Mr. Sai, Mr. Carpenter, >> here's running a little late. >> Yeah. Yeah, you text. >> Can we please stand? >> Can we stand for the pledge of allegiance, please? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Is Marco. >> Oh, I never He's got it. >> Yes. >> Um,
now we need to go into exec >> Yes. >> Can I have a motion to go into executive session? >> Motion. >> Thank you. Give Marco a second. Board of Education at Branchburg. Please be advised that this and all meetings of the board are open to the public and
media consistent with the open public's meetings act and that advanced notice required therein has been provided. This is a meeting of the board of education of Branchburg at which formal action may be taken. The public will have an opportunity to be heard as shown on the agenda. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance.
>> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> And I will hand it over to Dr. Burton
for the superintendent report. So, we have a we'll start off this evening with our February uh employee spotlight. We have a uh number of them. We have actually a couple of our employees. So, we'd like to be able to acknowledge them if they would like to come up because we'd like to take a
picture at the end. So, our first is Katherine Olis, uh, Whiten kindergarten teacher. And again, the the participants, the the members of our the staff, families, um, who nominated her said, "Through kindness, collaboration, and dedication, Katie creates a
classroom where students feel supported, inspired, and excited to learn." Congratulations, Kelly. KATHERINE UM, next is uh John uh Godshock from Stonybrook. He is Stonyie Brook's skate
teacher. John's energy, humor, and commitment inspire students to be their best while bringing positivity to the entire Stony Brook community. So, congratulations to John. NEXT is Jamie Yakenek, BCMS language arts teacher. She's attending this
evening. The nominee mentions that the nominator said Jamie creates a welcoming and safe space for students, helping them feel connected and supported at BCMS. So, CONGRATULATIONS. And finally, uh, Samad Mobley, who is
our director of buildings and grounds. Samad's dedication, reliability, and hands-on problem solving help keep our school safe, welcoming, and running smoothly. Congratulations, SAM. Point that way. Yeah, there you you I think you walked
into the background. >> Is that it? >> Oh, I'm on it. >> You have nothing else or Yeah. You want to do that or you want to do this? >> Okay. Okay. Um, so we do have one voting
item under the superintendence report. So tonight we're very very happy to be approving a superintendent contract. So Mr. Kevin McPeek who is in attendance today. I think we started out with like 43 candidates and Mr. McPeak kind of
rose to the top. I think he's going to be a wonderful asset to the district, to the community, uh, to the teachers, to the staff. I think the mindset that he's going to bring to the district, the the relationship building he's going to bring to the district is going to be something that we've
been missing a little bit here and I think the community and all the stakeholders in the community are going to welcome that with open arms. So, we're very very happy to have you here as long as we everyone approves this. Anyway, um so
uh can I have a roll call? >> Mr. Blouse? >> Yes. >> Dr. Celebrity? Yes, >> Mr. Halenbeck. >> Yes, >> Mr. Krishna Murdy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Mater. >> Yes, >> Miss Smith. >> Yes, >> Mr. Tuma. >> Yes, >> Mr. Sai. >> Yes, >> Mr. Carpierre.
>> YES, >> you can say something or we can take a recess. It's up to you. >> I'll say something. I don't know exactly which way to face me because for the last month and a half I'm sitting right here.
So I'm coming and I'm honored and I extremely excited about this opportunity. Um obviously I spent a lot of time with the the board late at night. Um and we're a lot earlier than we've been in the past. Uh I bet the
administration um there were teachers here. I don't know if you're teachers or not, but um my goal is to get to know all of you and to really spend the first few months getting into your
room, seeing you, watching you work, watching you work with the kids, supporting the the administration, getting to know the community. Um and you know, and that process actually is starting tomorrow. Uh I've been talking with Dr. burn and and we're going to try to find times and opportunities for me
to I start July 1st, but I'm really excited about getting in earlier to to get to meet you informally, have conversations with you. Um, and then hit the ground running July 1st. I mean, it'll be here before we know it. You know, we're soon as April hits, the year
is pretty much over. But um it uh again I when I talked to my my board last night about it I'm I'm glad I got approved because my board president told the entire board and uh you know first thing I did so he told you about my pink hair.
>> Yes. >> And uh hair doesn't grow as fast as you think. >> And uh and those are the things I love to do. I love to be again though it's a central office position. I love being a part of the buildings um and seeing what the kids are doing. See what you the
teachers are doing with the kids. Um so you will see me around a lot. I want to be visible. I want to be um someone you know, someone the kids have an idea who it is. Um listen, it it helps that I'm 68. But um I I but I I do want to I want
to see you working and and interacting with the students. I want to see the administrators working with you and interacting with you and the kids. So, um, I it's it's still kind of surreal, but I, you know, and and tomorrow's going to be an emotional day. You know, I tell my staff with Alexandria,
a lot of great relationships there and and that's also a part that of this position that's been so important to me, relationships that I'm I'm able to create and and um so leaving one place, but it's it's a new beginning. It's a great beginning. I'm I'm very very
excited about it. It's um it's kind of what I've always wanted to do, be a KA superintendent and um I don't know if you've read my bio or not, but it's all my experience has been in elementary and middle school. So, it's uh it's a lot of fun and I I I can't wait to get started.
