Mr. Earl, any other issues or concerns I can help you with? >> No, I wanted to announce she has official title. music. >> It's music. That's on
Trying to Wait for Yolanda. Trying to wait for Yolanda to come out. Trying to peek and see if she's going to She's back. She's coming. She's coming. So rather than start, she's here. Give her a few
minutes to get herself together. >> Good afternoon. Want to call the meeting to order. Tinton Board of Education regular board meeting Monday, March 23rd, 2026, 5:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance. >> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty for all. >> Roll call, please. >> Gerald Truhart, >> present. >> Denise Johnson, absent. Jean Buouie
absent. Addie Daniels Lane >> present. >> Austin Edwards >> present. >> Yolanda Lopez >> present. >> Larry Trailer >> present. >> Jeannie Wiggler >> present. >> Denelli De Leon >> present. We have a quorum.
>> New Jersey Sunshine Law. New Jersey public meetings law was enacted to ensure the rights of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted on. On the rules of this act, the Triton Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting by
publicizing date, time, and place therefore posted on the district 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, prepared to succeed in their choice of college or career. Motion to adopt the agenda. >> Second, properly moved and seconded. Roll call. >> Gerald Truhart, >> yes. >> Denise Johnson, absent.
>> Gene Buoie, absent. Addie Daniels Lane, >> yes. >> Austin Edwards, >> yes. >> Yolanda Lopez, >> yes. Larry Trailer, >> yes. >> Jeannie Week, >> yes. >> Denelli De Leon, >> yes. >> I also need >> Motion passed. I >> also need to move uh denims to the
agenda. Goal five, human resources, personnel transaction, new hires, and uh stipen appointments as well as finance recommendations request for a proposal uh for awards of a contract.
May I have a motion? Austin Edwards. So moved. >> Motion. F. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Gerald Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson absent. Jean Buouie absent. Addie Daniels Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. >> Yolanda Lopez.
>> Yes. >> Larry Trailer. >> Yes. >> Jeannie Wicklam. >> Yes. >> Denelli D. Leon. >> Yes. >> Okay. Motion passed. All right. >> Yes. You're welcome. Okay.
ready for >> ready for superintendent's remarks. >> All right. Good evening and welcome on this uh crisp first early spring uh day. And at this time, we're excited to have you with us. Um wanted to share just a
few dates or updates about the school calendar. We put put it out on the website and social media, but just wanted to talk about it here. And if you haven't seen it, um just so that you're aware that some things changed because of all the wonderful snow days that you
all received off or not for parents. They're probably probably not fun, but um we had to close school or emergency closing days. We had to use them all and borrow some uh because of some other things in district. So, it adjusted the
calendar. Some two important things to note is both graduations, uh, Trenton Central High School graduation and Capitol City High School graduation are moved until, uh, to June 26, 2006.
That's on a Friday. They were originally June 24th. Uh, and they both been moved due to the additional two days we're adding at the end of the year. So, just to talk about the days, this this is posted, so you'll see it and I may not
make sense, but read it and don't hesitate to reach out. On April 3rd, we are still closed. Uh that begins uh the spring break week, which is April 6 through the 10th, we are closed. Now, could that change? Yes. Uh if there are
emergency closing days because of a a a hot day and the air conditioner doesn't work and we have to close a building or several buildings, we start using those days as makeup days. We have to be in school 180 days. Therefore, uh we must
use those days or some at some point in the year that we may have off. So April 3rd, we're closed. April 6 through 10, we are currently closed. That's the spring break week. Uh May 22nd because of the January 6 makeup day. We will be
open on May 22nd. On June 2nd, June 2nd's important because that's the New Jersey primary. That's the election day. Because of the way the world is working now, we've been using that day to close and adding days
into our calendar because we have outside individuals coming into schools just to protect our interest in students, we've been closing those days, but we also used it as an emergency closing day, which means because we needed to borrow days. We opened, but
since we don't have a way to uh secure that day, we're going to close that day. and we added the two days on the back end of the schedule. So, um the two new days that's added is the 24th and the 25th of June. What that did change was
that the 22nd, June 22nd and June 23rd are now full days in school. They're full days and not reduced days. That's a change in the calendar. We will broadcast that many times so that you know as a parent and that you can share
that with friends. The two new days added to the calendar is June 24th and June 25th. They are reduced days. Reduced days means we get out uh a few hours early depending on the level. If
you're in the high school, you get out earlier uh middle school and um intermediate school. Uh 30 minutes after that and then 45 minutes for elementary. So just pay attention to those days. And again, graduations are changed. So, if
you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to my office or to your school principles. Uh, if there are any shifts about graduation, I know that we broadcast that. And if you have family, they may have traveled. So, just let them know there's a shift and we look
forward to having you on June 26 to celebrate the graduation of our seniors at both schools. Um, today we have a treat for you. Yes. >> Oh, you Okay. You want to do that now? >> Do it now. >> Yep. Because I'm going to introduce
them. >> Okay. Thank you, Superintendent. I just want to make a notice uh to the public at this time uh that at our next meeting on April 27th, a public hearing will be held to discuss a proposed amendment to the superintendent's contract.
Formal notes will be posted by the board secretary as required by law. Just want to make that notice. Mr. Superintendent, back in your hands. >> Thank you. Uh this evening we have a treat for you. Um Trenton Central High School men on a mission. uh they'll
share a little bit more about what they do, what their purpose is, but we'll be treated tonight uh from them singing the impossible dream and actually reciting uh Dr. Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech. So, we're really excited
about that. This is facilitated and orchestrated by uh Trenton Central High School voice and piano teacher uh Mr. Gary Taylor. And we also want to thank our supervisor of visual and performing arts, Mr. Robert Keys. At this time,
ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Trenton Central High School Men on a Mission. Good evening, Superintendent James Earl, Board President Rev. Gerald Truhart II, Board of Education Secretary, Miss Jean Howard, the entire Titan Board of
Education, Fine Arts Supervisor, Mr. Robert Keys, administrators, parents, and distinguished guests. My name is Brienne Ellerby, one of Transitu High School's men on admission co-leaders.
DeAndre Marks is the other co-leader. The TCHS men admission program is dedicated to cultivating young men of purpose, integrity, and vision. Through mentorship, leadership development, and community engagement, we empower our
young men to take overcome challenges, take responsibility, and lead by example. We are intentional about building not just students, but disciplined, accountable, and service-driven leaders.
Our mission goal is clear to empower young men to recognize their potential and pursue excellence in all areas of life. We are deeply grateful to our principal, Miss Mary Courtourtney, parents, community, and our transit high school
family for supporting our vision. Because of that support, we have traveled to Washington DC to meet with Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman and have toured Wall Street and Fox News and New York City, expanding our
horizons and exposing us to leadership, government, finance, and media at the highest levels. This year it is our dream and our quest to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, Selma, and Montgomery, Alabama
on a civil rights and college tour so that we can walk through history, stand where ch change was demanded, and understand the sacrifices that paved the way for their future. We wish to thank the board of education once again for allowing us to go on this
college and civil rights tour April 15 through 18, 2026. This evening we are grateful for the opportunity to perform the impossible dream sung by Ronnie Dela Cruz along with experts from I have a dream
performed by the rest of our members. We hope that you enjoy our presentation. To dream the impossible dream. To fight the unbeatable fall.
to bear with unbearable sorrow. To run where the brave dare not go, to
write the unritable wrong. And to love pure and chasteed from afar. to try when your arms are too weary
to reach that unreachable star. This is my quest to follow that star. No matter how hopeless,
no matter how far to fight for the right without question or pause, to be willing to march, march into hell
for that heavenly cause. And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest that my heart
will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest. And this world
will be better for this. When one man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage
to dream the impossible dream. When the architects of the republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and declaration of independence, they would sign a
promisory note to which every American was to fall here. This was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the unaliable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. >> It is obvious today that America has
defaulted on his promisory note. And so far as her citizens of color are concerned, >> but we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great loss of opportunity of this nation.
And so we have come to cash this check. A check that will be given to us upon demand. The security of riches and security of justice. We are not satisfied. It will not be satisfied until just like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. So
even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of his creed. We hold these
truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted. Every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed and all flesh shall see it together. And if America is to become a great nation again, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New
York. And let freedom ring from the heightened Alaginis of Pennsylvania. And let freedom ring from the streets of our capital city, Trenton, New Jersey. And when this happens and when we allow free to ring, we'll be able to join hands and sing the words of a old negro
spiritual. Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we're free at last. Impossible dream to reach that unreachable star.
To dream the impossible, the impossible dream. Give them another round of applause. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Thank you, Mr.
Keys. Thank you, young men, for an outstanding presentation. We certainly appreciated it and need it in this time. Dream the impossible dream. Um, so at that time, at this time, we're going to proceed
into um presenting our board members. if it's board member appreciation month in January and so uh we snow and many other things um kept us from being
able to recognize the board members for outstanding work. So at this time we will do just that. So you want to bring people down. All right, >> guys. Can stand up and we'll come down. He'll he'll come down when he when
president your pretendant calls you. I will probably speak before everything. So everybody straight >> guys. Hey, wonderful job guys. You guys are the best. Great job. I appreciate this. Thank you guys. All right. I'll
see you guys around. Be good. Hey man, great job with everything. All right. This evening we have uh three board presentations uh for the public. The first is our comprehensive financial audit which will
be provided by Mr. Dave Ganon, partner of PKF O'Conor Davies LLP. Uh our second presentation will be provided by Miss Maryanne Freriedman, New Jersey School Board Senior Field Service Representative. And our third presentation is provided by one of our
team members, uh Mrs. Hope Grant, assistant superintendent for secondary schools, and it's about our student attendance action plan. So, we're excited to have them all here to present this evening. Mr. Ganon, the floor is yours. >> Good evening everybody. Uh, so initially
we were supposed to uh report back in January, then we got snowed out and then February, we got snowed out and here we are in March. Uh, so the audit was filed on time. Uh we also did meet with the operations committee and had a more detailed conversation on the audit back in January. So this is going to be kind
of a a highlight over overview. Uh so with that, you know, I always like to first recognize the the board staff. You know, we we we are on site for about two months during the year doing our audit. Uh so during that time the employees have to go through their
regular duties and also respond to uh numerous requests from us and we always appreciate their cooperation and professionalism. Uh so really you know always very cooperative always very helpful. So we're very much appreciative of that. Also although we interact with the business office quite a bit we it is
an audit of the entire district. Anywhere there's purchasing or spending or collection of money we're we're doing audit procedures uh you know throughout the district. Uh your prime objective of the audit is to issue an opinion on the district's financial statements. Uh as well as do a
what's called a federal and state single audit based on the level of federal and state aid that the district receives. We have to do a very specific audit uh as as it relates to that. And there's a number of standards I highlight uh that we have to follow during the course of our audit.
As far as results go, we've issued an unmodified opinion on the district's financial statements. It's the best opinion you can get. In essence, means that the district's following all the required accounting pronouncements and principles that they're required to. Uh we found that the financial records
maintained by the business office are in excellent condition. Uh really meaning, you know, uh for any of the transactions or account balances that we're looking at, the district was able to provide adequate supporting documentation to support those transactions. Uh on the next slide I'll go through the
district's financial position but as you'll see the district continues to maintain a very strong financial position. Uh you know one of the things after co there was a really big influx of federal money. You know probably about $70 million for the district and ARP funds and how the district went
about spending that money over the course of several years was really just well planned out. Uh they didn't rely on you know an enhanced education. and it supported students but they didn't utilize it to support the budget for recurring expenditures. So it's it's
found you know as as some districts have now really struggled to come out of that period of time the district continues to be very strong and really has thrived you know I I I can't say I mean the the every other day I think you can you know you see an article about a school
district having a deficit in fund balance having a deficit in their budget really struggling and then you know as you know when you look at your district you really should be proud of of how you've handled all that uh because you know as I that on this next slide, you'll see uh the district's fund
balance increased $8.6 million from the prior year, up to about $13.3 million. Uh very important though to remember there's there's several components that make that up. $33.4 million relates to encumbrances. So those are contracts or
purchase orders that are issued prior to June 30th, but the services haven't been rendered. Uh the majority of that is capital projects. $15 million is being utilized in the 26 budget as a as a funding source. 11.8
million is restricted for maintenance type activities. $18.7 million is restricted for capital reserve. $8.2 million is actually the unrestricted amount that you have. So that's the maximum that you're permitted under statute, 2% and certain adjustments.
