[Music] Hello everybody. Are we ready for another school year? Pursuant to the Open Public Community Act chapter 231 public laws of 1975,
this meeting was notice sent to the Asbury Park Press, August 13, 2025. duly advertised in the Asbury Parks issue of August 18th, 2025. All the full clerks of the townships,
the burls within the regional has been advertised and notified and requirements for this met on August 13th, 2025. Please stand and join me in the pledge. 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, liberty and justice for all. Mr. Any changes to the board agenda tonight? Yes, Mr. President. Uh in addition to
the items that were noted on the agenda that's reprinted prior to tonight, prior to going in executive session, the board also did discuss executive session. Uh exception number three, uh student discipline and attendance issues. Uh exception number eight, personnel items
as noted on the agenda. And uh exception number seven, uh the board discussed tax levying Senate program and uh 2026 fiscal year budget issues. Thank you. May I have a motion to take the minutes
of the July 17th board meeting? Offer. Second. Any discussion? Board. Not hearing any discussion. Roll call.
Good evening. Uh, Miss M. Rest. Yes. Miss Bruna. Yes. M. Capell. Yes. Miss Butcher Farcus. Yes. Mr. Sigley, yes. Mrs. Lav, yes. M. Macau, yes. Mr. Messenger, yes. Mr. Ber,
yes. Thank you. Just a note, communications are on file with the board secretar's office. We're now going to have Mr. Henry board. Thank you, Mr. Bruno. Good evening. Um, as we close out, uh, we of course
looking ahead to this, uh, new school year and, uh, we are ready, uh, to open our doors, um, to approximately 10,000 students. But I want to share, uh, with the community and with the board our final class statistics for the class of
2025. Our total number of graduates uh, that we had in June was 25,560. The students who graduated through a substitute competency assessment in ELA or math were 37.
Students who graduated through the portfolio appeal process were 44 students. And students who graduated through the alternate requirements specified in a student's IEP was 107.
um you know uh we did have some students uh that didn't fulfill their graduation requirements. We had 13 students um in the district. Uh one of those students uh did not pass due to um not passing an
end of course assessment or the state assessment. Um but we had wonderful graduation programs and 200 260 uh graduates. Um these are data points um that we pay very close attention to
in our school district and ensuring that every student um has a successful pathway uh postgraduation. Um but these were our final class statistics for the class of 2025. Um the past two days and tonight uh we
are welcoming in our freshmen uh to the Freehole Regional High School District. So, our kickoff programs for our new 9th graders, we had three programs last evening and three programs tonight where we are welcoming in our students as well
as the parents um to our schools and to our district. Today, we hosted new staff orientation um a full day district program facilitated by the human resources
department, Dr. Sharp and her team as well as all of the central office administrators where our new staff have an opportunity uh to meet everyone to engage with each other. Um they also go through specialized training uh today
and uh tomorrow they will have um orientation at the building level both with their principles, the administrative teams and the supervisors. So, uh we are excited. Um we have uh over 50 new staff coming into the
district, teachers and support staff um again in a very large district uh retirements and um you know um you know each year. Um so we're we are excited uh to welcome new staff and and they bring us uh so much inspiration and um are
great contributors to our school community. So excited for all the new faces. Um we have two board reports this evening. Uh we're going to hear from um finance as well as curriculum. Uh but before we do that, we have uh two other
presentations. Uh one is the SSDS report. Uh the student safety data sheets uh what used to be the violence and vandalism report. It's um data points as it relates to um student discipline and student matters. We're going to present that tonight. and also
our district um we have a very close eye uh which we have had over the past few years especially coming out of COVID on student attendance. Um so we are paying very close attention to students that are chronically absent from school. By
definition, that means um any student that exceeds uh absences greater than 10%, they're there 180 days, so exceeding 18 days out of school uh are deemed chronically absent. Um so that is
a percentage here in the district uh that we are looking to uh lower um and prioritize kind of students being present and being here uh for all of their classes. There are a lot of factors that go into uh a student's you
know daily attendance at school. Um and we have many many support programs through our guidance department if any students need assistance to ensure that we you know get them to school you know every day. That's where we want them. That's where we need them. Um so we are
actively working with our administrative teams and all of our support staff to ensure um that our students attend school on a regular basis. Um Mr. Mendes um our director I know he's here trying to pull up his slides. He's I think he's ready.
