##VIDEO ID:dZxGTM0h-50## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e should we put my phone just do not disturb you know good go oh sorry I'm calling to order the January 16th public meeting of the Vernon Township Board of Ed can we get a roll call Mr slam Miss Brock here Mr slea here Mr cantino Mr Fischer here Mr Krauss here miss pallet here Mr Sweeney here M beell Mr Zimmerman here we have a quum great um it is recommended that the board enter closed session for the purposes of discussing legal student and Personnel matters can I get a motion so moved thank you we're in closed thank you 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 okay great um it is recommended that the board return to open session can I get a motion we move second we do a roll call oh you could do all paper sorry oh you could you could do all oh all in favor I and then we'll do the roll call for agance okay great now we'll do yeah the roll call for attendance thank you Miss Brock here Mr smia here Mr cantino Mr fiser here Mr Krauss here miss pellet here Mr Sweeny here miss peell here Mr zeran M Chella we have a quum please rise and join me for the pledge flag United States na indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you can we get a reading of the public meeting notice okay the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with provisions of the ACT ber in Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published and adequate notice has been provided and notice this meeting has been properly posted in accordance with the New Jersey open public meeting law uh just a couple quick notes our next work session is Thursday February 13th and our next public meeting is Thursday February 20th thank you uh for approval of the minutes we have approval of uh four minutes the minutes for the closed work session meeting from December 12th the minutes of the public work session meeting from December 12th the minutes of the closed public session meeting from December 19th and the minutes of the public session meeting from December 19th can I get a motion to approve those minutes so moved second thank you roll call Mr smackle yes Mr fiser St Mr Krauss yes Miss pallet yes Mr Sweeney yes Miss pello Mr Zimmerman Miss Brock yes motion carries um item H president's report I'm going to keep this really brief because we have a full house and nobody really is here to hear me talk but I just want to thank all the board members who got in their pref es for their committees very quickly so that we were able to populate our list of committees with members you have a full list as attachment one um we've also circulated committee guidelines to help the committee chairs get rolling and um have a and to have a common standard for our minutes for the um for creating and disseminating committee minutes um and we added some ethics trainings for February 13th and the CSA evaluation committee Effectiveness training for May 22 and board goals board valuation uh training from the New Jersey Schoolboard Association for July 24th and those are all marked on attachment f8 so that's all I'm going to say for tonight so that we can move right along to um our recognitions we're going to recognize the school board recognition month tonight and then the Mind Travelers I look forward to that uh School Board recognition month thank you vtsd school board members for all that you do for students and staff whereas the New Jersey school boards Association has declared January 2025 to be the school board recognition month a time when all residents can acknowledge the contribut contributions made by our local school board members and whereas the Vernon Township Board of Education sets policies and oversees operations for the 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 3028 children in pre pre kindergarten through 12th grade and whereas of Vernon Township Board of Education board members who receive no rume 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 a Vernon Township Board of Education strives to provide the resources necessary to meet the needs of all students including those with special needs there's a lot of whereases and whereas the Vernon Township Board of Education provides accountability to the public they communicate the needs of school district to the public and they convey to school administrators The public's expectations for the schools and whereas Vernon Township can take pride in his schools which rank highly in key achievement indicators such as the national assessment of educational progress scores and the preparation through col preparation for college through advanced placement offerings and sat assessments now therefore be it resolved that the Vern Township Board of Education must hereby recognize the service of its board members As We join Community Statewide and observing January 2025 as school board recognition month and be it further resolved that the Vernon Township Board of Education encourages all New Jersey citizens to work with their local Boards of education and Public School staff toward the advancement of our children's education um thank you for all you well I had to say everything you did and it's a lot that you do here a lot of people only see the meetings we hear we have here uh but uh thank you for your service to to the to the school to school Community okay now everyone has their uh certificates at their at their tables as well now it's time for the Mind Travelers this is a great audience tonight thank you the Mind Trav Library fund is a reading incentive program that was started over 20 years ago to encourage students to read this past fall students from Walnut Ridge Cedar Mountain Rolling Hills and lsbury Hollow were invited to participate in the mind Travelers program students who read six books two chapter books for fifth grade students were eligible to win a book St two students from each grade level were selected as winners they're all in the crowd right now a total of 226 students participated in the program reading a total of 1,348 books this is more than 100 students have participated last year with over twice as many books books read so as I call your name please come up to get your certificate and your book from from board members a congratulations