of the Pitman Board of Education was advertised in the South Jersey Times, posted at Burough Hall. A copy thereof delivered to all Pitman schools to be posted and posted on the district's website. Further notice was posted and filed as required by law stating that the board would meet in close session at
7 p.m. in the Pitman High School Media Center. The vice president shall entertain any objections with supporting reasons to the conduct of this meeting on the grounds it violates the open public meetings act. Seeing none, good evening everybody.
Welcome to the Pitman Board of Education meeting. Please join me in a moment of silence. Please join me in a salute to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Datus, will you please call roll? Of course. Mrs. Bolton, here. Mrs. Farrell here, Mr. Gman present, Mrs. here,
Mrs. Miller, Mrs. here, Mrs. here, and our 61. All right. First thing we have for tonight is a presentation on NJ GPA or GEA, I believe they're called, um, results. So, I'm going to turn it over
to Mr. Caliano. Thank you. I promise this will be the fastest presentation of the year. By all means, take your time. as require as required by the state. Um we have to report out at a board meeting our NJGPA scores and our NJSLA scores which I'll
probably do in October. Um but for today we'll we'll go over the NJGPA scores. And just to give you a little information, this is a test taken by 11th graders primarily. Uh it is a graduation requirement. If they fail to
pass this exam are considered not graduation ready. um if they do pass the exam, they're graduation ready. And um there are other pathways that they can take. So um if they don't pass through 11th grade year, they can use alternate
assessment scores um such as the PSATs or if that doesn't work out, there's also an appeal process that they can go through. Um the the required score is a 725 on the exam.
And uh students actually can retake the exam senior year. That covers the majority of and it's given in both ELA and math. Something that I kind of want to think about anymore, but um it is something that I want to let you know. Um we had 92
students take that. That was all of our 11th graders. And of those 92, um the scores are actually here uh in the 2024 column. I'm sorry, I should say 2025. This got messed up somewhere. This is 23
24 25 for ELA. 23 24 25 for math. So, here are our 2025 scores. This is just taken back in March. For Pitman with the P, there were 63% of our students that were considered graduation ready uh in
Pitman. In the States, it was 58%. All right. So, we can see that we're 5% above the state for math. All right. I'll go over previous years in a second after I cover ELA. Um, for ELA, we were 80.4% graduation rate. So, 80.4% of our
students actually passed that exam. Um, and the state was 80.7. So, you know, sometimes we talk about how we perform as a district, either for math or ELA. Um, in this case, you might compare 80% of our kids pass for ELA,
but only 63% pass for math. You might think, well, we must be doing much better in ELA than we are in math. Well, maybe, right? But when you compare it to the state, that's really something that I find important because the assessment actually could be more difficult for ELA
or math than it is for the other. And in this case, we actually performed worse than the state average by 0.2% for ELA, where with math, we were 5% greater. All right. So through my lens, it to me it seems like for that particular grade and
that particular exam, we performed better on math than we did for y'all. Okay? Now, there's an argument. We can go back and forth on that, but that's just one way to look at it. Um, going backwards and and continuing to look at that gap, right? So, I like to look at the gap between how we performed and how
the state performed, which I'm highlighting here down at the bottom. The state in 2024 the or the gap the year before was 1.3%. So we actually performed 1.3% worse than the state average with a
different group of students. Right? That would be our that would have been our current 12th grade graduates. The year before, which would be our current freshman in college, we performed 6% better. So that that's actually pretty steady, right? It's not it's not a real
like big disparity from year to year. It's a steady progression. We're performing well in ELA and on state average in my assessment. Uh where with math, if we go backwards again, our current 12th graders were were 1.2% less than the state average. We can call that
state average is close enough. The year before, I mean, right there, just.3% lower. Um where this year we saw a big a big jump. Okay. And that that's really a great thing to have. Uh we actually performed 6.2% 2% better than we did
last year and 5% better than the state. All right. So, um we're looking into why that actually happened and what the reasons are and we're going to have those discussions with the teachers uh with the high school teachers because um I believe they all contributed to that score because they all either taught
9th, 10th or 11th grade. So, um it's a really really great thing to have and and something that we're proud of. So, um I'm not going to take the credit. It's just my first year. No, I'm kidding. Um, but it is it is great for Pitman and good to see us outperforming the state by that much. So that's it.
