e e for those individuals and we'll probably continue to kind of stay on each other's Radars as they move through some legislative advocacy and then our budget numbers will come out next week um so we're kind of in a holding pattern and I
think you covering February yep yeah so talk about okay sounds good so that's my whole list thank you Mrs Miller um I'm happy to report I usually save the hi report to the end but I'm happy to report no hibs so nice job in the schools way to
go students no hibs that's my favorite type of report to to say out our security drills are listed there want give a a shout out uh to really the entirety of the public and specifically our um referendum uh Communications committee um the countless meetings we
had the feedback from everybody in strategic planning even prior to my arrival here um you know you know really kind of an astounding um uh vote uh 70% roughly 70% to 30% on on those
referendum items uh really a testament to uh what this with this town how how this town values the schools um and it's really going to help us um in in so many ways uh really kind of provide students with the infrastructure um and by proxy
the pro the programs that they need and so we're really really excited about that and um you know as far as the referendum goes as well uh Mr miles myself have met already with the Architecture Firm who's who's you know uh handling all the projects I know some
some of the so the timeline is is such that most of the projects are going to be completed in the summer of 2026 um I will will say that there's a few that we're hopeful to get done this summerfall um you kind of said you know it's kind of exciting it's it's kind of
hard hard wait for 18 months so we're looking at uh possibly doing the track the parking lot uh possibly a vestibule um this summer and we're we're we're right now and again don't quote me on this we're right now waiting to see the
feasibility of that uh by the biders to see if that's a possibility um and then the remainder of the projects would be done would be completed in summer of 26 so that would include the hbac projects um the other thing we're Target we might
Target is is um uh bathrooms at PES this year but I I think we might table that until the following year so that we can do all the bathrooms at once there's some there were some concerns about color schemes and all that we want everything to look nice and and perfect so all these things are kind of up in the air right now but we will have a a
firmer timeline as we get in I'll report that uh just about every month uh my next item is the budget timeline which kind of goes hand inand with the referendum timeline obviously this this is a time of year I was approved at this this meeting uh February 2024 so um it's
it's really kind of cool and surreal for me to be here and and and really kind of lead this district and uh through these these budgeting processes the state aid numbers come out next Tuesday the word we've we've been meeting with staff um the Pea monthly the word we keep using
because we feel this way he's cautiously optimistic I think the board uh Mr chrisen I I I say it all the time I talk to him almost on a five weekly basis um he really did a nice job kind of you know setting this District up in in a really great position so we're
cautiously optimistic we're really hopeful that um all April's barking uh at the state level has worked and that um we get we get a good news next week at the um governor's address which is 3M
next Tuesday so tune in um and then brief right after that those numbers are released on the finance site of the doe um so that's always exciting I always uh watch for that so very hopeful very cautiously optimistic on that budget timeline shortly after that we we'll
we'll continue to meet as administrative team with our pea leadership we'll meet next Monday right before that meeting to to kind of you know tell you what we look for um and then after that you know hopefully we're we're in a position where um you know we don't have to we don't have to make any dra any drastic
measures hopefully we're in a position where we can add and do some creative things and so uh Mr miles will work on putting budgets together we'll probably present and then eventually in April we'll present the budget at a public hearing so we'll keep you tuned on in tune on that we'll I I'll I'll put
updates in my monthly letter certainly and and keep you a breast on top of all that information um couple other just a couple other things I want to shout out to um Michael Caro I I I I went back and forth with our ad last month right
before he scored his thousandth point it was before a game I told him uh not to publish anything on social media for fear that he might not do it but he he crushed he he crushed that I think he scored 24 points that game and did a nice job so congrats to Michael fiso um
I suppose another risk for Elijah chrisen he's about to score 2,000 points I don't want to jinx that if you could tell I'm a little superstitious I didn't want to sorry to the Pei I didn't want to do a two-hour delay before the the Super Bowl it worked I just wanted that the Eagles should thank me Pitman did
not do a delay good uh but Elijah's you know on the verge of 2,000 points which is an accomplishment um and really that that whole team you know going to a couple games this year is uh really um you know I think if Elijah was here he'd say it's not possible without the people
