good evening welcome to a meeting of the Mountainside Board of Education in accordance with State Sunshine Law and state regulations adequate notice of this meeting was provided by mailing a notice of the time date location and instructions for accessing the meeting to the Union County local source and the Westfield leader filing the same with the burough clerk posting the notice at the main access store of Mountainside Board of Education building and on the Mountainside Board of Education website these meetings are reserved for board deliberation and for review of items contained within the agenda the board reserves a right to vote on action items the board welcomes the participation of interested individuals we encourage questions about specific School practices incidents or events to be brought directly to the school administration public comment will be permitted at the beginning of the meeting for agenda items only each participant is asked to give his or her name and address prior to making a statement in addition time will be allotted at the end of the meeting for public comment on any item speaker shall limit their comments to three minutes roll call please Bill Dylan Michael Goodwin here Dana to C Pietro Jordan Heyman Here Vivian poopo here candano here Carman Venice at this time can I I would like a motion to go into executive session it's 609 second we'll be returning in an hour and a half all in favor I I oppos motion carries see you in an hour and a [Music] half e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening uh welcome we are returning from our executive session it is 7:38 we're going to continue with our rest of the meeting please stand to salute the Flo I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all can I please have a motion to approve um our minutes from May 24th 2024 sove second questions or comments roll call please Bill Dylan yes Mike Goodwin yes Dana to C patro yes Jordan Hyman abstain I wasn't here Vian poo yes andana yes uh we do not have correspondence at this time I would like to open up the floor uh for for public participation on any agenda items that we will be voting on please come up to the podium state your name address see none we're moving on uh president's report just wanted to give a c a couple updates um we are done with our strategic planning meeting we had our third one June 3rd I want to say I want to thank everyone that did come out and participated I think that every meeting was extremely valuable our third one was exceptional we had a smaller crowd but it was mighty um if you have any questions regarding the strategic planning meeting that was held in three separate occasions I believe the notes are on our website we just don't have the third meeting up yet we just waiting for those to come back so um I I just did want to say thank you to everyone that attended and the other thing is that I attended the superintendent search meeting in Berkeley Heights I believe is last week or two weeks ago as everyone knows superintendent is looking for a um Berkeley Heights is looking for a superintendent it was quite interesting it was a big eyeopener it pretty much public was there they were expressing how they want uh just someone that they can trust someone that's transparent someone that um is there that loves the kids so it was an eye opener and I did want to share the timeline we're hoping for a January 1st 2025 um start date for Berkeley Heights but we're starting with mid-september the board will be neg oh sorry mid- August board begins interviews uh mid-september board begins negotiations process to submit to the county superintendent for approval October board hires approves and publicly will introduce the new superintendent and July uh January 1 new superintendent start date um I believe that there might be notes on the website um but it it it was very interesting just to see what was going on up there and I think that is oh for those that are retiring congratulations for the rest of the administration faculty staff I wish everyone a great summer um a fun safe and healthy summer and I hope it's not as hot as today is every day but that's it that's it for me and now moving on to our superintendent all right well thank you so I will pick up where you just started which is to thank and recognize our retirees um I think first and foremost as this comes up we have two very very special people that we are going to recognize this evening our first is Mr Tom Macwan who has been our custodian at Beachwood School Tom has been with our district for 27 years so he was at uh over here at Deerfield when it was a K8 and then helped to make the transfer and the transition over to Beachwood I want to personally thank Tom's Family for helping him to be here tonight I know how much Tom loves this there may or may not have been bribes involved I'm not sure um but Tom thank you so much for being here with us we are so excited for your future we are very hopeful that you will enjoy every moment of it I will share some other pictures in just a moment but I just want to be able to share all of our thanks for everything that is going on um we appreciate both Tom and Lynn chulli who I will speak about in just a moment they both have been in our district for 27 plus years Lynn has a couple of more months but who's counting um but both of them really they started together they grew up together