I'd like to go across. >> Good evening. Welcome to the meeting of the Mountainside Board of Education. In accordance with the 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 door of the Mountainside Board of Education building and on the Mountain Board of Education website. These meetings are reserved for board deliberation and for review of items contained within the agenda. The
board reserves the right to vote on action items. The board welcomes the participation of interested individuals. We encourage questions about specific school practices, incidents, or events be brought directly to school administration and school administration. Public comments 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. Speakers shall limit their comments to three minutes. Roll call, please.
>> Mr. Bill Dylan >> here. >> Mr. Michael Goodwin >> here. >> Dr. Dana Greedy Cpierra >> here. >> Mr. Jordan Heyman >> here. >> Mrs. Vivian Poop >> here. >> Mrs. Candace Shiano. Mrs. Lauren Morgan
>> here. At this time, I would like a motion to go into executive session. It's six o'clock. >> So moved. >> Second. >> We will return in one uh an hour and a half. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. See you an hour and a half.
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Good. Okay. >> All right. >> And I signed that. >> What's that? >> I signed that one. >> Yeah. No, we had that one. >> That was actually pretty good. The GL football game you play yesterday because we were up there. Good.
>> Yeah. Was exciting. >> Nobody. >> Uh they were winning when they left. >> It was uh two picks. It was hard though. Not a lot of two picks for a touchdown for Gio. >> Yeah.
>> Nice. island, >> huh? Island, please. I >> think they ran again. >> Good evening. Uh, we are returning from executive session. It's 7:40. Can we
please stand to salute our flag? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> And please have a motion to approve our
minutes from April 29th. >> So second comments, any questions or comments? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bill Dylan, >> yes. >> Mr. Michael Goodwin, >> yes. >> Dr. Dana Ley Pierro. >> Yes. >> Mr. Jordan Heyman.
>> Yes. >> Mrs. Vivian Poopa. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Candace Shiano. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lauren Wargan. >> Yes. >> Uh we do not have any correspondents at this time. I would like to open up uh the floor for public participation on any agenda items that we are voting on
tonight. Please come up, state your name, address. Seeing none, we're moving on. Uh president's report. I just want to say that we're getting close to the end of the year. um still test taking tests or >> still taking tests at the end of months till the end of month.
>> All right. Good luck with all the students that are still taking their test. I also want to say that yesterday a couple board members and myself and Mr. Kenny attended the Berkeley Heights press box uh ribbon cutting and it was
really nice um press box that we uh worked together to put on. It was uh it looks outstanding. you can sit underneath the press box. Now it's not going to fall on top of you. It looks pretty sturdy. >> Um and it was just nice to sit um and
discuss with other board members of the collaboration that we have amongst both districts. Um so it was a great experience and that's all I have to say. Now to our superintendent. >> Thank you. >> All right. Tonight we have one
mountainside trailblazer we'd like to recognize. The other one couldn't make it. We're going to do that one in June. So tonight, let's recognize an individual that is kind, dependable, can be counted on to do the right thing every single time.
He treats his classmates and his teachers with respect. He's always willing to listen and follow directions. works very hard every single day, you know, even when things don't come very easily, takes pride in completing
his work carefully and fully and follows rules, shows responsibility, helps create a positive classroom. The teachers that nominated him are very proud to have done this on his behalf. And therefore, we'd like to recognize our Deerfield Mountainside Trailblazer
for the month of May, Tristan Via Noea. Good job. >> Congratulations. >> Can I ask, did you have a game already? >> Did you win? >> Awesome. Congratulations. >> Good night. Good night.
>> I would say at this time if you wanted to, you know, not stay for the rest, it's fine. But I'm going to keep going with mine. Right. >> Uh just a couple of things and then I'll get into my presentation. The community survey is still out there uh on facilities. So if you are a community
member watching and listening, please check our Instagram, our district website, our Facebook page. Um on the website, if you scroll down um to about the middle of the first page on the website, you'll see the link for that.
