##VIDEO ID:KyP8AZ4XwW8## Miss Kier Miss gagnan pres Miss McMichael here Mr pesi here miss seander here miss sarafino here Dr Serrano here Mr wood Mr moris here we all rise for Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of ALG to the flag the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible J hey we are now going to go into close session where we're going to speak about Personnel legal and a hip hearing I have a motion I have a motion please motion second you second all in favor I if I like you're going to e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay welcome everyone going to resume open session can we get a roll call Joan Miss khier Miss gagman present Miss McMichael here Mr pesi here miss seander here miss sarapo here Dr Serrano here Mr wood here Mr moris here all right we're going to start this evening we have a couple presentations we're going to start with the audit presentation from bkc Auditors La the PDF is up there if you use the down arrows down hour okay do I have to turn on the mic or anything or is there already on good good okay our projects that we have going on and we're looking at the internal controls there's a lot of compliance that's involved with the state as to what we're supposed to be doing uh they provide us a 700 page document to review every year um and then we compile those results into the audit now the management report at the very end of it is where you would see if we had any suggestions or recommendations for your District I'm pleased to say that we don't have any uh this is a great sign it means that your business office has done a lot of great things during the year um they're keeping up with the statutes and um if there are any Improvement areas we do go over them uh with Joan and her team uh they might just not be to the extent that needs to be brought to the board's attention if there are any questions from the board feel free to stop me at any point I do like to think of this as more of a little discussion rather than me rambling on the entire time think of this as more of a little discussion rather than me rambling on the entire time if you think of something later down the line um that maybe after I leave tonight you're more than welcome to reach out to uh your superintendent Joanne or myself directly and uh I can always answer those questions as they come up any questions so far seeing none we'll move on to our financials so starting with our revenues sorry it's going to be a little hard to navigate these papers we had 82,9 53,000 this was an increase of 5,788 th000 since the prior year uh we've received about 3, 900,000 in Grants of which covid grants included 572,000 of this money you'll notice that the last few years we had a lot of funding coming through um relating to covid and then this year was the last year of it um the very beginning of 2425 might have a little bit left over but by the time we're done with the year it's gone and I expect that graph when we get to it for the federal sources to pretty much plummet When comparing to 10 years ago uh you'll notice that we had an increase of $16 million compared to then um another item that we had received this year that's different the prior years is the preschool expansion Aid so one of the categories that we're going to see is um a change between your tuition receives um that came from your parents and then we're going to see the change happening in the state side of things so on the first set of graphs on page two you'll notice the top leftand Corner we just have a breakdown of the uh current year Revenue what makes up that portion the biggest portion is going to be your tax levy the green portion a smaller portion um is going to be your state sources other parts of the state this would be completely opposite the blue portion would make up the biggest portion for them for example if you are in Bergen County um for the tax levy though the problem with this area is that the state keeps making Cuts every year and every time that happens we have to make up for those cuts um so you'll see that that pie keeps getting the bigger um Green Piece keeps getting bigger and bigger every single year while the blue portion usually is um decreasing on the right you'll see the tax uh rates for the last 10 years you notice that there's a a slight change at the very um beginning where between 2015 and 2016 we had a revaluation where uh the town just kind of had the properties revaluated and then it kind of shifted things around it didn't necessarily mean that you paid any more or less than before it just kind of adjusted the tax rate to get things more aligned with the market for the last 10 years again you'll see the tax levy uh growing over that time uh but for the most part it's pretty steady that increase um with the state sources this graph is misleading this last year because it does look like it went up but in reality that was because of our preschool Aid so it does make it um a little misleading when we're considering that when looking at the tuition you'll see the opposite happening where we had the decrease there because now instead of receiving the money from the parents we were receiving from the state and then the the federal sources over the last four years we had those increased funds coming in from covid and then we're expecting this graph to actually drastically decrease in the subsequent year additionally with our miscellaneous income you'll notice over the last few years we've had had quite a increase it's thanks to our bank rates uh the interest rates happening over the last few years have increased and hopefully they continue that way as for the expenditure side of things our operating expenditures were approximately $4,695 th000 our largest increase in operating expenditures was instructional costs and employee benefits When comparing to 10 years ago our overall expenditures had increased $18 million and our expenditures increased compared to 10 years ago largely due to our instruction and student related services with our next set of graphs as an auditor we love 10year comparisons we love data we love patterns that are associated with it and the biggest thing for us is that we're able to explain when um these patterns change so with instruction um the this area we did see increases over the last 10 years our special instruction is also going in that same direction um for the most part our tuition is one of the hardest categories to really control because a single student alone when they're going to another District or a special needs District could easily cost the district well over $100,000 and that's just for the tuition that doesn't include the piece that goes into the student instruction related service Services which is your therapy services so if you have occupational therapy um or your physical therapy it would show up in another category and then in addition to that you have your transportation component and that piece would also be increased by a student going to another District because now they have to go to that place somehow with the uh student instruction related services this across the board at all of my districts uh has been the largest increase and most of it in my opinion has been due to the changes that the state has really made over the last 10 years uh it seems like every year or every other year they're coming up with new um pieces to the school district that are required um the smaller districts are definitely affected by this a lot harder than our larger districts um but you do see that we're also affected here too um with the student instruction related services this would be our child study team our guidance um our training of the teachers so over the last four years one of the biggest initiatives that the state had was to better provide our students with um TR transitioning back into the school and their mental health awareness problems going on as well as the teachers and you'll see that in this category so over the last few years