Good evening. It's Thursday, December 18th, 2025, and I would like to welcome you to the meeting of the South Phones Board of Education, and to call the meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The New Jersey Open Public Meeting Act, NJSA 104-6,
also known as the Sunshine Law, was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting the interest is discussed or acted upon. The primary purpose is for board members to
discuss and vote on board business. In accordance with these provisions of this act, the board secretary has caused notice of this meeting 48 hours prior, including date, time, and location to be posted in the South Brunswick public library, the board office, filed with
the township clerk. It's communicated to the home news in the star ledger and it is also posted on the district website. Roll call. Mr. Palowski, >> Mr. Julie Ferrar, >> present. >> Miss Alicia Khan >> here. >> Mr. Raja Krishna >> here. >> Mr. Mr. Mike Mitchell
>> present. >> Mr. Barry Nathansson >> here. >> Dr. Smith Raj >> here. >> Mr. Rajes Sony >> present. >> Miss DeArk >> here. >> Miss Laura Hernandez >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Can I have a motion and a second to
approve tonight's meeting agenda? >> Mr. Mitchell and Dr. Raj. All in favor? >> That was the approval for the November 20th. And then I need a motion to approve the board minutes of November 20th, 2025.
Hi Ra, how are you? And Miss Julie for a second. All in favor? >> I need a motion to move into the executive session. >> So um Mr. Nathansson and Miss Carik.
[snorts] Be it resolved that the board of education of the township of South Brunswick hereby moves into executive session in accordance with the sunshine law chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 NJSA 104-21
for the discussion of personnel matters and HIV appeal. Be it further resolved that the discussion concluded in executive session can be disclosed to the public at such time as the matters have been resolved. Formal action may be
taken at any meeting. And we are journed Okay. Can I have a motion to recon a reconvene to our regular >> moved and moved? Okay. Good. Um, so next up we have our student report.
>> Good evening everyone. Let's kick things off with some high school news. December has been full of festive spirit days and here's a quick recap of them. On December 4th, we had Holiday Lazy Day. On the 5th, we had World AIDS Day. On the 8th, we had Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. On 9th, it was Winter Wonderland.
On the 10th, it was Deck the Halls. On the 11th, it was Holiday Sock Day. On the 12th, it was Cool Kicks Friday. On the 15th, it was Holiday Lazy Day Part Two. On the 16th, it was Holiday Bling. On the 17th, it was Mad Plaid. On the 18th, it was Holiday Colors. On the
19th, it was Black and Gold Friday. And then on the 22nd is Ugly Sweater Day. And then the 23rd is hats on hats on. Our student council's deck the hall fundraiser was another big success. We had over 60 orders and student council did an amazing job in making it happen.
The class councils are keeping up with the festive momentum going on with their annual winter wonderland event which is today at the high school. We also have several giving trees set up throughout the school. Students and staff can purchase gift cards to help families in need in South Brunswick spreading some
real holiday cheer. Earlier this week, we held our BLA meeting on December 15th. And just last weekend, the class councils hosted a fun trip to the King of Prussia Mall. Teachers and students alike had a great time. Now, let's move on to athletics news. All three levels in boys basketball just started their
season 2. The teams are playing hard and sharing the game. Arjun Jado scored 26 points in the season opener for their varsity team. That wraps up today's updates. Thank you all for listening and from all of us at SBHS, happy holidays.
>> Thank you so much for your report. Boy, that was busy. That was a busy month. Holy schmolley. Okay, so next up is me and I have a really just one thing to say. Um, you all know that November was elections and you've got new board members. Um, well,
not new board members, but returning board members. But we have one board member that's not returning to us, Miss Ferrara over there. Miss Ferrara has chosen to serve and now go on about her
way and um do wonderful things. So, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Miss Ferrara for all her service for the last few years. Um, Miss Ferrara served on the education committee, the policy committee, and business ops, our
business operations. She was also the liaison to Greenbrook School. Um, so we have a little something for you and we'd like to thank you for your service. Come back and visit us. We're so happy for her. She is newly married. Miss Ferrara
is newly married. celebrated her one-year anniversary when we were interviewing for a superintendent and did the interview via Zoom to make sure she could be here celebrating her anniversary. So, thank you for everything you do.
