here. >> Mrs. Fano >> here. >> Dr. Modrack >> here. >> Mr. Palmer >> here. >> Mr. Petraino >> here. >> Mr. Rapaort >> here. >> Mrs. Smith >> here. >> Mrs. Zuckerman. Mr. Dory >> here.
>> Ms. Ammer. >> Mr. Blumenthal >> here. If we can stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under
God indivisibley and justice for all. >> The open public meeting notice. >> 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 provision 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 Montville tap into the board's official newspapers on January 8th, 2026.
Thank you. Let's have our student rep report >> for the past. The Chinese New Year festival was February 18th from 6 PM to 8:00 p.m. in the cafeteria. March 2nd was the mid-m marking period date for marking period 3. Montville robotics team 30A qualified for the state
championship competition which w which will be held on March 14th. Last night boy for sports last night boys basketball beat Demeris 66 to 58 in overtime advancing to the se semi-final stage of sectionals which will be held tomorrow at 7 verse Tennifly.
Boys bowling ended their season 21 and five in a in a loss at the semi-final group two tournament. Boys ice hockey ended their season 10 and 13 with a loss in the first round of the state tournament. Boys swimming ended their season 0 and8 and girls swimming was
3-7. Wrestling ended their season 25 and five with individual or region matches this Friday for wrestlers who qualified. Girls basketball season ended ended their season 8 and 18 with a loss against Emmeris. For present and future, MTHs theater company presents Sweeney
Todd. It is hosted from March 5th to 8th. The musical is from 7 to 9:30 on March 5th to 7th and 2 to 4:30 on March 8th. Spring sports start Monday, March 9th. These sports include baseball, softball, girls, girls and boys golf,
girls and boys lacrosse, boys tennis, track and field, and flag football. On March 6th, uh MTHs is having a college fair at 12:15. On March 14th, MTHs is hosting the SAT
from 7:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. The 11th graders will be taking the NJGPA tests on March 16th and 17th. Thank you. >> Thank you, Aiden. What? real quick. Hey, real quick. Um, basketball is that tomorrow night here? >> No, it's away at 10 o' 10. Okay. Thank
you, >> Dr. Gorman. >> Yes. Uh, well, first I just want to apologize. We have we were in close session dealing with official board business. We're usually very punctual, so I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but we have a great cast coming up here. So, Dr. Kennedy, please tell us what's going
on at your school. >> Come on up. Get the microphones and come up, ladies. Greetings specialists. Uh, I am proud to introduce our award-winning student council. Um, the American Schools Association of Student Councils awarded
our our student council for its excellence and its its philanthropic endeavors and we're very very proud of them. This happened about two years ago, right? And I am only going to introduce Miss Erin Mrs. Eron Sullivan and Mrs. uh
Kimberly Gorman Caravello cousin to Dr. No. And um without further ado, I don't want to steal their thunder, but here we go with our student council. goes first.
Hello members of the board of education. My name is Fedon Satish and I am the vice president of the student council at Valley View Elementary School. The election process all started when the candidate got nominated in their class. Then if they won the mini election in
their class, they could run in the main election. The candidates came up with impressive speeches to present to the second through fifth graders. Only the fifth graders can run for president and vice president, and only the fourth graders can run for treasurer and secretary. Our
president is Eleni Tis. Our secretary is Sabrina Jacobs. Our vice president is Vdant Satish. And our treasurer is Alana Duffy. Good evening. More. Good evening, members of board of education. My name
is Eleni Tanis and I am proud to be Valley View Student Council President. I ran for president because I wanted to help make our school an even better place where everyone feels included and every voice matters. One of my main goals was to have our school take part in more fundraisers so students could make a difference and help others. So
far, the student council has organized fundraisers to support the women's shelter and in the food pantry. Another goal I had was to create more fun activities for the students. This year, the student council has organized several spirit days that give students a chance to show their school pride. As
the weather gets warmer, we are looking forward to planning outdoor activities that all students can enjoy. We will continue to make our school an even better place where everyone feels supported, respected, and proud to be here. Thank you for listening. Hi again, members of the board of ed. My name is Vayon Satic and I am the vice
president of the student council at Valley View Elementary School and I've been part of the student council since third grade. I decided to run for VP because I really care about our school and wanted to help make it even better for everyone. I wanted to be someone who listens to students and helps turn their
ideas into real changes. By the end of this year, I would like the school to have multiple fundraisers and donations to support people in need. I would like to donate to places such as the Hazel Project and homeless shelters. In addition, I would like to donate the
