Roll call. >> Ms. Castellano? >> Here. >> Dr. Hayden? >> Here. >> Ms. Gunderman? >> Here. >> Mr. May? >> Here. >> Mr. Aubrey? >> Here. >> Ms. Myatt? >> Here. >> Ms. Ain? >> Here. >> You have a quorum. >> Join me in the flag salute. >> [cough and clears throat]
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> [clears throat] >> This is a public meeting of the Board of
Education of the Borough of New Providence. Adequate notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with PL 1975, chapter 231, and that a notice was made in conformance with section 13 of the act. Whenever the business of the board requires it to convene to closed
session, the session will begin no later than 9:30 p.m. At the conclusion of the need for the closed session, the board will reconvene to the public portion of the meeting. At that time, the board will complete any other business that may be before it, and the public will then be given an opportunity to be heard before the
meeting is adjourned. Well, we've made it. This is our last board meeting before the end of the year. And before we begin, I would like to thank all of our teachers and administrators, which I feel like you're all here tonight. So, thank you, um and staff for their continued
dedication to our students. As we look back on the year, there's so much to celebrate across every school, and none of it would be possible without you and your hard work and commitment and care for our children. And I know there's been a lot of anticipation of surrounding tonight's presentation on technology use in our
schools. And as parents and educators and community members, we're all grappling with the same question, what is the appropriate role of technology in our children's lives, both in the classroom and at home. So, I'd like to commend Dr. Zerbolio and her team for taking a thoughtful and
very deliberate approach to this work over the past year. They've engaged with research, uh listened to the community, and they've worked closely with our teachers who are on the front lines uh with our students every day. And I'm looking forward to hearing more about the district's vision and direction moving forward. And to everyone joining
us tonight, both in person and tuning in at home and streaming, um I encourage you to listen to the presentation, really digest everything that we're talking about in the information, and hope that you can join us next week uh for a community forum to have a more in-depth discussion and an opportunity
to ask questions. And then finally, as we approach the end of the school year, I would like to congratulate all of our students who are reaching very important milestones uh in the weeks ahead. So, whether you're moving on and up from elementary school, middle school, high school, or even graduating from high
school and beginning your next chapter, we're incredibly proud of you. And I see Ariel is not here, welcome, but I was going to congratulate him and thank him for all of his hard work and wish him well in his next journey at the University of Florida. So, with that, I will pass it on to Dr. Zerbolio. >> Thank you, Ms. Morano. This evening, we
do have a substitute and I for Ariel, and I'm very excited to introduce Ms. Caroline Babbitt for our student report. >> Hello, my name is Caroline Babbitt, and I am a senior here at New Providence High School. So, to start off, on Friday, May 1st,
the PTSA hosted the senior breakfast, where many of our seniors wore the apparel of the schools that they've committed to. We want to congratulate all of our seniors. Many of our students also participated in AP exams starting May 4th and going through the 15th. A congratulations to
all of them for their hard work and efforts in the lead up to their AP exams. On May 12th was the spring choral concert and on May 14th was the spring instrumental concert. A special congrats to Mr. Ziegler, Mr. Ann, and Mr. Rubens as well as all of the student
performers. The concerts were outstanding. On May 13th was the high school and middle school arts festival. A big thank you to Miss Erickson and the entire visual and practical arts department and a congratulations to all of the students who participated. The work displayed The
works displayed showed off the incredible creativity and innovation of all of our students. We wrapped up state testing for our 9th and 11th grade students with NJSLS on May 18th and going through May 20th. Senior Awards Night was held on May 18th
and 63 seniors walked away with 107 scholarships totaling over $81,000. Congratulate Congratulations to them all. This week on May 27th and today on the 28th, we held the Every 15 Minutes program here at the high school with a number of student participants and
support through many of our local response teams and departments. This critical program highlights the dangers of driving under the influence and the importance of safe, sound decision-making. Tomorrow, Friday, May 29th is the senior junior prom at Brooklake Country Club.
We look forward to a fun and exciting event together as a group. Looking ahead to June, we have our High Honors Breakfast Ceremony for some of our senior students on June 4th. We also have our fun class clash event on June 5th where all grade levels
compete against each other for final team point totals for the school year before one grade is ultimately ultimately named champions. We have a STEM Showcase event on June 10th where students enrolled in STEM courses will showcase some of their incredible works.
And finally, we have some other end-of-the-year events for our seniors including our senior barbecue on June 11th before final exams for everyone starting June 12th and going through the 17th. And ultimately the graduation ceremony on June 17th. Congratulations
to this amazing group of seniors and the class of 2026. We are in full spring in full swing with state playoffs for our teams. Boys lacrosse was in action this evening at 5:00 against Delaware Valley in the
state playoffs. The boys have the fifth seed in the South Jersey Group 1 section and they got the win to advance. Up next they will face Glen Ridge early next week. Our girls lacrosse team was also in action this afternoon where they played Middletown ship in the South Jersey
Group 1 section. The girls have secured the three seed and they advanced with an impressive win this afternoon. They will be back in action early next week. The baseball team got off to a great start in their playoffs beating Newark Tech on Tuesday afternoon. They are back
in action in the second round tomorrow at 2:00 at the two seed Whippany Park. Our softball team also won their first round state sectional defeating Verona on Tuesday and this evening took down the number one seed in their section Wood-Ridge. Congratulations to the team
on this huge win. Boys tennis beat ALJ in their first round match up but had a tough loss this afternoon to Edison Magnet. Congratulations to the boys tennis team on a great season. The track and field team will be competing tomorrow and Saturday in the
Group 1 championships in Franklin. We wish them and all of our teams the best of luck as they continue in their state playoffs. Thank you and that is it for this month's student rep report. We wish everyone a successful conclusion to the end of the school year. Thank you.
>> Thank you Caroline. We appreciate it. >> [applause] >> Congratulations to you as too as you finish your senior year at New Providence High School. And where are you headed in the fall? University of Tennessee. Good for you.
Okay, I am going to get right into the enrollment as Mr. Yu is not here this evening. At Allen W. Roberts, we currently have 606 students at Salt Brook School. We currently have 602 students at New Providence Middle School. We currently
have 387 students. At New Providence High School, we currently have 657 students for a total of 2,052 students. We currently have 39 out of district placements for a grand total of 2,291
students. Good evening, everyone. This is an exciting evening for us as Ms. Morano said as we're going to be presenting Bounce by Design guiding principles for thoughtful technology integration to the full Board of Education. I would like to extend my
sincere thanks to our entire teaching staff for their collaboration in developing a framework that authentically reflects our classrooms, our shared values, and the collective expertise of our practitioners across varying levels of experience.
This work captures what makes New Providence special. Our thoughtful, student-centered approach to teaching and learning. Thank you to all of our presenters this evening as well for joining me and helping present this for our full Board of Education. I would
also like to just highlight and point out someone special here this evening, Mr. Alex Minard, who is our manager of information services. He doesn't stand on the front lines with us in education, but he does everything in the background for us when it comes to managing our
devices, technology, me being a pest to him. So, I would just like to highlight and thank him for all of his help and support as we also designed this new framework. So, thank you, Alex. Before we move on to the presentation,
however, I would like to take a few minutes to provide an update on our incoming kindergarten enrollment for the 2026-2027 school year as well as share information regarding the students on our exception list. As of today, we have 77 students
registered for Salt Brook School and 62 students registered at Alan W. Roberts with three students on the exception list. As per our board-approved redistricting plan, if the registered AWR kindergarten
class size is under the board's optimal class size as per our policy 2312, which is 20 students per class, the kindergarten student on the exception list can remain at AWR through their sixth grade year.
This year, 2025-2026, we have three sections of kindergarten at Alan W. Roberts and next year for the 2026-2027 school year, we will remain at three sections, which totals a maximum of 60 students under our class size
optimal I'm sorry, under our optimal class size policy. Therefore, as the optimal class size is reached, we currently have 62 students registered for kindergarten at AWR, all incoming kindergarten students on the
exception list will attend Salt Brook School and remain there through their sixth grade year. This will bring our totals to 80 students at Salt Brook School with four sections and 65 students at Alan W. Roberts with three sections. In
addition, I would like to add in accordance with our redistricting plan, older siblings of students who are on the incoming kindergarten exception list that will attend Salt Brook School next year and currently attend Alan W. Roberts can request to also attend Salt
Brook School with their incoming kindergarten sibling for the 2026-2027 school year pending class size for their grade. Tomorrow morning we will be sending official notification of of children's kindergarten enrollment to
these families via both email and regular mail that are on the exception list. At this time all incoming kindergarten students families have received the save the date for kindergarten orientation which will be next Wednesday, June 3rd. The students who will receive
notification tomorrow morning should plan on attending kindergarten orientation at Salt Brook School. Should any families have any questions about kindergarten orientation, I recommend that they reach out to their respective schools.