to the following winners Christian butino from Lansbury Hollow Addison T Rico from lsbury Hollow I ask everyone to stay up here we're going to get a picture at thato uh Mia Rosa from lsbury Hollow Sky Phillips from lbur Hollow Natalie Deonte from ruing hills congratulations Madison McIntosh from ring Hills rayen dockerty from Rolling Hills Cil Wolverton from Rolling Hills Luke Allen pool from Cedar Mountain Hunter romanish from Cedar Mountain AA Greer from Cedar Mountain Carlo from Cedar Mountain heon Rose from Walmart Ridge Leo Jarvis from walmut Ridge Caleb Ahern from Walmart Ridge mnol from W Ridge congratulations on everyone's award the camera guys look up here to the parents conratulations thank you students and parents I hope they uh share their books with you at home job guys great job recessing to gon have a short recess to enjoy some snacks all right yes we can sneak away quietly yes got it e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e um item J is presentation by uh vtea president Miss Colleen ranzan to yeah pressure's on can everybody hear me because this is like way up and I'm short so I think you have to get closer to well I can hear you okay well that's all that matters they hear can hear you I'm farthest away yeah can point that down sorry actually is it picking her up on the um video feed though because we can hear you okay I didn't want to break it great thank you uh good evening everybody my name is Colleen ranzan and I am the President of the Vernon Township Education Association first off I would like to congratulate Mr Fisher and Miss beell for being elected to the school board uh the Board of Education and i' would also like to congratulate Mr Zimmerman and Miss Brock for being reelected to the board I have served on the board before and know what dedication and hard work with no pay so thank you um in recent months there has been public comments regarding the greediness of the Union when it comes to our raises and our healthare being too high and other comments and I'm here tonight to let the public know what the union has done done and will continue to do for the district I'm pleased to report that the Vernon Township Education Association or the vtea has successfully secured a number of Grants to fund a variety of impactful activities this year these grants will allow us to continue our mission of supporting both our students and the Vernon Community at large among many initiatives we are sponsoring this year there are sports scholarships game nights literacy nights the trick-or trail the uh Turkey Trot the Rolling Hills mentoring program math nights stem nights and much more these events create a valuable opportunity to keep our students engaged and and explore new interests that deepen their academic skills in a fun interactive way but our work doesn't stop here in upcoming months we will be providing even more opportunities for our students and families including International nights additional me uh math literacy and steam nights and more as always we are dedicated to ensuring that each child in the Vernon Township has access to these enriching programs additionally we are proud to be a major sponsor of art standing that was a program that was at death's door A couple of years ago before the vtea took it on to be a major sponsor it celebrates the talents of our students by showcasing their artwork the program is a testament to our community and fostering creativity and providing all students with a platform to just to uh express ourselves themselves excuse me the grants we secure make make it all possible in 2022 2023 school year we are able to secure 44,000 in funding in 2023 2024 43,600 this year we are on track to provide over 4,000 in funding for these vital programs and activities all have been possible even when the dwindling F funding through the njaa they're called pep and fast that's the committee I would like also like to take an opportunity to recognize that extraordinary dedication of Miss Lombardi and miss munchow these two individ individuals work tirelessly spending countless hours writing and securing these grants all to service ensuring that the students of Vernon toship High School has access to enriching activities and experiences that they deserve in addition to these events we provide dinners to families in the district we support a senior dinner and show for the musical at the high school and ensure that all incoming kindergarten students receive beautiful new books and start their academic Journeys I also want to take a moment to emphasize the incredible e effort and commitment that our union members put into their work they don't simply show up to fulfill a job description they come to work with passion purpose and a deep sense of responsibility for the students they serve our union members are the backbone of this District we may not always see the tireless effort Behind These scenes but countless hours spent planning lessons attending professional development supporting each other and advocating for the resources and policy policies that benefit our students our members just don't teach they Mentor they guide they create positive learning environments and they go above and beyond to ensure students needs are met before both academically and emotionally I have decided and I want to thank Russ for um adding me to the agenda I think it's important that I speak in every public session just tell you about the wonderful things that this District does it's not all test scores and you know I can also talk about ABA um programs the ER program that's very dear to my heart I am the ER teacher at the high school and we've been keeping kids in District and that's so very important so I'm tired of hearing about the test scor the test scor the test scor when there's far too much going on here and we'll continue to do for the district so thank you very much thank you thank you so much for coming and for sharing all of that we really appreciate what the vtea members do for students and it's so important these extra um funding and also all of these events that um are are taking care of by all of you they they are what keep our kids engaged and involved in our schools so we really appreciate it thank you um so item K public comment