with this district and so many countless students and families these are the faces that greeted everybody as they began whether they were new teachers new students of Staff coming in when I began as the superintendent Lynn was my go-to uh she was able to give me history she was able to give me the background and so so important and so much appreciated we appreciate everything that you have done Lynn has a few more months with us but we wanted to make sure we celebrated her now so there's a little bit of ice cream somewhere in our future I promise we will do some road trips um but you absolutely will be missed the the difference the the the difference that you have made in lives is immeasurable so we we appreciate so Tom didn't you send the son oh no somebody else I think we might recognize you ah and Lynn so to both of you wishing you full happiness in your retirement and everything that you come to so you have cared for this school as your home away from home always if there was an issue we knew that Tom would be coming and taking care of things and Lynn as well you have done everything you've been a parah you've been a special services secretary a Beachwood main office secretary and we know that you would do anything organizing all of us which has been very very important and we appreciate everything that you have done so over the years there a couple of pictures here and there a few different memories that we have had over the time few others ah and absolutely from all that we have and we congratulate both of you so I would like to give first a round of applause and then we have some gifts for both of you so Lynn if you don't mind I'm going to put you on the spot which I know you love and please come on up to enjoy something a a token of thanks from our board to you for all of the time and everything that you have done for us there might be somebody else you might want to blame for that this Bruno and Tom on behalf of our Board of Ed and all the administrators we wish you to very very [Applause] before I move on I don't know if there's any comments from the board I I do well wow Wayne last year and now you guys this year I just no one else leave okay um two of the best Mr Tom always there to anything we did from PTO to the kids to the parents to everybody you just have always there was never no holiday shop you've always just what do you need well I'll do it right now just thank you for all you've done you supported our community and our schools and you you you're so loved and appreciated in our community so thank you Mrs juli I can't call her Lynn because I grew up with Mrs juli since I was in kindergarten because I went to school with her son Jimmy my whole life and the chulis have always been a very big uh part of my life and I literally just can't believe you're retiring um but you have just been an asset to our school even when you were just a parent here um always being involved with our community and our school for what you've done for Carrie and for Jimmy um and for for all of us um was always so appreciated so to see you working in the schools was really just refreshing to know that somebody from town who loved the school so much now was a staff and you really just have always been there for all of us and thank you so much for all that you've done throughout all the years and enjoy your retirement Mr julli enjoy her and her shoes she'll get that joke that's inside joke J Suli and I but wishing you both lots of enjoyment in your retirement thank you um I just want to make a comment uh as well um so I don't really know how beachwood's going to run without you guys I feel like the two of you are the main Staples of Beachwood school so I just want to wish you both the best of luck enjoyment in your retirement but out of two people out of Beachwood my kids have been long gone from Beachwood um but they knew both of you I mean they especially my daughter she was there for since prek and um it's just it was always oh Mr Tom or Mrs Chuli and um so I just want to thank both of you because you guys really um did a lot for our district and mean a lot to um the community especially Beach school so thank [Music] you I just wanted to say that sign should say happy I'm out of here retired thank you to the service you everything you've done to um our community we will miss you greatly um but always come back the doors never close congratulations all right thank you oh we did have a few other pictures so those who wanted some beautiful family pictures and that's what it is all about from one family to your next [Laughter] oh your dogs would be happy so enjoy we will enjoy that time with you so congratulations again very much appreciated um as I continue on it is the end of the year so we have many many different items going on right now uh since our last meeting we've had concerts we've had many eighth grade activities happening um we've been preparing for graduation which officially will be indoors tomorrow due to the heat so we have moved it into the gym um all students were given five tickets today so based upon our graduating class we have enough for every family to have five attendees um which I know from talking with other superintendents who have larger districts that's not always that easy um so we're happy and it will also be live streamed so we are moving ourselves towards that um congratulations to our band and chorus members