[Applause] Ren Sumner, Eastston Shano, Justin Viola, Liam Carney, Max
Allesi, Nathan Griffin, Priyanka Anumula, Stella Paleo, Yug Patel, Anika Ayair,
Campbell Pinard, Harper Davis, Lassia Vanipurapu, Lucy Bernard, Megan
Cecil, Nico Rodriguez, Rashi Agawal, Tomas Marquez, Zara Matin, and Michaela
[Applause] Opang those big smiles. I love it. Okay, terrific. Thank you, Home Squad members. Oh. Oh, yes. Board of me, come on over. Okay, we're good.
[Applause] And lastly, I'd like to take the opportunity to recognize a community member, Erica Holler. Erica is a passionate advocate for student wellness and has been instrumental in bringing Hope Squad to Robbinsville. She not only
introduced the program to our district, but she also secured the funding to make it possible. Erica, thank you for your continued support and dedication to our students and families. I just wanted to say a quick thank you. Um, so I'm so incredibly proud of the
Robinsville students for stepping up to support one another and for committing to build a strong and compassionate school culture and build on the amazing school culture that you already have. Um, reaching out to provide support for
your peers is a very noble cause. Um, to the parents who raise and encourage these amazing young people, the adviserss who walk alongside them, and the school staff who made room for their leadership, thank you to the board of education. Thank you for believing in
this work and making space for programs that truly change lives. And to Mrs. Bratundo, your unwavering commitment has been the driving force behind this initiative. I'm humbled to have played even a small role in what you've made possible. As the Hope Squad program
grows and its impact becomes undeniable, I have one small request. Please share our contact information with other districts in your network. Your students interact with peers from neighboring communities every day through sports,
clubs, and shared programs. You now hold the baton in a powerful relay. You can impact countless communities simply by sharing what's working. So, Hope Squad doesn't just create change in schools.
It shapes lifelong skills in empathy, resilience, and advocacy. The ripple effect that Robinsville can set in motion today will follow students into college, their careers, and every community they touch. So, thank you very
much for this opportunity. [Applause] Um, Erica, thank you so much for being here
tonight. You have taken the tragedy of losing Jordan and turned it into a mission to carry on her name and strength. You are a testament to the resilience and the beauty from a transformative tragedy and our students are better for the
opportunities that you have brought to our school. We are forever grateful. Thank you so much to the students here in this audience who are future hope squad leaders and thank you to the parents for taking on this amazing opportunity alongside them. Thank you so
much. On behalf of the board, we have some flowers here for you as well. [Applause] Okay, thank thank you very much. Um, as we know, uh, mental health is is such an important topic and I appreciate
everyone for the for the work they've they've done in this area. Okay. Next, uh, next we have the Robinsville Public Schools Educators of the Year and Educational Service Professionals of the Year recognition.
I'd like to call our principal and also other leaders up to the uh microphone to make the presentation. I'm here tonight because Miss Molly Every could not be. Um, but I couldn't be more proud to give a brief
introduction to two staff members at the high school who definitely have impacted many students, but specifically um, some of our special education students. Um, neither of these staff members unfortunately are here tonight. Um, so I'm just going to share briefly and then
I am going to pass the mic. Um, so our educator of the year at the high school this year is Jenna Marie Kikia, who is a high school health and PE teacher. Um, and also a coach. Uh, in Miss Avery's words, Jenna exemplifies the kind of
educator and coach that every student deserves. A dedicated professional, she consistently elevates those around her through her commitment, passion, and leadership. As a coach, she serves as a positive role model for the young athletes on our teams, instilling values
of teamwork, discipline, and integrity. During her time at RHS, Jenna has played a pivotal role in strengthening the health and PE department with a particular focus on enhancing the adventure education strand. She's also a strong advocate for inclusive education,
leading the unified HPE course, uh, which is a program at the high school that pairs special education and general education students, um, as peers within their PE class. Uh, thanks to Jenna's vision, her energy, and inclusive
mindset, this course has become one of the most soughtafter offerings in the HPE department at RHS. Um, Also to be honored uh this year is Tammy Woodward, who is one of our
instructional aids at Robinsville High School. Couldn't be more proud of Tammy. Um she's known for her kind heart, her energy, uh her unwavering work ethic. She always brings positivity and
commitment to everything that she does. Um she's always seeking ways to grow professionally and to deepen her understanding of the unique needs of all of our students, which is something I really respect tremendously. Um she is also a unified play advisor. Um like the
unified PE at the high school, this is a program um that fosters an inclusive school community uh through the Special Olympics unified champions schools program. It brings together students with and without disabilities to
participate in shared activities, promoting social inclusion and understanding. Um, Tammy is also a familiar face at uh student events and activities that take place outside of the classroom and outside of school
hours. She's become a true staple in our high school community, always ready to support, connect, and celebrate our students. [Applause] Okay, next we have Mr. Gizo coming up.
Good evening everybody. Uh, thank you so much for honoring our educators of the year. Um, they're welld deserved and those are the people who are on the front lines every single day. So, they deserve all this credit and more. So, the Ponro Middle School teacher of the year is Lisa Wilkinson.
[Applause] Lisa is a fantastic teacher in our math department. She has taught seventh and eighth grade students in her 16 years at Pond. The strength of her content knowledge is only outshined for her care by her care for her students. Through
the years, she has become a leader in her department and a strong voice as an advocate for her students. Now, Lisa would be very disappointed in me if I did not share something about her voice. Um, so when Lisa first started, we all used to joke that Lisa never met me met met a sentence she didn't like. Um, and
I'm not going to turn around and ask her husband if that's true or not. I'm stay forward. Okay. But what amazing thing happened over the years with Lisa. Um, she acted with more a forethought. She talked about and thought about things. Then all of a sudden, mysteriously, her voice became
more heard. It became more prominent. And now she's a voice that's always heard because it's a very respected voice in the department and in the school. The following is one of the most truly impressive aspects of Lisa. She's an ongoing survivor of the math placement
wars. But even at Carori, Lisa remains consistent. She continues to advocate for kids, voicing to students and parents alike best fits for students in their mathematical educational arc. She will continue to be a strong voice and a mentor to novice teachers as she continues to learn, grow, and lead. As a
principal, one of the most important things you do is hire teachers. These are the people one chooses to be in front of your children in order to give them one of the most important gifts to be bestowed, a strong education. Lisa was a great hireer. She's a phenomenal
teacher and an even better person. Lisa [Applause] Williams. Come on. Okay. All Ally Timonss is bleed your name already. Um is our school nurse and although only with us for a relatively
short time, Ally has made a huge positive impact on our school. She has revamped our emergency procedures, streamlined daily procedures for the health office, and has taken an active role in school improvement initiatives. Now, I have to tell you, this is the first time I've seen Ally not wear
sneakers. Um, and here's the reason why is because when these emergency procedures are implemented, all you feel is a burst of wind and she's gone. Um, it's kind of insulting though. She's like, "Paul, watch the office." I guess she doesn't trust my speed. Um, but she
gets there in the nick of time every time and always does what's right for our students. She also does not confine herself in the nurse's office. She is a part of our PBSIS committee and although she doesn't know it yet, has volunteered to be a member of our district wellness committee. Congratulations on
that. She treats every student and staff member that walks through her door with poise and dignity, even if the student is just trying to get out of class. She functions extremely well as part of the team in the main office. She has a voice, but is also confident enough to listen and consider all opinions. She
will continue to be a great asset at Pond for the years to come. All Okay, next we have our Sharon Elementary School principal, Dr. Boutier. Good evening, Dr. Piso, members of the board. So excited to be here tonight.