Uh we do have some burrow officials helping to push that out. We really want to be able to get as many community members to fill this out as possible to get their input and feedback. That's going to be over till this Friday. So, please make it a point to have your uh
thoughts heard. I'd like to congratulate our Beachwood kindergarteners on a very successful spring concert today outside. The weather was perfect. Uh they sang, I believe it was four songs. It was a packed grass area. They were on the
pavement. They sat in seats. Uh while the parents and grandparents and siblings were able to go watch a great performance and I thank uh Miss Berserelane and Mr. Mula for really putting on a very well-run uh
performance. Um eighth grade trip to DC was a success. Although was there was some a little bit rerouting of events that they had to go to, they still made it through the trip. Um had a great time. They ate lunch on a river cruise
on a Yeah, I called and checked up on them and they were on a boat eating I believe. Sorry, it was dinner. So, uh, looking forward to continuing that tradition. We are wrapping up our NJSLA assessments by the end of the month. So,
I I am happy to make sure and acknowledge the efforts of um our staff that really does a nice job putting this all together. And that would be uh Mrs. Goldbeck and Mrs. Chrisully who run our state testing here
at Deerfields, grades three to eight. So, at this time, I'd like to be able to present our uh HIV grades. So, give me one sec. >> Congratulations. >> Congrats. >> Congrats. >> Congratulations.
>> So sweet. Yeah, >> that was so sweet. Mrs. post game. >> I got remember the uh viewing of the camera. >> All right. So, let's talk about the ABBR, anti-bullying Bill of Rights, HIV
self- assessment. Again, this is the official release of scores for Beachwood and Deerfield School. And keeping in mind this is the 2425 school year that we're reporting on. So, and we'll talk about the process. So, it is a
compliance part of the bill that each school assess itself in the implementation of this law, the anti-bullying bill of rights. in the law it has certain components that you have to give yourselves a self- assessment
grade on. Um so there is a school climate team in each building. The climate team uh here is composed of the principal guidance counselor uh anti-bullying specialist and as well as a parent representative.
So that is the team that sits down and looks over the different elements that they assess themselves on. Come on man, it's not working. Battery click the forward arrow.
>> So let's talk about the eight core elements that are assessed. They're up on the screen, but for those of home that cannot see it, programs, trainings, staff preparation, curriculum, personnel, reporting,
investigation, and the HIV data. So those are the different components. Um, you have to give yourself a grade or a rating of 0 to three on uh 26 elements. So the highest total is
a 78 is the score of a 78. Next slide please. You could see the comparison for Beachwood the overall growth from 23 24 to 25. We went from 72 in the 23 24
school year to a 75 out of 78. That's a 4.2 increase. Keeping in mind that what happens is you submit these grades via NJ home room to the state and the state verifies them and that's what we're reporting today where the this is a
state verified score that they come back and saying this is a final district and school score for uh for your your district. Next one. The breakdown. As you could see the scores, there was an
increase in the 2425 school year for staff trainings. There was an increase in school level reporting procedures, an increase on HIV reporting to the state. We have to report to the state twice a year. Um, and then all other elements
remained near perfect. So these these are the increased areas from the two previous years. Next, Deerfield had some great growth as well. Steady growth there from the 71 to a 73.
And and while you know I I might say a a 73 is uh a decent score and a 78 is perfect, I don't believe that any district should give themselves a a 78. I don't. there's definitely room for
always improving on how we're implementing this law. So, I appreciate the fact that the team understood their their role here and really being critical of our processes and making sure that, you know, we're giving
ourselves a rating that is is fair and not inflated. All right, moving along, we see the areas of increase as well and some of the ones that stayed the same. So therefore, that's what increased over the past two years. School level reporting, HIV
reporting, and HIV investigation was a perfect score and curriculum and instruction. I do believe we did some leg work if I'm not mistaken from the previous year in our investigation procedure with our attorney, which I believe helped keep that score or elevate that score as well for
Beachwood. So, I'm glad to see that. Beachwood highlights successful completion of HIV specific suicide prevention training for all staff. We strengthened school level reporting procedures. We are 100% compliant and we are achieving a very high score
75 out of 78. Next to your field progress maintaining a perfect 12 out of 12 score in HIV investigation procedures which means that we're meeting all the timelines the reporting timelines to the board the reporting back to parents as well.
