about the walk. >> Good evening everyone. I'd like to call this meeting to order. This is the North Brunswick Township Board of Education Conference regular public meeting. Today is Wednesday, November 19th. Could we all please rise
for the pledge of allegiance? >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Mr. Ali,
>> Mr. Carter >> here, >> Miss James >> here. >> Miss Keith >> here. >> Mr. Lori, Dr. Patel, >> Mr. Singh, Miss Toth >> here, >> Mr. W >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Thank you. The New Jersey open public
meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the open public meetings law, the public notice of this meeting, which included
the time, date, and location, was distributed by 300 PM on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, and Wednesday, November 27th, 2024 in the following manner. Posted on the bulletin board reserved for announcements in the board
office, 25 Lynwood Place, North Brunswick. Mailed to the Home News Tribune, Star Ledger, NJ.com, and the clerk of the township of North Brunswick, and delivered to the nine duly elected board members. Well, good evening everyone. It's great to be here
at Livingston Park Elementary School. It's good to see some of our students tonight here as well. So, we have a couple of great presentations. Um, I want to thank Mr. Dawson and his team for hosting our meeting here tonight. Thank you for
having us. And at this time, I will turn it over to Dr. Zakowski. >> Madam President, and good evening everyone. I want to say hi to everyone here in person and our millions of viewers as we're being broadcasted all over New Jersey and North Brunswick. Um
would you mind if we went out of order and I did my administrative report as one of our recipients is on in route in transit as >> Yes. >> as we all know sometimes traffic can play a little trick with all of us. >> Absolutely. >> So I'm going to give my report and and it's uh
humbling all the great things going on in our district. So, I want to start off by saying uh thank you to the high school team that organized our Veterans Day assembly at the high school. It was on November 14th, not because they
didn't know the date is November 11th, but November 14th was where we were able to get the most u of our alum who served, many of our graduates, uh community members who are serving come back and tell their story. It was a wonderful celebration and a coordination
of our our our music students, our administration, and uh it was not only uh appropriate, but very humbling to see how many folks came from North Brunswick and continue to serve our great nation. So, kudos to the high school and the
team um for organizing this wonderful celebration. Speaking of team, I'm here to announce uh Saturday 3 o'clock at a neutral field and that is that Franklin not because their field's better than ours. It's because it's the neutral
state final group four final final game of the high school soccer season where North Brunswick is playing the number two team in the state for the state championship, West Orange. West Orange is ranked number 11th in the nation. But the Raiders, the boys soccer team has um
truly really peaked at the right time because of their persistence, their grit, their teamwork, and their care for each other. It's really obvious during the interviews as they went on this phenomenal run all the way to the state championship as
a number nine seed and they upset every team along the way that they how much they care for each other, how they kind of grew together as a team. So, if you're doing have some free time on a Saturday, I know most people don't uh
because they're so busy, but 3:00 at Franklin um here at Somerset County, Franklin High School, uh the North Brunswick Raiders will be playing West Orange for the state final in the boys um championship soccer game. Speaking of
the boys soccer team, one of our best I think she's been with us uh as a power professional. She's at every game, every event, whether it's security or just showing up as a fan. Miss Rona Hails, in fact, she was at all the soccer games.
She's not here tonight. and we're gonna honor her future because she's at a dinner being honored as the uh power professional uh education educator or should I say it right the educator power professional of
the year in Middle Sex County. She's being honored as a top aid as you will for our students. She works at the high school and uh she was selected Middle Sex County's top par professional. put in her her work and she was selected.
So, she's at a dinner and being honored tonight. So, we're certainly uh very proud of Rona and the work she does for our schools, our students and staff and of course being our number one fan. Um I
some of you if you were looking for dinner at McDonald's down the road, I apologize because we had a McJud night >> and it was mob. If you were looking forward to getting a quick dinner and a quick meal and superersizing it, you weren't getting in. So, I want to thank
the Jud PTO. What a great fundraiser. Miss Kea and I stopped by. We're going to treat the board to some nuggets and we just we we couldn't even get in, so we gave a donation. But just congratulations to all of the judge uh team members, the teachers were serving
and the PTO organized a wonderful MC Jud night. Um, speaking of Jud, back that Friday, November 14th, the same day as our Veterans Day assembly, they had a 7:30 a.m. walk named the Ruby Bridges Walk. Now, if you're a history lover
like myself, Ruby Bridges was born 1954 in the South, same year, Brown versus Board of Ed, eliminating the despicable pie versus Ferguson, separate but equal way we address civil rights. So they
used to segregate and 1954 was the year the Supreme Court said separate is not equal and we are not going to continue this. And Ruby Bridges did a walk with state troopers because she had to take a
test to get into some states still protested against that Supreme Court ruling and she walked every day with state troopers to excel. You may have there was a movie made Oprah Winfrey backed it. In fact, Oprah Winfrey reunited Ruby Bridges. Fast forward Ruby
Bridges because she was six years old when this all happened. Um 1960 when she walked Oprah Winfrey uh reunited Ruby Bridges and the one teacher who took her in while there was protest about this
young girl going to school in an all-white school down south. So, in that vein, Jud did a walk 7:30 in the morning sponsored by the Women's Club, North Brunswick Township PD, and the Mobile Family Success Center. So, we're really
proud of that work that they continue to do in honor of something happened a long time ago, but still resonates with our folks today. And speaking of resonate American education week, I want to thank all of the families and the schools for
recognizing our educators. We had so many great events going on throughout the district. Um family fitness night with Lynwood and ECC Livingston Park had the Cougar Chance welcoming families in. We had JA and Parsons having parent
visits. ECC had hosted coffee with the principal. As you know, the principal of ECC doesn't need any coffee to be souped up in the early morning, but he was. We had the parents academy at the middle school. And we had our high school's tomorrow teachers program read to our
Jud uh students, you know, as tomorrow's teachers as we try to grow our own teachers and give opportunities to this noble profession of education. And a special thank you to our association MBTA. They provided cookies throughout the district including central office
which is really a blessing and a curse because the curses I eat them all and didn't get a chance to share them as much and so I I needed them the least. Um we do have a special presentation tonight but I just want to mention it. Uh we're going to honor Miss the
executive director Elijah Promise. I can't tell you and we'll get to that in a few minutes to honor Miss our executive director Michelle Wilson. But Elisha Promise um is uh located in New Brunswick. They not only distribute, they collect, they have a food pantry,
they make hot meals, they're doing culinary work with students. Uh it's it really was a fortunate blessing that I received a call from our president of the board connected me to the executive director and on Friday, the week we were
off. So that was the uh November week that we closed schools. I I believe it was the 7th. Um within a couple moments notice, couple day notice, Elijah Promise went and set up a station for hot meals, worked with the uh their
friends at Replenish who uh provided shelf stable items. But Elijah promised distributed 1,248 hot meals, 100 bags of shelf stable food to more than 90 families in a moment's notice. And when and the reason we're
closed and remember the benefits were being withheld from the federal government. So, they went out and in uh working with our mayor, council, police department, our wonderful staff at North Brunswick to get the message out, the word out that we're here to help. And uh
so we're so proud of that continuing partnership. And we're going to honor Michelle tonight. Welld deserved and recognizing her leadership and Elijah promises unbelievable contribution to the communities in this area. I do want to
take the time because uh we're heading towards Thanksgiving and some people say giving thanks that um we have a wonderful community here in North Brunswick. So happy to be back and I'm so happy I have a chance to wish you another joyous, happy, and healthy
holiday season. And with that, Madame President, that will conclude my report. And hopefully we have enough time buy time to the traffic and we'll be able to do our honores. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Zakowski. Well, at this time, we can um move to our
first presentation, which is our community recognition of Michelle Wilson, the executive director of Elijah's Promise for her dedication and commitment to helping the community of North Brunswick Township. So, >> shall we go? >> Yes. I think we're going to memorialize
this, Michelle, as I talked a little bit about it. So 100 years from now when you want to share with your grandchildren how what a great leadership in a time of need. You do this work every day but this was a special time how you responded with your leadership. You'll
be in our permanent minutes forever. So Well, thank you for being here, Michelle. I just have a couple of words before we um read the proclamation. This month, with the help of Michelle and her incredible team, over 1,200 meals were provided to members of our
community here in North Brunswick. And that kind of impact doesn't happen by accident. It happens because Elijah's promise shows up for communities consistently, compassionately, and without hesitation wherever there is a need. Uh for me, the partnership is
personal because I had the privilege of interning with Elijah's Promise back in college. And even then, I was struck by the way that they approached their mission with dignity, with empathy, and with a genuine belief that every person deserves nourishment and care. Seeing
that same spirit now, all these years later, extended to our North Brunswick Township families is very mean meaningful. We as a board on behalf of the board really appreciate what you've done. So, I will move to reading our resolution.