food pantries. We have already donated to the women's shelter for Valentine's Day, and we have done a food drive, a toy drive, and donate the shop with more to come. I hope to create activities where other students will get a chance to have fun. Thank you for allowing me
to present here and have a good evening. Good evening members of the board of education. My name is Sabrina Jacobs and I'm Valley View Student Council Secretary. I ran because I love our school. Being on student council made me realize how our school works. When my class was voting for who was going to
run for secretary and treasurer, my heart was pounding. When Miss Caravell announced the class winners, I found I was one step closer to becoming secretary. When voting day happened, I thought my school was going to jump out of my body, but thankfully it didn't. While I have been on student council,
I've noticed that we have kids throughout the school from different countries, and I thought how amazing our school must be to have so many nice people around us. I personally love the theme weeks the student council supports such as no bullying and respect because the whole school participates and
spreads kindness. It is always fun to dress like a friend. So I want to be fun. I want for fun theme weeks that the whole school could be a part of. That is my goal and a little bit about me. Hello members of the board of education. I'm Lana Duffy and I ran for treasure in
Valley View because ever since I got here, I knew this school was a mate the of the best. But when I was older, I thought to myself, how can I get attention to raise money? At first, I thought being treasurer meant counting
money and only counting money. And that sounds like work. And being treasurer is work, but it's the work that helps people. For example, a kid that goes to Valley View came home to his house being burnt down. Imagine coming home to nothing. Our school had a fundraiser for
him. And no, I did not plan that fundraiser, but that shows how amazing our school is. We have countless fundraisers for other people in need. I'm a Girl Scout also, and we do amazing things for each other, such as bringing food to the food pantry, going Christmas
shopping for people in need, and a bunch of other stuff. I hope to make every voice count, even the small ones. Thank you for listening and let's make a difference. An example of Valley View's generosity is our participation
in Senator Pinocchio's annual toy drive. We have boxes overflowing with toys for for those in need. One popular activity the student council runs is spirit weeks. This allows students to show their panda pride and
feel included in our school. The helpful hearts collection is another example of how we help people in need. The students brought in products that are beneficial for women. As always, the Valley View community was very generous. These are two events that are coming up.
Jump rope for heart and guess how many shamrocks are in the jar. We are raising money to help animals in need. >> Questions? >> Excellent job. Excellent job. We hope in 10 years you're going to run for public office because we could really use your help. So, please think about that. But
it's wonderful. I love the scene that you have these great ideas. You're very enthusiastic and then you're helping so many people with all these different fundraisers you're doing. So, we really appreciate that. Anybody else or Yeah, we'll do that in a second. Yeah. So, we're going to take a big picture here, but does anybody else
have any questions real quick? >> So, who comes up with the ideas for these fundraisers? >> All of us. It's a collective effort, huh? >> It's good. Teamwork is good. Now we go to the opposite end of the
high school. >> Okay. So, good evening everybody. Um, my name is Shireen >> and I'm Gavin >> and we're here to just present about what the MTHS FBA community service committee has done over the past year. >> Um, so just a quick little welcome and
to give an overview of our project. We're going to be giving an introduction of our new MTHs FBA community service committee and then we're going to go through our purpose of the partnership with the Kuani Food Pantry. >> Okay. So, first, um, myself, Gavin, and Jill, who's unfortunately not here today
as she's at DECA states, which is another business club at the high school, decided to identify some local needs that Montville has been needing over this past year. We reached out to the pantry and they were really in need for six to eight durable plastic collection signs. These signs would be
posted up at their collection sites and they would have QR codes and just information about the pantry urging people to donate. and we decided to really get to work and try to make this happen. So, we took our new committee which consisted of a couple of people
around 20 to 30 FBA members who were really devoted to community service and we decided to sketch and plan to over two meetings in October and November. We really wanted to make sure that these signs had an emphasis on clarity, accessibility, and ease of use as we
didn't want the food pantry to have any troubles that we could have avoided. And then we ended up fi finalizing the designs by digitalizing them and preparing them for production using Canva which is everybody's favorite presentation app. Okay. So the second phase of our project
