##VIDEO ID:jcg_NPKNb1E## the sparta Board of Education regular meeting is called to order at 60 2 601 601 um Chad can you please read our meeting announcement the New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the rights 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 in asparta and notice of this meeting has been posted on the sporta Township School District website thank you Chad Barbara can we have a roll call please miss CER here miss hle Dr Martinez here miss m Miss McMichael Mr Morris here miss seraphino here Miss Williams here Mr wood here and Miss gagman present quum confirmed thank you if everyone can join us for the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the it stands Nation indivisible andice for all um we are now going to convene into close session uh whereas Section 8 of the open public meetings act chapter 231 PL 19 75 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 c such circumstances exist to discuss matters of attorney client privilege personnel and we will also be interviewing construction managers for our referendum which are exempt from public participation pursuant to the New Jersey Public Law 1975 chapter 231 open public meetings act um be it resolved we will enter executive session now at 602 uh we anticipate we'll reconvene in public session at the conclusion which should take about an hour possibly up to an hour and a half but we hope to return around uh sometime between 7 and 7:30 and uh we'll need a second thank you second for that discuss any discussion no discussion okay all in favor any oppos thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome back to the January meeting resolve that the board of education has closed executive session we've entered back into the public portion of the meeting at 7:43 p.m. uh we do not have District recognition tonight so we'll go right into presentations uh Dr Beck and our superintendent and Alan Barnett of darara Rabino Architects are here to present on the referendum thank you so we are back here talking about the referendum again um the last time Allan and I presented we uh put a couple proposals out there a couple of uh proposed designs out there for the addition to Alpine School we were able to narrow that down uh so tonight what we're going to do we're going to talk about the final design uh Alan will walk you through some of the specs uh some of the details when it comes to the final design of Alpine School um the addition that would be at Alpine School and also talk about the projects that would take place in the other buildings again there's uh two prongs to this proposed referendum that would be the addition to Alpine school and then necessary building upgrades in all the schools which we'll talk about tonight um so just kind of to to kind of recap uh what I just said actually um the building addition would apply to Alpine Elementary School in order to accommodate the growing population which we spoke about the last time we presented how we how we came how we arrived here uh specials would be housed in their own classrooms uh right now specials a lot of specials are on carts over there um the modular would no longer be used as classrooms uh we would keep the Modell up because they're actually um decent buildings um and we would use them for for other purposes but they would not be used for classrooms um and to provide necessary room for growth in small group instruction in the spaces uh you'll see tonight that an additional gymnasium for Alpine for increased use during the school day because right now as you know that is a multi-purpose room so it's a cafeteria it's an auditorium and it's a gymnasium uh we would where we are to date with the referendum planning the addition at Alpine uh go walk you through some of the details that we've that we've adjusted since the last time I was here and also then we'll finish up with the um the facility improvements across the district so I'm going to I'm going to try and do it from here you you guys know I like to wander around you guys have been very accommodating and giv me a microphone with a long extension but I'm going to try and do it from here for starters so when I was here last we presented a series of options for Alpine's addition to the rear of the site we've settled on the option where the gymnasium is going to be on the uh right hand side of the site and the Bus drop off parking will be on the leftand side of the site we'll have a a 10 classroom kindergarten Edition and a 10 classroom second grade Edition up on the second floor that is going to be almost parallel with the existing building uh We've chosen to skew the building at I condition ever so slightly this is where I'm going to have to walk around that we were prepared for Al one tonight which which I greatly appreciate we chose to skew this portion of the building this addition as a as it relates to the existing building because it allows a little bit more light and air to to get down deep into this this is going to be a two-story Edition this is currently your one-story Edition so again bus parking bus drop off on the left hand side of the plan widen this portion of the site to a full 24t drive width so it gets that two-lane traffic so what this will do is this will separate currently right now buses come through the site and circulate back this will keep this will keep the buses separate from the parent drop off at the front uh as I said 10 kindergarten classroom on the on the um first floor gymnas or basketball uh kindergarten playground and regular playground these these still are shown kind of diagrammatic we can move those around the site as we move forward we'll be renovating two of the existing kindergarten classrooms we'll be renovating the bathrooms to make them full ADA Compliant the change in use of the modular building just to make offices that's part