##VIDEO ID:_cv8NfgbdHo## may I have Miss Virginia Jeff please someone I don't want to break okay I don't want to break thank you uh V Virginia Jeopardy 236 Brighton Avenue E New Jersey Board president Santana board members board employees and members of the public in attendance and virtually good evening there are resolutions on the agenda from the work session meeting November 12 2024 which of which are in violation of New Jersey Administrative Code 6 a23 A- 5.2 public relations and Professional Services njac 6A colon 23- 9.3 c14 efficiency standards for review of administrative and non non-instructional expenditures the board policy 9120 public relations program and njac 6A 13A 47 District Board of Education physical phisical accountability this was brought to the attention of the board at the work session meeting during comments from the public which was never responded to will the board respond to this tonight and F22 approve mree public relations under njac 6823 a5.2 public relations and Professional Services a maximum dollar limit established annually prior to budget prepar preparation for public relations is this in the budget and what is the budget amount also the efficiency standards explicitly mandates public relations services are incorporated into the duties of the superintendent SBA and other staff Prof positions furthermore public relations activities do not include activities such as crisis community ation Website Maintenance and various other things and the board policy 912 zero public relations program reaffirms all of this the pa the approved the job description for the preschool PT physical specialist there were questions that were asked that were never responded to but more important the description deletes the requirements of local Head Start agencies being part of that job description so the question is when will this be corrected to include the mandated information about local headred agencies when will this be corrected thank you Susan lipon oops I know a lot has been going on about Hannah Caldwell but we still have um over 6,000 other kids to educate so I'm talking about E11 at the last work session Michael Cohan presented a resolution for the board to enter into an agreement with a company called educere very little was said about what this is and no board members asked for more information the backup was minimal educ educere is a profit-making company that provides access to Virtual courses for students the course of the courses are paid for by parents this company offers virtual learning only something that our superintendent has said was not only off the table for Hana cwell but he felt has been found to not be as effective as iners learning here are my questions how are we going to use this company in our district are we going to use it to offer virtual courses to students who have failed to pass in-person courses in our schools even when we claim virtual teaching is not as effective as in-person teaching what courses are we going to use this program for at what level high school doesn't say company does not explicitly say who's going to teach these courses it doesn't explicitly say if they are certified in any way I'd like to know who's going to be teaching them how will we know if the student is actually the one who's doing the work and passing the test does the district make money based on the number of students who register I'm sure we're going to make a profit by this agreement that was really not mentioned how much will each course cost the parents and the cost of materials and parents should know if they do this they don't get a refund if the program doesn't fit their student and uh the company also connects parents to purchase materials and I don't know does District get some of that I think before you vote on resolutions you should have an answer to these questions or at least I should have them I did do what the attorney said and sent the questions on to the superintendent who has not responded that was my answer if I had questions they were supposed to go to the superintendent so maybe the attorney can remind him that that was what was said at a board meeting that's how to get answers to questions since you don't do it but my personal feeling is that not enough questions were asked by this board when you go ahead and pass something I really think that you do your due diligence you should be looking at the backup and figuring out what you're actually passing thank you neles Eric O oh at the end okay thank you Miss slopes at the end also yes thank you thank you I will pass this along to the superintendent report thank you good evening everyone so we're going to go through a couple things tonight um as we do highlight a small glimpse of all the awesome things going on in our district this is no good sir we're good uh we're going to uh just give a little recap on our uh uh Town Halls that our principles were doing um I'm holding off on student discipline till uh next month and then uh in classroom Library so first with Hannah cwell um you know as you as everyone probably knows in our community uh you know there 24 days ago there was a situation at hen calwell that caused us to myself to make a decision to close that school um we were uh utilizing our our space um in my mind wasn't uh the best classroom environment but we we made it where we were out 3 days got back uh in school where our phenomenal teachers were able to still deliver lessons that were uh very um impactful to our students our students were learning uh you know as I and my team was going through the buildings our teachers wanted to reassure us that we were right on the same Pace just as if we were in Hanah so with that uh we shift it um about a week ago we got uh permission to utilize the third uh part of the third floor in the fourth floor of a building down 1085 at cane and within that four or five days we developed 39 class uh classrooms uh and a lot of other usable space it's amazing job with that it was a very much a team effort there's a lot I'm not going to go through it it'll be posted but there's a lot of different uh entities that that got us there um and you know the parents were able to have an open house but um I want to just thank uh cuz uh you know the UTA president's here she's at a lot of functions supports uh in many different ways but we we work hard on setting up systems that um when issues are going on we go through the process so with that I want to thank uh uh the UTA uh for bringing information to Mr Celli our manager of building and grounds thank you you're welcome uh which is the system that the UT fought for um there's different levels but uh I want to I want to just say thank you because again that communication was key uh you know um to get where we are today uh as soon as we found out uh when they reported it to the buildings and grounds manager we immediately that day had a company out there identifying what we should do and I I do think uh the the way we're handling matters within the building when it can be managed uh within the building we're doing it when it needs to go up we we we take it uh to a step further but you could see up there there's so many different people and I'm sure I do apologize if I left anyone off a lot of entities in a lot of specific people we had former students that we got to know working for companies that were supporting us down there in making sure some some people are there at 1 2:00 at night uh or possibly even later so um I'm just so thankful that our kids are in what I think is an awesome safe learning environment so last year we started what's up with TBS it was student L uh it's a group of students uh Miss noones and and Mr ier are helping me facilitate it this year uh but our students write about what they want to write about and it puts it out to the community it's great because it's the student voice um so again the issue will the link will be live uh when this gets uploaded uh it was sent out uh or it is being sent out tonight um so please uh enjoy what the students are highlighting it's amazing when you can Empower students to share uh the the great things that go on in our district and you'll see in the beginning these are our editors this year we decided because there was so many things going on to break it down uh and have multiple editors so we we did it a little different than last year but again uh the group is is awesome uh you learn events um uh was sent out I believe already but there's a lot of you you learn events from our curriculum team that are coming up so please jump on as many as you can uh to uh learn more about many different topics um uh this is our second newsletter that went out or um all about you so again I'm not going to read through the whole thing uh that will be sent out tomorrow morning but the link will be live as well um just a lot of great things if you uh if you go through it uh going on in our district and again another way to just communicate share different things that work we uh we're going on so uh Town Hall this past uh month to report in November we dealt with chronic absenteeism at a previous uh meeting uh at my County meeting with uh the county superintendent as well as all the other superintendents uh the state uh made the county report on chronic absenteeism it's Statewide uh issue um so we made sure that uh uh our schools delivered that message uh um and and I do have one of the presentations up there um the number next to it is the the the number of parents they had attend um we're going to keep pushing to get this information out it's very important there is a data that we picked up on it was uh and Dr Rodriguez correct me if I'm wrong but we saw a difference in our proficiency after six days a student absence six days so uh I think it was about a 10% difference uh again uh just trying to look at our data many different ways but if you click on that link there's a great uh PowerPoint uh uh Washington did collaborate with Livingston so Mr clar and Miss piano did a I thought together put a great presentation together so and and there there was a lot of parents that commented where they they they were thankful because they didn't know a lot of the information so again it's about making the parents aware on the possible