uh doing a curriculum based HIV instruction for students when needed and as well as really doing the improvements in the core elements of reporting and official data posting to the state. Next, so finishing up the district grade
that's given is a 74. We are 100% compliant. We've increased 0.5. Uh but then again, I think that looking back and saying to yourself, being critical, a 74 is a very uh admirable score for a district. All right,
questions. >> I do. Your school climate committee. Um do you have a teacher on that committee? >> School what? >> The school climate? >> Yes. I'm sorry. Did I not did I mention? >> Okay. I just teachers. >> Yeah, there's a teacher. Sorry. >> I have a double question. Um it's 2425
school year. What's the What's the lag? That's not a criticism. I'm just curious like why why why do we not is this a state that goes in the state? It takes this long to get back the >> Well, the process starts in the spring. You submit your scores in the fall. >> Okay.
>> Of the next year. >> Okay. >> Then the state comes back to you, believe it or not, >> six months later. >> About April with the finalized score. >> Got it. >> Yeah. >> A long time for >> Yeah. It does crazy. >> New Jersey. >> Yeah. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. >> My other question was you can you can pontine if you want is more anecdotally it does feel like in years on the board I don't know other members would agree like that the quantity of HIVs has continued to to rise. That's a that's a very general statement. So maybe not the
case but just curious like do we >> I know somewhere we track at some point like from an audit perspective. >> Right. >> Are you seeing that too? Are we are we or is that you feel like we've more stabilized? I'm just curious. >> I would only look over last year's to this year's are probably around the same. >> Okay.
>> Uh maybe we're one one or two higher. >> Okay. >> As of this point. >> Y >> I I'd have to look back at last I that I can get that data. I just don't have it with me. >> Yeah. I I feel like we report it maybe once a year or twice a year in terms of an audit. We do see those numbers. I don't know if >> you know trend wise it's sort of
>> it's coming up. Are you thinking confirmed or report? >> No, just overall >> overall investigations. >> I kind of felt that way too, but like I said, there might be no you might be just making that up and I may, >> but like I kind of >> Yeah, it doesn't seem like we we like this is I just historically it's a and
maybe it's because you know it's it's when affirmed it stays with students. It just seems like we spend you know more time as a board than ever before. >> Right. Keeping in mind when when it is affirmed, it stays with students to a point, but you're not reporting it to the most people have this
>> uh this, you know, myth of it stays with my child throughout high school. >> Yeah. >> And that's that's a that's a misnomer. Um you you have to as a sending district if you're sending to another school regardless if there is a kid with three
specific confirmed HIV >> Y >> incidences then you would report it forward to another district. >> Got it. >> Other than that it stays here. Yeah. >> So, I hope that gets out there because I know parents worry about that. The fact
of >> my child is now a confirmed HIV >> offender. You know, people are going to know about this in reality. >> And I think they're also worried about the fact that um and then it really follows them and now they're they're applying for colleges, right? And it's
that's a misnomer. >> And that is a misnomer as well. >> Exactly. >> All right. I I would just piggy back off of your question or comment. Um I have the luxury of sitting through multiple versions of these assessments and uh
it's my opinion of Mountainside has far less especially at the middle school level when it comes to average class size or or I understand that we're a smaller district than others that may be reporting uh but it's my point of view it was significantly
lower right so um if as long as we're confident that the right things are being reported and investigated Right? And that we're not >> skipping any, which I'm not saying we are, right? We're actually in a really really good spot with our with our children, right? And I think it's a product of coming up through it, right?
That the >> the way that we transition through the school and the building and and getting them it's a uniqueness of the the way that these buildings are set up and how they the kids flow, right, in their comfort level. So, kudos to the staff that enables all of that.
>> Yeah, definitely. Any other questions? All right. Thank you guys very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Kin. You're welcome. >> Okay, moving on to our business administrator report. >> I have none. >> Okay. Uh, Berkeley Heights.
