--------- We call the Trinton Board of Education meeting to order. December 15, 2025, 5:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag Roll call, please. >> Gerald Truhart,
>> Denise Johnson, >> present. >> Jean Buoie, >> present. >> Addie Daniel Blaine, >> present. >> Austin Edwards, >> present. >> Larry Trailer, >> absent. Yolanda Lopez,
>> present. >> Jeannie Weak, >> present. >> Danelli De Leon, >> present. >> Mai Bellamy, >> present. >> Oscar Santos, >> present. >> We have a coral. >> I'm present.
>> New Jersey Sunshine Law. The New Jersey Suns public meetings law was enacted to ensure the rights to the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted on. On the rules of this act, the Trenton Board of Education
has caused notice of this meeting by publicizing the date, time, and place. Therefore, posting on the web page the times and the star ledger. Formal action will take place at this meeting. Our mission statement, all students will graduate graduate with the vision for their future. Motivate to learn
continually and prepare to succeed in their choice of college or career. >> Adoption of the agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Probably moved and seconded. Roll call. >> Joe Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson. >> Yes.
>> Jean Buouie. >> Yes. >> Addie Daniel Blaine. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. >> Yolanda Lopez. >> Yes. >> Larry Trailer. >> Yes. >> Jeannie Week. Yes. >> Denelli D. Leon.
>> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> All right. We'll move right into the superintendent's remarks. >> Good evening and welcome on this crisp evening. Um hope you all had an opportunity to just get out in the snow
uh and have some fun. And I want to thank our families. Uh last night we met with the Mercer County Superintendent. And uh if you know me, I had no intent to reduce the day or thought we could come in. Uh but I know um cooler heads
with uh all of my colleagues and many of my partners here. We thought about time for you to at least see the streets on a cold day. So uh we were uh we thank you for accommodating us and all the families because you got that message around 6:30 or so. And so my hope is to
always get information to you as soon as possible so that you can make decisions about your children and for staff make a decision about getting into work. Uh so thank you for accommodating us. Um and I hope you had a chance to relax. For you
snow lovers, I hope you had a chance to get out. And for you uh people who are not snow lovers, uh Thursday is coming. It's my understanding it's 50 degrees, so you might not have to deal with the snow for long. So, or any rain that may
come our way. So, um that being said, just um on behalf of Trenton Public Schools, I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy holiday season. Uh and hope that you have time to relax with your families and friends. If you travel, please be
safe. to our staff, uh certainly to our students, and to our families. Uh enjoy the time away from school as we approach uh the week weekend uh and the holidays and the winter break. Um this time I
would like to recognize our student board members who will provide us with an uh information about our schools and an update. Gentlemen, >> good evening, Superintendent Earl, President Truhart, and board members. My name is Mai Bellamy and I am the current sergeant-at-arms within the student
government. >> Uh, good evening superintendent Earald and President Hart and board members. My name is Oscar Santos and I am the vice president within student government. Last Tuesday, during Central High School had a fast night for seniors. It was the
first of the year for parents and students. This Thursday, our visual performing arts and small learning community will be hosting their winter showcase beginning at 6 pm in the auditorium. Also on Thursday, Holland Middle School students will all be receiving a personalized gift as a
result of donations that were received to send them off for the holiday break. This Friday at TCHS, we will have a winter pep rally for winter sports. Several of our CTE teachers and administrators went to an ACT conference
to learn about different CTE programs, ideas, and techniques to bring back and turn key within our students. Martin King Middle School will be having their academic student improvement celebration for their students before the break, which is a great way to send off kids for winter recess. We also want to
highlight and congrats for volunteering at the Trenton area soup kitchen. When we came before the board last month, we asked about increased security and were informed that calls were made to make sure that adequate staff was on hand to assist
with any disruptions. We thank you for that. But however, the security is not necessarily needed to help with disruptions, but because they they are short staff. For example, last Friday, two guards called out sick. So, we were down security officers and therefore
there was not an adequate coverage to assist. Once again, we respectfully ask that additional security staff be added to the budget to ensure adequate coverage for overall safety as well as presence within the high school. Thank you. >> Thank you for sharing, gentlemen. Um,
tonight we have two presentations. Uh, the first presentation is our first trimester um, board goals update. Last year we did that in quarters. Uh this is an opportunity for my team and I to provide the board and the public uh with
information about our progress on goals implementation uh for the first third of the year. Uh the second presentation so I will present that in just a few minutes. Our second pres presentation will be presented by our assistant superintendent Mrs. Hope Grant and Mr.
Julius Clark will share information about the school student school safety uh data system report and information about violence and vandalism uh for the first half of the year which is a mandatory report. So we will get to
work. >> Okay. So, as I stated, um, we've agreed this year that we will have three presentations. uh one in December, one in uh June I believe, and then another at the end, it might be May, but another at the end of
the school school year in August, including summer information. So, this is a great opportunity for us just to talk about progress we've made. Uh progress is progress. Some things are done, some things are still in progress.
Um we're just proud of the work from our teachers, our students, and everyone in the the district to get us moving. Uh we have so much uh good information that we've been able to share uh out in public. So I wanted the board just to,
you know, hear about our first trimester progress. Sorry, going the wrong way. All right. under student achievement. Uh when we uh earlier in the year when we created our goals, we talked about uh instructional
goals and practice. One of the things that we've done this year as an administrative team at central office is being very specific about getting out in schools working with our uh administrative staff and actually going into spaces with them. Actually doing
that as a co-observation. These were the four major areas. One was about specifically instructional practice. That's to see teaching with the principal. In that process, I wanted to share with you what it actually looks like. So, it's me uh and potentially a
principal or another administrator, a vice principal, and I'm really interested in what the principal or the vice principal has to share about good instructional practice. We're not there to evaluate the teacher. We're we're there to see good practice and we're
actually working together to increase our ability to supervise and monitor instruction. So for instance, I have a running list and we document each visit. You have to tell me where you went. Part: 2
and those things, lighting upgrades, a bright place like here. Uh I had a group here this weekend and they came in and said, "This is amazing." And I thought to myself, "What's amazing about it?" Because I come in here every day, right? But it's
brighter. We have the screens. It's changed since some people have been here. So, it's a nice space. and we're saying that. So sometimes you do need to change the space to change the conditions except to change the space. That's a hard concept because I may be
taking something away from you, but it's okay if we're headed all in the same direction. So really proud of the work going on uh in the buildings and grounds department to get that done. Um you can see our other goals. We're 100% complete
and already creating new goals around uh finance. Uh we're working really hard to try to be better every day about how we spend making sure the money matches the student andor the staff and or the curriculum and or PE and or sports and
or arts. All of those things we we want to put every dollar into those spaces, find out the things that aren't working. So a lot of good happening in the uh finance around goal five human resources we have shifted in human resources as
you know uh and we're working with that team there to attract talent retain talent and grow talent. That's work because you always have to uh stay on top of that. The minute you hire 10 people two will decide there's a better
opportunity somewhere. So we don't look at that look at it that way. We say we hire 10 people. Uh, and so we want 10 good people who will stay with us. We're working with our partners and our associations to do all that we can to make sure they're comfortable being
here. And that takes work. Uh, it's a moving target. Every time you think you settle it, we have to go back to some strategy to make sure we retain people, keep good people, and work with our teams uh to grow together.
Um on July 1st we had hired 136 new employees. I think that if you look at board agendas since July 31st uh we had a lot on this one, a lot on the last one, just different people. So that was as of July. That was just a you know one
of our goals to hire good people and hire them in large numbers, do our best to retain them. U but you can see traditional uh methods don't work. You can see I actually put James and Jane to work on the bottom screen there. Finally got them to do some work in here. So, um
but but but a really good um compilation of how we do the uh job fairs and those types of things. So um and then we have partnerships with some uh Ryder University and I teach uh trying to grow
and train and we work closely with individuals who want to become certified as teachers and I think in our next presentation I would love for the team to gather the numbers of people who did not start certified who became certified and are now working in district because
we are seeing more and more of those as other districts are having to do too because there's a shortage of professional staff and there will likely be in the coming years and so we have to be strategic in doing that unless the
state releases or lifts some of the restrictions to bring people on and we don't see that happening in the near future. Um, and then so if Pablo was here, we would tell him just keep it simple because as he speaks, he speaks
tech language. Uh, but but you can see amazing work behind the scenes. That's what helps everything run. And we're working because we've had internet outages often and we're finding out there there are a ton of things that as much as we've done that we didn't do.
