Get it started. Roll call. >> Dr. Cordelino here. Mrs. Fano >> here. >> Mr. Palama >> here. >> Mr. Petraino >> here. >> Mr. Rapaort
>> here. >> Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Zuckerman >> here. >> Mr. Dore >> here. >> Dr. Modrack >> here. >> Miss Ammer >> here. Mr. Blumenthal. Pledge
>> allegiance. Please republic it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty, justice for all. >> Okay. The open public meeting notice, please. 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 Montfield tap into the board's official newspapers on November 3rd, 2025. >> Thank you, Miss Emmer. You get to do the whole report by yourself. >> Yeah. >> So, in the past at Mville Township High
School, on November 19th, there was a share the keys program in the auditorium where students and parents were able to learn about driver safety. FBLA hosted their annual bad tournament after school from 2:30 to 400 p.m. on November 19th.
On November 20th, the 9th and 10th grade night in the auditorium. In this program, underclassmen and their parents were able to attend to hear from multiple students and guidance counselors about college application processes and more. The Montville Theater Company had auditions for their
spring musical, Sweeney Todd, on Wednesday, November 19th, from 3:45 to 6:30 p.m. in the auto in the choir room. Key Club hosted a food drive for Thanksgiving. The senior banquet took place on December 5th from 6 to 10 p.m.
at El Tul Tupano. On December 9th, members of the orchestra band and choir had their winter concert in the auditorium from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. The National Honor Society hosted a toy drive last week for underprivileged children. In sports, swim season has started as
their boys swim meet is today. The boys are currently 0 to2 on their season and the girls are 1 to1. Boys ice hockey had a game yesterday against Madison. They're currently 0 and3. Bowling has had their sixth game today against
Roxberry at 3:30 p.m. They're currently 5-0. Boys basketball has their season opener against Bendum today at 7:00 p.m. Girls basketball also has their season opener today away versus Roxberry today at 7:00 p.m.
In present times, we are delighted to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Mrs. Tang on being rewarded educator of the year in 2025 by the New Jersey Chinese Teachers Association. This recognition is a testament to her dedication, outstanding contributions, and exemplary
leadership in the field of Chinese language education in NJ. As the educator of the year, she serves as inspiration to her peers, students, and the broader community. Her com commitment to excel has undoubtedly elevated the standards
of our educational landscape. Spirit week continues through this week with themes being flannel day on Tuesday where students wear their best flannels for a warm winter vibe. Jersey day on Thursday where students rep their favorite new sports jersey. Winter wear
day on Friday is a day where students wear their best winter or ski themed gear. Spirit week goes into next week with teacher day on Monday where students dress as their favorite teacher and teachers dress like students. And for our pep rally day next Tuesday, we have sweater weather day where students
put on a cozy or ugly sweater for the pep rally. The pep rally is being hosted on December 23rd. The events of the day include faculty versus student basketball games where students face off against students where teachers face off against students in a friendly but competitive basketball game. Musical
chairs, where students compete for a seat as music stops and plays with one chair being removed each round. Box stacking challenge, where teams race to stack presents as high as they can as possible without them falling. December
23rd is a half day starting the beginning of winter break. Thank you. >> Okay, thank you so much. And as another reminder, as I do all the time, uh, all the sporting events here at the high school are free and open to the public. Come and enjoy. It's warm and they're
exciting. So, hey, thank you so much. Okay. Uh, superintendent report. You like >> Yeah, we're gonna bring Woodmont right in. So, come on down. >> Yeah. >> So, we have a wonderful presentation tonight. We have the Woodmont Coral. They're going to be coming here doing some holiday treats for us. We're very
excited. So, I'm going to ask the board make yourself comfortable if you want to get in front or wherever you feel you want to sit. I think we have close to 30 students here. They're under the guidance of Olivia Benson who's doing a great job with these students. And you can see for
yourself. Love the spirit. Love the hats and antlers. High above the trees like a
breeze below falling Snow on snow on snow. Snow on
falling snow. Snow slow. Every unique and Snow on snow. Snow on snow.