is why you kind of see a spike happening other increases might be happening because now the state encourages the school districts to have uh all sorts of different acronyms uh for individuals that specialize in things so for example we now need a bcba at a lot of districts uh every year there's a new acronym I have no idea what half of them means sometimes um but that's another reason why you see this category often increase our general Administration is typically an area that we don't see much fluctuation in it's pretty steady uh it's primarily your business office um and your uh main office the plant operations and maintenance uh depending on your building uh how long ago it's been since we've made a lot of improvements might vary for how much we're actually needing to make uh a lot of Maintenance improvements and then we'll see when we get to the reserves how important those reserves are related to this category because when you do see those increases you like to or you're hopeful that your reserves are able to help offset those increases during that same year with people Transportation over the last few years we've seen a lot of changes happening and how difficult it is to get our bus drivers um filled in those positions uh so you do see a lot of the schools struggling to keep that category uh lower and then the employee benefits we've done it pretty good over the last few years or I'm sorry last 10 years kind of maintaining those costs uh even though it's a difficult area to maintain um and then we've also had the shift with the uh Self Insurance over the last few years so we're interest interested to see how that kind of works over the long run now when everything is received and we've paid out our bills we are left with our FM balance which we had 1 million 691 th000 set aside for Capital reserves a $861,000 for maintenance Reserve we had incumbrances which are items that we had ordered but not yet received at the end of the year this was $557 ,000 there was excess Surplus last year of 570,000 which is now being utilized in our 2425 budget the current year excess Surplus is $798,000 which will be used in the future upcoming budget that we'll be preparing for just around the corner for 2526 and then our maximum allowable unrestricted fund balance was 1,977 th000 again with our graphs we have a breakdown of what really made up uh the current year reserves but more importantly for uh we like to look at the 10year activity the restricted which is our excess Surplus um for the most part has been pretty uh much the same except for a couple years you'll see that there was kind of a dip between 21 and 22 but at the same time there was actually an offset with the assigned balance it just kind of shifted from one category to another the incumbrances this category we do expect to fluctuate quite a bit from year to year since it is items that we had ordered but not yet received at the end of the year or maybe we had asked a company to come in to make improvements to the building and they can't necessarily come in until the students have left for the year so they might have happened until the end of the summer with the unrestricted if you recall back in 21 and 22 the state allowed us to go from a 2% maximum allowable to a 4 % and then we had brought back down to in 23 and 24 we're back down to 2% so that's why you do see that um temporary increase um with the unrestricted the state does have a pretty low threshold as to how much you can have in this category one of the contributions to this category is any uh extraordinary Aid or non-public Aid that we had received the problem with extraordinary Aid uh is that you have to spend it in order to get it and you don't find out how much you're going to get until after the Year's End so now you can't use it until the following year the other issue with extraordinary Aid is that every year the formula changes so one year the state might say okay you spend $100,000 we'll give you 50% of those costs back the following year they'll up it to 70% and then you're thinking oh great they're going to keep giving us more NOP next year they drop it down to 40 so it's not very predictable um it's one of the categories that when we get to the budget season I usually do encourage my clients to not budget in this category or be very conservative because you don't know how much you're ultimately going to receive with our reserves uh the capital reserve you'll see that for quite a bit of time we had uh built up those reserves and over the last few years we've been utilizing those reserves in order to help the projects that we've been uh going on um the long range facility plan is really the driver as to the maximum allowable uh you'll notice that we're at about 15% of that um maximum now there could be a laundry list of items on here so um the important thing for the district is obviously to evaluate what items on that list are most important and then uh as we've been doing over the last few years utilizing those funds that we've been building up um we are to the point where it does feel that we probably need to start rebuilding those reserves in order to help kind of uh address the capital reserve items that the long range facility plan has coming up over the next 5 10 years our maintenance Reserve is another category that's very interesting with the state because the calculation is based off of the square footage and then they take the square footage and they apply it against a dollar amount which is like $143 per square foot and the state hasn't changed that number in years uh what's interesting about not changing it is that we all know how much the cost for maintaining things or our own homes especially has really gone up I mean I bought a window about four years ago it was $150 maybe I bought the same window about 3 or 4 years later and it cost me almost triple I was at almost $400 I think for this window so now that just for one window I can only imagine how much it costs in order to go through the entire building of a school district especially with the older buildings uh so that's why this category is one of the most important ones even though the threshold the maximum allowable that the state sets is um pretty low for what I think it should be it's important for us to build that Reserve so that we can help offset that other category of the expenses where we had the plant operations and maintenance so every time we're we might see a spike in that we're able to use the reserves that we've been building over the years in order to help offset that increase that we had for that year obviously our driver for everything is our students so with our enrollment 10 years ago we had 3,328 this year we had 3,255 uh so while this is a decrease of 2% in the last 10 years this is actually a 1% increase over the last 5 um most school districts especially um in neighboring counties we us were seeing a 28% decrease for the longest time between the 10 years and then I kept telling my districts you know at some point we're going to start studying out um and we're finally starting to see that happen and Sparta has been one of the fortunate districts where um the enrollment hasn't drastically shifted one way or another it might have shifted in one building versus the other um but not necessarily as a district as a whole whole are there any questions you already knew um the first question I have regarding and it's a little specific so we can email if it's more appropriate but regarding transfer to Charter Schools it looks like we increased about 240,000 at about 88 to 89% compared to the year prior would you say that that's average would you say that that's high uh I would actually have to defer to Joan for that question so um I could speak to that for you I got more Trends across districts but yeah so um what happened specific for SP specifically for Sparta with these numbers is um there were some uh special education students that were in the charter schools and it's a funded