WEBVTT METADATA Video-Count: 1 Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=z4pdcGZ0Kdg NOTE MEETING SECTIONS: Part 1 (Video ID: z4pdcGZ0Kdg): - 00:00:00: Superintendent's Introduction: Learning and Fun in Rockaway Schools - 00:07:37: Students Share Favorite Aspects of Their Rockaway Schools - 00:12:33: Board of Education Meeting: Roll Call and Open Public Meetings Act - 00:14:47: Superintendent: Rockaway Schools' Effective and Loving Community - 00:22:28: Elementary Students Enthusiastically Describe Favorite School Experiences - 00:29:43: Social Emotional Learning and Guidance in Rockaway Schools - 00:33:56: DVL's Teachers are Great and Kind and Unique - 00:39:35: Positive School Culture, Friends, Teachers and Principal - 01:01:59: Personal Growth, Perseverance, Great Co-Workers, Kindness - 01:11:56: Board Meeting Re-Convenes: Pledge and Public Comment Statement - 01:18:44: Public Comment 1: PTA Treasurer on Principal Bayer - 01:22:44: Public Comment 2: Copeland PTA Corresponding Secretary - 01:26:26: Public Comment 3: Copeland PTA VP on Positivity - 01:29:50: Public Comment 4: Copeland PTA President Disapproves Decision - 01:33:31: Public Comment 5: Student Praises Principal Bayer - 01:35:00: Public Comment 6: Parent - Leadership and Stability - 01:38:49: Public Comment 7: Anti-Bullying Vigilance - 01:42:17: Public Comment 8: Character and De-Escalating Conflict - 01:46:33: Public Comment 9: Inadequate District Support of Educators - 01:49:47: Public Comment 10: Another Positive Teacher - 01:50:03: Teacher Expresses Fear But Advocates for Bayer Renewal - 01:52:33: Dean Supports Bayer's Effective and Dedicated Leadership - 01:54:40: Veteran Educator Emphasizes Consistency, Transparency in Leadership - 01:58:08: Parent Highlights Communication Gaps, Community Confusion over Decision - 02:01:12: Parent Praises Bayer's Positive Impact on Student Safety - 02:03:52: Staff Appreciates Bayer's Stoicism, Safety, and Support - 02:06:17: Principal Praises Bayer's Leadership and Relationship With Community - 02:08:42: CMS parent praises Bayer's Positive Influence on Students - 02:11:04: Taxpayer Notes Student Confidence, Positive School Experience - 02:14:52: Parent Advocates For Taking Care Of The Children - 02:17:13: Parents Praise Bayer For Helping Students Feel Safe - 02:19:38: Parent Explains How Damage A Revolving Door Does to Community - 02:22:58: Parent Discusses Positive Google Reviews Bayer Helped Create - 02:25:46: Student Highlights Bayer's Inclusivity and Cultural Change - 02:26:51: Student Explains How He Introduced More in 3 Years - 02:29:24: Bayer is Unifying Residents - 02:32:09: Council Begs for the Renewal of the Contract - 02:33:17: Rockaway community talks about Principal - 02:35:46: End Of Public Comments, Commmunications Begin - 02:41:26: Detailed 2026-2027 Budget Presentation Begins - 03:04:11: Budget Questions Commence: Rucker Program Eliminated? - 03:15:47: Student Mental Health Services New Partnership Plan Presentation - 03:25:49: Committee, Action And Discussion About Budget - 03:37:24: Return to Public Comment: Bayer, Again Part: 1 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.800 our wonderful students as they were walking by. And I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools, I see students that are learning and having fun. And to me, those are two very important qualities of a very, very 2 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:32.239 effective education. >> Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere. Students come back year after year. There's multi-generations that have attended Birwood. It is truly a loving community. It's such a wonderful place to be. 3 00:00:32.239 --> 00:00:47.600 >> Our core values are the same as Rockaway Township. Heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, respect, and trust. So, we can focus on particularly on being kind. What >> really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus 4 00:00:47.600 --> 00:01:04.159 comparison to others. Whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience, they learn to persevere. and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before. >> Stony Brook is an amazing place. It really is. And I think anybody who joins us, whether it's full-time or visitors 5 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:20.000 in the building just for a day, uh, you know, I think echo that sentiment. Our staff is second to none. They really put the kids first all the time. And our students are exceptional as well. It's a wonderful school community. Our PTA is incredibly involved. Everything we do is well attended. back to school nights, 6 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:35.920 our events, and we have a very involved school community, both academically working handin-hand with our teachers, but also I think for extracurricular as well. >> Every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high 7 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:51.280 school. And we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students, helping students develop into future leaders, into being positive role models and citizens in our community. Our mantra we live by is no walls, no limits because being a school with no walls uh 8 00:01:51.280 --> 00:02:08.640 provides our students a great sense of community. You just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors. >> What keeps me coming back here every morning? Hugs from kids. You know, I love being outside in the morning at bus duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me. Teachers who I now 9 00:02:08.640 --> 00:02:23.840 share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal. So yeah, I I think for me it's just being a part of something, being a part of the team. Uh we're all very different, but um but we we get along and you know, we support each other. 10 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:40.560 >> Every morning I'm inspired by these children, their energy, their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious. >> The people I work with makes me come back every single day. I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building. I 11 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:55.760 have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world. >> The thing that makes Scopland Middle School so great is truly the people. It's the students. It's the staff. It's the community members. It's the parent involvement. It's the investment in making it a better place. 12 00:02:55.760 --> 00:03:10.640 >> I come here for the students. I love the kids here. They are amazing. They're the best part of my day. They're the best part of my week. That's why I do what I do. I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have 13 00:03:10.640 --> 00:03:27.920 from our community. I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world. It's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and 14 00:03:27.920 --> 00:03:43.840 teaching at Dwire is special because we don't have walls. I think social emotional learning is very important. It gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and 15 00:03:43.840 --> 00:04:00.400 that helps the whole child. If you've never taught at another school and you come to Birwood, you honestly never want to leave Birwood. You walk into this building and it's a family. We're all together. We're all happy. We're smiling. Nobody's cranky or miserable. We're here together for each 16 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:16.959 other. One of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here. I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade. And I get to work with them on a deeper level 17 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:34.160 on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love. After teaching for 25 years, I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day. Any 18 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:50.240 good lesson makes me feel alive. Going to the soccer games, the football games, seeing my students outside the classroom. I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are, the relationship that we build together, the better they're going to do in class. Not not only enjoy their 19 00:04:50.240 --> 00:05:09.919 time in class, but also take risks. It's a really great environment here at KDM. My co-workers are great. The students every day, they make me laugh. One thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset. I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math. They were really negative 20 00:05:09.919 --> 00:05:25.680 self-talking, saying that they can't do this. And so, basically throughout the whole year, we worked on just changing that mindset. One of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other. One of my most favorite success stories 21 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:41.039 is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk. I've tried to instill intrinsic love for school, intrinsic love for education. And over time, I've seen him pick that head up 22 00:05:41.039 --> 00:05:59.680 and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to come. So, we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might 23 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:14.639 seem hard, like a harder task. And I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task, then all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier. >> Our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at 24 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:30.560 home. And if they're ever in trouble, they're ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be. We have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional 25 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:49.199 maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom. And I really believe it's because our district's focus on seal over the last several years. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the 26 00:06:49.199 --> 00:07:05.120 growth and the change to the students. And what I really focus on is teamwork. So the kids are always in teams. We want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas. I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home. I want them to come into my classroom and feel 27 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:20.720 comfortable, feel like they can be themselves. They may not come here and love math, but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class. Years ago, I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics. And I worked so carefully with her. I gave 28 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:37.599 her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day. >> So my name is Jackson. >> My name is Mia. >> My name is Mariah. 29 00:07:37.599 --> 00:07:52.479 >> I think what awesome is about being in Birwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls. Like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher. 30 00:07:52.479 --> 00:08:10.800 >> My favorite is recess. My favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff. We get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun. We get to watch videos at the end of the day. 31 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:26.319 My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DVO. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVO is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice. >> I like the teachers here. They make it 32 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:43.279 awesome here. She teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned. >> My favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges. My favorite special is art class with Miss Takis. Plus, drawing is my favorite 33 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:59.600 thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Quink and I'm in the fifth grade. >> Hi, my name's Arya. I am in second grade. >> What makes our school awesome is all the 34 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:16.399 teachers we have here. They help us every day. All the janitors keep our school nice and clean. all my friends that helped me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here because we are a really good community >> because of my friends, the teachers and the principal. Like we read a book and 35 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:34.080 then we do a project based on what happened in that story. >> Math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun. My favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good 36 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:49.360 teachers. They have fun activities to do and their stories. My first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in Juni B. Jones. My favorite subject is science. In science, you do lots of experiments and 37 00:09:49.360 --> 00:10:05.040 I think experiments are very fun. Every day I'm like happy at school. When I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me. Mrs. Heath, she was especially really kind to me, she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other 38 00:10:05.040 --> 00:10:20.959 that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do. One teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my seventh grade LA teacher. I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that 39 00:10:20.959 --> 00:10:35.920 subject more fun. I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers. Math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times, plus minus. 40 00:10:35.920 --> 00:10:51.600 No matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like, people will be friends with you and welcome you into this school. One word to describe this school is probably heart. Honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect and 41 00:10:51.600 --> 00:11:11.200 trust. This is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked. It is the staff, the teachers. Uh they are loving, they are caring. The energy here is just great. It's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do. Their heart, passion, and 42 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:27.920 soul is for students, and to see them succeed. I try to find a way for them to want to be here. Even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning, if I say, "Hey, let's go wander in the library." And they bounce out of the car right away, which actually happened, then I've done 43 00:11:27.920 --> 00:11:42.480 something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel. I love the kids here. They're amazing. They're the best part of my day. They're the best part of my week. That's why I do what I do. 44 00:11:42.480 --> 00:12:00.240 >> So, my name is Jackson. My name is Mia. My name is Mariah. >> I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls. Like in school, they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with 45 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:18.639 the art teacher. My favorite is recess. My favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff. We get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun. We get to watch videos at the end of the 46 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:33.279 day. >> Our doors are always open. We are truly a family here. Our kids are just everything. >> If you've never taught at another school and you come to Birch, >> Good evening, Rockway Township. I uh welcome to tonight's board of education 47 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:48.959 meeting. Calling the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. Could I please get an attendance roll call? >> Mrs. Anderson, >> here. Mrs. Brooks >> here, >> Dr. Gorman >> here, >> Mrs. Messi, Miss Richardson >> here, 48 00:12:48.959 --> 00:13:04.240 >> Miss Tor, Miss McGaryi >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Excellent. Thank you. Uh, the New Jersey Open Public Meetings 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 49 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:19.760 business affecting their interest is discussed and acted upon. In accordance with the provision of the act, the Rockaway Township Board of Education has caused 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 schools in the 50 00:13:19.760 --> 00:13:37.839 district, the municipal 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 51 00:13:37.839 --> 00:13:53.519 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 8:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. Monday through Friday if they wish to inspect any of the referenced items. Can I please have a motion to wave the pledge 52 00:13:53.519 --> 00:14:10.320 until public session? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Show of hands. Resolve that in accord Oh, we're good, right? >> Yes. Okay. Resolve that in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, the Rockway Township Board of Education will 53 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:27.199 meet in close session to discuss matters involving personnel, litigation, acquisition of real property, security, negotiations, receipt of governmental funds. The content of said discussions will be disclosed to the public at such time and extent as is required by law. Could I please have a motion to go into 54 00:14:27.199 --> 00:14:47.760 close session? So moved. >> Seconded. >> Could I please have a show of hands? >> Going into close session at 6:03 p.m. >> My name is Dr. Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway 55 00:14:47.760 --> 00:15:03.839 Township Public Schools. I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools, I see students that are learning and having fun and to me 56 00:15:03.839 --> 00:15:21.680 those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education. >> Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere. Students come back year after year. There's multi-generations that have attended Birwood. It is truly a loving community. 57 00:15:21.680 --> 00:15:36.720 It's such a wonderful place to be. >> Our core values are the same as Rockaway Township. Heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, respect, and trust. So, we can focus on particularly on being kind. What really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in 58 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:53.360 developing personal growth versus comparison to others. Whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience, they learn to persevere. and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before. >> Stony Brook is an amazing place. It really is. And I think anybody who joins 59 00:15:53.360 --> 00:16:09.360 us, whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day, uh, you know, I think echo that sentiment. Our staff is second to none. They really put the kids first all the time. And our students are exceptional as well. It's a wonderful school community. Our PTA is incredibly involved. Everything we do is 60 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:25.199 well attended. back to school nights, our events, and we have a very involved school community, both academically, working handin-hand with our teachers, but also I think for extracurricular as well. >> Every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will 61 00:16:25.199 --> 00:16:41.279 graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school. And we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students, helping students develop into future leaders, into being positive role models and citizens in our community. Our mantra we live by is no walls, no limits because being a school 62 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:57.440 with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community. You just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors. >> What keeps me coming back here every morning? Hugs from kids. You know, I love being outside in the morning at bus duty and having kids coming up and just 63 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:14.480 happy to see me. Teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal. So yeah, I I think for me it's just being a part of something, being a part of the team. Uh we're all very different, but um but we we get along and you know, we support each 64 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:29.919 other. >> Every morning I'm inspired by these children, their energy, their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious. >> The people I work with makes me come back every single day. I hire a very unique and special educator and that 65 00:17:29.919 --> 00:17:44.880 permeates throughout the building. I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world. >> The thing that makes Scopland Middle School so great is truly the people. It's the students. It's the staff. It's the community members. It's the parent involvement. It's the investment in 66 00:17:44.880 --> 00:18:00.160 making it a better place. >> I come here for the students. I love the kids here. They are amazing. They're the best part of my day. They're the best part of my week. That's why I do what I do. I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are 67 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:19.120 thankful for all the support we have from our community. I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world. It's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and 68 00:18:19.120 --> 00:18:34.960 teaching at Dubire is special because we don't have walls. I think social emotional learning is very important. It gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and 69 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:51.600 that helps the whole child. If you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood, you honestly never want to leave Birchwood. You walk into this building and it's a family. We're all together. We're all happy. We're smiling. Nobody's cranky or miserable. We're here together for each 70 00:18:51.600 --> 00:19:08.160 other. One of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here. I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade. And I get to work with them on a deeper level 71 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:25.360 on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love. After teaching for 25 years, I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day. Any 72 00:19:25.360 --> 00:19:40.559 good lesson makes me feel alive. Going to the soccer games, the football games, seeing my students outside the classroom. I want the kids to feel at home. And I feel the more comfortable that they are, that the relationship that we build together, the better they're going to do in class. Not not 73 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:59.039 only enjoy their time in class, but also take risks. It's a really great environment here at KDM. My co-workers are great. The students every day, they make me laugh. One thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset. I did have a student that came in and really didn't 74 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:14.880 like math. They were really negative self-talking, saying that they can't do this. And so, basically throughout the whole year, we worked on just changing that mindset. One of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other. 75 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:29.840 One of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk. I've tried to instill intrinsic love for school, intrinsic love for education. And over 76 00:20:29.840 --> 00:20:46.799 time, I've seen him pick that head up, and that's why I do what I do. To have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them, and they want to come. So, we used to always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of 77 00:20:46.799 --> 00:21:04.240 lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard, like a harder task. And I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task, then all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier. >> Our goal here is that every child is as 78 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:19.039 comfortable in class as they are at home. And if they're ever in trouble, they're ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be. We have really seen over the years an 79 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:37.760 incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom. And I really believe it's because our district's focus on SEAL over the last several years. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland 80 00:21:37.760 --> 00:21:54.559 Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through the students. And what I really focus on is teamwork. So the kids are always in teams. We want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas. I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home. I want 81 00:21:54.559 --> 00:22:11.919 them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable, feel like they can be themselves. They may not come here and love math, but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class. Years ago, I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics. And I worked so carefully with her. I gave 82 00:22:11.919 --> 00:22:28.720 her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day. >> So my name is Jackson. >> My name is Mia. My name is Mariah. 83 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:43.600 >> I think what awesome is about being in Birwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls. Like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher. 84 00:22:43.600 --> 00:23:01.919 >> My favorite is recess. My favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff. We get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun. We get to watch videos at the end of the day. 85 00:23:01.919 --> 00:23:17.440 My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DVO. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. Being at DVL is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice. >> I like the teachers here. They make it 86 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:34.400 awesome here. She teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned. >> My favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges. My favorite special is art class with Miss Takis. Plus, drawing is my favorite 87 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:50.400 thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Quinker and I'm in the fifth grade. >> Hi, my name is Arya. I am in second grade. What makes our school awesome is 88 00:23:50.400 --> 00:24:07.520 all the teachers we have here. They help us every day. All the janitors keep our school nice and clean. all my friends that helped me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here because we are a really good community >> because of my friends, the teachers and the principal. Like we read a book and 89 00:24:07.520 --> 00:24:25.200 then we do a project based on what happened in that story. >> Math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun. My favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good 90 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:40.480 teachers. They have fun activities to do and their stories. My first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in Juni B. Jones. My favorite subject is science. In science, you do lots of experiments and 91 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:56.159 I think experiments are very fun. Every day I'm like happy at school. When I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me, Mrs. Heath, she was especially really kind to me, she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other 92 00:24:56.159 --> 00:25:12.080 that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do. One teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my seventh grade LA teacher. I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that 93 00:25:12.080 --> 00:25:27.039 subject more fun. I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers. Math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times, plus minus. 