Good evening and welcome to the >> All right. Good evening and [snorts] welcome to the Western Orange Board of Education public board meeting on Monday, December 15, 2025. I would like to thank all of you here in person uh and those watching from home for joining
us tonight. I'd like to welcome my fellow board members as well as Mr. Moore and Miss Flowers and our student liaison. Uh, Miss Flowers, would you please take the roll call? >> Good evening. Roll call. Dr. Bryant >> here. >> Mr. Stevenson >> here.
>> Miss Vera >> here. >> Mr. Ifer >> here. >> Mr. Rock >> here. >> Thank you. Notice of meeting. The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to
attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests are discussed are discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act. A written notice was sent from the office of the secretary of the board on January 7th,
2025. That set notice was sent by regular mail to the West Orange Township Clerk and the editors of the West Orange Chronicle and by email to the Star Ledger. That set notice was posted in the lobby of the administration building of the board of
education and posted on the district website. Please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and may be broadcasted on local TV and the district's website at a future date. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> [clears throat]
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nation with liberty and justice for all. [clears throat] >> Thank you, Miss Flowers. In consideration of the closed and public
meeting of November 10th, 2025, do I have a motion to accept the minutes? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Mr. Ker. Is there a second? Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Any comments? Hearing none. Miss Flowers, please take the roll call. >> Dr. Bryant, >> yes. >> Mr. Stevenson,
>> yes. >> Miss Vera, >> yes. >> Vice President, >> yes. >> President Rock, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. And next, good evening to our student leaison. Adam Bareric and Nefertitary James. Please share your student leazison report with us at this time.
>> Good evening everyone. So to start, we're going to go over some academic achievements and achievements in general, which some of people will be getting awards today anyway. So Teddy Wickman, congratulations on your 1520 on your SAT score, your PSAT score.
Julia Harris for her best buddies award. Emory Gofield, a sophomore, uh, took national stage in Washington, DC, sharing her student perspectives on AI. That was amazing. Um, we proudly welcome our new executive
director of special services, Dr. Derek Resa. Recently, our West Orange High School chamber orchestra performed for Thanksgiving. So, that's also pretty cool. And then our third grade's gifted and
talented program did a fundraiser, which was pretty awesome for food drives. And lastly, our chess team will also be getting award today. So, I'll leave that to the rest of >> more towards the athletic side. Three
members of the West Orange football program, Fraud Green, David Moore, and Akira Morgan, signed national letters of intent. Since 2019, the program has helped student athletes earn nearly $6 million in college scholarships. On a more serious note, the district
extends heartfield heartfelt condolences on the passing of Amado Churichello, student assistance counselor at West Orange High School and a deeply valued member of the West Orange community. The West Orange boys soccer team captured the sectional championship and
continued an outstanding postseason run through the NJSIA Group Four Tournament. In the group four semi-finals, West Orange defeated Scotch Plains 1-0 with Aiden Aki scoring off a cross for Marcus Williams. The team completed a remarkable season with a 5-0 victory
over North Brunswick, securing the NJsia State Championship, the program's first since 2013. West Orange Elementary Schools participated in the annual Ruby Bridges Walk honoring courage, equity, and the ongoing commitment to inclusive school
communities. And for upcoming events regarding students, winter break is coming soon. Students have an early dismissal on December 23rd and are on break till January 5th. >> It's important. It's an important >> [clears throat] >> Thank you for that report. Um, next, Mr.
Moore, it is time for your report. Would you please share your superintendent report with us? >> Yes, as our board liaison pointed out, tonight we have a lot to be proud of and tonight the board will honor all those uh recipients as mentioned by our board liaison and more.
Okay. Thank you, President Rock. Tonight, we are fortunate to spotlight several groups and individuals in our district. While it may take a few minutes, I trust that you'll find the accolades demonstrate a diverse skill the diverse
skills of our students and faculty. Okay. [snorts] First, I'd like to call Miss Michelle Martino to the podium, our director of assessment, accountability, and intervention to announce the recipients of the New Jersey Chinese Teachers
Association Community Partnership Award. Michelle, >> thank you. It is my pleasure to recognize Felix Plata, supervisor of world languages and ESL for preK12 for two remarkable honors
that speak to his extraordinary dedication to our students, our community, and the field of world language and ESL education. Earlier this month in Trenton, Felix was one of only three educators in the entire state to be recognized during the New Jersey
Assembly voting session with an assembly resolution for his exceptional service to the students of all cultures, particularly those of the Hispanic heritage in West Orange and for his impactful leadership as an educator and a community advocate. The resolution was
presented highlighting the significance of his contributions to our community. Felix was also selected to receive the New Jersey Chinese Teachers Association Community Partnership Award for supervisors or administrators, an honor
nominated by his own Chinese language teachers in recognition of his steadfast advocacy, encouragement, and unwavering support for world language programs. He was celebrated at the NJCAA award dinner on December 13th. As we
share these accomplishments today, we want to express how deeply grateful we are for Felix's service, vision, and dedication to the community and students of West Orange. We are truly fortunate to have such a committed, compassionate, and impactful leader as part of our
team, and we proudly celebrate his well-deserved achievements. So, please welcome Mr. Felix Platan. First, I want to express my appreciation for the board, superintendent, um, the community at large for all the work that
everyone here does for our community. Um, and I obviously I'm very grateful for the recognition that I received, but I I have to give a sincere thank you to my fellow administrators who I have the privilege uh due to my role to work with every single one of them um in in one
capacity or another. Uh they are outstanding. They're amazing. Um and they make it easy to to do great things. And then of course our wonderful teachers. Uh I'm blessed to have phenomenal ESL and world languages teachers. uh many who are here who who
definitely are the reason why um I receive any recognition. Um now that being said, the most important individuals in this community are our students and I am uh it's my my pleasure as the supervisor of world languages uh
to congratulate one of our outstanding students uh Miss Khloe Chong and her parents right and her parents because nothing gets done without your parents. So to the parents of Khloe Chunk. Um but Chloe Khloe was honored at the New
Jersey Chinese Teachers Association annual awards ceremony this past weekend weekend in Edison, New Jersey. Uh where she received the NJCAA Youth Leadership Award. She was recognized um from students across New Jersey for her
leadership um and her contributions to the Chinese language and culture. um but for all of the leadership roles that she she has. Uh NJCA's mission is to promote and recognize the study, teaching, and appreciation of Chinese language and culture across all educational levels in
New Jersey. Uh in that same vein, the mission of the World Languages Program is to develop globally competent, multilingual, and culturally responsive citizens who have the understanding and necessary skills to positively impact our world now and future. And every day
we're rec we're reminded how important that skill set is in our world. Khloe continues to demonstrate her leadership and success on both counts during her time here at at the high school. And her receipt of this award where she was selected over students
from all over New Jersey is another indicator to that fact to her excellence. Uh Khloe's an outstanding student, president of the Chinese club, president of the Chinese National Honor Society, president of West Orange High School student council, a student athlete, and
most importantly is a wonder, according to her friends, her teachers, is a wonderful personality who seeks to reach her fullest potential in all that she does. She made her teachers, our Chinese program, our school, and our community proud. So on behalf of the
superintendent, the board, we congratulate you, Chloe. So please come up and receive this recognition as well-deserved recognition. >> Thank you. Congratulations and thank you both. Tonight we are delighted to have a
special guest from the New Jersey State Amastad Commission who's here to recognize one of our teachers. I call to the podium Mr. Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me. Dr. Patrick Lambie. >> Good evening. Thank you for for having
me. I want to just say one thing before I kind of address the board and the audience. I am so impressed with the structure of the student report here and I've been to several board meetings and this is a first of its kind. I want to congratulate the board, the West Orange board for doing that.
