[Music] thank you good evening I'd like to call the meeting to order at 6 PM can I have a roll call please Mrs Anderson here Mrs Carol laru Miss mcgi here Mrs mzik here Mrs Smith here Dr Thomas cini Mrs Shields here the New Jersey open public meeting Act was passed to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed and acted upon in accordance with the provision of the act the Rockway Township Board of Education has cause notice of the date time and place of said meetings to be published in the Daily Record The Star Ledger and be posted in all of the district in the REM missible building of the township and the Township Library does any board member wish to object to the conduct of this meeting for the purpose as stated in the public notice all documentation and materials considered by the Board of Education as part of this agenda are available for public review and comment members of the public are invited to come to the board of Education building off Green Pond Road during the regular business hours of 8: a.m. to 400 P p.m. Monday through Friday if they wish to inspect any of the referenced items can I have a motion to wave The Pledge until open session so moved seconded I have a show of hands please resolve that in accordance with the open public meeting act the Rockway Township Board of Education will be in closed session to discuss matters involving Personnel litigation security the content of said discussions will be disclosed in the public at each at such time and extent as required by law can I have a motion to go into close session so moved seconded show of hands please we will go into close session at 602 P.M [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] o [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] o [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] and we are looking at seven oh show of hands please thank you I'm GNA try my best with that one Clos session ends at 7:33 p.m. uh can everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance flag of the United States of America to the stands always nice to see a big crowd in the audience so Madam president um I just want to note that while we did our roll call at 6 o'cl m Miss K Laro was not present at that time but she did join us shortly after so she is noted as present and we do have the potential for Dr thini to join us virtually right now I know he's having connectivity issues however he may be joining us and that is set up for him to be live and streamed thank you very much uh our first item on the agenda is birwood student recognition Dr Corbett did you want to kick that off yes sure I'd be happy to kick that off um we're so pleased tonight to uh to recognize the wonderful students and staff at birwood elementary school and actually I'm going to let Dr mccon kick it off she's going to come up to the mic right now and um keep here I would yeah you could do it that way too sure speak to the okay everyone we're so excited for today especially that we had a delay this is our second run at it our kids are dressed again looking fancy they were excited to come last week but I'm so happy everyone showed tonight so good evening everyone parents teachers and especially the Fantastic members of Birchwood Elementary student council tonight we come together to recognize the incredible efforts of these young leaders under the guidance of their devoted fifth grade teacher Mrs shenik I would also like to say Miss Elling is here tonight to support her fifth graders as well thank you for coming Mrs Elling the fourth and fifth grade student council members have been working hard this school year to make positive changes in our school community and Beyond meeting every week during recess they brainstorm ideas to improve the school atmosphere and create a sense of togetherness a recent highlight of their efforts was the successful kindness for Christopher fundraiser organized by the student council this drive collected pajamas for children in local hospitals to receive during the holidays it truly was remarkable thank you so much the kids they they collected so many boxes of pajamas it was an entire School initiative Not only was it a testament to their commitment to the community service but it was also a touching uh tribute to Christopher as we acknowledge our accomplishments tonight we eagerly anticipate the upcoming events including future Community drives for baby and toddler Essentials so get ready to save your stuff um and this will go to the north porch and another service learning drive for project K so those are up and coming keep your eyes out in our in our newsletter and a reminder these students research and they create these initiatives all by themselves that means they come in at lunch they sit down they brainstorm and they really do a great job using the internet to find out what we need in the community what we need in the communities that surround us so that's truly impressive showing their dedication to making a meaningful impact so let's express our sincere appreciation to these outstanding dedicated hardworking student council members [Applause] in fourth grade I would like to bring up first Miss Ryan [Applause] Casco next we have in grade four oh we got one more Dolores pisos where's [Applause] the next up in fourth grade we have Riley [Applause] ber next in fourth grade we have jeanes [Applause] kuuru next up we have our fifth graders first up we have Addison [Applause] toito in grade five we have Miss Scarlet [Applause] lock getting them ready for graduation next up we have Lily [Applause] Adams and lastly we have Nicholas [Applause] Ramos that is everyone boys and girls we are so incredibly proud of each and every one of you your family is here the board of education is here the mayor is here you have done some wonderful things for our community thank you so much take [Applause] uh excuse me Madame President with your permission may we take a recess for cookies we can ladies and gentlemen gives me great honor to announce that we have as many cookies as you want wants help yourself thank you very much everyone thank you so much for being here [Applause] [Music] tonight [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] during the course of the board meeting the Rockway Township Board of Education offers members of the public an opportunity to address issues regarding the operation of the school Township uh Rockway Township Public Schools the board reminds these individuals who take this opportunity to identify themselves by name and address and to limit their comments to items listed on the agenda and or items directly related to the operation of the school district District issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board all comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate the board ask that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of the other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in the comments and be aware they are legally responsible and liable to their comments in accordance with board policy 0167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a three minute limit per member of the public the board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate can I have a motion to open public comment