Meeting of the Paripony Troy Hills Board of Education to order on August 21st, 2025. In compliance with chapter 231, public law 1975 entitled Open Public Meetings Act. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as specified
in the act in the following manner. A meeting notice was published in the newspaper and on the district website on January 8th, 2025. In addition, the notice of the meeting was posted at the mi municipal building in the schools and a copy of the notice filed with the township clerk and transmitted to other
newspapers on July 29th, 2025. The daily record, the star ledger, PCPany focus, tap into parcipony patch, and the district website. This regular public board meeting is being video recorded as per bylaw 168. The recordings of these meetings will be available on our
district website and our video onthe-go YouTube channel. We ask that you please refrain from using student or staff names in your statement. Professionalism is expected at all times. Please stand for the pledge to the flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Our board attorney, Mrs. Gil, will now administer the oath of office to the
appointed board member. Will Mrs. Delofave join us in the front, please? You have to go that way. Okay. You can stand right there. Oh, okay. No, I need the mic. You don't have No, I don't. It's fine.
Be on camera. Sorry. You should be on camera. Congratulations, Miss Delave. I'm going to administer the oath of office to you. I would like you to I state your name. I, Nicole Delip, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of
the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey. and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. And that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. and to the governments established in the United
States and in this state under the authority of the people. So help me God. And to the governments established in the United States and this state under the authority of the people. So help me God. I state your name. I Nicole Del do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications
prescribed by law that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of a member of a board of education for the office of a member of a board of education. I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to RS194-1. Am not disqualified as a voter pursuant
to RS19 col4-1. And am not disqualified to serve due to a conviction of a crime or a offense listed in NJS18A12-1. And am not disqualified to serve due to conviction of a crime or offense listed
in NJS18A12-1. and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability. So help me God. And that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability. So
help me God. Congratulations. Okay. Yeah. Okay. May we have the attendance roll call, please? Mrs. Abraham here. Mr. Barios here. Mrs. Stella Fav
here. Yes. Mr. Devito here. Mrs. Mayor here. Mr. Rehea here. Dr. Wright here. Mrs. Chappelle here. Mrs. Kogan here. All right, I think we're going to take a quick break to
uh welcome the newly appointed board member and probably take some pictures with the family. So, don't walk away, please. So, all right. Yeah, five minutes. And there's cookies. Oh, I forgot.
Get the newspaper in. I want to say Fav and it's no R. Tell you one of the things that Ed told me about stress vacancies in the membership of boards of type two districts. You guys are of type
two districts. Why do we need to type two districts? This is clickable. this district. So, so it should be vacancies in the membership of the board. Period. And then we get rid of all the nonsense. Like it shouldn't be type two cuz then you're going to be like, "Well, what if
we're type one? What if we change? Are we a type one? Are we an appointment?" Like that just agitates people with the typeific and so there's there's some nuance there right is that
so your type two election what you should write reflects a type two with the November election Anyone a cookie or brownie? I might. Whatever. I'll get one really quick. Good.
Taylor and I see you type circle. Help yourself to cookies. Very true. So I don't remember. Do you remember what the portfolio appeals process portfol
can use they can there's a few ways they can reach that they can do a portfolio they can do bunch of things like a portfolio of like work. Okay, that was one thing I was reading both and I was like, I can't remember
what that is. a lot. I thought she just shut I can't remember what I told you at the table. I don't I don't remember my head. It was crazy.
I was reading something or trying to read something today and I couldn't I couldn't bring it into focus. Uhoh. It was a bad song. I know. Crazy. It's like and if it's right like print I can see better than
right. That's I'm sorry. Scrimmage next Friday. I think the first game or um like the Wednesday of the first week of school. How about you? Uh scrimmage is on Sunday. None of us
are going to be there because that's when um Scott has her 100th birthday party. So Billy can't go to the party game. Are you going to watch it afterwards? Yeah, they're going to have record
again or we just go. All right, we're going to resume our meeting. Uh well, at this time I'm going to suspend tonight's regular agenda to allow for 2024 2025 graduation results and the New Jersey graduate proficiency result presentation.
Dr. Jaganti. Yes. Okay. Hi everybody. Happy summer. Um tonight is a quick one. This is not one of the typically long ones. I'm just reporting out on our current seniors who
last year's juniors took the New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment, the GPA. Um, if you've been following the news at all, there's been some talk now about new tests, right? And the NJSLA is going to be changing their format or its
format, I should say, and so the GPA also. Um, for now though, this is the old one, which wasn't even old. It was just a few years old. Um, this will also be administered. This one, this old one will be administered in the fall one
more time for these current seniors who may not have passed um to give them one more shot. There was a shot in the summer as well. We did have a couple of students take it. We don't get a huge turnout for that one. Um, but in the fall, we can offer it again and then
that's it. So they say like so far today. Um it does change very quickly sometimes but right now they're saying that's the last one of this one and then the new one the adaptive one like the adaptive NJSLA will be uh taking place.
