called to be in the order of the Trenton Board of Education. Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Roll call, please. >> Gerald Truhart, >> present. >> Denise Johnson, >> present. >> Jean Buouie, >> present. >> Addie Daniels Lane, >> present. >> Austin Edwards, >> present.
>> Yolanda Lopez, >> present. Larry Trailer >> present. >> Jeannie Weakland >> present. >> We have a quorum. >> New Jersey Sunshine Law. New Jersey public meetings law was enacted to ensure the rights of the public do have advanced notice of and to attend the
meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted on. On the rules of this act, the Triton Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting by publicizing the date, time, and place. Therefore posted on the website, the times and the star ledger. Formal action
will take place at this meeting. Mission statement. All students will graduate with a vision for their future, motivated to learn continually and prepare to succeed in their choice of college or career. Motion to adopt the agenda.
>> We do have one amendment to the board. We're pulling one item, database analyst job description from the human resources agenda. I believe that is the only We do have a new business item we'll discuss during new business time, but that is the only thing that I see that's going
to change or or modify the agenda. Motion, please. Motion to adopt the agenda with the amendments. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Probably moved and seconded. Roll call. >> Gerald Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson. >> Yes. >> Jean Buouie.
>> Yes. Addie Daniels Lane, >> yes. >> Austin Edwards, >> yes. >> Yolanda Lopez, >> yes. >> Larry Trailer, >> yes. >> Jeannie Wel, >> yes. >> Motion passed, >> Mr. Superintendent.
>> Good evening and welcome to our um I guess fall board meeting. The first we've been back in school. I hope everyone's healthy and back in the swing of things. Today we have a treat for you. Uh we're going to pause our meeting or not pause, this is a part of the
meeting. We have student um performances and today you'll be treated to a performance by our marching band who is right outside and ready to perform for you. So um the the band is directed by Mr. Ted Plunkett, Mr. David Learner, Mr.
Caesar Gonzalez, and Mr. Isai Cortez. So, with that being said, I'd like to ask everyone if you are interested to meet us outside on the steps or around that area to see the band. Otherwise, you are welcome to stay inside until we
return. Thank you. Everyone is uh here and present back a great time with our students. Come on, give him a round of applause y'all. Come on now. They they deserve it. Coordination, uh tempo, all the different instruments. I don't I saw
flutes. I saw trumpets. I saw tenner. What do you call them? Trumpets. Tenner trumpets, drums, symbols, trombones. >> Tuba, >> tuba, >> and then the twirling that the the
what's that called when you twirl >> batons. Batons. >> Yeah, man. the coordination and and the effort that goes into making that happen, the coordination and all the things that that go into those types of um activities and performances.
Um kudos to the teachers and the staff who are instrumental in our teaching our students as well of course our superintendent and his leadership team that pushed the work and make sure that we're all on the right track. And what a great performance that was. I I still
want to give him a a round of applause for the work and for the students participation for for being here. Uh superintendent, additional remarks from our superintendent. >> Yes, thank you. Um just want to update everyone on the issues we're having at
Mott Elementary School. Um on Friday there was a water man break at a sprinkler. The sprinkler activates the fire system. Uh and when it broke, it flooded the basement which flooded anything in it. Uh the boiler systems
and unfortunately it did affect one of the main um circuit things or breakers or whatever they're called, transformers, uh that connects and it controls the power to the building. So uh we had to close on Friday. We had to
come out early on Friday. Uh students did get into school for about 15 minutes and then we were able to evacuate. Uh we closed uh today and we did our team worked over the weekend and today
getting a new transformer in connecting it but then we have to call all of the systems PSEG the city to do their inspections. And during PSENG's inspection, they learned that there was water in the line that comes into the
building, which is one of their lines. Uh, and we don't have any control over that. I was thinking about getting my own tools out to go fix it, but that won't work for children that we serve. So, best thing to do is to let them do it. So, unfortunately, we're closed for
a third consecutive day. Typically, we would try to pivot to virtual after the third consecutive day. Our hope is that we're up tomorrow. We're told that the power will be restored tomorrow. PSENG is currently running the new line and
after all tests, then hopefully we can get back to school. Uh if not, we will be working to see what we can do to get students back into school. One of the issues that we had with students going home so abruptly is we were in the middle of testing and when you're
testing and using devices, we try to keep the devices on campus. And so right in the middle of testing, when we're keeping the devices on campus, we have to evacuate and can't get back there, which impedes us from going uh to virtual. And uh besides the state
doesn't allow you to move to virtual instruction until you have three consecutive days away from school. So if uh something happens after tomorrow, we may activate some type of pickup system as I sit here. I'm just getting that
information around 3:30 today. So imagine getting here and trying to figure out what we do if this happens for a third day. So I'm going to keep my fingers c crossed and hopefully we can get back in. But just wanted to update the public that we're doing everything in our power and have completed our
task. There's still minor repairs uh that we'll have to do and we will have to repair that pipe, but that can be done when the building's open because they've control the leak uh for now. Uh but the power rest on PSEG.
Um, so we will keep our parents and families in the Mott area posted. Uh, and probably will be reaching out to principles if we need assistance to borrow your buildings to get students in school. So, um, at this point, we're just planning what next. Uh the last
thing I just wanted to mention a few weeks ago or a week ago we lost a student and several weeks prior to that I think two staff members I know one I think one might have been retired but one was certainly here um I won't mention their names but just want to
take a moment if you will a moment of silence and recognizing those staff members and that student and always remembering that loss is heavy for uh so many of us and as we come to these spaces to either celebrate or to have
conflict. Remember, there are individuals around us who are struggling with much greater issues sometimes than we are. So, I appreciate it if you will uh bow your head, stand or sit for a moment of silence. Thank you. That's all I have.
Just just a a couple of president remarks. One is directly related to the student that lost that lost his life, a junior ROC student at Trenton Central High School. uh did have a conversation had had a prayer this morning for the family and
the families that whole block that was burned out and lost everything. I'm not sure if you can imagine what that feels like, but it's not doesn't feel good, right? And so we want to definitely lift up that family in prayer and make sure that we provide
move to action and provide the resources that we can because we have we have we have the resources. they don't. And so we have to make sure that we step up and provide those resources. I had a conversation uh with Denise Crease, my
long longtime friend here in the board, as long as I've been here, she's been here, I believe, and she said through the work here in the district, uh whether it be shelter, whether it be gift cards, whether it be uh toiletries
and things of that nature, they they need this so desperately food, all those things that we take for granted, food, shelter, and clothing are primary needs and those being provided by the district through our superintendent, of course, his leadership team and uh the family and
community engagement department, which they do outstanding job of supporting all of our families in the district. Uh secondly, in a conversation with our Westward Councilwoman, Tesco Frisbee uh over at the West Ward Center, they are
collecting uh foods and clothing and there's a there's a list a litany of list a well not a litany but a list of things um that the family is requesting. One of the things that I did not um did not think about because I'm when you're not
in that situation, you don't think about it, right? So I thought, "Oh yeah, that's clothes and canned foods and food and all, you know, all the good things that we take for granted." But guess what? They have nowhere to store those things right now. And when you think about that, you think about the
devastation that these families are going through and continue to go through and and the ble how blessed we are to have. And so the Westward Center had a concert with Tesar Frisbee, our council woman of Westward over at the Westward
Community Center. Uh they are collecting these things, food and clothing and canned goods and all the things. There's a list I'll share with the superintendent. He can share with his team to share with with everyone in the district over at the community center started I believe today and it's
ongoing. So that's another resource for the family. the families been in they've been in contact with the families of those victims uh through that tragedy and so that's one way we can give back in actionable actionable steps. So not
only we have our district engaged, we also have community engaged. So I encourage everyone, the board members and everyone uh to to reach out to give whatever you can to the families because they're in desperate need. And and one of the first things you need to secure,
of course, is shelter, right? Without shelter, they can't supply. They can't they cannot house the supplies that they're being given. If if you think about it that way, I didn't think about it that way. They can't house the supplies. Just think about it. They cannot house the supplies
that they're being given right now. And so what a tragedy, but we are here to make a difference in their lives. And so I encourage all of you to do so. Uh we also uh this past week cross community incorporated down to Cure Arena. Um Feed
the Hungry. It was a program Rise Against Hunger. Many of our board members were were there and I encouraged a team of board members to go next year. This is their second year there. They uh put together 300,000 meals for for community for the
communities uh through the rise against hunger program and each board member in front of them has a pamphlet rise against hunger. It starts with meals and it starts with you. Uh they also have uh a port a portfolio on some of the things
that they've done to build resilience as well as a pen and a pen to go on their lapels as well as a pen to write with that shows the the work that's being done in our community. And the important thing I wanted to share is that it was a community effort. It was members from
the entire Trenton Mercer County area, greater Trenton area community coming out to support. Our Trenton marching band was there. Our Trenton students were there. Our board members were there. Our teachers were there. Our admin I believe some administrators were even were even at the event uh at the
cure cure arena. This is the second year going into the third year next year. But think about 300,000 meals were packed by a team of community members to help the hungry and this rise against hunger. So I thought those are important things to to note in our board meeting because
we're involved. We're engaged with our communities. I know that Addie Daniels Lane as well as board member Wakland were there. I'm not sure they had any remarks regarding that as well. Didn't Miss Lane or or Miss board member week?
>> You have any comments related to the rise against hunger? >> Yes, I was there on behalf of Meals on Wheels. But um it was amazing to see the impact that they had and over 1,200 people showed up
to volunteer uh from the city and it really had a major impact on feeding people around the world. Um it was really a great event and I look forward to doing it again next year. >> Yes. So absolutely certainly um echo
what has been said so far and uh had the opportunity to um kind of mix and mingle with a whole lot of different people right for a common effort. And so again the the purpose was to you know supply food to those in need outside of the country but also there was an effort to
bring uh food so that we could supply our own community as well. So, I applaud them for doing both, right? Uh outside as well as inside the community because the people who came were asked to bring um canned goods and other non-p perishable items to support the community. So, I thought that was a
wonderful way of bringing in all the efforts together. And so, again, I was very happy to be able to support for a brief period of time. So, thank you. Absolutely. >> And we're looking forward to a a board member wearing our our new t-shirts and having a team next year. So we'll be
reaching out to all the board members to to come out and be a be a team and they have different teams. Um and one important thing I wanted to wanted to share, they also had sponsors, right? So it's not done by just across community, but cross community is the is the gears that make things work. Uh but they had
sponsors from PNC Bank to um NJM all a lot of major corporations and law firms and things of that nature. And then I looked up, you know, Curina has that that uh teleprompter, what's it called up there? Uh, >> Jumbotron. >> Who? >> Jumbotron.
