Good evening everybody. I'd like to call our May 13th meeting to order. U please stand for the pledge salute. I pledge 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. Boyce, can you roll, please? Yes. Mrs. Van Horn here. Mr. Sergio is absent. Mr. Jess is absent. Mr. Carlson here. Mrs. Sherwin is absent. Mrs. Kra
here. Mrs. Dale here. Mr. Kimick here. Mr. Garcia here. Mrs. Shaw here. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Boyce. Public notice. Adequate notice of this meeting in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the open public meetings act has been provided by
action of the board of education at its regular meeting on January 7, 2025. Notices to the courier news and star ledger circulated in the school district and a posted notice of this effect on the board of education website and building bullet board administrative headquarters 51 West Cliff Street,
Somerville, New Jersey. At this time, we are going to open the meeting up to public comment. Uh comment is invited on agenda items, non-aggenda items, or any matter related to the school district when permitted. Public particip participation hard one today shall be
governed by the following rules under bylaw 0167. Public participation shall be governed by the following rules. One, a participant must be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments by an announcement of his or her name, municipality of residence and
group affiliation if applicable. Each statement made by the participant shall be limited to three minutes duration with a total of a balance amount of 30 minutes for the session. No participant may speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard. All
statements, questions or inquiries shall be directed to the presiding officer and any questions or inquiries directed by the participant to another board member shall be redirected to the presiding officer who shall determine if such statement, question or inquiry shall be addressed by the officer on behalf of the board or by the individual board
member. The presiding officer may interrupt or warn or terminate a participant statement, question or inquiry when it's too lengthy. interrupt or warn a participant when a statement, question or inquiry is abusive, obscene or maybe defamatory. Request any person to leave the meeting when that person does not
observe reasonable decorum. Request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a disorderly person. Call for recess or an adjournment to another time when a lack of public decorum interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting and weigh these rules when necessary for the protection of or privacy or to maintain an orderly
operation of the board meeting. That was all for the robotics club. Um, so at this point we open the floor to any public comment. So is there anybody who would like to make comments? All you Distinguished members of the board,
Superintendent Leiscoco and friends, I see principal Foley pack, Jamie Bartac of Readington, New Jersey. Just a few parting comments before I submit my paperwork to the district for a gold
watch. Over the past seven years, I've had the privilege through volunteering within the high school to be around and become acquainted with many outstanding young adults, educators, and volunteers alike. That kind of dedication in our
students and staff breeds great success. Church Hill said, "Success is moving from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm." We have great enthusiasm at some high school. When students come together and align themselves around common goals and
objectives, you obtain success. When students accept, respect and support each other for what they have in common and what they can contribute based on in their individual talents, you have success. And this
holds true for every organization within the school. could be robotics, uh, band football, and I think it comes down to three things. You set meaningful and achievable expectations. There's accountability for
what's working and what's not. And there's achievement based on merit and results. And the board can continue to support these many great achievements by simply doing one thing. You need to say, "We believe in you."
By continuing to provide the tools, the resources, and the finances to break to breed success for our students, you say to them, we believe in you. And I would also offer to the board, please don't fall victim to what
I call the educational industrial complex. Uh, in my opinion, the two greatest regressive policies we've had within education in the last 25 years are No Child Left Behind and Common Core. It has created a cycle of
conflicts of interest that are so intertwined and so incestuous, it's nearly impossible to unbundle. The same companies that create the curriculum, they tell the teachers how to teach it. They establish the metrics how to grade it. and they create
the standardized tests to evaluate and if it doesn't work they start over again. This industrial complex is compensated from end to end across that continuum. Nationally more students
graduate than ever before but seemingly have less skills. This cycle needs to end. We can only hope that with new leadership in Trenton in the coming year that we can reset education across the state, we can also address funding and funding formula
issues and the charter schools and the lack of controls within those institutions that really impact public schools and take away from resources that I believe should be available to schools like Summerville. So, Sir Isaac Newton said almost 400
years ago, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. Let us continue to walk in the footsteps of these giants before us and stand on their shoulders so that we may see further." Thank you very much and we
appreciate your work for the schools and for the district. Thank you for your comment. There any other public comments? Have a motion to close public comment. Please move. Second. Second. Mr. Carlson
and M. Sherwin. All in favor. All opposed. Abstensions. Okay. I just want to thank uh Mr. Bartishek who walked outside. Just for your comments and your support over the years. I know you've done just a tremendous amount of volunteering. Um you know it's something
again that um you know as you said the the the comments around just believing and making sure that people understand that is something that resonates and and you know you know just having a vision and supporting a vision is extremely important. So here I've always I've
always appreciated your your feedback and your comments. So thank you. Okay. All right. Moving on. Approval of the minutes. um resolve that the board of education approve the minutes of the board of education meeting as follows. April 29, 2025 regular meeting and April
29, 2025 executive session. Could I have a motion and a second on this? So move, Miss Van Horn. Second, Mr. Carlson. Uh any discussion? Okay. Um all in favor? All opposed?
