th guy? >> He became one of the nine. >> Can he replace that one key player

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partially? Who's replacing the other parts? teamwork comes in to play. It's not just that one player who's been sitting on the bench and all of a sudden he gets called in

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see other ones that picked them up. You can have the 10th player or the one on the bench. Oh, I'm going in. I don't want to I don't like this person. I don't like

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that person. I don't like coach coaches. It's not going to work. Plain and simple. I would say being openminded. Being open-minded is what I said. So not

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just disagree because whether you don't like a person like whether it's the community, whether it's each other agree with you, but be willing to listen and say, "Wait, I never looked at it that way or I never thought about it that way. So be willing to hear somebody out and

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try to look. >> Yeah. And that's part of being a team is being able to step back and I guess you can I've heard this analogy the 30,000 foot view >> or what I say what I say a lot there's

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several channels on TV. Don't just watch one. >> It's import be able to disagree respectfully. Bring your opinions and your concerns in

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a way that you know people are willing to listen because they they feel safe in in the environment. >> And that's what team building is all about, right? creating that safe environment where you as a board get to

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know a little bit about one another, that you're able to make those connections, that you're able to reflect, and that moving forward, a retreat is supposed to be an opportunity to say, "Okay, this is what we did, and this is how we're going to move forward.

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This is our opportunity." sometimes and I've said this for those of you who have been on the board for as long as longer than me but as long as I have been here I said you know the easy work is what's in front of you that's the easy work the

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hard work is working with one another and you have to find a way to work with one another and be able to have conversations and make sure that collaboration that you're talking about that it's productive that you're able to interact respectfully and that we can

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disagree at times, but we are open-minded and that we are listening and that when there's an opportunity to get an answer that we're we're going towards the source that can get the answer. Now, sometimes you may not like

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the answer. However, we're not taking that it's not the answer I want as not getting an answer because that's not the case. But that's us as a board. how we operate, how we work together. And

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that's why these little team building exercises is just to continue to strengthen that so that we can do that hard work when we do this. So with this, we're going to move into our four pillars. So you heard about

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student success, you heard about employee excellence, sustainable schools, and friends and family. And I also gave you a little cheat sheet right there on your clipboard. So, what we're going to do, our last activity for tonight to start to build

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out these board goals is that you're going to take a gallery block. Okay? So, each there's four, one, two, three, four, which represents the four pillars. Okay? There's four. And you're going to

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visit each one for five minutes. And you're going to ask yourself if this pillar is fully realized, what will success look like? Okay, so the group that's going to be student success?

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That's your question. If this pillar is fully realized, what will success look like? But also, there's some additional things if you want to add on. Find your little cheat sheet. There's one that says, "What will they achieve?" This

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helps you to get your juices flowing. What will they achieve? What will they I'm sorry, I don't have my glasses on. What will they remember? What will they remember? What will they >> become? Thank you. >> What will they create? >> What will they create?

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>> Come on. >> Okay. >> And so the same thing for our next pillar, employee excellence. the same general question of if this pillar is fully realized, what will success look like for our employees, but there's a

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few question stems included on that one. Okay, are we clear what we're doing? >> Okay, so what you're going to do is you're going to rotate and I'll tell you when time is up and you're going to get a nice little marker and you're going to add answer that question.

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>> Okay. >> In groups. >> In groups. Yes. A brownie. >> That's not in the box. >> I'll tell you what. >> It's not in the box. >> Sorry, the box isn't pretty. >> But everyone,

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yes. Shake it up. Shake it up. Shake it up. It doesn't shake. >> Shuffle around. Shuffle around. Something around. >> So they're labeled one, two, three. And if you get a one, all the ones will come together. All the twos will come together. All the threes will come

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together. Ones will start at student success, which is right there. Twos will start at employee excellence, which is right there. And three, sustainable schools will go right here. Four will be blank for now, but then we'll rotate. >> Are we good?

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>> Okay. >> Right. and then we'll add four in in the next round. >> Okay, [clears throat] >> that's my favorite my favorite one. Three, one, three. So, you'll go there.

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>> We have a graduation rate. >> We do. >> Yeah, >> I'll get that for you. >> I was just curious. >> I can get you last year's graduation, right? It's great. It's great. Absolutely. >> Sorry, I didn't.

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>> Yeah, they are, aren't they? >> This gives you an opportunity to also discuss >> Sorry. This gives you an opportunity to discuss in your group the pillar.

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>> All right. So, I'm starting the timer now. Have a good night everyone. >> Good night. Can someone join Sharon? So she's not the only number one. >> Thank you.

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>> We got it right. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. You could write employ your ideas. >> I told a group See, I'm not the only one. >> I think it's a good one. [laughter]

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>> I don't know. >> [laughter] >> about the strategic plan. Really going to be this is just very I mean, yes, >> the metrics are very important because we want to make sure that we're

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measuring it accurately, but even prior to getting to the metrics like the focus priorities like is that addressing what our stakeholders remains to be seen. I don't know.

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>> You don't have the whole picture. You know what I mean? >> We're making our own rules over here. >> You know, you're asked to vote on something, you should have the text of the law, not just on the overview.

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Three minutes are up. >> Uh oh, we're done. >> Go to your next your next one. >> And the three minutes from you're going to go to four. >> Yes. The lonely one that's not there. Yes.

