I didn't tell you what you cross out everything. >> Good evening everyone and welcome to our regular public meeting agenda. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. Ready, begin.
>> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Mr. Jones, please call the order.
Thanks. >> Miss Barb, >> here. >> Mr. Benedict, >> here. >> Mrs. Boroff, >> here. >> Miss Brody, Mr. Greenblat, >> here. >> Dr. Kolicowski >> here. Miss Aair >> here. >> Mission >> here. >> Miss Williams
>> present. Thank you. Mr. Jones, >> we were in executive session and we discussed HIP. We will now have our recognition and instructional updates. Welcome to the boys varsity volleyball
and spring track recognition. And we have a few resolutions. Welcome everyone. >> We we are delighted that our our um scholar athletes could join us tonight. Um we very much appreciate the exciting
seasons that that you provided for us. Um we we are we are thrilled that you are here so we can we can celebrate you. And we are going to start first with the volleyball. So, um,
if we could first invite the coaches up to speak to the season, [laughter] [applause] I'm Coach Jen and Coach Francesca. [applause] >> Good evening everyone. As I stand here tonight, it's hard to put into words how
special this season has been for me. Not only because what this team has accomplished, but also because it's my first year as a head coach of this program. When the season began, the boys and I talked about setting high standards, embracing challenges, and mostly
representing this school with pride. And the expectations this season were absolutely exceeded. The team finished with an outstanding record of 25 and three and captured [applause] four major championships along the way. the
Bloomfield Invitational Tournament, the Oldbridge Invitational Tournament, the Group Three Sectional Championship, and the Group Three State Championship. [applause] This season was filled with a lot of incredible individual accomplishments, so I just wanted to go over those really
quickly. Brody Balstrino reached a milestone of a thousand career assists and that's a testament truly to his leadership and his vision and his ability to elevate anybody around him. Brandon Indo surpassed 500 kills,
demonstrating his consistency, his determination, and put him as one of the most dangerous and hard-hitting kids in the entire state of New Jersey. >> Coach, could you have them stand up when you're recognizing here? >> We have some people who are sick today.
And Dan Andis achieved something truly historic. Dan recorded his thousandth career kill this season. And in addition, he also surpassed his brother by one kill. And now he is the alltime leading scorer for SPF. He's not here
today because he's sick, but I did want to mention he did receive a national um level award. He was recognized by the AVCA, which is the American Volleyball Coaches Association. He's on the first team for the best and brightest recipient in the nation. Um, that's a
great honor and it just shows his commitment in the classroom and on the court. To our seniors, if the seniors could stand, [applause] I just wanted to thank you for trusting me. It's hard. It's very difficult when
you're a new coach, but it's even more difficult for players. I know that you guys have had the same coach and it's extremely hard. But the legacy that you leave behind is not about the wins or the championships. It's about accountability. It's about teamwork. It's about commitment. And it's about wearing that blue with pride for this
school. to our underassmen [laughter] [applause] understand that we have a hard journey going forward and that this season that just happened becomes the standard. No
pressure. The challenge moving forward is not to simply not simply to remember what this team accomplished but to build upon it. I would also like to thank the parents and families. We see you. We truly do. On nights where you're exhausted, where
you come home from work and you just want to sit down and be on the couch and watch a movie or wa watch Netflix, we know that you're traveling back and forth to take these boys to all of their extracurricular activities. And let me tell you, parents, my boys are all
involved in more than one sport at a time. They're not just playing volleyball. Some of them are playing soccer for a a wreck. Some of them are involved in ROC. So I see you. I appreciate you. And there is a direct correlation to these young men
succeeding because of your efforts and your selflessness. Thank you. [applause] Years from now, people will remember the banners, the championships, and this record. But what I will remember the most is the privilege of coaching this team and being part of the season that will forever hold a special place in my
heart. and in SPF history, my first season. And lastly, thank you so much, Coach Gary. [applause] The truth is, it's very hard to run a program on your own, and this year I didn't have to. She is absolutely excellent, and I know
anything she does, wherever she coaches, if it's tomorrow, a week from now, 10 years from now, she's going to succeed at whatever she does. Thank you. Congratulations. Let's give one last round of applause for our 2026 Scotch Plains boys varsity volleyball team.
[applause] If you could come here and bring the team up. >> Yes. Coaches, if you could stay up in front and students, please join the coaches and >> now we're ready for the resolution.
Should I hand them out while she's reading them? >> Yeah, that's good. >> Whereas the Scotch Plains Fanwood High School boys varsity volleyball team completed a historic season with a phenomenal 25 and3 record, earning the
NJ.com number one state ranking for the first time in program history. And whereas as the top seed in the NJSIA North Group Three Tournament, the Raiders dominated the early rounds at home, securing flawless 30-0 victories
over Mount Olive on May 27th, Hackinack on May 29th, and Milbour on June 2nd. And whereas the Raiders showed immense resilience in the North three sectional final, rallying from a first set deficit to defeat rival Westfield 3 to1 and
capture the sectional championship title. And whereas on June 9th, 2026, the team culminated their legendary run at South Brunswick High School by sweeping West Windsor Plainsboro South 3 to zero to capture the NJSIA Group Three
State Championship. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Scotch Plains Fanwood Board of Education congratulates the boys varsity volleyball team on their historic state championship season and extends its gratitude to head coach Jennifer Carvalo and assistant coaches
Francesca Garry and Patricia Asiso for bringing unparalleled pride and distinction to our school and community. Thank you. [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you, volleyball. Thank you so much. Next, we'll have up our coaches from track and field.
>> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you. Uh my name is Jeff Kaggel. I've uh been here for 30 years now. I'm a math teacher. Uh also cross country, indoor track and uh outdoor track coach. Now uh Coach Mcgriff and I and Coach
McGriff's an alumnest of the the high school class of 84. Uh we both have titles. Uh I'm officially the girls head coach in the spring and coach Rich is the officially the boys head coach, but we're essentially co-head coaches and we run things together. So I'm going to
talk about the uh a few of the girls and some of the boys that I coach and and coach Rich is going to talk about the rest of the boys. Um we have uh individual accomplishments to talk about uh because track while it's got team scoring it also has strong individual
aspects where we can uh win events we can uh advance individually. So we're going to start by talking about uh Emily Trojan. Uh Emily uh was our top javelin thrower this year. She's only a sophomore. Uh she was the the conference
champ and [applause] she was the sectional champ also in those two groups before. Uh Emily had been stuck in the in the mid 110s for a while and we talked about just you know being able to pop one out there and break through there and she did that the sectional.
She threw 126 and uh and she won by a significant margin. And then later in the season, uh, you know, things didn't go as well as as we had hoped at the group meet, but she did get the last wild card into the meet of champs, and she was seated 29th out of 30. And we
were just hoping that she can get out there and and get a couple good throws in, but she wound up the top eight make the finals, and she uh she made the finals and she placed seventh and she got a medal and got on the podium, which is usually a goal we have for for our top kids by senior year. Emily did it
her sophomore year, so she's two years ahead of the plan. [applause] Delaney Corley is uh graduating as our top short sprinter in school history, 55 meter dash and 100 meter dash. Uh she was a conference champ and she was a county champ in 100 this year which is
quite an accomplishment because we have to run against Union Catholic all the time and they probably have the best girls track program in the country and Delaney was able to beat them. Now unfortunately she had some injury issues but uh she kept showing up. Uh we qualified for the for the meet of champs
without her in the 4x100 and we we subbed her back in as an alternate so she could have one last race. Uh she's been a fierce competitor for us. She won the Lens Anowitz award as a top female athlete in a senior class. Uh I'm going to miss the the daily
check-ins uh between classes and uh all the time we've had together. Uh Delaney's going to Westchester University uh where she'll continue her track and field career and uh we're going to miss her quite a bit. [applause] And then we have [applause] uh three of
the four boys from our uh county championship 4x600 team here. Uh Alex Abrams is here. Uh he's a hold over from last year. We won last year as well. Jonah Tommyo isn't here. He's also hold over. And the the two new faces to that
team, Will Rooney and AJ Higgopian. Uh you know, one of the things that happened over the years is we started getting better in the distance program. these these kids start buying in more, which I was glad to I was glad to see. Uh but then this uh spring at the county relay meet, which was earlier than it
normally is, we had a race earlier in the meet and it it didn't go as well as planned. And the boys were warming up and I went over them. I said, "Hey guys, uh I need you to go out there and be willing to hurt for each other right now." And they said, "No problem, coach. We got it." And they went out and they did just that. And we won, which was one
of our goals for the season. I'm I'm really proud of the boys for for what they've done that uh Will and AJ were able to step in. Uh Alex is leaving us after being on the team for 12 seasons and I'm super proud of how far he's come over the years. Uh we talked about that
recently. Uh we're going to miss him also. Uh Jonah couldn't be here tonight. Uh but uh he's going to be leaving us also. Uh one of the most accomplished distance runners that I've had. All right. And Coach Rich is going to talk about the rest. [applause]
Jeff said um McGriff like said we have um titles but I I really work more with the the sprinters hurdlers and the jumpers. So the the team and a gentleman that I'm going to talk about I'm going to start with um Justin Timek.
