e e I he we can get started please oh I'll do this thing hang on here we go to do it not on the circle but on the flatform well that's better notice is hereby given of the regular meeting of the Board of Education of the town of Westfield in the county of Union New Jersey at 700 p.m. on the evening of Thursday Tuesday May 7th 2024 in cafeteria B of Westfield High School 550 Dorian Road Westfield New Jersey purpose of the meeting is to transact the regular business of the board and to transact any other business to come properly before the board this is to advise the general public and to instruct that it be recorded in the minutes that in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the open public meetings act the Westfield school board on Thursday May 2nd 2024 calls to be posted at the office of the Board of Education located at 302 Elm Street Westfield New Jersey and delivered to the Westfield leader The Star Ledger the Westfield Library Town Clerk of Westfield tap into Westfield and patch.com a meeting notice setting forth the time date and location of this meeting Casey Would you lead us in the flag salute please Patty can we have a roll call please rob bachio here Kent diamonds here Brendan gallagan Charles jinus here Leila melli here sonel Patel here Kristen Sonic schmeltz Julie Steinberg here Mary wickens here okay we'll begin today with uh recognition of our intermediate and high school student musicians and vocalists uh this is a wonderful time of year with spring concerts underway and the opportunity to recognize the importance of music education in our schools each year at about this time we welcome student musicians and vocalists who have performed in Regional and state ensembles and in some cases at the national level as well the number of hours and weeks of dedicated practice necessary to prepare for rigorous auditions and performances is all inspiring on behalf of the entire board I want to welcome you your music instructors and your families to tonight's board meeting given the number of students selected for these prestigious performances it is no surprise that the Westfield public school district has been name one of the best communities for music education in the nation for a seventh consecutive Year we will begin with our student musicians from Edison and Rosevelt intermediate schools who perform with the Central Jersey music educators association's Region 2 Intermediate band when I call your name in alphabetical order please come up to accept a certificate of recognition from superintendent Dr Raymond Gonzalez before proceeding onto the stage to await a photograph your band directors will be invited to the podium to say a few words before joining you for the photo start with arboria Adams bassoon Olivia Albano bassoon AJ Bastian palai trumpet alandro Phillips Vasquez tuba Sarah Reed OBO arav sheth clarinet Serena shei flute Annabelle to French horn and Elizabeth Williams and clarinet I now invite Roosevelt band director James Doyle and Edison band director John skazo up to the [Applause] podium uh we want to say just how proud We Are of these students uh like they said the amount of time that they put into these auditions um they start in the summer and they practice all summer all fall all fall all fall and go to a rigorous audition process typically there's about 500 students that audition for these so it is very procedures to make these ensembles uh the hard work and dedication is on display uh Mr Doyle and I wish we could take credit for everything that they know but is it is truly everything is uh on them they go home they practice they kind of play for us and then we say yeah that's good touch it do this do this touch on this and then they go home practice some more and again their hard work is paid off and again we are super proud of you guys yeah just to Echo what Mr skaro said we're really proud of the hard work that you put in uh it's really all you you guys do all the work uh and we're really excited to see where your musical Journey takes you from here thanks [Applause] parents you're welcome got [Applause] okay next up are the Edison and Roosevelt Intermediate School musicians selected to perform with the Allstate and Region 2 Intermediate orchestras alphabetically they are uh performing with the region two string orchestra Ariana Desai violin performing with the All State Orchestra and Region 2 chamber orchestra Lilia Deval violin performing with the All State Orchestra and Region 2 chamber orchestra Ria satar violin performing with the region two string orchestra Andrew song viola and finally performing with the All State and Region 2 orchestras Emma Wang violin this group was led by Roosevelt Orchestra director Bryce Freeman and Edison Orchestra director Amanda Grant I'm sorry Amanda Gant uh you're invited to come up and say a few words about your talented students thank you all some former babies over here love it um so I think that just e echoing everything that Mrs kazero Mr Doyle said this these groups are so prestigious and the work begins very early in the summer months so these students need to make this decision early on to dedicate their time really find their grit to get through this rigorous audition process as Mr skazo said and um it's just an honor and a privilege to watch all four of you how much you've grown three of you eighth grade and over the last three years and Emma in just in your sixth grade year I know you guys are all going to go amazing places with your musical abilities and I know Mr Freeman wishes he could be here too tonight to wish you the very same um but it's also not just your hard work which was a you know 99.9% of it but you had so much support from your parents and being in a community that so supports the Arts I think is build such a strong foundation for these students every student that's here tonight so thank you so much [Applause] [Applause] uh we now turn our attention to the Westfield High School musicians High School there you're going down there let's keep the energy up all right uh we'll begin with the four students who perform with the All State and Region 2 bands uh those students are uh performing with the Region 2 Wind Ensemble and Orchestra Aiden crane French horn that's right good performing with the All State band and Region 2 symphonic band Nolan Daly trumpet performing with the All State band and the region to Wind Ensemble and Orchestra Charlie who OBO and finally performing with the All State band and the Region 2 symphonic band Sarah Lincoln concer based clonet our band directors are Christopher vital and Gabriel bz as it is a busy time of year Mr Vitali and Mr BZ needed to divide up responsibilities so Mr vital is here tonight to speak for both we invite you to the podium awesome uh I think so often when uh students Excel especially in the Arts or Athletics often times we hear the response you know that student is so talented and just to kind of echo what was said before uh I don't think any of this is talent I think all of it is hard work and to start something in fourth or fifth grade and to stay committed to that in the case of the four of you guys all the way through your senior year in high school I think that's something that um we should all look at and be inspired by so congratulations and thank you for all your hard [Applause] work uh next up Westfield High School violinist Owen we performed with both the All State and Region 2 orchestras uh Owen I'm not sure if you're here but if you are please come up to accept a certificate and move on to the stage for a photograph he's practicing and he is certainly practicing with Orchestra director Craig Stanton who was unable to attend tonight uh but ask that I share this congratulatory