>> I have a update for everybody. So, um, since the last time we all got together, um, Berkeley, the Berkeley Heights Board of Education met twice. So, on April 30th, um, we finalized the the budget, which
actually came in $500,000 more than the preliminary budget we did in March, right? uh they had a last minute increase in their uh insurance costs. Um so that I mean I'm on my soap box here. That did increase the cost per pupil at Governor Livingston and the certified
tuition rate at Governor Livingston. Um so just just be aware that my comments from last time just got a little bit worse when when they approved that um when they realized that additional $500,000 had to be added to their um to their budget. uh we saw a wonderful uh
presentation from the robotics club and uh I I bring it up here in such a way that says we really got to figure out a way to potentially partner at the middle school level to get our kids more involved in this
exposed to this um at earlier ages. So I know that they talked about possibly setting up a field trip down here but I think that there's a robotics program. We don't have one here at Dor Deerfield, do robotics club. >> Okay. >> And we have obviously a lot of robotics being done in steam. >> Yeah. So I don't Yeah. So similar to a
wrestling or something like that, right? How we could we potentially get those clubs together and start to form a team? >> Um because what they were doing was amazing and and I'm going to get it wrong, but >> this robotics team advanced further than any other robotics team at the high school level um for for Berkeley
Heights. It was in some sort of national recognition. Um, unfortunately they had a really good robot. Um, it wasn't what they coded that failed. It was some like a hardware piece that just malfunctioned that what they got from a manufacturer someplace
>> and and the um the adviser was explaining to us that they thought they had a really good shot of getting on the podium. >> Um, it was awesome. It was and it was cool too. They was basically picking up a bunch of waffle balls and chucking it into a hoop. >> Um, and it was guided unguided program you know. So it was it was amazing.
Right. So, the more of that that we can um expose our children to, our students to would would be great. Um >> I think you'll see a little bit more next year. >> Yeah, it was it was it was fun. Um this week was AP exam week, so we didn't get an update from the student representatives because they were both
actively studying. Uh we went through we did approval of u non-tenured staff, you know, couple of uh reduction in force, which you'll see in the minutes at the at the high school level. Um um it was interesting. Another another
thing that we we went through at that committee that or that meeting which we may want to consider here, we discussed um a policy that would kind of codify the how you handle board members handing out uh diplomas to their kids after they
retire, right? They're kind of putting it in stone whether or not how you want to handle this. Um is it parents? Is it is it children? Is it grandchildren? Is it nieces, nephews? All the rest. with dogs. >> So, so we spent some time on that. Um
and and then of course we talked about u the new press box and and and the fact that that was going to be opening up which we all went to. Um so the next big project that we talked about was um potentially adding lights, right? I know that's that's key on a lot of folks um
when when they're when they approach me either as an outside board of ed member or a governor living board of ed member. Um, lights is always the next part of that field. So, more to come, right? There's no budget. It didn't get included in the referendum, but um if anybody out there uh wants to
potentially lead up a fundraising effort or know somebody who'd want to participate, um I know there's a lot of uh businesses there in in Berkeley Heights, but they're um still looking for sponsors that can potentially support with money. Then on May 6th, um
we had another great u presentation from our students. This time it was the steam team. Um, and they went into a program that it's best to say it was like Shark Tank, right? So they they put together a proposal. This team was made it to the
finals of the state competition. Uh, still the finals are still pending. So if they win, they'll then present at the Atlantic City convention um for the school boards. U, but they came up with an idea um to improve a boat motor and to make it uh more eco-friendly. So they
they presented to us all their ideas, all their thoughts, a nice little prototype they had out there. Uh but it was it was great to see the the kids engaging. Um also on the agenda um was the resignation of a popular uh GL math and physics teacher. So that was Mr. McGovern, right? So u for anybody
watching, a lot of our students, a lot of our kids had Mr. McGovern as as a teacher. So that was a big loss for the uh for the district. Uh and we also approved the fall athletic schedule. So, if you are somebody who likes to plan ahead and you want to see uh when's the first football game, when's the first
soccer game, um all that is now approved uh and available hopefully on the website, but if not, we can get you a copy. Um and that concludes my report. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Can I please have a motion to approve under administration items one through four? Move.
