Dr. Cordelino here. >> Mrs. Fano >> here. >> Mr. Palmer >> here. >> Mr. Petraino >> here. >> Mr. Rapaort >> here. >> Mrs. Smith >> here. >> Miss Zuckerman >> here. >> Mr. Dorri >> here.
>> Dr. Modrack >> here. >> Miss Ammer >> here. >> Mr. Blumenthal >> here. Pledge allegiance please. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it
stands nation indivisibley justice for all. >> Good evening Miss Ammer and Mr. Blumenthal. >> Good evening. >> Would you care to give us your reports? >> Of course. So in the past for MTHS homecoming was on Thursday, October 16th
in the cafeteria. The night started at 7:00 p.m. and ended at 10 p.m. The theme for the dance was under the lanterns. At the homecoming, there were two photo booths, a DJ, and many opportunities to play games with classmates via boards set up in the ratunda. Underassman
yearbook photos took place on October 9th and 10th. Senior photo retakes took place on October 15th and 16th. This past week was school violence awareness week which started Monday, October 21st, where high schools provided opportunity to discuss methods for keeping schools
safe from violence as well as promoting student discussion about bullying prevention and issues of student diversity and tolerance. In honor of school violence awareness week, the International Concerns Club and Cultural Diversity Club led our school community
by offering information and other types of activities geared towards these principles. On October 22nd, 9th to 11th graders took the PSAT select classrooms from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and the college fair took place on October 23rd in the
MTHS cafeteria. Juniors and seniors got the chance to walk around and talk to college adviserss from over 40 schools. Now for sports, girls tennis wrapped up their season with a win against Morristown on October 8th. Their overall record was 10-7. Field hockey is
currently 10 and seven with a game against Verona today at 4 p.m. Boys and girls soccer wrap up their conference season with a game against Pope John tomorrow at 4 p.m. This this game is girls soccer senior night, ending their conference with a record of 10-6 and
boys soccer being 13-5 and officially becoming a conference champions last week. The 10 um football is 5 and three with a state tournament game this Friday against West Milford and Montville volleyball had a game today against North Hunter Hunterdom at 400 p.m. Their
current record is 1 and 20. Now on to present and future summaries. Starting October 27th all across the country schools are observing Red Ribbon Week. The goal of this week is to inspire students to be drug-free. Miss Lamaro and Miss Mccoral,
student activity, student assistant counselors, set up a table in the high school rotunda during the the lunch this week. On Wednesday, October 29th, National National Honor Society is having their fall induction ceremony in the
auditorium from 6:30 to 900 pm. The Montville Theater Company's production of Romeo and Juliet has their performances on Thursday, October 30th at 700 p.m. and November 1st at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Tickets are being
sold online or at the performance. Then next week brings the end of the first marking period on November 4th. Following this, November 5th is a half day and November 6th and 7th, schools will be closed for the NJA convention. For underassman who missed
the yearbook photos, school photos, school photo retakes will be on Tuesday, November 11th, where students will have their photos re retaken in either their physical education or health class. >> Okay. Okay. Well, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> And you're going to go to the play,
right? >> Yes. >> Now, wait. And the football game, is that here? >> Superintendent report. Is there any questions for the >> Actually, we're going to start off with our guests first and then I'll get into our report. But any questions for the board or anybody? I mean, for the students. >> All right.
>> Have a good night. >> Dr. Raj, you want to introduce our guests and all these props you have here? >> It looks very fun and exciting. You need a >> mic. >> Okay. Good evening. I'm Michael Raj. I'm the principal of Cedar Hill School and
we are here to present uh a very fun club that we run at Cedar Hill. This presentation is going to be two clubs in one. It's our rocket club and our AV club. The AV club, as you know, we received a grant from the MEF. all the elementary schools did uh where they
were kind enough to gift us some AV equipment which we now take and we do a little Cedar Hill productions with that we do a weekly news channel and also these little things that special events that happen throughout the uh the school day we capture them and we uh set them up our own little YouTube channel
internally and the teachers get to watch it in the home rooms with the kids with the class it's fantastic the reason why we don't have any students contrary we always have students here at our presentations in the past however the popularity of these These two clubs range close to 120 student participation
in there. In my school of just over 300, mid-300s, that's a third of my school. I couldn't really shovel them all here. And then trying to play favorites of who I ask to come and who uh I don't ask. We figured just these two beautiful gentlemen here can do a great job for us. So very smart. All right. So I'm
going to turn over here. I have Mr. Delasio who's been with us in district many, many years. He worked over William Mason. He worked over at Hilldale. and for the past 19 20 years with us here at Cedar Hill School. Matthew Paladino who started with us as a instructional aid who actually started in the district as
a maintenance custodial staff became an instructional aid went back to school begott his physical education and is now my fizzed teacher. So uh full circle for Matt and I'm going to turn over to you to gentlemen. >> Good evening everyone. So our rocket
club ranges in grades three through five simply because uh the dexterity they need to use to tie things together, put things together. So it's only grades three through five also because um they're old enough to understand uh safety and that's our our main concern
is safety learning but safety. Next slide. Oh jeez that is small. >> I've been working 29 years in district. So pleasure to meet you. >> The Rocket Club started at Hilldale School in 2000. So it's 25 years running
up and running. I started with Jason Jones over at Hilldale. Uh when I moved over to William Mason in 2005, I also started the Rocket Club there as well. And I think it's still up and running. In 2008, when I arrived at Cedar Hill, we started up the rocket club as well. Mr. Paladino has been instrumental in
keeping us up and running for the last four years because the numbers have exceeded 100 plus students. He's like excellent with the computer and organization. Uh like Dr. Raj said, it's a third of our school population that participates in the rocket club. In all three schools, the club was met with
great enthusiasm by students, parents, and staff. So even on launch day, the parents are invited. So when we get to the launch, you'll see what we're talking about. So just uh I'm Matt Palino. Nice to meet everybody. Um so uh like a little
project like overview. Um like Mr. Lassi was saying, uh grades three to five participate uh in a hands-on steam focused on um experience focused on aerodynamics, engineering, and creativity. Each student builds and launches um their own rocket. The only problem is we always can't guarantee
they get back. Sometimes they float into the trees and we get them later on in the year. Um you could go to the next one. So these are some of our fifth graders building the rockets. Um they we bring them in a lot of times for lunch. um stay with them after school if they need
to finish them up. Um but they're just right now they're kind of putting the designs on and uh the beginning stages. So you can kind of see a final project. Um this is what they're working towards uh right now. Go to the next one please.
Students follow the uh detailed instructions of their NASA engineers. That's Mr. Pino and myself. Students started by assembling the base and attaching fins. Students then attach the parachute. The parachute is the biggest problem. The shock cord to their nose cone. Uh nose cones. Parachute shock
cord are inserted into the body of the rocket. And then there's actually special wading we put in so the parachutes don't melt. So every little detail that goes into these rockets is important. So it's kind of nice that the kids make that every little step matters.
It looks like tissue. >> And we would never substitute that because if it was a tissue, it would burn up. You'd actually see it falling from the sky. >> Believe it or not, that little piece keeps the burning up.
>> So, the last stage of the rocket is like a back puff of vely hot air that kind of is still so hot it would ignite paper. So that's why they have the special wading in there. So then the parachutes also don't melt. Um I think I got that.
