WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=ycsu91e_w8w

NOTE
MEETING SECTIONS:

Part 1 (Video ID: ycsu91e_w8w):
- 00:00:14: Meeting Call to Order, Roll Call, and Pledge
- 00:01:10: Board President Announces Resignation After 12 Years
- 00:04:10: Board Members Express Gratitude and Support for President
- 00:05:56: Superintendent Report: Elementary School Fifth Grade Plans
- 00:07:20: Business Administrator: LaGrande Renovation and Referendum Update
- 00:08:58: Student Board Rep: Honor Roll, Sports, and Activities
- 00:12:13: Social Justice Teaching Academy: Program Overview and Goals
- 00:21:08: Public Comments: Academy Feedback and Mentorship Impact
- 00:22:16: Additional Praise: Teacher Pipeline and Program Support
- 00:23:33: Education Enrichment Foundation: Educator Grant Recipients
- 00:30:47: Board Acknowledges EEF Contributions and Support of District
- 00:31:05: Public Hearing: Opening the 2026-2027 School Budget
- 00:32:09: Adoption of the 2026-2027 School Budget
- 00:33:38: Public Comment 1: Colleagues Applaud Evan Murray's Service
- 00:38:30: Public Comment 1: Hindu Foundation's Teacher Appreciation
- 00:41:07: Letters to the Board and Finance Committee Report
- 00:42:32: Curriculum Committee Report: Literacy and World Languages
- 00:48:13: Facilities Committee Report: Grounds and Epic Projects
- 00:50:53: Discussion of Legislation on Time and Materials Contracts
- 00:56:47: Wellness and Equity Committee and Superintendent Curriculum
- 00:59:20: Business Functions: Approval of Staff Training and Tech
- 01:02:19: Liaison Reports: CPAC and Garden State Meeting Update
- 01:06:44: PTA Pipeline and Action, Appreciation, and Resolutions
- 01:08:13: Public Comment 2: Congratulations to Music Department
- 01:10:34: Public Comment 2: Ethan Murray's Appreciation
- 01:11:32: Meeting Schedule and Good of the Order: Farewell and Appreciation


Part: 1

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I'd like to call to order the regular public board meeting for tonight, April 30th. Mr. Jones, please call the roll. Ms. Barbie. Here. Mr. Benedict. >> Here. Mrs. Boroff. Here. Ms. Brody, Mr. Greenblatt. Here. Dr. Polkawsky.

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>> Here. Ms. Seriani. Here. Ms. Williams. Present. Mr. Murray. Here. Uh please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Flag Ready? Begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and

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to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. So, executive session report, we talked about personnel, hib, suspension and detention, and the legal status report.

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Board president [snorts] announcement, the New Jersey Open Public Meeting Law is enacted to ensure the right of 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

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date, time, and place thereof posted at the Board of Education offices located at 313 South Avenue, Fanwood, New Jersey. Such notice was also provided in written notice form forwarded to the the Leader, formerly Union County Hawk, the Star-Ledger, the Township Clerk of Clerk of Scotch

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Plains, the Borough Clerk of Fanwood, and in the annual notice of regularly scheduled meetings as adopted April 24th, 2025. I do have one other announcement that I need to make and I wrote it down, so I will be reading it. So, please bear with me.

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>> [snorts] >> So, good evening. It's It is with mixed emotion that I am announcing this evening that I'll be stepping down after nearly 12 years of volunteer service on the Board of Education. This decision was not made lightly. It reflects my need to focus on personal

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and professional commitments that require my full attention. I want to express my sincere gratitude to each of you for the trust, collaboration, and shared commitment that we have defined this journey. Serving our school community and community has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. Together, we have spent hundreds of

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hours working through challenges, celebrating milestones, and always keeping students at the center of our decisions. I'm proud of what we have accomplished as a team. In my tenure on the board, we have implemented full-day kindergarten, navigated an unprecedented global pandemic, made significant facility

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upgrades, lit up the high school athletic fields, and continued to promote fiscal responsibility across the district, just to name a few. These accomplishments reflect not any one individual, but a collective effort. I'm especially grateful to all of my fellow board members, both past and present, for your friendship,

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mentorship, partnership, thoughtful dialogue, and unwavering dedication. We always shared one common goal, doing what is best for our students. To the community, thank you for your support, your feedback, and your belief in our schools. Your involvement has been essential to our success.

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I'm especially grateful to my wife, Deborah, son Ethan, who came home from college this evening, and daughter Taylor for their countless sacrifices you have made to support me along this journey. You have been It has been my family and friends, Colleen and Anthony in front row, who

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have whose encouragement, patience, and support have meant so much to me throughout my time in this role. Your understanding and belief in me has made it possible to serve our community to the best of my ability. Although I'm stepping away from my official role, I will always remain a strong advocate for our schools and the

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students that we serve. I have full confidence in the continued leadership of the board and administration as you carry this important work forward. It's been an honor to serve. Thank you for the trust and collaboration extended to me during this time. >> [applause] >> Thank [applause] you. So,

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when Mr. Murray shared this information, it certainly was quite a shock, but we all recognize all that he's given to the district. And we also are celebrating your your professional opportunities. We really are very proud of your promotion.

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So, we we understand that you've you've been balancing and juggling many things, and um you know, the the work that you're leaving behind is is significant. You know, we we are we are different for having worked with you.

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And we know that we know that you're not far away, so we just wish you all the very best. Thank you, Dr. Mast. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. >> You should say something first. >> Should I say something? >> [laughter]

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>> Is this going to explode in my face? You still have time to change your mind. >> [laughter] >> On behalf of all of us on the board, um especially me, it has really been an honor to sit next to you and share our banter and have you pick me up for graduation.

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And you know, it's I've learned a lot from you. And the list of things that we did do, that that's huge. It's huge, so it's truly been an honor for all of us to be have you on the board. You'll be missed.

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There'll be huge shoes to fill. And um Do I get a gift? Yes. You do. Thank you so much. Thanks, Don. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, Don. I will open this later. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] All right, back to the agenda.

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So, no additions to the agenda. Superintendent report, Dr. Mast. So, Mr. Murray's letter is is difficult to follow. Um I want to highlight for the community and for the board that Brunner is doing a wonderful job preparing for the fourth

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graders to stay and enjoy their fifth grade year there. Um After that, our current third grade at Evergreen and at School One, um it's been spoken by the principals to to those communities that they will be

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staying for fifth grade as well. So, the current third graders will be experiencing fifth grade at Evergreen and um and School One. And we we're sending out a formal letter to to just remind people that that that is the

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plan. And then in the fall, we'll be meeting with our other elementary schools to um to to plan out how we're going to continue to ex- to to plan for our space challenges. So, our goal is that all of

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our elementary schools will be housing the fifth grade there. But we're taking it incrementally. So, our next piece is Business administrator report, Mr. Jones.