impacts plus what the guidelines are what's excused not excused they had a lot of questions um so we're going to continue to inform because we know that if our students are in school and Not absent a lot there there's more of an opportunity than and I think they're going to definitely uh grow more uh than if you're out uh 15 20 days so we want to make sure we're we're keep hitting home on chronic absen ISM it's very important as I have to do every month um we're going to uh report on our our hip cases so between the period of third November 13th to the 19th there was one founded at was at Union High School one unfounded or did not meet the criteria at Franklin and one inconclusive at Franklin as far as uh the Hib cases we have to affirm um from the 16th to the 12th um one was uh or 14 was founded and you'll see where the locations were uh Union High School at 8 kuami had two Bernett had one and Livingston had one um unfounded there was two Livingston and Connecticut Farms and then inconclusive two Union High School and kuami Middle School and that is a very short presentation tonight but I encourage everyone to please look at the newsletters from the student voice as well as our district there's wonderful things out there uh there was a lot going on uh you know and again I can't thank everyone enough uh but um before I conclude uh because uh somebody's not present I would like Mr Cohen to join me did he oh there he is so we we want to recognize one of our um custodians that in our district um and we created a proclamation do you want to uh read it sure and then uh share some words because I know you got to work with this uh person unfortunately uh the person could not wa be with us tonight uh but we're going to make sure we deliver this tomorrow because uh exceptional employee so this is a proclamation honoring Nelson Hernandez upon his retirement from the township with Union Public Schools after 44 years of service whereas Nelson Hernandez began his Service as an educational support professional with the township of Union public schools at kuami Junior High School in 1980 and whereas in 1991 he was promoted to second shift lead man reflecting his leadership and commitment and whereas excuse me during the 1994 95 school year Nelson Hernandez was promoted to head custodian of kuami middle school where he continued to Excel and whereas Nelson Hernandez has Faithfully served the kuami middle school for over 44 years ensuring that the school and its facilities remain well-maintained safe and a welcoming environment for students staff visitors and whereas through his unwavering commitment attention to detail and tireless work ethic Nelson hernandz has played an essential role in the day-to-day operations of kuami Middle School supporting its mission to promote educational excellence and whereas Nelson Hernandez service has gone beyond the Call of Duty exemplifying loyalty reliability and enduring sense of pride in his work and whereas the entire School District recognizes and celebrates son Hernandez for his invaluable contributions over the past 44 years ensuring the success and well-being of generations of students now therefore be it resolved that the township of Union Board of Education hereby recognizes and honors Nelson Hernandez for his 44 years of loyal and dedicated service and expresses its deepest appreciation for his assiduous efforts and unyielding commitment to our schools be it further resolved that a copy of this Proclamation be presented to Nelson Hernandez as a token of our gratitude and in recognition of his outstanding service to the tant of Union Board of Education and kuami middle school I would just like to offer a brief comment uh during my tenure as a teacher at kuami middle school I made it a point to ensure that every member of the school Community knew that they were my partner and no one could have been a stronger partner than Nelson Hernandez anytime I or any of my colleagues identified a need to him or asked him for his help he was always there ready to do so and he is a is a very humble man he's a very self-effacing man that never looks for recognition and this is very very welld deserved and it gives me great pleasure to be able to offer these comments thank you thank you Mr car Madam president that concludes my report next next we will have the education student discipline committee chair Mr Cohan am I on thank you madam chair on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the education student displine committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration resolutions E1 and e1a were adopted at the November 12th meeting they were both the report of HIV from October 16th through November 12th and the affirmation of Hib from November 5 9th October 19th I'm sorry through 15th resolution E11 is the superintendent report of HIV for the period of November 13th through November 19th 2024 there's no vote required for this uh it's for reporting purposes only resolution e11a is to affirm the superintendent's determination of Hib but I would like to hold out uh case kms1 for a separate vote so I'd like to suggest Madam president that we we vote on e11a at this time and then I'll have make a separate motion on K one thank you so much is there a second second is there any discussion thank you madam president can I just have Dr Rodriguez uh uh speak a a little bit about the hold that till we get to that yet thank you so much is there's a motion on the floor moved by Mr Michael Cohan and seconded by Kimberly Scott Hayden can I have a roll call please miss capol miss carbano yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs KY macki yes Mrs Faria yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss Santana thank yes and thank you so much Mrs Capo I hand it over to you Mr Cohan as a separate U action I'd like to move the affirmation of KMS one HIV KS [Music] one okay uh second that's the motion a f oh so please to a f yeah so so this is for the KMS one that's correct so the the motion on the floor um it's properly been moved by Mr Michael Cohan and seconded by Mr Greg nasta can I have a roll call please Mrs capiola Miss carbonel no Mr Cohan yes Mrs kte macki no Mrs FIA yes Mr McDowell no Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta no Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss Santana no Miss 54 no thank you I will hand it over to Mr Cohan thank you so I would like to move resolutions E2 through e for the last one 15 on mass uh but I would like to make a comment before I ask uh Dr Rodriguez to make a comment can we have a second and then discussion please Kim thank you any discussion yes so there was a previous speaker that made mention to resolution the resolution regarding the educere uh action and I'm I'm greatly disappointed because the fact is at when I made this report last week I both noted that the education committee had questions about this and then ask Dr benacquista to provide some additional information at this point I'll let Dr Rodriguez provide that information once again good evening so Ed you here once again is a uh company that we have approved or we will hopefully approve that will help students uh use another option for credit recovery so students have many options uh to recover credits once they have not passed a course and so educ here will complement those options this is an option that is paid that is correct uh our other options are free to the students at no time is the treaton uh Mike Mike forgive me uh the township of Union Board of Education profiting we do not have any compensation we do not earn any money from uh this agreement if it were to uh be approved tonight uh also does have certified staff teaching for classes and once again this is a it is for cost but it is only one of many options and the other options are free at charge and if I could just uh piggyback uh what Dr Rodriguez said um we want to try to provide as many options uh for our parents uh for uh summer school so with this I I know was approved in the past and parents took advantage of it and it did help them um you know because their kids were able to to come back and and have those credits now uh you know count towards their graduation um we do not um you know limit we try to keep providing opportunities for for our our parents uh you know when when things like this where the kids need to make up credits so um yes it's just again helping I think our community and especially our students at the high school uh you know graduate uh with their class but thank you I have a comment thank you um Madame President I'm sorry for sure so and I thank you all for submitting this as a resolution this is another option and it is not only used for remediation or um making up credits there there are a number of limitations when it comes to what can be offered and what students can take during their educational experience one of them is scheduling another one is teacher shortage and I'm wholeheartedly explaining this because I want us all to be on the same page teacher shortage has become a major plague not only in New Jersey but also nationally which limits the amount of choices that we can provide as a district to our children so those students that are also those straight A students that are taking AP and would like to take an elective now they have the option to do that because tonight we will vote on this resolution so thank you to the administration for thinking ahead any discussion thank you for discussing again this motion has been properly moved by Mr Michael Cohen and seconded by Kimberly Scott Hayden can I have a roll call please Mrs Capo yes uh Miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs KY Macky yes Mrs FIA yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much Mrs capillo next we will have the fiscal and planning committee Madame Vice chair Carbell to present the resolutions to be voted on tonight good evening everyone Madame President before I read the resolutions I I want to try to make a point of this and it's those individuals from the community that do in invest and donate to our school district so I want I do want to give a shout out to PepsiCo and Shutterfly for their donations as reflected in 9C upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the