Good evening and welcome to tonight t Good evening and welcome to to tonight's uh Verona Board of Education meeting. It is Tuesday, March 10th. Uh it is 7:02 p.m. Um please
please uh stand for the pledge of allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Republic stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty, justice for all.
The reading of meeting. 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 bodies at which any business affecting their interest 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 published in the Star Ledger online and posted with the Township of Verona and the Verona Education Association. Postings of this meeting setting forth time,
location, and agenda were posted at the Verona Board of Education Office and on the Verona Public School District website. Copies of tonight's agenda and resolutions have been made available to the public via the board of education website. Dr. Riley, could you please
call attendance? Mr. Walka, >> Mr. Pera, >> here. >> Miss Kenotic, >> here. Mrs. Frisco, Mr. Boom. Here we have a quum. Upon the recommendation of the
superintendent, the board of education approves the minutes of the following meeting. May I have a motion? So moved. U Mr. Pera and second. >> Second >> by Miss Kenote.
Uh, Mr. Riley, please uh call vote. >> Mr. Turner, >> yes. >> Miss Kenote, >> yes. >> Mr. V, >> yes. Motion passes. >> And now for the superintendent report, Mrs. Duseppi.
>> Good evening. Um, first I want to say congratulations to the cast and crew of Mamma Mia. Um, it was uh excellent. One of the best performances that I've seen in Verona during my time here. and that says a lot because they're all great. Um, the music is always spectacular. Uh,
but the student actors really hit the mark on the comedic acting as well. I laughed out loud several times. It was really fantastic. All uh allaround great show. Uh, a little bit in the news uh yesterday. Um and it would would have been nice had the department of
education uh gave us this information information but um Cambrium who who is the new company overseeing uh the NJSLA adaptive and the NJGPA adaptive will be using artificial intelligence to score
the open-ended short constructed response um uh essays. Um so what they reported to NJ.com um is that the AI system to be used uh that will be used to score the essays
and written questions but there will be some human scores. If a student's written response is identified as unusual or borderline, it will be flagged for human review. Um, NJ.com was told by someone at the Department of Education that the system regularly
conducts quality assurance checks to ensure that scores assigned by the automated scoring engine match human scores to restrict quality controls. Kambm, the company overseeing the new test, does not use generative AI, the version of artificial intelligence used
by engines like Chat GPT and Gemini. Instead, they use the automated scoring system that will have strict parameters with a proven consistency and human scoring remains the foundations of the process. Um,
so we'll see. The uh Cambrium is has been using this type of scoring system in other states that that uh it works with um for several years. So see how that goes. Just would have been nice if the department told us that.
Um so my um you can if you could share the screen. Thank you. >> Before you do your presentation, can I ask a couple questions on >> um number one um is for people that do take this uh is there an appeal process
that they are able to go through if they have problems with the results? >> You know, that's a good question. Um there was an appeal process when uh with NJSLA um we're all we're new to Cambrium. I'm
assuming that there will be um remember students don't they don't get their they don't get their when it was paper pencil we got their scores back we got their their actual essays back. The only time we see what a student writes now is if
is if the testing company flags it for concern. So what would we appeal? Yeah, that's >> and the other the other uh question on this is uh being a former ward of the state myself and working with some of their AI systems, they are extremely
extremely locked down uh in in terms of sharing personal information and in terms of um just being able to do your job with AI uh to the point of almost being detrimental. You want it to do more. Um I and that's all in a good way.
Uh the question is is does uh this vendor have the same uh statemandated restrictions as any other ai model that's within the state system. >> I can ask that question but again because the department didn't share this with us. We didn't have the opportunity
to ask questions like that. The article did not go into that. And I did ask Mrs. Acriman who is our district test coordinator if during her training if they mentioned anything like this or gave them chance to ask questions. and she said not at all.
>> I have another question. Um, how have they I mean what assurances has Kate Cambrium given around the way in which that model was trained specifically to kind of eliminate potential bias. I know there's human in
the loop which is good to know but are they transparent with regard to the I don't know the standards how that model was trained? So, in the RF uh the RFP that the state of New Jersey put out to
um all of the test vendors out there, there's a four or five bullet point requirement of anyone who receives the award or the contract that they have to explicitly um explain to the state how that model was trained. They were going
to use AI. That was not shared with us, but apparently it was a requirement of the request for proposals. just a little skeptical, I guess, you know. >> Yeah. Well, we have a new commissioner, so maybe things will change.