Extensions. Okay. Great. All right. board president's report. Uh, I just want to make a couple quick comments. Um, I am and the board president. Yeah. Okay. May is mental health awareness month. I just wanted to kind of point
that out uh because that is something that is critically important within schools, within our community. Uh, you know, this is an area of focus that I think a number of people have as a role within the district. Um it's something again when we talk about extracurriculars, when we talk about programming that we have for students,
all of those things to me dubtail into mental health. I mean it's it's something again where you know people feel connected. They feel a sense of purpose. They feel a sense of value within a community. All of that matters. Uh we have a number of counselors and specialists within our district that are you know really focused on that work.
But it's something again that I know you know everybody contributes to classroom teachers, coaches, uh custodians, everybody. it matters and and I would just want to thank everybody who contributes to that who keeps a focus on the right things in terms of students. Um you know this is something again that
um you know I know administrators prioritize this um you know when something's not right in terms of our mental health the other things just don't matter. So you know thank you to everybody for the support in those areas. Uh I want to point out just a policy review change that we're doing. Um there was some question last meeting
around how we actually uh provide the public access to policy prior to a second reading or a first reading. So what we've done is uh suspended the second reading of the policies that we did our first reading of last meeting. We're going to hold off on doing a second reading until our June meeting. U
those policies are posted on the website. Anybody that would like to go review the policies are welcome to do so. And that'll be our practice going forward from from now on. Um the other thing I I just want to point out about our agenda, this really includes a number of reorganization
items. U this also has a staff roster on there for approval for next year. I want to congratulate everybody who's included with on on the staff roster. It's something again that uh that happens once a year where everybody is reappointed at the roles and want to thank everybody for their efforts around that and the work that goes into that. I
know this is something that in the business office is quite a task at this time of year getting everything organized to get contracts organized and get ready for for issuance. So, thank you to all those people that work behind the scenes on that. But you'll notice in some of the um agenda items that these
are really reorgsations going into next year as well. And uh with that, I'll turn it over to Mr. Leisco. So, I want to thank everyone for coming out. This is really exciting and in a moment we're going to hear from uh Tyler's robotics team and and this is
one when I came into the district I was really excited to become more familiar with. Um quite a reputation um and and certainly great participation and very competitive uh both locally and uh even on a much wider scale nationally at times. So I'm excited to to have you
guys present to the board. and when Tyler asked, you know, we jumped at that opportunity to have everyone introduced to it if you're not already familiar with what great work they do. Um, with that said, there are some items that um I'll jump on at the end there, but I think it's important that we hear from
uh the robotics uh and then I will do my normal uh items after that. Also, this time of year, um many many things are going on. Please check out our district calendar to see all the exciting events going on that we uh you know are kind of coming to a close. It is um you know the
time of year where we celebrate our students, we celebrate our staff, we celebrate our community and really the uh coming together of all those different parties and it's it's fun, it's exciting, it's a whirlwind, but uh it's one I certainly encourage you to take a look at so you can participate um
in whatever you know interests you or whatever you're connected to. um there's a little bit of something for everyone in the community and as u you know everyone already spoke of this is a special community one that you know really comes together and supports our our students. So with that said um I'm going to turn things over to Tyler so we
can have a presentation of our highly regarded our very competitive uh and nationally recognized robotics team. So Tyler. All right. So I'm not going to do much talking. I'm going to let the kids do the talking, but uh right off the bat, I just want to thank everyone for giving
us an opportunity to come and present. Um the kids are, as you already know, are super impressive. Um I get a lot of opportunities to work with a lot of local teams and uh through our organization, we work closely with uh a lot of other volunteers and people that
make our events happen. and our team is constantly called out as a positive influence and uh a team that they can rely on for a lot of different things. Um so you should be very proud that uh Somerville students represent Somerville in such a positive way. And you'll hear
in a second of uh all the cool stuff that we're doing out in our community. Um but uh our team, our club, our our organization is unique uh from a lot of other school clubs and activities and organizations. Uh our activity is not
inexpensive. It costs uh we have a a budget of around $50,000 to operate every year. Um and you know, we are very thankful for all of the support that the district provides us and all of our sponsors provide us in their own way. Um so none of what we do and none of what
you see them present on tonight would be possible without all of your support. Um so that's all I'm going to say. I'm going to pass it over to our student executive leaders to kick us off and uh thank you again for the opportunity. So, hello. Uh, we are team 102, the
gearheads, uh, from the Somerville High School robotics team. Uh, my name is Nick. I'm the senior president on team. And my name is Gray and I'm the sophomore exec. This year, our team was tasked with building a robot that could complete ocean themed objectives. We had
to place PVC pipes onto sticks of coral, maneuver big exercise balls around the field, and climb on a cage at the end of the match. Uh to do this, we worked together to come up with a simple but effective design that allowed our team to succeed. Uh we created a funnel intake you'll see on the back um that