one of our favorite meetings of the year where we get to celebrate our educators. Uh we are going to start uh with our Sharon School educator of the year, Miss Emily Dagel. Since joining Sharon Elementary School as a fourth grade teacher in 2019, Miss Emily Dagel has consistently
demonstrated excellence in teaching and a deep commitment to her student success. Her classroom is a beacon of warmth, inclusivity, and growth where every child feels safe and valued. Emily's unwavering dedication to fostering an inclusive environment ensures that all learners, regardless of
their backgrounds or abilities, are met with support, respect, and encouragement. In her classroom, Emily fosters a growth mindset, encouraging her students to embrace challenges, and view mistakes as opportunities of learning. Her ability to build strong,
meaningful connections with her students is evident in the mutual respect and trust they share. Students eagerly participate in her lessons, know their voices will be heard, and their efforts celebrated. Beyond the classroom, Miss Dagel contributes to Sharon School's
community. She's a member of our PBSIS team, works tirelessly to promote to promote positive behavior support initiatives. She also serves as our PTA liaison and further exemplifies her dedication to fostering homeschool connection. The impact of Miss Dagel's
work is reflected in the admiration and affection of her students who thrive under her guidance. Her classroom is more than a place of learning. It's a sanctuary where students feel empowered to grow academically, socially, and emotionally. And I know this because of the time I spend in there. and in August
when my phone rings and all incoming fourth graders want to be placed in Miss Dagel's classroom. For her exceptional teaching, commitment to professional growth and profound influence on our school community, Miss Emily Dagel is a deserving candidate for our teacher of the year. She embodies the best of what
it means to be an educator and everything Robinsville stands for. We are fortunate to have you as our team member. like to point out Emily is joined by her parents, her roommate, and some of her colleagues tonight. So, thank you for celebrating with
us. Next, I would like to call up Miss Jennifer Kramer. Miss Kramner is our educational service professional of the year. So she's known as Miss Kramner at school by her students, but everyone at Sharon knows her as Jenny. So Miss Jennifer Crowner
is a dedicated reading specialist. She plays a transformative role in the lives of her students. Jen has an unwavering commitment to literacy. She has helped countless children unlock the power of reading and develop the confidence they need to thrive academically. Her work
extends far beyond her small group instruction. It's personalized, datadriven, and her deep connections with students empowers everything she does. Her expertise in reading and spelling enables her to tailor her teaching to the unique needs of each
student. What sets Jennifer apart is her ability to build strong, trusting relationships with families. She maintains regular communication. She keeps parents informed about their child's progresses, progress, challenge, and success. This open line of communication not only empowers families
to support their children's learning at home, but it also strengthens our partnership. Miss Crowner serves as a vital resource for classroom teachers. She provides invaluable insights and strategies and helps support struggling readers in the classroom and in her
small group. Her collaborative spirit and dedication to her professional growth inspire everyone around her and contributes to our culture of continuous improvement and learning at Sharon. Jenny's passion for literacy and her dedication to student success are evident in everything she does. Her
positive impact reaches far beyond her students. It reaches to her colleagues. Miss Jennifer Crowner is a deserving candidate and we are proud to call her our educational service professional of the year. Congratulations, Jenny. We're going to call um all of our um
educators of the year up and administrators so we can take a quick picture. Okay, we're going to be having a presentation from school boards on the board goals. So, we'll be uh ready to get started again in another minute or so.
Good evening everybody. It's so good to see you. Congratulations on completing another year and um you have your new superintendent. So hopefully everything's going well. And we generally will do a um transition
workshop within a few weeks of the superintendent starting. We didn't get to do that. And so I wanted to come in and talk to you all about district setting district and board goals. Okay. So we're I I was asked if I could do this in 45
minutes. So let's see. Okay. So what we really want to do is set the court for course for student success, staff success, and district success. So we have to think about the things that we've accomplished. What needs additional focus in the upcoming year? what are their priorities that
really reflect our core values and what can we do to address any kind of learning gaps. So, we know that over the course of the past few years, especially through COVID, we've learned a lot about school culture and climate. We've learned a lot about student mental health awareness and health needs,
recruiting and retrain and retaining high quality staff and also parental commitment to the education of their children along with other things. So this stairstep model I'm going to go through quickly because I think you understand this from the get-go because
we've talked about this before. So your strategic planning goals are really the basis for everything that you do. So you can either think of them at the bottom as the building blocks and moving up or you can think of them at the top and everything cascading down. So from strategic planning goals come your
district goals that they inform your board of education goals which informs your administrators goals, department goals and building goals. Then you have teacher and classroom goals and that all leads to student achievement um which leads to increased student
success. So one of my favorite Yankees, I apologize to anybody who's not a Yankee fan here. My Yankees are doing very very well right now. So I'm very happy. Um but Yogi Barrow once said if among many other things that he very
said in in his great wisdom, if you don't know where you're going, you might end up someplace else. So that's why we really want to set goals so that we know exactly where we're going to. Everybody's all working towards the same um end goal and we can get there
together. So tonight we're going to talk about the district goal setting. That's usually done in May, June, and July. So you're right on time for that. Then the superintendent and the administrative team will develop action plans for those district goals. Then you'll have reporting out on the progress of
district district goals. I usually recommend November, January, March, and then June. So that you have November, you'll have your first reporting out. You can hear how everything is going with the district goals and the action plans. Then January is a good time to do
this because you may have new board members and they should know what's going on, what your goals are, and where you are. And you're then halfway through. Then you'll have one again in March. You need the one in March because that's when you're getting ready to do the superintendent's evaluation. And Dr.
Piso has completed his part and I sent Mr. Olberg an email update today letting him know where the board stands in terms of their completion of those uh of the CSA evaluation as well. And then you want to have one in June so that you can report out and everything can you be
finished up and you report out on how things went over the year and also then to take a look at do we need anything to be carried over from the previous year's goals. Then you'll begin your so then in March you're going to begin the evaluation process which you did.
There's a brand new board self evaluation that you guys can use and I would encourage you to go in and take a look at that. I'd be happy to come in and review the findings of that with you. And then you'll have after the superintendent eval is done by at least
five board members or by the majority of the board um then you'll be able to have your evaluation compiled and I'll deliver it to uh Mr. Olberg in an email as I have done in the past. It's confidential, it's secure, it's um
password protected for the actual compilation of the superintendent's evaluation and lots of different resources that will help you all to get through the rest of the the process because getting that compilation back isn't the end. You then have to have an executive session where you've raised
the superintendent. You review the evaluation. You come up with a majority opinion that gets written into that annual summary report. I see you're shaking your heads. Yes, this is good. I love to see heads going. Yes. Um
and then you'll somebody will type that into the annual performance report. Then you'll have a second evaluate summary evaluation with the superintendent in executive session and that should be happening at the end of June at some point. But by certainly by July 1 because that's the deadline. That's the
statutory deadline. So goal development, the district goals usually have to do with program instruction, curriculum, staff development, professional development, staffing, um facilities, finance, communication, community engagement, those types of things. The district
goals belong to everybody once they're set, but the superintendent determines um the action plans for those. So the board and the superintendent come together to determine what it is they want to see happen in the district over the upcoming year and then the superintendent and the administrative
team determine how they're going to get you there and that's what those updates will be November, January, March and June. And then the board goals are set by the board to board to improve their processes and governance. So they usually have to do with process procedures, policy revisions, things of
that sort. So why do we set goals? They're create equity policy development. It helps you to move closer to the achievement of your vision and your mission. It identifies established priorities that you're all in line with
and collaborating with and on. Um it plans for implementation of programs and professional development for your staff. It allows you to have that periodic evaluation and reprogramming or recalibration if you need to. If something's not working well that was in
the action plan, you don't just just ditch it. you say, "Okay, this didn't work. We need to try something else." And then those action plans can be a little bit more fluid. And you can adjust if needed. And it also helps to provide effective communication both for board members, for your community
members, and for your staff and students. And then the accountability part through the superintendent's evaluation. So, we know that effective school boards define clear goals for student achievement and classroom instruction based on a vision of high expectations and shared beliefs and
values about what's possible for all of your students. So, then we have to think about what the focus should be. What's going to most dramatically accelerate student learning and improve and and address our opportunity gaps? What's our educational program? what it what needs
to be included in that to address specific learning needs of students and also the social emotional needs of students. Emerging mental health for students and for staff. What does our data show? What will need improvement in overall stu what will lead to
improvement in overall student success and how do we align our financial resources very importantly with our achievement plans for our students and to develop 21st century skills. So this is a list of 21st century skills and
then there's also the additional skills have come to us mainly through employers who are telling us what students who first come to them to work as what they need more of communication skills, leadership, teamwork, um how to get
along with one another, work ethic, time management, flexibility, problem solving, all of those kinds of things. So those are all things we want to take Whoops. take into consideration. So then we want to have that alignment of our vision, mission, our strategic
planning goals and our district goals. So we want to ensure that that's happening by reviewing vision, mission, strategic planning goals and last year this past year's district goals. So the mission really the vision really focuses on tomorrow and provides a destination.