94 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:42.640 No matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like, people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school. One word to describe this school is probably heart. honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect and 95 00:25:42.640 --> 00:26:02.320 trust. >> This is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked. It is the staff, the teachers. Uh they are loving, they are caring. The energy here is just great. It's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do. Their heart, passion, and 96 00:26:02.320 --> 00:26:19.039 soul is for students and to see them succeed. I try to find a way for them to want to be here. Even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning, if I say, "Hey, let's go wander in the library." And they bounce out of the car right away, which actually happened, then I've done 97 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:36.559 something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel. I love the kids here. They're amazing. They're the best part of my day. They're the best part of my week. That's why I do what I do. >> So, my name is Jackson. My name is Mia. 98 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:51.360 My name is Mariah. >> I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls. Like in school, they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with 99 00:26:51.360 --> 00:27:09.760 the art teacher. My favorite is recess. My favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff. We get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun. We get to watch videos at the end of the 100 00:27:09.760 --> 00:27:25.760 day. >> Our doors are always open. We are truly a family here. Our kids are just everything. >> If you've never taught at another school and you come to Birwood, you honestly never want to leave Birwood. You walk into this building and it's a family. We're all together. We're all happy. 101 00:27:25.760 --> 00:27:41.840 We're smiling. Nobody's cranky or miserable. We're here together for each other. Birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere. Students come back year after year. There's multi-generations that have attended Birwood. It is truly a loving 102 00:27:41.840 --> 00:27:57.600 community. It's such a wonderful place to be. I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another district, but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community, the parents, the teachers, our principal are 103 00:27:57.600 --> 00:28:19.279 incredible. We're just so happy to have such a loving, nurturing community that is so vested in our school. We are family and once a bulldog, always a bulldog. I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world. 104 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:37.360 It's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to. And teaching at Dwire is special because we don't have walls. >> Our mantra we live by is no walls, no limits because being a school with no 105 00:28:37.360 --> 00:28:53.520 walls uh provides our students a great sense of community. You just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors. >> I like to tell people that when you're here, it's like learning at home. You're in your kitchen, but you still know what's going on in the family room. It 106 00:28:53.520 --> 00:29:10.080 builds like this, you know, camaraderie amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here. We call ourselves a Dwire family. Mr. McGovern, he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that. We treat each other like family and we emulate that 107 00:29:10.080 --> 00:29:26.720 for the kids. >> I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers. Math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times, plus minus. No matter where you come from or no 108 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:42.919 matter what you like look like, people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school. One word to describe this school is probably heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect, and trust. 109 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:57.840 I have been teaching art here in Rockaway Township for 16 years. I think social and emotional learning is very important. It gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional 110 00:29:57.840 --> 00:30:14.320 dialogue and that helps the whole child. I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson. The best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me. >> The people I work with makes me come 111 00:30:14.320 --> 00:30:37.919 back every single day. I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building. I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world. Every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high 112 00:30:37.919 --> 00:30:54.320 school. And we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students, helping students develop into future leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through the 113 00:30:54.320 --> 00:31:10.880 students. And what I really focus on is teamwork. So the kids are always in teams. We want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas. I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home. I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable, feel like they can be 114 00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:27.120 themselves. They may not come here and love math, but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class. >> When I came into sixth grade in Copeland, where everything was new and different for me, Mrs. Heath, she was especially really kind to me. She still talks to me even though we don't really 115 00:31:27.120 --> 00:31:43.519 see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do. One teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my seventh grade LA teacher. I used to dislike like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that 116 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:59.440 subject more fun. Years ago, I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her. I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha 117 00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:16.000 moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day. >> We are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology. Every single classroom has interactive 118 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:33.519 boards. Kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade. >> They work as a team towards a common goal. They overcome challenges. We connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended. Vanta Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here. >> I try to get everybody involved so that 119 00:32:33.519 --> 00:32:48.640 they can make a positive impact in the future. I teach US history and I come to work every day excited. I get the opportunity to mold the next generation. >> The thing that makes Copeland Middle School so great is truly the people. 120 00:32:48.640 --> 00:33:08.880 It's the students. It's the staff. It's the community members. It's the parent involvement. It's the investment in making it a better place. Our core values are the same as Rockaway Township. Heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, respect, and trust. So, we 121 00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:24.799 can focus on particularly on being kind. by being kind to a friend, helping them out, helping teachers, be nice to them, be respectful, and don't interrupt the teachers. >> And everything we do, we try and relate back to our core values. One of the 122 00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:41.200 things we are working on right now is positive behavior system. I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building. So, we're really working on being kind. And yes, academics are important, but one of the main things for us is that we raise good 123 00:33:41.200 --> 00:33:56.559 kids. The main message is to be kind because above all else, we want our kids just to be kind. >> My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DVL. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL is awesome because all the 124 00:33:56.559 --> 00:34:12.960 teachers here are so great and so nice. >> I like the teachers here. They make it awesome here. She teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned. >> My favorite subject is probably math 125 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:28.480 because I like all the challenges. >> My favorite special is art class with Miss Takis because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. 126 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:45.200 If I had to describe our building in one word, I would say we're a little unconventional. We're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success. And for every student, that's different. There are other ways that we can really show student growth, student success. 127 00:34:45.200 --> 00:35:00.400 >> I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything. It's it really the staff here um we have built a family. And I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we foster here at ZBO. And I'm really grateful to be part of that. >> Being outside in the morning at bus duty 128 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:16.160 and having kids coming up and just happy to see me. Teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal. >> After teaching for 25 years, I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day. Any 129 00:35:16.160 --> 00:35:32.320 good lesson makes me feel alive. Going to the soccer games, the football games, seeing my students outside the classroom. I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are, the relationship that we build together, the better they're going to do in class, not not only enjoy their 130 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:53.680 time in class, but also take risks. >> So, yeah, I I think for me it's just being a part of something, being a part of the team. Uh we're all very different, but um but we we get along and you know, we support each other. What really resonates with me about the 131 00:35:53.680 --> 00:36:10.560 school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others. Whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience, they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before. 132 00:36:10.560 --> 00:36:26.400 >> It's a really great environment here at KDM. My co-workers are great. The students every day, they make me laugh. One thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset. I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math. They were really negative selft talking saying that they can't do 133 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:42.480 this. And so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset. Just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it. And that's what I teach all of my students. >> My favorite teachers are probably all of 134 00:36:42.480 --> 00:36:59.839 my teachers cuz I got really good teachers. They have fun activities to do and their stories. My first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in Juni V. Jones. >> My favorite subject is science. In science, you do lots of experiments and 135 00:36:59.839 --> 00:37:14.480 I think experiments are very fun. Every day I'm like happy at school. >> We identify the interests of students. You know, what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment, moving them forward from one learning 136 00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:33.040 experience to another. Every morning I'm inspired by these children. Their energy, their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious. >> One of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good 137 00:37:33.040 --> 00:37:50.160 friends to each other. One of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk. I've tried to instill intrinsic love for school, intrinsic love for education. And over time, I've 138 00:37:50.160 --> 00:38:12.079 seen him pick that head up. And that's why I do what I do. To have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to come. Stony Brook is an amazing place. It really is. And I think anybody who joins us, whether it's full-time or visitors 139 00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:28.000 in the building just for a day, uh, you know, I think echo that sentiment. Our staff is second to none. They really put the kids first all the time. And our students are exceptional as well. It's a wonderful school community. Our PTA is incredibly involved. Everything we do is well attended and back to school nights, 140 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:44.480 our events, and we have a very involved school community, both academically, working handinhand with our teachers, but also I think for extracurricular as well. Inside school, I really try to be involved in as many things as I can. My children also go to school in this district at one of the other schools. And I'm really proud of what we put 141 00:38:44.480 --> 00:39:01.760 forth for our children. Anytime we can bring togetherness and have us all work together, both in our community and out, it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community. So, we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about 142 00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:18.960 how we are able to do things that might seem hard, like a harder task. And I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task, then all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier. Having students in a classroom that's 143 00:39:18.960 --> 00:39:35.040 smaller where you get to meet their needs specifically rather than in a bigger classroom, you can build more of a rapport and relationships with them. I like them to become successful not just academically but also social emotionally. >> My name is Queen K. I'm in the fifth grade. >> Hi, my name is Arya. I am in second 144 00:39:35.040 --> 00:39:50.400 grade. >> What makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here. They help us every day. All the janitors keep our school nice and clean. All my friends that helped me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good community. 145 00:39:50.400 --> 00:40:06.240 >> Because of my friends, the teachers and the principal. like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story. >> Math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun. 146 00:40:06.240 --> 00:40:22.560 >> I've always wanted to be a teacher. I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good elementary school teachers. Rockway I thought was really interesting because I feel like it is a small close-knit community, but I also felt like there's a lot of different opportunities in 147 00:40:22.560 --> 00:40:38.000 Rockway. I like how there was five different elementary schools, but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Stony Brook mentality. The Stony Brook mentality is something where we all feel and have the same idea of supporting students. the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake. Everyone 148 00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:54.200 has a bad day. And I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized. I love that we have a great principal. I love the teachers and the morale. As soon as I started coming up here, since I am from South Jersey, I felt welcomed and included right away. 149 00:40:54.880 --> 00:41:10.480 >> My name is Dr. Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools. I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six 150 00:41:10.480 --> 00:41:27.280 different schools, I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education. >> Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere. Students come back year after year. There's 151 00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:43.200 multi-generations that have attended Birwood. It is truly a loving community. It's such a wonderful place to be. >> Our core values are the same as Rockaway Township. Heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, respect, and trust. So, we can focus on particularly on being kind. 152 00:41:43.200 --> 00:41:59.520 What really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others. Whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience, they learn to persevere. and we can bring out something in themselves that they might 153 00:41:59.520 --> 00:42:14.800 not have seen before. >> Stony Brook is an amazing place. It really is. And I think anybody who joins us, whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day, uh, you know, I think echo that sentiment. Our staff is second to none. They really put the kids first all the time. And our 154 00:42:14.800 --> 00:42:30.720 students are exceptional as well. It's a wonderful school community. Our PTA is incredibly involved. Everything we do is well attended. back to school nights, our events, and we have a very involved school community, both academically working handinhand with our teachers, but also I think for extracurricular as 155 00:42:30.720 --> 00:42:46.240 well. >> Every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school. And we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students, helping students develop into future leaders, into being positive 156 00:42:46.240 --> 00:43:01.200 role models and citizens in our community. Our mantra we live by is no walls, no limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community. You just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors. What keeps 157 00:43:01.200 --> 00:43:17.920 me coming back here every morning? Hugs from kids. You know, I love being outside in the morning at bus duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me. Teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal. So yeah, I I think for me it's just 158 00:43:17.920 --> 00:43:32.960 being a part of something, being a part of the team. Uh we're all very different, but um but we we get along and you know, we support each other. >> Every morning I'm inspired by these children, their energy, their willingness to support and grow with one 159 00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:49.839 another is contagious. >> The people I work with makes me come back every single day. I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building. I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world. >> The thing that makes Scopland Middle School so great is truly the people. 160 00:43:49.839 --> 00:44:07.280 It's the students. It's the staff. It's the community members. It's the parent involvement. It's the investment in making it a better place. >> I come here for the students. I love the kids here. They are amazing. They're the best part of my day. They're the best part of my week. That's why I do what I 161 00:44:07.280 --> 00:44:23.280 do. I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community. I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world. 162 00:44:23.280 --> 00:44:40.960 It's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at Dubire is special because we don't have walls. I think social emotional learning is very important. It gives us a chance to discuss our 163 00:44:40.960 --> 00:44:57.839 emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child. If you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood, you honestly never want to leave Birchwood. You walk into this building and it's a family. 164 00:44:57.839 --> 00:45:13.440 We're all together. We're all happy. We're smiling. Nobody's cranky or miserable. We're here together for each other. One of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here. I see every single 165 00:45:13.440 --> 00:45:29.680 student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade. And I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love. 166 00:45:29.680 --> 00:45:46.319 After teaching for 25 years, I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day. Any good lesson makes me feel alive. Going to the soccer games, the football games, seeing my students outside the classroom. I want the kids to feel at 167 00:45:46.319 --> 00:46:04.400 home and I feel the more comfortable that they are, that the relationship that we build together, the better they're going to do in class. Not not only enjoy their time in class, but also take risks. It's a really great environment here at KDM. My co-workers are great. The students every day, they make me laugh. 168 00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:20.240 One thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset. I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math. They were really negative self-talking, saying that they can't do this. And so, basically throughout the whole year, we worked on just changing that mindset. One of the things that I'm 169 00:46:20.240 --> 00:46:35.920 really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other. One of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk. I've tried 170 00:46:35.920 --> 00:46:53.480 to instill intrinsic love for school, intrinsic love for education. And over time, I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to come. 171 00:46:53.920 --> 00:47:09.520 So, we used to always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard, like a harder task. And I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder 172 00:47:09.520 --> 00:47:25.440 task, then all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier. >> Our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home. And if they're ever in trouble, they're ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be 173 00:47:25.440 --> 00:47:42.000 as successful as we know they can be. We have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom. And I really believe it's because our district's focus on 174 00:47:42.000 --> 00:48:01.040 SEAL over the last several years. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through the students. And what I really focus on is teamwork. So the kids are always in teams. We want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their 175 00:48:01.040 --> 00:48:16.480 ideas. I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home. I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable, feel like they can be themselves. They may not come here and love math, but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class. Years ago, I 176 00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:31.760 had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics. And I worked so carefully with her. I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it 177 00:48:31.760 --> 00:48:48.559 and that is why I do what I do every day. >> So my name is Jackson. >> My name is Mia. My name is Mariah. >> I think what awesome is about being in Birwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls. Like in school they 178 00:48:48.559 --> 00:49:04.800 have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher. >> My favorite is recess. My favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun 179 00:49:04.800 --> 00:49:22.640 stuff. We get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun. We get to watch videos at the end of the day. My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DVO. >> Yeah, my name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. Being at DVL is awesome because 180 00:49:22.640 --> 00:49:39.440 all the teachers here are so great and so nice. >> I like the teachers here. They make it awesome here. She teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned. >> My favorite subject is probably math 181 00:49:39.440 --> 00:49:55.920 because I like all the challenges. My favorite special is art class with Miss Takis. Plus, drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Quink and I'm in the fifth 182 00:49:55.920 --> 00:50:10.640 grade. >> Hi, my name is Arya. I am in second grade. What makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here. They help us every day. All the janitors keep our school nice and clean. all my friends that helped me since kindergarten and 183 00:50:10.640 --> 00:50:27.119 everybody just helps us here because we are a really good community >> because of my friends, the teachers and the principal. Like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story. >> Math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but 184 00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:43.599 it can be complicated but it's still really fun. My favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers. They have fun activities to do and their stories. My first grade teacher got me into reading and she got 185 00:50:43.599 --> 00:50:59.520 me into chapter books in Juni V. Jones. My favorite subject is science. In science, you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun. Every day I'm like happy at school. When I came into sixth grade in Copeland where 186 00:50:59.520 --> 00:51:16.800 everything was new and different for me, Mrs. Heath, she was especially really kind to me, she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do. One teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my seventh grade LA 187 00:51:16.800 --> 00:51:32.559 teacher. I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun. I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers. Math is 188 00:51:32.559 --> 00:51:48.160 my favorite because like you can learn different things like times, plus minus. No matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like, people will be friends with you and welcome you into this school. One word to describe 189 00:51:48.160 --> 00:52:07.520 this school is probably heart. Honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect and trust. This is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked. It is the staff, the teachers. Uh they are loving, they are caring. The energy here is just 190 00:52:07.520 --> 00:52:23.920 great. It's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do. Their heart, passion, and soul is for students, and to see them succeed. I try to find a way for them to want to be here. Even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of 191 00:52:23.920 --> 00:52:39.920 the car in the morning, if I say, "Hey, let's go wander in the library." And they bounce out of the car right away, which actually happened, then I've done something right, that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel. I love the kids here. They're amazing. 