Snow on snow. And that's understanding snow. snow. Falling slow. B P the
P. La. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle Pop and we wish you a merry happy holiday. Praise to you. Hello. That was wonderful. Thank you, Woodmont,
and all our singers. Much more advanced than when we were in school. We didn't break out the kazoo or do anything like that, right? I mean, that's incredible. >> Yeah. Dr. Gor, before they leave, I just want to say I'm not sure where that young man was playing percussion, but he was absolutely remarkable. That's an awfully hard trick just to juggle all
these things at once. >> I know just from being a band, someone it's like, okay, play symbols now a couple play the cowbell, a couple, but he was going from one to the other to the other >> and he really did quite a job. Very proud of him. >> Oh, there he is. There you go. everyone
else, but it's very special. >> Oh. >> Oh, okay. Hello. Um, my name is Olivia Bettson. It's my first year here at Woodmont. I'm very excited to be at Montville Public Schools. Uh, the
children just did their wonderful concert on Friday and and the fourth and fifth grade sang. Fourth grade sang two songs, fifth grade sang two songs, and we ended with our beautiful gazoo piece. Um, I think everyone was very happy and um, we brought a lot of cheer to
Woodmont and our community. It's been a pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you for letting us come and join um, and bring you a little bit of cheer. I call this the holiday cheer choir. Um, so we appreciate your time during your board meeting. Um, and I want to also truly
thank the families for taking the time out of your evening. I know it's a lot. So, it was a wonderful thing that you brought your children to share. So I appreciate you very much. Thank you >> doing a wonderful job. Absolutely having the arts program especially at
the lower lake is this is not common in every district in the uh in the country. So we're very fortunate to have this and very excited and we were just at the high school concert two weeks ago I think it was and you just see how much they progress over the years and just wonderful. So this is where it starts
with the foundation there. So thank you very much for everything. >> All right. Uh parents, you're welcome to stay or you could go collect your kids or you know we'll be here all night. That was the highlight of the night. So you you more than welcome to stay
here. >> We'll be somewhere else. Okay. So Dr. Corman, would you like to continue on with your report when you get back? >> Yeah. >> To the packed audience. So moving from such a wonderful theme uh unfortunately I have to do the
statemandated reporting out of student safety data. So uh this is for 2425 and this is for the second half of the year of last year. So uh I'll just briefly go over the totals and how it changed from last
year. Um for violence uh we had uh two more incidents last year uh and that was at Lazar. They had they went from zero to two. Vandalism we went down six cases.
We had six of them at the high school for the same time period but it went down. So that was a big improvement. Substance abuse we had at the high school one comp and then um we had two and that was up from one the previous
year. Weapons we had uh zero which was down from one at the high school and HIV confirmed we were up plus five and that was uh a little bit more at Lazar than we would have liked. Other incidents leading to removal and that's with
anything that you were removed for anything I didn't describe there. So, it could have been just anything from like inappropriate language to a teacher or something like that, but we were up five with um I'm sorry, up six and um that was mostly at the high school. And then
HIV alleged we were down seven cases overall. So again, when you think about this and you add them all up, uh extremely small percentage of what's going on when you think about the 34 3,500 students in our district. So I'm pleased to report that. However, we're
still trying to stamp out all the HIV and all the other incidents that we have throughout the day. That's my report. >> And that's probably compares very favorably to other schools. So, >> right. Right. Compared to
like schools of us. Yes. Um >> we're in good shape. >> Correct. >> Uh business administrator's report anything? >> No report. We'll talk in January. >> We'll talk in January. Okay. Uh let's move on to committee reports.
Facilities and finance Karen. >> Uh the facilities committee met, facilities and finance committee met right before this meeting. Um and Kine uh once again provided some information about our fund balances
um challenges that we're facing for the 2026 2027 school year. an update on summer projects and happy to report that all of the vestibules um at six of our seven schools are complete. Uh and we
had a uh very good discussion about our food service provider uh Chartwells. Um >> okay, thank you. Uh Michelle, curriculum. >> Yeah. Um the curriculum committee met on December 8th and it was a very productive meeting. Um as we do this
time every year, um Mrs. Woodring presented us with the upgraded program of studies for the high school. Um, and there's a lot of different administrative changes and so forth. Um, but of note, uh, some new classes that we'll be offering next year include AP
business with personal finance, um, as well as wind ensemble in the, um, band and, you know, music department. um an algebra one course designed for students with significant gaps in prior mathematical learning that will um help
address uh needs of some of our students. And then in addition, there's new classes in the American Sign Language um department now that the students are moving uh up the grades and having that more years. Um we also discussed how this year 2520 26 the
district is going undergoing our CUSAC review. Um and so Dr. Woodring and the her departments and all the uh appropriate administration has been preparing for that. Um we always I shouldn't jinx anything but we do very well and we expect uh we expect good
results again this year with that report. Um we also received updates on the actionbased learning um AL and changes to elementary schedule that happened there. Um the ABL initiative continues to yield very positive outcomes and the administration as a
