Good evening everyone. I would like to welcome you to the Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025 board of education meeting. We are calling the meeting to order and it is 7:05 p.m. And if everyone could please rise for the pledge of allegiance. a reading of meeting notice. Second, 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 the 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 and posted with the Township of Verona and the Verona Education Association. Postings of this meeting setting forth the 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. Mr. Cruz, if you could please call attendance. >> Mr. Walker,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Par, >> yes. >> Mrs. Prrisco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Brazella, for the record, Mrs. Brazil's absence then. Mr. Boom. >> Yes, >> we have corn. >> Thanks. >> By by the way, I I went out of sequence.
>> Oh, yeah. >> She was a real rebel. >> I'd like it. >> Thank you. Moving on to our agenda. I need a motion, please, to approve our um meeting of June 26, 2025.
>> So move. >> I'll second. Motion by Mr. Boon, seconded by Mr. Mrs. Ferrer, are there any discussions? >> Mr. Cruz, if you could call roll. >> Mrs. Boon, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Prrisco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ferrara, >> yes. >> Mr. Walker, >> no. Abstain. >> Yes, I'm Yes. >> Okay, motion carries. Thank you. >> Thank you. And now moving on to our superintendent report by Miss DJ Zeppi.
Good evening. Got my papers all over the place. So, uh, first, uh, this is the annual report, uh, graduation report and I put it onto a slideshow. Um, just I'll go through it quickly. It's that most of the information is actually linked in
the agenda. So, uh, requirements that, um, uh, per policy 5460 high school graduation requires 120 credits. um uh in spec in specified areas. So you can see the areas that are required a
passing score on uh a state assessment. Uh currently that state assessment is the New Jersey uh graduation proficiency assessment or a a substitute compet competency assessment. Um and that could be anything from ACUPPLACER to the ATLAB
to um the SAT SAT uh subcore on one of those tests. The the difference here is that if you don't take the NJGPA, you you can't use that secondary competency test. So, you have to at least sit for the NJ GPA or a portfolio
appeal. So that's when a student um does not pass the GPA, does not um have the requisite score on the substitute competency assessment and has to uh do a a series of performance assessments that get scored and sent to
the state in a as a as a portfolio. So um I am to report to the board on the total number of students who graduated. Those that graduated under the substitute competency test process. Those who graduated under the portfolio appeals process. the number of students that receive a state endorsed high
school diploma as a result of meeting an alternative um uh proficiency assessment um or that's specified in their individualized their IP their indiv sorry individualized education program the total number of
students denied graduation from the 12th grade class and the number of students denied graduation from the 12th grade class solely because a failure to pass the uh NJ GPA you could advance. Um Oh, I didn't see it. Thank you.
So, um there were 156 students um that graduated uh in June. 153 were VHS graduates and we had three students graduate from out of district placements. The number of students who
graduated under the substitute competency test 29 or 18% and of those 28 were VHS graduates and one was an out of district graduate. The number of students who graduated under under the portfolio appeals process 23 they were
all VHS students. Number of students receiving the state endorsed high school diploma as a result of meeting an alternative requirement specified in their individual individualized education program. three, one BHS graduate, two out of district uh graduates. The number of students deny
graduation from the 12th grade class, one student, and that was for attendance. And the number of students denied graduation due to failure to pass the NGPA substitute competence test or the portfolio appeals uh is zero.
So, I'm not going to go through this. We went through this last year and the year before. Um it's this is just an anyone I'll post this to the website. Anybody that is interested in seeing this, it also can be found in the um the high school um uh agenda that has our our
course offerings and it's on the high school website. This is just this just goes into those pathways. Again, I'll I'll post this to the website. It's it really um so here's the second pathway you can see ACT AC this just gives us what those um sub
substitute competency test cuto offs um scores would be. So for instance um for PSAT in reading um uh is you have to get greater than or equal to a 420. Uh for math for PSAT
you have to get greater than also 420. SAT greater than 440. And I have to advance mine here on my screen because I'm can't see it from screen there. Um, so any more information about the portfolio process,
this is linked right in the in the uh the slide deck. So when I put it up, anyone that's interested in reading about that, it'll be here for you. So in addition to um and you can take that down, Mr. for duchi. Um in addition to
that, um a lot happens over the summer during the end of June. The first two weeks in July are usually reserved for us to finalize last year's uh school year, filling out all of the Department of Education um reports and filing them.