Um Justin um came over from um from baseball and came over became a hurler for us. Um this year he was really motivated because um last year um the way track works in advancing and moving on, you know, you have to run, you have
to place a a certain place within the meet, you have to place in the top six to advance and um he w up placing like seventh last year in the section, but the times and stuff that he ran later on during that that season um we have some meets that were we said moved later like
he would have probably would have advanced to to meet the champions, but he didn't get that chance to compete because of that that one race where he he came in seventh, you know, by a few ten of a second. So, he came back this year motivated and he came back this year motivated um going that I'm chasing
the school record and um and I'm chasing that that spot on the podium. So, um he wound up being our our conference champ in the 400 meter hurdles and wind up being our county champ in the 400 meter hurdles. He's also came in second place in the section in the 400 meter hurdles.
uh third in the group meet in the 400 meter hurdles and advanced down to the media champion. Um was was seated um ninth I believe 15th. That's right. That's right. That's right. He was seated 16th in uh in the meet of
champions but also wind up rising above there wind up placing um seventh and getting on the podium there and getting the medal. So he's seventh out of everybody in the state and that's uh almost a thousand kids ran the hurdles but he was a number number seven in the
state. Um ran some great times. He's one of the best ever I've had and um he's still chasing that um school record but he's only a junior. So you got next year now along with that we have our 4x4 team
which Justin's also a member of. And on that team, we we have Ryan LeBron, Max Handler, Michael Sylvester, and Justin on there. Now, this was another team that came in seriously with a goal this year. Um, we got a board out there that
got school records on it, and the whole thing about getting school records, especially in something in a relay, everybody has to do their part at that same time. They have to run their best. We had teams out there that could have got that school record, but they never
ran their perfect race all together. And these guys came in, that was a goal. And it's great to see a team like this, see guys like that have a goal out there. And you see the work that they put in to get out there and to get it. And they were chasing and chasing and
chasing all year. Now they they wind up running well, winning our county in a 4x4. Um, like I said, within that county, we have some of the best teams in the state and some of the best teams in the country. We saw those guys at Pin Relays and we saw the different teams
they ran. We ran very well. Um, we won our section at Pin Relays. We nice pinwheel which you can see up in the office in the student activity center and these guys won that there and also won our county individually. um individually the team wise they um they
chased that all the way all the way up to the last meet up to the meet of champions now and once again you know they're seated outside of the medals outside of the the placement but they went out there with that goal of all
year of getting that school record and it's awesome feeling to see that very last meet that very last chance for that that team they got there to run and wind up placing seventh themselves and getting on the podium for that. It was
it was amazing to see. It was great hard work for these guys. And so like they're all juniors. They're all coming back, but there's no guarantees who's going to be on that team. [laughter] So, [applause] >> thank you. Thanks. Thank you so much,
coaches. Um, can we please have the track and field team come up for a picture? and to get their resolutions >> and to get your resolutions and we will start with the resolutions. >> Javelin first. >> Javelin first. >> Whereas the Scotch Plains Fanwood High
School track and field program maintained its proud tradition of excellence, consistently scoring the top three individual and team finishes across the WAN division and Union County. And whereas at the Union County Championship meet held at Hubstein Field
on May 8th, 2026, the 4x400 meter relay team delivered a phenomenal performance, besting a highly competitive field that included a nationally ranked program to capture the county championship title. And whereas this exceptional team was comprised of student athletes Justin
Timchek, Michael Sylvester, Ryan Lebrun, and Max Handler, and culminated their stellar season by earning prestigious second team all Union County honors. Now therefore, be it resolved that Scotch Plains Fanwood Board of Education congratulates Justin Timchek, Michael
Sylvester, Ryan Lebron, and Max Handler on their championship victory and extended sincere gratitude to sprints coach Dan Doerty, head coach Rich McGriff, and the varsity assistant coaches Jonathan Stack, Ken Hernandez, and Ezu Mosie for bringing immense pride
and distinctions to our school and community. [applause] Well, there's more. Whereas the Scotch Plains Fanwood High School track and field program maintained its proud tradition of excellence, cons consistently scoring top three individual and team finishes across the
watching division and Union County. And whereas at the Union County Relay Championships held at Keller Stadium on April 14th, 2026, the 4 by600 meter relay team delivered a historic performance defeating the entire county field to capture the championship title.
And whereas this championship relay team is comprised of dedicated student athletes Alexander Abrams, AJ Hagopian, William Rooney, and Jonah Tamayo. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Scotch Plains Fanwood Board of Education congratulates Alexander Abrams, AJ
Hagopian, William Rooney, and Jonah Tamayo on their spectacular victory and extended sincere gratitude to coaches Dan Doerty, Rich McGriff, Jonathan Stack, Ken Hernandez, Ezu Mosozi, and most importantly, the distance and head coach Jeff Kaggel for bringing immense
pride and distinction to our schools and community. [applause] Whereas at the Wong Conference Championship meet held at Governor Livingston High School on April 30th and May 1st, Emily Trojan distinguished herself through exceptional skill and
determination, securing the title of conference champion in the girls javelin. And whereas Emily continued her remarkable postseason campaign at the North Two Group 4 state sectional championship meet at Ridge High School on May 15th and May 16th where she
delivered an outstanding performance to capture the individual sectional championship in the girls javelin. And whereas in recognition of her stellar performance throughout the season, Emily was honored with selections to the first team all WAN division and the second
team all Union County. And now therefore, be it resolved that the Scotch Plains Fanwood Board of Education recognizes and congratulates Emily Trojan and the Varsity Track coaches Jeff Kaggel, Rich McGriff, Dan Doherty, Jonathan Stack, and most importantly,
the throws coaches and Ken Hernandez for bringing pride and recognition to the to our schools and communities and extends our best wishes for their continued success. [applause] Go ahead. So, we have more. Um,
[laughter] whereas Delaney Farley has cemented her legacy as the most accomplished short sprinter in Scotch Plains Fanwood High School history, holding prestigious school records in the 55, 100, 200, and 300 meter dashes. And whereas Delaney
earned first team allwa Chung conference honors and delivered a spectacular performance at Hubstein field on May 7th and 8th 2026 to capture the individual 100meter Union County Championship title. And whereas in well-deserved recognition of her elite athleticism,
Delaney was honored as the Len Zanowitz female athlete of the year and achieved the extraordinary milestone of being named a 12 for12 varsity letter winner, earning all possible varsity letters during her high school career. Now therefore, be it resolved that the
Scotch Plains Fanwood Board of Education congratulates Delaney Farley on her historic high school career extends its sincere gratitude to Sprints coach Dan Dy, head coach Jeff Kaggel, and the varsity assistant coaches Rich McGriff, Jonathan Stack, Ken Hernandez, and
Eizoi, and offers its best wishes to Delaney for continued academic and athletics at CIS as she begins her undergraduate studies at Westchester University in the fall. >> [applause] >> Wait, there's more. Um, whereas the Scotch Plains Fanwood High School boys
varsity track and field program has maintained its proud tradition of athletic excellence, distinguishing itself as a premier powerhouse within both the WAN division and the Union County and by consistently securing the top three team and individual finishes throughout the season. And whereas at
the Union County Championship held at Hubstein Field in Planefield on March, excuse me, on May 7th and 8th, 2026, Justin Timchack delivered an extraordinary performance besting in highly competitive fields to capture the individual county
championships title in the boys 400 meter hurdles. And whereas the in welldeserved recognition of his elite skill, work e work ethic and seasonl long dominance on the track, Justin Timrack was honored with the sectionals
for the first team all waung division and the first team all county all union county. Now therefore be it resolved that the scotch plains family board of education enthusiastically recognizes and congratulates Justin Timchack on his outstanding championship achievements.
And be it further resolved that the board extended s sincere appreciation and congratulations to head coach and hurdles coach Rich McGriff along with varsity assistant coaches Jeff Kaggel, Dan Dy, Jonathan Stack, Ken Hernandez,
and Eizozie for their exceptional leadership, mentorship, and dedication to the program. And be it further resolved that the board commends this exceptional team and coaching staff for bringing immense pride and distinction to the Scotch Plains family communities
and extends its warmest wishes for their continued success in all future endeavors. Congratulations. [applause] >> Thank you all. [laughter] [applause] Congratulations again to everyone. We're so very proud of you. Um it's going to
be a long night here, so don't feel obligated to stay here. You're certainly welcome to, but you know, enjoy your night. >> I know. We really don't want to stay. You want to stay this Christmas
van wants them to come. >> I'm sure. >> I think I think I messed up and I gave the coaches a res. >> Sorry. >> And we are now going to start our next instructional update.
