What's that? the cobblestone. Yeah. Mhm. >> Yep. That memory memories. Are you going to use Good, good, good evening. Good evening. Going to call the meeting to order. >> Yeah.
Is it up? Going to call the call the meeting to order of the Triton Board of Education, December 17, 2025, 5:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance. Pian to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it
stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Roll call, please. >> Gerald Truhart, >> present. >> Denise Johnson, absent. Jean Buouie, >> present. >> Addie Daniels Lane, >> present.
>> Austin Edwards, >> present. >> Yolanda Lopez, >> present. Larry Trailer, >> present. >> Jeannie Wigglum, >> present. >> Denelli De Leon, >> present. >> Oscar Santos, >> present. >> Wilbert Gomez, >> present.
>> We have a quorum. >> The New Jersey public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right to the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted 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, posted on the website, the times, and the Star Ledger. Formal action will take place at this meeting. Our mission statement, all students will graduate with the vision for the future, motivated to learn,
continually prepare to succeed in their choice of college or career. Our superintendent's remarks. >> Good evening. welcome on this crisp fall or winter. Gosh, we're getting out of
fall into winter. >> Yes, >> me. You good? >> Yes. So, thank you. Uh, welcome everyone. Uh, this evening we have a presentation, a student presentation.
So, we're going to start with our student who's here. We have a presentation from the future forward program that was offered and implemented for incoming students grades 7 through 12 during the summer. Um, we have a secondary team. We have the secondary
team from the teaching and learning department, a representative from the summer program from Tangga, Miss Flores, the science teacher, as well as a student. I think one, if I missed one, please um you'll be able to introduce yourselves in a minute. anyway uh from
the secondary school to share the summary of their activity that took place in the summer. Students engaged in a projectbased learning activity PBL and we talk about that often which is designed for a realworld scenario
through robust professional sessions. Students had access to resources and data to create and imagine a solution through their digital devices. We're proud of our students and staff who work tirelessly to create a solution becoming
change agents. We also used Apple native apps. Apple edu is implemented in districts. We use that to create all affiliated presentation materials and illustrations which supported a direct implementation of the Apple edu
initiative. So I just want to just preface or say that this is uh regarding graduation data. Our students had an opportunity to take real data and take it back and uh uh kind of uh create. And
so what they'll share with you tonight is certainly not implemented. It's a timeline that's not real necessarily, but some of the information is. And so as we listen to it and think about it, uh we will certainly get our high school
teams involved in listening if there opportunities here from the information that they have taken. So their realw world scenario was graduation data from Trenton Public Schools. So it's really exciting to hear them. So I'm going to
ask everyone involved to come forward and present at this time. >> Need a motion to adopt the agenda. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry. >> Properly moved. I have a second. >> Second. >> Properly moved and seconded. Roll call. >> Joe Truhart? >> Yes.
>> Denise Johnson absent. Jean Buouie. >> Yes. >> Addie Daniel Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. >> Yolanda Lopez. >> Yes. >> Larry Trailer. >> Yes. >> Jeannie Week. >> Yes. >> Denelli Dleon. >> Yes. >> Motion passed.
Good evening, President Truheart, Superintendent Earl, board members, and our general public. Thank you for creating this opportunity for the teaching and learning department to share with you our future forward program. The future forward program
projectbased learning think tank is a student centered initiative that our department has designed. It is based on solving real community challenges while building skills that help students graduate ready for both college career
and life. Tonight, we're pleased to present to you our students and our teachers as well as our work that brought this program to life. In honor of them and all of their efforts, we ask that you hold all of your questions and comments till the end of our
presentation. Our PBL think tank brought together students from grades 7 through 12 across the district to Capitol City High School. They worked in small groups with their teachers um and provided support to one another. Their teachers
came from elementary, middle, and high schools. And so this created an opportunity to ensure that all students had exactly what they needed to grow. Before the program kicked off, we provided the students there, excuse me, the teachers rather with training on
PBL, which is known as projectbased learning. And that training centered on the grasp model, which includes the goal, the role, the audience, the scenario, the product, which they'll present to you tonight, and uh their
standards. They used best practice for research, including notetaking and presentation skills. Our goal was really simple. It was to help students engage deeply with rigorous work and communicate their
ideas clearly and effectively. Essentially, we used a simulationbased activity to ensure that students can tackle real world issues and present potential solutions through a hypothetical situation. This supports their desire to engage in reality based
learning and be included in decision-making processes. Thank you. >> Good evening everyone. Why this work with PBLO? Because problems that our students were tackling are real things that are affecting the city and affect
day in day out. Um this program if you look up here was to build student agency, strengthen data analysis and problem solving skills and develop public speaking. all practices students need beyond the classroom. If you look up
here, we engaged in three parts. Problem identification, research and solution thinking, and product solution presentations to culminate our program. As Fatima mentioned, in every project, we define
our goal, take on a role, a real role that students will participate with in the real world. Identify who is that audience. In this case, it's you guys this evening and uh frame a real scenario with a solution that is
standardsbased to our uh New Jersey curriculum. Most importantly, we connect everything to real problems improving graduation rates. So, our learning translates into action. We move through those three
steps. And tonight you're going to see um what our students in grades 7 through 12 uh were up to this summer. >> Hi everyone. Good evening. Our students in seventh and eighth grade were presented with a task uh centered
on the goal of some challenges that make it hard for students to finish high school. So their task was to brainstorm, research, and analyze factors that they believe would be most critical for success. The students used mind maps and post-its
as their brainstorming methods to begin thinking deeper about the problems that were presented to them. They broke into teams and they completed research on their area of focus to create a strong foundation of the identified problem. The research that they conducted in
teams included academic factors that contribute to graduation outcomes, socioeconomic factors, as well as our students who are multil- language learners, students with disabilities, and students who are dy identified, meaning students who are both multil- language learners and
students who have individualized education programs. Next up, we have our student representative Adnai, who's going to speak to our high school high school students. Hello. Good evening. I'm Adna Williamson and I'm presenting the Trenton Pathfinders.
Um, the Trenton Pathfinders is our studentled pathway to graduation and beyond. We learn how to set goals, manage stress, and advocate for ourselves so we succeed in class, at work, and in life. It's not extra work. It's the how behind doing well. Finding mentors, building routines, and using
practical tools that makes school feel doable. Here we'll share the biggest reasons students fall behind and how early support can change that. Our mission focuses around a peer mentorship program that builds trust over time and helps
support a new culture of desegregation between our students so that we have students from different cultures like Hispanic students and black students intermixing and mentoring each other and learning from each other. That way they can build on each other. That is our end goal and that is our main goal. That's it.
Every student has a peer and go to adult. If we hit a problem like missing work or family issue, they know exactly who to talk to and what steps to take. Pathfinders is studentled and pairs a freshman with a junior for a 2-year period that includes structure
check-ins, academic support, and social emotional stability. This would result in stronger student connections across grades to support more accessible ways to improve graduation rates between students. So this is how we organize Trenton peers. It would be ninth graders
learning from 10th graders and then the 10th graders essentially moving up and becoming 11th graders so that the ninth graders would have the same mentor all year round for their four year period and that way they get to know each other better and build more of a friendly bond
between each other. Um we need the principal support to encourage this and get us the staff needed to further you know enable it. Um, and we need the superintendent to fund it and the school board to further that.
>> Okay, I believe that's it. Thank you for your time. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the board. It brings me Thank you. It brings me great pleasure to uh represent the work that our 9th grade students performed this past
summer in uh our summer enrichment program at Capitol City High School. Um the name that our students in ninth grade gave themselves was Together We Thrive. And uh essentially they proposed
uh closing the graduation gap by providing a set of supports to their fellow students, inspiring resilience, confidence, and opportunity. They want to create a safe, nurturing,
and inclusive environment that'll support them because we know as adults sometimes, you know, we we deal with situations, difficult situations, right? Sometimes we feel a little anxiety, natural, right? That's a human thing. Sometimes we we have to manage our
anger, right? When things get to us. And we also have to learn to learn lean on each other, right? in order to develop uh more positive solutions to very difficult problems. And that's exactly what our nth grade students proposed.