And $26.2 million weights the excess surplus. uh that's over and above any restrictions or the 2% that's going to be earmarked towards your 27 budget spending plan that you'll be you know adopting you know very shortly.
In addition to that well just a couple points to make on that too is that you know charter school support you know varies greatly. It continues to increase this past year was $69 million which was an increase from the prior year. the prior
year amount was $55 million and since 2019 it's doubled. So charter school aid does tend to be you know somewhat you know unpredictable. Uh so that that makes some financial planning difficult. It's also important to remember you know when you look at the financial statements of the district not all state
aid is actually state aid that you receive for the budget that you can spend. There's there's several amounts that are reported as though you receive it but you don't and it's spent on your behalf by the state. So things like for pensions and and retirey health benefits, those are all things that
appear in your financial statements that are aid to you, but you're not actually utilizing it in your budget. Uh the the district has a very, you know, large expansive early childhood program. At the end of June 3025, $4.7 million was still left over. That goes
to support future early childhood program budgets. Uh the food service fund balance was 6.6 million. $6.3 million, a slight decrease. Uh, continues to be self-sufficient, no board contributions needed. One thing I
would I one thing I have noted over the last few years after COVID, which had very high reimbursement rates as well as the district's changed over to the C program where all all children receive free lunch, the fund balance increased
during that period uh to the point where New Jersey Department of Agriculture deems it a little high. Uh so over the last few couple years, the district's done a really good job of spending that money down, investing into the food service program, purchasing new equipment, uh improving the quality of
the food. Uh so at that that that amount's come down gradually. At June 30th, you're still about $1.7 million over what they deemed as as as what you should have. Uh about $1.2 million has already been invested into more cap more
equipment. So right over the in the summer, $1.2 million was already spent out of that $1.7 million. And again, as I mentioned, you know, one of the other items we do look at the federal and state single order programs. So we've issued a modified opinion on
compliance, clean opinions for those. And then overall, we didn't have any items that rose to the level of u items that would require corrective action. So with that, if there's any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them. >> Um,
thank you for this. Um, I wanted you to talk a little bit more about um some of the some of your work around looking at our internal controls and cash management. I know you talked about how we have really good um recordkeeping when it comes to that. I just want you to elaborate a little bit more on that.
Yeah. So we we don't give an opinion on internal controls but through that process we look at the payroll processes uh purchasing other expenditures. We do sample transactions. Uh we make sure that the district's following all the uh
required compliance requirements. Uh and and through all that extensive testing we we didn't have any items that we thought required corrective action. Uh in addition the last few years as you mentioned cash management the district has done a nice job of in investing those funds that they have and
generating interest income to support the budget. >> Thank you. And I guess the next one I want to ask about is um could you speak a little bit around our like liabilities around um you know pensions and a lot of our um mandated expenditures we have to
do. >> Yeah. So obviously every every employee in the district's required to um be enrolled in the pension plan. Obviously the amount that gets uh required to be budgeted each year gets dictated by the
state. uh those pension liabilities are actually determined you know over the long long term period. Uh there's also acred s vacation type items that are required on the collective bar agreements uh that are also liabilities of the district. Uh fortunately though
from a liability perspective the district doesn't actually have any long-term debt uh where you know you you've had to take debt down or have referendums to spend money on buildings. Uh and over the last number of years, the district's done a really great job
of earmarking money specifically for capital projects, maintenance projects, and really investing in those facilities. Any additional questions from board members? >> All right. Thank you, Dave. Appreciate
you. Thank you so much. Have a good night. Thank you, Dave. Uh next we have Miss Maryanne Freriedman, New Jersey school boards who will uh share with us ethics and board self- evaluation.
Okay, good evening everybody. I think most of you know me. My name is Maryanne Freriedman. I'm your field service rep for Mercer County and for Trenton. And we're going to go through your ethics presentation tonight. Usually I always feel like I'm the one that clears the
room, but that didn't happen tonight. So that makes my heart feel good. I have to tell you, I went I was here when the students um men on a mission were rehearsing and I went over to Mr. Earl and I said, "Do
not be surprised if you look back at me and you see me sobbing because they were wonderful and I really and truly feel like I needed to hear that presentation tonight because of everything that's happening in our world. It really did make my heart feel good. So, thank you
for that. And I thank your students. They were really wonderful. Oops. We are not advancing. Oh, wait. There we go. >> Nope. >> Click it down. >> Thank you.
>> Okay. Okay. So, our disclaimer is always that you have your board attorney here. Good evening, Mr. Ro. And we always want you to know that we're giving you legal information tonight, but not legal advice. And anything that you need legal advice for, Mr. Ro is the person that
you want to go to. Okay? Um, I'm not an attorney and I've never played one on TV. So, that's my my disclaimer right there. So, the school ethics act was put into place in 1991 because the legislature felt that it was
essential that the conduct of board members had to yield trust and confidence within their communities. And so they put this into place and they needed to identify things that might provide
the community with the interpretation or with the perception that the violation of the public trust has been um incurred. So these are minimal standards. So who enforces the act? The school ethics commission. There are
generally nine members of the on the school ethics commission. Right now there is seven. We haven't had seven in quite a long period of time. Um, but the two school administrators are now complete as of February 2026. Both school board member seats are
vacant at this point and then five non-school officials and the school ethics commission is enforced is is charged with enforcing the act. Okay. So the provisions of the act are the provisions that apply to board
members or trustees only are the mandatory training requirements and we'll go through those in a minute and then the code of ethics which we're going to go through as well. And provisions that apply to all school officials have to do with those disclo those pesky disclosure statements that everybody hates to do every year and the
prohibited acts and and all school officials relates to board members, trustees, NJSBA professional staff. So that applies to me. Administrators who hold school administrator certificate, principal or business administrator certificate, or those who hold the
position that makes them responsible for hiring folks in your district. Okay. So mandatory training. So this is a new little bit of a glitch that we've run into. So typically anybody who's you have a November election. So, anybody
who's elected in November and is sworn in in January at reorganization needs to take governance one within 90 days. Okay, that's new for the past couple of years. But what we've experienced is some people who have been appointed the
previous year for um you know to to hold the position of a um not unexpired term and then they run for the election. And if those folks have been appointed the previous year and have t they would have taken their governance one within 90
days of that. But then if they're elected, they need to take governance for this year. And so I know we've had that convers a couple of us have had that conversation. It seems kind of you know atypical but they'll because the SEC will see that as a reelected board
member and any year you're reelected or reappointed you would take governance for. So those of you who were appointed last year and then reelected in November and will take governance four this year, you do have the year to do that and then you'll take governance two next year and
governance three the following year. So within the four years, you'll have taken all four mandatory trainings. So governance one is new board member orientation and that gives you all of the information you need to know about the superintendent evaluation about HI
about QAC which is the quality single accountability continuum the HIB is harassment intimidation and bullying CSA evaluation which is the superintendence evaluation the open public meetings act and the code of ethics and we are nothing in New Jersey in education
without our acronyms. So then by the end of your second year of your first term, these only apply to your first three-year term. End of your second year, you would take governance 2, which is f board's role in finance and student achievement. By the end of year three, you need to take gov three, which is
policy and labor relations. And then any year that you're reappointed or reelected, you'll take governance for which is legal updates. And we provide these trainings through in-person live, we do virtual live and we also do self-paced online.
So the financial and personal and relative disclosure statements, all new school officials, so anybody who was reworn in or sworn in for the first time in J in a January would need to submit their paperwork by the end of January.
they have 30 days of being sworn in or any new administrator that starts in the district, they have 30 days to submit their personal financial and relative disclosure statements. And then all returning board members who were not reworn in in January will do their um
personal financial and relative disclosure statements by the end of April, by April 30th. And I know your business administrator is on top of all of that and will make sure that you all know what you need to do and when you need to do it. There have been several
um issues with the personal relative and um financial disclosure statements and this really doesn't like me. I'm starting to get a Okay, so we had in 2025 actually there were several
financial disclosure statements errors that went to the SEC and there was a board member and um you'll receive this tonight. I'll send this to Miss Howard tonight so she can send it out to you in a PDF and any of those anything that's underlined there. So C85-24,
you'll be able to click on that if you have a burning desire to read more about that particular situation and the whole thing will come up. But a board member inaccurately completed her 2024 disclosure statements when the SEC felt that she should have known what she was
doing. and it was that she didn't include a business organization that she and her husband had an interest in. They felt that she should have known that that disclosure statement was inaccurate and so they recommended a reprimand. So there were actually several cases in
2025 that had that situation. Okay. So, the code of ethics for board members. I'm not going to read through all of these, but just give you some of the highlights. We've done this before, so I think you guys all know these. And I've also given you the code of ethics. I've given you the conflicts of interest
or the prohibited act sheet and the acknowledgement that you've received and gone through this. So, if you could write your name, print your name. Today is the 23rd of March, 2026, and then write your name and pass that to Miss Howard, that would be great. So the first tenant in the code of ethics,
there are 10, is to uphold and enforce all laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to the state board of education and court orders pertaining to schools. What's on the bottom of each slide are the standards that you would have to satisfy to provide evidence to
the SEC, the school ethics commission, if you were filing a complaint against somebody else. Okay? So the standards are things that you would have to be able to provide as evidence. Okay. B is to make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and
seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex, or social standing. And that goes without saying. C is confine your board action to policy making planning and appraisal and help
to frame those policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them. And you're going to see when we go quickly through the board self-evaluation that these are all things that you're actually doing per that board self-evaluation which is a
very good self-evaluation. Just little hint. Um recognize that authority rests with the board of education and make no personal promises or take any private action that could compromise the board. Refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan
political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends. Hold confidential. This one is huge. This is the one that's most often violated. Hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which if
disclosed would needlessly injure individuals or the schools in all other matters provide accurate information and in concert with my fellow board members interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community for its school. Oops. That time it worked and I didn't even
touch it. Um I'll vote to appoint the best qualified personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief school administrator. You all understand, I know this, that your chief school administrator has to make those recommendations to you. So everything on
your agenda should come at the recommendation of Mr. Earl of your superintendent. Okay? You need to take all of that into consideration. That doesn't mean that you need to vote yes necessarily on everything, but you need to take his um
information and his rationale into consideration. support and protect school personnel and proper performance of their duties. This is really important as well. And then refer all complaints to the chief school administrator and act on complaints at public meetings only after all other
avenues have been exhausted. Okay? Or there's been failure of a solution. So anyone can file an ethics complaint. It doesn't have to be a member of your community. It could be somebody who happened to pass by and see that you were having a board meeting and came in to see what was going on tonight and
felt that somebody had violated any of the 10 tenants of the code of ethics. You have to submit that within 180 days of the occurrence of that e of that ethics violation, the perceived ethics violation. You have to include the section of the act and that factual
evidence that we talked about. the SEC will consider whether these have been actual um circumstances or whether that it's the perception of the community that the act has been violated. And there can be an up to $500 fine for um
that's imposed if it's a frivolous finding filing. The four different kinds of reprimands that come from the the school ethics commission or the penalties is a reprimand which is a rebuke by the commissioner. um it doesn't you don't present that at a
board meeting. You don't have to read anything out loud. The individual gets notified that they're being um reprimanded. A centure is a formal disapproval disapproval by the commissioner and that does need to be read out loud. It's a formal resolution that you would get and you would have to
read that out loud at a board meeting stating who the board member was and what tenants of the code of ethics they violated. suspension. You could be barred from activity on the board for a number of days. Usually, it's 30 or 60. And a removal would be immediate
termination of a board member um or employment if it's the administrator. And these also apply to accountability as well as ethics. So, the account advice of council defense, a lot of people over the past couple of years have said, well, our board attorney
advised me that I could participate in this. And so there are four factors, prerequisite factors to an advice of counsel to use the advice of council defense for penalties. These don't negate the penalty. They usually just
mitigate it. So it might make it one level less than what they would like what the SEC would like to do. So you would have to show that approval or advice was received prior to the action. the individual who offered the advice or approval relied on possessed
information, authority or responsibility. All pertinent facts and circumstances were um fully disclosed to that person and the individual complied with the advice received. So all of those four factors have to be present
and it's very fact and case specific. So in 2025 there we have a bunch of these and I'm just going to pick one off of each slide. So, there was a board member who sent an email, I'm taking the bottom one, about attending a special ed
um parent advisory group meeting as a member of CPAG. She used her board member email account. Okay. They the SEC felt that in doing so, it created a justifiable impression that objectivity and independence might be impaired. If
she had used her personal email, account, or address, that wouldn't have been a problem. and they recommended a reprimand. In this one, a board member read um through another board member's text message aloud at a public meeting and provided information about a school
official. That was a reprimand as well. The the bottom one is really important because it talks about somebody who'd been on the board for 15 years and the SEC really felt that they should have known not to do this. The board member took an appropriate action that was beyond the role. The action of the board
member usurped the authority of the superintendent who's responsible for making disciplinary recommendations. Board member took it upon themselves to go to the employees home, pick up a letter, present it on behalf of the employee, directed the BA to not give a copy of the letter to the
superintendent, and then instead of recusing herself from the matter in which she had a personal interest and personal involvement, she advocated on behalf of the employee and questioned the superintendent's recommendation. That was a suspension of 60 days.
