Good evening. The Sparta Board of Education regular meeting is called to order at 700 p.m. Chad, may we please have the meeting notice announcement. The New Jersey open public's meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at
which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the Sparta Board of Education has caused a notice of the time and place of this meeting to be published in the New Jersey Herald, the Star Ledger, tap into sparta.net, and notice of this meeting
has been posted on the Sparta Township School District website. Thank you so much. May we have a roll call, please? Miss Collier here. Dr. Hinkle, Dr. Martinez present. Miss Mcichael here. Mr. Morris here. Miss Saraphino
here. Miss Williams here. Mr. Wood here. And Miss Gagnen present. Quorum confirmed. Thank you so much. And if everyone can join us in standing for the pledgece of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay. We will not be convening into close session this evening. Therefore, we can get started with a presentation by Miss Tara Rossi, our assistant superintendent, uh, regarding the NJGPA
presentation. [Music] Thanks. All right. Good evening. September. Let me make sure. All right. Um, so I am presenting tonight on the New Jersey Graduation
Proficiency Assessment, NJGPA. Um, these are the results from our spring administration. And just to give you a little bit of information about what the NJGPA is, it's a grade 11 assessment. It's given to every student in that grade level.
And it's one pathway. It's the first pathway as a graduation requirement. So, every student is required to take it. um students can take it again if they don't pass it in their um 12th grade year. And there are other pathways that are then available for them to um demonstrate
proficiency towards graduation if the NJGPA is not passed with proficiency in both English language arts and math. Um readiness is reported separately. So again, those are two different content areas that they're assessing. ELA, as it says on here, is aligned to the grade 10
standards and math is aligned with algebra 1 and geometry regardless of um what math students are taking at grade 11. Um this is just some information. Uh at one point in time, I'll show you when the slides come up. Um well, actually it
says in 2023, cut scores were updated. So um you see a big jump from 2022 to 2023. those um cut scores have been the same ever since. And then there's just some information about different pathways for students to follow. Um that
is on our website for them. Things like PSATs. Um you can also complete a portfolio appeal if standardized testing is not allowing you to demonstrate proficiency um by the time you're a senior.
So this slide uh just shows you there's only two categories that students can fall in. They're either graduation ready or they're not graduation ready. And so you can see in the green is our district performance and in the column to the right of that is uh the state
performance. So in English language arts we had 91.3% of our students graduation ready compared to the state which was 80.7%. um that meant that 8.1% of students were not graduation ready in 11th grade. In
math, we had 76% of our students graduation ready compared to the state uh 58% of students graduation ready. And then again in the green you see uh the percentage of students who were not graduation ready in 11th grade and that
was 24 compared to the states 42%. This slide just shows you a comparison throughout the years. So you can see um what I spoke to a few slides earlier in 2022 the percentages um were much different. So when you look at
graduation ready in 2022 for English language arts it was only 51%. Um they worked with the statistitians and they looked at the metrics to determine that at that point the cut scores were not applicable and appropriate um as they were initially designed. That was the first year that
the test was given to students. And so when those cut scores changed, you could see in 2023 we saw a big jump um 93.8% and we've remained in the 90th percentile ever since. Um there is slight decreases through the cohorts but
maintaining 90th percentile is fabulous because that gives all students the first track of graduation preparedness and um they don't have to worry about using other assessments or portfolio appeals to meet those graduation requirements.
In math, we see something a little bit different. Again, we see the scores jump up between 2022 and 2023. Um not as substantial as in ELA. Um, and then we saw a little bit of a drop off last year. We're still in the 70th percentile
in math, but we jumped up from last year's 70.5% to having 76% of our students graduation ready. That 80% is an important percentage. When you look at research across, you know, the nation and and you know, by um by professionals
who are looking into proficiency rates, you're really trying to hit the 80th percentile. If you're familiar with response to intervention, um 80% of students when delivered by the regular classroom instruction should be able to achieve grade level standards. And then
when we look at 20% of our students, um that is sort of like the the national metric of of the percentage of students who may need different types of support, extra support, and who may have different learning challenges impacting them. So we see we're above the 80th
percentile in ELA. That's great. and we keep climbing to getting closer to the 80th percentile in math. We spent a lot of time with math over the last year. That's been an area again across the nation that we've seen some challenge in in our ability to bounce back um just because the nature of how math works.
