Good evening everyone. Written advanced notice of this meeting was provided at least 48 hours ago. Such notice provided the time, date, and location of this meeting and included the agenda to the extent it was known at the time. Notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with law. Minutes of this meeting are being kept by the board
secretary and will be made available promptly to any member of the public requesting them from the board secretary at 25A Lessen Lane, Heightstown, New Jersey. Minutes will be provided at cost and in accordance with board policy. Are there any board members present who believe this meeting to be in violation
of the Open Public Meeting Act? There being none, we may proceed. In compliance with the fire code of the state of New Jersey, I call your attention to the emergency exits for this room, which are located there, one over there, one over there. Um, uh, if we could please stand for the
pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all the materials received. I move the
agenda be approved as submitted. Having read the materials received, I move the agenda be approved as submitted. >> Hold the board, please. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Miss Boli?
>> Yes. >> Miss Conpsion? >> Yes. >> Miss Drake? >> Yes. Miss Laruso. >> Yes. >> Miss Patel. >> Yes. >> Mr. Weeks. >> Yes. >> Test test test. Be it resolved that the East Windsor
Regional School District may hold two closed sessions at this meeting. These closed sessions concern personnel HI report of November 17, 2025 settlement agreement. Minutes of these closed sessions will be made available to the public when the need for confidentiality
no longer exists. >> Second. >> Pull the board, please. >> Miss Bourji, >> yes. >> Miss Conpsion, >> yes. >> Miss Drake, >> yes. Miss Laruso. >> Yes. >> Miss Patel. >> Yes. >> Mr. Weeks.
>> Yes. >> Okay. Uh good evening everyone. Just as we get started tonight, uh we have a I'd like to say a treat for this evening. Uh although Halloween is over. Um uh if you recall at our last meeting we referenced
uh for those of us who attended the school board's workshop in Atlantic City last month. I had the uh pleasure to um see our advanced choir perform high school's advanced choir perform. Kind of served as the opening act for the
commissioner of education. and uh it was a very proud moment and uh really had an opportunity to kind of showcase and highlight the level of artistic talent that exists here in in our community. So tonight it just seems fitting that we as we kind of approach the the winter
concert season and also the winter season just to have a a brief performance from our uh two of our advanced level choirs at the Heisdale High School. So with that said, I'm going to introduce Mr. Allen uh and our and our students tonight. Thank you.
You know, board members, I'm going to ask us to transition to the the viewing portion of the uh cafeteria. Uh hello everyone. First of all, thank you so much for letting us come and a song from our uh winter concert
series. We're really excited to perform for you. Before we do start, I would like to share a little bit of good news. We actually had two students auditioning for the state. It's actually the first time in quite some time for this choir. I would like to recognize those
students. That's Rivera. First piece that we're going to do for you is called Winter Wish. A chill is in the air. The trees are nearly falling to stop and stare.
is still the tree. Another year and you've grown amidst the highs and lows. They shape us into who we want to be. We're singing songs we always sing for
the joy that it can bring. in the air. The stars are shining all aligning in the space we share. And on this night, warm embraces, friendly faces, everything. For each new day, we've grown to the
highs and lows. They shape us into who we want to be. Sing we always sing for the joy that it can bring. Silence is the sound of snow upon the ground.
Take a step here. Let yourself be found for each new day amidst the highs and low that shape to be
singing songs and lasting peace. Peace. Now we're going to invite our other honors credited uh choir which is called Skull Panor. So it'll be a little bit of a scene change. So advanced choir, why don't you go on out and skull I would
like to invite you to come on. put this like Yeah. Please welcome for you. We're also doing our winter concert. The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full.
The moon lights. The light upon the stra and is gone. And is gone. The of England stand.
They stand. The sea is calm tonight. The tide is the moonlight. The light upon the stra and is gone.
Gle and is gone. The clear of England stand is the night. Let us be true. Let us be true in this land of dreams. A new soul.
The light is gone. The cliffs of England stand. They stand. Thank you so much for uh having us perform for you. If you would like to go to the concert
right here, thank you very much. That was uh that was fantastic. Thank you. Um I think up next we have our student representative report. >> Good evening board members. We are happy to be here another night.
On October 30th, the high school hosted its annual haunted hallways. This year, we also had held a competition between the class councils where kids were able to vote for their favorite door. National Honor Society is in full swing
and has officially started tutoring for this school year. Tutoring is happening after school for all subjects. Moving over to AP classes, most students have now completed their registration for the AP exams, setting them up for the upcoming testing season in spring.
