Right. Good evening everyone and welcome. Uh we met in executive session and we have done the flag salute. So I'm going to just read the public statement public notice. Uh this is a regular meeting of the
board of education of Bernard's Township. Notice of the Place of the meeting was provided and copies of the resolution were forwarded to the official newspapers as designated by the board of education and the township clerk and a copy of the notice was posted on the bulletin board of the board of education offices. Those
members of the public who cannot attend or meeting in person, a live stream link to the meeting is posted on the district's website, www.burnernersbo.com. We very much welcome input from the public. There are two times during regular meetings the public is invited to speak. One time is early in the
meeting before the board votes when you may speak about any item that's listed on tonight's agenda. Towards the end of the meeting, there's another public forum to address any matter of public concern related to schools. When you approach the microphone, please state your name and address. Each statement by a participant shall be limited to three
minutes duration. No participant may speak more than once during a given public comment session. The first public comment session will be limited to 30 minutes and the second will be unlimited. In order to run efficient meetings and to allow maximum opportunity for members public to speak, the board reserves the right to set a
different time limit for individual comments and the overall time limit for the public comments portion of the agenda. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer and no participant may address or question board members individually. Please understand public comment portions of our agendas are not
structured as question and answer sessions but are offered as opportunities to share your thoughts with the board. The board administration will respond to public comments to the extent possible. Any board responses to public comments will generally be addressed during board forum or committee reports. However, all comments
are considered and will be investigated and addressed as appropriate. Please be courteous and mindful of the rights of others when speaking. Comments may not be abusive, obscene, threatening, or irrelevant. Please understand that students and employees have specific legal and privacy protections. The board is not permitted to respond in public to
comments about students and employees. Please also understand the board will not be responsible for the content of comments made by members of the public. Members of the public are cautioned that they are speaking at their own risk and any personally directed statements they make may subject them to legal liability to the affected individual. It is
necessary for the board to go into the executive session at the end of the meeting. will provide an estimated length of time for the session and whether any action to be taken upon returning to public session. Um and with that uh we're up to um the
superintendent's report which we'll do roll call first. Okay. Miss White. Yes. Here. Dr. McHune. Mr. Molinari here. Mr. Mr. here,
Miss Mohan, Miss Curado here, Mr. Shaw here, Mr. Talbot here, and Mr. here. Um, there are five items on the
superintendent report. Uh, do you want us to do the motion? Okay. Okay. Uh, can I get a motion, Keith and Dave? So the five items in particular um we
are making a uh public notice of the 202526 New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment results. Uh we have to provide that information within 60 days of getting it. So we will have a link to
the detailed presentation available for the public. uh we want to certify with some pride our 423 graduates uh from June at Ridge High School. So once again, congratulations to those
students and their families. Uh we always have to certify that number officially on our board agenda. Uh we have to annually approve a virtual remote instruction plan. Uh, ever since COVID, this has been a new requirement
to have such a plan in place. Our plan is essentially unchanged from last year with the exception of some schedule changes. Obviously, we have a different schedule. So, we thanks thanks to Kristen for making a couple updates on that. Um, we're approving our strategic
plan um since we reviewed it um with the public I believe back in May uh for 2025 to 2030. So, get that posted on the district website as well and uh affirming the hip report from this month.
Can I get a roll call? Miss White, yes. Mr. Molinari, yes. Mr. Yes. Miss Curado, yes. Mr. Shaw, yes. Mr. Talbot, yes. Mr. Alanic, yes. Uh, and that brings us to public comment
on agenda items. If anybody has anything that they would like to address on the agenda, please come down to the mic. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Peter MacArthur, 291 South Maple Avenue, Basking Ridge. I just have a quick question on item 10. I believe it's on
the financial report referring to the water infrastructure improvement uh programs. My question is this um does does this uh proposed um u you know motion does it have to deal
with in part the uh proposed uh turfing the soccer field on the South Maple Avenue fields? We'll respond when public comments is closed. I'm sorry. We'll respond to all that when public comment is closed. Okay. Thank you.
Sure. Is there anybody else? Okay. With that, we will close public comment on agenda items. Mr. Jim, you want to take that question about the grant application resolution? Yes. So number 10, it is uh separate and
apart from the varsity field project. It is um funding that is available from the state through the secure our children's future bond act that is um allocated to districts who want to remediate any fixtures within the buildings that have
um actually any even a trace element of of lead in the water. So, um, the the state has has allocated funds up to $6,000 per fixture. And so, we're um applying for that grant to see if we get
it. Um, and we'll use that to upgrade some of our uh fixtures that have uh some some trace elements in in the water. Thank you. Uh, we're up to approval of minutes.
