WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=TLGMcFSB_fE

NOTE
MEETING SECTIONS:

Part 1 (Video ID: TLGMcFSB_fE):
- 00:00:02: Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call to Begin Meeting
- 00:00:37: Welcome and Introduction to the Branchburg Board Meeting
- 01:03:02: Recognizing Student Achievements at the BEF Readathon
- 01:04:33: Overview of BEF Fundraisers and Grants Programs
- 01:07:37: Readathon Awards and Upcoming Fundraisers Introduction
- 01:07:53: Readathon Awards - Billy Lynch, John B. Caric, Isma M
- 01:10:26: Readathon Awards - Belle Fman, Winning Teachers, Grand Prize
- 01:16:09: March Spotlight Recipients and Teachers Who Make Magic
- 01:20:53: Superintendent's Report: Budget, Red Rock, Anti-Bullying
- 01:26:43: Public Comment on Agenda Items Only: BTEA President
- 01:27:37: Public Comment: Branchburg PTO Updates and Events
- 01:32:32: Governance Committee Report: Referendum and Stony Brook
- 01:35:15: Approval of Minutes and HIB Investigative Reports
- 01:36:04: Curriculum and Instruction: AI and School Climate Surveys
- 01:37:23: Voting Items: Conferences, Travel, and Observation Hours
- 01:37:55: Personnel Committee Report and Voting Items
- 01:40:03: Finance and Facilities Report: Budget and Priorities
- 01:41:55: Finance and Facilities Voting Items
- 01:44:56: Board Liaison Reports: Somerville, PTO, Township


Part: 1

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Can we 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.

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>> One day I'll remember to tell Marco that we should. >> I think he heard us. >> Okay. Um, can I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. here. >> Dr. CBY >> here. >> Mr. Holland here. >> Mr. Christian Murray >> here. >> Mr. Mater

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Smith >> here. >> Mr. Tuma >> here. >> Mr. Sai >> Mr. Carpenter >> here. Can I have a motion to go into executive session? Welcome to the meeting of the board of education of Branchburg. Please be advised that this and all meetings of

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the board are open to the public and media consistent with the open public 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. Can we stand for the pledge of

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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

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justice for all. and I will hand it over to Dr. Berg. >> Okay. Well, each year the Brandford Ed Foundation uh challenges students across the district to hone their reading skills as part of a fundraiser. We proudly recognize all of our students uh who have participated in this year's

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annual BEF readathon, demonstrating enthusiasm for reading and a commitment to learning. your efforts. All the students have made a meaningful impact and we applaud you for supporting literacy while also giving back to your school community. Uh we have BF here this evening to recognize the readathon

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winners. So Mrs. Christian Murdy turn it over to you. >> Before we start uh we're probably just going to do a run through what is up to Mr. Christian didn't want to do that today to Christina who's our who's just joined us maybe a

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few months ago and she's amazing. Hi everyone, my name is Christina and I'm a member of the branch for short and if you don't know much about us basically we raise money through fundraisers and events to fun

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activities and events for our children and some of our recent events um that have raised an incredible amount of money for our schools most recent event um we hosted a gala thank you for overund7 75 guests and it

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was an incredible night filled with raffle baskets, a 50-50 raffle, a murder mystery show, dining, dancing. It was a great night for a great cause where we raised over $9,000. Another incredible event that recently concluded, as you know, was our readathon um of which I was uh honored

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to be the lead of. Students logged their daily reading minutes and sought out donations to raise money for our schools. And Readathon is our biggest um fundraiser of the year. We raised over $19,000 for our schools. Um, and students did such a great job reading that they were actually given a shout out by the mayor himself. So, we were

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very proud of everyone for taking part in it. Um, it's because of Oh, and kind of aon was another one that we did this year that, um, students did random acts of kindness around town and students got out doing some amazing things like raising money at the food bank. Um, and

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that event also had a fundraiser part to it and the students raised um, over $7,000 with that one as well. Um, and it's because of these and many other awesome events and fundraisers that we have that were able to fund numerous grants a year. So, to give a few examples, um, this year at Stonybrook,

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we hosted the Ninja Experience, which was a three-day event that brought challenging obstacles and relays to students who had a blast during it. It looked like a lot of fun. And at Somerville High School, we funded a wind turbine project that helped to allow students to design effective wind turbines. And I heard it blew them away.

