##VIDEO ID:CABcrIlzj0c## adequate notice as required by the public meetings that was provided on December the 6 2023 by posting the notice to the respected FLIR of the city of lamberville B stock in the township of West Stanwell and advertised in the hunting County Democrat in the Trenton times's newspaper before we stand for the flag salute um it is the week of Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is Thursday um I felt like I just wanted to take a moment to say I was getting ready for this meeting how thankful am we have amazing teachers we have incredible support staff we have dedicated administrators and we have a fantastic Community here uh of people who are uh supportive and interested in education uh there's a a lot of things for us to be thankful for and so I'm expressing my thanks on this Thanksgiving week now stand to the flag United States of America stand Nation roll call please Jennifer Bachelor here Martha Dennis here J maete Brian kees here Kevin keski Aron here Michael Strauss here Ronnie Todd Marino here gallager pres um next we will have our report of the student representative of the board Good Wife hello good evening okay so first our Sports for the our fall Sports um we've received our honors uh for our football for our BCC all division silver Freedom first um our first team goes to Thomas Brewer Ed Cooper and Ty dun and our second team goes to Nate lton and Parker rampal girl soccer in the Skyland conference All Conference Team first team goes to Lucy spren second team to Olivia neth and honorable mention to Maggie Woodside for boy soccer our first team is Oliver heran Connor keys and Eduardo labera second team is Anthony Torres and Alex Delon and our honorable mention is Aaron perzy for field hockey uh first team goes to anuka bog and Addison pord second team goes to Julia stof Jun be horal and Isabella Warnick and honorable mention goes to Catalina W our winner sports are now in session and they started process Ming we had our first two meets or first two practices today and tomorrow uh boys and girls basketball Tri outs are all this week uh wrestling starts next week orer track is in process of starting and this year we have a dance club our dance club will be joining us to help cheer on our B basketball teams at all our hom for clubs um Key Club so the Key Club had one of their field trips today to the Trenton are suit kitchen or task so the CL Club helped out plating and serving food to the local Tron community and the club has had multiple trips in past years and we plan on doing more trips this year um for the literary magazine the liter magazine for the lp mag is looking for Creative students with any artwork drawings or paintings written pieces Visual Arts or Performing Arts anything from music to like paintings and sketches art can be submitted to lit magag shsd.org for the yearbook the yearbook is again asking for anybody in the community from staff students parents and the general public for any photos from any South events they've taken this can be selfies to point fs and they can be of any quality on any camera from an iPhone camera to Sony or Canon camera the environmental Club the environmental Club went on the field trip to BP Mountain this month students learned about the environment in the process of preserving natural wildlife and species such as the native plants by helping enclose them and by cutting and taking away more invasive skues around the also um South had a blood drive this month with multiple and multiple students staff and the general public being able to participate and donate blood helped a lot of lives and one person can save up to three lives um students 16 up were able to donate but while the local community was able to help too and for our class of 2025 um the senior class had a fundraiser last Friday at Panera Bread they partnered with them getting 25% of the proceeds and another Disney um our Disney payment is coming up next Friday final Disney thank you thank you any questions for the representa okay you can stay or you can go you homework and stuff to do thank you very much um next up we'll have p and LF if anybody's here to give reports for so Hi Megan CIS from the laf um so just to let you know we um our 2024 letter writing campaign is under the way and so obviously that's our our one of our bigger opportunities for fundraising where we are getting our community involved and sending letters um thanking our community for all the support they've given us and looking hopefully for continued sport as we go through into next year um within the letter we're also highlighting a few things new this year um we're kind of um having a save the date for our spring fundraiser which is March 29th we'll be rolling out something a little new and different so look forward to that um more information to come there um we'll also be introducing a new fundraising initiative that we're calling four quarters four kids or 4 q4k um this is where we're looking um to engage the community by asking a hundred uh community members to commit $100 once a quarter or a year and in doing so and in return they'll be able to come to a few of our open meetings as well as meet um some of our grant and award recipients and get to see like where their money's going so that's something we're going to be introducing as we go into 2025 um also just a few things on grants we do have two grants that we're in review right now um one for a Performing Arts trip um there a Performing Arts trip where the the students will be go to a New York philarmonic and a Broadway play as well as several um developmental um uh uh construction or developmental classes um for the Performing ad students it was a great collaboration of funding between the school Papa and lead to uh to go ahead and get those guys going on this fantastic opportunity trip uh the second Grant is for a stem grant that has come through and we're under review at the moment so um more to come um as we look through that that's it thank you [Music] that's be here so I uh kids night out November was our biggest kids night out the dat we had 85 kids and at their expenses he made $1,760 thank you to all of our volunteers and Miss Ryan without then we've not been able to have an event that large our clothing drive has ended and we were able to make close to $700 for that thank you to everyone who dropped off items every that helps and thank you to our middle school students who helped load the truck the PTO donated refreshments and other items to the seventh and the eighth grade dance held a few weeks ago thank you to our middle school and high school PTO board for organizing and thank you to The Bachelor family for Lending us their cotton candy machine and staying the Run machine the holiday shop at the elementary school will run from December 9th to December 13th the information went home in backpack mail on Friday all envelopes are to be returned to Home Room teachers by Wednesday November 27th if you misplace your envelope the main office has extra the prek committee will be organizing prft for the prek classes at the middle school on location in L of the holiday shop at the Middle School fifth and sixth grade buddies will then help the pre T kids make special items for their families to go home for the holidays please look out for the following fundraising opportunities on the horizon Shake Shack dine and donate in January penny wars more information to follow on this but it will be in January it will be districtwide Christmas tree fundraiser will take place after the holidays if you would like to help We join the committee and then giving Tuesday on December 3rd I'm happy to announce the PTO and the after school enrichment program committee will continue with the program our first committee meeting is Thursday December 5th in the media center at the elementary school if you'd like to join the committee please attend the first meeting and we will add you to all future communications once the committee meets we will send out a formal communication to family PTO has many other committees that need volunteers without our volunteers and the committee and committees that run our events for the PTO we would not be able to continue helping out as much as we do please be on the lookout on parents sare for the PTO committee signups and sign up unions thank you so much for your time all right um with that we'll move our correspondent we do have some we do have a letter that were sent to us this past month it is placed online anybody can add it there um so with that uh I'm seeking a resolution to approve the approve the minutes of our regular meeting from October the 28 move by Ronnie thank you can I have a second please second by Michael thank you any discussion on those minutes all in favor I anyone oppose anyone St okay uh with that we have uh we have um several presentations uh one of them is on um the anti-bullying Rights Act which is our is the hi program um one of them is on our uh District student safety data systems report and then we will have uh a period of public comment on that on those two presentations right on those two presentations and the superintendent report then there'll be an open Period of public comment on anything that you want to talk so with that yes all right so these are annual reports that we typically do in November of each year um the HIV report is basically we have um school safety and climate teams in each one of our buildings that do a self assessment that we receed from the state of New Jersey