so moved second can I have a show of hands please if anyone from the public would like to come up sheet on there they don't have to sign just have them State their name and address just state your name and address please hi good evening oh that's really loud uh my name is Janelle lauderbach I live on 33 pillar drive and I'm here here tonight to speak on behalf of the KDM PTA and other uh parents in the community uh regarding Mr Rollins um it's our understanding that tonight um the Board of Education will vote to drop the interim title to make Mr Rollins a permanent member of our school Community Mr Rollins joined KDM in what appeared to the community as a very last minute change at the very beginning of the school year I remember the parents and the staff feeling anxious and worried about the leader that would join our school Mr Rollin was and continues to be a positive partner a thoughtful leader and a trusted administrator he is a quick learner he's adjusted to many routines and ideas and continues to ask pertinent questions to better understand our students and our community he is always smiling offering to help and showing what it means to be an involved administrator as a PTA president I've yet to come across one person that doesn't say he's an absolute gem thank you for the opportunity to allow us to meet him to work with him and we're just really excited to continue our relationship and build a better school thank you thank you thank you Janelle um my name is kalora and I'm a fifth grader at KDM school and we've had three principes go and leave um in the past 6 years and I would really like to see one principal which is Mr Roland stay Thank you thank you I might get F climp don't judge me you get F clamped way worse than I do um Christine strobridge 12 Darlington Drive um I am here on behalf of my family who has um absolutely fallen in love with him he's been a fantastic um supporter and just someone that represents something that KDM brings to the table which is just a sense of Heart and Hope and encouragement so we really hope that he gets to stick around for us thank you thank you is there anyone else from the public that would like to speak AB did we have anyone online okay can I have a motion to close public comments moved second show of hands please thank you Communications um Mrs slam we did receive one communication since the last board meeting um from Mr Daniel regarding the Copeland license scan system and that has received a response thank you okay approving of the minutes can I have a motion to approve the minutes so moved second and can I have a roll call please Mrs Anderson here oh yes sorry Mrs K Laro thank you Miss mcari yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries okay superintendent reports thank you madam president wel I would first like to highlight two Personnel items on the agenda for this evening first I will be recommending Mr Ron Smith to serve as interim business administrator board secretary effective February 22nd Ron is experienced and highly recommended and he has a stellar reputation as a school business administrator began his career in 1964 as an assistant board secretary since then he has worked in numerous school districts as a business administrator consultant at junk faculty member of Kain and seen hole universities secondly on the agenda Mr Brian Rollin who has served as interim principal at KDM since September 2023 I can assure the board that I have observed him carefully I have received very positive feedback from the staff in the community and I am confident that he is most qualified to be named principal of KDM and I congratulate Mr Rollins in advance it ain't done it ain't done yet now the board hasn't voted so hold on okay I got to keep you in suspense a little bit longer um we have we had 17 participants attend the portrait of a successful student I will let Mr ganela speak about that I don't want to steal his Thunder he will also speak about the professional development day that was held on January 15th um the interdistrict spelling B which included Rockway Township the burrow and Denville was held on January 17th at Jefferson Middle School in the burrow um I want to congratulate all the contestants but especially fifth grad Zachary Grasso from Stony Brook who finished second details will be followed will follow in the school um school reports so far this year as a reminded we've had two delayed openings and and one early dismissal fortunately we have use only one snow day closing finally on my behalf I just want to mention this point the Senate and the general assembly of the of New Jersey has designated January as Muslim heritage month we recognize the contributions of the 300,000 Muslim Americans living in New Jersey morova the history of Muslims in the United States states back before the country's founding originating with enslaved Africans of whom Scholars estimate as many as 30% were Muslim these enslaved Africans brought Islamic beliefs and practices with them and contributed in numerous ways to the founding of the nation including courageous and dedicated military service in every major war from the American Revolutionary War until today the people of New Jersey and Rockway Township benefit from their social benevolence patriotism philanthropy humanitarianism advocacy Civic engagement culture and The Business of Muslim Americans and Muslim American organizations that operate within the state we are proud of our Muslim citizens and some good news from our schools Birchwood Elementary School is off to a strong start in 2024 late December Birchwood concluded with a festive holiday activities meaningful service projects that included the pajamas for Christopher's Drive which was initiated by their student council as you heard this evening as we recognize these students the project successfully collected numerous pajamas for our local children Children's Hospitals Birchwood bids farewell and extends best wishes for a happy retirement to Mrs predmore an exceptional second grade teacher with over 28 years of dedication to Rockaway schools her impact on students and colleagues will be deeply felt leaving behind a lasting Legacy birwood students had a memorable time at Thomas Jefferson Middle School during the Women's Club Annual Spelling be congratulations to all four contestants for their excellent performance we also honor recognize birchwood's grade four and grade five student council members as did tonight Guided by Mrs shinik their efforts were highlighted this evening so again we congratulate them dbo has had an exciting start to the school year to the New Year not the school year but to the New Year congratulations to the four dbo Representatives who did an amazing job at the spelling be we were also proud to announce the dbo collected over 50 pairs of pajamas donate to the pajama program this is one example of service learning which aims to connect students with their community community in a meaningful way over 50 children will now be able to enjoy the benefit of a peaceful night's sleep the dbop PTA remains as busy as ever planning events and activities The dbo Faculty is looking forward to analyzing the results of the winter Benchmark testing which will inform instruction and challenge