of the submission to to the state as well and we'll also be renovating two of the existing classrooms for art and music bringing those specials back into a classroom and getting them off off of a cart on the second floor we've got the 10 second grade classrooms we've got the S two sgis actually three sgis toilets support spaces faculty Lounge took a quick quick early early what could this building look like this is a concept rendering of what it would look like from the Bus drop off this is just something just to kind of say hey we're starting this process with you you're going to see 20 more versions of this before it's all said and done um but I wanted to just kind of came with some plans last time I kind of wanted to come with a little different this time this would be an option for what the gym would look like here's that entrance on the left hand side this would be that entrance off the parking lot that could be used for after hours and control you'll also have entrance just into the into the gymnasium concept of what the kindergarten hallway could look like kindergarten Corridor could look like bringing in vinyl graphics uh color lighting um flooring what a kindergarten classroom could look like again the use of color the use of uh flooring materials when we get into the facility improvements we're going to touch all five schools in the district as part of the referendums starting with alpine that needs to be upgraded for Mohawk Helen Morgan roof Windows boilers HVAC upgrades and electrical service again Middle School is hbac upgrades the electrical service there is okay we don't need to touch that one and then lastly Sparta High School it needs a chiller replacement classroom hbac upgrades throughout and we're going to touch three of the science three of the science labs we've started working with your um science faculty and we did a quick concept of what a biomed uh science lab could look like again these are all very all the images I showed you are very very early on just want to kind of give you guys an idea of what what my firm does uh to generate and to help help get the knowledge and the information out to the public as you look to get public support for the referendum you want this one or me uh I'll take it and you can jump in as needed U so we've talked about this now multiple times it's required to the Department of Education so they can start reviewing it as a viable referendum so those are the resolutions that you see this evening on the agenda there's one for each building um just uh we had we this presentation is really the presentation we used um in September October when we presented before but we updated a lot of things to it so updating the timeline here knocking off what we already did uh January 2025 is Where We Are Tonight the board passes a resolution submitting the NJ dooe schematics admission that Allen just spoke about um April May 25 the board will receive and approve the njd preliminary eligible cost if you want to speak to what that is Al yeah PR they as far as your packet that you you would have received is the cost estim for the for each school's projects so they take that they determine what they feel is is because this is a referend what they feel is will be their Debt Service Aid that's roughly between 30 to 40% based on your which is your States they for this District um so that's what they that's what they deter BC so when they say a preliminary eligible cost they say yes we in agreement with the cost estimate that is provided by the architect and and we are giving we throughout like I said throughout the spring summer and into the early fall that's when we need to start spreading the word holding presentations uh information sessions whatever whatever it may be uh to make sure the community is informed uh so they know exactly what they would be voting on when the September 2025 referendum vote takes place um so that that is the uh that is the goal that is the deadline September of 2025 so I know you uh we had this information ahead of time we've talked about this now at length I'm not sure if there's any more questions from the board at this time one question regarding the the DAP of The Debt Service Aid is that still based on I think in September Allan you spoke about the $125 per square foot of construction cost is that still that's still the estimate that hasn't changed in 20 years and it's not change okay so right so we talk about Deb there's two pieces oh I'm sorry to talk about Debt Service Aid there's two pieces there's the facility improvements part which is the the facility Improvement projects to the five schools that's where you're going to get the full the full let's say 40% that's a given then there's the addition the addition is determined the amount of Debt Service Aid you get for the addition is determined by your number of unhoused students the unhoused students just to be clear they are not kids that can't get into the building they are kids that are that are projected over the capacity of your building over the capacity of your school the state just declares them as unhoused students doesn't mean you can't fit them or you're not they're not in a seat it's just that they're above the capacity what the state has has allotted for your school now we don't know that number yet the state gives us what that amount is on The Debt Service Aid and again that's based on the unhoused students something that goes in your favor we got when we submitted your demographer report for approval this week we got back that the state projects a larger number of enrollment for Sparta which means that your number of unhoused students will be greater so your your amount of that service Aid on that the new addition side will be more that number we don't know until it goes down to the state when we submit it to the Department of Education and they look