Good evening. >> The Sparta Board of Education special portion of the regular meeting is called to order at 5:00 PM. We're going to kick it off with our field service representative, Miss Kelly Mitchell, um who will be helping us strive towards NJSBA board certification training. Uh,
and tonight we'll be focusing on board goals and norms. >> Do where do you want? Do you want me? >> Okay. >> Do roll call first. Thank you. Um, we're missing one, but we can do >> now. Go for it right now. Okay, you got
it. Um, Chad, would you mind reading the meeting notice announcement? Sorry, special meetings. I'm rusty. >> No worries. 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 interest 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 published in the New Jersey Herald, the Star Ledger, Tap and Eparta, and notice of this meeting has been posted on the Sparta Township School District website. >> Thank you for your help. And Barbara, may we have a roll call, please? Miss
Collier >> here. >> Dr. Hinkle >> here. >> Dr. Martinez. >> Miss Mcichael. >> Mr. Morris. >> I'm here. >> Miss Saraphino >> here. >> Miss Williams >> here. >> Mr. Wood >> here.
>> And Miss Kagnen >> present. >> Quorum confirmed. >> Thank you so much. >> Over to you. >> Oh, we should probably Everyone's helping me out tonight. Thank you all. We're going to go ahead and move forward with the pledge now. Please join us. States of America
stands nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Um with that. Yes. Okay, you got it. Um and it's very
personel personel and attorney um >> um >> we're going to break she's going to do the executive session announcement and then >> excuse me we're going to be convening into 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 student personnel uh and attorney client privilege matters
which are exempt from public participation pursuant to New Jersey Public Law 1975 chapter 231 open public public meetings act. Now therefore be it resolved that the Sparta Board of Education shall enter executive session on November 20th at 63 6:03 p.m. The
board will reconvene in public session at the conclusion of the executive session. We anticipate one hour at 7 PM. The information discussed during executive will be disclosed to the public as soon as it is determined by the board that the information is no longer confidential. We have a motion to
convene into closed. >> Thank you, Rocky. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Lauren. All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Any obstensions? >> And if I could just make a specific announcement, the board received a grievance related to Julie Olri's termination for cause. The board will be
consulting with its attorney in executive session regarding legal strategies related to this matter. >> Excuse me. >> Do we uh do we wait till after executive session to address board? >> Yes, sir. There's a public comment.
Yes, the board of education will have public comment. I'm in Boston. I can't disappear. >> No, he's not. >> Wait, where'd you go on the last last st? No. I go to 64. Well, I like missed the
first day. So, I took part two first to go to 64 and then I was like, I can't. So, I got to t and I've never done like I've never got ted before >> cuz I'm like, but she ted me for like 3 hours
for 3 hours just on the FRQs and stuff and like some of the multiple choice and I got 86. I was going to ret. >> All right. Who's uh who's reading what? >> Yeah. >> Do you want me to just do sports?
>> Yeah. All right. Yeah, I'll do sports and you just do the rest. If you want to expand more, say more, feel free. I I kind of went basically. >> Good evening. Resolve that the board of education has now closed executive session and enters back into the public
portion of the meeting at 7 18 still 19. Uh may we have a roll call, please. May we have a roll call. Barbara. >> Miss Collier >> here. >> Dr. Hinkle >> Dr. Martinez >> present.
>> Miss Mcichael. >> Mr. Morris >> here. >> Miss Saraphino >> here. >> Miss Williams >> here. >> Mr. Wood >> here. >> And Miss Kagn >> present. >> Quorum confirmed. >> Thank you so much. Uh we were not going to be having district recognition tonight and I apologize to our auditor,
but we're going to switch things up a little bit. We're going to actually ask the weekend bag program to present first for to kick off our presentations for the evening. Um and they will be presented by the program representatives. So thank you so much. Hello, my name is Magdalene. I'm the
president of the weekend bag program, Inc. And to start off, a little background is it's we provide food and hygiene for students that go home over the weekend with little to none. It was started by my oldest sister when she was going into her freshman year at Newton High School. She had didn't have a lot
of friends going into high school and Newton High School is a tri district. So, she uh and it's just multiple schools going into one. And she decided to have this year be the year where she branches out and makes a whole lot of friends. And as she was doing so, she
kept hearing that her peers were going home hungry over the weekend or they felt dirty coming into school because they didn't have the hygiene necessities. And she didn't want to go her four years of high school knowing that this was a problem within her, uh, community, her peers, her new friends.
So, uh, she decided to talk to the principal about this, see what he was doing to help with this situation. And as she was doing so, she kept hearing that her peers were, um, sorry, oh my god. Um he said that there was the free and reduced lunch within the school. And
it's a wonderful program, but it only covers the weekdays, the school hours. It didn't really help over the weekend. And so she decided to create the weekend bag program, Inc. to help fill in those cracks. And she started it in noon high school with 28 students receiving a
weekend bag every week. Then by the time she graduated in 2020, there were seven schools on the program feeding close to 80 students every week. Then after she graduated, my other older sister and I took over and um when she graduated in 2024, we grew the program to 19
19 schools in Cus County, feeding close to 232 students every week. Then after she graduated, I took over as the president and uh to date now we're running in 30 schools in Cus County, feeding over 430 students every week.
in the in the schools that we brought that I have brought on since 2025. Um all the five Sparter schools um were brought on to the program last year. They we started giving them through sorry throughout all five Sparter
schools we um hand out 30 we handed out 36 weekend bags every week to the Sparter schools. And now this year starting off, we have now been handing out 56 bags every week to them. And now I'm going to bring on my mom to
start talking about a new division of the weekend bag that we like to call Beyond the Weekend Bag. >> I've never done this before, so I'm scared of it. Um, hello everyone. My name is Dawn. Um I'm Maggie's mom, Isabelle's and Olivia's. Um Mag what
Maggie said is we're in 30 schools now, 430 students. We do about 3,600 meals a week. Um and we're not funded. Um we don't have a constant source. We joke around. We run by the seat of our pants. We really do. But uh by the grace of
God, we keep going every week. Um and and what Maggie said is we last year we started a new division called Beyond the Bag. And these students that participate um in the Beyond the Bag transition program don't necessarily get a weekend bag from us. Um these are
students that are in programs within um six of our high schools right now. um like Newton High School has Newton High School achieve and those are students that are 17 to 21 year old students that have different cognitive type uh disabilities um learning disabilities
and um they're learning life skills and trying to gain skills so that they can when they age out of the program at 21 they can live a somewhat independent life. Um and what we provide is um every Wednesday these um schools come to our
warehouse space um that we have in Andover and um they pick up enough items to put a portion of our bags together and then they take it back to their facilities so the kids can put the bags together at their own pace. Um, one of
the things that makes this great is a lot of our teachers for these programs has said that um, the kids have gone out to different places to participate, but a lot of times they're in smaller areas um, and um, they have a hard time being,
you know, in such closed quarters and a lot of places don't have the patience um, or time to give that some of these students need in order to do some of the activities that um, these other places offer and now they can come um like
Newton brings their Newton bus. The kids come, they know where we have a special area for Newton High School achieve. Um we have Lenipe Valley's uh transition program. We have High Point's transition program. Um Kittatin's High School and Middle School and Monu Elementary
School. We deliver to them um unmade bags. Um they have uh 19 students that receive a weekend bag and their elementary special education program gets the unmade bags which are um 19 of everything we put in a bag and they use it as part of their core curriculum.
They do activities like colors, sizes, um like items together and then at the end they follow directions however the teacher uh gives it to them. I don't know the specifics. Um, and they put the bags together and then they take it to the nurse or the room that the other
kids uh the kids pick up the bags at. Um, and this uh after Thanksgiving we are um going to be talking to Vernon High School's transition program. They're very interested um and having their students participate. Um we we
brought on Vernon High School schools this year um all six of them. And uh yeah, that program is something that we never expected as we never expect it to grow um beyond Newton High School. Um and it just keeps growing every year. Um
so we're very proud of that. Um although we didn't have to do much work to get that started, it just happened on its own. So I'm going to turn it back to Maggie real quick. Another aspect of this program is around
two years ago after my older sister graduated, I started thinking that I was going to be graduating soon and I'm the youngest in our family. So there's no younger sibling to pass on this program to. So I started a youth council to have
like gather around a couple kids around my age or a little younger to take over this program once I graduate. And another a student here is actually a part of the youth council. Her name's Abigail. Come on.