Um but is going to start with the SSDS. It's the phase 2 report of last school year. So data points from January to the end of the school year of the 2425 school year and then he'll segue into our work with attendance and the plan
that we are enacting to ensure we um get some uh growth in our data points as it pertains to student attendance. Thank you Dr. Hazel. Um you know as Dr. Hazel said this is uh phase two. Every year we have two phases. The first phase
is September to December that we present in the spring and this is phase two from January to June any violence, vandalism, harassment, intimidation and substance abuse issues uh that we have in the school. I'd like to start just by saying
that we have as Dr. Hazel pointed out approximately 10,000 students in the district. So these are incidents that have occurred across the district um in all six buildings. work just okay. So, I'm going to give you the
phase 2 numbers and then I'm going to give you the overall totals for the year and then I'll compare it to the year before. So, here's the categories. Um, for phase 2 violence, we had 19 incidents, which brings our total to 33 in the district for the 2425 school
year. And last year, we had 41. So, we're down a little bit there. Our vandalism, we had one reported incident uh this spring, which brings our total to two for the year. Year before we had three. Our weapons possession, uh we had
three incidents, which brings our total to five. We're up a little bit there. Last year, we only had one. Um and when you say weapons, it was there was pocket knives. Those those were the weapons. They weren't any firearms or anything like that. It was pocket knives. Um,
substance abuse issues, we had 33 incidents in phase 2, which brings us to 48 for the year. The year prior we had 61. So, we're down in that area. Uh, harassment, intimidation, bullying, confirmed cases, we had 34 for phase 2,
which brings our total for the year to 65, and the year before we had 72. So, we're trending down in that area as well. um our harassment, intimidation, and bullying alleged cases, we had 15 in phase 2, which brings us to 25 for the
year uh as compared to 50 the year before. So, we're down significantly there. Thanks, Mike. So, simple assaults, there were six uh which brings our total 11. We're roughly the same. We had 10 the year before. Sexual contact were zero.
uh brings our total to zero for the year. We had three the year before. Uh sexual assault, we had zero. Uh just as in the year before, we had zero. Threats, we had 12 um with the year before. I'm sorry, seven for this phase,
12 total and 11 in the prior year. Fights, we had six in this phase, bringing our total to 10 as compared to 17 the year before. So, we're down uh down in that area as well. Okay. Um, vandalism and weapons. This
kind of breaks down that category a little bit. Damage to property. We had zero. Can I ask a question? Sure. On the slide before. Mhm. There was simple assault and then there was a fight. So obviously the fight
there's two kids going at it, right? So like how what's simple assault? Like if one goes up, punches another, and the other one doesn't respond, so there's no fight. Correct. Yep. It's exactly the definition. Okay. Breaking down uh vandalism and
weapons. Vandalism, damage to property, we had zero. Zero for the year. We had one the year before. Uh false public alarm, we had zero in this phase, but we had one in phase one. So we had one for the year, we had zero last year. thefts, we had one in this phase, which brings
our total to one. We had two last year. Uh trespassing, we had zero uh zero total and zero last year. Weapons, uh possession of a weapon, we had three in this phase, which brings our total, like I said, four to five, and we had one the
year before. Assault of the weapon, we had zero. Zero total, zero the year before. Is that all knives? Yes, they're all knives. Okay. Substance use confirmed. This is when a student is um thought to be under
the influence and then they're sent out for a screening and it comes back confirmed that they are under the influence. So we had 10 in phase two which brings our total of 21 for the year. Last year we had 31. Possession would be possession of of of
a substance. We had 21 in this phase which brings us to 27 for the year as compared to 38 last year. So we're down there as well. Sale sale and distribution um we had two in this phase which brings our total to two and we had two last
year as well. Students who refuse an exam we had one in this phase. Total of one for the year and we had one last year as well. And then drug paraphernalia would be possession of drug paraphernalia. We had two for this phase, two total and one
last year. So, illegal substances that students uh were confirmed use of, all 10 of them were we had 10 substance use confirmed in phase 2. All 10 of them were
marijuana. Uh we had no other substances in phase two, which brings our total for the year with marijuana uses to 21. Okay. Um, and we had zero last year. We
had 30, I'm sorry, 27 marijuana uses. We had uh one unauthorized prescription drugs last year. We had zero this year. We had one um alcohol last year. We had zero this year. And the rest of the
categories, we had zero both years. So, harassment, intimidation, bullying cases, uh, for phase two, like I said earlier, where we had 34 confirmed and 15 alleged that were investigated and not confirmed for a total of 49 in phase
two. So that brings our total to 65 confirmed, 25 alleged, 90 total investigations as compared to the year before where we had 72 confirmed, 50 alleged for a total of 122. So we're down 32 investigations
this year. So that's a tribute to uh the staff in each building, the principles leading that and the counseling departments. So, and then the last side is just all the different things that we have as resources to help with these incidents.
