Test test test Test test test. Testing, testing, testing, testing, testing, testing, testing. Test test test. Thank you. January 22nd,
>> Mr. Smackia, >> Mr. Fischer, >> Mr. Krauss >> here. >> Miss Nichols >> here. >> Miss Pellet >> here. >> Miss Pac >> here. >> Dr. Ross >> here. >> Miss Aarella >> here.
>> Mr. Zimmerman >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Thank you. Recommended that the board close session for the purposes of discussing legal personnel matters. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, sorry. I
>> I All right. All right. Check. Check. Check. Check, check, check. >> Do you mind? >> Check. Check. >> 1 2
>> 1 2 >> I didn't say 34 >> 3 4 check. Didn't get the check. Oh, now I'm still check that muted. So, Hold
on. My phone live. Go ahead. >> One, two. three four. >> So still pick up even when I was muted. 1 2 3 Still Go ahead.
>> 8 9 >> 10 11 1213. 13. Thank you. It's recommended that the board return to open session. Can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Second. Mr. Fischer,
>> Mr. Krauss >> here. >> Miss Nichols >> here. >> Miss Pellet >> here. >> Miss Pac >> here. >> Dr. Ross >> here. >> Miss Varela >> here. >> Mr. Zimmerman >> here. >> Mr. Smeaggelio >> here.
>> That was loud. We have a quorum sludge. >> Sorry. Um, this tenants, uh, Mr. O'Donnell >> here. >> Uh, Mr. Mendes >> here. >> And I am also here. And now we will, uh, our legion pledge.
I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you.
>> Item six, reading of public meeting notice. The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests discussed or acted upon in accordance with provisions of the act Township Board of Education has caused
notices being published and notice has been provided and notices being has been properly posted in accordance with the New Jersey public meetings law. Just a quick note, our next public meeting will be Thursday, February 19th. >> Thank you. Item seven, approval of the
minutes. This is for the minutes of the closed public session meeting from December 18th and the minutes from the public session meeting from December 18th. Can I get a motion? >> Thank you, Stephanie. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Carrie.
Um, any questions or comments about the minutes? Seeing none, can we get a vote? >> Mr. Krauss, >> yes. >> Miss Nichols, >> abstain. >> Thank you. Uh, Miss Pellet, >> yes. >> Miss Pac, >> abstain. >> Thank you. Dr. Ross,
>> yes. >> Miss Carlo, >> yes. >> Mr. Zimmerman, >> yes. >> Mr. Smagley, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Okay. Item eight, president's report. Thank you all for being here tonight. It's so great to see so many
members of our community. Um, I'd like to also thank everyone who participated in our recent strategic planning session. We had more than 120 community members come out. So, we're really excited about that. Uh we had some great discussions and the level engage of engagement was really encouraging. Uh we
also have another um strategic planning session scheduled for February 5th at 7 p.m. at Lounsbury Hollow. So, I I'm hoping that people will come out for that one as well. And a final session will take place on March 12th. So, uh we hope to see a lot of you there. Um we
have some student highlights tonight. I know our superintendent and student representative will be going through a lot of school updates, but I did want to recognize uh Kyra Coretus, an eighth grader at Glen Meadow Middle School and the winner of the What's Your Anti-Drug Contest by the run by the Center of
Prevention and Counseling. She did a great poster uh called My Anti-Drug is Art and she was featured in Rise magazine um on the cover. So, I'm going to pass that around actually for the board members to see. Um, so we congratulate Kyra. Um, I also had the
opportunity to attend the Triumph Music Honor Society induction yesterday and that was really wonderful to to hear our students play and hear about all of their accomplishments. I know we have a lot of honor society inductions coming up and being held. So, we'll hear more about those, I think. Um, and finally,
we're excited to have our district mind traveler winners here with us tonight. Um, this is our reading incentive program that encourages the love of reading and um, these students really exemplify that spirit. So, we're really excited to have you all here. Uh, and then I just did also want to mention to
the board members because it's on the agenda that your committee appointment list is attachment one. So, please give that a quick peek and let me know if you have any questions. And with that, we'll go to our presentation of the Mind Travelers Awards. >> Great. Y >> good evening everyone. It's great to
have you. Uh we are going to celebrate and honor our mind travelers and all of the reading that took place. I'm going to step over to that microphone. We want to give you your award. So if you could just give us a minute. >> Do you want us? >> Yeah. All
right. So, while our board is getting set up, our Mind Travelers Library Fund is a reading incentive program that was started over 20 years ago by the board of education to encourage our students to read. And this past fall, uh,
students from Walnut Ridge, Cedar Mountain, Rolling Hills, Lensbury Hollow Schools were invited to participate, uh, in the Mind Travelers program. Students who read six books, two chapter books for fifth grade students were eligible
to win a book, and two students from each grade level were selected as winners. We had a total of 226 students participate. And how many books were read? 1,352 books were read. Congratulations to our
readers and to our scholars. So, as I call your name, would you please um kindly proceed to the podium to receive your award? Uh and then remain up here for a group photo. Okay? And then after that, we're going to have some refreshments uh some cookies and some goodies uh to celebrate how much you're
reading. So, congratulations to the following winners. Uh, Lounsbury Hollow fourth grade. Haley Hamilton from Mrs. Stinton's class. Lounsbury Hollow fourth grade. Ivy Feininger from Mrs. Carlson's class.
Lounsberry Hollow fifth grade. Jason Moore from Miss Mudrick's class. Lounsberry Hollow fifth grade. Mela Jacobe from Mrs. Lewiki's class. Rolling Hills second grade, Lily Evans
from Mrs. Zakopoulos's class. Rolling Hills second grade. Giovana Finny from Mrs. Lichwit's class. Cedar Mountain Kindergarten. Wesley Croft from Miss Holly, Mrs. Dob's class.
Rolling Hills third grade. Reese Lambrinides from Mrs. Lap's class. Rolling Hills third grade. Ruby DeLeon from Mrs. Buyer's class. Cedar Mountain Kindergarten. Lucas Hartman from uh Hartman Nat from Mrs.
Rose's class. Applause. >> Wow. What about >> technical difficulties? It's the adults. Children, congrats. We'll get it together in a moment.
We have Reese and Ruby. >> All right, Ruby. >> Good. Did we do Lucas? >> We have That may be Mr. >> There we go. Hang on to that. >> Do we have Okay, >> ready.
>> All right. Is Clara up here? >> All right. >> All right. Cedar Mountain first grade Clara Roth from Mrs. Yaros's class. >> Ready? Cedar Mountain first grade.
Austin Terrone from Mrs. Magnan's class. Walnut Ridge Preschool. Broen Smith from Mrs. Bassini's class. Okay. Walnut Ridge Preschool. Isa Gad from Mrs. Barlo's class. Walnut Ridge Preschool. Addison
Fafenberger from Mrs. Kerata's class. All right. Walnut Ridge Preschool. Charlie Roberts from Mrs. Stole's class. All right. And that's what we have. We're good. Yay. Congratulations
to Haley, Ivy, Jason, Mela, Lily, Jovana, Wesley, Reese, Ruby, Lucas, Clara, Austin, Broen, Isa, Addison, and Charlie. Good job. You did such a good job. Good. >> So long.
>> Me neither. Green. Okay, thank you. Can I get a motion to return from um recess? >> Thank you, Ray Carrie. All in favor? >> I. >> Great. Okay. Item 10, board report
summary. U Mr. Fischer could not be here tonight, so we're going to skip. >> What did I skip? Oh, no. >> Item B, school board recognition month. >> But we'll take over for you. >> I tried, guys. Sorry.
It >> was right. >> So, this month is school board recognition month. So, we like to say thank you to our board members. We know you're very well paid. Uh so I'm going to read through this uh
resolution uh and then uh we'll have a bit of a surprise for you guys. Uh whereas the New Jersey School Boards Association has declared January 2026 to be schoolboard recognition month, a time when all residents can acknowledge contributions made by our local schoolboard members. And whereas the new
uh Vern Township Board of Educations has policies and oversees operations of Vernon Township Public School District. And whereas the Vernon Township Board of Education embraces the goal of high quality education for all New Jersey public school students and helps determine the educational goals for 3,94 children and preK through 12th grade.