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>> So what you're voting on is >> the next one. >> Yeah. It's hard to have questions without The next steps of the process >> families and friends

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and friends experience. >> So if it helps family and friends is like community also like we did we diditeration. >> We were big oniteration. >> That's one thing. That's why parents always say they're

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never going to move, but if they did, >> they can't give an example. >> We can't say that we're going to um provide everyone with a device that they can communicate directly with. How can we do that without having

453
02:15:22.880 --> 02:15:45.719
leadership insight? Because ultimately you sitting here at this table and me even asendation no >> very empty to create measures and metrics without the

454
02:15:46.719 --> 02:16:03.800
broader picture looks like once we start getting some guidelines some metrics implementation Oh, right. >> T G O U. No, I was right. But I sess

455
02:16:05.360 --> 02:16:21.840
that was that entire circle. But just >> for this for the purposes of the strategic plan. These were this is what was identified as these are the areas. These are the priorities and now plugging in those metrics that support

456
02:16:21.840 --> 02:16:45.439
those priorities. Ryan was saying it all >> what we're doing at one school >> and now everything's different how are we communicating >> you you can't tell where it's going like you do know what

457
02:16:45.439 --> 02:17:03.120
they want >> right so and that's what you're voting on that you agree that we're focusing on students employees families and our schools. >> Exactly. [laughter] >> Kind of like the team said that over

458
02:17:03.120 --> 02:17:33.120
five years these are the things here. >> So that especially if like you said the That was another three minutes. >> Rotate. >> We're moving already. >> Goes to one.

459
02:17:33.120 --> 02:17:51.080
>> Don't cheat. >> Got me all confused. >> What number is this? >> That's four. >> That's four. >> That's four. >> Families and friends. >> Families and friends. >> Okay. >> Oh, okay. I need that. >> Totally got this.

460
02:17:52.240 --> 02:18:32.280
I know I shouldn't be surprised on the 168 has the legal team of its improvement hats. skills. >> That's kind of transparency.

461
02:18:38.800 --> 02:19:09.559
That's what I'm process. >> Well, that's it's a discussion. >> No, no, I get that. But you know if there's something in here that's illegal. >> Oh, they would have said something. >> There you go. >> I didn't get an email at all.

462
02:19:13.760 --> 02:19:29.920
>> Did you ask me? >> I just I just thought you wanted us to be prepared to discuss it tonight. I would have been happy to email you >> ahead of time. I just thought you wanted us to be ready to discuss it tonight. >> Right. So the process says we sent it to our

463
02:19:29.920 --> 02:20:02.240
attorney and if there was anything that was it would have exactly discussion like I said I'm used to more legal iter There are definitely different percentages.

464
02:20:02.240 --> 02:20:19.439
>> I think it was very important to first have a discussion. >> Okay. >> And because there's other things that will come out during the discussion >> and then sending it a complete package. This right now this is just what you put up with no board input whatsoever. So by

465
02:20:19.439 --> 02:20:41.760
having their input and then sending it to the legal team to look at >> whatever [laughter] your face >> well the timer's going. I'm resetting on to the next

466
02:20:41.760 --> 02:21:03.160
door. This is >> so the next rotation you'll be back at your original [laughter] >> trust and partnership the whole time. >> What will families experience? Sense of

467
02:21:10.560 --> 02:21:47.479
>> I guess >> I was gonna say I was gonna say that. I love the smell of the marker. >> It reminds me of being a kid. >> So, it says, "What will family >> experience communication engagement trust >> support

468
02:21:48.640 --> 02:22:38.640
>> um support for them or them support >> like help feel relieved that they come [laughter] >> in a tea Is that better? >> I I'll just wait. What is it?

469
02:22:38.640 --> 02:23:23.160
>> One minute warning. Wait. wrote me back and said, "It looks like someone [laughter] could see >> because I brought strawberries it electronic >> results, but I'm saying

470
02:23:30.399 --> 02:23:54.760
>> correct. >> You looked at me as if it was Frank. >> I said that's right. I >> just go back to your original where you started because >> you want us to throw these out.

471
02:23:57.840 --> 02:24:15.680
>> Okay. Look at what is written and then we're just going to go wrap it around. What? emerge at where you're standing and rapidly. You don't have to explain it. Just look at the common. What was common? And

472
02:24:15.680 --> 02:24:30.720
remember, these are the things we're going to build or try to draft some board goals with. So, even if you want to circle them really quick, what were the common themes, common language?

473
02:24:30.720 --> 02:24:59.210
>> What are we going to focus on? What should rise to a board priority? >> So remember the board priority something that you can govern. circle the two. Should I circle all of them? [laughter]

474
02:24:59.359 --> 02:25:14.640
>> Did I do it right? >> There's no right or wrong. Didn't I have that on the slide? >> It said there was no right or wrong. Just what was it? I said >> there it is.

475
02:25:14.640 --> 02:25:34.720
>> All there are no wrong answers. Dream boldly. Okay. All right. Here we go. Share out. Group one, >> what were the common themes? >> Go ahead. >> So there it seems like overall there's

476
02:25:34.720 --> 02:25:50.319
two themes. >> Okay. >> Um one of them is leadership or preparation. So you have prepared leadership, confidence, success all connected and then become anything

477
02:25:50.319 --> 02:26:07.439
they want. Right? Nothing says mathematician. And while I value that, I love that >> this shows the bigger picture. Right. You want to do the other one? >> Um, so then the these all look the same. Great times they will never forget. The

478
02:26:07.439 --> 02:26:23.359
best four years of their life. Pride in where they came from. Um, feeling included. So just >> best four years of their life. >> Well, >> until they got to college. until I got to college. [laughter]

479
02:26:23.359 --> 02:26:40.640
>> That's 13 years of >> Yeah. 14 years now. >> 14 >> 14 preK 3. >> I'm sorry. There was a one missing. 14 [laughter] years of their life. >> I'm in the high school. I was thinking. >> So just So great job. So now think about

480
02:26:40.640 --> 02:26:54.960
now, how does that turn into a board goal? Just hold it. Yes. You're next. Go. >> What emerged? >> Uh supportive. and um value. >> Those are the two that we kind of see going

481
02:26:54.960 --> 02:27:12.240
>> see across. So just to the same thing, how does that develop into a board goal for employee excellence? >> Think about what you do. Hold it tight. Hold it tight. Hold it tight. Get there. But what does that look like from the

482
02:27:12.240 --> 02:27:27.760
board? Remember you're here and then it has to go all the way down. Okay. Go for it. We kind of did the same as number one stage. So we feel that a couple of them they emerge as themes because they kind of go together. So um I'll do this

483
02:27:27.760 --> 02:27:44.160
one top tier innovative extracurricular facilities um and then somebody put top-notch labs. So I think you know having innovative um labs and extracurricular facilities um will make us really stand out.