>> Jumbotron, right? >> And and and I saw the name pop up and that name was Austin Edwards as a sponsor. And so I thank Austin for being a sponsor as one of our board members. Uh, just seeing that name Austin Edwards up there and his sponsorship said a lot about the work that we're doing in our
community and the work that he does on his on his own behalf. So I appreciate that Austin. Thank you so much. a comment from Austin. >> My uh greatest sin is my uh humility. So uh >> Amen. Amen, brother. >> No, just uh very glad um not just to
serve that day, but uh you know, constantly give back to the community. uh just just really uh thankful for um the organizers of that event um because um I think many people are just essentially one or two bad circumstances
away, one or two paychecks away um from being in need, right? I know myself, I've been in those circumstances as well. So, uh being on the other side of it and being able to give back to my community was uh uh just very thankful. So um happy to give back in that way and
thank you for the recognition brother. >> Mhm. Absolutely. You deserve it brother. Um Mr. Earl ready for your presentation. >> That's next on the agenda sir. Thank you. >> So today today we uh have our presentation um regarding summer uh
learning opportunities and programming led by uh Mrs. Sun uh Dr. Conway and Mr. Gutierrez. So Mrs. if you will start us and then we'll rotate through. This is just sharing some of the work that we did this summer. Uh we have a group of our
supervisors here with that were instrumental in our creators program this summer designing. So some of the work you'll see that was done by students was um facilitated by many of our supervisors and many of our
administrators in the room. Can you all hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay. Excellent. Good evening everyone. Good to see you. I think I was just here last month and I'll be here again next month, possibly the one month after. So,
um so I'm here to present to you um a number of programs that ran out of the Department of Teaching and Learning. Yes, the supervisors are here. Um they're at present. They really are the brainchild of all of these programs. But
um I'd be remiss if I didn't mention all the efforts that our teachers also made and the commitments that they showed throughout the summer and our parents who brought the children over to the programs and made sure that they were in attendance as well. So really it was a collection of um different stakeholders
input and the efforts and it takes a village right. So I hope I will be able to do the program justice by just giving you a brief overview. Like Mr. Earles talked about there are two other presentations behind. So I don't want to
take up too much of your time but we are very proud of the work that has been able to be provided for the community. So the first program that I will kind of go over is the future forward. It really is the second year in running but first
of its kind. The program was geared towards the secondary. I'm sorry. So, let me just backtrack. I I jumped. The first presentation slide that you'll see is an overview of the programs that were offered to the students. So, the first
is the future forward, second rise up, and third Trenton creators. So, they each program ged to was designed to be geared towards different populations of students. So, I'll kind of walk you through that. Feel
like the podium's a little ahead, so I have to look back a little bit. I apologize. Uh, yes, if that's okay. Yeah, I'm going to do that. Okay, that's better. Thank you. I apologize for having my back here, but I feel like my
back was probably to everyone anyway, right? So, here we go. Thank you. All right. So, the future forward pres um project was really geared towards the secondary students. So, the students were rising 7th through 12th graders were invited to the program and it really is the second year. The first
year that we ran the program, it was kind of under the umbrella of AP boot camp. It was geared towards students kind of like acquiring those um um study skills, the organization skills, the things that we call executive functioning that we know are so important. In the second year, we
started to infuse like ideas of PBL, if you recall what that is, project-based learning experiences and try to kind of give our students a real issue or real problem or project. In this case, the students were given our graduation rate.
Um in regards to the data that is outputed by the department of education, students were asked to think about their role, their audience, the situation and the product and of course the standards that was guiding the work in the
secondary world was really leading the work in itself. So to prepare our teachers to kind of get in front of the students to provide this sort of facilitation of discussions as well as research there was a lot of professional development that was given and we
usually give those during the last few days if not the first few days of July and June or June and July. In this case it was probably towards the end of July if I recall because the session took place in August. The reason why these sessions took um took place in August
was by design. We were trying to um minimize a number of weeks that students would finish from this program and start in the school year. So sort of like fresh on their memory and get them motivated, take advantage of the momentum. So just moving forward, um
what you see is basically a summary of what took place, right? So you see Mr. Dunston and Mr. talked talking right they're um they were part of the presentation the professional development really helping our educators understand like how do we go about
teaching our students PBL because the idea is that there needs to be a background context but there also needs to be almost like a release of that control for allowing the students to kind of go right go and research and find ideas. They also needed to make sure that the data set that were being
presented to the students were not only readily available, accessible, but also true. Right? So that's pro that's why we landed on the graduation data um our district comparative to the state um state average. And we also talked about
different data sets that guided our work. Meaning like if we're looking at the cohort of students, if we're looking at the students um attendance rates, how are we doing in the historical data on the last three years? We were also looking at the graduation of students in the four-year cohort and five-year
cohort, ML student success. So all of those combinations of like um discussions were had during this training for the teachers to be able to provide to the students. What you see in the middle um is an example of post-it notes, but really it's the discussion board where students were working to try
to create a product. And the product that they were trying to create was a proposal for a program, service or initiative that will address one of the data points that I just mentioned that they feel would make the greatest impact for the improvement and also that will
help improve the graduation rate for the high school. And then third section the right side the product solution presentation. We of course um included the Apple products and applications and we tried to build student agency through um providing them with various kind of
like outlets. Um they could make a podcast, they could make a movie, they could make a traditional form of presentation or andor you know really sky is the limit. We're really hopeful that our students are invited back in November to be able to present these um ideas to you. the
product. Okay, Rise Up is something that we started for the first time this year. Again, it's geared towards the secondary students rising seven through eight um 12th and it really kind of um tried to get at the two groups of students. One group are the students who we call SLife
which is our students who have significant impact of formal education that really is more than two or more years, right? Um, but we know that reality is many of our students who come over, they might be at the age of 16, 17, 18 really haven't been in formal
education settings since first or second grade. So, how do we catch these students up so that they're ready to start the new on the new year, which is September. And then the second group of students that we really invited were the students who were at the cusp of exiting ESL services. So ML students who tested
at the end of the year maybe missed the mark by one or half a point and really trying to boost that so that they're ready to take the um the Rita model which is what we're starting. We actually saw emails coming out yesterday and today in regards to it starting again so they're ready to take it and
they can exit. So what you see are just um summary of pictures of students um being involved in the program. The program was offered in two different languages, Spanish and Haitian Creole. Um we really try to um capture the um the essence of small groupoup
instruction, the intervention that we really try to practice throughout the school year. Bringing that into a smaller section, working with teachers and really providing them that um intensive and also intimate setting for professional learning.
Oops, backwards. So as a result, we saw students grow. Um really this was a month-long program. um not a full month but on or about right and we have our students who grew in just different assessments. initial assessment we were
at 16% 21% was the final assessment for math and students growth in language development the initial was a 56 and I'm I'm thinking about that being collected to 69 and we have pre and post assessment summary which you see over
there so not like a night and day tremendous growth but growth enough for us to say hey we're going to run this again because it's impactful right okay so this is what we all kind of like wait for what are we doing for the little babies that are coming in the summer. We
call them designers, we call them creators. I don't remember all the names that we have, but every year there's a challenge for us and it's a challenge for me to remember all of them, but this year we we call them creators and and really this captures the heart of PBL
from the early early on. So um fun fact, we actually tried this exact PBL with the administrators during the admin retreat. Everybody was engaged in it just so that they can get into the PBL and the idea of it. So this program was offered for students who are coming in first graders all the way to grade six.