And again, I just want to remind everybody approximately 10,000 students in the district and the incidents the numbers are very small. Um, you know, we're talking about, you know, a couple incidents here with 10,000 kids. So it really these numbers
are very good and you know it's a tribute to everything that's going on in the buildings uh led by by our principles and our assistant principles in the building. Okay. So I'm going to move on now to unless anyone does anyone have any questions on any of that data.
Okay, great. You know, we don't like to see any numbers in any of these boxes. Um, but we have been working with, you know, teenagers on a daily basis and a lot going on um for our young adults. But we're really proud of the the progress
we're making as well as the educational programs, all of the supports that are in place and the strength of our counseling departments, our Sachs and administrators. Um these are data points that we take very serious seriously and
want to make sure that all of these support services um are in place. Um but um I am proud of our progress and there's still more work to be done. It's really these numbers are amazing and I'm looking at some of the vice principles out here in the audience.
It's it's the work that you guys do and staying on top of it. And Liz as a principal and I was these numbers used to be a lot worse and you know it's a tribute to our program and our counselors
they're amazing. I have friends that they're like 50 60 nights a year. Good job guys. Good job there. Thank you. relative tire.
Wait, next one. All right. So, the attendance action plan. So, the state the state of New Jersey, this is the legislation, you know, it says that if 10% or more of the students are chronically absent, that
means that they miss I know Dr. Hazel kind of explained this already, but they miss 10% or more days of school. Okay. without it being an excused absence. I'll get into that in a second. Um, if 10% of the student body in an individual
school is chronically absent, the school has to uh put together an attendance action plan. Okay, that's monitored by us, but that we have to submit to the county and the state. So, just to get into um chronic absenteems. So up here
is the list by code that the state excuses that do not count towards chronic absenteeism. So a religious holiday, uh participation in Veterans Day, um board of election activities,
take our children to work day, that's one three college visits for grade 11 and 12 only. I know sometimes parents get confused in that they take their ninth or tth grader. Unfortunately, it's not excused as part of as part of the state. Uh if we were to ever close a a
school or close busing and they couldn't get to school um or attendance, this is a new one as of last year, attendance at a civic event. If a student was able to provide documentation that they attended a civic event, it would be excused by the state. So those absences do not
count toward chronic absenteeism. So this next slide is is very important because the code states that even though the the state only lists certain absences, they give every school district the ability to create policy
that approves excused absences locally. Okay. So, we we obviously have that policy, but those absences, even though they're excused locally, they don't count toward like student conduct, truency, um course credit, and they
wouldn't count towards that. What you know, the attendant the absences that are listed in our policy. However, the highlighted section is important. Even though we have a policy excusing those absences for students, they still count
towards chronic absenteeism. So, I'm going to give you a perfect example. A student could have knee surgery, re re uh knee, total reconstruction, MCL, ACL. They're going to be out for a couple weeks. Now,
eventually, they'll go on home instruction, but in the beginning, before we know any of that happened, they're going to be absent because they got hurt, they're sick, they got a doctor's note, um and they're they're out of school. those absences though locally we're going to excuse them so
they don't count toward losing credit or any kind of discipline or anything like that as far as the states concerned they count toward chronic absenteeism. Okay. So that's important to note because you know some of our families
get a little confused by that. You know you excuse this as an absent principal. Why is my student chronically absent then? because these are excused. They're only excused locally. They're not excused by the state. So that's that's really important to note when we're
talking about these. So these numbers are from the 23 24 school year because those are the last official numbers by the state. State has not given us the official numbers for 2425. So these are the numbers in each one of
our buildings. They they look a little high. 27 and a half for Colt Snack, 244 for freehole, 24% and these are again are the percentage of students that are chronically absent. Okay, so it seems
high. Um, I will tell you that this year by our estimates, and again there are estimates, the state has other factors that they count in, but this year by our estimates, we are significantly lower. And significantly lower, I'll tell you,
we're averaging about 25% from the 23 24 school year. this year by our calculations and what we've submitted into the state database, it's called NJ Smart, which is changing to NJ Sleds, but that's another presentation. Um,
we've submitted about 19%. Okay, so we're we're down and our our schools are doing a fantastic job really addressing attendance and they're going to continue to do more. Um, so when we
put together our attendance action plan, we were able to gather administrators from each school and we were able to talk about each different school in each different community because every single one of them are different. The communities are different, the students are different, the schools are
different. So we were able to get together as a group and look at our data and review some of the trends that were going on. we were able to get feedback from our students, from some of our parents and our staff about attendance
and what we can do to better address our students, our student attendance. So, some of the things that we came up with that are going to go into there that are in the attendance action plan is uh the first one's parental communication. That's obvious. We we've
been doing that. We continue to do that. We're going to now do a mass communication two times per year. The principles put it in their opening day letter. Um they put a a blurb in there about attendance and the importance of attending school and asking for the
parents help in getting their students to school. The other place that we put it that we hadn't had it before on the home screen of the parent portal, there's a place that you can put notes to parents. It's right under the login.
