here. Mrs. Fano here, Mr. Palma here, Mr. Petraino here, Mr. Rapaort here, Mrs. Smith here, Miss Zuckerman, here. Mr. Dory, here. Dr. Modrack
here. Pledge allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty, justice for all.
Miss Lot, the open meetings. The New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of the
act, the Montville Township Board of Education provided a public notice of this meeting which included the time, date, and location that was posted at the Montville Township Municipal Building, all Montville public schools, the Montville public library, the Montville Township Board of Education Administrative Office Building, the
district website, and advertised in the daily record, and the Montill Tap into the board's official newspapers on July 7th, 2025. Thank you, Tom. Superintendent's report. If you just bear with me, I have a
couple of things I wanted to go over. Um, one was I wanted to start with the good news, but I just got to find it. Now, all right. So, you know, a lot of times we're constantly dealing with um emails or or sometimes people come to the mic and there's we get a lot of, you know,
unfortunately negativity or people that just want to voice their opinion about some kind of issue. But we do also get a lot of positive stuff that's going on. Um teachers get this directly that principles get it and uh and we receive it sometimes. And I just wanted to share this because I I know the summer was a little bit slower. So, I just wanted to
share out just one couple examples. So this first example was Cedar Hill senior clapout. Uh this person wrote back just giving us a huge thank you about that for the senior class of 2025. Uh you witnessed the love and excitement in the gym that day that that parent did see.
Uh there was the listening to the students speak about their impressive future plans and where they're going to be heading after they graduate from the high school. Uh and the foundation of Cedar Hill that set them all up for success. So this person could not be more. She gave us a heartfelt thank you.
So that was nice to see. Um another one for this actually was Cedar Hill again but uh again to express our deepest gratitude wonderful school special attention and love for the Lyft program which is our special ed program there meant so much to these parents and they
s sincerely appreciated the school district support and considering what's best for this child's growth. Um, at the elementary level, we've been offering enrichment math uh programs after school for a lot of our students. And this one was, "Thanks so much for hosting such a
fun group. My daughter absolutely loved it." And uh, and she's, you know, looking forward to many more times worth of math enrichment. Um, these math enrichment programs, they explore math with hands-on, engaging activities. They work to solve world uh, word problems
uh, that were hidden in eggs that were had these little gifts. They do math monsters and they do model magic and just really causing a lot of excitement down there. That was at grade three, but we also offered math enrichment for grade two. And again, we received
another person just saying uh just how outstanding it was for the second graders. Uh so much fun while she learns different types of operations. The kids are finding uh although they have struggles, they're still finding the joy in regular dayto-day math tasks. uh
these teachers truly made it fun. So uh that continued on. We also have some uh teachers but also administrators that do a lot of things on the side uh of trying to just promote education and different things that they're passionate about. Just recently, we had Jessica Nathan,
who is our elementary special ed supervisor, and she was asked to speak to NJPSA, which is the supervisors and principles association, and she spoke about being the adult in the room, the art of making tough decisions. And this workshop uh dives into the complex
challenges and the decision-m within the educational world that provide guidance to make difficult decisions with confidence and integrity. that was wellreceived and she was asked back to help train other people that signed up for that workshop. And Mr. Austin Thompson who's our director of technology, he's also going to be
speaking again with NJPSA uh more about privacy, security, and student data. Um he's kind of Austin's the guru on a many things that are technology related. People reach out to him all the time to see what's going on and uh he'll be speaking about that at
one of the upcoming conferences. So our people are being asked to to do these things and they're willing to step up and and and share their knowledge that they've gained over the years. So wonderful stuff going on. Uh as I shared with you in your packets uh the last time uh we had our fourth
quarter goals just to give you quick updates on that. We have the district goal number one which was to implement and enhance and evaluate the ways to address mental health. And we put in place the gaggle system. That's when we're checking students if they're doing
inappropriate things on on the websites or if they're in indicating they might self harm themselves. So, we're able to find these uh issues and get the kids the help that they need. That's worked so well so far and we'll be continuing in that next year. We also had our
safety care training that was completed by the staff that was required for and we switched our school resource officer. We had a new one come in in the middle of the year and he's been working out great. Uh our district goal number two which was about innovative learning opportunities
and uh we had K12 teachers were provided with Google classroom training which will be going into effect this school year coming up. We had new English language arts classes for the seventh and eighth grade that will be solidified and running for next year. So teachers were working on that and modifications
to the elementary schedule in response to a lot of stakeholder feedback from the teachers as well as other people that we'll be implementing for next year. So we're looking forward to those changes. Uh goal number three was the district uh security protocols that we put in place. Again, I told you about
the SRO. We've we're working right now on a lot of our security vegetables. So all of our schools will have that. That'll be completed before the start of school. We continue to have our monthly meetings with the police uh police chief and others and uh again Austin and his
team are doing incredible things with keeping us protected through cyber security. So it's amazing how people I've used the example before but they even try to get into our systems through our copers and and they they're able to stop them before they get into our our systems through these back doors. So um
they're doing a great job there. And the last one, the district gold number four. Just a quick examples of what we're doing with our facilities. Um, you can see a lot of the construction going around, even just here, the whole front of the building with the uh the security system. But we repaired the stadium
bleachers and put some now railings on that for people to be able to walk up and down. We're closing out the sixth grade wing for the unit ventilators at Lazar. And we're going to be upgrading the electrical fire systems at the high school. So, a lot of great stuff going on for the safety of of everybody involved.
Um, so that's the good news. Um, the the one sad note is the district across the nation, $6.8 billion was being withheld by the federal government. This is going to be in our title money. This is titles
one through four. Uh, it's affected us uh about $180,000. So that money, we don't know what's going on with that money or what the feds are going to do with that. So we're going to continue with our programs. We're going to take that out of our operating budget and continue. This
money is for students that are immigrants, students that are uh um struggling with basic skills. Um this provides teaching uh training for teachers. This provides all these extra money for all these people to help them
that are struggling in our school system. So that money collectively is 180. Uh we haven't received any kind of notification from the federal government or anything like that. We're reading about this in the newspapers and through other sources we're getting this. So there's no direct communication. There's
some rumors that some of this money might be unfrozen, but we do not know. So right now, Kine and the and the others were planning going forward with the same programs we've offered in the past. We just got to find alternate ways to fund this uh out of our budget. So
that's a little bit of a sad note, but we'll see how we get through in the next couple of months if that changes. So just a a question. Um, typically do we put out the money for the programs and then get reimbursed by the federal government?
