reasoning or provide for flexibility um when that is based on some assumptions uh the way I read the resolution um before you all today is that there is a clear assumption which again you all have the DAT but we don't um so it might be a very well-based assumption but as
we all know things can change drastically um and the facts on the ground can shift in a month or two on things that we never expected um I remember my office had a pool about when we would reopen after covid and the winner won with uh four weeks because
that was the longest anybody expected um and that was a very Sudden Change but reviewing this proposal what it really looks like is that there is an assumption that awr is going to have a larger class size than saltbrook um in
each of these situations um and right now as I understand New Jersey requirements and New Jersey um education directives right the maximum class size that desired maximum sits at 25 students uh the
proposal before the board today is sits at 20 um and I understand that if you go over 25 students per classroom that might necessitate the hiring of additional uh staff or the creation of an additional classroom so there is a situation based on the proposal that
automatically sends impacted families to saltbrook where you could be in the position where you're either adding a 21st student to awr or a 26 student to saltbrook which is going to trigger a
number of other requirements um just because of that Automatic Transition included in the policy um again you might have already been addressed I know that was brought up before the meeting I really appreciate it if um that's happened but I'd seen I have seen that
type of policy writing go the wrong and unintended way too many times to not at least say something here today um and especially given the health welfare safety budget of the community um all at
stake I just want to make sure that was heard um thank you so much great thank you hi um Montana chel 89 Woodland Road um I wanted to thank you all for the tremendous amount of time and effort you've put into this plan um my my only
real concern um that I'm I'm hoping we can get some clarity around is in regards to collapsing zones a through D um I think all I speak for all of us here that we just wouldn't want to put other families in a situation um where their kids might be split where they
weren't anticipating it um in order to keep our kids together so just just wanted to raise that point and just note that we really just want to make sure we're not negatively impacting other families um in in this plan and that's
really it um thank you hi Rebecca Nichols 38 CH Wood Road um thank you to everyone here who has done such tremendous hard work on all of this I really appreciate it um I just reading through the resolution I think it's great I just want to make a note
that it currently does not address families who are currently split who would like to not be split next year um and I think that should also be addressed we'll be contacting you tomorrow okay yeah thank [Applause]
you anyone else I declare the public portion of the meeting closed uh Mr Walsh Finance actions I would like to move items 1 through S as listed on the agenda only comments burn everybody has the uh draft budget that was sent to the
county within the 2% cap um Jim and luren and the team did a fantastic job with it we've been through it a couple times and there's a nice summary on top with any of the significant impacts if you have any questions you can obviously ask gmri um and then we will uh discuss
that at the April 24th meeting any other yeah just a library a little bit um so what you're approving tonight is up for us to submit the budget to the county um it goes to the county for review um so it's tentative right now uh we'll wait until the end of the month when the county comes back and hopefully receive
approval and then our actual presentation and final adoption would be in April so right now it's just an um tenative budget going down to the county and like Joe said you have the cover memoral which is covers everything so if you have any questions please feel free to call Joe or myself um in the next two
or three weeks great thank you roll call you I Dr abson Hayden hi Miss gunderman hi M Morano hi Mr Walsh hi Mrs Zayn
hi um Dr Epson Hayden education I would like to move to approve action item one as listed below seconded son bear with me it's a long
one whereas the Board of Education and District administration have reviewed and discussed the redistricting plan approved in August 2022 which shifted The District boundary line from Livingston Avenue to South Street for saltbrook school saltbrook and alen W
Roberts school awr and whereas the Board of Education and District administration follow Board of Education policy 2312 class size and whereas the dis the redistricting plan was implemented in in the 2024 2025 school year and it has become evident that many families have
questions and concerns regarding the changes and whereas the board of education is committed to transparent communication with the district community and to addressing the concerns raised by families in relation to the redistricting process and whereas the redistricting plan is based on two key
factors number one the change in the local housing market with future housing developments on the awr side of town and two the enrollment imbalance identified by Dr Richard grip the district's demographer between awr and saltbrook with saltbrook projected to have significantly fewer students based on