result is exploring opportunities to expand it into more classrooms. Um teachers have reported improvements in both student behavior and their academic performance within the existing ABL settings. Um and there was also recent donation to the SEL program that enabled
the middle school and high school SIL classrooms to be outfitted with ABL furniture. Um so there's support support for those students as well. Um, so there's also additional professional development being offered to the teachers in the spring to support the expansion of the program. Um, Dr. Gorman
also reported that the Amplify CKLA is progressing exceptionally well at the elementary level. Um so students are demonstrating as a result high levels of enthusiasm and engagement um with programs that where they're developing foundational knowledge in areas such as Greek and Roman mythology, the
Renaissance, the human body um and other important uh content do domains. So um and then the change to the elementary schedule where we have departmentalization of mathematics, science and social studies in both grades four and five um it has increased
the educational instruction time in those subjects. Um and we have our teachers at those levels emerging as true content specialists and we're hearing there's a lot of enthusiasm and it seems to be being received very well by the students, the parents, the teachers and we feel like that's been
across the district at our elementary schools a very positive change. So very productive meeting with a lot of good information. Uh keep up the good work. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Okay. Uh policy John >> policy met on December 4th. Uh there
were four stra ESM updates which the there was some discussion on but you know we agreed to to move forward and the one uh regarding noise makers which was our own update. Uh the draft policy that was up for discussion at the last
meeting and prior meetings we decided to keep that in place but we accepted scholastic events from that policy. With regarding scholastic events, we just made a You >> mean academic athletic events? You mean
>> athletic? Oh, I'm sorry. Athletics. Thank you. Sorry. We accepted athletic events and we we let it uh be more open to the the u the NJ I keep calling saying scholastic NJSIA
rule which is much more broad and doesn't reference specific noise makers but it just references loud sustained disruptive noises which we thought would be give more um leeway to the people at the event to make the decision.
Can >> can I ask a question? >> If you can ask a question. Yes. >> Um I I'm just just to clarify. So the noise makers will be allowed indoors. I can understand the outdoor activities
but indoors as well. >> So it it's leaves it up to the NJSA rules which says that loud disruptive sustained noises are not to be allowed. So that would be, you know, to interpret that language would be up to the people
in charge at that sporting event in indoors or outdoors. We specifically, you know, kept the no ban on noise maker policy allowed for all other events. >> Okay. Okay. Questions?
>> Okay. Uh Joe, communications. >> Uh yes, we met last week. Um just one of a couple items in discussion uh regarding the superintendence column, our community connections newsletter, um the use of social media, how the
schools are um putting out all the stuff that's going on throughout the district. Um discussed news articles that going out to the tap citizen daily record. um uh discussed Apogee regarding the
website and also um the transition from schooly to Google classroom how well this been going so >> okay >> y >> uh Christine hi >> hi >> okay safety any any news from the safety
committee >> yes so I'd like to turn it over to my colleague Michael Rapaort who was so kind as to take over my when my wifi was not functioning. So, thank you for running the meeting, Michael. Go ahead.
>> All right. No problem. Um, so we um we first talked about the elementary uh SEO, the special law enforcement officer, Officer Tommy, who's uh been a big hit at the elementary schools. Um, he's getting he's getting comfortable there and the kids are getting very
comfortable with him. Um and the elementary schools are getting um used to how to best utilize him. Uh for example, when there's outdoor events, the the elementary schools are now requesting him not in 17° temperatures
now, but um requesting him to show up on on those specific days rather than just the days that he's normally scheduled. Um the second is second item is the uh the SEO at Lazar uh decided to to stay
because uh um we as a board of ed uh voted to increase the pay for this legal position um and uh that was enough incentive for him to to stay. So he uh uh is is continuing to work and he's
very happy happy working with the district. Um the security vestable vestibules are all uh in progress um except for Hillddale which there's still some construction issues going on there but uh the goal is to have the vestibules
completed by the start of the new year start of this the school year uh in January. um the visitor ID system. Um as soon as the security vestules are done, the uh the next item up will be the the raptor visitor ID system which will be
installed and uh and we'll begin using that as well and they'll be integrated as part of the the security vestial system. Um, one of the things that I know people may have noticed is that uh information
about contact information and staff uh information have been removed from our website. Uh that's because there's been a lot of uh scraping going on where uh bad actors would scrape the website,
collect IDs, phone numbers, email addresses, and use that to attempt for uh uh to break into the school systems. Um so all that had to be removed. The only thing that's left are the administrators. So, principles and administrative team um are still on the
website, but everyone else has been uh been removed to help eliminate as much of that uh nefarious uh actions as as possible. Um there uh next item up is the Gaggle software monitoring system. Uh it it
seems to be working and doing what uh what it's been intended to do. Um it is monitoring the communications of students when they're on school systems. So if something concerning does pop up uh the appropriate uh counselors uh are
alerted at the various schools so they can get involved and find out what's happening and resolve the situation as quickly as they they can. Um obviously gaggle only works for school uh uh supported u uh technology emails whatever it is.
