Good evening everybody and welcome. We met in exec session. Um we've done this flag salute so I will read the public statement notice. This is a regular meeting of the board of education of Bernard Township. Notice of the time and place of this meeting
was provided and copies of that 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 and the board of education offices. Uh for those members of the public who cannot attend our meeting in person, there is a live
stream available posted on the district website. We very much welcome input from the public. There are two times during regular meetings that 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 is listed on tonight's agenda. Towards the
end of the meeting, there is another public forum to address any matter of public concern related to the schools. When you approach the microphone, please state your name and address. Each statement made 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 of the public to speak. The board reserves the right to set a different time limit for individual comments in 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 the public comment portions of our agenda 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 comment to the extent possible. Any board responds to public comments will generally be addressed during board forum or committee reports. However, all committees 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's not permitted to respond in public to comments about students and employees.
Please also understand the board will 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. if it's necessary
for the board to go into exact session at the end of the evening meeting. We will provide an estimated length of time for the session and whether any action is anticipated to be taken upon returning to the public session. And with that, we are up to our student representative report.
Hi everyone, thank you for joining us on a busy Monday. My name is MJ and I am the Ridge High School representative. Today I'll be going over recent updates to Ridge High School. I'll be going over three recent events that occurred really to better our community. First, the
schoolwide student government. We successfully concluded a season of school spirit with our annual pep rally in collaboration with rich football, our school spirit costumes week, and our annual homecoming games. The football season also had a historic turnout rate
with hundreds of students geared up for school spirit. Students find these annual events to be incredibly memorable to the high school experience and we are grateful to have your financial support in these on divorce. Second, in response to recently shutting
down Google chats, teams and rich students have adapted by utilizing Google classroom or emailing as necessary. For instance, my own speech rich speech and debate team which I am a part of has diverged to Google classroom
over Google chats and our efficiency has not really changed. Although rich students do hope that the ban is temporary, students have again adapted and we 100% understand that those who misuse it need to reflect on their actions.
Lastly, within the student government, we have made reforms to become better liaons for the students. We reopened Ridge reports this year. Ridge reports is a forum where students can voice their concerns, comments, and suggestions for Ridge High School. The
schoolwide student government will read through and address the students on Ridge reports every marking period. We will confer with the Ridge High School administration and use these comments as a basis for beneficial change to our school community.
Additionally, we have mandated impact reports for all of student representatives this year, meaning that all student representatives will be held accountable to bring up student suggestions to the administration, advocate for positive changes and to the
board, as well as ensuring that student needs in regards to fundraising and other school activities are met. In the upcoming winter months, we are looking forward to our first full board of education meeting with the entirety of four student governments. Thank you for
your continual support of our rich high school community. Thank you. Anybody have any any questions or anything for As always, you are welcome to stay, but we also understand if you have a full workload, you are welcome to leave at any time that works for you. Uh we are up to the
superintendence report and there are five items. >> Okay. Thank you Miss White. Um so the first item is our state assessment results. Um we will certainly link this to the minutes. Um these were discussed
in the curriculum committee as well. Um, our second item is our school bus evacuation drills. We have to adopt those as they happen throughout the school year. Uh, we have an overnight trip for a couple of students helping with an uh, National Council of Teachers
of English presentation. Um, our HIP report for October 27th and approving the school nursing plan which has to be done on annual basis outlining uh, our nursing services. Okay. Um, the state assessment results
for the spring of 2025, I'm just going to uh speak about them for a few minutes and give a a bit of a summary. Um, you'll see, like Mr. Marcarian said, them linked in a few places on tonight's agenda. One under the superintendent's report, but also through the curriculum committee minutes that are public and
that Mr. Molinari will speak about later in the meeting. So this report is something we're required to do within 60 days of receipt of the scores. Um as a result we've now um we are now giving two reports. One in the summer which is
the results of the junior uh graduation proficiency assessment results that happened in July and then tonight's report which is part two which are the NJSLA results um for the ninth grade and the 11th grade for the science results.
