Good evening and welcome. The time is now 5:32 p.m. and I would like to open the public portion of the July 16th, 2025 Richfield Park Board of Education meeting. Let's begin with a salute to the flag. Mr. Bice, can you please read the Open
Public Meetings Act? Yes. The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend meetings of the public bodies at which any business affecting interest is discussed or acted upon. In
accordance with this provision of this act, the Richville Park Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, place thereof posted in a Bergen record, Star Ledger, municipal building, board of education offices, and district website.
Now, surrounding public participation will be conducted both in person and virtually through Zoom. All public will be muted throughout the meeting. Public participation comments are limited to 5 minutes. The public be able to both speak and be seen by the board when participating virtually or
telephonically via Zoom. Individuals participating virtually that wish to make comments during the public participation will need to raise their hand by clicking the blue icon at the bottom of the Zoom window. Individual participating by telephone that wish to make comments during the public participation will need to hit star9 on
a telephone to raise their hand. The business administrator board secretary will then unmute interviews one at a time to speak in the order that their hand was raised. Thank you. Mr. Ber, can I please have a roll call? Mr. Cooney,
present. Miss Craft here. Mr. Fitros. Miss McNeel here. Mr. Mal. Miss Rodriguez here. Miss Schmid here.
Miss Vez here. Miss Orth Miss you're muted. I'm here. President Martinez. And I'm here. We have a quorum. We had no official correspondence to the
board from the public over the past month. Although many have expressed happiness and gratitude for the work that has gone into stabilizing the district and meeting the requirements for state monitoring to end and the growing body of evidence vis vis visible all around us that we are a district on
the rise. We have a very light but consequential agenda for this evening. Tonight the superintendent's report will include updates from the assistant superintendent on our most recent assessment data. We will have one public comment period. We will then begin the board retreat portion of the meeting
during which Dr. Vespinani will present the 202526 district goals. These goals are based on board feedback as the voice of the community and on his administration's assessment of our current state and needs. Then with the assistance of Miss
Kelly Mitchell from New Jersey school boards, the board will formulate its governance goals for the upcoming year. We will now uh open to listen to citizens comments off agenda. Oh.
Okay. So, I will close public comment meetings and I will hand the meeting off to Dr. Vaspani. Thank you, President Martinez, and good evening. Uh pleasure to be with everyone tonight. As Dr. Martinez had shared, uh
we do have a data presentation presented by Miss Triglia, assistant superintendent of schools. Uh but before we begin, I just wanted to briefly share an update and and first for for folks tuning in at home andor who uh may watch this uh recording on another day, uh you may see that we are in a new space and I
just wanted to extend uh many thanks to our technology team uh under the supervision of uh Mr. Mr. Bisc Business Administrator and our operations manager, Mr. Eigu, uh for making this a very smooth transition. If there are any uh delays or hiccups with any of the technology tonight, we do ask for your
your patience as we make this transition. But again, uh big thank you to our technology team for for making this happen in a short amount of time. Uh our summer uh preparations are in full force. uh our summer programs are are going smoothly. Uh having uh our ESY
program as well as our academic uh services for uh students this year it's being held at Grant. Uh so all that I can report are going smoothly and uh similarly our construction projects uh folks who may have visited the campus of the junior senior high school uh
undoubtedly see a good amount of construction going on uh around the exterior but in the interior we're making a lot of progress in terms of you know some of those projects uh as are uh we're doing the same across uh all of our schools. Uh I did also just want to
comment that uh we had a smooth um launch to our new website. Um so folks may wish to check that out and we'll be rolling out the new app feature uh closer to the school year. Uh I now wanted to turn it over to uh our assistant superintendent uh Miss Triglia
who will present uh a presentation regarding NJPA and also our access for L. So please give us a moment as we prepare that presentation. Good evening and thank you. Tonight we're presenting the um NJGPA and the
access for L's um administration, spring administration. Just a quick overview as um I do in in the past um I try to give an overview of what these assessments are. The NJGPA is uh administered to students in grade 11 for both ELA and
mathematics. ELA covers the 10th grade standards. So it's um a culmination of what they learned in 10th grade and they're being tested in 11th. And for the math component, it's for um algebra 1 and geometry standards. Should students um not be graduation
ready in grade 11, they have the opportunity to retake the assessment in 12th grade. Um in some instances, there may be students in 12th grade who um have either moved into the state new or were exempt the year before and would be taking it for the first time in 12th
grade. But mostly this assessment is for 11th grade students to meet the graduation pathway. If they do not meet the graduation pathway, um they can then follow the second pathway which are alternate assessments such as the PSAT, SAT, um
ACUPPLACER. And then there's a third pathway which would be the portfolio um a field that students can participate in should they not meet the second pathway. You have two levels for the NJ GPA,
graduation ready or not yet graduation ready. The cutoff score to be considered graduation ready is 725 reaching a max of 850. In spring of 25, we had 219
students eligible to take the ELA assessment. Of the 219, 218 students participated with a total percentage of 99% participation. For mathematics, we had 224 students who were eligible to take the assessment
with a participation rate of 223 students at 99%. You may be asking yourself, why is math at 224 and ELA at 219? Um, in some instances, as we had stated before, there might be some students who might be exempt from taking the ELA portion. Typically those might
be our multilingual learners who entered the country June 1st um after June 1st of the previous school year um and then on. So in this instance we had some students who were ELA exempt. Um our district in comparison to the
state our ELA scores we were 82.6% graduation ready. um just putting us a little bit above the state percentage which was at 80.7. In mathematics we were at 52.5% which put us below the state um and they
were at 58%. In the next slide you can see it in a graph form. This is the same information just now as a graph. Here is a comparison of how we performed over the years. So you can see in spring of 22 our scores were definitely much
lower. Um both math and ELA were at 37 and 39%. And then we saw a significant increase in the 23 school year. Again some more gains in the 24 for ELA. Um um I'm sorry
ELA we dropped. This is the district versus the state. we dropped a little and then again we we we um increased but still um pretty close with the state in 25 and in 23. This is math. We're comparing the
district to the state over the course of the past few years. Um math we have seen a steady increase from 22 to 24 with a little bit of a drop in 25. um the state averaging around that 55 to
58% as well. This slide if I'm moving too quickly just uh note that this will be posted on our website so you can easily go back and and observe it if or review it and if you have any questions you can always reach out but just know that it'll be
there. Um for this is just a comparison of the district across the years. The two slides before were the district to state. This is just the district and you can see, you know, the the percentage growth except for the one year and 24 for ELA. And then for math, we had some
steady growth and saw a slight decline as we said before. Um the next two slides we have demographic data. So here we're seeing female, male, Hispanic. Um in some instance, this is just for spring 2025.
You may note on some future slides that there may be some information that might be missing for a particular subgroup. In those instances, if the students below fall below um 20 students, you can't report out on them. I think it's 20 or 10, I can
confirm, but the the numbers typically anything under 20 students, you can't report out to the public. So, that might be why there may not be um information there. For this particular slide, you can see that our female population um was at 89% proficient. You know, I've
just kind of used the cursor to show you 89% proficient in ELA and about 55% proficient in math. Our male population 75 and 49 just to give you an idea of how we um were performing. Our Hispanic population was 82.5% proficient um in
ELA, 50% in math and so on. I just give another second or two to just look at the slide. This is our special ed population. We had 48.5% proficient um in ELA. Our math scores
dramatically low. Something we're definitely going to be working on. Um and Dr. V can share more about that. At 3% here, our ML population 45% graduation ready and in ELA and about 30 29% in math.
This is our subgroups again but a comparison over the years. Um so you'll see we have spring 23 24 25 here female population male population. Um and you'll see that there's some growth in some of these subgroups.
Um a little decline in the white population but still close to that 80%. Now just give it a second for you to take a look at the data. This is for ELA. The next slide is for mathematics. Here you'll notice um in 2025 there's no
information for our black African-American subgroup. That's because we were less than 10 in that population. Um maybe less than 20. I'm sorry. I apologize that I can't remember the number off the top of my head, but that's why there's no information there. And then you you'll see um the other
subgroups as well. So just a quick summary of the data that you you just saw with the comparisons we had um beginning in 2022 through 2025 we're at 37.8% graduation ready to now 82.6 for ELA. Um
we're about 3% 2% higher than the state average. We've had consistent improvement. Um, and our subgroups are performing pretty well across the board in ELA. In mathematics, we continue to see that our scores are not where they
should be. Um, we're at 50 to 54% graduation ready. Um, our benchmark is below the state benchmark. So, something that we need to work towards is is building at least matching or going beyond. Um, and we have about 52.2%
graduation ready for this school year. some things that we plan on doing moving forward. We've already implemented some of these things this past school year and just like all that we have been doing since our time here, we've been implementing and then working on
refining and really um you know we're we're laying the groundwork and then we're we're refining, right? So, we're building that capacity and teachers are doing a really great job with, you know, taking risks and trying new things. And some of these things at the high school level are collaborating learning
structures with pure tutoring and group problem solving. So, what that might look like is in a math classroom, you might see students in small groupoup settings working with each other, collaborating on problems, talking to each other, you know, providing support to each other, the teacher kind of taking a step back and being the facilitator.
um providing different approaches to teaching mathematics. So we've been talking about putting reference charts on on the walls and providing visuals and graphic organizers and things of that sort. Um we've talked to the teachers about providing direct modeling
of lesson of problem solving. So for example, that would be something along the lines of typically a teacher might model a question or a problem but guide throughout the entire process. And sometimes that interrupts the thinking process for students um by stopping and
asking questions. Instead, we're asking teachers to model the problem solving without stopping. Just showing the thought process. This is how we do this. This is how I solve it. and then providing the guided practice after so that students are able to process the information that's being given to them
with little to no interruptions. Um, we're working on formative assessments. Dr. V when he came was very strong and adamant about implementing three-part objectives that needed to be posted on the board in the form of I can statements. And essentially what we were
asking teachers to do and as as we still work through this and perfecting it, it's asking yourself, what am I teaching? how am I teaching it and how do I know I was successful and that piece and how do I know I was suess successful in teaching it is really how the teachers are assessing the students
um understanding of whatever concepts are being presented um data analysis and training for teachers we have implemented programs like I read we've had MTSS training we've developed strong criteria for interventions using multiple data points
so now it's really um having teachers since our I'm here. We've implemented licket link data warehousing. So all of the data lives in one place. Teachers are able to pull multiple data points, really paint a picture of a student and decide what steps they need to take to support the student in their learning.
And then it's best practices workshops focused on high impact math instruction. So, um, our math supervisor at the high school has been working really hard to find support systems to to bring in, um, consultants or or, you know, learning
uh, workshops where teachers can sit and work with um, someone who's worked with the high school population and saying like this is how you engage students in their lessons. These are the things that you can do to get high impact instruction going on, best practices to teach um, really complex math uh,
skills. So, that's our hope for the upcoming school year. Um, for our students with our um our IEP population, we know um and and we believe in being fully transparent. We're not trying to hide. We know that
our special ed population um definitely we we need to put some some focus on what's going on there and ensuring that we're using self-monitoring tools to track and progress how the students are performing. Um, we're looking to bring
in executive function supports for planning and organizing, giving the students the supports to know how to do things like notetaking and um, organizing whatever notes that they have in a notebook or digitally and things of that sort. Uh, we have afterchool
programming that offers peer tutoring where they they partner up students with other students who can help support. So, it's peer-to-peer support. um the supervisor of special ed and the director of special ed are both working together to create a comprehensive
assessment and progress monitoring system where they're constantly looking at the data and really checking the growth. Um our goal for this upcoming school year, you know, as much as we'd love for every child to be proficient on their assessments, we we first want to
see the growth. We want to know that what we're doing is working. And part of that is really ensuring that there's that accountability piece. there's conversations around you gave the assessments, what is it telling us and what are we doing? So, these are things that we're going to be putting um in
place with a a very heavy lens on this particular subgroup as well as our ML population. Um we have been working very closely with our ESL and world's language supervisor. Dr. is going to touch a little bit more about a presentation that she'll be doing next
month. But she has been doing such wonderful things in that department and you know these are some of the things that she and I and and everyone supervisors we are all responsible for all of our students right so not one particular group is belongs to one
particular supervisor or one particular teacher we collectively have to support all students but in overseeing the process and the protocols here are some ideas that we came up with um we're going to continue with that small group instruction ction at the high school
level. Um I did get some push back at first when I first got here from some of the supervisors because small group instruction wasn't really a thing at the time. Um there there are definitely teachers who have embraced it, who have taken it on, who who are taking risks with the things that they're doing and mixing up their their teaching
practices. So, we love seeing that and we hope that as they continue to plan those small groups and using assessment to drive those small groups, we'll see some better um better results. Uh again, the visuals and the graphic organizers so important for our ML population
making connections words to visuals and things of that sort. Bilingual glosseries. We have onetoone word dictionaries that have been ordered for all of our MLS the past school year. So it's something that they can use that has academic vocabulary to help them with the translations. They do get
extended learning time um in in the school year. They have after school programs in some instances at the high school teacher students can come before school after school. They have summer programs to support them. They also have peer monitoring programs. Um Miss
Rodriguez will be talking to you all more in depth about some ideas she has to expand that approach that she's been taking. Um, like I mentioned, we have summer programs. One of the goals that she's going to be taking on, um, she has implemented
family workshops. Uh, she wants to do some more. So, she's going to be reaching out to the community and really trying to engage families in our school district, getting them familiar with our our various communication platforms like Genesis, our newsletters, and things of that sort. Um, and really giving them
the education on supporting their academic success at home. So that's NJ GPA. Um Dr. Reed, do you want me to just keep going? Okay. So our access is um what are our students who are in the ESL program that
what they take for proficiency levels. This is given to students in K through 12. K is paperbased, 1 through 12 is digital. Any student who's identified as a multilingual learner that qualifies for ESL services will need to take the access. Um, in some instances, students
who may refuse services for whatever reasons, even though they're not in an ESL program, if they are identified as a multi a multilingual learner, would still have to take the access. Um, let me see.