>> Okay. So, going into our midyear, well, fall into winter progress um on our student achievement. My own slide. So we used um NIWA
uh map growth this year instead of uh the NJSLA scores because of as New Jersey transitions from uh the NJSLA static to uh that was produced by Pearson to the Cambriam adaptive NJSLA.
There's a strong possibility that spring 2025 and spring 2026 results will not be directly comparable. So to ensure more stable and meaningful measure of student performance this year we chose to use uh MAP growth data to monitor student
achievement process. So in in doing that um there are two two different measures within NEWA map growth. So it's NEA map growth achievement and NEA map growth growth. So in terms of
how students are performing. So map achievement measure tells us how our students are performing at a point in time. It reflects the student or group standing compared with national peers in the same grade and subject and also that that started the test within the same
window ensuring that kids out in California, Oregon, Vermont, wherever they're taking these tests didn't have significantly more instruction before that that benchmark was laid down. Uh but for example with achievement percentile an achievement percentile of
70 means that a student or group scored as well as or better than 70% of comparable students nationally and there are millions of students that take MAP growth every year. So it's a big sample size. With regard to map growth uh the
map growth measure this tells us how much students improve between two testing windows. So in this case, what we're going to look at tonight is the the growth percentile between that fall benchmark and the winter uh administration. A
growth percentile compares the amount of growth to students with with a similar starting point. For example, a growth percentile of 58 means that a student or group grew as much as or more than 58% of similar students nationally. So achievement tells us where students are
are and growth is telling us how much they improved. So when we're when we interpret these percentiles looking at for achievement anything below the 40th percentile or you know low 40th is considered low
achievement. Typical achievement is between the 40th percentile and the 60th percentile and high achievement is above the 60th percentile. That's true to some extent with growth. Growth is a little bit more um harder to predict what's going to happen
with achievement. When you look at growth, um we know that growth above 60th percentile, you're not going to see backslide in achievement. growth at anywhere within the 50s or lower. If that is um under 60, under 55, you
definitely will see either static achievement or a backslide. And I advancing my slides because I can't see that screen. Um so this is an example of uh our reading assessment growth and achievement from fall to winter. So that
first column is um our growth percentiles um across districtwide all grades in grades one through eight. It is uh we had excuse me a 58th uh percentile growth and that is consistent with the fact that our
achievement went from 71 to 73 a slight increase. Um or and you can I'm not going to read all of them but you can go down. We we I'll give you a summary in just a minute on kind of where what we see in this data. I will post this to our district website
so you can take a a deeper dive into it. So overall the district's reading growth was in as I said the 58th percentile indicating that students on average demonstrated slightly above average growth from fall to winter. Schoolwide
or district-wide achievement also improved um going from the 71 71st to the 73rd percentile suggesting that reading performance remains a relative strength overall. Uh at the in individual grade levels the strongest
results and uh were in the primary grades. grade one posted the highest growth at 70 in the 74th percentile and that um increased their achievement significantly from uh 71st to um 81st.
Grade two also showed strong growth raising from 71st to the 78th percentile. Grade three demonstrated moderate positive growth at the 57th percentile with achievement improving from 70 to 73rd percentile. These results suggest particularly strong
momentum in the early elementary grades. In the inter intermediate grades 4 through 8, um we saw a little bit of a a softening of of that growth. You can see those yellow boxes indicate where growth
was in the 41st to 60th percentile. And you can see that growth either lagged or stayed static. In grades four, we dropped a a SCAD. In grade five, we were static. Grade six, we were static. Grades seven and eight, we dropped some
uh some percentage points. So that's the summary. highlight is grades one and two demonstrate the strongest reading momentum with high growth and substantial achievement gains um between fall and winter. And we need to monitoring moni monitor grade four
and grades seven and eight with a little bit more focus um to um make sure that we don't continue to backslide into this into the spring. So there's some strong understandings there for grades one and two. We are me
is measuring foundational reading skills primarily decoding, print concepts, uh phonics and word recognition, early comprehension of literary andformational text and basic vocabulary development. When you get to grades three, four and higher, um that jumps from um phonics
and decoding to comprehension, literary andformational comprehension, main ideas, details, text structure, points of view, purpose, and other text features, analysis of text, and evidence-based thinking, expanded academic vocabulary. So um it's not
unusual to see a a a strong grade one two especially in Verona where we have a strong um phmic program in Hegerty and a phonics program in foundations and then when kids get into those upper grades and they're really reading for comprehension you see a little bit of a
backslide. uh but we are on it. And again to going into grade five to eight, what's assessed by maps reading is author's purpose and craft, point of view and text structures, figurative language and literary devices, advanced vocabulary strategies, and comparing and
interpreting texts. So as we as as the work gets more complex, we see more struggle among our students with regard to math. we are a little weaker uh in the growth area. You can see all of the um the
