to order. Roll call. Mr. Al >> present. >> Miss Calderon >> here. Mr. Costa. Missinger >> here. >> Mr. Marty, Mr. Vice President B here. >> President >> here. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay. Four statements. In accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings law, the new
Milford Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time and place there in the Burough Hall and the New Milford Public Library. Notice have been sent to the record and the Twin Burough News. The board announces that under its long-standing policy, it will not discuss 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 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 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. We're going to start off with a
presentation which is the spring 2024 NJSLA performance data. Good evening everyone. Um so tonight we're going to share the results from our spring 2025 administration of the New Jersey student learning assessments.
As a brief reminder, these assessments are computer-based. All of our students in grades 3 through nine participate in the ELA portion, and all of our students in 3 through 8 and high school courses participate in the math component of the
assessment. For science, um the assessment is administered to students in grades 5, 8, and 11. There are five performance levels. Level four and five show that a student has met expectations.
Um, levels one through three students have not yet demonstrated proficiency. Some of the things that we think about when we're looking at this data with um our administrators and our teachers is how we're going to use it as a tool to address specific learning needs. Where
are um where do the gaps lie with individual students and how can we in tailor our instruction to best um fill in those gaps and improve those deficiencies? How are we going to use
this data to identify strengths and trends that exist in our instruction? We also use this data to look at our curriculum and instructional resources to make sure that all of our materials are meeting the needs of all of our
students and subgroup populations. This is a very comprehensive presentation as you know so I just want to preface it. Um, this will be posted tomorrow on our website and you will be able to view it. Of course, if there's
any questions, you can send them my way. So, we'll start by looking at English language arts. Here's our participation from the spring. We find the participation rate by taking the number of tests that were administered. um divide that by the number of eligible
test takers or enrollment in that specific grade level and that gives us our participation rate very um aligned with the participation that we've had in the years past. Here we're looking at district performance across three years.
So how overall um the overall number of students who were proficient across three years, all grade levels. So you could see we're kind of hovering around the same area, pretty steady in
terms of performance. Here we're looking at New Milford versus the state. New Milford is the dark bar in the graph. The state is the light bar. Um you could see that across every area that we tested in PLA, the district
is exceeding that of the um state performance. And then just to share all of the numbers again, you can access this online. It shows each grade level and each of the performance levels. >> Um
>> it looks like a lot of numbers, but why would we like to show this? Like there's certain things that stand out like if you go to exceeded expectations column and go to grade seven 45.5 exceeded expectations. That means almost 50% of the kids were exceeding expectation.
Like that that's phenomenal >> compared to only 25 at the state. >> Correct. >> Okay. So here's our distribution by achievement levels. So each um grade level shows the percentage of students who were performing from below all the
way up to exceeding expectations. Just a nice visual. It's the green is what we like. The dark green and that light green. And then the yellow is like our cusp students. Like that's where we can make the most gains. So when we see something like 19%
right there, if we can get even half of those, you know, and move them to the green, then that is significant. The less students there are in that yellow, uh, the harder it is to move kids because when they're two levels below, it becomes very, very difficult. >> Okay. Now, um, the next few slides are
going to show covert proficiency. So here we're looking at the same students um in their three different grade levels for the past three years beginning with uh third graders in 2023 and how they performed over time.
Then it followed the fourth grade class in 2023. Um, again increasing in terms of achievement across the three years, which is also really nice to see. And here we're looking at grade level
comparison. So this differs. This is um the same grade but different students. So we're just looking at the grade level assessment, how third graders performed um different groups of third graders
performed across three years. It's always interesting. Third grade is always interesting because that's their first time taking a state a state test, a big state test. So they come in, they don't their typing skills are brutal, right? And they do the best they can. So
that kind of sets the benchmark for where they start and then we follow them as they move forward to see if they're growing. If you were to take this this information and compare it to the information in the table up above, um,
when we're looking at 60.5% of students meeting proficiency in grade three compared to low 40 for the state there, so it's it's still exceeding the state averages. Okay. And now we have our subgroup. So here we're going to look at our race
subgroup. And this is the same subgroups over three years. >> What the county looks for they and or can Moxy can attest to this. When we go into county meetings, they want these
subro groups as close to each other as possible. They do not discrepancies between them. So they do not want to see, you know, white at 73% and then black at 22%. Our subgroups are actually pretty close uh to the main group, which
is which is a good thing. >> And here is gender. We're looking at females versus males. And again, if you compared this to last year's presentation, which is also posted on the website, it's very much aligned, which we found interesting
in terms of the performance. And this is females versus males across three years. Okay. And now one of the other subgroups that we look at is program. This includes our multilingual learners, formerly known as ELLLs or English
language learners, our free and reduced population, students with 504, um, special education, and then general education. >> Clear clearly, clearly we worry about our special education population um, and our ML
population. The ML population is growing, right, Miss? And that's a really it's a really unfair comparison because sometimes they come in and they know zero zero English and math is the universal language. They have to take
the math which we'll see later on even though math is heavy in English anyway. But our special ed population we just do those numbers quickly and we're talking about this. If 300 special ed students took the test and only, you know, 20%
passed, that's not a good ratio. That's not a good ratio. Whereas you see our gened, you know, we're well over 80% over 80% with meeting and exceeding expectations. So we have to continuously look at the special ed population.
It's also important to note that with those specific and different populations, there are also different assessments that they take that give us better indicators of um their proficiency and how effective their
programming may be especially with special education and multilingual learners. If you recall, I think in August we shared the access scores which showed the um ML performance. It's just a little bit more uh tailored to their
needs and accurate. This is um those subgroups over three years. And now we're going to look at our math performance. Here's our participation rate for math.