We have uh scores to determine placement. Um, especially at the high school level, they'll get ESL1 or ESL 2, ESL 3 depending on where they are. Our greatest grading policy aligns to language proficiency levels. So depending on where they are in their
range of language would determine if they're getting a pass fail for a grade. Um if they're getting A's and B's and things of that sort. So the GenEd teachers receive these reports that talk about their proficiency ranges and can that helps them to better determine what
skills their students are bringing to the table and ways that they should be assessing them along with the WITA um information. Um, students are tested in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The levels go from level one to level six.
Students have to hit a 4.5 in order to be considered eligible to exit the program. That is the start, the initiation of exiting. But in addition to just hitting the 4.5, there has to be uh multiple data that's used to determine whether or not they can be
exited. In Richfield Park, we have an exiting form that teachers must fill in. um essentially saying the students are hitting what they need to on their benchmarks. They're producing language in the classroom. They're able to communicate clearly and things of that sort. And with that and the 4.5, then
students are exited. These are the levels. Level one entering, level six is reaching. So that's like the beyond um level two, level three emerging, developing. And it kind of tells you what they're able to do with those specific areas. And the
way that the scoring works is students receive a one through six in each of those domains and then there's a composite score. That composite score which which takes each of those domains is what determines whether or not they can be exited. The information given in
each of the the domains really helps us focus in on what areas the students may need. So maybe in some instances some kids might need more support in reading and writing where others might need more support in the listening and speaking aspect. So that's how that data is used.
Um, so our ESL program, our students in grades K through six receive highintensity ESL if they're Spanish speaking, uh, if they speak Spanish, they're in the population that's that needs to receive highintensity ESL. Um,
they receive 40 to 80 minutes of either pull out or pushin depending on um, how the schedule works and what the teacher is doing at the time. Typically our district runs fill out sessions um and they get small groupoup instruction based on their needs. um
at the high school they receive 84 minutes a day of highintensity ESL. Um ESL4 may be 42 minutes because at that point they're much higher in their language profic proficiency and then they get the second language instruction to support um the other the other time
that they need. Our total number of MLS was 181 this past school year. And of the 181, 180 um took the assessment. So 99% participation. Here you'll see um a comparison from
2122 school year to the 2425 school year showing you the number of students that fell within each range. Um, for the first time here, we had 10 students who hit that bridging level five. Um, in
some instances in the past, we may have had one or two students who hit that level, but couldn't report out on that. This is the first time that we've had a group of 10 that hit that level five. Um, so that was exciting. Um, and they have now since exited the program. They
are of one 10 of the 27 that have exited the program this past school year. Um, and here you'll see, so in spring of 23 we had 157 MLS, 10 exited. Spring of 24 we had 188, 18 exited, and this past
school year of the 181 we had 27. So we're seeing an increase in the number of students that are exiting, which is exciting. And this is just a summary page. Um, our ML population has grown. Even though we saw a slight decline from the year before, we're still in the 180 range.
Um, we've had a 15% exit rate. This is the highest in four years, which was great. You're seeing the growth just broken down a little bit more. Um, and our number of exits over the last three years. Um, some of the focus areas and again,
as I stated before and Dr. V will dig in a little bit more, Miss Rodriguez will be coming at our board meeting next month, but these are some of the things that she hopes to do. So, if you're out there and you're listening and your families of our multilingual learners, please feel free to join the parent advisory committee. Your voice is
welcomed. Um, we want you to be part of our community. We want we want to extend family engagement. We're looking for ideas. So, if anybody out there has any ideas, feel free to email us. Um, we're always open to improvement and um, you know, we're willing to try whatever we
can to to increase our family engagement for all families, not just our ML population. Um, we are going to continue to implement both our extended day and summer ESL program. We're going to continue to train our sheltered English instruction, uh, uh, our teachers in sheltered instruction. Um, and we're
going to create mentorship programs pairing our ESL students with peer monitors. Um, we recently hired an ESL teacher who can definitely who feels very comfortable in in um, providing sheltered instruction PD. So it'll make it easier because we can do that during
our PD days exposing more of our teachers rather than that summer training. So we're excited to to be able to do that as well. And that is the end. Thank you uh Miss Triglia for uh pulling that that data together uh pretty pretty quickly for us. And and we understand
that it's it's very complex and a lot of data in a short amount of time. So I thought I might just um conclude uh prior to turning it over to uh President Martinez and the board for for questions and comment. Uh just a a quick summary of of both uh areas. First being with the NJGPA.
Um you know, some significant turnarounds here. Um still some pockets uh of concern which uh we'll be addressing and that's a great segue as we'll hear later in terms of uh my presentation for district goals. We'll see some really nice alignment with this data and what we're trying to accomplish
to continue to progress. Uh but you know there's a lot to to recognize and and celebrate uh along the way here again with the understanding that there's still a lot of heavy lifting and there's still a lot of focus that this requires to get to the point where we want to be. But in terms of the NJGPA and the ELA uh
over the course of you know a few years here uh we had a 44.8% increase and for the first time in four years uh the district is now um ahead of the graduation rate uh from the state. Um in terms of uh mathematics um you know
again um within within 4 years time we've increased uh by 14.5%. Uh but again uh we understand that uh having 52.5% of our students proficient in mathematics still still warrants a lot of focus uh and commitment to to
improving. Um and as Mr. Triglia had shared, you know, still off the mark by comparison uh to the state average. uh we also noted in mathematics specifically um you know some subgroup populations IEP students being one of them uh and again we'll hear later how a district goal will be directly aligned
you know to some of some of these data points and and then you know shifting uh towards the access for L's presentation uh you know it's important to note that we uh have a a growing uh multilingual community we've had a 37 uh 37% growth
uh in our ML population over 3 years going from 132 students to 181. Uh but the 97 uh% participation rate demonstrates strong uh program engagement. Uh and the 15% exit rate in 2025, which is the highest in four
years, uh demonstrates accelerated um student growth. Uh we understand again, you know, there are some some pockets in there that we're we're looking to address. Um but you know overall you know we're pleased with the progress that we're making uh that we have made in two years and uh as you'll hear later um you know we're very committed and
focused uh on continued um growth and uh as Mr. Triglia shared in terms of the access for L's. Uh we have arranged for our supervisor Miss Rodriguez to join the board meeting on August 27th to provide the board and community with a comprehensive overview of all the great things that are happening within that
space uh and some of the new uh practices and and interventions that we'll be implementing for the 2526 school year uh to further support uh this subgroup population. Uh I did want to note um before I I turn it back to uh President Martinez that the board did
receive uh this presentation in advance, but in addition to that uh the board received a a new data briefing um that the administration has provided as part of my evaluation um in June, there was some really great feedbacks in terms of taking this complex data and breaking it
down into um you know more palatable uh data points. Uh so the board did receive a data briefing on both of these um uh results. uh to assist uh with some of the the inquiries and and comments uh that they may have uh for this evening.
So, uh I'm happy to turn it over to President Martinez and and the board if there's any questions or comments that you may wish to share. Yeah, I'll open it up to the board. Jody, hi. Thank you, Dr. Van, doc. Um Mr.
Shriggley for this presentation and for breaking down the data for us. and I'm super thrilled to hear that we've made some progress and it's really great to see that we're we're moving the mark in both ELA and math. I have two questions. My first question is about link. I know the district has invested a lot of money in that data warehousing and how
comfortable are we in saying that teachers are utilizing it not only just a place to look at data but using it to use it to drive their instructional decisions in the math classroom in particular because I know that oftent times it becomes a compliance thing. Yes, the data is there. we see it, but how often are we having conversations
and how much training do they have in accessing that data and then use utilizing it to drive their decision-making in the math classroom? And then my other question is regarding sheltered instruction. I know that because we have such an increase um in our ML population, is there a goal to have every teacher in the district change uh trained in sheltered
instruction to help support kids um that are both in the ML program and then once they exit it, what are we doing to support those kids as they transition out of the ML um supports? But other than that, thank you. Thank you, Trusty Craft, for those questions. Uh, Miss Trigley, would you
uh provide a response? Um, as far as link goes, I believe I year 1 or year two, we met with all teachers K through 12 and showed them how to pull the data. Um, supervisors, it was new to them as well, have become very comfortable in pulling data and so
they definitely are helping in facilitating that. Um, I can tell you and this is not a knock to anyone other than the reality that we faced when we got here. Um, data analysis and criteria was definitely not at the forefront of what we were doing. Um, so quickly Dr. V
and I knew that we needed to make a change with that. Um, we inter uh implemented a BSI manual, academic intervention manual in the K6 world that requires multiple data points. So, our guidance counselors who oversee who help oversee the INS process have become very
comfortable with pulling data from there. Our teachers have had workshops and PDS around it. Um, and this school year, I don't want to steal Dr. Ve's thunder because it's part of his goals, but we are going a focus is data analysis. So, it's continuing to hold
teachers and supervisors and ourselves accountable for data conversations, data teams, utilizing it to make decisions in everything that we do. So, we laid the foundation year one got a little more comfortable year two, year three, as Dr. V would say, it's still on and it's
still on very strong. And this is where we really refine and um hold hold true to what we're trying to do. And as far as the sheltered instruction, we were very fortunate to send our teachers over the last few years to a three-day
consecutive um comprehensive intensive workshop utilizing ESSER funds. So part of it was because it was over the summer months, teachers were able to volunteer to come, but they were paid for their time. Um one of the benefits of having someone inhouse in doing that training
is that we we can just plan it on our PD days. However, it's not going to be the same as um what they received when they were there three days. Miss Rodriguez did recently share with me um there is like a self-paced sheltered instruction program that teachers can do. I've not
had the opportunity to share that with Dr. V, but that is something else that we would be looking into so that if anyone has any additional interest, they could definitely do that on their own time and get some credits for that. But our goal is to have everyone trained. Um Dr. Dr. V, if you want to talk about what you mentioned to me about the
co-eing and uh co-observations and things like that for for that piece that we go to. Sure. Thank you, Mr. Triglia, for for sharing those responses. Uh but what what we're going to be looking into for next year as we develop our observation schedule is to have our our supervisor
of of ML and and world language uh to either conduct co-observations in the classrooms where we potentially have a higher number of uh students participating in the ESL program uh andor conducting the observation as a whole so that they she can provide targeted feedback uh to our dedicated
staff uh to further support them in supporting our our ESL population. Trusty Valance, I have a question. Um, when you speak about being graduation ready, right, like for mathematics, the 52.5%.