The igniters go into the bottom of the rocket. So this is what it looks like. I'll hand this. You can hand it around. Don't worry about messing it up. It has two wires attached to the bottom that gets attached to these long cables. So
we even talk about this because of the way it works. We're sending an act uh four AA batteries in there. I'll connect this. You ready, Matt? >> Yeah. Go ahead. And once these are connected to the bottom of that rocket,
when we're ready to launch, and you'll see a couple rockets launch, the light goes red. So that's so they know they're ready to launch. When we are ready, when we connect, the pin doesn't even go into the pin is out because then there's
no way that they helping them set it all up. At the same time, they're not they're not the easiest to press down. So, they got to give it a good press and hold it. >> And once the red light is on, that means
the instrument is hot. So, what then ends up happening is you hold both buttons at the same time, it heats up the wire and on the end of the filament that's inside of that engine, it actually um is like an igniter. That's what they actually call it, igniter. It ignites the rocket. And
that's the first stage of the rocket is liftoff. So, um it goes through three stages. Liftoff, back puff, and then parachute, and hopefully landing. So, but there's a long wire attached to it, so no one's next to it. Um, I've been
doing this 25 years. Um, we've been good. I don't want to jinx it. So, I'm just going to say everything has worked out very well. Uh, next slide. And there's, uh, more of our children building. Uh, this is the grade five. So, it's much bigger than the grade
three. These are basic uh, rockets. They also have three different types of engines. There's A, B, and C. We use the middle engine B because the A's are too short and the kids don't go, "Oh, they just kind of like, oh, that's nice." bees get the uh attention. C's um the
neighborhood would not be happy with us. So, we launch B engines. >> Not happy. >> I'm sitting there at my desk after school and then protocols came in. They would just walk in the front door with a rocket and throw it at my desk. This is
one of four that just landed in my yard. Being very conscious of our neighbors and doing right by them. True story. >> It is a true story. So, uh, like, uh, Mrs. was saying, we use, uh, these lightweight model rocket kits, which keep them from kind of going
farther, uh, than they need to be. They're, this one I actually messed up trying to build, so I kind of brought it to show you guys. So, they're made, they're made of cardboard, so you could see like the inside. Um, so they're very light. They uh, so that way they don't like like Dr. Oz was saying, they don't
bother the neighbors. They go up and they come straight down. They float down nice and easy. Um, all of our launches, uh, we make sure we follow strict like safety guidelines. We set up, uh, barriers. We keep the parents back. Um, I can't say enough about the staff at Cedar Hill that volunteers their time to come and help us with it. It's not just
me and him on the launch. We have anywhere from five to I'd say almost 10 teachers at a time because they enjoy watching it, too. Um, but they really are instrumental um, to helping us with that. So, I can't uh, say enough about that. During launch day, the parents come up
next to their child and can videotape it. So, we usually have five or six launch pads depending on how many volunteers we have. Uh we have one or two teachers on crowd control. Uh Mr. Paladino and I are there helping with because things do go wrong. The wires come off. Sometimes the igniters don't
work. Sometimes the igniters don't work the right way, meaning they light, but they don't light. So, we usually have to intercede and uh help out. So, safety, safety, safety. But it's a lot of fun and the parents enjoy it, too. And it's a memory that pretty much a lot of the
kids that come back, a lot of the kids that came back at the end of last year, they were like, "Oh, you still doing Rocket Club?" I'm like, "Yeah, we're still doing Rocket Club." So, they remember it. Uh, that's actually launch day. The kids connecting wires. We help them connect the wires to the bottom of the uh rocket
on the launch pad. Uh if the wires come off or those little metal wires twist, it won't um ignite the right way. >> How long does it take to build a rocket? >> Three days usually. So the kids come in during recess. Like today I had a kid come in. He's like, "Oh, it's going to
rain. I don't want to come in today. Could I come in during lunch tomorrow?" I'm like, "Yeah, come in tomorrow during lunch." So we kind of work with their schedule. But uh like Mr. Paladan, you know, they launch after school. It's like an hour, hour and a half. So if they if some of the kids are in medl we
can help them out even after school in Medlick. >> Do they build it after school or do they build it during school? >> Kind of like a hybrid. Sometimes during the day, sometimes after school really depends on the kids schedule because that's a lot of people are involved after school. So we try to accommodate
them during their launch. >> So on uh launch day, launch day brings a lot of excitement and curiosity. Um, like Joe was saying, the students connect the igniters, they take control of their controllers, and they set their rockets off. Um, every rocket uh achieved liftoff. We make sure that
happens so no, um, student, you know, is upset that their rocket didn't go off. So, even if we've had to stay a few times, try multiple engines, and eventually we get it to life for them. So, um, we want to make sure everyone gets off. This is our third graders. Like, we take
a group picture before they launch their rocket. So, this is the third grade this year. The next one, this is the fourth grade. We haven't done the fifth grade yet. They were supposed to launch Thursday. Um, but it's looking like 100% chance of rain. So, we uh decided early on that we're going to back it up a few
weeks um with the conference and stuff. We'll back it up a couple weeks, but they're going to get to launch in November. >> So, this is going to be a rocket launcher. show you examples. >> That's actually uh one of the third
graders who got their rocket back. >> Doesn't want to play. >> Wow. [Laughter] >> I will say after we launch the rockets easily come out of the bottom. You want to hold this? The problem is if they get the rocket back and they don't take it
back, we get complaints because their house. >> So we always tell the kids don't go home with it in otherwise complaint and smells. >> Okay. So like Dr. Oz was saying, we couldn't pick like a couple kids um and disappoint anybody and obviously fit 120
students um in here would be a lot. So we have our AV club who's ran by Mr. Cardi and Miss Moran. Um they do a wonderful job with the students. So, we sent a couple of their lead students out to grab us some interviews. Um, the first five seconds of every video, the the volume's kind of low and then it
picks up. So, they'll you'll kind of see it. That's just the way that they record it. But, they did such a good job, I didn't want them to go back and do it again. So, you'll see some interviews here. >> What was your favorite part about building the rocket? Why did you want to join?
>> Because I really want to watch my sister. >> Nice. >> He's the littlest kid on the fifth and sixth grade football team that the guy in know about the rocket launch. I liked
how we they went high and the parachutes came out fast. Well, why did you want to join? I wanted to show like the signs and how they were built. Um, what was your favorite part of building though? >> Um, probably seeing how they do it when they're older and to just to know how to
do it. >> Favorite part about >> probably building it. Why did you decide to join? Because after I watched you in fourth grade. It looked exciting, like pressing
all the buttons, learning how to build it. So, I thought I'd enjoy. >> Um, what was your favorite part about building? >> These are two brothers. So, that's why we thought it was cool because he got to see his older brother do it, and that's what excited him to decide to join the
Rocket Club. >> And the other younger brother's in first grade. He's excited to join. He was asking me about it this morning. Like two more years, buddy. >> It was probably making How did you like [Music]
>> Did you like the launch part? >> Yeah. >> Why did you decide to join? >> Because I wanted to like the last one. >> Why did you decide to join rocket club?
>> I really want to see how far my rocket was. >> What was your favorite part about building the rocket? >> Um, I'd say like um just making it. What was your favorite part about the walk? >> The whole thing says it all.
>> Nice. >> Um, educational impact. Uh, we foster curiosity, confidence in STEM learning. The fun thing about the program is all the kids can participate. uh strengthens socialization between grades three
through five students. Launching rockets uh gives a tangible sense of accomplishment, excuse me, accomplishment and pride. Uh builds confidence and lasting excitement for learning. The best part is when it actually launches because like I built this and it's taken off. So that's kind
of exciting. Uh Zeppelin Hobbies, we can't say enough about these guys. We've been able to keep the price uh down. Uh sometimes the rockets get a little bit more difficult to find when you're looking for that's one of the problems we've had with the club growing. You
have to find 40 rockets that are the same and that's not easy to do because they get discontinued. Zeppelin Hobbies has been wonderful. They give us a discount. Um any questions, concerns, they're there for us. They help us in any way they can. Um as you can see, we went there, we
took a picture. Um we partnered with their with them. They were under new ownership. That's how long I've been doing this. Someone else bought Zeppelin Hobbies and now I work with them. It's a father and son, but they're very nice people. And the reason I want to bring them up is because of the discounts they do offer us. They're not just giving us
at value. They're giving us, I think, 15% off. Uh we do quite well there. >> So, thank thank you guys for having us. Um thank you Dr. Raj for letting us uh do the Rocket Club, letting the students enjoy it. Um allowing us to have the
freedom uh to run a club like this. Uh, thank you guys for your time and we hope you have a good rest of your evening. >> We can get these >> four. >> So that's a third grade rocket. >> Same one. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So, thank you so much for coming and and
presenting and uh I guess keeping 100 kids at home. So, that's a But but it's really exciting like you said you're reaching these students in a different way especially with this STEM skills and and bringing this excitement to that. So it's just it's just wonderful to see especially all these years. So great achievement.