for their performances at Dorney Park earlier this year they uh came away with many trophies and many accolades for their efforts um we have had uh over at Deerfield this past or Beachwood I'm sorry this past week our um teddy bear picnic tradition continued was done beautifully the oh my goodness the creations of the teddy bears while it has morphed over time what some remembered from life skills and others um Mrs viring and her staff and the parents all came together and the students had the opportunity to decorate their own Teddy smaller teddy bears that they will have um and sang some songs with the support of Mr wise and then had a picnic with their families and got to share their special event so it is just beautiful to see it continuing to live on the weather was perfect which was very nice for us to be able to have um and we will continue our second grade Traditions tomorrow with our clap out happening at Beachwood as the students um move from being Bears to huskies and they prepare to move on so our staff has been exceedingly busy wrapping up the school year um again many different things that occur over these past weeks um and we really wish our staff a well-deserved vacation time off we do start our summer programming on July 1 will be our extended school year for a number of our identified students and our summer learning academy starts the following Monday both programs for this year will be happening at Beachwood school so we are keeping everybody at one location as we are um as we plan our programming for this year so it has kept us um quite busy and uh I appreciate the board members for your attendance tomorrow at graduation um and assistance with handing out our um diplomas and everything else as it goes together for h a nice evening for all of our students thank you also uh to our PTO I know some members are here in the audience this evening I want to thank them for their efforts with the teachers lunch today was amazing so the PTO traditionally uh supports our staff and provides them with lunch on uh one of the last days of school and it was a beautiful spread and very very much appreciated um from there they also were very involved in the eighth grade activities the dance and the pool party and I already saw that the uh cafeteria is well decorated and prepared for uh the eighth grade breakfast that will take place tomorrow so lot of events and a lot of things going on so thank you um we will take just a quick break before we get on to the rest of the agenda everybody is welcome to stay but those of you who came for there we go please make sure that you let Tom go first as he as we head out the door absolutely e e e okay that's it all right we're moving on now to our business business administrator report so the only thing on my report is um it's a few years ago the state passed a law where we're required to report out to the board you don't have to act on it but all contracts that the wording is that have been awarded we intend to award again or let lapse it's kind of crazy um so it's basically every contract we awarded in 2324 some of them will be renewed in next year some of them will not um but that's what this is it's just a list of all of and they've all been in agendas but this is a compilation of all of that um and other than that it's just a lot of items on the agenda if you have any questions I'm happy to answer them with that time of year where we're renewing contracts and awarding contracts for next year for a lot of things okay thank you um and now moving on to Berkeley Heights yep uh thanks um sorry I missed our last meeting so I've got uh one two three four I've got I've got five uh and Candace missed me so I mean she wanted an extended report she told me I want I want the bonus version so you're getting that I'm just kidding she did uh and and I'm being fact checked too so G's here as well so keep me honest anything I miss so um just going to go chronologically these are um Board of Ed Brook the head's Board of Ed notes going back to the May 7th meeting uh so May 7th we adopted the 2425 budget um we extended at that time Rob Nixon to May 30th as Acting Superintendent um we had another interview for an interim Superintendent at that point um we accepted a resignation uh May 7th uh from board member former board president Angela Penna um at that point as sports updates go uh went um golf the golf team had won a state sectional for the first time in six years uh AP exams were ongoing uh May 6 through 17th there were 302 students that took 909 exams that's the most students and the most AP tests ever at GL so um good numbers there there was discussion about a new history Honor Society uh njsla testing took place for 9th and 11th graders that was May 20 to 23rd there environmental club events for Earth week um May 3rd there was a spring cultural celebration uh prom was May 31st uh lots of tear on that one and uh June 5th was senior Awards um moving to our May 20th meeting um we had a walkth through of the superintendent search process thanks Vivian for some of the updates there um we the ad for that role was posted uh June 1 um we uh obviously as as Mrs poo just referenced we had listening sessions that went June 4th 5ifth and 6th for different uh stakeholder groups um and there was also an online online survey that went out um that obviously will help us as well the first round interviews uh will