192 00:52:39.920 --> 00:52:54.480 They're the best part of my day. They're the best part of my week. That's why I do what I do. >> So, my name is Jackson. My name is Mia. My name is Mariah. >> I think what awesome is about being in Birwood is the um the like artwork 193 00:52:54.480 --> 00:53:12.160 that's on the walls. Like in school, they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher. My favorite is recess. My favorite thing is reading and just 194 00:53:12.160 --> 00:53:29.200 doing a bunch of fun stuff. We get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun. We get to watch videos at the end of the day. >> Our doors are always open. We are truly a family here. Our kids are just everything. >> If you've never taught at another school 195 00:53:29.200 --> 00:53:45.599 and you come to Birchwood, you honestly never want to leave Birchwood. You walk into this building and it's a family. We're all together. We're all happy. We're smiling. Nobody's cranky or miserable. We're here together for each other. Birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere. 196 00:53:45.599 --> 00:54:01.359 Students come back year after year. There's multi-generations that have attended Birwood. It is truly a loving community. It's such a wonderful place to be. I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another district, but I've 197 00:54:01.359 --> 00:54:16.640 been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community, the parents, the teachers, our principal are incredible. We're just so happy to have such a loving, nurturing community that is so vested in our school. We are 198 00:54:16.640 --> 00:54:38.160 family and once a bulldog, always a bulldog. I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world. It's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to. And 199 00:54:38.160 --> 00:54:55.520 teaching at Dubire is special because we don't have walls. >> Our mantra we live by is no walls, no limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community. You just know you're walking into a special place when you 200 00:54:55.520 --> 00:55:11.920 come through our doors. >> I like to tell people that when you're here, it's like learning at home. You're in your kitchen, but you still know what's going on in the family room. It builds like this, you know, camaraderie amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here. We call 201 00:55:11.920 --> 00:55:26.720 ourselves a Dwire family. Mr. McGovern, he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that. We treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids. >> I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends 202 00:55:26.720 --> 00:55:42.720 here and there's good teachers. Math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times, plus minus. No matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like, people will be friends with you and welcome you 203 00:55:42.720 --> 00:56:00.079 into the school. One word to describe this school is probably heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect, and trust. I've been teaching art here in Rockaway Township for 16 years. I think social 204 00:56:00.079 --> 00:56:17.440 emotional learning is very important. It gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child. I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance 205 00:56:17.440 --> 00:56:33.520 lesson. The best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me. >> The people I work with makes me come back every single day. I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building. I have the easiest job in the world 206 00:56:33.520 --> 00:56:55.280 because I have the hardest working teachers in the world. Every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school. And we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students, helping students develop into future 207 00:56:55.280 --> 00:57:11.680 leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through the students. And what I really focus on is teamwork. So the kids are always in teams. We want to make sure everybody's 208 00:57:11.680 --> 00:57:29.040 feeling comfortable communicating their ideas. >> I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home. I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable, feel like they can be themselves. They may not come here and love math, but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class. When I came 209 00:57:29.040 --> 00:57:45.680 into sixth grade in Copeland, where everything was new and different for me, Mrs. Heath, she was especially really kind to me. She still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do. One teacher that made me feel special and 210 00:57:45.680 --> 00:58:03.119 cared for was my seventh grade LA teacher. I used to dislike like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun. Years ago, I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics. And I worked so carefully 211 00:58:03.119 --> 00:58:20.640 with her. I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day. >> We are making sure kids are prepared for 212 00:58:20.640 --> 00:58:36.559 the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology. Every single classroom has interactive boards. Kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade. >> They work as a team towards a common goal. They overcome challenges. We connect with the community through our 213 00:58:36.559 --> 00:58:54.000 concerts which are very well attended. Vanta Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here. >> I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future. I teach US history and I come to work every day excited. I get the 214 00:58:54.000 --> 00:59:16.559 opportunity to mold the next generation. >> The thing that makes Copeland Middle School so great is truly the people. It's the students. It's the staff. It's the community members. It's the parent involvement. It's the investment in making it a better place. Our core values are the same as Rockaway 215 00:59:16.559 --> 00:59:32.240 Township. Heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, respect, and trust. So we can focus on particularly on being kind >> by being kind to a friend, helping them out, helping teachers, be nice to them, be respectful and don't interrupt the teachers. 216 00:59:32.240 --> 00:59:48.559 >> And everything we do, we try and relate back to our core values. One of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system. I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building. So, we're really working on being kind. And yes, 217 00:59:48.559 --> 01:00:04.960 academics are important, but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids. The main message is to be kind because above all else, we want our kids just to be kind. >> My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DVO. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first 218 01:00:04.960 --> 01:00:20.960 grade. >> Being at DVL is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice. >> I like the teachers here. They make it awesome here. She teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never 219 01:00:20.960 --> 01:00:36.799 learned. >> My favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges. >> My favorite special is art class with Miss Takis because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone 220 01:00:36.799 --> 01:00:52.400 cares about each other. If I had to describe our building in one word, I would say we're a little unconventional. We're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success. And for every student, that's different. 221 01:00:52.400 --> 01:01:08.799 There are other ways that we can really show student growth, student success. >> I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything. It's it really the staff here um we have built a family. And I think that says something about the building and the and the and the community that we foster here at ZBO. And I'm really grateful to 222 01:01:08.799 --> 01:01:25.359 be part of that. >> Being outside in the morning at bus duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me, teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal. >> After teaching for 25 years, I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a 223 01:01:25.359 --> 01:01:41.520 story of why I come back every day. Any good lesson makes me feel alive. Going to the soccer games, the football games, seeing my students outside the classroom. I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are, the relationship that we build together, the better they're going 224 01:01:41.520 --> 01:01:59.400 to do in class, not not only enjoy their time in class, but also take risks. >> So, yeah, I I think for me it's just being a part of something, being a part of the team. Uh we're all very different, but um but we we get along and, you know, we support each other. 225 01:02:02.880 --> 01:02:19.599 What really resonates with me about the school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others. Whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience, they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have 226 01:02:19.599 --> 01:02:35.920 seen before. >> It's a really great environment here at KDM. My co-workers are great. The students every day, they make me laugh. One thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset. I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math. They were really negative 227 01:02:35.920 --> 01:02:51.359 selft talking saying that they can't do this. And so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset. Just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it. And that's what I teach all of my students. 228 01:02:51.359 --> 01:03:08.079 >> My favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers. They have fun activities to do and their stories. My first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in Juni B. Jones. >> My favorite subject is science. In 229 01:03:08.079 --> 01:03:24.240 science, you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun. Every day I'm like happy at school. >> We identify the interests of students. You know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment moving them 230 01:03:24.240 --> 01:03:42.480 forward from one learning experience to another. Every morning I'm inspired by these children. Their energy, their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious. >> One of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is 231 01:03:42.480 --> 01:03:58.160 about kindness and you know being good friends to each other. One of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk. I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school, intrinsic 232 01:03:58.160 --> 01:04:21.440 love for education. And over time, I've seen him pick that head up. And that's why I do what I do. To have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them, and they want to come. Stony Brook is an amazing place. It really is. And I think anybody who joins 233 01:04:21.440 --> 01:04:37.440 us, whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day, uh, you know, I think echo that sentiment. Our staff is second to none. They really put the kids first all the time. And our students are exceptional as well. It's a wonderful school community. Our PTA is incredibly involved. Everything we do is 234 01:04:37.440 --> 01:04:54.079 well attended. Back to school nights, our events, and we have a very involved school community, both academically, working handin-hand with our teachers, but also I think for extracurricular as well. Inside school, I really try to be involved in as many things as I can. My children also go to school in this district at one of the other schools. 235 01:04:54.079 --> 01:05:09.039 And I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children. Anytime we can bring togetherness and have us all work together, both in our community and out, it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community. So, we used to always start off with a 236 01:05:09.039 --> 01:05:24.799 growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard, like a harder task. And I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task, then all the other academic 237 01:05:24.799 --> 01:05:41.359 challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier. Having students in a classroom that's smaller where you get to meet their needs specifically rather than at a bigger classroom, you can build more of a rapport and relationships with them. I like them to become successful not just academically but also social emotionally. 238 01:05:41.359 --> 01:05:57.599 >> My name is Queen K. I'm in the fifth grade. >> Hi, my name is Arya. I am in second grade. What makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here. They help us every day. All the janitors keep our school nice and clean. All my friends that helped me since kindergarten and 239 01:05:57.599 --> 01:06:14.480 everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good community. >> Because of my friends, the teachers and the principal. like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story. Math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can 240 01:06:14.480 --> 01:06:29.359 be complicated but it's still really fun. >> I've always wanted to be a teacher. I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good elementary school teachers. Rockway I thought was really interesting because I feel like it is a small close-knit 241 01:06:29.359 --> 01:06:45.520 community, but I also felt like there's a lot of different opportunities in Rockway. I like how there was five different elementary schools, but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Stony Brook mentality. The Stony Brook mentality is something where we all feel and have the same idea of 242 01:06:45.520 --> 01:07:02.319 supporting students. the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake, everyone has a bad day, and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized. I love that we have a great principal. I love the teachers and the morale. As soon as I started coming up here, since I am from South Jersey, I felt welcomed and included 243 01:07:02.319 --> 01:07:20.400 right away. >> My name is Dr. Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools. I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and 244 01:07:20.400 --> 01:07:36.799 talk to these students in these six different schools, I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education. >> Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere. Students come 245 01:07:36.799 --> 01:07:51.839 back year after year. There's multi-generations that have attended Birwood. It is truly a loving community. It's such a wonderful place to be. >> Our core values are the same as Rockaway Township. Heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, respect, and trust. So, we 246 01:07:51.839 --> 01:08:07.440 can focus on particularly on being kind. What really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others. Whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience, they learn to 247 01:08:07.440 --> 01:08:23.839 persevere. and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before. >> Stony Brook is an amazing place. It really is. And I think anybody who joins us, whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day, uh, you know, I think echo that sentiment. Our staff is second to none. They really put 248 01:08:23.839 --> 01:08:39.920 the kids first all the time. And our students are exceptional as well. It's a wonderful school community. Our PTA is incredibly involved. Everything we do is well attended. back to school nights, our events, and we have a very involved school community, both academically working handin-hand with our teachers, 249 01:08:39.920 --> 01:08:55.279 but also I think for extracurricular as well. >> Every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school. And we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students, helping students develop 250 01:08:55.279 --> 01:09:10.960 into future leaders, into being positive role models and citizens in our community. Our mantra we live by is no walls, no limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community. You just know you're walking into a special place when 251 01:09:10.960 --> 01:09:27.120 you come through our doors. What keeps me coming back here every morning? Hugs from kids. You know, I love being outside in the morning at bus duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me. Teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal. 252 01:09:27.120 --> 01:09:44.239 So yeah, I I think for me it's just being a part of something, being a part of the team. Uh we're all very different, but um but we we get along and you know, we support each other. >> Every morning I'm inspired by these children, their energy, their willingness to support and grow with one 253 01:09:44.239 --> 01:09:59.440 another is contagious. >> The people I work with makes me come back every single day. I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building. I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world. >> The thing that makes Scopland Middle 254 01:09:59.440 --> 01:10:15.679 School so great is truly the people. It's the students. It's the staff. It's the community members. It's the parent involvement. It's the investment in making it a better place. >> I come here for the students. I love the kids here. They are amazing. They're the best part of my day. They're the best 255 01:10:15.679 --> 01:10:34.480 part of my week. That's why I do what I do. I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community. I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world. 256 01:10:34.480 --> 01:10:52.239 It's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at Dubire is special because we don't have walls. I think social emotional learning is very important. It gives us a chance to discuss our 257 01:10:52.239 --> 01:11:09.120 emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child. If you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood, you honestly never want to leave Birchwood. You walk into this building and it's a family. 258 01:11:09.120 --> 01:11:24.719 We're all together. We're all happy. We're smiling. Nobody's cranky or miserable. We're here together for each other. One of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here. I see every single 259 01:11:24.719 --> 01:11:40.880 student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade. And I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love. 260 01:11:40.880 --> 01:11:56.080 After teaching for 25 years, I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day. Any good lesson makes me feel alive. Going to the soccer games. >> Please get a motion to come out of close session. >> So moved. 261 01:11:56.080 --> 01:12:17.120 >> Second. Show of hands, please. >> Thank you. Can we please stand for the pledge? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and 262 01:12:17.120 --> 01:12:44.560 justice for all. >> Good evening everyone. Before I open public comment, I would like to take a moment to make a brief statement on behalf of the board of education. In recent weeks, we have received in various forms a lot of communication regarding contract 263 01:12:44.560 --> 01:13:00.640 renewals and non-renewals. We appreciate and value the community's communication, feelings, and opinions. In no way do we ever want to discourage anyone from approaching the board of education at a meeting or via boardmail regarding an 264 01:13:00.640 --> 01:13:16.400 issue that is important to them and the district. Our district thrives on communication and as much transparency as we can give within legal and ethical limits. We believe that many of the comments that will be presented tonight will be regarding the non-renewal of Mr. 265 01:13:16.400 --> 01:13:33.440 Dustin Bayer's contract as principal of Copeland Middle School. We welcome those comments and we are here to listen to all of them. It is important to note though that the decision to renew Mr. Bayer's contract was not one that was made arbitrarily or within a vacuum. I 266 01:13:33.440 --> 01:13:48.800 have served on the board of education since 2024 and I can confidently say that the Rockaway Township Board of Education makes decisions in all matters only after being presented with documented evidence that is corroborated by objective records and direct 267 01:13:48.800 --> 01:14:04.719 observations. We take our duty to serve the best interests of our students and our district seriously. Decisions such as this one are not something that we take lightly. During executive sessions throughout the year, we spend hours reviewing confidential 268 01:14:04.719 --> 01:14:21.440 information about the conduct of employees and students to ensure that we are making progress toward our mission, which is to nurture a supportive culture, embracing individual diversity that will ensure academic, social, and emotional success for all. We believe 269 01:14:21.440 --> 01:14:36.400 that we have been making strides in that direction and will continue supporting and building a culture for our students to thrive in. The entire purpose of executive session before and sometimes after each board meeting is to discuss confidential 270 01:14:36.400 --> 01:14:52.400 matters such as contracts and personnel. That is why they are closed sessions. When considering both renewals and non-renewals, we make sure to ask questions and consider the facts as well as the voices of the community so that with every decision we make, we can be 271 01:14:52.400 --> 01:15:07.679 confident that it is in the best interests of our students and our district based on what we know. This non-renewal decision is no different in the care and diligence with which we approach our responsibilities. However, it is important to clarify the 272 01:15:07.679 --> 01:15:24.080 process by which such decisions occur. In New Jersey, personnel recommendations are developed through the district's administrative process. The board of education does not initiate non-renewals, nor can it reappoint a teacher or principal without a superintendent's recommendation. This is 273 01:15:24.080 --> 01:15:42.080 a collaborative process grounded in both administrative evaluation and board governance and it reflects our shared responsibility to act in the best interests of our students and the district. There is no separate vote on this matter on tonight's agenda. We 274 01:15:42.080 --> 01:15:59.040 understand that this situation is difficult based on many of the feelings that the community has shared with us. While we cannot share specifics regarding this decision based on legal guidance, what we can say is that each member of this board was elected to exercise sound judgment and to carry out 275 01:15:59.040 --> 01:16:15.840 that responsibility with integrity. We appreciate the trust you have put in us thus far and we hope that will continue. As I stated earlier, we are here to listen to your comments and we welcome them always. We hope that you continue to be as passionate about being involved 276 01:16:15.840 --> 01:16:32.159 in the district decisions and discussions going forward as you have been with this matter. In just a moment, I will be reading the official opening for public comment, but I would like to remind everyone to please state your name and your address clearly. I believe many of you have already signed in on a 277 01:16:32.159 --> 01:16:51.679 sign-in sheet. If you are planning to speak and you have not signed in on the sign-in sheet, please do so. Once you have spoken your name and address clearly into the microphone, please remember that you have only three minutes maximum. There will be a timer 278 01:16:51.679 --> 01:17:08.960 on the screen behind me. At 3 minutes, we ask that you conclude your statements. Please, everybody is given exactly three minutes. That's why we put the timer behind us. Please also remember that we are all community members and neighbors and that we should be respectful of one another. 279 01:17:08.960 --> 01:17:24.080 During the course of the board meeting, the Rockaway Township Board of Education offers members of the public an opportunity to address issues regarding the operations of the Rockaway Township Public Schools. The board reminds those individuals who take this opportunity to 280 01:17:24.080 --> 01:17:40.560 identify themselves by name and address and to limit their comments to items listed on the agenda and or items directly related to the operations of the school district. Issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All comments 281 01:17:40.560 --> 01:17:57.040 will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate. The board asked that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be 282 01:17:57.040 --> 01:18:13.760 responded to by the board. Students and employees have specific rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility, nor will it be liable for any comments made by the members of the public. Members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those 283 01:18:13.760 --> 01:18:29.360 affected or identified in the comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. In accordance with board policy 0167, public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a 3minut limit per member 284 01:18:29.360 --> 01:18:44.480 of the public. The board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate. Can I please have a motion to open public comment? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Show of hands. 285 01:18:44.480 --> 01:19:09.920 I invite you. Uh I believe Miss West is going to call off names in order that they were put on the sheet. Is that correct? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Excellent. >> Jennifer Skolski. >> My daughter made this. I was going to put that there because it's sweet. 286 01:19:09.920 --> 01:19:27.120 Okay, I'm ready. Jennifer Skolski, 164 Valley View Drive, Copeland PTA treasurer. I want to start by recognizing that this board is a group of volunteers. And there is something special about the personality type of a volunteer. I am 287 01:19:27.120 --> 01:19:42.880 one, too. We want to make a difference, promote change. We tend to act unselfishly and advocate intensely for things that we believe are right and just. It's a personality type. You ran for this position because you care enough to put yourself out there and 288 01:19:42.880 --> 01:19:59.600 volunteer your unpaid unpaid time even during difficult times like this. I want to thank you for that and I hope that everybody here also appreciates that. Now I want to get into exactly why we're here. We are hoping that the 289 01:19:59.600 --> 01:20:15.920 voices of this community will help you gain a greater understanding of how important Principal Bayer is to the culture at Copeland. My son is here tonight. Um he's going to hate me talking about him, but um the young man sitting before you today is not the same person that I put into this school two 290 01:20:15.920 --> 01:20:30.080 and a half years ago. He's happier. He has a strong network of friends. He's self-reliant and confident in ways I could hardly dream for him before. He thrived because his environment opened doors for him. An environment that I 291 01:20:30.080 --> 01:20:46.880 contribute to Mr. Bayer. This petition, this one here, was created uh in response to community outreach to us, the PTA board. Uh at this point, we have over 800 signatures, which is unprecedented in a situation 292 01:20:46.880 --> 01:21:03.040 like this in a town our size. Bayer is clearly loved by the community. But it's not just that. This intense reaction is because of how drastically the school climate has changed for both staff and students under his leadership. We all know that Copeland was in a very, very 293 01:21:03.040 --> 01:21:19.199 bad place. It needed a change. Bayer introduced that change, but he's not done. It's only been three years. We have not built a strong enough foundation. We cannot afford to lose the bottom layer. The base that holds up this institution is actively being 294 01:21:19.199 --> 01:21:34.880 built. The community is reacting with this level of intensity because we are afraid of collapse. We're afraid to go backwards to where we were before. I'm not denying that another principle can be brought in and that person might be great. 