fiscal and planning committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration f1's treasur report F2 secretaries report F3 cert certified treasurers and secretary's report F4 approve appropriation of transfers F5 approv list of contracts and purchase orders F6 approved districtwide travel and related expenses F7 um was adopted during the work session f7a approved districtwide student field trips f eight approved this approved the list of the 2024 2025 State contract vendors F9 approved list of contracts and purchases from the Student Activity accounts f9b approved fundraisers f9c accept donations F10 approved 2024 2025 out of District student placement list oh dear lord I didn't realize that I set myself up f11 approved contract with the commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired F12 approved non-public school security Initiative Program spending plan f-13 approved NJ dooe joint Transportation agreement F14 approved petty cash account increase for Vanette Middle School F-15 approve application and acceptance of Special Olympics unified Grant F16 approve Summit speech consultation and evaluation f17 approve acceptance of the 2024 nj6 safety Grant F18 approved preliminary budget calendar f19 approved to amend list of UHS Student Activity accounts F20 approved update to curriculum writer stien rate um F21 was adopted during the work session F22 approve Mt Creek Public Relations f23 through f25 were approved at the work session and the last F is for informational purpose only is there a second second any discussion any discussion this motion is ly been been moved by Madame Vice chair Dixie carbonel and seconded by ELC kti Macky can I have a roll call please miss capy alance miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K macki yes Mrs FIA yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss Sana yes thank you so much Mrs Capo um next we don't have any um anything for grievance negotiations or settlement so I will move on to the operations Miss Kimberly Scott Hayden to present the resolutions to be voted on tonight good evening upon recommendation of the superintendent of school operation committee presents the following resolution for the board's consideration 01 is to approv security drill bus evacuation reports and O2 which is approved Camp interven invention at Jefferson schoolk thank you so much Mrs Scott Hayden is there a second second I'm taking Ronnie I heard him first uh any discussion from the board this motion has been properly moved by Kimberly Scott Hayden and seconded by Ronnie mcdal can I have a roll call please miss capiello miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K Maki yes Mrs FIA yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott haeden yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much next we will have the Personnel committee chair Mrs Mani to present the following resolutions good evening everyone uh upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools the Personnel committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration p1a Personnel actions new hires p1b personel actions extra pay p1c personal actions transfers P2 approved substitute list p3a except letters of resignation and retirement and we have a few that will be coming up at the end of this year and end to January P 3B approved uh leaves P four approve attendance at various meetings transition programs P five approve attendance at various meetings transition programs P6 approve student teacher and internships p7 approve updated Student Activities and C signatories p8 approved job description preschool part-time fiscal specialist and that's it thank you so much Mrs man is there a second second thank you so much uh Mrs caranel uh any discussion this motion has been properly I was just going to ask I know there was a question about um the prek oh I know we but the position itself yeah sure about the head store is there any information for the prek or is that Mrs Walker that's is that Mr we're talking p8 p8 so uh part of the uh being uh receiving the free cake Grant there's certain things that we have to make sure we uh you know this is one of the positions that uh we're supposed to have within the free grant okay so um that's why okay that's just because a question came up during the comment so thank you any other discussion thank you so much this has been properly moved by Miss Nancy mani and seconded by Miss Dixie carbonel can I have a roll call please miss capul miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K macki yes Mrs Faria yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much Mrs capula we currently don't have anything for uh policy committee that will be more to come in the next coming months and next we will have um the legal committee uh present the following resolutions upon recommendation of the superintendent of school students the legal committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration may I have a motion so moved thank you can I have a second thank you so much Mr Cohan any discussion this motion has properly been moved by Miss Nancy mani and seconded by Mr Michael Cohan can I have a roll call please miss capul miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K macki yes Mrs Faria yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much Mrs Capello moving along we have Mrs Mani uh will be presenting The Residency resolutions on recommendation of the superintendent of schools The Residency committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration R1 approved to remove students from roles uh r2a and r2b are for informational purposes only but I just wanted to report like I did last week that R1 um to remove the student from the roles um that was an added District um placement so um uh that's pretty expensive for um our district so with the re-registration um we were able to find a student that was no longer living in town um but was using our services so um they uh were removing the rules thank you that's a motion correct yes for this can I have a second any discussion I do have a question um in the event in a situation like this um do we go after individuals for tuition yes the reimbursement there yes um this I'm not sure about this case in particular um long right but we do we do go after um we do uh actually some times they go to court and and the courts um award us you know for the tuition to be reimbursed wonderful thank you thank you so much any other discussion we have a motion on the floor moved by Miss Nancy mani and seconded by Elsie KY macki uh roll call please miss capula miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K Macky yes Mrs Faria yes Mr McDowell yes yes Mrs bisei yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott Hayden yes Miss antenna yes thank you so much Mrs capul next we will have the technology chair Mr mcdal to present the following resolutions to be voted on tonight thank you madam president upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the technology committee presents the following resolution for the board's consideration T1 approve a list of equipment for recycling T1 thank you so much is there a second second thank you okay and any uh discussion seeing none I have a motion on the floor uh moved by Mr Ronnie McDow and seconded by uh Mr Greg nasta uh roll call please miss capula miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K macki yes Mrs FIA yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much Mrs Capo may I have a motion to approve the bills list so moved uh Nancy I'll take that and second Ronnie yes thank you so much any discussion on paying the bills this motion has been properly moved by Miss Nancy mani and seconded by Mr Ronnie McDow can I have a roll call please miss Capo Miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs macki yes Mrs FIA yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss santen thank you so much yes Mrs Capo and moving along we have unfinish business it might be considered unfinished in this new business but I talked about it last week at work session um and I just wanted to really reiterate that you know I really do feel Madam President we we all in here um need to give a while rousing Round of Applause to the students of our Township of our district at Hannah Caldwell um often times we focus rightfully so on Administration on you know all of the operations and the logistics that went down in such a short time but I really want us to factor in just how resilient our students were um watching them handle this headon um at the time when the buses were going off that first initial day of transporting them to their schools I mean I guess it ties into new business because you know we were able to go to the open house and I stood and talked to so many kids and really asked them how how was it how are you what are you feeling um how does the classroom look and just to see their smiles and to see how happy were they were and to see the excitement and the resilience is a testimony to who we are as a district who we are as a community um and why we do what we do all of us collectively um and so I think that I would love to stress that we do offer a round of applause to the Hannah cwell students um because it's deserved um and and to the parents caregivers Guardians um amazing amazing children um so that's what I wanted to say thank you thank you so much mcy Macky any other unfinished business want to I'm not no I'm not sure if it's unfinish or knew I I just I I also wanted to reiterate um or you know what we spoke about last week and recognize and I interestingly last week I also said the word were students were resilient and it's interesting um on a more personal note recently had to have work in one of the rooms of my home and believe it or not it was quite stressful to move things I had to move things around change my schedule and had these people in my home which I'm sure has happened to every single person in this room um I even had to think about what lunch was going to look like because now I had a group of workers there and to think that that was just one room when we consider everything that has happened with Hannah these past few weeks and how quickly the teachers the staff the school leadership the district