will begin at this point August 12 13 14th in there uh and then we yes we are in fact aiming for a genan one start hopefully to to be able to announce the the uh superintendent selection in advance of that this fall um let's say May 30th meeting um we returned to zoom for the first time that's that's interactive Zoom so um we're going to be at a place uh by probably our next meeting where we're both live streaming as as we do here and also taking questions which we started to do at the May 30th meeting via Zoom um we extended Rob Nixon as Acting Superintendent through June 30th at that meeting um we interviewed candidates in public to replace Angela Penna as board member and at that meeting the board voted to appoint Kelly huffnagle as the eth member of that board uh we approved athletic and club fees so for those who are going to be signing kids up for GL Sports uh those are are flat year-over-year 20 uh two $200 for sports and $100 for activities activity fees only um student updates I mentioned njsla there was a you uh Union County uh teen Arts event May 17th um I'll come back to baseball and softball but obviously lots of headlines there um there was a field day at GL for the first time that was May 30th for U Mental Health Awareness Month the month of the second page candas we're moving making progress here uh I hit prom senior Awards uh graduation June 14th um and then um Rob Nixon gave us an update on District goals in that meeting uh including Communications so we referenced a new website platform called thrillshare that will replace School messenger um as a means for mass communications um talked about the green initiative on some of the climate change stand standards that have been added to the K to2 curriculum uh the reference to um uh the annual climate Symposium this is the second annual climate Symposium at GL 200 students took part in that uh GL students also created a uh petition to increase energy uh and and to change out some of the LED bulbs uh actually I forget the number but it's in it's in the thousands I believe or north of a thousand uh bulbs across the district um Dei metrics uh we covered there were some interesting updates there as it relates to just disparities in gender enrollments between Ela social studies honors and the AP level um so some conversation around that within that goal uh behavioral threat assessment team the creation of that team was the fourth goal and then student achievement uh and some updates on on uh on all levels of that District um specific to um to ELA and math uh and hitting those standards at GL last but not least June 10th meeting was our most recent meeting we extended Rob at that point to September 30th that's with permission of the with Daryl pal um we officially appointed Kelly huffnagel as a board member at that meeting we recognized the state championship baseball team very heavy on Mountain Side students I should say just just FYI yeah not not saying anything just just saying just saying uh um we recognize the two student representatives to the board Junior and senior um who who have been with us for for the full year uh we recognize now former board member Angela Penna um we had educators of the year uh at that meeting Michelle harpster um an art teacher at GL fine art teacher at GL was the was the GL representative we recognized 16 retiring Educators uh June 10th we also had a professional development presentation by Kelly Curtis and Alicia Rush on math um specific to not not solely specific to building classrooms um but but specific to U math on high and really thinking about um things that can be done differently um there there is a proposal that that was made to the board and presentation about um uh hiring a consultant essentially uh for um to to assist with with some of the the I guess I'll call it reboot that's my word on on building thinking classrooms it would come with uh two full day teacher trainings uh two parent uh University sessions and virtual sessions um so actually really nice to hear that and to hear the thought being put into into um math at GL specifically 6 to 12 at GL specifically um I hit on the LED lighting updates um we approved Solutions architect architects of record architect of record up there um there were some lgbtq pride pride month events uh finals draft June 14th and I hit on graduation already our next meeting uh is Thursday this week June 20th back at GL and then we'll have a special meeting on July 25th when we'll get our uh our first batch of of superintendent candidates so and that concludes my report for now as always I say that's all I've got but as always that's awesome if you want more on Park that was great and I have to add graduation Mother Nature was on their side yeah we got lucky we got lucky well it was nice that they that um that that Janet was was recognized I think that that was it was nice it was a nice touch and yeah we got we got lucky on weather I didn't have a seat but that's okay yeah you were there you were there I was there you were invited we need to get there you got paper invitation paper invitation so thank you Jordan thank you okay now moving on okay under Administration can I please have a motion to approve items one through nine and can I please um ask all of you to correct me if I'm wrong there was a lot of addin so if I missed a number just correct me you got it right I I'll move one through n one