Will you please read the statement of compliance? In compliance with the Open Public Meeting Act, public law 1975, chapter 231, notice that this meeting has been properly advertised in the daily record in suburban trends. Its agenda has been posted at the appropriate locations and
a copy has been filed with the Quanic Township clerk. Thank you. Please call the role. Mr. Bloomer here. Mr. Sesi here. Mrs. Espazito here. Mr. Gon here. Miss AO here. Mr. Mcweeny here. Mr. Pompeo here.
Mr. Sen here. Mrs. Shent here. We have a quarum. Thank you. Will everyone please stand for the flag salute? To the flag of the United States of America to the current legal situation. I'm not going to read that statement again
because the situation is unchanged, but I would like to make a few statements. First, the district is working with law enforcement and following all applicable laws. Second, as stated on Thursday, we welcome public comment and we want you to come forward and share your concerns
and perspectives. For your information, there are two public comment opportunities tonight. The first is for agenda items and the second is for any item. The current legal matter is an agenda item tonight. Therefore, you may during first public session if you wish. Please know that while we want to answer
all your questions, we cannot because of the current ongoing criminal investigation and personnel matter. Third, a question came up at the last meeting about the music program that PTHs and our plan moving forward. The board is committed to ensuring that our
music program continues at the highest level and Dr. Poris will give an update on that topic during his report. Fourth, the Quanic is an outstanding community and school district. Our students work hard and achieve success on many levels every year. The board
wants to continue to celebrate the achievements of our students now more than ever. Therefore, we will proceed with our originally scheduled meeting program tonight in which we will honor our national merit commended students in AP scholars. After that, Dr. Poris and Mr. Hazler will give a performance
report on our advanced placement program which is thriving. Last, I want to say that today begins the week of respect in our district. Each day, students will wear a different color or item of clothing to promote kindness, anti-bullying, can cancer awareness, school spirit, and puanic
pride in the blue and gold. We wish all the students and staff a great week ahead. Thank you, and I'll hand it over to Dr. Boris. Thank you, Mr. Senic. Usually, I send it straight over to the um student representatives. I'm actually gonna speak first and then obviously send it
over to them. Um, in a transition from what Mr. Senk was saying to echo the sentiment, our focus with our music program is to move forward with our students and families to provide the best experience possible. Uh, late last week, Mrs. Milner and Ms. Barbosa, who
was our STEM and science supervisor, uh met with students during lunch on Friday and started mapping out how we can ensure that our students can still be successful in a program that means so much to them as well as to our community. And just to give background to Miss Barbosa's qualifications, I realize when I see say someone is in
STEM and science, um music doesn't necessarily jump to mind. That is her background is in musical theater as well as in vocal music. And she stepped forward to say I can help. Um, she's worked here for about three and a half, four months and she already has embraced
the spirit that I think really guides not just the school district but this community, that mentality that I can help and she already is and is very optimistic about that meeting as well as what's coming out of it. So, we met later that day as an administrative team to establish what we're looking for to
staff the programs as well as the classroom. We're going to continue to collaborate with students and their families on ensuring that we have the strongest vocal music and theater program that we can and I appreciate the input that I've received from parents about this. Um I try to make myself as available as possible and I appreciate
that there can be such open conversations and I'm so proud of our kids uh for being able to step up and trust that um administrative team and others want to work to help them. And I know that this is a huge part of their identity and it means a lot to them.
Um, speaking of that, I was able to attend the band competition on Saturday night. Um, I'm incredibly impressed with the level of preparation from our band families, performance of our students under Mr. Striker's direction and leadership. Um, and the incredible
turnout from our community. Commented to a friend that it felt like a celebration of the present as well as an important step in a community healing process. Um, and I just felt a tremendous sense of togetherness and belief and it was it was truly a wonderful night. Um, on a
humorous side note, um, I was coerced into purchasing and I'm with the bands. I'm here for the band's t-shirt, which I was able to model. Um, it was it's a really nice shirt. Um, my wife was asking, she said, "You need another t-shirt." I'm like, "No, but I needed a
band shirt." And so now I have one and I have I don't ever use the word promise but I guess I sort of did Mrs. Meyer that I will bless you where I didn't promise to bless her. I promised that I would wear my rain jacket again next year because every year that I've gone I've pretty much brought monsoon rains
with me. So this year I figured if I wear a rain jacket uh the rain will be kept at bay and my superstition apparently worked. So I'm wearing it again next year. Um, on a much more serious note from Saturday, I'd like to offer my condolences to the first responders as well as family of Miss
Christine Francis Con who's a proud member of our first aid squad. Um, and a reminder that we are a very close-knit community and Quanic. It bears repeating their prayers with her, with her family, and that the district is here to help. Um and then finally before I uh provide
a segue to give um young ladies an opportunity to speak about from their perspective um we do have an AP presentation tonight and I just give you a little background. Um the genesis for this presentation actually started back in July. I was out for an early morning
run down in North Carolina and um this administrative team knows that I'm off limits down there. Um and I got a text on my phone and I thought it's got to be pretty significant. It was from Mr. Hazler. So I finished up my run um and
gave him a quick call and pretty out of breath at the at that point. And I think he was out of breath too because he was so excited and he was so proud of what our students had accomplished. And they didn't accomplish it alone. They accomplished it with the support of our our staff, the teachers who are trusted to teach them in these AP classes. And
it was such a wonderful experience back in July. We're we've been excited to be able to present this tonight. And I say that we're going to present it. There's microphone. this Mr. Hazler, I'm not going to be saying very much, but we have an opportunity to share something outstanding with our community and I
think that's really important. So, when we mapped out our plan for this for this fall for data presentations, um this is the what's on October 6th and then October 27th, Mrs. Vans is going to present on the state scores. But I think it's important to keep this in place as
a reminder that this celebrates hard work of our staff and students. Um, and we get a chance also to recognize many of the students who helped us to earn those results. So, um, I I believe it's a celebration of what we're here for and what we do. And I'd like to thank all
the students and their parents who came here tonight and also proactively thank Mr. Hazler for being prepared for the presentation. And with that, I'm going to pass it over to our wonderful trio of student representatives, including she doesn't have a name plate, uh, Olivia Espazito. You're going to eventually
earn your name plate. I think it's for your third. You have to go to three meetings first and then you get a name plate, but we'll we'll make sure we have you fitted out for one as well. So, um I just want to thank everyone for being here tonight. And now we're going to trans transition over to the student report. Thank you.
Good evening everyone. My name is Olivia Espazito and I'm excited to be the third board of ed speaker this year. I'm currently a junior at PTHs. I've been enrolled in the Allied Healthcare Academy since freshman year. I'm also enrolled in AP Language and Composition and AP US History 2. This year I serve on the executive board of HOSA as a
reporter. I am also involved involved in the interact clubs fundraising committee how to have humanity student council united by UNICEF unified sports and peer leaders. In addition, I am a varsity fall win with your cheerleader and a coach for the PYSA fifth and sixth grade cheer. I look forward to sharing the
student perspective and highlighting the great work and pride happening in our schools. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to represent my peers. Now for the report fall sports have been continuing to work hard. Good luck to all the sports teams in their counting tournaments. Tennis had their senior night on Thursday. Congratulations to
the seniors on their hard work for the past four years. Field hockey senior night is tonight. Congrats to all the seniors in the program for their hard work over the past four years. Congratulations to Fiona Arnold and Ava Shikman on 100 career kills. Homecoming had a great turnout with over 385
students in attendance. The student enjoyed music and hanging out with their friends. Following the dance, spirit week had a great turnout each day. Students were involved in themes and truly showed their school spirit each day. The week ended with the Hall of Fame inductions on Thursday night, the
fall pep rally where students had a great time competing against each other and teachers and fun games. And we had our white out game, our white out football game on Friday night. The homecoming king and queen were announced at the homecoming football game. Congratulations to James Stryance who was named king and Olivia Fino who named
queen. The PTHs student activity fair was held during lunch where students were able to walk around and talk to different student representatives, advisors from the clubs. Timothy Shoemaker came to the high school last Tuesday to provide a presentation entitled clicks, choices,
and consequences. The assembly focused on making important decisions regarding drug and alcohol use, social media, and social interactions with peers. The speaker interacted with the students, included personal stories about his life as a police officer, encouraged us to
support one another in living our best lives. This assembly kicked off the month of October where there is the week of respect, red ribbon week, school violence and vandalism, and digital citizenship week. AP Lang and AP Gov collaborated in a
conversation on Wednesday about the Declaration of Independence. AP Lang students discussed the rhetoric and AP gov students discussed the political values in the document. The 250th anniversary of the Declaration Independence is coming up. The marching band has its home competition this
Saturday, October 4th on the stadium field. Congratulations to everyone and a special thank you to the Association of Music Parents and to Mr. Striker who helped organize the event. Presidents and vice presidents from NHS, the student council, and members of the spirit committee were invited to attend
the NJACK wellness summit held at Mountain Creek, New Jersey. Today, over 300 students and staff from the NJC conference attended keynote speeches and workshops on the top on topics of mindfulness, digital citizenship, college readiness, and leadership tips. The students will be relaying the
information to the respective grade levels at a later date. Emily will finish the rest. The college knowledge night is Wednesday is on Wednesday in the auditorium where students and their parents can attend to learn more information about the college application process and hear from the
guidance department. There will also be a financial aid night on October 16th via June uh via Zoom where the Principia Prep will be providing information to the parents about what to look for financial aid and scholarships. An email
will send out to all the parents registered for the live webinar. The the school counseling department is setting up individual college meetings for students to meet with admission counselors. The colleges include King University, Monontlair State University,
Ruckers Newark, William Patterson University, Ryder University, Ramapa College, Moravian University, Temple University, and more to follow. Information will be coming regarding the these dates and visits. The school counseling department is also setting up
immediate decision days where colleges will come to review applications and accept students that same day. The department is looking at a date in December. NHS is holding peer tutoring sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays where students can come and get help from their peers
in their core subjects. This week, schools throughout the district are recognizing the week of respect with different themes in school spirit. At the high school, student council is arranging a take what you need wall
designed to enable students to take positive affirmations with them throughout the week. four years and beyond. Our PTHs orientation program is coming up on October 23rd here at PTHS. We look forward to meeting all the eighth
graders who will be attending or looking to attend PTHs next year. Thank you for your time and have a great night. Thank you. That was outstanding. Uh very well coordinated and uh very very informative. And one one thing I will add as well just as a as an aside to
that too. Um, in terms of the college knowledge night and and other events, please fall on us for whatever help you need in terms of help of the college application process. I know it's stressful for students, but it's also very stressful for families too and it can become quite overwhelming and I'
I've been through it all three of my kids and I was high school educator for a long time. It's a lot. So, um, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Honestly, if you reach out to me and you want insight as a parent, um, I can speak in that role as well. So, thank you so much for presenting all that.