Hello. Me and my mom started doing the weekend bag program um around 8th grade, which was about a year ago. We heard about it on Facebook and we decided to try it out and I'm happy to say that it did not disappoint. It is a great experience. Um since we've started,
we've seen the impact it's had on the schools. Not only that, but we've taken over kind of helping out around there. We will like say we have a group of volunteers, we will like help them out and tell them what to do. And it's great for introducing students to volunteering
or even helping them just in general in socializing. So Abigail, she uh helps like she says, she helps with the volunteers. And what I like about the youth council too is that it brings on like a lot of youth
leadership um leadership roles. It also helps with communication skills with adults. Um, I know that's somewhat of a struggle nowadays, but this program, it really helps you like branch out there, you know, have talking opportunities and
all that. Um, but other than that, thank you. Is there any questions? I'll let every anyone else start. Does anyone have any questions? Have you spoken to Sparta with their life skills program about your continuing program, your transition
program? >> We have not spoken. Most of our schools have reached out. Um I wasn't aware that Sparta had a separate um sorry transition program. Um but we definitely could speak to them.
Um, we've tried doing different things like um fundraising and stuff like that, but a lot of times um Sparta is already doing fundraisers and stuff, so we really haven't done too much outside of delivering bags um with the schools, but
we would love to um the opportunities there. So, if at the end or maybe we have an email there if you know if know who I should talk to, I would love to. >> I would say you already have my email. reach out to me tomorrow and and I will put you in touch with the right people.
Absolutely. I I was not aware of this aspect of the program. So, absolutely. We'd be >> happy to help. >> Awesome. Thank you. We appreciate that. >> So, my question for you is what what were you planning to So, was your goal just to get awareness or >> here today?
>> Yes. >> Well, just to be aware, we try to go to all the schools at least once a year. It's hard because we have so many and she's still in school and work and all that stuff, but we try to at least once a year get to all the schools and just um a a lot of times when we go to the
board meetings for the first time, they've never heard of us. >> Um so just to get awareness and then usually there's public people, you know, the public section. So if there's kids that need volunteer hours, we get some um that way. Um, but just to give an update and and let you uh make you aware
of what's, you know, what we're doing and um if there's any opportunity that you want to get involved, come put bags together one night. We would love to have you all um come to our warehouse. We're just in Andover. Um it's a great team building
morale boosting opportunity. >> One more question. Did >> have you had an uptick in the last 40 days of people requests? Okay. >> So, um we October 29th was our first delivery.
It's later. It was later this year because we had some move. We we have a new um a new company that has the warehouse. Now, we were brought in when Planet Networks was in this warehouse and they moved and a new company came in. So, they after Planet left, they had
to move everything. So, we couldn't start until we found out where we were going to be placed at the warehouse. Um, but we started um October 29th with 388 students. Um, and now we're at 3 or 432.
Um, Sparta just had Alpine. We just had another student added um to Alpine School. I think we're in 16. We have 16 students in Alpine School. Um, >> so every week those numbers fluctuate up and down. We we hope that it can, you
know, constantly goes up and down, but we have Uh Monu just asked us to um increase their student base by two actually today. Um and earlier this week I think we had Hamburg
and I'm probably wrong. One of the schools decreased by two numbers and then now Monu is increased by and that's how it works. Kids move to different school districts. So, we we might say we have an increase this week, but it if it
goes down, it always goes up somewhere else. Um, and I know another thing with that, which is totally awesome. Um, to date, we've almost handed out almost 400,000 meals to kids here in uh students here in Sussex County in the 10
years that we've been running. >> So, it's awesome. Sorry. >> That is wonderful. Oh, go ahead. >> Oh, no. Sorry. Um, also when we say numbers, our program is completely anonymous. So, we don't know who's getting a weekend back just because when my sister started this program, she was
going to school with these students and she didn't care about recognition or anything. She just wanted to help her peers in her students just get by while she was there. She didn't want to stay there knowing that people were suffering. So, how that works is each school has a school liaison, which could be a guidance counsel or a nurse or like
a principal. They identify the students they think would most benefit from the program since they're with them five days a week, seven, eight or more hours a day and then they report back a number to us and then that's how many bags you make for that school. So we don't know who's getting a weekend bag.
>> That was one of my questions. Um I have two though. So we have a lot of people who listen at home. Um what would you say are the best ways that maybe people can volunteer or anyone listening in if they're interested in supporting the weekend bag program? What are things that you are looking for? Especially with the holidays around the corner,
what are the best ways someone can help you? >> So, with the holidays around the corner, we also since our program's anonymous, we don't like deliver over like those long breaks just because we can't get to we can't bring it to their house. So, if you ever want to look at our website,
see what we put in the bags, you can always like look at that list and then donate it uh to us. And then you can email us for like a drop off date or time. we'll mostly say at our warehouse or if we're not there, we'll probably stay at our house. But if you want to go
and deliver some food um to us, that'd be >> we try to keep the bags the same all the time. They're mostly all kid-friendly type meals. >> Um >> so that you know, kids will eat it because a lot of times >> we Sus County is wonderful. We have so
many great opportunities to get help. We have so many wonderful food pantries, but a lot of times the food um isn't kid-friendly. >> Yeah, that's um part of the key factors that my sister started um with this program. It was three. The first one was
it being completely anonymous. The second is it's all kid-friendly items, so non-p perishables, stuff that mainly kids would want to eat. Um, and also nothing is expired. So, we don't hand out anything that is about to expired or
is expired just because these kids are already falling through the cracks and they're finally getting help and then they see that it's expired. So, they just feel like, oh, that's a nice like slap on the back. So, >> one thing that you mentioned how people
can help, hygiene is a big factor in the bags because a lot of people are like, oh my god, there's hygiene in the bags. Um because we forget about that when we we want to help and we think food is the most important but hygiene is just as important. You can hear me right? Um
hygiene is just as important. Um but hygiene is very expensive. Food's expensive but hygiene is even more expensive. So um shampoo and conditioner is a is one of the hardest items for us to get. um and in the bulk in the bulk
amount that we need um because there's never enough on the shelves and when you order from places like Walmart because that's the cheapest um V5 is the cheapest uh uh kind there's never enough on the shelf and you can only order 12 of 1 cent uh um so we're doing it every
day every week you know going to several different Walmarts um so hygiene would be awesome and we have that list on our website Um uh we could send out our email. Um if people want to volunteer, they can email
us. They can go on our Facebook page. Um and just message us saying, "Hey, how do I volunteer?" And we will within a day get back to them and, you know, tell them how they can come put bags together, etc. >> Awesome. I hope that you follow up with Dr. Beck because as a board, I'm sure we
look forward to supporting any initiative that we can bring to Sparta. So, thank you so much for what you do. >> Definitely do that. Please do. Thank you for all you guys do. That's fantastic. Keep going. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. If I could just say thank you as as was just shared. Thank you for all
you do. I remember when your sister presented to the round table, the superintendent round table 5 years ago. I was in a different school district and I remember first of all the uh bravery that it took to speak in front of all the superintendents, 25 superintendents in the county and present this project. And I thought, wow, what a cool project
for Newton and to see how it has evolved and exploded over the past couple of years. Unfortunately, the need has also grown. Um, but I can't say enough about uh the credit you folks deserve and and everybody that contributes to your program to see how much it has grown when I just thought it was born and it
was just going to stay in Newton. It has not stayed in Newton. So, uh, >> actually this weekend we are um, Maggie was approached by Morris County representatives. So, this Saturday we are going to have coffee chocolate um at Sparta Diner um to discuss how we can
create a division of the weekend bag for Morris County. >> Great. >> Yeah. >> So, >> well, we look forward to supporting. Thank you so much. >> Please reach out to me. >> Please do. >> Okay. And with that, we will move on to our fiscal year 2025 audit presentation
by Laura Atwell and BKC auditors. >> Good evening everybody. I heard that I only have seven minutes though according to Mr. Morris, so we'll make it quick. Um, bear with me trying to navigate this as well as the screen up here. Um,
my name is Laura Atwell. I'm a shareholder with BKC. We're located down in Flemington. Uh, every year we come in for your annual audit. We've been here for a few years now. Um, during that process, we look at a lot of different areas. Um, and New Jersey is really unique because there's a lot of
compliance components in addition to the financial statements that we're looking at and the internal controls associated with it. Um, during that process, we then come back to the business office at the end. We meet with the board secretary and the rest of the business office and um go over any items that we
might feel um needs to be maybe improved or we let them know what they're doing right. And there are two items that could possibly go into an audit. Um there's three levels essentially. You have your discussion only items which we would u bring to your business office and just let them know like hey you
might be able to tweak this area. Then there's a suggestion. A suggestion goes into your management report. um this is just an item that we want to bring to your attention. Doesn't necessarily mean that you need to have a corrective action plan associated with it. And then there's a third item which is your
recommendation. This requires a formal corrective action plan. Um I'm proud to say that there is no recommendations this year. We do have a suggestion this year relating to the student activities um revolving around the recordkeeping. So, what we're looking for is the
student activities to really be um consistently updated, reconciled, timely. I know during our visit, Barbara was kind of trying to catch up on u making sure that all the books were right in that area. So, the one area we kind of want to keep an eye on is our
student activities this year. for the handouts in front of you. We have uh similar to prior years where we're going to look at the current year, the prior year, and then we're going to compare it to 10 years ago, see where we kind of come over that time. Starting with our revenues, we had 2 million, I'm