Um so those specific results are what were reviewed at the August curriculum committee meeting. Um so the full report is here uh and we can certainly entertain any questions from um the public either through a curriculum committee meeting or at a
certain point in this meeting. But the goal of the report is for us to share publicly the results of our students um performance on these assessments and our analysis of those results which includes areas of strength as well as areas of focus. So in the ma in the area of
mathematics um and and I would just say at the beginning we're really pleased with our overall results this year and are very happy to report to you um how well our students and our staff did uh working on this assessment for um for last spring. So in mathematics the
results were extraordinary we feel posting the highest performance in grades three through seven since the assessment's inception. Across all grades, the district continued to outperform the state to outperform the state with an average subgroup increase of five percentage points and notable
gains in the areas of operations and algebraic thinking and modeling and reasoning. Significant progress was seen at both Liberty Corner and Oak Street schools reflecting the positive impact of our daily intervention blocks and targeted instructional supports. We're especially proud of these elementary
result these elementary results achieved during the first year of implementation um of the envision mathematics program performance in algebra 1 our per participation rate in grade nine and a few of our subgroup populations
including our multilingual uh learners are students with disabilities and uh economically disadvantaged students are the groups that warrant some further investigation this year. To do that, we will we have expanded our tutoring opportunities for students at the middle
and the high school. Um, we'll continue our focus on the elementary intervention block and our ongoing collaboration with special services and multilingual education and datadriven analysis um, in order to deepen our understanding of student performance and monitor ongoing
progress. In the area of English language arts, we uh also saw exceptional overall performance with grades four and five achieving record-breaking proficiency rates and all elementary grades surpassing prepandemic achievement
levels. While we celebrate significant gains at the elementary level, including a remarkable 91.6 six proficiency in grade five. We have identified specific areas requiring focused attention in grade three and grade nine where performance declined from previous
years. As I said, similar to math, we've implemented targeted interventions and data analysis systems to address these areas while building on the strong instructional practice practices that produce outstanding results across most grade levels. In the area of science, the assessment is a little bit
different. students are tested only three times in grades five, eight, and 11. Um, and the um but our scores across those three grades uh continue to outperform state averages. We did see um increases in grades five and eight by a
few percentage points and a slight decrease in grade 11 of 1.8%. Um, but with 30% of our juniors participating in that assessment, it is difficult to reach any conclusions about our program or student performance on
the junior science assessment because the students are only tested three times in science um at those those grade levels. Curricular considerations are important when we're looking at the results and thinking about our scope and sequence relative to the topics that are emphasized on the assessment. This is an
area of continued evaluation of our by our science supervisor. Um the other areas we are looking at uh in terms of improving science achievement are similar to the ones I mentioned before including the tutoring program that's now available to all students grades 6
through 12. The last part of the report does speak about the new state assessment that the uh Department of Education announced to the state of New Jersey in the middle of August. So, we are all working to implement a new state
assessment in the spring of 2026. The the um we know some things about the new assessment, including that it is um reported that it will be an adaptive assessment, which will be different than the state assessments that we've been
reporting out on for the last several years. Um however, we don't really know what the format of the test is going to be. All districts are required to field test the new assessment and for us that is this week starting tomorrow in most
of our buildings. Um this field test is something that the state is requiring all districts to do in order to evaluate the test items and finalize the assessment for the spring. Um so for us it is some practice in our um logistics
and organizing the accommodations and the testing around this new platform. And for students, it's an opportunity to see the platform for the first time before they're actually taking the assessment in the spring. Um, so that is uh new on the on our on our plates for
this year and we're doing kind of the best we can. Something that came out very late in the in the summer and just before school opened. Any questions? >> The full report is linked. Um, if you do have any questions, send them to Miss Fox and we can address them at the next
curriculum meeting. Um, and with that, may I get a motion? Dave and and Robin. And a roll call. >> Miss White, >> yes. >> Dr. McHune, >> yes. >> Mr. Molinari, >> yes.
>> Mr. Am, >> yes. >> Miss Mohan, >> yes. >> Miss Curado, >> yes. >> Mr. Shaw, >> yes. >> Mr. Talbet, >> yes. And Mr. Oalanic, >> yes. Okay, we are now up to public comment on agenda items. If you have something, come down and sign in on the clipboard
and state your name and address of the microphone. >> Good evening. My name is Jonathan Lane. I live at 335 Lions. Back in the late 80s, I was on the board. The parents of the baseball players came
to us and asked us to renovate the field. Terrible drainage. The parents of the soccer players came a year later and asked us to provide drainage along the hillside of that that field for much the same
reason. We voted no. I thought I would tell you briefly why. And if the circumstances have changed, that's great. If they haven't changed, then I hope that I hope you've considered the
things that I've got to tell you. Uh, first of all, I walked the fields myself and they the drainage was back in 89 or whatever was bad. Maybe worse than bad.