growth is in the 41st uh percent to 60th percentile with the exceptions of grades four and five that are in the lower percentile. So we looked at grade four across the district in math and my first um
focus is going to be is there a curriculum problem? Is there a gap in our curriculum? Because every uh all all four schools are struggling in grades four um with math. Uh so we're going to take a look. We're going to map that curriculum and see if there's something
that we're missing. >> Absolutely. Is it possible that like when I test it when a new subject or a new mathematical concept is being introduced usually introduced year one the very next grade
level that's kind of reinforced you see jump four grade five that might be possibility >> you know what it it could be so what we're what we're doing is a root cause analysis right now so we're going to be looking at all the potential things that could have led to that And then we're
going to deep take a deep dive into each one and see which one of them is actually creating that um that concern because if we go with a gut feeling um and we're we treat it and we're treating the wrong cause then we're just wasting our time money and our efforts. So, uh
we actually met today with our teacher instructional leaders in grades um for grades K to 8 and had a phenomenal uh workshop and they are getting to work with their grade levels in that root cause analysis uh as of the third week of March
>> to to uh Mr. Walker's point too and and the grade four and five I think were also uh on the weaker side in the reading. Um, and I know you don't want to go with gut feelings um, ahead of your deep dive, but grades four, five
would have been just coming into school at COVID. >> They absolutely were. >> And so, how how much top of mind is that? >> Grade six actually was um, in kindergarten the year that schools closed, March to June. They were in the
hybrid year in grade one which is the formative year for reading and they were in with masks and kind of they had full day school but it was masks and it was uncomfortable for grade two. Yeah, it is a good point one that we did talk about
today. Um yes. So and just giving just going in a big overview regarding um math So, the overall performance district-wide math growth was at the
49th percentile. Not terrible, but not one that's going to advance our uh our achievement. It's a little bit of a backslide on achievement. 70th to 68th percentile. the strongest performances. Grade seven um grade two uh actually
grade two had some very very strong um uh results in terms of growth and and performance steady performances. Grade one um posted above average growth uh though achievement declined slightly uh and algebra one and that's you know
that's an interesting group because that's our strongest math performers in the district. uh areas for attention uh grades four and five. We are going to be looking and at grades six and eight as well, but we're going to be looking at what's what could potentially be causing those uh slower growth and softer um uh
achievement grow gains and we will address as needed. Quick question around this just kind of looking at these numbers broader context of where we've been like how does how it's asking a lot for you
to try to remember this off the top of your head but in terms of previous years performance does this is this like a trend or you know are we improving are we you know >> that's a really good question and what it's really hard to tell with MAP because MAP is measuring our kids from
grade one >> so All of that data is so when we look at it's easier to tell from looking at NJSLA because that's a one-year snapshot and there's not a so when we look at um a sixth graders map growth and
achievement it's along the continuum from grade one grade two three administrations three administrations to grade three administrations grade four. So, um, and and the other piece that that we really have to dig into with MAP is there's a report that we run and look
at that shows, you know, across a classroom of students, uh, or a group of kids that are maybe what we would think are underperforming, there is, um, a flag that goes if they're doing random selection, like just click click click click click tells us they're not reading
the questions. Or we have some students that will look at their timing. we give, you know, say we give 90 minutes for the test if they're done in 14. So there's those uh little tip offs as well. So it is easier to see past performance
through NJSLA versus math. Math um it's we seeing better outcome in math. Reading is pretty much similar to what was last year. >> Do we do we give accommodations in in
the math testing? Yes. >> Could you just remind us how new some of the curriculum programs are? >> Yes. So, um dimensions and uh amplify which your Singapore math um dimensions
is K5 and amplify is grades six through 10 uh or six through eight and then algebra 1 geometry algebra 2. Um they uh we started with amplify I'm sorry we started with
dimensions during the pandemic in 2019. So they had um they started I think with grade three I wasn't here then but if I recall what uh Dr. Miller has explained to me they started in grade three and then um added grade two, grade one. I
know um in 20 21 all of the grades were using um dimensions and six, seven and eight were using amplify. the high school started with u the
amplify program when my first year so 2022 so relatively recently and HMH the literacy program um this year is our pilot our first not pilot year but our first um
implementation year the other programs that we used heard and um foundations have been around for quite a while but in terms of um training of teachers on how to use foundations two years ago. So this is just math skills by grade
band. Um and it would be what you would expect uh grades one two counting number sense computation early patterns and algebraic thinking uh measurement and comparing quantities shapes and spatial relationships and early data and statistics. And as you can I'm not going to read it to you, but as you go up
grades three to four and then five to eight, you really see a jump in the complexity of numerousy and um our understanding of of math um uh expressions, equations, functions, etc. Um I don't have any high school data.