Um just another reminder that students in eighth grade have an option of either taking the eighth grade 8 math assessment or those students who are taking algebra 1 will sit for the um algebra 1 assessment. Here on the participation rate it's
combined just showing the number of eighth graders who took the assessment but when we look at our achievement it will be broken up. Three year proficiency trend for mathematics again
recovering pretty steady. Here is New Milford versus the state. Um typically our strongest learners are sitting for algebra 1 in the middle school. We're also happy to share that last year um we have more students.
We've been able to I know that's something that we've worked on. We've been able to increase the number of students in eighth grade taking algebra 1 so that by the time they come up to the high school they're ready to go right into al uh geometry. >> Yeah, I'm glad Dyson brought up that point because last year if you remember
in that grade eight, not the algebra and just the grade eight math, there's like 40ome percent kids that were proficient as compared to 19 or 20% of the kids. And that means that we have a lot of kids meeting exceeding expectations. And a lot of people think algebra one is like the pathway to higher mathematics.
the sooner we can get them into algebra one, the better. Um, so even the county when we were discussing with them, they they brought up, hey, like this is uh a lot of kids that you're doing very well. Maybe you should open up another section. So this is kind of like how we
interpret this data and use this data to kind of do pathways for the children. >> And here's all of the performance by grade level and performance level. So typically you want to see higher percentages in levels four and five.
Those are the students who demonstrate proficiency. Lower numbers in one through three. And here is a visual for you. That's the question. So like just grade eight is like 15% not meeting. Are you guys I mean that's kind of a little bit
concerning there. >> Yeah. Especially as grade eight. >> If you go back to >> it's doubled at the state. If you go if you go back to that. So >> the one with the 15%. So
>> you have to remember too the more kids that are in algebra one the less kids are taking grade eight taking up. So that that increases the percentage as well. If you added those kids in there none of them zero would have been in that pink but you're also adding more
students who would decrease the percentage. We still don't like it. >> Right. Right. But I was just just an explanation because it does sort of thumb good eyes on your part. >> And for math, we're looking at the same cohort of students across three years and what those trends look like in terms
of proficiency beginning with third grade. And then students who were in sixth grade in 2023 couldn't either went into grade 8 or algebra one for that um 2025
administration. Okay, this is the same grade but different students. So, um, different groups of kids taking the same grade level test. >> I ask a question >> or is that the end?
Let me ask you um grade the uh transition from grade five to grade six >> and knowing that our elementary ended at grade five and move is there any difference in the amount of instructional time from a fifth grader
to a sixth grader because you know the numbers in each year are dropping in grade six from grade five. So my question is because I I have a similar issue. My question is is the is the amount of instructional time in mathematics the same in grade five as is in grade six or one more or
less. >> So I know in grade six they do 60 minutes. They have that crazy bell schedule that allows them to do 90 minutes in ELA 60 minutes and then 40 minutes in science 40 years old 60 minutes. And I would say in the
elementary schools, are we talking formal math time or informal math time? Because a lot of >> Well, having snack countish. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think it's pretty similar. I think the elementary might be a little bit more um because it they'll do blocks at times. Um
>> yeah, we've we've tried to do 60 minutes for the elementary schools um with the math workshop, but and there's also the morning meeting components that can be added in. Historically, if you look back at our performance data, there's been consistently a dip from fifth grade to
sixth grade. This year, fifth grade performed or spring 2025, fifth grade performed really well. Um, it's noted at the end when we talk about like our notable achievements. Um, so we do want to take a close look at what was what was happening so that
we can like replicate those strategies, right, and build upon them. Um but the that dip has led us to look at program um you know instruction we've also departmentalized in fifth
grade because of that many years ago. So it's not something that's new to us but it's something that we're continuing to to see and notice. >> Thank you. Um, here's our race subgroups for math
and threeear proficiency trends. pretty consistent gender >> and gender across three years. >> So, it's interesting. Females in language arts outperform the males and then the men have a stereotype.
It's kind of even, but I'll say the stereotype kind of holds and then by program. So again our ML stream which is 504 special edgen and then program across three years. Okay. You know, we also tested in the
spring science. Um, we've been talking about different ways to improve their performance in the area of science and um, we did administer the science assessment first
for the spring, which we're trying to build on some successes that we saw um, in other districts and from prior years. The performance levels are there's only four of them as compared to ELA and math and levels three and four demonstrate
proficiency. Here's our participation rate. Grades five, six, and 11. Oh, that should be eight. That's a typo. I'm sorry. It's 5, eight, and 11. I did this so many times, too. Sorry.
Um, and here's per district performance across three years. Again, this is combined all of our students in science. So, we're slowly making games and then by grade level. So, something we look at like that side is interesting because
Mod and I talk disparity, right? So when you look at the language arts scores and the math scores, we're always trying to get that disparity between the state and then us. And typically we like to be around 15 to 18% above the state based on our old DFG. That's kind of what we expect. Anything over that is great. We
don't want to be under that. But it's interesting in science there's less disparity. So that's a question that we have been asking ourselves. We went to a workshop over the summer, the two principles, myself um to see like other districts are doing. Um, typically it
was Riverright was one, Dwight Marorrow is one, um, that are doing really well on these science tests just to share information about here's what we do. This might be a blueprint for you all about demographics are very different. Um, but they shared some great insights and we're taking that back and shared
it. You know, the principles were there. Uh, we touched base. You'll see some of that in our strategies. >> Again, this is New Milford versus the state that you're looking at. And then by level and distribution by achievement.