statement on behalf of the Westfield High School orchestra I'd like to congratulate Owen on his musical achievements this year the audition process cess for both region and all state Orchestra is a difficult one for many students over his three years at Westfield High School Owen has proven time and time again to be a top caliber musician and these acceptances just further illustrate that point congratulations once again to [Applause] Owen Let's see we now welcome our student vocalists whose musicality is truly impressive during the 2020 3 2024 school year 16 students performed with the Region 2 chorus some for a third year in a row and 17 were selected for the All State chorus additionally a number of our student corers received recognition at the Roxbury choir Invitational a regional Coral Festival featuring outstanding choirs from Pennsylvania and New Jersey again I'll call each of you up in alphabetical order and ask you proceed onto the stage to await a group photograph we'll start performing with the All State mix chorus Avery Brooks [Applause] W performing with the All State mixed chorus and a three-year participant in the region 2 chorus jat camarano performing in the region 2 chorus Valentina [Applause] suuchi performing in the region 2 chorus where she placed fifth for soprano 1 and is a three-year participant Cara [Applause] Hogan performing in the All State treble course Charlotte catronio performing in the All State mix chorus Caitlyn delandra performing in the All State treble chorus Kelsey [Music] Dix performing in the All State mix chorus Michael Fischer performing in the region 2 chorus Hannah Forbes All State treble chorus and Region 2 chorus Natalie Gonzalez All State mixed chorus and Region 2 chorus Alexandra har performing in the All State treble course Natalie horn performing in the All State mixed chorus and a three-year participant in the region 2 chorus Rachel Clem performing in the All State treble chorus and Region 2 chorus kolet [Applause] lenser in the All State mix chorus where he placed fifth for tenor two Skyler Lipkin in the All State mixed chorus and region two chorus where she scored third for soprano 1 Olivia Marino performing in the region 2 chorus Luella mby also in the region 2 chorus M and nuo performing in the All State mixed chorus and the Region 2 chorus where he scored fourth for base one Kieran Patel performing in the All State treble chorus and Region 2 chorus Nadia [Applause] Rigo performing in the All State treble course and region two chorus Mia [Applause] Sao performing in the region 2 chorus Leah tety and performing in the All State mixed chorus and a three-year participant of the Region 2 chorus Ethan young let me now invite Coral director John brazowski up to the podium to see if few words about these amazing students thank you so much so thank you to the board of ed um for recognizing the achievements of these young students uh it's such an honor to be up here uh celebrating them tonight I often tell them that choir is like a buffet um and you can choose from that Buffet many different things Beyond just the natural course offerings that we have here at the high school um and and it's your your hope as a teacher that those students kind of cultivate more than just the classroom experience so uh taking from it leadership uh taking from it community outreach taking from it honor choirs and I'm so lucky here that we have such interest in the Honor Choir experience because the students learn so much from the experience and um I know it's an experience that uh goes beyond what you can learn in books because they they in these experiences they get to uh experience what it's like to test their metal in front of judges in audition experience um time management um working around their schedule and balancing their different activities at the school which they are involved in in many things um and I just want to say how proud I am of them and for bringing Pride to our school and to our music department thank you again to the board of ed thank you to the parents for uh supporting them also in their Endeavors and lastly thank you students for everything that you do [Applause] [Applause] thank you thank you that'll conclude this portion of the meeting thanks to all of you students families friends and instructors for joining us tonight to honor our student vocalists and musicians uh we're going to move on to uh some announcements with the board meeting uh you're all welcome to stay of course and I can't imagine how exciting that Prospect is for all of you but uh we'll give you a few minutes to decide what to do something for all right we'll uh get the meeting started again with uh with any announcements from the board members we'll start with CJ kudos to Edison 8ighth grader Jasmine pan whose powerful poem as part of a holocaust unit reflection project received High Merit after she submitted it to the poetic power Middle School poetry contest Jasmine's poem will be published in the contest organization's Anthology Julie congratulations to Franklin fifth grader Jacob nap Northern New Jersey Regional fifth grade gold medalist in the history be well done Jacob Lila any announcements in recognition of food allergy awareness week from May 13th to 17th the PTC food allergy awareness committee is sharing some basic information and identifying food allergy symptoms along with two beef brief fnfn auto injector training videos the information is posted on the community Flyers page on the district website under Health and Welfare it will also be shared in the principal's Friday's newsletters Mary any announcements I do I never know which order you're going to go in it's always a surprise and I'm already going to uh excuse ex myself from any names I mispronounce because I didn't get to um have my powow with Maryann on going over the names okay 20 High Westfield High School student athletes signed letters of intent with colleges and universities signifying recognition of the senior's accomplishments both academically and athletically the following student athletes will continue to compete at the college level Thomas cero seatan Hall University for baseball Maxwell Cho Union College for football Grace D'Angelo Franklin and Marshall College for softball Randall Davis Rochester University for baseball Peter Del re Union College for football Gabrielle demer Davidson College for track and field Aaron dhy Salsbury University for softball Shannon Gibbs Sun Sunni Brockport for gymnastics James Guild day George Washington University cross country track and field Katherine hefin Swarthmore College for softball Avery Keith Princeton University cross country track and field Grace lzn Gettysburg College cross country track and field Tage ma Massachusetts Institute of Technology for cross country track and field Julian Montes lacana community college for football sha O'Brien Columbia University track and field Anne Riley Russell Sage college for softball Maxwell Roder mullenberg college for wrestling Shane shien Catholic University for basketball Darcy Shiner American University for track and field and Alexander Valencia University of Alabama for cross country track and field it's quite a list very impressive yes Kent announcements I have a couple may is mental health awareness month our student assistant coordinators and counseling teams have many activities planned to raise awareness across the district including the mental health fair at westf high school on May 23rd and congratulations to student artists whose work has been selected in the district's Earth Day poster contest thank you also to all who submitted an entry the feature posters along with all other submissions are available under the news section of