SSDS and hip reporting >> by Dr. Ayurusi. Robin's doing >> I can do the SSDS public report. Um we do this annually for compliance. The SSDS combines two tates testing reporting systems. the electronic
violence and vandalism report summary and the harassment intimidation and bullying investigations training and program system. So in the category of violence we have had 16 incidents
and the time period is from September to December of 2025. vandalism four, weapons zero, sub substance abuse one and in hib there were three confirmed cases in in this
particular time period. So that's the first portion of the compliance report and now we will have Christine when they get the technology going. He was on earlier. >> Okay. Good evening Dr. Mass, Dr. McGary
and the board of education. Tonight I will present the harassment, intimidation and bullying report and for all of you there's there are slides behind you. Um here is an overview of what I will share. I will start with some specifics of HIB and then I will provide information for
investigations, trainings, and programs for the September through December 2025 reporting period. The statute defines harassment, intimidation, or bullying as any gesture, written, verbal, or physical act, or any electronic communication, whether it be a single incident or a
series of incidents that is reasonably perceived as being motivated either by any actual or perceived characteristic such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and
expression, or a mental, physical, or sensory disability. or by any other distinguishing characteristic. The incident is required to take place on school property at any school sponsored function on a school bus or off school grounds that substantially
disrupts or interferes with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of other students and that a reasonable person should know under the circumstances that the act will cause one of the following following three. One has the effect of physically or emotionally harming a student or
damaging the student's property or placing a student in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm or damage to his property. Two, has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or group of students. Three, creates a hostile educational environment for the student by interfering with a student's
education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student. It is our anti-bullying specialists who conduct these investigations. Here's a list of all of them. Many serve in a leadership role on their school safety team, climate and safety team, and
implement trainings for students, staff, and parents. They receive mandated training and work closely with me as the anti-bullying coordinator. Who can report and how do I report? There's information on our school district's website regarding our HIV policy, a parent guide from the New
Jersey Department of Ed education, and our state HIV grades. You can also access a link if you need to report an HIV incident. Here we have a table listing investigations conducted at each school from September through December. There
were a total of 20 investigations in which three were confirmed HIV. Our district total shows a decline in HIV related incidents from last year's reporting period in comparison to this year. Each school conducted trainings to support a positive school climate. At
the high school, several staff members advanced to the tier 2 and tier three three restorative justice training, preparing them to turnkey the practices to their colleagues. Terrell, like our other schools, began the year providing information about our HIV policy and prevention. Nettingham trains school
staff on positive behavioral interventions and supports a tiered framework that f focuses on proactive behavior management to foster positive behavior and improve school culture and climate. The elementary school staff prepared activities from the Sandy Hook
Promise start with hello program to make sure that every student felt welcome and a part of what goes on in school. The activities focused on how important it is to be accepting of everyone despite individual differences. School one, Evergreen, and Brunner were able to join Kohl's and McInn in being selected for
the dreams program. The grant provided the remainder of schools with training in the nurtured heart approach. In continuing with this approach, Kohl's used the theme shine your inner wealth, which provided training to all staff. McInn incorporated zones of regulation training for their teachers in addition
to second step to teach tools to manage emotions. This brings us to the final portion of this presentation which looks at specific programming to prevent or reduce HIV incidents. So here's an impressive list of all the programs
delivered to our students uh from that September through December period. And just to highlight a few, the high school through the not in our school program hosted an afternoon of food, fellowship, and stories in the high school media center titled Serving Up Stories. The event saw more than 100
students, staff, and community members gather to enjoy various international foods. Students shared stories of community. Some spoke of times when they had been accepted despite differences, and others spoke of challenges they have overcome with regard to community support. Terrell led a student program,
No Hate, in the Garden State, to foster awareness of bias laws and the impact of bias on mental health. Students continued projects to spread awareness throughout the year. They also put put much effort into providing targeted classroom lessons in all four grades. At
Nettingham, in addition to many of the traditional programs, added assemblies to introduce the Hawks honest, accountable, wide, kind, and safe schoolwide initiative to promote positive behavior and character. At the elementary level, there were opportunities for students and staff to
be recognized and affirmed for their positive efforts, choices, and successes through the theme, Shine Your Inner Wealth. As briefly mentioned before, Brunner students participate in a project called I am to reflect character traits. Oop, sorry. Let me There we go.
I jumped ahead. Okay, there we go. Um, sorry. Um, I am to reflect character traits that make them unique. They celebrated their strengths that help them shine in and out of the classroom. In conjunction with the PTA, McInn students announced the character traits that they aspire to as McInn citizens
and themes that highlight aspects of respect. They tied these traits to the development of social emotional skills. There were anti-bullying and school climate assemblies, new student groups to help ease the transition for transfer students who are new to our school district. events to signify certain
themed week weeks such as week of respect, world kindness day, spirit week, and heritage month to embrace diversity and remind students the positive difference they can make for those around them. There were 52 programs over four months indicating the efforts made by our principles,
teachers, parents, and students to ensure a safe and welcoming school environment. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Hari. Do we does anyone have any questions or comments for Dr.
>> Thank you. >> I just have a quick comment that um I mean you do this a couple times a year and I'm always amazed at just how many initiatives and programs there are to help decrease harassment, intimidation,
and bullying. And so I appreciate all of the work of all the counselors. Thank you. >> I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Let's go back and recognize first. Good evening. We have a special treat
that I'm going to share with you. Give me a moment. This evening, we want to recognize our senior board rep, Grace McDougall. We extend our deepest gratitude and congratulations to you for being our
senior board representative. We wish you the very best as you continue your academic journey at Boston College. [applause] >> We also want to recognize this evening Patrick Leone who is our dedicated board meeting videographer. That was a
surprise, right? For your exceptional service. We look forward to your continued success as you join Syracuse University. [applause] SO WEIRD being [laughter] >> agree.
>> We were quick. Move over so he can be on the camera. >> Thank you. [applause] Thank you so much for your service. Back to our regularly scheduled program [laughter] in exec. We went over personnel, the legal status, and HIP. Board President's
announcement. The New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this
act, the Scotch Plains Fanwood Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted at the board of education offices located at 313 South Avenue in Famwood, New Jersey. Such notice was also provided in written notice forwarded to the leader,
which was formerly the Union County Hawk, the Star Ledger, the Township Clerk of Scotch Plains, and the Burough Clerk of Famwood in the annual notice of regularly scheduled meetings as adopted April 24th, 2025. Thank you. Any additions to the agenda, Mr. Jones?
>> Yeah, there's a few a few that I'll discuss uh when I get to my section. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> And we are at your section, Mr. Jones. >> Oh, well, look at that. Dr. Mass. >> So, what what an incredible and
productive year this has been. It is truly hard to believe we are crossing the finish line. And there's so much to celebrate from our inspiring collaboration with the community on the new strategic plan which we are thrilled to present this fall to the exciting
momentum behind our referendum work and the preparation to open the Lrand school. Our progress has been phenomenal. We have also begun the incremental transition of the fifth grade from the middle school back to the elementary school. I am overflowing with
gratitude for our amazing community, dedicated parents, our wonderful board of education and hardworking staff for making this such a joyous and successful year. And on June 24th, we will
celebrate our 359 graduates, which is the culmination of all the work that we do. Thank you. Thank you. Now moving on to our business administrative report. Mr. Jones. >> Yeah. So I'll defer my time. I just want to point out something for the board members for tonight though. We have
since we're at in June, we have two sections for each one. So we have the first section for each one of these motions will be the 2526. And then we also have a 2627. So just as you're aware, if you see it twice, it's there. It's there on purpose. And then my section will be very long. So we'll wait. >> Thank you.
>> Our student representative report. >> Okay. Hi. Um, so there's been a lot going on in this past like two months as the school year is coming to a close. Um, the juniors took the stamp test to determine their proficiency levels in a foreign language that they take in school. And the results just came back
this week. And in case you're wondering, I am legally bilingual now. And for those who reached a certain proficiency level in each section of the test will earn the seal of biliteracy and be honored at a ceremony next year. And a couple weeks ago, there was the first ever math honor society induction where
students who have shown exc excellence in math in high school were inducted. And the women's health club had a walk-athon last week where participants walked around the track at our school to raise money for the Vavanessa T. Marott Foundation. So, that's pretty cool. And the juniors had their prom about two
weeks ago at the Westwood. And that was obviously pretty fun. And not so fun, we're in the midst of final exams. Um, but we're going to be finishing those up next week on Monday. And with that, the school year. So that's pretty bittersweet, I guess. And today there was actually a petting zoo at our school
and there was a mini horse and like chickens and sheep, I think, um, for students to visit after finals and just kind of like calm down and de-stress. But it's been a pretty great year and everyone's excited for summer and I know all the juniors are feeling kind of, you know, bittersweet, like I said, about coming back as seniors next year. So
yeah, >> thank you. Uh so as for last Friday, we had the clabouts at the elementary school and it's the second year of the tradition and it's been pretty great so far. Um it was fun to come back to my old elementary school and see a few of the
teachers that I had and also see um my school mascot which I didn't know we had at Evergreen. So that was pretty awesome. [laughter] U yeah and then little kids made signs which was really cute especially my neighbor made one for me which made me happy. Um and then after the clap out,
it was pretty much a seamless transition into the picnic. Um we had waffles, pizzas, drinks, and complimentary reader towels, which was really nice. And everyone um congregated around the field to get their yearbooks signed and their last goodbyes and stuff like that. Well,
not goodbyes, but little messages. Um tomorrow night for seniors, we have prom at the Imperia. Also very exciting. And then as for senior project, seniors are done with their senior projects um and have been presenting all throughout this week. I
had a wonderful time interning for the assembly woman for my senior project. Um and learned a lot about legislation and overall senior projects definitely are fundamental to helping kids understand more about what their future passions are and I think are a great development to this high school. So yeah, overall a
very enriching experience and it's crazy that it's my last year, but I had a great time at this high school, so I'm very grateful for everything. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Anything you want to add for the No. Okay, moving along.