It answers the question, what do we want to become? What do we want our district to become? What do we want our students to become? And then the mission defines how we're going to get there. So, it's really that simple. The vision is what do we want to become? And the mission is what do we do to achieve the vision the
the mission the vision um your mission statement. Robinsville Public Schools seek to provide an outstanding educational program for students, one in which inquiry, discovery, and the love of learning are cultivated while students develop strong academic and interpersonal
skills. And then your strategic planning goals are in effect until 2028. You may finish those earlier than 2028, but generally you have until 2028. And that focuses on instruction and program, your student and staff supports,
communication and community partners and facilities. So, we want the the prog we want to take a look at the progress that was made this past year, see if anything needs to be carried over. I've asked um Dr. PO for some proposed goals, district goals
for this upcoming year because he's been here now, believe it or not, five months. And so he probably has a pretty good handle, I would suspect, on what kinds of things he feels need to be focused on. And from that, we'll have that discussion. But we don't want there to be more than three to five goals,
district goals or board goals. And that's because if you have too many goals, you can't focus on any one particular thing. So again, we're going to review the progress and then to see if anything needs to be carried over. So the district goals on for 2425 based on
your your website were math and instruction and ha enhance math instruction and curriculum student and staff supports. And you can see how these are following along with your strategic plan. understand the importance of inclusivity and navigate differences to embrace embrace an
inclusive positive environment for all students and staff which would lead to a bullyfree environment. Facilities and finance increase revenue through innovative approaches and budget and finance. This one was more of a a board goal I felt because it had more to do
with the board's understanding of the budget and the financial um status of the district. But that was to enhance transparency in developing the 2526 school year budget to ensure board of ed members have a comprehensive understanding of the budget process,
allocation decisions, and financial projections and foster informed decision-making and greater community trust. So those were this past year. I don't know if you want to have a quick conversation about whether you feel there's anything that needs to be carried over from there or if you want
me to go right into the proposed goals that Dr. Piso has um provided to me. What's your pleasure? Just a quick second. We could just chat if there's anything that we want to hold over, right? I mean, we have one through
four, which are goals that we align to the strategic plan that we did two years ago or so. So, you know, of course, we still want to, in my opinion, have math and instruction, right? Instruction is important for our students. Um, but I
think all of these are still are still, you know, an imperative, but budget and finance right now is probably the key thing for our district because we can't do the other things without the budget and finance. So, it may be a little bit different than what
it says here, which is I think the board I think the the administration has done a great job being transparent with the board this year going through the process and making it clear as to how we got there. So, I thank them for for that and I would say we met that goal ve handily this year. So now it becomes
imperative for us as board members and ad with the administration to communicate it to the community now that we understand it better. So that would be the kind of the twist on that one is it's no longer a board focused goal, Marian. It's more of a board and administration communication to the
public goal. Okay. So I don't know how we work that in. That that's that's kind of how I I would take it for right now. I don't know if any other board members have an opinion on any of the other ones. I would say that the communication should also include the narrative of how we got
here and then also where we're headed in terms of um our financial needs as the district moves forward so that we could be fully transparent to the community about um although we have all of these curricular
goals, we we do have extreme needs as a as a community to come together in order to meet those goals. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. So again, the goals for 2526 are often going to come from your strategic
planning goals. anything that may need to be carried over from the previous year. The goals portion of the evaluation is going to be um the progress towards the achievement of the district goals. So that's something that's very important to have in there because the superintendent will be
evaluated on that come the spring of next year again, excuse me. And again, the action plans will be developed by the administration and the superintendent and those scheduled updates are really important so that you have that those progress reports and that they can word out to your students,
your staff, your parents, and your community members and to the board so that everybody is constantly aware of where we are. So, Dr. P quick quick question. So, we can share these slides with the community after the meeting. Absolutely. Okay, great. It's actually on the desktop. Perfect. So, we will
share this with the community so they can all you know that if it's hard to see or wherever it is, everyone will have it online. Okay. Dr. Piso, do you want to talk about the proposed goals? Um yes sure we had um we had sent this out with the the
weekly update with giving you know some ideas about what the administrative team uh felt would be some some areas to focus on. Uh we did have just going through quickly uh foreign language was something that we prioritized and that
we expanded uh the offerings down to the elementary level and also uh enhanced the middle school program uh starting for the next school year. So that was it was something that we uh that we did as part of our budget planning projecting
forward to next year to hopefully bring uh maybe uh to expand even even more so in coming years but we wanted to start with one language. Um we also um we have about uh you know student and and staff supports uh
understanding the importance of inclusivity uh navigate challenge is encountered by our students and that's something we've had a big focus on uh during my time here and and really before my time here uh you know watching from before I started but I think that's
so important and and that was why I thought looking at today highlighting mental health uh and every every month We every uh one of our meetings we try to highlight different groups. So um I think that's something that's uh that's important for us to
continue. We obviously want to continue doing everything we can to uh to raise revenue. This is a constant topic with uh with our with our outstanding BA uh with some of the work he's done expanding that. And we had looked at uh looking at doing different things with
program expansion. We uh uh you we we did have a proposal which now we're looking at you know what can we do? We're in the process of now amending and looking at at different alternatives and different strategies for moving forward. But um like I like I've shared and and I
think uh we have a strong belief in is that we are a very good district that can be great and uh that's uh so to to me that's a very important goal because ultimately uh the most important thing we do is educate our students and uh so looking at ways that we could expand
programs and uh identify different options. Every child must make their own path. And that's why it's so important for us as a district to be able to have various paths available to our students so that they could make their
way. So that's that's my uh my summary of where we wanted to have as a starting point. Board discussion. Uh so I have a few questions. Um the first just being something that I want
us to think about because I know we chose math as a focus area for last year. um curious to know if we could ground ourselves on like metrics and what opportunities based on like NJSLA scores I ready for um for ELA and why
jumping to uh world languages um be before maybe we look at ELA scores and how the the new NGSA scores are telling us how we're trending towards and that's yeah let me start off maybe
we could maybe Steve would answer a little bit further on that we uh with that obviously it's it's never a mission accomplished in regards to any one of these areas even though that we've we've made some some strides in the math area. I know that that Steve
is anxious to speak about this Dr. Wiznooki and and also Christie that that is something that's still something that we're working on. We didn't add that as a as a goal, but I definitely think that that's something that we could clarify as part of the goals, but that is
something that we're still continuing on. Yeah, I would I mean even if it's like excellence in English language and expansion of world language just so that it's we're we're still grounded towards success metrics for like you know the basics of ELA. Um, that's just one
thought. And the other one is, uh, number two, I noticed that some words were missing and I would much rather pull through the to lead a bullyfree environment towards the end just just so that that's really the end goal in building that inclusive environment. I love the language in the in last year's.
So, I would love for the pull through. Um, I also like the pull through from last year on keeping the increasing revenue through innovative approaches. And then my last comment was um the program expansion is a really interesting one. I think obviously this may have been built out and then edited
possibly, but just considering a little bit of the budget considerations, the steam and that expansion, I I'm hesitant to put that out there. I feel like it would be mixed messages given our budget concerns. So fit. Yeah. And and I think that you know
we we need to the the way I approach this and again it's my first time through and I'm I I'll admit that I'm I'm still uh learning with this process and how uh goals are developed here. uh but to me I look at things that what are we doing short term long term and and
along the way I don't think we can ever give up what our long range vision is and it's our job uh as the administrative team to identify a path to be able to achieve that. Now, we need to to develop different different uh
approaches and see what works best for our community. It works best for our board, but we need to have that overarching long-term goal of where we need to go, even if it's something that's a goal further down the road than the immediate year. And that's maybe more of my perspective than maybe kind
of fitting with the intention of this. And I think that we would have to amend to make sure that we match the expectation. But I always look at that long-term goal and you you always need where you need to define where it is that you need to go. So as you structure
those other goals, you always have that long range vision. So that was my intent. Yeah. Because there's there's some goals that you can't achieve in one year, right? Yeah. So you have to define clear milestones and and deliverables that you're going to be be comparing
yourself to for metrics to see that you have achieved the I see this as a phase, right? So the phase is the piece. So I think what Dr. Piso and the administration's proposing here is that they're going to define what that phase is and what that package for completion is in that phase because it's a longer
term goal than it is a you know to be completed in the in the one year. Is that is that kind of how I'm reading it? Yeah, abs. Absolutely. Is that you know we to me any any goal needs to have that overarching structure and we need to look at all those steps along the way.