So without further ado where's my I'm pointing to this right there we go got it. So just a little bit about uh the assessment. It is given in 11th grade and it's testing English language arts and mathematics just like
the NGSLA. Um there are just two scores though. It's either you are deemed graduation ready or you're deemed grad not yet graduation ready. It is a requirement as of right now for the current seniors
class of 2026. Um there is no further mention of class of two of 2027 and our current juniors. So uh there are alternate pathways I'll talk about a little bit. Uh if you do not pass with all the attempts that you are offered um
you can take an alternate assessment the SAT, PSAT, ACUPPLACER, ACT and achieve cut scores on that which can take the place if you don't pass say math but you get the cut score on math SAT you're
okay that's your pathway to graduation then instead of this assessment. So, here's our slide for the ELA results. So, like I said, it's not that old of a test. This was just the fourth administration of it, and it's going to
change. Um, but up there, I represent the classes of 23, 24, 25, and 26 are current seniors. Um, and we look at the results in the groups of all students, economically disadvantaged students with
disabilities, and English language learners. In the all students category, we do see how the state did. So I put those answers there in gold. So you can see that last year's and remember these are of course different students, right? Each year and when I
give my big presentation on only NGSLA scores, some of you who have been on the board for a while always hear me say it's very hard to compare a different group of kids to another group of kids. But for what it's worth, um the class of 2026, our current seniors, were
performing just a little below the prior class, um with that 87.4 down a little bit from the 89, but you see the state dipped as well in the all students category. So they dipped and we
dipped just a little bit. ine e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e economically disadvantaged, same thing, a little dip, but happily we saw a little bit of an increase in students with disabilities. And perhaps the most remarkable and
happy uh news is that our ELLs really made a nice jump there. Um that is huge from 7.1 graduation ready to 23.8% 8% of our English language learners graduation
ready in English. So that's something really to be celebrated and happy about. What can you attribute that to that? It's such a big jump. Well, we've been working very hard. I know. Yes. That's a big job. Yes. It's a small group of students. So
it could depend on the mix of the kids. their English readiness I think would have a much greater impact due to their size because you're taking one grade level only and then the English language learners in that one remember that next year and then
there's a different mix that isn't as friendly yeah and there is an exemption but I mean it was the exemption for all years there is an exemption in NJSLA and NJGPA for students who arrive very close to say when the test is going to be there's an exemption if you're June 1st first or
later from the prior year, you're not taking the ELA one. You're still taking the math, but you're not taking the English one. But still, we're happy to see that kind of a jump. And then in math, uh same sort of story at we dipped
a little bit for all students, um and basically stayed the same. I mean, we did go up a a hair for the economically disadvantaged and just down a hair for students with disabilities. And then a very nice jump again for
those English language learners. And Dr. Moloon, you want to talk about the interventions? We've included these uh couple of slides historically in this presentation about the interventions we've been doing during the school year and the summer.
Um so during the school year, we we broke it up into elementary, middle, and high school. And I'm going to get a little bit closer to that screen if that's okay with you. All right. Um, so at the elementary level, the biggest change was this installation of the wind period, which was daily 30 minute intervention time. Um, wind stands for
what I need. Um, that could be um, remediation, it could be accelerated work, and that's for students in grades K through three. We also have BSI teachers, reading specialists at at each elementary school. And we had two title one interventionists divided through six
school divided through six schools last year which was a tight squeeze but it did they did help and provide some assistance for students as part of the INRS process and students that were struggling. We also dedicated time and finances towards parent and family nights for ELA and math support. The middle school we have our lunch and
learn program during lunch periods. Sometimes that's an invitation, sometimes it's by student request. uh teacher office hours for extra help uh after school as well. ARP intervention programs for math and language arts took place after school and we made use of
various intervention platforms um which are listed there. The nice thing about about those are they they modify the program as students perform and the the work that they give them reflects their advancement and the skills that they master. the high school pretty much uh the same homework club after school. We
had the end of our period makeup intervention day where students could meet with teachers to make up any work to complete any assessments or reassessments to uh hit those skills and bring those grades up. Of course, we had the AR sor adventure programs as well which were after school and the use of those intervention platforms. Do you
mind Nance? Thank you. Uh during the summer did it did change a little bit. Oh, thank you so much. No. Okay. Um it was the ESL summer program has been static. has been in place for a long time. It's been very successful. That's a three-week program that runs the the majority of the day, and students get
instruction in math and language arts, but also in other electives um and subjects. Elementary school summer steps was 3 weeks virtual. Last year, we were in person, but attendance um was was not what we wanted to be, so we shifted to solely virtual this year. And uh
attendance wasn't great either. So today we're actually talking with um Colleen about um ideas for deploying funds to work look at a summer program what and what options we might have because we want to make that as uh efficacious as possible. Um extended school year runs
for our special needs special ed students uh for four weeks that's in person. The middle school again ESL summer school um continues for middle school extended school year as well. We also this is where you start see these getting ready for classes for math. So there's a getting ready for sixth,
seventh, eighth grade math which kind of covers and previews concepts that they'll see during the school year to to try to address um you know the forgetful middle school mind as uh we forget what they push all the math out and push in all of the YouTube. Um we this is the
first year we did summer book clubs and we I I I heard this at a at a meeting with other um assistant superintendents or curriculum people where they were looking at summer reading and inviting student students in for quick like two-hour book clubs to talk about the books they had read with teachers to kind of just prep them for the school
year and that early assessment they're going to have when they get there in September. But I think more important was just to kids get kids excited about the books they had read and uh enhance that love of reading as well. Um, high school. I'm going to save the best one for last. Uh, we did ext ESL summer school, extended school year, the
getting ready for classes for algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2. We did the summer book clubs, which were not as well attended at the high school level as they were at middle school, but it was the first year. And the most successful U program we put together this summer was the finish line prep. And in a second, you're going to see slides on um
