MINUTES OF THE PATERSON BOARD OF EDUCATION REGULAR MEETING

February 10, 2005 – 7:00 p.m. John F. Kennedy High School

Presiding: Comm. Jonathan Hodges, President

Present: Dr. Dennis Clancy, Interim State District Superintendent Ms. Monica Peck, General Counsel

Comm. Joseph Atallo Comm. Juan Santiago Comm. Chauncey Brown Comm. Andre Sayegh Comm. Alonzo Moody Comm. Willa Mae Taylor

Absent: Comm. Daniel Vergara

The Salute to the Flag was led by Miss Danielle Basu, 12th Grade, N.H.S.

Comm. Sayegh read the Open Public Meetings Act:

The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act was enacted to insure the right of the public to have advance notice of, and to attend the meetings of the Paterson Public School District, as well as other public bodies at which any business affecting the interest of the public is discussed or acted upon.

In accordance with the provisions of this law, the Paterson Public School District has caused notice of this meeting:

Regular Meeting February 10, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. John F. Kennedy High School 61-127 Preakness Avenue Paterson, New Jersey

to be published by having the date, time and place posted in the office of the City Clerk of the City of Paterson, at the entrance of the Paterson Public School offices, and by sending notice of the meeting to Al Zaman, El Diario, the Italian Voice, the New Jersey Forum, the North Jersey Herald & News, and The Record.

REPORT OF STATE DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT

Dr. Clancy: There is a written report available as people are coming in with important information. I really have no extensive report today. I just want to read a notice that I received from the Passaic County Division of Health relative to the water situation, which we dealt with today. The Passaic Valley Water Authority has notified the Passaic County Department of Health that the Boil Water Advisory has been lifted as of 3:00 p.m. today. So if anybody has any questions relative to that, they are to contact the Health Officer and Director Deborah Rucki-Drake at Passaic County. I know today in

Page 1 2/10/05 the schools we had to shut off or at least tape up and not allow the children or anybody to drink any of the water. They were telling us it was 24 hours but it was through today so it has been lifted. We did send notices home so that the parents would have the notices. Again, it has been lifted as of 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. Thank you.

REPORT OF BOARD PRESIDENT

Comm. Hodges: The Paterson School District has the obligation of establishing a district-wide Facilities Advisory Board. Its purpose is to have ongoing discussions about school planning, design and construction. The Facilities Advisory Board will help ensure that a broad range of views are considered in the planning process, that the process itself is viewed with legitimacy and support, and that the final plan will be understood and championed by the community. The Board shall be comprised of representatives from the following groups: district administrators, including Board of Education representation; district instruction and curriculum program decision-makers and/or planners; school administrators and teachers for all program types; parents; community group representatives; municipal officials, meaning the Mayor, City Council members, planning board members, redevelopment agency members; and consultants retained by the district for completion of the Long Range Facility Plan, including a licensed architect and engineer. Those persons interested in serving on the Board should contact the Office of the Interim State Superintendent at 35 Church Street. An advertisement will be placed in the local newspapers as well. Please be aware that a considerable time commitment may be involved. The Mayor’s office and the municipal government will be contacted as to representatives that they may wish to send. We will be moving to seat that Board on or before March 1st. That concludes my report.

PUBLIC COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS ONLY

It was moved by Comm. Sayegh, seconded by Comm. Taylor that the Public Comments on Agenda Items Only portion of the meeting be opened.

Comm. Brown: Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the untimely death of an individual from Paterson.

Comm. Sayegh: We have a motion on the floor.

Comm. Hodges: We have a motion on the floor.

Comm. Brown: No problem.

Comm. Hodges: I’m sorry. You mentioned that before and we will do that after the roll call.

On roll call all members voted in the affirmative. The motion carried.

Comm. Hodges: First person, please. Seeing no one, can we have a motion to close?

It was moved by Comm. Moody, seconded by Comm. Sayegh that the Public Comments on Agenda Items Only portion of the meeting be closed. On roll call all members voted in the affirmative. The motion carried.

Comm. Hodges: At this time, Mr. Brown, I will entertain your motion.

Page 2 2/10/05 Comm. Brown: Mr. Richard Sarjeant was a lifelong resident of the City of Paterson who passed away on Saturday. I want to have a moment of silence to recognize him for the work that he has done in the community with our children in education and recreation. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

GENERAL BUSINESS

Items Requiring a Vote

PRESENTATION OF MINUTES

Comm. Hodges presented the minutes of the January 5, 2005 Workshop Meeting, and the January 12, 2005 Regular Meeting, and asked if there were any questions or comments on the minutes.

It was moved by Comm. Sayegh, seconded by Comm. Santiago that the minutes be accepted with any necessary corrections. On roll call all members voted in the affirmative. The motion carried.

CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE

Comm. Sayegh reported that the Curriculum and Instruction Committee met, reviewed and recommends approval for Resolution Nos. A-1 through A-21:

Resolution No. A-1

WHEREAS, February is designated as African American Heritage Month; and

WHEREAS, February 2005 celebrates the heritage and the richness, contributions and cultures of peoples of African ancestry throughout the nation; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District is comprised of a great diversity of cultures which among them includes peoples of African ancestry; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District traditionally sponsors and supports a month-long celebration which features a series of events and programs, highlighting the history and culture of African decent; and

WHEREAS, these special events and programs are open to both the Paterson Public Schools and other citizens of the larger community of Paterson; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District joins in the celebration and observance of Black History Month during February 2005.

Resolution No. A-2

WHEREAS, Classroom, Inc. simulations reinforce the entire Cross Content Workplace Readiness Skills and the Core Content Curriculum Standards; and

WHEREAS, Classroom, Inc. simulations have been incorporated into the district’s annual Perkins Spending Plan and approved by the Department of Education in the amount of $20,000; and now therefore

Page 3 2/10/05 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education approves the continuation and expansion of the Classroom, Inc. program during the 2004-2005 academic year.

Resolution No. A-3

WHEREAS, the Youth Consultation Services is the lead agency in the Paterson School-Based Youth Services Programs; and

WHEREAS, the New Jersey Department of Human Services fully funds the Paterson School-Based Youth Services Program at Eastside High School; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey Department of Human Services’ policies establish that resources donated by a public donor in the form of cash or In-Kind Contributions may, under certain conditions, be used as match in the provisions of social services; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District provides the facility and the collaborative services of the Guidance Counselors, Dropout Prevention Specialist, Substance Awareness Coordinator, and Health and Social Services Coordinator as in- kind support to the School-Based Youth Services Program at Eastside High School; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education approves continued support to the School-Based Youth Services Program at Eastside High School at no additional cost to the district.

Resolution No. A-4

WHEREAS, the City of Paterson, acting by and through the Department of Human Resources, serves as the lead agency in the Paterson School-Based Youth Services Programs; and

WHEREAS, the New Jersey Department of Human Services fully funds the Paterson School-Based Youth Services Program at John F. Kennedy High School; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey Department of Human Services’ policies establish that resources donated by a public donor in the form of cash or In-Kind Contributions may, under certain conditions, be used as match in the provisions of social services; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District provides the facility and the collaborative services of the Guidance Counselors, Dropout Prevention Specialist, Substance Awareness Coordinator, and Health and Social Services Coordinator as in- kind support to the School-Based Youth Services Program at John F. Kennedy High School; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education approves continued support to the School-Based Youth Services Program at John F. Kennedy High School at no cost to the district.

Resolution No. A-5

WHEREAS, the New Jersey Department of Education has requested permission to submit a Letter of Intent for Evening School for Foreign Born Residents; and

Page 4 2/10/05 WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District wishes to grant permission to submit a Letter of Intent to sponsor an Evening School for Foreign Born Residents. This program is designed for adults whose native language is not English. Emphasis is placed on acquisition of the English language skills and provides instruction concerning the organization and function of federal, state and local government. Instruction is oriented toward preparation of U.S.A. Citizenship; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves submission of Letter of Intent to sponsor an Evening School for Foreign Born Residents Program, for the project period September 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 in the amount of $5,000.00 with a local match of $5,000.00.

Resolution No. A-6

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to Bancroft Schools and Communities while providing educational services during the 2004-2005 extended school year:

Student Initials Tuition A.T. $29,808.00

Resolution No. A-7

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to Clearview School during the 2004-2005 regular school year:

Student Initials Tuition D.L. $19,046.66

Resolution No. A-8

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to High Point School while providing educational services during the 2004- 2005 regular school year:

Student Initials Tuition M.H. $19,735.10

Resolution No. A-9

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to Learning Center for Exceptional Children during the 2004-2005 regular and extended school year:

Student Initials Tuition C.W. $32,158.28

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Resolution No. A-10

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment for Bedside Instruction services to Newark Renaissance House, Inc. during the 2004-2005 school year:

Student Initials Tuition S.B. $7,140.00

Resolution No. A-11

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to Passaic County Educational Services Commission during the 2004-2005 regular school year:

Student Initials Tuition R.S., T.G. $11,613.58

Resolution No. A-12

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to Passaic County Elks, Cerebral Palsy Center while providing educational services during the 2004-2005 regular school year:

Student Initials Tuition S.D., J.M. $45,980.32

Resolution No. A-13

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to Phoenix Center while providing educational services during the 2004-2005 regular and extended school year:

Student Initials Tuition J.G. $20,790.00

Resolution No. A-14

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to Professional Ed Service, Inc. during the 2004-2005 school year (Bedside Instruction):

Placement: Princeton House

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Student Initials Tuition T.H., G.T. $1,320.00

Resolution No. A-15

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to Ridgefield Board of Education while providing educational services during the 2004-2005 regular school year:

Student Initials Tuition M.L. $8,400.00

Resolution No. A-16

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP/health is recommended; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves payment for Audiological Services to students during the 2004-2005 school year, payment to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center (Windsor Academy):

Student Initials Tuition D.W. $273.00

Resolution No. A-17

WHEREAS, the approval for student as per IEP is required; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District approves placement and payment to Youth Consultation Services during the 2004-2005 regular school year:

Placement: George Washington School

Student Initials Tuition B.C. $20,559.00

Resolution No. A-18

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District is committed to providing student enrichment through various programs and initiatives; and

WHEREAS, the District wishes to provide students with the opportunity to learn beyond the traditional school atmosphere; and

WHEREAS, the District is committed to exposing high school seniors to opportunities to further their education at a college or university so that they may make contributions in various professional environments; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education approves the contract with Graduates on Tour to provide ground transportation, lodging, and admission to Universal Studios, Universal Studios Grad Nite 2005, Old Towne Historical District, Wet-

Page 7 2/10/05 n-Wild, and International Academy of Design and Technology for the 12th grade students at Rosa L. Parks School of Fine and Performing Arts. Students will pay the amount of $550.00. The dates for the trip are April 21-25, 2005. Two chaperones will accompany the students. However, they do not expect to receive a per diem stipend. No cost to the District.

Resolution No. A-19

WHEREAS, the Alexander Hamilton Academy is a K-8 elementary school in the Paterson Public School District; and

WHEREAS, the school will be graduating its first eighth-grade cohort of students in June 2005; and

WHEREAS, the school seeks to provide its senior class with advanced activities to support instruction and a fulfilling agenda of senior year graduating class activities; and

WHEREAS, the study of the system of federal government is a required course for eighth-grade students as civics education; and

WHEREAS, the seat of the federal system of government is located in nearby Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, the parents and students of the Alexander Hamilton Academy have been actively fundraising to partially support the cost of an eighth-grade instructional field trip to Washington, D.C. as part of senior year activities; and

WHEREAS, the school has planned to fund some of the costs for this experience in its preparation of its current year budget; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of the Paterson Public Schools does hereby authorize and permit the eighth-grade students, selected parents, selected teachers and the school principal of the Alexander Hamilton Academy to participate in a field trip to our nation’s capitol in Washington, D.C. May 3-5, 2005.

Resolution No. A-20

WHEREAS, PANTHER Academy has a partnership with NASA; and

WHEREAS, each year PANTHER sends students to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama for junior astronaut training; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education approves an overnight field trip to Huntsville, Alabama on May 22, 2005 to May 27, 2005. The total cost of the trip will be $19,666.00.

Resolution No. A-21

WHEREAS, the objectives of the Paterson Rotary Club RYLA Program are to:

ƒ demonstrate Rotary’s respect and concern for youth; ƒ publicly recognize and nurture the high qualities for Paterson’s young people who are rendering services to their communities; and

Page 8 2/10/05 ƒ stimulate and cultivate the leadership experience for youth through programs such as sports, group discussions, guest speakers, and career guidance.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves this opportunity, challenge and award for six (6) students from Paterson’s high schools to attend this conference, at no cost to the district.

It was moved by Comm. Sayegh, seconded by Comm. Santiago that Resolution Nos. A-1 through A-21 be adopted.

Comm. Sayegh: Mr. President, at our last meeting a concerned citizen approached the public portion and expressed interest in having more African American History taught in our schools. In fact, upon hearing that from that concerned citizen I met with the supervisor of social studies here in the district. He has assured me that at Eastside and Kennedy High Schools African American History is offered as an elective, and it is also offered at our various academies throughout Paterson. He also told me that it is infused in the regular curriculum in history because, as we know, African Americans played a major role in American History. I would like to state that for the record and for that individual who approached us at our last meeting.

Comm. Taylor: Through the Chair, the lessons that are taught infusing and also lessons that just happen, I don’t believe that they are comprehensive, I don’t believe that they are enough, and I don’t believe that we have a belief system in our district that it’s worthwhile. When I was a child growing up they hardly mentioned any Black people, except George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington. I think that was about all. I had to go to the books myself and learn because my instructors didn’t know much about Black History. But I was just reviewing quite a few novels and quite a few of our historical accounts of the people who made this country what it is today. Not the meanness, but the strength of the buildings and the inventions. There are so many. The science department could be full of just Black History if you just use Black History in your science department. There was a Black person who invented the Internet. That I don’t think many of our children in this district know. But we don’t have any way of spreading what it means to be an African American. African Americans are different from other Americans in this country – totally different. I don’t think we have enough teaching staff or people who are involved with our children that can really give that message to each child. After Phyllis Wheatley, and I think that was the only other one that I remember, the authors and people who wrote and did a lot of research and the man who helped Edison was a Black man. There is so much and it is such a rich history that I don’t know why when I looked at the lessons and programs and the scarcity of reality, besides Dr. King who is contemporary for us, I don’t know what else is happening. When I was coming in here I did see, but that should be here all the time and not just today or this month. We do not do a comprehensive study and research on how to include African Americans into our studies throughout. You just can’t do it in February, you just can’t say it is going to be infused, and you just can’t tell a teacher that they don’t have to really do investigative research on this. It is an important area of our development. Many of our kids don’t believe in themselves because no one around them who teach them believes in them to say they remind them of Dr. DuBois. I can just name even people in our own community, such as Lucille Suffern and Wendell Williams. We had a lot of people – Dr. Frank Napier and Mr. Kline. There is a lot of history in this town that the children can know about. There are a lot of people in our community and there are leaders in our community, and the children need to know who they are and where they are located throughout the district.

Page 9 2/10/05 Comm. Atallo: Mr. President, I’ll get back to the agenda. On A-19, I have a concern about this. There are a number of resolutions here dealing with field trips and this one is apparently asking for money. I notice that all the other schools are raising the money by the participants. Can we get clarification on that?

Dr. Clancy: I believe the amount of money is covered through a grant that they receive and the school is applying to that. It doesn’t indicate that it is at no cost to the district and I would have to check whether there is or there isn’t. I recall that it is supported by a foundation and grants. At this point, I am not sure.

Comm. Atallo: The way the resolution reads, it doesn’t specify that so it is unclear.

Dr. Clancy: I understand that.

Comm. Atallo: So it is my understanding, Dr. Clancy, that there is a grant covering this?

Dr. Clancy: No. I said I am of the understanding but I would want to get back to you and be sure on that. But I would still recommend the trip.

Comm. Atallo: I just want to see continuity since all the other schools appear to be raising money to cover the expense of the trips. So I just want to be fair and equal across the board. If that is the case and if there is a grant covering it, you can get back to us and let us know that. We would appreciate that. Thank you.

Comm. Sayegh: Through the Chair to Comm. Taylor, we actually are addressing that. We are attempting to schedule a series of meetings that deal with curriculum and one of the themes would be social studies. So I will let you know when we have that meeting.

Comm. Taylor: Please include me.

Comm. Sayegh: We will most certainly include you.

Comm. Taylor: A lot of the curriculum, some of us need to really… People of color need to participate in that.

Comm. Sayegh: Absolutely.

Comm. Taylor: People who have been reading about it, know about it, and lived it.

Comm. Atallo: Mr. President, I’ll get back to the agenda at this point. There is a motion to approve these resolutions and we are going to get clarification on A-19 that there is a grant covering that and it is not being paid with local tax dollars.

On roll call all members voted in the affirmative. The motion carried.

LEGAL COMMITTEE

Comm. Taylor: The legal committee did not meet because we were exploring the filling of the seat for the Board.

Comm. Hodges: And there are no resolutions to be considered?

Comm. Taylor: No.

Page 10 2/10/05 FISCAL COMMITTEE

Comm. Atallo: The fiscal committee met last week and we had an extensive review. The report has been submitted to the Board. I want to thank the Board member who joined with me and I thank the administrators from the Business Office for taking the time to spend with us to clarify the issues.

Comm. Atallo reported that the Fiscal Committee met, reviewed and recommends approval for Resolution Nos. C-1 through C-5:

Resolution No. C-1

WHEREAS, it is necessary to pay vendors’ bills and claims against the Paterson Public School District; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education approves payment of February 2005 bills and claims, checks 118867 through 119707, 119708 through 119718 in the amount of $16,986,545.99 as attached hereto and made a part of the minutes; and be it further

RESOLVED, the approval of claims, check 118707 in the amount of $12,613.95 as attached hereto and made a part of the minutes; and be it further

RESOLVED, that off line checks 118817 through 118818, 118819 through 118820, 118821 through 118822 in the amount of $823,747.33 as attached hereto and made a part of the minutes; and be it further

RESOLVED, that voided checks 114588, 117906, 118392, 114638, and 114694 in the amount of $19,902.00 as attached hereto and made a part of the minutes, and be it finally

RESOLVED, that cafeteria checks 118823 through 118866 in the amount of $422,080.83 as attached hereto and made a part of the minutes.