295 01:21:34.880 --> 01:21:51.760 I'm more worried. Sorry, lost my spot. I'm not denying that another principle can be brought in. The climate that was created under Bayer still needs its founder. We're not steady enough to risk this kind of foundational damage. The mortar is not 296 01:21:51.760 --> 01:22:07.920 dry. On Monday, following the petition being released, I actually met with Dr. Corbett. I told him that we were asking for a review of this decision. I wasn't asking for a change. We were hoping that he would listen to the community, take our words into consideration as he 297 01:22:07.920 --> 01:22:22.800 worked with the board to reflect on whether or not removing Bayer was really the best choice for Copeland. In no uncertain terms, he told us that the decision is final. Nothing we do or say could save Bayer. We were only asking him to listen and review, but he essentially just said no. I'm asking you 298 01:22:22.800 --> 01:22:39.320 to remember why you decided to volunteer. Your position gives your choice, your voice power. Please use it for what you know in your heart is right. When the time comes, vote to keep Bayer at Copeland. Thank you, 299 01:22:44.719 --> 01:23:03.840 Jackie Bader. And if anybody else wants to sign up, please flag me and I'll come to you. >> Jackie Bader of 129 Richard Mine Road. I am the corresponding secretary for Copeland PTA. I've attended Copeland myself as a child. I was in equal parts excited and terrified for my own 300 01:23:03.840 --> 01:23:18.719 children to come here. Let's be honest, the feedback from parents and students the past few years has been absolutely awful. The things that were allowed to happen within these walls and previous principles was sickening. But don't worry, we didn't fire him, we promoted 301 01:23:18.719 --> 01:23:35.440 him. But I digress. I am just here to discuss how my sixth and seventh graders are absolutely thriving here because of Principal Bayer. Copeland has had a busy transformative year under the new PTA and so much of our success is directly 302 01:23:35.440 --> 01:23:52.880 tied to his leadership. As a board we have re uh we relied heavily on his guidance. He has consistently presented has been present, approachable and supportive, helping us navigate challenges while keeping us focused on what matters most, the children. 303 01:23:52.880 --> 01:24:08.400 He encourages PTA events not just to raise money but build a real community. With his support, we brought back the book fair. Despite time constraints, we raised over $3,000 that's going directly back to the children of this school. He welcomed us into the lunchroom to 304 01:24:08.400 --> 01:24:26.800 showcase our spirit wear. Excitement was um contagious by all children. You cannot walk through these hallways today without seeing kids decked out in our new schools defectious. He is actively challenging the culture of changing the culture of this school. 305 01:24:26.800 --> 01:24:43.520 He and Miss Champagne started Builders of the Month, recognizing students for honesty, empathy, and doing the right thing when no one is watching. He launched Cougar Climb, giving the seventh and eighth graders targeted um support in ELA and math to help them gain credit and improve their grades to 306 01:24:43.520 --> 01:24:59.520 pass through this school and move on to be better children. He created the builder community builders committee to bring staff together and improve the school climate and discuss culture and climate changes and code of conduct. He spearheaded the 307 01:24:59.520 --> 01:25:15.280 committee to make pause and recess period productive positive. Bringing something so simple yet powerful as recess to middle schoolers. If you've heard been in the cafeteria and you've heard when Larry announces it's recess time, you absolutely know the excitement 308 01:25:15.280 --> 01:25:31.920 when they the eruption or roars that they are how excited Bayer is there with the kids. When the seventh grade field trip was canceled due to a snowstorm, he didn't shrug it off. He made phone calls. He fought for it. He ensured every student still had an experience without asking families to pay an extra 309 01:25:31.920 --> 01:25:47.679 dime. Let's be clear. Do not let other people in this room take credit for these wonderful things Mr. Mr. Bayer has started. Mr. Bayer is available to staff and students and us as PTA every single day. He is calm. He is present. He is strong leader with a big heart. He holds 310 01:25:47.679 --> 01:26:04.480 people high standards, but he does that high st standards in a supportive way. He is exactly the type of person that you want in this charge of this middle school. Because Dr. Corbett decided to appoint Mr. Bayer three years ago, we have witnessed a drastic, meaningful, deeply necessary change. The students 311 01:26:04.480 --> 01:26:26.719 are thriving. The culture has shifted. It's all because of these reasons that we are deeply upset and profoundly disappointed to learn that Mr. >> is being removed. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, >> Christine Graasso. And again, if anybody who walked in wants to speak, flag me 312 01:26:26.719 --> 01:26:45.440 down. Hi, Christine Graasso. I'm at 65 Omaha Avenue. My son is a seventh grader. I'm also the PTA vice president. Principal Dustin Bayer has been wonderful and accommodating to work with from the PTA perspective. As a parent, 313 01:26:45.440 --> 01:27:01.199 like many, we were nervous to send our son to a school that previously had a bad reputation, but we were pleasantly surprised when he transitioned quite well to a very positive culture. Um, as the others have stated, the general consensus in the community is that Mr. 314 01:27:01.199 --> 01:27:17.760 Bayer turned the school around in the last three years. I've spoken to many parents of ninth graders whose children said there were no rules before Mr. Bayer's time and now there are rules. I heard from a former teacher that students who were sent to the prior principal's office were not disciplined 315 01:27:17.760 --> 01:27:33.040 and came back to class laughing. Now there are consequences. I have comments to read from a teacher who wished to remain anonymous. This is due to fear of retaliation or being fired from upper admin in the district. 316 01:27:33.040 --> 01:27:50.159 I am standing here today because I am not at risk of being fired and I can speak up for others who feel they cannot. This teacher said, "I cannot overstate the level of professionalism with which Dustin treats the faculty, whether it's 317 01:27:50.159 --> 01:28:07.199 in a formal setting like an observation or post observation conference or an informal one like a quick question in the hallway or in his office between classes. He truly listens and even when giving an answer he knows we won't like, he is empathetic and kind in his 318 01:28:07.199 --> 01:28:24.800 response. He consistently stands behind his teachers and supports our professional decision-making with other admin students and parents. And when the leader of your building respects your ability to do your job and do it well, it affords you a level of peace and 319 01:28:24.800 --> 01:28:40.560 autonomy that unsurprisingly allows you to focus on the day-to-day responsibilities instead of looking over your shoulder, afraid of making even the slightest mistake. No one needs that. None of that toxicity exists in Dustin 320 01:28:40.560 --> 01:28:55.840 Bayer's CMS. I wanted to just share this from the teachers lounge this week. Furthermore, one of the biggest obstacles that regularly gets in the way of effective instruction is student behavior. The overhauling of the student 321 01:28:55.840 --> 01:29:13.280 code of conduct and the consistency with which it is carried out has made a marketked difference in limiting and preventing undesired behaviors that simply did not exist under previous leadership. The positive ca change in 322 01:29:13.280 --> 01:29:29.760 culture of the entire building is palpable. We cannot go backwards. Instead, we must move forward with the same person at the helm to continue with the posit positive change that he has fostered in just three years. Imagine 323 01:29:29.760 --> 01:29:50.080 where we could be in three more. Thank you, and I hope the board reconsiders and renews Dustin Bayer's contract. >> Thank you. I'm not three minutes. I'm not three minutes. Dang it. Okay, I 324 01:29:50.080 --> 01:30:07.440 could do this. Michelle Kesp, 55 Kings Road. I am the Copeland PTA president. I am very fortunate to have a schedule that allows me to volunteer all the time. I am here all the time. Everybody knows me, custodians, everybody. I am here so often that I can personally 325 01:30:07.440 --> 01:30:22.719 attest to the positive vibe that has been created here by the current administration. I've also gotten to know Mr. Bayer over the last two years as I am also the parent liaison for the culture and climate group and I am the PTA president. That is why I was shocked 326 01:30:22.719 --> 01:30:39.840 at the news that that his contract was not being renewed. Our PTA board immediately jumped into action, as you know, and we got a petition with 800 signatures. And you don't get 800 signatures if you're doing a bad job. At our last PTA general assembly with Dr. 327 01:30:39.840 --> 01:30:56.639 Corbett, he told us this was a done deal. How is that possible? No reasons, no answers, just a done deal. And this is a big decision. And I, not just myself, we have questions. So, I'm asking the board because you are our eyes and our ears. 328 01:30:56.639 --> 01:31:13.520 Did Mr. Bayer's evaluation suddenly decline? Was he offered a corrective plan of action? A superintendent's job is to mentor principles. Did Dr. Corbett offer to mentor him? Mr. Bayer's still in the school, so I don't see how there could be something significant enough to 329 01:31:13.520 --> 01:31:28.639 outweigh the damage that this decision will cause. That staff morale, student stability, and community confidence. And what concerns us most is what has already happened in the response to this decision. I have had so many people 330 01:31:28.639 --> 01:31:44.480 approach me more than you can even imagine that want to support Mr. surveyor, but they are afraid. Afraid of their jobs, afraid of retaliation, afraid of being transferred, afraid of higher administration, whether attended 331 01:31:44.480 --> 01:31:59.920 or not, when that many educators feel that they cannot publicly support a leader they respect, that reflects a culture of fear, not trust. And we have an acronym in this town and our kids are taught at a very young age to not bully 332 01:31:59.920 --> 01:32:15.840 anybody, do not intimidate, to lead with heart. And I am not the only one who does not trust the higher administration. And now there's a loss of respect for this institution especially after this immense growth. And how can we accept acceptance when there's a decision that's made in the 333 01:32:15.840 --> 01:32:32.560 opposite of values that we teach? And I feel empathy for our children. And I feel empathy for anybody who has felt silence. It is unbelievable. I cannot imagine. And honesty does matter. You know what? I asked Mr. Bayer if he would 334 01:32:32.560 --> 01:32:48.880 continue to work after this was reversed. And you know what he told me? He said, "I have to. I feel obligated for people who supported me and I owe it to them and I owe it to our kids." That is leadership. That is integrity and that is what we want leading our 335 01:32:48.880 --> 01:33:05.760 children. I urge this board to deeply deeply look on this decision and how it was made because this message it sends to the community because the truth is whatever is happening is going to surface and when it does I hope every person involved can honestly say that 336 01:33:05.760 --> 01:33:31.120 they acted with the best interest of our children. Thank you. Thank you. Mika Bader Mika Bader 129 Richard Mine Road. Hi, I'm Ma Bader. I would like Mr. Bayer to 337 01:33:31.120 --> 01:33:47.760 stay our principal because I've I was very scared to come to Copeland, but my older brother told me that it was better now and it was more fun because of Mr. Bayer. Also, he always looks happy and 338 01:33:47.760 --> 01:34:02.960 approachable because of the the smile on his face. I always know I can go up to him and talk about anything. Other thing another thing he did was he he's the one 339 01:34:02.960 --> 01:34:19.199 who created Paws and now I can have recess and I love recess. Did you know that Mr. Bear and Mr. Young used their own personal time to shovel a family's driveway after a a major snowstorm just 340 01:34:19.199 --> 01:34:34.880 so a child could get to school and a sick mother could get to work. They have also personally delivered food to the students who were coming to school hungry. This is just some reasons why I 341 01:34:34.880 --> 01:35:00.280 want Mr. Bear to stay my principal. >> Thank you. Asha Abaza. And if anybody else wants to sign in, please flag me down. Good evening. My name is Asha Abaza, 6 Eastart Street. 342 01:35:00.719 --> 01:35:16.400 So, my wife and I built a house in Rockaway 25 years ago. I have a daughter Porsche 12 years old in Copeland. Daughter Bianca 8 years old in Birwood. 343 01:35:16.400 --> 01:35:31.920 First and foremost, I want to share with you that we're not here tonight to challenge you. We thank you. We're here as parents, calm, committed, and deeply invested in the future of our children. 344 01:35:31.920 --> 01:35:48.400 We come with respect for the responsibility you carry and with a shared goal to ensure that every decision made reflects what is best for our students. At the center of that responsibility is a proposed non-renewal of principal 345 01:35:48.400 --> 01:36:04.800 Bayer's contract. This is just not a personal decision. It's a decision that will shape the culture, stability, and direction of Copeland Middle School for years to come. For our children, current and future, 346 01:36:04.800 --> 01:36:19.920 this matters more than anything else. Principal Bayer has earned the trust of this community, not through words, but through consistent leadership, proven commitment, and a clear focus on student 347 01:36:19.920 --> 01:36:37.600 success. Our children know him. Our families trust him, and the trust is not easily built. It is the result of history, merit, and demonstrated qualifications. We are here tonight to make sure that 348 01:36:37.600 --> 01:36:53.440 trust is seen, heard, and fully considered. We also ask the board to carefully reflect on recent decisions that have impacted our district. Under Dr. Corbett's leadership, there have been some choices that raise 349 01:36:53.440 --> 01:37:09.520 concern among parents. A clear example is Birwood Grammar School, where significant disruption has occurred over the past year following administrative changes. Not many parents know that there's been 350 01:37:09.520 --> 01:37:25.840 a a hiring of a new principal in Birwood and now a required additional $33,000 a year for a coach to help this principal. This has not only stained resources but 351 01:37:25.840 --> 01:37:42.639 raised uh strained resources but also raised questions about judgment and long-term planning. Teachers and staff are resigning from Birwood at an alarming rate. This should be a concern to the board. We are not bringing this up to 352 01:37:42.639 --> 01:37:59.840 criticize. We are bringing it up to urge caution because decisions like this do not happen in isolation. The ripple outward they affect classrooms, teachers, families and importantly and most 353 01:37:59.840 --> 01:38:18.080 importantly our children. That is why we are asking you respectfully and sincerely to weigh this decision with the utmost care. Look at the full picture. Consider the stability and proven leadership and overwhelming community support behind Mr. Bayer. 354 01:38:18.080 --> 01:38:49.679 Thank you. >> Thank you. Jamie and it looks like Lennis Jamie Let's Shadic 59 Hickory Hill Court. I don't want to be redundant, take up any more time than necessary, and I fear 355 01:38:49.679 --> 01:39:07.119 this will not be as cohesive as I thought it would be. Um, people before me have addressed several important issues. So, I would like to say that I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bayer during his 356 01:39:07.119 --> 01:39:24.480 first two weeks at Copeland when my son was in sixth grade. Um, it was not under pleasant circumstances. Thank you. It was not under pleasant circumstances that I first met Mr. Bear, but I was impressed with his professionalism, with his calm, with his experience, although 357 01:39:24.480 --> 01:39:46.000 I had only known it on paper, and a resume can only say so much. It has now been almost three years. My daughter is in sixth grade, my son now in ninth. Bullying was my fear. My children 358 01:39:46.000 --> 01:40:02.719 had not experienced bullying at the elementary level. And we all know the reputation. We all know what names are not being said in this room tonight. They don't need to be. But my daughter in sixth grade has been 359 01:40:02.719 --> 01:40:20.159 victimized this year. This isn't about her. It's about how Dustin Bear handled the situation. How he communicated not just with me. Not just with this young child's concerned parents, angered parents. Not 360 01:40:20.159 --> 01:40:37.440 how he returned every phone call or emailed swiftly or made time. He does have a zero tolerance policy for bullying. I'm going I'm sure people can always challenge uh a statement said as 361 01:40:37.440 --> 01:40:55.679 boldly as mine is, but he proved to our family to many families in the community. Although I was not one to share the information that he can effectively lead in his role as principal a middle school as large as 362 01:40:55.679 --> 01:41:12.960 about 820 give or take students across three grades. And again, if I may just narrow it down to the issue of belinging, there may be many HIVs, as I have heard, kind of 363 01:41:12.960 --> 01:41:29.760 flying around. And you'd think, well, what's going on? No, they are being hypervigilant. Hyper without a negative connotation, they are being hypervigilant about behavior that is not to be tolerated. not by children at this age and not by the children that we 364 01:41:29.760 --> 01:41:45.360 hopefully all intend to raise to go out into the world and be good, productive members of society. I think it would be a disservice to the community, especially to the children of this community 365 01:41:45.360 --> 01:42:17.440 to not renew Mr. Bear's contract. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Monica Estrada. Monica Estrada, 59 Miami Trail. When my son was starting middle school, I was very excited for him, but very nervous as well. 366 01:42:17.440 --> 01:42:32.080 Middle school was a moment that I thought was going to be very scary for him, especially given the history of this school. I was worried about him adjusting to this environment. But the first time I 367 01:42:32.080 --> 01:42:49.040 met Mr. Bayer was here uh when my son was still in fifth grade and my worries dissipated. He was kind and I just had a good feeling. That's a hard thing to do when you first meet someone. My son has 368 01:42:49.040 --> 01:43:06.000 had a great experience and I am 100% sure that it was all Mr. Bayer's doing. I've heard multiple stories from neighbors and parents about the history of this school and telling me that kids 369 01:43:06.000 --> 01:43:23.440 are not were not having the same experience back in the day. My son was involved in a recent minor incident, and Mr. Bayer's gracious but stern approach was a perfect balance to handle pre-teen and teen emotions and their parents. I 370 01:43:23.440 --> 01:43:40.639 appreciated his honesty and his kindness throughout, but most of all, his fairness towards both kids involved. He successfully deescalated the situation and my son now has increased respect and appreciation for his principal even 371 01:43:40.639 --> 01:43:57.199 saying that he might not be uh friends with this child this other child had not be had it not been for the way Mr. Bayer handled the situation. Being widely liked by families, staff, teachers, and students who rarely like 372 01:43:57.199 --> 01:44:13.840 anyone these days at that age speaks volumes of Mr. Bayer's characters. I am so grateful for the work he's doing in a in such a short term and how he has turned things around. I ask the board to 373 01:44:13.840 --> 01:44:31.280 listen to the overwhelming support Mr. surveyor has had from everyone in this community. In all honesty, I'm not doing this to save his job. I'm doing this to protect the integrity of the culture that he has built and the 374 01:44:31.280 --> 01:44:48.000 long-term outlook so that my three-year-old daughter can eventually attend Copeland in a safe and healthy environment. That's what our kids deserve. These are defining years for our kids. It can make or break their 375 01:44:48.000 --> 01:45:06.000 futures and we know that by the history that we all know about this school. We could easily slip back to the challenging times at Copeland by making the wrong decision and appointing the wrong person to such a crucial role. It 376 01:45:06.000 --> 01:45:23.600 will be so hard to turn it back around. And in the process, many children will be affected. Let's keep what's working now. Let's not gamble with our kids' future. To say this decision is final is unacceptable. I ask you to please review 377 01:45:23.600 --> 01:45:46.719 and keep Mr. Bayer at Copeland. >> Thank you. >> Jack Castbel, >> Jack Kbel, uh 55 Kings Road. Um, I've been in the school for about two years by now and I'm in now seventh grade. Ever since I've came to the school, I've 378 01:45:46.719 --> 01:46:02.560 heard a lot of things, but I've also heard that Mr. Bear has changed it a lot. From book fairs to pause, he's changed it. It's also not just me who has thinking that Mr. Bear should stay as principal. I've heard many things in 379 01:46:02.560 --> 01:46:24.119 my classes that many kids are upset that he's leaving and that they all think that he should stay. So I ask you very much please keep Mr. Bears the principal. >> Thank you Kristen Lewis 380 01:46:33.040 --> 01:46:50.800 Kristen Lewis 9 North Lakeshore Drive. Good evening. My name is Kristen Lewis and I have lived in Rockaway for 30 years. After graduating from this school district, I taught high school mathematics for several years before becoming a substitute here. I have been offered teaching positions at Copeland 381 01:46:50.800 --> 01:47:07.840 and KDM, but I continued substituting due to personal circumstances. In February, I was approached by the district to lesson plan, teach, and grade months worth of material as a substitute for a middle school learning and language disabilities class. My brother is profoundly autistic and 382 01:47:07.840 --> 01:47:25.440 non-verbal, so I know firsthand the importance of having someone who understands and truly cares. I decided to do the district a favor and be that someone for these students. The board approved my long-term sub position from February 26 27th through March 13th, but 383 01:47:25.440 --> 01:47:40.400 I continued for a month beyond. Throughout, I was constantly left in the dark. I was informed that Dr. Corbett's office declined to provide me internet access, Genesis for IEPs in accordance with federal law, or even printers or 384 01:47:40.400 --> 01:47:57.600 copy machines. Despite constantly asking, I was often left not knowing if I was expected to teach the next day until communications hours after school. In addition, I raised the issue of legal compliance, as New Jersey law dictates I could only serve the same class for 30 385 01:47:57.600 --> 01:48:13.920 days without a county approved extension. In spite of it all, I was frequently commended for the positive impact I had on the students. On April 13th, I had not been scheduled, but reported to ensure the class's well-being. I informed the vice principal that I could not continue with 386 01:48:13.920 --> 01:48:30.080 this specific class due to the potential legal implications and the in issues mentioned previously. She responded supportively and I finished the day leaving material for the rest of the week. On April 14th, the district removed my shift access without 387 01:48:30.080 --> 01:48:46.400 explanation. When asked, they said, I quote, left them in the lurch, and the understanding with extra pay is that you were ours until we said you were not. However, I had not been scheduled, was not receiving additional pay since March 13th, and no indefinite contract had 388 01:48:46.400 --> 01:49:01.520 ever been agreed to. Regarding the legal extension, I was told I never heard back, so I just took that as a yes. Which is not proper legal procedure. Dr. Corbett's uninformed and unjust decision took less than 24 hours. Yet, I have 389 01:49:01.520 --> 01:49:17.600 been denied work for 3 weeks now, despite presenting factual evidence. His response is to ignore me. The district signs every email. Rockaway has heart. I cannot see that I have seen honesty in my situation. Empathy for the students 390 01:49:17.600 --> 01:49:41.400 or parents involved, acceptance of the facts, respect or reason to trust. Board members, please review my case in the practices under Dr. Corbett. Thank you. Thank you, Rachel Eisler. 391 01:49:47.520 --> 01:50:04.400 Rachel Ecler, 12 Porter Road, West Orange, a sixth grade middle school, Copeland Middle School teacher. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. When I teach about history, I tell my students that only 10% of the German population were Nazis. They always shocked and asked how such a 392 01:50:04.400 --> 01:50:19.280 small group can seize so much power. The answer is one word, fear. I stand before you tonight afraid. afraid of what speaking up might mean for me. However, stronger than fear is my conviction to stand up for what is right. We teach our 393 01:50:19.280 --> 01:50:35.600 students not to be bystanders, to call out injustice, to try our best to write a wrong. My entire teaching career has been with Rockway Township. Over the past 26 years, I've had several different principles try and run our school. My knowledge of the past is one 394 01:50:35.600 --> 01:50:52.639 reason that I am afraid and uneasy about the future of our school. I was born and raised in Rockway Township. I joke that I bleed Rockaway. My heart belongs to this community. I spent my early years in the elementary schools, walked the halls of the middle school that I 395 01:50:52.639 --> 01:51:08.719 currently teach in, played on travel teams, joined the Girl Scouts, and as a teacher, have spent countless hours volunteering with RTEA at PEP activities and other events to help make our schools the best that they can be. Rockway Township is home. When I heard 396 01:51:08.719 --> 01:51:24.800 of the decision not to renew Mr. Bayer's contract, I was shocked and deeply saddened. He arrived during a rebuilding year and alongside Miss Champagne and Mr. Young have worked tirelessly to restore morale, strengthen programs, and 397 01:51:24.800 --> 01:51:40.000 create a safer and more positive environment at Copeland. Over the past three years, we've moved in a clear positive direction. Mr. Bayer has led with honesty, fairness, and respect for both students and staff. How can 398 01:51:40.000 --> 01:51:56.480 Rockaway Township continue to attract and maintain good, quality teachers if this is how we treat dedicated, hardworking administrators? Actions like this have created an atmosphere of confusion and distrust for staff members. If the board truly wants what's 399 01:51:56.480 --> 01:52:13.119 best for our children, please recognize the value of consistency. Constant administrative turnover undermines progress, disrupts relationships, and harms the learning environment of our students that they deserve. For the incoming third, fourth, and fifth graders who will be at 400 01:52:13.119 --> 01:52:30.679 Copeland before you know it, and for every child and educator who depends on stability, I respectfully ask you to renew Mr. Bayer's contract and allow him to continue the important work of rebuilding our school. Thank you. Thank you. 401 01:52:33.040 --> 01:53:01.920 C. George Young. >> Good evening, dear members of the school board. I'm writing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's okay. >> Charles George Young, 447 Dell Place, Stan Hope, New Jersey. I'm currently the dean of students um 20 years in the 402 01:53:01.920 --> 01:53:16.400 district. Dear board members, I'm writing to express my strong support for Mr. Bear, principal of Copeland Middle School. Over the past three years, our school community has made remarkable progress, and much of that success can be 403 01:53:16.400 --> 01:53:32.000 attributed to his leadership. Mr. Bear has consistently demonstrated what it means to be an effective and dedicated leader. He not only supports his staff but also guides and challenges them to grow professionally. His approach fosters a culture of 404 01:53:32.000 --> 01:53:48.480 collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement. All qualities that have directly benefited both teachers and students. Under his leadership, Copeland Middle School has accomplished a great deal. From strengthening academic programs to building a more positive, inclusive 405 01:53:48.480 --> 01:54:04.880 school climate, the progress we have seen is both meaningful and measurable. Mr. Bear sets high expectations while also ensuring that staff have the tools and encouragement they need to meet them. What stands out most is his ability to balance high standards with 406 01:54:04.880 --> 01:54:21.679 genuine care for the people he leads. He listens, he engages, and he leads with integrity. This combination has helped create a school environment where educators feel valued and motivated and where students are supported in reaching their full potential. I respectfully ask 407 01:54:21.679 --> 01:54:37.880 the board to recognize the positive impact Mr. Bear has made on Copeland Middle School and to continue to support his leadership. Our school is stronger because of his commitment, vision, and dedication. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you, 408 01:54:40.400 --> 01:55:07.520 >> Kelly Makavoy. Bless you. Kelly Makavoy, 66 Southshore Trail, Sparta, New Jersey. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Kelly Makavoy, and I've had the privilege of serving this district for 24 years. During this time, I have worked under 409 01:55:07.520 --> 01:55:22.800 multiple administrations and in various teacher leadership roles, always with deep commitment to the se success of our students, staff, and community. I also come before you with the perspective of having served on a board of education in New Jersey, including as board 410 01:55:22.800 --> 01:55:37.760 president. I understand the weight of your responsibility and the importance of governance grounded in fairness, transparent, transparency, and what is in the best interest of our students. That is why I feel compelled to speak 411 01:55:37.760 --> 01:55:55.040 tonight. I am not here. I am here to speak regarding the renewal of Principal Bayer and the impact that decision will have on our school community. Three years ago, the middle school was at a crossroads, facing significant cultural and academic challenges. Since then, 412 01:55:55.040 --> 01:56:11.760 under the leadership of our current principal and leadership team, we have experienced real and meaningful progress. Systems have been implemented with consistency. Expectations have been clearly defined. And a more positive and accountable school culture has taken 413 01:56:11.760 --> 01:56:27.920 hold. We are seeing stronger student engagement, clearer structures, and a renewed sense of pride within our building. This did not happen by chance. It is the result of focused, intentional leadership. 414 01:56:27.920 --> 01:56:45.360 In education, consistency and continuity in leadership are essential. Schools improve through sustained vision and the time necessary for that vision to take root. At a time when education is already facing significant challenges, stability is not a luxury. It is a 415 01:56:45.360 --> 01:57:01.840 necessity. Frequent changes in leadership create uncertainty for staff, inconsistency for students, and disrupt the momentum that drives progress. When something is working, con continuity matters. I would also like to address something more difficult but equally 416 01:57:01.840 --> 01:57:18.400 important. There has been reference to information that has not been shared publicly with the implication that it would provide clarity around this decision. There has been reference to that information that has not been shared publicly with the implication I'm 417 01:57:18.400 --> 01:57:35.440 sorry that it would provide clarity. As a district, we per we pride ourselves on the values of heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, respect, and trust. These principles should guide not only our classrooms, but our leadership decisions. When decisions of this 418 01:57:35.440 --> 01:57:52.560 magnitude are influenced by information that not cannot be openly shared, it challenges the trust of the community. Honesty requires clarity. Respect requires fairness. Trust requires transparency. Without those elements, we 419 01:57:52.560 --> 01:58:08.880 are asking this community to accept a decision without understanding it. And that is not aligned with the values we strive to uphold. From a governance standpoint, I respectfully ask that you continue to listen not only to this administration, 420 01:58:08.880 --> 01:58:41.040 >> but to the voices of the educators, families, and students. Thank you. >> Thank you. Rebecca Verel, Rebecca Verel, 67 Circle Drive. Thank you for your statement at the open of uh the session. I know many of you 421 01:58:41.040 --> 01:58:57.599 personally and I believe that in your hearts that you are listening to what everybody is saying. Most people who know me within the context of this school district see me through dwire lenses. And admittedly, all of my volunteer time and attention has been there for nearly eight years now. So, it 422 01:58:57.599 --> 01:59:13.679 stands to reason that there are other Copeland community leaders that can offer far more personal examples of the positive things Mr. Bayer has done for the school. But make no mistake, I'm a proud CMS parent and I wish to offer an additional perspective as a trusted partner to other parents as well as to 423 01:59:13.679 --> 01:59:30.239 district administration. I might argue that our biggest problem here is communication or lack thereof. When there is no guidance or communication from the top, people turn to each other to make sense of it. They talk, they try to fill in the blanks. It 424 01:59:30.239 --> 01:59:46.400 doesn't unite us in a way that moves us forward together as a community. It sws frustration and resentment. There is a massive and unfortunate disconnect here that I wish you would consider fixing. When we are told that the priority is to straighten out the middle school and the 425 01:59:46.400 --> 02:00:01.360 overwhelming sentiment is that this goal is being addressed well, how can we not be confused? And to remove a leader the public perceives as meeting that goal and who's genuinely invested in the happiness, safety, well-being, and solid 426 02:00:01.360 --> 02:00:17.440 education of his students. How can these parents not be anything less than angry? You cannot discuss personnel, but we can discuss the school. Have you been reporting out to the community that things are failing and issues are cropping up and we've missed it? What 427 02:00:17.440 --> 02:00:34.159 metric has this school been measured to have failed at such a drastic change was unavoidable? Was there no path to correction or mentoring for a leader that to everyone else seems to be getting the job done? You are essentially asking your community to 428 02:00:34.159 --> 02:00:51.599 trust you that this move is necessary. How do you justify that when so much of it perceives Copeland as wildly improved as successful or at least moving toward that success with absolutely no acknowledgement of the situation whatsoever? Any trust and goodwill 429 02:00:51.599 --> 02:01:09.560 that's been built is in severe danger of erosion. We are your community and we are begging you to make it make sense. Please, we are here. We are listening. Thank you. >> Thank you, 430 02:01:12.480 --> 02:01:37.360 Jamie Ripkey. Hi, Jamie Ripkkey, 34 Kaunga A. My daughter was an eighth grader during Mr. Bayer's first year. She noticed the difference when he took his place as the new principal. She noted feeling safer and that told me all I needed to know about him. She said he was really good 431 02:01:37.360 --> 02:01:53.360 at talking to the students and handling situations. Besides that, she enjoyed being greeted by him in the morning at the door by her name. My son is currently a seventh grader and while he has no other administrator to compare Mr. Bayer to, he is thriving both 432 02:01:53.360 --> 02:02:08.560 academically and socially and enjoys seeing and talking to Mr. Bayer. I understand the reasons that you have selected for his non-renewal will not be shared, but it makes me wonder why another non-tenure administrator in the district is receiving coaching to the 433 02:02:08.560 --> 02:02:26.239 tune of $33,000. It's my understanding this is public knowledge. If this administrator can receive supportive coaching to be a better administrator, why can't Mr. Bayer if it is actually needed? Was he given the 434 02:02:26.239 --> 02:02:46.719 support to correct whatever has been deemed to be not worthy of renewal? I remember when Dr. Corbett joined our district. Hi, Dr. Corbett. I've attended several of your planning sessions over the years. We've had some really great conversations. You did tell me directly 435 02:02:46.719 --> 02:03:02.080 that you had a plan that would span over the next few years with each year having new expectations for Copeland. I think I and I would imagine the public would like to be reminded of what those plans were and how were your 436 02:03:02.080 --> 02:03:19.040 expectations not met for each year? What exactly about Copeland are you not satisfied with? What is the board not satisfied with? Is it test scores? Is it HIPS? What is it? Um, from what I've seen and heard from fellow families and 437 02:03:19.040 --> 02:03:36.960 their experiences, my children's friends, my own children's experiences, Copeland is thriving and it is due to the leadership of Mr. Bayer. I've been in education myself over 25 years and I have been under many 438 02:03:36.960 --> 02:03:52.239 different administrators and the way that I see the administration in this school working together as a team for the betterment of this school has been remarkable. I really can't even say anything more than that other than to respectfully 439 02:03:52.239 --> 02:04:25.599 urge you to renew his contract. Thank you. >> Thank you. Tommy Nicolichia. >> If I mispronounce any names, please forgive me. >> Hi, Tommy Nicolichia, 112 East Springtown Road, Long Valley. Um, I've 440 02:04:25.599 --> 02:04:42.000 been in this district for over 20 years. I didn't prepare anything today. I'm just going to kind of speak from the heart about uh about Dustin Bayer. Um I believe middle school principal has to 441 02:04:42.000 --> 02:04:59.920 be one of the least desirable jobs. Thank you. That I could ever imagine. And it requires a certain man or woman. It requires, I would think, a stoic. And 442 02:04:59.920 --> 02:05:16.400 I've been studying stoic philosophy for a couple years now. And they go by four values. Courage, wisdom, temperance, and justice. And I think Mr. Bear embodies all of 443 02:05:16.400 --> 02:05:33.440 these values. And um when I come to work, I feel safe. I feel supported. I feel listened to and heard. I feel he is fair towards 444 02:05:33.440 --> 02:05:48.080 every angle. He's going to hear what everybody has to say and he keeps that even keel temperament no matter what. He is the duck on a pond. You see it on the surface calm as day. But underneath the surface, those feet are flapping. And he 445 02:05:48.080 --> 02:06:12.520 is working to help every single child, teacher, parent that he's come across that I've seen. Please rethink this decision. Thank you. 446 02:06:17.599 --> 02:06:40.239 William Crispino. >> Good evening. My name is William Crispino and I'm here tonight as a Roxberry, excuse me, Rockaway Township parent with a daughter at Stonybrook and another one here at Copeland. Beyond my role as a father, I speak to you as a fellow educator with over 15 years in 447 02:06:40.239 --> 02:06:57.280 the field and I'm currently serving as a high school principal. I recognize the immense pressure this board faces and I value your commitment to this district. However, standing in the shoes of a building as a building leader every day gives me a specific lens on the situation regarding principal Bayer and 448 02:06:57.280 --> 02:07:14.159 I feel compel compelled to share that perspective. The role of a principal is a delicate balancing act. You are tasked with serving students, supporting staff, and answering to the community, often with competing priorities. But look around this room. The evidence of Mr. 449 02:07:14.159 --> 02:07:29.119 Bayer's success is sitting in these seats. He has done the hardest part of the job. He has built a culture of trust and a community that is willing to show up for him. That is educational capital that takes years to build and only 450 02:07:29.119 --> 02:07:49.520 seconds to destroy. We're living through one of the most volatile errors in New Jersey education. Between budget crisis, staffing shortages, and the dismantling of programs across the state, school districts are underwater. In these 451 02:07:49.520 --> 02:08:09.280 conditions, stability is an absolute premium. when a school has clear proven leadership to protect it at all costs. My primary primary concern here tonight isn't just the loss of a talented administrator. It is the inevitable 452 02:08:09.280 --> 02:08:25.760 where do we go from here? If this decision stands, the next leader of Cobain Middle School won't just inherit a building. They will inherit a deficit. They will walk into a culture of uncertainty where staff, students, and parents are left wondering why a leader 453 02:08:25.760 --> 02:08:42.880 who had their back was let go. By removing Mr. Bayer, you aren't just changing a name on an office door. You're creating a leadership void that will take years to fill. I urge the board to consider a long-term the long-term health of Copeland and choose the stability and proven dedication that 454 02:08:42.880 --> 02:09:12.880 Principal Barry has already demonstrated. Thank you. >> Thank you. Melissa Gatos Melissa Gatos non-colonial road. My name is Melissa Gatos. My child is a student at CMS this year. I'm here tonight to express my favorable experience with CMS 455 02:09:12.880 --> 02:09:28.320 principal, Mr. Dustin Bayer. I've been very pleased with the structure and culture at CMS this year under Mr. Bayer's leadership. He's supportive, communicative, and has had a positive influence on the students and parents at the school. Years ago, before Mr. Bayer was principal, I was also fearful of 456 02:09:28.320 --> 02:09:44.079 having to send my children to this school regarding concerns with bullying. I now feel very comfortable having my child attend this school with Mr. Bayer as principal and feel he has helped foster a strong educational foundation. He takes HIV reports seriously and enforces cell phone policies to keep our 457 02:09:44.079 --> 02:10:00.800 children safe and focused on education. My child also enjoys having recess and pause programs which were implemented by Mr. Bayer and have been helpful with their mental health and academics. There has also been an increase in NJSLA scores under his leadership. As a PTA member, I've seen that Mr. Bayer is 458 02:10:00.800 --> 02:10:17.280 supportive of the PTA and its initiatives and is responsive to community needs. I'm confident that he will continue to support the CMS community with my children, which my children will be a part of for the next four years. I encourage you, the board members elected by this community, to renew Mr. Bayer's contract so that he 459 02:10:17.280 --> 02:10:33.199 can continue to help our community grow and be the best it can be. CMS needs a strong and motivated principal, and Mr. Bayer is exactly that. Dr. Corbett, in your introductory letter to the Rocky Township community when you first began in 2022, you stated, and I quote, "I 460 02:10:33.199 --> 02:10:48.719 care that you are an active and engaged member in our school community since these are your schools, and any worthy educational endeavor requires strong community involvement." End quote. We stand here today as a school community heavily invested in our schools. So, I 461 02:10:48.719 --> 02:11:04.079 ask you, Dr. Corvett, is this decision best for our school community or is this simply what is in your personal interest? I sincerely hope you consider renewing Mr. Bayer's contract so that he may continue to serve the Copeland community. Thank you for your time. 462 02:11:04.079 --> 02:11:39.679 >> Thank you. >> Tucker Kelly. Hi everybody. My name is Tucker Kelly. Uh 16 Megan's Road, Rockaway, New Jersey. Uh before I speak, there is no way that I can compete with the people before me who spoke in confidence of their experiences with Copeland School. 463 02:11:39.679 --> 02:11:56.400 But most importantly, which all of you witnessed, you had children that actually came up here. Do you know how difficult it is for a child to have the confidence to come up in front of adults and peers and people of high authority, especially the superintendent, the top employee of this district. That takes a 464 02:11:56.400 --> 02:12:12.400 lot. It's not just because of what the parents instill in their children, but it's also what they witness and what they experience within this district, especially behind the leadership of Principal Bear. So, um, me, I'm a parent. Uh, I have an eighth grader in Copeland school. I'm a multiple taxpayer 465 02:12:12.400 --> 02:12:28.000 in Rockway Township. I'm also an elected official. And I'm here from seeing the positivity not only from the people in the audience that are speaking, but those in the community that I deal with, also being an alumni of 1984 of Copeland, hearing so much positivity in the last three years. My daughter came 466 02:12:28.000 --> 02:12:43.920 in sixth grade. She's going out now in eighth grade. Dr. Principal Bear came in at the same time and has always been nothing but a positive experience. My interactions with him, he's always been responsive. He's come up with plans and solutions that he's executed for 467 02:12:43.920 --> 02:13:00.639 positivity for the outcome. Now, when you really look at it, the students that are in Copeland school and even in our elementary school are around our teachers and principles and educators more than sometimes the parents are. So, when we have that positivity coming back from our children being confident, doing 468 02:13:00.639 --> 02:13:15.679 well and academically, especially in the last three years, that's a sign. So, the thing that I look at is that I don't see all of you that are with these children. And Dr. Corbert, I know that you're very busy with what you do throughout your day, but you're not in Copeland every single day dealing with 469 02:13:15.679 --> 02:13:31.280 these children one-on-one and addressing issues and coming up with plans and solutions. You have 800 signatures that are there. I believe there'll be more because of people being afraid of retaliation. You have 800 students. You have more signatures than you have students. People that come out of their way to 470 02:13:31.280 --> 02:13:46.079 come up here to show you this positivity of what's going on. This should be an impact for you for the decision that you have to make tonight. What's the rush? We could always table this vote tonight and review it afterwards because you're going to disturb the end of the year where these 471 02:13:46.079 --> 02:14:03.440 kids that came in with Principal Bear that want to go out with Principal Bear that graduating class. It's not super important to do this now unless there's something that is grossly out of policy or procedure. I've spoken to SRO's I've spoken to our 472 02:14:03.440 --> 02:14:19.360 class 3. I've spoken to other educators, those in security here, parents, people in the sports programs. I have never heard anybody say anything negative. So, we saw that there's 800 signatures, right? But what I didn't see is 800 signatures going against Principal Bear. 473 02:14:19.360 --> 02:14:42.679 I don't see pitchforks and torches here trying to have him removed. I see positivity of people that want him to stay within the community. That's something that you should think about. Thank you. >> Thank you. Chris Orinick. 474 02:14:52.480 --> 02:15:10.159 Chris Oenick, 35 Queens Road. I decided about an hour and a half ago that I was going to say something. So, I didn't necessarily write a speech, but I always taught my kids to ask questions and to stand up when someone's being pushed down. I think we can all agree whether you're 475 02:15:10.159 --> 02:15:26.480 a parent, whether you're an educator, whether you're an administrator, our jobs are to take care of kids first. It's not about personal opinions. It's not about what feels a little bit like backdoor politics. It's about taking care of kids first. 476 02:15:26.480 --> 02:15:43.599 I have two kids, twins, that are seventh graders at Copeland. My wife and I experienced the same anxiety so many other people expressed, but a lot of this is worth repeating. What I found when we got here was our children thriving academically, 477 02:15:43.599 --> 02:16:00.159 socially, and when help was needed, it was brought immediately. We heard the whispers from other parents of what the school was like before we got here. We heard the screams that we heard from on a national scale. We did not experience anything like that 478 02:16:00.159 --> 02:16:16.480 when we came here. And a lot of that has to do with leadership. The temperament, of a school, of a business, of a community, it all starts with the leader. And we've seen a steady hand write a ship that was 479 02:16:16.480 --> 02:16:36.319 veering off course. So in terms of you know a decision if a decision's already been made just to quote what someone said up here earlier if a decision's been made without discussion without information 480 02:16:36.319 --> 02:17:13.599 it has been done in a vacuum so I encourage you to think otherwise thank you >> thank Thank you, >> Jonathan Ziznooki. Good evening, Stephanie and Jonathan Sisnooki to Robert Street. 481 02:17:13.599 --> 02:17:28.719 I would like to express how important Mr. Bayer is to our children in our town. His years of commitment to our school have made a lasting positive impression and I feel confident and safe having him as a principal. I am very concerned about the transition 482 02:17:28.719 --> 02:17:46.719 especially for my child who has just started at this school and for my son who will be following in their footsteps. My child has often expressed to me her concern and how sad that her friends feel the possibility of losing him. Mr. 483 02:17:46.719 --> 02:18:02.240 Bayer encourages our children to be better every day and makes everyone feel safe and supported. He has also shown and taught dedication and integrity not only to our children but has earned our trust as parents. 484 02:18:02.240 --> 02:18:17.840 Recently my daughter experienced bullying. His and his staff has handled situation with concern, care and responsibility to ensure my child felt safe and supported throughout the process. My youngest child also felt a 485 02:18:17.840 --> 02:18:35.160 significant difference after Mcome's left Birwood and the transition to the new principal. To them, it feels like night and day. My son has expressed feeling of lack of warmth, fun, and connection in the school environment since the change. 486 02:18:35.439 --> 02:18:51.200 In some instances, I have had to remind the school to follow through with recognition, such as signing off on the kindness award that my son was so happy to get. As a parent, I have also have had concerns about some of the current day-to-day procedures, including drop 487 02:18:51.200 --> 02:19:06.719 off pickup coordination, which at times feels less organized and can be stressful for families. Additionally, changes as a recess, such as limiting play to smaller gated area with structured obstacles rather than a full playground and previous activities, have 488 02:19:06.719 --> 02:19:23.439 made school feel less engaging for my child, which is very sad. These changes have contributed to my son not wanting to go to school at times, which is very concerning to me and my husband. Overall, I am very worried about the upcoming years for both of my children. 489 02:19:23.439 --> 02:19:38.319 If there's another leadership change, Mr. Bayer is not given the opportunity to remain. I don't know what this is going to turn out to be. His spirit, leadership, and energy are truly unmatched. We do not We do not want to 490 02:19:38.319 --> 02:20:14.240 lose our principal. Thank you. Thank you, Kristen Thomas. Thank you. Kirsten Thomas, 25 Erie a Rockaway. My name is Kirsten Thomas and I am both a parent and a longtime educator. My 491 02:20:14.240 --> 02:20:30.479 three sons have all attended Copeland, the eldest beginning in 2018, the youngest graduating this year. I'm here to unite to express my extreme concern about the decision not to renew Mr. Bayer's contract. 492 02:20:30.479 --> 02:20:47.040 In both my professional and my personal experience, one of the most damaging patterns a school can face is a revolving door of leadership. I've experienced it more and more in the last 10 to 15 years of my own career and now 493 02:20:47.040 --> 02:21:03.200 I have seen it in my children's lifetime. Frequent administrative turnover affects everyone in the school community detrimentally. When leadership changes repeatedly, schools lose instructional continuity. 494 02:21:03.200 --> 02:21:19.040 Initiatives are started and then abandoned. Expectations shift. Teachers are asked to constantly adjust rather than refine and strengthen what is already working. It's pretty apparent that a lot is already working here under 495 02:21:19.040 --> 02:21:35.520 Mr. Bayer's uh principal ship. Over time, this erodess staff morale, makes it harder to uh retain strong educators, affects student outcomes. Consistency matters for school culture, for school 496 02:21:35.520 --> 02:21:53.040 discipline, for academic performance. Stable leadership allows systems to take root and improvements to build year-over-year. Instability simply disrupts that progress. Over the past three years, our middle school has made clear strides in 497 02:21:53.040 --> 02:22:09.760 climate, communication, and overall direction. That kind of progress does not happen by accident. It reflects steady, intentional leadership. As both a parent and an educator, I cannot help but speak out about the consequences of 498 02:22:09.760 --> 02:22:25.840 interrupting this process without clear justification. I respectfully ask the board to reconsider this decision. Our students and our staff benefit from stability, consistency, and trust in leadership. 