good evening The Sparta Board of Education regular meeting is called to order at 6:00 p.m Chad if you can please read the meeting notice announcement The New Jersey open public's meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at
which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon In accordance with the provisions of this act the Sparta Board of Education has caused notice of the time and place of this meeting to be plac uh published in the New Jersey Herald the Star Ledger Tap into Sparta and notice of this
meeting has been posted on the Sparta Township School District website Thank you Chad Barbara may we please have a roll call miss Collier here Dr Hinkle here Dr Martinez here Miss Mcichael here Mr Morris here Miss
Saraphino here Miss Williams here Mr Wood here And Miss Gagen present Quorum confirmed Thank you If everyone can join me in standing for the pledge Aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for
stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Okay close session Whereas section 8 of the open public meetings act chapter 231 public law 1975 provides for the exclusion of the public from a meeting
in certain circumstances And whereas the Sparta Township Board of Education is of the opinion that such circumstances exist to discuss legal and personnel matters which are exempt from public participation pursuant to the New Jersey Public Law 1975 Chapter 231 Open Public
Meetings Act Now therefore be it resolved that the Sparta Township Board of Education shall enter executive session on April 10th at 6:02 Thank you to 6:02 p.m The board will reconvene in public session at the conclusion of the executive session The information
discussed during the executive session will be disclosed to the public as soon as it is determined by the board that the information is no longer confidential We estimate it'll be about an hour and we'll return at 7 p.m Roll call please Miss Collier yes Dr Hinkle yes Dr
Martinez yes Miss Mcichel yes Mr Morris yes Miss Saraphino yes Miss Williams yes Mr Wood yes And Miss Gagnner yes Motion carries Thank you Pay attention
resolved that the board of education closes executive session and enters back into the public portion of our meeting at believe it's 7:07 Thank you 7:07 Barbara may we have a roll call please miss Collier here Dr Hankle here Dr
Martinez here Miss Mcichael here Mr Morris yes here Miss Saraphino here Miss Williams here Mr Wood here And Miss Gagnen present Quorum confirmed Thank you
If I may I'd like to offer a statement uh in collaboration with the board of education Before we begin our monthly board meeting there is an announcement that takes priority above all other matters It is with heavy hearts that our district announces the loss of Sparta Middle School student Daniel Baches
After courageous battle with cancer which spanned the course of a few years Daniel passed away on the evening of Friday April 4th Daniel's positive demeanor optimistic spirit and valiant bravery touched the lives of countless students teachers and staff and the
Sparta community at large Daniel's talents behind the camera lens on the football field and at home as a doing older brother will be forever remembered We encourage Sparta students staff and parents to continue to rely on the counseling and support services that
remain available through each building Furthermore we invite all community members to support one another and keep the Backheads family in our hearts and thoughts during this unimaginably difficult time The administration and the Sparta Board of Education extend our deepest consol
condolences to the Bachz family In honor of the life of Daniel Bachz we ask everyone to join us in a moment of silence Thank you We'll begin this evening's meeting with presentations Uh we'll be starting with
the district and HIP report card presented by Jamie Barker director of student support services and districtwide HIP coordinator Thank you My name is Jamie Barker I am the director of student support services here for Sparta Township Schools and I
am going to present our student safety data system and harassment intimidation and bullying data particularly for quarter 1 which spans from September to December 31st So the purpose of this is compliance
with state law as well as our anti-bullying bill of rights act which mandates that school districts report all incidents of violence vandalism and harassment intimidation and bullying to the board of education at a public hearing twice a year as well as mandates
that that report include data from the student safety data system The benefits of this data review of course are transparency and accountability a review of the data and trends across the district and schools highlights of our action plans and interventions and a
community engagement and support particularly around efforts to promote a safe and supportive school environment So the HIV harassment intim intimidation and bullying law itself defines HI as any gesture written verbal or physical
act or any electronic communication that fits the following definition and parameters That it reasonably perceived as being motivated by an actual or perceived characteristic defined in the law That it takes place on school property or off school property and
