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Board of Education Meeting - May 10, 2021

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minute closest to me or ducks my apologies I was already oh my gourd Ox is not reloading could you you want me to read it Bob yeah sure please what is meeting was provided at least Forty-Eight Hours ago such notice provided the time date and location of this meeting and included the agenda to the extent it was known at the time notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with law minutes are being kept by the board secretary and will be made available probably Jenny public requesting them from the board secretary at 2580 leshin Lane Hightstown New Jersey minutes will be provided at cost in accordance with board policy and meeting the lady whose resume to registration is required and is limited to the first 1,000 participants there's a free registration link and public comments may be made by submitting your comments in advance in the following link that was provided in the meeting notification that it I'll pick up on in there well regarding the welding meeting notice are there any remember to believe this meeting to be in violation of the open public media there being none with me proceed and we'll skip over the fire code notice and add a notice that this meeting is being recorded I have to double-check that that was true okay I can be as the Pledge of Allegiance everyone's unmute and join religion space what you eating for which it stands one nation under God okay well right now I'm here to see approval of agenda having read the materials received I move the agenda be approved as submitted okay I refresh so I've got the new version of the agenda so we have one full session at the end okay. A second please discussion call the board please Mr Russo here yet miss Drake yes Miss Lance is Murphy yes yes vitamin D East Windsor Regional School District will hold a procession at this meeting on May 10th 2021 is closed session concerns one student matters Hib report from May 10th 2021 and to Personnel minutes is closed sessions will be made available to the public when I need for confidentiality no longer exist discussion call Barclays Clarissa yes the strike has lands yes yes yes yes all right item to is a student representative report we have both of our student representative Rachel and fell on this evening so and who's on first thank you good evening to you while I'm Rachael q and it's so lovely seeing you all here tonight and I hope that our report finds you and your loved ones and could help we are excited to share with you what the high school student body has been up to as he's made it halfway through our final mark . of the 2020 to 2021 Academic Year and we could use some Bon Jovi right about now the follow up on our last report on Thursday May 6th or senior class Council hosted our senior decision day car parade at high so high in observance of national decision day we would like to give a big thank you to all who pitched in and made the celebration possible and to those who continue to support our students every day it was really great to see all our peers that a highlight for me was being able to participate and signing our names on the wall of him I think school Traditions like these are really neat and it really brought back a sense of normalcy for each day we're getting closer and closer to reaching the senior year many of us envisioned by the freshman this parade honored the achievements and future endeavors of our class of 2021 Ram we are super proud of where we come together and the put it lightly the concept was ingenious and a perfect display of how we have the choice to see your hardships as a time for reinvention where we can begin taking new approaches that can sustain in our community for future Rams and based on feedback from parents and students the senior day parade me not be a one-hit wonder and perhaps the 2021 class Council might have started a tradition being role models of resilience during these unprecedented times last Friday the heights of High School drama club held their musical the theory of relativity the drama club was able to create a website in order to promote their show and sell tickets online the cast and crew had been working the film The Musical since the month of February recordings they were able to connect with the ram report and live streams are show to anyone who bought tickets this made it accessible to a large number of people which allowed more than 700 tune into the show the drama club even put a live show for Peter members loved ones as students prepare for a new school year this upcoming fall student council and class counsel applications are being find out just last week the current student council held an interest meeting for all potential applicants this meeting went over deadlines and provided an overview of each position along with their respective responsibilities as Class A City Council Members ourselves we are very excited to see and such a cheater leader is ready to rise and execute their vision for the future of Hightstown High School thank you everyone for taking the time to tune in to what the Rams have been up to as we move into the final marking. And wrap up this Academic Year Rachel and I both appreciate this opportunity to provide Insight on a time of heights. I cannot wait for what lies ahead on behalf of the board I want to thank both of you for reservations this year has been a real pleasure to have you join us for these updates and it's very important for the board to hear from the students about what's happening in our schools so thank you very much service thank you for having us you're welcome items breathing is super intense report East Windsor Regional I will Begin by thanking a student rest as I do each meeting Rachel curiel I will Echo the sentiments of our for president very polished presentation keeping us updated as to what's happening at the house are we did talk about the fact that you only had a few remaining meetings to go so we'll enjoy listening and been seeing you enough for a couple of more meetings ahead I will share that we're in the process of looking to find your successors so we are in the