Resolution No. C-2

WHEREAS, there is a need to request district taxes, exclusive of debt service requirements, to meet the needs of the School District for the month of February 2005; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education approves the request of District taxes, exclusive of debt service requirements, needed to meet the obligations of the School District, for the month of February 2005, in the amount of $3,001,414.25, and that the City of Paterson is hereby requested to place in the hands of the Custodian of School Moneys that amount within the next thirty (30) days, in accordance with the statutes relating thereto; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education approves the monthly certification of the State District Superintendent/Board of Education for the month of February 2005, attached hereto and made a part of the minutes.

Page 11 2/10/05 Resolution No. C-3

WHEREAS, Paterson Public Schools are required by New Jersey Administrative Code 6:23-2.2(a) to prepare monthly Financial Statements; and

WHEREAS, the School Business Administrator has prepared and presented the Board Secretary Report A148 and the Report of the Treasurer A149 including the cash reconciliation for the month of November 2004; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public Schools acknowledge receipt of and accept the Monthly Financial Reports for November 2004; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public Schools hereby incorporates the Monthly Financial Reports for the fiscal period ending November 2004, as part of the minutes of this meeting and note the public discussion of same for the minutes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the School Business Administrator be directed to forward to the County Superintendent the minutes together with the Monthly Financial Reports; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution shall take effect upon its adoption.

Resolution No. C-4

WHEREAS, the Delta Dental Plan of New Jersey Foundation, Inc. wants to extend services to underserved populations; and

WHEREAS, the Delta Dental Plan of New Jersey Foundation, Inc. has approved a grant of $40,000 for dental care for January 1 – December 31, 2005; and

WHEREAS, these funds will be used solely to support increased hours for the dentist providing services through the Dental Clinic, to provide additional support of the fluoride rinse program, and additional dental materials and equipment for the dental assistant training program at HARP; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education accepts the $40,000 grant to provide additional support for services to uninsured and underserved school-age children through the Dental Clinic, and to support the district’s dental health and dental assistant training initiatives.

Resolution No. C-5

WHEREAS, the State Board of Education adopted NJAC 6A:9-8 in 2003 which includes revisions and enhancements to the mentoring regulations; and

WHEREAS, funds have been allocated to the district for the comprehensive training of mentor teachers as they guide and support novice teachers in the district; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Education accepts funds in the amount of $39,360 from the Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the appropriate account lines be created to support the training as outlined in the directive from the State Department of Education.

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It was moved by Comm. Atallo, seconded by Comm. Brown that Resolution Nos. C-1 through C-5 be adopted.

Comm. Atallo: I have some serious concerns about some of the bills, primarily in the legal area. I think before we just vote on bills we need to get greater clarification. I was hoping there would be a legal committee so we could discuss the direction in which we are going on the bills. The Paterson School District cannot simply write a blank check on legal expenditures. We need to have accountability and responsibility as we move forward in our business activities. I also had a concern at the fiscal committee meeting about specific special counsel being brought in. I raised the issue of the one firm Frank & York. Again, I am not questioning their abilities. I am questioning why special counsel firms are hired and we get these very large bills for these services. I inquired and I was told the district hired them to represent teachers with immigration issues. My question is why are we using taxpayer dollars to cover those legal costs? Shouldn’t those costs be incurred by the individuals? I think we had some discussion at the workshop but I did not really get a clarification on that and I was told we would get one. I was hoping we can get one tonight. I know this was done prior to Dr. Clancy coming on board.

Dr. Clancy: No, and in fact it is pretty straightforward. At the time the district was conducting recruitment activities and getting people who could come to this district to teach in the areas of Spanish and world languages. In fact, there was a concerted effort to bring people because of the lack of certified people who were also capable of handling the languages. There was an effort through a major recruiting campaign to bring people from countries that in fact speak Spanish as a native language. In fact, there was an action item approved and submitted through the superintendent and all the channels that basically said that it was in order to handle all the immigration paperwork that goes into bringing employees over to work in the school district from another country, and they referred and submitted. I think the cap was $15,000 but for the specific case it was identified at exactly the amount for these people. They didn’t exceed it and in fact that was approved and authorized by the prior administration. But they were specifically designed to handle the immigration issues to bring I think nine individuals to work here in this district.

Comm. Atallo: I don’t want to get off the topic and you may not have this answer. When we are bringing in teachers for world languages, are we diversifying the languages or is it simply just Spanish? World languages encompass many things. It could be Italian, French, German, Arabic, or the Bengali population.

Dr. Clancy: It could be any of those. It was just at the time…

Comm. Atallo: We talk about diversity and we need to diversify world languages as well with respect to all languages. So I just want to bring that forward.

On roll call all members voted in the affirmative. The motion carried.

Resolution No. C-6

WHEREAS, based on the State of New Jersey, Department of Education amended Long Range Facility Plan, it was determined that a single large, non-school facility at Boris Kroll facility should be acquired, renovated and converted into a basic instructional space with core facilities to house students from Eastside High School and JFK High School while renovations are being completed. Following the renovation, the additional

Page 13 2/10/05 facility can then be used to permanently house other academy programs currently located in numerous leased facilities, on a single campus with essential core facilities. The Board of Education of Paterson Schools has determined that acquisition of Lots 47, 49, 50 to 68, 70, 72, 285 to 288, 291, 293, 295, 297/Block 1163; and Lots 1 to 3, 23 to 26/Block 1162 are necessary for the planned construction of 3rd major high school to house approximately 1,200 students; and

WHEREAS, HARP Academy is designated in the LRFP as an academy to be housed in a new school at a new location. The new school will be approximately 100,000 SF and students currently attending the HARP Academy at the Main Street Mall are planned to move to the new facility in January 2007. The Board of Education of Paterson Schools has determined that HARP Academy will be housed in an existing 100,000 sq. ft. building, including acquisition of Lots 1 & 2/Block 10990 for the new school; and

WHEREAS, based on the State of New Jersey, Department of Education amended Long Range Facility Plan, it was determined that in order to meet the NJ core curriculum content standards in physical education for the Paterson School District, renovation and upgrade of the Field House at the Armory as an indoor field house is required. The Board of Education of Paterson Schools has determined that acquisition of the building at Lot 1/Block F0740 (461-473 Market Street) is necessary for the new indoor field house; and

WHEREAS, the State of New Jersey, Department of Education Long Range Facility Plan includes the construction of a new Pre-K-8 school to replace the existing School No. 14. The Board of Education has determined that the acquisition of Lots 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 to 59, 60, 62, 101, 103, 105, 107, 109, 111, 113/Block 103 at Belmont Street site is necessary for the planned construction of the new 98,490 sq. ft., Pre-K-8 grade school to house 602 students; and

WHEREAS, based on the State of New Jersey, Department of Education amended Long Range Facility Plan, it was determined that renovation of Savio Hall at Don Bosco is required so that it can be used as swing space for PS #15; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education requests that the New Jersey SCC acquire lands and New Jersey Department of Education to start: predevelopment, feasibility, design and construction of the above schools.

Resolution No. C-7

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District encourages open public bidding for goods and services; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District recognizes the need for obtaining the lowest responsible bid for goods and services; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Board of Education requested proposals for Vehicle Maintenance Repairs, PPS-252-05, and only one(1) proposal for such services was received by the Board on December 17, 2004 from On-Site Fleet Services, Inc. of East Brunswick, NJ (hereinafter the “Bidder”); and

WHEREAS, the proposal submitted on behalf of the bidder substantially exceeded the cost estimate for the goods and/or services requested (18A:18A-22-a); and

Page 14 2/10/05 WHEREAS, the proposal submitted on behalf of the bidder will substantially exceed the Board of Education’s appropriation for the goods and/or services (18A:18A-22-b); and

WHEREAS, the bidding laws permit the Board to reject a bid proposal pursuant to 18A:18A-22(a) and 18A:18A-22(b); and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby authorizes the Purchasing Agent to:

1. Reject the proposal received by On-Site Fleet Services, Inc., and 2. Re-advertise the request for proposals for Vehicle Maintenance Repairs, PPS- 252-05.

Resolution No. C-8

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District solicited proposals for Cargo Vehicle Procurement, PPS-132-05; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District encourages open public bidding for goods and services; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District recognizes the need for obtaining the lowest responsible bid for goods and services; and

WHEREAS, Item 6, Part 1 of the Technical Specifications allows the District to “award the bid on the basis of total cost from the lowest responsive/responsible bidder” and “the District reserves the right to award to multiple vendors on an item-by-item basis if this may result in a savings to the district or if no one vendor has bid on all items, or as defined under Section 2 of the Technical Specifications”; and

WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the Paterson Public Schools to award on the basis of total cost to the lowest responsive/responsible bidder, pursuant to Technical Specifications, Part 1, Item 6; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District awards a contract, as per the attached bid summary, for Cargo Vehicle Procurement, PPS-132-05, for the 2004- 2005 school year, as follows:

Beyer Bros. Corp 109 Broad Avenue Fairview, NJ 07022 Not to exceed $126,000.00

Resolution No. C-9

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District solicited proposals for Replacement of Unit Ventilators at MLK School, PPS-247-05; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District encourages open public bidding for goods and services; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District recognizes the need for obtaining the lowest responsible bid for goods and services; and now therefore

Page 15 2/10/05 BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District awards a contract, as per the attached bid summary, for Replacement of Unit Ventilators at MLK School, PPS- 247-05, for the 2004-2005 school year, to the following vendor:

C. Dougherty Co., Inc. 7 Washington Avenue Paterson, NJ 07503 Not to exceed $40,000.00

Resolution No. C-10

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District solicited proposals for Fire Alarm Installation, PPS-253-05; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District encourages open public bidding for goods and services; and

WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District recognizes the need for obtaining the lowest responsible bid for goods and services; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Public School District awards a contract, as per the attached bid summary, for Fire Alarm Installation, PPS-253-05, for the 2004-2005 school year, to the following vendor:

SRA Security Systems, Inc. 45 West 53rd Street Bayonne, NJ 07002 Not to exceed $75,000.00

It was moved by Comm. Atallo, seconded by Comm. Taylor that Resolution Nos. C-6 through C-10 be adopted.

Comm. Atallo: Under C-6, I would like to get a more comprehensive explanation on what we are going to do with the Boris Kroll facility. We raised serious questions about that site and the majority of this Board did not vote to lease it. I want to know in what direction we are moving there. What is going to happen with the HARP Academy? Now I see the armory is appearing and we would like to get an explanation as to what is going on regarding feasibility studies as we proceed.

Dr. Clancy: I will provide an update. As a matter of fact, one of the things that we had planned as a result of the Saturday workshop was to have a special open forum presentation of where we are with facilities for the community at a different time and we will do that. This resolution reflects the request of the school district to the State Department of Education that is asking the School Construction Corporation to move forward with what the amendments were that we submitted through the Long Range Facility Plan. For purposes of the public, I will go over these. The Board has received these in writing and it is part of my amendments that I submitted to the State Department of Education that have gone through the process of being approved. I think some of them are extremely important to the school district and they represent a change in the philosophy of facilities. Dr. Atallo is quite right that one of the directives that I received from the Board was to try to start moving away from the leasing of facilities and move into the permanent acquisition of school facilities for the district. These facilities that are being recommended here are for the request for land acquisition to start predevelopment, feasibility studies, design and construction. I will explain each one of

Page 16 2/10/05 them. We are required by law and by process to identify a piece of property by block and by street so that the State Department and the construction people can go through the process of asking is this a feasible site for school purposes. So we need to go through this step because then they come back with all the environmental and feasibility studies on the site. The Boris Kroll site acquisition is to replace the lease that we currently pay, to absorb the lease, so we don’t have to lease the existing building, but also to acquire the rest of that site so that we can move small academy programs that are in leased facilities throughout the district into a larger academy complex so we can provide core facilities. For academy programs that are currently unable to handle larger numbers of kids, our goal is to provide swing space during the construction. This project is actually assigned to Eastside High School because the renovations to Eastside High School take over so much of the building and involves so many mechanical systems that to try to do that construction with 2,000 kids in the building is going to be an impossibility. It will take 3-5 years and it will be piecemealed. So our goal was to move large numbers of kids out of Eastside and one of our goals in the process was to locate a site where we could construct swing space to move large numbers of kids out while construction is going on. Eventually that site would become, in essence, a third large high school for Paterson. In the process, we have identified a building that can handle right now about 1,500 students. In the end, if it were an academy program, it would pull kids out of Eastside and also kids who would like to go to the academy programs from either Eastside or Kennedy. Kennedy is also scheduled for construction over the next several years. So the more kids we can move out during the construction, the quicker we can get it done and the more efficiently we can get it done. More importantly, our enrollment projections are putting us somewhere around 9,000 high school students. Our original five-year facility plan did not address high schools, other than small academy programs, which frankly was a great program initiative. The problem was that the number of kids that are coming into the high school age bracket over the next five years is taxing our facilities that exist right now. We are overcrowded and we can’t provide the quality of the programs just because of the lack of facilities. So what we submitted as part of our amendment to the long range plan was to look for swing space to move kids out during construction and rather than waste the money on a lease we want to make that facility into a permanent additional high school for Paterson. Our goal, of course, is to do that as expediently as possible so we can get about the business of renovating Eastside and improving the mechanics there and in this building. So the acquisition and feasibility of Boris Kroll is to absorb the leases and to move other academy programs that are in fact being leased in other facilities, or plan to be implemented in the future, into a new facility and spread the population out among a variety of high school facilities. In terms of HARP Academy, HARP Academy was originally an academy program in the medical field that was designed and originally there was property identified up by Barnert Hospital. The property was inadequate for the kind of program that we need and it wouldn’t allow us to offer the kind of services that in fact we needed to provide to the large number of kids who sign up for this program. So we have located a new piece of property. Actually it is a piece of property the district looked at several years ago before I got here. We looked at it, we revisited it, and in fact this is asking for the SCC to move on the property that was originally identified by the Board and by the committee several years ago as a better site to move HARP Academy and to construct that site. The plans have been developed so it is about time that the district moves forward with the HARP Academy. That site also gives us the opportunity to expand that and combine with another academy in the future so that core facilities can be shared. Again, we can move more kids into academy programs and lower the enrollment in overcrowded high schools. So that is long overdue for HARP and this just moves it forward. In terms of the armory, the armory was a facility that the Board looked at several years ago. The drawback always on the armory was that its use as a gymnasium would require a different kind of

Page 17 2/10/05 renovation and the cost of that. The question always is could you build a new gymnasium and in fact we are building new gymnasiums at several schools. But the idea of the armory was not as a gymnasium but as a field house. Eastside really has no outdoor facilities at its site in the first place. But to offer recreational facilities for the community in addition to offering athletic playing fields to be incorporated into the physical education and athletic program, the armory offers us a great opportunity to support indoor facilities, such as basketball and everything else, and offer some playing fields that are in fact indoor but that typically in most districts would be a playing field next to the high school. In fact, the armory gives us the option to offer several indoor playing fields so that our physical education program could incorporate those activities that we currently cannot provide during the day at Eastside High School. We are not limiting this to just Eastside High School. We saw this as being incorporated in the Sports Business Academy so that other high school programs, for example from Boris Kroll and the other academy programs, could take advantage of both Hinchliffe Stadium for outdoor activities and the armory for field house activities. It would also give the town a tremendous recreational facility for programs in the district. By the way, these things that are on the table we have already discussed in a joint meeting with the town and the Mayor and in fact both groups agree that this is an area that we would like to move forward on. The next area is School No. 14 and Savio Hall. School No. 14 is a school that the district approved in the early plan to be constructed. It will be a brand new school to replace one of the schools that we had in the district on the site that was inadequate to support a k-8 building. So as a district our new model is to construct pre- k through 8 schools, but this was an approved k-8 school in the original plan. We had several issues in looking for property and in fact this is recognizing that the district found a piece of property that we feel does not relocate people or cause residential relocation, and a school can be built very quickly. We can also provide additional classroom space for an area that really is overcrowded. So School No. 14 represents the location of property. Lastly, Savio Hall, which in fact the SCC purchased along with Don Bosco at the Don Bosco site, is sitting really unused. It used to be a technology school at the Don Bosco site, a high school program, but while we are working on School No. 15 and other schools we need to move the kids out of the elementary schools while we are doing the construction. So what we have gotten approval from the State for is to basically purchase Savio Hall, convert it into swing space as an elementary school, move schools into Savio Hall while we are working on their buildings, and when their buildings are done move those children back into their schools. At the end the district would own Savio Hall at Don Bosco, which would in fact be a brand new but used, because it was swing space, pre-k through 8 school up at that end of town. So all these properties, and I think it was a good question, are acquisitions and not leases. When you purchase swing space during construction and you identify it as an additional school, they renovate it for swing space but with the mechanicals and everything so that it will support a k-8 or pre-k through 8 or a high school program in the future. So everything on the table has been discussed with the town and with the joint council, meaning Dr. Hodges as the Board President as well as the Mayor. They are all reflected in my amendment that I brought to the Board and the Board approved a couple of months ago. So that is what this represents.

Comm. Hodges: The Boris Kroll site was a particular concern to me as well. I also had some grave concerns about that lease and you and I have had discussions about that. It was important that we find some way to minimize our exposure in that area, or at least capture the entire facility so that we would get out of the leasing program with that particular facility. The armory was something that was started back last March when Mike Azzara and I went over and took a look at it and realized that this was a piece of property that was decaying. It is part of Paterson’s very rich history that could be put back into use in a significant manner on behalf of our children. This will help support

Page 18 2/10/05 some of our recreational programs and we think that if we can convince the City to be reasonable with their pricing it would be of great benefit to us in the near future.

Comm. Atallo: Through the Chair, we have had numerous discussions and we are clearly on record here at the Board of Education as opposing these triple net leases. A triple net lease, for the audience, is where you pay rent, and apparently we are paying a very high rent, you pay the taxes, and you pay for the maintenance of the building. That is a very nice sweetheart deal for the owners of the property but I don’t think it is a good bargain for the taxpayers of Paterson. I think we have been on record, Dr. Hodges, as opposing that and I support the obtaining and purchasing of these buildings so that we own these sites. In terms of the armory, I would be supportive of the project but I just want to state for the record that it is nice that these meetings go on with the City and the administration, but to obtain Board support the Board needs to be included in the process. We need to be brought up to date as to what is going on because we have been advocating usage of the armory for quite a number of years. I understand the armory went into foreclosure from the original owner and it is currently owned by the City.