um can we have a reading of the public comment notice Mr Slim during the course of the public meeting of the bernon Board of Education the public is offered the opportunity to address the board on agenda items and issues regarding the school district the board reminds those individuals who take this opportunity that they must identify themselves by name and section of town and limit their comments to agenda items and or issues that directly relate to the operations of the school district issues that are raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board of or administration at the time of the meeting or at any time all comments will be considered and your response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate the board requests that members of the public keep their comments to a limit of 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 responded to by the board or Administration be advised that students and employees have rights of confidentiality and other protections under the law students names should never be used unless it is your own child the board Bears no responsibility nor will be liable for any comments made by the public during the public portion of the board meeting members of the public should consider the comments in light of legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they are personally legally responsible with potential liability for the comments that they make to the board thank you Mr slam um I'd like to open the meeting to the public for a public comment just a reminder that this portion of the meeting is not meant to be a back and forth dialogue with the board so I just want to be clear that while the board and the administ ation may be able to answer some questions it uh may be necessary to note those questions down and answer at our next meeting in order to assure a full and accurate response uh please when you approach the podium state your name know good evening Anthony Rossy High Lakes I just I came here last uh during the your first uh meeting with the with the new members and I do apologize for having to run out of here a slight crisis at our one of our board meetings so I had to run back over to that um I just I I I came in I just want to say congratulations to new members newly elected reelected and new positions um again thank you you guys got a tough job seriously tough job and uh I appreciate the work that you do my office is down the block as we saying talk but um my office is always open for you guys anything I could do and I and again I want to thank uh the gentleman uh Russ and Ray and Jeff for for opening up the door to my Administration so we can look for ways that we can save money and we've done it we we've already saving a lot of money uh you guys have been helpful to us extremely helpful I just got some feedback from from our uh DPW guys so again I I appreciate all the the work that you guys do and and any way we can try to help each other I'm all the years so we'll continue to do that so thank you guys and congratulations and and the best of luck to you guys thank you mayor RI we look forward to working with you a year to come appreciate that um item L student representative report Miss sorry oh there's more sorry I'm seeing nobody else here do we have we have nobody else from the public we have Martin perer can you hear me yes we yes all right I just want to comment on the one agenda item I've seen Mr prey is retiring I have worked with him on things like the academic de Caston he also has done a lot of other things after school with the kids and I want to wish him I want to say good job as a teacher good job volunteering and doing all kinds of stuff and happy retirement thank you thank you Mr perer is there another hand bar mon shower oh hi good evening how are you can you hear me can yes okay um I just wanted I had one more thing for uh Miss ranzan to speak about and I was not able to get it to her so I'm just going to tack on um another vtea comment um I just wanted to give give a shout out to the fifth and seventh period design Innovation classes from Glenn Meadow who visited Cedar Mountain yesterday um and they shared their games with several of our classes this was an amazing experience for our students and the amount of imagination and creativity on the part of those students was outstanding these students complete a lot of physical and digital Planning and Building that incorporated all aspects of the steam curriculum as well as marketing to a specific age group the students who played the games had such an incredible time and my class said it was the best surprise ever it also tied nicely with our reading lesson where we are learning how to write a thank you not and these two classes will be receiving our products of work shortly I'd like to point out that several of the students recognized me from their fourth grade exclusively virtual year I on the other hand had a bit of trouble recognizing them as they had grown quite a bit since those Zoom days these quote unquote covid kids are doing wonderful things in our schools and Glenn Meadow and their teachers should be very very proud of them this is just another way in which we are working between buildings between grade levels um having these older children um demonstrate where the younger ones can go and why they are learning to do things not to mention handson learning in cooperation with technology instead of exclusively one or the other is just another way in which uh the Vernon Township Schools are really showcasing the talents of all types of Learners and all types of Futures not every child is going to grow up and go to college not every child is going to grow up and do something um with spreadsheets or online they're going to be needed to do Hands-On activities physical work um fixing things and I just want to I'm not sure if I can say that teacher's name or not uh since I haven't notified them but this is just something that's happening at Glen Meadow and in conjunction with Cedar Mountain and it is a shout out to the administration for allowing it to take place and it is a shout out to those students for doing such a great job so thank you for supporting that thank you Mrs mower that's that's really um really really appreciate