formula again from the states it's it's how they do the formula and that is what the sign significant increase is due to um again it's just the funding formula of the state the one shift that you did see over the last four years um during covid around 2020 you saw a significant decrease in the number of students that were actually going to the private schools maybe not necessarily Charter Schools but they weren't going to the private schools for a couple years and now we're kind of seeing that increase again which might be one of the reason why you see your tuition kind of increase over the last couple years too super helpful thank you so much any else thank you having us tonight I hope you have a great holiday thank you again if you think of anything else you're more than welcome to reach out happy to answer any questions that you might have thank thank you okay we're now going to move on to the district technology plan we'll have several speakers here she very good there it is yeah your three minutes starts now good evening uh tonight I'm actually going to speak less for a change and I'm just going to introduce the technology plan and let Mr rivers and Miss Rossy take over from there but uh I'll explain how we got to this point so as everyone knows uh we we um had a strategic plan over the past couple of years um and part of that strategic plan was to do a technology audit and then a subsequent or resulting Tech techology plan so what is going to be presented this evening is the final product of the technology plan but that was based on that came out of uh the needs that were introduced and the recommendations that were introduced for the Strategic plan and the Strategic plan action plan what a lot uh some of what you'll see tonight will be from the technology audit as well we contracted with uh with an outside entity to come in and do a technology audit for us uh that helped with inventory and it also helped with uh recommendations Less on the device end and more on the infrastructure end um and we took all of that information along with uh input from uh teachers and from students and from uh some of the community and came up with the technology plan uh M Rossy and Mr Rivers really did a lot of the heavy lifting on on this project so I'm actually going to get out of the way and let them take over for that thank you Dr Beck uh thank you everyone we appreciate it um so uh for us when we were implementing this Tech plan we really were interested in Mak making sure that it did something and that it wasn't just a description of what is but instead was more focused on what was going to actually happen action kind of being that key word there and so uh when we were focused on those verbs the actions uh we reached out to our professional communities we uh took some courses at Techo we did everything we could to make sure that we did this in a way that was effective and their advice their guidance all of the best practice out there talks about using a cycle uh to really consider what this Tech planning looks like we hope will be in a similar situation 3 years from now to readdress and to uh continue on this cycle of planning and and uh kind of anticipating the needs of our district especially in terms of Technology uh the other of course important piece that we learned from all of these districts is that uh it is important of course to plan and to act and to collect data to reflect all of those things are valuable but that ultimately uh it is about taking that kind of external best practice and combining it with what we learn locally from our teachers from our students from our uh community members and and really thinking about what the experience of our schools uh looks like and and how that can really kind of be honored here so when we think about kind of even the planning step even that is kind of cyclical in nature and so we ultimately really did start with Educators and really reflecting on what is technology doing for you uh in some questions that's about the big picture uh where do you see it kind of going and and and helping you and your um responsibility for the district but also what are the kind of everyday ways in which technology is affecting your your practice and and affecting your craft uh from there we took all of that feedback and Consolidated that and we're able to kind of um distill that down into four big goals those goals are big picture they are uh a vision kind of ideas but um they are um difficult to measure and so from there we contined to come back to our Educators come back to our teams and consider uh how can we turn that into actionable objectives real things that we can see happen in our schools and in our communities and so uh from there we've kind of come back to find those goals and to really think about how are we coordinating those efforts across buildings uh and across our district to really make sure that all of this technology is kind of pushing us uh in the same direction so we did some interesting things we actually leaned on um the resources of AI and we took this big feedback all of this feedback that we collected um that ranged from such diverse stakeholders in terms of what their feelings beliefs needs were and we were able to synthesize that into like four core buckets which are these goals that you see and then we went back and we looked at that and we tweaked things and we changed things a little bit and we made sure that almost all of the feedback all of the feedback actually fit somewhere into these goals and they did and so these are the four big goals that you see driving our plan so the first is to use technology to engage communities and that is a range of communities your classroom Community our local community communities abroad how can we connect and engage communities to to collaborate and learn um finding a balance between digital and interpersonal learning so obviously there was a time when there was a push to be onetoone and used uh personalized learning platforms those things are important but we learned a lot through covid and we learned that virtual learning um isn't the answer exclusively and so how do we balance the evolution of the digital space with the important needs of interpersonal learning and connections between students and people um the need to support professional development and capacity building obviously there are things that are changing rapidly so even how do we use things like AI which are questions we asked ourselves when Google and search engines became popular like what does that mean for us what's what's okay what's not okay um and how do we lean on one another to learn those things along with outside professionals and the last goal talks about Innovative learning experiences to enhance connection and accessibility so how do we explore new tools that will lead us to new outcomes and new goals how do we ensure that we have access to our diverse learning population so they can be a part of the learning in every capacity once we boiled these goals down um we got some feedback on that whoops so we said oh hold on oh this is it we said okay so with that feedback you provided to us we believe they fall into these four categories the these four buckets but we want your again your feedback on those things and so we used a lert scale on a scale of 1 to five looking at how significant these goals might be to your instruction to your students to your classroom and we found that every goal was in some ways um moderately or significantly important to everyone and so we felt that this put us on the right track and so then we were able to as Mr River said unpack these goals a little more specifically and this is what you'll see inside our plan that will be linked for you to review and so it's organized by goal but of course the goal is like the big idea and the objective is what's actionable like what can we do to achieve um such an idea and you can see that it's broken up by our elementary population and our secondary