Correct. Correct. We do. So, if we put that money back and we don't get reimburseed, then we're out. Correct. Correct. That's how the federal and the state uh governments work. Good. That's it for
just one quick question. uh gaggle over the summer. Is it still active over the summer? Yes, it is. And we are getting some alerts and we're following up with parents on that. Okay, good. Okay. Um any other questions for Tom about its presentation? Yeah, Karen just made me think. How long does it typically take them to make that
reimbursement payment? It's based on how fast we put the reimbursement in. We actually put it in every month and then they reimburse us. Takes many times. It only takes a couple days. Okay. Anything else? Uh, presentations.
Okay. Mariel. All right. This evening, I'm going to share with you a very brief uh overview of the most recent results for the New Jersey graduation uh proficiency assessment. Uh the New Jersey Department of Education requires districts to share
out uh at a public board meeting uh the results of the uh assessment within 60 days of the scores being released. So I think the deadline for the 60 days is the day after the August board meeting. So uh that's one of the reasons why we're we're doing it in July to make
sure we meet that that deadline. Uh this presentation is much shorter than the one I typically do in the in the fall. Uh the NJSLA which involves grades 3 through 11. uh and also of total district performance. Uh this is a very short presentation uh just to share out the scores and and uh you know where our
students fell uh on the graduation assessment. Uh first just a general overview. Um as I mentioned the NJ GPA uh is taken by 11th grade students um and they need to
meet a minimum requirement of a 725 for that. Um, and one thing I want to bring to your attention is the the last statement there. Um, that the actually the last two lines that the ELA component is aligned with the grade 10 standards even though it's given to 11th
graders. Um, and the mathematics component is aligned with algebra 1 and geometry standards. So 11th grade students have to pass those two standards in the assessment. uh if they don't pass in 11th grade, uh there are some other options for them as 12th
graders to try to meet those standards, which we'll talk about in a minute. Uh the two areas we talked about, ELA and mathematic components for the assessment, um they have to meet that designated test score of 725. Uh if they
don't, there are some other options for them to meet the graduation requirement. Um very few of our students uh do complete the portfolio appeal if they were unable to either get the cut score of 725 in the language arts and math or they didn't meet another cut score from
other competency tests like acupplacer uh SATs uh PSATs there are certain scores that if they do achieve they meet that graduation standard. So the majority of our student overwhelming majority of our students do meet the um
the proficiency in either the test itself, one of the alternate assessments and then ultimately the final step which is the portfolio appeal. So they do have a few options to meet that graduation requirement. Uh if you look at our results this year, it it breaks it down to really two
categories. Are students graduation ready or are they not yet graduation ready? And you can see at MTHS in 2025, uh, we had 4.2% of our students, uh, scored out on the test as not yet graduation ready. That was an
improvement from 2024 where 8.4% of our students weren't. So, we did see an improvement there. And of course, graduation ready, uh, we moved up from 91.6 in in 2024 to 95.8. Uh, so we it's nice to see that improvement, you know, in that in that
one-year period. Uh and also same same thing with the students with IEPs which is one of the categories that were required to report out on as you can see there they've also made you know a significant improvement uh over the 24 2024 school year to 2025 and that's in English and language arts and of course
the state uh you know averages are in the middle there just for a reference point and as you know over the years we typically significantly outperform the overall state uh scores on on this test as well as the ones uh that I present on in the in the fall. As far as
mathematics, we saw some some similar gains. Uh students not ready uh graduation ready yet in math in 2025 is 18% 18.8. Uh last year we were falling in around 24.4. So we saw some improvement there and also obviously
it's reflected in the graduation ready uh where we're now 81.3% and last year we fell in that 75.6% range. So again some nice improvement there. Uh and again if you look at the students with IEPs we also saw saw some significant gains in that area too from 2024 to
2025. And again those are the only two areas that are tested uh and those are the only scores really that we we need to produce uh specific to those two subject areas. One of the other requirements is also to compare your three largest uh ethnic group and and then break it out by ethnic group
performance. Uh so we simply you know uh broke that out as graduation ready. And again Hispanic, Asian, and white students is typically our three largest um ethnic groups. Uh and those are the percentages of of students that are graduation ready that are in those
ethnic groups for ELA. And that's again broken out by ethnic group for a math graduation ready. 56% Hispanic, 88.9 Asian, and 82.3 uh for white students. Uh what we typically do, there's not a
lot of assessment that we do as far as administrators uh with the NJGPA. It's not like the NJSLA where there's a lot of different data points that we break down. Uh so essentially for this, it's only one grade level in which students are are participating. We take a look at
these results um and the principles along with the supervisors and the teachers uh will review that data to see if there's some type of area uh that might need some attention within the curriculum uh to help move students forward. Um and that is an ongoing process over the course of the year. So
again, this like every other standardized test, this is one data point that we use within the district to um to help us, you know, make some decisions, but there's a lot of other assessment and data points that we use that really drives our instruction forward. Um so that's essentially it.
It's a very quick presentation. It's just a matter of sharing it out. And it was nice to see uh some improvement in those areas from last year's administration. Thank you. Uh there any questions? I just want to know how how long are these tests? Dina. Yeah,
that's a good question. I don't I don't Yeah. No, I don't know. I don't know that offh hand. I know it's over, you know, a couple of days. Um, but I don't know how long the actual units are and how long they're sitting for those tests. Not off the top of my mind, but I can get that to you. Yeah. Yeah. So, in terms of numbers, do we know how many of our rising seniors
are not yet graduation ready? As far as numbers, I mean, the percentages are This is for last year's 11th grade. So, but I thought those numbers also included 12th graders who hadn't passed this year's 12th graders who hadn't yet passed anything. Well, no, the this was administered in
the spring. So, any current any 11th graders that just, you know, we're moving on to 12th graders. As 12th graders, they have an opportunity to retake it in the uh summer or in the fall. Um, so some will retake it, some may meet that graduation requirement other ways, but I don't have an exact
number, but the percentages show I think it was 98% or 95.8% in language arts. I don't know what that breaks down as far as numbers go. Yeah, I was less in math. You know, it just just blows my mind that we have great schools in New Jersey and yet
somehow or other 42% of the kids in New Jersey are not graduation ready in math. Almost makes me wonder, is the problem the students or is the problem the test? Good point. You can submit a new version.