So even seated board members for a long time can end up being in trouble. Okay. Recusal versus abstension. So an abstension is something there are a lot of board members who are using abstaining from a vote instead of a
recusal. An abstension means that you don't feel you have enough information to make an informed decision. So you're not going to vote on that. A recusal is an indication to the school ethics commission that you have a conflict of interest. Okay? So you want to use the
recusal if there is a true conflict of interest that part that keeps you from participating in the discussion or in the vote. Okay? And then we always suggest that your board council advise you as to how the vote will be counted because it can be counted differently
based on your policies. Relationship definitions. Immediate family member is a spouse, civil union, domestic partner, or dependent child residing in the same household. A relative is the kitchen sink. Okay. Okay. Spouse, civil union, domestic partner, parent, child, sibling, aunt,
uncle, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchild, son, daughter-in-law, steparent, stepchild, stepb brotherther, stepsister, half brother, halfsister of the individual or the individual spouse or partner by blood, marriage or adop or adoption. And that's covered in your nepotism laws as well. And then although
the term relative doesn't appear in the prohibitive acts, a relative can create a conflict. And that's that sheet that's the last sheet in your paperclipipped um packet that I gave you that shows what those conflicts of interest can be. So
there are two things you can do. You can ask for an advis the SEC rules on advisory opinions and then they also rule on violations that have been proposed um by somebody. Any school official or the attorney on their behalf can ask for an advisory opinion. This is
on something that hasn't happened yet but you think might happen. So, I think I've told you guys this before. When I first joined my board, another woman that had run with me um and succeeded also, we were both elected and she came to us, we had April election, she came
to us in May and said, "My husband's thinking of running for town council. If he's elected and if he wins, if he's, you know, if he wins the election, is there anything that she would be have a conflict with?" And so, we submitted that to the SEC and it came back. That
was 1999. Things came back pretty fast then, not so much right now, but it came back with a list of the things that she wouldn't be able to participate in if he participated in them. So, think back when we had April elections. If you um didn't pass your budget, you would go
your board would go to your town council and if he was representing the the town council on that side, she would not be able to represent the board on the other side. So there were a bunch of different things, shared services, any kind of land acquisition, things like that. So
it's really helpful to get that information. And an opinion can be made public if six members of the um school ethics commission decide to um approve it being made public. It's usually made public if they feel it has farreaching
um implications. Okay. The advisory opinion. A lot of people now are saying, "Well, it's just an advisory opinion. That doesn't really mean anything." They're saying that we don't suggest that you do this, but you know, we're not telling you that you can't do it. So, we kind of relay this
to if a police officer stops you because you're going 10 miles an hour over the speed limit and says, "I'm going to give you a warning this time, but next time I'm going to give you a ticket." Are you going to do 10 miles an hour over the speed limit again or are you going to take that into consideration and not do
that? So, if the SEC says that we advise that you not take part in these things, we're encouraging you and I know your board attorney would encourage you too to not take part in those things because it could lead to a conflict and it could lead to an ethics violation.
So, there were some advisory opinions that were released in 2025. Again, you're going to be able to click on any of those numbers. Um, I'm just going to take one. Does a board member who was denied employment have a conflict related to the superintendent? The board
member wasn't conflicted because they actually um had pulled their application. They didn't go through the application process and were appointed and then they were told that they couldn't be on the board. they had pulled their application once they realized that they couldn't shouldn't be
on the they couldn't be on the board and be an employee of the district. So it was not deemed to be a situation where the board member now couldn't partake in matters involving the superintendent. And then on this one,
the one I wanted to point out was can the board invoke the doctrine of necessity to balance committee memberships? You really would not be doing that. um the board member who had an immediate family member employed by the board can't be on any committee that's even
remotely touching upon or relating to their family members's employment. And we're going to talk about that in a couple of minutes a little bit further, but you wouldn't be able to invoke the document of necessity for that. Okay. So a benefit is the um SEC feels
that the definition of a benefit is a direct or indirect advantage profit or gain whether personal, financial or otherwise. So when I was on my board, we had a prek through eight district and then we sent to a sh a send receive district for um 9 through 12. My
daughter was in the marching band and I was there sending I was the sending rep to the high school district and I went in one night and on the agenda was the superintendent had recommended new band uniforms for all of the marching band members. And so I went over to the board
attorney and I said, "Am I allowed to participate in this because my daughter's in the band?" And they said, "Yes, you can because your daughter's not getting any individual benefit over everybody else." If it was Maryanne Freriedman's daughter, Eva Freriedman gets a new band uniform and nobody else
does, that would be a problem. Okay? And it's the per it's it's not it's the perception of the public as well as whether it's an actual conflict that the SEC is looking for. So the prohibited acts are you need to recuse yourself if there's a benefit to you as a school
official or your immediate family due to any one of those areas. And then other considerations are board members can't represent any party other than the board or district in a matter before the board. So we've had situations where board members have kids in the district
and they filed a suit against the district against the board because they feel that their child has not been being adequately educated or whatever. And you can't sue yourself. So if a board member wanted to file a lawsuit against the
board or against the district, they would have to come off of the board to be able to do that. Okay? And it's not a conflict if not acrewing a greater gain than others. So that goes to my band uniform situation. So um a board member had a director
indirect financial interest with votes about the law firm that provided her with free representation in the defense defense of an ethics charge. board member had a personal involvement with the law firm that was providing her with legal representation which created an attorney client or personal
relationship. The respondent had received legal defense without incurring costs in her defense of the personal ethics matter and yet the respondent voted to approve the payment of the law firm. So that was a problem and they recommended a censure for that.
um a board member was promoting their nonprofit to the parents and their community as well as to the staff and teachers. The determinative factor is the public's perception and not the school officials belief as to whether he could participate in a ma in that matter objectively. And so that was a
reprimand. This was a big one. Board member has others as known individuals through a program where the board member held leadership roles and they coached together in that capacity. The board member used or attempted to use their position on the board to secure unwarranted privileges, advantages, or
employment for the two other people. The district wasn't looking for a new wrestling coach as the position wasn't posted and resumes were not collected. The respondent sent the resumes of others to the AD, the athletic director, and submitted an email advocating for a
coaching change. So, you can imagine that that went south pretty quickly, and that was a reprimand. Okay. Board member attempted to use her board position to secure a business relationship with vendors on separate um as a se for her separate nonprofit. She
introduced herself as a board member and then proceeded to promote her nonprofit. the board's perception and not the school officials belief as to whether they could participate in the matter objectively and they should have listed the nonprofit on their financial disclosure statement as well. So that
was essential board members should not be contacting the superintendent or board president about any matter involving their spouse even if they believe it to be minor. the respondent should have could have referred all calls from the public to the
superintendent to allow for proper notification and the handling of the agenda item. So that was a reprimand as well. Oops. Okay. You probably already know this, but once when you're running for the board, you can have 52 family
members working in the district. Okay, you're a big district. You could technically have that. Um, but once you become a board member and once you're sworn in, the board and the superintendent can now not employ or hire somebody else from your family,
okay? Family member or relatives. So, you wouldn't be able to do that unless it was a very difficult position to fill. If it was an AP physics teacher or something like that, Mr. Earl could go to the executive county superintendent and say, "This is the only person who fits the qualifications and has the
certifications." and then the executive county superintendent could wave that, but it has to come at the waiver of the executive county superintendent. I've had districts where the superintendent has family members who are working in the district as
administrators. The superintendent cannot observe or evaluate those family members. Then somebody else has to do that for them. Okay? and a board member who has family members working in the district would not be able to take part in the superintendent's evaluation or
anything that has to do with a personnel matter regarding the superintendent. Okay. And I don't think anybody's conflicted, right? Nobody's conflicted. Oh, Genie. Okay. I'm sorry. Um, so the impact on committee assignments, this was really big in 2023. Um, there was a
board president whose child was an instructional assistant and the board president was appointing committee members and committee chairs. And one of the other board members filed an ethics charge against them saying that they
were appointing those people because they felt that those folks would be a benefit to either the union is if it was negotiations or to curriculum or for their staff member their family members that were staff members. So, this came
back with um this the school ethics commission. If the board president has a family member or relative that's employed in the district, they cannot choose the chair or committee members or be on any committees that remotely touch upon or directly relate to the family members employment, including but not
limited to personnel negotiations, instruction, and finance committees. And then another board member's spouse worked in a technology department and they couldn't be involved in anything that remotely touched upon their spouse's employment. So you can see that
we used to say that if you had a family member who worked in the district, you couldn't be a part of anything that had to do with the superintendent personnel-wise. This has now taken that and expanded it. Okay, so really important that you understand that. And then a board member's domestic partner
was a transportation specialist. The SEC advised them not to be part of the transportation committee. Makes sense, right? Collective bargaining. If you have an immediate family member or relative who works in the district and is not a current member of the statewide
public teachers union, you would not be able to participate in negotiations and you wouldn't be able to vote to ratify the contract. If it's yourself or another immediate immediate family member who does not work in the district but works in another school district and
they are a member of the statewide teachers union, you wouldn't be able to participate in negotiations, but you could possibly participate in the ratification of the agreement once the salary guides memorandum of agreement had been taken care of and the total compensation package had been attained.
And that's because of the linkages to all of these things. the unions really have a lot of linkages that a lot of times board members aren't aware of. And then if there's a person who's a relative, they don't work in the district, they don't um not a part of the teachers or statewide teachers
union, you can participate in negotiation again after um absent any other conflict and you could vote to ratify. Those also have to do with not being part of a leadership role in the district in which you work. Okay? So if
you work in another district and you're at the negotiations table as a leader, you would you would not be able to participate. Campaigns and collective bargaining board members who receive union endorsements from their unions while they're campaigning are generally not
going to be able to participate in negotiations in their first year um unless there has been no financial contribution to them. Um when this first came out in 2008 I think it was.
