##VIDEO ID:4I5ncnvSUm0## e recording it usually says recording in progress okay we record go ahead okay good evening everyone I would like to welcome you to the January 21st 2025 Board of entend meeting we are calling the meeting to order at 7:02 P p.m. if everyone could please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance aliv and justice for all a reading of meeting notice the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public IES at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provision of the act the Verona board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be P published in the Star Ledger posted with the township of Verona and the Verona Education Association posting of this meeting set forth the time location and agenda were posted at the Verona Board of Education Office and on the Verona Public Schools district website copies of today tonight's agenda and resolutions have been made available to the public via the Board of Education website Mr Cruz could you please call attendance Mr wer Mrs Ferrar here Mrs prisco here Mrs fella here Mr Boon here we have Quorum thank you can I have a motion to approve the minutes from the January 9th 2025 I'll move that can I get a second I'll second okay can we please have roll call Waka yes Mrs Ferrara yes Mrs prisco yes Mrs verzella yes Mr Boon yes motion carries thank you and then are we going to go right into the superintendent Report with uhand JY good evening we have um a presentation tonight about um the uh hbw proposed schedule uh and you'll notice it's also on the agenda for board approval um if the Board needs more information when after Mr galber cheek's uh presentation we can table it I'm trying to we'd like to get this rolling so we can start presenting to families and stuff Mr Quick question why is it why do the board need to vote on this you know it's it's a big change it's a change in the start time of the school day it's it's not a change in the number of minutes um that are taught but it's a change in the way uh we um a lot time to physical education and to um world languages I just thought it would be um prudent to have the board approve but it's it's more symbolic though in that this could the school just do this without the boards permiss to be honest with you we never made in my former districts we never made big change without having board approval whether it's required or not I'm not sure but it is programmatic changes which we would have you approve if we're curricular okay I mean I can check with Kyle to well I'm just I'm just understanding what you know I haven't heard the presentation but like I just want to know what the REM are we the the final stop if this is no or or I I I kind of think the district would be able to do it if they if they wanted to probably concept it's just it's it's been a practice of mine for years to understand that's fine thank you sure so um I have some I have a couple of items that I I think are important to mention and then I'll turn it over to Mr Cruz and um uh our student rep and then we'll get Mr galber up in front of the board uh tomorrow evening marks the first college admissions panel at uh Verona High School it starts at 700 PM in the auditorium representatives from Lehi University the College of New Jersey University of New Hampshire Binghamton University and the College of Charleston will present and take questions on the following topics Trends in college admissions making applications Stand Out activities and extracurriculars um early planning for college applications and this is this program is really targeted for grades uh students in grades 9 through 11 and so early planning for college application it focuses on one of the most impactful steps um that they can take next now to strengthen future applications um letters of recommendation what role do they play in your admissions decision impact of demonstrated interest on your application the role of context so how do you evaluate students within the context of their High School particularly one life for own high school which is a smaller school um and we have uh open enrollment in AP and honors courses instead of gated enrollment so those are questions that these um Representatives will address application challenges and common mistakes and advice for parents what should parents be doing now to support their students uh through the application process without overwhelming them um January 27 through 31st um marks the child inclusive schools week that our student rep spoke about last uh meeting this year's theme is every voice matters Monday is communication without words and uh we're asking everyone to wear blue Tuesday is assist of technology and augmentative communication and the theme is red Wednesday is about music and it's uh use in communication and um color is orange Thursday is a celebration of world languages and the color is green and Friday is how to use your voice for others when they are in need and um that's maroon so wear your inclusive schools T-shirt If you bought one or or you can wear your Verona maroon and white along with that inclusive schools week there is an inclusive schools poetry contest uh every voice matters create a poem that reflects inclusivity kindness or belonging there'll be one winner from each Verona School with a $50 prize for each winner Thursday um uh 10 uh Mr Prout of prout's funeral home is sponsoring 10 staff and board members to attend the Father Mark Payne Institute Symposium 20 25 at St Benedict's prep in Newark um we will be uh attending and um see that that school's um unique um programing programming so they're going to be um um bringing us through different rotating professional development groups on Community Development experience socio emotional experience student leadership experience experiential education and we'll hear some closing remarks as well as a Q&A with um uh Father Mark um this will provide us opportunity to sit with faculty and administrators from St Benedict's prep to understand some of the logistical challenges and how they how we could apply this model to elementary and middle school grades as well and Saturday I'm very happy to be uh taking part in the Verona spelling be for fourth and fifth grade students and that's hosted by the Verona Junior Women's Club and held at FM Brown um the superintendent and mayor have historically been judges at this event this is my third B and mayor timbero second B it's always a really free event so I look forward to that this Saturday as well and that's my report just glad you don't judge my spelling um one quick question on um the college uh Administration panel what day is is that tomorrow tom night tomorrow yeah and uh it was advertised so um uh if you were interested you can um send your questions in ahead in time thank you um now we'll move on to the business administrator report by Mr Cruz yes good evening everyone uh this