Notice of this meeting has been provided. Schedule of regular meetings of the board of education was adopted at the reorg meeting on January 7th, 2025. Schedule and notice of said meetings have been posted. Uh all the foregoing has been done uh within the time required by law in accordance with the
open public meetings act. Um Miss Coleman take attendance. >> Mr. DeMarco >> here. >> Mrs. Fal >> here. >> Mrs. Love >> here. Mrs. Marian here. Mr. Mr. McMillan >> here. >> Mrs. Ratando
>> here. Mr. Schaefer >> here. >> Mr. Staltz >> here. >> Mr. Taby >> 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. All right, no executive session today. So, we're going to move on to our presentations starting with our Hawk Heroes and Mrs. Balden.
>> Every time. Okay. So, when I call your name, we're going to line up in a line here and then I'm going to read something that your teachers wrote about you and hand you your certificate. So, good evening everyone. I'm Miss Balden and I am presenting the Hulk Hero Awards tonight
for our December Hulk Heroes and they were nominated based on being very welcoming students. At OPS, we define welcoming meaning friendly, inclusive, and accepting of others. Students who are welcoming work hard to help everyone
feel included. They are positive, friendly, interested in others, and accepting of people of all backgrounds. So, let's see. Our first Hawk hero for December, Julia Dagger, your certificate. You're gonna stay
right here. You're gonna stay right there. Our first grade, Scout Becker. Congratulations. Second grade, Lily Ryan. I don't think Lily's here tonight. We'll
get her in school tomorrow morning. Marky Ro. BENJAMIN SUE, our fourth grader stand right next to Marky. Congratulations. And last but not least, our fifth grader this year, Katherine Mercer.
Okay, I'm going to start down here and read a little something about each student that our teachers wrote to nominate them as welcoming students. So, first, Julia Dagger, and this is from Miss Koshi. Julia has
the kindest heart and never hesitates to make sure everyone is okay. If a friend is sad, she's always the first to ask, "What happened?" and tries to help make it right. Julia makes our classroom bright and cheerful with her smile and laugh. She is positive, loving, and truly accepting of everyone around her.
I'm proud to be her teacher, Miss Koshi. Scout Becker. Scout never hesitates to include everyone. She is always inviting youth to play with her at recess. And if someone is feeling left out, she's the first one to say, "Come play with me." She welcomed our new student with open
arms and made sure she always felt welcome. Scout is an extremely kind and caring young lady who demonstrates inclusivity daily. Mrs. G. Marky Marky is a welcoming and inclusive
classmate who makes everyone feel valued. He goes out of his way to welcome his peers. He encourages teamwork and ensures nobody ever feels left out. His positive presence strengthens our ops community every day.
We are so proud of him. Mrs. MOROCCO, you can stand up here, Marky. Ben Suri. Ben is a true welcoming Hawk hero. He consistently offers a warm, friendly smile to classmates who need a partner and is always willing to work with anyone in the room. When a new
student joined our school, Ben went out of his way to make him feel included and his kindness quickly blossomed into a wonderful friendship. Mrs. GINO and Catherine. Catherine is a welcoming and inclusive Hawk hero. She spreads
positivity to others around her and make sure that people feel encouraged. Her warm smiles, her hugs, and personalized artwork make people feel special and included. Mrs. HART. And I'm going to read Lily. She deserves
a recognition. We'll get her tomorrow. Uh Lily Ryan is a wonderful example of welcoming in second grade. She comes to school each morning with a smile on her face and says good morning to our classmates and teachers. She always makes sure to include others in games and class discussions. Her positive
attitude and the way she cares for others makes our classroom happier. Mrs. McMillan, congratulations, Lily, if you're watching. Okay, guys, do me a favor. Flip around and let the board see with those wonderful awards.
There you go. There's a picture. We've taken a lot of those this month. They're posted everywhere. Congratulations once again for December. Thank you, families. And thank you guys for coming out on this super cold night. Go home and get to bed because I want to see you tomorrow.
>> That's really nice. You hang on to that though. You got to look at the mom. >> You put it on the wall. >> See if I can get this started. >> All right. Thank you, Mrs. Balden. Um before everybody runs out, I wanted to on behalf of the board honor some of our outgoing board members um and thank them
for their service. Um so if we can have uh Mrs. Ratundo, Mr. Schaefer, and Mr. Stouts stand up, President picture. >> Yeah, let's get a picture. >> Let's see if Can we move this?