could intake the PVC pipes, designed a three-stage elevator to um reach all the heights that we needed to place the coral, and we built a shooter mechanism to score the game piece actually onto the pegs. Um we uh there's um tags placed around a field and we use them as
a vision system so that the robot can orient itself and score pieces without us ne necessarily needing to manually uh orientate. So this year our team participated in three competitions at Robinsville, Montgomery and we also
competed in district championships at Lehi. At Robinsville, we won the imagery award, which recognizes the aesthetic vis visual integration of team appearance and robot. At Montgomery, we were honored with the district engineering inspiration award, which is the second most
prestigious award in robotics competitions. It's given to teams who are a significant contributor to advancing respect and appreciation for engineering in their school, community, and wider organizations. Uh winning this award allowed us to qualify for the district uh championship at Lehigh
University where we competed against some of the most uh prestigious and like best teams in the area um from New Jersey, Delaware and Eastern Pennsylvania. And a big contributing factor to us um actually getting to these um competitions and doing a lot of
stuff is our impact. So, uh, basically every year a small group of students, as you'll see over here, um, uh, present at competitions and share what the team does for outreach. Uh, now we're going to pass it off to our impact team because they can do all the talking for
themselves. So, speaking of them, they got it. Hi, we are team 102 gear heads from Somerville, New Jersey. Just like gears in a machine, each team member plays a vital role in helping the group function. When we think of gears, we think about how they mesh together to
create movement and power. Much like how team and family members collaborate and contribute to a group's overall success. As a team, we strive to maintain an environment where we feel safe, supported, and comfortable. We see mistakes not as failures, but opportunities to learn and grow. Then at
competitions, we gather for thorns and roses. We reflect things that went well, that didn't, or didn't we need to improve on in the future. During this, everyone feels secure enough to share their vulnerable experiences with everyone in the team. This helps us communicate better and also connect as a
family. Speaking of family, we senior members feel almost like big siblings to our rookie teammates. And as the older siblings, it's our responsibility to pass on our knowledge and experience to help everyone out. We're always looking for new ways to improve ourselves and
the team. For instance, every year we have a local theater instructor conduct a public speaking workshop which helps us boost our confidence and connect more with the team. And for new members, it helps cover their comfort zones. We also attend seminars such as Skypplash and
the Comcast boot camp. These allow us to learn new strategies and improve our interpersonal and leadership skills. Plus, before build season starts each year, our student leads attend a leadership retreat. For a full day of team building exercises, we get a feel
for our roles during the season and learn what we can do to better develop the team. As a team, we're committed to our outreach events that other that we allow students to to all all ages and
abilities. Um, we co-chair and co-host Rubicon and Jay with five other teams. It is one of our biggest events that showcases every level of first. We work all year round and collaborate with other teams to plan the two-day event. We also mentored the future Bulldogs, a first Lego League team. In the
beginning, they struggled with communication and collaboration. But we as team mentors had to show them how to work together and not give up. Over time, they found their rhythm. Small victories like figuring out the dinosa or knowing where a robo park goes really helped both their confidence and determination. The real turning point
came during their competition when they were awarded the breakthrough award. In that moment, the joy on their faces was unforgettable. Looking back, this experience taught us a lot about resilience. Their victory reflected their hard work and dedication despite
the challenges they faced early on. Their success not only validated their efforts but completely transformed how they saw their own potential and showed us that with teamwork and determination, anything is possible. We also had the privilege of helping over 100 Girl
Scouts robotics values. Some of these girls had physical, motor, and communication challenges, but that didn't stop them from participating fully in all of the activities. This is a day filled with learning, excitement, and hands-on activities. Our outreach efforts also extend to other areas of
the first community. For example, scouting is a huge asset during competitions and a large part of how our team operates. We're always improving our app, Scout Radios, and new features are constantly being added and updated.
The app also allows us to connect with teams from all over the world, and almost 10% of all FRC teams are registered with our app. Because of this, we've modified the app to embrace teams from over 30 states and 10 different countries through language
translations. Our scout radios information is also public available which makes it easier for us to collaborate with their teams. Once a team has an account, they're able to customize forms, create new data points and change the data being presented. We use our uh we use our discord server for
communication and we also answer questions by the teams that require help as theirs. While fostering these collaborative relationships, we also recognize the importance of sustainability and legacy. We are privileged to have so many former
members come back as mentors to help guide us and uphold the legacy of team 102. Many parents of alumni have also stayed involved, motivating current parents and students to strive for success and contribute to a robotics family. This connection to our past
strengthens our present and inspires our future, creating a cycle of growth and support. Our bond goes beyond robotics. As we create lasting friendships and share member experiences, we grow both as individuals and as a team. The Gearheads are not just a robotics team.