okay um second anyone wants to second second questions or comments R call just actually comment under number one um I'm voting yes after reviewing cases 2 three four five and six um but I'd like to get more information so inviting no uh voting no on case number seven I'd like to get more information on that case under number one thank you roll call please can I I would like to do um I thought we had to go roll call first and then when we go okay so you're gonna have to repeat yourself okay calling so I've got some specifics to number one I'm G tostain on case four five and six yes to the rest of them and then yes to the rest yep got it Mike Goodwin so I'll repeat myself um I'm voting yes to cases 2 3 4 5 and six I'm voting no to case number seven and requesting more information to make a better decision D qu Petro uh yes Jordan Heyman yes Vivian poopo voting yes to two holding off on is it 456 and seven for more information so you're abstaining on those no just voting no for now because I need more information I'm sorry sorry candano I'm voting yes on 2 3 4 5 six I'm voting no on number seven and I would like that reviewed [Music] again okay done all right moving on to budget and finance can I please have a motion to approve items 1 through 31 sove second questions or comments I'm now confused whether I make comments now or when i v yeah so we right so just a comment right so number 27 here um constant Thor on our side um this is a late request from Berkeley Heights um for a Miss payment around special a uh something that we've addressed in our budget sessions um I know that they've got some new people up there but I think we just got to come up with a way to get better at communicating what is what we owe them when we owe them um I'd really like this to be reviewed but given the fact that we know that any delays would push this into next year's budget and we're already going out for a vote on next year's budget um but this in a bad buy here so I I'm not challenging the ability of it it's just the timing of it is later than it should have been I just a couple quick ones um we trees we we we there's there's bills again for like some tree repair that kind of a thing four grand something like that I if that rings a bell is that um what was that for well those are we paying the bills from past is it is it this is not recent tree removal those are those are outdated these are tree removals from a little while ago okay we haven't had any in the last I would say Okay month or six because there was there was a bill in in this batch of bills that we saw that was I think it was like 4,100 bucks but that's outdated you're we're paying the bill now the purchase orders were issued two months ago we're just paying the bill now because we haven't had Bill we haven't had a board meeting since May early may I forget what the day was okay okay yeah I just I feel like that's like every other month we've got another yeah I there's anything we can do about it per se unless there is but it's kind of been quiet I'm afraid to say that but we actually have not issued any additional purchase orders okay since probably early May if not April okay um but these are just payments that are coming in now okay I was just just gonna ask our lunch and our snack costs flat or do we know if there's some changes year-over-year any the lunch cost is flat okay um and then the the cost for all of the snacks I believe they were all flat as well there might have been one or two that changed a little bit but the the lunch uh the basic lunch cost is flat okay and I was just gonna um I think we've done this a lot but just thank the Watts Foundation again we've got a think we're accepting a gr for Library um tonight so I mean obviously generous it's not just this Library amount but um thank them as always any other questions or comments roll call please Bill Dylan yes Michael Goodwin yes Dana P Jordan Hyman yes deine poo yes cesano um I will vote Yes to everything except for I have to abstain from number 12 my district can I please have a motion to approve under Personnel items 1 through 21 so move I'll second questions or comments roll call please Bill Dylan yes Michael Goodwin yes Dana CP yes Jordan Hyman yes Vivian poopo yes candana yes I please have a motion to approve under policy item number one so move second comments or questions roll call please Bill Dylan yes Michael Goodwin yes Dana C Jordan Heyman yes Vivian poopo yes candano yes moving on to Old business any old business new business I've got a question under new business okay um I know we've we've had this conversation in the past I think the Crux of it is I was at the burrow Hall softball field and uh over the weekend rather significant tree had fallen and there's a lot of dead trees in the background um I know in the past we've we technically own that land right it's to lease to the town for them to use um my ask is to just make sure that we're all shed up with in the event that a tree were too far from property that's not ours onto that property that where we've got everything ticked and tied because there are a lot of dead trees that are very very dangerous and come the summer uh we got kids using that pathway to go to the pool there a common way over the bridge right under those trees it's it's quite dangerous so uh town is aware right but I just want to make sure from our perspective we're cover this yeah