here. >> Mr. Peters >> here, Dr. Resnik >> here, >> Mr. Slottman. >> Dr. Stelliano >> here. >> Miss Williams Galliano >> here. >> Dr. Wilson. >> We have a quorum.
>> Wonderful. Thank you. The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their in interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance
with the provision of the act, the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof, communicated to the Hopewell Valley News and the um and the Times on January 7th,
2025. This meeting notice was also sent to Comcast cable and Verizon bios. The board reserves the right to enter into executive session during all meetings of the board of education. The meeting is being recorded for the
purposes of board review, future reference, preparation of the minutes, and viewing on YouTube bulldog and the district the school district website www.hvbrsd.org. Members of the public who intend to participate in public comment, we do ask
that you sign in prior to speaking. This will assist us with our record keeping. With that, I ask you to join me in a flag salute. I need a first and a second for approval of the board minutes from the November 17th regular meeting.
>> So move second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed or abstaining? Seeing none, minutes have been passed. I'd like to invite our student representative to give us their report.
As we continue through December, our students have been actively engaged in a wide range of winter sports such as boys and girls basketball, boys ice hockey, winter track, boys and girls swimming, winter cheer, and wrestling. In the arts, our HBCHs art programs have just
finished an incredible series of performances these past few weeks. The HV orchestra and band programs recently had successful concerts last week, and the choir program performed the previous week with some choir members also preparing for their annual magical dinner this upcoming Friday. Rehearsals
for the winter musical Pippen began today in the Blackbox Theater, and the student body is excited to see the production take place later this winter. This past month, we have also had the induction of new members into our math and English honors societies recognizing
students for their academic excellence at HBCHs. Additionally, FBLA and unified club had their annual gingerbread house building contest last Tuesday. And finally, the student council begins their annual spirit week this Wednesday, which includes various themed days leading up
to the pep rally next Tuesday, where our athletes and artists will be showcased in our pre-winter break celebration. We are very proud of the wide range of activities our students are involved in this winter season and we look forward to their continued success in the new year. Thank you.
Thank you, Grace. Any questions from the board or comments? Okay, seeing none, we invite you to say sorry, very finicky mic. Let's try this one. Yay. Awesome. We invite you to stay as long as you're
able and we thank you for your report. Okay. So, at this uh point in the meeting, we have some employee uh recognitions we would like to do um all out of the facilities department. So, first u I'd like him to stand up. Uh
Tom first. Go ahead. You're here. you you you thought that we weren't going to do this, but we are. So, I'm just going to >> You had your chance. You could have been in >> the board the board wanted you to come and thank you one last time for your service to the district. Tom retired at the end of last month and we just wanted
to give board wanted to give an opportunity to say goodbye to Tom. Uh so, thank you Tom for all the service that you gave to the district. Any board members want to to say? >> Yeah, I'll start. So, Tom, I just want to say thank you for everything you've done for the district. uh especially
most recently in the time that I've known you over the past three and a half years and more specifically I don't think without your involvement we would have been able to get nearly as far with the referendum as we could have for it to be successful. So I hope anything you
can leave behind here is the legacy that you had a significant impact on helping us being able that. So thank you for that for everything else means a lot. I'll see you soon Chris. >> Hey Tom. So, uh, I think I'm going to say what I wrote, but I forgot what I
wrote. But I I I I I will say that I I've had it's been a real pleasure working with you. um learned an enormous amount of act what it actually takes to
keep the building open, which is um somewhat more complicated than I think anyone who has not served on the finance and facilities committee uh would think. And by somewhat I mean maybe by a factor
of a 100. So, and I think at least through my tenure on that committee for like three years, you've kind of been like, "Oh, okay. We've got stuff. Well, this this isn't working. This isn't working. This isn't working, but we've got a plan. This is what we're going to do, and it's all going to work." And
with the exception of one day when the Timberlane students had to be in the cafeteria, nobody in the district knew how much work it took at how close we came sometimes. So, um, yeah, your ability to
to to continually focus on that was very much appreciated is very >> Yeah. Uh, Tom, I thank you for, uh, honoring our request to see you. uh this uh month. I know you could be floating
somewhere down the uh on the water, somewhere warm, I'm sure. Um but it really is important to have a moment to just look at you, not on the Zoom screen, but in person, and just thank
you for the tremendous amount of hours, I'm sure that you've lost sleep. um and all the things that you have done on an emergency basis to get your team organized and in um at all those moments when you thought you were going to have
a a nice sleep. Um but also just your ingenuity, you know, there's there's that, you know, Alex's statement about what it takes to run a facility. Um, you know, it it is skill, it is managing
people, but it most importantly you your creative solutions and the contacts that you were able to reach out to when you were missing one part from that very important something unit that needed to be, you know, um, fixed. And so we are
forever grateful and your retirement is welld deserved and you will most certainly be missed. So, thank you. Anyone else? Did you I'm sure you've had your comments. >> We're going to have plenty of opportunities to embarrass um Mr. Quinn
and he will come back. You are coming back, correct? When we honor all of our retirees, but we definitely will thoroughly embarrass him a little bit more between now and then. >> So, Tom, I got Tom Tom came here today in a a different You can You can sit down, Tom. I got to He came here on a
different purpose. Um we're going to be in a few minutes. We're going to be honoring three fine young men from our grounds department um who had an extraordinary event uh that they were a part of last week. And to do that, um we're going to use this as a twofold thing. We're going to introduce Bill
Vanickle, who's our new director of facilities, came out tonight. Bill's been on the job since, uh right after Thanksgiving. Um he's hit the ground running and um I guess underwent his first big test over the weekend with the
uh 8 ines of snow. Um, the guys did a great job over the weekend. All came in in freezing temperatures, I'm sure, and and uh we were ready to go uh early yesterday afternoon. The guys came in extra early this morning to to finish up. But um we're excited to have Bill
and at his first board meeting, we're going to give him the opportunity to to discuss uh the three fine young men that are sitting over to the right of the the room. So, Bill, I'll try to be brief. >> Oh, okay. Is that good?
>> It's for the people listening online. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, Dr. Priest, members of the board, members of the public, I'm here to discuss an incident that occurred actually two weeks ago today, uh, 121. Three members of our staff were at the
Stony Brook Elementary School. Um, their assignment was to place curb markers for snow and if they had done nothing else that day, I would have been thankful for them to because yesterday was rough. U baptism by fire comes to comes to mind.
But I think we had success. Uh, upon completion of their of their responsibilities, they were there two different vehicles. They both departed, one about a minute, maybe two behind the other. And uh everyone is familiar probably with the firefighter location, which is maybe a mile or so from the
school. And when the first gentleman, Anthony Mar, he saw a roofer regrouping the the uh building collapse and fall to the ground. And uh you know, he pulled over, stopped. About a minute later, Austin
was here and Angel who's right there. They stopped as well and uh the three of them kind of trying to figure out what was going on, trying to be helpful in any capacity that they could. They saw this gentleman lying on the ground and one of his co-workers was attempting to administer CPR and I don't think he was doing such a wonderful job. Um but
Austin is certified in CPR and he took charge of the situation and he stepped in and he administered CPR for multiple minutes. uh and essentially kept this gentleman alive until EMS arrived with proper tools with more training and they
implemented what they needed to do after he had the AED this gentleman kept him alive got him to the hospital he is alive today uh he's going to celebrate the holidays with his family and about a week later uh we we got a phone call and they said hey yes from the fire commission they said look he's he's he's
alive he's doing well he's recuperating about as best as could be expected given the circumstances and they are firmly convinced that he would not have survived that incident had it not been for these three different I think that that speaks volumes about
not just them but the overall culture of this place and the best of what valley is intent so with that I just want to say guys thank you so much you are REPRESENTING PLACE
UM THEY WILL uh the fire commission folks are actually going to do something as well kind of trying to work out the logistics and the specifics wrapped around that. But once that's kind of firmed up, we will make sure that that is shared and anyone who wants to obviously participate just as an audience member
just kind of group the fellas on that would be uh that would be great too. So, uh, Angel for you, Mr. AOC, that's for you. That's again, guys, thank you very much.