And that's all I have. >> Thank you. So next we're going to do the board goals balanced by design. >> Yes, okay. >> going to pass it back to you. >> Well, good evening again, members of the Board of Education and members of our community.
Tonight our leadership team is pleased to present Balanced by Design Guiding principles for thoughtful technology integration. This work reflects a year of reflection, research, stakeholder engagement, and
honest examination of how technology is currently being used across our schools. Let me begin by clearly saying what this work is and what this work is not. What this initiative is about is intentionality.
It is about ensuring that technology serves learning, not the other way around. It is about aligning instructional practices with what we know about child development, cognition, student wellness, and effective pedagogy.
This is not an anti-technology initiative. It is a pro-learning initiative. Technology remains an instructional tool in modern education, and we do recognize its tremendous capacity to expand
access, enhance creativity, provide immediate feedback, and support personalized learning in transformative and supportive ways. Most importantly, this framework is about striking the right balance between digital tools and the human interactions
that remain at the heart of great teaching and learning. >> [snorts] >> This evening, our team will walk you through both the research and thought process behind this work, and the practical shifts that will guide the implementation moving forward.
To begin, I'd like to briefly ground this work in the board's own five-year strategic vision. This work did not remotely emerge in isolation. It is directly connected to the board's strategic goal number one,
integrate technology in a balanced way to enhance teaching, support student-driven learning, and foster student agency while preparing for the future. It is also a board's committee goal around establishing balanced classroom technology integration.
As a district, we we are committed to examining classroom technology use through a developmental and instructional lens, not simply from an access perspective. This distinction does matter. The question is no longer simply, do
students have access to technology? The more important question is how should technology be used most effectively at different stages of learning? Balanced by design is our response to that charge. It operationalizes the
board's vision into practical instructional guidance for classrooms across all grade levels. To understand where we are, it's helpful to briefly reflect on how we did get here. Our technology journey in our district
has evolved significantly over time. We began with a targeted one-to-one personalized learning initiative in grades 9 through 12 in 2012, and over the years, we expanded access across elementary and middle school grade levels, and ultimately moved to a
one-to-one K-12 environment in response to instructional needs during the um pandemic era. This progression did make sense at the time. However, now as we move forward, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to thoughtfully refine
how technology is used based on what we have learned through experience, research, and classroom practice. Many may ask, why now? There are several important reasons why this work is both timely and necessary.
First, educational technology has changed dramatically. The tools available to students and teachers today are fundamentally different from those that even existed a decade ago. Technology is more immersive, more accessible, and in many cases more
pervasive. Second, the research base has expanded considerably. We have much more deeper understanding of the relationship between screen use, student attention, literacy development, executive functioning, social
interaction, and overall wellness. That research does not suggest abandoning technology. Rather, it calls for thoughtful discernment around how and when technology adds instructional value. Third, this work aligns directly with
our district's priorities as I mentioned earlier. Balanced integration is not just a side initiative. It is a part of our district's long-term vision. And finally, our own professional observations and stakeholder conversations consistently pointed to
the need for greater intentionality. Teachers, families, and administrators alike have expressed interest in clearer developmental guidelines around classroom technology use, and this framework is our response.
Before I welcome Mr. Keeney up, who is our director of curriculum, instruction, and supervision, I would like to point out that we recognize that this evening there is going to be a tremendous amount of information in our presentation.
We will be posting our presentation on our website tomorrow. And as Ms. Morano did already discuss, next week we do plan to have parent Q&As on both Monday and Tuesday evening here in the high school middle school media center
beginning at 7:00 p.m. On Monday, June 1st, we will host parents in grade 7 through 12. And on Tuesday, June 2nd, we will host parents in grades K through 6. At this time, I pass it over to Mr. Keeney.
>> Thank you, Dr. Zebley. Good evening, [snorts] everyone. So, in developing our framework, we use a certain process. And that started back in the summer of 2025, where as an admin team, we started reading The Anxious Generation.
We extended that book club opportunity to our faculty and staff, and we had over 80 people who decided they would like to read the book and engage in the discussion with us. At the same time, we formed a partnership with The Mindful Generation. Good evening.
And developed a three-part series, which involved community involvement and a reflection on The Anxious Generation book. That enabled us to get a lot of community conversations, and we found out exactly where the community stood on these issues. At the same time, behind the scenes,
we're doing a lot of research, looking at the EdTech reports, looking at articles that are coming out, getting references from the community and suggestions from the community, listening to the podcasts, collecting a lot of data. So, that's how we started our process.
In the fall, we released a survey out to our teachers, and we really wanted to try and get to grips with the actual relationship between face-to-face instruction and the use of technology instruction. That brought us to do quite a lot of data analysis. We did a lot of data analysis on that information. Also, we
surveyed our teachers on different factors. We did student survey groups. We did student iPad usage, and we collected that stats those statistics. And we started to develop and put together a framework, some guidelines for each grade level. Maybe the most important thing we did
then was to release that information and discuss that information with our teachers. Okay. Our teachers are the subject and grade level experts. We wanted to give them the guidelines and get the feedback from them as to what they felt was the most effective way to do that. So we did
that through grade level meetings, through faculty meetings, and through two professional development days that we did in January and in June. In that way we collected feedback from a whole variety of our stakeholders and our constituents. At the same time, luckily we've been
reviewing our teacher evaluation rubric. That's a process that we started a couple of years ago. So that enabled us to look at the direction we were going and make adjustments and adaptations to our teacher evaluation rubric to to really reflect the direction we were going with this initiative. So that was
kind of that was a a nice coincidence to to have there. So moving forward we started to look at best instructional practices. We will continue with the professional development and we're really looking at how to balance this technology each grade level. As we were doing this research, various
things just kept reappearing. They kept sitting with being involved in the discussion, they kept coming to the top of what we were talking about. And we developed six core beliefs which I think are important for us to emphasize. Number one, human interaction is the most important thing in learning.
Learning is messy, learning involves human interaction, it involves face-to-face contact, it involves eye-to-eye contact. That enhances student focus and deep learning and all those things are so important. And that is one of our core beliefs with regards to teaching should be about human
interaction. One of the most important things in a student's development and their growth as a learner is their interaction with their teacher and those relationships mean so much. So that's one of our real core beliefs and I think as you as we move forward tonight you'll see how we've emphasized that. In
addition, it's really important to develop our foundational skills and to work on our foundational skills and if technology can enhance that, so be it. But we really need to work make sure that we really focus on our reading, writing, and core skills as a priority. We do believe that our teachers are the
instructional experts. They are the experts at their grade level and in their subject. So, we do believe in teacher autonomy. But along with the teacher autonomy is intentional practice and meaningful decision-making as to when technology
can be used most effectively to enhance the learning. Not should it be, could it be? It's not the tool, it's all about the learning and the pedagogy, but we believe in the teacher autonomy and the decision-making of the teachers to make those best decisions at the time.
Again, it's all about the learning, not the technology, but are there situations where the technology can enhance or support the learning. So, technology with purpose. This all comes together balancing our wellness initiative that we have as another one of our goals, and we do believe in this transformative nature of technology as
we'll talk about a little bit later. So, how do teachers make the decisions? How do teachers, when they're designing their lessons, decide whether or not to use technology? Well, as part of our research, we came up with this EdTech EdTech triangle, which as
you can see is a four-level framework, which which provides teachers a lens through which to look when they are designing their lessons. We want teachers, as they're designing their lessons, to think very deeply about the learning, the learning that's going to take place. What pedagogy are they going to use? What instructional
techniques are they going to use? And are is there any technology that can enhance that that on the top there can transform the learning? Is there technology out there that can transform and do things that we could not normally do without technology, producing unique outcomes, enabling teachers to work on
high-level skill development? Is that available? If not, a decision could be made about whether to use it in the lesson. Same [snorts] thing with supportive technology. What's our pedagogy? What's the best thing for us to be doing? And is there anything that can help support and enhance the learning? Okay? If not,
we don't use it. Okay? We obviously want to stay away from the restricted and disruptive technology. So, this gives us our teachers an opportunity have a lens to look through. It also gives the administrators an opportunity to have a discussion with our teachers. It gives teachers a chance to reflect, and it's a
real focus a lens for us to look through as we're designing our instruction. >> [snorts] >> I want to emphasize again transformative. We do firmly believe that there are uses of technology that can transform education. It can transform the learning experience. Here's a whole variety of trans-
supportive and transformative technology that can actually support student learning and transform student learning. Unique outcomes. There will not be a quiz on this. Okay? Just wanted to give you an opportunity just to digest that a little bit, but I just wanted to make sure I
just want to emphasize a few things. For instance, we have used chatbots, and we did do that at the curriculum presentation that we did in in February, which allows students to have conversations with historical figures. Okay? And get feedback from historical figures as if they were having a real
conversation with them. We found that to be really very useful and supportive of learning in some situations. We do have an app called Raz-Kids, which students use and have used. This can be especially supportive to learning with our multilingual learners, our special needs learners, who might need listening
comprehension as an accessibility feature. And in that way, that really provides the accessibility for them, and that supports the learning. Okay? So, those are the decision-making processes that our our teachers are going through. Is it going to support or transform the learning?