middle of working with the council has two camps the Benson at the high school and I'm hoping we can conclude the process obviously while you're still here so we kind of passed the Baton in an ounce believe our new supervisor will be either at the June 7th or June 21st board meeting all right so just a quick update this week I just want to start with the fortunately are our numbers related to Kobe. it's been an ongoing theme this year but I do feel obligated to share with the community in terms of where we are and I feel encouraged our numbers obviously within the region and also State we've been at the moderate risk level of yellow for the past 3 weeks in our County region I believe the States been in the yellow status for two weeks in a row which is actually very encouraging for us Believe last week we only had one in person related positive case so things going to be trending in the direction that we would hope especially since vaccinations to become readily available I would that said we did host a vaccination clinic here at Hightstown High School last week we partnered with a local Health Department we really had an emphasis trying to be accessible for high school students within our community so we recorded a number of of our Juniors and seniors it was a county driven event but we definitely wanted to make sure we targeted the local community son sees that we we have that initial setting what I was going to be revisiting that 3 weeks from now to the second dose. But we definitely want to continue in that vein also last week we star Wednesday in person day we've been using Wednesday this virtual learning days since we resumed in-person instruction in January we believe that the condition for were such that we could also offer that on a Wednesday 20 + 2 looks like it in person instruction to be here for 5 days each week I just have to once again thank our teachers thanked our parents thank our students for their continued support flexibility and cooperation we appreciate the efforts of everyone on this is this is something that obviously we all have to work on together and having individual just following our protocols and ensuring that our students are safe and able just to have those opportunities for in person instruction to a car so looking too kind of continue in that direction as we transition towards the do you know the remaining weeks and months of us who year but I feel very encouraged in terms of where we are in May of 2021 compared to where we were remove 2020 couple things one I'll be sending out a parent survey very soon really just in terms of preparing for next year just to ensure that we Gathering some feedback from families and students as a relates to kind of the transition this year I don't have you know all of the details regarding the Department of Education regarding what the provisions will be for the August leave the governor has expressed the sentiment to have all students back in school it is a host of details that have not yet been shared with school districts regarding with those provisions and tail so I'll just as we get the information we need that sooner versus later so we really can begin to dig into nuts and bolts with that planning process will entail I think that this year for us has been a huge learning experience and I think that it puts us at an in an advantage for transitioning into to next year if there's some questions like full day lunches capacity within classroom social distancing a host of issues there but I do think that what we've experienced this helped us as we move forward and I have no question that it's not a challenge that we can overcome as I get updated information I will certainly share with the community one of the challenges we face this year is that we don't always get a lot of advance notice regarding some of the decisions at the state level so if you hear it do not so that we know about it we were sometimes we're sharing it almost simultaneous to Twin the community's getting in so but I will be seeking some guidance and feedback from families regarding experience that this year we want to use the to shape next school year I do want it also just congratulate the cast and crew and director of the theory of relativity I know us to Grubbs I just gave them a shout out but they did Friday evening to going to think the leadership of our supervisor of Performing Arts by the cam and also you know something that we take the granted last year we didn't have performances and I know foot for the cast they were you want to say the first time they step foot on stage and performed on stage and in over a year so I really want to congratulate all of the efforts of every individual that contributed to that event I will say this couple of end of your items bursting will be the Memorial Day weekend I talked about this before I think it's the last meeting that may just be clear on the date so we did have a couple of unused emergency days so we are going to utilize those days during the Memorial Day weekend so initially on the calendar it has the Monday the 31st is at the school closure day and also indicated that it you knows of structured there on Tuesday so because we have two remaining unused days schools will also be closed on Friday May 28th and also Tuesday June 1st okay we're going to be sending out of communication sweet reminding parents and families to do. staff that that will be the Memorial Day Weekend structure I don't anticipate any snow between now and then so I think I think the coast is clear what will make that an official communication I also mentioned the possibility of having a remote transition for those individuals who were traveling I'm not looking to do that at this point we're going to have our Memorial Day weekend and let you know if you have Friday off Monday off Tuesday off and we'll resume School interpersonal Wednesday some end-of-the-year activities just really getting these from your respective buildings parents but we do have our promotion exercises for V Ace & Ava CR High School graduation these are outdoor events this year for obvious reasons so that each of these dates comes with it a rain day so we have for a 5th grade students promotion exercises on Thursday