Um so yeah that I think you perfectly captured the uh our intent. Yeah. No, I saw I saw and I appreciate the context because I think it's really important and I I saw the language of first phase of rigorous competitive aspect of it. And so I think it's really maybe a few more words on what that first phase is
so that there's clarity on that but it looks great. I mean agree the defined deliverable what's what's that what's that metric we're comparing it to makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. I was agreeing I was agreeing with N on that one. I think it's it's very important for us to
actually mention those metrics and then say where are we going from there from baseline to that particular target I think that's that's very important I think in here if you're publishing this I would just you know kind of at least make a note that you know that there will be some details which will actually
come through post this so that you know we don't want to actually have only this as our you know understood goals there is a lot behind this as I'm understanding yeah and and frankly one one of the things I want to mention is this is really just the goal itself we have on the spreadsheet a little bit
more detail. This is really to kind of get the the overarching flavor of this and and yes, so a lot of these pieces that you're speaking about uh are critical as what Nadia said as well and that will be be captured on this. Maybe it's not you know completely detailed in
this presentation but it is part of that spreadsheet which is a working document that we're you know going to take this information and and amend as we go forward and some of it's there some of it we would need to amend. Sorry one one last thing when when we when we present this we'll be uploading
this to the community right so we will be actually releasing this particular slides to the community these slides yes yeah so can we actually also mention about that particular excel sheet somewhere saying that it's we we should do that and the other pieces I don't mean to read ahead but they should be
smart in nature right so the smart part of the goal generally comes in the action plans right okay because that's when and you're going to get all of those details that I think you're all looking for. So, the goal statement is usually pretty broad and it kind of
gives an overview of what it is we're looking to do. And then within the action plans, you're going to have what are the major activities, who's responsible for it, what's the time frame for that and what are the resources that are needed to accomplish those and then how will we know that
that's been accomplished? What are the indicators of success? So that's going to be in the final document that you see from administration once those final action plans are put together and they're delivered to you. The important thing for the board to remember though
is that this is the what part. This is the what which you're responsible for along with the superintendent in determining what it is you want to see happen. Okay? And there can clearly be some amendments to this. And quite honestly, in 45 minutes, I'm not sure we're going to get to the, you know, the
real end of these. But to start the conversation, I think is what you all wanted to have tonight. So, putting this up can be, you know, this is this is the draft. This is the beginning of that that conversation that the board and
administration will have. But remember that the action plans do belong to the superintendent and to the administrative team. You're going to evaluate him in the spring on how he did towards achieving
the how. Okay? So, you don't want to get involved in the how. You want to leave that up to the superintendent. This is what we want to have happen over the next year. And then you're going to tell us how you're going to get us from here to, sorry, I always do that with a
microphone to there by the end of June of 2026. Okay. And then as I said, you get to evaluate the superintendent on how he did towards achieving the how. Okay. Amanda,
oh, green button. Three, facilities and finance. I'm just gonna piggyback off of Barb because I think that's the one thing I'm kind of look I I I appreciate all of uh the district goals and thank you. But I would like to see under
facilities and finance that there be an addition that states that we will engage community stakeholders in multiple experiences at multiple levels. I don't really know the language, but I think that what Barb was saying is uh the most
important thing going forward in this year. If we want to see all of our other goals moving forward, we're going to need to engage. And I know Dr. Po, oh my god, I hate you. Um and I know that Dr. Po will be amazing at that. So,
that's just something that I'm really looking forward and hopeful to. Thank you. So I think that goes back to what you were saying though about the how, right? So Dr. Piso would have to figure out the how to engage, but maybe part of the goal could be increasing community
um engagement or increasing community involvement or communication or whatever, however we want to phrase it, along the budgeting process or along um you know, a deeper understanding of our budgetary
needs as a community, I think would be really critical, especially as we move into the next two years, right? Because we're defining the mi the vision that piece is going to find the mission on how to get there, right? He he has to figure out with the team about
how to do that. Whether, you know, we're we're hosting, I don't know, um the state of the schools or we're hosting different events to engage the community. You know, that's the how part. But I I I agree that we need to add something in there. It's not just about increasing revenue if people are
not aware. Um, you know, and it's not just board meetings. We need to figure out other ways to make them aware. So, so one other part of this process, I know we only have 45 minutes tonight to do this piece, but usually we have a board retreat, Nick, that's in the
summertime. So, this is the start of the process. So, we wanted to get Maryanne out to define the start. And I I think we can invite Marian back for the retreat portion of it as well. also take a look at
it. Set aside one hour for that starter process. It is. So um the u we get together we'll go through it you know more appropriately that one
hour and talk back want because we're already I think you know we only usually have that one session a year for the for for goal setting and now we're we're trying to do a little bit more so I pl it's it's yes
it's usually in June I believe it's it's part of a board meeting right so it's already attached to So, it's just an hour longer board meeting, but um you know, we could look at if we want to do something a special board meeting for board retreat, we can do all those kind of things that's available to us and the
availability of the staff to accommodate or it's July this year. Okay. July 22nd. The the board goals are not due until July. I believe Dr. Piso's review is due July 1. So we have to do it next
month because it's a retrospective. Right. Right. So you're in the superintendent's eval. That's what needs to be done by July 1, the superintendent's evaluation. You have to show that you have a superintendent evaluation every year. That's an annual um statutory requirement. So once you
get that compilation back, so everybody who there's nobody that's conflicted, right? No. Okay. So everybody needs to go in. That's all been done. You all received an email saying you can go in and complete your portion because Dr. Piso has completed his right. Everybody
got that? Yep. Okay. So, you need to go in now and complete your portions. And I start tracking that and I'm sending Pete, Mr. Olberg, sorry, um an email every Monday and Friday that he's soon going to come to hate looking at his email on Mondays and Fridays because
there will always be something for me as to where you are in terms of completing it. But you need to be able to get that done so that you can have those two executive session meetings. Okay? It's not just completing it. I send it to you and boom, it's done. You need to
identify the majority opinion. So that needs to be at a board meeting in exec and then the that identification of the majority opinion needs to get typed into the summary document which then needs to be given to Dr. Piso a day or two before you have your next meeting. After a
board meeting in executive session, the board gets to address the superintendent. The superintendent gets to address the board. And if there's a minority opinion at that point in time, it gets to be spoken if those who have a minority opinion would like to speak it. Okay? So, you're respecting the minority
opinion while also respecting the majority opinion because it is the board that evaluates the superintendent. So, that's why that part is critical. Um, I would also propose that in any of your district goals that because
communication and um what was the it's communication and communication and community partners is part of the strategic planning goal that there be a communications component to each of the goal areas that whatever
those final four to five goal areas are that you set that there's a communications component within each of those because then you cover that communications piece from the strategic plan. Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Marian. First of all, I I never mind having an email from you, Marian. It's totally
fine. Uh number two, um just just just to re So, it's so we do his evaluation in June because it's the end of the year of the school year, right? And the beginning of the school year is July. So, we set our goals in July because that's what the mission we set the
vision for them to enact the mission, right, for the whole year. Right. And your goals go from July 1st to June 30th, right? Every year. unless they're multi-year goals and you that's what your strategic plan is. Your strategic plan is multi-year goals. So, you also want to be taking a look at the action
plans from the strategic plan and see what from there can be adapted and put into these the action plans for these four goal areas. Can hear my voice is still a problem. You need a bottle of water. No, it's just the vocal cord
thing. So, I will type up some of the suggestions that I'm hearing tonight. I've taken some notes and put that into a report that I'll send you tomorrow. You're welcome to put this up. I would add to this. Um, you may just want to add a slide at the very beginning that
says this is the beginning of our this is the draft of the beginning of our conversations regarding our district goals. so that when the community takes a look at it on the website, they understand that this is the beginning, this is the beginning part of that.
Okay? And we can further, you know, these discussions and committees and things are as appropriate based on what the goals are, right? So that way we're having these conversations throughout the next month or two. So when we come to the retreat, we're prepared to have that, you know, an informed discussion,
right? And everybody really needs to be um to have consent. You need to achieve consensus on this. So it may not be the first thing that you're looking for, but also remember that everything doesn't have to be a goal in order for the superintendent to address it. Okay?
You're looking for these four or five laser like focus areas that you want to really move on in the upcoming year. Okay. So I will type up some of this. The smart part of the goal is the
specific part. S is smart um as a specific I'm sorry M is measurable. So you'll see some measurement a avenues within each of those action plans for each of those goals. Whether it's attainable or not and when is it attainable. So what are those timelines
or what will those timelines be? Whether it's realistic is it really relevant to what you're trying to do overall as a district and then time based when do you want to achieve it and how will you know that it's been achieved. Okay. So the next steps would be once that those final goal statements
are developed, you'll administration will develop the action plans. They'll implement the and the board will approve the district goals. So you should adopt the district goals. You don't have to do anything with the action plans because those belong to the superintendent. But you should see those and be able to see
what's in the action plans. Okay? But you don't want to direct the superintendent within the action plans because then you can't evaluate him on that. Okay? Because if the board says, "We want you to go this way instead of going this way." And at the end of the
year, it wasn't possible. The superintendent could say, "If I had used my plan, I think we could have gotten there, but I used your plan." So then you wouldn't be able to evaluate on that. And then you're going to establish those dates for frequent progress reports. Okay? And then that's what our
action plan um template pretty much looks like. So I'm going to send that to you with a bunch of other things. After tonight, I'll put together a memo talking about some of the things that you all have talked about in terms of the goals. Hopefully that will add to the continued
conversation. And then hopefully by July, you'll be able to sit down and have that that conversation and come to a decision and finalize those district goals. So, so Marian, you'll send those to me or to the whole board? I'm gonna send them to you and I'm gonna ask you
to share them. Okay. And there'll be other resources in there, too. And on the left side of your packet, you have the um the strategic planning goals and all of the different objectives. I know that Jesse worked with Jesse um Jesse Owens, Jesse
Adams worked with you on wrong Jesse. Um and you have those action plans and they're also up on your website, so you can always refer to those as well. Okay. Any other questions for me? Yes. Oh, thank you. Um, you I also
had in here board goals, which I knew we weren't going to get to tonight, so we can talk about those when I see you next. Um, or you can just take a look at those. It's in your packet also to see what board goals can look like for the upcoming year. Okay. Yep. So, if
everybody could I recommend we take a look at those, read through, and then that way when Marian comes back, we're ready. Okay. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Thank you, Marian. All right. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay, now's the uh superintendent report. Um, lot of things we needed to cover today. So, I appreciate everyone who's still here with us and listening at home. Okay, we're not going to be hearing hear
hearing from uh Mr. Gizo, our middle school principal and our PSA president uh or uh Miss Sharon Martin, the REA president or or the uh PTA is with the day change and all the things going on. They are going to be here regularly
moving forward. I spoke with each each group. Um but uh tonight with it being on a different day, it didn't work out. I know Mr. Gizo was only able to be here the beginning of the meeting. Um so uh I would like to thank uh all those those
areas for their continuing leadership and partnership because they've truly been uh great leaders and they have uh been partnering uh for the betterment of our children every day. It's really been an honor to work with all three of those
groups. So I wanted to uh to cover some some uh some things that were going on. And I'm going to be uh in each one of these reports, I'll be giving, you know, updates on what our status is because we want to be as transparent as possible and what we're seeing in regards to our
challenges. So, if I could share, um, reductions in budgets have real practical consequences for any organization and this is true for us as well. The last couple of weeks have been difficult as we facilitated the exit of
several members of our educational team. They will now move toward success in different districts. We wish them much success success as these exits are truly our loss. There's much work to do for our district and we will find success in
this new paradigm. Adjustments have been made but our core educational programs and studentf facing activities are largely intact for 202526 but long term prospects are less certain.