Great job. And uh Liberty, it looks like you're gonna be getting that name plate. That was that was great. So, thank you. [Applause] Now, our next part of uh the evening is
going to focus on student recognitions. Uh Mr. Hazel will speak about our national merit amended students as well as our AP scholars and the three different categories for that. um we'll help students um have the recognition first. This way if they have to get home
and focus on their studies that they'll have the opportunity to do so. We'll follow that up with AP performance report and then we'll get into the rest of the agenda. Thank you Dr. Poris and thank you to the members of the board of education for allowing me to be here this evening. Uh it is so critically important uh to
celebrate the success of our students. Uh they are the heartbeat of this building. Uh and they are certainly my heartbeat as the principal of Puquanic Township High School. So tonight, PTHS congratulates two seniors, Timothy Anderson and Aubrey Lent, for earning the status of National America Mended
Students for 2026. Approximately 34,000 students across the country earned this distinction based on a nationally applied selection index score based on their performance on the PSAT in their junior year. Timothy is an outstanding scholar at PTHS. He is currently taking two AP
classes which are literature and composition environmental science and took four AP classes and five AP tests last year earning a five on every exam. He is currently at Mars County College uh half a day taking calculus 3 and linear algebra. So I'd like to call up
Mr. Timothy Anderson. Tim, you can stand up there for a second. Aubrey has also taken advantage of her time here at PTHs. She's currently enrolled in three AP courses in literature, government, uh government, politics, and statistics. This follows her successful junior year
where she also took three AP classes. She's an incredibly active student, involved in too many activities to list, but most recently was named vice president of internal affairs for Habitat for Humanity and has also already been a big help in reestablishing our Folio magazine this year. She's a member of the National
Honor Society and is an award-winning member of our track and field team, Miss Aubrey Lens. Congratulations to our National Merit commended students. Can you take a picture? [Applause] [Applause]
They will be coming back up here shortly, so don't go anywhere. You, too. Uh, every fall, the AP program recognizes high school students who have demonstrated outstanding college level achievement through their performance on multiple AP exams. AP scholar awards come in different uh levels and types
and I'll be talking to them talking about them in my presentation this evening but I'll go over them right now. The first is an AP Scholar and this is granted to students who receive scores of three or higher on three or more AP exams. Our AP scholars with honors are granted to students who receive an
average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on four or more of those exams. And then AP Scholar with distinction. These are granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of
three or higher on five or more of those exams. But Township High School is proud to announce that we had 24 AP scholars with an average of 3.71. We had 19 AP scholars with honors with an average score of 4.21
and 25 AP scholars with distinction with an average score of 4.40, which is pretty amazing. Let's give them a round of applause. Tonight, we will be recognizing those students who are currently students here at PTHs and continuing in the AP program. Students who graduated last
year received a letter of commendation in the mail from me. Um, and and really just appreciate their hard work and dedication, many of which we acknowledged last year as AP scholars at our board meeting. So, I'm going to call up um by alphabetical order and I'll announce where they where they fall. But
up first is Shane Albertson, an AP scholar with honors. Congratulations. Timothy Anderson, AP Scholar with distinction. Ben Barone, AP Scholar. Derek Cipiel, AP Scholar with honors.
Congratulations. Megan Derizio, AP Scholar with distinction. Victoria Gaba, AP Scholar. Ug Kerdier, AP Scholar. Miriam Katzi, AP Scholar. Congratulations. Sophia Kletcher, AP Scholar.
Aubrey Lens, AP Scholar with distinction. Shannon McGawan, AP Scholar. Dar Mystery, AP Scholar with honors. Congratulations. Jillian Nafy, AP Scholar. Todd Nafy, AP Scholar with honors.
John O' Conor, AP Scholar. [Applause] Evan Pah, AP Scholar. Eva Rodriguez, AP Scholar. Claire Sitig, AP Scholar with honors. [Applause]
Shannon Siddig, AP Scholar with distinction. [Applause] Where is she? At work. She's at work. James Stryand's AP Scholar. Congratulations.
Also, Homecoming King. And last but not least, Tristan Sedoric, AP Scholar with distinction. Congratulations our AP scholars everybody. Congratulations. All right, let's see if you can organize yourselves in a way that we can get you
all in one photo. This is your challenge. Let's look at him go. Brian, do you uh [Applause] Once again, congratulations to our AP
scholars. Students, you are good to go. Aldo, if you could You're welcome. Congratulations. All right. Once again, good evening everyone. I'm going to just take a few minutes uh to talk a little bit about our AP scores and how we did. Uh last
year, if you remember, for those of you last year, I did a presentation up at Cedar Crest the beginning of the year. Uh so, some of this is is a little bit similar. Um but I I wanted to share with the audience kind of what the AP program is really all about. Um, so tonight's overview is going to be really to show our showcase our students and how well
they did in the 2024 2025 school year, provide a five-year historical trend in student performance and then identify some action steps to continue our path to success because, you know, I never want to as as successful as we are, we never want to rest on our laurels, right? And and we want to make sure that
we are providing our students um with ways to push beyond uh what they think they can do. And so uh we're looking at various things that we'll talk about this evening. So just really very quickly some of the basics about the advanced uh placement program. AP courses are college level courses that
are offered in the high school setting. Courses reflect what is taught uh in an introductory college level class and the and the AP exams are taken near the end of the course in May and measure student mastery. Uh one of the things that you know you have to keep into consideration
is we are taking exams in May at the same time that some schools across the country start in early August. Right? So, our students are are starting in September um almost a month behind sometimes when you're looking at schools in the Midwest. Uh and so our students
are really working incredibly hard uh to do well on these exams. And a score of three or higher on an AP exam can typically earn students college credit andor placement into an advanced course in college. And I'll talk a little bit about uh some of the courses that we offer, but also the myths to that
because some parents um and some students think that those uh credits can apply uh to to anything. and I and I'll clear that up as we go. These are the courses that we offer here at PTHs that are AP designated courses. Uh you'll see that some have asterisks next to them that those are based on enrollment. So
courses like in English we have AP seminar and AP research. That is a capstone program. So the research course is based on whether or not the seminar seminar class runs. So this year our seminar class is running. we have eight students in it with the expectation that those eight students would then take
research in their either junior or senior year depending on what year they're in. Um there is talk uh you know in in different schools throughout the the state about AP Seminar being an English 10 uh honors level course. We are looking at that. I'm not necessarily saying that that's going to happen next year, but that's something that we're
having conversations with with our language arts department uh because it really is a tremendous opportunity for our students in history. You'll see the same thing with with art history. uh calculus BC. We have some students that will take AP calculus and choose which exam to take. So they'll take the calc
AB or they'll take the calc BC exam. We had two students last year take BC. Both got fives. Um this year we are running a new course computer uh science A. So that is a new addition to our computer science STEM program. And I'd like to thank uh Miss Frolic. She's teaching
that. But Mr. Cop for his drive as our academy coordinator and Miss Barbosa. uh they were big into getting that uh on the slate of classes for our students. And then you'll see in our sciences uh you'll see that physics one and physics C mechanics. So our students who take AP physics will more than likely take both
of those tests uh which which you'll see uh some of the results in a few minutes. The same thing goes for our economics in the business courses. Students will take uh macroeconomics and microeconomics in the same year u because that the course runs that way. Uh the only uh classes
that don't have an AP exam is US history 1. So the students will not take a test until they take AP US2 uh in their junior year. We also reintroduced Spanish uh last year. So which was was was excellent for our students uh and they performed very were very very well.
So just some myths about the AP program. AP courses are for students who always who only get good grades or who always get good grades and that's not necessarily the case. They're for students who are academically prepared and motivated to take a college level course. Our students can wave into an AP
class. There are some AP courses that do not require uh students to be waved in like AP psychology. Uh that's a class that students can choose to take if that's something that they're interested in. Uh AP art for example, students who are passionate about art then and want to design a portfolio, they often very
much go into those classes. AP seminar which I spoke about is also a class like that. Second myth is AP courses are too stressful. They are challenging, but at the same time, the support that's received from teachers and classmates can help students manage the workload. We have students that are taking two,
three, four, uh sometimes five APs. For a student that chooses to take five APs in a year, uh we do meet with them and their parent just to make sure they understand uh what they're getting themselves into. uh they are few and far between, but those students who do that
uh again do very very well. But we just like to make sure that they are staying balanced and and being able to get involved in either going to work or their activities uh time to hang out with friends u because they students in these courses do take everything so seriously. So we want to make sure that
they're not stressing themselves out. Taking AP courses could hurt my GPA. Uh all a all AP courses do receive AP waiting. Uh so students sometimes are afraid of that. Uh they'll they'll go to honors instead uh because they don't want it to affect their waiting, but in
reality getting a B in an AP class or a C in an AP class is the same as getting an A or a B in an academic or an honors setting. So it really shows for those that are looking to apply to colleges, it does show um the students level of commitment to their work. Another myth is I can't take an AP course because I
was not recommended. As I mentioned before, if you think you're ready for an AP course, you do need to advocate for yourself. And I I talk about that with the students when it comes to scheduling season, talk to your teacher and your counselor. Sometimes, you know, maybe it just wasn't a strong year for you, and
that's okay. Sometimes, uh, you know, particularly in a math class, you might find that geometry is harder than algebra, and and so, you know, geometry just wasn't your thing, but algebra 2 is. So, that will help you get into that AP pre-calculus class. So those types of things um we really encourage the
students to advocate for themselves but also as parents uh you know what your child is capable of and that's a conversation you want to have with the your child's guidance counselor. And then I don't think I will score high enough on an AP exam to get college credit. You don't need to score a five. And that's that's a myth that people
always think. Many colleges grant credit andor placement based on a three or higher. Uh and and what's nice is and thank you to the board of education. We do reimburse students who score three or higher on the exam. What I always tell students and our counselors tell students is make sure that you check with the colleges that you're applying
to to make sure that they do accept those college credits. They may accept them for that content or they may accept them as general education credits. Uh where it can really help you. We have so many students that go into their first year sometimes as sophomores which for parents I know that helps out
financially but also get students to where they want to go a little bit faster. So uh as students are going through the college application process particularly now uh or if you have a junior and you're starting to look at colleges those are questions that you're going to want to ask when you go on your college visits. So those are just some
AP myths versus the realities of the AP program. And if you really want to take a look at it on the AP uh website, you can actually go into the colleges and you can see by course what they accept and what they don't based on scores. So it does take some time, but it's it's
definitely worth it as you go through the college process. So I have that link there which uh we will post uh online I believe uh and you'll be able to see uh and click on. So how did we do in 2024 2025? We offered 22 different AP exams.