In fact, uh they even set a smart goal around this. And SMART, as you may know, and we helped them learn this past summer, is uh specific, measurable, attainable, realistic,
and time bound. and I know relevant as well. But the bottom line is they set a goal of reducing graduation uh dropout by 1% each year over the next four years uh through an emotional support group
model where they basically will roll out various programs that help students deal with these issues that come up really in everyday life. And if our students learn to do this now, imagine how much more powerful they'll be when they become adults like you and I right making
decisions on behalf of the community right decisions that support families and students. So this is an example. This is not an actual you know real proposal but the students envisioned that if they were to
obtain the necessary approvals from you know building administrators, assistant superintendent, superintendent and of course the board that they may roll out an emotional support awareness program something like this where one week they
may be talking about you know what the purpose is of their initiative. next week. Hey, hey guys, let's lean on each other this week just to raise awareness as to those kind of social competencies. These aren't things that we really teach
in the classroom on a day-to-day basis, at least explicitly, but maybe implicitly. Good teachers do this all the time, right? As well as good principles and uh counselors and administrators. Regulating anger, of course, selfm motivation. Um the these are other things of course that they they do. This
just an example of what they came up with. They also um gave you more of a breakdown of what one particular week might look like. So, if you're someone who's struggling with anxiety, what kinds of questions can you ask your fellow students to get them to think about that might help you deal with some
of the issues in terms of how you deal with anxiety? What what are the triggers and and how do you overcome it? So, um I'm not going to read this for you word for word, but this is what our students came up with. I didn't come up with this but I am proud to represent them in
their absence. And uh finally you know the these are some additional structures you know a call to action you know how do we get people to galvanize in terms of supporting each other because in the end when the going gets rough all we have is each other. So how are we going to
support each other when times really get rough right? How are we going to rise above very difficult and challenging circumstances? Well, this is what our students suggested. And actually, a lot of these things are kind of already in place. It's just a matter of being more intentional about using the resources we
already have. I mean, do we not have access to meeting spaces? We have lots of classrooms. Even if they're being used, we can always find an opening where students and counselors and teachers can use a classroom to discuss certain things. Sharing data, right? Now, some data is very personal. Obviously, we're not going to share that
data, but there are other sets of data that is more generic that students can learn about each other from directly that will give them the ability to support each other. Uh we may need to support them in terms of funding, right? The various sources of funding which may
come and go from year to year. um building community connections of course uh you know we already have pencils, paper, notebook, iPads they already know how to use them very well. Okay. So the
question is how do they use these tools more intentionally right? As the fifth mathematical practice says use tools strategically right to solve problems essentially. So again I want to say thank you. Thank you
to the board, Superintendent Earl. Thank you to our assistant superintendent, and thank you to uh our students and teachers, as well as the members of the public who came here to join us tonight. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you all. Um at this
time we will have um our student board representatives uh comments. So you can introduce yourself and then share. >> Good evening president Truhart pres superintendent Earl and board members. My name is Oscar Santos the vice
president of Tren public school district student government association. Recently, we have been meeting with Principal Courtney and other administrators about student concerns and are pleased to report that the improvements made to the yonder pouches system in the morning has greatly
improved things and students are getting in at a much faster pace. We reported that not all communicate commun sorry communities have open bathroom doors for students and principal Courtney reinforced with staff and there must be open bathrooms for students used that
are unlocked. We also discussed that the use of vaping pens and students smoking weed in some bathrooms and based upon our conversation the principal Courtney called the action about reinforcement of monitoring and discipline. Things have
gotten better in the areas as well. We would like to have a more security onsite on the building for the safety and security of students and staff. While we understand that this is a budgetary item, we respectfully ask the administration to consider the providing
more security at the high school and have a school resource officer present on site for added security or members of the term community street team that have successfully passed a security background check. >> Good evening, President Truher,
Superintendent Earls and board members. My name is Wilbur Gomez Bayas, the treasure of Trenton Public School District Student Government Association. I would like to take a moment to share a few school highlights with you all tonight. Trend Central High School High School
has recently started a food pantry led by Mrs. Dent, the teacher leader of Health Professions Academy with the purpose of helping underprivileged students. On September 25th, we will have a EOF workshop hosted by Mercer County
College TRIO and Upperbound Programs Ado High School. On Thursday, November 20th, Mercer County Human Resources representatives will be meeting with class of 2026 to discuss internship programs and job
opportunities with the count with the county. We also want to highlight that Joyce Gilmore Intermediate Schools will be hosting a ribbon cutting event for their new for their new library and hosting family literacy night on Tuesday, November 25th at 5:00 p.m. in their new
media center. The Student Government Association and the rest of our students and staff would like to take a moment to recognize the loss of Mrs. Simmons who was one of our secretary within the STEM community at CCHS who recently passed
away and will be funeralized tomorrow as well as a TCHS student student Gushia Mureer who recently lost his life in a tragic incident. We would like to take we would ask we would like to ask to for a moment
of silence for them both. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. student representatives and thank you for the presentation. Uh you are amazing young people and we so appreciate you taking the time to come out this evening to share with us uh and
to be a part of this board meeting and for your commitment to serve. Young man, thank you for sharing your experience uh and giving us information and giving us information about uh some of the findings which are interesting uh
and something that uh the superintendent sits here to tell you. We will certainly take a look at and thankfully you all shared that information. we'll get with the high school teams and just share it to see where we might be able to go with that. So, thank you again to all of the
students who presented, the teachers who supported, the uh supervisors who coordinated down that list. Uh we appreciate your work. So, um one more thing to share this evening.
Um, I know many of you, if you haven't, you probably will or should read. There was an article recently about Trenton's uh decision not to engage in uh in the
literacy grant process. Uh, and there's lots of questions uh lots of misunderstandings about that process. Um, and so I wanted to just take an opportunity here. I have like four pages of notes, so I won't read them all
because that's not uh on this topic. I could probably go for two hours because uh it means that much to me that people understand what we do. But I'll do my best to summarize where we stand in this process and why we stand there. So, um
let's talk about timeline of events. the govern Governor Murphy put his first uh broadcast out regarding these initiatives in May of 2025. So that's important because we start planning and
budget planning budget approval uh like now uh December then January, February, March and anybody who knows budgeting knows that we make all major decisions that we have to submit to the board and
this community for approval by May. And so that came out in May and it was just that these initiatives were introduced. The actual broadcast releasing the grants came out July 28th. Um so again
and July 29th. And so I have this document. I'm probably going to do a video and then post this document because I want it to be clear. Also, just a quick note, we don't accept or apply for many grants, but I would
assume that because this one said literacy that we are on the hook to be able to respond, which I don't mind doing, but we don't do this for any other grant. And tonight, I just wanted to make sure you're clear why we did not
uh apply for the grant. Uh so with the approval on the 28th, remember we've approved started ordering if not ordered all of our resources for the new year. Uh technical assistance trainings, technical assistance for every grant is
offered from the state. That's an opportunity to go learn more about that opportunity to see if it fits you. So you can decide in this particular case whether you want to enter that agreement or not. So on August 6th, we signed up
to attend. On August the 11th, we signed up to attend. And August 14th to go learn about these grant opportunities. So it wasn't missed on our part with a deadline of August 21st, which means after the last uh session, we would have
had to make a decision in seven days to submit for the grants. And so I want to painstakingly read, "In order for TPA to submit the application for any one of these grants listed below, the district would have had less than seven working
days to do so." Fine. We could have gotten that done. uh in order for us to submit one of the out uh the uh outline grants, TPS would have had to find a way to dis discontinue or cancel the
delivery of previous orders that we already had in place for the school year. And that's not judging what was in the grant. That's just telling you we make decisions now. All decisions are starting to be made. We're talking about
the budget right now. And Mrs. Howard can tell you that we've had two or three budget conversations. We're about to start with principles. So, we do that early. Uh we also would have had to secure professional development. Remember, we
don't do anything in district anymore without there being high levels of training for our staff. It wouldn't be fair to say, oh, by the way, in August or September, we are doing this and you just need to do it. So, that was a big reason. So there are three major grants
and there are only a couple of more statements I want to make uh to be clear about this. Grant one is cultivating ongoing achievement through coaching and literacy. That's called the coach L grants. Um and that's the first grant
and the reason the big reason is we cannot depend on the funds to be reallocated because we have to apply reapply every year. These funds come from the federal government. If you've been watching what's happening in our
world, uh, education is a place where funding may or may not be available for public schools, private schools, or whoever it's for. So, we have to be really careful about how we enter agreements to make sure we don't make
poor decisions, and then we're stuck out there attempting to do something that we don't have funding for. So, that's the big reason. I have five more reasons that I won't read for that one. Um grant number two instructional materials per for professional development and
coherent teaching that's called impact. So the big reason there is we would have had to adopt a whole new tier one literacy resource in order to apply and be awarded the impact literacy grant. So
we already have tier one work happening in district. Sometimes grants are just as they say it's a grant to support us. The assumption though is that these things may not be happening in district. And I want it to be clear to our public
and the people we serve, the kids who enter our schools, the parents who drop them off. There's work happening here. Deep detail. I'm reading 12 points of a four-page response. Uh and that should tell you this goes deep. We did our work
on this particular grant. So we did not want to adopt a new tier one resource grant three reading intervention for secondary schools uh secondary engagement that's called rise. So there are three components to the literacy
grant. We have made a conscious effort in this district toward consistency. what we do this year, we want to inform, evaluate, and do again, do it better, throw out the things that don't work.
