Okay, good evening everybody. I'd like to call the meeting to order. At this time, can we all stand for the flag salute to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. Mr. Boyski, do the roll, please. >> Yes. Mrs. Van Horn >> here. >> Dr. Hutcherson >> here. >> Mr. Jess >> here. >> Mrs. Hodes >> here. >> Mrs. Sherwin >> here. >> Mrs. Kra >> here.
>> Mrs. Dale >> here. >> Mr. Kick >> here. >> Mr. Garcia >> is absent. Mrs. Smith >> here. >> Okay. Public notice. Adequate notice of this meeting in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the open public meetings act have been
provided by action of the board of education at its regular meeting on January 6, 2026. Notices that the courier news and the star ledger circulated in the school district and a posted notice that it effect on the board of education website and building bulletin board administrative headquarters 51 Westcliff Street
Somerville, New Jersey. So at this time we would like to open the floor to public comment. Comment is invited on agenda items and non-aggenda items or any matter related to the school district. Uh when permitted, public participation shall be governed by the following rules which are stated within the agenda. Uh please keep in mind when
you make a comment uh please state your name and your address. Uh also uh we limit comments to three minutes in duration and um I won't go through all of the other portions of this because they are very lengthy and there's only a few people within the room tonight. So,
uh, does anybody have a comment that they wish to make to the board? Please take the podium and just state your name and address. My name is uh Kevin Raferty, 10 South Midall Street, Somerville. Um, good evening. Uh, like I said, I I'm Kevin. I
live in Somerville. My son is at prek at Vandervir and my daughter is just one month old. So, uh, she'll be, you know, going to Vandervir in the next few years. and we're looking forward to that. Uh my son loves Vandervard Elementary School and it's been a a great experience so far. Um I'm here
tonight to discuss the recent artificial intelligence policy and Chromebook use amongst elementary age students. Specifically, how these tools negatively impact social skills, literacy, and academic integrity. A little bit about uh about my background. Uh I've been in
the field of educational technology for 16 years. I'm currently the network manager of a school district in New Jersey. Beginning with the AI policy, for those of you not yet familiar with the AI policy Somerville has set forth, the policy implements a rubric which
students and staff will use to judge when AI is acceptable and when it is not. This in turn takes the weight of decision-m off the administration and board and passes it on to the teacher and the student. It does not support the teachers by invoking strict guidelines
stating AI is banned in certain context and does not determine when specific tools are allowed or restricted. Some of the main concerns with artificial intelligence in classrooms are cheating and plagiarism. A policy that makes suggestions stating in math students struggling with a problem can
use AI to learn the stepbystep process and then apply that knowledge to other problems. and statements like AI can be used for researching and information from books, videos or other text sources is encouraging students to not participate in the active educational
process that is the function of schooling. Students need to learn how to effectively do research and work through the math problems before they use shortcuts like claude or chat GPT. Changing gears to Chromebook usage. This school year, the Somerville School
District allows take-home of devices at the kindergarten level uh and implements mandatory take-home of devices as early as first grade. From an IT professional and a parent, this is very alarming. At home, technology creates countless digital
distractions and can affect completion of homework, participating in the family dynamic, and creating social connections within the home and with friends. Research by the American Psychological Association suggest suggests that
limiting screen time in childhood could support better cognitive development, attention spans, and academic performance, which are foundational for success in complex fields like computer science. In the classroom, there are times when screens may be necessary, but
using a cart-based or lab-based implementation allows schools to more closely monitor both content and duration that technology is used. My questions for the board of administration. How is the Somerville School District vetting AI tools for the classroom and home use? How is the
district preventing a How is the district ensuring academic integrity? How is the district supporting teachers in the case of academic integrity? And how are we holding students accountable? What are the cyber security considerations the school is making in
regards to artificial intelligence? Moving to Chromebooks, what is the plan for the next school year regarding Chromebooks or onetoone devices in the classroom? And what is the long-term plan for onetoone devices at home and in the classroom? Thank you for your time. If you would
like to engage further on this issue, I would be happy to collaborate with you and share someformational sources that can help hopefully help guide in making informed decisions in the field of educational technology. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Are there any other comments from