>> I'm hiding behind. >> I hide my head behind the circle. >> It's a trap. I think it like was like that every single person calls. >> Thank you.
>> Does yours say more than two years of service? >> YEAH. >> IT IS MORE THAN TWO. >> His was hard to figure out, so I said put more. >> One year is just a piece of paper. >> How many you got? >> Well, that's right. >> That's always in dispute. >> Wow. Oh, look at that.
>> Are you impressed? >> Yeah, that's pretty. Yeah, I'm When I get mine, I'm going to ext. >> Congratulations, buddy. >> See you later. >> All right. >> All right. We're going to move on to item four, which is committee of the
whole. Uh, do we have a motion? >> So moved. Second. moved and second. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion passes. Um any uh board topics for committee the whole today? I
had a couple uh updates I wanted to share. Um uh first uh and foremost we had our community round table. Our first one uh as a board um last month. It was fantastic. Um had uh five community
members come out. So, it was a nice little group. Um, our focus for that round table uh was uh finance, school finance and budgeting. So, uh Mrs. Coleman was in attendance as well uh to to kind of do a Q&A. Um as well as
members of our finance committee, Theres and and Kim, I don't know if you want to chime in at all. Um really was just such a rewarding evening. Um small group like I said, but really great conversation. Um Dr. McDow mentioned this a little bit
earlier, but uh stay tuned uh for our winter retreat. We'll be looking at some dates for that come January. Um, and I think Oh, and for our returning board members, what I would like to do next month when we do our reorg since
it's such such a short meeting, uh, if we could do like a group group picture of the of the board that we can put on the website, that would be nice. So, we can we can put some faces to names. So, uh, we can talk about that for January. Um, any other board topics? Trace, did you
want to talk about the uh transportation? >> Yeah. Um, I just wanted to mention I'm a subscriber to NJPEN and I saw a recent article that was posted on social media um about transportation and
students from Oakland and Woodland in particular. It was it was calling out, you know, that they go a great distance um to school. And um Dr. McDow was quoted and I thought it was just interest. I kind of want to hear from you your take on how you're addressing
transportation for our students on the secondary campus at Collingswood. >> So, so thank you. Um, good evening everyone. So the topic we've uh been organizing our MTSS team
to look at a multitude of data data points. Um the middle school and the high school. One of their core key performance indicators is uh chronic absenteeism and tardiness. And so we started looking what were some of the contributing factors that were leading
to um students either not coming to school or students being late missing um a pretty substantial uh part of the first period throughout the day. And so after they crunched the numbers they did
the uh cross analysis of where uh students were coming from. Um it was determined that there was a direct correlation between the distance that students travel um and and and the the tardiness. And so uh we identified um
over a 100 students. Uh at the high school campus um it does not seem to be the same issue at the middle school. Uh we have a higher percentage of u students being driven uh at middle school. Uh but at the high school level, it disproportionately affected um
students in Oakland uh as well as students in Woodland who had a a much longer uh commute um and in some cases uh double uh to the to the average student. And so the challenge that we have is that in both uh Collinswood,
Oakland, and Woodland, we are all walking districts. uh state statute um determines that students within 2.5 miles of their uh school uh it is walkable. That does not mean that it is
equitable or convenient. Um and so we're currently looking at what are ways that we can address um easing that burden um for some students. Some of the things that we're looking at are uh biking initiatives. Uh we're also looking at um
philanthropic uh support for the most impacted students. But in the direct immediate, we're looking at an easement in starting in January um of specific students that are disproportionately affected based on pure distance um grace
period as it relates with being marked tardy. Uh and in many cases tardy tardiness translating into absences um as they begin to accumulate. And so what we don't want is we don't want students to be um punished because they just
happen to live two miles away versus two blocks. Um and so we're currently looking at all of the ways uh we're taking direct uh student feedback. And so the high school has been um uh participating in student focus groups, specifically students that are uh
negatively impacted. And we're trying to see what would be most helpful because we want to make sure that we get it right. We don't want to recommend solutions that don't help us reduce the the problem. Um in terms of uh physical transportation, that's a more
complicated um item. Uh we're working through um our our currently our legal options about what uh could be considered. Um busing, courtesy busing is is not is not part of the consideration. Um but looking at other
uh transportation alternatives or things that we're currently exploring questions about >> yeah just just to follow up for a point of clarification if if busing were to be offered for some busing then has to be offered to all correct so that would be >> that is correct
