So, we'll um take a uh call the uh meeting to order and have a roll call. >> Mr. Donnie >> here. Miss Andy >> here.
>> Here. Please join uh please join me in a flag salute. Pledge of >> allegiance. The Richard Board has been meeting in executive session pursuant to NJSA 10 col4-12. The minutes of this meeting will be released when the need for
confidentiality no longer exists. Pursuant to the requirements of the open public meetings act, advanced notice has been given to the star ledger, the record and the clerk of the village of Rididgewood. In addition, notices were posted in the excuse me, in the office
of the board secretary and in all school buildings. Um, we have uh some presentations. Uh, Dr. Shores Well, I'm very pleased to announce that we have a special recognition here tonight. We are going to be
acknowledging and and um celebrating uh Gila Elbal and tonight to represent her and to introduce her. Uh I believe we have uh we have Yes. Yes, we have uh our our orchard principal coming up, Mrs.
Mary Ferrari. Oh, there we go. Thank you. Good evening, Dr. Schwarz and board of education members. I don't think I've been in person in a while, so this is like a nice night out for me. This is a treat. >> So, thank you for the
>> what you wish for. Thank you for the opportunity tonight to recognize Gila Elbomb as she prepares for retirement. Gila has dedicated 23 years to the Ridgewood public schools. While I've only been here a little over
a decade, I've had the pleasure of working with Gila during my time at Orchard School. And what a pleasure that has been. Her journey here at Rididgewood Public Schools has been one of service and dedication. As a school
psychologist and a child study team case manager, she has had the privilege of working with incredible educators, dedicated staff, and knowledgeable, caring families. She has built tremendous relationships with parents through the years, serving as a
listening ear, a trustworthy resource, and a problem solver. Most importantly, Miss Elbomb has formed bonds with her students, the most resilient, vibrant, and inspiring students any educator
could ask for. Each day brought and brings new challenges and new triumphs. And I know Gila would say she has learned so much from every single one of her students. She is a constant cheerleader during challenging moments
and their biggest fan as she roots for each success. These moments, big and small, are not only critical milestones for her students, but also meaningful memories for her. Gila, you get to take all of that with you. Personally, I
would like to thank Gila for her help and support to me as a school principal. Her knowledge and expertise have proven so valuable as we've worked together to solve problems, identify unique ways to support students and consider a wide
range of perspectives. She has taught me a lot about the power of a smile, a laugh, and the ability to know and laugh at yourself. Gila is serious about her students, the care she provides, the
opportunities she presents for them, but most importantly, she is never too serious about Gila. She has taught me as both an educator and a human being the power of never taking yourself too seriously. I have learned so much
watching and working alongside my colleague. We're actually joined by a few of her colleagues tonight. I know they join me in sending messages of thanks and congratulations. We will miss her collaborative spirit and genuine care
for our students. You have made our workplace feel like a second home, one where chocolate and coffee are always welcome. We've laughed together, cried together, and navigated the complexities of special education together. Thank you
for being such an incredible cornerstone of our team. Gila, we all wish you the best as you embark on your next chapter. I know you will enjoy spending time with Gary, Kira, Daniel, Andy, Elelliana, and
Yitzac and traveling to your beloved Israel. When you do, remember to bring us Rugala. Okay. You are loved. You have made a difference. And you will be missed. We can't wait to hear about your
next adventures. Congratulations. Gila, would you like to say a few things? >> You don't you don't have to, but but you're welcome to. >> You know, young, but I've grown up with so many people
and I really pleasure. >> Thank you, Jill. And if you wouldn't mind just sticking around, we're going to do pictures if that's okay. Actually, we can do that now if that's all right with everybody. >> All right, come on up, please. >> I have I have this one with my tabs on
it. Oh, it's under here. congratulations. Um, student rep report. >> Um, I'm going to turn it over to Grace Kim and Eli Delator. But before we do, I just wanted to comment that I had a nice we started a new practice where we meet together on the Friday before and we go
over the agenda. And I just want to tell you say say to you guys I had a great time meeting with you. Thank you so much for your time and your your energy and your interests and I have to say it's a very very wellstudied and very curious bunch and I'm really grateful to have you guys. Uh we also talked about how um
we want to make sure I want them to be comfortable being able to contribute in the meetings as well. So I know that you all value I know their board all values their voice. So I'll look for opportunities for you guys to join in. But whenever there's open discussion, if you want to just uh just just uh ju join the conversation, please feel free.
Okay. >> Thank you, Dr. Schwarz, and we all really enjoyed meeting with you. Good evening, everyone. So, uh just jumping in at the end of September. Uh we're going to go a little bit back in time. Uh the yearbook class went into downtown
Rididgewood to talk to businesses to try to raise money for the yearbook. This was a great chance to help support the yearbook and also give kids a chance to gain marketing skills and communication skills. So, that's a really great thing
that that class did. Um, 106 to 1010, the Learning Commons launched the week-long band book initiative, which featured 10 of the most censored books in the country. And this is a really cool chance for our community to come
together and to show our support for freedom uh in education and uh to renounce these intellectual limits. Uh on Thursday 10:16 the New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy visited the school
for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. uh he came into the ALISA which is the arts program US history one class and learned about the American Revolution with the students and specifically how art ties into the revolution which is
something that Ridgewood offers that's really really cool. Um I also had the chance of meeting him myself at the end of the period which was very cool and I want to just share a quick story that Mr. Nyas told us that I think is really indicative of Rididgewood High School
students. So, the governor was set to arrive at 10:25, which is the end of one period and the start of another. So, all 2,000 or so students in the high school would be walking around the halls. And Mr. Nyas warned uh the governor's staff
that there's going to be a lot of students walking around like they might recognize the governor and stuff. And the staff wasn't worried. But sure enough, the governor arrives and they're standing in the hallway talking and Mr. Nyas says or Mr. I said, and there's
students walking by saying, "Oh my god, look, it's the governor. Oh my god, why is Mr. Murphy here?" And it's really cool because there's not many schools in this country where students can recognize the governor of that state and
know that governor's name purely just based off their face. And that says a lot about the students at Rididgewood High School and how much they care. Um that same week, uh physics CP classes went out onto the football field to model projectile motion and they would
they threw tennis balls and based on like taking pictures and the angle and the initial velocity, they were able to calculate where the ball would land. It's a cool way to get involved in the equations and see that really come to life. Um the 14th through the 17th of
October was homecoming week. So each day there was a different dean that students were assigned to dress up as. Uh this included twin day where students matched with someone else in the school. The night of the 16th was the homecoming dance at the high school which I heard
was really great. And on the 17th the senior homecoming card decorating contest was a big hit with a ton of incredible submissions. Uh that afternoon, the pep rally readied students for the blackout football game
that night to celebrate homecoming. On Saturday the 18th, the RHS alumni committee recognized three distinguished alumni in the in the little theater. They explained how RHS shaped them into the distinguished figures they are today and shared stories from their time at
the high school. Um last Monday we head off for Dvali. Happy late Dvali for those who celebrate. And last Thursday the 23rd, the Amstead, which is American studies program, took a trip into New York City.
Uh we visited uh the Tenement Museum and Ellis Island. And we had a really great experience examining immigration at the time and seeing how these different institutions teach about it today. It's a really great group of kids. It was a really great trip and as always, a lot
of fun. um 11 uh November 1st is the ED or early decision, early uh application deadline for our seniors. Last year, 82% of seniors applied early during this time. So, I just want to hand it over to Grace
so she can give a little bit more insight on what seniors are going through right now. >> Yes. So, as a senior, I would definitely not recommend this time for anyone. It's an extremely stressful period balancing college applications, getting your
wrecks in in addition to your regular extracurriculars and schoolwork. However, I have to say that our guidance department and our teachers have been extremely helpful. I know that ARV can agree that the 2026 seniors classroom page, there's a new announcement every day with our guidance counselors posting
resources to help you write your extracurricular desri activ activity descriptions or help you run through your essay. And so even though it is a stressful time, our teachers are really doing their best to help all of us and we really appreciate it. >> Uh that is not something that I look
forward to that much. Uh on the 5th of November, quarter 1 ends and we will have off the sixth and 7th for teachers conventions. That is something I look forward to. uh the 1112 November 12th is the 11th grade parent meeting as
students start to begin this college admissions uh process and uh the school's talks to parents about what life after RHS will look like. And I want to just finally add that October is principal appreciation month and give a
shout out to all of the incredible principles. We just had one in the district. Uh the whole thing would not work without their incredible work keeping the ship on track and we really appreciate them. I want to give a special shout out to Mr. Nyas who does
an incredible job at the high school. He's always open to student voices. There's always kids talking to him about how they can work together to make the school better and it's it's a really cool environment. So, thank you to all the incredible principles this district has. None of what happens would work
without their hard work. I want to turn it over to Grace to talk about clubs and extracurriculars. >> So, for the fun part, sorry, Eli. Um, beginning with the 14th, girls soccer moonly granard was voted top girls soccer junior in New Jersey with 10
goals and four assists from the season, which is extremely impressive. Um the next day RHS TV Club had their first instudio shoot of 2025 which was a Halloween special where they played games like squish and squash Halloween trivia. Um they tier had a tier ranking
for candies and snacks and costume contest and all of this will be posted on the RHS TV YouTube channel soon. Um on the 17th the Jewish student union celebrated sukot by building by building candy sukas. Um, and so this is just a nice show of the um, how we celebrate
diverse cultures at RHS. Um, on the 17th, like Eli mentioned, RHS celebrated um, their football's homecoming game against Northern Highlands. And although it resulted in a loss and a three- four record, I actually got to stop by for 10 minutes. I was sick, so I didn't get to
stay for the whole night, but it was just really nice to see how many RHS students showed up and their school spirit. So on the next day, the marching maroons played third in the group four open competition performing voyage at Metife Stadium at the US band's Lewig
Muser Classic. And this actually goes hand in hand because just a couple days before we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the RHS marching band, which is an amazing feat and it's really nice that those two days aligned. Um on the 20th, cross country um and track and
field had their competition. We had a couple first place, uh, one third place, and one fifth place. But one particular highlight was that the Ridgewood girls um, track and field team won the county group A Championship with a perfect sweep. Um, and then as for the next
week, RHS new players performed Emily Bronte, Teenage Necromancer by Donzolidus. And most of the elementary schools were actually involved in the cast. And I'll turn it over to Eli, who actually got to watch one of the performances.
Yeah. So, I got to see the show uh last Friday and it was really incredible as usual. They do such an amazing job. All of the cast, both high school and elementary schoolers. It was really cool. The elementary schoolers did an incredible job and um the whole
production really blew me away. They have a lot more great things lined up for the rest of the year and I'm really looking forward to what they have coming up. >> Okay. And then just to finish it off, um we have our boys soccer team. Since our last board of ed meeting, they had
victories against Hackinack, Bergenfield, and Don Bosco Prep. So they currently have a season record of 95 and they have an upcoming game against Pascac Valley. Um additionally, the girls soccer team has also had a successful season with a season record
of 951 and they also have a game against Pass Pascac Valley on the 28th. The girls gymnastics team ended their season. They had a recent victory against Holy Angels with a season record of 54. Um, and then they competed at the Bergen County Championship on the 18th
where they placed third and then they also competed at the New Jersey Gymnastics League Championships where they placed fifth. So, congratulations to them. Um the crew maroons had a victorious weekend during the head of the picat riata resulting in five first
place finishes, four second place finishes and one third place finish. They also competed at the head of the Charles in Boston from the weekend the 18th to the 19th and they actually had the first eighth place finish ever which is the best that any individual has
placed at this competition and then they also had two 11th place finishes. Um, additionally, swimming and hockey are starting their respective season soon. So, hopefully we'll be able to talk about their record soon. Um, and then ending it with just two club notices. 10
more years of the RHS applied engineering club are participating in the Louis MIT rail innovation in action community impact program. So, not only is it a long name, but it's also a long competition and they'll be competing every Saturday um up until December. And
then to finish it off, project inter volunteered um at the access for all fashion show at the ridge public library which with um they had many of their students helping with the setup the serving as well as the clean up. So this is just a couple of the many exciting opportunities um that our students are
participating in and um is there and that was it. Please let us know. >> No questions about this MIT uh grant or the competition. I think the class of 22 actually competed in that and they won a
there was a water bottle that they designed and they did receive some grant. So Ridgewood has a history of uh winning uh money on that grant and uh so that's a good competition and AR I received a forward about a new app that was launched this week at Ridgewood. Do
you want to give us some information about that? Um, so it's a little bit unrelated to uh activities going on in Rididgewood High School. Um, but a friend and I have been working with the Chamber of Commerce for the last two years uh to promote like
small business economic development. Um, so we've been doing like marketing for a bunch of struggling small business owners. Uh, we've had the chance to work with so many businesses. Um, and we recently launched a community development app. um a like a marketing channel essentially for these small
businesses to promote their services, to promote their discounts. Um and we're in the process of working with 300 businesses right now. Um but yeah, a little bit unrelated, but that's just another nice thing that's going on between members of our of our school. >> Right. The the the reason it's related,
it's Ridgewood, right? So you're just focused on Ridgewood. >> Yes. >> And the app is at Ridgewood. >> It is called At Rididgewood and it is an Rididgewood exclusive app. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Well, we'll now go to um
comments from the public. Um don't think there's any. Is there any public behind you? No. Okay. So, seeing none here, I'll see if there's anyone from remote. This is just our first com uh comment
period. We'll have one at the end of the meeting. Not seeing any any. I will close public comment and uh Dr. Schwarz, we'll go to presentations. We've got two presentations this evening.