Congratulations. >> Can I can I just say as the proud parent of two daughters who >> too many years ago I want to thank went through Rocket Club with Mr. D and I still have pictures and video and it's still a very highlight memory of their time at Cedar Hill. Thank you for keeping it going and thank you guys for
what you do because it really was very special back then and still special now. So, >> please don't tell me how old they are. >> You don't want to know. I don't want to know. >> And thank you very much as well, you know. [Applause]
>> Okay. You have more reports. >> All right. So, uh we're just celebrating the uh next week will be the end of the first quarter. It's gone extremely quickly. So, um It's just amazing, you know, how fast the year starts to go. Tomorrow is
the trunk or treat for the town that got moved because of the weather. So, we'll be out there handing out with a number of the students that'll be volunteering after school tomorrow at 4:30. We'll be up there by the pavilion with the town. Cell phone surveys went out to all the parents and the students sat last week
and uh at the high school and did them in an extended home room and the parents I think have another week or so to to fill that out and that's for parents for all the different uh school levels. Um the security vestibules that are being built at several of the schools is
almost completed. We the glass is finally coming in. So that is being installed. So, we're hoping to have that done in the next couple of weeks and then we'll have every school with a security vestibule. William Mason playground has started. They started excavating that. Um, they ran into a
slight problem which is what we knew was happening. There's literally almost a river flowing underneath all of that. So the the ground is extremely wet and that's what's caused all the little call for lack of a better term a sinkhole there and that's what was starting to have the playground area up by the black
top that was starting to cave in a little bit and that's what we're fixing and we'll have proper drainage and we did the field testing for the uh state the state now changed the tests we're doing the field tests right now at the elementaryaries and the middle school and then I think in two weeks we'll be doing the high school. So that field
test is out there. That information will be gathered and then the test will be real in uh the spring for uh for the next couple of years. This is the new company that the state partnered with. And the last thing I just want to talk about is the uh multilingual learners in
our district. Two years ago in 2324 school year, we had 33 total uh multilingual students. These are students coming from different countries that are coming into our um into our school system. And this year we currently have 114. That's an increase
of 81 students and 245%. So it just shows you that the demographics of our town are changing and changing very quickly. The languages that are being spoke, the the highest numbers right now are Spanish, Turkish, Korean, Chinese, and Arabic. And there's
many more. We have over 30 something languages being spoken in our homes right now. And that's why another reason we switched to the new website with has multilingual CA capabilities on that. So parents can click those on and then they can get the messages in their languages they feel most comfortable with. Just in
general, New Jersey multilingual learners are make up about 9% of the population and here at Monville, it's 3% of the population. We have 114 uh students that are wellund yeah 114 students that are currently uh identified. I might have misspoke
earlier. 114 and 150 current Mon students have exited the program and they're doing very successfully well in all the different classes that are taken. So think about that 150 have graduated out of the program. Typically the program is about two years maybe
three years for certain students and once they uh pass uh the different benchmarks they're able to exit out of the program and then as we see each year we've presented to you that 101 students have been found eligible for the New
Jersey state of biiteracy exam and 16 of those students were uh former multilingual learners. So it just shows you the impact that we're making and that they're making on us. So, it's just uh wonderful uh seeing these students. You see the cultural changes that are
going on around the schools, but uh it's just good to get some numbers behind some of the things that you're seeing. Any questions on anything? Someone tell a joke or something. >> Where's Charlie? >> I spoke to him this week.
>> All right. So So Katina and I are going to be speaking tonight. Um, I think I'm going to do the the beginning of this and then she'll jump in and save me whenever I mess up. But, um, what we're going to be talking about tonight is uh the capital improvements and the future enrollment
of the district. And we started this discussion last year and I think we presented maybe twice on this topic and we're going to continue to do this at least quarterly if not more over the next uh year and then going forward. But we just wanted to give you an idea of the state of the district on a lot of
these topics so we can start talking about it. I'm going to start off with the enrollment of the district and let you know where we've we sit as of October 15th um of this school year. So, uh it might be a little harder for people, but this will also be on the website. We'll post this and we'll also
send this out to the community. But right now, um it just shows you the capacity of our buildings and then the enrollment figures of our our students. Right now, we have 3,481 students uh that are currently enrolled. Our capacity is 3,355
which puts us at 126% 126 students over capacity. The number of students that you see at Cedar Hill and William Mason uh those numbers I have them highlighted right there and that's because the developers have not de developed those uh housing units yet.
So Cedar Hill does have it's called now Daristown and those u will most likely we think are going to be online come January and that's most likely going to hit uh Cedar Hill the most and then at William Mason that's the um the area by
um Harrison's Harrigins and uh that's going to be going on they were supposed to broken ground already they haven't and that may be happening another year from now so maybe even two years but that's where That's why I have it in red. Just looking at this is the chart that
we've been using for the past couple of years. So in the green on the lefth hand side, you'll see that we have Madera and Avalon. Those two are completed and people have moved in. And I'm just going to jump down to the bottoms, but you'll see at Madera we have 80 out of 103
predicted students with our demographers report. And then we have at Avalon 87 out of the 111. you'll see that Woodmont was the most heavily um hit and that was predicted and you can see where they're rolling out. So that the only thing that we do not know are are they at 100%
capacity or do they still have room for more people to be moving in. So but that's where we're at right now. As I said about Daristown, that's um we're expecting 39 students that should start in Januaryish.
and then Sterling which is the old Harington or current Harrington's and uh we're expecting 50 58 um students coming out of there. The other thing the next column you look at there the growth increase that's what's predicted with new housing being developed on some
empty lots that are being purchased and then on top of that also uh the birthing rates and the number of people that are moving out and moving in. So a family might move away and a family of five might move in. And so that's the growth increase. Again, the enrollment
projections based on the demographer and then the over capacity projections that we're expecting at the end of next year. So just to give you an idea of statistical forecasting, Dr. Grip came to us uh he spoke to us twice several
years ago. uh he predicted that 214 students would be coming out of the Madera and Avalon Bay. 167 are coming out of there as of right now. And that's about a 78% of what his prediction was. The developers were predicting a much
lower number. They predicted 106. So right now we're at 157% of their predictions. So obviously the truth is lying somewhere in the middle right there. So to be fair to the demographer, if you look at the totals of where we are right now and you take out the Daris
town as well as the Sterling numbers, then that means we have 348 of 3,481 actual students. 35 3,599 that were predicted. We're 126 students over capacity. And this puts him in his
margin of error, which is about 3% 3.3%. uh and he said his AR margin of error would be within 5%. And he still has another year to go with the other things and uh so we'll see where he lands at the end of next year. So moving forward,
what we've what we've done was we as we promised, we took the classrooms that were at in the hallways, we took them out of there and we made whatever space we could or made adjustments or built small uh small group instruction. We consolidated the prek at Valley View. We moved around some special ed classes to
other uh schools as well. We made small groupoup instruction as needed. We made additional, you know, education programs districtwide depending. We consolidated. We did the best we could uh over the past two years and that's worked out well. And then we've increased our class sizes as necessary. On average, you've
seen two students uh increase at both the K3 and then the four five levels. So um so they are moving up. So, I'm just going to pause there for right now if anybody has any questions about uh the enrollment figures.
>> Is there any ways we can we can know the capacity? I'm sorry. >> Can we find out the if they're at 100% or there's no way is it worth it? >> The town doesn't know those numbers either and we've talked about that
numerous times. It's up to the places to give us those and they don't want to do that because they're trying to, you know, move apartments as well. So, it's it's a guessing game. We know they were over 60 something, 70% the last time we had a real actual figure. I just don't
know how close they are to 100. >> Can we can we figure out from a realtor, you know, how many are on the market? Something like that. >> Uh, I could try. I've I've been told no along the way, but I I could go back to the town and see what what they can maybe figure out, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.
>> Yeah, I'm just looking at the numbers like the this page that has 2526 current enrollment and current projection enrollment. I guess you need to go back like a page. I'm just for example, the high school for 2526 enrollment as 988.
Then you go underneath that it says growth increase from 24 to 28 is down 190 and for 2728 enroll projection is 990. So how does the growth increase go down 190 and enrollment go up too.