each student to achieve their greatest potential the dwire family has been very active with the seeds of service project students began the month of January collecting coats hats gloves and scarves for the Morris County Hispanic Association over a 100 items were donated by our families the Super Bowl collection is in full swing as students are bringing in cans of soup for the Rockaway soup kitchen finally our third grade continues to make on the-go bags for every Rockaway Township police officer this provides snacks and drinks for officers who can't stop for a meal students are in the midst of their second round of Diagnostics in math and Ela and significant growth is anticipated the DWI PTA has been keeping students active and well prepared preped for school with the school store cards for kids candy bar Bingo and everyone's favorite Bagel day KDM students have been active in enriching with enriching learning experiences after school language arts and math programs are full students are also participating in various after school clubs we are proud of our four Representatives at the Annual Spelling be they competed well this month teachers will be reviewing data from the winter reading and math Diagnostics providing opportunities to challenge students and offer remediation as needed this week KDM participated in the great kindness challenge with various spirit days focusing on the importance of creating a safe and caring School environment the KDM PTA is very active in coordinating an upcoming assembly in honor of children's appreciation week and a cultural experience as they host the lion dance assembly for Chinese New Year KDM is looking forward to an enjoyable and productive winter after ringing in the new year Stony Brook students and staff are recharged and excited to get 2024 under way classroom teachers with the assistance of our academic intervention team have conducted their midyear assessments with all our students this data will help inform um the instructional planning After School academic clubs are slated to begin at the end of this month with a focus on bolstering Ela and math skills for our students in grades three through five fun events are on the horizon including fifth grade movie night and a kindness assembly for students in grades K through five congratulations to our to all those who participated in the local spelling be uh all our students did an outstanding job and as I mentioned fifth grader Zachary Grasso placed second in the event he will be moving on to the districtwide spelling B which will be held February 24th we wish him the best of luck copen middle school students have completed their IR ready in math Ela Nela diagnostic assessments the boys and girls basketball teams continue their success on the court and are looking forward to the county tournament at the end of the month on Thursday January 18th CMS holded the principal's list breakfast foral students who scored an average of 95 or higher in marking period one congratulations to the over 100 students who were invited to attend throughout the week of January 22nd to January 26th culen participated in the great kindness challenge also this week long initiative is devoted to performing as many kind acts of kindness as possible and showing that we all play a part in creating a bully free safe and caring School environment the after school extra help Club continues and is having a positive impact on student performance and that is my report thank you thank you are there any questions or comments for Dr Corbett okay then we'll move on to the business administrators report thank you so on a personal note before I start the rest of my report I just also want to Echo some of the accolades for Mr Rollins um my interactions with him are very different due to the nature of my role um but that being said I have truly appreciated his Spirit of collaboration his Integrity his dedication to accuracy it truly makes my job much easier and I very much appreciate that so thank you and as always thank you for your everpresent kindness okay so the district is making progress with our KDM water project um I'd like to thank USA Architects for their hard work in pushing for a solution to the issues at hand as we are all aware this project has gone on far longer than anticipated the original issues which tied to chemical levels in the water being out of balance was addressed through updated filtration systems prior to me joining the district um with that said I know that we there were various delays and issues on the part of the Architects at the time who are no longer with us as well as the struggles to meet the changing requirements from the njde so we hit a plateau and progress halted which is is never the place we want to be the last remaining hurdle since I've taken over the project has been related to the hardness of the water after addressing the chemical components of the system we were left with water that was too soft for D standards our previous Architects failed to find a workable solution but the current Architects brought in several engineers and professionals specializing in these types of issues and water treatment systems and we were able to get the needed results with regard to the water hardness in our testing the final step which we are enacting in the next few weeks is to create a loop system which will ensure that the hardness level remains consistent and does not fall back below the requirements throughout the course of each day week month and year um I met with the njd representatives on the 24th and they are supportive of our plan and prepared to issue the necessary approvals to finally put this issue to rest we appreciate the concerns from the community and I am confident that we are in the home stretch of this process I beg you to bear with us uh we thank you very much for your patience and understanding but we really are close to a solution um we are moving forward with our plans for the summer roof projects at KDM Copeland middle school and Birchwood School um those bids should be released very soon and we look forward to Crossing yet another needed repair off of our list so that will be in the next few weeks coming out um USA Architects is also continuing their work on the long-range facilities plan and expect to be present in the district in the next few weeks for a good deal of data collection they will also be Consulting with our building principles and administration for feedback of each of the buildings needs so um there will be certain professionals and Engineers present if you're in the buildings you may see them going through they are doing a top to bottom assessment of each building and really doing their homework so that when we plan for these projects that we're going to put in place we have all the information that we need so it's definitely a positive update and hopefully they will get some very good feedback um preparation of the 2425 budget continues to move forward on the 24th I held my final meeting with District administration to discuss their feedback requests and projections for the coming year I appreciate the collaboration from this team of Educators and as with each year it is clear to me the dedication they have to the success of our students and