But I will report out uh we have our on demand scores for NJSLA which are embargoed right now. So we can't speak too much to them but we're seeing the same increases and trends on those assessments as well. So, a lot of positive results um that we've been looking at.
We have our subgroup charts. So, this just gives you information on our three uh subgroups. Not they're not our only three subgroups, but subgroups that we're required to report out on. So, we see um a lot of different things. Um, when we're looking at English language
learners, if you look at the math box, um, we see 37.5 are graduation ready compared to 62.5 who are not. And if we continue to follow that column across or that row across, um, we see that 25% of English language learners are graduation
ready in ELA compared to 75% who are not. This changes rather drastically in each cohort. We have different populations of English language learners as we do other students in subgroups. Um, but we're continuing to look at how we can continue to support them in a variety of ways. Uh, when we look at
economically disadvantaged students, we see that in math, 76.5 are graduation ready compared to 23.5 who are not. And in ELA, 94.1% graduation ready compared to 5.9% who are not. Lastly, we look at students
with disabilities. In math, 13.3% are graduation ready compared to 86.7 who are not. And in ELA, 65.5 are graduation ready compared to 35.5% who are not. We are looking at some a big focus actually
over the last year and beyond is specialized instruction. really making sure that with our our students with disabilities um that we're really focused on making sure that those students are making progress but also looking at different programs and um instructional strategies that will help
them move forward faster. So we're bringing in some new programs last year uh in this coming year specifically in math that we've seen a lot of progress in reading. So things like um OG reading, they also now have OG math which is a multiensory type of u math
instruction that allows students to use different modalities to make sense of content. So these are things that we've been working on and we still see a need for. So we are continuing to evolve our programming to respond to some of those challenges. So as a reflection, we continue to look
at our curriculum, that tier one curriculum that is offered to all students. Um, something new this year that we got with the NJGPA scores are evidence reports. And that, you know, for people who are nerdy and like to look at data like myself, I got excited to see those because that shows you
specific standards where students um have mastered and show high levels of performance compared to those that they have not. And usually NJGPA is not really showing that information to us ever before. So, it's nice to see more information coming out um around this
pathway. Um, we also look at alignment between our courses to make sure that not only are those standards um, supported, but that the coursework and the scope and sequence allows for students to be uh, to perform highly and to be successful. I think one thing that
we're really proud of is our the way in which we look at data and analyze things together as teams. We have a strong data team. We've done a lot of work with our response to intervention. Um, we have programming up through the high school, which is rare in in most districts. So that's been a great experience. We also
put together a math exploration team where we looked at other districts who have either bounced back very quickly or haven't experienced a decline in the years following COVID. So we've gotten some really interesting information from them. Um we continue to look at how technology plays a role in all of this.
Uh we feel strongly that our cell phone initiative has really helped students to regain traction in class and maintain attention. Obviously, chronic absenteeism continues to be something that we work towards. We see we see growth and improvement. We'll see how the final results play out for us. But,
um, kids have to be in school to make progress and to be able to receive the instruction we're providing. And I spoke a little bit about our response to intervention services. So, overall, positive data. We continue to also see that the other pathways are really working for kids. Our graduation rates
are exceptional. And so um you know we really feel like after a lot of the refining efforts that we've put in place and the evolution of our programming things are really showing in broad strokes um a lot of improvement and positive growth and performance. So that
wraps up the report. This will be online um in a in a few minutes. So thank you so much. Thank you. You guys have any questions? You're good. Okay. As our student representatives are enjoying summer break, we're going to move on to the approval of the minutes.