you sharing that it's it's a great story um item L our student representative report Miss Cella could not be here tonight because she's hopefully winning a swim meet right now but um Mr smle is going to read her prepared remarks okay hello everyone unfortunately I have another swim meet tonight so I am unable to attend this meeting in person but I have a few things to report from the high school winter sports are in full swing and our athletes are working hard both on and off the fort pool Mountain track rink and map like Dr Seuss here uh we had held our annual poetry um out out loud competition this past Friday we had an amazing turnout and the first place winner will go on to compete in a regional competition yesterday our National soci Honor Society welcomed 30 new inductees to into our chapter our Deca students had a competition yesterday as well and our Hoster Club had a competition this weekend midterms coming up uh our students are working hard to prepare for their test Lots is happening in VTS and more events are coming up thank you all for being so understanding of my swim meet and I'm looking forward to the next time I I can I can be here with you in person thank you Christina does anyone know what the hosta Club is I don't know that one Health yeah go ahead I don't Health occupations um and oh okay I don't know what the S stands for but I know it's all about health and they usually learn blood drives and they make nurses and doctors and stuff like that they're having they're having a uh a what is it a race up at a way way on again 5K again to to fund raise and I think uh I think two years ago they they placed nationally in Texas as well oh nice at the competitions a new one on me I didn't know that one um thank you for reading that thank you for Christina par it am here thank you Christina and Charles superintendence report informational matters and reports for please to announced Lansbury holl students as a district artist of the month for January and the ver in Township High School students uh as well uh the lsbury Hol students artwork's being displayed at the board office and the bths students have their artwork displayed at the municipal building during the month of January item C the harassment intimidation and bullying random drug testing and school safety reports are an attack a m a the enrollment report is an attachment B I'm going to keep old business on here but we had no old business from the from the last board meeting I just want to make sure I hit it every time and I want to report to you some of our activities happening in uh districtwide the walet ridge preschool program with full day classes began on December 16th it is in full swing and operating smoothly students at Cedar Mountain will learn important important safety skills during the January NJ cap program the Rolling Hills second grade winter uh music concert was held yesterday January 15th uh two sessions and I think it was standing room only for each grade level L meow had held two mha teenp speak parent lectures that focused on building positive relationships between parents and teens the two-part presentation took place on January 8th and January 15th at the high school poetry out loud event took place on January 10th and I attended and spoke at the National Honor Society induction on January 4th 14th congratulations to our 2025 National Honor Society member members and their families in winter sports achievements uh in indoor track Sophia Hall set a new school record in the 600 meter in boys basketball Alex fessel break broke the career scoring record for Vernon in basketball and in ice hockey senior Jay cromch had scored nine out of the 10 team goals as the season progress uh I will have more updates including uh many theater and music up dates I saw many trophies in the main office and I'm sure I'm going to hear hear about those shortly item F it's a draft of the 20252 2006 school calendar um item G is the 2025 2026 paid holidays holidays draft attachment D 2A or recommendations I'd like to make a couple changes in in in the some of these line items and uh line uh number three right after interm replacement I'd like to add teacher and I needed to add a per DM cost and that's at $280 per DM in line seven at the end of information for step one I needed to make sure that that $1,048 was PR rated and on line 11 I needed to make sure that the effective date was 9624 there quite there are several more lines there give you a little bit of time to look over all those other lines of categories names and information I'm sorry what was the the last one did the date you 9624 thank you and and line three line three where it says name after interm replacement it should be teacher teacher and the per DM is $28.96 thank you you're welcome um letter B the following certified staff members are recognized rece receiving tenure in the month of January uh item C it is recommended that the board approve the hourly rate increases for the following positions due to the federal law increasing in New Jersey's minimum wage from $15.13 per hour to $15.49 per hour substitute a and substitute door monitors hourly rate will now be $15.49 per hour effective 11225 the following staff are affected by this chain item D it is recommended that a board approve the following six period appointments letter e it is recommended that the board approve the following position for the 2024-25 cclc program all to be paid with 21st century Community Learning Grant funds effective 23225 through 630 2025 and that's the RPO position in the chart but item f it is recommended the board approve the following policy for a second reading and final approval and that's p travel conferences conventions and workshops that comply with the provisions of New Jersey statutes annotated njsa 18a 11-12 for Vernon Township School District employees in the chart below item H it is recommended that a board approve the harassment intimidation and bullying and school safety and random drug testing reports l i it is recommended that the board approve the Vernon tachp School District Allied Health career technical education program and HOSA Health occupation students of America there we go way way on the 5K Trail fundraiser on April 27th 2025 at 9:00 