the district website featured posters are also on display in school lobbies thank you Kristen I have two the 11th annual Greta's run for Imagine will be held on Sunday May 19th at Roosevelt Intermediate School Greta's run is an official usatf 5K race hosted by Imagine A Center for coping with loss a free grief support Center for Children and Families dealing with the loss of a loved one there will also be a Kids Fun Run and a memory walk where participants can walk in memory of someone they have lost the morning will end with a dove release and a musical performance by Southpaw all proceeds from the event will support the children and families at imagine and my second one the Westville PTC special education committee is holding a spring social on Friday May 31st at Rock and Joe coffee at 20 Prospect Street beginning at 9:00 A.M thank you sonel the next regular public meeting of the board of education will be on Tuesday May 21st in cafeteria B at Westfield High School beginning at 7:00 p.m. we look forward to recognizing the recipients of the rotary clubs philhower and steam graph Awards the Optimus Club award for intermediate school teachers and four Westfield High School Educators who received recognition from the high school Community the meeting will be live streamed via the district YouTube channel which viewers can access on the board tab on the district website the complete agenda will be available on Friday May 17th also on the board tab thank you senel uh we'll move now to a report by District administration Dr Gonzalez thank you uh this evening I don't have a formal report or presentation imagine that it's been a while uh with the uh the budget vote finally behind us for the upcoming school year um we approach the the final weeks and months uh leading us into the summer um this board meeting in particular marks uh several board meetings where we get to celebrate the achievements of our students and staff for their work and their their accomplishments over the past year um it also marks the start of the next major activity for all of us as a uh School District as a board of education working with the administration and the community as we start to embark on the next phase of our strategic plan uh for next year our our second year as well as uh the work towards developing a large-scale facilities referendum which will be set for tentatively or currently for a vote in April of 2025 so for um the super superintendent report moving forward as we have with the um School budgets for the past several years leading up to the actual vote we'll use this opportunity to provide updates to the board of education and community on where we are with the efforts to move us closer and closer to that April uh date with the first report being this one uh the the superintendent um report really is intended to provide an overview uh we look forward to being able to provide a more comprehensive detailed description of these updates in a uh referendum portal that we'll be posting on the line in the uh online in the future so with my first report I just want to highlight that uh since our last meeting we have closed out the solicitation for members of the community to participate in a referendum advisory Community advisory committee we had uh reached out to our school Community including our students and our staff to invite them to be part of a an advisory committee to help provide feedback to the board of education and the administration as we develop proposals for that referendum now the uh the response has been tremendous so I'm thankful to all those to have submitted and we look forward to being uh to notifying everyone uh in the coming days ahead um and really what we've tried to do is identify a committee of individuals who are able to commit to the full the three meetings that we have scheduled so that once we identify uh that group of individuals we will hold our first meeting uh at the end of May followed by another meeting in June and then a third meeting in September and the reason for that timing is so we have the opportunity to be able to provide feedback to the committee as well as provide feedback to all of you as we develop the proposals for the upcoming school year and as I mentioned April would be the time for the vote but working backwards in order for us to put anything on a ballot we also need uh approval from the Department of Education so if we were work backwards from that that means we would need to submit to the board of ed uh Department of Education our referendum proposals and applications uh by the fall of of the upcoming school year so with that in mind we're really looking at September and October being the time where we finalize those decisions and the next couple of months where we really uh refine and craft those decisions so a lot of important uh and exciting work ahead of us uh and and I look forward to using this opportunity at future board meetings to provide more detailed uh updates the only other item that I'd like to include in in my discussion today is the reference to our uh next thought exchange so as you may recall when we were developing the budget for this coming uh school year we had anticipated the um the need to be able to continue to feed off of the the voice and the and the desires of our community and rather than using a traditional survey we ex uh utilize a platform called called thought Exchange in order to solicit feedback but also get everyone to be able to weigh in on those priorities and that proved very uh valuable in both the response and the data that it it provided I don't know if you recall but we had close to 1,500 responses and about uh over 50,000 ratings of those responses which yielded very rich data for us so as we develop the upcoming proposals for the referendum we look forward to issuing us another thought exchange to ask for your feedback on what our priorities should be now specifically in the development of a of a facilities referendum and I think it's important for that um to take place because the facilities referendum is unique in so far as it is really focused on those items that are specific to our school facilities both the enhancement and or expansion of our school facilities the budget priorities that we asked about was really focused on uh large scale uh budget priorities that included our academic programs our extracurricular programs as well as our facilities and or maintenance needs so with that mind our operating budget really could only manage to attend to things that are specifically Rel related to our academic Personnel um extracurricular Athletics visual performing arts and so on once you hit the realm of uh our facilities some of those items can be addressed through a maintenance budget some of those items can be addressed through Capital reserves that are uh um expanded on each year that we have the ability to to deposit into those but when we start to talk about a large scale facilities referendum that's when all of those um those pots of money that we we have available to us for regular maintenance and and more short-term needs uh aren't sufficient so a large-scale facilities referendum includes the issuance of a bond in order to be able to take care of these uh large scale uh priorities so with that in mind please look out for future correspondents from my office inviting all of you to participate in a thought exchange to provide your feedback to all of us and for you to weigh in on the feedback of others to help inform our work so thank you for your interest thank you for your support and thank you for your continued attention over the next several uh board meetings so that concludes my report this evening uh any questions for the superintendent from