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So, um at LaGrande Elementary, just want to give a quick update. We've passed our first inspection, so we're pretty happy about that. And things are moving along fairly quickly now. Um and putting in the additional orders for, you know, furniture and all those different items. Um

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at the June meeting, we do expect to do our package number two. So, just a reminder where we're at in the referendum right now. So, we purchased the building, that was the big one. We're paying for the renovation of LaGrande Elementary out of our capital reserve. Um we are updating. We've done fire

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alarm installs at four of our schools. Um and they are all done, just waiting on some final inspections for those. Um and then and of of course, the HVAC upgrades at those schools are ongoing now. Um and then the So, that was package

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one. And then package two is the um is the high school and the two middle schools is the majority of it. And it's a much bigger project because the electrical equip- electrical equipment for that is much larger and the lead time is a long time. So, we'll be in the June meeting,

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um we'll be approving we'll be going out to bid in the next month, approving at the June meeting. But that'll just that'll be won't even start for over a year because the equipment that we have to order takes a year to get here. So, just give everybody So, but things

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are going as expected. Of course, construction always has up ups and downs, but we're feeling good about the opening. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Student board rep report. Hi. Okay, so this has definitely been a

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really busy month. Um the last marking period of the year has officially started, so it's time to finish off the year strong and maybe start counting down just a little bit till the end of the year. Um we are having our first ever honor roll breakfast this Friday.

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It's being hosted by the superintendent and principal advisory committee for upperclassmen who made honor roll as a way to recognize their achievement through bagels, which is like the best reward ever. Um it's also been a really big testing week with the NJ SLA. So, freshmen were

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testing for English and math, juniors took on some science testing, and sophomores got to come in late for the past 3 days, which seems really unfair, but it's fine. Um and there is even more testing to come with AP exams starting next week. And there have also been some super fun

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field trips this month. Um the music department took students to Washington, D.C. to compete in the Festival of Music 2 weeks ago, and it sounds like it was a huge success all around with the Moon Glowers winning the best overall jazz section and Mia Coscarella earning best

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soloist. So, congrats to all of them. Um, the Civics and Debate Club went to their first Youth and Government conference where Julia Camargo was nominated as an alternate for the Conference on National Affairs. Um, Alexander Chung won outstanding brief for the Judicial Committee and SPF

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won outstanding delegation. So, amazing job to them. And DECA students just got back, um, 2 days ago or yesterday from Atlanta, Georgia after competing in the International Career Development Conference, which is super cool. And last field trip, the Black Student

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Union went on a walking tour of Harlem and all reports point to a fabulous trip. All right, as for sports, the Raider golf team just placed second at the Union County tournament with a score of 328 and Jake Tedder won the tournament with a score of 75. We also had boys

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lacrosse who celebrated their senior day and defeated Warren Hills 16 to 2. Um, we also had boys baseball beat Westfield 5 to 2 in a night game played in honor of Lisa Bolton. We also had softball having two great victories against Governor Livingston

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and DN where Emily Roof got her 200th, um, career strikeout. So, that's pretty awesome. And boys volleyball had a great winning streak this week. Um, boys relay team also won the 4 by 400 event at the Penn Relays as well.

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Um, and just like overall, we had a week ago we had signing day to celebrate the 20 student athletes who are going to be continuing their athletic careers in college. Um, alongside the honorable breakfast tomorrow, seniors have their commitment day lunch, or not commitment day lunch, sorry. They're just

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commitment day, which is super exciting. Um, where students will wear a t-shirt related to their future plans post SPF. Um, those who applied for senior project got approved also and will be leaving, um, midway through next month onto their internships or community related service

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activities or projects. Um, and we hopefully crush the AP exams next week as Leah previously mentioned. And that's all for now. Thank you both for excellent updates. So, we have two recognition/instructional updates tonight. The first being teaching and

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Social Justice Academy presentation. Hello. Firstly, I wanted to say thank you for having us tonight. Um, we're the Social Justice and Teaching Academy here at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and we just wanted to share with you a bit about who we are, what we do, and our

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plans for, um, next year. So, who we are. We are a program of students who are interested in pursuing education, pursuing social justice, or a combination of the two because if anyone who works in education knows those two really do work in tandem. So,

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um, we're a cohort of students. We applied to be in this cohort as rising ninth graders. We had to fill out an application. It had to be reviewed and approved and we were admitted into this program. And the cohort is divided by, um, grades. We are the junior class of the

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program. We are the also the pilot class of the program. And, um, because we are, like, together we share multiple classes together, so we have been able to form bonds with each other, build communication and confidence skills, and it really has been a great

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experience. And I think we're all going to individually tell you about those experiences. So, my name is Julia Marinaro and, like I said, I applied to this as a rising ninth grader. I wasn't totally sure what I wanted to do for my career. I knew I liked working with kids. I knew that that meant a lot to me, but I wasn't

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totally sure. And then, actually, I applied to be, um, a part of Beyond School Explorers at School One and I was able to teach fourth graders how to, uh, sing, dance, and act, and do theater. And I really, really enjoyed doing that. And I also, um,

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joined, um, the JCC as a camp counselor as my summer job. And I worked with 4-year-olds there. And through those two things, I did realize that I wanted to become an elementary school teacher. I just enjoyed working with kids so much. It really brightened my day and even when there were challenges, I figured

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out how to overcome them. So, I thought that that was the right path for me. And being in the cohort really helped, um, foster those skills of flexibility and learning what working in a classroom might be like. Hello. [clears throat] My name is James

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and ever since fifth grade, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. Um, I remember my mom pointed out how I had this teaching passion in me and the moment I heard about the Social Justice Teaching Academy, I was very eager to join. Um, I

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was inspired by the teachers that I look up to and, um, during middle school and even during high school in, um, classes that we take together. I'm currently using this knowledge from the program to teach some lessons to neurodivergent swimmers. And also since joining this program, I

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fell in love with advocacy and, um, I enjoy having this opportunity that has been presented to me. Hi, my name is Lily Fraccia. I also joined this, um, academy as a freshman and I'm now a junior.

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And me personally, this has been the best decision I could have made for my career path, which is a high school history teacher. Um, joining this academy, I thought I wouldn't really like it too much and I

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thought my, like, want to teach would evaporate, but these past 3 years have really taught me how to Sorry. These past 3 years have really taught me how to get along with my peers and

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how it's really helped me mature as a person. Um, just listening to everyone's different perspectives and having class conversations that may not rotate around the central topic,

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but we just really got to talk about current events and things that might be affecting us in the real world. So, in this academy, we have four classes, one for each year of high school. Our freshman year, we have History

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Foundations and Trends in American Education, which really just gives us a background on how the American education system came to be. For our sophomore year, we have Racism, Genocide, and the Holocaust, which showed us different perspectives around

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the world on different genocides that might have happened besides the Holocaust. Our junior year class is AP African American History, which is personally one of my favorites.