Any other question? Yeah, but it it ends up our students in 12th grade through one of those other methods all meet it. We don't end up having any students as a result of not meet right not meeting it for this reason or right I mean our overall graduation rate I mean Tom you might know off the top of
your head but we're somewhere in the high 98s or 99%. So, you know, through through these assessments, the overwhelm majority of our kids obviously are graduating. There are a few that may not, but it may not be related to their performance on the test. It might be related for other reasons. I just I the numbers showed it, but I
just want to point out that students in Montville with IEPs scored better than the average population in in the state. So, thanks to the administration and and the teachers for a great job. Very true. Yeah. Okay. Um any if there's no other
questions then uh we'll move on to committee reports facilities finance Karen. So the finance committee met just prior to tonight's meeting topics of discussion was implementation of this year's general operating budget. Uh the
concerns about federal grants for 2025 2026. Um the state health benefit plan for 2026 and has uh had its premium increase up to 27% but luckily through the foresight
and wisdom and presence of our business office we're not in the state health benefits plan. Um and so we we sort of dodged a bullet there. Um, we also talked about uh summer projects going on
uh around the schools and as Tom said we're hoping for completion of all of the vestibules, the security vestibules by the uh start of school in September. Um the central air conditioning, the central office air conditioning uh is
not functional and looking to replace that. And I learned tonight what a switch gear is. Um, it's actually that connection to public service electricity and ours is 50 years old and we're uh
going to install a new one. It means that we have to shut down the high school for a few days. Cut power to the high school to large sections of it, right? Yes. But not during the school year. Not during the school year. Over the summer. Yeah, that'd be fun in the dark.
Okay. Uh, curriculum. Michelle, we're um in the process of getting a meeting date together for the next several weeks talking about district calendars among other items. So, we'll report back next month. Okay. John, policy. Uh we have an upcoming meeting this August to discuss a variety of topics.
August August 18th. I think it's August 18th. Yes. Okay. Communications. Joe, no report. Okay. Christine, safety security. No report. No report. Seems like there should be something
there. Okay, Karen. Uh, New Jersey, uh, school boards. So, at school boards, we're setting up dates for the year's uh, meetings and event schedule. We have a date for the, uh, the quarterly uh, com executive
committee meeting. We have a date for the upcoming uh, county association leadership meeting. And more dates will be coming. Okay. Thank you. Uh, Mike Rapport, Morris County School Boards, no report. Okay. Joe, Morris County Educational Services,
no report. We're on break right now. Okay. And Drug Awareness, they're also on break. They're on break, too. Everyone's on break. What about John? Montville Athletic Boosters. Don't say they're on break. No, I I just heard from some of the leadership today that there's some turnover. Uh Pete Matarazz Matarazzo is
going to be taking over running that booster program and they have a you know he's going to shoot me an email in the fall when their next meeting is. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh Karen, actually we might as well skip the liaison to the schools unless you want
to talk about Cedar Hill. You have anything? I gave that report last meeting. Yeah, that's what I said. We'll skip the leaison to the schools. Okay. Okay. Uh we'll move on to public participation
section H. Um I will remind the public that when you come up, please give your name, address, give us your comments. Uh comments are limited to five minutes. Um and please I apologize if I cut you off at your five minutes, but we're going to
hold it to the five minute rule. So anyone that would like to speak, please come to the podium. I see no one. Okay, let's move on to consent resolutions. Items are sections I through N. Motion, please. Sorry.
So moved. Second. Thank you. Okay. Item or SE section I minutes? Uh questions? Section J, administration. Any questions? K, facilities finance.
Um you have a thing in section L personnel you have you want to say your so for L3 um number 12 uh we're going to be scratching that uh item there and then
we have three walk-in um addendums I just handed out to you beforehand. One of them is the termination of an employee. Another one is the hiring of an employee. And the last one is a stipen for another employee. Section M, curriculum. Any questions?
No. Policy? No action. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Rapaort, yes. Mr. Palma, yes. Dr. Cordelino, yes. Mrs. Fano,
yes. Mr. Petraino, yes. Mrs. Smith, yes. Ms. Zuckerman abstain I yes on everything else Mr. Dore yes abstain on K1 check number 11360
Dr. Modre. Yes. Okay. Um any old business from the board? Any items? Christine? Um Dave, I just want to um share with the board that since the our last meeting where we we discussed the cell
phone visit and it was in the paper, I've had multiple community members um say to me, "Oh, I think that's a great idea about the cell phones for the kids. it'll help them. So, I just wanted to mention that to all of you guys.
Well, that's going to be in the discussion at policy on August 18th. Yes. So, and you'll report back to us on that one. Yes, I will. Good job. Dating the very next day. Good job. Okay. Anyone else? Any other
comments? Old business? No. Um, okay. That's uh any new business from board members? Yeah. What? Um on uh June 23rd I got to attend the uh New Jersey school board's um leadership summit down at Manville
High School. It was an all day event. Uh very well attended. Uh we went over various topics such as workshops on running effective meetings, parliamentary procedure, strengthening the board of superintendent relationship as well as communicating with the public. So
great. That's wonderful. Thank you. That'll go well in a few minutes. Yes. Okay. When we get when we do some board education training in a little bit, but before we get to that, I would like to open up for the next public participation session on any item that
you care to speak about. Uh if you want to speak to the board about anything, please come to the microphone. Uh name, address, and limit your comments to five minutes. I see none. Okay then. Um
going once. Going once. Going twice. We're done. Okay, it's closed. Okay, we are now going to do some uh board education training. Um, do we want to do it here? Yes. Okay, we want to do it here. So, square this off, right, Charlene? You want us to square it off?
Okay, so basically what this is is that the board uh likes to take the opportunity to learn more about how to be an effective board. So, we're going to be talking about a number of items uh basically about what good governance is.
