Oh, sorry. >> 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 included the time, date, location, and to the extent known the agenda of this meeting was distributed 3 p.m. on July 9th, 2025 in the following manner. Posted on the bulletin board reserved for announcements in the board office, 25 Alcott Avenue, Bernardville. posted
in the main office at Bedwell, Bernardsville Middle School and Bernard's High School. Mailed to the Courier News and the Bernardsville News and posted on the SHSD website. Filed with the clerk of the burrow of Bernardsville, Far Hills, Peepac, and Gladstone and Bedminster Township. Delivered to the 10 duly elected board
members. Mr. Lori, can we have roll call, please? >> Mr. Baker here. Miss Ballard >> here. >> Miss Clark Emory here. >> Miss Cooper here. >> Miss Gills. Mrs. Gomez. >> Mrs. Hoppy here. >> Mrs. Santoro here. >> Mrs. Right. Mrs. Frenda, >> yes,
>> you have a quum. >> Okay. Thank you. We are going to go into executive session. The Open Public Meetings Act authorizes a public body to exclude the public from the 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 be 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 in executive session for the purpose of discussing the following student matters. 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 the disclosure of such discussion at a public meeting. and provided such public disclosure will no longer clearly endanger the public interest. Can I please have a motion to
go into executive session? Miss Santo and a second, Miss Cooper. Thank you. >> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Hi Thank you everyone for being here. I'm going to hand it over to Dr. Brochel for the report of the superintendent. >> Uh thank you Mrs. Frienda. Great to be back. I'd like to welcome everybody uh
back here tonight. We're going to start off with our student representatives from the middle school. Uh we have Joseph Gomez and Titus Canals that are with us tonight and they're going to speak about uh the wrestling program and the basketball program. Gentlemen, come
on up. I uh had a the pleasure of meeting with these folks uh earlier and having a quick run through of of their uh presentations tonight. And uh it's one of the the greatest guilty pleasures that I have as I get to meet with all
the student representatives um almost on a monthly basis. And uh today we got pretty deep with the middle school crew. I know what's on their Santa's wish list. Um, we have a lizard uh in our future and some AirPods. Uh, so you guys
can guess who wants what. Um, but we're going to go with Joseph first. Joseph representing uh, wrestling and uh, Joseph is uh, the son of our school nurse at the high school, Mrs. Gomez. >> Hello everyone. My name is Joey Gomez
and I am a seventh grade student at BMS in the House of Princeton. I like video games, animals, and football along with many other things. But today, I'm going to talk to about two things that are important to BMS. Wrestling and the BMS student council fundraisers.
Wrestling is a wonderful sport. The wrestling team is expanding with many people volunteering to wrestle. And there are two great coaches, Coach Mike Vtolo and Coach Tim Bales, who helped this team tremendously and go out of their way to teach us about this great
sport. Our wrestling team has participated in six matches so far. We lost four because of forfeits and not having enough people in weight classes of the other team. But counting the expedition matches matches that don't count to score. We won more overall
matches. But even with losses, we still won two other matches to write sportsman sportsmanlike behavior. With more people participating, the more reasons why wrestling is a great sport for people. Now, moving wrestling aside, I would like to discuss our student council
organization. This year, all the money raised goes to a wonderful organization called the crisis response kines. CRC does a lot of good work, including helping families who have been traumatized by giving animal assisted support, helping to get the animals in
schools and in the workplace for animal assisted counseling, and helping with the crisis of debriefing and certified therapy dogs for first responders. The BMS student council has 61 members in grades 5th to 8th. Our November chain of
gratitude activity was very successful. While it didn't reach around the cafeteria as it was our goal, we still raised $383 for the curses response canines. The December candy cane sale is currently underway. The student council is selling candy canes with affirmatives
attached to for $1 each. It began last Monday and will run until Friday. Thank you. Nope. Wait, that's not >> uh good evening. My name is Ty Canals and I am in eighth grade at BMS. I'm a part of the house Duke and I've been
participating in most house days and doing my best to contribute to my house. I play basketball for the BMS boys basketball team and is very fun. This is my first year playing basketball for the BMS boys basketball team and I wish that I had joined sooner. Coach Malik and
Coach Sim have shown me how to be a better basketball player using teamwork, skill development, focus, and how to be humble out on the court. Our record is 4-1 and our next game is tomorrow against Memorial Jr. I also have amazing eighth grade students
um and teammates such as Kaden, Chase, Owen, Xander, Johan, Miles, Whit, and Jaden who cheer me on whether they're on bench or in the game. They have shown me that the basketball They have shown me that basketball is a team sport and that everyone needs to work together to be
successful. Community service is an important part of BMS. On December 4th, BMS students created holiday cards after school which will be sent to our local police and fire departments thanking them for all they do and wishing them happy holidays.
Coming up this Thursday, December 18th, students will be participating in packing breakfast bags for Nourish NJ. We thank the community for their help with don donations and breakfast items to pack. Over 44 students have signed up
for this after school event. Thank you. >> Thank you, gentlemen. I know Titus has a basketball game to run out to, Mom. So, uh, he's free to go. Uh, next up, uh, we have our high school representatives, Noia. Uh, I'm sorry, Nolan and Sophia. If you merge them
together, I guess it's Noia. Um, Sophia is always smiling, but tonight she's got a a big reason to smile. And Nolan generally smiles, and tonight he has a very, very big reason to smile. So, they have some personal news they're going to share. Uh, and, uh, they have a report
from the high school. So, Sophia Hi everyone. It's good to see you all. Happy holidays. Um I'm going to start off with a senior update. So this is the time where we're starting to get back our decisions from our early action and early decision applications. So me and
Nolan both have some good news. Um I will share my good news. Um I will be attending Boston University next year. Um, I'm very excited and a lot of our peers know where they're going to be next year as well. So, it's a very
exciting time and it's very bittersweet to know that we're all going to go our separate ways. But, it it's I'm we've both been on a high this week. So, it's very exciting. But with this time also comes where school starts picking up academically. Um, this is marking period
2, so halfway through the school year, and teachers are starting to wrap up, you know, the lessons before break, so nothing's really lingering, and we can come back from break on a new page. So, there's been a lot of tests and quizzes recently, but we're all excited for the
holidays. Um, we also hosted a blood drive in here a couple weeks ago before Thanksgiving break, and it was a huge success. We had students constantly coming in to donate blood and I've only heard great feedback saying it was a great experience and a lot of people
actually learned a lot from this process on how to donate blood. So it was very very educational as well. Um I actually donated blood myself. Um it was very exciting. Um we also had our choir concert yesterday where we had multiple
groups perform. We had Bella Voce, Forte, Voce, Corral and Magical. It was a great concert and it was held in the pack. We actually even the choir alumni actually even got the chance to come up on stage and sing Joy to the
World with the rest of the program. So, it was very sweet to be able to sing with them again and it was great seeing all of them. And it was overall a great concert and Bella Voce and Fort Voce are actually new groups this year. And it's the girls and boys freshman choirs. They
used to be separate but together but now it's separate. Um and we all did amazing especially them and um with the magicals they're also selling CDs. Um I'm sure you've seen some flyers around town um
sounds of the seasons. Um, and it's has all the holiday classics performed by the members of Corral and Magical with also special features from the jazz band. Um, I definitely recommend purchasing one. Um, they all did an amazing job and they produced it by
themselves which is amazing and just round of applause for them cuz it was I listened to it and I definitely recommend buying. But I'm going to hand it over to Nolan to share his good news as well and take the rest of the event. Thank you.
>> Good evening, school board. So, I'd like to open to by announcing I'll be attending the University of Notre Dame. Uh I'll be majoring in political science and economics there with a desired career in politics. Uh so and on the
topic of college decisions, if you uh any of you have Instagram, the BHS decisions 26 page is a studentr run account and it is great to see where everyone goes. You get a picture of them, uh little logo of the college, then like the backdrop of the landscape
and it's really cool. You can just scroll through and it's all in one place. You can see where all the kids are going so far and it's updated whenever someone commits. So, I highly suggest if you're on Instagram to visit that uh to visit that account. Uh so, I'm going to start with a little
winter sports update. I'm a member of the basketball team. Uh varsity is a little slow start. We're 0 and2, but we're back at it again tomorrow against Delv Val. We've been a one score one-point game and a four-point game. So, we're right there just figuring everything out, building our chemistry. Coach Johnson's doing a great job
devising game plans and coach Mickey doing a great job helping him out. um touch more on the music. She discussed the choir concert, a member of the jazz band. We had our concert last Thursday and it was wonderful. We had I think three songs from the orchestra,
three from the jazz band and two from the concert band. Um personal personal favorite of mine was March of the Toys, which was very great to hear. We look forward to hopeful to hopefully performing that one again. We're either doing that or sleigh ride on um on
Tuesday for the schoolwide concert, which is a wonderful, wonderful event. I mean, everyone I ask loves that on the day before break. I mean, I consider day before break day of the school year. Teachers, students, everyone's full of cheer. I get to go perform in front of
my classmates and it's wonderful. I'm I am so glad that Dr. Nigel put that in uh my freshman year. So, I never had a year without it. Uh, also in terms of band concerts on t on Monday, we'll be uh seeing those middle schoolers going to
BTS, Ben Tangent School and BMS to perform the jazz band, the magicals, the orchestra on the marching band perform to sort of get some uh get some viewing for the band and try to recruit kids for next year because scheduling's coming up uh next month for uh for the middle
schoolers. So, we're hoping that we can keep our program strong because we had a great influx last year of members program. Additionally, December is a busy month for the Madricals. Today, they uh they were out from school and they were going around. They went to Matheni. I caught their uh I saw Mr.
Baker at the uh concert at the library today and which was wonderful. I mean, there's there's great acoustics in that dome. Gave you lots of great tunes uh which was very nice. And then they headed over to the hospice. It's just a great way they spread some holiday cheer. brighten the lives of others.