So anytime a parent goes in now, the first thing they're going to see is a blurb about attendance and the importance of attending school and what chronic absenteeism is and you know and that we don't want it. Okay, so those are the the the two places. There's
other communication that the schools will do. They have their class meetings with their kids in the beginning of the year. They actually kind of do it two times a year now where they go in at the beginning of the year and then halfway through the year they do a kind of a reminder about some of the expectations of the school. They're going to do it
there. They're talking with their teachers, all of their teachers about talking to their students about the importance of attendance. So there's other places of communication. Each school will have a school level team. Now, they've identified a school level team that will review data on a
consistent basis to look at the action plan to make sure that the interventions are working and if they're not, what other things that we can do to maybe adjust that plan. Um the school level teams will then report out to the representative that sits on the district
level team and then as a district we will get together a couple times throughout the year to evaluate how it's going for the district and help each other too. Um it's one of the things that I like when there's district committees. The schools can talk to each other. They can help each other with
different ideas and different supports that maybe work in one building that they haven't tried in another building and they can go ahead and try that with the support of the district. And then the schools will develop non-punitive ways to improve absenteeism such as incentives for students. We didn't
really outline exactly what they're going to be because like I said before, every community is different. Every student body is different. So what works in Marbor may not work in Freel Township and vice versa. Okay? So they're they're going to work together to uh come up
with those incentives. They're going to connect with families of atrisisk students to remove any barriers that they have. Identify those barriers. Uh what we do now is our especially for incoming freshmen. Our administrative teams, our counseling
teams have articulation meetings with descending districts so they can identify students who already have maybe some attendance issues in the KA district and they can connect with those families early to try to remove some of the barriers that maybe the children or
the families are facing in attending school and create individualized attendance action plans for those students that are at risk that have high attendance uh issues. issues, high absences, and then obviously coordinate with outside
resources, family crisis, DCPN, and other health professionals. You know, I work with um some state officials on some some other teams. Uh I'm on the county and state threat assessment team. Um, and we have on there some people
from DCP&P and Family Crisis. And I've actually worked very close with the woman that runs Family Crisis. And toward the end of last year, she she actually came to me and said, you know, we want to work with families that have attendance issues. So, have your schools
please reach out to family crisis when they have students that are really severe and they've tried multiple interventions and they really need help. So, Family Crisis, this this kind of happened toward the end of the spring last year where we made that connection with them. Actually, she made it with
me. Um, so we're we've started using Family Crisis a lot more and they've been they've been help helpful with some families. So, these are some of the resources that we'll coordinate with and there's other resources. There's local counseling. I know I I met a nice woman
here today who um she has a local counseling office in Freehold. So we do have local counselors uh that have different offices around the district that we also will outsource to and um ask for help.
Okay. Some other interventions privileges for students. uh you know the schools thought that by making sure that not only do our students have to be well behaved, perform well in school to get to have
certain privileges, they also have to have good attendance. So now we're going to be looking at attendance to make sure that they're attending school. Okay? You know, for things such as um parking, prom, even field trips. You know, one of
the things we talked about on our district team is why we've got to be careful not to let students who have missed so many days of school then leave and go on a field trip and miss more miss more class. So, we're going to be reviewing those things and making sure
that the students fully understand this. Uh they will be uh in that in those communications by the administration. they will be informed of this and they will understand that not only does their conduct and their grades tied to it but now attendance ties to to these things
as well. Uh which we really believe will help our attendance. This next one we think is going to help our attendance dramatically with our senior class. I will tell you when you look at the numbers the the class that has the most chronically absent students
are the seniors. Okay. Um, and what we get a lot of is our senior exempt students from exams and our AP our AP students, which that's anybody in AP and our IB students. If they meet certain academic criteria, they become eligible
to be exempt from their final exam, which means that they don't attend school the day of that final exam, which means it's an absence and it counts towards chronic absenteeism. So what we're saying now is students, not only do you need the academic
criteria, but you also need the attendance criteria. So you cannot have more than 13 absences that count toward chronic absenteeism the last day of class before exams. The reason why we chose 13 is because there's four days of exams. If they're
ex if a senior is exempt from every exam, that's four absences. That gets them to 17. 18 is 10%. 17 is less. Okay. So, we feel and I know um you know I don't want to speak for him but I know
Dr. Blakeley really enjoyed this one because his his and senior attendance numbers are going to go down significantly because of this. Okay. So throughout the year the the schools are going to continue to communicate
with parents and students regularly. They're going to monitor student attendance both locally in the school and districtwide. We're going to partner with families to address different attendance concerns based on the individual family and develop these interventions to support our students
the best. All of these action plans will be reviewed constantly throughout the year and then yet again at the end of the year. And we will need to maintain an action plan until we fall below that 10% level which I know that our principles and our assistant principles
are very hopeful that it'll be one maybe two years at the most. I have a question. Sure. The state like a student has an IEP for chronic health issues. Even if it's in his IEP that he can exceed, the state still counts that against them. Correct.