Be it resolved by the board of education, township of North Brunswick, County of Middle Sex in the state of New Jersey, that the said board of education recognizes the outstanding efforts of Michelle Wilson, executive director at Elijah's Promise and expresses its
sincere appreciation for her dedicated services and contributions to the families of North Brunswick. And whereas the board of education of the township of North Brunswick extends its warm appreciation and heartfelt thanks to Miss Wilson and her volunteer staff for
their tireless work in providing warm meals to more than 1,200 local residents throughout the Elijah's Promise on Wheels program. And whereas their continued outreach and collaboration regarding their available services have made a lasting impact by helping
families access nutritious meals and ongoing support. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the public recognition and commen recommendation be given to Michelle Wilson for her unwavering dedication and outstanding service to our community. Be it further resolved
that the copy of this resolution shall be entered in the official minutes of the board of education and that a copy be presented to Michelle Wilson as a token of the board's appreciation and gratitude. Absolutely. I'm gonna turn it over to her.
>> Yeah. Oh, good. Well, first of all, thank you very much. Um, I'm very happy to accept this on behalf of our entire team. To be clear with our team, I am the professional microwver. So, those 1200 meals were made by our very
talented culinary staff um and volunteers. And they were done very quickly, thankfully, thanks to um emergency funding from RWJ Barnabas Health that gave us an impact grant to get out there and make these meals possible. Um, when I got called to for
this award tonight, I said, "You really don't need to recognize us. We're doing what we were meant to do and what we do every day. Um, but I wanted to come to and express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Jersey because while I was on a call the
Monday before election day, North Brunswick is identified by the state office of the New Jersey food security advocate as one of the 20 towns they were most worried about in the state. And when I reached out to Dr. Z early Tuesday morning on election day when
many people were not working before 6 a.m. he got right back to me and he made it seamless and easy as possible for us to do what we wanted to do. And we're incredibly grateful for that partnership because it wouldn't have happened without that quick response and um and
making it so easy for us to come and do it. And we do have our mobile unit three times a week or we have it at three stops twice a month in North Brunswick. Um but not with the schools. And I believe this was the start of a very the beginning of a relationship of more that
we can do with the school. So, I just want to say thank you on behalf of our entire team and to your leadership here for making it possible for us to expand our work and use food to change lives. So, thank you. I need
serving the Lord. >> Yeah. >> So, we have a another presentation before we turn it over to our principal. I see that she's here and Michelle so aptly put it that uh you didn't want any credit and that's true. She said do not
but we know the heroes do this work because for the work not for recognition that's why we wanted to recognize you and we have another hero amongst us who also did some wonderful work one of our teachers uh Miss Kelsey Strauss uh she
is here but I want to introduce what I consider and I've been around a long time as a superintendent the best special ed director here, supervisor, not only in North Brunswick, we have
great ones here, but also I think within New Jersey. What a great person to have on our staff, our team to talk about Kelsey, uh, Miss Katherine Haves. They certainly didn't want recognition either, but it was it's worthy if you
hear the story. >> Thank you, Dr. Zakowski. Good evening. It is my honor to introduce Kelsey Strauss, who is a dedicated and impactful member of the Jud School community and the special education department for the past two years. Although she is currently on maternity
leave after welcoming her second child, um her commitment to our students and families continues to shine through her work. From the moment she joined us, it was clear that teaching is not just a career for her, but it is truly her passion. with 11 years of experience across multiple states and diverse
school communities and a steadfast belief in the potential of every child. This year, while on maternity leave, she took her compassion behi beyond the classroom by creating the Grocery Buddy program, an initiative designed to support families facing challenges with access to food. Through this program,
she has now ensured that over 150 families have received not only groceries, but dignity, support, and a sense of belonging. Her work embodies the heart of North Brunswick and our department, educating the whole child and serving the whole family. We are extremely proud to honor her this
evening for her leadership, vision, and unwavering dedication. Congratulations. This initiative is more than a program. It's a lifeline and it connected our community members with families who may be experiencing food insecurity, giving
them support in a way that is personal, dignified, and rooted in kindness. Kelsey created a structure that not only helps meet basic needs, but also reminds our families that they're seen, valued, and supported. So, Kelsey, on behalf of
the board of education and the entire entire North Brunswick School community, thank you. We thank you for your vision, your compassion, and your unwavering commitment to our families, even while welcoming a new chapter in your own home. Your leadership set standards for
all of us, and we're deeply grateful for the difference that you've made. So, I'll at this point read our resolution. Be it resolved by the board of education, township of North Brunswick, county of Middle Sex in the state of New Jersey, that the said board of education
recognizes the outstanding efforts of Kelsey Strauss, first grade inclusion teacher at Jud Elementary School, expresses its sincere appreciation for her dedicated services and meaningful contributions to the families of North Brunswick, and whereas the board of
education of the township of North Brunswick ex extends warm appreciation and heartfelt Thanks to Miss Strauss for initiating the compassionate community support program known as Project November Grocery Buddy. And whereas this project stands as a wonderful reflection
of Miss Strauss's steadfast professional and personal commitment to supporting students and their families with ongoing empathy and kindness. Now therefore, be it resolved that the public recognition and commendation be given to Kelsey
Strauss for her unwavering compassion, selflessness, and outstanding generosity to the North Brunswick Township community. Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be entered into the official minutes of the board of education and that a copy be presented
to Kelsey Strauss as a token of the board's appreciation and gratitude. birthday. Thank you again, Michelle and Kelsey, for all your work. And we do have a our keynote tonight here, home field
advantage. Our principal, Mr. Sid Dawson, here at LP, Mr. Dawson. >> Good evening, Dr. Z, Mrs. Kea, members of the board. I'd like to begin by thanking everyone who came out tonight to learn about Livingston Park, celebrate this awesome school. This is a
joy for us. We get to brag about our school tonight and take you inside Livingston Park. Things you may be aware of, things you may not be aware of, but most importantly to get you to see how all of the things you talk about as a board of education play out in the day-to-day lives of our students and our
staff here at LP. When we think about our school, we have broad goals this year. This is an overview of what we're working on this year. Increasing our student achievement for all of our kids in every population. Improving the
