I understand that. Exactly. Anyone? I've heard about Good evening everybody. Thank you for coming out. Uh this is a regular uh meeting of the Oakland Board of Education. Adequate noted of this notice
of this meeting has been provided. Schedule of regular meetings of the board of education was adopted at the reorganization meeting on January 6th, 2026. Uh schedule and notice of said meetings have been posted and are maintained in the interior window of the exterior door
of the school administrative offices uh mailed to the retrospect and courier post and filed with the clerk of the bureau of Oakland. All of foregoing has been done within the time required by law in accordance with the public meetings act.
Mrs. >> Here we stand for the pledge of >> allegiance. All right, no executive session at this time. So, we're going to move on to item three, which is our presentations for the evening. And we're going to start
out with our Hawk Heroes. Good evening everyone. Thanks for coming out for this very special occasion for our May Hawk Hero presentation. We are recognizing our students who demonstrate open-mindedness this month.
And at OPS, we describe open-mindedness as a person's ability to consider the ideas and views of others. Open-minded students are willing to listen to others and consider new ideas, suggestions, and opinions. They recognize that they may not always agree with others and work to
solve problems in a positive way. So, I know that one little gentleman can't be here tonight, but we'll recognize him as well. We have for kindergarten Julian Mcomes. He's with Mrs. Sudd. And Mrs. Sudden has consistently shown a genuine
willingness to consider different ideas and perspectives with his classmates. He works extremely well in groups, participates in class discussions, and remains respectful towards classmates who may have a different viewpoint. Julian's open-minded nature is one of his most commendable qualities and helps
make our classroom a better place to learn. So, congratulations if you're watching from home, Julian. And now, when I call your name, I want you to come on up. I'll give you a certificate and you're going to stand up here until all of us are up. Okay? You're up first.
In first grade, we have Joey Rllo. Come on up, Joey. Joey is open-minded and kind. In the classroom, Joey eagerly tries new strategies and is willing to learn from his mistakes. Socially, Joey always welcomes new partners, listens to
classmates ideas, and includes others during group work and play. His curiosity and positive attitude make our classroom community stronger each day, says Mrs. Morton, his classroom teacher. Good job. Stay right there, Joey. You're going to have a partner in a minute.
For second grade, we have Genesis Mara. Come on up, Jennis is our is our open-minded Hawk hero. She has shown this quality all year by con consistently approaching situations with kindness and genuine consideration for others. Genesis takes
the time to listen before responding and she respects and accepts other people for who they are. She understands the importance of being open to new ideas and works positively with others to solve problems. Awesome job, Genesis from Ma. For third grade, we have Naomi Peters.
Come on up. Naomi is an open-minded student who approaches learning with curiosity and the willingness to always consider new ideas, even when they challenge her own thoughts. She listens carefully to others, respects different perspectives, and asks thoughtful questions. She takes
advantage of all opportunities to grow and expand her thinking. She adapts easily, collaborates well with her peers, and creates a positive environment for those around her. Miss Bulahan, congratulations, Naomi. Our fourth grader,
Lennon Santiago, come on up. Lennon is an open-minded student who has the ability to consider the ideas and views of others. She is willing to recognize that people may not always agree with each other, but that they should respect each other's opinions. She is open to suggestions and opinions
and always looking to solve problems in a positive way with her classmates. Lennon is respectful to everyone and is an asset to our class. Mrs. Cumins job Lennon and our big fifth grader of the month.
Come on up Violet Putnham. Violet is always a great listener. During conversation, she listens to others opinions, asks questions, and shares her own own unique ideas. Bila also has a patient and calm demeanor. She treats everyone with respect and
gets along well with her classmates. Violet is an asset to our fifth grade class, Mr. Weisenstein. All right. Well, you guys deserve a big round of applause. So, one, two, three. We're going to flip this way and see the board of education so they can applause for you. Flip around.
Great job. Openminded Mayhawk heroes. We appreciate you. All right, don't leave. Don't leave. We're getting a photo. >> Okay, now I know this was the the big kids stuff, but I know you're ready for the pizza party, right? We'll have that as soon as those t-shirts come in. I
promise you. We're hoping the end of the month. Have a great night. Thank you for coming out. All right, moving on to our second presentation of the evening. Uh, Mrs. Balden will be presenting the recipients of our uh, governor's educator and ed
support professional of the year. >> You know what? I'm gonna use this. Okay, we're gonna start with Mr. Mark. So, Mr. Mark, would you come on up next to me? So, Oakland Public School is proud to recognize Mr. Mark Egan as our
instructional assistant of the year. Known to students and staff as Mr. Mark. He is a dependable, caring, and hardworking team player who consistently goes above and beyond to support our school community. Whether assisting students academically, encouraging
social emotional growth, supporting teachers, helping during lunch duty or participating in our school spirit events. Mr. Mark approaches every task with kindness, patience, and dedication. His positive attitude, creativity, and willingness to help wherever and
whenever needed make him an invaluable asset to the Oakland public school. Most importantly, Mr. Mark builds meaningful relationships with his students and serves as a positive role model, inspiring others through his perseverance, compassion, and commitment
to helping every child. We are grateful for the impact he makes each day and proud to celebrate him as Oakland's instructional assistant of the year 2026. Let's go, Mr. MARK. OKAY. Can I have Miss Wolf Slayer come on up?