Can I get a roll call on that? Can we do a motion too or just roll call? Motion. Make a motion. Keith Mike and a roll call. Miss White.
Yes. Mr. Molinari. Yes. Mr. Yes. M. Curado. Yes. Mr. Shaw. Yes. Mr. Talbot. Yes. And Mr. Malan? Yes. Okay. We have uh 38 items on the finance. Uh I'll do the motion first and
then the report and then questions and then can I get a motion? Dave Brett report. Sure. So, um, we had a meeting the other day, so that report's not done yet. But,
uh, to speak about the June 12th report, um, almost all of the items on here were voted on last meeting, so I won't go into detail, but I'll go quickly. Um, we received a couple donations, one from Liberty Quarter PTO, $30,000 for
furniture replacement. Uh, Cedar Hill donation of walkie-talkies for about 16,000. Um, this one is on the vote for tonight. Um, we received from um for cheer um $6,300 for mats. So, thank you
for that. That's from the Bridge Youth Sports um cheerleading. So, those are our donations. Um, we also discussed at length our athletic budget and we mainly focused on freshman and JV and what the costs are and are there
ways to cut those costs. So there's approximately about $340,000 a year in cost there. Uh we discussed potentially adding a activity fee in the future. Um and then the total budget for athletics
is about $2.2 million. Um next we discussed the fund balance. Um that's still up in the air so we don't know what that's going to be yet. So once we know that we'll go into that in more detail. Um we also bid on the food service already. Mios um is the new
food service for the school district and so far we had that at executive session. We were very happy with that. Um and then the last item we also voted on last time was um for leasing of computers. It's a lease to buy option and we voted
for that as well. Does anybody have any questions? Okay. Can we get a roll call? Miss White. Yes. Sorry. Do you want me to discuss any of the items on before we vote on them for the for the reason? Did every Did the minutes go out on
Well, I was going to say for what we're voting on for finance, all the items. So, there's one thing I just noticed on finance. U Mr. Row and Mr. side and I met this
morning uh with Miss Fox and we amended the agenda to include two additional uh professional development items under item three in the table of uh professional development. And I can see
that I'm looking at a correct version on my computer, but it's not the hard copy that came out. So I think I probably updated uh our internal and not the final. So when it got printed, it didn't show up. So I wanted to ask the board if they could uh make a motion to amend
item three to include uh Mr. Row traveling uh in August to the NJ Asbo, the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials AI training uh on August 14th for $538.88.
Uh, and we have an Italian teacher on the agenda tonight being approved. Uh, and that individual will be teaching uh, AP Italian and so we need to approve them to take to take the AP summer
institute at a cost of $940. So, if the board is agreeable to amending uh, that item to include those two things, if we could get a motion and a second for those two amendments before voting, that would be great. Okay. Can I get a motion on that, Dave
and Brett? Okay. And vote vote on that now with everything or separately? You would vote to agree to make that amendment and then vote on the Okay. And everybody understands that it you'll see it on your computer. Okay. All right. Can we get a roll call on
that? You want to do voice vote on that on that motion to to amend amend item three under finance for those two additions. Yeah. I any opposed? So item three is amended and then when you vote on all the items that'll be
included. Okay. So now we need to vote on all the items. Miss White, yes. Mr. Molinari, yes. Mr. Am yes. Miss Carado, yes. Mr. Shaw, yes. Mr. Talbot, yes. And Mr.
Yes. Okay, we're up to personnel. There 34 items. I don't know if you all notice the agendum next to you that had two extra items on it. Um, is there Mr. Side? Are you doing a report for
Robin or is there Okay, so let's do the motion first, Keith and Mike and then anything you want to share before we do the roll call. Maybe while Sean's pulling up those minutes.