Teachers and counselors have been helping students stay on track with deadlines and answering any questions they may have about the course requirements and preparation. Since the last board meeting, the clubs at Heights have already held a couple uh larger scale events. Our FTC robotics
team has started the season strong with competitions on November 1st as well as one this weekend. They currently hold an impressive record of eight wins and three losses and they perform very well at both competitions. Students also had the chance to learn
about the importance of professionalism at DECA DECA's recent Dress for Success event where members participated in a workshop and heard from guest speakers from higher up and other community organizations. It was a great chance to get the DECA season started with almost
70 members showing up to support their fellow classmates. In terms of athletics, our varsity cheer team took first place at the CBC competition on November 9th, which is an impressive achievement of how hard they work throughout throughout the season.
Winter sports officially begin next week with tryyouts starting on Monday and continuing through Tuesday and Wednesday before taking a break over Thanksgiving weekend. Some teams are already getting a head start. For example, swim had their first practice today.
Looking ahead, preparations for spring sports are also underway with girls lacrosse, boys basketball, and softball allo hold holding their interest meetings uh this week and in the coming weeks as they begin organizing for the upcoming seasons.
This year's musical was recently announced as Bring It On. And last week, Congressman Herb Conway came to talk to our AP government and politics class as well as a civil engagement club. Students were very excited and interested in hearing the perspective of
a of a federal government congressman. This weekend, the fall play opens. Performances are November 20th through the 22nd at 7 p.m. and November 23rd at 2 p.m. The annual senior junior powderpuff game will take place on the
25th and the students have been attending regular practices. The girls are coached by the football team while the boys are being coached by our cheer team. >> College visits have also been going on for a while now, giving students the chance to talk with admissions
representatives and learn more about different schools. Some colleges are also offering instant decision days where students can submit materials and receive a admissions decision on the same day that they meet the with those representatives, which has created a lot
of excitement for the senior class. >> As the holidays quickly approach, the student council has been planning this year's holiday drive-thru. On December December 18th, clubs and sports will set up holiday themed displays outside in the front of the school. Community members are encouraged to drive through
and receive optional giveaways from each club and organization. Hope to see you and all your families there. >> On a final note, uh on a final note, the first marking period report cards will be released on November 24th, which gives students and
families a good look at their academic performance so far this year. And this concludes our report. Thank you. Thank you for the great report. Uh up next we have Mark's superintendent report.
Okay. So, uh good evening again. Um I'll begin by by thanking our student reps. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to be here. So, we we find your information to be very valuable. So, um, please don't stop coming. All right? We need you to we
need you to be here. All right? So, definitely appreciate, uh, your report this month and every month moving forward. Uh, couple of quick highlights. I just want to just echo some of what uh, our reps share tonight. As we transition to the uh, winter uh, athletic season, it's hard to believe
we're almost at that point. Uh, but I do want to just uh share a few highlights as it relates to uh just some of our athletic uh I'll call them accomplishments. I'll start with the middle school. I'll just give a shout out to our um the middle school football
team. Second year of existence. I believe that they um almost went completely undefeated this season. They they uh ended up losing in the championship game to Piscataway. I believe that was last week. But definitely want to congratulate uh all of our student athletes and our coaches
for uh really uh I think a worthwhile program, you know, in terms of thanking the board for supporting that program a few years ago as it relates to kind of utilizing um the energy and the interest of students at the middle school level and
adding something to the uh intercolastic sports menu. As it relates to the the high school, definitely want to congratulate all of our fall season athletes, uh, coaches, as well as our athletic director, uh, Mr. Vira, who's in his first year. Um, just a couple of
quick highlights, and some of this might be slightly redundant, but I kind of cheated off of our reps a little bit. So, I will just echo, I think we'll highlight our girls volleyball team. This is the uh, second season uh, as a varsity program. Um so quickly becoming
one of the strongest programs in central Jersey. Uh so led by coaches Ashino Falter and Lisk. Um they had a 13-9 record and uh they reached the state quarterfinals and county semifinals and uh they won their first conference game,
county tournament and state tournament game. So congratulations to that program that's continuing to develop and grow. uh as mentioned by student reps, I do want to uh congratulate our cheer program um who not only just contributed to a positive impact throughout the
school community, whether it was through um you know their participation in football games, uh they definitely concluded the the season on a very impressive first place finish at the CBC tournament uh earlier this month. Uh quick uh also acknowledgement to our
girls tennis team. They had a successful season uh both individually as a team. Um their the varsity team season ended with a loss in the state semi-finals to Morristown. Cross country um both boys and boys and
girls successful seasons. Um our captains um who led their teams with Mason Johnson and Sienna Rivera. uh a boys team finished sixth place in the CBC and uh they just barely missed out
on qualifying for group four state championship uh after uh dropping the fastest average time in over a decade in Central Jersey group four sectionals. So just as we prepare for the winter season, excited about uh what our
students will will kind of show us as we move forward, but definitely wanted to acknowledge the efforts of our student athletes uh for the fall season. As mentioned, a quick shout out regarding the fall drama clue which starts this week. Uh our student reps mentioned that, but definitely it's not hard to find out information about it, but
definitely would encourage everyone. This is a familyfriendly uh performance. Okay? So, we can you can bring the little ones. I think it'll be a very enjoyable uh opportunity. So, opens Thursday, concludes on Sunday, 700 p.m.