how students achieve their graduation status. and some of it was from NGPA. Um, some of it was from alternative assessments or the portfolio process. The goal is to get as many students as possible to complete it via the test, right? It makes their lives easier, makes our lives easier. So, what we did
this summer was we invited all the students who rising seniors who did not pass to kind of like a a quick a quick boot camp kind of week and we spent specific time looking at what that ACUPPLACER test looks like. And then after three days of ACUPPLACER review, they took that test right away. and we
had incredible success. So the the students who were who I I don't want to I I said who the students who made the right decision to come I think there were 28 27 of 28 passed the ACUPPLACER. So now that's this is beyond them. It's it's out of their lives right now. They don't have to worry about any sort of
remediation this school year. They're elect they don't have to wor you know give up an elective or any sort of class. And we're hoping that word spreads and we'll be able to really bring those numbers down even more next year. And I have to credit uh Brian McCort who's our math supervisor who that was his his brainchild and it was really really um effective and did it
for math and for language arts and um we're excited for that moving forward. Next slide. Oh. Oh yeah. Yeah. So this this are our pathways for graduation. Uh the first um category of students who graduated the prior year and you'll see the the the difference in size between the high and
the hills. The hills is 244. PHS is at 204 graduates. The next bullet are students who um graduated through alternative pathways. Okay. So the first one are um substitute compet competency tests like the PSAT,
the SAT, that ACUPPLACER which we make a lot make a lot of use of 62 students at the hills use that um alternative pathway via test 31 at the high portfolio appeals process. 18 at the high, eight at the hills and that's what we want to really avoid because it's a
it's a long process. It requires a lot of student time and a lot of teacher time to teach those concepts which then students demonstrate in their portfolio. And then the last category um is via their IEPs uh alternative requirement um in their IP and there was four at the
high. So you were at the hills. Um we're happy to say there the no there were no students who were denied graduation solely due to failure to meet graduation assessment requirements. So we get everybody there via that pathway. doesn't mean there weren't some other reasons for maybe handful of students
attendance-wise or things like that. Um, but that's how we break it down and we will take any questions at that time. Questions from board members. Mr. So I I think you mentioned that the the
the standard is uh the the state is coming back with new standards test coming coming down the pipe again. Can you maybe elaborate a little bit on that? I know it's still early. I only remember seeing email notification from the state about it only like not even a month ago. So yeah, they haven't given a ton of
information but what I can tell you is that much like when you if you were listening to what Dennis said about some of those and Alex those programs that we use and he mentioned that it's sort of uh tailored and customized to the student as they go. That's what this is
supposed to be now by uh calling it the NJSLA adaptive. It's personalized so that students are getting questions based on the questions they're getting right like your subsequent questions will be different from that students
because you got it right or wrong the question before. So it's much more personalized. They gave a couple of reasons. One they said is for uh more accurate results because you're looking really you're not giving kids things that are impossible because they can't
master this. They didn't answer this one right. Now you're giving them that. they're never going to get it right. So, uh, more accurate measure, better security, better test security because everybody's going to have a different test question. And I think that's not even so much about like looking over
like this like in the old days because they do them in different orders. But if you have a student doing a makeup test, a kid could say to that student, you know, there's a question on there about, well, maybe that student's not going to see the same questions. So for security
reasons um and to lower test anxiety was the other thing they mentioned. So if the student is sitting there struggling and knowing I don't get this and they're just putting an answer now they're going to have another one they have to sit through that they know. Whereas if they feel confident when they get it right
not that they know it's right but they handle it then the next one is like oh another one I can handle you know. So they're saying that it'll lower test anxiety. So, we haven't gotten a ton of information, but those were some of the reasons they gave for making it an adaptive test.
Yeah. And like the 11th graders that are taking this now, if they don't pass this one, does that one theoretically going to come out in time for them to try to take that one? The 11th graders now, you mean the 25,
26, 11th graders? Yes. We don't know what they're taking yet. They've said it's going to be adaptive. They they haven't said really anything but that. So, I'm not quite sure. Um I don't know. But our current seniors get one more shot if they need it, but I
don't don't think we're really probably going to need too many of them to um try it again. Hopefully, we'll get them through. They will get the old one. Yeah, that's the the last time for that one. But again, not too much information on what's coming, unfortunately. and they haven't like put anything out about
uh class of 2027 graduation requirements. Like they haven't even mentioned that. Yeah, we talked about the the reassessment of the NGPA in the fall. We'll also be able to um give them that ACUPPLACER multiple times throughout the the fall and into the winter. Yes, you can give the ACUPPLACER your
discretion. There's no times that you have to do it. So, we're able to do Yeah. And it was Dr. Gante is very bright as you know. um uh put made us made us um eligible to be like a a school that could deliver the ACUPPLACE or a testing district which really
really helps students and and um makes it a lot more convenient. And this is Dr. Jagante's last um testing presentation. So I hope you enjoy it. I'll be I'll be in her ear uh bugging her all next year making sure we get everything right. Hard to tear myself away from
Right. Yes. Do you have any insights like the difference between um English and the state the English results and the state average is smaller than the difference on the math results versus the state average? Is there any
particular insights as to why that might be? Yeah, English is you see we did in other words like more of a gap 80 and 7150. Yeah. the just a little why any particular reason why that might be or I'm not sure.
I can tell you historically that's always been the case. Um it always sort of shakes out. It always sort of shakes out that way. Um yeah, it seems to be pretty consistent that there's like a wider on math.
The gap is wider. I think if you look at if you look at us compared to the state, it's pretty consistent. If you look at us compared to specific districts is pretty consistent. You know, there are districts we're going to perpetually do do better than, districts that are going to always do a
little better than us. It always kind of shakes out along the way. There's some variation um based on I think when you see those cohorts, that's when you really get to appreciate a group of students performance and and a trend. So, any other questions?