public? Please take the podium. >> Thank you. So, I think I'm tracking this is the right time to make comments even though the issue hasn't necessarily been brought up or addressed. If I'm mistaken, please just let me know. My name is Matt Eler. I live at 20 South Cadillac Drive in Somerville, New
Jersey. Uh proud member of this community, proud combat veteran, proud union carpenter. um where my issues lie, sorry I'm a little tall, is um with the bidding process and what I assume is going to be awarded to Billy
Contracting, uh which is an out of area, out of county contracting, um firm, if you will, company who has over 20 pages of actual cited violations with the Department of Labor since just 2018. Um
just for the month of February this year alone uh February 2026 we have failure to register again February 26 2026 unpaid wages unpaid wages late payments failure to pay prevailing wage it's going to be a prevailing wage job
because it's my tax dollars and everybody else who's a constituent of the community's tax dollars. Right? So I don't know if you guys are familiar with prevailing wage or worker mclassification. But that brings us to inaccurate certified payroll records and obstruction. Again, February 2026,
separate case, unpaid wages, late payment, failure to pay prevailing wage, records, separate case, February 2026, unpaid wages, late payment, failure to pay prevailing wage. Again, 2026, unpaid
prevailing wage and late payment. Guys, this is the contractor who's gonna is going to award the bid. It's public knowledge, right? The the the top five biders that are right there. Billy Contracting takes advantage of unclassified, undocumented workers. I
don't care if they're documented or not. They deserve to get a fair wage and they deserve to not be mclassified and have my tax dollars stolen. I don't even have kids. I care so much about this community that I voted for this bond referendum because I care. My wife is a public servant and she has dedicated her
entire career to this county. Not this municipal municipality, but this county. I don't want to see my hard-earned tax dollars, your hard-earned tax dollars, go to someone whose workers aren't even going to get paid the correct amount and are going to get robbed. We're going to get robbed. And the money is not even staying within the municipality, let
alone the county. I don't know if we can make motions, but I think that this should be thrown out and there should be a project labor agreement put on this so that constituents, members of the county, people of color, veterans, anyone that's been a part of a trade program that offers an apprentichip, has an opportunity to build the schools in
which this community will benefit. So, I please I I I don't know what action we need to take. I would love to communicate with you guys, but uh yeah, that's uh that's pretty much all I got. >> Okay. Thank you for your comment. Are there any other public comments? Seeing none, is there a motion to close
public comment? >> So moved. M >> Sherwin second. >> Second horn. All in favor? >> All oppose. Abstensions. Public comment is now closed. I want to thank both gentlemen for actually making
public comment. We do value the opinions that you offer. Um again I can't uh the AI policy is something that uh I know is uh had a lot of investment and a lot of time actually spent on that. Um you know I I would encourage you because I'm not
sure you're going to get all the answers that you want tonight because we're not prepared to give them at this point just but the questions that you raise are good questions and I would encourage you to reach out to Superintendent Labiscoco. um you know there's also um um supervisors who are directly in
charge of the way the technology is kind of procured within a district and supervised within the district. So, I would ask that you do that as well. Um, relative to um the bid approval tonight, again, um I can only speak to process in terms of I'm sure you're very familiar
with the bid process and the way that works and the way that functions, >> right? I know the lowest bidder in government. It's just >> um you know, again, I think that uh when that motion comes up that there's a discussion that the board wants to have about that, then board members are entitled to have that discussion. I'm not going to speak on behalf of all me
board members on that at this point. Uh the motion is on the agenda at this point. Um so it will stay on the agenda if somebody wants to pull that item for a separate discussion and that could take place as well at that time. Okay. >> Yes sir. >> Okay. All right. But again I appreciate the comments that that people are are
bringing forward. Okay. Moving on with the agenda. Uh approval of minutes. Um I'll just read this one. Resolved that the board of education approved the minutes of the board of education meeting as follows. February 10th, 2026 regular meeting and February 10, 2026
executive session. Could I have a a first and a second on that? >> Okay. Miss Hodge is first and a second, please. >> Second. >> Miss Sherwin. >> Okay. Um, any discussion? Okay. Mr. Boy, can you
just do a roll on that, please? >> Yes. Mrs. Van Horn, >> abstain. >> Dr. Hutcherson. Oh, excuse me. What are we I I am I don't know what what I'm voting on. So, >> approval of the minutes. >> Oh, minutes. Yes. Approved.