Those of you been around for a while like myself will know from 2016 onwards we have when we introduced our STEM initiative, there's a whole variety of transformative applications, platforms, apps, programs that we use. For instance, the flight simulation we use in aerospace engineering, that's really
transforming learning. Okay, we can't do that with pen and paper. You know, so that's another just part of the decision-making our teachers are using with regards to can they really transform and produce and do new unique things in the classroom. Okay, so what are our immediate changes
by grade level? At kindergarten, there are no iPads. The only instruction The only uh technology would be instruction led through smart board by the teacher. Okay, at the teacher's discretion. So, no iPads at the kindergarten. Grades 1 through 3, there is no iPad one-to-one
initiative. iPads are available for the teachers to use in classroom carts if they feel it is supporting or transforming the learning. Otherwise, the iPads don't come out. They are housed in the carts in the classroom. They may come out a couple of times. They may not come out at all.
Okay, they're not being used, they're put away. And the iPads remain at school. They do not go home at night. In grades 4 through 6, as students move start to move from subject to subject, students do have an iPad, but again, that remains in storage
carts in the classroom unless it's actually intentionally and purposefully being used. Each classroom will have a storage cart, and the iPads will go into those storage carts, and the iPads will not go home. They will remain in school. As we get into grades 7 and 8, we do
have a one-to-one iPad initiative, but again, iPads are only being used when they are going to support or transform learning. Otherwise, they are put away in the carts that will be in each room. We are developing a protocol by which students know as soon as they walk into
the classroom if there is a red sign, that means the iPads will not be used at the start of the lesson, and they need to be put away in the cart. Okay, if there's a green sign, it means the iPads may be used at the start of the lesson, and students should keep them unopened on their desk. Okay?
That's the protocol we're developing with regards to really intentional use of the iPads. >> [snorts] >> The iPads will be permitted to go home in grade 7 and 8. Grades 9 through 12 is our one-to-one iPad initiative that we've had for a number of years, but as part of our professional development, it's real real focus on that intentional
purposeful use. Across all grades, we'll be using the iPad as I've discussed for supportive and transformative uses. We do believe in the adaptive technology interventions as necessary, time-bound and time-sensitive and very targeted for
students with special needs. And we are creating an allow list of websites, which are the only websites students can go to, and we're really working on controlling YouTube access through various different ways. Okay. So, those are our immediate changes by grade level. Again, the focus is on the
learning and can technology support it. With regards to immediate changes that may be more in dealing with healthy habits, etc., you can see up here, K through 6, lunch and recess, no iPads during lunch, recess, no movies, the emphasis being on social play-based
activities. Same thing during snack time, no no iPads during snack time, social interaction emphasized, although there is the optional smart board discretion of teacher to use in certain situations if they want to. >> [snorts] >> As we come on down into the lunch at the
uh 7th and 8th grade, no iPads at lunch. And also as part of our executive functioning and mental health uh movement forward with healthy habits, we are introducing, as Mr. Cristofalo will talk a little bit about, physical binders for subject-specific organizations at the middle school as
part of our executive functioning. We will [snorts] also be powering down the iPads from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. as a an emphasis on healthy sleeping habits and time management. Okay. So, those are just some of the small immediate changes, okay, that would take place. We have the rest of
our faculty here who are going to explain various things that are going to also take place over the course of with different subjects. So, I'm delighted to be able to introduce to you Dr. Jack Not Dr. My apologies. Jackie Kaufman and Michelle Testa, K-6. Didn't even have to go to college for that degree.
K-6 department heads of language arts and math. >> Sounds like I just got a promotion. All right. Good evening, everybody. Instructionally, one area where we made a specially thoughtful adjustments in the elementary and middle school levels is the use of our adaptive learning
platforms, specifically MyPath, a component of i-Ready. While we do recognize the instructional value of math MyPath at the elementary level, particularly its ability to provide personalized, differentiated practice, and targeted skill reinforcement, we also believe
technology must be purposeful and balanced within the broader instructional program. As a result, math MyPath usage at the elementary level will be reduced and limited to clearly defined instructional windows during the school day.
As you can see, at the middle school level, math MyPath will be eliminated to ensure students are engaging more deeply in teacher-led instruction, problem-solving, and collaborative learning experiences. Reading MyPath will be discontinued across all grade levels.
This decision reflects our core belief that literacy development, especially in the foundational years, is most effectively supported through direct instruction, authentic reading experiences, meaningful teacher feedback, and human interaction.
This is not a reduction in intervention or student support. Rather, it is a deliberate recalibration to ensure our instructional practices align with what is most developmentally appropriate and educationally effective for students. >> That developmental lens becomes even
more evident as we look at specific grade level bands beginning with kindergarten. In kindergarten, our focus is clear, foundational child development. At this stage, students are building oral language, fine motor, and social skills,
early literacy habits, and foundational learning behaviors. Because of that, kindergarten classrooms will be intentionally device-free for student use. Instruction remains teacher-led, interactive, and rooted in direct human
engagement. In reading, students will engage in print-based reading materials and develop early writing skills. In math, students will use hands-on manipulatives to develop early counting skills. Technology still may support teacher
instructional delivery, for example, through smart board use. But, devices will not become part of the students' independent instructional routines. This reflects what we know about our youngest learners learning best. At this time, I would like to introduce
Mr. Rector, principal of Alan W. Roberts, and Mrs. Allen, principal of Salt Brook School. >> Good evening. In grades 1 through 3, our priority remains foundational academic development. These are critical years for literacy,
numeracy, handwriting, communication, and learning routines. Technology has a role, but it is a supporting role. When used, we want to ensure digital tools are targeted, time-bound, and balanced with the instructional
experiences young learners need most. Students will have access to classroom-based iPad carts, uh iPads, excuse me. Those devices will remain in school and will only used when there is a clear instructional purpose.
Reading remains print-centered. Writing begins with handwritten drafting, while keyboarding is introduced gradually and developmentally. Math instruction continues to prioritize manipulatives, discourse, and direct instructional interaction.
One notable shift, as mentioned earlier, is Math MyPath use will be reduced and limited to purposeful instructional windows during the school day, and Reading MyPath will be eliminated these grade levels. >> In grades 4 through 6, students are
increasingly developing independence, organizational skills, and academic agency. Technology continues to play an important role, but it is not the default learning environment or mechanism. Students will have access to
one-to-one devices during the school day, but those devices will remain at school and will not be going home. Instruction is intentionally shifting towards a print-first model when appropriate. Reading will be centered on print
materials to develop our students' reading comprehension skills and long-form reading habits. Writing continues to emphasize handwritten planning and brainstorming, while allowing digital drafting when structurally appropriate.
In math, we will continue to focus on student discourse, collaborative problem-solving, and concrete modeling will be foundational. Digital adaptive supports will remain available. However, they will be
targeted and they will be time bound. Students will use technology for transformative purposes, research, simulations, content creation, and higher-level synthesis work. This stage is truly about helping our
students develop their independence while ensuring that tran- that technology is used in a purposeful way rather than in a passive nature. At this time, I would like to introduce Mr. Chris Citello who will speak to our
middle school guidelines. >> Thank you, Ms. Allen and Mr. Richter, and good evening everyone. As students move into middle school, the developmental focus continues to shift. At this stage, we are intentionally building executive functioning skills,
independence, and academic responsibility. Technology remains an important instructional tool, but students are also at a critical stage where habits around focus, organization, and self-management are forming.
That is why our middle school approach centers around several core pillars. First, paper-first learning for long-form reading comprehension and deeper thinking where appropriate, particularly for note-taking, planning,
and active processing. This also reduces cognitive offloading. Second, collaborative dialogue. Middle school students learn best through discussion, peer interaction, and verbal processing.
Third, executive functioning development. We are intentionally supporting organizational habits through physical systems for core content area subjects, like subject-specific binders, alongside structured digital workflows.