month in finance we have the November 2024 uh board secretary treasure and the transfer report which are all in agreement uh as always this is a particular busy time of year for the business office as we work to close out the calendar year and prepare our W2 and 1099 filings uh we recently we completed our midyear budget review with the county office uh this review evaluates the fiscal efficiency by comparing our performance to districts of similar size and type across the state uh residents are able to if they're interested to see this report they could actually go on to nj.gov under uh the taxpayers guide to education spending and uh I I believe I'm I actually feel really good about the way that we've been performing across um especially uh compared to our peers and especially in Essex County uh in addition we actively preparing uh the fiscal uh 2526 budget uh mrsi and I will continue to review and hold meetings uh early uh February leading up to the preliminary budget presentation which scheduled for February 20 25th the second board meeting of February uh once the governor releases the state aid figures uh hopefully before uh the beginning of March uh we will have our alternative budget uh presentation which will be scheduled on March uh it's scheduled uh to be uh shared and presented on March 11th uh that concludes uh the presentation for my my report for tonight thank you thank you and now we'll move on to our student report uh by Ryan goo so uh good evening everyone so where As We are continuing into January we are definitely encroaching on the end of the semester and the second marketing period and with winter sports continuing there is in fact a basketball game today against newk Academy for the boys team and for the girls basketball team a game against East Orange and to my knowledge they both went well but uh yesterday um members of the swim team competed at the super Essex County conference championships uh with the the girls placing fifth overall in in the the conference which is very impressive and moreover there is also a senior night swim meet this Thursday at the moner YMCA avanguard is presenting a karaoke night for students on Tuesday January 28th at 6:00 pm. here in the VHS hor learning Commons and uh as Miss DJI had stated before next week is uh inclusive schools schools week with the spirit days from January 27th to uh the 31st and I'm going keep sound like a broken record repeating what she said but we do have uh of course the college admissions panel and I do encourage uh students to attend to and also their parents to well gain Insight insights about college applic process and just the general adion process and that's all I have for tonight thank you very much now we are going to have a presentation by Dave gber who's the principal of hbw about the hbw schedule thank you I'm be to discuss the sorry about that um thank you mppi members of the board I'm Dave gabc principal of HB whorn and I am thrilled uh to be here before you discuss a schedule that we have that's been just about two years in the making um that we have already um that we have in place to uh begin in the 2526 school year I'm going to just share with you a a general overview of that schedule um um but before I get into some some length we we started uh in July of 23 with a um two meetings of volunteer teachers who came in and shared some feedback and thoughts on a schedule um from there members of the administrative team uh we've had um countless meetings and discussions and and conversations on what schedule would be the best uh to meet the needs of our students there is no perfect schedule and so there's always give or take with a schedule and within um uh the the parameters that we have but we are uh confident that we have a schedule that moving forward will meet um better meet the varying needs of our students while also maximizing the the strengths of our excellent staff um first slide for the sake of context is just a general overview of our current schedule in short it's probably similar to a schedule that um all of us have went through when we were in school it's it's a traditional 8 period day the classes are 45 minutes long it's an 8 period day but seven one of those classes is lunch and recess so really a day that's um seven periods at 45 minutes a piece um all across the board grades five through eight students have four core classes um fifth and sixth grade and then seventh and eth grade are on slightly varying tracks between uh War language fed time uh Fifth and six grade has a win period right now by and large the takeaway is that we currently have a uh seven AC seven seven classes that meet 45 minutes per day uh throughout the year in going through this our mission and forgive me while I read it to you it's was to establish a responsive schedule that prioritizes increased instuctional time in the core content areas supports student wellness and repurposing Staffing in an effort to maximize positive student outcomes academically socially and emotionally um so this schedule um again before I dive into it it does retain all of our staff members within our building um there's not a need for additional staff there's not a need uh an area for reduction of Staff it takes our existing staff and we believe puts them in places to better serve all of our students so taking the um admission we we develop priorities um so it's no secret that we with our current schedule um we have 45 minutes of literacy time um grades 5 through eight where the state recommendation is a minimum of 90 minutes of of literacy time in in grades five and six and so we want to make sure especially at a minimum we were able to increase literacy time um and also in in math in grade five we also have uh prioritized and this is something that started before um the development of the schedule but really prioritizing the transition points when students enter hbw and when they exit hbw and how can we make those transitions better for students um and again using staff but to to provide interventions for students who are struggling we already do that but how can we reshape that in a way that better meet the needs of our students while leaning on the strengths of our existing staff so the schedule we have developed for next year and I recognize it doesn't say lunch and recess in there I promise you we have lunch and recess but for the purposes of of um comparing and contrasting the the main point here is that the prop the schedule we plan to implement has six periods rather than seven um but the the key difference is those six periods will be 55 minute periods so we're going from a seven act seven classes at 45 minutes to six classes at 55 minutes so every day every class that's 10 minutes of increase uh in direct instruction uh I can't tell you how many lessons I've seen where uh the end of the lesson the teacher says I wish that we had five more minutes 10 more