a. it's anticipated that there will be 200 to 250 participants all proceeds from this event will benefit HOSA club by enabling travel to competitions far and away and and funding scholarships for future health professionals it is recommend that the board approve the New Jersey Department of Education equivalency application which is attached e letter K it is recommended the board approve permitting the following student to attend Vernon Public Schools according to B B Vernon Board of Education policy 5111 child of employee number 6293 being permitted to attend Cedar Mountain Primary School as a kindergarten student for the 2025 26 school year it is recommended that the board approve the following job description Student Assistance coordinator it used to be a substance abuse coordinator it had been updated long ago and we just wanted to make sure that we had the right acronym for the position and that's an attachment F letter M it is recommended that the board approve the settlement agreement with employee number 55033 okay thank you Mr Rogers um can I get a motion to approve the items uh Mr Rogers recommendations so move second thank you questions or comments Mr fiser okay so uh um I wanted to bring up item F which is the school calendar and the uh third Monday in February currently on the school calendar is listed as President's Day uh New Jersey does recognize that as President's Day but the federal holiday is Washington's birthday so uh I think our school calendar should reflect the fact that this is not just President's Day but was Washington's birthday um we had a a question of whether or not that would be a problem uh on contracts with with regard to paid holidays but I just noticed that g addresses paid holidays so perhaps the school calendar can be changed while we investigate the the paid holiday aspect under G I thought the question had to do with whether it's mentioned in the contract itself not just the list of paid holidays but I guess that would match the contract right the paid holidays um draft well I'm not sure if they had if they have a list in the contract or not I have to go back I don't know either we don't okay so how no no appreciate it so as far as you know it wouldn't be an issue if we change the designation to President's Day SL Washington's birthday okay um so first of all how do how do the other board members feel about this does anyone else want to comment on the on the I have no problem with it and it is it is Washington's birthday Washington's birthday is the 22nd yeah Washington's birthday is the 22nd but the official federal holiday is the third Monday and Tuesday in February I mean come is a lot of great presidents maybe some other presidents that weren't so good they moved Lincoln over there I think he was pretty good FDR recognizes all the presidents see George Washington himself did not really want H recogn him so I would say leave the president I agree with that the state of Jersey says president let's just do okay uh do we want to make a motion and vote or can I can I make a comment though that the actual history has nothing to do with the other presidents the actual history is whether or not you're recognizing linkoln so you you had Northern conservatives who wanted a Federal holiday for Abraham Lincoln's birthday and Southern Democrats were opposed so the compromise was you called it President's Day and it was meant to honor Washington and Lincoln not Hulk and William Henry Harrison so uh that went to the states and it was never approved on a federal level the federal holiday is still Washington's birthday right 40 states recognize some form of President's Day whether they call it President's Day or President's Day slash uh Washington's birthday New York recognizes it as Washington's birthday so my my comment is that it is the federal holiday and I don't know if there's anything in our uh in our rules that state whether we need to follow one or the other but I mean George Washington is the father of our country I don't know if we still teach that in history class or not but I think he deserves recognition can can I say something on top I I I think it it just brings up a great dis discussion and this is what we are right we're a school district all of Educators who teach our kids every day and they probably teach them to question things right and if we don't recognize a day at least put a slash in there put both of them up there it just for gets forgotten and it's just like a lot of history that we don't talk about anymore that gets forgotten so maybe it's just word some athetics right now to for us for adults but it brings up a con uh brings up a discussion for the children to have in our classrooms and and and say hey why is it this way and then the teachers can go in and explain it more um maybe they can have a debate about it whichever but it brings up the discussion I think it keeps it upfront and stuff for us so yeah I don't have a lot of history on this I haven't ever really thought about it before so it's sort of coming out of nowhere for me but I don't have an issue with making it a slash like President St slash Washington but um but I I I put it to the board right I mean do we want to we don't have a motion on this we so how would we would we put a motion out to do that and vote on it or how how does that even work so right now just the draft um forms are on and it's under informational um so when we go to approve those the final version could have whatever the decides and then that would be when the motion is there okay so we're not but we are voting on those tonight right the grafts not voting on those it's just informational uh right now because they're draft so we would then like okay we Revis yeah so the whatever the decision the board made the final version that went on for approval could have one over the board sides okay and then it will be voted on at that point okay that decision yeah that's my question that's try that's I'm trying to get to so are we having so how if we wanted to make that decision now would we M would Mr fiser make a motion to um to revise the drafts and then so right now um the motion on the table doesn't include the drafts yes right so what you could do is and there's a motion there's motion y you