substantially disrupts or interferes with the school environment that it causes harm or fear to a student or damage to their belongings and that it creates a hostile environment But it's important to note that just because a certain incident does not fit these parameters and these definitions doesn't
mean that is not still addressed through code of conduct when that is necessary So in looking at our data for reporting period 1 you can see the total incidents broken down by school building as well as then broken into categories specific
to violence vandalism substance abuse weapons confirmed HIV other incidents leading to removal and alleged HIV In addition to that detailed in the data are our numbers that reflect restraint
and seclusion across the four schools as well as our district-wide HIB trainings and programs which we continue to expand from previous years So in comparing our data to our data from the 23 24 reporting period 1 some key takeaways
are that the number of incidents have decreased by 10 the number of substances have decreased by 14 Uh the number of weapons have decreased by four confirmed HIVs have decreased by three and alleged by five and incidents leading to removal
have decreased by two So all of our data is trending in the right direction and we're making progress in regards to all of these Um some important items of note are that incidents of violence can re range from anything from roughousing in the hallways or inappropriate use of physical force to fights and weapons in
this case also include possessions such as mace or pocketk knives And so the administration has made concerted efforts to educate our students and our parents about possessions and behavior at school and expectations for that So this progress in our data and our
numbers comes and is in direct correlation with our programming expansions So some highlights in the trainings and the programs that have been reported out to the DOE include our promotion of strong character through student of the month student of the marking period staff member of the month
bus of the month kindness awards and challenges as well as our social emotional learning monthly awards our response to intervention practices and and continue to expand and have and be enhanced And so we are working on individualized behavioral supports for
students and continuing to look at and reflect on our programming We also have action responses to our HIV which includes tier one meaning the general um all students interventions in the classroom um review of our patterns and
trends with our anti-bullying specialists across schools which I look forward to in this role being able to continue to collaborate on that and and look at those trends and put proactive measures in place as well as our restorative discipline practices and our
review of our district-wide behavioral areas of focus We're looking to really align both our language and our restorative practices and working closely with our culture and climate teams to make that happen In addition we have a lot of supports and events in place that constitute and lead to uh
promotion of positive culture and climate including our partnership with St Elizabeth We've created specific building climate teams that work in collaboration with our district climate team and our C3 committee now so that we have all stakeholders involved in looking at how to better promote the
culture and climate of our schools We have enhanced character education and SEAL monthly programming in our classrooms that are focused around the core competencies for SEAL We have an aligned wellness program that provides wraparound counseling for our students
with a priority of their social emotional health We have a lot of speakers and assemblies We have drug prevention programming week of respect activities Our social emotional learning day which is a na nationally recognized holiday that we participate in um in the
school for education and our second step program which is our SEAL programming in the K through5 um buildings We also work in collaboration with Sparta PD and LEAD and we have random act of kindness and unified inclusive activity programming
So those are all some highlights of our supports and and our events throughout the school year in addition to our trainings which include our HIV staff training our student and parent trainings our anti-bullying specialist and culture and climate teams working
collaboratively to identify patterns and create action plans based on data Um we have a suicide prevention training uh that all staff are engaged in and we had the prosecutor's office come and present to our high school students this year on
HIV social media and vaping So we worked collaboratively with them to get that program in this year And we also have a youth empowerment summit that offers leadership opportunities through the center for prevention and counseling in our buildings So in looking at the data
and the supports we have in place obviously we're continuing to always reflect on and and expand specifically right now with our response to intervention and our really individualized and targeted supports for for each student throughout the district