484
02:27:44.160 --> 02:28:02.399
>> Oh I'll do the other one. safe safe facilities building improvements. Ditto. >> It says ditto. Somebody somebody didn't feel like by having safe

485
02:28:02.399 --> 02:28:17.840
and building improvements. The school will feel like a second home, which all of these bring you to uh more productive students and teachers. They all line together.

486
02:28:17.840 --> 02:28:36.080
>> Good. So now your job will be to put that in a board goal. >> And now I'll read this here for families and friends. Success is contagious, united, belonging, supported, relief,

487
02:28:36.080 --> 02:28:52.560
being part of a bigger family, the Middle Sex family, money well spent, consistency. So things other themes that we even heard this evening when we talked about strategic planning. So since we're looking at three goals, it

488
02:28:52.560 --> 02:29:07.920
really is well, how do we also incorporate these or do we do four goals? That's up to you. They're not my goals. They are the board's goals. So thank you. Have a seat. And let's let's

489
02:29:07.920 --> 02:29:29.600
work through quickly draft bowls [clears throat] and we'll popcorn them. Erin, can you record? >> Thank you. >> So, we're number three. So, we're working on our

490
02:29:29.600 --> 02:29:45.359
>> number three goal or everybody? >> No, everyone will will join in, but three will lead the will facilitate number three. Okay, so number one, student success. What does that look like in a goal?

491
02:29:45.359 --> 02:30:03.280
And don't worry about putting it in a smart goal just yet. We'll do that. We need to just get the bones down. Think about the board's role in student success. >> I mean, what are we need to

492
02:30:03.280 --> 02:30:22.720
we need to support? um activities that create those great times, >> great times that we'll never forget, right? How we have to be able to support that whether that's you know financially or

493
02:30:22.720 --> 02:30:39.520
in any other way um just so that they're able to have those experiences. So if I even think about what was brought out in the strategic plan and how you can even marry that families and friends piece, family and friends piece is that they talked about the opportunity, right? We talked about empowered ed parent

494
02:30:39.520 --> 02:30:56.800
university. So creating times that are or creating times that are well spent. Well, parents have to know about it, right? >> There has to be communication, right? So again, so how what what's the board's role there? How does the board support that?

495
02:30:56.800 --> 02:31:11.600
How does the board >> they all get, you know, high quality instruction? No one's left out. >> High quality instruction. So that goes to that hiring piece. No one's left out. That's that equity piece.

496
02:31:11.600 --> 02:31:30.960
Anything else? How do you measure it? >> Standards. >> Give me more. Give me more. standard. Let's say you have a new program that you want to

497
02:31:30.960 --> 02:31:47.280
start, extracurricular, whatever, and there's 12 students that signed up. Okay, here's your benchmark. How much how do you want to improve that incrementally? Let's say next year, how

498
02:31:47.280 --> 02:32:04.319
do we get to that 15 level? >> So that's district. What's the board going to do? Because remember the implementation comes over here, >> but what does the what's the board's role in that? >> You willing to hear out what's being

499
02:32:04.319 --> 02:32:21.280
presented to us on the agenda and take the time to ask why and then we give our vote. So ultimately that usually >> correct. So it can look like there's agenda items that are related to these things that we're talking about and that

500
02:32:21.280 --> 02:32:36.720
we're supporting those. It could look as if the professional development or professional learning of teachers for who are facilitating these types of events that they're going for that professional learning. Again, it's on the board agenda. You're asking

501
02:32:36.720 --> 02:32:51.520
questions like you just said, we relate it back to the strategic plan and then it becomes how the board is supporting it. And again, they're supporting it funding, they're supporting it by maybe hosting it, having it here.

502
02:32:51.520 --> 02:33:12.240
>> What else? attending our >> There you go. >> Wouldn't that be Wouldn't that be under leading by example? >> There you go. >> Showing up >> maybe the So, it's so as we develop these empowered eggs that board members,

503
02:33:12.240 --> 02:33:27.120
how many board members are going to attend? How many will you attend? If there's 10, what's your what are you setting? >> What goal are we setting for ourselves to be out there in public at these

504
02:33:27.120 --> 02:33:42.880
school functions >> by showing Yeah. showing excitement about these things that are >> showing up >> because guess what? Everybody knows that we're the board. Everybody knows who we are in town.

505
02:33:42.880 --> 02:33:58.800
We're showing up like, "Oh, yeah. at that >> and it's not just graduation. It's the you go to the >> living the living museum the place

506
02:33:58.800 --> 02:34:14.880
>> the living museum um >> place at the football game on a Friday night >> back to school night >> but back to >> you can do >> absolutely Mrs. Scheler comes to every

507
02:34:14.880 --> 02:34:30.560
back to school night. She doesn't miss one. >> Mrs. Parent has come to almost every single one. I We've walked We've walked several together. But I'm at every back to school night. The only time I'm not at a back to school night is if my kids

508
02:34:30.560 --> 02:34:45.760
have a back to school night. >> But you're still at back to school night. >> Yeah, [laughter] I'm at some school night. >> But yes, board members, absolutely at back to school nights. Are you okay? >> Yeah. I don't know why. Okay. >> Broke it.