Miss Leine does a great job leading that group. Um so also I mentioned briefly middle schooler scheduling but uh high schooler scheduling is coming up next month and especially important for the juniors as this is the big junior meeting. They schedule an hour bring the
parents in and I think our guidance department does a fantastic job with that. They especially for kids without as much of an idea of where they want to go for college. So having their parents on and getting to talk through that, look at their stats, think about what
they want and kind of get developed for the future. So I think those are great meetings. Certainly helped me and helped my sister back when she was here. And yeah, I think that's all we have for you tonight. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, a merry
Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and all the other holidays. Okay, I am going to ask uh Mrs. Hunkily to join me um up at the deis if she could. Uh it is not an uncommon occurrence for
us uh at the high school and at the board of education offices to uh receive emails uh regarding um the Bernard's High School Crimson. It's a studentled um news magazine. Um and I keep asking
like can we bring him in? And Mrs. Hunkley keeps saying no not yet because there may be something coming. And then something comes and I say can we bring him in now? No, not yet, cuz there may be something coming. But now she's here with her gang, and we are going to honor
um the the the Crimson staff and the editorial staff. And Miss Hunkley is going to uh share some things about about the crew for us. So um and we have some recognitions here uh not only for the students, but for for you, Miss Hunkley, and the editors of the Crimson.
So I'm going to pass it off to you. Okay. >> And I will assist you. >> Sure. Hi everyone. Thank you for having us again. Um, I know I've been here before, but every time I come, I get incredibly thankful for the support that comes from the school, the board of education, uh,
my administrators, um, and most importantly from my students and their parents. Um, it's great to be able to lead the charge for them. I feel honored and privileged uh to be their teacher and to guide them through this pro process while they're in um high school and then hopefully get to cheer them on
as they go into professional careers in journalism. So, a little bit about the program um for those of you who might not know is that the program is four levels. Uh we have an intro to journalism level, J1, J2, and honors publications. All four of those levels are currently co-seated, which means that they all occur during the same
class period at the same time. So all four of those levels work together in a really great workshop setting where they get to coach and mentor each other and really build the next generation of the program. So I always challenge them as my new editors and chief come up into the honors publication program. Um can
you leave your mark on this program? Can you do something that the year before you didn't do? And um they never cease to amaze me and how they do it. And and in this case this group of students set a goal and I think it was a goal. they can correct me if I'm wrong, that they
were going to beat the timeline for which we accomplished the snow distinguished sites award. So, a little history here. Um, when we first saw the snow distinguished sites badges, we looked at them and laughed and we were like, we will never be able to accomplish those things. Uh, just so you
know, and I wrote down some notes, there are six different badges that you can earn on the site and then you get the distinguished site award when you earn all six of those badges. So they range from best of snow, which means that your article has to beat out thousands of other articles in the country to be
recognized as a best of snow. They didn't want to just do that once. They've done that four times this year and they have earned four best of snow awards, which is the most we've ever earned as a staff. So they didn't just, you know, do the minimum. They went above and beyond. They've earned four so far and I have a strong feeling that's
not going to be the number we end at. Uh they also have to earn audience engagement which means that they have to have their site visited upwards of 5,000 times. So that means that they really have to connect with their audience and their community and make sure that they have people who continue to visit the
site. Uh they also have to earn a multimedia badge which talks about doing news packages and podcasts and all different types of media. So not just writing articles. And then they go through story excellence where they have to design different templates for stories and post them online in
different formats. So long form uh formats and photo gallery formats. So really challenging different aspects of journalism as well. They go through continuous coverage where they have to repeatedly post in certain categories on the page um so that they are meeting different areas of journalism and not
just straight news stories but do you have features and are you including in-depth articles um and do you have profiles of people as well. And then overall site excellence is what that site looks like when you go to the homepage and they judge you down to do you have too much white space? Are your margins off? Um, do your your your by
lines all look the same? Does every staff member have a staff profile? So, in those six categories, there is upwards of 15 to 20 subcategories in each of those. So, accomplishing these badges is really no small feat. Um, and it has taken us in the past couple of
years, almost the entire year to do that. Our first year that we earned it, we earned it in May. The following year, April, the following year, January, November, this year, November. And so, I mean, Dr. Nigel said to me, "Well, what are you going to do the rest of the
year?" Because that is a great problem to have, right? They they were just so focused on figuring out the plan and what they were going to do that they accomplished it in November. They were the second school in the state of New Jersey. There are only two schools that ever get recognized for this. So, we are
one of those two. and they were amongst 452 schools internationally. So there were schools um from all over the world this year entering into this contest as well. Um they are amongst last year it totaled out only 73 schools at all get
um honored with this. So that is a really um amazing statistic that they are able to do this when only 73 schools out of those 452 even reach this level of distinction. So, I really do want to commend them for their efforts and the time and effort and energy they put into
this. Um, it is it is really above and beyond what they could be doing as student journalists and I I'm really just so proud of them for doing that um in such a timely fashion as well. >> Yes. >> I just want to take time sorry >> that's okay
>> to thank you. I mean thank you. It is it's it's such a privilege to have such a a leader. You know, without them, they you're you're teaching them. >> You're it's you. You've done this. >> It's not me. I'll tell you that over and
over. >> Be so proud of yourself because, you know, as a teacher, I mean, I'm roll around, you know. Yep. >> Um >> you work so hard to in, you know, and when you see an end product like this,
It does. It's humbling, you know. It's very humbling. >> Well, I'm just blown away by >> Thank you. Thank you. So, I do want to call them up. Do you want me to do them in your order? Sure.
>> Okay. So, um we're going to start with I think Yes. Okay. That's how she did it. Okay. So, uh the first two that I'm going to call up are my um two editors chief. So Andrew and Ella um have advanced through all levels of the journalism class. So they started out as
intro to journalism. They worked their way through up and they're now at the helm. They lead the charge in every aspect of the paper. They I tell them this is as much about journalism as it is about managing a staff of people. So they are really in charge of the entire staff. Um they go from idea generation,
holding the meetings to drafting articles to revising to editing um to layout design um and also administrative contact. I really put them in charge of contacting Dr. Nigel, submitting what they want to submit to him, talking to him about article ideas, researching things. um they they do those
conversations most often without me um because I trust them in their position when they've gotten to this rank in the program that they are really operating as student journalists and I am just their biggest fan and supporter behind them advising them but really letting them make the program what they want it
to be. Um and also um they planned the attack of the badges. They I think came in on like September 1st and were like we have a plan and they did and they knew how they were going to accomplish these badges. So um Andrew and Ella are my first two. So Ella Patel and Andrew
Tro. And then right behind them we have Colin Kajano who is in training to be an editor-inchief. He is almost there. Um he's in training. He is consulting with Ella and Andrew. He's working on listening to how they plan things and learning from them. They are mentoring
him and his position. Um he helped uh with the section editors assigning sections and then he helps kind of break things down to the section editors as well. So Colin I think is in the back. Oh, he came up. And then I'm going to go through the
section editors. So they're divided into a bunch of different sections. These are also mixed in with some of our podcast crew. Um which we have some new members of the podcast crew this year as well. Um people who joined us for the first time when I his name comes up I'll say something special about this too. Um but we have grown the podcast program
because of the podcast studio. So, thank you um to everyone who supported that endeavor as we got that new podcast studio here. They have already published more podcasts this year than we did in the entire school year last year at this point in the year because they have a place to go. You know, if you build it, they will come. And they they leave that
classroom, they we have an idea and they bump right over to the podcast studio and they're able to produce really um professional episodes quickly and they're really good at it. If you've ever been on the podcast, as I know you have, um they're they're a very um
amazing source, an amazing force of people that just come at you as professionals at their young age and it's really impressive to watch. So, I'm going to go through section editors and podcast crew are kind of mixed in together. So, JACK MARTIN and Will Simpson
and Ben Valian and Charlotte Kajiano. and Llaya Carey. Uh my next one has really taken over our site design for our online newspaper. So, if you've ever seen the site changing online, we had a special Halloween edition where we went a little ghost and uh spooky on there and now we
have um some holiday celebrations. If you get a chance to look on the online paper, we're celebrating Hanukkah currently and then it will flip over to the other holidays. Um she has taken over all the design. So, this is this is kudos to her 100%. Cara Fzerano I don't know if Liv is here. Liv
Highland, she's not here. So Liv runs our social media. Um she's in charge of everything you see on Instagram um and coordinating that. Um, Ashika Papacheti recognizing Altha Reynolds, but she's also not able to make it tonight. And also, I think Mlin is not here. Dunder
not here. Okay, so both of them not here. Charlie Quinn, I believe, was unable to make it as well. Uh, another one of our podcast crew. And then Julian Bunk. And then my last one here is what I said I would say someone something special about. Uh Cameron just joined our podcast crew this year and his first
episode that he was on was the one that we won the best of snow for. He actually didn't even know what a best of snow was. They were so excited and he was like I don't know what I did but that's great. Uh, so Cameron Bong is another MEMBER and that's it. >> Okay.
