##VIDEO ID:843v8N55KeE## 30 seconds early okay uh call to order the uh meeting of the south regional board of education is called to order adequate notice as required by the open public meetings Act was Reed on December the 6 2023 by posting the notice with the respective Clerks of the city of lville B Stockon Township West dwell and advertised in the Hun County Democrat and the Trenton Times News please stand for these United States America [Music] stand we do saring so at this time we have a new member welcome Aon um Aon was appointed at the last board meeting and so we're going to have uh Aon going to have you stand and I'll have you read the uh uh read the oath of office okay right hand up yes that's fine sure um I Arin o do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people I eron O do solemnly affirm that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of a member of the Board of Education and that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to NJ revised Statute 19 4-1 nor disqualified due to a conviction of crime or offense listed in the NJ statute 18a col 12-1 and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my abs very good congratulations welcome and with that we'll have our board R call bennifer bachor here Martha Dennis here Gina pet here Brian Keys here Kevin kovaleski here Aon o here Michel Strauss here Ronnie Todd Marino here Jim Gall here next up we have our report of the student representative to the board Mr gra hello okay first is our Sports our football team Triumph ends their season with a 38-7 victory over DaNell making their final win loss score four to four um in our most recent game Ed Cooper scored six touchdowns and 279 yards rushing in one game and his um season total is um total to be 1,185 yards rushan in Cross Country Lucy Reed placed first in the Skyland Conference Championship Mountain Division and fifth place in the Skyland conference um The High School cross country team has a sectional this Saturday um field hockey um our high school field hockey team has a record of 9 and 11 Addison poll Court Meads with 10 goals followed by Isabella worik with nine goals Sydney how leads a team with five assists eight and polar cour has 118 saves in the last 13 games boy soccer Oly heran leads a team with nine goals followed by Alex Delon with seven goals Oly heran also leads the team with assists honor kees um has amounted 173 saves in the past 16 games for girl soccer um they are led by their lead scorer Olivia their last game took place today against baren Hills and Katy funding has amounted 99 saves in the past seven games for marching band marching band finished his season with a third place in the championship tournament and placed 20th out of 43 bands in New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Delaware and Maryland in winter sports registration is now open in the deadline or not sorry the winter sports registration is open for registration for our pep rally we had a pep rally last Friday and which ended all of our homecoming festivities for the week our high school choir performed the alma Mo which was played by them March again and our high school mbot hyped up the crowd with an exciting and fun dancer team for Red Ribbon Week which was last week assemblies were held to caution both middle school and high school students against the dangers of drug and Dr P for clubs um our yearbook Club the yearbook Club is asking the community for photos the club is asking parents students and the community and general public for photos of any fall sports events candids or any South related photos our Key Club they have had quite for month um the Key Club volunteered with the lamille Parks and Recreation service this month to help clear and renovate the new trails the Key Club is planning a trip to the tranton area soup kitchen next month in November and the Key Club sold over 200 ribbons pink ribbons at in school during lunch and flex and at the bookall games and raised money for fighting breast cancer our art Club um they collaborated on a coloring book with creative and spooky designs for Chop which is the Children's Specialized Hospital in Philadelphia the art Club is in the process of crocheting small decorations for the children's hospital rooms for the FES holiday coming the National Honor Society um for the National Honor Society elections were held this month um the president is myself the VP of scholarship is Iris Lee and the VP of service is Yen aguera Juniors and seniors can start applying on November 13th and applicants have their applications must be do by December 2nd applicants must have at least a 3.75 unweighted GPA or at least above a c in all their classes so far the musical the South Hunter and players is putting on a production of Matilda the Musical this March 2025 the players previously hosted two workshops for interested students one for vocal and one for dance this year this musical is under the direction of Lord to follow auditions for the musical will take place Monday um November 11th and Tuesday November 12th after school the South players is also hosting cavaret entitled Broadway Cafe serving in music in dessert this cavaret will take place on Tuesday November 14th tickets are on sale at c.com or curry.com all lcase no space and then once you get to the website you search South for our music with the mission concert is this Wednesday October 30th um the music the South music program is in partnership with Fisherman's Mark um who's a local surfice um local fundraising company in town um the music program is asking anyone attendance to please bring items for Fisherman's Mark Fisherman's Mark is looking for baby products such as diapers and baby wipes and also body soap and lotion and home coming so last Saturday our homecoming dance occurred in the Royal te for freshman sophomore junior and C years go as for freshman Kellen Healey and cheso Martinez for sophomores Tucker Hicks and Lauren zenoa for juniors Mah Hing and Lucy Reed and for seniors Alejandra Ramirez and myself that's it very good that's comprehensive report You did leave out one thing you are the Mr Graver is the um from major oh yes for the for the band so congratulations on suful thank you well done um any questions from the board okay so you can you can go when You' got homework or anything you can go anytime that you want to go but thank you for the great report um and we'll move on to the PTO we'll start with the PTO is there a PTO report this evening so Jessica hardigan District P PTO um we did a lot in October I don't know what we were thinking but there's a lot to cover um we had trunk Retreat it was a huge success um it was at a new location um it was a great fundraiser for the PTO um we try to differentiate between um fundraising and fundraising um both are equally as important to our school communities um we posted this on social media but I just want to say thank you to the people who made it possible um Marcel Roso and the trunk Retreat committee um Mr souo Lieutenant skilman for all their help um West d w py and westan wfire Company for all their support throughout the event making sure that it's safe and well lit for all all of our families um the hul family I don't know if you were at trunk retreat but their hay ride was fantastically decorated it was amazing um the hiia fire company for their very generous candy donation they gave us $500 towards candy so that really helps us save um the 4H groups hun and Hoppers led by Jenna Haxton and Fur and Feathers led by Kathy V and thank you to um School Lord member Jen Bachelor for helping organize that I really appreciate that um our amazing Senior Helpers Aon Olivia and Tierney um they were great they handed out candy to all the trunks they helped judge the trunks they were really super helpful and um most importantly our amazing School Community for coming out and supporting the event um the kids have a lot of fun and it's just a fun heartwarming event to see all the kids in their costumes and sweet um we had book fair we did book fair in both buildings the same week and we learned some lessons um this the book fair at the elementary school was very successful um total sales were $822 81 we sponsored the PTO sponsored 16 teachers and those books go towards their classroom libraries we gave them uh they had a $5 gift certificate and then $25 towards their classroom libraries and then we also sponsored 26 students um and then at the middle school our sales were $454 123 and that was due to a hiccup we had on the back end with Scholastic but luckily they're working that out for us and they're going to end up giving us quite a few Scholastic dollars for pain and suffering so um but at at that building we did sponsor six teachers in their classroom libraries and six students were sponsored um we and I know I've gone over this before but we don't necessarily take a profit on our Affairs all of um the proceeds get rolled into Scholastic dollars and then the