so just to kind of give you before I get into the slide deck an indication so what will happen is they'll meet and they'll go through all these different indicators and here's an example of one that the hi policy was discussed with students in accordance with District process for these discussions and then based on that there's different criteria that we need to meet and there's also sample documentation that's included So based on that criteria then um our school climate safety teams will complete the self assessment uh that you're going to see in front of you with scores for each one of our buildings so like I had said before this is don't on an annual basis um and then it is submitted to the state all right so just looking at the self assessment so um if you look at about three quarters the way down you'll see grading for the school district will be calculated so we take basically each School self assessment we add up the numbers we divide by three and then we come up with a district number our district score was a 72 for 2023 24 a score 50 indicates that you're meeting all state requirements so obviously we well above the 50 as we get into each category that's broken down you can see that there's eight different core elements that our school teams self assess the first one deals specifically with our hi programming so you can see that you know the initiatives you know how we're implementing different documentation assessing our hi programs each and every year um and as I mentioned before the school safety teams have identified patterns and they take a look at hivs in each building and then you can see for each category there's a poti of 15 points the second category deals with training so specific training for our staff um in the HIV law when we get into core element three we look at some other categories as well all of our teachers are required to do two hours of instruction on suicide prevention um every five years in a 5-year cycle they're also required to complete two hours of instructional HIV prevention and the HIV law within a 5-year cycle we're um required to have an anti-bullying specialist so our anti-bullying specialist is typically a counselor at each one of our buildings um they're required to have training as well and then we also have members of our school safety team which includes the HIV specialist a school administrator and then um some teachers and then we also spend time each summer with our administrative team looking at Trends in the HIV reports that we've had from the year before as we develop programming for the upcoming school year element four is curriculum and instruction on H so how does it tie to some of the things that we're doing in our curriculum and then also the state of New Jersey each and every year on the first full week in October has what's called a week of respect so hopefully for parents in the district there was a lot of different things were sent out through parents square and posted on our website of different activities that our counseling staff had planned during the week of respect something obviously you should be doing all year long but um you know the state of New Jersey highlights that first week in October core element five hit Personnel so as I mentioned before our principal is required to appoint our HIV Specialists they're on our website if you look under HIV with their names and contact information I'm the district anti- booing coordinator I meet at least two times with our specialist just to kind of review the Law whatever changes might have happened look at Trends from last year look at assembly programs or different educational programs that have either happened or coming up um for the year to address issues with HIV and then the school safety teams have to meet at least twice a year at their building level um and that's where they're kind of doing the self assessment but also looking at individual HIV reports within their buildings core element six is the reporting procedure so making sure that the district is implementing the procedures for reporting o HIV um and that all the reporting if there is any new information for an HIV is followed as well and add it to the original report seven is the invest investigation so there's different parameters we have to follow we have to notify parents both of the victim and the alleged um perpetrator or offender when there's an HIV we have to complete the school investigation which the HIV specialist does within 10 school days and document a written report we have to prepare the report and come up with findings based on the HIV law and then that report once completed is forwarded to me within two school days and then eventually a summary of that report is reviewed by the Board of Education in executive session and then core element 8 um again just making sure that our staff is aware of all the different things as far as the reporting procedures uh and then for us each and every year we get a grade based on our self assessment from the NJ dooe that we have to post on our website again if you look on the HIV tab on our website you'll see there's probably the grades from the last five or six years that are there um and show our scores so then if you look at each building kind of tally up you kind of see where we landed for each one of our schools so several years ago probably about three four years ago the HIV law was changed um and there was an option within the HIV law where you could write into your policy that a principal could do a preliminary determination in other words if an HIV came in they read the report they could say doesn't meet the criteria we're not going to do an invest ation and then things move on we decided as a board not to do that because we felt like every HIV was important to be investigated so we did not include that in our board policy so you'll notice here where it says did the district permit any preliminary determinations our answers were no and then how many times it's na because we do not have that in our board policy and then just kind of looking at some different resources so if you're interested and again this will get sent out tomorrow morning um this is the you know the first bullet is the anti-bulling Bill of Rights if you want to look at more information about that last year we created the second document and that's a hyperlink you would oftentimes get a lot of questions from parents when there was an HIV that was filed both from parents or maybe the victims and the um you know alleged offenders you know what's the process how long does it take when am I going to find out the findings what happens so this is kind of a Q&A document that's on our website and what we do is there is an HIV report we send it out to all the parties involved the parents so they can look at it initially because I'm sure this document will answer a lot of the different questions that they might have about the process and how we handle that and then each and every year and we did this again this past summer what I do is I take all of our HIV reports for the year whether they've been confirmed or they're just alleged but they didn't meet the criteria we take a look at each and everyone we take a look at the distinguishing characteristic as far as why it triggered an HIV report what are the trends with that what does it look like in each one of our buildings uh and based on that information it really does Drive programming as far as different curriculum changes assembly programs different things that we're going to bring into the district if we see some Trends in some different areas so we do that on an annual basis so that is the HIV report and then we're going to transition into the student safety data systems report and if those have been around a while it used to be called the violence and vandalism report but then eventually a couple years ago they changed it to bsss so this is a report that I'm doing for the entire 2324 school year so last school year just so everyone's aware of the process and this is a little bit difficult to see but when I send it out tomorrow if you want to look at it so whenever we have an incident in the school building and if you look at this form this is a state form it's called an ssds form we have to fill it out with the state so if we had a Hib that was alleged if we had a HIV that was confirmed if we had damage or vandalism to the property if we had someone to make a threat if we had a fight if we had trespass whatever it would be um if we have substance abuse issue we have to complete this form we have to put the school information down the incident date give a description and then there's all kinds of different things that we have to fill out includ including police notification victim's information offenders information we have to submit this to the state for each incident that occurs and then for specifically HIV there's a lot of information on you know what the who the offender was what their ID number was there an arrest was there a suspension you know in school out of school so pretty much anything that falls under the category of ssds has to be reported on an annual basis to the state and then these reports are submitted for documentation and then again this is for the HIV specifically for HIV they're going to they're going to ask what was it a gesture written verbal physical electronic communication and then exactly what was done you know in in the situation as far as the victim and the offenders so just looking at our numbers from last year you're going