>> Yeah. Threeear comparison by grade level. same grade, different students who sat for the assessment. We didn't look at cohort trends for science because um by the time that they take these
assessments, the assessment has changed. We went from NJ ask to NJSLA. So it would not be an accurate comparison. And our subgroups race
three or trend gender through your trend. and program. So, some of the highlights This is where we we really break it down. Um there's a lot of information before you and you can certainly go back and check out the
numbers, but um one of some of the things to highlight and our sixth graders in English language arts, we saw a 5.9% increase in the numbers in the number of students who are meeting and exceeding expectations,
outperforming state achievement by 3%. In grade seven, 5.8% 8% gain in the number of students meeting and exceeding surpassing the state by 2.7%. Um, in math earlier we mentioned grade
five math there was a 9.6% improvement in students demonstrating proficiency also exceed exceeding um the state average. And in grade seven math we had a 7.2% 2% rise in the number of students meeting and exceeding better
than state performance by 5.9%. The black subgroup population of students so an 8% gain in ELA proficiency um are economically disadvantaged students. So a 9% increase in math
proficiency. 8th grade science uh had the most gains with 6.6% 6% increase in proficiency and we saw an increase of 2% in ELA for our male
students. Um other like little things like with notable achievement these aren't really notable achievement but it's interesting tidbits. This is like when I go to bed at night and I wake up like I wonder and I wake up and I research it. So in the
elementary school there are 11 perfect scores. In terms of 850 is a perfect score. There were 11 of them. In the middle school I think there were 10. Even more interesting. There were two students in eighth grade that scored 850
perfect in language arts and math. And that is like a unicorn. I haven't really seen that before in all my years. Maybe a handful of times. There's two students. I know their names. and uh I will be asking you about the principles about them but they scored perfect on both math and language arts but usually
it's two different parts of the brain uh so to get both >> they're both in you know what I didn't look at that I don't know I don't know I will find out you know
>> um so based on this data We want to pay attention to our upper upper level math support. So focus on grade 8 math. Um as I said earlier, we were able to increase the number of students who are sitting for algebra 1 in 8th grade. But how can
we support students in in grade 8 math um and prepare them so that they are meeting proficiency when they come up and sit for algebra 1 in high school. looking at algebra 1 and geometry. Um we did see proficiency rates drop there a
bit compared to the previous year. Uh we're continuing to look at elementary, middle, school, and grade nine ELA targeting 3 through five um and grade nine which experienced slight declines in meeting exceeding expectations. We
really want to build on the improvements um that we saw in grade six and seven ELA where the students who were needing proficiency increased and um address you know the the slight change in our eighth
grade population. We're always looking to close the achievement gap for all of our subgroup populations. Um so we're looking at um you know prioritizing interventions for our race subgroups, making sure that um
the interventions that we provide are inclusive. They did have uh or were showing lower overall proficiency in ELA and math compared to the Asian and white subgroup. So that's something that we
noted and want to take a closer look at. Upper level science, uh, grade 11 science continues to be an area that we're looking closely at. Um, and then imple implementation of grade five math strategies. Before I mentioned
replicating some of those strategies that were successful. So what exactly was happening? um what were we doing that could have lent itself to those increases and then how can we uh build upon and expand upon those strategies to
boost performance in other grade levels. So some of the things based on not only it's important to note that yes the NJSLA data is one um it's a very big big piece of data for us but it's just one piece of the puzzle. So this alongside
our classroom assessments, our um input from teachers and local benchmarking data, we uh have thought about and planned for the interventions that we'll be implementing this year.
So recently the elementary standardbased report cards were revised to align with the updated NJSLS in ELA and math. teachers will be working collaboratively to um identify and develop assessments
aligned with those standards so that we're uh consistent across grade levels and and really from classroom to classroom. We're going to expand our use of the practice tests that are available to us as well as the digital item
library. I think this came from um the workshop that was hosted over the summer. Some districts have found great success in utilizing those tools in the classroom and embedding that into the regular classroom instruction. And then next month, Mr. Manny Pell will
be joining us to talk more about the high school semester assessments, uh, also known as what you traditionally refer to as midterms and finals, so that we can implement those in our core content areas to um, assess student
understanding in English ELA. Specifically, we're bringing back our uh, K5 tutoring program. It's rebranded. So, it's bolded there because it is it is new, but really uh focus
small groups to hone in on specific deficiencies in reading and writing. We will again host an elementary literacy family night. If anybody has any ideas on how we can boost uh participation in that, we're definitely open. Um, but we
have a team of teachers ready to provide workshops for parents so that we can help you support your kids at home. We're continuing our PD for elementary and ELA teachers. Um this year we're
actually uh working with continuing work with two consultants in the elementary school and they're going to bridge together um in third grade who so third grade is actually going to be working with both consultants. This aligns with the new
literacy mandates for students in K3. Um and some of those early literacy skills that we're still targeting in third grade. Um, so how can we, you know, still equip and build upon students early literacy skills in third grade,
but also align ourselves with grade four and the rigor of the NJSLS so that we're preparing them for what lies ahead. And utilizing our Title One funds, we're offering a targeted support program for
11th graders. It is um like intensive extra help for our juniors to help prepare them for the um NJ GPA. >> Yeah, we are really excited at the high
school. You know, Lauren and I like we worked together and figured out how to get them um access to title funds, which is huge. So, they get approximately like 70 to $80,000 in title funds and now we can help pay our teachers extra support. their kids uh get resources they need
and everything else for a targeted population. It's different because it's a targeted population. It's not schoolwide like Berkeley and schoolwide like DEO. There's a lot more work to it, but we may try to transition to a schoolwide plan next year because we do have free
and reduced numbers over 20%. Uh which kind of lets us do that, makes it much easier. >> This is actually a good time to mention it. So um because the high we're operating a targeted assistance program in the high school and providing these supports to students, there are specific
rules that we have to follow in terms of how we identify students for those supports. Um we're basing it on multiple measures. We're using, you know, standardized data and we're notifying parents. There's a whole slew of
requirements. So you will see on a future agenda recommendations for um coordinators who will be um helping support that fluid uh population of students who are going to be serviced
throughout the school year because there's a lot of there's a lot of red tape that goes along with that. Um, in math, we're also going to be offering a targeted tutoring program, providing small groupoup interventions, really focusing on those foundational math
skills. Elementary math family night. Um, this we've we've done, it was very successful. It's interactive. It gives parents a glimpse of what's happening in the classroom and how the kids are engaging with math and learning math. Um, we're exploring chess for elementary
students. Mr. glass. You want to >> Yeah. I I brought it to my school, you know, and it's nice because when you introduce it, you know, we'll start in fifth grade and maybe go to fourth grade the following year. Any downtime these kids start pulling out chess boards and competing against each other. It's not
just it's very similar to like math. You know, chess is very equates very well to math, but it's also about stamina. It's also about like thinking outside the box. It's also about learning how to lose. Like there's so many things to it. And I worry that chess is gonna die with
these kids and all their video games and everything else. Who wants to pull out a chessboard and play? But it's great like before winter break on a half day when you know the teachers are winding down, the kids are done instead of going on like uh your Chromebook or instead, you
know, go play chess and now you can do chess tournaments eventually once they know it. I mean, in my old school, we have banners about who was the chess champion in each one, and it get kids really excited about it. And the middle school has a chess club, so it helps grow with that. Um, I don't know, it's
just interesting. It tricks kids into like perseverance and math and all that, and it's fun. Once they know, they'll look at it immediately, say, boring, but then it get it gets pretty intense. Um, we're also targeting the grade, our 11th graders for targeted math support
in the high school, harnessing our title one funding. We're uh not new, but we uh didn't we, I don't think last year we did use conquer math, but we're returning to conquer math for that content
um area expertise. We, you know, no longer have the supervisor of math. So, just to make sure that our teachers are really building their foundational understanding of the NJSLS and what those expectations look like for kids.