>> So you talk for the high school. >> Yes. >> So how to just say it one more time. >> Okay. In the top chart for Montville High School it says enrollment 988. Okay. >> Okay. Now if you go down one
to the next where it says current and projection enrollment next slide down I guess has growth increase at negative 190 with the enrollment projection projection of 990. So I'm saying so how
does a growth increase go down 190 and the enrollment go up too? >> Wasn't that over four years? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So right, so the this is going this is still projecting out into 2728. So they still have another year or two
to really get to those numbers. >> It's just a projection, Mike. >> But they're 980. I don't understand. They're 988 now and their 990 is projected in four three years. How's that result in a growth increase of 190
negative? Because the 190 is comparing where they were three years ago to where they're going to be a year from now. You're not looking at an annual change. You're looking at a change over multiple years. >> Right?
>> And in terms of growth, there is a two student growth between the 2526 enrollment number and the 2728 enrollment number. But that 190 is a span over multiple years, right?
>> And that's exactly what we've seen. We've seen smaller classes coming into the high school and we've been graduating larger classes. Anybody else? Okay. So, we're going to get into now the capital improvements, the financial
system of the district. And again, this will be an ongoing discussion of what's going on uh for our whole district. So the lefth hand columns for these bubbles for the next couple of uh slides, you'll see these are the projects that are underway currently or have been completed over the past say four maybe
even five years. So, just quickly at the high school, we did roof replacement, electrical upgrades, security vestibules, fire alarm systems, replacing boilers, and that came to $8.9 million of um
of of um of work over those couple of years. We just didn't update that bubble. Okay. So, um, the projects that we have planned right now are that we have them planned, we have them scoped out, but the board has not approved them yet, and
we have to find funding sources for this. And we broke that into two different categories. the reserves um that are you know money that can be taken out of reserves $670,000 at the high school level that could replace the HVAC in the hundred uh 100 wing at the
high school the cafeteria the security hallway different upgrades we were talking about if you go down to the bottom of that you have estimated $6.8 $8 million of of uh renovations that could be possible in the future. That could be renovation to the cafeteria,
replacing the upper turf field, renovations of the auditorium, and so forth. On the right hand side, we call them unscheduled because there are ideas that we've talked about with the referendum and other things, but we just have them unscheduled because there's no plan in place. But that comes to about
$10 million. And that could be again installation of turf turf on the softball field, update the driveway system, and construction of a fieldhouse. And these are all just this is everybody's wish list. We're putting it all out there so everybody knows what's going on.
For Lazar, same thing. You have the first column in the bubble. This is what all the different projects. This total came to $4.5 million. And that's with the HVAC of the sixth grade wing, boiler replacement, lighting, and so on. The middle column shows you the the money
that we could take out of reserves at $4.2 million over a number of years that would finish the projects of the HVAC at the seventh grade and eighth grade wings and alarm systems security again. And then you have also have the possibility of alternative financing which we'll get into a little bit later, but renovating
the cafeteria, improving the safety of the and uh and the field spaces there. That would be 5 million. And again, unscheduled, talking about turfing some green space, constructing an auditorium, a generator hookup. That would be $9.3 million.
We call them the sister schools, Cedar Hill, William Mason, and Woodmont projects that we've completed or that are underway. 11.9 million in that first column. And that is, you know, the roofs, the uh vestibules, playgrounds, canopy, all things you're seeing that
we're all very proud of. Products that are planned are $2.5 million. Talking about security, bathrooms, fire alarm systems, and then at the bottom there, $12 million in other ideas of HVAC and window replacements just for those three
schools alone. And then again looking at the right hand side, if we talked about a cafeteria, adding two of them, adding different classrooms, 15 of them for those schools, that would be an estimated $45 million worth of projects. The other two elementary schools,
Hilldale and Valley View, they completed $6.4 million worth of revenues of projects on the lefth hand side, seam coating, HVAC, landscaping, hallways with the lighting, etc. In the middle column, you have 400,000. Oops, I didn't
update you. Sorry. You have 400,000 of the uh projects planned. That's the repairing of the bathroom floors, upgrading the fire alarm systems, hallways, and again down at the bottom, HVAC and window replacements at 6.5. The unscheduled
column right there, again, that's the classrooms that would be needed for the enrollment issues, maybe adding in a cafeteria, installing a generator. That would come out to $16 million. >> Uh Tom, >> yes.
>> The unscheduled for the high school or for Lazar rather, the construct an auditorium would be a new a new building. Yes. >> Yes. And no. Um there would have to be some kind of addition. There was some talk. We didn't we didn't go that far
down the road, but you could play with the existing gym a little bit. Maybe make it a little bit bigger and expand out maybe some of the locker rooms. not necessarily a whole new building, but there could be some add-ons that they could play around with. >> Thank you.
>> So, the impact on reserves. So, we've been very creative. Kina and the business department have done an incredible job about keeping us, you know, moving forward these past 10 years. Um, but it's being used a lot. You see it in the newspapers. You see what's happening with a lot of the
different districts. There is, you know, there's a fiscal cliff that's coming to all districts. You cannot maintain 2% taxes and everything else is going up eight 8%. Busing is going up 25 30%, insurance goes up 25%. These numbers
just don't do not work. So, we have to start thinking ahead and and planning prudently. So if you looked at just some of these projects that I already mentioned, um you come up to about say 8 to10 million there in the money that we could use in reserves. So if you wanted to just do those projects, you could do
that out of our reserve money for those 8 to10 million and that'll get us over the next five years and we could still maintain a very healthy reserves of $ 8.8 million. That's because we'd be spending and then we put a little bit back when we have money at the end of the school year that you know didn't uh
not everything was expended the way we had predicted. You put it back in, you get some more capital projects being done. That $ 8.8 million is roughly where you want to stay so that it does not impact our bond ratings. If you go below that number, we don't know what that magic number is, but if you go
significantly lower, it will impact, you know, what you could get for your future interest rates, and that could negatively impact the district. the alternative financing that we're talking about is, you know, for the maintenance projects that comes out to $30 million. So this is the other
projects that we were talking about and the expansion projects again the kind of the referendum type items that we mentioned that's another $80 million. So you have about a $10 million projects maybe reserves we could do another 30 million that we have to address and then
you also have these expansion projects at another 80 million that would address all the projects that we know that are currently on on the slate right now. So we have to talk about that and we'll get into a little bit more about what alternative financing is. There's just different ways you could do it. You
could do it through um our capital reserves up to a certain point. You could do it through a bond referendum or you could do it through combinations of different things and there's some laws and rules that changed over the past year that the governor put into effect that we could also maybe take advantage
of. So these are things we're going to have to start talking about a little bit more in depth as we move along. So you know different potential revenue streams we could increase uh med uh opportunities to enrich our students a little bit more except tuition paying
students. We could charge a club and athletic participation fees for at different levels. We could create an alumni association for gift giving. Uh build more rentable spaces in different areas and things like that. And we can even maybe work with the town on that. And maybe uh implement some more
subscription busing charges um and move forward in that way. All these things we could do combinations of and these would definitely help our bottom lines. But all these together would not get us to the millions and millions of dollars that we have to do to address a lot of
the district's needs. So just last the last next steps. Oh, yep. Go ahead. >> Just clarify about the uh fiscal cliff because you just said that the the uh capital improvements that if we do this
the small version it's good for for five years. But then you mentioned about the the the fiscal cliff. fiscal cliff. Does that apply to the capital improvements or to the day-to-day operations of the schools? >> The fiscal cliff is for the day-to-day operations, but we try to do a lot of
our capital improvements through our maintenance reserves. So, it's kind of intertwined together a little bit, but the fiscal cliff primarily is for your actual budget. Correct. Okay. >> Did you want to jump on? Yeah. >> Well, just that the way that if you go
back to that reserve sc this uh this one. >> If you do this math, there has to be an addition coming somehow in order for me to do, you know, 10,000 $10 million worth of projects and only drop my reserve balance by 2 million. Something
must be infusing. And the infusion is us working really hard every fiscal year to save as much money as possible so that we can then put more money into the reserves so that we can do the next year's projects. So the variance that's
being added into the reserves is coming out of the operating budget. But as the operating budget gets harder and harder to manage because I can only raise revenues up 2% but everything else is going up higher. I have less and less I can squeeze out to put towards the
reserve. So it they're linked together due to the fact that that's how that number gets to keep building is I keep saving essentially. And the last slide right here is just talking about the next steps. uh we've
done as much as we can where uh with all the resources we we we have available to us. So uh we've done a lot of oneoffs so that for example we purchased four uh smaller buses that's saving us a quarter of a million dollars a year. We've gone out and redone our uh insurance uh with
the uh with the union and the district and that's saved us quite a bit of money as well. But you can only keep on going back to these uh you know these ideas one at a time. You don't keep on you know there's not too many more ideas to come up to save significant amount of money.
