acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the State Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time in place thereof posted in the Department of Education Secretary of State's office and notice has been given to the State House Press cores the
governor's office and the state board agenda subscribers and as a quorum is present this meeting will now come to order may please have a motion thank you board member bannett um may I please have a second second
thank you very much appreciate it very much um and now that um all those in favor please say I I I thank you and whereas in order to protect the
personal privacy and to avoid situations where in the public interests might be deserved the open public meetings act permits public bodies to exclude the public from that portion of the meeting at which certain matters are discussed now therefore be it resolved that consistent with the provision of njsa 10
column 4-12 B the State Board of Education will now ad adjourn to Executive session to discuss personnel and legal matters may I please have a motion thank you very much um Dr Johnson may I please have a second second thank
you very much board member Bennett appreciate all those in favor please say I I motion passes any opposed no uh I'm not saying no I'm saying there's nothing opposed um all right we will now go into
executive session and we plan to be back here by 10: a.m. thank you so much everyone e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e good morning everyone good morning thank you for joining us today for those of you in
person and those of you online um I'd like to reconvene please to resume our public meeting portion whereas consistent with the provision of njsa 10 colum 4-1 12b the State Board of Education will now adjourn from executive session and resume the Open
Session portion of our meeting May I please have a motion thank you very much board member Bennett may I please have a second second thank you thank you very much board member fornaro and happy birthday sir thank you um all those in favor please say
I I I thank you any opposed any extensions and we go forward may I please ask board member Kenan if you would lead us with the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United
States America the stands Justice thank you very much board member Kenan okay um as board me as board meetings
are accessible to the public for viewing on the YouTube channel I would like to advise that the YouTube provides readily accessible language translations options with Clos captioning if you are viewing this Simon cast now you can use the setting option
in YouTube for information with subtitles automatic translations and close captioning in multiple languages and now I'd like to please um ask that we have a motion for the approval of the minutes from July 10th
2024 I have a motion thank you motion um um a second I hear from board member Bennett um any discussions about the minutes hearing none all those in favor
please say I I any opposed and we have no abstentions necessary uh for missing last month for the month of August the State Board of Education will receive public testimony
on chapter 30 valuation of the performance of school districts and chapter five regulatory equ equivalency and waiver the state board will also receive public testimony on the discussion resolution to amend State
Board of Education public testimony procedures state board members uh are cilio Aon Joseph ricka Mary Bennett Jack feno are scheduled to hear testimony today um we also have um Claudine Keenan
and myself stain to hear public testimony for the month of September the board has scheduled an open topic public testimony opportunity meaning that registered members of the public may offer public testimony on any
educational matter of their preference state board members Ronald butcher Ned Johnson ahed shahada and Janette Peña are all scheduled to hear testimony in the month of September we have a wonderful board
student representative here today and I'd like to introduce Anna PTZ again and welcome you she is visiting us from her High School in Palmyra of Burlington County her advisors are Miss Kelly Jones
and Miss Kim Martino are you here could you please stand if you're here and if you'd be so kind as to share them thank you thank you president Goldenberg and good morning everyone this past month the New Jersey Association of student councils hosted their annual leadership
training conference or LTC for short this Conference was held at the College of New Jersey and over the course of two three-day sessions included 181 delegates from 60 different middle and high schools across the state LTC is the longest continuously running leadership
conference in the nation Association of high school councils to create an overnight conference to train Future Leaders from September 2nd to September 4th of 1956 the first LTC was held at Camp walani Stoke State Forest in
Branchville New Jersey a staff of 20 hosted approximately 130 students from across New Jersey and the conference was a success given the positive feedback it received in its first year LTC became an annual conference training leaders for years to come after four years at Camp
walani LTC moved to YMCA's Camp Ralph s Mason in Blairstown New Jersey where it would stay for over 25 years it was when the conference moved to Fairview Lake YMCA Camp in Stillwater New Jersey that it began to transform into the LTC that
exists today whereas in the past when senior counselors consisted of teachers and administrators it transitioned to over 90% senior counselors being previous delegates of LTC and previous state officers of njc these volunteers came from all
different fields of leadership including Healthcare Arts entertainment government and politics and more it was also at Fairview Lake where LTC edited its curriculum to some of what we see today taking suggestions from delegates to adapt to the
times in 2007 LTC made two changes because the Conference was held in beginning of September many student athletes weren't able to attend due to preparation for fall Sports therefore njsa njc moved the conference from
September to July allowing more student delegates involved in a wide variety of sports and activities to attend LTC additionally LTC also moved to the campus of TCNJ since then the conference has remained there keeping many traditions
of the past while evolving the curriculum and activities with the times today the itinerary is packed full of educational and social experiences for student delegates during their 3-day two night stays senior counselor volunteers teach on a variety of leadership related
topics including public speaking communication skills leadership styles project planning and more which prepare students to become the next generation of leaders these classes provide students with new skills and ideas they can take back to their own schools and incorporate into their clubs and
activities to improve and enhance experiences for their fellow students former delegates can also pass on what they have learned at LTC by serving as volunteer Junior counselors in addition to classes LTC offers bonding activities where
delegates interact with each other in a fun more casual way on day one there is an open opening assembly where nj's themes annual theme is presented this year the state officers chose ignite which stands for Illuminating greatness nurturing Innovation transform in
experiences we feel that this is a strong statement of njc's goals for the coming year get acquainted games JC jukebox and JC Rock are other fun activities run by the junior counselors to help delegates socialize and make new friends a favorite is the LTC games
where the coveted prize is the sportsmanship award which focuses on inclusivity and kindness at the conclusion of the conference there is a leadership Carnival where delegates play games such as trivia to put their newly learned leadership skills to work historically