May I please have a motion to approve the minutes? Motion. Thank you, Lauren. Second. Second. Thank you, Rocky. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstension? I abstain. Okay, that's right. She reminded you. Okay. And then moving
on to our superintendent report. Thank you. We had a very successful close to the school year which culminated with Sparta High School's graduation. For the first time, the high school graduation was held in the morning at 10:00 a.m. and it was absolutely gorgeous day and a gorgeous
ceremony. With this success, we hope we have started a new tradition in our district that is best for our students and their families to celebrate the momentous occasion. Although summer is a break for our students and many of our staff members, that doesn't mean the work stops. Our 12-mon staff
has been working hard to shut down the 2425 school year and prepare for the opening of the 2526 school year. Our ESY program has been running successfully and I thank all of the staff and administrators involved in ESY. Additionally, regular building
maintenance and cleaning has been happening and will continue right up until we welcome our students back in September. On this evening's agenda, you will see a resolution recommending the approval of the girls wrestling co-op with Jefferson Township High School. This will be our
first ever official girls wrestling team. Additionally, we will be offering girls flag football in the spring as this past season was the first time girls flag football was made an official NJSIA sport. We're excited to see these two new teams in addition to all of our
athletic teams in action for the upcoming school year. and a referendum update. We are progressing nicely through the referendum process. We have been meeting every week with our communications consultants as well as our bond council, architect, and construction manager. We
recently received our final cost letters from the NJDOE, which will allow us to finalize our projects, cost projections, and ultimately the tax impact to our residents. The initial tax impact numbers look promising and we will share these numbers and an estimated tax impact calculator with the public in the
coming weeks. We have established and met with a community communications committee and will meet with them a few more times before the September 16th vote. Additionally, we are working on dates, times, and locations for public forums as we approach September 16th. All of this information will be shared
toward the end of this month and or early August. It is our goal to ensure all of our residents are fully informed on all aspects of the referendum so they can cast their informed vote in September. There's my report. Thank you so much for the board
president's report. The only thing I'd like to touch on uh we had a scheduled board certification training uh for June with through the NJSBA. Uh that's towards one of our board goals of board achieving board certification. Unfortunately, due to quorum concerns, we were recommended or advised, I should
say, by our NJSBA rep to reschedule that event. Um, so we apologize for any inconvenience, but we do anticipate that that uh training session will be rescheduled sometime in August. Chad is working diligently with our rep to secure a new date. We will of course make sure the public is aware. Um, and
anyone who's interested in attending as it is a public uh meeting, they are more than welcome to. So, we'll have more to that, more on that to follow. And let's see, moving on. May I please have a motion to approve the HI report? Motion. Thank you, Rocky. Second.
Thank you, Kurt. Any discussion? Okay. May we have a roll call, please? Miss Collier? Yes. Dr. Martinez? Yes. Miss Mcichel? Yes. Mr. Morris? Yes. Miss Saraphino? Yes. Miss Williams? Yes. Mr. Wood? Yes. And Miss Gag? Yes.
Carries. Thank you so much. Moving on to communications uh and our delegate and liaison reports. Does anyone have anything they'd like to report out? Um I can start with communications. Uh I just hope everyone enjoyed our first
newsletter that went out in June um of our monthly board updates. It's something that we're already working on for July and something that I know our board has had a goal for a long time. So I'm excited to get that out. um check your email and find out updates about what the board's doing, what our schools are doing, and referendum updates and
any else important in the district. Thank you so much. Anyone else have anything? Uh just a quick update from ideas. We have a tentative meeting scheduled as well for August, so we'll have more to report next month uh from the ideas committee. And let's see
all others we can wait until next. Okay, 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 board or administration may or may not respond to any questions or comments after the
conclusion of the public participation. Anyone for public comment number one? Looks like no. Okay. Moving on to personnel and policy. May I please have a motion to approve items 15.1. Bear with me. Usually have it written
out. Thank you. 15.44. Motion. Thank you, Emily. Second. Second. Thank you, Rebecca. Discussion. Nothing to report. Nothing to report. No, nothing at all. Hirings, appointments, that's it.
Well said. Status quo. One thing to add to that, too. There was uh one item that will be deferred to the ideas committee. I think that was the only other thing that we had. Yeah. Run-of-the-mill. Okay. Wonderful. Uh we have a motion. We have a second. May we
have a roll call, please? Miss Collier. Yes. Dr. Martinez, yes. Miss Mcichael, yes. Mr. Morris, yes. Miss Saraphino, yes. Miss Williams, yes. Mr. Wood, yes. And Miss Gagnon, yes. Motions carry.