499 02:22:25.840 --> 02:22:58.000 Thank you. >> Thank you, Jessica Jarno. Jessica Jarnell, 47 Hiburnia Road Rockway. Hello, Dr. Corbett and members of the board. Dr. Corbett, I have personally 500 02:22:58.000 --> 02:23:14.560 spoken to you a few times over the years and you always took the time to listen and I always always appreciated that and I hope right now you will take the time now as well. Tonight, I as well as many others in this room ask you to reconsider your decision to not renew Mr. Bayer's 501 02:23:14.560 --> 02:23:30.319 contract. As a parent who has experience with the previous administration, I can confidently confirm Mr. Bayer has transform tenfold. Dr. Corbett, I remember when you first started in Rockaway Township, one comment you presented to the public was 502 02:23:30.319 --> 02:23:46.399 how many negative Google reviews Copela Middle School had online. You asked for our help to turn that around. And honestly, Mr. Bayer has made a tremendous impact in turning those negative reviews around. Now, let me clarify that I never had a personal 503 02:23:46.399 --> 02:24:01.439 issue with the past administration. As a matter of fact, when I had to report an incident, my case was taken very seriously and responsibly. I felt heard. However, when I told many others about my experience, all I got in response 504 02:24:01.439 --> 02:24:18.000 was, "Oh my gosh, wow, I never felt that way. I've always been ignored or things were never properly looked into." There were so many negative reports on social media and through the years many parents would ask on all of the Rockaway pages whether they should find a private 505 02:24:18.000 --> 02:24:35.040 school for the middle school years. And responses to these questions were just as brutal, attacking Copeland and agreeing if you could afford to homeschool or go to a private school then do it. But not now. If that question does come up now, responses are mostly positive. Mr. Bayer has had a 506 02:24:35.040 --> 02:24:52.399 huge impact on this positivity. Clearly, as you can see, Mr. Bayer is turning this negativity around into something so much better than it used to be. Now, on another note, I would like to address a rumor that is going around that this decision is a personal decision. Again, 507 02:24:52.399 --> 02:25:07.760 this is just a rumor and I have no evidence to back this up. However, all I can do is defend Mr. Bayer. Again, I come from a corporate world and it is highly unethical to not renew a contract due to personal feelings. Heck, do you 508 02:25:07.760 --> 02:25:22.000 know how many people I would let go because of personal feelings that I had against them or for me. Contracts can and should be denied for lack of performance, job instability, andor budget cuts. And we all know that 509 02:25:22.000 --> 02:25:39.439 is not the case here. Therefore, if this rumor is true, I ask that you please put personal feelings aside and look at the bigger picture because Copeland Middle School is better than this. Rockaway Township is better than this. Let's not let petty feelings get in the way of so 510 02:25:39.439 --> 02:26:09.120 much accomplishment that Mr. Bayer has achieved. Thank you. Thank you. Riley Batton. I am Riley Batton, 9,000 Anna Circle. I'm a part of a group with very little people. I am black. I am a minority in this school. But not once have I felt 511 02:26:09.120 --> 02:26:24.960 excluded with Mr. Bayer at the helm. He greatly changed the culture and the practice at Copelan. I know that without him I know that without him the things he worked for will regress. My time here is more than halfway done. But I would hate 512 02:26:24.960 --> 02:26:51.920 for others to live without the trust and understanding that Mr. Bayer offers. >> Thank you Anakin Callie. Anakin Kelly, 164 Valley View Drive. Um, 513 02:26:51.920 --> 02:27:10.960 uh, I was the the class that started with Mr. Bayer and I can person I can personally say that my experience with him has been amazing and I personally did not experience what 514 02:27:10.960 --> 02:27:26.479 it was like before he came to the school but hearing what it was like I cannot believe the change that was made from before 515 02:27:26.479 --> 02:27:44.160 and every year Since then, it has gotten better. In just three years, he has introduced much more things than I say like most other people would have done in like their entirety of working 516 02:27:44.160 --> 02:28:02.000 here. Uh I like adding recess, helping with bringing back the book fair are just two of the examples that I thought up on the spot. Um, I've gone around like every single 517 02:28:02.000 --> 02:28:20.080 class that I've been in uh asking people there whether they like what they thought about this entire situation and not a single person that I asked uh agreed with the decision that was 518 02:28:20.080 --> 02:28:39.680 made. I have two younger sisters that will most likely be uh heading into this district and the most I can do for them if Mr. Bayer 519 02:28:39.680 --> 02:28:58.319 does end up like getting led down is hope for their sakes that another good principle is introduced to this school that can protect them from what it was 520 02:28:58.319 --> 02:29:24.000 before. Thank you. >> Thank you. Amanda Wadley. Amanda Wadley, 199 West Lakes Shore Drive. Um, so I sat here for an hour before I put my name on the sign-in sheet because I wasn't really sure what 521 02:29:24.000 --> 02:29:39.840 I was going to add. Everybody kind of covered it and did a really good job. But I'm sitting here and I'm looking at the tile with my daughter's name on it. and I have been a longtime Rockaway resident and I have five children. Um, three of them have already come through 522 02:29:39.840 --> 02:29:56.479 Copeland and I have one more to go. One of them is out of district for other reasons. Um, and I thought what I could share is just two things. One, um, the age ranges of those children are quite large. So my oldest son is 25 and my youngest child is nine. He's still at 523 02:29:56.479 --> 02:30:12.800 Dwire. My second child was here in 2017. So all of the rumors and the things that people are talking about that they heard and that they were scared of before coming here, I was there and I saw that 524 02:30:12.800 --> 02:30:30.240 when my friends had children that were coming up to Copeland and nervous after my daughter came here. I said, "You know what? Valid a couple years ago, but I have to tell you that the couple of times I had to come in and deal with Mr. Bayer when things were going on with my 525 02:30:30.240 --> 02:30:46.800 daughter was a night and day experience. I can't speak to his test scores. I can't speak to any of those things. The other thing that came to my attention today, somebody before me was talking about social media and as a long-term resident and being part of the social 526 02:30:46.800 --> 02:31:01.200 media, people around here can get real mean and they disagree on a lot of things. There are a lot of people in this room who really don't like each other and fight all the time. But you know what? They're here for the same thing. And I think that 527 02:31:01.200 --> 02:31:20.880 that says a lot all by itself. Um, if that if this person, Mr. Bayer, is strong enough to not only make such an impact on all of these individual families and all of these individual children, but to also unite some folks 528 02:31:20.880 --> 02:31:37.920 who typically don't get along. I think that that is something that should be considered. And so I would like to thank you all for your time and dedication and for listening and to just urge you to try really really hard to understand why we want 529 02:31:37.920 --> 02:32:09.040 this to be reconsidered. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Do we have anybody else who'd like to make a public comment at this time? silently. Okay. Hi, I'm Susan Royak. I'm Ward One Council and I feel compelled to 530 02:32:09.040 --> 02:32:25.760 come and speak. I wasn't expecting to. I don't understand what's going on. Why Why isn't his contract being renewed? all these parents, students, uh employees, teachers. My god, renew his contract. Please, please. The world is 531 02:32:25.760 --> 02:32:44.319 horrible enough. There's so many problems going on. Please renew his contract. If not, could you just tell me why you're not going to renew it? Please renew it. Thank you. Thank you. Mrs. Royak, did you sign the sign-in sheet? Mrs. Royak, did you sign the 532 02:32:44.319 --> 02:33:17.439 sign-in sheet? Thank you. Sorry. >> Do we have anybody else for public comment? >> Pen won't work. >> Sorry about that. >> Thank you, >> Chris Jackson. Christopher Jackson, 25 H Highidge Lane, 533 02:33:17.439 --> 02:33:33.840 Augusta, New Jersey. Um, I sent a letter over the weekend to the board of ed and I didn't expect to be here tonight and I was he but we have our fine students that came up and talked. I I felt like I had to I had to come up. Uh, hello and good evening 534 02:33:33.840 --> 02:33:50.240 members of the Rockway Township Board of Education. My name is Christopher Jackson and I have been part of the Rockway Township community in some capacity since moving to White Meadow Lake in July of 1978. I was a student of the Rockway Tantrum schools from kindergarten through high school and for the past 26 years I've 535 02:33:50.240 --> 02:34:06.000 had the opportunity to teach health and fizzed here at Copeland Middle School. In addition to teaching the students of Rockaway Township, I also had the good fortune in continuing to teach and motivate former Copeland students while coaching football, hockey, and baseball at Morris Hills from 1999 to 2019. I 536 02:34:06.000 --> 02:34:21.920 tell you this only because I am invested in this town and in this school in so many ways. While teaching at Copeland Middle School, I have experienced many good days, many good years, many good months, as well as some very difficult ones, too. The news that was received almost 537 02:34:21.920 --> 02:34:37.200 two weeks ago regarding Mr. Bear was one of those not so good days for me. One that was pretty upsetting uh to myself and many others who have come to know him. I and many of my co-workers were surprised and appeared to be in disbelief that Mr. Bear was now being renewed as the principal of Copeland 538 02:34:37.200 --> 02:34:52.560 Middle School. Mr. Bear has been tremendous in his three years here at Copelan. He's an extremely supportive principal to his staff and to his students and somebody that I believe has an immense amount of conf that I have an immense amount of confidence in leading our school. It is my belief that Mr. 539 02:34:52.560 --> 02:35:08.319 Bear is what we need here at Copeland Middle School and should be considered to continue to lead our school as our principal. I wanted to share this letter with all of you because I believe Mr. Bear is a good man and he's done a good job as our principal. I also share this letter 540 02:35:08.319 --> 02:35:24.479 because I would be disappointed in myself if I did not share my feelings and demonstrate my support for Mr. Bear. I thank all members of the board of education for for what you do and for taking the time to hear me speak tonight as well as the rest of the community. I wish you all good health and positivity through life's journey. Thank you. 541 02:35:24.479 --> 02:35:46.960 >> Thank you. Do we have any other members of the community that would like to make a comment at this time? >> Okay. Thank you. Can I please have a motion to close public comment? >> So moved. >> Second. 542 02:35:46.960 --> 02:36:03.040 >> Can I please get a show of hands? Thank you. Moving on to communications. We received several emails from in board mail over the time between our last meeting and this meeting. Do you have 543 02:36:03.040 --> 02:36:19.040 any additional, Miss Lamb? >> I do. Um, so I'm going to read them by subject and um who sent them. So we have please reconsider your decision for Mr. Bayer from Melissa Eframoski, Principal Bayer, from Kathy Von. 544 02:36:19.040 --> 02:36:37.280 Please renew CMS principal Dustin Bayer's contract from Puja Agarwal. support for principal Bayer, Christine Graasso. Sorry, my hands are freezing. Uh, Mr. Bayer from Jamie Ripkkey. 545 02:36:37.280 --> 02:36:54.960 Uh, letter for support for Principal Bayer from Valerie Girardina. Letter of support for Principal Bayer, Janet Bayiff, CMS principal, Mr. Bayer Melissa Gatos and support contract for Dustin Bayer 546 02:36:54.960 --> 02:37:12.399 CMS from Leah Azwinoski and I think that is oh no one more we have principal Bayer from Gianna Sabay and that is the last of them. >> Thank you. Anything that we that we 547 02:37:12.399 --> 02:37:27.760 received after >> Yeah. So anything that was received after we We the cutoff is usually we extended it a bit but it's usually Monday um those will be reflected on the next agenda as correspondence. >> Perfect. Thank you. So if you've sent something to board mail and you don't 548 02:37:27.760 --> 02:37:45.439 see it here or Miss Slam didn't read it, that's why it will be reflected in the next agenda. Uh moving on to approval of the minutes. Could I please get a motion to approve the minutes from last meeting? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Can I please get a roll call? 549 02:37:45.439 --> 02:38:01.840 >> Mrs. Anderson. >> Yes. Mrs. Brooks, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Mciri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you, Dr. Corbett. 550 02:38:01.840 --> 02:38:18.080 >> Thank you, Miss Mciri. >> The third and final PTA General Assembly for this school year was held on Monday, April 27th with 13 participants. Concerns raised included uh I Ready and excessive screen time among other 551 02:38:18.080 --> 02:38:34.000 things. The PTA member suggested a listening session to discuss the use of I Ready and screen time which is under consideration by the board of education. This year this this school year the Lions Club offered free vision screenings for students in preschool to grade one and students in special 552 02:38:34.000 --> 02:38:51.439 education programs. This year 191 KDM Birwood and Stony Brook students received eye screens. The Welch Allen Spot Vision Screener was used and captures information in just a few seconds after students view a picture. If a potential problem is identified, 553 02:38:51.439 --> 02:39:05.920 the report is sent to the doctor who then contacts the parents. Staff from the Morris County Office of Education conducted an interim CUAC review of our district's progress in the area of instruction programming since 554 02:39:05.920 --> 02:39:22.080 the initial August 2025 placement. And I'm pleased to report that since the 76% score received in August 2025, the county subsequent interim review has our district's instruction and programming DPR at 83%, which now identifies Rockley 555 02:39:22.080 --> 02:39:42.319 Township as a high performing district. The official HI grades have been released and posted on the district website. In October, we shared the self- assessment scores submitted to the state and the final grades can be summarized as follows. The district grade overall 556 02:39:42.319 --> 02:39:58.560 out of 78 points is 75. Birwood received 76 out of 75 out of 78. Birwood received 76 out of 78. Dennis B. O'Brien received 75 out of 78. Stony Brook 75 out of 78. Katherine A. Dwire 557 02:39:58.560 --> 02:40:17.280 76 out of 78. Katherine D. Malone 76 out of 78 and Copeland 74 out of 78. Currently, there are nine HIVs under investigation. Three are confirmed this evening. Six HIV investigations are on the agenda for board approval. Of the 558 02:40:17.280 --> 02:40:47.760 six on the agenda this evening, none are confirmed. And that is my report. >> Thank you, Mrs. Slam. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. All right. Um, board members, if you 559 02:40:47.760 --> 02:41:26.479 want to shift, I'll give you a second to come out to the audience. Giving you a second a because I see you moving. I went too far back, didn't I? Sorry. Okay. Thank you. All right. All right. So, welcome everyone. Thank you for coming 560 02:41:26.479 --> 02:41:43.840 out this evening. Uh, while I recognize that most people are not here for this presentation, I am very happy to have you and I hope it's informative. Um, Abe, if you want to go to the next slide. Okay. So, first and foremost, I always start out with understanding a budget. Um, it's a complex thing. It's not 561 02:41:43.840 --> 02:41:59.439 something that most people have a lot of understanding or knowledge of unless they're working in a school. So, um, the three main things that I always like to communicate is that a budget consists of planned expenses and expected revenues. No one has a crystal ball. We work with the information that we have and we try 562 02:41:59.439 --> 02:42:14.640 to make sure that is as accurate as possible, but we remain flexible and understand that things will change as we go through the year. Um, it's a financial expression of the district's needs and priorities. Um, we try to always focus on needs first. Um, and make sure that they're in accordance 563 02:42:14.640 --> 02:42:30.080 with priorities, but as with everything, as with budgets in your own home, you have a list of what is the most important and you kind of shift and move as you have more information coming to you. Um, it's also a living document. Again, remaining flexible. What we strike into action at this moment in 564 02:42:30.080 --> 02:42:45.920 time um creates our parameters. We can't go above that number. That is the finite budget. However, within that budget, we can make changes and adjustments as we move through the year. Okay. So, the guiding principles of budget development um here in Rockway 565 02:42:45.920 --> 02:43:01.920 Township that I administer that the administration supports is to maintain the integrity of our programs first and foremost, ensure equity among our schools, continue to implement our zerobased budgeting, which that just means that we make no assumptions year-over-year. We take a look at all expenditures, we break it down to zero, 566 02:43:01.920 --> 02:43:17.200 and we build it back up. So even if something is replaced in kind, we always ask the question, is that still what we need? Is that still meeting the needs of our students and staff? Um all allocations are made on a priority basis. Again, uh that most we we try to weigh it by mo what most positively 567 02:43:17.200 --> 02:43:34.160 impacts educational programming. And then we implement strategies to continue to meet the district focus areas while functioning within the parameters of the New Jersey 2% tax levy cap. Next slide, Abe. All right, you're gonna have to keep clicking, AA. So, at the risk of being 568 02:43:34.160 --> 02:43:50.160 dramatic, this is a new slide this year because I think it gives perspective. These are headlines from local papers. What is happening in other districts? Um, it's important to note because, and I think someone actually referenced it, this is an unprecedented era for school districts in terms of budgets and 569 02:43:50.160 --> 02:44:05.920 finances. Um, it used to be that you only saw headlines like this when people weren't doing their jobs. Um, people like me. The fact of the matter is this is becoming more prevalent not because people are not being responsible, but because we're functioning within a system that doesn't support us. A 2% tax 570 02:44:05.920 --> 02:44:22.080 levy cap is insufficient for districts and the funding we receive at a state and federal level is insufficient for districts. Our expenses are going up exponentially. Double-digit increases and we're still trying to function with what we've used in the past. It's it's antiquated. It's not suiting our needs. 571 02:44:22.080 --> 02:44:39.200 Um, so again, we were up against a lot this year and I'll elaborate on our position, but thankfully we are not one of these headlines. Our main goal, my main goal is to keep us from being one of these headlines. Next slide, Abe. So, what is the budget process? How we approach the determination of expenditures and revenues. First, we 572 02:44:39.200 --> 02:44:54.960 start in October. Um, I gather information on prior and current year spending. We evaluate the reports. We look at what we've done in the past year and what we've done so far moving into the new year. Um, the budget opens July 1. So, a lot actually happens between July 1 and September 1. We have a lot of 573 02:44:54.960 --> 02:45:11.680 information already on the year before the students even walk through the door. Um, then we verify and validate personnel costs for the district. Personnel costs make up 70 to 80% of any district budget. Again, with the financial changes that we're facing, it's skewing more to 80 to 90%. And that 574 02:45:11.680 --> 02:45:26.720 is again has a lot to do not just with our employees, but health care costs, benefit costs, things that are outside of our control. Um in December or January time, I hold meetings with our district administrators. I talk to department heads. We talk about um anticipated 575 02:45:26.720 --> 02:45:43.120 costs and needs. They speak to their main players who give them information on what they expect to need. And we kind of hash out our list of priorities. Then we go to our determined fixed costs because we have to account for the fixed costs. That's what's keeping us running, keeping the lights on, keeping the heat 576 02:45:43.120 --> 02:45:59.200 going. Um all the things that basically create the envelope of the school. Um, again, those are the things that often we have no control over. Those are the things that we're seeing exponential increases in. And then by March, we prepare and account appropriations and determine 577 02:45:59.200 --> 02:46:15.279 revenue sources so that we can submit that to the county with our preliminary budget submission. So this year, the first draft, AB, you can hit the next one. Um, major challenges for this year, 2627, we faced a 30% health benefit increase. That 578 02:46:15.279 --> 02:46:32.560 number started out as 45%. Just for perspective. So, um, this is astronomical compared to what we've experienced in the past. This is not just us. This is many of my peers reporting the same information. Um, and when I tell you that we were told 579 02:46:32.560 --> 02:46:48.640 they've done what they can, we went out to market. we we tried everything we could and this is our best offer based on your experience based on your utilization which is extremely frustrating to hear because we have insurance to be utilized. So again these are we we categorize these as fixed 580 02:46:48.640 --> 02:47:04.720 costs because our negotiating power is not high. Um we have the 3.4 to 4.4% salary increases. Again when you consider a 2% tax levy cap, how does that jive? And 3.4 to 4.4% is not out of line. It's, you know, we 581 02:47:04.720 --> 02:47:20.560 have cost of living to account for. We want employees who want to work here and who are happy. Um, we have a 15% increase in property casualty insurance. Um, we are actually part of a consortium, so we do better than most. So, again, 15% sounds high, but we do what we can to make sure we're getting 582 02:47:20.560 --> 02:47:36.960 the best numbers. Um, 12% energy cost increases, and that's for gas, electric, the whole the whole group. Um, and then we have 3.58% increase for transportation contract costs. So that is uh considered the CPI rate. It's set by the state and that means that every 583 02:47:36.960 --> 02:47:52.960 contract we have for an outside company to conduct a bus route for us is allowed to go up 3.58%. So again, we're capped at two, but they're allowed to go up 3.58. Um and then we have 3% for employee benefits. That's all the extraneous ones. So that's our social security, 584 02:47:52.960 --> 02:48:10.479 that's DC, CCPRP, all of those things um kind of all went up by about 3%. And then we have our position. So after all of that information was accounted for, we were approximately $3.5 million out of balance when I finished the first draft of the budget. And that's all in that's everything that was asked for. 585 02:48:10.479 --> 02:48:26.000 That's everything that we wanted to include and all of the revenues accounted for. I totaled it up and I came to Dr. Corbett. I said we are $3.5 million out of balance as of today. So how do we get in balance? Well, the state of New Jersey assessed our 30% healthcare increase. They compared it to 586 02:48:26.000 --> 02:48:42.000 our previous year's cost and they said, "Okay, we will issue you a healthcare adjustment to help close your gap." What a healthcare adjustment does, it allows us to levy more taxes than the 2%. It's not money, it's not funding, it's spending authorization. We can now tax the taxpayers more. Um, they also 587 02:48:42.000 --> 02:48:58.399 assessed an enrollment adjustment. They said, "Your enrollment's going up. We'll also give you an adjustment for that. We recognize that you have more students coming into your district. We won't give you funding, but we will let you levy more taxes." Then we have, you know, the the baseline. After all of these things were accounted for, we were still waiting on state aid numbers, which came 588 02:48:58.399 --> 02:49:14.880 out extremely late this year. We had to sit down and and really have the conversation of, okay, we're still out of balance. What do we do? Dr. Corbin and I in coordination with the administration started cutting and we cut down about a half a million dollars from the budget. Um, we tried to take it 589 02:49:14.880 --> 02:49:31.120 from areas that didn't hurt. We tried to make really responsible choices. Um, my main priority is we avoided cutting staff. I never want to come to the community and say that we can't afford to have the people work here who help your students and who create the education we want to create. Um, I can't promise that will never be a 590 02:49:31.120 --> 02:49:45.840 conversation, but we didn't have to do it this year, which for me counts as a success. Um, one of Thank you. One of the harder cuts we did have to make um that it's unfortunate is again with half a million dollars we did choose to 591 02:49:45.840 --> 02:50:02.479 eliminate the Rucker's mental health contract for their services. That contract alone accounts for $326,000. That was negotiated down from the prior year which was at $450,000. We made adjustments. We tried to keep it. We ran all of the figures and we talked about 592 02:50:02.479 --> 02:50:19.359 it in l at length and we couldn't find a sustainable path forward with them. Even if we were able to include them in this year's budget, we knew that it would be something that would have to be eliminated if not next year, the year after. So, and I see some faces. I I can I can sense the reaction to that. We 593 02:50:19.359 --> 02:50:34.319 knew that was going to be the reaction to that. But again, I want to stress I would rather eliminate a program like that than cut our staff members that we need. And I do have Miss Pachchowski and Miss Garcia from the student services department are going to follow my presentation with an explanation of the 594 02:50:34.319 --> 02:50:49.680 plan that they've created on how to manage this change. So just bear with me and please know that they will be answering a lot of your questions. So how do we move forward again with these constraints? Budget management is key as we move through the year. Cost and tamement. We need to eliminate 595 02:50:49.680 --> 02:51:05.600 non-essential programs and personnel. Um align budgets to actual needs and expand and utilize cooperatives. um cash management, moderating cash balances, restructuring debt, interest rate evaluation, making sure that we're getting the most from our banks that we can. Um end of year targeted purchasing 596 02:51:05.600 --> 02:51:22.560 plans. What can we take our savings from this year and purchase in advance to take pressure off future years? um fiscal control, implementing the zerobased budgeting, as I mentioned, restoring our fund balances, improving grants management, and adhering to replacement cycles for things like Chromebooks and technology across the 597 02:51:22.560 --> 02:51:38.479 district, making sure that we have a plan and a structured cycle so that we're not having huge amounts hit at once, and we are also making sure that we're replacing things in a timely fashion. And then finally, capital reserve, prioritizing projects um based on the long-range facility plan and 598 02:51:38.479 --> 02:51:54.080 reducing our debt issuance. Um we we try to use that money to make sure that we don't have emergency projects that that come out. We want to make sure that we're addressing the needs of all our buildings in a timely way. Important budgetary factors, personnel, 599 02:51:54.080 --> 02:52:09.520 maintaining competitive salaries. Again, we want people to want to work here. We want to keep the best of the best. We want to make sure that we are competing and holding people to a high standard. Fixed costs. Prepare for general inflation and impose increases required to remain operational. Again, this comes 600 02:52:09.520 --> 02:52:24.640 down to forecasting. We do the best we can to forecast what those will be and we try to ride the wave as best we can when those numbers are not what we expect. Technology work to remain at the forefront of technological in innovations. Again, we want to prepare our students for the real world. We want 601 02:52:24.640 --> 02:52:41.359 them to have the most advantages they can and experience things as much as we can afford for them to do. So, we try to make sure that we're uh prioritizing that at all times. and facilities. Ensuring that maintenance and functionality of school and implementation of security improvements is a priority as we move through. State 602 02:52:41.359 --> 02:52:57.279 and federal aid is a huge part of what affects our budget because that is what directly offsets taxes. We do not have a lot of um means and methods outside of grants for generating revenue. So, it's important that we receive our state and federal aid and we always hope to not 603 02:52:57.279 --> 02:53:13.279 receive a cut. We received a moderate increase this year, which