roll call Mr Al M Coffer here Mr Lombard here Mr here Ryan vice president dun here president here please stand for the pledge [Music] of the United States
[Music] board statements in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings law the new for board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place there posted in the burough Hall and the New Milford Public Library notices have been sent to the
record in the Twin bures the board announces that under its longstanding policy it will not St in public any comments made by members of the public concerning individual staff members at this time please be advised that all cell phones and electronic devices are to be turned off meetings of the board
are open to the public and all members of the community should feel free to participate before coming to the board the chain of command should be followed there are two portions of the meeting reserved for comments from the public the first at the beginning of the meeting for agenda items only and the second at the end of the meeting for
other items issues raised by the public may or may not be responded to by the the board but all comments will be considered the board requests that all members of the public be mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking due to the confidentiality and legal rights afforded by the state of New Jersey members of the public are
asked to not speak negatively or in a derogatory manner about any employee of the board or any student superintendent schools report P gassa all right thank you all for being here uh I want to start off uh with discussing uh the incident that that took place yesterday
afternoon outside the high school I would be remiss if I did not do so um number one I always worry about the students that are involved you know for writer wrong or for whatever their involvement is there's still kids and you got into this business for helping kids um and I
think the trajectory of those children's lives are now changed they are going to be consequen not just from the schools which we are going to go out you know heavy-handed but also the police and the prosecutors so we we have to understand
you know mistakes are made but those kids' lives are changed that we're involved and they should be there's a horrific event um what also weighs heavily on me is the repercussions on the students the staff and the community um you know I shared with the staff in
an email like I'm frustrated I'm angry I'm embarrassed in many ways and then as this day progressed it's also very humbling because you don't realize that an incident like this can touch a upon our district you know right in our parking lots and affect our students so
in that way the the bubble of Bergen County kind of you know has been popped and so it is humbling when you think about that I also want to point out that the mayor was on site as soon as possible yesterday the police the
administration you know we have been in constant communication with each other and I want to impress upon the community because we did receive a lot of phone calls we a lot of parents pulling their kids out of high school today um there is no threat that we can see whether the
prosecutor's office is telling us there is an imminent threat or an alleged threat or there's no no threat to the high school or any of our schools and I don't want the public to misconstrue the police presence were I thankful for there were 15 police you know after on
on the campus after school today that's not because they think there's a threat it's just because they care about us it's a unified front and it's a show of force that we're all together it does not reflect in any way that our kids are in danger if their kids are in danger we
would have not been in school today um that's how close we were working together uh Officer Van saders called called me I think last night at 10:30 11:00 to give me an update as soon as I walked in the cop was parked in my parking spot and he gave me an update
Chief Clancy gave me an update I had a meeting with the SRO and detective you know for an hour um talk to the lawyer so it's been a lot of legal lease and how we're going to move forward as the district as a district in the safest manner possible um I brought this up to
the board too and I always try to seek solace in some events and I am thankful that it did not happen inside the school it was a breaking act outside of the school but the sanctity of our schools as an institution of safety is still there if this had happened inside the
school and it very well could have these kids were Brazen enough to do it right inside right outside in broad daylight around adults if I was out there I don't think I would I could have stopped it I don't think they would have cared so but the fact that these people or individuals waited
until after school until 3:00 and not in the building that is relieving to me and to my staff and it should be relieving to the community because at least we still have that aura of safety and I think that's really really important I also understand that this is fresh and
will take time to heal um in time it'll it'll get better but right now uh the staff is kind of reeling a little bit the many students are a lot of Counseling Services um the community in general and at large they've shared their opinions with me I