Scholastic dollars go back into um the media centers in in both buildings so this year with um Scholastic dollars that we had banked we gave um Mrs DOI like almost $7,000 to put into the middle school library and then the PTA had um around 700 to give Miss Corr so not only did the kids get to shop and have fun and buy things they don't need but the money goes back into the school um our kids night out October was very successful we had almost 60 kids um which is crazy but with the help of um Ryan we played games we did crafts we had pizza we played on the playground and then we had an ice cream sunday bar um after the expenses it was 76538 and year to date we're at 1750 for kids night out so they're really important and helping us raise funds and um and stuff like that goes towards assemblies like we're doing a fire and ice assembly at at the elementary school so it's just helpful to bring that in and you guys parents get a nice to themselves um our clothing Drive started today it runs until November 10th um drop off is in front of the painted hallway at the middle school on location um you can look out for a flyer we'll send one out on parents square and one will go home and backpack mail in the lower in the lower grades um but please note and share the word um the company that we work with they do not shed or shred any items they don't Tre clothing everything is sorted and it goes where it's needed the the most um and the PTO gets 20 cents per pound and then certain items like bikes um they have a dollar amount like a bike is $4 dollar so you can clean out your houses in your closets and we get lots of money um this has always been a sixth grade fundraiser but now that that's not necessary we'll M it into the PTO and then other Refreshments to the homecoming dance it was really sweet to go in there and see the DJ and all decorated really great job and if there's ever a need at the high school middle school level we're always happy to help just ask um and our board is Leslie darling Laura Brewer and Quinn Hoffman so if you ever need anything at that level you can always reach out and and they'll help you out and we're also going to be donating Refreshments to does that me formal on I think 15 yeah in November but that's it thank you for your time I have I have a question um so if you were to donate clothes to the clothing drive or whatever where where are you where is there a drop off Place yeah it's um at the middle school the West the West school and it's right in front of the painted hallway okay yeah and everything just it say it will say it in the flyer but everything has to be put in like a bag or be in a bag it's like a bike or something like that does this start it actually started oh perfect y good yep I got a lot bags did they take books also or no they take stuff to animals too oh that's anything soft I think okay good um do we have an Le report I'm k and for LEF um we've had a busy fall we had a successful fundraiser at the very end of September in golf day we had around 50 participants which is lower than we had from the community in the past um but we had an unusually early event it was a week earlier than we typically have so we're hoping to get more participation again next year but we had a really um tremendous support from our sponsors one of whom is sitting at his table um or her businesses um and um that was great that really helped raise funds that we will need to support the grants throughout the year um and our sponsors were um identified and thanked on social media very heavily in the fall and we just would ask the community to support them they're supporting us um and everything we do here um and the more you let them know that it was important to you was you spend your dollars in town um and around the area that certainly helps keep them coming back so that was that was really the key to to the success of that event um then we had uh one Grant that's underway um we'd love to hear from the district when the uh instruments come in but this was a grant put in by the fourth grade music teacher to buy um various musical instruments that are appropriate size for a child's body as opposed to our past approach of having them rent adult-sized instruments and if anybody's everever seen their child for Luke for example lugging around an enormous instrument as a as a young child um they tend to get left behind because they're very heavy to bring home they get it's not played so this is a new approach um and laf supported that um and it was a significant sum of money to buy all those instruments um to supply the whole grade but um we appreciated that she came to us and we were able to help out um we have a couple other grants that have come in we're really glad to see that um and hope that the time that we spent talking directly to the teachers has been successful and we'll see more of that um our next fundraiser will be in December when we'll participate in the annual dayve giving right thank you you um correspondence uh we did uh receive some correspondence in the past month that is posted on the site with the agenda so uh it is available for the public to view at their convenience um with that we will go to uh I will be seeking a resolution for approval of our minutes from the September 23rd board meeting move by thank you do I have a second please second by Martha thank you any discussion on the minutes of the September 23rd board meeting if none all in favor anyone oppose and one okay so we have two exensions folks who weren't here otherwise I think I need to obene too because I was that's okay so we three I actually think I also need because I left early I was here but then I left early was sick remember we got else say a word as long as you have a long as you have a majority of the five um we so we have and so next uh we are the district achievement report so we'll ask lenon to give us her update on the district achievement good evening members of the board um so I just want to start off by saying um we are very very proud of these results um the teachers worked extremely hard um we are proud of all of the changes we made last year in the middle of the year um halfway through the year three quarters of the way through the year and our teachers Rose to the occasion um as we would expect and did whatever it was they possibly could to help support the students um be successful on the njsla these are tests that are given once a year in May um and they are lengthy laborous they're rigorous um and it was never a question that um students couldn't achieve or perform well on these assessments it was the fact that we didn't have all the resources at the right time um and so as you've been following this year we really put a lot of those initiatives in place um but with that being said there was a lot of things we did last year to make some changes on the go and that's really hard when um you consider some of the environmental challenges we had with the Jesus school and lamberville on location um and so these scor really speak so highly of our teachers and also our students um I also want to support thank the board from the curriculum committee and all that you did to support us um in these changes as well as the rest of the board members because um we did a lot and you'll see tonight um that we still have work to do for sure um but we are moving in the right direction and I think that's the most important thing to start with so just so you know to give you a little bit of background those of you that are familiar with njsla um you know that is these are sumita of Assessments and so we um the students take Assessments in English language arts it's oftentimes referred to as Ela and math and they're based on the content of that particular grade level or course as you'll hear me explain a little bit more about math the science Science assessment um is often referred to as njsla-s and that is given to students in the in grade five eight and 11 um and you can see that the content is assessed where fifth graders take science um content that they've learned over the course of their third grade year fourth grade year and fifth grade year um and I'll speak a little bit more to our science scores when we get to that slide that was also just a link too as well if you're ever interested in the New Jersey student learning standards there's a link right there um this is the njsla scoring scale for those of you that are not familiar with this the five performance levels really our goal right now is meeting expectations we want all students to achieve a 750 or above and that's really our Target score so in the past I think that we were um we were happy and we were hoping to get most students to approaching three um expectations but we really feel and we know that we can get all students to meeting expectations it's the same scoring scale for both Ela and math so I'm going to go into a little bit more detailed report for our English language arts so these are the um scores