finish this motion um and then later maybe in board form if someone to put a yeah put a motion on to amend the name to that then we could vote on it there and then it could be reflected in the final version which would then okay I like that so we'll move through these items you can raise that in open board form that gives everybody a little bit of time maybe to think about it talk about it further at that time and then we can vote on it there thank you um does anyone have any other I do have one but does anyone else have any questions about the other it's items one quick things uh CC cclc um is this new the RPO or um no it's it's replacing someone who had oh we okay we always had an RPL okay right I believe I believe that's an approximate $300,000 grant that we've got oh no I'm I'm not I just feared I'm like why why do we have one now I'm proud of it so whenever I can say that I'll say that okay good job and then um if you can you know what PS first oh that's uh I'll Leta that's a preschool acronym yes uh Mr gag asro would you like to help us out with that one so when we we had that Grant when we got that uh not Grant I gotta be careful we we got we got that state aid um there's very specific programs and rules we needed to follow in order to implement that preschool program and that was one of stipulations can you also speak to the New Jersey Department of Education of equivalency application and what it is and why we're requesting it yes uh we're requesting it because they changed the rubric for the um for qac and that's where we evaluated as a school for uh imp instruction and programming and they allowed us to to file an equivalency to use the rubric for next year since it would benefit at us I felt it was my obligation as a superintendent to file this equivalency so that we could use next year's rubric because our our growth is is strong and it would it would benefit us to change to this rubric when we go through that process and again imp is the usually the area in in qac that most schools have been struggling with uh because it so State Testing uh driven so this this rubric would help us as a school district thank you a followup to Pur um just I didn't think of it before but if it's mandated by the state aid as part of operating our preschool they can't pay for it you have to pay for it there's no way to recruit that cost where's that at um the Department of Education her training for at Monclair for 1944 48 page 13 this what we're just talking about on page 13 did they give us the aid that's what I'm just clarifying we're we're paying for it or that comes out of the aid oh it's oh yeah so if you look at at the top uh it'll say title to Grand funded hi any more questions or comments can I get a roll call Mr fiser all right I have a question I'm sorry all right so we we said we're gonna put a motion forward on the issue that I brought up at the end of the meeting right during open comment what am I voting on now superintendent for for cour yeah I know I understand that but in regards to the issue that I brought up item regards to the count number two page seven from there on the recommendations no I I get that you're not voting on The you're not voting on The dra it's just a draft for review the the informational items we don't vote on those we vote on the recommendations that's why I asked that question before clear no it's not it's in the information oh no okay I understand everything from recommendation down I'm sorry it's okay okay so we're roll calling Mr Fisher abstain Mr Krauss yes Miss pellet yes Mr Sweeny yes Mr acella yes Mr zman Miss Brock yes Mr smania yes motion carries thank you um Mr slam item n you're up I'll start out with informational items uh so just a quick budget update uh we're currently verifying and validating personnel and health benefits uh it's a big step in the budget process uh because that makes up a majority of the budget uh so that means that we're going through and we're ensuring that the PCR is accurate uh and we're making sure that our accounting of health benefits and our projections for next year are accurate uh the one thing with that that we uh will have to wait on uh is additional information from our health benefits burger just because it's very early right now in terms of what type of increases the market is anticipating uh for next year um because I think as we all know health benefits unfortunately always go up um additionally uh we have Med meetings on the calendar for Budget managers uh in the remaining of this uh remaining couple weeks of this month and uh each meeting uh up and through the budget process I'll just be providing some additional updates uh just to keep everyone in the loop uh letter B uh we have use of buildings and grounds as noted below we have letter C Fiel trips as noted below and then letter d it is recommended the board approve the following travel for board members as as per board policy 0147 travel for board members make her only upon PRI prior approval by a majority of the full buing membership of the board and the travel shall be in compliance to section four of p. that 1991 chapter 393 and section five of PL 20001 chapter 178 as noted below uh number two recommendations uh it is recommended that the board approve the following Financial reports sorry I'm just checking something real quick so letter D should actually be under recommendations yeah should be under as I was reading it I was like that's in the wrong spot so that should be under recommendations so so when I read through recommendations we're just going to add a letter to the end and it will be that what is now letter D but we'll update that um once I get to the bottom and see what our last letter is so item two recommendations letter a is Rec the board approved the following Financial reports list of checks 994332 through 94535 for January 2025 in the amount of 1,252 18425 that's attachment F1 list of hand checks for December 2024 in amount of $ 4,414 7887 Detachment F2 transfers for December 2024 that's attachment F3 and purch ERS for December 2024 in amount of 2,975 39577 at his attachment F4 feel like I'm an Auctioneer or something um approval of the board secretaries and treasures reports as noted below that's attachment F5 and F6 uh