Um, students could still use home phones and computers, but uh that's outside of the the school's control. Um, and the last item we talked about was uh some sidewalk safety and we discussed that probably uh it would be beneficial if
there were some additional sidewalks maybe leading to Lazar or leading to Woodmont. Um, and that's something that we want to continue have discussions with and um have discussions with the town to see if uh uh things can be done to help alleviate those those situations. And that was it.
>> Okay. Thank you. Any questions on any of the committees? Nope. >> Okay. Uh de delegate leaison New Jersey school boards Karen. >> Uh thank you David. Um Where did my
There we go. So, on December 6th, uh I attended the legislative committee meeting of the New Jersey School Boards Association. This is a committee that interfaces with our legislators um quite a bit and uh we had uh with us that
morning um Senator Gopal uh who was very generous with his time and answered many questions for us. Um, we also talked about a number of bills that are moving and I won't go through all of them, but I will go through just
a couple that um would be of interest. So, the first is a district consolidation without voter approval. Now, this is a bill that is sponsored by Senator Gopal, and he explained at the
uh committee meeting that they're really looking at districts that are less than 500 students. Um, of course, none of us would want to see forced consolidation, and I think he's aware of that. Um, limiting it to school districts of 500
would be less painful. Um there is a joint legislative statesman task force uh to promote the importance of civility uh to students in grades kindergarten through 12.
There were a number of bills having to do with school funding. Um the legislature seems to be interested in this topic at this time. So that's important for us. Um Jonathan Pushman, our GR director, did
say expect activity in the legislature by the next budget cycle. Uh there was als there is also a bill uh sharing pilot revenue with schools S39:15. It requires municipalities to share
certain payments in lie of property taxes with school districts. inform counties, school districts, and DCA of certain information related to property tax exemptions and abatements. This is obviously something we've been looking for. Um so we have to keep our eye on
that and certainly advocate for that. Um there is a pilot program of uh therapy dogs which would establish a program in the DOE to use the therapy dogs and public elementary school wellness programs. There are a couple of bills that deal
with charter school transparency, would establish various requirements for charter schools, charter school board of trustee members, and charter management organizations. Um, almost done.
And again, just some bills on uh school funding. And the other thing I just wanted to report on, speaking of civility, um unfortunately some school districts, not ours, struggle with civility among
each themselves, the public. Um so NJSBA will be launching a civility starts with us in the first quarter of 2026. Uh it's envisioned um that the civility initiative will be led by our chief member engagement officer Ray Penny to
provide boards with various tools to combat confrontational and negative narratives. Um >> that's it. >> Our our our attorney suggested cream pies. >> Good idea. >> Yeah.
>> Can argue and snack at the same time. I I am looking forward to more information on the funding. That's it's very important. Please keep >> Yeah, I gave you the bill number, right? >> Yeah. No, but thank you. Um Okay, Mike Raport, uh Morris County Board.
>> Um I was unable to attend, but I've asked Joe to fill us in on a few words. >> Sure. Um the event was uh to be held here on Tuesday, December 2nd. Unfortunately, the weather um made it a virtual meeting that night. I know that
several members of our board attended virtually so I thank you for attending. Um the topic was empowering education community voices for enhanced AI learning. Um we had I had worked with three other speakers um Dr. Barry Haynes from Mendum, Robin
Sherval from Wharton and David Dissler an attorney from Mendum who actually was a graduate of the Maful district. Um, they discussed strategies for integrating AI tools responsibly and equitably to enhance student outcomes, streamline administrative tasks, bridge
communication gaps between schools, families, and the wider community. Our next meeting will be virtual on February 4th, and that topic is creating a positive school culture. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, let's stay with you, Joe, if you don't mind. Uh
Montville uh Montville Municipal Alliance, former DAC. Yes. Um they discussed uh some fundraising ideas for next year due to the fact that the grant that we usually get from the uh county has been reduced.
So um it's happening everywhere. You know, money's drying up. So there's that. >> Okay. And then the Morris County Educational Services. >> Yes. The auditors are finalizing their annual comprehensive financial report. Um, ED services does not receive state
aid or local taxes, local tax dollars. So, the audit is focused in on internal controls based on uh what they take in from revenue sources of their programs and the cost of operations. >> Okay. Thanks. Uh, John Montville athletic boosters.