our family. Thank you for the sense of present. Do you have any questions? There any questions from the board? Name team. Um, it's the when you register with first, you are assigned a number and we
were the 102nd first team. from from the um from the competition, was there anything that you saw that inspired you to think about for the next competition? Um I guess just the way other people like build the robots, the techniques or
the teamwork we use that inspires us to just make better. We also just um we go around in these areas called the pits where other teams work on their robots and we spend a lot of time sending some of our members out every chance they can get to go talk to them and see what they can do and what
they're doing and just kind of understand what we can do to better develop our team and work better with their teams. Do you ever do site visits like to other like high schools that also have
robotics teams and you know just just visit their facility and talk things through? Um not particularly in that aspect but we do go to different high schools that will host different events or for like the kickoff where we understand what the game is every year
and that gets released. We will go, us and a bunch of other teams will go to different high schools that host that and we'll go to different workshops there, other things like that. Great. Do you get a chance to visit the middle schools? I think I heard something about the Bulldogs and I'm wondering if also
not only Summerville Middle School but Middle School as well. Very hard. Very hard. I believe we were at the last um was it the winter enrichment day? Um the last one they held for that at the Frenchburg middle school. So that was
really fun. What is it that makes it more is it like logistics like just scheduling time or Yeah. gathering enough students. Okay. Um money is always a great way to like generate excitement
right the middle school level to then my fourth graders are all pumped. They know everything. I was gonna say Vander as well. I bet there's some kids there that really would love to hear about what you do. Thanks so much. Can you remind me what the name of the app is that you're that
the robotics team developed? Uh, it's called Scout Radios. Scout Radios. Okay. With a Z. Okay. Very good. I I just I was so sad I wasn't able to make it to the dinner this year. Um, but I'm just always thoroughly impressed with everything that you do, how well spoken
all of you are, the dedication and the time that you put in, and all the parents as well. It's so inspiring. Um, I keep trying to talk my girls into getting involved with it as well. But I uh I just am really proud um of all of you. So, thank you so much to have them,
by the way. I'll let them know. All right. So, I'm going to transition back to the slideshow. So, here's some of our upcoming events. Um, May 17th, we're doing a 3D printing and combat robotics uh demo. So, it's basically going to be a mini a miniature version
of uh our biggest event, which is called Robocon. Um, basically, we're just going to be showing people how to 3D 3D print parts and kind of giving them a taste of like a different arena of robotics, which is combat robotics, which is more like actual fighting. But it's it's it's much easier to understand because it's
like, oh, just just fight each other, right? Um, August 6th to 8th, that's going to be the Somerset County 4 fair. That's one of our favorite fairs. We have like a little booth, uh, not a booth, 10th, and hopefully doesn't get rained out like last year. Um, we will be just showing that off to a bunch of
people in the community and letting kids drive our robots and just have a lot of fun. And then se uh, September 27th to 28th is Robot Con. Basically, it's um a mall takeover. We take over the first and second floor. We have a mini uh I say mini, but we have a full-size
competition in the middle like where Santa would be and all that stuff. And um it's just a really fun event. And we have scout badges and all that. So, that is where the Girl Scouts got their scout badges. I think there's a picture of it. Yeah. Yeah. The top I think
that's nice. Yeah. It was a lot of fun. Yeah. Um, so to kind of end this off, I want to thank you all for your support and all of the resources that you guys put into us. Um, specifically I want to talk about the Houston trip. Um, so this
is a trip that we do um, by annually and uh, we went on recently a couple months ago and honestly coolest thing ever. um at the trip actually in the competition venue like I got to speak with like major companies like J&J um Comcast all
that type of stuff right and it was so impressive and like life-changing to look at like all the new tech that people are coming up with and how like the pipeline of robotics students into that is just so strong cuz like there was like internships being offered, sponsorships, everything that you could
like see and they let us like I know that I got to drive around. It was like this it was this medical device I think that like J&J was making where like they can like basically take a sample that's like inside of you. It's like weird. They like stick it down. It's really interesting. Really really weird but really interesting. And it was super
cool to like kind of see that mess around with it and be like whoa that could be my future. I could do that stuff. So really really impactful and thank you guys so much. Yeah, it was really great. Um especially as a kind of younger member as a sophomore. It was
great to see just like how big of the scope that First Robotics could just have on everyone cuz there were teams from tens of countries like across the world. There were like 600 teams from
just FRC there. And it was really cool cuz I also got a chance to speak with the um the the leader of first the um president. Yeah, the president of I got a chance to speak with the uh the president of FIRST and it was really
cool to talk to him and just watch him present and talk about how we wanted to change the world with robotics and that was really impactful for me. So, thank you guys for supporting us with all of that.
Thank you. question. So, May 17th, what time is that? Uh 10:00 a.m. to 100 p.m. in Center Court at the mall, which is where uh they usually set up Santa Claus. We always take jobs.