June 10th I think the times will get from the school that there right at 9:30 I think a true or 9:11 and 9:45 and 10:30 is complained that the GNR rain date will be June 11th and 4 eats promotion exercises will have on Monday June 14th at the scheduled date with the 15th as a rain date and not 8th grade promotion exercise will take place here at the high school in the stadium the gene or in the field ceremonies will take place at their respective school and high school graduates will be at the Trenton Thunder Stadium this year as we shared before that'll be on Wednesday June 16th with the rain date on June 17th see if there's anything else I'd like to add I don't believe so at this point so weird that that concludes my report and thank you all Facebook I had them forward a is the first opportunity for board member coming any board members wishing to speak I had something to say Bob I just wanted to is made aware so as I'm sure everybody knows last year we lost one of our beloved Educators on this is plansky she was at pld and a 10K for your shoes if he's part distracting she was a wonderful woman if you were lucky enough to meet her and I found out last week that emk is actually dedicating a garden to her and I just wanted to make everyone aware of that I think they're taking donations and I just thought that was such a great way to honor her and her memory and then I just had one question on for Mark with how is what are the school's been saying how is it tendons going for those that are supposed to be in person are they are we seeing that they're attending you know four to five days or are you seeing a lot of the kids are supposed to be in person they're going remote when they should beat you know I mean I was just curious if the schools are getting if everybody that is there going to be in person if they're actually getting the full amount of days in attendance has been very good allowing students when permitted to do a virtue present so it's two for one we want students to be in school to we don't want you to be in school if we believe there could be some type of health-related issues rather play play it on the safe side but our attendance has been actually growing and for individuals that have requested that they wanted to be present you know obviously we want to make sure that if you're saying you're going to be here then you need to to attend so that we have to follow up with certain students and families yes and we will continue to do but when I visit schools of classroom some of those classrooms look pretty healthy you know something is still some depending on the nature of the course that sometimes it may not be as still but you got to study consistent number of individuals attending so yeah I think at this point the one great love and I think we've talked about this before and that's just in terms of who he is even indicated they wanted to be back by High School seniors on the lower end as it relates to opting for the in-person journey but they were not as infused to be back in person I compared to other grade levels mark this as a follow-up to that I think I asked you in a previous meeting about the families whose students we had pressure encouraged to attend in person because of learning that they face we had success and getting us families to Allison's come in person we certainly have come into school. I think there's been you know we had that it started back to Odyssey when we will all remote and there was a a Porsche as it works to ensure that we had students connected because we did facing challenges starting students that we're not as connected to us virtually and in working with their families be all this he wanted to prioritize those students to be back in person so when we had the initial launch we all see how to encourage families products they highly think your child will benefit from being back in school and then we still had that you know the opportunity to expand expand the days from 2 to 4 and we obviously targeted very strategically those students that we knew it's showing them a better product the better level of participation being in person that was our face three groups oh yeah I'm not going to say it's perfect but I will say that it's clearly been more so connected and yeah we want to continue in that direction as we move forward on the same students are the students it up incoming have been showing us to be benefiting from being a person especially those dues that we thought the more vulnerable as a release to remote learning this time we'll move we'll have another opportunity for now we'll go to item for be just the first opportunity for public comments and the way we've been conducting is you raise your hand in the in the chat window or you posted any comments to call Todd Deport secretary before the meeting all have we had in the last two comments comments for tonight see one hand raised the movie can I have a Jay shumsky you can unmute yourself please I'll see what's going on Park Avenue in Hightstown going forward if there's going to be a discussion of requiring students to be vaccinated prior to returning to school in the fall and specially invited the approval today of the Pfizer vaccine down to h-12 I know they probably can't require things until an actual approval given served as the emergency authorization you from wondering if that is something that should be considered when I say get signal back in school that there will be a requirement of vaccination thank you famous dashefsky thanks for the question at this point I do now I have a definitive response you know we obviously have required immunizations the students of the covid-19 vaccine as you know is still in this emergency approval phase once we transition beyond that I think they'll be for the direction but at this point that has not been a determination okay thanks Mark the other members of the public wishing to comment at this time I don't see any so just missed not that's all I have sold business and the only item we have them here is an update from the curriculum committee so I don't want to I'm sorry babe I was trying to uncover this evening a few of the board members we had a curriculum meeting with the Daddy's Marlin Market 3 over the