I just want to make sure I'm clear on your question. We're I'm just making sure you know the difference here say is seven and the difference here is whatever uh what is that 13 that means
well one could conclude it doesn't mean one could conclude that we're stronger in math it's the gap the bigger gap is better yes in okay so I want to make sure we're not looking at math as
any particular reason why that might the the math having the wider gap on the state average versus the English gap having a narrower gap versus yeah I think in general you know math is is typically tougher for students you know you see our average scores on math
and everyone else's average scores on math are usually lower than English so I think when you just take that wide breadth of the whole state the the math score in the state's going to be lower than the English score in the state right but the gap gap between the math
results versus the state average is smaller than the English gap and it's fairly consistent for each of the years of I think it's the opposite. Yeah, math gap is larger. The math our math percentage is lower. It's a larger
gap versus right. That's what I wanted to make sure that we were clear about. Yes. Anything else? Thank you. No, thank you very much. Okay. We'll miss you, Nancy. A well, you're not rid of me. I just
won't be doing the assessments. I'm sure I'll be back talking about something else. A lot of fun. Does this have to be out loud? Oh, no. It was in there. Okay. It was in there. Okay. We're up to correspondence. Is
there any correspondence to come before the board? No. Is there any unfinished business to come before the board? Okay. So, we're now up to committee reports and we have quite a few. So, you want to start on that side of the
table? Yeah, I'll go first. Sure. Okay. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, buildings and grounds met this evening uh in tensor myself, Mr. Barios, Dr. Wright, Mrs. Kogan, Dr. McHugh, M. Dr.
Mal Rooney and Miss Btos. Um we talked about the uh summer projects for uh partial roof at Mount Taber and the partial roof at Littleton. Um we also discussed the uh uh the Paripony Hills lunch serving lines and the PAS lab uh
renovation on the summer projects. on the expansion projects. They we discussed the uh Littleton phase one uh trying to finish on that with a uh security antenna issue and phase two is still in the planning phase. Uh other
projects we discussed were uh the Paripity High paving, Parcipony Hills HVAC, which is a rod grant, the Lake Precipany uh sign, and we also discussed uh any uh cleaning maintenance issues, but there were none. And uh we also discussed about the
facility use forms and United the possibly using the uh the uh from the United Way with the Jets. And that is my report. There's you have the should have the full minutes there if you have any questions. [Music] Thanks, Matt. So, until the security
antenna issue is resolved, they won't be able to use that, right? No, we have a temporary CO, so we are allowed to use that building. Yeah, we do. Thank you. Just to continue on that topic, um I
forget what is the holdup and is there anything else we can do? So Jimmy here, you want to elaborate a little bit for? So we need we received everything that we had to from the county. We need to get an application from the town to be
able to submit to install the antenna and there's been a hangup with who ultimately is responsible in the town to provide us that application. So they extended our temporary um co and we hope to be able to get the application soon.
so that we can apply to put the antenna up that the town wants us to put on the building. So, we have identified who at the town needs to be involved or is that still an open? We have a we have a contact at the town um but we're not sure if it's the proper
contact because they haven't responded over the course of the last few months, months. Months. Months. Yep. I did have discussions with with Kate and a number of other people on what the
best avenue is to address this. Okay. Thank you. Uh I just on the buildings and grounds, Dr. Mi Q, I just wanted to say thank you. There was a lot of activity going on this summer. So I we appreciate your work and all the you know
maintenance and everybody who's done a fantastic job to get everything ready for school opening. Mr. Devito, did you have another one or your that was your only report? Those are Molen. Yeah. Thank you, Dr. Wright. Thank you, Mrs. Kogan. Um the teaching
and learning committee met uh this past Monday, August 18th. Present were myself, Mrs. Abraham, Mrs. Mayor, Mrs. Kogan, and Dr. Moloon. Um we discussed uh books that will be added to the course English for authors of New Jersey hoping uh students really see themselves
and uh our arena in this curriculum. It's really exciting. Um we'll be the committee will be reviewing more books um as they come through us. Um we discussed the disproportionality plan that was submitted to the state last spring in regard to um a
disproportionate number of students classified uh under other health impaired classifications um and uh how the district is working comprehensively uh to ensure that students are um being served appropriately um not
overclassified um and um brought to where they need to be uh for academic success. across from K through 12. Uh we also re um continued at the last meeting we discussed that we had started the summer curriculum
revision review. Uh we went through that um in this meeting, completed that process in this meeting. Um and reviewed a large number of uh curriculum revisions um and across the board. Uh some really notable things um our
educators engaging with how to teach our students about social media and AI. um how to enhance our unified offerings um as well as uh provide electives that are really engaging to students such as exploring human behavior. Um I would like to commend Dr. Morini and our
educational uh faculty for really doing an excellent um both quantity and quality of work in innovating and keeping our curriculum top-notch. And that is all I have for teaching and learning. I have I went to a professional development. Let me just see if there are any questions on
teaching and learning. This is Abraham. Um, thank you. I just, um, had a quick question. Um, whether it's Wendy or Dr. Maloney, would you be able to just give a kind of like a high level of what the CCIS plan
means? Sure. Okay. The CCS plan is how we deploy um how we deploy CIS funds to address um these at risk students. So some of it's through um you know PD for teachers, some of it's
through plat learning platforms like I mentioned earlier, some of the um adaptive technology, some of it is through programs like after school tutoring or things like that. So we have the option to look at the um the predicament of our students, what their
needs are and then um you know tailor things to to best meet those needs. Okay. It was an exhaustive 15page report we did. Yeah. We'll be meeting again with um our liaison on October 4th to resume practices. But uh we've done a lot with
the RNRS process which is an intervention referral services and um we're excited for the changes. You start trying to look at this as an opportunity to to do some good for our kids, right? And this is um since the department of education's label is all over it. So I assume that this data is
something that's required from them. And I always wonder like when we get this much data, what does a department I I don't think we may or may not know this answer, but what does a department of education, what do they want to do with this data? like
besides just find out, okay, uh this number of students are either coming into the district, leaving the district, uh needing intervention services, whether IEPs, 504s or otherwise, and um they're determining I mean, when I
looked it up briefly, I thought it said ages 3 to 12, but I guess it's K through 12, right? And uh so I was just wondering, you know, how do they determine who needs it and does it affect I guess
uh families with that want to do assessments for their children or they are, you know, in the process of doing an assessment and they want to know whether their children is going are going to be getting services or not and they're not going to be affected in that way. Right.