uh th uh Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 2 pm uh on Sunday. At our last meeting, I I talked about uh we were entering the phase of um the field test for the uh New Jersey student learning assessment that's being
adjusted this year uh for an adaptive format. As if you recall, I talked about uh the fall serving as a almost a practice run uh to provide some feedback for the department of education so they can make some adjustments regarding
actually the NJSLA as well as the NJGPA as we transition to to the spring. So I do want to just uh congratulate our our students, teachers, our administrators um you know our school level testing coordinators as well as our district test coordinator for the logistics and
also our technology department for the logistics that go into ensuring a smooth um administration of that process. So, we've uh fortunately finished that uh last week and then we'll await to see what what you know the spring will um
look like in terms of uh the adjustments that will be made to the uh assessment that students will take at that time. So, as I said before, uh what took place during starting at the beginning of October and concluded uh last week uh those scores are not counting against
students. Those are really uh designed to uh provide feedback to ensure that there's a what we think is a a more of a aligned assessment for the spring. Um this week we'll conclude our our fall
parent conferences. We started those um last week. So we we have remaining um I believe on Wednesday of this week and Thursday of this week. We have Wednesday I believe middle school and on Thursday we'll conclude with our elementary level. So uh conferences
appear to be well attended. Uh you know we have we've developed over time to have scheduled conferences uh K12 which I think should alleviate some of the headaches especially at the 612 level where there's a a multitude of teachers
potentially for parents to see but it does uh hopefully create some level of organization. So, um hopefully you're getting some good feedback regarding your child's progress uh by attending conferences. Uh as mentioned, we are
approaching our Thanksgiving break uh next week, which is hard to also believe, which has happened pretty pretty quickly, but that will serve as one of our three homework holidays. As we talked about uh it's probably about the fourth year we've we've uh acknowledged our homework free holidays
which is really just to acknowledge that holidays are a time for uh our students to be spending uh opportunities with family uh those obligations whether they may be family oriented, religious oriented. Um we believe that's a time
that students should not be uh engaged with homework assignments or long or medium-term projects. uh and also when they return to school the the first day back from break uh there will not be a test or quiz that'll be assigned uh on that day. So in addition to Thanksgiving
break uh there will also be a homework free holiday during winter break and uh finally with spring break. So we will not meet again until December 8th. So I'd like to wish uh board our families community a very peaceful Thanksgiving
holiday and uh hopefully folks will spend time with loved ones. That concludes my report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mark. Um, now is a first opportunity for uh board member comments. >> Hi, I actually have a question about the
um student report. Um, when they talked about the um the tutoring, the honors tutoring, what subjects and where? Um, so one of the tutoring programs that we have here at Heightstown is run by NHS and uh I believe that's in the
library. I believe it might be during lunch but I know definitely after school and it's for any subject and students can sign up like however they want. >> Yeah. Um I don't think you have to sign up. I think like teachers can also like recommend you to be like oh like go
during this day or something. I think it's on Wednesdays. It's like a specific day during the week. Um, but students will get like in their daily announcements every day. They'll get when the NHS are in the library after school, so they can go
there or again a lot of teachers like will send kids there after school. Um, but it is a really great resource and you're like being helped by your peers. So, I think it's very effective. And then on top of that um we also have the resource rooms for math, science,
English, all that all all those subjects those are run by teachers during like off periods. So yeah. All right. So just to make sure I understand. So the tutoring that you mentioned for the honors and NHS is only for the high school kids during the
school day and or after school primarily. >> Okay. And NHS stands for >> National Honor Society. >> All right. Thank you. >> Any other comments? >> I have a few. I have three.