Anybody remember Mr. R? Do you remember? Okay. I think it was in 2008. There were um union in my district actually where I had been a board member provided financial um information and
and um endorsed a candidate who was running for the board because that person that candidate had been against the union in the previous two years negotiations. And so we advocated that if somebody didn't ask for the endorsement or if
they didn't receive a financial contribution, did they really have to not be able to participate? So now it's being taken on a case-byase basis. If you're volunteering in the school, please remember you have to think about what your role is when you're volunteering. Please notify the
superintendent that you're going to be in, that somebody's asked you, your child's teacher or a grandchild, that you've been asked to come in for ReadAcross America or to talk about your profession, um let them know. You don't want to be ever responsible for um for
students or for staff. So, if if a staff member leaves the room and says, "Can you just watch these guys for a little bit?" That's a no. Okay? you do not want to be responsible and cannot be responsible for students or for staff. And then you have to think about what kind of authority you have. If they're
asking you to give directions to students or staff, that's not something you should do either. So these should all be things that are done infrequently and not on a regular basis because you don't want people in your community to feel like you have um that you're an
employee of the district. Okay? So, you want to take all those things into consideration. Okay. If you're visiting a school, again, let the superintendent know. You shouldn't just be going into the schools for no no reason. Somebody should be inviting you in. If you're going to a
parent teacher conference, that's fine. Let the superintendent know when you'll be there. Let the teacher know that you're there as your child's parent. Okay? And make sure that you stay on point with the purpose of your visit. But you wouldn't want me to be walking into any of your schools just to kind
of, you know, wander around and see what's going on. And when you're not seated at the board table, you're not considered a board member. Everybody else considers you a board member, but you're not because you don't have any authority unless you're seated with a quorum of a of the board at a legally
advertised meeting. Social media is getting a lot of people into a lot of trouble. Please be careful. Um, I used to do a program at workshop called the perils and promise of social media. There are way more perils than there are promise. Um, and the SEC is
going to consider the substance, the content, and the context and see if there's a nexus between what you're talking about and your role as a board member. Use the disclaimer. It's not a get out of jail free card anymore because if the content of your posting
does insinuate or make somebody the average person in your community believe that you are still speaking for the board, you could have an ethics charge filed against you. But the disclaimer is the following statements are made in my capacity as a private citizen and not in my capacity as a board member. These
statements are also not representative of the board or its individual members and solely represent my own personal opinions. Okay, that's really important. So, use that if you're posting anything on social media. Couple of social media cases. I'm going
to let you click on those when you get the the program tonight in the PDF. Um, if there's anything that it remember, it's not about whether the board member I've had board me board presidents call me and say, "Well, the board member doesn't think that they're conflicted.
They have a family member who's a substitute in the district and is being paid by the district as a substitute. Okay. Well, the board members perception of whether there's a conflict or not is not what the SEC is looking for. They're looking for whether it is a conflict of
interest. And I know I've spoken to you guys before about this. A the conflicts were put into place to protect board members as individuals, then to protect the board, and then to protect the district. So, you want to make sure that you're um using those those rep those um
disclaimers. Important information to keep in mind. If you're texting while you're sitting at the deis at a board meeting, somebody could oper. Um an ethics complaint would need to show that nexus or that connection between the action or the information
that's being shared and your role as a board member. You are your child's first advocate. first and foremost. So, when you're meeting with staff, don't state that you're a board member. State that you were there as your child's parent. Okay? And then refrain from using your
campaign social media pages. So, if anybody had campaign social media pages, you want to pause those or put them on hold or whatever it would be called. I never remember. Um, but you want to put those on hold because if you continue to
post to those once you've been elected, you could be considered speaking as speaking for the board. Your board president speaks for the board. Your superintendent speaks for the district. Okay? And then if you administer a social media page, you could be linked to the content on that page. So, be
careful about that. These are the resources that we've used for this program. Our legal team has gone over it and we want to thank you. um for contributing your time, skill, and effort in helping to provide services
and um education for your students. So, thank you for that. Any questions? Yes. >> Yeah. Yes. Thank you for the presentation. I just had one question towards the last comment around campaign pages for schoolboard candidates and
stuff. Um what what should the policy be then for board members to actively engage with their constituents um educating them on what's happening from the district standpoint from their pages while not seeming like they're speaking on behalf of the board because
I think that's one of the biggest challenges with you know elected school boards versus an appointed is that you have to be responsible with educating and connecting with the community while also understanding that you you're not allowed to speak on behalf of the board or you know be sensitive about what information you're telling the public.
>> So one of the things that that we encourage you to do is when you're trying to make sure that that information is being provided to your stakeholder groups and to your constituents is that that information can come from the district. Okay? So you want to make sure that there's that you
all have a connection between the administration and the information that's being pushed out and what's going on with the board. That's your direct way of getting that information to your public. You want that to be the driving force for them to be able to go to your website to be able to gather the
information there because you may not see your website. You may not see your social media page for a couple of days. Um, and you don't want somebody to be hanging on there. So, you want to be able to let them know that they can go to the district website for that information and get timely and accurate
information in that regard. If you were to use a campaign page that you used as you were campaigning, it could really tip the scales for the SEC and they could feel like you are speaking for the board or for the district and you don't
want to do that. So basically, you want to make sure you have a good communication plan between the board and the superintendent and the administrative team to push that information out that you feel is required for your constituents and your stakeholder groups to know about.
without having to do it yourself. Okay. I have a question about this because we get a lot of pressure especially being elected now is for us being out in the community
and you know we all can't be out there but if we're out there what can we you know a lot of people have complaints misunderstandings and stuff and yeah you do the regular well contact you know chain of command chain of command and
stuff like that but people want to be listened do >> and I think >> listen >> and you can listen and you can let them know that you're concerned about what they have to say and what their issue is, but then you need to refer them back to the chain of command so that they can
get it taken care of at the lowest level. But you also want to then send an email to the superintendent and say, "Good afternoon, Mr. Earl. I just wanted to let you know Mrs. Freriedman called or talked to me today when I was at pickup, whatever, and she had concerns
about her her daughter's second grade teacher, and I listened to what she had to say. They sound like they're valid complaints, and I just wanted to let you know that I referred her back to the chain of command. So that way, Mr. Earl can follow up on that if he needs to.
So, you're giving him a heads up, but you're not taking responsibility for fixing the problem. You're all people who care very deeply about your community and about your students and your staff and everybody else in the Trenton community.
Once you become a board member though, it's not your responsibility to fix somebody else's problem. That's the key. So you need to you can listen and you can thank them for letting you know and you can let them know that this is the best way that you
can help them to take care of that issue is to talk to the teacher, the bus driver, whomever it is at the lowest level and let them know what that chain of command is so that they can follow up. If they don't feel that they get resolution at the lowest level, they can go to the next level. So if it's a
teacher, maybe they go to an assistant principal, then to a principal, then maybe to a supervisor or to an assistant superintendent, and then up to to Mr. Earl. If he's getting those complaints coming up to him, they're rising to that level, he's most likely going to let you
know as a board that there are some things that are coming up. We've tried all different ways to resolve this issue, but it may come to the board. And then you will be the court of last resort and you'll be able to then make a decision on that as to whether the
decision the the resolution that was um provided by the superintendent is is the resolution that you agree with or if there's something else. But if you've participated in any way in that issue along the way, you can't take you can't
participate when it gets to the board. Okay? But listen to people. People want to be heard. I want to be heard when, you know, when I'm talking to my boss about something, too. And, you know, she can't fix everything, but she can help me sometimes figure out where I need to
go to be able to get something fixed. And that's what you all should be trying to do, too. Trying to help people to direct them so that they can be a part of the resolution themselves as well rather than, oh, I'll take care of that for you.
Make sense? So, I just want to confirm um for example, we want to post a flyer informing the community of when we will be having our strategic planning. That's
an example. I post it on my personal page. Okay. >> Should I always >> uh post the source like I guess um refer them back to the website is what you're saying. You can say that this has been po, you know, this has been copied from
our website. If you'd like more information, please go to the district website. >> Okay? And >> give a link there. >> And for example, Austin here is our chair for HR and he'll post when we have job openings on his page and and you
know to other people. Um, but I guess it's okay as long as we post the the source where they should go and I would I would encou I Mr. Ro I would ask for your input on this. My my own
feeling would be that you can say that there are numerous positions that are available that are posted on the district website site as employment opportunities and encourage people to do that. Um I don't know that I would put actual positions in there because that
may make somebody feel that you're responsible for filling those positions. You know what I mean? Okay, >> I'm getting death stares. >> No, no, no. We It's just that I guess we've been a little guilty of maybe
posting things with, you know, >> it's easy to do that because you you want to be able to help people find things. But, you know, even, you know, I mean, if school's closed tomorrow, god forbid, for snow, please tell me no. Um, I know you don't want that either. um
you know, you don't have to post that because it's going to be up on the website. Your people are going to get roocalls and all of that kind of thing. >> You should not be the first person to be giving district information out to your public. >> That should come from the district.
So can but I guess another thing that we sometimes do is we'll post you know what the we we uh copy from you guys what a board member can and cannot do. >> That's okay. >> Things things if if it's with the New
Jersey school boards we can post. Well, I'd still be careful about that because it still could make it look like you're posting for the district. And those things should all be up on the website. So, those things can be there. You know, things you should and shouldn't do. The what is it? The 13 things all board
members wishes their commu wish their community members knew. You know, that can be posted on the on the district website under the board tab and you can have or under your community relations tab. So, a lot of that information can go there.
This is not a full-time job for you as board members. It should not be. >> So, you're not responsible for getting all that information out. You're responsible for making sure that the information does get out, but not on your own.
>> Okay. It's just that I think that our position is that we want to educate our people. >> Yeah. And I think the other challenge is we have a deep media literacy and you know we have a you know especially with the death of local media you know people are in silos when it comes to
information. One of the big things we've seen even campaigning is the fact that um so many people do not know what's going on in the schools even if there are parents even if they're relatives even if there are people coming up to pick up stuff for the kids. So there is such an information gap between the
resources and information people need and the information that we're sending out and people may not necessarily follow the district Facebook page but may follow us because of our roles in the community. So um those are some of the challenges we have and maybe you
know um school ethics commission can think about some guidelines for that for sharing that. What I try to do is I just repost what hap what the district postes on their Facebook page without any comments. That way, you know, people can go straight to that page. But I think it's it limits
what it sounds like to me. It limits our ability to educate and share this information to the community from our roles because people look to us to not necessarily to be the voice for the district, but to help pass through information that the district is sharing
to the community. It's a tough line. It really is and I understand that and I think the SEC understands that too. But you should have a policy on board members um use of social media and you know if you have social media pages that
are that identify you as a board member. It's your board member social media page. SEC is going to say don't do it. >> In my case I I never identify myself as a board member. Um, but I'll post some things on for people to know. I know
there are people that know that I am, but there are a bunch of people that do not know because I don't go around publicizing it. Um, so would that be okay? Uh, >> I would use I would use the disclaimer and be really careful. >> Okay. No. No. Yeah. Well, I don't go
that far. So, >> because again, it's the perception of the public, not necessarily if what the board member thinks that what they're doing is right or wrong. It's the perception of the public and they're going to look at that content and they're going to say the SEC could say
if somebody files an ethics charge, somebody could say, well, this person would only know that information because they're a board member. So, the content is, you know, is where the violation is. >> Okay. >> And you have a wonderful board attorney.
So, definitely, you know, talk with him. Make sure that you have a a policy on board members use of social media. >> Okay. >> Okay. And make sure that you follow that. Okay. The best thing to do is to direct people to the district website.
It really and truly is. So, you know, you could put up you could put up a link on your page that directs people to whatever the program is that you want them to know about and then they can click on it and get that. Okay. >> Okay.
I just speaking of um social media and that this isn't not a full-time job um and also listening to the public. How as a board member, how can we then respond to when community members actually tag you on social media publicly?
>> When they tag you tag you on social media, >> um you don't have to respond to everything and I think that's a big piece to this also. Um, I understand that you might if you've been tagged, but um,
Mr. Roll, what do you think? >> So, depending on what the issue is, if someone tags you and looking for a response, your only answer is I'll think that's it as far as >> Okay.
>> And then you can let the superintendent know. And in you're letting the superintendent know, you're also covering yourself. because you've let him know this is what I did. I directed them to contact you. He's going to direct them to contact the lowest level
in the chain because if everybody's contacting him for things that are happening at the the teacher level or at the classroom level, he's not going to get anything done in terms of operating the district and that's his main responsibility. So, he's going to be referring people back to the lowest
level in the chain too. So, if you can do that and then you let him know that, you know, so and so contacted me via email or a text message or a phone call or whatever and this is what I, you know, I listen to them and this is what I suggested that they recommended that
they do was talk to the teacher or whoever it is and then send that to him. Then he can follow up if it's something that's, you know, he feels he needs to follow up with or if it comes up to his level then he'll have known that you did the right thing. >> Thank you. Okay.