to see these different categories substance offenses vandalism violence weapons HIV that was reported and HIV that was confirmed so that means a report com comes forward our Specialists use the criteria of the law and they determine whether or not it fits under as an HIV or could it be just something that still is not something that we want our students to do and obviously there's a Code of Conduct that handles that but it may not meet the HIV law um so when you look at this uh we always want to see the zero columns and the weapons column which is good um you will notice uh the number for substance offenses and I'm going to talk about that in a second went up compared years past which I'll show was 13 I'll give a little bit of background on that the last slide or the second to last slide here shows kind of like a continuation over the last four years so you can see our numbers uh obviously 2021 pretty low because we didn't have a lot of students in school whole days because of the uh covid but if you look at our numbers a couple things I want to point out um we did see a pretty significant increase with the subs defenses compared to last year U but I do want to point out that four of the 13 students uh that were suspected to be under the influence refuse the test so this doesn't have anything to do if you're familiar with the district we do have a random drug policy where we do random testing this is totally separate from this this is specifically if a student was to be considered to be under the influence or in possession of something that was illegal um we would then test the student so if a student refuses to get tested that's an automatic violation of our policy um so we did have four out of the 13 individuals refused the test and something else that I'll point out is that we did have two students that were responsible for five incidents so three and two between the two students so something that obviously we look at I will tell you that all 13 offenses had to do with marijuana um as an offense obviously we know that things you know in our world have changed specifically around marijuana but obviously still El for our students so um The Vaping is is something that we're really focusing on um you know vaping with nicotine was you know something that when vaping first came out now you know THC plays a role in that so obviously with our administrative staff working through and and trying to get an idea if a student is caught vaping in the building or does have Vape paraphernalia on them is it just nicotine is there a possibility that they're under the influence of phc and what that looks like those are all things that we're kind of navigating so we just had a program if you're not aware with our seventh eth and ninth graders probably two weeks ago prevention resources came in and did a whole assembly program on the dangers of vaping and this whole idea of THC and the different things that you know come comes into play because those age groups are the ones we want to Target you look at the research research tells you between seventh and eth grade it's typically when students make decisions on experimentation and things along those lines so we so we definitely want to do document or Target those grade levels and then just what we have in place so you know as a district at least since I've been here and even before we've always had the philosophy of educating the whole child that there's a balance between the social emotional learning and the academics we're fortunate to have wonderful counselors throughout the district um we have a Student Assistance counselor who deal specifically with substance abuse issues obviously our anti- booing Specialists who are our counselors we spend a lot of time focusing on restorative practice over the last several years we have the 100 and safe schools app so you'll see there's typically posters that hang around the school I send it out to the kids all the time it's an anonymous app where students can report if there's an issue going on that they feel that we need to be aware of and it's totally Anonymous we have a mental health clinici which if you recall over the last couple years we contracted out and then this year we actually hired and they belong to us now so we know that mental health you know challenges for our adolesence is on the rise has been for many years and we've added an individual that focuses specifically on some of our more high-profile cases of students who need additional support and their families we're required to have a threat assessment team which we have I talked a little bit already about week of respect um violence and vandalism awareness week is also the third week in October we do activities around that and since the beginning of the year we've already had several programs we've had an assembly program Tom Thelen came and we put put stuff out you know via social media and our news bites and that Target our sixth seventh and eighth graders called be the change um camfel Productions did an assembly program about me making healthy choices for our k6 students we had Healthy Choice week October 23rd to the 31st formally called Red Ribbon Week which is all about making healthy choices when it comes to Substance Abuse Prevention resources I mentioned before was just here with our seventh eth and ninth graders did an assembly program called don't get Vaped there's links here so when I send this out if you want to dig into these programs a little more you have the ability to do that and then as one of our board goals and District goals this year um we have ancl social emotional learning committee that's made up of districtwide representation really looking at programming k12 and they'll come back and make recommendations in the spring for implementation in the 25 26 school year we're really looking to hopefully Implement a program with a Common Language starting in Kinder all way up through 12th grade right now we have pockets of different things but they don't necessarily mesh now that we're coming together as a district with our new configuration we're hoping for next year we can launch something words the same message the same language the same terminology from when our students start in Kinder kindergarten all the way up through 12th grade any questions from the board on either one of the presentations before you open it up to the public comment for the present question from the board um we will now open that period of public comment we're just going to this is period public comment just to talk about these uh these two reports the hi report and the um in the student data system student dat um so if you have any questions and same rules apply as for a normal public comment period we ask you to keep your comment for about three minutes um you can you may make a statement or ask a question to the vi um if we are able to answer it this evening you're not able to answer we get back to so that that public period is open if anyone have something okay from Community onine online question so we will close that public hearing and we will then go to the yes all right so I kind of wrapped up I have to do a couple things I want to do um talk about qack a little bit I'll explain what that is give a little update uh a preschool update and then I also want to talk about uh 58 building kind of where we are there so for those of you who aren't aware qac stands for quality single accountability Continuum it is something that the state of New Jersey oversees but specifically as far as who comes out on site for the process um it is the county office County Superintendent County business administrator we have a um education person at the County uh and then someone who's also in charge of special education so this is a long rigorous process cess um that starts months in advance of when they actually come out and then when they're on site um they're looking through documents board minutes all kinds of different things and then based on that we are given a score um in five different categories which I'm going to show in a second and specifically with that um so you can see instruction and program fiscal management governance operations Personnel in order to pass qac you must an 80% in each category you're going to notice for instruction and program we scored a 79% why did we score a 79% specifically for that one it was based on our spring of 2023 State assessment scores obviously we just did an achievement report on our spring of 2024 State assessment scores and we saw some significant Gaines but um in reality because this visit was done on February 21st 2024 and and for whatever reason we didn't receive the results until October 2024 from the state they utilized our spring of 2023 test scor so that's the reason why we're at 79% um we're not alone in that which I'll share in a second all the other categories we passed pretty easily so because we're at 79% um we are required to do what's called a district Improvement plan but before I talk about that specifically let me give you some background so there was a lot of districts as I said we're not alone who didn't make the 80% because during covid the state changed the scoring of the way they do qack um and put a much more heavier emphasis on the state assessment scores than they had in the past um you'll notice there's a link here that says New Jersey is changing how school districts are evaluated so because of the issues that were caused by this um there were many school districts throughout the state and superintendent who