The state does. Yes, the state does. Yes. Anything Anything student that's medical, they do count that. Yes. If it's an absence. If it's an absence. Yes. Yeah. So, unfortunately, they do. And
you know, the other thing the state counts when I said we don't have the final numbers yet. I just told you what we submitted into NJ Smart the database. The state also considers any of our students that are at out of district placements. They're at another school, not at our schools, but we are
responsible for them. their attendance gets factored into this. Okay. So, and they're not walking our hallways. They're out of motor school, but we are responsible for it. So, that is one thing that that goes into this as well. Mr. Mendes, if I may, first of all, when will we get the
state's official numbers? I know you said 19. When will we get their numbers? So, every year they do the performance reports. Um, our performance report data. There's other data that goes into the performance reports. Those are due
in November. So, we submit the final data, not this data. This data has already been submitted, but there's other things. There's narratives that we have to submit and some other things and, you know, technology ratios and things like that. That stuff is due in November. And then usually by January,
they spit out the performance reports for the year for the previous year. Um, additionally, um, of course, the seniors being the highest percentage of chronically absentee. Has that been
pretty consistent over the years or is there has there been a surge for instance postco have we seen a surge post I mean postco postco postco is a surge yes our attendance has and and that's not just us across the
state has gone up our our our absences and our chronic absenteeism postco and you know it's it's hard because when we're going through co it's like well don't come to school if you have a sniffle or a cough, right? Um, so parents are used to that. So to
get them out of that, well, I'm not supposed to send them to school and and you know, and they don't um it's been difficult since since co. So it's been up since co and that's that's been across the state and probably across the country actually. So
any other questions? Oh, thank you, Mr. Mendes. Appreciate it. taking attendance, you know, very seriously in the district. It was something that I communicated um to all of our families in my opening
communication um to all of our parents. That was then followed up with communications from our building principles to our parents. And as Mr. Mendes said at our opening class meetings, all of these expectations are going to be outlined for the students.
Um the other piece that we are consistently working on is the cell phones. Um our priorities are on you know our curriculum and what goes on in our classrooms and we want to make sure that we are cell phone free during
instructional time. We did extremely well last school year um where our classrooms our teachers did not have cell phones for our students. Students did not have cell phones in the classrooms. This year we are stretching that to instructional time. So if they
leave the classroom to go to the guidance counselor or to go to the bathroom, they cannot have that phone out in the hallway. Um so that is something that we are um actively pursuing this school year. But again um
we saw great gains in our uh GPA scores. We saw gains even anecdotally from our teachers on how they were doing on their local assessments that teachers felt when those cell phones were away in the classrooms that students were much more
actively engaged in their lessons. And that's what we are about here in the freehole regional high school district. We are about our curriculum and about the education that goes on in each of our classrooms and they cannot have any distractions. So, um, we're really proud
of that work and that work is going to continue this school year. Um, so I just wanted everybody to know that is something that we are actively uh communicating and we'll be on top of, you know, all year. Um, our buildings are ready to open um
on Tuesday. Um, we are off for the long weekend on Friday and Monday uh for the Labor Day weekend. But um you know our facilities I went to visit uh three schools today and and three schools yesterday. Uh took a tour with uh Mr.