[applause] And then next up, well, welcome. For the very first time, we have our very first board meeting with our new superintendent, Dr. Reagan. It's all yours. >> Thank you, Mr. Nerz. Um, thank you all.
[applause] I appreciate the applause for not having done anything yet, but uh, thank you. Um, in all seriousness, I want to thank the school board here for putting their faith in me to lead such a fine, uh, school district. as I uh complete my third week here. Um not only am I impressed with what we find in our
classrooms, in our buildings with our central office team, our community, but it really feels like it's the right fit for me, too. So, I'm really grateful for this opportunity and I give you my word that I will do my best to lead this as best as I can and um do the right things
for the right reasons. Uh I'd like to move on to the next part of thank you to Brian Redfield and our facilities team for their work last weekend. um in working diligently on Sunday to mitigate all the impact that the storm had. Um I was definitely sure we were going to
have to delay or something because we wouldn't be able to get it done. But uh we did get it done. It was very cold that morning as everybody knows. But uh our team did a great job in making sure our schools were ready for our staff and students. So uh credit to uh Brian and his team. Uh congratulations again to
Mrs. Far. I'm not going to get a chance to work with you, but for your time and dedication to South Brunswick School District, it's very laudable and it's worthy of recognition. Uh, tonight you'll see a presentation on the South Brunswick reads and we're going to talk a little bit more about that and hopefully everybody can make
that event. That's happening on Make sure I get the date right. January 15th at 6:30 at South Brunswick High School. Um, congratulations to our music students for their accomplishments. We are very excited to have these students join us tonight um with our concert choir. And I
also want to say that I was able to visit the high school the other day and see the concert and really impressive and I had came with a little bit of bias because I did work at John P. Stevens High School and uh they have a fine music program in Edison and I have to be honest with you and this is recorded.
It's being public. You guys are much better. >> [applause] >> extremely impressive. I had the opportunity last night too to attend the annual heroes and helpers program at Target and just want to compliment this South Brunswick Police Department, Target and all the people that helped
make that come to fruition where the kids students there were honored for their leadership in their community and their positive interaction with their peers where the police officers actually worked with them as the u their guided shoppers going through the store. It was a really neat community event. I know some of our board members were there as
well and speaks to the um ability to work with our community and our police force and our schools and not just the public school but the other schools in town. It was really impressive and kudos to those kids. They did a great job. All right, I already talked about the South Buns Reeds night as is something that we
should be aware of. Redistricting update. We postponed this week's community meeting due to a lot of people having prior commitments around the holiday season and getting ready for the winter break that's coming. So in January, we will have our community meeting where we'll share an update on the redistricting. We are still working
diligently behind the scenes. I don't want anybody to think that that's been paused and we will give an update to the community at that time. Winter break is coming December 24th to January 2nd. And reminder, there's no homework or long range assignments are due at that time and no test will be administered before
January 7th. So, please enjoy the time off. We wish everyone a very happy and healthy holiday season and the happiest new year. Thank you. >> Okay, well done. Um, so next up, so you're really going to get a treat because we do have the
best music department. We do. They're all saying yes. So, we absolutely do have the best music department. And where is Rob? Where's Mr. Sears? >> Oh, he's right there. I was looking for him up there. All yours. >> All right. Good evening, everyone.
>> All right. Good evening, everyone. Uh, tonight you are in for a treat. Uh, but before we do that, wanted to just take a moment to, uh, on behalf of myself, our music staff, our principal, uh, Mr. Varela of the high school, our music students, our music parents, uh, thank the board of education for all the
support for our performing arts department. It does not go unnoticed. Um, I always like to say that we're fortunate to be in a community where we do three things extremely well, and that's academics, athletics, and especially the arts. [snorts] Um, tonight, uh, we get to share a little
bit of some music honors. Uh, but it's going to start off by, uh, beginning with a performance with our for our concert choir. Our South Brunswick High School concert choir has a very long tradition of outstanding performances and musical excellence. Uh you can hear them perform at a win our winter concerts, spring concerts, and many
events throughout the entire year. Actually, their concerts tomorrow night. You're all invited. Um and also, I'm pretty sure they're going to hop over to uh BHL on Monday for a little carolling for our board office. For all those who work so hard at the board office who don't get a chance to be in our schools
every day, we're going to bring a little holiday cheer to them on on Monday. So, we're going to make that happen. Um under the direction of Mr. Aldo Aronzula. We're thrilled to have our South Brunswick High School Concert Choir here tonight and they are very much looking forward to performing for you. Um, and also for everyone at home
watching at home. Um, as our choir begins to make their way up onto the stage, I'd like to invite our board of education and our admin team to come sit in the front row and enjoy an incredible performance this evening. Couple of tunes from our concert choir. All right.