was actually creating the signs. And so the physical creation of the signs was done by myself along with Shireen Jill and other FBA officers and community service committee members. Um, using the cir cut machine, we were you able to
make precise cuts and then we used heat to transfer the vinyl onto our durable plastic signs. Then we created QR codes that could be scanned to donate money directly or learn more about the Kuanas food pantry and we laminated those for durability. And then afterwards, we
utilized uh Velcro to put them on the signs. That way they could be easily interchanged and switched out if they ever needed to be changed or updated in the future. And then when we finished the signs, we decided to deliver them to the food pantry alongside Deputy Mayor Matt
Kaine. And by giving these signs, we really wanted to make sure that they knew that they could implement them at their food pantry collection sites in the future. And by creating these signs, MTHs, FBA's community service committee successfully improved organization and efficiency of resource collection as
these didn't just serve as advertisement for what the food pantry was, but helped people know that this is where they should be donating. And it strengthened partnerships between MTHs, FBA, and local organizations as we can all make impacts, but the local ones are the most
important to our community. and we received recognition from Mayor Frank Cooney and the MTHs administration. So, our vice pres principles. >> Thank you all for giving us the time and platform to share a little bit about what we've been working on this past year. Do you guys have any questions?
>> Excellent. Excellent job. Guys have great community service. But but Gavin, do you think um your work here has any effect on your draft status in the Lake Valhalla Men's Softball League? >> Um you know, I'm hoping that once this
project is over, after we're able to present it in the next week, I'll uh get in the batting cages a little bit so my percentages can go up. We love that we're able to, you know, work with the town on lots of different projects and this is just one more example that we're doing this and
helping out so many people in need. Um, this is wonderful that we're able to see the collaboration going on here. Do you want to introduce your uh advisor? >> Uh, yes, in the back. >> Yeah, you didn't look it up that easy. Sorry. >> Hi, Fred McMahon. Um, Matthew Tre the
High School FBA adviser for the second year. My co-advisor, Kelly Smith, is a bit busy with the play that's going to be happening to Thursday, not tomorrow night. You all should come out and see that. It's going to be great. >> Just so many wonderful things that are going on with the whole club and we really appreciate your leadership and
you can see what wonderful things we're doing with the students. Anybody else on the board? >> Let's do some pictures then and then Peter Okay. Uh just continuing on with this. I I shared with the board a week ago uh the district goals. We do this each
quarter. We just share out. I'm just going to quickly uh summarize just some of the key highlights. Uh goal number one was uh fostering a dynamic learning environment that promotes creativity. And just some of the things that we've done just in this past quarter, this is for quarter two. Uh we're exploring new
science programs that align to the the state standards. We're continuing to support our ABL classrooms uh for special ed students. Um, the Montville High School History Club initiated a long-term project for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence. Uh, we've provided professional development on innovative teaching strategies and technology integration and and and much much more. Goal number two, promote a healthy and balanced school environment.
We uh our Sachs which are our student assistance counselors at the high school presented to all the nth grade health classes about stress and anxiety and that was identifying and understanding and coping. Uh we have therapy dogs at the high school and for the elementary
schools that do visits. These are seeing eye puppies in training and they just bring a lot of joy to to everybody that gets involved in that. And down at the elementary levels, our school resource officers, the SRO's, they're teaching right now the lead program, teaching our
fifth graders how to be leaders and say no to drugs and other things. Goal number three, exercising transparent, strategic, and fiscal responsibility. We spoke with the district's bond company to discuss alternate ways to uh
fund capital improvement projects. The 2425 audit was completed and we passed with flying colors. We're investigating future potential windfalls uh that could help the district maybe with different financial struggles that we're all
facing right now because of the 2% cap. And goal number four, maintaining the district's facilities and infrastructure. Uh we've we're in the final stages of completing the security vestibules. That's at High School William Mason and Woodmont. We have a few punch list items left and we'll be
meeting with the architect uh this month to talk about different space issues in the different buildings and planning for future capital improvements. The rest of this information is in your packets, but uh just tremendous work we've done over the past quarter.