But to disrupt anything that we're doing in the district, uh, just is not a place we wanted to be at this time. Does not mean if this is offered in an approp in at an appropriate time, we see a specific need
to support our children that we wouldn't apply again. So, I want to give you a quick example and then I'll get off of this. So, um uh my colleagues that work with me know that we we applied and received the high impact tutoring grant
and many of the board members asked me about the high impact tutoring grant. Uh and we received a large sum of money and we were so excited because we were doing great work around high impact tutoring
already. We were we had an outside resource. We had numbers of scores of teachers working with young people and we thought so we have this money and this is going to be a great opportunity. So there were restrictions on that
funding. Uh and we could barely get it out of the door. We could barely spend any of it because of the restrictions. Fast forward to being at NJ school boards where some of us go to talk to people who seem to have better
information about us than we do. We learned that they were very clear. They understood that Trenton is not the only district that struggled to implement those funds because of the restrictions. It had to be persontoerson
and with certified teachers in district, right? or certified teachers elsewhere. We don't know where we're finding those. So, we couldn't go with a virtual platform. We couldn't have live teachers in district in front of students. And that's what we thought when we received
that money. So, I want to be clear with our public with our board when there is a grant opportunity, we will do every stitch of homework possible. And will we miss that's the nature of people. We might miss it, but it won't be because
we don't have information. We will go into this and I know that the article inflames people. You should have all been outraged to read read that we didn't accept literacy funds,
but that assumes and makes the assumption that we are not literate in this district. There are so many forms of literacy. Our kids can do amazing things in this district and we understand that reading on level is
different than reading. And we have in every presentation to our board and to our public, we have always said we're going to share with you some of the great successes, but oh my gosh, do we have so much work to do. So, I'm here to
tell the board, the public that we're back to do the work. We were back after the article, before the article. We'll be back tomorrow doing that work. I invite anyone who wants to do that work with us. We're so and we believe a lot
of what was written in the article is factual. We're not disputing. We're just saying understand I invite you all to my desk or to a space with me and let us talk one more time about who we serve because when you talk about who we
serve, you ask less questions. You just get to work because we're way way behind in some of the spaces we are. So I promised that I wouldn't rant on this. Um, but I thought it was really important to put out there's a four-page
document that I would post if anybody's actually interested. Um, and that I hope that in the future, uh, my doors are open. My desk is available if you want to know what's happening. We come here once a month and we talk about it often.
We have lots of information out about and we're not fooled about our success. But I am proud of the work that our kids do every day. When you walk in our buildings, some of these team members walking in, we won't quit. This won't
solve our issue. We're back to do the work. So, I appreciate you indulging me for a few minutes. Went longer than I will ever go on com uh board on superintendent comments. Uh but thank you for for listening. Uh before before this the this other
students about about to uh depart, just wanted to really thank the students. Oscar uh Wilbur, great job. Um thank you so much uh as as student representatives to to the board sharing your thoughts from the entire student body of Trenton
Trenton Board of Education and of course Crystal Feliciano. Councilwoman Christopher Shan, I was getting there. I was getting there um for the work that that you're doing and in training and bu building those
students up. I also want a student did leave who presented um tonight. So, he's still here. >> Where? Oh, WHERE IS HE? >> OH, he's here. He is. Okay. Uh give a round of applause for our all of our
students who are here and of course of course all of our teachers and administrators who have who support the work that they're doing uh that allows them to to be so prolific uh here in front of us. Um and and share with us uh some great some news some great news and some news we need to hear about. Um I do
thank you so much for the moment of silence. We do have a tra has a tragedy in our district. Um I won't get into the details of that. Of course, it was in the paper, but um thank you so much for recognizing recognizing that and having
empathy uh for the community and in a prayer of silence. So, thank you so much and continue your good work in school. Um and we look forward to seeing you again. God bless you. >> Yes. Yes. Absolutely. So, I just missed uh just missed a quick
presentation. And I have two of my uh graduated students here who are going to share how the yonder pouch system work. You've heard about all of this yonder pouch. And what was it? 276 comments online about yonder pouches. So
we want to demystify and you heard the you heard the students talking about uh how it's you know over time it just gets better. Our students make it work and our staff and so we're so appreciative. But uh Mrs. Grant and Dr. Conway are going to share. On the left, you have
the device that unlocks the yonder pouch. And Mrs. Grant has the pouch itself. And so you walk up to it, you put it on there like you see in in a store, and then it opens. Each student can slide their phone inside.
>> She's That's brave. >> She's trusting it. >> It locks up. Wow. >> Oh, okay. Can you go open? You going to get it? You going to get it back? >> Uhoh.
>> Oh, okay. >> There it is. So, >> yeah, they didn't have a lot of practice, but they did a good job. So, >> thank you. Yeah. Yeah. I just wanted to share that because uh and then show people we understand,
>> but we're seeing students connect better in our buildings >> as a result of um not having to have that device in their face all the time. So, >> they keep they keep thati that device all day long. Yep. It's in their in
their possession so they don't use lose their phone. And that's 7th grade up through 12. 7th through 12. >> Yeah. 7 through 4 through 12. >> 4 through 12. 4 through 12. >> So that's good. >> That was it. Oh, great. All right.
That's good. Thank you. Thank you. I did also um I want to recognize some some special guests that we have in our board meeting uh this evening for national stratey of five Delta Kappa pursuit of excellence a challenge to
fulfill uh two are retired um administrators in our district Dr. Cheryl Heath and Dr. Carolyn Gibson who are here uh this evening as well as TA Wilson also a member of that sarity as
well and any other members of the sority were here that I can't I don't recognize here tonight but join where's Joselyn Steel oh hey Joselyn hey how you doing Joselyn Steel and any other members who are here um we
thank you we recognize the work that you're doing and have done and continue to do uh for students students not only in our district but around around the state and around the country for that matter. Um but we're really interested in focusing on of course our students here in the city of Trenton and the
scholarships that you provide to them and of course your annual fundraiser that's coming up. We look forward to always participating uh in your in your fundraiser that's coming up uh at co Cobblestone Creek which is in Lawrence Township. So, we look forward to uh to
attending and being a part of that festivities and that fundraiser and all the joy that comes out of that uh and your ability at that point to to raise money for for student scholarships and the like. So, thank you so much for your work that you're doing and your service
to our district. Thank you. One of the things I I did want to share share with the board um is we will have our board goals which are primarily professional development goals are ready for review
in our governance committee meeting and I'd like to present those in December for board approval and primarily it's around all of our professional development goals number one being to maintain the Carol Earson Master board certification
and Then also as we as we continue to metriculate um as board members, we have some new board members on board tonight. God bless you, Sister Deleó here tonight. We like her to get of course her new board
member certification. Uh then we also have the level of certified board member, master board member, and certified board leader. And many of us uh here tonight hold one of those certification positions. And so I want to encourage us to continue uh in our
professional development as a part of our board goals uh that are different than our district goals, which are the superintendent's district goals in terms of what our district's going to be doing that relate to our strategic plan. But just wanted to outline those four primary certifications as board members.