I'm not going to make it. You were right. Yeah, that's good. Uh, good evening everyone. Uh, uh, I am Mr. Aaron Zula. Thank you for that wonderful introduction, Mr. Sears. And behind me is the fabulous uh, concert choir and we
are very excited to perform and we're very honored uh, to perform for you all tonight and especially to welcome in our new superintendent, Dr. Reagan. Um, it is an honor to be here and we hope you enjoy a little taste of what our concert choir has to offer for all of you. Like
Mr. Seir says, we have our last concert for our high school winter concert series tomorrow night at 6:30 at the high school featuring the choirs, including the one behind me and the percussion ensembles. And we'll be back at uh the board office at Blackhorse Lane on Monday for some extra carols. So
for tonight, we have two selections that we have prepared for you that will also be featured at tomorrow night's concert. Uh the first piece is a piece called non nois dominate by Rosanany Powell and the second piece is an arrangement of the classic home for the holidays. Please
enjoy. [singing] to all the glory. [singing] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music]
Glor [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [music] [singing] is coming and knowing and know [singing and music] this
>> [music] [singing] >> What a glory stoies [music and singing] [singing and music] [singing and music] and allies doies. domin [singing and music] [singing]
[music] glor to glor [singing] Glor [music] [singing] to all the glor. Glor
[singing and music] domining. [singing and music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] What the glory of [music] God [singing] [music]
for the glory of God is all my [singing and music] [singing] [music] Glory [music] to [singing] God. [applause] BEFORE [applause]
[applause] uh we perform our final piece for tonight, home for the holidays, a bit of a shameless plug, but nonetheless, it is important to note uh that the ensemble behind me, the concert choir, was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in
New York City later on this year. Well, in 2026 in March, March 9th, uh this ensemble was personally invited by the the conductor of that uh event uh Dr. John Wilson. And this choir will be featured amongst other selected choirs
to perform at this event and we are very very excited FOR tomorrow's concert will feature two of the pieces that will be performed at the Carnegie Hall performance. It's just a little a little tidbit of of info and we hope you enjoy home for the holidays.
Thank you all again so much. Oh, [singing] there's no place like home [music] for the holidays. [singing] No [music] matter how far away you [singing] roam, when you [music]
pine for the sunshine of a friendly [singing] gaze for the [music] holiday sweeto [singing] and he [singing] was heading for Pennsylvania
and some homemade pumpkin pie. [singing] >> From Pennsylvania, [music] folks are traveling down to Dixie Sunnyore. [singing] From Atlantic to [music] Pacific, G
[singing] the traffic is ter. Oh, there's no [music] place like home for the holidays. [singing] [music] [singing] You roll. If you [singing] want to be [music]
happy in a million ways for the [singing] holiday, you can't beat home [music] sweet home. I met [singing] a man who [music] lives in Tennessee
and he was ready for [singing] [music] some holy pumpkin pie. Home pumpkin pie. From Pennsylvania [singing and music] are traveling down to sunny shore. From
Atlantic [music and singing] to Pacific. G the traffic is terrific. Oh, there's no [singing] place like home for the holiday. No [chant] matter how far
[music and singing] away you roll away. If you [singing and music] want to be happy in a million ways. For [singing] the holidays, you can't beat home sweet home. [music]
For the holidays, [singing] you can't beat home. Sweet. [singing and music] Have a happy holiday. Have a happy day.