culture of our school so kids have better social relationships with one another, with the adults in the building, getting families more involved in our school program. All of that is the what we're trying to accomplish. Why? because we want this school to be
the best school in New Jersey. We want this school to be a school that families are proud of. We want this school to be a school that kids can look back upon in 25, 30 years and say, "Yeah, that was awesome when we were in elementary school. Do you remember when we did
that? Remember when we learned that? Remember when I had that amazing teacher?" That's the why. Tonight, we're going to talk about the how. How do we make that happen? How do we make this the best possible school experience for
our kids? We're going to start with a little theory and then we're going to go into practice. Okay, so theory first. We're going to talk about a researcher named John Hattie who's a pretty well-known educational researcher. He's got a famous book. It's called Visible
Learning. And what Hadtie did is he measured the impact of all of these different things schools try to improve themselves. And he found correlations with what results in the greatest amount of advancements in achievement. These
are the variables on the right. His work is called visible learning and it's something that informs our planning, our decision making here at Livingston Park. And I want you to think about these variables as you listen to our presentation tonight. You'll hear us
talking a lot about collective efficacy. Collective efficacy in a layman's sense means the general feeling among the staff and the kids in the school about does their work make a difference? Is there value in their work? Can they see
the results of their labor? and what is the collective mood of the school response intervention data tracking in layman's terms what that means is how are kids responding when we try different strategies with them if we try
something different is it creating the results we want to see with kids whether that's academically socially in many different respects what are the expectations that we have for our students do Do the kids know what
those expectations are? Are we challenging them? Are we pushing them? And how do we as educators give them feedback that's meaningful to them? How do we get kids to take ownership of their learning? Take pride in their
learning. Metacognition. Metacognition is how you think about your own thinking. If you do well on something, what do you attribute that to? What does the self-t talk in your mind look like? What are what are the messages you tell yourself? If you
struggle with something, what are you saying to yourself about how you will improve in that particular area? And of course, families. It takes a village to raise kids. And at the elementary level, we rely on so many of our families to
support our work. You see many wonderful families here tonight, the best of the best. We're going to talk about what all of those variables look like on a day-to-day basis here at LP. Our school theme this year is better together
because it does take a village. We all work together. We work with our colleagues at central office. We work with our staff here. We work with families at home. And all of us contribute to the success of our school.
So what we're doing this year is a little bit different. Every single child in our school from preschool through fourth grade has worked with their teachers to create personalized goals. Goals to achieve at greater levels in
language arts, in math, how to grow their social skills, and how to have better attendance at school. As a school, it's our job then to create opportunities to give the kids feedback
on those goals and to involve families in supporting the goal acquisition at home. So, we're going to walk through tonight what that looks like and we'll talk about each area, language arts, we'll talk about math, we'll talk about the climate of the school, and you are
going to hear from some awesome, awesome, awesome kids about what this looks like for them. So, let's start with what you might see if you walk around the school. Make learning visible. If you walk
around the school, you will see student goals in every hallway. Third grade goal might be to get better at division, multiplication. A social goal might be to earn a lot of possum tickets. We're going to talk
about what those are later. My guy Jaden's going to explain it all to us. We might talk about reading chapter books with an adult. We might talk about standing up for your friends, being an upstander, reading more every night, measuring your
reading with a timer, learning multiplication by practicing. Again, think about that sense of collective efficacy. If you walk in our halls, if you're a teacher, if you are a student, you will see that you are
surrounded by people who are determined to succeed. people who are going to cheer you on as you reach these goals. In language arts, we have a wonderful new curriculum. It's called benchmark. Here's what I love about it. It is
rigorous. It is hard. Our kids are learning at a greater level and they are meeting the challenge. One thing that's great about Benchmark is it is a spiraling curriculum. So, what that means is thematically, contentwise, kids
will revisit the same skills as they progress from kindergarten all the way up through fourth grade. And let me share with you why that's important. As people, we learn when we can make a connection in our mind with knowledge we already have. So, if you're a second
grader and maybe your family doesn't have the income to say take you to the zoo, that's okay because you've already learned background knowledge about animals in kindergarten and in first grade. And what you do in second grade
is going to build upon that knowledge. It's high rigor, high demand, and our kids are responding to it. and the lower grades in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, the big emphasis on is on phonics. And we'll take a look at what
that looks like. Even in preschool, I was in a preschool room today. There's a wonderful phonics component that is setting our learners up for success. There are whole group and small groupoup activities and we're getting positive results. This is our first year of
implementing benchmark in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. From the moment kids are starting, the rigor is there. The heavy phonics component is there. A benchmark lesson can last almost two hours.
So, think about yourself as a teacher. Your goal as a teacher is to maintain the engagement of your kids. Two hours is a long time when you're six years old. And modern kids today, they live in
the world of tablets, YouTube, Tik Toks, where things last 30 seconds. So the teachers have to use a multiensory strategy to keep everything engaged. Let's take a look at what phonics looks like. This is Miss Tabota's class in
first grade. I want you to take a note of how the engagement of the kids, how they're focused on their learning. W sound letter S sound
letter A sound letter S sound is letter L sound is letter A sound is A or A letter M sound
is letter C sound letter G sound is Letter V sound is letter Q sound is
letter H sound is letter D sound is D letter K sound is letter C sound is letter S sound
letter Z sound is letter R Sound is letter D. Sound is letter is M sound is letter Y sound is Y letter is O sound is
A or O letter I sound is A or I letter E sound is F or I >> some of those letters have asterisks you know couple different sounds but did you notice how all the kids are moving
They're engaged. Their eyes are in front of them. They're not distracted. That's really good teaching. And that phonics foundation is going to set them up to be great readers as they progress through their work. In benchmark, you
have a whole group component. That's when the kids are getting exposed to grade level standards. What the expectations are for a student of their age. On the left, you see Mrs. Blair. Take a note of how the kids are sitting. This is more than just the teacher in
the front of the room. This is a teacher who's teaching kids how to have an academic conversation with one another, how to maintain eye contact, how to respond to a partner, how to build upon what the person next to them is saying.