We are going into our first public comment in accordance with Scotch Plains Fanwood Public Schools bylaws 0164 and 0165. The meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comments. Maximum three minutes per speaker. Speakers addressing super superintendent items,
business functions, and other board business will be heard first. If time remains, speakers may address other matters. Speakers, please state your full name in the town in which you reside. Please note forge used the public comment period as an opportunity to listen to critic to cit citizen
concerns but not to debate issues or enter into a question and answer session or cross-examination between the public and the individual members. Be aware that not all issues brought before board meeting will be resolved that evening. Boards may respond to public comment by seeking additional information or by
delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his or her designate. Eric Felen, Scotch Plains. And uh congrats to all the seniors. God, I miss my last few weeks of school four scoring seven years ago, whatever it was. But uh
that's is I have to say I was at the McIn clap out for my oldest son and uh it was a very heartwarming experience to see the teachers to see uh Dr. Slokum and everybody and like people grew up. So then I looked back at old pictures of
my son. Anyway, um congrats to the volleyball and track team. Uh I had the honor of watching a lot of the volleyball uh games which were just impressive. Um also um I I did want to bring up some
suggestions for the upcoming school year. um as you start planning uh you've done most of the planning but for the upcoming school year I've had some conversations with some parents in McInn and parents uh in the high school. One suggestion I have is about the drop off
in the pickup. Um this uh parent moved from Texas about a year ago and he said that drop off seemed pretty easy but um pickup is a nightmare as we always hear. Um and he made a suggestion. And I asked
him what was what did you do in Texas because he said it was so seamless in Texas. They had 900 kids pick up in 20 minutes at the schools that it was I guess a big school system but um very simple. They had hang tags with numbers and the kids were assigned numbers and
as the cars would come I guess the teachers or attendants would call off the numbers and maybe they have a spreadsheet of who the kids are. But if we could think about something more efficient so the parents don't have to park all along the streets and everything like that, I think it's time we just start thinking about the
problems that that the parents have that would make their lives a lot more easier. And pickup is one of those things as the school year comes along in September. The other feedback that I've heard is um so we all know the cuto off date is October 1st as you enter the
school system to be placed in your school year but when you become a senior um and you're eligible for parking um those seniors that are eligible only the ones that have official driver's license by I guess the middle of August or
whenever it is that the um forms go out and that leaves people that have birthdays and permits between the middle of August and October 1st um without an opportunity to get a driver's license. So, please consider maybe ex having some
sort of extension or say could those people probably have their official permits which have their driver's license number issued on it already. I know you have to make a photocopy of that and turn it in for your your permit application. So maybe the allowance of
anybody who is uh turns 17 by October 1st and or has a permit uh currently should be eligible to apply for a permit and not be left out of that because maybe for the first month of the school year they
don't get the opportunity to have a spot. That's it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Felon. Gary Morris, South Avenue, Fanwood. Um, I was wondering if uh you could give us an update on uh how many students are
enrolled at Lrand and maybe what uh so uh we could prepare mentally in Fanwood who live near that. uh what the pickup arrangements and drop off uh arrangements are going to be there. Um the timing and everything like that
because I could obviously people could adjust their schedules to go to work earlier or go later or whatever just to minimize the traffic impact. Um and finally, um it's kind of interesting that they had a a whole thing on
bullying. I'm kind of an expert on being bullied. Um, if you watch the Fanwood Town Council meeting this past week was fascinating actually because people were hammering me because I read a law. Okay?
And this is an educational thing. I have reading comprehension. I'm I'm not a lawyer. Don't pret pretend to be one, but I realized and I've said this before, a law in fan in in Fanwood expired based on the law. And we went
and gave a $1.6 million tax break to an apartment complex, the biggest apartment complex in Fanwood. $1.6 million. We broke the law and I caught them. And it's really embarrassing that now they
come back and bully me. So I'm asking Mr. Jones, Dr. Mast, let's get on board and make them pay their fair share. We can't be They're literally proposing to write an ordinance to retroactively
give these people or this development $1.6 million over the next six years. That's ridiculous. Let's get on board. You know the mayor. I'm sure she's, you know, you got her in your phone. Speed
dial. Call her up and say, "We need these developments to start supporting the schools." Now, kids go kids are in those buildings. They're going to our schools and they're not paying a penny.
that 50. We have 58 apartments there. And hot yoga, I might add. I'm just throwing that in. Hot yoga may actually attract more people to our town than than residents. It's insane. If you have a yoga mat, just walk around our town.
You'll feel right at home. Um it's it's actually unreal. Uh so uh I go undercover all the time doing that. Um, so again, I just please support this initiative. I am working my butt off and
in case you didn't know, I'm actually um running for office now and I I qualified. I'll be on the ballot. Um, just throwing that out there to somebody to actually support the residents. We're getting hammered. Taxpayers are getting hammered. You too can help us by going
to the mayors and the leaders and advocating for these guys to pay their fair share. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comment, Mr. Morris. >> Sebastian Monet, um, Scotch Plains. I have a 5-year-old and a three-year-old
who I hope one day are in this building. Um, both of which went to daycare um through COVID, which is an unusual time to get acclimated to other kids in classrooms. I was excited. They were excited to my
5-year-old uh to register, go through orientation, and to enter into Kohl's. um completing that registration process. We were told that it is not a guarantee uh that she will be in that school and she would have gone to that school with
other kids from daycare that she had been with. Um there's two fundamental problems there. I guess maybe if I was deeper into this experience, I'd have better understanding of how LRAN
should impact or improve things next year in terms of capacity at Kohl's. But I would believe it would be helping the situation. Yet there might be too many children to physically go to Kohl's. There's an issue of space. There's an
issue of assets. Some of those are bigger conversations, but the general idea that we won't know that at any definitive point in time, but it will happen sometime this summer is difficult. So whether my daughter ends
up at Kohl's where she is going to acclimate to a new environment as a young child or does not and her friends don't end up there. I think that needs to be a much larger priority um for the parents for young
children who need to acclimate to that uh new environment. Um, I think fundamentally if we have classrooms that are too crowded and children are going to be sent to new districts, um, in an area that I moved before I had a family because I believed in the school system.
Um, I think that's a problem that needs to be addressed now and not later because it does take time. But in the meantime, if we could please consider those children, put some timelines on it and help us parents if you have to have that really hard conversation with your
child. >> Thank you for your comment. >> Thank you. We will have an opportunity for another public comment. U letters to the board. We received five emails and were they were sent to the appropriate administrator and I know we had a few committee
reports. I have one Dr. Kokowski. >> I have facilities and we met on June 8th. Dr. Mass, Christopher Jones, Stephanie Serani, Jason Benedict, and myself. Uh we discussed the capital reserve review. We have a very tight budget and there's
less going into the reserve. it's harder to make decisions about where we use our funds. Uh we talked about some PSA Epic project updates and Lrand is 10 million and it's on budget. Um Nettingham Fire Code, the egress is coming along lower
than expected as we make uh the two front doors into four. Um package two, we had electric at the high school, Nettingham, Terrell Kohl's going out to bid. Uh we cannot build up on school one or Nettingham due to the flood zone. the
capital reserve project. How are we going to fund it? Uh perhaps a referendum in 2027. We have HA HVAC to do um and around one-year bond. If we do that, we'll have no tax impact because we'll be able to
get 30% from the state. And that way our budget would be $750,000 versus 1 million for the 109 total uh HVACs. We really need 34 to be replaced soon. Uh Lrand third floor um the floor
plan 5.5 million for furniture etc. and 5 to six classrooms nurse's room and the kitchen. Uh kindergarten may go to Lrand but kindergarten needs bathroom. So that's 2 to three million per classroom. Uh Lrand kitchen uh that also still has
to be done. Capacity reporting results will come out in August and we'll see about the options for enrollment. Then the EIP energy sharing impact plan the host RFP from the company N ESCO has a potential savings due to the amount of
money going for energy. utility costs keep going up and the more HVACs could fund slowly then the RFP six um 6,000 uh we have 8% for the architect and then you can borrow against the savings and we thinking about moving to all LED
lighting uh facility planning items um purchases about $400,000 TMS needs some security cameras which is 56,000 uh high school courtyard needs cameras and some tables uh outside where we just fixed the egress. Uh that's about
35,000. Uh maintenance shop needs money. Trees came down and they need to be cleaned up. We also need a shot clock for the gym, scoreboards, uh a projector for the gyms. That's going to be about $44,000 and that will help with graduation
overflow. Nettingham needs a new gym curtain. That's 32,000. uh two trucks which are the masonry dump truck type, the uh F350 uh approximately $79,000 uh that will be able to help us with plowing uh moving munch mulch and snow
around. The ones we have are about 20 years old and have rusted frames. And the Toro riding mower, which has six blades, uh 116,000 for a new one. The one we purchased in 2016 cost 62,000. And if we tried to repair the one we
have would be about 14,000 to repair. And that completes my report. >> Thank you, Dr. Kokowski. >> Thank you, Dr. Moryani. >> Okay. The curriculum committee met last night
and we had a number of agenda items. The first thing we discussed was uh the high school's new chapter of Mu Alpha Theta, which is the math honor society that um Leah mentioned earlier this evening. 55 junior and senior students were inducted
