Were you did you >> Welcome to a meeting of the board of education of the Somerset Hills School District. Please be advised that this and all meetings of the board are open to the public and media consistent with the open public meetings act and that advanced notice required therein has been provided. This is a meeting of the
board of education of Somerset Hills at which formal action may be taken. The public will have an opportunity to be heard as shown on the agenda. The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act 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
interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, the public notice of this meeting, which includes time, date, location, known, the agenda of this meeting was distributed at 3 p.m. on July 9th, 2025 and at 3 p.m. on December 26, 2025 in
the following manner. Posted on the bulletin board reserved for announcements in the board office. 25 Alcott Avenue, Bernardsville. Posted in the main office of Bedwell, Bernardsville Middle School and Bernard's High School. Mailed to the Courier News and Bernardsville News and posted on the SHSD website. Filed with the clerk of the burrow, Bernardsville,
Bar Hills, Peac and Gladstone, and Bedminster Township. Delivered to the 10 newly elected board members for a roll call, please. >> Miss Ballard, Miss Clark, Emory, >> Miss Cooper, Mrs. Gomez, Mrs. Hoppy, Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Libera,
>> here. >> Mrs. Santoro, Mrs. Ry, Mrs. Frenda >> here. >> You have a quorum. >> Thank you. Okay, we are going to go into executive session. Um, the Open Public Meetings Act authorizes a public body to exclude the public from that portion of
a meeting at which specified topics are to be discussed under circumstances where the public consideration of such topics will clearly endanger the public or where the personal privacy or guaranteed rights of individuals whose activities or affairs are to be discussed would clearly in danger of
unwarranted invasions and the matters about to be presented for discussion clearly meet the circumstances test of such act. The Board of Education of Somerset Hills now adjourns its public session to reconvene executive session for the purpose of discussing the following personnel, student matters, litigation, and attorney client
privileges. And be it further resolved that the discussion in executive session be disclosed when the board's consideration of the subject matter has been closed or that such matter does not adversely affect the rights of prospective current or past public officers or personnel of the board unless such individuals have in writing
requested such discussion at a public meeting and provided such public disclosure no longer the public interest. Can I please have a motion to go into executive libera and a second? Okay. Thank you.
Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Superintendent.
>> Thank you, Mrs. Frenda. Uh, as uh is our custom uh we are going to start off uh with our speakers from the middle school and we have um our good friends Teddy Quinn and Rahima Wellington here. Teddy's going to speak about wrestling and Rahima is representing the science
team. So I'm going to ask these folks to come on up. >> Sorry. >> Hello. My name is Teddy Quinn and I am an eighth grader at Burnersville Middle School. I'm on the wrestling team and a member of our culture and climate committee. Established last year, the wrestling team has opened a whole new
door for athletic opportunities here at BMS. With numbers growing from last year, our team record reflects that we are doing some building to grow into more successes. Not only does the team play with heart, grit, and determination, but they consistently show up and make the most of the situation. Coach Bales and Coach Fatu
bring experience and effort to every match and practice while they lead the team. As a first year wrestler, as an eighth grader, being part of such an awesome team has not only grown me as an athlete, but also as a person. Being a two-year member of the culture and climate committee myself, we are
thankful to have the consistent ability to create to create memorable events and moments for the students who attend BMS. The culture and climate committee has been working hard to produce specific heartfelt affirmations to every single student for National Compliment Day throughout January. Not only was the
event completed successfully, it also put a smile on every student's face when they found a personalized message on their locker. It is going to be fun to see what awesome event we pull off next. I'm now going to turn it over to Raheima. >> Thank you, Teddy. My name is Raheima
Wellington and I am an eighth grader at Burnersville Middle School. I'm in the Rucker's house, a member of BMS Earth Science team, science team and also a member of student council. I just want to say thank you to Mr. King for his hard work and dedication towards
preparing our earth science team for a science league. The science league was founded in 1962 at BM and BMS has been participating in the league since 2009. The purpose of the science league is to provide students with the ability to
compete with other students across the state in different areas of science. Students compete both as individuals and as a team. Students have the opportunity to earn awards. Over the past 17 years, BMS has been the only middle school to
compete in this competition with high schoolers in New Jersey. Each year, our BMS team has become more successful and has advanced further. The student council has been successful with its fundraisers this year as we continue to
raise money for our charity, Crisis Response Canines. Our latest fundraiser, Candygrams, just started this Tuesday and is off to a good start. Our goal is to raise at least $500 towards our fundraiser. And for an update on our
basketball season, our boys basketball team has an amazing record of 11 to one as coach Malik and coach Sim lead led them to success. Our girls team is doing great as well with a 7 to7 record under the coaching of coach Brown and Coach O'
Conor. Thank you for having us here tonight to speak about our school. Thank you, Teddy and Rahima. Uh, we have Nolan and Sophia here tonight and we are going to invite them up for a high school report. >> Hi everyone. It's good to see you all.
Um, this is the first week of a third marking period. So, we are officially halfway through the school year, which is very crazy to think about, especially as a senior. But time flies when you're having fun. Um, starting off with the juniors, they begun their scheduling meetings with their guidance counselors.
And this is the most crucial meeting you'll have as a high schooler. It's where your guidance counselor asks you what your plan is for after high school. And it's where the college process and gets real. and your guidance counselor informs you of the whole application
process, standardized testing, letters of wreck and it's and your parents even join the call. So it is a very long meeting but very crucial. So and it is a very long process since there are lot of juniors. So um that has begun. Um next
up for the seniors we had night of the stars last Friday. Um, it took place at the Bridgewater Manor and what Night of the Stars is, it is a dance for the seniors and we all get to dress up in fun fun costumes and there are prizes
given out for best group costume, best theme, most creative. Uh, my group actually won best theme. We are all different pop stars, so you definitely can get very fun with it. Um, and it was run by the senior parents, so they truly worked very hard for this. And we even
had Normandy Studios there, our photographer, taking photos all night. So, we have those to look back on, but it was truly a great event and everyone had so much fun and it was amazing. So, next up for Peer Leadership, um, Peer
Leaders has ended since it was a semester long program and it was an amazing, um, it ran its course. Um, we all bonded with our freshmen and it was a great group of freshmen. So, we had
great reviews all around. Um, I think our peer leaders truly bonded with the freshmen and it is very sad to see it go, but all good things must come to an end. And with this ending, we started our application process for students to actually apply to become a peer leader.