Um and how to communicate and how to work together better. Uh if you want to hang out and hear all about how we are trying to be a better board, you're free to stay. If you choose not
to, you but I guess we're going to have an audience for this. This is the first time we've ever had an audience for our board training. Charlene, this is a new experience. This is great. Uh,
you have a microphone. So, Charlene, I gave uh I gave everybody the uh handouts you gave me earlier this evening, so they all have that. Um, so you can they haven't had a chance to really read it yet because I just gave it in close session, but
Okay. Not very effective. I did share it electronically last night. We got to be there. You go. I shared that electronically. I didn't. Okay. Good. So, kind of, you know, the intent of tonight is not necessarily kind of a a
training where I'm talking at you, but more kind of an opportunity for the board to come together and kind of recalibrate, kind of think about how we're doing our work together as a governance team. And sometimes it's important to just kind of step back, reflect on how we're doing and and have
those conversations because, you know, one of the things sometimes we don't always realize is that, you know, that the the value or the importance in the work that we're doing here that when high performing boards work together with their superintendent, um, you can have a positive impact on student
achievement. But then also, you know, we're kind of creating a culture here, right? like the work that you're doing now and the the norms and things that you're establishing are not only impacting your board, but it's also impacting future boards. What you're doing now, the culture you're
establishing now. Um when new members come onto the board, they're kind of coming into the fold, right, of kind of saying that this is the way that we do things around here. So, we want to make sure then that from the board's perspective that the work that we're doing is work that we're proud of. work
that we want to have um you know identify who we are and what our culture is. So sometimes it's just helpful to kind of take a step back, look at that, talk about that um and just kind of reaffirm that we're, you know, that
we're where we want to be and kind of, you know, identifying if there's anything we think that we would like to do differently. Um so it's really tonight is just kind of a facilitated convers. It's really your conversation, right? um to just you know kind of talk
about you know the board. So we started out you know I had um given a handout about a governance mindset um and that was just an article that was from the book um the governance core which I don't know if any of you have read it familiar with it but it's kind of one of
the books that are you shaking your head no why sure okay because we use it all the time um but just to kind of essentially say that you know research would say that what separates a high-erforming board member from other board members is their
governance mindset and having that impact and that focus on governance and thinking from that perspective when you're sitting here at the board table. Um so just kind of saying that that's the that's the starting point or that's where we would like to um you know kind
of kind of what we're trying to to get to. So having said that you know then there's also then a handout that just kind of has some discussion prompts. So that's kind of where we're going to go right now. So kind of what the the the big picture or what we're you know trying to accomplish at the end of this
is saying what good governance looks like for you for your board. Um and that what intentional steps can we take individually and collectively to make sure that we consistently practice it. So you kind of first start out with kind of that that big picture of saying um
kind of that vision of saying what does it look like and what does it feel like when we're functioning at our best as a governance team. So, I'm gonna kind of just take some notes here just so that I'll um type this up and
you know at the and send it back to you just so that we kind of have uh you know some record of the conversation. But just kind of wanted to see at least if I have a pen I will um just you know here I go and um start the conversation with
you kind of you know talking about what it what it looks like when you're at your best like when you know what makes you proud about your board in the way that you function and the way that you do things. I'll start I think for the most part we
have a very cohesive board. Um, I always like to say a good board member or good boards have training, um, experience and trust. And I think we have that. I I think sometimes we're human. You know,
we don't always live up to those ideals, but for the most part, I think what the public sees is a cohesive board and a board that tries to move together in one direction. I I think we laugh a lot together and I
think the public sees when one of us says something and we all agree or maybe we don't agree but we laugh and so I think they see that. I mean that's what I feel anyway. Of course when Charlie was on your board
it was probably hard not to right. Respect. Respect is key. I think we all respect each other and our views. Yeah. I I appreciate when uh hard questions get asked and we have a discussion on them because everyone's always cordial about it, but we're not
afraid to raise hard questions uh and get that discussion started. [Music] Um, and what came to me right away was also respect like Joe, but just to take it uh to the next level, I think we all know that sometimes we come from different places or have different
backgrounds or different thoughts, but the foundation of the respect that we're all here for the same reason and take our job seriously and care about doing what we're supposed to do and care about the kids and the district and and giving uh the kids the best education possible, working in a respectful way with the
administration. um and and taking our job seriously um is I think important to all of us and that's good to know. I think that's that would be called sincerity. I I think that we all sincerely have the best interest of the
district and at heart. Even though we may have differences of opinions, we still all very much care and want to see the district succeed. Yeah. I I can probably go by a lot of years of experience and see how seeing how the board has kind of gone through a
metamorphice from 20 years ago to now where I I guess working backwards. You see where we are now. We have an excellent relationship with the superintendent and the administration. Uh he has our trust. I think we have
his. Um the board meetings are efficient. Um there's not a lot said and that's because I think ahead of time we basically know what's going on and why it's going on. This the board meeting doesn't become a tool for discovery as
they would say in the legal profession and I can now work backwards 20 years when the relationship between the board and the superintendent was not a particularly good one. Um, I think the
the board meetings I think a lot of board members at the time saw the board meetings as a vehicle to uh make a name for themselves almost sometimes became like a exercises who can get the most quotes in
today and um board meetings went a lot longer. I can never remember the um I think it was my second year on the board. We were talking about the budget. You have to we had to have the budget passed by the end of the meeting to be in state compliance
and it's 20 of 12 and people are arguing over well maybe we can take a $100 from this club and put it into this club. And um I think we passed the budget like 12 minutes before the uh midnight. But you even before I was on the board, I heard about board meetings going to
one o'clock in the morning, board presidents spending like the whole afternoon on a Thursday in the superintendent's office going on over the agenda item by item. Not me. No, not you. Absolutely not. No. Karen was responsible probably more than
anyone else for changing the whole flavor of the board. And someday she's going to go on the hall of fame, the board hall of fame for that. Thank you. But um you know they used to say don't let your board meetings be the best show in town
and you know sometimes they were and like I said I think we've really come a long way from that where now I think we've become a district because of the board where people want to come and work here as opposed to um
can I get a job somewhere else because they knew that the board is, you know, the best show in town. Just just to piggyback on wanting to work here, I was attended a conference that was hosted by the NJSA. The
executive director is Rich Bosa. Um, and the deputy executive director is Judy Ratner, who spent some time in our district. Um and at that meeting it happened that we had the um Tamar
uh Sitzer and um also the director of special services and you know we were talking and and they said we're not saying this just because we you're here as a board member but we love working in
Montville Township. Um she said the culture here is one of exploration of taking chances in terms of trying new things. We're supported by the administration and de facto by the board
of education. So um people exactly what Mike said, people want to come and work here and we all of us should be proud of that. I think too um we joke about the attendance at the board meetings, but I think that actually shows a level of
trust that the town has in the board that you know they believe in what we're doing. So, I'll just piggyback on what Caitlyn said back in those days when we used to routinely we had the board meetings over at the town hall and the
bleachers would be packed because everyone wanted to come to the board meeting so they can then gossip about all the things that went on at the board meeting, you know, source of gossip. We haven't had one of those meetings since the pandemic era, but when you're the best show in town, you know. Yeah, that whole
Yeah. So, um, you want to keep going with, uh, guard rails. Go to the next. Well, you know, one of the things that I just wanted to kind of have the board talk about a little bit, you know, you all kind of said, you know, we're all here for the same reason. We all kind of come together. So, I just kind of wanted to talk about or defining what that
reason is. Like, you know, it talks about kind of what's your unity of purpose? Like when you're all here and you're all voting on something and you're all like what is that? What is that one thing that binds you that connects you? That's the most important
thing that drives the work that you do. Is it good for kids? Oh, sorry. My I was say student achievement. Yeah. Is it good for kids? Everyone's in agreement that that's Yeah. Yeah. Give the kids what they need. Yeah.