Thank you, Mr. C. U, we are to the public comment. The Pittman public school board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest. This is the first of
two public comments we will have tonight. The first public hearing is on agenda items only. This is public comment and not a dialogue between the board and the public. You will have three minutes to speak and it's your opportunity to comment or ask questions. In accordance with board policy number
0167, we ask that you state your name, municipality of residents, and group affiliation if applicable. To be recognized to speak, please stand behind the podium located over here. Um, and please speak clearly into the microphone.
Okay, seeing none for first public comment, we're going to move to correspondence. Uh, Mr. Datraus, do we have any correspondence? No, we do not. All right, we're going to move on to meeting minutes. I will now move to accept a motion for the minutes of the Pitman Board of Education as held on the dates listed below and approved as
printed and reading dispensed with. May I have a second? Second, Gman. Um, I have to abstain because I wasn't here. Okay, we didn't get there yet. Oh, sorry. All right. Um, all in favor that's the vote part. Sorry. All in favor? Make sure I don't forget. I wasn't there.
Um, any objections? And Mrs. Pope would like to abstain. Y. Okay. Uh, we're moving on to the president's report. First thing we have is an agenda amendment which I'm going to hand off to Mr. Wong.
Um, under curriculum and policy, uh, we do have an addition tonight. Item number 29. Uh this is recommending a motion to submit a contract amendment to the executive county superintendent for superintendent Dr. Preston.
Okay. Um also for president's report, we would like to welcome Mr. Chris Draatus. It's our f his first official meeting with us, although he's been here several times in the crowd and you've probably already seen his face. Um just a note that Mrs. Miller has all of our
responses from the email that was sent out regarding committee meetings and times and she's going to work on sorting through those and we'll get back to us. Um we're also considering what our meeting start times are and we've invited the public to weigh in if you have any opinion on earlier later
um you know what you think might work best for the community. We still have our board of self evaluation. We are going to look into doing that this fall. And we're also looking into potential dates for when we can get together and have a retreat. And the
last item is that NJSBA has posted our counting county meeting times for the upcoming year. They have them on their website. And when I was on there, I noticed they've changed it a little bit. They've actually made it easier that when you go on for county meetings, it brings up each individual county. So, if you click lost, it just lists them all
for you. So, if you wanted to go ahead and like start marking some of those on your calendar, uh they have the inperson ones and then they also have the ones that are virtual. And that is all I have. So, we are going to move on to our superintendent report. Thanks, Mr. Balardo. Um want to echo uh
the welcome to Mr. Stratus. Um really appreciate I know you've only been here for a minute, but um certainly I think I described him when we approved him in April as a tactician. um he's gracefully audited us so far and uh uh given us um
really good insight into some things already just procedures, processes um with with the many years of experience he's had in in big schools, small schools. Um so it's been it's it's been a real and he had big shoes to fill. Um he knows Mr. Miles who his predecessor
um they work very closely together and so it's been it's been good to to have that kind of transition. So really really glad to have you here. um back to school nights. Um these are not yet set in stone. Be set in stone when I when when you get my letter next week, but but here's the tentative. Memorial
September uh Memorial School September 23rd, PES September 18th, and the junior senior high school September 16th and we'll we'll we'll certainly firm that up. So, uh don't don't deconontextualize that that quote there
yet. open houses. Uh we have one at PEES at August 26th from 5 to 6:30. And I know it says August open houses. The memorial open house is from SE is on September 3rd from 2:30 to 4:30. That's so that students can drop their materials and all their items at the
school. Um that that also I'll firm up in uh my monthly uh brief uh board brief, superintendent brief. Um do want to update you on um you know, obviously what you're seeing as you come in tonight. all of the uh uh updates,
referendum updates, uh construction updates. Um we have uh the junior senior high school vestibial as you've seen it. Uh it's on schedule. Uh I don't know if you've seen it, but uh there's a couple interior wood doors that uh may be delayed due to material lead times. Those are the interior doors. Um so
we'll be set. We'll be good to go on that. I know you've been having meetings. Uh we have uh bi-weekly meetings tomorrow. Um construction meetings. It's actually a really fun process. the first time that uh I've been involved this this closely in a in a referendum uh project, but it's it's that there's there's so many moving