Um, listen, I I feel very welcome here. It's been an eventful few weeks. So, uh, I'm hopeful that things are going to settle down. All right. No offense. No, >> we're not. No, no, >> no offense, but you know, I'm hopeful.
So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. Yeah. Um, so I I think you captured the spirit in the in a bottle um for as you kind came on board and you know we could
not be more proud of what you did just out of sheer instinct and to um to make a difference in someone's lives, you will be uh I'm certain um in the hearts of his family for the rest of his life.
Uh but as a community we depend on you in so many ways and to you all stepped in in the way you did just was um kind of one of those out-of- body experiences when you think you've seen the best of of what we can offer as a community and
then this um you all are tremendously appreciated and you've lifted and elevated kind of a spirit of who the whole valley school district is um and I I hope you carry that um in your hearts
as as as just a certainty that of what you can do in the world. So, thank you tremendously. Anyone else from board? >> Yeah. So, guys, this awesome job I'll just share with you. I was saved by CPR
and an AED 16 years ago. And I can tell it from absolute certainty. That person would not be alive if you guys didn't step in. I get emotional talking about it, but you guys should be really proud of yourselves. Says a lot, right? About the people you are, about the humans you are. It's going to happen again, too.
You're going to save another life at some point in your in your time. But just extremely proud of you guys. And I'll give you a handshake before the end of the meeting. Anyone else? Okay. Would you like to say anything?
>> I cut. >> You knew that was coming. >> Say again. >> I cut grass. That's >> Yeah. >> So, did we want to take a quick pause and take a picture? The board. This is where we suspend the meeting.
Time loop outside. Can't do it. Okay. Um, thank you for that offering that break. It was great to shake their hands and we they would have stayed, but we made sure they went home.
>> So, Mr. Quinn, yes, you can also. >> Thank you so much. Thank you for that. Was my crew there, a lot of members of our team. >> We appreciate you being here as well. Okay. Um, with that, I want to take a moment to acknowledge uh one other
individual. Um, it's December and this is the end of our uh technically the end of our board year. We redo a reorganization meeting in January. And with that, we are saying goodbye to one
of our dear friends, Mr. Doctor, sorry, Dr. Dr. Dr. Michael Wilson and um you know I remember when you came on the board you
were like a force of of democracy of being a commitment for the kids to um discover their own self-determination and what that looks like. but also challenging the district to measure all
of these things in um a meaningful way. So if there is anyone who has left their mark in that way, you are present and I feel like we can all next year say, "Well, what would Dr. Wilson say?" And
we will probably be on the mark. Um but uh all joking aside, you h have genuinely been just a reverent, consistent voice um and a commitment for our kids. And so I am I am humbled and
thank thankful for though you have no children in the district now, you have chosen to spend Oh, grandkids. Okay. Well, they are lucky to have you. Um and we are grateful to have had you on the board.
Okay. I I I thank you for the for the the kind words, but I I got to tell you, I I have had a very productive three years. I I I I may even get some of it published. It's it's it's just been a
very uh I don't know in informative uh really really encompassing kind of experience. So I appreciate all of you for for you know making this possible. Thank you.
>> Would anyone else to comment? >> Yeah, I'll say so I'm glad to hear you say that because I know the kind of the scope what you were trying to do. Um, but as I was
explaining to a friend who just got elected to school board in neighborhood district, um, one of the things as a school member that you have to learn to do is be satisfied with small victories.
Um we've and and Mike you and I don't agree on quite a few things but one of the few but one of the things we did agree on I think as soon as you join the board is the desire to see much more civic
engagement from the kids. And so we now have a policy that says that um our kids need to have at least some credit um that involves either interacting with a community or understanding how
communities work. Um I'm sure that's a lot smaller than what you had in mind. But I hope you take some satisfaction from a small victory because had you not been on the board for the last three years initiated that conversation? I
don't know that we would have gotten it. >> Well, I would love to present this amazing plaque for you to hang on your wall. >> Hang on a second. >> Let's pose for the press. Thank you. >> Now she needs a new phone.
>> Nice. Okay, with that I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Trice. >> I am going to keep my comments short. I do want to congratulate um our three unsung heroes. They're sung now and they will continue to sing their um their the
wonderful thing that they did. But I also want to thank Dr. Wilson um for the many conversations that we had, many times we had tea. I know he's not going to stop his work. We had more than one small victory under your watch, by the way, and even before you got on the
board. Um, but Dr. Wilson has been a longtime educator. He's been a he's been a teacher. He's been a college professor. He's been a superintendent. He's been an administrator. You know, you've been a on administrative teams. You've sat on boards before. You have just dedicated your life to children and
really taking care of the whole child. And I appreciate that. that in addition to democracy, you care about the whole child. And you know, for them to truly be free, we need to sort all that out. So, I know you're going to continue your work. You're going to still be, you know, holding our feet to the fire, as
you should. And I I'm very thankful for all of our time together. So, thank you. On another note, um I my um newsletter went out and I don't know if any of you got opportunity to open it yet, but in it I have an invitation to members of
the community. Two in particular that are sitting here in the audience right now. Um I'm looking to um assemble a communications protocol committee. Um, well, we're going to be really looking at the way that we communicate and engage with the public and vice versa and really putting together a protocol
that will be published on our website and everyone will know kind of how we collaborate here as a district. So, I know there's two people in the audience that are very excited about that sort of work. So, I'm hoping that you're going to be volunteering for that in addition to other community members. Um, we're
gearing up for the holidays. We have a lot of great things uh coming uh but from the for the students next week. We have lots of celebrations, um, spirit weeks coming up. I'm hoping that you all have a safe, restful holiday. Uh, we have a lot some business that we have to take over. So, I'm going to keep my
comment short, but I did want to bring to your attention the opportunity to sign up to work with us. I will publish again more um more announcements about that so that folks will know if they miss it here. I know December is a rough time, but I'm looking to start this up in January as soon as we get back. So, I look forward to those who are interested
in joining me. No, you won't. Awesome. All right, moving to the next item on the agenda. We are going to I'm going to need a first and second to pass the resolution authorizing the form and sale of 84.235
million of school bonds. >> Second. Okay. >> So, this this is part of uh the we'll start our finance facility committee uh discussions. Now, the next two items are what we discuss mostly. Um we did pass
the referendum in November. The next stage um stages are uh planning out the construction process over the three-year period that we're going to be constructing. um getting designs down to the DOE and to the state um but also
getting started um this summer on some of the roofing projects as we talked about uh at the last meeting. The next thing we need to do is actually get the money to build all these things and that's what this resolution you're um passing tonight is. We plan to sell the
bonds um on the 22nd of July. It's all done electronically. Um and we had a little bit of a discussion um on at our meeting whether we were going to sell one round of bonds or two rounds of bonds. And after a u lengthy discussion,
a detailed discussion, we decided we would go ahead um and do one sale um as it provided a certain amount of benefit to the district. namely uh being able to defer um a good portion of the first year's payment and also some of the
second year's payment to provide tax relief to the to the uh the local community. Um if anybody wants to go further on that, we have our our financial planner here to discuss anything that we might want to discuss. >> Can we just talk maybe two or three sentences for the public about how we
are deferring that? >> Sure. No, come on up. So I'm gonna uh as we she comes to the podium this is Robbie Ampora. She is our financial planner uh with the firm of Phoenix Advisors out of Hamilton and she