Okay. Because we've gone longer than I think we thought we would. I do have your board self-evaluation. It's really good. Um, couple of minor things that I think would be worth you
guys thinking about in terms of board goals for the upcoming year. But I'd be happy to give that to you. And if you don't want me to go through the whole thing, I've given I've given you a summary that you'll be able to look at also. But I do want you to read all the comments because that's where things
get, you know, really interesting. You're very respectful of one another. You feel that you're you've identified being unified. Um you take everything into consideration. You listen to people and you have a very diverse board and you
have a very diverse community. So that works really well for you all. The one thing that I will point out that I think is an opportunity for growth, develop that in district orientation for new board members. Okay, that was one of the lowest areas.
Um, and that's something that's very easy to do. Okay, you're also, before I forget, you're also I'll give those to you in a minute. You have five and a half credits towards master. You need 10.
Okay? You'll have an hour and a half for tonight. That gives you seven. And you're doing a strategic plan, which will give you three, which means that by the end of the strategic plan, you'll be master board certified again.
Okay? Because you have two years to get another 10 credits. and you'll have done that between 2024 and 2026. So, wanted to mention that to you. And so, that will happen that those extra three
credits, we need to get that done by August 15th because that's the deadline for the fall presentations of the master board certifications. Okay. I also wanted to confirm April 21st is your first strategic planning meeting. God
bless you. And um have you done sur have you sent out surveys at all? We talked about sending out possibly surveys. Okay, I'll leave that with you all to to discuss. I'm going to give you all the information for the board
self-evaluation and if anybody if you're okay with that, if anybody has any questions, you can give me a call. Okay. Go ahead. >> Board members, everyone's good. Not having a presentation and receiving the literature and information on the
self-evaluation. Larry? >> Yes. Good on that. I need to talk to you and Maryanne about some of the governance requirement stuff, but we can talk about that later. >> Uh, we probably do a three-way or something like that. I'll get I'll I'll send an email to Maryanne and copy you and we can see what we can do to
coordinate a time to to meet probably Zoom or something. Okay. All right. Good evening everyone. >> Good evening Mr. Earl, board president Truhart, uh board members, community members. We are here to talk about student
attendance. Woohoo. Maybe not woohoo after you see my presentation, but we're going to get there. Uh, so this present presentation is actually about our student attendance corrective action plan. Per the state, any school that has more than 10% of
their students being chronically absent have to write and implement a corrective action plan. since all of our schools fit within that realm. Uh I wanted to give an overview of the corrective action process and then talk about what led us here. So the data we're going to
be looking at is from the 232 24 school year, the 2425 school year and parts of this I'll also start to um talk about the things we're doing this year. As with anything and everything that we do, our data tells a story. So
think about the story. Uh so again the corrective action plan 10% of uh any student who is chronically absent is defined as a student who has missed 10% or more days of school. So I want to start by making sure that we are all understanding and we are on the same
page when it comes to definitions. So when you see our data you will think oh my gosh does that mean 50% of the students are out? No. What it means is that 50% of the students in any one given month have hit that 10% mark. So
if you think about um the month of February, we had a bunch of snow days. We did not hit 20 days of school. So if there was a student that missed two days in the month of February, they're considered chronically absent for the month of February.
uh to be chronically absent for the whole school year is any student who has missed 18 days throughout the school year. We also know and we are really trying to make sure that everybody understands what these definitions are. Um there is
very few things that will allow us to exempt a student from being absent. And so in New Jersey state excused absences are very specific. Therefore, religious observances, Veterans Day, Take Our Children to Work Day, election
activities, college visits for high schoolers, and approved civic events. Most absences like illnesses, appointments, or family issues are often categorized as verified unexcused by the
district, but they still count towards our chronic absenteeism thresholds for the for the statewide uh numbers. So in the CAP we had to um look at historical data that was based on some
of our uh data that we received from the embargo uh and some data that we have within the school. We also had to have our parent caregiver survey. We were able to gather the parent caregiver information from our care team meetings that we had and also our New Jersey sky
data. And then every single school had to develop uh a tiered system of how they were going to support our students starting with that tier one. So that tier one really talks about how are we going to encourage all students to stay in school and to encourage the positive
aspects of school. Tier two are students who um are moving towards that 10% that 10% number and tier three are our most severe students who are at 10% and we need to really engage with them and
figure out what are the barriers to daily and on-time attendance. The next part of the cap is uh each school needs to determine their uh contributing factors toward towards chronic absenteeism and then come up with
datainformed strategies on how they're going to address student absenteeism and encourage again on time and daily attendance. So I want to give you a comparison. So, uh, in the 2324 school year, uh, we
had 38.9% of our black African-American students, uh, were absent. That number increased to 43% in the 2425 school year. Our Hispanic students went from 31.5 to 41.4.
Our multil- language learners are 28.6 to 38. And our students with disabilities are 36.5 to 45.2. So again, I want you to remember the story. So we see that uh the numbers in 2425
increased. We're then going to look at it by grade level. Uh and as you see in the 23 24 versus 2425 in kindergarten, the numbers went up by almost 10%. In first grade, we see a little bit of a decline. In
second grade, those numbers went up from one year to the next. and also in third grade. So that is kindergartener to kindergartener. We then wanted to see what those numbers looked like for cohort. So the kindergarteners in 23 24
to 242 their numbers went up. The same cohort from first to second grade those numbers went up and the second to third grade cohort also went up. This year our team is looking at the number of students that have multi-year chronic
absences. And this group of students, the students who are currently in third grade, uh we have almost 20% of those students have multi-year chronic absences.
Then when we get to fourth grade, you can see a huge jump from one year to the next. Fourth graders were at 26.7 up to 42.5. Fifth graders 25% to 41.6. six. Sixth grade went from 31.5 to 44.5.
7th grade 39% to 47.6 and 8th grade 43.2 and 52.2. So when we see this, we also have to start kind of thinking about what is happening with our students. When we go back and we look at the K3 group, the K3
group is heavily dependent on someone getting them up and getting them out to school, right? So we have to think about what does the impact of being chronically absent in K3 have on a student physically, physiologically,
emotionally, mentally when you are not in the habit of getting up and going to school every single day. So by the time we're getting to fourth and fifth grade, we begin to see that
number expand uh not only from year to year, but also from grade level. uh and the numbers are shocking from what we see from 23 24 to 2425. When we then look at the cohort of students, you again will see that these
numbers increased from 234 to 2425. Um so I'm sure you're wondering, well, what happened in 2425? We're going to get to that. And then our 9inth, 10th, 11th, and 12th
grade students again in 23 24 the numbers jump up uh remarkably from one year to the next to 50.3 for 9th graders. 10th graders are 51.7, 11th graders are 56.1
and 12th graders are 51.4. I want us to remember that when we're looking at these numbers, we are not saying that on any given day 50% of the students are absent. That's not what these numbers are. What that means is that by the end of the year there were 50 50.3 or whatever the number is of
students who had more than eight 18 days or more. That could have been 18 days, 19 days or 35 days. But when we talk about where is the start of this, the start of this starts
in kindergarten when we are developing the habits of poor daily and on-time attendance. And so when our young folks get to the part where they are able to um where they're getting themselves up to go to school and they are responsible
for getting there and walking to school, uh the numbers and that gap increases. So we're going to talk about the multi-year school level comparison. I forgot what you said, Dennis. Nope. Go back. I need that up.
All right. So, we start. So, what you see here on this slide is our K3 schools. The names of the schools have been removed. And when you look at October of 23, all of the schools in 20 in o in that are in yellow
are schools whose chronic absenteeism numbers dropped from the prior school year. The numbers in green show those schools that had a 2-year drop. So these are schools that continued reducing
their chronic absenteeism numbers. So we saw in the last slides that was the overall school year but we need to delve a little bit deeper and see what's happening month by month to our students. So K3 you'll see in October of
23 we were doing pretty well. We were just implementing our care team process and asking some deeper questions. October 24 we were seeing some real movement in the reduction of chronic absences. So you see we had schools at
22% 18% 24%. We continue for uh November. Uh Dennis if you can move that slide across a little bit. Nope. No. Go to K3. Yes. Slide that. Yes. Continue to December. Continue. December. January
and February. Okay. January. Okay. Let's stop right there. Here. So you'll see in December of 23, every single K3 school had reduced their number of students who are chronically absent. In December of 24, we had all but one school that had
reduced that number of chronic absences. In January of 24, we continued to see uh schools make movement on the reduction of chronic absences. And then in January of 2025, something happens.
And we now have schools whose attendance chronic absences are jumping up. We have one school that went from 34% in one year up to 41%.
40% to 50% a 10% increase in just one month for one school. We have another school that is a 10% increase from 47% to 50% 57%. This this is our K3 group. We then go to
February. February, we continue to see it. In the prior year, we had all but one school that we saw have movement. In February of 25, we only had two schools that showed any movement in the reducing chronic absences with most schools their
chronic absenteeism numbers jumping by nine and 10%. Continue to scroll over, please. And you'll you can see the trend continues in March and April. In May, go
to May and June. Scroll over in May and June. You'll see the number gets a little bit better. We believe one of the reasons why it got a little bit better is because uh students then begin
to leave began to leave. And so if you are not there then we are not able to track your chronic absences. Can you go to the 912 tab? 912. Nope. Next one. Okay. So we're going to look at the high school group. You'll see in October of
22, October of 23, all three high schools made movement. October 24, all three high schools were making movement. Continue on. Scroll over. Scroll over. Yes. Give me the months. Scroll over to November. December and
Jan December and January and February. Thank you. All right. Let's see. In December of 23, every single high school had made a movement on reducing their chronic absenteeism numbers. December 24, we still were doing okay with that.
January January of 24, all three high schools were making movement in reducing their chronic absences. In January of 25, every single high school uh showed a change in in their absenteeism rates. Then you go to February 25.
Continue. Scroll. Thank you. February. Thank you. March. Stay there. Uh and you'll see in the red for the next several months at the high school level, we are now trending in the opposite direction.
um with some schools meeting almost a 10% increase in some months, but we really begin to struggle with what is happening to our students at the end part of the school year of spring of 25.
Continue over to May and June. May and June you will see that there is a small change of that number but that number is also going to change because if the students are not there then we're not able to track our um our absences and
their absences rather and so let's go back to the slides to the presentation please. So that's kind of an overview of what's what's happening month by month in our school. So when you saw those very very high numbers at the beginning of the presentation
for the 2425 school year, a lot of that contributes to the spring semester is contributing to that high number that we are seeing at the uh end of the 2425 school year that ends up really uh
taking over our numbers and the progress that we have been making. So tiered levels of support our foundational strategies that we use at uh and this is some of the feedback and some of the information that are in the corrective action plans from the school. The foundational strategies we need to make
school fun, inviting, encouraging and loving for our students. Schools are doing this by morning welcomes, morning music, morning meetings, classroom welcome, school and classroom calming quarters, schoolwide celebration, and school spirit events.