leadership the PTA Representatives the parents and the student students how quickly those that wanted to work together and help came together so that we could find and I would be remiss if I didn't mention and give a shout out to Senator cryan because without his advocacy we would not have been able to get Cain um the leadership in the town um so it took all the entire community and it it really solidify that it does take a village and I know that there are people still not fully 100% satisfied and I want to tell you neither are we but based on what occur in the beginning of the school year with a myriad of other issues taking place I I'm I'm very proud of our district I'm very proud of our community uh um for making this happen and for those of you that were there last Sunday those students were very excited um and they really felt like Kan little Scholars right um I think one of our biggest issues is going to be when they have to return they may not want to do that so thank you to everyone central office and school parents and community and especially those resilient young students thank you so much any other unfinished business yes i' I'd like to add my voice to to the congratulations to of both the parents and the students in the Hanah cwell Community but in particular all of our partners all of the volunteers and all of our staff who work many many hours over those very that very short period of time to turn a blank slate into a school yes uh and I think the challenge for us now is to ensure that as we rehabilitate the space at Hannah Coldwell that we we make it look like the cane space so that the kids feel just as excited about going back to their own School sure yeah thank you so much any other unfinished business moving on to new business Madam chair I have a motion I'd like to offer and it's related to the Han of Caldwell situation yes I mve that this board commend the efforts of our entire staff and administration and all Community Partners and volunteers but in particular assistant superintendent for operations Marissa McKenzie for her leadership and competence in the recent effort to establish an alternative location for the Hannah Caldwell Elementary School community at Kane University and we express our deep confidence in her ongoing work to support and grow the success of the township of Union Public Schools thank you do I have a second second second a lot of seconds I love it I'll take Nancy thank you any discussion yeah I just think it's important that we give some recognition this is uh that effort fell directly under Miss McKenzie and that wasn't her only responsibility during that period of time and she handled all of those responsibilities and those challenges with with great flare and Grace and I I just think it's very very important that we call that out and make sure that we acknowledge our appreciation for her efforts thank you so much Mr K any other discussion I I I would like to say and recognize not only miss McKenzie and I always forget his name where's BR where's Mr anasta Anthony um this could not have happened I don't think individuals really understand that there was flooring that furniture that had to be moved and um walls that had to go up to make this into a space that looked like a classroom um and and it was Miss McKenzie along with Mr Celli and the entire custodian and maintenance team that really made that magic happen so that the teachers could go in there and um really decorate for the students um I don't want to get lost in thought but Michael I I do think you you know I I get that individuals we it's human nature to find areas where we can grow um but it's also time for us to hopefully articulate here tonight some of the areas where positive things are happening and that was one of them um so I invite all of you to please look because between that newsletter as well as this agenda there are really special things happening in Union and it it is not to dismiss the things that we need to work on as a as a team it is not to dismiss it at all but it at some point it would be nice for us to take those moments where there are highlights and acknowledge them and with that I I would like to acknowledge Miss McKenzie Mr Celli and the rest of the staff any other discussion yeah just just another word to to um and I just wanted to uh uh concur with with the thoughts and the thinking that everybody else has done um this undertaking was I think a first reunion and it was uh and I think Dr benris Ben chrisa can agreed that it was probably one of the worst things that could happen in Union where we had to uh move an entire school not just movie but first of all find a location for it um and uh Mrs McKenzie and Mr Celli were new in their positions they were new in those positions this year so uh uh they were basically thrown a hot potato and told to deal not told to deal with it but asked to deal with it and I think that both of them did an outstanding job to be new in their positions and to have such a uh a a a hum a humongous task thrown on them they did an outstanding job not to sound you know redundant but I agree with everyone the the job in the short amount of time the work that was done was phenomenal um and it was a team effort definitely the town was involved the the district is involved so um I commend everybody and thank everyone and if I may just add one last piece to that right yes commend everyone wonderful job I did go Sunday sort the students enthusiasm I spoke to many parents that were in this space um walked around with them um also miss noones um and Margaret Shannon I just want to say thank you for your leadership your guidance with your Educators cuz I'm going to tell you those classroom spaces were absolutely amazing to see it to come to fruition in less than 48 hours of Educators being allowed to be in their classroom spaces and transform them from a blank classroom into a space of educational uh learning for our students was just outstanding so to the teachers who went into that space and set up those classrooms to make them what they were when we walked in here Sunday evening I take my hat off to you into your leadership and Christian NOS forgot in I thank you so much I do want to and Madam president I just want to I just want to add um because Kim I I mentioned this at the work session the UTA you guys are amazing you were also there that weekend that we went to about seven or eight different stores to buy supplies for the teachers and then put it all together so thank you because you show up not just when the cam camera is rolling you show up behind the scenes and and do the work so thank you and um Madame President if I could also uh just chime in because um seeing and and being part of everything there was different stages uh throughout this whole transition uh four days of intense long days in in time energy um and I I I I do agree with what everyone's saying and I'm very thankful because it it was a team and at the end being able to kind of um be part of uh Miss Shannon's as well as her uh Elementary at large member Miss noon so be able to facilitate the the last step in um once the furniture uh got delivered over uh the course of the two days maybe two and a half um if you're not organized and if you're not keeping things moving uh that the team the the the Educators that were leading uh uh Miss Shannon and Miss Nunes uh for organizing and making sure that teachers were aware that their their stuff was delivered it was set up and now it needed to fin uh finishing touches it wouldn't have uh I think went as smooth as it did so I personally am very thankful um to have you guys jump in and kind of lead that that last part along with many other things along the way but that last part was crucial because our teachers then stepped up above and beyond getting our classrooms ready I think way way more than I I thought it would um so I am thankful for that and um you know I'm just so proud to be part of a team and to have uh uh people standing next to me uh as one uh for the best interests of our district I I've been in this District a long time but I feel like between Miss U my my leadership up up top Dr RZ and and absolutely Miss mckenzi uh being overseeing the operations um we were all working uh together uh and and again it just helped be able to get to that finish line so I'm very thankful for everyone uh and like other board members said our Hannah Caldwell Community is resilient I think our whole district is resilient whenever things happen we step up and and we get through it uh thank you so much the PTA was also very crucial as well along the way thank you so I'd just like to add to Mr Cohen and to Madam vice president um operations is a huge undertaking in anything that we do um and I can say for the 12 years that I've lived here I have have been part of sitting in the audience um as a community member and as a parent um and making assumptions and judgments and not having the full picture and understanding and so it was easy for me to um ride with whatever was being looked at or what was assumed towards me and I would come to board meetings those know than Miss Mrs Mackie um guns blazing um Ready for War and ready to really go at board and I have at times because I did not have the true facts and I didn't see I just had a vision of whatever was presented but not a true understanding of the backend dealings of how the district's operation goes and so those who know me some in the audience know that I have been here 24/7 at these meetings and and I can tell you that sitting on this side there are a bunch of apologies that I do have to make because I didn't know and I didn't understand and I didn't see the makings of the district and Madam vice president Dy carbonel said it best there's a lot that we need to do um to make our district and and things better um but sometimes we do have to focus on the good portions of it and see the other side of things and there are lots of strides being made so I commend um everyone as a community watching everybody come together whether it be the township Senator cryan this board our leadership our teachers am Mar V Shannon cuz she's there camera on or off Kristen Nunes and everybody just to understand that when you do come on the side as