>> financially quite an obstacle >> 5 to7 million a year >> they're not el so I I mean along those lines cuz that I' I've seen the posts and they generated a lot of buzz as I understand that a topic like this would but I think back to the beginning of the
year when we were faced with the decision do we want to cut instructional materials? Do we want to cut our uh labor force? What do we want to cut? And going in the next year I hope it's a sunnier uh position in terms of the
finances. But if we were to spend this money that we don't have, but if we were to find it between the couch cushions, the next time that comes up, it is like what could we cut? Is it then that and then did we implement it just to cut it? I don't I don't want people to adjust
their lifestyle, adjust everything, get used to having this, which I'm I'm sure would be nice, but to me, if we're ever faced with that decision again, like what can we get where can we trim the fat? That has to be it, right? So, I
would I would hate to see it go I don't again, I don't think know that it would even be feasible. But in imagining a world that it even was, I can't see it being sustainable. But that's just, you know, that's just my opinion >> in this financial environment. It's not it's not realistic. It's not feasible,
nor is it sustainable. Um neighboring districts that at one time um and I'm going to say pre- pandemic offered courtesy busing. Many of those districts have scaled back and removed courtesy busing. Um financially the resources are
just not there. Um in terms of um uh budget and planning, the Oakland budget is pretty lean. um we have been uh very good stewards of really tight resources and so there is no fat to be trimmed um
and so I think that it's a complicated issue um and it's and and this is not an excuse but it's been a challenge within our communities for three decades and so it's not it's not a new problem um it's
just it is uh impacting students to a greater degree now uh than in years past. And so we're we're just trying to be mindful um and we're looking at all available options uh to be able to ease
that burden that impacts um an a not an inconsequential number of kids. Um if one child is negatively impacted, we want to pay attention. But when we've got over a hundred children that are impacted negatively, that's something that we've really got to we we have to
act on. Uh, and so we're we're taking a more aggressive posture this year. >> Fred, I I hear what you're saying, but uh the Oakland kids have been walking to Collinswood High School for 99 years. Uh, and it it just doesn't seem that all
of a sudden it's it's a problem now. Uh, is there anything else in there that that's changed that's uh creating part of the problem as well? >> Kids are very different now than they were 99 years ago. Um but I think at the end of the day uh what we some of the
other pieces that we directly see is we see um uh commute is directly related to student participation in after school activities uh including sports extracurricular um and also during inclement weather
days um it increases the likelihood of students not coming to school at all. And so, um, we're not saying that there are any easy answers, but when our students are coming to us asking for us to at least think about pro providing additional solutions or opportunities to
address some of their needs, we've got to we've got to pay attention to that. >> I'm not a terribly sympathetic ear to this, but uh that's it's good because it's my last meeting, so you you won't have to listen to this uh in the future. But, as I say, 99 years they've been
doing this. There have been uh athletes from Oakland uh that have played or been athletes from Woodland that have played in college with sports and now all of a sudden it's a problem. >> As a mom, can I jump in here? Sure. 99 years ago, >> there was usually not a two working
parent home and now that's the majority in this community and communities across the country. >> And that how does that impact it? >> There there's not a parent to drive them to school. Some of our kids are also
could be caregivers to younger siblings. >> And so, uh, when you have two parents that are working, as most households do, >> um, the the the demands and the responsibility specifically of some of our older students is is is greater. And
so, they not only have to get themselves to school, but they also have to get younger siblings to school as well. That also has an impact. And so, we're looking at this not on a just a blanket approach. which we're looking at on a case- by case basis based on direct feedback that's coming from our
students. And so, um, it is very feasible that, you know, as a student, you've got, you know, a 2 and a half mile commute on a day like this is miserable, um, for a young person. And the fact that our kids are getting to school, um, and asking for us to look at
ways to ease some of that burden, I think it's incumbent that we do so. And so, um, the team is working, uh, and we're going to look at all available options to be able to support the specific students that are negatively impacted. I just have one more question about what I read in the article and
Bill actually you were a proponent for this. You had mentioned the safe safer routes to school and I recall us talking about how I'm sure 99 years ago they didn't have a a crossing guard or or they didn't have crosswalks that you were asking for on the White Horse Pike.