We're trying to send this semitr through a straw. And so we need to shift that to make sure there's space for all this information. All 25 schools, a district office and uh buildings and grounds and
all of the spaces here can move information and technology. We're also trying to keep it safe. They're trying to reduce time. If you put a help desk ticket in, we have a system that moves that information faster. So, our team's working really hard under the new
leadership of Mr. Samuel. Uh, and he's working to make sure that we have uh standard SOPs in place to move our business and move it the right way. Uh, so you see a couple of things, his goals. He's put up several training
videos, 14 to be exact. If you know Mr. Sam Samuel, he he gets it done immediately, focused like a tech person would be. uh they take care of business and he puts information out there and we're trying to drive traffic so that if
anyone needs training in an area about how to use a particular system that they can see it from him and any we'll take recommendations I think he's working on a way to get surveys out to staff to say what do you what would you like to know about how to operate uh a lot around
Apple a lot around P school and those types of things because those are the the things we use the most um you see the stream technology rollouts. We uh actually deployed 21,000
um iPads this year along with uh teacher um devices. So, it was a huge undertaking because he came in in July and that was already in place and I was in charge. So, I'll let you know I didn't do a good job before he came in,
but he was able to sustain that and move it forward. So, we're now up and operational. It's our intent to have good practice in place around our technology, the security of our technology, and how we enhance the network to make sure we have a free
flowing of information in the coming days and years. Uh, and I think that's it for questions. I know I went fast, but I know you you'll have questions or we talk about this all the time. I wanted to share with the public. Uh
we're always available if you want a topic. Uh we can go into any topic for a long period of time. No one wants to listen I'm sure but uh if you have questions I will take those. >> So I have one statement and then I have
a question. Sure. So so um the uh this presentation was excellent. I really appreciate it. I noticed a couple of things. there were um the different differentiated learning when you talked about how the children are learning
where they are. I was really excited about that. So now for my question so thank you. Um you mentioned earlier testing conditions and by testing conditions the work that you're doing around that helps our students to be
prepared when they have to take these state tests. So will that work bear fruit in that environment? Are you trying to simulate the environment so that they feel more comfortable because you know sometimes children feel uncomfortable in those environments. So
that's the first question. >> And then the last one was >> um >> and not as much of a question as a another statement. I I heard early on about the educational leadership, the work that's going on with the leaders in
the schools, which is very critical because um succession planning roles around that, too. So good job. So, we're we're hopeful to be very intentional about um your first question. Uh
intentional about making sure you asked me three questions. So, >> testing conditions. So, what we realized is we were out in schools and we learned some things or I would get a call about a testing condition that was not the
best condition for children. And I could cite a few uh but that would take a long time and a lot of emotion I want you to know. And we said that we would no longer just assume that the conditions were good. We're going to check it, see
it, teach it. Uh so it should yield good fruit on the back end. We if we have a quiet space if the students technology works because everything is web-based now. if the technology works and the student and we can work with families,
get the student rest. You think about all the things that go into go into being uh in front of a test and we also have to know that you have to teach that stamina and that comes from student agency because when a student owns their learning or owns their testing, there's
no effort in it. The things you own, you do because they're yours. And so there's so many things that we have to correct. We realize okay so we don't know because when we go in our schools and in our classrooms with our teachers we still see students learning they're right they
communicate they can collaborate they do all the things that we believe u should be available in any highlevel classroom. So why is that not transferring? So we just said maybe it's testing conditions. We're not saying they're bad. We're
saying we're going to be intentional to make sure they're better. And so hopefully over time we'll see uh the benefits of that work. But that's us going and seeing it having that discussion. Hey, we say to the principal, so you have testing coming
up. Are you prepared? Do you have everything? And then we we are teaching them to talk to us about testing so that they also have ownership of that process. Thank you so much, Superintendent. This
information um it's um very helpful. Uh and thank you for the numbers because I I like to see numbers, you know, that uh helps for my um understanding. Uh but you mentioned during your presentation, you said that this pre this presentation will be posted. Is is this going to be
posted on the website? >> Yes. >> Okay. Okay. And um uh I've seen the bill bill billboards that um where you we're encouraging um children and families to to come to school. Well, families to send their
children to school. Um do you know how long those billboards like that information will be posted on the bill bill billboards? Is it year round? Is it through this? >> No. >> Okay. >> So you'll
I think there's only one. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Very nice. Okay. Yeah. There was a billboard where I lived, so it was nice to see to see the um that information posted or or presented to the community.
Um, and I think for me it you may have um already planned to do this for future presentations just to see some of the numbers for attendance. Um, that might be helpful as well. Yeah. >> So, in January uh we had an attendance presentation set for tonight.
>> Um, but it would have been three because we have two >> this one and we were trying to make sure that we >> uh respected time and um I mean we can stay here all night. So in January, Mrs. Grant and team will uh share the
information about attendance and it's striking. I mean, if you're listening, like we tell I always say, if you want to know the truth, we'll tell you, but you can't always just sit there. What are we going to do about it? And our conversations have been ever since we've
seen the embargo data is what do we do now? Because talking about it helps us to understand it, but we're taking action. So, she's going to present in January and I think you'll be excited to see and it's in data numbers. It's by
percentages. It shows um decreases by 10%, increases by 20%. You'll be able to see patterns >> in the month of January and last spring. And what does that mean? So, we won't say what it means, but you might be able
to figure out what it means when you see attendance rising for three consecutive years at the same space and then there's an event or a time in our lives that causes attendance to drop by drastic numbers. If you go back to any of the
comments I made at a board meeting, I shared it. I said, "We'll actually see this in a year or two years. will see the results of decisions. Every decision we make as adult adults have impact on young people long term. Every one of
them. So, uh but we'll present in January. >> All right. Thank you. >> I want to ditto what um our brother Jean said. This was an excellent presentation. And I also want to add that I am so grateful
for you, grateful for your team. I am grateful for the building administrators and their staffs because I can feel the enthusiasm. I can feel the the
expectancy of good things and it honestly fills me with hope. It um I'm not a very emotional person at times, but today I'm feeling emotional. I don't know why I almost cried here, but it's because it's just because I
feel that you have heard us as a board and you have heard the community and and you know you un you have understood and you have been able to gather your people to do the amazing work that you're doing. And although we may not have that
acknowledgement yet from our community, >> we know the work is being done and I am ever so grateful. Thank you. But there is an ask. >> Sure. >> There's always an ask, right? >> You got it. um when you were speaking about you know
our our uh mission for our students the career part I would love to be able to see how we can have some kind of um tracking >> of the students who have chosen not to
go to college and rather start their careers right off graduation >> and if we have helped them in that um so that would and ask for I guess from our learning uh small learning communities. >> Okay. >> Thank you.
>> I think we can add that. I just want to give kudos to the people who work here. I'm I'm very clear that I am one person and there are about 3,000 people who make this move. And so we fight often. We push each other. We pull each other.
But I'm hopeful that we stay in it for the children and for the families. So great staff. You go down every list, every room that's clean, every standard that's taught, every principle that locks a building down because of it. I
mean, everything has to work. And we've been focused on making sure that when you cross the lines, it's a football analogy and I give sports analogies. When you cross the line to compete here, please bring your best for the time that you're here. And then when you go home,
enjoy home. So, we're hopeful to continue good work here. >> Absolutely. Um, thank you for the presentation as well. I definitely was very informative and always appreciate seeing these um quarterly updates or um trimester updates. I just had a
question. I know you talked about um when we talked about student achievement, you talked a little bit about how um teachers are having some PD around AI tools to help with um differentiated learning. I wanted to know a little bit more about that and seeing how we as a district has, you
know, trying to figure out how to use AI to support and serve our students in the district. >> Yeah, I think that AI can it's very scary uh because it can be linked to dishonesty uh when you're talking about assignments, but if you build student
agency and you give rigorous assignments, you can eliminate that. Imagine telling a student, I want you to tell me about the af the continent of Africa or uh the country of X or the city of Y. I want you to work with three
people and I want you to be able to produce this. You can use these three modes and we're going to facilitate that. And this covers 18 standards. Use whatever you need. Right? That's what AI is. It's um I guess dispelling
the fear about it. So you have to train on that because as a teacher many of our teachers are going whoa whoa whoa what's going on. They're able to just spit that paper out and we want original and authent authentic thinking around the assignment. So we do have to train to
make sure we can decipher that when the when the assignments come in. So I think overall it's making sure that we're proactive. Maybe our staff and many of our staff will say, "Hey, we'll you can use AI." Some may not, but if we train
them to look to see if this is the student's voice, remember we talked about uh student voice a few early on. Is it the student's voice? Does James Earl always use that word? Does he always write that way? You can almost
sense it. But we're worried about the content. Are they learning about Africa or the city of Trenton or building bridges? So if they search and find that information and the information is authentic, that's where we want to go.
AI can help that. We don't we don't want to build a world where students use AI for everything. But be forewarned, it's already here and we were behind when we walked in. Right? they've been asking those questions, getting quick
information. So, how do we transition that to make sure it's good information, you know, that it's peer-reviewed if it's a research paper and all those kinds of things. So, and many of the administrators I'm around, I haven't tried it yet, probably because I don't
know the technology as well, but many of my colleagues use AI. Many of those wonderful letters you see posted in districts come from AI. AI. I don't use it because I just haven't that takes me
time to away from something else to type in something and I'm being told you're silly you should just use AI but our goal is to use it effectively. So there number of strategies I can talk to you about different things we do but it's about listening to teachers to hear what
they actually need in a classroom around that strategy and some are afraid maybe of it others embrace it. So uh you have that and we want to live in the century. So we're saying let's train more about it and you get willing participants who
come in and go how can I use it? What do I do with it? And students can create uh and let them learn the content. >> Absolutely. I appreciate that. And I guess my second question is around um I know we talked about our stu student achievement. We talked about especially
like literacy and reading and how important that is as a district. I want to know a little bit more about how we're tying in our community partners who that especially are focused around literacy when it comes to um our goals around um increasing student achievement.
>> So we have a nonprofit community partner meeting. We have the mer I mean the the uh Mercer Street the coalition that I talked about a few minutes ago and we have a number of partners. So, this has
been a bit uncomfortable in Trenton for four years because we're walking in saying, "Hey, you can't do that because it doesn't align with this." So, we're not harsh about that, but we're pretty direct to say, "If you want access to
our children, you actually should do this this way." Think about the child who spends all day with us, shows up at the program, and they're doing something totally different. not fair to the child. It could help because they get an
experience. We didn't touch that the first few years, but now we're actually meeting and we have an application with our nonprofit partners. They must fill out the application, cite the goal, and tell us the type of work that they're planning to do with our children so that
we can see if it's actually aligned to what we're doing. And we're actually more demanding about new partners. you must do. O uh partners who've been with us, we're trying to transition them into saying use this resource because this is the one we use. Use this method because
that's the way the teacher teaches, you know, but many of our teachers are also in the programs and that helps, you know, if they're doing that. So, we've spent some time probably the last two years really trying to align that outside support with what we do inside.