While he's pulling up this, was there anything from June 12th that you wanted to add? I don't I don't think I think the only item I wanted to mention on the voting just so everyone was aware
was number seven that um Jim um so this is for all districts but they increased the bid threshold from 44,000 to 53. Um that doesn't change um that he'll still get quotes of the same as he always did
but he's allowed to bid at a higher amount. Okay. Yeah. Go ahead. Okay. So, June 13th, that personnel committee meeting, uh, the committee talked about elementary sectioning as we do annually. We continue to monitor
enrollment in all four elementary buildings to make determinations about whether or not we need to add staff, move sections. Uh, that is something that we continue to monitor and we will do so right through the end of August and make adjustments as needed. So, that was discussed. Um, that was item one on
the agenda. Um, what else can I cover that's not conf confidential? Okay, we talked about the comprehensive equity plan submission, which the board did approve that submission of the comprehensive equity plan back in June. And so remember this is June 13th, this agenda. Um, and
that's a requirement every three years that we develop a comprehensive equity plan. Um, talked about um, a couple of confidential personnel matters and that's really all I can read out on that agenda. Okay. And then July 18th,
another familiar item. We talked about elementary sectioning again and um you'll hear a little bit more about that in policy, so I'm not going to speak too much to that. Um I updated the board on open positions and um you'll see some of those positions being filled on the
agenda tonight. And um we do anticipate, of course, being fully staffed uh for September. Uh we have u as as the public knows, we've settled the BTA agreement. We um finalized the last couple um language items and the contract was just signed today actually by the
co-presidents. So I have it for our our um board president and for uh Mr. Ra to sign and then that contract will be placed on the Bernest Township board of ed website for the public uh to uh view. Uh and then lastly we talked about AI which is obviously an ongoing theme
something we'll be looking at as an administration and staff. uh we talked about it relative to um administrators and uh some tools that they may be using during the 2526 school year and that uh was it all I can read out. Okay. Thank you. That brings us to
policy and there are three items. Can I get a motion and then we'll do the report. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Yeah. Miss White. Yes. Mr. Molinari. Yes. Mr. Yes. Yes.
Mr. Shaw, yes. Mr. Talbet, yes. And Mr. Oval, yes. All right. Now, we're up to the three items on policy. Um, can I get a motion? Janice and Brett. And then, uh, Mike, do you want to do the minutes?
Yeah. Uh, we met on for policy on, uh, June 12th. And um it was pretty short report, but uh for the couple things we talked about uh one policy P2468 independent educational evaluation uh we
revised it slightly. Uh the current policy uh committee firmed up the language. It is not a new policy. When teaching instruction is going on, school visitors are not allowed uh to come in except if your child has a program being recommended for an IEP and the parent
guardian wants to see it. And the other exception if the parent guardian is having independent evaluation done uh then the parent guardian can come. Uh for the first reading for P uh 2361 acceptable use of the network devices and resources uh we changed the wording
slightly. Uh the board directs the superintendent to affect training of teaching staff members and skills appropriate to analyzing and evaluating such resources as to appropriateness for educational purposes. Um the board requires the safeguards such as filtering hardware and software be put
into place to restrict student access to content that is inappropriate. And uh the other aspect is for the winter recess uh we are considering changing the calendar to give off Friday January 2nd 2026 and then changing the students
come in uh on May 26th 2026. So that would be, you know, the what we're planning on changing and that's uh the board. Any questions?
Do you want to talk about Sure. the items on the agenda as well? Yeah. So um as far as the um thank you Mr. Talbot for your report. Uh as far as the actual voting items on the agenda under policy, there are three. Uh the first
one is related to the school calendar which we talked about at the June board of ed meeting uh whereby we agreed to have school closed on u the Friday that is at the very end of the winter break.
Um, was the January 2nd, I think, Friday. January 2nd. Yeah, Friday, January 2nd, rather than coming back to school for one day at the end of winter break on a
Friday. So, uh, that is really the major reason for having the school calendar on the agenda tonight. Um, also you might have noticed if you if you took a look at the school calendar, we did add the dates that we will have um early dismissals for teacher and service. I'm
sure you're used to those four dates. Every year we designate four days on the school calendar uh for teacher and service and we dismiss the kids early on those four dates. So that's been updated uh on the school calendar and once this is approved, we'll update that on the district website as well. Uh the second
item is related to how students are assigned to elementary schools. The policy has long um provided that the superintendent uh can assign students to elementary schools taking into account
um enrollment and balancing enrollment. Um the amended policy proposed tonight essentially provides a um section of the Cedar Hill school zone whereby students could be assigned to Oak Street School.
Um if it was necessary for uh reasons of u the schedule, the class sizes um balancing the number of sections so that we can provide uh specials to the students uh in a in an efficient manner.