>> So, we also have a certificate for you, Miss Hunkley. Uh, one thing that Miss Hunkley um neglected to mention, although uh she's very humble that she uh is the honore for the governor's educator of the year award from the high
school this year. YEAH. And I'm not involved in the process. Um it's a process that's done at the school level, but I have it on some pretty good intel that there was a letter written by a parent. uh and this is important who
shared that their child was enrolled in her course uh and had no interest in in really had interest in journalism but not really interest in in a career. Um took her course and is now in college pursuing a career in journalism and I
think that is um the impact of a thoughtful teacher. SO, >> thank you. >> One more round of applause for the Crimson. All right. going to take a moment now and recognize
our outgoing board of education members and honoring them uh for their service to the community. Our first honore is uh Sylvia Gills and she served uh on the board of education from 2023 through this year 2025 for three years of
community service to uh the school district here. She was a member of the curriculum committee uh the policy and personnel committee and she also served on the ad hoc referendum communications committee. Uh she oversaw budget developments every year that she was a board member. uh a long range facility
plan, um a program development to raise funding for capital projects, enhancements to the media center at the middle school, enhancements to the lighting and the sound in the performing arts center, uh facility enhancements at the high school uh in the area of
athletics, and introduction of certain high school and middle school athletic teams and extracurricular opportunities. Uh, Sylvia, thank you so much for your service and I um I appreciate what you've done for the community. Our next honore is for Bob Baker. Uh Bob
has served on the board of education since 2007 and he finishes 18 and one half years of community service tonight um in his final board meeting. Uh you've probably attended somewhere around 300 board meetings um probably more uh in
that period of time. Um Bob was on the board when schoolboard elections were in April. Uh so which was a long time ago. Uh so he was a member of the business operations committee uh which has had several different names through several
superintendent uh oftent times uh the chair of that committee. Uh he was on the facilities and operations committee. Uh he served on multiple negotiations committees uh serving the board with multiple uh collectively bargain contracts with uh the education
association which is an all-encompassing group and also the administrators association. uh he was a board of education delegate to the New Jersey school boards association. He was the past president of this school board uh for several years and in 2018 he was the
nominee for the New Jersey School Boards Association board member of the year. Uh he oversaw budget uh development and ensured that they were balanced. uh multiple long range facility plans. Uh that is a process that gets um conducted
with the department of education. Developed multiple plans uh for uh the raising of capital funding uh and uh multiple enhancement projects to all schools uh including the media center at the uh high school uh and energy savings
improvement program across the district and again assisted the board in the matter of labor negotiations. Uh we have a plaque uh for you, Bob, as well uh that I'm going to present to you. We have uh a familiar face uh to those
of us that are on the board. Uh Kristen Deg Grand Prey is a former Board of Education member. Uh and she now uh dedicates her free time to the Somerset Hills Education Foundation and she's here to talk about the foundation and there's some big news coming out of the
foundation uh regarding their support of the uh teachers uh in our school district. So Kristen, come on up. Hello. It's nice to be back. Um, but yes, we are doing a lot with chef. I do have the one slide here and I'd like to give you guys some other updates, too, which I know the board has seen, but the
public may not have heard of yet. So, we had our most exciting meeting, I would say, ever in November in that we were allowed to award grants. So, it is super fun to be able to sit and read all of the amazing things that the teachers would like to do and then get to decide
how we want to spend the money that the community has provided to us to be able to support that. So, you can see here on the slide, we were able to award five different grants um across the district um that will be being put in place and we'll hopefully shortly be able to see
the outcomes of that in practice. Um but some of the things we were able to do this year were um we were able to grow and expand. We added three new trustees to our board and we partnered with a number of different community partners.
Um both short-term and long-term goals were achieved with that and we were able to invest and broaden our governance structures which has helped us to gel better as a board and be able to continue to support the district in better fashions. We broadened our community engagement through multiple
new collaborations both in the community as well as within the district. We are in the candid silver transparency seal for strengthening our donor credibility. We secured external funding to be able to support additional programs and grants and we were able to work on
building a foundational engagement for alumni um to be more involved. So, the outside uh grants that we were able to get, we are going to be able to continue to support Capturing Kids Hearts expansion. Um we were awarded a grant from the London um
sorry reading it off my phone and that's probably not the best thing to do. The London Stock Exchange. Um so we will be able to be as soon as the funds hit ours, we'll be supporting another $5,000 to be able to help meet those um initiatives with capturing kids hearts. We did start, as we said, the alumni
engagement program and we were able to work on kicking that off with our um homecoming event that was again very well supported and partnered with with community partners. Jess Walker was great in helping us to get that pulled off and bring the support in. Um as well
as coach Simino, we are working on a mountaineer branding project um to help to improve the mountaineer pride. So, we're looking at potentially working on the lower hallway of the lower gym, and we're trying to decide right now exactly what it's going to look like, whether it's going to be student involvement or
we'll bring in a vendor to actually support that and bring that project to have some additional branding going on, which will be amazing to keep that pride going. We're looking to strengthen and continue our operational structures. So, we're again working on um additional
seals of approval to strengthen um external organizations being willing to allow us to apply and award us grants to be able to bring those back to the school. And then we're working with a lot of community partners. So, we worked with the pack for take a seat this year. We are about to host a summer job fair
for the BHS community where we're working with local community partners that are looking for students for internships or paid positions. and then matching them and bringing them in to talk with our student population. So that should be coming in February and hopefully everybody will be then having
summer jobs or internships that they want. Uh we worked with the historical society for the afternoon tea at Blairesden. We've worked with Mthany Art Access um for their buddies program. Um, and then we've added partners for shorter term
projects like um Karen Tyrell, Jess Walker, as I mentioned, Ian Joyce, and Erica Wasserman to again continue to strengthen what we have to offer to the community and how we can support them. Um, our goals for 2026 is we're going to continue to try and work on that
mountaineer branding. We're going to continue with the support for capturing kids hearts and looking to partner with you guys to see some of those key indicators coming back of how it's helping. Um, we're going to continue to work with our alumni as they graduate to develop them as a base as well to want
to come home and carry on that mountaineer pride and maybe support if they can once they're in the community with jobs. Um, and then we are hoping to have a great celebration because next year will be chef's 30th year. Um, so we're beginning to work on that planning
um, and how we can celebrate that throughout the year. So, thank you all for supporting us and we would love to continue to support you and the district. Um, please let us know if you have any other key initiatives you want us to be looking at and working on and thank you to the community for the
consistent support um for allowing us to then be able to give it back to the students. >> Thank you, Kristen. Uh we have some news from around the district. Uh recently the middle school performed to a packed house on November
20th and 21st. Uh the middle school drama club impressed their audiences with a rendition of the Adams family. Uh the cast and crew worked diligently for the first 10 weeks of the school year on all facets of this program. Uh choreography was certainly on point with
all actors hitting their marks and the delivery of lines and both dialogue and their lyrics. It was a great great night at um the middle school. Uh some great news that came out of the high school uh was that the fall play Arsenic and Old
Lace has received multiple awards from Play Bill uh regarding the development of their play bill. And um we did send this uh information out to the community prior uh but it's certainly uh something worth celebrating.
So we had a great not we uh Bedwell um and specifically Mr. Thurlo had a great uh project in the fall uh regarding Bedwell backpacks where function meets fantastic. A back to school tradition or right of passage for many is selecting a
new backpack at the start of the school year. Uh for almost a decade now, uh the third graders at Bedwell have been taking it a step further when it comes to their backpack quest. This fall, our technology and design teacher, Mr. Thurlo, kicked off a design unit. Uh the
students began by watching a video from a well-known backpack brand called Colombia. Um the students uh collaborated together and cooperated around problem solving and developing um functionality around as a major goal um
in order to have a an attractive cool design for a backpack. The students sketched a variety of proposals. And students used items such as cardboard, bubble wrap, old fabric, duct tape, and um and various and sunundry other
materials to create their backpacks. They tested their prototypes and they continued to alter and adjust uh their prototypes. Uh so the final the final versions are on our on the slide um behind the board and for all to see. Um
there were some great important lesson objectives uh each week that included utilizing the design process, applying math skills, working as a team, compromising and sharing ideas, using recyclable materials, and creating something
functional and honing their speaking and presentation skills. Uh certainly uh this project spearheaded by Mr. thorough uh hit literally um every possible learning standard you can imagine and it really was something uh to behold. So
very nicely done uh by Mr. Thurlo at Bedwell. We have a uh a group of uh middle school students who participated in the Burnsville Public Libraryies third annual spelling be this year. We had three students place in the top three.