you will see that the grade level is on the far column and then those are the total number of tested students um and then those are the levels and you can see that um our slides got messed up um we have a little bit of a snafu it should only be levels one two and three and four but that's okay we're not you're good righta right yep um so where you see red circles that is where the district is above the state level um or the state um performance level and so you can see in third through nth grade grade we made exceptional progress um from last year's where you see the white arrow that means that we were within 5% of the state average and in a small District like ours that 5% could be three to five students um so those are really where those numbers um not only did we move students above the state average where those red circles are but we got very very close um in almost every grade level so again we know we have work to do but that is a huge improvement from last year third and seventh right we pretty well here far four five together this shows the performance um of the percent meeting or exceeding expectations and again these graphs are a whole lot easier when um you're viewing them on your own computer or mobile device um but something to look at so if you look at um like our current grade seven so that's 232 four with the blue bar and then you go to the six when they were sixth graders for 2223 you see that increase from the green to the blue and that happens on several different grade levels um and that's really what we want to see is we want to see the growth over time um and this shows you also what our third graders did in 2122 2223 and 2324 so you can see that overall growth um in third grade in ninth grade in seventh grade um even though there's not the growth in the sixth grade there was the growth from the previous year so again as I said that's a lot to celebrate um and those are the students that are meeting and exceeding expectations this is one of our favorite graphs to show because it shows the student movement in a performance band not a scaled score so that means students who might have been approaching expectations moved to meeting expectations that means if a student met expectations they moved to exceeding expectations and so we broke the graphs down you can see by grade level again it's a little bit challenging to see but um certainly if you have further questions afterwards I'd be happy to but you can see that our students not only moved to um meeting expectations but then also they either stayed the same or they went up and where those color coding you can see the key at the bottom here are subgroups by State um uh recom or requirements we have to report out on all of our subgroups and that's why we break it down like this um but again you'll see that there are um some growth oh excuse me across all subgroups um we know that there's certain subgroup areas that we need to work on um and that's why we have put into to place some different types of interventions um the accelerate block all those um different changes in schedules that we made um all benefit different subgroups U of students moving on to map we have very similar scores again you'll see that there is the growth um and where we are above the state average with those red circles that you can also see the white arrows um where we are exceeding and that is um close to lots of different movement these scores are much higher than they were last year um and we know that we have work to do in math um at the high school level for sure our focus last year was really on looking at our elementary and putting those um interventions as well as initiatives into place and our Focus this year is really looking at the high school programs um and again you can see our numbers are very small for geometry and Algebra 2 um and there's different types of um formulas that go into place with that but we know we need to do a lot to strengthen um the high school math breth again you can see the performance we've broken it out um so grades three to eight would take the end of year end of grade level and then we do have a mixture of algebra one can be eighth grade or nth graders 10th graders or 11th graders um again the mobility you'll see students moving and that went up and you can see many students went up and in the green in the last column so again they're moving up a performance band not just a scaled score and our subgroup data again this is much easier to see when you can see the economically disadvantaged to students with disabilities Hispanic um English Learners and then all students is the first um bar and white students is the light blue bar and here's more subgroup data and this is evident and this gives us our marching orders for next year our science so this is amazing in all five8 and 11 our students scored above the state average um we know that there's we want them to scores to be higher but that is a huge improvement from last year um and when I really just applaud the teachers for um the work that they did in the middle school and the elementary school to um follow along with our Inspire Science Program which was only in its first year and then with our seventh and 11th grade um really providing the teachers with additional support um with some intervention tools this is our performance year-over-year with science and then our subgroups we have a lot of work to continue to do with our English language Learners um and our students with disabilities so we're looking at all different types of programs where we can support them in science for differentiation some of our textbooks can be read to them in Spanish for those that um are still learning English that have just come to us the dynamic learning map is what we it's the assessment that we give to our special education students um those that um need the accommodations and modifications that in their IEPs that allow them to take this assessment instead of the njsla um and there's just some information about it I'm happy to report that as you'll see on the next slide all seven of our students um were Advanced or met the target which is great and I really applaud the um special education students the teachers and our child study team for working so close with those students to help them master that and so here's the next step so as we look at what we're going to do this year to continue that upward um Movement we are going to look specifically at that data if you've heard me talk a little bit about um the data and how we're using it this year we had a lot of data before um but I'm not sure people looked at what was important or it didn't apply or it didn't align with what we were doing in the classroom so as part of the initiatives that we've chosen um through the research we've also looked at the assessments and how those line so this graphic I used last year but we shifted it I changed it and updated it to show the different assessments that we're doing um so we have Assessments in the fall and we call that Universal screening they're diagnostic assessments that's taking the the temperature of where we are right now um as just a moment in time a snapshot in time and you might have heard um or seen on our assessment calendar the dibles assessment is for our early literacy um our encourse benchmarks are for grades 3 to 12 Ela and math I ready Diagnostics were given to all k through eight students and then we are using EXL at the high school so the ideal is we screen everyone to check where everybody is and then we analyze that we look at the end of the math data from reveal we look at last year's U njsla we look at the student story and the other assessments and then we match that intervention so it's the point of this graphic is to show that it's a continual process you're constantly taking th something and moving on to the next step and then moving on to the next step um with our standards with support teachers playing a very large role in the progress monitoring the interventions and then meeting with the team to review um where the student is in a data profile so some of the interventions we've done specifically so we've integrated or we built the accelerate block into our elementary and middle school on location so 40 minutes daily in grades K to four they have an accelerate block um and in grades 5 to six it's 60 Minutes daily so we've looked at grades seven and eight and the flex period here at the middle school high school and and we implemented the 30 minutes that they get for flex but now it is a targeted and the intervention and the specific things that skills and standards they're working on is linked to their I ready diagnostic we've looked at personalized learning in the high school classes and these this is to address some of those gaps in the math Ela and science um and we're using iel at the high school level and so English and math classes do are using ISL about 10 minutes a day up to 30 minutes a week just to um have