sorry, we had 84,994,000. Uh this was an increase of 2,40,000 since the prior year. Our tax levy increased only 2%. Our state aid increased mostly due to our special education aid. and we received 300 I'm sorry $3,300,000
in grants with prek grants received of $1,200,000. Revenues have increased 18 million since 10 years ago. So looking at our 10 years for our graphs, uh you'll see that your tax
levby it steadily increases um but it's pretty nominal. um you don't see huge fluctuations happening a lot of times uh which is a great sign. The state sources, as you can see, we don't usually get a lot of extra money. This is probably the first year in a while that we've actually had an increase. And
then with our tuition, you do see that decrease because we had gone from parents having to pay to now receiving money from the state relating to the preschool. Last year, the difference between these graphs versus this year is that we had the state sources as just one bucket. Um what we did this year was
we actually separated it into two buckets so that you could see the preschool money that we were receiving outside of the regular state aid. Um because previously it was making it seem like you were getting a lot more state aid than you really were. Uh federal sources you see that during co times we had a lot of money coming in. Uh we
finally kind of coming to the close on those grants and we're getting more closer to the 2016 through 2020 timeline. And then we'll expect that graph to actually decrease probably a little more when we're in 2526. for the miscellaneous income. The last couple years have been a little higher
than normal uh between the interest rates improvements and then we also had the EIP the most recent year um relating to our projects. Um and then the other thing I'd like to note, I don't think you see it on this one. So our tax rates
um for a lot of these lines, they actually stay pretty flat along the way, but with the school district, that's the biggest impact. And obviously um every year the costs keep going up so we have to make up for it somewhere again. Um and the state isn't really going to be
chipping in more. So you're going to have to make up for it with your tax levy. On the expenditure side of things, we had operating expenditures approximately 78,689,000. Our largest increase in operating expenditures was instructional costs and
employee benefits. Compared to 10 years ago, overall expenditures had increased $20 million and expenditures increased from 10 years ago larly largely due to instruction and student related services. Um, with the graphs here, we like to see as auditors the patterns that are
happening. uh whether the things are staying kind of steady. The regular instruction is slowly creeping up. Um the student instruction related services is in a similar to your regular instruction doesn't really fluctuate too much. Um while it does steadily increase our general administration, we do expect
that one to stay relatively the same from year to year. Uh your business office is really what makes up that category. There's not much fluctuation that happens. The tuition category is very difficult to control. So all those students that um maybe aren't being able to be serviced in the school district
itself, they might have to go to another location and during that process, a single student could easily cost us just $100,000 for the tuition. Um if they have therapy services on top of that, you're going to see that in your student instruction related cost. So a lot of times you're going to see your tuition
is going to affect not only that category, but it's going to affect probably two or three others. So you'll have your therapy services with your student instruction related and then your um pupil transportation a lot of times can be affected by that. Also employee benefits is our touchy subject
this year. Uh our towns received a notice talking about 38% increases which is just unheard of. Uh but they're not the only ones who's feeling it. So between the school districts, the municipalities, our profit companies, and our nonprofits across the board,
we're all feeling the um basically the pains um associated with the employee benefits. And it's become more difficult to control that area. And a lot of times this going to be the one that's going to cause your tax levy to also have to increase. Um along with the employee benefits, some of my districts, we've
noted that while they might have looked like they were receiving a savings because um maybe they tried to switch um companies or providers, they might see a savings one year, but it wasn't even the savings from switching companies. It was really the
savings that they had for the breakdown of the employees that they had. So maybe they were fortunate one year and they had a lot um less families on the plans and they had more single people and then the next year maybe everybody had a child and now we're increasing our benefits as a result from there. Um so
this is definitely an area that's u difficult to control just like your tuition is. This graph was a new one that we presented last year. uh basically taking the expenditures and kind of breaking down that pie a little bit different. Just like any company, um your salaries and your benefits are really what make
the biggest portion of your pie up. Uh typically being around 80%. What was interesting about this graph is that last year and this year we were able to compare it to other districts. And no matter how big or small you were, typically this graph with your percentages were very similar across the
board. Uh so it was nice to see um because it gives us a lot of patterns as again as auditors we love to see that happening. Um when there's items that are changing um usually there's a very clear reason for it. So a lot of times our small districts or teenytiny ones
are going to have larger purchase services versus our larger districts where we're able to have those full-time employees. Um for example our BCBAS or our nurses and the media specialists. For our fund balance at the end of the
year, we had $1,768,000 set aside for capital reserves, a,61,000 for maintenance reserve. Our incumbrances, which are items that we ordered but had not yet received at the end of the year, was $274,000. Our excess surplus last year was
798,000, which is now being utilized in our 2526 budget. And our current year surplus is 600,000 which will be used in the upcoming budget that we will be working on for 2627. Our maximum allowable unrestricted balance was 2,ion28,000.
So you'll see the restricted category at the top um relating to your excess surplus. This is the piece that's really offsetting your tax levy from year to year. Uh below that uh you have your assigned category. There were some um periods where school districts did have received um like one-time stabilization
aids. So sometimes you'll see that in that category. The incumbrances, we expect this category to really fluctuate from year to year because again it's items that we had ordered just not yet received at the end of the year. And a lot of times when you see those higher spikes, it's probably because we have projects going on. We maybe had a bid
awarded at the end of the year, but the project can't actually be worked on until the students leave for the summer. So it crosses over across two years. the unrestricted piece at the bottom. Uh you'll see the couple years where we were able to increase the maximum allowable from 2% to 4% on the
calculation and then that calculation came back down in um 23. Another thing I like to point out is um this graph doesn't typically move till much and a lot of times when you see those increases um especially the last couple years, it's mostly related to if
we're getting extraordinary aid. But this is a catch 22 because we had to spend it in order to be able to request the reimbursement for it. And even when we do get reimbured for it, the state keeps changing that formula every year, which makes it really difficult to predict how much we're actually going to get from that.
for our reserves. Uh, one of the important areas, especially when we're going for bonding, which we had recently, um, the capital reserve, um, the state puts a limitation as to how much you can put into there, which is based off of your long range facility plan. Uh, you can see the red is your
maximum, while your green is what you actually have in the reserve. You can see over the last few years there was a dip because we have pulled out a lot of money in order to do a lot of projects. Um, so one of the things that we pretty much want to focus on in the future and that we've been trying to do is rebuilding those reserves so that we can
keep um maintaining the buildings and keeping up with that long range facility plan. The maintenance reserve at the bottom um this is one that I talked about last year where windows for example might have cost $150 for your home one single window and then about
three years later it was double the cost. Um, this is the category though that every time something breaks, that roof starts leaking, this is the category we're relying on in order to help that cost. And when you're looking at the expenditure screen, that plant and operations maintenance, um, when you
have those spikes in there, a lot of times you're going to see your reserve kind of drop that year because it was offsetting those increased costs that you had. for our enrollment. Um, we've actually been pretty steady at Sparta, which is pretty fortunate compared to my other districts where for a while they were
seeing 28% decreases over 10 years. We've been pretty flat during that time. There was a little bit of a decrease during COVID. Um, but we've really started bouncing back and kind of maintaining that enrollment. Um, one of the beneficial things with the preschool programs now that we're getting a little
further into it, more people are becoming aware of the program existing. So that that has also helped with our enrollment. If the board has any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them. Um >> I have a quick one. Sorry, Kirk. Um I
know you had mentioned that and we've been looking closely at the effects of health benefits. Um what is your assessment on how much I know you you had mentioned that it may cause the tax levy to increase. What is your assessment on how much is this a universal problem? I mean we believe it
is. We know it is. It is. >> But if you can explain to the public perhaps what the effect of this is and how uh it's not just Sparta that's looking at this. >> It's not just Sparta. It's across the board. Like I said it's between um public versus private. Um my company
itself every year we're re-evaluating. I've probably changed companies uh or providers every single year that I've been there uh because they keep trying to find the right place and nothing seems to be working and it just keeps going up. Um with New Jersey with the
amount that we are requesting for the employees to contribute, it's just not enough in order to cover that increase that's happening with the cost too. So, especially with the um newer formulas that came out where rather than being based off of the um cost of the plan and
basing that employee contribution off of that, instead they're basing it off of your salary. So, that has also impacted this districts greatly causing additional costs that we weren't expecting previously. >> Madam President, if I can add something on that because I think it's relevant to
the conversation that we're having. What's interesting as well is chapter 44, which is the law that currently governs employee contributions related to health insurance, is set to expire in 2027 at the conclusion of the 2027 annual year. Um, we don't know what that
law is going to look like once that happens, whether it's negotiable, whether it's there's going to be successor legislation. We don't know what that looks like. So, it's going to be really interesting to see from a legal perspective and from the legislaturator's perspective if there is a successor litigation and it's just a
consideration to make because could you roll all the way back to zero potentially. Could you roll back to some form of chapter 78? Possibly. It really is the landscape is wide open as it relates to employee contributions related to that subject. >> Thank you so much. Wonderful. Anyone else have anything?