LTC has also had strong Traditions that staff and delegates look forward to each year possibly the most anticipated tradition of the conference is the birthday dinner and dance every year delegates and staff dress up for pictures and enjoy a classic Thanksgiving meal to celebrate yet
another year of LTC the dinner always ends with the singing of a song called peace that dates back to the first years of the conference and of course and of course includes cupcakes and the singing of happy birthday after that there is a dance where delegates have fun and socialized with friends they have made
from schools across the state the strength of the LTC program is clearly demonstrated through its resilience and customs of bringing people together though not without struggle when the co pandemic occurred the njac was faced with a hard decision how to continue to teach valuable leadership skills to
students across the state in the middle of a worldwide pandemic after much deliberation and careful planning LTC virtual occurred where for one day students were taught the same classes as in-person LTC from the safety of their own homes after 2 years of virtual LTC
three one-day sessions were held in 2022 as a way to incorporate social activities back into LTC alongside the workshops while still being safe in 2023 LTC was proud to revive itself to the 3-day program it once was this year LTC
Advanced a program for returning delegates returned for the first time since the co pandemic this program contains the same social events as regular LTC however the workshop curriculum is focused on creating a Project based on the needs delegates see in their schools and making a project as
valuable and as strong as possible LTC looks forward to watching more and more delegates participate in its Advanced program in the years to come njc's LTC has been inspiring young leaders of all types student council members sports team captains Club officers and other
student leaders and it will continue to do for years to come at l C lifelong bonds are formed and Leadership skills are developed as one principal said LTC offers a unique opportunity to learn valuable leadership and life skills students come back with energy and
enthusiasm to make our school Community a better place and are able to motivate peers while having a smooth dialogue with administrators and teachers we are proud to have successfully run our first student for njsc State office and I believe attending LTC gave her the ability to win the election Nicole Kash
a former student C board member said this was definitely a life-changing opportunity so you should grab it while you can I believe she speaks on behalf of all students I have worked with that attended LTC LTC can be a fantastic social and learning experience for students and
administrators alike this year's conference was a huge success and I would greatly recommend that interested middle or high school students in New Jersey consider attending thank you thank you so much it it sounds like a marvelous experience and a wonderful opportunity
for students to learn leadership skills um I don't know if um anyone else wants to comment on that but I'm impressed thank you commissioner do you so I just I want to say as a former
uh student representative uh on the student council myself we had nothing like this I I came from another state so uh obviously a much better model in New Jersey so I'm I I didn't know that this existed and I this is really exciting to learn about so really really cool um and
keep since 1956 that's amazing so really really really great work and I hope to see you in a few years as one of those volunteers keeping up the tradition it's wonderful thank you thank you was there uh quite a bit more participation after
the covid change from virtual to actually being able to participate in person did you note a lot of the differentials or um yes a little bit we've we've definitely grown back good good and I understand you have a very special guest in the audience um
Jennifer pasit your mom if you would stand and be recognize for your daughter's accomplishments thank you you've done a wonderful job raising a tremendous person okay um and now we'll continue you to our committee
reports um our policy committee uh board member Bob Ro is our chairperson and I believe you have a report to offer I do can you can you hear
me great yes okay um this policy committee met on July 26 2024 uh the state mendance were myself chair as chair Kathy Goldenberg ex
official uh Mary Beth Berry Mary Bennett and Janette H dep Department staff and attendants were Kevin damer Laura conso Jessie young Samantha price Kayla
secular Jordan Schiff Robert Gregory paa Bloom Carla Spates Kathy eing Diana pasul Diane shoner Beth awal and Stephanie
Russo uh the agenda for the day uh was dealing with cusac versus Essa as a background uh Chapter 30 evaluation of the performance of school districts and QC revisions
included as I said the policy committee met on July 26 to discuss the Department's proposed revisions to the every student succeeds act which is known as SSA it's the state plan and the proposed
amendments to chapter 30 which contains the quality single accountability Continuum or qac regulations and District performance reviews we also discussed where the SF
state plan and qac intersect and how they differ and I'm G to stop there because I'm sure we're going to hear a lot more about it today today thank you very much for your time for your time thank you
board member B appreciate this summary and if I could ask um please uh chairperson for the continuing Technical and education committee CTE committee Mary Beth Barry to speak about that committee meeting thank
you yes good morning everyone um the CTE committee met on July 26 to discuss the new Career and Technical education doolar award program and receive an update on the transition from career
programs to CTE programs of study um that are supporting by per at our July 25th meeting state board members in attendance included myself and president
Goldenberg Jack bero and Janette Department staff and attendance via T conference included Laura C Samantha price um [Music]
kker young ship Happ di at this meeting we also learned about recent additions of Industry recognized credentials for architecture and
construction as well as the Department's new system for school districts to submit their existing and Industry recognized program study for review lastly the department discuss work
opportunity related to progams of study and training that the department staff received from Advanced C so that they can perform a gap analysis on state level um data to
identify areas of over or under representation of student group enrollment in we also the issue with disabilities enroll programs of
study program on how both can play an important role in successful transition to adul we look forward to continued um conversation regarding this last topic and how to make sure we're
providing the best opportuni for students with CTE program have speci thank you thank you thank you very much okay I I have one announcement the
Sheila y Oliver civic association held its inaugural Sheila y Oliver Legacy brunch on Saturday July 20th 2024 at the valley Regency in Clifton New Jersey this Landmark event honored
the extraordinary life and enduring Legacy of the late lieutenant governor Sheila y Oliver State Board member Mary Bennett was also recognized along with 10 other inspiring women leaders from New Jersey to
celebrate the trail bracing efforts of women who have broken barriers and support the association Sheila y Oliver civic association mission is to empower underserved communities and to com and to cultivate the next generation of
female leaders on behalf of the entire state board I congratulate board member Mary Bennett for this much deserved honor thank [Applause]