went to the Department of Ed and they are making changes now and have developed a new criteria that will go in effect for September of 2025 if you click on that link it will give you a little bit more information um the changes will increase the number of points that dedicate the student growth in math and English language arts giving growth more weight than achievement and I will tell you we've seen significant growth of our students over the last two years so that will help us tremendously um if you're not aware in 2023 77% of students across the state that not pass science exam and we were one of them um I will say in 2024 we scored in all three grade levels 58 and 11 above the state average for the science and Faith but again they're not using the spring of 20124 or only spring of 2023 if you look at this is just an excerpt that literally just came out from the um Commissioner of Education um when you have you had 29 qac reviews completed in the last two months 12 districts scored 80% in all five subject areas um passeng inter viiew while 17 failed to meet the 80% in at least one area out of the 17 15 were in the curriculum instruction so again as that was only in a two month period they do qac reviews all year long so obviously you can see what's going on here and that's the reason why they put the changes into play but regardless of that um and all the work that we're already doing which we're going to document we are required to put forward an improvement plan based on the 2022 23 um achievement scores for instruction so we've completed a district Improvement plan or we call it a dip um we're getting board approval tonight we will submit this tomorrow morning to the NJ doe in that process we have to establish smart goals so all we're really going to do is going to be documented everything that we're already doing that we've showed has um resulted in some significant success for us and we'll hopefully continue to do that we're going to identify the strategies to meet those requirements we have to create a timeline and then eventually provide evidence of completion so the first goal is an Ela and what we're saying is um by the spring diagnostic assessment in June 2025 at least 50% of our students in grades K to 8 will achieve early on grade level or better on I ready diagnostic so if you were here for the achievement report you know that the district last year launched I ready it's a it's a a data tool that we're utilizing to literally measure student progress um on a weekly basis as we look at the results and that really does you know Drive what kids are getting interventions at what time and what frequency um and a very you know awesome program that has helped us with our success as far as student achievement so this just kind of breaks out the strategies that we've already been using and how we're tiering our interventions with tier one two and three depending upon need we're using our accelerate block and our Elementary schedule and our xbx um specifically for grade seven and 8 and this is just the timeline of when we administered already the Baseline diagnosic so when we got these scores in October we had already done step one regardless of whether we needed to do an improvement plan or not we did a baseline um October to January we're working through our interventions based on student results on the baselines um we'll do another midyear coming up after the winter break we'll review that data obviously provide interventions it's a very fluid process depending upon on what students need uh and then we will do another end of the year Diagnostic and then eventually submit those results to the state as part of our Improvement plan similar approach in uh math so same thing with the IR ready same kind of breakdown and then in science as well however in science we'll be using benchmarks that we've developed um keeping in mind that for science it's not every year students are only assessed in grades 58 and 11 not like in ela and math so something similar but besides I ready we'll be using our district uh benchmark scores of 80% or above will be our goal so that is our dip okay moving along preschool update so if you remember we talked um probably two board meetings ago one of the last pieces of the puzzle we were waiting to hear back from St John's um we had visited St John's if those that remember we used obviously St John's last year to put LPS in for the year while our renovation was taking place so we met with St John's in early October and said hey if we wanted to bring our preschool program and utilize your space What would the rent be in order to utilize your space so we just recently got back the terms and they would be charging us $291,000 for a school year to utilize their facility um with a 3% increase for each year of a fiveyear be um that would not include utilities so we would be responsible for that um and they kind of lay out the spaces we'd be using for our preschool classes as well as the multi-purpose room playground outside and um so that is the number $291,000 per year to rent that location um all right let's let's talk about 5A so A lot's happening um if you didn't see the pictures that I had shared on social media within the last couple days the building is now watertight as the majority of the roof work has been completed and that's a great thing as we approach December jcpnl was on site last week and installed the Transformer so we can provide electric service to the building um the majority of the work that be completed is now interior as well as site work around the school the hope is that the electricity for the building will be up and running the first first few weeks of December this will allow our contractor to heat the building for finishes like tile flooring um the general contractor is really hoping to be done their Portion by the end of February and then we have many Subs that will be coming in um folks that we've contracted with outside of the general contractor to come in and complete touring in all the classrooms hallways offices cafeteria the wood floor in the gym install bleachers and baskets in the gym all of our sec security for the building technology for the building and then the last thing is the furniture so I anticipate you know although the general contractor may be done their part by the end of February we'll have folks coming in and out probably into early summer finishing off the project um at some point in the coming weeks our contractor will begin the softball field which is the new Varsity Softball field which is part of the middle school project so you'll start to see some things moving around and a lot of equipment leaving the site to start creating space and then the softball field will begin I'll share more of an update on the softball field some other things in our December meeting in reference to Athletic Field expansion um the only thing that we're waiting on it's been challenging is the septic system approval we have not received yet the final approval so you know if you're familiar with D um we originally submitted everything in August of 2022 uh and we are still going through the process it's a three- stage process we've gotten permits for the first two stages the last stage is what's called a treatment works application at tww it's been submitted it's in review technical review as they call it so we're hoping to get that back as soon as possible because we can't order all of our sepic equipment that needs to be installed until we get back that review so that's the last piece of the puzzle that we're waiting for but everything else it's been moving great our contractors had an army of folks on site each and every day um and again if you haven't seen it just looking at the building so you can see this is the front entrance you see pavings already gone down obviously the roofing is just about complete other than trim around the edges HVAC units are going on top um this is the back of the building cafeteria windows that will be going in the majority of the windows and the addition are all sealed and tight you can see here again there'll be another parking area that will be in here eventually once they're done with the site work uh but we're we're really making awesome progress and on schedule the fact that other than last week it hadn't rained in like three and a half months um wasn't good for everyone else but was good for our contractors because obviously they weren't dealing with a wet site uh you know for throughout the summer and and the fall so and then just what's on tap so we're working on finalizing our 58 schedule um this will be shared with the board and the community in the coming months and we will be holding parent nights in the spring for our parents of fourth through seventh graders obviously for our you know fourth grade parents coming into fifth grade and then obviously for our you know fifth sixth and seventh grade parents because there'll be a new schedule there'll be all kinds of different elective opportunities we want to talk about our extracurricular activities sports that will be available to students now starting in sixth grade all of our club information that will be available to students in 5th through 8th grade we'll kind of lay on that out and then eventually students will be making course selections more if they're in the upper grades in seventh and eighth grade you know compared to um fifth and sixth grade but we'll share more details what that's going to look like keeping in mind that the goal of middle school