Um, and then peer-to-peer math coaching, uh, utilizing our PLC's and our Monday afternoons for teachers to look at best practices, think about things that they did in their classrooms that were really successful, and encourage them sharing
their ideas with one another. In science, we're continuing with science explorers hands-on inquiry based programming. Science explorers actually comes in and works along alongside our students and teachers. We did this last year
utilizing title one funding at Berkeley. Uh Mr. Dalo was very interested in expanding this to our middle school learners. So, we're happy to um say that we are bringing that up there for this school year >> in uh in Berkeley that science explorers. I went I was visiting one day
and I was like, "What the heck is that smell?" And it was formaldahhide. They were dissecting sharks in the media center. Yeah. I could I couldn't believe it. I was like, "We're dissecting sharks, are we?" So, and these kids dove right in and and did it and there no tears. I was very impressed.
>> They make it. It's fun. It's like experiment. >> I never dissected a shark. >> It was pretty amazing. >> Behind sharks. >> They did right in the media center. and it was it was pretty amazing. >> Um,
professional devel ongoing professional development. We're looking at science family engagement events. So, like hands-on events where we can invite kids in with parents to do almost mirror what we've done in math. Um,
in the elementary schools, we're launching science curriculum teams. So, it's a dedicated team of teachers who are going to review the curriculum, make sure that um the units of study and all
of our lessons are aligned with the standards, build and upon lessons, share them out with their colleagues. This is also uh something that we're funding through title one. We're looking at bringing in more interactive
presentations for kids on science topics in the middle school to really deepen their content understanding and getting literature um you know science literature in our kids' hands just to expand
their understanding make it a little bit more fun and engaging. The more that we can cross disciplines I think the better. also um supports ELA as well, their their reading comprehension, vocabulary,
etc. Um so there's quite a lot that we're doing. I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have. Any questions? >> Okay. Um first
um is there a copy of this where um or she just provided like numbers of the actual number of students in each grade just because I know we're in percentages right now. I like to see the actual like be able to calculate like the number of kids that are meeting expectations as
opposed to like percentage >> the subgroups. You won't get all the numbers for the subgroups because anything >> that's fine. I just need like just even like the number of students involved in that grade. Um, and then the other thing is I I actually went back to your
presentation in 2023. Um, and I've sat through these enough I think, right? Um, I I noticed a notable change in the intervention strategies um with a little bit less focus on PD, right? Um, and I I'll just notice that because something that I questioned a
lot in the very beginning is not saying that you're not also doing PED, but that there's also like more hands-on things that you're doing with the students, which is amazing, and the families because I think that's a huge uh they play a huge role in in their learning, right? Is that because you've made a
shift in, you know, the strategy or does any of that have to do with some of the kind of loss in funding that we we have and are not able to do as much PD? >> I'll say it's a little bit of both. You know, you can speak to 2023 more. You know, I know listen, the loss in funding
definitely impacts our our professional development. I'm not going to lie about that. We try to maximize and make it as best as we can and hit the area where we think we most need. Um professional development is always good to have but at some point the capacity of your
teachers have to be built as well. So if you do 10 years of professional development in a certain in a certain way you know that that capacity of those teachers should be able to turn key at some point. So it becomes like I don't know not not useless but it becomes like redundant.
Exactly. Um so it's a matter of you know seeing what works or looking at different consultants kind of like at the high school we're bringing in um she used to work for conquer math but she's going to focus on midterms and assessments uh with the high school because we feel like development of
midterms and finals like an expert's eye should be you know so it's it's quantity of PD has certainly went down but hopefully there's more targeted PD so it's just as effective. Yeah, I mean I don't disagree. I think it's probably a
commodant. I was I was kind of curious if it was like a deliberate shift um or there's another money factor. >> I think we're kind of forced into it. >> Yeah. >> But, you know, there's creative problem solving and and looking at different things and and there's a lot that we can
learn from each other, but just for context, we're operating at 50% reduction of what we had in funding just from last year. So, when you look at what we're getting, you know, in title 2, which supports all of our PD right
now, that has to be stretched preK12, all of our different programs, um, all of our different populations, every content area. So, it doesn't really go that far. >> So, we're trying to maximize it as Mr.
Gosso said and also um you know build the capacity of our teachers to keep that continued learning going. >> Yeah. I mean I think it's an important point for the public you know to hear these >> these task force to know that there are
some you know things that we're battling as the as the chair of the finance and negotiations committee. I appreciate the the the understanding of of how kind of you know unfortunately money plays a factor in um some of the things that we can do.