509
02:34:45.760 --> 02:35:02.160
>> That wasn't my H. [laughter] >> You're at back to school nights. What else? >> I think we nailed that one. There's a lot. That's a good one. So, that's student success. >> I I think that's a goal with this is

510
02:35:02.160 --> 02:35:19.760
just showing up x amount of times a year. Okay. These are the events. >> You got to show up. >> I don't know. Show your enthusiasm. >> Good with that one. So that student success. Which one was that? >> Yeah.

511
02:35:19.760 --> 02:35:35.040
>> Okay. So now moving on to employee excellence. How does the board support employee excellence? Improving professional development. There we go. Improving professional development. And what does that look like? >> Offering more

512
02:35:35.040 --> 02:35:55.680
different fields what they're interested in. Do they want to improve? Do they just want to question is what staff wants to go to that leaders >> what what are their individual goals I

513
02:35:55.680 --> 02:36:11.600
just want to teach the 30 years that's all that's it okay or do they want to go >> but we don't have we don't have control over that so just I think we have control over providing opportunities >> oh no that's what I mean we're providing opportunities for them >> that's our I can't I can't talk to you

514
02:36:11.600 --> 02:36:26.880
about that at expectations. >> I think supporting and supporting like what the administrative team like the professional so you know the building principles they have they know what their teachers need for the most part right so supporting

515
02:36:26.880 --> 02:36:43.359
them um even with funding for professional development that they bring forward because they're either one their teachers have asked for it or they feel like it's needed in their school >> um or in the elementary schools as a whole per se. Um, you know, I think

516
02:36:43.359 --> 02:37:00.160
sometimes, and obviously it's money is always a big thing, but I think sometimes too many people make that the driving factor when we can't accomplish a lot of these things if we're not open to funding them as well. You know, most of

517
02:37:00.160 --> 02:37:14.960
it's not free. >> But you know what? For example, we spent what $140,000 on the student is an investment in the future. >> Not 140,000. >> How much? It's 44,000. >> 44,000. Oh, I thought it was 44,000 a year. [laughter]

518
02:37:14.960 --> 02:37:31.040
>> Is it a 44,000 year, right? >> Yes. If we continue >> If we continue Well, >> the second year is a coaching year. >> Okay. Yes. >> Okay. So, the >> So, their job will be Yes. >> We're investing >> for us to get better.

519
02:37:31.040 --> 02:37:48.800
>> Not only the board members, everybody lift them. traditional development is supported through state funding too funding also. So that's helpful. >> Yeah. >> But it's it's where we're going even

520
02:37:48.800 --> 02:38:05.120
having a conversation about grants. So when grants are put forward that as the board that you're you're voting on those things, you're voting on those grants that we're going for. You know, last year we went for the coach grant. We went for the lift grant. we were able to

521
02:38:05.120 --> 02:38:21.600
bring a substantial amount of money into the district. So the board supports in that manner also >> also think asking questions you know like a lot of times we sit here and we have our own opinions or questions or

522
02:38:21.600 --> 02:38:38.399
concerns and sometimes we don't always bring them to everyone. you know, we kind of keep them to ourselves and then just shoot things down without maybe putting our opinion out there so that somebody else may have something deeper to think about when it comes to

523
02:38:38.399 --> 02:38:56.319
those things. >> Can I go in a different direction? >> Sure. >> I think we could do a better job at highlighting our our staff. We do going going beyond employee of the

524
02:38:56.319 --> 02:39:12.000
month. >> Yes, because that's one person >> 12 months, right? But we have a lot more people than that. >> I feel like >> you could have the employee school

525
02:39:12.000 --> 02:39:29.600
teacher the mom that could be >> the schools decide through this strategic planning process to implement something like that where they do that at each school again. showing up, you know, right? >> Showing up like a lot of a lot of times personally for me, I think of showing up

526
02:39:29.600 --> 02:39:45.359
as like >> for the students because I like the living museum and the the award ceremonies and things like that because I just like to watch the kids, you know, that's that's more fun. But >> um I think showing up for any kind of

527
02:39:45.359 --> 02:40:01.520
awards or recognition for teachers is or employees is also very important. >> But and board members have also shown up professional learning. I was just going to say that >> we we have had in the past couple years have professional um board members show up for professional learning and that

528
02:40:01.520 --> 02:40:18.479
also goes a long way to the employees that they see that you're learning right along with them and opening the opening. >> Yes. >> And I know like that's hard because everyone works I think but you know if you can it is that's also a very good

529
02:40:18.479 --> 02:40:34.880
>> but I think that's what's the But wouldn't wouldn't that be further education through the NJ so we can become better board members so >> that's true too doing like training and

530
02:40:34.880 --> 02:40:52.640
stuff so that we know our job and our role >> to best support all of these things >> you said doing like like doing training so that we better know our responsibilities and our roles as a board member to all of these

531
02:40:52.640 --> 02:41:09.920
>> and they're on the website. >> So on the website, attending the county meetings, attending the state, >> see attending the county meetings is really huge. I've learned there's so much in what year and a half um going to

532
02:41:09.920 --> 02:41:26.640
county meetings, see how different boards do things just by talking, just by listening, you know. I mean, it's amazing. >> And most of them are virtual, so it's makes it easier. >> I like the draw.

533
02:41:26.640 --> 02:41:42.160
>> Yeah. But for some people Oh, yeah. But they're Yeah, exactly. >> So, it's it makes it a little bit easier. >> Yeah. >> All right. Sustainable schools. >> Just gather the facilities, make it look good. >> It's the board's role.