So the uh proposal to the board tonight is to amend that policy uh to provide for that possibility uh should the need arise to balance sections better. Um I don't anticipate it's necessary at this time to do that um for this coming
September. Um if there was something unusual that happened with uh enrollment in the next month uh that's certainly possible and I would update the board if that needed to happen. U but I think it's important for us to start looking at this policy uh as we go forward to
have a way to um balance some of the sections uh in the elementary schools in particular uh Cedar Hill as as we know that um Cedar Hill's had an increase in enrollment um beyond what the other elementary schools have seen and it's it
creates some challenges for us in scheduling that we need to have some ways to navigate. Uh the third item, as Mr. Talbot reported, we made a couple minor amendments to our acceptable use policy. And and you know, one of the things we
wanted to highlight is that um although we certainly require um that our software uh has protections for um inappropriate uh access to content um through the
district district's network. Um you know, websites that we etc. Um although we are required to put that in play, we wanted to have language to indicate that as much as we try to make it super secure that kids can't navigate to
things that they shouldn't. Um it's impossible to block every single little thing. They might get to a game through some route or whatever. So, uh, you know, we we want to make sure that the public is aware that we're committed to making the environment safe, but nothing
is 100% foolproof, um, with students using technology. So, that was the the amendment there. Okay. Thank you. Um, does anyone have anything that they want to um share in terms of
Keith? Just maybe um a little uh to clarify one thing on the uh Cedar Hill zoning. Just no existing students, their schools will not be changed. So if they're already in elementary school, they will stay where they are. And if they already have a sibling at Cedar Hill and they live in that zone,
they can still go to Cedar Hill. So we're not going to break up any siblings are going to elementary schools or changing any existing schools. This would just be for new students entering the system, right? If if if the superintendent decided to exercise it. Yep. Yep. That Thank you. That's an important clarification. So, you know, you're looking at students that have yet
to begin their journey um at Cedar Hill Elementary School being possibly asked to go to Oak Street School instead. Um so, to your point, if the student has already started, wouldn't ask them to move midway through their experience. If
they have a sibling already going to school at Cedar Hill, we wouldn't ask them to to go to two different schools, have families dealing with two different elementary schools. Um once a student starts at any particular elementary school, it's always been the board's policy that once you start at an
elementary school, um we work with you to try to keep that student all the way through. So if you transfer to town and start in second grade at any particular elementary school, you would do second, third, fourth, and fifth grade. Um you know, the the other uh component is
again keeping in mind the idea of siblings. If in fact we asked a the youngest student of the f the the oldest I should say the oldest child of a family starting in kindergarten they begin at uh Oak Street School instead of Cedar Hill. If two years later a younger
sibling comes along they would also go to Oak Street School to keep the family together. So, um, those are some important aspects I think just to help families know that, um, in the event that we needed to do this, we we would not be asking families to split up, uh,
kids in multiple elementary schools, and we wouldn't be asking a student that's already started at an elementary school to suddenly switch. Thank you. Anyone else? Nick, I think the other thing you said was currently it's not needed. This is
if something happens over the next few weeks to change enrollment numbers or section requirements then it's something that it would be considered otherwise maybe potentially for next year we would be doing this right so right now we're we're in a pretty good place I don't see the need
to do this immediately um you know as you noted it's possible things sometimes can get a little nuts with enrollments in August despite our best efforts to try to get people enrolling as early as possible so we know where we stand numbers wise. Um,
currently there's no need to do it. Um, if there's something wacky that happens and numbers start spiking um, in any particular grade in Cedar Hill that causes us to to need to look at this again, I'd certainly advise the board um, and reach out to families that could
be affected. Um, but I, you know, you raise an an interesting point in terms of the future. we, you know, we know where the demographer um is predicting um greater enrollment at Cedar Hill even into the next couple years beyond this
year. So, I think it's important to have some tools um available um to to to balance the scales a little bit if that were to play out. Thanks. And regardless of um what the families were at Cedar Hill or Oak
Street, if they if they um are entitled for their children to get busing, they still would get busing to the different school zone. Correct. Yeah. So the the area that we designated in the in the policy to consider um is
currently um getting bust to Cedar Hill School. Uh, and since Oak Street School is about a mile further down the road, they would also be eligible for busing regardless of whether they were going to Cedar Hill or Oak Street. So, uh, transportation would be taken care of.
Okay. Anybody else? Dave? Yeah. I just want to say that I I'm very happy with this just because my kids are at Cedar Hill and I know it's very close to being over the limits. So, I think this gives us a tool, makes us be proactive here that if
the numbers do go in the wrong direction, that there's more kids than we expect, we have a way to um alleviate that for them. Anyone else? Can I get a roll call?