And whereas at Vernon Township Board of Education board members who receive no renumeration for their services act as advocates for public school students as they work with administrators, teachers, and parents for the betterment of public education. And whereas the Vernon Township Board of Education strives to
provide the resources necessary to meet the needs of all students, including those with special needs. And whereas the Vernon Township Board of Education provides accountability to the public, they communicate the needs of the school district to the public, and they convey to school administrators the public's expectations for the schools.
And whereas Ron Township can take pride in its schools which rank highly in key achievement indicators such as national assessment of educational progress scores and the preparation for co uh for college through advanced placement offerings and SAT assessments. Now therefore, be it resolved that the
Vernon Township Board of Education does hereby recognize the services of its board members as we join community statewide in observing January 2026 at school board recognition month and be a farther resolved that the Vernon Township Board of Education urges all of its New Jersey all New Jersey citizens
to work with our local boards of education and public school staff toward the advancement of our children's education. >> So, thank you everybody. >> Yeah, applause. We don't need a crowd. We're your crowd. We are your cheerleaders. Uh good
evening. Right. Tonight we have the privilege of re recognizing this board of education. Um and uh knowing you personally at this point only six months, right? But we know you I feel personally uh we know that you're not looking for attention. Uh most people
who step into this role do so quietly out of service and it's certainly not for esteem. And yet I do believe we give honor to where honor is due. Uh not because anyone is seeking recognition and not because uh of any other reason
but that uh you understand that the community is benefiting from your time uh from your sacrifice and from your steady commitment to all that the board service requires. So serving on a board of ed uh is more than just sitting at a
table for public meetings. We know this. Uh it is hours of preparation. It is reading. It is phone calls. It's careful decisionmaking. It is committee work that happens behind the scenes. It is showing up again and again and again. Uh
asking good questions, listening to so many perspectives and staying focused on the students while balancing the priorities and the constraints of the district. Uh we know it is a deep responsibility. uh you have the
responsibility of wise stewardship and public resources, thoughtful leadership and consistent support for the work that's happening in our schools every day. Uh so tonight we simply want to say thank you. Thank you. Uh thank you for
your time, for your dedication, for the weight you carry on behalf of our district. Thank you for leading with care for our students, our staff, our community. Uh, so to our board members, as we me right, call your name, right? We just want to give you a certificate. Um, and we're going to ask you to stay
up here so we can take a picture. Good. So, Jennifer Pellet, our president, term 2628. She was originally elected in 2019, serving her second year as board president. Thank you for leading us with steadiness, Jen. Uh, clarity and care
over the past five years. You carry the added weight that comes with being board president. You do it while also serving on curriculum and special services, finance, buildings and grounds, negotiations, community relations. U and we are certainly grateful for your leadership. Uh
>> oh, she's escaping. >> No, we're staying. >> Yeah. Uh >> Harry Walker. >> Yeah. John Krauss, our vice president. Elected in 2021. Thank you for your dedication over the past four years and
the seriousness you bring uh to moving the district forward, serving on finance, buildings and grounds, providing key leadership as the chair of NE chair of negotiations. Um you are someone the board can count on for a grounded perspective, Mr.
Krauss. Um especially when the details get complicated. Thank you. Uh Charles Maggalia, thank you for your steady detailoriented leadership over the past three years. You chair policy governance, ensure our policies stay current, aligned and on
track, right? Uh you also serve on curriculum and special services, negotiations, technology. I often think about you as our expert technology resident, right? Um and we appreciate your support uh and for your reliability. you do a lot. Um Brian
Fischer is not here tonight, but I'm going to say thank you to Brian Fischer um focus leadership uh for all that he's doing for us, especially now on a strategic planning ad hoc committee. Uh we're grateful for the time, leadership, and followthrough that he brings across
in so many important areas. Carolyn Ross, uh commitments that draw upon service and the time commitment was a great ask. We know this. um and you responded.
So, thank you for stepping up. Thank you for your role um on curriculum. Uh you bring shared expert expertise in curriculum and assessment along with a strong content knowledge um and clear commitment to teaching and learning and we love serving alongside you as our
board chair. Uh Stephanie Varello, come on with Animo. Right. Thank you, Stephanie, for the heart you bring to uh your service over the past year. Uh you serve on community
relationships and partnerships. Um and you bring such a warmth that's genuinely deep and endearing. Uh especially because you help ensure that the community voice is feeling heard and respected. Um and so we are grateful for the relational leadership that you
provide. Uh Mr. Zimmerman, sir, uh thank you for your service over the past five years. Uh you bring historical right perspective to the board, uh finance, buildings and grounds, negotiations.
Uh you consistently bring a team first mindset, right? Your coaching background shows in how you support collaboration. You keep us focused and working together and you help move the group forward and we appreciate your steadiness. Yeah.
Sarah Pac newbie. Uh thank you for stepping up to serve this year, Sarah, in the middle of the year. You're one of our newest board members. Uh but you've jumped right in and so we're so happy to have you on board. Can't wait to work alongside you. Um, thank you for your willingness to
learn quickly, to listen well, and to be a part of this team. Yeah. Alice Nicholls, uh, welcome and thank you for your service. Uh, your chair on partnership, uh, technology policy. Uh, Charlie, you might have some competition in the
technology, right? Thank you for your background and all that you're bringing. Uh, we appreciate that you two are thoughtfully contributing. And last but not least, my friend Kalista O'Donnell, our board student liaison. Uh you're the
reason we serve, right? You're the student. Uh you serve uh our student body. Uh we're thankful the the leadership that you embody on the board. Uh and that you're a model for the profile of a graduate. We appreciate
you. Yeah. Oh, I almost got a little teary. That's not normal. All right. So, thank you. I know it's us, but us matters. You matter. So, >> thanks everybody. >> Where's the camera? >> I need you all to get it nice and Thank you.
>> Very pretty. All right. >> All right. Now, thank you. >> Okay. So, that was lovely. Thank you guys. >> Thank you. Thank you.
>> I appreciate that. Um item uh 10, board report summary. As I mentioned before, Mr. Fischer could not join us tonight. So we will um have that report next time. And so that brings us to item 11, student leazison report.
All right. So this is a long one, so buckle in. Um and there's lots of names, so if I screw up anyone's name, please don't come after me. Um so first, our lovely Mrs. Young is back from maternity leave as of the first of the year. Um,
and as Mr. Mendes saw the other day, she's already back in the swing of things. She is very, very like just in the school community, right where she was before she left. So, that is wonderful. Um, our winter sports are doing lovely. Um,
ice hockey is 26 and one. Boys basketball is I think I didn't update it, but I think it's five and seven now. Uh, girls basketball is four and five. Girls swim is two, two and one. Uh, boys
swim is one and three. And oh my gosh, what did she write on this? My goodness. I asked for an update on ski because I don't know how it works. And now I've got a whole paragraph. Please hold. The ski team opened up with a strong season overcoming the early weather challenges
and a roster of several new skiers. Despite the difficult conditions in the first race, the boys finished third and the girls took second, proving that both teams are contenders. Improved conditions in the second light second race led to second place finishes for both teams with the boys close behind
the 2025 uh state champion champions and the girls continuing to impress. Individually, the freshman Kaden Callahan uh sits second overall with Liam Tuz Verland
seth and Lake Daddy eighth. On the girls side, junior Nadia Malli is third overall with multiple top 10 finishes supporting the team's uh standing. Bowling nine and one. They placed second in the o overall in the HWS tournament.
Um, second high series for girls, Sarah Vaughler with a score of 550 over three games. High game for boys, Justin Pasera with 265 as a high score. And high series for boys, Justin Pasera.
>> Paso with a high score of 702. >> 300. >> Yeah, the max is 300. I think he got 702 over three games. >> Wow. >> That's >> Yeah, >> impressive. So congratulations Justin.
Um, girls wrestling is five and three and four of our ladies went undefeated at their latest match. So that would be Juliet Oakley, Medaly of Church, uh, Kayen Heg and Lily Coler. And our boys are 0 and seven unfortunately, but um,
at the latest HWS tournament, Trud Jeppi and Jackson Moore were both placed in the tournament. Jackson was fifth and true was first in both of their weight classes. Um, we had a successful winter pep rally. It got cancelled originally due
to the snow, but we had it uh last last Friday, two Fridays ago, um, on the 9th. So, that's that. And it was very good. And I'm very sad because we didn't end up doing the holiday contest that I told you all about that
the computer graphics kids made the posters for. And we didn't get to to decorate anyone. I was very sad about that. It's okay. Um our theater department so gratals for the spring musical continues. We had two competitions over the past two weekends.