>> Okay, with that >> with that we thank you. I appreciate your time. Have a great night everybody. >> You too. Thanks as always. >> Okay, with that we'll move on to our student representatives report, please. >> All right, so fall sports recently came to an end and we'd like to recognize uh
some of our fall athletics. First off, we'd like to congratulate the girls Sparta soccer team on winning the HWS tournament, and we'd like to congratulate senior striker Adriana Dolinsky on winning HWS MVP. We'd also like to congratulate goalie Riley Malberry on setting the Sparta High
School record for career saves. And for football, first off, we'd like to recognize senior running back and safety Brady Shagwa on being honored with the young man of the year award. We'd also like to recognize junior wide receiver Christian Bre for setting the
school single season record for receiving yards with 959 yards. And then lastly, we'd like to recognize senior quarterback Shane Hoover for setting the career record for passing touchdowns at the school with 69 in his three-year varsity career. Winter sports triyouts
are now officially beginning. Um, ice hockey and swimming actually began this week and the rest of our winning sports like basketball will be starting next week. So, we want to announce that this year our school will be get the opportunity to host the ENJAC leadership conference
on January 22nd of next year. Uh we will welcome schools from around the area to participate in leadership and community building activities. This coming week on Wednesday, November 26, we will be hosting our senior alumni brunch where pe senior students will hear some of the different pathways and opportunities for
them postgraduation. That same day, the student council is also having some of its members volunteer at the local VFW to unload Christmas trees in order to kick off the holiday season. Along with the holiday season, our school is hosting our winter pep rally along with spirit week, the
last week before break. And finally, tomorrow at the end of our day, the our peer development program and student leaders at the high school are attending a panel with some of our board members to hear about to hear their advice on notes and leadership. Thank you so much. We're very excited to
attend that. So, thank you. Um, may I have a motion to approve the minutes, please? >> Thank you, Kurt. Second. Second. >> Thank you, Rocky. All in favor? >> I. Any abstensions? >> Oh, thank you. >> You got that, Barbie. Right. Wonderful.
Thank you. Any others? Nope. Uh, superintendent's report by Dr. Beck. >> Thank you. On this evening's agenda, you will find a resolution to approve the district calendar for the 2728 school year. We have previously this um this school year approved next year's calendar. We are now approving the
following year's calendar. It is our hope that by approving a calendar well in advance, we allow our families to plan for upcoming school years. On November 4th, while our schools were closed for election day, our district held an inservice for our teachers. This
inservice was unlike any others we have had in the past in that it focused on the health and wellness of our teachers. Throughout the day, teachers had their choice of various health and wellness-based activities they could attend. These activities were created and implemented by their teacher colleagues. As a board and
administration, we feel it is very important for our teachers and staff to take time to focus on their own personal well-being as they spend so much time caring for the well-being of our students and families. The inservice was very well received by our teachers and staff and we hope to plan for more
similar activities in the future. Two retirements on this evening's agenda that I would like to acknowledge. The first is William Brennan, the Russian and social studies teacher at the high school and middle school. Uh Mr. Brennan
has served the district for 22 years. and Richard Bubendorf the custodian a custodian at Alpine Elementary School and he has served the district for 27 years. Congratulations and thank you to those
staff members. Congratulations also to the Sparta High School's marching Spartans who earned the US Band group 3A state championship at Mount Olive High School back on November 1st. This weekend is the high school fall drama and they will be performing the
comedy titled Puffs. Showtimes are Friday at 7:00 p.m., Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Uh, the dramas are always very well done, of course. And uh, if you have time, check them out.
Each year, the Center for Prevention and Counseling hosts a host contest titled titled, "What's your anti-drug for grades 4 through 12?" And what makes you happy for grades K through three. This year's contest had nearly 500 entries
representing 25 schools in Sussex County. And I'm happy to announce that Sparta schools were well represented. Amongst the winners, our winners were Maline F from Sparta Middle School, Brandt P. from Helen Morgan, Tyler D
from Helen Morgan, and Beatrice W from Mohawk Avenue School. Congratulations to them. As our student representatives wrapped up the fall athletic season with their report, I would also like to offer my congratulations to our student athletes and coaches for a successful fall season
and wish our winter coaches and student athletes the best in the upcoming winter season, which is set to begin next week, although two have already started this week. Lastly, I would like to wish all of our students, staff, parents, and school community a very safe and happy Thanksgiving, and I hope to see many of
you at the SEF Turkey Trot next week, also known as the tradition before the tradition. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Uh, moving on for the board president's report, I have a few items as well. Uh, first, I'd like to congratulate Mr. Lowry, Mr. Laruba, and Miss Noel for their election to the
Sparta Board of Education. We look forward to welcoming you all in January and we appreciate you attending board certification training tonight as members of the public. I also wish to congratulate board member Rebecca Williams for achieving her NJSBA new board member certification. This
achievement is the first milestone of the NJSBA's individual certification academy. Rebecca accumulated at least 10 board academy credits, attended face-to-face governance one training, attended at least two county meetings, at least one statewide or regional professional development program, as
well as workshop in Atlantic City, and she has not been judged to have violated the school ethics act. So, we thank you for that. Congratulations to you, Rebecca. And with that, we can move on to May I have a motion to approve the HIP report? And before doing so, I just have to give you guys a shout out. Hipster is
phenomenal and it is making our lives much much easier in terms of tracking summary reports, incident reports. So, thank you for that. >> It's great for reports and for actual implementation of the process in the schools. Yes. >> Even consequences, everything which is phenomenal all around. So, kudos to you all on that. And with that, may I have a
motion to approve the HIT report, please? >> Thank you, Emily. Second. Thank you, Rebecca. Uh, discussion. Roll call, please. Joanne. >> Barbara. Good. >> Miss Collier, >> yes.
>> Dr. Hinkle, >> Dr. Martinez, >> yes. >> Miss Mcichels, >> Mr. Mars, >> Miss Saraphino, >> yes. >> Miss Williams, >> yes. >> Mr. Wood, >> yes. >> And Miss Kagnen, >> yes. >> Motion carries.
>> Thank you, Barbara. Um, communications. We really don't have much to report out. Emily, anything? Again, hope everyone's enjoying the newsletter. Uh, delegate and liaison reports. Does anyone have anything they'd like to share? >> I do. >> Yes, please.
>> The uh Sparta Education Foundation had some points at their November board meeting. As Dr. Beck said, the tradition before the tradition, the turkey trot, this run andor walk, a 5K race welcomes all from kids and adults to stroller pushers and dog walkers. It will take
place this Thanksgiving morning in front of Crows Restaurant. If you're interested, please sign up ASAP and prior pri prior to the price increase in just a few days on the 24th. Volunteers, they really wanted me to nail this home. They need volunteers for the morning of.
So, um, you as a student volunteer would receive a certificate noting volunteer hours for your college resume. Please check it out at their website, sparta educationfoundation.org. Uh future fundraisers, Harlem Wizards will be playing at the high school in
January. There'll be a familyfriendly wrestling event and fundraiser in February or March of next year also at the high school. And one final note, the SCF is governed by an all volunteer board of trustees compromised of Sparta residents. They are currently looking
for trustees to join. Leaving a foundation like the SCF requires skills from many community leaders. So please email them if interested to learn more sparta educationfoundation.org. >> Thank you so much. Anyone else have
anything for delegate liaison? A few things I just want to mention. NJSBA I actually sat in on several meetings uh last weekend um as a member of the executive committee for the county. So board of directors, county leadership meetings. I just want to announce they have some really exciting uh initiatives
coming to our district. Actually all districts in New Jersey uh in 2026. The most important being, and one that we discussed during our board certification training, uh they're actually going to allow a policy manual to be dispersed for free to all districts. Uh which is
huge. So, an updated policy manual that will help advise our policy committee as well. Uh and that's free of uh outside of any contract with them or anything like that, just being in our membership. So, that's very exciting. Uh they also have a few other initiatives, but I'll hold off on reporting more until the
January or February meetings on those. Uh Emily and I, I believe, yes, will be traveling to Princeton on Saturday for the delegate assembly. Um and we'll report out on that in December. Also, the Sussex County School Board's next uh county meeting is going to be December 3rd, if I'm not mistaken. Uh so we
should have a bunch more to present on that. Um and then also NJSBA related, we did complete another hour of board certification training this evening from 5:00 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thank you for those who attended. Uh we agreed we talked primarily about board goals and norms
and we look forward to uh approving those board goals and norms in January when we have our new board members present and uh with that we're very excited to strive for a board certification um by the end of I think we said May uh in time for that county
meeting. So more on that to follow and unless anyone has anything else we are moving 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, 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 border administration may or may not respond to
any questions or comments after the conclusion of the public participation. Does anyone have anything for public comment number one related to action items only? >> Okay. >> So, excuse me. Would that include us or >> is there an agenda item number that you
would be able to refer? >> It would have been in close session. >> Hang tight one second. >> Yes, sir. After consulting with our board attorney, we would advise public comment number two would be more appropriate for you. Uh with that, anyone else? Okay, see motion to close.