So it really captures that elementary mindset. And the task here is that um imagine the Trenton um Trenton makes world takes bridge. We're going from two lane to four lane because it's really crowded, right? So students were um provided with this challenge. You have to now expand the bridge and we're going
to pretend that these little toy bears or to toy cars are real cars and you have to you have to be able to build a structure that's strong enough to hold on to five or six or seven cars of limits. Students were given different opportunities to obviously engage in
that process. Again, grasps is what we follow when we talk about PBL. The goal, role, audience, scenario, product, and standards. and they were able to kind of pro prototype the designs by drawing and putting things together and ultimately
arrived in various products where they were able to showcase with various administrators and partners and um guests coming in to celebrate that. During the process I do want to mention we invited a lot of outside um experts to come in and talk to the students as
we have done in the past. This year, I believe if I recall correctly, it was Mercer County Civil Engineer or Engineering Department that came and spoke to the students and they wanted to see the design. They interacted with students. So, it's not only just about the project, but it's actually exploring
and exposing them to different careers, right? So, I will tell you myself, I didn't really know what civil engineers did until I went to college. Right? But now I know that when we talk about bridges or we talk about playgrounds, when we talk about structures, that's civil engineering. and there are county
like Mercer County that governs that in the township. So, we're trying to expose that idea to our students as much as we can. Um there are various points that um Trenton creators hit in terms of like development and also instruction which you see in front of you. Um really this
um project focused on STEM, right? It's the engineering piece and the science and the math that led it. But there were components like we intentionally put or selected texts that are going to be in front of them that is yes about this topic but it allow students imagination
to kind of run and be able to create and language of course always is our at the forefront of what we do especially when we were servicing the dual language students our multilingual students through our dual language immersion program. So that captures the programs
that we offer to the students. What I'm going to share with you now are the programs that we offer to the teachers throughout the summer. So, every summer teaching and learning, we're very proud of this. We we work all summer long, yes, like everybody, but we work all summer long to create opportunities for
learning for teachers and we invite teachers back to the school and the district to participate in multi-day um training opportunities. And I will say that with tremendous success, for I think really the first time this year, we're seeing hundreds and hundreds of
teachers come out in the summer to participate with us and giving us feedback like this is great. Do it again. Can we do this again? So, so it's actually really motivating us to get go better because we're also very competitive. So, we want to be better versions of ourselves than last year,
next year, right? So, we're already starting to plan it out. The first item that we're going to talk about is Avid. As we know, we have AVIDS system in grades 7 to 10 at this point and the plan is to really expand that to grade six to grade SE 11 next year by next
year. And the idea AVID really is talking about those study skills, right? How do we help our students be as successful as possible by providing them with pedagogical but also like the skill sets that good learners or strong um
strong students who perform well in school they they have innately that we have to kind of train our brains to kind of acquire, right? Things like organization, thinking about um how do I take my notes and organize my ideas? How do I make sure that I can go back to my
notes to find information? So those are things that AVID really garners on. At the secondary schools, they have elective courses where students are eligible and are accepted into where they learn about different kind of study habits in detail in depth and they also
receive tutoring services. Everybody um as a whole school receive also AVID um training that really focus on these pedagogical that you see here. We invited teachers back, not just AVID, all teachers back at the secondary in the areas of social studies, math, ELA,
and science. And they really focus on just many, many different ways of infusing best practices into classrooms, right? Different ways, different ways that we can engage learners, how do we motivate each other, how do we make what we do even better, right? So, those are
the things that um were discussed and you see the bullets. Those bullets talk about what exactly was um discussed during each content area. We also sent our teams, a brand new AVID um teams in our schools and also returning team
members into AVID conferences in Baltimore as we have done in the past. And um it's like a real point of pride for us because usually when we go to these conferences like schools come out in big groups and they all have the matching t-shirts and they're like all like cheering on. So really we're
growing and we are actually on the map. We are representing and we are out there and people are starting to see us. Um we are actually large enough that we can actually bring this conference home. So we're able to kind of house these um conferences and we're actually exploring
opportunities for other districts to come here to be able to see. So those are really exciting opportunities for us. The second item that I'd like to highlight is the first ever annual ELA literacy summit. Um it was held in um Dr. Ramuran's um Jefferson Intermediate
School. Thank you for housing us. And we had oh my goodness 206 teachers in attendance over the course of I think three to four days. And it was nothing but literacy. It was nothing but ELA, nothing but workshops, nothing but small group. And there were I mean teachers
loved it and the administrators loved it and our principles who came they all loved it. So it was a really good time. We were able to really unpack this big ideas that we perhaps don't have the opportunity to do so in a school year
because everything is so like run go. So it was a good time for us to kind of sit back and be able to unpack ideas and brainstorm and plan things out. And I will say for the most part like we're seeing evidence of this in the classroom in September, right? September is
usually a little bit tough because everyone's trying to get the year started and small group is happening but really like we have to assess the students first. But we have teachers who are really eager to like bring this into the classroom and show their students and unpack it with them. So it's really
exciting and it's a momentum that we're totally going to continue taking advantage of. Um the other item that we we want to talk about is WEDA PD. So we have had series of small groupoup instructional support um um PDS that uh
Miss Herrera has offered to um teachers throughout the year into the summer. What that is is really helping teachers make and take. We call that make and take. So you make things that we want to see you using in the classroom and you get to take it and then you can deliver it, implement it the next day, right?
How powerful is that? Um these series however are talking about WEDA specific. If you recall WEDAS is the governing like standards that ELLL's or MLS follow. WEDA screeners is the assessment the standard assessment. The WEDA can do
standards talk about what students can do even though they might have limitations of language and communication through that language. So there were a lot of professional developments that really talked about like unpacking these standards because if you're an educator not really
familiar, it's like a bear. It's huge. So it's really hard to unpack it and try to apply it to your practice. So these workshops really helped focused on like why language and why is it so important and what do we do as educators to really empower our learners who may not have
the language but have the ability to kind of output. Right? So these um these PDs were also very successful. You see Mr. Brooks there, the VP of Jefferson. A lot of principles and VPs administrators showed up and showed up their supports which was wonderful. The last I believe
um PD session that I'll highlight today is the math and science administrators PD. So we have amplify science which is the um elementary and discovery and we also have envision mathematics as well as bridge in kindergarten. Right. So,
there's a lot of things that are happening. Oftentimes in the elementary world, we focus a lot on ELA. We talk about small group instruction, the readaloud, the mentor text, and writing, right? We don't often talk about math as much, right? So, like what does it mean
to unpack a math standards? What does it mean to talk about phenomenon driven instruction? How do we garner students curiosity in the context of science? Right? Those are like a little bit more of a difficult kind of a content because as elementary and I'll speak for myself
elementary teachers you really go to school and you come out of school ready to be a teacher on the context of language arts right so math can be a little bit tricky. Uh we had really big success with administrators and principles who are shown but some of
them are unshown in these pictures. Um they asked good questions they participated. We really engaged and we did a d big dive into like unpacking difficult concepts. So like what does that mean when you're going into classroom and you have students who may need that help? How do we assist as
administrators to make sure that we are the facilitators for teachers so that they can be the facilitators of their students, right? For their students. So really good stuff um happening in the summer. Yep, I was right. So that was the last slide um that captures all the
things that took place in the summer in teaching and learning. I apologize for the speed in which I I spoke. I was trying go trying to go real fast for the others to follow. >> Any questions before? >> We'll take Dr. Conway and then we'll ask
questions. >> Okay. Do you want me to return this? >> Yeah, I'll hold your question. No, you can leave it. You'll need to pivot to >> All right. Sounds good. I'll be back. Good evening, board members, superintendent, colleagues, and school community. Um, I'm pleased to stand before you tonight and just share with
you a quick update on the 2025 high school summer program. Um, as you know, I have flanked by the high school principles, Mr. Dana Williamson's, our high school, Capitol City High School principal, and Miss Mary Courtney, who will be able to answer any questions
that I may not be able to answer. As you know, Trenton Central High School houses our comprehensive summer program for all of our CA uh campuses, Trent Central, Capitol City, as well as the 9th grade academy.
Um we had 123 students register for high school summer school from 9th grade academy and there were a total of 479. Now we start the registration process in June and these are the kids that need a second chance to to uh maximize all
their high school credits. And so that's how many students actually registered prior to the start of the summer program. At Capitol City, we had 41 students register. Four of those students were from 10th grade, 14 from grade 11, and
23 seniors needed a second chance. And then, of course, we had the bulk of our students came from Trenton Central. We had 99 students in 10th grade, 139 students from grade 11, and 77 students in grade 12.
Our summer program offers both in-person classes as well as online classes. We had 228 completed courses from Trenton Central High School. Now, that number does not mean we had 228 students, but
we had multiple students who took more than one class. Now, students take a uh an assessment to test into these uh online courses. And based on how you fare on that assessment, you um are assigned a certain number of modules to complete. So, it's possible for a
student to actually take four online classes if they're really aggressive in um and as well as attend some inerson classes. And then we had 50 students from Capitol City complete online courses as well.
The course that required uh the most support, the most number of students that registered was chemistry. We had 60 students who needed chemistry and our low enrollment class was ESL students or the ESL class which actually serves as a language arts class for students that
are struggling with language acquisition. So we saw the number of students that actually registered but all those registrants like all the other programs don't actually show uh students don't always show up nor do they always complete the course. So when we think about the students that actually
completed the courses, we had 43 students that actually came from 9th grade that completed summer school. We had 61 10th graders, 84 11th, and 44 seniors. And that's from again Tangga and Trenton
Central. And then looking at the Capitol City completers, we had 27 students. Now those students came from the ninth grade academy. They're in that they're in the same that 43, but when they leave Capitol City, they're actually being
pointed towards I'm sorry, when they leave Tangga, they're actually being pointed towards Capitol City. And then we had again five 10th graders, 11 11th graders, and then 14 seniors. Here we see uh the courses that were offered and the number of students that
actually re um enrolled in these courses. You can see chemistry again being the highest followed by algebra 2 and then algebra 1. Um and then you can go across and see the uh the enrollment numbers in all the various courses there
with ESL being again the lowest course. And then some of the things that we actually achieved as a result of this second chance opportunity. We had 63 students that graduated. They received all the credits that they needed. they uh met the DOE's requirements and they actually graduated over the summertime with their high school diploma from
Trenton Central and then 12 students who met the same requirements from Capital City and received their high school diploma. >> And with that, I yield my time. I was going to ask It depends which one's the down arrow with depending on how you hold it, right?
Good evening, Mr. Earl, President Truhart, board members, colleagues, families, and friends of Trent Public Schools. Uh, my name is Abdel Gutierrez, director of specialized services. I'm joined by Miss Nola Akapenti Derita, our supervisor for special education, as
well as ran point for our one of our many programs and services that we offer during during the summer. I wanted to just do a brief introduction to their extended school year program. Our extended school year program is not only a program but also a service that we
provide to our students during the summer. This is for our students that have a greater chance of regressing during those breaks, those what we call the summer slide or the slides that naturally occur with our students. These
are the ones that make sure that we we address the students that have the the greater percentage of regression and we try to address them during the summer months. Uh four solid weeks during the summer extended school year. Uh it's one of our
programs and services that you have to be found eligible for. But I'm going to let Miss Accenti Dita to kind of get the highlights and all the glows and groves of the program. Thank you. Yep. Up and down. >> Up and down. >> Good evening. Okay. So, I want to just
begin. I'd be remiss if I didn't introduce the two teacher leaders who have were the boots on the ground who actually helped with the program. So, if if you'd indulge me for a moment, I'd like to address uh Miss Terry Harper Brown who was one of our teacher leaders. Yeah. And she's a teacher at Trenton
Central High School. um has been with the district for for a few years and uh a few and um she's very invested in our students. So she's been our teacher leader for the second year in a row this year. And then this year our other teacher leader was Shakita Fenel. So
So uh Shakita is a teacher at Joyce Kilmer School and she just so happened to also be the Mercer County uh teacher of the year for the county. All right. And I'm I'm as Abdell said, I'm no lack of derita. I'm one of the supervisors of special ed. Um very
quickly in some of the pictures you will see are our special ed department who we comprise of. Um this was tied to our theme. Our theme this year was the great outdoors. Um let's come outside and explore nature. So everything that we did had to do with a thematic approach
with nature and outside. So the ELA materials that students read had to do with nature. Some of the hands-on activities that they engage in had to do with nature as well. And then this is just a couple of pictures of our students uh during their funday and and in action in class.