>> Okay. Mr. Jess, >> abstain. >> Mrs. Hodes. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sherwin. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Kra. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Dale. >> Yes. >> Mr. Kemick. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Smith. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Boyce. Okay. board president's report. Um I just want to
point out a few things that are on the agenda and also a couple thank yous. Um I want to thank Mr. Boyce and members of the finance committee. Um tonight we are actually um voting and potentially discussing the tenative budget that that is being put forth. Uh the action that
we're taking tonight is to actually approve Mr. Boyce to send the tenative budget to the county for county review. Um this was a very very tight timeline. uh state aid came to districts very late. So announcements around state aid came
very late. Uh we had to actually move um this meeting I believe right >> you know from its original time to a different date because we needed some additional time to actually work our way through all the state aid numbers and and just uh again put the budget together. Uh the committee met a number
of times. So Miss Van Horn will report on that in a little bit but but this is a very very busy time of year in business office and and I know that Mr. voice um you know really works very very hard to kind of uh make sure that that process is seamless for the board. So uh I just do want to acknowledge that as
well. Um there are four retirements on the agenda tonight. Miss Tac, Miss Gerson, Miss Ilbeck, and Mrs. Russo. Uh they have served the district collectively for almost 79 years, almost
80 years. uh you that's quite a bit of experience that um is leaving the district. Um they have been a presence at the schools that they've been at. Uh I know a couple of them have had my children uh and my oldest is 20. He'll
be 27 this month um tomorrow actually. Um, so those things, you know, in terms of these personnel and the experience that they take with them when they leave is just something that is impossible to replace. And and the change that they've
seen in education, the work that they've done for our students and our families and just our community as a whole is just something that um the board is just grateful for. I know the community is grateful for and we wish them all the best uh as they move on to bigger bigger and better things. two of them worked
for 25 years within the district. Uh which is which is quite a milestone. So again, thank you for their their commitment, the work that they did for just our children and and the community as a whole. Um as was mentioned before in the comments, we do have a first bid
approval that is on the the agenda tonight. Um you know, that's for consideration for the board. Uh but that is the start of the referendum projects that are taking place within the community itself. Um, so again, uh, that's something again that the board just needs to be aware of as well. All right, I'll turn it over to
superintendent. >> For the sake of of time, we want to go first with >> Yeah, we could do that. Yes, why don't we do that then? All right, so I think what we're going to do at this point is we do have two executive sessions that we have to do tonight. Um, the first one
is at the beginning of the meeting. So we are going to make a motion. Could you read that for me, please? Yes. To go into executive session at this point. The board of education of Somerville School District in the county of Somerset will adjourn into a closed meeting to discuss the items which falls
within an exception of our open meetings policy and permits the board to have a private discussion since it deals with specific exceptions contained in NJSA 10 col 4-12B G pending or anticipated litigation. H
attorney client privilege. Be it resolved that the board will now go into private session to discuss matters rendered confidential by the personnel employment matters affecting a specific prospective or current employee. Any discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential will be made
public as soon as practical. Minutes of the private session will not be disclosed until the need for confidentiality no longer exists. All appropriate persons who may be discussed in private session have been adequately notified. We do not anticipate action to be taken following the executive
session. It is anticipated that the executive session will last approximately 1 hour. >> More like more like >> 20 minutes. That should be about 20 minutes. >> Uh can I have a second on that motion, please? >> We need a second.
>> Second. >> Miss Dale second. Okay. Uh all in favor? I >> opposed extensions. Okay. The board is now in executive session at 6:18. >> Um >> and Sherwin
>> first. Okay. Miss Van Horn second. All in favor? >> I >> Okay, we are back in public session at 6 >> 52 >> 50 >> 652 >> 652.
>> Okay. All right. So, we're going to move on to the agenda for the superintendent report and you have a couple presentations that we're >> for the sake of time. I'm going to turn things right over to Miss Lindsay forever. Uh, as you know, we've been talking about this for a long time. We had voted on it uh in our previous
meeting and she's going to discuss with us uh the new playground over at Vander. Thank you, Linds. >> Good evening, everyone. I am so excited to have the opportunity to share with you the soontobe newly upgraded Vandervir playground.
Before I show you what it looks like, I just want to take a minute to thank some of the people that helped to decide on the playground. We first spoke with our lunch aids that highlighted for us what the kids are on on our current playground and then we spoke to some
students. After those conversations, we created a committee stakeholder group. It included administrators, classroom teachers, related services teachers, parents, and then finally representatives from our board of education, our summerville prek to 8
PTO, and finally our special ed parent advisory group. So, here are some of the new components to the playground. There will be a rubberized playground surfacing a concrete sidewalk. It's
going to be completely fenced in. This will allow all of the students in our school to have the opportunity to use the playground. There is also going to be a pavilion with seating, so the students can use it during the lunch and recess time, but our teachers now can also use that as an
outdoor learning space. There's going to be benches with umbrellas and then what you're going to see soon are two playground pieces and then some standalone pieces. So this is the aerial view. I want everyone to take a look at the octagon
because that's the most important piece. That is the gaga pit that is staying but it's going to be relocated because it currently is where the pavilion is. So these are the pieces that were chosen based upon that feedback from our
students, the lunch aids, and the stakeholder group. So the best way to show you is I have a video that will highlight what it's going to look like. This right over there uh is wheelchair accessessible. One of the big things was having more
slides. So, as you can see, there are a lot more slides. The climbing of the spiderweb was big, but I needed to change what that looked like. So, there are still climbing opportunities. There's the sensory boards that the
students can also use. And some of our older students wanted higher to build and be able to climb up. Um, so as you can see this one you can go higher and then they love this spinny thing that I don't like. So this I like. It
still spins but a little bit safer. Site work is going to begin the end of June and the plan is is that it will be complete for the start of next school year. So, thank you again for your support with this. The students are going to
really be excited. I utilized a fifth grade group today as my practice presentation and they asked if they were going to be allowed to come back to go on it. So, I felt that that was like, okay, we made some really great choices. So, thank you
so much. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next up, uh obviously we've had a couple other presentations uh from Ariel Denver, our uh director of technology and innovation, and we were one of the the first schools to have the
AI grant. And what it did was really build out the infrastructure uh and support quite a bit of implementation of proper usage and Ariel's just going to bring a little closure to that one. Um, I'll be quick because we um talked in September about the real work that
was being done and I was able to model kind of what the kids were doing and I did share this in September um that this is this is how we spent the $75,000 that we were one of 10 districts to get. Um, and a lot of it is on building teacher capacity, teacher leaders, um, and
teaching about AI and with AI for ethical use. Um, and so I'm really excited to um kind of talk about where that money went. So, a huge huge piece of it went into investing in our teachers. Um, we started PD last spring. We had PD all summer long. Um, and then
we've been running during professional development. Um, but really with our teacher leaders. Um, but then we also have students as learners. So, we are working with students on how to integrate AI ethically into their class. So our teachers um have grown on those examples that were shared in September.