into again the first chapter. Um and math teacher Melissa Mcan is the adviser of that and um came and spoke with our committee last night. Um, Miss Man also addressed the committee for approval for a new
textbook for a our AP statistics course. Um, the and the board has a copy of the the textbook proposal. Two textbooks were considered. Uh, the selection was or the recommended um book was the practice of
statistics for the AP course 8th edition. Um, the text has been upgraded. It has video examples. It's more equitable. It pairs with a free calculator option for the students. It's more readable, more relatable examples. There are updated practice tests that
align more with um the College Board's AP test. Um there are new lessons handouts and an updated teachers edition. So um we are asking the board to approve the purchase of the package
which includes um ebooks and hard copy books. um students learn in different ways. So this offers uh those variety of ways for the students to access the materials uh and includes two teacher editions and two test banks and the
total for um 60 students is 13,1380 and that is on tonight's agenda for approval. The third item we discussed was the focus competitive grant proposal. I talked about this in April when the district applied for the grant
and the district just heard that it was awarded more than $14,000 to implement this this grant which um would provide universal literacy screening tools. And the district would use some of the grant funds for a program that generates
reports and provides families with information via Home Connect. and that allows families to actually see the reporting um the literacy reporting and then they will be offered supplemental tools for home learning. So this will be
um really helpful for families as well as the educators. The fourth agenda item was um a discussion about this is just informational family literacy nights which took place. Um our K to5 English uh language arts
supervisor Kelly Dunston talked about recent family literacy nights. She there were two that were held one at each town library and the goal was to promote strong literacy habits and kick off the district's summer reading. uh each evening had a presentation from Miss
Dunston and the youth services liaison at each of the libraries, a local author uh provided a reading and Spiffy was in appearance as well at Scotch Plains Library. Um and also during the event, the summer reading hub was unveiled and
uh they showed the summer reading hub to our committee last night. It's really helpful. It offers um the summer reading choices and supplemental reading at each grade level. Um, so families should really go on the district website and check out the summer reading hub. So
that leads me into the next agenda item, which was specifically summer reading. Um, and again, in addition to us having family literacy nights at the libraries, the town librarians have come to all eight of our schools to unveil um the library summer reading programs, discuss
their programming and access to library cards, encouraging students to obtain library cards. Um and then also reinforcing our summer reading requirements. Um the English language arts supervisors have worked with the libraries to ensure that there are enough copies of the required summer
reading for students. Um students again at each level check out the summer reading hub, but at each level they're offered um a few different choices um of fiction and non-fiction reading um assignments at each grade level from 5 to 12. There's no required
reading for kindergarten through fourth grade, but there are online recommendations. There still um is a hub for those grades. There are online recommendations um and families can determine, you know, how they could guide their their students um during the
summer with with summer work. There also like readalouds, videos, and other great materials. >> [snorts] >> Um we also discussed uh summer assignments not related to reading and English language arts. So um this is
like the the AP courses. Mostly we discussed AP science, AP calcul the AP sciences and AP calculus have summer assignments to prepare students for the rigor of that college level work. Uh there's also world language summer work preparing the students um for the AP
language courses. Um, and that was informational. But on tonight's agenda, the board is also being asked to approve summer curriculum work. The the um district does this every summer. Um, we're being asked to
approve um personnel to conduct um and curriculum adjustments across all curricular areas. And again, this takes place every summer. And then the board also received a copy of the very thick curriculum matrix for the 2627 uh school
year which the board has to approve again every summer. And um that is revised every year and updated with uh course additions that we have discussed through this this past year. And our next meeting will be at the end of August when we hear all about the
exciting work that was done over the summer. >> That's it. >> Thank you. Any other reports? >> Questions for study? >> Okay. Are there any other reports? Okay. Seeing none, we're moving right along to
our um to Dr. Mass. Before I go through these items, I just want to mention the process that we use for kindergarten enrollment. Um it has always been in writing that if students register late their their placement
would not be um guaranteed. Um and though it's been in writing, it hasn't been anything that we've ever needed to execute on. A because we've had enough space and b we weren't in a financial climate where if we needed to extend
more classrooms we could. Um currently the climate that we're in is um first considering the cap on classrooms depending on the grade level. So kindergarten classes we really wouldn't
want to see go over 21. Um you know our our teachers certainly would advocate for that and I think our parents too. So, in um some schools, if we needed to um go to um an additional section, if
there isn't space for an additional classroom, um then there might be another school that still has seats in kindergarten. So, that would be a consideration. Um a because of space and b because of cost
savings. That that decision would not be made lightly. Um and additionally um there would be other factors that we would need to consider. So for example, if if it was a student at one school that then we were going to place because there was an open seat in another
school, it might require busing and then it might not be a cost savings at all. So this year what we've done just knowing that it's tighter is when when families have registered we've written
we've read the clause saying your seat isn't guaranteed. Um though it's always been there. Um it really hasn't been an agitation because we haven't had to execute on it. So now we're just just in case we do we're we're providing that
that verbal warning. But I certainly um understand that that's you know a a concern and and um you know at best an inconvenience but it's something we're we're considering only if we're forced to. So at at Koh's Elementary School
they did have two classrooms that were prek classrooms and those classrooms will now be at um at Lrand in the opening of September. So calls is not by any means spacer rich, but they they do
have some some elbow room should we need to increase the class size. That's not the case for all of the all of the elementary schools. So we're giving that universal message, but um I I know that it's it's it's upsetting to hear and I
understand that. So moving on to my items. The first one is out of district placements. The second is the hibs from May 12th. The third is the byianual gifts
um at Terrell Middle School, Evergreen and McGin. And four is the SSDs and HIP reporting that we heard this evening for 2627
again out of district placements. Um we're announcing the administrator for the creative summer workshop being Dr. Wayne Mallette who is also our supervisor of fine arts
and also um performed at our most recent Junth celebration and um if you have the opportunity to hear him sing it it is really it is really beautiful. Um,
three, our field trip requests, [snorts] and four, our Marshall rubric, which is the tool we use to evaluate our administrators, and five is the curricular matrix that was presented to the curriculum
committee. Um, six is the emergency virtual instruction program, which we hope we never need to use again, but the state still require requires us to have a virtual plan.
Seven is a textbook adoption that Mrs. Heriani spoke to. It's the statistics [clears throat] textbook um the practice of statistics for the AP. And eight is the superintendent
authorization. So I can continue to hire over the summer when we're not meeting. It would still require the board's approval when we meet again in August. Um and nine the board official roles
that are listed in the table there and 10 is the personnel report that we discussed in exec this evening first. >> Hi. May I get a first? >> So move Second move.
>> Mr. Jones, roll. >> Okay. Miss Barvey, >> yes. >> Mr. Benedict, >> yes. >> Miss Borov, >> yes. >> Mr. Greenblat, >> yes. >> Dr. Kolkowski, >> yes. >> Miss St. Lair, >> yes. >> Miss Seriani, >> yes. >> Miss Williams,
>> yes. >> Motion passes. Mr. Jones. >> Okay, first one, staff training. This is 2526 to a couple more related services.
Uh number three is the um package 2 bid results. So just a reminder for everyone, the referendum was three sections. Um the first one was Lrand which we executed right away. Number two was package one and that was the I would say easier electrical work um that's
going on now Brunner McKinn Evergreen and then this is the final package for the referendum. This is major electrical work that'll require um significant shutdown to all of our schools uh next summer. Um and this came in um it did
come in uh under budget which is good. Um, and this is approving that. But again, with the lowest bid, we just a reminder for everybody, we can't select the contractor we use. Um, and you get sort of get what you get
with a contractor. Um, so just it is a big project. Um, and we do have um construction manager to help us with that, but uh I a project this big um it'll be uh it'll be process to get
through it. Um number four is um bid award for commissioning. Again this is a uh required bid in order whenever you do uh HVAC work you have to basically uh hire uh an independent inspector
um of the work. So that's what this is. Five is the uh new route we have to put in for the fifth grade students uh for next year. Again, just a reminder with the transportation. Um, we have to go out to bid for this and we're required
to take the, uh, lowest bidder. Number six is some purchases for the grand. Number seven is change orders. Again, the change orders all within budget for the grand. Number eight is what was mentioned by
Dr. Kolkowski. This is the Nicam egress project. And although So this is just to actually put together the specs for the project. Our estimate is hoping that it comes in a little bit less than we expect, but this is still going to be a significant expense to uh increase the
uh egress for net again. >> Why do we have >> Yeah. Okay. So and the reason we have to do this is uh the whole >> Yeah. Okay. So when we uh announced the uh fifth
grade moving to Brunner, um we had um we don't know the code official was called to review our schools for capacity and it was found we were over capacity at at Nettingham.
And so in order to meet the requirements of capacity, we have to do a project to widen some of the doors. Um, you know, I expect this project between uh between four and 500,000 to uh wind the doors at Ningham.