the clear effort to create opportunities for growth throughout the district um unfortunately the state budget software was delayed uh it was meant to be opened up on January 15th it has just now become available but we are forging ahead with our process regardless and we are making uh good progress uh and finally Finance item number two we have um the bills list and I know there's been some questions on what that consists of I know it's large numbers so some approximations um for this round of the bills list is 133,000 approximately goes to utilities we have transportation contracts at 91,000 uh tuitions at 239,000 and personnel as as always is our highest cost approximately around $3.5 million are tied to Personnel costs whether that be salary benefits Etc um there's a ly of things that are included in that number but that is always our our heavy hitter um the remaining amounts are attributed to a host of categories including training travel uh Capital costs supplies Food Service Etc um so just a little bit of insight as to where we get those numbers and finally we in an effort towards uh further transparency in the cost for the district we have added a new section to the agenda if you were to look under education um numbers seven and eight refer to travel requests and um travel costs so that reflects for any PD requests that we receive anybody who's traveling whether it be one day training or or more um the cost associated with that training and we will continue to update that that will be present on every agenda so so ends my report Madam president thank you any questions or comments from the board okay moving along to curriculum report Mr ganella please good evening everyone welcome a board member McGary nice to meet you uh before I begin I would also like to Echo the positive sentiments around Mr Rollins um my 43 years on planet Earth I don't think I've ever met a more passionate dedicated uh human being so it's uh very happy for the KDM Community to get a chance to know and hopefully continue to know him so for my report I am pleased to report that we had a successful professional development day on January 15th teachers started the day in their home buildings and we're giving time for much needed planning and preparation from there teachers reported to to copela middle school for Choice professional development they chose sessions that align with their professional development needs sessions included make it multi-sensory canva for Education use your Google account Chromebook features such as go guardian and Genesis to help organize your professional and Digital Life and principles uh principles and practices of differentiated instruction presented by none other than Mr Rollins uh the teacher feedback on the day was overwhelmingly positive uh over 85% of our teachers were unbelievably ecstatic about um the format of the day and the professional development that they received from their peers Rockaway Township's curriculum revision cycle is underway I'm happy to announce that all positions have been filled and writing is well underway the goal is to have all district curricula written approved and in the hands of teachers prior to the end of the school year it's over 60 documents that are in the hopper currently so just Kudos um to our teachers and our curriculum writers for embarking on this journey with us as Dr Corbett mentioned the first portrait of a successful student event was held on Thursday January 18th at Copeland Middle School we had a nice turnout for the event especially given the frig the frigid temperatures outside I'd like to extend a thank you to the district teachers um and portrait presenters uh Miss cheryn parades Gina paresi Amy hoffnagle and laurian tacis our next event is entitled reading rocks and it will also be held at Copeland Middle School on February 27th from 6:30 to 7:30 thank you everyone and good night any questions or comments from the board okay okay Student Services report Dr Molano we'll be reading out on that good evening members of the Board of Education and Community uh I'm here to discuss with you some of the steps and process that that are taking place in the department uh my job is to provide the board updates and also to the community today we only will talk about points that we believe are very important number one will be handle Care number two will be life skills curriculum number three will be semi special education Medicare initiative number four CAC and number five PTA it seems like a lot but I will be able to give you synopsis and it wouldn't be as long I am pleased to report that hand care handable care hand care train training is a crisis intervention approach that emphasizes verbal escalation reserving physical restraint as the last resort the first time this was implemented in the district was in September 2017 Miss Katie Petroski our special education supervisor completed the training a few months ago I will be personally attending the training over the summer the department is committed to ensure 100% compliance for September with state requirements for handable care interventions moving forward the oversight of hand of The handable CARE program in District training will be supervised by our specialed supervisor Miss Katy Petroski training will be conducted by board certified behavior analyst licensed clinical social workers school psychologist and special education administrators number two life scales also the special education supervisor is in the process of developing a Liv skill curriculum for all grade levels although this program is already in use within our district formalizing and implementing this curriculum will ensure a greater uniformity across all grade levels and I do want to mention that Brian Rollins the principal for KDM has been uh the member number one very excited sending many emails making sure this happens really quickly uh we also discussed this with Mr Gonella and uh we obtain 100% support to move forward with writing the curriculum the purpose of the life skill curriculum is to enable students to generalize kids learn in the classroom and apply them to daily living the curriculum extend beyond academic and classroom instruction this will be the foundation for Community Based instruction item number three is semi I believe uh you have a copy like this uh when I first came and informed the board about uh semic consent in September 2023 we had 177% as of January 2024 we have been able to achieve 50% now I want to make something very clear negative and positive basically mean the same if a family signed the consent the will be a positive consent but that doesn't mean that even though we build the services we will be reimbursed if it's negative it means the the the family say no the paperwork was presented but we would not we will not be able to build for that now 50% is what we achieved 17 is what we had uh 33% to get to 100% is not what we need to go because semi require earless in in our case 23% to get to 90% once we get to 90% we will be 100% compliance with the semi regulations semi doesn't establish compliance by the money we get they establish compliance by the consent we obtain um if we achieve that was part of my initial PowerPoint when I first met with the board 133% is