And this is a written application and an in-person interview. So, it's kind of extensive, but um very crucial. Um we held an interest meeting last week for people who want to apply apply and it is a very popular club. We usually have
over a hundred people apply. So, considering there's only 800 in the school, so very popular and I definitely recommend to apply if there are any students or any kids in here. So, um, it's a great group of students and you really truly make those connections and
a great group of students and I'm really sad to see it go, but Mr. Samson and Mr. Kaufman run it and they are two amazing teachers. So, it is just a very positive community. So, I definitely recommend applying. Um, next up for the choir,
concert choir actually has their first music festival um, this coming month on February 5th. It is concert choir's first festival since magicals are usually the ones to perform at these sort of things. But uh Mr. Le Pine is very confident in us. So it is very
exciting and we actually held our popsite auditions this week and it is movie themed and it will be held sometime in April and I definitely recommend coming. Maybe you'll see your favorite song be performed and it's a great group of talented people. So I'm
very excited. Um, next up for the musical we they started rehearsing. It is Wizard of Oz and I believe it will be held the first week of March and I also can't wait. We have a lot of amazing performers and I
really recommend also going to that. So, we have a lot of fun things coming up. But I'm going to give it over to Nolan. Thank you. >> Yeah. Quick followup. Pops night is always a fantastic event. I've gone every year of high school despite being a band guy, not a choir guy. It's
awesome. So anyway, we had a quite a lot of snow this weekend, but definitely want to shout out our custodial staff for getting it all ready and thank you Dr. Brochial for calling the day off nice and early Sunday, so I knew I could start my shoveling at like 11, you know, wake up. Certainly had a lot to do
though. Yeah, definitely needed the day off, but um then turn it over to winter sports. A little update there. Our girls basketball is having themselves a heck of a season. They are 14- one and undefeated in the division. They are looking for a deep
states run with senior Altha Reynolds leading the charge, our 10,00 point scorer. Uh boys basketball is seven and nine. We've had a lot of close losses, but we have a lot of fun together. We're growing as a team, growing as people, and we're we have our first g round of
counties tomorrow night here against Manville. We beat them last year in the first round of county, so hoping for a repeat of that. Uh, winter tracks had lots of successful runners. Brody Watt, our UPEN commit, has already qualified for states and nationals and that kind of stuff. Putting up great times as
always. Our boys swim, is having a very good season. They're four and two and girls swim is three and four and they have their senior night tomorrow. Uh, ice hockey is 111 and one, but they, you know, they just have fun getting out in the skates and whatnot. Uh, wrestling
had their senior night tonight and they they have had a good season as well. And finally, the fencing team is the boys are one and six and the girls are one and five. Um, our band has had their spring music handed out for our jazz band. So far, we have two pieces and
it's a great little justosition. We have a classic jazz piece in sing and then a modern rock jazz piece in Whiplash coming from the uh classic Damen Chiselle movie. Um then for concert band as we anticipate our trip to Disney we
are playing a u selections from Aladdin along with a tune called Russian sailor's dance and in the hall of mountain king and for a full orchestra so at Disney we do orchestra plays with the band one big song uh it's a excerpt from Beethoven's seventh symphony and
also for the band coming up we have at Miss Leferge's church he does this annual Marty Gro jazz service So, um, since I got to high school and Mr. Tesler joined, it's become more of a middle school and high school thing. Used to be something just for the Beavenster kids, but Mr. Tesler lives
right by right by where the event takes place. He comes, we get about the entire jazz band, some of the concert band kids, too. And that is my favorite music event I get to do all year. So, I'm glad I've got to bring more high school kids into it. Miss Lefer says I'm the Marty
GR ambassador. So, looking forward to that event. And then also I will not be at the next board meeting because I'll be on the Harvard Model Congress trip. That's always a very popular event for those that get to um participate. Yeah.
So that'll be the week Yeah. week around February 19th. So right around the next meeting is very excited. Fortunately, it'll be my last one. But it's always an awesome time, you know, building valuable public speaking skills, learning about how our government works, and having a great time with your
friends and the teachers that tag along. Uh, thank you all for your time tonight, and I'll pass it back to Dr. Brochial. Thank you, Nolan, and thank you, Sophia, and certainly, uh, Teddy and Rahima. It's always great
to hear from our students and I I do get the opportunity to prepare for them. Although I missed out on the middle school kids uh this week, but we spend time uh before the board meetings just kind of catching up and uh was able to spend some time with Nolan today and and
Sophia. And uh two things that I always leave impressed with is how engaged uh the kids are about their schools here. And you love hearing that. Um, and uh, you know, certainly in my time here, I've met a lot of kids. Um, I want you to know Nolan has only missed one day of
school in his high school career. Uh, or is that K12? >> Okay. All right. One day in high school. >> Yeah. And he has employed ibuprofen on occasion to get here. Uh, so we had some
fun with that. And Sophia is always just like I always leave better in a better mood after I'm with Sophia. She walks around the halls with a My Pretty Pony backpack and uh it's just it's just great to see great kids doing great things. So um so thanks guys. I know you
put a lot into these presentations and I appreciate the work that you do and I know the board does also. Um so thank you. Uh we have a um a few folks um to honor here. Um my good friend Ricky's
helped me out with the slides here. And uh first item is to talk about uh two students that were selected for the Central Jersey Music Educators Association Intermediate Honors Choir.
Um one of them could not be here tonight. Um and her name is Poppy Picket. has a basketball game. Um uh but Ella Hunter could be here tonight and she is with us and uh the two uh the two students from our middle school um
certainly have earned a remarkable accomplishment and it's a testament to their hard work, dedication and their musical talent. Um they are both in seventh grade. Uh they eagerly have joined the choir. They work very closely
with our uh director uh Miss Jurgens over at the middle school. Um Poppy also plays uh the piano and writes room music and Ella plays the violin. Uh they will be performing at Monroe Township High School on February 1st at 3 p.m. for
anybody that wants to uh join them. Uh there will be uh 120 other choir students from 21 uh schools across 100 Mammoth, Mercer, Somerset, Middle Sex, and Union County. It's a significant honor. And I am going to call up Ella um
for recognition. Come on up. >> So So Ella, we do have a resolution for you for all this hard work. And this is like refrigerator material. I see mom in the back with the video. Right. Um, we're going to get this on the fridge for mom, right? It says, "A resolution honoring Ella Hunter for her hard work
and talent in the area of vocal music. Whereas the Somerset Hills Board of Education gives special honor and commendation to dedicated students who perform at the highest level with effort, responsibility, and a positive attitude. Whereas Ella Hunter sees the
merit of embodying the collaborative spirit, dedication, and high standard of excellence necessary to perform at an advanced level. And whereas Ella Hunter is part of the Bernardville Middle School and serves as an inspiration to all of us over there. Now, therefore, be
it resolved by the Somerset Hills Board of Education that the members of the board hereby commend you, Ella, for your extraordinary accomplishment and acceptance into the Central Jersey Music Educator Association's Honors Choir for the second year in a row. When the
Somerset Hills Board of Education adjourns on this day, it does so in your honor of the achievements that you've earned. The board of education secretary is directed to have this resolution reflected in the permanent minutes of the Somerset Hills Board of Education on
this 28th day of January, 2026. Congratulations. >> So, Ella has informed me um that the concert is on March 1st. Uh and I'm going to make a note of that. Um and um I would encourage anybody to attend.
Our next honore is Ria Lewis who is here with us. Um, RIA has received a global silver award in the world artificial intelligence competition for youth, which is an international event that
drew more than 132,000 students from 103 countries. She had a project called Bridgebot, and it was recognized in the large language model track of one of the competition's most technically demanding categories. Bridgebot is an AI powered
peaceful dialogue assistant designed to help people navigate cross-cultural misunderstandings and polarized conversations. The system uses four distinct dialogue modules, explain my culture, reframe my message,
perspective switch, and mythbuster. Um, Miss Lewis has always loved to create and build, but her work is equally shaped by a desire to bring positivity to others. Attentive to the world around her, she began to notice
how misunderstandings rooted in religion, culture, and political beliefs often create unnecessary division both locally and globally. This awareness led her to explore how artificial intelligence could be used for good, to
unite people, to welcome different perspectives, and to focus on peace. Ria, come on up. So, Ria, I feel smarter just reading that. Uh, what you have done is a significant accomplishment. And uh the
board also has a recognition that honors you for the bridgebot creation which is an AI powered dialogue assistant. And the board gives special honor and commendation uh to you who perform at the highest level with effort, responsibility and a positive attitude.