got a lot of phone calls and emails and I appreciate them they have the right to vent that's part of my job too is to listen to them and as angry as they are and as frustrated as they are those are all the feelings all feelings so I understand so all the support that I
have gotten and my Administration has gotten the teachers have gotten um everywhere from just positive emails positive calls to food um we appreciate it and it means a lot and hopefully uh we don't have to continue to talk about
this um all right on to business under board action I'm at you know I'd like to approve the February 2025 which I be report they were in New Milford High School there were zero Hib 338 form
submitted Deo there were three HIV 334 338 forms submitted three hivs were investigated by the ABS one investigation was founded meeting the criteria of hi two investigations were unfounded as they did not meet the criteria there are currently three more HIV 338 forms submitted and being
investigated for next time berkly there were no hi s and Gibs there were no HIV 338 form submitted I would ask the board to approve the February suspension report two students were suspended at the high school for a total of two days um each student served one day of in school
suspension at Deo five students were suspended for a total of six days two students served one day of in of out of school suspension two students served one day of in school suspension and one student served one day of in school suspension and one day of out of school suspension berly no students were
suspended in Gibbs four students were suspended for a total of four days each serving one day of in school suspension I'd like you to approve the district calendar for 2025 26 first I want to thank Mrs verace for working so diligently on the calendar for
administration uh for giving feedback I want to thank Miss esman in the audience who I showed it to and gave me feedback and Miss esman I took some things under advisement and changed some things but other things not so much as you will see um um the goal was to get out as early
as possible in June um the reason why being an administrator in a building uh formally behaviors just increase the deeper you get in June hivs suspensions everybody's done everybody
families students U Administration teachers so to get out in June to get out in the teens was has always been a goal of mine and when I was a teacher even here I was like I a superintendent I'd love to get out in the teams you know um and so I'm
trying to make that happen but we do have to be a little tricky so utilizing blackout dayses you know especially this year just where brakes fall we'd like to give back uh the days in the following order the first day to give back if we
don't use it would be June 22nd which would we don't have to come in that Monday CU technically kids go to school 184 days right we give back four so to get to 180 the first day would be
June 22nd and then 522 then 526 and 46 um if we use all our snow days or floods or whatever it is we don't give back any days and we come in on that Monday but I'm rolling the dice here because if I look back at the history of the past couple years when I talk to
people we haven't been using as many snow days or emergency days as we used to um so we'd like to use them in our favor um all pre previous holidays are still represented with the days off for half day uh juneth is the half day and
that would be the last day of school if we don't use our emergency days January 2nd we're off because it falls on a Friday it pains me because I'd love to bring everybody in because I just like coming to work um but they literally come up for one day and then go on a
weekend so I am not that mean and sadistic um but you know thank Miss B for talking me out of that one because it would have saved a day on the back end but we are human um professional development you know I'm
speaking to the union um we're going only going to do one day in the beginning of the year and then we're going to do another day in October um and then another day in either March or June which I'll discuss because according to contract they get
three uh PD days um the June election day is what I want to talk about the June election day is confusing to me because it's really a new thing only a couple years old and it happens on the first Tuesday after the first Monday so in this case it would be June 2nd before
I make a determination or a recommendation on whether to give that day off I really would like to see it in play for this year and then I'll bring feedback and say listen there were four people that came at the birthday there were six that came at the gift if that's the case I think that we might be able
to open schools for half day or or whatever it is if it's a lot of people and we want to close schools I have an idea to remed that as well just so we can still get out the teens but I do want to make an informed decision please and all ask his time uh so I can see it and then recommend something to the
board otherwise I'm recommending blind to the board just based on you know what was previously done and I'm trying to avoid that LE on my own all right so if anything we've revise the calendar okay um and that is it do you have any
questions regarding calendar under Personnel uh please approve the following Personnel appointments uh Mr oric he was down as a wrestling volunteer um we felt like in good conscience we couldn't continue to take advantage of him with the length of the