population or our district at large so when you look at these goals you can see examples underneath them things like using digital meeting platforms to support reading buddies or providing learning opportunities um for parents to understand the features of Google Classroom um they're more extensive but these are just samples for you to see as we're talking here again we have our second goal we have some examples underneath them um it was really exciting work to have our staff get together to communicate and share and collaborate on the different needs and hopes of the district and as we continue to look through them it's also exciting to really have a focus for our efforts and for our resources to ensure that our time is spent on the right things and that we'll be able to look back and see all that we have achieved so that's a little bit about what the plan itself looks like and some samples for you to see here but that you can really review if you choose to look at the link that will be provided on the website uh the other core component of our Tech plan and and really being able to kind of project out over multiple years is to really think about some of those projects that do take a long time um specifically on the infrastructure side of things that uh when we find ourselves in a responsive space where we're just kind of waiting for something to to break or go wrong uh that can get very expensive and that can really interrupt the education that our students are experiencing and so uh the infrastructure component of this plan allows us to think about a what are the things that we need to be considering and and anticipating in terms of needs uh but B how can we start to think about some of those long-term multi-year uh kinds of supports that might help to improve the the overall learning or the overall connectivity uh of Technology again we see that it's uh of course tied into so many different things and so uh while many of those goals of course are tied to what teachers are doing what's happening in our classrooms with our students uh this infrastructure will also certainly affect our kids and our communities and and and the school itself at large so our next steps are really to continue on with that cycle um this is the plan component that we are here to present to you and so now we are acting collecting data and reflecting and and that's an ongoing process uh you can see that this plan is laid out to kind of continue on through 2027 uh but that the acting the collecting data and the reflecting is ongoing um we do ask and and we are um especially interested in community feedback at this point um that to take some time as a family and and give us your Insight please um uh what are the things that you are noticing and experiencing uh the more this conversation has extended uh Beyond Educators to include students to include uh family members gives us uh insights to blind spots that we may have had uh uh throughout our kind of technological journey and and and process that has kind of brought us here um so and we also do just want to give a huge thank you to all of those different Community teams again we had people in every single building we had people at the district we had uh of course the support of our community through this so uh as we continue on and continue to reflect uh you know we we do hope that that is a shared experience as well so um thank you very much and of course if you have questions we're happy to answer them thank you thank you does anyone have any questions surprisingly no okay thank you thank you I have a comment and I'm kidding I'm there eight minutes and 24 seconds than I know I thought it would be longer with good job get to that point we're g to move on with to Chad with the board goals action plan presentation hello everybody ready we're good okay uh thank you for taking your time to join me today uh as as you know recently we pass our board goals so now we're moving on to our board action plan which I'm really excited to go over with for you tonight uh just to show you some of the steps in our process we began with the formation of new board goals and our mission statement and we received board approval then we were on to the formation of our new action plan and tonight we're getting board approval after that it's we're moving on to the formation of our Gant chart which is an internal document to distrack our progress and see how we're doing uh and following that we're going to be quarterly reporting to you just to keep you updated and in the loop uh oh my goodness my eyes are poor from up here uh moving on to some of our board action plan items uh and just to look at the goal up top I tried to shorten them down a little bit just to make it a little easier um for you to understand rather than our very long goals um but to begin we want to uh complete uh we want to complete a thorough uh policy wellness check uh in collaboration with the njsba um I apologize hold that I'm GNA walk a little closer I'm not a teacher I don't have professional eyes okay oh yes perfect perfect all right so to begin we're going to complete a thorough policy wellness check in collaboration with the njsba or the New Jersey school boards Association ensuring District policies are up to- dat and align with strategic goals alongside identifying areas of improvement following that we're going to begin accumulating board training hours by attending njsba approved sessions targeting at least four hours of training uh this year and just for some reference it is about 16 hours total so splitting it up yearly um is going to be a good way to start and see how we Pace uh and finally we want to initiate the first uh phase of the self the board self- evaluation process C focusing on Gathering feedback and identifying priority areas for improvement and I'm not going to read every section of the chart we have the the people responsible the resources needed and our benchmarks but uh as long as we're on track we're doing well and our Gant chart is going to ensure that uh onto our next goal which is essentially passing qac and identifying areas of improvement we've established the qac committee and are providing targeted staff training and qac categories uh following up we're going to schedule workshops with the njsba to review each qac category and identify areas of improvement especially on a board level and thirdly we're going to develop a districtwide qac Improvement plan focusing on weaker performaning weaker performance areas onto our third goal of promoting Grant exploration uh we're establishing a partnership with the Millennium strategies for grant writing services and we have accomplished this so far and we are exploring grants or District specific grant opportunities focusing on securing grants that directly align with the district's educational and operational priorities on to our fourth goal of a policy wellness check and initiation we want to collaborate with the njsba to audit existing board policies and organize them into a living document for tracking revisions uh following that we're going to prioritize and schedule policy updates based on District needs starting with the most outdated policies and we're going to present policy updates to the board and seek formal approval for implementation and last but not least we are supporting the district strategic plan uh we want to review the district strategic plan and identify areas where the board can offer targeted support we want to schedule regular check-ins with the district leadership to discuss progress on key strategic action items and provide feedback for guidance or feedback for guidance conduct midyear and end of the year reviews of strategic goal progress offering recommendations for adjustments and improvements if needed thank you very much if you have any questions feel free to ask and additionally you can find it on the district website so if this was a handful tonight you can take a look and look through all of our different