In terms of the demographics, as Mr. Gutierrez said, students are eligible for ESY through their IEP process. Um, you must be eligible through ESY if you're in danger of regression and need to recoup skills over the summer. Over 450 students are eligible for ESY based
on their IEP. In terms of this year, over 300 confirmed. We had a high of uh 207 and then the average participation was around 180 daily student attendance. As stated, the theme was the great
outdoors. um we incorporate art and physical adaptive physical education into the day. So the students do integrated art therapy and again the art had to do with the great outdoors and any type of thing with nature. In terms of physical education um students engage
in different activities, some of it involved outdoor activities and some involved in the gym at um PJ Hill School. Oh, I'm also remiss I would also like to thank uh TEA Wilson and Mr. ans for also entrusting us with their building to use their building this year for for ESY. Um in terms of what else is
offered during ESY academics but also the related services and therapies are also there. So we have occupational therapy uh speech therapy, physical therapy and we also have certified behavior consultants who also work with the students as well. We have a sensory
room that the students engage in that they had breaks to engage in the sensory room. We had over 25 teachers in the ESY program and we had 25 classrooms obviously, but the highest number of students uh were the preschool disabled
students that we bring in. We had over five classrooms of preschool disabled students. Uh that speaks to continuing the partnership and the consistency and the transition from preschool into into kindergarten. In terms of those classes, the the students as I said were over we
had over 45 students in those classes. The next highest group of classes we had were our autism programs. The students who were working on verbal skills, also engaging with peers. They also engaged in some of the early literacy skills as
well. And then we tied around with the rest of the programs a few classes of intellectually disabled uh cognitive mild impairment classes as well as a few learning language disability classes and multiple disability classes. Um, in
terms of the length of the program, it's four weeks. It's Monday through Friday. So, our program is a daily program Monday through Friday. It is 8:30 to 2:00 p.m. The program, we refined it. It used to be a six-week program, but when
we surveyed parents as well as some teachers, there was some slide in terms of individuals were not attending the last week of the program because parents would often take students on vacation. And then the first week of the program, sometimes we would lose a couple students in the first week. So, we did
an intensive uh four-week program based on student and parent um recommendations as well as uh teacher input as well. And I would like to say that this year we did something a little bit different in terms of improving our parental
engagement and trying to get more active in the in the program. We had uh two days of parent orientation for the program on July 1st and July 2nd. On July 1st, we had the preK through 2nd grade parents come in and then on on
July, I'm sorry, on July 1st, pre-K through 2nd. And then on July um 2nd, we had the third grade through at least um 10th grade students. So, we had over 100 parents come with their students and we had a nice little explain what the ESY program was. It was kind of a back to
school night during ESY so they could meet their teachers and have that sense of knowing who was with their child. And we were very grateful that they entrusted us with our students. So as stated, it was an outdoor theme. Uh each
week had a different theme uh nature's and explorers. Um, they've discussed careers, camping and stargazing, wild animals and insects or rocks and minerals depending because as I said, we went through prek through 11th grade. So, we had a rage gamut of of students.
Um, in terms of the second week of the program, and I'll let you decide um if you believe in fiction or non-fiction because it was one of the things that we we discussed. The students learned about a Bigfoot or Sasquatch. So, uh, they read some books about that and they had
some activities about that. And during that second week, uh, Sasquatch, uh, you'll see the picture later, visited the building. But, um, throughout throughout the day, uh, the weeks leading up to it, you would see footprints around the building or things that Sasquatch would leave around. Have
you seen him? So, the younger students, um, we didn't have Sasquatch go in there because I think they were afraid of of of the Sasquatch, but the older students really enjoyed it. Um, we also had where the students planted a garden. And then as you see here, and I just saw her today at at Trenton High, um, one of the
students below, uh, our older students in the cognitive mild class actually read to our preK students and our K through through three students. So, they were they had a few days where they did that as well. And then the students really enjoyed seeing their well, their
peers uh, reading to them and engaging. And these are students who'd been in the program for years as well. So to see them engage and grow and do was very heartwarming. And then we also had a um on-site petting zoo where children learned about animals, their habitats,
and how they interact with each other and their environment. And then as you could see, there are some little footprints in the upper left corner. Sasquatch left the footprints around. Um there were some warnings in the right. Sasquatch or Bigfoot is spotted at PJ Hill. And then there he is in the middle
um with with the older with the older classes. Uh and Jim, our our BCBA and and Mrs. Gallagher, one of our teachers are looking on. So yeah, the the older classes were in really enjoyed that. Um and then you'll see as well in some of the pictures, as I said, the related services. They were pushin as well as
pull out. So you see a couple of speech therapists, some occupational therapists in the middle, and then the physical therapist is working with the with the student on their um gross motor skills. Um and then these are some more therapies. The student in the middle, he was in the sensory room and then they
were working on on hands eyes activities for for some of their arts and their sciences. And then the on-site petting zoo, which they all loved, but this is the only little guy who wanted to like take the picture. the rest of them were running around with the with the adults. So, there it was a hit, the on-site petting
zoo. And then um these are actually some of the activities the students engaged in. As you will see with the nature exploration, they actually went out into around PJ Hill School. Um and they collected different items and then tagged them as to what they were. They
classified them. Uh they created some diaramas. And then again, as I said, they did some gardening and planting and and growing and taking care of a garden um at the end of PJ Hill School. And then we culminate with a funday activity. So you see on the left, that
is some of our funday activities. That's the culmination. Um this was one of the bulletin boards that students and teachers had developed. Again, another diarama. And then in art class, they did a little rock garden with some of their their individuals as well. And then
these are some students on our funday. the students decorated their t-shirts. So, as you can see, they used their little hands to to make a a campfire. Um, so they they really enjoyed that. And yes, there's a s'mores there. The teacher does have s'mores. They had face paintings. So, the students really
enjoyed that. And then I'm excited to announce that the teachers were so psyched about this upcoming year coming that we actually kind of have a theme for this year coming because it's America's 250th birthday. So, uh, the
teachers came up with let's do something about to celebrate the United States and their birthday. So, we actually have begun ordering some of the materials and put the order in for this next year's ESY program and hopefully uh it will be bigger and better every year we improve.
So, thank you I'll try to keep it back. Board members, no questions. >> I just have I just have one for Miss Sun. >> Um >> I'm taking notes. I need to take notes.
That's how I remember things. But I did not indicate the purpose for the rise up program. What was the purpose of that program again? >> So the rise up program um was seeking to capture our multilingual students um in two populations. The first population
was the Slife student population. students who have s have significant formal interruption of their >> interruption of their formal education. >> And then the sec second population of students are students who are at the cusp of exiting ESL um programming um
per REITA screener which is the standard assessment. >> Oh, so it was so academic instruction for them. Okay. >> Correct. Correct. So they're both academic. There's some cultural aspect in it in it, but really to catch them up so that they're not necessarily like
running to catch up. Um, they have the summer to kind of breathe and get to know each other, learn a little bit about the culture and different cultures that exist, American culture as well and then kind of hit the hit the new year with u hit the ground running is is what I was trying to say. Yep.
>> Thank you. >> Yep. Absolutely. >> I have a couple questions for Dr. Conway. your numbers on the um amount of high school kids enrolled in the summer program. Um are they rising juniors or are they
juniors that finished last year that are going to be seniors this year? >> They were juniors that are going to be seniors this year. So the high count of juniors, they're trying to graduate on time. Correct. >> Correct. Correct.
>> Okay. So that's the incentive. >> Yes. >> Was this voluntary or >> Well, >> strongly suggested. >> Strongly suggested, right? If you want to graduate with your cohort, you're missing a few credits. You need to come to summer school and make up those credits.
>> That's it. Thanks. Mr. Buie, I just want to say kudos to everyone who did this. This was a huge summer of activities for our children. And and what really stands out for me is all over the city, folks had other stuff for
children to do. And so the fact that they the parents took this work seriously enough to help um their students prepare for ne for the coming year. Right. So I just want to I just had to acknowledge that. That's a huge
to the teachers who sacrificed because I used to hear the teachers got uh jobs as teachers because they wanted the summers off. So kudos to the teachers who sacrificed for the children. I mean it wasn't like it was free, right? But but still just making that sacrifice so that
our children are better prepared for me. That's a big deal. So just thank you for that service to the children. >> And with that being said, uh more questions? None. Uh Mr. Super, could we have uh Dr. Sun, your team, your your summer school team stand up? I had your
supervisors and some other folks there. Great job. Great job. Wow. Great job. Good work. Fantastic. And then the same for Dr. Conway and Principal Courtney and Principal Williamson. Your team stand up please.
Please rise that up. Good work. Great work. We have to recognize success and excellence where excellence success is due. And so we thank you all for your work, your continued work and leadership in leading this district to greatness.
We can't do it without you. appreciate you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. You're going to move on. All right. Thank you, Abdell. Your team Esy as well. Your entire team.