I'm here tonight as the executive director of the Amasta Commission, but also a representative of the office of the governor as well as the New Jersey Department of Education. I want to thank the West Orange Board of Education as well as in particular
Superintendent Moore as well as Dr. Kima Jackson who's not here with us tonight. Kima is actually one of the principal of the school we're recognizing tonight which is Redwood Elementary. So I'm going to ask Joy Bernette to come and join me at the podium for a moment while
I speak to why she's here and why I'm here. The Amastad Commission is in, but not of the New Jersey Department of Education. It started out as the Amastad bill in 2002, legislation sponsored by Craig Stanley and and um Assemblyman Bill
Payne, and signed into law in 2002 by Governor McGrevy. And since that time, we have spent the past three years by way of a new legislation, which is why we're here this evening, signed into law by Governor Murphy on August 30th of
2021. That legislation is the governor's exemplary award. It's the highest award offered to a teacher in the state of New Jersey from the Amstad Commission. The award involves a selection process which includes a committee appointed by the
governor, by the senate, by the assembly. Very competitive. It includes a significant monetary gift to the teacher of $2,500 and to the district of $2,500. Continue to do the work of the commission. The commission's charge is
to ensure and New Jersey became the first state in the nation to ensure that every classroom in the state of New Jersey reflects a curriculum in particular at the time in 2020 in 2002 that includes the narrative and contributions of African and African-Americans in the K through2
curriculum. Initially started as an initiative for social studies, world history and US history. Moved to every single subject area in 2020. New Jersey is the first state in the nation to accomplish this and New York followed in 2005. So I want to give you guys shout
out to New Jersey itself. I want to start by acknowledging somebody else in the space. Um I want to ask Miss Carbo Jackson to stand up. She was the first recipient of the Amastad Exemplary
Award in 2023. And I might add that Miss Carbo Jackson is a kindergarten teacher. A kindergarten teacher being recognized in 2023 as a first for infusing the narrative and contributions of African-Americans in the kindergarten
classroom. So, I just wanted to recognize you this evening as we recognize Miss Brunette. Thank you. And with Miss Bernett's selection this evening, she becomes the second to receive the award as a teacher again in Redwood Elementary, making West Orange
and Miss Brunette as a second where this the only school district and or school in the state of New Jersey to have received this award two times. So, please join me in recognizing M Miss Reynette as a 2025
Amastad Commission Exemplary Award winner by the Office of the Governor of New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Educations. Congratulations. And board, I'm going to ask Miss Bernett if she wants to say a few words. And again, you're gonna have to come back out again. I'm sorry. [laughter]
>> Okay, I'm gonna be quick. I I just want to thank my principal, Dr. Kima Jackson. Um Miriam Carbo Jackson, who was the first winner. Um they both inspired me to, you know, to push and to make sure
that on every at every opportunity that I get, I am infusing African-American studies through every subject that I teach. and it's a pleasure to be here tonight to represent West Orange Schools. Thank you, Mr. Moore, who's
always super supportive in whatever we want to do. And I just want to thank all of you uh for supporting us every day. Thank you. >> All right, this is just from Dr. Jackson. She wishes she could be here. Sorry, board. one quick second. She said
she's um very proud of how Miss Bernett intentionally addresses diversity in her in her lessons and is also as a WOW member. She goes above and beyond to provide age appropriate Amastad related resources to her students and staff. And we look forward to her continued success
um as she implements AMAD throughout the school year. And personally, I just want to congratulate Joy and myself um for this prestigious award. I know as a kindergarten teacher laying the foundation, looking forward to knowing that there's an upper grade teacher who's intentionally adding to our
students depth of knowledge, she not only cares about history um for our students, but she always collaborates. She's always coming um to a various amount of staff members and just sharing her her knowledge to add to their classroom. and as a community because
both of us live in town. Um we are proud of her that she continues to teach African and African-American history um to our community that is so inclusive and this inclusive history that needs to be taught from kindergarten going up. And so I just want to thank thank her
for her time, her effort, and it takes research to really be able to teach this, right? You can't do this work. Um it's not always in a textbook. Well, actually it's not in a textbook. we got to go and do the research. And so her taking the time to research and making it relevant to not only
African-Americans throughout America, but also coming back to New Jersey African-American history and laying Network down. So, thank you, Miss Joy Bernette. Okay. Congratulations and thank you for all
your hard work. We appreciate you, Miss Bernette. Um, at this time, I call upon our high school principal, Mr. Oscar Guerrero who will recognize the outstanding achievement of one of our
11th grader students for their PSAT. I'm excited. >> Good evening everyone. Uh before I go into principal mode as a Redwood parent, shout out to Miss Bernett. Congratulations. Shout out to the school that cares, Redwood.
Um I have a couple of recognitions. The first uh is uh one of our 11th grade students. It is with immense pride and pleasure that we recognize an outstanding achievement by one of our very own students, Theodore Wickham. Teddy is a dedicated and bright student
in the 11th grade who attended uh Gregory Elementary School. Shout out to Gregory. Come on over, Teddy. Shout out to Gregory. Thank you. And also Roosevelt Middle School uh prior to West Orange High School. uh this past fall he
achieved a perfect score on the PSAT. Yes, indeed. Just to provide some perspective and some context, on average 1.6 million students take the PSAT each year and less than 1% achieve a perfect score.
This not only reflects his hard work, but also the dedication of his family and his teachers. Congratulations Teddy as I present you with the certificate for academic excellence. And secondly, it is my pleasure tonight to introduce a
team that has truly made history at West Orange High School. Our chess team led by their dedicated faculty adviser, Mr. Ara Barbarian and seniors Sadiq Seiku, David Milstein, Xander Venutolo, and
David Daddy. This group of students achieved a monumental milestone at the New Jersey K to2 State Scholastic Tournament held at Brookdale Community College. After a decisive victory over Livingston High School, they secured first place in competition and were
crowned for the first time in school history state champions in chess. Please join me in congratulating this group of students. Come on up, guys. Um, principal Guerrero, you may want to join our AD, Mr. Stefan, um, Stefan
Zakella at the podium as we recognize our state championship soccer team. So before I talk about this the the soccer team and call coach Neans to say a few words, I'm going to ask the the boys and the coaches to just stand along
the lovely Miss Connors over here. So make your way to the front. So, this journey started a long time ago and uh this is a celebration that will continue to go on for a long time. um this this group is truly one of the best
teams to ever come through West Orange High School uh in a in a day where there's been such a disparity between uh non-publiclix and Publix to accomplish what we did this year. It's it's going to be looked at for a long time as one of the greatest things that have
happened in West Orange athletics. Um the countless and I'll have coach I don't want to steal his thunder. the countless team and individual awards and recognition this past year is is newsworthy. Um to start off the year
with a 10th ranking and to finish as strong as we did is a testament to the work and the growth that they had uh all throughout the summer throughout this fall. seeing them uh practice and and come together as a team to do grounding
and yoga and all those things that coach I mean it was really just incredible to see this team and and individually you weren't perfect you were near it but together you were you you had incredible synergy and you were perfect um just earlier this week I don't know if the
team fully re recognizes [clears throat] it but um they had just uh finalized that we are als So, uh, along with all the recognition of being state champs and, uh, that we're the American Division, the toughest conference in the
country, were the American Division champions and, uh, I'm just so proud of everything that has been accomplished and we're going to celebrate this team and all the individuals for many years to come. So without uh further ado, I'd
like to call on coach Neans who is uh truly the mastermind behind all of our success in the program. This is our third group state championship. We had eight sectional championships. His resume is unmatched. So thank you for
everything, coach. Really appreciate it. >> Thank you, Mr. Zakella. I know I've been sitting in the audience and when coaches or people speak for too long, it drags on. So, very quickly to give those of you out there that don't
know a lot about the team, uh they finished 24-2 and our only two losses were to the number one team in the country, St. Benedict's. We lost 2-1 at home and one zero in the county finals. To put some perspective into that, uh the number four ranked team in the
country, Shamanad of New York, lost 6-0 to St. Benedict's and St. Benedict's average score, they would beat teams four, five, 6-0. Um, they not only finished 24-2, they scored a 100 goals and only conceded 14, which is pretty
remarkable. And that's a testament to having really good attacking players, really good defenders, and a great goalie. Um they were ranked number two in New Jersey and we finished the season ranked number eight in the country. Um that's
fantastic. That's the highest we've ever finished. There were a too many uh individual honors to go through all of them, but many many all county, all conference, all state. We had two regional all-Americans, an all-American and a New Jersey state player of the year, which
is truly truly remarkable. Uh but beyond their talent on the field, this was like the nicest group of kids ever. And people always say, "Oh yeah, when you're winning, it's fun and it's easy." But that's not always true. And this group, whether I suggested we do grounding and
we do things like that, and most high school kids would be like, "I'm not doing that." And they were into everything. Whether it was team parties, hangouts, bus rides, everybody, the best players on the team treated the the lower players on the team like brothers,
which was great and that makes it so much more rewarding. So, we're going to call them up now so they can get their certificates. We'll just go in the order they're standing. Dennis Beneggas one of our captains, Carl Hall. Our very fine goalkeeper, Augustine
Aretta, Darius Millington, Marcus Jackson, Aiden Acri, Dylan Flip, Luke Brown, Chase Wins, Justin Amay, Yankee Suarez,
Julian Gomez, Marcus Williams, Danielle Vargas, Espino, Melvin Pala, Joseph Castillo, and Ben Wadyu.