Whereas Ria Lewis sees the merit of ethical technology use and realworld problem solving. Whereas Ria Lewis is part of the Bernard's high school and serves as an inspiration. Now therefore be it resolved by the Somerset Hills Board of Education that the members of
the board hereby commend you for your accomplishment earning a s a gold silver award award at the World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth where you address complex social challenges through innovation and exemplified your
dedication to serving others. When the Somerset Hills Board of Education adjourns on this day, it does so in honor of the achievements earned by Ria Lewis. The board of education secretary is directed to have this resolution reflected in the permanent minutes of the Somerset Hills Board of Education on
this day, the 28th of January, 2026. Congratulations. So, congratulations to all of our honores here tonight. One last round of applause. Again, these kids inspire every day. Um,
special shout out to Dunder Media. Um, Mlin Dunder has served the board in capacity as I'll say official photographer. um and uh he did a great job uh with the board photos and uh I want to thank him. Um he's just been great to work with and
I know that uh Mia in my office just um really loves how responsive he is. So, and his work is great. So, that's good, too. Uh Bernard's High School has earned a um a position on the 2025 AP honor
role as a gold member. Um Bernard's High School offers 19 AP courses. uh in all subject areas taught by stellar educators. Uh students think critically, construct solid arguments, and see many sides of important issues, all of which are skills that help prepare them for
college and beyond and are reinforced in the AP curriculum. To earn the gold distinction, Bernard's High School had 72% of seniors who took at least one AP exam. 63% of seniors scored a three or higher on at least one AP exam and 16%
of seniors um who took five or more AP exams. Um so um kudos to Bernard's High School. Uh this month's staff spotlight is Mr. Shane Porter. He has been in the school
district since 2004. He works uh currently at the middle school as a social studies teacher. He impacts thousands of students at Burnersville Middle School over his time there in their quest to learn about history, civics, government, and the world around them. His teaching philosophy is focused
on creating an environment for students to feel like active participants in their own learning. Uh, one of Mr. Porter's favorite units concluded prior to winter break. It was a congressional simulation where students created their own committees and leadership positions.
as the start of the new year, his eighth grade students are embarking on a new unit related to the federal court system. Uh he's deeply embedded in the work of capturing kids hearts at Burnersville Middle School, which I'll speak about tonight, and believes that this has been
a great addition to the middle school community. Um he believes that it validates uh what the professionals here are doing and uh reinforces that teaching about caring does indeed matter. The battle of the books is among us at
Bedwell. This is a an initiative uh with the home and school association that is done on an annual basis. The battle of the books is a bookbased team trivia competition for Bedwell's fourth grade students and again it's hosted by the HSA. Uh this year will be a rocking
event as the theme is battle of the books meets battle of the bands. Uh you see a photo here of our students and some of our faculty members with their various instruments and you even see Principal Wolf here with the trumpet and um so it's great to see um the battle of
the books once again. Uh so teams are forming, students are reading and excitement is growing. Um the elimination round is on March 11th and the championship is on March 13th and we have a variety of book titles all of which have been uh supported and
supplied by the U Bedwell HSA. So, um, another great event to speak about. The middle school has a random acts of kindness club. Uh, and they celebrated a very successful sock donation drive this
winter. Uh, they had generosity from the general community here and were able to donate more than 3554 socks. Uh, they were donated to Brandon's heart and soul to help support those in need in our community. This organization honors Brandon Lass Fogle,
who is a young man known for his big heart and his generous spirit. Um, socks were a gift he asked for every Christmas. And in the years since his death, well over 50,000 socks have been donated to warm the hearts and souls of those that are less fortunate in the New
Jersey area. Um the random acts of kindness club also put together hot cocoa cups that were shared with the um bus driver team here at Somerset Hills, which is great to see. Uh they're also planning an annual animal shelter drive in May, where they partner with a local
animal shelter to collect muchneeded items for shelter pets waiting for their homes. Students will visit the shelter and deliver all of the collected items and volunteer their time to give love and snuggles to deserving cats and dogs. Um, I'd like to point out and thank uh
Suzanne Wartman and and Kelly Leassi for all they do working with these students. So, very cool to see. Art teacher or art students uh at the middle school seventh graders have been working on value drawing and watercolor
landscapes and our eighth graders have been working on ceramics. and you have some photos there of the beautiful work that they have been producing in their classrooms. Uh there are some recent art projects from the high school. Uh Christina Rovar
is new to us um doing great work uh with our kids here at the high school. Uh you see upper left uh heartlight painting and food truck projects uh done on Adobe Illustrator. You have a person light painting on your bottom right and our digital art uh has done a fantasy
landscape. So beautiful work coming out of there. Bedwell has been doing an or origami project um and it's called origami for others and they are creating origami with in inspirational messages for
people in the community. Uh this fall students learned about polyhedral origami um and uh through an enrichment focus uh that was focused on the mathematics of origami. Uh geometry lessons include
parallel and perpendicular lines, types of angles, transformations of shapes, uh fractional parts, uh the symmetry of origami. Uh over time, the children here in our fourth grade unit created a hexahedron, a transforming pin wheel,
and a truncated tetrahedron. Uh there's going to be a test on this later tonight. Um and just the fact that I got through that sentence. Um should probably give me a gold star for the presentation. Um Melissa Leonard, uh who
is a longtime teacher there, uh has been doing beautiful work in this unit and and in many others. and I just wanted to point out uh the great things that she's doing uh with our kids. Adanelli Tomas Lopez is the Bernard's High School everyday hero for January.
Uh she's kind, she demonstrates genuine care for the people around her. Uh she engages with um classmates and teachers and she approaches uh each of those folks with great warmth uh and great openness. She gives her best effort whether tackling challenging coursework
or participating in student activities or just being um engaged in her friendships. Her actions remind us at the high school here that true heroism is not always a set of grand gestures, but there's sometimes simply seeing someone who needs a friend and chooses
to be that person. um like to point out that we have a partner in Warren Township named Yella's uh who are the everyday hero program sponsor uh and they are an enthusiastic sponsor for us. So I just want to point out um that YELS and Warren Township
does support our programs here and supports the kids that are that earn these um recognitions. Uh Owen um you know helped construct this slide with uh Miss Mia. Um and we did a lot of sports reporting. Um but um
oh and I want to point out that uh last Thursday night ski racer Maggie O'Donnell was asked a question by me. Um I had a meeting here with the board and I was leaving and she was waiting for her parents to pick her up from ski practice and I said like do you want school or not on Monday? And uh you know
she shared with me she had a test on Monday. So, like anything that I could do on her behalf, um, Mr. Lori was right there with me. So, um, so I had no choice. I mean, Maggie laid it out. So,
so, um, there you go. Thank her. And the snow. Um, speaking of thanks, a couple things I want to point out. Um, uh, to nobody's surprise, the custodial and maintenance staff just did a beautiful job clearing everything, uh, in and
around the district. And I do want to point out, the board really can't see this, but there are snowflakes falling on the slide. Um, which is, uh, yeah. So, um, we try to jazz our slides up a little bit. Um, but the custodians in
all seriousness really did a great job away from their families in very difficult conditions. Uh, and the maintenance team is continuing to dig us out and they're um, literally all day long just moving snow to places that we just sort of decide
where to put it. Um, and they're doing a great job. Um, Somerset Hills Education Foundation is partnering uh with the high school for the first annual job uh summer job fair. Uh, that's on February 23rd. It's from 7:00 to 9:00 in the media center.