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Um, it's really taught us just more background knowledge on American history. And our senior year class, which is Tomorrow's Teachers, will help us,

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um, for our career paths. I'm sorry. Okay. In, um, addition to having these, um, specifically selected courses with, uh, Academy of Teaching and Social Justice, we also have focused core curriculum classes like, um, English and

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History. So, in these classes, we dive deeper into topics surrounding education and surrounding current events or, um, social justice. For example, in Global, we have, um, well, in obviously in Global Perspectives, we obviously learn about

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global perspectives, but >> [laughter] >> but in different examples, when we were in, um, US History II, um, I remember our class, we had Miss Mr. Stack, we focused a lot more to the Civil Rights movements and, um, one topic that

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normally is not discussed during US II, um, which kind of coincides with the Red Scare, which is the Lavender Scare, and it was just an amazing experience. Actually, in English class last year, um, Miss Brox's class, we were able to find similarities between fictional and real world power real world power

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dynamics. And it's something that comes with the cohort is having this way where we could see well, in our high school experience, we could see what is going on in our world, so we could thus better ourselves when we want to become teachers and educators.

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Oh, for I have the next slide. Oh, yeah, yeah. So, things that we have done with, um, the SJTA. So, every year, um, we have attended the Kean Leadership, uh, Kean University Leadership Conference where we, um, have

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met impactful leaders like Ndaba Mandela and Carlos Ahedo Jr., which are very powerful speakers. And, uh, Carlos Ahedo Jr. actually came to the high school if, um, I believe last month. He came to the high school last month and it was an incredible presentation.

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And in that conference, we were able to address key issues in our high school and develop a plan on how we could address those, um, issues. Additionally, in Global Perspectives, this is the idea that I didn't want to spoil in the previous slide. In Global Perspectives, we have actually partnered with TEAM, which is the Empathy

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Entrepreneurship Mission. And AAE, um, which is Aid for Afghanistan Education, to provide, um, education for women in Afghanistan because as future educators we want to provide that opportunity to those who do not have it. And future plans we have is

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also visiting the change makers course in the middle school to help to to teach a lesson um similar to what the goes on in the SJTA. So we have been very lucky throughout these last few years to have such amazing experiences such as what James

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talked about. Um we're looking forward to do to participating in tomorrow's teachers so that we eventually get paired with an educator in the district for our senior project and we really get that hands-on experience as to what teaching will be like. Last year we also had the

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opportunity to take a field trip to Washington D.C. and visit the African American History Museum which was such an amazing opportunity and we were able to learn so much and we were hoping for next year to maybe have a field trip to that location again but this time to

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visit the Holocaust Museum so that we could get um other perspectives and learn even more. Thank you for >> Thank you again for having us. Have a wonderful night. >> [applause] >> DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY COMMENTS? GO AHEAD AMY.

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I THANK you all three of you for sharing that with us because um as you mentioned it was a pilot program and has it is a pilot program and one that we had been discussing and it had been in formation for several years before um it started

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and I I personally had been waiting um to hear your feedback and to hear the experience that you're having. Um I'm thrilled that you have all um found your way and are are figuring out as you continue to do the program.

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Um I had heard about this through another um committee meeting and then you touched on it but um it's regarding your visit to the um middle schools. And to me um and most people on the board know this everyone probably knows this. For me peer-to-peer

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mentor-to-mentor I think that is such a huge impact and I'm thrilled that you are bringing now those lessons to the middle school to continue your further um futures as educators. So thank you so much for that feedback today and for doing this program. Congratulations. Thank you. >> [applause]

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>> Thank you everyone so much. It was very informative. Thank you. Yes, go ahead Dr. Mast. Just an additional very exciting part of this program is it is helping our pipeline of future teachers because right now we we need more people who are

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interested in in the future of education and to be able to to grow our very own here is is something that we're very excited about. So thank you. Just to add to it um kudos to Dr. Mallette who is shepherding

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this program now um with a lot of TLC and um doing really wonderful things for our kids. Thank you Dr. Mallette. >> [applause] >> We will now invite up the Education Enrichment Foundation. Thank you so much.

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Good evening Dr. Mast uh members of the Board of Education and members of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood community. It's my honor uh to present the 2026-2027 educator grant recipients on behalf of the Board of Trustees

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of the Education Enrichment Foundation. Uh before I move for a little bit further a heartfelt thank you Mr. Murray for your service and leadership you know for the district on behalf of the Board of the Education Enrichment Foundation. Thank you. Thank you.

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Um But this year reflects the continued strength of the educating of the of the of the educator community and incredible support of the families, partners and community members who stand behind them. I'm proud to share that the foundation

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is awarding $20,369 in funding acro- across 12 grants supporting a wide range of creative student-centered initiatives across the district impacting uh and led by 23 educators in the district. This marks another

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record-breaking year for the foundation and represents the largest single-year grant distribution to date. At the high school level several forward-thinking and immersive learning experiences are being brought to life. Zack Ritner received funding for the

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high school outdoor classroom expanding opportunities for experiential learning beyond the traditional classroom walls. Josh Jordan was awarded the grant for new project adventure at the whale watch which uh enhancing student development through outdoor and team-based experiences.

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A collaborative team including Marilyn Ritter, Rachel Hockberg, Christine Lockwood secured one of the largest grants for the reality lab immersive investigation bringing virtual reality into the classroom through meta quest technology. Matthew Ducker Duffy, Marilyn Ritter,

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Christine Lockwood and the Raider the famous Raider Robotics team also received funding for the Raider Robotics inspiring the youth connecting high school students with younger learners through STEM mentorship and robotics. At Terrill Middle Terrill Middle School

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Patrick Boyle and Stephanie Hubbard will implement Eco-Bots for better planet. This is a project that blends environmental science, coding and sustainability in a highly engaging way. And at the elementary level we see an incredible range of creativity and

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student-focused innovation. At Coles Jessica Mandy and the second grade team are going to lead amplifying student voice through digital media empowering students to express ideas through modern storytelling tools. At McGinn John Lawn and Sasha Slocum will

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introduce Indie for independent learners using robotics to build foundational problem-solving skills while Amanda Russo-Marchia will implement growing strong bodies and calm minds supporting both physical and emotional well-being well-being.

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And at School One Jody Kahn will expand access to creativity through expanding digital art opportunities bringing new digital tools into the arts curriculum. And at Evergreen School three impactful projects were funded.

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Terry Keller will lead listening, learning and belonging a school-wide literacy initiative designed to build community through shared reading experiences. Kelly Ruggeri received funding for the gift of a song expanding access to singing and music education.