We are in the process of doing that. Uh it's it's it is now when we would begin to apply for those um federal grants like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the IDEIDA grant, which we did uh receive um allocation funded
allocations for um and we're down what 8,000 uh we are receiving 8,000 less this year um than we have in the past. The bad news is that we still have not received um any of the allocations for our title
fund. Uh our title funds um we receive about $101,000 in title funds. Um and I don't know when we're going to get the allocations because the Trump administration has cut billions of dollars from education funding through title allocations across
the country. New Jersey has not yet um gotten the what they're getting. They know they're getting cut. They don't know what they're getting and it is now in the courts because Congress allocated
um these funds. And uh so the argument is the president does not have the ability to just say Congress allocated these funds for education. Now we're just cutting. We're not going to do it. So, it's in the courts. Who knows how
long it's going to be in the courts and what the outcome is going to be is also up in the air. So, um that's one thing that we have not yet begun. And it's a little nerve-wracking because August goes quickly. So um last year so the other things that we're
we're doing to prepare for opening we're writing curriculum we are uh preparing uh taking orders on supplies and resources for staff cleaning and maintaining our school buildings preparing the classrooms for next year and uh any staffing um needs that are
still we're still interviewing for. Um last year at this time, if you recall, we revised our attendance policy to reduce chronic absenteeism. Uh that had miss mixed effects in the first year. Um district-wide attendance
rates between 2324 and 2425 with the new attendance policy were flat. They actually went down a little at 0.2%. I mean, nothing uh change. Some schools improved their attendance rate. uh FN Brown, Landing Avenue, and HBW all saw a
a better uh student attendance. Uh Forest Avenue and uh Brookdale were flat, and BHS saw a minimal decrease in their attendance rate at 1.1%. So, um Mr. Cogdale had asked if we could, you know, revise the policy. I I
I think we wait another year if it continues to show we might be able to tweak it for high school students. Um I don't see 1.1% change in attendance as being called out to didn't do actually what we thought it would do uh which is
make our student attendance better but um it's it's something we need to spend another year at least with when you get a chance we have a new website if you haven't been to the new website um uh this is a cost savings to the district uh the old website uh uh web hosting uh
platform that we were using did not have a communication uh platform with it. We Mr. uh Balage went uh found apttogy which has both um the website hosting capability. It also has robocall
capability, text messaging and um email. So we have already implemented that. I sent out my first uh mass communication new program. It functions very similar to the old program but it's significantly less expensive. What is that about 10,000 less Mr. Cruz? about
$10,000 savings. So, the big news um for tonight is that um Verona Public Schools was awarded $51,75 in the trees for school grant to cover the cost associated with purchasing and
planting trees, including the planning, site preparation, watering, monitoring, and maintenance over three years. The trees for schools program is a joint effort of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Sustainable New Jersey, and the College of New Jersey funded by regional greenhouse gas
initiative auction proceeds. The trees for school grants will uh across the state will plant 4,500 trees at public schools, colleges, and universities. And um we actually applied for this grant in 2023 and did not receive it. reapplied
and uh were one of the lucky schools um 33 schools that received it this year. Um the funding will enable us to plant trees that not only enhance the beauty of our campuses but also play a crucial role in mitigating the urban heat island
effect. And u for those that don't know what a heat island is, it is a just check my notes. It's a phenomenon where urban areas experience significantly higher temperatures than their surrounding rural areas. The temperature difference
often more pronounced at night is primarily caused by human-made structures such as building roads road and turf fields which we have several in district and in the community. Um uh that absorb and retain more heat than
natural landscapes. Um the inc the impacts of having multiple heat islands um heat heat islands in Verona is that um it increases demand for air conditioning which drives up energy costs and potentially strain
power grid. Produces air pollution by increasing the formation of smog and other pollutants. Elevates temp elevated temperatures can lead to heat related illnesses particularly for v vulnerable populations and increased temperatures can affect
water quality by promoting growth of harmful algae and bacteria and obviously uh climate change amplification. So we are very happy to be part of the solution um with regard to uh planting trees that are going to not only reduce our carbon
footprint, increase our green spaces, help filter storm water runoff, improve the quality and reduce um um um soil erosion and provide our students with the opportunity to understand sustainability
and the importance of environmental stewardship by fostering this deeper connection with nature. We hope to shape the next generation of eco-conscious leaders. So at the high school we have a proposal to plant 12 large trees um some
pine some broadleaf uh and this would be identified on the lower field which is identified as an an intense heat island >> and then where the band room was uh built is going to get um conifers are going to get some pines over there. That's what was there prior to the
construction. So, we're going to try to bring that back. Um, for HBW, they're going to get four medium-sized trees that will significantly improve runoff on the steep slopes. Um, the fifth grade is going to be conducting a planting day involving two of the trees, and the