Focusing on 2025-26, we have some areas which we are trying to preserve by reaching out to our educators to fill these gaps. For our many theater related clubs, we are seeking to retain these studentf facing opportunities. These are these
opportunities are important for our students. These positions have been posted as a first step in that process. I know the theater groups are very concerned about the different clubs that support this great work that our kids do and it's it's it's something that we are
going to do what we can to continue those clubs while the uh theater course has not continued those clubs. It it is is our intent to continue them going forward. Um, we also have an issue related to the virtual en enterprise
program which no longer has an instructor. This this program is not currently a part of the high school schedule. Last week I viewed an interesting presentation from two students on the value of virtual enterprise and I'd like to share some
information on this meeting and what followed that meeting. First, I'd like to thank William Berdan and uh Perne Patula for the great presentation they completed in my office. The practical application of the concepts of our
virtual enterprise program were on full display. Good job. Uh as a former longtime business official, it was clear to me that our aspiring leaders needed to take action. Success in business is achieved by finding a way forward even when the path
is not clear. After a collaborative discussion amongst leaders young and one old, uh a plan was proposed by William and Perne to fund raise to preserve this program. They have provided an outstanding plan fully worthy of our
support. I will make the first donation of $100 towards their goal of 10,000 to fund this program. Fiscally, we have challenges, but with students like William and and Perne, we will prevail. Never forget how great our
district can be and what we can achieve together. Often led by our students, supported by our professional staff. Thank you. Have a great evening and always remember we are Arville Strong. Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Visa board secretary report. Good evening. Uh have two items for a couple of minutes. So our next three board meetings for June, July, and August will be moved to the high school
uh media center. So this building, specifically this room, uh one of the air conditioners and heaters is being replaced. Um and we also have a lot of things going on here in the middle school. Uh everything that is go usually goes on at the elementary school will now be at the middle school that is born
and afterare the red program discover kindergarten extended school year summer recreation will all be out of this building Sharon uh about 80% of the heating and air conditioning systems will be replaced so it's going to be very busy there we want to impede
anything over there make sure schools opened on time um and the other thing I have is transportation. So, uh I just want to update transportation. It's on social media. We are collaborating some of these items. Um I've had many people
call over the years about fixing transport uh drop off and pickup at Sharon with parents. Um as we go through this, you know, we had the same issue at Sharon. We fixed that by making uh almost the entire building drop off in
pickup. Great. sidewalks and the curbs, wrapping the whole building around and changing the parking lot a bit. We have changed partially the parking lot at the middle school so that buses can come in with the angled parking and pickup can be much uh quicker. Um, as we've looked
at this, I've had parents call me, parents who are former police officers, traffic and so forth. The only real thing I can see is building a road all our eightway around this building as the same thing we have done at Sharon. Okay. Uh we've studied it, we've looked at it
with principal as well built as well as buildings and ground supervisor. Um we think we can take most of the traffic off the road onto the property by doing that. Problem is it costs money and you know that with our our uh capital reserve it's not that big. We are
putting it towards HBAC systems that we are doing in the summer uh and the future for the high school. These are 40% grantf funed. So it's a $4 million project this summer at Sharon. 40% will come back to us. So I'm going to recommend that we consider this road and
wraparound part of the public questionbond referendum when the debt falls off. Um the architect uh and engineers are going to give us a report at the end of the summer and we'll we'll publish that report of what needs to be fixed across the entire entire district.
So I am tracking that and I'm moving back. In the meantime, uh, many parents have called me over the years about subscription busing. What can you do? Pay for a bus. And I typically respond back that would it's about $55,000 a bus. You're looking
at over $1,000 a child to be on that bus. Um, it kind of usually died off at this point, but we now have some traction. Um, Mr. Uh Mahesh Chavda has done a survey over 50 parents with addresses
students names information have come to us uh of that information somewhere elementary school students some are high school typically freshman most of it I'm talking I think like 80 90% were rising fifth graders to this middle school of course I have a map that shows where all
these locations are it's predominantly town center and surrounding area um as we go through this you know think about piloting the subscription busing. Um, but it is it is a long shot because I don't know exactly it's going to be one bus, two buses, uh, and so forth. Um,
we're going to try to do corner stops, okay? So, five to seven bus stops. It's not going to come to the front of your house. Um, and why? The reason is we have tiered busing in the school district that go to the high school first, then the middle school, then elementary school. So, these buses are
tiered. It's the most efficient uh system there is. We are the most efficient in the whole entire county by their transportation efficiency index that they have. Um if we have two buses, enough people for two, then we can add more stops. But currently, we're looking
at that. Uh maybe over the next month, I'll I'll give a an official school survey and we'll do that. But we're looking at you have to pay upfront. You know, we'll vet those uh and then contract the bus and so forth. Um we understand Some students may jump on the
bus. We have some students who do that. Now, we're going to look at ways to stop that or if not put fines on on those if you do that. Um, but these are the things that we're looking at. How do you do all these items and getting a survey done uh and piloting? It may just be one
but bus this first year. It could be two the next year, but we'll look at that. Um, so please bear with us. Um, but we are intently looking at, we're quite surprised. We did find two school districts in the county that do offer courtesy busing. Uh, it's subsidized, not we can't afford to subsidize it. U,
they would pay around $300 to $500 in those districts. Um, and so we're copying their plans, taking a look at it, seeing how it relates to us, and then try to massage it into the Robinsville method and what works for us. So, uh, we're seriously taking a look at it, and we have heard you. Um,
and I hope to have something by next month for you all. Okay. Public. Okay. That that's kind of my question, Nick, is realistically, you know, you live and breathe this, right? You understand what's realistic and what's not. Is it realistic based on where we are in the year right now to do all the logistics and everything to have this ready for
September when the kids come back if enough people sign up within a week or two and send me checks? Yes. Okay. So, that's the timet. Yeah. So, we're looking at, you know, fixing this the next couple of weeks ourselves. Now, granted, we have graduation. We have we
still have kids uh and issues to go through. Um maybe putting out a survey uh and please signups, you know, can we get it on Genesis? Probably not. Can it be automated system? Probably not, but we're looking at this. I don't want to overspeak. Um but it would have to be a
quick turnaround and then notice everybody go out to bid contract by August 1. So, we only have like a 20-day turnaround on on bidding. And so it has to be very quick. We may have to take a risk. And the question is how much risk are we willing to
absorb to do this. So if not enough people go for it, you know, I I I'm thinking about putting tears and we're talking about this. Well, if it's 50 children, okay, it's $1,200 each, but if you only get 25, it's going to jack up to
$2,400. What are you willing to pay? I mean, these are big these are big numbers and big risks. We don't know um ideally we have many people signing up and we get numerous buses um but we are attempting this um
can it be done? Yes. Is it aggressive? Incredibly so. So it may fail but not for lack of trying. It just may run out of time. Yeah. I think it is it is better to kind of you know set a timeline around here. What's the drop
dead late by which you know if you don't receive many we cannot proceed. Yes, we're looking at that right. Yes. Okay, cool. Thank you. If you don't if you don't have buses contracted by August 1st, like you're you're done. You're done. We're going out to bids now. I mean, there's bids on here on this right
now on on this on this board meeting. Um and at that point, the price may go higher. You may not even get a bus. and then we have to be refunding funding money and so forth. So ideally it's we know exactly how many
buses we have historical data have an online account you can come pay for it and we track it all through Genesis. We're just nowhere's near that. This is like I say a pilot and to see if we can do it. Um, and if we have enough people who are interested, but it fails, at
least I know where my baseline is for the following year, we can track it for the following year. But it does not mean we're I'm giving up now. We're going we're seriously looking at this. Uh, which six months ago, it never was even thought that it was realistic. Not until
um it went out on social media and people were very interested in it. I'm assuming they're they are interested, but they wrote their names on there and we have verified um you know 99% of the names are are good on 98%. How do you if if this is really a thing?