Comm. Hodges: That was part of the concern and why things were held in a very sensitive way. As we were exploring that project, we discovered it was in fact being pursued by the City in foreclosure. There were some other entities at work that were a major concern. Unfortunately, we had hoped to move on this prior to the City’s foreclosure but we were unable to convince the last administration to do that. So the City took it over and now it has been an ongoing conversation to even convince them to get where we are now.

Comm. Atallo: Apparently you are aware of these ongoing conversations but some of us on the Board are not. So we need to be brought up to speed as to what these conversations are.

Comm. Hodges: I mentioned that this was a project that was in the works on many occasions – more than one occasion.

Comm. Atallo: So we need to be brought up to speed and the Board, as a whole, needs to be included. When we move forward we need to move forward as a whole Board.

Comm. Hodges: Unfortunately, the Board as a whole cannot attend the joint committee meeting on land acquisitions and that was one of the concerns.

Comm. Atallo: I just want to state for the record that we need to be apprised.

Comm. Hodges: I had trouble getting the City Council there.

Comm. Atallo: Well, I just want to state for the record that we need to be apprised as to what is going on. This way we can move together and if we are all in agreement we can move forward collectively. My other concern is Savio Hall because when the district started using the main building it was discovered that Savio Hall had extensive environmental problems, particularly in the area of asbestos. I just want to make sure we have a full, comprehensive report and independent study from the State and private environmentalists that the building is safe for usage by our students and staff. One of our priorities should be a safe and healthy environment for anyone in the Paterson School District. I had serious environmental concerns. In fact, we could not use the building because of the environmental concerns last year and we need to be brought up

Page 19 2/10/05 to speed as to what has been done to remediate all areas of environmental concern, but I know particularly asbestos was a major issue.

Comm. Hodges: In recent weeks and even from the very beginning, the topic of the performance of the SCC in terms of construction in this community has been a very sensitive and, as you can well imagine, well warned topic. We have hammered it home that they have not delivered the services that we, in this community, need or deserve. We also have a lot of concerns about how our heating systems have been handled. All those issues have been brought to the table at these meetings. Additionally, at the last program sponsored by the PEF two weeks ago they had Donald Moore, who is the head of the design group from the SCC, and Jack Spencer, who is in charge of the SCC.

Comm. Atallo: That gives us a lot of confidence.

Comm. Hodges: They were here and they also heard more of those concerns.

Comm. Atallo: I don’t want to go off track but the history and record of the SCC and the City of Paterson has been less than stellar.

Comm. Hodges: It’s been atrocious.

Comm. Atallo: I am very, very disappointed in the State of New Jersey for allowing this to continue because, as I said before and I will say again, several years from now no one will remember who sat on the Board of Education but the legacy of this Board will be the school buildings that are constructed in the years 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. So when future Boards look back and students and staff look back, I don’t want them to ask what were those people thinking. I want them to say we were proper stewards of the school district and that we did a responsible job. I don’t want to see our names on a plaque next year in the building and then they turn around and ask what were we thinking when the building was built with very shoddy workmanship. It is also my understanding, and I think you will agree with me, on the heating systems that one of the problems was a design flaw. Is that correct, Dr. Hodges?

Comm. Hodges: That is exactly right.

Comm. Atallo: That design flaw was done under the jurisdiction of the SCC.

Comm. Hodges: Some of those changes are being gradually addressed.

Comm. Atallo: Why don’t they get it right the first time? This is my concern and I am not going to belabor the point. Their track record has not been good in this community. I think people here in Paterson need to contact their state legislators and the Governor and hold the SCC accountable because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once the buildings are built, they are not going to come back in five or ten years to do it again. What we get is what we are going to have for the next several generations of Paterson students to obtain their education. So when those facilities have serious design flaws in the heating system where we don’t have heat in buildings that creates a serious issue with me.

Comm. Hodges: We have been making it very clear that we expect better workmanship.

Page 20 2/10/05 Comm. Atallo: Please involve us and we will join with you collectively and add our voices in making it even clearer to them that we are not happy with what is going on and that we are here to protect the interests of Paterson. We represent Paterson, not the State of New Jersey and not the SCC and not any private contractors. We represent the children in the City of Paterson. As far as Savio Hall is concerned, I want to see a full, comprehensive environmental report that shows that building is environmentally sound and asbestos free. The asbestos should be either encapsulated and contained or removed. I want to see a comprehensive report because the level of confidence I have in these people is a concern because their track record has not been good. The record speaks for itself.

On roll call all members voted as follows:

Comm. Atallo: I would hope some of my colleagues would weigh in about their concerns but I have spoken my peace. I will vote yes.

Comm. Brown: Yes.

Comm. Moody: Yes.

Comm. Santiago: Yes.

Comm. Sayegh: Yes.

Comm. Taylor: I have attended the meetings and I agree with you, Dr. Atallo, that we should all know what is going on. But the meetings that I attended, whenever I see SCC I show up to hear what they are saying and I ask my questions. If you don’t read the papers and if you don’t keep up with our little booklets, you won’t know when it is happening. I know that sometimes Dr. Hodges doesn’t know either. They call up and we just happen to find out that they are in town. If we can get there, we go and we hear and we listen to the questions and we ask our questions. I vote yes.

Comm. Hodges: Yes.

The motion carried.

Comm. Atallo: We need to stay vigilant and stay on top of what they are doing. We have that responsibility to the children of this city.

Items Not Requiring a Vote

PERSONNEL

05-B153. Approved changing salary accounts and/or staff titles for Early Childhood Program staff, effective July 1, 2004:

Joanne Barca Luis Cedeno Mary Ibrahim Renee Laraia Michele Triolo Vernon Kline Bienvenida Ramos Winifred Johnson Alicia Addison Rosa Cabrera Vilma Cosme Kathy Fousky Ines Lopez Elizabeth Pizarro Miguel Rubina Edgar Ruiz

Page 21 2/10/05 Michelle Vest Eleanor Toye Carmen Alva Toni Scholing Craig Wachsman Lillian Lopez Rosarie Alfieri Samira Kat Kristle Bishop Estella Vasquez Rafel Orbe Susan Ortega Sharon Wills Core Fronte Maria Castro Michelle Sweetman Carolyn McCauley Jocelyn Irving Leslie Harmony Mona Swartz Susan Otero Tara Scarborough Diana Ramirez Vicky Wozniak Isabella Handcock Micheline Moody Nancy Aguado-Holtje Pat Sivori Judy Van Hook Andres Gonzalez Stela Sawicki Mirca Martinez

05-B154. Approved transfer:

Name From To Eff. Date Miguel Rubino Inst. Asst./No. 1 Pers. Asst./DAS 12/6/04

05-B155. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Carol Howell Tchr./JFKHS $45,400 1/3/05

05-B156. Approved appointment of Aida Velez .0 as Food Service Substitute, at a salary of $6.75 per hour, effective December 2004.

05-B157. Approved hiring Deborah Chitester to provide professional development training to Speech Language Specialists on December 9, 2004, at an amount not to exceed $120.00.

05-B158. Approved transfer:

Name From To Eff. Date Maria Ramos Cafe. Mon./No. 13 Cafe. Mon./EWK 11/30/04

05-B159. Approved termination:

Name Location Eff. Date Rodney Dotson Tchr./EHS 1/31/05

05-B160. Approved creating a position control number for occupational therapist.

05-B161. Approved creating a position control number for a part time physical therapist.

05-B162. Approved changing location for Gladys Melendez from Bilingual/ESL Department to BUILD Academy, effective September 1, 2004.

Page 22 2/10/05 05-B163. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Carla Del Toro Tchr./No. 24 $40,700 1/3/05

05-B164. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Alberto Solis Inst. Asst./EHS $38,290 12/20/04

05-B165. Approved compensation for staff working in the LEAP After School Program, from December 2004 through April 2005, at an amount not to exceed $4,653.00:

Kelly Dacey Mary Nazareth Ivan Rosa

05-B166. Approved transfer:

Name From To Eff. Date Roger Sangster Tchr./No. 6 Tchr./No. 7 1/3/05

05-B167. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Evelyn Hickman Cafe. Monitor/No. 12 $7.25/hr. 12/20/04

05-B168. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Joaquina Ramirez Cafe. Monitor/No. 12 $7.25/hr. 12/20/04

05-B169. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Sandra Lopez Cafe. Monitor/No. 21 $7.25/hr. 12/20/04

05-B170. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Martha Rodriguez Cafe. Monitor/No. 21 $7.25/hr. 1/20/05

05-B171. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Shareen Richmond Cafe. Monitor/ULA $7.25/hr. Pending

05-B172. Approved compensation for Vincenza DeCaro for hours working preparing the schedules at MPACT on August 30, 31, September 1, and 2, 2004, in the amount of $478.50.

05-B173. Approved transfers:

Name From To Eff. Date Zina VanRensalier Pers. Asst./No. 10 Pers. Asst./OOD 12/9/04

Page 23 2/10/05

Ralph Evans Inst. Asst./OOD Inst. Asst./No. 10 12/9/04

05-B174. Approved changing Annalesa Williams from Acting Department Head of Social Studies to Department Head of Social Studies at Eastside High School, effective November 15, 2004.

05-B175. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Maureen Cooper Tchr./No. 21 $42,100 1/10/05

05-B176. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Bonnie Loverich Tchr./No. 21 $40,100 1/3/05

05-B177. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Nichole Davis Cafe. Monitor/No. 28 $7.25/hr. 1/10/05

05-B178. Approved compensation for staff at PANTHER Academy as overnight chaperones to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, at $100.00 per night, not to exceed $1,000.00:

Walter Goodwin Michelle Fallucca

05-B179. Approved substitute teacher applicants:

Muyasar Abderrahim Lisa Candela Edward Clarke Monica Escobar Aida Ghaliah Maria Huaccha Deborah Geddis Kavelle McGlashan Sean McLellan Ahmed Nassiheddine Gladys Nunez Mayra Pinatell Joshue Resto Thomas Sheehan Jason Smith Jonathan Suero Yasir Taskin Vincent Tirri Syeda Uddin

05-B180. Approved appointment of Lourdes Arrieta as Food Service Substitute, at a salary of $6.75 per hour, effective December 13, 2004.

05-B181. Approved transfer:

Name From To Eff. Date Ramon Lopez Chief Cust.B/DAS Chief Cust.B/No. 16 1/3/05

05-B182. Approved internal transfer of Siobhan Simpson, from grade 7 teacher at School No. 21 to grade 4 teacher, effective January 1, 2005.

Page 24 2/10/05 05-B183. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Tameeka Ford Cafe. Monitor/No. 20 $7.25/hr. 12/20/04

05-B184. Approved changing position control number 5101 from Teacher of the Handicapped to Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant.

05-B185. Approved appointment of Tammy McDaniel as Food Service Substitute, at a salary of $6.75 per hour.

05-B186. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Sonia Aviles Cafe. Monitor/No. 18 $7.25/hr. 1/10/05

05-B187. Approved change in status for Kristen Norgrove, from permanent substitute to teacher, effective October 4, 2004, at a salary of $40,100.00.

05-B188. Approved compensation for staff working in the Saturday Enrichment program at PANTHER Academy, from December 4, 2004 through April 16, 2005, at an amount not to exceed $6,732.00:

Michelle Fallucca William Roman Bibi Hassan Catiana Tellez

05-B189. Approved compensation for Gunar Kulaksiz, Instructional Assistant, to assist student in the after school program at School No. 9 for the NJASK3 and NJASK4, beginning December 1, 2004 through February 24, 2005, at an amount not to exceed $989.00.

05-B190. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Jean Thomas Cafe. Monitor/No. 10 $7.25/hr. 1/10/05

05-B191. Approved compensation for Jane Silverstein to conduct a 15 hour chemistry refresher course for teachers at John F. Kennedy High School, at an amount not to exceed $585.00.

05-B192. Approved compensation for Teresa DiLuzio to conduct a 15 hour calculus refresher course for teachers at John F. Kennedy High School, at an amount not to exceed $495.00.

05-B193. Approved changing the status of individuals from part time teacher/mentor to substitute status:

Leonard Bernstein Lucille Bingham Constance Breslin Arlene Corsano Diane Cross Rocita Davis Arthur Eason Agnes Ellis Shirley Grich Morris Liss Edward Perretti John Petrozzino Marie Picarelli Mary Pitts

Page 25 2/10/05 Alice Richardson Barbara Rizzo William Sousa Joann Salomon Bruce Segall Regina Sheeran Phyllis Suchman Carol Unger

05-B194. Approved substitute teacher applicants:

Rudaina Al-Dajani Maurice Anderson Floyd Bronson James Casale Dorothy Davis Marie Duda Maria Gonzalez Alexis Harman Emigda Hernandez Courtney Hofman Maritza Monroig Robin Roland Kurt Schwartz Stephanie Gilchrist Mery Ygarza

05-B195. Approved creating new titles as per District’s Reorganization, effective December 2004:

Acting Assistant Superintendent for Pupil Personnel Services Director of Assessment, Planning & Evaluation Director of Fine, Visual & Performing Arts Director of Language Arts Director of Instructional Technology & Library Media Services Director of Mathematics Director of Physical Education, Health & Safety Director of Science Director of Social Studies Director of World Languages Director of School Choice Director of Special Services (Secondary Programs and Academies) Director of Professional Development Coordinating Director of Academic Support Programs Director of Gifted & Talented Program Director of Abbott Program Budgets Director of Career/Vocational Programs

05-B196. Approved compensation for Janice Basilicato to conduct a 15 hour GEPA math course for teachers at School No. 18, at an amount not to exceed $495.00.

05-B197. Approved compensation for staff to monitor the PEP-21 SES Program at various Category I schools, from November 29, 2004 through May 30, 2005, at an amount not to exceed $18,720.00:

Paul Fontanella Sherri Thompson

05-B198. Approved compensation for staff of Eastside High School working in the Twilight/Rebound Program, effective December 10, 2004:

Craig Lombardi David Dupiche Sharon Allen Evelio Chavez John Walter

Page 26 2/10/05 05-B199. Approved list of employees to serve as substitutes at $130.00 per day:

Leonard Bernstein Lucille Bingham Constance Breslin Arlene Corsano Rocita Davis Arthur Eason Shirley Grich Morris Liss Edward Perretti John Petrozzino Barbara Rizzo Carol Unger

05-B200. Approved removing individuals from the active substitute list:

Diane Cross Agnes Ellis Marie Picarelli Mary Pitts Alice Richardson Joann Salomon Bruce Segall Regina Sheeran William Sousa Phyllis Suchman

05-B201. Approved submission of appropriate forms for emergent hiring:

Lourdes Arrieta Sonia Aviles Floyd Bronson Grace Cirollo Sandra Conte Efrain DeLeon Steven Delpome Kpaquina Ramirez Tameeka Ford Evelyn Hickman Bindu Jhangiami Sandra Lopez Tammy McDaniel Alba Mitchell William Smith Abelito Solis Lisa Taylor Jean Thomas Ricardo Torres Latrina Townsend Dioscora Vannoy Aida Velez Michelle Vicente Shelly Black Willie White

05-B202. Approved payment to staff serving as mentors in the Provisional Route Program:

Lisa Blasi Joseph Contini Frank Mulhern Yasmin Viruet Benjamin Williams

05-B203. Approved transfer:

Name From To Eff. Date Jennifer Foster Grant Spec./ Grant Spec./ 1/3/05 Stud. Suppt. Sec. Ed. Prog.

05-B204. Approved resignations of part time employees:

Aida Lazu Richard Martell Rosa Santiago Francenia Sumpter

05-B205. Approved appointment:

Page 27 2/10/05 Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Heather Raywood Tchr./No. 1 $40,100 1/10/05

05-B206. Approved hiring Nzilani Beal as a clerical assistant in the Office of the Superintendent for the 2004-2005 school year, at a rate of $7.50 per hour.

05-B207. Approved compensation for teachers working in the PEP-21 SES Program in Category I schools, beginning December 2004 through May 2005:

Debra Foody Maria Fonseca

05-B208. Approved compensation for instructional assistants working in the PEP-21 SES Program in Category I schools, beginning January 2005 through May 2005, at an amount not to exceed $8,901.00:

Ibelka Pena Luana Hatcher Taina Pau

05-B209. Approved individuals working in the Silk City School-Based Youth Services Program at John F. Kennedy High School to undergo criminal background check:

Paula Howe Janet McDaniel William Smallwood Anthony Wilson Eustachio Manzo Roxanne McCurdie

05-B210. Approved agreement with Hackensack University Medical Center to provide social assessment, learning assessment, psychological and speech/language evaluation services for special education student, at an amount not to exceed $2,452.00.

05-B211. Approved substitute teacher applicants and submission of appropriate forms for emergent hiring:

Linda Botcho Hilda Colon Daniel Cruz Alan Lamonica Donata Reilly Safiyah Sadiq

05-B212. Approved compensation for Cathy Blank as lead teacher at School No. 16 for the NJASK, GEPA and LEAP After School Program, from November 29-30, December 1-2, 2004, for staff development and from December 15, 2004 through February 25, 2005, at an amount not to exceed $1,872.00.

05-B213. Approved processing payment of accumulated days for retired employees:

Name No. of Days George Hirschberg 90

05-B214. Approved submission of appropriate forms for emergent hiring:

Cynthia Powell

Page 28 2/10/05 05-B215. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Ronnie Austin Inst. Asst./GFA $25,698 1/10/05

05-B216. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Tavia Young Cafe. Monitor/No. 20 $7.25/hr.

05-B217. Approved compensation for Yassar Safwat as a substitute in the After School Computer Clubhouse Program.

05-B218. Approved transfer for attendance and evaluation purposes:

Name From To Eff. Date Lyndon Smith Supv./Pers. Dept. Supv./Bus. Dept. 1/3/05

05-B219. Approved transfer for attendance and evaluation purposes:

Name From To Eff. Date Vivian English Sec./Pers. Dept. Sec./Bus. Dept. 1/3/05

05-B220. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Patricia Whelan Tchr./No. 5 $51,062 12/20/04

05-B221. Approved change in title for June Gray from Assistant to the Comptroller to Supervisor of Accounting, effective January 3, 2005.

05-B222. Approved that Joan Constantine, Comptroller, will supervise and evaluate employees whose positions are related to grant and fiscal responsibilities, effective January 3, 2005.