How'd I do with the pronunciation, bud? And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that all of my assistant coaches are wonderful. Some of them couldn't come. Everybody in district who knows him, Freddy Christian is not just a great soccer coach. He's one of the best
people that works in this district. Absolutely amazing human being. uh Dr. Rock for the uh final portion of my report I ask on board member Dia Dr. Dia Bryant to uh make an acknowledgement.
>> Thank you, Superintendent Hayden. Um, we all know that this was an election season and it was one that was very busy. Um, if you ask anyone who ran for office in our town how many hours they
spent walking around door knocking, printing things, coming up with ideas, there are lots and lots of numbers and I bet it'd be close to 511. That's the number I like. [snorts] Nonetheless, um Susan Palmucci, one of the candidates for the board of
education, um nudged us all and gave us all a bit of a challenge. What if we decided to come together and do a coat drive for kids and I'm incredibly grateful for her leadership um in that way? And you will notice standing back there and we're going to ask them to
start to move forward. Um almost everyone that ran for town council or board of education is here and they have brought with them all of those goods that you see on the table which are coats for our kids. Um
so we'll take a picture with everyone. and they're going to bring the codes up. Even if you Yeah, just bring them up, y'all. Um, our town is obviously growing winners if that's not clear from tonight's celebrations, and it takes this village to really do that. And so we're appreciative of all
the candidates and everyone that came out night. uh this is a great example on how politics should really work. The intent of everyone is to do right by the kids in our community. And I uh thank the
candidates that may not have won. They won tonight by coming together with the candidates that may have won to do something for our community. I really appreciate that. Thank you, Dr. Bryant, for that acknowledgement and thank you
to the board members for taking a picture and thank you for the to the candidates um that ran for board. Um although they may not have been successful in the vote, they were successful here tonight in helping us achieve our goal of helping our
community with coats. So thank you. Can I give him a round of applause? They didn't walk out. They left but at this time uh I would like to present
the HIV report. There's been three incidents of investigation of HIV and two have been founded. And that concludes my report for the evening. Thank you, Doc. President Rock. >> Thank you, Superintendent Moore, and
congratulations to everyone that was recognized tonight. It's great [clears throat] cross-section of our community to see all the different types of things that are recognized here. Um, do we have any committee reports from the board? Any Okay,
>> thank you. Um, very briefly, just a couple of things. Um, uh, when I was first elected, I promised to visit every school, and I believe I've done that now, except for the uh, prek, which we'll get to when it gets a little warmer. Um, I do want to mention
my visit last month to uh, Hazel Elementary, Mr. Castillo. Um, that's the oldest school in the district. Um, and I just have so much uh respect and admiration for them. It
looks old. The hallways are narrow. The ceilings are a little lower. We went through to where the lunchroom is, and he told me that that's the newer part of the school from 1950. But nobody complains. Nobody's saying, "Gee, I wish I was at another school."
It was just like 100%, you know, optimism, great attitude, moving forward. Look what we're doing. I I really left there on a high note. So, I I appreciate them and all that they do. Um looking forward,
um hope I'm looking forward to having the meeting with the new uh uh um sup I guess it's a supervisor in charge of transportation, Mr. Michael Shop. um very interested in hearing what we're
doing to keep up with all the developments with bus safety, especially the use of artificial intelligence. We should be leading that that um that push and I I think um we're on the right track there. I'm also looking forward in the new year to meeting with Dr. Derek
Resa, the new head of special services. He's got large shoes to fill um with respect to Connie, but I'm looking forward to meeting with him. And I know some other parents have already approached me hoping that they can get a word in with him. And then finally, um
this is going to be my last meeting as vice president of the West Orange Board of Education. Uh I have three years to serve, but this will be my last one in in leadership. And I just want to thank my fellow board members for giving me
the opportunity. I learned a lot. I hope I gave a little. And I especially want to thank Mr. for Iraq, president of the board for his leadership and his guidance and uh look forward to a very strong uh new year. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Vice President. Right. Next, I'd like to share my anything. Do you have a committee report? Oh, yeah. Policy. Go ahead. >> No. Thank you, President Ruck. Um, Superintendent Moore, I just want to acknowledge and again congratulate
uh, Miss Joy Bernett and preceding her in the award, Miss Miriam Carpal Jackson and by extension Dr. Kimmy Jackson for the achievement with respect to the Amastad award. As many of you know, the
Amastad legislation has been challenging to enact in districts throughout the state. And so to for two teachers who have been awarded this award in one school in this district says a lot. Uh so I commend the
teachers for their awards and I commend Dr. Jackson for facilitating teachers to have the autonomy and the excuse me [clears throat] and the wherewithal against
opposition I use the term opposition directly to implementing such curriculum within the curriculums that they teach because it's not easy and these awards further exemplify that the legis
legislation really should be pervasive in our comm in our curriculum and often times it's not. And so it's important legislation. It's important that uh this history is complete within classrooms.
And so for this district, for two of our teachers, for one of our schools in particular, to be bestowed this award now twice, I think says something of that environment, says something of the leadership, says something of these
teachers who were willing to put forth curriculum that benefits all students in terms of their [clears throat] understanding, in terms of the kids' knowledge about important history for this country I think is is incredible. So
congratulations again. Uh and I would also say and this will come up in further [clears throat] in policy. Excuse me. There are several proposed policy changes that the board is undertaking for consideration. I just
want to note for the community that policy changes by the policy committee and by extension all the board committees are under constant review uh to ensure that we're op we're operating optimally with respect to the policies and the practices that occur within our
school buildings and within our district uh every day. So you will see several policies that are there for which the board is now reviewing and undertaking and will be voted on for adoption at a later time. Thank you. [cough]
[clears throat] [laughter] Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. All right. Now, I would like to share my board president's report, which I'll try to keep brief since we've been here for quite a while already. Uh so [clears throat] first a quick update on last year's state budget. We received uh
mentioned this at a previous meeting $300,000 in supplemental appropriations thanks to our state legislative uh team here in LD27. Uh of that $300,000 which was earmarked in the state budget for capital improvements throughout the district. One [clears throat] project
that's underway this month is a boiler replacement at PVW here in the high school uh to the tune of $123,850. Uh so that money is being well spent uh in a timely fashion now that it's very cold out to make sure that our schools are heated. So we thank uh Senator McKe
and Assemblywoman Mgoli and Assemblywoman Coyaza skill for that support in the state budget. Um next we talked quite a bit about state funding and the the upcoming state budget. Um so about two weeks ago I got a call from Assemblywoman Moli. Uh there were two
bills coming up. She is on the Assembly Education Committee down in Trenton. uh these two bills dealt with the school funding formula and making some adjustments to it moving forward. Uh she wanted uh to make sure that I knew they were being heard because she had heard from both me and community members here in West Orange that were very concerned
about this. Um so I did give her some feedback and I wanted to bring them to your attention. Uh there are A5966 and S4855. Uh that bill would do among other things it would put a limit on how uh quickly year-over-year a district's local fair
share could increase. And as we talked about before, one of the reasons why our aid is decreasing is that our equalized valuation and district income is increasing at a astronomical rate. And so as that increases, that cuts into our equalization aid uh and reduces the amount of aid that we get. So if there's
a cap on how much that would increase year-over-year, that would benefit us and give us more stability in terms of how much aid West Orange could uh expect. That bill would also require the state department of education to release aid figures early. Right now, we don't find out how much money we're going to
get until the end of February. And within a couple weeks, we then have to turn around and adopt a preliminary budget that we haven't been able to plan because we can't plan it till we know how much money we're going to be receiving from the state. This bill would require that to be released in December. It's a preliminary number that would come out in December. The
commissioner could change that number, but he could only increase. The commissioner could not decrease below what is promised in that December figure. Uh, it would also provide other transparency. the state department of ed would have to put something [clears throat] on their website to help the public understand how this formula works uh because it is somewhat um
cryptic and people have trouble following for for good reason because there's a lot of minutiae in there but this would require the state to to explain that a little bit better to the public. Uh the second bill A5310 S3917 deals with among other things special education funding. One of the things is
that last year and previously the state used census based funding which means that they looked at the overall uh proportion [clears throat] of special ed students throughout the state and every district was essentially funded at the same level the same percentage of students were assumed to require services. Last year they switched that
to look at the actual percentage of students in a district that require services and fund at those levels. Uh that resulted in us receiving several million additional dollars in state funding last year. Uh this bill would require that to continue going forward. So the state would look at our actual enrollment and use that as a basis for
determining funding. It would also require the state to increase the amount of extraordinary aid that it gives out. Extraordinary [clears throat] aid is a special kind of special ed aid that the state provides to districts where they reimburse the district for a part of the expenses when the cost of educating a special ed student exceeds certain
thresholds either $40,000 if they're in district or $55,000 if they're at a district. the promise the state only reimburses a small amount of that every year. This would require the state to increase that appropriation year-over-year with a goal of eventually
fully funding that extraordinary aid. So, I wanted [clears throat] to bring your attention to those two bills later on in this uh agenda. We do have a resolution that we're passing to demonstrate our commitment as a board to this issue to urge our Senate and Assembly members to pass these laws. Uh,
and we also encourage the public to review that agenda because you can then speak to your senators and your assembly people for the same purpose. And that concludes my report. Uh, next I will uh get to policy items. As Mr.