>> Second. Any comments or questions? >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bill Dylan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Dr. Michael Goodwin. >> Yes. >> Dr. Dana Guided CPRA. >> Yes. >> Mr. Jordan Heyman. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Vivian Pup. >> Yes. >> Mrs. C. Candace Shiano. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Lauren Wargan. >> Yes. >> Can I please have a motion to approve under budget and finance items 1 through 11? >> So moved. Second. >> Any comments or questions? >> I was just going to two quick comments. One, number five. Good to see that lunch
prices are flat year-over-year. I got that right. the 385. Other things around here are not. So, you know, we'll take it. Uh, and then just on nine, as always, feels like it's on every agenda. Thank you to the Watch Foundation. I don't know what a chompsaw is, but I'm guessing that that's something that is,
>> believe it or not, it's a very safe way to cut wood or cardboard. It's amazing. Look it up. It's pretty neat. >> Well, it's great. And obviously, Watts has been great to us for years and years. They really, we appreciate that. Any
other comments or questions? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bill Dylan, >> yes. >> Mr. Michael Goodwin, >> yes. >> Dr. Dana Guided Cierro, >> yes. >> Mr. Jordan Heyman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Vivian Poopa, >> yes. >> Mrs. Candace Shiano, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lauren Wargan, >> yes.
>> I please have a motion to approve under uh personnel items 1 through 10. So move. >> Second. >> Any comments or questions? Roll call, please. Mr. Bill Dylan. Um,
>> a no to number two. A yes to all others. >> Mr. Michael Goodwin. >> Yes. >> Dr. Dana Guided Cypro. >> Yes. >> Mr. Jordan Heyman. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Vivian Pupo. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Candace Shiano. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lauren War. >> Yes. >> Motion to approve under policy items one
and two. >> So moved. Second. Any comments or questions? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bill Dylan, >> yes. >> Mr. Michael Goodwin, >> yes. >> Dr. Dana Grey Pierro,
>> yes. >> Mr. Jordan Heyman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Vivian Pup, >> yes. >> Mrs. Candace, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lauren Mort, >> yes. >> Do we have any old business? New business committee reports.
>> Uh personnel curriculum committee met yesterday um and we spoke about curriculum and personnel. >> Thank you. Any other >> thoroughly? >> Yeah. >> Perfect.
>> Mind-blowing. I I can give you I can give you a referendum uh slash um and I can give you Berkeley Heights and receive a referendum. We've we uh since our last meeting, we've met once or twice and actually twice now since our since our last meeting. Uh I'd say statuswise and what we've focused on
most recently is just nailing down our our prioritized projects. Um we're not quite quite there, but we've made good progress. I I think it's fair to reiterate for the public we're working at a at a abbreviate at a quickened pace.
>> Um we don't we don't have any any firm dates but we are working against a timeline that we we we know will get us to you know where we want to be for next year. It's a pretty long list of projects but uh I think we feel good as a committee about what's on it. Um and then once we get some answers, some finalized answers from solutions
architects, we'll be able to then say, "Okay, this is this is either it, this is the full list of what we want and can present to the board or here's A and B uh on the road to potentially questions one and two." So, really good progress there. Um on the Berkeley Heights uh sen
front um we we have not had any further committee meetings u but we are as as noted I think last time we're at an attorney to an attorney conversation uh with with Berkeley Heights. Um we're expecting further updates as we as we work toward feedback on uh on what we've
submitted through our attorney in terms of an initial uh crack at at what we would like to envision like to see in in an upcoming contract for renewal. So, as soon as we have feedback, we'll have more to share with the board. >> Thank you. Any other committee reports? >> Yep. We uh the buildings, grounds, and
finance committee met this morning. Um we meet regularly uh quite possibly once or twice every month. Did you talk about buildings and grounds? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Oh, okay. >> Buildings and grounds.
>> Uh topics discussed. Uh this morning we talked about facility upgrades, maintenance projects both at Beachwood and Deerfield, including things like the sewer line, um gym locker room, HVAC. Uh we also spoke about staffing and
operational efficiencies, including custodial staff and grounds maintenance. And lastly, we talked about uh municipal agreements and projects uh including the Beachwood soccer field. Um, so we've been openly discussing this with the
town and uh, we look forward to this plan being um, brought up at a future planning board meeting as well as town council meeting. >> Thank you. And I think that's it for committee reports, right? >> All right, moving on. Uh, public participation.
Uh, if you have something to discuss, anything that you would like to discuss, come up to the podium, state your name, address. See none, we're moving on. We do not have a second exec. I believe we do not. Um, so this is it. Can I please have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion. >> Second.
>> All in favor? >> I post. Motion carries.