On the right, you see Miss Nigro's kindergarten class. Lots of visual supports, lots of aids, diagrams, things that kids can reference as they apply their particular skills. There's a small group component to
benchmark. On the right, you see Miss Mueller, one of our fourth grade teachers. On the left, you see Mrs. Rakus, one of our ESL teachers. In the small group setting, a teacher can dial in his or her work to exactly where the kids are, what the skills are that they
need focus on. Give them feedback that's personalized about their individual goals. A goal without a plan is just the dream. Feedback is the key. And our teachers are doing such an exceptional job with
this. Miss Mueller, Mrs. Blair are teachers who are setting the standard for what benchmark looks like. So much so that when new districts inquire with the benchmark company about is there some place we can go watch and see what
this looks like, do you know where they go? They go to Livingston Park and we host other districts. They come to Miss Mueller's room. They come to Mrs. players room and they check it out because even Benchmark considers them the standard for excellence in what the
delivery of this program looks like. In fourth grade, we're taking it to a new level. Our kids are learning metacognition. It's part of their daily routine. One of their fourth grade teachers, Mrs. Dilva,
has designed data folders for the kids. I left some on the table for you, but I want you to see what the kids are doing to track their own progress of their goals. Every single week, kids are looking at their math fluency, their
reading fluency. They're color coding their attendance. They're tracking their results on the MAP test, and they're taking ownership of those goals. Here's Aush. He's going to explain how it works.
Hi, my name is Ausha. I'm in fourth grade at Livingston Park School. This year, my teacher is using something called a data folder. This is it. This data folder tracks our progress in many different ways. It tracks our reading
fluency, math fluency, and math scores. We made goals to help us. Some of the goals I created were multiplication, fat fluency, and keeping up with perfect attendance. This data tracker is important because it helps us reach our goals and tells us how we're doing. I
like this data tracker because I can always push myself to do better. And it teaches me that there's always room to grow. Thank you. >> What's going to help our kids reach the goal? It's a plan. It's small steps
every day over time. We can make really ambitious goals, but without a plan to get there, without support from our families, from our teachers, it just remains a dream. It just remains an idea. Our kids are tracking their own thinking, their own progress on a daily
basis to be successful. We measure that success with a group of people and we start with their families. So, what does family engagement look like in literacy? One of the biggest variables in how a child succeeds in literacy is simply
reading with a parent. So we have many opportunities where families simply come into school and they read with their kids. They share their favorite books with one another. They practice their reading fluency which in another way is saying, "Do you read with expression or
do you read each word individually? Do you understand that when there's a question mark your voice has to have a little bit of curiosity to it?" or if there's an exclamation point, you get excited. Those are very um logical skills that
parents can support us with at home. So, we bring them into the school and we read together. It might look like our dual language students in first grade presenting their work to their parents. Many, many years ago, more years than I care to admit,
Mr. Dr. Deluchia taught me something really simple which is that if a child can teach you the lesson, it means they've really learned it. So in this sense, we invite kids to teach their parents what they have learned in English, in Spanish
so they can master their own learning. Something as simple as having a parent be a guest reader like Mrs. Grant in third grade sends a message to a child that reading is important. An adult that you care about
thinks reading is so important, she'll come and share that with your whole class. We measured our progress with our ELA data team. These are our ELA data teachers. And in the center is our ELA coach, Mrs. Barter, who has been
absolutely critical in helping Benchmark be so successful. So, these young ladies designed tier 2 and tier three support for kids who need a little extra help. They designed schoolwide reading events like Read Across America where the
entire school celebrates literacy and reading. And even better, we have Mrs. Ay. Shout out to Mrs. Ayer in the back. Our soar program is a special program for
kids who are demonstrating success. And soar is so successful in North Brunswick that we are now considered one of the districts that is the best at gifted and talented education in the county.
So kids are all of our kids. They're multilingual kids. They're kids who have learning disabilities. They're kindergarteners. They're first graders. They're third graders. They're fourth graders. We currently have over 67 sore kids in our school. And for all the kids
in the room, I'm going to do it for you. 67. So, we have one of our sore students here tonight. I'd like you to meet a very special student. Her name is Abby. Abby, come on up. Tell us about what
you're doing in Soore. Good evening everyone. My name is Abigail. I'm a fourth grader here at Livingston Park. I'm also involved in a project based learning program called Rock by Rock. My mission for this project is to
research and learn how we can protect ourselves and others by reducing the impact of natural disasters. I've chosen the research heat waves. I'm working on an interactive project where my audience will create picturebased safety
instructions on how to stay safe during a heat wave. I read that New Jersey has been impacted by several record-breaking heat waves over the years. I also participated in a Zoom session with Jennifer Walton, a stormchaser, and
found out the organization Girls Who Chase. I learned many safety tips during the session. What I really enjoy about projectbased learning in the Thor Trooles group is that while working on a project, I get to read, research, and
learn so many interesting facts. And when I share my project with others, it feels great knowing they get to learn those facts, too. >> We love Abby. She's awesome. >> Same thing applies in math. Kids are doing amazing things in math at Livingston Park. The goals are
ambitious. The teachers are phenomenal. They're designing instruction that challenges kids in so many ways. Here you have got a kindergarten student in Miss PZ's class. You'll notice the materials there are materials kids can manipulate with their hands. We call them manipulatives. At the kindergarten
first grade level, you see kids like Sil. Shout out to Sil working with their hands to make models of mathematical concepts. Those hands-on activities are so important to engage kids. Kids won't learn just because adults are talking to
them. They need to see things. They need to touch things. They need to explore. And that maintains high levels of engagement. Collective efficacy is also on display here. So for example, a kindergarten
goal is to learn to count to 100. So, a simple thing that we've done, very effective, is each time a child masters counting to 100, we take their picture, we put it on the bulletin board. That way, everybody sees them achieving that
goal. This is Mai. He did it real early last year. He's a bright guy. The teachers are responsive to that. So, for the kindergarten kids, for first grade kids, we need to give them some choices in their goals. So, for example, on the left you see some examples of our
math goals for kindergarten kids, for first grade kids. Top row you see things like adding and subtracting within 10. Those are grade level standards for a first grader. But below that, you'll see things they can ask their family to do, things we can talk with their family
that they can achieve, like practicing addition and subtraction in the car, practicing with flashcards, singing and clapping as you learn those particular skills. The classroom walls are so important.