Stevenson alluded to, we have one policy on for first reading is policy number 2365, acceptable use of generative artificial intelligence. The policy has been reviewed and revised by administration and presented this evening for first reading. Is there any
discussion? All right. Hearing none, the policy will appear on the next agenda for second reading. Is there question? Okay. Uh, policy 2365. >> Yeah, 2365.
>> Okay. Uh, policy will appear on the next agenda for second reading and for adoption. Next, [clears throat] we have the following district policies which are marked for abolishment. As Mr. Stevenson alluded to, we've reviewed our policy book and there are some duplicative ones. So, these are all policies where
the topic of the policy is covered by another policy elsewhere. So, we're trying to reduce some of that um duplication. Miss, do I have to actually read through the list of these? >> No, you do not. >> Oh, thank you very much. >> So, we will read that into the record imaginarily.
Is there any discussion about the abolished policies? No discussion on abolish policies except for [clears throat] excuse me that the board uh the board policy committee works in consultation with our policy consultant Strauss Esme
to ensure that uh the policies are compliant and consistent with uh [clears throat] our fellow boards throughout the state and that they are compliant with the law. >> Thank you Mr. Stevenson. Can we take a motion on this, Miss
Flowers? >> Yes, we should. >> Okay. All right. Can I get a motion, Mr. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson? Is there a second? >> Mr. Her, thank you. Any discussion? >> All right. Hearing none. Miss Flowers, please take the role. >> Dr. Bryan, >> yes. >> Mr. Stevenson,
>> yes. >> Miss Vera, >> yes. >> Vice President, >> yes. >> President Rock, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> Next, we will have questions from the public on agenda items only. Any community member who would like to make comments or ask questions, please come
to the podium at this time. Please state your name and home address for the record, then begin your comments. Please limit your comments to three minutes. Do we have any members of the public here in the audience tonight who wish to make a public comment? >> Good evening, Evette Gordon, 2310 Road.
Uh thank you for the opportunity to speak. Uh this year my family has been involved in an allegation of harassment, intimidation, and bullying within the district. I'm not here to discuss the specifics of that matter obviously, but to raise a broader concern based on that
experience. HIP investigations are not a procedural formality. They are a core student protection function and the outcomes can carry serious and lasting consequences for every student involved. For that reason, it is essential that
each complaint receive a thorough, careful, and impartial investigation, not merely a prompt one. I am concerned that at times HIP investigations may be treated as a compliance exercise rather than the substantive factf finding
process the law and students require. When investigations are cursory or incomplete, they risk failing both the students seeking protection and those entitled to a fair assessment of the allegations against them. I urge the board to exercise active oversight of
the district's HIP process and to evaluate not only whether investigations are completed in within required time frames, but whether they reflect the level level of rigor, diligence, and fairness that students and families are entitled to expect. Accountability in
this area matters because the quality of these investigations directly affects student well-being, trust in the system, and confidence in the district's commitment to student safety. Thank you for your time and attention to this issue. >> Good evening. Uh Adam Kramer, 43
Conford, Department 77. Um, as um I'm the person that just lost the uh election for state legislature, which is mostly or a lot of the questions were about school funding, I thought I'd come
and share my thoughts on that and offer a few suggestions. Most people don't realize this, but about a third of all the taxes we pay to New Jersey, sales, income, gasoline,
everything else, corporate, state, goes to the Department of Education. A little over a billion of that goes to actually operate the state um department of education and then the rest of it gets funded back to um if you include the
charters um over 600 about 695 different entities by formula. It's a complex formula and when I went around the six towns in this district I talked a lot about it.
My feeling and the general feeling of the colleagues who ran in the Republican party is that the formula should be more based on enrollment and less based on demographic and economic factors related
to the district in question. Had the voters opted for that choice, which they haven't done since the late 90s when the Republicans last controlled the legislature, West Orange would economically be better off. Not
going to debate that now. I'm just going to say it's really important and how you feel about it should be something that you should engage your legislators on. And when it comes time to vote for the legislature or the governor, vote according to those um desires and what
you feel is in the best interest because this is economically probably the biggest part well economically is the biggest part of the state budget. But that belies the question whether we fund West Orange or education from the federal government, the state government
or the local government still has to be paid for. And whether we like to admit it or not, any tax to pay for it is going to have a negative consequence somewhere else. So what it really comes down to is we
have to as a representative republic at all levels figure out what education do we really need and what can we realistically pay for. My view personally is that decision should come down to you the most local level. I
think it's better made at this level than in Trenton or Washington because you know the teachers, you know the students. I doubt the governor or the other legislators or Congress people know no know the students or the legis or or the
teachers here. So even though I voted for only two of you up there out of five, I trust all of you in respect to >> just 10 more seconds to make wise decisions and engage the community on
how best to make the decision of how much education we can afford and what education we really need. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. >> H. Good evening. Will Dano 84 Coobane Terrace on behalf of the West Orange parents for education. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. We
recently requested and received the state summary of the school funding reform act survey which we discussed a little bit tonight and many of the insights submitted by West Orange families are reflected in that report. We appreciate fellow parents and community members, the board and the administration for their taking the time
to engage in that process. In particular, we thank President Rock and the rest of the board for providing the helpful insights um that helped inform how our own survey responses could best benefit the district. This is the boring but real process stuff that leads to real change statewide. We also wanted to
share that we recently had the opportunity as well as President Rock to engage with Assemblywoman Begoli regarding upcoming school budget legislation. After one of our members reached out, we were able to provide insights into how the current state budget process and existing laws negatively impact our district's school
bud budget disproportionately. We look forward to continuing to work with the board and other caregivers in town as we advocate for the full and fair funding of our schools at the state level and advocate for fully funding all of our schools uh across the state. The budget sessions your office have organized have been both insightful and engaging. They
have helped uh [clears throat] create a meaningful shared understanding of the school budget process which is quickly approaching once again as we all know. saw the uh calendar out there in the agenda. Our group is particularly interested in gathering more details around budgeted items such as transportation while costs continue to rise across the county and the state
well beyond what is covered by the tax levy cap. We hope to follow up soon and work collaboratively with the board and the district office on this issue. >> Thank you. >> Hi, Abby Fogle 138 Forest Hill Road. Um, I'm also here with West Orange Parents
for Education and thank you for this opportunity to share some thoughts. Um, we were really encouraged by the five-year strategic planning forum held last month and look forward to hearing more about its outcomes. We appreciated Mr. Moore organizing the forum and all the staff and administration who gave
their time to be there and engage with us. We appreciated President Rock's presence and engagement with the conversations. While we wish more people had been able to attend, it appears the survey is still open and we encourage the superintendent to email the district
caregivers to visit the new West Orange Board of Education website and submit their feedback. So again, thank you for your efforts this year to increase transparency and for making difficult decisions under challenging constraints. West Orange Parents for Education is here to support the district and to
advocate for West Orange's children both [snorts] locally and at the state level. Thank you. >> Larry Winro, 76 Coain Terrace. I'm also here with the West Orange Parents for Education. Um, and I want to talk about uh some of the advocacy and the
conversations that we've had uh with Assemblywoman Begoli. Um, and uh the the bills that are up for uh consideration in the legislature. Um, you know, I know the the board has a resolution prepared uh on those and uh we really appreciate
the real detailed engagement uh on policy that uh that you have all uh undertaken and the communication that uh that comes from that with our legislators. It's very very important.