Uh Chris Rom was a runner up. Noah Flynn and Emmy Roserman. Uh the shared third place. Um you may recognize a past winner here. Uh Mayor Ram as a past winner and she was asked by the library
uh to award the top prize um to the winner. So it was great to see us so well pres so well represented down at the library. Uh let's take a step back and kind of reflect on where our journeys as preschoolers all began. Uh through the
eyes of a preschooler, uh we're going to highlight some morning routines at Bedwell that are taking place in our prek program. Um so when I walk into my classroom in the morning, the room is lit by the sunshine peeking through the window. Uh soft music is playing and the
room is warm and waiting for us. Uh students feel so big as they unpack their lunch boxes and their water all by themselves and carefully place their folder in a special spot. Um it's time for the students favorite part of the day in the morning which is the mystery
question of the day. Uh today's uh this day in particular that question was am I wearing stripes? Um, next the students look up at the bulletin board to find the letters of their name and see which color table they will be working at today. At one table the students will be
painting uh with cookie cutters to make some rainbow cookies and at another students will be cutting out sprinkles with their scissors or at another students will be practicing writing letters in real sugar. I students settle in and they join their friends one by
one. uh the student uh the the classroom fills with students uh that are happy and ready for another great exciting day in preschool. Uh we did uh collaborate with our new preschool teacher uh Miss
Menchu Leopard uh for so many uh great um multiensory um activities. held desallet de Mo day 2025 fashion show. Uh following all of our fall lessons at Burnersville Middle
School uh differentiating between Dia de los Muertos and Halloween, students were involved in variety of fun and engaging projects. Uh the seventh grade students worked to create a se celebrity Spanish family tree focusing on how families and traditions in the United States are
similar to and different from families in Mexico. Our eighth grade learned about clothes and accessories describing project products with adjectives that agree in gender and in number. As a culminating activity, they held the
annual 8th grade BMS fashion show which was fun and a lot of laughs. And we would like to thank uh Mr. Zultan Jilli for uh such a great event here. Some significant events coming out of uh BHS Cares. We had the blood drive that
was spoken about tonight uh from um from our student speakers. Uh we had a successful blood drive uh hosted by the National Honor Society. Uh 14 of those students were don donators for the first time. Uh Miss Murphy organizes the blood drive and uh it's important to note that
every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood. Uh so save a life this winter and donate. Uh they also conducted a food drive. Uh that was a success. It was facilitated by the class of 26, 28, 29 and the life club. Uh staff and students donated
significant items uh through advisor Lauren Bolison. Uh that too was reported on last month uh by uh the group of leaders here from the high school. We have our dodgeball does good which is always a popular night here at the high
school. Uh, student council donated $1,000 to the food bank network of Somerset County for the from their tournament proceeds from dodgeball, which is always a social event of the season. Um, and uh, BHS cares for the environment. The garden club spent late
fall weeding and cleaning uh, the beloved high school courtyards with special attention devoted to the native rain garden installed last year and a $1,000 grant from the Garden Club of Somerset Hills. In the off season, the club is selling sweatshirts designed by
freshman Lucy Riker uh and is having a house plant sale on January 9th. Uh for those of you keeping score at home, January 9th is National House Plant Day. Uh so uh there is a um some information that's going to be going out regarding
purchasing um some garden club swag. Uh the crew necks are on order. Uh following up the uh Sounds of the Season, uh the um uh the 2025 album um is out uh produced
by the Bernard's High School uh students. They've released their holiday album and it's a comprehensive studentled operation managed entirely by the high school Madricals Coral. Uh there is a uh online sale going right
now and uh certainly as being someone who listened to nearly all of the album. It's definitely worth it. Uh the art club at the high school celebrated portrait drawing day. Um and a lot of great things um coming out of
the art club. Uh and the lower left there is a photograph that is taking on full display on our website. And um you just an important thing to recognize. The middle school math club is busy preparing for the New Jersey Math League
competition which takes place in February. Uh they are focused on problem solving strategies and sharpening their skills in that area. They've been working on a real world math scavenger hunt. They've searched magazines and newspapers for authentic mathematical connections. Uh and um the high school
or the middle school math club meets every other week after school. We have 10 students in grades six, seventh, and eth that participate uh and is led by Annie O'Halerin and uh looking forward to see how they do um this year. Uh this
winter uh we begun our winter sports seasons and um uh my assistant Mia has um highlighted boys basketball, our swim team, our ski team, fencing and hockey here. Our everyday hero from the high school is
Ming is Mingchan Changang. She's a junior at the high school and she's recognized as December's everyday hero. Uh she is uh the kind of student who steadily and unmistakably strengthens a community simply by by being a part of it. Uh she's thoughtful in the
classroom. Uh she has a grounded presence. Her questions are aren't just academically strong, but they're they also reveal a sincere desire to understand people, to understand history, and to understand the viewpoints that often go unnoticed. Um,
she participates in youth leadership and social justice research programs outside of school. Um, she's a young changemaker. What stands out the most, however, is the warmth that she brings to her everyday actions. Uh she arrives
to school with homemade baked goods. Um she is um really focused on leaving the world better than what she found than how she found it. Uh she never seeks recognition yet she inspires others through her kindness, responsibility and
genuine care for her peers and genuine care for her community. So congratulations. Uh and um coming to a board meeting near you is uh our honores for governor's educator of the year and uh that will be
uh later in May. It's a busy um winter and early spring for them as far as recognitions go and we're looking forward to uh bringing them in and um having you all uh recognize that great work that's taking place across the district. Uh switching gears a little
bit. Um just some speaking points uh regarding our referendum. Uh we are projecting costs uh in 38,24,257. There's a total projected amount of state aid in 11,344,849. Uh we're using a projected financing
rate of 4%. Uh recent bond sales are reflecting uh that sales are coming in at about 3.75%. So in that delta there is some um is a good thing for the district and some wiggle room. Um
some big strokes here. uh Bedwell will see enhancements to our security infrastructure, including a security vest, uh STEM classroom, roofing, ADA toilets, uh and kindergarten access. At the middle school, uh they'll also see
security infrastructure, uh new science labs across uh the school and roofing enhancements. at the high school, security enhancements, uh science labs across our program, um STEM, robotics, culinary arts, uh technology, radio, TV,
and even enhancements to podcasting. So, um we are um coming back in the winter um hitting the road again as we did in the fall with some promotional um andformational activities and nights um to further avail all the community
members, not just those that have school age children, but um all of those that don't um in the community regarding um our intentions. We have begun a regionalization study. Uh if you recall last November uh or
last month rather uh we did approve the Sweeney Center to to conduct the study. That study has begun. Uh we will have a steering committee here. Uh that committee will uh comprise of nine total members between uh Somerset Hill School
District and Bedminster School District. Um we will have an additional member um in comparison to Bedminster. Uh some titles that will uh be involved there are the superintendents, the business administrators, the board presidents and
a board committee chairperson uh as an atlarge member and um those u names will be determined after the board reorganizes in January. Uh we will also have an advisory committee uh that'll be 21 members between the two districts
that will include school principles, teachers, elected municipal officials and HSA representatives uh as well. The advisory committee uh will give input to the steering committee that will kind of drive uh the priorities of the study.
Okay. uh we have uh pinpointed January 29th and February 5th for those joint committees to meet um and uh more information will be uh coming out regarding formal invites to uh to
people. Um we will have a um or we're in the process here of kind of talking about the workflow with the board. Uh we have developed a proposed outline of the study uh that includes an advisory committee and a steering committee. uh that is something that is
happening live and will um continue through February. Uh the the uh study group will collect data from March through June of this year and in the summer they will develop analyses from that data uh in order to arrive at
conclusions and in order to make recommendations. uh they will create a draft report for the steering committee to review uh by approximately Thanksgiving and then uh we will have that information presented out in a
public forum in um in advance of next year's winter break. So like think of it like 12 months out the study itself will be conducted by this time next year. Okay. Um
it's important that the board understands what will be included in the study as far as how it will look. It will have an executive summary. Uh we'll talk about what was the purpose of the study. There will be an introduction session, governance and law, education
and program, demography and facilities, finance and operations and then there will be a findings and recommendation page. So in the area of governance and law, there will be a district profile, a statutory review and transition
features, uh an election process and how the how the two boards are uh currently composed. Uh state monitoring status. There will be stakeholder input through our advisory and steering committees. Uh there will be a section on uh any
potential political matters and any impacts on governance and legal. Uh in the education and program section that will include curriculum and instruction, performance measures, preschool education, special education, support
programs, extracurricular programs, school and district staffing, and educational and programmatic impact. In the demography and facilities section, uh they will examine all of the municipal profiles of the various towns
that feed in. Um they will look at uh any new housing projects that are uh beginning. Uh the enrollment history, enrollment projections, disagregated enrollments, facility utilization, and a demographic and facilities impact.
And in finance and operations, they will assess the collective bargaining agreements between the two districts, operating expenses, borrowing margin, debt allocation and reserves, uh contracted services and tuition, shared services, state aid, local tax levies,
and potential cost savings in addition to financial and operational impact. And then lastly, the report will um in all likelihood include findings and some recommendations. So, um that's kind of
how the um report will look. Um looking into the future, the board will reorganize at 6 p.m. on January 5th. Uh that evening, you'll have your annual ethics training conducted by the New Jersey School Boards Association. That night, you'll also have uh Megan will be
here uh from the Bush Law Group. She'll provide legal training uh for board member usage of social media that night. Um and then uh more information will be forthcoming regarding um any board uh action um or at least appraisal uh regarding the regionalization study and
referendum. And uh we're gearing up towards a um the fiscal year 27 budget preparation. I've been working very closely with all the various department heads uh with under Mr. Lori's uh leadership and uh we are just finishing
that internal process uh in advance of the winter holiday and then uh we will get um um get to the finance committee and the various committees as appropriate uh once um the board decides who's on what committee. So um Miss
Frienda that does complete my report. >> Okay. Thank you so much Dr. Burchil. Um before you two go, just want to wish you a huge note of congratulations. Um amazing universities who obviously recognize what unique, special and
ambitious young people that they are going to be welcoming into their midst. Really outstanding. It is a joy to have you here every month. Um and we look forward to the second half of the year where we get to hear your updates. Um wishing you all the best.
You're welcome. Um, Dr. Brochel did note our outgoing board members um and provided them with official plaques. Um, I would also like to thank them for their service and I
know that they will go on to be um wonderful members of the community in different areas of service and dedication. Um, I do just want to take a moment personally to thank you, Mr. Baker, to not not just for what you did
sitting at this table, but for when I was sitting out there month after month and listen to your reports and the knowledge that you expounded upon. Um, the poise and the dedication that you
exhibited. Those are the types of things that inspire people like me sitting out there to want to sit over here. Um, 18 and a half years is I don't even know what to say. 18 and a
half years is something remarkable. Um, to not only to be reelected that many times, but to to show that type of dedication and service. Um, you are a teacher. You may have never worked in education, but you are a teacher. Um, I
don't think that there is a member of this board that does not have a greater foundational knowledge of engineering, finance, operations, and what it means to be an active and
ethical member of a governance team. Um, it's one thing to get reelected and to sit here and to go and to do the things that are expected of you. It is another thing that year after year for 18 and a half years to dive in and to continue to expand your knowledge and to take that
with such seriousness and to always be bringing something back to us that makes us better. Your knowledge of government and of parliamentary procedure of finance. I mean, I don't I don't know. We're we're all in a little bit of a tizzy the what's going to happen to this business operations committee, but um
fortunately we have some experts on hand. But um I I think it's very important for the public to know that you don't just serve here, your life experience. I'm get a little misty. Your
life experience and where it led you and how you are the living embodiment of paying it forward. that that is what you choose chose to do um in your life and that sitting at this table is just one tiny part of what you
do. I just thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for teaching me. Thank you for making me a a better human being. And I'm just grateful that this community got to experience you and will get to experience you moving forward.