>> No report. >> No report. >> I knew that was coming. >> No meeting. Christine uh special education parents advisory group. >> Yes, thank you David. So CPAG is having a virtual meeting in the first quarter
of the year and they just recently sent out a survey to all its members. um they were trying to survey what the um members would like to um hear about and they want to do a family and
caregiver workshop. So that will probably happen in February or March. >> Great. Okay. Um stay with you for a second here. Uh leaison to Hillale. Anything going on at Hilldale? Christine? >> Oh no report.
>> Okay. Okay. Karen Cedar Hill, >> no report. >> Caitlyn, uh, John William Mason. >> William Mason met on December 2nd. Uh, the main topics of the discussion were
the construction projects. I think everyone's pleased that the vest is done and, you know, we're just hoping the playground gets done as soon as possible. >> Yeah, maybe when the ground thaws. Uh, Mike Palma, Woodmont, >> we'll be meeting sometime in January. I
don't know the date. >> Okay, thanks. Uh Michelle or Joe Lazar, nothing. Nothing. Okay. Uh Mike, >> next meeting is January 12th. >> Yeah, it's coming up.
Okay. First public participation session. Anyone from the public wishing to speak, please come forward to the microphone. Seeing none, let's move on. >> I ask for a consent resolution for section I through N. Second.
>> Thank you. Okay. Uh, any questions on the minutes? Section I, section J, gifts, grants, donations, etc. Okay. Facilities and finance. Any questions on facilities and finance? Okay. Personnel section L. You have one.
>> Yes. L3. Dr. Sharter. Dr. Sharter. after 14 years as assistant superintendent of the district has decided to retire at the end of the year. Dr. Short was instrumental in working closely with the administrative team and the board to stabilize the district, attract new
talent, and raise the academic bar across the schools. Dr. Sharter has hired close to twothirds of the personnel in the district today and works closely with each principal in their daily operations. Dr. Short has worked directly on projects such as finances QAC which is the state
monitoring system, state assessments, personnel, legal issues, and so much more. Dr. Shorter's retirement will be deeply felt across the district, and we wish him tremendous success and happiness in retirement. >> But you're not leaving for a while.
>> We have six more months with him. But >> six more months. Okay. >> Maybe we could convince you a little longer. >> Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. >> But um just a couple of words about Casey. Um he manages our human uh resource department. As you could imagine, it's a very busy department. Um
it's a position with close relationships with the staff and the association. Not surprisingly, despite the potential for discord, Casey's fair and humanistic approach was reflected in the common efficiency of his department. And Casey,
we're going to miss you a lot. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I think so. But we will say our goodbyes later. We still have some time. >> Would you like what we did for Charlie? Would that >> have another one together now?
>> Yes. Uh, one more is, uh, we want to remove line L366. >> Okay. Okay. Uh, any questions on curriculum section M? >> No, no questions. I would like to just say a couple words about the program of studies, though.
Okay. Um, you know, as a affectionat of the arts, I was very very pleased to see the addition of a new course um, wind ensemble symphonic band. For all too long, we've just had one level of band
and it's never really been an ideal situation where you have levels of students from the very top to the very bottom. And I saw this as an opportunity to yeah have differentiation and this is a wonderful initiative
on the parts of some very wonderful teachers who I don't know if I can say the name should I or not yeah don't okay >> okay >> I can say okay yeah Mr. Jasovic at the high school who's you know taken it I
think to another another level say I want to separate the kids who are really have a passion for music and let them do something and I think there's an opportunity to let them do it but they're going to have ex higher level
music more I think practice um things that they have to do to put them on a higher level I mean having said that this really isn't a true wind ensemble symphonic band thing. I think rather than having something based on
level, I think it's really based more upon interest where in a true wind ensemble, you'd have the director saying, "I'm selecting these kids who have the ability to be in the upper level group and the others can work
their way toward it." Now, the way we have it now, I think, is really based more on interest than it is on uh ability. And to the extent that it gives the kids the opportunity to, you know, spread their wings and do
something that they might not have been able to do is a really good thing. And I think I've I always said to my kids, you the best friends you're going to make are the friends you make in band when you're in high school. And I think this may encourage some camaraderie between the kids, keep them interested in the
program, and hopefully keep our numbers up as time goes on. The only thing I would say is that I'm trusting that there's going to be some internal um I guess gatekeeping such that the
only the only requisite right now is that the kid says they want to be in wind ensemble and that does kind of to some extent defeat the whole purpose of saying the upper level kids and the lower level kids aren't necessarily
going to go together. But I think we're hoping that this is something in the future is going to you bring them to a higher level and hopefully the gatekeeping is such that maybe the kids who maybe shouldn't be in there might be
said, "Okay, well know maybe you might want to consider staying with Symphonic Band for another year." But I do truly appreciate the initiative. I think we're going to keep our eye on it, see how it is at the end of the year. And uh again
I salute the instructor for taking the initiative to create this program and Mr. Flechman as well and uh the heart is definitely in the right place and hopefully this is going to be a very good thing for the district. >> Well, I I think you said it correctly that they're going to keep an eye on it
and check in with it later and make sure it's progressing as you know as appropriate. So that's why we trust them. Okay. Any questions on policy? Yes, sir. Um, I uh have concerns about policy
8870, the use of the noise makers. Um, so I just want I just wrote down a few uh points of uh concern. Um, the first is in the list of um in the list of uh noise makers that
that's in there. Um, for example, there's amplified sound devices. So, based on the way the policy reads, if someone brings their battery powered Bose speaker, which is about the size of this water bottle, and uh they they set
it up uh prior to an outdoor event and they play some music, they're technically in violation of this policy. And I don't think that is what we were intending by having the noise maker uh policy.