They're responding to uh some feedback that parents were giving uh employers um last summer about uh just some challenges and difficulty of finding their high school age children jobs. So, they have uh employers lined up that are
going to be here and uh we're expecting a uh fully employed um high school student um student body here. So, um so we're happy to have that and certainly it's a great service. So, um their focus um we're seeing a lot of um intentional
relationship building amongst Chef with uh local organizations, businesses, and I think this is another great example of that. So, just want to point that out for the board. Uh the board will be having a uh an election uh special election on March 10th. Um and it will help to upgrade our
facilities to support our educational programs um across the uh you know across our district. Um we have um some information there on the slide regarding uh projected costs um projected state
aid. Uh we we do intend to um finance these through bonds. Um the focus here at Bedwell will be around security infrastructure including a security vestibule. Uh STEM programming for kids uh at Bedwell. Uh roofing uh some ADA
toilets and uh dedicated kindergarten access. Uh the middle school will include security infrastructure, science labs and roofing. in the high school will also include security infrastructure, uh science lab construction, uh STEM lab construction,
culinary arts, uh technology, radio and television podcasting, uh work. The ballots are currently in the process of being printed at the county level and we expect them to be uh arriving in mailbox shortly. Uh we do have a public
presentation on February 11th in the media center here at the high school. Um we have partnered with the HSA to um have that event and they're certainly uh drumming up support for people to um attend to learn more. And we have two
social media feeds that are up on our slides that you can look for SHSD referendum 2026 on Instagram and through Facebook at Somerset Hills School District referendum 2026. We are in the middle of a reg
regionalization study that's being conducted here in district. We started this work last November. Uh we have a steering committee that includes um uh members of the board. Um Miss Frenda, Miss Santoro are going to serve in that
capacity along with myself and Mr. Lori um and uh some other folks. Uh and we also have an advisory committee between the two districts uh that includes school principles and teachers, elected municipal officials and HSA representatives. Uh we're actually going
to be meeting in this room tomorrow. Um and uh we're looking forward um to that work and uh we have some groups that are giving the folks that are running the study feedback on what is important to us here in the Somerset Hills and to us
in Bedminster uh as well. Um so we are in the process or getting close to the process of data collection with um um the folks running the study. Uh and in the summer they will take a look at that data and make some recommendations um in
the fall for both entities to consider. Um the report itself will have an executive summary and an introduction uh and it will focus on governance and law. Another section will focus on education and programming. Another section will
focus on uh our demographics and our facilities uh finance and operations and the report will offer uh findings and recommendations for you to consider. Uh it's important to note that the the study itself does not obligate either
board to do anything uh but to just read and absorb the information. So that's kind of like step one. Um, I think it would be premature to make a supposition that, you know, this means we're going to go down one one lane or another, but uh, certainly the boards have decided to do some due diligence, which I think is
warranted. Uh, something else that was warranted was engaging in some cool school climate studies uh, inside of the district and we partnered with the New Jersey School Climate Initiative. Uh they are a um an
entity that's connected to the Ruckers University School of Applied Psychology and we uh surveyed students this month uh 1,155 um Owen and Sophia indicated that it was a uh pleasant experience for them um and
did not take a significant amount of time. 173 staff members, 196 parents and caregivers. Uh we surveyed the following areas. Academic culture, behavioral expectations, negative student interpersonal behaviors, pro-social
student interpersonal behaviors, sense of physical safety, student voice, student staff relationships, supports for social emotional learning, family engagement, students sense of belonging, collegial support, leadership support,
and organizational resources and support. Uh we're at the point now where we have uh administered the surveys and we've uh received data through a portal and we were accepted into a technical assistance cohort through Ruckers
University which we're very pleased with and um we're starting our work uh early next week with them. Uh all schools have climate teams who will begin working on data analysis. The district also has a climate team uh and we'll be working in concert with our folks from Ruckers and
we will develop a strategic plan regarding climate and culture based on the New Jersey school climate initiative data in part. Uh so we're very pleased about that. Um it's it's been a very very long time since we really kind of engaged in this in this type of work.
Uh we have also conducted some school climate studies uh at Burnersville Middle School over a two-year period of time. We've been implementing capturing kids hearts and uh each each of the two years in 2425 and 2526
uh we have done some surveying of students uh parents and staff members there. Um the um as far as the fifth grade students go, um this they were provided this year with um uh 25 likered
scale prompts and for 18 of them, our fifth grade students indicated they perceived outcomes to be at or above the Capturing Kids Hearts National School Showcase baseline. Uh which is important. Um, their survey results
indicate that they like their teachers, that they have good relationships with their teachers, they're treated with respect by other students, they get along well with other students, they're comfortable speaking with their teacher about a problem, and that teachers encourage them to be the best they can
be. Uh, students in grades six, seven, eight took a separate survey, and there were 26 likered scale prompts that were provided. And for 13 of them, the students at the middle school indicated that they perceived outcomes to be at or
above the national showcase school baseline. Um and um they reported that they feel like they have at least one teacher at the middle school who knows more about them than just their grades. Uh they have opportunities to celebrate each other. Uh they agree uh that
students and teachers make it known to all that bullying is not tolerated. They agree that their peers do not stand for bullying. Uh they look at teachers uh as being people that treat students with respect. They've developed social contracts in each of their classes. They
know what happens and what consequences are when social contracts are not followed. Um they are participants in the outcomes of their own education. They experience consistent consequences. They like their teachers. They have good relationships with them. They're treated
with respect by their peers and they're encouraged to be the best that they can be. The teachers and staff were surveyed both years and they indicated uh in all 20 prompts that were above the national
baseline um status for for that that group that was surveyed. Um the 2-year comparison of the implementation saw increases in 16 out of 20 survey prompts. Uh the remaining four survey prompts did not decrease. Um typically
however student perceptions of similar prompts yield lower results than teachers and staff. Um but the the discrepancies that we're seeing in in broad strokes falls um within or near the national school the national
showcase school baseline. um even though some students rate uh or some even though students rate some um teacher and staff outputs lower than the than the teachers rate themselves. Uh both surveys indicate unequivocally that the
students feel supported by the teachers and the staff at the middle school. Uh there are opportunities for leadership and staff to facilitate student ownership of the capturing kids hearts process and deepen engagement with uh those outputs. Uh so we have some great
data that that we've seen uh at the middle school and uh we're certainly going to move forward with our next level of work there uh because our work is uh never um never fully complete. Uh the parents were surveyed over two years
uh at the HSA executive board level. Uh the parents indicated that all 14 prompts were above the NSS baseline. Um we look to expand the survey pool for the parents in future surveys um to make
sure that it's uh deep and broad enough. Uh from a leadership perspective, there are significant correlations across all stakeholder surveys that chart the next level of work for leadership at the middle school. specifically the work to empower students to serve as social
contract raiders and class ambassadors while redoubling efforts to reinforce the tenants of the capturing kids process. the students are prepared for this next level of implementation and um you know from a from a point of pride uh
it is rewarding to see the level of work that has gone into this and it's rewarding for me to see um encouraging results um from a from a surveying and an output perspective. So uh it's been nice to be able to see that. Um, I will
be issuing a joint report to uh the board and the education foundation uh later this week for you to uh to take a deeper look at. Um and um certainly a lot of different
ways of staying formed and um I am going to move on uh Miss Frenda um because that does culminate my report. >> Thank you very much. And um I just always want to thank our um student
representatives for their reports and for the thought they put into it. I I have um describing copious because I am always amazed by the things that you're reporting out and as Dr. the level of engagement you have in your
school community to our um students that were recognized this evening. Again to echo Dr. Brochel the the level of um successes that you are experiencing and what you're bringing to our school community is just absolutely astounding.