And this week was uh or is Dr. Seuss week reading across America. So we have different guest speakers at all the different schools going on. Today I was uh it was a pleasure to go down to Woodmont and read. I read unfortunately I had to read a Dr. Seuss book. My mouth
was tongue tied and tired afterwards, but I got my Dr. Seuss tie that Miss Winnie West gave me. So her spirits with us and it's enjoyable and I know a lot of the board members and others throughout the district are are involved in that. So uh tomorrow I think we have some of the students going down to the
elementary schools. We have some parents involved. So there's people involved in many different ways and different levels. Thank you, Tom. Business administrator. >> No report. >> Um, you may or may not have heard that
the governor requested a delay in her state of the state address. So, normally the state of the state address occurs the last week in February. She's asked for a two-week extension. She'll be doing her presentation next week and
that means for us that we do not receive information regarding our state aid and some other numbers that are going to affect our budget until after that meeting occurs or that presentation occurs. That means that whereas normally
by this point in time we would be finalizing the budget for 2627 we will actually not be able to do that till next week. uh finance and facilities did meet today and we came up with some alternative ways for us to be
able to review that information prior to your meeting on the 17th when you're going to need to approve it so it can be submitted to the county. >> Thank you. Committee reports finance.
>> So as uh Mrs. Len just mentioned the facilities and finance committee met right before this uh meeting. Um still working on the uh budget next year's budget. Uh as she mentioned, we
still don't know our state aid uh numbers or any input regarding waiverss, but next week we should have that information and we should be able to put more finishing touches on the budget. Um, end of March, we should expect to
adopt a preliminary budget. Uh, and that concludes what we talked about. >> Thank you. Curriculum instruction, Michael. >> Uh, yes, we met on February 25th. Um, and the agenda was fairly short. Uh, the
first, uh, item, uh, was a has to deal with the CUAC, um, evaluations. Uh the new Morris County Educational Specialist made a recommendation on separating physical education and art curriculums by grade level rather than having them
grouped. Um and there's a couple of other uh uh minor changes to the to each of those curriculums um as they needed to add computer science and financial literacy concepts into the curriculum. But uh for fizzed and art there were just very basic things that are
appropriate for for those those classes. Um the other item was uh screen time for students um that has been uh brought to uh various board members that uh their parental concerns regarding the amount of screen time that students have in the
classroom. Um so we had talked about that uh surveys are going to be going out to teachers to see uh what what balance was what's being used today and what the balance is going to be in the future. Um but I think uh with the cell
phone policy that's also going to affect uh the screen time for students. So I think that the both both items are going to go hand inand as as we go through and and develop a policy for for screen time for students. Um, and that is pretty
much it. Uh, we're going to need a a future meeting fairly soon, uh, at the end of March probably, uh, just to go over the master schedule. Um, and as soon as that, uh, is ready to be reviewed, we're going to get something on the calendar for that.
>> Thank you. Policy and personnel. Christine, >> thanks, Joe. We also had a short meeting um, last week. Um, we of course talked about the cell phone policy. Uh we're just waiting to hear um what the uh
state board of education is recommending. Um and um we removed and updated some language um for some policies. We have uh we have a sexual harassment policy um
a new one and uh we spoke about that language um against cell phones and then we also spoke about um uh the electronic boards and having a standard type of policy for that because we don't have anything for that. That was it.
>> Thank you Christine. Uh, communications. Michael, >> no report. >> Safety and security. John, >> no report. >> Um, school boards Karen. Um,
on February 20th, um, I attended a session of the new board me uh, new school board member orientation. Um, I'm very excited to learn that I have
been invited to be a panelist in the March 20th Women's Leadership Conference. And to add more joy to my life, I have been invited to moderate a joint NJSBA and NJASA
women in leadership conference. So if that'll be on April 22nd. So for the uh women board members, I would love to see you either on March 2nd on March 20th or April 22nd. You can still uh
enroll and attend. Um I'll be attending theund uh unsung hero awards ceremony tomorrow and the Morris County unsung hero ceremony on uh the 5th.