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And at Whiten, we're funding um author's day, which is coming up soon. Um in which students get to meet and interact with real life authors um so it's always enjoyed by everyone. And tonight, we are proud to recognize some of our amazing teachers and students who went above and beyond during readathon. So, here to

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help me call up our winners is our president and the backbone of the BEF, Anita Krishna Merti. Sorry. Um, so just wanted to thank every one of you, teachers, parents, families for helping us raise $19,000. That's amazing. Thank you very much. Especially

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all you little ones. You guys did amazing. You also read about 154,000 minutes between the three schools. And I got to say that's amazing. beyond amazing. Um before we start though, we have two fundraisers that um is coming

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up. That is we're having the mommy and me fairy watering can where you guys get to, you know, come with your mom, your your grandma, your aunts, whoever you want to bring and make a little fairy watering can. So that is next Wednesday. And then for the moms and the parents, we have a Mother's Day thing at Dosi and

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Chai where you do a chai and chocolate pairing. So that's also awesome. If you want more information, see us later. So, now we're going to begin our readathon awards. So, the first one up is our Billy Lynch. He raised $940.

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He did amazing. Is he here? Come on, Billy. Come on. Congratulations. Can I ask you a question? Hold on. I want to ask you a question. What did you like the most about the readathon? Um, I

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like that I got to read all different kinds of books and learn about all different kinds of stuff of the books I read. >> Awesome. Do you have a favorite book? >> I probably like the Pokémon book that I got from the library.

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>> Awesome. Congratulations. >> You can buy more books, >> huh? Yeah. All right. All right. You want to do the second one? >> Okay. Next up is John B. Caric who read what did you just say? 7,300

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minutes. Oh my goodness. That's amazing. >> Okay. Okay. Now, you had something that you were going to tell us before. What was your favorite thing about Readathon? >> So, I'm really happy to be back here today. >> Second.

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>> And reading a book isn't just reading and flipping through pages for me. It's actually like traveling into the story and being there with the characters. >> I love it.

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We hope to see you here next year. >> Okay, our second top reader is Isma M and she read 6,260 minutes. >> Here you go. Thank you. And would you like to tell us what you loved about the readathon? Sure. I liked reading books

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and actually logging my minutes cuz it's really fun to be with characters and read about their stories. >> Do you have a favorite book? >> I don't have a favorite book, but my favorite series is Shatter Me by Toah MafI. >> Awesome. Congratulations. Thank you.

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>> Okay, next up, our other top reader is Belle Fman, who had 6,187 minutes read. This is your This is my third time. >> Third time. >> And do you want to tell us your favorite part? >> Um, my favorite part was just trying to

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read as much as I can. So, I got I've read like 20 books. >> Awesome. >> Do you have a favorite book? >> Uh, I have a favorite author, Dr. Block. >> Awesome. Very nice. Congratulations. Um our weed our re our winning teacher

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from um Branchburg Middle School was Mr. Leio and he's not here and he's in third place so we have his trophy. Our um second place from Stonybrook was Miss

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Santoro and Miss Jiggon. Right. Yes. one of them. >> Get in here. Wait, you guys got to move back so everyone can see >> one more for you. >> Pizza party. Did you say how many?

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>> Oh, so >> is that >> Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see it on there. They read 11,939 minutes collectively. It's awesome. And now for our grand prize winner yet for I think the fourth year in a row.

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She's an amazing teacher and I can't say enough about her. um waiting for her to send a couple of grants our way since she's raised so much money um is Miss Francisco and Miss Natali. They raised over $3,600 amongst their class and read

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over 15,000 minutes. That is amazing. And they also win a pizza party. >> Yes, they are very excited about that tomorrow. >> You know what my question is going to be, right? H how do you do it four years in a row? Here we go.