And so obviously the climate and the culture of our schools the safety of our students they're of utmost important to us We'll continue to review this data and I'll be reporting out again the quarter 2 data in July which will then look at patterns and trends across the school year and action planning for
going forward Thank you Thank you so much Okay moving on to our student representatives report Prom tickets are currently on sale and money and forms are being collected during lunch until April 15th Um our
senior field day uh we're currently working on finding a DJ and a food truck for the event As a Sparta High School student council we are deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Daniel Bachz As we have followed him through the Daniel Strong campaign helping to support him
throughout his battle On behalf of the students of Sparta High School we are devastated by his loss but we will ensure his memory carries on throughout the school and throughout the student body Student council in Sparta High School will be memor uh memorializing Daniel's jersey in our hallways framed
with a plaque bearing his name Dr Lazara and Mrs Deluchia are currently working on an award in Daniel's name that will be presented at the senior monogram dinner Student council will also be purchasing Daniel Strong T-shirts to
help the family throughout this difficult time as the proceeds go directly to the Back family Thank you so much for that Excuse me Um can we please have a motion to approve the minutes thank you Kurt Second Second
Thank you Is that Emily thank you Lauren Um all in favor roll call Oh excuse me We have to make We have two uh just minor adjustments on there on uh 131 It actually says that's on page four It was captured as New Jersey School
Boards NJSBA and it should have been the Garden State Coalition of Schools um that Lauren just made me aware of And on the other one on 174 which is on page 14 the submission of the tenative budget to the county office uh we just need to add
an overall blanket statement on advice from the attorney that abstain from anything in the for Dr Hinkle excuse me abstain from anything in the budget having to do uh with William Patter William Patter William Patterson University excuse me and its current and
former students So they will be edited and added into the minutes Thank you for accommodating those All in favor thank you I Great Moving on to our superintendent report I'm sorry I'm abstaining Oh I'm sorry Oh that's right You weren't here Thank you Moving on to
our superintendent report Thank you Okay Uh we'll start with the retirements Uh two retirements on this evening's agenda We have Margaret Trum eighth grade social studies teacher at
Sparta Middle School She has been in our she has served in our district for 19 [Applause] years And also Anastasia Williams science teacher at Sparta Middle School And Miss Williams has served the district for 26 years So congratulations
and thank you to both of those individuals Congratulations to the Sparta Middle School robotics teams the Paradox and the Conquerors They earned spots at the upcoming VEX IQ Robotics World Championships in Dallas Texas in May and will be competing against teams
from over 50 countries Uh as many of you know we are well into award season and recognition season I've already attended a couple of evening events and I will be attending more evening events uh to honor our students some that I have already
attended Uh the Sparta High School I'm sorry the scholar athlete uh dinner was held at the Lake Mohawk Country Club Ella Dufini was honored as Sparta High School's passed along scholar athlete as a result of her achievement in academics athletics and volunteerism We're very
proud of her accomplishments Sparta High School unsung hero So on March 31st the uh Sussex County School Boards Association hosted an unsung heroes award that actually we hosted here at Sparta High School Jace Sensory Ben uh received the
award from Sparta High School for consistently representing the core values of our Spartan community despite overcoming health challenges He was recognized for his positive outlook on life and his contributions to our school community Upcoming we have the top 10
GPA this students honored for academic excellence Those students are Ling Lanchen Julia Deepasqual Ella Dufini Laura I'm sorry Lauren Elroat Uma Kowalsski Patrick Maraziti Laura Sherry
Katherine Sutton Rowan Mandel who is a saludiatoran and Tyler Harms who is the vowictorian [Applause] On this evening's agenda you will see a resolution to revise the current year's
school calendar Each year we build emergency closure days into the school calendar and if and when those days are not utilized we give them back as days off There are numerous factors that have gone into the planning of these snow giveback days Our administrative team has met multiple times to discuss this
matter With five buildings and many factors to consider the dates listed on the agenda were the only dates we could close we could close without posing a significant conflict with school events such as field trips testing and so on This year's give back dates are April
17th May 27th and June 13th I will note when I send a letter to the community tomorrow that the April 17th closure applies to all schools except Mohawk Avenue School as they need to open that day to make up for the January 14th emergency power outage early dismissal