>> Thank you. Michael, schoolboard associations. >> Yes. As uh Karen just mentioned, the uh unsung heroes uh uh award ceremony is this Thursday. >> Thank you. Um no report for the Ed
Services Commission, Caitlyn. >> Um next meeting is March 11th. >> Athletic boosters, John. >> No report. special ed Christine. >> Thank you. So, this was their first
meeting. Um, and it was really excellent. Um, they welcomed uh the parents of course. There's a lot of new things just to the public to understand what CPAC is. Um
it's basically I will tell you um the Montville Township Public Schools strive to develop well-rounded, invested, and inspires students by engaging them in an experience of collaboration with educators, parents, and community that
fosters a culture of innovation, character, and inclusivity and a shared spirit of pride. Um and CPAG for the public. Each district board of education shall ensure that a special education parent advisory group is in
place in the school district to provide input to the school district on issues concerning students with disabilities and um they started their uh Zoom meeting to talk about extended school year. Um if a child is eligible um per
their IEP, a notice will be sent via the parent portal um from yesterday. Um and parents and guardians should respond by March 20th. Um uh another thing they spoke about is the imple implementation
of PL 2025C 107 and this is guidance on additional annual IEP meeting notice requirements. So it's wonderful. They really educate all the parents and the guardians about um all new laws um and
things that uh they they need which I think is fabulous. Um there are new things coming up and our special education attorney um trained um the case managers as well as going to be training the teachers because they have
something new uh that begins in July. So they're prepping for that. um they had a wonderful presenter talking about um uh being on cell phones and all of that and the parents were able to ask questions
um and it was very well attended. So I I just think it's wonderful that we have a le liaison and it's wonderful to see our administrators collaborating with the parents. Um that didn't happen many many many many years ago. Um so and it gives
the parents a voice. So, I was very happy to attend and um I really salute the ad the special education um administrators for, you know, being so great with the families. That's it. >> Thank you, Christine. Uh Cedar Hill,
Karen, >> no report. >> Dave Hillale, >> uh they will be meeting uh Thursday the 19th, I believe it is, at 7 o'clock. Um, but since we're on Hilldale for a second, uh, let me ask what's going on
with the hole in front of the school, uh, the construction. Uh, it's been there how long now? 6 months or something. And we have no movement yet on new construction. So, um, what's going on? And when is that going to be uh
started again? >> Well, it is our hope that we are going to start with the change of the seasons. Um, however, the attorneys are still attempting to work that out. >> Okay. Because it is it's getting on and
if we don't get started soon, it won't be completed by >> correct >> fall. Um, I would encourage our attorneys to start putting some pressure on these people. I don't know what we can do, but we got to get this moving.
Um, I can tell there's I mean, I'm frustrated by this. Um, I see it quite frequently this hole in front of the school and you know I don't know what you folks are doing to try to talk to the bonding company but we do need to
get this moving very soon if we're going to get it moving at all. >> Agreed. >> Okay, thank you. >> Caitlyn Valley View. >> Uh, next meeting is March 19th. >> Thank you. John William Mason. Um, I
know we're we're eager too to get our playground in. Um, and I guess to steal a page out of Dave's book, what what kind of progress can we expect? I know that we're waiting the for the ground to thaw. >> Yeah, there's nothing we can do until the ground until we change seasons. So,
at this point, they're waiting for uh they were going to be up there today, but with the rain, that didn't happen. Tomorrow, I believe it's going to rain again. So when there's a day when it's not snowing, when there's not snow on the
ground and it's not raining, they will be up there. They're already scheduled. >> Thank you. >> Woodmont, no report. >> Lazar, >> um I sat in for Michelle on the last PTC meeting and they have a lot of great
things going on at Lazar. They're currently working on scheduling their eighth graders for their high school courses and scheduling fifth, sixth, and seventh graders for their electives and language choices. Um, a few things coming up is their spring musical, which
is Willy Wonka at the end of March. And they also have the spring book fair at the end of March. Um, NJSLA testing, After a Break, May 14th is living lessons. Uh, and they were very happy that this year they're able to bring back some sort of special activity for
each grade level. Sixth grade had color wars in the beginning of the year and they have an ice cream day coming up in the spring. Seventh grade is having color wars in May and eighth grade has their trip to Spring Lake. The eighth grade dance, eighth grade picnic, which is activities and lunch, um, the eighth
grade promotion, and then the next day is the eighth grade breakfast. So, they have a lot to look forward to. uh some of the Oh, and next spring is the um big Lazar fundraiser. So, they're looking for people to help come with planning and ideas. This spring they're doing a