Um Stand which is the state thespian or no state theater acting competition of New Jersey and then the ffest which is the thespian festival of New Jersey. Um our scorings uh Juliet Jalar was first in senior scholarship first in dramatic monologue and sixth in contrasting
monologue. Jake Remington was finalist in both musical and solo contrasting monologues. Joey Delaney and Liam Kelter placed fifth for comedic pairs and Jessica Perry and David Fallon were first in extraordinary pairs. I would just like to point out this is extremely
impressive. There are,200 kids that go to this competition and only 12 are finalists and only six place. So keep that in mind. um our scorings for last weekend which was this fest again super competitive competition. It's just it's
between New Jersey and Delaware and there's 1,700 kids that went with uh a total of 70 schools I believe. So our scorings there were um thefest performance scholarship was Joey Delaney. Uh Drew University scholarships
was Joey Delaney, Juliet Jar, Liam Kelzer, and Jake Remington. Uh, superior winners for single monologue were Marcus D. Barbari, Joel Garcia, and Dominic Dominic Pek. Superior winners for Oh gosh, catch my breath. Contrasting
monologue were Joey Delaney, Liam Kelter, and Jake Remington. Superior winners for musical solo were Cassandra Cruz, Joey Delaney, Joel Garcia, Juliet Delair, Liam Kelter, Jake Remington, and Avery Tatala, and Marcus D. Barbari. Uh and superior winners for acting duo were
Joey Delini and Liam Kelter and myself and Jake Remington. >> Um we are having our by annual poster competition for Hunchback of Notredam uh going on right now and their submissions are due by the 30th. Um
uh DECA they went to their most recent competition on the 12th and they are continuing to prepare for their states in Atin City. Um, Colors of Excellence is starting a peer tutoring program where all students are invited to either get tutored or sign up to be a tutor.
Um, they're meeting after school on Mondays and they're meeting uh Bdays up up in the library. Um, teen mental health first aid is starting to meet again. They just sent out permission slips for their winter session.
Hosa just walked out the trail in the High Point State Park for the Vike 5K, which will be on May 3rd. So, keep your eyes peeled for signups for that. Um, and their yearbook committee is gathering pictures from students to include in this year's uh in this year's
book. Senior parents, if there's anyone watching online that is a senior parent, as I'm looking at this, I'm seeing nobody. If you are a senior parent and you would like to uh make a little ad for your child in the yearbook, please uh check your emails regarding
deadlines. We have a new literary magazine that is coming out. It's called the Back Porch Magazine. Um and they're looking for nostalgic art and literature submissions to include in their new uh I don't know what you would call a new magazine coming out. What do you call
that? A new a new um >> issue. >> Issue. Yes. Thank you. That's what I was looking for. Um, Indorard is prepping their new routine for upcoming competitions. They just participated in an event at West Mulford where they were unofficially scored and received feedback to prepare them for actual
competitions. Um, the chorus is performing a Broadway night in midFebruary. I don't have a date yet. Um, but they will be performing rag time. They will be doing like a a melody of rag time and they have solos in between. So, just in case
you were wondering, all of those names that I just listed will be performing that night. If anyone is interested and wants to go, they are amazing. I would highly suggest it. This is going to be another long list of names. So, area band had auditions. Uh, our 2026 New
Jersey area band symphonic band are Shawn Mendes on clarinet, Johanna Brunes on trombone, Matthew Young on trombone, and Renee Kazak on tuba. And then our wind ensemble was Aiden Manning on battery, which I'm not sure what that is, but I'm sure he's great. Uh, and
Thomas Kimble on piano. Honor societies, our thespian honor society. Um, we have an induction scheduled for, uh, February 12th, um, which is in the long list of inductions that we have coming up. So, keep your eyes peeled for those. the
National Honor Society. Um, we just sent out a thing about making water bottle cozies for Tim Tibo night. Um, and then Triumph Honor Society just had their induction um yesterday. Yesterday, yesterday. Yes, that is
correct. Um, softball tomorrow night, big night is the uh is a basketball game, but along with that, softball is holding a fundraiser um for their upcoming season and I believe their upcoming trip to Myrtle Beach. It is $10
a person and you get a bowl of soup of your choice and a grilled cheese. And there's lots of soup to choose from. So, I would really suggest going and you can watch a really good basketball game at the same time. Um, for our classes, we have our student of the new year instead
of student of the month this time, so forgive me for the mispronouncing of the names. Caitlyn Panichi for our junior class. Our senior class is Natalie Orlando. Um, our sophomore class is Hermione Gooseman. And our freshman class is Oh,
forgive me. Kayo of Sorbore. I'm so sorry to whoever that is. Um, we have our senior nights coming up. We just had a swim senior night last night. We have a hockey senior night uh this coming Saturday. And I will get back to you on the rest of those senior nights
that are happening. We just had our poetry out loud um with 53 participants. Our scorings were in first place Liam Kelter. In second place, Uriah Sakellan. In third place, hello um Lindsay Jensen. And an
honorable mentions were Dario Breurto uh Teneo, Jamie Jensen, Molly Montre, Julia Jalber, Alexis Ayanoa, Dominic Peek, Emma Garcia, myself, and Annalin Tyranny. And yesterday, yesterday, yes, we just
had a meeting on our community ambassadors. Um, we had Leah Barker in attendance, Caitlyn Van Barkham, Otto Deaggar, Alyssa Federici, Tristan Orinsky, Ray Cosenza, Tessa Pilac, myself and Maddie
Santono. Um, our discussion was how the next strategic planning session will be set up and what we need to do in preparation for that. Um, and to continue to have a meaningful time at these meetings. Um, we also discussed what our priorities should be for the
kids in high school and that includes the lab schedules, food availability and how when students with multiple commitments during their lunch period should still be able to get food quickly. um our grading profiles and teachers getting grades in on time uh to ensure
students are aware of their academic process progress and how we make students and teachers and parents start to entrust that there will be change and continue to share their their voices to be heard. >> Thank you very much.
>> I have a question. >> What is Tim Tibo? >> I that is a great question that I do not have the answer to. I saw I was told about it today and I went okay sure and I put that in and I was not given any other information so I will also give an
update on that. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Is food availability an issue? >> So um yes and no. The issue that we talked about the other day was um we just turned off the vending machines that we have in the cafeteria for all
day. They're only available after school now. And that was a lot of where students went if they couldn't get lunch. Um the issue with lunch is that we only have three stations open to get lunch and they're all in the cafeteria and the lines are all packed all of the
time. So if you have lab or if you have another commitment because all of the clubs are also in lunch and then we have lab and sometimes we have rehearsal and uh National Honor Society and like all of these um other commitments that go along with that. it's a little bit difficult to make sure that you're
eating something. Um, so we talked about maybe reopening a kiosk upstairs because we had that >> just going to ask if you still have those. >> Yeah. So we closed it down. I don't remember. I think we didn't have someone that could run it. Um, but we talked about opening that back up and we talked
about maybe because the unified club does a breakfast club >> um, Tuesdays and Thursdays. We talked about maybe asking them to do that later on in the day too for kids that didn't get lunch. Um so yeah. >> Okay. >> It might be our food vendor too, right?