around me um you know I've talked to some of the boys on the team and said you know that's it's not it's not possible for for your your your peers to do that you guys here are the Pippin here are the Rodman of of of Pitman and um and I think that means a lot it's a
great tight-knit group of of boys there so uh congratulations to them um like uh Miss Miller mentioned with as far as legislative advoc advocacy I'm really just kind of riding her coattails um I'll tell you that the TW the January
27th event I was approached by several Bas um in in neighboring counties even that said would you guys be willing to host just superintendant and business administrators to come and perhaps listen to Miss Miller kind of have a
conversation collaborate potentially as a group of superintendant as business administrators actually come together draft some uh I don't know if it's a resolution a letter something to send up to um the state uh maybe get the ear of some assembly people um so that meeting
is February 28th here at in the Pitman media center um and we're really looking forward to that thank you for uh BR to do that and uh people were really excited and you saw Miss Evans she just said oh you're lucky to have a a board president that plugged in and so I you know I keep I sound like a broken record with that but
we really appreciate your your work um uh you know you don't get paid Buu bucks to do it so P so you know super appreciated it um yeah so wanted to wanted to uh shout out there shout out to Mr cabano that our
teaching staff I think almost everybody was there on Friday it was it was pretty awesome day uh you had a great day planned with um and thank you to the community I know that's that's tough on parents sometimes and you think well what happens during an inservice um all kinds of stuff we had a session on AI we
had a we had Tom Gambino uh Mr miles appreciate you organizing that from the state uh he's he's like the state safety expert for schools and we've had him in multiple times I know I know it's you know nerve-wracking for teachers to go through these processes but we've done
some drills that are pretty intense uh but we want to test all our systems see Chief mcer is here he's part of our Safety and Security meetings and it's really kind of a focal point um so Safety and Security we've done we we talked uh at that Friday in service about AI its implications for students
its uses its potential uses Mr Cabana is working right now on um a draft of uh kind of AI guidance for students you know the extent to which it's useful um it's not many I'll tell you that that's kind of we've really kind of put our heads together and discussed but that's
that's topic mind uh we had um few other sessions on our math curriculum uh Mr Ciana is working on with teachers on that it's still its first year of implementation for K to K to five and um so really kind of digging in there
giving teachers what they need having conversations that um you know you might feel like you're only one step ahead of the students during a first year imp implementation I know I have teachers on the board here but um you know just just keep plugging along and and and you'll see some reward at the end of it um and
I know we're not at at the committee reports yet but if I if I may jump the gun on the committee reports um under curriculum and instruction um it was a late edition but um I wanted to acknowledge Dr Lardo I did receive um her uh letter of retirement and uh I
just wanted to shout out I've known and I said this last last year at this meeting um I've I've known I feel like I've known Dr Lombardo for like 20 years and I just met her last year um but in my previous District she was kind of a legend there like oh my goodness uh you
know Dr Lombardo um you know she was only in in Glassboro for a short period of time but she she left the mark on on people there and when when I left Glassboro to come to Pitman they they told me oh my goodness you know you're going to have a great great working relationship and um you're in great
hands there and so uh you know I'd be remiss not to to acknowledge that and thank you for your service to to to the to the board to the to the students of Pitman to the community uh 20 years I think potentially the longest serving principal in the state um I was asking
down at ASA and they said how long I said over 20 years and they said I think she might have there was a guy in um uh up upper sadle river that was that was close and I said well we'll have to see we'll have to test that record so um yeah it doesn't count yeah so um want to
thank you so much and um it doesn't get any yeah appreciate it yeah thanks District ising place to it's great to to land and to be able to retire so I'm to thank the for allowing me to do that thank you yeah appreciate it back
conclud my report student representative thank you um Miss Miller at Memorial writes that Memorial has welcomed winter and the hallways are filled with snowy themed projects and activities they've had a lot of indoor BS playing board games and constru
constructing New Creations in January author illustrator Timothy young visited and signed books read stories and showed students how illustrators brainstorm ideas for their for their drawings first graders had lunch with their grown-ups and kind kindergarteners will be doing