Uh we introduced AP Spanish. We had 350 student tests. So we had a um and you'll see there over the previous years uh the number of tests that we had. We had a smaller population of students last year total in the school. Uh but we had an average score of 3.93 and this
represented the highest average score dating back to at least 1999. Uh those were the records that I could find uh being here and went back and and found a spreadsheet from 1999. So, you know, kudos to our students for the outstanding job. Uh, averaging almost a
4.0 on on all of the AP exams and 21 of the 22 subjects averaged a three or higher, which is just remarkable. So, if you look at it over the course of the years, uh, you'll see that we had 186 students. Last year, we had 350 exams
and 163 AP scores with a three or higher, which was 88% of our total AP students scoring a three or above. Um, you know, when you look at that number, it just speaks to the hard work of our students, the dedication of our staff,
the commitment of our families in making sure that our students are prepared and doing what they need to do at home, making sure that they're doing okay. Kudos to our guidance counselors and it really shows that the placement process that we use at PTHS is working. You know, our students are getting in the
right spots to help them be successful. So, in looking at some of our scores, um, our highest score, as I said, was a 3.93 dating back to 1999. 16 out of the 22 tests had a 100% passing rate. AP Calculus had an average score of 4.92
with two of the students averaging a five on the Calculus BC. Just think about that for a second, right? 4.92. Uh, that's all the students in that class. AP physics averaged a 4.6. The national average is a 3.12. Uh,
mechanics was a 4.40. Pre-calculus averaged a 4.87 in our second year. Uh, and those students then feed into the AP calculus class. So, those students are currently sitting in AP Calculus right now. US history had its highest average in in
the last seven years with a 4.40. English lit and lang again really off the charts. Chemistry, which is historically an incredibly difficult exam, averaged a 4.0. Uh, and those are students who took chemistry, uh, either honors chemistry as a sophomore and then
took AP chemistry either as a junior or a senior. Our AP environmental science class had its a highest average since the class began with a 3.9. AP gov was 4.58. uh micro and macroeconomics in our second year averaged a 3.7 and 3.6 which
was outstanding. Um psychology had its highest average score. Music theory continues to outperform the state and global test takers and we performed out outperformed the state and global test takers in 17 of the 22 subjects which again uh is just a testament to our
students. So we just recognized our AP scholars. So you look there we had uh six more AP scholars this year than we did last year. Uh and so just again uh just a tremendous job from our students. You look at the 25 AP scholars with distinctions 4.40 average. Um you know
really just incredible. So this was us as we compared ourselves against the state and and global. I just combined uh the English, math, science and social studies scores. So you can kind of see just averaging you know if I averaged environmental science, physics, biology, chemistry all together we ended up with
a 4.44. Uh math was all the math scores 4.26. 26 and so on and so forth. Um or sorry, English, English was 4.44. Uh science was the environmental science, chemistry, biology was a 4.01. And then social studies uh was a 3.78. So in in
looking at that, it just, you know, shows how well we do here uh in in so what are our next steps? Well, first it's to celebrate. It's sitting down with our students um as we did tonight, but uh I've been talking with them about their test results in the hallway. the
teachers have uh meeting with the AP teachers to review detailed score reports, sitting down with them. Um right now, Miss Barbosa is our AP coordinator. So, we've been talking with the AP teachers uh g we're going to be giving them time and professional development days for them to really talk about what they're seeing uh with the
students, providing them with that data. That's so important to to push them a little bit further. and then looking at how AP exams correlate or AP scores correlate to their final grades. Making sure that students, you know, are their grades should reflect how they're doing
on the test. Uh, one of the things that I really want to focus on this year is having the AP students visit PV school uh to talk about how to prepare for AP courses because world AP World History is the first course that they'll take here at PTHs and sometimes that can be a shock when they walk in uh to in terms
of the workload, the amount of reading, those types of things. So, we're going to uh work hard at that this year. We do have our AP students go down to the elementarymentaries and they at the end of the year and they do lessons with the kids. We're going to focus on PV in terms of doing some actual work examples with the kids that are being recommended
into the AP classes so that they're aware of the type of workload they get, not just when they get the summer work, uh but well before that. And then finally, utilizing the AP potential data uh for purposes of student scheduling. So, what AP potential does is is it takes a look at all of our student
performance uh data and it gives us a list of what the students could potentially take uh as classes. So, the kids that are currently in the AP program, how would they do uh if they wanted to take AP lit, all right? And it so it'll tell you this student should
take the class this student has been doing really well, they should take AP calculus, right? Right? And those are conversations that our guidance counselors can have to show the students, hey, the AP college program is saying you can do this. They believe in you. We believe in you. You can do it.
And so some students uh take do take that data seriously. Some um they they just they just need that chance to believe in themselves. And and so that's our job, right? That's our job as as administrators. That's our job as teachers is to help students believe that they can be more than they thought
was possible. And so, uh, congratulations to our AP students. Congratulations to our AP teachers. Uh, thank you to the board of education for your tremendous support. Uh, it it really does make a difference for our kids, uh, when when they go because the first two weeks of May, they're
incredibly stressful, but every kid that I talk to, when they go into the exam, they're showing confidence, and when they walk out of the exam, they're smiling. And that's what you want. You want kids going in regardless of how they do, they give it their best and that's all we can ever expect from our
kids is that they give us their very best when it matters most. So, thank you very much. Uh, if you have any questions, I'm certainly happy to answer them. Uh, but this is our AP program for the 2024 2025 school year. [Applause]
U Mr. Hazel, real quick, I noticed the 23 24 year there was a spike like 223 I think the number was. Do we know what why it spiked and then went back to like that 186 numberish? So it's really just the size of the classes. Um right now we have our our
senior class is a little bit smaller. Um our junior class this year is 185 which is kind of a bubble class. Um so it really depends on the number of students we have in the school. And then um one of the things we're doing this year is we should see another increase this year is um our allied health students don't
didn't normally take AP exams. They took the Ruters tests and a lot of our seniors um did not take the Rutgers tests for credit and so that's an opportunity for us. Uh so we have those students this year taking AP Bio. So those are those are another 18 or 19
students that are going to be taking the AP bio exam for us and and which actually is to their benefit. Uh those students will um you often talk to colleges and they see that it's great that our students are taking recctors credits but sometimes they miss out on those AP classes and so it gives us an opportunity to provide that for them and
gives them a chance to be challenged in that way. So so we're hoping to see that it's going to fluctuate from time to time just based on the the the sheer number of students we have uh in the building. So it if if it'll fluctuate probably, you know, 15 16 kids here and there directly.
So it wasn't about an offering that was new and then removed or anything like that. No. Okay. No. And really our AP program is based on student interest. So there's times where students will want to take AP seminar, but then they have three other AP classes and because that's such a unique course, we only offer it once
within our schedule, it makes it very hard to take and so sometimes we just can't run the course. AP Art History is similar to that because there's such niche classes. Um we did have one student last year take AP comparative government uh on their own um and they just wanted to take the test and they
got a three on it uh which was fantastic. Uh so we do provide those opportunities as well for students who who do want to take those types of exams. That student gave up their their lunch period and actually worked in their study hall uh with Dr. O'Keefe. Uh and so that was um you know those are some options that we do have for the
kids if they want to pursue that um in their jun in their senior year. So scores are absolutely amazing. Thank you for that presentation. I'm incredibly as always proud of our students and how hard they work and how dedicated they are. I mean they just
obviously I have a student who is in AP classes and I see the rigor. Um I'm always impressed when I go back to when I go to back to school night to see the curriculum and and to see everything that's going on. I do think it would be remiss if if we did and I'm not taking away from the students credit or or all
the work hard work that they had but I do want to highlight that this is the highest average score since 1999 right the 2425 school year that is also the first year that we implement implemented later school start times. So based off
of all that data and all that research that was used, you know, for the for the process of, you know, having the later school start times. I mean, I think that that can can be a factor that that helped our students, the more sleep they
got, the schedule, the changing in the schedule. Um I I think we would rem be remiss if we did not acknowledge how much that has helped our students and can also be used as a data point in our own ga district gathering of how it has
impacted our kids. But thank you for that amazing presentation. Thank you. And we'll have some of that data for you. Actually I know Dr. Pors and I are talking about that with with PV and and the high school talking about some data with that. I mean, I think we can use it as I mean, I'm still hopeful
that the state will change every district to 8:30 based upon all the medical research. Um, but I think that if we can continue to look at our own school start time and ways we can continue to add for the kids, that would be great. I understand the restrictions
that we have, but this is another clear factor that's showing how impactful that extra 20 minutes does really help them. Anybody else have any more questions? Mr. Hazel, thank you very much. Great
presentation. Mr. Gibbs, do you have a report? Yes. Good evening. Uh tonight's board agenda, there is a motion for the approval for the acceptance of a non-public school grant in the amount of $20,5525. The grant is for aquanic staff member to
teach STEM at the OR Israel School of Bergen County. There is no cost to the school district for this service is as it is a pass through. On September 26th, the test holes for the septic were completed and samples sent out for
testing for the new board office. The test for the oil tank was not done as there was a discovery that changed the manner of collecting test samples. And this will be discussed further at the work session portion of the meeting. On September 29th, the school district received an open request for a complete
list of school districts insurance policies. The request was completed on September 30th in accordance with state guidelines. On September 30th, I reached out to the post office to find out their intentions regarding the purchase of the property of the current board office since there
is such a large gap in appraisals of over $300,000. Uh that too will be further discussed later on in the meeting. On October 3rd, the state of New Jersey uh school development authority or SDA authorized a grant in the amount of $1,162,200
for new HVAC units for the schools. The school district will have to spend two mill 2.9 million in order to receive the grant money. The grant will be incorporated into future budgets over the next three years. And finally, if there is any board members that need to cancel their reservations to the New
Jersey School Board Conference to please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you, Gordon. Gordon, just a quick question. I'm sorry I'm being difficult tonight. Um Oprah, we seem to be getting a lot of Opas again. Is that something that's
going on throughout the districts? Because I know last year there was like an upheaval in in districts requests for OPARS. Is it I'm I'm just curious. It is normal. Yes, we do get quite a few and other districts also get quite a few. It's it's just an ongoing thing.
A a lot of the OPER requests that we receive are actually from vendors um and they're looking for um staff information so that they can send out emails with their information and try and apply their wares.
Thank you. All right, that brings us to our first opportunity for public comment. Members of the public may speak once for a maximum period of five minutes by the clock during this portion of the meeting. Public may speak on any agenda item during their five minutes. If a member of the public has a question, the
question should be directed to the board president. State your name and sign in before you begin. Uh hello Dave Vaseleno Quanic. Uh this is big. I absolutely love this town we live in. I love the people in it. I'm
blessed to call Puquanic my my hometown. Um I'm very involved as most of you know. And when you're involved with people, you find out all the good things that happen in town. You see all the good things shared on social medias. Um all the great things that people do, the
community does, the kids do. You see all the good things. Um but you don't hear the concerns because people are afraid of the gossip, the fingerpointing. Um it's just it's not it's not popular
to post common concerns. And being that I talked to so many people, I hear a lot of the concerns. Um, we understand in this matter um that it's currently in a in a criminal uh
criminal matter. Um, but I'm going to try to bring up some points that are not because we know it can't be discussed because it it is a criminal matter and it's it's a lawsuit and no one wants to uh adjust that anyway or make make bad things uh come out.
Um, have we as a as a district, as a board considered any internal investigation into our policies regarding something like this? Um, have we addressed what's on paper that we
follow that maybe we didn't follow through with? And I I would recommend a third party come in and review it. Um because what's what's in place now uh it's not working right? It's it's just
not working. So we need to address the current policies you have and try to figure out what's not working and if they are working where did it fail. So I I'd like to see some sort of internal audit of our policies around this matter to figure out what's what's not working
right. Um I understand the board has an unwavering commitment to its students. Um, but we need to see that more than ever. And a way to see that is not just to say that, you know, things that are happening, we support you. I get it. Everybody in the community supports. For
those who of you who were there on Saturday, um, I've been to many band competitions, and I've never seen a crowd like that before. So, the community came out and said, "You know what, band parents, band kids, Mr. Strifer, we support you." the roar of
the crowd when that band came out and we were introduced at 9:30. The football team was there, the soccer team was there, lacrosse team was there, the community supports these kids in this program. Um, and we just need a little bit more to show them from the from the board to say, I understand we support,
we get it, but we need to see a little more. We want to see, hey, look, our policies may be lacking in this. We're going to adjust it. You know, maybe there was a failure somewhere that that somebody didn't do that. We'll we'll look at it again. like really hone it down to the parents. I'm a parent. My daughter went through these programs and
now I have to have these uncomfortable conversations with her because maybe something failed that we all need to address, right? These conversations are happening in many households in our community today and they shouldn't be. So why are they? That's what I'm asking. Why are they? What could we be doing
differently? Um be talking to a lot of people, you hear a lot of things. So, I'm not going to say as a matter of fact, other people have spoken up because I wasn't on the email. I wasn't part of the conversation. So, I've heard through people saying that there's been many
times that people reached out about concerns. If that's true, um, where did the process break down? Was every single complaint logged, escalated, and reviewed as per the school's policy?