you okay and now we'll uh turn the meeting over to commissioner Kevin dmer thank you thank you very much uh we do not have any Commissioners reports this month so it's sorry we'll move right
into our agenda items and uh the first uh item on on the agenda is appointments today I present three candidates for appointment the first is Samantha price to the position of assistant commissioner for the division of legal
and external services and she will report uh directly to me as acting Commissioner of Education the second nominee is David Corso who will uh serve in the position of assistant commissioner for the division of finance
and business services again reporting to me as acting Commissioner of education and finally Ali Cobb as director of The Office of Charter and Renaissance schools and she will report to the assistant commissioner for the division
of field support and services uh Madam president I'll turn it back to you for a discussion for these nominations thank you so much so we had uh the honor of speaking uh this morning quite a bit about the three candidates in executive
and um I would like to at this time ask for a motion to accept the three candidates as a bundle um so move from board member benett Bennett uh may I please have a
second second thank you from vice president Dr Johnson and if there's any dis further discussion at this time we had quite a bit of it today so I understand if there isn't all right um
all those in favor please say I I I any opposed please say nay any exensions please let us know at this time okay the motion passes wholeheartedly
congratulations please stand up thank you all welcome thank you great work to continue okay welcome back to two of you uh moving to the next agenda item s certification of school districts uh
there are two school districts to present since the July state board meeting the executive County superintendents have finalized four NJ qac evaluations of districts I'm recommending two of those districts for certification Dr Jordan Schiff and Miss
Carlos Bates are here from the division of uh field support and services to uh address any questions that you might have uh the two districts that we are recommending are Margate City School District in Atlantic County and Linhurst
Public School District in Bergen County thank you we're available for your questions board members do we have questions at this time I know we received our information anyone who's remote any
questions I believe Mary Ben Mary Beth Barry has a question I I just wanted to um make the point that I'm looking forward to our conversation um later on in the meeting regarding CAC I think it's really important that we're looking at
districts and having a high standard so that we are making sure that our students every opportunity they can so thank you agreed any other comments at this time
all right um could I please have a motion to um certify the two mentioned districts which are Margate City School District Atlantic County and lur Public School District in Bergen may I have a motion thank you
very much appreciate it may I please have a second I believe um I Heard uh board member fararo second this any any discussion at this time other all right
all those in favor please say I I any opposed please say so any extensions hearing none the motion passes unanimously thank you very much
thank you moving on to our our next a agenda item uh resolution to appoint State special education advisory council members the individuals with disabil ities Education Act or Ida requires each
state to establish a state special education advisory Council charged to provide input on the provision of special education services to students with dis with disabilities in the state by law the council is mandated to reflect the demographic diversity of the
state and include individuals actively involved in or concerned with the education of children with disabilities today I'm pleased to present the reappointment of a 11 returning members and the appointment of four new members
and um we've uh got Kathy alen Esquire assistant commissioner of the division of Educational Services here to respond to any questions uh and before we get to that I will read through the names with have again 11 reappointments and four
new appointments the 11 reappointments include Dr Paul Barbo who is the chairperson uh Dr Harold Abraham Dr Pamela brante Dr John uh excuse me Mr John
Worthington Dr Dorothy McMullen Miss Elizabeth elves Dr Margaret McDonald Mr Scott was long
AEL Dr Cynthia defa Miss Joselin godle Miss Jennifer Becca REI and we have four new appointments those include gladu trotman Sonia
bertini Diane Perez and Amanda Val and I'll turn it over to you for any questions thank you I've had the pleasure um of going to several meetings for this group and i' I know about five of them they're very hard work ERS
passionate individuals always there for the students and what's best um and interesting discussions um that's all I can contribute at this time regarding this but I do know that they're necessary and
very important individuals to assure student rights um and needs is there anybody else who would like to offer any comments or questions all right hearing none at this time um would like to ask for a motion
to accept the state the appointed State special education advisory council members in totality not one at a time um may have a motion please so
moved thank you I believe I heard board member Bennett first and a second I'm going to go to uh board member Mary Beth Barry as I heard her next again I'll give the opport opportunity for any comments or questions
discussion hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying I I thank you any opposed any exstension the motion carries thank you very much thank
you okay thank you very much we're going to move to the next agenda item and I'll invite Dr Gordon Schiff and Lisa herol to come up uh to help address any questions today I present for adoption the recommendation to adjust the
implementation date for the New Jersey student learning standards in mathematics to September of 2025 the implementation adjustment allows school districts to allocate finite resources required for curricular revisions instructional materials and
professional learning across two distinct years again Dr Jordan Schiff and Miss Lisa herbo here to address any questions you may have thank you commissioner we're available to the board's questions well do you want to talk about
the um I guess it's adoption but to reiterate the rationale behind this movement thank you yeah so um originally we had the implementation of the um student learning standards for both Ela
and Mathematics during its um revision process to be implemented this school year or fiscal year 25 during the 2425 school year hearing from a variety of stakeholders who Express concerns about um capacity in terms of the um the need
to staff up and make sure that you have um the right type of training to build the capacity for the two largest curriculum areas that we support English language arts and Mathematics that that was a challenge to do both of them simultaneously as a result the
commissioner has recommended to the board during discussion as well as what we have for adoption um today to delay the implementation of the um student learning standards for mathematics to be implemented during the um the 2526
school year um it does not restrict a district from implementing if they choose to do so right away um but the requirement is is that Ela will be implemented this school year and Mathematics will be implemented no later
than next school year thank you and um under this proposal when would be the next time in our in our sequencing that we would look for math again to be uh reviewed and and ex looked at sure
currently chapter 8 requires that every five years is the cycle for for the revision to every standard so 5 Years From 24 when it was originally scheduled or five years from 25 under this proposal it would be five
