##VIDEO ID:iRSg4TKi-E8## education to order Mr Bing can you please take roll call roll call please uh here Elizabeth here here here board member Bill gford uh board member Bill M capadia here thank you board member will Meyer here thank you board member sh Saka Gable here thank you that's it that is it please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance okay um oh wait while wait to the notice please take notice the adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in the following manner that written notice was sent from the office of the secretary of the board at 3 p.m. on January 23rd 2025 that said notice was sent via email to Maplewood and South Orange Township clerks and the editors of the news record Star Ledger tap Anda and the Village Green next we'll have a quick superintendent update followed by my president update evening all uh again want to commend the board on uh pursuing these board Retreats and also the uh New Jersey Schoolboard Association uh certification so we're excited about uh the work ahead of us um some great news uh over the last couple weeks we just met with all our athletic coaches yesterday um and welcome our new football coach uh and I know the Village Green did a nice article on him so we look forward uh to that program uh moving forward we are currently uh working on a variety of things uh met with our principles today discuss various uh uh initiatives uh including uh K to 12 right sizing uh looking at uh courses looking at classes um for 2526 we're currently doing work with Columbia High School around their course selection guide uh and also around uh future Pathways for the high school in regards to students being able to get industry certifications being able to get Associates degrees being able to get anywhere from 15 to 30 to uh 60 college credits uh dual enrollment opportunities with seaten Hall University uh and a variety of other personalized Pathways we've been charting out uh for the last few months and should be finalized hopefully uh within the next few weeks uh Columbia high schools course selection guide will be going out I believe end of this week um we've been doing work on right sizing courses looking at enrollment over a three-year uh time span uh looking at student surveys Affinity groups uh looking at courses that tie into to uh College requirements uh Career and Technical education as we spoke about we want to bring that back within the next few years uh and a few other connections uh right now we're at about 130 electives uh County average around 85 to 100 we want to be somewhere between 105 and 110 115 uh moving forward um so we we're paying close attention to uh enrollment also feedback from courses that have been taken over a three-year period uh the infinity group data we've gotten uh as you know uh we've been meeting with students for the last even before my time for the last two and a half years uh in regards to courses uh so we we have undergone that work and we're excited about it um and currently we will be meeting with our faith Leaders Moving Forward I think we landed on a theme this year that would go into next which will be around uh civil discourse um we are all seeing certain patterns and Norms that have been established that we believe collectively as a school district as Faith leaders as we've also had both Mayors involved that we really can change uh some of the past Norms that I believe some were due to the pandemic uh lack of face-to-face communication um and really focus on uh civil discourse and and bringing the community together through shared discourse so we're looking forward to sharing that work over the next month or so tying into that will be the children's uh children's cabinet we've been discussing um so we're looking forward for that group to really lead the children's cabinet work and we sent out our budget advisory Council uh invites yesterday as noted previously over 105 applicants which is just quite amazing to be honest with you uh so we we sent out our invites our first meeting is sometime in the second week of February we sent out schedules uh for the uh four meetings and agendas uh have already received uh acceptances of the web exes so we're looking forward to some fruitful conversations there and we're going to continue to do our work around changing uh the state aid formula um for us we just had a discussion with other superintendents which include Milburn and west orang many other districts uh are going to be severely impacted if the state aid formula continues in the current state it is uh with uh the cost of living Rising with state aid decreasing or being flat with health benefits significantly going up and for us specifically with our facility needs um something's going to have to change with that state aid formula and I think the more we Advocate the better I do want to thank you thank our community members because I know for a fact in fact many letters and emails have been sent to our uh local uh senators and assembly people in regards to changing that state a formula so big thanks for our community for stepping out thank you thank you Mr Bing and just I just a quick update from me and then we'll go into hearing of individual and delegations so tonight the board of education is maintaining its commitment to ongoing Retreats throughout the year to build on the skill sets and governance Acumen necessary to provide appropriate oversight as such tonight we will be receiving training on two topics the first is board's role in curriculum and student achievement which will be done here at the Horseshoe next will be data decision-making which will entail a workshop that will be conducted at the side table so that members can brainstorm and collaborate on systems that will be carried into our monthly committee work before we get into the meeting I would like to take a moment to recognize it is black history month at a time when efforts to promote diversity equity and inclusion are being challenged across the country we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to uplifting and protecting those values in our schools we recognize that our black students families and educators are deeply impacted by these National conversations and we stand with you black history is American history and our Collective future is stronger when we embrace the rich diversity of our community thank you to our Educators for preparing and delivering lesson plans this month that recognize and celebrate the contributions of black Americans to our nation's history culture and future now we will have public speaks if there are any I see that there is one listed online um Carrie McGee so actually first let me read the hearing of delegations before we bring her on just to be official thank you for coming in person well thank you for joining us online this evening the sou Maplewood Board of Education values public involvement and respects that you've taken the time to address the board at tonight's meeting as this is the board's business meeting a friendly reminder to please be respectful as we take into consideration your valuable input which will inform future deliberations and work by the Board of Education and its committees the board does have time limits by policy and it will be enforcing those to enable as many people to speak as possible this evening each individual will be given three minutes to speak the first public comment period is usually limited to 1 hour with priority often given to items related to the meeting agenda and the second period may be limited to 30 minutes okay so Carrie oh can you hear me yes please speak up though you're a little low thank you let me see is that any better thank you is that better yes great um hello and thank you for your time and attention this evening um my name is Carrie McGee and I'm a parent and an educator um as tonight I know you'll be talking about curriculum I want to make sure that you are all aware of the wonderful EBR program in our district EBR stands for evidence-based reading it's a pullout service provided by our district for students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities including my 9-year-old daughter most commonly the service is delivered in a small group setting pulled out of the um General classroom for 30 minutes a day five days a week using Orton Gillingham principles which is the gold standard in terms of teaching dyslexic students to read write and spell in my opinion the EBR program is the crown jewel in the special services department it's one of the few areas of special services in SSD that families are extremely satisfied with this program is so successful because our district is fortunate to have many Orton Gillingham certified teachers who have graduated from the Fairley Dickinson standard training program in addition to being the inter intervention that allows many of our vulnerable students to reach their full potential EBR also keeps dozens of students in District saving the district hundreds of thousands of dollars one EBR teacher can keep up to 30 students in District with daily pullout small group instruction which is great return on investment recently at tusin while our beloved EBR teacher is out on maternity leave at the first round of parent teacher conferences many many of the families whose students received EBR were told that their students no longer needed the same amount of intervention and their intervention would be