Ferrar our BA uh Mr. Vidoni um our head of buildings and grounds and our buildings look absolutely amazing and and I know we echo and say this every year because they do outstanding work in keeping our buildings clean and
wellmaintained. This summer we have really stretched um and and having the budgetary funds. We are beginning to uh assess all of our buildings and our needs. Um and I just want to go through for the community
some of the projects that we worked on this summer. And our district will be putting together a comprehensive facility assessment that will drive us for the next 5 to 10 years. um because we want to ensure that the um
mechanical, electrical, and plumbing and the the heart and soul of our buildings um are in great shape and that our buildings are safe and ready for all of our students. So um that plan is going to be actively worked on um in September
and uh for months proceeding, but for the community this year and Mr. Vidon is right in the back here. Thank you to you and your team and and to all of our building supervisors in the building. Uh our custodial workers, our maintenance
workers, our Browns workers were able to put all of this together as well as get our buildings cleaned and ready for the opening. We had two boilers replaced at Freehold Township High School. We replaced the gym floor and the gym wall pads at Freehold Township High School.
We refinished three gymnasium floors at Coltsneck, Freehold, and Howell High School. We uh refurbished the stage floor at Freehold and Freehold Township High School. There was upgraded flooring at Freehold, Freehold Township. And at Howell, we refurbished the auditorium
and the stage um long due at Freehold High School. We uh put in a security vestibule at Freehold High School. Last year we did Marorrow. We have paved the front um two parking lots and circle at
Howell High School. Paved the student parking lot at Manelipan High School. Looks absolutely amazing. It was just lined and striped and numbered um as of yesterday and and ready and they're on it today. Uh we replaced curbing and some sidewalks at Freehold
Township at at Howell High School. Replaced cafeteria equipment at Coltsneck Howell and Marorrow. We replace the outdoor marquee at Freehold High School. Um hopefully end of week we'll have Colts Neck. Um but we have a marquee um waiting for us for Colts
neck. We're doing some upgraded landscaping at Manaliban High School. We're really proud we're putting in a new STEM lab at Manalapan High School and innovative space uh for both science and engineering but as tech uh or also our technology students at Manalapan
High School. They have a beautiful courtyard area that they use uh during unit lunch. Students can actually use that as a pathway in between classes. Uh but installed pavers and did upgrades to the courtyard at Manalapan High School.
We res uh restored interior doors at Manalapan High School. We replaced the roof above the high school main gymnasium at Marorrow High School. We replaced and installed a new baseball back stop at Freehold and Marboro. Uh
did some generator work at Colts Neck Freehold in Howell and installed um any broken or any windows that didn't have screens on second and third floors in all of our buildings. Uh so extensive projects above and beyond just the the
cleaning and the maintenance and the readiness for September. And at this point, we will be moving forward with a full comprehensive um our needs assessment from our architects, which will be a driver to the development of a long range facility
plan for the Freehole Regional High School District. So, extremely proud of um our work this summer and our buildings look absolutely amazing and we are ready to greet our 10,000 students in these beautiful spaces. So, thank you to the department.
Thank you. Thank you. Mrs. Higgley, are you ready to do curriculum? Yes. Okay. We're going to do the curriculum report and finance tonight. Right. The curriculum committee met today and first of all, we went over the
summer academy. We had 200 students who participate and received original credit. We had 35 students for credit recovery. That's if they failed a course and they needed to regain credit. 139 students participated in the AP
bridge program. 17 in the algebra one bridge and 17 students, this is a important thing with the attendance were able to get attendance recovery. If they miss, they were able to spend a week, three hours a day and make up the hours so they could receive credit. So 17
kids. So hopefully that will occur once kids find out they have to do that that they'll you um curriculum writing extensively again. Um this year IB is going to be rewritten for um history both year one and year
two. The magnet programs is the emphasis of a lot of the um curriculum writing for the school year and basic math geometry algebra 1 and algebra 2. And then um also curriculum writing is going to be taking place which we've done most
of the core courses. That's the other one. Now they're doing a lot of the electives. So music, art, the multilingual program and also the self-contained programs are going to have math um revision for their curriculum. So that's vision um enhanced
implementation workshops. If we rewrite a curriculum the next year, the teachers continue to meet as they're actually teaching the new um curriculum and then they make recommendations for the next year. So they kind of see what worked, what didn't work and they tweak the new curriculums that they work on. So this
year that will be done for um art, science, technology, music and the programs that were written last year. Um SAT prep courses have been really successful. It's done all online but we had in March 198 kids u participated in
the program. It's a four-week eight class program. In May 110 students in June 103 and in August 107. So it's been really successful. The kids really feel that this program really helps them prepare for the SAT a lot cheaper than
going to the out of district programs and the kids have found it to be very successful. IB has again been very successful. We had 20 students graduate from township in IB and we had 29 from half. Uh this year there'll be 37
students participating in um seniors in IB and township and 22 at again usually IB says to expect 25% of students to receive the diploma which they don't find out till July 7th but this year um
class of 2025 45% of the h students at Feraltown received the diploma and at house 69% received the diploma. So the IB programs been very successful and the kids really if the amount of scholarships they get from the IB program because it is such a rigorous
program is really outstanding. I really not when I started the program I really think it's something that is really um magnet programs again we have 200 uh 524 students who will be um enrolled in
our magnet programs compared to 509 last year. So, it's nice to see that the magnet programs are very strong. Every program seems to be very high um very a large amount of students participating and it's really nice to see those numbers going back up and taking
advantage. And um that's about it. One last minute and um yeah, we didn't go over the assessments. We're going to wait. The state's going to change the assessments once we feel we really have it going, but we're going to wait till next week to dive into that.