However, when I we looked into it, those fields were purchased by the that land was purchased by the town using New Jersey Green Acres funds. Those fields belong to the town. They
don't belong to the board of education. The taxpayers money that the board of education gets, we felt was entrust to pay for education at that time. The estimate to fix the baseball field
was the equivalent of 10 10 teachers salaries and benefits. So do you want to lose equivalent of 50 50 classroom sessions
or do the baseball field which we don't own? Another item that mattered to us. It's the same taxpayers. So, do we really care? Anybody can has a right to sign up to
use those fields. We have it. Back in the day, the sign up sheet book was hidden away and Ridge Ridge the athletic department got
first shot at signing up and so they signed up for the time they want. Whether that would would if it was challenged. We didn't explore, but anybody in the state has the right to use grain to you access to grain acres
land back then. Uh on the subject of the soccer field, I discussed with the green acres who the who in the world knows what
department. Um but you need to to make a change in green acres property. You need environmental sign offs. You need the the permitting process is very tough. You can't take
one of the problems was you couldn't take the water that runs that alongside that soccer field and dump it onto what was then at that time the lock property. You can't dump it on your neighbor. and the walk
property itself was purchased with green acre funds later uh with a thought that we would put in. >> Sir, your time is up. >> Okay. Very good. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Hello, this is Vicky Coffin from 63
Woodstone Road. Um I've just wanted to make sure we would when you have the building permit that you're approving for this field that the drainage the ditch that's present there the drainage ditch needs to be cleared all
the way across. There are trees down and a lot of vegetation in it. Um it it looks like it will work if it is cleared. I just wouldn't didn't see anything about it being cleared as part of the project. So, I was just making
sure that happened. And then um someone mentioned that both the board and the town would make sure it stays clear. So, thank you very much for that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hi, Karen. Sorry, Karen Fischer at 15
Homestead Road. I I just wanted to say I love my neighborhood and my neighbors. So, I think um taking into consideration concerns that they may have lived in our neighborhood longer is wonderful. Um and please continue to do so. But as a parent of a student athlete, I also just
wanted to say thank you for bringing this project forward. um you know, you see a lot of injuries caused by fields that aren't properly maintained that impact our students long term. So, um as someone whose child can walk home after
practice in the upcoming years, I have an eighth grader that that is uh most likely will be using those. just in general for the student athletes in the district and the visiting um students who come to play on our fields as well. I just wanted to say thank you for making that investment to ensure that
those facilities are safe for all of our athletes to do that. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Is there anyone else for public comment? Okay, I will close public comment then. Uh, we are up to approval of minutes.
May I have a motion? Brett, Janice, and a roll call. >> Miss White, >> yes. >> Dr. Mchune, >> yes. >> Mr. Molinari, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes.
>> Miss Mohawk. Yes, >> Miss Curado. >> Yes, >> Mr. Shaw. >> Yes, >> Mr. Talbot. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Malanic. >> Yes, >> we're up to finance. Um, and there is a a report, Dave. >> Yep. There's a report and then I'll go
through the items. So, first the report from September 23rd. Um, a lot of these have been addressed either in both last meeting or other times, but I'll go through them real quick. So, um, we got a donation, thank you again, from the Ridge Runners Club. Um, they donated a
pole vault mats, um, that were valued at over 21,000. We voted and approved that last meeting. Um, we continue to look at our health benefits and the costs of that. Um, and we did again this past month, um, on Friday. Uh, July and
August are running over, but you can't just look at a couple months. September looks like it was running under, so we're doing fairly well there. And we got rebates um just recently, which came in um better than expected. Um debt
service, it's not due for five years. Um but we are looking at it now. There's a lot of things, a lot of reasons we need to look at it sooner than later. So, we continue to review that. Um the varsity field project uh we talked about that a lot already and I'm going to mention it
again when we vote on in a few minutes. Um we also did a budget comparative analysis. So the com committee reviewed district costs against comparable districts using publicly available information including student teacher
ratios, student administrator ratios per people expenditures in areas such as classroom instruction, support services, administration and maintenance. The analysis showed that our district is very comparable to peer districts in nearly all categories. The committee