Um obviously, I want to make sure things are left well where I am now and in transition, but I want you know, again, I I don't want you first to be someone's here. I want you to know exactly who I am, you understand who I am, learn a little bit about me, and I'm hoping
beginning now that I start to learn a lot about this district and and you guys. So again, thank you very much. I look forward to working with all of you, and I'm extremely excited to work with all of you. So, thank you VERY >> SO, we're just going to take a 5 10
minute break. There's some refreshments. Help yourself. Um, and anybody who wants to meet Kevin, just go up there, run, and you can measure yourself against him or something. This evening, Miss Borhees and I would like to present the preliminary budget
for the 2627 school year by way of an agenda. This evening, we'll address the priorities. Again, you've had the opportunity to see and they we recognize that the they should fit the larger picture of the strategic vision visioning and that being uh through our
developed through our district goals. So, I'll just go back and do a quick review of those. We'll highlight what's in the budget, provide some specifics on the expenditures, revenues, and the district tax impact, and finally share the timeline for the process from now
until the county submission. So, just to give you a sense as to the budget process, you remember we did the uh we start with budget managers late fall and into uh January. We we start beginning to connect with budget
managers. Uh the BOE board's finance and facilities committee meets until we are able to put together the draft budget. We did that at our January 22nd meeting. Opportunities for the public to add uh insights into that process. additional finance facilities um until we get to a
balanced budget. And this point we've had the opportunity to uh and we'll hear a little bit about the state aid. We'll talk about the the waiverss that we are and essentially what we need to be able to do find efficiencies uh to cull down to a balanced budget that is part of the preliminary budget that is being
presented this evening. So just to give you a quick rundown and these are the budget priorities. Uh the goal is up there. You can read it. I won't um read it to you, but as a district again, it should be aligned to the district goals. Just as a reminder, uh the priority for goal one was the
technology, specifically annual contracts with GoG Guardian. Beacon is a 247 project product that we use for filtering and monitoring. Uh as well as Hipster for anti-bullying and ASAP is our threat assessment software. With
regard to special ed, I talked uh at and um we've talked about in curriculum and instruction programs need to be the needs of all of our students um to address the the needs of um curriculum
and program state mandates and finally curriculum and instruction. Um there will be annual subscriptions for AI platforms as part of the AI initiative. In goal two under CNI, again, we'll be identifying a program to support social emotional learning. Uh there are
curriculum revisions again specifically in ELA that we're going to be need to mandated to complete uh over the summer. We're also looking to revise a set of courses at the middle school as well as multi-tered systems of support professional development. Again, this is a proactive comprehensive framework used in schools to provide academic and
behavioral and social emotional supports. And finally, uh, we've mentioned that we are putting together essentially a a special ed self assessment in preparation for the evaluation at the state level in in subsequent years, but we're going to start with uh doing our own self
assessment. So, as a result, there may be program needs following that um essentially a self assessment. With regard to goal three, we'll continue to enhance the district's website, look for greater community partnerships, and to share services. And
I'll mention that one of the things that we want to be able to do is to share services or share staff um with Somerville looking for efficiencies. And one of the ways in which I've met with M and have conversations with Mr. Leiscoco, uh superintendent over in Somerville. So, I think again, I've I've
I've often said to you as the board, but also to Mr. Labiscoco over in Somerville that the more that we can as a district work K12 in concert with Somerville, the better we are. And again, it's one of the ways we find efficiencies.
And then finally, we're also anticipating some expenses as it relates to the district's moving forward with our second attempt at projects for referendum 2.0. More to come on that. Finally, with uh goal four, number of areas. These include cameras um and
other security measures. I will mention that we're also exploring additional security officers at our other two schools. We're currently reviewing again as I mentioned the mental health and well-being programs for students. There are projects under the non-referendum repairs and projects. They kind of fall
in those realms of parking lots, plumbing projects, painting, the BCMS gym, uh, main gym floor needs repairing, and the handicap lift over at Stonybrook that needs to be upgraded. And again, as part of our fleet management, we're also
looking to purchase two additional buses to replace the buses that really truly have met their usable lifespan. Um, with regard to personnel, we need to meet our salary and benefits obligations, particularly as we are just rounding out our newly approved contract and also maintaining our cyber security
protection through software purchases. And so what is uh what is in the budget and so essentially how did we get to? There are specifics again that were included in the final version of the of the balance budget by way of revenues. We received an additional approximately
237,000 in state aid. We took advantage of health the healthcare adjustment waiver. Do want to just mention that health care costs uh were up 27.5% prescriptions were up 25%. Um we utilize from funds from our
tuition, capital and emergency reserves. Again that these had been previously set aside for such a time as this. As far as efficiencies, uh programs vary from year to year and we have uh to budget as programs and students needs change. So staff have been repurchased repurposed
to meet the needs for 2627. Uh we've had the opportunity to make a few technology purchases this year to help to uh address the increases that we've been anticip we we have been told will occur in July of one. And finally,
the admin team met and conucted a really detailed analysis of district programs, building needs to prioritize the most pressing needs, eventually getting to um that balanced budget. So, do want to just talk about, you know, the um the