Um, can you share the policy number? Because a lot of people are asking what's the policy and I know they're online, but there may be a few policies that are approved that fall into this matter. So, if you can share what policy numbers there are, we can look at them for themselves and kind of review along with
you and make constructive comments. Hey, why don't we look at this? Why don't we adjust this? Or this is a concern. We don't understand. Allow us to work with you to adjust the policies that need to be adjusted. um who and the policies that are in
place, who is accountable for ensuring that the policies are implemented and followed and updated as needed? I'm talking local from the school to the to the district as a whole. Who's responsible for saying if this is our policy, this is what's approved. Did you
follow the policy directly? Was the policy followed? If not, why was it not? And if you did and something happened, where do we need to fix it? What do we need to adjust? Right? This is this is a a a lesson learned from parents. I a lot
of parents, they want to make sure that the kids feel safe. When the parents drop their kids off, they feel safe. That we follow policies that puts our kids in a safe place where we don't have to worry about that. So we we do as a community want to build from this. We want to take a lessons learned. We want
to make it better. We want to make a safe environment for for everybody. Um, so that's that's a lot of what I'm I'm hearing is how, who, who didn't, who did, what needs to be changed. Like, this is not a a we don't want to hear
anything. We're we're we're we're finished with it. Learn from it. Let's all learn from it. Let's work on the policies together because transparency builds trust, but silence breaks it. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause] Greg Deese, how you doing? Uh, before I I need to go off point for just about 20 seconds here. The data the data on the AP, Mr. Hazler, is outstanding. I think you thanked everyone except for one person, and that's yourself. This
doesn't happen unless you create an environment that is fertile enough for the students and the faculty to make this kind of thing happen. So, I think we should give you a round of applause. Okay. I come to you as a former president of the Chamber of Commerce,
vice chair of the economic development committee, Parks and Rex committee, directed half the races in town, coached 50 teams, citizen of the year 2011. The point is I care greatly about this town
and I have two points to make. One, I'm going to use my daughter Cadence as an example. A lot of you, most of you know that she was in a terrible car accident last year, almost took her life. And the support from this community was
outstanding. Second to none. I'm still so thankful and so is she. and she has made close to a full recovery. By the way, my point, thanks. My point in saying that is I think we
have to start changing some of the narrative uh online and how we speak in regards to the family that was uh victimized by the situation. So, I know from our experience when people
talked about the person who caused Cadence's accident with Venom and it it didn't help. All it did was make us relive it. So, I would encourage everyone here, everyone in YouTube land, everyone online to just kind of think about that. We we we've been beating this around for a good week. Let's start
changing the message and really support the family however we can. And part of that, I think, is not letting them relive every day some of the horrors that go along with this. I know that the discussions have to be made, Dave. Excellent points. Uh you may as some of the hard questions that need to be
asked, but we don't need to keep going down that negative path. Uh thank you. And my second point is I understand last meeting there was a point made about a a a um suggestion that we going forward only look to the outside of the
community to replace the person who needs to be replaced. And I just want to make a counterpoint to that. I think we have an excellent community. We have excellent faculty here. We have many people in this town
who are going to apply. Many people who probably work in the high school in the other schools. They should at least be given an equal opportunity to anyone from the outside. So am I right? Thank you.
So I just ask that uh that is considered as we move forward. Thank you all. Hi, I'm Marissa Roberto. Um, I'm coming here to speak more on behalf of the choir class that's currently going on.
Um, for those that don't know, my daughter Lana is a senior and she is intending to study music, specifically piano, in college. Um for the past four years she has accompanied the choir um as the piano accompanyer company
whatever the word is for all of the concerts. Um last week when everything came forward about the situation there are currently seven seniors within the three choir classes.
On Thursday, the seven seniors started to develop their own group chat on how to lead the choir with the intention of performing for the Christmas concert. They were given five to six songs from
the previous teacher to start learning so they have material. Uh my daughter's role had always been to play the piano for the the um songs that required the piano music and then to sing with the
choir when that was not her job. So she and typically when in the class her class she would either be learning the music privately and then come in to transition in with the with the students once she was ready. The other classes
were typically taught by the previous teacher with the music until Lana was able to kind of merge with all of them. So right now you have seven seniors that are number one looking at the five to
six songs that they were given. They are talking amongst themselves on how to lead each class and which ones they are learning. And you also have my daughter who is just her own beats to her own drum and basically is trying to learn
the music while also learning audition material for college and other things which is completely fine because she wants to try to make v recordings so that the other classes will have the music as soon as possible so that the choir can be able to perform at
Christmas. So, my um and that's not to toot my daughter's own horn or anything like that. That's just to kind of let you know what the kids in these classes are trying to do to be able to perform. So my my concern is just knowing how
things work in the school district and time frame and just getting things approved that um as a board of ed you guys maybe realize what's really going on within the everyday life of the classrooms. If in all honesty, you don't think that
the choir will be able to perform for the Christmas concert or do the performances that they typically do, um, which right now this the sub from what I understand in there is just a sub like any anybody. It's not a musicdirected
sub, then I I seriously think that you owe that to the students in the class to be forthcoming about that. And if you do think that that is something, which to me, whether she was a senior, junior, sophomore, or freshman, I think that that's really paramount to this district
to make sure that they can perform, then I suggest you guys try to figure out some workaround ASAP to make sure that that is possible. Whether that means that Mr. Hazler and Mrs. and the guidance counselors or Mrs. Barbosa meet
with these seniors and help get the seniors on board to make sure that these this is going on. Whether that means that because it there is an actual lesson plan that a sub can follow, but something needs to be done to make sure that this class isn't just a set like
sitting ducks for the next 60 days while we're figuring out everything else. Um, and I I'm just asking you to be forthcoming with the students because they are definitely um they definitely really look forward to that and they take pride in that and that's part of
what makes the music program here excellent. So, um, again, that's just something to for you guys to know what's really going on in the classroom and like I said, we're um, you know, to try to really give them some d positive direction. I think it's very positive
what they're trying to do and I think that needs to be promoted. Um, so I just wanted you guys to have a an idea of what's actually going on every day. [Applause]
Hello. So, just to echo what the first gentleman said, my Can you just state your name, please? Oh, I'm sorry. Carrie Lepbina. So, my family loves this town. I was born and raised here and then I'm raising my family here. Um I So if others who have the same history as I do, they know this
isn't the first teacher at the high school that has had this type of vile things done, I'm sorry, that has done these such vile things. And even worse than that, it was also a music teacher the last time that this happened back in 2011, a little bit earlier than that. So I guess my
question is I understand background checks are always done prior to anyone being hiring in this school system but what is being done once the school is what is being done at the school to catch these behaviors once they are hired right um are more cameras the
answer or aids in classrooms we're a small town you know it seems like this was going on for a little bit quite a while from what I'm understanding but I don't know what's true and what's not but it seems like maybe people weren't as comfortable to come forward as maybe
they should have been. Are safe places being put into action? I'm just wondering what is what is being put forward so people feel more comfortable speaking up? Um, my kids are young, but I realize these changes and things to take action will take time, but I think
that I something's got to change. [Applause] Hi, Deputy Deandre. Live across the street. Um, I
we have music in our family. Um, I met my husband in band here. Uh, my kids went through band. I was a band parent, band vice president. Um, we fought really hard for this music program. It was it was falling to the
ground and countless hours we spent in this room fighting for this program. So, I am sorry to say that I am actually very angry that somebody has tarnished it. But I am here actually to talk about Anthony
Striker. Those of you who don't know him, I have never met anybody like him. I remember when he first started and he was literally a kid and he he had an unbelievable
nature with these kids. He has that ability to separate being a teacher and bonding with them. He has been their rock right now. And
I'm really very nervous because I don't want to say anything to tarnish his name, but that boy is that man, he is everything to this music program. You don't understand how bad it was. And when that man got tenure, I don't know who was happier, him, me, or his own
mother. Um, please keep that in mind. He has nothing to do with this. he he just doesn't. So, I feel somebody has to stand up for him. Um he right now
is a rock for these kids and he has a lot on his plate. So, just please keep that in mind. [Applause]
Good evening. Bill Chzn, 249 Boulevard. I think we're supposed to tell our address or what have you. But um 10 years ago, I was in this room. I was on something called the music task force, which helped bring Anthony Striker here.