Miss Suzanne Wlayer has made an incred incredible impact on the Oakland public school community through her dedication, leadership, and passion for helping students succeed. Throughout her years at OPS, she has served in many different teaching roles, giving her a unique ability to connect with and support
learners at every grade level. Her knowledge, flexibility, and commitment to students make her an invaluable part of our school family. As our learning acceleration teacher this year, Miss Wolser is known for creating engaging, meaningful lessons that help students
build confidence and achieve success in both reading and math. She is also a tremendous support to her colleagues, always willing to share ideas, strategies, and encouragement. She has been described as someone who has a myriad of tricks and tools, a perfect reflection of creativity, knowledge, and
support she brings to our school community. Outside of the classroom, Miss Wlayer goes above and beyond the OPS community. From tutoring students after school and supporting families for the Mckin Vento program to running a popular Dungeons and Dragons Club and caring for our school gardens, she
brings heart and dedication to everything she does. OPS is truly lucky to have such an inspiring educator and leader as our 2026 teacher of the year. She has also received the governor's educator of the year award because we did apply to that honor as well. So
congratulations on both awards, Miss Blayer. We are happy to have you. >> Hi. They said I didn't have to say something, but I do want to speak about two things. Um, first is that this is really an honor because the teachers,
the staff at Oakland are topnotch. This is the upper echelon. I have been here 22 years. I've been in a lot of classrooms and the competition for this is crazy because they are all so amazing
and I am so lucky to work here. Um, the second thing that I wanted to mention is that I am wearing gray and so is Mr. Mark. We are wearing gray for May because one of our students who is now in sixth grade and our school nurse's
daughter um has been um going through a lot and we the Oakland Education Association, the teachers union, we have started a GoFundMe which has been wellreceived. It's it's really helping the family. And we also have two dine
and donates. Um the Oakland Manor on May 28th from 6:00 to 9 and Amato Brothers on June 21st. And I just want to make that more aware to the community um so that we can support this um family. Um I talked to Kaylee at the end of last year
when she was leaving OPS and I had mentioned to her, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" And she said, "A doctor." And I thought, and I'm a cynical person, but I thought, "Wow, she is going to do it because this kid is smart. She's kind. She's thoughtful. She's a wonderful kid." And this is
heartbreaking to me. So the most the more um that we can support the family um I'm just asking for more awareness to that. Thank you. >> And could we ask for any more from our teacher of the year? So, thank you, Miss Wool Slayer. We really love having you
on board. And yes, everything she said, please come out and support the Yodor family. It is gray in May. I see some people that might have worn it without even knowing it, but thank you. >> All right, moving on to our uh third presentation for tonight. I'll turn over
to uh Miss Coleman with uh the 2026 27 budget update. looking forward. >> I hope can everybody hear me? I hope the microphone's like far away. Uh I'm speaking for Dr. McDow uh tonight. Um he had another commitment, but we wanted to
make sure we did that. We did the presentation in Collinswood the uh the other evening. We wanted to make sure we did it in Oakland and we didn't delay. We always start every presentation um with our mission statement. And of course our core values being student success, equity and inclusion
and team and family. Um these are school performance our key highlights um ELA and math proficiency rates. Um um so our Oakland students demonstrated exceptional growth in the area of
science grade five NJSLA proficiency reaching a three three-year high and we did outperform the state average which is incredible news um and then in Oakland students outperformed the state um in grade four and in grade five for
ELA proficiency um and again with grade five reaching a three-year highland grade five students achieved a three-year high in math proficiency and we to and we very much surpassed the state average. So the state average is
44.2% Oakland 53.7%. So our kids are doing amazing. Some of our school district priorities now that the the budget has been settled or we're going we're ending one school year going into another administration. Um we're going to continue to improve
our alignment of the team to better support um the goals and the objectives of both the Collingswood and the Oakland school boards. We're going to continue to engage the community to address our infrastructure challenges. We're going to continue to identify strategies to
secure adequate school funding. Uh more to come on that a little later. um going to actively pursue additional re revenue streams to support um stu student learning initiatives. We're going to commit to supporting and retaining our dedicated FAC faculty and
staff, one of whom you just heard from. We're going to continue to access highquality early childhood education for our Oakland families, our preschool program. In the areas of curriculum and instruction, it's going to be phased implementation of our new ELA curriculum
aligned to the science of reading and we're replacing readers writers workshop model expanded NWA MAP universal screeners and we're going to include math in the LA continued focus on datadriven instruction aligned to our schoolwide goals implemented at
the grade and student level and we're going to strengthen inclusive practices through recommendations of the district's our joint district inclusion task force. So what does this mean for next school year? Obviously
we have realigned our organization chart in Collingswood to better align with the goals and objectives um with some we have less less administration. Um, we've moved some people around to better serve um, both districts mostly in the area of
the joint campus initiative. >> Yes, we have this attached to >> Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't realize it wasn't. >> Yeah, I just received it myself. Um, so coming in September, so given the fiscal environment obviously that we're all very much aware of, um, that we've
experienced over the last several years, we're trying to maximize our overall efficiency at the secondary campus while we're trying to ensure that we're providing students with an outstanding educational experience. So starting in September, we're seeking to engage the community. Well, we've
engaged the community in a process to merge the middle school and high school um into a single unified 6 through 12 campus model. The merger of the Collings with Middle School and High School um the merger aims to create a seamless academic and social experience for
students across all grade levels 6 through 12. is going to enhance our efficiency and staffing, space utilization at the secondary campus and service delivery, strengthen our vertical articulation and access to ex accelerated student
programming. We're going to reduce trans transitions and increase consistency in school culture and expectations between campuses. Respond proactively to our fi continuing I should say financial pressures and declining enrollment patterns.