a board member you see things in a different light and you have an understanding and appreciation for all sides of the view um and so I really secondhand what you said about Miss McKenzie it is very easy and you know there once was a time that I probably would be up in arms but I can tell you that someone coming on brand new with what this District entailed this last week and and subsequent stuff prior to that is short of a qualified effective leader taking the realm and having to navigate various entities so I champion and I agree um you know a vote of confidence in in all across the board because job well done and there is work to do and I'm sure there will still be because I was that person on the other side things that we will be here to go back and forth about but we must give credit where credit is due in times of strive thank you so much any other discussion uh yeah I also want to uh just reiterate what everyone saying uh I remember back in the beginning when we had first discussed uh Miss McKenzie I I believe I made a comment uh all star or something like that about her uh knowing what I knew about her uh being as involved as I am in the operation and dealing with Miss McKenzie uh I could fully affirm that she is an Allstar in this district and in this community and I would uh second third fourth or fifth uh affirm anything with her uh also you know I I don't want to go without not thanking uh the police and fire department and also the Department of Public Works through the whole handic well uh situation uh that just shows yes and and my director Joe Graziano as well it just shows when we all work together yes and we we move away from the negativity and we look towards positive things that together as a community as a district uh as a board uh we could do amazing things and that's what the residents of this community deserve and the children of this community deserve they deserve amazing things uh so again I mean I couldn't be happier with the outcome and you know I'm proud to be on this board and but I'm also a proud lifelong Union and you know it just every day it makes me happier and happier to see us moving forward and you know just getting away from the negativity thank you thank you any other discussion mine's not on that so I'll a wait to you thank you so much next time I appreciate that I'd like to say for the past 10 years I've been Faithfully attending these board meetings and in many Fashions and many sides of this tables what I can say is that's the thing about them tables they always turning and I proudly proudly have led this year with Madame Vice with this District lead M Dr benaquista Dr Rodriguez Mrs McKenzie and all of our building leaders all of the Cal collaboration that we have together with the UTA with the DPW with the township with everyone that should have always been at the table for these past 10 years imagine where we would have been and I 10 toes down confidently and proudly support everyone in this district from the top down including Marissa McKenzie and I'll say it again Marissa McKenzie and I will say it again and I would love to move this motion to a roll call please Mrs capiola M carbonel M carbonel did you read the motion yes he did yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K macki yes Mrs FIA yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss Santana absolutely any other new business yes so I would like to um just follow up with the um proclamation to um Nelson Hernandez and I would just like to wish him a very H happy healthy retirement um your service to the Union Township School District um is commendable that's a long time 44 years but I will also be remissed if I didn't request that this District again I'm requesting it again tomorrow is national ESP day yes and being a former ESP for 26 years in another District um I would be remissed if I didn't first acknowledge all of our esps in our district and say happy ESP day to each and every one of you but I am requesting that this District next year make it a point to honor our esps particularly those that are going above and beyond and in a crisis situation that we just had we should have made sure that we had those people here this evening honoring them and saying thank you not just for the crisis situations but the everyday work that they do on behalf of the kids in the township of Union um School District um so I'm hoping that next month because it's never too late to say thank you I'm hoping that next month we bring them forward no matter if it's one from every building or we want to bring 50 in here I don't care how many it is I think we need to say thank you understanding that our schools doors cannot open without a head custodian in that building to make sure that that boiler is on okay so we need to make sure that we're saying thank you to those people who make sure our schools run every day so yes give them a round of applause even though they may not be in this room thank you so much any other new business or any other discussion on that new business Madam president I have one more item yes uh before November is out I think it's uh I'd like to congratulate you and Miss Scott Hayden and Mr NASA for your overwhelming victory in your reelection I'm I'm gratified that the voters of the community have confidence in all three of you and it will give us the opportunity to continue to work together as a team for the best of the district thank you thank you so much Mr Michael Cohan I have I do have one more and I know we we've talked a lot but tonight but um I do want to wish everyone that celebrates it a happy and blessed Thanksgiving I hope that everybody spends that time with somebody that they love and loves them um particularly after Co there's a lot of individuals in our society that find themselves alone and and that is one of the saddest things um so please I I just hope that if the children are listening Happy Thanksgiving um play eat and just have fun like children should be doing and to the adult I I do wish you a blessed Thanksgiving as you try to make everyone happy um I hope that you find some Joy yourselves um so no I mean okay I'm going to go there the women tend to be the cooks and how to cook and all of that um and make everybody happy and greet everyone I I want you know but I know men cook too um those that are doing the work I want them to also find some some a nice time with their families thank you any other new business thank you for that fcia and I will move on from new business to comments from the public um do I have all than I will start with Virginia Jeff please it works Virginia Jeff 236 Brighton Avenue good evening the concerns are that the open public meetings act 104-7 and 104-1 failure to invite portion of of members the prohibition and the board policy 0167 public participation in meetings are not well understood or just outright ignored and this the serious mold problem and Marissa McKenzie open public meetings act board president Santana has still not corrected employees such as Melissa Hannon nor others such as CL clay mlan that all members of the public are welcome to participate at meetings this D enfranchisement of the public to par to participate in government meetings should cease board policy 0167 public participation in meetings the concern in regard to this board policy is that the rules and effect are being ignored many participants do not announce his her name Municipality of residence and group affiliation if applicable as in item one of the board policy there are board participants who are employees and do not disclose yet such yet will engage in making negative disparaging comments against peers co-workers and the public as an employee Melissa Hannah she also Praises certain administrators like Marissa McKenzie Melissa Melissa Hannah has expressed wanting to be the public relations PR person for the district despite her many other duties outside the classroom there are non-employees such as clay mlan who praises the board and says the opposite about anyone who speaks poorly of the board or administrators at a number of board meetings he has also expressed to looking for opportunity ities and has said that he has signed up for the realignment committee other participants who have questions or concerns that do not align with the board are treated with disdain also the mold at Hannah calwell the mold at Hannah cell is not new the previous board president Marissa McKenzie failed in the serious mold matter as she had been the board president from January 2022 to January 2024 the mold did not occur over the mold has been there for years where is the documentation about the mold why is the board reluctant to inform the community the Board needs to be more accountable to what was done previously the mold is a serious health threat to the well-being of students and staff mold can cause long-term health problems the Board needs to do more to ensure the health and well-being of students and staff going forward at all of the schools in the district Marissa McKenzie has followed municipal complaints against me she was the SBA for the East IR School District from April 2022 to July 8 2024 her inexperience and incompetence is is the major reason excuse me your time has expired taxes thank Susan lipstein your time has expired thank you Susan lipstein the three I didn't see a time talk up there but these these uh these complaints inv Susan lipin please if Susan lipin is not here anyone here who and Margaret Shannon and make a copy and Margaret Shannon I was going to tell you to ask her oh I didn't I I didn't see you in front of me reason you forget me no I said it quite a few times I just didn't see you in front of me thank you so much yeah I get I am shrinking as I'm going don't count that as time one thing I think that we can all agree on is that no one wants to see another Hanah Caldwell Environmental situation ever happen again in this District we need to be sure to put a system into place that makes sure that any types of environmental issues such as mold or the conditions that lead to mold are taken care of at once that complaints don't fall into black call and that a professional mold remediator expert is calleded to take care of small problems immediately before they come big