board was presented on some really exciting summer programs that will be offered to students beginning in June the 1st the 1st is a program called written out loud which is a P3 program offering that inspires and cultivates the love of Storytelling what's really interesting is Sandy saw this on Good Morning America research the company and found that it could be a great asset or District I'm so she reached out to them to find out more and here we are so basically what happens is the students are immersed in the stories that they already love all that they already know and love be at a school subject matter movies that they love games that they play book that they read so then they are inspired to them tell their own stories by pulling out what interests them and what they love about the stories and through this learning the craft of Storytelling the written out loud believes and has shown that this will help elevate a student's Journey throughout their entire lives no matter which path they take basically how it works is on students are grouped with like-minded students the people you know kids who love exactly what they love so they may be writing stories on the same same topics and at the same time they're building lifelong friends and connections and out this group talking and listening structure it basically allows joyful and prolific writing to flow that's what they that's what they like to say about their program it's just still at by what they call story directors and these are folks who come from professional backgrounds of Cinema and theater and Publishing Avenues I'm so these three directors are there to die Aspire and assist the students throughout the program and we also discovered they will also model for our faculty so that in the future we can actually in bed this program into our curriculum which is very exciting and if that wasn't enough was really exciting as at the end of this program every student will have a book published that they've written over the summer so that really that's a tangible items they have in there and they could say I did this look what I've accomplished that I've seen a really great for self confidence inspiring the love of learning and the love of writing for our students yeah I guess that's sad about it I think Sandy you just say that a portion of this will be covered by us or grants and that we do have some District funding that may also be used to have Sandra Sandy clarify that and then after that we'll hand us over to Colleen for an update on our in-house summer programs on this playlist the second thing is if for current or 8th graders kindergarteners won't do it yet because I knew I would miss something alright calling Europe Ypsilanti Dimension that program is you do for our students but done through an out-of-district program the next four programs that will be offered this summer are completely in-house so the first one is for students that are currently in kindergarten through fourth grades going to if I reprogram and it's do you have different topics that you can choose from and you know it like a circus or a safari mom's they're going to be seeing programs that will focus on Ela and math and that is open all students the other three programs are going to be kind of like an invite only based on what your performance as soon as performance was maybe he might need that that extra help over the summer those are going to be for middle school and high school students and there's a mix of different programs like what they offer and when whether it's Dino remote versus in person I am afraid I did you say this to completely in house there is one option where it's like through a program out of District that you can do on your own time that's fully remote but still you know directed by us and they are going to be offered in In Waves so the district will identify this like I said the students who need it and parents can often and if there's any left over seats then it will go to the next group of students who've been identified who might need it and these programs will be run by our own teachers a couple I just a couple things as far as those three programs goal will be Advanced course prep boosters on for those students who are headed to work I'm sorry age of six grades six through 12 so there are folks who are headed for an accelerated math or Ela course that might not be there yet probably due to the little bit of backside from covid a two weeks that you'll have a a remote opportunity two weeks of the check-in and they'll reassess mean at the end to see if you're if you're definitely on track for those Advanced courses then there's also courses for some credit recovery if you didn't do well in the you wanted like trying to remediate that grade and then they'll be in Richmond in Richmond support opportunities for ELA and math students in Sandy if we missed anything if you want us or fix anything that we may have informed about please let us know call Barry Beck 1/4 the others you would get to choose if you want to be there for what's the direction of the summer and those letters are we going out to parents in the first room on Friday hi Bob that's it any questions I had a couple I'll start off these are all remote programs is that correct I'm there in person and remote is the combination Sandy I did send you a message cuz I didn't ask before the clap the written out loud is that just a remote program almost near programs not 100% but in person who works as well as remote for in-person groups will have an added presence because there are some connections that we can do and hands on that we would not be able to have to remake it my next there were some men date or correct me if I'm wrong I'm not sure how to describe them whether as mandates or programs that were being discussed for funding to provide for summer learning for students is that do these programs address that and is that an official mandate or regardless we're still watching these programs what does it mean any kind of state requirements as well yes they do these it just falls under the learning loss enrichment and acceleration that should occur during the summer between we are in the next and we got a break comprehensive approach that