that in February students and staff had a lot of fun with Spirit day and cheering on the Eagles the 100th day will be celebrated on February 12th they're so excited to be 100 days safer kinder smar and more respectful all around good school citizens Miss Mason at PES writes that there are a lot of
exciting things happening at PES um their fifth and sixth grade maskers continues to rehearse their performance of Madagascar Jor which takes place in March the show is set for March 13th and 14th they're thankful for their HSA sponsored clubs which is game club and craft club that are underway with the
students and are loving both the spelling be Club wrapped up the second Annual Spelling be event and had three students move on districts in late February their fourth graders are enjoying Rowan's Engineers Engineers on Wheels which focus on engaging stem
experiments and activities they cheered on the Eagles as they played in the Super Bowl with an exciting pep rally um and it was a huge success they're looking forward to the read Across America week in early March as they celebrate with many activities as well as theme days the students especially enjoy the Pitman High School football
players and cheerleaders who come to PHS as guest readers um Senior High students have concluded their midterm exams and have began working towards their third marking period grades playoffs for winter sports have begun and spring Sports signups were held on February 5th the student council is still working on
planning academic Spirit Week academic B on the staff lunching and students cannot wait for all the upcoming events okay that's great who were the did you guys get dictionaries what grade was that us four is it fourth grade is that the dictionary year I'm sure every
parent in the audience has that dictionary at their house it was the rotary that provided it yeah we have like five you have like well yeah I was to say you guys should at least have four right got them in elementary school really and they're yellow I'm looking
out I I think you probably have three I think it was you think it was third I think I think it was third changing third all right what year is the spelling be second the spelling be second no
second running no what what grades level are the spelling fourth and fifth fourth and fifth so they'll have several years to study it yeah great is that the intention of giving out the no it predates that I was just kind of April's house that's what they
do no I know there's no expert spellers in our house we're in the era of uh auto correct we don't need to be text to talk my all right that is going to take us to finance facilities I will turn it
over to our chairman Mr dman thank you finance and Facilities committee met via zoom on Wednesday February the 12th at 3:30 p.m. in attendance for myself Dr Preston Robert Miles April Miller and Rebecca hiby I
the meeting lasted 40 minutes and we adjourn to 4:10 p.m. short meeting nothing of great no covered in detail as I touched on last month Panther Club is doing well and we have decided to keep rates the same for next year as a result we had discussed a project with Panther
Club proceeds that will mutually be beneficial to both the panther Club as well as the school district and looks like we've decided on a new sound system for the Memorial School auditorium is that y the tax levy payments with the district and the Barrow are all in and
there are no issues with that we're still looking for a tenant for wall School the portion that elf does not rent that seems to have stalled at the moment we have been approached about selling the entire building but that presently is not our prerogative at this time and lastly our neutral serve
contract is up after five years and we must go out for RFP on that we discussed what that looks like with regards to services and Staffing more to follow on that at a later date thank you and see everybody Wednesday tonight with that I
move all right I should have read the last sentence with that I'll move motion items one through 12 on the agenda for approval I have a second second papalardo okay any
discussion all right Mr call all right Mrs Bolton yes Mrs Farrell yes Mr Gman yes to all I have to abstain on number 12 but yes to the rest all right exstension for number 12 that's noted
Mrs papalardo yes Mrs Miller yes motion carried thank you all right let going take us to curriculum instruction and I will turn it over to our chair one Mrs Bolton all right the curriculum and instruction committee met on February 12th 2025 at 4:30 the meeting lasted about an hour in
attendance were Dr Preston Mr calano Mrs Miller Mrs Po and myself um we discussed some of the items on the agenda tonight number eight the Southwest Council um will be teaching age appropriate drug awareness for grades 1 through six at no
cost to our district um number nine inspired instruction uh ran the PD which was mentioned earlier on February 14th at the Junior Senior High with the topic of AI in the classroom and then elementary teachers learned more um on
the envisions curriculum they are currently implementing in their classrooms uh we moved on to discuss the seal that we will begin recirculating on some official documents Etc um we also talked about
class sizes and how things have been growing and what we think healthy numbers are in the classroom last up we talked about the memorial start time for next year in order to accommodate preschool um teachers prep time we might need to push