05-B223. Approved that Anthony Infante, Assistant Comptroller, will supervise and evaluate the Office of Accounting and the Office of Position Control.

05-B224. Approved transfer:

Name From To Eff. Date Maria Santiago Sec./Bus. Dept. Sec./HS Coord. Off. 1/3/05

05-B225. Approved tuition payments for students attending Passaic County Community College as part of the district scholarship fund, in the amount of $3,898.45:

Steven Pinero Yasmijail Garcia

05-B226. Approved continuation of funding for personnel charged to IDEA-B and IDEA-B preschool grant for FY05:

Edwyn Acevedo Michelle Behnken Nina Carrington Esther Ferraro

Page 29 2/10/05 Joseph Ganon Michele Howe Carlos Lugo Nylka McQueen-Jefferies Paris Moore Deanna Mullica Glenda O’Koro Vaughn Platt Patricia Popovich Joshua M. Ramos Kathleen Rhein Vanessa Vitiello Stephen Womack Nicholas Fiumara Ines Mercado Eliu Pomales Sydia Puerta Gloria Rodriguez Tontai Roundtree Robin Tanquay Beatriz Zapata Morris Jenkins Lovie Armstrong Marsha Alexander Delores Boiselle Seymour Burack Louella Cheatam Arlena Clayton Arnez B. Crockett Adrienne DeRosa Sherry Fulmore Murray Constance Harrell Linda Lande-Brown Celeste M. Mancinelli Mary Pillarella Lorenzo Puertas Kathy Rogers Irma Ruiz Janet P. Terry Tom Ursetti Dale VanRensalier Joyce Zapulla Josephine Arrington Sylvia Hughes Sabrina Tigney-Gerald Bonnie K. Williams Yvonne Williams Maria Isabel Rivera Camile Easton Rita D’Agostino

05-B227. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Mercy Alvarado Sen. Invent. Spec./Central Storage $32,194 1/27/05

05-B228. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Pete Barrett Invent. Spec./Central Storage $30,283 1/14/05

05-B229. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Jose Uceta Driver/Central Storage $30,428 Pending

05-B231. Approved compensation for staff of Paterson Pre-Collegiate Teaching Academy working in the Saturday HSPA Program, at an amount not to exceed $2,376.00:

Dilber Yildirim Ronny Guerra Rosanne Buttacavoli

05-B232. Approved creating a position control number for math teacher at the International High School by changing position control number 4149 from science teacher to math teacher.

05-B233. Approved appointment:

Page 30 2/10/05 Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Tania Sarhan Cafe. Monitor/No. 25 $7.25/hr. 1/10/05

05-B234. Approved contract with Education Trust as Keynote Speaker for the 7th Annual Parent Awareness Day Program at Eastside High School on December 4, 2004, at an amount not to exceed $1,000.00.

05-B235. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Carrie Rapaport Tchr./JFKHS $40,400 1/18/05

05-B236. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Brianne Ford Tchr./Nos. 14, 16, RCS $40,100 1/10/05

05-B237. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Eliana Montoya Cafe. Monitor/No. 25 $7.25/hr. 2/7/05

05-B238. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Nancy Rivera Cafe. Monitor/No. 25 $7.25/hr. Pending

05-B239. Approved compensation for Berta Tobass as School Treasurer at John F. Kennedy High School for the 2004-2005 school year, at an amount not to exceed $4,949.00.

05-B240. Approved stipends for staff serving as coaches for the John F. Kennedy High School 2005 spring sports, beginning March 2005:

Name Position Rich McGinnis Head Baseball Joseph Andrulli Baseball Assistant Edwin Guzman Baseball Assistant Craig Siepe Baseball Assistant Charles Bell Head Softball Shannon Malone Softball Assistant Colleen Lopez Softball Assistant James Trisuzzi Softball Assistant Ken Samra Head Boys Track Ronald Thomas Track Assistant Gary Moore Track Assistant Vanessa McClure Head Track Donovan Jonah Track Assistant Joy Martinez Track Assistant Wayne Schiele Golf Head Maureen O’Connor Head Tennis John Kearney Assistant Tennis Berta Tobass H.S. Treasurer Joseph Pardine Athletic Treasurer

Page 31 2/10/05 Carrie Geralecitano Head Band Nancy Wymer Drama Coach Mary DeMoor Athletic Academic Advisor 1/3 Nick Semeniuk Athletic Trainer Michelle Van Hoven Marching Band Assistant Kim Smith Color Guard Ryan Kelly Head Boys Volleyball

05-B241. Approved compensation for Danielle Volino for participating in the staff development on the use of Scantron Performance Series, assessment tools designed to track the academic growth, on November 20, 2004 and June 30, 2005, at an amount not to exceed $500.00.

05-B242. Approved compensation for staff working at the Parent Awareness Day Program at Eastside High School on December 4, 2004:

JoAnn Harris Theresa Claudio Shalimar Williams

05-B243. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Kathleen Lawrence Tchr./No. 15 $40,100 2/7/05

05-B244. Approved compensation for Lisa Weaver for increased responsibilities dealing with unemployment matters in the district, in the amount of $750.00.

05-B245. Approved compensation for staff participating in PowerPoint training at MPACT Academy, at an amount not to exceed $1,881.00:

Joe Serico Julia Blechschmidt Arthur Carpenter Lee Chong Ronnie Denburg Alyson Gerladis Vernon Henry Christopher Lewis Stephen O’Kane Johan Palacio Donna Pallotta Timothy Raimnondo Maria Rodriguez Kenneth Stamler Gopi Tadakamalla Rajeev Vaid Daisy Valdivia Linda Veleber Clifford Zoppo

05-B246. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Zulma Sanabrina Cafe. Monitor/No. 28 $7.25/hr. 1/24/05

05-B247. Approved compensation for Louella Cheatham for working beyond dismissal time on June 24, 2004, for fifty minutes, in the amount of $27.50.

05-B248. Approved internal transfer of Carolyn Martin, from teacher of the handicapped at Dale Avenue School to resource room teacher, effective December 7, 2004.

Page 32 2/10/05 05-B249. Approved staff who participate in the Access-Collaboration-Equity Program (ACE), to attend workshops at Passaic County Community College Technology Center, for technology and language arts integrated instruction, beginning January 20, 2005 through April 12, 2005, at an amount not to exceed $10,000.00.

05-B250. Approved compensation for Santina Susino for performing administrative services for the Paterson Community Learning Centers After School Program, from November 8-20, 2004, at an amount not to exceed $500.00.

05-B251. Approved compensation for Vandana Jani for teaching a 6th period class in science at Eastside High School as per sidebar, from September 22, 2003 through June 30, 2004, in the amount of $8,337.00.

05-B252. Approved compensation for Vandana Jani for attending the 2003-2004 New Jersey Science Convention, in the amount of $111.00.

05-B253. Approved payment to Denise Frullo for ancillary medical and health related expenses, in the amount of $317.00.

05-B254. Approved stipend for David Eugene as Assistant Wrestling Coach and Mauricio Branwell as Assistant Color/Honor Guard at Eastside High School for the Winter 2004-2005 athletic season, at an amount not to exceed $5,758.50.

05-B255. Approved correcting position control report in order to change job title of Gayle DeNicola from teacher grade 3 & 4, to instructional coach at School No. 12.

05-B256. Approved changing position control number 0498 presently occupied by Tameka Smith, from administrative secretary to data entry operator.

05-B257. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Katherine Nieves Cafe. Monitor/No. 27 $7.25/hr. 1/24/05

05-B258. Approved compensation for 20 teachers to develop a workshop on the roots of hip-hop and how it can be incorporated into language classes via poetry and composition, on January 31, 2005 at School No. 1, at an amount not to exceed $1,320.00.

05-B260. Approved changing position control number 2328 from Bilingual/ESL teacher to teacher grade 1 at School No. 14, effective September 1, 2004.

05-B261. Approved substitute teacher applicants and submission of appropriate forms for emergent hiring:

Noelle Andrea Elvira Apgar Simonetta Erb Alena Frankoski Petrina Frankoski Migdalia Gomez Myrlaine Joseph Rakeen King Rosemarie Pereira Lis Romero

Page 33 2/10/05

05-B262. Approved substitute teacher applicants:

Christine Alsharif Vladymir Aste Juan Barrera Maria Barrera Kelinda Brown Cindy Dixon Shada Ghazi Juan Herrera Nicole Jackson Maria Medina Mohammad Muhit Sherri Petolino Willie Williams

05-B263. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Nancy Blake Social Worker/No. 21 $47,655 + 1/18/05 $400 stipend

05-B264. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Judith Hall Tchr./EHS $44,800 1/24/05

05-B265. Approved appointment of Maria Serrano as Food Service Substitute, at a salary of $6.75 per hour, effective January 10, 2005.

05-B266. Suspension of employee for three days, without pay.

05-B267. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date John Scillieri Tchr./PPTA $54,378 1/18/05

05-B268. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Brad Zulauf Tchr./No. 25 $42,100 1/31/05

05-B269. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Jared MacDonald Inst. Asst./DAS $27,898 1/18/05

05-B270. Approved reclassifying food service employee Annie Parker from Food Service Manager A at School No. 24, to Food Service Employee A at School No. 4.

05-B271. Approved creating seven food service positions for the new Roberto Clemente School, due to open in February 2005.

05-B272. Approved substitute teacher applicants and submission of appropriate forms for emergent hiring:

Rana Ayyash Plinio Hinostroza Joseph Loglisci Stephanie McDuffie

Page 34 2/10/05

05-B273. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Michael Mason Tchr./EHS $51,062 1/18/05

05-B274. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Susie Simmons Lead Cafe. Monitor/No. 1 $7.80/hr. 1/31/05

05-B275. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Tisha Charles Cafe. Monitor/No. 12 $7.25/hr. 1/10/05

05-B276. Approved compensation for Joanette Weiss as Acting Director of Guidance at Eastside High School, from December 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005, in the amount of $5,460.00.

05-B277. Approved adjustment to salaries of staff based on equivalency credits, retroactive to September 1, 2004:

Name From To Gloria Salinas $41,300 $43,300 (BA, 5) (BA+30, 5)

Rafael Velez $42,700 $45,660 (BA+30, 3) (MA+30, 3)

05-B278. Approved transfer:

Name From To Eff. Date Jacqueline Lopez Inst. Asst./EWK Inst. Asst./No. 28 12/20/04

05-B279. Approved substitute teacher applicants:

Tyehimba Ames Katie Dais Lyonnel Eugene Kenneth Forte Gina Galiano Quasheena McMillan Jose Mercado Sherri Petolino Kenisha Roberson Jameel Roberts Elizabeth Thomas Kimler Williamson

05-B280. Approved change in status for Carrie Ali, from permanent substitute to teacher, effective September 1, 2004, at a salary of $40,100.00.

05-B281. Approved change in status for Wilkin Santana, from permanent substitute to teacher, effective November 1, 2004, at a salary of $40,100.00.

05-B282. Approved payment for substitute assignments:

Morris Liss Barbara Rizzo

Page 35 2/10/05 05-B283. Approved internal transfer of Luis Valentin, from bilingual teacher at School No. 13 to grade 4 teacher, effective January 3, 2005.

05-B284. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date George Pantos Tchr./MLK $49,266 1/31/05

05-B285. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Daisy Flood Inst. Asst./No. 10 $27,328 1/25/05

05-B286. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Aramis Alba Inst. Asst./No. 5 $21,643 1/13/05

05-B287. Approved appointment:

Name Assignment/Location Salary Eff. Date Yvonne Brownfield Cafe. Monitor/No. 10 $7.25/hr. 1/18/05

05-B288. Approved change in status for Isaac Alvarez, from permanent substitute to teacher, effective May 1, 2004, at a salary of $45,100.00.

05-B289. Approved change in status for Daniel Basile, from permanent substitute to teacher, effective October 18, 2004, at a salary of $42,700.00.

05-B290. Approved change in status for Tania Rodriguez, from permanent substitute to teacher, effective September 1, 2004, at a salary of $40,100.00.

05-B291. Approved adjusting the salary of Site Managers for the PEP 21 Program, from $33.00 per hour to $39.00 per hour, for working in a supervisory capacity:

Carmine Pindilli Dorothy Puryear Pamela Vermas Michelle Vancheri Ingrid Hall John Kuzviwanza Ed Dale Elaine Williams Atondra Friday Jane Bradley Janice Notte Lucy Mankovich Melanie Brown Dwayne Maultsby Dawne Ciarleglio Marc Medley

05-B292. Approved compensation for Gloria Andrade to monitor the PEP-21 SES Program at various Category I schools, from January 3, 2005 through May 30, 2005, at an amount not to exceed $5,031.00.

05-B293. Approved compensation for Tatiana Mikhaelovsky, science teacher at Eastside High School for work performed at Montclair State University using MSU funds (funds must be routed through district account), in the amount of $700.00.

Page 36 2/10/05

05-B294. Approved payment of unused accumulated vacation days, as per policy, to the following employee:

Name Days Josephine Arrington 10

05-B295. Approved transfer:

Name From To Eff. Date Tracy Gist Inst. Asst./STARS Inst. Asst./No. 9 1/5/05

05-B296. Approved substitute teacher applicants:

Sarah Caddle Cindy Chanda Charlene Gilliam Graciela Henriquez Gary LeProtto Sue Ellen Leshno Claire Malachowski Nicole Santiago Willie Smith Alice Williams

05-B297. Approved substitute teacher applicants and submission of appropriate forms for emergent hiring:

Michael Henzel Kavelle McGlashan Ronald Gross

05-B298. Approved appointment of Sabrina George as Food Service Substitute, at a salary of $6.75 per hour, effective January 10, 2005.

05-B299. Approved compensation for staff serving as Rebound Program Administrators at John F. Kennedy High School, at an amount not to exceed $18,720.00:

Joseph Andriulli Christine Lewis Kathleen Kellett

05-B300. Approved compensation for staff serving as substitutes in the Desegregation Outdoor Program “Camp Happiness” during the 2004-2005 school year:

Gary Cooper Vanessa Guzman Dawn Osowsky Janet Dawson Maria Francisco Tamisha Windley Alexander Sierra Glenda Campbell Patricia Cunningham JoAnn Cascamo Melissa Pellegrino Andre Rivers

05-B301. Approved compensation for food service employees to work as Food Service Caterers during non-school hours, at an amount of $12.00 per hour:

Sandra McPherson Rosa Brito Juana Sosa

Page 37 2/10/05 05-B302. Approved payment for substitute assignments: (Shirley Grich)

05-B303. Accepted resignations and retirements:

Name Location Eff. Date Type Katherine Fecanin Tchr./No. 19 2/9/05 Resignation

Carrie Gerecitano Tchr./JFKHS 2/16/05 Resignation

Marie Ianzano Tchr./No. 18 3/1/05 Retirement

Iris LeDuc-Currie Director/Bil-ESL 2/1/05 Retirement

Elley Meiliker Tchr./No. 13 7/1/04 Retirement

Mary Papageorgis Tchr./No. 28 7/1/04 Retirement

Sabrina Shaw Tchr./No. 12 2/21/05 Resignation

Gerald Stefanacci Tchr./No. 6 7/1/05 Retirement

David Urban Tchr./No. 3 4/1/05 Retirement

Ethel Waite Tchr./SCA 2/1/05 Retirement

Tonya Wilson Tchr./No. 6 2/16/05 Resignation

05-B304. Accepted resignations:

Name Location Eff. Date Vita Ann Flores Fd. Serv./Cafeteria Serv. 12/14/04

Maria Gonzalez Fd. Serv./Cafeteria Serv. 12/1/04

Jason Werner Inst. Asst./No. 5 12/31/04

OTHER

05-B230. Approved by the Superintendent’s use of his veto power to authorize lease amendment with Temple Emmanuel of North Jersey for the property at 151 East 33rd Street, for the landlord to pay fifty percent (50%) of the cost of the labor and materials, including, but not limited to, architectural and engineering plans, for installation of windows, up to a maximum of $40,000.00.

05-B259. Approved by the Superintendent’s use of his veto power to authorize payment to the firm of Schwartz, Simon, Edelstein, Celso and Kessler, LLP, as payment in full for services rendered, in the amount of $114,032.36.

05-B324. Authorized award of a contract to P.G. Lewis to provide forensic computer and consulting services including, but not limited to, acquisition activities, site visits, analyses, and such other consulting services as needed, for an initial per device acquisition fee of $1,110.00 for the creation and

Page 38 2/10/05 maintenance of a forensically duplicated image of each device, and an hourly rate not to exceed $210.00 for services rendered thereafter.

05-B325. Approved award of a contract to the Louis Berger Group, Inc. to provide consulting services including, but not limited to, site visits, evaluations, and such other consulting services as needed related to various contractors who performed work or provided materials at district facilitities or property for the district on prior occasions, at an hourly rate of $175.00.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

It was moved by Comm. Sayegh, seconded by Comm. Santiago that the Public Comments portion of the meeting be opened. On roll call all members voted in the affirmative. The motion carried.

Comm. Hodges: First person, please. Three minutes per person, five minutes per organization.

Ms. Anna Taliaferro: I would like to take five minutes. When I walked in this evening I saw a display out in the vestibule and I said tell me what Hitler has to do with Black History, African American History, and why would we have that on display at this time. This is a month where we celebrate the talents of many Black Americans, not only in our city but also across the nation and the world. To have Hitler sitting up there, one who did not like Blacks and who tried to dismantle the mentality of a very credible sportsman called Jessie Owens, let’s not forget. That has no place during Black History Month or any other month, but more specifically Black History Month. I resent that being there and I want to go on record for that. When calling for a moment of silence I am surprised that none of the Blacks on the Board remembered that we lost a very big soldier, one who was like a mentor to me as I watched him while growing up. He gave so much of his life to this country. He stood for Martin Luther King when it was unpopular and he stood for Malcolm X when it was unpopular. I am surprised that you forgot him just that quick. His name is Ossie Davis. He was 87 years old and he gave close to six decades in this country of his life to what was a good and positive career, not only in entertainment. He was an advocate for civil rights. So let us not forget Ossie Davis. I can remember in my junior high school years, which many of you are way too young so let me teach you a little history. During the month of November, Thanksgiving time, when a movie came out and we were so excited because most of the movies that were around in those days were cowboys against the Indians. They didn’t teach me my history. I didn’t look for the schools to teach my history. I went to school in Mount Vernon, New York. I was one of three Black students in the class. So it was my parents and my grandparents who taught me the meaning of standing up when so many of us want to sit down, but standing up for right and not just because I was a Black American but because I was a human being, which a lot of us seem to forget. Last week Dr. Tyrone Powers, the former FBI agent who wrote Eyes To My Soul, came to Paterson and was the keynote speaker for the Bronze Heat, and I need to commend them because they did a fantastic job. In his speech, he talked about how when Martin Luther King died and the surgeons did the autopsy for him, he had the heart of a 60-year-old man and he was only 39 years old. Ask yourself why. When you are out here on this battleground and you advocate for civil rights, it takes a lot of stress on your heart. Dr. Hodges, you know that. Many of the people who sat down when they should have stood up didn’t want to stand up. They didn’t even want him to speak on August 28, 1963 because they were terrified by the fact that they would be held accountable. He talked about America giving us a bounced check. I am going to wrap

Page 39 2/10/05 it up so don’t get your pants excited there, Dr. Hodges. This stuff is important and the reason it is so important is because our teachers don’t know this. So how can they teach our children? They are not required to take Black History as a prerequisite to coming into an urban city. You can’t teach me my history if you have never walked a mile in it.