>> They did have >> I'd love to know I'd I'd love to know what the update is on the safer routes plan. Um before you answer that, if I could jump in. So, you know, I've been doing the trying to do a bike bus from Oakland
um with the safer routes. Uh myself and a few teachers in Collinswood uh that I know would would be more than happy to help plan routes. Um there's apps like Strava and other other apps that you that bikers use that u make heat maps
which shows the safer routes to get places. Um so, I'd be I'd be more than happy to help out with that. But back to your question, what is there anything going on with the safer routes? >> There's no updates at the moment. And so um the team is working with the Camden
County Transportation Management Association who leads the safe routes to school work um to to address this. >> Yeah. You know, one point of note as well, uh, as as we're rolling into budget season, um,
school districts currently are capped at 2% uh, each budget cycle. Um, the state does as part of the state regulations. Uh, transportation is not. So, that also adds to the burden as well. Um, you
know, year year by year. So, just something as we're working with the New Jersey Fair funding initiative and and continuing these conversations. I think that's an important thing to to note. I have one more thing to bring up if that's okay. Um, earlier this month, or
maybe it was in November, there was a bill uh that put in draft for mandate mergers for merging schools that are under 500 students with other districts within the uh the region. um that's been drafted and you know it's obviously a draft so we're a year plus
out before we know what what's going to happen with it but maybe it's a conversation that we could start bringing up and uh and talking about throughout the throughout the upcoming year. I don't think there's anything really to go over right now about it but just put it in the back of our head. >> All right. Any other topics for
committee the whole? All right. Hearing none. Um motion to close committee the whole. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and second. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion passes.
All right. Moving on to routine board business. Um item 6.01 is approval of the minutes. Oh yeah, missed it. Missed item five, uh, miscellaneous future dates. Uh, December 23rd, uh, will be an early dismissal day for winter break. Um, and
schools will be closed up through January 5th. Um, January 6th, um, for everyone who's returning will be our board reorganization meeting at 6:30 p.m. Um, and then, uh, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is January 19th. schools
will be closed and uh that January 6th reorgates in addition to our regular monthly board meeting uh which that date will be determined once we do reorg. Uh moving on to routine board business. Uh do we have a motion to approve our minutes from the November 18th meeting?
>> So moved. >> All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion passes. All right, moving on to item seven is our first public comment section of the evening. Um, all committee members uh
are reminded to please stand, state your name and address, keep comments to 5 minutes or less. The purpose of this section is to discuss items listed on the agenda. Additional more general comments uh can be made in the second uh public comment portion later on in the meeting. Uh public's reminded that
attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go through appropriate staff members and administrators. Do you have any public comment for tonight on agenda items? Hearing none, we'll move on to item eight, the superintendent report.
Okay. Um section 8.01 is the enrollment report. Um, November 2024, enrollment number was 273. Uh, November 2025 is 271. That is attached. Uh, 8.02, three, and four are the safety
drill, suspension, and anti-bullying report. Um, and would just like to, uh, convey again, uh, congratulations to all of our Hawk heroes for the month of December. Um, we're extremely proud, um, that we have students that continue to show up and be leaders on their campus.
Uh, and then we would also just like to um publicly say thank you to Mr. Ratando, Mr. Staltz, and Mr. Schaefer for years um of public service uh to the Oakland community. Thank you. Uh, and you will be missed. And that concludes
my report. >> Moving on to item nine, uh, business administrator board secretary report. Can I ask a question on to go back the the enrollment figures 228 this year as opposed to 273 last year? >> That was that was a typo. I I that's
what I've talked to Beth and I went back and looked at the report. Um it's it's 271. And so if you refresh your screen, it'll it'll um it'll pop up with 271, but on the attached report it's 271. >> Got it. Okie do. Um in 9.01 I have a listing of
your uh November monthly budget transfers. 9.02 is um your board secretary treasurer's report and cash reports. So all of your financial statements for the month of November. 9.03 is a listing of the purchase orders that have been warrant that have been
warranted listen to me had that have been issued um during the month of December. And 9.04 04 is listing of the warrants that will be paid tomorrow morning pending approval. Um on the agenda tonight, we do have um the audit report. So, just
want to kind of go over it um briefly with you guys. You guys have the synopsis in front of you, but no audit findings um for this school year. And um as we closed last fiscal year um we're looking at um so going into budget
season um we have uh monies in capital reserve in the amount of $252,463 um maintenance reserve $100,750 tuition reserve $300,000. So we're in good position with our reserves as we start to work on our budget. As we know we usually I have by law we have to pull
down the tuition reserve. Jenna is nodding because she she's heard me say this before and we have some uh le leeway with our maintenance reserve. Um and then we did end last year with some surplus that I can put into um into next school year of $311,374.