Your entire team. Don't char don't charge it to my heart. So I thought I got everybody up. I didn't but thank you Jane Howard for reminding me. But thank thank you for all the great work that that you're doing as
well. Essy I mean Aapente Lillian great work great presentation. I mean I really enjoyed all the presentations and that was one of the one of the greatest presentations we've heard I think that I've I've seen in firms of ESY just how it was put together. And then also, you know, just looking forward to we see
right here, looking for already to next year, preparing for next year. And and in my tenure here on the board, I'm sure others, our preparation for future wasn't always that great. And now, oh my good work, we're we're we're light years ahead of preparing and preparing our
teachers and our students for success through our superintendent, Mr. Earl, and his team and all of you who are here tonight. And so we again appreciate you for preparing way in advance to make sure we have what we need for our teachers and our students and our families to be
successful in our district. Thank you so much again. Comments by board committee chairs. I'll start out with governance committee. We met on September 15th at uh 6:00 p.m. Um and we discussed our strategic plan. We
do have a email out to our representative from New Jersey School Board Association. She was here actually in our retreat in August, board members. As you remember, we were working to select the different agreement or a different type of plan that we wanted to move into in terms of our strategic plan. There
were two options. uh we decided that we want a a combination option or a com a combination of both those those um plans and so I have reached out to Maryanne Freeman who is our New Jersey schoolboard association rep for a meeting with our governance committee.
I'm yet to hear back hopefully I hear back sometime this week and we hope to have a a recommendation to the board for our strategic plan agreement with New Jersey School Boards Association at our October board meeting, October 13th board meeting. And so the again the
governance committee will meet with Maryanne. She will will go over again the two plans that were presented to us at our board retreat and we will would decide on a recommend recommended agreement to the full board on October the 13th. I just want to make sure that
um I shared that from the committee. Uh number two, we have a new proposed committee restructuring of our committees. Right now we have uh roughly seven committees. Uh we have five that meet on a regular basis and two that are
uh negotiations as well as um grievance that don't meet on a regular basis but meet as needed. Uh so our five primary committees we're going to consolidate and I'll turn over to the superintendent to go to go over the uh new structure that we're proposing.
>> Thank you uh President Truhart. Um yeah, I can remember it by heart that we have to attend there. There actually seven committees that we have um on different nights and different times. So one of the suggestions or the proposal
is to the board to consider streamlining and in particular on Tuesday night, the night before the week before the board meeting to have one night of committee meetings, three committees. um that
combine the groups. Now I don't remember the combinations but I can tell you that. So um the first one would be named administration and facilities and would include operations um special education
uh no no operations facilities face technology and infrastructure uh and the proposal is that uh Mr. Buouie uh be the chair. Uh the committee members are Miss uh Brother Buouie. Uh
um Jeannie Waklham and Larry Trailer. Uh and then there's district staff that depends on the night could be a part of that committee. And this is just a proposal we've been discussing. The second one is teaching and learning. We'll keep the same name, but it
includes special education, bilingual education, instructional technology, and professional development. Um, we added as a uh just in the proposal that Addy Daniels Lane would be the chairperson, the three board members, Addie Daniels
Lane, Yolanda Morero Lopez, and the new board member um who will be sworn in soon. Um, so she'll be here at the next meeting. And then various members. So that's uh led by Mrs. Sun and her team,
Mrs. Grant, uh, Mr. Sam Sam uh Samuel and of course I may u be in that meeting also. Um and then we have the human resources committee uh proposing just a human resources committee which includes policy also
chaired by Mr. Edwards uh and the members on that committee would be Austin Edwards uh Mr. True Hart uh and Miss Johnson uh and then various members from our cabinet would join that team. We will keep governance separate. It
will meet the Monday prior to the board meeting Monday. So we would do it the week before and continue that conversation. That's about planning. So we decided to keep that committee but one night all three committees. Uh and then that would require us all to be
able to answer questions across committees uh to board members who have questions regarding items that show up on an agenda. Uh but what what I think the idea was that we have so many commiti uh committees and commitments uh
and sometimes those are conflicts where we can't come and get that good information. uh and so and with myself even trying to attend seven meetings a month uh along with the other meetings can be difficult although we've done a
great job of it. I wanted to make sure that um we offer at least propose something that would commit us to one night prior to the board meeting uh and then that way would wouldn't have to do two times on four or five different
nights for everyone. >> Thank Thank you, Mr. Earl. Uh, two other recommendations once I received the new proposal after the committee meeting were to potentially have a recommendation to have co-chairs of those
combined committees as well. Um, and then align those committees to our strategic plan. So, each committee would line up with a strategic plan. Each committee would have a chair and a co-chair to support one another because we're combining a lot of different committees. It's a lot of work involved.
Um, and maybe the co-chair could uh commit to specific areas for example in in the board operations where Jean ch would chair uh the co-chair would be probably sister week who is facilities.
So she would co-chair that particular um committee and then that roll up and then that we align to a strategic plan laid out for us. So, these are all proposals. We will uh superintendent and I will get together and pull that together with the
committee's recommendations and then incorporate tonight's recommendations and then get it out to the board for your review on paper and then uh next board meeting have questions. If there's questions now, we can answer questions now. Have dialogue now in addition to our next board meeting. And then we can
also work to work towards approving the new committee structure. The committee structure would start at a reorg meeting. So we uh in J not at our reorg meeting but it'll start in January, right? Wouldn't start reorg but the new committee structure will start January 2026 and our schedule would then run
from January through December of of next year based on the new committee structure. So any questions around the recommendations? >> So we're going to get this in writing to review, right? Okay. So, I'll save I'll
save mine, but it comp it it complicates everything for me because, >> you know, we've been doing this so long that everything else is built around allocating Tuesday mornings for the committee work and and so it gets it
gets a little funky. So, I'll review it, okay? And then you know I have something but I just wanted to put that out there that it is going to be challenging me for me to move to a Tuesday evening as opposed to a Tuesday. >> Thank you.
>> Anyone else Edwards? >> Yeah kind a bit along that same point. Uh but just also superintendent just uh definitely want you to be involved in some of these conversations cuz I do uh want to respect your time as well. I
understand you know being in all these committee meetings and finding the time right can be difficult but it's also important as well. So um you know appreciate that sacrifice but you know let's continue to find what's going to be the happy medium for both the board members and yourself as well.
>> Any other comments board members? All right. >> Yeah. Just I was I just want to make sure the board knows we just proposed it the time and we proposed the time. Uh I certainly want all of us in some level of agreement. So the time can be
adjusted. I know we meet Tuesday mornings. I don't know if that works for everyone and how how that looks or if this even works at all. Um but it's worth taking a look at to see if we can help us all >> try to figure it out. So, thank you all for considering and we'll get you the
document uh ASAP. >> You got it. You guys >> any com? Yeah. You Yes. You ready? >> Well, yes. Missing Miss Lane. Teaching and learning. Yes. Thank you. >> All right. So, um thank you. So the um teaching and learning committee met on
um Tuesday, September the 22nd and at that time we reviewed the agenda items and some of the notable items included um programming to support uh social emotional learning um professional development. Um there was a focus on the arts um dance as well as other
performing arts. Um community partnerships with various organizations were listed. uh family engagement activities, the national honor society, the uh seal of biiteracy, um a new item on uh trade ready and also there was support for dual enrollment
opportunities for um Tanga and also of course uh student study trips were included as well. So those were some of the notable items. The the list was quite long but again those are some of the highlights of the items that were submitted for approval or for consideration. Um also we discussed um
special uh special education needs in terms of an update. Um we noted that classes are between 90 to 100% capacity. We had a number of students that came in from um STEM uh civics uh related services are being put in place. They
actually are in place but again um that's an ongoing process. We also discussed what you heard about today um the ESY um summer program and noted um as per the um presentation that there were 200 plus students um that were
actually enrolled during the summer programming and that it also of note it serviced preschoolers and there were a large number of preschoolers coming from the um various providers who were serviced in the ESY programming and of course it took place at PJ Hill. So
those were the things that we discussed at the meeting and in fact um we also uh raised a question about AI and how AI is being um utilized here in the um district and uh of course we projected that we would meet again um very very
soon because we have an October the 13th board meeting. Okay. So that was it for uh again the teaching and learning committee. So thank you. Mhm. >> Uh so we also met uh Tuesday morning. Uh we looked across and talked about the uh
transfer secretary's report, the treasurer's report, um staff travel, um the bills, um $41,592, $592, $196, um for billing August 29th through
September 15th. the list of uh also out of district placements and um also the donations. And the reason mines are so short because we go into double numbers and so some of that stuff folks could actually
read when you look at the agenda. I just try to highlight um those things that for me stand out and $41 million stands out um that that everyone gets paid when they're supposed to. So, um, and lastly,
the acceptance of donations. Children's Home Society, 150 backpacks filled with supplies value of $2,500 to family and community engagement. Amazon backpacks and school supplies
valued at $10,000 to family and community engagement. Wellpoint homework folders valued at $1,400. Child win uh usable bags and miscellaneous items valued at uh $150
and empower somerset for activities developed in the school health improvement plan $885 and that's to tank. And we'd like to thank everyone who sacrificed for our children. Good evening. The uh facilities
committee met September 23rd uh at 8:00 a.m. Um Dwayne Mosley gave us an update of ongoing projects and currently the transport new transportation complex. Um the abatement project is 100% complete
and demolition of the structure has begun is and that's 75 complete. Uh the final design meeting for the new transportation complex was scheduled for the 26th of September and as soon as that's approved, they'll go out to bid
um and start reconstruction of the new area. Harrison School, the new HVAC units are operational throughout the school and the new construction of the elevator is under permit review. Um Franklin, the district's engineers are
revising the design drawings. uh to accommodate the relocation of the new HVAC AC AC units in each of the classrooms. Um and there's a proposed startup of the installation of those units. Uh, Ninth
Grade Academy construction renovations are currently in progress and their contractors are currently installing new stud wall system and electrical wiring um in the lower level of the school. That's where the project's being started
first. Um, we've had some required maintenance projects um monument and Mcnite interior renovations. Um the contractors are finalizing the punch list on the work that was done over the
summer. Um Gregory School, the um a PO has been issued for a new HVAC contractor to replace both existing chillers. Um their expected delivery is October 25.
Um and the central administration building, this building here, uh engineering firm is currently working on a redesign of the new HVA system and that's being developed to accommodate the new layout of the BU building.