classes will track growth and benefits uh in their science classes. And, um, at the elementary schools, they're going to be conducting planting celebrations carried out by the kindergarten classes as part of the Watch Me Grow program. Um, and students
will track the growth of the tree and study its benefits in age appropriate manner over the years they're at the school. Uh, the trees at forest are are going to be placed so that they help collect runoff from the steep slope in front of the school. Landing trees will create shade in the outdoor recreation
areas as will all the trees um, but also provide erosion control on the steep slopes um, in back by the ball field. We're also planting at the Verona Civic Center uh one large tree to replace the declining pine um and directly in front of the middle school. And we have six
medium trees going into Liberty and Freedom Fields. Uh these are also intensive heat island areas. That is my report for this evening. >> Um I I have two quick questions. >> Oh no, actually I have one more. Go, you
question first. Um we are also looking we spoke to the education committee last week about creating um a stipen position for um teacher leaders. Um one of the things we've been talking about here at the board meeting is um strengthening
tier one uh instruction and um given the fact that we had to riff one of our supervisors that becomes harder. I am now the superintendent and the science supervisor with Dr. Miller is the director of curriculum and the math supervisor and um we want to be able to
continue to move this district forward. We had great results this year um with what we have begun with regard to construction. We saw an increase as you saw last week uh two weeks ago. Uh we had an did you point that out the board meeting or was it just through email to
the board? I did. Okay. We um we met uh several of our our building goals which are very um high level goals, but we increased our scores in both math and language arts at every grade level with the exception of
nth grade algebra and nth grade literacy and uh third grade. So, um this is uh very it's good for the district to see the second year in a and second year in a row of of growth in the right direction.
Um and we see outcomes are better for our students. To keep that momentum going, we're going to need to continually provide um instruction to and professional development to staff to continue to increase um the effect of
better tier one instruction for our students. Um so we have a little bit of breakage, not enough breakage for teaching staff, and we need more than one if we were looking at at across the elementary world. But it we do have some
breakage from uh the high school the position of high school media specialist that we can um allocate $1,500 to several key position teacher leaders across the district to be turnkey um uh supporters of professional
development initiatives, some mentoring and um and some uh communication. uh they're going to be providing some professional development, turnkey some professional development and being just instructional leaders within their grade
level or department. So I will share uh with you the job description. We're still working on it. I'll share with you the job description and expectations for that for those positions and um at some point when we have finalized what it looks like, we'll come back to the board for approval.
>> Now I'm done. >> Oh no. Um, back on the graduation report, uh, two things I guess, um, looking at it from a high level, what what would your headline be on that in terms of student success? >> Oh, for the graduation that we graduated
all but one student and I have to tell you, we uh, >> we worked hard at getting her graduated and it was just her attendance. >> It couldn't she couldn't make it. The the other question I had on that is there a way and maybe it's probably not
for this report but to track what next steps are for our students so we have a sense of you know who's going to well a majority are going to some form of college or university but also real curious to see um u additional education
like are they going to trade schools and stuff like that and are we able to break it down in this report or is that something that we need to wait for? Well, we can we can certainly do it through surveys. Um they're not well responded to generally post-graduation surveys, but we could do it through
surveys. Um we know it's never it's not really effective until after year four or year five because so many students, not just from Vona, but from across high schools across the country, um change schools midyear. And it's very common
for students to think they want to go to Duke or or Ruckers and um get there and not like it and then transfer. So um it that's why the state looks at the four the four-year graduation rate of college of post-secary. Um
uh we can I talked to Mrs. Zack about setting up some way to communicate with our students that have graduated and see where they are. And um I know you ran into a student in uh in was it the park? >> Yeah, it was in the park. >> Yeah. So you got um Mr. Boon ran into
one of our students who graduated and is going to be working for Apple. >> Yeah. Graduated from Verona High and I don't feel I'm at liberty to discuss names at this point. >> It was a 2021 graduate. Um did go to MIT
and is uh got landed a job at app. So, it's those kind of success stories I think are great to celebrate where we can. >> Yeah. And we can certainly I'll talk to Mrs. A setting up some kind of a post um post-secondary um survey about what
are you doing now? >> For for every other piece of data we get, right? If there's less than 10 kids, we don't give an explanation or we kind of redact it or whatever. Um but with this report we're not I guess because it's not a state report but what would you consider what what what are
your thoughts about you know next year moving forward if there's one person in a category and they become identifiable by that just not bringing that category up. >> Uh this isn't this is an administrative code and those c and the categories I reported on are in
>> you have to so there's one there's no nothing you can do about that. That's why I don't worry about >> it's wild right. Yeah. And I just want to quickly circle back to the um you know information just shared about the the leadership