as they did not meet for the required 4 hours of instructional time required by the Department of Education I will send that out tomorrow HOSA state competition Sparta High School had five students participate in the NJ State HOSA
competition with Adrien Applebomb leading the way Not only did Adrien finish second place in New Jersey in dental science he also now is qualified to represent New Jersey HOSA at the international HOSA competition in Nashville And I was asked to read uh the
school boards association sent an email and asked me to read this at a board meeting Announcement shared on behalf of the Sussex County School Boards Association This is to inform you that the annual spring celebrations meeting of the Sussex County School Boards Association will be held on Tuesday May
6th at the Newton Country Club in Newton As is tradition the Sussex County School Boards Association spring celebrations meeting will include a segment honoring board members across Sussex County who are celebrating significant milestones as well as those who have received certification through
the NJSBA board member academy in the past year And at this meeting they are excited We are excited to honor Kaitlin Gagnon as Sparta Township Board of Education Congratulations And that's my report Thank you so much Um so for the
president's report a few items I'd like to add to our superintendent report this evening First I was fortunate enough to attend the Little Shop of Horrors play at the high school back in March My family and I were blown away by another incredible performance We really have a tremendous amount of talent in our
district which was on full display that entire weekend So thank you to the cast uh to Mrs Ducha Miss Lucas Mr and Mrs Lopez Miss Tafuri Miss Scott Mr Lombardo and all other staff members who help our students put on a phenomenal show year
after year Second this one's a bit long but a big shout out to our Sparta archery program It has been a very successful season for the program with all all archery teams performing beyond well Our high school team has performed highly in its first season In the New
Jersey state 3D championship the Sparta High School team took second place with five archers placing in the top 10 Cali Mains earned first place for high school females in the 3D tournament and took third place for high school females in the state bullseye tournament Our middle
school team also had a great showing at the 3D state championships earning third place overall with five archers placing in the top 10 Natalie Hanam and Angie Zabo each took second place for the middle school females in both the 3D and bullseye tournaments On to Helen Morgan
School The fifth grade team won both the 3D tournament and the state bullseye championships for the third year in a row setting a new school record score in the in the process They are currently ranked 42nd in the country Our Helen Morgan fourth grade team placed third in
both both tournaments as well We'd like to recognize quite a few Jason Machala Austin Delaney Nate Margarino Alexa Maben Willa Wolf Emily Castro Grayson Sheerer Babe Duru and Zuzu Picarillo who
all placed in the top spots across both tournaments Helen Morgan and Sparta Middle School teams will go on to compete in the Eastern National Tournament in Kentucky in May where they'll take on the best archery teams across the country I'd like to thank Mr Agnar Miss Tannis Cannon and the all the
staff members current uh both current and we have quite a bit of support from even retired staff members which is amazing uh who support this incredible program It's really picking up in our district And of course congratulations to all archers who are truly making our district proud The annual Sparta
Jazzfest was held last week featuring our district district's jazz ensembles While I was unfortunately unable to attend this year I'm very confident it was a wonderful night of music and talent And finally at Helen Morgan's another Helen Morgan School shoutout the traps events were held on Monday and
Tuesday of this week It was a great learning experience for our young entrepreneurs many of whom sold out of their innovative products So thank you to do uh excuse me thank you to Mr Mr Layman Miss Racket Miss Grogard and the Helen Morgan staff members who support these events and the many weeks of prep
work it takes to make both evenings so successful And that's it for my president's report So moving on we have request a motion to approve the HI report please Motion Thank you Emily Second Second Thank you Miss Williams Uh
discussion Seeing none roll call please Miss Collier yes Dr Hinkle yes Dr Martinez yes Miss Mcichael yes Mr Morris yes Miss Saraphino yes Miss Williams yes Mr Wood yes And Miss Gagnon yes Motions
carry Thank you Uh moving on we're actually going to use uh the agenda item communications which we haven't touched upon in a while We now have a communications ad hoc committee So I believe Emily you'd like to kick that off for us Yeah So we have our we had
our first meeting this month and it was great to te talk to a lot of the board members get some ideas about how to really just build transparency in the district Um one of the initiatives we were most excited about is in the future after the board meetings we are looking to send out a board newsletter of just