the board excellent uh seeing none we'll move on to the uh high school student representative report Casey with the third marking period over and the fourth underway whs students are making the most of the last few months of the school year the day before spring break students beat the staff in the annual student vers staff basketball game students also packed toiletry kits for St Joseph's and wrote cards for senior citizens and service members additionally $2,000 was raised for the Wounded Warrior Project in honor of former wh CH principal Dr Nelson after spring break SGA worked with the class councils to plan the underclassman spring semi-formal which took place on April 26th and was open to freshmen sophomores and juniors looking ahead for SGA nine candidates are currently in the process of of preparing for this year's election to determine next year's executive board candidates will give speeches and present a flyer to the student body freshmen sophomores and juniors will then get to cast their votes the week before for Memorial Day on the CM ballot students will vote on ratifying the new sgaa Constitution which would go into effect for the 2024 to 2025 school year if passed other whhs organizations have been planning worthwhile events in the community since the last board meeting no place for hates Outreach committee has been sending whs students to lead presentations to fifth graders at elementary schools in Westfield the presentation explains what no place for hate is and encourages students to join in middle school and high school but the presentation also includes group discussions based on a linkston Hughes poem so that students can discuss the causes of hate and how they could fight hate in their Community this time of year is also full of many traditional activities last week senior celebrated decision Day on May 1st for this Spirit day seniors wore clothes representing the college they plan on attending in the fall faculty members wore clothes representing their alma mater and underclassman wore Westfield clothing due to changes in FAFSA there will be an additional decision Day on May 31st so that students who have not yet committed to a college can still celebrate their eventual decision with the whhs community even though students are currently cramming for AP exams there are many exciting events going on both inside and outside the halls of whhs for students to take part in for the rest of the term thank you thank you Casey uh we'll now move to uh reports from our board committees we'll start start with a report from the curriculum instruction and assess assessment committee chairperson Kristen good evening s met yesterday Mr Enrique pink provided the committee with a comprehensive overview of the district's gifted program and the future enrichment program Mr Pink reviewed the current policies and practices that guide the criteria for selection into the gifted program and how the program currently differentiates and engages those students who qualify for the program at both the elementary and the secondary levels Mr Pink's presentation will be available for review shortly on the district website under Spotlight on education information series I do want to take a moment to highlight the exciting changes Mr Pink shared as part of the gifted program during the upcoming school year as a result of the public support of the additional spending proposal within this year's budget the district will be adding three teachers at the elementary level to provide students with the new enrichment program this program will align the the district's effort efforts to incorporate the mtss tiers of support to the gifted program students in grades K through 5 will all receive frequent enrichment lessons through the push-in model that Target New Jersey student learning standards in computer science and design thinking as well as science and social studies additionally students in grades 3 through five who may not have qualified for the gifted program but who do but who require a greater degree of differentiation will receive pullout support pull out enrichment uh lessons every other week next year the district will also engage in a comprehensive review of the gifted services offered at the elementary and the secondary schools to enhance student access to the gifted program Services we want to thank the public for supporting the budget and we're excited to welcome the new enrichment teachers next year and to see the aforementioned changes in action sip also reviewed a series of policies and school and athletic trips which you will see on tonight's agenda and next meeting is scheduled for June 10th thank you Christian any questions or comments on the report excellent uh moving on a report from the finance and Facilities committee chairperson Ken thanks thanks uh we met recently we talked uh funfilled items the finances are looking good and we had an update on the Roosevelt and the roofing updates which are are in progress uh but we also talked about renaming Edison field from Bob booster senior field to booster field and later when we move the items I'll read that resolution uh other items of note on the agenda for this evening um we're withdrawing $40,000 for for boiler and steam emergency repairs mostly at Washington we submitted a New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Grant application for 120,000 to help fund the walkway to access to Franklin playground this is a competitive bid so we may not we are not guaranteed the funding uh we renew we're renewing the Food Services with compass group tonight uh it's a 3% increase which is actually pretty good when you consider that the cost of living increase was 5.81% um we're also approving tonight A 2024 New Jersey SG safety Grant which will be used for card readers at the schools and security cameras uh also tonight we'll be renewing the bus renewals for dorham which renewed at a 4% increase and J&J which is at the cost of living increase of 5.81% and J&J we use more only in the summer for the smaller buses uh but new to the to the rotation this year is S6 Regional which we use as a bus option to help with sports and field trips and that is it so far any questions thank you K uh seeing no questions we'll move on to the policy personnel and governance committee chair Ila forgive me because I have to read off of my phone because I left my computer at work and I think I need the ones that you can like go like this with but um so we had our meeting on May 2nd um we reviewed policies that will be on the agenda tonight um including um the uh I'm sorry um uh policy 5755 equity and educational programs and services which is being recommended to be appealed by the Sip Comm Community Based on the Strauss SME update it um has been abolished um as well as the information within policy guide 5755 that's addressed elsewhere in um Strauss asme policy and regulation policy guides 1523 and 2260 address all of the um requirements outlined in the policy guide 5755 and address the district as a whole which includes students eliminating the need for this policy um it's considered redundant uh the Sip committee is recommending five policies and the PPG committee is recommending one policy for first reading based on Strauss sesme updates there are also nine policies and one regulation for second reading during our meeting we went over um policy and regulation 5600 which is the student discipline code of conduct which is mandatory and needs to be reviewed every year the um Administration is in the process of reviewing the list of infractions um and are looking to revise language pertaining to the annual review of the student code of conduct so that the policies and regulations are consistent um so that