fundraiser where they're selling a piece of duct tape and you can purchase a piece of tape to tape Mr. Pashido to the wall. So, we'll see how many pieces hold him up there. Um >> I'll find out. Um, couple questions that
came up was about uh being able to block grade checking on Genesis for students until 3:00 to avoid distraction during the school day, but Mr. Pashido mentioned that students should only be able to access their grades if their parent gave them permission to. Um, so
that's how it should be set up. And then there was a big discussion on the acknowledgement of honoral and high honoral in the middle school, um, which we do not do. And amongst the many reasons was grade inflation and the fact that 75 to 80% of the school was
qualifying for high honoral and honoral. So it was eliminated in order to try to get back to more realistic approach to grading. Um and there take off the pressure from parents to round up grades at the end of the marking periods.
>> And that's about it. >> Thanks Kaitlin. uh the high school Christine >> no report. >> Uh we're going to move to our first public participation for items on the agenda. So if anyone wants to come up and speak on items on the agenda, you
can come up now. Seeing none, we'll move to consent resolutions. If I can get a motion. >> A second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Um nothing in section I. Section J. Any comments, questions? Yes. Go ahead.
>> Uh yes, I have to make a comment on J3. Um so I think it's u it's wonderful uh about the the nomination for the Lefay Excellence and Boardmanship Award. Um I think it's a it's a great way to celebrate everything uh our board members do for our students and
community. And uh I think all nine of us contribute in different ways to the success of our district. And this is a great way to uh to show the community some of the ways that we do contribute to uh to the district. Um and for uh for Joe Dory, who who's being nominated this
year, um he's he's serving as our president of the board. And uh to be qualified for this award, you have to have a minimum of six years and be a certified board member among other other qualifications. Um so if if I may just read the whole uh
resolution. Uh whereas uh Joseph Audrey is committed to student achievement by developing with fellow board members a vision that focuses on student needs with an assurance that policies and decisions move the district towards these goals. As a board member, it is a priority to
build confidence and effectively communicate with the staff and public. Joseph knows that strong partnerships between the administration, families, and various communities are critical to student success. Whereas Joe Dorri has excelled during his eight years on the board, holding district and county
leadership positions. He has shown great commitment to our students education, serving within Montville in Morris County and the NJSBA. He has uh he he was elected to serve as vice president of the Montville board of education last year and president this year. He has
served on our served or chaired each standing subcommittee and served on several ad hoc negotiation committees beyond Montville. Joseph was uh elected to serve an unexpired term on the NJSBA board of directors from December 24 to
May of 25. Recently in May 25, he was elected to serve a two-year term on the executive board of the Morris County School Boards Association. As the Montful delegate to the Morris County Educational Service Commission for the last five years, he has been repeatedly reelected to serve on its
board of directors. Whereas Joseph Dory demonstrates a consistent commitment to personal and professional development by participating in the NJSBA board member academy and achieving the level of NJBA certified board member, master board member, and in March of 24, the level of
certified board leader. He has also continually attends as many county meetings as possible throughout the state along with the annual workshops, leadership summits, conferences, and webinars. Whereas, Joseph Dudrey is active in our community, serving for 19 years on the municipal alliance several
times as president, whose mission is to bring awareness to the schools and community about the dangers of substance abuse. He also has served five years on the environmental commission. Joseph is involved in the Kuanas Club, serving as president in 2015. Joseph is focused on
serving the community such as through the food pantry and supporting many youth programs. Be it resolved that the Montell Township Board of Education nominates Joseph Daltry for the 2026 Irene M. Lefay Excellence and Boardmanship Award. And thank you. Thank
you. >> Can I say something too, Joe? Oh, thank you. Well, I didn't know about this until you nominated him and I was so thrilled. You really deserve it. Um, not only are you all these things, um,
but you're such a good person and you're honest and you're caring. When I first came on the board, you would always whisper in my ear. You were close by, "Do you have any questions? Do you need any help?" um if I had a question or concern about
anything, I'd reach out to you and you didn't judge me for asking those questions or make me feel like um uh anything less than what I was. Um you always look to volunteer. You always look to help. And um you were born and
raised in Montville Township. You have very deep roots here and you really love the community. So, I just wanted to congratulate you. >> Thank you, Christine. Appreciate it. >> Um, moving on. Uh, section K.