is exploration right to have students have the opportunity to experiment and try a lot of different things so hopefully by the time they get into nth grade they have kind of an idea of what they want to maybe focus and maybe a path that they want to take that is it okay where any questions I have a question yeah right um with regard to the the uh I ready diagnostic assessment is it um I know that we're looking at results of 50% or better at the end of the year after having done the assessment beginning of the year um and I guess my question is I know we saw data the other week but I'm trying to keep all the terminology straight uh was that the same data that we're talking about here in terms of the initial assessment because I'm trying to understandment report yeah no that was based on the spring of 2024 State Testing correct but you but you will see so if you recall we did commit to doing data reports throughout the year so I'm anticipating that our next one will be in January and that will be specifically on internal I ready and some other benchmarks that we're utilizing nothing to do with the c so there'll be data updates on the IR um and where we're at in terms of meeting the 50% goal yep okay okay that's my first question about that um I wanted to ask in terms of the and I I apologize for missing a a uh subcommittee meeting so but in terms of the um cost of the school uh at St John's I I assume that we took a bigger space for the elementary School portion what was that rent that we paid at that 47 that's all for p to eight but did the uh math scor for algebra did not get backed in I don't believe so no n is the plan is for k to8 for the dip but the high school was not impacted as far as being part of that plan nope and then for one thing um just a not sorry before you go on do you mean that the e8th grade algebra isn't included for the dip yeah you not looking at all any eth grader is doing I read so all seven gr are doing I read during their Flex as well as in their math classes and part of the so yeah you your child they are part of the whether they in algebra corre personalized learning as well as align to their thank you yeah because I just I thought our geom there was some tests I thought remember seeing the achievement report the high school level that seemed like it it could benefit from being a part of this as well um but for also for seventh and eighth grade so I know for um for our elementary school at parent teacher conference gave information are we able to communicate that same type of information to parents for seventh and eighth grade like do parents know their student is one of these students that we really need to like push to to get up our parents getting that yeah go ahead um yes so the first diagnostic that we gave in September was really just a baseline because it was we were all brand new now leading up into the January diagnostic there will be a lot more communication um I don't know that we'll go as far as a pep rally but there will be a lot of communication conversations I've already met with principles um even though it's still November to start to talk about how can we prepare students and teachers in the month of December letting them know why it's important all of those things that we really we didn't just didn't get in in September um so there will be a lot of different communication with the students so they understand some test taking strategies all of that in preparation for January and then my last question was I think in science we talk about um it's uh 80% or better on District science growth objectives yep it's an internal Benchmark that we've written we're administering for all course on course question just I understand so the qac does it only look at K through 8th grade or were they looking at PA through 12 gr they look at both but based on the scoring that they utilize that's where they Iden ifed where we had to do the Improvement plan doesn't mean yeah it doesn't it doesn't mean it doesn't mean that we're still not working on like when we talked about in our achievement report some of the areas in high school math we just don't have to document as part of the plan to submit to count this is consistent consistent with the district po correct correct Tony the everything that we have did we were already doing we just put it on paper quite off for k through eight K through 8 but we're we're also doing different interventions for the high school so even though we don't include it in the dip we're still doing it right so the state essentially comes back to us and says you didn't meet instruction and programming for your njsla Ela Math and Science scores you need to do something about it or K through 12 for you all of your scores so there's not 12th graders aren't tested because once you get to the high school their subject area test so geometry English 11 um so then we say okay where can we do the most impact and where can we have the most effect to raise our achievement scores so that's where we've adopted just like we did with the high impact tutoring we didn't open it up to everyone we only opened it up to a small number of students and so by using I ready and I ready only you goes up to um 8th grade and so that's why we're also using ISL um in 9th grade and 10th grade and 11th grade we're using it in science we're also using the common lit benchmarks so even though we're not reporting out to the state in our district Improvement plan we have implemented a lot of different interventions as we move through this year okay will the um hopeful potential improvements in high school also be made available sure Absol when I report out on all the data I'll be able to say okay this was our benchmark scores in the fall here are our benchmark scores in January and here's where they'll be in the spring the the timeline so we we submit the dip and they approve it or after revisions and then there's another qac review what's the no they'll just they'll come like they'll check in with us periodically throughout the year and then eventually we'll have to submit at the end of the year of what I just shared okay but as I as I mentioned before the irony of all this because of the timing of the county in essence with the growth that we made in the spring of 2024 we've kind of already met the requirement but unfortunately the county doesn't work that way because they didn't evaluate US during that time they evaluated us before that we still have to do it so so you have to spend we have to spend energy reporting out to the county but trying we're trying to I presume make everything somewhat consistent in terms of the improvements we're not what I hear you saying is that we're not going to try to do improvements for this testing and requirement over here and then a different type over here but instead trying to say here are the general improvements we've been focusing on we want all of our kids to grow that's the goal right right I think we proved that last spring yeah but unfortunately I can't go back to the county and say hey I know you looked at 23 scores 24 look what we did argue for them right so unfortunately for us it's just something we need to do to be compliance right but the reality is we're focused on all kids growing there also the frustration of in 2023 the science test didn't align with the standards so many state across the state there were lower scores so it's like quite honestly that that the scores on the science test what put us in 79% it wasn't for that would have been over 700 so if our science scores were in line with our math and la like no we scored in 23 our science scores were low we we did a lot better in 24 right but if we had scored a little bit better in science we would have hit the 80% couldn't you say that about ma E I mean but I'm just saying they were they were we could do a little better correct right we could do better than everything I said that we have not solve the puzzle right we're continuing to work as hard as we possibly can to improve our achievement we're making great progress um to this growth thing are they looking at the numbers of growth in terms of you had this many kids not meeting expectation and now this many are meeting expectation or are they looking at like you you have some kids showing some improvement they're looking at cohorts of kids and where they're going from sixth grade to seven 7 and how much progress are making compared to like teers throughout the state taking the same test and if you click on that link there it will give you you can read a little bit more in detail Chang so both the both the presentation you did earlier as well as this email correct both of them You' mentioned L corre that be email I'll just say the one thing about few seconds that they do it every three to five Years everybody has to go through it um so we we got another shot at it um and hopefully the changes that we make today will put it in a better position next time go ahead yeah can I just ask what else is looked at um in the instruction of program curriculum which we scored 100% on okay just whether or not you're everything's up to date align the standards when you've done program reviews we pass the flying callers for that we have specific things for fiscal like I said that was our one of our next lower thing that is there anything like what goes into that uh about a 47 page document um I could I'll share with you if you want to look at I think shoot that document what 187 no I mean like broad stroke I just noticed it because it was our next