First, I want to give a shout out to the high school debate team because I think they went to the finals against Robinsville. I don't know if they won. They didn't win, but it was really great that they made it to the finals. Shout out to them. Um,
I had a I wanted to thank all the teachers at the high school and all the schools that showed up and participated in the parent teacher conferences last week. It was great. I just have one comment about high school. I think it
would be really helpful if we invested. Now, I know we have signs on the walls and those are great, but when you're going to the high school conferences, like there's some in cafeteria RM, and there's a little sign when you come in. But I think it would be really helpful
if there were big signs like easel signs that said where it is when you walk in and then like if you this is cafeteria R because a lot of people don't know that. It's hard to know what M is. And you can reuse them every year. You can even get whiteboards and just erase it. I think
it would be just to help because you're like rushing back and forth from one to the other and if you're confused. Um, and then I just had one other comment about drop off at high school. It's great going down Leon, but when
you're leaving, so when you do your drop off and then you go back up Leon, it's if you have to make a left, it it's it's very difficult to make a left because all the cars are turning in and it backs up the traffic and the buses.
Is there any way that maybe the town would think about that you And there's also I feel really bad there are kids too that wait for their bus that live there. No, I'm Lean. There's like these K Yeah. to come out
of Leen. I don't know. Is there any way that maybe the town would think about maybe you can't make a left just for an hour or so during the school drop off and pick up? I mean, it's easy to make the left. I understand that. It's quicker for me to go left, too. But if you make the right and you just go
around the block just because it really backs up. And sometimes when you see the people make the left, you're like, "Oh my god, there's going to be an accident. because all the people are turning and you and sometimes people don't use blinkers. I don't know. It's just a thought. I understand that you you know people should take the buses too. But
and that was it. That was all I had. Thank you. >> You're saying exiting unless and and not permitting folks to make a left on the main street. >> Yeah. Because >> during that time of the day, >> just during those time periods just because you have cars turning on to
lessen to come into school. You have the cars coming from both directions and then you have the cars leaving school trying to make the left and the other I mean the buses too. It was very backed up the other day depending on the time
obviously the closer it is to bells but it was just a thought just because it could be helpful and it could be a safety thing. >> Yeah. You know I'll uh I'll follow up with um Heightstown Police Department and we can put eyes on it and see what options we have. All right. Thank you.
>> Um I'll just take a second to thank the choir for performing this evening. That was a awesome show. And a reminder um to the public um I know we have a lot of concerts coming after our next meeting, but um Clue is coming up this week and
there's lots of other activities to absolutely go out and support the students. Um, I think now it's uh first opportunity for public comment. If you could just please sign in um on the sheet right up there, please.
Thank you. the microphone >> the button on the right hand side. You'll There you go. Got you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Good evening. >> So, this is All right. you go ahead and introduce yourself for us. >> Um, my name is Gabrielle Jack and I'm an
eighth grader at Melvin Hubs. My three-year member of Project Green. >> Seeing the AJ Collins Memorial Garden being destroyed was devastating, especially since it was apparently because the garden was too messy. The students of Project Green had worked to
clear the pathways and trim back the overgrown path since returning to school in September after not being able to over the summer. The point was not about pleasing the human eye. The AJ Collins garden was full of native plants for a reason. Native plants support local animals, and supporting the local
ecosystem benefits the people, too. Nature isn't tidy or neat, but that doesn't mean it isn't important or that it shouldn't be protected. However, that isn't the message that I'm getting from the administration. If the adults in charge of the education system are devaluing native plants and the
environment, how are we students supposed to have exemplars of eco-friendly living? Most of us won't. This failure of today's adults still has time to be remedied. Don't continue setting a poor example for coming generations. >> Thank you. So with that, my name is
Claudet Jack. I'm her mom. On Monday, November 10th, my daughter came home from school extremely upset. She said, "Mom, they ripped out the AJ Collins garden. It's all gone." I was
shocked that my daughter and her fellow members of the project green club had worked really hard for the pla past two and a half years and that work was destroyed by the school's administration without a word to the students. No
conversation to try and understand how this garden is beneficial to the students and the environment. So I emailed the principal, Dr. Luger. Her response was dismissive.