will be put on the agenda in June for first and second reading once Administration has thoroughly reviewed it um we reviewed drafts and uh we reviewed drafts of new and updated job District um job descriptions including um jobs in the data service division data service manager data services specialist um Information Technology support technician and the enrichment teachers positions um and the committee reviewed and recommends placement of job of these job descriptions on tonight's agenda we also reviewed the status of vacancies transfers non-renewals riffs Etc in terms of personnel any questions okay uh seeing none uh we will move to our first uh public comment period This is for agenda action items only during this portion of the meeting District residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on agenda action items only as a courtesy allow current students or staff of the Westfield public schools to speak first the board requests that individuals sign in and state their name Municipality of residents and group affiliation if applicable for the record the specific action item they are commenting on and asks that all remarks be directed to the board president or design and not to individual members or staff the board ask that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel matters are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey and the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public if a member if a matter concerning a district staff member is of Interest or concern to a resident the matter should be referred to the responsible building principal superintendent of schools or the Board of Education either by telephone letter or email although the board may not respond to items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statement continue disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment of the meeting each speaker statement will be limited to 3 minutes end ation uh before we get started two things first of all if anyone needs assistance signing in miam will be available to do that there's also a copy of the agenda uh up at the sign in station where you can identify the specific action items you'll be speaking toward um the other thing I'd like to add is well this well these instructions certainly lay out exactly how public comment works and how it's supposed to proceed I want to make sure the Public's aware since we're starting a new board year of exactly why we have two public comment periods uh we have our first public comment comment period focus on agenda because we are uh we want the extra time to hear from the public and also because it can be very difficult for the public to to get here to speak and we want to make sure that if you've come here to speak on something very specific that you may have seen in the agenda that you have the opportunity to do that whether it's ask questions or speak in support of something all right and then if you know if you've got your question answered or if you've been able to make make your statement you can if you so desire head back home to continue with your evening uh we understand this a Tuesday night we understand people have things to do there's there's another day to get ready for maybe youve signed it for child care to be here so you want to afford you the opportunity to do that um our second public comment period uh and a lot of boards don't do two public comment periods but you know we we'd rather hear from the public um our second public comment period is for items that are not actual action items so that's that's where you'll get to talk about things that we may not be voting on today that's a that's a differentiation Point um so I'd ask you know certainly consider that when you come up to speak um I would certainly prefer to be listening to what you have to say the substance of it then trying to figure out what agenda item you're trying to fit something into even though we've had some some very clever work to try to do that um you know we will we will stick to that but uh just going forward I want to make sure that the public who isn't always here just has an idea of why we do what we do and and the way we do it um so for Action items only uh the floor is open if you have any everybody's listening excellent okay um so seeing none uh I will close the first public comment we'll move on to board action items again there'll be another public comment period uh later on uh first let's start with approval of minutes uh may I have a motion please to approve the March 26 2024 regular April 23rd 2024 special and May 1st 2024 reorganization board meeting minutes as well as the March 26th 2024 and April 23rd 2024 executive session minutes may I have a motion please I'll take Kristen for the motion and sonnel for the second excellent uh we can do this by Voice vote all in favor any opposed and any abstentions that passes uh I'll now ask uh we'll move to board action items I'll ask sonel to move the governance items on the agenda please I'd like to move my items a to c under the governance section of tonight's agenda um and I'd like to point out that tonight the Board of Education will be voting on government uh governance action it C the item proposes the inclusion of Dali Eid and Lunar New Year as school holidays in the 2025 2026 and 26 27 school calendars um in support of our ongoing diversity equity and inclusion initiative we wish to formally recognize and accommodate additional cultural holidays this action presents an opportunity to acknowledge the diverse religious and cultural backgrounds of our school community and to promote greater understanding and respect for different Traditions without significant operational impact to the school year can I have a second thank you Kent okay any discussion all right seeing none Patty can we have a roll call please rob bachio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan Charles jinus I'm going to uh abstain from a uh and yes for B and C Lea melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens yes okay thank you those Carrie U moving on to the Personnel items for the agenda Ila I'd like to move items I'm sorry are you saying Personnel yes that's Mary oh personel Personnel sorry about that I'm Ming you are indeed every time and there items a through he said Lea so I was going to let it go okay sorry there items a through triple F in case you want to okay I'd like to move items a through triple F under the Personnel section of tonight's agenda are there any discussions go to second first go to can I have a second second that's for CJ don't I get to pick the second Rob's doing everything tonight okay CJ Army very sorry about that second CJ thank you any discussion yes I have uh some retirement comments to share uh regarding two members of our school Community who have uh announced their retirement and will be uh acknowledged this evening uh beginning with Carrie Lyman Carrie began her career as a teacher at Franklin Elementary School in September member 1992 as Carrie lucky and dedicated 32 years of service starting in preschool before becoming a first grade teacher over the years she taught different grades ultimately spending more than two decades as a fifth grade teacher under the leadership of seven different principles known for her ability to maintain discipline while being warm and caring she excelled at preparing students not just for middle school but for Life instilling Independence respect and responsibility her engaging personality and love for sports made her a favorite among students who enjoyed discussing last night's game with her as she retires to spend more time with her family her Legacy at Franklin and in Westfield will remain cherished by all those she