And that's difficult because you think about a partner who's and I've heard them say I'm going to call one of you and they call you by name because I've been doing this for 20 years and I usually say I understand that but we're we need you to help us do it this way
and so we like I said we're very demanding and direct so call and work with whoever you've been working with but we want you to transition to this and it's working because our partners are meeting with us. They're learning about what we do. We just presented last
week and some today about this is what we do. Right? If you ask a teacher, the teacher says that's not what I do. This is what I do. So listen to what we do so you can move what we do, not what you
do. And then let the fight at least be about that instead of a whole separate thing. So we're doing that work now. and it looks like you're in the meeting and you're having to present on the same things because some of these slides I've already presented in those meetings
sharing with them this is how it looks to implement goal one goal two goal three goal four and they're looking at you like oh and we're saying do it this way if you do it this way we can grant
you access right and so we want people who want to be with us. All right. So, I'll leave it at that. They have to want to be I mean want to be with us. All right. >> Yeah, absolutely. And just one followup
for that. Um how are we measuring uh their impact or the like if it's if the support is actually helping us to improve test scores and are we tracking that on a trimester yearly basis? So that's been difficult
and we're having that conversation too for two because we have vendors and our partners come in and say we need data we need to share with our with our donors that uh we're making progress or our students are outperforming others and we
say the same thing. Well, how do you know that? So you think we spend six hours with them and then you have two and that all of their success is related to what you do. So we're saying let's not do that. Let's talk about the kids growth from the time they walk in third
grade to fourth grade. And it can be the uh contributing factors could be the district and everything that we do, the partner and everything that they do, the home and everything they do, the walk to school, the adult who takes them in the
afterchool activity. We continue to pull out what we love to see. And I'm saying there's good and not so good in all of the pull out. So we'll we'll never know that impact. What we do know for a fact
if is a child if a child is with us after school in our programs, they have a better chance of success. doesn't mean that they won't have success, but we know if they're with us in a safe environment, continuing to learn,
potentially being fed, while mom, dad, and family are engaged in adult stuff and making sure they take care of the family, they have a better chance. So, we're just not going to judge that. It would be almost impossible to know, but we do know it's helpful because they're
out of trouble. maybe one, you know, and we see like we see some of our schools the overall school increases in reading, math, and attendance and everything. So, sure and they have strong afterchool programs, but they also have strong
inschool programs. So, what is that? That's a very difficult one. and we're working to figure out how to give our partners data that they can take to their people to say, "Hey, we need your donorship because our kids are increasing." So, there are a couple of things we
won't do and I'll stop. But we won't let you compare the second graders. That's just a rule I have. It's a superintendent's rule because why am I saying that this kid is better or worse than that kid? It won't happen. So, what
I can say is our second graders are making progress or we would like to see more progress because the minute you pit a school or a child or a demographic against each other, and we have to do that with the state, it just doesn't feel right. And
so, we try to stay away from that, but we'll work with our partners to try to get them the data they need to make decisions about funding because some of them are with us pro bono. They're with us. They bring the funding. They bring the services and the supports. Okay, thank you. You're welcome.
>> Um, oh, I must echo uh with uh what everyone's saying. It was an excellent presentation. I think as humans, we love evidence. We love a good story. So, to hear that um you were involved with the non-verbal students and through the investment of technology. You walked out in tears to see that they could
communicate. Um so, I wanted to compliment that. And I do have a question. you mentioned in the presentation about the in attendance and you briefly talked about like new ideas um with the parents and I my question is
I guess like a part two so in goal two when it ca when you were speaking of community engagement and partnerships there was a parent connect conference on October 18th so when it comes to attendance I never want to assume like what's because I wasn't there I don't know what spoke what you guys spoke
about but are the parents aware of the attendance and if there are no ideas, are we receiving their feedback to come up with new ideas to like let them know about what's like this gap that's happening in the district? >> So, we've had multiple uh attendance
opportunities for parents to talk about what good attendance is, what it means if you come regularly to school. So, we've been doing that for years. I think today we hit a flash point and it was like, man, it seems that we have all these good resources in place. We've
adjusted in our schools. We have lighting and furniture and all the things and good teaching and we're just working. Why are they not coming? What is that? Right? And so we started talking about innovation like you have to look at your environment. What comes
out and then what goes in to make sure we know that transportation could be an issue. So, that was a conversation. Uh, is there a way to transport more children than not to see if we can get them there? On the issue of families
having crisis in the home, what else can we do? Because we're engaged. When you when you see the CARES team presentation, that's an invitation. We bring families in. We don't make the data that you're going to see in January. We don't make that up. That
comes straight from them. So, we're talking to him to say, "Why are you not coming? What's going on? What can we do?" We've had recommendations from, "Well, you have to come pick him up because I can't get him out of bed." We've talked about buying alarm clocks.
We've gone up and down the gamut. Here's the bottom line. At some point, education must matter here. And not just for them, for everyone. Attendance must
matter for every single body that exists in the district. Everybody, every staff member, including yours truly, every single student. When that matters, it'll change. So, we're trying to find the right formula to make
it matter without it being consequential. Because the first thing you want to do is, oh my gosh, we're not No, we're not punishing everybody. This is not a punishment segment. Um, but we want to make sure that we instill the importance
of attending. We want adults to attend more frequently. I'm working with my colleagues. One of the things that was mentioned was uh staff attendance. We want to work on that too. We want to work on everyone's attendance because if adults are there, we know research will
tell you one caring if you're wondering. One caring adult for a student who knows their name, who invests changes and may make the difference in them coming. It might not solve every issue at that
particular time, but this is about saving lives. And sometimes you don't save lives in four years in high school. you build every single foundation to save it at 26 so they make better decisions and that's what we're doing. We got this is just it's just the work
that we do. It's not hard. It's not easy. It's just the work. So lots of good but we've we've been with parents talking about what what good attendance mean. We've met with them individually talked to students saying what is this?
Why are you not coming? So for some reason it's hasn't been as important and we're trying to figure out what's the magic you know the magic and making sure that attendance is like one of the most important things that happens. You get up every morning and teaching some grit.
I mean you think about we told an analogy today about the child who if you in first grade because our data will tell you this starts early kindergarten first grade second grade third grade. So, if you're not conditioning your body
physically, right, think about to get up every day and to come in, by the time you're in middle school, you opt out more times than you opt in because it's easy to stay in. Your body has to physically know I got to wake up and I got to work through some struggle and I
got to get to the bus, get down the street, go to the school, and if there are conditions that keep me from getting there, I need to let someone know to see what we can do to help. That's kind of how it works. So, we're going to continue to work on that. It's not an
easy thing to solve, but we're in it. Love any ideas. We talked about incentives too for young people. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> I think that that wraps up the questions uh during this time, but just wanted to
thank you so much, Superintendent, and just share with the board um that this is one of three uh presentations. The next one will be in in April. Uh it'll cover January, of course, January, February, and March, a full quarter. Uh so we'll get an opportunity, another
bite at the apple to hear from our superintendent uh in this presentation on the state of the district and all of our goals. Um in April, that's the second one, and the final one will be in September, which would cover uh May, June, July. Of course, we have August as
a summer month. Uh that would be reported out by our superintendent in September. So that's the trimester. um presentations from our superintendent. Thank you so much and your team for the work that you're doing. Thank you. God bless you. And this this room, one more note, guys, this room needs to be
filled. I'm I'm just going to lay it out. This room needs to be filled with our community. So, I'll take it upon myself as one board member to invite as many people as I can to the next superintendent presentation so folks can hear the work uh the great work that's
being done and the challenges that we face uh in our district. And I and I want to ask each and every board member to make sure that we challenge our community and our friends and our partners uh to come out to hear the work that our superintendent and his team are doing in this presentation. If it's not
three times a year, they can come out. if not once a month, they can come out three times a year. So, I challenge each and every one of our board members in our community to share with their friends and their families and their colleagues to come and hear what's happening in our district, the great things that are happening and our challenge that we face. So, thank you so
much, Superintendent. While we're waiting, good evening everyone. My name is Hope Grant, assistant superintendent for secondary schools. >> Good evening everyone. I'm Julius Clark, the assistant superintendent of school support.
>> Uh Dr. Conway is not with us tonight, but he sends us all of his good wishes and spirits. Um so we're going to go over the first reporting period for our SSDS data. Uh before we go any further, I want to just do quick introductions.
Um usually I'm not the person that we are not the people that do this presentation, but they are in the audience. So I do want to recognize them. They work with our schools every single day on this. And in addition to all of the other supports and um assistance that we provide schools, we
have our uh Philip Ravenel. He is our school support manager for K through three schools. So he is not here. He's a coach and they have a game tomorrow, first game of the fall season, of the winter season. We then have Mr. Dean Mccle. He is the school support manager
for intermediate and middle schools. And we have Mr. Terrence Stokes who's al our school support manager for high school. And all right, so we're going to cover the HIV investigations, the first reporting
period for the 2526 school year, um, violence and vandalism and other suspensions, and also look at the 2526 year-to-ate suspension data. So, um, you have a comparison from the
2324, 2425, and 2526 school year. 2324 is in the dark blue. 2425 is in the yellow and 2526 is in the light blue. One thing we want to note is that this January will complete our first full
year of having the hipster online uh program to report and track uh investigations involving harassment, intimidation and bullying. Uh so we do see an increase um of the number of investigations that is coming in. But
that was one of the things I think last year at this time we were concerned about. We wanted to make sure that we were accurately capturing any time that a family or a student um felt that there was a concern. And so we see definitely
that we are getting more of uh those concerns documented. When it comes to founded cases, we are on par as where we were last year. We have 15 cases this year that were uh made into investigations with two cases founded.
We had 124 reported acts of violence and vandalism for the first reporting period with 60 of those being other incidences. We have 70 reported acts of violence and vandalism through November 30th of 2025
with 73 other incidences being reported. And of those offenses, you'll you can see again we're looking at the same uh blue I think this one it's orange and light blue. Uh so we are down dramatically when it comes to assaults
this school year as compared to last year. We are down for from fights. Um incidences of sexual contact threat simple simple threats damage to property. Uh theft we are saying on average weapons possession we have one
submission. Um substance possessions we have two. Substance uses uh substance use substance distribution and uh false alarm uh we have two. We are up when it comes to other suspensions and that
could vary from um um my mind just drew a complete blank uh of students misbehaving in the classroom um of being of high levels of defiance. And so those are some of the things that you would see when it comes to other suspensions.