students practice that unfinished learning U so that they can close some of those gaps and achieve the levels of Mastery that we need them for the njsla as our measure of achievement additionally we have um we're using ISL for science instruction in um grades five through through eight and that is really again to just give our students practice and you heard me talk last year a lot about building stamina and really what that is it's exposing students um weekly or daily to different types of science exper science questions that they see on the njsla we talked a lot last year about the shift from content knowledge um to more of a process so students are given data and they given um different scenarios and they have to solve those problems based on different types of maps or graphs and putting that all together and so we need to make sure that they practice that um and that's where NJ excuse meel comes into place we're looking also at targeted learning plans in a tiered model so um looking specifically at tier two and tier three which are those students that might need a little extra help those would be some of our approach ing um standards and then those that might be below grade level and so where again are they um do they have unfinish learning and how can we support them um and using the data to drive those um Universal assessments as well as those interventions and then as a staff we meet twice a month um at the high school middle school level and also twice a month at the elementary level and we look at all levels of data so we've just looked at the jsla data and we get reports that show us specifically they're called evidence statements you know where what are the standards that we need to make sure that our students know and so we call those power standards because there's certain standards that are in every math curriculum or every Ela curriculum for seventh grade or 8th grade or third grade or fourth grade and we look to see how are our students doing on that and where do we might need to reinforce that so it's looking at all different levels of data the njsla the OnCourse benchmarks cumulative assessments which would be mainly in math and then unit assessment so at the end of a unit after a teacher's taught the material and then how are students scoring and so those are where we see grades and running grade report so it's looking at all different levels of data so that we can figure out how we can support students and you've heard me say it before but we go from known to new what are they doing well and then how do we move them to the next level so we have to break that all the way down um so that we can understand how do we build on Concepts the student has mastered and then um we were granted the high impact tutoring um again and so this year we are going to run it at for fifth and sixth graders after school January through May um because we really felt like those grades were ones that um based on njsla course and some of our assessments that those are the grades that we really need to that are what we call our cusp students those that are right on that approaching and how can we move them to meeting expectations so we're excited to do that in a smaller targeted um way for those students January through May and this was just a summary of schools um because I know that when we met as a curriculum committee there was some questions about how do the school compare we won't obviously have this data for next year because we'll be um fre K4 or K4 for our scores and then 58 but um I did want to show you you know where we are and then the color coding is the blue is above New Jersey average and then the red is within um five points and again what one oh one point oh right one point um and again these are scaled scores and there's our Target number I just have 750 on in the last column so that you can see for those of you that are looking at the state average it does fluctuate so you know as everyone around the state of New Jersey takes the njsla in grade three the state average is 7 41 so when we've always tried to be at or above the state average this is where we want to take South hund next is to the 750 um because that's truly our goal is to have students meeting expectations because then we know that they have mastered the content um so that's our goal and that's what we work towards um and again the science we did very well and you'll see all those numbers in blue because we were above the state average the board have any questions have I understand focus on but are there any other that happen yes absolutely so in addition to right now we are going to begin the process of reviewing curriculum um the current program we have right now um is it doesn't meet the Ed reports green report so we want to make sure that we're providing again the best opportunities and curriculum so we'll start that review process um but that would be for next year but right now what we're doing is we're looking at the interventions based on the EXL diagnostic we're looking at ways we the teachers um had a full day of professional development in August the Math teachers at the high school and then on Friday they'll have an additional halfday professional development um and so what we're doing is really targeting the instruction and making sure they know how to use all of the resources that we currently have um and then we're also looking at the data meetings so that we're looking at specifically you know how are students doing on unit tests and what other resources can we bring in that are aligned to standards that we know will help them um so those are really where we are right now with some putting some of those interventions in place right now yeah um thank you I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the high impact tutoring that was offered at the elementary level last spring and how the the uh students who participated in that did on the njsla but then also and I don't know if you have this how that same cour did at testing that was done in the fall yes so um we did see some improvement um and this is where an after school tutoring program um there's a lot of different things that come into play uh we had some students that only attended for three weeks because we were very flexible with it because we wanted to sort of cast the widest net um and so anyone that wanted to come whether it was two weeks three weeks or the entire time um we allowed that so there were a lot of variables with the data we did see what we did see we saw some we saw Improvement in their scores um and it was varied because we also opened it up to special education students we opened it up to anyone um who could come and we could provide support so yes there were some increases um there was a bump in the ELA um the students that were in um the tutoring program but also those students um many of those students we also saw were part of the Wht wisdom pilot so we did see a small increase with that I will say when we tracked Apples to Apples with the data so when they first came um we gave them the we were using I ready so we gave them the I ready diagnostic from the time they took the the Baseline I ready diagnostic to the end we saw a huge growth many of them had surpassed what we call the stretch goal which was is the beyond the typical growth goal um and I think I may I can certainly bring that um when I present the next time with thata but the growth was absolutely incredible so that was one of the reasons we went and used I now during accelerate that what you're talking about that occurred uh during the after school tutoring program so like in a a test that an assessment that was given at the beginning and then one that was given at the end yes yes and the growth was um incredible so that was also why we chose I ready for the accelerate block because um it was a tested it was a pilot and they did very very well in terms of tracking those students for the benchmarks at this time of year um I have not di dove into that yet yes do we have are we able to connect dos because just on a conversation that we had uh the other week are we able to connect dots and identify the students that seem to maybe aren't as good at just taking the test or um you know maybe there students that don't aren't identified as needing like supports and things but maybe need some something different to help them be better at the length of the test or the format of the test things like that are we able to do that yes um for sure and that's a great question because that is that's the argument for multiple measures right so that's why we use lots of different or not lots of but we use three solid um research-based different types of Assessments because when we look at like the I ready Diagnostic and the student is below where we think them to be um but then we look at what it how did they do on The encourse Benchmark and that's a little bit different so now you've got two and then when we use the reveal end of year math which