Comm. Hodges: My point exactly.

Ms. Taliaferro: So I can’t teach you your history unless I have learned it. Let’s be careful. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. I told you all about Mildred Barry-Garvin instituting that amendment about Black History in the Constitution of this State.

Comm. Hodges: Ms. Taliaferro.

Ms. Taliaferro: I just have one last question and I am going to ask this. Where is Guy Generals? Did he resign from this Board, Mr. President?

Comm. Hodges: Dr. Generals has temporarily stepped away from his position as liaison.

Comm. Taylor: He hasn’t resigned.

Ms. Taliaferro: The word on the wire is that he has applied for superintendent. May I remind you that sitting here all these years, almost four decades now, I have watched people leave the Board of Education and come back to get jobs. You be careful. You are not off of this Board six months. The State of New Jersey has played enough games. I don’t care. We are not taking this laying down. You inform the young man he has not been off the Board long enough. Please do that and do something about vo- tech. There are a lot of concerns up there because people who look like you and me are not getting jobs, and 90% of that school houses our kids. No justice – no peace.

Mr. Abdul H. Ali: Abdul H. Ali. Ms. Taylor, may God continue to bless you. Benjamin Banneker was a serious brother. The President is sitting in the house that he orchestrated. The Senate and the Congress did the same. I want to talk about knowledge. When our children get knowledge that nourishes their soul and mindset, then their true potential can come out. You said they don’t know our history. They do know our history. They brought us here. I watched a movie last night about slavery and it took me not to a physical but to a psychological point of view. What state of mind is this education system in that is playing with the minds of our children? I remember telling you that knowledge can do two things. It can allow us to come alive or put us to sleep. Look where we are – standing outside on the corner. I have to keep mentioning that. I remember in 1995 Mr. Fulmore was the principal at School No. 6 and I was assistant chief custodian. I spoke to Ms. Thomas Clarence and Ms. Dudley Clarence about human development. That should be in the curriculum. Human development is very important. We are human beings. We can fight for civil rights, but I want some human rights. When you get human rights you have to respect me as a citizen, not as a piece of property. That is how you are looking at our children – as property. The education system is part of the conspiracy. That is a charge we can take to the world court because you know what you are doing. Half of us start off as field brothers and get in the house and become house brothers. I need to put that out there. I remember when I was a baby and some of you were field brothers. As you got what you want, then you became a house brother. We aren’t housing anymore. We are still fielding. One more and I am going to shut it down. On that curriculum board, can somebody on the grassroots be on there like me, or do you have to be part of the table up front?

Page 40 2/10/05

Comm. Sayegh: You are part of the table, you are part of this community, and I don’t see any problem with you being involved.

Mr. Ali: When is the next meeting where I can show up?

Comm. Atallo: We speak through the Chair.

Comm. Sayegh: Through the Chair, we have a series of special curriculum meetings set up and our next one is on literacy.

Mr. Ali: May I give you my address?

Comm. Sayegh: I will also give you my card.

Mr. Ali: Sounds great. I am going to give you my address and you can send me some information. I will show. Who do I give it to?

Mr. Lorenzo Sanchez: Good evening, Lorenzo Sanchez. I came here today because I would like to know and ask the Board when the groundbreaking is going to happen for the new school in Hazel and Marshall Streets. I would really like to know when that is going to start. I have lived on Marshall Street for 15 years next to School No. 3. School No. 3 has been overpopulated for too many years. What you people have done is bring in trailers to accommodate first graders and others in those trailers. Those trailers have been vandalized and broken into and you name it. Tonight I would like to know when that school is going to start. We would like to know a specific date of when you are going to start building that school. We really need it. Our children live like in shelters. Our children have no ground to play and no room to have the full capacity. They have to sit on top of each other. Please do something fast and do it now.

Dr. Clancy: On the Marshall Street School, the acquisition of the property and the demolition has been completed. In fact, the construction project is being awarded. The district doesn’t do that. That comes through the State Construction Corporation. They are awarding that bid and that work is starting this spring. The intended is a year to 18 months. My guess is between 18 months and two years, but it is planned to be finished by the September following next year. You have to figure two years to construct a school.

Comm. Hodges: And School No. 3, which is his real concern?

Dr. Clancy: There is land acquisition attached to School No. 3. Land acquisition itself takes about 18 months even before construction can start, so you are looking at 3 ½ to 4 years when it requires the acquisition of property. The Hazel Street property, just like the International School, now that the district and the SCC have the property, can begin construction. The other sites did not have enough property for the school. So the Marshall/Hazel Street School is beginning construction this spring.

Mr. Sanchez: I have one other concern about School No. 3. We don’t have any kind of security. At all the schools that I have been visiting I have been seeing that they all have security, they have speed bumps, and they have school signs. At School No. 3, we don’t have any of those things. I don’t know if I am entitled to say these things, or if I have to go to Council chambers to talk about it. But this is one of the issues that School No. 3 has. They need it immediately, not tomorrow. They need it really fast. Our children cross the street like nothing. They shouldn’t play outside without supervision or

Page 41 2/10/05 anybody. It is a very populated area, traffic is coming and going, and they have no place to go. Something has to be done about that because it is very, very bad to see our children just walking in a place without safety.

Comm. Hodges: On Main Street or the street up?

Mr. Sanchez: Marshall Street. They don’t even have a school sign on Marshall Street.

Dr. Clancy: I will look into that. The crossing guards and the signage we referred because that is a responsibility of the city. But I will take a look at your concerns regarding security because security in the school, around the school and on the property is our responsibility.

Mr. Sanchez: That school has been vandalized so many times and so many people go up there and spend the night playing basketball in the schoolyard. I talked to Dr. Hodges about this concern but no one has responded and we haven’t heard anything about it.

Dr. Clancy: One of the things with this property and the mutual goal of the town and the Board was to move School No. 3 off of the main drag, which requires then the purchase and transfer of property and the exchange of property. That is what is taking time on School No. 3. So I will address the immediate concerns that you have raised, but as far as the new building is concerned the effort is to move it away from the main drag and provide a different access to that school totally. Again, unfortunately that is in the process of acquisition and that will take some time.

Mr. Garfield Warren: My name is Garfield Warren and I am Vice President of ACORN. Today we have a number of people from ACORN with us and we are here tonight just to ask the School Board a simple question, which we asked the Mayor. Somehow, I guess in good faith or just to satisfy the public, he gave us an answer but so far it has been 12 days and from the article that Dr. Hodges read, I see on page three that there is a date here of March 31, 2005 as the deadline for the formation of the Board.

Comm. Hodges: March 31st is the deadline for the list of activities that the Board will be meeting, but the actual formation of the Board has to be completed by March 1st.

Mr. Warren: So the School Board is going to take the lead start off putting this Board together?

Comm. Hodges: Absolutely.

Mr. Warren: Maybe I should take my fight to the Mayor to make sure that he has his people in line so that we can get this thing done before the 1st.

Comm. Hodges: We are going to be sending him a letter of notification because the regulations were recently released and once we know what the composition is required to be we can now act intelligently. We are going to be sending to the Mayor a letter notifying him as to his options in terms of representation, the Mayor and the City Council as well.

Mr. Warren: Thank you for that. We know how important this is for all the minds of Paterson to sit down together and come up with a comprehensive plan.

Page 42 2/10/05 Comm. Hodges: I told you I would be doing my best to make sure that date was kept and the law requires it as well.

Mr. Warren: We just need a little translation for the people who speak Spanish.

Dr. Clancy: Dr. DeMolli, could you help us out please?

Comm. Taylor: There is a Board member here who speaks Spanish.

Mr. Luis A. Velez: Through the Board, can I translate whatever he is going to put up to the Board?

Dr. Clancy: Sure.

(Mr. Velez translated the remarks of Dr. Hodges into Spanish.)

Comm. Hodges: March 1st is the date that the committee has to be formed. March 31st is the list of activities that the committee is going to engage in.

(Mr. Velez translated the remarks of Dr. Hodges into Spanish.)

Mr. Velez: My name is Luis A. Velez. Good evening Mr. President, Commissioners and administration. I just want to bring up something because you guys went too fast on the comments for the resolutions. Something is missing here when I look at the special education between A-6 and A-17. Something is missing. I just want to know what is missing because everything says approve out of district placement for special education.

Comm. Hodges: There are a number of students who have special needs that this district cannot provide. Those students are placed in schools throughout the area and those placements have to be renewed every year. If you have a new placement, then we put them in and they are assigned accordingly. We don’t list the student names because they are confidential.

Mr. Velez: Sir, wouldn’t it be good for the community to know what those placements are?

Comm. Moody: We can’t do that.

Mr. Velez: At least if our parents have special needs they can go through the district and the district will tell them where it would be.

Dr. Clancy: The issue is that we could provide a listing of where we place students and where students are placed. That is not a violation. The problem is that when we have motions for specific children, we protect that confidentiality and that is what this is. If parents were interested in knowing, for example, about an autistic program or if a student is socially maladjusted or whatever kind of program that we are in fact placing children in, we would know which programs are available and our child study team and division of pupil services would have that.

Mr. Velez: I didn’t mean on an individual basis to know where they are going. Who is the contract? Who is the school? Who is supplying that benefit for those special needs? That is what I want to know. As a parent, I talk about education and quality education and high curriculum and quality teaching. I talk about family support and

Page 43 2/10/05 something is missing. If I go to my child and I tell my kids… I have four kids. Three are in the system and one graduated from Eastside High School. One has special needs but I am going to keep him in the district because I want to see how far the district is going to work with my child. I just want to say something here that has been bothering me. When I promise something to my kids, I will not sleep and I will run and do whatever I have to do to see them happy. I will not sleep until what I promised is accomplished. Last year everybody went to Eastside High School and promised that the problem of the heat was going to be resolved. The other day we had a meeting and the facility administrator said that $30 million was assigned to Eastside High School. I asked him when it was going to start and when it was going to end. They didn’t tell us anything. Are we waiting for other people to graduate from Eastside High School and then the problem will be resolved, or are we going to wait for people to drop dead with asthma attack? We are talking about teachers in there suffering. We are talking about students suffering. How can we do better quality teaching if we don’t provide them with a better quality building?

Comm. Hodges: Dr. Clancy, the heat has been a problem not just at Eastside High School but also at a number of schools. Do you want to address that?

Dr. Clancy: I will try to address the question. One of the problems that we have encountered with the heat is that when the State first started these health and safety renovations, they came in and they said, for example at School No. 24, that they would do a renovation but they would immediately fix the problem with the heat. So they put in some corrections with the idea that the major corrections would take place when they renovated the building.

Mr. Velez: But when?

Dr. Clancy: The same problem occurred with School No. 24 that occurred with Eastside. Some of these temporary type fixes that they did weren’t engineered to fit with the old systems. It’s like putting a Ford part on a Chevy. If it’s not connected, it doesn’t work right. That is really one of the motions that we are talking about for swing space. If you are going to go into Eastside High School or any building and take all the heat out and replace it, do it all at one time and do it right.

Mr. Velez: What about summer?

Dr. Clancy: Well, the problem is that in a high school the size of Eastside, it’s not a summer job. Wing-by-wing we have to remove large groups of kids.

Mr. Velez: Eastside is the house of ghosts but it is not to be forgotten. You cannot forget Eastside High School. When Dr. Sico was in charge of working with Eastside High School you could see the differences. He was there and he was trying to work with Eastside High School. We need people who really sit down in Eastside High School when it is below zero outside and it is cold inside so they can know that the problem still persists.

Dr. Clancy: We know that.

Mr. Velez: People are getting sick. Do you know the last word the parents said at the last meeting? They are planning to move out of the district because they don’t want to send people to Eastside High School. What are we going to do? Sell our own houses? No, we can’t do that.

Page 44 2/10/05 Comm. Hodges: Mr. Velez…

Mr. Velez: Dr. Hodges, you were one of the ones who said you were going to work with the problem.

Comm. Hodges: I was here, sir. I was here looking at this building. I have not walked away from Eastside High School. I was here. I received phone calls and I came, not once but two days in a row, to make sure what was going on. We followed up to find out what the concerns were, not just with the district but also with the SCC. It’s not just Eastside High School. There are other schools in the district. We are aware of the problem and we are trying to address it and do it aggressively, but in a way that makes sense.

Mr. Velez: How could the facility administrator talk about computers and not talk about the problem that Eastside High School has?

Comm. Hodges: Mr. Velez, if you look behind you there are a number of people who also have concerns.

Mr. Velez: I understand that. I don’t want to lose the respect but I want to hear, too. Thank you for everything.

Mr. Ron Gross: Good evening, Ron Gross representing the Friends of Alexander Hamilton and His Descendants Committee. I came this evening to thank the Board for the resolution that you issued with reference to the Alexander Hamilton Day. We had a very successful Alexander Hamilton Day celebration at the Hamilton Club on the 11th of January and members of the Board were there. Comm. Sayegh represented and there were representatives from the City Council, from the general community, and from the New York Historical Society. Again, I want to thank the Board. I also want to read into the record the resolution that you issued because it has very significant application, this being African American History Month. I will get to that in a second. Through the Chair, I want to reach out to Comm. Brown and thank him for asking for that moment of silence for Richard Sarjeant. We all knew Richard Sarjeant and we all knew the contribution that he made to the City of Paterson. Richard Sarjeant had a difficult time in Paterson because he had a different political philosophy than most of us. But if we look into the history of the work and the contributions that he has made to the City of Paterson, it is monumental and I want to thank Comm. Brown for that. Let me now read into the record that resolution because I have to move fast. I have so much to cover.

WHEREAS, Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1755 on the Danish Isle of Nevis and migrated to New York City at the age of seventeen; and

WHEREAS, Alexander Hamilton attended Kings College, now Columbia University, at which time revolutionary fervor for his country’s independence was growing; and

WHEREAS, when war with the British broke out, Alexander Hamilton was one of the first to enlist in the Continental Army; and

WHEREAS, having distinguished himself as a brilliant and courageous soldier, Alexander Hamilton was recruited by George Washington as his Aide-de-camp, serving with distinction through the end of the war; and

Page 45 2/10/05 WHEREAS, during the war, Alexander Hamilton discovered the Great Falls and suggested to General Washington that this location would be suitable for the future industrial revolution; and

WHEREAS, among Alexander Hamilton’s many accomplishments are the following:

1) He was a driving force behind the ratification of the United States Constitution, after having authored 51 of the 85 Federalist Papers; 2) He was the founder of the Bank of New York and the Bank of the United States; 3) Exhibiting a brilliant legal mind, he was a pioneer of the judicial process; 4) He was a strong supporter and advocate of the Black Revolutionary War Patriots; 5) He was a financial genius who created the framework for America’s enduring economic prosperity through the establishment of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufacturers; 6) An ardent opponent of slavery and a founding member of the New York Manumission Society, he also founded the first school for the education of freed slaves known as the African Free School; 7) When the first Black republic was established in Haiti, he supported Pierre Toussiant L’Ouverture, that country’s revolutionary leader; 8) He was an innovative publisher who founded the New York Post; and

WHEREAS, during his tenure as Secretary of the Treasury (1789-1795) he appointed the African American Astronomer and mathematical genius Benjamin Banneker to the United States Mint; and

WHEREAS, Alexander Hamilton was the founder of the City of Paterson and the Municipal Council seeks to honor this great American; and

WHEREAS, the friends of Alexander Hamilton and Descendants Committee have requested that the City of Paterson and the Paterson Public School District honor Alexander Hamilton by designating January 11th as Alexander Hamilton Day; and now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Education of the Paterson Public School District that January 11th, in the instructional calendar, will hereafter be designated as Alexander Hamilton Day.

I want to again thank the Board for that very beautiful and very historic resolution. I have a copy of that resolution with me. My time is up. I am going to have to come back to the next meeting because I have much more to say on that. I do want to pass this resolution around and ask the members of the Board to kindly autograph this resolution so that we can add it to our archives. This is very important for us and I want to thank you. God bless.

Ms. Linda Smith: Good evening to everyone. Before I speak to the issue that I have come to speak about, I have to commend Mrs. Taylor on those comments she made about Black History. I remember as a student here at John F. Kennedy High School that it wasn’t until Dorothy Rowe became a teacher here, who is now a principal, and organized a Black History Club. I don’t even know if that club still exists, but we were able to become exposed to the richness of African Americans under her tutelage and to this day I thank her for that. But I have come here for another reason. I have passed out to the Board a statement entitled Unfilled Board of Education Vacancies, Signal of

Page 46 2/10/05 Irresponsibility. I stand here with the Chair of our Education Committee with the NAACP, who is also a National Board Member for NAACP. The statement reads: “By law, the local school district Board of Education is comprised of nine members. There is also a procedure for filling any vacancies that might occur. Former Board member William Kline announced his resignation from the Board of Education in ample time for a replacement member to be selected in accordance with the 60-day requirement. Unfortunately, the Paterson Board of Education went into a delayed mode of completing its official task of selecting and recommending a replacement. Even more disturbing and disheartening is the irresponsibility of the Board during the recently designated meeting to fill the vacancy due to a lack of a quorum to cast a vote. Thus, the Paterson Board of Education may continue to function and act with a vacancy unless the Commissioner of Education moves and rules in this state operated district on the matter. A vacancy translates into one less voice to act and vote on these issues so pivotal to the effective operation of this district. One might well calculate it as a minus. The Executive Committee of the Paterson Branch of NAACP has followed the circumstances of this vacancy on the Board of Education. We have reached two basic conclusions. (1) The lack of a quorum has a hint of political maneuvering, which is distressing and demonstrates irresponsibility on the part of Board members. (2) The lack of a quorum and failure of the Paterson Board of Education to fill the vacancy created by a resignation is a clear signal of irresponsibility.” It is disheartening to know that what should have happened didn’t happen. I commend those Board members who were there, who were present, and who were ready to act. I do not commend those Board members who walked away. Thank you.