will continue to use these metrics to monitor appropriate spending. Um, next, the committee reviewed our fund balance projections, which remain largely unchanged. The district expects a 2.3 million lower fund balance in the next
budget cycle. Administration continues to explore options to address the anticipated shortfall, including not replacing staff who have retired or left during the current year. Um, and then again, I think we mentioned these last time, but just as a reminder, uh, we're
looking at the capital projects for next year. We're looking at, um, Leefield track is, um, in urgent need of repair. So, we're looking at doing that. And then, um, we're going to do at least one roof project next year over the summer
and one parking lot. That's it for the report. >> Thank you. Does anybody have questions? So, um, just to make sure everyone noticed, um, item nine on the agenda, uh, if there are any questions, Mr. and
I um can certainly jump in for some explanation, but in short, item nine is the project that was mentioned by the public here. Um with regard to the Ridge High School Varsity Complex, um the base
bid that you'll note there is 2,749. That base bid is designed to provide drainage improvements on all three fields, which is the uh varsity soft the varsity baseball field and the varsity
soccer field. In addition, the base bid includes a renovation of the natural grass field of the soccer field into a new artificial turf field instead. Uh there's some lighting improvements that are strictly along the pathways. Um
there is no lighting for the actual uh fields of play anywhere. However, the base bid does include uh conduit being installed underground uh around the varsity uh artificial turf soccer field.
Um no light stansions, no light poles, no lights of any kind, but there will be conduit installed in the ground uh for the possibility of lighting in the future. Um there are two alternates
included uh in the base bid of 2,749130. So the base plus two alternates is that figure. Um the two alternates are associated with some fencing. One fence is around the soccer field itself. Um
there's a fence there now that's in significant disrepair. Uh so the time to do it makes sense when we're redoing the field. Uh and the second fence that's included uh in that total uh fund is the fence that represents the backs stop of
the varsity um baseball field. The varsity softball field back stop was replaced handful of years ago when we renovated that field, but the varsity baseball field back stop
hasn't been addressed in quite some time and it's on our long range uh list of repairs to do. So, uh, we included that as an alternate and, uh, would like to take advantage of that here as well. If there's any questions, Jim or I can try to answer them,
>> Dave. >> And just I want to mention two other items that we're voting on to number seven. So, that is a change order related to the Mount Prospect roof replacement. Uh, there's been quite a few issues with that vendor and we are
reducing the amount by 28,000 we're going to build them for. And then number 10 on here, um the Cedar Hill roof where we have we're approving an architect about 59,000 to look at that roof as well.
>> Anybody have any questions? >> Okay, there are 17 items. I have a motion and Keith and a roll call. >> Miss White, >> yes. >> Dr. McHugh, >> yes. >> Mr. Molinari, >> yes.
>> Mr. Yes. >> Miss Mohawk. >> Yes. >> Miss Curado. >> Yes. >> Mr. Shaw. >> Yes. >> Mr. Talbot. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Malik. >> Yes. >> Okay. We're up to personnel. Um, and there is a report. Is there anything that you can actually report out on? >> Yeah, there's actually a couple things I
can report out on. Um, one of them is, um, a slight modification to the, um, configuration of the campus monitors, um, at Ridge High School and, um, several secretarial positions, which resulted in cost savings. Um, so instead
of having eight campus monitors working four and a half hours a day, four days a week, um, and they're staggered, so they're not all there at the same time to cover, you know, I mean, the school day. Um, now there are six campus monitors, each working four hours a day, five days a week. Um, and there was also
savings from um reducing some full-time positions to part-time um at Ridge. And the next item is um lunch um aid and recess aid at Cedar Hill. Cedar Hill school has uh over a hundred more
students than the other schools. And so um each of the other schools, including Cedar Hill, has had six lunch aids that each work three hours a day. um usually with three inside the cafeteria and three outside at recess. So at Cedar Hill, because of the larger population,
we are going to add a seventh lunch aid. Um let's see. And then we just reviewed the open positions um that are all listed on the district website and Mr. Sy gave an update, which is always way out of date by the time we get around to our meeting of who he's been interviewing and
hiring. So if you want to see the the positions that are still open, you can go to the website and check them out. Um, and that's it. >> Okay. Uh, there are 22 items. May I get a motion? >> I just had one quick question. Uh, for
the Cedar Hill for the lunch aid, is that for indoor or outdoor? The extra one. >> Um, it's well, they're usually outside, but if there if there's indoor recess, then they're spread inside. >> Okay. Now, can I get a motion?