at that's when they look at the the enrollment projections the project the cost estimates they'll come back at that point and say what what both sides of The Debt Service Aid represent thank you I just have a quick question if that's okay Lauren a quick question for you and more of a broad question I would say uh with everything in mind and the upgrades we're making to the other schools how do you think it puts us in a position for the future because obviously we don't want to turn to another referendum anytime soon so just curious because it kind of feels like we were playing catchup a little bit but once we are caught up how do you think it puts us in terms of the position we're in I think it puts you in a very good position because when we look at a roof a roof replacement that roof replacement is a 40-year roof okay the windows the windows are probably a 40 plus year window uh doors you know you're not going to be replacing doors uh boilers boilers are a 20 plus year boiler system um so you're you're doing on the facility side you're you're addressing what the needs are of the district and projecting that out for the next 25 to 40 years depending on the depending on the project the the addition side we're projecting out what we're allow to project out right we're allowed to project out five years any this goes back to the the demographer report any older than five if you go further than five years into the future those kids aren't born yet so we're not allowed to project out now you can build but you're not going to get that Debt Service Aid right The Debt Service Aid is going to come from what the state has determined from the unhoused students based on the projected enrollments okay so while we're addressing the needs of the district we are you know it it happens in Cycles especially when it comes to building additions so we don't have a crystal ball as to what's going to happen in Sparta over the next 15 years we're allowed to project out five MH Allan with this it's hard to tell with this drawing because there's no numbers with the expansion of the property itself are we getting anywhere too close to the property lines where it's going to call an issue where we have to get certain variances or anything no that's yep okay so this shows the property lines on this map yeah or on the site plan mhm this does not this we have to go to planning board we do have to go to planning board planning board is a courtesy review okay as a school it's only a courtesy review so they can make they make suggestions and recommendations which we take uh into consideration but the building the biggest part of this building is the wetlands right that's the that's the area to the to the plan North we've and we've stayed out of that and that we've cited the building in such a way to where we can stay out of the wetlands and the and the buffer zone so that's that was our biggest concern with with uh the addition thanks mhm and just to go back to the demo demographer report even though the state did come back and said that they project higher enrollment our plan what we're seeing with the 10 the 10 kindergarten and the 10 second grade just to ease any concerns that's still more than covers yes that addresses that addresses the the issues of the the the unhoused students that the demographer report has uh brought up it gets the students out of the modulars and accounts for the reic growth uh basically that came from um making prek andk full time any other questions no thank you so much thank [Music] you we're now going to move on to 6.1 which is our student representative monthly report work sorry um winter sports are going well uh Deca and HOSA have started their competition conferences um HOSA just won some awards at their last one and numerous Deca teams have made their way onto states which will take place in March um student council is really focused focusing on community outreach at the moment and are involved in numerous projects um the support will not only like help students but also the community and there will be more information on that later on um model un had a very successful popcorn fundraiser recently to help support money for their competitions um we have a February 4th leadership conference for student council members and we are anticipating some Valentine's Day fundraisers and the seniors have decided on a senior trip to flick or Six Flags uh sometime in the spring or end of the school year thank you so much um can I please have a motion to approve the minutes motion thanks Kurt second second Emily thank you uh Den discussion all in favor we'll make it easy I okay any oppose thank you moving on to 8.1 our superintendent monthly report thank you Dr as you can see on this evening's agenda there is a formal resolution to recognize Board of Education members as January is School Board recognition month I would like to draw special attention to this resolution but also would like to personally acknowledge our Board of Education members and Board of Education members across the state being a board of education member requires countless hours of time commitment and making decisions that are constantly analyzed by the public and is no easy task board members know this is all part of the job and still decide to dedicate their time and energy to serve our students staff and school community so in addition to the resolution on the agenda this evening I would like to extend my gratitude to all the current and past board members who have served the spa Community last Friday I had the pleasure of attending Sparta Middle School's production of Allison Wonderland as always the students were phenomenal and the production props and set were extremely well done we faced some weather challenges heading into the Sunday show but the cas and crew were able to adjust and move the time up to make sure they got