And finally, purposeful technology integration. Technology remains present but for creation, feedback, research, simulation, and transformation, not passive overuse. This is about balance and not
restriction. At this time, I would like to introduce several of our department heads to reveal subject-specific guidelines. Mrs. Bernard, department head of language arts 7-12, Mrs. DeAngelo, department head of mathematics 7-12, Mrs. Marano, department head of science
K-12, Mr. Tracy, department head of social studies and world language K-12, and Mr. Corangelo, department head of physical education and health K-12. >> Thank you, Mr. Chris Titone, and good evening, everyone. >> [snorts] >> In middle school ELA and mathematics, we
are intentionally balancing strong traditional instructional practices with modern tools. In ELA, students will continue engaging deeply with physical texts, annotation, collaborative discussion, and structured writing development.
Technology becomes especially valuable when students are creating, producing, analyzing media, or demonstrating understanding in dynamic transformative ways. >> In mathematics, foundational reasoning remains central. Students need to be able to show written
evidence of their thinking, to engage in collaborative problem-solving, and to develop their mathematical discourse. Technology supports this work through flexible note-taking tools, instant formative feedback, and targeted digital checks for understanding. The key shift here is that technology
supports rigorous learning. It does not replace the core instructional experience. >> The same philosophy applies across our STEM and science learning environments. We understand that technology can be incredibly powerful, but hands-on exploration remains essential.
Students benefit from both digital and physical design experiences. Tools such as coding, CAD, 3D modeling remain valuable. However, equally important are design challenges, problem-solving, and collaborative thinking.
The balance here is intentional and instructional. Our instruction will continue to emphasize phenomenon-based inquiry, experimentation, scientific journaling, and authentic problem-solving. We understand that technology can
enhance instruction by allowing students to visually abs- to visualize, excuse me, abstract concepts, analyze data, and engage with simulations when real-world replication is not practical. >> Uh, good evening.
Social studies. We engage with the past. We love the past. We want kids to collaborate, discuss, debate, and get familiar with authentic authentic tasks and documents from long ago. But, how do they find them? I can remember when this library had a card catalog.
You want to talk about a stumbling block to getting access to information? It was a disaster. All right, technology helps us gain access to the things kids are going to work with. All right, so we're going to balance to make sure kids have engagement and real participation with material, and they can get it easily. And that's the balance we try to strike
strike in social studies. Similarly, in world language, everything in world language is about human communication. It is about becoming face-to-face [clears throat] and understanding, and, you know, collaborating, receptive language, spoken language. We want kids to do that at the highest levels possible. With
technology, there are so many tools to help us do that, but it's not just vocabulary. It's language. It's communication. So, we want to balance technology helping us to be better communicators. And that's really what we're looking for. You know, balance by design. How do we use technology to help us learn more
efficiently and more effectively? Thank you, Mr. Corangelo. >> In our electives, the same balance philosophy applies. In music and performing arts, technology can support recording, reflection, composition, and creative production. But, performance,
collaboration, and live interaction remain central. In visual and practical arts, digital tools absolutely have transformative value. Particularly in design and in production work. At the same time, tactile creation,
physical materials, and the direct artistic processes remain essential. In physical education and health, face-to-face learning, collaboration, movement, and discussion remain primary. Technology may support instructional
delivery, research, or student-created projects. It does not replace the active human experience. At this time, I'd like to introduce Mr. Henry, high school principal. >> Thank you, Mr. Corangelo. Good evening to everyone. Um as students enter high school, uh the
instructional expectations appropriately shift. Uh this is represented through three core pillars that you'll see up here. By this stage, students have progressed through years of increasing independence, academic responsibility, and organizational development. The goal at the secondary level is not
reduced access. Instead, it's giving students agency for intentional use. High school students are preparing for college, career, and life beyond our district. That means technology will remain a vital part of their learning experience. However, even at this level,
we recognize that balance still matters. Students benefit from learning environments that require deep thinking, live discussion, authentic collaboration, and sustained attention. Technology remains robust and provides students with the opportunity of agency to choose how to best use digital tools
that truly enhance their learning. Our high school philosophy reflects this. This balance is further articulated in our following slides. Our department heads will provide more specificity on digitally driven learning practices and balanced instructional use
for their respective departments. >> Thank you, Mr. Henry. Um as you can see here on the screen, on the left-hand side you'll see digitally driven learning practices that we're currently using and it was in the post kind of COVID era. And on the right side you'll see kind of where we want to kind of
move to in the future with balanced instructional use. Um so in both ELA and mathematics, um this work is about preserving rigor and strengthening uh intentionality. In ELA specifically, digital tools remain highly valuable, but specifically
for drafting, revision, collaboration, and multimedia expression. At the same time, students benefit greatly from using and reading physical texts, handwriting their annotations, um speaking in seminar discussions with their peers, and direct intellectual
exchange with each other. Uh these instructional experiences support deeper comprehension and richer analysis for them. >> In mathematics, uh technology continues to provide important support in areas like graphing complex data sets, giving
immediate feedback, enhancing visualization, and providing digital checks for understanding. But mathematical reasoning still requires students to show evidence of their thinking, to communicate logic face-to-face, and to engage collaboratively in problem-solving.
>> Hi, I'm Jennifer Passwater. I am the department head of STEM. Um, I'm going to be speaking to the STEM and science focus at the high school with our balanced technology initiative. Um, as you can see, we have the
digital-driven learning practices and then the balanced use, um, on the left and right side. Face-to-face instruction remains paramount and our leading educational tool. However, we are still, as Mr. Henry said, keeping a focus on the
future and preparing our students for that future. Um, therefore, you might see STEM students programming with technology. You might see them using design and modeling equipment. Um, and you might see them, uh,
creating with technological programs. However, there's still that building and that engineering that happens in real time with hands and minds. In science, what you're going to see is, uh, real lab inquiry using real lab
equipment to prepare them for work in the sciences. You're going to see authentic investigations. However, we can use simulations and we can use data models and we can use digital analysis tools in order to
transform education, and we realize that and recognize that in STEM and science at the high school. I'm going to welcome back Mr. Tracy. >> Can you hear me? In grades 9 to 12, uh, we are really thoughtful about how we engage with technology cuz as you know, your kids
have access to a lot of it. Uh it is a stepping stone, not a stumbling block for us. If you look at social studies, we want them to really get involved and discuss and collaborate. And some of our programs like Model UN and Youth and Government, they are debating and discussing. Technology is there to help them and enhance the learning. All
right, and we do that throughout all of our disciplines. Likewise in world language, take a look, you'll see some amazing interestingly named uh applications there. Flalingoo. Uh these things only help us become better at speaking and becoming communicators in other language. They
are tools to help us understand language so that we can use it more effectively and more engagingly. And that is what we're thoughtful about all the time. In both disciplines, we are thinking, how does technology make us make them better learners and make us better teachers to help them reach their goals. So, that's always what our focus is.
Mr. Crenshaw. >> Thank you, Mr. Tracy. As we move into the specialized electives, our instructional model is consistent with an emphasis on face-to-face instruction. But we now see the infusion of more creation-based, transformative technology, such as the
use of industry-standard graphic design software, 3D printing, and Apple's GarageBand for the creation of personalized, unique musical products. For example, at the high school spring concert last year, a unique student-created composition was played.
This would not have been made possible without the collaboration and creativity enabled by these apps. And to finish us off tonight, Dr. Zerbeley will close out our framework. >> Thank you all very, very much. Uh as with any meaningful instructional shift,
implementation requires thoughtful operational planning. We have carefully considered practical implications including budgetary implications as related to instructional materials and print resources. We have thought about
classroom logistics and storage, accessibility needs, and digital assessment readiness. It's [snorts] important to acknowledge that technology continues to offer advantages to accessibility, personalization, and feedback.
This work does not ignore those realities. Rather, it seeks to preserve those strengths while ensuring a balanced approach. >> [snorts] >> Implementation will require support, flexibility, and confined and continued
refinement, but those considerations have been central to all of our planning. As superintendent, I want to emphasize tonight that this doesn't end the conversation on balanced technology use in our district. It's just the beginning
of its implementation. Meaningful change requires support, and that is why we will begin next week providing professional development for our staff around balanced instructional design. It means that we're going to provide
coaching, collaborative planning, and a shared reflection, as well as helping students successfully transition, particularly in the areas like organization, executive functioning, and academic routines.