And so we are then looking at the three-year trend for the first reporting period for submissions and suspensions. Um violence and vandalism, we are down from from 124 now down to 70. Again with other incidences, we are going up uh
with a reported of 73 and a number of 240 suspensions as compared to last year. This time we're at 351. So in order to get and the and we are still a work in progress but there's a lot of things and this is just a sample
of some of the programs that we do in order to support our students, support our schools, support our families um so that we are understanding how students are connecting with each other um to make sure that they are uh using their
words and not their fists and that we are treating everyone with kindness. So, as Mr. Earl talked about in his presentation, we are in year five of trauma-informed care. That encompasses a lot, but let's talk about a couple of the things. Peaceful practices. This
helps children understand their emotions and equip them with effective tools to manage their feelings. Uh there are six workshop titles that we have for staff to support our staff to get our students to understand their emotion and learn
how to regulate their emotions and uh and some of the stress. Every single school has a hope team. The hope team, their whole purpose is to talk about how they can increase opportunities for positive experiences for children that
may be in need. So the teams get together uh their teachers, their support staff, there's the guidance counselors, their school administrators, and they talk about students um that are already exhibiting concerning behavior and they can come up with a plan to how
to assist those students. It is different from looking at just attendance. It is really actually focused specifically on behavior and how we're able to get students to turn the corner into a positive direction with their behavior. We also have schools
looking very deeply into the New Jersey Sky Survey. The New Jersey Sky Survey surveys students, parents, and staff about their feelings about the school. So, we did it in the spring. schools now have the opportunity to unpack that data
and then develop plans of action about things that um that they want to work on in order to support their overall school climate. One of the things that we saw across the board um were students saying that other students were speaking
unkindly and that's where the kindness campaign got kicked in and this is a uh coming from the district but it is being implemented at every single school where we are encouraging students to treat one another with respect and compassion
throughout the school year. One of the other programs that we have uh which I think we're in year four uh is with our restorative practices. We've been working very hard on making sure that schools are implementing restorative practices in a consistent
manner. In order to do that, we needed to build from within and kind of build our bench. We didn't want to rely on vendors coming in. Uh so we were very um specific in making sure that we had every single school have a person that
is a trained to train the trainer. So they are an expert in restorative practices at every single school. Every single administrator in our district has received restorative practices for educators, every single guidance counselor. Uh and then we had uh all the
culture and climate specialists, the social emotional learning specialists, the guidance counselors, some select teachers all have gone through restorative practices training. So 100% of our schools have provided turnkey restorative practices PD to their staff.
100% of the schools have received restorative practices coaching. And we have 66 restorative practices trainers districtwide. That means you have gone through the full series of training from the Institute for Restorative Practices
to receive your certificate to be identified as um a restorative practices trainer. Um and so this is just a quick example of some of the professional development sessions that we put into place. I'm not going to put them on the spot, but Mr. Hawk is one of our
restorative practices trainers districtwide and provided uh restorative practices professional development during the full day PD and Mr. Clark is going to talk to you a little bit about hipster.
>> Good evening everyone. Um I am one of those people who use AI as you can see by my slides. No, but hipster what we u Miss Grant touched upon it. It is our reporting system used by our stakeholders. Um as you can see is a platform in which um
parents have a way of reporting hip hs or potential hibs if they wanted to. They go to our website and they u fill out the form and they submit it and schools are able to check these hip forms and perform the the uh investigation as needed. Also within this platform, we're able to have
restorative and preventive um training modules and learning modules for our students that can be implemented by our counselors, by our vice principles or principles as necessary. And then obviously we can use that information, the data we received from from um the
reported hibs and through the investigation to do some data analysis to do more um restorative and preventive practices and just um plan accordingly as well. Um, Miss Grant talked about how how our principles are building uh school plans centered around climate and
culture and some of that is using that data information from the hipster as well. And so the online module I went a little bit deeper just so you guys know what it is. The C3 module is more of the uh preventative um practices. That's uh
instead of being reactive, you're being more proactive. Those are those learning modules that you can work with groups of kids that might um have shown aggressive behavior or or certain tendencies. And then we also have the R3. This is just all part of Hipster and that's just the
restorative program and curriculum that you can use for um targets of of hip behavior. That's harassment, intimidation, bullying behavior or for those who are alleged to perform those type of behaviors as well.
questions. Yeah, I just have one. Um, so the other suspensions that were listed, I didn't write this slide down, but but they it's the first couple of slides, right? um just at some point and I know
you don't have it because it would be here but that the that one right there right so it says other is it possible that sometimes later you can provide us a list with some of those other things could be that's because I would like to take a look and if you could kind of to
see which one of those are rising to the top okay I mean it's only it's 73 we got 12,000 kids but you you know you have to be proactive about it, right? All right. Thank you. >> A really quick one. The um school
climate surveys, are those the ones that um the Department of Education >> Yes. >> offers. So, you could give them the link on our website to that. >> So, uh every single school has a specific link for that specific
population. and the data goes to the department of education and we have access we have access to um that platform. >> So how do the parents get the link? >> Uh the parents get the link um through a
QR code that this that is developed for that specific school. >> Yes. But it's not happening. It's it's closed right now. >> Right. But how do they get it? >> Oh, how do they get it? Class dojo, letters home, flyers, you name it. Yes. Perfect. Thank you.
>> Post it on the website. Yes. >> So, >> yeah, I don't have a a question, more so of a comment. Um, I'm very pleased to hear about all the restorative practices training that's going on because I know that that is a a mindset switch, right, in terms of the punitive aspect and
looking to restore instead. So again, I just wanted to comment that I'm very happy to see that every school has some person who's been uh trained and that schools hopefully are embracing this mindset change and that may account for the reduction in the number of suspensions in some categories. But again, my other question is similar to
the one that Gan had about what is that other right that's uh that's going up as opposed to the others that are going down. So just that comment but again very pleased with the implementation of restorative practices training. So thank you for that. >> Thank you.
And um all right. Hopefully it's not as much as the ancho. Nope. Still there. >> So uh I remember uh through Thank you. through the course of these presentations over the years uh and a few comments have been made. uh there
was a certain uh I wouldn't necessarily say trend but there was a point that was made that there were uh uh although these are unique submissions and unique uh incidents that are happening uh the idea was that we we saw that there were
certain repeat offenders like certain people that were constantly the ones that were getting suspension starting by X Y and Z. Um, is that reflected here? Is that still more of the same or uh are these things like the numbers that we're
seeing here more of unique individuals uh that are being suspended? >> No, some of these are going to be repeat students and one of the interventions we have in place is the hope team. So that when schools are seeing that it is the same students that are being suspended
and some of that those other suspensions could include willful dis disobedience um class cutting those other kind of things that um impact the overall culture and climate of the school and still and so when we do see those repeat
offenders we do try to bring them in have them meet with the hope team and develop a a corrective action plan for them. And that's also uh a hope of some of the hipster learning modules. I know we just got a um January is also implementing some of those modules with those who are
repeat offenders as well to be a little bit more proactive when working with them. >> Sounds good. Yeah. And I know you guys are absolutely working on it. I just uh that specific breakdown I remember that being a very interesting point of data. So I just didn't know how that was
reflected in the numbers. But thank you guys for the work and especially the restorative practices cuz I know over time that's what's really going to be helpful. >> All minds you clear. We're all good. All right. Thank you so much. >> Thank you.
>> Just want just want to Yeah. We clap. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't clap. Um from uh for the board, this is uh one of uh two presentations that we will receive this year. We get two a year uh on SSDs submissions. Uh this is
reporting from September through December, which is due in January. Uh from a district perspective in terms of due dates for submission to the NJ DOE. Uh and then the next one is uh in August. So we'll get another bite at the apple on this as well in terms of the
presentation on the results and information gathered for the SSDS submission. So we'll have another presentation uh probably sometime in July or August on the same information. Is that correct, superintendent? Okay. Thank you so much. Just want to let the
board know about about the uh presentations and two mandatory submissions uh every single year on this data both a federal and a state requirement for uh those two uh two submissions. So no further questions on that.
Go right into uh my time. Uh comm comments on uh board committee chairs. I'll start out. Um wanted to um just give some updates uh on some goals that were established, some presidential goals that that were established
um in 2025. Goals. First of all, let me let me say this. Let me say happy holidays to to all of our board members. Uh those celebrating Advent, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kowanza coming up and all in between. you know, happy holidays to everyone as we this is our final uh
board member before the holidays. We won't see each other in in uh New Year's. Won't see each other again until uh till January 2026. So, I want to wish not only the board admin and the administration, but our community who are here happy holidays uh to all of you
in your respective uh season holiday traditions um in 2020 2025. some of the goals, presidential goals that were set in place. Uh, one of the goals was to align our board agenda to our district goals
and strategic plan. And um, I think that that went very well over very well, not only uh, from a board member perspective, but also uh, from a community perspective and district staff perspective, understanding how each of our board goals aligns to our district
goals and uh, and strategic plan. It really lines things up nicely. Uh, one of the other goals that I had was to add New Jersey School Board Association, county and statewide uh, and forces lison representation reports as a part of our our board reports so that we all
understand and know uh, whether it be at the county level with Denise or at the state level uh, with Ali Daniels Lane or 4C's um, that Yolanda goes to on a regular basis. I believe a lot of you still going to 4C's meetings, right? Oh, okay.
All right. We'll get when you can. When you can when you can. Um the other goal that I had was to make sure that um prior to January we have a draft of our 2026 which is our
subsequent year our board meeting annual meeting calendar as well as our committee meeting schedule from January to January to December of 2026. So you have that in a draft form uh for tonight's board meeting. So you can take
a look at all the calendar items for 2026 for our annual board meetings as well as our committee meetings uh for 2026 just to kind of give us a head start and understanding when those meetings will be. And if we need to make any changes to uh committee meetings, uh
please please let me know and superintendent and Jane Howard know and we'll make those updates prior to our January 6 reorganization meeting where we will be approving our annual board meeting calendar as well as our uh
committee meeting schedule as well. So please look at those important documents and if you have any adjustments, please uh please let us know. Uh for 2026, one of the things I'd like us to look and work on is enhancing our committee review. Uh one of the things is we want
to drive data um district data analysis and review and begin to begin and continue to not begin but continue to connect we already do this work but continue to connect our district to our district goals and our strategic plan
elements. Right? So in our committee meetings we've had presentations uh teaching and learning we had a presentation uh Joanne presented some information actual presentation uh in the last um
face committee meeting we had a presentation on the attendance and so that was presented there and so the idea is that presentations in committee become a framework for presentations to the full board but not only that but those presentations shed light on how we how we are connecting the data and
reviewing the data and analyzing data that reflects on the accomplishment of our district goals and our strategic plan elements. So that's one of the goals I have for 2026. Uh second one is um in conjunction with that is our annual uh board meeting
schedule presentation schedule. Um want to look at on a quarterly basis uh starting with next quarter just understanding what's coming up so you guys will know in January, February and March. We know in March is our board u budget presentation. January and and
whatever those presentations going to be. January have a presentation on on attendance coming up. I want you guys to know what presentations are coming up. So if you have any questions prior to that, you can can ask those questions. uh also be able to get that information as as as soon as possible prior to the
board meeting whether it be in a committee meeting presentation prior to the full board presentation where committee chairs and committee members can review and take a look at the presentation and ask important questions and then come to the full board for uh for a presentation. So looking forward
to getting information, working with our superintendent and his team to get other presentations lined up so we understand and know what those presentations will be uh each and every quarter. That that would be the easiest way to do it on a quarter basis rather than try and do a
whole year at once. Uh number three is I got five. Number three is uh get our group and individual photos. I think everyone has been asking and wants that done. And we have a full slate of board members. Uh now full nine board members uh three elected in in November.