parts in this and and obviously you've done them before and it shows. So, uh I appreciate your your uh you know, really your PMing this uh is pretty impressive. Uh junior senior high school partial roof replacement. This is on schedule. Um there were two back-to-back super
heavy rains. I think it was like the the seventh the sixth and the seventh. Uh we had some water uh in infiltrate the the vestibule. That's going to be cleaned up. Uh there was some debris in several rooms. The contractor is coordinating with their insurance company to assess
that damage, rectify the losses. Um some sidewalks were damaged under the weight of heavy machinery. All of this is being recorded in bi-weekly meetings and will be rectified. Um again, that's something that we'll publish to in the brief because I you made the good point. you know, we got to get that word out and so we'll get that out on social media and
all our platforms for people to see. We have we have a couple posts showing uh you know, progress. I see Mr. Datizia, Miss Bian Keiny, I think of track. You see that out there? That's going really well. That's actually ahead of schedule. It is. Yes. Uh the parking lot as well. So
that's that's huge. We were we were um originally told that it might not even be done till end of November. and and so you know we're I don't I don't want to give a exact date because it's that again I don't want to false hope is not a great thing but we are ahead of schedule there as you can as you can see
so that's really exciting as well um what else did I miss the walls board of education offices are on schedule um uh those are looking good that'll give we'll have we'll have signage for where you enter on that um that's a really important project too I know Mr. Stratus
uh has has been in touch with as you know the uh uh Elk uh Deli school district Elk School District that lease ended. Uh we're working to try to get some ideas for brokerage to try to get tenants in there. The reality is most of them will probably want the offices that we're currently in and the classroom or
the and or the classroom space that we're currently in. So by moving down into there, we can then kind of uh try to try to lease out that building and generate some revenue on that which would be certainly a boon for us. Um and Mr. super stratus. Um I think that I think that takes care
of pretty much everything um as far as uh progress on all of our projects going forward. Um and the exciting thing is this is really only what one quarter of all the projects the bulk of the projects take place uh next summer. So uh really really exciting things happening right now. Uh that concludes
my report. Okay. We're we have no student representative report for tonight but we're looking forward to in September when school starts up again. We will be welcoming Abby Hy and Emily Ward. Um they will be joining us and will be giving us uh you know a rundown of
what's going on in all of our district schools. Finance and facilities. I'm going to turn it over to committee chairman Mr. Gman. Thank you. Finance and facilities committee met on July 16th, 2025 at 3:30 p.m. via Google
Meet. In attendance where Superintendent Dr. Robert Preston, business administrator Mr. Robert Miles, committee members Rebecca Biono and April Miller. No. Oh, okay. Oh,
I'm not talking funny. I didn't type it up. Don't look at me. I wasn't present for I was I had that thing called a job, but no. Sorry, Mr. Draatus. Not Mr. Mos. Where was I? Get me distracted. Sorry,
this meeting was a light month. We discussed the sponsorship for the signage on the football field, which is an agenda item. Mr. Draatus is a qualified purchasing agent, and the state has increase the bid thresholds for districts with a QPA as indicated in the agenda. The committee discussed the
plan to acquire tenants for the lease options at walls. We discussed the referendum projects such as track, parking lot, necessary irrigation repairs to those areas. A discussion, Miss Hug, regarding the track color. Red and black are the most UV stable, which means they had the best longevity. The
board believes the most frugal option that is optimal for athletes and track longevity is the priority. Our new athletic director, Miss Hess, has an extensive background in track. So, the board of ed also felt it best to defer to her opinion in consultation with the
central office administration team. That concludes my report. Okay. With that, can I can I add on that? Go ahead. Sure. Really, we're probably finalizing that color up tomorrow. She's Miss Hess is going to be part of that. The the contractor, the architect really
kind of digging into those colors and uh you know, nailing that down. Mhm. Okay. Any more discussion or questions? No. All right. Seeing none, Mr. Datus, can you please call the vote? I didn't make a move yet. Oh, Russian Miracle Man, you get a bad miracle. Sorry.
With that, I make a motion to approve items 1 through eight on the agenda for approval. Can I get a second? Second. Okay. Now, any discussion? Correct. Now, any discussion? Yes. Okay. No. Mr. Strauss, you want to call the vote?