Um so just so you kind of know um no audit findings and um we do have money in surplus um that again we have to budget as revenue next year um towards the budget. So and we do have monies in reserve. So we're in a decent spot. question mark. I I don't know what state
aid is going to be, but um again um been working on your budget pretty diligently. I know Jen's working on her part, but it's in the software, my software, and it's mostly kind of where we want it right now, pending state aid. So, the rush will be obviously in March.
Um but that's your financial update from your audit. Any questions on the audit before I turn it over to Mr. Chibi? All right. Right. And I did um I don't know if it's on the website yet, but I did submit um hopefully in the next uh 24 48 hours that the um as required by
law that it'll be on the website. Yeah, good point. >> All right. Uh moving on to item 10. This is our finance and buildings and grounds committee. Um we are currently looking for approval of
items uh 10.01 01 through 10.12. 10.01 is the approval of budget transfers. 10.02 and 10.03 is the approval of certifications of no over expenditures. Item 10.04 is approval of secretary
treasury reports. And 10.05 10.06 is approval of purchase orders and warrants. Um under our new business. Um 10.07 we have a motion to approve the 2425 audit report uh that Mr. Coleman just mentioned. Um and then we 10.8 to
10.12 we have a handful of facilities uh approvals. We have uh themes 30 and over basketball for the springac 30 and over basketball for the summer. OC Panthers Panthers basketball, Oakland soccer club, and Oakland little league
softball. Um those two would be for the indoor use of the uh gym. So we're looking for approval of items 10.01 1 to 10.12. Do we have a motion? >> Motion and seconded. Um, do we have any
comments or questions? All right. Hearing none. Uh, uh, roll call. >> Mr. DeMarco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fel, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lev, >> yes. >> Mrs. Marmian, >> yes. >> Mr. McMillan. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Bratando, >> yes. >> Mr. Schaefer,
>> yes. >> Mr. Stoutz, >> yes. >> Mr. Taby, >> yes. Motion passes. Uh, moving on to item 11, curriculum and personnel committee. Mr. Schaer. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. Uh, item 11.01, we're looking to, uh,
approve a field trip to the Cameron Aquarium. I believe that's in March. Item 11.02, O2. Uh we're looking to uh for approval for the following placement uh for a student teacher for field work. That's going to begin uh January of 26
uh through May 8th of 2026. Item 11.03, we're looking for approval of the following um uh substitutes uh nurse replacements there that you can see. And uh item 11.04, 04 we're looking uh for
reimbursement for travel expenses and fees uh related to professional development that was um going to be from January through uh February. So uh we're looking for approval on items 11.01 through 11.04.
>> All right. Do we have a motion? So moved. Any comments or questions? Hearing none on a roll call. >> Mr. DeMarco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fel, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Love, >> yes. >> Mrs. Momian, >> yes. Mr. McMillan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ratando, >> yes. >> Mr. Schaefer, >> yes. >> Mr. Staltz, >> yes. >> Mr. Taby, >> yes. >> Item passes.