Congratulations. And in January we like to have a full our full board member photo, our January board meeting. So come dress y'all. Come dress to impress. And also we want to have our individual photos as well. Uh and get our our board IDs, our board member IDs. If any of us
some of us had them from from from previous uh previously having them done, but want to get a new slate of board member IDs as well. Superintendent, we've been talking about it and he's been offering to do that for us. And so we want to do that our January goal was to have it at our January board meeting,
have our pictures taken, our group picture taking taken and get our picture in the hall of fame and our in our board conference room. uh we've been asking about that and we we'll get that done uh in in January.
Um number four is want to also begin we've been talking about this work is and some of us have actually visited the schools with our superintendent know Gene has gone on several occasions. I know that uh Larry has gone on several occasions, but wanted all of us to be
able to go in 3x3s since we're a nine member board now. 3x3's once a month, once every other month with our superintendent to actually go into the schools with the super with our superintendent in a 3x3 um format, three members, three board members at a time
in 2026. It is so very important for us to get a firsthand view, hands-on experience with our superintendent in school environment during the day. Just walking through with his walkthroughs, asking asking him questions, meeting the the
administration, meeting some teachers, of course, students as well, and just I think that will add a lot of value to the work that we do. A lot of many of us have already have done that and experienced that, but many of our new boomers may not have experienced that and want to get that hands-on experience
with our superintendent in our schools where the rubber where the rubber meets the road. So get up that firsthand view of how every decision that we make make have an impact and influence on our students and seeing what that impact and
influence is. So 3x3s once a month or once every other month, however we decide to do it logistically with our superintendent, but to make that happen in in 2026. And lastly, uh wanted to get a uh we talked about
this some time ago, u a portal where we have all the data, a data portal, right? a data portal where we have all of the board presentations um data that we've looked at in committees, but a data portal for all of
our board members to actually go to that portal and see the presentation that Joanne did. I think she did like three in a row every month for the last couple of months and have those housed in one location for our board members, a private private site where our board members have access to to actually go in
and look at that information. Right now we do have the access but it's kind of scattered because it's in it's in different uh Google folders by board by the board date. So we have a presentation like this presentation will be in the board folder for this month. We want to have it have that all in one
location so that our board members can go in and and be able to review all the information at a glance and pick and choose which things they may want to go back to review and then ask maybe at that point have additional questions to ask the superintendent. So that's those the five goals that I that I would have
for that I would have for 2026. And then in terms of our board governance, we have our five-year strategic plan implementation plan on the agenda for approval tonight. Um and that was something that we had conversation with Joanne Freeman who is
our representative for New Jersey School Board Association. And on the agenda tonight is a is a document agreement for approval. Uh and essentially we we met on December the 5th in a planning meeting myself, the superintendent, uh Denise Johnson, our vice president. We
did discuss this in governance as well. Our first meeting in our strategic plan is called the three Rs uh calendar or three R strategic planning framework will be February the 10th uh at 7 p.m. And that will be reflection state of the school schools and strength and challenges. our superintendent will
present uh on February the 10th, Tuesday, March 24th, we meeting number two where we'll be some re-imagining. We're creating a common vision. At that time, Tuesday, April 21st, uh recalibrate goals and objectives. And
then mid and then May and July during that time frame, the superintendent, his team will develop action plans. And then on July September 28th, we'll have our the delivery of that plan to our community and our board meeting. And then the subsequent board meeting October, we'll get that get that
strategic plan approved. So we'll be all approved for our next five-year strategic plan by October of 2026 in accordance with that meeting schedule. There is one other part. There is a virtual piece to this. uh the presentation on February the 10th of
2026, that first meeting will be taped. Uh the superintendent will tape that meeting and then that particular meeting where he gives a state of the school, state of the district in terms of our strength and challenges will be on our website and there will be a survey at
that time on our website for our community members who may not be able to make that first meeting or even subsequent meetings. gives them an opportunity, a bite at the apple to to share in a survey what their thoughts and feelings are about the current
strategic plan, about the state of the district, and gives some in give some input to our overall process for our next strategic plan. Uh so that's what we have for for that. I went over those two things. Board self-evaluation. Final
final piece I have wanted to share with you guys tonight. Want to get the 2025 board self-evaluation completed. My objective initially was December 31st, but it's kind of quickly approaching. So, at least by January 9th, if we I'll set that up uh hopefully
this week and then you'll be able to go in and actually begin to do your board self our board self- evaluation in the portal on the New Jersey School Board Association's website. We have uh three goals for 2020 board
goals for 2025. One of them is to stay in compliance in terms of professional development with the Carol E. Lararsson master board certification. Number two is to make sure that our individual board member certifications that we accomplish each
and every step along the way in accordance with New Jersey School Board Association timelines. That be for new board members, veteran board members and the like. Um we want to make sure we all meet the certification requirements in a timely manner in accordance with the the time frames established by New Jersey
school boards. And then third goal this both for 2025 and 2026 is that we attend our statewide workshop in Atlantic City. We did in 2025 and every year we'll do it in 2026. that we have that we attend our county special our
county not special our county school board meetings on a regular basis and that that we continue to have uh representation on the county and state level of New Jersey school board association. We have first vice president right now Daniels Lane who
represents us at the county and the state level and of course Denise Johnson as our as our delegate and our assistant delegate. I believe is it or is it No, it's Addie. Addie as our as our alternate delegate and Denise Johnson as the delegate uh to the Jersey School
Board Association where we vote on resolutions at the state level. Um so we want to continue that that representation at the state and county level uh of course local here in the Trenton board. But those are the 2025 goals we've accomplished. 2026 goals I'd
like to see accomplished in terms from the presidential standpoint and then our governance committee of our five-year strategic plan implementation plan. Um and then our self-evaluation that we have to do every uh every single year. So that wrap wraps up my uh wraps up my
reports to the board. This our board meeting. Thank you. Um we have another um next on the agenda will be teaching and learning adds lane. >> Okay. So um good evening. So the um
teaching and learning committee uh did meet on uh Tuesday December the 9th and of course at that meeting we were um charged with reviewing the proposed agenda items for um this particular board meeting. Uh we also discussed at that time a proposed um bill that had passed the assembly that uh is proposing
to eliminate the high school graduation um exam and had a discussion about that and what um you know just theorizing what might actually replace that particular test. So we're not sure uh if it's going to pass the state uh senate as well and then again uh if that is the
case if it is eliminated then what will be in its place or will nothing be in its place. So again, it's a kind of a wait and see kind of approach. So we had that discussion. Um some of the highlights that we um noted from the agenda, um opportunities for college
visits and partnerships. Um the uh arts development. Uh there's a focus on college and career readiness. Um there was a uh new assessment for students who may be um suggested or recommended for uh gifted and talented um u instruction.
We also again um highlighted counseling materials and resources for our kindergarten students and our early learners. Um very pleased with the fact that there are a lot of uh field trips listed for um most of the schools that there is social emotional um learning
support programs and there is an expansion of the um young audience young audiences programming for um various schools. Another item that we found to be very interesting and again highlighted um there's English language learning opportunities for parents and
families that's presented at I believe it was PJ Hill School. So those were some of the highlights from our um agenda items for teaching and learning. Um there was also a an update from um special ed and that update uh talked about the um holiday cheer uh across um
programs um related to the fact that seasonal celebrations will be taking place throughout a variety of the special education classes. Um we also um noted that there would be targeted professional development for paraprofessionals and certainly again they are the support system for our
special needs students and that there is in fact uh professional development targeted to them specifically. also noted for special education. Um there was or we did have a corrective action plan um for a particular um case shall
we say and in fact that is nearing um closure having uh again the aim of uh again satisfying all of the requirements that were um listed in the plan. um focusing on strengthening communication program implementation and um meeting
programs to excuse me meeting protocols to ensure that um there is full compliance and also um improve family engagement and that is again relative to a corrective action plan that we had to implement. So that was the information from um teaching and learning and of
course the um proposals and resolutions are listed on tonight's board agenda for approval. Thank you. Uh yes, on Tuesday the operations and finance committee uh met. We looked at the secretar's report, treasures report,
um staff travel, and the bill list. The bills uh came to 43,331,000 for November 14th through the 26. um also found it very interesting um that there were um out of district
placements for Mercer County Technical Schools, 131 um 111 full-time students and 20 sharetime students. And um what we also found out is that um the majority are
for students who um live in Trenton but are in charter schools. But I think the significance of that is that these children are choosing alternative paths as opposed to going co going to college. And when you mention a full-time, that
means they take both their um high school courses and their technical career courses um in a full day. So, I was really excited to hear that number. Um that's a 131 students who live in Trenton that are taking a vocational um
path was a was a good thing. And then lastly, um, we have the donations and and, uh, I meant to start by saying that when I give my reports, they cross over a number of goals, five, two, and four.
And so, um, if you go to the website and you look at our agenda, you'll know exactly which goals apply for what. Um, so donations, Play It Forward Enterprise, 14 Twiniz mattresses valued at $1,400
for family and community engagement. Souls for Souls, 250 sneakers, 550 Bomba socks valued at $25,000. And somebody's going to have to tell me what a Bomba sock is. They're special
socks. Okay. and uh boys and girls clubs. Uh 15 bikes, books, and backpacks valued at $1,500. Empower your Somerset, Empower Somerset, $2,500 to the 9th grade academy. Uh
Trenton High Alumni Association, uh Crystal Feliciano, Lance Lopez. Um, the value of this is 61 $6,167 to Trenton Central High School to pay
for prom uh venue for the class of 2026. Kudos and Inspired Consumer Incorporated $400 to PJL. And we'd like to thank those folks for sacrificing for our students. >> Yes. Um the facilities committee met on
Tuesday, December 9th. Um couple uh reserve capital maintenance projects. Our Ziggler building warehouse. Um the district received an email correspondence from PSENG requesting a relocation of overhead primary care cable at a cost of $179,000.