But each um AI use is defined and has an ethical um piece that comes with it and then a reflection. So how is AI integrated as a tool in the curriculum? What is the ethical use of it? And then what is the reflection so that students are learning and growing each time
they're using it? Um, and so the I need to huge shout out to these teachers that um have grown our program more than I ever could have done. So the AI teacher leaders, we had one in almost every department at the high school. Um, they
were able to leave the district and go learn about AI. They then came back to their departments and they shared um with their departments every single month at department meetings um something about AI, a tool, a lesson. They did a project example, a student example, um quotes from our students. Um
then they helped um put AI into our units. So in their subject area, they took their core um curriculums and they added AI ethically into each unit which includes the tool or the um the strategy, the ethical and the reflection
that goes with it. Um so that our kids are learning with AI and about AI. um our AI outreach and equity coordinator created an event where our MLS went down to the elementary school um where they wrote they wrote in story books in
English and then use AI to take their English to life. So they were able to visualize the images of the story books they wrote um our ESL 3 and four or maybe just ESL4 at the high school coming down to our MLS in um our younger grades. And then no decision if AI is
made alone. Um these are committee members on the right hand side. Um we meet at least quarterly and decisions are made as a whole group. Um so a lot has happened and it is completely driven by these teachers. Um and I could not
have pictured us being where we are today a year ago. Like I cannot thank them enough. Um so this is actually them out and about through a whole bunch of different conferences in house um sharing everything that we're doing. schools are reaching out to us. Um our
website is hopefully going to launch in the next couple weeks that has unit plans, um student examples, um curriculum, uh and lesson plans as well as PD all created by that list of teachers and then a few more that kind of jumped in at the end. Um so I'm excited to be able
to share what we're doing. This is from September. Um what success looks like. I feel like we hit this. Our students are engaged. They are not passively learning. um they are excited to be creative with it. Um and they are excited to kind of if you talk to them
share what's going on. So what's next? Um we are living out the rest of a second grant. Um and again I shared this in September. I just want to do a followup. We have an expanding computer science grant where we got 64 there's a zero missing. $64,000 in it. Um so I
presented this in the summerfall and we um are uh in the summer um our AI and ethics course is now live at the high school. It started this semester. The states already kind of come and visit where the kids are um learning about AI,
LLM, machine learning and the ethics and how it impacts their career um potential career moving forward. So that is a sum uh semester long class that we are currently running and has a great success to the point where I walked in and a girl was saying she didn't know I was about to walk in the door says I
never thought I'd be coding Taylor Swift to come out of this little thing and it was a cute little Raspberry Pi and I was like that's a win. She was very excited like and there was Taylor Swift playing out of the um she had used AI to help code her Raspberry Pi. It was very cool. Um so this is why we're doing this. Um
so this is um research that's coming out um basically the observed who what careers are using AI. So the red piece is already observed data of um careers that are using AI and then the blue is
theoretical. And so this is a lot of what we teach our kids and prepare them for a future and so their future will have AI in it. And so we are working to make sure that they understand it um to use it responsibly. >> Thank you Ariel.