We're also a certified board uh master certified board. And so we'll make sure we continue to maintain our master board certification which requires us to have a continue continuous professional development. Thank you Yolanda. Continuous professional under Yolanda's leadership.
We we became a master board certifi master certified board. And so I always want to give kudos where kudos are due and Yan did a great job and keeping us on task and many many nights of professional development over a short period of time to really get us in line
to get our master board certification. One of the only one of the first in Mercer County the first. See I get correct. The first in Mercer County. One of the one of 30. One of 30 around the state. one of 30 around the state and
there's over 600 plus districts in the state have each have a board, right? So, you can imagine we're up in the top echelon percentage-wise of board of boards in the state of New Jersey. And so, I just want to make sure that we recognize that and we continue that work
as a part of our uh overall board goals. Uh, one other thing I wanted wanted to share with the board. Let me get back to my notes. in our governance committee. Uh this past uh week, we discussed our agreement
with New Jersey School Boards Association. We're coming to the end, as you know, board members of our strategic plan, fiveyear strategic plan uh in 2026, and we want to continue working our strategic plan with a new a new version, of course, continuing the work
that we've already done around our continued five-year plan. It's really a continuation of our current plan. Uh but we have an agreement with New Jersey School Boards Association to support us uh in that effort. Our rep is Maryanne Freeman. Uh she delivered that that
agreement to us and we shared that in committee. Not only governance committee but operations committee and board you have it on the finance uh finance agenda to approve tonight. Once that is approved tonight uh in January after the holiday season in January the
superintendent the governance committee will meet with Maryanne Freeman begin to work out logistics and the plans around how we how we're going to implement uh our f next five-year strategic plan initiative into our community. Of course, we will involve other and all of
our board members in that process in our community, but those plans we worked out in January once we approve the agreement tonight. We're going to then in Janu prove the agreement tonight uh November board meeting. We'll sit down with Maryanne Freeman in January with our
superintendent with the governance committee initially and to begin to work the plan statistically of how we're going to implement our next fiveyear three to three to five year uh strategic plan. And so I wanted to share share those uh brief uh notes with you. I also
um sent some information to superintendent, Miss Howard, Mr. R, and Denise Johnson, our vice president, around our board dates for next year just to kind of get ahead of the ahead of the curve, our board dates because, as you remember, last year we had to add
dates to the board calendar for our superintendent evaluation and other things. So I I wrapped out a calendar for all of 2026 for us to review and governance committee and then for the full board to take a look at. So we're all went to court in terms of what we need to do in 2026 to meet all of our
obligations whether it be sports board uh self-evaluation, superintendent evaluation and other requirements that we have as a board. Uh so that's coming. That also includes um present presentations uh throughout the year. Some are mandatory presentations, some
are presentations. We want to give like the presentation we gave tonight, which was a great presentation to share not only with our board, with our community. So, we have have that plan as well. So, we're working out a plan of action to present to to the full board at our December meeting at our December
meeting. It will be still be a draft at that point. Uh so, we'll be able to add value to that from all of our board members. So that's all I have tonight as board president remarks and also as the governance chair of the committee for governance for the trip board of education. We have teaching and learning
next with Alli Daniels Lane. Thank you. Okay. So um good evening. The um teaching and learning committee met on uh Tuesday, November the 11th. Um the meeting began with a discussion of a um
a tiered intervention model that's going to be piloted targeted toward assisting students who may be struggling in certain areas and also a discussion about the uh current reading uh curriculum. Uh we then move to the agenda items that were listed. Some of
the highlight highlights um there was a discussion of a or proposal regarding a music therapy program um at Monument. there is a partnership with the Ruters Graduate School along with um the college of New Jersey and we also talked
about the uh future ready voices and also um we talked a little bit about um identifying a uh vendor for a new uh benchmark uh pilot for language arts and
um math. We also discussed the literacy grant that you heard about a little bit earlier from the superintendent and some of the reasoning behind why there was not an application for some of these specific grants and you heard all those reasons um discussed uh earlier. Uh in
addition, we received a uh update regarding um special education and the fact that the um budgeting process has begun for the 2627 school year that the um standard operational procedures for um INRS updates on helping educators
understand um behavioral versus academic um challenges. And there was also a discussion about a complaint from October and uh a corrective action plan that was assigned and the fact that the uh school district is working to address
or to resolve that particular um complaint and implement the corrective action plan. So that was the meeting for again teaching and learning as well as the update for special education from uh again the teaching and learning committee.
Thank you. Uh good evening. We also met Tuesday. Um hope you guys could hear me. I got a big We're good. Okay, great. Um as usual, we uh discussed uh transfers, the secretar's report, the treasures report,
staff travel, and the bill list. And for October 15 through October 31st, uh we paid $45,457.4 $457,500 uh in bills. And um I'm going to save the uh donations for later because I
really want to take some time. Earlier today, the super earlier this evening, the superintendent talked about our budget cycle and when we about the time that we complete our budgets. And so this is rather extensive, so I'm not going to hit all the points, but I think
folks should understand what that process looks like. And so July starts our budget year. It constitutes the beginning of the budget year that we've already decided last year, right? So
we're planning for the 2026 year. Now, August, and I'm just going to go down the list here. August, the board's treasures report um is due to the county by August 1st. In October, we reviewed the budget calendar with the leadership
team. So that's the superintendent and his team. In November, we distribute budget guidance to the leadership team because studentbased budget means that at every school, you spend that money based on the students that are in the school. Um, we review the budget
calendar with the operations committee, which is me and my and my colleagues. Uh, the superintendent and school business administrator meet with the leadership team to provide guidance and assistant on the budget. And and you heard me talk about transfers just a
minute ago. Um, I'd like to commend the superintendent and and and his his direct leadership team, but also the school leaders because we have gotten very very good over the past few years as it relates to the volume of
transfers, which simply means that they're planning their work and then they're working their plan so that they don't have to move money um move money around. So, kudos kudos to folks. Uh, let's see. um the start
conversations on about non-negotiable staff, reallocations of staff, summer programming, uh course eliminations, additions, and RFPs and the purchasing freeze letter is
distributed the general funds. So this is November. This is the month that we're in right now, right? In December, we develop enrollment projections. The annual audit is presented to the operations committee. The annual audit is also presented to the public at that
time. And continuing discussions on non-negotiable staff, non-negotiable staff, reallocation of staff, summer programs, and course eliminations in January. The leadership budget is due by
January 9th. Distribute the budget instructions and guidance to principles. Final conversations on those non-negotiable reallocation of staff occur and principles meet with their staff to prepare the budget. They prepare cash
flow for the summer ESY and summer school and then in February, school budgets are due to the business office by February 6. The superintendent and leadership team with the principles discuss the budgets from February 9th
through the 13th. Budget revisions are done between February 16th and the 20th. Um, primary budget is presented to the board. The governor makes his address in February. Budgets are entered into the
state DOE net. Superintendent school admin administrator human resources meet with union and staff around reductions and additions. They finalize CA cash flow projections for the summer programming. um prepare the capital budget. The
purchasing freeze letter is sent out on grants and in March budget submission is adopted by the board. The budget submitted to the uh county office for approval. Conversations with the unions
and staff on reductions and additions. Board approves the request for proposals and bids for the 2025 2026 school year. That's what just happened. This um April public hearings on the budget
presentation. If you've attended those, the superintendent and the business manager actually go through the presentation so you understand where that money is going. One of the key slides in that presentation for me is the dollar because they tell you where
every penny in that dollar is spent and where it's going. um meet with principles concerning summer maintenance projects, continue in conversation with unions about um and staff on reductions and additions. And
then in May, the board approves requests for proposals, bids for goods and services needed for the 2026 2027 school year. The board approves staff appointments and renewals and staff shall prepare um general fund
requisitions for processing goods and services for the upcoming school year. So, as you see, there are a lot of moving parts to this and and we've gotten very efficient and effective in managing these processes and that's why
year-over-year we keep getting those awards around physical responsibility because it's important. And uh then the very last thing, sorry that took so long. Okay. Um the
very last thing is um acknowledging those folks that support our children. And so um the organization is Pay It Forward Enterprise. Uh the donation is 14 travel luggage suitcases, 15
crockpots, 22 mattresses valued at $5,000 for school support, family and community engagement. Shine and inspire hygiene products, clothing, hats, backpacks, uh, backpacks, packs, um, valued at $2,500
for family and community engagement. Aramart, 50 Thanksgiving baskets valued at $2,500 family and community engagement. Wellpoint, a $1,000 check for family and community engagement.
and uh Zeta Fibeta Sarity Incorporated, epsilon Zeta chapter school supplies valued at $250 to Joyce Kilmer Intermediate School and we thank those folks for their sacrifices for our children.