problems in the spirit of positivity of making sure that we positively take care of our problems right away issues get to the proper people this is a picture taken of the floor of the small gym and Bernette Middle School given to me last Thursday shows an obvious leak that has led to major damage of the floorboards in the gym not only is it dangerous to students using the gym but it's a sign of the type of issue that possibly led to the issues that closed Han a Caldwell this leak and floor bird damage are not new and not only that said to say it was there during the time that the Hanah calwell fourth graders were in Bernett they were in that gym the rotting floorboards were covered by a rug the rug was always wet pictures don't lie I'm not going to blame anybody or say anything I would just want to report also there were other building issues at Bernette including security cameras that need to be repaired that could lead to a major problem it's a small thing not really at this point the board president superintendent Miss McKenzie operations committee UTA reps greb nasta who's representative from the board toet and Mr Cella need to go back through that school to make sure there are know they're building issues that for any reasons any reason I don't care why but let's just address them POS let's do this proactively and positively and then just fix them I don't think I have to remind you that the realignment plan would send every 7 to eth grader in our district to that school it's to everyone's benefit to take care of these building and issues issues immediately monitor this school continue to I now believe it's the oldest school in the district if we had the newest School The District closed because of problems that weren't remediated please take this seriously we can't afford another Hanah calwell not financially not emotionally not educationally thank you for taking this concern seriously and thank you in advance for taking action and I'll present the small pictures to the board president and uh she can take her leadership she can take it from there [Applause] and Margaret Shannon I'm gonna speak quickly because I had a lot to say first I want to thank all of you up there for your kind words about the UTA because we are your partner we've been there for a long time and I really feel it like it's solidifying and especially thanks uh for everything you said about Mrs noon I appreciate her um next uh I take offense that Melissa Hannah's name has been used more than once Melissa Hannah is a wonderful member of the UTA she hasn't been at a board meeting in probably 10 years so I don't know what's going on with that next um I strongly stand with Mrs Scott Hayden about honoring our educational support professionals the county only honors teachers of the year but the UTA for many many years we have our own ESP election every year we will continue to do so we specifically give out gifts every uh ES P day tomorrow they will be getting their gift cards and I will work uh with the board to make it even bigger uh I want to agree with Miss KY Macky about how wonderful our Hannah students are and you're going to love this they are so happy that they now have rename their school it's Hannah University Hannah you uh and finally I would be remiss if I did not speak about my friend kuami head custodian Nelson Hernandez I started awami in 1994 I did not know that was the first year he was the uh head custodian so I've always known him as a head custodian he was a man well before and ahead of the times because he knew about seal before any of us did because 40 years ago he was truly and still is a sympathetic ear his office was always open you could go down during lunch and go talk to him or on his lunch he was always working he rarely took lunch but he just really understood the partnership Mrs Scott Hayden between ESP and teachers he really did and he as Mr Cohan said you needed anything he helped you out he is truly just a wonderful and really dear colleague so I congratulate him that was [Applause] beautiful Philip the models how you doing Phil tomato s71 peach tree before before I get started here if anybody wants my email you know so we don't have the same Fiasco as we did last week okay I'm I'll gladly give it to these guys all right and then I'll reply in the same manner that you guys replied to the parents okay some of you are up there because of the position on your pole okay and you guys don't know what it is to be parents apparent okay the kids are happy at k University yeah they're happy they're with their friends okay and they got to be there because their parents told them they have to be there all right now you're saying that you have the community on your side and everything else but yet these guys flip out on parents at Hannah cardwell's meeting you lose your the respect to them okay to have respect you need to give respect all right so if you guys don't want to correct your problem get off the board give it to somebody that wants to be there all right because this is ridiculous if you're there for your own selfish interest you're in the wrong spot all right because some of you put places in into bankruptcy some of you totally forgot who you are all right so I'm telling you something's wrong with this community and not the community but the Board of [Music] Education because these guys like I mentioned last week the Kickbacks must be great or something all right because for you the guys to forget what you fought for and now you're doing the same thing because like the Hanah cwell uh molder situation it's been there for a long long time so why are you guys praising yourselves now you didn't do nothing when it first showed up now you're wasting all this money money that you could be getting teachers for substitutes that there are none all right but no you're wasted on things that you're not even supposed to waste it on all right so you guys better shape up all right because you guys in my opinion these guys are [Music] pathetic Trish Gomes hi Trish GES 47 Brookdale Road um first of all I I have two comments I want to know if we can find that hip information online um or is it going to be posted anywhere and my other concern is how much of the Public Funding is going to go to Hannah Caldwell um busing supplies any um and know last week they said that um Kane was not charging rent and I get that but like you mentioned the supplies you had to buy boys and the boys and girls club is there any fees for that Transportation the constructions engineers and whatever goes into putting this whole new school together how much of it is going to be Public Funding and if it is any any of this is going to be public funded how do we as the public know how much of our money is going towards us thank you thank thank you so attentio so attens 340 Willow Drive um in the meeting of September I can't remember the date of the meeting I was approached by Dr Rodriguez on behalf of Dr benaquista regarding to transitioning and um helping special services with regards of of um County Services IB meetings are ongoing and for my my family own experience case managers I still not doing um what they're supposed to be doing because I'm pretty sure they're not being train how to actually approach when it comes to transitioning it is very very very important that these kids from freshman year to senior years are actually well advised special services are overwhelmed uh they're reshaping the whole organization within the district um and whoever was in charge of transitioning is not anymore I would like to ask if you guys really take this like seriously like my kid lost those services and his friends did too I know because um I have the time to do webinars and not everyone have the time to do that it's so easy I mean it's so easy just to to create checklist for parents or just have special services looking into this how they're supposed to I'm prettyy sure Dr Rodriguez is never going to get back to me because unfortunately this is how the the administration works there you haven't emailed me back I I at least I haven't seen it so that's why I'm saying that just make an effort see what special services need so they can actually work on this it's it's it's just a paper that it needs to be presented to these families and say contact this person and then you can get this this and this and this the kid doesn't have to go to trade school the kids can go to college and universities anything they chose to do they can still get services and they're losing they're losing because their parents are not be told not everybody knows this special services and transitioning is a is a monster is a lot of information and the the the tab for special services for transitioning the last time it was updated was in 2021 there is so many so many so many uh information excuse your time hased thank you m missas Risa bu 59 591 Duane tus just to piggyback on Souls um our job well the union Public Schools jobs um for children that are in Special Services um they have to transition them from 3: to 21 um so they have to prepare them for adulthood and this is where we think that the district is lacking uh the case managers need training on how to transition them appropriately so they could get ready for the work world or school or traits so um but I'm not here to talk about that I was here to talk about um I actually wanted to talk previously um for F22 uh you guys already voted on it so I'm a little bit late um but I'm a little bit um disappointed that no one questioned it because um a public relations company those $15,000 that you guys just appr approv to help um our topheavy Administration over six about $600,000 um that they earn in salary that is their job to serve um to communicate effectively that's a job description of a superintendent of assistant superintendent of two ass assistant superintendent um to engage with parents that's their job as well um student staff Community by leveraging a communication of media relations strategic Communications again we're talking about job descriptions that they should be taken care of not taking $115,000 away from our budget our students that that instead of asking for the public to do donations to do this to the we could have used $15,000 for that stuff um we