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And a team including Jamie Solka, Erica Bruns and Aaron Mallin will launch the mileage club encouraging student wellness through movement, goal setting and community engagement. Uh I recently attended um an open house at

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Ramapo College with my daughter Serena she's a junior. Uh I wish to share that she is with conviction interested uh in being a teacher you know as her career but um visiting the open house we had we were

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listening to the Associate Dean of the Teacher Education Program there where he shared something that resonated deeply that education is not a profession. It's a calling. And in this district Scotch Plains-Fanwood you see that calling in action every day.

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The role of the Education Enrichment Foundation is to help fuel that calling providing the support that turns great ideas into meaningful student experiences led by the teachers. For those less familiar with the EEF we were founded over 30 years ago with a mission to enrich and expand learning opportunities across Scotch

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Plains-Fanwood School District and today we are proud to serve as a vital partner in supporting educators who bring bold ideas to life in their classrooms. This past year we hosted another incredibly successful Harlem Wizards event in April a couple weeks ago

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bringing together families, staff and community sponsors to raise funds in support of educator grants. We continued our Hack SPF initiative empowering students collaboratively with the Raider Robotics team uh empowering student and uh

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student uh the student government um volunteers empowering students through hands-on learning and coding robotics and technology. And we're looking forward to our upcoming music fest at Crossroads where student talent takes center stage

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in one of the most energizing community events of the year. In addition I'd be remiss if I didn't share this exciting upcoming milestone for the foundation and our district. On behalf of the Education Enrichment Foundation I'm excited to share that on

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Monday May 4th at 6:30 p.m. we will host a ribbon cutting event ceremony for the Joanna Rodriguez Recording Studio at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School which is uh located over here. This space was made possible through a generous bequest from Joanna Rodriguez's

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family. Joanna was a founding member of the EEF whose legacy continues to support music education in our district. We're proud of what this represents for our students and our community and open invitation is extended and the RSVP link is available on our social media and we hope to see you

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there. I would also like to recognize the educators themselves. On behalf of the Education Foundation, they would like to recognize the educators. The proposals we receive each year, they continue to inspire us. They reflect not only creativity,

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but a deep commitment to meeting students where they are and preparing them for the where they're going. This year's grants, from virtual reality labs to robotics to wellness programs, literacy initiatives, and digital storytelling, they represent the full spectrum of student growth,

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academic, social, emotional, and creative. Although we are celebrating a record-breaking year for our Board of Trustees, shares an ambitious vision for the future. And as we look ahead, the foundation remains committed to growing our impact, expanding both the scale of our grants

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and the reach of our programming. The ideas are here. The passion is here. And with continued community support, we will keep turning those ideas into meaningful opportunities for our students. Thank you.

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>> [applause] >> So, on behalf of the board, you know, we want to thank the entire EEF for everything you do to support the entire district. It doesn't go unrecognized and your commitment to student advocacy and staff advocacy is is second to none. So,

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thank you very much. Any other comments? All right, we're going to move over to the 2026-2027 school budget process. So, there's two components to this, one being the public hearing. Public hearing is going to be open for public comment on the board on the

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budget specifically and only on the budget. Public comment will be after this for any other matters. So, the board will now begin the public hearing on the 2026-2027 school budget. Members of the public and members of the board are invited to speak at this time regarding

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the 2026-2027 school budget only. Please note that no changes have been made to the tentative budget, which has previously been presented and advertised to the public. If you wish to make a public comment, please clearly state your full name and town in which you reside. Each speaker is limited to 3 minutes. The public hearing will remain

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open until all members of the public wishing to speak have had an opportunity to do so. Public comment shall be limited to matters related to the budget only. If you have a comment specific to the budget, please step forward and state Do you need to state your name and town in which you reside for this? So,

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state that your name and the town in which you reside, specific items for the budget. Okay, seeing no one, we will move over to the adoption of the 2026-2027 school budget with a roll call vote. Do we have a motion?

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So moved. Ms. Boroff, do we have a second? Second. Ms. Barve, any comments or questions? I do just want to make a comment cuz I think it's something that should be noted is, you know, if you look around

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the state of New Jersey and the different districts that are struggling to find funding for their districts and and and where the state has, you know, either cut money or moved money in one pocket into another and made it look like you're getting more, I have to say our business office has

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done a tremendous job in making sure that we have the appropriate funding to do these things and continuing to do things through the capital budget as well. So, you know, kudos to the business office and the administration cuz as we're sitting here, there's districts that are struggling to figure

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out how to find 5, 10, 15, and 20 million dollars. So, thank you. Ms. Barve? Yes. Mr. Benedict? Yes. Ms. Boroff? Yes. Mr. Greenblatt? Yes. Dr. Kolkowski? Yes. Ms. Seriani? Yes. Ms. Williams? >> Yes. Mr. Murray? Yes.

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Motion carries. Budget is passed. All right, we're going to open up our first public comment section. So, in accordance with Scotch Plains-Fanwood Public School Bylaws 0164 and 0165, the meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comments, maximum 3 minutes per speaker. Speakers addressing superintendent items,

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business functions, and other board business will be heard first. If time remains, speakers may address other matters. Speakers, please come to the mic, speak state your full name and the town in which you reside. Please note boards use the public comment period as an opportunity to listen to citizen concerns, but not to the debate issues or enter into a

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question and answer session or cross-examination between the public and individual members. Be aware that not all issues brought before the board 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 her designee.

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So, I will now open up public comment for 15 minutes. There will be a second public comment section at the end of the meeting. So, if you want to make a public comment, please come to the mic. Colleen Gialanella, uh Scotch Plains. I just um wanted to come tonight to

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congratulate my wonderful friend and to thank him for his service to our community for so many years. I've known Evan um I was just thinking and doing a little math, um more than 2/3 of my life. So, um and

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I I've known him very well and we um grew up together at a time when um you know, things were a little bit different than they are now, but we certainly um saw friends face challenges and go through some difficult moments. And that was when I

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first um got to know Evan's heart of service. And um we spent the summer we spent the summer visiting a a friend that had been injured. And Evan, who was driving at the time, um would pick me up and we would go just

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about every day, check in with our friends and and I got to know very well um the kind of person that Evan was and the kind of heart that he had. And um that hasn't changed. It's just never changed. Evan, when uh we all kind of landed here

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in Scotch Plains around the same time, um talked to me a bit about, you know, his goals for the community, wanting to get involved. And I watched him do that. You know, I watched him run for office and I watched him reach people and touch people and build relationships and make things

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happen in the community that were really monumental. Um I look at the lights. You know, I love those lights. It's right by my house and the kids get to play on those fields and you know, sitting here tonight, I was thinking about the variety of the students you serve

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and how many different programs you have to be mindful to fund and how you have to balance the decisions that impact so many lives. And given any particular audience, you may have one group of people that are very passionate about one particular issue and then you have

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another group of people very passionate about a different issue. But in reality, you could be touching the lives of very different children that all have very real needs, whether it's athletics or music or opportunities inside the classroom themselves or programs like this

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incredible Teacher Academy. It was so fantastic to hear those students speak tonight. I hope that when you leave here tonight, Evan, you really think about these three students who spoke and know that those difficult decisions, right, those long nights, the reading the reports, the phone calls that I'm sure you all are

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making to, you know, be able to navigate these processes and the and the decisions that go into things like a budget. I hope that you realize that the lives that you touch and you don't get to have some of the fun that educators with the direct contact with students

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get to enjoy. You don't get as many of those moments, but you have helped so many people grow through your leadership. So, I got you a plant because I do love the idea that plants remind us that we are responsible for

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helping other people grow. And you have done an amazing job of that. I'm very proud of you. Anthony and I are thrilled to be always in your corner and grateful to have been able to follow you through this journey. Thank you. Thank you, Colleen.