positions. Um I I first want to just commend you because I do know over the past two years, three years that you've been here, >> three >> three, right? Is it three? Um have seen what what seems to be much more structure when it comes to professional development. And I believe um that
that's one of the most important things that we can give to our to our teachers to ultimately support our students. Um, I think also with this, you know, the idea and and I'm again I I know that that you know this, I'm just kind of sharing it out here is really that, you
know, as we're piloting this um new initiative, um, you know, if if it does go forward that we really do continue to, you know, ensure that whoever these whoever the the instructional leaders are, that
they're meeting very specific professional development and using our goals when planning. Um because like with everything, right, things can get become overwhelming. So, I do think that as we're rolling this out, we're really specific about what our goals are,
whether it be classroom management and instruction or small group and whatever it is, and then kind of really focus maybe on that as we're as we're rolling this out. Um so that I think as a board and as a community um we know exactly
kind of what is is being touched upon for these for this new role. >> Well and I think for right now our main focus is um because last year we adopted the Marzano focused teacher evaluation model which is not simply an evaluation model. It's an instructional model and
um that's our focus and there's there are 23 protocols in that model. So there's a plenty to focus on over the next couple of years. Uh which is why it's so important that we have some form of teacher leadership emerge who really
understand the model and can help their colleagues understand the model because if we don't if we don't do it this way, it becomes a compliance model versus a growth model. And we have an instructional model, we have an evaluative model. They are linked
together significantly. We don't want something that was designed to be a growth model to be a compliance model because that's what was happening here prior. >> Right. Right. >> And it's a great way it's a great way to do this and I think to empower teachers and I think with the you know like you
just said if we're focusing on the evaluations and we can we can track that with data to see where the improvement is with teachers and also with our students. So it's exciting >> and and we you know when you look at the evaluation model and maybe I'll do a presentation for the board on this in
another time. you're looking at the protocols which are strategies um identified strategies that are high yield strategies. So strategies that have been identified through either Robert Marzano or John Hattie or Dylan like big time well-renowned meta
researchers. So we know that those high yield strategies only work if they're done with fidelity. I mean Bob Marcano wrote a paper a white paper on the fact that I said high yield strategies work but not if you're not using them. Right. >> Right. So um we do need to make sure
that our teachers understand what those high yield strategies are and how to implement them effectively so that we do see a trickle down to that outcome those outcomes for kids. So there's there is plenty to work on and there's uh it's
very difficult when you have three district level supervisors, one a director and two supervisors and a superintendent at the at the district level. And I mean obviously we have a principal in every building. Um, but it is those those
district-wide initiatives. If you're a teacher, you know this like they're not going to fly building level unless you have district you're driving it from the district. >> Thank you. Does anyone have any other questions? Moving on to our business
administrator report. Mr. Cruz. >> Uh, good evening everyone. Um I hope everyone is enjoying and having a restful rejuvenating summer. Um while the academic portion of our summer session is winding down um and ending this month um this continues to be a
very active uh month for us especially for the business office builds and grounds. Our buildings and grounds department is working diligently preparing our schools facilities for the return of our students and staff. uh and everything is is on scheduled and going to be in excellent shape for the start
of the new school year. At the same time, the business office is in the process of closing out the 2425 fiscal year, preparing for our annual fiscal audit uh which uh will uh be taking place in late September and we
anticipate that the audit results um will be finalized and shared with the board and the public in the month of November. Uh, also I would like to uh give a brief update on our school meals program. Uh, Pmptonian, our school uh, food service uh,
management um, provider uh, introduced a healthier menu option for the 25 to 26 school year. uh one of the uh enhancements that they'll be bringing on uh and then this this actually has been worked from the nutrition committee and and meeting and having conversations
with um Ftonian uh which is called a a farm-totable items. Um this will be more like a a buff a buffet bar um at the high school and middle school. Uh also with each meal and this is not an additional cost to our students um is
this will be provided with each meal will be a cup of uh fresh fruits and veggies um that they will be able to select um when they pick up their meals. Uh the nutrition uh committee also uh will continue uh meeting um coming
September to uh uh see how this program uh takes off in the start of the school year. Uh we also are planning to conduct a uh survey uh just to gather feedback in October and November from families and students uh to see if there's any
other things that we could actually uh introduce to our menu options. And then lastly, uh included in tonight's uh financials is the secretar's um uh treasury report and the transfer report for the month of May. I'm pleased to uh
report that they're all in agreement. Uh the reports for June uh should be finalized um soon and we'll be reporting those out uh next month. Uh that concludes my report for tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Cruz. Does anyone have any questions or comments?