We appreciate your leadership in this and it's just wonderful to see how it's a grassroots effort that is shared by everyone in the district. So, thank you for sharing the big picture uh of the AI grant and the impact it's made. Uh I do have some comments but again for
the sake of time um Eric is here you want to hear our committee reports committee reports. So, let's move on to committee reports. Um, finance, security, bills, and crowns. So, Miss Van Horn, I believe you
have a report for us. >> Sure. >> This evening, the board will be voting on a tenative budget for the 2026 2027 school year. Following the board's approval, the budget will be submitted to the county superintendent of schools
for review and approval. A public hearing regarding the 2026 20227 budget is scheduled for April 28th at which time the board will vote on the adoption of the final budget. The finance committee has been actively engaged throughout the budget development
process, reviewing key assumptions, monitoring changes in in revenue, and assessing expenditure drivers. During this time, the district's financial outlook improved from an initially projected 3% decrease in stra state aid
to a 5.8% increase, allowing the administration to move forward with priority initiatives while maintaining fiscal stability. Health benefits remain the primary cost driver in this year's budget. Costs
increased by 1.464 464 million with prescription expenses rising 25% and medical costs increasing 19.5%. To address rising costs, the budget includes a 2% tax levy increase along
with a 1.166 million cap adjustment tied to healthc care cost increases. The total school tax rate increase is 5.9% or approximately $3245
cents per month for the average residential property inclusive of referendum debt service. The district continues to demonstrate prudent fiscal management. The board has elected not to utilize $399,000
in previously banked cap, which will expire after the 2027 2028 budget year, while also generating an additional $29,000 in new bank cap with a three-year utilization window. Overall, the
district's structural budget position remains excellent. This has been and always will be a critical budget goal for the district. The committee has carefully reviewed the programmatic con uh components of the budget to ensure alignment with district goals and
student needs. Additionally, the committee examined the revenue side of the budget. The district experienced a significant loss of approximately $7 million in ratables due to changes in Verizon st tax status. Furthermore, the
district remains committed to funding capital projects as part of a long-term capital improvement plan. Notable projects included in the tenative budget outside of the referendum are the replacement of the Vandervir sprinkler
system repair, which is required, the Summerville High School intercom bell system replacement, refurbishing the Somerville High School elevator, Vander gym HVAC system, Somerville Middle School HVAC replacement
in rooms 115 and 215. uh the uh Somerville High School cafeteria HLVs fan in lie of replacing a $450,000 AC replacement at the middle school and
the middle school sign. The board of education meeting for the public hearing will include a comprehension comprehensive budget presentation during which we will provide a detailed overview of these areas and others. This concludes the
financial report tonight. Right. >> Thank you, Miss Van Horn. And just as a reminder to board members, we're not we're not approving the actual budget tonight. We're just approving a tenative budget. So that would be the tenative budget that is being put forward to the county. U the next meeting, the next
board meeting would be when the budget hearing takes place and the public is invited to make comments specific to the budget at that meeting. And if there's discussion that board members would like to have as well, very specific to the final approval of a budget, that can take place at that meeting as well. Um, I would encourage board members if you
have specific questions as well, um, reach out to any committee member that's been at at the meetings. I think they could be a good source of information for people. And then of course you can reach out to the superintendent and to the business administrator as well. All right. Thank you, Miss Van Horn. Okay.
Um, technology, curriculum, instruction. Miss Dale. >> Okay. say. Hi. Uh, we met on March 11th. Um, a lot of the things we discussed were AI related that Ariel included in her presentation, so I won't repeat those. However, I would like to thank
Ariel and the members of the AI teacher leaders committee um who are doing really really great things in our district. I did share this at the meeting with them, but I want to share it publicly as well. um a family member of a friend lives in Chicago is in the
education field and was at a conference in Chicago where they mentioned Somerville's AI program. So it's not just spreading throughout the state but spreading throughout the country and I think that's just amazing. Um a few other things we discussed we discussed
the music technology curriculum and that's incorporating AI. It's also funded through a grant and very exciting. We discussed some summer programming, some projected summer programming. So this is again grant funded but there is a STEM program with
heavy math infusion for rising um students in grades 1 through 6 and that is planned to be 11 8:30 to 11:30 July 6th through 16th Monday through Thursday. There is an expanding computer
science grant-f funded e robotics program for rising 7th through 9th graders that will be July 6th through 9th. And there's also an ESL STEM program which will that one will be invite only and it's projectbased
language through science and math. Um, and there is also being considered a high school program for students needing credit recovery, AP prep and algebra prep being considered. Um, so the bad
news is this will be replacing the theater and instrument instrumental music programs, which I know we're very loved by our district, but I think it's amazing that we are offering something and it's grant funded. So, right now there does not seem to be a be a cap.
hopefully um depending on the teachers that we are able to get to work on those. Um we had another discussion on esports. A middle school program launched for esports with 130 initial interested students which is amazing. I
don't believe all of them will be able to participate but interested. >> We got 20. >> Okay. So 20 >> strong team. They're already winning. >> They're already winning. So, they're competing in the Garden State Esports League and the high school players will
be mentoring the middle school players, which I think is great. >> We did have some discussion on standardsbased report cards and making sure it's easy to understand and more informative for parents in the future, a future goal. And we actually did have a discussion on Chromebooks for the
younger grades. So, there was some concern over the weight of Chromebooks and kids carrying them back and forth to school. And as of now, grades K through 1 can actually opt to leave their Chromebook and their charger at school. And they now plan on surveying staff
about grades two through five to see if they need those Chromebooks for homework or not. Because we did bring up the discussion that was mentioned earlier tonight on is it good for students to have these Chromebooks, but good Chromebook home is it beneficial or is
it not? So um I did want to mention also that there is a program called securely and those are parent controls that are available for home filtering. So during the school day the school has you know all the controls set but at home parents
can also do that on their own in case people did not know about that. And that is all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you Miss. All right, we have one quick um >> very quick >> committee report. >> Three bullet points. Go for it.