Because >> Yeah. It's like contract. So we can't have our vending machines on at the same time that Marsha is serving food. So we discussed it. >> We're looking into it. And um Miss Leuke
is also making sure that that kiosk can be open. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Did that >> in the past we had a we had a student from Unified um that was running it just so they could get a a handon like real world kind of experience >> um and that student graduated and no one else wanted to take over. So that was
the reason it shut down. >> Okay. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And I know you don't see any senior parents listening but I hope you're I think that was a good reminder. I almost missed the deadline and even worse there was a typo in my
>> Oh goodness. and I'm an editor and they had to call me and be like, so yeah, read those ads. Um, okay. So, now we're up to item 12, public comment. Um, Mr. Slam gets to read this
lovely notice. >> During the course of the public meeting of the Vernon Board of Education, the public is offered the opportunity to address the board on agenda items and any issues regarding the school district. The board reminds individuals who take this opportunity that they must identify themselves by name and section of town and limit their comments to
agenda items under issues that directly relate to the operation of the school district. Issues that are raised by the me by members of the public may or may not be responded to the board or administration at the time of the meeting or at any time. All comments will be considered and response be forthcoming if and when appropriate. The board requests that members of the public keep their comments limit to five
minutes, be courteous, respectful, and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding students and employees of the board of education should be thoroughly considered by the speaker and may or may not be um responded to by the board administration. Be advised that students
and employees have rights of confidentiality and other protections under the law. Student names should never be used. The board bears no responsibility or will be liable for any comments made by the public during the public portion of the board meeting. Members of the public should consider their comments in light of legal rights of those affected or identified in the
comments and their comments and be aware that they are personally legally responsible with potential liability for the comments that they make to the board. >> It's a little late to ask this, but for future reference when there's literally no one here and no one online, can we
skip reading that? Yes, we can. Okay. I'm sorry. I should have >> suggested that we do that this time. Okay, Miss De Mendes, we are on item 13, superintendent. >> All right. Um, so
Kalista really covered most of our high school things, which I love because that's less reading for Evony. Uh but we do have uh our schools participating and continuing to participate in our weekend bag program. Uh this is their 8th annual
100th day of hygiene. They're having a collection fundraiser which will take place from February 2nd to February 13th. The idea is to purchase the items listed by grade spending no more than $1. our schools and our community continue to be extremely generous. So,
we look forward to being able to provide the families uh who have this need some support. Uh Cedar Mountain in a wonderful way of uh leadership display. Our Glen Meadow students came down to Cedar Mountain. Uh they their
engineering um uh class created games uh pingpongs and different uh games that really showed the skills that they were learning in their courses. Um they brought them down to Cedar Mountain.
They set up in the cafeteria and then the Cedar Mountain little ones came in and the Glen metal ones were helping them play the games. It was so cute. It was so cute. Uh this is not the first year. Uh they continue to do this and it's just a wonderful experience. I love when our older students uh really
reached out to our younger students and helped them come along and there was so much genuine excitement in the room. It was really moving. So, congrats to our Glen Meadow students. Uh Rolling Hills, our second graders are beginning their footstrips uh footprints for life lessons. The program presents lessons
over six week period. uh it's classroombased primary prevention uh and it's researchbased and designed to build developmental assets and teach skills through the use of puppets. Lounberry Hollow, the Pal Ski Club officially kicked off its season after school on
Tuesday, January 13th, and it will continue to meet weekly for the next six weeks. Uh the SCA is hosting the Lansbury Hollow Winter Dance on F Friday, January 23rd in the event of inclement weather. Friday. Friday. No inclement weather on Friday. Uh a snow
day has been scheduled for January 30th. Uh and then the winter concert at Lounsbury will take place on January 27th at 7 p.m. And just a side note, there was some sleigh riding today at Lounsbury Hollow. Uh on the screen when you leave, you'll see the pictures out
there of our students uh on the sleigh. Uh uh students in the unified program. Uh they are so cute. Poop to my nephew who's up on the screen because he looks so cute. and all of the other kids who had a great time uh slaying on the little
ski slopes that we have right on our property. Right. Uh beautiful event Glenn Meadow on Saturday, December 13th. Uh the middle school students participated in a profoundly moving ceremony. Uh they laid wreaths at the 12th annual Wreath Across America
ceremony at the Glenwood Cemetery um and the Sparta Veter Veterans Cemetery. our sincerest sincerest gratitude to our students and their teachers and adviserss who supported the event um at the Glenwood Cemetery. Um Vernon Township High School students were also
in attendance. Uh and it was just beautiful. If you haven't seen the pictures, uh we have some of our students playing trumpet, >> right, and laying down their wreaths. Uh it was just it was beautiful. So just congratulations to our students and a heartfelt moment. Uh the National Art
Honor Society Invitational Art Show on December 11th. Wal Kill Valley High School hosted the National Art Honor Society Invitational Art Show and 5GM student artwork was selected and entered. And the students who had their work proudly on display included Reese Pel, Allison Ramirez, Ashley Leosski,
Kyra Krettes, and Tobias Delo. So, congratulations to Tobias for best in show and Kaira for first place. Um, you covered all of the rest of them. Uh, and so then I'll just speak to our strategic planning session that we had. Miss
Pellet covered um a little bit already. We had our first town forum on January 8th. >> We did well, right? We had uh over 120 participants. They came gathered to
discuss uh the five priorities, the anchors that we've um indicated across the district. We saw high levels of engagement from a diverse cross-section of our community. We're eager to continue those meaningful conversations. Uh number one priority is continuing to
surface as communication. It is uh the board's goal, it is the district's goal, and it is now the strategic plan's goal. So that that's good for consistency, right? Uh we are grateful for the participation and we are ask our families and our community members and
our staff uh to come back on February 5th at 7:00 at Lounbury Hollow Elementary School. We're going to focus on vision and values. We're going to think about the question, what characteristics do you believe a student should possess when graduating from Vernon Township Public Schools? and
we're going to start looking to develop the profile of a graduate over the next five years. We're very excited of the about the work. Uh so please come on out. Um and just a thank you uh to all of our uh senior citizen committee uh
community. We went uh this week to visit with them, myself, Mr. Slam, Mr. Gaglaso, Miss Pellet, Mr. Fischer uh to spend time with our our senior citizens to hear their thoughts. how did they want to be communicated with, how should we involve them and integrate them uh by
sharing information and making sure that they can also make well-informed decisions. Um they asked us a lot of great questions. We got to engage and participate in conversation uh and we're very grateful for uh our longest standing community members um and how
they are continuing to invest and sacrifice in our schools even when they don't have children um here any longer. So, thank you to our senior citizens. Uh, we have our artists of the month for January. Uh, they are LHS students. Their artwork is being displayed at the
board office. It is beautiful. Come by, see it. They have masks. It's very, very nice. We have our enrollment report, attachment S1 on the agenda, our HIV report for December 25th, which is attachment S2. Um and then the next
piece is um the school calendar draft. There are two attachments and if we could take a moment uh to discuss those. Uh first uh attachment S3 um is a proposal to add four
uh snow days to the calendar. We currently do not add snow days. And so then what we do by default is every time there is a school closure for snow or any other reason like we had this year for power then we are extending the
school year day by day. Um the thought is to automatically embed the four days into the calendar uh and then we can work our way backwards. We can give them back to the staff if needed. Why did we add four days? We were initially thinking three days. That's kind of the
average number of days over the past 3 years. However, uh we can't make the last day a Monday because the setup for Glenn Meadows graduation and the high school's graduation requires the seating to be set up and you know that there's a
cost. So, we need those two days to be backtoback. So, what we will do is we've proposed that the last day be the 22nd, which is a Tuesday. That gives us those two days back to back for the graduations. If it doesn't snow, which I doubt,
right? But if it doesn't snow, two days that we're giving them back, then we'll just give them back those two days together. And the last two days of school will be the 16th and the 17th. >> If there's only one day to give back, then during the year where there's a long weekend, we'll give them the
Friday. They'll be happy about that, right? And we can just give the day back that way. uh so that we can keep graduation fixed on those two days and not disrupt the calendar >> senior weekend, >> right? >> No, no one's going to school that Friday anyway. So, >> it's true. Maybe we should do it.
>> It's Junth, so it's okay, right? We're closed. >> No. >> Oh, no. Memorial Day weekend. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. >> That's the weekend that that is. >> All right. Um >> so, you have two options. Um, I brought you both because traditionally you've
had a calendar that does not have snow days embedded. So, just to honor tradition and how we've had it. Um, if that's like uh if that's what the board would like to do, then that's your second calendar version. If you would like to add the four um snow days into the calendar, then you have that option.
And so then we can just open that up for discussion. >> Yeah, let's do that. Does anyone have a strong feeling one way or the other? I I kind of uh did agree with the 4-day thing because it's just not realistic that we wouldn't have any days, so might as well plan for them. But but if does
anyone feel right? >> What does the administration recommend? >> We would like to embed the four snow days. We think it's better for staff because that way they know this is going to be the last day. It's closer to versus kind of playing it in the air. Moving, graduation, moving, graduation.