plans thank you thank you Chad anyone from the board have any questions for Chad no perfect okay we're going move on to the student representative report the floor is yours thank you um over the past month uh winter sports have all started so they're not up and running Deca just held their candy grams fundraiser um the food drive for the sparta food pantry was just finished um the student council ran a holiday spirit week this week and seniors on the student council are putting together a senior class trip to an amusement park thank you can I get a motion to approve the minutes motion thank you Craig second second thank you Vanessa all in favor I I okay all right Dr Beck with the superintendent report thank you as this is the last board meeting for Mr pesi Miss Salander and Dr Serrano I wanted to acknowledge my sincere gratitude for their years of service to a Board of Education and their immeasurable support Dr Sano is actually one of the final two remaining board members that were on the board when I was appointed thank you and the other is uh remaining is Mr Morris Craig and Wendy came on to the board early in my tenure uh here and we certainly have endorsed some very challenging times and have persevered in the best interest of our students and school Community thank you for the countless hours you have dedicated to your role as board members and I look forward to your continued support as parents and as community members I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge that this is this evening's board meeting is the last board meeting for Miss black as she begins her retirement Journey at the end of December I would once again like to thank her and wish her well in her next chapter we are looking forward to working with Miss Decker as our new ba beginning on January 1st Friday December 6th was one of my favorite days where Ms Rossy and I got to go into each of the buildings and surprise SL embarrass our governor educators of the year uh it's always a great day to be able to acknowledge um our educators of the year but they are really just Prime examples of of the very fine Educators we have across the district uh so once again I already shared it with the community but I'd like to read their names here and we will also acknowledge these educators of the year at the February board meeting formally as we have in the past but in Alpine the teacher of the year was Amy Dolan and the Ed specialist of the year was Danielle Drummond at Mohawk the teacher of the year was Shannon Sullivan and the Ed specialist was Caitlyn schwager schwag har sorry Helen Morgan teacher of the year was Kelly Doty and the Ed specialist was Candace John at the middle school Charlene molar was the teacher of the year and Colleen gtis was the Ed specialist of the year and at the high school M Tina Johnson was teacher of the year and Laura Amin was the Ed specialist of the year so congratulations again to those fine Educators one retirement to acknowledge on this evening's agenda that would be m Kim NAB m Kim naab is a school counselor at Sparta High School and she has served our district for 18 years so thank you to her for her service National Art Honor Society art students and National Art Honor Society of Sparta High School had the opportunity to decorate the New Jersey state tree this year for the National Christmas Tree Lighting in Washington DC over 30 students participated upon which 22 were chosen by the national tree team to be copied into ornaments Gizelle fia's drawing of a of a New Jersey diner was chosen for their website on Saturday December 7th our German students performed authentic German Christmas songs at the German Christmas Market of New Jersey it was a wonderful event where a variety of students from all levels of German classes sang together this is the 23rd time that our German students have been asked back as performers and we are proud to keep this tradition going this year's what's your anti-drug contest um was held and over 500 entries representing 28 schools in Sussex County were submitted the winning entries were featured in the Sunday December 8th New Jersey Herald for the what's your anti-drug supplement and from our school district the what's your anti-drug features were from Helen Morgan School Antonella kissner and from Sparta Middle School Charles Kaine and the new category which is for grades K to3 uh what makes you happy from Alpine Elementary School an India n was featured a referendum update the January board meeting will be a busy one when it comes to moving forward with the referendum the team and I met with our architect and engineer last week and gave additional input on the AES addition plan as well as the planned upgrades for the other buildings the architect is now finalizing all of the plans and we will present the final plans for board approval at the January meeting also at the January meeting we hope to appoint a construction manager and public relations manager lastly I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy winter break and wish everyone a Happy New Year I look forward to working alongside our staff Administration Board of Education and school community in 2025 for what will certainly be a landmark year for our school district thank you thank you Matt Mr Ross do you have anything no perfect sh the technology oh yeah it's enough she's done tonight um president's report I just want to um speak on the anti-drug presentation uh I did um I did have the opportunity to attend that luncheon and I was one of the judges for that I don't know if I voted for those uh students the amount of drawings that were done through the county was tremendous and like the the work that some of these kids put in it wasn't just artwork a lot did poetry a lot did letters and uh it was a good time and it was hang with people from communities and all of the county so it was nice to see every school participated so that was a fun event and to the three that are leaving I just want to thank you guys for being here and you'll be missed somewhat okay moving on okay a motion to move the Hib report and the 111 and 112 the Hib appeal which Mr zider will read now second wait wait wait I haven't read it yet okay this is going to be 11.2 it's going to say resolved that the board affirms the finding of HIV in case number hms1 224001 and be it further resolved that the parent shall be provided with a formal written decision along with information on their right of appeal to the commissioner of Education thank you now can get a motion for 111 and 112 thank you kayn second second Wendy Joanne discussion Joanne Miss gagnan yes M McMichael yes Mr pesi yes Miss cander yes Miss sarafino yes Dr Serrano yes Mr wood yes Mr Morris yes 211 no 212 okay delegate liaison reports I have two you have the Town Council what's that Town Council Town Council yeah Town Council and CPA um on December 9th Dr Beck and I met with our Town Council for our monthly meeting the main topic involved the potential implementation of various forms of signage across Township and school properties we will hopefully have some more specifics to report out at next month's meeting but as always it was a very productive discussion and we appreciate their continued collaboration um on November 20th Emily and I had the pleasure of attending the virtual cpag presentation for Sparta parents it was their first of the year the presentation focused on the nurtured heart approach a strategy designed to assist children in developing self self-regulation one thing I just wanted to point out about the presentation of course including the parents and the guest speaker I was especially moved by the number of educators professionals and support staff that attended the event in the evening the fact that Sparta has such dedicated staff members committed to the betterment of all students was on full display that night and I walked away feeling very inspired by the conversation um I especially want to thank miss castorina and miss sheerman