Are you referring to just the graduation class? Like what grade level are you referring to? So, in order for students to be considered eligible to graduate their senior year, they need to have um met the requirements necessary. Part of it
is passing the NJ GPA. 52% of our students pass, meaning 48, excuse my math, not the greatest, 48% did not. So, those students would have to meet an alternate pathway to be considered graduation ready. And typically, it's the PSATs, SATs,
ACUPPLACER. in the um presentation there's a menu you would be able to see the other ways they could meet it if they are successful in passing that second pathway again then they're graduation ready but by giving it in 11th grade we give students the opportunity who didn't meet it to make
up for in their senior year. Yeah, that was my next question like how much did they need to crunch in order to meet that deadline? So actually um our high school administration has been really fantastic um in coming up with ideas. Title one funds had typically
been passed up at the high school and given to the elementary uh schools in the past. This school year uh and I believe last school year, this school year in particular, we gave funds to the high school and they were very creative in programs and things of that sort. So to credit them, they came up with
intervention programs during the school day where students who needed either support to pass the second pathway exam, received instruction in um during an elective period that wouldn't impact their credits or things of that sort, and they implemented after school
programs, but we definitely have more than enough time to get them where they need to be to be graduation ready before the end of their senior year. Okay, great. Thank you so much. No problem. I I just have comments. Um first of all, thank you Dr. V and Carmelo for
providing the information prior to the board meeting and and for answering all my questions last minute. Um I'm just looking forward to, you know, Mrs. Suzanne Susanna Rodriguez, not me, Susanna Rodriguez presentation in August and and really hope and and listening to
her plan how she hopes to provide supports to the staff um staff community and um the children um and also how we can also support her. We sat here um we listened how she will go in and do the
observations um in classrooms where there's a high number of multilingual learners. So is h how can we support her supporting a growing number a growing population you know and we also and yes
it is a complex it's very complex as you mentioned Dr. Um and you in your presentation you mentioned that um in the e the ELA scores um certain students um did not have to take the assessment if they were
registered prior to June 1st. And we have to be very mindful of that too because we have students that came in um prior to June 1st and they are taking these state assessments in their second
language also um I'm sorry not second yeah in English. So we have to be mindful of that you know how can we support her as she supports the whole district. So I thank you for that. I think a part of your as the board and and um
administration, we we definitely offer things like opportunities to purchase programs like elevation, right? And and by you approving things like that really helps support our gened teachers and understanding reporting features and and ways that they can support professional
development, allowing our teachers, you know, to go over the summer and get paid for their time, which was an incredible thing that we were able to use funds to do that. But that definitely is another way the board and and the administration supports her in supporting our teachers. Um the the time we built in the
approving approving of our our district calendar and that extra PD day allows for more professional development. So these are all things that collectively we are doing together and and one of the things that yes, you know, the other day I met with the supervisors and I stressed to all of them and they all agreed is that it's not it's not just
Miss Rodriguez's kids or it's not just, you know, Mr. pays kids or you know it's it's all of us as a district collectively and and we have to recognize that there's no separation. Yes, there's department facilitators but we work together and that's the message
that we're really trying to make is that that it's no one person's problem. This is we are together working to better what we're trying to do for our kids. Um I was just wondering regarding the IEP scores and the focus on that. Um is
there any opportunity to offer some kind of family support in that area for the parents? Um I mean I know firsthand that um math math in general I think for everybody is is tough these days to to
help your child with at home but especially a child with an IEP. um like are there different strategies and ways I'm obviously like I I know how I would teach math to you know and how I learn but um maybe some kind of family support
in that area could be helpful or thanks for that that comment uh trusty Schmidt. So, uh, yeah, you know, we have our parent guardian academy, uh, and we have run some successful math nights. Um, so that's something we're looking back into, not just for, um, IP students, but but for all students. But
in in addition to that, I would just share that we do have a, um, uh, a CPAC, uh, which is led by, uh, our director, uh, Miss Gonzalez. So I would encourage families to participate in that because um you know some valuable information and support uh and Miss Gonzalez does
bring in some you know various guest speakers in those areas. Um so it's really important that all of our families not just families who have um students with IEPs, all families are encouraged and invited to attend the CPAC meetings. Um so we're hopeful as as part of our goal this year um being a
district goal uh to further support and and um you know kind of develop that uh for all students and and their families to participate in. Hi. Um first I want to say thank you for the exact summary because that was very helpful. Um helped me sort of understand
where we are. Um I do want to recognize the improvement that we're seeing. I think that that's great. Um I don't think any of us including you are satisfied with average. Um that we want to be beyond average. So I you know
the next steps that you're planning to take I think is important and and gets us past that. Um, the only thing that I wanted to ask um that maybe Miss Rodriguez could address when she comes back on the MLS is we talk about Spanish-sp speakaking students and I'm
sure that's a very big part of the population. I'm just curious what other languages we have on new students coming in and how we're handling those students. Um, because it's, you know, there there's more than one other
language being spoken. Great. Yes. Thank you. And uh we'll be sure to cover that as part of that presentation on the 27th. And we actually just recently had a conversation with Mr. Rodriguez this week uh regarding just that. I just had a question or two. One is um
when you talk about ML students leaving the program, right? When they when they test out, they're leaving the that status, I guess. But the one question I had is how much and if you don't keep track of these stats that's fine but how much turnover do we have in the district with students who come in and are here
one year and then leave like how much turnover do we have in that population just to make sure we're measuring the same population's growth it's not a changing population do we keep track of that is so that particular data point we do not but we can easily find that out but part
of the um compliance factor is that when a ESL student exits the program, we're supposed to monitor them for two years. Um the elevation program we recently brought in does just that. It requires teachers of those students to report out twice a year on how the student is
performing. And in an instant where a student we we're seeing, you know what, they exited too soon, which doesn't really happen. I I haven't in my time here, I haven't heard of students entering back in, but there is that tracking piece to ensure that that we didn't exit them too soon, right? So,
but we can certainly find out the the transient population. One of the things that link data warehousing does is tells you how long a student was in district and how long or if they're here or not. So, we can we can find that out for you. Great. Thank you. Another question I
have is about um how we how are we leveraging technology and of course you know one of my pet projects AI um to specialize or to individualize our instruction especially with kids of different languages. Are we are we
getting close to that edge? Yeah. Um, as far as as using AI and things of that sort, the district as a whole is is still working on creating our AI policies and what's appropriate and what's not and how to utilize it to the best of our abilities. Um, I know
teachers on their own have certainly dug into the world of AI. Um, using Google Translate and things of that sort, translating our documents. Um recently when we did the comprehensive equity plan um one of the participants was like
why don't we do morning announcements posted on our board in different languages and things of that sort. So it was a great idea that came right from our staff. Um so these are things we're doing but as we dig deeper into the AI world and learn about the tools that are available to us there's no doubt that we would be utilizing them to support our
students if if not already in some instances where teachers are doing it on their own. Thank you. And I guess the the last comment I'll make is I appreciate the the presentation uh the way you kind of predigested it for us to be able to understand those of us who are not in
education and don't know the lingo. And I also appreciate not glossing over, you know, our weak spots and the places to work. I think the temptation has been there um in the past to, you know, just focus on the little bright spots and and I appreciate you guys telling us that
there's a lot of work to be done and that the board and the community needs to be continue to be vigilant and engaged in order to get these uh our students performance up. So, I appreciate that. Any other comments? Okay. So with that, I will turn over.
I'm going to turn it over to Miss Mitchell, who is from New York school boards and is going to guide us in the second part of tonight's performance. We we have we have new microphones, so thank you for that. We're going to take
a five-minute break first. Okay, Miss Mitchell, you have our attention. Thank you so much. So, thank you for having me today. I um my name is Kelly Mitchell. I work for New Jersey school boards. I'm a field service rep like you had um Matt here um I believe a a couple
of times. Thank you. Uh so I cover uh Payic, Sussex, and Warren counties and um I've been doing that for quite some time now. I I was a uh board member just like all of you. I was a board president, vice
president, and I was a vice president of our county. Um so I have walked in your shoes and I I feel what you're feeling. So I just wanted to let you know that. Um so in the packet today, we have two sides. So we have the left side that that's the goals portion and we're going
to do that in a little bit. But we're going to start with uh the board self-evaluation portion that's on the right hand side. And um what I thought we would do is just go around the room and do a little bit of an icebreaker because this is very discussionbased and
I wanted to get you in that mode. Although I I see from this fantastic presentation that you had, you're really kind of in that mode. But I really want to do this exercise. if we could do that first and then go into our board self-evaluation. I'll go over the summary and we'll talk about the um
glowing remarks that you had about yourselves and then some of the growth indicators and we'll talk about what that looks like. That's um the piece of the board self-evaluation that transcends into board goals. And that's the the reason why we do that exercise
is so that you can uh take a snapshot and be very self-reflective and then transcend into the board goals. By the time we're done with this portion, it'll be very very easy for you to pick out a couple of board goals for yourselves because you'll get that from this data.
So, uh, in the beginning, I would like to start with the first page that you have on your right side, and we'll just do round one and round two, but I'd like you to read those, uh, one through four of those questions, and then we'll just go around the room and just answer just
one of them if you could of your packet. when you open it. So the right the right side it's it was a top sheet. No, that that's the left side. I have I have extras if you need them.
[Music] Who wants to start? You're reading the round one. Yeah. Yes. You don't have to write it down. We're just going to speak it out. So, we're
just going to go around the room. Who wants to? You start. Okay. Thanks, Jody. I'm gonna answer question number one. Um, how does being a board member compare to what you expected when you came into the role? And I'm going to speak to this. This is my second term on the board. So, I guess I'm going to compare it to my first go around on the
board, which was a disaster. Um, this is enlightening. I think it's inspiring to see this cohesiveness that we have as a board um with Dr. V and his team just really being visionaries in where they want to take the board. I think that really has invigorated I
think the work that we do. Um so I think that I was reluctant to run for the second term, but now that we're here and we're doing the work, it feels so good to know that we're making progress. So proud is the word. Um that comes to mind when I think about the work that we're doing.
I don't know if I answered the question. I might have just merged a couple of questions. That was I figured I get the party started. Thanks for sharing. [Laughter] next. Um, I'm going to do the same question as Mrs. Craft did. Um, I was on the board
25 years ago and came back two years ago and I will tell you that things then compared to things now are tremendously different. Um, our board meetings didn't end until 1 2:00 in the morning. Um, the board members as a whole collectively
hated each other. Um, there was no collaboration with one another. And I think that being with these individuals here is um and I hate to use some commonly used term, but this is a breath of fresh air to see what happens when
people who are truly committed to doing the right thing um work together. Um you should only have been here 25 years ago. Thank you. I'll jump Py Rodriguez. I just number three very simple. What three
words describe our boards or district and why? Um this is becoming a very rigorous district um inclusive and commit um committed committed to success. That's it. That's great. Thank you.
Okay. Yeah. She she stole it from me, but my three words were professional, respectful, and challenging. Good. And I had two of your words um respectful and professional. And then
I had a phrase, um engaged in continuous improvement because we're not satisfied, but we're we're continuing to push. That's awesome. Okay, I'm going to go I'm going to change it up. I did have respectful also on mine for the three words which is great. Um but I'll take number two. So
there are a lot of success stories so I'll just pick one or two. Um we've had so many improvements to our facilities since Dr. V and our new administration has taken the the helm and um overall
the climate in this district whether you're an administrator, student, staff or board member is has done a complete 180. So, um always always could do better, but the climate has completely changed um since I've since I've been on the board, which is only the last two
years. So, wow, that's great. I'm going to piggyback off of that one. Um I say number two also and the success story I'd like to just talk about is the fact that we no longer have a state monitor. Um I think as a board and Dr. V
and his team we've shown transparency uh the community buyin and um for the state to come in and say you know you've done everything we've asked you to do. Um I think that's a huge step in the right direction of course. So that's a proud moment um for me individually but I'm
sure the board as well. Yeah. No, that and that was mentioned quite a few times in the board self-evaluation. So, congratulations on that. I think there are three better words and everybody committed and dedicated those are 100%
correct. But I think the three words that describe our board best is done with monitoring. I I'll add to that. I think Trusty Cooney stole my thunder as he usually does. Oh, I think the the state monitor the state monitor leaving is a is a big
deal. Just the amount of pieces that had to go right, you know, people think it was just paying the bill, but the amount of things that had to go right and go right for a while and and continuously, you know, for several years go right, um, was very impressive. And, you know, knowing this board, each individual and
speaking to them frequently, it's just a group of really dedicated individuals who again respect the public. They're focused, they're smart. Uh I I can go on and on with different with different adjectives, but I think the other thing that the last adjective that I'll add is that uh it's we're really effective. We
we've overcome some some obstacles where we had to trust each other. We had to trust the process and we had to trust the administration uh and and this board is really really effective at getting things done. That's great. Did we get everybody?