a district gold and that will be 80% so I predicted when I first came on board that I could take District to 80% and I think we're moving in a good direction when it comes to uh the semic consent it takes a lot of Education it takes time to explain the parents sometime I tell the teams tell them bu my office it had nothing to do with the benefit uh medical benefits or anything like that CAC special education par advisory committee um we have conducted all the meetings and we also decided to integrate a meeting during um during the daytime some families I will say you it was like four or five families reach out to me and they said we cannot makeing an event online at the time that you guys do the meeting so I thought maybe if we do it 7:30 or 5:00 or 6:00 they couldn't do it because they work 3 to Liv and we want those families to have interest so what we did we developed one um every month during the lunch time from 12 to 12:45 and we will try to disseminate some of the information that was disseminated during the time but also integrate new information to see if we can attract more participants to the meeting um I got my gles back sorry about that now we discussed in the meeting that we do have to come up with a way to get the families coming to this meeting to create the committee we have a few committee members Miss Noel Anderson was in the meeting today and we talked briefly after the meeting so for the next meeting maybe I can give you I can provide you something more concrete um one thing that I'm planning to do beginning next week I already obtained all the contact information I'm planning to go to all the PTA meetings in the district to disseminate the information to the pars CAC is not only for a special ucation it's for anybody who wants to attend the meeting thank you very much thank you any questions or comments from the board okay move moving on to committee reports I just want to let the public know we did uh revamp some of the Committees so just to read them out to you policy um chrisy will remain chair of that Allison is a member Lissa is a member and Noel is the alternate for Education Lissa is the chair uh myself and Noel are on there and Lisa is the alternate for operations Aaron is the chair Noel and Lisa are members and Lissa is the alternate for negotiations I will be the chair of that Lisa and Aaron are members and Allison is an alternate and our ad hoc committee which is uh community outreach referendum Lisa will be sharing that and Aaron and Allison will be members with chrisy as an alternate and that's that so are there any committee reports at this time just me I guess ahead you want go um I have the education committee notes um from the last meeting or report from the last meeting um we met on January 10th um from 5 o'clock to 6:45 PM in the Board conference room in attendance were Dr Corbett Mr ganella Miss Anderson Mrs Shields and myself we had a guest Mr lafranco um one of the items that we had a conversation about um and we received more information from Mr lafranco was about the data dashboards we had the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons um and we were made aware of some of the challenges of creating those dashboards within the current system So the plan moving forward as it's being examined right now um and piloted is to examine link it um to see if that can actually house the district's data um and allow for some of the teachers to explore and provide feedback regarding that so that was one of the items that we discussed um in addition we had the opportunity to discuss the school calendar um there are um some revisions on that um to be more closely aligned with Morris Hill's Regional School District um it also includes suggestions from the rtea um to move conferences to October no vers November um because November is already such a choppy um month with so many days off and a half day can I just interject I'm sorry since you brought up the school calendar I'll just let the board know right now that um I'm going I'm going to um pull that from from the agenda so we can do it further we can we get to that section is that under Administration or education page okay and then upcoming at our next um Ed committee meeting which was supposed to be this evening but with the change of the board meeting it's now going to be uh next Wednesday um we're going to have the data discussion um so that we can examine um the 10% and all of the different data pieces that are going to go into the educational program evaluation um so our next meeting will be occurring um on February 7th at 4:30 it's going to be here at the library at CMS um and I don't know if you have any questions or comments thank you thank you any other committee reports okay for community outreach uh Dr Corbin and I met last Monday the 22nd so go over some parameters um obviously we will need to have at least one administrator and you know makes sense have Dr corbette um know we've been trading some possibly for days that would make sense you know because I think we do need to have a set day um set meeting every month um you said Tuesday would work for you okay so just wanted to double check that with Aaron um but I'm hoping that maybe the first Tuesday of the month would that work for you that would be next Tuesday okay I like that so at this point barring any issues um it'll be Tuesday would 4:30 work because I know Aaron can't get there any earlier does that work for you 4:30 and then um Chrissy do Tuesday's work for you at that time if you have to sit in I'm usually Tuesday from 5:15 to 7 o' okay with that time not that late I know it's your like bedtime so would slightly later on the days that tell me chy would need to just depend on the day okay all righty as long as I don't have a conflict I'm available anytime okay all right thank you okay and I just encourage all uh board members if there's any topics you want a committee to bring up please you know address uh go to the chair of that committee and speak with them um I think we're all open to you know discussing things and also chairs if you could please continue to send out the agenda prior to the meeting so the rest of the board is aware what's being discussed and the notes after okay recommended for board action Mr Rollins cheering section left right when it was getting good uh motion to approve Personnel items who Moved can I get a second seconded thank you personnel there will be no discussion it starts on page four and goes to the middle of page seven can I have a roll call vote please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs kir laroo yes Mrs Miss mcui yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith before I answer I just gonna give up Dr Corbett that we were told to you know pause a tiny bit before we gave our response I'm gonna say yes he's the only one cooperating him in suspense Lissa did you see my head snap up you're like what I was like what Mrs Shields yes we have the motion [Music] [Applause] approved Mr Rollins would you like to come up and say a few words yeah I will try to do my best and not be emotional because I had my wife and she reassured me if I got emotional again this evening that she's going to have additional words with me I will try my best um good