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>> Let's go. >> We just simply Well, the kids just simply asked, "What did your class earn last year?" And I said, "Well, they earned a pizza party." And they said, "We're on it." And they went home and

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they all joined. We got 100% participation and every morning they wanted to come in and check the amount of minutes that they read collectively because we did tell them that if they wanted to win it, they all had to be in it and work as a

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collective team. And they were just so happy to watch um those minutes go up and then the donations were a bonus. We had a lot of generous families that we're um really appreciative for. But most of all, we're really proud of our

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students for their determination, their enthusiasm, their drive to want to do this. And I think, um, they wanted to make us happy, too. And we're just so proud of them. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um, can all our winners come up so we

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can get one big picture? Come on. >> I don't know if Miss Maybe Tony wants to say something. All right, everybody come for a picture. >> Yeah. >> I don't know where to go. everyone under

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>> wave with your hand. I'm short. No one know >> if folks should go in as well. >> Thanks, Mr. >> Thank you everybody. Thanks. Why can't you? >> Yeah.

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and the BEF wanted me to let you know that there is a reception. Uh you can follow them, Miss Christian Murdy, out and they'll lead you to the reception. Again, congratulations to all of our readers. Job well done. Hi

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joke. You don't get to happen. easily not very funny. >> You should have made him stay. >> Next up, uh we'd like to highlight the March spotlight recipients. These are the staff members again who are being recognized for going above and beyond

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and the spotlight awards are a moment to celebrate their exceptional efforts. So take a look at the screen. So the first spotlight goes to Karina Resta, special education teacher in kindergarten at Whiten School. Karina,

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these are the recipients. This is what the those who have nominated them have said about them. Karina exemplifies dedication, compassion, and teamwork. Her support and commitment help make Whiten a welcoming and positive place for all students.

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KARINA, I'm going to ask all those who are there eventually when I go through them to come on up again. We'll get you want to get a picture as well. Uh the next recipient is Carrie Santoro. Again, fifth grade teacher at Stonybrook. Carrie

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exemplifies collaboration, leadership, and positivity. Her support and encouragement help make Stonybrook a connected and supportive environment for students and staff. Congratulations, CARRIE. Next is Angel Voric, special ed

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education teacher at BCMS. Uh, Angel exemplifies kindness, encouragement, and commitment to student success. Her care and support help make BCMS a welcoming and positive place for every student. Congratulations, ANGEL. And finally, finally, Hannah uh

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Malstrom. She's our district payroll accounting coordinator. Countless professionalism, dedication, and behind the scenes contributions play an essential role in supporting our staff and ensuring the smooth operation of our district. Her work makes a meaningful difference, and I'll say in the wallet

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and purses of all of our staff. Congratulations to Hannah as well. >> This is an autism shirt, not an shirt. >> Thank you very much. >> CONGRATULATIONS. As we're also acknowledging staff, I also want to mention another recognition

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of our staff as the teachers who make magic recipients. Teachers who make magic. This is an annual awards program that recognizes outstanding educators and school staff across New Jersey. It's a partnership between NJA and featured

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on the radio station Magic 98.3. Those teachers are Kelly Bole at Whiten Elementary School, Samantha Ruger at Stony Brook School, and Brian Bodner at BCMS. So, congratulations to all of them. We should do that at the end so they

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have Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Moving on to uh superintendent report. On the agenda this evening is the final budget for board approval. Uh the balance budget underwent the county's review and includes our

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priorities for next year. Among the priorities are I initiative, curricular revisions that will happen over the summer, a program to further enhance social and emotional learning for our students. Also, program needs following our special education self-evaluation. In addition, safety measures are

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including additional cameras, security guards at Whiten and Stony Brook schools, and cyber security protection software. In the realm of personnel, we are meeting all of our salary and benefit obligations. I'll highlight the board will be approving the BTEA contract on the agenda this evening and

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there is a recommendation for a vice principal at Whiten School. regarding the financials uh which I should mention is Mr. Bradstreet Ran who is with us this evening. Regarding the financials, the overall expenditures were just over 61 million

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and we anticipate revenues of 8.6 million. We will be going to the 2% tax levy cap and we'll also be taking advantage of the healthcare adjustment waiver as health co care costs have uh increased 27.5%

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and prescriptions were up 25%. We also received an additional 237,000 instate aid. We utilized funds from our tuition capital and emergency reserves that have been pre previously set aside for future needs. The tax impact,

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it's estimated to decrease by $190 on the school's portion of a home with an assessed value of approximately $500,000. Note that the total taxes to be raised for the schools portion that's on the agenda this evening is the budget of 53,185,530.