was an entire year of curriculum that was delivered and taught and they did well then we we sort of put more eggs in that basket because we had control over it but we certainly do um in addition to preparing for the test um we also then spend about the last three to four weeks teaching students about how to take the test so more of a practicing for the test I never say that we teach to the test but like anything you need to know what it's going to be like and so how do you use the drop- down boxes how do you always type in a text box that's like this how do you know that you scroll down and the submit buttons at the bottom so we practice a lot of those closer to the test time but with theel and the I ready a lot of the reason that we choose these programs also is because it gives those Tech features throughout the entire year so not only are they getting used to the content but they're also exposed to that the tech features um exactly exactly because when you know it first came out the njsla or NJ ASK or park or whatever it was you know could you really determine what the student could do in terms of fifth grade math skills because they'd never taken anything on a computer before um you know it goes both ways because we want to be able to have them you know do the math on a piece of paper or write in a journal and that kind of thing so we have to balance both um but we do spend some time on it yeah so as far as like the preschool program we already want to off five classes now possibly six next year what kind of impact do you think that'll have in a structured setting in our district for the test scores once they hit their grade I think it'll be um I think that sets a wonderful Foundation um we I work very closely with um the preschool teachers in Dawn roads and our kindergarten teachers so that we have programs that are aligned so it's not a you know a completely different type of program we've actually Incorporated some of those the foundations and the hegerty into preschool so that students have a familiarity with it um I always speak about coming to kindergarten um and oh my child can read or oh know their letters and colors and I'm like that's great because they're going to be walking into a gr brand new school they're riding a bus or eating lunch in a lunchroom won't it feel good that they sit down and know how to read um so I think there's building on um certainly is building on each other um we do since we're so small we have the opportunity to do vertical articulation meetings so our Preschool teachers will meet with our kindergarten teachers our kindergarten teachers will meet with the preschool so having those five classes of students that are know South hun um and all of these other structures in place I would think that it's a great opportunity for everybody yeah student I mean I know the administration's working really hard and everything but it'll help benefit the students I mean I'm not in education but I assume the earlier you get them going program the better off it'll be as they start taking these tests and moving off the line absolutely right yeah thank you any any other questions I want to follow up actually Kevin's question but before I do that I just want to say say congratulations on this I think it if I've ever seen anyone hit the ground running if you were an example of that last year um and I did want to say thank you to our teachers who have been so incredibly flexible and this has been a crazy last few years for our district um and also to our students I think the the one thing that I heard over and over again in in the tutoring program was celebrating successes and last year was the first time I've ever heard about a pep rally prior to test taking and I coming off a pep rally last year or last week for the football game I think that that is an incredible thing to be doing um so thank you for that but um I following up on on Kevin's question we are exposing the the kindergarten first grade or S second graders into almost that test prep already they're coming in and and hitting the ground running and getting used to that type of test taking already so is is that something you also feel will benefit from preschool all the way up into into what we're doing now R absolutely I think anytime that we can be we can see consistent programs structures schedules K8 it only Builds on each other because the language it becomes the same um and so anytime we can have those through lines I think it's amazing it's all the reconfiguration right when you have K4 teachers all in the same building and the preschool teachers may all be in the same building next year they may not but they all can work together and that's where the strength and numbers comes into play here in South hundon um and then then our Focus then on 912 how can we um support the growth of our programs with also raising our academic achievement so they all go hand inand um while also supporting the social emotional pieces and making sure that we have time for those and I see more time for developing the whole child if you don't have to spend so much time you know oh well this is reveal and this is the way we teach math this year be but we taught it last year differently so there's a lot to be said about consistency and students just being provided all of the same opportunities and building on each other and um with prek it's certainly only builds with what we're looking at um in terms of strengthening the district yeah I was just wondering could you clarify a little bit what I mean since we're talking about prek and test taking and preparing I mean kind of where I hear this conversation going is I'm preparing the kids in prek for test taking which honestly makes me a little uncomfortable um so I was just wondering maybe you could clarify a little bit what that looks like at the prek level sure we actually have a very um strict requirement from the state of New Jersey she's the we have a represented coming actually tomorrow to spend a day or three quarters of a day in our preschools looking and making sure that we're following all of the requirements of the preschool education um and we do have set curriculum um requirements and those are all part of the tools of the mind um program and there's not any formal assessments um but I will say what it does do is it takes away that well testing kindergarteners before they come to kindergarten um I I always question teachers well we're a public school we can take anybody because we're kindergarten as long as they're five and so this gives us that opportunity for to know what is taught in preschool and then there isn't that well are they ready for kindergarten because we know what they've done well whether it's formal assessment no but um we've always or in past practice always assessed kindergarteners before they came um or students coming in well we wanted to know did they know their letters do they know their sounds can they follow directions so it's a different kind of assessment than obviously what we're talking about here yeah I'll jump into because I don't want people to panic and thinking we're doing like test taking with preschoolers as far as what the clock go right it's more about it's more about the structure right for them you know and I think I know we have a kindergarten teacher in the audience but if you see a student who is in our preschool program let's say in the past when we couldn't offer to everyone and then maybe you have a student or two that comes in who was not in preschool at all and that happen right for a variety of reasons could be Financial whatever it may be it's like night and day right and it it takes a while for that student beyond the academic piece of kindergarten just to get acclimated to what it's like to be in school day long and all those structures and different things so I think beyond the the academic piece that other piece of it we've seen much more of a smooth transition I think our having conversations with our kindergarten teachers they've already shared that but they've seen a big difference of our kids that are kindergarten Readiness now than they might have been for five years ago was it important sort of like triple like the better prepared your kindergarteners are the we're expecting that they will continue to be better students as and that's kind of what I was getting at as far as the stamina of taking and not actually sitting down there it's the soft skills around it that I think um and that was another question that I had we when we started talking about this we talked about that stamina and talked about certain cohorts still having trouble with that St um and I I know you touched on it a little bit here but I'd love if you could just break out a little bit more about how we're using accelerated Flex um as a response to that and that it's a preemptive response that we didn't have the result when we put that into place but now we have the tools in place to do that yes and we I mean the the