evening Board of Education Dr Corbett miss Lamb mckever I really appreciate this opportunity it is truly joking side it is truly a privilege to be provided with the opportunity to serve Rockaway Township School District the children their families and the community in the role of principal of Katherine D Malone Elementary School I genuinely appreciate the trust and confidence you have placed in me to carry out this charge there are numerous people that I would like to thank but to be very forthright with you this list would be too long and take time away from the other important business items that you have tonight not to mention that these well-deserved thank yous are better expressed in the actionable steps I take moving forward what do I mean by that it's been said to me that gratitude and thank you are action words so my commitment is to take the actions that demonstrate my thanks with the willingness to find the opportunity in every interaction that makes us all stronger we have a saying at KDM success is not about being better than the other person it's about being a better person than I was the day before so it's in that spirit that I would like to maybe make some commitments in action of thanks [Laughter] to my wife and children that I continue to strive to be a better husband and father to the KDM students that were here and are they at home right now hopefully sleeping for tomorrow's class that I will continue to be a better role model one who lives out the principles and the values we aspire to to the incredible KDM faculty and staff that I grow why that I will grow and learn together with you so that we are all better equipped to meet the needs and and the goals of all of our students and to one another to my KDM PTA that I will be a better partner in growing and developing our community one family family at a time to you Dr Corbett that I carry out and execute the district initiatives with the same fervor and passion that you exude in creating the most productive learning environments for all of our students and their families and to you the Board of Education that I grow in exercising the selflessness I see in all of you you spend countless hours working together to provide the best educational experience for all our families your genuine care for the well-being of each of our students their families and the staff and the other community members is humbling I thank you very much thank you I just just want to make one little comment here um actually Brian um I'm pleased to tell you and I hope I not speaking at of turn but when I formed the board of my intention to put you on the agenda uh for the January meeting I got full support from the board so we went into this board meeting and I think the board will kind of corroborate this and I hope you don't mind me saying but we I went into this very confident I was kind of joking around when I said ah I don't know if they're going to vote for you I don't know I I knew they would I knew they would U when I appointed you or as interim in September and the board actually did the appointment and approved it my intention was maybe around May or something we would if if it worked out we would make you the permanent principal there um you did a you've done such an outstanding job job over these last few months that there was no reason to wait the community needed stability they needed a good leader they needed guidance they needed support they needed compassion caring and they found that in you and that's why you were approved in January thank you for all you're doing and that you will [Applause] do okay to some more business here uh the Hib section there no action items the board was presented with 16 um new hibs in executive session that will be voted on next meeting so let's move on to education can I have a motion to approve education um and we're pulling number three from education yes so moved seconded okay so the motion is to vote on everything except for item number three in the education section okay I can open to the public if anyone wants to discuss anything in the education section okay can I have a roll call please for all items except for number three in education Mrs Anderson yes Mrs caroo yes Miss mcari yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries special education MO motion to approve special education so moved seconded without ear without there's a pause every time I don't know what to do never had this much space between the motion I can open to the public if anyone wants us to discuss special [Music] education okay let's have a roll call vote on special education items please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs K Laro yes m M mcgi yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries I have a motion to approve Administration second so moved seconded uh can roll call oh can I open to the I can open to the public if anyone wants to discuss roll call vote please on Administration items Mrs Anderson yes Mrs K laroo yes misss mcgi yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries [Music] Finance is on page 12 and ends on page 12 have a motion to approve Finance recommendations so moved seconded uh just want to let everyone know I did go into the board office last Tuesday and uh signed off on all the bills I recommend that we approve at least item number two I can open to the public if anyone wants to discuss I just realized I have not been asking the board if they had any discussion items in this section I don't think we any of the section no you're not shy I'm just wondering I know you're so seasoned in doing the bills and all of that but is there anyone else who are interested in potentially bringing on to kind of learn I know I have opportunity when I came on early on to go and kind of see what that was all about and I'm wondering I don't need an answer now but if we could consider y having others want to go and aside from the normal practice of checking them any board member can can make a time to come in absolutely just a lot of them Tanya can just show kind of like what she does and yeah all that kind of Stu I know that was really helpful when I came on to the board initially I had that opportunity absolutely to work for you know that first year to kind of see what goes into that yeah and just a note of appreciation to Mrs Shields it's a lot to go there's a lot there she goes through a lot um so I really do appreciate her time no problem okay roll call vote on finance items Mrs Anderson yes Mrs kir laroo yes Miss mcari yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries I have a motion to approve policy recommendation ations so moved second I can open to the public if there's any wants to speak to policy can I have a motion to open to the public for policy no mov seconded show of hands please you could just state your name and address hi um April poo 14 dudak Road Rockaway I just had a question about the policy 8330 Student Records particularly the Student Records outlined in policy 5756 how will they be handled with this with this new policy I just didn't see anything about that in um when I read through this one so Student Records is a regulation that's what's up and so you're asking how they correlate between 5756 and the Student Records