and this is the first that I'm being made aware of it so I which I appreciate um and we this brings back our conversations that we've had about the get Gathering the the lease itself and having that information so it just brings it back to the Forefront so we'll follow up with the board attorney on that and see about getting that information it was by Rare circumstances just on Sunday night we had a game there and I saw it and I was like looking up I'm like oh this is this is a bit of a hazard right so fair enough yep thank you so that's new business moving on to committee reports anyone want to go first you you hit it already but um as as strategic um planning goes I'll just I'll just double down on what you had to say Vivian to to reiterate and I guess thank the parents I think some of whom are here tonight for um for for turning up um I was pleasantly surprised I think we we haven't done anything like that in a long time terms of trying to get as much Community uh support and involvement uh and really thinking hard about what's most important to the Future the district and yeah I felt like the process was was was well-run it was collaborative uh and I'm excited about the the next steps which keep me honest here jnet we're aiming for early fall mid-fall to try to have um some goal language in place that the board can review and then ultimately approve right so where we left off after meeting three was our broad goals y the administrative team and I will work throughout the summer as one of our projects to really drill that down and how do we look at those goals how do we make them feasible what does that timeline look like are they Oney year goals two years or or ones that will stretch out the five um and then uh New Jersey school boards will assist with compiling all of that and then I anticipate September October to be presenting the full board uh the full board with the fiveyear next fiveyear strategic plan it will then go out to the public it will go out to um on our website and that really kind of drives what you as a board focus on what we do over the over the next years and I agree with you the input the variety of thoughts that came from all the people yeah who were part of our meetings from meeting one two three and we had different people at each meeting so really some great great ideas a lot of conversation a lot of thought about bringing Community together utilizing that to help grow the education of our students um looking at a variety of other aspects from technology to the academics to sustainability gifted and talented sustainability I mean so many different ideas that were really brought to the table um and some good things for us to look at moving forward yep yep so thanks again any other committee before I go n okay so we on June 12th um we had our Mountain Side Berkeley Heights committee it was a meeting via Zoom uh our agenda items were just you know what is the purpose of the committee which is that open line of communication between districts going forward with meeting October February and June um our contract will be expiring with Berkeley Heights in 2027 so we want to know what does Berkeley Heights want to see in their new contract and obviously are something that we just said about special ed is um how are what are the strengths and challenges of the consultative method in special education being how are they being measured um so that was our agenda obviously they can't answer right away they have to go back um once we do get a report I will report out to our community um what Heights uh just in conversation was they want to see more sh shared activities obviously our eighth graders are going to go there next year so they want to see what else can we do to have that um share Community feeling so they can get to know each other before they go up what is it up the hill whatever they say um I think they were just very they were very interesting in some things but things that stood out were H volleyball I think volleyball is going to be a big hit um and they said that was pretty cool we do have uh wrestling if I'm not mistaken combined so um they want to see some music groups obviously combining music um all football is also combined School transportation obviously is a big thing so how would we get our kids would it be an after school activity or how we're going to write so these are just ideas that we're throwing out um a big thing that they discussed which obviously this is a problem we've always had is factoring the calendars making sure our calendars are line um if you have a child in Berkeley Heights and you have a child in magnet you have a child in Deerfield you're going to have three different calendars so that's pretty um in my language intense so they want to see a little bit more factoring calendars on their part I think opening our line of communication will solve this problem um another great idea they came up with was creating links on both of our websites that will keep us tuned to what is going up up Ando in Berkeley Heights and what is going on in mountain side so I thought that was pretty unique how it's going to work obviously we have to sit down and talk see what we can do um and I think that was it um our next meeting I will share feedback and if they come back with any other feedback of course I will share back with the community and that is it for my committee report anyone else