Okay. So, we just we can get it just welcome district meetings of the board of education of some adults. 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 the 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 at 3 p.m. on December 18, 2024, and 5:00 p.m. on June 13th, 2025 in the following manner. Posted on the
bulletin board reserved for announcements in the board office at 25 Alcott Avenue posted in the mail office of Bedwell BMS and VHS mailed to the courier news and posted on the SHSC website. Filed with the clerk of the burrow of Burnsville, Far Hills, Pacstone and Bedminister Township.
Delivered to the 10 duly me elected board members. Can we have roll please? Mr. Baker here. Miss Ballard here. Miss Clark Emery here. Miss Cooper here. Miss Gills. Miss Gomez, Mrs. Hobby here, Mrs.
Santoro, Mrs. Ry, Mrs. Frenda here. We have a Okay. Thank you. Okay. Then we are going to move to go into executive session. The Open Public Meetings Act authorizes a public body to exclude the public from that portion of a meeting at
which specified topics are to be discussed under circumstances where the public consideration of such topics will clearly endanger the public or where the personal privacy or guaranteed rights of individuals whose activities or affairs are to be discussed will clearly be in danger of unwarranted invasions and the
matters about to be presented for discussion clearly meet the circumstances types of such act. The board of education of Somerset Hills now adjourns it public session to reconvene an executive session for the purpose of discussing the following student matters
personnel litigation update and CSA evaluation. The discussion in executive session will be disclosed when the board's consideration of the subject matter has been closed or that such matter does not adversely affect the rights or 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 endanger the public interest. Can I please have a motion to go into executive session? Miss a second, Miss
Cooper. Thank you so much. Yeah. Heat. Thank you all. Uh tonight we're going to get started with a presentation uh representing our eighth graders. We have Ryan and Maya that are here tonight to
uh speak to the board uh about some great things uh going on in the grade uh which uh certainly will be underscored this week as they get promoted to school. Right. Heat.
Good evening parents, board members, Dr. Rochel, and fellow peers. My name is Amea and I was a member of the BMS Earth Science team that competed this year. Earth science team is an after school club that meets weekly on Tuesdays for an hour. During these meetings, we prepared for the four competitions that
occurred in January through April with the guidance of Mr. K. The January competition was hosted at Bridge High School. The February and April competitions took place at Meris and the March one took place at Mount Olive High School. Not only were we competing, but Mur High School also had multiple science teams like chemistry and biology
which competed as well. BMS ended up finishing second in the state and as we were the only middle school team, we are pleased with our final standing. We would like to thank Mr. King for introducing the New Jersey Science League to us and providing this wonderful opportunity and for his support and encouragement of the team.
As for school's end ofear field trips, fifth grade visited Lake Back home. There they studied macro invertebrates and identified the cleanliness of the water, putting a scientific twist on the fun. Sixth grade traveled to the Camden Aquarium on May 19th, where they got to walk across rope floating sharks and
observe marine life. Finally, seventh grade visited the Franklin Institute last Monday to experience all the interactive exhibits that the museum has to offer. All grades had a great time on their trips and all were very successful. I will now turn it over to Ryan for an update on the BMS baseball team for a trip.
Thank you. Good evening. I'm Ryan and I'm great to play the BMS baseball team. The BMS baseball team was a wonderful experience for everyone on the team. Both the upper classman and middle classman got along really well. Coach M and coach Fiary led our team all the way
to the second round of the state playoffs. We unfortunately lost in the semifinals. However, it was a great and fun season. I know that the future eighth graders will take a lead and make next year's season successful and fun for everyone. On Wednesday, June 4th, we
went on our eighth grade trip for the first time in many years. The trip featured boat ride around New York New York City. We had lunch, danced, and spent time with each other while admiring the Statue of Liberty. It was a perfect start to tour our trip. Next, we
went to the top of the rock observation deck where we got to see an amazing view of New York City. After that, we went to the Madam Cho Wax Museum where we walked around admiring all the amazing wax. Finally, we went to Dave and Busters where we had dinner and arcade games
with our friends. with our friends. Everyone had a great time. We are thankful for the teachers and parents who made this trip possible. This was a great way to close out the year. Thank you for your time today. We have Nora from the high school. Is
here's not here. I have a gift for her. But Nora was our uh speaker. So I will uh catch up with her before she walks across that stage. So we do have a uh a nice gift from um the board um thanking
her for all the time she spent with you all is on her way to the University of Pittsburgh and we're very proud of her. We're going to miss her next year. So congratulations to Nora. I call up Miss Gaf
um and she has been kind enough to share um the middle school students with us all year and we have a special uh certificate of recognition uh that uh each one of these uh students will receive. uh she does have a
rotation of students that come and present to the board and uh it's just been great to be able to see them, you know, in this light and see them grow and see them um put on such a great stage. So, uh we do have a certificate of special recognition that certifies um
particular students um have um earned a certificate of special recognition for the New New Jersey State Board of Education student recognition program uh which is given in our school district here uh tonight on June 16th, 2025. So,
Miss Ruffalo certainly will do a better job than I outlining how great these kids are and experience for them. Thank you so much and excuse my voice. Um I just want to say that we are really fortunate to have such a great group of seventh and eighth graders who um spend
considerable time getting their speeches together and and really being able to highlight and share all the positive things that we're so proud of that go on at BMS Middle School. So, um, as you come up, uh, please come up and receive your shirt. And again, thank you all so much for all that you do to really, as I
said, highlight the great things that go on at the Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. will be next year
upcoming sixth graders. Thank you, Sienna. I'll hold that for you. Thank you. Speaking of our middle school students, one of the most and and frankly faculty members, one of our most uh successful programs in the entire district uh
happens to be the middle school science team. Uh they consistently compete against high school competition. Uh they consistently beat high school competition. Um, and it is something uh it is something to see and we've in my office we spoke with Brian King
throughout the course of the year and uh just basically like tell us when you're ready tell us when you're ready cuz we we're ready to honor you all. So I'm going to ask Mr. King to come on up. Um if we could I see him hide in the back.