Janice Brent and Ro >> Miss White. >> Yes. >> Dr. McHune. >> Yes. >> Mr. Molinari. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Miss Mohawk. >> Yes. >> Miss Carado. >> Yes. >> Mr. Shaw. >> Yes. >> Mr. Talbot. >> Yes. And Mr.
>> Yes. >> We're up to policy and there is a report. >> Yes. um for policy uh you know for the school year col we wanted to um discuss you know a reminder that religious holidays are excused days for students
um students do have one full day to make up work for each day they're absent and you know we teachers are encouraged to limit major assignments assessments during religious holidays students should reach out proactively uh to the teacher for religious holidays
uh we did revise the 2026 uh school district calendar. Uh we wanted to clarify we're just simply adjusting Eid by one day from March 10th to March 9th. Uh that's after consulting the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge. Uh so that was
a slight change uh for the school year calendar 2028 to 2029 uh is the proposed calendar and the BOE reviewed its current calendar policies regarding holidays and did not holidays and did not recommend any changes.
uh with school use of facilities. Um that's something we are currently working uh with uh administration to come up with guidelines regarding the field use as it relates to management of sound and lighting. Uh the policy committee recognizes the priority needs of student sponsored activities versus
outside rentals. Uh the process will take some time as the committee wants to understand the field use of various stakeholders. Consideration will be given to sound noise levels and field lighting. So, in other words, it's it's a work in progress, but we are working on a policy and uh for personal property
as well. We're also working uh on a policy to cover a teacher's personal property of damage during student altercation. And uh that is something again that will be hopefully in the very near future. That's it. Our next policy meeting is uh
coming up. >> Does anybody have any questions or comments that they want to make regarding the report? Keith. >> Yeah. And just a comment. See a lot of people from the Homestead Village area, you know, have concerns about the fields and uh you know, I hope uh you can see
that the board has listened um and taken in your feedback um as far as already heard about the lights at this time. Although the district maintains its flexibility depending on what the future may bring, but also looking at your noise concerns too. So we we're revisiting that. So um we heard you when
you came up and uh we are working to uh be Even better neighbors than before. >> Okay. Uh there are three items. May I get a motion? >> Keith and Dave. And a roll call.
>> Miss White. >> Yes. >> Dr. Mun. >> Yes. >> Mr. Molinari. >> Yes. >> Mr. Am. >> Yes. >> Miss Mohawk. >> Yes. >> Miss Curado. >> Yes. >> Mr. Shaw. >> Yes. >> Mr. Talbot. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Omalanic? >> Yes. We're up to to curriculum when there is
a report. >> Yes. Um so one item on the board agenda tonight is textbook. We talked about that last month and that'll be come up to a board vote tonight, I believe. Um Miss Fox in her uh in her overview of the state assessment report um hit u
many of the beats that you see in the uh curriculum minutes. Uh, one thing, um, uh, Alison Reed, the uh, one of the supervisors for the special services, she talked about, uh, students, uh, who take the with significant learning needs who take the DM in place of the NJSLA. Uh, this is a
population about 1% of the student population. Uh, these students are not benchmarked against others, but they're evaluated on their own individual progress. Um, Miss Fox also talked about the new uh state assessment that the district is currently field testing and uh you I
just want to reemphasize that the state manage the additional stress they're putting on districts like Burners Township and really all the districts because you know now students are field testing it this fall. They're actually going to be actually testing it this spring. This is on top of all the regular tests they already do they
already are required to do. So um the mandates from Trenton come fast and furious and uh it does not make things easier for the school districts. Uh one thing we discussed was computer applications in high school. Uh this is a course that is currently being run. There are 24 students this fall, another
24 this spring. Uh the course was utilizing an online version of the textbook that was of the textbook that was discontinued. Um it's a very activity based course, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, that sort of thing. And the teacher has been supplementing uh with other online exercises in lie of
the discontinued text. Uh this is neither ideal nor sustainable. Uh online access to a new version of the text is available for $4,500 and will allow the course to run while a district explores more permanent options for the future. Uh we talked about a dual enrollment
opportunity for course genocide and human behavior. Now Ridge currently runs a genocide course. Uh there was discuss discussion around adapting an existing gener genocide course at Keen University for dual enrollment. Adapting the course should circumvent some of the challenges
the district has had in developing other dual enrollment courses. Uh for instance, adapting an existing course at Keen should be less of a lift for the district versus modifying a ridge course to fit an outside institution's criteria such as the district has experienced with Ritton Valley Community College. Um
the interest level among the students is still being evaluated. And that's the report. Okay. >> Anybody have any questions? Okay, great. We have one item. Can I have a motion?