>> Yes. >> Yes, we do. And um the first presentation that we have is the spring 2025 uh administration uh report of the New Jersey student learning assessment. Um I was definitely involved in the
process of uh doing helping with this analysis and building this presentation, but uh this has certainly been um an effort led by Mr. Ross as well as many others in the district. Mr. Ross has certainly been the point person. Um, this is very nice to have a director of
curriculum who can who can take a lead on this report. So, thank you for being here, Mr. Ross. Thanks for the work that you've done. And I know you got a lot of people that you want to invite up and to shout out. Um, we have a handful people who are listed here who are with us here tonight. We have Miss Lee Parad who's our supervisor of of language arts case.
Uh, sorry, 612. We have Mrs. Ashley Anbo with us who is our math supervisor. We have Mrs. Taylor with us who is our science supervisor. Uh, we have Dr. Galante, who's our English language arts supervisor for the elementary levels. Um, I don't think Mrs. O'Neal couldn't make it here tonight, right? I didn't
see her out there. Um, and we have, um, uh, I guess I've got everybody there. Um, but behind the scenes, I just have to give a quick shout out to a couple folks, particularly uh, Honor Fryberg, who is our grants writer and testing coordinator, does a tremendous amount, uh, behind the scenes to help us put
together these analyses. We have a new member of the uh, technology team, Mr. Tyrone Oggera who is uh very well-versed in statistical analysis and so he has uh helped us kind of make some analyses uh that I had kind of wanted to see for
some time a reality. So we're very excited about those. But also um we also went with a little bit of a different structure. We had gotten feedback that these presentations were getting quite long and we were only adding more analyses not less. So uh I charged Mr.
Ross with reorganizing the presentation. So that way we had like a more concise version up front but then still had an appendix with all the all the analyses. So for those of us who like to geek out and read all that stuff there it's still there and you can feel free to scroll around but for the sake of the
presentation we're going to focus on the first what is it 12 or how many up to now? >> About 350 the first 350 >> the first under 350 slides. That sounds good. >> No it's about 25. So these >> so uh so so that said without further ado Mr. Ross I turn it over to you.
Thank you, Dr. Schwarz. U make sure that we are there. We are okay have this up on the board. Well, good evening everybody and thank you so much for this opportunity to present this information. Dr. Schwarz already mentioned some of the people, but I just want to underscore the work that Honor Fryberg and Tyrone Ogaro did for this
presentation. It was really meaningful. Um you're going to see in the appendix the full presentation some really deep analysis that we've never had the opportunity to present before. So for those of you who are at home, this will be posted on our website. you will, as Dr. Shore said, have the chance to kind of nerd out on this stuff and really dig
into it. It's it's it's very cool. I also want to thank a few other people. I want to thank Amanda Zenudis, Janelle Ni, Alicia Pavone, and Dr. Michelle Fenwick for all of their contributions to this analysis as well. Okay, so we have our our typical
presentation objectives here. Number one is just to provide analysis of the results. We're going to use some data visualizations to help you make a little bit of sense of this. Try to identify some trends and then some corresponding action plans. Um, but again, as Dr. Schwarz said, our initial draft of this
had almost 90 slides. That's a lot of information. And so what we what we did was whittle this down to about 25. And you'll see that each segment has a visualization, sort of a key visualization, then some key takeaways, and then some some some action plans.
And so we do that for math, for ELA, for science, for multi- uh uh multil- language learners, and special education. So those are sort of our five areas. Then we have some overarching takeaways as well, some some sort of trends that we'll we'll take a look at.
So we're going to dive in with math first. We often start with ELA. I figured tonight we would just start with math. So this is a comparison of the last three years. You can see grades three and all the way up. And it's a little bit difficult to sometimes make out the color coding, but our latest
results are that very dark red RPS 25. And you can compare the reds with the blues. So this is levels four and five. This is those students who are meeting and exceeding expectations. So you can see that this is a consistently good
performance. But what I wanted to draw everybody's attention to is if you look all the way over to algebra, you'll see that that red is about 26% higher than it had been.
I'm sorry, we're talking geometry. I'm apologize. I'm getting ahead of myself. Geometry. Geometry is about 26% higher. Sorry, there's just so much here. This this is just the gift that keeps on giving. Uh so our geometry is about 26% higher. And you can see that you know we
believe it's again too early to tell but we believe that this is a validation of the decision to move back to the traditional sequencing algebra geometry algebra 2. Also we had an uptick of about 8% in
grade four. grade four, we did a lot of work with the teachers to take a look at their data, send them to professional targeted professional development sessions, and that work was led by Jeannie O'Neal, who couldn't be here tonight. She's a bit under the weather. Uh, in concert with the principles
through team meetings, they've really targeted the data and they're doing a great job. And I want to give a shout out to those teachers and I should say all of our teachers because, you know, they're they're making the great work happen and we're going to try to recognize them as we go through here tonight. And please stop me at any point if you have any questions. We also have
talked a great deal about transitions over the class over the last year and a half or two even and so we know that the 89 transition in math is is going to be an area of focus. We did pretty well in the 56 transition and that's a result of a concerted effort to bring those
teachers together which we are continuing to do and our next session is in November. So those teachers have really taken to it. They're enjoying it. They're thriving. So we're going to continue this focus on these allimportant transition years. of course.
Oh, yes. You're welcome. So, here are just a couple points, things that we're doing in our we're planning to do in our action plan. So, as I said, we targeted grade four for support. We have now moved on to grades three, seven, and eight to try to make
some inroads there in these conquer math PD series. and teachers have responded very well. We're really focusing on teaching conceptual understanding. So digging deeper so that students really understand, you know, what's underneath and behind the numbers and they're not just memorizing facts. We will continue
our grade five six articulation meetings. And then we're going to continue our deep dive into our various sources of data. And our supervisors here tonight have done great work in taking the linkit data and actually seeing how it corresponds with the NJsala data and they're drilling down
into items and uh they're working with their teachers in these areas. So I want to just again give some kudos to our supervisors as well for their great work. As I said, this is gonna be a lightning round. So if you're ready, we're gonna move on to ELA. Okay, so here is the same analysis that
you just saw in math. Now we're taking a look at the ELA numbers. And so this is levels four and five. The red is RPS. The blue is the state. Now, one of the things I want to call to your attention, if you take a look at ELA in 2024
in grade nine, excuse me, in grade eight, and then take a look at it in grade nine, you're going to see a decline. So, one of the things that we saw was that our numbers went down about 18%. While the state average went down, we went
down 18%. And we believe the reason for that were some distractions that took place on the testing day. We had some conflicts, some events running that really should not have been scheduled. And we believe that they may have interfered with our testing. Uh that they you know there there was a celebration of the arts.
There was also a barbecue. So there's a lot going on and we did not have the optimal testing environment. So one of the things that we're going to be doing or we've already done this year actually let me go back. Uh one of the things that we are uh we have done in our action plan is ensure that we are
planning around testing accordingly and ensuring that everyone is on the same page all throughout the district that we do not have anything conflicting with the testing environment. Some good news we have RPS performance again four and five levels four and five higher than the state average and that's
been consistent. >> Mr. Dunn, >> can I comment on that that part >> please? When we moved from Sikakas to Rididgewood um in Sikakus they used to give a one week two week heads up above NJSLA in elementary school and students used to
prepare in the classrooms also and when we were in Rididgewood our first year um they were working on immigration simulation um instead of during the week of NJSLA. So yeah that that aligns that the school
was there was no focus at that time that NJSLA was just a side thing >> right >> and the main main focus was immigration simulation and drama and >> you you won't see anything like that going forward you're going to see just you know just the test just the test
just the test >> teaching for testing but >> correct >> they should be focused that day and a day before that there is a test coming in >> I think that's an important distinction to draw we're not talking about changing anything in the way we teach our kids. What we're talking about is just limiting distractions and making sure
that everyone has a quiet testing environment and you know nobody is smelling hamburgers, you know. So, so that's I mean that's pretty simple and we're we're committed to doing that and I'm not making light of it. I mean it's just that's that's very serious and it's an easy fix. Okay. I wanted to point out we've been
talking about transitions over the last couple of years and one of the things we noticed was that our in our ELA we are noticing that the grade five to grade six transition has not really gone the way that we had hoped. And it's important to just call attention to this. So, first I'm going to just open
up this u this doc here. And I don't know if we're really going to be able to see this too well. Um I apologize. We'll we'll we'll let you nerd out on that later. Uh but the bottom line is that if you take a look, this is a stable cohort analysis.
So if you take a look at 23 24, those students were in grade five, 399 students took the test in grade five. The same 399 students took that same test or excuse me, took the sixth grade test. In 2324, when they were in grade
5, 182 of those students scored at the highest level, exceeding expectations. But the following year only 122 of those students scored at that highest level. So we lost about 60 students. Now before
we delve too deeply into this I want to just throw out a few caveats. When you're thinking about levels exceeding expectation is the highest level. You cannot go any higher. So that is always going to be a negative number unless it's zero. So you're what we're really striving for there is zero. You'd like
to retain everybody at that level. And then we're thinking about moving everyone else up. But what you see here is that we lost a third of them from 2324 to 2425. And if you go back a couple of years, you see a similar trend with almost exactly the same cohort
sizes. They're all in the 390s. So this does appear to be a trend. Now, there's a couple of other things we should think about, too. Uh in fifth grade, they're getting two 50-minute ELA periods. They're getting a writing period and a reading period and they're also getting
some word study mixed in. And then they're coming to the middle school and they're getting a radically different schedule. They're getting, you know, an ELA an ELA period that's about 50 minutes and they're getting a rotating schedule. So, they're not getting that instruction every day. So, that's just something to think about as you think
about this. However, that doesn't change the trend. And I will show you this one area. I know it's not really going to be ideal for our purposes here tonight, but I want to show you that we are >> Mr. Guys, can you just make that full
screen just to make it a little bit bigger for us? Just maximize your window at least >> and then and then where possible if you can. >> I don't know if I can make it. >> Ah, control plus. Thank you. >> Okay, perfect. All right, that's about
as large as I can make it. I apologize. So this is current grade seven, current grade eight and current grade nine. So this is these are just the numbers behind that. And while we were looking at levels before, now you can actually see the scaled scores. So the students
who were in fifth grade in 2324, again it's that same 182 students, they had an they had a scaled score average at that exceeding level of 819. The following year, that same group of students had an average of 800. So they
lost 19 points. You take a look at the bottom of that top chart. Our students at the bottom are actually moving up. Now again, remember if you had an 850, you have nowhere to go except 850. So it's important to note that again that number is is always going to be a
negative, but we want it closer to zero is what we're saying here. >> Wanted to ask you a question that would help me understand. So, I understand that um because you're talking about looking at the middle school schedule, right? >> Yes.
>> That um years ago uh there was a change to the schedule and in order to um accommodate that accommodate electives that they were using electives that were supposed to be um
also a big part of the ELA curriculum. So that um you know so you had your basic English and then maybe you had journalism or Shakespeare or whatever it was and um I guess my so ideally the
kids have the same number of minutes one way or another. Having said that I guess maybe there needs to be some looking into the subject matter and how those more electives are taught. Is that kind of where you're going? uh we're taking a look at you know at the at the u the middle school schedule and I think we're
looking at what is being taught how it's being taught and I think the key is that if you again looking at this this t or these three tables >> we're getting our most successful students coming out of fifth grade and they're the ones declining the most. So
I think there's like a concentration and then the lack of concentration for lack of a better word is is not really uh serving them. >> Yeah. potentially and and you know >> Yeah. I'm just trying to understand what you're talking about. >> Yes. And I think I think the key here is that we we we know that we can do a
better job of serving these students and that's you've been hearing us talk for for a while now about MTSS and we also hired three G&T teachers. So, you know, these are specifically the things that we would use to target this. But now we have some numbers showing us exactly
where and how we need to to make inroads with these students. So, this is exactly where our MTSS should be going. It's going everywhere, right? It's all kids. It's everywhere. But we see that we have an acute need at at this highest level that we want to challenge. We want to differentiate. We want to get those G&T
teachers in there working with kids, get them thinking critically and differently and trying new things. >> So So two questions for you. We compare against the state is the state see similar decline or no? >> I I don't know. I don't have as the the same uh degree of access because this is pulled from Lincoln. We could do
something along those lines of that analysis. It would just take a little bit of time. So it would be interesting to see >> what this is telling everyone's level from the bottom up kids that are advanced are so >> and and I do want to say you know our teachers are doing a great job however
you know we haven't really trained them in MTSS before and that's why this is such a key part of our our district goal this year. And we're and we also hired interventionists this year at the at the middle school in uh uh both middle schools. And so those interventionists are not just working with our struggling students, they're working with everyone.