minutes 20 more minutes uh because it's really um challenging our teachers do a great job but often times obviously the heart of what we do what our teachers do is to get to critical thinking to analysis to grappling with with with complex tasks to developing hypotheses and testing them um especially if you're in a science lab or a teched lab or any class you name really there are different examples of why once once you you get to that point there's there's often a need for oh man if only had five more minutes 10 more minutes uh we'll get to that tomorrow um and so and and really having a 55 or longer minute period is is something that we've been looking at even since I got to HB before the pandemic we were looking at ways to make our lessons a little bit longer um so that is is sort of the you know summary the big takeaway um some details our start time right now we we start home room at 8:30 we'll be starting at 8:20 next year so 10 minutes earlier we'll be dismissing around the same time as we currently do um again to emphasize the instructional time the contact time that that that teachers um you know janed specialed teachers have with their teachers increases 10 minutes every day uh in in all of their classes the schedule also that we have in place it doesn't have to rotate but we are planning to have the schedule that rotates over a six- day cycle um in contrast with the prona high school our schedule will not have a a rotate and drop um meaning we're not dropping any classes we are having every class um every day the six in a six- day cycle those those six periods will um I'll just try to go back to this visual um and I'll preface this and the Educators in the room might will agree with me that that students pick up a rotating schedule more easily than adults do um students they're they're going to get it quickly um and it'll but in short let's say the first day one you H student will have period one first period two period three one through six in sequence the next day will be called day two we'll start that day with period two and then they'll have period three and period four then on day three they'll start their day with period three and period four so on and so forth so that um students have throughout the six days every class they have will be their first class of the day their last class of the day their third class of the day um and there are a lot of benefits to this there's there's a lot of research that supports a rotation um just think of the student who might struggle in say math and they're not a morning person and they're slated with math period one every day for 100 80 Days the outcomes are probably not going to be what they should be um think of that last period of the day if if you're students a lot of students are you know might be tired by that point and if that's their most challenging class likewise or that class that's right after a big game of four square at the recess um field and then they have to come in and and focus on a class they struggle most with a rotating schedule allows us to see students at different times of the day um and we think there there are a lot of benefits to this we we actually had a rotating schedule during hybrid learning during covid out of necessity we had um when students were coming um in person in the morning and then learning from home in the afternoon in order to have students not always come into school for certain classes then learn from home on certain classes we developed a rotating schedule that um was really well received by our teaching staff and it was reiterated when we met with the staff in those um two July 23 meetings that are rotating schedule would be one that was supportive so that's a a big part of the schedule again the schedule Works without a rotation um but there are a lot of benefits to having a rotating schedule and then another key difference with this schedule a key strength of this schedule is in that we get that grade five literacy and math time um in order to make the fifth grade experience more Elementary in nature let's face that a lot of fifth graders are in middle are in elementary schools in other districts um and and we do our teachers do a great job in in supporting that transition to HB whorn we we we have developed a plan where we're going to the teachers will have even more eyes on students more supportive of students while providing with that increase in in math and literacy time so for example I'll go back to the schedule just to to view it um let's look at grade five where it says you know there are four cores throughout the day we're going to have right now we have teaching teaching teams of science social studies math and literacy teachers four individuals who teach those four subjects we're going to shift to Pro a model that has um one individual will be the literacy teacher and the social studies teacher and then another teacher will be the math teacher and the science teacher those two teachers will be teams they will share the same 45 50 students throughout the throughout the majority of the day um and let's take Literacy for example example the literacy teacher on day one will have you could teach both blocks of literacy 110 minutes of literacy time and then the next day teach one section of literacy one period of literacy and one period of social studies so we will see a reduction of social studies for literacy um but right there in a two-day period we've had 165 minutes devoted for literacy time um whereas we currently have much viewer than that so that's and it's going to conversely on the math side the teachers and the supervisors don't think we need as much time for math as we do for literacy so we're probably looking at um at a day even though the the math science teacher will have students for those two blocks that are 55 minutes that might look like um in most days where it's the one full math block and then part of that second time the teachers meeting with those students some that might be devoted to math and the remainder devoted to science so science will happen most likely every day under this new model these are going to be um determinations throughout um you know throughout the year as as supervisors and teachers work with one another and depending on the unit and the um the lessons that teachers are doing but in short there's a lot of time that will will be added in in literacy n and math and again those two teachers will be sharing you know one teacher one the literacy social studies teacher will have about 22 students the math science teacher will have 22 students and so they will so have four teams at that grade level sharing the 40 45 students um which would be more similar to the elementary age than it is you know what we do now and have been for a long time sending students here to fifth grade and write way into that eight period kind of factory model day um that where they're constantly changing