534
02:41:42.160 --> 02:41:57.280
>> Spend the money. >> It doesn't always have to go back to money. >> It doesn't have to go back to money. You have to see what's >> about polic. about policy. It's um it's about uh setting goals like um

535
02:41:57.280 --> 02:42:13.920
okay prioritize what needs to be done which we do right Sharon >> prioritize which >> every year every summer we're doing something different prioritize >> well we have our long range facilities

536
02:42:13.920 --> 02:42:30.479
plan and from the long range facilities plan we identify with our architects those projects that are most pressing that we should be taking a look at. >> Right. Exactly. >> And then we're also always looking for creative ways to get those projects

537
02:42:30.479 --> 02:42:54.640
done. >> So what does that look like from the board? >> Ultra creative way. >> Yes. Ultra creative where they take 100% just 5050. You want to table this and we'll

538
02:42:54.640 --> 02:43:10.800
>> No. Well, here we go. How can we as a board make the schools feel welcoming and like a second home? >> Yeah.

539
02:43:10.800 --> 02:43:27.760
>> While being safe. I mean I guess a lot of us go to the different schools on occasion. So just being observant, you know, observing things and bringing them to the appropriate person to you or

540
02:43:27.760 --> 02:43:44.479
to the facilities team, you know, saying, "Hey, I was at this school and I saw X, Y, and Z. Maybe that's something you should look at." You know, so just kind of >> But it shouldn't turn into a list that looking No, but if you >> exactly if you're there and you observe

541
02:43:44.479 --> 02:44:03.520
something absolutely that you report it to the people that can do something effective. >> Absolutely. >> Open your eyes. >> See something, say something. >> Have a conversation about it. have a

542
02:44:03.520 --> 02:44:21.840
conversation that we go to the appropriate channels to address our concerns where we can get answers. >> Just really quick, our appropriate channels are you saying we don't reach out to the >> board president

543
02:44:21.840 --> 02:44:38.640
>> board president me or if you are reaching No, never. That's what I learned the hard way but with >> correct >> correct but even if you come to me just always you know making sure that [laughter] >> wouldn't be the first

544
02:44:38.640 --> 02:44:54.560
>> making sure that the board president absolutely >> if you're on that committee bring it up at your >> bring it up at your committee absolutely but I I will say this bringing up bring it up ahead of time so that there can be a conversation about it you know

545
02:44:54.560 --> 02:45:12.080
sometimes when it's brought here. It's I may not or Annette may not or Aaron may not have all of the information that you're looking for, but if you bring it to me ahead of time, we could do Exactly. We can do our due diligence to bring you the information.

546
02:45:12.080 --> 02:45:28.160
>> It goes back to Maryanne, right? Last month when she did her That was last month, right? >> Yeah. [laughter] >> It seems like ages ago, right? Yes, it was last month. But she talked about when you have questions the appropriate channels and no surprises right that

547
02:45:28.160 --> 02:45:44.640
when we have questions we seek the answers from the people who have the answers so that they're able to provide it to us and that we can have productive discussion. Okay. I'm sorry I'm not a mind reader. I

548
02:45:44.640 --> 02:46:11.680
don't know. But if you if you ask me I'm going to look it up. I'm going to find it. Last one. >> We're living in a modern age. >> I I understand. But we have technology. We had power go out here the other day.

549
02:46:11.680 --> 02:46:27.680
>> This is my point. I think the wording needs to say because it does say on here if in the event the public meeting is held at an off-site or nonboard controlled location where live stream streaming is not available or feasible then we can record and post. So I also think that somewhere if if we're going

550
02:46:27.680 --> 02:46:42.960
to go with this that somewhere in there it should say if you know in the event of you know technological issues >> I'm to anything >> but the the the video recording versus the audio recording only which is then

551
02:46:42.960 --> 02:46:59.359
locked behind a firewall that that really has to change. >> I mean I I what do you mean by locked behind a firewall? I can I can go review that audio 9 to 3 Monday to Friday >> yeah the point

552
02:46:59.359 --> 02:47:15.279
>> he's saying it's not readily available >> but he's got to call in make an appointment has to listen to it in some place in here >> nobody but that's the only way to do it >> yeah I yeah that's part of that's part of it too

553
02:47:15.279 --> 02:47:34.240
>> um so I my big concern is requiring live streaming for meetings because technology is just that technology and it's fallable and I don't want to not be able to pay our teachers or pay bills or

554
02:47:34.240 --> 02:47:49.840
approve items that we have to approve. We only meet once a month. We need to be able to do our work. Even if it's only just video recorded or audio recorded, we need to be able to have the meeting because we can't have

555
02:47:49.840 --> 02:48:06.080
the meeting if we can't we don't have Is is that something that can be fixed in the language to require it while technologically available? >> Yes. And I think we could also add try to add language that says something like

556
02:48:06.080 --> 02:48:21.760
um but under no circumstance shall the board's inability to abide by the policy prevent the board, you know, moving forward with the meeting. Something like that. >> And honestly, with litigation, I so frustrated because

557
02:48:21.760 --> 02:48:38.080
As lawyers, we try to figure out what the law is and obviously we look at like the written law, but then we also have to look at the cases that interpret it. But then at the end of the day, it can change at the next case. that case is ours and it so you know and and

558
02:48:38.080 --> 02:48:52.720
it used to be and I think it should be that the board policies don't really matter so much in terms of is the action you take going to be challengeable by someone and things like that. But there

559
02:48:52.720 --> 02:49:09.040
was a case not that long ago where um a board appointed someone to fill a vacant spot >> and they didn't follow their board policy in terms of doing public interviews of the candidates and then and and the the way they did it and

560
02:49:09.040 --> 02:49:25.680
largely as a result of that the court ended up overturning that person's appointment like six months later. So it's not there's there's always the the risk of well if the policy says we're not to supposed to go forward and we still, you know, are we going to miss

561
02:49:25.680 --> 02:49:39.920
the bill paying? But then there's also the other point of, well, if we go forward and we ignore the policy, are we then opening ourselves up to challenge and things like that? But you can try and work the language out to make that work, correct? >> Yes.