And so it's it's key for everyone to understand too that interventions are for everyone. >> And are these students who are declining, are they just declining in ELA or both ELA and math? >> So this the decline is steeper in ELA. uh there is a little bit of a decline
but math is different in that you know when you start to look at middle school math as you know we have advanced math and they start to kind of branch off we actually see something similar to this in in ELA in grades six seven and eight you actually see even a little bit of it in grade four and five to to some degree because again I think it's it's these
kids reach kind of a quote unquote ceiling and we just have to start pushing and doing things differently so we start to lose them we're just losing them in in bigger numbers here >> right but if in ELA everybody is doing per their grade right there's no
advanced ELA so they are doing they are doing as per their grade >> right >> in math every the lowest student is doing as per their grade there's nobody below the grade >> the advanced students are above that grade so if there's no decline in math
and there's a decline in ELA then it's not the students it's our there's something wrong in our ELA a foundation probably in elementary school where if that foundation was not correct that may be impacting middle school. So it may
not be a middle school problem. It may be a foundational problem in elementary. >> It very well could be and it's really hard to parse that out from the data now but to your point one of our action steps is our ELA program. We're going to come to that in a minute. Yeah. So >> but before we say that these students need intervention, it may not be
students. It may be >> right. Exactly. I mean I think a big a big part of this is intervention. I think I think you know when we have a a system in which students in grade five are getting small groupoup instruction essentially on a daily basis or you know a couple of times a week and then
they're moving to this different model of instruction they're not necessarily getting that same kind of teaching. So I would agree with you. I mean I I think that this >> all I'm saying is that for their grade level they are doing good enough in math. >> I don't I don't think Mr. Ross is saying individuals I think he is saying issue.
>> Yes. >> And also I just want to say one other thing. Uh when we look at those scores too and we start to think about, you know, levels, you know, you could you could have an 801, right? And then you lose just two points and you've suddenly dropped a level. So
it's important to recognize that you need to both look at the scores and the levels and not overcorrect and not jump to any conclusions. We need to look at both at the same time. >> Interesting exercise, Mr. Ross, for an AI assistant or
I'd be curious to there districts that are increasing like in these same levels in the LA and then look at their curriculum and their course their course uh schedule course offerings exactly and
see see like what those districts are. I think it would be an interesting exercise. >> Right. Right. It would just be interesting to see and it's hard to to know for sure if if that's causal and it's you probably wouldn't be able to determine that but it's certainly an
interesting exercise. Yes. >> All right. I'm going to go back to this here. Um so part of our action plan as I mentioned when we're thinking about testing situations just having clear expectations about what a testing environment should be. We've already had that conversation numerous time and
numerous times and everyone is on board. The next bullet is something that our ELA supervisors have been doing and doing a great job. Uh they are meeting with teachers. They are analyzing data. They're drilling down on linkit items, you know, down to the question. Then they're saying, you know, 45% of
students struggle with question X. So how do we, you know, delve into that in a classroom setting? Um we've also, as you know, through our district goals been um really digging into the multi-tered system of supports. We've hired those interventionists as I as I mentioned and our G&T staff and the the
part of the role of the G&T staff is to lift the level of instruction throughout the district. So this is something that we hope to to to see come to fruition over the next year couple of years. And then finally to Mr. Donnie to your point here um we as as you know we've been talking about ELA especially at the K5
level for a long time and I think it was just maybe two meetings ago you said hey when are you going to tell me about this? Uh so Dr. Galante has been leading our ELA curriculum committee. She's been doing a great job of vetting several programs through the committee. Um, so we looked at two last year, which you may remember, and we looked at two more
this year. Um, and we're getting pretty confident that we have one that we like and we're getting closer. So, you're going to be hearing much more about that and we may be bringing that one forward through the budget process this year. So the only um request I would have is if
we determine that there if we are impro implementing a new program and if you're recognizing there were needs for improvement in the elementary program right so that's why we are implementing >> 100%. >> So yes
>> so if that is a scenario then we do have students who are currently in middle school that g that have gone through our prior curriculum. So just like what math supervisor did for math they added a one quarter course in 8th grade to catch up
right for for the missing math for geometry students for that. So maybe if we if we identify through link it or through different programs if there are because we were not teaching grammar or if there are specifically grammar issues or whatever questions students are not able to do if we can add a quarter
course in middle school to just catch up with those skills whichever skills these students are failing so that way we don't have three or four years worth of students who are just going through our system with uh some deficiency. >> Right. No, I know exactly what you're saying and and I I want to also just say
I think again our teachers are doing a good job but we're learning much more about how we were teaching at the elementary level just getting more data to give us a better sense of the best the best evidence supported methodologies and so but to your point we'll continue to look at the data and see how we can best support our students
>> yes in the middle school so >> correct forward those who are not getting benefit of this new program right who did not get that >> and that's precisely where again the MTSS process comes in and the data analysis of linkit comes And to your point, you know, we can we can really drill down and see what this, you know, particular standards are where those
those kids need help and we'll continue to do so. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we're going to go on to science now. Um, a key distinction with science is that there are only four levels of performance. So, it's one through four. Um, you can see here that our, you know, again, the red versus the blue,
Rididgewood's doing above the the state level. This one is interesting. Um, so if you take a look at our grade 11 science, there was a bit of an anomaly this year. So you see we're trending up which is great news. What's interesting is that we had a
significant decrease in the number of students who took the test in grade 11. So it went down approximately 46%. Essentially they refused the testing, right? You can't opt out, right? But you can refuse. And those who did take the
test took it very seriously. So they went up 8%. And what's interesting is that we believe that many of those who did not take the test did not take it because they were focusing more on their APs. So many of our top performing students didn't take it and then those
who did sat down and they did really well. Now again, that's an anomaly and we still think it's very important for all of our kids to take the test and we'll continue to hammer home that message and that's part of our action plan here. So, our supervisor, Miss Taylor, and our teachers will continue
to remind students that we want them to sit for the test that these tests do matter. They inform, you know, how we learn more about our students in our program. Uh, it is a little bit different from the other disciplines and that we don't get evidence statements. So, we can't necessarily pinpoint things in the same way that we can in in math
and ELA. Uh, but again, we still want to see how they're doing. Um, and then our supervisors, uh, I should say our K5 supervisor, Miss O'Neal, will continue to find ways to maximize the value of that science period at the elementary level because our elementary schedule's
a bit tight, but >> there shouldn't have been a conflict. Uh, but I can't speak to that. We do schedule them separately. So I think they they they Rididgewood used to you know Rididgewood used to have the opt out. You know it was kind of when I moved here about 10 years ago people were ready to opt out left and right and
then you know the state saw this and then turned it into a test refusal. And so we've moved away from that. We want people to understand that these tests matter. We want them to sit for these tests. But I I remember from my child um even
from the ex time of the exam when she was sitting in the exam room or going in there she was texting me it's optional. I don't need to do it. I know are you sure I have to take this test and I was texting back that yes you're I'm sure you have to study. Well, the science test isn't isn't a
graduation requirement, correct? Right. So, it becomes less valuable if it's not, right? >> And that may be the issue that that that may be part of the issue at least. Yes. >> Okay. So, we're going to look at our multilingual learners. U again, same
kind of setup here. This is the math mean score. And again, our uh we some different colors here, red and a couple hues of purple versus the blue. Um you can see that um we're holding you know pretty well in the meeting expectations
range which is which is pretty good in these in these u 3 to 5 six to seven 8 to nine bands or this is math I'm sorry I didn't specify that. Uh and then our ELA cohort this is a different analysis but I thought you might want to see
this. our ELA cohort uh for the last couple of years had remained static, but this year while below passing uh they actually went up 10 points in their mean score. So I think that speaks to the effort put forward by our supervisor, Miss Cenudas, and our teachers to really serve the needs of of
our students. So while the ELA scores are below, we're trending in the right direction, we hope, and we want to kind of double down on that. Um math scores in six and seven were nice. They they they increased. um science scores remain below meeting.
So our action plan is pretty detailed in this in this area. Um our supervisor is going to expand our professional development offering on these strategies and uh has also put forth some supplemental programs to reinforce both
at home and at school. And then finally just bringing together teachers from all content areas because these students are going to be working in or are working in all of our classes. We want to make sure they have the, you know, the academic language, the vocabulary to to define success success there.
Okay. And our last uh of our five main entries is um special education. So you can see here, and again, we're looking at our IEP students, Ridgwood IEP students versus state students. So our our all of our students are in
the red in the the red bar and then we are looking at the green versus the blue. So that you can see that our our NJSLA ELA scores are above the state average grades three through nine. And we know this test is challenging for our
students. So again, we're very proud of their efforts. Here is the map. You can see um up through 2025 that dark green where we are and again above the state there.
So while the math scores declined a little bit, that was a state trend. The ELA was more consistent. It's difficult many times to to drill down to a particular trend because there is so much variation variability within the different cohorts and subgroups. And so
we really believe that a deeper analysis is needed. And this corresponds with a board goal to to really dig into special education. And we plan on doing that. So what we're going to do is conduct a detailed data analysis of student performance in our various models. We
have co-eing, we have the consultative mo model at the secondary level. Um and we want to just determine, you know, how's it going? You know, we really want to drill down and we want to see, you know, uh you know, we we we believe we are firmly in the in the uh the land of inclusion. We're very much, you know,
ardent supporters of that, but we want to know what we can be doing better in these settings. uh because there's always something to to you know drive incremental improvements. Um the next bullet is all about identifying subjectspecific interventions so that
our special education teachers and our general education teachers are working together to find things that are going to work for all of our students. So we're going to be taking some time to delve into this. Um, it's quite possible that we would bring this forward at the state of u special education
presentation, but my recommendation would be to put that presentation off for a while because I'd really like to to to to have some time to dig into the data. So, we we'll talk about that at a later date, but if we can push that off and really give you more to digest, I think that would be more beneficial for
for the board and for our our community. All right. Now, we mentioned uh Mr. Tyrone Ogaro. He did uh some really cool analyses and and I just put a couple of them in here. Um this actually I think I think have a principal
who uh who who is a steadfast believer in time on test a couple of them. And um so Oh no, I touched the computer. I apologize. That was it. That was the hook. It's been nice working with all of you. Uh
there it is. Okay. Okay. So, you know, it might seem like common sense that more time on test yields better results, but it's nice to have some evidence that actually supports that. And so, Tyrone Ogarero took a look at this for ELA and math and did find
this linear relationship. So, this is ELA. This next scattergram is math and you see a slightly stronger correlation in uh in ELA than math but it's 0.54 and point4. So what does that mean?
Couple of takeaways. Time on test matters. So when you take a look at additional time that students spent on testing scale scores averaged approximately an additional 0.5 for every additional minute. And just to kind of break this down that it's the
difference between just kind of clicking through rapidly and then kind of slowing down, taking a breath, rereading the question, double-checking your work, all the things that we always remind our students of, the same thing I say to my second grader every night when he's on his math homework, but just take a
little bit more time. And then the second thing, uh, and I didn't show the graphics here because there's just too many of them, but when we look at the amount of time that our students spent on the test, when we have kids in all the groups spending around the same
time, you see that our IEP students and our economically disadvantaged students are scoring much lower. Now, again, I want to I want to go back to that to that IEP caveat. We know that uh there our students struggle on these tests. So
we're, you know, this is sort of again something to to expect. But the the minus 26 and minus 19 in economically disadvantaged again, we kind of knew that, but it's nice to have um something specific now to say, you know, here is the actual
effect of that. So what we're taking a look at is number one, reinforcing the importance of time on tests. So saying this to kids in advance of the test, give it your all. Eat a breakfast, right? And don't just zoom through this test. You know, we're going to give you
that 120 minutes say we want you to use what you need to use. And then the second one is to have all of our supervisors, general ed, special ed, everybody coming together to take a look at what might be appropriate
interventions for IEP students and and economically disadvantaged students to see can again we make some incremental progress in these areas. What can we do to help these students? >> I just want to make sure I understood what you said.
So the prior slide said that when When our economically disadvantaged students spend the same amount of time on a test as a non-economically disadvantaged student, >> correct? >> They still score x%
>> about 20 to 25% depending on. >> So, so we know that there's something more there, >> something more than just the time on test there. That's what So, yeah. >> Yeah, that's a very big question and I applaud that we've identified it and that we want to address it as much as we can. I think that's fantastic. Um that
we know to do that. That's a big question. Okay. Thank you. >> Correct. Yes, we have a time on test for every student who takes it. We have that also for link it, you know, so we can see if a kid took, you know, uh 33 questions in nine minutes or, you know, actually took the allotted time.