back the start time for that school um um probably at most 15 minutes um we haven't made that a solid plan so when we do um you will hear an official announcement on those start times so sit tight for a little longer but it's
coming soon March should March we'll make the call okay um all right so that was it so with that I will make a motion to approve items two through 22 as written we changed
it I don't know why I did that okay I'll make a motion to approve items two through 25 thank you Mard I have a second second questionman any discussion I did want to highlight
um I apologize I did want to highlight one of the items oh number 10 the alternative District logo I to provide some background on oh yes um I like this a lot so since I come here I've wanted I saw
mayor razzy's lapel pin and it was it's like a really nice logo of like it's like a Pitman seal I said why I want a pin like that but with the schools seal and I couldn't find anything and then one day I think Mr cabano received an email from Miss Donnelly and Miss
Donnelly had the like this old seal um that said Pitman Public Schools not just the High School which was It was kind of old it looked like a grainy like she had taken a picture it probably was never digitized and I said well why don't so I I reached out to Mr Kel I said why don't
you work on kind of like cleaning this up and and you know getting a designer's eye on it and looking to see if we can get you know this this firmed up so we did and it's simple it's it's the Pitman seal but it's cleaned up it's kind of a little bit modernized but it's going to
be wor really worthy of a lapel pin very very shortly um get yours while while it's hot so yeah thank you work with AEL manufacturer see if we can maybe yeah exactly we said at the committee meeting that uh the corner press is going to be hopping
hopping ask where he got his right this is true I like it I like that I love that it's coming back all right so is there any further discussion okay see M Mrs Bolton yes Mrs Farrell yes m Mr
Gman yes Mrs papalardo yes Mrs Miller I apologize Oban from number three and yes to the rest all exstension number three and motion Carri all right it's going to take us to communication and policy so I will turn it over to Mrs F communication and
policy committee met on February 12th 2025 at 5:30 p.m in attendance were C papalardo Rebecca higgo Dr Preston Mr miles and Mr kaano and myself there are a number of policy revisions on the agenda for a first reading this month a
notable addition important to parents is a new law that requires public high school students to complete the F FAA or the New Jersey alternative financial aid application to graduate this law applies to the graduating classes of 2025
through 2027 I move to adopt item number one okay as written so this is first reading we have a second second discussion is it only 2025 to 202 it's
it's piloted yeah but I mean we opposed it we thought that it was an overreach and really not um necessary I think that we thought you know the conversation we had as a board was that the material should certainly be available and we should provide the tools and assistance to family and students to to complete
that because you want to make it as accessible as possible but by the state mandating it we felt that it was kind of inherently problematic I know the njsba position was to oppose it as well um but unfortunately if you go through apparently there's already a number of
challenges that pertain to it so it may not be a successful pilot but there is an opt out form for all parents that you can choose to to utilize so that your student is not required to do that as a graduation op out you can not you don't have access to any
state it's just like any it's just not you can still complete let me see if I correct I'm looking to Dr Lardo my understanding is you can still will complete a f form but you're not submitting it through the school as a graduation requirement you're not checking that off okay so yes you still
have access to those things you can still opt out and fill it out on your own correct correct okay great but you know there's a there's a number of different reasons families choose or don't choose to fill that out and it's obviously a personal decision so I find it the most complicated thing in the world the fastest more I don't even want
to think about it we closer than I would like to that's another stress I'll put that for like post meeting stress um okay any other discussion on these first readings all right seeing none Mr miles please call the vote Yes Mrs Bolton yes
Mrs Farrell Mr Gman surely Mrs papalardo yes Mrs Miller yes motion carried okay all right this is going to bring us to our second public comment if you recognize to speak please come to the podium located to my left state your name Municipality of residents and group affiliation of applicable to be recognized as
speak okay all right seeing uh no one is there any old business um I do just want to add one thing it is definitely a group effort on the legislative advocacy I know that I'm the one who talks the most uh by nature
but I really do think that you know we do a really nice job as a board of everyone pitching in and helping out and attending these meetings and listening to we talk um all right any new business okay seeing Don all right may have a motion to adjourn
second second all in favor I the next Board of Education meeting is the budget meeting and it's scheduled for March 5th and it will be at P high school media center all right thank you so much