Dr. Elaine C. Harrington: Good evening, my name is Elaine C. Harrington and I serve as a National Board Member of the NAACP, and also as a local chairperson of the Education Committee. Certainly, with my signature attested to this statement I want to concur. I am very disappointed, Board, that you did not fill that vacancy. It was as clearly stated – a signal of irresponsibility. I have said over and over again that sitting on a Board and being elected to a Board is no play thing. When you cannot serve and when you cannot attend meetings, you need to just say count me out. Your vote needed to be counted. I am not sure who and I am not going to call any names. But when there is a lack of a quorum to fill a vacancy on the Board of Education in this city, especially in these perilous times, it sends the wrong signal and we have but one conclusion to make. It was irresponsibility on the part of this Board of Education. I want to change hats for a moment and I want to commend the Rosa Parks High School Choir. A few days ago at the opening ceremony for Black History Month, the Rosa Parks Choir performed as any perfectionist group I have ever heard and I think I have heard most of them. I want the Rosa Parks High School, the principal, the director, and particular the children singers to know that you did us proud. I hope when you see it on television you will understand the high perfection of musical performance performed by these students. These students can do anything when they have good leadership, when they have accountability of leadership, and when the leadership knows and expects from them. I heard that choir director practicing with them beforehand and when it wasn’t right she cut and told them what they had to do to get it right. That is what teaching is all about. I want to say one final thing about Black History. I can’t believe we are still talking about incorporating Black History into the curriculum in the City of Paterson, with all of these Black folk running around here in our schools. Let me say this also. Black History is not just for Black folk. We live in a diverse society. I teach a course at Passaic County Community College in African American Caribbean Literature. It satisfies a diversity requirement and I am so excited this semester because I have Arabs, Japanese, and Indians. I have people from all over the world who are learning about the Black people of America. Let’s get it right. What do you need to teach Black History, other than to get some teachers prepared? Come down to

Page 47 2/10/05 Passaic County Community College any Tuesday or Thursday at 10:30. I would like for you to sit in my class. I will take it on the road anyplace. My final comment to you is stay on the course, Board of Education. What you did was irresponsible. We don’t need any more irresponsibility on your part. We have too much at stake. Thank you.

Ms. Sandra Bosque: Good evening, Sandra Bosque, President of the School No. 27 PTA and a parent. I would just like to bring to your attention that February 17th is Founders Day of National PTA. The National PTA will be 108 years old. They have strived for years. It was Children First and now their motto is Every Child – One Voice. Our PTA Founders Day celebration will be on February 24th at 6:00 p.m. Mrs. Taliaferro will be our esteemed guest and speaker for the evening and I invite everyone to please join us. Dr. Clancy, I would just like to ask who is responsible for repairing the sidewalks at School No. 27. Is it the city or the school district?

Dr. Clancy: I think it probably depends on where the sidewalk is, but if it is on the property it would be ours.

Ms. Bosque: We have had over 18 people injured in the past six years. They need to be fixed. There are drastic, big holes with chucks missing out of the sidewalk. We need drastic repairs. We don’t want to wait until 20 people get injured. Thank you.

Ms. Felisa Van Liew: Good evening, Felisa Van Liew, Principal of School No. 2. It gives me pleasure to report that on Wednesday, January 26th School No. 2 held its Lesson Study Open House. Unfortunately, our British/Japanese collaborators were unable to attend due to inclement weather in Connecticut. We had approximately 70 participants who came from as far away as Florida State University in Florida, the University of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and various sites around New Jersey. I would like to say thank you to the Board Commissioners who were in attendance – Mrs. Taylor, Dr. Hodges, Mr. Sayegh and Mr. Moody. Also in attendance representing central office were Dr. Anna DeMolli, Dr. Donald Merachnik, Dr. Marian Osborne, and Dr. E. Jean Stepherson. We also had school principals to come, including Rosetta Wilson from School No. 14. We also had two former Paterson principals who returned – Dr. Katie Monroe and Dr. Lynn Liptak, our former School No. 2 principal. A review of the evaluation forms indicated that the event was successful. Our sponsors for the event were Mid-Atlantic Eisenhower Consortium, a Research for Better Schools located in Pennsylvania represented by Dr. Patsy Wong-Iverson, and Global Education Resources represented by Dr. Makoto Yoshita. Dr. Clancy, I have a final report for you.

Mr. Charles Ferrer: Good evening, Charles Ferrer, Friends of the Paterson Falls. I am requesting five minutes. I am glad that I didn’t look as far as Ms. Taliaferro did on the display because I stopped at another junction of the display that is outside. All these years as a history teacher I was teaching students that the Declaration of Independence represented freeing us during the American Revolutionary War. Today I found out that Abraham Lincoln signed the Declaration of Independence that freed the slaves. It’s right out there. I am going to go home and get on the Internet and pull this up to make sure that I was teaching it correctly. Before you put things out on display, you need to make sure it’s right. It sends two messages – that the children’s work was not proofed or that you didn’t care. The other thing I need to talk about is that we need to send a memo to the companies that are with the privatization. I believe there is a law that there is no smoking within 1,000 feet of the building. I am walking in the building and the person doesn’t know me from Adam. I could have been the Superintendent and that could have been their job. They were smoking right in front of the building. They had the door open so the smoke could go outside. Memos need to be sent around so that

Page 48 2/10/05 everyone understands that that shouldn’t be done. It also needs to be sent around to inform the construction companies who work in these buildings that there is no smoking by them either. We had to constantly remind them over at School No. 13 about that while they worked there. I keep hearing all this stuff about the SCC and the heating problem. Dr. Clancy, though you didn’t sit in on the forum that I sat in with Mr. Spence, Mr. Spence said that there is a one-year warranty on these heating units. After that one-year warranty, it becomes Paterson’s problem. So we need to stop dragging our feet and get this handled. They haven’t been back in too many of the buildings. Every day I walk in my classroom and my heat is off and it is still like a sauna because the switch isn’t working. We are wasting money on two sides. Our children have to open all the windows to make it comfortable. So the money that we are paying for the heating bill is just going right out the window. We are wasting money. It needs to be addressed. We don’t need to get to the 366th day and they say it’s not their problem anymore. I gave you pictures. I showed you the type of work that they did in our building and I am sure the same kind of work was done in the other buildings also. It needs to be addressed. I am putting together Mr. Spence’s package because he took offense to what I was saying. I gave him pictures too for him to see. I don’t need to make it up. Lastly, through the Chair to Dr. Clancy, I would appreciate it if you would take a look at the benefits package for the workers from Control. I’m not sure and maybe I am wrong. I think there was supposed to be some language in there about holidays and things like that. We need to make sure that their package is being put forth in the proper manner. We give them the money and then the company is supposed to do what they want to do with the money. We need to make sure that if the people are supposed to be getting holidays off, that they are getting holidays off. I don’t know what the contract says because I haven’t looked at it, but I am asking you as the Interim Superintendent and the Board members to look into that. Many people are complaining that certain things are still not working right with Control. But they made these agreements and they are on record, so we should make sure that they honor these things. That is basically all I have to say. It is important to make sure that before we put things on display that it is done accurately because it looks bad. Lastly, I want to talk about books in the second grade. Dr. Hodges, this is important. It was brought to my attention by one of my teachers that her son uses the exact same book we use in this district but in the enrichment books that her son brings home, the level of the vocabulary is here. They are using apprentice, acrobat and other names, when our children are looking at stop and slow and things of that nature. If we are using the same series but there are two sets of books, our children need to be challenged and not dummied down to. I am waiting for her to bring the books in so I can compare them.

Comm. Hodges: Please notify me when you get those copies.

Mr. Ferrer: I was hoping to have them here today. I don’t appreciate that. Now we are supposed to be moving to the series where it will put us on the same playing field, but we should have done that from the door because we spent money.

Comm. Hodges: I definitely want to see that. I also would want an explanation as to why from whoever is in charge of that.

Mr. Ferrer: I am waiting on the books because I want that same explanation.

Ms. Princess Reeves: Good evening. I have several questions and several concerns. Regarding Mr. Guy Generals, what certification does he have to be put into the pool for superintendent? Are we going to do a waiver of some of his certifications that he needs to be put into the pool for superintendent?

Page 49 2/10/05 Comm. Hodges: I’m not sure we can discuss that in a public forum – the gentleman’s certifications.

Ms. Reeves: With all due respect, Mr. Hodges, as long as you keep leaving out the parents and the community and continue to have an agenda, which is supposed to be secret and we find out about it, then someone needs to answer the question.

Comm. Hodges: I am supposing that when you say ‘you’ you mean the plural. What I will say very clearly, just in case you didn’t mean plural, that the Board has been given five options to consider in terms of involving the community in the process. We are still in deliberation as to what their choice is going to be. I wrote those options myself, in response to some community concerns. That is before the Board. Number two, as to the qualifications of an individual, I would suggest that you direct your concerns to one of two people – the Commissioner of Education and Mr. Generals himself.

Ms. Reeves: Not a problem. I just need to get my point across.

Comm. Hodges: If you don’t get a response, please let me know.

Ms. Reeves: It is very disturbing. This is the third largest municipality in the State of New Jersey and for someone who has lack of, especially pertaining to large budgets and curriculum, which is a deep concern to our students and our children, we need to stop overlooking certain things. I just needed to say that. Dr. Clancy, I know you were brought in here by the State to watch over the schools and I know you are making these large decisions on some of the things that need to be done and certain areas where decisions have gone maybe a little bit overboard. I am a little concerned because they always seem to find extra money to bring extra people in here. When are we going to stop allowing greed to become higher than the needs of our students? We have concerns about buildings that don’t even have a gym. But yet you cannot find funding to attach another building or do whatever needs to be done to get this completed. We always seem to run across a problem if we don’t have money. But yet somebody coming out of state seems to run off with our money that is rightly due to these students. These students are entitled, and I say it always, to the proper and higher quality education that we can give them. Why is it not being done? I am not going to say myself because I work darn hard in this community as well as the school to see that our children are going forth. But I am one person and there are other people who have worked hard, too. You are always trying to keep them quiet and shut them up, but it is not happening anymore. We have an election coming up, ladies and gentlemen. We are going to replace some of you, so I want you to take a look at your seating because you will not be there. I am going to wrap it up. Please, we can do much better. We have a small percentage of students that we have sent off and that have been very successful in life. Our numbers need to match the numbers as well as the suburban areas. We can do much better than what we are doing now. Thank you.

Mr. Julio Tavares: Julio Tavares, Paterson resident. I am the founder and site administrator of patersononline.net and it is basically a community website that provides the residents of Paterson the means to communicate with each other through the Internet. I run the forum called Speak Up and people can actually go there and pose some questions. Some people can’t make it to these meetings, so I come here and ask you guys the questions they pose. I have a brief question. Basically the question from all the users was what are the benefits or what are you going to do differently if the State ever lets the district become local again. I know you guys talk about local control and going back to local control, but I never heard anybody say what the benefits are. That is one of the questions the users of the website patersononline.net are asking.

Page 50 2/10/05 What are the benefits and why does the Board want to go back to local control? That is a question I have, too. When I went to school it was under local control and under State control I think the schools have flourished. I don’t know what is going to happen or if it is going to be better. That is the question that I am asking. What are you going to do different to make it better when the State pulls out and you guys take over?

Comm. Hodges: Are you asking what are we doing differently?

Mr. Tavares: No, what are you going to do different to make the schools better? You want local control and you want the State to get out of here and you want to take over the school district. Right?

Comm. Taylor: That would be a forum.

Comm. Hodges: If you are asking what our short-term goals are, I will lay out a few of them for you. First and foremost, you have to put in place a curriculum that is challenging and versatile and comprehensive enough to provide the student population an opportunity to compete effectively across the state and across the country. Number two, you have to have professional development in place, which not only addresses that curriculum but also prepares teachers to handle different learning styles and different social problems that our students encounter. Number three, you have to have facilities, which will (1) decrease class size, and (2) provide a sound learning environment for our students to perform and excel. Number four, you have to have an accountability system in place so that the people who work here understand that there is a set of standards they have to live up to and an accountability they are going to be held to. When you put those elementary things in place, then you can begin to ensure that you have a stronger system. However, you also have to make sure that your schools are welcoming to parents and students. You have to make sure that there is a sense on the part of the teaching staff and the administration that our students deserve higher levels of education and that they can succeed. You also have to convince parents that when those kids get to this building they know how to behave and are prepared to learn. You also have to convince them that when they go home they are preparing an environment at home where that child understands that school doesn’t end at 3:00, but that they have to take their books home, do their homework, and study additionally so that they can master the information that comes in the classroom. If we can get just that message across, then I think we have made some small measure or step toward returning to local control. Quite frankly, in the 13 years that the State has been here, they haven’t managed to get anything near that.

Mr. Tavares: But what you just said right now, can’t you do that under State control. It seems like those measures can be done under State control. The things that you just mentioned right now, it seems that you can do them under State control. I feel that to have better schools you have to have better teachers. It’s not that the teachers are bad or anything like that, but I think it will be better when the teachers look like the students. If you have a room full of minorities, you might want to have a minority teacher also. I just feel that way. Is there a preference on hiring teachers if they live in Paterson? I feel that if you live in Paterson you have a better understanding of what students are going through when they go to these schools. I feel that if there is a teacher from Clifton and a teacher from Paterson and they both have the same skills and knowledge and abilities, the teacher from Paterson should have a preference of being hired in this district. They understand what is going on here. You see them in the supermarkets, you see them everywhere, and they don’t run out at 3:00 like other teachers. Is there a preference or some system like that? Can that be established? We need a preference

Page 51 2/10/05 system for teachers who live in Paterson and would like to teach here. I am talking about equally qualified teachers.

Dr. Clancy: I understand and we have talked about this. My understanding is that when given equal populations for a position and they have all the same qualifications, you would prefer to go with residents within the district.

Mr. Tavares: Are they doing that?

Dr. Clancy: Truthfully, we have had those conversations. I have been involved with at least the hiring of three or four positions since I have been here. In fact, in the process I know that discussion is taking place and people have gotten interviews because they were residents based on their qualifications. There have been residents who were hired in positions, but I can’t say with any confidence that in every single hiring that has happened. But I believe we have had those conversations, at least I have with the staff, and if they are equally qualified we prefer to go with local residents. But we don’t have a written policy to that effect.

Mr. Tavares: I think it should be written. Thank you.

Comm. Hodges: Sir, if you have a landlord who lives in Trenton and you are housed here and the light bulb goes out or the electricity goes out or the boiler goes out or the grass isn’t cut or the garbage isn’t picked up, you are going to have to call them and get them here. But if they live here and they work here and they are responsible for the neighborhood and the community, then the control is better. Over the 13 years we have learned that they haven’t been able to show us a great deal more than we already knew. In fact, we have lost substantially as a result of their being here. At last count, something in the order of $82 million.

Mr. Errol Kerr: Errol Kerr, resident of Paterson. Good evening Mr. President, Dr. Clancy, and the Board. I would be remiss if I did not pay my homage to every African American who sacrificed themselves to make America what it is today. Their endurance struggles have made us a better country and I just want to say thank you African Americans for what you have done for all of us. Mr. President, I am here this evening to ask a couple of questions. We know that one of the overriding problems of our educational quality in the City of Paterson is the overcrowding of our schools and the quality of the instruction that our kids get in the schools. I don’t know how many of us have looked at the 2005-2006 federal budget delivered by the President, but that budget does not have any real increase in it for education. If there is no real increase in that budget for education, will the monies that were earmarked for us, meaning from the State to us, still be there to meet the projected facilities developmental five-year plan that we have?

Comm. Sayegh: Mr. Kerr, President Bush’s proposed budget calls for cuts in the area of Headstart and the Perkins grant. Perkins grant goes toward any program that will directly lead to employment and obviously that will hurt Paterson. It’s an anti-Paterson, anti-urban center budget and some of the funding of the Perkins grant does go to our academies here in Paterson. So we will be adversely affected by this budget.

Mr. Kerr: I attended a meeting for the Paterson Education Fund about two weeks ago and I was told that we have identified sites for the expansion and development of facilities. I am asking the question, will the cut in the budget… I know that if the federal government reduces its’ budget it is going to trickle down to the state and the state will

Page 52 2/10/05 likewise trickle down to the district. Will we have that same guarantee that the facilities will be built?

Comm. Hodges: The federal government is responsible, I think, for 3% to 4% of the funding of state budgets educationally. Only 3% to 4%. One of the concerns, however, is that I believe they are beginning to talk about expanding the mandate for No Child Left Behind to high school students. So there will be another set of requirements that state schools have to address without the commensurate increase in federal support. The burden of the funding for construction is a state burden and doesn’t have anything to do with the federal government, or it is minuscule. However, the concern that the state government has is that they are facing tremendous budget deficits. When they initially put together their estimates as to the cost of construction and various schools, they did not include land acquisition. That is more of a problem in urban districts, as you can well imagine, than it is in suburban districts. Also, the ties that were placed, particularly on state controlled districts, in terms of how these operations were put together, there is a lot more involvement and a lot more hands in the pie. Therefore, it is harder to get that pie done than it is in some of the suburban and less encumbered, less involved, smaller Abbott districts. So the big concern is will the state have the money generated by its own internal revenues to pay for that funding. They are saying point blank that by January 2006 if you have not identified your sites the money may not be there. So this district has been moving expeditiously to make sure that we get our projects on the table before that time. That has been a concern statewide. I can’t imagine that other districts are unaware of that deadline as well.

Mr. Kerr: So you are saying that if the sites are identified, the money will be there to build the facilities?