lowest thing and wonder and and you know talking about that obviously we talked about t but I didn't know if there was anything that we did we do anything different or should be do any different there that was a just a ter that stuck out to we could follow on that as well because um you know we do have an annual audit for our budgets and our Auditors have consistently come back and said you are doing everything right following you know whatever the standards are I think 88's pretty good though what that I mean 8 we don't know why they take so I'm I'm kind of curious as well yeah but I'm just saying why isn't it 100 that's question that's what I asked I'll bring you over to my house just for just to know so that and I I'll explain it to my kids too like we go back and learn what you didn't right right good to reflection any other questions okay uh well in that case thank you Mr and that will come to the first period of public comment um so this is open to anything that you want to bring before the board uh again I would ask you to try and keep your remarks for three minutes um address the board um it's a question that we can answer this evening you try to answer it if it not a question we feel comfortable anything this evening we get back to uh so with that public comment is open I we just ask you come up to the podium give us your name from he your from anyone have something BR what hi my name is Christopher vman uh West Amal Township I just have some concerns about the uh transportation of our students um looks to me that when I looked at uh some of the data the students only had two buses that passed uh the state inspection that means that we only had a 6% passer rating uh I think that's a big problem with them being uh failed for rotors brakes egresses um doesn't look very good you know on our on on our end as our buses you know in our community um other problems I've noticed with our transportation would be uh my son the other day 11:20 24 uh bus broke down you know common thing but uh when he got another bus which I don't know why we don't have a uh spare bus but um we have a driver without a bus that can't get my my son home you know at a reasonable time it was uh 50 minutes later than he normally said um the other problem with that bus is when it comes to the stop the uh uh called the um not the crossing the crossing arm not the uh stoplight um is not working uh it's been three days and I'm just wondering like is a pre-trip done like uh who are we holding accountable for stuff like this this seems uh if you go back it's been like this for like 10 years that's uh very concerning in my opinion um and that's just what I wanted to bring up I also wanted to bring up um like what is our plan for four schools busing we don't even have enough buses to do the three schools that we're doing now yeah we're going to do more busing have more miles on our bus and we can't even get the maintenance done on the buses now so I'm just I'm a little lost and uh it just seems like it's like an overshot no one's really thinking about it and it's very very concerning we got a lot of hills around here and uh you know braks brake lines um with all confidentiality you know taking out I've been under your buses uh three years ago I used to inspect your buses your buses are in ter shape um I at first I didn't want to put my son on the busing um but he loves it so much we had a newer bus last year I checked the ratings on that bus we were good for um you know they can inspected twice a year so those were you know two good times but then we end up with uh you know a crappy bus that has broken down at least four times this year two times my son has been let off at the wrong house without a adult outside he is six so he's in or he's in first grade he's not allowed to do that all and uh one time he went behind the bus the the driver let him behind the bus which is obviously a nogo past my house and the other time was before him and then he gets out and he goes up around it's you know there a lot of safety I mean Abigail law all that stuff came into effect for a lot of reasons and it just doesn't seem like we're we might be doing well with you know certain things with you know with everything else but it just seems like this is a really big oversight and I'm not saying you know anything bad about anybody but you know somebody needs to be held accountable at this point I just think it's a little you know kind of redundant you know 10 years is a long time I haven't gone back further but I you know we you can it's all public information so just wanted to bring that to your guys' attention right thank you anyone else have something like to bring hello my name is Andrea little from West dwell Township um last month I had asked if we could please put I'll get right to it because I two minutes uh we could put the choice students on the enrollment document I saw that this week it was not done I'm hoping for December number it could be done um and going forward I think it's just really good insight as we're looking at our facilities and the number of students at each of the facilities and at what grade level just for data um I'd also like to know when the public will learn when you intend to start talking about um the options for prek and if you're going to be you know combining them at the elementary school where it was intended um it's a this has been a three-year in the making program uh and we don't really know where we stand uh we were again promised that we were going to have a three School operation not a four uh like to understand that reconfiguration whether you're going to change the academic buildings by grade which sounds like you're really not because you kept talking about um in the superintendent report Mr Su you kept mentioning grades five through eight school so it sounds to me like that decision's already been made um without that vote and um also I've spoken with several people in the community there's a lot of concern about um having West downall as a school only because it was knocked down uh in 2021 uh as not being sustainable and um they're concerned about having you know four build buildings busing four buildings the expenses of four buildings and knowing that like if we could just get the data together to understand like what really is like we know that there's a budget what the state gives for the preschool program like let's look at the scenarios and let's see like if you're going to have your three buildings your four buildings or your three buildings was you know St John Let's understand like what are all the guided lines are to come to a fiscal you know conversation of course academics is important too um into the process but we know that uh we are still very small District we know um basically that we need six classrooms for preschool and um we also know that this school is really serviced as a blue ribbon school for grades seven through 12 you know is that still an option to sustain three buildings and then I too have a question about that fiscal management um in 88 B score hopefully the public can also get record of that if you could put that online I think that would be really just great insight for all of us and um because we really need to understand where our fiscal responsibilities lie as you are now going to Endeavor a new Trans you know grounds and transportation thank you very much have a good evening yeah I'll real quick I just G to respond um just in reference to the preschool so if you remember our plan was to have the community sessions which we had we had one in September and two in October the board has an upcoming uh work session that we'll be kind of taking a look at the feedback that we got at those Community sessions if you remember the slide decks which are all available on their latest news it does kind of lay out fiscally what the different options would entail um from the district side of things that information is available all three presentations all three recordings is available on our website if you haven't had a chance to take a look and slide that or you want to listen to one of the recordings or all of them they're all available so the hope would be you know we would come back probably in in January to have some kind of an idea of next steps and what direction we're going to Jamie leg West Amwell um so the goal of Education should be obviously to educate right so whether it's just in our district whether it's Statewide wherever that should be the the Paramount thing and thankfully we do have the standardized testing and just all that data to say Where Do We Stand and after what what you just uh you know showed us here um like I I just don't know where your heads are as far as what you consider as quality education and I would submit to all of you and I I think that many members of this community would agree with me that the education in especially this District it it is just not very good it just isn't it's it's subpar if you just go out there and Google it just just go out there if you're moving into this community and you look at this school district it's terrible it's really bad it it affects everyone that lives in this Township and the wealth that we have right so just to to give you some numbers so I actually brought the most recent ones which sh I think you said this isn't even I I think counted in the numbers that you said gets us that 80% number but I have two of because I have three in the district I have I have two of them so just to to go over where we are and you're