Um, I'm going to disagree that uh while the formula is not well publicized, it's actually not that complicated. Um, and in fact, it's taken me a few weeks to code up something to simulate it. Um, and and understand how West Orange is
affected by the various pieces of that formula. and um and the the you know, as President Rock has mentioned, the use of income in that calculation is really quite devastating uh for West Orange. Um
it it is not an easy issue to advocate for the legislature. The uh the places that money would have to come from are probably not places that are going to lose state aid. Um, but it's really important that we advocate for what West
Orange needs and and what is best uh for us. I'd also want to point out, you know, as the resolution mentions, those bills do not go nearly far enough uh in doing the things that that we need for equity and funding across the state and
to help West Orange. Um in particular uh the uh restraints on the growth of local fair share are fairly fairly minimal. Uh and in fact the way they freeze what happened in 2526 for 2627 is not going to be good
for us. Um and it's really important that we share that with our legislators now uh while these bills are still under consideration and being amended by committee um before they uh before they
finally pass. Um and so I yeah so I just I just want to make sure that you know we are here uh as advocates uh for our community and you know we hope to be able to communicate with you with our legislators and and
with the citizens of West Orange so that you know we can absolutely best advocate for what our students need and the resources in order to continue top rate education for our students. So, I thank you for your time and for your energy
and for your efforts and and and for your engagement. Dwight Williams, 12 Nance Road. Uh first of all, thank you for the opportunity to speak in front of you today. Uh I know your time is valuable. Um I come as a
concerned parent um interested in the financial health and freedom of our of our youth. Um, and in connection with a local nonprofit, Corwick, I think you guys may be familiar with, but for those who aren't, uh, Corwick is, uh, circle
of sisters, uh, seeking spiritual and wellness connection. Uh, and they founded, um, [clears throat] a financial lit literacy program called Early Practical Financial Discipline. And what we are seeking is to establish
a formal resolution um for a partnership. I know that over the course of the last few years, we've had this informal relationship. And I will tell you that as a parent of of two who are enrolled in the program as it
exists today, the level of education and level of knowledge about finance uh has impacted them immensely. They probably know more about the stock market at age 11 than I
did at 21 as a finance major in college. Uh and so what we are looking to do is just formalize that program a little bit more. Have it be just as meaningful and profound as any of the sporting events
that or the sporting clubs that we have for after school. Um we saw what the soccer team did. We we saw um you know perfect PSAT scores. Uh and we think that that financial literacy piece is just as important as any of those. Uh
and I think with partnership with this program um I think our kids can benefit immensely. Um I think you know what the program has done in terms of its workshops um has been great. We recognize that budget constraints are
what they are. So in the past we've been able to use actually this space uh for a lot of programming. Uh that program is that programming is going to switch. We're going to go part virtual. We've got some other spaces um throughout the
uh throughout West Orange. Uh but what we would like to have happen, and you'll see this in some of the petition language that we use here, we'd like to see at least um some reconsideration for
free use of the space in the high school at least for some of our major fundraisers, two of them. Um but we've we've sort of figured out ways to do the programming outside of that. So, um, I just want to give you, uh, something to chew on and, you know, consider. Uh, and
I'll also just share with you the hundred or so, um, petitions that we have so far, um, with with more to come. Thank you for your time, guys. >> Good evening, Denise Elder, seven London Koi. So, I too am representing
Quorswick. Um my role with thin poreswick is as a mentor uh currently to a jun a high school student um who is going from the junior year to the senior year and I really want to impress upon you that the partnership that we've had
so far with West Orange High School has been excellent. Um from what I can see as a mentor um seeing the students engaged and even though the programs are on a Saturday I think they look forward to it. Um, as a mentor, it it warms my
heart because I see how the students grow and how they start understanding how financial literacy benefits them not only in their current role but as they grow and go into adulthood. Um while I
know that the program complements um the existing financial literacy program that starts in middle school, the benefit that Korswith um program has is that we actually start with first graders and we take them at that age and we start on
their level introducing them to some basic financial skills, things that they can use and apply within their age group. And then as they move through the program, what we do is we encourage them and engage them to understand and learn
more about financial literacy as it applies to when they move to junior high school and in high school and eventually [clears throat] to college. I'm sure everybody here is aware that funding for college or even trade schools is not cheap. And if we
can start our students understanding early what the value is to budget, to understand what it is to save money, to invest money, and to help their parents to save money and to move ahead. Um that
would be the real benefit of this program. So, as a mentor, I want to encourage um this board to continue partnering with us and to put something formal in place so that we can get other
mentors and maybe expand this across um the West Orange and in Essex County. So, I thank you for your consideration and I'm looking forward to partnering with you in the future. Thank you. I won't repeat the nonprofit because I'm with them so I won't have to say it
three times. So, uh, good. Good evening everyone. My name is Kenneth Given, a lifelong resident of West Orange. I attended and graduated through the West Orange public school system as did my mother did. I'm also a proud father of a
three-year-old daughter who represents the fourth generation of my family to live in our family home in West Orange. She means everything to me and she reminds me every day that our children are the future of this community. I grew
up as the son of a single mother in the valley and I feel truly blessed that I have achieved what I have done in the financial world. Over my career, I've worked at very large firms and eventually reached the level of a partner. Today, I own my own CPA firm
here in West Orange, and I am intentionally dedicating my time and experience back to the community that raised me. West Orange has invested heavily in sports and I played sports too uh at
when I was in school and they uh play an important role in teaching teamwork and discipline but sports alone are not enough to prepare our children for long-term success. We have all heard stories of high-profile athletes who
earn millions and only face financial hardship later in life because they never were taught how to manage their money. We must equip our students with the knowledge and skills that make sound financial decisions and build stable
futures. While West Orange does provide some financial literacy education, I even recall taking an accounting class in high school here, but it was our football coach that was teaching the course. Um,
however, what we offer is to complement what West Orange School is doing, you know, professionals with practical experience. That is why I strongly believe our mission and its commitment to promoting financial literacy to our community.
This work begins now through our afterchool programs right here in West Orange. As a financial literacy instructor and a long-term mentor in my profession, I see firsthand how this impact this education can have. I am volunteering my time because I believe
in financial literacy is not a luxury but a necessity. That is why I'm respectfully asking for approval of our memo of intent and resolution. By doing so, you are investing in our children and our long-term strength of our community.
Thank you for your time and for believing in this mission. Right. Thank you all for those comments. >> No, it's looking at Mr. >> I don't think there's anything right. [cough]
[clears throat] So, we will move on to our resolutions. I have a motion to approve the personnel items A1 through A4. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Dr. Bryant. I want to congratulate the following retirees.
Michelle de Mateo, a comp apps STEM teacher at Liberty Middle School for her nine years of service. Phil Santiago, our director of technology for his 30 years of service. [clears throat] Lubbero, a pair professional at Westnor High School for her six years of service. Isabelle Olivy Balabona, a bus
driver in transportation for her 13 years of service. And Carlos Salazar, a custodian of West Orange High School for his 19 years of service. Uh, thank you all for your service to the West students and our school community. Best wishes to you and welcome to the club where every day is Saturday. Is there
any discussion on personnel? Hearing none. Miss Flowers, please take the role. >> Dr. Bryant, >> yes. [clears throat] >> Mr. Stevenson, >> yes. >> Miss Vera, >> yes. >> Vice President, >> yes. >> President Rock, >> yes.