years from from the implementation period from 2025 right that's correct all right um any other questions please just to reiterate that's to separate those two from having to be
concurrent again so they'll be a year behind each other Ela and M that's who we are but we are going to be um presenting revisions to chapter8 which controls that um so we will have conversations about that cycle as we
move forward thank you yes thank you any other questions from our remote board members or hearing none um I did hear from the field um you know that some of them do we have any idea
how many districts actually began implementation ahead of this new ruling or new prop only anecdotally we don't have definitive numbers for you okay thank you um all right may I please have a motion to accept this proposal Mo
thank you board member Bennett may I please have a second second thank you I I think I heard Jack P's voice first um all those any any discussion if not all those in favor
please say I I I any oppose please say nay any extensions at this time motion carries unanimously thank you thank you thank you both moving to our next
agenda item today I present for read-option chapter 22 student residency which establishes the process for for determining the public school a student is eligible to attend free of charge and the procedures to follow when a student is deemed ineligible for attendance I'm
proposing one agency initiated change upon adoption that will improve internal consistency and ensure the rules are aligned with the current statutes Dave Coro assistant commissioner for the division of field services and all prieve the director of the office of
school Finance are here to present an overview of the read-option and the Amendments and explain the change uh upon adoption and respond to any other questions you may have thanks act commissioner um so as the acting commissioner indicated these these rules
are up for read adoption and it's the the adoption level uh we refer to these as the student residency rules uh the rules establish procedures for uh districts to determine students eligibility to attend a school a particular School free of charge based
on the student residency uh the rules establish the process for charging tuition for students Who are ineligible for free attendance um the rules also include exceptions for non-resident students to attend a school district free of charge under limited circumstances and the
rules uh apply only to parent U paid tuition they don't apply to tuition between uh school districts the proposed amendments uh the summary is uh there was um a public law
passed in 2023 Public Law 2023 chapter 61 it remove the language uh at um the code that allows districts to admit nod residents free of charge which means that districts have to charge tuition and the uh proposed
amendment repeals uh njac 6A 22- 3.2 h8 which states that a district can admit nod residence without the payment of tuition um so it it removed the ability for a district to um uh to not charge
tuition uh there was a new rule for clarification and consistency the rule states that a board of education must apply its residency requirements in a consistent manner for all students uh whether the student is enrolled in the district schools a charter school or an out of uh District
placement um so uh we need to make uh one Amendment um to this to this rule uh essentially um if we go down to I um we forgot to take out um with we
forgot to take or without tuition so we needed to we we needed to take that word out so it says if removal is based on the students move from the school district the notice of ineligibility should also provide information as to whether the school district policy
permits continued attendance with tuition that means that it has to charge tuition uh for students who move from the school district during the school year just to add so this one last change because of that statutory change the
allowance to accept students without tuition uh is no no longer prohibited under this this revised Statute it was changed everywhere else this one instance uh we caught going through the oo process and this one was just missed
so we're doing this as an agency initiated change to be consistent with the statute and the rest of the regulation so that's that's all that this is um for in in terms of an agency initiated change at this at this
stage so um if I understand this changes to fulfill the legal parameters by the state of New Jersey or by federal I'm sorry I'm still trying to so last year state law changed it says you can no longer accept students without paying
tuition everywhere else in this chapter has previously presented we made that change we missed this one uh instance in making those edits so making this change is now uh in alignment with both state law and the rest of the regulations as
proposed right and I know there had been discussion in the past sir about um students who uh teachers and and I guess the district had allowed perhaps at times if they were U children of
teachers and so now this would prohibit them from getting to go there without paying something I I'll turn it over and maybe Al my understanding is this is basically for go ahead Alan so that statute that passed in in
2023 specifically has an exception for the teachers for the children of teachers who do who work but do not live in that District so they would still the district would still have the option of allowing those students to attend without paying tuition which and that's
typically done by board it's a board approved I just didn't know if this would inhibit local Boards of Education from having that Authority no they they still have that Authority okay okay any
other questions from our board members at this time please uh yes um just um for clarification uh cuz I guess I I saw that uh in other um locations and so I just want a little more clarification
because I know um I've worked in districts where if a student is um transferring out of a district like maybe later on halfway through the school year or beyond that districts have um allowed
them to finish out the school year uh in that District so it wouldn't disrupt their educational process is this saying that that no longer is going to be an available option it would not be an available option without charging
tuition and that's from that's not a change in the regulation per se that's just consistent with the statute that passed in 2023 because we used to allow if a if a parent moved in May and the school goes until
June I I know local decision again to be notified into so now they would pay a pro-rated month or something is that this something that something yes because before this I know from being in the district before this law
passed exactly what you said Dr Johnson is if a student was in a senior year and and the family moved out of out of res out of District the district was able to per permitted to allow them to finish this law makes them now have to pay can
you um kind of explain the rational behind that was there like cost uh the law uh cost uh prohibitions that districts were experiencing so I don't think this happened like extensively there were I don't think we can really
explain why the legislature passed law in that manner they did have carve outs some carve outs but that just was not one of them CU they already paid property taxes or rent at that point I don't know they were in District it seems harsh
but thank you thank you um any other questions comments uh do I see a hand up I'm sorry there's arelia you have your hand up Sir yeah I thank you madam president I just
want to clarify that uh what we're voting on is to be consistent or ly to the statute that we are voting to be complied um and so this language that's
proposed today uh just confirms that we will be in compliance once we vote on this m once we vote on this item is that my understanding is correct there that's that's absolutely right so