Robin, Keith, and a roll call. >> Miss White, >> yes. >> Dr. McHune, >> yes. >> Mr. Molinari, >> yes. >> Mr. Amin, >> yes. >> Miss Mohawk, >> yes. >> Miss Curado, >> yes. >> Mr. Shaw, >> yes. >> Mr. Talbot, >> yes. >> And Mr. >> Yes.
>> And it brings us to wellness. And there's a report. >> Yes. The committee met on September 24th. Um the first item we discussed was the pride survey data. Uh Caitlyn Kartaceio of the Bernards Township Health Department shared the results of
the parent resource institute for drug education or pride survey conducted in winter of 2024. The pride survey has been administered in thousands of schools nationwide, including in Bernard's Township in 2019, 2022, and
2024. For 2026, the survey will be rebranded as the PSUS survey. The Bernards Township School District and Bernard's Township Health Department administer the survey to identify youth substance
use and school climate issues specific to students in our schools. The full report is linked in the wellness committee meeting minutes. Some highlights include a total of 916 students in sixth, eighth, and 10th, and
12th grades took the 2024 survey, representing 72% of all sixth and eighth graders, and 55.4% of all 10th and 12th graders. Local rates of substance use are lower than
national averages, reflecting strong prevention, parental involvement, and community norms. Alcohol and marijuana remain priority concerns, especially as national attitudes shift toward
normalization and legalization. Mental health and peer norms are critical areas of focus. The district has strong pro protective factors to build on but must stay proactive in education prevention and
support services. Following the presentation, committee members discussed the possibility of tracking survey data longitudinally and exporting it to the district's platform. Members also asked if additional survey
questions could distinguish between medical use and recreational use of marijuana and edibles. Another member asked if it is possible to identify a correlation between extracurricular and religious participation and substance
use. Miss Cartaceio will look into these requests and share her findings with the district. The committee also discussed what, if any, implications the survey results and district drug screening data might have
on existing board policy. Mr. Mararyian and Dr. Lazik will follow up on that. The committee also discussed joy roots training followup. During the 202425 school year, William Ann and school
staff and administrators participated in professional development workshops and training which provided strategies to address school-based incidents that affect building culture and climate. Over the last school year, 50 William
Ann staff members were trained. And this year, 80 staff members are now using community circles for classroom instruction and for Viking Voices character education meetings with seventh and eighth grade students. This year, the staff who were trained will
turnkey the strategies they learned to additional William Annen staff. The turnkey community circles training also aligns with new state department of education alternatives for teacher evaluation. Starting in September, highly qualified
teachers have the opportunity to use one of their two annual observations to teach a professional development class, undertake action research, or participate in reflective peer-to-peer observation sessions. Miss Fox and Miss
Udo will like to use a portion of the district's title two or title four allocated funding to provide virtual coaching sessions for staff trainers throughout this year. They will request a co a quote from Greg Lucas of Joy
Roots for this coaching which they estimate will cost between 2,000 and $4,000. The committee supports this request. Uh we also discussed wellness committee student council school visits. Uh we will be scheduling visits to Liberty
Corner Mount Prospect and Oak Street schools to meet with student council representatives um during the upcoming wellness committee meetings throughout the school year. And the next wellness committee meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, October 30th.
>> Um and Janice, also we're starting that meeting actually at the school, right? Is it Oak Street that we're going to? >> Yes, we will be at Oak Street School this Thursday. >> We'll go to Oak Street. Um, any questions for Janice? Okay. Uh, we're up to facilities.