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>> [applause] >> Is it the spider plant for Mr. Smith's class? Don't kill it. I won't kill it. I had a spider plant from middle school that lasted till high school, so. That's not a spider plant, though. It's a succulent. It's [laughter] a succulent. He can

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handle He can take care of a succulent. >> kill that, though. Good evening and namaste to all respected member of boards. My name is Nikhil Ved and I'm proud resident of Scotch Plains. I have kids attending school in Nettingham Middle School and Evergreen

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Elementary. I'm here today representing the Hindu Education Foundation, an initiative of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, USA. HSS is a 501c3 voluntary, non-profit, social, educational, and cultural organization

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with over 250 weekly chapters across the USA. During Teacher Appreciation Week, which is in this month of May, we recognize, celebrate the invaluable contributions of our educators. As a part of this, we organize an annual

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event called Guru Vandana. In Sanskrit, Guru means teacher or mentor and Vandana means offering a respect. Teacher uh in Guru Vandana represents an expression of deep gratitude and reverence towards the teachers. Teachers play critical role in

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shaping not only the academic journey, but also the character and future of the children. The practice, dedication, and compassion leave lasting impact on the generations. In our tradition, there is a saying,

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"Acharya Devo Bhava", which means the teacher is to be revered like a god. It represents represents the high respects accorded to educators as a guiding light in society. Through the Hindu Education Foundation, we strive to build

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meaningful collaborations with school and educators. Some of our recent initiatives include a yoga program in Edison School, reaching over 700 students, a Hindu cultural workshop for 80 teachers in Watchung Borough School

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District. The Darshana Hindu Post Exhibition, attended by over 1,200 students. On behalf of HEF and HSS, I extend our heartfelt gratitude to all teachers. Your dedication inspires, uplifts, and

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shapes the future. Thank you for everything you do. You truly are everyday heroes. Thank you so much and Namaste. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Anyone else public comment? First one. Okay. Seeing no one, I will close this portion. Letters to the board, eight emails were

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received and responded and forwarded to the appropriate administrator. Committee reports. Um I'm going to do Deborah Brody's finance committee report. Is that okay? Um we Some of it I mean a lot of it was budget kind of stuff and

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then we talked about the IT purchases that we're we're doing for next year. Um the the number is a little big, but that's because we're replacing some of the big um switch and wireless upgrades. Um and we talked about that funding. We talked about the LaGrande updates as

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Christopher mentioned. And then um we talked about a new mandate from the state called S3041, which is forcing us to go out to bid for some of the smaller things that we were we were not being forced to do. Um it's

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going to impact like just time and it's going to have also a money impact. So um I know that the business office is is working to really see how they're going to handle a lot of these little things that we were doing. Um but you know, we we talked to

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Christopher and we have faith that he's he's handling it. They're they're going to figure it out, but that was mainly I mean they're not very happy about it, neither are we, but we we don't really have much of a choice, so those were the three things. Thank you.

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Any comments or questions on the finance report? No? [clears throat] Okay. Ms. Cerriani. Okay. The curriculum committee met last week on the 23rd and we had a few agenda items. The first is that Scotch Plains is applying for the second year for a

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focus competitive grant and focus stands for funding for optimal comprehensive universal screeners. Um and so last year we received the district received $17,000 and this year we have applied to receive

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the maximum amount of $15,000 and the grant will allow the district to utilize impactful universal literacy screeners um and then generate that data to inform our instructional practices. Um so the application was already due.

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Um I don't know when we'll hear. 4:00 today it was due. It was due today. So we'll hear and then um implementation if we if we get it will begin at the beginning of June. We're excited about that. Um second agenda item is also related to um ELA

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and um our district conducting an assessment of our elementary reading intervention programs, um which now we have the reading recovery program, which is solely for first graders and it's a short-term early intervention program. So we just

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assessed, you know, how how effective that program was, um what is it doing, and the administration was able to examine a decade of longitudinal data alongside current research on early literacy intervention. And so based on that assessment, the

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district decided to discontinue the reading recovery program at the conclusion of this school year. Um and right now um there are 39 only 39 first grade students throughout the district that are receiving reading recovery and

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current research suggests that while reading recovery produces uh short-term gains, that when we looked at those students longitudinally um throughout their their educations, they were less likely to sustain um that progress over time and necessitated

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additional remedial support in later grades. Um so we need to consider where our resources are best put. So um So the district is deciding to end reading recovery, yet redirecting those resources to strengthen core literacy

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instruction and implementing systematic progress monitoring across all grade levels, not just focused on one grade, and enabling earlier identification support for a wider range of students. Um In addition, our staff will conduct a review of intervention models currently

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in use in comparable districts to inform next steps to build a robust and sustainable early literacy framework. This decision reflects confidence in current research and a commitment to continuous improvements in early

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literacy for the service of all of our students. And the uh next set of um agenda items are related to world language and ESL updates. Um and so we we reflected on the recent

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completion of our exchange programs, um which were very exciting and successful. We had students come from Italy, Spain, and France and live with our uh SPF families and all of those exchange programs and had students travel to

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those countries um and and all of those um exchanges were were very successful. We also discussed Stamp Testing, which uh we've talked about in the past, but um for those who might not remember, it's a benchmark for the district and it's administered to all juniors who are

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taking a language to assess proficiency. So this year 322 students took a Stamp Test. 70% um and it's important to acknowledge that 70% of juniors still take a language, foreign language, even though it is an

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elective starting junior year. Um and the Stamp Test offers students a score report and um they can see kind of what category they they fit into. Um so what what they've accomplished, what they still need to accomplish in order to power up um their language

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learning. And lastly, um we discussed, again in in the realm of um world languages, the Seal of Biliteracy, which is an honor that students receive um upon um

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competency of of their their language and they get honored at upon graduation. So this year's graduating class has 57 students who tested um and and were um will be given the Seal of Biliteracy and will be honored

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um by the BOE at a ceremony upcoming this spring. So that's very exciting. I think there was one student who had has Seal of Triliteracy, three languages. So that's very exciting. Um and our last agenda item was uh just

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discussing preparations for the NJSLA adaptive test. Um so testing has started this week. Um this is the first time that the adaptive test is being used uh for the NJSLA, although our district has used adaptive

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testing um with other testing formats like the math test. Um so testing is beginning now. And our next meeting is June 9th. Thank you, Ms. Cerriani. Any comments or questions for Ms. Cerriani? No? [clears throat] Dr. Kokashkin.