Thank you. May I have a motion? We're moving on to curriculum, instruction, and special services. A motion to move items 16.1- 16.6, please. Motion. Thank you, Emily. Second. Second. Thank you, Chad. Discussion. Yes. Um, so our committee was able to meet on July 7th. We're able to take uh
first look at the NJSLA scores and they're still early but um there are very solid signs towards growth um which is always good to see. We were also able to review the NJ GPA data which Miss Rossy showed tonight. Um and our scores jumped significantly especially um in areas like math and our ELA stayed very
strong. Um additionally staff have been meeting through July to prep for next school year and we're working on curriculum and support services. We also had a discussion about updating the high school uh student manual especially regarding academic integrity and plagiarism. The goal is to take plagiarism seriously but also give
students room um to learn from first-time mistakes because obviously it can be very penalizing for a student to get severely punished even if um mistakes can arise especially with things like AI. There's a lot to consider now. Um so we are taking a look thoroughly. Thank you so much. And just to piggyback
on that I want to thank Miss Rossi not only for your presentation but seeing the jumps that we have and the continuity that we have. There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure that that's happening. Uh, and we appreciate you for leading those efforts. Uh, and obviously building wide, we appreciate the efforts there,
too. So, thank you for that. And, uh, with that, may we have a roll call, please. Miss Collier, yes. Dr. Martinez, yes. Miss Mcichel, yes. Mr. Morris, yes. Miss Saraphino, yes. Miss Williams, yes. Mr. Wood,
yes. And Miss Gagan, yes. Motions carry. Thank you so much. Moving on to finance. May we please have a May I please have a motion to move item 17.1 through 17.18 uh with two resolutions that we'll be adding as well 17.19
and 1720. That is correct. So this evening we're going to add 1719. I'll read it aloud. Uh you were email board members were emailed earlier today. Resolve that the board of education approves High Point Solutions Inc. to complete a core switch
upgrade per quote 103A at a cost not to exceed 295,31359 utilizing -ate funding and district funds from fiscal year 25 and 1720 is resolved that the board of education approves the deed of easement and
related agreement with US Bank National Association as the indenture trustee on behalf and with respect to Ajax mortgage loan trust pertaining to the property located at 96 Hill Hill Trail Sparta um Hilltop Trail, excuse me, Sparta, New
Jersey. Thank you so much. I have a motion, please. Motion. Thank you, Kurt. Second. Thank you, Emily. Discussion. Yeah, I have two things to to bring out to the public. One is uh an
easy one. I want to say thank you to the Mohawk Avenue School PTO for donating uh the tables to the school. We always appreciate when the PTO can help out the district, especially when they know the needs that are required. The second one
is a little less um I'm going to use the word happy. I don't know if it's the right word, but uh this year Sparta district has acred almost 27 or 28,000 in luxury.
um and we predict that will continue unless um we we do something about it. So what I'm taking this moment is to ask anybody who can listen to my voice who has the resources,
please look up your child's lunch bill, please pay it. um this we will have to take some course of action in the next budget to make sure that we pay those we have to pay our vendor essentially that money. So that money's got to come from
somewhere else. So if you can you have the resources please pay your lunch bill. If you don't please ask your district your whatever building you are there are resources to help you cover your your lunch and now breakfast. Um,
we do not want any child to go hungry, but we also need to pay for the services that are rendered. So, please look at your child's lunch bills and soon to be breakfast bills and pay them. And if you can't, there are plenty of resources
within your buildings to help uh fix that. Thank you, Rocky. Well said. Um, with that, may we have a roll call, please? I just wanted to discuss Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Kurt. uh discuss on 17.18 the RFP. Um I'll be a no vote for
that just to give a heads up. Um I I'm still confused why we're going out for RFP. It seems like the majority of the board if not everyone has acknowledged their pleasure and their everything with shank price. No one's really given any
negative responses to what they've done. Um, I know it's always legal costs, legal costs, but if you look at our legal report, it was multiple pages. Now it's down to, I think, one case, one page. So, obviously, our costs have
decreased. Um, everything, our three main partners do do great jobs. And I really haven't heard any complaints from anybody. So, I just don't know why we're wasting the time to go out for RFP when we're so happy with what we have.