classes yeah please do I know there's a lot of information that's okay um this the teams is this only in fifth grade so it's only in fifth grade at the other grade level six seven eighth grade we will still have common planning time where there are grade level um teams and um meetings to discuss students but they would remain content areas but the teams in fifth grade are the only ones that will be teaching Ela and social studies math and sence correct correct thank you you're welcome um where do we get that time uh Mr doy alluded to before in in seventh and eth grade um Fizz world and World Language are currently offered daily we're going to have those alternate every other day um world language we currently take seventh and eth grade and that's our equivalent to math French or Mandarin level one so students who've gone through 8th grade here uh at a language enter Verona High School taking level two language that won't change but we're going to view ma uh six seventh and eighth grade years as that level one and but we there are great benefits from the language even though the time is going to be cut in half it means the class size are are being cut in half as well and our world language classes are large so right now we have classes of 25 28 and even 30 students in a world language class and and if the goal is fluency um in a 45 minute period it's really challenging our teachers do the best they can they do a great job of it but it's really challenging to engage those 25 or 20 or 30 students conversationally in a period when you have a class that's 12 or 13 or 15 um rather than um there there's just double the opportunity for a teacher to get meaningful dialogue uh the goal would is dialogue is is fluence dialogue between students and again as much as our teachers really uh do a fine job the the greater gain We Believe will take place with the smaller classes every other day and it's typical to have six seven eight uh curriculum equal the level one right thank you um fifth and sixth grade is currently our win period um that does so win period will is the limitated to help create a help us go from seven to six periods um core support for special education students is within that win period we are not eliminating that we are um uh still going through some of the the details on that but we are we will be maintaining core support um it it in a different form in a different um point in the day and it we'll come through more more there will be some paths that that parents and their case managers will um be able to discuss in terms of what their core um core support experience looks like um I alluded to before the transition points um we also it's again this started this year but we also have for the first time a counselor dedicated to just our fifth grade student students Miss Ramirez who um also serves as the anti-bullying specialist for both the elementary schools and and the Middle School um she spends a lot of time at the elementary schools um talking with students getting to know them getting them you know working with them trying to begin that form those relationships and begin that transition to the middle school and then as students fifth grade counselor there's already friendly face who um you with whom students already already had conversations um it's also allowed us to our our other counselors Miss warshaw Miss fi to have slightly smaller their case loads are have been big so by taking a grade level off their plates has been really helpful and having letting them um continue to work more deeply with their students uh and cultivating so especially uh those who might be struggling the the transition from eighth grade out of eth grade to to high school um I mentioned before the um there will be planning time that that's in place the planning time uh or or common times where teachers have off will exist in this new schedule some of that time will be for meeting as a at a grade level to discuss students just as we do now with the current house model um we we meet and the teachers meet regularly to discuss students academically academic social and emotional needs that will continue at a grade level and we have a plan in place for uh what that will look like um and there's also time let's face a good instruction comes out of uh a good learning comes out of proper instruction and having teachers who teach Co classes in common having them have the opportunity to uh sit down and work with one another has great benefits so we able to maintain that in this this new schedule intervention students who are struggling we have intervention in place now um but at each grade in in fifth grade we don't we won't don't plan at the moment to have an interventionist because of the uh length of time that those two teachers will be working with students that intervention for the most part should happen there and we'll have to visit that if we if that becomes a challenge we don't anticipate that in sixth seventh and eighth grade um at each grade level we have will'll have a math and literacy teacher who will um serve as an interventionist and who um when as needs arise support uh working with students and and um addressing them we've talked about the possibility of having one person um who can be specifically assigned as an interventionist that's something that we'll continue to look at to see if that's a better model or even a possibility given the um confines of um of our schedule and our staff but again we think that this is this will help this each class size may go up maybe two students but in the end that's negligible compared to the direct intervention that uh two teachers at each grade level math and a literacy teacher will be able to provide students who are um struggling and we again we do have that in place now but but there are paths within the schedule to make those interventions stronger um as a result um and and we believe that our current cycle offerings have There's an opportunity here for us to uh we have great cycle offerings and but there are opportunities to potentially we're not there yet but to potentially take seventh and eighth grade cycle and offer uh for example an art one if will and then more an advanced art or more Niche uh topic or computers or teched or music so um those are part of the discussion um that these opportunities do exist what's next we did present the schedule with our staff back at our November faculty meeting um there will be some shifting like I said especially in fifth grade where um we will no longer have teams of four uh four teachers of science social studies math literacy teacher um so there will be some staff members who are going to um move to a different grade or a literacy teacher is going to be taking on um social studies as well so we are um as an administrative team we've been looking at that and plan to uh within the next few weeks um share that with those those staff members