He is just doing beautiful work. Mr. So, Mr. King and take some time to embarrass you a little bit to to put this off as long as we could. Um, but we have a resolution here for the
work that you do with our kids. Um and it cannot um go underscored enough uh how important a thoughtful teacher is in the life of a child and you have influenced and impacted these kids in
vast and farreaching ways that um that they will always remember and and frankly so will I. Uh so we do a resolution here um and I do consider this like refrigerator material for family. Uh so this is going to go into the permanent minutes of the board of
education meeting tonight. It's a resolution honoring you uh as a middle school science teacher for example your dedication in guiding the middle school earth science team to an extraordinary second place finish in the 2025 New Jersey science league. I'm going to add a little bit here just to remind
everybody that we are middle school students. We're competing against high school students. Whereas board of education gives special honor and commendation to educators who exemplify dedication, care and excellence in teaching and fosters
student passion and academic excellence at the highest level. Whereas Brian King is part of the Burns Middle School and serves as an inspiration to his students and staff members and superintendent. Now therefore be resolved by the Somerset Hills Board of Education of the
members of the board. Here I commend you, Brian. uh through your commitment to the SHSD science program to outstanding leadership into the month of dedication and hard work with the middle school science students who achieve an extraordinary second place finish
amongst high school earth science teams in New Jersey and the sunset hills board of education on this day and does so in honor of this achievement earned by Brian King. The board of education secretary is directed to have this resolution reflected in the permanent
minutes of the Somerset Hills Board of Education on this day, the 16th day of June, 2025. I have to wait for the applause, but all the way to the back row, but we have your students that we're going to that we're going to run up here in honor,
too. Um, so I will u, you know, we have a equally impressive resolution uh for these youngsters that are on your team and I'm going to call them up um for their extraordinary contributions to
their team accomplishment of second place overall in the Earth Science League um in this 2025 school year and the board of education does give special honor and commendation to our dedicated students who perform and compete at the highest academic level with effort,
responsibility and a positive attitude. Whereas all of our team members participated during burn middle school's earth science team meetings and state competitions from November 2024 through April 2025 and display passion, grit and determination
when applying scientific principles and investigative procedures during problem solving. Whereas these students are part of the Roseville Middle School and these students serve as an inspiration of peers and staff members alike. Therefore, being resolved by the Sunset
Hills Board of Education that the members of the board here commend these students for their extraordinary accomplishments along with their team and placing second overall in the Earth Science Competition during the New Jersey Science Week. When the bill's board of education adjourns on this day,
it does so in honor of the achievements earned by these students and the board of education secretary is directed to have this resolution reflected in the permanent minutes of the Somerset Hills Board of Education on the 16th day of June, 2025.
We have uh some students we're going to call up uh Mr. King. First is Paige Warner. Heat. Heat. There we are. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Molly there. Congratulations. Wesley Catherine. and Sean Sh. Congratulations So, I have a photo up here.
It happens to be like one of the greatest days of my career. Um, and it's just like sometimes you have to stop and you have to appreciate just the things that make you smile. And last Thursday to commemorate the last day of classes
for the seniors, uh, one of our seniors did indeed drive his vehicles and park and sometimes I just that drove this uh he's studying
agriculture at Cornell University when he graduates here. So, it all just kind of makes sense. Um and um it was just a great kick out of it. So, um we have some congratulations here. Uh continue congratulations for um our
students that are certainly achieving great things. Uh Samuel Henry uh was one of our students who uh received the the Paul Roberson award. Uh it's a youth achievement award uh in the arts and he was recently recognized by the Grand
Valley College. I have told not here that I'm going to cheat from a little bit um because it is a significant achievement and we want to give um give us proper Jew.
Uh so Samuel the youth were in the arts. Um this Christina is honor recognizes students who demonstrate outstanding talent but also embody the values that Robis stood for. I stood for human rights, civil rights, equality, freedom
and the importance of unity among all people. As many of us have come to know is creative and he's dedicated. He's a passion for the arts and he's a commitment to using his voice and his talent uh to make a difference.
He was recognized as ceremony recently at Community College and he was recommended by his counselor Miss Michelle Hkins and his teacher Miss Patrick Mill. So congratulations to him.
We had a recent show of the Central Jersey Marque Awards. We had five high school students were nominated for awards at the Central Jersey Awards ceremony center back in May. 25 schools
participated from county second year that we receive nominations from the central awards was honored for best actress actress
was nominated for best supporting actress was nominated for as best ensemble member was recognized as best ensemble member and
Welsh was nominated as best Sebastian performed as a part in actress nominations on stage that was a big deal in Syracuse next year and Welsh won her
category as best ense member and she'll be attending university. Heat. Heat. of cat food, dog food, toys, and other essential items to help animals that are in need. These
donations were delivered to me rescue thanks to the generosity area to learn about efforts. They were able to interact with several adoptable cats.
Uh and they learn about how the cats arrive at the rescue. Uh we were able to learn about the various circumstances of the cats. Um had to experience including medical issues. Um so that was certainly very educational for for the children.
All the way to all here as well as the power you did inform us that there's anybody in the audience watching online. So if you want it
doesn't physics achievement science science competition um and there across the students individually and the school
team various in various subject matters. Um we have three juniors who receive the honors for outstanding performance in the state. Congratulations. Heat.
Heat. I don't think we got himself um after watching um Mr. work at last year. Uh but we recently had amazing exper
student life created projects inspired by New Jersey included interactive corporate activities by fourth graders shops designers.
New Jersey research posters made by graders watercolors made by our first graders and cool beach by our owners. I was very proud as um as it tends to be when the team gets get
together and so different here and you certainly had a great time. In the last few months, we have presented one particular initiatives that are taking place in our school
district education foundation present tonight, three classes digital copies of um um some games from
games all the way back 50 years uh that have been discovered um in the of high school. Uh these wheels have been digitized uh through chef and students have been correcting and
adjusting the digitizers um and tracks from including information. So it's a very cool interactive initiative that's supported by the summers education foundation that's taking place in high school. Recently
teacher join a podcast inclusion tank which is supported by New Jersey coalition for inclusive education res and differentiation in order to support
all learners. We will have a live broadcast inside this presentation on our website. So congratulations here at High School recently um announced new quarter finals for the
2026 Grammy music educator award which is a very very big deal. to the quarterfinals and we're hopeful that um he will be announced as a semi finalist in September
recognizing contribution to the field music education maintain music education schools and impact on students lives there were 2000 teachers nominated 200%
final from New Jersey. So he is of New Jersey education. Congratulations. recently in September. Middle school implemented a program called casual kids hearts and
implementation due to um some energetic implementation from um the school staff from beginning to end of the school year kids rising star school which is not an
easy designation to learn. um this implementation that kicked off this year and just continue to out and we start to see um the program fostering a relationship driven culture uh between
adults and children that does have um significant impacts at classroom level and in um the program here has a has a defined framework for building students based on research that shows that students need to feel
and how they get um to be connected to their teachers in order to maximize learning. One of the hallmarks of catching this horse is having a share language and that share language between students and staff members has been very beneficial this year in development of
soft skills uh which are so vital to that. Um there's collaboration among students and teachers for each class also create social contracts and expectations for each other. Uh so that has been uh great to see from session to
implementation. Uh the caption program addresses healthy communication through an excel model um engages for communicating power and launch. Um this is a significant um
addition to the middle school and um Mr. Roth has um really dove head first into this work. Um she's done so with a very very large team of every single one of them
to call themselves rising stars. So congratulations was named as our everyday hero. Um but but to be fair what he did on behalf of a medical
school um you know makes him far more than a hero. Uh so he on a dayto day he is genuine, he's compassionate, he's kind. Uh there was a medical emergency that occurred this year and his assistance inside that medical emergency
was invaluable. Uh it was tense. Uh he did he demonstrated composure and certainly uh responsible um in the way that he conducted himself um alongside first responders. He stepped in um to a sensitive situation with a level head
and and compassionate head and he made a difference that day and he makes a difference every day. Um he was calm. Um he's humble. Um and he was certainly impressive and he has accepted no thanks
for his assistance. Um instead he gave credit uh to his first aid teacher uh for properly instructing him. Um so uh if you see here um thank him and congratulate him because uh he's a
significant young man. We have a team that has our heroes throughout the course of the year. Chris and and Jago um and they do such a great job honoring
um the people that that do great work. Uh so each of our winners have received a generous gift from Pizzeria. Um and we appreciate um their support for our community.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. research diseases over 3,000 applicants and only 95 students that were selected for internships will come together during the month of
July and present their research findings to a larger community for the hills school Mr. Special experience is beyond exciting. Congratulations. We um
continue to share some photos from our baseball and track and field programs which are to be recognized and shorters all in this energy. Sorry.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Don't die. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Well, hello. Yeah. Thank you.