Okay. Good. Perfect. So that's, you know, and so that's, you know, what kind of separates two boards that are able to accomplish the things that you've talked about. You have to have that, right? You have to
have that one thing that's driving all of you and that you're all in agreement. That that's why we're here, all the conversations, all the decisions that we make, that that's what um that is what drives us. Um so yeah, so then the next part of that is looking at guard rails.
And so kind of just a term of essentially saying that you know what helps us do our work and then what makes it harder to do our work and it can be internal things or and external things and you know have some examples there. So first just kind of wanted to talk
about from the board's perspective let's look at kind of what helps us perform our governance role. So like what are those things either internally or you know perhaps externally that um allows you to be as effective as you are like
like what are the processes or the things that are in place that enable that um the board to be able to perform that way? Well you know one of the things that we have tried to ingrain in our board is that we supervise the superintendent.
You know, we're not out there trying to run the district, tell teachers what to do, tell principles what to do. We don't I think we really work hard to try to say no, our job is here and we ask the superintendent to do the work and take
care of the issues that we may hear about, but we really do try not to get involved in the day-to-day operations of the school. I think that's critical for keeping a district in good shape. Um I think if you as board members if we
start getting involved and then you start having multiple bosses for every school principal and every administrator it just leads to chaos and confusion. And so I think that's one of the things that maybe goes back to the effect of
governance as well is our ability to separate out our responsibilities and roles from what you know from the pressures of maybe the community. I'm sorry any John go ahead. Come on.
I think the the administration reporting helps us do our job as well. Yeah, there's uh definitely uh really good communication coming out of the central office. Um Dr. Gore Gorman,
Katine, Andrea, Casey, um in particular, Dr. Gorman really tries to keep the board members in the loop about what's going on. Board members are never the last to know something. Um and we try and respect that with with Dr.
Gorman. uh if something comes percolates up in the community, you know, we're hearing this or that and we report it back to him. And also when we have questions for Dr. Gorman, he responds with an answer to
all board members so that we're all understanding and we don't waste his time maybe thinking or asking the same question, which is great. And also I think all of us have complete trust with our business department and that is
that's a an a great component to what you know to trust period from us because we're not only community members were taxpayers. Um and um with Dr. Gorman he's a very
caring individual so he has a very warm personality. So if we we could call him up if we had a question. Uh which is very nice. And you know I don't you know I don't know if all superintendents are like that. So
yeah I was going to say when 20 years ago when you were fighting till midnight over the budget you didn't have kine back then. So it's part of the problem too. But yeah and I I think that faith in the administration is really key. we you know that I've heard many times our one
our one person we hire is the superintendent and then it all goes down from there and so most of us were on the team that hired Dr. Gorman and um we feel good about that. And then the other thing is it's mentioned here also but I do think the preparation I mean I know
that um you know taking the time no matter how busy your life gets uh you know and what what is thrown your way to read all the materials and the emails that are sent and understand ahead of time and you know when things are proposed sometimes you know way in advance of it going on a public agenda
if it's discussed at closed when we um digest it and ask the questions in advance it it helps the meetings to be shorter because we've dealt with it that way. Yeah, he has been Tom has been very good. Initially when he got here, not to
roast you, but initially it it wasn't it wasn't as much communication and over the past couple years his communication has vastly well I should say vastly but has improved um to the point that really um in his evaluation it shows in his
first evaluation there were a number of not observes. I didn't know I couldn't tell I you know no comments. Now we're down to just a few of those. Um, if you read his weeklies and his reports, to be perfectly honest, I don't think there should be any reason why there are any
notserves or not applicables on his review because he's very clear. I mean, going over the district goals tonight, for instance, I think he does an excellent job of keeping us in the loop, as it's been said, of communicating with
us. And so that makes our job a lot easier when it comes to evaluating him and providing feedback. And what about you like your work with each other and your committee structure and are you getting you know how is that
working for you as a group and the information that you get from that and do you consider that to be part of your success because I know sometimes it's when it's good it works really well and some boards it's hard to get to that place sometimes. So, I just kind of wondered where you were in that.
I think it can be frustrating sometimes for board members who have ideas and opinions and not have them be expressed at the board table in public, but rather in the committee. I'm a firm believer in the
committee system. Um, it takes a lot of trust to have the committee system actually work. We've, I think, mastered that. Um, but the committee system allows a board member to
really express their opinion and thoughts about any one particular topic. Um, and then of course the trust of the rest of the board accepting any recommendation. And for me, if I was not on a particular
committee, but I had strong feelings about a topic or wanted to give my opinion, I would send an email to the chair of that committee just so I felt like my thoughts and um values were
shared with those three people or four people. Um and that was very helpful. I felt and I think that sending your comments the chairs of our committees do take them into account and they do relay them to the committees from what I've seen
you know the committee chairs do take their jobs responsibility and share those thoughts of the people who are not there so I think that builds a lot of trust with the rest of the board.
Perfect. Yep. No, I mean all the things you're talking about like if I were to talk to a board about best practices, those would be the things um that I would be telling them. So it's happy to to hear it coming to me rather than from me. So yeah, it's um so it's very
refreshing to hear and so you know it's understandably then why it works well, why you have a strong system and you know as Karen said it really it starts with trust but it's trust you know it's informed trust right the rest of you know that the committees are doing the
work on your behalf and that you have the ability to provide your feedback whenever you feel that you need to so that you know so you've kind of covered kind of that you know the best of both ways to to to make this function well.