we're putting forth that addresses some have to but also it's nice to program for students that we believe will address in Array of learning the are the summer we also still have resy program for a class by population so we believe that we are well prepared to at least offer and have things planned for to address the needs of our students exactly answers what I was trying to ask alright any other board members with questions on a cricket committee sorry you don't have a question I just wanted to mention when I was listening to the presentation for reading out loud I got really excited because the founder is a screenwriter and a filmmaker and I think that's great for everyone to know that he has produced a movies and that is who's going to bed and you know helping out the directors and then helping out are the children of the community that has a big you know take away I was just going to actually had a question so that we know the we don't know the exact numbers yet of course is good option for this but do we know about how many kids might be benefit from these programs in total can you take that much so would written out loud they free how much can house almost every one of our students who wants to do it because they might not be able to get their first choice in the week of preference but they have set aside 35 series directors cartoon program for even that being said about 350 students minimally as they're adding a full week that they could do it so we be able to house that as far as our programs one of the things that I do understand happy over 52 too so long to walk our summer program whether it's in person or remote so that is been able to allow us to expand what we want to offer so I'm at least roubles a little bit different, maybe we can offer but I'll be there we're going to be able to offer it to any of our students I don't have a specific number for you from you but based on the level of our students you didn't even give her hit thank you okay great report great discussion is critical to keep our kids engaged to Summer more months of construction that's got a help everyone should Ministry after the year we had okay movie on iPhone 6 is the we have a couple policies for second meeting with teaching staff and be policy 4281 appropriate staff contact conduct support staff and the second second one any discussion on this 8 ball pool please it's Larissa ramachandra is not here yet miss Drake Westland Miss Murphy especially yes yes yes sorry I just noticed that I don't know if it's on my agenda but I think a couple items got mixed around as far as the mandated by law and the second opportunity and you see on your own you did you have a second opportunity next and I was going to suggest we just go to the next mandated by law and then from there okay so let's do that we're going to talk about my life 50145 board member resignation in the removal and I can get emotional. K i a bylaw 0145 or number resignation and removal second any discussion I think we discussed the last time that they were just some mandated changes some references to State statue where my device here any question okay let's call the board please yes Miss Drake miss Lance Smurfy all right now we come to the second accuser if any board members have not had chance to discuss discuss wanted to earlier any board members okay and pay for public comments anybody from the public wishing to speak please raise your hand I see Superman Kansas man you can unmute Maple Stream Road in East Windsor I just wanted to make a comment about some of the reading that we tried this past year my son one of my sons is a twelfth grader and dumb one book in particular that the class is looking at right now it's gold stamp and sold out racism it's a challenging book to read we don't necessarily agree with a lot of what's being said in it it's causing a little bit of controversy I guess how many parents have been talking about it I just feel like maybe moving forward the books that you select for the students to read maybe there could be some options you know if you don't want to read this book you could be something else and try to put that out there as a suggestion thank you Miss Madden if you if you know I appreciate your comment if you'd like to have some follow-up conversation I'd be willing to engage in discussion with you along with that Sandy small or system super curriculum alright thanks bye all right item 9 all right listen to approve routine items by exception having read the materials received I move that the board approved the routine agenda items as submitted a staffing May 10th 2021 and renewal tenure saw be approved pld Surplus library books for disposal disposal and donation they travel and virtual and related expenses be out of District placement you prefer animal services for students I lost my place thank you scroll bar on F non-resident students be approved Staples school supply donations to the Melvin H kreps middle school approve Hightstown High School fall 2021 Sports schedules I approve Amendment a fiscal year 2020 to 2021 Title 1 J approved coronavirus response and supplemental Appropriations Act of two 21 also known as Dr our essay for elementary and secondary school in emergency relief fund which is faster to fun submission K Perkins Federal grant allocation refusal and non-renewal of VIPs in fiscal year 2021 to 2022 Alcoa purchases an emergency purchase of tent rental and transportation agreement with the mcsssd for 2021 2022 School Year resolution authorizing the use of State contract and Cooperative purchasing programs for fiscal year 2021 to 2022 the approval of property I'm sorry if proprietary spiders to approval of Professional Services for 2021 to 2022 school year are expense and transfer School money's report from March 2021 last report of the board secretary and financial report March 2021 and T Bill list of May 10th 2021 second any discussion please yes abstain from a strike Mr laverty I'm Sorry Miss Lance especially what's the weeks yes mr. laverty okay that concludes our how about business for this evening we will go into item 10 executive session and the journey from there if you everyone for joining

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