reduced or phased out there have also been rumors of phasing out the entire EBR program having EBR teachers train classroom teachers instead not having certified OG teachers in EBR I can't imagine why this would happen other districts are clamoring to hire Orton Gillingham certified teachers so I can't wrap my head around why our district would be considering reducing or eliminating the program especially because the students currently in the program had the Lucy ckins units of study curriculum so they didn't learn this systematic phonics in the General Ed classroom either I would urge you um as time goes on and the year goes on to learn more about this program and how important it is to be delivered on a daily basis by Orton Gillingham certified instructors thank you thank you and that completes public speaks um okay so now we're going to transition to our training um by njsba rep genan clear please come on up for board's role in curriculum and student achievement so um we can ask questions you know during this first presentation if you want and then of course we can continue that conversation on the sad tables just press the down arrow through perfect thank you hi okay if I if I may um proceed if we're ready I um and it's a pleasure to be back here again with the board I want to just um take a moment to congratulate the new leadership on the board and and it's been a pleasure to have um the back and forth that brings me here tonight to help all of you with um the role and the important part that you play in your students education I want to welcome new board members I understand your board is now um uh working alongside new board members which is always exciting and I know that we are at the beginning of February but I just want to take a moment to recognize because January is board recognition month and thank you all of for the commitment you've made to see that your students um receive the finest education um that they deserve so thank you for your commitment um you do have a history as a district for the benefit of the public to know um of taking advantage of these learning opportunities so that you're in a better position to serve the students of your district and address some of these um complicated issues that you uh have to deal with regularly so we'll start when we talk about curriculum understanding that the New Jersey def New Jersey Department of Education definition of curriculum um is the entire range of the experiences that children have at school so we can sometimes just think about what's happening in a specific um classroom with a specific subject area but when we talk about curriculum we need to have a full understanding that it's it's everything that touches a child's day um during the course of the day and it includes uh compliance with State and National standards grade level objectives assessment practices and student benchmarks and resources available to staff and students so we want to really look at curriculum as not just a list of things but it's also the philosophy that we have um towards what the goals are towards student achievement student achievement is the focus of the work that all of us do um regardless of the position or title that we hold right and the board is is basically a team made up and comprised of all of the individual board members um along with the superintendent and that team needs to be able to work well together um so that the focus always remains on students and student achievement so we'll just start out with some very basic definitions um just so that we can all share the same language and understanding so the curriculum as I said includes all materials texts lessons and activities employed to instruct students right and you may hear the term uh curriculum framework used which actually goes to the individual courses of study so the framework is the instructional Concepts that are going to be um covered the curriculum map is is both of that tied to ensure that there's a sequence and completion of all areas by each grade level and before assessments so when we look at curriculum it's important that we um not just look at the subject area but the delivery of that and how we best deliver it and how we um create an environment of supports that are necessary for children to be able to receive what's being presented to them okay so it's important I think to have a little bit of an understanding about overall the uh how curriculum has been um moved forward by the history of uh that we have here in New Jersey so in 1875 uh the New Jersey Constitution actually um made note of the fact that it was determined that all students in the state had a right to a thorough and efficient education and that term you'll hear even now about the requirements that we have to provide um a thorough and efficient education to all students so over time what happened was that um local control developed and that's um something we see to this day in New Jersey we have over 580 public school districts I believe it's 583 from what I read earlier today um and we value that local control that's why you you are individually here as board members um represent representative of that local control but in 1996 it was recognized that there while we do value local control there needs to be some standards um that we could in help us to ensure that students um come out of a 13-year uh School situation prepared um for their Futures so we started to see the introduction of standards now currently we are under the New Jersey student learning standards which again continuous Improvement which is something we talk about with our students and with ourselves um The Continuous Improvement of recognizing that the world that our students will be moving into requires um other Focus to make sure that they're ready for both uh College and Career and uh brings to them uh high level skills that they will need to be successful in whatever path they choose going forward so as a board there are some UH responsibilities that we need to be aware of um and one of those is the role the board plays in approving um curriculum so all new courses need to be approved by the by the board any course that has significant changes in it also has to to be uh presented to the board for approval and any required course material has to be has to be approved now um the statute existed well before uh the world we live in which is so digital but to be faithful to um the spirit of the statute um it's it represents both uh physical uh you know books things we can touch and also online things so so um when something is required uh the use of the textbooks being required um but any reading material for instance that's required that the student has to use um in the you know to do a report or to be used for the classroom has to be approved by the board um however if there's um something for free read and the assignment is to select a book of the student's Choice um that does not fall under what is required for the board's to approve so um we just want to be aware of that so this is um just the slide but it's such an important slide know it's not extremely interesting to look at we tried to go with a visual um the work that you do is really everything every conversation you have on every topic has to really be with students at the center of it and how does it serve improving student achievement right um so to be able to do that it's very important that you're working in environment that you can work as a team together um there has to be an environment of trust honesty and respect among the members of the board and with the superintendent um because very often there are uh you know nothing is going to get um emotions going more than uh when people come forward with uh how they feel it's imp ing their child right so we need to invest the time in informing ourselves and the best way to do that is to be able to work together as a team where you can ask the questions that are appropriate to be asked and work together um for the benefit of the students of the district and an important part of that is also as board members to understand the roles that you fill and you are here and I know you probably have gone through your ethics training um to understand and that your role as board members is the authority rests with the board as an entity and not as you as individuals and that you are here for policy making um planning and appraisal and oversight so um we're going to want to stay focused in how we do what we do as board members to work alongside the superintendent whose Focus um is different but um you're working cooperatively together on behalf of your students so uh New Jersey cusac is the self-monitoring um auditing evaluation process that's required through the Department of Education and it um addresses different areas so tonight we're speaking about curriculum and we'll look at uh the instruction and program section so for each subject area we need to ensure that uh it is aligned with the New Jersey student learning stand standards and is in in accordance with the Department's uh curriculum implementation timelines and graduation requirements so these are the things that um are the framework of how we know we're moving forward and we have to uh recognize that the curriculum um must meet grade and grade level um uh I'm sorry grade level and graduation requirements um it has to show that it has integrated accommodations and modifications and we're going to look