Correct. And you know there are some variables here right and we have to take out some outliers right there are there are students who get extra time you know and so we have to take a look at that and so when you control for those outliers this this is what you this is what you see
>> we we've remove we we've removed some of those outliers. Yeah. you know, that the student who just clicks through and does everything in four minutes or the student who's taking uh you know, a couple hundred minutes. It it would depend. I wouldn't be able to speak because they're all individualized. Um and also too, you can
have the extra time and not necessarily use the extra time. So that's that's I think an important thing to stress too. No matter how much time you have allotted, we want you to take advantage of it. And that's that's really the key. >> So, sorry. >> I just had one more question and I might
be getting too much in the weeds. So, I I'm gonna apologize, but >> in terms of because I'm fascinated by identifying what it is that drives I I think IEEPs and economically disadvantaged are different. >> Yes. Very much. Uh, and I I guess my
question is is it possible to compare the test scores of who we've identified as economically disadvantaged as we define it, right, to their grades to to get some insight there. I mean, I I guess my mind is just going um but that
might be one way to to see to start >> exactly >> where to go, right? >> Yeah. >> So, um and I'm I'm definitely getting too much in the weeds. >> No, no, not at all. put me on your committee and you know that'll be hours and hours. >> Thank you. >> Thank Thank you so much for that. I appreciate your patience.
>> Um Mr. Ross uh the the link a test are they simulation of NJSLA in terms of complete test or are they partial? So some question >> they are uh they are predictive and what
we've seen is that the math test is more predictive than the ELA test. Um in terms of the numbers of questions um I you know they're shorter you know we've got 60 minutes and 45 minutes so they're not as long as the u but they're also making me remember they're they're taking them three times over the course of the year. a fall, a winter and a
spring, >> right? So, but with the with the technology that we have now link it, um is there an opportunity here to provide our students fulllength tests simulating N? So if NJSLA I don't know how long it
is. If it's 60-minute NJSLA can we do two or three tests in a year that are 60 minutes and if some students are otherwise getting good grades in in class but on those tests not performing
and if we know that given more time they can perform better. Can we repeat that a different set of questions for those students with a longer duration time and help identifying IEP
because not every parent may even know and I'm telling from a lot of immigrant parents experience that uh the time and half is an option because a lot of us grew up assuming that if you're not able to do
the test in the time then you need to practice more. So practice makes you perfect. So if you practice, practice, practice, then if you have see like the mindset that I have, if my kids come and tell me that I was not able to complete the test in time, I would say you needed
to practice 100 more questions. So that way in the exam if you have seen 60 already then you are only working on 40 questions. So I don't even think and I've I was on board for four years or five years when I knew that time and a half is even an option for some
students. So both of my kids graduated completed Ridgewood before even knowing that option right. So if we are identifying some students in 8th grade nth grade when they actually go to high school then we identify when it becomes more difficult that they may need time
and a half as an option an IEP. So we may be able to identify that much earlier if we have this technology now and if we know that this problem exists. >> Well, I think you know it's it's we don't use the technology to determine whether or not a student needs that extra time and we are we have a you know
child study teams we have a we have a you know an immersive process to to learn about our learners before they are classified. >> But that only happens if the parents come to us. >> No, no, we have we have a legal obligation in child find. We no I have I know a lot of u examples multiple examples in Ridgewood where the students
were identified in 10th grade or 11th grade or going after Rididgewood that they were not identified in Ridgewood proactively by Ridgewood. So I don't think we do we have a process where we can identify >> absolutely >> that this student may need time and half identify that
>> what we we don't we don't identify students through the lens of whether or not they need extra time. What we do look at is how our students are performing in school and try to determine you know if there is um you know less than um >> but that time portion is not unless
there's a simulation test >> that's I think I think that's a different issue I think yeah I I think that's a different issue I mean if you're talking about u the repetition that builds stamina >> no I'm talking about students who may need more time to complete these long
tests right >> who who have attention attention deficit issue, attention issues who may not be able to complete a test in 60 minutes and who may need 80 minutes because in our regular day-to-day education probably we don't have that scenario. We
are not simulating that. We don't identify that unless these students have to take longer tests in high school. >> Well, they are taking, you know, they are taking full period tests at times where where they might need extra time and that would be guaranteed by an IEP or a 504 depending on the student. But it's it's something. >> When are they when are they taking that?
Before reaching to high school. And how are we identified that? >> Oh, I mean all the way through. >> When we classify for a child for an IEP, we look at their processing speed. We look at their understanding of language and we look at other cognitive areas as
well as academic areas to determine is that profile a profile that might >> right. So that by that time somebody has pointed out that this child needs to be evaluated for IEP. >> Sure. I'm talking about proactively that without somebody raising that as a
as a question if giving them more time if they are able to do it better is there an inherent need there for that job. >> I I think we are I think you're coming at this if I'm understanding correctly you're talking about just generally supporting students and identifying the students who have needs. We do have a
childfind obligation to identify. >> So how do we do that for for this specific scenario? Well, we do it we don't do it and quite frankly we don't do it for time on tests. What we do do it for as Dr. uh Fenwick was saying is to find students who have a learning profile who need assistance who are not performing at grade level whatever the
standard may be. Right? We have a legal obligation to offer supportive interventions. We might have to refer to child study team you know. So I mean we we do this the moment they walk in the door and even before we have an obligation when they're three years old. But if it's an attention deficit, if it's an attention issue where they
cannot focus for a longer duration of time and if our tests are not simulating that scenario, we have no way to identify that. >> I I think also too there's a distinction between a student who hasn't had exposure to a two-hour test on a
computer versus someone who might have a specific learning disability or ADHD. Those are those are completely different, you know, scenarios. So, I think to your point, if we're talking about exposing kids to um to more online testing, you know, there are vehicles out there for doing that, but the only
thing that I would caution is, you know, you take our current sixth grade as an example. Uh we've got a lot of testing going on. >> I'm not talking about long online testing. I'm talking about longer testing. >> Okay. >> Yeah. I think just to just to help bridge the gap here in conversation, I I think the question, if I'm hearing you correctly, has more to do with, you
know, how do we figure out if a kid would benefit from more time? meaning like like they're they're not demonstrating their full capacity because they're running out of time. So I just >> they may have an inheritance ADHD which we are not. >> So so so what what I would say is that um in all my experience working working
in the classroom you know if we see that's one of the criteria by which we would refer a student to the INRS process which is something that already exists. So we're looking to build on top of that with the MTSS program. But if we if any teacher observes that a student is struggling to like actually perform
within that test time and that their grade is suffering as a result of that that would be one of the criteria by which we would refer for an INRS referral. >> My last because your question is about ADHD right? >> No my question is whether there's no opportunity for that
teacher to observe that if we don't have that full length or longer duration simulation tests. If you only have quizzes and smaller tests, we >> right we have shorter amount of time. So there's no opportunity for this teacher
to observe. >> Okay, I understand. >> Student has an attention issue for a longer test and they need to be referred. >> I I understand. Um I I think that we'd have to be careful because again, we're starting these tests in third grade and we actually start Lincoln at second grade. So I don't know that it would be
developmentally appropriate to sit the youngest students down for those very long tests. I think so >> the same length as NJSLA whatever is the length for NJSLA for second grade we can do simulation tests for second grade students before NJSLA. that is several
hours of testing. But I I think in Eerie, you know, I I don't disagree. But I think, you know, just in terms of the logistics involved and and exposing the kids to more time on test, I would I would be concerned that we would be doing something that's more about prepping for the test than the teaching
to the standards that they will need to succeed on the test. >> But also helping identifying if a student needs help, >> right? >> Otherwise, we may have a student that will just slip through, right? Well, >> or at least the at at the minimum we can
do that for the students who are not performing at the state level or or above the state level. So if you identify at an NJSLA test that some students have not performed, can we give those students a fulllength test and see if they would perform better if we are
giving them more time? >> And just I think I think we are actually in agreement in the sense that we want to better prepare our students always. Um I would just say that we are um when we are thinking about these tests and we're looking at these this data what we
we see the kids every day. So very rarely are we surprised with a student who struggles on the test. What we're doing here is taking a look a zoom out at the larger picture and saying how are we serving you know the subgroups? How are we serving grade levels? How are we serving schools? So so I don't think
again you know that we're surprised by student X or student Y. But when we see numbers like this, we say, what could we be doing differently for the totality of these groups? >> Say as a classroom teacher, it isn't just testing that sometimes
needs a lot of focus. We could see when students are just taking a test and they're struggling or that you see them, you know, give up. It's a small group in a classroom and you can see that when you know those students day in and day out. It also
is apparent sometimes when they're working on a project together that some students even though they may be moving around and they lose focus some students do lose focus even in a project a cooperative project so it isn't just the
testing that I think where students lo focus lose focus so I think a teacher can see it in other ways not just in that testing and my other question is I know that in middle school students
who need extra time are in a different classroom setting. >> Is that also in elementary do they have different are they pulled out of their classroom? >> Are you talking about the actual testing itself? >> Yes. Yes. Jumping to testing.
>> So students that need extra time or and less distraction because they're in a separate s and I've seen people get up earlier before they do. Correct. So they're there. They might still do that with the extra time of course students is the high school do that as well. So
students are sometimes I think that I think that is the best way to go. But I also know as a middle school teacher when the kids are moving around and the other kids are in the other room and they know that they
it it's it's not ideal. You can't say you're in another wing and you have no idea what's going on, but the other kids are already dismissed. So, it's not a perfect system because students in special ed know they're getting extra often know
that they're getting extra time. If I can just add to that, to have an experience of testing that isn't the same as your daily experience in education can also change the test outcome. So
when we offer extended time, exactly what Mandy saying, then we offer a small group setting. But if that wasn't where they were learning all of the time, there could be a difference in the testing plus or minus. And we really don't get to understand that. And truly
the IEP should be matching whatever those test accommodations are. That should be the daily practice. >> Okay. So one, it's my last question on that. Do we have students in high school that we are identifying as ADHD and needing extra time that they
are being identified for the first time in high school once they reach 10th grade? It's >> it's but yes >> we have students >> and those students have gone through graduate schools throughout without being identified four right so so they may have place
>> no but before before getting to get into high school right there may be a a point in time where they get to high school where it's first being observed as having an academic impact and I think that's the difference of what we're talking about here
>> because it's not that we do not know that the students may have ADHD as a diagnosis. They may have had accommodations or modifications earlier on in their educational career. >> No, without accommodation. Without diagnosis, I'm talking about the first >> may not have been a need until they get to high school. As far as 504 is
concerned, >> not 504. My question is first time these students are being identified at high school level and they were missed at middle school level. Not identified. >> I wouldn't call it missed. I would I would say there are occasions when we
when we identify a child later, but exactly what we're saying, >> if it's not having an educational impact, if we're not seeing that impact, then they would continue to get support in the general ed setting, which they're afforded.
>> So we they're not seeing that impact. >> The nth grade teacher giving additional time if they >> they're not seeing that impact because they are not being challenged. they they are only getting seeing that impact at high school level when they do get to that challenging environment or a
longer test duration. >> I don't know that we can say that they're not being challenged. I I think there are some kids who are being challenged and then they will reach a threshold at which that ADHD or you know anything else could suddenly start to interfere a bit with with I'm sorry.
>> Correct. Correct. able to compensate and to do other things. But that's sort of what all adults go through. You compensate if for different issues, whatever it may be, problems at home or not getting enough
sleep or doing too many sports and they're exhaust, they compensate. And I do think that a little bit of this plays into that. And I've had students with a lot of ADHD who have done wonderfully academically. They're very It doesn't
mean that because you have ADHD, you're not smart. You can't do a work. But I know what you're saying. >> I'm not saying that. Yeah, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying they >> not a test and they can't sit there for that. Maybe >> I'm not saying they are not smart. I'm saying all my whole argument during this
last 15 minutes was if we can identify that need earlier and help them, we should be able to. >> Yes. Well, we always strive for for early intervention and identification. >> I'm sorry. We have AR wanted to share something. >> Oh, you know, can we just give AR a
microphone, please? >> So, I just wanted to add something in my own experience. Um, a big point that Mr. Donnie mentioned was being able to proactively identify it. Um, and I personally know two students who have made it to the 10th, the 11th grade
level, struggling kind of throughout middle school. um but it just hadn't been identified. And I I think there are methods of identifying it, right? We've mentioned, you know, testing, we've mentioned the teacher being able to see it. We've we've mentioned the parent, but I think there should be a greater level of investment or looking into the
proactive um proactive methods of identifying when a student does need an IEP before they're actually struggling because we don't want to, you know, wait for the problem to happen and then take action. you want to be proactive with it um and and kind of solve the impact before it's firmly rooted. So that's
that might be uh something I think is personally worth looking into just based on me personally seeing two kind of friends of mine having that issue of late identification. >> Thank you. Any other questions? Um oh um sorry
>> the other question I had was um that's not on that topic on that topic yes on that topic it was the last one >> so this is for the exams and so we know we have to report NJSLAs for our own
um data analysis now because the team that we have now all the supervisors you Dr. for you want to know more proactively right beyond what state wants. >> Absolutely. So on that point, do you think it would add any value if we start
measuring or checking the uh 10th grade PSAT scores? Because most likely those 10th grade PSATs are result of what we have taught them so far and after that most of the students go out and do the
coaching and SAT prep before they take the 11th grade PSAT. So we can't take credit for most of the 11th grade PSAT but 10th grade PSAT should reflect our algebra math uh ELA teaching and what
they are getting at 10th grade by 10 grade for >> it's certainly something we can look at in future >> it we don't need to report it here but it can be in the appendex and just for our calculations our numbers that what are these students getting in template PSATs because that's probably u you have something it's interesting state of the
We'll stop it. >> Sorry again. Uh I just think that one thing to note with the 10th grade PSAT is that it's an optional test. So there's definitely going to be selection bias there and and having it actually represent how our education is impacting
that test. Okay, I'm going to I'm going to wrap it up in the interest of I'll save the next 500 slides for you for later. Um, but no, just, you know, as as you know, we've been talking through our vision 2030 plan that we we need to to grow MTSS throughout our district and our
principles and our supervisors and our teachers have been hard at work. And that's really the spirit of what you're talking about, Mr. Donnie, and what everyone is talking about tonight, just systematizing this progress monitoring and meeting the needs of all learners where they are. And then again, as we always do, ensuring that we have alignment across our curriculum and all
of our different disciplines so that everybody's working together. So like these are just some numbers behind the numbers and we thought this would be you know a better illustration of where we are but you can you can log in and uh or or click on if you're at home and see all of the slides all the participation all of the data more data than I think
than we've ever uh presented. So I just I want to thank you to the team again for all of your great work and um thank you everybody. >> Thank you. Thank you for the presentation and the work behind improving those numbers.