I lived in Town Center and would have lost if I hadn't moved the courtesy busing. Um how do you get to people if you really are advertising. Is it those town center people that need to
advertise to their friends? Is there a flyer that goes out at their elementary? Like I remember having it at elementary school. Like is it should it be like the elementary school bus leaders passing out a flyer? Like how do you handle that
from there? Just because not everyone's on Facebook and god forbid. No. And it'll it'll go through our systems, go through Genesis. I mean the way we do right now in transportation is we'll we'll put a notice out and you can you wave your transportation or do certain things on transportation right now. Same
with free and reduced forms. We have our systems in place. It'll be it'll come from the school district. It'll be Genesis and Parent Square. Definitely Parent Square, right? I'm not sure about Genesis. I know I get the notifications on my phone for parents square. I get emails from it. So just trying to but I
mean I I have you know we have the group that's already signed up already. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. I have that already. Yeah. And and it's probably going to be first come first serve. Yeah. No lottery. First come first serve as we get it. And the surveys like we said will go out through
the Genesis Parent Square portal. Something. Yes. Yeah. Something like that. Okay. This these I mean we're So those that are we're going through it right now to their to their emails and apps to we'll have more info. you. I just wanted to get it out there before it got its own legs and kept on going
forward. Y but we're very seriously looking at it. Um and I'll get back with this gentleman and we'll talk more. But there there's that group right there, that 50 um assuming they have one child each. Right. That's enough for one bus. Okay.
Right. And it's predominantly going to be the middle school. So those that already signed up would be given preference. They won't be given preference. They'll just be they'll definitely get notified. he'll be notified. Okay. And then he have to go through that other portal to Okay. Sign up. Gotcha.
I just have a quick question on um what we might be able to facilitate as far as like car like just a forum for which communities can come towards us as a resource to look at car pooling like opt in as a possible car pool address and
then we just are able to give back the information just people who couldn't afford it for example. Um, at least there's an option where we're trying to facilitate, you know, Fox more car pooling or whatever whatever neighborhoods there might
be either through the building or through the PTA. I'm not sure. Um, I don't know. I mean, my challenge with it is that it's a huge equity issue. Yes. For families that cannot don't have the means to be able to
afford. We should probably take that one off and discuss. So, there's going to be a lot more discussion. I'm I'm counting um 10% free and reduced be free. So, you have to charge a higher price for the remainder. So, that has to be looked at. Um and we have a list of the areas. Once
again, it could be, hey, my stop is three, you know, a third of a mile away or 410 of a mile away. Well, that's closer than walking 1.8. So, you have to make a decision on that. Um, it's when I show you the map, it's large. It's very
large. So, um, we'll bring more to committees. We'll bring more information as I pass it around. Uh, I just wanted to tease the information out. Get with me with your responses. go, you know, we'll collect it all and ideas and put it all together, but this is not going
to be a very diligent and uh planned out project because something like this you would take many months to do, right? We're trying to launch this in, you know, in a month, right? It's more revolutionary than it is. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Could Could we uh Dr. Dr. Pizzo,
with your I guess interactions with the Mercer County Superintendent, other superintendents, there is there an opportunity for you to just probe on what they do for equity reasons on courtesy blessing? I I I could inquire. I I could It's But
um yeah, it there really isn't. It's Yeah. Pay pay and your That's it. That's your equity. I mean, I've seen other districts charge uh Do we charge zero? Other districts charge 10% for free and reduced families and charge them
something. And they everyone's got a different percentage of in different parts of town. Which one are you serving or not? We have courtesy busing in parts of town for free. That's part of our budget. Other parts don't have it. Right. So there is
a Now if you're all interested all or nothing, then stops right now. So, we'll talk more offline. I just wanted to get with you all. Please get with the business committee is the best committee on it. Um, all transportation
falls under that committee. Yeah, I would I would recommend emailing Dr. Piso with any questions or comments so that way we can discuss them at committees and then roll it up to the business committee and then we can come back at the next board meeting with action plans. Yes, I'll give a report the next business the next board
meeting. Anything else, Mr. McCree? Thank you, sir. Yep. Board committee reports. Ed policy. Miss Leman's not here. I believe Dr. Gold.
So, ED policy met on May 13th um in the office of the superintendent. Board members present were Miss Leman, myself, u Mr. Howard, Miss Hill D'Angelo. We were joined by Dr. Piso, Dr. Wasnooki U, Miss DeFazio, Miss Johnson, and we
discussed several topics related to education and policy. Also invited to this meeting were members of the high impact tutoring initiative, including Miss Camarano, Miss Martin, Miss Erinberg, and Miss Beniski. Um topics included a
presentation on the results of the high impact tutoring initiative, dyslexia screening protocols for the district, an update on the district's multilingual services, an introduction to the summer reading kickoff on June 10th, and a
report of the sila biliterate recipients. The committee also discussed the first reading of a number of policies, policy P110, P3141, and policy and regulations for
P8330. The committee also reviewed the second reading of policy 8461 and reviewed the three-year comprehensive equity plan, which is a plan that's mandated by the Department of Education to be submitted. Items to be acted upon at this board
meeting include the approval of the comprehensive equity plan, a first reading of policies P110, P3141, and policy and regulations for P8330. Um, a second reading of policy
8461. Our full report is included in the minutes for further details. Thank you, Dr. Gold. Any discussion for ed policy? A quick question. Uh when we talk about those particular policy, were there any updates done to those particular
policies? Do we know? Speak to the policies. Were there any updates to the policies that we we have uh we do have a first reading. Okay. We have um we uh Steve, could you want to speak?
Uh Dr. Wnooki, you want to speak to the uh the policies we have? Sure. So the um the three we have uh four first readings. So those were introductions. Um the first one was the the
P1110 is the organizational chart that uh was presented in multiple um committee fashions. Um the policy and regulations uh around the student records 8330 they were um earlier
introduced about uh the student information that could be redacted. Um and so that was we created a an insert into an existing policy for those pieces. And um the resignation piece was
of the recommendation that we had from our legal about how Dr. Piso can uh accept resignations from staff members. Uh the second meeting there was zero change though from the first. Okay. Thank you. Um one suggestion can we actually just at the very end of the
policies where we have revised date you know can we also mention what was revised a section or something like that. If you look at the policy, the way the policy is written, anything in bold inside the policy is going to be when the first reading is added, anything that's removed is going to be strike
through. So you would be able to see within the first reading, all of those. If there was something in that changed from a first reading to second reading, those would remain. If not, it is a clean copy because then that's what we upload to Strauss Esme. just so it would be the strike through or those and we
don't put on any of the approved dates until they are second reading approved. Got it. Thank you very much. I guess so after seeing the B but I wanted to confirm. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Winski. Any other discussion for ED policy?
Okay. Personnel Miss Banduka. Sure. On May 13th, personnel committee met in the office of the superintendent Barb. Uh board members included myself, uh Tanya Leman, Dr. Gould, Anthony Ray, Dr. Bizo, Dr. Wiznooki, and Lisa Tremor to discuss
several topics related to personnel. The topics included uh recommendations for superintendent uh by the superintendent, excuse me, the reappointment agenda for 2526 school year, the job description and posting for the athletic director position policy
1110 and salary recommendations for the assistant superintendent BA. Items to be acted upon at this board meeting include the personal recommendations by the superintendent outlined in the monthly personnel report, the reappoint agenda for 2526 school year, and the first reading of policy 1110. For the full the
full report is included in the minutes if you want further details. Thank you. Any discussion topics for personnel? Okay, business. Uh Dr. Pierro is out. I will read them for him. So the business committee met on May 15th. Here in
closed are a few of the highlighted topics. We talked about facilities and maintenance. Uh review the progress on several capital improvement projects. The PRMS energy audit analysis remains in progress with the final report from the vendor forthcoming. The RHS interior door
replacements are pending delivery with installation uh scheduled over the summer. That'll be the theme here is installation over the summer. Um districtwide uh exterior LED lightings replacements um at Cheryl Mishkll. Uh three water fountains and bottles are
scheduled for replacement on June 23rd. Preschool facilities upgrades are nearly uh are nearing completion. PRMS parking expansion is finished. Sharon School playground fencing is installed and a $98,000 purchase order has been issued for uh shading canopies all timed with
endofear uh budget closeout. As a reminder, all of these uh preschool projects are grant funded with no cost to the taxpayer. At Robinville High School, we will repair the lighting issues in the auditorium and fix the the broken projector. We are also addressing
a long overdue and highly uh and high priority playground repaving project at PRMS budget at $42,000 to mitigate liability issues. Um and to go back to the RHS auditorium, that's coming out of the rental fees, Mr. increase I believe
right the light yeah in the auditorium oh that's under maintenance okay sorry um facilities funded oh next section is facilities funded by the rentals the committee discussed facility rental rates increasing from 2025 to 2026 school year summer projects also not summer projects include the folding
door replacement project at RHS was uh bid at $438,000 though slightly over the $400,000 budget the excess will be covered through facilities rentals and avoiding any tax impact. The Rod grant HVAC upgrades at Cheryl Munch and Pond will commence this summer following
pre-work completed over spring break. Security and technology PA system integration with phone system at Sher Elementary School is is scheduled for May 23rd. The district continues with panic button rollout with 21 pilot phones awaiting installation. A
point-to-point wireless bridge is being procured for the RHS maintenance barn to uh support internet security cameras and wireless access points. The RHS RHS IDF project scheduled for June 23rd will include uh will include installation of
nine new security cameras. The Robbinsville K12.gov domain rollout will also occur on June 23rd, consolidating district IT systems under one single.gov domain. Prometheium board installation at RHS are nearing completion with 18 of 21 in place. Remaining boards are
pending delivery of the rolling stands. The Google+ platform upgrade has been approved and will be implemented within the week. And that was to cover a security issue. I believe Nick, correct? Yep. Our our next business committee meeting is scheduled for June 12th, 2025 at 5:00 PM. We appreciate the community
support of our community and board colleagues as we work to ensure responsible stewardship of our resources and the safety and success of all Robinsville students. Any discussion for business? Okay, not seeing any. Uh, last but not least, community relations. Mr.