Um, high school courtyard egress again to finalize that project so we can have students who can use our courtyard. 10, library book disposal. 11. This is a shared service agreement that we have with the town for some
provide busing for some of their uh like day camps. Um this one I'll go into a little bit. So this is our equipment purchase. So in our grounds we have um basically one commercial grade um mower for our
schools um that we use for our sports fields and our large fields. and uh we make we replace it basically every 10 years um and it's expensive about $100,000 before we reviewed for a
committee meeting we initially looked at one that was 115 we found one um basically just replacing what we have for 100,000 um and so it's about 10,000 a year and just to talk about really we should have replaced this unit last year and of course we didn't and there went it it
broke down um and we had to we had to fix it and that that was uh 14,000 just to fix it last year. Um and so the result of that though is you know I always say that the the two community member uh the re when I talk to community members it's really about uh there's two things. The first one is
always transportation that I get calls about that of course uh and number two is the fields and um having this unit having to go out for a week or two. um not only um we have to use our smaller units. So we have to pay overtime because you have to use two units and
additional people to do it and additionally we um the finish on the fields is not as nice when you use the smaller units. So um there's not just a a repair cost, there's a time cost as well. Um and so having this unit is um it's important for the efficiency of the
operations of the of our staff uh and the quality of our fields. And uh we it is definitely passed its way past its uh its number of hours. Um and it's still not uh working uh as expected even after repair. And so I would expect at this point the repairs would continue. Buying
new gets us at 10,000 per year. >> Okay. Um this is significant because we use our co-op for this is a significant uh discount to the uh list price. Uh 13 is the fleet trucks. So our fleet of trucks, we have a significant amount.
They're on a schedule, a planned schedule, and this just follows along with that schedule that we re give to the board every year. Uh 14 is um standard uh resolution we do every year in order to put money into our capital reserve.
Um same for number 15. Um 16 is transferring um interest. 17's a good one. We settled our uh supervisor uh contract. So this is the ratification of that contract. Um 18 is a standard report. Fire drills
every month. 19 every month financial reports. 20 dispersement of listings. 21 payment of bills. These are the additions that were added for 22 to 25. 22 is planning for the grant a projector. 23 is something we actually approved last month, but when we reviewed the purchase, we're actually
just changing the funding to a capital reserve because it's u just it's our wireless units all at a full school a full school. So then it falls under a capital project. Um 24 is what we um Dr. Holowski talked about as our additional
camera coverage and 25 is for the high school uh projector. It's uh not only for graduation of course it's for uh significant amount of student use and presentations we can now um add value to students uh within the uh high school gym.
Uh on to 2627. These are for next year. Swim contract at the YMCA. Uh two, food service award 2627 food prices. We're keeping those flat to last year. Four is our transportation renewals. Uh
all the uh the renewal rate 3.58 this year. All of our contracts uh are being renewed uh by the vendors. Um related services, special ed students. Number five. Number six, student services for gened students. Seven's Mckin Vinto, which is homeless
uh our homeless uh process that we partner with Essex Regional. >> Um A is our professional services for the year. Nine is our before afterare renewal. Again, that's part of a five-year contract we put together. We did a a very long competitive competitive bidding process for that. 10
is our district annual district's insurance. 11 is to be in our sports leagues. 12 is a renewal of our uh an extension of our recycling and waste management. We're about to bid on that next year. 13 is just a year yearly renewal for technology and telecom.
14, uh, Votech students contract. 15, um, Union uh, Union County Ed, uh, services contract. 16 is our parental contracts for for transportation.
17 is our policy service. 18 is a uh, this is our insurance broker. They help us get us low prices for our benefits where it helps us with the bidding process and the management of all of our insurance. 18 is our health insurance. Same thing, but for health insurance.
20 is ed data. So Ed data we for our um classroom supplies, we put them all uh we use a service that makes sure we get the cheapest prices for all of our teachers. This is the results of those um subscription busing. We're keeping that flat for last year.
22 Home Depot. So, the state does a we can use Home Depot. Uh the state puts out a bidding process and negotiates prices with Home Depot on at a state level. And this is just approving us to use that contract.
23 is all of our custodial supplies. Again, these supplies were all put out the bid. This was by theund county ESC did this bidding um to get the lowest prices on this 24. Same thing through Hunington County or for our tree service.
Uh 25 is OSI, their open systems integrator. Again, they go through uh the ES the ESC of New Jersey. Um been competitively bid through them. 26 is our specialized HVAC and plumbing supplies. Again, that one's through
Huning County. 17 uh DICE. That's where we purchase a significant amount of our uh technology from. Again, they uh they have a special uh agreement with the state, the MVP New Jersey participating amendment, it's called uh in order to get the best price
for these items. 28 is our bus supplies um for buses. Next, procedural. So, the procedural section of this is just um things are required from a compliance perspective. Every year they
have to get approved by the state. Um, I'll go through each one. Uh, number one is just payment of bills that are due between board meetings. Of course, they're always approved at each, uh, board meeting. I don't I only pay bills between board meetings that are where they're due. So, if you have like
a the Comcast, they're the internet bill is due. They'll literally shut you off. Got to pay between a board meeting. So, uh, and then it gets subsequently approved. If it's not due before the board meeting, we wait till after the board meeting. Two is purchasing agent where I can purchase items up to the bid threshold.
Uh, three is Robert's rules, how we run our board meetings. Four is our policies. Five is the newspapers we use to approve advertisements, put out advertisements. Chart of accounts. Number six. Number seven, uh, student records. Number eight is our bank.
Number nine is budget transfers. 10, petty cash. 11, uh, annual transfer of interest. Uh 12 and 13 is a 43B 457 tax shelters board policy readoption of my policy
manual. Uh 15 is a backup for me for purchasing agent if I'm out. 16 again backup if I can't make it to a board meeting. Somebody can go in my for me. Uh and 17 somebody can open bids if I'm not
available to open bids. Okay. And I'm done. You can do a voice for this one. >> That's it. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Anyone have any questions or any
comments? >> Oh, can I get a motion, please, to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> Any oppose? Motion passes. Thank you.
Oh, okay. Board policies. None. Thank you. Any new board business? Guys are quiet. Other board business. >> I have a le. >> Oh, where we at? That
>> we're next. >> What's next? Les on reports, >> you have a report, Amy. >> I mean, >> I'd like to give an update on CPAG. Thank you. [laughter] So, um, our special education parent advisory group met on June 1st for our
final their final meeting. Um, and we went over some of the highlights of the accomplishments of this year and what's to look forward to in the future. Um and I think it's just really uh important to note that one of the things that WSU
came out of the um results from this past year is that as opposed to having one public meeting open monthly where anyone can come in. um they had such success with the um parent caregiver
meetings that were private um that they've decided to expand those and pull back a little bit on the open meetings um which gives an opportunity for parent parents to come together talk about any concerns or highlights that they may have and then CPAC then sits down with
Dr. Mast and um the head of special services to share any feedback that they have and that's been a really helpful way of um meeting a lot of our goals over the past year. Uh so that was a h a happy turning point for them. Um some of
their highlights from the year were were just um having representation at various school events and Union County events. Being present at all of the open houses was um a huge accomplishment for for them. Um we had a look ahead at uh
Lrand, some open discussion about what to expect as far as um what the third floor is going to be and a little understanding of the preschool um environment. And so, um, in case anybody
hasn't been following along, there is a, um, we have a principal hired for, um, Lrand that has started, um, as of June 1st. And, um, we will continue to keep everybody up to date on Lrand, but um,
what came out of CPAC is that they do need more volunteers. So, if you are interested, um, you can find their information on our website through our special services site and they're on break for the summer. >> Thank you, Mrs. Boroff.
>> Um, I have a Garden State update. Uh, we had our annual meeting, um, which is always really great. A lot of people turn out. A lot of our board was there. Um, we had the honor of hearing from our new commissioner of education, Dr. Lily Locks. Um she talked about, you know,
her what's what's important to her. So she talked about increasing preschool funding, um literacy being really important to her, high impact tutoring, which we know Dr. McGary has done a lot with with that kind of funding. And she talked about that. Student mental health
um and um addressing barriers to entry and retention for teachers because we've talked about there being there's a teacher shortage and we need to address that. Um, and then she talked about the funding formula, which a lot of us have lots of gripes about, but she talked about that, you know, she definitely
feels like it needs an update. We don't know what that's going to look like, but that's what what she was saying. Um, then we had a professor from Ryder University, Micah Rasmusen. Um and he talked about how to really um you know as a board or as as people who care
about public ed education um we we have kind of come to a breaking point and you know we should really be talking to um our our congresswomen and assemblymen and anyone we can reach out to to to really show them the urgency. I think he
he said that as public educators, we're really good at making it look good, like we're fine, we're great, you know, and so he talked about really showing them that the that we feel like the sky is falling, you know, in in terms of budget and and those kinds of things. Um, and
then we had a panel discussion with um what we were expecting, I think, more people from Trenton, but we had one assemblyman um he's the majority whip, Michael Vanetsia. he was there um along with Michael Micah Rasmusen and then we
had a couple of really well spoken superintendent from v various communities across the state um and they really talked about the things they want to fix or the things that need to be fixed and so um healthc care costs was a big one that you know I think every
district is hurting with because of that. Um, you know, also just, you know, act the state actually funding extraordinary aid like thing things that that are really big ticket items for for districts. Um, health care kept coming up. Um, mental health kept mental health
kept coming up in the sense that more and more is being expected of our schools and we're not funding our schools the way they need to be funded to really give that kind of care. Um, you know, so it was it was a lot of that. They talked about the cell phone ban, the bill the bellto bell ban and
how, you know, different schools are are going to interpret that and how that rollout's going to be come September. Um, and they talked about AI and it it was interesting because there were some schools that were saying, you know, we really need to be writing with pencils and p pens and kind of getting
technology out of the classroom. And then um there was one superintendent that said that you know we we need to embrace it but we need to learn how to use it and teach our students to use it in the right way. Um obviously that's it's a tricky tricky line to walk on but
but um it was really interesting. I always find these garden stake meetings you you feel like you're not the only one thinking these ideas. It's it's nice to to hear what other communities are going through and and it was it was really wonderful. I think we're on hiatus for the summer, but our next
meeting will be in the in September. >> Thank you, Mrs. Barb. I was there also. I have to agree. You know, when you're there and you're at these at especially at this annual meeting, you realize we're kind of all in that same boat together with all of us with the high cost of healthcare and transportation.