And I'd be happy to speak on that a little bit. So, um, without getting into some of the specifics, I will say that there have been areas that I have consistently raised, which we've discussed even in your capacity as board president for for years now, um, that were original concerns that have since
um, either been rectified or addressed. And I'm the first to say that I feel like we've developed a great working relationship with our current um legal representation, which is great. Uh however, you brought up a great point, which is because of the fact that our legal list is now our case list is now
reduced, if we are to approach an RFP, um which is something we haven't done for for this particular vendor in quite some time, I think now would be the best and least disruptive time to accomplish that. Um so this has been an ongoing discussion for quite some time now. I
don't know that I would agree that um I don't think anyone has a specific problem on a personal level by any means. Um but it's more the procedural level. So I would say too there are discussions and you'll see on the agenda for tonight um bear with me one second.
So I I I like to add general counsel negotiations as we go. Okay. We'll have more to report out further on that. But there are certain considerations that have been made again when it comes to creating the least disruption as possible. Uh that has been
discussed at length in committee and finance um and frankly in in other locations too as a full board. So I feel like it's important uh I respect the fact that you've been very transparent about your being pleased and I respect that and you know we might end up voting differently as a result. Um but
ultimately everyone is free to make the decision on their own. I think for the sake of transparency and fiscal responsibility, I think it's important that we are looking at all vendors in a holistic way. Uh, and I don't think this vendor is any different. So, so I had something to piggyback on to what Kurt said. I agree with you
completely. Um, during my tenure on the board, I've seen this legal firm provide consistent, proactive, effective service. Um, most notably helping us settle the teachers contract in record time, the fastest, I think, since 2012. You said, Dr. back. Their institutional
knowledge and responsiveness have real value. Um, in fact, our legal thieves have been decreasing, reflecting smoother operations and fewer costly issues, making continuity and legal representation even more beneficial, especially moving forward with referendum. Um, our legal expenses
remain modest, just one quarter of 1% of our multi-million dollar operating budget. And so for these reasons, I too will be voting no against going out for RFP for legal. So I Go ahead, Laura. Oh, sorry. Um I I do agree with Lee and
Kurt on this. I just Thank you, Rocky. I'm sorry to interrupt you. Um I will also be voting no. I just feel there's simply no compelling reason to to seek change. Um, however, I do hope this is not necessarily about making a change at all, but about the board simply going
through the process as a matter of due diligence. But just based on the conversations, it feels like it is more of a seeking of change. Um, you know, as Lee said, our recent negotiations were settled efficiently and on time, which speaks volumes for their effectiveness.
There, as Shank Price has provided us with zealous representation. Um, they're a single firm that handles all of our legal firms, all of our legal needs from general business to personnel negotiations, referendums, and special ed. This comprehensive approach means that we don't have to engage multiple
firms, which can add increased costs to other districts. We've we've had that in our district in the past. Um, we benefit from the discounted rates of consolidating our legal firm uh legal services with the stellar firm. Um, and while
you know in my four years on the board, I've seen firsthand the unique and necessary services that they've offered. And while I can't speak to any specifics of cases at the table, I can confidently state that they have provided incredible value, significant financial protection for the district while also remembering
the heart of the issue that we are ser that they serve at the pleasure of the board. They're serving the district and remembering the students and families we serve here in Sparta. And I just want to point out the attentive and accessible council that we have. I've had the
pleasure of meeting other firms at the school board's conference and there is something different about the council that we have. You know, um we talk a lot about continuity in the district and it's not just administration, it's not just staff, it's also these
relationships. It's knowing that Dr. Beck can has a really good rapport with our attorney team. Um Mark Zitimemer is consistently attentive to our needs of a board, always willing to listen, support. He's not charging us for calls
here and there. He's highly respected in his profession. And I feel that, you know, it's not even just personally. I think it's in the best decision of the district that he's done exceptionally well with his team. You know, we have Joe Rosselli handling negotiations with such rapport
and um doing it in expedited fashion. Kate who's here with us tonight. K Gilfin, special education is such an important part of our district and I think for me that's why I keep coming back to why I see the benefits of this firm. Um Kate brings a special heart for
educa special education. You truly do Kate. Thank you. That I don't it's very rare to find in attorneys and she really truly works to ensure that each and every student has access to their full and complete public education.