okay so now we're moving on to public participation on any item that you would like to discuss please come up to the Podium state your name address and limit each statement made by a participant to 3 minutes opening up the floor all right okay hi I'm Heather Mitchell 1138 Bridge Drive I'm Billy Mitchell same address um so we have a first and third grader currently enrolled in Mountainside schools and we appreciate the time to share our comments um with you and the public that came to the meeting today over the past school year we are aware of three negative racial comments based on the color of our third grader Skin Within this school I think you're all aware of them as of now when I received that first phone call on December 23rd from Mrs jenss I was in tears I had to hear that another student told my child at least my skin is black during that convers ation Mrs jenss never discussed HIV or that she planned to open an HIV investigation but assured me that the other parents would be called for discussion and Punishment the second incident occurred on April 10th where her teacher overheard another child call my daughter a monkey third incident occurred on May 23rd where the offender stated at least my mom is in Black after that third incident we called a meeting with Mrs JS the Friday before that meeting we let our community know about the racial comments made against our daughter my husband and I were frustrated and disappointed when we became more educated on the HIV process and realized that the school administration failed to start investigations on three separate occasions to us opening that investigation meant one the school took these comments seriously two those that came forward on behalf of my daughter including her teacher were heard and acknowledged and three that you all would be aware of the issues affecting our third grade students our understanding is you are all now aware of three of them when we met with Mrs jensx she let us know that she did not initiate the reports as she felt they were isolated in addition to our child this year we are aware that comments similar to at least I'm not black were made amongst fourth graders we are are also aware of a fifth grader being called the nword and last year I'm aware of the nword being graffitied on the garbage receptacles outside of this school we believe that there's an immediate need for a better Dei program at Mountainside the current curriculum is insufficient based on the climate that we are in these children spend more time within these schools than at home if it is really the district's belief that schools should provide a safe positive welcoming environment that emphasizes Integrity Pride acceptance and mutual respect and will allow students to become responsible and caring adults we must act now we believe the program should create a culture within our school where our differences are celebrated and they are learned from we cannot shy away from talking about our differences but by understanding what makes each child unique their classmates can learn about the diverse Global world we live in and develop a greater sense of empathy and understanding however the teachers cannot be left out of this it is clear to us that the teachers need as much training in Dei as the children do in the last year I had a teacher at Beachwood assume my daughter's braids were from a spring break trip in my third grader was assigned a family heritage project which focused what country their ancestors are from in case the point here is in Crystal Clear asking a black family where their ancestors are from is insensitive to put it mildly this teacher even after an email did not use this exercise as a way to teach the children that there is a portion of the US population who cannot answer this question due to the inhumane events that took place in the US so was it my job to ask my 9-year-old to teach the class about slavery while I wholeheartedly disagree with Mrs Jen's statement that she needs us the family of the victims to help solve this we did not hear come we did not come here tonight to bring you only problems there are many resources available to the education Community to take on a Dei first culture within our schools I have a copy of the resources that I've obtained from our community as well as the company that I work work for the bottom line is that we have a great community in Mountainside and our Collective children enjoy coming to school every day most of the people in the audience tonight are here to demonstrate to you that the issue is pervasive and it needs to be addressed they also came here tonight to offer their support to solve it the school cannot do it without the community and Billy and I are also here offering our full support on this initiative I did attend one of those strategic planning meetings and I found it great I think I went to the first one or the second one I heard a lot of different great ideas on how to strengthen different initi initiatives that affect subsets of children within the district providing a Dei first culture in our schools will service all children and staff at the Mountainside school district and create a community that we can continue to be proud of thank you you want to add anything basically we're not here to ask for any specific punishment or any sort of condemnation for the actions it's really more a commentary on you know the faith