trend in New Jersey and as I spoke about when we were talking about schedules last spring um New Jersey strongly recommends an accelerate or win Block in throughout the schedule um so that you can provide uh high impact tutoring is what the state calls it within the day so that students don't have to come after school for tutoring because we know the inequities that happen with that um so the purpose is to provide that extra support within the day for accelerate or flex and so that they're not missing poor content so they don't get pulled out to work on something that they need reinforcement or ring and then miss what was delivered during the instructional block so um and they're always going to be cohorts of students that you know as we see right now our current eighth graders is a very high cohort and then we look at other cohorts that aren't as high so it's the makeup of kids we're dealing with students and um and so it it does it allows us to shift where our focus is on different grade levels just like um you know as a classroom teacher you're going to have some grades that are just or some classes you're like wow this is like magic It's Just Happening where others you're like okay I've got a lot of balls going on here um where am I going to start um so I think the accelerate and the flex provides us with a a way that's built into the structure to set the students up for Success so that we can then go ahead and meet their needs um again we're we're we're reiterating and we're pivoting and we're changing a few things up with flex um because it's hard to get it right with middle schoolers and high schoolers but we're going to keep trying because we're committed to that um I think we've done a beautiful job at K4 and finding the sweet spot for how flex and the students are getting speech services or they're getting Bann or they're getting ESL services or they're getting um standards with support um or they're getting enrichment so it works both ways and it works on both ends of the spectrum um for our students that are gifted into talented as well as students that may need some extra support um in Flex we're using the data specifically from I ready um and we know that's the Baseline we know that not everybody did awesome on IR ready and that's okay because we had to start somewhere um and we know that that's a growth opportunity moving to January so looking at where students might have some unfinished learning in reading or Ela and math and then we can go ahead and put them with teachers at the same cohort level or that they can meet with their Ela teacher again that also we're also building in the flexibility so that Flex can be what we've said it's going to be and they can choose to go to their science teacher if they have a science test tomorrow or they need some extra help um so the idea is um to make the schedule so we're not running into square pegs and round holes that we can set up as many of the logistical structures in place because we know students May respond in different ways so so if it's not if they're not responding how can we change that without changing a schedule or that kind of thing I don't know if I answered your question but I'm going to spend some more time probably at the November board meeting talking a little bit more about accelerate and specifically um what we're doing and the data we're receiving I have a question go ahead ABS so in terms of generalized research whether it be is it fair to say that children who have preschool generally do better academic down Road or is it not that yes and that's the purpose of early intervention right so whether they I don't know the long the long-term effects I do know that students who have preschool have a their success rate in kindergarten is much higher because they've been exposed to a structured environment in the school and typically the school they're moving to the next classroom down the hall and so there's a there's less of the um you know the the not accommodations the acclamation to going to a big school yeah exactly so but that would be a really interesting to study I know um there have been studies when um and again I'm just speaking based on my own research um with the Head Start and following students through Head Start programs um in some of the urban areas and that certainly did the research did say that those students that were in the head story program and Then followed they followed them through middle and high school um but I can't speak specifically to South hunon or this area General generalized yep yep I certainly could find you some research I wanted to make sure my assumption y resarch the research we have any other questions for one the last thing I just want to say as we mentioned as part of our district goal this year we will be reporting out additional data not just once a year so whether it's in January or February or whatever we decide as a curriculum committee we've talked about this where three or four times the year we will be sharing some internal data on some of the multiple measures and how students are progressing rather than just one time a year in October so that would be C so similar to like what we were talking about with the the hit data and I ready like those students made huge progress so I'd like to be a able to celebrate the progress we're making within the classrooms and not just put it all on this test in May and here we are talking about it on October 28 so thank you very all right with that we come to our first period of public comment um so we will open for the public for comment on any items on the agenda um we invite you to come up and uh bring your um questions uh to the board um hang on one minute let me just finish my little Spiel here um we do ask you to keep it to three minutes um if you do have a questions about the data about the presentation ask ask the question if we feel like it's something that we can answer in a in a reasonable period of time we'll ask Miss Lennon to answer that um and uh so we are here to sit and listen respectfully to your comments so with that ma'am certainly come on up hi I'm Robin deal from West anal Township um I want to piggyback on Lucas's report at the beginning because I was one of the 50 50th Anniversary students who came Friday to the football game and Lucas was one of four students who gave a tour of the school and it was very delightful because we were all very surprised and pleased at how interested they were in how we described the school as it was 50 years ago so I just want to say that it was a really delightful experience the kids were really engaging and I hope that more classes ask for this kind of response because it was a really good example of the way the kids act with adults which is not always the best thing and we really appreciated it very much thank you thank you great job okay um do we have anybody else from the public who would like to bring the concerns go the board uh if we have no one at this time do we have anyone online no okay um so if we have no one else at this time there will be another public comment period at the end of the meeting um but we will close this period of public com and we will move on to our committee report and we'll start with the thank you very much you have a great home done um um we'll start with the building and grounds building and grounds didn't meet when did we meet earlier this week last last th and so I'm gonna actually ask Andrew to make that rep um starting with voting grounds updates Mr suzo gave updates on the elementary school construction Middle School and Elementary School punch list items a few items outstanding um those are getting wrapped up shortly uh many of them will get wrapped up over the teachers I'm sorry um many of them will get wrapped up over the teachers weekend um middle school middle school construction is on case been going well um we discussed a water issue that was recently discovered by the state at West Samwell Elementary School building um we're in process finding resolution to that um we will have more to report as we work with the state on um what was found and how to move forward um we talked about the solar panels upcoming project you'll see um for approval the request to approve dco energy as our engineer of record this will not replace Matrix but just for uh engineer of record for solar panel installation um we just discussed the prek program and the three different prek meetings that took place over the past six weeks uh we discussed the athletic field expansion and the potential of either doing field expansion behind new middle school or possibly doing a turf field um that would allow for more flexibility for field use um and then just we talked more about potential capital projects that could be upcoming over the next couple of years um we reviewed the three different contracts set up for approval one is for what Disney World room contract that's for the senior trip the other two are for students who are placed