letter c c the board approved transportation is listed below we have quoto trips a joint Sher with the sparta Board of Education transfer uh sorry the transport Sparta students for the 2425 school year on the following R routes as noted below bid 2024-25 4 on January 7 we received on January 7th for 2425 school year as noted below bid 2024-25 received on January 10th uh results as noted below and you'll see that the asri denotes awarded contracts uh same with the chart I just listed above the as notes awarded contracts letter D sent received sent whereas the special service department has determined that individual students require special education placement based on their individual needs and whereas the special services department has determined that the services are needed and will continue till June 30th 2025 whereas special services department has determined that the school SL service listed below as the most appropriate placement therefore be res off the Vern Township Board of Education approves the contracts as listed below letter e is recommended that the board approve the disposition of the following items is either obsolete or in disrepair ased below letter F is recommended the board approve the contract with New Hope integrated Behavioral Healthcare to provide services for student number 22325 at this rate of $650 a week G is recommended that the board approve the attached resolution approving the application local Recreation approvement attachment F7 and letter H is recommended the boorder concur with the updated 2025 2026 meeting dates that's attachment f8 uh just the note that was the resolution passed at the last meeting uh which we said uh dates to be determined for adding the work session dates in this now has work session dates added and that's why it's listed as a concurring motion and then letter I will be I'll go up to the top and I'll re it in so we have red into the correct area okay good you Mr slam I'm gonna read um oh what you have to read it again G read it in okay so letter D is now I'll just say letter D is now letter i as previously read uh so that will be included under recommendation uh it was included under informational items in error and I'll make sure the minutes reflect that okay great thank you um can I get a motion for recommendations 2 a through 2i move second questions or comments I have one question that's all right concerning the uh the cost per mile increases on some of these routes I mean why it's the same company and then one route is $159 another one's two and a quar a mile what's the difference in in that and why are they changing scrolling back up I don't have my touchcreen today so I'm that's why it's slower um oh which routes uh specifically are the ones down here under um bids the bids on the bids on uh 20 some of them like there's an increase in horse per mile the crap company has it at a $159 there and I'm sorry birkshire has it never mind I'm reading it wrong okay but isn't there like if I remember correctly when we when had raises in the buses there was a certain percentage number that they couldn't go above or something uh so there is with the CPI but that would only be for renewals of contract in the prior year so basically the way it works and it'll come up during budget season so transportation is another large cost we'll be discussing uh but essentially if you have a contract in place already which means you went out to bid in that year you have that contract and the contractor agrees to renew out the CPI they can continue each year to renew at the CPI um which usually the CPI is not the high is a good thing for us right um now what would happen if they didn't renew the cpis we'd have to go back out the bid now a lot of these routes are brand new routes so the CPI wouldn't um doesn't affect it wouldn't affect it right and when you're looking at the increase decrease adjustment cost per mile that would be if we were to change the r that is the per mile amount that the cost for that route would change right so it's not a cost now unless we change the route yeah it would be if we were to change the route uh without changing the route to the point where we'd have to go back out the bid right okay yeah exactly and the route changes because a student needs could be an additional student that comes in a district uh could be a change in you know student needs or student placement depending on the situation any other questions comments from anyone does that mean some of the routes will change too so did one one up 5:15 and there was more kids at the end now it becomes two routes and that the first route may go to like Lake hway and one might go up to High Lakes or something now these these routes are for the smaller bus for the Vans most of them are injured students like if student gets injured they can't get on a yellow bus okay they have this small bues so that it's more convenient for the student and it changes because some get injured then they get they heal okay and then they go back on the other and sometimes we consolidate the r Roots as well so you might eliminate a route and and add some mileage to another to savings as well so normally when you see an adjustment I mean you know it could be an additional student gets gets added onto routes and now the routs say three miles two miles longer three miles longer so then each day we'd get that adjustment per day uh on our invoice so it change the actual route cost per day okay um I also did want to ask Mr Rogers can you um just explain what the um local Recreation Improvement Grant would be for oh yeah go ahead uh so uh it's a grant from the state of New Jersey uh what we are applying for is uh the replacement of one of the playgrounds at Rolling Hills um essentially uh the purpose of the grant is to increase access uh to fac basically facilities uh for members of the town so uh you know we obviously have our our students that are using the playgrounds but also you know off school hours we have most likely still students but you know families coming back and and utilizing the playgrounds so it's a good opportunity uh to replace I think one of the older playgrounds we have uh on district and and uh have a nice Improvement for the thank you for your letter of support oh