I see what you're I think what the state wants to know is they want to make sure we're not classifying as I think Dr. Wright said a disproportionate number of students in a in a specific area. So by a razor of margins we were would deemed disproportionate um in OI. So I'm
talking about out of 7,000 students a handful of maybe four or five kids to put us over. Um as we discussed in our meeting we looked at some of those numbers and kids who leave our district with an OI impairment. Um and then guess what? Kids move into our district with it and there are reassessments. Yeah. uh as well. Um so they want to
just make sure we're under that number and you know that's that's the one that's the compliance part of it. But for for us as educators, we want to use these funds to make things better for our students and make sure our child study teams are working efficiently and um and our INRS teams are working
efficiently to help students, right? um so that if they need it need to be assessed by the CST it's appropriate and if they don't need to they don't need to because we put interventions in place to help these right and this was just from my brief looking up afterward it was just from 2021 onward right and then it's going to
be continuation was a threeear initial three-ear gap so we're entering year three and hopefully and this was Ruters right did the Ruters Ruters is our liaison so but it's through the state's appointed okay yeah okay I guess I was was curious
about what the root cause analysis or what the it was just a few too many students in that um too few too many white students falling into the OI classification. That's it. All right. Thank you. Ybody else. All right. Dr. Wright, did you want to
do a leazison? Um uh yes. Uh so uh in back in June um I uh attended a school law forum as did our attorney and I just wanted to share um a few of the highlights there. Um there were a number of presentations. It
was a full day um uh professional development opportunity. Um some of the uh topics uh I think our attorney maybe thought I was a bit of a nerd. You excited about um uh one of the topics that that I was I was very interested in
um was the effect of federalism in 2025. As we know there is a lot of complexity in what's coming out from the federal government. Uh and sometimes it's in conflict with what the state government might be telling us. Um and so uh there's a kind of a review of some of those challenges. uh discussion of uh
recent legal updates um and a presentation on um uh twice exceptional students, students who are both gifted and um qualify for uh special education. Um and one of the real challenges there was kind of that presentation the kind
of central focus is like really finding out who are these kids and when are they qualifying and what does that demand of districts in the place. Um I asked and Jon um uploaded uh all of the powerpoints to uh the board packet. So if any of you'd like to review those, if
you want to talk about them, oh, I'd be ready. Um and uh and uh it was a really nice program put on by NJSBI. I forgot to say one thing. I just want to say uh Dr. Maloney, thank you so much
for adding that thematic high school book list. Uh I appreciate that to the right. Yeah. Thank you. Right. Mr. Barios. Thank you, Madam President. Policy met on August 5th, 2025.
In attendance with myself, Miss Chappelle, Mrs. Dto, Miss Kogan, M. Dr. Mrun, and Miss Benos. Um, on your desk, you will have the policies uh that we reviewed. We did a comprehensive review of all the
policies. Um, we had actually pull a policy for further review uh which was policy 2422 statutory curricular requirements. Um I believe that went back in though, right?
No, it's still out, right? So everything else is up for first read. Um and that is my report. Thank you. Questions, Mr. Mayers?
Okay. Uh, thank you. Um, I just had a question on bylaw 143 and when I was reading through it, and I'm sorry that I didn't bring it up sooner with the policy committee. Um, I
just wanted to ask if when we were talking about 143, um, I didn't have an issue with any of the changes that had to do with um, election, but just the appoint part. The part that I was
wondering was I was looking up some of the statutes and I was wondering because in specifically in 10-3 um when I was I I did call Charlene to ask
about statutes and she sent me something and said in all type two districts with an April school election, well that's not really applicable to us, but in type two districts with a November school election, member terms begin on January 1st and end on December 31st, but then we also have
um the statement in 12:15 that says basically that your appointment goes all the way up until the next reorg. So my question is rather than I know this is the first reading and that you know we
can discuss it further but what I wanted to know is can we add another statute number to the bottom of that because I in my conversation with Charlene I felt that uh from what she told me that there doesn't appear to be a definitive response when statutes kind of conflict
one another but that statute trumps policy but not one another. So it becomes a gray area where we would have to rely on the advice of our board attorney. Um and it was just saying that even though 103 delineates the beginning and end dates for a term of office that
one could argue that a person's term does not really end until the reorg until a new person is sworn in and there would cause a gap. Right? So in order to prevent that the what was suggested to me was that the safest resolution would be to say yes the board member shall
serve until the expiration of their term. Um and the other uh statute that I wanted to ask about was 12-9 and the last sentence in 12-9 specifically said all members shall serve after the expiration of their respective terms until the appointment
and qualification of their successors. And Kate, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm trying to read this like an attorney, but um when I read 12-9, it says all members shall serve after the expiration. Now, when I read after the expiration, it indicates to me there is
an expiration, but that their respective terms are going on until their successor. So, I guess the compromise that I'm wondering if it's a good suggestion or not is to add 10-3 and possibly 12-9. Can I just ask some clarification questions for you?