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Thank you. Uh this report is from the facilities committee, which was held on 4/20/26. Um myself, uh Mr. Murray, Mr. Benedict, Dr. Mast, Mr. Jones, and uh Nick Krupy from

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Buildings and Grounds was present. The uh grounds update, basically the field improvements have been completed. The next phase will be the baseball JV field, which needs a new net. Uh the varsity field, which uh needs an equipment shed. Softball also needs an

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equipment shed. Nettingham Middle Middle School will um use maintenance reserve for irrigation to the field. And after graduation, fields will be closed to maintain and revitalize them. Uh the next item was about epic projects.

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Uh LaGrande obviously was a big one that uh Sonali reported on earlier. Uh capacity reporting for our schools, Nettingham Middle School fire code, and discussion about uh you know, the egress of that building due to the way the

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old-fashioned doors are there, so they're thinking about making changes there. Uh package one, which includes HVAC, fire alarms, renovations to the front doors of Nettingham. Bruner new panels for the roof and fire alarms. Evergreen new panels, conduits are scheduled for

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asbestos abatement. Um Coles, I don't remember what the item was. I I made a note and I couldn't read it. Uh school one inspection scheduled for 4/29, which just happened. Package two was electrical at the high school and

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next summer Nottingham, Terrell, Brunner, and Coles. Uh right now we're going to work on fire alarms, electrical for next summer. Nottingham and school one are in flood zone, so PSE&G uh says we need some new switch gears there. Um then we talked about Legrand on the

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third floor. Legrand's the generator. A high school courtyard at um school one alterations making space for the fifth graders for the fall of '27. And then we also had discussion of S3041. That was the law by Governor Murphy banning time and materials through

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co-ops, which eliminates bids that we did with the co-ops from the Ed Serve Commission. And anything without labor is okay, but anything above 53,000 uh 53K goes out for bid. And that was all I had for my meeting. Thank you, Dr. Kolbovsky. Any comments

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or questions? Just the school one fire, that was the fire alarm inspection and it passed, so we're good. >> Oh, great. Yep. Thank you, Mr. Jones. >> Mr. Jones, I don't I don't know. I know you're not I'm I'm going to put you on the spot here, but can you maybe give just briefly the that

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the co-op the the the the enactment of that law or legislation and what that means for when we go out to bid for projects and what the potential impact could be? Yeah, I'll talk and I'll lean on Doug to help me out here since his firm is all over this.

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But typically we use there are in each county there's what they call a co-op and that co-op goes out to bid for um for services for um not minor construction projects, but um not as large as like our referendum.

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And what that allows us to do is it's um predetermined pricing and lowest pricing. And so we can use uh the services of those firms that won those bids to uh complete construction projects, so it helps us give it gives us some consistency

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um in services. So for So for example, for the referendum uh we have to it's one project and we are required to take the lowest the lowest bidder no matter what. With the uh co-op um we can look at maybe one or two um

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different different providers for different services. Um and we can um assess them. We know their pricing is low because they put it out to bid, but then we can um also use them um for example, if a uh a firm uses they they're experts in the

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uh fire alarms that we use here. Um we would tend to want to use um the service of that that firm more than others. Um with this uh new law, they have effectively stopped that practice with the co-ops.

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Um so we are no longer allowed to use them. And so for us we will um it'll put a lot more work on our our staff. And instead of getting the um economies of scale from like a county

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uh bidding process we'll have to bid it uh locally. Um and so we're not sure how the cost is going to have work on that. So we can still get the um for like a rooftop unit unit replacements, we can still get the actual unit

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uh and purchase that through the co-op, so we'll get good pricing there. This really impacts the labor piece. We can no longer use the the labor um through that, so we'll have to uh go out to bid for the labor, which of course we have to use prevailing wages, which the co-ops do too.

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Um I can't really get to the reasoning uh behind the switch. Uh I just know uh it brings uncertainty um and significant more uh amount of work uh for my staff including monthly we have to go on to a

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website and check all of our vendors for uh debarment debarment of the vendors if if they're not adhering to prevailing wage laws and we need to go in and like print that out and Yeah, so just work and more additional compliance work I would say for us.

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I think I Yes. Yeah, just I think Mr. Jones covered most of it. I just kind of clarification of what used to happen which can't do now. So um there's a number of uh cooperative purchasing systems that the board is a

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part of educational services of New Jersey, which is based in Middlesex and a number of other similar agencies. What they do is they bid out traditionally would bid out things like let's take uh plumbing. Uh they would solicit bids, so it's not avoiding the

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bidding process. Um there's an agency that would bid out, you know, give me the best price you can on a a whole laundry list of uh plumbing supplies and hourly rate to install these plumbing supplies. The cooperatives would then award a contract that would hold those prices

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for anywhere up to two years uh and member districts like yourselves would be able to purchase from that list. You have a plumbing job, rather than you have to hire an architect, an engineer, do specifications, um plan it, do all the kind of backroom paperwork, putting it out on the street, bidding it out

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yourselves, it's already been bid, it's already been awarded, you know what those prices are, you can just basically call that company up and say, "Hey, I want, you know, this item, this item, this item. How long to take me to give you a price based on everything that's already publicly awarded and you guys do

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the work. Uh the state passed a law that just went into effect last month that bans what's called the time and materials contracts, which is you know, awarding a contract for time and a list of goods that you can then order from later. You uh at school

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districts uh municipalities can no longer use those cooperative systems for time and materials contracts. Um for construction work. Um this largely has to do with I won't get into the messiness of New Jersey politics, but basically lobbyists for certain industry

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groups weren't getting the contracts through the cooperatives and wanted to open up the availability of basically now every single district and municipality has to compete on every single job rather than going to these economy of scale contracts at the co-ops. Um that has

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then just kind of shifted all the work and uncertainty to every single uh municipal agency and school districts business offices having to do the work that previously a co-op was doing on behalf of large groups of agencies. So it's time, money, uh uncertainty as to contractors, um

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a lot of extra work. Thank you both. I just wanted to make sure that we were transparent in the that you know, when we talk about the budget again and where the strains are, this is just in another strain on top of the increases in health care and all the other things

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that everyone else is facing that the school district is facing is is obviously our staff and salaries and and and all of these things add up to, you know, Yeah, and just to be clear that the state didn't provide any additional funding for you folks to do all this extra work, just to be clear.