considering this Improvement I mean yes it's an improvement but it's still abysmal and in from my perspective so just so everyone in the room understands so to give you the rubric or the scoring it scored from 100 to 300 and I'm talking about the njsla science portion and this is for grade 11 so from 100 to 300 now we did as a school in a district score above the state average which was 169 we were just a little bit above that by 5.9% uh scoring a 179 out of 300 if that's where we think is the level of success I mean I I don't understand why that's the the measurement of we've succeeded that that that's not very good um at the same token at grade eight so same spring 2024 same rubric State average was 164 yes we did score 4.8% higher this the school and District average was 172 but that's still abysmal um the number of students that Statewide performed at level one and level two 45% and 27% at grade 8 level one and level two 36% and 45% that's the vast majority of kids so especially in this District if you take out just a couple of the top performers guess what happens to our numbers as a district those bottom numbers go up precipitously like or they accelerate precipitous means coming down actually but uh you get you get what I'm saying so I don't understand why we continue to spend money as a district the referendum was not not not a good deal for West Ham well it is what it is we have these buildings it's under construction we can't go back and change it um but we're spending all this money now the pre program throwing all of that in there and yet the bottom line the the the whole focus and the Crux of education is what what's the return on investment right like what what is the point behind why are we spending these dollars and why and how are we attracting people to our our district right when our scores are suggesting that we we are we are not proven I understand my three minutes is up but you guys get the point I'm not I'm not trying to beat you up have another we'll have another public comment period and you're welcome to continue the talk thank you for bringing thank you anyone else have something they'd like to bring can I so I just I understand your perspective but I I don't want to take way our teachers have been working their tails off and the reality is we have seen Improvement um I would caution you to Google districts because you're probably looking at test results that are three or four years old uh when you look at regular districts and things along those lines uh we have work to be done but we're heading in the right direction and I just want our teachers to know that from our perspective they're working their tails off and we're seeing progress and I think that's important for them to hear it's not it is you're interpreting the way you want to interpret them okay in any case all right we're not gonna have a conversation right now we can talk about this privately after the meeting when we'll have another public comment period and you're welcome to come up and speak but does anyone else have something they would like to bring uh seeing nobody do we have any online comments do not then it close this first period of public comments starting noot first so Mr Su talked about a lot of stuff you talked about in our preschool uh update and our building update I'm not going to reention them just other couple things to not we had to approve some payments for the Middle School um we had to approve some annual contracts um we also the quote on there for the s instulation for the softball field which is part of the 58 project is on there um a quote for all the security for the 58 building is on there card readers cameras software Etc as we're getting closer um also from our scoreboard uh dealer two scoreboards for the one for the new softball field which is the solar power scoreboard and that's part of also part of the 5A project um and we'll also be submitting our preschool expansion aid application for 2526 um we have made the decision we only have five sections and I believe unless there's anything else soon you think need to be mentioned I think you covered a lot of stuff in the preschool and and building update yep um so with that I'd like to make a motion approve items a through how many are there a through O A through o second any discussion on item question contract in the contract thought I saw something that said K yeah it's not it's not the one it's different we're I no I know but is it along the line like it's different but so it's curriculum that we're going to actually use as part of the high impact tutoring um I did research yours and actually met with them and I can share with you kind of numbers um that right yes it's part of the high impact tutoring grade Cor in the um preschool uh plan I just noticed it just struck my eye that it says that when not we don't accept tital War funds for only for preschool but we get them for a district is there any like is there anything different about preschool for tital one I don't out of curiosity I don't now I'll double check to be short um I will say that we do maximize one other areas we have to gion need we've never because okay that's what I was wondering because I know we said maximize and there's also possible IEM know that but because our preschool is mixture of special education who we are required to those students are not eligible for Title One Fund next I don't know we do also get IA addresses so we get we get special education funding that would be you something for um any other question no question Jennifer Yes Mar yes sh yes Brian Keys yes Kevin kesy yes Aron yes Michael St yes Ronnie tomino yes yes let's see personel committee yes block I changed my passw okay so the Personnel committee met on November 20th we met virtually and at that meeting we reviewed the superintendent's recommendations for appointments resignations transfers and adjustments as well as recommendations for mentors for the 2024 2021 school year and additionally we review the recommendations for extracurricular snen appointments for the 24 25 so need to make a motion it and thank you for making motion need a second then second second thank you um any discussion on item I Martha Dennis yes yes ban yes K KES yes Arin yes Michael stra Yes Jennifer B yes Ronnie Tod Marina yes Jim Gall yes uh curriculum technology so curriculum and Technology met Wednesday November 13th in the library Vin provided a technology update um so the lease for our laptops up in December and after evaluating options we believe that it's cheaper to purchase these now than to lease these for another six to 12 months and then have to go back and look at purchasing them after that time Jane Allen built discussed on the high impact t ing program we've talked about almost so we're moving forward the hat.com is just um there'll be one teacher for fifth and sixth grade and then somebody an outside person would be trained and pred with their teacher and again that's paid for be a grant um Tony discuss with us the qack the scores and the district Improvement plan during our meeting and finally um talked about the gifted and talented parent Focus committee and again I know form was sent out parents to participate and I think a second one was as well through through parent Square so that's all I have and I guess so we have up for motion up for approval District approving plan are you making a motion I'm making a motion approval plan this is the first time all year I've had actually move something in this Mak a circle State on I have a please I got a second Michael thank you any discussion on the district questions Pete yes Brank Keys yes K yes yes yes Jif B yes Marth Dennis yes Ronnie to Marina yes yes yes we met on November 12 we have two items for the first three both related to attendance the policy policy 5200 and the corresponding regulation it's a mandated change it's related to the addition of attended cfic events being excused absen but the committee did review the policy and regulation in brutality to see if there are any changes with that in mind we do um recommending to Place natural parent with biological parent in the policy and regulation um specific to our discussion around the regulation we did clarify that the district's interpretation of Britain notice includes notice by email retaining the list of ex used absences for funerals for people who are not family members or those who are related by birth who clarified that principal will have the discretion as to whether or not an absence would be excused we retained that unexcused partes hardiness maybe a cons unex absence and we did rot that if the student has been out for dates that parent may be required to provide written statement was to the reasons for teachers when you have um the requirement for instruction we clarified that teachers will prepare home assignments for significant excused absence but not required to use for unexcused absence like family heat trip that doesn't mean somebody can't make up work but it's upon them to make sure that they're finding what that is and we've retained um the current what's currently in the policy to denial credit for the in I ask there any questions on the questions on the two items can you repeat about so but so tardiness unexcused hardiness May constitute an unexcused oppos after like being like late so many time correct correct and then we have four items for our three they all relate to physical examination as we talked last time um the optional test are available the district does require a 