at that when we talk about equality versus equity and education and curriculum um it has to account for the assessments the ways that we're going to know if we're on target to providing um the education that students need to have to be prepared it has to have a list of core instructional and supplemental um okay um materials um for each grade level pacing guides it's important to understand the role of pacing guides which are uh what in the um teachers will use to ensure that things are happening in a sequential order on a timely way so that the full curriculum uh can be you know what is being taught in that grade level in that class will be um completed in time for assessments right we want students to be able to be prepared so that those assessments give us a true indication of how well um our students are doing that they've been prepared the assessment is um a data point it is not the only data point and we'll talk about that when we look at at data in a moment um we want to ensure that our curriculum has interdisciplinary connections right gone are the days where we only spoke about science and science class and history and history class it's it's been proven that students um learn best and there's deeper understanding when they see the connections um from different subject areas and it's presented in a way that becomes um more uh you know more of something that they can tie together those pieces and that the information isn't being presented in silos um of course it's important that we are integrating 21st century skills to prepare students so it's academics but it's also also um soft skills um it's also the ability to uh integrate technology right years ago we were all very excited to be able to have a computer lab and a time of the week where kids may be able to touch a computer right and we've moved so far ahead to say that we don't really look at technology that way we we look at it as just a part a functioning part of the um experience that they're having in the school where it's appropriate of course at the appropriate um grade levels and and things but it's really more integrated the technology and it should our uh curriculum also should be addressing Career Education preparing students to also know what careers are out there to spark that engagement and interest and then be providing um a way and a path forward right it kind of goes to the age-old question and education of why do I have to know this when we can make that connection for students of you know what's out there for them what are the possibilities for them what are their interests and what are they learning now that's important to help them arrive there so the New Jersey student learning standards um and qac and qac is the self-monitoring auditing system that is required through the Department of Education so the New Jersey student learning standards um include the K through 12 um but also prek learning standards and um qac will be monitoring to see how well we are delivering that and accounting for that in that audit type of process so it will look at career Readiness life literacies and key skills Comprehensive Health and physical education understanding that we are educating the whole child um mental and physical health is an important part of um bringing students forward and providing the education they need um computer science and design thinking what that what how they engage with that process um science social studies Visual and Performing Arts and World languages and it's important to Just note that under governance which you are a governing body um 14 um directs your attention to access to library and technology related to the curriculum so that's an area where we want to ensure that we're providing those opportunities for students to have access to Resource material and um the information that they need so we're going to take a look at managing um for equality and equity in education in the packets that I gave you um on the leftand side is a memo that came out from uh the state of New Jersey and while that's not if you notice at the top it wasn't directed to you as board members but I just wanted to share it with you because this is an interesting time for the districts to be in um right now by uh June each district has to provide their comprehensive Equity plan that speaks to um evaluating what changes may be required to ensure that the curriculum and what's happening in schools is actually accounting for equity and removing barriers and so um I just wanted to bring that to your attention that's work that the district is engaged in um but but it's another way to um have build your understanding as a board member um so boards are required to have a cohesive set of policies and you are a policymaking body um programs and practices that ensure high expectations positive achievement patterns and equal access to educ educational opportunities for all students and staff right so those are the things that we know we are required to to do and you are here as board members to be familiar with what's expected um and the role that you play in oversight of the curriculum so it's hard to oversee anything um if we don't have the understanding of what best serves our students and what's required of us so as it mentions there um we're in that threeyear cycle and now districts are focusing on presenting those comprehensive Equity plans developing them and presenting them for approval to the executive County Superintendent that assures um the public as well that right there are checks and balances um and that there's uh attention being paid for removing barriers for students in schools so educational Equity really means that every student has the educational resources and I'm I'm not sure why it's flashing so I'm sorry I'm looking at the laptop here but um the educational resources and rigor that's needed at the right moment in their education across um all of those those uh factors of race gender ethnicity language disability sexual orientation family background or family income right so two things to really be paying attention to um when we look at Equity it's the ability to access educational resources and a commitment to ensuring that we have the rigor that's necessary so that all students move ahead and succeed not all students will be starting from the same place so we have to make sure that we are not reducing the expectations for students who may be underperforming that we instead look at that as our responsibility to address that underperformance and find ways to bring all students up right all students can learn that's something we have to be committed to um and we need to be evaluating where we need to put our attention and focus to provide the the necessary supports so that all students succeed so when we look at equality and Equity um a visual can can mean a lot but um on the left we have equality right we see that everybody wants to watch the game so everybody gets a box stand on well we know that that doesn't really serve everyone because their needs are different so we focus on talking about Equity leveling the playing field a little bit by maybe giving the bigger box the more supports to those that need it so that they can move ahead and be successful as well the aspirational goal of this work is that we should be moving towards Justice um by focusing on equity and making a commitment to Equity we can move to a more just place where we can be removing barriers for all students so the board's role in curriculum is that we recognize that you are representatives of the community um and the stakeholders and you are here to um because you have a duty to ensure that the community's educational expectations and desires for its children are realized so you are a mission state outlines those aspirations and goals for student achievement and um that should be guiding a guiding principle of the work that you do um very simply to sum it up here in three points is that the board's role is to approve what is being taught and um we recognize that to do that means to become familiar with a lot of information to have an understanding of the educational plan to be focusing on um equity and resources right of how you can provide those Necessary Things monitor the pro the process to ensure that what is being taught is being learned so when you support and approve the curriculum um you want to have information being provided regularly to you um not just test in you know test assessment information but really getting your and we're going to talk about that but getting information of different types from different sources to really give a fuller deeper understanding of where the district is what's serving what's working in that curriculum with students what might need to be tweaked or looked at um and what impact uh changes out in the world are having that might drive necessary changes that have to be addressed in the curriculum and the board's responsibility is also to um appr while approving the curriculum and the educational plan plan for the district is to ensure that the resources are provided for um The Learning right things cost money and the uh decisions have to be made that align in the budget with the goals and aspirations that you have in your educational plan for students so um again just mentioning your mission statement your mission statement is um reflective of what the community feels as important uh for children to move out of this District