>> All right, moving on to item 12. uh school community relations and policy committee. Mrs. Marmian, >> good evening. Item 12.01 is the report from the colleagues of board. Mr. McMillan. >> Good evening. Um I'll try to keep this
as short as uh five pages can be. Um so uh we started off uh on this is Monday, November 24th, the public meeting. Uh we started off with an amazing uh sneak peek of the Spongebob musical, which just uh finished up this past weekend. I I was able to go see it. Um my daughter
was was in uh in in the stage crew and uh a lot of other students uh from Oakland were in it. It was amazing and it's crazy what uh what sixth, seventh and eighth graders can do. It was great. Um during uh during committee of the whole uh there was a lot of discussion
um about various things uh including um uh the next board of education roundt will be the 18th which is this week this uh this Friday I believe. >> Thursday. Yeah. Thank you. Um I'm trying to stay ahead of that so we don't reschedule our round table on the same
day that they scheduled their round table, but um the last couple uh the last couple meetings have been shifted a little bit. So um Matthew Craig during the uh the uh committee of the whole gave a shout out to the about going and doing a high school walkth through and
uh and basically saying how the uh the narrative that the community is saying isn't really matching what she saw in the hallways. Um, so she threw that out, which was great. Um, uh, let's see. Let's see what else. Um,
there's, uh, there's all there there's a lot of other narratives in in in Collinswood that's uh that just seems to be uh going against what the school's actually doing. So, it's it's hard to read in the social media and and see what's actually going on. Um, like for instance, I think uh somebody said that
they're dropping all AP courses. Um, but we're actually offering more AP courses than we ever have. So, it's uh it's it's you know, so it's hard to read between the lines. Um, uh, one of the biggest things that we discussed and we're put into policy u
for the first reading which got passed was uh be be easy. We're going to go to working sessions committee of the whole for uh Yep. So, an idea. >> So, the uh there's just been concern with some of the committees about
transparency uh between other committees. So, um we're pushing to actually do a full full working session, which means it's going to be two 4hour meetings a month. But, uh we'll see. >> Hopefully not. >> Yeah, we'll see.
Um but yeah, the uh otherwise um uh yeah, there's the we we had um we had student board uh representation there talking that was great. Um and uh I think
I've kind of boiled it down. There's a there's a elementary world language. Uh we uh one of the one of the teachers is uh retiring and there's no qualified candidates. So, uh, they're moving to something called Sarah's Spanish School, which a virtualization. So, it's a I think believe it's a online, uh, Spanish
class for for the time being until we find somebody qualified for the, uh, for teaching. And, um, other than that, that's that's it. >> Thank you. Item 12.02 is the PTA leazison report. Mrs. Ratando.
>> Hey everybody. Thank you. Um, so the PTA met on December 2nd here in the library. Um, reviewed the general business that they review in terms of membership numbers, which is at 90 right now, encouraging volunteers to step forward.
Um, they're always looking to expand the PTA. Um, the financial review this week coming up. Yeah, it's the 16th now. Um the 23rd is the last day of school before winter session starts or winter
break starts. So there will be winter class parties and the room ambassadors um either have or will be I know some I' I've been a recipient of some have been reaching out to coordinate or look for signup geniuses things like that for the
class parties. Um, Miss Balden's update included, um, thank yous to the PTA for the prek family fun night. It did receive a lot of good feedback. Uh, participation in the Collingswood holiday parade. Um, I think
it's been fun to share that the Hawk Heroes recognition at this meeting has been um, like a nice addition to the meeting. So, that was shared with the PTA. some things that have passed between that meeting and this meeting. December 4th was the holiday parade and
the tree lighting. The choir performed as they always do right by the police station. Uh there was a picture retake day. We concluded the week of early dismissals. It's everybody's favorite week. um
mention of the new tim gym teacher and our nurses are looking for some donations in terms of spare clothes. So pants 3 through size 12, socks, uh new underwear and um that would be
incredibly helpful. And then the winter event which is is that the penguin patch? I think that's what we call is that >> holiday shop? It wasn't. It might have been the penguin patch in the past,
right? >> I'm not making that up. It was >> It should have been if it wasn't. Okay. >> Um the students got to come and shop in the library. The candygram sale wrapped
up. And then just some upcoming things like the winter party and in January more info to come. Looking for a social media and tech parent night and to get some parents together to talk about general safety and social media safe practices,
how to keep the kids smart and and safe about what they choose to do on the internet and social media. The next meeting is January 13th. Thank you. And I'll just add that I know um Miss Balden is working with our board
and the PTA uh to start planning for the centennial celebration for the Oakland public school which will be in 2026. So very excited more more on that. Um great. Thank you. Item 12.03 is the
OMEAC report. Mr. Tavy, >> thank you. Um updates from OMAC. Um they uh co-sponsored the haunted hay ride which is always uh a great success. Um we had two successful gym nights um over the course of the fall. Over 80 students
attended uh the November uh gym night and uh we had 40 on the December one. Little dip in attendance because it was the same night as the play. Um but great turnout nonetheless. Um Mr. Sher did make a note there was one minor injury on the uh 21st uh that was handled by
the chaperones, one of which happened to be a school nurse which was good. Um and of course the burough insurance information was sent out. Um that's it for OMAC. >> Thank you. Item 12.04 is Oakland Education Foundation report. Mr.