I'm not sure why. Um I we were in math. Uh I thought I saw high school data last week. Did not come up today. It's completely blank. So, we're going to go with Matt tomorrow and and say that the high school took the test more recently.
And um sometimes if it's open if they open that window to um have a student do a makeup, I can't see the date until they close the video. So, we'll have that for next meeting. And that is my fall into winter
midyear test analysis. >> I have a question for you. a little bit of a nons. >> Um, but I had a couple of reporters reach out to me about and I forwarded you one of the emails from the reporter addressed but the question was essentially how do
you feel about the new state testing model going to be using AI as a judge and and I wasn't really sure how to answer. So um I said listen I know the superintendent Verona who's who's on top
AI anybody. Uh, so I gave her your info, but I I didn't know how to answer that question. I'm not sure if a machine is going to be able to to evaluate a an essay based on a rubric as well as a human could or or better than a human
could. I But I I am interested in hearing the veron's thoughts on that matter. >> It we we actually talked about this a little bit before you came in. It really depends on how the model is trained, how the humans train the AI AI model to uh
be able to assess those scores. Um we are using AI teachers. I mean I don't know specific teachers but across the board there are programs that are developed for schools. Um school AI is one of them where teachers are uploading
student work into it and having it assess. So, um, it's already being done on the individual classroom level. I I do I can't answer because I don't know how accurate they are. >> On a service level, like we were both teachers when you'd get the scantrons
and you'd put them through the scan trap machine and the machine would tell you if the answer was right or not, right? Um, so like it's not like it's a boring concept. Uh, but like the art the artistry of an essay, right? That that's where I'm interested most in how they
would score that. Um, I I appreciate that you took it upon yourself to be uh to make Verona one of the the marquee AI initiatives, right? Like you no one else is doing this before you did, right? Uh, but it's also
a risk. Um, so I was interested to hear your opinion on that. >> Yeah. And um, this slide is an example of my putting the information in to chat and saying, "Make me a decorative slide." Gemini has one that says beautify this
slide and it it does sometimes you have to really check it that it's not correct. Um which is always the concern with AI. I just what I said before you got here is I wish that the that the state department of education had allowed us to ask those questions about the AI grading but they didn't tell us
so we didn't have those opportunities. I found out because you sent me that article. >> Yeah, I didn't know either. And and I will say I'm still happy that board president Barzella and to get here. That's it's amazing uh for such a great discussion. But yeah, I agree and that
like I think it was bound to happen anyway. Um it would have been nice to get a little heads up. Um and I I think that there's going to be a lot of headaches for people like you and me and school administrators and parents and students if this program is is somewhat
defective. And if it's and if it does a great job, then there's not going to be headaches. It just feels we're going to find out, but like it's it's a it's a a leap we're taking fairly blindly on a machine that we we have no idea how >> and I have to agree with you, but I also
don't know because I never thought to ask whether or not the SATs the SATs are graded with AI. No idea. I know the APs are not the APS because we have teachers that go down and they're they're AP readers. They go down, they go out to Arizona, they go to Florida, they go to
wherever they're and they sit for a week in a room with other readers and they um grade collectively and they pass those papers around. >> Yeah. So I guess the the stamina of the machine shouldn't be an issue where the stamina of the human should be or would
be. Um but yeah, it's but I agree to that point as well in that like we send these tests the kids take tests back in the day. They write filling bubbles on scantrons and they send them out to some place wherever and then we just trust the judgment of what
comes back and I guess it's kind of the same thing, right? >> I think it's a little more high stakes than that. But yeah, >> yeah. No, it's it's it is something that when when you mentioned it, it triggered a a concern in my mind, too. I mean, the
output is only going to be as good as the input. And you know, having visibility what that input was, you know, how, you know, broadreaching they went in terms of training that algorithm to to provide that output. It's it kind of
matters, right? Because there's it's more art than it is science often grading these things. And so it's it is, you know, it's interesting. I mean, and the problem is you're only going to know that it's a problem after it's been done. >> Right. Only if it comes to us as a problem.