>> But is it not necessarily the last day? Like what if we don't have snow days, >> right? So if we don't have any snow days, then we get out early, which is a win. >> Nobody's booked tickets. >> Uhhuh. >> If we have one snow day to give back, we'll give it back on a long weekend on
a Friday, >> which will be a win. >> Okay. >> Um and if we have to give two days back, then we'll give the two days back and we'll get out just before June. >> Okay. Yeah. I asked around about this people's opinions on this and people
seem to like sort of the straightforward like just we the way we do it now that we just add on but I can see it's sort of a win to get something back feels good. >> I just I think it will be it will be a little bit of a shift. I don't how I
don't know how long we've done it this way. Does anyone else know? >> I don't know how how long we've done it this way, but I do know that it's been extremely rare that we don't have any. So, it just feels unrealistic to to I mean it's almost like you know it's going to change but you're going to
adopt this schedule and then you're going to add days and then everybody's going to move their stuff around. >> Yeah. I guess I just still feel like it is that way because you're four is an arbitrary number also. So you still >> we took the we originally took the average but then as she it was going to be three because the snow days averaged
right one to five I think it was and then I guess it was a problem with the Monday and so they're thinking four plus you know I don't know lately it's been more days but >> and if there's more snow days we just add on to the end >> up to eight it says right
>> true >> I think I think it's great for planning I mean for for your for you for your team >> and parents. I mean, it's nice to know that I can book vacations. >> Yeah. >> Just don't go about four days. I can book three.
So, I think it's a great idea. We used to do it when I went to school there. >> And there I I think there was one year where they took days there were so many snow days. They took days from from spring break and then all the parents who had vacations were completely,
>> you know, in a bad way. >> November high school. Yeah, >> that year. >> I remember that. That was >> That was 2019 to 2020. >> Oh, was it Storm Sandy or the ice sto? >> It was an ice storm and everyone didn't have power,
>> right? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. >> So, I I think this is more realistic. The other one is kind of we're self deceiving, right? It's like we know we're going to have the snow days and then we're moving things and then moving things and then moving things. Here we're already set. And if anything, we're giving something back and that's
just a little relief, right? We get out a little early. Um, with that said, we've already had three days, so now we're adding three days to our calendar. And for our families who will play the recording back, uh, it's likely that we may close on Monday
because we're expecting up to 16 inches of snow. And if it snows into Tuesday, that's another day. >> We're only in mid January and we're already looking at 5 days. So, um, yeah, it was an average, right? We did look back three years.
>> Should people Charlie said you could plan vacations, but really people should there's still a if we had more than four, we would then add a fifth and a six to eight. >> And on the top of the calendar, there is a note. If you'll notice at the top of
the right hand column, it says, "If more than eight emergency closing days are used, days will be removed from spring recess." working backwards starting with Friday, April 2nd, 2027. So, uh, and it says people are cautioned to consider special travel insuranceances appropriate regarding
spring recess. Now, the teachers, their contract is until June 30th. So, nobody should be planning vacation if you're staff, right? Their contract is until June 30th. So, we work up until June 30th or one, two, three, up until June
28th and then we would start taking it away. Uh again, we look back three years, we didn't see more than the, you know, there was one year that was five days. We didn't see more than that. >> Um but it's there in the event of
>> Okay. We don't vote on this tonight because it says here tentative BOE approval 219. >> Okay. >> Right. Is that right? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, this just for you to think about um and we're sure throughout the year there will be some additional things. I am um looking at professional
development and including half days in the calendar. So as we're working through that process through our curriculum review, we will also make that recommendation to the board. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> But when we get to February, you'll be recommending the four. >> Correct. >> Okay.
>> Uh the next attachment S4 are the paid holidays. Uh those are part of the contract. Uh so we've listed out all of the holidays that are on the draft calendar and these two will match. Uh one other thing about the school calendar draft, it does match the
calendars in Sussex County. All the superintendents share uh their calendars. So we use that first to develop ours. So it is an alignment. And then the last number seven is uh a following certified staff member is being recognized for receiving tenure in
the month of January. Somara Soongo um is receiving tenure on January 19th. So congratulations to Somara. That's it for the superintendent report. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. Item 15, reports,
discussions, and um recommendations. Mr. Saglia, you're up for the board committee report. >> Not exciting. >> It's all exciting. Okay. So, uh we had our meeting on uh
January 15th. Uh we always do a Zoom 5:30 which started this time. We pretty you know point about 6:30 we finished and uh in attendance were myself, Ebony De Mendes, Carolyn Ross, Alice,
Scott Wall, and Uh we had a vendor coming on um to help us with some of the some of the new policies that we're looking down the line for. His name is Eric Andrew and um we discussed uh first was the which we're going to recommend
that we accept is the uh the policy for the name. >> It's on your agenda too if you >> Yeah, I have it like five places but again we're administrating and
antidote. Um, this was coming given down by Strauss. Uh, we did have our our district nurse um dealing with and administration feels fine with it and we as a policy committee feel and think.
Um, we also had a lengthy discussion um regarding numerous top a couple topics about what we want to do for future policies. This is why we have a vendor um some of them
regarding u safety um and how we're probably going to approach these policies down the line. So um still everything is in the works nothing nothing finalized no new policies but um I think we have some good plans for
future and uh and stay tuned we're going to have some new policies coming along. >> All right that's uh that's about it. That will be exciting. Okay, great. Um, so can I get do we do Oh, can I get
a motion for um 15B1 which is that policy, right? >> Are we moving toward that or Okay. >> Okay. Thank you, John. Second. >> Second. Um, and do we have any questions or
comments on that motion for the policy on the opioid antidote? >> I think it's a very good policy to have. I think we need to have more people trained like like it's in there for coaches and and everybody was away, especially at away events. We need to
have people able to just uh administer the NAR can, right? So in case that ever happens, we hope that it never happens, but I think this is a great cause. >> Yeah, can really make a huge difference if there's an unfortunate event. So that I agree. Um
>> that covers during school and after school activities. >> Great. Anyone else? >> Okay. Can we get a roll call? >> Miss Nichols? >> Yes. >> Miss Pallet?
>> Yes. Miss Beek, >> yes. >> Dr. Ross, >> yes. >> Miss Varela, >> yes. >> Mr. Zimmeran, >> yes. >> Mr. Smacia, >> yes. >> Mr. Fischer, >> Mr. Krauss, >> yes. >> We have a quorum.
>> Thank you. Item C, personnel. >> So, we're moving uh item C, personnel are recommending resignations, retirements, and terminations. Item A, uh, for the following noncertificated staff resignations and retirements. Item
B for certificated staff resignations and retirements. Item C um a non-certificated staff termination. Number two is appointments. Uh item A is
certificated staff appointments. Item B, the recommendation for um substitute appointments at the appropriate substitute rates for the 2526 school year. Item C is uh for the before and
after school tutoring program recommendations. These are funded by title one. Um number three compensations and adjustments. Uh they are hourly stipened adjustments in the table that
is provided. Item B is mentor fee deductions for the 2526 school year. Number four, leaves of absence. Item A are leaves of absence for certificated staff. Item B, leaves of absence for
non-certificated staff. Uh number five is uh seeking approval uh to permit the following student to attend Vernon Township Public School according to board policy 5111.
the child of employee 776 to be permitted to attend Cedar Mountain Primary School as a kindergarten student for the 2627 school year. And number six is um seeking approval to establish a $200 per day administrative coverage
stipen for short-term principal absences to ensure continuity of building level leadership and operations. >> Okay. Thank you. Can I get a motion um to approve item 15 C1 through C6?
Thank you, Ray. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Sarah. Okay. Questions or comments? >> Charlie. >> Uh I'm sorry. I didn't want me to follow up about this earlier, but um number
six, um siphon for um for coverage. >> Yes. So when we're talking short term, this is like if we're talking somebody's going to be out for a week or >> goal or day.