funds in general before I turn it over to Miss Vorhees. So, again, the budget and audit are comprised of multiple funds. Fund 10, again, as a reminder, is the general fund, also referred to as our operating budget. FUD fund 20. This tracks again our grants or donations is
our title grants and budgeting specifically relates to federal funding such as special ed IDA NCLB uh title one funds. And then finally fund 40 refers to our debt service obligations. for the purposes of tonight's presentation as it
relates to the general fund uh specifically although you will see the breakdown in the actual um resolution that does the breakdown of the tax impact uh the budget submission that will include 20 and funds 40 but for tonight's purposes it's it's fund 10 and
also adjusted budget f figures that you'll be seeing referred to in the presentation are or for comparison and they don't necessarily include the incumbrances carried over from prior years. So with that kind of setting the stage for going to talk through some of more of the details and I'm going to ask
Miss Vorhees to come and talk a little bit about the budget revenues. I don't dare say this is my last budget ever because I always end up eating those words. So for tonight, I think this is my 36th budget presentation of my career. Having said that, I'm I'm
happy to be here to share the breakdown of revenues with all of you. Um you'll see here in front of you the breakdown to the left of the revenue source and then you'll see a comparison from the 2526 budget. The way the state breaks down their documents is as of
February 1st. So any transfers we've done any increases in grants any changes from when the budget was vote not voted on approved from 2526 till the present time. This column represents those numbers. You'll see here the levy. This
is the base from last year that they they the state allow us to increase by 2%. That was 48,453470. And included last year was an enrollment increase as well as a health adjustment.
That becomes your new base for 2627. State aid last year 4,365479. That does include an estimated amount of what we predict to be 400,000. and um
extraordinary aid. I'm sorry I lost my word. Uh semi is was predicted to be 4,241. It was the first year we didn't have a waiver. Uh we've kicked that off and now we're in our second year. Budgeted fund balance. This is an area that concerns me greatly for Branchburg.
A million five. I just went the wrong way. Gotcha. A million5. What this is is it's saying that we will un we will not spend a million5 from our 2526 budget to
support next year's budget. You'll I'll talk about that in a minute. But we are working very hard, Dr. Burton and I to bring that number down because as budgets get tighter and tighter, it's very very hard to not have that excess available any longer because we're very
tight with how we're doing things. We budget for tuitions that come in um from other schools. We have preschool program and we also have our wonderful teacher of the deaf that allows us to take in some additional funds for her
work at another school. Facility rentals miscellaneous is your bank interest transportation sharing with others. Our program is very extensive here in Branchburg. I'm very proud of the work they do. Many tiers. We not only do um
our own school, we do Somerville, we um coordinate with Readington on some events, we coordinate with other districts, we coordinate with the recck department. So, we're uh very active in the area of supporting all all areas in transportation. Uh last year we had a
deposits a cap reserve of $1,000. We're required to put that in as an estimate for interest. use of reserves last year was uh tuition 1.1 million and 790,000 of that number was for capital projects. Moving forward to 2627
you can easily see the increase. Um we were very worried about what health benefit increase was going to do to us and you can see here the only adjustment we're taking and that we were allowed to take is for health benefits. Our actual
health benefits went up 2.5 in change. We maxed out at 2.3 to take for the increase in the levy. Moving to state aid um 237,000 as Dr. Burton shared with us
that also is including extraordinary aid semi again second year we've increased. These are numbers the state gives us on what they feel we should collect based on our usage and what the state program for the it's a special education Medicaid initiative. So any kids that
receive Medicaid and we also provide services the district gets back money. Budgeted fund balance here you'll see um Dr. Burton and I are attempting to do it's a little bit of creative financing. It's not very easy to explain, but we're
going to try to only use a million3 in our operating budget and we're going to put 200,000 and you'll see it below under deposit to cap reserve that went from 1,000 to 201,000. So, we're still utilizing a million5,
but I'm saying that our operating budget to support the following year when I will not be here will only be a million3. And what needs to happen is moving forward and when I transition your new BA in I will have a very serious conversation with them on moving
this number further and further because together with the tuition reserves which I shared with you were 1.1 million and the 1.5 million the last two years I had to save if you will or not spend 2.6 million or we had to make more revenues
than we predicted. It's very very very difficult to do again as budgets get tighter and tighter and we are getting tighter and tighter. This is my second year with your budget and I can assure you this year was was tough to to scrape through and get us balanced, but we did
it. Facility rentals are going down. Uh excuse me, tuitions went down slightly because last year we had one specialed kid that we no longer have with us. But this is just what we're budgeting. Other schools could come at us and say, "You have a great program. can we send our kids or those types of things can
happen. Again, these are just predicted numbers. Facility rentals are going down. Last year, handoverhand and Midland did not want to use as many spaces as they have in the past. So, we are seeing a small decrease in that. We are doing very well in the area of
interest in the bank right now. Uh that is still a very conservative number. Lots of variables here. So I went back the last three or four years and felt that this was still safe to support us. Transportation, we're still estimating
about 60,000. I spoke to you about the deposit to capital reserve to help with the next year's uh budgeted fund balance. Use of reserves in this column. I was able to I um learned that
emergency reserves you guys have 120,000 very difficult to get them out of there. I learned that if we do security upgrades, we can utilize. So, I did use six about 50,000 of that 55,000 of that, not all of it. I have uh 1.1 million and