The other tier one interventions that we have are board policies, student handbooks, roocalls. Every single student that is absent gets a phone call home every single day. Uh our teachers are making calls to home and they're placing them in log entries. We're
taking attendance through powers school to ensure accuracy. Schools again are doing uh school attendance celebrations, school attendance team meetings. Every school has a attendance team meeting that meet at least monthly just to talk about student attendance. And then we
have our billboards. We have our attendance PSAs. We have perfect attendance letters. And what we're happening now is our March Madness attendance challenge. Our tier 2 interventions are students who have missed between five to 9% of the school year and are moving towards the
definition of chronically absent. We have power school letters. We have our hope team outreach, personal calls to students home, attendance officer, home visits, caregare team meetings, and parent meetings. And our tier three interventions are those that are at uh
the chronically absent rate uh I'm sorry, chronically absent um category. And we need to really determine what is the barrier to their on time and daily attendance. And that means that we may have to refer them andor the parent out
to outside agencies. We have our care team meetings which stands for chronically absent response and engagement teams. We also have IRS team meetings. Um what we also will be doing is um utilizing court intervention this year uh because our students need to
come to school and before DCPN or the police will get involved we have to do the process that is required by statute and court intervention is one of those steps and then the final thing is so uh the fi court intervention is only for
students ages six to 16. If you are not within that range then we are unable to take you to court. Um, like I just said, our chronically absent response and engagement teams uh are grounded in prevention, early intervention, and collaborative sol
problem solving. Uh, when we sit in on those meetings, we really get to understand what are some of the issues and concerns our families are h having when it comes to chronic absences. And one of the things that we have, one of the many things that we have learned is
that when families are having a crisis, when they go into that fight orflight mode, they tend to keep everybody together. So instead of sending the students to school so that they can access agencies or go get assistance, they're going to keep the students home
and keep them with them while they are processing and going through those challenges. So, part of our care team, um, we ask those questions. Why isn't your child going to school? What can we do to help assist with that? And we need
to then take that data and make data informed decisions either as a school or as a Trenton Public School organization. So, we had 605 care team meetings last school year. uh 87.3%
of those students did not have an IEP. 71.2% of those students were not multil- language learners. 28.8 were multil- language learners. Out of those responses, now I do not have my glasses. And no, Mr. Earl, I don't want to borrow yours because I'm still going to fight
that I don't need glasses. So some of the reasons why students uh families said that they were uh that were the barriers to education 170 is that a three or a four that said transportation was an issue. Uh a lot some say 90 once it was too far to walk
no reliable way to get to school. That became interesting because when we drill down more about what that meant, a lot of that meant mom or dad or the parent was going to work and it was up to the child to get to school. And so that
became the reliable way to of uh the reliable way uh no reliable way to get to school. Safety issue. There's only 21 responses that said safety was one of the reasons why they were not coming to school on time. 281
responses said that the student is sick. And when we think about that, we think about the conflicting messages that we send to families, right? Because we say, "If your child is sick, please stay home." But if your child is sick, a
doctor's note is not going to excuse their absence, which means they now may show up as a part of our chronically absent student list. Family members are sick. There are medical problems. We also had a lot of
families who really talked about the struggle for um uh childhood ongoing illnesses and we have to be really aware of that whether that's asthma um or some of those other issues that may um be
exacerbated by what's happening in our community or what's just happening with the weather or inside of the home. But 281 responses for a health issue. 129 said that there was a school issue with 119 of those linked to poor
academic performance. And that was if you're not coming to school, it is hard to educate an absent child. That was one of our logos that we had last year. And if you are not in school, you are going to have poor academic performance. If you have poor academic performance, you are going to be less likely to want to
come to school. Uh there was one care team meeting that we had at the high school level and uh a young lady said, "I don't like coming to school because I'm absent." And when I come in, my teacher says, "I missed you. I wish you were here." And she said,
"That was embarrassing. I don't want anybody to even say it. I just want to kind of come in and blend in and not have not bring it to the attention, but we encourage our staff members to let students know that you're seen and you're a part and we miss you." So that was a really interesting um feedback
that we got from that one one student. So social emotional issue 53 responses anxiety and depression being an overwhelming one. And I'm going to tell you a a quick another quick story and I'm going to be done with my stories hopefully. Uh so I was at uh a care team
meeting for a middle school student and yes I'm telling stories Miss Howard and um this young lady the was uh we were discussing that uh she was experiencing some anxiety and she said you know I sleep I'm very tired when I
get to school and I sometimes just need to sleep and my family lets me sleep uh and sometimes I miss school and so we talked about do you have a bedtime lot of students do not have bedtimes anymore. So, that was one of the problems of getting up because you're not going to bed on time. And uh the
young lady said, "I have my alarm set on my phone." And I said, "Well, what is it set to?" So she picked up her phone and pulled out her alarm and she had about 10 different alarms set in the morning
starting at 5:00, 4:30 in the morning, 4:30, 4:45, 5:00, 5:15, 5:30. So many of you are because I so I I I'm hearing that's a thing that people have a whole bunch of alarms set on their phone. But
for this young person, she there was so many alarms set that she could not get her mind at rest for fear that she was going to miss an alarm. And we talked about that and then we said, "Well, clearly the alarms aren't working because you are absent to school because
you are so stressed that you're going to miss it." And I said, 'Well, let's talk about can we erase most of them and leave too. And we had a lot of discussion about that uh and about the anxiety of just getting up on time and the responsibility of being a young
person and being a teenager in this world. Uh and we didn't get there. We got her to reduce some, but we did not get her to reduce them all. Uh and so that's a real thing that we know anxiety and depression and what leads into that um is just not having that regular
schedule and not having your mind be able to be at rest. So for this young person, we actually were able to get a weighted blanket for them to use in the evenings to hopefully kind of get her settled a little bit more where she could get a good night's sleep.
Other barriers to education were student responses. Students walk the hallways. We added that one because we heard a lot of folks say, "Listen, students are in school but they are not going to class." And then 145 were home issues,
parents not feeling well, student oversleeps, parent oversleeps, um caring for younger siblings, parent or guardian not well. And so those are some some things that when we talk about
how do we resolve our issues with chronic absences is what we know is that we are not going to be able to fix it just within the schoolhouse. It is going to have to be a community and citywide campaign and investment number one to
improve the thought process of how of the importance of education and that that starts every single day. Uh we also ask people to give us comments and so these are just a few comments but these comments are kind of
repeated in this information. Student refuses to come when she is not prepared. Student has controlled substance issues. Spends time with mom in Minnesota. Student had search history. Student oversleeps and doesn't get up. Uh he's responsible to get himself up and ready to school. Mom
keeps them home until she leaves for work around 9:30. They don't want to ride the bus. parent has a lot of doctor's appointments in New Brunswick and has no transportation for the student. Dad is sick, mom stayed home, children also stayed home. Student works and does does not get home until 2 a.m.
So, that was kind of just some of the comments that we hear about why our young folks are not coming to school on a daily in uh on a daily basis. So, what do we do? So, these are some of this is the process. When a student is absent, there's a school messenger call
uh that goes out. If the student continues to be absent, the attendance officer will do outreach. If the student continues to be absent, we will then have a care team meeting. If the student continues to be absent, we'll have another care team meeting to have a review of what didn't work in the first
care team meeting. And if a student continues to be absent, which is where we are for unfortunately some of our students now, we are going to be seeking uh the court to intervene. Why do we do all these steps? Because before we go to court, we need to make sure that as a district, we are doing our due diligence
to support our students and families. And this is um the stats the statute that talks about court. We don't want to do this because we don't want to introduce our families into the court system. Um and this is not necessarily going to fix the problem. The problem is
much deeper than that. If this fixed the you know so this is not necessarily going to fix the problem but um we are at the point with some families who have really just been very unresponsive that this is the choice we have left.
And as you can see uh we have our our uh billboards that went up and go ahead and click that please. in the back. Thank you. And just because we all all love this video, I thought we would end with this and then I'll ask
I'll uh get any questions. >> Trenton Public Schools cares about your child's success. We need them to attend school every day on time. We miss them when they're not here. K3 education success starts here.
>> Attend everyday onas. >> Attend every day on time. >> Our schools miss your children when they are at every day on time. >> Every day on time. Attendance matters.
Everyday >> middle school students, we need you here to attend every day on time. >> Every day on. >> And the council wants students in Trenton to know to be to school every day on time. Every day on time.
Attendance matters at all the Treatton secondary schools. Attende every day on time. Hello Trenton. Every day on time. >> Every day on time. >> Every day on time.
shop. >> Everyday on. >> Everyday on time. >> All right. Questions? >> Uh, board members questions. Austin. Um, so I'm going to have a few. Um,
I'm just going to start off with uh really applauding the district for the work that uh everybody is doing to solve this problem. Um, I guess yeah, that that that's really where I'm
going to start off because at least uh kind of piercing the corporate bail. I'll say that. Right. This has been a conversation that you know behind the scenes that we've been having in committees for years. I can easily say right that this
is uh and I know uh we've been having it with the superintendent with you know the face committee and various committees and um you know trying to solve this um for a long time. So um I again appreciate the district. Um I'm
overall just you know very disappointed and sad that this is the direction that we're trending. Um, and you know, Miss Grant, I appreciate uh that you explain the reason as to why, right, especially that you highlighted
come January 2025, right, that this obviously the drop off that we had. Um and we all know right like it's no surprise that uh we had a change in federal administration and they were very adamant about you know locking people up locking immigrants up and you
know it was complete change from what we had um just the prior administration and um I mean to be frank elections have consequences and this is what we saw in Trenton. So, um, you know, just just starting off there. But, uh, easily, I
just want to just kind of take it a few pieces. Um, just what we saw, um, discussing it. Um, could we go back up to Let's start off. Actually, let me start
off with the end because uh that's just fresh in my mind. Um can we talk about some of the uh processes before we get to the court intervention? I just some of the things that we discussed in um committee I think it would be good that we talk about in public just so people
are a bit more aware. Um, can you go through some of the prior interventions that we had uh to make sure that people uh and families like children and families wouldn't be chronically absent and what got us to the point that we're now at where we're even considering
court intervention when we tried to keep that off the table as as much as possible before. >> Yes. So, the very first thing that happens, every child that is absent every day gets a phone call home. It is a robocall that goes out at like 10 o'clock and I think 3:00 p.m. but it
goes out to every single student's home. Um we also have our teachers who conduct outreach at our uh some of our schools that have parent leaison. Those parent leaison also conduct outreach at some of the very first level and that is where it's at the school in the classroom. Um
we ensure that attendance is taken every single day so that we have students properly coded so that we can identify when students are absent more frequently. Every single school also has an attendance team. Those attendance team members meet monthly or bi-weekly
or sometimes weekly to discuss students who are of concern. Um at the district level that who gets uh sent out we have nine attendance officers and three school support managers. Our three school support managers work handinhand with the schools in order to support them in
anything and everything. But attendance is one of our main things. Our attendance officers are divided by grade level and they go out and do the knocking of the doors. So there is on the backside these elaborate spreadsheets that are all shared from
the school from the school support managers and the attendance officers that names every single student who is either moving towards chronic absences or who is already uh who is already chronically absent for this time of the year. And the attendance officers go out
uh they make phone calls home and they put in the notes what has happened. We reached mom. We reached dad. This is what we said. We went to the home. The home was boarded up. Um mom said the child is sick. You know, uh whatever the rationale is, this the attendance
officers put those notes in the system. So when it's time for the attendance team meetings, the attendance teams at the school look at the data and identify, okay, so who are the students that have explained absences and who are the students that don't necessarily have
explained absences where we need to bring them in and have a care team meeting. The school then conducts a care invites the parent in. If the parent can't come in, we will do it virtually. We will do it on the phone. If we cannot
get the parent in at all and the child is at the inter intermediate level or above, we will meet individually with the student and say can you tell me what is happening? Why are you not coming to school on time and and why are you not coming to school daily and what are some of the supports that we can put in
place? We then as the last part of the care team meeting is to create a plan. I will tell you for our K6 students, the number one thing in that plan is identify a bedtime. Identify a bedtime. Um we also work very
closely with Denise Crease and her department. So if a family says that there is food insecurity, if there are housing issues, um if they uh need to get to the laundromat, we make that phone call. Denise then kicks in the support so that we are able to try to
reduce andor eliminate any of those barriers that the family may be having. Um if that plan doesn't work, we call in another care team meeting to figure out why that plan did not work and see what we need to do in order to make a change.
Um in in one case, we had a fam a parent who said, "I don't get up on time. That's why my child is not coming to school uh because I'm not getting up." up and we said, "Okay, well, we will do a wakeup call for you. We'll call your cell phone and wake you up so you can uh get your child up." And we did that for
a couple of weeks and then mom blocked us and so we weren't able to do that anymore. Um, but we're kind of willing to do whatever it takes in order to try to resolve some of our barriers. Um, and the the folks who are coming to court
are those folks who have not been responsive to our care team meetings. um where we are concerned because we do not have any uh any verified reason for why the why the child is chronically absent.
And so that's why we have done everything we've done. We have had our visits from our attendance officers. We've had school outreach. We have either had or attempted to have care team meetings. Um in some cases I have called the home and said listen I need to understand how come you are avoiding
our our these meetings we need to find out what's happening and when we feel like we have done our due diligence and we are still not getting the result ultimately by statute children must be in school and so we now are left here.