>> I do. Sorry. Um I have a quick question with respect to pal palonian. Yes. >> Um I believe that there I I think that there's some type of law that you can't deny children food, right? If they don't, right? I think that there is. I'm not sure exactly what it is. However,
with that being said, at the middle school, I know um and I believe at the high school, but I think this is mostly a middle school issue where kids are able to purchase even if their balance is negative or like is there any way for parents to be able to shut off that
their um what am I looking for? Their their account so that if they're sending lunch to school with their kids, their child is eating that lunch. And I know as a parent we can say don't go and buy anything else, right? But it's a they do
and right. Um so I'm just curious as we're trying to kind of navigate how to handle this because I think that it is it is an issue. We you know I've seen it personally as a parent. I've heard from other parents um that it's a problem and we're getting charged and
then we have the fees for the services um and it becomes like thousands sometimes. I mean very very expensive. So is there any way for us to be able to do that? >> So I guess um opt out of out of a kind of like a school food account.
>> Yeah. So they that that could be um >> or if it's at zero it it doesn't >> uh so so the reason why we allow it to go into a rears up to I think it's like $25 is for the very reason that if they don't have the funds don't want to say
no and you know they don't have the $5 for >> which I I understand and agree with. a month. >> Um, and that that's the rationale be behind that. But it um the school also sends out a message like a reminder um you know your meal counts. >> But then if that's the case, right,
could could we do something where if a child doesn't have lunch, they can go and get lunch, but they can't get cookies and chips and snapple. >> Yes. the the re the arars once they're the account is in rears they won't be able to do the alocart items like the snacks or
>> is a rears just zero or is that if you haven't paid after a certain amount of time >> um below zero below zero is in a rears they they could only uh pick up a lunch and and that's it yeah
no no uh grandma cookies no >> anybody other questions Moving on to our committee reports. We just have finance. Did you >> Yeah, just a couple quick things. Um, Jorge covered a a bulk of it, but um just uh probably three things here. Uh
we have completed the removal of the documents from the rooms in the high school that are going to be uh repurposed for instructional uh space. uh these documents. Uh the next step is to have a proposal together um for
document um retention and uh scan them for longer term archiving. I believe there are next steps involved there. Um uh moving along on the HVAC updates. Um u the uh there was a meeting with the architects. Uh they're working on next
steps for the project. uh we will be um putting up in front of the board um for the bidding process and the plan to work uh for spring of next year. Um and then uh lastly the uh involving the playground update um
the u again some steps continue uh in terms of the mediation uh there was a successful u inclusion of in the mediation of the construction manager and the architect and the subcontractor. Um and then uh there's going to be some
uh legal fees associated with that. Uh the architects themselves um were found not liable uh since the scope was followed by the contractor but uh the construction management and contractor will remain in that mediation. Do I have that right?
>> Okay, that's yes. >> Thank you. Does anyone have questions? I just have a a quick comment regarding HVAC since we're sitting here. It's freezing. Does this air run constantly?
cuz I feel like that could be a waste of money if it's running all the time and nobody's using this room. Maybe we can have Dennis look into that cuz Okay, thank you.
Well, it's a little chilly in here today. Okay, moving on to our agenda. Um, if there's anyone from the public that would like to come up and speak on any agenda action items that we will be voting on, please feel free to come to the podium and state your name. And you
have three minutes. Thank you. >> Good evening everyone. Matt Pera, 32 Hillrest Terrace. I have a general question on A5 and A6 and I may have um
asked something similar in the past and I'm just not remembering but there's been in prior agendas lots of movement at the middle school level especially specific to math and different like changing of grades fifth and sixth.