>> Yes. So right now what happens is in our elementary schools primarily because our high school and our middle school has an assistant principal. So let's say the principal is absent, there's someone to cover the building. However, in our elementary schools, we don't have assistant principles. If the principal
is out, we need someone to cover the building. What happens now is someone's calling Vinnie or Halis or Nick and then they're emptying their schedules. They're not getting their observations right. It's just a very huge strain on the district. Um and we're trying to cover the building for the day. Uh we do
have staff in our district who are certified as principles or who are certified as supervisors in the past practice or in other uh context that might be a teacher lead. Um, so here we're asking uh for the board to approve
the stipend uh in addition to their pay for the day, right? It's a $200 uh stipend uh for a teacher who is certified with a principal cert or a supervisor to just cover for the day. We will train the staff. Uh we feel it will
be a better flow. It will generally be someone who's already in that building. We can get the coverage and not disrupt the district or the operations. as right now it's it's challenging. >> So with this and and so thanks for
pointing out this assistance principles so they have search so they can cover those >> um are you going to be so you're going to train >> these because most of them may not have experience. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> And and just so everyone knows right because the board office is separate
than the school and Walmart range right. So assert obviously you you probably have a cert right. So that does not cover because it's a different different building or or is it because in case you have to leave during the day or >> um yes I can cover Walnut Ridge by being
present >> even anybody on the board side. Absolutely. So we are really looking at the elementary schools not preschool. Yes, that was a great question. >> And this is in the event of a full day or half day absence. It's not an hour or
two that they're coming to a meeting, right? That's okay. But if they're going to be out for the full day, um, then we would love to have a poll. Any any other questions?
>> Okay. Uh, can we get a vote? >> Miss Pella, >> yes. >> Miss Pac, >> yes. >> Dr. Ross, >> yes. >> Miss Varela, >> yes. >> Mr. Yes. >> Mr. Seaglia. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Krauss. >> Yes. >> Miss Nichols. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Section D is curriculum and instruction. >> We have our >> Sorry, that was you. >> Yes, that's fine. You can >> jump in there.
>> You can jump in there. Um, Miss Ross, you have the floor. >> All right. The curriculum committee met on January 12th, 4:30 to 5:30. um hybrid in person and online.
>> Uh we had Carolyn Ross, uh Charles Seaglia, John Krauss, Russ Bay Fay, Vinnie, and Ebony. We continue to work towards our shared board goal five, which is student achievement and well-being by reviewing the process,
progress, and curriculum, instruction, assessment, and student support systems. At first we talked a little bit about procedural decisions like meeting time and then we moved on to um talking about the strategic planning uh
and community feedback and sort of uh sharing out our key takeaways each of us from the different tables that we sat at. So overwhelmingly um we thought it was a huge success and uh gave the administration a ton of
credit for that how great it went. Um the next steps uh the administrators all met as well. The administrative team met and also debriefed thoroughly and they are involved in analyzing the data that we have from the discussions that night
along with 69 survey responses and then moving on to round two which has already been mentioned tonight. The portrait of a graduate and the agenda for that will be shared in advance. Um just a couple of the things that sort of rose to the top there in terms of community priorities, communication
which Ebony mentioned. Um we had some discussions about facilities and services like uh HVAC updates, shared services with the town and potential for summer student employment for maintenance. So some great ideas from the community that members that were there. Um we talked about technology
evaluating the use of laptops to ensure they remain educational tools with clear accountability. um and ways to emp recognize and emphasize educational academic achievement in our district. Jumped around a little bit. Okay. So
then we talked about the sort of updates on our curriculum review the the alignment of the curriculum K to8 reading and math that we're working on. So that's going to begin in February and March. Focus remains on vertical and horizontal articulation.
Um and the administration that very day right before our meeting visited faculty meetings to discuss curriculum writing and interest forms from teachers are being are collected I think now or in the process of being collected >> collected >> collected.
Um, and lastly, we followed up on, you may or may not remember that we were just following up on different efforts at at various schools to um, address chronic absenteeism and indeed group sessions
are being implemented at Rolling Hills. That was one of the things that the staff is going to administrators were going to follow up on. Um, the special education audit, the site visit at the high school is complete. A follow-up interview with the consultant was scheduled for Friday of the week that we met took place. >> Yes.
>> Um, an interim supervisor of special ed is included on the agenda tonight uh to approve. I think we just did approve. >> And this is an intram uh filling of that role. And this is such a key role for us
with the goals that we have for the district being so tightly, you know, tied to special services. So we are uh the search is on and we're going to find an outstanding fit for this. This is an important role. Um and then finally another area of focus
um is looking at C that currently you know at play is looking at course placement criteria for students and preventing overtracking which is really important. So the got to focus on that. Um, pending business is this special ed supervisor appointment
launching the curriculum review groups for K to8 math and reading and the special education audit update. And on the agenda tonight, the recommendation of the committee is the approval of the contract with the Rucker Literacy Consultant. So, you'll see that
next in this section. So um this is someone this is like an a literacy expert to work with our teachers and administrators as they are writing curriculum for K8 reading. This is currently like a gap in our ex in our
administrator. We have uh Dr. chef has a strong background in STEM and Vinnie has a background of course and many people do but she's really an expert this person coming from Ruckers and that's really important at this stage because we're looking across the curriculum we want somebody in the room who that's
their thing so she's going to be able to provide that for us and that money is allocated through title 1A funding um and so that's the only thing that the committee is recommending our next meeting is February 13th although we might change.
>> Oh, right. >> Yeah. >> Um, one question. Um, you said about preventing overtracking. Can you just clarify what overtracking means? >> Yeah. So, as you're thinking about uh honors
classes and at what grade and what uh at what grade do you start offering different levels of different courses? Um there's a lot that goes into like the criteria for uh placement for that kind
of thing. And you want to be you want to have like a light hand ideally as you're as you're tracking is you know you're moving into like an honors or advanced level course or a regular level course. You can uh really over track where you
have too many options different levels. And we're moving towards strengthening our tier one interventions, which is going to allow for like really, you know, we can have like diverse needs and abilities in a classroom and everybody's getting what they need, which is more
the ideal than separating kids out. And you also really don't want to do that too young. You know, that's another place you're looking at over tracking if you're sort of starting that too early. >> Got it. Thank you. >> Okay. Anything to add to that? Evony,
>> you're doing great. >> Okay. >> All right. Um, >> question. How um for the we have 20 days on the invoice here, but how how many hours is that? >> Oh, it's full days. >> Full days.
>> Uh so the consultant will pull alongside us through the curriculum review process, which is six days. Um and then uh we're writing for a week at the end of the year. Um and then Um, in the interim, she will push into classrooms
to observe to see what instruction looks like, how it aligns to the curriculum, where we're going to find fidelity, what professional development needs exist, so that as we're developing the curriculum, we're also identifying uh professional learning. Uh she will co-e and fishbowl
and do all of these different opportunities. A fishbowl is when you go into a classroom with a group of teachers to watch really strong instruction and then you come back, you debrief, you take away and say, "Okay, now I can try this." So the idea is to build really good strong practices to
build capacity uh across um the teams uh consistency um and then really to think about that not only in the separate buildings but what does this look like K5? >> Is this going to conclude at the end of
this in June or would carry over to >> the 20 days. We're expecting to use them this year and then we would apply in the title one grant again to extend it >> um with a gradual release. We wouldn't hope to have a consultant forever. Um we
would hope to have the appropriate staffing. >> It is grant paid for right now. >> Paid for. Yes. >> Okay. We're talking about it already. So, do you want to get through your item two and three recommendations so we can
>> Sure. Item number two uh is uh travel um attachment C1. Item number three is uh the approval of student teacher field experience assignments for the 2526 school year. Item number four is the contract that we were just discussing
with Rutgers University literacy development. Um it is attachment C2. >> Okay. Can I get a motion to approve uh 15D2 through D4? Stephanie. Okay. Second. >> Second.
>> Thank you. Questions or comments? Everybody have all their recorders uh questions answered? >> Yeah. Okay. I think it's great. Um Okay. So, can we get a roll call? >> Miss Pellet? >> Yes. >> Miss Pac? >> Yes. >> Dr. Ross?