in out of District placements uh we reviewed the budget development calendar which we have to approve for cusac every year that post it on the agenda um the Clon County Educational Services Commission lease purchase bidding service retention is a resolution just to um retain hun County to do our bidding for uh the lease purchasing financing that we're going to be doing for the new school bus that we'll be purchasing um as I mentioned before there's a resolution to appoint dco energy uh there's a resolution to approve the transfer of funds to cover payment and then also to transfer um funds from interest to ex language with me for a moment I have it sorry um must go to so the interest must go to the general fund as interest as income or go to Debt Service fund superintendent recommendations to move These funds to general fund retroactively and that will include any future Arbitrage um additionally we have to approve the uh CMP and the M1 which is a yearly approval form for our comprehensive maintenance plan um it's something we have to send the county every year so that way they can calculate what is our minimum um that we have to contribute towards maintenance and then also what is the maximum that we can contribute towards maintenance reserves uh we have three change orders on the agenda for approval you'll see one is change order nine was actually changed to an allowance deduction but I wanted to note that so that way we can see U both of the the bigger numbers the the change order 7 change order eight are due to delay claims um and then there's change order nine which is a negative change order it means we're getting money back from the contractor um for some changes that were made due to some changes in plumbing um and then also approvals for payment authorization for the contract with the elementary school and for the Middle School um regarding transportation we also just discussed that we weren't um not pursuing the electric School Bus Grant uh we were just postponing any movement on that at this time and we talked about the bus purchase timeline which after if it's approved tonight um we should hopefully have a new bus in the next 30 to 60 dayss okay and with that I will need a motion oh I'm sorry just want go ahead actually let me make my motion and then we can discuss at that point Y so with that I'll need a motion to approve items a through o move by Kev can I have a second please second okay now we're open for discussion so I just wanted to go back just so I don't want to folks that think we lost over to number to letter K so because I know this has been a question just to kind of give you the background if you remember when we were able to get our referendum funding we invested it in an NJ arm account so that's an account specifically for public entities municipalities school districts with that we made we've made interest on that money that's been in there as we've been paying out you know contractors over the last year and a half um what we're doing here is we are uh asking the board to pass a resolution that the 2.4 million that we've made an interest um keep in mind that and we've talked about this in finance committee there is a limit on what we can actually make anything we make over that limit the 2.4 million unfortunately the state gets to keep that's just the way it works as far as the regs go but what we're recommending here is that 2.4 million be transferred back into the general fund the board has not made any decisions yet as to what that money will be used for and that will be part of future discussions that are coming uh in the coming months so I just wanted to be kind of Crystal fearer on that so everyone understands that so this we're doing this now we put that limit correct yeah as we you know we're getting close to the end of the 58 project we our funds are down obviously to where they were a year and a half ago and uh we anticipate probably by February March will be growing down on the majority of it how much is the state all just depends on what the interest the total interest is so once we hit the the maximum limit then it's whatever is the meaning so it's not there's no other give or take at this they're going to do all right it's free money for them well that it's locked in what kind of locked in it's it's based off of the amount that the referendum was and what the interest rates were at that time that's how harbit is calculated does at least go to the education that's a great question yes um any other questions on items a through o um would note the uh um the payment or the payment here this isi it's just number item n just $12,000 kind of reflects that we are nearly completely wrapped up with our elementary school project so obviously the remaining payments are going to be mostly for finishing up the middle school project which uh is on track to be done as planned in in March um so they're making good progress on that um any other comments on items a not that's Jenifer Bachelor yes Martha Dennis yes Gina Pete yes Brian Keys yes Kevin koves yes Aon o yes Michael Strauss yes Ronnie Tod Marino yes Jim Galler yes uh the Personnel committee okay sure so the Personnel committee met on October 23rd and um we discussed a couple of items and including uh the superintendent's recommendations for appointments resignations transfers and adjustments as well as recommendations for mentors coaches for The 2024 2025 school year um and additionally the committee discussed recommendations for extracurricular sniping appointments for the 2024 2025 school year um Additionally the committee was informed of current openings in the district for the current school year which consist of uh kindergarten and fourth grade teachers which are um leave Replacements leave Replacements that will go um until through the end of the year and additionally a par professional at the elementary school and then finally we discussed the teacher of the year nominations which is currently underway and they are due November 15 and so all are encouraged to nominate favorite teacher so with that I would like to um make a motion to um approve the items set forth yes okay so move can I have a second second second Mr thank you any discussion on those no I would I would note I'm happy to see Thomas mclen had been teaching here before um he uh he left his position to completed his education degree and is now being hired back as a special education teacher he's a South Hunter in Alum um this little and I have a I I I feel like I have to tell this story Mrs little has a son Thomas little who played Sports football with my son and when Thomas was a student here he coached as a volunteer coach of the Ramblers football team and so we had Thomas little on the team so all the kids called him Thomas big anyway I'm glad to see that he's coming back he's a great kids respect him he's a good coach a good uh fine young man so with that uh there's no other comments on the personnel with Martha Dennis yes Gina Pete yes Brian Keys yes Kevin kovaleski yes Ain o yes Michael Strauss yes Jennifer Bachelor yes Ronnie to Marino yes Jim Gall yes uh curriculum and Technology okay so curriculum and Technology met on Wednesday October 9th 2024 um briefly discuss professional development day which is November 1st um one of the topics where that was discussed is AI for Education I'm using AI as a purposeful tool a purposeful application for Education enhancement and the discussion of ethical implications of AI teaching students I'm sorry teaching yeah teaching students to use AI the right way uh focusing on academic integrity and responsible use in educational settings other part of the day um groups will be formed based on grade level and topics will include Whit and wisdom lesson study Big Ideas Math great mind and how to access and use online resources the majority of the meeting focused on the district achievement report um I'm not going to go through you had a great presentation so I'm not going to go back and rehash any of that um so really all have okay and there's nothing to move tecknology this month so that policy the policy met on October 2nd everything was on a first read with the focus on the policies and regulations associated with physical examination for the teaching and support staff the specific reason for the review um were changes related to to bosis screening so that the policy states that the district follows the current New Jersey Department of Health guides screening and that way you don't have to go into changes every time that guid changes but we went in and reviewed the policies fully see if there were any change that we felt needed to be made um just as a note South hund reach the school district it does require all teaching and support staff complete a physical examination as part of their Hing process we can confer that a standardized form is used which is provided to it retained only by human resources and the text will be updated tole Human Resources role we also that