>> Thank you. Um, you know, we'll we'll look to the the state of the schools because the um the test scores are important, but they're not the sole arbiter of how we're doing in in our in our schools. So, you know, it's it's
multiple data points that we want to look at to see if we are meeting the needs of our students. >> All right, >> we're still in presentations if you like. >> We are. >> Thank you again, Mr. Ross. Appreciate
your time. And and students, did you have anything else you want to add? Harp, thank you for jumping in, but I didn't want to I want to make sure that you all felt welcome to contribute. Yeah, the only thing I can think of is just when looking at the link data, a it's a shorter test. It's also a test
that takes place in the classroom, right? I've had teachers actually assign that test as homework. So, I'm a lot less likely to take the full time and to take it as seriously when I'm taking it at home or when I'm taking it in a classroom than if I'm taking it in a
different setting like Dan Jose. So when looking at that data, I think it'd be important to really remember the circumstances that it's being done under. And just another note that you you can't submit the test until the time is up.
You can just kind of sit on that last screen. I I think there was a question of that maybe. Do you have anything? Thank you. And I think one thing that we didn't talk well maybe you did talk about when I stepped out earlier but is that uh the
NJSLA is no more. So so so everything was >> we just we just had this whole conversation. >> Yeah. And uh that's it. We're done. >> Yeah. >> Important data point on slide one. >> And that's the thing. I mean when we we
will revisit this obviously for the next iteration but it's going to be apples and oranges. So so we we just don't know what that's going to look like yet. Yeah, I mean that there's going to be there's going to be some sort of a spread of performance. There's going to be some sort of centralized scaling and norming from the state. Um it is going to be an adaptive assessment which I
think is a more ethical assessment in the way in the world that we live in and adapt the ad adaptive assessments are everywhere and it it it right now to make kids take these standardized assessments for some kids where it's way below their level way above their level and for other kids maybe it's really way below their level too. It's it's far
better for students to be able to have a test that adapts to them. They also don't have to be as long. Not that they're not going to make them long, which they are, but um but uh but no, but thank you for that. And and and there will, you know, there there are ways to kind of crosswalk data in terms of seeing where our cut scores are, seeing what our averages are. So, we
we'll do we'll make a best effort to crosswalk them um so that way we have some level of comparison, especially if we have state averages, then we can do like zcores and things like that. Um, Arf, by the way, that was an excellent use of selection bias. I know you're I know he's taking stats right now, so
nice job. Um, all right. So, next we have a presentation about the SSDS report. This is a report you probably remember. It goes happens twice a year. Um, it is part of the state's NJ DOE's uh uh SA uh school safety report. I'm
sorry, I'm totally butchering this. It is the school safety data system. and we have to report on its outcomes at the middle in the middle of the year and at the end of the year. So, uh so Miss Carr, if you wouldn't mind coming up, Miss Carr has uh has has stepped up to
be our SSDS data reporter. So, she works closely with uh with my assistant Lucy Papa Michael and they comb through our data a couple times a year and keep track of all a variety of uh important safety matters and do some analysis for
us. So last time around was Miss Carr's first time and she did a nice job of putting together some slides and we were able to update those slides to kind of take a look at our trend analysis. So uh without further ado, Miss Carr, we will turn it over to you. So we collected
So here you have 2120. You're going to see 21. I speak so loudly I didn't realize it wasn't working. Sorry. Um so here's our trend analysis. Um you
can see the biggest spike last year was that green one in violence um over and not last year, sorry, the year before. Um and then last year you can see that came down quite a bit. Um just to speak on that a little bit, Dr. Schwarz and I had a lot of conversations about that. Um, we weren't sure if maybe the
reporting the way that it was being reported was was actually being logged as violence when it should have been classified under another category. Um, because that is very rare for us to have that many incidents. Um, and then last year you see it kind of level out and
become a little bit more um, normed. And here are our incidents by school. Um as you see um the elementary schools are significantly lower with eight of the total incidents. Um and the secondary levels had 38 of the total incidents. And so again this includes violence,
vandalism, substances, weapons and all the confirmed HIVs. So here instead of a breakdown by school, this is our breakdown by incident. Um so you can see over 50% were confirmed HIVs. Um the the rest was
a you know about 20% for violence, 10% for vandalism and about 13% for substances. And while we do report the I should mention that while we do report the alleged HIVs, they don't count toward the total for anything. So here's the breakdown for the high
school. So about five violence, five vandalism, six substances, three and three HIV confirmed. And then there were some alleged. Again, those there were those eight alleged don't count towards the total. Here's
the total for BF and the total for GW. And this is the breakdown of all of the instance over the last 5 years. Just the numbers for you. So you can see um in 23 24 that violent spike there and then it came back down last year to back down to
a little bit more of a normal number at nine. And then you can see our our hip our hip numbers have kind of leveled out a little bit too. The HIVs between the last three years at 21 28 and then 26 last year and those are the confirmed
HIPS. Were you able to identify whether the 29 whether the violence the 29 violent incidences in 23 24 were in fact violent because you indicating that you thought perhaps they've been mischaracterized. Were you able to get any answers in
that? It might be hard. Yeah, it's hard to get the information in there because Yeah, because each person when they log it, they log it in and they just click violence and so >> Oh, so there's no So there's nothing else for you to go back and look at to see if that's >> right. To see exactly what the incident was. >> Yeah, that's good to know.
>> Yeah, I just know that the incidents that I logged last year for for violence. >> Understood. >> Yeah. Yeah, sure. >> Are there any other questions? So we don't have audit if they are
correctly tagged or not. S like some sample random checks to make sure that those 29 were correctly marked as violence or not. >> What do you mean? Do you mean like somebody comes in to investigate each of the numbers? >> Not somebody comes in externally but
internally. Do we have a if something is being tagged incorrectly internally? Do we have a process or should we have a process where a second set of I should just randomly check a sample to make sure that like we go and randomly check bills to make sure
that we have POS for those bills we have invoices for those bills. So we don't check every bill but for every meeting one of the board member goes in and checks random bills >> right? >> So if we are saying that these 29 may not have been violence and then somebody just may have checked them internally
should we have a process where randomly somebody's cross-checking that. >> Yeah and actually a lot of our code of conduct revisions have spoken directly. We really know a lot about these incidences and part of the reason why the code of conducts were revised was
because there was an overclassification of of of I observed this my first year here. That's the year that that that this counted for where there was incidents that were being marked as fights when they were really more of like just kind of physically aggressive confrontations. And so we wanted to make
sure that we cleaned up our codes of conduct to share that. Miss Murphy, do you want to talk about your role in overseeing the these pro these these? >> Sure. We we started this work last year. Um I think that it's important to note that there is a definition that the state uses to define violence for these
reports. Um and it wasn't clear how different instances in our code of conduct violations actually align to that definition. And there's two separate places. So like any of you who have had children in the system understand that there's a place where we lack discipline for students. there's a separate component in our student system
where we log the information that goes specifically to this report. It's not as detailed. So that's part of the reason why it's hard to draw a line between where it's logged as discipline with the detail and how it got entered into that reporting section for the purposes of
the state reporting. So I think that to answer your question about the audit, it's just very it would be very time consuming, possible, but timeconuming. Um, but to that point, the work that we did starting last year and then continued over the summer was really aligning the three schools as far as
secondary 612, how we define our actual code of conduct so that when we're speaking this language, we're all identifying the same instances in incidents under the same type of code of conduct violation. And then we want to step further to align it to policy and then also to what it aligns to with the
state definitions for this purpose of reporting. >> Okay. And um do we report how many um incidents risen to a point where they were they became some sort of police report or we had to get authorities external authorities involved?
>> Yes. Yeah. In each of the um reports for some of them depending on what they're logged in we have to log whether the police >> So do we have any data on that that how many of these went to that level >> come up in the final tallies now. The tallies are um incidents and not
necessarily students. So it's it's not 26 students, but it's 26 incident. It could be a student could be one student could be involved in in multiple ones, right? >> Yes. >> Or it could be a group of students and then that becomes an incident, right?
>> Involved in one of them. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much, Miss Tarp. >> Thank you, Dr. Schwarz. Dr. Schwarz, can I just add a little notation here? Um, in addition to there being a resolution on to for the board
to accept the school self- assessments that go along with this reporting, they they're also linked so that the public can view each of the schools self assessments. Um, so they're available uh for anyone to see. And in addition, we encourage anyone that has questions to to to come and ask during public comment
regarding those public documents. >> Okay, we'll move on. Uh, superintendent report. >> Yes. So, I wanted to make sure that it was on everybody's calendar that we have the next superintendent coffee on November 13th. We had our coffee a couple weeks ago. Again, some really nice conversation. Um, uh, that's a
really important place for us to reiterate the things that are going on here, but also to give folks from the community a chance to engage in more open dialogue. Always appreciate when folks are willing to come out and share with us. Um, we have uh, we had some representation at some conferences recently. We had some members of our
team going to the uh, schoolboards conference. I also attended a conference called edtech week. Um, so we've got a lot of good professional development going on. Um, with respect to this agenda, I have a few announcements. There's a couple items that I want to bring up. That's okay. Um, you'll notice that we have on here um a couple of some
resolutions that might peique your interest. One of them is uh as a appointing a real estate uh broker for for us to be able to work with. We're particularly interested in this because we have some programs and we have some need for some space for some of our programs. We've talked a lot about our
steps program and how we love the location of the program. Um but uh but we don't we necessarily love the space as much as we possibly could. So uh so we're open to some opportunities there. We also have um some of our uh some other special programs have opportunities to expand as well. So we want to if opportunities arise, we want
to be able to have uh designate to be able to advise the board on potential um potential rent lease agreements or potential purchase opportunities. Um so uh so and we are we did suffer some uh some damage actually unfortunately in the step space right now. So our students have been displaced and they've
been able to spend time here. It's been great having them here but they don't have access to their facilities right now. So, we're hoping to get them settled very quickly. Um, I also had a couple of other items on the agenda that I wanted to point out. Uh, so first of all, under um, uh, attendance at conferences this time around, I just
mentioned conferences. Um, it was a there was a little oversight with respect to the tracking of the limit of the board approved limit on conference attendance and we actually were over that. So, um, I'm actually looking to confirm what that is. We have to confirm where the resolution is. because I actually was not able to find it uh just
just this just just recently. So, we're going to find out exactly what that cap is, but basically the way it works is the board by policy has to place a maximum for travel or travel uh travel costs and fees. So, that's a different number than what's actually budgeted. Typically, you you you line them right
at the same time. But then within the schools, we people can make transfers if they want to prioritize professional development or if there's an opportunity that comes up and folks have been doing that, but there's an additional control that the board has, which is to set a maximum amount. So if the administration wants to exceed that maximum amount,
then we need to come to you and ask for a resolution. So some of the transfers that were going on, we didn't have any accounts and negative balances, but we were exceeding that amount by like $2,000. So we we so we're checking the accounting. We think we're actually o
over overaccounting for some things in there, but either way, um there are some events that are down the road that we just pushed off for another meeting. And in the meantime, we're going to do a full analysis of that line and we'll come to you. Uh if we need a re a recommendation to increase that travel maximum, we'll do that. But we'll bring
that with data to demonstrate what our projection would be for the rest of the year, what we think that we might need. So, I'll keep you posted on that. But there is but I do have an amended um an amended uh travel form. And just to be clear, um so I have a I have a you all have a copy of it, I think, in front of you. >> Yeah,
>> you all received a copy of it. So there's nothing added to it. We just we just took a few items off that we're going to just move to a different a later agenda. >> Any questions on that topic? >> Board members, >> I have a question on the previous one which I was waiting for you to complete
your report. >> Oh, sure. Sure. Um >> No, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. They were they weren't struck through. They was taken out. >> Yeah. So, So whatever you took off, you have to go out.