>> Thank you. [clears throat] Next, may I have a motion to approve the curriculum and instruction items B1 through B7? >> So move. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant or Mr. [clears throat and laughter]
>> It's been a long meeting. Think I need more coffee. Uh, is there any discussion >> hearing? None. Miss Flowers, please take the role. >> Dr. Bryant, >> yes. [clears throat] >> Mr. Stevenson, >> yes. Miss Vera, >> yes. >> Vice President,
>> yes. >> President Rock, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next, may I have a motion to approve the finance items C special services items A1 and business office items B1 through9. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Miss Vera.
Want [clears throat] to say a huge thank you to Miss Connie Salamino and her team for the collaboration with Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas to obtain the generous donation of technology equipment with a total estimated value of $6,500 to start our first indist lending program for augmentative communication. Thank you
Miss Alamino for that and to Robert with Johnson partn. Is there any other discussion on this motion? >> Hearing none. Miss Flowers please take the role. >> Dr. Bryant, yes. >> Mr. Mr. Stevenson. >> Yes. >> Miss Vera. >> Yes.
>> Vice President. >> Yes. >> President Rock. >> Yes. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> Right. Next. May I have a motion to approve reports items D1 through 7? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Dr. Bryant. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson.
This includes an update to the calendar. Do you want to address that briefly, Mr. Moore? Just a reminder to everyone as we said the last board meeting uh when we have elections due to uh what we experienced
in terms of the climate uh with the in with regards to the voting um where we received many threats. We felt we will be now closed um for the primaries and will close on elections as we do not
want to put our faculty, administrators or students at risk. Um so um what we will do is on the 18th of June we would have we will have a half a day um but we
will now be closed for elections as I feel that I do not I feel that the n um the tenor of the political climate has now risen to where I'm concerned about
um violence and harm and so forth and I'm not comfort able with it as a superintendent, but also I feel that our myself having children in the district, our students placing our students at risk and of course our staff at risk is
just not an option. So we will be um closing uh June 2nd the progress. [clears throat] Thank you, Mr. Moore. Is there any other discussion? Hearing none, Miss Flowers, please take the role. >> Yes.
[clears throat] Mr. Stevenson, >> yes. >> Miss Vera, >> yes. >> Vice President Eker, >> yes. >> President Rock, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. And finally, may I have a motion to approve miscellaneous item E1? This is board resolution supporting transparency, fairness, and
predictability in the school funding formula. >> So moved. Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? >> Second. Thank you, Mr. Any discussion? Just a quick comment. President, I just want to commend you on your uh analysis of the current state
school funding laws as well as uh taking the lead in drafting the board resolution that's presented on the agenda tonight. Um you know, in all transparency, that's a word we've used quite a bit tonight. We [clears throat] got some difficult days ahead of us, uh as do many school
districts throughout the state. And so again, I want to commend you, President Rock, for uh conveying to the community, conveying to your fellow board colleagues and working in tandem with the superintendent and uh Miss Flowers
in her capacity as business administrator to [clears throat] prepare our community for what lies ahead with respect to budget and what our expectations are in terms of what will happen in Trenton. uh as we know we can
only control what we can control when it comes down our way. Uh but notwithstanding that uh the decisions that have to be made uh are made with with diligence. I've seen that as a board member uh now serving in my second
term. Uh the decisions that have to be made with respect to funding if things don't cut our way. uh these decisions obviously are always taken into account what's in the best interest of our students. So again, President Rock,
thank you for uh your leadership with respect to this issue and hopefully uh whatever comes of it early next year will be beneficial uh to our district, but more importantly beneficial to our students.
Mr. Stevenson, any other comments? >> [clears throat] >> So, I'll just add um as Larry mentioned before, the the two bills referenced in here are not perfect. They don't solve all of our problems. Uh they do solve some substantive problems. Uh the resolution does also include language urging the the legislature and the
government to address two of those other problems. One being the inclusion of district income in our calculation of local fair share. Uh one being the lack of funding appropriate funding for transportation. Uh so while we do do hope that these bills that we've referenced pass, we will continue to advocate for additional funding for West
Orange. Uh but hopefully this is one step in making the the funding formula better for us and allow us to better do our job to to provide a thorough and efficient education for our students. Uh so with that, Miss Flowers, would you please take the roll call? >> Dr. Bryant, >> yes. >> Mr. Stevenson, >> yes.
>> Miss Vera, >> yes. >> Vice President, >> yes. >> President Rock, >> yes. >> Thank you. Thank you very much to all of my board colleagues. Next up, we have petitions and hearings of citizens for any agenda or non-aggenda item that you wish to discuss. You will have three minutes to
speak. Please approach the podium at this time and state your name and address for the record. Hi, good evening Jason Broome 14 Whitman Street. Good evening, President Rock, Superintendent Moore, members of the board. I'm a proud West Orange resident
of 20 years. And more importantly, I'm the father of Cari, an Edison student, proud Edison student, an 11-year-old dancer. I'm here tonight representing not just my family, but the families of Concepts Dance Academy, also known as CDA. CDA is not just a business. It's a
minorityowned institution operated owned by a fellow West Orange resident and neighbor who pours our her heart into our youth. I'm standing here to talk about yesterday, Sunday, December 14th, the day of CDA's recital at the high school. As you know, we had a snowstorm
Saturday evening, but by yesterday morning, the skies are cleared. The DPW did a fantastic job on the streets. They were black top clear, drove past the high school, the the parking lots have been plowed, and we're safe. For the dancers at CDA, Sunday was supposed to
be the finish line. If you have children in the arts, you know what tech week tech week is. It's grueling. For months, children, some as young as three, up to teenagers have practiced tirelessly. The week leading up to yesterday involved late nights, exhausting rehearsals, and
nervous excitement. My 11-year-old was ready. Her teachers were ready. And then at the very last minute, we received the news. The event was cancelled. The heartbreak in my house was real. Tears were shed. But as parents, we
explained that safety comes first, right? We tell our kids it's out of our hands. The school isn't safe to open. But that isn't true. Because while our children were at home, devastated that their hard work was put on put on hold,
West Orange High School was open. At the exact same time that our recital was cancelled, the high school was hosting the cheerleading mountaineer madness event. The doors were unlocked, the lights were on, the heat was running, and hundreds of people were inside the building. And this is where confusion
turns into frustration. I'm here to ask for transparency regarding the decision-making process. How does the district determine that the facility is safe for a cheerleading competition, but we can't host a dance recital? How's the parking lot accessible for one group of
parents but for not for another? When a minority owned local business like CDA rents your facilities, are they held to a different standard than a school sponsored event? Was this a safety decision, a financial decision, or something else? These questions matter because it sends a message to our
children that their hard work was expendable. You caused a logistical nightmare to families and to a business owner who did everything right. We're not looking for special treatment. We're looking for equal treatment. And we want to know what the protocol is so we can plan for the future. The assurance that
when the sun is shining and the doors are open for one group, they're not going to be slammed shut on us. We love this town. We love and support our schools. All we ask for is to support all of our community's children equally. And we look forward to a clear
explanation of why yesterday happened the way it did and how you ensure it never happens again. Debbie Reimbert Debbie Rebert, 11 Whitman Street, mom of two West Orange High School alum with a current sophomore at West Orange right now and she's a volleyball player and
she plays in the band. Good evening, Mr. Moore, board members in West Orange community. I am Debbie Rebert. I am a 22 I've been living in town for 22 years. I am the owner of Concepts Dance Academy. I'm hoping I can clarify I'm hoping I
can get some clarity on the reason of the cancellation of the Concepts Dance Academy concert on December 14th, especially in light of the chilling competition which occurred that day after receiving many calls from parents about why there were multiple cars parked in the parking lot, but I told them that West Orange canled my show.
from the perspective of our dance students, many of whom live in West Orange and attend West Orange public schools, who dance in the dance program, twirl Flags in the band, and also have participated in many of the theater production, trained at concepts, and encouraged to participate in all those things when they arrived at West Orange High School.