Um, what about kind of then anything in terms of guard rails that make your job harder to do? I've thought a lot about this lately. Um, one thing I think we've all said at one time or another is a lot of people have
come to me about this and once you get on the board of ed, you find friends that you didn't know you had. you find people who you thought were just acquaintances who like to kind of catch your ear if you're out socially at a game at a party and you know by the way do you know about this and so um and
this is not anything that anyone you know it's human nature to have a conversation or people want to talk to you but I think we have to be careful we each have maybe certain groups or certain people that we associate with more and you might feel that you're
hearing the voice of the whole community or things this is what everybody wants and it's not necessarily true and it might even without you meaning to and myself included like skew it if you
don't take a step back and look at the administration's perspective and what's really good for all of the students and the good of the district it can be a challenge I feel like for any board member for anyone involved in any type of politics or public life so I just think I myself even when people come to
me you you have to know what you say in terms of the chain of command, where to send people, the the answers that you're supposed to give them and direct them to, but also um I think it's important for all of us to just do the best we can to take that step back and and look at
the bigger picture and not just hear loudness, uh you know, hear a couple people and and really see if where it's coming from and and take that that broader look. So, I think that's a challenge for anybody. How does everyone else feel about that challenge or how you found a way to
navigate that? Well, you know, I I I agree. I think um it it's hard. I mean, there's community pressure for you to make one decision or another. And I think each of us has our own
circle of friends and acquaintances that we may hear from and then we may hear another board member's you know friends of an acquaintance acquaintances offer something else. I think that's probably one of the hardest
things about being a board member is being able to hear all the opinions from as many constituents as possible and then come to a decision that's
that is what is best for the children. I regularly have people stop me and talk to me and want me to, you know, take a position here or there or do something. And I have to explain to them, you know,
my job is about the whole district. It's not just one group of people. It's not just one item, one one thing. And it can be frustrating on my friends, even my family when they say, you know, you
really should do something about this. Like, we can't, you know, this is this is what we're doing. And we, you know, and that's one of the challenges when you have to when you're facing that pressure from friends and family and you know, you're going to tell them
something they don't want to hear, but it's what's right. And it's what you have to do and that is definitely a challenge. It happens all the time. I I totally agree. We We're elected so
we have people that campaign for us. We have groups of friends that voted for us. So it's very difficult to um to share that, you know, it's not politics on the board. It's what Dave said. It's just what's in the best interest of the
kids. That's it. All the kids. Um, so that's what's different. Even though we're political, but we're really not political. So that's a challenge, but I feel like every board of ed member forever has had that challenge.
So, you know, it's just tough. But the people I think that are stay as board members for long periods of time or in the beginning, I think the training is very helpful. to new members. Um,
that's I think very very important. I but I think our ability to to actually come to that decision that's best for the kids helps us maintain our status as a high
performing board based I'm sorry I was going to say based on the fact that as Christine said we are elected officials and you combine this with the um proverb that says nobody ever learned anything by talking. Um, I think we as elected officials, I do
think we have a duty to listen to what people are saying, which is not the same as doing what people want us to do. But by listening to what's going on in the district, we might learn about things that we simply didn't know about. After all, a lot of us don't have kids in the schools and if we do, we don't have kids
in every school. And um something you find information and sometimes we you I can see Tom at a baseball game and talk to him or something like that. But um as we just share thoughts with each other and just
trying to gain information that will help us ultimately make the right decisions of course without making any promises to anybody about anything along we have an obligation to listen. we don't have an obligation to obey. Well, and I know some boards are saying
that it's becoming more difficult as well as, you know, recognizing you represent the community, but sometimes the community is not in agreement, right, with what it wants. So then that makes your job sometimes more difficult then to kind of, as you said, kind of take that step back and say, okay, we're
hearing conflicting thoughts all from our same community. So then now how do we as those who were elected to represent the community and represent all the students make that best decision right that's on behalf of the students and on behalf of the district and just
kind of recognizing that that's you know your job sounds like it's getting increasingly more difficult um just because of situations like that. Awesome. Um any other thoughts about um you know
any any other guard rails both positive or you know that makes your job easier and makes your job more difficult before we move away from it. Um number five has sustaining team health. Um, I think it would benefit the
board to every once in a while, even if it's only once a year, to do a retreat on a Saturday or better on a Saturday during the day. My opinion, because I'm old now and by the evening time I get tired. Um,
you know, I have to drive at night. I don't I can't see. Um, I think that type of interaction that's free of the board setting
is very healthy. You know, we break bread. Um, here we have dinner. We've had dinner for years and I think that helps. Um, well, there's also a carrot initiative.
Um, I I I I I'm a believer in breaking bread. That's And it's not just because I'm Italian, right, John? Amen. No, I mean, even when we go down to Atlantic City and the conferences, the conversations that we have are even when
we go to Atlantic City and eat and Karen misses it because she's getting honored for something else. And, you know, we still get um great conversation. And I think, you know, it just helps learning how each others think, like you said, in a freer environment. Yeah, it really
helps when you disagree. Um, it you're you don't you don't look at that person and say, "I don't like you because you don't agree with me." You you recognize they have a difference in opinion. You try and convince them that
your opinion is right. Well, and I think to your point, you know, that having those conversations are important and that the typical board meeting setting doesn't really provide for, right? You're you're, you know, kind of it's you're formal, you're you
know, you're sitting at a deis, it's just a formal environment, right? And the way that you can kind of best connect is when it when you're in a less formal environment, you know, and that's kind of one of the questions that people, you know, will ask like when do we ever get the chance to just sit
together and talk as a board and find that you, you know, your typical meeting so much of your time is what do we have to, you know, what's required that we have to approve, what are the reports we have to give, like all of those things that, you know, work that's needed um that doesn't always allow the time for
those important connections. So sometimes to your point Karen, sometimes you have to make the time, right? Um either like you said in Atlantic City or um you know through a board retreat, but at the end of the day it is important for the board, you know,
cohesion um to make that time. Um okay then let's talk about I guess that shared accountability and saying are there any kind of agreements or practices that you know we that we want to hold ourselves to of kind of saying
that this is the way we do things here. You know one of the things that boards are starting to do somewhat is like like putting like governance manuals together or like starting to kind of codify their work so that it stays like longer than
all of you at this table. Um, so have that seems to be a practice that's starting to happen more. So I don't know if there's things that as you talk about, you know, as you think about, you know, things that would be important that you need to to commit or that you think would be important to kind of have
codified so that um it it does kind of remain the way we do things around here. They just need to have the New Jersey school board's president on their board then they don't have to worry about Yeah. She I mean but it is true though. So Karen's your walking manual,
right? Without joking. I mean she I think a lot of the best practices um over the years people like Karen who've you know been involved or um there are people who we've had a lot of longevity on the board and I'm not sure how typical that is but um you know
I think we use a lot of the practices recommended by Mars County and New Jersey school boards. like that's how we function already. So I I think and from everything that Karen has said, we we are a pretty good model for other boards and and how we've been running and not saying that we're perfect or we haven't
had challenges or we don't experience some of the human issues, but um I don't know. I mean like I I think it's not a bad idea, but I I think that we already get that from other places. I mean and and and have a lot of it in place. Not to I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but
like Right. What's not a bad idea? I mean, well, talking about cod codifying it, but codifying it, but I feel like we we utilize the resources that are already there, I guess, is what I'm saying. And and part of that is by being true to New Jersey school boards and how
they recommend an effective board running. I think that's how we've tried to run for many years and how we've actually run. So, I I don't know. Um, Thomas, one thing I am, do you have an example or two of some of these other districts you can maybe share with me? I could share out with everybody. That'd be great.