>> Okay, so I had the opportunity to attend the second annual leadership summit um for board vice president presidents um in West Windsor on March 7th. It was a full day and it was really informative. Uh they mentioned about the
reorganization grant offered by the state. There were breakout sessions with other leaders from other districts. So it offered wonderful perspective and I left with great gratitude for the health of our board. Um and then also just some things to consider as we head into our retreat in August just discussing some
board norms um that I gathered from that. So it was a wonderful experience and I'm grateful I had the chance to attend. >> Yeah. Thank you for attending that. Yeah. Okay. So that closes our committee reports. We're going to now move on with um making our um approving our resolutions.
Uh the first section of the agenda is preschool through 8th grade. Are there any items that board members would like to pull for a separate vote in this section? Okay, seeing none, Miss Sherwin can make a motion. >> Motion to approve that items 1 through 19 be moved upon by the recommendation
of superintendent of school appointments and salaries contingent upon verified documentation. >> Thank you, sir. Second. >> Second. >> Miss Van Horn. Any discussion? I just wanted to echo what you had said about the teachers who are retiring. I'm very grateful for the interactions
they've had with my my children over the years. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> All right. Mr. Boyce, can you do a roll? >> Yes. Mrs. Van Horn? >> Yes. >> Dr. Hutcherson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Jess? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hodes? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sherwin? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Kra? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Dale?
>> Yes. >> Mr. Kimick? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Voice. Okay. Okay, now we're going to move on to items 9th grade through 12th grade and districtwide items for a separate vote. Uh, is there anybody that would like to pull an item? >> Like to pull item 23, please. >> Okay, we're going to pull item 23
uh which is the renovations and alteration at Somerville High School. All right, so we'll address that separately. There any other items? Okay, for members of the public also, this is where we are approving the tenative budget as well. All right. So, can you make a motion minus item 23?
>> Uh, motion to approve that items 20 through 22 and 24 through 47 be moved upon by the recommendation of the superintendent of school appointments and salaries contingent upon verified documentation. >> Okay. Is there a second? Second. >> Okay. Miss Hodgeges, any discussion?
>> Okay. Mr. Boyce, you do a roll, please. >> Yes. Mrs. Van Horn, >> yes. >> Dr. Hudges, >> yes. >> Mr. Jess, yes. >> Mrs. Hodes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sherwin, >> yes. Mrs. Kra, >> yes. >> Mrs. Dale, >> yes. >> Mr. Kimmick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Smith,
>> no to 21 and yes to the rest. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. Okay. Now, we will um we first will need to make a motion to address item 23. So, can you please make
a motion for item 23? >> Sure. Uh motion to discuss. Well, we're making a motion to um approve the item. >> Oh, okay. >> And then we can discuss it. >> Okay. Motion to approve uh number 23. Do I need to read it? >> Just read.
>> Renovations and alteration at Somerville High School. >> Okay. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Jess. Okay. Discussion. >> Wanted to pull this item because I it was new information. This is something that's new for me talking about um this bid process. So I was hoping to add a
little bit of clarity and a little conversation between the board members of how that was done and what flexibility we have in selecting the contractor in this fitting process. >> Okay. Um so perhaps before we do that um
we have ABA we have two BAS in the room. So I'm going to defer first to Mr. Boyce and then Mr. Jess if you would like to contribute to the discussion that would be helpful. So just so the board members understand the bid process itself for construction pro
the um process is strictly governed by the law. Um the technical specifications in for this particular bid was developed uh with three district professionals involved. You have the board attorney, you have the board construction manager
and you have the board architect. I'm talking about the technical aspect of those of those specifications. Obviously, the work that's going to be done there was influenced by district uh people that you know, administrators and and so forth and what we communicated as
far as the referendum. But in terms of the technical specifications, we had three professionals working to making sure that we met all necessary requirements. We do have a construction manager in place, which we typically do not, but for the referendum, as you all
remember, we have a construction manager in place because with the with the amount of projects that we're juggling in this referendum, we need this extra professional in place to to properly manage it. So, we we enjoyed an extra professional in in the review of the
actual specifications. The board attorney in this case for this bid opening was actually present for the bid bid opening. The reason for that is because we opened the bids on Friday and as you all know we had the agenda sent down on Friday night. So we need to have the board attorney present worked out
because he was on his way to Montgomery so we didn't pay a lot for that. But um we we're actually able to witness him um actually review the specs or review the bids on on the spot. Um he reviewed them immediately. Um he determined that Billy
construction bid submission was legally respons responsive with no fatal flaws. The bid uh was also within the the available funds. Uh we cannot speak to any violations that were cited tonight,
but we can say that the board attorney verified that the contractor possessed all necessary and required credentials in order to be awarded uh this this uh project. Um all all legal requirements were met for this bid award.