like quick digestible information of what happened at the board meeting So in case you can't make it or you can't tune in you'll have links to things right at your fingertips um and the highlights basically available to you shortly after the board meeting Um and that's something we're working on putting together And overall just we're going to be working this year to be more
transparent about the board our goals and what we're working on Thank you so much Moving on to delegate and liaison reports Anyone i have a few to jump in here Thank you Jeff Um to start off just another shout out to the Sparta
Education Foundation Their inaugural pickle ball tournament is on Friday May 30th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m So save the date Um it's going to be hosted at the Sparta Athletic Club There will be teams of two and it is going to be $30 per person in terms of tickets If you are interested in signing up please uh check
out the Facebook event You can find them by name Sparta Education Foundation Uh and yeah please check out their events If you go to their events if you support their events you're directly supporting our schools So I'd highly recommend you attend especially for pickle ball And just to jump over to um a strategic
planning update um we have a lot of good progress to announce So I'm really excited to do that for you today In terms of our first goal of achieving board certification uh we're moving forward with several components here The NJSBA policy wellness check is in progress We're coordinating training sessions with Kelly Uh we actually just
got a notice sent out today that on April 17 Thursday April 17th from at 6:30 p.m at this building there's going to be a training session in terms of a board self-evaluation Um so that's going to move us right along on our goal In terms of our second goal of passing QAC we're in the final stretch of the CUSAC process The county will be visiting next
week to complete their monitoring and our team feels very well prepared After that we'll receive our results to which uh we can then guide any steps for a district improvement plan In terms of our third goal of supporting grant opportunities we're in a very strong position here Our partnership with Millennium has been running very
smoothly board members are kept in the loop about new opportunities and we have the access to the grant portal um so we can search and stay updated about what's available um and it's already working wonders for us in terms of our fourth goal of the policy wellness check this is separate from the certification related check uh this was a deeper
policy audit designed to help us uh track updates and identify priorities the policy committee has already begun this work and it is an ongoing effort to keep everything aligned and current uh and lastly in terms of supporting uh implementation of our district goals this is our broadest goal but this is
where we're seeing the most momentum Um especially in a lot of terms uh from ends of culture and climate to the communications committee work We're doing a lot that aligns with the district's priorities whether it be perception communication finance or operations Uh Dr Beck and I are continuing conversations about how the
board can be the most supportive of the district and I'll be keeping you all updated on that shortly Uh so thank you very much And I'd also like to uh just report out from the referendum ad hoc committee um Dr Beck Mrs Decker our architect Mr
Barnett Caitlyn and I met with two representatives from Laura Bishop Communications um who we appointed as a as a board in February following high recommendations from other districts um around the region And uh we had a a preliminary
discussion on our referendum communication services and we got into detail about the timeline for the campaign which will be launching um near at the end of May And we put together uh and reviewed specific milestone plans
that'll be in place for spring summer and fall leading up into the September vote for the referendum Um as we've said in the past telling the story of Sparta as a district is just as important as the nuts and bolts of the ask to our community stakeholders and the financials themselves so they can make
an informed vote And um one thing that was really helpful coming out of that discussion is one of the first orders of business will be Dr Beck will be um appointing a very citizenheavy group of citizens of individuals who will serve as really the eyes and ears in the
community It'll be reflective of um we'll have a small presence as far as a board teachers administrator but mostly of our citizens so we can understand um questions and needs from the community and go through messaging um everyone
from people that have children in the district people that don't have children alumni It'll be a representative community and that will be appointed by Dr back um and Laura Bishop Communications will be working um with that group um and we're looking forward
to getting that started and uh preparing for a referendum So it was a good first uh first part of that and then also they will be developing a dedicated web page with um some really telling the visual story of what we're looking for as well