>> Yep. The committee met on October 8th. We reviewed the status of the work orders and were very satisfied. No notable issues uh were discussed. The township fields for use of school
sports was uh tabled until the next meeting because of availability. We reviewed the performance of school buses, emphasized that notice must be provided by the bus company when there are issues or or um are going to be
late. No notable issues were found, but we'll review again next meeting. We reviewed the varsity field project which we already talked about um and voted on discussed uh that the lights and poles
were only alternatives. Um discussed that the scour hole was moved to further improve and direct the flow of water. Uh mentioned that the policy committee should review and update the sound policy.
There were several evergreens added and then talked about the projects that Dave mentioned earlier about the Mount Prospect roof deductions. Talked about the summer 2026 projects including the ridge track, one of the
parking lots and Cedar Hill roof. The direct install, we're still waiting on the state and the next meeting will be November 20th. Anybody have any questions? Okay. Uh, do we have any leaison on
reports? Okay, >> Robin. Um I just wanted to briefly say that um a number of us attended the New Jersey School Board's Association workshop last week and um one of the things um listening to the commissioner of education talking about all the
different things the department of ed has tried to do to be responsive to feedback from districts you know and they're doing some good things trying to update different systems and things but you know what when Keith was talking about mandates from um Trenton and um hitting on districts you know like
there's there's still a lot um that we have to do and a lot of it is not funded, you know, by the state. So, I think um Synthy and I were talking and Janice and Brett at I think the last day about doing more advocacy for our district, you know, to try to get our voice heard, but we we can't do that
really as board members um without the community also, you know, reaching out to our representatives and to the DOE about some of these issues. So, it's just something that we should, you know, think about and um try to have more discussions. >> Okay. Uh, that brings us to um public
comment on non-aggenda items. If anybody has anything that they'd like to come down and talk about, state your name and address, and please sign in at the clipboard. So, I think I probably should have talked about this first, but uh I'm Marissa Tayak. I live in 11 Lake Road. Uh, good evening, members of the board
of education. Uh, I initiated a petition calling for the re-evaluation of our school calendar to close the district on major religious holidays currently observed by minority student populations. This petition currently has 230 signatures. I want to be clear from the start. I'm not asking for more days
off overall. I'm asking the board to thoughtfully re-evaluate our current calendar structure and shift the existing a lotment of non-instructional days to better align with the needs of all families in Bernard's Township. I understand that the school calendar is a complex issue and I want to acknowledge
the survey conducted a few years ago that resulted in moving our spring break to a separate week from surrounding districts ostensibly to provide a cheaper week for vacations and giving one holiday off per year per religion. But a fundamental truth about broad
community surveys is that the majority will always win. While this approach works for a matter of convenience, it fails when it comes to matters of representation and fundamental respect for minority groups. The current calendar calendar policy which separates days like Good Friday from the established spring break actually
results in a greater number of days off spread across the year. This fragmentation complicates child care particularly for parents who work in neighboring school districts that operate on a different calendar. Aligning our calendar with major religious obser observances and consequently with surrounding districts
provides significant logistical benefit to our entire working community, not just the families celebrating that that holiday as it also makes it more likely for students to be a to be able to participate in valuable camps or programs that take place during standard school breaks. But the most profound
issue is the message that we send to our students. When schools remain open on a day of major religious significance for a segment of our community, it subtly but powerfully suggest to all students that the beliefs of their classmates are not important enough to warrant respect. While our current policy allows for
excused absences, which is appreciated, it is not enough. These students still miss out on crucial classroom instruction, miss extracurriculars, and are burdened with making up work, adding unnecessary stress to their days. An unexcused absence in this context makes students feel like second-class citizens
on a day of profound importance to their family. When we recognize a major holiday, we create a learning opportunity for every student to understand different points of view. It's an organic opportunity to teach tolerance and kindness. Some of my best childhood memories are celebrating and
learning about different holidays with friends whose family celebrated something different from my own. Closing the schools on these days sends an undeniable positive message. Your beliefs matter and we respect your differences. By creating a truly inclusive calendar, we affirm the value of every single student in this district
and foster a community of mutual respect that extends far beyond the classroom walls. We recognize that closing for every single religious holiday may not be feasible, but that does not absolve us as a community of the responsibility to continuously strive to do better for our student population. I urge the board
to review the petition and re-evaluate the way major religious holidays are handled within the district for future years. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, we'll close public comment. Uh, anybody have anything for board
forum? Okay, then with that, can I get a motion to adjurnn and keep? Thank you everybody.