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 I have a roll call, please?
Mr. Hollandbeck, Miss Joyce here. Mr. Krishna Murdy here. Mr. Mayor here. Miss Shaw here. Miss Smith. Mr. Truma here. Mr. Sai here. Mr. Carpet here. here. Um, can we stand for the pledge of allegiance, please?
I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. And I will hand it over to Dr. Chase for
her report. Okay. Good evening everyone. I have two items on my report tonight, but I want to first start both are celebratory in nature. Uh, but I first want to start with the Branchburg Edition is here to award some of our students. I think we have a lot of
readers in the house. Are you reader? If you're a reader, raise your hand. Okay, there are my readers. Okay, great. So, they're here to um recognize you. Uh so without further ado, I'm gonna turn it over to Miss Krishna Murdy to recognize the award winners. All
right. Hi guys. Um first of all, we wanted to say thank you to everybody who participated in the readathon. Um teachers, students, everyone. Uh we raised about over $18,000 readathon. This year we had
about $20,000 worth of grants that we said yes to. And uh readathon is our biggest uh fundraiser. So let's start. Wait, I should introduce myself. Yeah. Do I have to? [Music] You want You need to publicize because I
don't have to do great work. I don't have to say that again, right? No. Okay. All right. First, I'll introduce myself. I'm Anita Krishna Murdy, the fundraiser chair, and this is Leslie Celebrity. Okay. We're going to start. Okay. Um
you're gonna start first. Okay. All right. So, our top winner at Whiten was in Miss Francis Conone second grade class. Very hopping readathon class. And that award goes to John V. Cartik. Congratulations.
Your certificate. So, you know, I'm gonna ask you a question, right? Yeah. What am I gonna ask you? What did you like about the readathon? I like that we could go more into books and read more than usual. Nice. Very good. Do you remember how
many minutes you read? 4,600. Wow. I think she [Applause] needs your hand. [Music] [Laughter]
All right, I'm ready. Perfect for you. You're doing an awesome job. Okay. You're very welcome. [Music] [Applause] Okay. Our second um student is Belle
Fman and I'll tell I'll let her tell you how many minutes she read. She's in fourth grade and her teacher is Miss McNamera. Hey, look at that. Your certificate. I'm going to put this
reading medal on you. Congratulations on being a reader. reading. Okay. Would you like a picture with her? Yes. And we need a round of applause, I think. I'm going to ask you a question. What did you like about the readathon? Um, I
liked fundraising and getting the prizes and winning it. Very good. And how many minutes did you read? 2,700. Wow. It's amazing. Our winner from the middle school, Isma, is not with us today. So, we will be getting her her awards at a separate
time. Okay. Okay. The next reader I'm calling up is from one of my favorite teachers class. Miss Aaron Cibia's class is Cole Sullivan. Here you go, Cole.
Here you go. All right, I'm gonna put your reading medal. Congratulations. I'm so proud of you. Do you love to read? Do you have a favorite book? No. Do you know how much money you
raised? You do. Do you remember how much money you raised? That's amazing. Good job. And then we have a very special award for the end. This is for our readathon
teacher this year. just one teacher who was top in reading minutes for her class and top in donations as well. And she's got a little fan right here who's in her class that's going to help award her. And that's Mrs. Francisone. Really special award. Got
it. I'm bringing them because they're in my class. All winners. This wouldn't have happened without them. Congratulations. Thank you for supporting all of us. Congratulations. Thank you for readers. Thank you. Maybe tomorrow you should all
wear your medals. One picture together. One picture together. Can we take a picture with you? All a big group. We'll put you on the website. All right. Go ahead. Yeah. Okay, guys. Well, you first. Yeah.