Um, our students also come from surrounding towns. It raises questions about how decisions are made across program scheduled that took place Sunday, December 14th. As far as student programming, all parking lots were cleaned and full of cars. I have pictures if you'd like to see them. I live across the street from the high
school. Um, full of cars and all walkways clean. As of the as of my arrival at the high school at 11:30, our call time, my time to load in was 1. The children were scheduled to cut at 2:00 for the performance at the auditorium. And this is not our first year coming to West
Orange for shows. Um, I said something about the I told you about the pictures. Um, clarity and understanding decision. When you get 35 calls from parents who are from the town who tell you, "Why are you canceling a show? Why have I paid all this money for tickets? Why did you have our kids come and rehearse for two
weeks for tech time? Why do I have grandmothers and grandfathers who are flying in just to see their grandchildren perform?" And your show was cancelled and they live in the town and they see cars. And not to mention many of our dancers are friends with the cheerleaders who were at the cheerleading competition
in addition to my little cousin who I have a picture of who also cheered yesterday at the cheerleing competition because she chose to do that instead of perform at the show. Understanding this decision was made for the dance show would be helpful as I worked to ensure equity to my parents and equitable treatment of all
performing arts as a 25-y year dance teacher also in the Orange, East Orange, and Newer public schools. It is hard to explain to kids sometimes why arts matter more than sports or it is the artists who really make the world go round. Again, I would just like to ensure
equitable treatment for all performing arts functions and athletic functions especially for community members and all stakeholders. I appreciate your guidance and clarity of what happened this past Sunday and why it happened because I have a lot of parents asking me for answers. It's again hard to answer when
they are sending me pictures of the cheerleading competition, the parking lot in addition to me having my own pictures and evidence of why again one function was allowed to go on and another one was canceled. Thank you. Good evening. Deb Crowen for H White Street, Madison, 25-year teacher in the
district. I want to be very clear that the comments I'm going to make to start are in no way a complaint against our buildings and grounds workers in this building. However, the parking lot at the high school, both front and back, were a mess this morning and created potentially dangerous conditions which when they have happened in past years
have actually resulted in teachers being injured. Since I knew the permit system would let me see what was scheduled over the weekend, I went in and it showed a cheer competition, a dance recital, a few smaller events scheduled for the high school all day into the evening. I know the recital and other activities were cancelled, but the cheer competition was not, which created a
huge issue when it comes to Mike and his crew getting their job done. The parking lots were full of cars making plowing impossible. I know that cancelling events is a difficult decision, but we also need to remember that the parking lot is used starting early, 6:00 a.m. on a Monday morning. And thus, Mike and his team need ample time to plow, clear,
salt the parking lots and sidewalks before everything has been driven over, turned to ice. With cars parked there from morning to well past dark, I don't know how they accomplished even what they did, but the parking lots were still dangerous when we came in this morning. Again, I realize snow makes for large uncertainties and no one wants to cancel an event if it isn't necessary.
But listening to many teachers in the morning this morning, the blame was being put on our buildings and grounds department, and I don't think that's fair. But most teachers have no idea that an event actually happened here yesterday. As custodians are continually being cut due to the budget issues, they are already stretched far thinner than they should be. Having snow on top of
that can't be prevented, but we should be able to make to we should not make their jobs even harder. Changing topics. I'm I also am here to speak about the printers being removed yet again. I'm not going to rehash all of my comments from September, but I'm going to highlight the following. The largest one relates to our special education
population. Whether it is IEP compliance to provide notes and other materials in written form or allowing students to handedit their papers, an important process for all students, but especially our special education students. Studies have shown how it is more effective for students to take notes and edit that way than on the computer. If they write
something in class on the computer, they have to be able to print it out to edit it. Teachers who have large amounts of essays to grade or are helping students with their college essays often print them out again because it's easier and less straining on the eyes and not conducive to helping students. Students in many of the related arts classes at the middle and high school print out
items whether for inspiration, detailed plans to determine edits or to display on a bulletin board. There's often not another way to make this happen. The comparison made at the last West Orange High School faculty meeting to having one printer in Kelly 25 years ago and it was fine was laughable. The idea that
the centralized printer errors will not break down as often as the new copy machines do is laughable. We had messages by this morning at 8:00 that both copy machines in the building were down. The idea that this is not going to interrupt instruction on a regular basis would be laughable if it wasn't harmful to our students and their learning. Our
faculty meeting was dead silent as Phil explained why printers were being taken. Why didn't anyone speak up? Because any teacher that has contacted Phil via email has not received a reply or a very curse. This has to happen for network security. Again, I ask if it's truly a security issue, will administrators also be losing the printers in their offices
and need to go to a centralized location? And once again, my biggest complaint as always is that this decision was made that affected every teacher K to 12. No one ever asked the teachers for input. Education, in my opinion, is not and is a long time away from being even a near
>> environment. Thank you very much. Hello members of the board and Mr. Moore. My name is Josh Goldbarb and I live at 10 Nance Road. I'm also the president of the WOEA and have taught Roosevelt for 12 or so years. I'm here to talk about technology. I'm sure that many in the community may not be aware
until Dev just spoke that the district is currently removing printers from all of our classrooms. This is already taking place in the elementary schools and is taking place in the middle schools this week. This decision that directly impacts our ability to best serve our students was seemingly made with zero input from the teachers, power
professionals, and everyone else who interacts with students on a daily basis. We are directly impacted by this decision. But when our thoughts and concerns have been brought up, the response that we have been we have received has been at best inefficient and at the worst non-existent.
The reason we have been given for these removals is that having the printers connected to the network is a potential security ris risk and that maintaining these printers is costly. These are both legitimate concerns, but addressing them by completely removing printers is just throwing out the baby with the bathwater. We have been told that
instead of printers, we'll have to print directly to one of the copy machines in the building. But that is highly flawed. The copers, yes, even the upgraded ones are prone to breaking, jamming, and running out of toner and staples. in my building just the other week. Of our four copers, only one of them was
functional, and of course, it was the slowest one. What happens when a student comes to class and their Chromebook isn't working, which happens all the time. How can I print a copy for their work? Should I leave the students alone and get copies elsewhere and just leave them alone in the classroom? I think that'd
be a bad idea. What happens when I need to print a single piece of paper? I'd have to walk to a different part of the building just to get a single piece of paper, which is a pretty bad use of my time. What about the log jam at the copers when all of those single papers and all the packets and all the tests are going to the printers all at the
same time? The result will be will be eating away at the time that we have to prepare for class. Will administrators be losing their printers? That seems like a really bad idea. But if the issue is cost and security, wouldn't keeping their printers be equally insecure and costly? But today, I'm not here with
just complaints. I have a solution. Rather than tossing perfectly functional printers and toner cartridges into a landfill, please consider an alternate solution. If the concern is print uh is that printers connected to the network are a security risk, simply hardwire the printers to the computer and eliminate
wireless printing. It's a simple solution. As for the maintenance, what if we give the teachers an option to keep their printer with the understanding that the district will not be providing any future toner or providing any sort of maintenance, but we could still keep the printers and do our job.
There is a way to maintain security and reduce costs without taking the printers away. By the way, you may notice that I'm reading this from my phone. Um, I sent this to be printed at the copier in the back at 4:00 and it still hasn't come through. [laughter] So, there you go. Thank you very much.
Good evening everyone. My name is Kim Fields Murphy. I live at 53 Quinnby Place and I am a speech and language specialist in the district. I work between Redwood and Edison and I've been in district 20 years. >> 21 years.
>> Okay. Um, something that I would like you to be mindful of and take into consideration as you start to really delve into making up a budget is child study team members and related service providers are paid on the teacher salary
guide. And the problem with that is teachers do not pay any additional fees to retain their certification after it is initially received. Speech and language specialists who are licensed and certified pay the most in fees to
retain those licenses and certifications. For our certification, we pay $250 annually. And for our license, it is $170 by annually. We have to attend seminars
that can it varies in prices from 325 up. and the professional development that is provided by the district cannot be used. We cannot submit that documentation to be able to retain our licenses and certification.
Social workers um they pay $200 by annually to retain their licenses. Their seminars can range from $150 to $200 for a one-day course. Occupational therapists pay $160 by annually to
retain their license. Their seminars can range um up to $300 for a one-day course. Psychologists do not pay an annual certification fee, nor are they licensed. However, their seminars and workshops are costly. Um behaviorists
are BCBAs. They pay $2515 annually and their workshops can run from $100 to $200. And they also like the speech and language specialists have to retain 32 continued education units
for every two years and our cycle runs every three years, two to three years. The license is two years. We need 30 CEUs for that. And um we are evaluated every 3 years and have to fulfill that
obligation. With that um a one-day workshop could offer us five to six CEUs of that total that we need to um provide evidence of when it comes time to renew. Not only do teachers not pay anything
additional to maintain a license or a certification, but the PD that the district offers satisfies their state requirement. In addition, social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and
language specialists, and behaviorists are required to submit inter information. >> Thank you very much for your man. should have spoken faster. Thank you, >> Adam Kramer. Uh 43 can 40, apartment 77.