So that's why we're here and this is why we're talking about this stuff proactively. So we can't rely solely on our reserves for our capital reserves uh for all our capital projects. Um so either we have to stop the repairs, only do a few of them. We have to then make
priorities and decide where we're going. But eventually a lot of these buildings they're they're you know they need to be fixed uh in the upcoming years and then we're gonna have to figure out something of how to address that in the future or we have to try to seek some other kind of um financing options. All right, I'm
going to open it up for questions and for discuss one um projects planned for high school as possible alternative financing renovation of auditorium. I thought that was approved in the um renov in the referendum and they already had a
projected date of like 2029 for this. No, >> no, >> no, >> no. The the there was nothing done for the auditorium in 2017. We've been talking about the auditorium for quite some time and it's come up in different
conversations that we've had, but we've never been able to do the work because it's such an expensive project. Um, first of all, I want to thank the administration and especially Kina and the business administrator's office for keeping us where we are today. I think
we've all heard about um what many other districts are facing. And I think actually where we are today is pretty remarkable given the circumstances of dealing with the 2% cap and um going to it for all these years. Um I appreciate as a board member and also just as a
member of the community you giving us this information now because clearly you've been able to do all of these great things by managing things as well as you have. But I I just want to say I hear you that it's it's not going to be
able to continue what we're used to as a community, as a school, um as a board, as as a as as a community is really I think the word. Um and so those choices are going to have to be made. So I think it's important for you to keep doing what you're doing and at the points where we have to make those tough
choices to communicate it well to us and to the whole community so we can understand um what impacts it has on future budgets. we've never gone past the 2% cap, you know, since that is that something, you know, where does that have to come to be discussed? At what point, you know, to know ahead of time
if that's a discussion? Um, and then we know recently we went for a, you know, a referendum, but what you're talking about that there's potential other funding sources, um, you know, exploring all of that and I have every faith that you will. So, um, I just I don't think
right now there's any answers. I don't hear that you're saying this is what we want or there's next steps, but this communication at all levels is very important and I I appreciate it. >> Yeah, there's a lot of unknowns and that's why we're presenting what we do know right now. So, one of the unknowns
is you don't know who's going to be the next governor. You don't know what if the funding formula changes. You don't know if there's other money that's going to be coming from the state. Just we just don't know a lot of these, you know, things. So, uh so that's one source. But the things that we do know is we do have to address this based on
the current reality. So we're going to have to talk about, you know, do we go over 2% in the future and have the community vote on it? Do we go for a referendum for just maybe the the facilities that we talked about for say 30 million? Do you do it for also the enrollment projects? Do you do it with
these alternative funding sources? You know, there's so many whatifs we don't know yet and we're going to be exploring them over the next, you know, over the next year. But we're going to have to have a lot of public discussions about this to make sure that we don't get, you know, caught off guard
>> in our finance and facilities. You highlighted, you know, the condors purchase of the town and if we could be, you know, rent, purchase, be given some of that space in the back Lazar to build an ice hockey rink, a pool, some courts.
We can rent these courts out. Uh, I think that's a win-win for the town, for us, for the public. Um, and whether we package it in a referendum to pay for interest, uh, expenses or just to do it
as its standalone, um, I think is is a something we should get moving on. >> Yeah. I I mean, not to scare anybody, but I I I do believe in moonshot thinking. We got to throw these things out there and then we got to pair down to what is going to be acceptable for the community. But, you know, if you
don't start really big and then figure out how we're going to solve a lot of these problems, um, I'd rather start big and then come down as opposed to start small and get smaller. But, you're right. >> I'm not sorry, I'll s I'll talk like this. I'm
not sure since it's the township committee's responsibility to pick what they're going to do with that property. I don't think as a board of education we should uh tell them uh give suggestions. I mean the community we can um but we already have basketball courts. We
already have hard surfaces and that land was bought to preserve open space. So I don't personally see a swimming pool other swimming um other towns that have swimming pools they've closed. They had to open. It's a lot of liability. Um I
think it's would be a wonderful place to have events um for the community um gardens um just what it's really what the town wanted it for in the community. So I just don't want to make any comments for for that. you're absolutely
I don't I don't I don't think you were saying we but we could do some of these things on our surfaces depending on what we want to do and work with the town on a lot of these ideas to try to help serve the town as well as them helping to serve us. So there's a but this is these are discussions we would have to
have with the town and also see what's acceptable with our you know we have to also look at like remember like anytime like you just said if we have green space somewhere and we hard surface that or something like that we have to see what the impact on the environment is. So there's there's a lot of research but
you got to start now with a lot of these ideas. >> One of the things that I've been trying to do over the past couple years is try to get a some kind of dialogue with the township committee. So we generally meet a couple times a year with the township committee just to talk over different
ideas, different concerns. And obviously this board I strongly urge this board to continue working with the township committee try to find solutions to our common problems because they're also having challenges over there with their budget. So we are thoroughly committed
to working with the town to solve these common problems. Yeah. So any other questions? I just wanted to say um I think obviously ultimately we're going to come to a year where we need to do another
referendum and I appreciate the transparency and I think that it's so important to keep putting out what the goals are and what the projected projects are because I really think the public and the community needs to see exactly what this
money would be used for. I think in the last referendum there was a lot of um like people feeling like they didn't get enough information about what could be done if the referendum passed. So by continuing to put out these charts frequently showing what we would like to
do in the district hopefully would help you know push a referendum forward so that you know it can alleviate some of these monetary struggles. >> It's a good point. So that's why we did that first bubble column. So it's been just say roughly four, five, seven years. That was $25 million worth of
projects we've done. So now we're looking at another 2530 $30 million worth of projects to keep the facilities going the way we know them, which is has nothing to do with the enrollment issues. Correct. >> Let's move on. Uh okay. Uh any business
administrators report tonight? Brazil. That was it. Okay. Okay. Let's get on to liaison. Karen, facilities and finance. >> Everything that Katine said. >> That was your shortest one yet.
>> Okay. Michelle, >> no report. >> Okay. John, policy. >> Uh noise maker policy and cell uh not cell phone. Our virtual meeting policy will be discussed later. >> Okay. >> No. Uh, no meeting since the last meeting.
>> Okay. Communications, Joe. >> Uh, no meeting. >> Christine, safety. >> We're setting up a meeting time. >> Any idea yet? >> No. >> Okay. Hadn't heard about that one yet. Okay, great. Uh, as New Jersey school
boards, Karen, >> so as you all know, New Jersey school boards hosted their annual convention called workshop and uh it just it was wonderful. We had more vendors this year. Um the floor was packed. There were some funing games, some carnival
activities, lots of speakers. Joe Thyman >> uh spoke. There was um a an Israeli woman who played the violin and married it with rap and it was amazing. Her name
was Mary Benari. Um and uh it was it was inspiring. um would love to get her here. Um and we were able to get together and have dinner with Joe and John and Tom and Katine and Steve and Rich and that was uh we had a fun time.
It's nice to let your hair down and just commiserate socially um once in a while. So next year um there's always an invitation for the board to come. The fee is uh covers 25 staff members. So,
some food for thought for next year. >> Okay. Uh Mike Rapport, Morris County School Boards. >> Yes. Uh the Morris County School Boards met in the beginning of October at the Bootin High School. Um there was about
like 67 people in person. Another uh 26 were virtual attendees. Um near the beginning of the mean meeting, our very own Karen Corelino uh got up and spoke about the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey. Um and that I
learned about that is the ELF is the fundraising arm of the NJSBA. Uh the the funds are for training, research, for schoolboard support, and for general school programs. And ELF is primarily funded through contributions. Um also we met Dr. Paul Panero. Um he's
our new field rep uh uh replacing Charlene Peterson. Um he was only on the job for four days when we met him. So he was pretty new but uh we uh we had dinner with him and and he spoke to uh the the Monful reps at at the meeting.