I have I believe it's uh 265,000 in capital reserves totaling 59,964 437 an increase of 3.157497. That is a very large increase I know. talk to you about the expenditures. You
um for public school districts, there is no choice. Your revenues must equal your expenditures. If you don't, you get put in the newspaper and you get investigated and I get walked out in handcuffs. So, I can assure you this balance, this budget is balanced and the county office will review it in the next
week or two. Take a look at the programs. Um, I like the way we break this out because it's very clear to see all the very different um areas that the school district budget covers from regular programs, special ed support services, which includes health
guidance, um other related uh services, athletic co-curricular, curriculum, instruction, administration, tuition, transportation, buildings and grounds, benefits, equipment, and construction. Two areas I wanted to point to that are
pretty important are your tuition account. It is not only your added district. That is mainly your send receive relationship with Somerville. So that's a very high number. It's higher than your regular program instruction uh
percentage of the budget. And the other one of course is the benefits line which we spoke about. I have a question. That tuition also is that out of district as well? >> It is. >> Do you know the breakdown of what's what? >> I do.
>> How much would out of district nurses? Uh, Somerville is 12.2, public school special ed 1.6. Votech regular ed 86,000. Votech special ed 65,000. We have a uh Mercer County school that
we send to 139,000. Our private schools are 2.4 million. And we pay our charter schools as well 198,000. >> So it cost us more to educate the 9 through 12 students in Somerville than
the rest of everyone else here. Is that 12 million versus 11? Okay. >> Yes. just clarify. >> Well, if you include special education, maybe not. >> No, I think you said 12 million just for special anyway.
>> And they're they're included in our um another line for tuition. >> I have a question in construction. Um is it that 2526 was just a larger number or do we really did we really cut it by almost 50%. >> So what happens is um there's there's
twofold to that. If there are any issues, we can ask the board to take money out of capital reserve at any time and do the project. What happens is is though we have so many projects like right now we know we have the roof here at BCMS. That's one. We have some other issues with the gym
at BCMS uh also going on uh different ones. Many of the projects that we need done. I would never recommend you in isolation fix three HVAC's. If you're going to do them, you should do the whole hallway for efficiency purposes
and economies of scale in finding the best price. But that is probably $2 million in a project. Dr. Burton and I had a lengthy discussion about this and we feel we're so close to November right now if we can get these items in the
referendum. If that doesn't happen, then the board will need to start taking out and doing other pick and choose which projects has have to happen. Um
we we discussed with you all during the Stony Brook issue that these are these are units that are old and at any moment any one of them could have an issue again. We do have capital reserves. We have 5 million in capital reserves, which is decent, but 5 million doesn't
take care of a 40 million, 50 million, 60 million, $70 million referendum items. If you were to break that apart into the needs of the efficiency of the building versus the Stonybrook edition, you still don't have enough money to do them all. So, it's not that it's a
decrease. It's just that we're not going to do we're not putting in the budget as much to get done knowing full well we have a solar panel removal, we have a roof project, we have a couple other things going on and this is as much we could bite off at this time without
again the cost factors involved in not doing bigger things all at once. Did that answer your question, N? >> Yes. Thanks. >> Can I ask a question on the tuition again? I understand that or I don't
Well, I should say I have read that a high school age group is higher cost than the lower age groups. Is that correct in your experience? >> Yes. >> And is there a certain percentage that you find that
>> like is this higher than what you would expect? Usually when you're when you're looking at per pupil allocations when you're talking about the elementary, middle, and high, usually your high schools do have because of all of the additional much more coursework. In other words,
the there's much more that goes into, you know, the 912 level. So, anytime we've constructed a budget, usually the per pupil allocation for a high school does, you know, I can get you specific numbers, but it is um certainly higher
than your elementary and middle. Thank you. >> Also be aware that tuition number includes their referendum. >> Uh moving on to tax impact. Um the way the tax impact for us works is by school
year, but as you as taxpayers for the township, it's by calendar year. So, I've shared here with you the general fund is the levy and the debt service, which was something you all voted on long ago, any referendums you've had in
the past or the sale of bonds. Um, so those are the only two items that we need to um increase taxes for the purposes of our budget. overall increase is 4.9 and specifically is attributed to
the fact that one of our bonds fell off like we had predicted it would. So, um the levy is high. Um but the bonds did fall. The other good piece is and I wanted to share that with you. I I should have included it. I apologize for not doing that. Your ratables in the
town have increased by almost $500 million. So those two items, the dropping off of debt and the increase of your ratables is the reason why your levy is not going to be an extraordinary hit to your taxpayer. It's some people
may see an increase if they have a home valued at more than 500,000. We'll take a walk through this. So what we do for the calendar year of 25, the calendar year of 25, remember, is two budget years. It was your 2425 and
your 2526. And then your 26 calendar year was your 2526 and half of your 2627. Because schools don't run January to December, they run half and half. I won't read you the numbers. You can see
them. You can also see the estimated school tax in 2025 was 5,5717. And this is based on an estimated $500,000 house. I could have done it for a $100,000 house. I could have done it for a million dollar house. I wanted to make the math as easy as possible for
everyone to take a look and see where they would fall. For a $500,000 house, they should be you all should be seeing a decrease of $15.90 a month or almost $2001 19074 decrease a year.