So we have g of exam from this screen. This was okay. This was a test administer to all level students. Um they took it this March.
Uh test is designed by Jersey um to check if our students are graduation ready. It has two components English arts and mathematics is the is also important separately for both components and mathematics is aligned to algebra
one and geometry standards and ELA is is aligned to grade 10 standards our students in March March 11 12 um almost 100% participated in fact I think all Students who were in school did they complete this assessment.
The um score is 725. Just remember this number for a minute. Um if students did not reach the score then there will be different ways how students can show uh their proficiency. They can either take
ELA with my components next fall or they can leave designated scores in other tests ACUP place and if that doesn't work they can uh complete the portfolio process next spring
and here we are having to report our results in ELA we have 88.8% 8% um rate of passing this test and in mathematics we have 8.2% 2% pass in this test and
the average scale score in ELA is 783 and this is again for 7.5 score so we quite a distance above this and in mathematics we have 759 uh this test so far was used three times
by the state of New Jersey and at this point we have a way to look at our results for the last three years and to look at The trans if anyone last year has a slight theme in the results but this was completely different for a
board of students. This is every time it's a different cohort of students. And this year you can see that our passing rate went very uh very nicely up from 85 to 82 to 88% in ELA and from 77 to 80%
in mathematics with the average scale score going up every year by a point or two. And at this point we'll talk a little bit more about ELA and mathematics separately about different forms.
Thank you Dr. Everton. So here on this slide we see the breakdown of the subcategories for the ELA portion of the exam. Remember we were happy to report that we are at 88.8% of our students who are seen as
graduation proficient based on this exam. You see also we've broken this down that you have gender, ethnicity and race. And then there are other subgroups which include students with disabilities and disadvantage and multilingual
learners. Something to keep in mind remember when you're looking at the other subgroups is that a single student can be in multiple subgroups. So those percentages are not going to equal to 100 because you have a student with
disabilities who also disagree conversation has been looking at how are our are males and females scoring in comparison to each other. And if you're looking across, you can see we're more or less we do better than this state,
but we have the same sort of fluctuation across male and female test takers. Um, a group to look at here, happy to report our Hispanic and Latino category. We had a much higher passing rate than we did
in the past, but I do always a little on that. They're completely different cohorts of kids, so it's difficult to compare them year to year. It's it's just a different mix, a different group. Um, and we don't ever really see these
students take this test again to be able to compare to. So, that is always something to kind of hold on to, but it does help us see, you know, where do we want to kind of think more about our attentions? multilingual learners 26.7%.
Another thought to think about here, in order to have an alternate pathway to graduation, all students must sit for this exam. So sometimes we have a student recently entered into the country. We do have sit for the exam do
the best that they can because then that allows us to do more individualized programming after we've gotten their results. Thank you Miss Bara and very similar slide for mathematics again you can see that it's highly important that we are
exceeding 80% of pass rate and in the brackets you can see comparable pass rate for the state um for some groups they do not calculate passing rates this year yet so we don't have this year comparison but if you want to look at
last year and year before then you can see similar numbers Um just like Miss Bara said um something new we added this year is female and male subgroups was interesting to see how our boys and girls perform and you
can see mathematics that it's actually not the same every year. Two years ago um boys outperform girls slightly and last year it was the other way around and this year again boys outperform girls. So that's uh we can say that we
have the same we have the same trend here again having to report our Hispanics group. Um I also include again different different group of students and we are always keep an eye on our learners
disadvantage students with disability and those are groups partially over and maybe over And as for our next steps, we still in the process of receiving additional information um analysis not just by some
groups by but by the topics what students did well and where they can be improved. So we will be looking uh and identify potential focus area for the next year. We will definitely continue our sheltered instructions for our
multilingual learners and we are looking for additional support as well. Individual students report we just received yesterday. We will be um giving this guidance. Um
the call letter and parents hopefully will be viewing this within uh results will be available online as well as additional information about the exam. That's it. Thank you.
Thank you. So, next on our slide deck is um some follow up regarding our work with um our families whose children have um special
needs. Uh we have begun a uh special education parent advisory group and we did have a meeting uh last week um and it was designed to discuss uh challenging behaviors and managing those
behaviors uh in order to mitigate a summer slide. Uh we have a new behaviorist uh in the district that's starting in September and she was able to present for us and she really did present um a lot of great strategies and
tips um that I made taking some notes right um myself really productive uh we were able to send this out uh we are looking for parents to kind of move into a
leadership role here uh in this work as we just kind of begin to gel uh again and reset. So I found the session to be productive and um I did note that uh the parents that were there did pepper um
the presenter with um borrowing and taking some resources that were provided to them and um was really productive. So I see that our district website is continuing to
undergo it work. We prioritize our counter functionality and developing local news sources within our website. We're focused on rolling over which is right around the corner. I'm
happy with the progress uh with our our good partner here uh who's just doing beautiful work uh with all the different departments in order to assist in that roll over. One of the non-negotiables that I have is to
be able to build on the communications work that is taking place uh through Mia who as you know is my assistant uh which is no small fee uh but she's also uh spearheads all the communication so
she's produced um probably over 100 uh examples of press releases uh since I began uh she has her fingers on the pulse of um some of this work with Connor. Uh we're talking about um kind
of diversifying some things from the communications perspective from her office um just so parents know where to get things, how to get things and kind of developing a schedule on you where to access things. So um very very happy with how things move forward in the area
of communication and uh as you know I put high priority on the website as the community's onetop shop for information rather than on a social media platform or a collection of social media platforms. I think the
website needs to be our own social media. You know this is this is how we're speaking to the community. Uh so that's that's been my focus. We're collaborating with the social education association on a successful
agreement. Uh which is a fancy contract. Um and they have um been very proud to build a part both sides. Um and it really takes relationship and and both parties uh put forth a lot of great
work. Uh they were able to sign a memorandum of agreement on May 29th. I was uh that last meeting started on the 28th not for
and so this is there's terms of working conditions for um for all the folks that are covered by the marketing teachers secretaries
professionals custodians technicians is uh they were able to develop new terms and conditions uh for in a variety of ways and they were able to ride financial terms that ensure consistency uh for the next few school years. Uh so
that is on the agenda for tonight. So how do you get there? Uh you get there through developing relationships. You get there by taking the time to understand uh the other side. um and really really taking time to to
appreciate the position um that they have on particular matters. Uh and I can share that both parties uh really effort to understand each other uh which uh frankly was a great thing to uh for them
to experience. Um the uh was of this on June 9th. Uh Shay did ratify this on June 13th and is on the night uh for your consideration. Uh so this uh this didn't happen overnight. It happened
over multiple years. Um the leadership did spend significant time with leadership just um developing relationship on on things that had to do with the contract on things that didn't have to do with the contract. And I think um one of the things that is so
critically important is to memorialize our relationships and to um make the effort and the effort was made um Mrs. uh and Santo that um with Sarah Falls
and that can't the work that was done um just just understand each other. So, um happy to be a small part of that and I'm happy that it's on the agenda for the board to consider tonight. Um that does satisfy um
thank you very much and thank you looking through the pictures on there. I mean you did start off with the tractor which was definitely a highlight. That was a fabulous opener but that was a phenomenal report and what a way for
me anyway to close out the year. um for the celebration of so many amazing things from our students, staff. Um although public comments for actionable agenda items, um we very much welcome input
from the public. Public comments are welcome at this time on any actual agenda item. 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 3 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's president or superintendent may address the comment. In accordance with New Jersey statute, the board will not discuss matters regarding specific personnel. Pop 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 the audience. Members of the audience will interfere with or interrupt the speaker's comments. Thank you in advance for your input. It's not unlikely. I'm sorry.