Congratulations on on all that you're doing and all that I know you Um, and finally, um, I know that Nolan mentioned it, Dr. Brochel mentioned it, but I would be remiss if I did not again highlight our custodial and maintenance
staff and the lengths that they go to. Dr. virtual often in situations like this keeps me high throughout the day and where things stand. And um to know that that these members of our staff were outside all day doing everything
that they could to secure our facilities for our students and staff and um we were the rest of us were home cozy and safe and warm. Um I there there are no words for that level of dedication to uh
this community and I just want them to know how great. >> So I thank you. I thank you all your contribution. Now we are okie dokie. We will be moving into our audit
presentation. Those of you who don't need to >> good night. Thank you. >> It's a good time to leave, right? We can't wait. >> Uh, good evening. My name is Joseph Stout and I'm an audit manager with
Supple Clooney and Company LLC. We have completed your district's 2025 audit and have issued two reports. The first and largest report issued is the annual comprehensive financial report or ACFR. This includes the district's financial
statements and our opinion on those statements. Your district received an unmodified opinion which is the best possible opinion type and means that the financial statements are fairly presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
The district's financial statements are presented in three different types of bases. The governmentwide statements provide a broad long-term view of your district which incorporates long-term assets and liabilities such as the long school
building assets, the debt related to your such assets and various long-term benefits such as compensated absences and state pension liabilities. The fund statements offer a detailed short-term view of specific funds and
are presented on a GAP basis. The budgetary basis schedules are based on regulations promulgated by the state department of education and these are schedules which are most closely aligned
to the board approved monthly financial reports. In the ACFR report, the A exhibits are the governmentwide statements, the B exhibits are the fund statements and the C throughI exhibits are the budgetary basis schedules.
The results of operations of the most active of the school funds, the general fund, are reflected on exhibit C1 of the bud budgetary basis section. This starts on page 90 of the report. It shows budgeted revenues and expenditures, the
actual activity for the year, and the variance to the final budget. Other informative schedules in the ACFR include exhibit J4 on page 134 and exhibit J17 on page 154.
The J4 shows a comparison of governmental fund revenues and expenditures over a 10-year period, while the J17 shows a 10-year comparison of enrollment, operating expenditures, and a relative cost per pupil.
The letter of transmitt begins on page one of the report and is prepared by the district's administration. It includes some of the educational highlights of the fiscal year. The district reported SAT and ACT scores for
high school students in school year 2025 which were significantly higher than state and national scores. There were 11 students from the class of 2025 named as national merit commended students with one student named as a finalist. The
class of 25 also had 42 students honored as advanced placement scholars, 31 as AP scholars with honors and 72 students as AP scholars with distinction. The second report that we issue is the
auditor's management report is required by the state department of education and outlines the different areas of compliance that we audit. These areas include payroll, the records of the board secretary and treasurer, federal and state grants,
purchasing, food service, and student activities. Any audit recommendations as a result of our testing would be included in this report. Your district has no recommendations in this year's audit. I would like to thank the board for the
opportunity to perform the audit for the district as well as the cooperation and assistance provided by the district's personnel during our audit engagement. Are there any questions? >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
I would open um the public hearing for the audit presentation if there are any members of the public who have any questions for our auditor. Um seeing none then I will ask for a motion to close the public hearing audit. Miss
Thank you. Um and then I would like to ask for a motion to approve action on item number one as it relates to the audit. Miss. Um, and we can do roll calls here. >> Miss Clark Emory. >> Yes.
>> Miss Cooper, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gomez, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hunt, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Mrs. Brenda, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you.
>> So then we'll we'll go on to public comments for actionable agenda items. very much towards the end of the meeting. An individual may return to the podium to complete their statement after everyone else has had an opportunity to speak.
Please understand that our public forums are not structured as question and answer sessions are offered as opport members of the audience should interfere with comut. Anybody have any comments um comment section for actionable agenda
items? Okay. Can I get a motion to close public comments? Um Miss Labbera, a second. Thank you. Okay. Then we will move on to the approval of the minutes. I would like to ask action
for December 17, 2025 as well as the reorganization. I have a motion. >> Thank you, Miss Fry. And a second. Is there any discussion regarding the minutes? >> Miss Cooper. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Gomez, >> I abain because I wasn't here January 5th. >> Thank you. Mrs. Hunt, >> yes. >> Mrs. Labbera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Miss Clark Emory, >> yes. >> Mrs. Brenda, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Okay. Um, since we did do our
reorganization um on January 5th, we have departure of Mr. Baker, we now have um operations meeting and for this evening.
>> Yes. Um Bob's shoes were so big that two of us are needed to fill them, but we'll do our best. Um the business operations committee met Tuesday, January 21st for about two hours. All committee members were in attendance and we were joined by Dr. Brochel, Mr. Lori, Mr. Schwarz, Mr.
Stout, and Miss Smith. You first heard from Mr. Stout, an auditor from Supan & Company who just presented his findings. Uh um the district closed the fiscal year with a positive budget variance of about $1.1 million surplus representing
the amount by which actual revenues exceeded expenditures. This is consistent with the surpluses reported in previous previous years. U Mr. Stout also reviewed the status of the audit recommendation from last year related to balances and student activity fees in each school and concluded that action
had been taken. The remainder of the audit was clean, meaning that new no new recommendations were issued thanks to the administration's team. Um, next, uh, Mr. Schwarz joined us to discuss recommendations for addressing the paging, door access, and panic systems
at all three schools. These systems, some of which have been in place since 2007, need to be replaced in all three buildings, the priority priority being EMS. We are currently keeping these systems functional through the hard work and efforts of our technology team and frequent service calls, which incur
minimum charges of $250 to $350 per visit. During their research, Mr. Schwarz and Mr. Lori spoke with vendors that could provide the necessary hardware and software and visited schools using the technology to determine which system could best fit our needs.