Any questions on revenues, expenditures, or tax impact? Okay. So, where do we go from here? What is the next steps in the process? So, again, tonight was the preliminary budget. We have until the 27th to um submit this to the county. County takes
a look at it. Again, they we do a mid uh mid uh budget review. So, they've already had opportunities to see it, but now they see the final product for approval. We have uh by starting at April 20th, we can advertise the budget. Um at our April meeting, our April 30th
meeting, we'll have the public hearing um in 20 we have uh within 48 hours. We need to get that on the website. So, we anticipate by May 2nd, we'll have it on the website, the the public um information on the what they refer to as the user user friendly budget. And then
the deadline to submit it for a budget approval is May 14th. Before I say that, so do want to just mention that the you know in the budget as we move forward again presenting a balanced budget again isn't just simply a
financial sorry Stephanie uh exercise. It really is a commitment to the responsibility accountability and really the long-term stability as Miss Borhees and I shared we're looking at the the bigger picture of longer term as well. It's a commitment to again the responsibility, accountability, and the
long term uh protecting the resources in our classroom, supporting our staff, and using our resources wisely. Again, plan truly helps us move forward responsibly and keeps our schools strong for the future. So, with that, uh we'll open up
to any additional questions on the preliminary budget. >> Thank you. >> Very good. Okay. Thanks. Thanks. Just one minute. Okay, just to wrap up with my superintendence report, um, regarding
the Red Rock Preserve fire, I do want to send a message of care and support to the many families displaced by the devastating fire yesterday morning. Upon hearing of the emergency, our administrative team immediately began our response to help students uh and their families. We coordinated a bus to
help students who were eventually we didn't know whether or not they would be able to come to school because of old York Road was totally blocked, but we were able to get a bus as well as a bus to help to relocate um families to an alternate site in order to have a location to regroup after having to flee their town homes. Uh we have been in
contact with the Branchburg Fire Police OEM and their response to the emergency and the Red Cross and I do want to give a a hu huge kudos to the Red Cross. They have they are amazing to see them in action in the aftermath uh in order to really to coordinate the efforts to
support families. I know that many uh already to date we know that the PTO has in excess of $10,000 they've already raised. So absolute thank you to the Branchburg community helping out these families. I did have a chance to go to the the Whiten uh Hills their community
center yesterday to talk with some families to be able to hear and to help to really support them and let them know that we as a school district are there are here really truly to support them and I think the overwhelming in fact the Red Cross because we had families saying that they wanted to supply clothes the
Red Cross says wow we've never seen kudos to your team um that you're willing to go to that you know to that level. Though uh we do want to mention that anyone who's asked interested in supporting uh the displaced families to connect with the Branchburg PTO uh to send gift cards to the local stores for
example like Target, Walmart, ShopRight, Kohl's. Uh already we've gotten uh uh in excess of $2500 that we're actually going to be sharing with the families tomorrow morning because they're uh they've been put up at Fairfield Suites and they're they're going to be finishing there tomorrow. Um, we can
also expect you can send them to the schools who will then forward them to the board office. And I'm working with the Red Cross, their site manager to coordinate being able to connect with families uh as well as other uh bridges that we have through our our guidance department, our our child study team
that works with these students to help to be a bridge to help these families. As again, I heard some of the children saying that they truly wanted to be back in school, but they didn't have clothes for the next day. And so we really want to be able to help families. Uh and they're really truly and miraculously no
fatalities, no serious injuries. Um that people were able to uh essentially, you know, they've lost mostly everything, but we as a as a school community really um I appreciate all already and I know that they do as well for all the families and all their loss.