Yes, we're talking about 143 by 143, right? Yeah. I see 1215 1311. I don't see 12- the last two. The first two you mentioned. Where are we looking here? Just so
Oh, I was She she I think pulled them out. Oh, I pulled them out. Yeah, I was looking at the statutes online. So, it's not referenced currently in No, no, not referenced. I was asking if if it's okay to add those statutes
because I I mean it's a discussion but before the second reading maybe it's a discussion for policy. What I would say is certainly we can look at those statutes and I have no issue I actually like to have the statutes referenced to the extent that
they're not causing confusion. Right. um to the I understand that we deal with policies that are are um you know statutoily heavily heavy but you want to be able to have somebody from the public read this and understand that you know
this is what applies in this particular district. So what I would um suggest if that's okay with um the policy chair um let me take a look at 103 129 and see if in fact we can um find some language that would uh satisfy all of that. Um I
will say that the term of office you serve until your successor is qualified. that has been um the way that that has worked for you know since we established school districts in the state of New Jersey. So um if that's okay with the
chair I mean technically it's it's okay with me but I'll leave it to the good judgment of the board president. That's fine. I appreciate that. Thank you. Anything else for Mr. Barios? All right let's go to the other side of
the table. Mr. Okay. Um, communications committee met on August 5th. Attending were myself, Mrs. Chappelle, Mr. Devidito, Mrs. Kogan, Dr. Mole Rooney, and Mrs. Benos. Uh, there were primarily two items. one
in an effort in the spirit to further empower parents, the committee discussed creating a parent template uh for families to voice concerns to the state and to the township and to advocate effectively for public education. And in addition, the committee will prepare a
summary document outlining steps parents can take and key contacts to reach out to. uh the first documents in process and we hope to have both ready for um a draft for the September 17th meeting and uh
so any questions on that. Okay. And um should we do a liazison report as well? Sure. No, I have one question. So look at the minutes here. So we talked about a parent template and then it was
that was for one thing but we discussed two different documents I recall. So wait one was the oh summary document the summary document. Okay then the summary document that's right okay thank you word to me. Thank you. Sorry
um also uh the last week last Thursday was the PAL board meeting which I attended. Um, I just want to point out to any parents that are watching watching the the video of this meeting that registration for the fall is open
for all programs and there's a fairly robust uh selection and just to avail yourself of that with the PAL. That's it. Thanks. Thank you. Um,
Mrs. Abraham, you don't have a committee report, right? No, but I can talk about a le well, not really a liaison, but um myself and several of us went to the uh flag raising for the India day celebrations on Saturday, August 9th and um just
wanted to say that it was you know well attended. Um everybody had a wonderful time. We had a lot of um cultural programs, dance programs, songs. Um the flag of course was raised for India's independence day. Uh we're at the 79th
Independence Day. So next year will be 80 and um we will be uh we also had a number of speakers and dignitaries that were able to attend and so I was happy to attend and uh had a great time um you
know mingling with uh a lot of the community members and um I look forward to going every single year and I encourage everybody to come. Um it's a really good time and uh very family friendly and um you know the the cultural programs and the dance programs
are really uh they're really amazing to watch and um they put a lot of work and effort into it which I think should be appreciated. Thank you. Yes. Great. Okay. Miss comment on that. I also attended that. I I want to reiterate what
Mrs. Abraham said. It was very well attended. It was very interesting to to glad I was able to do it. Thank you. Glad we had shady spots though. It was a little hot for everybody else. August, Mrs. Mayor.
Hello. Um I will do the human resources report. It we had our meeting on August 19th. Present were myself, Mrs. Abraham, Dr. Wright, Mrs. Kogan, Mr. Ricker, and Mrs. Banos. Uh there were personnel matters
that were discussed. Uh Mr. Ricker discussed the uh staffing assignments and transfers and the acting assistant principal for Central Middle School. Um it's in the bulletin. Um it's number 83
and um the candidate was Andrew Hill. He's been involved in a lot of different things. So he was there was a I there was a vetting process and there were two candidates and um he was chosen. Um the EIS report was completed for the
first two windows and it was filed. It has summitive ratings for teaching and administrative staff. Uh new staff orientation will be scheduled for the 25th and 26th at the high school. The curriculum office has an agenda and
um it's for the newly hired teachers and it's I have gone to every single one since I've been on the board and it's always exciting to go because you see all these eager people, you know, ready to go. You know, they're they're hyped. You know, even teachers that have
already taught and that are coming to our district, they're excited. So there's a lot of energy in the air that day and all the administrators are there and it's just a really good good get together I guess. I'm sorry I'll miss this one. Um the administrative workshop
was held yesterday and the 19th and all the principles, assistant principles and supervisors were in attendance. Um there were there were many topics such as school safety procedures, evaluations and observations. I know the head of
security was here. I know Kate was here. There was just a whole bunch of, you know, speakers to kind of lay out the land kind of as a general update. Um, an update on the open position job postings, which is pretty good actually.
As of the 19th, there are three remaining open teaching positions, four paris and four custodial maintenance position and an opening for a head bookkeeper. And that's the report.
Are there any questions for Mrs. Mayor? All right. Did you have any liaison? I mean I I was at the Indian Do you want to talk about the Raul Wallenburgg? Well, we didn't mention that.