Thank you, Kurt. Second. Thank you, Rebecca. Discussion. All in favor? I. Any opposed in the abstensions? Okay. Uh with that, may I have a motion to move personnel and policy items? Forgive me. 15.1 through 15.26.
Thank you, Kurt. Second. Thank you, Emily. uh discussion. >> Yeah, I have a on the AI policy, I have a bunch of questions. Um first of all, I noticed that the policy was mainly about student usage. Um are
we going to address how staff use AI? Um for example, I just saw a presentation by a professor at Brookers that built uh an application that was able to read assignments. Um and then
uh actually then he would grade it himself and then his product was grading actually a little fair. So, are we going to address how the staff use AI as well for creating for are we going to allow them
I don't know what's the magic but do do we need a policy for that because >> yeah perhaps I mean it's something to consider the the policy that you see tonight is the AI policy as presented by Strauss as May they came uh with the
template and then we had uh a little more liberty to to work on the plan and and put our own components into the plan. Um none of that to your point, none of that was addressing staff. Um it just talks about how staff um would
implement AI for student use, right? Um so um yes, it's certainly something to consider. It's nothing that we've been provided with. It's nothing that Strauss has provided us with. Um if we were going to build it from the ground up, we could. Um we just need some uh I'm sure attorney input on that.
>> Yeah, because there's um I'm aware of some cases where uh professors, teachers use it and it's fine, but on slide 20 of something they miss something and then they distribute it and it's an appropriate or something like that. So I just think we need to
think about that because that is a possibility. >> Yeah, it's nothing we've encountered yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. So yes, we will certainly take that yes and look into it. >> So that that was the first question I have. Um, let's see my notes here.
That's that. I'm glad you address using APA or MLA as a as a citation. Um, that's a a big standard that should be followed. Okay. So,
and this is a tricky one and I'm bringing it up because I don't know how we address it as as a board, but are we are we going to create in the policy the tool that decides
outside of the teachers or whoever deciding something is AI generated? Are we going to have an arbitrator? Are we going to have an arbitrator of a tool that says this content is 52%
AI generated? So, anything that's written for my classes, I run it through a tool called Grammarly, which everybody's heard of, and it gives me a percentage. And if it's over 30%, I kick it back. So, are we going to as are we
going to because here what I envision is the students say, "I didn't do it." Thank you. uh to you know some other tool says or the or the teacher says this is AI generated there's got to be an arbitrator right because you're going
to end up kind of in a bad place or I could be wrong but are we thinking about that >> we do have some of those tools actually that they that we use already um the problem with some of those techbased tools as like the the determining factors there's false positives which we
found so some of it is a practice as well like that students are showing how they got from point A to point B through drafting and um iteration of their writing. And so that enables important conversations about where content is coming from or how they used it. Um
there's also kind of along the lines of um plagiarism and just like authentic work. There are uh units and lessons embedded that we've developed at the beginning of the year to make sure students have all of the information that they need to kind of be thinking about, >> you know, they're learning about this
process, too. when there's there's a balance and a scale that we were just talking about kind of briefly that like it's not black and white or binary where it's like this is right and this is wrong. There's different variations of how you can use it and what your purpose is. So, we do have some of those things, but we think the education, the
practice, the conversations and the methodology that we're using to help develop specifically written responses or you know um for certain assignments is really where you know we've found already that the solutions live. and but we have them uh we just the tools that
you're speaking about but they are not always accurate. No, I understand. But I guess the question I'm asking is >> is is there a final arbitrator? Because there coming from my very binary kind of world
I live in, there's got to be a point where there's an answer, right? So the student could say, "I did it. I didn't do it." Teacher says, "They did do it." You run it through the tool, it comes back 35%. Is is do we want to have some kind of
I don't know line in the sand that says anything from this tool that's 25% is considered not valid. >> I believe at that point you would cross over into the plagiarism policy. So as we were um creating this AI policy well
over looking over the AI policy that was provided to us and then creating the plan which actually was where the real work took place. >> Yeah. >> Um were we okay in the meantime is what we were asking. How quickly do we have to move or can we take our time and really do this the right way. Um and we were leaning heavily on the plagiarism
plan in the interim. So um for now the AI plan and policy will be as you see it um and also a fallback is once they cross that threshold once we realize they cross that cross that threshold uh we can then spill into the plagiarism plan and act accordingly.
They're good. >> Yeah, I think that it's not like a clear like yes or no. This is this is because each instance has also been different, but in the student handbook, there's also like variations of like what happens when you when you think. So whether you're right or wrong about that, but it's like a first defense, so
to speak. And that's really like a learning opportunity. So it's a conversation with the student. There's not like the first time um potentially AI is misused or there's plagiarism because citations were incorrectly um you know, implemented. It's not like you
have a zero and you like the um response is more about teaching the students the right way. So then as you see patterns of that and then a second offense or a third offense being a little bit more um you know disciplinary in nature but so there's room for all of those things to
kind of take place on individual basis and we've already been kind of living through that but yeah I don't think there's >> even prior to AI when you're looking at maybe a student misses a citation um did they miss it intentionally because they plagiarized or did they make a mistake because the students are learning at the
same time. So even before AI we ran into such problems but so what we're trying to do is evolve >> as educators to be a step ahead of students and AI which is >> as you can imagine what that looks like. >> Yeah. So uh we are interested in fact we're going to submit a letter to uh Ruckers University for uh they're
running a pilot program to help uh it's like a teacher training program in many different aspects of AI. So we are submitting that letter of interest to hope that we get selected. uh we're trying to figure out ways that we can it's impossible to stay as he a step ahead of AI um but to to try to stay
even with it and keep up with it. That's what we're trying to do. >> Okay. Um so that's that. Um so provision three paragraph two examples of acceptable
versus unacceptable use. Um, is there going to be does the and again I don't know where the line is. I'm just asking the question. So, is there going to be a district definition of what's acceptable and not acceptable or is that
going to be allowed by building or by class or whatever the case? Well, I'll let maybe Tara speaks to that directly, but I do think it's important to note, correct me if I'm wrong, but at the elementary level through up until sixth grade, it's similar to our cell phone initiative where there it's there is no
authorized use unless a staff member is utilizing it in a classroom setting on their end. Um, so I don't think that we'll run into it on a building level is on a building level per se. I think we're primarily looking at middle and high school. But just a few things. One of the things that I really liked about the plan, aside from the fact that it
was a collaborative effort by the admin team with teacher input, I think what's really important is there's autonomy for parents to decide whether or not they want to be part of this process at all or have their student be proud part of the process. But there's also autonomy for the teacher to be able to determine
what type of assignment is appropriate. So in other words, this is a absolutely no AI under any circumstances project. this is a some AI for your creat creative building uh project. I think that is really where we're going to see the delineation maybe as opposed to a
building level just because it only applies to the middle and the high school. But Tara could probably >> Yeah, I would add to that. I think it was hard to be like generic that you all of these reasons are where you can and all of these reasons are where you can't. That's kind of what we were saying about it being like kind of yes
or no. Um, binary in how, but really the point being that teachers have to educate students on whether or not this assignment is allowable and here's why and here's how and modeling it for them. But for different classrooms, obviously the way in which this impacts a language arts classroom is maybe very different
than the way it impacts, you know, an art classroom, for example. And so um there's autonomy still built in but then there are very specific instances where it can't be used things like assessments or you know >> Yeah. No, I saw that. I was I'm just
curious about I don't do your work, so I'm just I'm asking questions, right? Like how do you normally something we would say nay or yay and there'd be a policy across the whole organization, right? And I think one of the interesting parts of this is
like delegating an AI coordinator and who who which you know coordinators um to kind of vet the tools that we use so that it's like you can't just bring in any sort of AI tool and start implementing it and say you know students you can use this in this way
like it has to be something there's a form that's built into this to kind of seek approval if there's there's so many new things coming out or free versions for a period of time and so to try to kind of contain and understand what each of the platforms do to be able to say to
staff. This is approved or not approved for these reasons um through someone who's competent, but it's obviously growing so quickly and so you know um extensively that to name all of those things are are challenging at this point in time because tomorrow there might be
something better out there that >> we didn't list. >> Something's cooking tonight. >> Yeah, even listing the tools was a challenge. We could talk about the tools that we currently use, but to everybody's point, tomorrow there's going to be a new tool and it's not in the plan. So, are you allowed to use it? And there's going to be a little discretion there. >> One other point real quick that I just
want to hit on. I also think it's really um interesting to note that the what's covered in the plan is the ability to help students also not just employ it and utilize it, but identify when it's being used and when it's incorrect or inaccurate. I mean, we're seeing it as adults where people are using it for
very verbose social media responses or emails. I mean, it's it's being utilized as a tool in a way that's kind of taking over original thought. So, having students be equipped to be able to actually determine whether or not AI was generated and if it was, is it
incorrect, is it inaccurate, and prove it wrong, I think that's the essence of literally preparing students for the future because it's here >> and there are tools that will print >> the citations of where they pulled it. So, you may want to consider that. The
other thing um approval process for the AI tools I noticed that cost was not part of that. Is that something we should add just because just because someone likes it there? I think there should be at least
>> I think that's >> I'm not sure I feel like that's automatically vetted though. I you know I don't think that any online program >> right with any online any programming as a matter of fact I feel like that's naturally a part of the equation. But I mean to delineate it keep in mind too this is a first reading. So >> no but that that's why I'm doing it now.