>> Comes down. Do if you see the last page, um the total cost for these conferences 9,000. I think it was 11,000 before. >> Yeah. So you see that? >> Well Well, we have we have we have we have $48 within the cap. >> No, understood.
>> We were Yeah. Yeah. We were beyond the cap, the maximum. So that um we'll have further discussion on at the next board meeting. >> Yeah. And I'll bring we'll bring conversation of finance also. >> So we have a resolution on here our participation in the state health
benefits plan. Um we are aware of a very very large increase uh in the state health benefits plan uh projected for us. So we are making a good faith effort to try to transition our employees to a different private health health benefit plan. Um the first step to that is to
indicate we have to give 60 days notice that we would like to leave the state health benefit plan. So we are that is what this resolution is regarding. This doesn't mean that we won't have health insurance for our employees. If for some reason we're not happy with what we have out in market, we can resend this
declaration that we are leaving. But in the meantime, this this would this is indication of our efforts to see if we could get a better rate of lowering by going to a private plan as per the agreement as their with our professional
associations. Um I'm sorry, my my mic's cutting out and I've been told that it's that it's not a battery issue. You think it is a battery issue? All right. Hopefully that's a little better. So, so just to be clear on that, uh, Dr.
Schwarz, for for everybody, I mean, we're providing notice because we have to give the notice. Yes. to obligate us to leave because in finance we still have to definitely dig into those numbers. >> Correct. >> Yeah. We'll be doing that due diligence when the time is right. >> Exactly. And that's and that we and uh
but so until we're sim concurrently with making this notice we are going we are putting ourselves out to market we talked about with finance and we will we will come back with finance for for uh to with some updated information as we learn what happens when we go out. No
interruption in coverage until we visit until we are a broker moves >> into a new program. Right. >> Correct. There's no there there's no interruption in coverage. Okay. Um we will have open enrollment again for so people can have a chance to kind of reassess where they
are even though the current enroll open enrollment is closing. This is if if we transition. And then lastly, per the collective bargaining agreements, uh our the plans that we offer will be equal or better to what is what is offered by the state plan because that's we're required in the collective bargaining agreements.
So if we are we have a resolution on the table that we are voting to discontinue the current state health insurance, how and by that time if we do not have a new one in place, then how will they continue? If you're already voting to
discontin the state one, >> uh we yeah, we we would we would then just vote to resend resend that. >> Is there a need to notify the state that we are uh not going to participate then and then if we resend it then will we be allowed to opt in again?
>> Yeah. They they want people to stay in the system. Yeah. >> So but even if we notify them that we are going to discontinue, we have an option to join back >> to resend. But we just we just wouldn't leave. We're not we're not leaving. We're just giving them the a required
60-day notice. Therefore, we're short on that time period. So, we're now giving them the 60-day notice saying we intend to leave, but if we're not ready, we don't have our ducks in a row or we disagree, we don't have to leave. >> Your question is, is it binding? Right. >> Yeah. Is it is it intent to leave or is
it that we are leaving? intent to leave or just intend to leave. >> As I understand it, the act of leaving is significantly more than just sending a notice. Right. >> No, it says resolve to terminate its
participation. >> Right. But my understanding is that our broker has to take a lot of steps to >> Am I right about that? Right. >> So, so >> yeah, >> this is preemptive to leave the state employee health benefit plan.
Requirement is 60 days notice prior to leaving the state plan. If we find out after say by December 1st new broker doesn't have a better plan for us to go to a better we now resend this resolution to go back into the state plan effective one 2026
>> no service. No, >> right. So, so that's what so >> you're just opening the option for us to be able to move. If we can find a plan that's um
save money, >> we're just covering our bases. >> Yeah. Yeah. Because we if we don't give this notice, then we're we're short. We're >> Yeah. Yeah. We'd have to wait another year. But then the the message for us is let's be conscious of the meeting dates. Right. Is the last meeting we have in
the year December 8th or do we have some >> right? So that mean >> but we could we could have a a we could have a special meeting and and >> we would have to we would have to pass a resolution right to resent that >> notice if we're not moving up. So we
definitely have like we basically have November >> we have November. We have to move. We have to move quickly with this um our new broker if we agree to. >> But I'm I'm I'm still waiting to see numbers. We haven't seen numbers yet. >> So So I I think that I think the concern
is the point the point of this concern is the resolution says to terminate, right? So like so and it has to say that, right? So in a in a in a theoretical perspective, right? There's the concern of well if we say we're going to terminate, like what happens if the state turns around and says no, you
terminated, you're done. we can't get an offer from somebody else. Right. Right. So So I I don't I don't My understanding is they can't do that. So the alternative because I always love to have an alternative. The alternative is that we do not pass this resolution right now. We passed it in November once
we've had some had a chance to to to look at a market, but then we then we miss um >> then then we can't then we have to wait till February. the the cost increase that we're looking at is is is in the ballpark of I think 1.7 million for the remaining time period if that was that
was that the number I heard correctly. It's a significant number. Yeah. So, so it's it's we're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars by waiting. So, that's that's the reason why we're we're feeling like we want to we want to we want to move on it.
>> And to be clear also, I mean, we just changed the broker last meeting, right? So the team is moving as fast as possible but we just have to get very tight on the numbers >> this meeting >> or this meeting. >> Yeah. >> And the other >> so Dr. Schwarz from your report um
another item that you already touched upon is the realtor the way this resolution is worded. Um the numbers to me are confusing. Um for the realtor it says starvin Real Realtors was the sole respondent and
will receive a 2.5% commission rate. Um and then in the next one in the purpose of the contract we talk about both sale and or disposal or lease or purchase. So
for for sale or disposal 2.5 seems too low. Most of them don't work at 2.5% because they may also have to give the buyer agents commission which the selling party pays and for purchase if
you're purchasing then we don't pay that 2.5% the the seller pays right I know there were these litigation for realtors and the new there are new uh commission structures but I think they just came down from five to four not much has
changed still both buyers are getting it, sellers are paying it. So how this 2.5% in what scenario is this 2.5% and then if it is a percent then how do we have a cost not to exceed 7,000? >> Well, Mr. Matthews, do you have any
insights on that? I know your reviewed these bids. >> So 2.5% was based on a lease um lease or lease a lease in a rental. The cost not to exceed $7,000 was a number that we
put out there because we didn't think that the commission rate would go over $7,000. We we went out to bid like three or four times and obviously couldn't get anybody to bid. So the last time came up with this agreement that 2.5% was based on on a lease even though it's not
spelled out here in this rate because we're looking at looking at leases only. >> Okay. So for leases don't the uh seller the the lei or the landlord pays in New Jersey for lease do
we pay if we are going to lease it >> we pay it commission right >> the commission or should the um landlord >> think >> a lot of times it could be it could be the could be yes or or it could be the land
>> okay so it's 2.5% % of the monthly rental or annual rental. >> I need to probably get more clarity on the commission rate. I need to get more clarity on a commission rate. >> So, should we should we reward it to say
as agreed the commission rates as agreed by the business office and not to exceed 7,000 instead of saying 2.5% here? >> I'm not sure how the bid was structured, how the RFP was structured. >> Or should we hold it and and put it on? Let's let's sold off on this inventory.
>> Why don't we table it? Yes. Get more information on >> because my understanding is that 7,000 is the accounting software number that what number should go there. >> Yeah. >> But these 2.5% is it >> for a month rental for six month rental for a year like what is that? So
>> okay. So we will when we go um to finance we'll move that to our November meeting. Okay. Thank you. I had some questions about that too, but um I thought it was just about the leasing of it, the 2.5. So, just about leases.
Yeah. >> Um it's a good idea. I'm not I'm not questioning the actual underlying resolution or the agent or anything. It's a good idea. You you pick local Ridgewood agent, which is all good. >> Yeah. Just just the right numbers in the resolution.
Something else I forgot to add, going back to the state health benefit plan resolution. Um, there was a there was a line in here that was erroneous. I apologize for that. It said, uh, we're cancelling coverage for and it says all active and retired employees. I'm not sure where that and retired came from.
So, that's being struck. >> Did you do you have some insights on that, Miss Murphy? Yeah, I I so in in some parts it's like a standard resolution that could be used by m municipalities as well that participate state health, but municipalities have the option to have their retirees stay
inside their own plan versus staying going into the state plan. So that could be where that standard language came from. Um but school districts at one time had that option and no longer. >> So all our retirees on retirement go into the state plan. We no longer hold
them or contribute costs. There's also some old laws out there that would allow retirees spouses to come back onto plans if the spouse um predesceased them. We do not have that in place. Most districts do not any longer have that in place. So that's where some of that old
language would have come into play. >> So you're you're striking that correct? >> Yes, it's on the on the >> Oh, on this copy. Okay. I might have an old >> Okay. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um couple other items real quick.
Um, in the agreement for the cooperative sports program, um, one of our Eagle Eye board members caught that there's a line in there that says, and actually the copy that you all
have, I just struck it through. It's on page uh, pages aren't numbered, but it's on the one, two, three, four, five. It's under paragraph seven. Yes. Under funding. So, I just changed the language. I just struck the language up uh just to make it match just what our
expectations are. It's it previously said that there would be and this was an agreement that has been used before uh that our attorneys did approve, but they weren't fully aware of all the nuance of the details of what we were planning with this. So, um I just changed the language to read that each district will fund the program to the extent that they
see fit because each district retains that right to fund what they want or not. Um, our intention is to have it be parent paid for the time being and that and the there was a statement in here also about that the school districts would contribute to a set amount towards the towards the ice rink. However, it
was brought we're under the understanding that the ICE time is being donated by a parent who's involved in the program. So, but the language here doesn't say that. So rather than run the risk, so rather than make this bring this resolution forward under false pretenses, I thought it was appropriate
to just clarify that any other costs beyond what the district would see fit would be covered by the ice hockey parents. Okay. I think it it it just it gives us flexibility, it gives them flexibility, and it just trs up uh the agreement to what the understanding
actually is. All the other language in here about um about transportation refers to who's responsible for those things. even in ter including who's paying what would happen is we are going to uh take the funds from parents who want to have want their children to be a part of it the boo there's going to be
booster clubs for them the booster clubs are going to determine the tuition that's required to participate we'll take those funds and then we'll evaluate it once the season has taken place and we'll see where we are in terms of moving forward in the future >> I notice under the NJIA
application so this is not they're you're applying to be part of that. So this is not a club. This is going to be >> it is going to be it is going to be an NJSIA sport. And the intention even though it
says we can do all levels in here, the intention is to run it as a JV team for the first year, >> but it will be an NJSIA govern team. JV JV >> JV team, but right away >> Yep. >> NJSIA, but then but then they're eligible to participate in the NJSIA
leagues. I guess you need that in order to get competition. >> Yeah. To be able to play. Yeah. I mean, you I suppose that there schools might be willing to play with you on a on a >> Yeah. But I I it's it's it's
a cleaner system when the NJSAA is rules it because that you're following all the same protocols and rules, referees. Exactly. All it's all the same standards, all the same protocols. >> This is JB, so there isn't a state championship structure to worry about. No, not to my knowledge. >> I didn't realize that we could join we
could join with another district. >> Yeah, it's a common method that's used when we're trying to trying to launch a program. It's a particularly common with female sports because sometimes you don't have as big of a critical mass to get a sport off the ground. So, by by uh by by operating with another school district, uh you can get enough numbers
to make it work. I've seen this uh actually in my my former district. they had a uh they had the um the Madison Cadam girls ice hockey team and then both pro then once it was established both programs grew sufficiently that uh that they actually then just had their own teams and now there's well at least
last I knew there's the Madison High School girls hockey team. So So if if it's if it's if it's in demand by the kids then we can then give it consideration. >> What color uniforms are they wearing? Oh, >> tough question. Tough question.
Just like Kelsey's mom had to wear half Eagles and Kansas City. We're going to get the maroon man there. No. Last thing that I have here is um we discussed in committee that uh that that
the bid was going the bid for the window project at the high school at the high school bridge and Glenn was uh was was out and we were going to be getting those back and we had hoped to bring them here. So, it was a little bit of a squeeze for us to walk them in. Um Mr.