>> Exactly. because you have to be able to find like the signal from the noise like to identify that it even was a problem. That's the issue. >> Well, the reality of trust in in in our in our world of education is that um maybe I'm cynical, but I don't have a lot of trust with Department of Education. They have not they have not
earned my trust. I don't have I mean, we did not know that they were changing vendors. We did not know that they were going to an adaptive test. We found out in August. We did. We still they still have not answered my three emails about our school goals and whether or not they're
because they did com they went from NJ ask um and GEA and HUSPA to park and managed to somehow connect those schools. They shouldn't have but they did. So my question was, are you going to use
spring 25 to spring 26 scores to generate student median SGPs? Radio silence. I emailed again, radio silence. I emailed again and said, "Please respond." >> I wouldn't even know who to email that question to. So you're even more
advanced than I am. Where who did you email to? Um I went to the department's website and found the person in charge of assessment and they did ultimately respond to me and said the commissioner is going to speak on that and then the commissioner never did. So we that's why we use map finally. I said we have to
have goals for the year. So >> it's interesting >> and Mr. Waka before before you arrived. Um my my point or my question was along those lines in in terms of parents being able to appeal but also how how is this being audited, right? And you know and
at some point they need an audit and what are those standards for that? So, the way I I know the way a a parent would appeal the an older test is if they got a score that they did not think that their child, they can reach out to the state um testing number that's on
that score report and they can have a conversation with Orlando probably. >> For years, it was Orlando. >> He was the only guy who's 68. >> Yeah. By the way, per Gemini, SATs are
not they're not using generative AI to score the essays because they do not want to lose the nuance. They they reference kind of the importance of preserving that the nuance in terms of how you interpret and grade the wants you to
>> Well, no, it's it's, you know, it's it's against itself here. Otherwise, it would be telling me no, it's perfectly fine. Uh, they do. They have a uh Oh, actually they don't. That's right. That's right. ACT. >> AC. >> That's right. They did away with it several years ago.
>> I'm old. >> I'm good. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, we are going to not have a student report as Mr. is not available tonight. Uh, and we will go right to committee reports. Uh, I believe facilities was on the docket.
Uh, Mr. >> Ferna, y do we know when we're getting the exact state aid totals? >> We should have them. They're statutoily they're required to release them within 48 hours. So, as of the the end of the
the address today around a little after 3:00, um, we should have them. Best case scenario will be tomorrow. More likely it will be Thursday. >> Okay. Very good. And what's the best way for us to find out? Are you going to email us or should we look up entry.com? What's the best
way for us to find out went up 6% down 6% or somewhere in between? >> I will press the board. >> Very good. Thank you. >> Go ahead, Mr. >> Um met last week. Um we have a few new
business items and a few old business items to update everyone on. Um, one of the new items was working with Brona Baseball softball league. Um, coming up with a flat rate cost for them to use the fields this spring given the
situation at Everfield. There is going to be a higher usage of some of the the school fields. Um, so we're working with them on that as we speak. >> M, what's the situation with Everfield? So, I've driven by and I see there's a bunch of stuff going on, but I don't know what it is. >> Assad was supposed to get put down March
1st. Obviously, that didn't happen. Um, April 1 feels aggressive. Um, and it's at least that's like six to eight weeks because they're doing grassable for a long >> for a long time.
>> Yeah. Given the delays from the snow and then the sod having to sit attach. >> So, that's that's too bad. Um but fortunately this we have so many school fields that we're able to sort of accompany them. So um hopefully we come
to a good agreement there. Um there was an environmental study done on the bars the Avenue school um hallway floor. Um there was there's no environmental issue. There's no mold or anything. And so we're going to be working with the
install vendor um to try and come up with a new solution to fix the floor. Um and then we only very initially just started talking about fiscal year 2027 budget items um for you know big capital projects things like the press box uh
the middle school gym floor and HBAC um we'll be getting quotes on the press box um so we can report back to you all once we start getting that information in all business items we're still Uh we
filed for arbitration for the playground service suit and then um I know the facilities guys are working with um third party vendors to take a look at some of the HVAC issues in the school by going third party and not using
train and manufacturer of some of the systems there's a significant cost savings so that should be it should be good even though there is work that needs to >> excellent thank Thank you. Any questions from anybody?