So, I'd want to add a little something that was brushed upon in that presentation and one that is often talked about by Mr. Sergio. So, I'm actually sad he's not here to hear to to witness this, but um something really special and um Bill alluded to it when he talked about mental health is uh the
the um benefit of participating in extracurriculars. You have the camaraderie. uh you have uh the sense of being the the sense of of being part of something bigger than yourself, but it's also uh the giving back. And I received an email after the Montgomery um
performance uh I believe that was right before the district championship, correct? Um from a Haden Heights parent of a child uh that participated against us. Uh so Haden Heights has a team just like we do and they were participating and unfortunately they had a problem
with one of their machines in which a part broke down. um they had uh a problem then that they wouldn't be able to participate and continue in the competition. Very quickly our students jumped in, went over, assessed the situation, assessed the damage, helped them out, uh even gave the part, I
believe, helped install it and get them back on their feet so they can continue in the competition. Um so when we talk about uh the importance of extracurriculars and the impact it has, um and really how special our kids are here in Somerville, I think this is just a great example of it. So to receive an
email like that um you know celebrating uh the the the not the outcome of the students but really what they were there for and and why they're part of something like this was really special to uh here and I wanted to share with everyone because uh you guys are here and and uh it's more than just the
really wonderful accomplishments and recognitions you've received. It's about these kind of things uh that are real world, real life and really impactful. And I thank you uh for you know really being who you are and what you are and making this more than just about a competition but making it about um
helping others. And I want to thank uh Tyler for really setting uh expectations of a wonderful organization that is more um than about the robots. It's about um you know who you are and and what you are doing here um representing
Somerville. Thank you. Are there any other questions? I just have one more question out of curiosity. I know Bill's going to get frustrated, but I know when I went to the previous dinner, um you had in you had purchased a machine to make your own
um your own materials, right? So, has that had a really positive impact on like cost effectiveness for for your team? And I was just really curious about that. Yeah. So, uh the machine is really useful in like a lot of our
production and um it's oh so um the machine is really useful in like our robot production. It was really useful especially when we were trying to like fine-tune things. So specifically, um, we have to be with within a certain weight class, like between certain like,
uh, weight, right, to compete. And our biggest problem was like our robot was way too heavy. Um, it needed to like lose a ton of pounds. So our favorite thing was to kind of have our CNC take our belly pan and kind of strip out a lot of the nonuseful parts, cuts it out for us. So all we have to do just on the
program is like basically digitally like cut it all out and figure out where we want things. and that then it just does it right. And we just like look over it just make sure that doesn't explode or anything. Thankfully it didn't. And so stuff like that is really useful in just helping
save us time, money, everything like that. But even on top of that, it's used for a bunch of things. I know even just like the small things that we need on the team does that pays us dividends. So very very thankful for that. Okay. Thanks.
Any other question? One more thing. No, just kidding. You sure? I'm positive. Okay. All right. Thank you very much for the presentation, Tyler. Really, for all your work. I know you you're you're involved in so many different things. Um this is one of the ones that, you know, I think um you know, you should you
should be proud of everything, but this is something again I know is is really close to you as well in terms of your experience and and presentation skill-wise. Um you know, phenomenal. Great job. You know, really really nicely polished presentation. Good. Good job. I came with a 500 word. There you
go. Fantastic. Fantastic. Fantastic. Sure. I'd like to turn it over to our student representatives now. Ta Ryan. Hi. Um, last week was teacher appreciation week. So, happy teacher appreciation to all who celebrate. At
our school, we held a spirit week for our teachers. So, on Monday, they celebrated their favorite decade. On Tuesday, they dress as their favorite heroes or duos or trios. On Wednesday, they showed off their college pride by wrapping their alma modders. And Thursday was department theme day where each department in the high school
decorated their doors and they all dressed up and they sort of like competed against each other. I'm not sure who won. Did someone was there a winner? Uh who won? I think we all won. Okay, they all won. So, good job, guys. Uh, and lastly, on Friday, teachers got to
embrace their inner students and dressed up as us, which I know they had they had lots of fun with it. So, that was really cool. Um, the 47th annual Honor Awards will take place tomorrow at Somerville High School. Invited students are asked to report to the gymnasium no longer
than 6:30 p.m. Uh, the color guard is hosting interest clinics on Tuesday, May 13th, and Thursday, May 22nd from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. No experience is required to attend. And if you have any questions, you can see Mr. Ferguson. Uh senior t-shirts and graduation signs can
be picked up on Tuesday, May 27th, and Wednesday, May 28th at the snack shack by the football field. Uh pickup will take place at senior dismissal time, which is 12:18. Uh the Valkyrie is looking for writers, photographers, graphic designers, and more for next year. So come to the spring/ senior
issue meeting uh May 14th at 2:20. Um this there will be a student versus faculty volleyball game which will be held in the gym on May 21st. It is a it's sponsored by student movement against cancer club and all proceeds will be donated to the Megan Rose Bradley Foundation. That's always really
fun. So um so we also have a lot of musical events coming up for us and especially in May. We have um I think we have about three or four. So we have the instrumental concert which will um feature the symphotic band and the wind ensemble which will take place May 15th. Um, so each group basically just
performs a wide um, variety of their concert literature. Um, we also have spring coral concert which um, the music department's final concert of the year will be held May 22nd at 7 p.m. and they will um, kind of feature all of the choirs in general. We also have the Tri
Music Honor Society induction which will be held on May 28th at 7 p.m. at the high school. Um, it recognizes high school students for their academic and musical achievements and rewards their accomplishments and service for the school. We also finally have our orchestra concert which will be on
Friday, May 30th at 6 p.m. also at the high school. Another quick one, June's going to be our month. We got a lot to say in June. Sports, senior events, leaving graduation. Yeah,