Matthews and his department uh did a thorough job in looking at the the well first of all the G our our architects reviewed these and did confirm that we do have a lowest responsible bidder which is a standard for these types of bids. So we don't have discretion we have to go with the lowest bidder that
matches all the responsibilities. Um we are under budget and um so we wanted to give the board an opportunity just to show or demonstrate our ability to turn this around quickly. The opportunity to talk about it and vote about it today if you want to. Um, we did some additional due diligence. It does seem like the lowest responsible bidder were ready to
go. Obviously, the sooner we the sooner we move, the sooner we can order and we're not subject to supply chain delays or any changes in tariffs, things like that. Uh, but at the same time though, I don't know if they if the if the facilities committee would like an opportunity to just review this and then we can always move it to the agenda in
November. So, I'll leave it to your comfort level. Um, >> what when you say that we're um under budget, what what was budgeted? I don't have that number in my head. So from my perspective, the we so when we went to we we had a HVAC
project and we received uh our budget for that HVAC project was to go up to $13 million I think or or 11 million 30 million what that number was. we came four or five million less there right
for the HVAC project. So that's when it was determined that maybe we can use that remaining money and do the windows at as part of this project because these are single pane windows and our uni sit by the window was a case because they
were redesigning that area anyway they were working around those windows that this can become part of that project. So that budget was that original budget for HVAC project was our budget. So that was there was a saving of about $4 million.
So that's our max that we can go to. So from this $2.3 million we will be getting 66% back from the state. So Ridgewood's cost for for this is pretty small for the work that we are
doing that these are single pane windows in elementary school. We are losing heat and security like safety issue. So we'll get double paint temper proof windows. So we'll save on energy and we'll only pay oneird of this. >> Well, all the in at uh it would be the
the old section of ridge, right? It wouldn't be the new new >> all the single pane windows in ridge and >> two3 by the state. 23. >> No, 60%. >> 34. >> Oh, I'm wrong. Yes, you just switched
them. Yes, I switched them. >> Yeah. >> Yes. So, thank you for correcting me. So, we we still pay uh 2/3. >> So, when when they um and just another when they um examined the windows, the um
what is that the caulking around the windows? Um right. they they found some asbestous. So, is that what alternate um alternate 1C is? Is that to make sure that when they take out the windows
that's removed and um air um >> you know, air testing is done to make sure and they will never take out any windows that they cannot because they'll be working at night or late in the afternoon. midship. Yeah. So, the
abatement is included as part of the alternate A for the uh the windows. >> I'm sorry. >> The abatement is included in in the bid. >> So, but what's I think our question is what's alternate 1 C >> 286? >> 286,000.
>> Yes. >> Alternate 1C. Yeah. So, since we have if we have some unanswered questions, maybe we'll just wait. But but but suffice to say that this is looks like we're heading in a good direction. It looks like we're under budget, so it's good news. >> I'm sorry. >> Ive
>> early November. Yeah. I I >> Yeah. November 17th. Yep. >> And we're okay waiting in in terms of making sure that it doesn't delay the project or anything like that because it's something we've been waiting. Well, I don't think I'm not thinking we need to delay it. Are you? I I'm thinking we should move ahead. I'm just
>> We can move ahead with my question with the with approving the bid tonight. >> Right. I just want to make sure because we discussed >> Oh, okay. So, there's Right. That that was what I was I know it's a walk-in and I know, you know, we're considering it quickly, but there's no reason to be
concerned that this is not a solid thing that we should >> No, we have been discussing it for for for few couple of years now. Yeah. >> So, we have talked about this in length. So, and we have seven biders. So, and this is the lowest possible bid, >> right? And this is it and it's been fully vetted. So, we're in good shape.
Correct. >> Yes. And and state will vet it before they give their 34%. They will go through it. >> Okay. All right. I just That's what I thought. Okay. I we should move it. >> So, interested in moving it then tonight? >> I am. >> I am. I just um if you can just provide the answers to the board then just just
what that ad Friday. I wasn't here. I apologize. I didn't get a chance to redo my first date back. I apologize. >> I didn't get a chance to I'm good with moving. >> Y >> Okay, great. That's good for me for now. Unless anybody needs any has for me.
>> We'll go to board committee reports. Um I know a lot of what we talked about is uh we've already mentioned some of our committees already, but is finance have anything else they want to bring to the four front?
Okay. Are you all right? Yeah. Um policy that any items we're talking about are up for approval in today's agenda. They've been discussed. They're not new and most of the recommendations we'll say again later are mandated by the
state. Okay. Um let me see. Um so facilities pretty active. We did have a JRC meeting uh for Willard uh on Friday and um
really it it's a very positive report for our new custodian services. It appears things are going well um moving forward. Maintenance um is closing some of the old work orders. So we have I
think fewer work orders than we we have had in the past. So that's a real positive. And um uh our grounds people are working. There's still work to be done, but I think overall we're the
grounds are looking better at least around the schools. Some of the fields um appear to be looking better, too. So, um it's early in the game. I'd like to see what happens in the spring. I understand that um maybe Brookside got a
blanket this week, you know. Um >> yeah yeah yeah Brookshide was closed. I'm not sure. >> Yeah. >> Great. >> So um so that's good. U so on um on facilities
there's a lot going on. Um so there's the comprehensive maintenance plan that's on the agenda. This is an annual um event for us that to provide that to the state. Uh it's the health and safety checklist. The resolution for athletic
field cleanup services is on our agenda. Um and um also expanding the number of um architectural and engineering firms uh that we may use as um uh throughout
the year if if needed. Um so um updates were given about uh Glenn and Ridge HVAC that's moving along. I think in Ridge we were told that all of the univventilators were installed
and at Glenn they're still um there's they're they are working through the installation of them in the different classrooms. Um and we had we got the answer to the uh our
water permit exception. Uh so we do have to follow the town rules. We are um have been discussing the solar panels and how we'll move forward and that will be evaluated. Uh they're still evaluating
that but there's move it on that. Um and I think that's it on that. You can see by the agenda there's a lot um that we went but I think those were the um the big things um sustainability
uh green I think we already discussed this at the last meeting we meet with the green team from Ridgewood or some of the members of that and we're looking at tableto table we discussed that at the last meeting so don't need to do that and in curriculum um
we reviewed uh what was done uh during the um professional development day on October 12th 15th 13th that was close Columbus day or not. Um and then um
interesting uh Dr. Fenwick, can you just explain Rosetta Stone? Uh, and that that use, if I'm not putting you on the spot, and uh there was another uh program we were buying to um to help um support our
English uh language learners. >> Certainly, it was Rosetta Stone and what was the other one? Um, Rosetta Stone will be helping our e our MLS, our multil- language learners um in
being another uh resource to them. Um the other program that we were working on to bring on sorry three more seconds um would be helping the family Lexia. So Lexio is a um platform that will help
both uh language development and uh translation service for both the students and the families. Um so we think that that's two ways to move forward in providing additional services to to that population. A
>> and that second program can be used at home. So it will be important for the district to uh make sure that there's connectivity in the home so that those those online programs can be used effectively. Yeah.
>> Um so you know there's a lot going on. Um school self assessments for determining the grades anti-bullying that's on the agenda tonight. Um and uh we heard from
um Mr. Ross about uh pathway programs pathways and proficiencies. Um and if you click on click on that link in the program in the minutes you can see some of the work that's going to be done uh
to move forward on our uh vision 2030 in um in curriculum and instruction. Okay. Um do you have anything on CPAG Mary? No. Okay. Communications
committee. We we haven't met. We meet every quarterish. We are meeting in November. So, we'll have something for the next meeting. >> I was missing you. I know. Well, we won't let you down. We'll have extraordinary news, right, Mrs. Corless? >> Okay. So, now we can go to uh consent
consent items regular and routine. Um and our first is attendant attendance at conferences as we discussed and amended uh today. Um so we can move forward with if you want to move forward with um Dr.
Schwarz's um recommendation. I'll move attendance at conference. Would someone like to second it? I'll second it. Are there any further questions for Dr. Schwarz on that? Okay. >> Motion by Miss Gro, second by Mr. Kelly.
>> No, Mrs. Handy. I'm >> sorry. >> Mr. Donnie. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Mr. McCalli. >> Yes. >> Snuck. >> Yes. Mr. Bro. >> Yes. >> Okay. Um, our E administration.
And here we'll see the um uh you uh New Jersey QAC. Um everybody's aware of that, right? Um we we're going to be submitting are the performance review also um self
assessments for the different schools on the anti-bullying bill of rights act and opportunity and the first reading of uh some policies and regulations. Any questions?
>> Okay, I move that. So, um would someone like to second it? Second, >> Donnie. >> Yes. >> Real quick, can we just clarify that item number seven? >> Right. >> So, so B7 is as amended,
>> right? Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, I move all this again with B7 as amended. Okay. A motion by M. Broen, second by Mcci. Mr. Donnie, >> yes. >> Miss Sandy,
>> yes. Mr. >> Callie, >> yes. >> Smooth. >> Yes. Men, >> yes. >> Uh, curriculum and instruction. We've got two items there. Field trips and the um 2025 community school program.
Additional fall programs. Someone like to move that. Someone like second. I'll second. Great. Thank you, >> Miss Andy. Mr. Donnie, >> yes. >> Miss Andy, >> yes. >> Mi McMoo,
>> yes. Mr. Rogan, >> yes. >> Okay, we're at human resources. Thank you, Jamie. Again, you're taking up a lot of the agenda. Real estate there. Yeah.
We do have one resignation for the purpose of retirement, which is uh Shannon Pia from grade one Somerville after 30 years of service to the district. I'm sure she'll be here at some point, right? When does when does that take place?
Oh, January 1st. Um I move human resources. Would someone like to second it? Second it. Miss Sandy, >> Mr. Donnie, >> yes. >> Miss Sandy, >> yes. >> Move.
Yes. >> Yes. >> Finance. >> Finance by Mr. Second by Miss Ali. Mr. Donnie. Yes. >> Um I think I'll just before you do that I I will just read the uh restricted donations into the record. Uh we have
six elementary HSAs and the Rididgewood High School HSA all donating for a very special event. I think we have an one author coming, Candace Fleming, and she'll be visiting all of our elementary schools and she will also be working
with our high school students. Um and I think she's in the district. What is it? Do you know three or four days maybe? Oh, maybe up to a week. Okay. Okay. So, that's exciting. Um and then we also um
gladly accept Hall's dad's night. $9,669 a gift in kind of four chairs, one table, and soft seating for readers at Haw Elementary School. Uh, David Cow, $500, a gift in time, a gift in kind, a
gift of uh, digital cameras with lenses to be used by the RHS photography program. >> We have the RHS band association for 2,3 [Music] um, sorry uh, $68.30 30 cents to be used
to pay for the nurses stipen for the marching band camp. And Traval Home and School Association, $640, a gift in kind of a field trip to the Storm King Art Center. And the Travel Home and School
Association for $2,950, a gift in kind of the So Fun City Assembly. So we thank all for their generosity and so excited that the homeland schools have um certainly
helped with the um bringing in of Candace Fleming uh to work with our students. We're going to add to uh finance uh right the wind. Oh no that's in other that's in other uh that's not yet sorry
that's later right that is that's not routine. Yeah. So um are there any questions on finance? If not we can go go ahead and take a roll. Okay. >> Motion by Mr. McMoo. Second by Miss McCalli. Uh Mr. Donnie. Yes,
>> Mr. Sandy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Ken. >> Yes, >> Mr. McMove. Yes, Mr. Broen. >> Yes. Resolutions and motions not included in consent agendas. Do we need to take these one by one or are you okay if we move
>> um one by one? >> One by one. Is that how you'd like to do it? Okay. Uh the first is approval of the award of contract for architectural engineering services as needed. Um and there were seven uh proposals received
and uh three were uh are being recommended as needed. So uh they're on the agenda. Would someone like to move that? >> I'll second. >> Second by Miss.
>> Yes. Mr. Donnie >> Stain Sandy >> yes >> m >> yes >> mmoo yes >> broen >> yes >> or yes one extension
>> b approval of the ward of contract broker broker of record for health and prescription benefits and uh the recom after um the committee reviewed all the um uh proposals that were um submitted.
We are going with Atlas, right? Alamos, sorry. Alamo Insurance Group for broker of record. >> Move by Mr. Second. >> I'll second it. >> Second by Miss Sandy. Questions.
Mr. Donnie, >> abstain. Sandy. >> Yes. >> Yes. move. >> Yes. >> Or yes. >> Just before we move on to the next one,
I just want to compliment again the uh Rich, you and your team because we spent an entire day interviewing um everyone of the people that submitted a bid and we really we had prepared questions. We put them through their paces. Um it was
a great learning experience but it was a very detailed analysis that we did and it enabled us I feel to make >> um a good decision a really informed decision >> and so I just I want to compliment Rich you and your team because a lot of work went into that
>> so I just wanted to say that >> great approval of award of contract commercial realtor of record um and uh only one bid was received for that >> being table.
>> Oh, we're not we're not >> I'm sorry. >> I'm sorry we didn't close the loop on this one. >> Yeah. >> So, I am recommending that we move it forward. And the reason that I am is that for our conversation, the cost not to exceed was not part of the RFP. We
set that number. So, the point was that if we were bidding it out only for an amount that was under the bid threshold, it didn't help us. We don't want to we we want to set the number reasonably because we don't want to we don't want to overallocate funds for this purpose, but this would give us flexibility if we
had uh more cleanup needs. >> So, is it 2.5% of the annual lease amount for >> Oh, no, no, no. Not that one. We're talking about the uh the uh the the cleanup in the event of a flood, the flood. >> No, no. We're talking about So, we're gonna we're going to bold C. I'm sorry.