So Sarah fell around Sh and I think Dr. B just said it best in his presentation. I can't top that. Um as you know and thank you uh Shay the workman recently agreed uh to a deal for our success success successor agreement. Uh we
started our cooperative efforts years ago as Dr. Broil has said with the Ruckers Labor Management Collaborative. We throughout the course of the past two years have had many many many many many meetings not just at the negotiation table but with small group
solutionoriented uh areas that we targeted and we're able to reach an agreement that's very fair and set both of us for up for growth in the future which I believe is one of the most important things. Our dialogue during negotiations focus on fair and
reasonable goals with all members of both teams able to provide rationale for their ideas. In true negotiation fashion, we both made concessions, but the ability to understand each other's point of view was so invaluable for all of us and it's
really great collaboration for our future. So on behalf of the SHA negotiation team, the seven of us and the entire SHA membership, we thank you board of education negotiation team and Dr. Roachel for your patience, your time, your support for not only our
success for success or agreement but our continued ability to work together for our staff and therefore ultimately our students. So thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Fano. Um, I don't editorialize public comments, so
I will speak through it later, but um, thank you for your comment. Um, and I guess then we need a motion to close public comments, Cooper. Second, Mr. Okay, thank you. Then we will move into the approval of
minutes. Um, I would like to ask for a motion to approve the public input and action and executive meeting minutes for May 13th and June and June 9th, 2025. Can I have a motion, please? Katy and Miss Gills. Thank you. Is there
any discussion related to the minutes? No. Okay. Please, Mr. Baker. Um, abstain from May 20 of May 13th and uh, yes to June 9th. Miss Ballard, yes. Miss Clark Emmery, yes.
Miss Cooper, yes to May 13th. Abstain. Miss Gills, yes. Mrs. Gomez, yes. Mrs. Hoppy, yes. Mrs. Frenet, yes. Motion carries. Okay. Thank you. And then we will move into a special item for this
evening entitled negotiations as has been discussed regarding um approving the memorandum of agreement between Shay and the board and an additional item a sidebar agreement that was reached between Shay and the board of education. So at this time I would like to ask for
a motion to approve action items number one and two on the agenda. Mr. Baker and Miss Cooper. Thank you. And is there any discussion? Um, I just like to make make make some comments. Um, and all the negotiations I've done with
Shay and I've negotiated a lot of other contracts in my life, they always say that contracts are not a lose-lose or win-win or it should be neutral. You walk away, but everybody has a a very blah feeling.
This time is different. All right? So, I will eat my words when I told people contracts. You know, nobody should be happy, but I think we're both happy because it was done differently and I think we both like the results. So, I
want to commend both sides working well to together. Um, and uh I know I know that our our our reporter is not here tonight, which I know he would love to know what the numbers are. So um I I
will share those numbers because anybody watching on television that's all that's all that they worry about. The rest the rest of the things of the contract which are are very important are language and the work environment and things like that which are very important to us and
and and all the staff. But the average man on the street or the woman on the street won't understand a lot of this language and why it's important or not important. So, um, so for for the it's a 3-year contract. Um, it's 3.9% for the
first year, uh, 3.8 for the second year, 3.8 for the third year, and stipens are adjusted on the second year at 3.5. Um, just so people know, that's what the average increases are. Some staff members might get more one year, might
get less than those numbers, but the board is giving the uh the pool of employees 3.9 3.8 3.8 and um and the salary guides have have been reviewed by everybody and we're happy with those.
So, um, I I would like to say that I support a member of a Britman wholeheartedly and I I urge other board members to vote in the positive. Thank you. I'm going to weigh in there too. Um, not
that uh not on the numbers. the numbers the numbers I know are important to the the taxpayers but as a member of the negotiations team and this board speaking to um also some of the comments that Dr. Roel and Mel Renomine. Um,
this negotiations was uh special there that that ability to hear one another and that ability to work um for the greater good of uh the district together and to understand those needs
in a way that um was new. Um it was a tremendous experience. I I don't think it can be overstated and um I'm really proud that to be been a part of this
process and have this colle these collective boards to have worked together um in the way that they have. I do just need to say although Dr. virtual always tries to minimize his impact and his role. Um he was a tremendous asset
to us in this process and a um a tremendous leader um in this work. So um I do wholeheartedly support this memorandum of agreement and it is my honor to vote on it tonight as well as the cyborg very important and I am very
happy to be voting on that as well. mobile. Mr. Baker, yes. Miss Ballard, yes. Miss Clark Emmery, yes. Miss Cooper, yes. Miss Gills, yes. Mrs. Gomez, yes. Mrs. Hoppy, abstain. Mrs. Frena, yes. The
motion carries. Fantastic. Thank you. Um, business operations. Um the business operation committee met on June the 2nd about 2 hours. Um
all members were in attendance. Um and we also had um we had Mr. Mr. Jim Finn from Brown and Brown was there as um as our program for
our medical insurance. We talked about seven things. Um first item um Michael Catelli um from um talked to us about the uh community food bank for kids and how
they would like us to participate in the for the free food population. is will provide meals over the weekend um for for children who would like to get uh food over the weekend and they would provide the food for free. It wouldn't
cost the district anything. It's currently is being um done at the Burns Township Schools School District and they would provide the food every Friday and then um our title one um staff
members would distribute the food. there would be no cost and that would occur every Friday. So the uh the committee felt that we should give that a try at that to start off. Next item, Mr. Jeremy Schwarz from our
IT uh department gave us a summary of of the techn technology upgrades and planned for the summer that there's six different projects and I'm not going to bore you with all the technology chart cuz I don't even understand myself. Um
then we also had um Mr. Mr. Lori uh reported that he developed a board calendar for the for the starting for July uh 2025 through January 27. Um and that's on the agenda tonight as number
seven and covers all board meetings going forward and that way then we can adjust our our committee meetings to to mirror those board meetings. We also discussed the mountaineer booster club has requested approval to
do a cell laser engraved seat plaques like to take a seat that's uh being done in the pack for the for all the bleachers on Alcott field. So we discussed that and felt that was
appropriate. Um, it would cost $150 for a seat in the center section for adults and $99 for students in the student sections. No, the bleachers. The money raised would go to promote good sportsmanship
and team building events across all sports. And we agree with the concept and hopefully once we have some more details worked out, we will vote on that um in the future. Uh, as I said, Mr. Jim Finn from Brown
Brown gave us a quick update of the healthc care marketplace in New Jersey and and about our current current medical policies. Right now we we are going to have a rate increase of 11% for our medical coverage and 15% for our
prescription coverage which combined the two is about a 12% overall increase. Brown and Brown also tested the the marketplace like any good good broker should do to see if there was better coverage at a lower price but
unfortunately he couldn't find any deals that are better. Lastly, he explained that um chapter 44, which covers the medical insurance for new employees, uh I think 3 or 4 years ago it started,
will expire on December 31, 2027. So that will affect the contract that we negotiate with Shay in um at the at the end of the 3 years that we have right now. Uh Dr.