all three shows in up next is the Sparta High School Musical which will run March 14th through the 16th with a senior citizens and staff preview on March 13th this year's High School Musical is Little Shop of Horrors and and Promises to be another Blockbuster as is always the case last week we encountered a very challenging situation when Mohawk Avenue School lost power due to a blown Transformer that took place around roughly 7:40 a.m. with the students already in route and an estimated restore time that was not immediately known we were forced to make some operational decisions rather quickly with the condition of the facility quickly deteriorating as we had no power light heat Communications and other Challen Alles and then information that the power would not be restored for quite a few hours we made the decision to dismiss the students approximately 3 hours after the power outage began I fully understand that this decision and the timing thereof created challenges for parents to receive their children at home or pick them up at school with relatively short notice the day following the incident the administrators involved in a situation and I met to debrief and reflect on things we could have done better the main takeaway from the situation is that our communication during these incidents need needs to be better and when I meet with the full admin team next week we will discuss the importance of broader communication during emergencies when practicable as well as other lessons we learned I kept the board apprised of the situation and the details of the debrief and will continue to work with the admin team to ensure our communication during these events continues to improve thankfully all of our students and staff are safe and I would like to thank the Mohawk Avenue staff and Ms Madson for their diligent work during the incident there there are a few retirements on this evening's agenda I would like to acknowledge we have Melissa bandel who's the instructional intervention literacy teacher at Helen Morgan School Ms bandel has served the district for 30 years Deborah januzi music teacher at Sparta High School Dr ganzi has served a district for 30 years also and Rachel Hendrickson pril fourth grade math and science teacher at Helen Morgan School M Hendrickson pril has served the district for 26 years thank you and congratulations to all our retirees that's my report thank you so much Dr Beck moving on to 9.1 board president's monthly report um I do have a few small items I would like to bring to everyone's Attention our new committee assignments for personnel and policy we have Kurt Emily and myself with kurtt serving as our chair for curriculum we have Chad Lee and Michelle with Chad serving as our chair and for finance and operations we have rocky Lauren and Rebecca with Rocky serving as our chair uh proudly we were able to accommodate most specific requests um including chair appointments anyone who was interested was able to receive a chair role and the first committee meetings I would say went very well uh you'll also see on tonight's agenda our new subcommittee and Le dayson roles nearly all introductory emails have been sent uh nearly and several meetings are already in the process of being scheduled with our new appointees um one last point I'd like to make to Foster enhanced transparency and communication with the public as we move committee agenda items going forward including this evening we will include a brief update from each committee spokesperson to relay what was discussed um and any important items we wish to highlight we have similar initiatives uh greater initiatives taking place through our Communications ad hoc committee uh which will be discussed and hopefully implemented over the coming months um item 10 we have Oprah um motion to approve the Hib report please motion thanks CT second thanks Rocky um any oh no discussion discussion okay discussion for that please anyone seeing none Barbara can we please have a roll call Miss Coler yes Miss Hinkle yes Dr Martinez yes Mr Morris yes Miss sarapo yes Miss Williams yes Mr wood yes Miss gagon yes motion cares thank you uh moving on I don't believe we have anything for communications this evening uh anyone have anything for delegate or liaz on reports I know it's a little bit early but in case everyone anyone had an opportunity thank you chap all right I have a lot to share actually so bear with me um and Miss Ross is's not here tonight so uh I am unofficially uh taking over her role um especially because she's on my curriculum committee so in terms of uh some early reading Grant progress um and just an FYI if anyone's interested in more specifics of what I'm talking about all of it can be found on board docs in our committee minutes so it's all available to you mine just a little shortened down but following the co pandemic it seems like our committee was really surrounded upon ensuring that students were where they needed to be and were caught up and we were identifying new resources and we finding what works best for students um to get them back on track and we're in our second year of an early reading Grant which is allowing us to adopt new tools like edge of climber which really helps with the intervention process and tracking student progress and Sparta has actually been a standout School in this capacity uh and following with that in response to interventions um and I didn't know this but Sparta is actually one of the few uh schools especially at a high school level that offers tiered support and there is a proposal for two new roles to strengthen student interventions one of these roles being an intervention coordinator which manages the student plans and the other being the mentorship coordinator which focuses more on personal development um and I actually had in my notes to ask Miss Rossy to shed more light