Got to make sure the board members, too. No, we're good. I sure hope so. Yeah. Who else is [Laughter] I just smile just in case. Hold on. I haven't taken my
smile. Thank you. [Music] Yes. Let us know. Yes. So, so now you're going to go to a little celebration in another room. So, Miss Krishna Murray will show you where that is. So feel
free to go. And congratulations again. Like I'll keep Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Francisco the same as Okay. Uh the next item that I want to
report on and is again celebratory in nature. Um so tonight we're going to also recognize our April Spotlight recipients. um one of whom is here. So I will first start with Martal. Um I'm sorry, Martal Hermanstein. He is
actually uh our custodian over at Whiten Elementary School. Um and his colleagues have nominated him for this award and have said that he's a dedicated and essential member of the school community. He's always willing to go above and beyond. He brings a positive attitude, a strong work ethic, and a
constant willingness to help whenever needed. From daily operations to special projects, Martal is dependable, uplifting, and central to keeping our school running smoothly. His hard work and presence truly make a difference, and he deserves to be celebrated. So, he's not able to be with us, but we're
going to give him a round of applause. Uh I also want to recognize um Miss Matthew Zimmerman. Uh he is actually a technology teacher over at Stony Brook School and his colleague has said about uh Mr. Dr. Zimmerman that he's a committed educator who builds really meaningful relationships with
students. He engages students beyond the classroom, listens to their interests, and creates a supportive, well-managed learning environment. He challenges students to think deeply, take risks, and grow, and is always quick to offer support when needed. His dedication to both students and colleagues make him an
exceptional teacher who consistently goes the extra mile. So, um, Mr. Zimmerman isn't able to be here, but I'd like to give him a round of applause as well. And next we have Miss Karen Roberts. Um Karen Roberts is an
instructional support teacher over at BCMS, but also has stepped in to be a classroom teacher, which we greatly appreciate um when we were in some need. So uh Karen, your your colleagues have called you a vital part of the BCMS team this year. Uh they recognizing that you stepped into the language arts position
when we needed you, supporting grow sixth and eighth grade with flexibility and commitment. Karen quickly learned the curriculum, connected with students, and collaborated closely with colleagues to support success. And your colleagues have said that your impact has been steady and that they would not have
managed this year as smoothly without you. So, congratulations, Karen. I know you have a busy day, so please don't feel compelled to stay for the entire meeting. Um the other thing, this is late breaking news that's actually not on the agenda, but I want
to um mention it because it's also celebratory in nature. So, um this afternoon I found out that Miss Randy Childers was going to a a dinner um some type of awards ceremony and uh she just I told her text me what happens at the
end. So, she just texted me a a a note here cuz I told her I wanted to recognize she actually won Somerset County Education Association member of the year. So, Miss Childers, we want to thank you. Thank you. It you you know I I I
think so highly of you and and the work you do and it is a welldeserved award. So, congratulations. That's great. [Applause] So, that is my report for the evening. Do you want to take a quick picture? Yes. R Miss uh Childers, can I take a
quick picture with you? Yeah. And Karen and Karen, can we do a three? All right. You want to take pictures, too? I'm gonna wear my shelf just because it's cute. All right, we'll do
one with you. And then we'll do one with Karen. And then we'll do one with Okay. Perfect. All right. The little one in the middle. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations.
Your finger. Oh, that's special. Did I get the picture? Yeah. I just have to wipe out your finger. She's a numbers person. Okay. So, um that is my report. Thank you. Awesome. 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 residence. Comments are limited to three
minutes per person for a total of 30 minutes. Any individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard. Anybody have any comments on agenda items? Seeing none, we're going to move on to governance. I have no report. Um,
we do have some voting items. We have one, approval of minutes, two, approval of hib investigative report, three, approval of hib findings report, and four, approval of hib parental appeal. Can I have a motion to move those items? Motion second. Any questions, comments?
Can I have a roll call, please? Miss Joyce? Yes. Mr. Krishna Mury? Sorry, these are the uh governance minutes. Sorry. Can I I forgot I'm need to abstain. Can I take my That's I thought
you were like, "Of course." No. Uh yes on everything. Abstain on four. Mr. Mury. Yes. Um yes on two and three. Abstain on one and four, please. one and four. Yes,
Mr. Mayor. Yes, the two abstain to one, three, and four. Miss Shaw, yes. Thank you, Mr. Tuma. Yes. 2. Thank you, Mr. Saw. Um, yes to one, two,
three. abstain from four. Mr. Carpentier. Yes. Next up is policy. Mr. Side, do you have a report? Uh, we have not had a meeting since the last meeting, but what we're voting on today is just uh the second hearing for those policy and regulations
from last time. Okay. Um, so we have just that one voting item, policy and regulation second reading. Can I have a motion to move that? Before we do that, I'm sorry. I don't mean to interrupt. Um, I'd like to go back to governance. Yep.