So, it is it's it's I shouldn't say it's refreshing, but it's you know, we're all trying to >> it's nice to commiserate together. >> Yes. >> Thank you again. >> Yeah. So, I have a very brief update on the Union County School Board meeting which took place on May 13th. A few of
us were at that meeting. Um, at that meeting, a teacher from Rosel Park was honored for the Union County Teacher of the Year. Um, and our own Deb Brody and Tanya Williams were honored for 10 years of service um on our board. So,
congratulations for for that and thank you. Um, and the the big topic that also kept coming up at this meeting was also um the burden placed on on school districts throughout the county by
rising health care costs. and um the uh governmental relations uh liaison for Union County School Board um spoke about encouraged everyone to every district, sorry, to um
pass a resolution um and created a sample resolution um for districts to communicate to um the government, you know, that these healthcare costs are unsustainable for our budgets. So, I we do have that resolution on our agenda
tonight. Um and that was mentioned twice at this meeting. Um and then they talked about upcoming highlights for New Jersey School Board's 2026 workshop. Um they're kind of going to create a fun competition around getting more people
to workshop. So, it's going to be a competition among districts who can get uh people to attend workshop. Um so, I know most of us do attend workshop. It's a really great time to to again speak with people from from other districts as
well as um get continuing education for us. And I think that's it. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Mrs. Sorani. I just have one additional um the New Jersey School Boards Association the
delegate meeting um was this past I it was a few weeks ago. Um so as the voting delegate I I do want to share with the public that um the role of the the delegate meetings are to put policy
into action that we bring back to our districts. Um and since it has been repetitively brought up about our rising health care costs, um that certainly was one of the highlights of the conversation and um along with that was
the resolution to change the verbiage for the policy relative to um pilots. And I should note that this is the fourth year we have made the change to the pilot policy and to the note for the
public. It's a policy for the board to have. It doesn't actually the policy being and I will read it out loud in circumstances where direct allocation of pilot revenues to school district is not provided. M municipalities and
school districts should consider negotiated community benefits agreements or other legally permissible physical agreements to offset educational costs attributed to development. So the only thing that changed um in this statement
is um putting in the verbiage of if we are not receiving direct allocation of funding. the policy itself remains the same that we do wish to have a table a seat at the table when pilot agreements are being made and that's it.
>> Thank you Mrs. Boroff. >> Thank you everyone. Um any request to attend workshops and workshop reports seeing none we're moving on to our health insurance resolution. Mrs. Barve, >> thank you. Um this is the resolution
that Mrs. Hyani just spoke about. Um so here I go. Whereas at a time of continu continued fiscal uncertainty and mounting challenges, local boards of education from across the state of New Jersey continue to suffer under the growing crisis posed by the rising cost
of health benefits and are desperate for relief. And where whereas despite record levels of state investments in public education, these school districts are facing fiscal pressures similar to those confronting the state budget, including the unsustainable growth in healthc care
premiums and the mounting insolvency of the state's public employees health benefits programs. And whereas both within the school employees health benefits program and the private market, year-over-year doubledigit increases are placing tremendous strain on district
budgets and local taxpayers alike. And whereas Governor Cheryl and legislative leadership have publicly acknowledged the urgent need to address rising health care costs and the challenges facing the state's health benefits plans, including [snorts] both the state and local
portions of the state health benefits program and the SEBBP. And whereas the seriousness of this issue is underscored by the mid-year SEBP analysis released by the Treasury
Department in March 2026, which concluded that based on these projected losses and building in future trends, active premium rate increases for 2027 are likely to be in the double digits. And whereas these projected increases
would follow the 31.9% premium increase that took effect in January 2026, further exacerbating an overall premium increase of nearly 74% in the preceding 5 years. And whereas this growth in health care costs far
exceeds inflation, state aid increases, and the fiscal capacity of local communities. And whereas rising health care premiums are consuming an ever larger portion of already constrained school district budgets, forcing difficult decisions that directly affect
students, staff, and educational quality. And whereas these cost pressures have h also have significant consequences for taxpayers as district districts are often compelled to utilize the full extent of their available tax levy even after which many districts
remain unable to fully offset these increases due to the constraints of the property tax levy cap despite the limited healthcare ex exception. And whereas for the families and students these districts serve, the downstream consequences including district
deficits, program cuts, and school closures mean the loss of community stability, continue continuity of services, and in many cases, access to the specialized supports that our most vulnerable students depend on. And whereas these are also precisely the
conditions that erode student achievement and weaken the family engagement that is central to strengthening New Jersey public schools. And whereas implementing real sustainable solutions to the rising cost of health benefits and reforming how benefits are delivered through the SEBP
would demonstrate the governors and legislaturator's leadership and continued commitment to New Jerseys students, educators, and families, which directly advances our shared goal of affordability and an effective, efficient government for all New Jerseyians. Now therefore, it be
resolved that the Scots Plains Fanwood Regional School District in the county of Union calls upon the governor and state legislature to provide immediate short-term relief from the unsustainable increased health care costs experienced by school districts in recent years. And
be it further resolved that the Scotch Plains Fanwood Regional School District in the County of Union urges the governor to engage in meaningful engagement with all affected stakeholders to develop and implement practical long-term reforms to the
state's system of delivering health care to its public employees in order to generate meaningful long-term savings. And be it be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Governor Mikey Cheryl, state treasurer Aaron Binder, state uh Senate President
Nicholas Cqutari, Assembly Speaker Craig Coglin, State Senator N State Senator Nicholasqutari, State Assembly Representative Linda Carter and James Kennedy, and the New Jersey School Boards Association. >> Thank you. >> That was a mouthful. Can I get a motion
to Can I get a first? >> So move. >> Second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any opposed? >> Motion carries. Thank you. Um, can I get a motion to approve the May 12, 2026 minutes?
>> Second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Motion carries. We are coming up on our oops second and final comment. In accordance with Scotch Plains Fanwood Public Schools bylaws 0165 and 0164,
the meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comments. Maximum three minutes per speakers. Speakers addressing superintendent items, business function, and other board business will be heard first. If time remains, speakers may address other matters. Speakers, please state your full name in the town in which you reside.
Please note boards use a public comment period as an opportunity to listen to citizen concerns, but not to debate issues or enter into a question and answer session or cross-examination between the public and the individual members. Be aware that not all issues brought before a board meeting will be resolved that evening. Boards may
respond to public comment by seeking additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his or her design. Eric Felen. So, um, uh, just going back a few cycles here. You mentioned I guess that's great. You
you letter out to the legislature, to the state, to to the, uh, governor to try to get more funding. I was at the uh M Scotch Plains municipal uh meeting uh a few weeks back and they had Woodmont properties there and I brought up the
discussion point of why are we not getting any pilot money um for all this stuff and his answer was the same. Why don't we just write letters to our legislature? That's all fine and dandy and I applaud the efforts. We need to make those efforts but we need to make an effort at the local level and I think
Miss Borf you mentioned so are we now asking for a seat during pilot discussions or is this now we have a seat I don't I wasn't clear on that but um in either case we should make sure that we have a seat when any pilot is
being discussed because we can't control what the state decides we can try to influence we're a little fry in the whole state where we're a big fry try in Scotch Plains in Vanwood. They have about 350 projected units for the Woodmont uh buildings that they're going
to build in Scotch Plains. Beautiful floor plan. Everything that they have there all looks beautiful, nice paintings, everything's all painting. But at the end of the day, 350 more units, no money coming, no abatements. Mr. Morris talked about how uh no money
coming from uh the fanwood buildings that are that all this money that we are not getting to help the education to offset the cost. Now uh healthc care costs are rising. We all know that this is not a shocker. Um and we should expect it next year too. We should
expect it the year after. I pay a ton of money out of my own paycheck every month for health care for my family. So I'm assuming and then going to Mr. uh Jones here. You talked about the um the the lawn mower. Uh you seemed a little
surprised at first that was $100,000. This is a lot we got to spend right now, but then at the same token, you mentioned well every 10 years we replace it. So this should be something that's projected in our forecast of what we need to maintain. So we need to know what we need to maintain next year, the year after that, five years, 10 years. I
hope all that's in the plan. Um we should make sure we're getting money from the town for any pilot that they're trying to withhold. And um and then uh Dr. Mast a few months back and I'm just going to ask the question again. I asked
it back then that how do we look financially with all the other uh districts in the state? A lot of them had big shortfalls. They had to have teacher layoffs and reductions and all these different votes happen where they're 1020 million shortfalls. You
mentioned to me a few months ago that our projections are good. I'm hoping do they still look good for the next two years, three years, four years? I hope so. Um that's all I got to say. But um and then thank you. >> Thank you for your comment.