>> No no no I'm not in any way discouraging you. I'm saying if you'd like to join us at the next uh December meeting, I think you should so we can comb through it a little. >> So if you're inquiring about like a paid product and paid AI product, yeah, of course it would be considered of course it would be reviewed. Um but again to the point that the evolution that keeps
taking place if we're going to purchase a product for a whole school year and it could be antiquated by by two months after that. So right now we are um looking at more of the free versions and um if there's a free version of something that is really lights out
that's really doing a good job and then they have an upgrade we'll look at it. The upgrade being a cost that is um we'll look at it and consider it but at this time I think we'd be hesitant to lock into something that um that's so new and we don't know where it's going to go and if it's worth our investment
at this time. >> It' be it would be reviewed on a great scrutiny. I would say, >> yeah, I just don't know if that has to be brought into a budget discussion which then has to go to the board. I I don't know. But >> it kind of because of my line of work when I didn't
see costs, it kind of rang a bell like just because you want it doesn't mean you get it kind of thing. So that's kind of why. Um so the guidelines I I think I answered my own question later in that um
so uh all right this may be but um so there's the the oversightes and the mitigations um and we know that we that students are going to be taught to look for these
things. Um what if they don't like I so is that just a teaching moment or does it accumulate and then become an issue or does it have to get addressed or is that just left to the to the teacher? I don't know. That's what I'm saying as a
policy. >> I mean that >> I was just going to say that falls under provision four where it's about reviewing the tools. So as like the AI coordinator or coordinators um those are considerations to so that really falls
more on the adults in how we select the tools and what we use with them to ensure privacy, copyright infringement, you know, all of those different things that exist. But >> obviously the idea is along these lines, all of it is about teaching students
about being knowledgeable and aware of these different things. But that process of teaching and learning is not linear and takes time. So, >> and taking things on a case- by case basis. Typically, when you're creating policies, regulations, and even plans that are getting board approved, uh you got to be careful what you lock yourself
into and say if this happens, then this happens. Uh because that's we have to be able to exercise discretion, flexibility, honest mistakes, and that type of thing. So, if it's not as detailed, it's probably not as detailed for a reason. So, it allows a little bit of flexibility to go on a case by case.
>> That's right. as it as it continues to evolve, >> right? And but I get that. I just want to make sure that at least is put on the record that it's at least discussed. Um >> so I don't know, but for privacy,
um and this goes back to just not students, but anybody in the district. um they're using goo they're using uh notebook LLM and they need to write some document for the district and they inadvertently say they put in a
student's AP into there um and then they they use it to generate a document. If we're not using a tool like Notebook LLM that monitors the interactions,
we're potentially as a district putting private information into the LLM because the LLM is not going to tell you not to put private information in. So that privacy thing, no personal data entered into, there's no way to monitor unless you use something like notebook LLM. So
my concern is there's got to be in my opinion and it's opinion of one is that that privacy I think needs to be highlighted and really uh verbalized to everybody and everybody
from you and us all the way down because once that information goes into that general LLM it's public information and I've worked with three different companies who put what they thought was a private LLM, they put some
um trading strategies and they became public a month later. So >> yeah, >> that that that sentence doesn't match that word, >> right? Because the LLM is not going to know it's private data unless you use something like notebook LLM that will guarantee that that data
stays local to that instance. So, I just want to make sure that that's understood, that the LM's not going to say, "Oh, you shouldn't put that information here and stop it. It's just going to go." So, >> the only thing I would add to that though is that on the flip side, if a
teacher or staff member is say preparing their lesson for the next day at home, technically there's still that capacity to execute the same issue. So, I are you saying this like from a on a district level? In other words, like while you're in the building utilizing platforms here because
>> any plat I >> I I agree, but my point is where's the line and what we can monitor. Do you know what I'm saying? So I I agree that that's an issue, but how we actually would be able to enforce that. >> Like I said, you can you can say district work you have to do you have to
log into Google Classroom, use notebook LLM, and that's the only LLM you can use because then you can damage your privacy. >> All right. >> Right. And I'm not saying that is the answer. I'm saying that is a answer, right? >> There there may be others out there. I'm just familiar with that one. Um or we we
build our own LLM, which is not that hard, and you have to use our local one that we we host in the district. So, I mean, that's a possibility, but we the the privacy I have a huge problem with the privacy concern because people don't and it's okay. It's normal, but and it's
not I don't I personally don't care about a lesson plan because there's no information about a lesson plan. But if somebody takes some, you know, if I could help a teacher cut her class,
her time down by 30%, that's great. But putting people's information and other information into an LLM without understanding ramifications, that's a problem. and and the LLM is not going to stop you unless you use something that is so I
want to make sure that's understood. um parental consent uh obviously I think that's a big that's important to let uh parents parent um even though I think it's the best thing not everybody may
agree um and I think that is it that's it for me thank Thank you. Kurt, did you have anything you wanted to add to discussion for personnel and policy items?
>> Okay, with that discussion ending, we will have a roll call, please. Barbara, >> Miss Collier. Um, >> sorry, can you come back to me? I just need to get the one um agenda. >> Dr. Ankle.
>> Yes. Dr. Martinez. >> Yes. >> Mr. Morris. >> Yes. >> Miss Saraphino. >> Yes. >> Miss Williams. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wood. >> Yes. >> Miss Kagnet. >> Yes. >> And Miss Collier. >> Miss Collier. I believe we have to
revisit. >> Okay. So, I'm a yes to all. I'm a no to the first read policy 2365. Not because I don't appreciate the work, but I I do agree with some of Rocky's concerns and I need more time with it. So, I'd like
to participate within the second read feedback. Thank you. >> And and for both of you, if you could well, we can figure out the numbers if you're if you can attend the next uh committee meeting. If not, please submit your suggestions and notes and even redline whatever you see too. That would be helpful for us to discuss.
>> Rocky had I believe requested or >> Okay. So, Rocky had requested to join. I'm happy to sit out if it means that you could sit in for that portion of the discussion. No problem. But I would encourage everyone to submit your inquiries to Dr. Beck in advance. Thank you. >> Motions carry. >> Thank you. Uh with that, may I have a
motion to move curriculum item 16.1 through 16.6? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Chad. Second. >> Thank you, Rebecca. Discussion. Um, real quick, wellness fair. Um, I sat in on curriculum, so I'll just present
on it. Wellness fair. Um, as Dr. Rebecca mentioned was incredibly wellreceived. Uh there were vendors, potluck lunch, wellness seminars all throughout the day. I want to thank the ideas and the C3 committees uh for their efforts to develop this program. I want to thank the board for participating. Uh teachers
and staff were able to team build, spend the day together in a setting where they usually might not cross paths across buildings. Uh but I also would like to thank the vendors who participated. So, especially the Greek kitchen of Sparta, TCJ, Dance, Mathnasium, Sparta Books, and all others that I am sorry, I'm
probably forgetting a few. Tara, if you know any off the top of your head, correct me. Sorry about that. Um, but we appreciate you all and it was a wonderful day and our uh teachers and staff certainly deserve it. So, thank you. Um, the SPAN uh survey, the parent survey went out this week. SPAN is a
statewide parent advocacy network. It's a parent advocacy group that fosters uh communal and parent engagement. The survey was anonymous. Results will be analyzed by the administration and supervisors in a follow-up meeting. The theme was related to student support ser uh support opportunities throughout the
district. And um super quick, I don't know if anyone saw it, but there was a discussion item related to student information and military recruitment. This was a followup uh from a prior discussion that we held in committee. I raised a concern related to parents ability to opt out of having their child's data shared with military
recruiters. Dr. Beck and uh Dr. Rossi followed up. They confirmed this practice is not new in our district, but the latest directives and broadcasts technically are. Um, so just a friendly reminder to all parents of juniors and seniors in high school. Uh, at the beginning of the school year, please make sure you're filling out the form in
Genesis carefully, making sure that it aligns with your preferences when it comes to having your child's data shared with recruiting officers. Um, and with that, the building leadership panel for tomorrow was already discussed. We're looking forward to that. Uh, and guitar
2, uh, board approval does not guarantee the course will actually run. We're just approving the idea of it running. Uh, admin will assess whether teacher scheduling, student enrollment numbers, and of course, cost are viable uh, to actually get the course going. And with that, may I have a roll call, please?