562
02:49:39.920 --> 02:49:58.479
>> Have you seen any litigation to live video? And I I think of that as they live stream something on on television and there's a delay or something that happens and then there's

563
02:49:58.479 --> 02:50:15.680
people viewing that live and >> I don't know if that would even be allowed to be taken out if that were a video but I'm just saying like >> the five minute or the one hour rule after the meeting to make sure that there's not something tragic or

564
02:50:15.680 --> 02:50:31.359
something like that. I don't know. >> Right. I Yeah. I don't know about that issue. I mean, I suppose that that's always a possibility. I think more realistic, more practical is

565
02:50:31.359 --> 02:50:47.600
um I I've I have seen I've been at board meetings where all of a sudden the room starts to fill up halfway through public comment on one of these because people are watching at home and they don't like what they've seen or they want to and it happened, you know, issues. Yeah. Uh so

566
02:50:47.600 --> 02:51:04.160
and and um I think another practical consideration, but this probably has to do with video and live streaming perhaps equally, is >> if if people have something to say to the board, >> but they might be shy and they might be

567
02:51:04.160 --> 02:51:18.960
nervous. Are they less likely to do it if they think that the whole community is going to be able to go and replay it over and over again afterwards than if it's just live and people in the room but that's obviously not just live stream

568
02:51:18.960 --> 02:51:34.880
>> initially these meetings were not video recording >> and you know I was fully on board for that because I wanted these meetings to be a very open dialogue whereas I know it's a public meeting and people can come but I myself was

569
02:51:34.880 --> 02:51:51.680
more open to asking questions more comfortable now I'm on the board a couple years so I'm a little I don't mind the video but it did help me initially have those because I didn't feel like oh the world is watching me if I ask question

570
02:51:51.680 --> 02:52:06.560
>> and and as you mentioned that's one of my concerns with the live streaming um you know because number one personally I think that if I know we all have kids and lives and jobs and all of

571
02:52:06.560 --> 02:52:21.760
these things but I feel like if there is something that you feel that strongly about you're going to make it a priority to come to a meeting live so that you have an opportunity to speak at the podium or just hear what others are

572
02:52:21.760 --> 02:52:37.600
saying. Um, but one of my concerns is that when you're live streaming, like you said, something is said and then all of a sudden everybody's like, "Oh, I got to go to that meeting now so I can, you know, get up there and say what

573
02:52:37.600 --> 02:52:54.160
everybody else just said." Um, so I'm not really for or totally against it. Um, I do have concerns about the whole live live live streaming situation. >> There's at least one other point I just wanted to raise which is um the it talks

574
02:52:54.160 --> 02:53:11.760
about after 24 uh month minimum the recordings may be removed only after summary or verbatim transcripts have been approved as minutes um and only if permission. So that's the part and I'm not sure if that's intending to be

575
02:53:11.760 --> 02:53:28.080
different than what the typical minutes are or just a that it h it should be a minute that that there should be approved minutes for that meeting. >> Okay. So, my intent there was just to keep the video up for a

576
02:53:28.080 --> 02:53:43.600
reviewable amount of time where things need to be referenced going back to two years ago, whatever it might be. Um, I I just took the current for government records and included it in that. I think

577
02:53:43.600 --> 02:53:59.040
if you look at the current policy under electronic recording, it says it department shall make an audio recording of each board meeting and then it says the recording shall be uploaded to the district website. I think that wording is >> the same until either summary or

578
02:53:59.040 --> 02:54:16.000
>> very here it's just further down and so it looks it looks different if that makes sense. Either way, I think it's I So, I mean, you guys approved minutes. They're not transcripts. They're summary. I mean, I

579
02:54:16.000 --> 02:54:31.200
guess you could say it's a summary in a sense, but it's not. And And >> I I'll be fair to the minutes that we approve and that takes very good minutes. Like, I'm often quoted out in everything I've said. >> I would just I I would just delete this

580
02:54:31.200 --> 02:54:47.120
part that part of it that Okay. about maybe removed um >> only after minutes are approved. >> Yeah. And honestly, if it's 24 months, if you've got the video up for 24 months, it's should be a complete food issue at that point. Um

581
02:54:47.120 --> 02:55:03.840
>> so I guess I'm concerned about the 24 months. Um but that's just my opinion. Um what is just out of curiosity? What is the concern? Just >> um I'm trying to figure out why we need

582
02:55:03.840 --> 02:55:22.319
to go back two full years on like a meeting like tonight. No. >> Do you know if there's like a kind of >> um >> record schedule? >> No, just like a like a

583
02:55:22.319 --> 02:55:37.600
>> That's correct. >> Yes. That that um other boards do as far as if they keep their you know, is there like a time frame? I know I Martin you said a reasonable time frame. So to you 24 months that's your opinion of a reasonable time frame. Fine. Fair. So is

584
02:55:37.600 --> 02:55:54.240
there like a standard almost that most boards use? >> Not not that I'm aware of. Um >> does have guidance? >> Not that I'm aware of in terms of retention periods for videos. And again it's not really retention. It's it's

585
02:55:54.240 --> 02:56:08.640
posting the amount of time that it's posting >> because we're not saying we're destroying it. We're just not making it available from >> and we're not making it readily available on a website or >> I will say that this came up because