is going to talk a little bit about the the meth methodologies that we went through to make this decision. >> Thanks Bob. Um Bob said July it's January 22nd we're going to sell the bonds. Um so your referendum was approved >> January your referendum was approved in
November. Um this this form and sale has all of the details. It's a pretty long resolution that has um what it is form and details of the bond sale. It's got the maturity schedule there. Uh we're going to sell the $84,235,000 in bonds. Um good uh for the board. The
interest rates have dropped since we did our projections for the tax impact. And I was mentioning this last week, you know, we do these tax impact projections sometimes 18 months in advance. Uh we were at 4% for a while. Uh in the summer things got uh thing interest rates went
up and we we changed our projection to a 4.25%. Um in the last couple of weeks rates have or the last month or so rates have come down. So we've revised that to a 3.85% for 20 years. These are tax exempt bonds. So those rates are lower than anyone's going to get on a mortgage per
se. Um, but in last week I I sent over to Bob and again I don't know until January 22nd what the rate is going to be. We had two sales last week that were comparable. Uh, and the rate was a 3.79 and a 3.78. So January 22nd we open bids
and we sell to the lowest bidder. Between now and then we will be doing a rating from standard and pores and we just did that with your bond refinancing that we completed a month or so ago. We'll be doing the offering documents to get them um out to the whole investment
community and getting those bids in on January 22nd. Um the projections we updated there at a 3.85 for the borrowing rate. We also did some projections after your architect gave us the draw down schedule for the three-year construction project and we
assumed a 3.5% investment rate. You can't earn more than your borrowing rate. Um those rates have gone down too. The investment rates a little bit but it's called positive arbitrage. So, the IRS doesn't let you sell bonds at 3.85 and collect at 4%. You're only going to
be able to earn up to 3.85, but the projections I did, I did at a lower rate at 3.5% to assume that it's going to be pretty safe for you to get those investments done. And so, when Bob mentioned offsetting the first year, the tax impact, that's what we've projected
that it should cover the first year and part of the second year because again, it's a three-year construction schedule. generally, you know, it goes like a bell-shaped curve, but you've got a lot of different projects going on. It's not exactly a bell-shaped curve, but um you know, the projections we got from the
architect, we used and projected um a significant amount of interest earnings that you'll get over the three years. So, um Bob will or you will collect the interest. He's got to be able to get it into the budget and then in the subsequent year use it to offset. So,
you're going to be doing your budget uh pretty soon for 2627. The first payment is going to be in August of 26. So you're going to have interest payment in August and February 26 27. Um you're not going to get debt service aid the first year, but the state gives you the debt
service aid the second year. We planned that all along. We knew we wouldn't be able to get the bond sold in time to get debt service aid for 2627. So interest only 2627 and then 2728 you start with principal on an annual basis and interest semiannually too. be happy to
answer any questions. >> So, essentially what she's what we're going to be doing is we'll be budgeting anticipating interest this year and rolling that into the budget, but also anticipating projected interest to go into next year's budget that will help
offset. So, it's not that it's a risk because, you know, once we find out what we're going to invest the money at, Robbie and I are in the process of developing an RFP or sending out an RFP for uh investment services. And when we talk about investment services, we're not we're not in the market. We are in
secured investments that that can only earn. Um once we figure out what that is, we'll know more about how much interest we'll be able to put aside uh in the 2627 budget. But all signs are pointing upward. And the fact that we're selling all of the bonds now enables us
to earn that interest during this winter period where we're not going to be doing much spending at all. >> Right. I I should have said that. So we're going to go out for the investment. New Jersey is a pretty conservative state. You're really not allowed to do a lot of you're not allowed to do any fancy investments. These are state and local government
guaranteed securities and they'll be set up by the time you finish your budget. So, uh you know, we're going to get proposals. Someone's going to come in with a you know, with a proposal. It's not going to again that until you put the money in, it's not going to be a guarantee. But when we do the uh RFP, we
say let's say we're going to get it in January 10th. We asked us to give them rates based on rates as of January 5th. So we have an applesto apples comparison when we get these proposals in. Um and again when you're doing your budget then the the interest investments will be set up by that time. So you're going to have
a really good idea for the next 15 you know 18 months of what interest is going to come in. >> Right. And the money is invested as you spend it. So as Robbie mentioned a draw down schedule. We're going to they know exactly what the architect is planning. It's going to be this percentage spent by this this this and they change the
investments that way. So it gets, you know, they try to get as much as they can up front when there's no spending and as it tapers off, obviously the investments get lower because there's less money to invest. >> Yeah. I I always recommend having somebody help you with the investments because, you know, normally more often
than not, um, construction schedules fall behind. So you have the money invested according to the original draw schedule. And sometimes, I know one of the uh investment firms we've used before, I know that they'll call you up. If if the money's sitting there and it's not invested, they're going to call you up and say, "Hey, Bob, looks like you
haven't drawn down what you said you were going to draw down. You need to get it reinvested." So, that all helps, you know, as you go through this because, as I said many times, you don't spend it as quickly as you thought you were going to spend it and need to keep it invested. >> The other thing that we're that's going to be part of the RFP is Robbie
mentioned positive arbitrage. that's going to be part of the proposal that they have to maintain that calculation for us. You don't want to we we don't want to leave the board down the road. Uh it's like five years. It's 5 years after you finish, right? Five years after you finish. >> No, it's five. It's five years from the
bond sale. >> From the bond sale >> that you get this bill and you know there's been districts in New Jersey who have been cidled with huge debt because they didn't take care of the arbitrage calculation, >> right? The excess needs to be set aside as you earn it. So it's no surprise five
years from now. So any questions from board members? >> On that note, >> thank you Rob. >> This is a roll call vote. >> Mr. Kapadia, >> yes. >> Dr. Lil, >> yes.
>> Mr. Peters, >> yes. >> Dr. Resnik, >> yes. >> Mr. Slottman, >> hi. >> Dr. Yes. >> Dr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Miss Williams Galliano, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Okay.
Second part of our finance facilities committee was the our annual audit. We had our um auditor in on the Zoom meeting with us while to discuss um the district's financial position for the 2425
uh year. So essentially um the audit is a is a comprehensive process. We typically spend two weeks in June doing some preliminary review. They start asking for us to pull reports, send them reports. They come in and do testing in
the areas of payroll, accounts payable. Um there's an internal control narrative that we have to go through uh with them and there's questions on it and then they go away for a while. They go away for the summer while we try to close out our our books and give us a final uh financial report. They came in um and
they always seem to do this to us and I don't know why but they always come the day after Labor Day. Um when when nothing's going on, of course, but they come in, they set up shop and everybody knows that they're here. They set up shop in the conference room across the hall and they're pretty much
here four to five days a week for the entire month of September um asking uh questions to every department. They they're in in you know pretty much all departments in this building. They talk to technology HR you know people
services everybody um asking a very a various uh amount of questions on how did you spend this? I see the contract for that. Can I see the personnel file on this person? and I see, you know, the contract for this purchase, this bus purchase. So, it's very comprehensive.
Um there's a lot of back and forth. There's a lot of um can you explain why you did this? Can you explain why you didn't do that? Um so, it is very very comprehensive and very I don't want to say intrusive, but it it's intrusive. So, it's it's part of the part of the
deal, but um we do have a good relationship with them. Um and I feel, you know, we we have nothing to hide. I've always said that we have nothing to hide in our books. Um, we do get an opinion at the end of it and it seems unglamorous but the opinion that you want to get is unmodified.