So the budget process again wanted to share our thanks to all the budget managers, finance, facilities committee, our BA, Stephanie, our director of HR and AA yard for all their efforts to bring a budget to the finish line. The process again has been a long one from the contract negotiations, allocations of resources and our health benefits,
prescriptions, and truly the final state aids that eventually get us to a balanced budget. It reflects again the ability to provide for our classrooms, our staff, our buildings. Again, with an eye on the fiscal uh realities and the future of our of our district. On the agenda this evening is the uh 2627
school calendar. Again, I just want to mention that we have been in concert uh throughout the process with uh Mr. Leiscoco over in Somerville, Somerville Superintendent. We shared our drafts with each other and aligned them almost seamlessly. um as well as because theirs
is, you know, being having a high school, it also is in alignment with the Somerset County vocational school. Again, the discussions culminated in a draft calendar that again is nearly identical. Again, was important. I did have conversations with families who said it's important because they have both elementary and high school to have
same um is is really important to be able to have for family planning. Um do want to just mention kindergarten registration for the 2627 school year is still continuing. Parents with children five years or older uh before October 1st are eligible for entrance. So more
information again is available on the district district website. Do want to just um encourage people to sign up. That helps us to plan for September. Also on the agenda this evening there on the board will be accepting donations from Home Depot for seeds to salad program over at Whiten and the
Branchburg Edition for the mobile farm project also at Whiten. Very much looking forward to seeing that. I had a chance to I want to just uh see the musical last Friday night um Shrek the Musical Jr. Uh really to congratulate the middle school students, the cast
crew for their many talents in performing Shrek Shrek uh last Friday night as well as over the weekend. The singing, the dancing, and the humor. Um real treat for really a a packed audience. Uh a special thanks I want to mention to directors Samantha Lang and
Katie MTO. set design by Megan Russo and production coordination by Dan Payne. Uh, also I had a chance again I when I get invited I I I love to be able to go out and see our schools. Um, the ninja project that was over at Stony Brook schools um where the they had the course
last week again this was a a co-developed project with BEF and the PTO was a joint V grant project students were timed to run around the um the course guided by athlete actually athletes who are champion ninja warriors who have been contestants. So they uh
were um really glad to be able to because they actually do it themselves. So they were able to see them. Uh the students love the experience and the staff also volunteered to try their prowess at the course as well. So again I want to share many thanks to both the BEF and the PTO for their highly
anticipated event. And if you don't have any plans uh tomorrow night we have a suggestion that to attend the athletic comedy of the Harlem Wizards. Harlem Wizards program against entertaining athletic comedy with professional players and there will actually be against our staff team. Families are
invited to attend uh high energy basketball again event at 7. Uh really a truly an opportunity to experience BCMS in the main gym. So I hope to see you there. I won't be playing but I will be a spectator. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you very much.
Next up is public comment on agenda items only. The board of education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and school matters of community interest in support of this position. The law establishes a period of public comment at every board meeting. Individuals wishing to speak
must state their name in place of residents. Comments are limited to three minutes per person for a total of 30 minutes. An individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard. Anyone on agenda items? Okay. Going to move on to governance.
Um I have no report outside of the events that have already taken place and Dr. Burton's kind words about the Red Rock fires. Um so we do have some some voting items. We have one approval of minutes. Two, approval of HIPP investigative report. Three, approval of HIPP findings report. Four, approval of
HIPP parental appeal. Five, approval of 2526 uniform state memorandum of agreement between education and law enforcement. Six, approval of revised 2526 school district calendar. Seven, approval of 2627 school district
calendar. Eight, approval of 2627 holiday calendar for 12 month staff. And nine, approval of summer calendar for all district officers. Can I have a motion to move those? >> Motion that second. And Michael Uber
any questions, comments? >> I have a question. Number four is for today's correct. >> Number four is for >> No, sorry. Um, I just want to go on record as saying, you know, thank you very much for coordinating th those uh calendars
uh between here and and coming from the transportation department. I know that they will very much appreciate uh having those in line. So, thank you very much for that. >> Sure. Anybody else? Can I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Blouse, >> yes. >> Dr. Criy, >> yes.
>> Mr. Hollandbeck, >> yes. >> Mr. Krishna Murdy, >> yes. >> Mr. Mater, >> abstain to one and four. Yes. to the rest. >> Miss Smith. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tuma. >> Yes. >> Mr. Excuse me. Mr. Desai. >> Yes. >> Mr. Copenhir. >> Yes.
>> Um, next up is policy. Um, we have two voting items. We have one policy and regulation second reading and sorry three two approval of suspension of the facility use fee portion of regulation 7510 use of school facilities fee
schedule for class 4 and class 5 users and three policy and regulations first reading. Um just so the board's aware there was nothing substantial to any of the policies that are being updated unless you're going to tell me there is. >> There was not. I just want to make sure
that this polish should be 2535. >> Okay. So 2535 >> where where the reg is 2535 just a slight amendment. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So policy should be >> item three. >> Item three.
>> Item three >> where it says >> library materials. >> The correct number is >> that's interesting. I think mine's updated. >> Okay. It might be on the computer. It was all updated except for the copies were already >> the copies were made. >> So you just wanted to make sure that you knew that.