Could you just remind me if I did ask before or um give some background information on why there's been this shuffling and it's it feels like it's limited to the middle school. >> Yes, it uh it is because we are changing
the schedule um the way the schedule works. So, for grade five, um, teachers will be not just teach. So, right now, our last year, I should say, was the last year that we're going to be treating fifth graders like middle school kids because they're only there
because um because of space. Yeah. >> Um, they're not there because we have a philosophy that a fifth grade student should be following a middle school schedule, but they were following a middle school schedule. And as a result, they were getting 45 minutes a day of math and language arts instead of the recommended 60 minutes of math and 90
minutes of language arts. So, uh, because we're making that change, we're changing the structure of the fifth grade, uh, so that teachers that taught science last year or math this year will be teaching math and science and then conversely, uh, social studies and and,
uh, language arts. Um, so we we did some shifts there. um we moved some people um and you're seeing so for A5 and A6 these are reversals so they wanted to um uh move Mr. Gabek and and
Dr. Miller and Mr. Stevenson uh had initially wanted to move Mrs. Donahghue and Mr. uh Palazo to uh grade six um And after discussion with the teachers
and discussion um with the um principal and assistant principal uh we decided to leave them in their current placement. And so that's where you're seeing these changes. They'll have >> and then I guess a more specific
question on B8. Um and maybe I just don't have enough information. I was um curious as to why the tuition for the high school is so much more expensive than it is for HBW,
>> assuming that's a full year. >> That's a good question. And um that is a staff rate. So it's a staff child for HBW. So it's a much lower rate. >> Oh, okay. >> Yeah, we have a in our contract with the teachers, we have an agreement um that they get a reduced tuition rate. And it's not just a reduced tuition rate,
it's also um our rates were much lower. And uh so when the state came out and said you have to charge your per pupil cost for tuition re uh for tuition in um we petitioned the county uh office and said we we have people that are already
in our district at these lower rates to go from let's give you an example $5,600 to 15,000 in one year is cool. >> Yeah. So, we got uh permission to grandfather them to the next um so it's not just a it's an old tuition rate and a staff rate.
>> Okay. And is that 13,300? Is that like that's the nonstaff? >> That's the nonstaff grandfather. >> Correct. >> And is that relatively similar high school, middle school, elementary school or is it like >> You know what? I can actually tell you
what that is. go to our website 20%. That's a that that staff pays 20% of our Yeah, but I'm looking for um >> ballpark spine. I It's more out of curiosity. >> It's a little different for each of um
each of the grade levels. So for uh kindergarten it's 13,440. Grades 1 to 5 15,422. Grades 6 to 8 15,233. And um grades 9 to 12 um is6091.
And I lied to you because that 13305 was the was the grandfather tuition. >> And for a non like I guess could you give an example of like a non staff student? >> Sure. We have several students that um come from West Orange, come from
Belleville. they don't want to go to their their school there. So, they just get they apply and they give us um pay the tuition. Sometimes it's a school district that's sending a student here. Okay. >> Um and that could be for special education. We had a student uh a couple
years ago that was coming here from a an area school because there had been bullying in her school and so they didn't want to continue that process. So, they uh sent the student here. um the uh I'm trying to think of
we have we have several special education students that the district pays us and then we have parents who who choose to pay you know $16,000 versus the $35,000 that they're going to pay at um at the um mare MKA or
>> Exactly. Yeah. >> Yeah. And in both cases, if you have a staff family member or you're just sort of paying full freight out of pocket, is that like an application process? >> It is. It's an application process. It's an interview process. Okay. >> Um at any time if there's behavior
issues or grades drop, we have we reserve the right to um >> stop uh accepting and we are currently not accepting uh any tuition in students at K8 because we don't have the >> Thank you. But his first point, why does a board
need to approve a staff member going from grade five to grade six? So, why would we what would why would we have to approve that? >> Um, we don't have to approve it. We do it so that we can keep so that it's um transparent and it's on there and so that when payroll looks at the board
agenda, they can make those changes. It just it keeps the board informed and it also keeps a record of of the changes. We do have to when you're changing schools. So if you're transferring school to school board does have to approve. >> Okay. >> So we just try to any change we make we
put on there so that we have a record. It's transparent. >> Gotcha. >> Thank you Mr. Per for your comments. Does anyone else have any? >> Moving on to our agenda discussion items or any new business. Does anyone have
anything they would like to I know it's cold. I just want to talk about I wanna I have something I would like to discuss. I'm gonna be quick because I'm freezing. So, I would just like to report out um
the Verona summer music program. I was there on Wednesday and saw um the Lion King kid version and Rock of Ages youth edition. They did a phenomenal job in the short period of time they had to learn everything and I just wanted Yeah,
it's incredible. every year. It's just so amazing to see what these young students are doing out on stage. I I create it's amazing. Um so the entire production staff um crew and the pit
musicians and all our students um and obviously there's so many Mr. Mortyn and everybody just really really incredible. So they did two shows this year. First half was like I said the Lion King for the younger students and then Rock of Ages for the older and I believe that's
seventh and eighth going and going into high school some of Yeah. >> Yes. They did two. Yeah. So it was great. It was really excellent. >> I I just think the costumeuming everything is so spot on. >> Yeah. It was really really great.