Um, unmodified means that they were able to take the information they were given and make a gen make a give an opinion on our our financial statements without having to say but other you know we say this except for that right. So it's they don't have to modify what they're doing.
you don't modified means there are exceptions to you didn't follow this rule, you didn't follow that rule, right? You don't want that. Adverse is there's severe mistakes in your financial statements. You there's a lot of things that are misstated. Um
not very clean accounting. And last, the disclaimer is something you definitely don't want to get. It's the information you gave them. They can't make an opinion. Your books are so bad that they can't make an opinion. So, we um again received an unmodified opinion, which is
uh makes me very happy. Um it means everything's on the up and up and we're doing well. Our financial statements clearly represent what we're doing in the district. What most board members care about mostly is is what kind of monies do we have in our balances? And we like to
explain this. It gets twisted around in the press uh every year. Certain certain community members like to twist the numbers around, but I'm going to give it to you straight here. Um, we do have $14,966,000 and what they call the state of New
Jersey and government accounting standards says are our fund balances. We'll just go through them one by one. $735,000 in incumbrances carried over. So that means at the end of 2425, we have committed to purchasing $700,000
worth of could be services, it could be salaries that carried over, could be supplies that weren't delivered. But these things that were they were committed on June 30th and we have we roll them into the new year. So it's not money that's available to spend. It's
already been spent. All right? Right. And then we have to make a report to the county by December 1st of what is left of those $735,000 and they question you on that because you can't just roll it over and let it sit. It's got to have it's got to be committed.
Um so the $2.7 million the additional surplus from 2425 that is money that we got that we already budgeted this year. So, we went last year and we said, "This is that surplus number we're always talking about. We already placed that money into
this year's budget. So, we used last year's money to help pay for this year." Okay? So, that money's gone. Excess surplus. This was a discussion we had in finance facilities committee. The excess surplus is money that is over and above 2% 2% of
audited expenditures. Okay? you're allowed to reserve 2%. This is money that was extra. In the past, we have put that money into our capital reserve. This year, given that the referendum passed, we are putting this
money towards tax savings to the to the public. This is what it has to excess surplus must be appropriated in the next fiscal year as an offset. Okay? It doesn't mean that we're going to necessarily spend under 2%. It just means this is additional
monies that must be budgeted in the next fiscal year. Okay. So that money is is spoken for for the 2627 budget. We also have $100,000 in maintenance reserve that we can use for maintenance
projects. These aren't capital projects. Capital project would be major projects like a boiler replacement. It would be a HVAC replacement. Now, if we were having a bad year and we needed to do a boiler repair, different things, repair versus
replacement, and we were short on funds, we could take that some money out of that 100,000. Now, 100,000 doesn't go very far, but we could take that to do a repair, a maintenance type project. Okay? So, that's what that money is set aside
for. It can't be used for anything else. And then lastly, our capital reserve. Our capital reserve is at $7.6 $6 million. Right now, it's actually a little bit less because we needed to use $62,000 over the summer to handle a um ejector
pit at the middle school. Okay. So, that number is somewhere in the area of $7.5 million right now. All right. the amount of money that's truly our emergency bank account if we needed to do something right now outside of the
referendum that was going to cause school not to open is $2.8 million. That last number is what truly is our rainy day account for lack of a better term. Okay, any questions on that from from board member?
Okay. So, $15 million looks like a lot, but in in reality, that 2.7 is your fail safe, right? What I would liken us if we were to have to go into that, I've never had to go into fund balance in my 23 years here.
Um, it would be if our um health benefit account continues to run down and we go into the savings we already have set aside for health benefits. if it was so bad that we needed to go further, we could use that money to do that. Um, if we had, you
know, any other any number of other expenses that were not considered capital, like um tuition, let's say we had some additional kids who needed to have tuition funded, we could pull it from that. To pull money out of this account is very complicated. You can't
just do it. Not only do I need your permission, but I need the Department of Education. I need the commissioner of education to allow us to do it and we have to prove that we need to use it. Okay. Again, I want the public and the board to know that it's not something that we can just tap into. There's got
to be definite proof that it's necessary. Okay. The last thing we did have one minor recommendation from our auditors. Um there are some issues with our student activity accounts. It's not uncommon um for school districts to have
issues with these. These are accounts, small accounts that are maintained by uh each of our six schools. Um the high school is probably the most uh complicated because they have a lot of clubs and all the athletic teams. They all have their own individual account that they use to fund raise with to
handle banquetss to handle the special events that go on there. Um the middle school has some of those accounts. The elementary schools really are collecting money for field trips, you know, field day t-shirts, those kinds of things. Um we just we are we have installed check
um readers at all the schools to help get timely get more timely on our deposits of checks. Um the issue that comes up at the elementary schools and at the middle school and high school as well is let's say Mrs. Jones is collecting for the trip that's going to
Washington DC. She doesn't think to um collect she gets three checks on Monday. she should be turning those into the office so that they can deposit those. But what they like to do, and it's just the way people think, and I probably would think the same way. I want to collect all of them and then bring them
to the office. And when they while they're waiting the three or four weeks it takes to collect all the checks, the checks that we got in the middle in the beginning are now not making the 48 hour deposit rule. So that's what they're finding there. And it's just re continuing to re-educate staff members
on what to have. the the newest one that we had this year was that we are having we are no longer permitted to collect money to give to charity through student activity accounts. So the students want to collect money for Texas flood relief
um after the summer. They can't collect they can collect it but they can't collect it through the school. We can't collect it and then write a check with Texas fund relief. It's got to be either done through the PTO's. got to be done through a parent who collects the money and then sends it or what the auditors
are now recommending is to to deal with the charity direct and say if you want to donate here's a code to use to that Copo gets credit for it and you send your Venmo or your check or whatever directly to the people who are collecting it just it keeps it cleaner.
They don't want money they don't want extraneous money flowing through our books. Okay. So, we're going to we're working towards um making sure that that's understood at the at the building level. All right. And then my final comments is just as I said earlier, it's a team
effort. I can't possibly do it all on my own. I need the help of of the superintendent's office and and her cabinet members as well as all the folks at the building level. Um all those folks are incredibly involved in the reporting that goes on. Um, my office in
general, they my back office, the the accounts payable people, assistant BA, payroll, they're all the ones who are generating all that data that gets gets checked out. Um, so I want to thank all those folks for for making sure that we have a a a good audit every year for the
board. Um, their cooperation up and down from everybody goes a long way in in wanting our auditors to keep coming back. A lot of um auditors have been dropping their clients because there's a shortage right now. There's a shortage
of accounting folks and clients that that cause problems and don't have um they don't give the cooperation necessary get dropped. Um so I I I pride ourselves in that. The comments that we get only uh increase our accountability. We we are always looking at what we can
do better. Um we have a purchasing training each year that's an interactive uh meeting. we hear their concerns back, what they're having difficulty with, some communication that we need to change on our end to make their lives more easy. So, it's a two-way street with that. And again, this audit is a
huge part of the NJQAC process, which you've heard Dr. Trice talk about that we're going to be going through um in February. The audit is probably 60% of my QAC score. So, very important part of
um what we do here. Any comments from the board on on the report? Very happy with that. We got >> a comment and a question. Um the first is just a comment and um Mr. Kolivita is not going to give himself props, so I will. I think the auditors were incredibly complimentary of the school
district in this regard. Um and we're really saying that, you know, our school district really stands out amongst others in New Jersey in terms of, you know, fiscal responsibility and and they really enjoy working with our our school district. Um, and then the question is for folks who are interested in viewing
the full report. I know it gets posted on our website. Can you share when it would be available for them to to review? It's posted now. >> It's on board docs as we speak. >> Excellent. Thank you. So I have one comment and
we usually don't go into the gory details of the stuff in board meetings but as we were doing it in the committee there was one gory detail that jumped out at me and um I want to highlight it because got um several questions and comments
from uh members of the community who are wondering where their tax dollars are going. If you go way deep in the report at page 44 of one of the PDF files, um you'll see um information about how
much we're spending on our health benefits for our for our staff. And that's $20 million. That's $20 million out of $100 million. Now, that's not because we are overly
generous or we don't have a choice. The state mandates the kind of benefits that um we need to offer. We have the option to not participate in a state plan and do it and and self-insure. And that's been we
would have actually been spending more if we were had participated in in a state plan. That's something we check every year. This is where I get my little soap box and I'll be quick. This is one of the many issues that uh Trenton has constrained public
school districts within the state that are contributing to the financial issues that not just this district, but I I'm I'm going to venture and say the majority of public school districts in the state of New Jersey are having. I
mean 20% of our total budget is going towards health benefits, not salaries, not anything. It's just health benefits. And it's not something that we could even think about negotiating in any way because we're just not allowed.