that what with that law change we had to go through and revise these regulations and that's we're now with adoption we'd now be in compliance with the revised Statute thank you arilia thank
you uh do board member Aon sorry um thank you okay hearing no other comments or oh I'm sorry Mary Beth Barry would you like to speak yeah our board member Barry would like to
speak um I so I I just need to make sure I'm I fully understand this I understand there is a law um in place but if there's a senior in high school they've spent all their years in a particular
School upon if the family moves that young person the only way they could remain there would be for um the family to pay tuition is that correct am I hearing that
correct correct yes yes sorry do we have any idea on how many kids that could possibly be affecting we don't no we don't it's a it it's based it's District by
district and it's situation by situation so we wouldn't I don't almost certainly we don't have a data collection for that so if if I'm a a District 100 in central a young person moves family
moves they have invested so many of their years and time there the school district could decide how much they were charging or or is it uh it is a stipulated rate so this under the law the school
district has to define a quote unquote uniform tuition rate um that they would have to charge um it does it's not specified in the statute it's a rate that gets determined by the school district by the by the board of education but it has to be uniformly
applied to all non resident students so it' be pro-rated based on the cost of each student as opposed to superintendent the board say they've got two months left and we're going to charge them $2 or whatever correct it has to be with the amount that the state
says their cost per student is it's the the tuition rate is determined by by the board of education so a board of education could say the uniform rate would be $1 if they wanted to if that got got approved but it's a it's a locally determined rate not determined
by the state oh so there is flexibility the uniform rate so uniform rate for that young person who has been in that school for the last 12 years that district and somebody who just
moved in um they moved I don't know I I just struggle with um that poor kid that's probably their life is already upil to not be able to finish in a school because of a
financial concern a family may have so and again this is to when a family moves out I I the rationale here is I think from a strict uh a strict Financial perspective if you move out of
the District of residence then your eligibility to attend that district is bound by this agreement with the Board of Education previously they could allow that student to complete that with no payment you stop paying property taxes when you move out of that District so
this is making up for that cost borne by the other taxpayers uh in in the district when you move out and would allow you to continue if you make up that the difference but or if the board were to accept students
for the entire year using that that set rate of tuition throughout the whole school year if they were to choose so this is just setting up the parameter in statory parameter essentially it seems like providing some
consistency um because I do think a lot of this across the state was because it was set by board policies there was a diversity so some districts previously may have charged to complete that that school year where others may not have and this is making it a consistent state
state rule all we're doing is being compliant with that state law which is is what's before us right now Mary Beth your hand is still up are you so I I don't really if we're we're
looking at compliance with state law I I guess I'm kind of we really don't have any choice in this it's about being compant that's right correct okay so um say for example if uh
it's a choice district and they have available seats would that be an option for a a student to then transfer over to school choice that's actually a separate statute because under the school choice law a choice district is not allowed to
charge tuition for Num than students I understand that but I'm just saying would that be an option for them to transfer if they had an open seat without paying tuition I believe that would be allowable if they if they had an open
seat they had an open seat place to live so let me let me let me clarify your question are you talking about if the student is transferring if this this the district where the student is is a choice district and stays there
and they move out of the district and um they have a slot available instead of having to pay tuition would they then be able to become a choice student without tuition for the remainder of that year and subsequently if they are approved
the first time they could continue as a choice student right if it's a choice District yes okay thank you um any other thoughts at this time the the legislation was put forth do we know by whom or
when it's it was put forth in during the 2022 23 legisl legislative session I believe that the Senate sponsor was Senator solo I do not recall who was the assembly sponsor thank
you okay all I guess it's time that we just Madam president I'm sorry not to Bel the point I thought um Vice President Johnson's question was a really good question and
we may want to give the department some time to come back to us with a a response based on further discussions regarding that question because I think there's some nuances
between Choice district and uh and student moving to different District so but that's not what we're voting on today so I would I recommend that we proceed with the voting but give the department a chance to respond to that question more
more with a little bit more time to give it to just just a recommendation so I I appreciate the recommend what we will do is and make sure that we've completely vetted that out I mean this is obviously getting
into some severely nuanced uh you know issues with laws that layer over each other um but I think the the broad answer is that the choice statute has Provisions for
charging tuition um that are that are separate and apart from what's included here I'd very much appreciate the point what what we'll do is we'll get back a comprehensive response to that all the board members uh uh focusing in on
Choice districts and choice students okay um so if I understand the board they'd like to go ahead and move forward on this and not wait for that um distinction about a choice
district and it'd be interesting to know how many Choice districts we're we're also talking about I don't know but um all right so we've had quite a bit of discussion about it no one's asked to um delay this so
may I please have a motion to accept and adopt the student residency proposal as submitted to our board so moved thank you very much board member Keenan may I please have a second second
thank you very much board member fararo all those in favor please say I I all those opposed please signify by saying nay any abstentions please signify by
saying so at this time we have two extensions from um who I'm sorry we have absten from Mary Beth Barry from arcelio Aponte and from who's the third
elain and from Elaine board member bobov is there so the count could you just reiterate please sure okay may please have a roll call vote just because we want to we don't know if we have a quorum for this
so um thank you arcelio pante mayor Bennett mayor Beth Barry abstain elain Bobo abstain claing Kanan approved
Jack fero Ned Johnson um I'm gon s Kathy Goldenberg yeah it's a tie at best um approve but it's a tie 4 four one two
three so maybe we'll get more information right should we go into EXA I could uh chime in here for a second I think Diane may want to take a look at
what uh we have we have a um discussion going on right now with legal if you'll give us a moment please thank you sir I know should make a motion
to Executive session welcome back e com e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e yep okay thank you everyone for your