>> Miss Collier, >> yes. >> Dr. Hankle, >> yes. >> Dr. Martinez, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> yes. >> Miss Saraphino, >> yes. Miss Williams, >> yes. >> Mr. Wood, >> yes. >> And Miss Kagnet, >> yes. >> Motions carry. >> Thank you. May I have a motion to move
items uh finance items 17.1 through 17.11? >> Remember, we're tableabling 17.4. >> Thank you. And tableabling 17.4. Thank you for that. Uh motion, please. >> Motion. >> Thank you, Rocky. Second.
>> Thank you, Rebecca. Discussion. >> Uh few quick items. Um, our new bus is going to be delivered. We're all very excited over that. Our bus fleet though is aging and we will start needing to look at uh budget to
repair or replace uh some of our buses. Uh prek is a success and with success there's usually some other things that need to be handled. So facilities and dealing with new bus routes and start times um is
being done by Dr. Beck and and his team. Um we due to an unfortunate incident, we are moving to a uh private bus repair facility which is very similar in cost
to our prior one, Mohawk Avenue. our uh wheelchair accessibility needs to be replaced. Uh we're looking at the budget for that as well. Uh we've approved the Millennium, which is our grant reporting
service to help us generate more revenue. And finally, I'd like to thank the cheerleader boosters for um raising $2,000 to pay for some volunteer coaches. Thank you.
Thank you. Uh, roll call, please. >> Miss Kier, yes to all. No to 17.5 paper cut hive. >> Thank you, Dr. Hankle. >> Dr. Martinez, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris,
>> yes. >> Miss Saraphino, >> yes. >> Miss Williams, >> yes. >> Mr. Wood, >> yes. >> And Miss Kagnen, >> yes. Motions carry. >> Thank you. May I have a motion to move operational items 18.1 through 18.5. >> Motion. >> Thank you, Rocky. Second. >> Second.
>> Thank you, Lauren. Uh, discussion we already covered. Anyone else? Okay. Roll call, please. >> Miss Collier, >> yes. >> Dr. Hel, >> yes. >> Dr. Martinez, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> yes.
>> Miss Saraphino, >> yes. Miss Williams, >> yes. >> Mr. Wood, >> yes. >> And Miss Gagnen, >> yes. >> Motions carry. >> Thank you. And anyone for old business? >> Okay. Anyone for new business? >> I don't know if this would actually
count as old business or new business, but I just wanted to say um it's I think it's a little bittersweet that Mr. William Brennan is retiring. I think something unique about Sparta is that aside from high ranking courses and good teachers and whatnot, we have a lot of interestbased activities and I believe
that he taught a really popular course. I want to believe it's called it was called genocide and he was just the kind of person where uh and this in the high school we're not dealing with the same situation as Alpine. So there are some shared classrooms in a capacity where
one teacher might be teaching and the other teacher is sitting in the back in their desk. And for several history classes, I had him kind of interrupt here and there with little tidbits. And it was it's always excellent because it gives the students a very different understanding of knowledge because he
provides stories from Russian history that most teachers wouldn't know a thing about. Um but he can provide that strange insight that gets a lot of students really interested. Um, and I am a little concerned about the that course's offerings, but I do um I do know that he did excellent work while he was here.
>> Well said. Thank you. And anyone else, old or new business? We'll combine them tonight. Uh, public comment number two. The board uses the second public comment uh 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 border administration may or may not respond to any questions or comments after the
conclusion of the public participation. >> You can speak right now. Unless you have a presentation. >> No. >> Um, good evening. Uh, my name is Augustine Sanchez. I represent Ask Me New Jersey Council 63 based out of
Lindhurst, New Jersey. I'm here to talk about, uh, Miss Olrich. Miss Olrich has been employee has been an employee of Sparta Board of Ed for 21 years. She has transported children and in turn the children of those children. She has a
deep connection with the community and they with her. On September 17th, 2025, Miss Uldridge was involved in a bus accident with children on board. Today, she doesn't recall the event. After seeing her physicians, they determined
that that she may have experienced a health event. While on administrative leave, unpaid suspension, and eventually termination, she has continued to follow up with her physicians to get answers of what happened.
While not knowing what exactly happened that day, she has to live knowing this event involved children in her care. She feels deeply sorry for that. The superintendent received all medical documents and medication info that she was on, including notes from doctors,
and has been very cooperative. She was still terminated, ignoring her many years of service. She did have she did have a prior discipline uh incident and has learned from that event.
She only asked that she is allowed to continue to serve the children of Sparta. however, not as a bus driver, at least until her medical is issue has been resolved. While she continues to work with her physicians so that she can return to
full duty, uh she has been contacted by by a few parents who continue to show her support. >> I'm sorry, I'm speaking on her behalf. She's suffers uh from another medical condition.
That's all I have. Thank you. >> Jenny Derek, step into Sparta. I just have a few questions about the AI um policy and plan. First, who wrote this? Who wrote the plan?
>> As I mentioned, the policy is the Strauss Esbay policy. The plan was uh curated by the administrative team as well as input from the teachers >> with a template provided by Strauss. based on the policy, >> right? Expanded from that. So, >> okay. Um,
>> and I'm sorry to interrupt, but it then of course reviewed by PB. So, >> okay. Um, and will this be will the plan where will it live? Will it be in the student handbook? Will it be attached as an addendum to the policy? Where will people be able to find it?
>> I don't want to take your time, so I'm writing it. >> Um, who are the AI coordinators? Is there one at least one in each building aside from the elementary school? Although there seems like there might be a need for one to um just make sure that
the AI isn't being used. Um what is the parents obligation in deciding or communicating to the to the uh district that they have a any level of restriction for their
students as to what they are allowed to do with AI? Um that goes to your comment about the autonomy for parents which I I'm sure they appreciate. Um and then one other different topic 16.4 what is the course? It does it's the
agenda that I have doesn't indicate what the course is. Thank you. >> Yeah. I found a paper version, but I guess Oh, this guitar 2 course proposal. It's It's a Google doc. Guitar two. >> Guitar two.