>> No, it has to be pointed out too. It's a little different than we were told on Miss Calderon, but the test is changing next year. >> So, so it's now it's now an adaptive test. So, we're very curious to see what that is like. And we did the fall assessment, but the fall assessment was
not adaptive. >> We didn't do it yet. We were about to do it. It's coming up. And um even though it's the NJSLA adaptive field test, it's not adaptive for for the field test, >> right? And I I mean I I imagine that >> it's just measuring trends for a test that continues to change.
>> It's hard >> is not Yeah. It's not ideal. And in particular, science drives I love data, but science drives me particularly crazy because they they do give us swats of data for the NJSLA math and ELA where
to the point where I can say, you know, in grade six, we're looking at a grade six course. And I was like, you know what, there's a big drop off. And I was like, I just love going to the writing portion of the NJSLA writing scores. And there
were 11 kids that just got zeros flat across the board, which means they didn't even type a word. I've seen points as low as five points and this out of 100. So I've seen five. I've seen 10. Zero means you looked at the question and then next and submit it.
That's what that means. And that was 11. >> Or did they not have enough time? So I had enough time to finish it. Can it be that? I don't know. I don't know what that looks like. So So they just chose not to do it. >> I love it. I would think they chose not to do it because even the kids that like uh usually they write something and try to rush and write something to to get
zero points means they did they did nothing which goes to like a kid's mentality like after they do the science test after they do the math test and now language arts they're on the seventh day of testing and it's like all right what are we what are we doing here you know
um so there's there's so many components to it but back to the end and end science They don't have any of that. >> I can't tell who gets a perfect score. I don't have any evidence plots to look at like how many numbers kids got right a certain question. I got we got nothing. >> Yeah. >> So, it's just like here's here's the raw
score. >> Yeah. >> And then fix it. It's like oh man, you know, like it doesn't give us a lot of data. >> And the messaging for say testing is hard, right? Because you you don't want to put too much pressure on them because you tell them like, you know, this is just a snapshot in time for that day. be
having a bad day >> and then you're also like it it's a big decision maker right for for our purposes. So it's hard um you know you want gets taken seriously but not too seriously that they probably break down. So it's >> and this is just one piece. So if you
think about the amount of testing and how that's increased, like student kids this year are sitting for the field test, the NJSLA in the spring, three benchmark assessments, and any other assessments that are aligned with their courses throughout the school year. So
the instructional time that's lost >> is is unfortunately growing and increasing >> and it's all >> and it's all mandatory. my scan count just put a C for every
>> and every district is dealing with this you know it's not just us >> but this will be I'll correct that grade six for for science and post this up tomorrow on the website thank you >> anyone else have any other questions >> I just want to say once again this odas
fantastic presentation anybody that goes on our website and sees it it's it's awesome thank you Thank you, Lauren. Okay, superintendent of school, you >> uh sure. So, work session. Uh, good evening. First of all, congratulations.
>> Thank you. >> Um, great job in the interview and looking forward to having you. Um, so board action, uh, I'm going to ask you to recommend for approval a number of items. Uh, I'll talk about some of them specifically. Uh first the approval of
September 2025 HIV report in the Milford High School. There was zero HIV 338 form submitted. DEEO there was one HIV 338 form submitted uh which was investigated by ABS and it was founded u meeting the criteria for HIV. In Berkeley there was
also one HIV 333838 form submitted. It was investigated and also founded. And then in Gibbs, there was one HIV 338 form submitted and this one was investigated and unfounded. So two out of three were founded. Um if
it meets the evidence, we we do find them, you know, as part of HIV. Um approved the September suspension report. At New Milford High School, there was one student served one day of inschool suspension. DEEO, three students served one day each of in school suspension. Berkeley, one student
served one day of in school suspension. gives no students were suspended. Uh we also have uh the approval of the self assessment for determining grades under the anti-bullying bill of rights act. And what this is every year the student safety and climate team which kind of
leads you know anti-bullying efforts meets and they go over this rubric from the state and they kind of self assess themselves based on evidence and they score themselves on this rubric and then we have to submit it to the state. 78 out of 78 is a, you know, 100%. Uh,
BF Gibbs scored 75, Berkeley Street School scored 75, NHS scored 75, and DEO scored 76 points. Um, that was courageous to me. 75 75 75 76. DEO has the most HIV, so they do the most
interventions, and it gives it more points on that rubric. Um, listen, I'm not going to say it's impossible to get 78 points. I love to talk to the school that does get 78 points in the county because there's one portion of it that says, "Do you train your substitutes on
HIV?" It's impossible. Sometimes I don't know the sub I don't know the substitute I'm getting until 8 minutes before the bell rings sometimes. So, you know, are they trained? No, they're not trained. So, we don't give ourselves points in that category, you know. Um, so that's why, you know, the points are lower than
78. um the nurse nursing services plan there's a new form the nurses worked very hard on this um I believe was attached um in the on the attachments with the uh regular agenda um this does not have to be submitted to the county
anymore we keep it on file the big push now is to include non-publix and they are very strict went through QAC last year we got all our points for the nursing services plan but they were big on the non-publiclix and communicating with them and we have three nonpublics we blessed with three nonpubliclix
within our borders and so we have to work with them, help fund them. We have to know their needs and help them out as well. I don't think a lot of the parents know that the non-publics, even though they're non-public, we still do a tremendous amount of work. Luckily, I do
not have to. Mr. Oasia handles it and the child study team, but tremendous amount amount of meetings and resources and time. You'll also see on here later on uh there's grants where our teachers go teach them after school and uh we
have to get reimbured for that. So a lot >> we oversee all of their federal spending. >> And they never take title one because there's so many strings attached to it. But they take title two, title three, and title four. Correct. >> Um what else do I want to focus on?