Building and grounds department has reached out to discuss this further with PSENG. There's a new elevator addition at Harrison. Contractor has received a required permit from DCA. The project will move forward with construction while school is occupied. They're going
to coordinate with staff to make sure that all safety and security concerns are still being happening. Um, Tangga is having renovations, alterations. Contractor has completed installation of the overlook windows in the existing gym. The district received approval for
the electrical and plumbing work in the basement and has started installing the duck work. uh school administrator and design team members agreed to transition into newly renovated basement space upon return from spring recess um pending uh
completion approval. Uh MLK demo project is 100% complete. The district um is looking to submit full reimbursement to insurance company chiller replacement update. Gregory school chiller replacements are scheduled um and
finalized over winter recess. Um, and there's going to be a new chiller being purchased for the admin building. Um, they're looking for a contractor to be hired at a later date to perform the installation. Uh, some K to6 school update when it comes to Dun campus SDA.
Um, SDA has hired a general contractor um to contract a new K to6 school on former Dun Middle School site. Perimeter site fencing is scheduled to start beginning uh the week of December 15th. This isn't done. School staff and visitor parking will no longer be
available. As a result, school's been notified. Staff will be parking along the perimeter of the school uh perimeter street of the school. Um we also discussed uh board visits um to schools with the
superintendent which uh board president True Art mentioned um earlier. That was the uh facility support Yes. >> Yes. Thank you. Give me a second. So, the family and community engagement
committee met on the 10th. Uh we discussed uh the student attendance correction plan which will be presented in January. We also discussed um uh the board of education food pantry and Thanksgiving drive donations and
some of our parent support programs. uh during the month of November 232 families which is equivalent of 544 children and 698 adults uh received food bags including frozen meat and eggs. Um
the uh on the 25th at the board auditorium 175 families received Thanksgiving food baskets. Um the district partnered with the Trenton police and was able to distribute 180 um Thanksgiving bags thanks to the Pay It Forward organization. um that was able
to help distribute 10 crockpots. Um the vase is also partnering with the seeds program to work on marketing, outreach and parent engagement to increase participation in this um in the NSLP and SNAP to help enhance awareness and
accessibility of nutrition assistant programs, ensuring more families benefit from available resources and reducing food insecurity. Billboards are scheduled to be posted around the city. uh parent focus groups are were conducted to assist with developing processes for the billboards. Some
upcoming programs on December 11th well that passed there was a holiday giveaway on January uh 13th there's going there's going to be a family movie night at PJ Hill and on January 28th there's going to be a housing rights resource event.
That was the uh face report. Thank you. All right, let's try this again. Sounds slightly better. All right, slightly better. All right, so everyone's favorite committee, HR. I'll get the report for that. So, uh some
things I wanted to highlight in this report. Um uh first starting off with um a few sections, right? Specifically, uh in the new hire, the appointments and the salary section. Uh I want to highlight the fact that we're bringing in a lot of
great people into the district. I know we're hiring a few different uh teachers for SPED. Uh we have three specific teachers that are coming in uh under bilingual, right? Specific bilingual teachers for for math and science. And I
counted them up. There are uh 10, if I'm not mistaken, 10 teachers that are either over or nearing $100,000 that we're bringing to the district or bumping their salaries up to that number. So, I would like to officially
announce that tonight I will be retiring from the board so I can be a part of that hiring on the spot. All right? And I can start working for the districts. James, I hope you can help me out. All right. >> You got to wait two years, bro. Sorry
about that. You got to wait two years. >> Oh, man. But no, um, and it goes into my point, right? And I'll I'll go through the rest of it that, uh, we have a lot of amazing positions and a lot of people want to be, uh, a part of the great work that we're doing here in the district.
Uh, we have a few retirements. Um, I have a total of four. Uh but I wanted to note that the three uh that are uh normal retirements uh on average are retiring after 27 years in the district
and that is a reoccurring trend that we keep seeing like most people stay here for you know somewhere around that 20 to 30 year mark right with us in the district. Uh so I just wanted to highlight that uh that this is another another reason why this is a great place
to be. And then finally, um, the stipen section. I did want to, uh, uh, get around to the point and, uh, I thought we were going to give the presentation tonight. I know it's been highlighted before, uh, specifically with attendance,
um, and the, uh, uh, issue that we're having there. Uh, we're going to touch base on it in January, but I did want to note the work that we're doing in the district to address that issue. And it's seen even here in the section with
stipens, right? This is more than just, you know, approving people for, you know, 30, 40, $50 an hour, uh, you know, different positions. This is specifically, and I highlighted it, attendance and achievement team members,
hope and care team members, family and engagement team members, and many other positions, right? is all highlighted just to address these critical issues. That's what we're approving tonight because these are longstanding issues
and we're not sitting on our hands. We're actually doing something about it to make sure that we are in the forefront and addressing it head on. Other than that, uh I loved how we're approving um stipens for, you know, home instructors. I saw mentors. We have a
variety of leadership teams, a plethora of after-school tutors in clubs, the apples, the art, the dance, the chess clubs, the real estate clubs, right? We have great things that we're providing not just for our teachers, but
specifically for our students to make sure that they have everything they need to succeed. So I just wanted to take that moment uh to highlight in everyone's favorite committee HR the work that we're doing. Okay. So uh regarding
uh the policy committee, you all will see we have four bylaws that are up for first reading and uh seven policies that are up for first reading as well. I won't uh list
them that they're listed in the uh agenda. Um I do want to mention that the policy committee will be moving its meeting uh beginning in January uh so that
this information can be um distributed before the board meeting like there's time for people to review and to distribute this information before the actual board meeting. Um, we have decided that or we were notified
that we're actually in compliance with updating our policy. So, we're in good shape. >> So, and that's the end of my report. >> Great work. Great. Thank you everyone. >> Going to move to public participation. And as everyone who has signed up for
public participation has read the rules and procedures around public participation, uh I will start with Mr. Jerome 5 minutes student Trenton Central High School. Please come forward
speak to the board. Look forward to your presentation and your comments. Thank you. Okay. Good evening everyone. My name is Lunat. Can you hear me? >> Oh, good evening everyone. My name is Lunat
and I am the senior class president of J Central High School. I'm here to voice some some concern for my fellow seniors. We appreciate the educational the education and opportunities this school has given us. But we have also faced some challenges that we would um that we
believe need to be addressed. For example, when it comes to bathroom issues, most of the time we don't even have a lot of bathroom open so we can use. And most of the time we have to like walk the entire school to like find a bathroom to use and it's very
annoying. and also transportation. I know attendance is a big concern at transit high school but one of the main reason that we believe co that is that um there
was not enough transportation for example today it was cold outside and most of the student they have to walk I know one of my friend she has to walk like 40 minutes every morning and every afternoon to come to school and to go back home that's very annoying just
imagine going home or like coming to school in this code and having to work that's very annoying like it's a and also um when it comes to um checking for example since high school we have like
when we have to get into school we have they have to like check us the security guards they have to like check us and most of the time the student they have they have been saying that most of the time they don't like the way that they touch them sometime they just touch them too much and it feels it feels like they
are like touching the private part and stuff, it's just really too much for them. And also, um, when it comes to food, some of the student, they are struggling. They don't really have food at home. And when they come to school, like getting food like from the
cafeteria is such a good thing for them, but they feel like um it would be a better option if they had like better food cuz they actually appreciate the food that they getting, but sometimes it's not the best food. And also um they
talked about gyms. So basically when we have gym class we have to do the thing that our teacher want us to do. It's like we don't really have the option to do what we want to do. And most of the time the student they don't want to do what the teacher want them to do cuz cuz
everybody doesn't like the same thing. So it's like they want more options when it come to gym. like give them open gym so they can probably play volleyball or like do what they want to do. And this is one of the reason why most of them don't participate in gym class because they just don't like the thing that they
have to do. And I think this is all I have for tonight. Thank you. Oh, also also um the yonder pouch um we do not like them
and also um as okay so basically most of the student they say as a senior they feel like they should not have to like having the yonder project because it's very annoying especially when we have to like do our um college application most
of the time we need to like connect to our account when it comes to fast pass because I remember my counselor she wanted to help me with my fast but I didn't have my phone so it was very difficult to like connect to my like to like send her email to my I mean there's
a code that we have to send to our email address or like our phone number so it's very annoying to like do it because we don't have our phone so that's a big concern and then also because the student they feel like they not really
safe and not being able to like talk with your parents or even like communicate with like somebody outside of school. It's like scary because it's like we do not have our phone like if something happen what are we going to do like and also even though they say if we
need something we can just call the school. I get I got transferred here to train central high school last year and it was very challenging for me to actually reach out to the school cuz every single day that I called they never answer. I I even had to come to the board of border of education because
it was very like challenging to communicate with them. So I feel like even like talking with them or even like reach out to the school or even call the school, it's not like the best option because they do not really like answer when we call them.
And yeah, I think that's it. That's all I have for tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Nicole Backland. Tea. She here. Is Nicole here? Nicole
Backland. She's not here. She's ill. Okay. Well, pray for her. I don't see Darren Freedom Green. Not here. Rachel Bellson. Is she here? MLK middle school teacher.