Comm. Hodges: If we get them there fast enough because I can’t imagine other districts waiting for us to get ours in. The other confounder to that, and the one that is really very significant, is the Constitutional Convention that is moving its way through the state legislature. That is a big problem because that is an attempt on the part of portions of this state community to decrease the property tax burden and it may have a dramatic impact on educational funding since that is where the bulk of the funding comes from.

Dr. Anna DeMolli translated the following remarks of Mr. Jesus Lopez: First, I would like to apologize in case I offend anyone in authority. I am concerned because I believe you are protecting drug addicts and others who cause vandalism and are not protecting those who, like myself, work more than 12 hours a day to put a roof over their heads. I have been trying to get an appointment and I have had to pay some lawyer fees. I am here because I have an appointment with the Mayor on the 24th and I am very upset. I just want to make it public so that they will not cancel the meeting on me again. I am talking about people who are buying drugs. I feel that the system has to change. We are not being heard or listened to, and when I speak to detectives or people they say there is nothing that they can do.

Comm. Hodges: Is the problem drug dealing near schools?

Dr. Anna DeMolli translated the following remarks of Mr. Jesus Lopez: It is near my home and I feel I have been threatened. I have called the police and there has been no action. That is why I am here.

Dr. Clancy: Anna, I think you need to explain to the gentleman. I guess we can recommend and we can surely have a discussion with the Mayor and with the police,

Page 53 2/10/05 but if he has a forum with the Mayor relative to law enforcement in his area, I think that is the appropriate forum for this discussion.

Comm. Hodges: We are also fortunate tonight to have a sitting City Council member here. Perhaps you can introduce him and perhaps he can give him some assistance.

Comm. Atallo: Dr. Hodges, point of order. Why doesn’t he see the Councilman privately to address it? It is a police matter and he should address either the sheriff’s department or the prosecutor’s office. We need to move on.

Dr. Clancy: Dr. DeMolli, we need to have this conversation offline and I think for his own… I think it is in the best interest of everyone if you have it off to the side. I will talk to the Mayor myself relative to this, but I want to make sure relative to your discussion that it takes place offline and not in the public, for his purposes.

Mr. Christopher Muhammed: Good evening President Hodges, Superintendent Clancy, and the rest of the Board. My name is Christopher Muhammed. This evening I am really here on two folds. First, I want to invite you all to what is coined as the crowning event of Black History Month on February 27th at Eastside High School. At 1:00 p.m. the program will begin. The Nation of Islam will be sponsoring its annual Saviors Day event at Eastside High School. Last year we had it at Grace Chapel Baptist Church and we sold out that venue. This year it is scheduled to take place at Eastside High School on February 27th at 1:00. The show starts at 1:00 and the keynote address will start at 3:00. Before that you will have entertainment by youth doing drill exhibitions, spoken word poetry, songs, and things of that nature. So we want to invite you all out. There is a small donation of $10 for the event and we are looking forward to packing that venue again. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, wherever he goes and speaks he overflows the crowd so get your ticket soon. Before I go on, in the spirit of Counselors Week I wanted to honor and pay homage to those guidance counselors who have helped me and who have been the wind beneath my wings in my career and in my life. I speak of Ms. Briggs, Mr. Benson, Mr. Pete Affinito, and Ms. Jeanette Lyde. I thank them for all they have done to boost me to where I am and to where I continue to go. Last year in this very school in June I and two students from International Academy were invited here for an annual event of the Day of the African Child. We participated in an international teleconference where the discussion or topic was how to use sports or culture to raise awareness about issues in education. Myself and these students were the only school, mind you, that stepped up to the plate and created a proposal that was requested at this conference. We presented our proposal and this year we were presented with an opportunity to take that proposal and present it in West Africa in Senegal where a conference is going to be held again this year in June and July. The two students who attended the conference with me last year are here this evening to speak to you and to talk more about their proposal and request your support on our ideas and our ambition to travel across the ocean back to the Motherland. So I want to bring before you the two young future leaders, Mr. John Pierre Mustanza and Mr. Hassan Smith. Thank you.

Mr. John Pierre Mustanza: Good evening Board members. About one year ago, my partner Hassan Smith and my teacher Mr. Muhammed attended the Celebration of the Day of the African Child and the highlight of the event was the international teleconference. The topics that Mr. Muhammed just explained were discussed, but also one subtopic was explained and really touched upon. That is what our proposal is all about, which is how to use tragedies, such as Jim Crow laws and the apartheid in South Africa, that deal with Black suppression and oppression in a positive way to help motivate our youth today. In as little as 15 minutes we came up with the outline of this

Page 54 2/10/05 proposal and we actually said everything we had to say about it that same day. In November, Mr. Muhammed approached us again with the proposal as we just continued with our lives. He presented our proposal to us again and we got really excited about it, to actually come up and do what it says in the packet – do a play based on the movie Sarafina, which is about the Soweto massacre where 335 kids were massacred because they did not want to learn Afrikaans, the language of their oppressor. More time passed on and then we continued and did what we had to do. Then we stumbled upon going to meet Dr. Stepherson who not only suggested but also recommended us to go to Senegal and actually propose this to our Senegalese peers. We would stay at their houses for about three days to see what life is like there, what the actual oppression could be, and what it is. We would see African culture and the Motherland. We would also go to Gory Island and see the Door of No Return where the warehouse of all Black slaves was right before they were shipped off to the new world. I am going to present my partner Hassan Smith.

Mr. Hassan Smith: Good evening School Board members. Mr. John Pierre Mustanza and myself attend the International High School where our motto is cultivating world- class leaders. By helping us make this trip possible, you all can help build up the leadership skills in us to pass on not only to our peers but also to future generations. Maybe future students of the Paterson Public School District can go on a similar journey for greater knowledge to redeem all of what past generations have lost.

Mr. Mustanza: Our obstacle is to get over the financial situation, which is barring us from going to Senegal. We have about 2 ½ months to get $2,275.00 each, which is about $6,825.00 respectively, to go to Senegal and propose this outline. Once we come back, we would actually put this plan into action, back up our word, and do what many think is impossible, especially to raise this money in such short time. We have already gone to Paterson City Council this past Tuesday and we got a commitment from Councilman Goow and Councilman Rosado for $500 each. We hope to get more from that and we have already been doing some fundraising within our school. Not only would this trip benefit us and our high school, it would also benefit the kids of Paterson. Since we are going off to college this fall, we would not only stay in the state but we would just write letters and do everything possible to get the word across. Possibly from our trip people will be motivated and inspired to actually make something of themselves because we see so much discontent and apathy and assimilation throughout our generation. We just don’t think it’s right. I know that this is an unorthodox thing that we are doing for 2 ½ months but just like George Washington Carver said, the common things in life are always done in an uncommon way. You have to grab the attention of the world. Thank you.

Comm. Hodges: Sir, why don’t you submit a proposal to the Board for us to consider. We certainly can’t guarantee anything one way or the other, but submit a written proposal detailing what is supposed to happen and the purpose behind this trip and we can go forward.

Mr. Muhammed: I believe you have it in front of you now.

Ms. Jacqueline Banks: Good evening, my name is Jacqueline Banks and I am a Paterson resident and a schoolteacher in the Paterson Public Schools. I first would like to thank Dr. Hodges for paying a visit to the school in which I teach. Although he did come on behalf of a parent and a family that was very concerned about our current working conditions and materials, at some time or another during the meeting he changed from just being an advocate for the families to just being an advocate for the schoolteachers, particularly myself, and I am grateful for that. Working in Paterson can

Page 55 2/10/05 be a very challenging feat. Our kids have given up a lot of hope and it is very disheartening to me, being a Paterson alumni, living here, and dealing with families on a daily basis. There are times when we have to do things that are considered unorthodox or that may violate protocol. In this particular case, I think I did what I had to do that morning and that was to respond to the parents’ request. However, in addition to Dr. Hodges, I still would like to thank Mr. Moody, the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S. Organization, Ms. Jeanette Lyde, and Mr. Henry Baker because they have taken on a new initiative and I know that they are doing the best that they can. I don’t necessarily appreciate things that are said after such a meeting. I don’t appreciate the misunderstanding or confusion, but I know that comes along with the territory. But after that meeting, Dr. Hodges, I must say that I am optimistic. I am even somewhat encouraged because I believe that Paterson is on a renaissance. We are right at the cusp of it. I believe that one day our students will begin to believe in themselves because most of them do not. The only way it can happen is if all parties come together and stop pointing fingers and spreading rumors and just creating havoc. At some point or another it is just going to create discord. Again, I just want to thank you because I had not spoken to you until that morning but after that meeting I was encouraged. Within one week I do see a very positive change. I know that change takes time and some people may have to bleed and suffer, but that is okay because the end result is that our students will eventually get what they deserve. I want to thank you and everybody else who know within their heart that they have done everything they can for us. Thank you.

Councilman Anthony Davis: Good evening, Anthony Davis, City of Paterson. Tonight I wasn’t going to get up and speak, but when I went outside and witnessed this display, I could only go back and think about my college days when I attended the oldest Black institution and up the street we had an institution that was the majority White. During the month of February, the men from Chaney University, where I attended, had to go on Westchester University’s campus and defend our females because during the month of February unfortunately the young ladies would get spit on their doors, as well as feces and urination. One of the things that reminded me was looking at individuals with the Hitler sign and that whole Germany thing. So to see that is disheartening and I think we need to be more sensitive. I don’t know what the display is about, but just to see it in this month has resonated some ill feelings in my area. I also want to talk about the vacancy that is up there on that Board. Unfortunately, I don’t know if we missed the opportunity or the window, but that vacancy should have been filled. You had an opportunity and I don’t know why it wasn’t filled, but I know it should have been filled. The third thing I am here to talk about is Dr. Clancy. You have been here 8 months, 9 days, 12 hours and some seconds.

Dr. Clancy: I know more than you do about that.

Councilman Davis: What I have witnessed is that the individual that you brought in here looks more like you and not like me or my community. People that were brought here got promotions and raises, I was told. People that you brought here gave their daughters jobs at high salaries. One thing I do know is that we are losing teachers. I have a personal good friend who teaches at Dr. Frank Napier School and unfortunately we are losing them to the Newark School System. He applied for the V.P. position and he is from Paterson. We are losing him as of the 23rd of February and that is unfortunate because he takes time with those students who are there. Students that have graduated in the past return back to his after school programs and work with him. He told me about this about a week ago and I went to the school and witnessed students in high school, 10th and 11th grade, returning to work with him to work with the younger kids. I think one of the statements that you made when you first came here was that there is no difference between urban and suburban. I am here to say that

Page 56 2/10/05 there is a difference. I have lived in urban cities and I have lived in suburban cities, and there are differences. The gentleman who came up here previously before me talked about how to have teachers who live within the community is a benefit. I say it is a benefit because I still work with the youth and every day I am constantly on them. I may go to the supermarket and we see each other. I see their parents, we talk about their behavior, and I demonstrate a positive behavior. For me, I try to fulfill my family obligation in terms of making sure that I live right and not do negative things. Yes, I am human and I do make mistakes. But I am conscious of those mistakes and I stand up in the community and I work with every ethnic group that is here, Black, White, Latino or whatever. They can surely tell you that I am with them and working with them. All I am saying is that I don’t even care if a teacher is White, Latino or Black. If they are from the city and they are qualified and certified, we really need not to lose them. We are losing them at alarming rates. I am saying that and I am talking about good, qualified teachers. I will yield and wait for a response from anyone, if you will.

Dr. Clancy: I will respond to your statement because I think it is erroneous.

Councilman Davis: Did you say erroneous?

Dr. Clancy: Yes, erroneous. You are absolutely right that I have been here since July. I haven’t hired anybody. I haven’t brought anybody into this district and so I am not quite sure what you are talking about. Everybody who is in this district was here when I came, or was hired after by people on either school committees or were here in the district. So there is nobody here that Dennis Clancy brought with him and that was my commitment to the Board actually. So I haven’t gone out and hired anybody in any positions at all. Your first statement relative to people I brought getting promoted is frankly not accurate. I haven’t brought anybody. There is no discussion on that. I would be glad to sit down with you and go over names of people, but I didn’t hire anybody and I didn’t bring anybody. The other statement that I made relative to there being no difference had nothing to do with location, it had nothing to do with economics, it had nothing to do with how we live, or where we live, or who we are. It had to do with what I think I have heard people say here tonight – that the educational expectations and the strategies and materials and things that kids in urban schools need to have to learn needs to be exactly the same as, and in some cases more than, what people have in suburban districts. There is no difference in how kids are educated. It’s not acceptable to have facilities that aren’t available in urban areas that are available in suburban areas. I would be glad to sit and have a discussion with you. Truthfully, I think my goal is, and has been since I came here, to make sure that the materials and the strategies that are in place are in the interest of the children with the highest expectations, and that they are not in any way like I have heard about materials that are below the expectations that we should expect in 3rd or 4th grade. Obviously, I know the differences between areas, but the concern I have is that people believe that the education of children in urban districts should not be with the same emphasis and rigor that it is in suburban districts. I just don’t accept that.

Councilman Davis: I am in agreement with you. I think it should be at the level or even higher. I am in agreement with you.

Dr. Clancy: Thank you.

Councilman Davis: Because I am a man, I want to apologize about the information that I gave when I stated that you hired someone. I would like to know because I was given some names and I would be glad to sit with you and go over these names and make sure.

Page 57 2/10/05

Dr. Clancy: When we do we will go back…

Councilman Davis: Then I will come back to this podium…

Dr. Clancy: …to the person who told you that.

Councilman Davis: I will come back to the podium and I will publicly apologize again.

Dr. Clancy: No, you don’t need to apologize.

Councilman Davis: I appreciate that and thank you very much.

Dr. Clancy: No problem.

Councilman Davis: I agree with you in terms of the standard of education. There should be no difference and there is no difference where you are.

Comm. Hodges: When you come I will be extending similar courtesies to your body as I received.

Councilman Davis: Tonight I didn’t say anything to you because I will stay away from that. Just don’t come to the City talking the same thing.

Ms. Glory Zimmerman: My name is Glory Zimmerman and I am a citizen of Paterson. I didn’t notice that display when I came in. I didn’t even look at any of them because I wanted to come on in to hear the meeting. Do you know that commercial where a little piece of paper is there? As the Superintendent of Schools, I don’t know whether you noticed it or not. But since you are the acting Superintendent of Schools, you should have taken a stand and ordered that removed right away. It is an insult to me and to all the other people in here of Afro-American descent. You did not take a stand and that is all I have to say. I turned away but if I were able I would have taken it off.

It was moved by Comm. Sayegh, seconded by Comm. Moody that the Public Comments portion of the meeting be closed. On roll call all members voted in the affirmative. The motion carried.

OTHER BUSINESS

Board Member Comments

Comm. Taylor: Thank you, Mr. President. This is a very disturbing evening for me but I shall go on. I knew Richie Sarjeant as a community activist and when he left Paterson I knew a part of our history left with him. Richie used to get in the streets with the rest of us. When there was something wrong, he would be out there and saying in his own language what was wrong and that we needed to get ourselves together and do what was right. He may not have done it the way everybody else wanted him to do it, but he did work in the community. He said when it was right it was right, and when it was wrong it was wrong. So I do say that we miss Richie Sarjeant and that he did a lot of work with the children in recreation. I worked with him. When the riots were happening in Paterson, he and some other young men caused us not to burn the way Newark did. That is the kind of man who tried to find peace, even among oppression that we had in this city and that we still have. I would just like to tell our community about a lot of good things that are happening in our town. A lot of these come about through the work of

Page 58 2/10/05 Councilman Anthony Davis. He goes out of this way to cause some of these to happen in our community. The First Ward Reading Book Club meets at the First Ward Library on North Main Street. If you want more information, ask for Karen at 973-942-6100. We are going to have a youth speak-out on Saturday, February 12, 2005 at Passaic County Community College from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. I am asking the youth from all the high schools, the teenagers in high school, to come out and say what is on your mind and what you need. We are going to give it to you to talk that day – the youth in our town – and if you have any friends somewhere else. If you want to know more about it, call Councilman Davis. On February 17th we are going to have our Second Annual Scholarship for a very good educator, an excellent educator and leader, Dr. Frank Napier. We are going to have a dinner at the Brownstone House from 6:30 to 10:30. You may say the tickets are $60.00 and you can’t pay for that, but it’s a scholarship. All these that I am asking about are scholarships and they will bring money. It’s a shame we have to have a dinner or a luncheon or a walk or a ride in order to get us to give funds to sponsor children and give them monies for their education. On the one about Saviors Day where the youth will be participating at Eastside High School, it was already spoken of and it will take place on February 27th. There is another program in Paterson called Paterson Building and you can call Councilman Davis for that also. It’s a building program and in order to get in it you have to get applications. It is for building homes in Paterson. There are a lot of places that are still empty, even though a lot of people have grabbed up a lot of the land. There are still some lots available. If you would like to build, contact your own councilperson in your own ward. The Pastor’s Workshop will be giving a Black History Celebration at the Second Baptist Church on Carroll Street at 7:00 on February 27th. The 4th Annual School Scholarship Luncheon will be given by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority at The Bethwood in Totowa on February 26th. The scholarship is for funds for children to go to school – books, housing, and tuition. There is another one being given by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, but I don’t quite know the date. But I do know that they are giving one this month as well. Okay, on February 26th also at 11:30. Zeta Phi Beta is a little later in the afternoon. I would just like to acknowledge what Ms. Taliaferro said about Ossie Davis. It is unbelievable what the pictures have done that he has portrayed in this country. He not only was in the movies. He was on the streets of New York, California, Chicago, Detroit, Michigan, down in New Mexico, Africa, and apartheid. This man showed himself everywhere. Unless you make a real research and study of him, you will never know how great he is. But I am so glad that he had the films for us to go study. Most of his older films are at the Schoenberg Museum in New York, and he was in the early pictures when they did not want to include him. They wanted to put black color on him and paint, and white his mouth even bigger than what it was. But he endured that and for all of us who live today, if you really study this man he is a study of humanity. I would like to also say that we had a teacher lose her husband and he was of a family that has been in our town for a long time. Their family had about four or five deaths in the last year. They are the Thomas family. Brenda Thomas was a teacher of mine at School No. 28 and she lost her husband this week. She still has two children that are attending college at this point, but this family has suffered a lot. She has been in education a long time. She is the librarian at School No. 28. She loves children and many of us in this district do love the children, but I think we need to learn how to better affect education meaningfully to each child in this district in a way that makes them feel joyous about reading a book and learning the things to benefit their life in the future. I had White teachers and one Black teacher my whole schooling here in Paterson. So I know that the teachers who taught me, whether they really wanted to teach me or not, I learned a lot on my own but they cared that I learned to read. But we have to get together in this district and be for real for children so that they all learn, no matter where they are. We have teachers of all ethnic backgrounds that are very good and yes they do make mistakes. But guess what? Because you speak on it, they can go back to the

Page 59 2/10/05 table and correct it. That is why this is a democracy and that is why this is a very special country, even though Mr. Bush wishes to take a lot of our funds away from us. I hope we can get together in this district and really put together real plans for learning and how to teach our children in the right way. Let us think how we can get together in a much better way than we are getting together now. Thank you.