could have used that to pay these teachers that I'm sure worked all weekend some some stiens for them to to to get compensated for all of their time so we have to really think about um questioning what we approve uh how we spend our money because we need to use it wisely and it's our money that you guys are using and you know 15,000 there too much wasting of money on job description things that our people should be doing Baseline that's what CEOs do they administrate these administrators they administrate our district use use your voice don't just yes people to death it's not acceptable and a lot of some of you up there used to be back here saying the same things and now you're just yesing them not okay not acceptable I expect transparency I expect accountability and we need to work together yes we do need to work together but you need to really think about how you spend the money really thank you Natasia Lopes n Lopes 871 peach3 Road um Miss maeni said that she's been on this side I remember I was there with you I was also there with um Miss chassie and what we asked for was transparency was you returning to us telling us what's going going on that's still not happening and this is why I'm frustrated okay my kids went to Bernette Middle School my son says that those walls were already bad and he's a senior now in high school so what we're seeing now it's kids that have been there for a long time and they continue to be there and the school is not okay are we going to have a second hand of cell are we going to have another Clos at school because we're not paying attention because we're not doing what we're supposed to do I'm not saying it's on you because it's been years so it's not it didn't start now with you being here but it's there and it should be paid attention to and it wasn't paid attention to hanal and it's not being paid attention to Bernett and it's bothering me because Bernett is looked down on it's not paid attention to because there's a lot of blacks and there's a lot of Hispanics so we don't care about Bernett middle school and this is not okay to me it's not okay as a parent as a person it's not okay I don't think it should be taken care of it that way in the wake of disastrous situation at Hanah Caldwell we are concerned about the environmental safety of all of the schools in Union what is the district doing to test air quality address known infrastructure issues and remediate and update HVAC systems no students and faculty can work in suitable safe and healthy environments they should on Tuesday November 12th the board approved $1 million allocation for expenses related to the temporary closure of relocation given this enormous sum of money I request more information about how these funds are being spent the board did not provide a contract for approval between Kan and the district nor did it State the cost of relocation specifically related to the use of the space at cane nor as it provide public information about remediation requirements the district's licensing agreement with Kane indicates that the district is responsible for Environmental testing including but not limited to water testing and ROM testing as this testing been performed to ensure our children can safely occupy these space will the test results be made public when will the tests be performed if they have not been yet so this is just a few concerns I believe this is being recorded you're not going to remember all of it but you can go back on recordings and you know look at it have a good night Eric O how are you my wife and I we uh sounds like Eric H yeah my wife and I we new residents of Union six years um we have a daughter in um Vern um sorry Battle Hill and we have a son that's currently in Bernette my issue right now is with Bernette let me kind of go back to when he was in sixth grade I'm sorry just your name and addressor I I apologize thank you Eric h e r i o Wes 1083 Mayfair Road Union New Jersey okay um approximately six years ago when I'm sorry three years ago when Joshua started our son um at Bernett there was a couple of times there were a few incidents here and there and whenever we discussed it with the assistant principal the comment was usually oh well this C camera is not working this cam this security camera didn't see this and this didn't see this um okay so we just kind of took it at face value um now my son is in 8th grade approximately the middle of October we got a phone call from the attendance office stating that Joshua was not in school I drop him off every day so if he's not in school where is he um they determined he was in school he was in his home room but for some reason he didn't hear his name okay the very next day we got another phone call Joshua was not in school okay that's a problem and not for nothing my my wife and I a little frantic when you drop your kid off you want to know that they're there so my comment to the attendance office was okay guys this is two days in a row does anyone know where my son is and if in fact he's not in his home room is he roaming the halls or something and literally it was a Cavalier comment almost a chuckle from the attendance person stating that oh there's only 22 out of 20 C 20 there's 22 out of 26 cameras are not functioning and at that moment I can't tell you how I felt when I came home and told my wife I said we're going to address it in an email so we sent it to Mr Matthews who later on actually he did not reply at first because um The Home Room teacher replied on the 16th then she replied again on the 17th which was fine I appreciate that but the comment in regards to the security cameras um was not responded to so then I sent Mr Matthews could you please respond to the security cameras approximately on October 28th just before Halloween his reply to me was as far as the security systems go this's a quote I cannot divulge information including the number of cameras or functionality of any part of the system so what you're telling me is you don't know where my kid is not only that you can't tell me whether your security cameras are functioning and in this day in age of school shooting shutdowns and so on and so forth it's very very disconcerning to us as parents that you call us not knowing where he is and then you tell me that more than six 90% of your cameras are not functioning and that's not acceptable my taxes the last six years have constantly gone up and I'm not blaming anybody I'm not pointing any fingers but we need two things number one two excuse me your time has expired oh I didn't make a motion you know may I please I just just briefly I need to know what is going to be done about the security climats at bernet number one and number two the principal needs to understand that he cannot care cavalierly just cast off and say it is not your business what we do with your kid and whether we know whether he is in our school thank you very much you're absolutely right thank you so much much Matthew Chase thank you Matthew Chase 2574 Jackson Avenue I've got three kids at Hannah clell 9 seven and three my three and a half-year-old is amazing you know what word he knows I'm sorry I don't think I've heard that once from anyone about what happened I'm sorry he says it to me every day why are we at Hannah Caldwell East whatever we're calling it it's a dystopian nightmare that's not a school you said it is but it's not I think everyone knows what the scientific method is we learned that in elementary school maybe they'll learn it I don't know you have a hypothesis and you have to prove it wrong you guys are talking to people who are smiling kids that are smiling talk to the parents who are frowning who are crying the kids who are regressing yelling hitting themselves those are the people you should be talking to that we're not happy no one's happy you've got teachers who don't have supplies you got teachers who won't kill on the weekends because they shouldn't we can thank ourselves all day day long Pat each other on the back I don't want to hear anym about it it's toxic positivity there's a lot of angry people around here it's not getting done well enough I don't care about you got all the work you guys did great thanks wonderful why are we there we knew the problems we need accountability we needs heads to roll it's crazy that we had so many people in that building file complaints and nothing got done but we have to sit here for hours and hear about how great and wonder wonderful everything is it's not it's pretty awful that's just that situation you have test scores dropping you have people who want to move out of this town because of the things that they see and they hear we've heard about brunette multiple times already security issues lockdowns this man doesn't know where his son is and he drops him off we got mold in Corners do you guys want another hand you guys want to work again 24 days you want to repeat that probably not let's be proactive let's get it done as my man said right there what are we doing get up and get going that's what your job is we pay our taxes for thank you Erica newent excuse me um hi I'd like to I'm Erica newand 709 Suburban Road I'd like to speak to two issues fairly briefly um the first is that I looked through the list of retirements and uh resignations we have an enormous attrition problem in this District we have five six teachers over the last month five teachers over the last month retiring or res signing mid year which as a former educator is simply unheard of and we have 20 requests for leave and we have seven uh substitutes that have been approved all daily no long-term substitutes what are we doing to stem the tide of teachers leaving this district from retirements and resignations in the middle of the school year teachers don't plan to retire in the middle of the school year these are unhappy faculty and we need to figure out how to keep the faculty here how to recruit faculty and how to have a robust body of long-term and daily substitutes so we can stop taking our specials teachers are reading interventionists and the students and the teachers that need to be working one-on-one with students to put them in classrooms to cover these needs an online education program is not an acceptable substitute for teacher and faculty attrition