All right, good evening and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. My name is Rachel Bellson and I work in one of the schools here teaching social studies. Um, so today I am here because I care deeply about this district, about our students, and about the work we do
every day. Teaching is not just my profession, it's my purpose. I show prepared, committed, and ready to give my best to the children entrusted to us. However, I am also here to speak honestly about a reality that affects my ability to continue doing that work. I
live with a seizure disorder. It is a condition that is manageable, but only with consistent access to prescribed medication. Without that medication, I cannot safely teach. Not because of lack of dedication or effort, but because seizures are unpredictable and
dangerous, both for me and for the students in my care. This is why prescription insurance coverage is not a luxury for me. It is the difference between b being able to stand in front of a classroom and being forced away from the career I love. Currently, our
prescription coverage through Optimx creates barriers to accessing necessary medication. These barriers, whether due to cost, coverage limitations, or approval delays, place educators with chronic medical conditions at risk. For
many of us, this has led to difficult and unnecessary choices about our health. Beyond the physical danger, there's also an emotional impact to consider. Witnessing a seizure can be frightening and potentially traumatic for students, especially the younger
children. No student should have to experience that fear, and no teacher wants to risk causing emotional distress in their classroom. Ensuring reliable access to medication protects not only my health, but the emotional well-being of the students we work so hard to
support. As a district, we have the opportunity to move toward a prescription provider that better aligns with the needs of our employees. Moving away from Optim and adopting a plan with more comprehensive, reliable coverage would directly support teacher health,
retention, and classroom stability. Providing better prescription coverage is just not an act of compassion. It is an investment in stability. It reduces absenteeism. It retains experienced teachers. It ensures continuity in
classrooms. And most importantly, it allows educators like me to remain fully engaged, reliable, and safe. I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking for equitable access to the medical care that allows me to do my job well. When teachers are supported,
students thrive. When educators are forced to choose between health and employee employment, everyone loses. This district has always stood for supporting its people and doing what is right for students. Improving prescription insurance coverage and choosing a provider that truly serves
our educators affirms those values. I want to continue teaching here. I want to continue contributing, growing, and serving our students. With adequate prescription coverage, I can do exactly that. Thank you for listening and thank you for considering a change that would
make a profound difference not just for me but for the stren strength and sustainability of our schools. >> Mr. Tia Duncan Ta. >> Yes. Yes. You Yeah.
Y'all are doing something to my I can't get my notes, but amen. Good evening to Lethia Duncan Trenton Education Association. I am um standing up here to reiterate what Miss Belson said. If you recall two and a half years ago, I
addressed this body in regards to moving to the state health benefits plan. I let you all know that while there were all these um promises of saving all business money, better coverage, etc., that did not happen. Miss Bellson was receiving
her seizure medicine under our old plan um with a $15 co-pay under the state health benefits plan. Um, last year she received a message that they would no longer cover her and it will cost $5,000
plus to get her medicine. Additionally, they sent her the medicine and charged her credit card $5,000 plus dollars for something that she was originally paying $15 co-pay for. And at the time, Miss Toller did reach out to Optimum. We
reached out to NJA and um we rectified that and they told us in April that it would not be an issue. However, in October, Miss Bellson received another communication from Optum RX saying that they would not cover her seizure medicine even though it was already
documented that she needs the brand name, a specific brand, and that they were not going to cover it and she was going to be responsible for $5,000 plus additionally. All right. So I will say amen. Mr. Ro and his confidential
secretary along with myself and NJA got on the phone and we were able to rectify it again. Um 3 weeks ago I believe. However, just like in April when we told it was rectified, it was not going to happen again. She was not taking her
medicine on a daily basis because she was rationing it because she could not afford the $5,000 plus co-pay. So, I am coming before this board to implore you to go back to a private medical plan like I did two and a half years ago when
we decided to go in a state health benefits plan because what we said then is still true now that although they said was cheaper etc. we have experienced 30 plus% increases every year since we have been under this plan.
So I am asking that so we don't have to have teachers like Miss Bellson to come up here to speak about how they were risking their health and their life to continue to teach our students that as a district if we care about well-being and
wellness for the students we must also feel feel that same way about the staff who are educating the students. Um it is not too late. we can go back to whoever our previous broker was or we can find a new broker. Um, when we started this
process, when you let us know that you were going to go into the state health benefits plan, there were 272 districts in the plan. As of July 1st, 2025, there were 221 districts, which means 50 plus districts have left the state health benefits plan because of the lies that they told that it was going to be more
affordable and our people would have access to equal and or better health care, which we have shown and proven that that is not the case. At a previous board meeting, we talked to one of our members who husband has a liver condition who was receiving medication
and waiting for a liver transplant. And this current plan was denying him life-saving liver medicine as well as brain medication um that he had already went through all the generics and formularies etc etc and this plan had denied them that as well with the
increase of the state health medical benefits program that has come out since October it would employ I mean it would behoove the district to explore going back to a private plan and if not for the medical absolutely for the
prescription which if you go back on record to the videos. I even said if you want to go in the plan, okay, let's keep the medical since they have the same doctors and hospital networks, but the prescription plan we knew would be an issue. At least put us in a private plan
so that we don't have people who clearly love the profession and are willing to risk their lives for our students and our community because there's no way I would be rationing my seizure medication. That is something that is keeping me alive. And like I said, I do
want to give kudos to Mr. uh Ro and his confidential secretary as well as Miss Toller because they went to bat for Miss Miss Bellson in April and they said, "Oh, she'll be fine." And then we are right back here again. And had I not
seen Miss Bellson somewhere off the fly, I would have never known that she was skipping 3 and 4 days of medication so that she could continue to work while risking her health um to teach our students. So, please
review the information. If you want the documentation from me that shows how many districts and um other state entities that are jumping out of the state health benefits plan, I can share that information with you. It is public knowledge. And like I said, with the increase in premiums that we had not
seen while we were under a private plan, it would behoove us as a district and a school community that says they care about the well-being of the students as well as the staff to investigate how we can go back so that everybody is
receiving the health and care and prescriptions and everything that they need to make sure that we can continue delivering services to our students and our parents in this community. Thank you, Miss Duncan. >> Is my time up? >> Yes. >> Oh, >> yeah. Sorry.
>> Can I just tell you one more thing? >> No. >> Real quick. >> No, you can't. >> Please. >> I can't be be careful about how you set the agenda. And I'm just saying this because Miss Belin Bellson has worked all day. That student went to school all day and after lengthy presentations and
comments, they had to sit here 2 hours and 15 minutes to speak. So, I'm just asking that you might want to rework the agenda. so that if you really care about how the people in community or the employees feel that you will have opportunity to hear them in a timely fashion. Praise the Lord, Reverend
Gerald. >> You're welcome. Take advisement. >> Board discussion and consent and action on consent agenda. >> Do I have a motion? >> I got a first, second, have a first and
second. Any questions on I'm sorry. I I jumped ahead. My bad. That's why you should have said something. >> Excuse me. >> Tina. Tina Clark, please. >> Thank you. Tina Clark. Is Tina here?
>> I don't see Tina Clark here. >> Okay. She's not She's not here. >> John signed it. >> He did. >> What's his last name? >> John. All right, John Forte. Five minutes.
Thank you. >> Good evening, members of the board, superintendent, and community members. Thank you for letting me speak tonight. I'm here as a proud member of the Trenton Education Association and a proud high school teacher at Trenton Central High School. I want to speak
about um NJA's report on the state educator's health benefits plan. It's very comprehensive, but I think there are 10 key details that should persuade you to consider switching back to a private plan and you know moving away
from the state educators health benefits plan. So um Madame President Duncan talked about the pre premium increases how they're unstable. We know that um these rate increases are approaching 30%. And prescription drug
costs, they're rising nearly 60% in some plans. So that's my first point is just the prescription medication costs are out of control. Second, health care costs have far outpaced salaries in the last 10 years. So again, in the last 10 years, teacher
salaries have gone up about 22%. And while this this family plan under the state the SEBB um it's increased more than 80% and is projected to increase 150% and in you know over 10 years. So again
if we want effective teachers in the classroom I think it's important that we consider um alleviating the financial stresses that prevent them from focusing on students each day. The third point is that again as
President Duncan stated, districts are leaving the plan in large numbers. I don't have to repeat that the numbers, but if this exit trend, if it increases on the current trajectory, this this plan is going to collapse at the state level in the next year or two and we
need to have some sort of private plan hopefully to um to be ready to switch into. The fourth point is this is a really significant one. The SEBP is being mismanaged at the state level. Um it lacks state state management
effective oversight and the state has failed to implement long recommended reforms. So a key part of that is that the state is supposed to put vision medical and prescription benefits up for bid every 3 years. It's been about six or seven years since they've done that.
You can imagine the lack of competition is only allowing some of these private um insurance companies to jack up the prices which has led to in in one part the crisis where we're at. Uh prescription drug costs are out of control under this plan. So despite
massive rebate programs, the prescription drug spending under this plan has come to 1.6 6 billion annually and specific medications are driving this this growth year. So I think a key part of it is that um private plans can
negotiate stronger pharmacy benefit managers. I'll try to break that down in a second. Right? These these are contracts. These are often evidence-based formulas, right? They're direct, you know, they hold these companies directly accountable in theory. Um, the SEBP has
failed to do this effectively. So, the big thing right now is that locked into prescription drug contracts where we can't renegotiate and can't easily fix these costs, right? In a private plan, if the vendor isn't doing our job,
right, we can easily demand changes or replace these under the current SEBP um design. We cannot do that. Six, the state's only solution is cost shifting because the state does not provide effective oversight. Thank you.
Effective oversight over the SEBP, what they've done essentially is just shift the burden onto the premiums and jack up premiums rather than do their job of providing oversight. Seven, cash reserves are unst are unstable. The SEBB is supposed to have a
cash reserve like money in the bank for you know these unexpected increases. And right now there is not enough money in the bank of the SECBP to um account for such volatility in the premiums. And so again each year the premiums are going
up 30% right give or take. Eight private plans offer more local control. You know I'm sure you know each of you can speak to that right having worked under the private plan several years ago. um SEBP districts can't do this, right? These
decisions are centralized at the state of New Jersey and slow. Um nine, again, the state's own task force under Governor Governor Murphy warned of these problems in 2018. Yet, we still chose to adopt this plan. So, those are just some
of the key issues. And again, I think the bigger problem is that private health insurance in this country um should not exist, right? Healthcare should be a right not just for teachers and staff but also our students, the students we serve. And I hope that the board is going to advocate for some sort
of public um health insurance model. But in the meantime, we have to address the elephant in the room. The SEBP is probably going to collapse in the next year or two. It's unsustainable. And I hope that the um district leadership can take that into account. Thank you.
>> Amen. Okay, that ends our public participation. Thank you so much for your comments. I would now move to board discussion action on consent agenda. I have a first a motion to ex a motion, please. >> I've been moved. Have a second.