that we have and you all as school providers and when we send our children to school every day we just hope that they're going into a safe and secure environment and we feel that without some sort of structure without some sort of initiatives put in place that are visible and that resonate we can't that that environment will not be present um some of those things those events that Heather talked about in the other subsequent grades were told to us by Mrs jinx it wasn't just hearsay or you know the telephone so we just ask that um some consideration be given to creating an environment that feels inclusive as inclusive as it can be and represent all the the multitude of cultures that are represented throughout Mountainside so that's really all I have to say and uh I look forward to seeing you all throughout the community U Mr Mrs Mitchell thank you very much Mrs Mitchell that was amazing thank you thank you and Mrs Mitchell if I can ask are those the resources that you mentioned if you could I would appreciate it thank you if anyone wants to come up please state your name address you good evening my name is Sarah gesser 1037 Ledgewood Road I'm not as prepared as you but I was asked to come and support you we haven't actually met um and I can't say I can understand the path that you've walked but I can at least share my own personal experiences for my family and my children so at least you can understand that you're not alone and I appreciate that you spoke up um because I think for all children it's important that we find a way to educate them um for my own personal experiences both of my children have experienced um my oldest in particular have experienced uh uh hate in the form of uh religious uh discrimination I call it Death By A Thousand Cuts um it got to a point where it was so bad that I told Miss jensx I can't report everything to you because it would just take up too much time um I will say that I've had productive conversations with her I think that she's open and willing um and my primary goal was to say while punitive measures I think are needed when it comes to teaching children what's right and wrong ultimately we're here to educate and my goal with her was to find ways that that could happen um I want to commend Miss Isaac's for not only having a holocaust unit year-over-year but this year I think this was the first year that she also um uh has a civil rights unit that she put into place which I think was wonderful um and I want to see that continue um and my focus with Miss Jinx was to say are there resources that can be implemented to help educate our children so that they can see and hear the facts um I was happy that we were able to have um two programs funded for the Holocaust unit there was a virtual tour of ALS schwitz and a family member of a um Holocaust Survivor that came and spoke to the seventh graders that this is something that hopefully will continue year-over-year I recognize that this is at a older grade level than what you're experiencing I do have a third grader as well um he thankfully has not experienced the religious discrimination um but both my children have also had comments made to them from a disability perspective so I think regardless of race religion disability or any protected class it's important as a community as parents as Educators that we find ways to educate our children about differences um because they may be hearing things and I'm sure miss Jen said to you whether it's influences from social media outside of school or from other students it's important that we at least expose them to all sides of things and make sure that they're hearing the facts so um I just want you to know that you're not alone in the community I think there are plenty of people who are here to support you to support our children and I just wanted to say that if there is anything that can be done or needs to be done I'm always here to help support the the teachers and the staff and faculty thank you thank you thank you Mrs guser and and through you Mrs gesser thank you also to the MEF for the support that has happened um for some of those programs that were brought in um the one where it was the Holocaust Survivor just as an FYI to the community um that was brought in for uh seventh grade and eighth grade so we were able to have two different grade levels um participate in that and uh I will say when I spoke with Mrs ISAC afterward she had an eighth grade student who actually came up to her the next day and said that was the most powerful thing I have ever heard and for an eighth grader to a come up to a teacher and comment about how positively something impacted them and to still be talking about it the next day that is a huge takeaway um and important to us that we are conveying that not for one group but for all and so that we are able to create that inclusive understanding of uh for all of our students and giving them that exposure anyone else okay thank you thank you for coming up um and thank you for joining us really okay at this time can I please have a motion we do have to go into executive a second executive session however we will not be returning um so I think this concludes our meeting after that have a great great summer um and we will not be meeting in July correct we will be meeting in August hey can I please have a motion to go into second exact second all in favor oppose motion carries and