And so that will be up before really probably before the end of the school year um is what they're targeting as well So we look forward to continuing to work with them Thank you so much Lauren Um reporting out for our ideas committee Uh we met on
April 1st A few points of discussion included bolstering health and safety protocols for various issues or reporting incidents among staff We discussed the success of the Steam night event in our district which I did not include in my president's report but it was very successful Uh and exploring
ways to host similar events more frequently in our district On a side note uh just to clarify so our QAC monitoring actually did take place this week Uh it was very well attended Every uh one that had to be there was which was great And one thing that I just wanted to point out was uh as someone
who was present for that Uh the district was really praised for the establishment of our ideas committee Um the the CUSAC members that were there uh representatives that were there really express pride for the fact that we were working so collaboratively to come up with solutions and identify areas that
we can work together to solve Um so I think that's really something that should be celebrated Uh we'll have more to report from ideas in the coming months as we do plan to meet again before the end of the school year Uh but was just a nice little highlight that they were um particularly fond of the
fact that we've created this awesome initiative So moving on does anyone else have anything for delegate liaison reports any other ad hoc committees okay so we'll move on to public comment number one Public comments are invited on matters pertaining only to action
items at this time Please state the action item number as well as your name mi municipality and group affiliation if appropriate for the record Each participant will receive three minutes to speak Once you have had your allotted three minutes to speak you will not be permitted to speak again until public
comment number two All statements should be directed to me as the presiding officer The board or administration may or may not respond to any questions or comments after the conclusion of the public participation Seeing no one Motion to close Thank you
Kurt Second Second Thanks Chad Discussion All in favor any opposed excellent Moving on to personnel and policy Motion to move items 15.1 through
15.23 Thank you Kurt Second Second Thank you Emily Um discussion nothing to report nothing to report I will piggyback on nothing to report just to clarify on something that I said last meeting so
policies and regulations 2530 and 9130 which we've been working collaboratively with ideas uh for the last several months a request was made for those uh policies and regulation revisions to be made available to the full board and out of respect for that request we want to make sure that there's ample time for
those uh for the full board to review those changes Uh so we do anticipate that it will be on the May meeting agenda for a first reading but again just wanted to clarify I said last meeting we'd hope to have first reading this evening but that's why we don't see it on the agenda tonight So it will most likely be there in May assuming all goes
well Um and with that can we please have a roll call barbara Miss Collier yes but I will be abstaining to 15.6 Dr Hinkle Yes Dr Martinez
Um I will be saying no to 15.6 and yes to the rest Thank you Miss Mcichael I will be abstaining from 15.6 as advised by our board attorney and yes to the rest Thank you Mr Morris Yes Miss
Saraphino yes Miss Williams yes Mr Wood yes And Miss Gagnon yes Motions carry Thank you Moving on to curriculum instruction and special services May I please have a motion to approve item 16.1 through
16.11 motion Thank you Chad Second Thank you Kurt Discussion Yes Um so just to give some updates uh in terms of our RTI data summary we're seeing some real progress in terms of our RTI efforts The tiered support system is working
Referrals and special service numbers are going down which is a strong sign that we're headed in the right direction We'll keep monitoring this group of students and take a deeper look at the final data at the end of the year In terms of our non-academic skills screener we're piloting a new non-academic screener districtwide The
goal is to better understand things like student motivation and overall mindset things that really impact student learning but isn't always easy to measure parents will have a chance to preview the survey and decide if they want their child to participate Uh uh in terms of some grant opportunities thanks to the Dreams grant we are bringing the
nurtured heart approach to more schools It's all about consistent expectations and language behavior Um some schools are already familiar with this um and now more teachers will be trained uh and able to pass it on which will help with long-term continuity Uh and in terms of dance curriculum updates we are actually
updating the elementary school dance curriculum to meet with compliance requirements Even though we don't have a full-time dance staff right now it's important that we have a curriculum ready in place and ready to go and it's a law that we have to follow So and just to add to that too I want to