So we've updated the or organization chart. So the chart has been updated um to include senior leadership team oversight of the secondary campus. The management and operations by grade
level 6 to 8, 9 to 12, 9 to 10, 11 to 12. So a director, principal, school climate officer and administrative assistant. restoration of a 6 to2 specialed supervisor position, restoration of a 6-12 athletic and activities director position and a 6
through 12 counseling services with wellness center supports. We are able to continue with the well wellness center supports. We were able to restore a school social worker position and that'll give our students consistent access to therapeutic
services. We're going to with our restorative code of conduct and our distraction free initiative, our phone phone free environment, cell phone free. And we're going to revise our activity free structure for participation in middle
school athletics and co-curriculars. The 2627 pro program of study has been updated. Um included in the updated program language will be course selection guidelines. Direct links within it that
replaces the table of table of contents. Grade level promotion credits. Literacy acceleration support. Math acceleration support. transitional math. A four-year plan is now updated to a seven-year plan and it's we've updated the grading scale
guidelines. New courses have been added for 2627. Those include civil engineering and architecture, AP language and composition, senior late entry, early release, introduction to orchestra,
strings orchestra, and additional option two opportunities. And with the dual credit chart, it has been updated. We they added French 3 to five and Spanish 3 to four and added tomorrow's teachers.
And the middle school elective offerings um course offerings have been added to the um program of study. And again um one of our supervisors at the high school put together besides in words now you've got flowcharts for the different pathways.
So this is the ELA pathway grades 8 through 12. This is the history humanities pathways 8 through 12. So it kind of gives you a starting point and then depending what classes you take it kind of you follow
your flow through your mathematics pathway grades 8 through 12. science pathways and CTE pathways 2627. We're committed to
continue to commit to inclusion. Our goal is to further integrate diver the diversity, equity, and inclusion concepts into district culture. Uh in phase one, Collingswood Middle School formed a multi disciplinary implementation team and
worked with the facilitator for from allin for inclusion. Um in phase two the allin for inclusion provided the middle school with tech support and schoolwide PD to help build an understanding and capacity to further support inclusive
environments at the middle school. So coming in September 2026, uh the board has been working on a policy for AI. So we recognize the use of AI and that it may result in increased and enhanced learning opportunities for students. The district also acknowledges
the importance of classroom educators fully participating in conversations around responsible, secure, ethical integration of new tools into the educational landscape. So both Collins and Oakland school districts, they have established a cross departmental team of
educators to develop a action plan for AI in our schools. So the AI task force aims to lead conversations and gather feedback from key stakeholders to identify opportunities for AI usage. We're going to review the current in
infrastructure and assess school readiness for each of our campuses and make recommendations to inform the development of new and existing board of ed policies aligned with AI. For the use of AI tools and strategies that support teaching and learning for the scope and
sequence of training needed to support AI literacy and for future investment in AI tools, platforms, training and infrastructure. Sorry. So, what are next steps? Um, on May 1st, I met with So, it was myself on behalf of Colleagueswood and Oakland
public schools, it was the board president, um, from Cherry Hill School District, superintendent of Eastern um, superintendent of Washington Township and the board president from Pitman with representatives of Luke Greenwald's office to discuss fair funding and the
effect it's having, the effect that the funding form is having on New Jersey school districts in South Jersey in particular. We ran the numbers and over 52% of the school districts that had state aid cut
all came from South Jersey. So we wanted to make our voices known. So some some of the topics and this is just not a complete list but the the major topics that we covered when we met with them is unfunded or underfunded
mandates. Um the issues that we have with the way the state distributes extraordinary state aid. Uh cost for multi-ingual learners. The everinccreasing cost for transportations transportation and
medical costs for our children that are in our schools that are not covered by Medicaid. The school funding reform act, we believe an overhaul to the new to that law is needed. Um the geographic cost adjustment um was a big issue and its
effect on South Jersey. So some of let me just give you a brief. So when they do the funding formula, let's say you have a factor of one. If you're a North Jersey, they might get a factor of 1.3. But South Jersey, we get less than one. So we might only get 97 cents on the state aid dollar because they consider
South they give South Jersey a discount in our state aid. Um the topic of regionalization was discussed at some length. Um we talked about costs and potential benefits but we wanted to talk about the real costs and the need for
consistency in the feasibility studies that are being done. We we offered to them that the state should have maybe one firm doing the feasibility studies instead of having grants given to the school district and then you pick who does it because the the the data that's
being collected and the reports are all completely different. Um we discussed pi pilot funding and the need for statewide change and how pilot funding is um is used and allocated or not allocated in some cases to school districts.
the increase in cost of health care um and the need for a massive reform in the area of healthcare. And then we talked about a fall campaign um once everybody's back in school in September to get a campaign going to start calling on lawmakers showing up in Trenton to
kind of you know get the momentum going so that after the governor completes her first full year um we can get some movement on getting a new funding formula. And then of course um community outreach
um and I'll make sure that this gets put on our website. We but we have links to your local um legislators um and letters for fair funding. We welcome all the help we can get to call our local lawmakers, send letters, just let them know how um the funding
form is affecting our schools. That's it. Any questions on behalf of I'll do my best to answer on behalf of Dr. >> Mau. >> Oh yeah, I'll make sure. >> Is the program a study on Collinswood's website? The new the updated one. >> Yeah.