And uh just going up to the uh the section with barriers to education. Um these are all uh I guess from the care team uh identified issues, right? So these are items that the uh either the
parents or the children specifically identified themselves as the reasons that they're not able to make it to school. >> Correct. >> Okay. Gotcha. So all of these issues and Um, I don't want to go specifically one by one, but you know, whether they
oversleep or whether they're having transportation issues, right? I think you highlighted it. These are essentially personal issues, right? Family issues, right, that they're generally having, not necessarily issues that um the district is having, right,
to get them to school. >> Uh, correct. But also um when we go to so one of the things that we did uh the first year we did this and last year what we saw was that health issue was uh one of the number one reasons why students were not coming to school. So
what we did was we established a school attendance hotline in every single school so that parents can call in just like you know everybody has done back in the day. You call in to say your child is absent. We revived that process because we wanted to see if there were
happening things that were happening in any one particular school. Was there a school where a large number of students were calling out because they had the flu just kind of like we did with COVID. But we needed to see were there any patterns. Um and while we have anecdotal
information, we don't have enough because parents may or may not call. So their child is absent, but they may or may not call. or they'll think if they call that means their child is excused. Um but the health issue is a direct connection of what we did as an
organization to implement um the school attendance hotline >> but some of these issues uh Mr. Edwards it is beyond the scope of what the schoolhouse does. >> Right. And uh just in regards to health >> Austin just one second. Can we just take
one pause? Sure. Um just want to make sure that um if there's any other board members that have questions um we'll come back to Austin but if anyone if no one else has questions then Austin you can ask answers ask some more questions but other board members have questions. I see Abby or
>> Yeah. So not so much as a question but a statement. So, you know, of course, hearing those things, I was deeply sad, right, and troubled like what, you know, and it seems like the district is doing more and more and more and more and more, right? I don't know what else you
can do, but it just seems like, and you've identified, it's a community issue, right? It's bigger than the schools. the schools have seemingly bent over backward, forward, sideways, and every other way that you can imagine because I can't think of any other than
the things that you're doing that can be done, right? Other than and I I think there was a movement to actually start with parents when they come home with children from the hospitals, even in utero, right? To have conversations with parents about the expectations and it's just so disappointing that there's not a
lot a larger value placed on education, right? And so that starts that's a bigger discussion that starts in the community and with parents. Absolutely. I can say for myself my mother did not have a sixth grade education. But she taught us that education was the answer.
That was the way out. Right. And so it just it's it's disheartening that that piece is lost. Right. And I I do understand you know January 2025 this whole immigration thing that's ramping up and that's causing folks to stay at home. And I know that there there is to
a lot of people there is a value on education but those barriers like that is big. Right. >> Right. Um and so like I said just disheartening that the the situation that we're in as a as a community and you know figuring out how can we address this in a larger setting in terms of not
just here in this room right but in a larger setting in the churches in the community organizations. um those folks, churches need to get involved, right? Uh conversations that begin, you know, in city hall, in churches, whatever, uh you know, our
Greek sororities and fraternities that men mentor, um children, that whole group that uh Gary brought in in terms of, you know, young men on a mission, those kinds of things are things that we can do that takes us beyond the school setting. So, I just needed to say that cuz it is just so disheartening that
this is where we are. And certainly, like I said, I can't see where we can do anything else because we need a total effort that is not just schoolbased. So, I just needed to say that because I'm I'm just >> and I actually want to touch on that. So, in the 23 24 school year, we still
had a problem before anything changed. All of our schools were still in the chronically absent. We were still there. It just increased dramatically the next year. But we still had a problem in the 2023 24 school year where elementary
schools were at 29 almost all of them were at 30% of our K3 students being chronically absent. And when we are talking to parents, um, we and Denise does a lot of works with parents programs about how do you, um,
how do you positively parent and getting back to some of those when we're in meetings and we'll hear, um, my child at the K3 level won't get off the game. I, you know, some of like I'm kind of like, I don't know what that means. What then? What does that mean? They're not going
to get off the game because there isn't the game now in the garbage. They're not getting off the game. But those are some of the real struggles our families are having when there is a fourth grader or fifth grader and the parent says they can't get off the game. They're up all night. And as an old school parent, I'm like, I don't know what that means cuz I
don't know what that means. Um, and then parent says, well, if I do it, then you're going to call Dyus. Well, we have to have a real conversation about setting limits and abuse, right? So, there's a difference between those two and we can set healthy boundaries that
support our children's education without giving folks the beatd down. But, we have to continue to parent and set those expectations for ourselves because these young people, they don't have the ability to get themselves up into
school. Absolutely. Yes. >> And the importance of education >> that we're lost. >> Um, quick question. I take it all 11,000
some odd kids were sent surveys. Everybody was sent survey >> for the chronic or just just the chronic absent parents the surveys that you got the data from. >> So the surveys come from the New Jersey Sky survey and the results from that
school's care team meetings. Yes. >> Um >> so it's not all it's not necessarily all of the >> Yeah. the the care team meetings and the results from New Jersey Sky. I think you are misunderstanding me because you had what? 281 responses said
the kids were sick. >> That was from the 605 care team meetings. Yes. >> Okay. >> So, out of 605 care team meetings, 281 families said it was because their child was sick. >> Which, you know, with CO, we told people
to keep a kid home. They're just doing what we told them to do. And, >> you know, I don't think anything's changed from that. how um they have to be punished because of that, >> right? >> Sick is sick, >> right? And even if they bring a doctor's note, they are still it's still going to
count against them. >> Yeah. >> So that's a barrier inflicted by the state >> is it is how the state defines chronic absences. It's very narrow. And for families that struggle with access to
health care or struggle with food insecurities or struggle, right? >> Yeah. >> Um it is counted against you. >> Yeah. It's >> just very quickly because one of my questions was directly tied to that. Um
and I'm sorry if I I hate putting people in hypotheticals, but just kind of curious. Um, would it still be an absence if a child came to school sick and like was released like if they saw a school nurse that day and then, you
know, was sent home halfway through the day, does that still count as an absence? >> Yes, >> it does. Okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. >> It's excused, >> right? >> But it still is counted towards chronic absence, >> right? Because you didn't finish the entire school day.
I will say our numbers for this school year, we are seeing the trend go back into the positive direction. Um, but what I've shared with Mr. Earl is one of the reasons that I and I I only have some anecdotal data for this. Um, is that there is a voice that is missing in
our students population numbers. Um, and even when we are seeing this data about why students were absent, there is a voice that is missing. um our Slife students at the high school level. We had multiple sections in the uh 2425 this school year uh school year and this
school year um I think we have one section and those are our newcomer our most vulnerable um high schoolers. And so there is definitely a voice that is missing. There's a voice in a population that uh did not necessarily return in
September. Um, in kind of going along with that, um, as much as you can share, has there been any conversation generally in the community? I know we kind of discussed this um in the face committee um
certain advice whether it be good or bad that you've heard um uh about people advising people saying hey you know show up to school don't show up to school this is what you say to get an
absence right um has there been anything that you've heard in the community uh can you speak about that uh is a good advice advice just can you share with the public as a whole? >> Yeah, so I think that um a lot of our families are scared and um they may be
getting advice um from multiple different people about what to do in order to keep their families safe and also making decisions on also how to keep their families safe, right? And uh decisions for themselves. Um and so ultimately as a school district our
message has to stay the same and that is it is expected that your child come to school every day and on time. And so any message to the contrary really is hurting the student and is hurting the student and the family because if the
absences continue that student may be referred to court. Now we are introducing the court system into an already very delicate situation and we don't want that. But absolutely there have been um information that we have received about uh people being
encouraged of what to what to say to the school if the school calls um and that is concerning but you know there's people are people are scared and concerned. Um I have a comment then I have a question. Um
similar to what um Annie was speaking to is as I was listening to the presentation I myself find myself very frustrated because I was raised by a very strong and strict Guatemalan mother and even sick she would send me home and I was raised in this in trans school
district. I remember I would have I would go to school coughing. So you like so this term you mentioned about like um the comm community this is a community deeper issue right right um doesn't matter your ethnicity or demographic but
there is a commonality about this struggle this struggle um and you know we can use that and we can it's each his own but we can even use that to an excuse to the point where we're going to stay within that struggle and not see any progression. So my question is being
that we're reaching these lengths of going to court now, are the families aware of the fact that um if they're not go if they're not bringing their children to school that now there's a penalty that they can be heading to the court system now like are they aware of that? >> Absolutely. >> Okay.
>> Absolutely. Every single family um receives letters that specifically state that they may go to court. When our attendance officers go out to the home, they if they don't reach someone, they leave a letter. The letter also talks about what the statute is. We make sure
that um our parents are well aware uh what the consequences if students don't come to school. >> And is it um is it a bilingual too? Is it >> Absolutely. Okay. >> Absolutely. >> All right. Thank you. >> We probably got time for I guess one more question. We'll close this at 8 o'clock. Five more minutes. Larry, you
have a question? Anybody? Anybody else have questions? Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So Larry, we have a committee chair comments and I had a meeting. I have some comments for governance, but you have anything for faith and school
support? >> Yes. Um, give me one second. So, the face committee met on March 18th at 8:15 a.m. Uh, we discussed uh the district um had the Smith Family Foundation partnership meeting that took place on
3:10 at the board building. Um they discussed opportunities regarding dental and health partnerships. Um we also talked about kindergarten registration as open for school year 2627. About 150 students have been registered. Um we
have about um 1,130 preschool students are currently enrolled that have the option to enroll in the for the upcoming school year. So we're constantly pushing out the word um for our students getting um for our kindergarten students to get registered to join the school district
for the upcoming year. We also discussed um the food security security campaign um which is the the campaign to increase uh SNAP mill um school meal and SNAP program um registrations.
Um and we discussed March Madness schoolwide competition to promote school attendance and some of our parent connect series programs. Um a few things that we wanted to continue to talk about was um as we talked about today when it
comes to truency and you know chronic absenteeism continue to uh discuss that. Um there's going to be a uh parent support session um led by our faith program manager at Washington
School at 9:00 a.m. on April 14th. There's going to be additional dates on the 16th, 28th, and 30th. Um, at the board meeting, uh, Austin Edwards, uh, mentioned
potentially connecting with with the district around scouts. Um, so we're going to follow up with that. That was the that was our report. >> All right. Thank you, Larry. just just uh to remind the board about our strategic planning events that are
coming up at Trenton High School at 6 p.m. Uh the dates are April 21st, May 19th, and June 30th. Um they've been well um advertised uh on social media, also on our website. I would encourage uh the board members to reach go out to
our website, go to our social media channels and share uh information with our community and with uh contacts and your networks to get our community engaged and involved with our next five-year strategic plan. As you know, our current plan uh
necessary ends, but we have our fifth year will be next year. And so we want to continue the work that we've uh been doing. Um and we want to involve the community with that next rendition of the next five-year strategic plan. Um and so we want to make sure that you guys are aware of it. Mark your
calendars. Don't pencil in, pen it in. We want to hear our community voices. Um and this critical work that we're doing so we can gather more information from our community and help them for them to help us shape the next five years of our district led by our superintendent in
this board. So, thank you so much. Public participation, Donna Wellins. I don't see Donna. Crystal Smith. I don't see Crystal Smith. Tina Clark. Where is it?
>> Thank you. Five minutes. Miss Clark. How's that? >> Okay. Okay. So, um I'm here tonight. As you guys know, I have been before you a few times since September and um I have
a concern that I really want to ask if um I don't want to want to do it actually in the public uh participation setting. I think after even hearing what we just heard tonight, the excellent training you had, um is it possible that
the superintendent and the president can speak five minutes after your executive session? And I have a board submission um submitted to you all that I would love to speak to them about um that is pending for a 45day. If I could just get
some procedural clarity, that would be my ask for tonight rather than trying to address anything here. >> Can you repeat that question, please? My question was, >> would I be able to speak to the
president and superintendent after you all finish your executive session? >> Um, no. That would be possible. Not for tonight. >> Okay. So, how do I follow up then on a conference submission to the board that
I haven't heard back on since February 20th? >> General Counsel. Yes, sir. >> So, all recommendations for board approval have to come from the superintendent. So, if you're looking to have something approved by the board,
you have to submit it to the superintendent. If he's in agreement and he wants to recommend it to the board, he can. There's no other way for the board to approve anything absent the superintendent's recommendation. >> So, we're not talking about approval. We're right now talking about 9130,
which is a process which says in your policy that you would get a resolution between dealing with the chain of command and if that's not successful or if it's something that's not within the superintendent's
um scope that it would go to the board. Am I correct? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, that's not an approval process, is it? Well, has something been submitted to the superintendent? >> Excuse me. >> Has something been submitted to the superintendent that he's denied?