The second point is uh under the prohibition section C1, it talks about use or possession of noise makers. So, as this policy is written, if there's a gym teacher who lives in town but works
in a different district, just for example, they race from their district back to our school district to watch their child perform, but their whistle is in their pocket.
That's technically in violation of the policy, and that's not what we're intending by the noise maker policy either. So, uh, I think that's also an issue. Then there's the any other formal school function. Um, formal is not really
defined anywhere. So, what is a formal school function is anything that's sponsored by the school formal? So, is even a football game or soccer game, is that considered formal? which then goes against the athletic
uh the the anonathic events that's in the title. It's it just doesn't line up clearly. Um and I say in the title it says non-athletic uh events, but anywhere in the body it doesn't talk about um
non-athletic events. It just says uh what does it say? Uh it says not limited to there's oh yeah including but not limited to. So if it's not limited to this list well then athletic events can be included in that list. Um, so I think
this this policy is is a little too broad and um it's covering things that I don't think we really intend to cover and uh I think it puts the principles or people who need to enforce this policy
in uh very hard position to enforce it. think it it would be much better served if it was extremely narrow to what we really want to take care of. Um, which is something we had talked about last time was specifically air horns, maybe something else as well, but um to to
narrow this down to to just what we really want to cover and not make it so so broad. Um, and so I was going to stop there, let everyone else talk about it. Um but then at at the end I'm going to make a motion to remove it from the agenda.
>> Okay. Can I just uh direct you to the purpose of this policy section A uh which uh states that uh it's to ensure that school ceremonies and events are conducted in a respectful, safe and orderly manner. Use of artificial noise
makers and similar devices may disrupt proceedings, interfere with communication and distract from the occasion. I think having a whistle in your pocket does not fulfill that purpose, does not satisfy that portion of the policy. I don't think that that
would really be a concern at that point. Um, as far as the uh sporting events go, uh, you're right, it doesn't say sporting events in here, but it does uh specify that district sponsored events on school property are formal events.
>> David, it last >> It does say they're exempted. >> I'm sorry. Yeah, >> I I didn't finish section A. >> Also, it says in the top non-athletic. >> So, non-athletic events, so it wouldn't apply to athletic events. >> Well, more than just the title on the
body. It says >> Yeah, but also on the body, but it also says it in the title. >> But I I get your point about the others. Um I I I'm in agreement with Dave a little bit that goes against the general. >> Go ahead. clarify us for us.
>> Yeah. Press it again. One more time. There you go. You got it. >> I don't know that it'll clarify anything, but I we spend a lot of our time as school lawyers dealing with the enforcement of policies. And in every instance,
you just have to trust the people that administer your district and administer these events to have at least a modicum of judgment when they follow policies. I I don't I don't think you said anything
wrong. I think everything you said is very plausible, but I could do that to every policy in the book. And uh I I I think that this is a common
problem with school district policies that they often contain language that simply require good judgment by the uh professionals who administer them. That's just my two cents. Okay.
Anybody else have any other comments about the questions raised about policy? Karen, you're >> I I think policy is intended to be broad and I think like Steve said, we have to trust the folks who are enforcing the policy to have good judgment.
>> I think that's what section A says, use your judgment. >> Any other questions about the policy? No. Okay. Um, if you're going to make a motion to take it off, you have to >> There's already a motion on the table.