Nan, thank you. The community relations committee met on May 12th. Um all the board members part of the committee were present including superintendent and assistant superintendent. Uh Dr. Pizzer shared updates on the three-year look ahead on our budget planning and a first
draft of board goals for consideration and review uh which we saw the presentation today which was good. We also discussed the expanded use of parent square to meet our goals of consistent and transparent communication with all district stakeholders. Additionally, our new website hosting
provider will launch on June 15th. eagerly waiting for that. Uh the new website will enable increased functionality of parent square specifically I believe the connectivity between parent square and the social media which is good for our communication. Our in-house presentation for our meeting tonight were also shared and thank you to the hope squad for
their presentation tonight. Thank you. Thank you for any discussion for community relations. Oh, he he forgot that we read 300 names at the at the amazing cool uh high school. Um what is it? Prep pre- prom.
The prom red carpet which I thought was incredible. I I was actually really really grateful that they gave us the opportunity to read. You get to see the name of the individual, where they're going, and what their majoring in their future is. And so it was it was really nice and heartwarming to put it all into
reality and why we do what we do. So it was great. It was an honor to be there. Yeah. Um, and so as as we said up front, all the reports are online on board docs. You can see them in full detail. We read just summaries from it, but they're in
full detail on on the board docs. I'll ask for liaison reports. Hi. Uh, they did have a meeting uh the Mercer County liaison. uh they specifically targeted like teacher appreciation during that meeting and
then they talked about some upcoming conferences. So they've set the date for our October um fall bonanza whatever I can't remember what it's called school boards. Thank you. Um and it's like the same dates October 21st 22nd 23rd around
then. So hopefully we can all attend together. Um, there also is an AI event uh in June and you would just have to sign up for it. It seems very basic from my understanding, but I'll share out the next couple of things, but this was their last meeting. Um, and so
everything else is kind of elective and and most of the stuff that they have for the rest of the year is like redundant stuff that they have um videotaped prior and then they're just pushing out now. Thank you. Any other leazison or
committee reports discussion? N public comment. Uh time we allocated for public comment at this meeting. Members of the public wishing to address the board of education on agenda items must state their name, municipality, and the group if any they represent. A member of the public shall not be
permitted to speak until he or she is recognized by the presiding officer in accordance with district policy 0167. Each comment shall be limited to three minutes. No participant may speak more than once. No dialogue between a speaker and the board or superintendent shall extend the threeminute time limit
provided herein. Live streaming of the meeting shall be for viewing only. The public will not have the ability to participate in public session comments unless they are physically present at the meeting. Although the board encourages public comment, the presiding officer can interrupt, warn, and or terminate participant statement,
question, or inquiry when it's too lengthy and may also interrupt and warn a participant when the statement, question or inquiry is abusive, obscene, or may be defamatory. Moreover, the presiding officer can request any person to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum. In
adherence to protocol established by the New Jersey School Board Association, the board will use this public comment period as a opportunity to listen to uh resident concerns, but not debate issues or to enter into into question and answer session. Issues raised by members of the public may require uh review and
investigation and may or may not be responded to by the board or superintendent during the meeting. All comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate. Can I have a motion to open public comment on agenda items only for 30 minutes? Motion. Second. All in
favor? Any absentions? Okay. Public comment on agenda items. Robinsville. Um first of all, thank you for that. That was very interesting and I wish this was happening years ago because
throughout throughout my daughter's years I think it would have been really helpful and I hope it grows better and I hope the inclusivity and u all the education comes with it so it becomes so big that we can be a star in Mercer
County and people learn from us. So that's a big hope and that's a big thank you. That's about time. Um what I wanted to go talk to you guys about first of all I would like to know why did you
guys change the date and um to today I was I found out about it at exactly 6:15 today because five different parents who could not make it today called me and they texted me and said could you please
go because we cannot make it a letter or a notice or something came out at 1:00. So somebody like me who doesn't get letters and I and you all know that um how would I know that you have changed the date and lot of people they need
advanced notice to make it here maybe they are watching right now maybe they are not I don't know but I know some of them wanted to be here but they couldn't so last minute changes like this I'm sorry it's not appreciated I wish I knew
that's number one number two on uh what time it will be on June 22nd that you're having the meeting. Is it a six o'clock meeting or is it going to be a 7 o'clock? Because usually those kind of meeting you start at six. Is it 6 o'clock or 7 o'clock on July 22nd. The
third thing that I wanted to ask you about um was on the um agenda items um on um the education policy that you says
the approval of 2528 district comprehensive uh equity uh plan. I'd like to have some more information about it. Can you explain a little bit more that what are you approving and what it is about because um again I found out about the meeting at 6:15. I couldn't
get in touch with the book or anything else to read it. So, I would like appreciate it if you could explain it a little bit. And also on number 12 on um business, which on mine is number 12, I don't know if you have it on number 12,
is the shared service agreement between Robinsville Board of Education and the township. So, you guys didn't uh go over it and what you're going to be doing. So I would appreciate a little bit more explanation on that. Um and also I would
like to know that are you guys aware that um people are starting to send letters and information to the um mer county because of this crematorium because they have not they
are not going to put it up um for voting anytime soon. So a lot of people have started sending them letters and all that again because we have to push it unless it's going to be month after month and then it's going to be summer. So I would like to know if you guys have
any more information or have you started sending letters or can you push on your end? Thank you. So um the July meeting for um the retreat will start at 5:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m. will be exec. It will not be for
the standard public. So the board will come for executive session and then the main meeting will start at 6 pm because exec is usually an hour. If that changes, we'll try to get it out as soon as possible. We we have to notify the public one week by by law before the
meeting takes place. So that's for the July meeting. Um the uh the meeting tonight we uh we did our our standard postings and like we uh had mentioned with the uh the website we are going to be expanding the functionality of that with the uh once
the website is merged with parent square so we'll be able to have more ways of reaching out and and as for the rationale I had a conflict from before I accepted this position uh obviously the schedule for the meetings was put in place uh before I had been selected
here. So the the rationale for that meeting move that was that was my um my issue with a previous conflict I had. Uh also I wanted to mention about the uh the update with the crematorium. I have been in communication with various
leaders from uh from some of the great members of our community who have been working with that and you know I've extended uh to them uh any kind of you know assistance that they or any kind of uh conversations that they would like me to be involved in as you know I've been
involved in going to uh to the hearings um I've submitted a I did submit a letter I did speak and that continues and um yeah it is going uh we were promised that there would be an answer in 30 days but speaking with some of the other leaders who were concerned cuz
after 30 days I started calling people um thought maybe because of the uh amount of of comment that was received it might take longer and of course there's also um issues going in in regards to uh the the some of the
legislative process. So yes, I am keeping up to date on on that and as we have information we'd of course want the community to know. Thank you Dr. Po. Any additional comment?
Hello Donald Strainsville. Um two questions. I don't know if this first part about Dr. your presentation or your goals about uh student and staff support. I don't know if I'm allowed to mention that at this time or
not. I don't want to waste. Okay. I just would like to see um maybe add some more verbiage where it kind of mentions the support of staff as well um in that situation since that's both mentioned in the category that um so we all know that
staff supported will also support the students as well. That was just the one part. Um second thing if the the buses if that um majority of traffic is coming from town center um to pond here alone mostly of it um instead of saving or
saving that money to create a road that goes around could we possibly use that money that we're saving from creating a road to use those buses and one part of that is also those buses that currently take Sharon school those kids in town
center to Sharon school where could we a way to get those buses to just come earlier u for pawn school as well to to help remove that traffic flow. That was my two parts that I wanted to mention. Uh anything that that we would were to
do over at at pond in regards to the um the work that would be done here, we would extend. we would obviously do, you know, a complete breakdown as to what the costs are and it's pretty extensive for to to do a project like that. Um, as
as for savings with busing, as as Mr. McCree has has uh shared, we are you very efficient according to the metrics in regards to the busing. Of course, we always want to do everything we can to get better, but the buses are are tiered. Um, but you know, as you know,
I, you know, I speak with you, you know, uh, you know, during the day in the building. I'd be, I'd be happy to go into more detail if you could, uh, we could speak about that with, uh, with Mr. McCree and myself. And, you know, we want to explore any opportunity. So, I
appreciate you you coming up and and sharing, you know, your perspectives and uh, love to speak uh, further on that as we go forward. Thank you. Any additional public comment on agenda
items? Not seeing any. Thank you for all the comment. Can I have a motion to close public comment? Move. Second. All in favor? Any or abstensions? Okay. Approval of the monthly resolution consent items. The superintendent
recommends that the board of education approve the following personnel education policy and business action items. Note personnel appointments pending criminal uh background clearance were where applicable any salary or stipen less than a full term will be prrated to the start
date. Can I have a motion to uh approve the agenda items? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Not see any. Mr. McCreeze, roll call, please. Mandupta. Yes.