She said it took it took too much time and resources. They have another garden they can use. That left me feeling even more saddened by the lack of understanding and empathy of how destroying the students hard work will
negatively impact their emotional and mental health. There is no understanding of what the students are doing in the garden. For example, my daughter Gabrielle has learned about native plants, something I didn't know about, and inv I'm sorry, an
invasive species. She has collected and cataloged seeds to be planted and shared with others in our community. Surely, we all can see the benefits of 65 students enthusiast. >> 30 seconds, please. enthusiastically
participating in their school's garden. So I am here tonight as a concerned parent to urge the board, please do not allow the AJ gardens to be destroyed and leaving the children feeling powerless
and demoralized. Please reverse the decision to take away the garden from the students. Show them that we care about their interest and support them in learning about the environment and using the garden. time, please. >> We should, last sentence, we should be
expanding the garden, not taking it away, since studies have shown that gardening reduces stress, anxiety, and depression. Gardening provides a sense of purpose and calm for both immediate and long-term benefits. Please return
the AJ Collins garden to the students at Kreps. Thank you. You know, I uh I got an email from I was on the original email. I got an email from Mr. Jack. I think I think he also included the board. I responded this evening if I'm welcome to discuss
further if you'd like to outside of this meeting. Okay. Are there any further public comments? Uh there being none, uh we'll be moving into executive session. Um but how long do you think? >> About 20 minutes. Um so we'll be back in
about 20 minutes. Thank you. Thanks everybody. Uh we're up to old business um committee meetings for 2025. Just to elaborate on uh old business, we we do have tenative board meetings,
>> new old business. >> This time of year, we circulate potential uh board meeting dates for 2026. We'll have it posted again for December, but this will be up for board action at our reorganization meeting in January.
Please do. >> Um, were there any open any additional questions on the student assessment data presentation? >> Yes, I just want a clarification. Um are we able to at least pinpoint of the area we need to um target the area that we
need to focus on to make any type of improvements like area because I know we had so much data with grade level and you know economics and this and that. Do we have anything further more detailed than that to at least we could like have
a small group of a student to evaluate and understand what are we lacking and what we need to do to get them to that level. Do we have anything like that? >> Um
yes we do but there's multiple areas that we need to focus on. I think that obviously when we talk about the NJSLA, we're talking about determining student proficiency primarily with language arts and mathematics. Um, you know, we we obviously have a a
keen lens on our multilingual learners and our special education population, but in addition to that, uh, our our general education population, although we're showing signs of growth across all levels, um, we would like to see more significant growth in some areas,
especially middle school, uh, middle school math. Although we do accelerate students at the middle school level, um we believe we can we can be more um impactful in terms of how students are progressing. So, uh you know, I'm not going to say there's a oneshot solution.
I think it's a kind of a a multi-pronged approach. I think for us, the emphasis will be on, you know, high yield instructional strategies, uh progress monitoring tools. Um at our last meeting or the meeting before that we had talked about
during the curriculum committee meeting engaging in some uh universal screening so we can be more proactive in terms of identifying students that we think uh we may need to provide support to uh versus kind of waiting for them to struggle uh
and kind of strengthening those that process. So um and the other piece really for us is like you know when we talk about providing teachers with um those tools that we think that they would need uh to meet the needs of students within their classrooms. We realize within a general education
classroom there's a broad continuum of learners. Right? So you've got students who may be up to two grade levels below but you may have students who may be one or two grade levels above. So making sure that we say things like differentiating instruction, which sounds great and we do expect that, but
um that's not always easy. So we want to make sure the teachers have the resources and tools before them, knowing that we have um interventionists that can provide some more specialized support for students that need it, but also making sure that students the places where they spend the majority of
the time, those teachers need those tools. So we'll continue to uh leverage that. And um you know postco we've continued to make gains. We just we just want to make sure that those gains are more noticeable as we move forward. So uh to be continued. All right.