the optional tests that are available the district does require a 12 panel drug test which has been all includes marijuana as the use of marijuana and its derivatives are not illegal the this is exploring how to exclude that portion of the drug panel from the results that it received even if we're not able to take it out of the panel we're going to try to take it out of what we see um we noted that the district is not require a psychological assessment we also took uh as we discussed at the board meeting last time uh we made a did a corresponding review for the regulation on student student suicide prevention to make sure that the language associated with notification referenced contact as opposed to having a physical meeting so that corresponding change has been Comm um in school and Community we first received a status report essentially on the accelerate and flex program Lennon joined us and um talked about um what has been implemented and um one of the things that I think is important to note is that our our students always get assessments there's benchmark assessments three times a year um in the past the first assessment in September was in the first week because um teachers gave feedback saying that that was too early now they have a full month to complete that and all of the students have completed that initial assessment and it's the the results of that the data from those assessments that really drive that individualized um instruction and accelerate um and flex as Miss lenon uh stated there will be more information provided at the November Bo ofed meeting just to help people to better understand what's happening in those periods um and then also um some of the the um assessment information will be provided at the parent teacher conference so that families have more information about um how children are performing on assessments we also discussed the after school programming at the elementary school which has been um facilitated by the PTO we were uh happy to hear that this would continue and uh we all agreed that we were committed to supporting the PTO in their decisions regarding um how that program would be structured in the future we talked about the new Jersey um DP well testing uh that happened at the West amall school and that where they found the presence of a chemical called 14 Dio dioxin and the district will continue to work with the D um to follow the guidance uh in terms of remediation and um response and then it we are also testing the wells that Supply the high school and the middle school proactively um we talked about commun engagement um and Veterans Day each school has a different event or donation Drive um planned for Veterans Day the American Legion was invited to participate and and um in addition to families and other community members um so we're looking forward to hearing about those and then we talked about the prek expansion Community sessions um we talked about that presentation and the feedback that have been gathered next steps will include a second work session for the board of bed um to with theity options and that is it nothing question so I I received the email as well it says it was randomly tested do we know the last time the water was tested there was a positive result in in the past or this is a new problem that's come up the water's touched quarterly but this particular um contaminant that's probably the best word um has never been tested because it's not part of the state panel so it's still not it's not something that we are required by law to um address but it's something we still want to address because it was the D just reached out to different um whether to municipalities School District different areas that wanted to take their bring sample sizes some smaller districts larger um just to see if this contaminant did exist and they found that in our is at a level that they felt based off of what the EPA recommends was higher than um is if there was if the state was to move forward and make this an identified contaminant with a maximum contaminant level that's we test for a number of different things in their water testing and that's they measure the MCO um once it hits that then you know then it would be something that we have to man but obviously we're still proactively trying to address it and we did have the high school and future middle SCH site tested last Friday how long do you expect the results to take uh probably s days yeah it's usually it's usually two weeks so I just want to make sure that our students at at w Orting yeah and they're also cooking with yep correct okay um in that case we'll move on information items um I don't think we have a report to accept for investment ination um fire drills uh were performed in September in accordance with the state guideline um en enrollment report up to dat um so and that so with that then we'll move toward uh we will move to the second period of public comments um same uh rules as before um please come up and uh state your name and uh let us know what is on your mind hello my name is Andrea little from West dwall Township uh I have appreciated last month of learning from the preschool session so thank you very much I was able to and two and listen to the other one and it was just really good to hear some of the questions that other people had to say um throughout all of them um and as I was listening to them a lot of new questions kind of came up um that I'm hoping that we can start receiving the information on um as you know you start proposing more of your options on the decision that you will be making it the sessions outlined the options but there were some details that that would be needed for an equitable decision on behalf of the residents represented by this board some of the decisions will take place this year um based on your planning schedule for the budget beginning in early January westan well uh at this time should only be really needing maintenance mode for this year it is known the building requires updates Plus in order to facilitate staying open to students the building was deemed not worthy um and it was men many times the state does not issue unlimited funds that was something I learned on the third meeting for the preschool program each student this year was warranted a grant of $1 4,748 and I believe that's called a grant for that particular for this purpose and again um this is not questioning the preschool program by any means this is just talking about you know Equitable information this was um teachers and AIDS um you know are part of this program for the classroom special teachers Hall monitors administrators secretaries benefits busing supplies custodial along with running and maintaining the building and grounds would all be needed within the budget for zerob based budgeting so for 60 students which we currently have that would be a grant of about $884,000 of what we would have received while this is being reviewed prek is for residents only however the K kindergarten through secondary schools still show choices an opt option Mr Harris may I please request you to break down Choice per grade in your District enrollment during the session space was a big concern by many people the purpose of choice is for when space is available I suggest Choice only be considered for high school grades considering each seat counts we do not build schools for Choice students the stien for choice is less than what it costs to educate students in the district this is why I'm saying for high school specific where there's plenty of space um it was mentioned that that you know more kids may join the district but we also know that more people may leave the district and ways to for us to reconsider to keep prek within the Young Elementary and reconfigure the secondary is also another option that I hope that we can start seeing those numbers so I'd like to see if you can be exploring both of those thank you very much I will say one thing I don't think that kindergarten students aren't allowed to be accepted this choice at least historically they are they are well that has changed then because originally students had to go to one year of school in their own District before they could be called before they could become Choice students so my bed I'm sorry oh really okay so I'm just saying when the choice when when the choice program originated that you could not go as a choice student as a kindergarten could not go until first grade so but my mistake that I learned something new tonight um very good uh any other any other public comment anyone else have anything they'd like to bring you before the board okay we have nothing online so with that I will close the second period of public comment um we have no need to go into an executive session this evening so with that I will uh I will ask Mrs o if you would like to make a motion to adjourn so moved okay have second please second by Gina thank you uh all in favor anyone oppose okay thank you very much everybody