>> So any correspondence? >> Correspondents. >> Okay. Moving on to our agenda, I will need a motion, please, to approve our personnel resolutions
A1 through A8. Motion by motion by Mr. Walka, seconded by Seconded by Mr. Boon. Any discussions? If you could please call roll.
>> Mr. Walker. Yes, >> Mrs. Par. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Prrisco. >> Yes, >> Mr. Boom. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Great. Thank you. Moving on to our education resolutions. I need a motion, please, to approve resolutions B1
all the way down to B10. Motion by >> motion by Miss Ferah, seconded by >> seconded >> by Mr. Waka. Are there any discussions? >> I just have a quick question for the uh courses that are running. I don't remember exactly what the policy is for
the number of students in a class for the class to run, but these ones that will say this will likely increase in enrollment. At what point like are any of the is the accounting with three students or French with five, are they at risk for not running? And if so, at what point will we know that?
>> Um most likely they will run with 10. Um what happens is um so what Mrs. Acriman did last week is she went there were there were like 20 more and she went in and balanced. >> So this is the result of like for instance um
uh accounting there are other accounting sections but these students could not change because they had a singleton they had a core course they had something else during that section. So, um, what the counselors will do now is they'll call these kids down because this is a semester 2 course and they'll say, "This
course is going to close. These are the options." >> Okay? >> Or this could be an option and it could get larger. >> Okay? So, even though we're we're approving this tonight, >> um, you don't have to approve it. This is me asking the board, do you want to approve this?
>> Okay. So then but so what so my concern is if we don't approve it how do we are do are we still ensuring that these three students are able to get that class like it because it says here they'll likely increase this will likely increase in enrollment when will we know
you know I don't I don't want to not I don't want to vote something down yeah >> if it's going to increase and we're going to be able to offer it to students but also >> as we're moving unfortunately not until we're moving into semester 2 when kids are shuffling There's >> Yeah, but at that point, yeah, it's hard
to balance. I mean, then the teacher's not if we change this class, the teacher's not working full-time. It's It gets sticky. >> Yeah. >> I guess now >> if we approve it and it only still has three students, are are we stuck with it
or Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's >> I just thought that that left it open but didn't necessarily >> Yeah. So, tomorrow was tomorrow Thursday. Tomorrow's Wednesday. Thursday. No, tomorrow I have a meeting with the high school administrative staff and uh
Mrs. Arian and Dr. Miller because we're seeing um so as a result not having enough electives outside of the art department at the high school.
The art department was um had class sizes of 32 33 um and and they were huge. And you have kids that are in the art classes because of graduation requirements and kids that are in the art classes because they want to study art and it was a huge class and it was
really problematic. So two years ago we added an art teacher at the high school. We also restructured how we offer electives. So now we have uh we have a a concern that our art classes are getting smaller and it's we have to balance. So,
we're going to be looking at the direction we're moving regarding staffing at the high school going into 2627. Yes, 2627. I can't believe we're talking about 2627. So, um you should see we should see
fewer of these now. For instance, French one that's we are trying to uh build back the French program although we did meet this week last week on on um our world language program in general and what's happening there because we do see declining numbers across French and I'm
not sure that offering French one is really going to be the final all and be all of our problems with with language. Um we will be reporting to the board um our our action plan. We're we're creating a strategic plan for world language and moving forward. Um, but AP
French obviously has six students in it. Um, it doesn't generally have more than five or six students, but students can't get that any other way. >> Um, >> allow do they allow sign language as a as a language? Yes, they allow that as >> American Sign Language ASL. Yeah. >> Awesome.
>> Yeah. Um I think one of one of the things that and I've been talking about this for two years and I think uh we just have to make a commitment uh monetarily. This was not the year to do that. Um virtual high school will solve a lot of our problems. Um, virtual high
school is a a phenomenal virtual school that allows um, school districts to purchase seats and students can choose from any of the APS um, any over 150 different electives
across all areas. They have remediation, they have credit recovery, and they have enrichment classes. Um, when I was in my former district, we offered it because we did not have the staff or the money to offer all of the electives that our kids want. And our students had really
good experience with virtual high school. Even the students taking the AP courses because we did not offer as many AP courses um in my former district than we do here. So, kids were taking AP economics, they were taking uh AP Mandarin and getting fours and fives.