Additionally, we have created a teacher guidebook that is organized by grade band with classroom examples, teacher tips, and subject tables for quick reference for instructional ideas and technology guidelines per grade level
and subject. We also have a section in our guidebook labeled NP teacher suggestions, which are practical suggestions from our very own teachers. There will be ongoing monitoring as we
conduct classroom visits, gather feedback from students, staff, and families, and we review implementation data and refine where needed. Balanced by design will remain fluid and flexible. It is a living instructional
framework that will evolve alongside our students' needs and our district's learning. Tonight, we have shared a vision for technology integration that is intentional, balanced, developmentally appropriate, and deeply rooted in strong
teaching and learning. This work honors both innovation and human connection, and I thank our entire faculty and staff for engaging for the past year in this work with us. It makes me proud that our framework
truly reflects our commitment to preparing students for the future while protecting the foundational experiences that will help them thrive. As mentioned, next week on Monday, June 1st and Tuesday, June 2nd, we will host a panel that will include myself, the
principals, department heads, and central office administrators to have a question-answer dialogue with parents. Again, Monday is reserved for parents in grades 7 through 12, and Tuesday will be reserved for parents in grades K through
6, and both of those sessions will begin at 7:00 p.m. right here in the high school-middle school media center. We appreciate the board's leadership, their support in helping us shape this work, and at this time, we welcome any
board questions or comments. >> Hi, over here, sir. >> [laughter] >> Uh I want to thank everybody here. I know that this has been a very long road and this wasn't something that just came up over the past few weeks. So, thank you from as I'm putting my parent hat on
for saying that. So, thank you very much and now my board hat. Thank you. Um, I have a ton of questions and I'm still digesting. I guess the one that I that's probably coming to mind with everyone. This is definitely going to take a lot to get used to for not just the teachers and administrators, but our students. I
I know who my sons are, love them, but like let's be real. How are we planning to develop to put this into >> Transition Transition and you know >> educating them on how to organize
themselves and what a binder is and >> So, uh, the administrative team has already started to discuss this. Um, we are going to plan at each of the grade levels, elementary, middle, and high school to do something in the beginning of the year that's appropriate
specifically for those buildings. Um, we're going to do that right in the first week of school because I think it is very important for everyone to recognize that this will be for certain students at grade levels a transition and it will be a large transition for them. Um, at the middle school level
specifically, when we talk about binders cuz that's where we are looking to institute binders, Mr. Criscitello is not only going to be doing something during the first week of school when his entire faculty and staff are here, but he's also going to utilize the orientation,
um, so that he could also, uh, you know, have some type of stations for students to understand what a binder is, how you organize a binder, um, what a planner is, how you write your homework in a planner, things like that that, um, I
know seem silly and simple to us, but in the age of technology that we're living in, many of these students honestly don't know how to do that. So, we will be needing to teach them how to do that. >> Um, hi. Um, this is again specific to
binders. As the only parent here who predates the 2012 um, and as the administrator I had these discussions with, has since left the district, uh, Mr. Costatella. Please be aware when you do these subject specific binders that if the
kids are carrying them to and from home that their backpacks, especially for those of us who encourage walking and biking, are not overloaded. So, I would just appreciate that cuz I Mr. Richter thankfully did not have to have that discussion with me because it was fixed by then, but you know, >> [laughter]
>> it was something that was a huge concern. Um, a dozen years ago. >> [laughter] >> Thank you, Ms. Dean. >> Well, thank you very much. Um, wow, like thank you. There I could tell there's been a tremendous amount of work and
collaboration and research put through in developing this plan and thank you for clearly prioritizing student learning. Um, it's it's so important and good luck to you all in the implementation. Uh, I know that's like the hard work is
really just beginning, right? Um, one one question, uh, clarifying question around grade seven and eight iPad um, take them home or not take them home or what are the thoughts there? Just >> So, we debated this for quite a long
time going back and forth on that. Um, and it goes back to really our teacher training and the professional development and the lens that Mr. Keeney showed, uh, on the board here that was the triangle. And we're really looking to emphasize and train teachers when
creating lesson plans to understand what it means to have transformative use of technology and supportive use of technology. And homework is essentially an extension of the class work, right? So, that's a part of your lesson planning. We only want the iPads to go
home when transformative and supportive, and we're really going to focus in with the seventh and eighth grade teachers on understanding that. Um we did go back and forth on whether or not they go home, they don't go home. Teachers felt very strongly that in certain subject
areas they would need to go home, and it'd be very hard for us to monitor that in any way as they have eight different classes. Um so, most likely we believe that they'll end up going home. They will have the opportunity to house those
in the evening in an iPad cart, which will be in a locked classroom or their lockers. Um but ultimately, that's where we currently stand on that. >> Thank you. It makes sense, but again, like I think that makes sense and I'm glad that we have the the power down
time, too. So, even if they do go home, powering them down, right? Make sure that And I think it's important for the board to also recognize, you know, the tremendous amount of um discourse that we all had together along with our teachers at all of our different grade
levels. And to that point, we did ask our high school teachers about powering down at the high school level. And Mr. Henry, you know, spoke to them about that and creating healthy habits. But ultimately, we came to the decision that it is important that we are teaching
them how to manage time. And you know, whether we talk a lot about how busy they are, right? Um and how much they are involved, it's hard for us to pull that back for them. And so, it's only right that we allow the autonomy for them, but
also to try to teach them those healthy habits. But we did have discourse over that as well at the high school level. >> I'm echoing everybody in saying a huge thank you and I feel super rude with my back turned to everybody, but a huge thank you to everybody body for their I mean, at least a year of work on this.
Um one big thing that Mr. Tracy said to look forward to, I mean, from my board hat and parent hat is the increased level of communication. Uh the majority of kids nowadays, they know how to communicate through text or whatever other apps that I am not cool
enough to know how to use. Um but just the ability to have that discourse with each other and learn that it's okay to be uncomfortable in conversations and you have to learn to talk to work things out, I think is huge from many aspects. Um I
two questions for you. Um will this be will the new changes, I guess, with I guess, needing more notebooks and things like that um be communicated through like uh tea- not teacher, sorry. Parents who order through School Tool Box. And the supplies that they have to get.
Will that be communicated in time so parents can order appropriately? >> Yes, I'm certain that Mr. Cristatella is shaking his head, yes. So, I am certain that we will >> Okay. >> Yep. Make sure that that happens. >> Okay. And then >> This year, this year, there's not just going to be a school supply list. There's going to be communication
>> Perfect. >> specifically at the middle school. >> All right. I'm an OCD organization fan, so I love it. Um could you elaborate a little bit more about um the time bound concept in the elementary school slides that we went through. When tech is going to be implemented in the classroom, it's time
bound. >> So, um we use the term targeted and time bound. So, I will start to answer this, Mr. Keeney. I don't know if you want to jump in. Um but many of our elementary teachers are using a tremendous amount of data in their classrooms in order to
group their students into different grouping levels. And so, depending on where specific students may be at, the technology does allow us to personalize instruction for them. Whether that personalization is for intervention because they are struggling with a
specific a concept that intervention is putting in place for them to accelerate because they're already accelerating at that concept. But, the idea is that it's targeted. It's targeted to Lauren Zerbeley for this specific reason. It's not that
Lauren Zerbeley finished her work early and she's now going to go and get the iPad and jump on Raz-Kids, right? We're no longer or, you know, some teachers may be utilizing the iPads to do that, some may not. We're no longer going to be doing that. It will specifically be targeted and time-bound based off of
data that we have. >> [laughter] >> I'd like to commend >> Um, thank you so much. I I I'd really like to thank all the faculty and and Mr. Testa. I know a lot tremendous amount of work went in this and I appreciate you being open to our feedback when we went through it and um
everything that um was discussed and and you you took to heart all all that we offered you. Um, could you talk a little bit about the executive function part? Um, we had talked about it and how it's going to be integrated not just from the um
well, you know, the folders and the binders. I'm I'm very excited about that. Um, but talk a little bit about how it's going to be integrated into middle school and then trickle down to sixth grade. >> Sure. So, last year we were very fortunate that we partnered with
Tutors right here in town. Um, and we were able to work with them in order to provide professional development this past August and October for our middle school teachers on just that executive functioning and it was extremely well received. And the idea
was that we needed to really educate our teachers and train our teachers on what executive function is and how to turn key that for our middle school students. Next year, we will absolutely um be building upon that. I've already actually already saw Rob a couple weeks
ago and told him that we would be in touch with him and we would like to start to provide that professional development also now at our upper elementary grade levels for those teachers as well. As far as the middle school for this year, um to be completely transparent,
um I would have loved and I know Mr. Chrisitello would have as well to see us have a full on elective on executive functioning that all of our students went through, um but there's a lot going on and I think that I hope that you can all appreciate and recognize that and Mr. Chrisitello has done a phenomenal
job this year in his first year and he and I have already discussed that next year that will be a goal that I will help mentor him on in terms of master scheduling and how we could fit that in, but to really build out an elective that we write the curriculum for that all of
those students in that grade level then go through in terms of executive functioning. Um I'm hoping that we will find success with that and once we do, we could then expand that as appropriate into the upper elementary grades, um but we have
found that over the past 5-6 years, the one of the main elements of what students have lost is that whole executive functioning piece, right? And those are things that I look around the room, many of us didn't struggle with