current and future enrollment projections now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education formally approves the updated redistricting plan as outlined below which includes the immediate changes and continued objectives of the redistricting
process with redistricting and removing the district line The District boundary line for elementary schools shifted from Livingston Avenue to Stout Street in order to achieve a more balanced student population between awr and saltbrook now and into the future immediate changes to
the redistricting plan the district will combine the current zones a through D zones into one zone starting in September 2025 all new registrant non currently enrolled in the New Providence School District who reside in the
redistricted zone will attend saltbrook a map and Street listing for the redistricting Zone will be provided to the community for reference with key elements that will remain consistent students currently residing in the redistricted zone and attending the awr excuse me attending awr through the
2024 2025 school year will be permitted to remain at awr through their sixth grade year beginning with the 2025 2026 school year kindergarten students in the redistricted zone attending the attending saltbrook with an older sibl
at awr May request to transfer the older child from awr to saltbrook to keep siblings together this request will be honored in accordance with the Board of Education policy 2312 class size redistricting plan for families with siblings at
awr the district acknowledges that splitting siblings between schools may be a concern for some families however in light of the expected future growth due to local housing developments the district will work to accommodate growth while making reasonable efforts to keep siblings together at awr to balance
these factors and ensure optimal class sizes as per board ofed policy 2312 class size the following processes will be followed for kindergarten registration all incoming kindergarten students in the redistricted zone will be registered to attend saltbrook
starting with the 2025 2026 school year families with an older child at awr May request to keep their kindergarten student at awr by opting onto an exception list during the registration process the exception list will be reviewed by June 1st each year if the
awr kindergarten class size is under the board's optimal class size as per board of education policy 2312 class size which is 20 students per class the kindergarten student on the exception list will be allowed to remain at awr through their sixth grade year if there
are more students on the exception list than available spots a Lottery will be conducted to determine which students will be able to remain at awr those not selected will attend saltbrook if the optimal class size is reached as per
board of education policy 2312 class size all kindergarten students on the exception list will attend saltbrook parents of kindergarten students on the exception list will be notified in writing by June 1st each year be it further resolved that this updated
redistricting plan as described above be implemented by The District administration in accordance with the guidelines and policies set forth and that the Board of Education will continue to monitor the plan's Effectiveness and communicate with the community regarding any necessary
adjustments Dr Zury thank you Miss kakaro I would like to first thank the entire board for their time and their diligence in collaborating around the updated redistricting plan to collaborate some key points in the plan there will be one
redistricting Zone beginning in the 2526 school year we have collapsed zones a b c and d into one zone tomorrow morning all parents staff and faculty will receive a detailed explanation of the
plan that will be sent from my office along with a list of frequently asked questions post on the district website tomorrow morning will be my letter along with the community map which will show the zones of a b c and d as one zone
along with the street listings if you have already pre-registered your kindergartner or first grade child you will receive an email tomorrow morning which will ask you questions about opting onto the exception list only if you live in the
redistricting Zone and have a current awr student in grade K through five can you opt onto the exception list next week on Tuesday I will host two q&as the first will be at Allen W Roberts at 10
o'clock a and the second will be that evening at 6:30 pm in the high school middle school cafeteria we are hopeful that those parents that do attend at 6:30 will follow us back into the media center for our 7:30 p.m strategic planning
session if there are families that have questions questions about the plan once you have read my letter and attended the Q&A section session I ask that you direct them to me the board this evening is approving the plan which is within the board scope of
responsibilities my responsibility is now to execute lead and manage the plan so please contact me with any questions that you may have once again I would like to thank the entire board and working together to update the redistricting plan which will continue
to focus on our original goal goals of planning for future growth and balancing the overall enrollment at the elementary schools while doing our best to meet the needs of parents who live in the redistricting Zone thank you Dr Zury roll
call M Kara hi Dr abson Hayden hi M gunderman hi Mrs Morana hi Mr Walsh Mrs Zay hi Mrs gunderman personnel I'd like to move to approve item one as