Schaefer. Uh no new update since last month, but probably just worth another shout out uh the generous donation that OEF had made uh in the Thanksgiving season to the Panther Pantry. So, thanks again for that generous donation uh by the OEF. Uh but nothing new for this month.
>> Thank you. Um we only have one item for approval. It's item 12.06. It is the uh 12.05, sorry. is the um second reading of the policy 2422 statutory curricular requirements. So um we are seeking
approval for item 12.05. >> All right. Do we have a motion? >> So moved. Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any questions or comments? >> Uh just a thank you to those who uh made a lot of the changes to that policy making sure everything was just relevant
for uh for a K to 5. So, I know it took a little finetuning, but thank you for all who made those adjustments and have it presentable for us tonight. Appreciate it. >> All right, roll call. >> Mr. DeMarco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fel, >> yes. >> Mrs. Love,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Marian, yes. Mr. McMillan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ratando, >> yes. And I echo Todd, that reason that I'm able to vote yes. So I I appreciate all the hard work that went into it. >> Mr. Schaefer. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stunts. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Tabby. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Moving on to item 13. Uh miscellaneous. Uh we have our uh HIV report. >> Oh no, there is none. >> Gotcha. All right, we can skip that
then. Uh moving on to our second public comment of the evening. Uh this is for any items that folks would want to bring before the board. Please remember to stand, state your name and address, keep your comments to five minutes or less. Uh the public is
reminded uh that attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go through the appropriate staff members and or administrators. >> Hello, I'm Stacy Brownham coming from 309 Oakland Avenue. And because I love searching things up while you were talking about transportation, I love that you're thinking of dealing with that as an equity issue. Um, I wasn't
sure if you looked at any tech options like GoKid, which is a car pooling technology that allows schools to limit liability while allowing parents to organize car share. Um, there is a free option that wouldn't cost any money apparently. This is this is what I'm getting from like quick research I just was doing here.
>> Very nice. >> Um, but um, what it would do is allow parents to have a free option that they could use that would allow them to at least arrange rides. There are paid options that allow GPS to track as your kids's going to school. Schools can also purchase and there's looks like there's
different rates depending on the size of your school um so that you could um still facilitate it but not have the liability of it apparently. Um and then I know it look like Camden School District has partnered with Ride with VIA which apparently is some sort of um
it's like a they partner with public public transportation to provide routes for kids to get to school at a cheaper cost. So, I just thought I would suggest those two options as ways to make that work because I love the idea of kids being able to get to school. >> What were the names of the two? >> Um, Go Kid and Ride with Via. >> Yeah.
>> Awesome. >> And 21 West Holly. I wasn't planning on talking tonight, but something I heard here tonight just made me make a couple notes. So, um, while there's and I wrote notes because I forget things. So, I just want to touch on the topic of transportation. I know there's a lot of
debate going on right now on social media. That's when things seem to be the loudest. Um, and I just think it's really important to remember that Oakland school now only goes up to fifth grade, not ninth like it used to in the past. We're talking about 10 and 11 year
olds, not 14 and 15 year olds like it used to be. Schlein backpacks with everything in it, sports bags, giant instruments because they want to be involved in all of these extracurriculars. They're excited to participate in them,
which I think is a good sign for the school district. Um, I love the open dialogue. I respect the open dialogue. I respect people able to voice their opinions on social media, but the argument of we did it 40 years ago and
we had no problem. So, our kids should be able to. I just don't think it should factor into this conversation. Kids have changed, expectations have changed, schooling has changed, the world has changed. Um, and as a mom of a Collingswood Middle School sixth grader
who does sports, who loves his academics, who shles around a giant I don't even know what it's it is. I call it an obo. He corrects me every time. I can't remember what it's called. I I can't imagine him you know, tracking
from West Holly all the way to Collingswood when it's 17 degrees outside. We don't need to reinvent the wheel, right? But if there are ways to make it easier and safer for our kids, I I don't understand why it has to be an argument. So, I just want to thank you
for being open and listening and even if we can't do it for financial reasons, at least just being willing to bring it to the table. So, thank you. All right. And any other public comments? All right. Hearing uh hearing none, we
will move on to item 15, adjournment. Do we have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. All in favor? >> I opposed. >> All right. Motion passes. >> That was it. You're free. You're free of your service. I'm sorry. You're free of
your service.