Sure. Mrs. Bolton? Uh, yes. Mrs. Frell, yes. Mr. Gman, yes. Mrs. Sigiono, yes. Mrs. Papalardo, yes. All right. Motion carries. All right. Next up, we have curriculum and instruction. I'm going to turn it
over to committee chairwoman Mrs. Folton. All right. The curriculum and instruction committee met virtually on July 16th from 4:30 to 5:15. In attendance were Dr. Preston, Mr. Calpiano, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Pot, and
myself. We talked about our new hires, Mrs. Daro, who will be teaching art, and Mrs. Tucci, who will be back to teach science. We are excited to welcome both of these uh teachers back to our district. We spent some time talking about scheduling and the different
partnerships that are available for our high school students. Mr. Calabiano will continue to do research and make changes where necessary to make sure our business and steam academy students can maximize both their schedules and dual
credit opportunities. Next, we talked about Sarah's Spanish school, um, which is basically Spanish a Spanish teaching video program. students would have a teacher in the room um but the lesson would come through the
video feed from a Spanishspeaking teacher. Um we've heard different great feedback from both of um the program. We're not quite ready to implement it, but it's just an option for now um because we're
going to try to utilize our teach our district teachers um as best as best we can before we make that move. So, for now, that's just in the talks. And, uh, next up was our NJ GPA performance
levels. Um, Mr. Katpiano already kind of gave us a rundown of that. Uh, the numbers, you know, our ELA numbers were right on average and our math of course was 5% above, which is a pretty nice increase from last year. Um, as far as
ELA goes, we will continue to look into different programs. Um and right now we're kind of looking at success for all reading curriculum. A lot of um districts around us have seen substantial improvement in their
students reading levels. So always looking to make things better. Um and last, we're still waiting to hear from the state about the universal screenings. Um we hope to have that info soon as we will need to choose a program
and train staff. So, we'll make sure that happens. Um, looks like discussion is ready. Can I just add something to that? Yeah, go ahead. That was good. Um, the success for all, we're not there. That's one of the the uh uh ELA
sort of frameworks we're looking at. I don't like to say programs because teachers are really the the the program. Um, the the framework provides the teachers with the tool necessary and you know u and I know you do a really nice job of that too. Um, one of the things
that uh that the board kind of charged us with was I thought it was great. I mean, well, how do you get to 100%. You know, and we looked at um we were talking in the discussion about Steuenville, Ohio and um they really they got to 100%. Which 10 years ago
they got this charge, well, how do you get to 100% pass rate on this this I think they were taking the park at the time and they did it and they were they used this framework called success for all. And so we had and in the committee meetings we had discussed that which I think is a pertinent topic because it's like well yeah let's let's let's aim
small and miss small you know like the 100%'s the the number you know and and let's try to do that. So I thought you did a nice job of kind of capturing that that discussion for sure. Good. All right. So I'll make a motion to approve items 1 through 29 as written.
Second 28 plus. All right. Um, turn it over so you can do Yep. Before before the roll call. Yeah. So, I'd like to just do the bios uh of our of our uh newly appointed teachers who you you're about to be voting on uh
board. Uh u starting with Miss Shay Davies. Uh Shay Davies um right to uh my right uh your left. She Davies is an experienced early childhood educator proudly stepping into the role of preschool instructional coach. I'd like to say Miss Sager Miller's uh number
two. Um she has over 18 years in the preschool field. Uh she holds dual certification in preschool, third grade teacher, and teacher of the handicapped. You have teacher of the handicapped, huh? That's like a coveted uh Yeah, coveted sir. Uh earned after graduating from Rowan University in 2006. Her career began in
Camden City Public Schools teaching preschool inclusion followed by 10 years in Northeast Pennsylvania in the same capacity where I went to college. So proud proud of that already too. She also worked in early intervention supporting students with IEPs and partnering with teachers and families. In 2024, Shay relocated back to New
Jersey where she joined Mount Ephraim School District as a preschool instructional coach and preschool intervention and referral specialist. Passionate about supporting both educators and students. She's excited to bring her knowledge and commitment to the Pitman community. Uh, one of the things Shay and I talked about in there is even just our approach as as a
leadership team here in in Pitman, um, is we put a high priority on on even hiring administrators that have a lot of classroom experience. I know you you were in the classroom for over what, 11, 12 years. Um, most of our administrators, I mean, as a preschool instructional coach, you have, you know,