So, it's a it's a quality school. It's a really inexpensive way to bring a wide variety of electives, but it is that unique student that's going to work at a self-paced um online course. >> I don't know if you watched the I don't know if it was a rerun, but the the 60
Minutes piece on Kamigo that looked like it's going to be gamecher for online virtual schools and things like that. Like once >> I didn't. When was that on? >> Uh I saw this past Sunday night. >> Okay. >> But it's Khan Academy, but it's it's there. They partnered up with with AI
and the AI teacher is going to work with the the AI is going to work with the both the student and the teacher to get them through a curriculum. And the way I the way it was presented it looked very very workable and it looked really it didn't look like it was going to outsource teaching but it looked like it was going to be a tool that you know who
wouldn't want to have this. >> He's amazing. I mean what he did s what he did uh just to link learning to so right now I don't know whether you're aware um but when you take an SAT or a PSA when you take a PSAT
um and you are a a free customer of the Khan Academy you can upload your scores and your where you had problems and and they will and you get a a like a customized program of remediation and
it's all free and it's just it's amazing. Yeah. >> Thank you. Mr. Cruz, if you could please call roll. >> Mr. Walker. >> I'm going to abstain from B3 and then
yes to everything else. Uh Mrs. Fra. >> Yes. Mrs. Brisco, >> yes. >> Mr. Goons, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Moving on to our athletics
resolutions. I need a motion, please, to approve resolutions C1 through C7. Motion by Mr. Waka, seconded by Second by Mrs. Ferrer. Are there any discussions?
Seeing none, Mr. Cruz, can you please call roll? >> Sawaka? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ferrara? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Prrisco? >> Yes. >> Mr. Boon? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Moving on to facilities. Uh,
we have one on for D1. I need a motion to approve resolution D1. >> Motion by Mr. Boon, seconded by >> Mr. Waka. Are there any discussions? Mr. Mr. Cruz, if you could call roll. >> Yes. >> Mr. Walk, yes.
>> Mrs. Ferrar, >> yes. >> Mrs. Prrisco, >> yes. >> Mr. Boon, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Moving on to our finance resolutions. Need a motion to approve our resolutions E1 >> through.
>> I just to um interject E5, if we could uh do a motion to table. I just noticed that um some of the the amounts are not correct. I'll move to table E5. >> We will >> second. >> Okay. So, we are motion uh we are
tableabling E5. So, I need a motion then to approve E1 through E4 and then E6 through E7. >> I will make that motion. >> Motion by Mr. Waka, seconded by
>> I'll second Mrs. Ferrer. Are there any discussions? Mr. Cruz, if you could please call roll. Mr. Walk, >> yes. >> Mrs. Far, >> yes. >> Mrs. Friscoll, >> yes. >> Mr. Boone, >> yes. >> Motion carries.
>> Great. Thank you. >> And then on to our governance >> to vote to move the other one. >> Do we have to >> the the table at table? Um. Yes. >> Okay. So then I need to We did the motion and seconded. So I just need a roll call for E5
>> or tableling E5. Yes. Mr. Walker. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ferrar. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Brisco. >> Yes. >> Mr. Boon. >> Yes. >> Motion carries to table E5. >> Thank you, Mr. Walker, for picking that up. >> You've got it. >> I need a motion, please, for governance
and policy for resolutions F1 through F2. >> I'll move. >> Motion by Mr. Waka, seconded by a second Mrs. Pere. Are there any discussions? >> Anything changed in the conduct of board
meetings? No, that is um yeah, >> we are changing it um to reflect the fact that we have no it's not about you. >> No, we have been since the pandemic um allowing u virtual um attendance at our
confidential sessions and that is a no no. So only in the only during a um a declared emergency can we do um attendance at a confidential session remotely. Um, we're good, right? That was the only
question you threw me off though. Um, Mr. Cruz, if you could please call roll. >> Mr. Walker, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ferrar, >> yes. >> Mrs. Prrisco, >> yes. >> Mr. Boon, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> I'm glad it wasn't about you, Mr. Waka.
and I'm glad to see the evaluation of teachers there. Right in line with our goals. >> Okay, moving on to public comments on any items. Please feel free to come up to the podium, state your name, and you'll have three minutes.
Seeing none. All right. So, confidential motion. I need a motion please to adjourn. >> So moved. >> Motion by Mr. Boon.
>> Second. >> Seconded by Mr. Waka. >> I know I do miss Ryan, too. Our next schedule public meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, beginning with confidential session at 6 p.m. and public session at 7 p.m. in the Verona
High School Learning Commons. Um, our meeting is adjourned and it is 8:00 PM. Everyone enjoy the rest of the uh, summer. Great for Thanks for coming out. Our next meeting is August 26, 2025.