impacted in addition we have Jerry Leatherman Jerry began his career in the Westfield public schools in February of 2007 Jerry is a skilled mechanic with a specialty in plumbing and his well known for his dedication to his work he consistently proved himself to be a reliable team player always ready to address any emergencies in the district Jerry also excelled as a mentor guiding new employees who joined the Department his professionalism and commitment made him an valuable asset to the Westfield Public Schools his absence will be deeply felt we wish both of these employees all the best and a happy healthy and retirement any uh further comments or discussion seeing none Patty Rob bachio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes sonal Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Mary W um Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickins yes uh before we move to the next agenda items I think Dr Gonzalez has some few things to add yes this on this evening's Personnel agenda we have the uh fortunate opportunity to uh appoint two members of our existing Administration to their new uh positions within the district their new leadership positions in the district the first is our uh new athletic director and supervisor of Comprehensive Health and physical education uh replacing Sandy may mar Mr Jim daro who's currently assistant principal at the high school uh will be assuming the role in the responsibility of AD and supervisor of health and PE in the coming school year uh I just want to say personally that I am looking forward to uh working with Jim and to Jim's leadership as he builds on the legacy of Miss may mar and the foundation of Excellence that is our uh Westfield High School athletics and really our Middle School a letics program as well but in addition to his leadership on the fields in the courts he will also be working with our curriculum Department to be able to lead our health and PE uh teachers throughout the district to ensure a comprehensive uh and comparable um excellent curriculum in health and physical education so I just want to congratulate uh Jim and thank him for his interest and and wish him well but I would also like to invite him up to the podium to say a few [Applause] words uh thank you Dr Gonzalez and I'd like to thank the board for this great opportunity um I came to Westfield in 2006 after working in a few districts and immediately knew this was a special place uh I I look forward to working with the physical education and health teachers throughout the district um it's important that we continue to promote physical mental emotional and soci and the social needs of our students while equipping them with the knowledge for a healthy and fulfilling life I'm excited to work with our amazing coaches and student athletes having coached and taught for a very long time I will be there to support them wherever they need me um there's a great tradition within the Athletics program here at Westfield High School and I want that to continue as well as to grow it Athletics serve a great purpose for many of our students as music art and performance as we saw tonight do and it's important that we continue to provide opportunities for as many students as we can uh I look forward to working with the community as well it's one of the reasons my experience here has been so special uh I also want to thank and acknowledge Sandy may mar who has always been so supportive to me and all the coaches and athletes here in Westfield both as an athletic direct uh director but also as a trainer before that uh in closing I'm excited to work in the same building as Jack e spring again congratulations um and all the excellent teachers and coaches that make uh Westfield so great thank you very much so at this time I'd also like to announce uh the next administrative uh promotion that is about to take place and that involves someone who is uh before the board around this time last year as she moved uh from her position as a teacher here at the high school working uh to lead project 79 and coordinate all the amazing things that happened there to assume the role and responsibility of assistant principal at uh Edison Intermediate School alongside of lenov Vall who is also uh new in that position Jackie spring um has been selected among her uh peers and among others who put in for the position to return to the high school to take on the position of assistant principal uh to replace Warren Hines who is uh going to be leaving us at the end of the year to assume a leadership position in another District uh once again having the had the opportunity to uh get to know uh Jackie in her capacity as a as a leader uh is with you know excitement uh that we see her move into her role as a high school administrator taking with her her experience as an administrator at the middle school to really help to uh make that trans transition between middle and high school uh as effective as possible so uh I am thrilled to invite her to the podium to say a few words as well a little shorter than Jim uh good evening everyone uh thank you Dr Gonzalez and the board thank you for your kind words I appreciate the work you do all of you to ensure um top quality education for all of our students here in Westfield and I look forward to contributing into that development going forward I'd like to take a moment to thank principal Lenova Shaw and the entire Edison Community for their support of my growth as assistant principal their guidance and the lessons I learned um will be forever cherished and implemented in this new role as assistant principal here at Westfield High School in this District I've had the fortune of serving as a teacher a coordinator and an assistant principal I believe that the best work in education grows out of strong Rapport between school students and families and I hope to build productive relationships that support students to reach their Highest Potential going forward by working collaboratively we can ensure the school's mission is fully supported and our students are not only well prepared academically but also equipped with the social emotional competencies necessary to navigate their Futures Beyond Westfield High School I'm excited to join principal asend um and her team and you Jim too in the building again um to rejoin a school that has for a very long time felt like home I'm ready to get to work thank you I I do want to just close by highlighting that these were two comprehensive searches that consisted of uh an examination of applicants both internally and externally uh looking back at my notes we had 151 applicants for the assistant principal position um as well as having 66 applicants for the athletic director supervisor of uh health and PE as well so among all of those applicants the individuals who you just heard from uh and who were just approved this evening represented the best of the best for our school community and I just want to again congratulate them on their appointments [Applause] so I'd like to extend the board's congratulations as well and thanks to you both for all the service that you provided to our district and to our students uh it's it's great to see uh strong members of our of our team uh staying on with us and and going on to even better things for our students so thank you both very much uh we'll move on next to the finance and Facilities items for our agenda uh that'll be Kent thank you rob I'd like to move items a through AA but before I ask for a second I'd like to highlight nine donations uh bear with me the first one is from Lincoln PTO for $6,650 for the purchase of a canopy shade for the Lincoln Playground Second is from Amy Scott she's donating equipment valued of $5,000 I'm going to