then ultimately we'd like to do um have a presentation to the Verona Community to um in an evening um professional development that's going to be key for our staff we uh curriculum writing development what does it look like to expand my curriculum 45 minutes a day to 55 minutes a day what do I do with all this time uh it doesn't mean just 10 more minutes to get start on your homework so um those are some things that we'll be working on as we go through the spring and even into the summer um and then logistically there might need to be some um uh CH amendments to I APS um to reflect the changes in the minutes of our schedule and um the the core support model so that's the end of my overview I know there are a lot of more detail that are probably missing but um I'm open if anyone has any questions thank you Mr gal I think the the the big takeaway from this schedule is that um when I first started here I asked the question of you know what's the reason for fifth grade being an HB was that did we think they were should be treated as middle school students or was it a space issue and it was a space issue um so we were really focusing on instruction and getting those students to level of instruction um so it will much match much better with the um dimensions and amplify math which really requires those lessons are designed for 60 Minutes 55 60 minutes and we're squeezing them into 45 now so that'll give flexibility to math uh as well and it will give flexibility to science so those are the three areas that we've been looking at where our students are not necessarily is performing as well as um we'd like to see and the schools that we associate with so um very happy with all the work that you did and U Mrs arrian was instrumental Mrs Peter was instrumental Dr Miller was in those meetings um the teachers that gave feedback just thank everybody that did two years worth of hard work to come up with something that um uh that we think is going to be really positive the only thing it doesn't do that we talked uh two years ago with the board is we thought this would open up um being able to move some teachers to the elementary world to do some intervention down there we have a different plan for that that's we're working on that schedule as well um what it does do for the h PW students in grades five six seven and eight is it gets real intervention opportunities so real um each teacher will teach four core subjects and have the opportunity to teach an intervention section um versus and and not that the wind program wasn't helpful but it really was a Band-Aid thank you again um I I just to have couple quick questions probably one second uh probably as the dumbest guy in the room and I do need to defer to our Educators uh on the board um Mr galich you talked about the um we're currently at the 45 minute Mark uh and state requirements are roughly 90 minutes and if I understand you properly you were talking about um language arts with social studies and that that that's how you can pick up some additional minutes to get you to to the 90 minutes my question is um it sounds like that that would be kind of a flexible scale so how how do you on a continuous basis monitor that you are indeed hitting X minutes in those areas is that just a a Target is it is it something that maybe after a month you realize oh we're we're only getting I don't know 75 minutes we got ad how how does that take me through how that would work so the the literacy um is the primary area where we need a significant addition of minutes um and that will be like like IID said before it at least half of the days if not more um there will students will be having that double block of literacy time um our supervisors and I my myself Mr Lancaster um and the the teachers on the on the four teams we're we're gonna have to have a lot of ongoing dialogue throughout the year um you know but we're in compliance otherwise with right now we're overly compliant in terms of the SC time we need for Science and and social studies um and um I don't think thee great five I think the answer to the question is the same way we do it in the elementary world right so teachers um it's actually less regimen in K4 than it is because you'll still have periods right so you'll still have a block where teacher will have their schedule K4 teachers make their own schedule outside of specials and um the principles and the supervisors in certain situations um by checking in and making sure teachers if you're if you're and it's there's some flexibility if a teacher um doesn't need 90 minutes of ela in grade four they may P 10 minutes into math but overall um to to get the program accomplished they're going to need at least 90 minutes every other day but could we off to Mr Boon's Point wouldn't the lesson plans let us kind of be a metric to see what was taught and for how long at which days yes so um by next year um when every well everyone's handing in lesson plans now as of January 6 so um we know there's some growing pains with that and uh we should be able to see that they're not required to put their start and end time in their lesson plans right now and it's really just I think it would still be it's still data to show that yeah yeah yeah absolutely sure I think also couldn't it just simply be scheduling so if if that teacher is teaching Ela in social studies and they have a 90 minute block throughout the week then perhaps on Monday it's a 90-minute Ela on Tuesday it's Ela and and social studies so that it's so that there isn't any there aren't any questions as to who's teaching what when we have the benefit of having seen a mockup schedule so um when those two uh sections lay next to each other it's one 10 minutes in a row and when one's at the end of the day and the other's at the beginning they're separated yeah there it's it's uh actually very creative uh and designed so that um it's not 110 minutes every other day in a block so it's broken up a little right no exactly okay uh just to clarify a couple things currently the teachers that would be teaching the ELA and social studies and math and science they're appropriately credentialed because they would be they would have to be credentialed for elementary school most of them are Elementary credentials yeah because Elementary goes to F sixth grade credentials okay and now does this mean that the Carnegie Homestead house system is now gone like we're not GNA have Carnegie Homestead so so that that is accurate there won't be um a Carnegie house an an Alstead house with this new model um which means you're G to have to change your voicemail I know it's been many years since I've changed that I'm just teasing it um and then upside the interventions those would be General Ed interventions like multi-tiered Support Services type of correct IDE and it could theoretically serve up to over a 100 students in a six day cycle um the way you know I won't bore with