Okay. Next up, public comments on agenda action items. Uh please note that the public participate participation portion of the meeting affords an opportunity for the public to share thoughts and comments about school related topics. By law, administrators and board of
education members are not permitted to publicly discuss personnel matters, student discipline, or other issues requiring confidentiality. While we may not respond to comments during the meeting, all input that is shared with the board of education is
taken very seriously and it helps inform deliber future deliberations and work by the board and its committees. Answers appear in many forms including but not limited to email, superintendent committee reports, board statements, FAQs on the website or after the public
comment is closed. We appreciate and thank all members of the public for their input. Seeing as nobody is at the podium, um we will not have any comments. Um so next up, discussion items, new business, old
business from anybody. >> I just wanted to take a moment, a couple points. Uh I I did want to echo um uh our superintendent's comments on the wonderful play of Mama Mia. Um, I have nothing better to add other than the what I particularly liked about this
play is it really afforded an opportunity for several students to really uh to shine and it it it was just a great platform for our incredible uh theater program and um again it it just
blew me away about how fun that was. Um, also, uh, on another positive note, uh, thoroughly enjoyed, uh, last week's, uh, Lunar New Year celebration up at, uh, the community center. Uh, I particularly love just the way that the, uh, the
school district and the town came together for an awesome celebration. That was, um, again, one of my favorite events of the entire year. Um, and then also I would like to thank, uh, Mrs. studio over at Brookdale for the invite
to participate in uh the reading to the class. Uh it again is just an incredible experience and uh uh if I just wanted to uh just underscore how important reading is particularly uh at this age. Um, I
was reading to the second graders and it was a it was a book about trains and it was set in the you know the mid 1950s in a could have been a town anywhere and it was just kind of a singong poem type book about the trains going through uh this community and it it named all the
different lines and stuff and there was a mention of uh the Lacawana line which for those uh North Jersey are very familiar with it and I was going to my goal was to pause and talk about the importance of Lacawana to to this area. Before I could even say anything, a
little second grader, she opened raised her hand and just went on about everything she knew about Lacawana and uh and how important it is to New Jersey. And it was it was like I uh paid her to uh to interrupt me, but it was it was just a fascinating experience and uh
again, I just want to uh thank everybody for uh putting us through on that. So, thank you. >> Dr. Reed to the kindergarten and um note to self, high school biology teacher should never pick the book. I'm gonna Why? >> I lost them. They were not They were
complete. I lost them. >> What's the book? >> Stella Luna. >> Oh, they were not interested in it. >> They didn't. They didn't. >> So, you guys are going to thank me later, but I've been doing Read Across America for decades, right? And I
finally had the contrition to ask the librarian at our school, you recommend the book. He goes, "Chris, you got to do this book. There's this series of books and they're interactive books. So if like there's a character that needs a banana from the top of a tree, you have a kid come up and shake the book or
there's something a character needs to dry out, you have the kid comes up and he shakes the book to dry him out. And I've I've been reading the kids for for a long long time. It was the most fun ever. So, please, if if if you're ever in in the market for a book to read
toward kids, find interactive books because the kids absolutely adore them. And then the only other open public that I was thinking is that like, you know, Denise will agree with me. Um, and I know Pam would if she were here, but you know, when we first got on this board, we first hired a superintendent, poor
beings were a little bit more charged and there there was a little more distrust community. Um, and I we hired a superintendent and we used to get a an email every day about something that
people were were upset about and that's fine too like it's a it's not a bad thing that people will reach out to you like that but it it was on the regular and you know now I can go a week without checking my own email and and things still being all right because of your
leadership. So, I I really appreciate that um you've you've made this uh a little more accommodating to be a board member through your strong decision making and and your relationship with the HA the BEA um and a lot of community group. So, I'm appreciative
>> and uh one thing one other thing that I wanted to mention uh speaking of Mr. Waka, uh, congratulations on your, uh, your new appointment to, uh, Lincoln Park. And, and again, it, uh, to echo your your point about, um, uh, being on the board, the fact that we have an a
superintendent for his day job, I I think really helps uh, keep this board uh, centered on our opportunities and, um, you know, it adds it it puts uh, everybody in a better position to succeed. So, thank you for that as well. And congratulations.
All right. Uh, do we have any correspondence? >> Uh, I don't know. >> All right. Uh, moving on to uh action items. Um, can I get a resolution to move forward with uh resolution items A1
through A6? So move. >> Um, second. >> Second. >> Second by Mrs. Kenotic. Uh, any discussions? Seeing as there is none, Dr. Riley, can you please call roll? >> Mr. Waka, >> yes. >> Mr. Pera,
>> yes. >> Miss Kuno, >> yes. >> Mr. B, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> And now uh for uh action items uh B1 through B count here. B8.