listed below Krist roll call m k i Dr Hayden hi M gunderman hi M Morano hi Mr Walsh hi Zane hi now is an opportunity for the
public to be heard on any subject [Applause] caravano 20 Edward Court New Providence formerly Zone a now Zone um I first and foremost would really like to thank the board and Dr zery for
taking the time to truly hear and listen and make adjustments accordingly to to in response to our requests specifically I would like to thank m Zayn Mrs Morano and Dr mson Hayden for taking the time to speak with me on the phone and
responding to many of my questions and asking me questions as well I appreciated that as well miss Zan um I guess I have a few Co questions regarding the numbers at both schools I understand
that it's the policy whatever number that is with the 20 being the optimal size um I'm curious if the board and the Administration has discussed what that looks like should the numbers be higher
at saltbrook already before we send our kids there but we are at 20 at awr and I ask only because you know I I understand that we have to make decisions in the best interest of the entire District but we
also need to make decisions in the best interest of the current people who live here not future people who live here um and and our teachers you know so if if the numbers are going to be significantly higher on one side of town I personally don't believe that that's in the best interest of students
teachers or the families who would be inconvenienced by having kids across town um the other piece um is I would like to know how parents are going to be no I I understand a letter will be out
tomorrow but I my concern is for these families who are now going to be in the situation that we were in two days ago um many of whom have been super helpful with our help spreading the word and are
now in a situation that they weren't anticipating to be in with far less time to plan I could answer that question please so as I just said a multitude of information will come out tomorrow morning um we've worked very hard to
make sure that that is extremely streamlined there are currently 110 students who are pre-registered for kindergarten that does not mean that the kindergarten class at SB and Roberts is 110 students we will continue to get registrations through the month of
August however we will be sending out for those families again who have already pre-registered a form which will ask them if they would like to opt on to the exception list if they meet the criteria moving forward for families who
have not yet pre-registered that will be a part of the registration process in power school okay so I just urge families and we hear you and these questions are great but I urge families to wait until the letter comes out tomorrow morning at 8: am because I think it's going to answer a lot of
questions for everyone that's that is fair thank you very much hi again Kyle inis uh good to be up here better lighting um just to uh I just want to clarify a
few things that um you all had said right I mean I think a few folks have raised the issue about the 20 versus the 25 um and Dr zly I understand there's some more information coming out in the letter um however based on is
there should there end up being something weighted towards saltbrook does that then require based on um asking Dr zeroy to effectuate this policy which does include that automatic decision which seems to remove the decision from Dr zerle in the
administration of this would that require an additional board action or do you intend the uh the part of the resolution about continuing to work with the community um to provide additional flexibility in those situations I don't think I'm I'm
understanding what you're saying honestly um so are are you saying that if if hypothetically Su is at 25 children what would then happen if you were still zoned there would it go to 26 or would it is that question is so we already have an existing um past
practice that when it is it is in policy right um when we hit the Max and we get a new registration if there's room at the other school whichever school it may be could be a fifth grade class it doesn't necessarily have to be kindergarten that student is then as a
new student placed in the other school now does that have to is that trigger okay so two questions then does the existing policy generally when you're looking at a two policies that have different things the newer more targeted policy
will control is it the intent of the board that that existing policy will control over this newly adopted policy in that situation correct that is just a resolution I think we need to clarify this this is not a policy this is a
resolution for a plan that the board is approving that I'm going to execute what is a policy is 2312 and there is another policy which I don't know off the top of my head the number which talks about exactly what Miss kakaro just expressed that at any time regardless if it's
kindergarten through the sixth grade if we have a new registrant that comes in and let's say they live on the Robert side of town and let's say that that fifth grade class is at 108 which is the max right total sections then that 109 that one child is
going to go over saltbrook if there's room and we have board policy on that so I believe that what you're asking if if I could if I hear you correctly is in the event that we are at policy at