Yeah, that would be nice to see. Yeah, but you know, just being reminded every so often about um about our commitment to the kids and to the district, I I think that re uh rele us, reenters us and brings
our focus back into thinking about how best to achieve those goals. Um so for instance you know when we're communicating with each other we we again we try to listen to each other we
try to be open with each other. Um you know I'm looking at some of these things that you have here. Um you know we we also sort of recommmit ourselves to doing a good job which means like coming prepared to the meetings and
reading the information that he sends us. things like that help to uh bring us back to our central goal and central purpose. Um so I say this we have a we have a shared
attitude of how we approach all of our issues. So that may not really lend itself to like a codification type of of thing because it's more of uh just as new people come on the board, we're
showing them the right attitude to have in the board meetings and committee meetings and in our communications and then they pick up on that and that's how we're we're continuning continuing the tra the uh traditions. It's like an oral tradition.
Like an oral tradition. Yeah. No, but I've seen it. I mean, I know you two probably have seen it a lot more than I have. I I'm the third third longest person on the board now, which is crazy. But, um, I've seen as other members have come on how they come on
with a certain attitude and then that evolves. And I've seen how my I know how my attitude evolved and watching Karen and Mike and Charlie and Matt Kane when he was on the board. He was he was here when I got on and
their advice to me how to behave, how to comport myself, how to listen, um how to interact. It's been very helpful to get that advice from the older members.
Say more seasoned. Seasoned seasoned is better. Well, season the um I I one thing I just think this board has benefited from I don't know if it's by sheer luck or the board's attitude or but you know we haven't had
any three board member turnover situations which really changes the uh the comprising of of a board and and I think having you know one new member and then one new member and and that allows for new ideas to get injected without
losing losing a lot of the, you know, culture that we're talking about here. And I think that's lend itself to this board success. So, I would say as the new board member, um
I much prefer how it is done here, um if you handed me a manual or a booklet, it would not carry as much as the conversations that I've had with everybody here because I would say each person on this board brings a very
different perspective to how they approach um the standards of being a board member and the value that they each bring. So having these individual conversations really opens your eyes to the different avenues you can take and what you can
learn from each person. And everyone here has been very open and honest and um welcoming on top of that to make me feel like it like you do belong here and what you
bring is valuable. So, I like the way the MFO board handles it. Perfect. Good. Um, I know we touched a little bit on the roles and you know, I know Dave, you said that the board really tries hard to kind of stay in its lane and
understand its roles. So just kind of you know just kind of things how do you feel like you support the superintendent or what are things that you consciously do as a board to make sure that you are staying in those roles and that you are
providing that needed support. I'll say I I tell people when they come to me with a problem I say have you spoken to your principal yet? That's the first thing I tell people. talk to you. No, I I believe in the chain of command and I I tell people go to your teacher, go to the principal, you know, go to the
superintendent. Um I can't help you yet. So that's one that's an example for me. I try to give Tom compliments when he, you know, when he earns it, especially publicly because that's
important. Um, and um, you know, not that Tom. Yes, that Tom, Dr. Corman. Um, but I also tell people that he's great to speak with if they ever need to speak
with him. Um, and you know, I I think that's important that we really do trust you, Tom. And um, I feel that way in the community as well. And um I know Dave mentioned the the beginning about uh
some of the the emails and stuff like that, but I think it's because a lot of us were not used to links, clicking on links and reading your reports. So you you did great. Um it was just us. We needed to be uh and then we
explained to you and then everything was fine. Um but I think that's how I feel. We also we also benefit greatly from Tom's demeanor, from Casey, from Andrea, from our principles and our staff, the
remainder of our staff in the district. They are generally very approachable. They like their jobs here. They feel they're respected and they are respected by the board. Um, every one of them. And so I think that makes
them more open to talking to the parents. And so again, I I think that makes the whole district more welcoming, accepting, open for those conversations so that people don't necessarily have to come to the board.
And you know, I when I attended my new school board member weekend, I learned many things, but one of the things that has always stuck with me is board members are the what, and the administration is the how. And
if we keep that in our minds when we're uh you know challenged with something or thinking about something or you know have to come to a decision about something or how to act. Um just think about that. Is this the what or is this
the how? And if it's the what then that's your job board member. If it's the how it's not. And I I do think we have laid down a pretty bright line between micromanaging and due diligence.
And that's important because you know sometimes it's thought that you know that this is like definitive black and white, right? And then you sit at the board table and learn that there's a lot of gray, right? And so how your board is able to navigate that gray and it sounds like you, you know, have come to this
understanding like you said of the what and the how that kind of helps your board do that rather than kind of feel lost in that. Um but but you know right now our current climate in this country is very
polarized. Um a lot of people want to get antagonist know they want to get score points. They want to like you know get your quotes in. you know that it's we have a lot of that attitude and a lot of people think hey I want to be on the board of ed so I can do something and
they have a specific idea in mind and then when they get here they realize that's not what we do and it's you know because we do instill that you know that uh bright line as you said in between our role for as over you know overseeing
Tom versus getting something done you know doing something No, I was going to say um I wanted to run for board of ed years ago and it was all about the taxes, you know. So I think we talking about political climate
now. I think for all years people always had an issue maybe that was true special education it was something important in their heart and then they realized well I can't really do anything about it. you'll probably get more done being, you
know, a parent, not on the board. Um, but what's wonderful is with our administration, you know, we all come with our values and, um, Dr. Gorman, um, you know, is very, he listens, he's
empathetic, and I don't think any of us change who we are. We're just work as a team to get whatever results that the administration feels that's best for the kids. And we do question him. Don't don't think we just give him a blank check. We
we question him, but but you know, we do rely on him a lot and his expertise. I think the board has a very good blend of diverse opinions. Yeah. When I tell you when I was on the board at first, I
honestly and truly I couldn't tell you what political party anybody was. Now I I think I probably could because I think in this era just about everybody knows who's what political party and I can say we have both ends of the spectrum on this board. Now two things about that.