>> Second. >> Probably moved and second. Any questions on on the consent agenda? >> Roll call. >> Gerald Truhart? >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson? >> Yes. Yes. Jean Buie, >> yes. >> Addie Daniels Lane, >> yes. >> Alton Edwards,
>> yes. >> Yolanda Lopez, >> yes. >> Larry Trailer, >> yes. >> Jeannie Week, absent. Denelli Deleó, >> yes. >> Motion passed. So, board member comments, any reports
from the Jersey School Board Association that any mentions or anything you want to share? Um, Abby and then Denise. Um I will just share very quickly that um we did as a district host the um Mercer County uh schoolboard association uh meeting here last month and that
particular meeting focused on um school budgets and the development process and was shared by school business administrators and uh assistant uh business administrators from Mercer County districts and also at that time um there was a presentation to the uh newly elected schoolboard members. So um
that's all I need to share at this time and thank the district for the support at that particular meeting. Yes. Okay. Thank you. So my my report is a a little longer so so bear with me. So um the New Jersey School Board
Association Delegate Assembly was held um on November 22nd. Uh Yolanda and I uh attended uh the assembly. There were three resolutions that were uh discussed and voted on. So resolution
number one proposed new language for the adoption for inclusion and NJSBA's manual. Um, it was language that would limit place limitation on the period of
time for which a board member or charter school trustes criminal history would be reviewed and that it supported language that would consider the nature of the crime committed before a board member or trustee could be permanently permanently
disqualified from service. Uh so the school board that the district that um proposed that resolution actually withdrew it but there was a lot of discussion around that but after uh
you know all the discussion ended um the resolution was postponed indefinitely. So that was resolution number one. Number two, um proposed new language, new policy language that supports the
belief that universal free school meals should be available to all prek through 12 through grade 12 students in New Jersey and that the language would
it be included in uh current policy. Um it was it was really odd to hear um the attendees argue against that. Um but there was a lot of discussion
but ultimately the resolution um prevailed. So that was approved. In the last resolution, um, proposed new policy language supporting the belief that local school boards of education should dedicate an equitable amount of instructional time
to science education in elementary and middle schools relative to the amount of instructional time allocated to other subject areas. Again, there were a lot of people that did not support this resolution. So
ultimately this resolution was postponed indefinitely unfortunately. So after uh those those three resolutions we voted in uh a new president. His name is Michael Jacobs. He's from Richfield
in Bergen County. So he's the new NJSBA president. And we also voted in for vice president for legislation resolutions. Her name is Bernardet Delesandro and she's from um Netcon in Morris County.
So, I just wanted to mention to the board members here um Yolanda brought up a good point about the voting like the delegate. I'm the primary delegate and I'm voting
on these resolutions but we as a board actually haven't discussed what you know what is being presented to the delegate assembly. So governance is actually going to talk about how we as a board may or may not discuss
it because there they are um there are a lot of moving parts with regards to the present the first the creation and the presentation of the resolutions how that you know how soon that information is given to the
districts um and when that information is voted on. So there's more information to come in the new year. >> Okay. Um the last uh second to the last meeting at the four C's, we had ICE give
a presentation. It was actually the only presentation for that meeting. And um I really walked away very disappointed, but I need to give you guys the information. And it is that they stated that if you look
or speak as if English is not your first or primary language, that is enough cause for you to be stopped and to be asked for proof of legal status. So, um there's not much that we can do against
that right now, but we need to be aware of it. So, um we just need to decimate that information. And as far as of the mask, we asked about the masking um they did not give a satisfactory
answer, just that they could and that they did and they were going to do it for their protection. That was basically the the crux of that that um meeting. some government relations updates. On December 6, the legislative policy
committee for the New Jersey School Board Association met. They went over the um election updates from the from the most recent 2025 general election. Um they also gave us some legislative updates. Um the governor signed a
pension re reenrollment law u which extends membership to the TPAF to 10 years after after um this continu continu up to 15 years for those who are laid off or had 10 or more years of
continuous service upon voluntary termination. Um, another law that they that the governor signed was the Latino and Hispanic American history instruction. Um, that was signed September 29th, 2025. It requires districts to include um, instruction on Latino and Hispanic
American history for grades K to 12 as part of New Jersey um, school learning standards and social studies. The governor conditionally vetoed a chronic absenteeism task force. Um, you know, there was some concerns that he had
around that along with the school audit delay. That was something we talked about last month. Um, when it came to extended the deadline for completions around school year audit for 2425 school year, there was an absolute be veto from the governor around pension boost um for
extracurriculars. Um and uh there are some bills that they're tracking in lame duck um which is um a bill that would require NJ DOE to make um calculated state aid calculations publicly available for user friendly in
a user friendly manner and uh a bill that would make DOE notify school districts or minimum amount of state aid by the first week of December. Um and then there was a conversation around school district consolidation as a
discussion. Uh the Senate held Senate Education Committee had a discussion on December 4th around that. That was uh and there was a school charter school reform bill that they're monitoring right now as well. That was uh the legislative committee meeting um
updates. >> Any any other comments? Everything's Everybody's good. Oh, Austin, my apologies, Austin Edwards. We're done with anything else. Uh, so one thing I just wanted to uh discuss. I
uh was under the impression that we would uh be discussing absenteeism. I know that we're going to push that into January, but uh just due to the timing of this uh had to bring it up this board meeting and it specifically had to deal with uh pending legislation in the New
Jersey legislature. Um overall uh we're going to discuss it in January, but absenteeism is a hydro with many heads, right? And there are a lot of different reasons as to why students are not showing up every day. Um, but one of the uh reasons that keep showing up and I
believe the uh superintendent alluded to it uh is that we live uh in an age where uh you know there are ICE agents and roaming police agents that are going about doortodoor neighborhood to neighborhood and that is a legitimate
barrier that are stopping people from be feeling safe coming to school every day. I know that we passed our school board policy and reaffirmed the policy uh 5111A uh uh this this past year at the beginning of the school year, but uh
legisl uh legislation that we need to just bring to the forefront is the immigrant trust act, right? And it's a piece of legislation that's building off of work of the attorney general um that when I was there working for the AG's office, the immigrant trust directive,
right? It's a piece of legislation that is supposed to build trust in the immigrant community and in our communities to make sure people feel safe. Going back and forth to school, going back and forth to the grocery store, going back and interacting with
the law enforcement that's supposed to protect them and uh serve them day in day out. So, uh I I just want to highlight that it's uh uh the bill number is S3672. Uh and uh uh it's A4987.
Um and this is a piece of legislation that has been stalled in our legislature since the fall of 2024. So for over a year, it's been sitting just on our legislaturator's desks. And if we do not act now, we literally have
weeks before this bill goes away and the protection of the AG's office and the protection that we have pending uh currently disappears. And so all these issues that we're facing will ex like expon exponentially
just increase. So this is why I want to bring it up to the district that you know it's in the forefront of our mind in the forefront of our community because these are the things that we need to support for our children for our district.
Thank you. >> Yeah, just a question. So at this state at this time can we just as a district send out letters to our parents with
legislature um contact information asking that they approve this act. Can we kind of push that >> right? to everyone to all our state
stakeholders to city. Why not? No, really, why not? >> But we're it's it's not it's I don't see it as political activity. I see more as advocacy for our parents and our
students as a board. to work to to make them aware. >> So, >> okay. >> Well, it's not voting. They don't vote. It would be to to ask. >> I we
we've had he's already ruled on >> No, I know, but I want to >> we can certainly do. Would a resolution work? >> No, no, no, no. I'm asking the questions that other people are going to ask because >> we need to kind of brainstorm a way
where we can inform our stakeholders >> of this situation. Here's my >> That's what I'm trying to recommend >> with a legal mind trying to you know >> here's my recommendation. Can we take that up in face and school support committee as a as an item with Larry as chair?
>> I think it's too late. >> Yeah, I believe uh come definitely by January before we can meet again for the next board meeting like this legislation would either pass or fail. So at this point at this point the board can't the board can't advocate for
parents to do anything as council has has indicated but the council has indicated we can pass a resolution and that's what we can do but we can't do anything else or on our own we can do whatever we want to do. So, may I ask for you to maybe create an ad ad hoc
committee to quickly meet? >> We can take it up. I I would assign at the family community engagement inclusive support. >> Okay. But before we meet before our next meeting, >> he'd have to he'd have to call it he'd have to call a meeting. Bar would have to call a meeting as a chair of that
committee. >> Would that be okay? >> Whatever he wants. He can call a meeting anytime he wants >> as chair of that committee with with the consent of the rest of the committee. He can call a meeting. >> So Larry's
at chair of the committee. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. >> All right. >> No, we wouldn't pass. Okay. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> So move into executive session. executive session agenda.
>> Any other any anything else? Board members, everybody's good. >> Everybody's okay. I'm just making sure. Executive session resolution. Whereas the open public's meeting act authorize the public body to meet in executive session under certain limited
circumstances. And we're as said law requires the board to adopt a resolution at the public meeting before it can meet in an executive session and now therefore be resolved by the board hereby determines that is necessary to meet in executive session to discuss the following matters. Caption memorandum of
agreement between TBOE and Trenton Administrative Supervisor Association. Memorandum of agreement between Trenton Board of Ed and Trenton Education Association. Any discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential will be made public as soon as practical. Minutes of the executive
session will not be disclosed until the need for confidence shall no longer exist. Action may be taken after return in public session. Have a motion and a second to approve executive session.
>> Roll call. >> Executive session. >> Joe. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson. Yes. >> Jean Buoie. >> Addie Daniels Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. >> Yolanda Lopez. >> Yes. >> Barry Trailer. >> Yes.
>> Jeannie Week. Absent. Denelli De Leon. >> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> Is that session? >> Y always do that. All right, folks. We're back in back in public session. We're going to have >> What is it?
>> The first motion on >> what is it? the agreement with TASA. >> Um Austin, >> I move that we accept the uhou between uh the board and uh the Trenton Administrators and Supervisors
Association. >> Second. >> Move 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 Weeden absent. Denelli De Leon >> yes. >> Motion to pass. >> Thank you. Motion to accept the sidebar agreement with TEA. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Wait. Okay. >> Sorry. Properly moved and seconded.
>> Roll call. >> Oh second, too. >> It was Gerald Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson. >> Yes. >> Jean Buouie. >> Yes. >> Addie Daniels Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. Yolanda Lopez, >> yes. >> Barry Trailer, >> yes.
>> Jeannie Wicklam, absent. Denelli De Leon, >> yes. >> Motion passed. >> Motion to adjurnn. So move. I'll >> move second. All in favor? I.