patience I would like to um request that I have a motion to pause the discussion temporarily while we get some clarification um on legalities different things and that we move on to the next
discussion point and return back to this as soon as we get a few answers if that's all right with everyone could I please have such a motion who said it I'm sorry who said so moved oh board member Bennett thank you
and uh second was made by uh birthday gentleman uh board member fararo all those in favor please say I we will return to it I I any opposed please say nay any
abstentions all right we'll come back to that let's go on to our next item if we may please thank you thank you madam president so uh again we'll come back to the that uh moving to our next agenda item uh today I present at second
discussion the read-option with Amendments of chapter 30 evaluation of the performance of school districts the chapter establishes a comprehensive single accountability system for monitoring and evaluating school districts called the New Jersey quality
single accountability Continuum or NJ qac under NJ qac school districts are evaluated in five key component areas of school district District Effectiveness instruction and program fiscal management governance personnel and
operations the chapter establishes the standards and criteria used to evaluate school districts Dr Jordan Schiff assist inim assisant commissioner for the division of field support and services and Robert Gregory executive directory D director of the division of field
support and services are here to present an overview uh and a followup to our discussion uh from last month thank you commissioner good morning once again president Goldenberg Vice President Johnson and members of the State Board of Education today executive director Robert Gregory and I will present for
second discussion an overview of the Department's proposed amendments at njac 6A colon 30 Chapter 30 qac the evaluation of the performance of school districts as a reminder this chapter sets forth the rules definition and
steps the department will undertake to implement njsa 18a colon 7 a-3 which includes a three-year evaluation process placement of school districts on a performance Continuum and
periodic progress monitoring of District Improvement efforts qac is designed to hold districts accountable for fulfilling statutory and Regulatory obligations the rules of this chapter do not apply to County votex school districts that only provide sharetime
Services it also doesn't apply to Educational Services Commissions Charter Schools or Renaissance school projects during first discussion at the July 12th State Board of Education meeting questions were raised regarding qac and
Essa executive director Robert Gregory will walk through the distinctions between the two at this time thank you Dr shff and good morning Madame President Vice President Johnson members of the State Board of Education
uh as Illustrated on this Slide the department has uh a variety of accountability systems the 2017 Sate plan describes three overlapping accountability systems that differentiate among schools and school
districts School District accountability is monitored through qac a state mandated system School accountability is monitored through Essa a federally mandated system school and District reporting is highlighted through Essa
accountability reports and the New Jersey school performance report which has been issued since 2011 to highlight district and School progress to the public ESS and qac remain the state's two primary accountability systems that
serve different purposes if I can draw the board's attention to the blue circle our state mandated District accountability system qac which is currently inclusive of 65 indicators and requires districts to satisfy 80% of the
performance indicators in each of the five key areas of school district Effectiveness districts that do not satisfy 80% of those performance indicators and at least one of those areas must develop a district
Improvement plan our gold Circle S is a federally mandated system used to identify schools in need of comprehensive and targeted support schools are identified on an annual
basis and those that fall in the bottom fifth percentile of Statewide performance receive intensive help from the Department which includes additional fiscal support and coaching provided by the Department's office of comprehensive
support in 2017 when the department wrote the state Essa plan the department purposely identified ways we could ensure qac Essa and school performance reports are more
cohesive that encompassed ensuring we are monitoring similar student performance indicators inclusive of achievement and growth aligning these three accountability systems required an understanding of the purpose of each Essa federally
mandated and designed to identify schools in need of support and Improvement on an annual basis qac State mandated and includes indicators that ensure districts comply with minimum federal and state statutes and
regulations on a three-year review cycle finally School District reporting which includes Essa accountability outcomes and school performance report rep s the purpose of school and District reporting is to provide the public important
information about a school or a school district before we proceed and narrow our Focus to proposed amendments at Chapter 30 we'd like to give the board an opportunity to ask any questions about the three systems we just
discussed should we go back to the three systems I'm sorry thank you sure thank you are there questions at this time about the accountability three systems District accountability School
accountability which is Essa District accountability which is KAC and the school and District reporting processes Madam president make there is a question from um board member Aon sir
yeah thank you very much um just and thank you for this presentation um just want uh some clarification and um and provide some additional insight into particularly qack this is this was a tool that was primarily the focus of
returning local control to school districts uh school districts um had to show positive performance and five E areas so so had to pass the five performance
indicators and so as we think through qac and its impact on an Department uh we should keep in mind that this was also a tool that was uh created to also give us the opportunity to
return local control is that say and is that that's accurate thank you for that summary yeah and and just a last point on that um qak one of the the primary supporters and architects of it was Senator Ron
Rice uh the the um tly esteem Senator we who who fought many years on behalf of uh students across the state um just wanted to to to to mention that uh certainly he he
H stack and uh it led to us having these tools so um fortunately we'll lost them a few years back but just wanted to pay helments to uh senator Rice I'm sorry it's a little hard to hear you if you could please speak a bit
louder sir I'm sorry could you do it say it again I just wanted to mention that uh Tac was championed by uh Senator Ron Rice um who uh over the years was very supportive of uh returning local control
and unfortunately we lost senator Rice a few years back but this is a part of his legacy thank you um Mary Beth Barry you have your hand up as well yes thank you madam
president um arelio thank you for your comments um I I did have a question why does qack not apply to our vocational technical schools esc's what is the delineation why they are
not you know monitored by and let me be clear it does apply to vocational technical schools unless the only students that they serve are shared time students so only botex schools that only have sharetime students the dis
District where those students are coming from of course is is qac but vocational technical schools are part of the qac process unless the only students that they serve are shareed time students okay so thank you for that clarification