the math but it could theoretically depending on the needs of we're going to be responses to the needs of the students there might be students who need more you know in a six day cycle two days or three days um you know we're we're reluctant to pull student from it would come from a cycle class um excessively but um theoretically we could we could do small group intervention pull out different group you know each for over six uh days but we'll again we'll be responsive to where the needs are with intervention sure so I'm gonna go off of um Mike because I'm not an educator as well so I've I'm just so for like say fifth grade a teacher who teaches science and that's what they've been teaching for so many years just science so now they're going to be required to also teach Math and Science and am I getting that that right and same thing with a social study teachers now they're going to have to be literacy teacher so those teachers that have to do that for so many years they've been teaching that one subject I mean my boys were in the middle school years ago so that's what they were used to so that to me if an if I'm an educator I would feel like that's a lot of catching up of learning I don't is am I no you're I we know exactly what you're saying I think um we have teachers that are at hbw that were in the elementary schools prior that have had recently taught math recently taught uh Ela that are so we kind of get a sense of who we're going to tap for what um is somebody going to have to maybe learn literacy program yes but here's the thing next year everybody's going to have to learn a new literacy program so every it's going to be lots of PD for everyone that's rolling out literacy in this District because we are changing to um a to adapt to the new literacy standards so that's uh another committee that's been working all year um that I'm serving on with Mrs Peter who's running it and um uh a team from each school um sorry a team from each grade level um to Pilot and look at those available um more of a shift toward that science of reading um to Pam um but also on the other hand like you could be teaching first grade one year and then the next year you're teaching fifth grade and and to me that that might be more Monumental of a of a transition than just you know you know from one Humanity to another um but but I do understand that and respect that but I still kind of think that there's a lot of Pros to to this plan I I also I agree I think that um thank you so much because I know that it's scheduling is is a beast and I take a lot just even think through this all so to the teachers who are part of it to you I appreciate it um I think the two things that are really Banning out to me um kind of just thinking ahead is the idea of mtss right the idea of the intervention and doing that properly and the idea of strong curriculum because I think that while this has the potential to get those extra 10 minutes in and across a week it's 50 minutes right so I do think that that the Fingerprints of that will will will be impactful without strong curriculum to tie and without the training for teachers of what a mult tiered system of support actually is then for lack of a better term it's a waste of time and right so I think um you know I like the idea that it's January and we're thinking about this now so that we can think about a roll up for the teachers but I think as a board too I'd like to know you know what is the investment here what is the plan curriculum wise because as a point um as as a bullet point here it did note curriculum writing so that would be 5 through eight how are we going to support the teachers to ensure that if we are doing that curriculum writing the curriculum is able to be done in the best way uh with the most support and also if we want to have our teachers work as true interventionists what supports are we going to give to them so that they can do that with success so I know that was a loaded is a lot a lot there but I I heard it so Dr Miller is budgeting to rewrite the curriculum across those grade levels and we have luckily built into our schedule have many uh half days across the year as well as two full days for professional development that will be dedicated to um working with the uh five six seven and eight teachers on what is an intervention class look like what are we doing in an intervention class um and we we have a lot of people that know what that looks like here in District that can help us turn key the fifth grade so if we're looking at using those fifth grade blocks and to provide that small group instruction which I think is great even tapping into to maybe some of the you know fourth grade or the elementary school teachers who may be more used to doing that type of instruction with a small group to to provide that support um because I think that that's going to be a heavy lift there for fifth grade teachers yeah it's just they're very used to teaching and they're good at it um but we have been looking at literacy in fifth sixth sth eth more like the way we teach it in Upper grades versus that like guided reading small group instruction so yeah it's um it's going to take a couple years to get it really down to a science and no pun on the signs of reading but yeah any any other questions Mr Calbert thank you thank you thank you it is a lot of work thank you and thank you to all the teachers and AD minist ERS and staff and everyone who put this all together um like it started it this has been like an 18mon project so finally remember I remember when they first went to the house system I do too um okay so let's move on to committee reports um first up is education a it how far [Laughter] Zella I want to be um okay so we obviously the majority of our Ed committee work this um during this meeting was really the hbw structure so we had some pretty in-depth conversations around that um so I'll just go through and touch on some of the things that we spoke about quickly um the Splash Program um we'll be back again which was a title one funded program for students who are um struggling in reading and math to provide those those interventions um we'll continue to keep you posted as to uh when that program will begin it's over the summer but we'll have the exact dates and the specifics um Coming um let's see we have the um map testing that is starting to be administered uh in grades 1 through four January so this week the 21st to 24th um 5ifth through 8th is the 22nd to the 23rd um and then at BHS the high school will start administering their grow growth assessment to algebra and geometry students or that was already done on January 9th sorry um let's see what else was important here um Dr Miller is continuing to go to recruiting you know to job fairs to continue to recruit um you know potential teachers for the next school year here [Music] and that's really I'm thinking that's really it here there