Sit tight on that one. Yeah, sit tight. Um, but before we pass the the mic because I know we have finance committee report. Um, also uh this summer we ran our college application boot camp. We had a two-day program for our rising
seniors uh to become acquainted with the common app to be able to engage with their counselors about post-secondary planning and uh most importantly what I think the students get the most out of is they begin the framework for their college essay. Uh so Dr. Henker and the
um guidance supervisors and guidance counselors were overseeing that program. Um I was able to visit I think I hit every classroom uh on one of the days um and introduced myself to the students and complimented them and thank them for their participation. Each of those
students really have a leg up in the process. Um so really really proud of that program. Also uh Dr. Howland and the special education supervisors uh ran the um ESY program uh for our special education students. Been a
really successful program. um they do some great activities, but that's really a program so that we don't have our students uh regressing in any of their studies. So, there's an academic component, but then there's also a social component for them as well. Um so, they had a great time um this
summer, and it's a great way for us to get to know our new students. Um so, that was exciting. And then we were also um facilitating our title one programs uh this summer for any students that were in need of academic support as they
enter into uh this new school year. And that's on top of all of our uh summer academy programs as well as the attendance recovery program. So we are very busy here in the summer. Um but it is so great to see our students even actively thriving in the summer months
and staying connected to the to the school and to their program. So um just want to make sure that we highlighted those programs as well. Okay, this we are ready for finance. Are we ready? Okay. Yes. Thank you. So back on August 6th, we had
our uh finance committee meeting and the entire meeting was devoted to facility prioritization which uh Dr. Hazel had just uh touched upon. Um because remember uh this board voted to increase taxes by
20 million. So out of that 20 million annually, the administration, the board is looking to spend 11 to 12 million annually on infrastructure. Um so what we did is at the meeting at we
basically heard about the projects that Dr. Hazel just referenced uh at each of the schools, what's transpired over the summer of 2025. Um, and also we discussed the potential
for air conditioning down the road, but it was all talked about from a top- down approach. You know, basically how much it could potentially cost. And then we uh had a deep dive on the heat and AC ventilation, what the difference was
between uh ventilation and air conditioning. Um, and going on, Dr. Hazel had just referenced the plan going forward. So what the administration told us at the meeting was they really gave us the process of how they're going to
prioritize projects going forward because obviously each of these buildings being old has a whole set of needs that we're not going to be able to fund. So basically the administration basically told us how
they're eventually going to score the projects that they bring to this board for approval. Right? There's a ranking is something most pressing or least pressing. So they're going to look at, you know, projects that could be defined
as uh life safety and regulatory cost avoidance uh educational impact. So that's how they're really going to make their judgments on what should be prioritized. And the administration also went over
how they're going to work with industry professionals in order to make these informed decisions on what to bring the board to approve. Uh so essentially we just you know talked well wasn't really us throwing out the ideas. Uh basically
the administration threw out ideas as some things that could potentially be looked at over the next five years. Uh you know things like the wastewater tank refurbishment at Colt's neck, the aforementioned uh air conditioning,
what's going to transpire with our roofs that are out of warranty. Uh so these were all the things but eventually this board's going to hear about you know this and vote to approve or not approve. Um and then we just talked about the
budget. You know I talked about the higher taxes you know things that were added this year like for instance a nurse more Chromebooks. Uh money is also being used to upgrade classrooms. Um and also we heard about some of the new
curb work that was done over the summer at Howling Man and Alipin. Uh and then we ended it with a brief discussion about some the paving issue with Malboro High School and some things that have to
be uh fixed over there. And that was basically the extent of our meeting. Thank you. I was at that meeting. I remember that. Um, okay. So, I don't have anybody here tonight that signed up for public
participation. So, um, for are there any changes to the board agenda that you like to make? Yes, Mr. Bruno. So, we do have a an attachment handout to come back. Uh, G2, some changes to approval of
appointments. G5 for approval. our area. Uh G13, uh approval of substitutes and home construction personnel. And then finally on G16, uh some couple additional retirements. And that concludes the changes for the tonight's agenda.