Yes. D'Angelo. Yes. Yes. Absent is absent. Mr. Yes. Passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. Scrolling down. Any old
business? Any new business? Hey. Um, I don't know how many of you guys know the Robinswell Premier League uh got kicked off. Um, it was a fantastic opening ceremony. Uh, during the opening ceremony of the Robbins Premier League,
this beautiful momento was presented to the board of education. On behalf of the board, um, I'm honored to receive it and even more honored to share our heartfelt gratitude with the RPL, that is Robbins Premier League organizers and leadership team. Uh your generosity and commitment
to supporting both sports which is cricket and education in Robinsville are truly inspiring. By bringing our community to together through the love of sports, you're not only creating memorable experiences but also helping to shape the character, resilience, and
leadership of our students. This partnership reflects the very best of Robinsville, a community that stands united to invest in the success and well-being of our children. So, thank you again for your leadership and unwavering support and I'd like to give this to the
school. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Nan. Think those are the Premier League for us. That's great. Thank you. All right. Any other new business? All right. Um public comment on school related items. Uh won't read the long
passage again. We'll do it for uh three minutes a a uh a person. And I have a motion to open public comment for 30 minutes on school related items. So moved. Second. All in favor? I. All
right. Hi. Hi, Gundam. Masa. So, two comments. The first one is around the goals and objectives for the district. Thank you for going through that. As I think about the expansion of language programs into the elementary
school and at the other schools, the question that always comes to mind is how sustainable is that from a budget perspective? So, it's great that we're doing this. What would be really unfortunate is if we have to roll it back because we don't have the dollars. So, as we're doing this work as a school district and for the students in the
community, just really being mindful of what is sustainable. The second comment is around the bond. So, I'm not sure how this whole bond process works, but I hear language like once it falls off, it almost sounds like we're giving money
back or we're not going to have a bond again. I just ask that we be careful about how we speak about the bond and what is going to happen in the future once that bond matures and whether we're going to have a new one. I don't know when we start to talk
about that in more detail, but it's important to start those conversations now because I keep hearing it in these meetings and people will start making their own judgments as to whether or not we're going to be receiving money as taxpayers or is this going to continue to exist. Right? I've seen a graph where
it kind of drops off, which feels misleading only because in theory there shouldn't be a drop off. At least that's my perspective, right? Like if we're already paying for this, why wouldn't we maintain it so that we can continue to provide the services that the students
need? That's all. Thank you. That's some uh some great questions. I wanted to just give you um some information back about that um about the the change in language being sustainable. Uh yeah, that's that's
that's something that uh is of a concern to us and it's part of what we're going to be doing in regards to having uh having more public outreach uh having community meetings and seeing what our priorities are as we as we move
forward. We do have uh we are $5 million below adequacy and uh it is going to be a struggle to not only maintain that program but to maintain other programs. So I said we I spoke earlier today in my my superintendence report uh about some
of the programs we've already lost and these these are you know these are great programs. Um so we'd we'd prefer to to expand but I think we need to do that in partnership with the community. So that is such a salient point in regards to the um the language program. We started
it with the with the intention of maintaining it and expanding it, but we can only do that in partnership with the community and um that's that's on us as the administrative team to go out present options and to meet the
community uh where they are in regards to what the priorities are in schools. And I would think language would be a priority. I would think that there's a there's a host of issues, but these are all things that we're going to have to um have a conversation about. We're going to need to survey. We're going to
need to get feedback in every means, every every avenue that we can. And as this this year comes to an end, as we build towards next year, you're going to see us out and about in regards to collecting that information and making uh making decisions that that meld with
what the uh the community is looking to do. And that ties right into about the bond service falling off. Yeah. you don't. One of the things that I've always always felt as a business official in my previous capacity
uh was that you need to have consistency and and a long-term approach. And that's what we're looking to implement in regards to our long-term planning. And obviously with that with that bond service coming off that that's an issue that we need to deal with, but it's it's it's a good issue in regards it provides
opportunities to then move in the direction of some of the other things we need. We mentioned that bus loop. Um, but there are other items that we would need to do as well. And that'll all be part of the cons uh the the conversation as we go forward. And it's not it's not
only something that that we're um looking to share with the community, but we need the community because we can only do this in partnership with the community. That's the only way we can really have a long-term sustainable path forward is to look seriously at what our
issues are. And every superintendent's report I do, every article I publish in the in the Robbinsville advance and all the information we put around is all about sharing information and being transparent about what the challenges are. Now, we have to take that challenge, those challenges that we're
identifying and we have to put together um plans in in in order to address those challenges and multiple plans because uh we need to do this in partnership. This is not something that we're looking to impose. This is something that we're looking to do do collaboratively. So, so
thank you. Those were just absolutely great questions. And and as far as the bond is concerned, I know it it you know when we talk about it falling off when in in this form of government, you you get money for a bond and it and you pay taxes towards the
bond. When the t when the money is paid for that bond and it's clear, the money falls off for the taxpayer because you've cleared the bond. Am I correct, Nick? Yeah. So, it's Yeah. It's like a mortgage or because it's on capital, right? So, it's not to your operating
other other areas of local government that bond money will go to their operating budget. It does not happen that way with the schools. The schools behave differently because of the laws within the state. So just to clear that piece of it as
well. Sorry, I'll let public comment continue. Hi Nushin Canon Robinsville. Um I was going to ask um about what she was talking about the language and all that. Um the conversation that the lady
was here and speaking and the goals and everything was very good. The only part of it that I was trying to grasp was the realistic part of it. Being realistic means that right now as Barbara put it in that we have to make sure that what
we do as she put it we can continue. So is our language foreign language it's so important that we put it as a goal and then in one year or two year it's going to come off because we don't have the money or you said you going to go to the
U community the community is maxed out out of tax. So when you say you're going to the community, I don't understand what the community can do for you. You cannot bring a community member to teach the foreign language. So you need to uh
so it's going to come off of something. So is it going to be more important to have AP classes uh have have teachers so the students do not have to rely on online or is it more important to bring foreign language that it may come off in
two years because we do not have the teachers to teach it. So I like to know like when the when you were talking about the goals to be a little bit of the realistic part of it and also I asked the question about those two section on the uh business policy and
the um on the education policy. Am I not going to be able to get any information today? I just like to know yes or no. Thanks. Um, in regards to our priorities, if if we remain $5 million below adequacy, you
will not be able to maintain the language program. Let me be very clear about that. Um, but you're also going to jeopardize those other programs as well. This is $5 million uh below adequacy is not sustainable for the type
of school district that we desire. Uh but speaking with the community and and the community uh means everyone has a voice. We have to determine where we are and then we'll be able to produce the school district that meets the needs of
our community. My assumption is that this is a great community. This is a great school district and that we're going to pull together and we're going to do great things. That's my expectation and that's what I'm going to advocate for. But if we do come in at a
level below that, then we would have to adjust our sites. Um, not much for adjusting our sites because I think our kids deserve the type of school district that we would like to provide. And I believe you also had a question on a
she asked about the comprehensive equity plan. Oh. Um, to speak a little bit about that. Okay. Dr. Wasnki uh Mah if you could please. Sure. So the comprehensive equity plan is a three-year plan that um is mandated by the state of New Jersey
Department of Education. With regards to the plan is that there's probably about 47 pages to the plan um as far as making sure that there's district responsibilities, board responsibilities, and how we could prove that we are doing the pieces that
they're looking for um within there. So the vast majority of it rests within policy having the most updated policies um to that would fulfill each one of the requirements. But then there's other pieces of data that you would utilize such as board agendas, you would utilize
curriculum documents, you would look at sports schedules, any of those pieces. And so our district is tasked with first creating an affirmative action team which we created two board meetings ago. That team then creates the comprehensive equity plan which we put together over
the course of two months. Um, and then we introduce that at the ed policy committee to show them all the pieces of of data that we utilize to be able to prove that we have uh an unmarked unblenmished record so
that we don't have to create a a plan to a corrective action plan. And so that's what we approved tonight. We'll submit that to the state tomorrow. Um, and then the state will then review it and let us know if they agree with
our findings. Thank you, Dr. Rosinski. Um, and then for the uh safety resource officer, shared services, um, if everyone may recall two years ago the township um, stepped in and provided additional funds
um, because of the extreme crisis that we had two years ago. um that went away. We are now back to the original split where the school pays nine months out of the year and the the township pays three. So, we've reverted back to the
original split. So, that there's no more um uh shift of of funds there. All right. Any other public comment? All right. See, can I have a The original split was 50/50 or the revised?
No, they pay for So, the way it's paid right now is we pay for the SRO's when they're in the buildings. So, it's nine months out of the year, give or take. Uh, back then the the township was helping subsidize some of that, so it was more 50/50ish, but, you know, there was a
different split. So, now it's back to the the hours in the buildings. All right. Not seeing any more public comment. I have a motion to close public comment and adjourn the meeting. Moved. Second. All in favor? I
absent. Thank you everyone. Have a great evening.