They are looking for a single solution to avoid multiple platforms that may over time become incompatible. The new system will also replace hardware and older wiring and be network-based. Each room will have a digital panel that has lights coded to specific situations such
as hold in place and medical emergencies, etc. Using uh the new system, administration would be able to lock down the facilities, control outdoor strobes, and program the audible notification system, providing functionality that the administration can access and control from anywhere. The priority is to start
with the middle school this year, then Bedwell, and then high school, and finally in 2027 to 2028. With the new system, we'll be able to handle more of the maintenance in-house or by working directly through through uh with manufacturers, which is currently not
possible. The project budget for this initiative for all schools is 1.725 million with a cost of 440,000 for middle school. The administration is looking to finance options which could include utilizing capital reserve or annual lease purchase agreements. It's
possible that some fun funding could come from the referendum if it passes. Although the committee supported the initi initiation of these upgrades, one board member had concerns about the timing and the cost of this initiative given the extensive facilities review undertaken in our previous year and the
fact that these upgrades were not included in the referendum. Next, Mr. Miss Smith joined us to discuss software to help us more effectively manage student activities fees. We currently have about 70 different clubs and accounts at the high school with additional clubs and programs at the
middle school in Bedwell. And we're currently reconciling these accounts using a variety of different tools. But this process is timeconuming and each team does it a bit differently. In fact, as I previously previously mentioned, Mr. Stout had indicated that this was an area for improvement in last year's audit. The administrative team has been
evaluating two different options for software. Account tree provided by a family-owned company and operating in a handful of districts and Kev School Solutions, which is provided by a larger company and is in more than a thousand districts, including 10 in New Jersey. have school solutions. It's more
expensive, costing $8,300 annually with a $7,000 one-time training and imple implementation fee, but it provides more oversight capabilities, can link to Genesis, and offers the ability to manage donations and spiritware orders through KR QR codes. Accountry does not
link to Genesis and offers um fewer features. Um given its robust features and more widespread use, the committee recommends the purchase of Kev School solution software and you'll be voting on this agenda as agenda item number 13 tonight. Administration will work with
Kev School Solutions to determine the optimal time for its roll out to the district. Next, we discussed changes in how we notify the public about our meetings. As of March 1st, public entities must post the dates and times of their meetings publicly on their website and provide the link to New Jersey Secretary of State, which will
provide a consolidated listing of all events. We will no longer have to advertise in a newspaper after March 1st, but we will need to advertise in the newspaper twice a month for one year that we are po posting public notices of our meetings on our website.
Um Mr. Lori also mentioned that we'll be resolitic resoliciting bids for the broker of record for employee health benefits since one question in the RFP was not answered completely in the responses we received. You'll see this in item number 12 on the agenda. Dr.
Brochel then mentioned that Schneider Electric would be submitting proposals regarding energy saving opportunities and strategies to deal with some HVAC issues at the at the middle school and Bedwell. More to come on these proposals in in the upcoming months. As you know, our referendum is set for March 10th.
The voting locations are as follows. The municipal building in Far Hills, the gym in Peepac Gladstone, and St. East Church, and the library in Bernardsville. To date, this there has not been a lot of traction at the planned activities. However, the committee and administration feel that this is typical of referendum events in
New Jersey. There will be another push as we move closer to the date, including law signs and at least one mailing. Next, we discussed kindergarten registrations. At the time of the meeting, we had 52 registrations. This is a bit unusual given how early it is in the year, but this year, the process
began before holiday before the holidays when in the past it has typically began began in late January. Dr. Brochial also outlined a few of the assumptions and scenarios that he and the BA team are preparing for in the budget this budget season. We'll be discussing these in
more detail at upcoming meetings. Finally, just a few things for you to note that are up for your consideration on the agenda. Item number six, the administration is proposing submission of the suggested tennis court renovations to the Department of Education. Item number six, you'll see a not to exceed fee of 7500 for um
translation services which are usually used in IEP meetings. Item eight, we're accepting a $8,20080 donation 8280 donation of holiday gift cards from an anonymous donor. The committee very much appreciates this generous donation. And item 10, you'll
see that we're requesting the disposal of a variety of unused assets. And that concludes our report. Um, okay. So then I would like to ask for a motion to approve action items number 1 through 15 on the agenda.
>> And any discussion regarding >> would you say St. E because I thought it was St. >> Oh, is it St. Bernard? I'm sorry. >> That's okay. >> St. Bernards. >> Okay, then we'll do roll. >> Mrs. Gomez, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hunt, >> yes. >> Mrs. Labbera,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Miss Clark Emory, >> yes. >> Miss Cooper, >> yes. >> Mrs. Brenda, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Okay. Thank you. Does anybody have anything for new or old business for business operations? Okay. Going to throw it back to Miss
Cooper for boy. You guys hear way too much from me. All right. Um, the curriculum committee. This is more in my wheelhouse though, right? better. Okay. Um, the curriculum committee met Wednesday, January 22nd for about an hour and a half. All committee members were in attendance and we were joined by
Dr. Brochel and Dr. Butler. At the request of a board member, we reviewed uh the district's policies, regulations, and approaches to selecting field trips. According to Dr. Butler, field trip selection is usually based on curricular needs and curricular standards if they are not driven by historical practice.
Um considerations when selecting field trips include curricular relevance, cost, driving distance, and the ages of students. Teachers um and teachers at and at Bedwell teacher teams usually drive the initiation of new field trips. Uh one board member had questions about
how the effectiveness and impact of field trips were evaluated and Dr. Burchil indicated that the administrative team could come back to the committee with the impact of various um field trips in May. Oop, sorry about that. Um next, Dr. Dr. Butler uh reviewed state mandates
regarding professional education related to dyslexia. Uh the New Jersey Department of Education mandates dyslexia focused professional development for K through three teachers, reading specialists, and special ed teachers requiring at least two hours on screening intervention and
tech. More recent technology has emphasized the need for universal K through3 screening and teacher training and evidence-based practices for early literacy, including dyslexia support to improve reading outcomes statewide. Districts must implement these
requirements and track completion with specific resources available through the New Jersey Department of Education. Dr. Dr. Butler then presented information on the dyslexia PED developed by Miss Bara for our uh K through3 teachers which include uh articles v uh videos on
orthography, phonics, fluency and comprehension. Uh next we discussed an upcoming event in in which staff at the middle school have been partnering with Avi Seagull, the director of teen initiatives at the Jewish Community Center to develop a day of learning in
early February. Avi will be supported by a Holocaust education specialist and director of Holocaust education. The program will include a 30 to 40 minute large group presentation on Jewish identity and experiences from the perspective of of a third generation Holocaust survivor. Following the group
presentation, seventh graders will participate in breakout sessions moderated by Jewish high school students. Committee enthusiastically supported this event. We also discussed the need for more outward communication to parents of uh BMS students prior to World War II instruction given the
uptick in anti-semitic incidents during this unit of study. Next, Dr. Burchil discussed the status of the quality school review at the high school and indicated that he'll be presenting its findings at his findings at the curriculum meeting in February. He praised the high school team for their
engagement and active interest in this thorough process, but indicated that the high school could benefit from a greater focus on instructional leadership and and instructional goal setting. The middle school leadership team is also uh completing the quality school re review survey and those results should be
available in the next few weeks. More information to come. Dr. Butler also provided on two topics related to AI. First, uh based on the request of a board member, Dr. Butler mentioned that MIGO is a program offered by the Khan Academy that provides AI based t
tutoring for a fee. She also indicated that Dr. Brochial maintains professional contacts with staff members at Keen University, New Jersey City University, and Rutgers University. Through these contract contacts, we have offered support and collaborative land grant
applications. We're awaiting confirmation of the grant awards, but these relationships have enabled our district to participate in the project's advisory board, to participate in or host professional learning activities, and to provide feedback on the usability and re relevance of both pre-ervice AI
and computer science learning modules and the inservice AI computer science professional learning series. This process may also enable us to support the project's formative evaluation efforts and collaborate to ensure alignment between AI computer science concepts, district instructional
priorities and state digital literacy standards. And finally, there were no questions or concerns regarding professional development or field trip requests during our meeting. And that concludes my report. >> Okay, thank you very much. So then I would like to ask for a motion to
approve action items number one through the agenda. and we'll make that motion and a second. Miss Right. Thank you. And any discussion regarding items this evening? >> Okay. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Hunt, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Labbera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Miss Clark Emory, >> yes. >> Miss Cooper, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gomez, >> yes. >> Mrs. Frenda, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Okay, great. Does anybody have anything for you? >> Yes. Um I would like as you know math is
one of the big things right with uh Bminister so we would like to see if it's possible to have a program in the summer if if not is provided by the district if it can be taken by those students that are like um advanced in uh
in eighth grade if they pay for it but it can be considered so they can um have the same advantage that the Bernardville kids have right so they don't have to double up and I believe Jennifer >> absolutely just to follow up on that I
have been having some dialogue on >> yes >> we did have a meeting set up for Monday uh and now I think I'm have it next Monday >> okay >> there are some complications in the request
>> that I'll articulate >> okay >> technicalities it is on the calendar on the agenda and definitely have >> Thank you. >> Anybody else have anything for new or
old business for curriculum? >> Okay, then we can move on to >> Thank you, Mrs. Frenda. Uh, the P policy and personnel committee met on January 22nd and everybody was
there. So, uh, Dr. Brochel and staff are currently working on the creation of multiple budgets, each dependent on variations in state funding, such as flat state aid or a small increase in state aid or a decrease in state aid. Items due consideration are decreased
enrollments and staffing. The goal is to maintain class sizes. There's a board policy that speaks to this and maintain operations. The budget numbers are usually addressed by the fourth Tuesday of February and a budget address by the governor and state aid numbers are
released 48 hours after the address. There is a grace period for the new governor, but the budget address should take place by year early March. Um, in terms of staffing for fiscal year 27 uh technology positions, currently we have two part-time employees filling a
position titled as a full-time position. These employees have been very successful and the plan is to retitle positions to go from one full-time to two part-time positions. The assistant principal search process at Bedwell will start in the next few weeks looking for a July 1 start.