12 panel drug test which includes marijuana we had requested it we could see whether or not that information could be removed as it is no longer illegal and uh the district has excluded related that related drug panel information consult and with that I'd like to move those four items second thank you much any discussion on the policies and the regulations so the first second second ucation um so it will go V have look at between now and any other comments or discussions yes K KES yes yes Michael sh yes Jennifer bat yes Mar Dennis yes Pete yes Ronnie to Marino yeah yes school and Community met on November 19th um we finished up our discussion about students in the um families who live in the district with the Ops to have their students attend another school um where and we discussed the financial impact and the potential impact on test scores um for that um including the expansion of the Polytech program um and we went over some policies on the on the choice program but one thing also we um in the past as there was a a one-time survey to to ask families um why their children were choosing to send their um children to a different school now that survey will be um completed at every exit family so we can identify PS um we also reviewed the cbac report which I won't to again and we took a look at the Strategic plan and action plan as we're year into a fiveyear plan that need to look at um the you know where we are and what we've achieved and what are the things that are up coming up soon and each Committee of can take a look at the subject areas that are okay don't have aort this month um we did do fire safety listed end there so that brings us to District CH [Music] posted so that does bring us to the second period of public count but once again please come up um and restart it just kidding um so not to belver the the comment but um and and to to keep it more succinct so I guess the whole point is is what what are we doing or what is the plan I mean it's a you know you guys have the dip you know process or whatever but that to me in the private sector means I'm one step from being fired if I'm on like a development plan to improve that means I'm not doing my job and I probably need to look for another one so when you have these percentages of students and these are Statewide numbers but we're not far from these Statewide numbers 36 and 45 so you know you're you're looking at you know 81% that fall into those two categories which by definition are below proficient or nearing proficiency with the vast majority and Below proficient why are we measuring and aiming towards what the state is setting at the standard when we're not even coming we're not even we're not even there so so what are we doing to address those vast majority of students that are falling behind are significantly behind what what what is the what is the plan of action to bring up those th those kids that that need it the most like let the let the top performers do their thing they're obviously doing well like they're not the ones that need the help it's the other ones what what what are we doing for that and why are we spending money as as taxpayers for schools that from the measurement by the state standards we're we're we're not we're not even hitting that's that's that's that's the bottom line so I think you guys get the point Anton SAR Andrea little uh West danwell I'm gonna go back to I appreciate that uh you were able to give a comment after uh my last three minutes but I will respectfully disagree um the presentations did not give a line by item of the different scenarios to be able to really make a thorough decision ision on next steps um for next year uh again this has been since 2021 we're very well aware that we need these classrooms um but we should be able to understand like the we understand that we have a preschool program and that there's an academic function to that and that was very clear uh but we don't know what it costs to bring our prek back into LPS we don't know what it costs to have the St John now that you have that number and we don't know what it cost to have a fourth building and then that return of that building and what that was doing back to the taxpayers which was appr like that was part of the plan when the referendum was put out there people thought that that was going to be a SES back to them so regardless if we have three buildings or four buildings academics this of course incredibly important but two things about being a district and when we regionalized was improve scholastically which we have not done we know that we were don't pay attention to numbers but we were an eight and now we're a two we were a Blue Ribbon School we're not things like that um and we have amazing teachers and it's not that it's it's really comes from Top you know how like maybe they're being mentored and rather see money being put out there that maybe there's a someone in charge of history and then that person then cultivates the history program and someone's math and you know so on and so on so like there are ways around that but the fact is is that we have not managed ourselves fiscally um and that's why I think the entire District needs to understand what that means and I think that everyone on the board here needs to know what it means by having the different scenarios of where the schools are and how much uh what's for what happens to the infrastructure of having four schools um vers three and are we expecting that our numbers are going to you know climb um to what level I don't know because within the attendance which again I super appreciated that you started putting that out there you know we should be actually looking at not just Choice students but we should also be looking at kids that are actually leaving the district and putting those numbers in there because then we could say hey are we seeing an improvement there from year overy year again as a community can we all be involved to help support our school because that's why I come here every month is because I do want to support our district our community our educational stand standards um and then last but not least for transportation next month if you could please as the head of buildings and grounds potentially bring up the whole busing that was brought up tonight I think that would be really relevant for us to understand you know the state of our buses I know you have something on the docket about buying a bus but like what is the status of our safety because safety is number one thank you so much you very for any other comments from the public you know what how about can I can we talk about your suggestion after the meeting or can I well I well typically allow you to do one public comment for period so go ahead no it is not the LA it is our practice no so listen so so I'm I'm not I'm not I'm not trying to beat everyone up like I'm just trying to acknowledge real inefficiencies and and problems within the district from an educational perspective so what can we do to fix it so obviously what's been done in the past is not working right we're making some improvements but not vastly so I have three kids two of them are very good students one of them is not he doesn't like school but there is one teacher in particular and just and I'm just gonna throw his name out there and and I'm sorry if this is whatever but no no no it's it's a good thing listen should not be throwing any teachers names out there no this this is a good thing M I'm gonna say it anyway M Mr H he's he's a he's he's a math teacher in at at South at the high school whatever that guy is doing is wildly successful as far as how the students react to them and how they learn because I have three different kids that have three different personalities and characteristics in how they learn and the one that struggles the most whatever Mr hollandan is doing just re really connects with one of my kids so maybe something that you could do as a suggestion is look at these top performing teachers and assess what are they doing differently than other teachers and how do we replicate that or hire teachers that that that can be replicated in in in some sense like I'm just saying something like there's got to be something that changes we can't keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result right like we we got to do something different so maybe try to pull from the best talent that you have and and try to learn from what these great Educators that we do have because there there are many I I do agree with that so how can we pull from those m Miss leau there another one uh F fantastic teacher um so just trying to from a Personnel perspective you guys have that as as one of the rubric things um I really think it comes down to that and and and that's I I think that's a vital piece that's missing um in in in the district so just just just a suggestion your suggestion I appreciate it all right thanks are there any other anyone else who would like to make a public do we have any public comments on do not we do not so I'm going to close the period of public comment um have need for we do we do have need for an executive session um so we will be going into executive session um we will take a five minute recess before that and then we will meet in our usual spot we expect that executive session will take no more than 15 to 20 minutes you're welcome to wait with no action we can taking any action when we return so with that motion to go executive session at 8:31 so move by Jen need a second by Martha all in favor I