>> Where and where do you know? >> Dana, do you know? >> Okay. and Beth for the um improvement in test scores and all for the different areas was that percentage increase or was that their to the total percentage that we
had >> total I think yeah I'm looking at the data table >> I think it's the total proficient versus state average >> and for some people it may seem low like oh 50 only 55% but that seems pretty common for districts that are a similar
demographic like Ottabon or Hatton Township Hatton Heights I had a couple questions I don't you know because we didn't have access to that document but if you don't have the answers to them now that's okay I would just request that we maybe get this information um in the next little bit um I see that you
know we've made this change to the consolidated um campus with the goal of reducing administration so I was curious about what our ratio of students to administration was and how it compares to again some of those similar districts like Ottabbon Haden Township um
and maybe Haden Heights. Um I was also curious about um over the past five years, how has that ratio changed? Um what is the savings we're yielding in terms of this consolidated campus? Um,
and what is that money being put toward? And I guess those are my three questions. >> Okay. I think it would be good because there was a lot of work put on into that and uh a lot of updates to get that kind of front facing on the site would be pretty
cool. >> I also do want to say that I really like the idea of the advocacy piece. I think that the um the document is very thorough. It addresses a lot of the key issues that we are facing that we just cannot fix ourselves. I know there was a lot of talk at the Collingswood um board
meeting about our need to, you know, they need they're considering an operations referendum trying to find new ways to bring money in, but that would just be a stop gap. Ultimately, we need to fix that funding formula. We're seeing it in the district that I work in as well. and there's only so much our
tax dollars can do at the end of the day um if the funding formula is broken. So, I think that's a a good path for us to take to go to the root root of the problem. I also know that health insurance costs as we talked about they're getting to the point of being what a starting teacher salary is.
>> Yeah. >> So, I feel like >> about a year and a half it'll be over 50,000. >> Yeah. So, I feel like you know people really need to understand that you know it's just that's how bad it is. that's how you know how how unwieldy that cost is and how little we were able to do to
fix that on our own in this within our district. So, thank you for the advocacy piece and I hope that we can encourage our community members to get involved. Um, I have a question about the org chart. That was hard to see, but um because I was here when we had um like
the town hall with the Oakland community um about the changes that would be happening in the per I mean I'll use all I feel like the titles are all changing, but the principal and vice principal of the middle school. Can someone walk us
through what is going to be happening? I'm looking at >> maybe a microphone. >> Good evening. The question is about the org chart and the impact with some of this changes in staffing. I think we're pulling the org chart back up.
just passed it. >> I know it's very >> I could blow it up everywhere. Yeah. And I'll make sure I'll get I'll get the presentation. I mean I'll mail out to everyone. >> And this org chart is actually the Oakland ORC chart, not the Collingswood
or chart. Um so we did reference the Collingswood uh organization chart in their presentation on Monday. Um from memory essentially we will have an administrator who is over grades 6 through eight, an administrator for
grades 9 and 10, and an administrator for grades 11 and 12. We will maintain for reporting purposes a middle school principal and a high school principal until we're able to understand the funding and whether or not um that would
cause any changes in particular with title one funding. So, we're still operating two school codes. Uh, the athletic director will service and um, athletic director and extracurricular activities will service grades 6 through
12. There will be a special education supervisor supervising grades 6 through 12. Um, they report to me. Um, I'm trying to remember who else is on the high school. Each of the
administrators will have one administrative assistant, a secretary if you will. Uh the school counseling office has one secretary. Um the school counseling office uh still has the same number of uh counselors, but we will
look at the configuration of how they service students. So they report to um Ken Halenback as the supervisor of counseling. So, we still have the same number there. Um, with changes that have happened recently, we were able to bring
back the school social worker. Initially, that is a position that was slated to unfortunately be reduced. Um, we experienced a don't recall there have been so many things that have happened. I don't know if we were a Oh, I do
recall um a change in our overall structure. So instead of back fill in one FTE um based on some of the needs we felt like the um emotional health and well-being of students if you will is an area to focus. So we do have the school
social worker still a part of the counseling team. Um trying to think if I've left anybody out on the Oakland junior senior high if you will or chart
>> special ed and the athletic director are those changes like did the the middle school used to have its own special ed supervisor and then now there's one that's just for 6 through 12 or >> there is a change we had one K through 12 so now we actually have two. Dr. The
White House will service grades um K through five. I don't know if it's preK through five actually now that I say that out loud. Maybe >> it might be Kish through five. Now um having Mr. Gersk support grades 6
through 12 is an additional support on the campus um identified to one person. So we broke that up into two roles instead of one. >> I have a quick question. Um, so you noted that there's three administrator
positions and you're going to maintain the middle school principal and also the high school principal. What do you envision the role for these three administrators? What's the difference between having um the middle school principal and the administrator role for
those three different cohorts of grades? >> Um, just the division of labor really. Um, they're all credentialed the same way, if you will. So having somebody dedicated to grades 9 through 10 and then a different person for grades 11 through 12. We're looking for more
support as our students transition into 9th grade instead of just having one person over those four grade levels. They're responsible for instruction for your evaluations, communication with families, um discipline,
the culture and climate aspects that a principal is responsible for. Um, what am I missing? There's so many things that a principal does, but what you generally have a principal do, they're still responsible for that. I mean, we do now have the support with somebody
being identified for special education >> and then somebody else for athletics. >> So, I I I understand the thought process about the special ed because that's so specialized and the needs. I'm I'm just curious. I'm still not clear about the difference between the administrators versus the principles. understand the
division of labor, >> but it seems it feels like an additional >> position. Am I wrong? >> They were already there. So, one person was um in charge of culture and climate and one person one per That's the So,
it's a change in his role but not a new position. >> Is it more of just a title change but keeping the same pay and >> Yeah. Yes. >> project. You know, the is not changing. It's just a re readjustment of the title. >> Correct. >> So my understanding right that we went
from a total of five kind of principal, assistant principal at between the middle school and the high school desk down to three. >> Correct. >> But you have these three administrators. >> Um are you saying that one of the three
administrators is going to be named principal of the high school and one principal of the middle school for title one funding? I'm I'm so confused. >> Yeah, >> I apologize. >> Sounds like five positions, correct? >> So, three administrators, one for the
middle school, one for 910, one for 112. Am I Am I understanding that correct? >> Three. Yes. >> And then you're going to have a separate principal from the middle school, and a separate principal. >> No, no, no. Those are those three. >> You're using administrator and principal interchangeably. >> Okay. Okay, that makes sense. So, you've gone from a five five total to three
>> to three. Okay, that makes more sense. Okay. I will I will say if you get a closer eye on the org chart it will make a lot more sense but unfortunately because yeah I mean I've seen it in detail and it makes it makes more sense if you could actually read it. So hopefully we can get that to everybody
>> this is Oakland's on the screen. No, nobody knew was hired. It was just re retitled. >> Correct. >> So, and no, there's no big like pay change for things. It's basically >> correct. >> Just so it's just reorganization of duties with a different title.