Miss White? Yes. Mr. Molinari? Yes. Mr. Am? Yes. Miss Curado? Yes. Mr. Shaw? Yes, Mr. Talbot. Yes. And Mr. Yes. Uh, we're up to curriculum and there are
three items. Um, can I get a motion and then we'll do the report? Janice and Brett, you want to do the report? Thank you. Uh, curriculum met on July 21st. We'll talk about the items up for vote first. Board agenda items. First up
is a course name change, AP Economics. It's not a new course. It's just a change in name only to better align the course with the AP testing committee supports the change. Next, we talked about integrated topic and mathematics. This is a course proposed by Kathy Stler. Uh multiling language learners,
their trueing programs are not running this summer due to a lack of federal title funding. Scythe students, students with uh interrupted formal education, we found they can be entering Ridge with as little as a fourth grade math level. The lowest math class offer average
currently is algebra 1. Uh the course being proposed it would be taught in English would focus on math skills based upon where the student where the students in the class are. Uh there are very few student there are very few students this would affect. Now Burnersville they run a similar course which is necessitated there due to
different demographics in Ridge. In the past the students at Ridge have had individual interventions paid for by grants that are not currently available. Uh this course is not budgeted for and the district is waiting to see if a title three grant that can be used for this winds up coming through. A
discussion was had regarding the numbers of students affected, the finances, and could potential grant money be deployed in a way that positive positively affects more students. Approval of the course tonight does not constitute funding or staffing. It does allow the district to have the option of running
the course if necessary and when st when staffing is available. The committee supports approval. The AP Spanish textbook that was scheduled to be on last uh board meetings agenda and it got pushed to tonight. Committee supports approval of the book. Uh discussion items. We talked about the state
assessment results parts one and two. The report is linked to the committee minutes. This is the fourth year administering the New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment and G NJ GPA to all our juniors. Students are required to take it for graduation, but if they don't pass, there's other means of
meeting the requirement. For instance, SATs or ACTs. results are sent out to parents already of rising seniors and the results been consistent since 2023 2022 was a bit of an outlier due to higher a higher state passing score and also just coming out of co regarding
those students who were not graduation ready according to this test the percentages year to year they can look like large shifts in percentages but that's just because it's very low number of students in this category so changes in small numbers equals big shifts in percentages uh there are multiple supports for for
students to pursue alternative pathways to graduation to meet this requirement. For instance, again, the SAT and ACT scoring and you can see those on the interventions page in the report that's linked for details. Uh Kathy Stler spoke to the ELLL portion of the state
assessment and results on the New Jersey student learning assessment will be added to the this presentation and provided to the public in the fall. uh the school district's AI plan the final draft uh this will be a large area of focus for professional development for the coming year the concentration is
on integrity safety and proper usage while preparing students for AI in the outside world a guide book has been developed and this is a multifaceted plan that includes a background on artificial intelligence and education guidelines for students and staff and best practices for families as well as
links to some resources as we talked about tutor.com this is the grantf funed online tutoring service the district utilized last year. Uh at the end of year we had roughly 300 unused hours in the initial contract going into the end of the year. The service was initially targeted just towards struggling
students opening up to all whams and ridge students on May 5th. It did not increase the usage enough to use up all our unused hours. Next year for $3,500 this service can be open on an unlimited basis to all all students. It would include SAT and ACT test support with
practice exams. There are also possibilities it can help with multilingual multil- language learners as well. Taking into consideration what district parents pay for private tutors, the possibility tutor.com could help alleviate that is another potential upside. It is already included in the edtech budget. The only glitch might be
if the district needs the edtech money for universal K through3 literacy screening which is statemandated. Uh the committee supports moving forward with the service for the coming school year and our next meeting is on September 5th. Does anybody have any questions?
I just wanted to say that the document you made, the guy the guy got is so very impressive and I hope that um parents will really take the time to look through it because the work that you all put in. Um I I know everything is
changing daily, weekly with AI, but to have um such a detailed uh guideline for for staff, for parents, for students um It's really incredible that you were able to put that all together and it's
ready to be launched for the school year. So, thank you for that. Um, can we get a roll call? Miss White? Yes. Mr. Molinari? Yes. Mr. Am? Yes. Miss Curado? Yes. Mr. Shaw? Yes. Mr. Talbert?
Yes. And Mr. Yes. We're up to wellness and uh there is a report from the meeting. Yes. The wellness committee met on June 11th. Um we received an update, a year-end report on the Thrive program.
Dr. Okonnell and the Thrive counselors um provided the results of the district program's first year. Uh Thrive is the in-house program which replaced the work formerly done by the consultant Effective School Solutions. Uh it's
designed to provide intensive counseling for students at greatest risk for school attendance. Um at William Annen, the Thrive counselor worked with students at all three grade levels. Uh the goals of the program were to engage students through
Thrive groups, school clubs, and activities, and involvement in the community, improve transitions through detailed protocol that includes goal setting, progress tracking through the Panorama dashboard, and warm handoffs to
school counselors or case managers. The third uh component is enhancing collaboration and bridging gaps through regular meetings between thrive staff and school counselors, child study team members and outside providers. Uh there
was significant improvement in rates for both absences and tardiness as compared with ESS results for uh 2023 24. Program goals for 2025 26 include providing students with more structured group
counseling sessions, working more closely with club adviserss to encourage Thrive students to participate in more extracurricular activities at Ridge. The Thrive counselor shared that there were a total of 641 check-ins.