And that's all we had for now. >> Thank you, Jeanie. Austin's next. >> Yeah, for the uh human resources uh report, um there's a There's a few things I specifically wanted to highlight, right? And um I
want to take this moment uh just to hearken back. Uh there's a period of time I actually uh had the chance to go to the state house and lobby for good uh bills that you know really benefited our community, right? And what we say all the time, especially in New Jersey and
across the US, right, is that um uh is that your budget, right, is a moral document, right? And what we see in the HR report reflects that here, right? So, you know, we see like, you know, there's different uh positions that are being
created, abolished, right? New hires, right? And we're, you know, highlight all the time, right? The specific salaries um that go into uh the new hires. But I wanted to direct the board, especially this time, towards uh the
bottom. uh it doesn't get highlighted all the time, but you know, some of the stipens that are going uh to a lot of our teachers are going to some amazing programs that don't necessarily get talked about or really highlighted here, right? And this
shows where we really put our dollars and really uh where we really put our mouths, right? So, some of the stipens uh are going to teachers that are supporting um and I made note, right? Our Trenton literacy club, our coding club, our pingpong pingpong club, right?
You know, our culinary club, our dance troops, student mentorship clubs, um multilingual learners, our esports, right? Because just be real, like I hear this all the time, right? You know, people are just like, why would I send my kid to
Trenton? And when you see programs like this that don't get highlighted enough, this is the reason why we should send our kids to Trenton, right? We need to highlight some of the good stuff that we're doing, right? This is where our
morals are that we're investing in our children and we're paying our teachers to make great programs happen. And then on top of that, you know, towards the bottom of the HR report, um I love the fact that we're also investing both in our novice teachers and our college
student interns, right? And then also um making sure that our uh uh that they're being taught by uh um uh uh teacher mentors, right? To make sure that um they're not just being thrown into the classroom and saying good luck, right? that they're actually being mentored and
given the tools to become amazing teachers in the future. Right? So, it's not just our kids being invested in the future generation of teachers as well. Right? This is our budget. This is our moral document and this is what we're displaying to the world. So, just wanted
to take, you know, a moment to highlight something that doesn't normally get talked about, but you know, >> very proud of this HR report um uh this month and every other month that we have it. Thank you for that. >> Okay. So, I am going to provide an
update for the um policy committee. Um we met uh briefly on Thursday, September 25th. Um we didn't have a full complement of committee members. So, we spoke generally about um policies that need um
uh updating. and we um plan to discuss in greater detail in our during our October meeting. Uh so we uh discuss reviewing the student code of conduct to determine if
there are any revisions or up updates that are needed. Um, this policy was previously updated to ensure that the district's policies include a shift in the focus on restorative practices
as it relates to student conduct. Uh, we also determined that policy 5516, which highlights the use of cell phones, also needs updating. Um there is some language that actually exists in the document right now, but it does need
revision, especially now that the district is using the uh yonder pouches. Um our uh committee is poised to look at any policies that needs revisions and we
just wanted to um I just wanted to just let all of the board members know that these policies will be coming uh up for your review like we did uh last year and the year before. So that they are coming. Um, and I think that's all we have. And we James actually did uh
circulate our calendar invite for our I believe next two or three meetings, but of course that's going to change likely will change in January. And that's it. >> Hello everyone. Um the phase committee
met on September 17th and uh we discussed the um central office food pantry. Um the food pantry meets on Mondays are have food food deliveries Mondays and Fridays and we work with
airmark and Mercer Street friends. Uh the next couple sessions will be uh the 22nd and the 26th from 9 to 1. Um great work to Denise Chris and the face department within central office. Uh
along with that we wanted to highlight the parent connect series parent talk at PJ Hill which will be uh parent support group opportunities in September and October and a mental health bingo night um at the board building on October 22nd
from 5 to 7. We also discussed the yonder pouch roll out which would uh which we discussed would start October 1st. Um we also discussed um uh student uh chronic absenteeism. Uh as
we know the district is very intentional about uh having care team meetings and working with parents and students to make sure we uh do extensive work to make sure that uh we h we encourage students to come to school as we see with our billboard campaigns and thinking about um uh making sure the
district is using all resources on the table to make sure that we eliminate uh chronic absenteeism in the district. Uh we also discussed uh students facing homelessness and how the district is providing wraparound services for those families as along with transportation
services. And uh we discussed potent um at the following meeting discussing student uh discipline code of conduct policies and regulations. That was um the face committee meeting. >> Um I'm sorry Gerald. >> Yes. >> My apologies and apologies to the board.
I actually misspoke. James actually did circulate the uh the policies that need revision. So the policy committee just uh check your emails that uh that information that does exist there. Sorry, James. Going to move on to public
participation. We have uh first Serena, Autism Advocates and Mama University LLC. >> Welcome to the board. Thank you. >> Yes. Thank you.
>> Pull the mic down. >> Yeah. And turn it. >> Well, thank you. I am Zarina Kawaja, but most of the people that know me for 17 years,
I am Monourir's mom. I have two beautiful children, Monourir Maximus and Ariana Maximus. And what I'm about to say comes from my heart. I didn't write it down. I didn't practice
or anything. I came to Trenton nine years ago. I graduated Catholic high school, Catholic college myself. I wanted both of them to go to Catholic school, but they couldn't. Financial reasons and everything. It's been a
struggle. We left Bayon for a better future and I'm very proud. We have everything that we wanted to achieve, the dream. I didn't need my parents' money or anybody's money. We created everything ourselves.
But my son has taken a backseat. My daughter is an early achiever. I really wanted her to stay in the Trenton board, but I'm not comfortable. I love all these presentations. I'm insulted.
I feel ashamed that I didn't come here nine years ago when we first came and my son needed my help because I was so focused in my career. And as a pharmacist in four states, highly educated, I couldn't even define autism
or mental health. After nine years and after 30 years of practicing pharmacy, now I know what mental health is. until today. Beautiful what you're doing for the new kids. I've been here for 9 years. I've seen the
struggle. I salute you, Mr. James Earl. I've worked with three to four superintendent, and he's groing it. This is what the man you need, but unfortunate, there's a backseat in mental health.
My son has been called a terrorist. My son, it's been called everything in the book. But I'm not going to say anything to anybody but respect those who did all of this. You have hell of a principles,
especially Dana Williamson. That man opened his heart wherever he is in a school that wasn't even ready for autistic kids. He's rocking it alone in capital city
without any major funding or any help. Salute to him. He opened his arms to my autistic kid. This was the sixth or fifth high school. I stopped counting. My son has been shipped out of district
in district. Out of district in district. My son is gifted. I've tried two schools. Mercer and Alpha. In Alpha, he was known as the bomb
threat kid, which he never made. See, Mary Courtney and her staff in her high school wanted to know if my son made a bomb threat. No, he did not. I'm his proud mother. He did not make any threats. He does have autism. He does
have ADHD. He does have OCD. He does escolia if I pronounced it correctly because I'm not a doctor and I'm not a psychiatrist. What I'm asking you today is why are you shipping your kids outside when you have
such awesome staff? The this summer program was not even offered to my son and he was in district. I chose to bring my son back to district cuz I need know your teachers are
better. Mercer taught him two plus two in 10th grade level. Alpha taught him in I think 11th grade. Yeah, 11th grade level. 1 + 1 fractions. My son is doing algebra and geometry and
rocking you United States history, but he has mental health issues. What brings me here today, even though many people said, "Don't talk. We're trying to find you a school. I haven't had a good day since he turned
three. Usually parents drop their kid off. It's one of the most blessing day after 3 months of having them at home. I haven't seen that day yet. I'm asking you make this the last Monourir Maximus. You see that empty
chair? Bring a psychiatrist. Differentiate then punish. If I pulled the fire alarm, I should go to jail. If I said the bad word, I should be punished cuz I'm highly qualified and
51. That boy can't even take a shower independently. My f my husband has not worked in 13 years. I am a sole provider because he needs our help. He
is now home. He's getting that true ABA through insurance and I'm paying 4,000 a month because I want my boy ready for the world when he turns 21. We finally every issue,
every September, every IEP has been a battle for my son. >> Serena, we receive your passion and your comments. Um but we have we have we have a five minute limit on public comment but we
will certainly service you and support you in your efforts. >> All I'm asking you is he will find a school every child is blessed by God and everybody will have a direction. What I'm asking you is your platform is all for regular kids. Just imagine somebody
out of the box going those schools and their anxiety level. I'm asking you to make major changes in your code of conduct. We could sit down, vice president. Your code of conduct is 100 years old and it doesn't deal with
mental health. >> Thank you, Serena. We appreciate your comments. Look forward to your particip your participation. God bless you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I'll see you next month and every month because I'm the only parent that will stand up. >> You're welcome to come. Yes. Thank you so much.
Zola is next on the agenda for public participation. Zola, thank you. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Zola Winder. I am a parent of two children that attend Joyce Kilmer Intermediate. My concern is about
pedestrian safety. Um, I'm not a Trentonian, so forgive me if I pronounce these street names wrong because I only recently learned how to say Styverent. Okay, now Joyce Kilmer is next door to Jefferson School and from Styent from is
it Parkside Park or Parkway whichever park something all the way to the end where Ferry Road is there's nothing to stop traffic or to slow it down. I personally arrive at my kids school an hour before dismissal so I can get parking space because there's
800 kids that leave those two buildings and I'm disabled so I'm not trying to be standing outside fighting in the traffic but I see the traffic come down the street and it nothing slows it down. There aren't any speed bumps. Um there's
no pedestrian signs um to slow down traffic. About a week or so ago there was a um they had to evacuate the school. I don't know if it was a drill or if someone actually pulled the alarm, but watching the staff trying to stop
the traffic in order for 400 and some odd kids just from Kilmer to cross the street was wild. I don't understand why there isn't some type of deterrent to slow traffic down on streets. Even at the opening to
Jefferson, was it wily or whatever that street is? or at the or at the opening to Joyce Kilmer's parking lot, well rather to their driveway. And not just to to to just
look at just those two schools, just in general, if we have any schools that are in our area that aren't always um monitored by our crossing guards or for the children that are leaving school after after school curricular activities that it's after the time that the
crossing guard would be out there. It would be nice if we had something not for me as a parent to come and ask, but something that's done from the very beginning when the school is erected to put up to say, "Hey, do the here's one of those blinking yielding signs, those solar signs to at least say, hey, slow
down." You know, use those little signs to say if your children were here, you wanted you want them to drive like your kids are here. Yeah, that's not I I was guilty of driving down Stifson at a certain speed myself. But now that I see that this is what it is during the times that these kids are out of school, I
really would like to see that there be something done to slow down traffic on Stifent not just at that school but at other schools if there's the same issue where there is no light, there is no crossing guard and it is a vast amount
of stretch of street where these kids have to cross just in order for it to be a safer situation because I'd rather talk about it proactively than for us to be discing something after a child had already been injured. Now, I spoke with my principal about it just because I had
a concern and she had expressed to me that it was something that needs to be done at the city. I didn't know that when I signed up for this. I'm still going to go to the city though and see about the petition, but I don't see why it has to be just the one person that
thought to this because I would like to believe that at some point someone has has thought this or it should just be a part of the the structure from the very beginning. If if this is where we're going to release the kids out at, there should already be a plan in place to make sure that they can cross safely. I
thank you for your time. Everyone have a good night. Can I add to that? >> We are down crossing guards longer. >> Say we're down crossing guards across the city. Okay. All right.