for all they do to coordinate cpag events like this and I'd also like to encourage parents to attend these events and support the initiative here in Sparta thank you anybody else no perfect we'll now move on to public comment number one public comments are invited on all matters pertaining only to action items at this time please State the action item number as well as your name municipality and group affiliation if appropriate for the record each participant will receive three minutes to speak once you have the allotted three minutes to speak you will not be permitted again to speak until public comment number two all statements me directed to me as presiding officer the board or the administration May or not respond to questions or comments at the conclusion of the public participation does anyone have any coms motion to close motion second all in favor I okay can I get a motion to move personnel and policy yeah I would just I would just like to strike uh 15.13 so motion to move 151 to 1512 and then 1514 to 15.34 Mo thank you Emily second second thank you discussion Joanne Miss gagnan yes Miss McMichael yes Mr pesy yes Miss cander yes Miss sarfino yes Dr Serrano yes Mr wood yes Mr Morris yes can I get a motion for curriculum 161 to 161 motion thank you Chad second second thank you Vanessa discussion can I actually say something quick that I wanted to say earlier but for the for the committee for curriculum yeah just slight discussion I just want to say uh no I just it's so exciting seeing all the good work that is being done especially with Miss Rossy um at the h and I just wanted to give a shout out to all the work they do with the gifted and talented kids um it's definitely changed over the last 10 15 years and uh all the work is really positive and it's putting it in a due Direction and I appreciate all the initiatives being taken um and I don't know if it's too early to say with the Mr sko class but um Mr scones with the exis has a lot going on and he's doing a lot of exciting work in this part of high school so I think he deserves a little shout out um doing a lot of noteworthy work thank you ch roll call Joan Miss gagnan yes Miss McMichael yes Mr plushy yes to everything except for 16.7 which I have to abstain from Miss cander yes Miss seraphino yes Dr Serrano yes Mr wood yes Mr Morris yes a motion for finance 171 to 177 motion thank you Craig second second thanks Emily discuss roll call please miss gagnan yes Miss McMichael yes Mr pesi yes Miss cander I need to abstain from 17.7 since I currently sit on the tree leading boosters um everything else is yes Miss sarapo yes Dr Serrano yes Mr wood yes Mr moris yes thanks for your final roll call it was very touching it was nice did you like [Laughter] that okay we have nothing for operations moving to Old business new business no new business is say it's second time I guess um I just want to also uh give a little shout out to the all the sparta students who participated in the sparta ornament uh participation and not also uh including the kids not in National Art Honor Society I remember when I was maybe in fifth grade participating in that and I think it's really nice that we still do it year to year so that's always a good tradition to keep seems like yesterday right Chad anyone else for old business new business um I've got something if no one else would like to lead okay okay I'd like to take a moment to discuss an important issue for us to consider uh whether we should allow cell phone antennas towers and other types of signal boosting Tech technology on our school property um in light of our technology audit or plan so I just thought this would be relevant for us I think while we all recognize the importance of reliable cell service um it's crucial that we also consider the potential risks posed by these structures and Technologies the growing concern is not just about cell towers but any form of signal boosting technology whether it's small antennas repeaters or 5G equipment that could be placed on our near school grounds uh these technolog emit electromagnetic radiation and there is increasing worry about the long-term health effects on our students um the Federal Communications Commission or the FCC safety guidelines were last updated in 1996 which means they've not been revised in nearly three decades which is 11 years prior to the first iPhone being invented given how much technology has evolved since then and how much we rely on it within our schools and especially with the introduction of more powerful 5G networks these outdated guidelines may not be adequate in addressing the risks posed by these new more intense forms of radiation 5G in particular is still very new and we don't yet fully understand its long-term effects especially in environments where children are spending a significant amount of time moreover the American Academy of Pediatrics has expressed concern about the potential health risks of electromagnetic radiation for children they emphasize that children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of r ation and that caution should be exercised when it comes to exposure especially in school environments there's also a growing national movement advocating for the removal or restriction of these Technologies from school properties communities across the country are raising awareness about the potential dangers and many are taking steps to protect their children I believe we have a unique opportunity to join the movement here in Sparta and by taking action on this issue we could position Sparta as a leader in New Jersey setting an example for other districts uh one effective way forward could be to partner with the Town Council to support a resolution that bans not only cell phone towers but all forms of signal boosting technology from our school grounds this would allow us to prioritize the health and safety of our students create a safe environment for Learning and align with the growing national movement to protect our children from unnecessary exposure our schools should be places where students and Staff feel safe focused and inspired to learn the presence of large indust industrial structures or signal boosting Technologies could attract from that mission and it's important we consider the long-term impact on our community so with all that said I'd like to propose that we move forward in the coming year with considering a resolution to ban further installation of cell phone antennas and other signal boosting Technologies on our school properties um and I look forward to discussing it either tonight or with a new board once we have that next month thank you I don't know if it's appropriate for us to have this conversation but since it's been raised Mark maybe you can weigh in is it are we free to discuss as it's been moved to two committees and is now being discussed in new business what would you say are the parameters for for this discussion to take place so I I I think a general discussion is fine um in Clos session we talked about some of the the legal issues so I would just be mindful of those things that we brought up under legal enclose session in terms of what we bring out with the public tonight Fair um so that being said I won't I I the only point that I want to make is I understand that this this has been brought up at two Town Council meetings now there was ironically a very similar proposal it was a request for an ordinance Banning 5G Towers on school property um and while I know Miss McMichael has um expanded the terminology a bit I I just I want us to make sure that and again I want to reiterate because this is something I've been saying consistently I think that we need to tread very lightly with this discussion um for confidentiality purposes and to what Mark just spoke to uh but the other thing is to I think it's important that we don't form preconceived notions about something before we have the opportunity to really analiz data and specs um and it's important that we approach