We have seven board members present and we had one, two, three, four, five of stain on number four. Yep. Is it an item of those present and voting? So, two would pass.
Yeah, I believe two passes. I think it's just uh majority of those voting that Yes, because an abstension is a no vote. It's not a no vote. It's a voting. Okay. I'm sorry. I just wanted to clarify. Thank you for doing that. Appreciate it.
Uh can I have a motion to move the uh policy and regulation item? Motion. Second. Any questions or comments? Can I have a roll call on that? Miss Joyce? Yes. Mr. Krishna Murdy? Yes. Mr. Mater.
Yes. Miss Shaw, yes. Mr. Truman, yes. Mr. Sai, yes. Mr. Carpentier, yes. Next up is curriculum and instruction. I have no report. We have voting items. We have one, conferences and travel. Two, approval of contracted services. Three,
approval of service agreements. Four, approval of 2024 2025 out of district programs. Five, approval of 2024 2025 tenative school field trip. And six, approval of acceptance of grant funds. Can I have a motion to move those
motion? Second. Um, questions, comments? Can I have a roll call, please? Miss Joyce? Yes. Mr. Krishna Murdy? Yes. Mr. Mayor? Yes. Miss Shaw? Yes. Mr. Tuma? Yes. Mr. Sai? Yes. Mr. Carpeter? Yes. Next up is personnel. Miss Joyce, do you
have a report? I just have a very quick report. Um the personnel committee met right after our last board meeting I believe um on May 1st and we try I'm looking through the notes. Um
it was a very short meeting and we did not discuss anything that I would be able to share tonight due to confidential nature. Got it. Okay. We have some voting items. We have one approval of extended school year hours. Two approval of reappointment of 2025
2026 contracts. Three, approval of 2025 2026 substitute teachers and substitute instructional aids. Um, four, approval of 2025 2026 substitute nurses. Five, approval of 2025 2026 substitute bus
drivers. Six, approval of substitute. Seven, approval of leave. Eight, approval of extra duty pay. Nine, approval of recision of personnel. 10, approval of personnel. 11. Approval of 2025 2026 lunchroom aid. 12. Approval of
resignations. 13. Approval of revision of extra duty pay. 14. Approval of additional title one tutors and coordinators. Can I have a motion to move those items? Motion. Second. Any questions or comments about those? Uh,
one question and one comment. Uh, question just to understand the approval extended school year hours. What that means? Is it just for the staff? Oh. Oh, for the um Yes. So, extended school year. It's just uh letting them know the time
date the operation that the program will run. Is that what you're No, it's just like whose hours are getting extended? Number one. Oh, it's like the ESY program that we run in the summer. Is it that one? Yeah. Oh, okay. Okay. It's just Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't understand
your program. Yeah. Your question. No, no one's hours are being is just I think formalizing the actual schedule for the summer. Yes. Okay. Thank you for saying that much more eloquently than I did. And then the only comment on Miss Bernardi um love her as a science teacher, especially for my eighth grader
as you know. So I'm appreciative of everything you did here and my middle one who doesn't always love school. I really enjoyed your class. So happy to see you move on to your next chapter. But sad to see you go. Thank you, Misha. Thank you. That was nice. Um, anybody
else? Um, can I have a roll call, please? Miss Joyce, yes. Mr. Christie? Yes. Mr. Mayor? Yes. Miss Shaw? Yes. Mr. Tuma? Yes. Mr. Sai? Yes. Mr. Carpetier? Yes. Next up is finance and facilities. Mr. Tum, you have anything? The finance
committee met last week. Um, we had a presentation from Steve Davenport as our head of security regarding some system upgrades we're going to need to perform. Um, we also discussed transportation rates and shared services agreements
which are on tonight's agenda. Um, we discussed the settlement which is also on tonight's agenda. Leases for Old York have been sent out. Stephanie, we still received only one back or have we received any more? I believe We have a tenative agreement
with both. Okay. So, we should have agreements for both of these. Is that allure? Uh, let's see. Referendum. Bob will give an update on referendum shortly. Um, there were in negotiations, discussions with the wrestling group.