586
02:56:08.640 --> 02:56:24.720
there was a variety of people who said derogatory things about staff members and >> and then it lives for however long. >> It lives it lives for two years potentially under this of people being

587
02:56:24.720 --> 02:56:40.960
able to go back >> about personal opinion about somebody who works for our district and we >> are supposed to support our staff. >> So that was explained to me made perfect

588
02:56:40.960 --> 02:57:00.240
sense. >> That makes me nervous until that situation occurred and then I realized wait a minute that guy was completely >> and you know my other question is like you said why are >> what is somebody going back looking for

589
02:57:00.240 --> 02:57:16.880
two years ago. And and not to say it's not available because it still exists. It's just not on the website. So if there really is something they want to see from three years ago, you know, once we start all our recordings and say it's three years from now, they can still see it. It's just not it just won't be on

590
02:57:16.880 --> 02:57:33.840
the website like hosted. >> Sure. But it's right now very draconian to even get to hear what we're saying. But you can't remove 0168.1 without providing some way to make it

591
02:57:33.840 --> 02:57:48.880
accessible which I >> so I'm just saying to I'm just talking to the point of the time frame >> right so say we made it six months or whatever we're not saying that they still can't people still can't

592
02:57:48.880 --> 02:58:04.960
have access as far back as two years ago that's just not something they can click really quickly and get to they would have to contact the school and how we will provide it to them. >> Well, so that's something we have to talk about. I'm just talking about the time frame like the time frame of the

593
02:58:04.960 --> 02:58:22.160
like the 24 months that you said. I'm just giving a different opinion and saying maybe there's a time frame we need to all kind of come to an agreement on that. That was my point. >> So um in terms of how people would access it's

594
02:58:22.160 --> 02:58:38.080
over. >> Yeah. So it's overable if it's a you know government record. record that you guys are keeping in the normal course of business and you retain it then it's subject to it's going to be subject to Oprah. Um so you know that's the answer that if somebody wants a recording of a

595
02:58:38.080 --> 02:58:52.720
video recording of a meeting that's not and it is available online then that's a sufficient answer to that open request which is just to say it's available here >> which comes down >> um whereas if it's not available online

596
02:58:52.720 --> 02:59:10.319
then you can just send a link to it or a copy of the file whatever it might be. There is no link. You can copy video file >> like to a share file like if you upload it to box.com or whatever >> new this is things wouldn't even know about

597
02:59:10.319 --> 02:59:37.439
>> Google whatever you guys [clears throat] >> Well, I mean there is quite a bit. This is quite a bit to read. I know that a lot of it is the same, too. >> Yeah. >> Um, so I think this is a good basis for

598
02:59:37.439 --> 02:59:54.399
a discussion. I think that if >> anybody wants to go home and read this versus what the current policy is, which you can find on the policy, and then we can also revisit tomorrow as ongoing business. >> Absolutely. >> So that we can, you know, move forward. >> Can I

599
02:59:54.399 --> 03:00:10.319
Yeah, give your opinions now so people can have people have those debate. >> I want to move to a different section which I don't believe you made any changes to at all which was the recording by the public. >> Actually, >> yeah. No, that is exactly >> I didn't I didn't see any changes in there but I forgot I didn't read every

600
03:00:10.319 --> 03:00:28.640
single word. Um >> there should be a section that is about recording by board members from the day. I agree. So we talk about in this that you have

601
03:00:28.640 --> 03:00:47.920
to be as far away as the public seating and >> but that's specifically so the policy is specific to the public. Correct. So I think that we need to also put in information >> if we're going to update this this

602
03:00:47.920 --> 03:01:06.640
policy bylaw. I think we need to review um when a recording is taken from our deis and especially if it is within any earshot of attorney client privilege

603
03:01:06.640 --> 03:01:22.960
that may be overheard. So I mean personally if we're discussing that part of it we say um make the topic this says recording by the public. So we we say recording by board members. So, I'm not opposed to having a board member record. I don't think that the recording

604
03:01:22.960 --> 03:01:39.920
device should be at the desk. It should be set up in the area of public seating just like it says for the public. Correct. >> And then they can take it home and do it. I'm not opposed to them having it. I just don't think that they should do it from this table. >> You guys didn't give me a heads up about this for

605
03:01:39.920 --> 03:01:55.680
um >> it made me think about it. >> I'll say this, but just hearing it and and thinking about it. that it if a board member and I I don't think I've ever dealt but if a board member would make a recording from the day is in the middle of a board meeting what happens if somebody submits an open

606
03:01:55.680 --> 03:02:12.399
request for that recording is it not a public record because it's not made during the board members performance of their official duties on the deis in the course of their >> it absolutely is and the gentleman in question knows that and has it

607
03:02:12.399 --> 03:02:27.520
permanently hosted So, and >> but see to that point, >> it was they it was being live streamed and other if I were to lean over to you as the board attorney and the person was

608
03:02:27.520 --> 03:02:43.200
sitting here and could hear me say to you a question that's client attorney privilege >> proximity of the public meeting. You have attorney client privilege directly speaking with your legal attorney. >> Correct.