So it was very nice to meet him. The uh main presentation that they gave was on budgets to brilliance and they spoke about how building a budget requires planning. what will be needed in the future for classrooms, teachers, new equipment, fields, etc. Um, I'm sure
Katine knows all about this. Uh, since every dollar spent reflects a learning priority, the effectiveness of spending can drive the outcomes. And they also talked about how the money is used uh how how the money is used is just as important as how much money is spent.
Uh, and the presentation focused on authentic engagement such as small classrooms, teacher retention, and student success. uh uh outcomes in the Q&A section uh quickly diverge from budgets to brilliance uh because a lot
of the towns stated they were also suffering from a lot of new housing units going up in their respective towns um and the resulting influx of students. So it's not just in Montville it's it's all of Morris County and all the towns they all came all the board members
complain about the same thing. Some of them were at 200 units. Some had a thousand units. They all different numbers of units, but they all were struggling with how to manage the schools with this sudden influx of of students in the schools in a very short
amount of time. Uh and finally, um if anyone is interested, the MCSBA is looking for committee members for the legislative committee. Uh they are focusing on HIV special education and school funding uh items this year. Um,
and another point, uh, the MSBA's meeting on February 4th is going to focus on cell phones in the classroom. So, I think that will dovetail nicely with the the at the end of our our surveys in town and we can get a uh a countywide perspective on on cell phones
at that meeting. >> Wonderful. Thank you very much. Okay. Uh, Joe, uh, Morris County Educational Services. >> Uh, we met on October 8th. uh discussion was about the renovations of the five gene street school property which will house the central office and also the
operations for the school. The next meeting will be on November 12th and drug awareness. Um they are participating tomorrow in the trunk or treat. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> That's good. Uh John booster boosters >> no meetings. >> No meetings yet. Okay. Back to Karen uh
Cedar Hillison. >> Uh no report. >> Okay. Uh Christine Hillale. >> Yes. So, Hilldale had their meeting on the 16th. Um, they were very busy over the summer helping getting ready for the school year. Um, they to hosted a back
to breakfast for all the teachers. Um, they had their school supply fundraiser and all supply kits were delivered to the classroom by the PTC prior to the day of school. Um, they're also having an ongoing fundraiser with sports clips in Lincoln Park. So if any of us go, we
mentioned Huskys, uh the uh the school will get 30% of the profit of their visit. Um there are lunches, they're experimenting with a lot of new um entre. They're always taking um uh reviews from parents.
They're starting to offer snacks. They're working great with Chartwells Koutine, and they have breakfast options every day, which is great for the kids. Um, uh, they have a lot going on. Um, I'm
just really blown away by these parents. It's like a mini corporation, you know, how how organized they are. Um, they're, um, going to have their Diwali celebration on uh, oh, was the 24th at 9:00 a.m. And they just doing a lot of
fundraisers. They're doing their Hilder Harvest Fest um, this year. Um and um actually it just passed but they had lawn games um free cider and popcorn for everyone just really giving the kids
wonderful um experiences and memories. They're also hosting World Kindness Day on November 13th and they'll be hosting the volunteer night again for Hearts of Hope. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Just uh Kine, real quick question
related to that breakfast. So is this offered at other schools or >> So the PTAs when they work with charwells uh they are able to create the menu and one of the feedbacks that we got from the elementary schools was that
they really missed the option that the kids for lunch could have a breakfast meal and that that was something that the kids really enjoyed. So, these are things like uh French toast sticks, egg sandwiches, that kind of thing. That is
an offering on certain days as your lunch choice. That's different than the breakfast option that is offered at the high school where you can come in early and eat breakfast. >> Yeah. I just didn't know if our elementary schools were opening up early
to have breakfast. >> No, no, no. This is offered at lunchtime. Oh, >> okay. Okay. Thank you. Uh, okay. Uh, Caitlyn, Valley View. >> Um, Valley View had a virtual meeting on October 16th. Um, they had their first assembly of the year, which was an
anti-bullying assembly. Um, Scholastic applauded them for having sold a thousand books at the book fair this year. Um, they donated over a 100 boxes of cereal to the food pantry. And then separately, fifth grade donated milk to
the food pantry. Um they have a new picnic area set up with new >> round and rectangle um picnic tables outside the playground and they have kicked off their Thanksgiving food drive with Mr. Lin and Mrs. Firanda that they do each year.
>> Great. Thank you. Okay. Uh William Mason John. uh we did not meet but I did talk to some parents since the last meeting and there was uh a request if if part of the project that's going on there the the construction could be um there's a
retaining wall right by the you know the platform where you walk into the building to sharp down if if that could either get powerwashed or this match the gray paint that's on the rest of the building. I don't know if that's part of the project and was just the finishing touch or
>> um that probably won't get done until the spring because we are looking into the possibility of tying the face of that particular big um slab into the landscaping that we're doing. So, one of the things that's going to be at the
very end of the project is going to be replacing the railroad ties with a stonebased product. So, what we would do is tie those two things together. Um, we haven't fully vetted out that covering,
but it probably will be something better than power washing and better than paint, but we just haven't gotten there yet. >> Great to hear. Thank you. >> And and just on that note, you're going to see around many of the schools new trees and shrubbery going in. So, this is the time to plant. We've talked about
that before. At the very least, you're going to see a lot more red maples going in. So, we're going to try to start now that we're done with a lot of construction, start putting in a lot of the beautifification to finish off a lot of the schools. >> Wonderful. >> Okay. Mike Palmer. >> Yeah. P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P
P P P PTA Woodund met on October 9th discussed a couple things including the new playground purchase. Uh there are some updates on fundraisers. There's a recognition for Wmont recent having been number one in the county on
the New Jersey school report card. Uh there was an inquiry about enrollment and we were told 366 going up and I just saw today it said 371 so I guess it is still going up. Um there was a um discussion about a fundraiser which
actually came and went on October 17th. It was a dine and donate at Tony Boys for a staff member with an illness and we discussed the roll out of the new field tests for the uh standardized tests next year.
>> Okay. Thank you. Uh Michelle Lazar. >> Well, Joe and I both attended. I don't know. Do you want to give? >> Okay. >> Um so, uh the principles and uh vice principles gave reports about the NJSLA testing, the upcoming plans for
Halloween, um student council update, um and the back to school breakfast, uh and items that they've done. Um they talked about something that's nice at Lazar is they have this um staff wish list where uh staff can u put items that they wish for and this you know PTC fundraises and
is able to provide a lot of things for the school. Um they discussed things like upcoming book fairs and assemblies but a big thing was living lessons. Um it's you know held every other year and this is a year where it's being held. Um the PTC committed uh you know $18,000
towards the uh program as they do every year and you know the parents the administration expressed appreciation to both the PTC and all the support they know the board gives as well. Um and so uh they've done the fundraising like back to school night parking auction. Um
and apparently they've convinced Mr. Bashudo to be taped to some type of wall in the upcoming future for another fundraiser. show that um the fall play for the Lazar is going to be November 20th and 21st. It's the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. Um and of course, we
also uh talked about encouraging uh the parents to respond to the cell phone survey. Uh I thought an interesting question that came up at the end of the meeting was, you know, taking technology one step further. Parents were inquiring um what's going to happen at Lazar and I guess thinking beyond to the high school
about how uh the administration and the schools will deal with AI. uh will there be you know future limitations on it or how will it be used educationally given how it's evolving. So uh parents are already thinking beyond cell phones as we all should be. So it >> was a good meeting though.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> And Mike uh we have a meeting on November >> Yeah. November 3rd is our next meeting. >> Okay. Wonderful. Thanks. Okay. Okay, this is the first uh opportunity for the public to come up to the microphone and tell us your comments about anything on
the agenda. You would like to come up? Seeing none, ask for a consent resolution on items I through M. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. Questions on the minutes?
What about section J, administration? Uh K is uh facilities and finance. L personnel and M curriculum. I think the calendar is in the curriculum. >> That's later. >> Old business. >> Oh, old. Okay. Okay. So, uh roll call
vote on items I through M. >> M. Mr. Palma, >> yes, >> Mr. Dory. >> Uh, yes. Abstain on I. >> Dr. Cordelino. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Fano. >> Yes. Abstain on I. >> Mr. Petraino. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rapaort. >> Abstain section I. Yes. To everything else. >> Mrs. Smith. >> Yes.