is that the same reason then the escs are um are tued by their their sing School District district I'm sorry did you mention a apsds could you speak a little more
clearly I I'm sorry I I believe the connection is not good I apologize my question is the esc's or the approved private special ed schools you can talk to
that what is I'm sorry we don't know your question I'm sorry say the whole question please I I think I I think I caught it so yes the answer this is the same for yes now for Approved private schools those are private schools so they are they're
kind of through a separate mechanism they're not part of the the public school accountability system directly because those are on a contractual basis with a regulated but private school that is that is serving those students under contract a question
thank you commissioner Madame President may I proceed any other questions before we just give us one sec I want to make sure and I'm sorry Mary Beth I couldn't hear your question so that's why I asked um I'm sorry um anybody else have any
questions at this time about this and if not please proceed thank you thank you so as a reminder to the full board the vast majority of amendments at Chapter 30 are non-substantive in nature and
include technical updates and process updates that ensure the code follows the most recent style guide updates terminology along with citations and references to Statue while removing redundant language and streamlining and
clarifying rules procedures and operations for evaluating School District Effectiveness and our five key component areas the substantive proposed amendments at the chapter's dependencies A and B also known as the district
performance review or DPR add new indicators for new statutory and regulatory requirements rebalance points to provide greater weight for indicators of more complexity and significance additionally rebalance points from
Achievement indicators to growth indicators to Foster and promote continuous Improvement for school districts and board of Education finally rebalance points to ensure we equitably apply our primary accountability tool to
all school districts regardless of their grade configuration in our efforts to harmonize and align New Jersey's accountability systems it's important to note while qac is largely driven by School District's compliance with
statutory and regulatory requirements instruction and program indicators 1 through 7 present opportunities for the Department to evaluate whether a District's academic programs are providing high quality instruction for all students when viewing existing
indicators on chart a and the proposed indicators on chart B I'd just like to gently remind the board that we should be reading these changes vertically instead of horizontally uh because they incomp comp
is three distinct School District types our our school districts comprised of grade configurations any grade configurations from kindergarten to grade 8 are listed first in chart B our K through 12 districts are in the middle
column and finally our 9 through 12 districts are on the far right as we preview these changes I also just want to note uh for all three District type at indicator 3 science achievement we
are proposing uh an equal score of five across all three District types and would also just highlight for the board our three new curricular indicators that we will be
monitoring as proposed for Amendment finally just a note across the state of New Jersey there's a common VIs shared by all Educators that all students should have access to a high quality education in order to assist
school districts and achieving this Vision the department proposes to clarify align and simplify our state systems of accountability with Clarity alignment and simplicity to
federal and state oversight New Jersey schools and districts will spend less time energy and re resources on providing evidence of compliance and more time energy and resources on
teaching and learning and positively impacting the lives of all students so that they have access to the indomitable American Dream are there is this a stopping point potentially as before you leave the
chart it is please if you don't mind sir thank you thank you very very much um I don't know if there are questions looking at the chart I know in policy committee we've looked at the chart and discussed that quite a bit um does
anyone have a question before we proceed to the next slide just a comment Madam president please I wanted to thank director uh and uh Dr Schiff for providing us the additional information and on looking at the rebalancing of the Personnel indicator I do see where the Five Point
shifting from 2 C down to six make the swing such a large gap so thank you very much for providing the additional information thank you thank you thank you very much board member Keenan any other comments or questions
at this time hearing none I don't see any hands up from our remote board members um um so please I'm sorry please continue uh so in conclusion the State Board invites uh the public to comment on the current
rul making at njac 6830 uh and there's a link that will be provided in the PowerPoint presentation thank you very much Madam president thank you I have one question if I may sir sure I know in policy committee you've discussed quite a bit that we've
had lots of uh discussions with stakeholders yes and meetings with stakeholders could you give the board and the public a little bit of information about how many times how many stakeholders um or anything like
that uh so it would be difficult to quantify uh the number of stakeholders but we've listened to superintendents in the field we've listened to uh media specialists in the field a variety of
educators uh inclusive of teachers uh in the field um I would have to double check to see if there were student and parent stakeholder engagement uh but we'll be certain to get back to you on
that just to Echo um what executive director Gregory uh was indicating superintendant meet directly with the county officials the executive County Superintendent as well as the executive County Business official to discuss
their qac results once every 3 years in person to discuss it and that's if everything goes well if things don't go well and you're not a high performing District you're doing that again in six months those type of conversations inform the information that we're
receiving from our county office staff about what is working what is not working we're hearing about cusac all the time on this so I I wanted to emphasize that this is a constant process of what we hear um superintendant are well engaged on this
and the board will hear directly from superintendant today about their thoughts on chapter 30 as well so you're speaking about public testimony yes I guess my question was more if you've had meetings at the departmental
level and and I just want to I want to reemphasize uh Dr schiff's response and that's really the I mean for many many years the department has has um taken on kind of a continuous Improvement model and that's about getting and receiving
feedback so that's um it's not always a formal process in in receiving that so it's those constant daily Communications with between districts and the and the Department of Education or uh in our County offices it's also conversations
with education groups and PTA Representatives Etc we hear um these through an ongoing conversation and so I think it's through all of those discussions that start to flavor um as we think about this ways that we can
make it a little bit better so I just um that it it builds upon itself I and I also just if I may I I my understanding is there's a fairly robust uh public comment session planned uh for today we've received a lot of comments I think