>> Good evening. The facilities committee met on uh November 11th. um ongoing capital maintenance projects. Uh currently the Ziger Ziggler uh warehouse building. We're in the process of demolishing it to build a new bus
facility. Um we've run into some roadblocks with uh PSEG um as usual um polls being too close to the building and them refusing not to move them. Um,
so everything is pretty much on hold and we're waiting for confirmations from uh PSCG to uh move lines and so we can knock the whole building down and start the project. Um,
the other projects going on, um, Hedgepath Williams and PGA Hill have received flooring upgrades and new furniture. uh the Gregory School window replacement. The architect and engineer approved the final plans for the window
replacement. The work is uh slated for the summer of 2026. Uh chiller units replaced uh Gregory School, the chiller unit was installed and commissioned. So that's up and running now. Um the admin building, which is this building, the chiller unit
has been resized and approved by the engineers um to be installed. Uh building and grounds inspections, health and safety evaluations were uploaded and submitted to the Mercer County offices. Uh the
site walkth through inspections um are still to be determined and the DP has scheduled to start an integrated pest management inspections on November 12th.
And other than that, that was all we had on the list. All right. Okay, sure. For the HR uh report, uh we met this past Wednesday and I just specifically wanted to highlight a few
things for the board. um a few sections uh specifically uh B uh the new hires um and the uh uh few positions uh especially those that are uh coming in
at over six figure jobs, right? And I joke around, I say this all the time. I often wonder why I went to law school and here I am, you know, still paying back these student loans. But here we are. But um not just that
section B, but uh section F also those um uh people who are retiring um with and I calculated uh over 26 years on average, right? And one um uh one person who's retiring from the district with
over 40 years who've been serving in the district. And then finally, uh section M, uh the salary adjustments, um where we're giving additional salary to those uh who can provide proof uh that they've
been continuing their education. Right? I say all this to say that Trenton Public Schools is a great place to work, right? We provide so many opportunities for those to come in, right, with
education, right? If you want to continue your education, if you want to stay with us for literally decades, right, this is a great place to be and we hope many people from the community can find uh Trenton Public Schools as a place that they want to uh stay with uh
for many years to come. So, I hope that we can pro uh um um approve this HR uh recommendation, this report, and uh bring many people into the district so they can serve uh the children we have here in Trenton. >> I'm going to step in for our vice
president uh Denise Johnson who was uh fell ill uh this evening. Want to say a prayer of silence for her. She's doing well, but she just wasn't feeling well. So, that's why she's not here tonight. She is our chair of our policy committee. Uh on agenda tonight, uh
board members, we have a second reading on policy on use of electronic communication devices. And this will happen that we do our uh yonder pouch presentation today. in this particular policy is directly directly related to
the yonder pouches in terms of us being in compliance in alignment with uh the pol the regulations um of our superintendent implementing the yonder pouches in our schools and so it lines up perfectly with uh with that particular uh strategy and regulation.
So that's all we have tonight. So we did not meet on Thursday. Uh meeting was on Thursday night. I had some challenges. Plus, my birthday was Thursday night, so I wasn't going to meet with them anyway. I I I'm 60 on Thursday. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I don't look 60. I
know I look 60. I know. I know. But, uh 40, right? Yeah. Right. 40. Thank you so much, everyone. We'll uh go on to Larry Taylor, Face School Support. Thank you. >> Uh thank you, board president. The face committee met on uh November 12th and uh
we discussed um the school brand design logo updates with all individual schools like as we saw the districtwide had an logo update which is amazing. All of our schools will be having them individually. So they're having focus group sessions. they're going to be
meeting with the the school communities and really, you know, modernizing it so that it looks similar to the district logo, but it is unique for each school. Um, we also discussed some of the, uh, Thanksgiving drive holiday drives and
around the food pantry. In the month of October, um the food pantry fed um about 134 families received food bags, which is about 308 children and 425 adults. So in total, 736 household members was
benefited from the work that was done through the food pantry in the month of October alone, which is amazing. Um we they also discussed on the 25th they're going to be having a Thanksgiving basket distribution. They're working to distribute a minimum of 200 baskets to
families along with a holiday drive distribution on December 11th. Um working with um parent leaison to select students within district to um take advantage of that opportunity. We also discussed um the focus around building
out the parent connect conference um which will be held in 2026 um at um the high school. And we discussed uh you know uh food access concerns during the government
shutdown. Um along with the fact that um and one of the big things that they told us was that um our school our school pantries remain open for food distribution with uh Mer Street friends at all three locations um during the shutdown. um making sure that uh people
our students in most need especially with SNAP was able to take advantage of um food access that we have in our schools. We also discussed um for next conversation to discuss some of the HIV reporting um for our next month monthly meeting. Thank you.
>> All right. Thank you. I just just wanted to to echo something that you mentioned about not necessarily about SNAP um but as school business administrators Jan I know that uh the federal reimbursement state reimbursements were not held back in other words students that are free
were universal free in the city of Trenton but those reimbursements were not held back from school districts a lot of there's a lot of questions out there I got several questions about whether or not students would receive free meals during that time of the government shutdown, they did they did
receive the mills and the city uh board of ed and other boards of ed around the state receive reimbursements for um those meals for those students. Um that was that would have been a real scare because I I know in some districts it's
millions and millions and millions of dollars in reimbursement that come in to support the food programs for our our children breakfast and lunch not only here in the city of Trenton but around our our county and around our state. So thank
thanks for that comment. Thanks for those those uh uh board committee chair comments. Public participation will be next. Then we have Dr. Carolyn Gibson of National Sharity of Five Delta Kappa
Incorporated PI chapter. >> Oh, this brings back >> your team and your team and your team. >> Big memories. Wow. Well, good evening board president, board members, superintendent Earl and public.
We want to come to say hello to those who know us and meet those who don't know us. as a national sority of fight alley cappa pi chapter the sorority itself has been was founded 1923 we're one of the oldest educational
sororities pi chapter itself was established chartered in 1933 so since 1933 we've been serving and helping and supporting the trend school system and we still continue to do that we are just wanted to let you know we
are still partnering every year trying to make sure things happen with us to make sure that we are supporting your goals that you have as far as the students and our national sorority has a call to action for literacy. All of our 1500 chapters will be doing
literacy in their regions. So we're going to do our literacy here. Our chosen school this year is Gregory School and we plan to do a reading program with Gregory School with their first graders. So that's our our literacy project that way. also want to make sure we are still giving out
scholarships. Over the last several years, we've given over $100,000 in scholarship and we plan to keep on doing that as long as we can. We're also very proud to say that for the last 35 years, we've had a practice review program where you've hired some
of our folks who've passed the practice because of our services we've given to them. So, we want to keep that going as well too. Also looking at a lot of the things we've done, we've always come here for the extra extravaganza. We've always have a table for that. We were here last time for the professional development at
Trenton schools. We were here for the reality fair for the students. We'll do that again on December 5th. So we try to keep our feet in the door, keep our heads high and help you support your students as best we can. So, we want to make sure that you know we appreciate
what you do as well too and that how you come and support our annual scholarship lunchon. December 6th from 11 to 3 at the Cobblestone Creek Country Club in Lawrenville, we will have our 66
scholarship lunchon. I've given tickets to the superintendent. Feel free to buy one. Uh we don't have a problem with that at all. So again, thank you for your service to our students and we look forward to continue our partnership. And
we have some handouts for you to see. We have a brochure about who we are, a new copy of our newsletter. We we put out one every month. So that's P chapter. And again, thank you. It was a pleasure coming back to the old stomping grounds. >> You're welcome. You're welcome, Dr.