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So, thank you. Any other committee reports? Me. Yes, Ms. Williams, please. Thank you. So the wellness and equity committee met last week and was pretty exciting. We heard from Dr. Dumaresq, who is the

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principal over at Nottingham, and she talked about being a hawk at Nottingham. A hawk is an honest, accountable, wise, and kindness. And it is a positive behavioral intervention support PBIS research-based approach and how to

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recognize and how to address behavior at Nottingham. Recognizing teachers are reinforcing positive behavior using data, focusing on prevention rather than punishment. We also heard from Dr. Fury, who is the principal over at school one, and he

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presented a PowerPoint on school one pride the school one pride approach and they're in their fourth year and everything's going well with them also. That concludes my report. >> Thank you, Ms. Williams. Any comments or questions for Ms. Williams? All right, well any other committee

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reports? Enrollment report received. We'll move over to the superintendent curriculum items. Thank you. So for number one, we do not have out of district placements for this meeting.

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Two, asking the board to approve the five hip cases that we discussed on March 25th. Three, the field trip requests. And for the nurs- nursing service plan

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for 2026-27. And six, the the grant application submission for the comprehensive universal screener. And six, the board meeting schedule for 2026-27.

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And we'll also add in the personnel report. I ask the board to approve the personnel topics that we discussed in exec. Do you have a motion? So moved. Second. Second. Any comments or questions?

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Mr. Jones, roll call, please. Ms. Barve? Yes. Mr. Benedict? Yes. Mrs. Boroff? Yes. Mr. Greenblatt? Yes. Dr. Kolbovsky? Yes. Mr. Seriani? Yes. Ms. Williams? Yes. Mr. Murray? Yes. Motion carried. Passes.

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All right, uh business functions. Mr. Jones. Yes. Okay. Number one. Okay. Number one, staff training. Two, related services. Three is the EF grants that were presented tonight.

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Three is ESC tuition and services agreement. Five is technology. So, number five is what Ms. Barbie talked about and this even though it's over 700,000, the federal government provides um

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almost 40% of that cost. So, it'll be significantly lower than what the amount is listed here. Um and it is for our um switches that we replace. Half the cost is for switches. We only replace those every 10 years or so. So.

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Uh and then the grant So, the the grant items, copiers, furniture and supplies, parking lot, um some change orders, some testing environmental testing. Number 11, additional testing. So, this

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is for um the package two. This is the start of the major testing for that. 12 is our athletic bid. So, the all of our athletic purchase for um athletics, we do a the coaches get together, put together their needs, and then we put

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those out to a bid. Um all the different companies uh bid on those, and then we select the lowest, and that's what we're approving here. 13, lease purchase. This is for our student iPads, and we do this every

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year. Uh it's a uh typically a four-year bond for that. Uh 14, this is um student activities contributions. 15 is our tax schedules. 16 is our use technology bid. So, this

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is So, our iPads and computers are on a four-year cycle, and that's when Apple stops updating providing updates for them. And we get we usually get about 15% of the original value on these bids. Um 17, fire drills. 18, finance reports.

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19, disbursements. And 20 is paying the bills. Do we have a motion to approve the business functions? So moved. Second. Mr. Second. Any comments or questions? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed?

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Abstentions? Motion carries. Uh no board policies at this time. Approval of the minutes. Do we have a motion to approve the minutes from the March 25th, 2026 meeting? So So moved. Bless you.

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Who was that? Mr. Mr. Boroff, do we have a second? Second. Ms. Seriani, any comments or questions? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Motion carries. Any new board business?

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Liaison reports. Hello. Um CPAC met on um April 13th, and before um I'd like to just acknowledge, being that it is autism acceptance acceptance

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month, um I wanted to acknowledge CPAC and specifically the um the board that works the executive board works significantly hard to um keep the liaisons up and formed and working in in partnership with the

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school leadership. So, I want to acknowledge that that that team that's been working so hard this year. And for all the others, just being that it is autism acceptance month, um and for that our April meeting, we had a very um important meeting. We had Dr. Fury, Dr.

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Slocum, and Dr. and Ms. Ms. Melman um from our elementary schools, and I Tanya, you touched on it, um but in a broader sort of um conversation, we we did want to sort of get an explanation. We heard a little bit about School One Pride, which

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is perseverance, respect, integrity, diverse, and empathy. Evergreen has heart, honesty, empathy, acceptance, respect, and teamwork. Brunner is vibes. McGinn has six character traits. And Coles has shine your inner wealth. And what they did was they shared all the different techniques

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that they used to bring together um all different students of just for um their inner strength and development. Um there is professional development throughout the schools um on character education. And um by having these these

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uh the principals come together, it showed us how much they um use these ideas to help each other build different momentums and different things that work in their own school environments. And so, we talked about some of these activities, which is whole school morning meetings where

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actual invisible disabilities are discussed. Um School One has a Bubbles for for autism event every year. Um Evergreen has a a bubble walk. Um but my point being that no no diversity is focused on throughout the year in all of

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our districts. Um and it was a really great way for it being autistic autism awareness month for all the schools to come together and share all the different ways that they are impacting our neurodiverse students. And so, it was it was great a great

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presentation. And the next meeting is May 11th at Terrill Middle School and online as well. Thank you, Ms. Boroff. Any comments or questions for Ms. Boroff? No. Ms. Park? Um I just have a Garden State meeting update. We had a meeting on April 15th about um Senator Gopal has

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a bill right now about consolidation and real regionalization. Um and we had four superintendents from around New Jersey. Um one who actually went through the process of consolidating three districts into one.

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Um and some other districts that are, you know, just talking about having that a routine, you know, not wanting to do that. There were a lot of um a lot of viewpoints, but I think the consensus was that we we need more guidance, and we need a task force, and what are the

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actual benefits of that? Um I think a lot of this talk is around school districts that are much smaller than ours, but it was interesting to just hear the thoughts of of these leaders in in our state. Um our next meeting is our our annual meeting, which

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is the the more excite the most exciting one, I guess. We have We're looking forward to to seeing um actual legislative like senators and and congresswomen from our state legislature there and and kind of hearing their views on what's going on in the state, and you know, this new administration

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and their ideas for education. Thank you, Ms. Park. Any comments or questions, anybody? I'll just add to that, too. It was I think the continuing topic on every meeting we have with them is the funding formula, and part of that is the regionalization talk about funding, but um yeah, that's probably the topic that

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comes up the most among superintendents and board members. That's flawed. Any other Thank you very much, both of you. Any other liaison reports? Okay. Any I just wanted to add that I I had a meeting with the PTA council, and

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just to put out a public service announcement that there are some holes. Um they talked about their pipeline, and uh so, hopefully this is just a call to action. So, if people want to um continue to have these great events at our schools, to maybe um put their hat

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in the ring for some of these open PTA positions that are going to be coming up in different schools. Thank you. Workshops, anybody? Do we have a motion for teacher appreciation week? Yes, we do.