read it all here it's Beringer dx32 digital mixing console a corg music workstation sampler a Samsung Studio amplifier a Roland J x03 sound module a Quattro USB audio interface with M midi Yamaha RX a670 Advantage ay receiver Roland sound canvas value and roll yeah that's a lot but thank you uh and this is for the district's music department in honor of Miss Scott's late husband Jordan Scott who is Navi collector of Music technology production equipment and we're sorry for for Amy Scott's loss next is the West Field School boosters association with a donation of $817.21 for the purchase of a TV and monitor for the Westfield High School gymnasium next is the Westfield Coalition for the Arts donation of $2,271 60 for the purchase of 30 ukuleles for tamaras and 30 ukuleles for Franklin thank you yeah and it's nice right next is the Westfield High School class of 2013 who donated 3,2 $63 for the purchase of a Westfield High School class of 2013 outdoor Memorial bench for Westfield High School next is the McKinley PTO donating $110 to cover the cost of a nurse for McKinley's second grade field trip to the Westfield municipal building and then thank you again to McKenzie PTO for another donation of $110 to cover the cost of a nurse for McKinley's fifth grade trip to Edison High School excuse me Edison Intermediate School next we have the groundwork Elizabeth donation of $250 this isn't part of the UC kids dig in Garden Grant to help fund the habitat Garden at fs and last we have an anonymous donation for painting easel valued at approximately $100 for the district's art Department thank you to all those who donated and just to bring the grand total donation up for this school year drum please is now 82,6 6882 and again before I ask for a second I'm going to read the resolution renaming the Edison uh baseball field uh whereas Robert E Bob Brewster Jr a distinguished alumnist of Westfield High School class of 1968 it selled in football and baseball earning recognition at both County and state levels and whereas Bob Brewster Jr dedicated over 45 years to teach science at Westfield High School following his return in 1974 profoundly impacting countless students until his retirement and whereas as a coach Bob Brewster Jr significantly contributed to the westf high school athletics guiding the baseball team through a thousand games over 37 years achieving numerous conference County and sectional honors culminating in his retirement in 2021 and his induction into the Westfield High School athletic Hall of Fame and whereas the Westfield High School baseball field was previously named in 2011 as a robertt e Brewster senior Memorial field honoring Bob's father a fellow member of the Westfield High School athletic Hall of Fame who also served the Westfield Community with distinction and whereas following the passing of margerie Brewster in November who is the wife of Bob Senior the mother of Bob Jr and a devoted supporter of Westfield Athletics whereas the Brewster family along with fellow citizens have expressed a strong desire to honor both Bob Jr and marjerie Brewster in recognition of his substantial contribution to the westfi community the school system and specifically Westfield High School baseball and whereas the Brewster family has generously offered to fund the necessary updates to the field signage and the addition of of a commemorative plaques now therefore be it resolved that this Baseball Field located behind Edison Middle School shall henceforth be renamed Brewster field with an updated sign on the third base Dugout and the installation of additional plaques funded by the Brewster family upon approval of this resolution thank you and may I have a second for all that please thank you Mary any discussion right seeing none Patty Rob bonio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes sonol Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickins yes thank carries now moving to the policy section of the agenda I think I have this right right this is Lea there we go I'd like to move items a through C under the policy section of tonight's agenda do I have a second Julie thank you any discussion okay seeing none Patty Rob bonio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes son Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens yes next to the uh curriculum instruction and assessment portion of the agenda Kristen um I'd like to make a motion for the board to consider action items A and B under sip today um a asks the board to approve 10 school or athletic trips the majority of those are for next school year and B ask the board to approve the memorandum of understanding between University of Delaware and whs to allow whs students to participate in the University's entra X lab program can I get a second second oh lots of them sonal anybody have any questions okay let's vote Patty Rob bachio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan Charles jinus yes Lea melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmell yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens yes with that the Committee Action is concluded I want to call the board's attention to the notes for the record in the agenda uh next any unfinished business any new business items any liaison reports uh I know oh yeah Brendan did ask um brenon did ask for he had one Le a on report just to announce that the Union County uh School Board Association meeting is tomorrow night at 6 PM uh and there will be honoring of the county teacher and superintendent of the Year there all right so we'll now move to uh the next uh public comment section during this portion of the meeting members of the public are invited to address the board of education on any topic as a courtesy allow current students and staff of Westfield public schools to speak first the board requests that individuals sign in and state their name Municipality of residents and group affiliation if applicable for the record and ask that all remarks be directed to the board president or design not to individual board members or staff the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel matters are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public if a matter concerning a District staff member is of Interest interest or concern to a resident the matter should be referred to the responsible building principal superintendent of schools or the Board of Education either by telephone letter or email although the board may not respond to items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statement continued disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment of the meeting each speaker's statement will be limited to three minutes in duration for thank you hi good evening board members my name is Caroline Reen I live at 888 wiya Avenue in Westfield uh I'm here tonight to present a virtual petition I started in late March on change.org to demonstrate our District's urgent need for the expansion of before and after care programming in our schools which is currently run by the Westfield YMCA and is extremely limited before care is only offered for students at three elementary schools and while after care is held on site at all the elementary schools for this upcoming year the programs at three out of six of them were already at capacity for newcomers before registration even opened and the handful of spots at the others filled up literally within 1 minute of registration opening in a town where the median home price is now $1.2 million not to mention in this day and age um it should come as no surprised that many families like mine who live here now or are considering moving here have two parents working in full-time jobs this petition with its 593 signatures and Counting