Um, Old York School, the appraisal has been completed. We'll talk about that in the next committee meeting. as well as um future information and future what we're going to do with the two properties that
we own, Old York and Harland School. That's it. Thank you, Mr. Mater. You want to Yes. The board of education and administration working closely with our architectural and financial adviserss have been preparing for a bond referendum. Last week, the New Jersey
Department of Education approved our proposal, giving us the green light to move forward with a community vote on Tuesday, September 16th. If the referendum passes, the state has committed $13.5 million in funding towards the proposed projects. This is a
pivotal moment for the future of the Branchburg Township School District. The proposal includes enhancements at every school in the district designed to modernize our facilities, expand learning spaces, and preserve the key quality education our community expects.
Key projects include a building addition at Stonybrook to maintain small class sizes along with district-wide upgrades to technology, safety, energy efficiency, and instructional spaces. By aligning this referendum with the final
debt payments from a previous bond, we can minimize the tax impact for Branchburg homeowners, making this a strategically sound time to invest in our schools. We know our community has questions. In the coming weeks, we will launch anformational campaign to ensure that
every resident understands the scope of the projects, the financial details, and what is at stake. A new referendum website with FAQs is underway and we'll be sharing updates through mailings, social media, news coverage, and community events. A referendum
communications committee comprised of citizen volunteers will also help spread the word. Inperson and virtual forums will give residents a chance to hear directly from district leaders and our adviserss. Our commitment is to ensure every voter is fully informed and
confident walking into the polls on September 16th. More to come soon. Thank you, sir. Um, yeah. So, that's pretty important stuff. So, hopefully in the coming weeks public will be able to go to the website, find out some more
information. And we'll have some videos of the schools and some other stuff going on so that everybody can see the state of our schools and just how important the referendum will be to kind of, you know, continuing the quality of education that people here expect. We do have some voting items under finance and
facilities. We have one bill list and payroll, two secretary and treasury reports, three line item transfers and monthly transfer report. Four, approval of donations, five, approval of special education Medicaid initiative. Six, approval of submission of the safety
grant application. Seven, approval of settlement agreement. Eight, approval of disposal and sale of obsolete items. Nine, approval of withdrawal of funds from the capital reserve account. 10, approval of FKA architects for professional architectural services. 11,
approval of shared services agreement, pupil transportation services. 12, approval of bus driver training and mechanic labor rates. 13. Approval for purchase of hardware and software upgrade of video surveillance equipment on Branchburg vehicles. 14. Approval of
purchase of 154 passenger school bus. And 15, approval of contract for for professional services. Can I have a motion to move those? Motion. Second. Any questions or comments? Just one quick comment. So everyone's aware, item nine, the withdrawal of funds from the
capital reserve, and item 10, the approval of the architects are fees associated with the work that's been done for the referendum. The only other thing I wanted to call out was the additional purchase of the additional school bus. Keeping in mind the long lead times that it takes to obtain these
buses, we thought it was a good idea to get that order in so that we're not on the short end when we need additional busing for the additional students. How does that coincide with like our schedule of re-uping on the school buses on a annual or semianual basis? It falls
within those timelines or it is a little bit ahead of time because of the lead time. So we wanted to if we had the additional funds purchase it now as well as the concern with the enrollment coming through in the fall. We wanted to make sure that we had the capacity. Yeah. All right. Thanks for being
proactive. Appreciate it. Anybody else? Just a question for the referendum of is it 13.5 million. That's state aid. Is that I believe 39 million. 39 million for state aid. How did that compare? Debt. That's more than 50%. That's more
than what we anticipated. Yeah. Our architect did an amazing job. They did. Yeah. That's great. Okay. That's good news. Anybody else? That's great news. Okay. Um, can I have a roll call,
please? Sorry, I'm rushing you. I apologize. That's okay. Miss Joyce, yes. Mr. Krishna Murdy, yes. Mr. Mater, yes. Miss Shaw, yes. Mr. Trumo, yes. side. Yes, Mr. Carpenter. Yes. Um, next up is
public comment on any topic. So, anybody who wishes to come up and speak on any topic is more than welcome to come up at this time. Seeing none, I will close public comment. Move on to board liaison reports. Um, first up is Somerville.