>> Correct. >> So, Mr. Gersich went from being a a principal to now a supervisor for special education. He was a vice principal. >> A vice principal to supervisor. Okay. >> One of the requests specifically has been for support in the special
education department. So we've um adjusted to meet that need that request. So as a principal of course you're you know you work with all students including special education but that will be his main focus.
And you don't have a director of special ed. That's just the two because like in the district I work in, we just have one director of special ed that does K through like pre-K through 12. It's a similar size district. I'm just have a little bit of question about why we need both, but
>> we have a director of special education that does the >> We used to have one at secondary and then it went away and we're put back. >> I mean, just at a time we're trying to be concerned about budget. I feel like I I just if looking at the callings would chart and again I need more time to fully understand it looks a little heavy
to me but um that's >> these are all current nobody's new >> right but I haven't this is my first the school remember the first time seeing it down one administrator so I'm just that's why I'm curious about our ratios and how they compare if they compare to other similar districts um fine but I'm just I would love to see those numbers
and then the the way they've changed in the past five years just just for my edification All right. Any other questions from the board? All right. Uh we're going to uh move on to uh item four, committee the whole. Do
we have a motion to go into committee of the whole? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. All in favor? Motion passes. We are now in committee of the whole. Uh just a couple quick updates on my end that I want to share
with the community. Um this past weekend we had our centennial celebration for our schools. Wonderful event. Just wanted to thank the PTO for everything they did to help put that together and Miss Balden and her team as well for making it uh such a blast for
the community and for our kids. Um also uh we had our community roundt on Monday night uh focused on curriculum and instruction. Uh good time was had by all. We uh had a small group but a fun group. Um
so uh we'll you know definitely continue with those next year. Um, and the other question I wanted to pose to the board was just to get an update on the uh change to committees being remote. Um, how everybody's feeling about that and
get being able to get into the Google Meets. Uh, seemed to was a little smoother this past month. Um, and uh, you know, if that's something we want to continue with. So, if anybody has any thoughts on that, please share. >> I'm in favor of keeping it the way it is
with the remote. I think it was just some confusion because there was multiple links that went around. And I think now that one standard link went out, if everybody just keeps that one message and knows that that's the link, I think we will not have the same problems because I think it was less of a technical issue, more of a just was
confusing because there was multiple ones. I know I for some reason my message for one month went missing. I don't know why, but I couldn't even find it in the delete. So, I think that having if everybody just saves the message that Fred sent and keeps that one, you know, pin it or do something,
um, I think we should have no problems. >> I second that and all like that was the main thing was just a little confusion with the link, you know, which link, but after that it was smooth. No problems. I >> I beg that we have it remote.
Um, all right. Any uh uh board topics that anybody wanted to bring up for committee the whole? >> I just wanted to um second what you just said um regarding the 100 uh centennial. It was awesome. So, um I just say again
kudos to Miss Balden, to the PTA. Um it was adorable. I mean, I felt very passionate about a school I didn't attend. I mean, my children went here, but um my husband and I commented that we're like, "Wow, we love this like way more than where where we went to school." So, you guys did a really
really nice job. So, thank you. >> I agree with that. As somebody who went to school here, it was fun to see all the uh older stuff from a long time ago. >> Yeah, I just happened to sneak I snuck in at the end to help with some clean
up, but like just the tremendous effort and all the time you guys put in phenomenal. like we're, you know, really went above and beyond. So, thank you. >> Yeah, the foam foam party was >> the foam party was very popular. I'll
just say that. Very cool. >> It's very nice. And I actually posted about it and so did some other of my classmates on Facebook and uh other people who were not here or not local were like, "Oh, I wish I'd known. Maybe I would have tried to get out there because they just weren't local to it to
it." But uh it was very interesting to see and it was it was as much as I'm in the building now, it was still fun to go back through and remember each teacher in each classroom and how different the classrooms are now and even see pictures of like my uncle and my dad who went
here way even further behind me. So that was pretty cool. So >> um we have a motion to close committee the whole motion and second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> All right. We are now out of committee
of the whole. Um just some future dates uh to share with the community. Um tomorrow May 22nd an early dismissal. Um, and then Monday, of course, will close for Memorial Day. Uh, the 27th of May will be our OPS Arts, Music
Festival, and Bookf Fair. May 28th, we have our third grade class trip, and the 29th will be field day. Um, rain date for that will be June 4th. Hopefully, we'll be done with the rain after this weekend for a little while.