>> Sorry. >> John John is next. Oh, John is next. I'm sorry. Is John here? All right. John's not here. All right. Next is Elizabeth Cole.
>> Oh, he didn't. Okay. All right. >> Okay. >> Hello. >> Hello. Welcome. >> Thank you. Good evening to the esteemed members of the board and to the constituents in the community. >> Pull the mic up just pull the mic up
just a little bit more. Yeah, about now >> we can hear you much better. >> Great. Okay. My name is Tina Clark. Um I'm here on behalf of Miss Cole. I know she's not speaking. Both of us are presented. So she she defers.
Thank you. I also wanted to concur with the mother here. Um I live in that area and there has been some deaths right in that area from vehicular um accidents. And so that really is she's right a dangerous area. So, but um I'm here
actually sad today. I'm sad there's very serious issues related to preschool, right? As we all know the context of the importance and the gravity of how important preschool is, right? And the whole issues with the AVID case and how much disparity there is amongst
especially black and brown children when they don't have that opportunity for preschool, right? So, within in that context, that is why we have the pea funds and so forth. And so it's very important the access issues um to ensure that our children can get ahead right
because they have been behind so much. So within that context when you speak about enrollment our universe um our demographics here and how they've changed these are all weighty issues but I have to say that is actually not why we're here tonight. We're not here to
even discuss some of the more substantive things that are very important to be discussed. We're actually here because we're not able to have these discussions in an open, transparent manner. And that makes me sad. They say that we can't collaborate.
They say that black and brown people can't come together and be solutionoriented. Well, we know that's not true. However, I don't think that we should have to come to our board members and to our uh superintendent to ask, to be heard, to
collaborate, to listen, to be able to ask intelligent questions and get a reasonable timely answer. But in this case, I'm again, I'm not here just because the issues that Miss Cole faced, without trying to go into all of it right now, caused her to feel shut down,
caused her to feel excluded from the application process and whether or not it was fair. She wanted to know, not about guaranteeing an approval for a contract for her preschool, um, but access just to understand what the process is, to be more informed about what she would need to do to prepare for
another year. and every year she just received no she couldn't apply without clarity. So when she asked for clarity then she didn't receive those responses at all like literally crickets just know that she can get the application in that
process. However, what's really important is so many other issues came up that her concern is now no longer just for her school. Her concern is not only just for the eligible children that are at her school. Her concern are concerns that we all have. Her concern is if this is happening on a systemic
level or is it just happening to me? Her concern is that how is the universe actually being defined? are the demographics that we actually have that are sensitive to the issues of um you know the high immigrant population being used to our advantage because there are
certain things that that could cause our children to get less funding from the state and therefore further strain and stress on the Trenton's budget which is already stress and strain right but just to have these conversations intelligently the reason why we're here tonight is to
be able to do that Mr. Mr. Earl, I know your tenure. I remember you at Trenton High. I know you haven't been here that long in this, you know, capacity. So, of course, a lot of this has happened before your watch. She's been hearing this for more than 5 years. But, um, now that you're here, the board is here. Our
ask tonight is even before we can come back with substantive answers to the issues that we raise is we're asking and I'm sad to have to ask for your support to know that we can that you agree with open transport transparent collaboration
that you will support us to be able to get answers when we ask because you represent the community you represent us right in our in our interest and we all are the >> same about a minute left. Okay. One more minute Tina. >> Yes. So, so our request tonight night is
not to um I want you to be aware, Miss Cole wants you to know that for more than 5 years, she's been summarily denied just to even have an application and we haven't been able to get answers to what she would need to do. But more importantly, we don't want retaliation for her asking the questions and we
would like to have the responses and opportunity to either get the information he asked for or to be redirected properly, even if it's an opra, whatever. But we're not getting answers or opportunity to meet. Even um the director of early child education hasn't always had the leadership that's
here now. But we just want to be collaborative. We're on the same team, got the same goals. We just want to be able to work together and get it done because it is important and I don't believe what they say. I do believe we can collaborate. >> Appreciate your comments, Miss Clark. And please send our regards to to Miss Cole. >> Yes.
>> Thank you so much. >> Thank you so much. >> Is Miss Cole here? >> Oh, she's there. Okay. Is she Are you speaking as well, Miss Cole? >> I'm sorry. >> Are you speaking as well? You're >> all >> spoke for you. Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Thanks for your comments.
>> Right. Uh you have to there we have a sign up process uh where we have to sign up either electronically or in person. Um so you you're welcome to speak next board meeting. Uh we look forward to your presentation, your remarks next board meeting, but please sign up. You
can see our board secretary uh Mr. Howard after the meeting or go online and the process is outlined online for you to sign up to speak or you can come in person and sign up to speak as well. Uh but our next board meeting is October 13th. We look forward to your participation.
All right. Okay. God bless you. Board discussion actual consent agenda. Seeing no no um no comments on the consent agenda. Motion to approve. >> Probably moved and seconded. Roll call. >> Gerald Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson.
>> Yes. >> Jean Buouie? >> Yes. >> Addie Daniels Lane? >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards? >> Yes. >> Yolanda Lopez? >> Yes. >> Larry Trailer? >> Yes. >> Jeannie Week? >> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> Board comments. We have a couple of
standing. Thank you, >> Mr. Uh board member comments. We had a couple standing. uh board member comments to go through first uh add lane for NJSBA update. >> Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Distracted.
>> Take your time. Take your time, Miss Lane. So, um I serve on the um board of directors for um New Jersey School Boards Association and uh we recently had a meeting on uh September the 19th
and at that time we were uh given a financial update that says that the New Jersey School Board Association um year has started strong. The uh dues collection was about on target at 86% of the dues. um they had an audit this
particular summer and that audit takes place on a yearly basis and that the um auditors issued an unmodified or clean opinion of New Jersey school board's financial statements. So again um there was an audit that took place and New Jersey school school boards in good standing. Uh there was information
presented on workshop 2025 and that workshop is open for all school boards in the state of New Jersey and that workshop um will take place in Atlantic City October the 20th through the 23rd I believe. Um there are over 200 training
sessions um as well as uh floor exhibits and opportunities for uh student performances as well as student exhibits. There's also this time going to be a number of lunch options. That was a problem before.
It's important that you have nourishment, right? And so, um, so there going to be some new options for food at the New Jersey School Boards Convention, uh, workshop, um, 2025. There's also a new program, um, New Jersey School Board's Association lead program, and
that's to support, um, the leadership growth of New Jersey school board presidents and vice presidents. And there is an executive coaching um program that's being um offered to schoolboard presidents and um vice presidents. And so uh again, it is a
feebased program that offers um one-on-one and group coaching opportunities to bolster um leadership skills. And in addition um just to note, and I think um our sister Denise will share a little bit more about that, that there was a Mercer County School Board Board meeting that took place on
September the 18th. And again, um, for that particular county school board, I serve as a vice president, but Denise is going to update us on that particular, um, meeting and that the next meeting of the county school board will actually take place here in um, Trenton on, uh,
Thursday, November the 18th. So, um, I think >> uh, I'm actually going to provide the update at the October 13th meeting. So, >> okay. So, then I'll just say one thing. So, at that particular time at the meeting that we had at Lawrence High School that we were introduced to a um a
new president for New Jersey School Boards Association and her name is Amisha Smith and she actually joined us at that particular meeting and so it was very nice for her to join us and again we were the first uh meeting that she actually uh joined in. So, we certainly appreciate um that. So, just want to
throw that in. >> Excellent. Larry Trailer legislative update Jersey School Association. So, the legislative committee for the New Jersey School Board Association actually met this past Saturday. Um, we discussed
um you know uh they introduced new the committee members across the state and we had guest speaker um assemblyman Christopher D. Phillips from LD40 and assemblyman Al Baras from LD40. Um we
you know there's a conversation around different issues around school funding um uh money investments into uh uh school infrastructure um issues with special education um and the state supporting that um as well as uh you
know legislative updates. There was a few um laws that got recently got passed since the last meeting of May of 2025. Uh recently the state passed a law expanding childhood education requiring full day kindergartens in all school districts. Uh there was some laws around
public notice reform and IEP meeting guidelines and workshop meeting uh working groups. Um along with protecting student data, um a no fee option for school lunch payments, filter drinking water stations
and mental health resources on ID cards and other stuff. Um that was the legislative meeting for school boards. >> The 4C meeting was held last Thursday. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, so I do not have a report for you today.