>> Sorry. Nope. >> I'm ahead of us. >> Yeah. No, no. Well, there's commentary about D also, so >> yeah. So, sorry about that. Um, >> holding. >> We're we're we're we're tableabling. And what that's what I said. We're tableabling C and we're moving it. Sorry about that.
>> Uh oh. It's getting late. >> It's getting late. Sorry, guys. >> No. Okay. So, now we're at D. >> Okay. Now, now we're at D. >> D. Okay. Sorry. >> So, I didn't circle back. >> Athletic field cleanup. >> I didn't circle back on this. My apologies. Our goal was to get um a uh was to get was to quote work that we
anticipate that we might have to do that would be at an amount that's above the bid threshold because if we have work that exceeds the bid threshold, which is $53,000, which does happen sometimes, then we then then we would have to go through this process then before we
could clean up or we'd have to use this one company that's on the state contract. We've worked with both companies because the last cleanup was was under the state contract and the company that has put in for the bid and has won the bid right now is our preferred company. So, we're setting a a
cost not to exceeded $100,000. That way, we're not held captive to the one state contract company when it's time to do when it's time to do our cleanup. >> And if it's more than $50,000 now, insurance company will need to be get involved. And don't they have a say of
who are we picking? No, they don't have a I sent them an email. I think I copy. They have no say. So, it will be taken. >> It's a reim it's a reimbursement because and because it's a because because it's um anmer an e situation and there's
potential health risks involved. It's the onus is on us to clean it up as quick as possible. >> But if it's more than 50, they'll repay, right? That's 50. >> Yeah. Excess. So, >> if it's 53, they pay that. So just a question. So apologies if I
missed it in the finance committee. Are these It's $170 an hour per labor is very high like almost an attorney. I think the I think the um it's they
they use very heavy equipment and I think it's related to the to the um to to the the technical tech the technicality of the work. Yeah. >> Okay. We're ready um for someone to move
that open uh for this bid. I move No. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. We discussed this already. Uh E approval termination of the participation under the um school. No,
that's the state health benefits plan and the school education health benefit plan. I move >> abstain. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. And now this is the walk-on for the
resolution and motion uh for the windows uh replacement project at Glenn School and Ridge Elementary School. And we'll just get that information on what was the um original budgeted amount and uh the uh ad ultimate.
>> Yeah. So I move uh resolution on the uh window project. >> I second it. or do you need it? Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. I just Oh, I'll make the motion. Yeah.
>> I second it. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. And I have another uh resolution um to read into the record. Uh be it resolved
I I move uh be it resolved that the Rididgewood Board of Education has reviewed the residency of students number 817540 and student number 817588 and has determined that the students are
not entitled to a free public education in the Ridgewood Public School District. May I have a second? Yes or no? >> Give it to Rich. That's the resolution. >> So, >> yes. >> Yes.
Yes. >> Yes. Yes. Okay. Approval of bills. Um the rigid. Um so it's me. I'm I did review all the bills and I move approval of the bills is listed on
the agenda. >> Second. >> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Board member announcements. Um, tonight was the Cambodia project at
a fundraiser at Steel Wheel and I I I stopped by before their early meeting tonight to get a little dinner and a lot of um people were coming in and we had a high turnout of some high school students and elementary school students
all um having dinner and talking about Cambodia. Um was well attended. Um, I got a text from my family saying it got busier after I left. >> And then the other thing I did go, as mentioned by the students, the alumni
ceremony. I went to that. It, you know, I enjoy going to my alumni gatherings. And it was really nice to see the strong words and feelings that graduates from 1970s and 80s still have
and the stories and all those things and how fondly they do feel about Rididgewood. So I was, you know, I I know some people and there I was very surprised to meet in the casual part how many people I've met before and I didn't
realize they had gone to I mean met in social situations or on the soccer field or on home and school meeting or whatever and they all went to Richmond High School and they've come back to raise their families here and so it really makes me appreciate the work that
we do here because it's for the students students that are are coming here now. We want them to have good experiences so they move back and want to have that with their families as they had when they were you know in school. So it was
very very life affirming you know and some of the things that these people have done are just really amazing from a dog rescue to academics to you know writing books and being on television. So, it was really very very rewarding.
>> Great. Great. Um, and in that just and I I brought the the book because and I'm glad Eli's here still. So um in 2020 no in excuse me in 2000 and 2001 we had
a board uh a student from the uh high school was our board rep and his name was uh is Michael Aaron Flicker and he also has been very involved in bringing super science Saturday. He has a number of companies he started and yesterday he
had a book launch and it's hacking the human mind. It's the behavioral science secrets bei behind 17 of the world's best brands. And the best brands are are craft macaroni and cheese. Who knew
that? You know, two million boxes of craft macaroni and cheese fly off the shelf every day. And why is that? And why do people buy it? Apple, um, uh, you know, why Amazon? Why are we glued to
Amazon? um Red Bull. So there it's really an interesting look at the uh behaviors of people and why they purchase and also what's the science
behind these companies grabbing your attention and you wanting to be there. So who doesn't use Amazon? I mean is it easier to order and have Amazon on your door the next day than go to a store sometimes? Yeah. So um interesting um
and he is a alumni of Rididgewood High School. So uh it was really exciting to see that and and um you know having worked with him for years on Super Science Saturday so much to see his success. And then last night um and
Sarab was there uh Dvali celebration uh was at the high school. I thought really well attended. Great performances by little ones to the dads um up there. So it was great. Um and um I heard
understand the food was terrific too. So uh uh congratulations to the committee that put that together. Um, how many years is that? Um, >> so this was 10th year. >> 10th year. >> Sorry. >> 2015.
>> So it's great. >> Um, nothing else? Wanted to mention that the college club has its annual used book sale which is over break. Uh, most of the books are between a dollar and $3 and they are
good current hard coverver books. most of them. Um, so it's it's in the basement of Somerville and it's Thursday night. You can get early access for $25 and then you can go in and you buy what you want or you just walk in Thursday, well, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And
the reason why I mention it is first of all, it's a great deal if you like books, but more importantly is that the money they raise goes to scholarships which go right back to our students. So, um, it's a worthwhile thing to support. Thank you.
>> Okay. Discussion items. We've had of three two sorry two policies um and regulations that were reviewed by the policy committee. Did anybody have any uh concerns? I guess we are going to discuss whether uh coming to the board
of education is the fourth step in that or not. Gravens. Yeah, >> I think I think we had it in there as a fourth step. Um the question that I had was um when you're dealing with a student grievance, say for example with
regard to a grade, right? >> Um I understand why there would be an appeal to the board, but I wanted to be certain that when it comes to an academic judgment call, um unless it's arbitrary and capriccious, I don't think the board should have the ability to to
override a teacher's judgment. And that's that was just a concern I had. And I didn't know if we wanted to include in the policy some language that kind of >> limited the board's review to the process or something. Um because I do think it's important to maintain the
independence of the academics. >> Um are you are is this just coming to you now or had >> No, we had we started the discussion and then and then for a variety of reasons it kind of got
>> truncated. Okay. So, um, I thought it might be appropriate to raise it here just to see if I'm the only things like that or if somebody else thinks it's reasonable that we can bring it back and and or >> if it comes to board, it will come to the board uh per superintendent's recommendation.
>> That's not my understanding. I I I don't have the policy in front of me and I can't figure out how to use my Chromebook today. But I actually thought that it goes to the superintendent and then if they don't like what the superintendent says, they can appeal to the board. So, the superintendent will certainly come to us and explain what the rationale is,
but we would have the I believe if you're appealing, we have the ability then to overturn whatever decision >> so let me ask a question on that. Um are we saying on academics um the teachers are making the right decision but when
it when it comes to HIV the teachers may or principles or admins may not be making the right decision and board has the authority to override that. So those are two completely different things. Um I think and I understand why why you're making the comparison and this is a
discussion we can certainly bring back to policy. It's just that I think that if a teacher if if there's an essay that's written and um one of our English teachers or our history teachers says, you know, it's simply not a work, it's C
work or B work or B+ or whatever it is that that can go all the way up the chain. And for us to turn around and say I think it's good enough to be an A I think is um not right in that re in that sense. I I just think it's it's not an appropriate use of board authority. Um
and so I I want to be protective of academic integrity. HIV is different. It's statutory. We can have conversations about that. Um but I think it merits looking at this particular um
policy independent of that. Um, and my thought was to come up with some language that simply says, you know, if for example there was evidence that it was arbitrary and capriccious or something and and I I I can't sit here and come up with this um a scenario, but
but I think that there needs to be some protection that five elected officials are not given the authority to override um the academic judgment assuming it it's purely come too, right? And with
integrity there and there's no evidence to the contrary that we should be able to override that. >> So I I get your point. I just think that I if this language is coming from Sasme or our attorneys, maybe it should go back to them as a question. >> That's a good question. And
>> yeah, why why did they originally recommend that? What was the rationale behind that? >> Okay, that's fair, >> right? Because it's not coming from a board member. It's not coming from us. So >> okay, >> why did >> what was their reasoning to recommend a specific language? It should go. >> So >> I'm glad we have the discussion. So
we'll bring it back, >> right? >> And then we can just kind of we can address that at the next policy meeting. Thank you. >> Yeah, you might you might want to I don't I didn't exactly hear what you said, but did you say maybe stress can appine? Why did they recommend this?
>> Right. Yeah. Okay. >> Maybe it's a >> or to bring up your point, >> right? It should can we or you know should >> or is it appropriate to do that or is there a reason why we shouldn't do that? Exactly. No, I >> Yeah, they can help you rewrite the >> No, thank you very much. Yeah, that's great.
>> Great idea. >> Okay. Okay. Uh so it will come back then um under discussion rec uh yeah spectator spect spectator code of conduct. Um that was pretty
straightforward I thought. and >> who'd been commented upon by our administrators, right? And they were happy. >> Yes. >> And the coaches, right? >> Coaches. >> So, yeah, I think we're good with that one. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> And I can I just add one thing just to the GR just to the grievance thing real
fast. One comment real quick. >> Absolutely. >> So, I just wanted to fact check this just to be sure that it was clear. We do have policy on a grading system specifically and the grading system policy specifically says that the final decision on any tested grade rests with
the principal or actually as a will be the responsibility of the principal. That's something that we had in my last district and I actually I'm very careful with too because I don't I I don't even as the superintendent I'm not going to insert myself into an academic situation and say that I'm going to regrade
something. So if if I find a circumstance where maybe a teacher's process may have been flawed or a student should have some like a grade wasn't fair because of like they didn't get an accommodation or something like that then what we'll do is I will give an order that there has to be some sort
of an effort to like make it right by the student and to give the student an opportunity to to maybe earn back credit or to address it another way. But I'm bring it up because you were very specific about bringing up grades and I do agree. Um, and the grievance procedure is more about what I just
described as in like like was was a was a pro was a classroom process carried out in a way that wasn't fair. >> Okay? >> You know, so and and and that's where and and to be clear, I don't have a opinion about this. I think I I'm advocating that we that we get that we
clarify whatever our grievance process is because I think it would help give some some efficiency to our ability to resolve concerns and keep things moving. And generally speaking, I'm I'm a pretty big fan of appeals. So, I actually don't mind I I think it's healthy to say that that there be a level of appeal beyond
the superintendent because because if they're not happy and they do feel like they're wronged in some way, shape, or form, they may very well have some other legal recourse, in which case having an additional level of appeal is probably only a benefit to the district. >> So, is there a way of uh referencing then the the policy on grades? So, that
it's very specific in that >> that's what I think we should do. Yeah, >> it does say here. I'm looking at the Strauss estate recommendations and it says um therefore student grievances regarding matters specifically addressed by other board policies would not be
addressed by this policy. >> I maybe want to call that's 2624 is the grading system policy. So we might just want to call that one out. >> Okay. And if we do that then I'm good and and I appreciate all that. That's very helpful. >> And the other seven after the board the student has the right to appeal to the
commissioner of education. >> Right. So that we're not the final. >> Okay. >> Another step. >> Okay. >> So why don't um you add that and then >> just that and and then we'll bring that in in November. >> Sounds great. Great. Got it. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Um I this is a lot of activity policies had this year I think. Yeah. I you're a geek. A policy geek. Um, we're going to move um acceptance of minutes October 6 regular public meeting
minutes. I move that. >> All in favor? >> I >> I >> um on other business I just this is my reminder because I haven't even finished it. Board self evaluation. Yeah, I gave
you a goal of beginning of November. All you people who wait till the last time, last last minute. Oh, you did it already. Oh, good. I'm halfway. Okay. Um, so if you were a last minute person who got their their uh term paper done,
just you got another week. Okay. So, this is just your reminder. Um, we'll go to unless there's other any other business. Moving right along. Okay. Um, we'll go to comments from the public. There is
none in the audience. Okay, not seeing any online um comments. We'll close public comment and um I make a motion to uh adjourn the meeting.
Hi. Hi. >> Oh, no. I want to stay. Um Oh, gee. Okay. Um, what do you say? I think it's uh Mary Lou.