having um to be seen as successful um and that success would be that they uh have opportunities ahead of them and experiences that support them to move forward in uh career or college going forward to have the life that they uh would choose to have and all curriculum should be directly linked to the goals and objectives and be uh specifically designed to meet identified needs and Achieve goals so we talk about goals we have strategic planning multi-year goals um those can help inform the district annual goals um taking in the information of where attention has to be focused and where resources should be uh be you know focused on um so that's the work that is in front of you so what's a board to do right um the recommendations are that you have to provide a budget supporting your curriculum right otherwise we just have a plan but we don't have the ability to Ure that that plan really meets uh the goals that we have set for our students and students will be negatively impacted so we need to be very tight and and draw those together curriculum and budget to support that educational plan remembering that good curriculum does um the work of good curriculum does cost money uh it takes time and resources to uh develop Implement and assess student achievement um we need to address things such as release time for for teachers and professionals to be working together to do that work um it's not the the board's work to be done but it's the board supporting the work of the of the teaching staff and administration um ensuring that materials um literature technology uh is discussed and budgeted for each year having an understanding of when um the curriculum requires that there cyclical review and where you are at in that process and how um you know while in one area you know textbooks may not have to be and when I say textbooks I of course mean online versions as well but they may not have to be um replaced or updated um as often in one subject area as opposed to another you may be bringing in new programs that require um new materials so you have to have a full understanding of what it is that you're looking at and importantly you need to um understand the professional development that will be required because you can support um the best curriculum development and provide the money for all of the resources um and texts that'll be used in the classroom but if you don't take the time to support your teaching staff uh to be prepared to best roll out that and work with students um the methodology of how it's going to be introduced to students you know it can have def detrimental impact so professional development is actually um something that you need to be considering when it's appropriate what that looks like not just uh for the content that's being um brought to children but also the methodology used to deliver it excuse me so um curriculum scheduling curriculum presentations excuse me um making curriculum and student achievement presentations a regular part of your board meetings and that can look different to you know from meeting to meeting it might be that there's um a presentation to give you a report out on data that you need to have um to check like those check-ins or are we moving along you don't want to wait wait until the very end to make that decision about you know it did or didn't meet our expectations we want to have check-ins that are appropriately scheduled out to um have a full understanding and allow for any adjustments that might need to be addressed um we also want to um have an understanding of what information is provided to us and when regarding curriculum and how to what is your internal process of how you can make a Rec request for additional information or resources you might um have a question and be pointed in a direction of of something that you can access on your own through the Department of Education website for instance so just having an understanding of working with the information available to you and having those presentations another important thing as a board to consider is allowing for staff and student presentations and recognitions right so it may not always be someone coming out with um a data driven report but having the opportunity to celebrate the um the accomplishments and successes as you go along right when we make a a commitment to continuous Improvement one of the things we have to recognize is we're never finished right so we don't want to put off celebrating things till everything is perfect we want to create an environment where we can um celebrate those those good successes communicate that out to to everyone so the stakeholders can can feel engaged with what's happening in the district while at the same time staying focused on attending to those things that require attention and areas of improvement um become familiar with the programs that are taught in your District that's important because you will be um faced with having to make changes and understanding why the changes being recommended um what impact they will have on your students and teaching staff and understanding that the decisions you make should be made understanding the impact that those decisions have um encourage displays of student work and board at board meetings and throughout the district so um I think most schools are are happy to do that but it's another way to re uh to really reach out to your community and um we don't want the only time for our community to be hearing about the schools is when uh assessments come out right those that's important for sure um but also to to have a fuller well-rounded picture of what's going on celebrating the successes seeing um the work of the students and celebrating our students as they're moving forward so um curriculum evaluation right is an ongoing evaluation of the curriculum which is a real must right we need to um evaluate on an ongoing basis to make sure that the district is following the 5-year curriculum plan and that it's aligned with the New Jersey student learning standards which is a requirement um we want to look at year-end evaluations of new curriculum um and building in you know the evaluation structure into that right so we we know that we may start something new with our curriculum and we may not see all of a sudden just because we put something new in place um student achievement you know flying up but what we want to have is built in a schedule of evaluation what reasonably we would expect to see in a period of time understanding that achievement gains will be made over a longer period of time than just um you know months or weeks so you want to also be discussing the criteria that will be used to determine whether those programs are meeting the stated objectives and are improving student achievement for all students and when we talk about data we talk about you know receiving disaggregated information so that we can look clearly and see you know who is it serving and who needs more support so that they can get the full benefit of the curriculum and the educational plan that we have adopted and of course you'll be reviewing uh student assessment data summative and formative data um summative data being more concrete um and product you know what is the product what's the end result and your uh formative assessment data more on the process the methodology of working with students to support um growth throughout the year and a good example of that as opposed to just test scores would be you know how our teachers might be working with students for a research paper and requiring that they deliver a proposal for the research paper prior to just giving a research paper and um giving a grade at the end right working with that student to guide them on the process of what are they doing well what do they need to reflect on and come back and put more work on so that is um allowing for a deeper understanding for our students and it's important that the board understands uh the differences between that so that when you're hearing things referred to you have an understanding of what that really um represents so the formal adoption of curriculum and professional development is required um under statute and um is monitored through qac as we've stated uh this serves the purpose of establishing the importance of the curriculum and allows for the continuity um and direction right so what we don't want to see is something isn't getting us where we had hoped to be and we throw it out and start over again right what what is a a more productive way to serve our students is to be evaluative and identify what works and what needs to be addressed so that all students can um benefit from that um but it makes the focus of the work that you're doing as a district um with the administrators and the teaching staff through the superintendent um that it's a focus of the work you do there's so much and I was uh a board member myself for six years and served on the curriculum committee and chaired that committee for most of my time and um it's it's the focus of why we are all here right to drive student achievement to be committed to that and as a board many many many issues are going to come before you and it is very easy to be distracted by those issues not to say that they don't require your attention but always try to bring the time you're going to spend on issues um back to how does the serve students and how is this going to help us move our students forward right because we don't