Um Debbie just did a wonderful job. So I don't need to repeat what she just said to all of you regarding that guy because you don't find a lot of him around anywhere. And the character that he has is immeasurable. But what I did want to bring up is
what can we do collectively? This isn't about pointing blame at any one person, anyone, anyone anything. Collectively, we all failed. This happened because collectively as a
community, because you know what? We grow as a community. We have successes as a community. As Mr. Hazler brought up before, we do everything as a community. So when the community wins, we all win. When the community fails, we all fail. And somewhere along the way, as Dave
Vasilenko brought up before, sorry if I'm not supposed to bring up a name, but I know him. Um, he eloquently put that, you know, this isn't the board's fault. This isn't teachers fault. It's not another teacher's fault. We as parents, if it
starts at the root, we as parents made a mistake here. Somehow someway, we didn't see it coming. Are we supposed to? My 24 year old who's down in Virginia who had a one heck of a successful music program here and on top of that a successful run as a student here is asking himself even
though he only had the man for two years what did I what did I miss how could I miss this I believe we all need to do a better job of communicating of opening up the lines and the lanes of communication to where our students whether they're 5 years old
whether they're 10 15 20 or a 30year-old or a parent or a educator that the lines of communication are better because this isn't something we can do better, try to do better. This is something we must do better as a collective group and we need
to lean upon each other. We need to be open to different ideas. We need to be open to what we don't agree with. We need to be open to what scares us. We need to be open to what, you know, what eats at our inside because this eats at my inside. You know, I too many people
that I know, too many people's kids that I know are just mortified and stricken over this. So, we need to find the routes, you know, and they might not be conventional. They might be a little unconventional. They might not be comfortable for all we who are we all
come from different political backgrounds and different faiths and everything else. But you know what? Collectively, I believe the answers are within us to either find or to bring to the table. People need to feel welcome at this podium. I know sometimes I wasn't nine, 10 years ago, but that's
okay, too. I'm It's not about me. It's about what we do going forward. This happened. We can't rewrite what happened. But we can make sure that we do everything within our own collective powers individually and together to make sure this does not, cannot, will not,
must not ever happen again. And please ask yourself not what you know because our head's getting in the way. Our heart will lead us to so many answers. And my brother does motivational speaking and you know what he always says when you should a would a could of you end up shooting all over yourself. Um we need
to get away from that. We need to get away from our own limitations and make sure that because collectively there's nothing we can't do as a collective group. we can make this happen to where this doesn't happen again to where the kids feel protected to where adults feel
protected to where they can come forward. You know that arena that avenue needs to be there and if one person feels one bit hesitant that means it's not there. If there are people who wanted to speak here tonight that means they don't feel welcome. No matter, you
might be doing 100% right, but if the perception is that they're going to feel admonished or a little bit scared to come here, that means we've done something wrong. That means they feel the feedback they're going to get, the feedback that you know what might be just a fear of public speaking. I hope
that there's people listening tonight to what everybody said because again, the people that aren't here might be your answers. The people that are here might be your answers. I don't know. None of us are supposed to know a week later what exactly needs to be done. But
action needs to be taken. It needs to be taken immediately and then it needs to be implemented with everybody's blessing that hey, we're going to make some mistakes. But what we can't do is be afraid to make them. We need to do everything within our human power
individually and collectively to make sure this is never going to happen again in any of our lifetimes. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. I'm uh Justine O'Brien uh 30 William Street. I apologize for my
appearance. Um I was watching live through the uh YouTube stream and just felt compelled to come. I do have to say um the leadership here, I don't envy you, but I commend you because as a
school teacher myself, as somebody who has two uh family members that work within the district and have talked about how difficult this is, I I couldn't understand where you guys are coming from, administration, board, you
know, superintendent. It's it's really tough. Um, I will say I do appreciate I know we've talked and I've listened how some people feel that the communication was quick. Some people feel that communication could have been faster
working in multiple districts so far. Um, you guys got the message out very quickly. You guys got it across right after the um, Morris County Prosecutor's Office got it across. So, that's something as an educator where I've worked in a district where they haven't
done that. Um, I really, you know, thank you and commend you. I will say I'm I'm really big on school community. I I didn't grow up in this town. I did graduate from here in 2010. Um, I loved the town once I finally accepted moving
here. You know, as a teenager, it's never easy moving to a new school. Um, but school community is like the biggest thing that you can have. And my father, who's a teacher here in the high school, is currently going through the alternate route program and he's talking about
what can I do as a school leadership. That's one of the classes he's taking right now. Um, and he's talking about how can I boost morale? And that's really tough, right? In your situation here, in our situation here,
the best way to do it is talk with the kids and talk with the teachers. They are the ones that are here every day, day in day out. And you have a really great principal here. You have a really great vice principal here. You have a
great athletic director. You have people here that are willing to listen to see what can we do to better the morale overall. listen to them because they are the ones that are here day in and day out and they're the ones that are continuing to be here for your our children. So, thank
you for all that you've done. Please keep the communication open like you have and just listen to our students and our teachers. Thank you. [Applause]
Janelle McGawan. I did speak on Thursday night and I'm just going to repeat what I said Thursday night. Good evening, Dr. Poris and members of the board. As a proud taxpayer and a mother whose daughter is deeply passionate and involved in our school's music department, I come before you with
a heavy heart but hopeful spirit. Music is not just an extracurricular activity. It's a lifeline for so many of our children and a source of joy, creativity, and community. I ask you, will the Cherish Acupella group continue
this year? Just going to add on more about the winter concert. We need to know, these kids need to know, especially the seniors. Will we have that winter concert that we bring the community together? Are we going to
have a spring musical? And we may not have those answers about that spring musical, but I think we need to have answers for ac capella since it does start in November and also the holiday concert that we have begins very
shortly as well. But most importantly, I want to address the leadership of our music program moving forward. If there is going to be a search for new candidates, I urge you to consider hiring someone who's not have worked
under Bill Arnold this past year or ever. Our children, our families, and our community deserve a fresh start, new energy, new ideas, and a renewed commitment to the excellence that's free
from the past influences. Thank you for your time and your understanding and for standing with us to please save the music. John Martin, Pompton Planes. Um, I think everybody here uh today was pretty uh
rightfully floored when we saw the announcement um last week about the the indictment. I know I was. Um, you know, I I have kids coming into the high school and uh when you're having people,
you know, try out for choir, the knockdives, some of those activities, and to find out something was happening, you know, it really it shakes everybody to the core. everybody. And you know, I think we're all trying to figure out a way to, you know, in
this district and everywhere else where this just keeps happening and happening and happening, how to stop things like this from happening. And uh my question is in looking at the policies um in this district and everywhere else because Pquanic is you
know pulling its policies from you know a lot of the people the New York whether it's New Jersey school boards or u you know any of the Strauss sme or anyone else who's developing these policies. Um, I didn't see anything about like a onetoone policy on or no onetoone policy
in extracurricular extracurricular activities. And if you've ever volunteered as a coach or anything, you know, for your kids, that's something that's always out there, whether it's they're saying nobody should be onetoone
with a kid. An adult and a kid should never be onetoone together. And that's pretty pretty well universally adopted when you ever uh you know volunteer as a coach and have to sign up for all this training. Um I don't know if that's
something in the school universe if that's if that's impossible. Um because you're talking about salaries, you're talking about pay people who are doing this every single day. But I don't know if that's something that can be looked
at here and across the state um to see if you can eliminate or at least reduce as much as possible onetoone activity uh for a teacher and a student in an extracurricular activity to try to stop this from happening. Um I saw a lot of
the policies you know that were enacted in 2014 after they changed statutes uh prohibiting electronic communication. you know, obviously that's only as well and good as it can be enforced. Um, and that's pretty difficult if you can't
monitor everything every, you know, every single day. So, I understand that's going to be a huge problem. But if you can, you know, reduce the onetoone contact, you know, maybe that's something that can, you know, stop these situations from developing in the
future. Like I said, I don't know. It's obviously not a pquantic specific issue, but if it's something that can be looked at here statewide to figure out, you know, how we can stop these incidents from happening over
and over again because it's scary out there for everybody. It's scary out there for parents, you know, sending your kids out to know that this can keep happening and, you know, to have it in your town, to read it in the news, whether it's your church, whether it's
your school, whether it's an organiza, sports organization, an outside club, every time you see this, it really really shakes you to the core. So, uh, you know, I think it's it's really difficult to, you know, second guess in
the because it seems like everything that I've read, this was reported. uh I guess according to I guess the affidavit of probable cause that I was reading about in the the paper um that this was reported escalated the school
contacted the police everything in that respect seems to you know have happened appropriately and I guess it's the only thing I could think to say is if we're going to try to stop these things from happening going forward would be to try to limit it
limit the way that one rogue individual can have access to these people without being seen. And you know, I'm sure that's something that's going to be talked about here and I would think it's being talked about elsewhere. or I hope it gets talked about statewide and in
these conference and whether it's a school board's conference or state committees when superintendents get together and if it's a situation of resources and people who need to get paid or um you know obviously that's
something that we we just want to see the best that that our kids are protected and if they can't be protected when they're going to school that's just scary you know I think you guys are doing a great And you know, I I appreciate, you know, you guys
dealing with the situation. It makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. And I can't imagine where you where it is from where you're sitting. Thank you. [Applause] Would
anyone like to come up? Anybody else? Okay. So, before I give the mic to Dr. Portoris, uh just to respond to uh Mr. Vasileno, we have looked at the policy. We have looked at and discussed potentially bringing in a third party to do an audit to make sure that um if
there are changes that need to be made that we will make them. Um, we're in the beginning stages of that. And that's all I have for me. I'll pass it over to Dr. Porters if you'd like to respond to anything. And thank you, Mr. Sanic. And uh, thank you to the all the members of the
public, not only who spoke, but also those who supported those who spoke. Um, podium is a very lonely place and we're talking about some very heavy things and I think everybody in this room has enough knowledge of me to know I don't
gladhand anybody. Um, and I'm really impressed and if uh if any of my answers or responses fall short, please reach out to me. Um, I've had conversations with several of the people who who were up here and um,
those conversations didn't continue and did my best to jot down as much. If you took the time to prepare, least I could do is take the time and shot it down. So, um, I'm going to do my best. There are certain things that obviously I I can't really address. I I'd rather have you think that I was an
idiot than for me to do anything that would imperel the criminal investigation. Justice has to be served. it's more important than my reputation or anything of that sort. So, I want to make sure that I get that out, but I'll get I'll give you the best that I can. And um to Mr. Senk's point, to Mr.
Basileno's questions, yeah, we we are looking at our own policies and yeah, they are more or less uh universal across the state. Um but that doesn't mean we can't add our own input into it. and um this experience to use somebody
else's terminology definitely has shaken us um to our core and the we can't change what what happened but we can certainly change what we do moving forward and so it was it was very powerful and maybe I'm weaving through things but to hear Miss Laspina speak
that's one of my former students there and I heard her speak incredibly eloquently about her concerns for her kids that's that's who we work for um I'm that's our commitment And so, um, in terms of the accountability, I mean,
a lot of it falls in terms of accountability for the policies, a lot of it falls on the board, but a lot of it falls on me as well. And I want to be a critical component of that process. And I'll jump ahead to what Mr. Martin was talking about, too. Um, I spoke with a few of my colleagues from other districts in the state who dealt with
similar type situations. And what you're talking about is why why aren't we having conversations about how to implement stronger things at the state level? Um, and also to influence policy. Um, I'm I'm more than willing to put myself out there as as a superintendent
from a district that's enduring this. Um, and if I can help other districts as well as our own to determine ways to prevent this from ever happening, um, that has to be the the goal because we don't just work for our kids, we work for all kids. Um, so in terms of
transparency, you want to be as transparent as you can. And as far as the conversations about policy, to get back to initial comment, this is big. And um, yeah, we we want to make sure that we're addressing it. And we're in that situation right now. We're trying so
hard to look forward, but we also have to look back and and make sure that this history is never repeated and there's nothing close to it. Um, second speaker, I want to thank Mr. Deise also for um, his comments about Mr. Hazler. I think
that's really important. Um, and he didn't give himself any credit and that was the one mistake I would say he had in that presentation. Um, terms of the community support, it's uh, it's something that's really impressed me throughout my my years. I came back in 2007 and uh, it's impressed me
throughout my my time here and um, it's it's not going to ever fail us. and we're seeing it right now. Um, to get back to that that turnout at the band competition, it was visceral. Like you could feel the support. It was loud. It
was positive. It was so many so many members of the community were represented. Um, and that's that's what we do and we do it really well. Um, as far as as far as the um the position, we're we're going to look to staff it with the best people we can find. And
given the precarious or given where we are right now for addressing students needs, um we're going to try to find someone who fits that as ideally as possible because we're trying to reconstruct. I mean reconstruct, we're going to build a program um that works not just with the kids we have right
now, but the kids we know we're going to have as well as the families. So, this is one that we're incredibly incredibly focused on. And to the point about the the Chris the sorry the holiday show as well as the spring concert. Um I've learned never to
promise anything for which there are variables other than myself. But I'm going to tell you this. There will be a holiday concert. I don't care if I'm directing it. There will be a holiday concert. I think it's the first time anybody's ever clapped for me at one of these. So thank you for that. Um
and and the spring musical as well. Um and we we have Thank you. Um I wasn't fishing for that, but thank you. Um but but these things I mean it's a line from Shakespeare. The show must go on and and and it must and something that Mrs. McGowan talked about
and I was actually talking to uh one of the parents at the show on Saturday night about how I didn't understand um I I was a teacher um for 10 years before I came to this school. also was a teacher and I didn't understand how important the band was. I didn't understand how
intrinsically linked students identities it was, how this is something that they could point to and say, "I'm really good at this and this makes me feel good and I like coming to school because I'm a part of this and the the vocal music and the theater are no different." And so we have to make sure that our students who
are feeling this in ways that I I can't even imagine that they have something that they can connect to that brings them together and gives them that opportunity to express themselves and feel once again that they are part of something incredibly important. I mean I
think we all want to feel a part of something bigger than ourselves. Um so yes, we are we are focused on making sure that um we have not only a stop gap to carry us in the meantime, but also long term to be able to
come back bigger and better than we ever were. Um and then oh and then the next one was uh Mr. Spina. Um we we do conduct I mean you acknowledge we conduct the background checks. Um, and we for the monitoring, it's so important, you know,
if if there if there are any concerns about about staff or anybody, please report them because we do follow up on everything and we don't announce it and say, "Well, we we did a follow-up investigation with so- and so, and this is what what was determined and what was
resolved." But please, please, please, um, the doors are open. We listen, we follow through on things. It's critically important. Um, we don't have a ton of administrators in the building, but we have a lot of eyes and ears in the building, and those eyes and ears can can really contribute a lot. So, I
just want to put that out there again because it's it's really important. And, um, yeah, I think our commitment has to be to make sure that nothing of this sort ever happens any ever again to any of our kids or really anybody else's kids. Um, I appreciate too, Miss
DeAndre. I hope I said your last name correctly about um fighting for the music program. It was it's hard for people to believe. You walk into this auditorium, you see stat trophy of like 17 feet tall. That that's our program right now. And um I'm not allowed to
speak about staff members unless they've received a rice notice. But um everything you said about Mr. Strifer, I think I'm allowed to say true. Yes, absolutely. Um, was was that okay? The attorney
approved. Sorry. Um, and and actually I I I try not to let my emotions or responses um show through as I'm writing. Thankfully, the camera's very far away. But um when you mentioned his mother, I smile, too. I met his mother um on Saturday night and she's awesome
and she is she is and she's so proud of him and and she has every reason to be and um I have to say as a as a just I don't know as as a person I I I I was so proud and it's it's it's it's really meaningful. So um thank you for that.