Um the team shared how this these statistics helped to illustrate a positive result of the program by having Thrive program staff focused on the high need students in the program. It frees up time for the rest of the counseling
staff to devote to the remaining students. Um the counselor also shared data regarding absences and tardiness. Both showed significant improvement over the last year with ESS. All involved in
Thrive, including counselors, teachers, and administrators, emphasized that the program was extremely successful. Benefits cited include supporting four-year graduation rates, providing proactive mental health counseling,
enabling students to remain in district rather than referred for intensive outpatient placements, and fewer child study team referrals. There's uh more detailed information on the district website and links to both
programs. Um, the committee also discussed next steps regarding Panorama. Assistant Superintendent Miss Fox provided committee members with summary reports and results for spring 2025
student surveys for grades 9 to 12, 6 to 8, and 3 to 5. The committee discussed how data is being tracked and presented and agreed that obtaining data by cohort would be particularly useful. Survey results from
spring 2025 identified areas uh potential areas for uh social emotional learning lessons in all three grade bands. Topics include managing challenging feelings, regulating emotions, practicing growth mindset, and
learning about and discussing issues of race, ethnicity, and culture. A team of district administrators and staff are in the process of researching various providers with the goal of creating a district-wide platform that would
include a survey tool, a data analysis tool, and a multi-tered system of supports platform for our response to intervention teams. This information will be shared with the board once the team has completed its um evaluation.
The final um topic that we discussed were the res restorative practices that were was done at William Adden School this year. At the start of the school year, Williams administrators reviewed student data, discipline incidents, student and
staff feedback and committee recommendations. The board had approved hiring consultant Joy Roots to help develop an implementation plan to address issues related to school culture and climate and to help create targeted
professional development session on identified topics. It is clear that the additional supports at WHAMS this year have had a positive impact on students. The committee had requested specific data regarding HIV incidents. Miss Uduk
shared that as of June 11th this year, there were a total of 20 HIV investigations comprising both founded and unfounded cases, one in sixth grade, nine in seventh grade, and 10 in eighth grade.
Last school year, Williams had a total of 67 HIV HIV investigations. 23 in sixth grade, 22 in seventh grade, and 22 in eighth grade. Miss Hudok provided other data, including the
results of survey information from the trained staff and how they have been able to incorporate strategies from the training into their practice. Miss Udok and Miss Fox will have well had a wrap-up meeting with Greg Lucas on June 19th. The committee was pleased to hear
that the WHAM staff who received training this year plan to train additional staff in the 202526 school year and the next wellness committee meeting is scheduled for September 24th. Thank you. Anybody have any questions
for Janice? Uh yeah, just uh the report from Thrive that you referenced on the district is that available on the district website or was that did I miss it? Was it sent out to the board? I'm sorry. Could you repeat that? the report from Thrive that you showed showed the results for the year from the program. Um
um yes, so that information is linked in the report. Okay. Specific numbers and attendance. Yes, there's one for William and another for Bridge. Okay, I see I see the link. Thank you. And just one quick question, maybe it's
in the report, but the 641 check-ins, do you know do you know how many of those are individual students or who compromise those 641 check-ins? Because I know in the past it's been like a couple students have checked in an you know an over amount. So I just I'm just curious how many individual students that was broken down among
I would have to go back into the report. If it's a report I'll find I'll check for you. Thank you. It is it is broken down. Yeah, it is. It It's got unique visits versus Yeah. Okay.
Okay. Um anyone else before we go on? Okay. We're up to facilities and operations and the report from June 10th. Yep. The committee met on June 10th. It noted the work order status update and
was very satisfied. Noted that the varying number of closed items per week reflected the timing of when the items were closed out, not necessarily when the the week in which the work was actually completed. Um, starting July 1st, the district has
eight full uh full-time in-house maintenance personnel and will be fully staffed. So, the work order um maintenance should should continue. We reviewed the lead testing, the three-year regular
lead testing. The detailed report of the results are posted on the district website. The district plumber is in the process of addressing the several locations that needed remediation once those improvements have been made. Retesting will uh happen before the fixtures are put back in use.
The committee looked at the cost savings of a rebid of nine tiers of buses, 32 routes, and an additional savings of 94,950 was achieved. and we will review the bus performance again at the August
meeting. The team did an extensive review of the varsity field project. Um, nothing needed from the board at this time, but maybe in the August board meeting. The team did a review of turf options, electrical lighting alternatives,
drainage plans, water retention basin location, bleacher options, and type of bid options. The next steps include discussions with the town about drainage plans, food service renewal. The team reviewed four food service bids received in the
RFP. The the team aligned to propose to the full board the recommendation to select Matio based on the scoring criteria of guaranteed return, management fee, capability record, performance and financial condition and proposed on-site management.
uh the construction projects, the direct install update. There was a third bid solicited from Eminem because the first two did not offer incentives over 50% for both Cedar Hill and Oak Street. We're waiting PSEG to announce
gas qualifying gas incentives. Um and the rest was on nothing remarkable except the new R and the new RAM site have been installed. The next meeting will be August 7th.