Thank you. Okay. I'm going to take personnel negotiations. G, H and I, program operations, building,
transportation and physical plant and J and K educational programs and administration. So just clarities that it's going to be G1 K2 G1
K2 move second that was quick. Yes. Any discussion board? Any discussion on those items? Not hearing any discussion. Roll call.
Must. Yes. Miss Bruno. Yes. Mrs. Capiello. Yes. On everything except I abstain on G14 and I abstain um in J4 uh for Mr.
Broberman and Churn and um J8 to Michael Capiello. Everything else is yes. Thank you, M. Butcher Parkers. Yes, Mrs. Haven. Uh, yes to everything except I abain on G14 and on J4 Iain to Mr. Broadman, Mr.
Churn, Mr. Perry, Mr. Rectenwall, and Mr. Thank you, Mrs. Lemon. Yes. M. Yes. Mr. Messenger, yes. Mr. Bernham, yes. Thank you very much. All motions carried.
Hazel and board. Does anybody have any old business they'd like to discuss? I just want to do a quick thank you to the township in Farmingdale for supporting our 5K last Wednesday night. They raised a lot of money in the
pouring rain. It was awful. But um when I made the announcement to go to the starting line, I was saying no one's coming. And they came from the bleachers, they came from their cars. It was like a blessing. And it was unbelievable to see folks. Dr. Hazel Kane, Joan was there and it was the
worst night and people claiming to run and um and Mr. Hind was there holding up the finish line banner and his daughter and um it was just a great night and a lot of money raised for a crisis center and yeah I just like to thank how Jim and
and many staff many a lot of staff from this district coming to help. So, uh, couldn't do it without them. The crisis center open for another year or so. So, great things. Yeah. Great work and great advocacy work here.
New business. I know you have some. Yes, I have some new business before doctor start any new business. Any new business? No. Okay. Um this evening I'm uh pleased to report we've concluded our interview process and this evening we are
recommending to the board of education a supervisor of special education um Miss Michelle Figen Winter. Hello. Hello. Um she'll be joining the leadership team at Manalapan High School in the coming weeks. I know we have a little bit of
time. We need to wait. Uh but she comes to the Freehole Regional High School District from the Montgomery School District. Um she was in education for 23 years, a special education teacher, an advisor, a team leader with professional
development, and a title one building coordinator. Uh she holds a New Jersey Department of Education certificate um as a learning disabilities teacher consultant. um so has that experience um with the child study team. Um but you
know, first and foremost, I know you're going to be just so paramount with helping our students in the classroom. Uh your heart is in that classroom and that really came through um in the interview process and that's most important to us um in the area of
special education in our schools. We had multiple rounds of interviews. Um we found um Miss Bang Winter to be datadriven um and goal oriented. She brings uh to the position a significant
depth and breath of knowledge uh related to instruction, special education code, regulations and pedigogy and practice in the classroom. She has a strong focus on the importance of making meaningful connections uh with staff and with
students and with our community. Um that being at the forefront to be able to do um the most important work and that is to connect everybody to the learning in the classroom. I know you have Wilson experience as well. Uh we're very passionate in the district about growing
our students um in reading. Um but um just really a teacher at heart and I know you're ready to take that springboard into uh the leadership and the professional development of our staff and I know you're going to be a tremendous asset uh to Manalapin High
School. Uh we have the regional learning academy there. um and also to all of the special education students at the school, but also a great compliment to our uh full special education supervisory team here at the district. So, welcome aboard to the Freehole
Regional High School District and congratulations. Nice to see your family here with you as well. Welcome. Welcome to Freehole Regional. Thank you. And before we close, I just want to thank uh the staff here. Summer
is not summer like we know it. Um I don't think you guys are even allowed out. So um between what they do in curriculum, what Dr. Sharp does in human resources um to get a staff together. It would come really late start for you.
Mr. Ferrar has been on his toes and your department because I don't know Mrs. Smith leaves the building in the summer. So when the job that Dr. Howard, Dr. Howard does, it's amazing because people really think nothing happens in the
summer. There's so much especially the team Friday all so rest and uh Friday. Thank you. The day off, right? Day off. Um can I have a motion? I make a motion to adjurnn. 20 seconds.
The coping journal favor.