want to be exhausted by the distractions we want to be really focused on the work that we need to do so just for your reference these are some policies that will guide you um specifically in the area of curriculum uh curriculum adoption speak it the policy speaks to that uh curriculum design and development and the guidelines for evaluation and selection of instructional materials so your policies are there policies are communicative tool and they help guide the actual work in District of um how they're going about the business of running um the schools so critical gu guidelines for board members to consider are the establishment of the district goals on student achievement annually when you as a board work with your superintendent um to develop the district goals uh we should see that they have a focus on how these goals are going to serve students and and drive student achievement for all students um you need to as a board be aware of federal and state um laws including the New Jersey student learning standards but other federal and state um reform initiatives um we are at a time right now of flux there's a lot happening and a lot of discussions it's hard to frankly stay ahead of everything that is happening um so work with work with your educational experts um your your leadership um and lean on them as resources to guide you on how the how what's happening may be impacting your District make student achievement a focus at all of your board meetings ings to help uh the community understand the um work that's really happening here um and the importance of the discussions and how those discussions should really be focused on students and commit the adequate resources that are necessary to um see the successes right the goals are important but they um need the resources behind them for curriculum development and professional development so that the delivery of the curriculum will be meaningful to the students and be accessible right it's a communication communication has to be delivered and received so we need to make sure that our students are in the best place for them to receive the uh lessons that are are being brought to them we want to look at as a board um what you know what was the last time that there have been new materials selected for the subject area is that appropriate and it might be um maybe now is not the time to make a change but what are we talking about seeing in the in the next year or so that um may help us uh with decisions that we make about whether we should be supporting something now or if there's a proposed change coming up for that um does your budget um is it really focused on supporting the initiatives that are being um developed to uh provide those resources for student achievement um does it support the annual goals or the strategic planning goals you know one of the things that we have to be careful about is not operating these things in silos right not seeing the connection between our strategic planning multi-e goals um we need to bring them into what our annual District goals are we need to move forward with all of that information which really will be be most efficient and best serve your students um and ensuring that you're reviewing and monitoring progress in these um always right with an understanding of what it is we're looking at what it is um where our students are and not relying only on um one source of information or one type of information we'll talk about that with uh our discussion about data and how do we use program evaluation student assessments and District goals and developing the budget as drivers for those conversations are we appropriating the sufficient dollars for professional development to improve teaching and learning right not just on content but on um methodology as we discussed earlier can we fund our five-year multi-year facility plans technology plans and curriculum revision plans right the budget um while it is addressing an annual um has annual goals uh of course the budget and where we spend our money and how we spend our money will have longer tale effects as well so we we want to make sure that we have an understanding of that will we need to make uh changes to facilities next year or in the next several years to accommodate student learning that could be because the way uh the the courses that you choose to have and introduce to your students may require different types of classroom space to deliver them properly you might be impacted your facilities might be impacted by um development in the community with new families moving in um increasing enrollment um your enrollment may be changing um with students coming in with um different um needs language needs or um special needs that have to be planned and accommodated so before the adoption process you want to consider what is the district's instructional vision for different subject areas are you ensuring that there are high expectations positive achievement patterns and equal access to educational opportunities for all Learners including students and teachers our teachers are lifelong Learners as well so we need to ensure that we're focusing on that have we included um social and emotional learning components where they're appropriate in curriculum areas I think we recognize now um that uh a student arrives in school and they need to be in a healthy safe environment and they need to be both physically well and mentally well for that uh lesson to really have the impact for that student so we need to be addressing as appropriate so that students are prepared to take in that lesson what Community Values needs and curricular concerns should you be aware of of um and so that you can properly respond how can you ensure that there are diverse perspectives in the selection process so one of the things um we talk about when we talk about diverse perspectives right is the importance of the curriculum being you know providing mirrors and windows for our students right we want students to see themselves in the classroom reflected but we also want to provide an opportunity as a window to um learn about things that they they aren't and that they don't have personal experience with so it's important to have both of those things that students can see themselves reflected in lessons and make that connection um and also be engaged with learning about what it is that they haven't experienced directly and aren't familiar with um how will you determine the alignment to College and Career Readiness standards um preparing students for the path that's ahead of them and will you be using external or independent vetting so you have a host of um educational experts in your District who have tons of information to share with you their professional experience um but sometimes something may arise that even they would um find requires some um outside uh support right on difficult complicated topics and understanding you know what that request is if it's made and how you can support that is important what's the plan for the roll out of the curriculum the implementation and the professional learning to ensure that from day one um we're ready to go right you know change is always um a challenge uh and we need to be thoughtful in how we Institute that change and especially because we're working with um Young Minds we want to also of course remember to engage and communicate changes and prepare the community um so that you're providing the accurate information about the why behind what you're doing and the work that you've done and what certainly the work that the um the district leadership and administration and teachers have done so that it ensures that the community is aware of that work and and that um everyone is prepared for the challenges ahead um you know you have to uh look at um the selected materials to ensure that they are aligned with um the standards that are required under the New Jersey student learning standards um ask if the materials include supports for diverse Learners understanding that we want to again be providing that um Equity to uh support students where they need it so that they can be successful uh who will benefit from decisions that are being made when we make changes and changes happen um with curriculum or any changes really frankly that you're going to support as boards um always recognizing that there are real people real students and real families that will be affected by it it may be a necessary change but communicating um why it why it's necessary and and recognizing that there might be an opportunity to reach out um for those that will be affected by that change so that we stay we keep them engaged um is important and what data will be collected and utilized to inform ongoing professional learning for educators and assess whether materials are meeting student needs we should have an understanding of that so that you as board members are um able to fulfill your appraisal and oversight function which is so important so after the adoption process the work continues when it comes to curriculum what are your expectations for the use of materials and how will those expectations be communicated very specifically your policies should address things that I mentioned earlier about um required approval of the use of materials but because we live in a digital age and it's um it's not only it's not necessarily a bad thing if uh supplemental materials um online resources are being used but a policy should be