>> Okay. Is there a second for that motion? >> Sec. You're in the middle of a motion to approve the agenda, >> but he wants to take this off. >> Now is not the time. You're in the middle of some other motion. >> So, we can't So, he cannot make a motion to remove this from the agenda.
>> Not right in the middle. done it at the beginning. He could move to lay it on the table, >> or he could just vote no, right? >> No. Okay. >> Okay. Well, I I guess that's where we
are right now. So, um, if there are no further questions on policy, we need a roll call vote. >> Mrs. Zuckerman, >> yes. >> Mr. Dorri, >> yes. >> Dr. Mr. Cordelino. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Fano. >> Yes. >> Mr. Palmer. >> Yes. >> Mr. Petraino. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rapaort. >> No. On policy 8870. Yes. To everything else. >> Dr. Modrack.
>> Yes. >> Okay. Uh, going on to old business. Uh, we have the board of election meeting schedule. Now, are we allowed to vote on this at this meet? We're not allowed to vote on that at this meeting, are we? No, >> we can discuss it if we want.
>> Would you discuss it, but you can't act on it? >> Yeah, we can't act on it. Okay. >> Would people like to discuss this now? >> I'm sorry. >> Would would anyone like to discuss our board of education meeting schedule for next year?
Karen, is that you? >> No. >> No. >> Um, I'll make a comment on it. I think after looking at both options we have and having a brief discussion with some other members and talking with administration that we can go with the
second option option B just as my my thoughts and that if we needed to have a second meeting in April for budgetary reasons we could always have a special meeting or you know a second meeting in the fall if we need one in October as well but that's just my my opinion.
>> Okay. Are there any other general board comments or new business? >> Does Does the administration have a preference for A or B? >> We work on the uh No, we don't have a preference. Uh whatever the board would like to do,
we'll we'll make everything work. So, >> I am a fan of having our meetings twice a month. I'm I laid that out a few weeks ago. Uh but I'm like what would be the motive to want to go to once a month other than
our convenience? >> Okay. >> No one >> convenience of the administration the staff. >> Is it the convenience of the administration? Amazon. >> Honestly, whatever the board wants to
do. If you want to go to once a month, we will make that work. If you want to go to twice a month or have some kind of hybrid um like you did this year, that's totally fine. We will make the appropriate adjustments to make everything work for you. >> Well, there's no vote tonight and we're
going to have this discussion again in January at our organization meeting. So >> just curious, you know, what the motivation is. So maybe we can >> I'd love to hear you really answer that question, though. >> No, but but I mean it's true. I mean, we've so when we've had meetings this
year so far, we've had once a month. You know, we've adjusted the schedule for the staff to make sure that they get their field trips in on time and stuff. If the board decides to stick with once a month and is still willing to post approve a lot of things, then that works
well for us. Um if you go to twice a month then you'll just see more of these things on the agenda. We would not have to post approve or have as much planning involved in some of the field trips and other events because you know they're coming up more uh on a more uh you know
regular basis. Um I think Karen's point is talking about also bringing us together sometimes meeting more often in close session and in public session. There's a positive to that. So it's really decides on what the board wants to do. We're seeing more and more virtual meetings. We're seeing more, you
know, the times are changing a little bit. So, um, however works for the board, you see, I think I don't know how many meetings we've had in a row that we're not having an audience here, but that's why we're trying to do other ways of communicate out there and get the messaging out as I did with the
financial super updates and things like that. So, uh, I I'm not trying to cop out, but it's whatever the board's decision is on the schedules, we will we definitely will make it work. I mean, I could certainly be convinced to go for once a month, but I would like
to hear what some of the motives are for doing that. I mean, other than, you know, it's 14. It's I'm sorry. It's four more meetings between option A and option B. Um >> Um, may I ask a question?
>> Yeah, go ahead. Uh I'm I'm sure we could save many thousands of dollars by only having one meeting versus two. And I don't know, Kine, I had asked you maybe
you compiled the list of legal costs, um faculty costs that we would be saving by reducing um the amount of meetings. And ju just on another point, I remember when I
first came to the board six years ago, um all the veteran board of ed members told me that the work happens during the committee meetings. That's where you're going to be spending the most time and then you as a group then come to the
board and that's really, you know, where where the work is done. And I really feel that way. we all trust one another um and we're able to if we're not on the committee uh send our
an email to um the committee chair to share our thoughts and opinions on things um so our ideas could be included um and I feel very confident with Dr. Gorman's weekly reports. Um, I know
what's going on daily. Anything emergency, he lets us know. He's only a phone call away as well as Kine. I just feel we have such great administration. Um, so anyway, I wanted to know what our
savings would be if we reduced it. >> In terms of cost related to meeting every each meeting, there is a cost of somewhere between 700 to $800.