Questions, concerns. Section L, personnel. Section M, curriculum. Section N, policy. And let's take a vote on consent resolutions. If I get a roll call,
please. >> Dr. Modrech. No on J3. Yes to everything else. >> Mr. Palmer. >> Yes. >> Dr. Cordelino. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fano. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Petraino. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rapaort. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Smith. >> Yes. >> Mr. Dorree. >> Yes. >> Um, section Q. Any old business? Sorry. Uh, yeah. Section Q. Any old business?
Section R. Any general board comments? New business? >> Uh, I just wanted to make the board aware that um last week Dr. Gorman and I visited Senator uh Vin Gopal. Um, >> we didn't visit.
>> Well, right. We >> we virtually visited um his um legislative aid Jenna Lopez and we spoke about the uh the senator's consolidation
bill and uh hopefully what we heard uh is what the bill will be all about. And the biggest contention with the bill was that it it was going to be a forced consolidation without a vote. Um but
what we heard was that there would be a vote. Um so that's good. And we also expressed concern about our own school district which um she said would not be looked at for consolidation. Um we do very well uh in
our shared services. um we're high performing. We're sort of that sweet spot, right number um in terms of enrollment buildings. So, but it's it's a bill that we need to keep an eye on. And uh just to say that I I had the
opportunity to read today in a kindergarten and a second grade class and my my socks were knocked off. It was wonderful. It it made me want to have a third grandchild, but
as if you have any say in it. Yeah. Um Joe, um a couple a couple things. Um I attended the TC meeting, the township committee meeting a couple weeks ago. Um I was very pleased to hear that they're going to be
upgrading the sidewalk across Horsene Neck by the high school. Um that's wonderful. I was also very pleased to hear that they are going to be looking at putting a sidewalk in on Woodmont Road from the Mera complex up to uh
Windsor Road where there currently is no sidewalk. And that road, if any of you ever go on there, it's not the safest road in the world. Um, a couple other things. I too was at Woodmont seeing the kids this morning.
It was great. I love reading to them. They're so much fun. Uh, however, I did see one child there with a cell phone on the desk. Um, I'm not sure what the policy is for school, you know, for cell
phones in the elementaryaries, but that seemed a little odd to me. Um, I don't know if she has a special need or something like, you know, medical need, but I just thought I'd point that out that the cell phone issue is going to be a continuing issue for us. Um, And then
there was uh oh yeah one other thing. So I was not at the last meeting. I was looking at the northern lights and they're beautiful but I met a young woman there who was a tour guide and she was telling me about a gap year she took in her high school um where they
basically learned homemaking skills and it got me thinking about our financial situation. We have a lot of classrooms that we could use for other purposes. I know we rent out our space to other groups, but is there any um interest by the
administration of setting up additional learning opportunities for the community? Uh for instance, now like cooking classes, I know they're very popular with a lot of the community. uh other opportunities to use
our art classes or other instructional spaces that we could start then trying to generate some more revenue. Just thought it as an idea. I don't know if it's possible, but I thought I'd throw it out there. >> Yeah, you'd be talking about you're talking about an adult school or something. Almost like an adult school or something.
>> So, it's definitely something we've talked about, we've kicked around. you know, we'd have to pursue that a little bit more, but it's something we can definitely offer to the community, but it would be like a separate enterprise just like Medlick that we'd have to run like that and find people that would be
interested as well as instructors to be able to do that. So, we could >> I'm sorry. Would that money be put into the general funds or would that you couldn't use that for general funds? >> You want to talk about that? >> No. And then forget it. No, because of the charging of fees.