yeah I have one question about the jointure for the spot Board of Education that's money coming to us right yep that's right thank you is that everything great can I get a roll call Miss Brock yes Mr smaga yes Mr fiser abstain Mr Krauss yes Miss pellet yes Mr Sweeney yes Miss Vella yes Mr Zimmerman motion carries thank you um item oh um I can can uh can they vote on the item I Mr Fisher of stained so just item I item I that was the one from I'll make a note um it should be abstained from letter yeah okay so just say so you'll abstain I'll abstain just on that one just on the letter i letter i two I two I yeah good yes good job okay okay great item o public comment um do we have anyone from the audience a comment no okay uh anyone online yeah Martin parer yeah it's me again um I want just comment on that reading Sy and I think it's a great thing that we had a lot of uh more people reading but what I want you to look at is the gender distribution which was mostly girls now I was a big champion from helping girls and I had a daughter about 30 years close to 30 years ago now and back then things were different and things changed and now it's out way other way around in colleges in many areas two3 are now girls and they're less boys and what it has made is a shortage of quality qualified guys to date if you want to say that because more and more guys do not have an education and we that are less likely to have a good or any job at all now we had for the past 15 years I've been watching it we did not improve girl scores on the test scores but we diminished greatly gu scores on the Des scores were unfairly maybe about 30 years ago it was 640 in the favor of the girl guys now it's 640 in many cases in the favor of the girls and I mentioned that to some educator and say mostly female Educators who said well good not they know what it feels like now the Sho is on the other foot I'm very much against punishing any kid for something some mistakes adults might have made 30 years ago so I would like to put it put force that it should be in your interest to get the numbers up equally and not to just pick 10 guys and 10 girls the 10 best boys and the 10 best girls but to make it so that the results truly are equal a program that I feel died and I haven't heard anything about it Dr McKay had one many years ago where he addressed that by encouraging boys to read more reading is so of utmost importance and it is probably the best skill I ever acquired in my whole life to read and understand what I read because it allows me to learn because most of the stuff I've been doing 30 years ago 20 years ago 10 years ago now wasn't even in the books or even in the on the horizon when I went to school 50 years ago okay so uh please see their results and watch it as the can Canary in the coal in the coal mine and let's make sure that when those little girls in 10 years or whatever are finished with the education they have enough well educated uh guys who can hold down a good job and have the abilities to build a life with thank you thank you Mr perer we have Jesse palag Jesse yes good evening thank you I just want to make a statement I just want to make a plea to this board of education for 2025 and I am hopeful as well for 2025 to be a year of better management trans transparency and accountability I also hope that none of you will succumb to political pressure from elected officials because following your reorganization meeting I received harassing messages from elected officials simply because I congratulated you on your presidency and vice presidency and I know that others did as well so I just want to ask you not to succumb to political pressure and make this the best year ever for this board for transparency and accountability thank you and good luck thank you thank you Mrs paladini anyone else that is all that we have okay um closing public comments um item P open board member Forum I know we have at least one member who wants to speak um just on that on that subject I did have a little bit of thought as to what my colleagues were talking about in terms of recognizing other presidents and I I do want to point out we're not trying to change it from President's Day specifically to Washington's birthday I'm asking that we include both I think President Washington was enough of a figure in our history both in the American Revolution and as our first president and the president of the continent the uh Constitutional Convention that he deserves special recognition so what I proposing is that we change the holiday as it appears on our calendar to say President's Day SL Washington's birthday anyone uh want to comment on that okay um do we uh do you are you making a mo okay I would I would I would like to uh make a motion that the calendar reflect the third third Monday in February as President Day slash Washington's birthday can I get a second I'll second that um questions or comments we already kind of said that already but would anybody like to comment I mean personally I don't I I don't see a problem with that I like the fact that we're recognizing uh both the Federal and the state in that uh compromise and I guess the only question you know remains if it's some sort of um issue with our contract then we would have to rethink it right the calendar throughout the year is is always looked at and and changes are made throughout the year if need be okay so we can move ahead with a a roll call on that um are you ready Mr Sim I me just yes [Music] Mr SMA yes Mr Fischer yes Mr Krauss yes yes Miss pellet yes Mr Sweeney Miss vello yes Mr Zimmerman yes Miss Brock no motion carries uh do we have any other uh open board member Forum items Mr Zim he was a president well Washington got the first 1 Fulk bought the war with Mexico that's right she gave us Texas that's right to the pafic so he did acquire the most land ever he actually was a good president not washing tonigan but five minutes ago want to bring a history teacher next time so okay thank you for that um anything else for open board member form no okay great moving on to item Q adjournment um may I please have a motion to adjourn the meeting oh any wants to go home roll call oh do I just say I you say all favor favor say I thank you thank you everyone thanks