>> Yes. >> Miss Bearella? >> Yes. >> Mr. Simmeran? >> Yes. >> Mr. Smaglet? >> Yes. >> Mr. Krauss? >> Yes. Miss Nichols. >> Yes. Abstain were noted. >> Yep. >> Did I miss that? >> Yep. I'm gonna add it in though. Sorry,
I should I should have caught it. I was going too quick. >> Um, yeah, you can go back and add it. >> Mhm. >> Um, and you wanted to add something? >> Yes. Um, Miss Ross mentioned in our curriculum committee meeting that we
were going to inform the public of the strategic planning session style. What would that day look like? If you go back to your agenda under the superintendent report item A1, uh, and again, this is for the recording for our public. Uh,
this will be a, uh, board meeting. Yes, it will continue in a town forum style public discussion just like we did the first time. So we will have small group discussion at tables and that will serve as the public comment portion of the
meeting where we are centering on the portrait of a graduate. So while it is published as a board meeting because our board members are present, it is a town forum style public discussion. Uh we are communicating this so that our parents know what to expect when they attend and
this is going to be uh posted on our website and we will continue to communicate uh with our parents. This wasn't asked. So, this is one way in which we're accomplishing that. I just wanted to draw your attention to it. Thank you. >> Yeah. And as long as we're clarifying things about that in case people do watch this. Um, we are not live
streaming those meetings because they are small group table situations and it just doesn't make sense. You'd just be watching a bunch of tables having conversations you can't hear. So, um, but we are discussing uh live uh live streaming the last one because that will
be more of a reporting out meeting. Um and that's the uh strategic planning session in March. I think it's the 12 >> in March. >> The one in March. Um so anyway, a little bit that's a little bit more detail about that.
>> Okay. Um yes, >> just because you're you're amending the vote there. I don't know if you said what you >> for people live streaming. What you're amending uh >> the the
>> abstensions of um Miss Nichols and Miss PE item two. >> Yep. So abstain from item two uh line five for Miss Nichols and line six on number two for Miss PE. >> I'm sorry. I just >> No, thank you. Thank you.
>> Um and then also um motion carries. >> Yes. Okay. Um letter E reports that would be back to desk. >> Sure. Um and so then this is uh the acceptance of the harassment,
intimidation and bullying report reviewed at the December 18th meeting which is attachment R1 and uh the random drug testing and school safety report for December 2025 which is attachment R2. >> Thank you. Can I get a motion to approve
item 15 E1 through E2? >> So move. John, I got a second. Thank you. Um, questions or comments? Seeing none, can we roll call vote, please? >> Miss Pac,
>> yes. >> Dr. Ross, >> yes. >> Miss Aarella, >> yes. >> Mr. Zimmerman, >> yes. >> Mr. Smacia, >> yes. >> Mr. Krauss, >> yes. >> Miss Nichols, >> yes. >> Miss Pallet, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Um,
item F, finance, Mr. Slra, >> I forgot. Oh my gosh. >> See, >> so sorry. See, you're sitting here now and I don't see you. >> That's true. >> All right, Mr. Krauss is committee report.
>> All right. We met yesterday, last night. The meeting was conducted online through Zoom. Uh, the meeting began about 5:35 and ended around 6:35. In attendance were Mr. Miss Evan Deendz, Joe Van Kirk, myself, Miss Pellet, and we had John Bonav from
Honeywall jump in for a while. So, listen. So, number one here, let's see. We have recommendations. Then, we're going to have a resolution tonight um for for this uh for the elevators. A bid came in
that was significantly over budget. They came in at around $789,000 to fix the elevator. The high school Hollow, which was a little crazy. So, >> a little bit, >> just a little bit. Right. So, we have a resolution on tonight to enter into one-on-one negotiations with another
elevator vendor >> and it's I believe I didn't write it in the notes, but it's going to be significantly less to do to do with >> Yeah, we think we can get that for significantly less. >> Okay, moving on. Um, we had an update
about the solar panels that are going to be installed at the high school um through the ESIP and we received interconnection costs from JCPNL of $1.6 million to hook our system up to the grid. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy
of uh the utility company. I just did something here for these costs. The positive is that the solar panel company has pays that it will absorb 10 cents per kilowatt hour to pay for it over the 15 years of the contract. With the size system that we're going to install, we
will still save money over the long haul. Um I don't have the numbers in front of you. Oh, and energy costs. See, this is why you have paper. >> I didn't realize scroll down to the next thing. That's right. So, we're going to save in energy cost because 80 82% of
our electric needs will be provided by the solar system. It'll also help insulate the district from future energy cost increases. Okay. Scrolling. Okay. Um, we have the we have a cost analysis
on all the projects that we have in in in the pipeline right now. So, we reviewed the projects that we have going for costs and whether or not we can get them done with the money that we have without going into our capital reserve. Specifically, the elevator projects, the
PA systems, the fire alarms, and the Glen Meadow Science Labs. There are significantly higher costs for the PA system since they involve rewiring the buildings. We decided to put the high school PA system on hold so we don't have to take from Capital Reserve. The
Walnut Ridge and Rolling Hills fire alarm systems will be reviewed once the bids are reviewed and a decision on how to proceed with these projects will be made at that time, possibly rolling them into the referendum if we go that way. All right. Our auditor NOCIA
had asked for an increase of 2%. Um, since they didn't take a raise last year or the year before, we're fine with the increase. It's going from 65,000 to 66,300. It's great. Um, we had a parent request regarding donations of or security
items. We had discussion on the ability to accept donations related to security items and the importance of not sharing sensitive security related information. And we also discussed issues concerning the 99 unit apartment buildings and whether or not there would be a pilot
program for them or not. So, we'll get into that more as things progress into And that is it. Thank you. >> Okay. Now, Mr. Snformformational items. We have Yousef buildings and grounds uh as senior detachment number
two. Um and then uh just quick budget update. Uh we're at the point we are reviewing um and verifying our PCR which is about 70 in the current year about 74% of our budget is our uh PCR and health benefits. So salaries and benefits. Uh so very important part of
the budget. Uh so we're reviewing and finalizing that. Uh we are having our budget meetings with the different buildings and uh budget managers. So those will be supervisors of different areas. Uh and also I am going through and tracking and reviewing uh revenues
um and projecting out what I think our revenues next year might look like. Um, I think I mentioned it before, uh, but, uh, some of the word that's kind of, uh, kind of coming out of Trenton through word of mouth is that, uh, and has
historically happened is when there's a new governor, there'll be most likely a delay. And when we hear about state aid, um, could be maybe a week delay. Uh, you know, issue with that is normally we get our state aid um, 48 hours after the governor's address. Usually that's at the end of February. Uh and then the
preliminary budget obviously is due uh to the county by March 20th. Uh so if it's a week, then we have pretty short period of time to turn that around uh have our committee meetings, have our our presentation uh and make sure everything works. Uh that's gets
obviously much harder if there's a significant change um in state aid. Uh there are some rumblings uh and worries about state aid. um nothing definite uh but just related to um you know any impact the loss of federal dollars might have on the state budget and how that
might potentially flow through to the overall state budget and then to um how they plan on funding state aid. No solid information on that yet. Uh at this point everything is rumor and you don't know what exactly what is true. So something we're tracking very closely uh
has a big impact on us. our state aid. I don't have the numbers off the top of my head, but I think it's approximately 24 to 26% of our revenue was seed aid. Um, so pretty significant chunk. Uh, so as we know, um, over the years that we we've had those CDA cuts that that did have significant impacts on the
district. Um, so something we're following as closely as possible. As we get more information, obviously we'll share that. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, um, with that being said, uh, moving on to recommendations. Um,
uh, letter A, uh, approving our financial reports. We have our checklist, which is attachment F1, our list of hand checks, which is attachment F2, our transfers, which is, attachment F3, and our purchase orders for December
2025, which is attachment F4. Uh recommendation for approval of the board sectors and treasures reports. That's attachment F5 and F6. Recommendation for approval of uh transportation for the month of January. That is attachment F7.