because we didn't have the technology uh that the students uh have nowadays, right? We we weren't privy or or to any of that. Um so we had to just learn those executive functioning skills. So, we're hopeful to see that continue on this year to answer your question um in
a professional development way again with our teachers. I am going to be speaking with Mr. Criscitello and I know that it's really important to him, too, um as we do the orientation this year to incorporate some executive functioning again like stations we call them and then to also do something in the
beginning of the year when all of his faculty and staff can be involved in teaching mini lessons to the students on certain elements of the executive functioning model. >> Um I still have a couple questions or clarifications even and again I echo all the sentiments. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. And just for the sake of time, I'll just get right to my questions. Um just so I have an understanding, Google Classroom is starting in third grade. Do I have that correct? Right? Okay, just wanted to >> Yes. >> Um do can you speak to any issues or challenges you might see regarding testing as that is all digital? Do we
see any you know what what we being proactive with that and how kids are transitioning? >> So, we won't know till we know, right? I mean this is all going to be new next year in the implementation, but what I will share with you is as we went through
our discourse, our planning for this framework, we all know and recognize that at grade three students need to be able to get on a device and our device is an iPad to take the NJSLA testing. And so, we are prepared to slowly
integrate in grades one and two where you saw some typing and the like um so that they can get used to doing that. Some other things that they do need to learn to do and I know that we would think that a third grader would just know how to do this because after all
they're a third grader that was born with an iPhone in their hand, but they do need to know how to drag and drop certain things in those math problems on NJSLA and I know from my own personal experience, those are things that do need to be taught. So, as you know, gifted as we believe these students are
with technology, there are some very instructional specific in technology techniques that they need to learn when taking these assessments on the iPad, and we will make sure that they are prepared for that. >> Thank you very much. And also, one other thing, I know this may sound like a kind
of a silly question, maybe, but I was reading so much about all the handwriting, handwriting, handwriting, right? So, we're going back old school, and um I don't know whether we've considered do we have to start sort of scaling up? Maybe we rely on digital, you know, tools for correction, spell check, you know, grammar, all that good
stuff, right? We we were used to that now, but now we're going back to handwriting, and so, what does that mean for an curriculum standpoint? Do we have to change that a little bit, or >> [laughter] >> scale up? >> Well, I will definitely share with you that we're worried about the handwriting. Like, we're worried. The teachers are worried
about the handwriting. Um because, as you know, um you know, like I've said to a a couple folks across the past couple months, like, some people are just like born with gifted handwriting, and some just are not. Let's face it, like Mr. Testa, who I'm trying to constantly read his
handwriting. Um but, um I think that, you know, obviously, we know that technology has only exacerbated that for this generation of students. And so, you know, we, you know, teachers are concerned, am I going to be able to read what what the students are writing? But, we're going to offer them supports, um
and believe it or not, there are some supportive, from what I understand, I've never used them, but some supportive forms of technology that allow you to scan um a piece of paper with an essay, for example, with handwriting, and it will interpret for you exactly what it
says, if it's that difficult. As far as our curriculum, I'll let Mr. Keeney answer that. >> We have the summer writing a for third, fourth, and fifth graders with regards to cursive writing. It's a state mandate. As we write that, Ms. Kaufman here, who is not a doctor, Ms. Kaufman
here is writing that curriculum over the summer, and as that as we implement that, we are looking at ways to then bring that down to the second and first grade. >> I just want to say thank you. Everyone's asked really great questions. Um I have kids in a couple of different grade
bands, and I know you have all put a lot of time, thought, and energy into this, and please know from both the parent side and my board side, I'm very, very grateful. So, thank you. >> Well, thank you very much for all of
your support, and a huge, huge thank you to everyone here tonight, and for those department heads that aren't able to be here tonight as well, because they were a huge, huge part of this as instructional leaders as well. And I can't emphasize enough um just the
collaborative nature of our entire K-12 teaching faculty who engaged in this process with us over the years. So, I thank them as well. >> Thank you again. Um we are going to move on. Um since uh Mr.
Yu is not here, and uh take your Take your sip of water. >> [laughter] >> All right. Uh Dr. Zerbe is going to do the public hearing for educational services. >> Okay. Um We're going to have a public hearing on
the 2024-2025 school self-assessment for determining grades under the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights. The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights requires each school to complete an annual self-assessment of how well it implemented the various components of
the act. These scores are then reported to the State Department of Education in the fall and made official by the New Jersey Department of Education in the spring. >> [snorts] >> Once they are made official by the New Jersey Department of Education, district officials are required to post the
grades on each school's homepage as well as the district's homepage. In addition, district officials are required to review the district and school self-assessment grades at a public Board of Education meeting. The total possible points a school can earn on a
self-assessment is a 78. Here are the official grades for our district and our schools from the 2024-2025 school year. Allen W. Roberts, 76. Salt Brook School, 71. New Providence Middle School, 75.
New Providence High School, 70. District average, 73. Okay. Thank you. Um this is now time for the public comments, an opportunity for the public to be heard just on specific agenda items. And come on up to state your name and
address and >> Okay. Uh Steven Rossi, uh 843 Mountain Avenue, New Providence. >> [clears throat] >> Um first I want to sincerely thank the district for all their hard work on these changes. Uh there's a lot of good
stuff in here and this is a good day. Uh I'd like to outline why I believe these reforms are definitely an important first step. These one-to-one programs persisted across the country because they felt like the future. But knowing what we know now, would we
have ever begun them in the first place? In my view, the answer is no. No one is judging those who made the decision with the best of intentions over a decade ago along with 90% of other districts. But today, the course correction begins. I'm an advocate for the right technology
in our schools. What I'm critical of is not ability in place of notebooks and screens instead of printed textbooks. I'm also deeply concerned about our youngest students having iPads loaded with video games masquerading as educational apps and tools like i-Ready which promise
tailored instruction while delivering no meaningful benefit to learning. These are neither transformative nor supportive. Sadly, they are mostly a waste of time. Every minute a student spends on them is a minute taken away from something else that we know works.
Putting an iPad on every desk doesn't mean we are delivering technology to our students any more than having electricity in the classroom does. There is no risk of children falling behind if we have fewer iPads than students. To be ready for the coming decades, children need durable knowledge, not
dependence on a tool from the 2010s. For nearly two decades, we allowed smartphones in schools because it felt inevitable. When we made the change last fall, a thousand flowers bloomed. The benefits came so quickly, it's obvious we should have done it sooner.
We are at the same point with one-to-one programs. We should do whatever is best both for student learning and student health. There is more work to do, but I'm hopeful this is the first step in making that happen. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Dr. Sandhya Polu, 44 Pittsford Way.
Thank you all for this important first step in recognizing the science of how kids learn best. There is, however, one critical component missing in the technology plan. Parental consent for apps collecting children's personal data. Tech vendors take advantage of the
public's perception that schools are safe to sell products that are unsafe. The internet cannot be fully locked down. Chatbots may produce harmful content. You cannot stop the profiling of our children via school apps. In the Curriculum Associates lawsuit,
expert forensic analysis reveals that I-Ready online products generate, record, and transmit information about students to third parties, including Google, in real time as students use its products. The Chicago Board of Education recently reached a settlement with PowerSchool
regarding a lawsuit alleging electronic eavesdropping of students' confidential and sensitive communications via its Naviance platform. PowerSchool has over 100 third-party partners in its data ecosystem. It is a key player in the EdTech data economy in
which our children are the product. Given the recent spate of EdTech data breaches and the numerous lawsuits alleging disclosure of student data, parental consent should be a prerequisite for the use of any one-to-one EdTech products. In fact, consent is required under federal law
for children under 13. This summer, my husband and I will be exercising our rights under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act to direct tech vendors to cease using, collecting, and storing data on our child via school apps. To be clear, we are not opting out of
curriculum, but like all children, our child is entitled to a public education that does not come at the cost of his privacy. I trust that the district will cooperate with tech vendors in deleting our child's accounts and data. I trust that the district will not penalize our child
in any way. And I trust that the district will not interfere with the exercise of our rights under federal law. Thank you. >> Do we have any other comments? >> Let me just Here we go. All right. Good evening. My name is Amy or Dr. Amy Santiago, 16
Second Street. Um First of all, I want to say good evening to everyone. Um to the parents, the board members, [clears throat] and the teachers. Um the reason why I'm speaking today is that I am a a mother of what will be three students in the New Providence
School District uh in this fall. I have an uh incoming kindergarten that was on our exception list um for consideration this year. Um with the hope that she would be joining her brother at AWR. Um that will
not happen based on today's decision. My oldest will be a seventh grader next year um joining, you know, many of our students here as an incoming seventh grader. This means that my situation will have three students across three different uh schools
um for the next three years as my son is a third grader. I want to be fully transparent here that I am not here to debate the need for redistricting. I see the growth happening in our town. And I realize that this is a requirement uh and must
happen. >> [clears throat] >> I think the reason I am speaking today is that the process for uh exceptions has been incredibly clear and I commend the the district for doing that. I think what has been less clear is how I go about transferring my current AWR
student to Salt Brook. My answers and my or my requests for information and and answers have been deflected and sort of punted down the road and still remain really unclear for how I can do this.