609
03:02:43.200 --> 03:03:01.240
But but if I am >> if I am the vice president and asking him a question >> at a meeting >> that he needs to either answer or not answer and it's being live streamed out and my question can be heard

610
03:03:01.600 --> 03:03:17.840
>> publicly in a public meeting. Yes, it can be heard public if it can't be heard as the public >> then it shouldn't be heard on the video. I mean the microphones make sure it's heard by the >> P. No, but it's so often Danielle and I

611
03:03:17.840 --> 03:03:33.600
can have a conversation. >> Turn mine off and turn his off and but there's there's a reason next to the board president because often during meetings I'm asked to give advice and and counsel and sometimes there are issues that need to be considered by the

612
03:03:33.600 --> 03:03:49.840
whole board and I need to give advice on and we have to go to executives have those conversations, right? But then there's other times where it might just be a procedural type thing or and and often the board president is the point of contact. So that I we just have kind of off thereord conversations. Sometimes

613
03:03:49.840 --> 03:04:05.680
I press the mute but press the mute button. Yeah. um often depending on where I am and and so I I abs yes if there's a board member who's streaming or recording but but whatever it is and

614
03:04:05.680 --> 03:04:21.279
and it ends up broadcasting or catching now I would say at the very least board member ought to give everyone a heads up and so that that I and everyone else knows that that's happening so they can make but also

615
03:04:21.279 --> 03:04:37.840
if and and I haven't researched this, but if the board member I'm just trying to think it through. If the board member is taking this action during a a board meeting and is videoing much less broadcasting to what to their personal

616
03:04:37.840 --> 03:04:55.040
page, I'm concerned to a public official page. >> What does that mean? >> He has a public official page. >> It's a page that says that he's a board member. >> Well, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know that any single board member

617
03:04:55.040 --> 03:05:11.359
just I don't think that just because you put a and I haven't seen the page if it just says public official page that doesn't make it official or or necessarily public >> it says board me >> right so oh but I don't I can I understand that board members often have

618
03:05:11.359 --> 03:05:26.160
social media that they use for their kind of board business or as a board member that doesn't make it an official government in a way That's kind of the issue that I'm I'm potentially spotting here is that if

619
03:05:26.160 --> 03:05:42.800
>> if an individual board member is taking this action during a board meeting and and and it's not approved by the board, it certainly seems to me that there might be a claim that they're taking personal action um or they're using their board

620
03:05:42.800 --> 03:05:58.640
position for some kind of personal action or whether it's political gain or or whatever else that might be. So, I I I think I tend to agree that that a board member doesn't sacrifice their first amendment rights by being on a board and to the extent that the ability

621
03:05:58.640 --> 03:06:15.120
to record a meeting and is is connected to that. Okay. But to to do it um from your position you're literally the deis and and like in your role as you're performing the function >> you know that's only the ethics

622
03:06:15.120 --> 03:06:31.520
commissions actually has the authority or the so but but I can tell you that on the part of council, the legal reviewed it and it was totally legal because as an elected official, you do not sacrifice your first amendment right.

623
03:06:31.520 --> 03:06:48.000
>> But I also spoke to NG NJSBA about this and they and I again I don't know if this is completely accurate information, but they did say that like as in recording by the public, they're not giving up their first amendment right. Right. So, it's the

624
03:06:48.000 --> 03:07:03.760
same way if you don't have it, do you have it in your policy? Right? In your policy, we're not saying you can't do it. We're giving you guidelines for how you have to do it and where you can do it from. So, that's that's my point. I'm not sitting here saying, "No, you can't do it." I'm saying that it needs to be

625
03:07:03.760 --> 03:07:19.920
in the, you know, set up in the public viewing area so that, you know, you can take it home, you have it when when we're done, whatever. >> But I think that should be added here. >> Well, I I would issue the same challenge that was issued to me with this. you guys come together, write it, and then present it. >> No, and I know that's why when Sharon

626
03:07:19.920 --> 03:07:35.840
brought it up, I said that was on my brain, too. And that's why I said, you know, [clears throat] people can take it home, um, compare it against what's currently there. Bring your own opinions, ideas, you know, thoughts on it. Um, if you have anything tonight, opinions, ideas, thoughts to share for

627
03:07:35.840 --> 03:07:51.920
us to consider as we all kind of go through what maybe we want to change or update. I just wanted to add um we spoke about this before um it living on the web page

628
03:07:51.920 --> 03:08:07.920
is concerning when you are evaluating administrators. My question to the board is when does an administrator or not even an administrator when anyone that works for the district when do they ever get to present

629
03:08:07.920 --> 03:08:23.040
their side their perspective whatever someone is complaining about? When do ever give that opportunity to the public to the meeting their side >> public meeting about student.

630
03:08:23.040 --> 03:08:42.240
>> Nobody's saying makes an accusation against the teacher. Yeah. >> The teacher coming back to defend themselves is commenting about student. >> Okay, that's reasonable. >> Yeah. And that's I think in general about recording, not just live stream, but something kind of

631
03:08:42.240 --> 03:08:58.319
crazy. and it's on video, the chance that it gets picked up in the press and gets circulated is a lot greater than if it's not on video, isn't recorded. So, >> we're talking about affecting someone's life. >> Yeah. >> And there's a difference between professional and personal and I think

632
03:08:58.319 --> 03:09:14.560
that needs to be taken into consideration. >> I think that maybe there needs to maybe we need to come to an agreement on how long you think something lives on. As long to me, as long as it can be over,

633
03:09:14.560 --> 03:09:32.720
I'm fine. >> I mean, because right now what it's a month, >> right? So, like the minutes exactly until the minutes are produced are approved. So, usually after the minutes are approved, >> we've had our meeting and the next one goes up.

634
03:09:32.720 --> 03:09:57.279
>> The next one goes up. >> Correct. >> I learned thought it [laughter] was like [laughter] >> so food for thought if you want to go >> plastic table

635
03:09:57.279 --> 03:10:24.399
>> the plastic >> sounds good >> voted on no has forgot about that part. >> That cost money. >> Hold on. >> Okay. Uh we don't need to go into exec. So I'd like to make a motion to adjurnn.

636
03:10:24.399 --> 03:10:35.200
>> Second. >> All in favor? >> My bad. I forgot about that. >> Thank you. >> Clean this up.