as of tonight um demonstrates how many of these parents share the agonizing going on in my own household about what we will do with our kids before and after school some families manage to Cobble together a patchwork of care from babysitters or relatives uh or somehow Wrangle blocks of time out of their workday but for most of us these are not tenable options I have tried to research the specific pain points of our District's program in hopes of learning more not to mention finding out just how long the wait list is townwide um but my calls and emails to the why um go unanswered as do they do for many of my fellow parents um I can only imagine there are a range of factors but certainly physical capacity is not one of them um since by default the buildings have the space now one co-chair of an elementary schools PTO told me quote we have actually seen multiple petitions of this kind with little to no effect because there just isn't anything the Board of Education can do about it um while I am new to this whole system as a parent of very young children um perhaps I am barking up the wrong tree but I simply cannot fathom or accept that there is nothing the Board of Education can do about programming generally in our school district So to that end I am urging you the board to work with District administration to scrutinize and prioritize this issue if not for this upcoming school year than for the next one with the aim of expanding what we currently have or perhaps bringing in a new program all together one such example is the private company right at school that the Fanwood Scotch Plains District recently contracted with to alleviate the shortage of available spots in their previous program other districts like Clark staff and run their program themselves I know there is a great affinity for the why in this town as an organization which I share um and I'm sure many would love to see that partnership continue but all options for improvement should be on the table in this effort um the Renown of our school district is what Drew many of us to move here in the first place and um the availability availability of quality programming outside of school hours for all who need it ought to reflect that very high standard thank you thank you seeing no one else I'll close public comment no I'm GNA go oh I'm sorry sorry for sorry I've never done this before um my name is Olivia Miller I live at 535 Parkview Avenue in Westfield um I'm going to partner with my friend Caroline and address the issue of the before and after care and kind of just give you a little bit of an emotional perspective about it um because we stand before you not just as a voice but as a representative of countless working parents who face a daily struggle that impacts not only us but our children every morning I'm up before the sun rushing to get my children ready for school and thanks to the amazing private preschools in our town I've been able to do that as a fellow educator I have to be at my job before 8:00 a.m. as many teachers have to and my husband takes the 5:45 a.m. train to New York City 5 days a week now the part's over as his company said in terms of working from home so up until now you know it has been okay because of the before and after care programs at the private preschools but now that we're embarking on this new adventure into the public school system that we've heard so many amazing things about and sitting here at your board meeting tonight I mean it is impressively run seeing all those Awards truly I am really happy to be here but I am filled with anxiety daily since I had to register my child for first grade and since I hit refresh at 6:30 in the morning on that y website for aftercare and immediately got declined I've been scrambling as many other their parents have been trying to find help um before after any time and we're not really asking for a handout we're not asking for something to be giving to us we can partner with the community and um understand that we're investing in our children's future and sustainability and well-being um we need to try to figure out how to implement A system that supports all families and not just some of them um clearly there's a need for it as there are long wait wait lists and students and families in our community are not being given the opportunity for this as Caroline had stated local districts our neighbors have had programs that are now being housed inside their buildings they're staffed by AIDS secretaries teachers um and by utilizing only the why the Westfield Board of Ed is also missing out on your own funds because from my understanding is the why kind of capitalizes on that more so than you guys do um you know we can figure out a way to appoint a director uh and based on enrollment the parents can pay a fee for the program and employe the process I I feel like there will be people to help in this I know it's not going to happen overnight but try to think about the opportunities that that it could give our our community and our community of working parents in these crazy times um so please try to help us find a solution have no idea what we're going to be doing next school year um and beyond for that matter so thank you so much thank you I don't want to jump the gun but I don't see anybody else so I can I think I can close public comment now uh rayer Patty do you have any I think you might want to add something I'll um I'll comment on it I've met with Marty Colette Colette from the YMCA who runs the Aftercare and we're working on resolving all the weight list right now they're under 20 at each school or around 20 and some of them some are less than that um we expanded the number last year and we were able to get everyone off the wait list everyone was contacted by the end of the year that was on a wait list um so we are working on it now I know it seems like well the you're in a school you can just have 400 kids it's actually licensed as a daycare once it's after school hours so they had to get lure to cover how many students were going to be there before my time they had done very small limited amounts at each of the schools I've authorized the why to increase that number as much as they possibly can include more classrooms additional spaces for the state um so we're working on that now with a couple of the schools but I have been assured that the weight list will be contacted by the by Midsummer that was the that's the goal is to have everyone off the wait list by Midsummer um obviously if somebody moves in over the summer that could affect that but we are working to get everyone off the weit list from the YMCA and I was I able to do that last year so I it's going to be a priority for me to make that happen so uh I'm willing anyone who has any questions about the Aftercare if they're not getting back to you at the Y always feel free to reach out to me at the board office um I worked with groups from some of the schools last year to help resolve issues there I know at some schools if they are over capacity the why is busing children back to the why because they don't have the same issue over there so between those two things we are accommodating more before care there's not as much interest in before care so there's not the numbers they they are running it but it's not as much but they we're going to try to expand that for next year too so please feel reach out to me if the Y is not getting back to you so I can make sure that that's handled thank you thank you Patty um with that um may I have a motion to adjourn please motion to adjourn boy um L can say it out loud so can motion to adour do we have a second second second bonal all right all in favor any opposed and any extensions thank you we're adjourned