uh a little bit too late to be accounted for in today's meeting um and so we want to take all that feedback that we've gotten from the public both in written and what we'll hear today in in oral testimony and take that back and um I and I want to just share that I'm my our
commitment to the board that we will continue with um policy committee meeetings to discuss those things what we've received in detail both from board members and from the public and we'll continue that throughout the course uh of the next month prior to the next next
public board meeting as well right and this is as good a time as any to encourage um the public to contact via um it's always you know possible to send in written comments
also and uh the department not only looks at that the board does as well so it's a good time to mention that I see board member Bennett has a comment she'd like to add to the discussion so just so that we're we're clear because so much of the work for cusac happens through
the county superintendent's offices and the districts where the evaluations occur are you relying on the districts because this is this is a shift and what's proposed in the chart here adds a component of recognizing progress which previously was not built into the point
situation we know the points didn't increase but the distribution has changed so walk me through what you need from a district that is now going to benefit in terms of reflecting the progress points that previously were not
there what do you expect the districts to do to put that out there so that people understand qac didn't go away qac hasn't changed but as we look at goal attainment which is reaching the C offs in ela math science Etc we're also
looking at what districts are doing and accomplishing to show that students are improving and that it's reflect how is that being messaged back to the districts so that we do get robust public comment I think I think it's a very
important question and and and kind of foundational to this work member Bennett because um the most important work that happens is what happens as a result of qac what are the actions the activities the focus that a district is going to
have the change in resources the resource allocation in order to address particular goals what we anticipate will be the result of of our work here today in the board's work in in um eventually uh voting on the changes in Chapter 30
is that the district will continue to focus on student Improvement on student achievement on all of the curricular areas that are that they're responsible for currently in qac there are seven out of the nine areas that are part of the
standards we're including the other two the clicks as well as the um computer science and design thinking we're also incorporating a new indicator that catches all of the um the legal
responsibilities that districts have to implement um to implement law that comes up in between the time that we're revising qac as well so we find this to be a more robust but a learned process
that we um we're receiving the feedback from the field about what what works and what doesn't work but the most important work and I think you hit it right on the head is the idea of how is behavior changed in a district as a result of their their qac um scores and whether or
not they are high performing whether or not they perform below 50 which is um which is very problematic for a particular District so those are the areas that um that we believe will help to to change um Behavior and enhance a
focus on growth but also you know continued focus on student performance in the aggregate thank you for the question because I I wrote down what you said earlier about two largest areas of curriculum being El and math so we don't
want to lose sight of Y the emphasis on that as well our children spend more time in ela than they do in any other subject area with um and it's very important that our children know how to read and write and do arithmetic
foundational part of the part of our process of Education thank you um so hearing no other comments at this time um I believe that we should go
into yes thank you I I would like to ask the public to please bear with us and I would like to request a motion to go into executive session please at this time need a motion so moved thank you very much we
have a um motion made and um and I appreciate that is there a second at this time thank you all those in favor please say
I I and any any opposed please say nay any abstentions right so could uh the board members on remote would you please call into the number for executive session and turn off your cameras and
your microphones at this time thank you e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e just in the big city okay thank you hello everyone thank you so much for your patience I'd like a motion please to uh get out of executive
session and go back into public session so move thank you Dr Johnson a second from board member Bennett I believe thank you um all those in favor to go back into well to leave
executive and I don't need a separate one to go back into public right I might and to and to resume public session at this time all those in favor please say I
I any opposed please say nay any extensions all right so we're back in public session um we're waiting are do we have the people who are remote
on I see Mary Beth and El I'm sorry okay and our Silo's on all right um so we're back in public public session thank you so much
um so we're uh going back to item e student residency adoption um and so we're going to pick up where we left off all right Madam president I'd like to present um the
student res residency of adoption for reconsideration um thank you there is a motion on the table for um for reconsideration on residency adoption at this time is there a second thank you there is a second on
the table for motion reconsideration at this time um all those in favor please say um we could do roll call could we do a roll call vote thank you okay arcel o
pante um in favor yay okay Mary Bennett Mary Beth Barry abstain elain bobro approve cling Keenan yes
Jack fero yes Ned Johnson yes Kathy Goldenberg yes okay your motion to reconsider is approved thank you and now that we've had that um is there a motion on the table at this
time to adopt the regulations as had been presented by the department of Ed to the State Board of Ed so move thank you Dr Johnson um is there a second second thank you Mr frara any discussion at this
time all those in favor please say I I I all those opposed please say nay any abstentions please voice um I believe it was um Mary Beth Barry and Elaine bobov no is that correct no
no no I I approved oh you approved thank you just Mary Beth Barry okay thank you so much um we'll move on with the agenda then
there are no items scheduled for our work session is there any new business at this time hearing none um oh yes sir I would just like to uh comment on the uh
excellent job that the uh Amistad commission did with their summer Institute uh last week uh president Goldenberg myself and board member uh Bennett all had an opportunity uh to participate in that session and uh once
again I just like to thank them for the excellent job that they did in regards to providing training and um very worthwhile uh conference to members throughout all 21 counties in the state of New Jersey thank you very important
and also I was very impressed with the um County teachers that were presented to um each other and to the department about um their excellent service teaching
throughout the state all 21 states and it was it was inspiring absolutely wonderful and Dr Schiff led the meeting but um we were we were just so impressed with everything so I'd like to say that the teaching was incredible that they
exemplify every day um so may I have a motion please to adjourn thank you may please have a second all those in favor please say I I
all those not in favor please say nay any extensions motion carries thank you very much we will be back here at 2 o' for public testimony thank you e for