give a little shout out to Miss Rossi Thanks to Miss Rossy we have our first successful grant through Millennium uh with that dreams grant So very exciting Thank you for leading that initiative We really appreciate it and of course we're going to keep everyone informed uh in
terms of pursuing additional grant funding We're we're looking forward to that and working hard on it as a commit as a committee Um moving on Let's see Or excuse me we need a roll call Miss Collier
Yes Dr Hinkle Yes With absention to 16.3 Dr Mr Martinez yes Miss Mcichael could you please come back to me thank you Mr Morris yes Miss Saraphino yes Miss
Williams yes Mr Wood yes Miss Gagnon yes And Miss Mcichael Um yes to all with a no to 16.4 Thank you Motions carry
Okay moving on to finance items Uh may I please have a motion to move item 17.1 through 17.9 However we do have uh an additional item 1710 which Barbara will read 1710 that we're going to add tonight is construction management
company resolve that the board of education approves Epic Management Inc to serve as the construction manager as per terms of their proposal dated December 3rd 2024 And again that's 1710 Thank you May I have a motion to approve
items 17.1 through 1710 including that amendment motion Thank you Rocky Second Thank you Miss Williams Discussion Chair report Uh one second Okay here we go Um every month when we meet I am just totally
blown away about the amount of work that goes into running a district Um I I think people kind of see it but I don't think they fully truly understand the amount of effort it takes Um so with that the spring transportation schedule
is um being completed and most of or all of our drivers will be all district drivers will be doing that All chronically late bus routes that are currently under contract will be um contracted to another provider The
current provider will run run its timeout and while we're waiting for that time to run out we'll be looking for performance credits Helen Morgan the sewer is 50% uh operating automatically and the oil and monitoring parts which we've been trying to get have been
ordered and hopefully they'll be here soon Uh April 22nd is bus driver appreciation day which is during our spring break So when they come back they will have that Please be nice to your bus drivers They're very important Uh Helen Morgan there is a tree that is
um causing some issues with uh a neighbor as I've been reporting That tree will be removed at district cost and JCPNL is going to help to make sure there's no power interruption during the removal of that tree uh baseball fields as well as all other fields will be
continued to be addressed as the spring season continues The district will move to the school health insurance fund which was the benefit provider prior to 2020 Um and basically done to ensure
that uh Barbara doesn't uh go too crazy trying to do the budget So it and it also saves us some money Um with that congratulations Barbara Your preliminary budget was approved by the county and you're working on it and it's on time Thank you
Thank you Roll call please Miss Collier yes Dr Hankle yes Dr Martinez yes Miss Mcichael yes Mr Morris yes Miss Saraphino yes Miss Williams yes Mr Wood yes Miss Gagnon yes Motion's carry Thank
you Moving on to 18 operations Um may I please have a motion to move 18.1 motion Thank you Emily Second Second Thank you Lauren Discussion Miss Copper Uh roll call please
Miss Collier yes Dr Hingle yes Dr Martinez yes Miss Mcichel yes Mr Morris yes Miss Saraphino yes Miss Williams yes Mr Wood yes And Miss Gagnon yes Motion carries Thank you Moving on to item 19
old business Does anyone have anything for old business they wish to discuss no one Okay moving on to new business Anyone okay moving on to public comment number two The board uses the second public comment period to invite comments
on all matters pertaining to the school district Please state your name municipality and group affiliation if appropriate for the record Each participant will receive three minutes to speak Once you have had your allotted three minutes to speak you will not be permitted to speak again All statements should be directed to me as the
presiding officer The board or administration may or may not respond to any questions or comments after the conclusion of the public participation I already signed in don't worry Good evening My name is Angela Deluchia and I am the very proud president of the Sussex County Education
Association and Sparta Education Association It is an honor to stand before you tonight to celebrate the extraordinary work of the educators and education support professionals of the Sparta Education Association Each day we step into our
schools with one mission to shape the future One student one lesson one breakthrough at a time Tonight our celebration is also tempered with sorrow as we remember Daniel a student a friend a light in our community There is no
pain deeper than losing one of our own especially someone as vibrant compassionate and full of promise as Daniel His memory remains with us not only in our hearts but in the impact he had on those around him Yet in the midst of his of this grief we have witnessed