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The impact of your individual tax bill obviously will then be as a result of the combined municipality, community, municipal, county, school, and local prop library portions based on the assessed value of your home. As we wrap up the development of the budget, we are

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already looking ahead to the development of the following year's budget and the work continues. I do want to thank um Stephanie Warhees and Naard, their staff, the building principles, the directors, the finance and facilities committee for all their support throughout the development of the budget

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and development process. So again, thank them very much. Do want to give a quick update on the Red Rock um preserve. We learned last week that a number of our families will be moving to new homes. We will be working with them to organize transportation for students to round out

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the school year. Many thanks for all the businesses and restaurants who donated meals and gift cards to the community members who donated shoes, clothing, housing uh items, hygiene items to the families as they attempt to get their lives reestablished. Any additional gifts should be donated to the

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Branchburg PTO by this coming Monday, May 4th. We did also receive notice just this morning that one of our students at Stonybrook is the recipient of the Somerset County's State Board of Education 2526 Outstanding Achievement Award recipient.

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The student is Noah Sutton McMillan. After being awakened by his mother on the morning of March 18th, the day of the tragic uh really devastating fire, Noah, a fourth grade student with a baby brother at home, went door to door knocking to alert parents in the

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apartment complex to ensure that they were aware of the rapidly spreading fire. Through his quick thinking and heroic actions, many families were safely evacuated. We hope to have Noah at our next board meeting to honor the bravery he showed during this emergency situation.

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I WANT TO JUST SHARE THAT ON THE agenda this evening is the approval of the anti-bullying self- assessment grades. Each year we complete the state requires a anti-bullying self- assessment to review how well we are implementing policies and practices under the anti-bullying bill of rights act. The results help schools identify strengths

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and areas for improvement and fostering a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment for all students. changes in our scores this year. Actually, we're doing a a year look back is the way it works. Reflects the need for additional meetings to be scheduled, adherence to timelines, and also the

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adjustments in the district's use of the newly adopted HI management system, Hipster. So, the um corrective action measures, if you will, are already in place. do want to mention that April has been autism acceptance month to raise awareness uh more than uh to to raise

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more than awareness but acceptance of students with autism. The best form of allyship is full inclusion and the best way to we can support students with autism is by continuing to create inclusive schools. As we move into May, the Mental Health Association of New Jersey is asking schools, businesses,

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and municipalities to join them in lighting up green for mental health awareness. They ask, "Are you willing to light up your building or structure green?" This is tomorrow, May 1st, or they say any day in May to support mental health month. The Mental Health Association of New Jersey is excited to

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bring this important mental health American campaign to the Garden State. Last year over 200 buildings and structures lit up green across the US. So they asked to please join them in the to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and to help reduce the

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stigma that surrounds these conditions. And finally tonight the board will be accepting donations from the branchburg PTO for end of year celebrations at Whiten School. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you very much. Next up is public

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comment on agenda items only. Anybody have any items? >> Yeah. Can you hear me? Okay. >> Yep. >> Randy Lee Childers. I am the branch for township education association president and um while this round took much longer

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than um any of us thought it would. I want to just take take a moment to thank the BTA negotiations team. Um Kathy Bontamase, Christina Pernini, Jodie Harwood, Suzanne Upgrove, and retiree Gath Kathy Gaston. She wouldn't uh leave

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until she was done. So, as well as the board of ad negotiations team, um Vince, Matt, and Charlie, um for coming to the table in good faith and working tirelessly to come to an agreement that I think that we can all be proud of. Um the commitment that comes with being on the negotiations is huge. long nights

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and long conversations, but um thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Good evening. Laura Foley, 208 Ronin Wei. Um I am representing the branch war uh branchburg PTO and we are really

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excited this spring that we have a lot of really excellent updates with upcoming events. Um we have some fundraisers uh Latin creations. Um a toast for mom fundraiser um uh a muggly

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jungle adventure um at different vendors u throughout our local community. We are also excited to um uh for our third grade celebration event, our Stony Brook uh school field uh field day, field day at Whiten, the fifth grade celebration,

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the eighth grade dinner dance, and the eighth grade graduation. Um we have a lot of amazing planning and uh are currently getting volunteers um for all of those events. We want to echo Dr. Burton's sentiments um with the Red Rock