it'll be fun. So, be ready for June. Yeah, stay tuned. Very good. All right, I'll look forward to it. Thank you so much. Yeah, that was very well done. Do you want to hang out for five more minutes? No, I think I think we're good. You think you're good now? Thank you. All right, take care. Thank you. Hi, guys. You want to wrap these
two up? Yes. All right. So, uh the next item here listed is CUAC chronic student absenteeism correct correction uh excuse me, corrective action plan. So uh as part of our QAC review that we went through this year uh there are some items that come up and if we do fall below certain thresholds we have to
create corrective action plans and in this case for two of our schools Vanir and the middle school we did uh tick right above uh you know the the allow allowed number of student absenteeism. Um we are on that and put together an action plan uh to address that. Um the
next item uh involving uh QAC would be another item I mentioned to everybody here and that was that we also not only went through CUAC for the whole district uh involving our academics and operations and governance but we also were selected for the
special education one this year. Uh and we just received the results of that. So I'm happy to announce and uh congratulations to Dr. McDonald and her team for their hard work uh that we passed that one uh without any indicators that have to be addressed. Uh I want to thank the audit team of Lisa
Mullhern, Michelle Turnbull, Sarah Lori, and Michelle Trainer for their hard work on organizing all that. That is not an easy task and one that really reflects um you know great work being done for our special education students. And then last but not least, an update on our curriculum audit. It's only been a
couple weeks since our last meeting and I do include these in our newsletter, but just want to give a couple items that have happened uh over the last couple weeks. First of all, our intervention teams continue uh to meet and assess our student needs. And what they're really looking at is adjusting schedules in the future to allow for
more opportunities for interventions um both at the elementary and middle school. And there is some work looking at some of the course options at the high school to address students uh that need that support. um instructional support and pacing. So, at both the elementary and middle school, we're
continuing to uh address and implement our pacing guides and explore how I Ready groupings uh can really maximize our ability to reach the students needs where they are. Um and this has also helped to um look at how we can make sure that everything is covered for our students by the end of the school year.
Those pacing guides are really important to allow for the horizontal implementation of of our curriculum. We've talked about that a lot, but um that is an important component to looking at our curriculum is how it's implemented and at what time and at what pace. So that work is continuing uh
under u Mary Kane's toutelage. Uh in terms of curriculum as well at the elementary level um we're looking at uh ELA by creating a literacy leaders team and that has started to meet. There was the whole meeting that's everyone across the district and then now there are going to be cohorts meeting uh one just
at K to8 and one excuse me at K to 5 and then one uh at the 6 to 12 and then we'll come back together after some meetings and some planning to continue to look at um you know what we're using how we're using it how we're implementing it and um you know adjustments and suggestions that can be
made for everybody there. Um and in terms of MLS, um as we talked about, we had the SEI training. Um that's the sheltered in English instruction for 90 of our our uh staff members. That will continue to happen on a yearly basis to address and get to a point where
everyone receives that that training. Um but we also have ESL teams uh that are looking at how we screen our newcomers and making sure that um you know they get the help they need uh in the time they need and also look at intake procedures and how students can u you
know work their themselves out of it uh and and get back um you know to the type of instruction um that all of our students need and a lot of that's going to come through that uh implementation of SEI across uh the district that can help our students that have English issues but also or students that are
grade levels behind. So, little bit of an update of what's been going on and the great work that uh Mary's been leading um across our district. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um Riley said something that um I realized was last week and I apologize for not uh
starting the meeting also by thanking our teachers and recognizing teacher appreciation week last week. Um we are at that point in the year where everything just seems to just be rushing so fast right now. So last week seems like a very long time ago in schools. U and we also have teachers on our board of education. So I want to thank
teachers who serve on a board of education as well for you know just the work that you do here and the work that you do in your own schools. Um so you know I don't want to understate that you know the job that people have and the work that they do and you know the commitment that that goes into just being a teacher. So thank you to
everybody for doing that. Um and again I apologize for not pointing to that at the start of the meeting as well. All right, we are going to take a short uh moment to go into executive session for about 15 minutes. Um, so this is a great time for all of you to be able to go do
something else if you would like to. Uh, but thank you again for coming tonight and for the presentation. It was really fantastic and and thank you for everything you're doing as well. Um, so at this point, uh, the board of education of the Somerville School District in the county of Somerset will adjourn into a closed meeting to discuss
items which fall within an exception of our open meetings policy and permits the board to have private discussions since it deals with specific expectations contained in NJSA 10 col 4-2B. Um, in this case, we are going to
be discussing pending or anticipated leg litigation be resolved by the board of education. We will now go into private session to discuss matters rendered confidential by personnel employment matters affecting a specific or 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 anticipate that the board action will be taken following
this executive session and we anticipate that it will last about 15 minutes. So can I have a motion to go into executive session? So move Sherwin a second. Um Miss Van Horn. Um all in favor
opposed extensions. Okay. We are in executive session. Okay. Um, can I have a motion to return to public session, please? So, move. Miss Sherwood. Second. Mr. Carlson. All in favor? Opposed? Abstensions. Okay. We are
returned to public session at 7:22. All right. We do have a resolution that we're first going to act on as a result of the um executive session. So resolution whereas a dispute arose between a Somerville student eligible
for special education and related services and the board and whereas a student filed a litigation in response to the dispute between the parties and whereas the parties have negotiated in good faith and have entered into a settlement agreement ending the litigation with prejudice. Now therefore the board hereby resolves as follows.