I'll speak about on another slide. purchasing. We try to use consortiums and cooperatives and renegotiate vendor contracts and evaluate service agreements wherever possible. We try to hold people accountable that work for us to make sure that we're getting the best deal. 604 02:53:13.279 --> 02:53:28.880 And again, um those consortiums and cooperatives are out there because they do the bids. They make sure that it's held to the right standards. They make sure we have all the paperwork that we need from the vendor, that they're a legitimate vendor, and they're following all the laws. So, that's always a benefit to the district as well. 605 02:53:28.880 --> 02:53:44.399 Savings. We reallocate personnel through attrition, evaluate needs and historical spending, and procure competitive quotes and proposals. Um, so again, we're always trying to get the best price and things that are budgeted. We hope that we can generate savings as we move through the year. 606 02:53:44.399 --> 02:53:59.840 District enrollment, the this is based on ASSA snapshots and an updated enrollment for 2026, which you'll see is the blue column. Um, you can see there's a clear trend of increase. uh this consistent increase it accounts for a strain on the budget. It also accounts 607 02:53:59.840 --> 02:54:16.800 for the state's evaluation of our need for an adjustment. So we we are still seeing a steady increase. Um and just between the snapshot for 2026 and the updated number, we had 15 additional students enroll from between October and March when I did this. 608 02:54:16.800 --> 02:54:32.880 State aid allocations, we received just over $5 million in state aid, which accounts for approximately 7.4% 4% of the operating revenue. Um, what's important to note too about this, and I actually double checked myself when I was making the slide, is that is exactly the same percentage it was last year. 609 02:54:32.880 --> 02:54:48.319 Meaning, while everything has gone up, our our impact of state aid remains the same because everything is rising at an a disproportionate rate. We no longer receive equalization aid. They cut that after 2425 and allocated some funding 610 02:54:48.319 --> 02:55:04.240 elsewhere. Our categories are transportation aid. We receive 1.3 million that received a moderate increase of $40,425 this year of the 7.4% that accounts for 1.9%. We receive u 3.3 million in special education aid that was a 611 02:55:04.240 --> 02:55:20.000 increase of 203,000 this year uh accounts for 4.8% of the 7.4 and then security aid is 425,000 um and that went up 42,000 and it accounts for6 of the 7.4. So total increase this year in state aid was 612 02:55:20.000 --> 02:55:38.319 $286,213. Just for perspective, 2% is just under 1.2 million. It's not a lot of increase in state aid compared to what our costs are going up. Revenue beyond state aid. Again, this number stayed exactly the same this year. Our local tax levy, while 613 02:55:38.319 --> 02:55:53.520 increasing, still accounts for 83.4% of the revenue. So it's exactly the same percentage this year as it was last year. Um the that local tax levy supports the annual school budget. That is the amount that everybody's most concerned with today and I will break down the tax levy in a future slide. Um 614 02:55:53.520 --> 02:56:10.880 budgeted fund balance that is a combination of unanticipated revenue and savings generated in the prior year. That number has come down from over four million postcoid and we continue to try to manage that spending. The problem with the problem with budgeted fund balance is that it goes into your budget 615 02:56:10.880 --> 02:56:27.520 in a future year as a revenue. If you don't generate an approximation of that number, you create your own revenue cliff. So again, I mentioned after COVID, we were over four million. So we're pairing that down, but if we pull it off too fast and we don't create enough of a savings or or additional 616 02:56:27.520 --> 02:56:42.880 revenue, we will face a revenue cliff because that is an active revenue that is expected in the budget. So you can see where that becomes a double-edged sword. Um, XAD was budgeted at 700,000. AB tuition from individuals and other 617 02:56:42.880 --> 02:56:59.279 LEAs 271,000. Transportation fees, other LEAs, 80,000. Withdrawal from emergency and maintenance reserve, so that's our own accounts that we're withdrawing for to create feed revenue into the budget, 50,000. Um, withdrawal from capital reserve, three 2,323,000. 618 02:56:59.279 --> 02:57:16.240 Miscellaneous interest from the bank, 264,000. uh military aid impact that's for us having um Pikatini within our bounds $300,000 and then semi um they increased to 61,000 again they they recognized that that 80% cut was not realistic so 619 02:57:16.240 --> 02:57:33.200 they did give that back to us bank cap is spending authorization that can be carried forward through budget cycle so any year that we do not raise the taxes by the 2% or whatever our adjusted cap is we generate spending authorization that we didn't use and they reserve the right for us to do that 620 02:57:33.200 --> 02:57:48.960 in future years. The only year that we still have is 2324. That is expiring this year. We did not choose to use bank cap in this budget. So that amount will expire and the other two years listed don't have any. We are generating um $433,000 in bank cap this year because 621 02:57:48.960 --> 02:58:04.640 again after they accounted for all of the adjustments in the state aid, we did have the ability to levy more taxes. We chose not to do so. Expenditure breakdown. For every dollar that is spent in the district, approximately 37% goes to instruction. Of that 622 02:58:04.640 --> 02:58:22.479 instruction, 24% is regular programs, 10% is special education, 3% basic skills, bilingual, and co-curricular, 57%, yep, 57% accounts for support services. That's all of the categories you see listed there. Um, it's a little bit of, 623 02:58:22.479 --> 02:58:38.160 in my opinion, a misrepresentation because it seems like instruction should have the highest percentage, but a lot of the support services feed directly into instruction. So, I don't want that to be misrepresented. That's a very critical part of what we do here. And you can see that based on what you're 624 02:58:38.160 --> 02:58:55.279 you're seeing as the list. >> I um I it's it's across both honestly. There's some things that are in admin and central services and technology because there's certain softwares we purchase that would fall into that, but also um in regular and special education 625 02:58:55.279 --> 02:59:10.080 instruction programs account for a lot of the supply lines which also would house some of that. So it's not a clean split between the two. And then we have 5% for capital expenditures. So that's equipment and construction costs. And then less than 1% goes to charter school enrollments 626 02:59:10.080 --> 02:59:25.680 that we have to pay tuition for. Expenditure breakdown of of support services. Again, that's a huge amount, 57%, but this is how that breaks down. And one of the heaviest burdens on that 57% is benefits. That's where those health benefits, that 30% increase 627 02:59:25.680 --> 02:59:42.000 lives. It's a it's a very large amount of money. Next slide charts. This is how it would break down in a pie. Capital projects. This year planned for this summer, we will be doing roof 628 02:59:42.000 --> 02:59:57.840 replacements at CMS and Stonybrook. um a secure vestibial project at Dwire, Birwood, and Stonybrook and mechanical place replacements in the CMS boiler room. Um the current tax base is still experiencing a positive trend. If you want to click again, the only thing on 629 02:59:57.840 --> 03:00:15.439 this that matters is that the ratables are 6 bill129,142,600. What does that mean? That means that that is the amount that we have diluting the impact of taxes. So a go to the next slide. Um that's the valuation for the 630 03:00:15.439 --> 03:00:31.120 entire township that includes all businesses all of the larger entities. So when we look at our tax increase right we're going 2526 the tax levy was 53604254 we're going to 57 a not yet go back um 631 03:00:31.120 --> 03:00:47.279 we're going to 5719634 that's a 6.69% 69% increase or 3,324144. Now, Abe clicked too soon, so he ruined my reveal. The reason that that math did not math is because the state of New Jersey once again decided, hey, your tax 632 03:00:47.279 --> 03:01:03.920 levy last year, we think it should have been higher, but you can't retroactively raise taxes. So, instead, what we'll do is we'll give you a new number that would have been your tax levy, and now your 2% is going to be based off of that number. So, that's how you get to the actual calculation for this change. Um, 633 03:01:03.920 --> 03:01:19.040 if you were to calculate it b a b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b based off of what I actually levied in taxes, it would not calculate correctly. So again, state of New Jersey loves to send us curve balls. Um, average assessed home value for Rockway Township is $523,21 634 03:01:19.040 --> 03:01:34.720 and the annual impact of our portion of the taxes on that home would be $4,729. That is a decrease of $145 um based on last year's impact. If your home value remained the same, which I recognize that likely it didn't, but we 635 03:01:34.720 --> 03:01:50.800 don't have the ability to account for those fluctuations. So, if your house stayed the same last year to this year and it was this value, you will see $145 less in our portion of the taxes that are being levied. So, the district's adjusted tax levy cap beyond 2% is allowable, as I said, through the healthcare adjustment and 636 03:01:50.800 --> 03:02:07.439 enrollment adjustment. Um, Rockway Township experienced a $400 million increase in ratables moving into 2026, which is why it comes across as a decrease. It's not because we have decreased it. It's because it's being diluted through increased ratables. Um, this year there is no outstanding debt 637 03:02:07.439 --> 03:02:23.040 and therefore no additional levy of taxes for debt service. And just noting that the tax information on the um average home value and the ratables comes directly from the Rockway Township Tax Assessor's Office. So highlights, budgetary educational highlights, things that we are including 638 03:02:23.040 --> 03:02:38.479 in this budget that you know we're happy to include. Um continued implementation of linkit platform to support datadriven instruction across the district. Expanded use of linkit uh assessment generator. I'm not going to read all of these. Uh ongoing utilization for linkit, sustained investment in early 639 03:02:38.479 --> 03:02:53.760 literacy programs through superkids for grades K through two. um continued use of magnetic reading support to different differentiate literacy instruction and accelerate student achievement. Ongoing commitment to conquer math, alignment of initiatives with the district's comprehensive curricular plan, 640 03:02:53.760 --> 03:03:09.439 demonstrated significant student growth as a result of these targeted investments, and recognition of the progress through the district's immediate removal from I'm sorry, district's immediate removal from the CUAC action plan. Um again, I post this presentation after we're we're done here tonight. So if you would like to read 641 03:03:09.439 --> 03:03:26.240 that in detail, it will be available. Um, continuing new education curriculum for MD autism, new life skills curriculum, mugs and motion coffee card at CMS, snack shack cart at KDM, and camera replacements planned for two schools, new virtualized server infrastructure, Chromebook replacements 642 03:03:26.240 --> 03:03:42.640 for two grade levels, introduction of new BenQ boards to the pre-existing fleet, and wiring closet reorg reorganization that ensures electrical redundancy and switch consolidation. Those are some of the things that we were able to accomplish based on the budget that we're putting forward today. 643 03:03:42.640 --> 03:04:11.399 So, with all of that information, and I realize that there's a lot, we will take questions at this time. I'm going to make my way back up to the deis. If you have a question, please feel free to come up. And yes, you have to sign in again. I'm sorry. Separate section though. 644 03:04:24.960 --> 03:04:41.120 Jamie Ripkkey Rockaway, the Rucker program, I just heard you saying that it's going to be cut. >> Yes. >> That means next year it will be no longer. >> That is correct. Contract. >> Okay. How will the mental health be addressed of the many students with significant issues? 645 03:04:41.120 --> 03:05:06.319 >> We recognize that that was going to be a concern. If you bear with us, the um student services department is going to come up now after the questions on the budget and they will present on what's going to be done. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Any other questions? Oh, >> hi Tucker Kelly 16 Megan Road. Uh first 646 03:05:06.319 --> 03:05:22.240 of all, unbelievable again. um we spoke last time in great lengths and uh you do a very fantastic presentation. Everything that's there, you're not reading from a script and it's all going by the numbers that you have assembled together and it and it definitely shows. Um some of the questions I I have um 647 03:05:22.240 --> 03:05:38.960 that's concerning to me because we we talk about the increases of salaries of 3.4 to 4.4%. However, the the average income of those homes uh don't see those same increases um for them to cover additional costs that go on there. When you were speaking 648 03:05:38.960 --> 03:05:54.800 in regards to benefit cost, >> what areas have you somewhat searched or tried to implement in order to reduce that overall multi-million dollar amount that's a heavy impact of of this large increase? I mean, just under $3 million of an increase that we've had from the 649 03:05:54.800 --> 03:06:11.359 year prior, right? um what have we what has the district done in order to try to tackle that? >> So the way that it works for our renewals for our insurance is we have a brokerage firm that works for us. Um they track our utilization and performance throughout the year. I will tell you point blank. We are not a good 650 03:06:11.359 --> 03:06:27.040 investment as far as insurance companies are concerned and they make that determination based on the data they collect for utilization from our staff. So whether and what honestly drove our number as high as it was was because of the pharmacy costs and I'm hearing that from all districts. Um for whatever 651 03:06:27.040 --> 03:06:42.399 reason people are really struggling to cover the pharmacy costs. These companies don't want to um carry our risk so they raise our costs because they are paying more for us if that confutes. So what we do is we meet with our brokerage firm in early January, 652 03:06:42.399 --> 03:06:58.479 February and we say okay what is our plan for renewal? They say, "Okay, based on your utilization, we know you're not going to perform well. So, we're going to go in, we're going to negotiate, we're going to try and they they ask me questions about things. Do I know things are changing in different capacities? I try to answer as best I can. HR gets 653 03:06:58.479 --> 03:07:13.920 involved, too. Um, and we try to give them as much, you know, anecdotal evidence and and information as possible so that they can then negotiate on our behalf. Um, once they do that, if they're not getting the feedback that they want, if they're not hearing the numbers they want, they will also shop our book of business. So, they'll go to 654 03:07:13.920 --> 03:07:29.120 other carriers and they'll say, "Hey, how much would you, you know, charge us to ensure Rockway Township staff." Um, the unfortunate reality based on our portfolio is that the other companies that it was shopped to said that they would not be interested in in supporting us and they don't have to. It's they 655 03:07:29.120 --> 03:07:46.000 they issue a note quote. Um, we also asked if there are changes that can be made within our plans, but that's also very limited because those are negotiated plans and we are required to offer equal to or better than benefits for our staff. So, um, there's a limit to our latitude. I can tell you we 656 03:07:46.000 --> 03:08:02.720 exhausted every effort we could. Um, I'm certainly not happy with the renewal we received, and I already am planning on making some changes moving forward on how we we do this next year. But the unfortunate reality is that within the time frame that we have to make this decision and and renew this contract, 657 03:08:02.720 --> 03:08:18.000 this is the hand we were dealt this year. Um, and as long as we keep having the performance we have, the insurance companies are going to keep insisting that this is a real a realistic um, reenrollment for us. >> And when you say uh, with what you have, are is it based on uh, how many people 658 03:08:18.000 --> 03:08:33.279 are utilizing the benefits and everything else that goes on there? I mean, is there a possibility that the district can actually say, um, we'll cover some additional costs and minimizing like co-pays and whatnot, but covering the co-pay difference to meet to or exceed what the contract 659 03:08:33.279 --> 03:08:48.319 agreements that you have with the staff and employees to somewhat give you a lower rate and depending on those who use it, it could be minimized or it could be maximized too, right? >> Could potentially lower that that rate. So, and I hear you. Part of the part of 660 03:08:48.319 --> 03:09:04.160 the issue at hand is in the in that arrangement, there's a limit to what they'll let us carve out first and foremost. And there's also going to be a cost associated with that. And we we incur a little bit more risk because it's not one year is not the same as the last. So, we are assuming that the performance will be the same, but we 661 03:09:04.160 --> 03:09:20.399 don't know. And it could put the district in a position where we end up paying more. But the reality is too, um, there are options available to us that we we weren't able to enact quickly enough at this renewal stage that I'm going to spend the next several months exploring. Um, there's self- insurance 662 03:09:20.399 --> 03:09:37.520 options, but I have to always maintain that the priority is giving the staff benefits that are equal to a better than what they have. So, I have to be careful how I tread that. I understand that due to contractual uh restraints, >> but we but we are definitely going to explore additional options knowing what we know and with the renewal received 663 03:09:37.520 --> 03:09:52.560 this year. >> Now, when we spoke last uh last year in regard to um our ratables themselves, I mean, we're still going through a very unique period of time of assessment value, appraisal values of homes that are elevated way beyond what their actual worth value is. 664 03:09:52.560 --> 03:10:08.160 >> And we also spoke about having a plan B. So when that does finally equalize and it has to equalize >> it just there's no way it can substand itself like currently doing right now >> right >> right now you're currently relying on the increase of ratables so the uh property owners that have invested in 665 03:10:08.160 --> 03:10:23.920 their properties and that investment has grown they're now being penalized because of increase that they're going to be taking what happens when that actually comes down >> so realistically what I will say is I never rely on ratables I don't that's why I acknowledge that the the decrease you're seeing is not because of anything 666 03:10:23.920 --> 03:10:40.240 I've done it's simply because of the dilution of ratables because I feel like that's the honest way to to present that. Um the reality is my understanding is that this is the last year that the ratables will be increasing from the information I was given. This was a five-year reassessment reevaluation plan that is now coming to a conclusion. So I 667 03:10:40.240 --> 03:10:56.319 don't anticipate the ratables will be going up next year by the same amount, maybe not at all. And I I do on the flip side of that home values should level and we shouldn't see home values being increased higher than they have been. But, you know, again, it's it's it's 668 03:10:56.319 --> 03:11:12.720 simply a tool of dilution for the impact, but we are levying the taxes we're levying. I'm not going to hide it. And, you know, I put up there it's 6.69%. If the ratables were not as high as they were, it would still be 6.69%. Um, so I'm simply reporting the benefit of those ratables, but you are absolutely correct that will not be a 669 03:11:12.720 --> 03:11:29.439 continuing benefit. and and moving forward, what are the additional BCD plans that we're going to have to try to attack further other than is just the benefits that we were talking about exploring different ways to reduce those costs. But, you know, you're talking about needs and wants. I mean, the large portion of your 500,000 decrease was 670 03:11:29.439 --> 03:11:45.120 really uh the the Rucker contract for 326,000. >> Yeah. >> So, the other 174,000 that's there, that's really not a lot of fat that's taken out of it. I don't believe that there's a perfect budget. there's always a lot of fat that's there, you know, whether you're doing fund generating or 671 03:11:45.120 --> 03:12:01.040 other areas. What do you see moving forward so that the taxpayers could see that there's going to be a potential reduction or a lesser of an increase that's been going I mean the last four years were almost close to $8 million of an increase overall. That's a lot of money. 672 03:12:01.040 --> 03:12:16.960 >> Absolutely. And and you'll see very similar increases in the surrounding districts as well. Again, not to >> but I'm not focused on them though. I mean Jefferson compared to what we have going on here. >> Yes. So, um the board sitting at the deis, Dr. Corvette, the administrators 673 03:12:16.960 --> 03:12:32.720 can tell you that I have in no uncertain terms been very clear this year that we are heading into a difficult financial climate. Um I keep referring to myself as the harper of doom because I go to every meeting and I'm like we have to be responsible. We have to cut. We have to really look at the expenditures. So to 674 03:12:32.720 --> 03:12:48.800 answer your question, I have tasked the administrators to take a very close look at what they're doing because I do believe there's an element of comfort that comes to pass where we do this because it's comfortable. We're used to it. It's easy. Um but is it truly necessary? I want to have that 675 03:12:48.800 --> 03:13:03.760 conversation about every aspect of the budget. Um so we will be having that conversation. I have set that tone already. It is the expectation that I have for not just myself but the entire administration. Um, but again tempering that against making sure that we're getting the students what they need, the 676 03:13:03.760 --> 03:13:18.800 staff what they need, and trying my best again to not head in the direction of staff cuts. But when personnel makes up 70 to 80 or 80 to 90% of the budget, that's why these districts are heading that direction. You do hit a point where where are your cuts coming from? So, we 677 03:13:18.800 --> 03:13:35.520 will do our best to pair this down and head off this again negative financial climate. I'm also hoping that at a state and federal level there's some review here about how this is done. I've advocated for that in my own arena with my peers and in my organizations. Um I 678 03:13:35.520 --> 03:13:50.880 know that the superintendent's organizations have similar conversations. I know that New Jersey school boards have similar conversations. So um I don't have a perfect answer for you other than we're taking a very close look at what we're doing here and we're trying to um maintain what's needed to the best of 679 03:13:50.880 --> 03:14:07.760 our abilities. And next year, I can't tell you what's going to happen, but I do think that we're heading into a 3 to 5 year period of difficult conversations and difficult finances. >> But now, you just recently cut a nursing staff position. Is that something that you're going to now somewhat grow and 680 03:14:07.760 --> 03:14:24.880 maybe cut additional positions? >> So, um the >> that just happened. So, >> yeah, you can Anita can give you an individual position. Yeah. >> Um and go ahead for a second. So the position itself was cut as a 681 03:14:24.880 --> 03:14:40.560 full-time position. The role of the position is still there and will still be available to the individual. >> It's it's going to be a substitute role. >> Okay. But but to your point, um we are evaluating personnel to identify 682 03:14:40.560 --> 03:14:56.720 redundancies, identify ways that we can adjust scheduling, but we're not, you know, again, it's a difficult conversation because I don't want the impression to be that we're hunting for uh terminations because we're not. Um but we are going to take a look at efficiencies and ensuring that we are 683 03:14:56.720 --> 03:15:12.640 doing what we need to do to be responsible to taxpayers. >> Okay. And yes, and a lot of it we try to accomplish through through attrition as well. Um if if we don't have to be put in the position of taking a position from someone, we will always go the route. >> And I'll I'll leave it on this. Has 684 03:15:12.640 --> 03:15:28.000 there been a large reduction in staff in the last three years? >> No, there hasn't. And >> so I mean really though you talk about attrition, it really hasn't even happened. >> No. Well, I will say not not to an amount that I can say is is dramatic or drastic in any way, but we haven't been 685 03:15:28.000 --> 03:15:44.600 in the position where we've had to. >> Right. So again, the financial tide is turning and we have to deal with it to the best of our ability. >> Well, listen, I thank you for your time, a wonderful presentation and and you always do a very phenomenal job with that. Thank you. >> I appreciate it. Thank you. 686 03:15:47.040 --> 03:16:05.800 >> Any other questions about budget? >> I appreciate that very much. Thank you. >> She absolutely does. >> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. Uh we're we're going to move on now to our student services presentation. 