Yeah. Not till 2027 at least. So it's it's been hard. It's I was looking back and and a few short years ago our total health benefit spend was around 12 million. >> And you're not sure how to get to the state house. See me after the meeting.
I'll give you directions. >> We do need to accept the audit. >> Yeah. >> Need a motion in a second to accept the report in the correct plan. >> Second. >> I'm going to roll call it. Dr. Williston,
>> yes. >> Mr. Peters, >> yes. >> Dr. Resnik, >> yes. Mr. Slottman, >> yes. >> Dr. Stilliano, >> yes. >> Dr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Dr. Genevacy, >> yes. >> Mr. Kapadia, >> yes.
>> And Miss Williams Galliano, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, moving on to old business items. Um, just want to point out that our board self, um, for any of the few of you who
have not completed, definitely need you to do so. Um, we'll be, um, completing the sharing the results of the self, excuse me, in January. >> So, >> when is it due? >> When was it? >> That's all I chased.
>> When when was it due? So that's why it's on the agenda. Uh so um try to complete that before the end of the year so we can roll it all up and um share the results. Yeah.
Any other old business items for anyone? Okay, seeing none, we're going to go ahead and move into our first uh public comments. Members of the public are invited to address the board on any matter for a maximum of 3 minutes during this portion
of the meeting. You're asked to state your name, address, and municipality. In response to your comment, the board of ed may respond or direct the superintendent to do so. The board may also opt to take the matter up at a future meeting so that the matter is researched by the district
administration. Would you like to give some timekeeping notes? Just so you know, um it's 3 minutes. When there's 30 seconds left, I will hold up the yellow and then at 3 minutes, I will hold up the red.
Public comment is now open. >> Hello. Good evening everyone. I live Can you move the mic to your There you go. Thank you. >> Hello everyone. Now you can hear me. Okay. Uh good evening everyone. Um do I need to state my address? 14 Old
Washington Crossing Road. Uh Christina. Um I am here today to talk about the bus transportation issue my kids and my family has been been facing since beginning of school year. My kids go to Stanley Brookke as their ELLL students. Our home district is B
tavern. According to encourse the bus should arrive at 4:25. In reality but the bus arrives anywhere from 405 to 455 45 minutes range up to 1 hour 15 minutes after the school ends. Most of the time we do not get any communication if the
bus is late. One time when I got notified, I dropped everything and I rushed to pick up my kids because I know how long it may take. This situation has been taking a toll on my kids mental health. My son visited a counselor regarding this issue multiple times. My
kids are anxious to get on the bus and every morning they ask if they can be a walker. I never know neither day what time they're going to get home. My son has an eyewatch. Um, so when he has it, I can see the bus route. On days, my kids get home at a reasonable time. The
um they're the staff after the new development, and they're not the last kids on the bus. On days they get home at 4:50, they're the last kids on the bus, and I can see them being driven all over Hopewell Township. Old Washington Crossing Road is a Moon Lake Street off of Washington Crossing. There have been
times when I saw the bus driving on Washington crossing but them not uh not dropping my kids off. The route appears to be not consistent. Um I was told the bus route can change depending how many kids are on the bus. When the bus is
full, the normal time is 4:50. I don't understand how the uh how at times my kids are lost and at times they're not. I wish I was in a position to pick up my kids, but I'm not. I understand New Jersey does not define a time limit. how long the kids can be on the bus. Hour
and a 15 minutes. Is it reasonable for elementary school kids? My kids never know what time they're going to get home. Sometimes they they like I have a fifth grader and a kindergartenner. They'll drive around the house and they know they close, but they don't know if they're going to get home or not. They
come home crying. I get since September, I have communications going back to September. It's been an issue last year as well. I have docu I have the emails. I've been working I've been bringing this up to transportation to administration to schools. I don't
receive any response back as far as what's being done. Uh is there anything being done? Um I feel like my kids feel they're not being heard. Um on course continues to stay say 425 even though on the but on the phone I'm being said
something else. I ask for meetings in person. I they've been declined. Um, >> your time is up. >> I have much more to say. I wish I had the time. Thank you. >> Anyone else?
Okay, seeing none, >> I do want to um respond to Miss Nove. I know that I was supposed to meet with you in person with the transportation and I'm unfortunately I got CO and you can still hear my voice. So, um the BA and I are going to reach out to you and we do want to meet with you to try to resolve this. Um I've spoken to
transportation. Um they are trying to do their best to resolve this. Um and however, we do not want our kids on the bus that long. So, I am going to meet with you now that I'm back and I'm well. Um so, we'll I'll reach out and and talk about when my what our availability is to suit your needs. Um, but this is what
we've been running into with the the the expansive growth with us adding additional routes um sort of in the middle of the year. It is a struggle. U Mr. Kvidita, I know you've looked at this a little bit. Um, but what they're talking about is when the bus is full and everyone's riding and no one's
getting picked up, you arrive one time and when everyone's on it, you're arriving another time, which always happens. But we also have our buses stacked more than we usually do. >> Um, so Mr. Kvita, would you like to add anything? But I know we are going to be following up with it with the >> meeting. Not not at this time. I'd have to to look more into it. I know we were
supposed to meet last week, but we you never know. >> Yeah. And I I've been out cuz I got CO. So I've been home unfortunately all week and I am going to reach back out to you and we are going to find a time now that I am back to work. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Trice.
Um, so I would like a first and second to um pass the consent agenda items that are asterricked on the agenda. >> So move. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed or abstaining?
Seeing none, consent agenda items are passed. Um, we'll go ahead and move into our committee updates and um, start with finance and facilities. I think they've heard enough from us. Yes, enough that.