The resolution itself was written by the board attorney after his review and conclusion that it met all legal requirements. >> Okay. Are there any other questions about process? >> Did you have anything to add to that? I >> I mean the only thing that I would say
is if if the bid had come in over budget, then we could reject it. If the district had prior negative experience with this particular contractor, then we would be able to discuss rejecting that as well. But since we've never used them before
and to your comments, it might be a >> certain kind of show, but I mean there's not there's really nothing that we can do with it. And and to Mr. Voice's point, since we did approve a construction manager, we're going to have an extra set of eyes on the project who's going to be holding their feet to
the fire as well. Um, they they're required to pay prevailing wage, so they have to pay whatever the state says for our county for the specific trades that they're coming in. They have to pay that if they're not part of the union. So, they have to do that, right? They submit their paperwork to us at the same time
they submit it to the state. So, the state is reviewing it first. I mean, we get it. We're just making sure that what they're at least in my experience, we're taking their payouts which include all the salaries that they have paid and we're ensuring that that's right and it falls within what the last payout was
and what the project bid was. The state is the one who's going and reviewing all of their documents for prevailing wage. And if the state finds something wrong with it, they'll go after the contractor and then they'll let the district know through the Department of Labor website and then Mr. voice will get notifications electronically from them
saying, "Hey, we we received these payouts. This is wrong and this is wrong as well." So, >> but that can then allow the district to change the way that we move forward in any way or once we engage in this contract, we're just in it for this project. Well, so if we experience, at
least in my experience has been, if the district experiences a lot of issues with the contractor and the contractor is unwilling to change or they have demonstrated that they won't change, then we can go after their bond and that's a long involved process where
we contact their bonding company, we go after their bond, we pull their bond, we can in essence kick them off the job and get another contractor, but then the insurance company has to approve that contractor. And there are times when the insurance company will be like, "Great, you you know, you kicked company A off of the job, but we're going to give it
right back to company A because they're still the lowest price." >> Is there a possibility in future kind of processes to privilege um organizations or companies that reside in our municipality or does it need to be? >> Yes, project labor agreements. Yes, there is. >> Okay. Right.
>> Okay. Um maybe that's something that that we can discuss further to see. That would have to be a discussion with the construction attorney because PLA's are sometimes good, sometimes they're not. So, you have to really take all that into consideration before you're before as a project is coming together in the
in the development of the project, not once the project's all done. >> Thank you. >> Okay. There any other questions? So based on what she stated just so that I understand like if they are not abiding by what they are supposed to be there are there are steps that we can
take but oftent times it gets kicked back to >> well sometimes well it depends on it it depends on how egregious they were like I I had a contractor one time that was horrible and we kicked them off and the insurance company was like anybody you can get go ahead and do it. >> Okay, >> you know but that's going to be up to
Mr. voice in his negotiations with their bonding company should it come to that. >> And this is just rooted in in state mandate. So we have very little. >> It's Yeah. The state's like you have to take the lowest bidder regardless of whether they're A+ or F+. >> Is that the kind of thing that can be
monitored um by progress? Like is that something that could be reported on public? >> Yeah. And I do want to point out this is why we actually, you know, two meetings ago, I believe we approved a construction manager mainly because of the scope and the size of these projects that are going to be taking place. And
that construction manager is going to be on site in the district and that's the primary responsibility of that person to make sure that these projects are staying on point. and you know, our staff has access to him and he's he's our go-to guy in terms of going and
talking to the contractor and making sure that that stays correct and and the construction manager not only is checking the contractor, they're also checking the architect, >> right? Because the architect is the one who's supposed to be looking at the contractor as well. So now we have two sets of eyes on the contractor and, you
know, another set of eyes on the architect saying, "Hey, you messed up this part of the plan. That's why they're doing it. How are we going to resolve it? >> I have a question. Um, if this vote got voted down tonight, what would the next steps be? Would it go back to bid or
would it be the same person? >> It we'd have to go to you would probably have to go to the attorney because it you would have the the rationale to vote down the bid. You that has to be stated by the board and then that would go to the attorney. And if it doesn't fall within one of the acceptable rejections,
if you will, then the attorney probably be like, you have no reason to vote this bid down and the contractor could come and then sue the district. >> And based upon what Brian is sharing, that's that's >> he's done his due diligence and and we really have
>> I'm not sure we have the, you know, the the reasons to reject the bid. You know, that what Derek said is absolutely true. We would we would be in a legal situation almost immediately because Billy Contracting's point of view would be I submitted a legal bid to you that met all legal requirements and I was the
lowest responsible bidder. So unless you have a valid reason to reject my bid, you must award it. >> And that valid reason needs to be within the mandates set forth by the state. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> Lauren just dinged too. I don't know if that means
>> I raised my hand. Can you hear me? >> Yes. Okay. >> Should we put the link? >> So, just so I am completely clear on this, um Brian, just to to recap, you did say that our attorney looked at this and they said that this was a
responsible however they determined it. They they felt that this was the respons a responsible bidder. I just want to make sure I understand. >> They were just the lowest >> lowest. They were the lowest. The law says lowest responsible bidder.