saltbrook right and we have a situation at Roberts where we have the exception list is this what you're asking right so if I mean even if Roberts um okay so if this is just a redistricting plan the policy will have controlling effort does that also mean that uh the
5120 uh the district policy 5120 regarding the placement of students would also control giving uh Dr zeroy the ability to make a caseby casee exemption exception so even if selbrook isn't at maximum but they are still
equal to or greater than Roberts um Dr zly could still place a sibling at Roberts say if both class size you know Roberts hits 20 uh salt Brook's at 22 right you're not quite at that maximum yet but given the fact that 5120 permits
the caseby case exemption um that would be something that is possible yeah that would be contingent upon how many students are on the exception list so I think the answer is yes that I would have the ability as a
superintendent to speak with the board about making that exception but it would be contingent upon whether there's one student on that exception list or 10 students on that exception list so we can't answer that definitively right now um because they're we're talking
hypotheticals um and so if we were you know approached by a situation like that in a given year would be speaking to the board about that brilliant um and just one time because I want just want to clarify one more piece for um for the meeting um at the beginning you had read
out the board's obligations uh Dr zeroy uh you had mentioned that as you go to execute this redistricting plan everything should be directed towards you that the board's not really going to oversee the day-to-day of that right and
I understand and I am asking this for clarity and Dr zle I'm sorry I have no better way of phrasing this um I know we haven't met before um you did say part of the board's
purview was the evaluation and overview of the superintendent is that correct correct okay well that's all thank you so much Melanie Cats 101 Woodland Road um I Nathan my youngest and I have two
older in awr doesn't attend for two years until two years later and um those apartments will be open I am curious if there will be consideration to have like if they those apartments cause an excess
of incoming kindergarteners that one of them would be you know moved to saltbrook and Nathan would be allowed to attend awr with his two siblings like is that um a
consideration since we're an existing family and not a new family so I I think what you're asking is if your other two two children are already out of Roberts if you're if your kindergarten would they'll be in fourth and sixth grade at the time my youngest
will enter the way the policy is written right now is that if your child has if you have existing child in so if your fourth grader is still in when your kindergartener is ready to come they can go to Roberts if you're kindergartener
if you have no siblings left in Roberts because the whole idea was to keep the siblings together you would go to salpr so he he's automatic no he would go on the exception list yeah the exception but would he as a case by case like would you be able to look at him as like
oh you know if a new family new families are causing the Overflow um that they could move to saltbrook even though they're right next to awr but we're an existing family so I know that you don't want to hear this answer but the answer is no and the
reason why is because there's a boundary line and as a school district not just here New Providence but all School D districts have to Exist by boundary lines in order to plan for the current day and for the future in terms of where their children are going to be zoned for
so it's very difficult for us to now say that just some random family at Bard and again we're speaking in hypotheticals is now going to go outside of the boundary line and now they're going to go to saltbrook because what does that mean for other families then too so that's why the board and I worked really hard
on this plan um and I know that many families have lots of hypothetical questions yeah but they're very difficult to answer those questions it's just like four five years down thinking about this for another year and a
half hello Ben Wolf again for 76 South Street um again thank you all for all the hard work you put into this uh glad to see a resolution passed and excited to see all of the communication coming out tomorrow um do we have a bit of clarification about notification and writing since uh part of what's broken
my trust with Dr zerle and the board is that I have no notification of writing which in 2022 there was a resolution that said I would and and I have writing that I wasn't impacted and now I'm going to get new direction tomorrow my trust is a bit shaken at the moment um can you
help we establish sure that will be answered in the letter however at the latter part of the May board meeting the latter may board meeting and at times we have two board meetings in May but it will be the latter one um that's where I will discuss publicly what the incoming
kindergarten numbers are what the numbers of students are on the exception list and what our decision is moving forward subsequent to that board meeting meaning the following day we will send out written notification to all parents that are on that exception
list uh email or mail or what's what does that mean email thank you so this is why I believe it was Mel originally um okay thank you again thank you anyone else okay I need a motion to recess to
close session for student matters related to Hib and litigation fa I thank you everyone