>> Thank you. >> Uh next uh second opportunity for board member comments. >> Thank you. Um I just want to um address um I know we have an amazing u volleyball girls team and I I was there for the games because my daughter plays
JV and just wanted to know what is the district's thought on expanding the uh volleyball team to the eighth graders so they have a jump start uh when they come to the ninth grade. uh do we have anything uh in in future that we can
plan where we can also offer this to our eighth graders? Thank you. >> Um good question. I think that you know anytime we could look to expand uh intercolastic athletic opportunities for students at the middle school level, we
we definitely would like to pursue that. We need to check to see if volleyball is a middle school interscolastic sport. Um if it is the typical process for us would be to identify a level you know the interest level of students uh
at the middle school level and then kind of begin to um establish that that particular sport ask the board to approve it. So we'll start with one determining whether or not that's a um an identified middle school
intercolastic sport. If it is then we'll we'll look to see how we can make that a reality. All right. All right. So, I'll get back to you on that. >> Thank you. >> I wanted to report out on the wellness committee meeting. Um, so we met uh this evening um and we
sort of did a review of all of the um offerings under the counseling department. Um so we talked about staffing um an increased we have increased numbers of counselors. Uh we have RERS clinicians who come in licensed clinicians to uh provide mental
health counseling. We also have a SAT counselor at each um at each at each grade level I think or at each school. It's at each school. Um we um and having the increased number of um you know
staff to support students uh really does uh help to um assess students earlier and to provide supports earlier for folks to uh to make sure the problems don't go on too long. And the staff was really feeling a
little less less stressed about their uh the number of students and they're able to you know meet with students more frequently. um and uh provide additional services. Um one of the things that um is happening more frequently are more
groups um in the schools. And so um they're doing social skills groups at K2 uh peer mediation. Um Perry Drew has a group for bilingual students um who have exited the bilingual program uh to meet
and keep connected. Um there's a program for new uh students, students who are new to the district uh who are who are bilingual. Um and these uh these groups are happening um throughout the schools.
Um we talked about social emotional learning. Students are still getting those services. Um they're folks are coming once a month to talk about different topics. um emotional regulation, self-awareness, growth
versus um fixed mindset. Um and so they're getting those lessons um monthly. Um groups at the high school, I didn't mention stress management and some career exploration uh programs. Uh we talked about professional development, uh uh grief
counseling, uh some school avoidance, uh which is a new topic, um as well as um some partnering with um care management organization to uh collaborate with care managers that are um working with some
of our students uh so that everybody's on the same page about the services they're getting. Um and just a review of all the different partnerships we have with uh Jewish Children and Family Services, Care Solace, uh Ruckers who provides us with our clinicians. Um
TCJ um does um a youth mental health first aid training. Uh and then just considering the possibility of a new uh product from GoG Guardian that would be able to monitor um uh students uh
engagement with their computers uh school computers 247 instead of just during the school day. Um but that's uh something for the future. >> Questions? >> I don't have a question. I just wanted to add um during the wellness committee
they also uh talked about uh there's services that actually can be provided to families grief uh services and different um services that um financially is not the responsibility of the family but there can be services that can be given to them for free. So I
thought that was uh very interesting to know. >> Okay. Thank you so much. Um any other comments or I'm sorry uh uh any other board comments? Um second opportunity for public
comments or anybody in the audience with any comments? Uh there being none, um motion to approve routine items by exception. Sorry, I kicked myself out. I'm coming back in.
Motion to approve routine items by exception. Having read the materials received, I move the board approve the routine agenda items as submitted. A. Staffing 1117 2025. B unaffiliated agreement 202526.
C. Mentor plan and PD plan. D. HIB report October 27th, 2025. E. Approve travel and related expenses. F. Approve new field trip sites for upcoming trips. G. 2026 2027 school
calendar. H. Approve EMK surplus library books for disposal or donation. I. Approve HHS and MHK winter sports schedules 202526 school year. J MHK dance ensemble uncmp uncompensated club.
K MHK dollar and cense uncompensated club. L MHK science uncompensated club. M out of district placement. N professional services for students. O settlement agreement. P bus evacuation
drill October 2025. Q vehicle maintenance proposal. R transportation jointers. S transportation quotes. T. Mercer County Technical School Student List.
U board meeting minutes approval. V 202526 health and safety checklists of school buildings. WM1 worksheet comprehensive maintenance plan. X report of the board secretary and financial report September 2025.
Y expense and transfer reports of school monies report for September 2025. Z bill list of November 17, 2025. >> Second. >> Pull the board, please.