Um may I have a resolution to move forward on that? These are education items. >> So move Second. >> Second. >> Second by Mrs. Kenotic. Any discussion? >> Seeing as there is none, Dr. Riley,
please call roll. >> Mr. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Burner, >> yes. >> Miss Kod, >> yes. >> Mr. B, >> yes. >> Pass. >> Action items for athletics. Uh, items C1 through C4. May I have a motion to move forward? So moved
>> first by uh Mrs. Kenotic. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Mr. Pererna. >> Comment I want to make on this is that um I know that lacrosse parents and the football parents are very excited about the decision this board made last
meeting to hire the two new varsity coaches. And so far they're very well received by our by the parent community. >> That's excellent. And also, um, I'm I'm happy to see on C3, uh, David Mastice is coming back to
help with the girls JV coach. Uh, having worked with, uh, Mr. Mastice a long time back, I'm I'm excited to see him coming back. This is an example of a longtime Verona resident wanting to work with our program. Again, I think this is another sign that speaks a lot to what you were
saying, Mr. Walker. Any other comments? All right, Dr. Riley, please call roll. Mr. W. >> Yes. >> Mr. Per. >> Yes. Menotto. >> Yes. >> Mr. B. >> Yes. Motion passes. >> Uh for uh facilities, we have just one
item. Uh D1. Uh may I have a motion to move forward? Uh first by Mr. Waka. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Mr. Pera. Any discussion? >> Seeing as none, Dr. Riley, please call roll. >> Mr. Walker. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Per. >> Yes. Moder. >> Yes. >> Mr. B. Yes. Uh section E for finance. We have E1 through E4. Um may I have a motion to uh proceed? So move
>> first by Mr. Pererna. Uh may I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Mrs. Kenotic. Uh any discussion? >> Just um Mrs. just if you could give us some background on E4 and how we choose who
travels for a professional development um conference and then like what's the plan of action um if it's a select group do they come back and they do like a a working session for some of the other teachers to share what they learned
>> yes so this particular group is um made up of Dr. Mr. Miller, Mrs. Peter, Mrs. Kohler, Dr. Lanzo, Mr. Galbertek, Mr. Lancaster, and then four teachers um
that will uh are in the process of volunteering to go and everybody has a a turnkey role. So, that when that went out to the teachers um uh for them to uh uh Dr. Miller decided not
to travel to the site. He's going to do it virtually, which gives us an opportunity to add two two more teachers. And so that went out to them today um with that offer to have uh four teachers attend um uh the program. It's
actually a really unique opportunity to have a national conference go virtual and they haven't done that since the pandemic. Um this is an this is a really great conference and it's um What's nice about the virtual option is
that it's all the same sessions that you when you go in person, they're just um streaming them. >> But isn't it more likely they went virtual because they couldn't afford they were doing enough enrollment in person? >> Say it again. >> Is it more likely that the reason they went virtual is because they couldn't
get enough enrollment? I don't know. Maybe 4,000 people go to this conference. >> So why would they want to go virtual? >> Um money. because it's $650 a person go virtual. They know how to make money. >> Okay. Um
>> yeah, that's that's my guess that they can increase the amount of people that actually attend. Um and uh maybe I'm being cynical again. I don't >> I don't know either. >> I don't know if you're cynical. I just don't know if it's the reason is whether
it's more profitable or less profitable. But it just seems to me that like there's profit margin going in person. But maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. >> Well, when you go in person, they feed you. It's I mean, it's it's definitely a better experience to go in person. No
doubt. Uh but the nice thing about uh about this particular opportunity is that if you are a virtual participant, you get to see the same keynotes and interact and it is interaction. Um you can interact uh with the participants in
the room but you can also you get the downloads so you can keep them the videos uh for you have access to them for um six or eight months. Yeah. I mean for us we would never be able to s to send teachers um and
administrators in a group to Florida with airfare and hotel and I mean not all of your Breakfast and lunch is paid for with the conference, but dinners are not and incidentals to and from the airport. It would be really cost prohibitive. So, this is a way that our
administrators and teachers can um attend a really fantastic conference, albeit not in the best way, um but still get the learning from. what you're saying. I I think your explanation is really insightful and I and I I think
this could become the new normal for for professional development. So, I I like this that we're doing this >> and um when I realized um that we had that uh shortfall with extraordinary aid, uh I went to VP and said,
>> yeah, well, >> yeah, to to your uh you abstained from that vote. >> Yes, I did. I did abstain from the vote, but um yeah, but it was it was very nice to have you come speak to the group about this. They really grilled me, too. There's another VIP party by the way.