This is Miss Tado's class in second grade. These are called anchor charts. These are resources that the teachers designed to help the kids apply different strategies to master the skill. Clear visuals,
English and Spanish, help our kids learn. And again, the goal is having kids take ownership of their learning. In third grade, we're taking it to the next level. Mrs. Darella's in the house.
Mrs. Delberelloo is doing things really cool here. She is one of the pivotal people in designing math instruction in third grade. Again, let's go back to Mr. Deluchia. If a child can teach us the skill, it
means they've mastered the skill. So, what we're doing is we're asking families to come in so the children can teach the parents the skill. Why? Because the way that you and I as adults in the room, the way we learned math is
very different than the way kids learn math today. So if I've invited the big guns to tell you about this, there are two New York Knicks fans in the school. One is Mrs. Singh, one is John Conroy. And
John Conroy is about to tell us about multiplication strategies and how he has benefited from this. So John, come on up. tell us about it. >> Hello and good evening. Good evening everybody. My name is John and I would
like to thank Mr. Row and Livingston Park Elementary for this opportunity. Our class has been working hard learning different multiplication strategies and now it's our turn to become the teachers. Mr. invited
parents to visit our classroom as we share and demonstrate what we've learned. This will help parents learn the same strategies we use in school so we can practice and work on them together at home. It's a wonderful way to see our learning in action and
celebrate our progress. So this is what it looks like. We don't need to do big special events to have parents come in. They come in on a daily basis. So in this example, there's several parents learning four different multiplication strategies they can
practice at home with their child. What do you get at the end of that? You get a family that can support a child in acquiring their goals and understand the ways that teachers are teaching math these days. Miss Alvarez in the back of the room has pioneered another thing that we're
really proud of in math. It's called the thinking classroom and it's a really cool interactive technique that our kids are doing. It really engages them in really rich student-led academic dialogue about how each child is solving
problems. And when you watch this lesson, it is magical. Every single child is engaged. They're talking about math. They're thinking deeply. They're thinking critically. And it is
absolutely inspiring to watch. And it is spreading throughout all of our grade levels. And we've invited another really talented student to talk about it tonight. So, Somaya, come on up. Tell us how the thinking classroom works.
Good evening members of the board. My name is Somaya Patel Bucka. I am excited. I'm excited to share the group expectations for a thinking classroom and the rubric that the classes 41 and 42 created together. For our group
expectations, we use playing cards to be placed in random groups of students of three. We learn from our mistakes. We don't erase our work. We build upon our first problem and use that as a guide for our other problems.
We stand when we work in our thinking classrooms. We can write only someone else's thinking, not our own. Everyone must understand the work so that anyone in the group can explain it. Groups may
look around the room for ideas, but must stay with their own group. I also want to share and explain the rubric that my classmates and I created for our thinking classroom. The rubric is posted at each thinking classroom station so we
can refer to it while we work. Students in both classes 41 and 42 built this rubric together so we could decide what good teamwork and problem solving look like. It helps us stay focused, work better in our group, be open to others ideas,
encourage and support our peers, and try to make effective stages. Creating it ourselves has helped us understand our goals, and take more ownership of our learning. Thank you for listening and for giving me the chance to share our thinking classroom with
you. Let's take a moment and think about how cool this is. The kids are designing their own rubric. So, the kids are determining what success looks like. If you want a student to really internalize
your expectations as a teacher, this is a great way to do it. Otherwise, a rubric just becomes a piece of paper in their notebook. But if the kids are responsible for outlining all of the characteristics of success, they can work better together. They can
pull out the very best of their colleagues, of their fellow students. They own the learning expectations. The math team is supported by as just like in language arts. They help kids
who may need extra support. And our math coach, Mrs. Pizzoui is delightful. She is exceptional at building relationships with teachers and getting them to try new things like the thinking classroom, cheering them on along the way. This
team is tremendous. So, we've talked about math, we've talked about language arts. Let's talk about the school climate. Shout out to Miss Prior who's in the back and to Mrs. my
we have another counselor who works in our school and in Jud as well. Her name is Miss Izzy. And they do a wonderful job helping kids learn how to be successful socially. They do classroom lessons. They do small group lessons and they also look at our school climate
data to determine where we can improve. Every year we survey our kids and our families about the climate of the school and that data gives our work focus. We're focusing this year on helping kids have better relationships with one
another. Every child in our school also has a social goal. This is what some of them look like. Recognizing your own feelings. Using strategies to calm yourself down if you're upset. I could probably use some of those. Working well with others. And what does
that look like? listening, waiting your turn, using respectful words, taking deep breaths, using eye messages. All of these skills are age appropriate, developmentally appropriate, but they're also things families can practice at home. Whether
you're playing a game with your child or you're helping your child manage their emotions or determine what the best way is to respond, we do work to support this in a variety of ways. One thing that's cool about LP is we do something called family
circles. A family circle is a midlevel group of kids ranges from preschool all the way up to fourth grade. And we meet a few times a year. They have a family circles teacher who stays with them from preschool all the way up through fourth grade. So this is Miss Vogle's group.
Miss Vocal is one of our awesome preK teachers. So you'll see Dylan on the left who's in kindergarten. He'll be with Miss Vogle in the family circle every year through fourth grade. So this year, the family circle kids will give each other feedback on their social
goals. If you're a fourth grade child like Emily, maybe you give feedback to Dylan about how to be successful when you're playing with your friends, how to wait your turn, what to do if you feel upset about someone cutting in the lunch
line, how do you manage those emotions? It also helps kids develop relationships with people throughout the building. So, it's not just your teacher that you know or the kids in your classroom that you know. You can say hi to the kids you know from your family circle, from your
family circle teacher. In each classroom, there are systems in place to recognize kids making positive social choices. For example, in the right you see a fourth grade classroom. They have these little jars, these little glasses on
their desk. And every time kids are making good choices, the teacher's giving them a plastic straw. Again, think about that visual collective efficacy. Kids seeing each other be successful for the right reasons. In other classrooms, it's a
classroom economy where the teacher might have dollars they hand out and the kids can choose different rewards. You'll notice unfortunately inflation has come to Livingston Park. Some rewards are now a little bit more expensive. It's a rough economy folks.
You know, that's where we are. We also do things schoolwide. So, under Mrs. Van Langan's leadership, we are a PBS school. What that means is we actively teach kids our school values. What are our school values? We're
peaceful. We're respectful. We include others. We're determined. We don't give up when work is hard. And we give our very best work every day. We show excellence. We call it cougar pride. So, how this works is we actively teach
kids what cougar pride looks like in different parts of the school. What does it mean to have cougar pride on the school bus? What does it mean to have cougar pride in the cafeteria? What does it mean to have cougar pride in the hallway?