Comm. Atallo: Thank you, Mr. President. I have three points to make tonight. First of all, I know that Mrs. Van Liew left with her husband but I wanted to make a comment. I hoped she would have stayed. At the last meeting there was some confusion regarding Singapore math and Japanese math. I was making a comment about the program. I had a long conversation with her regarding the program and I welcome new and innovative programs. I think there was some confusion on my part and I wanted to clarify that regarding Singapore math versus Japanese math. I am familiar with the program and there seems to be enthusiasm at School No. 2 for this program. If there is enthusiasm, I hope that program is successful. We support the principal, the staff and the students at School No. 2, and we look forward to very high test scores with their math program. We will be watching it closely. So I just wanted to clarify that. There was some confusion on my part. We support the program and we look forward to very high test scores. My second point is regarding the Parent Center and Anna Taliaferro. I support the Parent Center very much. I think the school district should be student- driven, but just as importantly should be parent-driven and not consultant-driven and contract-driven. We need to have parents involved. We need to have that Parent Center and we need to keep it the way it is. I stand behind the Parent Center. We need to have a drop-in center where parents can come in and talk to people in the Parent Center who are trained to work with parents and parental involvement so they can get help and assistance for their children. I strongly stand behind the Parent Center. I stand behind the Director, Anna Taliaferro. I will support that center anytime, anyplace, and anywhere. I urge other Board members to state their feelings about the Parent Center because I know all of you have been involved with it at some point and know the fine work that they do. My third issue is on the personnel matters and other issues. There were some concerns and I will state that while we need to be educationally accountable, we also need to be fiscally accountable. When I look at these leases, I know these were signed by the previous administration but these are a disgrace. Money in Paterson Schools should be spent on our children, not on making landlords of property rich. I think that is wrong. We need to have a comprehensive facility plan. I am glad the administration is working on that now to consolidate our facilities. We should buy buildings and buy suitable buildings and build suitable buildings for our children and that will be the legacy. A few years down the road no one will remember any of our names. They will forget. They will see these plaques on the wall saying the building was erected in 2005-2006 and they will ask who are these people. The legacy will be quality schools and I think we all want to stand behind that. Finally, I want to talk about the legal bills. I don’t want to keep beating a dead horse, but I have to go on record. I think this is wrong. There was a special counsel firm that was hired. It was initiated by the in-house counsel for a limited amount of money, $30,000, and a far greater amount was spent, over $200,000. I think that is wrong because what happens is that it appears anybody can authorize things. There needs to be managerial practices put in place to regulate that. I believe it was wrong to pay the bill because it was never authorized. I question the relationships involved and I think that is a concern. The Board took a very collective position and I think it was wrong to veto it. I think it was wrong for the Commissioner to support the veto because I think it sends a very bad message. I think we need to tighten up fiscal accountability throughout the district. Thank you.

Comm. Hodges: Your statue will help guide them.

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Comm. Atallo: My what?

Comm. Hodges: Your statue.

Comm. Atallo: My statue.

Comm. Hodges: Your statue will be erected around these new buildings.

Comm. Atallo: Holding the lamp of learning towards the heavens?

Comm. Hodges: Absolutely, your eternal flame.

Comm. Moody: Thank you, Dr. Hodges. I have two items. One is that I am in receipt of a letter from some parents and the letter is carbon copied to several individuals. The parents are indicating that they were unfairly treated with regards to a discipline matter with their son. I would like to know more about this. I would like to know what happened. I know these parents, I know that they are strong parents, and I know that they are objective parents who support the district and support discipline. But from what I understand, the discipline was administered unfairly and I just want to bring to the attention of the Superintendent that in this district sometimes students are suspended, quite frankly, illegally. Oftentimes I know by law people are entitled to a hearing, especially if there is some question about the suspension or the alleged facts. The problem is that oftentimes students are suspended before the hearing, they have a hearing, and it is substantiated that the information the kid was suspended on was erroneous and false. So they say that they will rescind the suspension, but the youngster has already missed the five or ten days. How do you get that back? That is a problem. I would like to know what the resolve was for this. I know we have a number of cases in the district where youngsters are suspended and I know that there is a lot of disruption, but we have to be mindful of not violating the rights of people. If you punish somebody without true findings, I think you are being punished without a fair trial. So I would like to know about this and what the resolve is and what we are going to do about that. I think administrators should be warned that they need to pay a little bit more attention to how they handle their suspensions. The State, through the Department of Human Services, is trying to organize communities to revamp, restructure, and reshape DYFS.

Comm. Taylor: Ours began tonight at St. Joseph’s in Wayne on the 3rd floor.

Comm. Moody: It has been going on for a while.

Comm. Taylor: In other parts of the State I know, but it came here today.

Comm. Moody: It’s been happening. I have been attending those meetings on Thursdays. Next Thursday is the first area meeting and we want to invite and encourage parents, particularly, to come out and to voice. This is an opportunity to reshape DYFS. This initiative is a result of the many incidents that we have read about and have seen on television in the news where children were murdered and all other types of abuses while in the custody of DYFS. So there has been an outcry to change. This is an opportunity for those citizens, parents and others who are interested in having a say in how DYFS is run and restructured. Now is the opportunity. The first meeting in this area is going to be Thursday, February 17th at the Calvary Temple in Wayne on Preakness Avenue at 6:00 p.m. So we are inviting the community and all others who are interested to please come out. There are flyers that they are trying to get out to the

Page 61 2/10/05 schools and I would hope, Dr. Clancy, that you would encourage the principals to send these flyers home to try to make the community aware of it. Thank you.

Comm. Santiago: To my colleague, I wish you a fast recovery. Comm. Vergara was involved in a car accident and got a dislocated disc. So he will probably be out for about a month or a month and a half, and I hope he gets well soon. His son was also involved in an accident. My prayers are with the Vergara family. Nevertheless, I want to say that I support those three gentlemen who came up to this podium today, especially the two youngsters right there. They need the funds so that they can go for their trip. I commend what you are doing. While youngsters are out there breaking windows and handing out and smoking and doing vandalism, you guys are continuing your education and trying to get all these puzzles that we need elsewhere and bring them here. I just really want to tell you that I will donate and make a couple of calls to try to help you out as soon as I can. I commend you for that because you are the voices and you are the future of tomorrow. Maybe one of you guys, or both of you guys, or all three of you guys will have one of these seats someday and you will be the future of tomorrow. Someday other youngsters will be sitting out there in the audience and you will be actually doing what I am doing or what the Board members are here doing – listening. Maybe you will be the one that might be able to help them out as well. So it is always good not to forget where you come from, but I do admire what you are doing and I have a lot of respect for that. Happy Valentines Day to everyone. Don’t forget the flowers and the chocolates and all that good stuff. But I must say that Ms. Willa Mae Taylor, when I first got to this Board I really, really didn’t know where you were coming from because I didn’t know who you really were. But by observing you and listening to you, what you did last night by slipping the paper towards me – you are a wonderful individual and you have a good heart. I have a lot of respect for you, Ms. Taylor. I like that very much. In life we may know certain things, we may be smart in certain things, and we may do certain things that other people can’t do. But when there is a person who takes an opportunity to try to help you with a situation and they know it, I admire that. What this Board did for me is help me out a lot. I haven’t been in school for over 20 years. Coming back to the Board for six years, I learned the National Anthem all over again, which was excellent. Coming to this Board also pushed me to read again, which I used to hate doing. All I used to read was comic books, but it pushed me to read again and to take responsibility. Going to one of the toughest academies in Passaic County, the Police Academy, it took me 20 years to get a job. In school I never got 70 or 75. I wasn’t the smartest student in school, but I tried. I never gave up. I tried. I dropped out in my senior year three months before graduation. Five years later I went and got my GED. I wanted to walk the green grass like everyone else, but I had my commitment. I had to raise my children and I am proud to be the father of nine. But I have been at all my children’s graduations, and it felt so wonderful two weeks ago to have my children come to my graduation. I am proud that at the Academy I have gotten 100+ on my examinations. So it shows you that education never ends here. It also shows you that when you want a dream, no matter how long it takes, if you continue to fight for that dream the only one who can take that dream away from you is the man up above. As long as I have him on my side in my corner, I am protected and I will never give up. I wish all the youngsters in Paterson would never give up. Continue your goal. If I ever come back to this Board, whether I run again or not, I look forward to being a mentor or role model and going to some of these schools to speak to our youngsters and our children. There is always a better place. So I admire those gentlemen who came up here today. You will always have my support. No matter what school you are going to go to, if you need a recommendation letter you will always have mine on the School Board letterhead. God bless you, stay strong, and have a good evening everyone. Thank you very much.

Page 62 2/10/05 Comm. Sayegh: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to echo some of the sentiments expressed by Comm. Santiago, but not necessarily wishing everyone a Happy Valentines Day, although I hope you do enjoy the holiday. Students like Hassan Smith and John Pierre Mustanza inspire me. In fact, you make me proud to serve on this School Board because if that is the level or the caliber of student that we are producing, then it gives us all hope in this city. You are serving as ambassadors. I understand that you are going to be taking a trip. In fact, Comm. Santiago has pledged some money and I would like to do the same. I still see them in the audience, so I will provide you with that after I have concluded my remarks. You mentioned that Councilman Goow and Councilman Rosado pledged $500. They recently received a raise. We are not paid here on the Board. Occasionally, we get a Baskinger’s sandwich or the Brownstone caters. Nevertheless, I will certainly pledge a certain amount. I won’t state it publicly, but it will go towards the overall goal of making sure that they reserve those seats on that airline. I also want to publicly praise your teacher, whom I consider a very good friend. I have known him for over 10 years and Christopher Muhammed is serving as a positive role model to the students at International High School and throughout this City of Paterson. I would have to say that one of the hardest things in life is to get up in front of a microphone and speak. Both of you, Hassan and John Pierre, almost did it flawlessly. You weren’t nervous at all. You were calm, cool and collected. So, as ambassadors in this city, I think it is incumbent upon both of you to try to inspire others that you come into contact with. I am so glad that you have learned the most essential element of education, which is exposure. You have to make yourself aware of the world around you. I love Paterson. I was born and raised here, but there is a world outside of Paterson and you are certainly seeing that. I want to encourage you and exhort you to continue to see everything that this world has to offer. So having said that, I would like to conclude by commending you. I also want to encourage you to continue and one day achieve that ultimate goal – going to college, becoming gainfully employed, and certainly making a difference in the society in which you live. I mentioned that on the Board of Education we don’t get paid, but it does pay to be here because of students like you. Thank you very much.

Comm. Hodges: I have tons of things to get to tonight, but I am going to try to get to them. We actually would have gotten out of here early if I didn’t have to add a few more things, but I do. Patricia Cunningham, a teacher assistant at School No. 25, has a burial tomorrow at East Ridge Lawn Cemetery. You are urged to contact the principal of School No. 25 to get further particulars.

Comm. Moody: They are leaving at 8:00 in the morning. The funeral is tonight.

Comm. Hodges: They are leaving at 8:00 in the morning, Mr. Moody advises. Let me start with this. This state is being challenged because of its high property taxes and one of the responses to that has been an embarrassing, in my opinion, abdication by the State Legislature of its responsibilities. As part of that process, they created a Constitutional Convention Task Force, instead of wrestling with the problem themselves. That, to me, is a grave mistake and we are leaving to lay people the responsibilities that we pay our legislators to tackle. But we can’t sit back and merely decry this problem because it has a potential that is very significant for the Paterson community. Originally they stated that they would not, in any way, impact on the thorough and efficient language of the Constitution, upon which is based the entire Abbott decision and hence our Abbott funding. But they have now backtracked and said that maybe they will look at that, and that has grave potential consequences. Rather than sit back and do nothing about that, we have reached out to members of the State Legislature and City Council President Rosado and I are trying to arrange a meeting, which will hopefully be televised on March 2nd. We are trying to invite the

Page 63 2/10/05 State Legislature to come and talk to us so that we can together map out a strategy for Paterson. We want to bring both boards, the City Council and the Board of Education, together to discuss where we have to go as a community and what we have to do to make sure that whatever is crafted works to Paterson’s benefit. That tentative date is March 2nd at City Council Chambers. We will try to get it televised once we get everything finalized. Having said that let me then comment on my friends at the City Council. I was recently chastised by some members of the City Council for daring to question one of their actions, namely, in my opinion, the unfair prosecution of three Board of Adjustment members. They accused me of being uninformed and driven, in part, by my friendship with these accused people. For the past three years, I, as well as others, have criticized the actions of people in this school district who many perceived as not being my friends. How then do I remain silent when I see my Council members, many of whom also aren’t my friends, fall so short of the mark. For years many have sat here silently in this district and watched people hired in this school system for the wrong reasons. Those people failed to do the job and instead of being fired are often promoted to get them out of somebody’s way. Hence, they head up the ladder. This happens not infrequently. We all see it, but so many of us say nothing. We don’t want to hurt people who may be responsible. After all, some of them may be our friends. Or, more importantly, we don’t want to risk having them hurt us. This has resulted in a system that is infected with more than a few inadequate people and we tolerate their lack of performance. Our students, however, suffer significantly because of it and because of our collective silence. I raised the issue I did with the City Council because there is a significant principle at stake. We, in this City, let wrongs go un-addressed because it is easy to highlight the areas of our enemies but uncomfortable to point out the indiscretions of our friends. The consequences of both, however, are the same. Since I have friendships on both sides of this issue, it is the principle at stake that is important. If they, my friends, have erred and I remain silent, I am as guilty of the offense as they are, particularly if I know it. For all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Many of us know that is what has happened in this school district for years. The silence and the triumphing evil have been rampant. We here, just as many in the community are doing with the City Council, choose to look away and pretend that it isn’t happening. The price over there at the City Council is the loss of three Board of Adjustment members and a lower threshold for political interference in statutory operations. But here in this district, 27,000 students suffer. Silence in the face of wrongdoing is the problem, not a principled unwillingness to be quiet about it, whether it is here in the corridors of education or over there in the ornate and well-lit City Council Chambers. Lastly, there has been much speculation in certain segments of this community about my intentions, given the fact that my term on the Board is concluding in April. There has been suggestion that I intend to abandon the children of Paterson and that I am in fact quitting my work on behalf of Paterson’s students. Well, I want to say that I have worked here at bringing improved education to the Paterson School System for over 10 years. I have worked rather hard at trying to see that other children benefit the way I did from someone’s efforts in my behalf educationally. My so- called success as a physician and as a human being can’t truly be appreciated if those around me don’t have the same opportunities to succeed. I am now faced with an awful decision because after ten years of effort, and it has been ten years, I am not quite sure that I am seeing the kinds of strides that I had hoped would occur. So the concern isn’t that I am abandoning or that I am quitting, but the question that I have to wrestle with is if what I am doing now and what I continue to do will make any substantial improvement in the future. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and looking for different results. I have been hammering and hammering and the results have been incremental improvements, but there are children who are suffering day in and day out and who are not getting what they need in a substantial manner. But there is a larger issue and I am going to give you two brief examples and then let you go

Page 64 2/10/05 home. I am actually over at a high school in the city here in the cafeteria and a security guard at his post is trying to hold some students in the cafeteria because it wasn’t their time to leave. He is trying to stop students from coming into the cafeteria because they didn’t belong there. He is also trying to screen people who did belong in there so that they could pass through. The poor man is bleeding on one hand because he injured himself in this process trying to hold his position and stop people from walking past him in three different directions. There is a student berating him and denigrating him for the fact that he was, in the student’s opinion, merely a security guard getting $5.50 an hour and that’s all he will ever make. This was the kind of thing that this security guard was withstanding and putting up with. The student didn’t seem to care that there were other adults around him. He wasn’t mindful at all. Clearly, since he didn’t belong in the cafeteria he also wasn’t in a classroom where he belonged. The question that one has to ask is if there are a number of students like that in this system, then how much pressure on teachers, how many new books, and how many new classrooms can you provide that is going to cause that child to understand what he is in fact in school for? We, as a community, have not in a comprehensive manner been able to answer that question and neither have I. Last week Friday I was asked to speak at Eastside High School to the 11th graders who are preparing for their HSPA test. I was very reluctant because I am usually far too cynical to speak to children. I’m not really allowed around children, but after much pressure I acquiesced. Mr. Moody was in attendance, Mrs. Lyde was in attendance, and we also spoke to these students urging them to take advantage of a free 4-week Saturday program to help them prepare for the HSPA. There were 200 or 300 students in the assembly and we spent an hour and a half imploring them to take advantage because we truly believe that they have the skills and talent, but they just need to apply the effort to get those test scores where they need to be. Well, we got wonderful applause and pats on the back for our statements, but I returned to school the next day to find out how many students had in fact taken advantage of the free program, a program which some of the teachers brought their own children to from outside of Paterson because in their home towns they had to pay for similar opportunities. We had free training and free opportunities for our children to help them and on that Saturday I could find, and maybe I missed a wing or two, 20 students who showed up. We can provide services, we can provide educational opportunity, we can provide books and teachers and a sound educational environment, but can we provide the attitude, can we provide the mentality, can we provide the sense that education is important? Without that, I am just not sure what efforts like we have had in the past are going to yield in terms of results. That does not mean that I am quitting, but there is a question that has to be answered by myself and this community because those are your children. If you have read those test scores and you saw the performance of this school district, then you have got to find a way to answer that question. Are we sending the correct message to our children? Are our parents understanding of what the real issue is here? If we don’t find the answer, then it doesn’t matter who runs for the Board because you are going to have wasted money, opportunity and thousands of lives. Good night and I thank you for your kind attention.

It was moved by Comm. Sayegh, seconded by Comm. Taylor that the meeting be adjourned. On roll call all members voted in the affirmative. The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m.

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