>> Have [music] a happy [singing] day. >> Have a happy day. Happy [singing] holiday. [music] >> [applause] [applause] [applause] >> Happy holidays and hopefully see you at
tomorrow's concert. Thank you all so much. Uh pop back to the choir room. carried away. >> I'm go Let's give one more round of applause to Mr. A and that South Brunswick High School concert choir. [applause]
>> Yeah, I think they're just shaking hands. [clears throat] It's okay. Go back. It's fine. >> It's okay. All good. All good. >> All righty. As you get settled back in, uh, onto our 2025 South Brunswick Viking
Marching Band season highlights, or what we'd like to call our South Brunswick High School Music Department honors. Our South Brunswick Viking marching band had an competitive season presenting their 2025 show titled At the Root of It All
with selections from Carl Jenkins, Jacob Collier, which you may know, Alan Meen, Steven Schwarz, Randall Stanridge, and featuring rhythms from across the world. This year's show is [snorts] a celebration of community, what makes us unique, and how we are all connected to
each other. Uh something I love to share each year about our marching band and the competitive circuit that we are involved in and that we compete in the US bands is how we are being adjudicated. So on the left there you can see um group five
is the largest group. We have the largest marching band I believe in the state of New Jersey. Um there is a class and there's also open class. We are open class, which is uh more of a rubric, more of a rigorous rubric in those bulleted areas um that were being adjudic adjudicated on for our
competition. Throughout our season, we did really well. Uh we went to Edison first place. Good job. We had our home tournament of champions here at South Brunswick and our very own Valhalla Stadium where we competed in exhibition. That went well, too. Although we don't get a a placing for that one because we
competed in an exhibition. North Penn second place. We wanted first, but we got second. Lewig Muser, first place, 90. And as you can see, the scores going up there after each week of competition. Then we went to Hillsboro High School, first place. I'm not going to share yet,
you may know already, but for the state championships and for nationals. Before we get to how well we did there, just a few pictures quickly to kind of capture the season in photos. Um, as you can see here, this is some of our color guard
members. Um, for us under the adjudication, that's visual effect and they were on point. I think you would agree. Next, look at those props. Um, it helps tell the story visually of what's happening. Those props are larger than life. And a big shout out to our music
parents who help uh fabricate, create, move, transport in huge equipment trucks, set them up, move them out. It's a lot of work. And uh but just look at the scale there. It's larger than life and it's great. Visual effect on point. All right. Next, you can see here our
percussionist. You can see the lean over there in the brass. You see a little bit of a huddle for our percussionists. Um I like to think of these as ensemble music, music proficiency. Um all locked in and got so clean as the season progressed. Uh this one right here, just
look at how focused they are. So focused. This one was actually taken right after states, which we actually hosted at South Brunswick High School. Um, I don't know how many groups there were. 20, 30. It was a lot. >> It was it it was many, many, many, many
groups. Uh, and let's see on the right over here. Uh, for me, this represents the work we do each and every day um for the students of South Brunswick, and that's doing our best um as administrators and teachers um to try and instill a sense of community, empathy, and belonging in our students.
And as you can see there, they're huddle huddled up and they're hugging. They have kind of like hockey jerseys that are all matching, you know, and uh and they're having a good time. They're celebrating there. All right. Now, after a long season of hard work, dedication, determination, growth, practice,
progress, more practice, performances, and yes, more practice. Our South Brunswick Viking marching band did emerge victorious with the Group Five Open New Jersey state champions 92.3. GIVE THEM A CLAP. >> [applause] >> BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. WE HAD A SPECIAL
GUEST SHOW UP. Look over there in the bottom left. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell, for being in attendance. We appreciate that. Uh [laughter] let's see here. This was actually taken right after states on the stadium where uh all the whole group huddled up and uh
it's just a this picture just for me. I think the the phrase is joy. It brings joy. Um, a week later, uh, we were placed fourth place out of 11 groups in group five open class national, uh, championships from across
the nation at Metife Stadium. And I want to say that is the highest placing we've had in recent memory, at least since I've been around. So, that's that's a that's a big clap right there. Fourth place out of 11. And that's nationally. That's not state. That's nationally.