The board hereby authorizes the board president or his designate and his superintendent of schools or his design designate to do all things necessary to sign and honor the terms of the settlement agreement which is on file in the board central office. Can I have a motion for that, please? Mr. Carlson,
can I have a second? Second. Miss Van Horn. Okay. Um, any discussion? I guess we can't because that's executive session items. All right. Um, Mr. Boyce, do a roll, please. Yes, Mrs. Van Horn.
Yes, Mr. Carlson. Yes, Mrs. Sherwin. Yes, Mrs. Kra. Yes, Mrs. Dale. No, Mr. Kimick. Yes. Mr. Garcia, no. Mrs. Shaw, yes.
Okay. All right. So, moving on on the agenda, we're going to move on to report of board items and committee reports. Um, we have, I believe, two reports that need to be presented today and they're both from Miss Van Horn. Uh, so Miss Van Horn, Somerset County Association of
Boards of Education reports. Okay. Yes. I attended the Thursday, May 8th meeting of the Somerset County School Boards Association. Um they introduced the 2024 2025 Somerset County Teacher of the
Year which is Stephanie Lashauer from Montgomery who also happens to be the New Jersey state teacher of the year. She spoke about all education being done as a community not as one person alone. She was instrumental in planning and is
now teaching a course titled skills for success and global leadership that is mandatory for all seventh graders in the district to take to aid in social emotional learning. Uh there were a few legislative updates regarding the capital watch newsletter published
quarterly on the NJSBA website, the budget wos of all the districts around and cell phone use in schools. Board certifications and individual certifications were awarded and new board officers were installed for the
2025 through 2027 term. Great. Thank you for attending that. I also was able to attend that night and I got to sit right next to Miss Van Horn for dinner. It was very nice. So if anybody ever gets a chance, you always have a wonderful really good dinner. Um you know the students at the Btech
actually prepare it. It's a very nice meal and then you adjourn to go upstairs and have a very um I think very nice meeting. Yes, I would love to have the company. Yeah, that was actually the first time that we moved out of there for a meeting. We usually have the meetings right in the dining room. Very
nice job. All right. And then you also have a report about New Jersey school report from the Saturday May 10th NJSBA delegate assembly. Uh Dr. Pernell updated all of the delegates on his three pillars of operation. The first
pillar is content. They revised the new board member orientation program. They've completed the revision to governance 2 which will be rolled out in the fall of 2025. They revised the board self-evaluation instrument and the
leadership summit training for board presidents and VPs was held this year. The second is connection. They launched the new NJSBA website, hosted a highly successful second annual women's leadership conference, launched the
equity expo and equity and education leadership conference and awards which I spoke about at the last meeting. and they deepened the outreach to superintendent and BAS. The third pillar is advocacy. They launched the NJSBA
Capital Watch newsletter which keeps an update on legislation and secured the NJSBA representation on various working state level groups. There were four resolutions up for consideration.
The first resolution was that local boards of education should exercise existing statutory authority authority to revise existing interscolastic competition policies to support the
inclusion of esports as a valuable interscolastic competition and to award varsity letters to esports high school participants to the extent that they deemed appropriate. and that passed 90% to one to n to 90 to 10. The second
resolution was that all necessary and appropriate steps should be taken to address the school nurse shortage and to increase the number of candidates who are eligible for the nurse non-instructional endorsement from
the NJ DOE. That was a bit controversial with several previous newly retired nurses speaking very much against it and that passed 51% to 37% with many abstaining. Resolution three was
withdrawn and resolution four was that there should be permitted a limited number of state excused absences for participation in activities related to pursuing a skilled trade postgraduation similar to the one that
we voted on December regarding military which an update on that is that it's now waiting for a senator to sponsor it after passing the assembly. Um, and then the meeting concluded one of the the actual earliest that I've
been to and all the ones I've gone to. I concluded at 11:30 in the morning 9. That was that. Next one will be next uh October, I believe. Okay, great. Thank you for that report. Any questions?