Yeah. Dr. V, do you want do you want to weigh in? Uh, thank you. Uh, I mean, yeah, I would just echo some of the comments. I, you know, I'm very appreciative as superintendent to have a a very high functioning committed board. You know, they they ask tough questions in the committee structure. Uh so sometimes it
may appear uh in the the public portion of a board meeting um that uh there aren't some of those tough questions being asked, but that's because they've thoroughly vetted vetted everything through the committee structure. And as an administration, we really appreciate that because it betters our process and and we've always appreciated their
support on that. That's great. So we're going to move on to round two. Um and it'll be the same thing. pick one of those four and uh and answer that. Okay.
And I want to take that one. Um number two, what in your background influences your attitude and beliefs about education? Um I am a a person that went to prek
at the age of probably 2 and a half to three. I carried my chair to school because that was the type of, you know, environment where I grew up, but education was never short change or an
option. So, it was you went to school, whether it was, you know, from prek to to high school, but you also had other um learning activities. You went to art school, you went to music school, you went to this school, to that school. But
it didn't start when you were six or seven or eight years old. It started at a very young age. We were shipped off to to learn. And to to me to learn that, you know, prek wasn't a thing. It was mindblowing.
You know, that it's something that's coming around now. It I I just still cannot comprehend how that happens. Yeah. Yeah. So, thank you for sharing that. Number two,
um, so I began my teaching career in 2000 with a three-month old daughter. Um, since then I've had five children. All of my children um, uh, taught me a lot, taught me something about life and about, uh, made me a
better person, a better educator, and just a better person overall, you know. you know, and I just have to thank my five children. Um, and the community, too, because I couldn't be able to do it without you guys. Um, but I am a firm believer that it's our responsibility to
provide provide each child the resources in order for them to reach their full potential. That's that's it. Yeah. No, that's beautiful. Thanks for sharing that, Dr.
I like the kind of a combination of one and four is um I was a child with ADHD before ADHD was a thing. Some people think I still might have a little ADHD or a lot. Um, but I remember having
amazing teachers who just, you know, were so ahead of their time in terms of understanding how to get the most out of me and having also terrible teachers who really did not take the time or couldn't take the time or couldn't see it and treated me different and and also as a therapist
for about 30 years. I know that schools are really the safety net when parents can't u meet the burden of raising their kids. And so that's why this is so personal for me. Yeah. Thank you. Mine is kind of a combination of two and
three. Um, my dad was the first in our family that went to college and he went on the GI bill after he came back from World War II. So, um, his my aunts, um, you know, he wanted to quit high school and my
aunts wouldn't let him because they said, "Kenny, you're the smartest one in the bunch. you have to do something. Um, and he wound up doing something. Um, and when I was in um, grammar school, this is a silly story, but in third grade when we learned cursive, I was out sick
for R and S. And those are really hard letters. And when I came back in, um, I was very concerned about it. And I like to think that the education system now sort of has a little bit of a different
lens on making mistakes where mistakes are encouraged because if you make a mistake then that means you can learn. Um so I think that's something really important that we need to continue to do. Thank you.
Can I go or you can go ahead? Okay. Um it's a little bit of a combination of three and four. Um because the memories and experiences that are meaningful to me from my childhood and adolescence will be all of my memories being a
student here. Um and being born and raised in Richfield Park and continuing on to live in Richfield Park is also my why. Um the love for this town and the love for volunteerism as well as you know the civic component of all of this.
Um, but again, like having grown up in through gone through this school district and having nothing but positive memories, whether it be aca academics or socially and and all of those experiences to then come back and be able to feel like I'm um giving back and
and also trying to see things improve because it wasn't fun hearing when you've moved on in life and now you're starting to have your own kids come back here that things, you know, all the negativity that was kind of going on at that time. um led me to want to step up
and do this. That's awesome. Thank you. Um, so I'm going to try and answer too, but I think I think Miss Trigglia's presentation is really um weighing on me
because um I am I'm a former math teacher. Um, and so when I see numbers like this, it it bothers me that math is always the secondass citizen. Um, and I don't think
it's anything that our teachers are necessarily doing, but I think it's something pervasive in our in American culture that um, everyone finds it very acceptable to say I stink
at math where we would never say that about reading or um, literacy in any way. And so I think because of that, our children find it acceptable to say,
"Well, yeah, I'm just not good at this." Instead of saying, "I have to try harder." Um, and I think we need to eradicate that from our culture so that our children can succeed in math the way
they're succeeding in literacy. Yeah. No, thank you for sharing that. I 100% agree with you. Anybody else that we missed? Okay, I'll do number four. So, I love a good why question. Um the why, um I am a
board member and an administrator. I'm both. Uh I've been in education for this is my 26th year. Um is that our kids deserve the very best experiences when they walk into our schools. For many of our kids, myself included, when I was a younger kid growing up in Brooklyn,
school was my safe place. It was the place where I was seen by teachers. When my household was not very good. Um, so I'm very much influenced by the idea that when a kid walks into school, it should be their happy place. So I continue to be a board member because I
want to fiercely advocate for kids and that they have a a safe space where they're seen, nurtured, um, and giving opportunities to learn and grow as humans um, academically and both as people. So that's why I continue to do this work. Thank you. I'm going to choose question one also.
Um u much like Diane did. I'm just going to talk about my father real quick. Uh my father was a um by day was a correction officer here in Bergen County. Um but he was also he coached youth sports for 25 plus years.
um was always was always involved with the community and um it was something that I admired and um had a really huge impact on me. And then additionally, I had a um a physical education teacher when I was a child in my elementary
school and we loved going to this gentleman's class. Um he just knew how to attract everyone's attention. He knew how to um speak to large crowds and we really really look forward to it. um something that sparked something I guess
in my brain. Um he eventually became an administrator. I went to to college. I became a phys teacher. Uh then I went back for my um my master's degree in education administration and I am a principal now also. And um he's he's he
he has passed but he's someone who uh I often reached about reached out to just to have conversations because he inspired me. Yeah. So he changed your life. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Anybody else?
So, I'll do uh number one. Um I'm a product of the school district. I came here from Brooklyn, too. No wonder I like you, Mrs. Craft. And um when I was a freshman in high school, we had a um science teacher who was probably the toughest teacher that I've ever
experienced. and he demanded excellence in everything that we did, especially lab reports. And if the lab report wasn't done properly in front of the class, he'd tear it up and say, "Do it again." And he instilled in me a very significant love for science. When I
went to college, um my lab reports were really very good because I had this guy who drilled it into our head. Some years later, I had the opportunity to become a faculty member at Ruckers where I taught for 35 years. And before I accepted the teaching position, I went to him and I
said, "What do you think?" And his comment was, "You can do it. Just be as tough as I was on you, on your students." So, um, this particular Richfield Park High School teacher was a tremendous positive impact on me very tragically. He passed away last year,
but um, I will never forget nor, um, fail to recognize what he did for me as a student here. Thank you. Dr. V, did you want to share? Thank you for that opportunity. Yeah, I'm thinking about kind of a combination
between questions one and four. Uh, as part of my administrative internship, I had a really great mentor who said, you know, one day he said, Joe, you know, we're we're in the kid business. And that kind of struck me as kind of an odd terminology, but he expanded and he said, you know, all the decisions we make need to be in the best interest of of of our our kids, our students. And
that really resonated uh with me as I was entering my my career into into administration. Um you know I'm I'm starting my 25th year in public education. Um starting my 17th year in administration and uh I've always had that in the forefront of my mind and my administrative team has heard me
frequently say you know what what we should all be asking ourselves what are we doing to improve both the student experience and how does that uh impact student achievement. So that's really what our focus has been on over the past two years and that's something we're going to continue to be focused on as we move forward.
That's great. Thank you so much. And you see how important that is to have those um shared experiences because when you are sitting here and sometimes you're having to make really difficult decisions together as a team. When you know a little bit of a personal aspect
about each team member, it really helps you to understand where they're coming from. that emotional piece their their you know why that that's very very important to understand that about each team member. So um thank you for doing this exercise and and thank you for
sharing very emotional stories. It's it's really super important for the team. So thank you. So, we're going to move on to uh the um there is a a sheet that says that uh it's the overview of the board self-evaluation and underneath that is
the actual 15page board self-evaluation um that you can look at at a later time, but we're just going to um look at the overview today. So, what I do is I uh put it into sections. There's six uh different categories that you've answered and then um it's scored. So,
the highest score that you can receive is a four. Uh, so you did quite well. You had uh threes and above on on each different category. And then we're going to talk about the glowing remarks that you had for yourselves on uh each category. And then uh the opportunities,
those growth uh indicators that we'll talk about and hopefully um make them part of board goals. So, we'll start with uh the uh vision, mission, and goals. and that you scored a uh 3.1.
So that was the lowest indicator out of uh the six. So we'll talk about some of the glows. So the glows are that the superintendent and the board consistently centered their decisions and actions around the district's mission and vision. That's really super important. That you feel that you have
effective use of the committees and that uh district goals have been very focused and easily measured. So, that's super important because especially when um you're trying to do your work and then you get to the CSA evaluation, that measurement is super important that you
have the ability to have that top of mind. And you said that you really um had that ability to understand those goals, the district goals. Some of the growth was um built around the uh the board goals themselves um and and saying
that you really didn't overly develop your board goals. uh that enhancing the process of goal setting would be important to you and then also understanding uh the measurement of success. So um and we'll talk about that in the goals portion later on, but I'
I'd just like to have a conversation about um those comments that you had on growth. So, anybody that wants to um start out by speaking about the board goals that you feel that uh where you need that improvement and and what has happened
with those? I I guess I'll start as board president since um last year we did go through this process um and we kind of did it ourselves. In the past, we had had help from from Matt Lee and from school boards, but last year we were kind of on
our own. And I think the the process of the you know putting together the board goals and formalizing them. Um I myself lost uh some structure on there. And I think also another factor is in some ways kind of being a victim of
our own success is that things have been uh so good that I think they kind of you know when I first got on the board seven or eight years ago we could we could we would have a textbook of board goals as to how we could be better, right? And I think that the the tension
was kind of lifted last year and I for one kind of put them on the back burner. Okay. Anybody else want to weigh in on that? I think that it would behoove us to formalize a process moving forward about how we're going to create board goals, how we're going to monitor them and have
them at the forefront of our committee meetings. So it should just they should be overarching and they should be revisited throughout the year so that we don't lose sight of them. So I think formalizing a process and a timeline would probably suit us.