Um, I also wanted to say a few words about Mr. Baker. Um, it's hard to believe that tonight is Bob's last meeting and it's almost as hard to fully capture the depth and breadth of his service to this district and community. Um, obviously there's his work with the
DOE, but he's equally devoted to so many organizations like the library, the Palmer School, the church, I mean the mansion in May, and all the people who he works with to provide tax assistance. In his 18 and a half years in the board, he has been a steady and deeply principled presence. He approaches every
issue with care, humility, and an unwavering focus on what is best for students and the community as a whole. His voice has consistently brought balance and perspective to our work, particularly in his leadership on the finance negotiations and business operations committee. He has been an
exceptional fis fiscal steward, careful, disciplined, and forward thinking. And Mr. Baker always understands that being a good board member and promoting good governance isn't flashy or disruptive. It's steady, re responsible, and rooted in long-term thinking. His departure
will leave a real and meaningful gap and the district is stronger because of the foundation he helped build. Um Bob, thank you for your years of service. Um being such a great mentor, your generosity, and the quiet and steady way you've always put this community first.
We will miss you more than you can imagine. >> Okay. So Sam, you are absolutely right. Bob, you are a teacher and I hope I wasn't your most difficult pupil on this coming up on this board. But I'll never
forget coming on this board and as you sit in the seats and prepare yourself for what's to come once you've been elected and then you you come over to this side and you think you know and you do the work and you go to school boards prep classes and then you get here and
you have not a clue. And thank goodness, Bob, that you are there to have led so many of us by the hand to learn what it means to be a board member, how to conduct ourselves, um, and
really mentored us to be productive and provide you. You've just provided us with such a sound foundation. And I remember coming on this board with this notion of a project that I was like, I've got to get this done. and you know I'm gonna get it done like in month one as I like to do
and you were like I remember you very calmly telling me in one of our committee meetings is I'm trying you know maybe it was month three four now I'm still charging after this you said Heather you have to understand things in a school district take time and there's a reason for that and sometimes that
reason is hard to understand but in working with you over the past eight years, I have learned that you are so right. Things take time for a reason. Um, but if we're slow and
steady and use data, we get to those right decisions. Um, you have just shown us what true service is like, Bob, and you've brought not only your time, your countless time to this board over 18 and
a half years, as everyone has mentioned, but your heart. You have put your heart and soul into this school district and for that we are so appreciative. One of the things that I have always said about you is you as a board member could stay
on this board for as long as you like and be effective because you're constantly learning and growing. I know you read those newspapers fully every day. Um and additionally, what's always stood out to me is your genuine understanding of young people. You see
them clearly and you see the world that they live in clearly. Not for what it used to be or what you might want it to be but for what our students are going through. And that has a huge impact on this full board and how we operate. So I
am going to miss you tremendously. You have taught me to slow down, to listen more deeply, and to trust that even the hardest conversations we can get through. And you've and you actually say that I'll never forget I think it was the first time we discussed calendar
way before co and Bob knew there were going to be a lot of emotionally um emotional insights into those types of decisions. And he said, "This is going to be hard, but we can do it. We can hear each other and we can listen." And that was before co and it's even
more important now. So I just thank you Bob. You have been such a tremendous asset to this board and um your example will continue on and we hope to make you proud. I I was going to say say something at
the end, but I'll I'll it's probably appropriate. Um so what what I want to say is is um um you know this is a this is an end of a chapter in my life. But um but but the
purpose of these comments are to thank pe a group of people and also to and to inspire others. So I need to tell some of my some of my family story real quick. Um my family is involved in
public education a lot. That's why I believe in public education. It's the most important things that we have in our country. Um, so my grandfather started as a math teacher, became a principal at a high school in St. Louis
and became assistant superintendent of the St. Louis school system. And he was involved in the desegregation of the schools. Dr. Brochial desegregation is the worst thing I saw my grandfather
go through. It was brutal. He's trying to do the right thing, but it just was awful. So, he survived as long as he could and he had to retire. It was just brutal. Um, my mother was a school teacher, elementary school teacher before I was
born for three or four years um in the St. Louis area. Um my brother Bill, he was a history teacher in Paripony and he's now a full professor at um at Montlair State and teaches teaches
counseling. Um uh my wife got her teaching degree but never taught. Um she's not here yet. Okay, I can say that. Uh so anyway, so
uh five years after September 11th after after my company went through losing four four employees and um going through five years of of all that and the stress
every day, my survival guilt um I had to do something. So, so I retired and um I look I knew I had to give back and not being an educator I if I felt
the school board was where I could help a public education. So, I ran for the board and uh it's been marvelous. I love it. Um uh I hate to step away but I think you have to do it
sometime in your life. Um, but I want to I want to I I look today I want to thank the four superintendent uh know Pete Miller uh Franny Wood, Gretchen Densy, and do
Dr. B. And I also had four assistant superintendent. Um Barbara Woods, um Jen Schoffler, um Colleen, I'm I'm um
>> Barbara. >> Barbara. >> No. Anyway, um and um business um business administrators. Um I'm Nancy Hunter. Um, Jenny DeMarco, Heather Goen, and Rich
here. Um, I did seven contracts. Um, now I'm doing numbers because you guys expected me to do numbers. Wouldn't be right without numbers. Um, seven seven contracts. And I think Dr.
Bro was right. I thought maybe 250 to 300 board meetings. We had a lot of special meetings through those years. committee meetings 400 plus easily. Um but then I wanted to thank all the board members who sat here. There's one out
there. So besides the nine people sitting here, what do you think? How many people do you think sat here? So I went to the >> I counted today >> because I 28 other people besides the nine people
here. All right. So I want to thank them. I want to thank everybody. I want to thank my wife who's not here yet. Um she'll be here. She's working at a at the food pantry um right now in Basking Ridge. Um but I think it's important
that uh you're right, Sam. I I didn't think I was a teacher, but but I can't. So, um I want to thank you all and um I'll come back occasionally when you need me. is not going to come just to be
here when you need me. All right. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay, we will move into public comments for actionable agenda items. We very much welcome input from the public. Public comments are welcome at this time
on any actionable agenda item. And I just want to clarify actionable agenda item means things that we will actually be voting on, not just something that has come up. Towards the end of the meeting, there is a second public forum on any topic. Please state your name and address. Comments are limited to three
minutes. At 3 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. Public comments will be limited to 30 minutes. A reminder for all parties in attendance to remain respectful and that there should be no interaction between the speaker and audience. No members of the audience should interfere with or interrupt the speaker's comments. Thank you in advance for your input. And for anybody who would come up to the podium, Mr. Lori
will always have his timer marked for three minutes. It'll countdown to let you know where you are. Is there anybody who would like to make a comment for actionable agenda items? >> Oh, there's Rosie. Okay. No, no one for public comments.
Okay. So then can I get a motion to close public comments, please? >> Miss Santoro and Miss Cooper. Okay. Thank you. Um then we will move into the approval of the minutes. I need a motion to approve um the public input and action and executive meeting minutes for
November 19th, 2025. Can I Miss Poppy and Miss Ry is a second? Um thank you very much. Um and is there any discussion? Nope. Okay. Mr. Lori, >> Mr. Baker, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Miss Clark Emory,
>> yes. >> Miss Cooper, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hoppy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Santoro, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Mrs. Um, yes, but I'm going to abstain from the executive minutes. Thank you. >> My apologies.
>> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, the next item is uh just for us to approve our Bedminster representative who is going to um be Gabby Gomez who will be serving as our um 2026 calendar year rep. Um I
need a motion to approve. Miss Ry and Miss Happy. Okay. And we're just going to do roll call. There's no discussion on those. >> Miss Ballard? >> Yes. >> Miss Clark Emery? >> Yes. >> Miss Cooper? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hoppy? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Santoro? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ry? >> Yes. >> Mr. Baker? >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Friend? >> Yes. Motion. >> Okay. And Mr. Baker for the last time. Business operations. >> Um, the business operation committee met on December the second for about an hour and a half. Um everybody was in
attendance uh along with Dr. Brochrol, Mr. Lori and Jeremy Schwarz the technology manager. We discussed seven items. Um first item we talked about was uh technology related uh how to prevent
um the the fishing emails we've been receiving and bad actors getting into our cyber um systems. So starting in January, all signin for staff members and and board members will be uh a
two-factor authorization which most people aren't familiar with from banking or other items using uh and you you can use an app called Duo which will help verify who you are. Also in the summer
they're going to convert from from Gmail monitoring um or managing all all the email in district to Microsoft Outlook. Um this will be a change but um um Mr.
Schwarz feels that it's a better secure system to use and makes will make employees a lot easier to use their email. He also reported that we've had trouble with the Verizon um fiber connection that we get running
down Route 202. There's been some failures. Uh so we have a second backup through light path. So we have two fiber lines that we can use either one at a time, both at a time. So we should never be without our internet service. I've
noticed my own home to be out several times. So, I'll have to come down here with my laptop. Um, Mr. Schwarz also talked about we got uh how to hook up no huddle cameras. Huddle
cameras are what you use in athletics to monitor sports um in action and they're donate donated to be used for the softball and baseball. But the problem is out where the where the back stops are, we'd have
to run power, internet, everything out there and would cost 7500 to a 10,000 each. Um, plus we're also thinking about replacing the back stops. So, we're going to hold off on installing these huddle cameras until we know what's going to happen down there with the back
stops. Um, Dr. Brochial also report reported that the food bank of service county backpack distribution program has started at Bedwell and it's working fine. Um we then talked about the baseball and softball fields. They need improvements.
Um some of the items that are on our punch list for in the future are we need a new pitcher mound for the for the baseball bullpen. We need a a new softball batting cage, an indoor batting cage, which is being donated, you'll see
on tonight's agenda, by the baseball club. Uh we we want to do scheduled grooming by a third party service company twice a year. And the LC screen for batting practice needs replacing. Some of these projects uh Dr. Broch feels that we can
get done this year. Some will be pushed into the next year once we work we work on the budget. Um but you know all these things are expensive. We we've got to find the money to take care of it.