I love that you handw write thosely as you do. I was admiring that. So, no, that's my sloppy handwriting. Okay. So, well, there's my unique neighbor. All right. Uh, moving on. We are going to do consent agenda. Um, so right now we're going to move on the preschool
through 8th grade items. So, motion to approve that items 1 through 24 be moved upon the recommendation of superintendent of schools appointments and salaries uh contingent upon verified documentation. So, can I have a motion for that, please? Mr. Carlson, can I
have a second? Second. Miss Van Horn. Okay. Um, any discussion? Okay, Mr. Boyce, can you do a roll, please? Yes. Mrs. Van Horn? Yes. Mr. Carlson? Yes. Mrs. Sherwin? Yes.
Mrs. Kra? Yes. Mrs. Dale? Yes. Mr. Kimmick? Yes. Mr. Garcia? Yes. Okay. Motion passes. So, then we're going to move on 9th grade through 12th grade of districtwide. A motion to approve that items 25 through 65 be moved upon the
recommendation of the superintendent of school superintendent of schools appointments and salaries contingent upon verified documentation. Can I have a motion please? Move. Carlson second. Second. Miss Van Horn looking at this side of the room. See if anybody wants to do
that. All right. Uh any discussion? I just had two questions. Um the school breakfast and lunch prices, is there a change versus the prior school years? Yes. They change. It's either 20 cents or 25
cents to have specific changes if you want. It's one of the two for all those. Got it. Okay. And then just another question. I was just curious with the curriculum additions for the high school theater calculus and sports and fashion marketing. Is that for the upcoming school year? We in sports and fashion
marketing are in just one course. Yes, that'll be interesting. Absolutely. Is that for the whole school or certain grades? Yeah, generally upper level students, but it is open. Okay, great. Any other any other questions?
All right, Mr. Boyce. Yes. Mrs. Van Horn? Yes. Mr. Carlson? Yes. Mrs. Sherwin? Yes. Mrs. Kra? Yes. Mrs. Dale? Yes. Mr. Kimick? Yes, Mr. Garcia. Yes, Mrs. Shaw. Yes. Okay, great. All right.
Uh, moving on the agenda, old business. Are there any old business items? Um, I guess just a point of clarification or correction. At the beginning of the meeting, we did a vote on approval of minutes. I think typically we do those as a roll call, do
we not? Just to see if individual members have intended or not. Typically, we do you can do it you could do it either way. Typically we we do do as well. I just decide not to. Okay. Um I just remember from the NJSBA meeting that I think it is important that for
those who weren't there abstain and that it's on the record just so that they're not held um liable for anything that occurred during that meeting or in other words they can't say yes uh to it. So I would like to have that corrected. Well there stay silent. That's why I paused
because Yeah. I was like, "Oh, there I I didn't say yay or nay or anything, but I think it was just because normally we do a roll call." Yeah. And I That was my error, but I decided Yeah. So, was there an extension on that? You did, right? So, Mr. Carlson, you would like
to Okay, I'll have the record. Thank you for that. That was it. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Any other old business items? I have a motion to close all business. Second. Okay. All in favor? All opposed?
Abstensions. Okay. Uh, new business. Are there any new business items? Motion to close new business. Thanks, Mr. Carlson. You're all over this agenda. Second. Second, Miss
Kra. Um, any discussion? All in favor? Opposed? abstensions. Okay. All right. Okay. Moving on. We are going to now enter into um executive session. So, the board of education of Somerville School District
will adjourn into closed meeting to discuss items which fall within an exception of our open meetings public policy and permits the board to have private discussion since it deals with specific exceptions contained in NJSA 104-12B. And at this point, we are going to be
discussing personnel or employment matters affecting a specific perspective or current current employee. Be it resolved that the board of education 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 will which need not remain confidential will be made public as soon as practical. Minutes at a 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. So, can I have a motion to go into executive session? Mr. Carlson, can I have a second? Second. Miss Van Horn. Um, all in favor? I. All oppose. Okay. That is that. Now, I also need at this
point since we're not coming out of executive session to take action, we're going to adjourn the meeting at this point. So, can I have a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Miss Van Horn. Can I have a second? That's Miss Sherwin. Miss Sherwin. Yep. I was looking right at you when I said that. Okay. Can I have a
second, Miss Van Horn? Any discussion? All in favor? All opposed? Abstensions? Okay. We are adjourned and we are entering into executive session at 7:34. Thank you very much.
They should know about the superintendent.