MINUTES OF THE PATERSON BOARD OF EDUCATION REGULAR MEETING November 12, 2003 - 7:00 p.m. Eastside High School Presiding: Comm. William McDowell, President Present: Dr. Edwin Duroy, State District Superintendent Mr. Kevin Hanly, General Counsel Dr. Maria Nuccetelli, County Superintendent Comm. Leslie Agard-Jones Comm. Alonzo Moody Comm. Joseph Atallo Comm. Librada Sanchez *Comm. Chauncey Brown, Vice President Comm. Juan Santiago *Comm. Donald Generals Comm. Andre Sayegh *Comm. Jonathan Hodges Comm. Willa Mae Taylor Comm. William Kline Comm. Anna Maria Vancheri The Salute to the Flag was led by Mr. Jose Marte, 12th grade, Eastside High School. 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 November 12, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. Eastside High School 150 Park 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 the North Jersey Herald & News, The Record, El Diario, the Italian Voice, and Al-Zaman. REPORT OF STATE DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT Page 1 11/12/03 Revised 12/10/03 Dr. Duroy: I will just share briefly some highlights that took place this past month and that I was directly involved with. As we are aware, two weeks ago Governor McGreevy as part of the Read Across America attended a class at School No. 26 and did read for those students. At the end of that session as he was questioned by the reporters, he took the opportunity to announce that the State of New Jersey has designated Hinchliffe Stadium as one of six or seven Renaissance Zones that will receive this recognition from the state. I believe that although it was a preliminary announcement and we expect a more formal announcement, this is very good news for us here in Paterson. We have talked about the redevelopment of Hinchliffe Stadium for years from when I first got here. I know many, many people in the community that have fond memories of the stadium. It is very good news that we are moving forward with the Hinchliffe Stadium project. Again, as we get closer and closer with more details, it will be shared with the Board and the public. This past month we had the opportunity, as we did the last several years, to hold the Academy Fair both at Eastside High School and Kennedy High School. They were both well attended and close to 1,000 students joined us between those two sites. It is a great opportunity and a great moment to see as many students express their interest in the public high schools here in Paterson. We continue to work with the Stupski Foundation, a team of educators, as part of the foundation that made a commitment to the district to help us. When they complete their initial review, we will forward the information directly to the Board. *Comm. Brown enters the meeting at 7:10 p.m. PRESENTATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS Comite Noviembre de New Jersey Dr. Duroy: We have an item under Presentations and Communications relative to the month of November and the item is Comite Noviembre de New Jersey. We have a resolution that I will read and then I will present it for approval. I just need some clarification. Is this an item that we vote on now? Ms. Cheryl Williams: It is listed on the agenda. Dr. Duroy: What item is that? Ms. Williams: A-1. *Comm. Hodges enters the meeting at 7:12 p.m. Dr. Duroy: So let me read the resolution and I will ask the Chair to entertain a motion and make the presentation. I will read the resolution right now and then I will turn it back to the Chairman. We will have the public session and then we will vote on A-1 and present the resolution. WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District is composed of the rich mosaic of children of diverse cultures and nationalities from all over the world; and Page 2 11/12/03 Revised 12/10/03 WHEREAS, the Paterson Public School District’s Equity and Diversity Council promotes a multicultural curriculum that affirms and celebrates the heritage, contributions, and history of the different cultures of the children in the district; and WHEREAS, the Puerto Rican community comprises the largest Hispanic population in the State of New Jersey and the great City of Paterson; and WHEREAS, November 2003 marks the observance of Puerto Rican Heritage Month, a month long celebration sponsored by Comite Noviembre de New Jersey, an organization dedicated to promoting an awareness of the numerous social, cultural, economic, educational and political contributions of the Puerto Rican community in our society; and WHEREAS, Comite Noviembre de New Jersey has declared the theme of this year’s celebration “Our Cultural Heritage Is the Road Toward the Future” as part of the effort to preserve and acknowledge the richness of the Puerto Rican culture and the preservation of its vibrant tradition for generations to come; and now THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education joins in honoring the history and vitality of the Puerto Rican community and recognizes November 2003 as Puerto Rican Heritage Month. Dr. Duroy: Again, this is an introduction of the resolution as indicated and I will turn it back to the Chair. We will now hold the first part of the public comments and then vote on this particular resolution as well. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS ONLY It was moved by Comm. Taylor, seconded by Comm. Moody that the Public Comments on Agenda Items Only portion of the meeting be opened. Comm. Hodges: Once again I have grave concerns. The last time we had this public portion several Board members got up and tried to avail themselves of the opportunity to discuss issues on the agenda. Subsequently, the meeting was adjourned without a proper vote and for yet unannounced reasons. There has been no rule, law, regulation, statute or case interpretation that supports that action. I continue to protest because it denied the public an opportunity to hear all of the community. On roll call all members voted in the affirmative. The motion carried. Comm. McDowell: Before the first citizen comes to the microphone, just as an explanation, this public portion will afford citizens the opportunity to discuss agenda items and ask questions. There will be a second public portion at the end of Board business where citizens will have the opportunity to speak on any item that comes to mind. At this time, please state your name and address for the record. Page 3 11/12/03 Revised 12/10/03 Ms. Anna Taliaferro: Good evening, Anna Taliaferro. I am looking at the amount of money that we are paying service providers from Success for All to Modern Red Schoolhouse. I see from what you have on the agenda that close to $200,000 is going to Success for All. Dr. Duroy, my question is to you. When I am looking at the development fees, staff development and implementation, where has the parent portion of this been considered into these contracts? That is a lot of money per school and one of the problems we had when I studied service providers down at George Washington University was that many of the service providers did not have a strong parent involvement program. If they are going to come into our district and take this kind of money off the backs of our parents and children, with parent involvement being a necessary component of our children’s education, then I would like to know what is going to be their commitment to parental involvement in this city. It is not enough for them to come and do staff development and implementation of their program without including parents and without parents understanding exactly what they are supposed to be doing. We definitely need to deal with that. Has any dialogue gone on between these service providers and the parents because I have not heard of any taking place at this time? Dr. Duroy: Each of these contracts are part of a requirement under the Abbott funding. Your specific questions relative to parent involvement and the contract have to be followed up. We will follow up with you, Ms. Taliaferro, on that. Ms. Taliaferro: I don’t want them thinking that their only job is to come in and develop a program with our children. I am hearing complaints from other districts across New Jersey that the gains that some of these service providers are claiming do not hold water. Unless we have informed parents who can monitor the progress of these programs, then we won’t know exactly what it is that is going on. Not only that but also to support the programs. If it is a good program and our youngsters need it, then we need to support it because we have an awful lot of children who need supplemental services. Thank you. Ms. Karen Williams: Good evening, Karen Williams. On A-33 and A-34, unless it is mandatory that we give over $100,000 to non-public schools, I disagree with this until all of the children in public schools in our district are covered with such an opportunity to receive services from Sylvan Learning Systems.