Um Mr. Mr. Mr. Lori talked about uh accounting oversight for the three three student activity fee accounts handled at each school. You remember we had an audit item last year that were not managing these accounts correctly to
reconcile easily each month and making sure the money is accounted for. So he's found two vendors that can provide software to help each of the schools easily manage their uh accounting needs
for these student activity fees. Um the software is going to cost anywhere from 7,000 to 15,000 per year and he's going to study which one's better and report back to the committee next month for his recommendation.
Uh Dr. Brochial uh talked about three three legitates legislative bills that should impact public education. One is um might modify certain provisions for school funding. So we would know about preliminary
school aid in advance. Another one would extend a deadline for annual um school audits for the 2425 season. And the last one would require the executive executive county
superintendent to establish a consolidation plan to combine schools in the county into regional school school districts. Um next item is uh Mr. Lori reported that we have four submissions
on a request for proposals for our insurance broker of record for our employee health benefits. The administration will will review those and get at least two back to the committee for the our approval
going forward. Last item is Dr. Brochial mentioned that the 26 27 school budget preparation has started. Each school department and um each school and department will submit their expense budgets by the end of the year and then
they will be consolidated and you guys can look at them. That's all my report. >> Thank you. >> Could I just uh make one addition since our committee meeting regarding uh the baseball and softball discussion? >> Okay. So, the uh we do have purchase
orders out for a new pitcher mound in the baseball bullpen. Uh we have a purchase order out for a new batting cage for softball uh in addition to the grooming the the grooming in general. >> Okay. >> Um for that.
>> Okay. >> Thank you. Okay. So then I'd like to ask for a motion to approve action items number one through 16 on the agenda. >> Mr. Baker in a second, Miss Cooper. and any discussions regarding business operations.
>> Yes, M. >> Oh, I meant to say that I um items nine and 10 we getting donations from the municipal alliance. So, we want to thank them and we want to thank Chef for their
grants on number 11 and the baseball parents for number 12. So, we have multiple donations. I want to thank everybody and make sure the board recognizes those that are on the agenda. >> Okay. Absolutely. Thank you. Um, Miss Emry. >> Yes. Just on uh the baseball and the
softball fields, these are specific to I guess the line items so to speak of what is being looked at for consideration like not overall general repair that type of thing. It's these specific items. >> The items that I mentioned >> are being done in advance of the se in
advance of the spring season. So, Okay. >> Bullpen, pitcher mound. It's probably been several years since that's been done. Um, softball batting cage. Um, and then the field it get we right now we're using an outside company to groom it twice a year uh in addition to opening
and closing it. Um, so that's being done. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Is there anyone else for business operations? >> No. Yeah. A huge thank you. Um the last several months have been uh amazing with
the donations that we have received from different community organizations and individuals. Um so a a huge note of thanks to the organizations um that are supporting the Somerset Hill School District. And um we can do roll call. >> Miss Clark Emory. >> Yes. >> Miss Cooper.
>> Yes. >> Mrs. Hoppy. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Santoro. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ry. >> Yes. >> Mr. Baker. >> Yes. >> Miss Ballard. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Friendley. Yes. Okay. Um, do we have any new or old business for business operations?
No. Okay. Then we can move on to curriculum. >> All right. The curriculum committee met Wednesday, December 3rd for about an hour and 45 minutes. All committee members attended other than Miss Gil. And we were joined by Dr. Brochel, Dr. Butler, Mrs. Walker, and Miss Vilus with
a sorry that. Um, first we discussed the cell phone policy and the potential institution of our onetoone technology policy at at the high school. Dr. Brochial re reported that our updated cell phone policy is going well and is appreciated by both students and staff.
Given the success of this policy and the likelihood of potential legislative action, the high school will be moving to a belltobell cell phone free policy in September 2026. Next semester, the high school will be instituting sporadic cell phone free days and clusters of
days to prepare students and staff for the new policy. However, many students who use their own personal computers during the school day are still able to use their devices to access text and social media. To ensure equity and consistency with device use, um the high
school will be moving to a onetoone device model in the next academic year. To do this, we'll need to acquire some additional Chromebooks beyond what the district has already purchased to accommodate NJSLA testing. Dr. Brochel has indicated this is a priority and he's working with Mr. Lori to find funds
and budget for this initiative. The committee fully supported both the change in cell phone policy and the move to a onetoone device policy at the high school. The committee also discussed access to Genesis during the school day. According to Dr. brochial. The lack of access to Genesis during the school day
is not as popular as the cell phone policy among students. Unfortunat fortunately, custom customizing access, for example, enabling access to students during their lunch periods or to students in specific grades is currently not possible. Dr. Brocha will keep us updated.
Um, in response to a board member's request, Miss Walker joined us to discuss the numerous supports the district currently provides to first generation college students. Our counselors who are generally assigned to the same students throughout their time in the district in in at the high school are the district's greatest resource for
these students. Their philosophy is to meet these students where they are to expose them to potential future academic options and career paths and to help them meet their goals. This starts as early as middle school when students are first exposed to college and career inventories. The district
also partners with organizations such as Middleear and the Ramipo College Bridge Program. Middle Earth helps students explore a wide range of college and career options and provides useful guidance. While the Ramapo Bridge program provides first generation students with mentors who are first generation students at Ramipo. Students
who have also have the option of taking college readiness, a course offered to juniors in the spring and seniors in the fall. This course guides students through the application process and helps prepare students for college itself. In addition, students have access to college reps and military recruiters who frequently visit the
school to talk to students and dual enrollment courses which give students early exposure to college courses. Students and families also can attend college planning nights and financial aid nights held at the high school which are always well attended. Other community partnerships partnerships are available to help students with the
expensive college applications. In short, while one counselor is not dedicated to first generation college students, all our counselors are fully trained and prepared to help these students meet their academic or career goals. Next, Dr. Butler updated the committee on the status of Atlas. Currently, uh
parents are able to access the our entire curriculum using the Atlas website. This year, the district is continuing its work to make curricula easier for families to re to access and to facilitate curricular collaboration among staff. By June, parents will have even greater access to the tools
provided by Atlas, including more comprehensive search functionality and the ability to review unit plans. Um, Dr. Brochel and Dr. Butler then briefly reviewed the differences between uh Somerset Hills and Bedminster regarding accelerated um middle school math
placement. Last year, the district updated its criteria for placement to facilitate uh student achievement. However, there are major differences between districts regarding placement. The committee agreed that no additional changes in at in Somerset Hills are necessary at this time. Next, the
committee also briefly discussed concern re related to uh the high school social studies curriculum which has since been resolved. Finally, Dr. Butler reviewed the evolution, status, and next steps for the bilingual program at Bedwell. First, she described the steps involved in the development of the bilingual
program to ensure the entire committee understood how the program came to be and to inform next steps. Planning for the program began in 2018 when superintendent Dr. Dempsey requested exploring the institution of a bilingual program at Bedwell. In the
2018 2019 school year, Mr. Catelli had numerous conversations with various schools that offered bilingual programs to understand the benefits and challenges of instituting these programs. In 2019 in the 2019 to 2020 school year, a sum Somerset Hills
exploration team was formed that visited several schools to examine various programs. Unfortunately, in the 2021 2020 to 2021 academic year, work was paused due to co due to the COVID pandemic, but work resumed in 2021 to 2022 when the team developed a proposal
for a bilingual program based on the information and guidance gathered during the research phase. And in April 2022, the curriculum committee move supported moving forward with the proposal for our current bilingual program. And by the fall of 2022, the board of ed officially
adopted the program and planning for the introduction of the program began. The program launched with our inaugural kindergarten class in September 2024. And in September 2025, we added our first grade bilingual class as had been planned. Also, as has been planned,
student achievement and student needs continue to be closely monitored to determine next steps. We also discussed potential options for next steps for our our current first grade bilingual students. There are three potential options. First, we can transition students to a general ed uh second grade
classroom as was originally planned. Second, we can move targeted students to a general ed second grade class with a bilingual parah while others can be moved to a general ed second grade class without par support. The third option is to open a bilingual transitional second grade for students who would benefit from from another year of trans
transitional services including children who entered the program late like in as in first grade or and other children who might need more intensive support. The decision to about the next steps for first graders in the bilingual program will be made early next year based on student needs.
And finally, there were no questions or concerns regarding uh PD or field trip requests during our meeting. And that concludes my report. Hey, thank you, Miss Cooper. Um, can I ask for a motion to approve action items number one through five on the agenda? Miss Cooper, in a second. Uh, Miss Ry,
thank you. And discussion regarding any of the curriculum items. >> Just one thing, um, I'm not on the, uh, meeting. >> Oh, >> I said everyone was there. >> Huh? What' you say? I'm sorry. Um, you
mean on the report? >> Huh? >> It's okay. >> Yeah. >> Oh, sorry. I said I reported out that you were there. So, >> we can have Mr. Lori make a note of that. >> I I have a question. Um, I don't know
Dr. father or um Nicole the with regards to Genesis and are we thinking that we will start to provide access like immediately? Are we still looking at that? Where does that kind of stand? >> So to clarify, you mean so the way
Genesis is structured is you you go inside of a profile and you're able you are able to customize to a certain point. Um, but you're not able to customize like during the day multiple times. So there's a there's a shut off
and a turn back on button. >> Um, so you kind of have that range. Shut off at 8, turn back on at 3. >> Yeah, >> you can't have there there isn't >> another measure to like open it up at lunch like technologically >> techn >> like I think it's a good idea. It is
something that uh we will bring up with the developers >> um there and just kind of like a lot of times when you articulate your problem they're able to sort of you know give you a workound >> and and my apologies because I didn't ask the question clearly. So I think the
feedback was that the kids and staff generally seem happy with regards to the cell phone policy but not having access to Genesis during the day is less >> um >> desirable. I would be careful to use uh
the descriptor of happy. >> Um >> fair enough. >> But I would say it's functioning. The feedback we're getting is it's functioning and uh students and staff are reporting greater engagement uh etc.