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update. Um as the impacted families are slowly moving to their next homes from the hotel, we would like to uh let the community know that all item and clothing donations are now closed and families are still going to be picking up those needed items um throughout the

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week with the help of the phenomenal um team with uh the Branchburg Township School District. Um and also we will be keeping the monetary donations open um until next Monday. My uh something that's very close to my

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heart is we are excited May is not just teacher appreciation week but teacher appreciation month. We have um you know to to really uh show our appreciation for our entire staff. We are making it a

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month-long um celebration with different events from lunches to breakfastes to uh restocking the faculty and staff rooms in each of the buildings. We also have a

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platform for um families and students to share a shout out in our digital garden um by recording a 10 to 30 second video for your favorite staff member about a favorite lesson, a favorite routine, and

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just the millions of reasons why they are phenomenal. Um so that can all be found on our Branchburg PTO website. We are also um uh getting donations for to uh to um

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for all of those events and we have an Amazon uh wish list uh that community members can utilize too to make sure that those events um you know are uh are fully um provided for. And we also are

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looking for a lot of volunteers um to help with the setup, serving and clean up throughout the month. So, please um take take a look at our website branchburgto.org um for all of that information. We are also we need a lot of volunteers for the

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Whiten Elementary School Field Day. We have about 80 total volunteers that are needed uh for all of those events. And finally, um we are uh we have our tickets open for our eighth grade dinner dance. So, if there um you can get on to

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our website to check that out. And most importantly, thank you so much to the board and to our phenomenal community and to Dr. Burton and the admin team for all that they do. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else? I I do want to just

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mention the the PTO and the work that they are doing at the the barn at the Leah farm um has just been absolutely phenomenal. I've spent a number of hours and I I've seen the amount of literally the boxes were it's a double bay wide

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garage from the floor to the ceiling and I was there when families were picking things up and the level of appreciation of these families that had shoes and clothes and a family had just gotten a house so they were taking dishes and pots and a coffee machine and they just

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said we just can't thank you enough. So again, the PTO truly did a yman's work in terms of being able to get that situated and organized for those families. So thank you again. All right, I'm going to move on to

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governance. I have a brief report. Um it's just basically a referendum update. So, I wanted to give a quick straightforward update on where we're headed with the school budget and our plans for the upcoming referendum this November. After

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the vote last September, we didn't just move on. We took a step back to really listen. We've spent the last few months reflecting on that feedback, meeting with the township committee, and discussing the future of Old York School. We want to make sure we're aligned with what the community actually needs and expects from us before we head

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to the polls during the regular election in November. Um the financial picture is that historically we've worked hard to be responsible with your tax dollars. The big news on that front is we're on track to be completely debtree by 2031. Because of that, we feel now is the

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right time to make a smart investment back into our buildings without overextending ourselves. Um what we're calling phase one is really about the essentials and the highest priority needs of our buildings um to keep things running properly. This includes things

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like infrastructure, replacing aging roofs and HVAC HVAC systems and also renovating bathrooms. Um and also a portion of that will be an addition to the Stony Brook School adding a gymnasium. So right now, as

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many of you know, Stony Brook uses a gym, a captorium for lunch, assemblies, plays, and gym. Um, it's really a huge bottleneck for scheduling and really limits the programming that we can offer the kids. Adding a dedicated gym isn't a luxury. It's really a necessity at this

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point given the amount of kids in the school. Um, and it really just will give this the students the space that they deserve so that they can get some exercise in the winter so they're not stuck in their classrooms and things like that. Um, we're also trying to expand the parking lot at Stonybrook.

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Um, we all know how tight it gets during pickup and drop off and evening events. Um, this should really take some pressure off of our parents and the neighbors and the surrounding streets and also it's a necessity if we add the gym. Looking ahead, we're calling this phase one because we know more is coming

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between the mandated prek from the state and new housing construction in town. We're expecting a significant influx of students. At some point, we're going to need more physical space, which we'll address in what we're calling phase two. But right now, we're focused on fixing what we have and solving the immediate

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constraints at Stonybrook. We're excited about this path forward and believe it's a responsible way to support our students and our staff while respecting the community's input. And uh guess we'll see you in November. We do have some voting items. We have

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one approval of minutes, two approval of HIB investigative report, three approval of HIB findings report, and four approval of anti-bullying self- assessment grades. Can I have a motion to move those? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Matt and Michael, any questions or

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comments? Can I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Blouse, >> yes. >> Dr. Criy, >> yes. >> Mr. Halbeck, >> abstain from number two. Yes. To the others. Mr. Crystal Marty, >> yes. >> Miss Smith, >> yes.