any decision uh weighing the pros and cons adequately and also making sure that we have an informed decision and right now I don't think we are anywhere near the phase of being able to say we're in that position um in light of you know one matter in particular which we won't go into specifics on um so while I'm sure that this is going to be a discussion that takes place quite a bit in the future um and I would absolutely advocate for involving the public in any decision- making or at least weighing that as much as possible I just want to make sure that we are also not um causing unwarranted alarm and that again we're treading lightly with how we present this information making sure that we have accurate information to present to the public because that's literally in our code of ethics to make sure that we're presenting accurate information to the public and with the way that some of the terminology is being thrown out right now and in these meetings in at Town Council I'm just not sure that that's what we're accomplishing so while I'm certainly um respectful of the idea that there are uh board members that have very strong opinions on this matter I think that we need to approach every decision weighing all pros and cons and especially weighing all of the specs and data before we actually come to a decision so that's all I'll say about that thank you anyone else have anything for new business [Music] no okay moving on to public comment number two the board uses a second public comment 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 be given three minutes to speak once you have your alloted three minutes to speak you will not be permitted to speak again all statements should be directed to me as presiding officer the board or Administration may or may not respond to any questions or comments after the conclusion of public participation good evening my name is Angela DeLucia and I am the very proud president of the sparta Education Association and Sussex County Education Association as we close out 2024 the sea would like to thank Craig pesi Vanessa sorrano and Wendy cander for their service and dedication to the board and their dedication to the students and the school Community as a whole we'd also like to wish Joanne black the very best in her retirement and thank her for her very hard work we'd also like to wish the most very very very happy retirement to Kelly Miller our SEA treasurer Pam Conlan Andrea santor and Mike Willie the governor's Educators and support Professionals of the year have been announced and we do look forward to the February board meeting when they will be recognized Sparta educators are truly amazing and we are so proud of each and every one of this year's award recipients since the Inception of the ideas committee the sea feels that not only communication has improved but proactivity and productivity have as well policies procedures and activities that have benefited the entire School Community have originated through ideas the latest example of this is the Day of Discovery the sea part partnered with community members to provide a glimpse of what it's like to be a teacher for a day we hope that this will be a yearly program to involve more community members and sea sea members next year thank you to all the Educators and Community Partners who participated at the state level the sea would be remiss if we did not acknowledge Governor Murphy signing the freedom to react into law as Educators and support professionals we are Fierce advocates for intellectual freedom the ability for individuals and families to choose books that are best for them and the belief that Librarians are professionals and should be able to do their jobs free from persecution and prosecution and it is my honor to share that Sparta will be represented on the Department of Education committee that will be drafting the model policy for all New Jersey schools to use we know that December is a busy time of year for the entire School Community concerts programs Athletics competitions the sea takes great pride in everything we do all while maintaining Stellar academic instruction and unwavering support for our students additionally throughout the district each building has participated in a Spirit Week celebration this just further shows our members dedication to a positive learning environment our goal for the new year is to keep the momentum going the bar has been set high but sea is up for the challenge on behalf of the entire Association we wish the board the administration and the entire Sparta School community community the happiest and healthiest holiday season thank you thank you anybody else Jenny Derek tap into Sparta um just two quick things Chad is the I looked the board go your goals are not after tonight they'll be after tonight great thank you and then a question about the it plan I haven't had a chance to read through the whole thing so maybe it's captured in there but um was there discussion or where did the uh new restrictions or um interest in restricting streen screen times with the support of the mental health concerns that we heard about in previous months was that part of the plan part of the discussion and how will it be um how it how does that show up in that plan thank you thank you anybody else for public comment okay motion to close motion thank you Craig second second thank you so I think you're referring to the cell phone initiative that we have started in terms of like restrictions or balance with yes so we actually it was a really phenomenal process but we started the it plan was sort of the technology plan was in development um but be it takes time as you know doc Mr Rivers was sharing in terms of like the process and procedures getting feedback so on and so forth um but what was urgent at the time was looking at the impact specifically of cell phones on instruction and so we um started a committee um it's called actually it's a committee that we have active called the cares committee the care team and that is is comprised of several different stakeholders um Jane Esposito who leads our line program Dr Beck myself instructionally um and we have other stakeholders who are a part of that team we look at circumstances through different lenses and that's when we really developed or recognize that sort of looking at devices the use of devices and the Restriction of that was like of utmost priority and that the research that we were doing also dictated that there was like a real starting point for that which was the beginning of the school year so that wasn't something you could start working on in January um and so that took priority while the tech plan was being developed but that really falls under the concept of like balancing digital learning and interpersonal experiences so while it's not in the tech plan because it was something actually we had to accomplish much faster than we could roll out the technology plan with the urgency of starting the school year off with those practices in place and the policy revisions um that had a different time frame um unto itself so it's something that is in practice right now um we're constantly checking in on it getting feedback it's going very well uh we consistently talk with the administration um to understand how things are progressing but it's been a very positive experience so far so even though that relates to one of those major goals it was something that needed to be kind of handled separately due to the urgency of time yep thank you moving on to the good of the order um I'll kick it off I just want to congratulate Joanne on her retirement um even though it was shortlived working with you I know I was from time to time a thoron in your side and and but uh we worked well together and I appreciated uh everything youve you've done and brought to the district so congratulations um the Day of Discovery it was uh I agree it was a success I was one of the board members who um was able to participate I did it right in