Um, in June, we have our fifth grade class trip on June 3rd. June 4th, as I said, was the rain date for field day. Um June 5th we have donuts with dad. Um and our blue and gold night. June 10th is uh school culture and climate
committee meeting in the library and our fifth grade school safety party. June 12th uh is a faculty meeting and move up day for grades uh prek to 4. and June 15th through June uh 22nd are early
dismissal days for students. Um 22nd early dismissal for students and staff. Um, and our promotion ceremony dates, we have June 16th at 11:00 a.m. for preschool, June 17th at 11:00 a.m. for kindergarten and uh June 18th at 10:30
a.m. for uh fifth grade, and then Collingswood High School graduation will be that evening at 6:30 p.m. Moving on to item six, uh, routine board business. We're looking for approval of our uh minutes from uh the April 30th,
2026 meeting. Do we have a motion? >> So move >> and second. >> Seconded. >> Um All right. All in favor? >> All right. Motion passes. Uh moving on to item seven. This is our first public
comment uh section of the evening. Um, committee members are reminded to stand, state your name and address, and keep comments to five minutes or less. Uh, the purpose for this public comment section is to discuss items listed specifically on the agenda. Additional
more general comments may be made uh during the second public comment section. Uh, public is reminded uh that attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go through the appropriate staff members or administrators. Any public comment out there? Hearing
none, we'll move on to the superintendent report. Ready? >> All right. Very quickly, I'm just presenting for Dr. McDow. Item 8.01 is uh your enrollments. So, uh April of 2026, 274
children on roll and April 2025 is 272. So, up about two children from this time last year. 8.02 2 is your school safety report. Um your your drill report and then there's no suspension report and no anti-bullying report this month. And
with You want me to keep going from into my report? >> Yeah. >> Uh going into section 9, um the business administrator's report. 9.01 is a listing of your April 2026 budget transfers. 9.02
2 is your April 2026 board secretary treasurer's report, cash flow analyses, um, and all the backup related documentation. 9.03 is a listing of the purchase orders had that have been issued during the month of May. 9.04 is the listing of the
warrants um that will be paid tomorrow morning pending approval this evening. Do you want me to go right into finance? >> Let's do it. >> Okay, I'm just on a roll. So, items 10.01 01 through 10.06 are all those items that I just mentioned and we have
a few items for approval tonight. 10.07 is the tax remittance schedule um that will be sent to um the bureau once we approve it this evening. 10.08 is a resolution I know I I kind of mentioned it a little bit in the presentation. It's a resolution that we received from
New Jersey School Boards Association. I think believe went to every school district in the state of New Jersey. um they would like support in trying to get attention to the rising cost of health care. So, they want us to pass these resolutions and send it to our local lawmakers in the governor's office. Um
the the the full language is included in the agenda. 10.09 is a 2025 2026 a listing of all the district all the out of district placements. 10.10 10 um is approval of interlocal
shared services agreement with the bureau. Um they maintain the grounds um you know they cut the grass and they they maintain our grounds for $13,000 a year. 10.11 is um just approving the continuation of services um provided by
Camdi County Educational Services, most notably um our special ed transportation and our vacational transportation. Item 10.12, 10.12 is um an addendum with our agreement with ESS support services for our instructional assistance and our
substitute teachers. Um and the attached um addendum and rates, they're attached to the board agenda. 10.13 is approving a contract with Laurel Therapy to provide occupational therapy services to the school district
for next school year at the rate of $83 per hour. an RFP was issued um and Laurel Therapy won um won the work and um the item is attached to the agenda. 10.14 is approving Virtual Health to
provide physical therapy services next school year at the cost of $85 an hour. 10.15 is approving South Jersey Behavior Services LLC to provide behavioral consultation services to the school district next school year at the rate of
$105 an hour for BCBA services or $60 an hour for behavioral therapy services. And then the final item is um approving uh healthy kids the facilities request form and um order to use Oakland school gymnasium cafeteria and art room from
June 29th through August 30 August 21st um for the healthy kids summer program. Um and that is it. So need approval of items 10.01 through 10.17. >> So moved.
Second >> you were everybody is these days at this moment. >> Okay. >> Moved and seconded. Uh any comments or questions from the board? >> I just wanted to comment that I don't know how many years the Oakland Public
Services has stayed exactly the same and I see them out there all the time. So just like huge kudos and thank you. All right. Uh, vote on a roll call. >> Miss Downham. >> Yes. >> Mr. Dy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Falel,
>> yes. >> Mr. Gther, >> yes. >> Mrs. Love, >> yes. >> Mrs. Marian, >> yes. >> Mr. McMillan, >> yes. >> Mr. Tabby, >> yes. Motion passes. Uh, moving on to item 11. It's our
curriculum and personnel committee. Uh, I can run through these since Mr. Demarco is not here tonight. Um, item 11.01 uh is field trips. We don't have any at this time. Um,
item 11.2 is normally uh teacher uh student teacher placements, which we don't have any. Um, item uh 11.3 is substitute and tutors.
11.4 is uh travel expense report. 11.5 is approval of the um tuition reimbursement uh for uh staff. Item 11.6
is uh revise paid leave of absence. 11.7 is the approval of the 2026 um extended year summer program um and corresponding staff. Um 11.08 is uh
approval of uh general and special education staff to attend IEP IEP meetings as needed um during the summer months. 11.09 09 um is approval of the uh CST, child study team and related
services staff um on an as needed basis uh for summer work as well. Um 11.10 is approval uh for contract of staff as needed to complete summer uh initial vow
plan meetings. 10.11 is uh similar uh summer approval for um psychology assessments. 11.12 is approval for um summer AED
training. And that concludes our uh committee and personnel uh curriculum and personnel. Um we are looking for approval of items 11.01 1 through 1112.