also proposed we use a consultant and uh Mr. Patrick Duncan to review the SHA salary guides and we did that. We voted on that um approval at our June 9th meeting and Mr. Duncan uh reviewed the salary guides and gave
us his feedback and that allowed us to make the approval of the salary guys. We also discussed the upcoming upcoming pool parties, which I'm I'm assuming are kind of cold out there right now. Um,
and cuz we had to get those done for the for the June 9th um special meeting. And that is all we talked about. Okay. Back to you. Thank you. So then I would ask for a motion to approve action items number 1 through 56 on the agenda,
please. Mr. Baker and a second. Miss Cooper and any discussions related to business operations and we can roll please. Miss Ballard, yes. Miss Clark Emory, yes. Miss Cooper, yes. Miss Gills, yes. Mrs. Gomez, yes.
Mrs. Hoppy, yes. Mr. Baker, yes. Mr. Friend, uh, Mrs. Fren, yes. Motion carries. Okay. And do we have any new or old business to be added to business operations this evening for a future agenda? No. Okay. Then we move on to curriculum.
Uh the curriculum committee met Tuesday, June 3rd for 2 hours. All committee members were in attendance and we were joined by Dr. Burchil, Dr. Butler, Dr. Edertton, and Miss Varna. We kicked off the meeting by discussing the new universal literacy screening guidelines for kindergarten through grade three
which uh Miss Barnick presented to the committee. These guidelines were developed by the New Jersey Department of Education to help districts be more responsive to the needs of early readers and to align instruction with current research and reading acquisition. This mandate requires universal literacy
screening at least twice annually for students in grades kindergarten through third grade. Um the mandate also requires that the results of the screening be shared with parents within 30 days. Following screening, schools are expected to provide necessary instructional support. The mandate also
requires that that annual professional development and foundational literacy be provided to district staff and administration. To meet this reading mandate, uh the district will use the I Ready reading diagnostics since students, staff, and parents are already familiar with this assessment. While
Bedwell staff have long been conducting routine literacy assessments, this one on the one-on-one assessment of fluency will be new to the staff. Although many Bedwell teachers have explored the use of this assessment due the due to the importance of fluency in reading performance. Overall, it is anticipated
that these requirements will further streamline dyslexia reading process. Uh next, Miss Baron and Dr. Edton presented the results of the new the NJ GPA 2025 assessment which they just reviewed uh meeting. Thanks to you Miss
Baron and Dr. And for their presentation. Um after our NJ GPA discussion, Dr. Butler presented a summary of the district's comprehensive equity plan. In the fa past few months, Dr. Butler has led a team of staff and administrators in evaluating equity data
and reviewing policy to ensure that the district is in compliance with all requirements related to equity. She emphasized that the district's equity plan is a compliance document driven by policy and not by the cultural, social, or educational needs of the district. Instead, it is designed to be an opportunity for districts to one,
identify areas in which they are out of compliance and two, propose concrete solutions to ensure the district complies with all state mand mandated policies and regulations related to equity. Although the dis the results of the team's analysis indicate according to the results of the team's analysis,
there are no areas in which the district is out of compliance. Consequently, no plans to improve compliance were proposed. While the committee was really happy to hear that we are not out of compliance in any area, some members express concern that the district continues to
face cultural and social challenges related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and inclusion. The committee hop hopes that the results of the records survey and capturing kids hearts initiatives will provide direction for additional interventions to address these challenges and we want to thank um all
all of the uh staff and administrators who per who uh participate in this extensive process led by Dr. Butler. Um one committee member expressed concern that the district did not respond to and is not federal following federal executive orders with regard to EDI. In
response, we discussed the fact that in the US, education is primarily a state and local responsibility and not a federal responsibility per the US Constitution. As a result, state government governments have full authority to create, fund, and regulate public education. Federal laws such as
Title 9 or or civil rights statutes uh does apply in public schools, but usually as a floor, not as a ceiling. In other words, states can provide more expansive protections as New Jersey does through its anti-discrimination and anti-bullying bullying laws. When federal a federal executive order or
policy conflicts with a stronger state law, local school boards must follow state law. Local New Jersey school boards and board members are bound first and foremost by state laws and regulations which in many cases offer stronger protections for students than federal directives. When federal exe
executive orders such as those that attempt to limit protections related to diversity, equity, inclusion, or transgender rights conflict with New Jersey statutes and administrative codes, state law prevails in guiding local policy. Um, uh, no concerns were raised relate regarding professional development or
field trip requests. Uh, and then, um, in response to a board member's question, we briefly discussed progress on an initiative that was introduced to our committee in May of 2024. Last year, we discussed initiating a school-based analytic approach to examining student achievement using a variety of different
data sources. In our meeting on June 3rd, Dr. Rochel indicated that efforts to improve school culture climate and relationships within the district are likely to facilitate these efforts. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Miss Cooper. Um, so then at this time, I'd like to make a motion to
approve action items number one through six on the agenda. Yes. Thank you, Miss Cooper. And a second, Miss Bow. Thank you. And any discussion related to curriculum? helpful. Miss Clark Emmery, yes. Miss Cooper,
yes. Miss Gills, yes. But I abstain from 2B. Miss Gomez, yes. Mrs. Hoppy, yes. Mr. Baker, yes. Mrs. Frenda, yes. Motion carries. Okay. Thank you. Then we will move on to the
report of the personnel committee, please. Miss Ballard. The personnel committee does not have anything to report. Okay. Okay. Thank you. We will move on to a motion to approve action items
number one through 35 on the agenda. May I have a motion, please? Um happy. Okay. And a second Cooper. Okay. And is there any discussion related to personnel? roll, please. Miss Cooper, yes. But I
abstain from 28. Miss Gills, yes. Mrs. Gomez, yes. Mrs. Hoppy, yes. Mr. Baker, yes. Miss Ballard, yes. Miss Clark Embry, yes. Mrs. Frenda, yes. Motion carries. Okay,
then we move on to policy. that way. Luckily, we do have some things to discuss. Um, so we met on June 5th. Uh, the entire committee was together. Um, and so we took this time to dive into,
uh, policy 0164, conduct of the board meeting. Um, the issue of the time of the public comment section was raised and discussed. The current practice is 30 minutes on actionable actionable agenda items early on in the meeting after the superintendent's report.