Gibson and Cheryl and Ta and Jocelyn. Thank you so much for being here. We now have Tina Clark. >> Okay. Divine Kids Academy and Preschool
and Clark Community Connections. >> Thank you. >> Good evening again to the president, Mr. Truheart. Happy birthday. >> Thank you >> to all of the esteemed board members. I am Tina Clark once again uh with Divine Kids Academy 16 North Warren and I am
1200 Styent and I come here today to push reset and to ask you to do the same with me. So we had come here in September as you know with a request um that we haven't fully finished with the board. I'm sure that we will but I
wanted to extend grace on that. Um, I was at home this weekend preparing the substance of the uh other matter that I want to speak to you about. And as I was praying about it, I began to
cry because the Lord reminded me um part of my why with this is I remember I was one of those mothers who need subsidies, right? I was on welfare. My I didn't come from a blight situation. My mom was the first generation to go to
college and um but I had a domestic violence situation that caused me to, you know, be in that part of system. I remember what it's like to be in those lines for people to treat you bad and they're just rude for like no reason, right? Uh but in dealing with this
situation, I want to extend grace about the communications that we had about the past, what missteps, what didn't happen, right? And you know what the Lord said to me? He said, "You couldn't have done what she did." Because while I was frustrated because there were missteps,
right? Nothing great ever happens without missteps. Nothing nothing great ever happens where everything is perfect and neat and nice. That's only the people who don't go for something great, right? So, we all understand that. I mean, even Divine Kids Academy, who I'm
here with, she's been over 20ome years. But does she have a record that says every inspection was perfect and there was never something that needed to be addressed? No. We all understand that's not how we get here. So, I'd like to first say on those issues, I don't want to spend the energy and time
revisiting the history ad nauseium. I want to embrace grace so that we can move forward to do what you said. Come together about solutions. Come together about why we're really here. It's not who didn't, why didn't, when did it wasn't perfect. who can ever stand on
anything that they've done perfectly, but to embrace solutions because like you said, it's about our children that we're here to guard and protect. And so I offer that. I offer that uh while I would never be that angry, hostile person, the critique like Monday morning
Monday morning quarterbacking, right? Nobody needs that energy and it's not helpful. And so I want to assure you that I'm here to do what you said. Engage. Engage in a positive way. We're not hostile. who are not your enemies. I
am now excited beyond excitement because once we can stop being frustrated with each other, the only thing that's in the way is the real issues and the real concerns that create barriers for our children. And that's what we're all here for. And so I submit that issue for a
later time that we can always revisit that. And when you allow me to, I will address the the solid issue. Thank you. So, I give you back also um my 15 seconds uh president that you took from me last time. You know, my 15 seconds
that you took away from me last time. I'm I'm giving it back. But also, I wanted to welcome you. I I had a chance to listen to the recording. I think you joined last session. Am I right? >> Right. Right. Welcome. And thank you so much for your service. Thank you to
everyone for such a time as this. I'm very proud to hear about your certification for the board itself, right? That that uh amongst the 76 600 districts that we are models. I want to say that great things can come from
Trenton and Trenton makes models and so for that I stand with you. >> Did you have something else? I'll be back. >> All right. Thank you, Sister Clark. Appreciate that. We'll now move on to board discussion and action on consent agenda.
Have a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Properly moved and second. Any discussion? >> Roll call. >> Gerald Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson absent. Jean Buouie. >> Yes.
>> Addie Daniels Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. >> Yolanda Lopez. >> Yes. >> Larry Trailer. >> Yes. Chenie Waklum, >> yes. >> Denelli Deleó, >> yes. >> Motion passed. >> Uh, board member comments. NJSBA update.
>> Um, yes. So, >> um, first, right? >> That was, you can go first. >> Okay. Go first. Yeah. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. So, I just wanted to commend the children for the work they did with projectbased learning. So that's that's really
significant from my vantage points because they actually said that they would uh improve graduation rates by 15% by 2028. Very specific and and reduce dropouts by 1%.
That's a big deal when you look at the work that we're doing and the fact that they outlined a plan that folks could get behind. And I, you know, I do the money part that didn't sound like a huge financial investment to work with these
babies to bring some of that, you know, if it makes sense, right, to make some of that stuff go. So, kudos to them. That's my first. And then um I owe the board president, brother Gerald, an apology because I told him I was going to do something and I didn't do it. So
I'm gonna do it now. So when you think about the operations um committee and the work that we do, um the majority of our work is on goal five. So, your homework assignment is to
go to the school uh the district website and look up goal five so that you could understand what I'm talking about, right? Um and then there's two additional pieces. Um goal two, when you look at all of the
investment that we make in our teachers and our staff, that's a goal two. Oh, no, I'm sorry. That's goal four, which is staff development and well-being. And then um there's also um goal two when
you when I speak about the donations, right? That's community engagement and partnerships. So I will do better next time, brother Gerald, to describe it, but it's important especially as we move to doing the new strategic plan. Our
five goal areas won't change. We'll establish different goals and tweak them, but the focus number one is student achievement. And so, so when you think about that, as you listen to our feedback, try to connect the dots for
yourselves to know where where we're spending the money and why it's a priority for us. That's it. How'd that do, Jane? >> Great. You feel better? Uh uh, brother President, I know I let you down. >> No, you did an excellent job. Appreciate
you, brother. >> Yeah. So, um, for me, just a couple things. So, um, in terms of the implementation of the yonder, uh, pouches. So, it seems like the district is a step ahead because quite frankly, there's legislation now discussing the whole cell phone policy for the state of
New Jersey. And so certainly, you know, we have to uh, you know, hold our heads high in the fact that we're doing some things ahead of what the state is considering in terms of, you know, monitoring and control of the uh, cell phone policy. So, we're a step ahead and I just want to, you know, commend the
district for being a step ahead, right, and working out the kinks and hopefully our our program is aligned to whatever it is the state comes up with that they're still working on, right? So, I just needed to say that. Okay. And also um just wanted to say for the students that were engaged in a project-based
learning I mean that is certainly um you know something that we can learn from throughout the district right because using real world scenarios u that's really good work right and having the students think through set goals think through and come up with some solutions I especially like the um ideas that they
came up with in terms of the I believe it's the ninth graders that talked about the various supports that you would give to students that um are perhaps considering or on the verge verge of dropping out and how we can get them to change that uh trajectory. All right. So, I I like that. And then the other
thing is I wanted to say kudos to uh F Delta Kappa in terms of their work in the community. And I I can say for myself having received a scholarship from them uh 50 years ago. Uh and certainly um here I benefited from that.
Never had to worry about it. Never had to think about it. And for four years they supported my education. And so certainly, as I said, I can give a testament to the work that they do. And so it's because of them and the district that I can sit here and give back my time now. So I just need to say that. So
>> good, good. >> Good evening. >> Um I'm sorry. Okay. >> Can I go? Yeah. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Uh I just want to say I was really impressed with that projectbased learning program. Um, you know,
especially the calendar with the kids came up with with managing anxiety, managing anger, you know, the kids came up with that. That's something when the kids are involved, we'll be more successful and I think that's um
important if that we look at the whole project and the results of it. Um, the other thing I was really impressed with was student government kids speaking up. Um, but one of the things I did get from them is they're asking for more security
in the high school. And when the kids are asking for security, I think we need to listen. And you know, do we have the SRO's officers in place this year? How many security guards are in the
halls? What are they feeling? What's going on that they're feeling that there's not enough security is what my question is, I guess. And I think we really, you know, they know what's happening in there. They get the feelings from the whole vibe and I think
we have to really pay attention to that. And um that's all I've got for now. Thanks. Good evening everyone. Um I do want to shine light to the fact like everyone has been saying to the future forward pro uh uh project based learning. I
think that was just an excellent uh initiative that they did over the summer especially not only that it was student led but the small groups with teachers and I think that really builds like when there's like intimacy between a student and a teacher that really helps them get more confident even when we think of like college and for for their future
and I love the fact that they mention that they ask real life questions and if possible like I I wasn't able to see the responses of um what prevents them from like you know dropping on I would love to read that like I wanted to see what were the responses and then also I want
to shine light to the PI chapter because I see my teacher here which was I'm like oh my gosh um I'm like so I benefited from her from her teaching style. Um I don't know if I can see her name but just shout out to
Miss Avery. Um so she was just an excellent also thespian from what I remember. Um, so to see her here is just like I'm just so honored and kind of like a full circle moment. So, thank you. >> Hey, you know, I was trying to go boy,
girl, boy, girl. That that grammar is cool. That that didn't work. >> I see what you do, Mr. President. All right. So, um, I also wanted to add, uh, with the, uh, future forward presentation. Um, and I don't know if we can bring up the slides or anything like
that, but for me, slide 14 was absolutely spectacular because it really focused on um kind of the like the full circle of the program, right? And how it connects with the work that we're already doing with the district, right?