>> Okay. Thank you, Golanda. >> Oh, yes. Yes. Uh Miss >> So, if I might just say one one more thing about the Mercer County School Boards Association. So, our topic was AI, right? And so I did not mention that and that was a very relevant topic. Um I learned a lot about it. I learned to ask some questions when I came back to our
teaching and learning committee because again it's a topic that um is very relevant and it's a topic that we should all be interested in because the the future of AI may replace some of us in terms of some of the jobs that we do and other functions that we perform. So
again, I I think it would behoove us to uh again continue to pursue this information on artificial intelligence and how it can be used and also the ethics behind using it. So um just very important topic >> and if I may add something to that, it
reminded me a lot of what the K meta people were trying to bring to us. So I think it is worth a second look >> to Ka. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean one of the interesting things from that training like a training meeting I thought was a
meeting but like a training was the application in education um and how uh in terms from a student access point of view whether it be chat GPT whether it be other types of uh AI that's used by students um trying to get students to
use AI responsibly for their original work and original thought because chat GPT can it's like it's like about a bot that you communicate with that can tell you things and tell you how to do different things. And so it was more how to strategically incorporate it into the
academics of our districts across the state. And Lawrence is one of those pilots that received the AI focus grant. Only reason why I know so much about it is I'm assistant BA in Lawrence. So that's pretty much why I know more about it. Um the AI grant and the focus of the grant is around professional development
of teachers. And so that's a important topic for all of us in education to understand how AI is going to be used by our students uh in education um and also in our families. >> Uh can I add one more thing before uh
>> absolutely comments? two thing uh two thing two bills on the governor's desk right now that I think is really important for us is a Latino and Hispanic American history instruction uh which is uh a bill that requires school districts to provide instruction on history and contributions of Latino and
Hispanic Americans as part of the implementation of the New Jersey student learning standards as well as a chronic absenteeism task force which established a chronic absenteeism task force um which uh would allow New Jersey schoolboard association to recommend one
of the members. >> I just want to say I had the opportunity to attend uh homecoming at Trenton High. Uh one of the best well-run events I've been to in the district since I've been here. Um, I want to thank uh, Principal
Courtney and her staff for running such a fantastic day of activities and everything. And um, there was a great turnout throughout the city. Um, and that's all I have at this point. >> You got to mention this, Lini. We won
the football game 50 to7. >> No, it was fixed though. That was a dynamite game. >> Our boys beat Pete Westman in town that I mean beat well you had you had to be there. You had to be there. >> And one more thing for me and I'll be done.
>> I I had a chance on Saturday also to um be at an event where one of our board members was honored um for being a father, a community leader, a champion in our community. And I just want to say congratulations to brother Jean Buouie for that recognition. Elder Elder
Statesman. That's right. Elder Jean Buie. That's right. >> Well, Larry, back at you. You were just honored as well, Larry. >> Were you not honored, Larry, for work that you've been doing? >> Yes, absolutely. >> What was that honor? Sorry. I did. >> I was honored by Babs Pack, the LGBTQ
Democrats u for my work in the community. >> Okay, here we go. >> That's good work, board members. Good community engagement. Any other board member comments? >> Yes, sir. Mr. Buie. >> Yeah, I just because this is being
aired, right? It's so important that the community and parents in particular pay attention. What brought it to mind is talking about the morality of where you spend your money. I think um Brother Austin talked
about it. the um the budget and where our dollars go is critical. It's driven by the mission and the um strategic plan which is coming up. And so each year we
do this work and uh Jane and her team and the superintendent put together a presentation to take and make things simple for folks to understand. You should know where these dollars go. If
you go to the um schoolboard website, you can actually look at that um um that the presentation document that breaks down all the the line items of a budget. Both are on the website. Take some time
to look at it and during um the upcoming um board meeting where we talk about strategic plan for the next five years, please do participate. We've actually we're living the results of planning
and executing every year goals that support and accomplish those plans. And so it's when you when you hear that the strategic planning meetings will occur because they'll happen all over the city. Please attend. Please make time.
This is important. Um this plan will take us out five years. We're coming. This will be the last year of the current plan and we've been able to accomplish a lot just because the collaboration
with the community, the administrators, the teachers, and the families um have put together this plan and set priorities for us. And so I just it's really important. Um quite often we do
not pay attention to the little things >> and the little things count and so um our spending this year there is one slide that if you it's like my favorite slide. >> It's the dollar
>> and it's a picture of a dollar and the dollar is broken out to what portion of that dollar is spent on which item. Pay attention to that kind of stuff. It's very very important. We're at half a half a billion dollars which I think 400
and change which is a lot of money and we manage it appropriately but but your input is critical to this work. You know what I mean? But but you can't start without some concept and context. So
please look at this strategic plan that we're coming to the conclusion of. look at the budget for this current year because it will take us to the next plan and and then come prepared to contribute. So, I guess that's my that's my plea. I had a conversation with
someone who really um didn't understand like how we get there. And so, and I found it once once I shared the plan like the the presentation, it clicked like that. They always say a picture is worth a thousand words. It's not a lot
of slides. I think it might have been 10 12. So, so it's a big deal. So, I guess that would be my point to implore people to get involved with this work. I mean, one of the feathers in the cap is this Jean and the board members. The beginning of that plan, we hired Mr.
Earl. >> That's right. >> In the beginning of our five-year plan, Mr. Earl was hired. And look where we look look where he's taking. >> That's right. That's right. Good work, man. >> That's what I'm talking about. Progress and and excellence and integrity.
>> And can I just >> I'm sorry. He ran with it. >> Yes, he did. Yes, he did. >> And can I just make one like personal observation? I hate to I hate to follow Brother Jean, but I I just want to make this this one u um personal observation.
So, um I recently retired from the state of New Jersey. Um, I'm coming up on 30 days and I would not have made it thus far um um without having been educated in this district.
Uh I am so um I have very fond memories of uh those teachers who pushed me, encouraged me. Um the guid my guidance counselors, my coach, um Elizabeth Bates was my principal.
Right. So um I just know that this district I'm I'm proud to be a Lady Tornado. I'm proud to be um uh I'm proud to be from this city. Um and I'm so glad
that I've I continue to have fond memories of being a student in this district. So, just know that this district does produce lifelong learners and people who excel in academics. >> So, just I just wanted to to share that.
Yeah, >> we do have one new business item, Larry Trailer. >> Oh, yes. Um, everyone should be look at your um uh paper. There's a letter from the
NAACP New Jersey State Conference. They asked us to um to well they asked for a special invitation for the Trenton High School JOT JOTC team to participate in the state conference annual conference.
Um there they they was asking for the for the JOTC to be served by posting the colors during the convention lunchon of Saturday October 11th 2025 at 12:30. Um it is a meaningful part of the program setting the tone. I believe the lunchon
is a vet veterans lunchon. So they'll be honoring veterans, African-American veterans, servicemen who have contributed to our country. Um and they wanted to our support in that. So um I asked for the board to uh to you know
vote. Am I asking for that? >> You can you can make make a motion. >> Yes. I I I make a motion for us to uh support the or approve the TRJOT JOTC team to participate in this event. >> I second it.
>> Probably moved and seconded. >> I have a question. >> Any questions? >> Um are we in time enough to approve transporting them there? And >> we Well, we have to work out the logistics of it.
>> Okay. to come up here first. >> Okay. We'll we'll modify the motion. Go ahead, Mr. Superintendent. Mr. We will hear the general counsel's uh recommendations. Will mod you modify your motion uh to include pending
transportation issues with district and requirements of regulation. >> Okay. Absolutely. Uh I I should modify. >> You amend the motion. >> Yeah, I amend the motion with those recommendations. The motion has been amended. >> I second it. >> It's been prop moved and second as
amended. Have a roll call. >> Joe Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson. >> Yes. >> Jean Buouie. >> Yes. >> Eddie Daniels Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Richard Smith would completely get me if I said no to this. So yes.
>> Yolanda Lopez. >> Yes. >> Larry Thriller. >> Yes. >> Jeannie Wakliff. >> Yes. >> Motion passed. Thank you. Proper property in order. Correct. Thank you. Decent in order. All right. Thank you so much. >> Yes, we're good.
>> Yes, we're good. General council has cleared it. I'm moving to executive session. Whereas, >> what do you want me to do? >> I'm reading it now. >> Yeah. Where whereas
whereas open public meeting act codified as NJSA 10 col4-6 permits exclusion of the public from meetings under certain circumstances whereas the trend of education is of the opinion that such circumstances present
present exists indicate as follows. Any material considered confidential by federal laws the statute of court rules. Any pending or anticipate litigation or contract negotiations to which the board is or may become party to. And any matter falling within the cl attorney client privilege to the extent that
confidentiality is required to preserve the attorney client relationship and allow attorneys to exercise his or her ethical duties as lawyer as a lawyer. Matters caption settlement of matters as BA OC versus TBOE. Docket number 080609-2025
board goals 2025 2026 discussion the first one was an action item now therefore be resolved by the Trent education county of Mercer state of New Jersey that executive session will be held on September 29th 2025 for the statuto permissionable purposes
indicated in this resolution be it further resolved that action may be taken by the board when it re reconvenes in open session be it finally resolved that the minutes of the executive obsession with regard to the above subject matter shall be disclosed to the public at a later date and to the extent
that the same is not prejuditial to the interest of the parties involved no longer adverse to the public interest or does not endanger any individual rights to privacy. >> Motion to approve. >> So move second. >> So moved and seconded. Mh. Roll call.
>> Joe Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson. >> Yes. >> Jean Buoie. >> Yes. Addie Daniels Lane, >> yes. >> Austin Edwards, >> yes. >> Yolanda Lopez, >> yes. >> Larry Trailer, >> yes. >> Jeannie Weekly, >> yes. >> Adjourn to execution. >> We're returning to executive session.
We'll see you when we come back. So, we're going to go right into um open session. We're coming out of executive session. We have one motion on our agenda to approve settlement in the matter of DA OB OCV TBOE.
>> I move that we approve that settlement. >> I second. Roll call. Gerald Truard, yes. Denise Johnson, >> yes. >> Jean Buie, >> yes. >> Lane, >> yes. >> Austin Edwards, >> yes. >> Yolanda Lopez, >> yes. >> Larry Trailer, >> yes. >> Sister Wland,
>> yes. >> Motion carries. Motion to adjurnn. >> So move second. Probably >> move second. All in favor? I. >> Motion to adjourn. Approved.