in place that clearly defines what expectations are around that and so that there are checks and balances brought in so that the administration could be aware of things that are being used with our students to check for that appropriateness um you know by by grade level or class do teachers need to supplement curiculum to meet student needs um it might be totally appropriate to do so but if you're seeing that teachers are really having to um create a lot of use a lot of supplemental materials that they are charged with finding and using with students that may indicate that you need to be focusing on why that is so right is it supplemental really or is it it filling a need that um required materials should be filling right how often are they supplementing you know that's important and why um and where are they getting that material from from so your policies should be outlining that the expectations your policies are a way to communicate and guide the administration forward um so that's an important thing to consider what ongoing support and professional learning will you provide to teachers and site leaders on the implementation of the curriculum right and how is it impacting student learning over time and one of the things that I really always feel is important to just um point out for the benefit not only of the board but of the for the community as well is that we make plans and we fund those plans um but we have to be reasonable in the um expectations so while you support professional development and the um review of curriculum on a cycle cyclical review and you support the work that the staff has to do um for the creation of the curriculum and how it's going to be delivered we need to understand the impact of those choices um on student learning can take several years uh to be reflected in the data what you are looking for in the data when you're looking at the data is to see that you're progressing um at a re you know and meeting reasonable goals that have been set in advance um and if not that you're addressing why not right to address it but it would be uh fool hearty to just expect that we're going to quickly change things and see um drastic changes it it does take time and effort and it's better to be focused um on if something isn't having the you know the expected outcomes what's behind that and what could we do to um move that forward so just reminding us all that together we really make a difference and you understand as board members that the um Authority rests with the full board and it's important to recognize that you are a team this is a team sport and your superintendent is part of your team um your educational uh leadership is part of the team and it's important to be able to at times set aside our own um personal feelings about something um making sure that we're committed to educating ourselves so that we're well prepared to fulfill the functions of policymaking planning and Val ation and oversight um so that is the work that is of the board so that is really a conclusion of this part of it I believe we are going to be moving over for the data Port thank you Jean um whether there any ini were there any initial questions from the board yes oh sorry yeah Jeff and then Liz thank you very much for coming to our community um I had a question about curriculum approval yes um and I'm talking about what I'm thinking of when I ask this question is really things that have happened in this District historically not present I'm not planning to vote against any curriculum that's being planned right now but like you know let's say a curriculum is proposed to you in like math or English language arts and like you know the process of creating that curriculum has been followed properly but then again you know based on like how that curriculum has been used in other districts or other states that it hasn't gone well it hasn't been that effective maybe it's been effective for some students and not for others or you know that like teachers can't stand it um or you know it comes with very expensive professional development like for whatever reason like you might call it a personal feeling but you don't think that curriculum is going to be effective and it might even undermine a district goal would you like respect a board member who like opposes and even votes against that curriculum if they believe that it's going to undermine a district goal despite like attestations that it's going to be effective and good sure yeah that's a that's a really good point and that at times wait if we could have a little conversation actually I could explain what I'm thinking of like like 1990 this District adopted whole language and I have an article about it if you want to see it and like the process was followed very well and there were Town Hall meetings on it and they even promised a lot of professional development about it although back in 1990 whole language was already very controversial and it that was foundering in California I believe like you know would you respect like you know board members who would vote against a CRI that think it's not going to be effective so to to answer that it's pretty much the answer I would give just for how boards function right so I think that the work of a board is to come together and be able to and we'll talk about data right and the importance of that and what drives our decisions and and I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't have those feelings and those questions and those can be totally appropriate um I think it's important to work together as that team to come up with the answers pose the questions right hear the response given and then determine if um your concerns can be addressed properly right um overall boards should be working towards building consensus through understanding of the topic and in here in this situation it's curriculum right um and you build that consensus by educating yourselves educating yourselves together as a board working with your educational leadership working with superintendent who is um running the district and making sure that we're staying in the lane of a board member right um and if we have a feeling that may that is reflected in a vote say right that when we have those discussions and they're productive discussions and we're really committed to working towards consensus to building understanding to addressing the minority opinion on something okay um it it really is um important that a board can come together um and be United for the steps going forward right so that's when ultimately in reality we sometimes get to a majority minority right so you may not carry the day you may voice your opinions but the majority decides to support um the vote to approve the budget uh I'm sorry the curriculum which you do with the budget as well um but it's important that you're operating an environment that allows for that trust and that discussion to happen right and if you um aren't in the minority and the minority opinion has been um taken in and discussed and considered before the board moves ahead then the best practice is really to move ahead in support of the work right because that that Unity is really important in creating a climate environment of how you're going to operate together on many different things um it's very rare that we're going to get nine people who are going to all agree on everything all of the time that's just a just not going to happen so what is important is that um understanding that we work towards consensus and unless we have you know something that really prevents us from being able to support the majority opinion after everything has been considered especially the minority view um you know we should try to um you asked me the question of respect I I respect anyone who's giving their full attention um and commitment to working together towards consensus um and hopefully you can arrive at a place that will allow you to um voice your concerns about it perhaps ask for a certain um evaluation right so that these are my concerns and why I don't you know I I'm not as hopeful as other people and um by evaluating that and and seeing it that can alleviate some of that that disc Comfort I hope um I hope that kind of answers your question thank you um I want to thank you for your presentation for coming here tonight um and I really just wanted to thank you for emphasizing the importance of relationships and Trust um I appreciate the reminder that as a board of education member it really is incumbent on us Beyond just our function of oversight and policy to drive student achievement to also build and model that culture of Celebration as you said right where we support and celebrate the success of our district teachers and of course our students um this really does reinforce the vital role that we play in building that positive collabora collaborative educational Community um and I think aligns well with what superintendent Bing said earlier in terms of the work that he'll be doing with our faith and Community leaders around civil discourse discourse both online and offline um to that end just to kind of build on what board member Bennett said um in terms of as we're building consensus you talked through a number of different slides um and talked about relationships obviously trust being a really critical component of being an effective Board of Education um and you know the decisions we do have a direct impact on kids and so