Yeah, I agree. I agree. And then the other area of growth uh that you said was more focus on student achievement. Um, and uh, you know, one of one of my examples I I did put in your packet, it's right behind the board
self-evaluation is changing up the agenda to be more strategically focused on student achievement. So, a lot of times we fall victim of our agenda where we're just going through and doing, you know,
exactly what it says and then moving on. But we don't really allow that discussion um in our meetings itself. So I don't know if you any of you have read the book um the governance core but it talks about having a governance mindset. I do have um a training that I do on
that uh that book and I think it would be really helpful based on the comments that you have said um just to get that governance mindset that strategic focus and then having it constantly tie into that agenda. So, I put that example in
your packet. We don't have to overly go over it um right at this moment, but it it was just put in there just so that maybe it would be something that you would make as a board goal to uh allow that tie in to strategic focus on on student achievement because I don't know
if any of you have done governance three uh yet, if you've if you're in that phase, but we did a really great update on governance three and it talks about the lighthouse study. I don't know if you're familiar with that, but it talks about the board's focus on student achievement and how highly effective
boards can really move the needle on student achievement um based on strategic focus in their agenda and in their meetings. So, I think that that's something that will really help you and it'll it'll actually help your students as well. So, it'll be great work uh for
the governance piece and a a growth mindset for you all, but then also in turn helping our students. So I I think that's something that might you might want to visit and we can we can do a training on that if you'd like. If I could just make a comment on this section, I think that for a very long
time the board um has been struggling to operate at the board's responsibility level, right? We were very much involved in day-to-day and when we hired Dr. V. Um, excuse me. The
our initial objectives as a board and as a district were like, let's get stable. Let's start back to basics and make sure we're there. And and I think the growth to be able to set a strategic
vision is something that we're still pushing to get to, right? like we we've got we got past running day-to-day operations. We've gotten back to basics and now it's like all right really cut
the cord, let the administration do their thing, which they are right, but now how do we do our thing and be more strategic, more directive? Um, you know, we have the the district's mission
statement that Dr. V worked on with stakeholders. Um, I'm still uncertain if that should have been his role or the board should have been more involved in that since it is
the strategic mission of the district. So, so that's what I look at when I say for vision, mission, and goals like how do we become that directional force and and allow Dr. V and the administration to be admin to actually
be the executors, the administrators of it. Yeah. So, um some districts do a vision and mission in conjunction with all the stakeholders and the board participates in that. Um it's a really good community activity. um it gives you a lot of
really great understanding of what the uh stakeholders are looking for and then that helps drive that strategic plan. So um the board members usually do um are involved in that and that's we we have the mission that was we that
was just completed last meeting um I think we a few meetings ago okay that we approved it um so I think we need to use the mission to make sure And and just to speak to that point, I think that for a long time our our board
goals and our district goals were indistinguishable from each other because there were so much upheaval and and the board was so involved in everything, you know, kind of handholding the process so that the district wouldn't kind of go arai while these changes were happening. And so I
think now we do have the space as you said to work on us as a as a governing board. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Good. Okay. So then we'll move on to policy. Uh so policy uh you scored a 3.21. So
that's that's quite good. Um the glowing remarks about uh policy was that the board uh uses your policies and bylaws as a framework for board governance and decision-making. that was your highest indicator out of that whole policy uh
category. Um that you review, update, adopt policies, procedures and bylaws annually as required and that you have really great effective use of your policy committee. There was some glowing remarks about your policy committee. So that's that's fabulous and that was
throughout um the board self-evaluation that you're really having some good use of of um your policy committees. So um and your other committees as well. So that's that's really super important. Some of the growth indicators was um providing time for meaningful feedback
prior to final adoption of policies. So let's just chat about um that for a moment. So when you do you do your first and your second reading, uh do you feel that you need a little bit more um to provide feedback for policies
like a different type of structure because there was some comments about that in there? No. Okay. Uh, and then, um, just so you know, we do do a, uh, free policy wellness check through New Jersey school
boards. They also do it. I understand that you use stress ESME. They also do it through there. Um, but we do provide that if you wanted us to take a look and um, give some advice on that. Um, and then improve uh, stakeholder engagement,
developing policies on AI uh, management. Um there was a lot of comments about AI and the management of that and policy with that, but I think that we you just talked about that in um the presentation as superintendent that you're just kind of working on on those
policies now. Correct. If I can jump back to your other question about um the meaningful feedback piece. I think in our board meeting, you know, we do the first reading,
which is here are the policies, right? We we each read them. The policy committee um discusses them and there are minutes that come out, but I think it might be helpful in the first reading for there to be a here's what changed,
right? You know, that that's actually spoken about at the meeting because we don't do committee of the whole um which I understand why. Um but for things like that might be helpful to have the the
policy chair say first reading we have these policies and here's what changed from the last time or you know the the two sentence this is what this policy is about just so that we can all be sure that there is that
sort of feedback time frame. Great point. Yeah, I think that will help also, you know, like um for the non-educators if they have questions and need more examples of what it is that this policy is referring
to. Anybody else? Okay, good. So, then we're going to move on to accountability for student achievement, which is a 3.33, which is great because that is uh the vast majority of our job is student achievement um with board members. So,
the glowing remarks is that you provide essential learning tools including rigorous curriculum and technology. That was the highest indicator at uh 3.6 six and that you recognize that high levels of staff and student achievement um you recognize them at the meetings. That's
super important. Uh and and sometimes some boards don't do that. Um it's it's super important uh for student achievement a and for your staff too to recognize uh some things that they do and that are just stand out. Um so I'm glad to hear that you do that. Uh some
of the growth indicators was that uh reviewing the data uh the student data with attention given to subgroup achievement um to ensure the success of all students. The example that was given in one of uh some of the feedback there
was uh that separating the seventh and eighth grade from the high school. So uh do you want to talk about that data point and that um you know and that example itself? Yeah, I'm not certain I understand the
comment because the data points that were given, you know, usually se it's all broken down by grade level. So seventh and eighth grade isn't lumped in with the high school just because they're in the same building.
Yeah, there was Go ahead. I think they might have been referring to the result of our analysis of the data suggests that our seventh and eighth graders are taking a dip and that that one of the one of the ways to explore it would be to separate them from the high
school kids. That that's at least how I read that. I I'll just comment on on the use of data. I think that for a long long time I think we used any type of review or any type of you know QAC or anything like that was really
just something to be survived and gotten through and I think that progressively I know Dr. V and Carmela don't like to look backwards and you know what wasn't here but you know I think they they are now they now have their mind wrapped
around where we are and where we and have a plan to go forward. I think for a long time data was not used in this district in any kind of um effective way. And so,
um, I think that now we're we're poised to be able to get reports like the one we got today where like even just thinking out loud, you know, I can think of the places where this is the first time coming out of this type of um report that I feel like, you know, 15
minutes later, I still remember where our low spots are and it wasn't just a big data dump, right? And so, you know, I appreciate that on behalf of the administration. I'm looking forward. So, I think that they were very modest in in telling us in what kind of shape we were in when they
came in. Um, very gentle with that information. So, I think we're in a better place now. Yeah. And like you said, it's it was very transparent. Like, so I mean that's really helpful as a board member when you really see the real data that they're not just highlighting all the
high points that you're talking about, you know, the areas of growth as well. So, um, that was that was excellent. Anybody else? Okay. So then we'll move on uh to resource management and oversight are
always our favorite uh fin the financial piece is always the favorite. Right. So that's at 3.25. Um the glow is that that you provide the public with information regarding district I'm sorry. Oh governance team. I'm so sorry. Um so governance team and
accountability. you were at a uh 3.44. Um the glows was that you respect and support the decisions of the board majority. That was the highest indicator at 3.7 and that you have open communication, mutual respect and trust.
And we saw that uh when we were all uh talking about uh the three words that you had for the the board itself. Respect was constantly throughout. So um that's fabulous because that that's really hard to build. And then uh the uh growth indicators was that um the board
needs to participate in some more board training and retreats to build relationships and work together um to enhance committee structure. Uh one of the comments was that the um faculty and programs committee is kind of like a catch-all and they feel like maybe that
should be restructured a little bit. And then um concern on complacency that um sometimes uh there's that you're stepping too far back um and the and the example was uh setting objectives. So I think that um the problem was before
that you you weren't in the uh lane, right? So then you got in the lane but then uh there were some comments that uh there was like more of a step back. So being more engaging and we we just talked about that. So uh any comment on
the growth indicators on that? Just say very quickly this is a very diverse board and some of us are friends on the board and some of us are board friends. Um but I think everybody on the board trusts each other because we know each other's motives. Like there's no,
you know, just thinking back about my entire time on the board, there were times that somebody could suggest, you know, giving out free water and you had to raise your eyebrows about why that was being suggested. And I think that even when we bump heads on the board, everybody knows that everybody's here
for what's best for kids. So, um, you know, I think our relationships are good. Not easy. This is not an easy board by any stretch of the imagination, but, uh, the work is easy. Good. Can we have some elaboration on I think it's an important point about the
committee structure how we can enhance it. Whoever made that comment do they want to elaborate a little bit about what that would look like? Just that one committee it was uh faculty and programs. So,
I I think it's um worth looking at our committees and what each committee is charged with because I do feel a little like when all else fails, put it into faculty and programs, right? Um and to
Rick's point, I feel like as a board now, we function very well because either we're friends or we're board friends, but we trust each other. Um, and so sometimes I will end up feeling like there are discussions that take place in
committees that I'm I'm trusting the judgment of my fellow board members and then voting accordingly, right? But without fully appreciating the issue. And I think maybe the policy, you know, the comments about the policy committee kind of the same thing, right? like we
we delve into it in the policy committee and then we don't you know you don't get all that detail back. So I do think it's worth looking at how we can improve the committee structure to
because there may come a day when I don't trust everybody on the board the way I do now, right? like we have to face that reality and so then if we're stuck with this same committee structure and I don't you know then we're we can go right back to where we were at one
point structure itself or is the reporting from the committee structure maybe not in depth enough I don't know I don't know I don't I don't think it's the report I feel like the report is very detailed um
um and I was just wondering what was rationale for separating the uh uh no combining the personnel personnel and the FNP. Um I think we at one point we had gotten a lot of push
back about even having a personnel committee and I and it is one area where I end up feeling like because I feel like faculty and program really shouldn't be personnel as well like you spend a lot of time then talking about personnel
that should have been more time for faculty and programs kind of thing right you just taking away the time from it But, you know, we had from the pre previous administration, we had gotten a lot of push back about it shouldn't even be a a
committee. Well, there was a reason for that. Uh, without without going off the rails, um, I think one of one of the issues, and I'll say this as because as board president, I sat on all these committees, is that the the personnel committee and the faculty and programs
committee, the amount of overlap in those two committees was really significant. you we're pretty much hearing the same thing twice. Uh maybe if I guessed about 90% similar because positions faculty positions are tied to programs and initiatives and so it
became the point that I you know I'm sitting in these meetings and Dr. V and Carmela are literally repeating word for word um in these two committees. So I think we we can certainly look at it. We don't I don't think we have to make that decision now but it might be a board goal to look at our committee structure
and reconfigure it if that's what we want to do or parse parse something out. I from the committee standpoint I will say that I think faculty and programs hears
the most about what is going on in the schools because it's the faculty and the programs and that may be one that if we break off personnel and have faculty and programs as a committee of the whole
because that is student achievement right that that's the that's the way that our students are going to achieve by the people that are teaching them and the programs we're using and I don't know I I I just think maybe we
can think about that to can I make another point I also agree that the same things goes for policy right because those are the the policy is how we govern the board right so I feel like if we're going to investigate how we can maximize the work
of both like of the committ structure. I think policy and faculty and programs are the two that we kind of need to I mean we can make the argument for all of them right if you think about facilities buildings like all of it. Um I just want to add because the faculty and programs for me being new to
the board as well as not an educator to even and every time I have a question regarding that committee and and the agenda Jod answers me right away. And a lot of times it's I I find that it's maybe you you miss out on an opportunity
to grow or or learn something missing a lot of that actual communication that goes on in that meeting. Um there's only so much you can summarize in an agenda and then on top of it someone who's a non-educator has to sit there and say, "What does that even mean?" Now I have
and then I have to bother you with questions. I'm not sure h I'm not sure how we solve that per se. Um but just something to think about. Um, I get why the comm I think the right people are on those committees, but maybe it's just if if this board kind of stays the same, hopefully the same members for for a few
years, maybe that's a reason to kind of re mix it up a little bit. Um, again, everything that you said about the the faculty and programs being such a huge component and it's like probably also as as a board member, if you're on the board, you're most most interested in
and and want to know the most about. So, and I correct me if I'm wrong. Um, but I I remember like my first term um the people who served in um personnel were
like the same people that um served in FNP. So perhaps um No. Well, I was one. No, maybe you were, but No, because I was I was on personnel. I was on personnel and I was never on
that. You're you're okay. So perhaps um having pe different people serve on the polic I mean not the policy the personnel and then also um different from FNP.