>> Okay. The board is aware. >> Thanks. >> Didn't want to waste a trade. >> Um yeah. So there was nothing substantial changing. They were all small language changes that we went through on the policy committee meeting. >> Um. Yeah. Uh can I have a motion to move
those items? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Any questions, comments, concerns? >> Can I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Blouse. Yes, >> Dr. Celebrity. >> Yes, >> Mr. Hollandbeck. >> Yes, >> Mr. Christian Murdy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Mater. >> Yes, >> Miss Smith. >> Yes, >> Mr. Tuma. >> Yes,
>> Mr. Sai. >> Yes, >> Mr. Carpage. >> Yes. >> Uh, next up is curriculum and instruction. Mr. Christian Mur, do you have a report? >> Yes. I only have six items. >> First item, uh, the committee reviewed a
draft of the upcoming school year calendar, as Dr. mentioned which has been developed in alignment with the summer high school schedule and the parameters of the new PTA contract. Number two, district AI survey. An artificial intelligence survey has been distributed to families and staff via
parent square. This initiative is intended to gather input as the district evaluates the role of AI in teaching, learning, and operations. Number three, NJSLA assessment updates. The committee discussed anticipated revisions to the to this spring's NJSLA assessments and
their potential impact on instruction and student performance measurement. Number four, special ed program audit. The district is preparing for a mandatory special ed audit over the next two years and will be engaging a consultant to support compliance and readiness efforts.
Number five, middle school scheduling review. A middle school scheduling committee is evaluating the potential implementation of a revised student block schedule. This review is informed by NJSLA performance data and benchmarking against best practices in comparable districts. And finally,
number six, Panorama survey results. The committee received a summary of Panorama survey results which reflected strong performance in areas such as student wellness and sense of connection to the school community. Overall, these discussions reflect continued progress toward achieving the district's current
year goals as outlined on the Branchburg Board of Education website. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dan. Um, we also have some voting items. We have one, conferences and travel. Two, approval of 2526 out of district program. Three, approval of service
agreements. Four, approval of coursework project. And five, approval of service hours. Can I have a motion to move those? Motion. >> Second. Matt and Megan. Any questions, comments? May I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Blowsy, >> yes.
>> Dr. Celebrity, >> yes. >> Mr. Hollandbeck, >> yes. >> Mr. Krishna Murray, >> yes. >> Mr. Mater, >> yes. >> Miss Smith, >> yes. >> Mr. Tuma, >> yes. >> Mr. Tai, >> yes. >> Mr. Carpenter, >> yes. >> Next up is personnel. Mr. Holland, do you have a report?
>> Yeah, just a brief one. Um so we met on March 5th and we covered various topics uh between recruiting, staffing, attendance of the staff etc. Uh the one thing I wanted to take away from this to point out is Ana Yard's efforts to uh work with uh getting the subs into the
schools. our attendance or I'm sorry the sub fulfillment rate has been going up three years in a row which is fantastic and between January and February we saw a few days with 100% fulfillment rate which is going to help our students by not disrupting the education as well as helping our staff by knowing that they've got backup when they need it. So
I just wanted to applaud her for that hard work. >> She's here so thank you and >> where are you? Oh there you are hiding back there. Um and then our next meeting is April 23rd. That's it. >> Thank you sir. We have some voting items. We have one approval of personnel. Two, approval of volunteers.
Three, approval of revision of leave. Four, approval of substitute. Five, approval of revision of personnel. Six, approval of black seal stipens. Seven, approval of retirement. Eight, approval of resignation. Nine, approval of recision. 10, approval of revision of co-curricular clubs. 11, approval of
revision of title four clubs. 12, approval of 2526 contracts. Can I have a motion to move those? Um, any questions, comments, concerns? >> Uh, I do want to mention on the agenda this evening is the approval of a retirement for Adriana Weingart, speech
teacher at Whiten Elementary School. Again, congratulations to her on her retirement. Thanks. Of course. Anybody else? Can I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Blouse, >> yes. >> Dr. Criy, >> yes. >> Mr. Hollandra, >> yes.
>> Mr. Krishna Mury, >> yes. >> Mr. Mayor, >> yes. >> Miss Smith, >> yes. >> Mr. Tuma, >> yes. >> Mr. Sai, >> yes. >> Mr. Parker, >> yes. >> Uh, next up is finance and facilities. Mr. Tuma, do you have a report? >> A brief report. Finance and facilities
met last Thursday. Um, couple of topics that were of interest were the repairs to the Whiten office are ongoing. Costs mostly covered by insurance. Some legal matters may be involved between the contractor that was doing the repair work and the getting some money back
from them possibly for their power. Um, we discussed the removal of the solar panels off the middle school and pulling money from capital reserves to pay for them to pull them off early to be able to fix the roof over the summer. So there was some discussion on that and
then we had a pretty wide ranging discussion on the budget priorities, funding, tax rates etc. Um good healthy discussion uh the results of which you saw tonight and that's it. >> Thank you sir.
>> So once we take the solar panels off they're gone forever. We're done with this endeavor. Okay. The early removal um be in uh late June will be at BCMS and then the rest of them will be removed in November. Um there are some
that are district owned so not all solar will go. >> Okay. >> And then the board can consider moving forward once we get our roofs fixed. I would not recommend solar on top of a roof. I would recommend possibly consider some ground solar if it's conducive. You'd have to have someone
come in and evaluate the situation. So, we did take them off like a couple years ago to fix and now was I know like hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> It is. It's never a cost-saving endeavor. >> Is this a different section of the roof that we're doing? >> This is a different section.
>> Okay. Good. Thank you. Um, anybody else? Can I have a roll call, please? >> I don't Somebody make a motion. >> I think we did. Yeah. >> Motion. >> Oh, I don't know. Sorry. I'm tired. Second.