Um >> yeah actually ma'am. >> Moving on to personnel. >> As always we meet prior to this meeting every month. Um this month we had a chance to talk about three items. Uh the first one was the extracurricular appointments, all of which was uh on the
agenda that you guys can see. The second one had to do with appointments and resignations, including retirement. So, wanted to say thank you to Heidi Kami, who is going to be uh leaving the position of student program coordinator uh effective January 30th. Uh she's been with the district since 2020 and has
been an integral part in that role. And I know the administration has a lot of thoughts about what that role looks like moving forward. So, we're excited to talk about it. Um, and if there's any other questions, I'm happy to answer it. If not, um, I need a consent, a first and a second. Thank
you. >> So, move. >> Mr. Peters, >> yes. >> Dr. Resnik, >> yes. >> Mr. Slottman, >> I >> Dr. Stilliano, >> yes. >> Dr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Dr. Genevacy.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Kapadia, >> yes. >> Dr. Lillston, >> yes. >> Miss William Scalliano, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Marvelous. >> Moving on to EDCOM. >> All right. So, we met
last week. Um talked about um a couple of things. Um, one item was, um, our video and TV production teacher came in and asked about elevating, um, what is
currently video 4 class to an honors level class. So, not really changing the curriculum, but designating it as an honors level class. And he had a very good case. She basically looked at what the other districts were doing, compared
what he was doing in video production 4 to what other districts were doing. Uh compared the rigor in his class and the and and the workload level and and the expectations to other honors classes in
the district and made um a pretty strong case that what is being done in video and TV production for meets and or exceeds what is expected. uh in in in all comparable classes. I'm not going to go into all of the details, but
basically um it for example, these kids have they produce a weekly show. So, not only do they have a weekly assignment, but there's no um there's no uh oh, we had other stuff going on. Can we get an
extension? None of that happens because there's a weekly show being produced. um they do a capstone project etc etc. So the committee felt um I think pretty positive on um on on the
idea. We had some other discussions around the enrollment of kids in these classes. But I think that's going to as as as the administration looks at at enrollment numbers for next year, uh we're going to discuss that. um as well
as integrating um AI um into the curriculum. And the last thing that we uh discussed is whether elevating it to honors would impact accessibility of the class to students and actually uh
Mr. Pedelara who is the teacher felt that it'll make it much more attractive to class because it's the uh for kids because it's the last in the sequence of four courses. Kids typically take it during their senior year and he felt like having it as an honors class will
actually make it more attractive. The kids were applying colleges and want to have that on their um on their transcript. Um, let me stop and see if there are any questions on that one before we go.
>> Question. If um an honors class is you have to have a certain grade level to to be in something like that. >> Um, yeah. So, there are you need to have a particular
GPA or not GPA great from the previous year to get into an honors class. I don't know if we asked that question, but he didn't feel like that would be an issue. >> Okay. Cuz I'm I'm just thinking there are a lot of kids that don't do don't care about a lot of other stuff like
history and science, but boy, do they get excited about >> Yeah. His feeling was that by the time the kids want to take that class, they're doing really well and this is what they're excited about. >> But but they might not have what I'm saying is they might not have all the other courses that get them there.
>> But that's irrelevant. It's just a just three. Yes. Yes. >> Yeah. You do not have and that's true for all of our honors classes. You do not have to have a particular GPA. You just have to have earned a high enough grade in the prerequisite course
typically. Um all right. If there are no more questions on that. So there was an NJ.com report um um that basically took publicly available uh department of
education data and kind of ranked schools and uh we had a committee member who looked at it and uh there were a couple of things that jumped out. So out of the six schools that we have four very highly rated and then there were
two that were kind of down. So uh we had some discussion on that and uh uh requested that the administration go and look into both what how the ratings are done which they've done a little bit but actually our math and ELA supervisors are digging
in to what was going on in so Timberland and Colgate the two schools that had a pretty low rating rate. what exactly which numbers impacted the rating there, right? And it's it's uh so it's
something that we're going to be looking at and reporting back to the board. Uh if not in January time frame, then in then in February time frame, but certainly there are issues that we need to address as a district. We want to make sure we start addressing them going
into the next school year. Um so just stay tuned for more of that. Um and then we had a discussion on the use of Chromebooks is a v cell phone ban policy and some questions about how we're
controlling and monitoring what kids do on their Chromebooks because they're able to do much more than just access educational materials. already were we're looking towards controlling their cell phone use to keep
them off social media for example during school hours right but they're able to access some of the sites on on on the Chromebooks and again that's something that uh the administration will follow up with the technology staff and get back to us but we want to make sure that
what they're doing on the Chromebooks is consistent with the policy for all electronic material. And I think that's pretty much it unless I forget something. >> And any questions on the last two item just for the group, I know that there
was many of us who probably were I'm going to say I'm going to say a word triggered or caught off guard by this NJ.com thing. And I know that uh many of us reached out to Rosetta and the administration about it and I was very pleased that they were so quick to kind of jump on it and say, "Yeah, we
understand. We need to get back to you and see what's going on." So, I just want to say thank you for that as we go into January and February. It's appreciated. >> That's just what now you're looking into Chromebook. Do do kids know that you're doing this or
>> do they they do now? parents paying attention. >> So, the kids do know that we monitor the Chromebooks. We can see things on the Chromebook. If they type something inappropriate in it, if they're at on inappropriate sites, we can see all of that. They don't always remember that, but you know, but that they know that.
But sometimes they can get crafty, get around some of our things, and when we catch it, we plug the hole. But it's it's a constant battle of us chasing that, like going off to sites like, you know, Netflix or somewhere they shouldn't be. and and and there is a challenge, right?
Because there are sites that have legitimate educational purposes, for example, YouTube and also very illegitimate purposes for an educational point of view, but still YouTube, right? And so, um, there are some real
challenges involved there, but um, I think the feeling is we need to look at that and see if we can do better than we're doing. Is this sort of an inlo parent kind of thing that that you have to I mean you have to control this
because you're actually actually acting as the parent uh and or is it an educational sort of thing or >> well the monitoring is he's talking about mostly it's in school but we do have securely for at home and only in
that we we're not zooming in and looking at any kids or whatever but if something is typed into the Chromebook that's concerning like somebody's going to hurt themselves or others. It gets flagged. The parents sign up and for this ability, they get a text message. We get certain members on
up here get text messages. The principal of course does enough people get alerted and then at some point if it's alarming enough, the police will be called. Um but it's basically it's us getting to the parent this this thing happened. We're concerned usually some sending somebody over there for a well check and
we're addressing it the next day to make sure everyone's okay. Unless it is something we're worried about, you know, a school issue, but mostly it's to keep kids safe because sometimes kids use this as a diary, unfortunately. >> Right. So, this is a this is a different issue from what we discussed when we
discuss that >> them being able to use schoolisssued Chromebooks in school as a way to get around whatever restrictions we put on them with the electron. Yeah. No, we don't want to monitor Chromebook
at home at all. Trust me, we don't do that. We are going to go ahead and move to community relations. >> Yep. Thank you. We did not have any mind control conversations at the community relations meeting. However, we did meet
very briefly last week to really more or less just talk a little bit after the very successful community engagement efforts of 2025, how we can continue making sure our community is remains fully engaged on the work that we're
doing here as the board as well as the administration. And so I know Dr. has a number of really terrific ideas that she'll be implementing in 2026, including the one that she discussed earlier, the communications protocol group, and I assume there'll be many
other opportunities to to be engaged for the community. So, that was really the bulk of our discussion, just talking about how we sort of keep that momentum of community engagement going for 2026. >> So, I have one comment. Um,
I was really, really happy with the job we've all done communicating ahead of the referendum. Um, and I know now that we have this money, we'll be giving the public regular update during the board meeting, but I feel like there's a lot more of the public that
reads hopeful express me than zooms into our meetings. Um, so I was going to ask the communication committee to think about if we can find a way to keep that cadence of reports out to the public for how that
money is being used um through the local media, right? hopeless person, but I I'd love to kind of that I I just wanted to take a second to first um thank Mr. Slottman for for
chairing community relations this past year. Um and and overseeing a lot of the coordination around some of the communications that we've had with this referendum. Um it was just a great job and it was a very I think this was one of the more um this was a more effective
year of the community relations relative to to previous um years. So I just want to to give you um um that congratulations and thanks. Um, and I do also want to say that it it was really encouraging to see month after month parents come and and share how they
wanted to pitch in and help with some of our communications efforts and how they can best serve um our students and our our community that we have here in Hopewell. So, I'm really excited to see where the um committee, Dr. you're heading up is going because it's really just taking the infrastructure that is already existing from this
referendum and making sure it doesn't go to waste, which is something that we talked a lot about in community relations for the past few months. So, um very excited and also just welcoming any any new parents who want to get involved. Um this would be a great opportunity to to have a say in how um
we communicate and how we can do better in some of our uh areas around how we communicate information. Thank you for um the update and also the encouragement uh regarding communications. Um why don't we we
didn't have a secl I don't have too many updates. Um it was a brief meeting. Uh we've just been working steadily on two of our major projects. One is um submitting another uh funding request to the state legislature. Um it's as we've talked about in previous meetings, it's going