Yeah, we were I think Mr. Rehea, myself. Yeah, we went to the Raul Wallenburgg um dedication at Smithfield and it's always very moving, you know, when you hear about the things that he
did to save people and, you know, ultimately lost his life. And there were speakers up and it was very moving, you know, to hear the stories and how people talked about it in today's world, how we need more of that selflessness,
you know, that kind of mentality and the the sculpture that's there. And I've lived in Paripany forever. Well, not forever, but a long time. And um until I started going to those presentations, I really never noticed the sculpture. It's there, but you know, unless you know
it's there, you don't know to look for it. And the gentleman who designed it was there. And it was dedicated for compassion. Courage and compassion. Courage and compassion. It's two C's that are kind of, you know, just, you know, mixed up and all, but it was
really nice. And the um Danish um representative was here and she spoke and uh she said she'll be back every year. But it was just nice to hear that somebody who was so selfless was honored in a way that was
meaningful, you know. So that was great. That was really great. And the high schoolers that spoke were very good. Yes. The two high school students were awarded um for their uh essays that they wrote. We didn't get those to read, did we? I don't think we did. No
scholarship. But they they were very nice. They were they felt good about it. And it's an honor. It really is. They're the first recipients in a long time. They hadn't done it for a while. So, and it was just a very nice event, you know, and then we have the Indian event. So, our community
is so versed, you know, it's got so much here. And if you take advantage of everything and you kind of meet all these different people, you realize how very lucky we are that there is such a diversity in our district, in our town,
not even just our district. So I was just going to expand on that event. Um so that was it was sponsored by the um the multiffaith. Is that right? Uh the interfaith the parcipany interfaith council was a sponsor of
that. Um and it was really powerful and really moving just to add to that. I mean, it really was something special to be there and hear about, you know, everything that everybody had to say and what an amazing man this person was and the impact he's had now on thousands of
lives that he's ultimately saved. Um, and like you said, Judy, for years I've driven down that I used to go to that bus stop and I had no idea what that sculpture really stood for. But I will tell you right now, I was driving west on Route 46 and I got stuck at that light by the Starbucks and I looked over
and clear as day. I could see the CNC staring at me. So when you go by there, um, take a look because uh, and remember him. I mean, that's the whole purpose. Remember him. Remember the great things that he did and all those that he saved. Yeah, it's a chance to learn from history and, uh, it's a reminder of, uh,
you know, sometimes in history we are we go the wrong path. That was certainly one World War II, the Holocaust. That was certainly uh one example. So, but it's a good reminder for everyone. His biography. Yeah. Awesome.
We were very involved. Joanie served on a kind of a student award committee for a long time and lassoed me into it. It was a lot of fun and uh so the the books are tremendous. The book is tremendous. His life story is unbelievable. Thank you.
Okay. Uh so on July 29th, the critical issues committee met president myself uh Miss Abraham, Mr. Devito, Mrs. Kogan, uh and Mrs. Benos. Uh during this meeting, we had the opportunity to finish our review
of the code of governance uh that had been in draft for quite a while. uh incorporated a number of updates um and it was attached with the minutes uh for your review. Um so if there's any changes just let us know
any questions about that. Okay. Um I do have a Mr. Oh, sorry. Um is this up for some type of will this be voted on as a board to to uh accept?
This is really just I don't think it needs a vote. Yeah. Right now we're just right now we're asking for um feedback to make sure that it's you know relevant and has Don't we have to accept it as a board if
not accepted by vote? It has to be I mean how do you find it? Agreed. But I think at this point we're just asking for feedback. Got it. in order in order to for it to be an operative document for the board. You're correct. It has there has to be a vote.
Correct. So then um could we make a could I make a motion then that we vote on this at the next meeting? Sure. Yeah. I mean I was I'm sorry. I guess when I wasn't sure if that was the plan or was there something else
you're very right. I don't think we had a plan that is clearly defined. So unless we get too many comments to get it ready by the next board meeting. Can we put that little caveat in? Did we mention something about September 17th as a potential? That's the next board meeting. Yep. I'm thinking there's more than one.
Yep. Don't bring us back here too often. Okay. Any other questions? Thank you, Tim. Uh so as a liaison uh I met I went to the educational services commission in Morris County um meeting
which I you know I love um and uh it was wonderful again to hear them preparing for the new school year. Um they are very very busy. Uh the list of bus routes that they are covering for all of Morris County is insane. Um um so I uh had the pleasure of sitting in. Uh no
issues to report. Um they are doing well. All right. Thank you. Um, because we have a new member, the updated committee assignments will come out soon. And then something I should have probably said in unfinished
business and I'll try to remember next time. Um, our lawyer provided the township with a draft ordinance um, regarding pilot funds on July 31st and we have not heard anything back yet. So that's the status of that
and that is the end of the committee and li le liaison reports unless anybody has anything else. So we will move to the approval of the regular and executive minutes of July 24th 2025 special meeting July 31st 2025 and work
session August 7th 2025. May I have a motion please? Mrs. Mayor and a second. Dr. Wright and a roll call. Mrs. Abraham. Uh, yes on regular and executive of July
24th, no on July 31st, and yes to work session of August 7th. Mr. Barios. Yes. Mrs. Defe, abstain. Mr. Devito, yes to the regular executive on July
24th. No to the 31st. Yes to the work session August 7th. Mrs. Mayor. Yes. Mr. Rehea. Uh, no to the 31st and yes to the others. Dr. Wright,
yes. Mrs. Chappelle, yes. Mrs. Kogan, yes. Motion passes. Um, Superintendent Bulletin number two, Dr. Maroon. Sure. How's everybody doing? Good.