>> Guitar shrum shrum two. Number two. Uh but it's uh you'll see it. It's under executive file attachments. That's why you don't It's at the end. >> Thank you. >> Um and I believe the parents obligation is actually clearly delineated in the plan. I don't know if Tara it's better for you to cover these or or Matt,
excuse me, Dr. Beck and Dr. Robin. Um but I do know that the parent question is covered in the plan. >> Yeah, I'll I'll answer some of these and feel free to jump in. Um for the parents, we talked about obviously there are forms that allow parents to make
decisions about what students will have access to uh at the beginning of the year on our um Genesis parent portal. So there'll be forms that describe that. Um if they want to reach out beyond that as they can with any other form with additional questions or changing of
their mind as things evolve, they can. Um talked about who wrote the plan. We also partnered with other um organizations and districts to review their plans to kind of get a sense of sort of you know we collaborate a lot with other districts to kind of share
ideas and especially when something is new and just evolving. um the implementation of it. There's different parts. So, as I talked about like the parent portal portion and communication and staff newsletters and things like that. Um there will be parts of it that that are in student handbooks. So,
there's pieces of it that relate to different versions of what we're um focused on. So, we'll see pieces of that throughout a variety of different things throughout the district. Um staff handbook in terms of having access to like that form. So, there's not just one
place. It depends on which part of the um guide we're focused on to determine where that would live. Um the coordinators, it speaks to a one or two. Uh we have to talk about that. We're working with the tech department. Obviously, they have a lot of experience in kind of vetting some of these
resources. And so whether it'll be, you know, a teambased approach, but obviously it's first putting this out for feedback and kind of thinking through it with a larger audience of stakeholders to determine how many are needed. But I I wouldn't imagine it be one person. That's a big undertaking for
one individual to try to manage. I think that's all of them. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Eva Kazeno and I spoke at the October board meeting about my daughters and my family's
experience at Alpine Elementary. for context and so that I'm not dismissed like I was last time. I worked in education for nearly 20 years. I'm a tenure college professor who has presented on education nationally and internationally. I also completed a
second master's degree and uh student teaching in a middle school here in New Jersey. So I understand how inclusion classrooms are intended to function. Since my remarks at the last meeting, I've heard from several parents, some who didn't realize what an inclusion classroom is and that and those who were
unaware that out of 10 first grade classrooms, only two at Alpine Elementary are designated as inclusion. Many only learned about this after their children came home upset or confused. This isn't about one child or one classroom. It's about how all of our
children are being placed and how limited communication affects every family in this district. Right now, with only two inclusion classrooms in first grade, students with IEPs are concentrated in a small number of rooms instead of being distributed more evenly across all classrooms. Those few rooms
shoulder an outsized share of responsibilities and challenges. The teachers in those rooms face extraordinary demands and so do the students, those with IEPs and those without. Part of September, my my daughter
studied in a in in her hallway. That structure affects everyone. It can make it harder for some children to focus and it can make it harder for children with IEPs to receive the individualized support they deserve. It also affects families who reasonably expect that placement decisions will be
fair and clearly communicated. At present, I understand that placement is based largely on prior teacher recommendations. If prior recommendations guide placements, parents should be informed when those recommendations affect their general education child's classroom assignment
and why. This isn't currently practiced at Alpine Elementary. To be clear, I support inclusion, but true inclusion means balance, transparency, and shared responsibility. It means all classrooms share the benefits and challenges of diverse learners. Not that the few
classrooms quietly carry most of the load. All parents deserve to know when their children are placed in an inclusion classroom of this uneven model at Alpine Elementary. How those classrooms are structured and why this model is used. Silence or selective
communication breeds mistrust and puts unnecessary strain on teachers and students alike. So tonight, I'm asking not only the board, but all parents in our community, pay attention. I used to ignore it. I'm a busy professional. I'm very busy. I've
been up since 4:00 in the morning, and I'm here today. I haven't eaten my dinner, but I'm here. And I'm telling all parents to pay attention. Ask questions. Find out whether your child's classroom is part of this uneven model. Because if it isn't this year, it could
be next year. This isn't just a special education issue. It's a community issue, one that touches every family that wants a safe, balanced, and equitable learning environment for their child. Thank you for your time, everyone, and
for your commitment to all Spartus children. Thank you. Um, and with that, I just would like to have our board attorney, Jackie Prot, uh, perhaps comment where you find it appropriate. Sure. >> Specifically regarding parent informed. Um, from a legal perspective, there's no
statutory or regulatory requirement that obligates the board of education to notify general education parents of or parents of general education students that their child is in uh inclusion classroom. Um, there's an argument to be made that it actually confiates
of the special education students who are entitled to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. inclusion classrooms and inclusion models typically are the manner in which the district implements the least instruct restrictive environment. So from a legal
perspective, I just want to make that clear. >> Thank you so much. >> Unfortunately, the time has run out and it isn't a back and forth. However, >> here next month and every month, you will never silence me. You will never >> There is no attempt to silence you,
ma'am. I look forward to seeing you. We've had email exchanges at any point. You can feel free to email us. Continue to email us. Continue to show up and advocate. >> I appreciate that. There is no attempt to silence you. Please don't misconstrue that. Um, and if you're ready to go ahead with public comment, you can
>> step on up. >> All right. Good evening. My name is Angela Deluchia and I am the very proud president of the Sparta Education Association and Sussex County Education Association. As we approach the winter holiday season, it's
hard to believe that we've already completed the first quarter of the school year. Our members have provided outstanding instruction and the very best support for the students of Sparta Township Public Schools. Each day, our educators and ESPs and coaches go above
and beyond to make sure every student is given the opportunity to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. This fall has been a season full of hard work and incredible achievement. Our athletic teams have shown great dedication, competing with heart,
showing sportsmanship, and even breaking records along the way. These accomplishments reflect not only the talent of our students, but also the encouragement and commitment of our staff and families who stand behind them. In our elementary schools, teachers have met with families of every
student during conferences, taking the time to celebrate progress, discuss goals, and work together to make sure each child's success is nurtured and supported. That spirit of collaboration truly defines our Sparta community. And
that commitment to community extends far beyond the walls of our classrooms. This month, members of the Helen Morgan School volunteered their time at Benny's Bodega, helping local families across um access essential resources um when they
needed it most. Others spent their time supporting girls on the run, coaching, encouraging, and cheering on girls as they belt confidence, resilience, and pride through their fall 5K. These acts of service reflect the heart of who we
are as educators. People who show up, give back, and lift the community we serve. Earlier this month, members of the SEA attended the NJA convention in Atlantic City. It was an incredible opportunity for professional growth and
inspiration. Some of our members even volunteered and worked the convention floor. Between our self-guided professional development day on November 4th and the convention days that followed, many of our educators took the time to deepen their practice, learn new
skills, and return energized to serve our students even better. As you know, we had been planning our second day of discovery this fall, an event we were very much looking forward to. However, as the needs within our community grew, we made the decision to put that day on
hold and focus our collective energy on community service. Our members have stepped up in meaningful ways to support families, strengthen connections, and ensure that students feel cared for beyond the classroom. This shift reflects what we value most, caring for
the whole child, and supporting the families who make up our community. We plan to reschedu that day um in the spring. We're deeply grateful for the camaraderie and collaboration oh with this board and happy Thanksgiving. The end.
>> Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Good evening board members. I spoke I also spoke at the October meeting regarding the serious iss the serious issues of my daughter has been experiencing at Alpine Elementary. After
that meeting, my wife and I submitted a follow-up email to the board. Unfortunately, we did not receive a courtesy response from anyone. At at the last meeting, the board stated that could not speak on the matter because it was confidential. But I want
to be I want to make something very clear. I am the parent of that child involved. I was the one who brought this issue forward publicly. There is nothing confidential about a parent speaking about their children's safety. When a parent comes before this board to raise
a concern about their child being unsafe, unheard, or placed in an included classroom, it is not confidential matter. It is a public safety and accountability matter. I'm here again tonight because our concerns have not
been addressed and the silence from this board only made the situation worse. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you if you don't mind. >> Thank you very much for your comment. I just want to make clear that the public
comment portion of a meeting for particularly for this board of education and all board of educations across the state. It is not the uh venue for a back and forth conversation. While parents have the rights to come and speak about their children, the board of education cannot directly address situations that
may impact other students as those students have confidentiality rights that we need to uphold. So that is the reason for the board being directed on my recommendation not to respond to matters such as this at in a public forum as this. our children have rights to
>> and I would just like to add that I as a member of the public at one point before I was elected to the board of education I understand the frustration when you have a time limit or when you um are clearly advocating for something that's near and dear to your heart. So I again I will say what I said last month. I
respect the fact that you have come here to advocate. However, however, if you don't if you don't mind however what's very important I don't want you anyone to feel like they're being silenced. there is an open door for dialogue. However, ultimately it is not our job to run the schools, but to see how they are
wellrun. So, a specific incident as the one that you're speaking to is better handled through the administration. Please do not confuse that for an attempt to silence or not listen to you. That is certainly not the goal of this board. Uh, and as I said last time, I thank you for coming out and speaking.
And with that, uh, mot anyone else for public comment? >> Motion to close. motion. >> Thank you, Rebecca. Second. >> Thank you, Emily. All in favor? >> I. Any oppose? Any abstensions? >> Okay. Anyone for the good of the order?
Okay. Um, I would just like to wish Oh, go ahead, Lauren. Go for it. >> You want to take it out of your >> No, please. >> I wanted to also wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving. >> Um, >> you're done. >> Thank Thank you to our our students and staff and everyone around this table. Do
a lot of hard work together. We don't always agree on everything, but I appreciate the collaboration. I appreciate the parents coming forward with their concerns and giving us more ideas for vision and mission as we continue in our in our work together.
So, happy Thanksgiving to everyone. >> Well said. Happy Thanksgiving all. We will not be convening into close session. Um Kurt, did you have something like that? >> Yeah, I just wanted to congratulate the three new board members. Um I spoke to them personally when they were here for the training. Congratulate to them. Um, I also want to thank everyone in the
community who voted for me. I was advised today by the county that I received majority writing votes. So, it appears that a lot >> How many 14 was it? >> Huh? >> 14 right in votes. Is it how many was it? >> 544. >> 544. >> So, that was the to I received the majority of I don't know to
>> I heard 14. I wasn't sure. >> Just thanks whoever voted for me. Seems like people want me to stay. So, maybe I'll come back, but who knows? >> I'm saving my goodbyes for December. So, we'll see you guys in December. Please be here. Um, with that, may I have a motion to adjurnn.
>> Thank you, Emily. Second. >> Thank you, Chad. All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Any obstensions? Good night all. Happy Thanksgiving.