Do we have a motion? So, and second move and seconded. Um, any comments or questions? Um, just one on my end. Um, uh, included with this, uh,
report was the inclusion task force report that that was completed. Um, There's a couple items I wanted to circle back to. Um, uh, as the inclusion of or the inclusion
of an inclusion teacher, that's tricky, uh, was originally part of the conversations we had when we, uh, voted for the, uh, tax levy adjustment in the spring. Um, and budget being what it is, um, I think has played an impact on
that. So, um, just want to keep this on the radar for us as a board, um, so we can support Mrs. Balden, the staff and students here in Oakland, um, from the special education front. Most of what I've had the opportunity to, uh,
experience, um, and even going through the task force report is, um, uh, you know, focus a little more on Congress with Middle School and High School um, uh, the CPAC committee. um there. Um so I'd like to kind of keep that as part of
the conversation during our uh curriculum and personnel meeting so that we can kind of keep Oakland's voice present um in that process. All right. Um on a roll call. >> Miss Downham. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Dy. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Fel. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gunther. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Love. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Marmian. >> Yes. >> Mr. McMillan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Taby.
>> Yes. Motion passes. All right. Moving on to school community relations and policy. Mrs. Marian. >> Good evening. Item 12.01 is the report from the Collingswood Board of Education. Mr. McMillan. >> Good evening. Um on May 18th, this past
Monday, we had uh our meeting. Um they did a presentation on teacher of the year awards. Uh, the elementary teacher of the year was Kelly Curley. Middle school was Laura Jillian. High school was Heather Brown. Elementary assistant was Stacy Jackson. Secondary assistant
was uh or middle school assistant was Rob Thompson. And then uh district support staff member for buildings and grounds was uh Spencer Tussy. Um there was also someone had mentioned um uh it sounds like we had entered into the
governor's uh for the teacher awards here. >> We always have our teacher leader apply for the governor's educator award. >> Yeah. Yeah. That's great. They they didn't do that in Collinswood, but someone recommended that they do that for uh both county and governors. So
that's great. Um, we also had a post-secary plans, counseling and program of study update. Um, we talked about the program of study up here, but uh, it was more about the counseling and, uh, post-secondary plans for college and tuitions and stuff. Um,
2026 27 budget update, similar to what we looked at today. Um, we did a there was a visual and performance performance arts award coming on May 19th or past May 19th. Um, today I believe there's a
scholarship award. Um, Paul's TV in uh was nominated for seven of their small films and got Emmys for four of them, which is wild. It's great. Yeah. Um, and they were all done by sophomores, which was like an unheard of apparently. Um,
uh, there's some little bit issues in, uh, the TV studios. Some some equipment needs to be updated. Um, there's a German exchange trip coming up pretty soon. Um, the spring sports are coming to a close. Uh, boys tennis is up 15 to three. I I have no idea what that means
because I'm not a sports person at all, but uh, that sounds great. >> Um, and uh, yeah, that was uh, that was about it. Did they mention the girls softball team, the varsity team? >> Just a shout out, there's quite a few
Oakland girls on that team. >> So, there there's uh Patriot division champions going to playoffs starting next week. >> That's awesome. >> Thank you. >> Jimmy, could you could you explain
there's definitely seem to be some division amongst the board on a vote. Are you able to explain the nature of that a little more? >> Um, yeah. There was just uh yeah I guess there there was Did find your phone?
Um yeah there was a vote at the end. Um there was an absent member so it was a uh it was an even five and five uh split tie. Um we had to have a discussion and uh and it ended up not splitting. So it was about uh the salaries salary increases.
>> Salary increases for whom again? >> I don't have the documentation in front of me of everyone. Okay. Item 12.02 is a PTA less on report. Mr. Dy. >> So, basically the PTA meeting for this month was postponed. Um, but uh the PTA
helped with the um I wasn't there but you know with the um >> the centennial. Thank you. You'd think I'd know the word and all considering I have a history background, but uh you know, just a thank you to the PTA for
all their work with that. And uh hopefully we'll get the meeting rescheduled and can't wait to see what else they have planned and all over the summer months in the beginning of next school year. And they also did an awesome job with teacher appreciation, teacher and staff appreciation week and and um I missed it
but muffins with mom or for mom and I forget what it is but my my little one wasn't feeling well. So and donuts for dad is coming up. Always always need volunteers. So >> this is my first year. I'm not gonna have donuts with dad. I'm very sad.
>> I I'll give you a donut, Jimmy. >> All right. 12.03 is the OMEAC report. Mr. Um I spoke with Adam earlier. He wanted me to mention uh scholarship for 2026 is going to uh John and Trilly. Um OMAC is
co-sponsoring project graduation and then we have end of year DARE trip coming up soon. So >> that's always popular. Thank you. Item 12.04 is the Oakland Education Foundation report. Mrs. Love. >> Um Oakland Education Foundation. I'm not
sure if this was mentioned last month. Made a donation to the school for um to help out with the centennial uh celebration. Um I'll have to check with Adam also. We're coming up on scholarship time. So that will be awarded. We could probably report out on that next month.
>> Oh, it's tonight. My bad. >> Going on right now. >> Should be done. >> Okay. Too many good things. Too many good things happen. They call it Mayber, right? >> Um item 12.05 5 our HIV reports. Do we
usually have this on here? >> Yeah, there's nothing >> where it is. There's nothing there. But um 12.06 are policies for first reading. So um there is just one and it's policy 2365 acceptable use of generative
artificial intelligence. Um item 12.07 are policies for a second reading. So there are five of those. 2430 co-curricular activities 5200 attendance which is a revision 4352
sexual harassment support staff which is an abolishment 3362 sexual harassment certified staff also an abolishment and 2530 resource materials which is a revision um and there are no regulations um to
review. So we are seeking approval for items uh 12.05 5 kind of and 12 through 12.07. >> All right. Um, do we have a motion? >> Motion >> and second. Second.