There is uh the way it's been communicated to us is that there was a high a high desire particularly during college application season to have Genesis open. Uh there's also a desire for our young men and women who work after school to have access to certain
things during lunch. Um and there's also a desire for those that have other family responsibilities after school too. Uh so um and additionally uh the sometimes like when kids are driving home from school that's when like
parents are reaching out to them about like particular grades and asking questions and like you know so it kind of >> giving kids a little bit of >> Yeah. So it's it I I think the the request to be fair is a logical and rational one. I think it's working with
our provider to you know maybe create um additional lanes on the on and off. >> Okay. So it's not something that given the desire and some of the reasonable requests based on that. I guess I'm I was wondering if you plan to
um allow students access to that during the day starting as soon as possible or you'd rather go the route of the developer. Where are where is the administration in >> So my thinking is that I I feel like
it's necessary to have a shut off. >> Okay. You still want to shut off? >> I believe that it's necessary. Yes. >> Um and at the same time, I don't think it's a bad thing if there's a lane for it to to have the developers kind of
have a carve out to open it up during the day. Now, to be fair, they can write code for whatever I want. Right. >> Right. >> But it comes with a fee, right? So, >> so it's sort of just negotiating, you know, kind of like that fee, but that's been the feedback is like maybe open it
up during a lunch. >> Yeah. >> So, >> okay. >> Thank you. >> I think um Sorry. I think a lot of the discussion also um stems around
kids are constantly looking at their grades, you know, and there's a lot of anxiety and um a lot of pressure and that can ruin a child's day, you know, students day. And then you have parents such as myself who was constantly
looking at power at the time, you know, looking at this and then you see a zero just marking it as a placeholder >> and then I'm screaming at, you know, him saying what do you need zero and this you know what I mean? So there was a lot
of discussion about um how to keep the how to how to safeguard their self-esteem and lessen the anxiety around Genesis. >> Yeah. you know, no I I applaud the
efforts, but I I also um I I guess the feedback is interesting and I could certainly understand from the student perspective, you know, around if kids have to get to a job right after school or during that, you know, application time if you're using study halls to try
and get that work done. I certainly can appreciate that as well, which may be anxiety inducing to kids. So fully, you know, appreciate the dialogue and just interested to hear kind of what your thinking is on different ways we may
proceed. I do kind of feel though once like one time during the day if we could ever manage that you know like a lunchtime or a you know there's your one time where you can go to the bathroom go you know go look at your >> I think if we think about the problem
we're trying to solve and you're trying you're trying to solve the problem of over access to technology really that like that is the like that's the problem we're trying to attack and so you know I'm not inclined to just open up Genesis all day long.
Um, we never even put any thought to it. You know, back when parent portals became a thing, you just opened it. It was always open. Yeah. We never even thought about it. Uh, so I'm not inclined to just open it. Um, I'm not opposed to a, you know, a lunch window,
>> you know, I'm not opposed to that. I I get it. Um, but, you know, I think that, you know, the problem we're trying to solve is over access to technology. like that's the problem. And um you know the feedback that we're getting is that they like to have access to Genesis. Um but
at the same time we're also getting parallel feedback that you know there's always a new normal wherever you go and you know you kind of have to adjust to that too. >> So >> okay thank you. >> And then I Oh. >> So I just had one comment on the
timeline. um thank you for presenting that for the um transitional bilingual program at BEWA. So I I know an immense amount of work has gone into this from all the way from Dr. Dempsey, Dr. Butler, um Mr. Catali, Dr. Brochial,
everybody has this has been a wonderful effort. I just wanted to point out that you know from 2018 to 2025 our our um ELLL numbers have also changed which has contributed to this timeline and the
pacing of some of it. I think that that was just important to point out. But the tremendous work to get us to where we are and the options that we have going forward into the next year for our transitioning second graders sound fantastic. And once again, just applaud all the work that all of our
administration has done on this. Miss Ballard, >> well, what I have to say is not as interesting as that, but um no, I just wanted to say if we're going to bell to bell next year, I don't know. I think we have to look at whether we really want
to look at the option of paying money to open up Genesis if it's just going to be for the next six months. >> I just think just we have to look at the financial course cost of that and decide whether it makes sense if we're going to go bell-to-bell next year. And to be fair, we haven't really had any
discussions with Genesis about like options. >> So, point taken. >> Anybody else? Okay, the roll call, please. >> Miss Cooper, >> yes. >> Miss Hoppy, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Santoro, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Mr. Baker, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Miss Clark Emery, >> yes. >> Mrs. Frena, >> yes. Thank you. Um, do we have anything for new or old business for curriculum?
Okay. Then personnel. >> Thank you, Mrs. Frenda. Um, so on the personnel agenda this month, you'll see um an ESL leave replace uh replacement and approval of stipended position for teachers involved in the dual enrollment program. Uh because teachers enter to
those colleges twice yearly in December and June. Um, we also talked about multilingual learning programming, um, and possible requirements for next year, um, which we covered in curriculum. Um, hiring process is ongoing for the BHS
lacrosse coach. Uh, we reviewed the job description of the math interventionist and math specialist position at the middle school. Uh, we are always looking for math support at the middle school. We do have a reading specialist, so this dovetales nicely. Um, moving on to the
interim assistant principal at Bedwell, uh, Jasmine Akalola. The assistant principal of Bedwell is leaving in January for a new position. We wish her well. Luckily, there is a currently an interim administrator, Marcos Vargas, in place who meets the needs of this
position and he will be reassigned to take over the position through the end of the school year. In February or March, we will begin our search for an assistant principal. Um the maintenance foreman pos uh foreman and position upon the retirement of Rufus Voy which we
discussed last month. Uh this position is being retitled as a maintenance position which will be under the supervision of the director of operations. Um as a district we're always looking for the best way to leverage our positions. Um so the duties
of the custodial foreman position which have been consolidated into another position but was found to require too much responsibility for one person will be available in July. And that concludes my report. Okay. Thank you so much. Then can I ask for a
motion to approve action items number 1 through 12 on the agenda? Miss Ballard. And a second Mr. Baker. Okay. and any discussion regarding personnel. Okay. Then roll call, please. >> Mrs. Hoppy,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Santoro, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Mr. Baker, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Miss Clark Emmery, >> yes. >> Miss Cooper, >> yes. >> Mrs. Frenza, >> yes. >> Okay, thank you. Is there any new or old business for personnel?
>> Nope. Okay, then moving on to policy, please. All right. So, um the policy meeting uh committee which is also the personnel committee and I didn't give the roll call for that. Um uh everyone was present at the meeting on December 4th except for uh Miss
Gills. And we were also joined by the assistant superintendent, Dr. Butler, uh Dr. Scott Nigel, the BHS principal, and uh Megan Adula Esquire. Um the meeting began at 4. Um Dr. Nigel presented on
the cell phone policy and I think uh while we're very appreciative of him coming and he was very thorough with his description, I think we've covered that pretty thoroughly in the curriculum report. Um but we were very appreciative of him coming and giving us kind of his
perspective on uh the policy. Um there are some positives u that I just thought I would mention that the students time out of the classroom is down since we had to go to the bathroom. Using the bathroom is the only go. It's become boring. There's nothing to do besides
the usual. Uh no more checking phones or meeting friends. And this uh echoes a theme uh at the high school which is we want you in class. And I think that's a great message. Um and the the teachers also
feel like the policy is a relief um in some ways and that the kids are more focused generally. Um moving forward uh there'll be a wellness day in March um and um proposed by the student council and Dr. Nigel is
proposing to include cell phone wellness as part of this day and he also spoke to the importance of promoting awareness of folks thinking of how they monitor their interactions and time spent on their phones. So that's a few highlights from his visit with us. Uh we also had a
discussion on the school counseling uh of minority students and um again this was very similar to what um Miss Cooper presented in her report. Uh so I don't think we need to repeat that and we'll go right into uh the meat of the policy
committee we talked about. Oh I one more thing. Um, so talking about our youngest learners, one of the board members asked about kindergarten orientation, which didn't happen last spring, but it will take place this year. Um,
we brought up the uh we Dr. Burchil gave us uh information on the Freedom to Read Act. Um, on August 13th, 2025, the New Jersey Department of Education published guidance titled Development of Model Policies for Library Material Curation
and Review under the Freedom to Read Act. Uh the DOE released this guidance to assist districts in implementing the provisions of the Freedom to Read Act um which requires districts to adopt a policy and procedure that provides standards for the creation of library
material, establish criteria for the removal of existing school library material, and provide protection against attempts to censor school library material. Um and the Freedom to Read Act is effective on December 9th, 2025.
Um so on the first reading um 2535 which is the policy and regulation library material new and then also 2530 policy and regulation resource materials. Um and then also um 9130 which is policy
and regulation public complaints. Um 2535 creates a new policy for library material. It's cut and paste from a former law. Um it's just a lot of change to the language so it can move to the first reading. Of greater concern was
2530 which was resource material policy. Um it seems that every supplemental resource material that is not in the approved curriculum could potentially to go through the approval process which is read implies a process to get things approved which could possibly involve
Dr. Brochel, Dr. Butler principles which could prove really ownorous and also restricted to the dynamic nature of teaching. The policy committee will consider a way to structure this to make the process more tenable following strauss proposal to ensure compliance with the
law. Uh we did the second reading of the food services policy and the lice policy. Um, a committee member raised an issue about girls basketball um, at the high school that cuts have been made and students
and parents have been surprised by this. Uh, better communication in reference to basketball information seems to be needed. And that concludes my report. Okay. Thank you very much. Um, can I please get a motion to approve action
items number one and two on the agenda? Miss Ballard. and a second, Miss Santoro. And any discussion related to policy, >> I have a question. >> Yeah. >> Why uh was the kindergarten orientation not held this this past year? Just
curious. >> Um >> I'm not sure. >> Sorry, I just Yeah, I missed that when I read the report earlier. >> Yeah. Um we're going to continue that. >> Okay, good. I thought it was just all those years ago I remember being
incredibly helpful. >> Yeah, agreed. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Um, I went through that whole policy on the library materials things and congratulations, the two of us are good readers because there was a lot to
digest there and I have to say that it's it seems to be at least to me um very well thought out um and a very important law since it's already been passed apparently before we're we're adopting
the policy. I have to say that whoever wrote it is pretty good at what they wrote and it was very very thorough and I think extremely fair to everyone involved. >> Which policy did you >> The right to read the freedom to read act.