>> Uh >> now I mis who said what? Hold on a second. >> Can I have a motion to move those items? >> 1 through 13. Correct. >> Yes. >> Sorry. >> N and um
Okay. Any questions, comments after I interrupted Charlie and derailed it? No. Okay. Can I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Blouse? >> Yes. >> Dr. Cry? >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Hollandbeck. >> Yes. >> Mr. Christian Murie. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mater. >> Yes. >> Miss Smith.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Tuma. >> Yes. >> Mai. >> Yes. >> Mr. Carper. >> Yes. Sorry, I really screwed that up. I didn't read them. >> Um, next up, public comment on any item. Going to close public comment. Move on
to board liaison reports. We'll give you a chance to come up. Your PTO. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Go down. >> You can go now. Sure. Why not? Uh good evening Laura Foley 208 Ronin Way in Branchburg. Um I am have a couple of comments for the PTO. So I know that
Dr. Burton uh when she was discussing the amazing out um pour of generosity that we've gotten from the community. Uh your numbers are slightly outdated. We are currently at $17,000 starting FROM
um since 10:00 a.m. this morning. So, that just really shows you the kind of place uh that Branchburg is. And really super uh gracious thank you to all of the uh the community members that supported that. So, we are continuing our um coordinating those efforts to get
uh some gift cards and um to help those families get back on their feet um after that devastating fire. We have a this is a very busy week and month for the PTO. Tomorrow we have our big Harlem Wizards um event like Dr. Burton mentioned. Uh
it's at BCMS 6:00 p.m. Game starts at 7:00. We still have some uh last call tickets available and uh we are very thrilled that we have principles uh Christ and Stanton all coaching. So a lot of people are really looking forward
to that. Um and uh even uh one of our be uh board event members uh Mr. Mater is taking the court as well. So looking forward to that really fun event tomorrow night. Um some really phenomenal successes. Last night we had our uh PTO general meeting where we have
members from the community come and see what the PTO is doing and we had really phenomenal presentations by Mr. Labati who is a school counselor here at BCMS and gave a really excellent eye-opening presentation about social media and the
impact that it has on our students and also Mrs. Christ who how can you not look at her and think that she's just a bundle of joy and so happy. um and everything that she's doing at Stonybrook um and making those students really feel accountable um for you and
uh what they do every day. Um we're really excited about the Stony Brook Ninja experience that was a huge success and a joint effort uh with our brothers and sisters at the BEF. We also um want to give a huge shout out to all of our
sponsors for our Harlem Wizards event. people like State Farm, Triangle Dance Center, Wegman's who really make these community events possible. Um, upcoming we also have our white and empty bowls which is a really fun second grade uh
fund fundraiser that we have where our second graders um will host this event to fight hunger benefiting the food bank network of Somerset County. So, please check out our Branchburg PTO website for that. We also have um me and mine dance
coming up and also our big plans for our fifth grade celebrations and our eighth grade celebrations. You know, those calendars fill up quickly. All of those dates are on our website and we just want to finish the year with a bang like we started it. So, thank you to the
board of ed for our lovely um help and we really appreciate uh all of your support. We >> appreciate you. Thank you. Okay. Next up is Somerville. >> Uh, no report. We meet next week. >> Next week. Okay. Uh, Bob, you're done.
Somerset County Ed Services. I have no report. New Jersey school boards. You got anything, Michael? >> Uh, no. >> No. Cool. Uh, Branchburg Township. >> Yeah, just two quick items. Um, I didn't attend the meeting last Monday, but I watched it on TV. I saw you make your
comment. So, that was the only thing that was really related to education. And I also attended the coffee with the mayor this past Saturday. Um, pretty good crowd. There's probably 10 or 12 people there. >> Okay. >> Just more more or less questions on township issues, not so much for the board,
>> but it's always good to be there just so they know we're here. >> Thanks. Thanks. Thanks for uh doing that, Charlie. Appreciate it. Um, BEF, >> of course, >> BF's district-wide readathon starts on March 20th. Information was sent home
with students explaining how to register. Families can start sharing students pages and collecting, beginning collecting donations prior to the official start. Most of the proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to the BEF to support, of course, grants and innovative programs for our schools.
Secondly, uh BF's Roaring 20's M murder mystery fundraiser night out is on April 24th at Martinsville Gardens. A limited number of tickets are still available and can be purchased through BS website. Number three, join BF for a day out at
the ballpark on Sunday, July 12th. Seems like far away. >> Yeah. >> Uh to see the Sunset Patriots versus the Reading Fighting Phils. Tickets are $15 each and a portion of each ticket sold benefits the BEF.
Again, look at the BF website for additional information. And lastly, at the Hummingbird Studio at 5:30 p.m. on May 6th, join us for a mom and me night out. Children will be making a sweet watering can fairy planter. It's one of your favorites, Rancho.
Registration includes one parent and one child, and additional children can be added at a cost. Dinner will be provided. Again, check the website out for further information. >> Thank you, sir. Um, CPAG, I have no report, so I guess that means the
meeting's over. Can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Thank you.