Um it was noted in the agenda that uh our direct the director of uh technology. Uh Mr. Santiago is retiring after a long career. I wanted to uh recognize him even though he's not here. He has presided over a time when technology in this district had changed
drastically. He's done an admirable job of it. From my perspective, if during co Mr. Santiago wasn't here, the district literally would have shut down for a year and a half. So, I think he should be recognized. Um, I also want to talk
about something that's happened pretty much mostly positive in the last year. About a year ago, we were here talking about test scores and there was a lot of disappointment. I know Miss Bryant had a lot of serious questions about the test
scores. I recently noted that the 2425 results came out on the DOE website and there's some real positive differences uh particularly in middle school math, fifth grade math. Uh and it should be
noted on the bad news. My view is the concept of average for this district should be in the rearview mirror. So there's still work to do. So thank you. >> Hi Joy Bernette uh 63 pock. I just want to thank you for closing schools on
election day. I was actually out walking my dog. Um, I live in Haz in the Hazel neighborhood and I was walking my dog when all of the um, police vehicles came up the street and it was really scary. Um, so I appreciate you closing schools
because it it's it's a scary time. So, thank you so much for doing that. >> Um, good evening everyone. Let me address the closing so that you can understand what went into that. We don't want to close and we weren't trying to
close but as the snow came down more and more. I think what no one what people are missing is we're in a budget deficit. We don't as you heard the teacher say today that was up there saying even with the time we had to
clear the parking lot with the manpower we now have to do it. It wasn't perfect. when we have vendors that we don't want to close on you and you've probably been here 20 years and never had a problem. Unfortunately, when it comes to whether
the administration at the time have to think of a few things, safety, and I know the cheerleading competition was going on earlier and it was it continued to go on and those cars were in the parking lot, but as it was coming down, they made a they made a call to close
all afternoon events, which unfortunately included uh the dance competition. We're sorry about that. It's not meant to be against you because we thought let's just be there should be some inequity. That's not even in the concept. It was more of look we're
liable if someone slips and falls. We're liable if the part our priority even if we have to take a loss from a vendor is to have the building and the campus prepared for the students and teachers the next day. That was difficult because
we have made many cuts to our buildings and grounds. We have made many cuts in terms of equipment that we well we used to v we used to have a vendor come in um to help us with the plowing and now we
needed to do try to do this stuff on our own. Um, as you heard, as the teacher spoke up there, she was saying, "Well, maybe you needed to cancel events because this morning it wasn't perfect for us and people have gotten hurt walking out of cars, which has
happened." I'm sorry that that was canceled, and we'll try not to do that. Of course, we will, but sometimes administrators make calls based on safety and liability, and they're not perfect, and they're not always right.
But that's where it comes from. It's not an intention to make things go wrong. It's not a slight. We more than offer you a chance to reschedu, refund, whatever we need to do to make up for that, we'll do that. But please, when
you're speaking about that, get understand it came from a place they're not thinking like that. They're thinking of the liability. If your guests were to slip and fall, that would be our responsibility. And if we can't have the campus ready for our teachers and they slip and fall,
that again is a liability. There are many facets to making calls with weather and safety that are well beyond just okay, the cheerleaders were down there in this. They were already down there. They had it going. We had all our manpower down there and Alyssa trying to
clear that area out, but that was all the manpower we had for the entire evening to get it together for this morning. because we are in a budget deficit. We don't have the money to just pour people out to uh come out and and
and do that as we may have had in the past where we can have an army of people working and we wouldn't have had an issue maybe but we don't have it. This is very real. We we only we are very limited on the way we move and
processes. I know people are asking to use the facility because they have incredible programs. No disagreement there. All programs that are offered by community members and vendors outside of here are incredible programs and we know you put a lot of hard work into them.
We're not denying them. But in order for us to have you in our program, it costs money. By law, we have to have someone here with a boilers license. By law, we have to have someone here for security. By law, we have to have certain things happen. So, there are more things to uh
those moments that are just like, okay, willy-nilly just close because we just feel like closing. And do we would we try to do that to you again? Of course not. Do we want to do that? No. And we hope that you do put on your show here. And we do hope that it goes smoothly and
that we won't face such a deficit. And if we can help it, we wouldn't cancel even with weather if we are able to do it. But that even the competition was a challenge for us. We did want the people to gather and leave. It was hard to do
that at that point because we had so many people there. And um so that was a challenge. It was also a challenge just for us to clean up after they left because the cars uh pack the snow which
when you don't have plowing becomes a challenge. So there are many reasons why things are canceled and none are done with malice. They're just done because we have to make a call sometimes on what
we believe would be liability or safety. And therefore, I'm sorry if it doesn't always fit people's needs or or feelings or times. And they won't happen often enough. This may be just a oneoff with
us, but we don't want you to hold that as that is it. That's the way West Orange operates. It's not. It was a call that had to be made. that was made during the time that competition was going on as well to shut down evening events, not just in the high school, but
any of our other recreational campuses or other things that people may have had going on um scheduled in our other schools as we were trying to prepare our campuses to be open this morning. So, I just want you to understand that and
that's the explanation for that. I'm sorry again extend that to you. Well, you can have them look at me on this and and let her know. But I do. I do. And I know you run a great program and you have wonderful children that
I've had lucky enough to I know. But again, let them know that we're at I hate to say this and I don't want to admit say this out loud. I'm not proud of it, but we're we aren't a shoestring staff. And and it's unfortunate. And
those of you that uh saw the budget last year and watched where the cuts came, I think that you would have understood that we are literally and uh and and uh getting the campus together was part of the issue there. And and again, I'm
sorry that that happened to your dance competition. And hopefully we make up for it and we make, you know, we'll be okay going forward and you'll do many more dance recital with us. Um,
I can't speak to uh I would like to try to answer some questions on the printers, but I will tell you that a lot of it is financial. there's more automated movements and I I know that Phil's not
here who would have the explanation and I'm sorry to um that wonderful Deb is the our wonderful teacher that was describing that she might not be here right now but I I would like to say that uh she's here. Deb's here. Oh, Deb. Hi.
How are you? Oh, Deb. All right. I got you. financially. I think that a lot of uh decisions that are being made that are off than what we usually do. I'm going to say that and again I'm not in
Phil's mind, but based on the um huddling we have done to try to conserve and save money, I'm going to say that a lot of that's attached to finances and um you know with the printing and uh
taking care of the printing and the toners and things of that nature. So I think that um although there is some inconveniences happening now um as you know on the other budget we were looking at cutting jobs and this that and a lot
of places in which we we've taken um we've taken money through transportation maybe some equipment obviously our buildings and grounds things of that. So we um we do stand still. We're still
within that same deficit we spoke about. Um that's very real and we are still limited, but we're trying not to bring discomfort if we can. And uh you know, now that Phil's uh retiring,
um Deb will take a look [laughter] and see and see if uh Oh, yes. Yes, that's true. he did have some good say, but we'll take a look and see what we can do in terms of printers. I can't promise you that that's that he may not
have the most optimal idea. I'm not sure. But um some of these decisions um and uh I know they're not comfortable are really entrenched in um us working with a very tight tight budget right
now. So, I just want you to know that about with the in regards to the printer. All right. All right. And thank you. I'm glad that you noticed that uh we were moving in a direction with our um math programs and so forth. And
credit to this board as they have really um placed a lot of support and energy and uh suggestions towards that. So, thank you. Appreciate that, Adam. >> All right. Thank Thank you, Mr. Moore, and thank you all for your comments this
evening. Uh, our next board meeting for the purposes of reorganization will be held Tuesday, January 6th, 2026. What time is that meeting, Miss Flowers? >> 5:30. >> 5:30. Okay. 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6th, 2026. This meeting will be held in the West Orange High School
Library Media Center. We will not be going into executive session after the close of this meeting. There will be no further business discussed. No additional action will be taken. May I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion. >> Thank you everybody. [laughter]
>> All in favor? I >> All right. Thank you all for joining us tonight. Our meeting is now adjourned. We wish you a good night.