I'm wondering if it you can correct me from if in the interest of time we might put this on the on the list of possible board goals to figure this out. I you know I don't know if we we're supposed to do that here. figure out a committee structure here or if that's something that we keep in our in mind that that's
what we're going to do over the next year is have a committee structure that works for everybody. Yeah, I think it would be a great board goal um because there seems to be a lot of discussion on it. So I think it is um something that would be a really great board goal to look at the committee structure and um if changes are
necessary make those changes. So you could have a timeline on that and um you know a group of you know either the committee the entire board weigh in on it or uh just you know have um maybe like a little ad hoc for it to to look
at that. So, it's up to the board, but I I think it would be a very really good um board goal, especially um based on some of the things that you said, that learning aspect is really important, especially for new board members. So, if you if you do get any
new board members, that onboarding of that aspect, if they're not educators, that's the hardest part with new board members is um they have a lot thrown at them and it especially if they're not educators in education or maybe they um don't have any students in in the
schools, too. It it's really hard to get up to speed so quickly. So, um you know, I I do agree with with that assessment about, you know, understanding that piece of it. So see we we're getting a board to a board goal. This is good. Good stuff.
Okay. So now we can move on to finance. Um so the glows are that uh you provide the public with the information um on district finances and the budget um and invite public in input. Uh so that's great and I can see that you all are
very very transparent. um most boards do not uh you know video their uh their retreat and and you're doing that. So um you're a completely transparent board and and kudos to you because sometimes that's hard. You're working in that fishbowl and uh you know you're you're
trying to do good work and working in that fishbowl sometimes that's really uh difficult and uncomfortable and so you're doing that and I applaud you for that. I wasn't thinking about that until you said it. Now now I'm a little nervous. Watch what you say now.
And then you said you have effective use of the finance committee. So that's great. And uh no longer under state monitoring uh due to the commitment of the board and administration. So kudos to all of you. Some of the growth indicators. Uh was there was some comments that about monitoring
district's near-term and future uh financial health that you'd like to see a little bit more of that. um understanding data uh again about that separating the junior high from the high school students that that seems to be a talking point throughout. Um also
understanding uh the there's a district building uh use value that um some of the board's members said that they'd like to know a little bit more about and then the districtrun bus program seems to be like a little bit of a pain point. So um we could talk about that. uh
finding outside sources of revenue and then understanding those lovely monthly um reports that you felt that you needed a little bit more help with that. So any discussion on some of those growth points?
I just have a comment. Um, I consider myself a fairly newborn member, even though I I'm going on my third year, but the first three years really as a non-educator has just been about learning. Yeah. So, now it's when I'm beginning to
understand the processes that go on. Um, one of the things that I would like to see is more of this group setting meetings or workshops or retreats, whatever you want to call it. I think
this is a great opportunity to just, you know, this have the discussions about what's going on, um, what this policy is and what that that policy is and, uh, you know, if they're implementing new, um, courses, what do they mean? what
what's the end goal for that? Uh it's very hard when you're in a committee meeting doing quick discussions you know sometimes it takes me like a minute to say oh that's what you know they meant or this is what they were talking about
so I think um especially like in in hot topics like policy and stuff where you need to have the discussion and not just you know with a little group of I could read a hundred summaries and not understand right yeah so I I think these types of meeting are
extremely important and I would like to see don't kill me at least one a quarter. Yeah. On any different topics. Yeah. And so that goes into um wanting more board training. A lot of members had said that they wanted more board training. And board training doesn't
mean that I come in and I just talk at you. My board trainings are usually very discussion based. So it's knowledge, you know, I I do a presentation or what have you, but make it very discussion based because like I said, you're you're working in a fishbowl over and over
again. This discussionbased type of uh feel is really important. We learn a lot from the comments that we all make, but the meeting sometimes doesn't afford you that ability to um discuss. Yeah. So, um, definitely can build that into the
schedule and, um, New Jersey school boards can definitely come in and do discussion based trainings on any topic that you that you choose. Yeah, I think also would be really really important in the financial piece um to try to kind of understand what
some of the most important line items mean. Yeah. And what are the impacts um like for me that's very important to know. Yeah. So, we have a lot of uh financial trainings and a lot of times uh we'll partner up, your field service rep and
your BA will partner up to do a training at a at a board meeting. Um, and I think that that would be helpful for all of you based on on the comments. Anybody else? Okay. Then we're going to move on to community leadership. Um and the
community leadership piece was uh 3.5. So that's that's very very good. Um the glowing remarks is that you conform to the requirements of open public meetings act and the open public records act. So that was the highest indicator at 3.8 8 and um that you have really effective
use of your new website um the zoom and also board docs newsletter various media uh sources um and the branding the new branding that you did. So kudos to the administration for for doing all that
and and the IT group for uh doing all the things that they're doing. Um that that's really very helpful and important to the community. So thank you for that. Um some of the growth points is that the board would like to see um improve uh board members attendance at uh school
district events. Sometimes that's hard when we have, you know, a lot of things going on with work, but a lot of times uh really super effective boards will actually make a schedule so that everybody knows, you know, when they can be there and and things like that. Um
enhance community engagement. Um, there was a lot of comments about a two-way communication that you felt that there was a lot of one-way communication, but that you wanted to see more two-way communication with the community to have more opportunities there. And then to
increase participation of the community by um in policy um exclusiveness um inclusiveness and uh reflective of the community's diverse voices that you felt that some of the policies um weren't reflective of all the stakeholders. So
um any comments on some of those growth indicators? Um I I'm just wondering um what percentage of districts in Bergen County here, New Jersey have a community relation
committee? Um and also those districts that do have a community relation committee. Um does that provide more opportunity with the two-way communication? And also what is the
purpose of the CRC? Yeah. And who serves on these committee? Right. Right. So good questions. I can't speak and I don't want to misspeak to Bergen County because I I I don't know Bergen County. It's not my um my county, but um in some of my counties, they
there are a lot of that community relation committee. Um and they're charged with uh you know doing a lot of different projects. Sometimes when uh boards decide to do a strategic plan, the um communications um the committee will do the communication on that uh
send out those invitations in conjunction with the administration. Um a lot of times they'll understand like they'll talk about doing social media things or events. Um I know that in my hometown we have something called art
standing. the uh community relations committee was very involved with that um and and getting that up and running and thought process behind that. Um so sometimes it's just about uh events that go on uh for the community. Sometimes
it's a stakeholder piece getting input um and and you know what's the mechanism to do that? That's what the um committee would be charged with and then that would be a series of of board members. So sometimes when boards are struggling
to get uh parents involved or the community involved, they partner up with the administration and have a committee. Sometimes they just do an ad hoc committee on a certain event. What are the disadvantages of having a CRC committee, a community relation committee?
Sometimes sometimes they overstep. So sometimes they will um you know we have to be really careful when we communicate with the public right so that we're not going on by ourselves on on uh social media
and posting things and then speaking for the full board. So sometimes a committee member will go on thinking that their job is to communicate but then it seems like they're speaking for the full board. So that can be an issue um
against the code of ethics. So there's like a really fine line there. So the people that you choose on that committee would really have to understand the role and understand that they have to partner with the um liaison, the administrative liaison.
So usually it's circled around, you know, some type of event or strategic plan. I don't know if you've ever done a strategic plan here. Um sometimes it's around that as well. Would it be appropriate to to survey the community
as to you know giving, you know, some options of certain topics like let's say prek or or ml population or or special services um around these type of ad hoc committees or a public
event or some sort. My my where I'm a little bit torn is that we have uh very little participation from the public at the board meetings. Mhm. And I'll be honest, it can't be because we're doing a bad job right now because
this room used to be full when we weren't doing that great of a job. And so I know people come from the for the spectacle and people would get sometimes charged up by certain individuals to come out and you know bring the pitchforks out. Yeah. and and you know cause a ruckus.
So I'm not sure if it's because you know everybody thinks there's no action here and things are going well that we're a a victim of our success in that way. Um I'd be open to surveying the public to see who would who would come. Um
yeah, right. Like that would be something that administration that would be a climate um survey and that would come from the administration. Correct. Yeah. I feel like the community relations committee is really about promoting
what the district is doing, whatever events and um that we would help to promote and bring those people in. not to run the event. They run the event. We just help bring the people in. I'm assuming
the committee is the what and then the administration is the how. So we we have to always remember that even um you know with goals too, the board is the what and the administration is the how. Um so a committee sometimes comes up they could be the the idea fairies for things
you know and and just talk about like oh this might be good that might be good. We heard this from the public. They might want to do that. and then um hand it over to the administration so they could talk about maybe an action plan for that type of event. But that's where like you have to be
really careful with um you know a a communication committee because sometimes they get so passionate that they they overstep and then um there's all kinds of problems. How how do we decide? So my one of my fears is that we're going to create a
solution to a problem we don't have. Yeah. Right. And and so how do how do we well it just seems like a lot of board members are asking for this two-way uh you know communication. So I think we have to understand what does that actually mean? Like what are what are
they looking for? Yeah. Can we open that up? I also think that community participation at board meetings is low, but I think the administration would argue that we're hosting all of these events that they are participating in the community based
events that the administration is right Dr. Reed like our parentmies like they were well attended this year. Yes. No, I'm just wondering and and I I I'm not quite sure it's the board's job to pack the houses on those things. I think
that's part of like the district's um administration's like social media like getting the word out, but I'm not quite sure. It's our job to make that work happen. And I may be wrong, but am I wrong? Right. No, you're right. Okay.
thinking out loud how how we would like every time I try to operationalize that, you know, I get to the point where somebody checks me like you did and says that's kind of the the administration's job. Yeah. And so I mean the board can't send out a survey that that would not be appropriate.
So So what what are we doing then? Yeah. I mean sometimes boards just want to have an idea sharing event with each other. about community input, about community engagement. They they just so they make that committee so that they
could talk about the ideas and then hand it over to the administrative liaison for that committee. So, so we would have like an ad hoc committee where the board meets to talk about these things and then come up with suggestions for the
Yeah. Just come up with the you know the what? No public present. No, it would be a committee meeting. or you could do it as committee of of the whole and and have that subject matter. It depends. Um but like I said, you have to this talk about this two-way
communication. You have to determine what the the board's actually looking for. Um because it just wasn't um there wasn't an example there. So, I'd like to see what does that actually look like in the trustes mind, you know, two-way
because as board members, you really you can't do that. So, also I think we're only we can only do so much for two-way communication. We're only one. So, I've and I think we've all seen that like often times people are
very quick to want to communicate their thoughts or opinions on social media and knowing that it's going to come back to us in that way. And it can be frustrating like we do have email addresses. They know where to find most of us and maybe a few will but at the
end of the day we could have a million different meetings, discussions, try everything. we do share when you know in in very simple ways you know remind people that there's an event going on and even then you know people are going to do what they're going to do um
unfortunately but yeah so um I just had just for an example I had a um a district of mine Manchester regional high school and they were struggling with some um community engagement and it's uh three different communities that come together for that
regional high school and um they decided to do a midpoint check-in on their strategic plan. So, their strategic plan was five years and they said, "You know what? Why don't we do a midpoint check-in?" So, the superintendent did a um presentation on the state of the
district. And then we did um I facilitated just breakout rooms for community members to talk about different aspects of where they are and what they'd like to see. you know, um they talk about the improvement, but
then also get their ideas on, you know, should the board should the board be shifting um and uh and you know, moving over to one spot or the other, their thought process on um how their students are doing and and what they'd like to see. Um and so I structured it with like
five different questions based on the check-in uh presentation. And um and it was really wellreceived and we we had quite a few uh we had about 60 um you know stakeholders and they made sure that they reached out to um the senior
citizen um you know population as well because a lot of times they're the forgotten few um because they're taxpayers and you know people because they're not in the schools they're you know they're forgotten. So, um they made sure that they sent out invitations like
that and it was uh it was really um it was really a great event and it really didn't cost anything. So, that might be something just something I know that you didn't haven't done a strategic plan but you know sometimes just the state of the district and then just uh community um
input and it was fun. We did these breakout rooms and then um we had group leaders that came up and reported out. It was it was really fun. And then the board got a sense of what the community was looking for, like the adjustment um to our sales, like a
little bit of a a change here or there, things like that. But it's hard and and a lot of times members of the community don't come unless there's some kind of drama, you know. Um, and like you said, they they enjoy sometimes that piece of it,
unfortunately. We could we could have some fights on the board. Maybe that'll increase participation. Yeah. So, but good questions about that. So, thank you. Uh, so then we're going to move on
um to the board goals. Uh, so the board goals of 2425. Uh goal number one, you said that um satisfactory progress was made, that you uh increase trustee knowledge and comfort on school finance. So, you're moving the needle a little bit on that
one. Um goal number two, uh success um satisfactory progress made. The board uh will increase opportunities for parents and taxpayers to communicate their needs, wants, and observations through increased community um contact. And
you're doing that with that new branding, that new website. That that's all part of that um contact. Uh goal three uh had little to no progress uh was scored um to engage in professional development in support of district goals
with specific uh programs to be determined. So um so that we talked about that the the training piece uh and then you achieved a goal for the cooperation for the district administration to develop a new mission statement. We talked about that um for
the public school district. So so that was good. So we achieved that. So that's off the list. And uh and now we get to um talk about what you want to do um for this coming year. I think goal three needs to be a goal
again and since we didn't achieve it um last time and the professional development I think to the point we were saying was um you know the monthly finance reports having New Jersey school boards come in
and go through that would be great. I don't know if there's other you know come up with the list of two or three things that you know. Yes. So the best thing to do is uh talk
about the schedule of when the schedule can accommodate those trainings and then um I can send you all the subject matter that we have. We have so many and uh and then the board can can look at that and uh and pick from that and and we'll just
set that. I I have a question because when we did this a few years ago with Matt Lee, we were talking about long range plan, facility plan, and you know, we're like,
wait a minute, let's just get even to baseline. But what does that look like putting together the strategic plan or the long r like like I know we have the long range facilities plan. Yes, that's different. Yeah, I couldn't tell you what's on there. It's
very vague, you know, and and I think looking at that, the capacity of our schools, we've been talking about seventh and eighth grade and where do they belong and and you know, this year we had pretty significant um tax levy
increase because of um health care and you know, looking more than one year out for everything I think is important. But but how does a board typically go about something like that? A strategic plan. So um you would have
to decide if that's something that you want to do in conjunction with the administration and um if it was then we do a presentation on what that looks like uh for your district. But essentially it's three meetings. Um, New Jersey School Boards facilitates that
and uh we invite the public in and like I said we invite all facets of of the public in. Um and then we have breakout rooms and different um for each meeting we have different subject matters so that we can get all that input um from
all the stakeholders. Once we do those three meetings with with you all in the public, uh we hand everything over all the data. I do a huge report on that, hand the data over to the administration and they come up with the action plans
and actually set goals based on um all of that data that we received from the strategic plan event. So is the strategic plan like year one for the board and then in year two it becomes district goal information
into that district goal. So that that first year you're doing that whole event you're giving that over to um the administration. They come back with the action plans and then you pull your district goals out of that strategic plan because the strategic plan is five
years. So you're pulling those goals out of the strategic plan. So um district goal setting becomes much easier because you're just utilizing the work that you did for that strategic plan.