As an impacted family member, I'm here really to ask for clarity and transparency for the criteria and the process to transfer my in my AWR student to Salt Brook. And for the district to examine how delays in decisions or the lack of
information impacts families trying to balance and juggle both work and family lives at one time. I thank you for your time and to I thank you for the time to raise the concerns I've had to I've had today and look forward to seeing the district um act on
the concerns I've raised so far. >> So tomorrow morning when we send out the information, Miss uh Dr. Santiago, you will get that information about how specifically you can transfer your student from AWR to Salt Brook if that's what you choose to do. We will also have
information about early care and drop-off as well as we understand that there are going to be families that have um two elementary [clears throat] students potentially in two different schools. So you will receive that information. Anyone else?
>> Hello, I'm Ben Wolfe at 476 South Street. I was one of the families potentially impacted in a similar situation from the district in last year. I just want to um speak up and say I'm deeply disappointed in the application of the policy. It does appear that we are going to be above optimal class
sizes in both elementary schools for an exceptional list of three students. To me, this seems uh really not putting families focus first and just wanted to speak up and say I know that we worked very hard to put a policy together to be fair and equitable. This does not seem to be a fair and equitable application of the
policy given that we know enrollment will grow over the summer. We don't have the full picture. So, wanted to state the information, show my support for the families impacted, um share my disappointment, and uh bring it to the community. Thank you. >> Uh all right.
Technology. Uh my name is Gautam Chari. I'm I live at 101 Commonwealth Avenue. Um thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you very much for the for the time today. Um for I've been I've been meaning to ask this question sometime now, but I would
love to hear from the the the board um what outcomes Today the presentation was great, but it was heavy on philosophy and process. Uh would love to hear what outcomes did the the Board of Education have in mind when the iPad was first introduced um as part of the pedagogy?
And um how did it pan out? Uh that that advised the your your because it was also mentioned there was a lot of research that went into the uh into the change of decision. Um so, what outcomes worsened? What outcomes
improved? And uh how would you expect uh what outcomes do you expect uh with the use of uh this balanced approach uh coming up? >> I'll have Dr. Zerphey answer that, but also we do encourage you to come to two sessions [clears throat] next week on Monday and Tuesday um just because we'll
have more of an in-depth discussion at that point as well. >> Yes, I will be able to speak to that more in-depth next week, but what I will share with you that is in 2012 when the district decided to go to one-to-one iPad initiative. The idea at that time is that we were
future ready, we were getting future ready, and we were progressively thinking about how technology was going to evolve and that our students were going to need to understand the use of technology to evolve with the economy. What
we learned during that period of time and there was an extensive report I did do as high school principal at that time in 2014. I did an iPad report and we found that what the iPad use was doing was helping
our students really with critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and really those 21st century learning skills. What I could share with you that what we hope now moving forward and and I will say the what the absence of we had then
was research, right? The reality is is that we didn't have a lot of research then around what the one-to-one programs were quote-unquote supposed to do or not do. Now that we do have the research, we are hopeful that the outcomes that we will
see as we reduce technology in the classrooms is we do hope that we will see deeper thinking. We know from the research that when students are reading physical texts and are actually taking a pen to paper, their brain is processing in a different
way than it would process on a screen, and we're hopeful to see some strides in that way academically for them as well as personally for them. I think someone mentioned earlier here at the middle school high school, we did make the brave move in August
when other districts had not done done this to eliminate the use of the cell phones on even their person in the classrooms. And we saw a tremendous shift personally here in this building for both the middle school and the high school students.
Uh the middle school cafeteria is much louder at this point. They're playing Uno, they're playing checkers, they're playing board games. Um and likewise at the high school, many of the students are talking more and having discourse with one another. And they have expressed that to Mr. Henry. Um and I
believe that in the classrooms the teachers are thrilled that they no longer have to worry about them being distracted by Snapchat or Instagram or whatever else is happening. Um with that being said, um as with any policy change, it's not perfect. So I know that
Mr. Henry and Mr. Chrisitello are, you know, constantly doubling back down to ensure that um students are following that policy. So there's Those are just some things that we're hoping to see. >> Any other >> Hi, Danielle Gargiulo, two Green Circle. I don't know if I'm going to be able to
get here next week, so I just wanted to put out obviously a huge thank you. I think this is all wonderful. Um I think the executive functioning piece is amazing, and I think we all see as parents with the rise in neurodiversity, ADHD, or just the way that certain
you know, technology has created the inability to focus and sustained attention. Um one of the things that I think a lot of students, my kids included, are struggling with is studying. And I think that if we can include that with the executive functioning piece um that we're going
over, because I think a lot of students have relied on digital studying. I know my kids will be like, "I did a Blooket." And they think that they've now studied. So I think note-taking as it relates to studying and just studying best practices or integrating that into the executive functioning course, I think
could be so tremendously helpful for students cuz I think the studying has just been such a struggle when it comes to the digital piece. So, thank you. >> Thanks. Hi, I'm Sujata Sivakumaran, 14 Stone Ridge Road. I don't have any comments. I
just wanted to say that for next week I would love to understand a little better about the topic that Sandhya Dr. Sandhya Polur raised, which is about the data sharing. And really what research we've done or the school district has done in terms of what data is being shared, how it's
being shared with these third party apps because I did see that i-Ready continues, although the timing has changed. It's 25 15 to 30 minutes between fourth grade, sixth grade. I'm I wasn't able to tell what other apps are there for seventh grade, eighth grade, and so on. I would love to
understand that better a little better in terms of what research you guys have done, how you guys are stopping some of those things, and what options exist for parents if that profiling is indeed happening, then you know, what options exist for parents of students who do not want
their kids to have the sort of online profile. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Come on up. >> Good evening, Nathan Hall, 10 Willow Street. Um great presentation, lots of lots of good information. Um
um There you listed six core beliefs. Um and kind of in conjunction with a lot of a lot of other people are saying, I would love to see data around how we're progressing with those. Um how can we tie guiding principles
such as these to actual metrics and track the progress that we're making with these. Um you know, technology is a wonderful tool. I love technology. But it does need a foundational understanding, critical thinking skills, executive functioning to be able to effectively
use it. Um so I think some of the steps we're making in in pulling that back in the earlier grades to lay that foundation before getting into some of these tools is a great first step. Uh but without that data, without that communication tool, we can't have
an effective clear communication as a community. Where are we really going? I think we're all aligned around these core beliefs. I don't I doubt anybody in this room is going to disagree with those. They're they're great. Um Uh but I would love to see more information on that. You've mentioned a lot of research, other things. Um I'm
hoping that's published with uh the report and other things. Um I think it would be foundational in understanding and is helping the community move together in that right direction. Um so >> Anyone else? Thank you everyone for coming up who
made a statement. I'm going to declare this portion of the public portion of the meeting closed. Uh moving forward, I ask for a motion for um the 2026-27 school year annual resolutions 1 through 23. Motion.
For. Okay. I second. Lana. Yeah. Okay. Anna, okay. Okay. Wolfa. Ms. Kuslana. Aye. Dr. Hudson Hayden.
Aye. Ms. Gunderman. Aye. Ms. Collette. Aye. Mr. Frey. Aye. Ms. Nina. Aye. Mr. Zay. Aye. Okay, I need a motion to approve the minutes uh for the April 30th meeting and the closed session for April 30th.
>> Second. >> Roll call. >> Ms. Gaslowe. >> Hi. >> Dr. Thomson-Hayden. >> Hi. >> Ms. Gunderman. >> Hi. >> Ms. Lloyd. >> Hi. >> Ms. Lavery. >> Hi. >> Ms. Marano. >> Hi. >> Ms. Zein. >> Hi. >> Okay, finance, Ms. Gunderman.