>> Miss Zuckerman. Yes, Dr. Moodra. >> Yes. Okay. Moving on to section N policy. We're going to go one by one through them because there were questions. So on policy the first policy which is 8870 noise makers
um you have a copy of that. Mr. Fetrazino, would you like to start us off? >> Yes. Essentially the the policy eliminates noise makers on on any level indoors and outdoors. Um you know the subcommittee
met that's what was the majority had you know delivered and that was the recommendation of the committee. Um I could say personally I I don't feel that you know there should be a ban on noise makers outdoors. I think it should only
be limited to indoor events. Um but but I do think that the noises can be irritating and disruptive indoors. Uh outdoors, I know we actually sell many many you know we sell noise makers to make money to fund raise for outdoor
events. So I think it goes against you know just excitement, fun fundraising. Um and and that's why I'd change it just to be limited to indoor events. I agree with John. Um, right after we discussed all of this,
the marching band did a cowbell fundraiser and I was like, "Oh my gosh, we're going to ruin their fundraiser." Um, the bells are nice outside. I understand not having the air horns and I've I've been at football games where the AD has had to come into the stands and take the
air horns from kids who have them in the student sections and I don't see anything wrong with that. Um, but I do feel like like completely saying no to everything in every location is a little bit too extreme, I guess.
>> Does it make sense to think of sporting events different than say an event like graduation? Um, because right now it's just listing all events together as a blanket. I agree with the indoors because I think indoors it can be very and I totally see what you're saying for outdoor sporting events. I'm not quite
sure. I I know that some of the complaints really have happened more about like a graduation ceremony because then if one family's doing a really loud noise and you can't hear the next child's name being announced and I think that is a problem. So, um perhaps we don't just lump every event together.
>> I just want to quickly point out um on page two, which is 2B, it does allow for the superintendent designate to make authorized limited use of approved items. So if you did decide to ban something and then you said, "Okay, except for bells or something like that,
you could." So you do have some leeway on that if you wanted. >> So I think noise makers are fun. I really do. I've I've all the graduations I've been to, sporting events, it's fun. Even indoors, you know, my son wrestled
and wrestling basketball, the buzzer is loud. That's loud for me. you know, it's it's just part of it. I understand we like since I've been on the board, we just received I think that one um complaint and it was indoors
and I understand that but we didn't get complaints from others and I would hate to squash something that's been traditional and fun for be reactive to it for air horns. What whistles? My mother whistles louder than some
whistles, you know. Are we gonna go running around, have the teachers run around and say, "I'm sorry, you can't whistle." Um, you know, the bells, they're fun. Um, my son graduated, we're passing them around to all the different
um the world club siren, that's fun for soccer. Um, you know, I just I understand indoors, but everything else I think is just going to be a job for uh
security and for the staff and and I'd like having the superintendent have um leeway. Um but then you know what if we have a superintendent that's not so easygoing then you know so those are just my
feelings. Um, yeah, in addition to what everyone else has said so far in C1A, I would delete the words or possession. So, be the use of noise makers, not use or possession because somebody walks in
with something, you you're not going to start frisking people at the door if they're just holding on to something. It just causes more problems, I think, having that that word in there. I think it's just the use of extremely loud noise makers in the indoor vent is what we're trying to address.
>> Um I I believe air horns under any circumstances are more annoying than they're worth. whistles, bells. I don't I don't know what that uh the vu
vuela. I don't I'm not sure what that is, but >> that's the World Cup soccer games. Those big long horns >> sirens, amplified sound devices. I mean, the I I don't have an issue with with those, but the air horns are really
almost dangerous. They're so the decibels are so high. Um and you know for graduation ceremonies these are very celebratory but these are also significant milestones in a child and
family's life and I think we demean it when we have air horns going on and um you know other other distractions um even you know even outside um musical and theatrical performances.
Do we really want to have, you know, noise going on while there's a theatrical performance? I I don't see that. Athletic contests, of course, make all the noise you want, but I I the the air horns are very
disturbing. >> I'd say I I agree very much with Karen. Air horns. I'd probably expand that to sirens. And I think anything if you reach a certain decel level, it can be dangerous to somebody's hearing. I I
agree. Air horns have no place anywhere. That's that's just a person trying to get attention. I'm sorry. Um bells, the cowbells. Oh, look, the cowbells outside, they've been doing that for years. I don't think anyone's going to get offended by a cowbell outside,
but and I don't know if it's possible to have some kind of decibel type thing where That's actually what I was sort of thinking was that one of the issues I have with this is that it's it's sort of vague. It doesn't it's like we shouldn't
get rid of everything that makes noise, but at a certain level like an air horn can damage hearing if you're right in front of it and someone blasts it right behind you. It it can hurt your hearing. You know, you can walk away ringing ears. So I my biggest concern here is
that it's not very specific as to what is a noise maker as far as the decibel level. Um >> and how do you measure that? >> Well, generally >> Yeah. I I mean I think measuring the decibels I don't think we I don't think
we need a measurement for air horns. >> No, but see that's the thing is air horns are stated to do a certain level. One of those little uh phones. I just I I we certainly don't want to go chasing people around and we don't want to be
holding some ear device to the but I think we all can agree an air horn >> it's a disruption >> is it's annoying and I I I am happy somebody complained because it was annoying inside the gym for sure it
would be annoying to for me outside as well >> is it >> and I certainly want to just would not want to disrupt graduation or award programs or musical and theatrical performances. >> Is it possible to, you know, do a strict
I I don't know if this would have to be like I don't know how you would word it, a strict ban on air horns across the board, but then other noise makers prohibited for indoor events. And then for outdoor events, there could be guidelines specific to each event. So
when graduation comes around, we can say and these are the rules for graduation. So then it's not a broad policy that covers all outdoor events and that way athletic events outside and graduation outside can have their own set of guidelines and parameters. >> May I uh get involved in this?
>> Yes, please. >> Please do. >> So clearly you're not ready to vote on this. >> Yeah, I know. Ask for a motion. So what would be typical in this situation would be for the policy committee to take into
consideration everything that has been said and anything that anybody would like to submit to the policy committee between now and its next meeting and then the policy committee should come back with a revision on the policy
taking everything into account. That would not be a new first reading. That would still be a second reading. Uh, and it would be an amended policy. Uh, but you can't really sit here as a board and
rewrite a policy and figure out how many decibb you're going to have. You just can't do that. >> Well, actually, I was trying to say we need a motion to send it back. Do we need a motion or not? >> Before I just wanted to give everyone a chance you're the send it back. Okay, then we will go ahead and send it back
if unless someone strongly >> email John individually Steve if we have right >> email everybody. >> No, don't email everyone. >> We have some more discussion on it. I'm just >> just thought if you want to add more >> would it be palatable if we approved the
policy as is with the provision that the policy does not >> bad idea. >> No no >> no >> we're just going to send it back. I would I would suggest that maybe the pol this policy and we don't have to approve it tonight but my thought maybe this policy would be appropriate if we
said this does not apply to athletic events then we could create a different >> polic I think that's the best thing to do. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. So unless anyone has a strong objection to it we will send that
one back to policy committee. >> Please CC Casey too so he gets your suggestions. Yep. >> Okay. The next one is bylaw 0155.1, board member participation in public board meetings using electronic devices.
I'd like to start this out by first saying I make a motion to table this bylaw. Um, you know what? Have you I'm sorry, Caitlyn. I don't mean to mansplain here, but have you do you know what tableabling is? it. >> Yeah, just basically putting it to the
side and unless the board actually brings it back, then it we don't discuss it after the vote. >> Well, technically it dies if you don't bring it back at this meeting. >> Correct. >> At this meeting. Okay. Then technically it dies if it
>> but it can be reintroduced. >> The proper motion is to postpone it. >> Actually, I would like to make a motion to table it. >> I second. All right. There's no discussion >> and there's no discussion. It is a simple vote. >> So it's done.
>> No, it's a simple vote. Is it >> If it is tabled, there is no further discussion. >> And there's no discussion on the motion. >> Yeah. >> So there's just a vote. >> So I heard a motion to table it >> and >> and a second. And a second. Okay.