this is emotional work because as caregivers kids are our most precious gifts right and so to clarify our role as board members is to see Clarity within our committee structures right even if they're hard questions an attempt to build consensus based on the expertise and recommendations of our administrators um and then those questions that you were asking would be the ones that would appear kind of within committee um and as that wouldn't mean that we are reaching out to parents we are reaching out oh no thank you of course right we wouldn't directly reach out to a parent say to evaluate their opinion on something um or a teacher to evaluate their opinion on something that would then be the work of the district yes thank you so much thank you for bringing that up that is often times something that is um misunderstood right so understanding the roles and responsibilities as a board member is so important um when we talk about the evaluative process you're going to be approving things so to do that you have to have the information you need to um be able to make that judgment to support something to evaluate it over time and those and how we're going to evaluate it should be built in but um the board Bo especially as individuals should not be having those conversations right um the superintendent is charged with running day-to-day operations in the district and coordinating um staff and staff focus and Reporting out the information to the public so as a board um I would say the part that you play in it which is very important is to understand you know what is the schedule that will receive the information that it will be reported out making sure that it appears on the agenda so that it can be published so that the community can be engaged and come out and hear it and learn and and get that information as well so yes it's it's very important to stay focused and within um the responsibilities of board membership it's also I'd like to just point out um you know part of the code of ethics to um understand that we don't in as individuals have authority and that that Authority rests with the board and there are real um concerns about individuals speaking out individually for any topic frankly um because the school ethics act exists to ensure that the community has faith in the board and the decisions that are being supported and when we um when we have too many voices reaching out even with good intent by the way um too many voices confusing the public um which would lead them to believe that their trust is being broken um you know the ethics Act was designed to hold that public trust and the way we do that is by clearly understanding the processes we use to communicate with them to make the information available to them but what is part of the board's role and what's part of the superintendent's role is different and that responsibility would lie with the superintendent yeah thank you that was so helpful to provide that clarity um I had a followup we reviewed this um New Jersey Department of Education submission of the comprehensive Equity plans so just curious and you kind of alluded to this how is NJ SBA or the New Jersey Department of Education if you know approaching the development and implementation of these mandated comprehensive Equity plans in light of the current National Climate executive orders like ending radical indoctrination and ending radical and wasteful Dei programs have generated significant anxiety and kind of run counter to the spirit of these plans and certainly our District's values so are there any anticipated challenges or impacts that we should be considering as we move forward with these types of plans as a district yeah and and thank you for that question it is a challenging time I recognize um I I do want to just go back and say that I shared it with you for the board's information really and that the work is done by the district um the administration right but so that it you you're aware that that's out there and that's a focus of their attention right now um I quite frankly am not prepared to provide um more insight at this time New Jersey school boards I will say is always monitoring um through our governance team um the what happens um at the state and federal level and prepares um a response um we exist as an entity to Advocate on behalf of boards and the students within uh the districts and so that work is ongoing and Contin news and we do try to on our website I would suggest just you know keeping informed about what's happening on our website we are sending out um you know regular information all the time but especially on in this area of the impacts that we can um expect to see and um next steps after that but it's it's really changing as we're sitting here right now unfortunately so yeah of course real quick because I know we want to get over there yeah but one of the sentiments that you emphasized a lot which I think gets lost is that you know at every decision we make a student achievement should really be at the center of it and one thing that you know really stuck out to me was this idea of students doing presentations at a at a board meeting and I I think you know centering student achievement we should hear more from students and that's one thing I've never seen really at a board meeting um can't put that on You Bing you just got here but um um you know I just really quick what does that looked like to you I think that's something that we need to do in the district you know when the rubber meets the road what is this curriculum doing how are the students feeling about it I would love for you to just share like two minutes how that's looked yeah sure um I I would not no I'm not of course going to um overstep and tell you what you need to be doing in the district but some things that have worked successfully in other districts are first of all student voice should always be considered and the board should have um a student representative who's on it and um you have two which is wonderful um that that is you know the first opportunity that allows for them to not only um hear the topics that are being discussed and understand but then to actually provide that feedback from um the students perspective of what impact those changes that are being made are having right but in another real way to really celebrate students um is you know invite them and uh their teachers out to kind of talk about the actual programs that they're in right you approve things all the time whether it's a field trip or an opportunity um for them to participate in a science Fe fair at their school or someone to you know to have them um at a board meeting to make some type of a presentation that is on uh you know available virtually so that the community whether or not they can be here or not um having things you know we celebrate our our athletes right when we go out to all of the games and and Theater programs but you know other districts my home District um was very committed to every year having um an art presentation where you know it was a gallery walk walk and not only parents and Guardians were invited but it went out to the broader Community to come in and see the schools right we uh we know that our schools out of necessity um are locked down a bit more than they have been in the past right which makes it difficult for the community at large to always you know they can't just walk in and walk the hallways and see all the great things that are happening but being able to um either in person or sometimes you know I I think you know teachers are so willing to share the wonderful things that they're doing with their students and the things their students are accomplishing giving them an opportunity to to even if it's um you know some little video that they can can show to kind of you know see what's actually getting a taste of what's happening in the schools all of those things um can be um really helpful to drawing that connection of these are these are uh students are human beings and we're making big um decisions that impact them and we want you know people to see the real faces behind all of the work that's happening and celebrate it right we um we see the impact that uh current events H have been having on um you know the teaching profession um being able to you know get and retain teachers keeping good teachers in um because it's hard work done in a hard environment at times so anything we can do to you know celebrate along with them and with students and remember that's really the work that we're doing and and celebrating doesn't mean that we're taking our eye off the other things that we need to be focusing on right but um to give that it should be a more joyful experience because the work we do is sometimes dry and hard but it affects real real little people so um keeping that always at the center is really helpful hi thank you so much for your presentation um I just I had two questions one is is um you talked about scheduling curriculum presentations how is that done you know with other districts that you uh have been to is it is it really whenever there's a new curriculum coming into a place or do districts have kind of a regular Cadence where they're saying hey we're going to talk about the ELA curriculum this month next month we're going to explore this you know certain science curriculums how what does that look like operationalized yeah um a lot of that can be organized through your um curriculum