Public comments are at the end of the meeting after all business has been resolved as board announcements have been made. Concerns were voiced over this as this is usually fairly late in the evening perhaps dissuading folks from attending and commenting. Also mentioned was the frustration of waiting and the fact that folks are tired at
that point of the day. A robust discussion ensued. Historical context. This is a hot topic. Conversations centered around what we're doing in board meetings is the meeting of the board and public, not a meeting of the board with the public. Focus should be on the important work of the
agenda. New topics being brought forward are of course important but not in the context of the work of the meeting. Comments from the agenda influence the content the context of the meeting. Second comment section is about new business. The business of the meeting is done. Now it is time to focus on the
comments from the public. A member raised the point that after the superintendent completes his report that is a captive audience, moving public comments that this point could give folks who are present a chance to speak. Mil pointed out that the Melbourne board
of ed meeting start earlier at 7:00 p.m. Perhaps an earlier starting time would be an option. 6 p.m. was suggested, but could also be difficult for both board members and the public. Uh, another question was raised whether we should do executive meetings after the board
meeting. The counterpoint to that is outside of HIVs often the things discussed in executive sections or session are on the actionable agenda that night. Other suggestions public comment right away limit it to 15 minutes and then go straight into the executive meeting. Executive section
then immediately go into comments open to all topics perhaps disallow a second comment. separate meetings held on hot topics such as the meetings conducted by Dr. Burchil on the lights. The committee recommended a discussion by the whole board.
Uh we went on to uh 5511 dress and grooming. As discussed in previous meetings, the administration is looking interiorly at the dress and grooming code. The dental dress code is much more defined than BMS and BHS which suggests the policy needs review and perhaps
revision. Dr. D Roa will look at it with building principles over the summer. Additional point, a board member stated her belief that a change in dress code could alter student mindset. Rather than a focus on or distraction by clothing, there would be a focus on education. At
the last board meeting, the issue of uniforms was raised. This was suggested as a reaction to the pressure faced by students to keep up. Some folks can't afford high-end clothes and this is proposed as a way to equalize student body that uh looks similar and
eliminates competitive elements reclo. This could also incur extra cost for this district as the statute status of some students will require that the uniform cost be subsidized. Other points may have included enforcement of dress code may be easier with uniforms.
Uniforms may foster a positive school climate. A decision was made to work with regulations and improvement of dress code as previously discussed and then continue this discussion red dress code and uniforms. Um
board member dress at graduation. At the last board meeting, the decision was raised as to whether board members should wear regalia at the BHS graduation ceremonies. Some believe that it provokes gravitas. Others expressed that they felt it was a distraction from the graduates. Dr. Roachel recommended
the provision of choice to POA members to wear value but not mandated policy is not required. Uh 5516 cell phone usage. Dr. Butler is actively recruiting a group to gather facts and data for cell phone use including
educators, psychologists, and pediatricians to make recommendations. And that concludes my report. Okay. Thank you very much. I'd like to ask for a motion to approve action on item number one on the agenda. Can I have a
motion, please? M Cooper and Miss Okay. And any discussion regarding policy? Yes. Okay. So, dressing, grooming,
um, oh god, I have so many opinions on this and, um, we're a public school and I think it's important, just my opinion. Um, I think it's important, yes, that you do it with dress code that
the girls are walking around showing everything. Do you know what I mean? that think we should be appropriately dressed like you know dressed for the occasion. Um but
again we're a public school where we're we're trying to foster not only a positive climate and um an incredible education provide an incredible education for these children.
But we also want them to develop into their own selves, their own individual selves. And you know, having raised a kid, which is not easy, you know, and even teaching for a
gazillion years, cuz I'm older than dirt, you know, you see kids um trying to keep up and I understand that, but they also um how they dress also is part of who
they are. And I I think that's we really just have to be careful um the restraints that we're we consider putting on these children because I think it takes away part of
their soul or the who they are and and you know and we can help them along the way. Do you know what I mean? That's why we're educate the the educators in these buildings and you know and the
administration um and parents you know but as the uniforms I just was like I can't you know and I I'm hoping that I'm not being too but you know how I get so you
know um that's that's Mindy's mind and you know Mindy's mind. So yeah, I I really do think that children need to be they need to foster their independence. They need to foster who they are. They
need to, you know, anyway, that's my Thank you. Thank you, Miss Hoppy. Is there anybody else for um comments on policy? I'm sorry, Miss Cooper. I agree with uh Miss Hoppy. I think I I do think the
weight can stress is a form of expression and I would hate to stifle that. I mean I do think that uh you know the administration can look at the the policy to see if anything needs to be
tightened up but I would not support any any dramatic change like that. Can I just interject uh for a second? And I just want to make sure the board is clear that the policy in my opinion is appropriate. Okay. Um
the administrative regulation that the board Sorry. Yeah. And and I we just been saying policy in broad strokes. So policy is is in my opinion appropriate. The administrative regulations are what I'll work with the principles on because
uh as uh Felicia alluded to in her report, they are far more restrictive at Bedwell than they are uh middle and high. Um so that's that's the area that we're going to come back to the committee on. Yeah. Thank I I think also because of um
people are also afraid to say something once the kids get a little older. Do you know what I mean? Because God help you if you make a comment that might be interpreted as something inappropriate to if there's
male teacher to a girl, you know, to a young lady or um a a female teacher to a to a young man, you know, I mean, there's so there's so many pieces here. It's all
swirling around my head, but I think I agree that um there's there's a lot of different factors and I'm late, you know, I just I think having Dr. Bersell talk with the administration just,
you know, to get a feel of what's going on. I think that's, you know, that's why policy is is appropriate. I you know take it like I I want to say something.