>> Yes, I'd like to move to approve items 1 through 16 as listed. >> Second. >> Um and before we do, I do want to call out that there's several donations that we are approving and I just always want to call those out. Uh number nine is the
donation from the Salt Brook PTA um for different clubs including the SWAT Club, the SWAG Club, Multicultural Club, Art Club, Garden Club, Broadcasters Club, and STEM Clubs. Uh number 10 is also
from the Salt Brook PTA to support the following offices including the nursing office as well as the counseling office at the school. Number 12 is a generous donation from the New Providence PAL towards the softball field renovation
which is great to see underway and that is in the amount of $3,365.76. Um >> [clears throat] >> there was a donation from the New Providence Tennis Association to fully fund a new three-piece custom windscreen for the tennis courts and that was in
the amount of $3,610.08. Uh and number 16, a very generous donation from the New Providence Athletic Booster Club to purchase and install a new scoreboard on Lieder Field in the total amount of $32,145. Great. Roll call. Sorry. [laughter]
>> Ms. Castellana? >> I. >> Dr. Emson Hayden? >> I. >> I. >> Ms. Clay? >> I. >> Ms. LaPray? >> I. >> Ms. Morano? >> I. >> Ms. Zane? >> I. >> Okay. Facilities actions. Um Ms. Castellano, education.
>> Thanks. Yes, I look to approve items one through three as listed below. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Ms. Castellana? >> I. >> Dr. Emson Hayden? >> I. >> Ms. Gunderman? >> I. >> Ms. Clay? >> I. >> Ms. LaPray? >> I. >> Ms. Morano? >> I.
>> Ms. Zane? >> I. >> Okay. Personnel, Dr. Emson Hayden. >> I've got a big one. Um approve items one through 19 as listed below. >> Second.
>> And I turn it over to Dr. Zorbaugh. >> Thank you. I would just like to recognize uh the retirement of Ms. Alex Martin. She is, I believe, one of our longest-serving special education teachers in the building. Um she's been here for quite some time, so I wish her
well, and um we thank her tremendous amount for her support of our special education population over all these years. >> Roll call. >> Ms. Castellana? >> I. >> Dr. Emson Hayden? >> I. >> Ms. Gunderman? >> I. >> Ms. Clay? >> I. >> Ms. LaPray? >> I. >> Ms. Morano? >> I.
>> Ms. Zane? >> I. >> Okay. Uh Ms. Zane, board policy. >> I move to approve items one and two as listed below. Um items one being on first reading, and you should have received the email. And item two on second reading back from
the April meeting. >> Two seconds. >> Uh roll call. >> Ms. Castellana? >> I. >> Dr. Emson Hayden? >> I. >> Ms. Gunderman? >> I. >> Ms. Clay? >> Hi. >> Mrs. Lepre. >> Hi. >> Miss Morano. >> Hi. >> Miss Zane. >> Hi. >> Okay. Committee reports, curriculum,
instruction, technology. I think we said it all. >> [laughter] >> Great. Uh finance, facilities, safety, and security. >> Nothing new at this time. >> Great. And then personnel, management, and communication. >> Same. Nothing new for this one. >> Okay.
Uh any old business to discuss? New business? Great. And this is an opportunity for the public to be heard on anything that was not covered in the agenda. I think you know the drill. >> [laughter] >> Button. I don't know the drill.
>> [laughter] >> Good evening. My name's Glenn Robertson. Um and for address, I'd like to say my heart lives at Pioneer Drive. Uh I'm the president of the New Providence Education Association for those of you who don't know. Um I was asked by the members of the association to come before the board and
address the community as we come to the conclusion of the 25-26 school year. Many of us, like many of you, are having a hard time believing that we are this close to ending another successful academic year. There's a flurry of activity as our sports teams continue to excel. Our
students are actively trying to balance college decisions with work decisions and leisure decisions, academic triumphs, and the only time of the year when there aren't enough nail salons in towns ready everyone for the prom. It is natural at this time of year to reflect with pride at the schools we
have here in New Providence. This pride might even be enhanced by the fact that the newspaper stories discussing the turmoil in state education lack any mention of our district. Districts all over Union County and the state in general are reducing their staffs through RIFs, which are
involuntary layoffs, adding participation fees and eliminating programs. New Providence has avoided these challenges so far. In no small part to the work of the board in front of me. All right. But, what has happened is the New Providence has quietly reduced our
staff over the last 2 years through attrition. Rather than lay people off, the board has chosen to not replace certain levels of staffing when the opportunity arises, which is fiscally responsible. Although this is certainly preferable to laying employees off, it does carry the risk of going unnoticed by the community
at large, particularly when some of what so much of what is occurring is worth celebration. I'm here because my members wanted to make the community aware of the very real challenges we face in our schools. Fewer teachers mean all of your remaining educators are working harder. There are fewer educators to provide
class coverage and perform supervisory duties. Fewer staff leaves us more vulnerable to unforeseen circumstances or teacher absences because of illness or emergency. The time when truly difficult decisions might need to be made is quickly approaching.
Tonight we watched a long presentation with a lot of thought gone into the pedagogy, and certainly fiscal constraints are always involved in the decision-making when we make our pedagogical decisions. We would just like to avoid them being the primary or
only factor in making those decisions. Okay? [snorts] We are committed to working with the board to ensure that this district remains a truly special place to attend as a student, cheer as a parent, or work as an employee. We look forward to beginning negotiations next year to work with the
board on a truly sustainable path forward. The entire state's in crisis. We are pioneers. We will find a way. But, it may not be the standard way, but we're committed to working with you to find it. Thanks very much, guys.
>> I know. Come on in. >> Thanks. Hi. My name is Jeanie Pate. I'm at 160 Woodbine Circle. And this is my daughter, also 160 Woodbine Circle. Um good evening. My name is Jeanie and I'm a New Providence resident and parent. My daughter Violet will be
attending APA for dance at UCVTS next year. I'm here tonight because I have concerns about a policy that I believe is unfair to a very small and specific group of students. The policy bars APA students from auditioning for or performing in onstage
roles in MPHS productions. I spoke with both Dr. Zappulla and Mr. Henry today and I appreciate that they made time for me. I still don't feel like I have answers to the core questions, which is why I'm here tonight. I want to raise three specific concerns. First, families were
not informed of this during the application process. At every open house and informational meeting we attended, we were specifically told that students attending UCVTS would be able to participate in sports, bands, and musicals at the New Providence High School.
Violet made her decision to attend APA in part because of that assurance. I was told today that this is not a new policy, but rather an existing one being enforced. Whether it is new or newly enforced, the impact on families who were never informed is exactly the same. We made decisions based on what we were
told. Second, performing in your hometown musical is not the same experience as performing at a county school. One is a community event, the same stage these students grew up watching with neighbors and childhood friends in the audience. No other policy asks a New Providence
kid to trade their hometown community experience for their UCVTS one. Athletes are not told that a county team is equivalent to playing for New Providence. Why should performing arts students be treated differently? Third, the numbers do not support the concern that APA students are displacing
town students. This year's production of Drowsy Chaperone had 37 students. One was from APA. That is 2.7%. Policy is not protecting town town students from opportunities they would otherwise have. It is penalizing
students who choose the most rigorous performing arts path available to them in this county. Right now, there are only two New Providence students enrolled at APA. Um one who is going to be a senior next year, and my daughter who'll be a freshman. The policy exists to exclude these two
kids from their hometown stage. I'm not here to be adversarial. I followed every proper channel before coming tonight, and I'm here because I believe this policy as applied is inequitable. And because I believe the board has the ability to ask the right questions and make it right before the next school year begins.
I'm just asking that you reconsider the policy. Um thank you. >> Um hi, my name is Violet Navoa, and I'm going to be a freshman next year, APA for dance. Um I have grown up in New Providence, and as far as long as I can remember, I've
went and watched the musicals here. And being on that stage was something I've been looking forward to for years. Next year, I also plan to be in the color guard and play at the high school. New Providence is my town, and I want to be part of the shows here. I chose APA because I love dance, and I've been dancing since I was in the third grade.
I did not think choosing to follow my passion would mean losing the chance to perform on my hometown stage with my friends. I'm not asking for special treatment. I'm just asking for the same chance that every other student in this town gets. Thank you. >> Thank you.
Okay. Do we have anyone else coming up to speak? Um with that, I need an a motion for recess to close session. >> Student matters related to hib um and litigation.
>> Second. >> I. Okay. Thank you. We're adjourned. >> Thank you.