particularly the um Student Records that are going to be kept separate for anyone who wants a new name or gender identity in policy 5756 how that would um work with the new policy uh 833 this it's it's not a new policy it's a revised regulation um and it's usually revised based on what our council's asked to revive revise which that I'd have to pull apart U yeah I can get back to you on that yeah we have to get back to on that it's actually 8330 the change is are minor yeah so no substantial changes in 8330 so how it interfaces with 5756 i' I'd have to look at post both of them I'm not prepared to tell you now I can tell this this policy regulation there's very few changes in it nothing substantial and would you be opposed to having an email come through so that way sure thank you thank you April any other public uh comments from the public can I have a motion to close public comment so moved seconded I have a show of hands please any board discussion regarding these regulations or policies yeah so policy 21 24155 that one has missing information that actually shouldn't be on here um and so I would want to pull it until it's complete and the public can see the complete revisions okay actually additions not revisions you said that was 24155 Z yes a second one here so the motion would be approving those regulations listed for first read and policy 24154 and 6471 for first read right sorry we're pulling 2 four one five just has some some additions that it needs um no problem I just I marked the wrong one I want to make sure I got it right I know it's confusing there's a lot of two5 okay okay so once again these are both first read the five regulations listed there and the two policies we just mentioned can I have a roll call vote please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs caroo yes Miss mcgi yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries in accordance with board policy 0167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a 3 minute limit per member of the public the board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate can I have a motion to open for SEC second public comment please so moved second second tiebreaker T Lissa okay for can I have a show of hands please would anyone from the public like to come up and comment good evening Brian Adams co-president of the rtea uh just a couple dates to put on your calendar for community events from the rtea uh this list I created last week in preparation for the meeting and we had our pizza kit night that uh for February 6th that unfortunately sold out in 24 minutes faster than Springsteen and uh Taylor Swift tickets combined um April 11th we have family canvas painting night here at Copeland we have the library Springfest on April 21st and April 28th is the rain date that's at the the Township Library where where we we will be handing out books and May 9th is ceramic planters and seeds so families will come and paint their uh get their ceramic painters uh Planters to paint and then grow some nice flowers and then on June 13th uh we we'll be at the Tri County Fair at the Christ Church and raising money for uh an unnamed charity yet and uh I might be in the dunk tank that' be worth it so come early and come often let's you know let's do this all right thank you thank you thank you Mr Adams anyone else from the public okay and I have a motion to close public comments so moved second in show of hands please okay for the board discussion items any old business I just want to say Mr Rollins I um was so excited to appoint you tonight you're at the PTA meeting you could tell that the parents really do appreciate the way you've changed the school and um you have a new staff member in your building who's mentioned a few times how every single day you go out of the way to make sure that everybody's doing okay and how much it means to her that you check in and she's worked in a lot of different fields but she said she's never felt more at home than in your building and I thought that that was really great praise and um I think it's awesome that you're taking on this role um I did want to mention uh the Mars County School Board Association president vice president uh foran that I had mentioned at the last meeting um took place last Saturday um it was great um event and they will be doing the next one um March 14th site to be uh to be determined it'll be evening meeting so that's Thursday yes thank you I apologize I could not make it we were visiting colleges that day that's important any new business I have old business so no just really quick I just wanted to kind of put the bug in the ear that we need to still set up our listening session for policy 5756 so I want to think about some dates um because also you know I think it would be important for Dennis to be here as well um to be able to discuss kind of legality behind the policy um before we kind of get started to to kind of put things into perspective um but I really want to do that sooner than later because I know we weren't able to do it last year because we already had an agenda full of K listening sessions and what Happ so um yeah so that's that's well meaning that we should just put in the bug any start I figured that you would probably work with them see yeah I can that now I don't know what's on Deck well there's a lot on Deck that's the challeng this is a very important conversation have but I think'll do is um it's it's going to be tough to challeng to get a a date right let's face it because everyone has committees everyone you have the board meetings you have listen session plan unless you want to look at the listing sessions of the plan and insert that topic one current topics next listing session is February 7th and that topic is an important one social media cell phones I that need to know a little more about what well but that's the point of Dennis so I think we need to all discuss that kind of as a community right now um and come prepared to be able to have that background what we're looking at and get the feedback from the community as requested so um I don't think that it's I hate say but I don't think it's going to be too much for to find some date I I don't know what's on the calar it's just we have to find the right date um how about this I I'll I'll look at the district calendar as it is now with the dates that we have now I will send out options to the board and the board can tell me what dates are not good how does that sound okay yeah and if also for the list of the upcoming resing sessions probably might might want swap something out to your point oh yeah we could look at that too we'll figure it out I'll send dates out and if I if there's a date of a lisening session I'll put that in parenthesis listening session hopefully it be self-explanatory everybody can um don't reply all reply to me were the Saturday sessions any more like any better attended last year for strategic planning than some of our evening listening sessions have been I came Saturday's fine with me I mean it's up to the board it's your Saturdays I'm always available on Saturday morning I mean I just to throw it out as an option there were people in attendance I just don't know it might be a good it might be a very good time because um people