to be centered around um securing additional dollars for mental health resources um in our middle and high school. Um, so we'll with more details as we as we gather, you know, the specific figures that we're looking to to get from the state as well as the specific programs that we're um going to
fund. We'll we'll keep you updated uh as we get closer to the process, but we're in a really great position um relative to last year. I think we're we're further refining the um process uh year-over-year. Um and then the other major um initiative that we were working
on was uh joint programming um with several neighboring school districts here in Mercer County. I believe right now the interested schools were Euing, Lawrence, and Robinsville. Um we're hoping to do a joint um assembly and and
uh it would be a a performance of a uh arts group that's based in Trenton, uh a nonprofit based in Trenton called Young Audiences. Um, we're looking to have that scheduled for early June. I know we're in the process of locking down a venue and a date. Um, but it's obviously
a tall task. I really appreciate Dr. Trees uh leading a lot of the coordination and uh administration of it because we're coordinating thousands of students across four school districts in one area in one location on one day. So, a lot going into it, but I do think that
uh it's going to be successful. the county executive's office has been in touch with us and has been helpful. Um and and we're we're if there's any updates, Dr. Tre, feel free to share. >> You've mentioned the four uh the four school districts is going to be involved. Um it's going to be grade four. Uh we have a date, we have the
group, we need the venue. So, right now, we're working on that and um young audience is actually helping. They have some connections. So, hopefully we're going to have something nailed down very soon. Um we were hoping to do it in the um war memorial um the Patriots Theater and unfortunately that's booked on the
day we want to do our event and our our group cannot do another date. So we're going to find something but we're very close. Yeah. just for for the community. I think I just want to underscore oftentimes we talk about um you know
getting our kids out out of the bubble so to speak allowing kids to interact um with that maybe folks that are not in athletics, you know, they they get to interact with other schools in the in
the region in the county um and theater folks don't as much or what have you. So really talking about ways for all of our students to be able to engage um with other students in the region. And so the fact that we've even made it this far
feels like a huge um celebration really just for our kids um and we hope to have them interacting during the day not just you know sharing an audience space but to to engage with one another. So looking forward to that a you know
occurring but also whatever is next anybody key or I had a quick uh question and a comment. Um so the first is just a comment which is to say I just want to thank uh Mr. Kapadia for his leadership with the government relations committee this
year. I think you guys have done amazing work. It's been so impressive and as folks will see um for second read policy we are combining this committee with community relations but I just want to assure folks um that the the mission and the goals and the objectives of
government relations will not be lost. We're intending to move forward with co-chairs and um I excited to see the good work that comes out of it in the future. Um the question that I have is related to the voting age discussion for youth um who may be interested in voting
in the board of education elections. So I know that's now an option for New Jersey municipalities and I think you were initiating conversations with some of our municipal government partners around this. So, just curious um have those conversations made any progress
and by when would we need to secure agreement related to that in order for them to vote in the next election? I spoke to all three mayors and all three mayors were in support but had to talk to their committees. So, that's where we are and since the elections I haven't heard back from them how that's
gone. Drew, do you want to take the rest? Yeah, I mean um it's it is um this is definitely a policy idea that will require um a lot of uh some some real um political courage.
Right now there's only been one municipality in the state of New Jersey from what I'm aware that has officially lowered the voting age to 16 for schoolboard elections and that was Newark. Um and there's obviously a lot of political power and and uh capital in that city. Um, and so I'm glad to hear
that the mayors are supportive. Something that we've talked a lot about in the committee is wanting to ensure that our students um would take advantage of the opportunity if if this was something that we move forward with because it would really require a lot of change and and and not only the
political side of it, but also the administration of then having, you know, our county clerk um be able to administer ballots to 16-year-olds that only have school board candidates on them. Um, so that all being said, um, we want to make sure that we're also collecting data before we like fully
move forward with pushing, um, the the, um, policy forward. Um, and yeah, I I also I can understand the mayor's um, really uh, reiterating to us that it's while they may personally be supportive of the idea, they need to make sure that the entire committee and council that
they serve on is also on board. But we're still pushing forward. We just didn't have an update from this past month's meeting on that specific issue. And I did also want to thank the policy committee um for advancing the um uh to second reading the establishment of the
government relations committee formally. That's been something that um I've been looking forward to from the start of the year when we established it as an ad hoc committee and um it's there's going to be a lot of great work that comes from it in the coming year. Since uh I'm going to ask a question
that I'm going to start by thanking you. I think you you've pushed for that committee and you said we'll be able to get certain things done and I think what the committee has been able to do is certainly exceeded what I expected to be able to do in the
first year. Uh so that was awesome. Now my question on the voting age um does the district have have any is this something that the district also has to vote on or or are we only in an
advisory all here to the municipality is is it legally just up to the municipalities or do we have a safe >> if in a if for example the three mayors got together without consulting us and said that we're going to lower the
voting age, they can do that. >> Uh, can I have a followup on that? So, if the mayors made the decision that they wanted to lower the voting age for our for the school board's positions, they have the legal right to do that. >> From what I'm aware, yes.
>> Wow, that's interesting. Okay, that's good to know. That's it. >> Yeah. And in the specific instance, again, because this is fairly novel and there's only one municipality as a data point, um the school board was very supportive of it. So, I don't think
there's been a situation in it wasn't the case in Newark where the school board was expressing opposition to what Mayor Baraka was pushing through for lowering the municipal uh voting age. So I you know it would be an interesting case if that would be what ended up happening but I don't have a specific
data point on what you know the dynamic that you're talking about. >> A followup since we are a regional district what happens if some of the municipalities go one way and some go the the other way? Well, be because our our seats are aortioned by our
municipality. In a situation where, for example, the mayor of Hopeel Township lowered it than if you're a Hopel Township 16 or 17-year-old, you would be able to elect one of the seven members that you have appointed. >> You have friends over in Pennington over in Hope would be. >> Yeah. I mean, that's that's part of the trade-offs of being in a regional
district. Each mayor and municipal government can function how they want to function. >> One more followup. Sorry Drew, we we opened it up, dude. >> So, can you just walk me through like what the process would be? Let's say that Pennington, Hopewell, and Hopewell
Township and all the mayors say, "We want to do this." So, for the sitting group in here, do we ultimately have to pass a resolution to allow for that to happen? >> No. like we as a body don't oversee how
elections are administered or who is eligible to vote for us. That's that that is up to the municipal government. >> Right. So, okay. So, I guess my question my question for a future conversation as this comes up
is going to be why haven't more towns and cities done this? Seems like it's a novel idea. I would imagine with just the current landscape of uh issues of how we're thinking about voting and candidly discussions about lowering the voting age in general that have been a
political football for the past three or four terms. I think that we should spend some time talking about that as a community about the pros and cons of it. Um, but yeah, I just I need to get more educated on
this to understand how we can just that can just happen. That just seems odd to me. So, I just I'm going to have to learn a lot more from you. >> Yeah. I I also want to add I mean this is something that we have been talking about. Firstly, it's this is like before even a preliminary stage of the uh
initiative and something we've we've we've talked about for months since this idea was was first brought up through government relations was that if we as a board were ever going to move forward with actively engaging with the municipalities to pass this type of resolution or to pass this type of change, we would all want to vote on it
before we would go to them. The reason why we approached the mayors was just to see if this was something they would Yeah. Yeah. if there was because if they had said this is just not going to happen and this is not in the Overton window then we're not you know >> I yeah I just want to add I don't see any of the three mayors taking this on as their something that they're pushing
right it was us coming to them saying if we are entertain this as a board right because we are they're talking about it is this something that you be supportive if one or all of them said absolutely not we don't want to get the kids on you know surveying kids and all that if it's not going anywhere so that's that's the
level that we've talked to the mayors Yeah. And on the education piece, I mean, a huge part of what we've also talked about is we want to make sure that our the students are educated about it as well. Um, and it's not something that we're pushing on them from the top down. It's something that they feel empowered if they so, you know, if they
want to take on the the uh the task and the fight for making this a change that we can support them in that. Um, and that this isn't something that we're just enforcing on our students. For the record, for the students in the crowd, I'm totally willing to caucus their vote, too, but I'm just, you know,
asking some questions. >> I've got a question. >> I I I'm I'm not sure of your of the timeline here, but but at some point, you're going to be thinking about how to help kids understand what elections are and how they impact and and relate to
what their their lives are about. Now, I mean, that's I'm sure you're going to get into that like democracy. Yeah. Right. Um, but I mean that's that can be a fairly complex reality. Um, so I'm I'm guessing that's
in in your purview. It's in the the future in your conversation. >> Absolutely. I just think where we are right now in terms of our uh the stage in the process is is very early on. But
I mean, I agree. I mean, we we do still have I think the teachers that I had and and the uh the curriculum we have around elections is is pretty robust. Um and I think our students are very prepared. Um you know, we encourage our graduating
seniors to vote every year. We encourage 18-year-olds who are in that while they are still a student in uh HBRSD to vote. Uh we do we do a good job of encouraging our students to be civically engaged. Um and I imagine that nothing would be
different if we lowered if the age was lowered down to 16. We would continue to make sure that our students are civically engaged um and are are um you know making the best decisions when they go out to vote and are informed above all else.