The the lawyer determined that they were the lowest responsible bidder. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> Okay. We have this item has been seconded. So, we do have to um call roll and vote on this. So, Mr. Boyce, would
you do that, please? >> Yes. Mrs. Van Horn. Yes, >> Dr. Hutcherson. >> Yes, >> Mr. Jess. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Hodes. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Sherwin. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Kra. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Dale. >> Abstain, >> Mr. Kimick. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Smith.
>> Yes. >> Okay, the item passes. Um, I do want to acknowledge your comments. I want to thank you for coming out tonight and pointing that out. Um, >> I'm a little a little late to the punch here, too. If I I I don't I don't I apologize. I don't want to be informal
with our It's just It's the federal OSHA violations, public record. >> I understand you made that you made that clear in the comments and and I don't want to get into an exchange right now. I just want to thank you for the comments that that you that you made tonight. Um, >> of course, >> you know, I think that um, you know, it's something again that uh, it was
good for the board to hear that and for the board to actually be able to reflect on that. So, I'm going a little bit out of order right now, but I want to thank you for your announcements, sir. Thank you. >> All right. >> Okay. Um, all right. Moving on to other items in the agenda. We're going to move on to old business. Are there any old business items?
Move to close. >> Move to close. There a second. >> Second, Miss Sherwin. Okay. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor? >> All opposed? All businesses closed. New business items. Are there any new business items?
I actually have one that I would just like to pass to the curriculum committee. I I the gentleman that was here tonight in terms of the concerns that he raised around AI with our youngest students, you know, particularly early elementary grades. Uh and the Chromebook questions, I don't
know if that's come up within the committee meeting, but I would ask that that be a topic of a future technology and curriculum committee meeting. you know, with respect to just Chromebook allocation at the younger ages, um whether or not we as a district feel that's the appropriate thing to do, as a
board feel that's appropriate thing to do. And then just u you know, a discussion about just the the AI BI piece. Um so I appreciate the gentleman coming out tonight and offering that. >> Um as I stated in my report, we did discuss it. >> So we did have that discussion last meeting. We had a pretty lengthy
discussion about it. So, I did uh >> it is a yearly and we'll continue the discussion. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. Well, we'll talk about that all fine then. Okay. Um motion to close new business. >> I just wanted to say one quick thing. I
just wanted to thank Miss Freickett and your team for all of your hard work with the playground. As a Vanov parent, I'm very excited as a lot of people in this room are um for a great new playground there. So, thank you for all the hard work that you did with that. As long as all the people keep their puppy dogs out
of there >> and you'll have more more middle schoolers coming down. >> My daughter will be excited to go on it. >> All right. Motion to close new business. >> My emojis, but all the confetti emojis. >> So, thank you. A second.
>> A second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> All opposed. >> Okay. New business is closed. All right. Can you bring us into executive session? The board of education of Somerville School District and the county of Somerset will adjourn into a closed
meeting to discuss the items which fall within an except with in an exception of our open meetings policy and permits the board to have a private discussion since it deals with specific exceptions contained in NJSA
104-12B pending or anticipated litigation. H attorney client privilege. Uh be it resolved that the board will now go into private session to discuss matters rendered confidential by personnel employment matters affecting a specific prospective or current employee. Any
discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential will be made public as soon as practical. Minutes of the private session will not be disclosed until the need for confidentiality no longer exists. All appropriate persons who may be discussed in private session have been adequately notified. We do not anticipate action to
be taken following the executive session. It is anticipated that this executive session will last approximately >> one hour. >> One hour. >> Um is there a second? >> Second. >> Miss Van Horn. Okay. Um all in favor? >> I.
>> All opposed. All right. Before we go into executive session, we do not anticipate taking action when we come out. So I'd like to have a motion to adjurnn now. So when we're done with executive session, we are done with the meeting. So is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Mr. Jess is there second massages. All in favor? >> I
>> I Okay, so we are adjourned to the conclusion of executive. Thank you everybody. >> See you tomorrow. >> There he is.