are usually I don't know if our board attorney is available Saturday morning but Dennis I'm not paying you extra but I do you want me to throw a couple Saturdays out there too then on on the as I sent out the email I'll include some Saturdays okay I'll throw out some dates and I'll include some Saturdays and then you can respond telling me which days are not good and then uh I'll confirm it with everybody okay Saturdays I have more old business okay I can all right um I had the opportunity to attend the portrait of a successful student um that was regarding executive fun functioning um I found that information to be really valuable um and helpful fore Elementary parents um there were around 15 or 20 parents in attendance um I am wondering and I don't need an answer now but if we could consider potentially live streaming um or you know having the presentations made available for like a later time just so that we can reach more families um but again I don't need an answer now you don't have to have the answer now I know that but I will say this about live streaming recently Dr M had his the most recent CPAC meeting was live streamed it was we had 19 participants it was good it was a good turnout of live stream of participants so and then I also attended the CPAC meeting virtually um it was regarding the seven major principles of Ida um it was informative um and then there was a video that was shared um special education inspiration that I found to be extremely powerful and extremely motivating really enjoy that thank you on January 22nd I attended uh Somerset County's New Jersey Schoolboard training on student achievement and curriculum um their county has looked into different models to help with diversity equity and instruction they have created an opportunity for students to find and identify trusted adults within their school and then they spoke with the staff members who those children identified with spoke to them about um the courses that they took to try to connect them with higher level courses to in order to diversify their classes and extend their um the opportunities for all students they said that they've been having great success with the idea of making sure that each child has a trusted adult in the building and if not why not any new business I have two items for new business both have to do with school boards um February 3rd is the New Jersey Schoolboard Association Next mandated training date in person for governance one and governance 2 through four are available virtually um the second item the Mars County School Board Association next meeting will be February 8th it's virtual be four breakout sessions and you can you know pick which ones you're going to go to thank you sure any other new business just I I saw the email come through for the um I mean I saw a lot of going on with the Apple be's um wire fundraiser on February 11th I know Dr cor you went last year I worked it last year I'll be serving this year and spilling probably so for from 8 to 11 am and it's a good time it's it's nice and I think the kids have a lot of fun I really like to see mcgoverin with an apron on running around that's what I go he did well he was doing a lot of work he had something on they were well yeah there was the teddy bear um Valentine's Day that's even better this year Super Bowl theme so where your jersey come out any other new business I did have one item I wanted to bring up um the Rockway Township Education Foundation had reached out to us um um and I believe are we going to send this letter out to the parents or did we already or no we did not um because I think correctly if I'm wrong Lisa has some recommendations for who might be interested yes I do um I spoke with Lisa Harland she we were playing phone tag for a while um I spoke to her yesterday actually um and then I can discuss that with you later um but she is looking for you know um um new members because they don't have members they cannot function and all the people that were originally on there the children in high school or Beyond okay yeah just so just so everyone knows what we're talking about the Rockway townships Education Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization that was created in 2015 to provide additional funding for Innovative programs services and technology in our school districts they provided funding for new and creative programs at elementary and middle schools um which due which due to budget constraints School budgets could not support these programs are proposed by our teachers and provide Advanced learning opportunities in all subject areas the programs inspired students to new levels of enthusiasm and achievement uh however they have continually struggled to find volunteers to staff the organization and have been largely inactive since 2020 their current pres is no longer able to operate the the RTF uh and if a replacement is not found um they'll begin the process of closing um the foundation so I know they provided valuable you know items in the past to the school district so it would be a shame if that did go defunct so as you said yeah I we can talk about how we might uh the best way to publicize it I will say by the way that there are several principles now that are um developing grants uh to receive money from the uh Rockway Town foundation so anyone out there who's interested um you can reach out to rock twip EDF Foundation gmail.com so I have I have one more thing I want to say if you're finished I am finished let me just jump in there then uh just I I think I mentioned this before or put in an update um I will I always go I try to go to the PTA meetings I will continue to do that but now with a a more uh uh refined Focus I want to discuss with the u local ptas at their meetings and with the parents there too um the concerns the district and the board has regarding the increased population around the district and what the district response might be for that so at the general assembly which was held last Monday I did mention that to the PDA officers and I gave them basically the presentation that I would provide also to their local PTA my first meeting is tomorrow night at Stonybrook at I think it starts at 7 I forget 7 I think maybe 7:30 but 7:00 and I I just want to thank all the PTA presidents and the officers for being so Cooperative uh this would be considered this is really the first um if you want to call it like a referendum listening session all right because the word referendum will come up um in in this in this um presentation because it's a it's one uh possible response uh that the board may have in terms of dealing with this uh increased population so again anybody who would like to come to your local I know that board members are assigned to the ptas it would be good for a board member to be there um as I present uh the concerns regarding the district population okay last chance going once going twice okay we are going we do not need to return to Executive session so we'll be adjourning the meeting and I have a motion to adjourn the meeting moved second show of hands we are adjourn at 857 thank you everybody have a nice [Music] evening [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 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