and she has actually come up with ideas that have helped better serve our learners. So, you know, I just see the strong relationships and sense of community continuity as a reason to continue with this firm. And while I support due diligence, um I'll be a no on going to RFP. Thank you for listening
to my remarks. I I just I just want to say that um regardless of the service, it would be remiss if a board does not review their vendors on a daily on a on a yearly cadence. Um so I sit on other boards, we review vendors every three
years, so five years I think we're overdue and there is um they're welcome to submit and compete. But the the reverse of being comfortable is it becomes a relationship that actually is
not helpful. So um normal board governance you should review your vendors and this is just part of that process. Um it's nothing personal. It's we should be reviewing our vendors and it's 5 years and it's time. Thank you.
I mean is it is it the law firm that we don't like or is it Mark that we don't like? Well, because if you really if you like a law firm and you like the lawyers that represent us within that law firm, I'm happy to speak about I roll the dice. So, I'm happy.
You don't know who you're going to come up with. Well, we are going to interview so you don't know what you're going to get. You interview these people and they do all these smoking mirrors in this dog and pony show. You hire them and now you're like,
"Damn, these guys suck." when we already know we have a solid firm in every area of education. We've never had issues. I don't agree with that. Well, barring personal issues years ago and stuff that's and this is but this is important to
understand. It's not personal. Kaitlyn, wait. There's a lot of times where the public came out and personally attacked Mark. Not necessarily the law firm. It was always at Mark. So if it's Mark you
don't like K can sit here every meeting as well. So if the law firm is doing such a great job for our district, why disrupt it and go with someone that we don't know who we're going to get? So to speak to that, I will also say that as a member of the audience, I can
assure you that I have this has absolutely nothing to do with a personal issue. I have worked phenomenally with Mark since I've joined this board and I would say that you'd even agree in your board capacity in your board president capacity. However, out of respect for the fact that he's
not here, I won't speak to specifics, but there are a number of examples that I have raised consistently that I found very concerning when it comes to the way that we were being charged for certain items. Since raising those concerns, those fees and those costs stopped because we were told, "Well, that can
stop." And to me, that's a problem because without that issue being raised by me, those costs would still be incurred. And we speak to things about how our legal bills are down. That's attributable to many things and that's no slight in any way to the work that you and your firm firm do. Uh that's
also a result of a light case load. However, our Oprah costs have also gone down significantly because I'd like to believe that the the public has greater trust in our board currently than perhaps they did several years back. So that's a fee that we are not seeing skyrocketing off of this bill every
single or this agenda every single month. So there are numerous numerous factors that we can pull from. Uh again, I'm not going to speak to specifics in terms of my direct concerns because I respect Mark enough where we've had those conversations privately and he understands. So again, if he were
sitting here, different story, but he is not. So because of that, I don't feel comfortable expo ex expressing some of the things that I have already raised. Um, I will say in that interim time of him being on this board or representing on a general counsel perspective, we did experience one of our highest legal
years to date, exorbitant fees. We were out of what was it 74 districts, we were something like 67th in the state in terms of opposite way of how expensive we were. So that's a problem. And to Rocky's point, I think it is a matter of due diligence. He's not being asked to
recuse himself from submitting. He's welcome to interview. the firm is welcome to interview. In finance, I know Lauren wasn't able to attend, but we even entertained or discussed. Is it least disruptive or less disruptive to potentially keep on whether it's Kate for special services or Joe for
negotiations? Is that an option? Is that something that we need to consider because of the points that you've just raised? So, I can assure everyone this is being approached as a full picture. This is certainly not personal. That is not how I would allow any business to be conducted, especially not my own. And I would hope that you know that by now.