Um, not only did it focus on, you know, grade nine, but also grade 10, grade 11, and grade 12, right? And what I really loved uh was the idea that this was an intercultural
program, right? That each mentor would pro uh would uh uh pair up with a mentee that was of a different culture, right? And that is really transformative because that is in line with what we're
already doing here in the district, right? you know, with our K to3 program where we're already trying to teach our kids, you know, um, uh, multiling like multil- language learners, right? You know, where, uh, it's not just, you know, um, uh, our kids that are already
understanding English, like, you know, they're paired up with kids that are trying to, you know, um, that already know Spanish, right? And like, you know, cross-cultural learning, right? Because what we're trying to do here in the district, understanding the children that already live here, we're trying to
prepare our kids to become global citizens, right? That's not the world of the future. That's the world that we're in right now. And so understanding that that's where these kids are already un like are
already projecting themselves to be and able to capture that is absolutely amazing. So, I love the presentation that they were uh able to do. I'm excited for, you know, what the future generation uh the future leaders
of Trenton are doing, right? Because they're just I sit back and say to myself, right, I'm just like, yo, these kids at 16, 17, 18, right, are leaps above where I was, all right, I listen, just trying to get by at 22. All right?
like this law school thing. All right, it's just, you know, I was trying to get by in DC. All right, but these kids are just absolutely killing it already and I'm excited for the future of what Trenton already has. Um, so, uh, I'm very excited, uh, just for that specific
piece and, uh, solving the problems that we have just to make sure that kids are able to graduate on time and be able to come, um, you know, really global citizens, um, not just here in Trenton, New Jersey, not just the United States, but across the entire, uh, world.
>> I'll keep it short. I just want to I agree with everything that has been said. I echo it, but I want to emphasize that two of the things that I really did like is first of all that because we have the students mentoring other
students, we really are helping them build leadership skills, something that is really necessary in all areas in all aspects of their lives. So that's a great way to develop those leaders leadership skills and also
the fact that they acknowledge that we need each other. We cannot work in a vacuum. We need each other and so then we can truly say together we thrive. So kudos. >> Absolutely. And I was going to just copy
or chime in on what you said about the um Pathfinders and the peer mentoring. I think that that's so important because I don't think we think about how what things a 11th or 12th grader is experiencing in life that a ninth grader will not think about right then and there because they're in ninth grade
that by seeing an older colleague or older student that is mentoring them and talking to them apply for colleges figure out what they want to do with their lives like it gives them an earlier chance to actually sit down and sit with the weight of all of that because especially when you're in ninth grade coming into high school like you're not thinking about what like what
is your college plans you know, so I think that that's really important to have that like, you know, um, mentorship, especially, you know, when, you know, uh, the city has historically been known as, you know, kids don't leave their their section of the Trenton, you know, kids don't really
go out and explore much. So to be able to engage with students that may not necessarily come from the same part of town as you, that may not come from the same background as you, you know, helps really gives you the exposure to really imagine what possibilities of life are
for you. A few things, um, I agree with my colleague, um, Jeanie when Jeannie was talking about the, um, importance of the kids coming to speak to us. I'm so happy that each meeting um this year we've had um different students from the high schools come and tell and tell
their you know come and speak to us. Um I think it's really amazing to see students you know practice public speaking and leadership skills and also advocate for the colleagues or for their peers. Um I definitely I remember superintendent we was talking about at
the last um SSDs um HIV presentation was talking about the rules around vaping. I know that students was talking about that. So I would love to see, you know, especially the next time parent Terrence come in, how the district is trying to build up strategies around that because it seems like the students are even within
themselves concerned about, you know, students going into the bathrooms and vaping and all that stuff. So deeply interested in that. and um from the uh legislative committee uh the for the schoolboard association as the board representative um for us on that
committee. The committee will be meeting December 6. We meet quarterly so we have not met since the beginning of this the fall but we will be meeting December 6. We have had some legislative updates, bill updates as we know a recent election has pa has happened. So we're
in lame duck season in the state legislature. So that means that, you know, the governor is term limited. He's walking out and, you know, politicians are voting on and passing bills that they may not have passed before the election because, you know, because of
politics. So, um, I'm going to read through some of the bills right now that might get that has been signed, some bills that will be signed just to give a short synopsis. But first, I would like to congratulate our schoolboard members that have been reelected um, this month.
and I'm looking forward to continue working with y'all this upcoming year and this upcoming term. So, thank you. Uh, congratulations for your re-election, Austin um, Genie and congratulations on your election, Denelli. So, just to quick I'm not going to read the whole list, but um, they send us a
list and I'll share with all the board members as well. Um the governor has conditionally vetoed a um a bill establishing a chronic absentee task force. It has passed both um houses, but it might um but you know, he wasn't a
full veto, so hopefully uh the legislature will um revise it and it will get passed. Um the governor also signed a bill requiring public schools and certain non-public schools to comply with the most stringent school lunch and breakfast nutrition standards. Um there
was a bill signed requiring um student identification cards to contain telephone number for suicide prevention hotlines. That was signed over the summer. Um there was a bill um establishing um requirements for school
counselor certifications, outline roles and duties of school counsel counselor and requires professional development for school counselors. Um, I thought it was interesting. One of the bills, it was um to teach um requiring school
districts to provide instruction on the history of Latinos and Hispanics as a part of implementing the New Jersey student learning standards. Uh that was signed by the governor this fall. So, uh, and finally, um, a bill that's waiting for the governor's signature right now is a bill extending the
deadline for the completion of school district's annual audit for the 2024 2025 school year. So, that's just some of the short legislative updates. I have to one thing is uh to commend the public. This the I think it's one of the first times I've seen the public stay
for for >> to the end. Wow. I mean that that is uh biblical patience. You can be patient. Normally people are patient but they complain. That's not biblical patience. You're patient and you're calm and you're listening to us and you're taking
everything in. And I just want to commend the public for your participation as well as your patience uh this evening. Thank you so much for staying on board with us to the very end. We appreciate you. One of the things I did want to share. Um when I
got this from the National Sardia of High Delta Kappa had a chance to look through this on the front cover. I want the board uh the public to recognize that probably 99%
of the women who are in the photos throughout this publication are either retired from Trenton public schools or are currently working in the Trenton public school system.
That's that that is that's phenomenal work and it shows a lot about who we are as a district and who we are as a city. I see Dr. Sheree Smith on the front cover. I see Janette Mayfield on the
front cover. I see Julie Tom, Dr. Julie Thomas, long time on the on the Crystal Feliciano, our council woman. Ivy Avery, who was mentioned, right? Ivy Avery. Ivy Avery, uh, Harriet Murray, me, longtime administrator, principal in the city of
Trenton here in public schools, Janice Williams, Trina Williamson, um, and others whose names I may not may not know, but I know their faces, but again, 99% of the women you see throughout this publication are either retired Trenton
Public School employees or current Trenton Public School employees. And that's that's just a testimony to the work that they continue to do as a sorority. One of the things that also I also noticed in the pamphlets, there's a picture of me in here. I'm famous now, y'all. I'm famous now. I'm famous.