Um I understand um on the policy that we want the kids to be independent but at the same time I think um there are moments right when they get out of school there are things that there are things where they have to follow certain
rules. So it's not also only like um high school or middle school is preparing them right to that. So I don't want to think like oh no they they just need to be independent and do everything you want. So I I understand but I'm just want to say that and also in I have
talked to many kids that have been in in in school and how they suffer sometimes because the the disparity on the on the you know there is a lot of bullying sometimes that can be avoided I think if they follow a more strict uh code or
rule but it's I just want to say that you know because I know we want to respect independence so it's a a difficult balance I think So, and I know it's very difficult in middle school to tell the kids I I I know because even teachers is like sometimes they just
want to put a blind eye a blind eye, right? Like I didn't see anything. But I think it's important because sometimes kids also need those um how you say rules or guidance. So I don't want to say to them. That's why I was saying like um we have to teach them how to
dress for the occasion, you know. Well, that could I feel like that could be the parents and I know what you're saying. If you feel like you're cycling their creativity, I was in a uniform from K to 12. Creativity was hair, makeup, nail
polish, shoes, you know, you can be creative in other ways. Um, I just think the uniform I agree with Gabby, you have kids who have nothing and then kids who live in mansions and it's life's not
fair. But if this is one thing we can do to help the kids feel better about themselves and not feel less than because it is a competition. We could say all we want it's not, but in their minds it is. or maybe I want what they
have. Why can't we have it? Which was the question I used to pose to my parents a lot. But that and I also think it gets rid of all the stress coding. You know, like there's this is the uniform, you know, maybe this girl's a little
short that's might be pointed out your shirt's button too low. Who knows? But I think it alleviates that dress coding a child cuz most likely it'll be females who get dress coded I think more than boys. I don't know why
that is but I I just think it'll be easier for everybody but I could be wrong. Um I just I wanted to weigh in on that as well. um that I we are a public school and there are challenges
obviously with having um disparities of um in in you know socioeconomic disparities and certainly with a wide diversity of population in a district comes a wide diversity of um dress um resource and
all of those things. uh in the Summer Central School District that our guidance department works very collaboratively with all types of organizations um to make sure that all of our students are cared for and have the things that we need. We have amazing um community organizations that do the
same when it comes to the topic of uniforms. Um, I am pretty strictly opposed to anything that um enforces any notion of homogeneity among our students in a public school
district. Um, and as for taking away those dress coding items, I think if you speak to anybody, I have a number of friends who have girls in private school girls only private schools right now. And um it is a constant battle over them
rolling over their skirts and making their skirts too short and not wearing their shirts appropriately. So I think you're going to have kids challenging boundaries and norms no matter what you do, but in a public school environment, um I I have very strong opinion
regarding anything that promotes a sense of homogeneity. Maybe we could speak to Elizabeth because they implemented it pretty successfully and that's a huge district and I would assume from being a former resident and teacher that a lot
of those uniforms were subsidized. So they must have come up with a plan to do it and it's just very nice to see them. All the same again their personalities come out in other areas. I think also we have to
look at the school. Every school district is different. We don't know. I'm sitting here. I don't know like what what is the bigger issue here. You know, it could be just a smaller discussion. It could have been, you know, a big a big deal. like,
you know, I've walked the halls and, you know, I I don't see anything that is so glaring to say, "Oh my gosh, you know, we need to put in uniforms, you know, and I and I had the kid who's like, "M, I want these
sneakers. Maybe you better save up for them because, you know, I'm not You get one pair, that's it, you know, one." Um, but as far as, you know, I I see your point, but I can't I don't see it I
don't see it here. But I think it's important that you have those discussions just to um I I've I've been working on dress codes my whole life in the workplace, at schools. Um, my wife went to private
school. I know the issues that we're trying to teach our children how to survive in the workplace and the workplace doesn't have the uniforms. And there are exceptions, but trying to teach adults how to dress appropriately
in workplace is challenging and um you can um like I went to a wedding and you know said formal attire and you know what happens at a wedding not many people follow that rule. So you're rule it's
like well we're trying to teach children and and young adults to be how to uh survive in the workplace. So they have to learn about dress code and it's difficult and I know everybody wants to do what they want. So that's going to be
them for the rest of their lives and so I I don't think uh uniforms are are appropriate answer to the problem. They're not the answer to the problem that we're worried about you know and um so I I would not support that.
Um, and just switching gears going back to um the the other thing in policy, I would recommend um on public comments to push it back to policy and do like
we've done other things is we need to survey what's out there cuz I've read a lot about how other districts do it. I think if if uh if the administration get get like 10 or 15 way other school districts do it and see there are a lot
of other options. I would not I would I would I would entertain other options but I want to hear from other school district whether it's worked well or badly when they make a change. So that would be the way I would go there. Um and I think that that way sort of like
what um Dr. social data on finding when when schools start, when and what time do the schools start in August. That kind of feedback is very helpful. Um, we do it for salaries. We do it for a lot of things. We survey all the schools to
see what's appropriate and I don't want to make a judgment because there's probably ways you can do it and it's I think so we need to find that information and study carefully cuz it is it is we've as this board we changed
it a lot but um I've heard other boards have done some remarkable you know innovative things to make it run better so I'd like to see some of those things. Do you have any examples of I think one example is um some boards require if you
want to do public comments, you have to you have to um send an email at least a day in advance to say that you want to talk about the press code you want to talk about um the school food and then they will put
you on the agenda so you know what the items are and they can you know um say well I and 15 people talking about the same topic, you know, they so you can even restrict it, you know, um that's
one way to do it. Apparently, that works fairly well from what I've heard. So, is there anybody else on public comment? I have one. Yeah. Um, I think maybe it's something that just should be looked into because I
know just from myself things pop into my head just when people talk. So I don't know if I would I would never be the one to email saying I have a comment on, you know, because I that's not how my brain works, you know. I'm going to sit and
I'm going to listen and then I'll have a comment, you know, or have something to address. So I I think what they were doing they're doing that in the early part and then if people want to wait till the end come you could spread it so you're that
solves the issue of the people they've got something they want to talk about and they can schedule it all right early on where people are part of the audience that just like you said it pops into your head want to talk so you do that at the end kind of makes the meeting flow
smoother. Okay. Thank you. I wanted to thank Felicia because you tabled it for me. Thank you for that. Um there were some a lot of great discussion and thoughts um that the board was able to share tonight. Uh the
only thing that I would ask on behalf of me, yes, um is for me to work with um Felicia and the committee to kind of get a direction on what the committee wants us to research. Um and then, you know, we'll certainly prepare that for the
board. Yeah. um population. Um I don't have it here, but I did do some preliminary research on Lakewood five school districts and pretty much they do it like we do it. But I'm certainly willing to extend that research. And also I think we need to um
consider consider what the recommendations are um of NJSBA like what how conduct the meeting too. It's it's essential and I'm kind of like high on that because I went to the a conference on policy and that's something that they recommended certain
ways although certainly they had couple different ways to sequence it like maybe you just get to talk once for between 3 to 5 minutes and nobody revisits it or whatever. So I do think there needs to be some um research done if people want to hit us up if you want to let me know
what you would like to know more about. I'm willing to partner with Dr. virtual and do some uh research and then we can present it to the committee and then present it. Um yeah, I I to the NJSBA and actually stress test also um they they did a
presentation regarding best practice um and public comments and they were pretty firm about the way they're they suggest doing it, which is the way that we do it. And I just I I know nobody likes to hear it and that there you know it it
causes bristling but it is important as of course we we always want to hear from the public that is fundamental to our role and sitting here. Um we always want to hear from the public. Um but we also
have to recognize the purpose of our monthly meeting and the purpose of a monthly meeting is to conduct the business of the board and it is to have a meeting in the public to conduct our business where the public has a right to
be heard. Um and our current structure allows for that. Um it allows people to weigh in on the business of the board and then it allows them to speak on any topic really without you know without limitation. Um so
uh while I understand that it may be you know it may not be ideal to wait till the end of the meeting it still does allow anyone who wants an opportunity to speak on any topic they desire. Um and you know I I think that's really
important. I think it's really important to consider what we're doing, why we're here, what this what this meeting functions as. Um, and I just also want to encourage in the interim as this discussion is ongoing for the public to know that you can write to us regarding
anything at any time. Mr. Lori is our um board secretary. Correspondence can be sent to him via email with a request for it to be disseminated to the full board. um or you know you can send them to us independently. Um there are any number
of ways uh to to do that and to contact board members and to have your voice be heard. So while this you know while this is being discussed um I just in an ongoing capacity I encourage the public to make use of that mechanism for
communicating with the board as well. Um, okay. Miss Gills, what am I saying at this point? Oh, uh, so on the there was a motion on the floor to approve the policy items on the
agenda. Oh, so yes. Yeah, that's Mrs. Gomez. Yes, Mrs. Miss Hoppy, yes. Mr. Baker, yes. Miss Ballard, yes. Miss Clark Emry, yes. Mrs. Cooper, yes. Mrs. Frenda, yes. Motion carries. Okay. So, then we are going to move on to student
services. Student services didn't meet this month. So, there is no report um for that committee, but we do have some items um to approve. So, I'm going to ask for a motion to approve action items number one through three on the agenda. Can I have a motion, please?