committee cni um the cni lays on with the superintendent to see what's kind of appropriate for that time of the year perhaps um but it's I think it's more important that the board has an expectation and communicates the expectation and is Guided by the superintendent to kind of help you realize that um so that things are you know it's just like we want the information on test scores but it's not appropriate that at every meeting that's all we're going to talk about right it should be um appropriate time um and the leadership can definitely guide you on what that looks like and yes it could be new curriculum it could be revisiting the new curriculum towards the end of the year to say like what what did we find was working and not being afraid of um talking about you know we want to celebrate our accomplishments but also being willing to talk about the difficult things of well we we see this as something that we need to address further right um so I I think just having that schedule and getting the input of um your educational leadership is really important to guide you really quick just one more question um you mentioned the importance of professional development which I totally agree can you talk a little bit about the board's role in professional development and helping I guess ensure that our teacher is getting the professional development that meets their needs yeah so I think with um those discussions happen around um you know your administrators in the building your uh content supervisors if you have content supervisors really are are working directly with the teaching staff to understand where the needs might be um your superintendent certainly is your educational leader of the district and um coordinates with the other members of the staff to to identify those areas that um would benefit from professional development so I think it's an easy one to understand for new curriculum something new you're adding um it's kind of obvious that that's probably a good place to put professional development but we may have an area when we look at student achievement and we may see when we break it out in groups subgroups um that some students are struggling um and is it based on location is it based on you know we can have excellent teaching staff but everyone can improve what they do continuous Improvement right um we always see no matter whether it's in education or the corporate world there are going to be people who take up change quickly they're the the quick adapters to change um and then there are people who may have a lot of experience but are a little bit slower to take up change and may need more supports to feel comfortable with that change so addressing that um that it's not only new teachers coming in that might need professional development um or only new curriculum that's being um implemented that may require that professional development but it might be um working with staff who's not comfortable right and a an obvious one I think is technology right um we're working with students in classrooms that are digital natives that um when you can't figure out how to hook the TV up just ask you know your six-year-old and that's going to get done for you um so we have teaching staff that at times just didn't have the experience so we need to provide that so that they can be successful and work successfully with the students so I think a lot of factors can go into it um this may be kind of a Back to Basics question but just to contextualize your presentation you've gone over a lot of very important roles that the board has in reviewing or a new or change of curriculum before it's accepted and then monitoring it after it's accepted yes um but obviously uh the board is not choosing or proposing a curriculum right we are looking at what the administration is bringing to us and the majority of us in the board are not Educators um so I guess in looking at what our role is um when we're really being asked to either ratify a proposal by the administration or to overrule it how would you guide us in looking at a framework or a threshold for when to agree and when we should say we're going to put your recommendation aside and and use our own judgment you know how does that because we have a responsibility but when when should we use it yeah that's that's a really important question I think that um some of what we'll talk about next in terms of uh getting data and knowing how to work with data will help um answer that for you right it's um you're not expected to be the educational expert right but you need to be familiar with things and have your questions answered so that you can make good decisions but again going back to the slide with the um building the trust right we have to have trust in our experts that are here and the guidance that they're providing and the information they're Pro providing to support um their point of view right their request for you to move forward in a certain direction um should be you know clear to you of what that means um and you know we want to be careful as board members that when we're up late and we're seeing at night an advertisement about you know um a new math program that's just you know really successful all over the world and we come in we may want to ask the superintendent about what do you think about that but understanding that our educational leaders are the ones that are most knowledgeable have the um experience and the training and the education to to support what they're presenting to you and that's where building um that Mutual trust um you know in the board relationships is so important um and asking um you know informed questions right so actually taking the time to educate yourself on different things and it's it's fine if you think like you know I've heard that this is in place and it's not really working you know that should be considered but giving the leadership the opportunity to discuss why One path is better than another and being as educated as we can to then support that right sure um thank I know that a board of education can't use its District goals to say like create a certain class or something but like let's say like there's a certain area of instruction that you think the district should improve in like maybe teaching kids foreign language or engineering or the Arts like would you think it's okay for a Bo of Education to write to goals like some kind of language about improving particular area of instruction like for foreign language like you know have a district goal kids graduate fluent in a foreign language and you know then the administration think of way to support that is that okay like in a well I think that the process we need to understand what that process looks like right so as a board you reflect um you know you make decisions based on the stakeholder input right your stakeholders being your students your community um and you as a board what you think is appropriate so the discussions should be happening to get a sense of what the Community Values for students and what you'd like to see and the district goals um that are developed annually uh by the superintendent with the input of the board you know allows for that discussion of what we would like to see and what we would focus on um and what's possible right and and what are the other needs and things that require our attention so yeah that's part of that but understanding that the board isn't writing those District goals um you want to have that discussion and that input towards the development of those goals and then approve those District goals the district goals um are approved by the board and then that is what sets the the focus for the superintendent to to create the action plans to move ahead on those things dayto day right running the day-to-day operations and he will be evaluated on achieving those District goals or the reasonable um you know if they're multi-year goals the reasonable um completion of the first in the in that year right so when you're evaluating superintendent those District goals are there and he provides supporting documents to show um how he's achieved those or achieved up to the expected point of achieving a multi-year goal so that's the conversation that has to happen around it um and I would caution though it shouldn't be just reflective of what the board thinks is important the board is reflecting the community so we want to make um it available to the community to participate through strategic planning through informal ways where they can come out um back in my day when I was on the board we had um a schedule of coffees with the superintendent a more relaxed environment not a formal board meeting where you know the community could come out and talk about those kinds of things that they valued and were interested in and get um that feedback and that's something that the superintendent then considers um and you as a board can consider about how you go forward on it okay great thanks everyone um so we're going to now move to the side tables but first i'm going to adjourn so that our staff can go home um while we're doing our Workshop so um the Board of Education will meet in public session on Thursday February 27 2025 at 6:30 p.m. where action will be taken Mr Bing I would now like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting on Tuesday February 4th at 8:00 pm may I have a second thank you board member Callahan all in favor great meeting is adjourned okay