>> Uh, then forget it. >> So, it goes into a separate enterprise fund and you can only use it for uh issues. So, you could spruce up one classroom if that was what I say the art room. You could spruce up the cl you could buy a kiln if they're all working on, you know, pottery and stuff like that, but it doesn't come back to the
general uh fund to, you know, just, you know, offset costs. >> Then where would overages go? >> So, like with Medlick, so we receive money for that. So any overages with that, then they'll go back. We might buy new desks for those classrooms that are being used. We might help out with some
of the playground equipment because the kids used that, but it has to be specifically stuff that are tied to the uses of that program. >> What about that ropes course you mentioned a long time ago? >> Same thing. So if Bedlick was to use that or we were offering project
adventure type courses, then Mudlick money could be used to build a a ropes course or something like that. Same thing with tennis. Like if we offer tennis classes through Medlick, then you could maybe redo the tennis courts or something like that. So there's ways you could do that, but as long as it's being
used appropriately and legally by the enterprise that you're using the money from. >> So So the Medlick money can't come back to the general fund. It can only be done for these special. So if if we turned the tennis courts into, you know, lined
them for pickle ball or something like that, we could then improve the tennis courts and the facilities down in that area if we >> if you offered pickle ball through med for the elementary kids. >> Yeah, >> something like that. >> It's definitely worth thinking about to
try to, you know, because that relieves some pressure. >> Sure. >> Anything else? Okay. Can I uh next um last call for public participation for any comments?
Can you come up? Yep. Hi, my name is Donna Pulk and I still live here in Pinebrook. And again, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about Lazar Bus 15. Yes, this is my third time here. My son rides Lazar Bus
15. As you're all aware, there's been an ongoing discipline problem on Lazar Bus 15. students are not following the bus rules such that the bus is requiring three safety measures that I feel are
not working. One, a teacher is riding the bus in the morning and in the afternoon roots. I'm sure there's a cost to that to us taxpayers. too. There's a sign seating which was
subsequently lifted as I mentioned in my second visit to you all, but it was reinstituted. We'll get to that in a minute. A camera was installed on the bus, but more on this as well.
This combination of disciplinary actions seemed to be working until July 20 January, I'm sorry, January 29th when a group of students felt that the rules of bus safety do not pertur
pertain to them and they started to disobey. They did not listen to the bus driver when told to sit down so that the bus could be driven safely. The principal was alerted and spoke to
the entire bus, not just those students disobeying safety rules. the police resource officer, I don't know what his official title is. I call him the safety officer, rode the bus
that day, sat next to my son on the bus, assigned seating was reinstituted. But I thought to myself, when alerted of the incident by my son, and it was not the school, great, we have a record on
camera. Wait for it. No, the cameras were never activated or a recording was never done or the tapes were lost, but no record of the event, of the
students misbehaving yet again. Why is bus 15 still having problems? The owner of the bus company drove the route and a new driver was assigned to the route. We still have a teacher on
the bus to and from school. Assigned seating was reinstituted and as far as I know, we have a nonfunctioning camera. I refuse to say that it's functioning
because if it were, there would be no issue. There would be a record of the students misbehaving. These nonrule following students would be removed from the bus and safety would be restored.
Why are these disrespectful non rulef following students still on the bus? It's a privilege to ride the bus and some of us pay for that privilege. You follow rules. If you cannot follow rules, there are consequences
like get off the bus enough. What are the board and school doing are saying by allowing repeated infractions of bus safety is that the rules do not pertain to all. Certain students can do whatever they want
without consequences to themselves. These students have repeatedly shown that they do not care about rules as there are no consequences for them but the entire bus which the majority are
rule following is to suffer the consequences enough. These students who repeatedly make Lazar bus 15 unsafe must be removed from the bus. Please
make the ZAR bus 15 safe again. Thank you the board of education for your time. >> Thank you. >> We'll look into some of those things that you brought up. I'll be talking to the administration and we'll talk to the bus company as well about the camera.
Thank you. >> If I can get a motion for adjournment. So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you.