>> So then you then it's going to be a straight vote. >> It's going to be a straight vote. >> If if the vote goes five, then it's dead right now >> for now. Unless somebody wants to bring it back an hour from now. >> Yeah. >> But if we're still here an hour from now, >> we better have pumpkin pie. >> I'll be I'll be attending virtually. If
it's an hour, >> does anybody have a question about what we're voting on, Karen? >> I'm not sure. What are we trying to achieve? >> There's no discuss. >> No discussion. Just simply >> You're right. There's no discussion. I know. >> All right. So, this is a motion to table
>> bylaw. >> The bylaw 0155.1. Yes, >> Dr. Modrack. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Fano. >> Yes, >> Dr. Cordelino.
>> No, I do not want to table it. >> Mr. Palma, >> no. >> Mr. Petraino, >> yes. >> Mr. Rapaort, >> yes. >> Mrs. Smith, >> yes. Miss Zuckerman,
>> I don't know why, but sure. Yes, >> Mr. Dorree. >> Yes, >> it's tabled. >> Okay, thank you. >> So, I would like to make a motion to take it off the table. >> Is there a second hearing? None. I'm sorry.
>> Don't be. >> It's okay. >> So, that means this policy is dead. >> Plus, it's reintroduced. It is possible for example Steve >> possible for example for the policy committee to revise it or rewrite it and
bring it back at the next meeting. >> Yeah. >> Can I >> or a first reading >> Steve? Can I So what we've been operating under that does allow virtual attendance at meetings is still in place. This would have replaced it or identified it. >> There's no change to our policy. This is
just no change as it was last week. >> What is the current and apologies for the the current notice requirement for a virtual >> I'm sorry to put you on the spot. >> What What do you mean by notice? You mean for us? >> Is there a requirement for a board
member to give ad like two days advanced notice or is it just >> I'm almost Steve. Do you know if I'm almost positive there is no notification? There's no specific notice. Here's here here's here's what the rules are. And these are the rules
that apply generally in New Jersey. Adequate notice, three days, four days, whatever, whatever is adequate. Sometimes it's only one day because it's an emergency. Sometimes it's a week because, you know,
but it needs to be sufficient for the board to accomplish the following technologically. The person who is participating remotely has to be able to hear everybody and everybody has to be able to hear the
person who's participating remotely. Those are the two key issues and you cannot just >> you can't be enclosed and the reason for that is >> because it's in it's not secure
>> and you can't just come in for one item and vote and leave. If you're going to participate remotely, you have to participate for the full meeting. >> Yeah. >> And we and we do have technical, you know, setup to do. So it's, you know, an hour or two notice is
>> not the best. >> That that the the point I was trying to drive at is is I don't think a hard deadline for a notice should should eliminate someone's attendance at a meeting. I think that uh you know, the respect of each other, you know, to give
notice in advance should be good enough. But in the in the event that you have to give day of notice because something happens that out of your control, uh you shouldn't eliminate you from a meeting. >> Yeah. Why why don't we discuss it at the next policy meeting if you would like to? We can do that.
>> Just wanted to get that. >> Okay. Okay. So then moving on to section Q, the district calendar. We had a request from the MTA to reconsider our calendar and move the half day next year
from September 4th to September 18th. So, does anyone have anything to any comments about that? I personally I think this is something we should keep in mind for the subsequent year. Um, I'm not necessarily inclined to change what
we voted on already. >> Question. Was there a specific reason given for the request? >> They just wanted it that way. They preferred it that way. It goes back to the traditional way that the 18th or thereabouts is what we normally have it
as and they the union has expressed to their leadership they prefer having that after the back to school days as opposed to frontloading it and putting it on September 4th. >> But we did meet with the lead leadership and they approved the original the date that we approved.
>> That's correct. But just not to put a well to put a point on it, the original date was the 18th. >> That's correct. Also, so >> we changed it to the 4th. >> So correct. So the original date
>> that was correct. Yes. Okay. >> So >> but they agreed that was never voted on. >> But I I get that. I know that. But the original we changed the original date. So I think there needs to be some consideration to that. So just for the for the history of this, yes, the
original date was the 18th. >> Historic date. >> Historic date. Okay. And then it went to a calendar committee and the calendar committee based on a lot of the feedback from board members came back and then suggested the fourth and that's what the board voted on and that's what the board approved at I think it was two meetings
ago. >> Yeah. So then that becomes our original calendar for that school year. >> Yes. >> Not the historic. >> I believe I understand that point. >> Okay. >> Okay. So does anyone else have any other points or any other?
No one wishes to make any Okay, we'll move on. We will keep this in mind for subsequent calendar discussions. Uh we also have here general board comments and new business. We have >> I'm sorry Dave. So the direction to the
superintendent is to tell the association. >> Oh, sorry. Yes. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Okay. Then can I go on to any new business? Thank you very much, sir. Okay. Uh we had an inquiry about having
maybe a liaison to special education uh CPAG, I believe. Yeah. Uh I'll open it up for discussion. Does any Christine, you want to start? >> Sure. Um I'm gonna talk back here so it doesn't echo. So, um I know that um over
the years we've always had um as a special educ education parent um concerns, etc. And we're all liaison to our beautiful schools um and um township organizations
and this this certain group um does not have a liaison. Um, I know a parent asked for it and I do think it would be a good thing just to go to listen um to see the fun things that they're doing, the educational things that they're
doing. We don't really get a chance to hear that and see that. Um, because most, you know, all the children have their own individual education plan. Um I think it would um you know my my son
goes went to um an out of district school and it was a nonprofit school and they would have meetings with the families a couple times a year to talk about the programs, how to improve um um
maybe improve it um new new uh new things. And there were always board members there that came and they just listened. And um I think it was helpful also to the administrators because if they heard something um that the parents
and the administrators um needed um it was good for the board member to hear as well. Um they didn't really go there to advocate and that wouldn't be our role. It would just be to listen. Um because sometimes you hear the same stories and
if Dr. Gorman or the administr administration needed to fund something um that board member would would maybe see the need whereas we really don't hear anything you know because of privacy reasons. So in those in those I
think it would be helpful. I think it would also make parents feel like someone um from the board is hearing them whether they can communicate. they can't, you know, we we couldn't be advocating for them, but just to be listening to them. So, I think it would
be a wonderful thing in my opinion. >> Kaitlyn, >> I agree with Christine. I think it's a great idea if this is approached as the same liaison role that we all have with the PTA and PTC groups and the other organizations around town. I think it
would benefit everybody to also get the updates here about what's going on with that community. Okay. Anybody over on the side comments? Any other comments here? Um, well, I guess uh we can vote on Do
we vote on having a make a motion? >> That would be nice. Uh, care to make a motion? >> I'll make the motion, Dave. >> Okay. Second. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Uh, is there any further discussion?
No. Okay. Roll call vote, please. Mrs. Vano, >> yes. >> Mr. Dorree, >> yes. >> Dr. Cordelino, >> yes. >> Mr. Palma, >> yes. >> Mr. Petraino, >> yes. >> Mr. Rapaort,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Smith, >> yes. >> Miss Zuckerman, >> yes. >> Dr. Modrech, >> yes. >> It's wonderful. >> Okay. Uh, can I ask for any other new business or old business general board comments at this time?
>> Yeah, I do. Um, so last night at the Lazar PTC meeting, at the end of the meeting, we started discussing AI. The parents were talking about AI and how it was affecting, you know, with the students and and doing their projects and such. Um, Morris County School Board is actually doing a discussion, a panel
discussion on December 2nd here at the high school talking about AI. and AI was a big topic down at workshop last week, too. There's a lot of classes and such going on. So, we just finalized getting three speakers for that night that we're going to have. They're all professionals
in that area. So, I recommend we all attend on December December 2nd. >> I would recommend that we all attend anyway since we are the host school. >> Yes. So, uh other comments, general board comments, old business, new business.
Okay. Seeing none, I open it up for the second public participation opportunity. If you have any comments whatsoever about anything on or off the agenda, please come to the podium. Seeing none, I ask for a motion to adjurnn. >> Make a motion.
>> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Does anyone if anyone is strongly opposed, let me know now. Hearing none. Good night, everyone. She's still pushing.