One is that while we have that we have people who are very respectful of each other's opinions and have the wisdom to understand that while they may have one point of view there may be a divergent point of view which also has merit and
we are very respectful of each other's opinions and are not sometimes afraid to say you know what I I didn't see it before but now I kind of get it. Um, I'm glad we have diverse opinions on the
board because if you have nine people on the board who all think the same about everything, you don't have an effective governing body. You have a cult. And uh, so that's I'm very glad with the balance we have now that, you know, it
gives Dr. Gor a chance to hear a lot of different views on things and helps him make his opinions make his decisions rather. But um yeah, it's a matter of just he gets to he gets to use the resources he has. And I
really appreciate the fact that on this board I don't think there's anybody who would say I don't like soand so. We all got along well with each other and no one's here to be a disruptor. Sometimes people use the word agenda like it's a bad thing. I mean, I look, if you're going to run for the board, I
hope you have an agenda. Your agenda better be to improve the schools and some people do have things near and dear to their hearts more than others. But, you know, ultimately we're listening to each other and we're kind of becoming a becomes a melting pot for ideas and I
think that's important. Good. And I think, you know, one of those things too that, you know, as much as I mean, I think it's interesting too that um you guys a lot of the conversation is talking about, you know, the work you're doing with your administration, but it's really you guys
and how you work together as a team, right? And um so I want to make sure you guys are giving yourself credit too, right, for for the for the work that you're doing. Um because that's one of the things I think that you learn right away too. Yeah, you mentioned you run as
an individual, you have thoughts, but then you when you get on the board, you you know come to learn that you govern as a team, right? You're an individual member, but the work that you do, the governance that you do is the team. And so kind of essentially saying, how am I
helping make this be the best team it possibly can be that's focused on students? And so each one of you is coming to this table, it sounds like, with that perspective, right, of and and so that's really kind of what helps
separate or make that difference. Um, so we kind of talked about and kind kind of leads into like what it means to work as a unified team. And I think that, you know, I think Mike, you just made a very important point that, you know, kind of the distinguishment between uniform,
which is kind of what you were describing initially of everybody having the same opinions versus unified, meaning we all come to the table with different opinions, with different viewpoints. we are able to articulate those and then we come together and make
a decision based on that unifying purpose, that one thing that we said drives all of the work that we do. And so that's kind of what separates that difference is being a unified board um that makes decisions and comes together
even you know like you say stronger as a result of your differences knowing that each one of you is going to help make a decision that's in the best interest of the students and the district. And so you have that confidence and that trust in one another that those even though
those opinions that are different are coming from that place right of wanting to do what's best for everyone. Um so as we just kind of you know look ahead and you know are looking at maybe other things that we can do to s sustain the
work that we do. I don't know if you have any advice or thoughts or things of like yep this is what really makes a difference and we need to keep doing this. um if there's any kind of thoughts about how we sustain the work that you're doing here.
Let me just ask a question if I could, Tom. Sure. Can I put you on the spot for a moment? It's all being recorded. So, it's all being recorded. Yeah. Um, do you have some advice for us a as far as moving forward and how to become a
better board and things that we could do, you know, to do a better job? So, you know, I I was getting all choked up obviously, you know, but uh but I I wanted to end when when you were all
done. Uh I really appreciate the comments and uh this place is a very special place. Uh several of us have worked in other districts and this place is unique in how great the board is, how beautiful the community is and how wonderful the students are. I mean you could look around the the
administrators, how many people have been staying for 10 plus years and then you look at the board, how many people have been staying for a long time and that doesn't happen. And you were right that you know a lot of people you see two or three people come on with an agenda and try and it's very disruptive. So it's been working extremely well. So,
it's been a pleasure working with all of you and because of that, we're able to accomplish a lot of these goals. I think all the things that you all brought up are are wonderful. I agreed with everything that everybody said here. Uh it's just a matter of now, you know, and it's hard. It's just human nature, you
know, how do you carry that forward on, you know, June 15th or, you know, February 8th, you know, and when you it's getting a little hot and there's people out there in the audience and, you know, you have these competing interests and things like that. But keeping in mind, you know, what's best for the students and and doing everything you can for the students is
the undermining is the is the root of the whole goal of what we're trying to accomplish, I think we can't go wrong. Um, and then walk away respectfully. So, I think we just have to remind each other all the time of of of these principles that you've all brought up
tonight and hear each other out and then we'll accomplish great things, but um I I I liked everything I said. I would love to continue these discussions as we move forward. Absolutely. So, we're perfect. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, apparently we're perfect.
We're a very good I love all my, you know, I love all three of my children equally. They're all perfect, you know, and uh you know, in many ways, we are a family here. We are a small group of people. We get together a lot. You know, I see all
of you more than I see my own family because they all live in Virginia and elsewhere. But, you know, it's like we we are family. We're we're together. And you you may disagree with your family members. You you may have conflicts with
them, but in the At the end of the day, you still they're still there and you still work with them and you still, you know, try to make the best of things and that's what this is. It's like a family. Thank you. I think think we're good,
right? Is there anything else that anyone while we're here sitting together to kind of talk about governance, talk about the board's work? Anything else that anyone um feels would like to share? All right. I guess our hours up. We'll be here next week for, you know, more
counseling. Well, as usual, we we appreciate your time. Um pleasure. Especially when you're supposed to be retired and yet you you're still pulled back and you're still training boards. So, supposed to be is the operative word, but we we do appreciate it and you coming back
and you've always been a great sounding board for for all of us whenever we've needed. So, we appreciate that. This has been very productive. Thank you so much for sure. It's it's very rewarding for me to hear boards,
you know, who understand their work and understand their role. You know, sometimes it's, you know, other boards are challenged with trying to get here and it's good for them to know that you can do the like it's possible for that to
happen and that boards do do this and to see the difference that it makes. So for me to kind of sit and hear you talk this way is very rewarding. So I just want to thank all of you for for providing me that opportunity.
Thank you. Okay. So I would entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. Second. Thank you. Anyone oppose? Okay. Have a good night. We'll see you all next month. Thank you everyone. Enjoy your retirement. Yes. Thank you.
Hope you got paid for this happening