on this but that's okay uh we also have an exciting new opportunity at the middle school but I don't want to jump too far ahead uh we are exploring a middle school Esports program um with Grant support but we are facing some challenges like high costs and it's also there uh it can be hard to align uh in a sense that if we offer this at the middle school and uh students do want this at the high school then are we feasibly going to be able to do that and the grant also has some uh Dem demographic uh what's the word uh implicate yeah uh and then additionally um you know it's just a super exciting program and for me personally as someone who's familiar with video games it's always exciting us it's always exciting to see US expand our programs uh to continue on we have um some math program exploration we're reviewing some of our K through 12 math programming uh materials that we use and we're at a point where some of our programs are nearing expiration so we have the opportunity to explore what's available to us and that gives people like Miss Rossy a lot of uh benefit because she can really dive into other districts and learn what really effective schools are doing and what we can take from them and in terms of the instructional appeal committee at some of the meetings you may have seen in the past there have been some parents with some more unique requests in terms of say like the upper math classes or skipping grades um or keeping students in classes so there has been a demonstrated need for broader committee to uh handle complex cases fairly so some of our initial steps um are going to be reviewing some policies and establish uh clear consistent procedures um but there is a instructional appeal committee that's on the way to really help uh proceed with some of these issues and just to jump to the side a little bit I also went to the Sussex County Education Services Commission meeting and this was frankly a really exciting orientation in first meeting frankly it's a blessing to hear more about the role they play in our district especially when it comes to out of District placements and we hear so much how students going out of District cost us money and this Commission does a lot to save us money because in terms of our policy we have to approach them first before uh or the parents have to approach them and consider their option first before other schools and they usually are the cheapest option um so it's always nice to hear about the work that they do and as Caitlyn was saying oh uh well yeah well something that Caitlin was saying earlier was in terms of uh us briefing you with some of the uh some minutes and some short things what happen at our committee meetings what they do is after board meetings they share board briefs to the community um which are short lists the word out and I thought that was a great insight and they also had an insightful note on workers compensation and I don't know how this is going to affect our districts but I thought it was interesting and I thought I'd share it uh so they have a ton of Staff who are eager to get back to work but due to say medical issues or something along those lines they have workers compensation problems that don't allow them to come back to work so what their board has been doing is they've been changing their rules a little bit to allow them to help with light tasks so they can come back and help in the workday um with an easier load until they can really get back fully into work um so that's all I have for right now thank you anyone else on the Personnel side um preliminary talks will start shortly with uh contract negotiations both with the administration and the fearful sea and on a policy note uh the committee is going to start updating the non-mandated policies first starting with the oldest and implementing any Chang that are recommended from the NJ SBA uh remainder of the agenda is pretty much same as every other month hiring as Dr Beck said retirements and it's pretty much It Rocky did you want to do yours too yes thank you kayin um few things I I'll keep it brief um er many uh W with within finance and operations Transportation uh they're taking a very proactive role and they're looking to ways to save the district um either by Taking Back routes or um getting uh buses that are newer so we're not spending so much to um repair them that's Transportation um for grounds the big there's the big thing for me is that the solar panels are finally going to be online and we're finally going to start realizing some Revenue back from that so that was a very good thing to hear about that we we're finally going to ex some benefit from the solar panels health insurance which everybody is dealing with uh there will be a decision to be made by the board by June or July about how we go forward with the district and how we ensure our staff and Personnel uh um the uh Miss Decker has asked for us approval to change the accounting package in the district and after hearing some of the pain I I think it's a good idea we'll hear more about it as we get closer to a decision um especially with the referendum we had our S&P or standard and pores review and it looks like we're going to keep our doublea rating which is very important that keeps our prices down from we go for debt um Dr Beck already addressed we also had a discussion about uh the Mohawk Avenue early dismissal and he's done a great job and he's taken care of it he'll do more uh Communications about that um a bunch of uh Transportation issues that we need to dis will approve today uh I want to say thank you to the Alpine PTO for doing a donation to the Alpine students thank you for that that's always appreciated um and it's important that it also shows involvement um and we did we discussed the school board recognition which Dr Beck also addressed thank you all so much um one thing I wanted