Is there somewhere on school boards where we can see a similar district like strategic plan? Yeah, I can send them to you. That'd be great. Yeah. Yeah. I just finished um I just did Clifton. Um we just finished that. So I can send that to you. that that's
the most recent example and we had I had about 150 um stakeholders show up um to Clifton. So it was a really great event. Um and we had like 11 breakout rooms and it was it was just really good and the board said that they got a lot out of it
because they got to hear like a a diverse group speak um to where they would like to see the district go. So it was really super helpful for the board. Can I just share what I what I've heard? Um because I'm I'm hearing one one of
the goals to be professional development opportunities, more formal, more structured uh in the area of finance policy and student achievement for the board so that we understand what the administration is talking about. I also heard uh another one is to re revisit our committee
structure preferably before the beginning of the new year when anybody incoming comes in uh specifically around FMP and how to increase the amount of communication that everybody gets policy as well and and even finance so that
everybody's getting the same information but but really focus on discussion not just the reports because everybody said the the reports are good coming out of the committees but to be able to have a little bit back and forth and have a deeper level of learning and the possibility of creating
an ad hoc committee that meets around the topic of community relations, not with the community there. Um, and I guess we would have to get feedback from the from the administration about how they're doing with their community relations. Like are these parent workshops being attended well? Is there
more we need to do? Is there less or they need to do? and that that ad hoc committee would provide suggestions to the administration. Can we can we lump that into the committee structure? Revisit the committee structure like Okay. Because if we're going to create even an
ad hoc committee feel like that's all one goal then, right? Okay. Be a topic. So you have about three goals there, correct? Board training or two and a half. Yeah. Board training and then committee structure. Okay.
And uh yeah. Okay. Anything else? How do we start the long range plan? Yeah. like how do you I I I since I've been on the board, we
we kind of have said it right that we're taking it a year at a time and I think we're mature enough to put out a a bigger plan and execute on it a year at a time.
and and whether or not we even finalize the plan. I I think we need to figure out what do we need to do? How do we go about it? I I think we're I think we're in a place to start to start talking about
putting together a strategic plan. You I don't think we were there last year or the year before. We didn't know where we were. Um but certainly would it be a board goal for us to start thinking about how um so by this time next year not having a strategic plan but being
poised to to start one to start the process. Yeah. Start the process. Yeah. To to have further discussion about the process, what it would look like. Um and like I said, I can come in and do a presentation on it so that you could see what that looks like, how much work
would go into that. Um, you do have to have your administration weigh in on that because it's a lot a heavy lift for them. So, they would have to tell you an appropriate time that would be good for them. Um, and uh because if you think about it, it like not necessarily getting it done
this year. I agree, but exploring it to understand what has to so that maybe we done next year. Yeah. Yeah. So, so let's make that a goal for us to find out what it is because uh the administration probably knows what it
takes to do a strategic plan. Uh but we don't. And so we we might think that it's just he's noticeably quiet. We might think that it's, you know, it's a good idea. We have a pow-wow and we get together and we say, "All right, this is where we want busing to be. This is where we want, you know, our facilities to be." But if it's going to
distract from the work that has to be done now to do that plan, we need to be really kind of cognizant of that. So I think we need to understand what is it. So that can be so that's I think that's appropriate board goal for us to learn and you know at school boards there are some workshops on
doing a strategic plan. We could also have school boards come to us. So I think that's a realistic goal for us. I I think it you know it kind of goes along with the PD opportunities too like right we talked about finance and I don't know what else you said. Policy.
Yeah. And achievement and student achievement. maybe strategic plan like if we're if we're thinking quarterly of having some kind of um PD opportunity then maybe strategic plan becomes one of those okay PD opportunities
right so that at the point that we do ask the administration for strategic plan we know what we're talking about exactly okay I gota say these two you correct me if I'm wrong, these two are pretty heavy. They're pretty heavy. So, I I think I'd
leave them as like the standalone. Like I I think you have enough work built in there. You know, there's no like hard and fast rule of how many goals to have. Those are kind of like really meaty. So, I I think that I would just have those two because that's that's a lot of work right there.
Yeah. And you know, when we operationalize this, when Michelle and I sit down and kind of lay this out as to what the benchmarks are of success, I think we'll have a better idea how much we're biting off here. Yeah. So, I have a chart on the left hand side. I have a a chart in there that you can utilize to have like
indicators of success. Yes. Um, so uh and then on the back side of that kind of gives you a example. I was just gonna ask you for that real I'm a very prepared person, so you're
all set there. Um, and then I also put in uh, you know, the 12 month schedule for board members because I, you know, like I I know that you've had a lot of chaos, um, and now you're coming together and and super organized. So, I think that that 12-month schedule kind of tells you exactly what you should be
doing as board members each month. So, I think that would be helpful as well. Excellent. I guess my next question is like what are our next steps as a board to finalize I mean I guess these the goals
and then like when does that work happen right yeah so that's a great question so um what will happen is uh you you'll word smmith um you know that those two goals uh and I can do that with you if you'd like or you could send it to me and then I could kind of we could talk about it
um and then we'll get that together uh we're going to talk about district goals with Dr. V in a minute and then um in the September meeting you'll adopt both both sets of goals and then uh have that timeline to them.
So I'm looking at your 12 month thing. Yeah, the 12-month thing, not necessarily yours. August says submission of merit goals to the executive county superintendent. That's probably something that you don't have in the contract. Very very few people have that in the contract. Yeah.
So, don't get nervous there. But that calendar really keeps you on on track of what you really need to be doing. Um because I don't know if you have like ethics training in January, things like that schedule. You do do that. Okay. Good. Good. Um so things like that.
Yeah. So my pleasure. So happens now like right now. So, so what happens right now is we are done with our work for the board. Now, Dr. V has to uh talk about his goals and um if you
feel comfortable with them, they everything gets written up and then uh you adopt them in September. Thank you everybody. It was really good work today. Thank you very much. It was very helpful. Thank you. Do you want um that slide for the because we kind of like blew through.
We'll put this your slide up. There was a slide just for districts. We'll put joined. Huh? Yeah, it was going to join like that. Both of our
uh behind that. Yeah. I guess while we set that up, I I'll just thank uh this incredible board for I'll thank him later.
[Music] Microphone. Did this move or uh No, we're just going to um do slide Can I just professionals here? Dr. V, do you want Are you going to go You're going to go right from there
because your slide is up. Very well. Thank you. Uh excited to present the proposed district goals. Again, it's important to note that the board has uh received these in advance. Uh but happy to provide some context both for uh the board's benefit and for the uh community who may be tuning in.
Um just in regard to some of the specifics uh in terms of the process uh these board these uh district goals were developed as a result of board feedback as part of my evaluation process
and these goals were developed in collaboration and reviewed by our principal team also by my senior cabinet and they are uh also going to be aligned with our professional development plan to ensure that as it relates to our
staff members that they are receiving the appropriate and effective uh professional development uh towards attaining these goals. And in regard to the first goal uh it's also important to note that it is uh in conjunction with
uh little ferry uh that I recently met with uh Mr. Verado, superintendent of Little Ferry, uh to confirm uh that we're on the same page and we're happy to move this goal forward. Uh so a bit of a joint goal here and in terms of goal one uh as it reads uh the idea here
is to create uh an educational framework uh through our partnership with Little Ferry uh to align both instruction uh curricula uh and student support uh ultimately to drive academic and and college career readiness. Um the board should anticipate in September through
the committee structure uh receiving the uh action plan to attain these goals including responsibilities, timelines and evidence that will then be used as part of my evaluation. And then we agreed that I would report out this year not through the committee structure so that I'm sharing the same information in
every committee but rather in the superintendent report as part of the formal board meetings uh with benchmarks in November, January and March to provide updates to both the board and the community uh regarding progress towards our goal. Uh so as it it uh relates to to goal one, you know, some
some examples of some of those major activities. Uh well, first um you know, we purposely aligned our our professional development calendars. Um so one thing uh that we have potential to look at uh would be to develop some level of articulation uh with staff
members from Little Ferry and and Richfield Park uh to develop instructional strategies, review uh curriculum uh to provide support to to students. Um, Miss Triglia has already contacted uh the the director of curriculum instruction in Little Ferry,
Mr. Dunn, uh to set a meeting over the summer months to begin to review such items. Other examples uh would be uh shared learning walks uh where um administration from Little Ferry would join our learning walks here and potentially vice versa for us to then uh
join learning walks in the classrooms in in Little Ferry. Uh others other examples would be uh data reporting for families uh agreeing on some common um reporting lines. Uh we do share uh already an ELA consultant. Um so we'll
certainly uh work with um uh Miss Laura Woods in terms of uh further developing some of the major activities. But we're really excited uh to officially, you know, someone put a stamp on this um to as I shared for those who attended uh the graduation and the speech that I
provided um some additional supports to the existing bridge that we have here. So, we're really excited about this goal as it relates to uh the student assessment uh that Miss Triglia had had shared earlier. Um, naturally, as we were receiving Little Ferry students uh in their freshman year, it would totally
make sense uh for us to partner uh uh to further this partnership between the two districts uh to develop some some commonalities and build upon the existing assessments and uh instructional strategies that that may already be existing. Um as that uh theoretically and and the the um you
know specific goal here um as noted is to improve academic uh growth and performance. Uh so to develop you know some of those um you know common grounds and uh to further our our partnership uh I I really believe is going to be great for this year.