And then um Mr. Chzn, thank you so much too. Such positive message, strong message um and you were part of that music task force as well. And um if you can take credit for being part of bringing Mr. Striker in, I don't know if I'm allowed to also thank you for that,
but I I thank you for that because um we we we've we've seen we've we've seen how that program has grown and how much it means to our kids and our community. Um as far as what can we do collectively? Um yeah, not not doing blame, doing doing
solutions. Um we we have to root out and find out what what was the cause for this? How did we end up in this place? But the most important thing I do believe is yeah to figure out what what do we miss and how can we make sure we never miss it again. And um when you talk about keeping lines of communication open that that's so
critical because we're we're a fairly small district um and I think there's a tremendous blessing to that um that it's so easy to to reach us. And when I say that you can reach out to me about things, please do. Um, I'm actually in the process of figuring out how to disable the do not reply function on my
updates. So, people can actually, if you've ever replied to those and not gotten a response, it's because I really don't get them. Um, but I'm figuring out that, too, which I know sounds pathetic. I mean, it's it's easy technology, but um, but please know that we're we're we're here to work together. I mean, and
and that that will never that will never change. If that changes, I think I need to find new employment. Um but it's it's important yeah to keep establishing the route the routes to find the answers. Um make everybody feel welcome. I think that's really important. Um the um Mr.
Chzn had a line I actually wrote down verbatim collectively there's nothing we can't do. That's true. Um and and with that mindset and that spirit um we are going to carry through. And for those of for those who might be tuning in I agree as well. You might have answers that I I
don't. Um, I've been in education 29 years, and if I was to sit here and tell you I have every answer, be a bald-faced liar. Um, every great thinker throughout history has had one shared attribute, and that's that they don't know it all. So, I think the collective mind can certainly help us. Uh, to Miss O'Brien,
thank you also for coming in. Um, no one judged your attire, so that you're aware of that. Um, you you were here to share an important message and thank you for your appreciation for the leadership. Um, I will say this that um, communication I've received has been um,
has been so inspiring and sometimes it's hard to find strength and um, and then other people give it to you and they don't have to. And if somebody tells you prayed for you yesterday,
we feel it. And um it's it's why I'm so proud to be a part of this community. Obviously, I don't live here, but um there's something special. Things hit different in Pquanic. And so to know
that despite everything that we're we're enduring that there's this incredible source of strength, it's the people in this room. It's the people outside this room. Um I'm Thank you. Um and it was even nice yesterday I was I was talking to my
parents and they and the kind of tenant of asking how's everything going. These people are incredible and that meant a lot to them. And yesterday was my dad's birthday and that I guess that was your birthday present to Steve Poris. So, thank you for that.
And no, I try to compose myself better. I apologize for that. Um, I think the message just about how much music means to our kids, it definitely bears repeating. It's not it's not just an extracurricular activity. Like, it's it's a source of pride. It's a source of
identity. um and and it has to continue. And then um to use Mr. Martin's terminology too, um rightfully floored um by the news and indictment and we we followed we followed
protocol as as you're supposed to. Um but in terms of is what what what can we do? Um, we're going to find that out and and something that I know M. Mcweeni is already on is making sure that we're looking into our
policies to determine how they can have greater strength and also support our admin team so they understand what what they can do and and how we can enforce things um and really look for ways to improve our communication. And something that you said as you were wrapping up and it really sticks with me is um just
want to protect kids and and that's something that that is so incredibly important because they're they're are everything. And so um if there's anything I didn't cover um please reach out to me. Um check email probably more frequently than I should, but it's a
really important communication channel. Um if something requires a phone call, I'll give you a call as well. And um I'm gonna I'm gonna thank you again because um what what you had to say tonight was really important and it's a really important step in the process. And thank you for allowing me to respond. Thank you the board for allowing me to respond
as well. So much appreciated. Thanks. Thank you Dr. Poris. At this point before we move the action items, uh I'd like to get a motion to go into executive session where we will discuss personnel matters and attorney client privileged information. The uh executive
session will last approximately 30 minutes. Is there a motion to go into executive session? Motion to go into exe. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay, we'll be back. The board of education will be heading into an executive session. Um all matters that are discussed in executive
session are confidential under the open public meetings act under attorney client privilege and personnel. U as Mr. Sen stated will be for approximately 30 minutes. No action will be taken. Thank you. We're back. I'd like to make a motion to resume the meeting. Motion.
Second. All in favor? I I. Any opposed? All right. This takes us into the approval of the action items. Up first is PMC. I'm going to ask Michenton to please move the items under PMC. I would like to move um PMC 65-26
through PMC 73-26. Second. Uh Gon second. Any question or discussion? Mr. Gibbs, please call the RO. Mr. Bloomer, yes. Mr. Sesi, yes. Mr. Gon, yes. Miss Ao, yes.
Mr. Mcweeny, yes. Mr. Pompeo, yes. Mrs. Shenton, yes. Mrs. Espazito, yes. and Mr. Senic. Yes. Motion carries. Next up is CIS. I'm going to ask Miss Espazito to please move the items under CIS. I'd like to move CIS 20- 28-26
through 34-26. Thank you. I don't know what I said. Second. Any question or discussion? Mr. Gibbs, please call the role. Mr. Blumer, yes. Mr. Sesi, yes. Mr. Gon, yes. Miss Ao, yes.
Mr. Mcweeny, yes. Mr. Pompeo, yes. Mrs. Shenton, yes. Mrs. Espazito, yes. And Mr. Sim, yes. Motion carries. Okay. Up next is FFA. Mr. Bloomer, would you please move the items under FFA? I'd like to make a motion to move FFA
48-26 through FFA 52-26. Second. Any question or discussion? Mr. Gibbs, please call the role. Mr. Bloomer, yes. Mr. Sesi, yes. Mr. Giten, yes. Miss Ao, yes. Mr. Mr. Mcweeni, yes. Mr. Pompeo, yes.
Mrs. Shanton, yes. Mrs. Espazito, yes. And Mr. Sen, yes. Motion carries. Okay, that brings us into our workshop items. First up is PMC. And there are three items to discuss. Administrative goals for next year. Uh staffing update and PV and PTHs schedules in the second
year. Thank you. I'm just going to get to that. So, as far as uh the administrative goals, uh something that we've made a point of doing for the past few years is to align our district goals to the strategic plan and then take it one step further by aligning the
administrator goals with those district goals. Um this way gives the real feel that we're we're pulling together um in a shared direction, one that was established during the district goal establishment process um and continues through the annual goals. Um the state
has changed the parameters for administrator goals. Uh they're treated the same now as SGOs where a tenure administrator does not need to submit goals. Um they can simply recycle what they had the previous year. If they would like to establish new goals for
this year and this again for tenure staff only um they have the option of letting me know. They have to do so by September 30th and and then they submit them by October 30th. uh they get approved and then they count for this school year. So just quick summary, I
did put a documented backup. I was pretty late adding it in. Um but it covers the more or less boilerplate items that I gave to the administrative team so that they don't have to go digging too deep to figure out okay th this aligns with this goal. So I give
them the language as well as the numbers and they can they have flexibility to work within those parameters. The first goal focuses on the portion of your graduate initiative and simply enough uh the administrator is tasked with not only helping make sure that excuse me all the steps and the all the action
steps in the goal are met but also that they find a way to exceed that to achieve the four which is the exemplary score. Second goal u focuses on data analysis, lesson plan studies and ongoing feedback with staff to help our staff feel a greater degree of autonomy with their
ability to generate meaningful student learning data and act upon it. Um much as I said with the profile of graduate um the administrators have to make sure that they achieve all the steps that gets them the three and then the four which is exemplary means that they're
going beyond what's in there. The third uh possibility for them is um to be part of the communication goal. Um and this is very important one. And so again, they would be make sure that they're helping us hit all 10 steps
on that district goal. And then if they find a way to go above and beyond it, um they can get that score of a four. Um something that that could be beyond could be if they help to develop some uh brand identity guidelines, which is something that we had said we were going to do a rough sketch, but if they come
up with something more finite for it, that could push them over to that next level. Um and then we have a couple other goals. What one is that by the 30th of May 2026, teachers in the content areas of math, science, ELA, and social studies will apply data to
identify student needs, then modify instruction both to address priority standards and promote measurable student outcome. Um, that's hugely important, but the administrator is responsible for leading data meetings with those staff members to ensure that um they're gathering the data, that they're
applying it, and that they're able to track um student growth. And that's really important. And um Miss Vanskull will talk about it at the October 27th meeting when she presents on the state the state student performance reports.