All right. So, as was mentioned in the HR committee report, we did have a min retreat uh this week. It was two days and uh it's just a great um a great two days. You know, we have spent kind of all summer apart from each other and get get together 40 strong I think is a good
thing. And we do a lot of procedural things, a lot of uh punch list items as far as procedures and safety and um all of our reports and and everything else. But we do devote a lot of time, I wouldn't say a lot of time, but a good amount of time, an important time to
talking about leadership and what it means to be a building leader or an instructional leader and how um you are in many ways the most visible important person in the building and everything that you do, everything that you say and and how you say it and how you stand and where you go sends a message and
reinforces what you what you feel to be important. And uh we talked about how conversely on one hand you're the most important person and on the other hand you're the least important person because what matters are the students and the teachers and how they're interacting and you really there to in a
in a position of leadership. The higher we go up um the more people were we're here to serve and that's what we really drove home because um that's what it's all about. So it's a great couple days. We cover a lot and I think we all leave leave it feeling kind of pumped up to start the school year and and get
excited about all these new ideas, initiatives. We we talked um a little bit about like little things you can do as a principal or supervisor that mean a lot. Be it um following up with a student after a performance they were in or stopping by a teacher's classroom and saying like, "Do you have to go to the
bathroom? Like I will I will cover your class." You know what I mean? Or if there's a teacher on duty saying um I'm I'm going to sit here. I I've got half an hour to do some work. I'm going to sit here on hall duty and you go call some parents. Um following up with kids. Um just all these little things that add
up and we made a kind of an exhaustive list and I'm going to share them with them as a reminder throughout the course of the year. So uh you know that's what it's all about. There's so many things we have to do but so so much that we get to do and and it was a nice couple days. We're going to bring that energy into new staff orientation which is on Monday and Tuesday. And um as as Judy said,
it's it's a really fun couple days. And I remember vividly more than anything my my first couple days as a teacher and going to that training and starting the year being excited and having no idea what I'm doing and being completely overwhelmed, but just excited to meet kids of any age. And um it's going to be a great couple days. We have a smaller
group than usual. Um but it's going to be it's going to be really fun group. And you know, the supervisors work really hard to make sure that's a a day that leaves them feeling prepared. So, um, some motivation, some genesis, lesson planning, look, talking about our district goals and things like that. Um,
almost done. Happy birthday to Kate on the record. All right. 29. Big deal. 29, right? Um, and today we had our we have our our we have our three academic pathways. STEM pathways has been this is in year five now and it's kind of just an unstoppable unstoppable machine. They
headed their kickoff program with incoming freshmen today. uh our VPA pathway and our humanities pathway will be, you know, rolling out this year. We're really excited for the opportunities that presents to our students as well. So that's all I have to say tonight. Thanks. Are there any questions or comments on
the superintendent's bullet? Just one quick comment. So you just I'll I'll do it. So Dr. Mun, you just mentioned this the STEM pathways kickoff. My son was lucky enough to be able to attend that this morning. So, he uh didn't tell me much
cuz he's a brooding 14-year-old, so he doesn't really say whatever, but I think he enjoyed it, you know. So, so far so good. Yeah, it's a great day. Good event. So, he was officially presenting bulletin items 1 through 59 and addendum and readin items number 60 through 84.
I just I was just about to say that. You totally stole my thunder. That's all right. I'll get it next. Uh, all right. The secretary's report. Dr. MCU. Okay. So, the business section, uh,
which obviously is your favorite part of this board meeting. I know you just wait for it the whole time. Normal month, uh, we have our normal bills run. Uh, I did have a couple questions on the large number of transfers. Robin's parting gift to the district was a 40page
transfer which reallocated some salaries between account lines. Um, but we also had last year and this year transfers. Board secretary report was clean. Robin is now our treasurer, so she's on board. On the other side, and that's helpful. We have the adoption of our purchasing manual and our standard operating
procedure manual. We have our our lunch price lists out there. Chapter 192 and 193 funding. Um, a motion for us to be included in the Morris County Vocational School District process, our school alliance fund, and the the bid threshold
has changed for the business administrator with a QPA, which is myself. So, we're able to purchase up to 53,000 before we have to go to bid, which could help us save some money. Are there any questions on the
secretar's report? Okay. Uh, we had no official new business to come before the board. So, we are now up to the hearing. Kogan, sorry, one quick comment. So, I just wanted to welcome Miss Stella Fave to the board
and uh I there's plenty of people on this board who have had a lot of experience. Don't be don't be afraid to ask me for any exist. I've been on the board since my seventh year. I think you would agree that you know don't be afraid to do that. I think that's helpful to you and welcome.
Thank you. Okay, so now we're up to the hearing of the public. At this time, if there is anyone who would like to address the board, please come up, sign your name and address in the book of the lectern and state your name for the record and please address the chair. Each person will have three minutes to speak to the
board. It would be helpful if you'd like to address the board to please come up now. Sign in so that you're ready when this first speaker is finished. As a reminder, we are video recording this meeting. If you're a student who wishes to speak, we ask that you not provide your home address, but rather give only
the name of the town in which you live. If you're a parent wishing wish wishing to discuss a specific matter pertaining to your child during this portion of the meeting, you may request that the board temporarily suspend the video recording. Alternatively, please consider speaking privately about the matter to the
superintendent after the meeting. Speakers should refrain from using specific student or staff names in their comments and are referred to bylaw 168 for further information regarding the videotaping of our meetings. Is there anyone who would like to speak?
Okay, seeing none, then we will go to the roll call vote of superintendent bulletin number two, items 1 through 59 with addendum items 60 to 84 and readins. May I have a motion, please? Mrs. Abraham. Second,
Mr. Devito. Uh, roll call, please. Mrs. Abraham. Um, yes to everything, but just had a question on since uh number six C as in CAT is the 143. I was just wondering if I should abstain or no or
something on that on that policy while it's in discussion. I'm sorry, you number 6 C was uh policy uh bylaw 143 143 and I just wanted to know if that requires a abstain or no or anything that requires
it doesn't require anything. You can you can a yes vote would be to move that to the second reading. Okay. A no vote would be to no, you're not in favor of it. An abstension is that um or recuse yourself um from it is that you don't feel that you have enough
information to make the decision. Then I will just say abstain on that one. Just that number six seat and yes to everything else. Mr. Barios I need to recuse on number 10 and also
on the bills list number 10163 I need to recuse on that also yes to everything else Mrs. Del abstain Mr. Devito yes Mrs. Mayor yes Mr. Rheea
yes Dr. Wright. Yes. Mrs. Chappelle. Yes. Mrs. Coven. Yes. Okay. There being no further business, I need a motion to adjourn the meeting. Dr. Wright, Mr. Veto, would you like to second? All in favor?
I. Meeting adjourned.