Mr. and a second, Miss Gills. Okay. And um is there any discussion for student services? Okay. Well, before we vote, um I did just want to return to something that Dr. Brookel um brought up in his report
and that was the CPAG meeting that was conducted this month. Um I was fortunate enough to be able to attend. Um I thought it was absolutely fantastic. I feel like the content and the presenter who was going to be um a staff member of
ours was phenomenal. It was there was so much utility. Um and I think in terms of work that came out of operation responding for excellence. I think that is a direct outgrowth and I I hope that we see um members of that parent
community come out to take a leading role in that work and to um promote uh that the growth of that group because from that one meeting that will be a tremendous resource um and a and a
really uh a really great opportunity for everyone. So I just wanted to commend um the presenter. I wanted to commend our um student services department. I thought that that was fantastic. Anyways,
can we roll, please? Mrs. Gomez, abstain. Mrs. Hoppy, yes. Mr. Baker, abstain. Miss Ballard, yes. Miss Clark Emory, yes to items one and two and no to item
three. Miss Cooper, yes. Miss Gills, yes. Mrs. Frenda, yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay. Board announcements. The views and opinions that are made may be expressed by individual members of the Summer
Hills Board of Education during board announcements are solely those of the individual board members and do not reflect the views, opinions, policies, regulations, and or positions of the Somerset Hills Board of Education and or any other individual members of the board. Does anyone have anything for
board announcements? Uh yes, my report neglected to inform you about the uh graduation contingency planning um in the event that you're able to attend. So the weather is wonky. We're in this weird cycle and uh it's
been obviously pretty wet. Uh so we did put a message out to the parents today saying we're looking at a window from 2 to 7 to start. Uh we will not know when we're going to start till Thursday. Um
so stay tuned. It's not ideal but uh we very much want to have an outdoor ceremony and we will identify a time that we believe will allow us to do that. So, um, Nia will be in touch with you, um, regarding what our final
decision is. Uh, but we want you to be aware that, uh, it's pretty clear, um, that that's where we are. And there we will be watching the weather. Yes. And I just wanted to say congratulations to the future graduates, right? Middle
school. And yeah, for sure. I'm excited. I love to see. And one thing I wanted to say uh I was looking I follow many sports uh especially football my son but I saw I watched the game uh south versus
north and there was a very nice high school kid right yeah and they lost by one point but it was very nice because I I I have many students to do my work so I was like oh I know that kid you know and I know that kid
so I want to say it was very nice to see It was no sad and it was a good game and just one point to that. Thank you. Is there anybody else report announcements? No. Okay. Public comment. Um I will read
through cuz it's a procedure. Um public comments are welcome at this time on any topic. Please state your name and address. Comments are limited to 3 minutes. At 3 minutes, you'll be interrupted as 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 their thoughts with the board. In instances where the board feels there is a misunderstanding or inaccuracy, the board president or
superintendent may address a comment. In accordance with New Jersey statute, the board will not discuss matters regarding specific personnel. Seeing as there is no one here, can I stay here or can I go there? Oh, you wanted to make if you want to make a
public comment just okay. So, if you want to Hi, Holly Clark Emmery um Strive in Burnsville. I just wanted to um commend
the board Dr. Brochial and uh I guess Sam and Heather as well for acknowledging our beloved Dr. Butler. Um they had come the it had come to light that she was being what paid severely
just just in general just just as thankful for acknowledging I Dr. Roel, Sam, Heather, everybody else who came to acknowledge um somebody on staff that was not getting the appropriate salary and that was something that was
discussed and I just thank you. Thank you. I like to speak to you, right? Um okay. Yes. So assuming there are no other public comments then we are going to need a motion to close public
comments. Thank you. Okay. Now we are not during this time actually to go back into executive session. I know we like to give time say not to exceed maybe an hour. Um since I don't have a
good idea. All right. Okay. Well, okay. So, we just we can get through it just well different meetings of the board of education of summers. 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 the 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 at 3 p.m. on December 18th, 2024, and 5:00 p.m. on June 13th, 2025 in the following manner. Posted on the bulletin board, reserved for announcements in the board office at 25 Alcott Avenue. Posted in the mail office
of Bedwell, BMS and BHS, mailed to the courier news and posted on the SHSD website. File of the clerk of the burrow of Burnsville, Far Hills, Pacstone, and Bedminster Township, delivered to the 10 duly me elected board members. Can we have roll please? Mr. Baker here, Miss
Ballard here. Miss Clark Emery here. Miss Cooper here. Miss Gills. Miss Gomez, Mrs. Hoppy here, Mrs. Santoro, Mrs. Ry, Mrs. Frenda here. We have a Okay. Thank you. Okay. Then we are going
to move to go into executive session. The Open Public Meetings Act authorizes a public body to exclude the public from that portion of a meeting at which specified topics are to be discussed under circumstances where the public consideration of such topics will clearly endanger the public or where the
personal privacy or guaranteed rights of individuals whose activities or affairs are to be discussed will clearly be in danger of unwarranted invasions and the matters about to be presented for discussion clearly meet the circumstances types of such act. The board of education of Somerset Hills now
adjourns it public session to reconvene an executive session for the purpose of discussing the following student matters personnel litigation update and CSA evaluation. The discussion in executive session will be disclosed when the board's consideration of the subject matter has been closed or that such
matter does not adversely affect the rights or 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 endanger the public interest. Can
I please have a motion to go into executive session? Miss a second, Miss Cooper. Thank you so much.