Uh the maintenance foreman position will be retitled as a maintenance team member to better meet the needs of the district. The custodial foreman position is currently being address assessed. Um, as Miss Cooper said, kindergarten
registration has started. Um, about 52 to start and 80 to 90 enrollments are expected. So, that will go into our planning as well. And that is the end of the personnel report. >> Okay. Thank you so much. Um, can I ask for a motion to approve action items
number one through 14 and a second, Miss Labraa? And is there any? >> Yes. Just a quick question on uh item three um A and B for the ESL. Is that for the second grade or those teachers?
>> Sorry, >> you were talking about >> Yes. Um on the >> item number three. >> Item number three. Yes. >> Yes. >> Sorry. Thank you. Those are overloads.
Okay. because we have a teacher um out and so >> okay existing >> yeah so the leave was um the leave is shorter than they typically are so we
elected to those rather Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Hunt, >> yes. >> Mrs. Labbera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Ms. Ballard, >> yes. >> Mrs. Clark Emory, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cooper, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gomez, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Frienda, >> yes. >> The motion carries. >> For personnel. >> Okay, let's go. Um, so policy and legal matters recently signed legislation legislation and New Jersey Department of Ed guidance uh, cell phones. Our
electronic device policy was updated in the spring addressing the level of access to cell phones. As expected, the commissioner of education was recently directed to create policy and provide guidelines to assist school districts in creating policies that restrict student use of cell phone, smartwatches, and
internet enabled devices from bell-to bell, which is from the opening to the close of the school day. Concerns have been raised about use of certain devices for health reasons. For example, the use of blood sugar reader apps. So, there will be carveout. Strauss Esme will
recommend a policy Uh Bernard's High students have accepted current cell phone policies. They were actually more concerned about the lack of access to Genesis during the school day. In preparation for the new policy, the upcoming BHS wellness day in March
will be a phone-f free day. Other phone-f free days will be planned in spring in support of the future bell-to-bell policy. Uh the Strauss Esme School Law and Policy Symposium happened last week and myself and Dr. Brochel attended it. provide an in-depth review
of several different policies uh and laws. Sexual harassment um a detailed review of the historical background of title 7 and title 12 and where we are today. Issues raised were recent audits in New Jersey schools
by the New Jersey Department of Education at the direction of the US Department of Education Division of Civil Rights. A change to the law extends to the right to bring a lawsuit for a violation against employees. it was formerly restricted to students. The Freedom to Read Act, which we've
discussed previously, um we reviewed that Freedom to Read Act statute, which is adopted into law in December 2025, requires a policy to provide standards for the creation of library material, establish detailed procedures for the removal of library materials, provide
guidance and selection of library materials, and provide protections against censorship. Many of the requirements of this law are already met within our district. The policy is set for second reading. Um, finally, Mimmude V versus Taylor. The school district, as
previously discussed, has gotten out ahead on this with processes and procedures in place. This was evident within the discussions and observations provided by other school districts in attendance at the conference. The MAMU decision was rendered in late June. At
that time, Dr. Butler, Miss Barner, and Dr. Roachchel engaged with board attorneys about how to handle the ramifications of this case. At the opening of the current school year, training was held for faculty about our processes. A proactive approach was taken. Two new statutes introduced
recently in reference to pacing guides, which are class planning week by week to ensure meeting all standards and how they get communicated out. Every grade level has a proced process and procedure and parents will get this info at home this summer. Pacing guides will be
evaluated. Strauss Esme is going to publish a standalone policy mid- winter for areas of curriculum covered by statute specifically as it relates to in-class literature that supports curriculum. Currently, some books were opposed by parents and those students opted out of the lesson. There have been
just a few instances in of this in the Somerset Hill School District community. This involves an interactive process that should take place between the school principal and the individual family. Um policy second reading freedom to read
act um 2535 policy and regulation library material new 9130 policy and regulation public complaints. There's further research going on with the teacher administrator community uh committee
sorry um and the first reading 2530 policy and regulation for resource materials in concert with Mimmude and resource materials creating policy and that's it Um,
>> oh, sorry. Did I misspe on that? >> Yeah. At the U, >> eventually there'll be a first reading on that, >> but not tonight. >> Not a first reading, but we have a committee that's looking at that policy. Um, and Dr. Butler is heading that on
our behalf. So, >> I apologize. Just overenthusiastic. >> No, I appreciate it. And I appreciate um you and Dr. Virgil attending and amazing information. >> It was a very good conference.
So some very good resources conference itself was specifically about >> um okay so then for policy I'd like to make a motion to approve action item number one on the agenda
and a second. Miss Lber, do we have any discussion regarding policy? >> Um, not necessarily discussion and I just heard this last night. So maybe that also NJSBA is policy
on it was cell phones on the cell phone. Yeah, they said that at the beginning of the meeting. We um >> I know you sprout me. I just wanted to say >> and it's not and I'll certainly look um
I'll kind of look at it and see. >> Yeah, it was just mentioned. So, thank you. >> Okay, then we get roll call, please. >> Mrs. Labbera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Miss Clark Emory,
>> yes. >> Miss Cooper, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gomez, >> Mrs. Hunt, >> yes. >> Mrs. Frena, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Um, okay. So, I am going to be filling the role of Miss Santoro this evening.
>> Oh, I didn't know. >> She asked for comment. >> Oh, you didn't ask for? >> Yeah. Okay. So, new and old business. I do. I mean it is literally bold. >> Oh yeah. >> Does anybody have anything? >> Okay. So again I will be stepping into
this role. So please forgive me. Unfortunately um so the items that we discussed related the first one related to which work and the data that has been success of the
um we will be rolling out next year organize a weekend and then again on Um, and he provided a Um, we discussed matters conferences.