season and everything so we are going to pay him for some of the services it's $18 an hour for I think it's like8 hours or something like that um he put in a tremendous amount of time um it's Pennies on the dollar when we think about all the time you put in and the
anticipation and we will talk about this next meeting and you know honor the wrestling team but the season went very long very um I'd also like to point up Caitlyn abberger um to head up esy we think this would be a good idea she served for the past two years I believe
and transition to I horn as the Director spal Services there's continuity in that U so we feel like that is in the best interest of the esy program under Finance what are you talking about Stephanie what are you going do yeah I'm just going to mention
the preliminary budget Food Services was all right um I'd like to for you to approve the new mil for foundation donation of teacher grants Ed Foundation doing a great thing for us um anywhere
from microts to day and Clay special art program five Pian so each student now has a piano and the high school uh piano course um they used to not know you have to share how you share piano you know is beyond me so they made that happen I
would also like to point out that was really bothering me really really bothering me was the crest outside the gymnasium that lights up I don't know if you noticed it but it was moldy and almost like purple at times and uh Mr cast Over came like listen Pete like
thanks for working with all these Brands is there anything that you would like and I was like can we please can we please fix that thing I'm tired of looking about looking at it it represents us and it looks sloppy and uh they made it happen so I really appreciate that and it looks
great approval of the northeastern interior Services L replace the high school cafeteria windows and replace the high school senior round windows and cealing this is really important we want to show progress in The District in terms of facilities we know this is this is a little bit and the district
needs a lot in terms of facilities but we want to show progress all always that we're evolving the facilities and this would be not only the cost savings over time because those windows are literally 2 mm thick um and let so much air in but
also the kids can't see out the windows every time I go into the cafeteria I can't see out the windows so we would like to make it so we can see out the windows but still protect the kids and they're going to be reflective on the outside so you can't see in during the day so our students will be safe the
senior Lounge too will get a makeover the ceiling is that corrugated cardboard Brown it is now so they'll get a drop ceiling and the windows will continue we think it will work great we think it will be foreshadowing you know uh referendum which we're talking to the
architect about in terms of what it will look like moving forward and it'll you know it'll get exite excitement for the public and it helps the kids and the cafeteria we use a tremendous amount it's used by a lot of kids every single day for events before school after school and during
school um approval of purchase of Ford F350 Super Duty and an 8 and 1/2 ft Western Pro Plus snow plow um and a cafeteria assembly line equipment um this is clever spending to be honest with you we have to spend down our Surplus and our cafeteria and we can use
that vehicle to not only deliver food um but also help with more General tasks around the co TR so I think it's wise and we have to spend that down and the cafeteria assembly line equipment that's what the students pick up their line uh uh their line items on um for food so
that is way overdue so we're going to take advantage of those funds and we can't spend those funds on everything um if we could we would spend them mod on other things too but we cannot it's very very precise approval of to sign a contractor sar's new bridge and for the
junior prom on May 15th and maos for the senior academic Awards is a different date than previously disced we're moving it to May 13th um this report will not include the musical will not include the wrestling and other events that's going to be for the regular session when we bring them
into honor and we talk about them given their time I don't want to rush it tonight right that is it for my report thank you does anyone have any questions no assistant superintendent report Laura daa hi good evening everyone um on March 10th we had a PD
day for teachers um we were proud to offer some tech offerings consisting of AI workshops and light speed training um light speed is a tool that we have that allows our teachers to monitor student use of the
Chromebooks um so I'd like to shout out and thank the tech team for offering that training I think last meeting I had mentioned that we were working on revising the standard based report card those meetings have started um we're working alongside the teachers to
recommend changes so that our report cards are aligning with the newer standards those revised reports will be shared prior to the end of this school year and we'll Implement them in the 2526 school year um an update on the profile of a
graduate so we disaggregated the data and shared that out um Mr glasso shared that in the newsletter to families via parent Square those were the results of the stakeholder survey that was shared out um the survey was developed by the