Hi, my name is Allison Schurk and I live in Scotch Plains. I wanted to speak more about the use of technology in the classroom and I appreciate that it came up already tonight. Um, I only have the experience of what my own children have been bringing home. So, I don't know how
it's being used in other classrooms and other schools in the district. Um, but I have become increasingly concerned uh in what I see as excessive. Um, there's been a lot more research coming out lately. There's a lot of data about the impact on learning and development,
screen time. Um, and certainly there's plenty of benefits to technology as well, but it seems like it's a bit out of balance in my opinion. Um, it seems from what I've seen, my sixth grader is only typing. She's not handwriting anything. Um, and the kids don't seem to
really even know how to type properly. They're like, you know, pecking. Um, it's really impacting everything that I'm seeing that she's bringing home. Um, I also think that the the technology in the classroom is very distracting when they're on an iPad where they can just
kind of scroll to something else, catch them on YouTube all the time at home when they're supposed to be checking things on their school iPads. Um, and as a parent, I have limited device use for my own children. Um, and the only device that they have in their hands on a daily basis is the school device and I can't
control that. Um, which I do find frustrating. Um, I have spoken to many other parents in the district and I haven't heard anyone who disagrees with this. Um, so I I think that it is maybe something that we can take a closer look at in finding a better balance. Um, and
I just wanted to mention, you brought up the cell phone ban, which I think is a great idea, but I I do think it's something to think about the fact that they don't have their cell phones, but they are on a tablet uh for a a large amount of the day. And there's a lot of negative impacts of that that are very
similar to the reason why cell phones are distracting in the classroom. Um, so again, I thank you for uh for hearing me and I would really like to hear more about what the district is doing to look at that balance and how we find that happy medium.
>> Thank you so much for your comment. Gary Morris, not to plug a a fan with business, but talk to Mr. Tech. he can do anything with uh technology and figure out a way to filter or put on uh some uh you know limiting uh time if you
will on on uh uh the device use. Um I just wanted to just walk through uh a situation that happened with the SOHO when they were approving that building. They built the Soho substantially higher
than the law allowed and we were told specifically there would be no abatements. We were told this by a planning board member there would be no abatements and yet they're doing it. And again, I can't reiterate this enough. We need your help, Amy. That was great. But
we really need to get more involved, actively involved. And if if anybody's wanting to get involved, they will be voting to retroactively give them $1.6 million next month. I believe it's July
13th, show up in force. It would be great to have representation from this board at that meeting and say, "No, we we're not going to take this anymore. You guys are breaking the law here. You can't go back in time and retroactively
give somebody something when when the the law expired. You just can't do it. And um I I I think they're they're finagling it. I found out about this issue in about 30 minutes on the internet. Okay, that's where devices do
come in handy. Uh I found out about it in 30 minutes. It took our town like eight to 10 weeks to come back with this brilliant idea that they're going to retroactively enact this uh uh tax abatement, which is
a complete slap in the face. Finally, I just want to give a shout out. I got here a little bit late. I want to give a shout out to to Coach Brock. He coached my son back in the day, and I loved seeing him at the finals. he showed up and and given uh the new coach, Jen, a
big hug after the game. U his work um was incredible with those young men and I think you saw it tonight. Great great guys. Uh he he instilled a work ethic in them and I still see it to this day in my son in uh in his many successes uh
out in the real world. And look, the the boys learned an important lesson, right? They advocated for something they really wanted. They didn't get it. I do that every freaking month at a a a meeting in
Fanwood. Does that stop me? No. In fact, when I get stabbed in the back, I tell my wife now, when I get stabbed in the back, it actually gives me better posture. Okay? I don't care. I don't care. I know what's right. We all know what's right. Let's show up in force.
And that goes to anybody who's watching this. Let's show up July 13th in Fanwood and tell them we're not going to take it anymore. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comment. [clears throat]
>> I know it's late. I know it's late. Sorry. Uh Bill Bard, Scotch Plains. Um, I just wanted to say I have a daughter who's graduating Nettingham this week and I just wanted to show my appreciation to the teachers and the leadership there. Um, I know all
principles work hard, but I have a feeling that middle school principles probably have the toughest job. Um, so Dr. D and Miss Duran do a fantastic job. She's had a series of awesome teachers, a great four years, and um, I went there, too, but I think she probably had
a better experience than I did. So, I just wanted to to, you know, because they're not here tonight, but I want somebody to everyone here to hear that um there are a lot of folks out here who appreciate the job that they're doing on site every day to keep things sane and
and uh keep the the kids happy and learning. So, shout out to them. >> Thank you. Thank you so much for your comment. >> Patrick Leoni, Scotch Plains. Um, I just want to express my gratitude for y'all giving me this opportunity. I've been running the live stream for these board
meetings uh ever since January of my sophomore year. It's been a fantastic experience and uh happy this uh it's my last one. So [laughter] a great time and uh thank [applause] you all. >> Thank you. Thank you.
>> That concludes our public portion of the meeting. Our upcoming scheduled meetings. Um we have a couple weeks off. We'll be back Thursday, August 27th for a regular public meeting at 8:00 right here in the media center. And the next
one after that would be Wednesday, September 16th, 8:00 in the media center as well. Anyone have anything for the good of the order? >> I do. >> Thank you. Uh, you know, the year is ending. It doesn't wind down, it winds
up. We become more busy than ever during the year. Uh, the last couple of weeks, many of us have attended the staff and student recognition on May 19th. Uh as Sali mentioned, the Garden State Coalition of Schools, most all of our board members have attended as well as
Dr. McGarry and uh Christopher Jones. Uh we also uh attended the seal of biiteracy on May 20th. Uh several students received certificates for multiple languages. One student even had three languages that he was proficient
in. We had the hall and fame induction at the high school on June 1st. Uh the math honor society which was also mentioned by uh Miss Oriani earlier. I attended that. Um the PTA board of ed lunchon on June 3rd where we collaborate together. It was very nice to see
everybody in a relaxed session and them thanking us and us thanking them for all we do all year. Um, I also uh watched the PaperMo Playhouse Rising Star Awards on the live stream on June 9th and we actually won two awards for our
presentation at the last uh high school musical that we did. It was fantastic to watch the students. They were wonderful. So, I hope everybody has a happy, healthy, and safe summer. >> Thank you, Dr. Kolkowski. Uh, first I just want to again thank Grace for her service to the board over
the last two years. Um, we are going to miss you. Thank you for your smile. Thank you for your your uh humor and uh your reports each month. We appreciate them and good luck at Boston College.
Um, and I I too I have a uh like Bill, I have a graduating eighth grader and uh a graduating senior. And so I have spent a lot of time over the last couple months, I know Mr. Felen has too, at various uh ceremonies. And
um I just want to acknowledge I guess all of the um first of all the Scotch Plains Fanwood Scholarship Foundation that people complain that it's a very long ceremony, but the reason for that is that there are hundreds of scholarships given out to our students.
Um and it it's really quite incredible how the community pitches in to um provide these you know these funds for our students and opportunities and to you know and lessening the burden for families and students to um go on to
higher education. So I just want to acknowledge that it was a long but really inspiring and incredible evening. Um, and I just want to acknowledge all of the field trips, the ceremonies. Um, you know, not just when they're giving out awards, but just these field trips. They're not just, you know, little trips
to here or there. I think they're very important like psychological uh transitions for our students um that provide memories and you know opportunities to um really like acknowledge their and and culminate I
guess their experiences in um at the end of a certain school um middle school or high school experience and they're tremendously important and I've really enjoyed kind of attending and being on the sidelines and so I just want to acknowledge the district and the staff
for organizing all that and understanding the importance for our students who are moving forward. And um to all the seniors um have a happy and safe prom tomorrow night and a great summer to everyone. >> Um I would just like to you know wish
our staff um having been part of the Scotch Plains Fanwood staff for a little bit. Um, I I know how hard they work and all the love that they pour into their kids. And I really hope that they take these two months to rest up and, you know, fill their cup a little bit so they can come back and be ready for the
next school year. Um, I've also my niece is graduating from high school, so I've been attending some of her performances and and I went to the music the senior music awards and I mean I'm blown away by not only what all of our students do, but the amount that our district offers
them in terms of, you know, the different choirs and bands and the play and the musical and it was just it it's so uplifting to see them and the connections they have with each other and with their teachers and I just feel like this is such an exciting time of the here and just really excited for
graduation next Wednesday. And also four more days. Be careful at drop off. It's crazy out there. [laughter] Well, I'll say everyone have a happy summer. Also, be safe. Um, my most favorite part of being on the board is attending graduation next week. So, I'll be crying with the rest of you watching
you. So,% >> Yes. >> Oh, and Grace, come back and visit. We we'd love to hear how things are going. >> I will. Thank you so much to all of you for this incredible experience. It's been amazing getting to know just how the behind the scenes work. Um and
overall I'm just this just strengthens my passion for what I want to do in the future and pursue. Um but thank you so much to each and every one of you. Thank you. >> Anything else? Anyone else for the good of the order? Okay. So may I get a motion to adjurnn?
>> So moved. Second. >> Oh. Um, any any opposed? Abstensions? >> Motion carries. Have a happy summer. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you.