687 03:16:10.960 --> 03:16:28.640 And while they set up, as I mentioned, all of that presentation will be available on the district website following the presentation um as well as um the userfriendly budget. So you can take a look at that. And if you do end up having questions after today's meeting, please feel free to reach out to me via email um and let me know. 688 03:16:28.640 --> 03:16:45.279 Good evening everyone. Uh, as you just heard, Ruckers uh will be cut from the budget. I'm Katie Petroski. I'm the director of student services here. I would like to begin by explaining a little bit of our 689 03:16:45.279 --> 03:17:01.840 position. Mental health and the mental health services that we provide to our students and to our staff is still a top priority. It's a top priority for us. It's a top priority for the board of education. It's a top priority for all 690 03:17:01.840 --> 03:17:18.160 of our staff. The reality of the budget is what it is and it, as Mrs. Slam mentioned, it is something that is simply not sustainable. But tonight's presentation is the beginning. We are going to talk about some of the ways 691 03:17:18.160 --> 03:17:33.920 that we are going to continue to support our students and these discussions are ongoing. We will continue to do the work behind the scenes over the next several months to consider what supports we can bring in. 692 03:17:33.920 --> 03:17:50.080 Uh so tonight we're going to give a little bit of an update of the student mental health services. We will explain some of the changes and the current partnerships that we're bringing into the district. We will introduce some of our new service providers and partnerships and ensure that we're going 693 03:17:50.080 --> 03:18:09.760 to have a continuity of care for our students and families. Uh good evening everyone. Uh I'm Rebecca Garcia. I'm the assistant director of student services. Um so some of the partnerships that we are going to be bringing in um are uh state funded 694 03:18:09.760 --> 03:18:26.239 partnerships that we're uh working with. So we currently have already board approved uh NJ4s. It's a statewide service that uh they provide inschool counseling as well as at home counseling um for students on tiers one, two, and three. Um and so they're able to provide 695 03:18:26.239 --> 03:18:42.720 some type of uh resource for our lower level as well as our our higher level tier three students in the middle school particularly aged can receive counseling in the school as well as at home. Um another agency that we're going to look to bring in and partner with is called Hazel Health. uh they are they offer 696 03:18:42.720 --> 03:18:59.040 virtual mental health services u that allow students to access licensed professionals during the school day or from their home. Um this partnership has increased the accessibility uh to care and reduces the barriers such as transportation for some families that may not be able to get their child to uh 697 03:18:59.040 --> 03:19:14.880 services they can provide them virtually and ensures timely supports for students in need. Um we currently have the uh the CEC comprehensive adolescent program the CAP program uh here at Copeland. So that is a program that supports students experiencing emotional and behavioral 698 03:19:14.880 --> 03:19:30.399 challenges by providing structured therapeutic educational services. This partnership will continue and it allows the district to meet the students needs in a supportive environment while promoting academic progress and social emotional growth. Um we have a uh 699 03:19:30.399 --> 03:19:46.960 standing contract with St. Clair's uh health and St. Claire's will be able to partner and provide us with um supporting us with our evaluations, our crisis response and access to their to clinical services. Um the collaboration with them will ensure that we have timely and professional care and it 700 03:19:46.960 --> 03:20:02.640 supports students emotional well-being and their readiness to learn. Um we currently have a partnership with prevent uh prevention is key and that will continue. Um so prevention is key focuses on substance use and abuse prevention um mental health awareness 701 03:20:02.640 --> 03:20:18.479 and um early intervention for students in crisis. Um through education outreach and community- based initiatives. This partnership helps equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to make healthy choices. Um, oh, one more. And then the last one, um, that we're 702 03:20:18.479 --> 03:20:36.960 looking to, uh, network with on top of others, um, is Care Plus. And they will also be supporting us with crisis counseling, family based interventions, and they also will be able to provide some, um, mental health clearance evaluations as well. >> So, how how is the district going to 703 03:20:36.960 --> 03:20:54.640 continue to support our students? Uh we're going to continue our focus on supporting our students and families that are going through the mental health crisis. That's still one of our top priorities. We will foster a connection for families with those community resources and the outside providers, 704 03:20:54.640 --> 03:21:11.920 right? It's it's about the partnership. We're equal partners with our families, with our parents. So, we're here to help you make those those connections with those community resources. Please join us tomorrow for our community wellness fair where you can also connect with a 705 03:21:11.920 --> 03:21:28.960 lot of great outside resources a lot of which are free of cost for families. Uh we are always looking to develop strong collaborations with those private providers and we work in collaboration with any provi private providers that 706 03:21:28.960 --> 03:21:43.520 you currently have working with your children. We're always happy to collaborate with them and work together to solve problems. We will continue and increase comprehensive training for all of our Rockaway Township staff on how to 707 03:21:43.520 --> 03:21:59.520 administer the Colombia scale, which is a risk assessment scale. So, when a student is flagged or possibly identified by one of our staff members as possibly being at risk for self harm or suicidal ideiation, we launch into 708 03:21:59.520 --> 03:22:16.479 our risk assessment procedures. um we do that by completing a Colombia scale and we hope that a student comes out at low risk. However, if a student is identified at a medium or a higher risk, that is when we work with families 709 03:22:16.479 --> 03:22:33.840 to then connect them with an outside mental health provider to provide a mental health clearance. Um we will continue with our school-based support groups through some of those programs like prevention is key and comprehensive adolescent program. There are a lot of 710 03:22:33.840 --> 03:22:49.120 continuing grants and programs that are being funded by state and federal level that we are continuing to search for and reach out and make those partnerships with. Uh so moving forward, students that are 711 03:22:49.120 --> 03:23:06.880 in need of some additional support in the school, right, we will continue with our school-based counseling, but students who are identified as needing some additional support, they can receive that support right in the school through these outside providers such as NJ4S or Hazel Health. So each one of 712 03:23:06.880 --> 03:23:23.439 those providers typically will pick up a student for a six to eight weeks crisis counseling intervention and work alongside the school employees as well as families to help connect the student with further outside resources. Uh our mental health clearances will now be 713 03:23:23.439 --> 03:23:39.120 conducted offsite through some of our partnership agencies such as St. Clair's or the parent is always able to choose their own provider if they would like to. We do have those contracts standing to help expedite the process, right? So, we can make that call to St. Claire's 714 03:23:39.120 --> 03:23:54.640 ahead and say, "We have a student we are recommending for a mental health clearance. Here's the facts as long as we get the parents permission. Uh, here are the facts. Here's what we're concerned about. Send the information over. We have those contracts so that it's not providing additional financial 715 03:23:54.640 --> 03:24:10.720 burden on families." uh and students and faculty will continue to have access to all of our amazing school counselors as well as our CSC members for that ongoing school-based counseling. So, some of the next steps, as I 716 03:24:10.720 --> 03:24:27.520 mentioned, this is an ongoing process, right? These are conversations we're going to be having in depth over the next few months. We will continue to train our staff and provide ongoing job embedded mental health professional development. We will continue our 717 03:24:27.520 --> 03:24:47.279 efforts to partner with outside agencies to support all of our students and we are actively working on an in-depth parent resource packet so that we can share that information with the community. Here is my contact information. If you have any further questions, by all 718 03:24:47.279 --> 03:25:09.120 means, at any time, feel free to reach out. um as well as Miss Rebecca Garcia. And at the bottom, Abe, if you could click the link, if you head over to our district website under the 719 03:25:09.120 --> 03:25:25.520 student services umbrella and you go into school based mental health uh partnerships, you'll see some of the partnerships that we have. We also talk about character strong which is our ongoing social emotional learning curriculum and we 720 03:25:25.520 --> 03:25:49.920 will continue to update this page as we gain more partnerships and have more recess resource packets for the community. Any >> question any immediate questions or you can always reach out. Sorry, I'm gonna have to ask you to come 721 03:25:49.920 --> 03:26:10.720 to the microphone just for the recording so that you can ask your question and be heard by people. >> Okay, thank you. So, does anybody want to come up for questions on this? >> Okay. Um, before we move on, I just want to acknowledge first of all, thank you ladies very much for that presentation. 722 03:26:10.720 --> 03:26:26.720 >> Yes. Thank you. >> Um, and again, I want to acknowledge that this decision was not made lightly. we do understand the impact it has and I just want to thank um Miss Petroski and Miss Garcia for their support um because when I came to them with this and when 723 03:26:26.720 --> 03:26:41.760 Dr. Corbett came to them with this they took it in stride um and they are working to make sure that we have a a transition that works. So I really do appreciate your support ladies and I want to thank the entire administration for their support in this budget process. I am very blessed to work with 724 03:26:41.760 --> 03:26:57.200 administrators who really truly prioritize your children, prioritize this district and give me valuable feedback. Um, I I appreciate their partnership. >> Thank you. >> Moving on. Committee reports. Do we have any committee reports tonight? 725 03:26:57.200 --> 03:27:12.800 >> I have. Go ahead. >> Goodness. >> I'm going to share on behalf of Lisa. She was disappointed. She's at the Morris County School Board Association meeting. She's the president there. Um the community outreach committee met virtually on April 29th from 4:30 to 726 03:27:12.800 --> 03:27:29.600 5:30. I was present. Dr. Gorman, Mrs. Meszi, and Dr. Corbett. We discussed community outreach. We would like to continue to survey. We haven't done that since um Dr. Corbett became our superintendent. We would like to 727 03:27:29.600 --> 03:27:45.520 continue to send out some surveys to see where the community still feels that we need to grow. Um, we discussed meeting with our seniors. We'd like to continue to plan events with the senior citizens. They responded very well to coming here to 728 03:27:45.520 --> 03:28:02.319 see Copeland's play. Um, so we were coming up with new ideas. We would like to kind of adopt I see Dwire, your mom's here, your board games with the seniors and maybe borrow some of your ideas. Uh, Dr. Corbett shared with us some of the things that came up with the PTA General 729 03:28:02.319 --> 03:28:19.279 Assembly. He noted that parents are concerned with I Ready screen time and so we would like to uh find a time to have a listening session and hear all of your concerns. Um our next meeting dates for the our committee will be our next 730 03:28:19.279 --> 03:28:35.520 one is May 13th. That concludes that report. >> Thank you. Our ed committee meets tomorrow. >> Okay, great. Perfect. Thanks. Um, I'm reporting on behalf of Jamila, who couldn't be here tonight, of the policy committee. Um, the policy 731 03:28:35.520 --> 03:28:52.720 committee met on April 27th um at 8:00m on a virtual meeting. Uh, Jamila, Jackie, myself, uh, Dr. Corbett and, um, Kim Willer, our secret, superintendent secretary, were there. Um we uh have new 732 03:28:52.720 --> 03:29:09.120 policies up for first read as um uh as you can see in the um the agenda for the meeting agenda for tonight and we have uh three policies that will be adopted. Um we have uh two policies that are 733 03:29:09.120 --> 03:29:26.479 still sort of under review regarding um sports uh conduct and um the education committee is going to inform us um to help us create the AI policy, the artificial intelligence policy moving forward. And I don't think we've set a 734 03:29:26.479 --> 03:29:42.319 date yet for the next meeting unless I just don't have it. So >> n great thank you. >> Yeah. Um, I'm going to hold off on the safety and security report until we um have a safety director uh that hasn't been announced yet. As far as 735 03:29:42.319 --> 03:29:57.760 operations, this past week, both boilers at CMS uh experienced failure. Our foreman, George Murden, and our consultant, Angelo Palumbo, were on site coordinating and supervising the necessary repairs. Temporary repairs are in place, and the boilers are operational. We are now working to 736 03:29:57.760 --> 03:30:13.439 determine a permanent solution for both units. We're out of the heating season and have plenty of time to ensure complete repair for the new school year. Uh Mr. Palumbo also completed a repair to DBO last week. During his rounds, he found that the breaker and electrical box for the oven had burnt out. He 737 03:30:13.439 --> 03:30:28.399 purchased the necessary parts and completed a replacement. Um on tonight's agenda, we have a um recommendation to award TNT Construction Group LLC the contract for our upcoming roof replacement at Stonybrooken CMS. Miss 738 03:30:28.399 --> 03:30:45.520 Slam conducted a bid opening on April 8th for this project. As noted in the motion, there were two other companies whose bids were lower than TNT's. However, both companies withdrew from the bid due to the reported significant miscalculations on their part during the submission. And we have worked with TNT 739 03:30:45.520 --> 03:31:05.040 previously and we do not anticipate any issues with the project's completion. Due to the roof construction taking place at Stonybrook, we will need to relocate. Sorry. We will need to relocate our ESY program and a portion of our enrichment program 740 03:31:05.040 --> 03:31:20.000 for the summer. The administration is working on an alternative plan and will ensure neither program is negatively affected by this change. The district has received a proposal through our architect for the secure vestibule project at Dwire Birwood and Stonybrook. 741 03:31:20.000 --> 03:31:35.840 This will be recommended to the board at our next meeting. We will be working through a cooperative uh for this project. So there will be will not be an in-house bid process. Also on the agenda this evening for consideration is a new agreement with the township for our 742 03:31:35.840 --> 03:31:52.319 class 3 officers. The contract is for a term of two years and reflects a 3% increase in rate for the officers. And finally, Miss Slim will be holding interviews for our supervisor facilities this coming Friday. We have a lot of interest in the position and we hope to find a strong replacement for Mr. 743 03:31:52.319 --> 03:32:09.359 Martino. >> Great. Thank you. Okay, moving on to recommended for board action. Can I pre please get a motion to approve personnel items? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. And we're looking at personnel items from pages four, five, 744 03:32:09.359 --> 03:32:25.200 and six. Can I please get a roll call vote? >> Do you have any discussion first? Oh, do we have any discussion on any personnel items at this time from the board or the public? >> Uh, public can't comment on personnel. >> Oh, sorry. My mistake. 745 03:32:25.200 --> 03:32:40.720 >> Just the board. >> Just the board. Any discussion from the board? >> Okay. >> No, we're good. >> Okay. >> Could I please get a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Anderson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Brooks? >> Yes. 746 03:32:40.720 --> 03:32:57.200 >> Dr. Gorman? >> Yes. >> Ms. Richardson? >> Yes. Yes, Miss McGiri. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Moving on to section B, HIV determination. Uh, superintendent of schools has provided the board of education with 747 03:32:57.200 --> 03:33:13.760 reports regarding HIV incident incidents, which you can see listed on page six. Can I please get a roll call vote for motion? >> So move. >> Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. >> Can I please get a motion to approve HI determination? >> So moved. Second. 748 03:33:13.760 --> 03:33:28.560 >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Can I get a roll call vote now? Thank you. >> Discussion first. >> The board has to have discussion. Board has to have the opportunity for discussion before. >> My apologies. Any discussion from anybody on Hibs? >> Thank you. 749 03:33:28.560 --> 03:33:50.560 >> Okay. Mrs. Anderson, >> yes. Mrs. Brooks, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Mciri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Got it. Okay. Thanks. Moving on to section C, education. Can I 750 03:33:50.560 --> 03:34:08.840 please get a motion to approve education? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Oh, okay. Uh, do we have any public comment on education items at this time? 751 03:34:09.200 --> 03:34:25.520 >> No. Okay. Can I get a roll call vote on education, please? >> Mrs. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Brooks, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Mciri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to section D, special education. Can I please get a motion to 752 03:34:25.520 --> 03:34:43.200 approve special education? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion on the board? Okay. Any public comment on special education? Okay. Can I please get a roll call vote for special education? >> Mrs. Anderson, 753 03:34:43.200 --> 03:34:59.120 >> yes. >> Mrs. Brooks, >> yes. >> Dr. Corman, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Mciri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Page nine, section E, administration. Can I please get a motion to approve administration recommendations? So 754 03:34:59.120 --> 03:35:16.239 moved. >> Second. >> Do we have any board discussion on administration? Do we have any public comment on administration at this time? Can I please get a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Anderson, 755 03:35:16.239 --> 03:35:32.560 >> yes. >> Mrs. Brooks, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss McGuri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Section F. Can I please have a motion to approve finance recommendations? >> So moved. >> Second. 756 03:35:32.560 --> 03:35:47.920 >> Thank you. Do we have any board discussion at this time on finance recommendations in particular of the fabulous budget presentation? >> No, just thank you for working really hard. >> Yes, thank you for teachers. >> Thank you. And um and thank you to the board for your support and this. I I 757 03:35:47.920 --> 03:36:03.680 really appreciate um the questions you guys ask and and the dedication you have to the district. It's, you know, it's very apparent and I I truly appreciate it. >> Thank you. Do we have any public discussion, public comment on finance 758 03:36:03.680 --> 03:36:21.600 items? No board discussion. We're good. Can I please get a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Brooks, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss McGiri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Moving on to section G, 759 03:36:21.600 --> 03:36:36.560 policy. Excuse me. We have one policy up for first read as Dr. Dr. Gorman had mentioned. You can see that on page 11. Then we have several policies that um we'll be reviewing and taking a look at 760 03:36:36.560 --> 03:36:52.640 for adoption. Do we have any uh board discussion at this time? >> Oh, I'm sorry. Can I get a motion to approve policy? >> Seconded. >> Any board discussion? >> I'm just grateful that my fair skinned 761 03:36:52.640 --> 03:37:08.319 child can carry sunblock without a parents note. Any other board discussion on policy? >> Do we have any public comment on policy at this time? >> Could I please get a roll call vote? 762 03:37:08.319 --> 03:37:24.479 >> Mrs. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Brooks, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, yes. >> Miss McGuri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> In accordance with board policy 0167, public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a three minute limit per 763 03:37:24.479 --> 03:37:40.600 member of the public. The board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate. Could I please have a motion to open public comment? >> So move. >> Seconded. >> Show of hands. 764 03:37:40.640 --> 03:37:56.399 Do we have any uh further public comments at this time? Sure. I'm just going to ask like we did before for everybody to please put their name down and same procedure. Please state your name and your address into the microphone and then you'll have three minutes. 765 03:37:56.399 --> 03:38:13.120 >> Also, I really do appreciate everybody putting down their name and address. We don't usually require that, but again, with the volume of speakers we were expecting this evening, it truly helps me with the minutes. So, I appreciate it. I'm sorry, but thank you. >> Again, my name is Jackie Bader, 129 Richard Wine Road. Um, I just want to 766 03:38:13.120 --> 03:38:29.520 make sure that everyone on this board is understanding that we elected you all for the board. Your services to the community are to oversee the public schools quality and education for all of our students. To effectively represent 767 03:38:29.520 --> 03:38:46.479 the public, the board members listen to the feedback from the parents, the students, the staff, the taxpayers using this input to guide their decision-making. Ultimately, they are expected to govern ethically and prioritize the best interest for all of our students involving conflicts of 768 03:38:46.479 --> 03:39:01.680 interest and strictly adhering to transparency laws. You have the power to change things. You might have gotten misinformation. I want you to make sure that information that was given to you, you look through. 769 03:39:01.680 --> 03:39:19.439 Look through those documents. Make sure it's not just hearsay. make sure that documents that were given to you were not forged. You have the power to change. Per New Jersey state law, you can overturn what a superintendent recommends. You do not 770 03:39:19.439 --> 03:39:35.760 need to take the recommendation. I strongly encourage you all as us as taxpayers, as us as parents voting you into these positions to take your time and understand the ramifications of you 771 03:39:35.760 --> 03:40:00.080 agreeing with a non-renewal of Mr. Bayer. Thank you. Thank you, Dana Tabadella, 31 Omaha Avenue. I want to thank Miss Lamb for the uh wonderful budget presentation. You always do such a great job and make it very easy for us 772 03:40:00.080 --> 03:40:16.960 to understand. So, I appreciate that. Um I also realize that tonight was a very emotional night. Um, I really don't have any input as far as uh Dustin Bayer because I I haven't really had a relationship with him. He's always been nice enough to me when I see him at the board meetings. But the one thing that 773 03:40:16.960 --> 03:40:32.160 um I believe that was overlooked tonight is we have seen a lot of change in our district uh over the years. I've been around since Dr. Parsec. So that's a really long time. Um and I do believe that Dr. Corbett deserves to have a lot of credit for a lot of the changes that 774 03:40:32.160 --> 03:40:48.560 were made here. even in Copeland school when he first came here and um he was the one that actually hired Mr. Bayer. He also had um switched positions uh with some of the staff here at Copeland. Um he had recommended for the code of 775 03:40:48.560 --> 03:41:05.359 conduct to be changed. He was a big advocate for having consistency. He actually went to every single classroom. I remember he went to every single classroom at Copeland to speak to the kids to make sure that they understood 776 03:41:05.359 --> 03:41:21.200 about the code of conduct. We have never had a superintendent that has done this. Every time he is called, if there's a problem at a school, he shows up at the school. So, I just wanted to put that on the record. And thank you very much, Dr. Corbett. 777 03:41:21.200 --> 03:41:47.359 >> Thank you. Excuse me. >> Hi everybody again. Tucker Kelly, 16 Megan's Road. Um, I just want to uh uh take a second bite of the apple from the main issue that I originally came here during the public comment the first time. As many of you noticed during this 778 03:41:47.359 --> 03:42:03.520 board meeting, most of the time your board attendance is maybe a dozen people that are in the audience. And tonight you saw it was basically a packed house. And then after the public comment portion, we had roughly just under 30 people that spoke uh on the podium, some of them being children. And after that 779 03:42:03.520 --> 03:42:21.439 portion was done, the the seats were empty to the where they're at right now. To think that people came to talk about one individual that was more important to them than the $3.5 million increase of the budget this year. Imagine that. So think about what 780 03:42:21.439 --> 03:42:37.920 is taking place in regards to uh principal bearer. Uh again my experience have been positive experiences. These people that came here even the communication section of this um agenda was all about principal bearer. Not one person said one negative comment. 781 03:42:37.920 --> 03:42:55.040 Nothing against him. All positive stuff. And again my comments Dr. Corbert nothing against you obviously. Um it's just my support uh from what I've seen from my experiences with my daughter uh going through the three years of Copeland. So um I hope you guys think 782 03:42:55.040 --> 03:43:10.640 about it. Um and maybe at at minimum we could wait until the end of the year so this graduating class that came with Mr. Bear um can go out with Mr. bear at the same time and and hopefully we can come to a a positive conclusion and answering 783 03:43:10.640 --> 03:43:26.760 to those who came tonight and and those who didn't come but think the same. So with that uh thank everybody for your time. >> Thank you. Do we have anyone else for public comment at this time? 784 03:43:27.199 --> 03:43:49.040 >> Can I please get a motion to close public comment? So move. Second. >> Show of hands. Do we have any old business? >> Do we have any new business? >> I have new business. Um, I mentioned this last year, but one of my family 785 03:43:49.040 --> 03:44:05.279 friends works at the veterinary museum and he toured Copelan Middle School. And so, Mr. Mr. Adams, I want to thank you and your colleagues because he gave you a special shout out for how well-run your whole team was and how well your 786 03:44:05.279 --> 03:44:22.160 students listened and how polite our students are. And I know you put a lot of work into making that trip happen. I hope it happens for my son next year. But thank you so much for making those types of things happen for our kids. >> Do you have any business? Um, I just 787 03:44:22.160 --> 03:44:37.439 want to uh report about the Stony Brook PTA meeting that I attended on May 4th, 2026. And I just wanted to uh give a reminder that there's a plant fair um a plant sale uh happening tomorrow and 788 03:44:37.439 --> 03:44:54.560 5758 May 7th and May 8th for parents shopping tomorrow and for students to shop May 8th. >> Great. Thank you. I'd also just like to share I attended uh the Copeland chorus and strings concert last night. It's actually my last event as a Copeland 789 03:44:54.560 --> 03:45:12.160 parent. This is my final two are graduating and um I have heard a lot of strings over the years, my oldest being 21. And I will say last night was some of the best strings playing I have heard in a very long time. The singing was phenomenal. All of it was excellent. 790 03:45:12.160 --> 03:45:28.800 Just a a wonderful, wonderful concert. And I'm so grateful for the arts and music and all the educational programs that we have here in Rockaway Township. Any other new business? >> Just a happy nurses day and happy teacher appreciation week. It should be 791 03:45:28.800 --> 03:45:44.880 absolutely teacher appreciation year and all summer and all the work you do in the summer. I'm well aware of it. So we definitely appreciate you and many of us on the board have have been where you sit and uh I don't envy you at all, but thank you for what you do. It's appreciated. Very much. 792 03:45:44.880 --> 03:46:00.399 >> Yes. Thank you very much. >> Okay. Do we have any need to return to executive session? >> Nope. >> You do not. Great. So, can I please get a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting? >> So, moved. >> Second. 793 03:46:00.399 --> 03:46:09.479 >> Show of hands. >> Excellent. Meeting is adjourned at 9:34 p.m. Thank you very much, everyone.