steering committee the um results came in we unpacked them Mr anwal has recommended some students who were previously in the graphic design class and we'll be working with them to create the actual profile of a graduate and we
look forward to sharing that um next week we are seeking approval of the inrs procedure manual it is c2425 31 under educational program uh this manual outlines the participants
roles and responsibilities within the inrs process as well as procedures for documentation progress monitoring review and evaluation um it really ensures that we have a consistent process across grade
levels and across schools um we're looking to develop the same procedure manual for 504s and just a reminder we have um this Thursday night the World Language Honor Society induction here at the high
school and Wednesday April 2nd we have our final Elementary Parent Academy which is um we're having it's a family math night so families were invited with students and I don't have those numbers in front of me but there is a really
great turnout I think it was like something like 42 families people have signed up so it's our biggest turnout yet and we that so thank you to all of those involved in planning and that concludes my report for tonight
do any have any questions for more no okay business administrative report stepanie P good evening um so tonight just very briefly we currently offer breakfast at both um
berley and Gibbs it's primarily for the pre lunch students it is open to all students but the ones who take advantage of it are free um the students who are eligible for free lunch we were just notified by the Department of Agriculture that we have to come up with
an implementation plan by April 30th in order to serve breakfast at all four buildings um next year I'm waiting on guidance if we have to also offer it to many students um because now we were
found eligible because 10% of each building's population qualify for free and reduce lunch um that's based on the new standards for qualifying because they now not only have the federal requirements but the New Jersey as we have more families qualifying for pre
reduced lunch and so now we have to operate all four buildings um on the agenda tonight is the pr preliminary budget to be submitted to the um buron County Department of Education it's the
deadline to submit is tomorrow and so um hopefully that'll be approved tonight and submitted um tomorrow in the approvals um for the preliminary budget
just so the board is aware um next agenda f 24 25204 through 206 are um in increase I just want you to be aware of the receiving
tuition for um speci students from other school districts the other leas which was increased by 10% um across the board we also historically have charged one rate for instructional assistance for students who have been coming to the district um
the current year we had separated out for shared AIDS but we did what we did not account for was anyone who has a full-time instruction assistant a lot of times the district who's sending the student to us will provide the instructional assistant paid for by the
Home District um but we do have one student who requires a full-time oneon-one instructional assistant that's paid for and so we will be increasing the cost and so should we have any students who are requiring a one toone instructional
assistant for next year we will see board approval to increase the cost um so that their sending District um pays Us in full for the for the benefits portion not just the salary um but on the revenue revenue side of the budget
the calculation was based off of those numbers that will be approved at the next meeting and that concludes my report for this even any questions for second okay any Le on board committee
reports okay we already received our correspondence fin wait I have to accept it the correspond yes the acceptance of the invitation to the Galla on March 27th accepted finance and Facilities committee Cheryl
Kon motion yes um I seek a motion to approve fa 24-25 178 17980
18182 and 183 need a second Stephanie coffinger all in favor oppose okay action items for discussion does anyone have any questions regarding review of board action regarding review of educational
programs and curriculum Personnel recommendation finance and Facilities Athletics and Co curricular any old business any new
business okay open to the public as outl new meal for Board of Education bylaw 0167 each statement made by a participant shall be limited 3 minutes I speak a motion John seconded by CHL all in favor
I oppos is anyone in the public like council do you want to say anything no uh yes it's great to see everybody um we had a very nice uh black W day
um uh last weekend in memory of those who be unfortunately lost in their battles to addiction we also on behalf of the burough just want to thank the district for the tremendous partnership we enjoy with the district and we in particular appreciate the strong working
relationship the great communication and the Fantastic communication with the burough the New Milford Police Department and the school district and this board to maintain a safe Community for our families and our residents we thank you and we're always here to help whenever and if ever possible thank you
thank you thank you anyone else in public I seek a motion to close the app Nicole second by Joe all in favor oppos any board member request for additional
informations okay I seek a motion to adjourn call seconded by Stephanie all in favor I oppos okay our next meeting is Wednesday March 26 thank you