something very powerful We've come together not just as colleagues but as family United in heartbreak yes but more importantly united in strength in love and in the unwavering support for one another and for Daniel's family It is in
these moments that the true heart of Sparta shines brightest We find our courage We lift each other up We lead with empathy And we move forward together Tonight we also honor the passion and purpose behind our work Behind every
lesson every encouraging word and every extra effort is a belief in our students Whether it's a student finally grasping a tough concept finding their voice or discovering their unique gifts we are a part of that journey Our students just
um don't just thrive in academics They shine in athletics in the arts in service to others and in personal growth And that happens because we nurture the whole child At Sparta we believe in progress for every learner not just
those in advanced classes but for those who need extra support different approaches and more time We do not define our children by one test score because we know a test can't measure curiosity creativity empathy or
resilience We teach more than academics We inspire courage purpose and perseverance We prepare our students not just for exams but for life And none of this would be possible without every single member of the sea From the
classroom to the security office from the guidance office to the IT desk from the nurse's office to the library each member is essential Each makes a difference Not once in a while but every day Let's continue together to make
Sparta a place where every student is seen supported and empowered to thrive Thank you [Applause] Anyone else motion to close Thank you Kurt Second Thank you Emily All in favor
any opposed okay Um for the good of the order anyone have anything actually you do have something I'd like to add Sure Uh hearing that Miss Trump is retiring I wanted to share a little story about her because I actually was able to have her as an educator It said that she was um
an eighth grade teacher when she retired but I believe I had her when she was teaching sixth grade world history Um a lot about mentia I just wanted to share a quick story because I have a really fond memory of her And there was one time when I had entered sixth grade recently and uh and I feel like when you
enter sixth grade that's when it kind of starts getting real like when you're in fifth grade you're very happy and things are you know good and you don't have to think about too much and then sixth grade it gets real and people are kind of mean and things change Um and there was one time when we were al and this is also when you get switch classes So previously you have one to two teachers
and now you have four or five six so it gets different Um and one time a group of my friends and I were working on an assignment and we all turned in the same assignment So Miss Trump said that we were all cheating and she called each of us up individually and asked us about you know what we were doing and why we were cheating And I explained to her I said "Miss Trump we weren't cheating We
were just working together after class Um you know working as a team." And she uh she actually did not give us all zeros because I said that And she took all of you know my group of friends in front of us And she said you know Chad if you didn't say that to me if you didn't admit to cheating and saying "No I didn't even know I was cheating I was just you know doing my work with my friends I would have given you all
zeros." Um and I remember that forever I'll always remember that I really appreciated her and uh her class was extremely rigorous even in sixth grade and it makes me think about the strength of our social studies department um because I feel like we don't hear about it a lot but uh and from my limited memory every social studies teacher I've
encountered from sixth grade up has been absolutely fantastic through Sparta So I wanted to give a special shout out to Miss Trump and our social studies department Thank you Chad Anyone else for good of the order i just wanted to give a shout out to the Alpine PTO particularly the
chairs They did such a beautiful event It was a great night and I I was just looking to see if any final uh numbers were posted I believe they will be shared at the PTO meeting but we're so incredibly grateful for their support and for the community coming out And um
I always consider a charitable donation because I don't win but it is still so fun to play and be part of it And um we had winners among our alpine teachers several tables full of teachers that were going home with baskets and um just
a lot of happy faces and it was a wonderful evening that really supports everything that's going on at Alpine So thank you to all their efforts here Here Thank you Lauren Um just administratively we are not reconvening in closed session at any point So may I
please have a motion to adjurnn thank you Kurt Second Okay All in favor any opposed okay Just resolve that the board of education approves the motion to close the meeting of the Sparta Board of Education at Someone help me out It's
always Barbara helping me out 7:50 Thank you so much Good night everyone Thank you