Yes. Okay. We've had two meetings since two Somerville meetings since our last branch meeting. So, a few quick updates. April 29th Somerville board meeting um had a public hearing on the budget. Um the budget was approved. Branchburg uh
tuition is up 3.8% versus a year ago. The projection of our kids uh of Branchburg kids in Surville High School is um 53.7%. That's the projection. Um so just some estimates there. Um from the budget
there was it was again just like here very tight budget. Uh but there were no cuts that were made to any programs or staffing. So that was that was good news and great work done by the super over there and the BA. Sarville also had received through the state an AI grant
of $75,000 which will be used to help support the teachers and understand how to ethically use AI. May 13th, just this week, uh another Summerville board meeting, the robotics team from the high school came in. It was a really great presentation that they did. It's worth just watching it.
Um, they actually were in three comp competitions this year. Um, they won an imagery award, an engineering and inspiration award. Um, and another word I didn't jot down, but they also comp competed in a a statewide district
um, competition as well. May 17th for robotics if anyone's interested at the Bridgewater Commons in the mall where Santa is. They're going to be doing a demo a 3D printing and combat robotics. So pretty cool to see the robots fighting each other. So if anyone's
interested, that is on Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. And then lastly, and this just happened last night, Somerville High School honored their students that made honor role. And so congratulations to all of our kids that were part of that ceremony. That's it.
Thank you. That's exciting. Um, Bobby, you have anything for PTO? Um, PTO would like to thank the community for their help in making teacher appreciation week a huge success. The PTO is excited to be planning the third, fourth, and fifth grade events in the next few weeks, as
well as the eighth grade dance on June 14th and the graduation. Thank you, sir. Um, Somerset County Ed Services, I have no report for PTO. Um, just know that the NJSBA workshop is from October 20th
to the 23rd. So, registration is now open for anybody who would like to attend that. Branchburg Township. Uh, I attended the meeting this past Monday as well as coffee with the mayor the previous Saturday. Um, really nothing on the agenda pertaining to schools. Just
for the community's notice, the Little Red Schoolhouse has been completely refurbished and it's reopened. So, they They dedicated it to Bob Ben, former mayor and former committee member. So, they put a clock up in the building and the building looks really good. So, if you have an opportunity to go see it, I
would recommend that. Awesome. That's a long time coming. They've been doing that for a few years. Awesome. Where is it? Since Where is it? Yeah, it's off of South Ranch River right by uh River.
It's on the right side. Cool. Thank you, sir. Uh BEF. Sure. Thanks. Uh staffing. The Branchburg Education Foundation is searching for a treasurer to join its board and other new members to serve as trustees. Personally, I think they also need an IT professional or student to help them,
but they're still assessing their needs and will consider all volunteers. As part of the BEF, you'll join a team of passionate community volunteers dedicated to improving educational outcomes and it's good for your resume. You can send an email to hello@ branchburg
educationfoundation.org. Next, Hummingbird Studio. BEF is looking to solicit feedback on our Hummingbird studio events to improve and possibly add functions for our children for sorry functions for our children in the future. Please check the BEF or Hummingbird website for areas of input.
Lastly, grants. In May, the BEF approved two grants for the Branchburg schools. First one, Lego STEM kits for Stony Brook School. Grants submitted by Miss Kelly. The BF funded the purchase of six Lego Spike essentials learning kits for
Stonybrook to help foster STEM innovation and creativity among the students. Number two, inclusive, equitable, and innovative learning spaces for BCMS. This grant was submitted by Miss Barker. The BF recently sponsored the purchase of various items that will enable Miss
Barker to improve her classroom environment and support student centered learning which will empower students to become more self-aware, manage their learning and emotions more effectively and better meet their individual needs. Now getting back to their staffing needs, Charlie and Vince, you
know some IT folks, right? I don't know what you're talking about. Thanks. I already do enough. I don't need to volunteer for anymore. Well, you know people, right? Well, yeah, I know Charlie. Um, lastly is CPAG. I do not have a report.
Um, so I guess with that, can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? Motion. Second. All in favor? I Now it got really hot in here.