Thank you. Is the remediation for the lead anticipated to be completed by the start of the school year? Okay. Because I know that's something parents would want to know. Correct me if I'm wrong. That was done already. Yeah, it's complete already. Awesome. Okay. Yeah. And that's part of the grant that we talked about earlier. So, that should
be covered by that. Hopefully, if we get that grant and like we said earlier, if possible, um it may cover 94 other 94 total fixtures of up to $6,000 a piece. So, even if there's trace elements, it'd be a win-win for the district for that.
We could have really nice new border fixtures throughout all our buildings. Great. Anybody else have any questions? Okay, we are up to leazison. I don't know if there are any uh reports during the summer.
Okay. Uh, public comment on non-aggenda items. If you have anything you'd like to come say or ask, please come forward. All right, I will close public comment. And that brings us to board forum. Is there anything that anybody would like to discuss?
I was asking um I know that some federal funding had been released this week and I was just wondering if we had any update as to what we were entitled to. Thank you. So, uh I got back from a little time away and huddled with Jim
first thing this morning to find out the answer to that question. Uh Mr. R and I uh were hoping to find some information for ourselves and when we checked this morning, we still hadn't received any notifications. Those notifications come to us telling us um the the amounts of
the title grants. They're entitlement grants. They're they're not competitive grants. Um you know, title one, two, three, four, and we've all been hoping to get those numbers. I did check on that this morning and this morning there was no updates. Are we still at no updates? Still no updates. Some states
have gotten updates, but um if New Jersey has received it, they haven't published it through their usual channels. All right. So, we'll we'll keep you posted as soon as we hear something. Thanks, Jim. Anyone else? I think it's a little bit of a segue to something I wanted to talk a little bit
about. Um like some not like many of you out there, there's not many of you out there, but like a a lot of people might be in listening. I got my tax bill the other week and uh you know it was went up pretty substantially and I think we should all just keep in mind summer but we're already starting to talk about budgeting for next year and um our
budget difficulties are not going away. We just talked about the title funds that we're unsure about. Um taxes are going to go up again. healthare costs, uh, inflation, uh, unionized vendors. Uh, there's there's just no way they're not going to
go up and that's not going to be possible without staying under a 2% cap is likely not going to be possible without further consolidation within a district. What that looks like is something to be discussed. Whether that's personnel, whether that's some programming um, that's doesn't affect
the essential quality of our education. Um, I've asked the administration and I'm sure We several different options, what it looks like staying under the cap, what it looks like if we go over the cap and have to go out questions, you know, put a couple different scenarios in front of us so we can discuss it. I would like the discussion
to be as public as possible because every single person, every single property owner's town pays the taxes whether you have a child school or not. So, I think that's important. Um, it's probably nobody nobody's shocked that I lean fiscally conservative, but I do want to keep those see those options to
keep an open mind. and you know see see what makes sense to keep what makes sense to cut and if it makes sense to uh send something out the question and by that I mean if we go over 2% cap we're going to have to put items out to a public vote and depending
what whatever we put out there if it gets approved great if it doesn't get approved it's gone so we also have to be very circumspect with what we put out to public question so it's food for thought for the public um start think about it there's There's an August meeting, there's a September meeting, and then,
you know, and we're kind of right in the thick of it because if we're going to do something going out the question, that has to be decided a good a good amount, I'm not sure exact time frame, but a good amount of time before November election. So, pay attention uh read read
the minutes, uh pay attention to what's going on the board, and uh you know, come to meetings and make your concerns or questions heard. That's all I want to say. Uh yeah, just to follow up on that, I completely agree with that. I I think it is going to be another tough year from
what we see. Um the next month we'll have a better idea of what the fund balance um over under will be there. So once that is finalized, I think at the next finance committee, we'll be having a very deep discussion on what to do
about any um whether we're short or not. So I would say the meeting will be key um for anyone that wants to come and talk about this and understand this more. Um two things. One um when we talk about it, we will go into more detail about
what Keith alluded to in terms of what a question actually means. And it would actually not be part of the November election. it would be we would have to have a special election in January because anything that you put out to question has to be utilized in the
current school year. So, um we can explain all that when we get to it because it wouldn't be putting something on the ballot in November in anticipation of the next school year. You have to use it in 2025. Correct, Dave? Didn't we discuss that? Yeah.