>> I'll just add two small comments. Um, one right is the reminder. We already have 18 year olds in our schools who are voting and so like you said dri both from community members and other things that we have of course outside of school but also within our school. Um, and I agree I think we do a great job
kind of discussing that with them and letting them think critically for themselves. Um, the other thing I just want to like re-emphasize as audience members are listening to this because I know I've gotten questions that this is only for lowering the age of 16, only
for school board voting purposes, right? It doesn't allow them to vote for local elections or federal elections. And and Drew, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's only for school board seats, not for referendum items as well. So, it's a very specific vote.
>> Yeah, that is what I've heard as well. That is what I'm from what I'm aware. It does not apply to referendum. And uh I and Mark, you asked why it doesn't apply. Well, for a federal or a state election, it's a different jurisdiction. So, a mayor can't say you're allowed to vote for your US senator now. >> Yeah. I'm just I'm just No, no, I get
it. I'm just going to throw it out there. I mean, if we we don't have to open up this can of worms, but like, hey, if we want kids to vote in an election locally, we should trust them to vote in state election, too, right? >> I think that's a that's a fair thing to say. I >> I would be I would go to Trend and advocate for that bill. I mean, going to
go down a rabbit that hole, but you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, we'll talk about it when we get there. I think it's great what you're doing. Just keep keep doing what you're doing. >> Appreciate it. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you for that discussion and um update. A quick update on climate
action. So we did not have a meeting uh this month um because the working groups wanted the month to really settle into the work and so um there wasn't a big group meeting but I will report on the
work of the working committees next month. >> Awesome. Thank you. All right. Moving on to policy. Dr. Lil. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, so the policy committee did not meet in December as we have no policies moving forward for
first reading tonight. Um, as a reminder for folks, we traditionally do not meet in December because of the committee reorganization that happens in early January. So, um, that way we're not moving policies through first reading in December only to have a potentially new
committee members finalizing them in January. Um, but we do have some up for second reading. Um, so before I jump into those, I'll say that policy and regulation 5516, electronic communication, went through first reading last month. Um, but we're
actually going to pull those for further review and discussion um before moving them through the approval process. Um, we do however have two bylaws, one regulation and one policy up for second reading and one policy up for second reading abolishment. Um, can I have a
motion in a second to bring bylaw 0155 board committees, bylaw 0141.3, board member number and term for regional school districts and policy and regulation 5530 substance abuse up for
second reading. >> Second. >> Okay, great. So, we discussed these at length at the last meeting. So, I won't go into them in detail. I just wanted to highlight one thing which is the connection between 0141.3 and then the policy that's up for
abolishment right now. Um so this policy addresses the rules regarding the number of board members and terms um that serve on regional school districts boards like ours. Um, and as we adopt this bylaw in compliance with our uh, state legal
requirements, we are also recommending abolishment of policy 0141 uh, which this policy would replace. So, does anybody have any questions, comments, thoughts they want to add? Okay.
So, Bob, roll call vote. >> Dr. Resnik, >> yes. >> Mr. Slotman. >> Hi. >> Dr. Stilliano. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wilson. >> Yes. >> Dr. Genevacy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Katio. >> Yes. >> Dr. Lillison.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Peters. >> Yes. >> Miss Williams Galliano. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Okay. And then can I have a motion and a second to bring bylaw 0141 board member number and term for second reading
abolishment. Second. >> Okay, I think roll call vote on this one. >> Yep. >> Mr. Slottman. >> Hi. >> Dr. Stilliano, >> yes. >> Dr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Dr. Genevacy, Mr. Kapadia,
>> yes. >> Dr. Lilon, >> yes. >> Mr. Peters, >> yes. >> Dr. Resnik, >> yes. >> Miss Williams Scallion, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Excellent. Um,
I would like a first and second to pass the December and January calendars. >> Motion. Okay. Just um as Miss L Dr. Wilson said um we don't do policy sec uh first readings in December. Typically at this
point we don't do um calendar scheduling because there'll be a board reorg meeting on what I know it now is the 5th I believe January 5th. um at which time you will elect a president and vice president who
will then um appoint calendars and um members. Okay. So, we'll hold off. The only again calendar item we'll be approving tonight is the reorg meeting on January 5th and the and the regular board meeting on
the 12th which is earlier um than normal this year. We wanted to get we wanted to get the moving um otherwise it would have been after Martin Luther King weekend which puts us too late into January. So yes the 5th and the 12th for our reorgan >> actually no committee meetings are going
to happen between now and the next >> so what we typically will have is once the incoming president sets her his her committees >> um we will set meetings. So it may not be prior to but it'll be >> between Yeah. try and squeeze committee
meetings and >> you you could >> Okay. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed or abstaining? >> 6:30. >> Okay. Um any new business items?
Okay, seeing none, we're going to move into our second public comment for the evening. Um and just as a reminder, members of the public are invited to address the board on any matter for a maximum of three minutes during this portion of the meeting. You're asked to state your name, address, and municipality. In response to your
comments, the board of ed may respond or direct the superintendent to do so. The board may also opt to take up the matter at a future meeting so that the matter is researched by the district administration. Public comment is now open.
Seeing none, um public comment is now closed. Um with that, I'd like to request a first and second to move into executive session. um point. No. Um no action will be taken but we Oh,
action will be taken. Okay. We have harassment, intimidation and bullying matters. Um a student matter number one and number two as well as employee number 418. First and second.
>> Motion. >> All in favor? Hi. >> Any opposed or abstaining? Seeing none, we are now in executive session. And as an official, thank you for being with us this evening. I know December's busy for everyone, but we
appreciate seeing you. Take care.