this school here third grade um I taught Ela all day threel Blended words I learned a lot it was very fun but it was it was good to see the in ins and outs of the of the day and and what the teachers do and prep time and everything so it was definitely a good day and the ones who I know a lot of people did do it and so I see it going further and branching out so thanks to the ideas committee and getting that off to the ground it was a great idea Angela and I came up with and thank you that's all Joanne thank you so much and on behalf of the entire board Dr Beck Miss rossie and also Mark we have something to present for you think very heavy thank you so much ear for all Matt will carry it out for you yeah so I just have a couple of things to say as my last meeting um obviously Joanne thank you so much you're going to be terribly missed it was a pleasure working with you um I do want to start by thanking my fellow board members those who are sitting here at the table with me tonight and those who have served alongside me over the past few years I also want to express my gratitude to the Board of Education Office The District staff all of the Educators who make this District what it is I would also be remiss not to thank the community members as well whether you watch our meetings from home emailed us or joined us in person whether in agreement or disagreement your participation in shaping the future the district has been incredibly important and we appreciate it Vanessa it's been 4 years for you I think and Craig three and a half for both of us when we first took our Oaths I don't think any of us could have fully anticipated what Journey we were about to embark on um looking back it's pretty clear that we served the district during some of the most tumultuous times our district have has ever faced and I am deeply grateful to have been sitting at this table alongside both of you this entire time as I Ste away I wish nothing but the best for Dr Beck and Miss Rossy as you continue to lead our district the same goes for all of the administrators and teachers returning board members and new board members who are going to be joining next month it has been a true pleasure serving the district and working with so many incredible people over the last three and a half years so thank [Applause] you since she said it all already um but Dr Beck uh Joanne and Tara thank you so much for working alongside of us um you know there were some rough times and some not so rough times um but I really thank everyone for allowing me to uh sit in this seat um it's not easy but we got through it um Angela the Day of Discovery was amazing um as per Dawn Hoffman I am grandfathered in and I'm allowed to do it next year um she said I can um but thank you it really was amazing and as an educator in a different District it's nice to see what goes on at my my kids schools really and and really the teachers were nothing but amazing um I was in a homet class and there were a lot of students in that class and the way that teacher rotated those children it was like I mean you it was like a well oiled machine and fed forget it well I learned archery I will say that so at least if this gig doesn't work out I know I can go do arery but thank you thank you again for putting that together Joanne congratulations and good luck it was uh it was an absolute pleasure um being on the F finance committee and and being able to work closely um was a you were able to teach me a lot um over the last few years so um do appreciate it and wish you very good luck um it's been it's been an honor to serve um um current board members past board members um being able to learn from the various experiences that the different board members over the years have brought to the table um has been extremely valuable I mean it's it's been really neat to to to spend time with um such a wide range of of personal and uh professional experiences so that was um really neat for me U Mark also been a pleasure thank you uh for everything um Matt and Tara it's been really great to see you both grow you know as leaders for the district and grow into your positions I mean I think Matt we came you know Wendy and I came on two months maybe after after you started so um it's been really great to see you grow the school district is in amazing hands moving forward um so thank you it's been it's been an absolute pleasure thank you thank you cra so I'm just gonna jump in here now too if you could see me behind my books and the flowers and everything but anyway I really want to thank you for the opportunity to work here and with all of you and to serve the district as well as the students and the staff in Sparta I couldn't ask for a better finish to my career really it was it's just been an amazing experience shortlived but um I I hope I made a a positive impact and uh look your reserves are up their Surplus so that's my parting gift but anyway thank you again it really has been a a wonderful experience for me so um I just want to Echo everyone's appreciation for Joanne Vanessa Wendy and Craig it's been amazing working for you guys um and with you guys even though it's been a short period of time and I really appreciate how much I've learned from all of you in this time and on another note I want to shout out Sparta Middle School who's getting ready to put on their January production um of Alice and Wonderland J uh check it out January 17th through 19th their shows I'm a big fan of the Middle School shows they're great um they're really just entertaining and those kids really put on a great show in such a short period of time I'm going to do the same thing but I'll keep it super quick um I had written out that I want to thank Craig Wendy and Vanessa for their service to Sparta over the last few years I know there were quite a few meetings where I was sitting on the other side and uh I know at times I was pretty critical of some of the ways in which uh the the places where I felt our district was was heading but I really appreciate you guys for for sticking it through um I think it was very commendable especially uh you know you spoke to some of the challenges and some of the difficult years and you know Global pandemic is one of them so uh for for staying in um and and advocating for our our students our children uh I really do appreciate that I know maybe I wasn't the best at always expressing it but I did appreciate you even then um another thing I would also like to say uh the tech plan I just want to thank Miss Rossy and Mr Rivers because seeing it I know this has been a really long uh time coming and it's been an initiative you guys have been working on behind the scenes for quite some time but even reading through some of the sample goals just as a parent it seems like we have a lot to look forward to uh so I thank you and I really respect the work that you've done and it clearly shows in the presentation tonight and anything we can do to support it we're going to look forward to that um and then to also mimic Dr back we just want to wish everyone a happy holiday and a safe winter break so thank you and not to beat a dead horse um but yet I appreciate the warm welcome I got as a student rep and it has been nice to take these last two years with all you guys um especially the ones that are leaving now um and also just give a final shout out to miss delua and the Day of Discovery plan come on now couldn't forget that uh it was really nice to see the operational level that the high school had and I will say that since Co it definitely is definitely returning back to a more normal State uh things are definitely more back in motion more fluid the the cell phone ban policy although not all students are very happy there's way more students talking in class and you can already see the difference even if they can't see the difference so we appreciate the work that you're doing anyone else for the good the order okay motion to adjourn motion thank you w second all in favor I all right