>> VIP is having its annual uh event or inspiring equity >> that's great. >> Anybody else? Uh Dr. Riley, please call roll. >> Mr. Rocket, >> yes. >> Mr. Per, >> yes. >> Miss Kenote, >> yes.
>> Mr. B, >> yes. for governance and policy. Uh, may I have a motion? >> Mr. Walka and a second. >> Second. >> Second by Mrs. Kenote. Any uh questions,
comments? Seeing as there is none, Dr. Riley, please call roll. >> Mr. Walker, >> Mr. Per. >> Yes. >> Miss Kenote. >> Yes. >> Mr. B. >> Yes. >> And now for our public comment section. Uh the public has the opportunity to
comment on any issues about school related topics. Uh again um the board is not able to comment or speak directly back but uh anybody that has any comments and yes
>> I think I could do it if you're right. Okay. Hi. It's so weird to be on this side. Um I just a couple things. Um, one, I am so happy that Unsung Heroes is here this year. I remember when I went with Miss DJI and Crystal, I think also
last year to Orange and we and we said that we would love to have it in Verona and it would be a great location for it. Um, and made that happen. So, I'm so happy. >> Kudos to Mr. Cogbell. He's really behind. He's really doing most of the
planning. >> That's a great event. If anyone has the opportunity to attend, I would definitely recommend it. It's um very heartfelt what uh some students have overcome. Um and when we
talk about AI uh grading, I did remember um that the California bar exam used AI and it was an utter disaster. It was an utter disaster. Um so
I think everyone's right to be a little skeptical about how things are progressing in that front. And then finally um a few probably like a month ago now I did um at one of the town council meetings I did uh do public
comment and uh raise the issue of pilot funding for the new development that is coming that is using pilot funds which is like 880 or 885 Bloomfield across from the community center. Um you know advocating for the town the town to
share the wealth with the school board um as they are not used to doing in these funds. Um they've never done. Yes. Um anyone interested? The town last year got about $1.5 million in pilot funds.
Um that did not any of it to and yes that was just last year's uh contribution and every year goes up because of the way the funding is the funding model is worked out. Um, I was told as part of public comment that they've already reached out to people on
the board and in in school board in the school administration to start working on a a sharing um formula. So, I'm not sure if that's how far along that has has progressed, but I
do hope that um it still becomes a a uh upfront issue with council and I think that is it. >> I can comment on that and it's um you know Miss Brazelle was was very kind to
help me u when I was applying for my most recent job that I got and one of the topics was pilot funds and when you look it up um for the next 25 years the Cedar Grove municipality gives board of
education a $1.2 million dollar check. And not only do they give them that check for the Hilltop development, but like the council people and the board event take a picture together and they get one of those giant checks and they take a nice thick photo op and it's like, wouldn't that be lovely? Wouldn't
that be lovely? So, Mr. Temporo, I I think you're a lovely mayor and Jack B, I think you're lovely and all the other council are lovely. Uh, but we want we want we want it doesn't have to be a big check. You can make it smaller. Um, but you know, we've had about 150 or so kids
come from the most recent pilot development and and the the district has taken on that burden without any tax benefit. Um, and then of course we expect Diane and James to figure out a way to do it. There's there's no doubt
about that. Uh, but it this is a town that prioritizes his children and we we need the town to step up. So, Denise, I I really appreciate you staying on top of this. Um Dr. Raleigh and I are meeting with township manager and the uh assistant
manager on Friday, right? Friday >> about housing. >> Go in like Mr. Krabs, just demand money. >> So um to that to that point, uh any and I know you can't speak on specifics about any kind of formula. Uh was it
related to the new property or all >> all of the upcoming properties? >> Okay. and the the new one across the street from the community center. That can't be all that many units. Correct. >> Uh I think 95 is sticking in my head.
>> 95. That's much more than I I don't see where 95. >> Yeah, I don't know. I have to look. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Uh seeing as there are no further uh comments, um I would like
a motion for resolution to adjourn. Forwarded by Mr. Waka. Second. Seconded by Mr. Pera. Al all in favor? Hi, >> it is >> 757. >> 7:57.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, March 24th, uh at 7 p.m.