wasn't really anything it was mostly things that um had to do with the hbw um Mrs Ferrera on this um I I see the Highlight about and and this was something that we talked about at the top of the uh meeting about the uh uh College uh college visits and the college panels and U I see you have an entry about various College um uh also on here and that leads me to a broader question is is there any discussion about getting such um bears and panel discussions on um non- colge tracks like opportunities through maybe um um an electricians program Plumbing um opportunities um trade school opportunities um we looking to have those discussions as part part of this as well so this this is for recruiting teachers right right right but but it just seeing that got me thinking like as a as a as a right college fair to have other tracks I mean I'm not sure Mr jpp you may be better off than me to answer because we not discuss we have talked about um even when Mrs fry was on the board had she has had made those similar requests um we have not done a lot of that but we should be doing more of that so we we we'll get a move on on that right and just seeing the colleges again get me thinking on those on that level anything else okay moving on to facilities not much to really go through um so the fencing at Landing Avenue School has been completed uh the repairs at Forest Avenue for the HVAC has been taken care of let's say where else are we hbw we did speak about that project of at the the office space and putting that on hold and putting that towards maybe um looking at you know classrooms and other things down the road with sizes of you know class sizes um let's see that's we did have discussion regarding the high school again for the future of the pressbox we've been discussing this here at meetings our lower Field baseball bleachers as well as um the turf and that will probably hopefully look to I think um they are going to try to get a a quote for maybe all three of those if I'm correct about that Mr Cruz and I think that might be it did I miss much no I think the I I I mean at risk of underplaying the the Press boxes um almost a meeting by meeting issue but yeah we need to um choose the direction we want to go um sooner than later that was fast on that fence at Landing thanks for hustling that anything did I miss anything no thank you okay move on to finance committee um yes uh Mr Cruz touched on a lot of the highlights um at the top of the top of the meeting um a couple of other things to color in here um the um from the technology standpoint we uh have replaced all uh teacher device um and then also um uh installed some uh New U APS for our servers uh there's also been um an addition of uh door access readers as well as uh security cameras uh throughout the district um uh the Food Service uh RFP uh is moving forward um our new time tracking device uh is is installed uh this just allows for just better uh time logging and more efficient um uh management of uh of that time um the other issue that came up is we are receiving proposals on the retrofit upgrade of the uh High School external messaging board uh if for those of you who drive by every day you see the little computer glitch and so that this has been a source spot uh but it is um when we do get the proposals we do want to take a good hard look at the cost of this this is not uh something that is cheap cheap no um so there there is 50 Grand at the last referendum that was put up or right before it yeah so 10 years 10 years is with the Marquee right the front right correct the front Marquee and it is not and we're we're looking we're not looking at extravagant improvements either and and that is not cheap so when we when we discuss those proposals it's um anything else okay so we will move on to public comments on agenda action items if anyone has a comment on any item we are voting on please come to the podium seeing nobody you know I gotta do it we will go on to discussion items uh new business old business does anyone on the board have anything they wish to share or discuss I just want to say I was at the HB with m m Mrs TJ zeppy we were at the HB W's uh Winter concert oh was wonderful and um the students we just have so many amazing students it's always so yes um the staff and I would just like to thank everyone because it was just a the auditorium there was not a seat to be found nope I stood yeah but it just seeing the number of solos solo performances was really impressive yeah so our music teachers are very impressive and the students as well so I'm always impressed with how they give everybody seemingly everybody a chance to shine and it's uh it just Builds an enthusiasm that I think is infectious anything else anyone else yeah I I just wanted to bring up a point um and I want to be clear um I I'm not speaking for the board I'm I'm really only speaking for myself here um and in my role as a board member I I feel a responsibility to represent everybody uh in Verona I don't care what a person's politics are um I have friends and a families across the political Spectrum I make a point of getting along with everybody um it it's really in that Spirit though um that I consider myself also an unflinching ally of our um strong lgbtq plus Community um and over the it was a little emotional for me but uh over the last s several months I've heard from friends and families uh and community members have they've expressed concerns uh for their safety uh uh since this fall um and I've encouraged them to to remain optimistic um but I you know as a a straight white male I don't know what that feeling is like other than to offer my support um but yesterday after reflecting on some of the comments made uh by some of our political leaders at yesterday's festivities I I I just want to underscore uh that I will continue to support uh the lgbtq plus Community uh and anybody who who feels on the margins um and that I will continue to fight for those rights and uh their rights for belonging in Verona uh as a member of the board and I do what I have said is that I I point to the fact that inclusivity remains very much part of the District's strategic plan and it will be for the next several years um and I will not back down from that commitment um again I underscore this with a desire to represent every voice in Verona regardless of where they stand so thank you for that that time thank you and just all our policies that we have voted on and have put in place remain in place until they change so as of right now they are in place place as they were last week and last month so on to correspondence any correspondence no okay so now we are going to move on to action items can I please have a motion to approve action items A1 through A2 I will move it I'll second okay motion by Mr Walker second by Mr Boon any discussion okay seeing then uh Mr Cruz can we do a roll call Mr W yes Mrs Ferrar Mrs prisco yes