Uh we then have uh recommendation for the approval uh of the uh district allied health center and tech technical education program and hassa highpoint state park 5k trail run fundraiser on May 3rd 2026. Uh it's anticipated
there'll be approximately 150 participants. All proceeds from the uh this event will benefit the hosta club by enabling travel competitions um and also funding scholarships for future health professionals. Item E, uh, that is recommendation for
approval of a contract with ED data services. It's a renewal. That's attachment F8. Uh, letter F, that's a recommendation, uh, as noted before in the report, uh, to enter into oneonone negotiations uh, with a vendor. Uh, this is allowable in
instances where you've gone to bid uh, more than one time. The first time we went to bid, there were zero uh, bid proposals. The second time uh there was one proposal and it was significantly over um the the budget for that project. Uh so therefore uh if this is approved, we will move forward with that oneonone
negotiations uh and hopefully get a uh a number closer to our uh estimated uh budget. Uh and then on our addendum letter G. Uh so this is uh as noted previously uh a resolution uh approving
uh and and giving me and our professionals the ability to amend the PPA agreement uh to add uh the adder uh to the per kilowatt price uh which absorbs that uh $1.6 million uh cost for
interconnection which that cost is directly related to um upgrades that JCPNL has said will be necessary in order to move forward with the project. Um as noted there were smaller projects we could move forward with. Uh but when you look at the overall numbers uh
including the adder uh and the projection over 15 years uh the larger project still offered higher savings uh than projects that would be smaller with the smaller adder or no adder. So we want to make sure we look at the full picture uh whenever we're making those
um having those reviews and making that that analysis. All right. Uh those are our items for business today. >> Okay. Thank you. Can I get a motion to approve um item 15 F3A through F3G?
>> Stephanie, can I get a second? >> Second, >> questions or comments? >> I feel like you just look at me >> because I I I know certain things that you're going to ask. >> No, it's fine. I'm just playing. >> Yeah. >> Um do we have timing for JCPNL? They
don't always especially in this town, but we seem to be fast. Are they are they going to be pushing back our project because we're waiting to hook up to um the grid or can we roll on with the with with you know the solar panels I'm
talking about? We roll on with building everything going going forward with the project without having to wait on the electric company finally plug in. >> Yeah. So, so, uh, I can get more information, but my understanding is we'd be able to move forward with our permitting process and moving forward
with the logistics of, you know, getting the materials they needed, installing our portion, uh, the upgrade to the actual, um, we'll say hardware side of JCPNL. I think that will only matter once our part of the project's done, we're ready to interconnect. >> Okay. >> I'll confirm that just to be sure.
>> Okay. And then, uh, I'm sorry, did you said the budget presentation we're looking probably in March? Is that >> Yeah. So there's a preliminary uh usually there's a preliminary presentation uh in March as for that's for the preliminary budget and then
there's a public hearing um in um April uh end of April or early May this year it'll be end of April. So, >> and last, are we looking and I know we're not voting on this now, but we mentioned in the report, are we looking at alternatives to um the PA system for
the high school? Um and and and is this um you know, like can we use existing wire? I know we can use the existing PA system, but we do have Cat 5 running through most of the building. Can we use some of that? Um can we do wireless? Are we not allowed to do wireless? I I don't
know what the regulations are, but you know, are we looking at other alternatives? And is this for emergencies? And if so, are we looking also into backing up systems that we are putting in battery backup? >> Uh so at the high school, we have uh multiple generators. Uh so those are
tied into our emergency systems. I'll double check to make sure that also includes PA system. Um in terms of looking at other options, um yeah, it's something we always continue to do. Uh at this point I don't think it makes sense with the cost of that project to move forward with it right now. Uh it may make more sense um assuming there
are no other options uh if we move forward with a referendum. Benefit of that being the state pays for 40 40% of any project um that you move forward with in that and a referendum or a referendum like funding option. Um, now one of the issues that we're running
into right now at at the building is as the additions to the building went in, different types of systems are the system was added on to it, but with different it happened in different years, right? So, you have different wiring and different parts of the building. So, that's one of the concerns we do have as we're looking at this. Um,
but as always, we always continue to look at these items before we move forward just because we want to make sure that we're spending money wisely. Um I know one of the big um one of the goals or one of the big questions we have right now is setting a standard for buildings and making sure that all the
buildings hit that standard. Uh so that's that's something we also look at when we're making these decisions. So or rather these recommendations to the board. >> Are we certifying then the the if we're going to put the standards in, are we going to be certifying the wiring then? >> So is that something the installer would
have to do? So they would have to certify that it meets the speeds and >> yeah so many are when we're saying standard we're saying two different things. So I'm saying standard I'm saying similar systems in every building so that way when we're moving forward it's easier to maintain because we have the same systems we have the same
capabilities and I think you're talking about like a more technical standard in terms of like it seems like wiring standards it seems like. >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you just want Okay. So we're unable >> because right now each building has something different because it was installed during a different time period you know by a different vendor and with
different requirements. So it just makes it harder to maintain uh all the buildings because you may have different vendors in maintaining or different skills need to maintain the systems >> different supplies right one set of equipment >> have to have separate six >> and then you also have different
capabilities in each building too. Okay. >> So, we want to try to bring everything up to the same capabilities. >> But I'll look for additional information, too, uh, on the high school. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Anyone else questions?
>> Okay. Can we move to a roll call vote? >> Dr. Ross, >> yes. >> Miss Carlo, >> yes. >> Mr. Zimmerman, >> yes. >> Mr. Sagalia, >> yes. >> Mr. Krauss, >> yes. >> Miss Nichols, >> yes. >> Miss Pellet, >> yes. >> Miss Pac,
>> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Um, then item four uh is special services. Um, so uh recommended uh to uh approve the following out of district
placements for 2526 school year. >> Okay. Can I get a motion to approve item 15 F4A? Second, >> Stephanie. Thank you. Questions or comments?
Seeing none, can we get a vote? >> Miss Varelo? >> Yes. >> Mr. Zimmerman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Smagley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Krauss? >> Yes. >> Miss Nichols? >> Yes. >> Miss Pallet? >> Yes. >> Miss Pac? >> Yes.
>> Dr. Ross? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Item 16, public comment. The prior public statement will apply to any public comments. I um don't see anyone here. We don't have anyone online. So,
we can move on to item 17, open board member form. Does anyone have anything they'd like to >> I have nothing surprisingly. >> I just wanted to say I mean you pointed out with the report um Mr. source said
said, but uh I think the uh strategic planning was was phenomenal. I think the administration did a wonderful job. I know some of the committees helped out as well, but um yeah, I just I saw staff members down there helping out, just facilitating, cleaning up and doing
that. The custodial staff was there helping, you know, put setting everything up was great. Um and the participation from the community was was was excellent as well. So that that's great. And I February 3rd, right? Damn it. I said it wrong. Fifth. Fifth.
Don't get it wrong. >> I just hope I hope more people show up. It was a great event. Um it really is going to change our community um for the better. So I I I just wish everybody participates and and joins us. So >> which anchor table were you at? What was
your top? >> Number five. >> Do you remember your top? You don't remember your topic? >> No. >> Open discuss. >> Anchor five. No, I was open discussion. You >> anchor five. He's student growth. >> Student growth. >> Yeah, student growth. Yeah.
>> And the other one is March 12th. So, February 5th and March 12th. >> Thank you for bringing that up. >> You know, I'm a math person, not the ELI. >> I know the numbers. >> You're roasting yourself on it, but okay. >> I would really echo that, too. And I think that's a great point about
thanking the community members for coming out that the showing was awesome. And um we're going to have the agenda clear even, you know, more so next time. And I want to say that you were so timely. Everything was so timely. So the the end time you can count on, you know,
if you're dragging yourself out in the cold in February, February 5th. >> It starts it'll start at 7 and the last one was the end time was 9:00 and it was done a little before 9. So we can count on that which is wonderful. Oh, is there
something I mean this time we had to sign up, right? You could have signed up for CL groups >> or anchors ahead of time. Is there something that people could sign up for? So, we don't have that that line. >> Oh, that's true. >> Do we need >> um We won't have anchors this time, but
we will have tables by grades span. So, we'll have an elementary section, a middle school section, and a high school section. I think it'll be easier to kind of direct people >> uh toward those areas. uh we will all be working on the same task throughout. So we won't have two separate tasks to
switch from. It will be a concentrated amount of time on uh thinking about our values, vision, and the portrait of a graduate. >> Did we have just one line to sign up? Maybe we could do more than >> we had we had two but understood >> because we did end up with we had so
many people. So we'll have but we'll figure out a way to make that more efficient. Thank you. Be great. Okay, that's it for public comment, right, guys? All right, great. Let's move on to item 18, adjournment.
Get >> always my first motion. >> Ready? >> Second. >> Second. >> Okay. Um, can we do all in favor? Why do we have a thing here? >> Yeah, we we can do all favor. >> Okay. All in favor? It went well