to add to operations as well which is kind of echoing a lot of what was already said uh but regarding the Mohawk Avenue emergency closure I would like also would like to thank Dr Beck and Mrs Madson for taking the community's feedback and the concerns raised to part um as mentioned numerous teams met the very next day and curated a comprehensive list of focus areas to ensure any future areas or excuse me emergencies are better handled uh I think we can all agree that communication was one of the uh main concerns but thankfully Dr Beck has identified the problem areas and arguably more importantly identified Solutions and has already enacted uh some of those so I would like to thank you again uh also I want to mention that Dr Beck and I along with the full board will continue working closely to identify any ways the board uh may be able to offer its support appropriately um there were other issues that arose that we discussed uh so those are ongoing discussions but obviously a very frustrating and concerning day for everyone involved but we appreciate everyone's patience and I especially appreciate the response so thank you um with no one else we'll move on uh to public comment number one um 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 board or Administration may or may not respond to any questions or comments after the conclusion of the public participation so any public comment for agenda items at this time okay seeing none motion to close motion SEC thank you Kurt second thank you Becca all in favor I okay any opposed thank you uh motion to move let's see here personnel and policy we have items 15.1 I believe it was 20 15.1 through thank you Emily can I have a roll call please oh excuse me discussion I'm going to forget that every time discussion please most important part any discussion we covered it already for the most part thank you Barbara roll call when you can miss Collier yes Miss hle yes Dr Martinez yes Mr Morris yes Miss sarafino yes Miss Williams yes Mr wood yes and Miss gagon yes motions Carri thank you um next Dr Beck two small revisions to C cul yeah as we look at uh curriculum instruction and special services I just have two uh really minor revisions um for 16.1 field trips the 2425 field trip to Jefferson Township High School uh that should say uh shs not SMS and then the very next one on 26 The Mock Trial Competition same thing it should say uh shs not SMS thank you so much so motion to move items curriculum items 16.1 through 16.3 motion motion thank you Chad I think second second Emily thank you roll call please or discussion almost discussion seeing none Barbara can we have a roll call please miss Collier yes Miss hle yes Dr Martinez yes Mr Morris yes Miss seraphino yes Miss Williams yes Mr wood yes Miss Gagnon yes motions Carri thank you and on to finance we have items 17.1 excuse me motion to move items 17.1 through 17.5 motion thank you Kurt second second thank you Becca discussion seeing on can we please have a roll call Barbara miss m yes Miss yes Dr Martinez yes Mr Morris yes M sarino yes M Williams yes Mr wood yes M gag yes motion Carri thank you on to item 18 operations motion to move items 18.1 motion through sorry sorry through uh 18.6 motion thank you Lauren second thank you Rebecca any discussion seeing n Barbara can we have a roll call please miss klier yes Miss hle yes Dr Martinez yes Mr Morris yes Miss seraphino yes Miss Williams yes Mr wood yes Miss gagon yes motions carried thank you and we are on to item 19 old business does anyone have anything for old business um I actually do have something for old business um so I would like to set the record straight on one matter of old business a tap into article entitled quote Sparta Board of Education members Wrangle with cell tower safety issues versus Revenue end quote was published on January 10th sadly this headline is not an accurate description of what has transpired so I would like to clarify a few items in mid November we were advised of a verbal proposal from a vendor with a potential interest in installing four to five antennas and a cabinet the size of a small refrigerator on school property we agreed to have the vendor come out and assess the property free of charge and agreed to do our research from there and just to clarify everything I'm saying has already been run by our board attorney um strong opinions formed in the weeks that followed which is fair enough however I cautioned us then as I do now to ensure that we are providing accurate information to the public saying that this board is debating cell tower installation on school property is is not accurate information and as I understand it the majority if not all board members would not be interested in pursuing a cell tower initiative so there is no wrangling over cell tower safety concerns versus Revenue taking place here if and when the vendor presents us with a formal proposal I say once again we receive the specifics including the brand and models of any equipment being potentially proposed to us because again and this is important there is a chance that some of the equipment we would be discussing may already exist on school property and we would simply be supplementing it it's possible so again I say we take those specifics do our research from there and make an informed decision of course weighing all pros and cons considering public input personally and prioritizing student safety throughout um and also Mark perhaps you can weigh on on this this is just more of a personal inquiry I want to caution us against uh ad or revising any policies during this process just because there is a pending proposal do you have anything to add to that is there any ramification that we might face if we were to sort of reactively knowing this has not been raised months and months and months prior if we were to engage in policy revisions