Mrs frala yes Mr Boone yes motion carries thank you thank you moving on to education can I have a motion to approve um yeah to approve B1 through B4 also move it move it okay motion by Miss Chrisco second by miss fera any discussion no being then uh can we please have roll call Mr Cruz Mr Walker yes Mrs Ferrer yes Mrs prisco yeah Mrs Rosel yes Mr Bo yes motion carries thank you moving forward um can I have a motion for C1 and C2 by Miss Daka second by Mr Brisco any discussion I just have something quick for um Mr flood for the marching band director I'm happy to see him come on and congratulate him for it um I just want to make sure for the it's a it's a nice stip in I know that it's a tremendous amount of work but it's also a very um I think it's a significant stip in so I just want to to ensure that um as far as the marching band goes with this with the ship that we're still going to see competitions full match marching band not just a pet band correct okay yes great thank you so much and actually because we're most likely separating marching band from concert band we have two different people teaching it now um this sttip in will be stretched further because it'll be more afternoon in evening practices okay thank you great um Mr Cruz can we please have roll call Mr wome yes Mrs Farrar yes Mrs prisco yes Mrs brazel yes Mr yes motion carries moving forward there is nothing under facilities so moving to finance can I have a motion for E1 through e nine nine so moved I'll second that okay motion by Mr Walker second by any discussions um I just want to make a quick comment on E7 I would just like to um you know the donation for the $43,000 um from the estate of Bruce wans it's just a very generous uh donation to the music program so yeah thank you for br really nice yeah that's of 1967 I might add to that is an amazing donation and just a question of um for my education how how do those funds get used for the music program I mean that's a pretty broad mandate yeah and and we are meeting with the music teachers to to um make those decisions um um I'm sure that's probably going to be part of it the we need new band uniforms um uh that's not going to cover it so we'll have to which solidifies Mrs ferrara's uh question as to whether or not we're going to be a pep band or still marching band yeah so um Mr Lynch has reached out to um Mr cogal and me to uh organize a meeting to go over uh what we potentially could use this money for I have a quick question for E8 and I I don't know if I should know this already but the SDA Grant agreement I I'm I'm seeing that there's the total project and then the grant amount was 6040 okay so then the difference is coming so the grant was for the 60% the difference is coming from our budget that's what we're seeing there it's not a different line so the grant is uh 40% and we the board is covering uh 60% okay so then once we once we ready the board is ready to move forward with the project we will be taking that out of cap reserves okay so this is the rod grants they're they say FDA the school district Authority but these are what we've been talking about as Rod grants okay so okay so this is what came up about two or three meetings ago we were starting to flush out and then this is okay great thank you so much that point this just that we ac so this is the acceptance of the funds from the state uh in order to meet the 18month deadline of saying we have the funds to actually meet our obligations for the 60% and we're accepting the 40% from the state it doesn't mean that the board has to act on the project yet so the the funds will stay with the state and whenever that project if it's a year from now a year and a half from now that those points are already secured so we're put them to secure and then we're going to make the decision in the way in which or what we choose to do correct and then we'll work with our architect to say okay you know what we're ready to get this project off the house of Market fairing right now is it the right time and let's actually go out and and get a mechanical HVAC bids for for this project that's we'll go through that yes thank you so much you're welcome further okay can we please have roll call Mr Waka yes Mrs Ferrar yes Mrs prisco yes Mrs Vella yes Mr Boon yes motion carries moving forward to governance and policy and I have a motion for F1 and F2 um before we do I do have a question on u under regulations r 7441 on the electronic surveillance can you take me through a little bit we just have to have the motion and then the second and then we'll have the discuss no okay motion by second motion by Mr Walker second by m Brisco now can we have than questions and comments uh before we do that let me just um if everyone can put an M next to R3 212 it is also a mandated um it should say m it's a mandated regulation on on attendance attendance yeah okay thank you so um to get to um both policy 7441 and regulation 7441 as well as student smoking and cooperating with law enforcement these are revisions that reflect changes to the state uniform memorandum of agreement so that's what any any of the changes here and and really is very minuscule changes I believe for other than grammatical changes the only substantive change in uh R 7441 and policy 7441 is that um it has to be an emerging situation for the police to uh gain access to our uh our cameras and look so they can't just peek in on a gym class right PE class sorry okay any other questions I just have one quick question for the um for the attendance regulation that it's mandated but that's brand new this was the first time we have not had it right okay so that's I wanted to bring that up because I I want to make sure especially because it is mandated that the in reading through the regulation I I just just want teachers to know that this is not that this is a mandate from the state that we should have always had we should have always not something that it's that's why I made sure I said the Mandate that's what so I made a note for that because I just want to make sure that the teachers are aaware that this will start to become a common practice and also aware of the fact that it's just us being in comp and not anything other than that for thank you thank you anything else okay Mr Cruz can we please have R call Mr Walker Mrs Farrar Mrs prisco yes Mrs brazal yes Mr Boon yes motion carries motion second we had Walker and moving on to public comments seeing as there is no public we will close public comments um and can I please have a mo oh the next schedule public meeting will be held on Tuesday February 11th 2025 beginning with confidential session at 6: and 700 p.m. public session in the Verona school learning Commons I need a motion to adjourn the meeting motion by Miss prisco can I have a second I'll second second by Miss Ferrera all those in favor I I okay the meeting is adjourned at 811 thank you everyone have a nice