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>> Mr. Tuma, >> yes. >> Mr. Sai, >> yes. >> Mr. Carpenter, >> yes. Next up is policy. Mr. Side, do you have a report? >> I have no report. >> And we have no voting items. So, we'll move on to curriculum and instruction. Matt.

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>> Yes, I have a couple of items. Not like seven like last time, but you know, but um we it's both about surveys. Um, one is the artificial intelligence survey. Um, so that some survey results were shared with with the committee. Next

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step steps are to build a an FAQ and resources on the district website to share that with the community. Um the second one is also a survey and um the community received

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um an email for the New Jersey school climate improvement survey um earlier this month. So it is important for everybody to participate right this is an opportunity to provide input into the community and collecting so we can collect data and use to understand

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strengths and needs in our school district. So um it is really critical every time you participate in something like this because it is anonymous and voluntary um as opposed to voicing concerns on social media necessarily right so you know we I I say that tongue

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and cheek but it is important and it it will change the uh uh the way we're doing things for the district. So appreciate that and thank you Dr. Mr. An for uh uh promoting that effort. Appreciate it. >> Appreciate it. Yeah, it's open until May the end of May 8th.

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>> So, a week from tomorrow, right? >> A week from tomorrow. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. We have some voting items. We have one, conferences and travel and two, approval of observation hours. Can I have a motion to move those? >> Motion. >> Second.

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>> And Michael, any questions or concerns? Can I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Blousey? >> Yes. >> Dr. Celebrity? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hollback? Yes, >> Mr. Krishna Murdy. >> Yes, >> Miss Smith. >> Yes, >> Mr. Juma. >> Yes, >> Mr. Sai. >> Yes,

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>> Mr. Carpadier. >> Yes. >> Next up is personnel. Mr. Henbeck, do you have a report? >> Uh, no report today, but our next meeting is going to be uh May 28th. >> May 28th. >> Okay. We have some voting items. We have one, approval of resignations. Two, approval of personnel. Three, approval

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of leave. Four, approval of substitutes. Five, approval of extra duty pay. Six, approval of reappointment of 2627 contract. Seven, approval of 25 to 28 agreement between Branchburg board of education

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in the township of Branchburg. And okay, number eight, approval of 26 27 extended school years. Nine, approval of revision of job description. 10, approval of abolish abolishment of position. And 11, approval of reappointment and transfer.

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Can I have a motion to move those? >> Motion. Second. Any questions or comments or concerns? >> Just two quick comments. One, I'd like to welcome Miss Linsky back to the district. So, our our former business administrator is now coming back as our treasurer. So, it was nice to see a

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familiar name on the agenda. And I'd also like to thank the BTEA and the board negotiation committee. It was it was a long slog and and we had a lot of iterations, but we got there. So, I'm

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I'm happy for both sides. I think it was a great contract that we've got in place now >> and uh it's nice to put the final stamp of approval on it. Thank you. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> Can I have a motion to move those?

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>> Motion. >> Well, can I have a roll call? Sorry. >> Mr. Blowstein? >> Yes. >> Dr. Celebrity? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hollandback? >> Yes. >> Mr. Krishna Mury? >> Yes. >> Miss Smith? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tuma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sai?

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>> Yes. Mr. Carpenter. >> Yes. Next up is >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Welcome to team Whiten. >> Next up is finance and facilities. Mr. Tuma. >> Yeah. Brief report. Uh the finance

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committee met last week, reviewed most of the items that are on tonight's agenda, plus a couple of others that we're not ready to disclose yet. But um just a couple of things. We discussed the VP position. Congratulations. Um we talked about the the housing

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turnover analysis as part of the whole referendum issue and student population growth. This is the part that takes into account existing housing that's going to turn over. So we had a good discussion there. We had a discussion about Old York and a discussion about referendum

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2.0, which I'm glad to see is uh coming to the finish line and getting to the point where we think we're going to have a very successful referendum there. A couple of items on the agenda I just want to call out so people are aware. Item number four is the approval of the budget.