Actually, not student performance reports, really the state assessments. But we're not just focused on whether students pass the assessments, but also if they're showing growth. it's possible their student might not reach the level of um passing it, but if they're showing growth, especially when compared against
um peers statewide, that's really important as well. And so it gives us chance to identify success in multiple ways. Finally, the last of those goals um is a walkthroughs goal. Um the greater visibility you have uh the greater impact you as an administrator can have on instruction. And so we
encourage our administrators to conduct walkthroughs, gather data, and also provide teachers with just quick feedback. And it could be um hey, loved how I saw the kids generating their own questions. How'd you get into that point? Gives teacher teacher a chance to brag. Um or it's I you when you're asking these questions. Did you think
about maybe this as well? So it's more informal than regular observation and it gives us a chance to have um hopefully great ongoing conversations. But um th those are the those are the um five goals that I wrote for which I wrote
narratives for the administrative team. They can also find things that are directly connected to state assessments or other assessment tools as well. So we want them to have some flexibility within that. Um any questions or comments from the board? I realize it's admittedly not the not
the most exciting topic, but it is one that that I think is very important. Uh the second one, uh I like to incorporate staffing updates into um the these workshop meetings. I'm very excited. We had a Spanish teacher begin at the high school today. She had been hired over
the summer, but her previous district um had um posted, sorry, had held her to her 60-day requirement. Um of course, we honored that. We have no choice to, but um she she began today. So, we're very excited. We appreciate how our Spanish teachers, not only in this school, but
also from the middle school, um helped chip in to carry the students to this point. Um we also have a posting online um for a position that's currently listed as a leave replacement that's per um per requirements, but we are going to
um look to move that to being a full-time position, and this involves our music program. And um we're going to look into hiring the best possible can for that one. think that's a very very important one to list. Otherwise, our staffing is going well. Um it tends to
be something fluid as we have people going out on leaves of absence, but we will um continue to fill those with the best possible candidates. And what I like when somebody's here as part of a leave as a leave replacement, um they're getting an audition essentially to show
that they have great ability, that they work well with not only the kids, but also with their colleagues. And so, um, we're we're if somebody goes out for a reason, whether it's maternity or any other reason, we look to fill the best candidate available and then look to
possibly have them become of our part of our staff long term. Uh, finally, and this one I open up to the board. Um, I know Miss Espazito spoke a little bit in favor of the PTHs schedules, but last year was a pretty heavy lift getting those new schedules
into place at both the middle school and the high school. And um I'm I'm really I'm proud of the work that we did um as a board that we did as administrative team as we did at the committee level getting a lot of input from throughout the community. Um but I'm interested to hear from the board what you've heard
thus far about um any feedback on schedules and whether the PV the start and end time didn't change but the structure of the day did and in the high school obviously was a really significant change. So, I just open that up for any input that you want to share
and then I'll be able to present a more thorough report on what I've gotten from the admin team and teachers as well. Nothing but positive feedback for the PV schedule, especially the uh the pan period. Um, you know, usually I get a lot of uh
when the community talks to me, it's usually because of something negative. But when it comes to our PV schedules and our PT PTHs school start time, I've heard nothing but positives. Um, from parents, but especially from the kids.
Um, I know the kids really appreciate it, and I'm I'm going to again echo. Um, I know how hard how hard our kids work in our in all of our classes. Um, but I think the fact that we did so much better on AP scores could uh could be a
good data point for school start times and the fact that that correlates with all of the research um that we've seen. Um, so I only hear really positive things from our kids um and the
community about the school the school start time and the the um schedule. So, we appreciate all of the hard work that went into that. Appreciate that. And if if more things come up too, I mean, obviously we have a lot of conversations. Um, but just just
let me know because I'd like to be able to provide a little a little bit of input, too. Um but I I I don't know if it's causal or correlational about the the start time, but that that's some pretty powerful um data that we were able to have. Yes,
there were other variables in the equation, but that we did have that um rather seismic improvement in our scores and they were already on an upward trajectory and then they further went up. And um I've spoken about how I I enjoy being engaging conversations with peers from other districts. Something
that we learned from the pandemic response was that doesn't serve you terribly well to be bulcanized into 590 different districts. It really helps if you if you connect with your colleagues. And if uh if somebody from another district wants to talk to me or any of
us about um the process of implementing a new start time, I mean, I'm I'm certainly open to that. And I think if you have data to support it, it makes it much more compelling. Um we we saw news articles about places that tried to rush it into place in in August and they got really significant push back from their
communities. Um it's something we took two years um to plan it and map it out um before we before we implemented it. Um absolutely. Maybe something we could think of in the future um is having admin or somebody present at New Jersey
school boards because I know you know we did as a board um when we were in when we were at new at school boards. Um we attended a lot of workshops in terms of school start times. That was something that that you
know we really um felt strongly about. Um, and the best information that we received was when districts presented the improvements that that their the academic improvements that their kids made, but not only the academic, but
like their social emotional well-being. Um, and I know that with we've talked in the past about attendance and tardies, um, and students not as I think the data was presented that not as many students failed classes last year. Um,
so I I think maybe at one point we could even present that or have students go down. That might be something that that we could look forward to doing because um it is impressive what was done and um not many other districts also um I think went to the lengths that we did to
involve the community um to get feedback and and the process to ensure it was successful. And I know, I mean, I can tell you with having a kid who started high school and it started at 7:29 versus a kid who now
has to go at 8:06, those 30 minutes are very beneficial for everyone in the household. Yeah. and and I just have some just very preliminary disciplinary data from the high school, but they've seen a 25%
decrease in detentions and 21% decrease in students who've received detentions um and overall 44% decrease in Saturday detentions and uh 66% decrease in number
of students involved in suspension incidents. And and that that's really important because you want to see that ripple effect not just through limiting tardies but also throughout the day and and more positive behaviors. And I mentioned the tardies and we didn't see that much of a change at the high school
as we'd expected but the um we saw it decrease by 16.4% at the middle school. That was with the introduction of the home room. They also saw chronic absenteeism drop from 7.5 to 4.4. That's really really impressive. um they saw a
decrease in in school and out of school suspensions and um something that um Mr. Saskki shared too was about how they saw all this they saw growth across the board in their academic areas on state assessments and that um he cites he
credits the decrease in the number of hibs to the fact that Mr. PRS's been able to get into panther periods and conduct lessons and be very proactive um in managing the character education portion of our educational program in in that panther period. Um and also that
last thing I'll mention of this is um the library rotation that's gotten integrated into the wellness period. We've used that to help students develop um a better sense of their online which we think is critical to mental health but their online um engagements and
behaviors and media specialists has cover topics ranging from AI to research tools and internet safety but also academic integrity. So we're finding ways to to reach kids on important topics with that that 44 minute block at the end of the day. So appreciate the
board's um trust in us to be able to implement this and uh let's keep the feedback coming. All right, moving on to CIS. Four topics to discuss. Uh testing, adaptive field test preparation, the K through three universal screening, the edtech summit,
and the significant dispality uh between training and resources with the Magnolia Consulting. That's a mouthful, right? Um, okay. So, I won't be too long. Um, so the new
NJSLA and NJGPA adaptive tests. Um, we have field tests coming up. Uh, basically we've had several administrators go through the online training with the state. Um, got as much information as we could. Just got access
to the platforms last week so we could start to upload all of our data so that we can actually be prepared for the assessments. The field tests, we're going to run them the week of November 10th for all the schools. Um there's a varied schedule and the principles will send that out closer to November um as
to which schools are doing which days. There are basically three units. One unit for ELA of reading which will be 60 minutes, one unit of math with which will be 60 minutes and then one writing task which they have up to 120 minutes.
So, uh we'll be looking to do ELA and math on one day and writing on the second day. So, all the schools will have a similar schedule. It's just depending upon which days uh the principles are working out um the details for their schedules. Um I'm sorry. Do we know how early we'll
receive the results of we will not get any results from the field test. the pure it is purely for the purpose of them tea testing the platforms and the test items and the efficiency and efficacy all of that that whatever results they have they're not sharing back to the districts
that's fantastic thank you and it's a static test for the field test not adaptive so basically remember start strong when the students took the prior year's assessment so a ninth grader would take the eighth grade
assessment that's what's happening here. Um, which is why we have students testing from grades four through grades 12. Um, the 12th graders that will be taking assessment, it depends on the math course they had last year. So, if they had algebra 1, um, 9 through 12,
algebra 1, geometry or algebra 2, they'll take that assessment for 60 minutes. um our 11th graders who will take the NJGPA this year, they'll take the English um an English assessment that would be based on ninth and tth
grade uh language arts. So, it's similar to start strong is how as I've been going through this process, that seems to be what they what they're doing. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other questions on that?
And I did send out a parent letter. Um all the principles sent it out in the Friday update. So as we get in more information, we'll share it up. Um K to3 universal screening. So very important. There's a new as we've mentioned before
um there's a new requirement in the state that all districts in the state um are required to do K to3 universal screening in um early literacy which everybody should do anyway. But now the requirement is added that we're required to send out parent reports within 30 days of the students receiving the
assessments. So parents can expect these first reports with dibbles coming home um Friday. They should be in Friday's backpack meal for K to3 students. We're having a parent information session tomorrow night to go over how to read
and interpret the reports and um and basically the overall process of the universal screening for this um what the reports mean and what they don't mean. Um we want to make sure that everybody understands um while there might be some data on the parent reports there they'll
be colorcoded. So you have blue for um a little bit above grade level, green is like on grade level, yellow strategic and red is more intensive. But just because there might be red on a report isn't necessarily a cause for alarm. It's a cause to say, okay, this is an
area where we realize your student might need some more support and this is what we're going to be doing in the classroom to help support them and to move them forward. Then we do another benchmark in uh January, February. We'll send another report. our goals to have the progress show on those. So, um we just want to
make sure that the parents are aware that we're having this information session and then also our ELA supervisor, Miss Bellardina, will be having office hours um in addition to that so that parents can reach out if they have questions um as well as the teachers and the principles. Everybody's
aware um of the conversations that might need to be had. add on that too. Miss Bellardino and I are going to be doing a podcast probably about a week and a half or so. Um she wanted to have an opportunity first people to get the paperwork um as well
as to be able to attend the kind of university that's coming up tomorrow at Hill. Um and just to build on something Vans and I were were preparing this too talking about how parents are going to be seeing red and I don't know if
um people seem performance outcomes on a report involving their children. Um, you tend to see red, which I mean euphemistically, but also see red literally. Um, these are grade level standards and so we don't expect them to
be forming at grade level standard in September. That that's something we have to make sure when we drop them off June that they're there. Hopefully get them for you. But I just want to put it out there that um parent receives it concern
child's not doing well. We got this and reach out to the people who can best articulate responses teachers know um principles and probably you as well. Yep. Happy to talk to anyone. Um and
lastly, we're going to also uh do recording of the parent information so that we can post it on the website for people. um a tech summit. We're super excited about the we have coming up next Monday. Um we have a lot of workshops. Um there
is a lot of tech AI tech. We have a keynote speaker Melissa Hiky. Um she's actually um in West Morris. She's in their school district. Um she's done a phenomenal AI presentation that I attended at a different session and now we have her coming to do for us as well. She was leading a few workshops. Um, but
we have a lot of teachers and administrators doing different presentations throughout the day as well. So, we'll have a we'll have a keynote, we'll have four 45 minute sessions where teachers can choose what they want to go to. And then we're going to end the day with a fabulous New Jersey NJSLA training uh for all of our
staff members. So, um, we are excited about that. Um and then and I'm sure I'll report on some of the workshops that we did following that. Any questions on it?