18 20 years of teaching experience. I think that's huge. I think it's uh it's important to remember what the the classroom experience is like and um, you know, we're we're glad to have you on on board. So, welcome. Thank you. Stacy Daro couldn't be here tonight. Uh you know her, but I still want to read her bio because I know there's a lot of
excitement around Mr. Daro coming back. This was this this was her space will be her space once again. Uh she she is responsible for really just complete in in one year completely changing this library media center around. Uh she's really a dynamic individual. So I do do
want to read her bio. She's really just a unique individual as well. Um, it is my pleasure to introduce Miss Stacy Daro as the new art teacher and library media specialist at Pitman Junior Senior High School. Mr. Daro brings over 15 years of experience in both both school libraries and classroom instruction. With a strong f focus on tech integration, information
literacy and student engagement, she holds advanced degrees in both ed leadership and library and information science and has served in a wide range of educational settings from elementary through high school. Most recently, she has supported Pitman students and staff as the junior senior high school media specialist where she fostered research
skills, ran a STEM focused advisory group, and promoted a love of reading. We're thrilled to have her continue in this expanded role where her creativity, experience, and passion for lifelong learning will benefit the entire school community. She really is a lifelong learner, too. I I have some really rich discussions when I'm just popping in, if
I'm at the lunchroom or just popping in the media center. She's a real joy to talk to. Uh Miss Carrie McConnell uh with us tonight to my left uh is my pleasure to introduce Miss Carrie McConnell who will be joining the staff at Memorial School as a second grade replacement teacher. Miss McConnell brings several years of elementary
teaching experience, most recently serving in Dennis Township Primary School, uh where she was consistently rated highly effective. She has a strong background in literacy and glowing reviews uh from down there as well. Um uh she has a strong background in
literacy and math instruction using programs such as ready genen foundations and visions and scholastic news and is known for creating warm student centered classrooms grounded in responsive classroom practices. Miss McConnell has also contributed to her school community by serving on the INRS
team and wellness committee. That's the intervention intervention and referral services team. Um she and her young a person a little personal note she and her young family recently moved to Pitman and she shared how excited she is to become an active member of the community by teaching here. She feels especially grateful for this opportunity
and is looking forward to meeting the board of education tonight at uh PES that's correct PS welcome um any discussion on any of the items shared?
No. All right, Mr. Draatus, can you please click click roll? Mrs. Bolton, yes. I'll vote. Mrs. Frell, yes. Mr. Gman, yes. Mrs. Sigiono. Uh, I have to abstain from 26 and 29, but yes to all the others. And Mrs.
Pavardo, yes. Motion carries. All right. We're going to take a five minute recess and then we will come back and do our communication and policy report. And next up on the agenda, we have
communication and policy. So, I'm going to turn it over to committee chairman Mrs. Higgby Aayiona. Uh the excuse me, the communication and policy committee met on July 16th at 5:30. In attendance were Stacy
Papalardo, Melissa Frell, Dr. Preston, Mr. called tobiano and myself. Uh the committee discussed several policy issues. Um first we're working on developing an alopment policy so we'll have clear guidance for our staff in the event of
uh an alopment a student elopment. Second, uh we have an unfortunate need to adopt a policy on dealing with a student who is not impaired themselves but comes to school smelling of marijuana.
Um the smell can be very strong and is disruptive to the learning environment. So, uh, we're looking at a policy that would likely call for verification of the odor and, uh, some procedure by which a change of clothes would be provided for the
affected child. Um, that's to come in the future. Uh, finally, we discussed revisions to policy 5440 on honoring pupil achievement. We've uh decided to recommend using weighted
rather than cumulative GPA to determine which high school students are eligible for recognition at our endofear program. And those revisions are on the agenda tonight for a first reading. So with that, uh if there's no discussion,
any discussion, uh I'll move to adopt item one as written. Second. I'll second. Mr. Stratus, please call vote. All right. Mrs. Bolton, yes. Mrs. Frell,
yes. Mr. Gman, yes. Mrs. Higgby, Iona, yes. Mr. Papardo, yes. Passes. This brings us to our second public hearing or sub public comment, I'm sorry. Um,
this is the second public comment. Please state your name, municipality of residents, and affiliation if applicable and limit your comments to three minutes. You may step up right over here. Okay, seeing none. Uh do we have any old
business? No. Okay. Any new business? No. Okay. Um with that, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. So move first. Second. Second. Farrell. Okay. All in favor?
I opposed. All right. The next board of education meeting will be scheduled or is scheduled, I'm sorry, for August 20th, 2025 right here in the Pitman High School Media Center. And we thank you for shopping and we hope you have a great