Um, so with that, unless there's any additional discussion, I would say that we're ready to vote. May we have a roll call, please? Miss Collier, yes to all, no to 17.18. Dr. Martinez,
yes to all. No to 7.19. 719. Gotcha. Thank you, Miss Mcichel. 719. Yes, Miss Mcichel. Yes to all with the exception of 17.18
RFP for board attorney. Mr. Morris, yes. No 718. 1718. Miss Saraphino, yes. Miss Williams, yes. Mr. Wood, yes. And Miss Gagen,
yes. Motions carry. Thank you. Uh, moving on to operations. May I have a motion to move item 18.1? Motion. Thank you, Rebecca. Second. I'll second you, Becca. Thank you, Lauren. Discussion.
We covered most of it. Great. Roll call, please. Miss Collier, yes. Dr. Martinez, yes. Miss Mcichael, yes. Mr. Morris, yes. Miss Saraphino, yes. Miss Williams, yes. Mr. Wood, yes. and Miss Gagen. Yes.
Motion carries. Thank you so much. Moving on to old business. Does anyone have anything they'd like to discuss for old business? New business. Seeing none, 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 three minutes to speak. Once you have had your allotted three minutes to speak, you will not be permitted to speak again. All statements should be
directed to me as the presiding officer. The board or administration may or may not respond to any questions or comments after the conclusion of the public participation. [Music] I'll sign in after if that's okay. Good evening. My name is Angela Delucha
and I am the very proud president of the Sussex County Education Association and Sparta Education Association. Tonight I want to talk about what it truly means to invest in our children, not just with words, but through meaningful action. Across the nation,
public education faces growing challenges. But here in Sparta, we have something powerful. The opportunity to lead. the opportunity to come together and say we believe in public schools. We believe in our educators, our students,
and the incredible potential in this community. Let's be clear, this referendum is not about luxury. It's about necessity. Our buildings need attention. Our students and staff deserve better. At Alpine Elementary,
overcrowding is a daily reality. Dedicated teachers and staff are doing all they can, but small groupoup instruction, so vital to student success, is taking place in hallways and in makeshift corners. Art and music remain on carts traveling from room to
room. Imagine the difference a permanent creative space could make. Places where students can paint, sing, build, and imagine freely. Spaces where learning isn't just discussed. It's lived, seen, and felt every day.
This referendum allows for essential improvements across all of our schools. Updates that will strengthen the foundation of our district and solidify the excellence that defines Sparta. We're not just fixing problems. We're creating opportunity. We're shaping the
future where every child walks into a space that says, "You matter and your learning matters." This is more than bricks and mortar. This is about who we are and what we stand for. It's about showing our children what it looks like when a community shows up for them fully
and without hesitation. The Sparta Education Association is proud to support this referendum because we've seen challenges and we believe in solutions. We believe in our students and we believe in this town's ability to come together, rise above, and do what's
right. We encourage our we encourage our community to vote yes on September 16th and show our children that in Sparta their future isn't just hope. It's our commitment and it's our promise. Thank you. Yelling
she's yelling. Jenny Derek's tap into Sparta. First, I want to thank u Matt and Caitlyn for your time this morning, and I apologize for being late, but I was across the street at the master plan committee meeting reporting on our meeting, so thank you for that. And I'm sorry I missed most of your report. Um, I look
forward to checking for it online and with the view with the video. Um, does that h does it have comparative data comparing our results to other similar districts? No. Okay.
So that go to the report card for that. Um [Music] you under um the during the math ex or subsequent to the math explorations team meeting it notes data teams is there a
team in each school and there is is it made up of staff of teachers um directors sorry if you'd like to Sure. Let me know how you um do we have any any I I I I understand
that you have um the the feeling that it the cell phone policy has had a great impact. Do we have anything that's quantifiable? Um do we have feedback from teachers specifically on that issue? Um do we see a change in our test scores that we can point to
that? Um the girls flag football. I did see the two uh three um items on the agenda for hockey and wrestling and there was a third but I didn't see for flag football. Do we need we didn't need a motion on that? Okay. Um now to the
referendum the eligible cost. So going directly to the language that's in the question, the um total cost of 82 million and so on um versus the 49 million 804 eligible costs, which is the
number that the taxpayers will be looking at. Is that the 40%? I just sat there. I didn't do the math. I'm assuming this is the amount that we were going to be asking the taxpayers for and the three the 39 million is the
difference is what the the 40% debt service would be. Sorry for the brain freeze. Um thank you. Um good to hear that we're using High Point Solutions for something. Do can you just can you just um when you get a moment just give me a little bit more
information? a core switch um using the -ate um uh is this going to be part of a bigger bigger contract with them? That's fantastic that we have this great resource right here in town. Worldclass
um company um that we're going to be having some kind of a relationship with them. So that's fantastic. The uh lunch in a rears Rocky I'm happy to um put out some additional information on that. Um, I did take notes about what you were
saying. I have it recorded. Is that if there's anything else other than that each school has resources that um these parents can reach out. Sorry, Jenny. That's time. Okay. If you'd like to email us any other questions, but we'll try our best to answer.