Excuse me. In terms of district goal two um the idea here is to enhance special education programming through datadriven practices to maximize student achievement outcomes. Uh so this goal specifically focus on uh special education services using specific um student data evidence-based practices uh
to enhance learning outcomes for students with disabilities. Some examples of major activities uh may include, you know, when we went through the QC process, you know, we're very fortunate to have uh two very um uh dedicated, knowledgeable education program specialists here in Bergen
County. they had provided some recommendations to Miss Trigley and I in terms of some other districts who are are seeing really um thriving um you know results in terms of uh their students with disabilities on state assessments. So examples would be to do some site visits in some of those um uh
districts uh to learn a little bit more about some of the practices that they've implemented uh to you know have some successful student outcomes. Uh other examples um Miss Trigley had alluded to in in part of her presentation uh was further looking at
uh annual goal reviews, progress monitoring. We're also going to be looking at providing professional development in terms of uh inclusion settings. Uh so we already have that set up for day one of our or excuse me, day two of our um welcome back for staff as
part of our professional development package. Uh so we're going to be looking at you know a number of items here. Uh but again, you know, we're really really excited about this goal and confident that um you know, we'll be able to attain it in terms of uh the intended outcomes. And then lastly, in terms of
district goal three to optimize financial operations and strategic resource management, uh we heard that directly related, you know, to the the the uh board evaluation process that we heard ear earlier as that was one of the the specific categories. you know, as we are moving out of or have moved out of
state monitorship, you know, one of the recommendations here was to uh develop uh a new position financial analyst, which we now have that that individual uh in the position over the summer months. So, uh we're going to be looking at ways to elevate the district's financial management in terms ter terms
of strategic uh allocation of resources, maximizing efficiency uh ultimately to support educational priorities. And the idea here as potential major activities would be to provide um not just the finance um committee uh but the board as a whole with updates a better
understanding of um the financial uh picture and to continue to monitor our our resource allocation. So um again excited about this goal. Um you know we believe that um in this transition out of state monitorship uh we want to not
only um sustain our our uh financial uh status but also just enhance it in terms of our communication transparency um and some of the things that we'll be looking at within that department. So, um those are the you know broader um goals and again the board should anticipate uh
receiving the major activities and the evidence uh by September and I'll be reporting out at those uh uh board meetings as noted earlier. So happy to take any any questions or comments if the board has any at this time. I do. Um, first I I want to say I read
the goals that you sent out to us right after I completed the um board evaluation and was very happy to see that they aligned with a lot of the things that at least I put down on the the board evaluation. Um, so that was
great to see. Um, one thing is just a question. um when we look at some of the standardized test scores that we have, you know, the um graduation readiness, do we ever do we
ever look at those split Little Ferry versus Richville Park um to understand what that is? And and I appreciate and applaud bringing those students in at the same
baseline of our students. I think that makes a whole lot of sense. Um, just want to ensure that we are first and foremost ensuring that the students of Richville Park from K through 12
are are, you know, getting the resources that they need out of this first district goal. And then the, you know, the Little Ferry students when they come in that they get what they need, right? Like that that this is focused on the
students that we educate. K all the way through 12. Um, so that's my question on on goal one. Thank thanks for that question, Trusty McNeel. So, so the short answer is yes, we uh this past year we did begin to uh
look at some of that data. Uh, but you know, this the spirit of this goal is to take a deeper dive into that data in terms of um differentiating between uh proficiency levels that we may see on some of these state assessments. Um in terms of you know the the intended outcome of the goal um yes as noted um
part of it is also uh to assist both sets of middle school age students with the transition um to the high school. So you know it's a comprehensive look at um you know some of the things that we can partner with little feron absolutely while also you know continuing to uh examine and explore some things that we
can do better here as well. I have a question um about goal two kind of also about based on the the information we got in the report earlier um with the IEP students and their math scores for example but ELA and math you
mentioned other districts that have had success with that subcategory and I'm struggling with um fully understanding like we we can obviously those numbers were really low for math for IEP but and I know we can't compare that to a state
state average of IEP students. I understand there's not those numbers we don't have. But when you talk about success of another district, like what does that success look like? Will, you know, if next year scores are, you know, obviously if they they grow, that's an
improvement, but like what is success look like for the IEP students? When you mention those other districts, what are those numbers? Do we know? Thanks. Thanks for that question. you know, that that's something that we'll further examine as we, you know, begin to reach out. Uh, I don't have that that data in front of me. Um, but, you know,
to to the point um, by, you know, partnering with some of these districts, doing some site visits in terms of their best practices and learning about how that has impacted their student achievement gradually over time, um, is certainly something that that we're interested in doing. And, you know, I should have mentioned um, as part of our not district goals, but align with our
district goals, our our district uh, professional development plan that Miss Trigley and I have been developing. uh one of those um one of those areas will also be related to special education in terms of providing staff with appropriate support for professional growth both geneted teachers and special
education teachers. Um, I also wanted to indicate from a data analysis standpoint, not just as it relates to district goal 2, but again, that's something that we're going to be building into our district professional development plan in terms of further supporting our staff members in terms of
uh understanding and be able to analyze the data that we have in hand. And we've implemented uh a number of different assessment measures. So, we have a pretty good profile of each student. Uh, we're able to triangulate data on multiple assessments to be able to take a look at how that student is progressing over time. Um and we have
spent a lot of time over the past two years establish establishing prof uh professional learning communities and now that those are operating um you know we we needed to appropriately develop the space for teachers to be able to have those conversations about data analysis. So that was the first step in
terms of setting the the PLC's but now taking a deeper dive and making it a point as part of the our professional development offerings uh to assist our staff members with uh analyzing um student data and as it relates to this goal for special education students that would certainly be an area that we're
looking at. Yeah. Mer also as far as measuring success for us the successes in the growth. So it's really um taking a pulse multiple times throughout the year and looking at these specific subgroups and saying are they
growing right so asking those questions which is a little different than what we've been doing um we haven't been taking that pulse along the way um so really being mindful meeting in with those PLC's helping facilitate the conversations tracking the IEP goals the reporting of the IP goals when students
hit those goals what happens next so again asking the questions and and the accountability piece is really what working for. So success for us is the growth. And then in other districts, it's just recognizing, you know, the types of programs that they utilize, the the staff that they put in those in the
in the programs, the co-eing models, what makes them successful versus not successful. You know, those kinds of things are really what we're looking for more so than their numbers versus our numbers. Guess I'm not looking to like compare the numbers per se. just it's hard to
see those graphs especially when it comes to that group. it. You know, you you pointed it out as obviously 3% is a low number, but are we looking for 10% like 10% is a success or that's considered, you know, it's hard to know
because I have no idea what that specific subgroup, you know, I get I don't know 10%. Obviously, like 50% is that even a possibility. So it's a little hard to
for us again because that number is proficiency based we may not see a large increase next year in that right we still might see numbers like 8% or 10%. But our goal is to really take a look at their starting point. So if the three categories are did not meet um partially
meeting and approaching. So just even tracking where they are in those categories and seeing if they're making making movement and maybe two three years down the road we will see growth in the proficiency and if we happen to see it sooner awesome that means that we're doing really what we need to do but for us that's really we're we're
looking for the growth from where they are to where they're going. I have a question about the first goal. Um I just want to be clear that I understand it. Is the goal to align um the curricula in both districts to
ensure that when they get here they have a a similar experience at the middle school level so that when they get to the high school it's similar or because that first line the datadriven educational framework I I just I need a little bit clarity about what that means and what that looks like.
It's more about learning um some of the practices that both districts are implementing so we can align some of them. uh it's not necessarily uh having either district change their curricular as a result. Um but the idea is to just begin to set a framework um to to partner because at present we're not
right we're we're in in terms of our instruction in terms of having teachers meeting in terms of professional development offerings in terms of data analysis there's a gap there that we haven't touched yet uh at least in my time here and that's really the the spirit of this goal.
There are some overlaps in assessments like for example they use I ready we use I ready and so even if we partnered up and started there to see how their seventh and eighth grader students are doing versus how ours are doing looking at NJSLA scores together and saying okay how are yours doing and ours doing
programmatically resources and things like that even though they're different everything should be standardsbased so we've done a lot of work around our standardsbased reporting and things like that um over in Little Ferry I believe they do some of that so again just making sure that we're kind of aligning the big picture and giving our students
same goals and outcomes to some extent but but really starting with where the commonalities exist for the upcoming school year. I have a question on goal number two um special education for the you know students with
disabilities. Do we look at special education on the opposite end of the spectrum for our highest performers? And where are they and where are teachers in having the capabilities to challenge
students who may be in classes that they're bored in? So, right now we we don't have a a a true G&T program, right? So, like that would require um cognitive tests and and then putting IEPs in place for our truly
gifted students. What we do is we kind of align where our our students are and then from there average out the highest among them. So, maybe not truly gifted and talented but are or above average um performing students. And because it's criteria based, it's very concrete,
right? So we we don't really offer um you know, one day maybe we can, but we don't offer music gifted and talented programs or you know, artistic. They have the AP and things like that at the high school as you move up, but um our G&T program exists for students and if
they hit the criteria, you know, that's how they get into that. Um, currently what we're really trying to work on is the basics and really trying to figure out, you know, stop teaching to the middle and really trying to figure out how we can reach all levels looking at
that differentiated instruction. We do so often talk about data analysis and helping with interventions because really that's our scores are showing that's where our attention needs to be. But within that, you know, we do see the kids who are exceeding and doing really well. Student engagement is at the
forefront of um our PDP goal for our evaluations, right? We we're seeing that kids are not fully engaged during lessons and I think that's part of it, right? It helps the board and how are we engaging our students in our lesson planning and the way we're delivering our instruction. So although we're not
quite there with what you're saying, we are taking in that engagement piece and how to, you know, motivate students to be part of the lessons and engaging in conversations with their peers. Thank you. And I would just add that, you know, a recent conversation that Mr. Trigley and I had as she mentioned
differentiated instruction is that, you know, that that term is used so ubiquitously at at this point and and it's been around for quite some time that we don't want just to assume that um our staff understand the the depth of that. So, we're starting to take a look at um how we may be able to bring in
some professional development on different instruction so that when we're talking about all students, right, and in this case, as you mentioned, you know, high performers, you know, how are how are our staff members in the classroom on a daily basis addressing their needs as well?
these these will be on the agenda for approval. If I'm recalling last year, we uh had a I had recommended them in August so we could launch the school year and then I would include them as part of my state of the district presentation um to staff on opening day on September 2nd and to
the board and community on September 16th. Can I just make one more comment? I'm sorry. Um I I I really see the need and I understand why the district is moving in the d you guys made the decision to start with the middle school
articulation. Um I just really I know that there's been so much work done in the district with regards to making sure strengthening our um datadriven practices at the elementary school level by building a manual. I would really hope to see that work extend to the high school because it seems from our data um
that that sort of practice needs to be extended to the high school level. So I'm hoping to see some of that work embedded um into this work if I'm being clear. So, a couple of things at the high school level. Um, we did run an NJGPI intervention program this year
that was criteria based. Um, in some instances, students sought out the support and interventions, which is rare for 11th graders to be like, "Hey, I I want to I want to be part of that. I want to come after school or I want to be part of that class." Um, in addition, the the principal surveyed the students after and said, you know, was this
beneficial for you? What would you like to see? But it was criteria based. So although there's not a manual because intervention wouldn't work the same in the high school, the high school is now using um you know Excel sheets to to pinpoint students who might be in need, our bubble students as we would call
them to see how we can move them forward and put them in a different program than our urgent students and things of that sort. So we are seeing that for sure and it's really exciting. In our middle school, um we had conversations with this the math supervisor. Um in this year when they identified students who
were moving into the honors tracks, they had to have difficult conversations with parents and saying, you know, why why wasn't my kid chosen? And it was it was an much easier conversation because there was criteria that supported decision-m. So, you know, even that we we are moving towards putting clear
protocol in place and full transparency. And to the community members who are listening, if you do have questions like that, we encourage you to ask for the data, to ask, you know, why we make the decisions we do because nine out of 10 times we can back it with why we're
moving in the directions that we are. Okay. We don't have any other Oops. If we don't have any other questions for the administration, um I think we'll close the meeting. Can I get a motion to adjurnn? I move we adjourn.
Diane first. Uh Mul second. Thank you. I just want to thank the board. I thank the administration and Miss Mitchell from New School Boards. But I also want to thank this incredible board. Um anybody who watches this will see how thoughtful we are behind the scenes. I was kind of thinking about it
as we were talking that it was awesome that the public gets to see how we make decisions on this board because this is a good example of how subcommittes work. And so, thank you all. Have a good night.