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So moved. Do we have a second? Second. Any comments or questions? All those in favor? Aye. >> Opposed? Teacher appreciation week motion is approved. National School Nurses Day. Do we have a motion for adopting a resolution for

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National School Nurses Day? So moved. Second. Second. We have a second. Any comments or questions? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. All right, we are on the second and final public comment section of the evening. Um in accordance with Scotch

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Plains-Fanwood Public School Bylaws 0164 and 0165, the meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comment, maximum 3 minutes per speaker. Speakers addressing superintendent items, business functions, and other board business will be heard first, and time remains, speakers may address other matters. Speakers, please come to the mic, state your full name, and the town in which you reside. Please note, boards use the

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public comment period as an opportunity to listen to citizen concern, 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 the board 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

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the superintendent or her designee. So, I will now open up the second and final public comment for 15 minutes. Please come to the mic and state your name and the town in which you reside. Eric Felton, Scotch Plains. Uh two things I want to bring up. First, I want to commend and congratulate

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um the school music department. I a couple weeks ago chaperoned my son and and the high school band over to Maryland, Annapolis, and they put on an amazing performance. It literally they won every category. Oh, well, they were I wasn't there, but they they

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received the top prizes for every category, and uh really, they are a force to be reckoned with. So, I want to Teachers Appreciation Week, uh congratulate, commend all the teachers in the music department. And then last week, uh we had the regional or the district one

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with all the schools. That was really touching to see all the young kids and how they all came about and uh just to aspire to be musicians that that our high schools are. Uh he was there too uh performing in in Annapolis. Uh great performance. So, the other thing I do

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want to bring up and and I have a question about a concern is logistics around participating in practice during varsity and junior varsity sports. So, it's come to my attention through a number of uh participants and parents

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um on one of our varsity and junior varsity teams that a particular individual that did not make either team continues daily to attend practices of both teams and they are not a member of

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the varsity or JV team and the students the the the participants on the team feel uncomfortable about it. Um but they're afraid to speak up for retaliation fear. So, that's my question. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment?

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Oh, jeez. A blast from the past. Uh last time I did this so Ethan Murray Scotch Plains. Uh last time I did this probably was before COVID. But I came back here to say how proud I am as your son, Mr. Evan Murray. Uh

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you've done a great job over the past 12 years. Uh it's clear that you've made a strong impact on this district. And I know there's been a lot of >> [clears throat] >> unintelligent moments over the past few years, but

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you've gotten through it and this district's better off to have had you. So, thank you. Thank you. And thanks for coming back [applause] to school. Home for a free dinner. Any other public comments? All right. Uh upcoming schedule

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meetings. So, we have the Well, I'm going to skip the 12th meeting first cuz we have the staff and student recognitions on the 19th and then Wednesday, June 17th is the next public Mr. Jones, I'm going to pass to you for the next public board meeting in May.

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Mhm. So, uh the original scheduled meeting was uh 1 week from today. So, we're going to move it to Tuesday, May 12th. And that'll give enough time. We'll have the uh uh board member interviews uh for open open seat, Mr. Murray's open

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seat. Uh and we and it'll give us a little enough time to advertise and have people So, um we'll be sending that out shortly. It'll be on our website tomorrow. Um but yeah, just give us a little extra time for people to

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see the role and be able to apply to it. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Uh good of the order. Does anyone have anything for the good of the order? Dr. K? Well, I was able to attend the district art show yesterday and of course there's always lovely artworks and creations

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from all the students in our district. But I also want to thank you for being our president these last few years. I'm going to truly miss having you at this table as I'm sure everybody else is and congratulations to moving onward and upward in your employment, but we will

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really miss you. Thank you, Dr. K. Thank you. Um I have a couple of things. First First of all, um Mr. Murray, we'll see you I'll see you at Starbucks. You do owe me a drink. Um I went to the moon the jazz state finals

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this past weekend and the Moonglowers came in second in the state. Um they also got best sax section and best percussion and I I believe what the saxophone soloist was given one of the best soloist awards. They just it would they were amazing. Um and so just want

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to shout out to them and then also drop off is really crazy. So, please be careful out there. Dr. K, this is me. Um I just touching on Karen with the um art show while we have EEF here tonight. Um thank you for your sponsorship of the uh

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art show which I attended yesterday as well. I'm sure most of us did. It was just incredible. Um and I will follow up and say ditto to Evan and um thank you. Thank you. I want to thank the EEF as well for every year I get so excited listening to

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you describe all those grant projects and I'm always amazed at the creativity and um enthusiasm of our educators, but also thank you thank the EEF for supporting such robust programming in the district. Truly appreciate it. And I want to thank

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Evan for his leadership. Um you know, for for the 9 years 9 plus years that I have served you, you've been a mentor to me. And Uh not on confidential issues, but um uh I truly appreciate you and your mentorship and your patience over

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and your diligence and your um you know, just your commitment to the district uh over the last and six 12 years. 11 and a half Thank you. Thank you. Well, you do have a chance to change your mind.

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But you did um echo what everyone else says. You you will be missed. It it's definitely going to be a loss. I'm so happy that your son came. That says a lot about you. He's was present for a lot of the meetings when he was going to school here. So, it's nice to

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see him again to say such nice things about his father and the board of ed. So, great job. You paid him? >> [laughter] >> Yes. Yeah. But but um you you'll we'll see you cuz you're still going to live here, right? >> I am. Okay. Thank you.

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So, I do want to say something on the EEF topic again because I think it's very impressive that the money that you all raise for this district is done through fundraisers, but you never once pitch fundraisers when you do these things and I think it's very impressive because,

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you know, the work that you do is is it's not a sales pitch for anybody, but yet you find a way to make it work and it's it's it's impressive and I I I I really respect that or your organization because it's it's not you don't need to sell people on something because what

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you do is so impactful and meaningful. So, thank you for that. >> [applause] >> Anyone else for the good of the order? Uh I just want to say thank you to everybody again. Um you know, I know um you know, we've we've been through many things together as a board and you

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know, the issues that we all face um are you know, you know, always going to be issues, but you know, I I meant it when I said it. You know, I thank everybody for their mentorship, support and everything over the years and you know, you're definitely you know, continue to do the good things that you do.

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Um like I said, when you look around the state, you know, I would put our district up against any other district in the state from from every aspect from the students to the teachers to the support staff to the custodial staff, maintenance staff, administration and boards. It's it's a testament to how

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hard everybody works. So, thank you all very much. You've made it a good 11 plus years. So, thank you. Any other good of the order? How about motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Opposed?

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We're adjourned. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Oh, wait. We have a