>> I have a question before we pull. um for the calendar. What is that? G >> G >> just so we're getting is the reason So for the past couple years we've been getting out of school later and later. Is that due to the week that we have off
in November? Is that why we're getting pushed? Because we used to never get out like the 25th, 27th. >> Okay. >> So, a couple things. Well, this year we have uh Passover falls outside the
spring break. So we we have Passover. Uh we added Eid a couple of years ago. And so in terms of the fall break, if we didn't have the the fall break, we would get out two days earlier. So you know,
in recent years, uh we opted to close schools on on the election day, that large election day in November, just because we have voting in three of our schools. Um, so that would leave Monday and Wednesday as school days that that
we could have, but but typically they're not the most um productive days and oftent times families were taking that week to do other things anyway. So it seems like it just uh makes sense. So that adds two days. Um, but in this year we would be adding, like I said,
Passover in April from off the top of my head which would add another day. Um the other part for this upcoming school year is that Labor Day is a week later which adds like a third day. So we start school then we're out for Labor Day
which adds another it's on the 7th I believe. So yeah typically Labor Day would not be part of the school calendar as it were. So those are the few of the days that are kind of extended things. >> Thanks Park. On that note, how do we handle the
snow days? So, this calendar is 183 uh day um school days with three emergency closings built in. So, typically we're equipped to have three. If we exceed that, it's listed there in terms of the
days that are currently off that would no longer be off if we go into four, five, and six. If we don't use those days, then we typically would extend the uh Memorial Day weekend. So, there's some dates built in.
Okay, thank you. >> But Mark, is there ever um are we ever ever able to have the conversation of um making the school year back to shorter like you know what I mean? rearranging it in a way that the school year doesn't end like because there's only like one
week before July um the last few years and then July always seems that there's always the summer programs or the enrichment programs. So then the students only have but a week to rest before they have to get back um to school. So, are we ever um able to have
that conversation to like see if we can move it back a week? Because I thought we used to have the kids get out around like Junth around. >> Um we sure can, but it's just a matter of what you're looking to trade off. So, you know, one of the one aspect is that
the three emergency closing days that you know, we only the students are required to have 180 days of school. We build 183 days into the calendar. If we don't need to use those three emergency closing days, we've decided to extend uh the Memorial Day weekend and have some
time off. You know, another option is just to to end school earlier uh which gets a little bit tricky when you have to take into consideration high school graduation that we don't host here. We we rent a site. So therefore, one of the challenges of uh finishing
earlier would be that theoretically, you know, you decide that we're going to finish on the 23rd, but uh or 22nd, graduation is like two days after that. So there's a few factors there. um you know uh in terms of what that looks
like. I mean what I will say is you know going to school during the week of the 20th is not it's not going to be the most laborious experience for students but but yeah we there's ways in which we can we can shorten it. One would be looking at high school graduation and you would talk with uh
Dennis Vincent about this in terms of even though we try to time it where it's as close as possible to that last day of school, even if we were looking to to schedule it maybe two days prior, uh it would give us a little bit of flexibility if we needed to to modify
how we use those three emergency closing days. So last year, I think was the first time since I've been uh in the district almost seven years that we didn't use I don't think we used any emergency closing days last year, you know. So typically um you know we we
usually use at least one. Uh I think I think one year we used all three. So, uh, to answer your question, yes, in order to get back to trimming those days, it would go back to what Nicole was referring to. We could look at that week in November and have school on the
Monday and Wednesday of that week. That would give us two days. Um, you know, for this year, that would be the immediate thing that would would enable things to finish on the 23rd instead of the 25th. Right.
>> Okay. Thank you. And then I have a question about um V I'm looking at the health and safety evaluation for Melvin H. Kreps page six
of 10 number four. I just wanted to understand why um is it NA because it talks about um the playground area and is it that the school doesn't have a playground? >> Right.
Okay. So, their basketball court isn't considered like a play area. >> No, this is this is this is more so referring to like playground equipment. >> Okay. >> That's more of an elementary school model. >> Thank you. >> Okay.
>> Yeah, if I could just add on to Mark's answer. So, as you're looking at those checklists, just keep in mind that the high school, the middle school, and the elementaryaries are three different models. So how we answer a question for the high school might be different how we answer a question for say the elementary school. I was talking to Jean
a little earlier. So one of the question deals with uh labs and we we don't really have active labs in the elementary school with chemicals the same way we do that on the high school level. So they get answered differently.
>> Thank you. Pull the board, please. >> Miss Bougie, >> yes. >> Miss Conpsion, >> yes. >> Miss Drake, >> yes. >> Miss Laruso, >> abstain from you. Yes to the rest.
>> Miss Patel. >> Yes. >> Mr. Weeks. Yes. Uh there being no need for a second executive session, uh this meeting is now