I think that was it. Anyway, to talk. Thank you. Um, Tara, would you like to see us up? Um, okay. So yeah, uh, NJGPA results are on the New Jersey school report card, so you can see them there and that does show trends. I just had to remember where they were located and if you could
find them there and you can. Not for this year yet. So obviously that won't be posted at the moment. So they don't in the reports, they don't show us how we compare to similar districts. They show us how we compare to the state, but then you could look at those, which is what we did to develop that math exploration team. We looked at the NJSLA
scores because those are the scores where we really see we're comparable to districts across the state, but we specifically looked at high performing districts. As I shared, um high performing districts that maintain proficiency are bounced back very quickly. When you look at high performing districts for NJGPA, uh you
see similar comparable results, not this year's results yet because they're not there, but achieving around the 90th percentile with inside of that um for ELA, but hitting around the 80th percentile for math. And so that's what we're striving for at 76%. We're getting
much closer to that, which is wonderful. Um the data team I think question that you asked about had to um well not had to do with but the way that that all started was we did get ample training on um looking at data can be overwhelming and then what you do with it to actually
make it actionable and meaningful is also really important. So every school has a data team. Um it's comprised of administrators, supervisors, teacher representatives, um sometimes school counselors, uh CST members, and so we meet after every screening period when
we administer the STAR assessment. And there are so many different things that we do with that data. We look at um tier one curricular data to determine if there's any curriculum adjustments. We look at students who are um currently receiving academic supports. Um, so
maybe instructional intervention as an example to see if that is still something that they need based on their progress towards proficiency. Uh, we look at new students to see if if there are any students that have come onto our radar. Um, based on those data points, we look at um, social emotional
supports. Um, we look at chronic absenteeism. And so there's a variety of different things through a universal agenda that we look at. We also even look at um our high performing students, students in our gifted population to make sure they're continuing to show progress. Um they require specific and
and very different types of supports. And then we have a process for turnkeying that information not only to the admin team as a whole so that we can learn from one another what's going on in the schools, look at patterns and trends, but we turnkey that information to the rest of the staff as well. so
that that smaller team who is doing that analysis can get feedback from and provide information to the larger staff as a whole. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. And as far as your eligible costs,
um the full is 82 and then the eligible costs are broken up between the actual new addition at Alpine is funded in one way. It's per funded per square foot. That's how the state does it on additions. And then the rest of the costs that are actually upgrades are the
um debt service percentage as well. And just to piggyback on that because it was something we discussed in our referendum committee today, there's going to be a lot of information coming within the next week or so, I would say, give or take, probably closer to two. Uh really breaking down the numbers, and I
know those are numbers that everyone is awaiting. So, I would also defer to the website for a fuller, more comprehensive breakdown, and I will also email you tomorrow on a little bit more detail on that course switch upgrade. Thank you. You bet. Thank you. And then just real quick on the um the
sports thing, um the reason that the girls wrestling and the ice hockey are on tonight's agenda is because we have to board approve the co-op. Uh you don't have to actually approve the sport. And actually the uh coaching for that sport now lives in the newly signed and newly
agreed upon teacher contract. I hope that's everything. If you have a lunch in a rears, feel free to email and we can we'll be happy to provide anything we need from finance. Um seeing anyone else for public comment number two. All right. For the good of the order, does anyone have anything they'd
like to add at the end? Okay, with that motion to close. Thank you, Kurt. Second sec. Thank you, Rebecca. All in favor? I. Any oppose? Any obstensions? Have a nice night.