Yeah. So you you could the the challenge I think is is there are different times where you could in fact vote for something but the question is the timing of when you vote and and how it affects how taxes are collected and when the taxes are collected. Um so you it's
possible to do a vote in November, but it creates an odd t odd timing because you're looking at collecting taxes in a way before you need them for the following school year. So that's why we talked about um the possibility if there
were going to be something on the ballot that we probably would do a special election in January just to kind of get the timing right. I think that was a big part of it. Um so I I I think from a timing perspective when we looked at this, if I remember correctly, you had
to have um your question to uh the county clerk's office. I think it was 60 days in advance, Jim. Does that sound right? 60 days. So you know if you're looking doing something in in January uh to give that 60 days, you know, you're looking at November and December, you
know, so you'd have to have um the board approving the the language of the question in October from a time frame perspective. So that that would, you know, if the board chooses to go that route, that would probably be what we would recommend in terms of a timeline, finalizing a a statement in October and
voting on it in January. Um and then the the taxes would show up in the right year. was the the main idea with that. So, um you know, certainly to be continued obviously uh you know, not not fun stuff, but we have to address it because as we get um you know, the the
uh close out of the 2425 school year, you know, um wrapped up, as as Mr. Shaw pointed out, we'll have a a pretty good sense then of of where we stand in the fund balance. Um and, you know, maybe we'll get a better sense even by then about
federal funding might be heading. So, all things to kind of watch with anticipation uh and and planning for what might be something a little unusual for us in January depending on you know where we end up but uh you know and then there's
also the factor of you know what what we see happening um you know with our own staff. I know that Mr. Sai over the last couple years has been running various campaigns uh to try to get more notice from staff about their plans for the
future. So sometimes staff turnover has a big impact on on budgets. Uh and you never know what that's going to be until often May or June. Uh but we we work with the association and and we're hopeful that this year maybe we'll get some earlier notice that could help us.
So we'll see how those things all come together. But we we um you know if you've been coming to board meetings and listening, you know we've been working on the 26 27 budget already. So, we're we're starting earlier than ever and we're not alone. Just, you know,
many many towns, many districts are all facing similar situations and some have already gone out and um had questions on their ballot. So, um this while it might be new to us, we haven't done this in many years, it's not it is not something
new. Um and we will spend a lot of time both at the committee level and at board meetings talking about this in the coming months. I mean, I know Jim sent me an email, you know, he was just trying to raise my spirits. So, he sent me an email sharing the uh
the recent announcement about what was going on with the state health benefits program, which uh I think they changed their rates in January if I remember correctly. And they were they were over 30 30 some odd percentary third 36. Yeah. So, that you know, thank
you Jim for that. It was felt good to hear that news. But uh on the upside, we were only 20% uh going up from from last year to to this year. So um I guess we're better off on our own at least for now than in a state health benefits plan. So yeah, it's uh lots of
challenging things going on across many many many districts uh in the state really everybody. So yeah, just just a couple things. So one good point about the the benefits. I mean, us being self-funded has not been a great year, 20% increase, but compared
to what the state is up, I I mean, we're doing phenomenal there. So, it's great that we're self-funded. So, that's working out well. The other interest or not interesting but uh I guess bad news for us um that came up at the last meeting is um the extraordinary aid and
um we basically got the exact same dollars um year-over-year except there was a lot more dollars that we should have gotten. So in the prior year we got 61% of our extraordinary aid funded which was not
great. Um this past year we got 52%. So the state is giving us less lower percentage of extraordinary aid that amounts to probably about 900,000 if not a million somewhere in that range um that we lost there. So just it's going
to be another tough year. Our our goal is not to go out to vote. I mean I think no one wants to do that. So that's the hope. We're going to do everything we can to try to stay away from that. But we're asking the district to look into every possibility of what there is out there. they have to come to us with a
plan of what they can cut, what they can't cut, and why before we do anything with this. Just one more thought to kind of piggy back on that. Um, you know, in my view, we there's a possibility of things maybe turning in a couple years with, you know, with different leadership in
Trenton, also with the fact that some of the health insurance requirements that we operate on now are going to sunset sunset in a year or two. So there could be less restrictive times on the longer term horizon but we got to deal deal with the shorter term obviously and uh there'll be a lot of work about it and
not to belabor the obvious I mean we'll be spending a lot of time on it but there's not a lot of time for the public to be involved because there's maybe three meetings if if we're going to put on question in January before we have to decide in October maybe three maybe four more board meetings tops so keep that in
mind. Anybody else? All right. With that, can I get a motion to adjourn? Janice and Dave, hope you're all enjoying your summer.