Okay. The revised school calendar. So I hate doing a revision. However, I had to see with my own eyes and I kind of explained that June election drives me crazy because it wasn't around for so long and now it is. And I wanted to see for my own eyes the June election before I put it on as a day.
So, I did a huge audit of it. I walked to schools. I talked to the police officers. I then met with the mayor, the chief of police during a meeting and we talked about everything. Gibbs, we could technically hold school while the voting is in session. Berkeley, we could do it if we added
security doors kind of outside by the gym before they enter the hallway. DEEO, there's no shot right now. Um, so the only way we could do it is if uh the burrow moves the election from DEO to an alternate location and and that's very
very difficult and that's not happening overnight. So now we're moving forward with a decision like yes, we are going to give the students off because of security reasons. And now that even further than that, it's the whole thing's crazy. Police officers are not allowed to be within 100 ft of the
election. So we can't even like station a police officer right outside to prevent people from coming in the building. They have to be 100t away uh because they're worried that the police officers will intimidate the voters into voting a certain way. So there's a lot against us in holding school. Safety is
the number one priority. So we have four emergency days. We're just going to lot the April one off. Put it for the June one and then that's it. Okay. Um we haven't used four eates in a long time. Hopefully this doesn't bite us at the rear end, but we're also on schedule,
you know, for getting out in the teens this year if we use our emergency days wisely. Do you think though like going forward for future elections we can work with the town sooner than later to just move them out of our schools completely? >> We will never be able to move them all out of our schools just based on the
number of locations they need. My number one thing we did it out of deeo and then you know maybe add a door in there into Berkeley possibly but the moving of the elections from what I understand and I did research it is very very difficult. We need certain booths within certain
proximity of walking places within the within the town itself. And listen, we have of all mayors in the county, I think our mayor is probably one of the most involved and accommodating and invested. And you can see he was just like this this would be this is much bigger discussion.
>> What about our nonpublic schools work together? Since we help them out, we do a lot of work for them. Maybe they could take it on. Just saying. >> I don't think the nonpublic so the burrow can make us do it. I don't think they can make it that public space. >> Question. >> Your fancy shed.
>> Yeah. >> Use the shed. >> You know what? >> The old What about the Y church? Why can't it be there? >> See, that could be that could be one of the locations. >> Yeah. >> But there has to be others as well within the proximity
of like certain places. Like they can't be centered into one area. >> I know. >> That's why like St. Joe's is closed, but they're further away. Um, and so you have to have it like these kind of central areas in town. >> But I will the discussion is definitely not over, you know, I will I will bring
it up again. Um, but I want to see for myself and, you know, be informed and and that's why I kind of did it this way. I just didn't want to put a day on the calendar not knowing why or if it was possible because I I'm a huge believer in attendance at school and a
lot of my newsletters are going to be focused on attendance and everything else. Uh, I explained in the last newsletter and the more consistency we can have, especially in June. Um, I do not want to go late in June. I'm a huge proponent of getting out in June as early as possible because after June
10th, it gets really rough in schools. You know, everybody's kind of done and I'm just being honest. So, but it is not in our stars yet uh to get the elections out of there. So, we'll do the best we can forward. uh personnel re
recommendations that play unified staff. We are going to do this again um which is one of the amazing programs. I know the board wanted to get involved and see a few things. If you want to see something that's really really neat um I would encourage you to come to one of
the play unifi games when we have our most needy population with you know typical students and they literally work together to play basketball against town of, you know, a program of similar makeup. Really amazing. I'm going to
invite my old district down to see it because we do not do anything like that. I like this is something you got to bring to your school is really amazing and we are looking to expand it um to not just include basketball, but other sports as well. Mr. Brickadelli went to Pasc Hills to look at their program
because a lot of schools that we talked to aren't big enough to fund that program. And so now we're going to the big north, which is Hills Valley, uh the bigger schools because for such a small district, we have a pretty big special ed population. Um so we're more similar
in that regard to these bigger schools. So we're looking into that. The only bad news is the grant was decreased by the agency or state. I'm not really sure. We used to get 4500. Now we're only getting 2500 2500. But we are
we figured out a way supplement that income just because culturally to the school and to the kids. It's it's a wonderful program. I would encourage you to go out and take a look. Once we get the dates, I will get it to you. So, it's during the school day. It's not after school. So, you would have to take
off work. Uh I think that's going to be it for me until close session. There was a first reading of the policy on there uh which Mr. Alvro, I thank you for sending out the uh minutes. That is it for me.