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Item number five is approval of the tax levy. So if you want to know how much it's going to cost per month, there's your your outline there on item number five. Um, item number eight is our approval to submit the referendum

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project list to the state to determine what's available for state aid. Uh, item number 20 is the Somerville high school tuition rate. And uh item 27, which we should all be

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proud of, is the 27 26 27 school year breakfast and lunch prices with no increase, which which is a really good thing for our families so that we get to uh not add to the the financial burden that they're seeing with the economy the way it is. And um everything else is

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routine and nothing really needs to be called out. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. We have a lot for voting items. Um we have one billiston payroll, two secretary and treasurer report. Three line item

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transfers for approval of Bransburg Township School District 2627 budget. Five, approval of tax levy schedule for 2627. Six, approval of resolution for member participation in a cooperative pricing system. Seven, approval of continued

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co-op memberships. Eight, approval of project submission to NJ Department of Education. Nine, approval of submission of major amendments to district's longrange facility plan to NJ DOE. 10, approval of the submission of the

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schoolled filters program grant. 11, approval of purchase of custodial supplies. 12, approval of lease of two new Reicho copers. 13. Approval of donations and grants. 14. Approval of group medical insurance provider. 15. Approval of group

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prescription insurance provider. 16. Approval of group dental insurance provider. 17. Approval of agreement with Phoenix advisers for multip municipal advisor and continuing disclosure services. 18. Approval of software license agreement with system 3000.

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19. Approval of employee assistance program. 20. Approval of 2627 Somerville high school tuition rate. 21 approval of contract with board attorney. 22 approval of 26 bond council agreement. 23 approval to enter into agreement with

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Somerset County Educational Services Commission for participation in coordinated transportation services. 24. Approval of renewal of Strauss as May policy services. 25. Approval of renewal of master library subscription services. 26. Approval of 2627 school year food

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service company. 27. Approval of breakfast and lunch prices for 2627 school year. 28. Approval of alle cart snack prices for 2627 school year. 29. Approval of transportation jointure with bound board of education.

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30. Approval of transportation jointer with Bridgewater Board of Education. 31. Approval of transportation jointure with Readington Board of Education. 32. Approval of transportation jointure with Somerville School District. 33. Approval of Reington Township Board of Education

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Shared Services Agreement Garage Bay. 34. Approval of shared services agreement pupil transportation services. 35. Approval of FKA architects per for professional architectural services. 36 approval of agreement with industrial

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appraisal company for appraisal services. And finally 37 approval of contract for auditor. Can I have a motion to move those? >> Second. Any questions, comments? Can I have a roll call, please?

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>> Mr. Blouse? >> Yes. >> Dr. Celebrity? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hollowback? >> Yes. >> Mr. Crystal Murdy? >> Yes. >> Miss Smith? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tuma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Desai? >> Yes. >> Mr. Carpetier? >> Yes. Uh, next up is public comment on

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any item. Seeing no movement, I'll close public comment. Move on to board leison reports. Somerville, >> I was just going to update that they also approved their budget in there last meeting. >> Awesome. Uh we don't need PTO. Somerset County Head Services. I have nothing. Uh New

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Jersey school boards. >> Um no report other than to say that I did uh sign up for the workshops coming up in October. So >> Awesome. >> Cool. Um Branchburg Township. >> Yeah, I attended the meeting Monday night. The township also passed and

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approved their budget um after we had had our discussion with them prior, but uh no other board action that would anything that we would need to take note of. >> I do want to say uh Tom Young gave the board of education some kudos at one point just saying we've been doing a

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very good job and so I I think you can go back and listen to what he said if you'd like. Um but he was very complimentary of the work that we do. um which was I thought a nice gesture. Um BF

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>> um that was a really good update earlier I must add but but I think >> they forgot one thing. So total >> I'm going to get I'm going to get ribbing for this later on but um they did raise PDF raised over $40,000 this

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year since September. >> That's incredible. >> Amazing. >> That's all. >> Thank you. Um, CPAG, I have no report. Can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> Motion. >> All in favor? >> I I