Guess who I'm sitting next to? This man right here. And my wife on one side, but the man right here >> and and Hope Grant right next to him. So, I know I'm in good company. No, that's just good stuff. I I wanted to share that. And then one of the things that at Gene you had mentioned
about the alignment right of our goals to our agenda items. When I came on as president and I had a conversation about this in governance committee with the entire board uh and superintendent of of course first of all we really we wanted to align everything you see on the
agenda that we're approving. We want it lined up with our district goals for that for that year. And of course, the district goals in line up with our strategic plan. I think that sets the stage for us
to share with the public how we are mirroring our strategic plan, our district goals, and how they line up with how we're spending the money and how we're allocating resources through our business administrator, Jane Howard, our superintendent, Mr. James Earl, and
all the staff administrators in our district. But that's going to help us chart the course for our next strategic plan because now we have everything aligned and lined up with our strategic plan, our our district goals that speak to us every single board meeting. So you
see as something on the agenda that you have a question about, look at the goal. Look at that goal number five. That goal number one on student achievement. That goal number on facilities and resources. That goal on on developing the whole child. that go on staff development,
right? And you'll be able to then kind of chart the course for where we're going and how we're how we're actually allocating resources, support our teachers in our classroom, to support our students and the like. So that that was something that was very important that this board unanimously agreed with and we move forward with with the
support of our uh support of the administration uh in the district with London superintendent. The other thing that I did want to share uh briefly last at least my last comment for tonight is
I will be presenting at November 20th Thursday's uh meeting for the county along with two other business administrators uh in the Mercer County area. Uh one is Katie Atwood from Hamilton. The other is Derek Me from West Windsor. I'm
assistant BA in Lawrence Township School District. also president from the Trenton Board of Ed, but we're going to be presenting to our county here in Trenton at our county meeting right here in Trenton. Um, and I I am so honored so honored to be able to be here to present
to my fellow board members and the other board members in the county with two distinguished other business administrators in the county. That's going to be at our count county meeting on November 20th. So board members, if you haven't registered, please register and be there. Be there.
Lock it in. Lock it in and be there. The other thing that came out that came out of car Karen Calhoun Karen Callahan sent out a three Rs, professional development training just before the Mercer County meeting. I think it's a pretty good session. It's you get statewide regional credit from
the NJFA New Jersey school boards association. It's called the three Rs training for board member success. is uh just before it. She sent the email out about 8:02 this morning uh on Monday, November 17th. So, check out your emails. If you can register for that,
get her early. I think it'd be great for all of us uh to get that training. One more feather in our cap, right? One more feather in our cap in terms of training. Um and it is a certification opportunity and but you have to register twice. you had to register for that particular
training as well as for the um for the uh county county meeting. I think that's all that I have. Anyone else have any any comments at this time? >> Okay. So, the board of directors report for New Jersey school boards. Is that Are we doing that now? >> Yes, you do that now. Yes. Yes, indeed.
Okay. So the um board of directors for New Jersey school boards met on this past Friday and at that time it was reported that the um audit was um completed that there is a surplus in their budget. Um there was an unmodified opinion so everything there was no
issues and everything was reconciled. They also at that time reviewed the um governance courses one two three and four that are being um updated and um they're incorporating an interactive model that has a AI chat box person
named Carla and you have to interact with Carla during the training um again for governance one two and three and Carla will ask you questions but she will not give you answers so uh so so that's going to be new for next
year when you have to do those trainings. Um, also there is uh and there was a comment about folks before who would turn on a training and walk away and now you can't do that. Carla is asking you questions back and forth and you have to stay connected, right? And
so and respond. Also, they reported on um workshop 2025 which was held in October. Uh it was a tremendous success. There was a lot of feedback. Uh most people appreciated the workshops. The timing however was an issue for some and the lunch issues and lunch lines uh that
was problematic. So they're looking at that particular um how to address that particular situation. Um for legislative update that they mentioned that they are developing an advocacy agenda for 2627 um and they're going to have a representative of the legislative
committee to meet uh to speak at the next board meeting. Uh, also they talked about strategic planning and how there's going to be a um an area on the website if you're undergoing the strategic planning process that you can key into this particular um location on the
website and um the community community can also see like how you're doing in your strategic planning journey. So that's going to be on the website. Um they um also talked about um the state health benefits plan, right? because New Jersey school boards have employees and
those employees are are part of the state health benefits plan and so quite frankly they're looking to jump ship right um in terms of to look for alternative um alternatives to the state health benefits program because it's being projected that there will be a 50%
increase in the next few years. So, they're looking to uh find a different carrier for New Jersey school boards association period. And um they also said that New Jersey school boards has a seat on the commission um that heads the state health benefits um association,
but if we leave the plan, then we'll probably lose the seat in terms of being a commissioner on the plan. And sometimes there's an advantage to being one of the commissioners, right? So that was part of the discussion, but right now they're leaning to uh jump ship for
that particular piece. Uh and the other piece they've talked about was um policy manuals that they're going to be free policy manuals for the district for the districts, not regulations themselves, but actual policy manual, but no regulations. There's also um going to be
available crisis management assistance um that's available to the um various districts and there will be a HR hotline um and it won't be legal advice but their questions if you have a questions about if you have a question about HR you'll be able to dial in and ask them questions but again don't consider it to
be legal advice consult your attorney for that. Um, in addition, they talked about, uh, a civility initiative, which I thought was interesting. Um, and so, uh, there's going to be a specific, um, civility initiative and a civility
pledge and all those kind of they want us to adopt a civility resolution, uh, that will be for next year and also a pledge um to in fact uh, incorporate civility. Right. So, uh, evidently there's a lot of concern and we know
we've had some concerns in the past. We don't have those concerns right now. Uh, however, um, a lot of boards are being challenged in terms of, um, this whole civility thing. So, again, that's an initiative that New Jersey school boards is taking up. So, those are the some of the highlights from the board of directors and also the county leadership
meeting that I just wanted to, uh, share and also the meeting that's coming up on uh, this Thursday. >> We have, it shows we have leadership on this board. Addie serves as second vice president for Mercer County School first, excuse me, moved up. First vice
president of Mercer County School Boards Association. Larry, of course, is on the legislative committee. We have two delegates uh to the Mercer County, which is Denise Johnson and who's our and Jeannie Wland is our other delegate. So,
not only leadership here in Trenton, but leadership at the county level and I'm sure we're going to be at the state level soon. Addie board >> board director state level. Okay, there we go. There we go. All right. Any other any other comments?
All right. Move to executive session. >> No. Sorry. No. Public comment is public comment time is over. >> Public comment time is over. Next board meeting. We'll see. We'll hear from you next board meeting. Thank you. >> Go ahead.
>> We'll talk afterwards. >> No new No business. executive session. Whereas open public's meeting act code codified in SJA 10 colon 4-6 permits the exclusion of the public from meeting under certain circumstances and whereas
the written board of education is of the opinion that such circumstances present exist indicated as follows. Any material considered confidential by federal law, state statute or court rule. Any pending anticipate litigation or contract negotiations to which the board is or
may become a party to any matter falling within attorney client privilege to the extent that confidentiality is required to preserve the attorney client relationship and allow the attorney to exercise his or her ethical duties as a lawyer. Matters caps and settlement AL
OBO JL vers Trenton public schools action negotiations update discussion now therefore be resid by the Trenton Board of Education County of Mercer State of New Jersey. The executive session will be held on November 17th,
2025 for the statuto principal purposes indicated in this resolution. Be it therefore resolved that ash may be taken by the board when it reconvenes in open session. Be it finally resolved that the minutes of the executive
session with regard to the above s subject matter shall be disclosed to the public at a later date and to the extent that the same is not prejuditial to the interest of the parties involved. no longer adverse to the public interest or does not endanger any individual rights
prozy. The what reason why we're giggling is because we're going to shorten this for next couple board meetings. This is just too long. So, we're going to short shorten our executive session resolution. So, we go right into executive session and come back out here and share with all of you
our decision. So, motion to go into executive session. >> Second. >> Second. >> Roll call. Gerald Truhart, >> yes. >> Denise Johnson, absent. Jean Buoie, >> yes. >> Addie Daniels Lane, >> yes. >> Austin Edwards, >> yes.
>> Yolanda Lopez, >> yes. >> Larry Taylor, >> yes. >> Jeannie Week, >> yes. >> Danelli Deleó, >> yes. >> Ajourn to exact session. Let me see. Be careful because we've been doing it.
Yeah. Don't let me I do. >> All right, folks. We're back in public. We're back in public session. Uh, could I have a motion to accept a settlement agreement? I like we I'd like to move we approve the settlement with docket
number EDS02379-20 >> 25s >> I would like to second probably second it roll call >> Gerald Truhart >> yes >> Denise Johnson absent Jean Buoie >> yes >> Addie Daniels Lane >> yes >> Austin Edwards >> yes >> Yolanda Lopez >> yes
>> Larry Trailer >> yes >> Jeanie Wel >> yes >> Ali de Leon Yes. Motion passed. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Wow. Prop move. Second. All in favor? >> I. So we adjourn to sing America.