>> Thank you. Anyone have any questions? >> Assistant superintendent report. Lauren Docsta. >> I'm gonna save my report for next meeting. Perfect. Uh business administrator reports to Stephanie for the charter. >> I'm going to have a more comprehensive report at the next meeting. However,
um for tonight, I sent you all earlier um pictures of the student lounge at the high school and so far the windows have been done on the wall that's facing um
Pacino on the uppers. Um and then when you're in the back of the school, it used it's like a professional learning lab that's down there now. um before you get to the cafeteria. Those windows have been completed and they're completing
the senior lounge today and it's a huge difference. Like the kids can see out. >> Oh my gosh. >> Yeah, it it looks completely different. >> Kids were just
>> kids were just staring at it because they couldn't they couldn't see out the windows, you know, for security reasons, you know. They they just panled up and I understand security and so right now it's clear glass. We're going to get the film on the outside so it's reflective so you can't see in but you
can see out. But it opened up the space. It looks modern. It's wonderful. Um and the kids were really excited and the teachers were really excited. Everybody's really everybody's really excited. >> Yeah. So they haven't done the cafeteria but that should be cool because that's a
a much bigger area. Um, so we have that coming up. And then the first week of November, um, they right now scheduled for a teacher convention. We're going to see if we can do it Tuesday and Wednesday instead. Um, they're doing the ceiling in the senior lounge. So that'll be I don't even know what the ceiling
material is to be honest down there. >> Yeah, we were debating that. I was up on a chair touching it like is it metal? Is it hard coreboard? What what the heck? >> It's most certainly like a metal. Um, but the problem with it is that all of our wiring is not it's just on the
ceiling and so we have to clean all of that up um and pull those wires and everything that's above it. There's even like dead wires like stuff that's not even being utilized. So, we have to figure out what all of that is. And the plan is to hopefully continue the grid
and at least do a drop ceiling for the hallway um downstairs. and we're just trying to make small small improvements on a on a really big list of facility projects. >> And one reason why we did the cafeteria because pretty much every student
accesses that area, you know, and sits in that area and a lot of our big functions are in that area. So, it hits the broadest populace. Obviously, the locker room is always on our minds. You know, I will not, you know, skirt that at all. Like, even looking out these windows. I
My joy is always just ripped away from me. So, I go up there, I'm like, "These are amazing." I'm like, "How do you like it?" And the kids like, "This is amazing. I can see out the window. They're all smiles." And they're like, "When are you going to do the locker room?" Like,
it's always it's always on their minds, but like that's a huge project, you know. Dr. Cuchar and I are always looking at that. I don't want you to think that that's not on our mind. It is. But we are taking these little wins and I would encourage you the next time you're in the building is go and pretend
like you're a senior in high school. Look out that window. It's really, really nice. Um, but I say that because we have, you know, these small little victories and then we get slapped in the face because, um, today's October 15th, which means
it's the first day of heating season in schools and we are unable to fire up the high school boilers. Um, and so the total cost on that project is $43,385 that we have to somehow come up with. Um
because it's was I don't know what the technical term is, but it's like a hot water heater essentially. Um because we were on steam heat and so it was the floats, the pumps, um everything sort of that had to do it. We were trying to see if we could figure out a way to use the
old pumps and we can it's really kind of putting a band-aid on. And then when they finally got the equipment in, actually the equipment was purchased before I came to the district and they could not figure out a way to get the
equipment into the building. And so last week they had a rig that they took the old one out and finally was able So we didn't actually have to purchase it because we've had it. We just couldn't do anything with it. >> We're just storing it. So the 43,000
>> for a rainy day. >> Yeah. And so finally and we were able to find a company that was able to get it in. Um so that was that's a small win because >> I 2020. So it's been five five years. >> So it's already 5 years old. >> It's already five years but never been
used. Brand new brand new. Um so we don't we didn't actually have to purchase it. Um so that so that's a huge win. Um, but we did have to get it in. And so the total cost of that is 43,000. >> So was it the new thing that couldn't
fire or the old system that couldn't fire? >> The old system. >> How do we know the new system is going to fire? >> Um, yeah, it will. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Once they get everything. >> Yeah, they were here until 10:00. >> At the end of the year or it was just
like it was fine. >> No, it was No, it was issues. We always have issues with the boilers um at the high school, but there's steam there's really we were we did upgrade all the rest. So all the other schools
are on high efficiency boilers and they're all we haven't had any issues since they've been replaced, but the high school is is awful. >> A lot of times old equipment, you know, once you get it started, you can keep it going kind of. But when it doesn't, it's
like an old car, right? Like as long as you can start it, you can get it to where it needs to go most of the time. That might be a lot of hiccups with it, but when you can't start it. >> Yeah. We also have no controls. >> Yeah. We also have no controls on them, so it's it just runs. It's either on or
it's off. Um so it's we make the best of with what we have. Um, but not at this meeting because it's all happening too quickly right now. In November, there will be a resolution to pull the money out of maintenance reserve so that it's
not hitting our local budget because right now we're sort of making it happen, but it's we can't take 43,000. I just don't know where we're pulling the money from. So, that will be um a recommendation for approval at the November meeting. Um today is also
October 15th. The snapshot for the student data was pushed back. Um so we didn't so the snapshot isn't happening today um for the student data but that's how our funding is calculated for the 2627
budget um because it pulls from it's a new system called NJ sleds and so the ASSA is pulled from that and the ASSA is typically due the first week of December. I'm sure it's probably still going to be the first week of December
um because because they pull one thing, push one thing back and then push another one. Um, and then that's how we get our funding. So, it was so it's really important that we make sure that that data is correct. Um, we do believe that we have everything um in there and
we've been working to complete that. And then in terms of our it's just important to submit all of our food and reduced lunch applications because um that counts as into our funding as well. And then you will then parents will not
receive the notices from my office that they have high balances if they do qualify for free and reduced lunch. And that concludes my report. >> A long time ago last year like when Mr. Watson was here. We've discussed and
facilities. Uh Gibbs donated a playground. So that has been being built and will be finalized in the next couple days. Actually, it's been a long time coming. I think they've been raising money for like years before I was here.
So, it's it's come to fruition now. It'll be done soon. I don't know if it's related, but I know um you guys focused a little bit on residency forms. Was there any outcome on that?