We actively teach the kids what that behavior should look like. And when they show us those behaviors, we give them something called a possum ticket. And the possum ticket is the teacher's way of giving feedback specifically to that child, saying, "Hey, I see you doing the
right thing. I see you making a good choice. I see you not giving up on that assignment." And every Friday, what happens is we pick one winner in each class. They come on down right here. It's a big event. Friday 2:15. Come on
by. And they put their tickets in the pawometer. The pawometer stays up here because we need everybody to see kids making good choices. And the one winner in each class, they get a prize every week. PBS for the kids, if you ask them,
they would say, "Yeah, I can win a prize. What it's really about is sending the message to kids of, hey, there are adults here who see you doing the right thing. They care about you and they recognize you for doing the right thing.
It's not about the trinket. It's not about the bracelet or the bouncy ball you might win. It's about knowing that you are loved and cared for in the school you come to every particular day. Now,
when we reach schoolwide goals, we do really special things. So, for example, last year we had a student faculty basketball game for our third graders. They were our top earners for the particular time period. Um, it was a
close game. Kids won. We may have a shot this year. They lost their best player to free agency. We'll see. We even brought in a miniature golf course to our school and that was a
schoolwide reward where the kids could play rounds of miniature golf because we reached over 50,000 possum tickets last year. It's only November. We're already at 12,600 tickets. The kids here at Livingston Park, they
make good choices and we recognize them for it. But there is a special group of kids that I want you to know about. a very special group. Many of the kids here have been in this group a couple times and I've brought in one of our
very very distinguished people to tell us about it. One thing that we do that's really special is every January, Miss Prior recognizes kids for peacefulness, the peacemaker award.
Again, a big display collective efficacy of kids doing the right thing and sending the message to everyone in our school community. Yes, you can be successful. You'll see it every single Friday
when we recognize kids to be the student of the week. And a few times a year, we do something really special. And here to tell us about what that is as my guy Jaden. Jaden, come on down.
Now, I had to ask Jaden and his sister Hazel to come tell us about what it means to be a Cougar Champ because this is something really special. And Jaden has won multiple times to no one's surprise because he and Hazel are both wonderful
models of what this looks like. So, Jaden, tell us about what it means to be a Cougar Champ. Um, being a cougar champ means showing kindness, respect, and doing our best every day. Not just our in class, but everywhere in our school. A cougar champ
is someone who is peaceful, respectful, inclusive, determined, and excellent. That means we help others, work hard, and always try to do the right thing, even when it's not easy. To me, being a Cougar Champ means being a leader. Not
the loudest person, but someone who listens, helps, and keeps a positive attitude. I want to say thank you to my teachers for helping me learn, my classmates for being awesome, and my family for cheering me on. And thank you to the board of education for making our
school such a great place to grow and shine. Thank you. So, what happens? What happens when you've got really great teachers with a rigorous curriculum with differentiated instruction? What happens
when kids have goals and big expectations? What happens when the school climate is supportive of kids and recognizes them, cares for them? We get good results. I always like to look at our fourth graders as a barometer for
how I'm doing as a principal, how we're doing as a school. These are our fourth grade angels results. You'll notice the kids who are in the did not meet or partially met category are going down
in both math and language arts. Look where they're going up. We have a six-point gain in math for kids who met or exceeded expectations. A 17point gain in ELA.
That's the result of teachers working really hard. That's the result of kids working really hard. It's the result of families supporting their education. And we are so proud of them. We dive into this data a lot deeper. We look at all
different groups of kids, boys, girls, kids with disabilities, kids who are learning English, and that is a group of kids that's near and dear to my heart that I always pay a lot of attention to. So, I want to give you a few anonymous examples and show you how a child
progresses through time at Livingston Park. So, these are three students. We'll call them students A, student B, student C. Student A is a multilingual learner. As you know from Mrs. Chang, multilingual kids also take a test
called the Access test. Student A came to us in second grade in 2023. Access is a score where the highest score you can earn is a six. You exit ESL services at 4.5. He was in our dual
language program when he first came. First year 2.2, second year 4.0, third year 6.0. Top of your head, how many years do you think it takes to learn another language
fluently? Any guesses? For most people, it takes six years to really master a second language. We have dual language kids doing it in two. Awesome. I actually ran into this young
man. I had a meeting at Lynwood a couple days ago. I was so excited to see this student and I I asked him, "How's it going at Lynwood? How's fifth grade going?" And I expected him to say, "Wow, you know, the English is really hard." His biggest concern was, "I've got to manage seven teachers now. How do I do
this? I went from one to seven." Take a look at NJSLA. Third grade he had a 737. Fourth grade 759. That's above the school average. Look at
English. Went from a 747 to a 762. Student B is also a multilingual student. Student B was with us in kindergarten. By second grade, he tested out of ESL.
Look at these math and ELA results. Third grade, he was at 762. Kept growing. 771 in fourth grade. Look at English. Third grade, he was at 733.
Fourth grade, 762. We often times we get a stereotype in our mind of if a child is a multilingual student, they're going to struggle. not at Livingston Park. They're going to be challenged. They're going to be supported. They are going to be
cherished by bilingual teachers, dual language teachers, ESL teachers who are going to push them really hard. I think about our students who are classified. Here's an example. Student C. Third grade math score was a 712.
Fourth grade 749. That's a 37 point gain in one year. ELA went from a 688 to a 725. Kids are growing here tremendously
because they have exceptional caring teachers who are supporting them. I think about our dual language kids. We started dual language a number of years ago because this famous study by Collier and Thomas shows us of all the different
ways we can teach multilingual kids, dual language will get the best results. I asked one of our fourth graders and her her dad, Dr. Santag, to tell us a little bit about what their experience in the program has been like.
>> How the dual language program has benefited me is I get to have friends from different Hispanic backgrounds. I'm able to understand when my friends are sad, mad, or another feeling. I can
understand what happens because I I asked them in Spanish. I love my >> We have really enjoyed the dual language program at Livingston Park because it has helped our daughter
maintain and encourage uh her pride in her Mexican culture that we teach her at home. Okay. So LP, you may not know this, maybe you do. We have the largest multilingual population in the district.