>> Is there anybody else? No. Okay, then we can do roll call. >> Mrs. Hobby? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Santoro? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Mr. Baker, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Miss Clark Emory, >> yes. >> Miss Cooper, >> Mrs. Friendley,
>> yes. >> Okay, thank you. Anything for new or old business for policy? >> Nope. Nope. Okay. And student services, Miss Santoro. >> Okay. So, Dr. Nigel was very busy at committee meetings and we are all certainly appreciative of that,
especially the evening meetings. Um so um we met as student services on December 4th. Dr. Nigel was um in attendance as well as Dr. Brochial and all committee members were there. Um we
spoke very briefly about two requests that had been made with regards to uh later start time next year. um one was a shuttle from the train station and one was ensuring that there were enough open
spaces for kids after school in case that adjustment causes some delay in getting a train. Um the the shuttle is not really feasible and in fact if you've driven across town from the train
station to the school you could absolutely walk faster at this point. So the shuttle is not really a viable option and um Dr. Nigel and Dr. Brochial feel that there is enough open spaces, the media centers, the libraries and
obviously then also all kids participating in any type of act after school activity. Um so that that does not seem to be a concern as far as adjusting that schedule. Um
Dr. Brochial and Dr. Nyigel um provided the committee with an update on the school leadership team process and there was nothing but very positive feedback and we were so thrilled to hear it. the
leadershipship team work that is being leadership team work that is be being done um at the high school is is very productive. It's being it's very effective and um both administrators are
very proud of the work that the staff is doing. Um recently we had a professional service day where that came to life in the leadership team had um identified a problem that they went through um as a team to come up with a solution and then
broaden that out to the rest of the staff and provide training during that day. So, we're so thrilled to hear that all this um work and the hard effort of our staff and administration is um you know there we're we're we're getting
great results out of that and um I know that the Rucker's work is is definitely promising for this district in collaboration and allowing teachers to really have a voice from what they're seeing on the ground and um they're the
experts so they can have the best input into the solution. Um so we were thrilled to hear that and uh we did approve tonight on our agenda um further training for the middle school and Bedwell in this capacity
that's going to be taking place in January at Ruckers and um Dr. Brochial gave us an update. We are targeting January for the New Jersey school climate initiative. there were some technology items that we had to work
through that pushed that back, but the target is now January. Um, and as far as you know, student service matters, all matters continue to be monitored and are moving forward. That is all I have. >> Okay. Thank you. So then I would like to
ask for a motion to approve action items number one and two on the agenda, Miss Cooper. And a second, Miss Ballard. And um any discussion regarding student services? Oh, okay. Then roll call, please. >> Mrs. Hoppy, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Santoro, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ry, >> yes. >> Mr. Baker, >> yes. >> Miss Ballard, >> yes. >> Miss Clark Emory, >> yes. >> Miss Cooper, >> yes. >> Mrs. Frenda, >> yes. >> The motion carries. >> Okay, great. We'll 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, andor positions of the Somerset Hills Board of Education and or any other individual member of the board. Does anybody have anything for board announcements this
evening? >> Yes, Miss Ry. Um I was fortunate enough to have attended last week's um concert at the high school and last evening concert coral concert at the high school and I just want to commend all the
people that were involved and particularly the students who did such a tremendous job. Um and I neglected in board announcements to say that I had been to the school play and similarly I think all the faculty and staff and
sports staff involved in that and the the students is near and dear to my heart um just did a fabulous job. >> Thank you. Is there anybody else for board announcements? No. Okay, then we will move into our
second public comments. Um, I just want to remind everybody that please always um if you can't be here in the evening or if you have think of things over the course of the month, um please don't hesitate to reach out via email to either uh individual board members or you can send it to Mr. Lori, our board
secretary, and he can disseminate it to all of us as board correspondents. So, you can always reach us um to share feedback. But public comments are welcome at this time on any topic. Please state your name and address. Comments are limited to three minutes. At 3 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 of education. 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 I will direct you to Mr. Lori's timer, which again will be set to 3 minutes and countdown for any individual who takes the podium. So, anyone who would like to
make a public comment at this time. Hi, Alison Labber, 10 Steven Street. Um, there have been two special service meetings, one last spring and one this fall. They're held during the day, likely due to the presenter's availability. Unfortunately, it just makes it really difficult for working
parents to attend. Um, I was wondering if it's possible that these are either livereamed or potentially a link put on so families can access them um at their own availability and their own convenience. Uh, my second thing is I
just wanted to say thank you to Bob um for all the time you have dedicated to our school and our community. You explained the budget so clearly and the community always knew that when you spoke, you did so with integrity. We appreciate your steadfast leadership and
commitment to our school. Thank you so much for all of your time. >> Thank you. >> Is there anybody else for public comment this evening? Hi, good evening everybody and my name is Joel Cannon. I live at
126 Seni Drive in Bernardsville and uh I just wanted to share my thoughts on something and it's, you know, not obviously for discussion, but just my thoughts on something. About 14 years ago, around Christmas time, my
husband and I were having a late lunch at a local restaurant in town, and a young man was sitting to the table next to me. So, of course, I wasn't listening to my husband. I was listening to the conversation at the next table. And uh
and I did notice he had a lacrosse shirt on. So, uh, we struck up a conversation and little did he know I was acquainted with Dave Brothers, who at the time was seeking an assistant coach.
As circumstances align, that young man, Nick Hemans, was hired as an assistant coach and subsequently joined the school district in a full-time teaching capacity.
Fast forward to recent weeks when I spoke with several former lacrosse parents who mentioned that Nick had not been reappointed as the next head coach. I
was genuinely shocked and surprised. 14 years Nick has served as an assistant coach under a head coach. And given his tenure and commitment, it would seem a natural progression for him
to assume the role as the head coach of the boys lacrosse team. My my son played to for coach Hemans for four years and went on to play collegiate level. An experience shaped in large by Nick's leadership and
mentorship. Nick brings extensive knowledge of the game, is a dedicated high school teacher within the district, resides in the community, and is raising two children here, and actively
volunteers at a youth level. As a parent, I can say with confidence that if I had the opportunity to do it all over again, I would make the same choice. The
experience for the kids that I was heavily involved in lacrosse, I was heavily involved in other activities in the high school. I have three kids that attended and when I hear all the stress of everything happening here, they're all out. No more power school for me.
But uh anyway um the he we had a great experience at the Somerset Hills. Coach Hemans demonstrates a strong moral compass and takes great p pride not only in the sport of lacrosse but in
developing young men both on the field and off. His long-standing commitment to the students, the program in the Bernardsville community speaks volumes. Coach Hemans has done an exceptional job
educating students in the classroom and has played an integral role in building and supporting this program for nearly 15 years. As someone who teaches at our high school, >> my apologies that we're at the three minute mark, so I just need to see if anybody else >> I only have a sentence more. That's
fine. >> Okay. Thank you. Is there anybody else at this time? >> Sorry, it's my bedtime. Um, Samma Habibi, 8 Mostly Road, Gladstone. I am here to extend my deepest gratitude
and appreciation to Bob Baker for his 19 18 and a half years of service on the board of education. Throughout his tenure, Bob has been has been instrumental in shaping the financial stability and long-term success of the district. His leadership and expertise
were especially evident in his work on the district budget, healthc care insurance planning and negotiations of union contracts and the successful completion of numerous capital projects. Bob's exceptional um institutional
knowledge of the district's finances has been an in inevitable asset providing sorry I'm just nervous continuity insight and sound judgment in even the most complex decisions his commitment to fiscal responsibility
and thoughtful planning has left a longl last uh positive impact on our school community beyond the board of education Bob's dedication to public service is reflected in his extensive commitment to community involvement. Um he serves on
the board of the Bernardsville Public Library, acts as a site coordinator for the IRS IRS VA tax program at the library and serves as a treasurer for the friends of the Bernardsville Public Library.
I think you are also in the board of the Palmer School and I might be missing something, but you can tell me what it is. It was very hard to find all this information out. Um, uh, Bob, uh, volunteers with the
Somerset County Volunteer Handyman's program, serves on the executive committee for the Women's Association of Morristown Medical Center, mansion in May, and the chair of the Bernardsville Burough Green Team, right?
>> I'm not on the green team anymore. >> Okay. Oh, okay. But you were once upon a time. >> I was, and my wife's on it now. >> Yes. So Bob Baker's uh unwavering commitment, leadership, and service exemplifies the very best of community stewardship. We thank him for his many
years of dedication and for the lasting legacy he has created for our schools and community. Um I met Rosalie Baker um at um the beginning of COVID where she was on the um office of emergency
management during COVID. So, I got to know her and then I made the connection that Bob and Rosalie are one and uh I couldn't believe how much these two have dedicated their time to um to community
and I it's it's obvious that um volunteerism is very low nowadays. Uh I thank everyone who's on the board and for the new people stepping up. Um, I think it's very important to be a part of your community in some way possible.
I understand time is limited and everyone's busy, but it really makes a big impact. Um, big impact. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Is there anybody else for public comment this evening?
>> No. Okay. And can I get a motion to close public comment? Miss Cooper and a second, Miss Santoro. Thank you. And that leaves just one thing. >> We need a motion to adjurnn. >> I will make my last motion to adjourn at
9:30. >> Thank you, Mr. Baker. >> All a happy new year. And um I'll stop by occasionally. >> You're good. We >> I'm willing to help with anything. >> Oh, thank you. >> If we don't second it, >> we need >> We
>> We never leave. >> We do need a second. Is there anybody who's willing to do it? Miss Ballard. Thank you. And all in favor? I Okay.