And finally, significant disproportionality. Um you already voted on an action item on this where we are um contracting with Magnolia Consulting um to support us through our significant disproportionality um
uh situation that we're working through this year. Um we have six administrators going to a training on October 16th with the state. We'll be going to three different trainings on this and Magnolia Consulting will be working with us basically and long story short to do
root cause analysis. um they'll be working on this with us through our INRS process for academic and behavioral um information which is a great opportunity for us to kind of review and find some consistent procedures uh through all our buildings and um with reporting that we
have to do for the state with gathering data and information that's due in April. All right, thank you. All right, next up is FFA and there's four items there. update on the new board office, on the sale of the existing board office, moving the dumpsters at SJG, and then replacement of the tennis courts at
PTHs. Yes. Uh, as I previously mentioned in my business administrator's report, the testing um at for the tanks in the back of the 494 Newark Punton turnpike property was completed. Um, we're still waiting for
the test results. the front tank that has oil may have oil in it was discovered at the same time. Evidently, there's an intake and outtake to that tank and they're both sealed off together, which is strange. So, they're suggesting that we
uh instead of drilling four holes on the outside perimeter of the tank to dig alongside the tank deep enough where we can get actually get a probe under the tank to see if there's a leak. Um, today I just got the positive response that the owner is willing to let us do that
and that's going to be taken care of this Friday. Any questions on that? No. The second item I had is update on the sale of the board office property. As you know, we had an appraisal done on
the property. It came out at 805,000. The uh post office did a their appraisal and it came in at 550,000. Uh once I got that appraisal from them, I forwarded it on to our appraiser who was not happy with their appraisal because their appraisal was based on
personal property, not commercial. So I rejected their appraisal and I told them we need a new appraisal. So they're I haven't heard back from them yet, but I'm sure they're probably working on that. There any questions? No. Okay.
I said I have so many questions, but not not at this time. I mean, it's an acre, right? Five $550,000 for It's got to be close to an acre. No, it's not that big. But still though, yeah, there was a difference between
commercial and personal property. That's Sure. Okay. Okay. Uh just to give you an update on the dumpsters we talked about at the last board meeting at SJG. Um we're looking to move them onto the other side of the building, which would be away from the
playground, away from the lunch area. Uh the cost to do that will come in at $12,200, not including the fence. We're still working on the quote for the fence. Uh if the board still wants to move forward with that, um it will be on the next
board agenda for approval. Um, I'm not looking for a vote, just a consensus that through FFA that it'll be okay. And I'll put that out this week. I mean, can I just go and push them out of the way and move them? I don't It's like a silly question, but $12,000 to
move the dumpsters. I think it's not just moving them. It's actually putting in a new platform. It's It's raising certain areas so that the platforms can come off um the new area smoother. It's it's a full process. Can you give us a summary of like a little write up of what's involved with it? Yeah, I can do that. Thank you.
Did Did we look at more more than one company? I mean, well, that was being done through the co-op. Um Okay. Yeah, we can get more quotes if you feel that's not acceptable. No, I listen, I don't really I mean, when you say like we're moving a dumpster, I'm just thinking that's not
$12,000, but when you say we have to put a new, you know, we have to put a new basin or or something like that, that's that would be understandable. So, if you could give us that summary, that would be fantastic. But just so the community is aware, this is we're doing this because we have a B situation, correct?
Yes, that's correct. Thank you. It sounds like they're making a new dumpster area and they're going to put the dumpsters in it. Yes, that's what it sounds like. But yeah. Yeah. I just want to make sure it's communicated. I don't want the community to think that we're spending $12,000 to move a dumpster when we could probably
get a couple people to just move the dumpster. I mean, we're we're putting a full platform in and making it look nice and need a fence, so on and so forth in order to prevent the bee situation that is happening at SJG. Yeah, I'll send out a summary on that.
Thank you, Gordon. Any other questions? The next item I have is a possible replacement of the tennis courts. Uh the tennis courts um right now have some large cracks in them and the tennis court is 11 years old and the average um
lifespan is 10 years. So we're actually out one more year. They're coming to a point where they are hazardous and they could be dangerous. So my suggestion is that we add it to next year's budget which will get us into 12 years of use of the tennis courts. Um the cost is
going to be well the first um estimate I have is 399,000. Actually I'd gotten them down from 425 to 399 but we're going to get other quotes through the co-op. Didn't we seal them or replace the cracks maybe two years ago?
Yeah, we did do a sealing something that cost 99,000. So do we put another seal in for 99,000 or do we just replace it now at this point? No, they look I mean they look terrible and the stealing got us two years like they look terrible.
Yeah. Can you send us the quote what the scope would be and everything? Just a quick question if I may. Sure. Um is have we checked with the town council doing any other tennis courts deal? No, we haven't checked with the town.
This is school. Yeah, but they the town uses it. the fact that we keep it as open courts used by anybody that there might be some kind of we would might be able to work out some kind of share.
It's worth a conversation. Um also I'd like to put on record I would like the colors to be panone 282M 7406 and 291. No green, blue tennis courts, please.
Mr. Mr. Gibbs, can we just make sure like the pictures they really look terrible? I haven't actually walked by yet myself. Can we just make sure that they are going to be safe for us to wait that long? Like you
don't want kids out there if Yeah. No, understandable. We could always section it off and not use it. It gets really bad. Um Given the amount that we're talking about and it's $400,000, that's a lot of money just to pull out
of a budget that was not budgeted for this year. That's something you really have to plan. Um, totally get it. Um, tennis is almost over. So, we almost made it through the season this year for
our kids, right? The girls almost done. Um, March 8th. I don't know, but we got we got to think about that. And I got a skateboard on it. I mean, I did send pictures. Okay. So,
take a look at the pictures on the in the package board packet. Yeah, I know. I stole them. They're really They're not good. Yeah. Look. All right. Well, it's something the board can think about. I mean, I'm just putting it out there as a proposal. Um,
and let me know your thoughts. is the uh the 399,000 is that you should rip they're going to rip everything out, rip all the concrete out. That's all complete replacement. Fence what about fencing around as well? No, that the fencing would not be
touched. It's just the replacement of the material. Any other questions? Okay, thank you. All right, moving on to policy. There's two items. the sick day bank policy and the stress estimate policy updates.
Uh yeah, and this one's a pretty quick one, too. Um the sick day bank policy is something that came up um in conversations with the association about whether um we would consider having a policy to govern creating a sick day
bank um that could be used in emergent situations. Um I know Michon set to work on developing something. There is a Strauss policy. It's not terribly strong but there is a Strauss policy regarding this as well. But um we did put it into
backup um for for you to be able to review and determine whether this is something that we want to pursue as as or that you want to pursue as a board. I don't think they pretty much cover it.
The teachers want this. Yes. Okay. So this is teacher based teacher. This is a teacher initiative. Okay. teacher request. Okay. I mean it's their sick dates and then um the last one is just about
um stress estimate policy updates. So um we put in to um actually for for first reading to review the different policies that came from Strauss. Um we reviewed these as a committee back in August. just it was there's a lot to the
policies. Um and yet there was very little at the same time like they're not the most engaging or exciting policies, but just the the formatting um if anybody were to look at them and say, "Wait, these look curiously like the the Strauss template because that's what they are. Um that's what we pushed out."
But um any questions about any of those updates? Um there were very few that required um any type of actual decision-making beyond um there was an option in 0174 regarding legal services. Uh the designated people should remain
the school business administratorboard secretary which is Mr. Gibbs role and then board president Mr. Sen's role. And then um there was something in policy 5117 about interd district interd district public school choice down the
bottom of page three of four. Um there is an option um regarding non-resident teaching staff members. Um my recommendation on that option is to say no as it's already something that's managed
in the collective bargaining agreement. And then finally, uh, student sun protection, which is, uh, 53. Sorry, they're not in there as first reading. I misspoke there. No, it is. Uh, but 5339.01
student son protection. Um, there are two options there. Um, my my recommendation is that we um go with the second one. Um, second of the two options that are listed on page one. Uh the first one is very difficult to track
about monitoring if students are carrying sunscreen, especially if it's aerosol sunscreen. Um and I I don't want that to be something that we have to be concerned about. Um is if we allow a seventh grader to carry around aerosol sun sunspray, are they going to be
spraying it on one another? And if you have somebody who has a fragrance allergy, does that create a liability concern? So um those are my recommendations about the stress updates um which are also reflected in policies for first reading.
Anybody have any questions on that or comments? All right, that moves us out of workshop to the next opportunity for public comment. Members of the public may speak once for a maximum period of five minutes by the clock during this portion of the meeting. They can speak on any topic they wish during their five minutes. And if they raise a question,
they should direct it to the board president. State your name and sign in before you begin. Hello. Good evening, Dr. Poris and members of the board. For those of you I'm sorry, by the way, April Gonzalez from Boulevard. For those of you who don't know who I
am, I am the treasurer of the Association of Music Parents. On behalf of our entire music program and our parents association, I want to extend our sincerest thanks for your ongoing support. First, as you were aware, we had our home show competition this
weekend. We had a very successful event with 17 visiting bands attend and a great specta uh spectator turnout. Amazingly enough, we finally had a sunny day for it. It only took seven years, I believe. Thank you to all who attended the event
and showed their support. We'd also like to thank uh the district for providing the necessary custodian and secret uh sorry security staff to ensure the event ran smoothly and most importantly safely. Your support allowed our parent
volunteers the time and the flexibility they needed to focus on setup and ensuring the event was a success for both our students and the community. We truly appreciate the behind-the-scenes help that made such a difference. We'd also like to express express our
trust in the PTHS administration to find a thoughtful, appropriate, and timely replacement for the theater and vocal department. We know how much production means to our students, their families, and the community. And we're confident that every effort will be made to ensure
they continue to have the opportunities and experiences that they all look forward to. Finally, we also want to express our gratitude to you for approving the point4 teaching position to work alongside Mr. Striker. He's an incredibly dedicated educator who gives
us all his all across multiple areas of the music program. This additional support is a meaningful investment in our students growth and we believe it will have a lasting positive impact on the quality and outreach of our program.
I have to say that in a time when many schools are facing cuts to the arts, the fact that our music program is gaining staff speaks volumes. It reflects not only your commitment to the music education, but also to the values of this town. Values that prioritize
opportunity, enrichment, and excellence for all students. Thank you again for your continued support and belief in what we do. Hello, Dave Aseno again. Just two quick things that were brought up. Um, one is uh communication from coaches, teachers,
any administrator to a student, whether it be group me or text messages, how is that controlled? I know a lot of teams use group me for scheduling and games and all that. Does the school have access to see those messages? Um, and the other thing is is communication,
right? Everybody talked about being open and communication and transparency. I know, um, every time I reached out, the answer is always on the website. I get that and it is. It's great. Maybe in the very near future, for the next couple months, whatever, maybe go above the minimum of just
putting it on the website, you know, maybe overcommunicate a little bit. uh just for the next couple weeks to to to show people like yes, everybody here and everybody up there agrees that communication is key. Let me just go a little bit more for a couple weeks. Just really show like we
hear you, you know, we're updating like when you responded with the um the out the third party vendor. I was like that's awesome. Like tell me that, right? Don't don't make somebody come, oh, what's going on? What's going on? if we have that if if that's something that you can post on the website just so there's an update so we don't have to
ask that be awesome extra extra be great thank you anybody else right close public comment move on to unfinished business any board member have any unfinished business about new business and the board members
of new business. Anybody have any announcements? Okay. Uh at this time we do have consideration for executive session where we will discuss attorney client privilege matters. No action will be taken. We will adjourn from there. Our next meeting will be 10:27 here at the high school. Is there a motion to move
to executive session? Motion to go into exempt. Second. All in favor? I.