21% of our kids are multilingual learners. And that community is a powerful community for us. Every February, we celebrate them. We have a breakfast for our multilingual families. Of our 108 families, we had about 95
come to our school breakfast last year. Think about that. 95 families. We had so many kids here. It was amazing. It was Mrs. Hustain and Miss Keerman and Mrs. Rakus working hard to make all of these families feel
comfortable and welcomed in our school. They are a wonderful source of support for us and because it's such a big part of our school population, we really care about how those families, how those kids are doing. So, at the end of the day,
when that day comes in June and it's time to say goodbye to our fourth graders, I can't help but feel a little bittersweet at those days. I look at all these smiling faces. I look at a hundred
kids, 100 families who are happy, and I see a lot more than successful fourth graders. I see preschool kids who ran out of the car to give Mrs. Bisagnano a hug in the morning because they were so excited to see her. I see
Miss Nigro going to their birthday parties, each and every one of the kids. I see these kids cheering on Miss Torres because she was the teacher of the year. I see their families liking Mrs. Dro's
posts on Parent Square because they are the most creative and colorful posts in the entire district. I see Miss Polarmo giving them a pep talk before they gave their speech in student council. I see Miss Dilva making them laugh because she
uses silly sounds and voices in her lessons. I see Mrs. beg our preschool pair professional sneaking little origami toys into their book bag because she knows they don't have toys at home. I see Mrs. Reynolds inviting them to the
Somerset Patriots because they're the most improved reader in their class. I see Mrs. Povich dressing up in the Cougar Champ outfit to give them a hand at the Cougar Champ ceremony. I remember the moment before the concert where Miss
Facelman gave them a pep talk and helped them find their voice in song. I see Mrs. Hustnine with 108 goodie bags all over her living room getting ready for the ESL breakfast. I see Mrs. Mills
singing songs to them in the hallway so they remember the rules. I see all of these kids. I also see the teacher who didn't sleep the night before because their family just had a parent who was
taken by ice. I see the child who comes to school hungry and the teacher snip gives them an extra snack. I see the family who needs extra love and support and is embraced by this community. I see the
work of really special adults. I see the work of Mr. Anderson who's here tonight. Mr. Anderson is one of the most reliable and exceptional substitutes we have in this district. Mr. Anderson is a retired
veteran. He's a former corrections officer. He's a former police officer. So I said, "You know where you'd be good? Kindergarten." And let me tell you, he is such a special man. He is the most kind,
gentle, loving man. He gets here. He almost beats me to school every day. Usually, it's Mrs. Blair and Mrs. Alvarez who race me in in the morning, but Mr. Anderson's not far behind, but it's something special when you can walk into a kindergarten class and watch the
kids swarm Mr. Anderson because they love him and he makes their day every single day. I may or may not have told him he's not allowed to substitute in any other schools, which I think the board would agree is
an appropriate policy. We'll see. I see Mrs. Vano. I see people who started with us as parents, became paraprofessionals, and decided this is the place I want to be a teacher. This is the community I want to support.
I see teachers like Mrs. Saber who basically taught herself Spanish to reach our multilingual kids in her work, her dedication. When I look at those kids graduating, I see the work of exceptional leaders like
Mrs. Van Langan, Mrs. My. If you walk past Mrs. Van Langan's office, I want you to notice all the pictures she's taken of our school. The pride that she has in what our teachers are doing, what our kids are doing radiates in her
interactions. We are in a relationship business and the way she has built relationships with our kids and our teachers has been inspiring. I see Mrs. My who, God lover, can handle just about
any situation. She is always calm. She's cool. She's collected. She's rational and that's just when she deals with me. She's even better with the kids. >> She is a powerful role model for our our
young girls. She helps kids learn academically. She is a tremendous teacher and even better administrator. I look at our teachers and I see leaders. I see people who are going to be the
next leaders of our district in the years to come. LP is a school where people come to learn. Kids return when they graduate. We've got a lot of North Brunswick kids here who are now North Brunswick teachers. I see people who become pair
professionals. Pair professionals who become teachers. Teachers who become grade level leaders. I see deans who become directors. I see directors who become principles. We cultivate our
leaders here. So when I see our school and I see those hundred kids graduate every June, I see the collective actions of people working better together. Teachers staying up late, board members agonizing over what is the right
decision for us. I see parents coming to school events. I see kids earning pawsome tickets. I see everybody working together determined to achieve their goals. And I know that we
will because when we work together, we do better. I see parents like Mrs. Miranda, who I have to point out because she is exceptional. Every single time we have a school event, she is here and she
usually brings food, which I appreciate. You may have noticed I hope Mayor Wulmarmac isn't watching because if she ran for mayor, she might just win. She knows everybody in the school. And if I found that if I need to
find a resource for parents, if I need to identify where to go in the community to help someone, I can talk to Jesse. So, I see parents coming to support their kids in our school. We have the best
parents in the district. I see families coming to events. I see families reading with kids. I see families celebrating art, music, computers, robotics skills. In the end, when you think about Livingston Park, we are better together.
We're better because of the people in this community. We're better because of this board. We're better because of these teachers. And most importantly, we're better because we get to serve all these kids. Okay. So, thank you for listening to me
rant about Livingston Park for however long this has been, and we appreciate the opportunity to tell you about our school. On behalf of the board, Mr. Dawson, the exceptional staff, uh I think point well taken. you are better together and we
thank you for articulating such a wonderful message, giving us a great insight that we couldn't read in the many reports that filled out. We couldn't see it in just a video. We had to experience it and certainly thank you for allowing us to experience the magic
of LP and thank all of you for coming as staff members. Long days you came here just to hear about the things you live every day. So on behalf of the board again and to all from all our parents, thank you for allowing us to have your
most cherished treasure and um continue to work together because together we're better. So thank you, Mr. Dawson. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Mr. Dawson. In uh my time on the board, we've seen many of these
presentations at conference meetings, and I have to say by far this was one of the best that I've seen in my five and a half years of being on the board. So, thank you for what you do. This was such a great picture for all of us to see
what makes your school go around every day. You have great staff, great administrators, and your students are even better. And I see some future public speakers that may take over for
us one day up here. So maybe so thank you all so much. What a great school. And I definitely might have to take you up on the offer to put it out there to come for one of those math lessons because I would personally love
that myself. So thank you. Um, we have a couple of um items of business to get to this evening. So, we will move to our meeting minutes. Uh, Mr. Carter, would you please take item six?
>> Uh, yes, Madam President. I'd like to make a motion to approve the following board minutes. Regular public meeting minutes, October 29th, 2025. Executive meeting minutes, October 29th, 2025. >> Second. >> All in favor? I
>> Is anyone opposed? All the minutes are accepted. >> Thank you. Do we have any communications this evening, Dr. Zakowski? >> No, Madam President. >> Okay. Thank you. We'll move to our reports item eight. Um assuming we have no old or new business because you went
into your administrative report. We can move to our student reports. >> Favorite report. >> Good evening. >> Good evening. Thank you. Um tonight is a lot shorter than usual, so >> Okay, that's good. Um, last weekend on November 14th and 15th, the Alchemist Theater Company
performed their fall play. This year was almost made. Everyone involved did an amazing job in making the play come to life. And this year, the show is absolutely spectacular as usual, and it had great attendance. The Key Club and Power Club sponsored a food drive this past these past couple weeks. With their help, Thanksgiving meals will be given
to families in our Raider home plate program, and all the rest of the food will be given to North Brunswick Food Bank. This food drive was incredibly successful and I was in the SG office the other day and every we have like a couple like dining table sized tables in there and every table was like filled
with like stacks of like cans and things like touching like almost the ceiling. Wow. >> It was insane to see and it's just amazing our school support community around us. >> Excellent. >> Uh SGO sponsored our fall blood drive Tuesday, November 11th with assistance
from students and staff. The New Jersey Blood Center collected 53 pints of blood which can help almost 150 people in local hospitals. And then on November 12th, SGO sponsored our annual powder pup event. The sophomores in SGO met in the finals. Um the sophomores and
juniors met in the finals and the juniors uh coming out with the victorious win um the third year in a row. We will see if they come out for the fourth and win again. >> Great. Thank you so much. We always love learning hearing what's going on at the high school.