>> And Steve, are there any additional legal costs? No, no. It uh breaks my heart to say this, but we don't charge separately for coming to board meetings. That's part of our annual retainer. >> Yeah. And I mean, personally, my
confidence in the administration has nothing to do with uh camaraderie as a board and meeting twice a month. And I I think it's like tonight we had this wonderful performance by the fifth graders at Woodmont,
you know, and I know obviously we'll fill the schedule with student performances, but we'd get to have four more, you know. I mean, this is why we do what we do is to see those kids come here and
perform for us. We get to showcase the schools and see what they're doing and have them do robotics demonstrations, music, all types of other presentations. We recognize them quite frequently. I personally am also in favor of know the
14 or 16 meetings a month or 14 or 16 meetings a year that we typically have. I don't think that's too much to ask. But um again, this is a discussion that we're going to be having in in January. >> And now
>> And now, >> may I remind the board of something that I say frequently to boards? >> What what you have coming up next month is not a reorganization meeting. People call it that. That's wrong. It's an
organization meeting. It's a new board every single year. And even if it's the same people as it will be here, it is still a new board. And people come to the organization meeting to see what's going to happen.
And they probably are entitled to hear this discussion at the organization meeting. >> Sounds good to me. >> As opposed to now when there's nobody here. >> I I would say it's probably going to be all set again. But last question, is there a reason we can't go with the
schedule with more meetings with the understanding that if Dr. Gorman feels we don't need a meeting, we can just cancel it a few days in advance? At least this way it's advertised and you it's easier to pull a meeting off than it is to put one on. >> We can do a lot of different things, but
>> well with every meeting that we advertise and it there's a cost related to it. So if we are going to we need to provide enough advanced notice in order to eliminate those costs because with
every meeting there's a cost. >> Okay. Um why don't we move on then? Any other general board comments? You have something else to say? >> I do. >> Not about the calendar. >> No, not about the calendar. No, it's about um the the wonderful um information that we get from Dr. Gorman.
Um like for example um the central office steadily preparing for CUAC and they were complimented by the county superintendent for being a model district in the submission of our work. Congratulations. This we need to celebrate this.
>> Yeah. Um >> celebrate tonight. >> Yes, we we do. I would also like to um congratulate Mr. Thompson um for presenting at NJPSA's principal and supervisor association inaugural
tech summit. Uh his topic is data was data privacy agreements. Again, our our staff, they're out there, you know, gaining uh publicity for themselves and for our schools. And this is wonderful.
And the last thing I'll I'll mention, and again, this is all in Dr. Gorman's report to us, um, there are planned visitations from other districts to see the wonderful things going on in our schools. For example, Hilldale will be
hosting Fairfield, Morristown, and Rididgewood over three different days. They'll be coming to see our ELA program, Amplify, in action, and we'll be sharing information back and forth with the teachers who visit our classrooms. A future visit to see
Ridgewood is in the is in the planning stages. Can we I mean, we I feel so proud to be part of this district and part of the board. Um this this is what it is. This is what it's all about. um our kids are
getting the best education possible and >> and I would also point out for other board members, Dr. Gorman also reaches out to other superintendents on a regular basis to discuss some of the common problems that we're all having like the financial situations. And so he
is actively working with other well act talking to other superintendents to see what possible solutions we might be able to apply here to our district for the problems that we face. And You're absolutely right. Uh, you know, and that's, you know, the new purchasing
of buses or consolidating some of our specialed bus routes have, uh, come to fruition because of that. So, Katine and our director of special services have been involved in those things. Uh, the the the visits for our elementary schools, they're just great. You know, they they bring teachers, we share
teachers, they sit down, have lunch, they share in the classrooms. It's just a great work session for all these people to, you know, just share this camaraderie that they have and try to solve the same problems that we're all trying to face. And the relationship we have with the county is is great. And they were here the last time for QAC,
which was three years ago. They complimented us then. They've been using us as a model for that. That's the hard work of Andrea, Kine, Casey, and so many others that are doing a great job with that that uh we're happy to share with our colleagues and we're happy to get a positive report from them as well. So,
it's good stuff. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, then uh we'll go on to our second public participation session. Anyone wishing to speak on any subject at all, come to the microphone. Seeing none, I ask for a motion to adjurnn. >> So, move.
>> Second. >> Thank you. Okay. Happy new year everyone. See you. See you in and happy holiday.