I'd also like to speak to uh item s the approval of Bill bills which was run through on the agenda uh online available on the website under the second item of bills there is a two checks that together amount for $740,000 to DNB Services Group a search of all prior uh agendas show no record of a uh contract with DNB Services Group and since you all voted to approve that bill I would like to know what it was for what we could possibly have two line items one for $598,500 62 two checks one worth more than half a million dollars with no record of what that money went to thank you Michelle Zada so sorry so minding I got it Michelle Zada 1523 Brookside Drive um last month uh Dr benaquista went over the njsla I know the audience in particularly you guys couldn't read that data so what I did was is I actually printed out the data and within Dr benoist's presentation he doesn't give any of the new New Jersey state average that lacked from that presentation I actually watched five different school districts presentations they all include that New Jersey state average so here is for English nowhere the red equals where Union is the gray is New York New Jersey state average nowhere are we above average for this and we're below 50% for the English language arts and that's for last year for that taking for the math it gets worse okay again you is is below New Jersey state average and at best we're at 38% in the third grade 10% for the eighth grade proficiency this has met or exceeded the proficiency of this okay I also wanted to let you know I started my graphs at 100% because that's where I expect the students to be I didn't start my graphs at 60% or 30% too because I want to show you how low like our children students need help we're expecting that here this is the science again we are low this is for third grade fifth grade and eighth grade and in fact I think in other areas I had other graphs I didn't want to I knew it was on a time frame but like overall New Jersey has kind of gone back up we we have made incremental increases in our education of these testings and also admitting from the presentation last week uh last month was the um the NJ graduation proficiency assessment we're showing what the sorry it's I didn't have my graph but it's showing where the um Juniors that had taken a test in the English language arts and the math the math only 25 26% were Prof efficient where the state average is 55 that's a humongous difference I didn't find what the the English lingers Arts as was maybe Dr benaquista can state that but but um you know that's at 82% for the New Jersey I wanted to show you this because I know you guys couldn't read it I couldn't read it so I made this graph so we all can understand where we are exuse your time expired thank you Mrs ad yl William y wman Cole no yeah my cold yl woman Co 1549 box Hall Road um there are a lot of local concerns that others are addressing here and I'm here to share my concerns about what lies in our future as the result of the federal election and ask what our district is doing to prepare I'm not a fan of fearmongering but we do face the dismantling of the Federal Department of Education the roll back of federal funding including funds for students in poverty and students with disabilities and the elimination of federal protections of students civil rights and our immigrant families face attack how prepared are we to respond and defend our school district in the face of such threats all students deserve a secure and nurturing environment during Times Like These it is more important than ever that families know that the township of Union public schools are a safe welcoming and supportive environment for every student regardless of their identities if they have a disability what their immigration status is or the status of their families I want to note undocumented immigrants make up 7% of New Jersey's work Workforce and contribute 1.3 billion in state and local taxes and in Union County alone they contribute over $57 million in taxes faced with so much uncertainty the leaders in our district must be responsive to the needs of all students and their families and be committed and vocal in protecting some of our most vulnerable students and families to keep them safe so they can make continue learning but the spaces where we can share and express our fears and our concerns do not always feel very safe very welcoming nor transparent there is a lack of trust that many community members have with this body before us as many of us have been treated disrespectfully or even with disdain when all we want is for what's best for our children we come here to share our views and hold our public servants you all accountable but what we are often treated in such a way it's hard to believe that we are heard and less that we are respected so what could our more vulnerable School community members feel or expect from this District this breaks my heart this body has the power to pass a resolution to express commitment to protect students regardless of their immigration statuses disability gender identities and sexual orientation our district could and should provide additional resources guidance and support for students families School staff on students rights and resources in multiple languages legal assistance mental health care and Public Safety we we must have each other's backs and resist threat threats to tear families apart roll back funding dismantle critical supports for our communities the road ahead is uncertain but we must make it clear here in Union New Jersey we will continue to stand together in community against the threats that M lie ahead thank you thank you for that comment maida [Applause] chinosi maida chosi good evening everyone Mida chinosi 396 Salem Road Union New Jersey um I'm here today to discuss two issues infrastructure and Trust I think here today what you heard from most parents are we are concerned there are significant infrastructure issues in this community in this District Hannah Caldwell is apparently what's happening right now but what are the plans for the rest of the schools what are the contingency plans this is not unheard of I'm sure districts have contingency plans there are Fires at school what would have happened if the school would have burned down where would you replace 300 400 students we want to know what are these contingency plans we have to think of worst case scenarios you are a district who we bring our children to you every day how can we not have backup plans the fact that it took three 3 weeks to figure out where we going to place kids is unacceptable it's totally unacceptable this is something that should have been anticipated the brunette issue you heard parents here today this is not only in brunette it's happening in each of our schools parents are mad parents are upset we appreciate that you guys are trying to do something but I count it you spent literally probably 20 minutes patting each other on the back patting the former president of this board that you forgot to mention Who currently is an administr assistant superintendent saying she's done a great job she should be doing a great job she was here two years before and she knows this District because she sat where Miss Santana sat for two years so you could call it what you want I'm not giving anybody a pass because people here have been here for a while so if that's what you want to do with your time this is going on to the second issue there is a trust issue in this community between the district and the parents we need to trust you and that's not happening and you know how you build trust you look at us in the face you treat us with respect Mr benaquista should have been looking at those slides that Miss zanta spent a significant amount of time while he was looking at his laptop you want to build respect you look at me in the fa the same way that you ladies and I know you ladies sat here exactly where I'm now and you demanded the same same respect we demand it we deserve it and our kids deserve [Applause] it that's it don't have anymore NOP are there any additional public comments yes you cannot it so at this moment I have said additional public comments I do have additional public comment you've already spoken Miss Jeff you're you've already spoken Miss Jeff you can close board president point of order board president you you can we're going to say it again you I mean I mean no I was saying point of order you can move on with the rest of the agenda all the public has spoken or if you you can move on with the agenda or you could choose to let Miss Jeffrey speak thank you thank you for telling me thank you I appreciate everybody telling me thank youur issues the security M Jeff I would like to move along with my agenda thank you so much may I have a motion to move into executive session so move may I have a second M uh board Madam president may I just an action may be taken when the board returns to public session oh thank you my apologies Mrs Capo I have a motion on the floor moved by Miss Nancy mani and seconded by Mr Greg nasta roll call please miss carbonel miss carbonel yes sorry yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K Macky yes Mrs Maria yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott haen yes Miss Santana Miss Santana yes I'm sorry my microphone was muted e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e session season is coming our birthdays a two days I moov we return to public session may I have a second that's it thank you uh Miss Capo I have a motion on the floor moved by Mr Cohan and seconded by Miss Kimberly Scott Hayden Miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K macki yes Mrs Faria yes Mr D yes Mrs Mani yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Miss Santana yes thank you Miss capol May I have a motion to adjourn move second thank you so much I have a motion on the floor moved by Miss Nancy Mani seconded by Miss Dixie carbonel roll call please miss ciolo miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K macki yes Mrs Faria yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs man yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott Heen yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much Mrs Capo happy thank