regarding this while a potential proposal is on the table yeah I mean we could talk more in exact session under attorney client privilege but I would say that to me it would be premature at this point let's see what's on the table first and then perhaps if we feel that our policies don't adequately address some of the concerns I think it would be appropriate to do it at that point I mean we all know that policies can be amended at any time after a certain number of readings but you don't want to go in circles and do it once only to find out that we miss certain things so to me wait till the issue is right for consideration before actually deling into it excellent I agree thank you I hope that clarifies on that um anyone else for anything for old business okay moving on to new business anyone have anything new seeing nothing we'll move on to public comment number two the board uses the second public comment period to invite comments on all matters pertaining to the school district please state your name municipality and group affiliation if appropriate for the record each participant will receive 3 minutes to speak once you have had your allotted 3 minutes to speak you will not be permitted to speak again all statements should be directed to me as the presiding officer the board or Administration may or may not respond to any questions or comments after the conclusion of the public participation I already did it pre-signed Mark don't worry it's okay safety hazard good evening my name is Angela Delia and I am the very proud president of the sparta Education Association and Sussex County Education Association as we begin the New Year the sea would like to welcome the new and returning board members Dr hle Dr Martinez Miss Williams and Miss sarafino we'd also like to publicly announce that there are changes in the executive board of the sea Rosemary bis will now be serving as our Treasurer and Harriet Anderson will be serving as the secretary Andrew bis and I remain in our current roles we are anticipating great work ahead of us through the ideas committee and an amenable negotiations cycle as always sea members are busy doing what they do best providing outstanding instruction and Stellar support at shs Tom denunzio and Ken scon amilio led the charge last weekend when HOSA took home significant awards at their competition and Sandy chapini Will Anderson and Merill are able to boast major accolades from the regional Deca conference and will be bringing a superior Squad to States this year at SMS Melissa Fitch through her studies and work with the New Jersey Holocaust commission was able to bring ma Dame to speak to the eighth grade Miss Dame spoke about her trying experience as a hidden child during the Holocaust which provided an authentic and moving learning opportunity for our students coming up on February 6th at 6 p.m. Kelly keif has organized an author event with middle-grade author James Ponte and local author Wendy Mass this event is open to the community and sponsored by Sparta books at Mohawk Avenue School Miss delom got married and is now miss fely and Explorations has made its way to Mohawk and is running six successful clubs at Alpine Miss Connelly had a baby boy and we are so very happy for her and her family and as you know this is only a snapshot of the good news from the amazing work that our members do every single day and it's certainly difficult to harness all of this greatness in just 3 minutes we look forward to continuing to share these positive notes with the board and the community in the coming months thank you thank you anyone else from the public wish to speak okay motion to close motion thank you Kurt second discussion no all in favor I'm going to say it every time now and lastly uh anyone for the good of the order oh go ahead Michelle thank you I'm employed by William Patterson University of New Jersey so I would like it noted and documented that I will recuse myself from any matters that arise with my employer um for the entirety of my term totally appropriate thank you so much and miss Decker let let the record reflect that anytime any resolution comes up if we happen to somehow miss it that her vote should be reflected as an exstension okay um excuse me one moment okay all right yeah I have one thing for the good of the order go ahead Chad sorry all right this is going to be a bit of a throwback for any parents but uh this is for my mom but does anybody remember Box Tops um I know that back then you you used to have to cut them out and sort them into bags and remind your kids to bring them into school and my mom as a class parent would go through hundreds of them and she tells me that now it's even easier than ever to participate uh all you have to do is download the app and through the app you can pick the school you want to support and simply scan receipts and in theory uh you can you can scan receipts with products that partner with box top like see the little box top on the side um but my mom personally doesn't care she scans all the receipts because even if you don't participate you can uh it it'll still enter you in a sweep steak and she's already won $10 she'll tell you um now this the sad reality is that you can see how many people participate and I believe that my mom is one of six people supporting Helen Morgan School through the app and this is real money that the school could receive and this is money that you will probably and spend up and you probably will end up spending anyway at the grocery store and all it takes is the scan of a receipt so I just wanted to give a friendly reminder to everyone out there uh that box tops is still around thank you so so much Chad um and with that we will not be returning to Clos session so Mo motion to adjm thank you Rebecca second she beat you to it sorry all in favor any opposed thank you good night for