Was there a handful of people that shouldn't have been here that we were getting kicked out? >> I don't know about kicked out, but we definitely >> some business. >> Yeah, I um there there were some um it
sort of opened up a bigger can of worms that we've been dealing with. Um, we have a large population of residents in the apartments and so it's a one-year lease. We also have a lot of families that utilize like a C1
affidavit and so that's like a one year and so what we're running into is now um I asked all of the secretaries to input the data into our student information system and so we've run a report of any time that any of this is coming up and
so that's what we're finding is a lot of those families which tends to be a more transient like population anyway um are not actually residing in there, >> right? >> So, it's created a >> So, when they initially when they initially come to the school, they're
living at the apartments, but after a year, they might have moved somewhere else. >> Well, they sign a year lease or a lot of times what you're telling me is happening is somebody will just like rent the apartment for them, right? And then they're living there, but their uncle is is renting it for them. And then it's hard for them to get
paperwork, and we don't know when they leave or come. Yeah, that's that's what we're and it's a lot of um families that are moving in from other countries and so that's now what we're finding is that um a lot of
families aren't able to produce any documented and so then it opens up the McKinto which is the homeless um and so we're we're working through all of that and so I think once we have this established and it's out in the
community that we're now like on top of it. Um the hope is that it gets better, but and a lot of times too is they'll go from apartment A to apartment B. And so it's like we just want to know that they're here and they're living like wherever they are. We just want to be
communicating with the right right place. >> It's interesting class size in seventh grade. Huge. >> Yeah. I don't know if that's a big
>> Okay. Anyone else have any questions for Stephanie? >> Okay. Any lesson is on board committee reports? >> Okay. So, the curriculum uh meeting met a short time ago. Um the topic that I
selected for that evening was just what we do in the way of um preparing for college readiness at the senior level and for trade school readiness. Um the report from Lauren has been sent out to everybody so you have that. My notes were sent out to everybody so you have
that. I just think that publicly it's a good idea to mention that we do offer so many opportunities to our seniors. Um especially opportunities that save families a significant amount of money in the way of AP classes and dual
enrollment. So, I would encourage any families that are looking to um further their education in the college area or even um community college to take a look at that because there is a substantial savings that's out there. I think that was well addressed in the
back to school night for the high school. I think there was that was a good presentation and I think it hit home for a lot of people, but I don't think maybe people knew about it, but I thought it was a good presentation. >> Yeah. >> And that concludes my report. Okay. Uh the policy committee met last
week. I want to thank all the committee members for being there and Mr. Gosso all jumping in and out. He might have been repeated four or five times. Um we were able to do a couple of things. Number one, we were to draft a schedule of meetings throughout the rest of the school year. Uh we tentatively had them
starting at 4:30, subject to change. Um we also we did two things basically. We talked about um looking at policy policies normally change if laws change if if certain we go from core curriculum
to NJS anything that changes that usually results in a policy change and there's a company that every almost everybody uses to put those changes out but then there are other policies that haven't changed in a very long time and as a result the board really hasn't looked at in a long time. So, we took a
look at the board approval dates of all of our policies and any policy that was 8 n 10 years dated. Um, our goal is in our upcoming committee meetings to be able to sort of refresh that and take
put our eyes on it. If anything has to change, um, that would be the time to do it and at least we'll have our dates updated. Um and then we also looked at the company Strauss Edme put out a alert with about 12 or 14 policies and regulations which for our regular
meeting will have first reading that night and majority of them are just name changes within the documents. The newest ones or the where we had to make specific choices. They give you options and the
district has to make a choice. Is the new policy concerning student son protection and it basically results from a law. There's actually a law about it now and the recommendation for the board to approve the policy with the following choices being made. One, the district
has the right to require written permission from the parent of a student prior to the student using sunscreen at school or school sponsor function. The district has the right to limit the types of sunscreen that are allowed to be carried at the school, used at school sponsored
functions, for example, certain aerosols, scents, etc. And the district also is going to propose language to eliminate the district's liability for the transportation or transporting of student sunscreen on board approved
field trips. Um, that's really the the because it's new, that's the biggest change and that's where the committee and the superintendent talk about what choice are we going to go with. And I don't really recall what was the old policy. If you have it, use it. The old sunscreen policy.
>> It was like practice, right? It wasn't more policy, more practice. >> Yeah. If you had it, put it on yourself. >> It's like now it's like >> now that's what we're trying to avoid with not documentation and the kids can
put it, but the principal has discretion where listen if the aerosol ones and it's sticking up the whole room like the teacher and principal can say no no we're not you know you know like put it in the middle school's you know hand now
aerosols they spray into their spaces you know we don't want to be >> is this a problem though in our schools >> no no it's not it's not but the state I guess wants to get ahead of you know I I think it takes >> it takes the onus off of the staff to
apply the sunscreen. >> Yeah. I mean, I get that. >> And to call home, hey, didn't you bring sunscreen today? I mean, I'm a perfect example. Um, listen, it's on the parent to if if that's a problem, send it to school. But you can't just use anything like all the
children we have with respiratory problems. You can't just start spraying aerosol over the place. So, you know, it's I'm sure there's a reason for the law. Um, You know, if you remember, we talked about a while back uh service animals. We were talking about llamas and stuff
like that. So, there's a reason for it, I suppose, but now it's another policy on the books. I don't think it's going to change for a while. >> Or and it's not going to change for a while. It's just I guess it has to be there. It's another thing to worry about. That concludes my report. Thank you.
>> I just have one question. So, has Strauss Esme um brought up like AI at all? Has there been anything where they're like mandating anything yet? >> There's no mandate yet. >> They said it's coming soon. There's a recommendation out. AI has to write it for
>> I'm just wondering cuz I know it came up in like board meet like the county board meetings and I just wonder if they put anything out yet. Okay. >> By the time they get it, >> right? >> Um Okay. Any correspondence? >> None this evening.
>> Okay. Agenda items for discussion. Review any questions regarding board action. Any questions regarding educational programs and curriculum, personnel recommendations, finance and facilities,
athletics and co-curricular? Okay. You want to look over just in case you know. Okay. Any old business? Any new business? All right. Open to the public. I seek a motion as outlined in the bill for Board of Education by one
0167. Each statement made by a participant shall be limited three minutes. I need a second. Stephanie, all in favor? Opposed? Anyone from the public? Okay, I see a motion to close to the public. Tony, seconded by Andrew.
All in favor? I opposed. Any board member requests for additional information? Okay, I seek a motion to go into close Tony, seconded by Cheryl. It is hereby move that the board of education adjourn into executive session in accordance
with the provisions of section 8 of the open public meetings act chapter 231PL for the purpose of discussion and consideration of matters pertaining to the following subject personnel and student matter. The minutes of the executive session will be made available to the public when the need for
confidentiality no longer exists. We're not taking action. Um, no major. Come back. No action.