Any comments or questions. All right. On a roll call. >> Ms. Downham. >> Yes. >> Mr. Dy. >> I. >> Mrs. Fel. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gther. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Love. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Marian. >> Yes. >> Mr. McMillan.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Tabby. >> Yes. Motion passes. Uh, no miscellaneous information at this time. Uh, we're going to move on to item 14, which is our second uh public
comment section of the night. Um, this portion is for uh any comments for the board. Um, committee members are reminded to please stand, state your name and address, and keep comments to five minutes or less. Uh the public is reminded that attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go
through the appropriate staff members or administrators. Any public comments? >> Hello, my name is Danielle Lang. Can you hear me? I don't think this is on. >> Can we turn this on?
>> Hello. >> Hello. Uh, my name is Danielle Lang. I live at 103 East Bedwood Avenue. Um, I just want to start by saying I find it kind of interesting that your report back to the community from the board meeting left
out that our superintendent, Dr. McDowell, received a vote of no confidence from the CEA and that this is his second vote of no confidence in his career. And I think that that's really worth noting to our community and it's
not all the wonderful things that we see that are going on at the district. I think that this is a really important thing that needs to be noted for the record. So I just find it interesting why that wasn't reported. Um so I'd just like to introduce myself just to give you a little bit of background. I am an Oakland resident.
I'm a parent to two children here at the Oakland school. I am also a former educator of 14 years. I spent three years teaching kindergarten through 8th grade at Berlin Township and then I spent 11 years at Collinswood High
School. I coached basketball at the middle school and high school level. I volunteered as a mentor to many students and I taught multiple levels of fine art classes which many of the programs I built from the ground up that were later dismantled after I left.
I could talk about my experience as an educator at Collinswood for hours, especially what it was like once we experienced the change in leadership. I resigned in 2023 and I'm very sad to say that it was the best decision I could
have ever made for myself and my family. I loved Collinswood. Co-workers became my family. Tradition was rich there and it was deep. But that's gone now. And sadly to say that it's probably never going back because of how many staff members decided to
walk away just like I did. I'm coming to you as an informed resident, one whose life was directly impacted by this district. And I want to say that I love Oakland. I love walking my kids to school through our little downtown. And most of all, I love the
teachers and staff here. I stand here because it is your responsibility and our responsibility to support them. Without naming names, it was reported that teachers request for a salary increase recently was quote laughable. The salary guide is
appalling. Here's a fact. If compensation in Oakland is not competitive, the district will lose strong teachers, as it did in Collingswood to those in the surrounding community. Administrative compensation seems to be
rising much faster than our teachers. Look at the last cause board meeting. I saw an astonishing document that featured multiple raises and siphons of administrative positions. My son's teacher, who is one of the best teachers I've ever witnessed in my career as a
fellow teacher, makes $57,000 a year and has been here for eight years. She cares for those kids like they're her own, taught them to write their names. The growth in fine and gross motor skills is above and beyond. She sends me photos all day of what they're doing, is
responsive immediately, day or night, is creative with her lessons, and my kids look to her like she's a member of our family. And this is just one person. Our school is filled with this. As the board, it is your duty to support these superheroes that take care of our
children in so many ways. At the beginning of this school year, teachers get a little folder. And in that folder, there's a piece of paper. And on that piece of paper, it has all of your names on it. And it says that you can observe them at any time. In my 11 years that I was at the high school, guess how many
board members came to visit me? One. And I can remember that day like it was yesterday because I was shocked that someone wanted to come into my room and and was actually interested to see what I built and I was so proud to show it off. So if you cannot give them a raise
in their salary, please make an effort to show how much you care and appreciate them by walking into their classroom and saying, "Tell us about what you have going on in here. How can we support you?" There's too much of a divide between the
board and what the teachers are asking for. And it is your job to support them and to do what is best for Oakland. Oak Oakland first. And a lot of the problems that we're hearing that are coming from high the high school and middle school
are having a direct impact here because I will tell you what we're talking about at playdates and on the sidelines and it is what are you going to do for sixth grade? because I'm telling you right now, we're all saying we're not going there. And if you think having a
connected campus, sixth grade through 12th grade, is a good idea, buckle up. You have no idea what that's about to become. Because I can tell you from personal experience what it was like even just having kids join together in
the library at the same time. You want to open up a campus, wait and see what happens. And guess what? A lot of the old guard is gone now. They're not there to help run the building. Okay. So, let's let's start thinking about how
Kingswood is impacting Oakland. Oakland first. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other public comments? >> How you doing? Uh Carl Rang 103 Eastwood Avenue. Um, I uh I also worked at the
high school for 24 years. Um, I spent my whole adult life there. Um, I think what is going on in there, we we have to realize that we are a different town. We are Oakland. We we, you know, we we look at things a little bit differently and I think it is in our
best interest to look what is best for Oakland. And as said previously, people are on the sidelines on the streets dropping their kids off making these comments. I think it's it's you know, you guys as elected officials, it's your
it's your duty to find out what's best for Oakland. And I think at this time, it would behoove us if I make a a formal request that we see what a send receive would
look like with had Township. I think we should end we should we should see what that would do. See what that would what that looks like for us and end our contract with Collinswood in the process. I think our duty as Oakland residents, as the board, I think we need
to look at all avenues, see what the cost factor would be, see what what that brings to our town. But I would like to make that formal request now. And uh thank you for your time. Thank you. Any other public comments?
All right, hearing none. Uh we close the public comment section. Moving on to item 15.journment. Do we have a motion? So moved >> and second. >> Second. >> All in favor?
>> All right. Motion passes. Have a great night, everyone.