>> Um, I submitted a request for a 9130 conference. >> Yeah. So, a 9130 conference in front of the board doesn't happen unless the superintendent has denied recommendation or request of yours. >> And say that again, sir. A 9130
conference doesn't happen with the board absent a superintendent denial of a request of yours. That's part of the chain. It has to be a denial from the >> superendent. Superintendent denial of what? Say it again. >> A denial of your request. >> Well, then I have that.
>> Well, I just asked you that. >> I didn't I didn't You said that I have an approval for the board. I didn't ask for an approval from what I said. >> Well, then I understood. >> Okay. Um, so we'll we'll discuss it later. So what we what I without knowing
what your actual request is, we'll discuss it later. Just want to advise you that not all um requests are appropriate for board intervention. So if you're soliciting business from the board, that's not subject to a 9130 review. >> No, I'm not soliciting business.
>> No, not at all. Just just simply >> uh one minute. >> Say again. >> One minute. One more minute. So, I guess what I'm I'm just trying to leave with clarity on a submission for um a conference.
That's literally what it says. And I haven't What are you saying I should do next? I'm just not clear procedurally. Who do I talk to? I don't even need to do this. If you just send me >> We'll talk about it after the meeting. >> Say again. >> We'll talk about it after the meeting. You and I will talk about after the meeting. >> There you go.
>> All right. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. No further uh members on of the committee of the of the public uh to speak board discussion action on consent agenda. Any discussions on the consent agenda?
Um >> you have a disc you have an item in the on the agenda you like to discuss? >> Yes. I wanted to ask about um I'm trying to pull up my phone number right now. It was um It was under the financial committee
recommendations um concerning the um comprehensive digital platform to support multi- language learner program management. I wanted to just get some
>> what's the question? >> I I just wanted to get some clarity on that. It was on Give us a item number and give me a second. I'm trying to pull it up. It is um resolution is under the financial recommendations
um request for RFP award under J. Um I wanted to tell if the superintendent could elaborate more on that. >> Yes, sir. Resend. Is that J? Item J on the on the finance finance agenda item. Is that item J? Rescend the
recommendation of FRP 2025 2615. >> Yeah. I just wanted you to explain a little bit about that. >> So, it's being rescended. >> Okay. >> So, we're not the goal is not to send out for RFP. >> Okay. >> So, are we looking at a different type
of program for that type of um like >> need or >> I don't think at this time we are um I don't remember the specifics, but I think that we felt like we didn't need that service at this time. uh and this
time of year. So we you know certainly looking always looking to support students in the year coming but everything that we have in place we feel good about now. >> Okay. I appreciate that. Um and the
other one was under policy. It was um the policy recommendation second reading for um >> okay >> sexual harassment. Um >> say sexual Say it again. >> Sexual harassment. Oh, it it was the policy recommendation second reading. Um
I'm trying to find the um >> sexual harassment >> for sexual harassment. >> Okay. >> Um one of my questions is that um and I asked legal about this um was that >> I believe under the state law it includes gender orientation and um
non-binary inclusion and under this policy recommendation it has no language around that. So, I want to see what could we do to amend that. >> Uh, we could it can it can be approved tonight and go back to committee for
another revision. This is a second reading. So, it's actually we had I guess roughly 30 days to look at it. Today is the day to actually approve it. It does not mean it can't be changed. >> Okay. Um but it can certainly go back to
committee and be discussed in committee and come back to the board as a revision. >> Okay. Next month. I mean we have another we have policy meeting this you know within the next couple of weeks. So we'll be able to you'll be able to address that in policy committee and then bring it back to the to the board
to the superintendent as a first reading and then a second a second reading to get to get the revisions approved. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. Um, and finally, uh, it was the I had a question on the I believe it was the,
uh, is the, um, it was an addendum, I think. Oh, yeah, it was a financial committee addendum. Superintendent, could you speak on the addendum RFP award for A, which is the U contract award for prospective
organization to enter into a long-term ground lease for the development construction operation of a cell cellular telecommunication facility on a transition high school campus for 2526. >> Yes. So I if I can ask uh Mr. Ro to elaborate on that. It was u uh initiated
by uh some groups the mayor was involved and we >> came to an agreement uh with the RFP. So James can elaborate on that a bit more. >> So as you know Helian the the old hospital right behind Trenton High is being demolished. There are some cell
towers on the top of that facility. Um I think three telecommunication services and one in ours. We actually have we actually have towers on top of that building as well. So because the building is coming down, they need a new place to relocate it and they're in and
the proposed site is a location a small location but right at Trenton High School right across the street from the facility. So because of that what we had to do was go out for RFP to solicit proposals about people who think they could do that work. This was an award of that contract. We reviewed the proposals
and we've settled on the vendor to perform that work for us. So the telecommunications towers that are on top of helium for hospital supposed to come down and it will be repl that is what that is. >> Okay. Thank you.
Any additional questions on the consent agenda or discussion on the consent agenda? >> Motion to approve. >> So move. >> Second. >> Probably moved and second. Roll call. >> Gerald Truhart. >> Yes.
>> Denise Johnson absent. Gene Buoie absent. Ed Daniels Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. Yolanda Lopez, >> yes. >> Larry Taylor, >> yes. >> Jeannie Wel, >> yes. >> Deion, >> yes. >> Motion passed.
>> Mr. Comments. Uh, updates. Addie from New Jersey School Board Association. >> Yes. So, actually just just one. So, um on um last Thursday uh at West Windsor Plainsboro High School, the New Jersey School Boards Association recognized
unsung heroes from Mercer County. Um our high schools were represented. All of the school communities from um Trenton Central High School as well as Capitol City High School. um students uh stories were uh shared by either their uh counselor or uh teacher leader. Um we
heard some amazing stories from all of the high schools uh located in Mercer County and again our students were uh acknowledged and again our staff was well represented at that particular event. So just wanted to share that I don't have the students names in front of me but again all of the school communities were represented. So I
wanted to share that and uh certainly thank our district for uh participating in that particular um event. Larry, legislation, any updates? >> Yes, the um legislative policy committee for the school boards met on uh March
14th and we had a chance to meet with Chris Williams, the new chief of staff for the department of education. He spoke to us nearly about an hour. Mainly the conversation spoke on school funding, looking at um some resources around expanding child early learning
programs and addressing teacher short shortages around the state along with um literacy programs around high impact tutoring and mental health services. The main focus of this um session was looking at the budget. As we know, there's a 6% increase across the board
that was capped at around $372 million from increase from the prior year um across the board for school districts. and they was just talking about that, breaking down some of those um breaking down that budget and looking
at uh how there's a lot of money around uh supporting schools when it comes to school consolidation and some um more money being invested into SDA for facilities funding. Uh some of the legislative updates just to um quickly
uh fasttrack this. Um the legislature passed a bill around regulating internet enabled devices, mainly cell phones doing school hours. Um districts have to have a policy in place by the start of the 26 27 school year. Um there was a
charter school reform law that recently got passed on January 16th which um requires public notices and hearings for charter school application renewals. Um public um more requirements around board of trustees and board membership charter
schools. Um updating um reporting and budget transparencies. Um and another bill that was passed concerning charter school enrollment, student placement reporting and athletics. Uh also, um there was legislation signed that authorized
school districts that moved his annual school elections to November to submit separate proposals for additional spending for budget year and subsequent budget years. Um previously, a school district could submit for the vote voters submit to the voters at an annual um school election a separate question
or proposal for permission to raise additional funds for the current school year budget. Um this law changes that. Um some instructional mandates that was passed um we brought back the state brought back cursive handwriting for public school curriculum for grades 3 to five
as well as um uh there was an act requiring school districts to provide instruction on the dangers of elicit opioid sub substances. Um you know the another uh two other legislations task force legislations was one around
establishing chronic absenteeism task force um and one establishing special education transportation task force um and uh right now they're looking at some legislation around AI surveillance
systems uh pilot revenue sharing and uh mercur mercury floor removal um that's currently um being heard heard by the >> legislature. >> Thank you, Mr. Trailer. More C's.
>> I had a conflict. Okay. >> On that day, we had a um New Jersey school board's training that I had to attend because it was a paid one. So, >> that's good. You went to the training. >> Okay. >> Okay. All right. Next next month.
>> Any new business? We're going to go into executive session. Whereas open public meetings act codified as NJSA 10 col 4-6 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting under certain circumstances.
>> Did I miss something? >> Okay. Whereas the Tinton Board of Education is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist indicated as follows. Any material considered confidential by federal law, state statute, or court rule. Any pending or anticipate litigation or contract
negotiations to which the board or 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 caption memorandum of agreement as me and TBOE settlement NCLC versus TBOE. Settlement TEA vers TBOE CO 202434 settlement TMV vers TBOE. All of them
are action now therefore be resolved by treatment board of education county of Mercer state of New Jersey that executive session will be held on March 23rd 2026 for this tax peripheral purposes indicated in the resolution. Be it further resolves that an action
may be taken by the board with when it reconvenes in open session. Be it finally resolved that the minutes of executive session with regard to the above said subject matter shall be disclosed to the public as 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 right to privacy. >> Said he didn't like the other. He said go back to >> all right the chuckle said this is a long resolution folks. Amen. Motion to
go into executive session. >> So moved. >> Properly moved. Second. Roll call. >> Gerald Truhall. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson absent. Jean Buoie absent. Addie Daniels Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. >> Yolanda Lopez. Larry Taylor. >> Yes.
>> Jeie. >> Yes. >> Danelli D. Leon. >> Yes. >> Adjourn to executive session. >> I'm not the government. He said, "Why did you switch it?" I said, "I switch it." I said they said it was too long. He said
be careful because this is not I'm They call us So then guess what? But then we saying we can't win. >> We could have >> back in open session disc. >> Need a motion to approve ask me and T
verse TBOA. >> So moved. >> No, I mean got a motion. You got to actually >> Okay. >> I mean listen I thought you cheated me. I was like thanks. All right. I move that we approve the uh memory uh the MOA
uh between ask me and the board of ed. >> I second. >> Oh second roll. >> Gerald Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson absent. Jean Buouie absent. Addie Daniels Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. >> Yolanda Lopez.
>> Yes. >> Larry Trailer. >> Yes. >> Jeanie Wickham. >> Yes. >> Denelli De Leon. >> Yes. >> Motion passed. Need a motion for MCLLC versus TV. >> I motion uh I motion. Yes. I motion that we approve the settlement between MC LLC
and the Trenton Board of Education. >> Is there a second? >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Prop move and seconded. Roll call. >> Joe Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson absent. Jean Buouie absent. Addie Daniels Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards.
>> Yes. >> Yolanda Lopez. >> Yes. >> Larry Trailer. Yes. >> Jeannie Week. >> Yes. >> Denelli De Leon. >> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> Okay. >> TEA. >> TEA versus TBOE. Need a motion.
>> I approve that we move the settlement between TEA versus TBOE. CO 2024 034. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Roll call. >> Joe Truhart. >> Yes. >> Denise Johnson absent. Jean Buie absent.
Addie Dennis Lane, >> yes. >> Austin Edwards, >> yes. >> Yolanda Lopez, >> Larry Trailer, >> yes. >> Jeannie Week, >> yes. >> Denelli Dele Leon, >> yes. >> Motion passed. >> I move that we approve the settlement
between TMBB and Trenton Board of Education. >> I second. I'll move and second. Roll call. >> Joe Truhart. Yes. >> Denise Johnson absent. Jean Buouie absent. Addie Daniel Lane. >> Yes. >> Austin Edwards. >> Yes. Yes. Yolanda Lopez. Larry Trill.
>> Yes. >> We >> Yes. >> Denelli D. Leon. >> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Oh. All in favor? >> I.
>> Meeting over. >> Bye. Have a good night. You cannot resettlements cuz they just want me in