>> Madam President, may I just add Mia? I know you are one of our leaders at the high school, but didn't come to the elementary schools, right? >> I did. >> Yeah. But Gracand is a graduate from Livingston Park. >> So, I just thought maybe we ask how do you feel about
>> representing? I feel great. >> A lot has changed. >> Yes, >> a lot has changed since I've been here. >> But Mr. Dawson, we have one of your alum from LP, Gracland, just representing the student body in North Brunswick High
School. So, thank you, Grayson, and thank you, Mia. >> Thank you very much for your report, girls. All right, we have our committee uh reports. Our committees met this month. Uh we'll start with human resources. Dr. Patel.
>> Uh thank you, Madam President. The human resources committee relations committee met on Tuesday, November 11th to discuss various personnel topics. For those on tonight's agenda who are retiring, the board thanks them for their service and wishes them well. We would like to express our gratitude to Parson's principal, Miss Diana Whan, who has
announced her retirement effective at the end of the school year. We are appreciative of her almost 30 years of service to NBT schools. There are new staff and substitute hires on tonight's agenda. We welcome all of those new members to our district and we look forward to having you work with us here in North Friends. As of our committee
meeting, any remaining vacancies for the 2025 2026 school year continue to be in the interview stages and will be posted until filled. All of our current openings can be found on our district website, social media pages, and posted in each of our buildings. For any teaching positions, alternate route, and
traditional route, candidates are both encouraged to apply. We discuss any current and opening leaves of absences and how those positions may be filled via daily subs long-term sub six teaching periods. Dr. Mr. Zakowski and Miss Kea discussed that the district has
received the professional certification grant from the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey, which will include full tuition reimbursement for some of our teachers seeking additional certifications in areas of special education, math and sciences, bilingual
ESL areas, and bilingual ESL areas. The acceptance of this grant can be found on tonight's agenda. We also discussed another potential opportunity and continued partnership with the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey and Kain University regarding any of our prior professionals interested in
seeking a teaching certificate. We look forward to hearing more about that in the coming months. Lastly, the committee toured a staff health center in a neighboring district to examine potential models for examining on-site health services for our employees given
our status as a self-insured school district. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Dr. Patel. At this time, we will jump to education. Uh stepping in for uh Mr. Ali is Vice President James.
>> Hello. Good evening. The education committee met what on Wednesday, November 12th, and we had a short agenda reviewing some policies for both first and second reading. policies for first reading were the interd district public school choice, the library material, the
resource materials, and the public complaints policies. And for second reading, we reviewed uh the promotion and retention policies. And that concludes that report. >> Thank you. Uh Mr. Carter, business operations. >> Uh yes, the business operations
committee met on Wednesday, November 12th. Uh, we received status updates on multiple projects related to the referendum and the timing of our upcoming audit report. On the agenda this evening, you'll find the following items. Finance item 3F to amend a purchase order. Finance item 3J related
to pool rental contracts and second readings of policies 8600 and 8601 located in policy section 1B related to student transportation and dismissal. That all >> thank you. Um, in regarding uh New
Jersey school boards and Middle Sex County School Boards, there uh quick report for Mr. Laori who is not here this evening. There is a county uh school boards meeting at the beginning of December, believe it's December 3rd. Uh my fellow board members and I also
attended workshop uh 2025 in Atlantic City uh for New Jersey school boards. We attended many networking events, uh, courses, and it was a great, um, opportunity to get our group together, um, for some professional learning as
well as, um, team building and bonding. So, thank you for everyone that attended. Um, I don't believe we have any other reports at this time. So, um, Mr. Wen, would you please take item number nine? >> Yes, Madam President. I'd like to make a
motion to approve the administrative, student, and committee reports. >> Second. All in favor? I. Is anyone opposed? All the reports are accepted. >> Thank you, Miss Hawk. At this time, we will review our agenda for the evening. Um, as stated at the beginning of the
meeting, our team has received the agenda prior to tonight's meeting. Um, we will go page by page. We've all seen this before. Any changes are in bold. Um, so we will start on page two and
three. pages four and five. There's some bolded items on page five, pages six and seven, eight and nine, 10 and 11. pages 12 and 13
and wrapping up on page 14. So, at this time, we'll have a public session on agenda items only. If anyone from the audience would like to come up and address the board, this is now the time to speak on agenda items only. We just ask that you state your name and
you'll be given three minutes. >> Seeing none, can we please have a motion to close the public portion of the meeting? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Is anyone opposed? This session is closed. >> Thank you. Um, Miss Ke, would you please
take item 13, consent agenda? Yes, Madam President. I'd like to make a motion to approve the following consent agenda items, personnel, curriculum, miscellaneous, finance items one through three, policy and transportation. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. W. I will do a roll call.
Mr. Carter, >> yes. >> Miss James, >> yes. >> Miss Keith, >> yes. >> Dr. Patel, >> yes. >> Miss Toth and Mr. W. >> Yes. >> Uh, all the motions and resolutions are accepted and approved. >> Thank you.
Okay. At this time, we will jump to page 13, item 14. We'll have a public session on any matter. At this time, I'll open it up to the public. If anyone from the audience would like to come and speak to the
board on any matter, we ask that you go up to the podium, state your name, and you'll be given three minutes. Okay. Seeing none, can I please have a motion to close this portion of the meeting? >> So moved. >> Second. >> I'm sorry. Was that Miss James? >> Yes.
>> And Mr. Carter? >> Yes. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> Anyone opposed? This session is closed. >> Thank you. We will be striking out item 15 on the agenda. We will not be going into close session this evening.
So at this time um we'll also strike item 16 as we do not need to open our meeting again. So if there is nothing else at this time we will thank Mr. Dawson and his team again. Thank you so much for having us here this evening.
Thank you all for being here. Students, thank you for staying out late tonight. And we ask that um we will adjourn our meeting. So can we please have someone adjurnn? >> So move >> second.
>> All in favor? Is anyone opposed? We are returned. >> Thank you so much.