Skyland Finally, management. The district has been establishing working through members are welcome to attend. I would just like to
endeavor and it's really um that of the student services committee and um I would like to ask action items number one on the agenda Miss Ry and the second Ballard and is
there any discussion for student services? >> There's no other I just do want to take a step further on the climate survey. I think I was a little remiss in my report. We will be coming back to the board with
more data itself. We are working and really talk about the different nuances of the data. Uh So, as you saw in the survey response, there were a lot of participants.
There's a lot of data. Uh, we're just not ready to really get into. >> Okay. >> And the athletic conference matters, when is the how long does that take? Like it will be in one year. Um so it it
depends on each conference they have uh their own athletic um bylaws in each conference. So it depends on what the bylaws say. So there is a process that we have initiated with our um with the
Skylands conference where we generally offer some determinations on uh where they stand on it and you know so it wouldn't it wouldn't necessarily be a 26 27 um item but further.
>> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Is there anybody else for student services? No. Okay. So then can we have a roll call, please? Oh my gracious. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ballard, >> yes.
>> Miss Clark Emory, >> yes. >> Miss Cooper, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gomez, >> Mrs. Hunt, >> yes. >> Mrs. Labber, >> yes. >> Mrs. Brenda, >> yes. Okay, great. Does anybody have anything for new or old business for student services? >> Okay, then we will move on. Thank you.
Um, we will move into board announcements. The views and opinions that are may be expressed by individual members of the Somerset Hills Board of Education during board announcements are solely those of the individual board members and do not reflect the views, opinions, policies, regulations, and or
positions of the Somerset Hills Board of Education and or any other individual members of the board. Does anybody have anything for board members? >> I have some since I wasn't here on the organization meeting. And I just want to say welcome to Mrs. Hunt and Mrs. Liber
>> and welcome back. You're all the way there. That's all. Thank you. >> And welcome back to you because you were not here for our reorganization meeting. Thank you. >> I was in Mexico. That was >> what Mexico. >> Yes, I know. We would have liked to have been with you.
>> Um and I just I I know that we spoke about this previously. I just want to remind everyone that if you would like to attend the unsung heroes presentation, I believe Mr. Lori, the deadline is February 2nd. >> Yes. So, I've gone ahead and registered everybody for that. >> Fantastic.
>> You're all now. >> So, wonderful. So, then if you would like to attend, just mark your calendars. It will be the evening of February 2nd and it is an extraordinary um evening. >> And then we will move in. Oh, does anybody else have anything for board
announcements? I apologize. >> Yes. >> So, I just want to say how excited I am to see Battle of the Books continuing. I'm a librarian, so of course I love that, but it's so great to have kids actually reading books and the the >> in my opinion the book list is really strong. So, um it's wonderful. I'm
trying to figure out if I could figure out a way to get there. So, anyway, >> that your old wheelhouse the author visit you involved in that and the author visits back in the day. Um thank you. Does anybody else have anything
No. Okay. Then we'll move into public comments. I just want to remind everybody um that as far as public comments go, you are not restricted to contacting the board by appearing here at public comments. We um always want to hear from members of the public and
encourage you to reach out to us either via Mr. Labori for full board distribution or you can reach us each individual the website and we really do encourage you to use that mechanism. So, public comments. Public comments are welcome at this time on any topic.
Please state your name and address. Comments are limited to three minutes. At three minutes, you'll be interrupted and asked to pause to allow any other members of the public who would like to speak an opportunity to do so. An individual may return to the podium to complete their statement after everyone else has had an opportunity to speak for
a total of two times at the podium. Please understand that our public forums are not structured as question and answer sessions but are offered as opportunities to share your thoughts with the board. In instances where the board feels there is a misunderstanding or inaccuracy, the board president or superintendent may address the comment.
In accordance with New Jersey statute, the board will not discuss matters regarding specific personnel. A reminder for all parties in attendance to remain respectful and that there should be no interaction between the speaker and the audience. No members of the audience should interfere with or interrupt the speaker's comments. We thank you in
advance for your input. And again, I will direct you to Mr. Labor's timer that will be set to three minutes. And we'll countdown um as you're speaking. So, please be mindful. Rich, could you just turn it around so that you can see it um so that you will be mindful of your time and how
much you have. So, if there is anyone who would like to make a public comment at this time, Sylvia Gills, 240 Hard Scravel Road, Bernard Hill. Okay. So, I'm here to address a couple of things.
5756. I learned from Brian in December that there is a medical component to that. So, maybe you might want to take back what you said in October that there was no medical. October 15th at the meeting,
you said there was no medical. I'm just going to interrupt. We're not going to go back and forth. Once public comments are closed, Mr. Dr. Virtual can respond. >> Whatever. Um, so in December, we met and you did tell me there was a medical component. So it seemed like there's confusion or
maybe some mistruths that were shot around in September and October with a specific purpose in mind that was definitely not needed. Um, I'm surprised to see Adam here.
No one's worried that this man had to resign after serving for three months as a board attorney and charging them $55,000. That's a waste of our resources. And I can't even imagine what he charged us
for that bad advice. The two weeks of bad advice. You were dead wrong. Hope came in and within a minute clarified it. Guess who was right on that? Me. That issue wasn't supposed to be handled by the board. I don't know why he's
still here. That happened as soon as he joined our board. And we're worried about finances and a referendum. And we've got shady dealings here. Another issue about
finances. Nicole Cooper in September accused me of threatening. Those were not threats. They were legal remedies afforded to me as a citizen and as a board member. You label them as
threats because you are viewing me from your privileged white place. God forbid a Hispanic states their rights. You take that as a threat.
And I ask you to apologize not just to me, but to the minority community in this town. You refused knowing that an ethics charge would cost this district $5,000 to defend. Do you want to apologize or do you want to drain the district of $5,000?
>> Yeah. No one will be responding. No, she I please I didn't expect that. Also, I think the district should know because I'm sure it's not mentioned. We have pending lawsuits. It's all public information. So, I'm not
divulging anything. These lawsuits, one of them settled for five or was litigated for $5 million. We have two of those. We could be on the hook for $10 million. >> That's that's your timer for three minutes. I'm going to have to ask you to
pause to see if there is anyone else that would like to make a public comment. >> Great. >> Mr. Lori will reset the timer. We could be on the hook for millions of dollars if we lose these suits. You're not mentioning that to the voters, I'm
sorry, to the public who you're asking to raise their taxes. Why aren't you disclosing that information? It's a lack of transparency. Anybody can see it. We could gain 36 million from this tax
increase and lose 10 million of it immediately. But we don't talk about that. That's it. I'll be back next month. It was really nice to see you and my heart still is so warm over you calling me a bad mother.
It's so sweet. Thank you. there. Anyone else that has a public comment at this time? Thank you for your comments. >> Okay, then can I get a motion to close public comments? Miss Labbera. A second. Miss Ry. Um, I do think that there are some items.
>> No. Okay. Um, and um I just want to I just want to uh reference that although there may be some information that is public um speaking at the podium
regarding things that you were party to as a result of confidential um communications at the executive level is definitely uh >> no but you were speaking as a former board member and information that you
were privy to as a matter That's not what >> that's not what I'm referencing. I'm not referencing the lawsuit. I am just saying that that was in there was information that you became privy to as a result of confidential and
executive that that is how you became aware of it. There were discussions surrounding that. >> Okay. Anyway, um just wanted to make those clarities that there was information shared in executive session.
Public comment is closed. I am making a clarification. >> Okay. Certainly. Can I get a second?