Um, accomplishing great things requires a great team. Um, I said it once, I'm going to say it again. Thank you so much to our parents, our performing arts parents. Uh, they're incredible. Um, I don't believe it would be possible to have a marching band without them. They
are they do everything for us. They're incredible. Um, I want to thank the staff. They're so talented, so dedicated. Um, and they're all about the kids. Our staff is just incredible. Um, and and last but not least, I want to thank our students. Um, we're so proud of them and their musical
accomplishments. Um, so now we have uh a video here and the goal here is to watch our state champions uh and what they do best on the field. Here you go. Enjoy. Performing their 2025 program at the root of it all. US Bands is proud to
present the South Brunswick Viking Marching Band. >> [music] >> Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. Hey,
hey, hey. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Kum chick
up [music] chicken. >> [bell] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [screaming] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat.
>> [music] [music] [cheering] [music] >> that work. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music and bell] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music]
>> Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. >> [screaming] >> And that, my friends, is what gets you to be a state champion and fourth in the nation. One more one more round of applause for them. [applause] All right. Next up, I'd love to invite
up our marching band directors and our board president uh to recognize and present some certificates of accomplishment to both our drum majors and to the students who've recently successfully auditioned into a region ensemble. All right. Um before we recognize our
our drum majors and everything they did this season, just a huge thank you to everybody on the board um for all of your support. Um we can't do that what you just saw on the field without all of your support um throughout everything we do through the season. So, thank you so much for supporting music and supporting the marching band and all of the
performing arts in South Brunswick. It's one of the things that makes South Brunswick what it is. So, thank you so much for all that you do. Um, we want to recognize um the three drum majors from the marching band um who are tasked with being the the leaders of the marching band in many ways. They're the ones that you saw in the front of the fields
conducting um and they coordinate and do so many things that help the marching band run smoothly. So, we'd like to recognize them for their outstanding leadership um this year of the marching band. And so, our three drum majors this year are Aishi Chelle, Harrison Pacos, and Ariel 2.
>> [applause] >> And hot off the presses, we just completed region auditions this past Saturday. Um, and I'm happy to report that we uh had quite a bit of success here at South Brunswick High School. Um, we have two orchestra students who will be participating in our region
orchestras. I'm not sure if they're here tonight, but we have Aiden Chang and Caleb Hoe. And congratulations to those two [applause] region orchestra. And you know, being selected for a region honors ensemble is is a huge
accomplishment, but I think especially considering just how competitive and strong of music programs we have here in central Jersey. Um, this truly is a it's a cutthroat environment to to audition into a group like this. So, we have eight band students uh who particip who
are placed into region ensembles. We have Aditia Agarwal who not only uh was accepted on tenor saxophone but also on baritone saxophone. So he got to choose what he wanted to play. Aditia I believe he's here. >> Oh he had to leave. Okay. So Aditia
Agarwal. Up next we have flute player Alyssa Alvarez, [applause] clarinet player Anirude Ashoke, trombone player Spencer Capes. Clarinet player Sna Don,
English horn player Kevin Kelly, bassoon player Manov Swam Nathan and bass trombone and player Rayon Zahir. Thank you all again for your support of all of our music students here. Uh before I I you know recognize the
four coral students that got uh accepted into region course, I just want to echo everything that uh Mr. Bold said about um your support and to thank you for all that you do for our performing arts department. And uh I'm happy to recognize the following students who got
accepted into region chorus. Uh first we have Safik Danj who may I add also placed first in the region for base twos. [applause] Uh next for soprano 2 say her car.
>> [applause] >> Also for soprano 2, Shiovali Pandia. [applause] And finally for Alto, Samyuka Rajant. [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you all so much. [applause] I think that's all I have.
Last thing I have here is to just say thank you. Uh we know we took a lot of time tonight, but we appreciate it. um being able to have the opportunity to share uh the state championship performance like that and to recognize all these students. Um it's it's really incredible and we really appreciate all
your support. So, thank you so much. Have a good night. [applause] >> Okay, next up I want to bring um Dr. Brian talked a little bit about it about the uh SP reads. So, I would like to bring up our high school media
specialist to talk about this awesome thing. Last year, I read and it was so much fun and those kids loved it. So, Lisa, >> good evening. Um, as you pointed out, a lot of you came and read last year. So,
we're hoping to have all of you come join us this year because it was such a nice event last year. Um, my name is Lisa Manganello. I'm a librarian at South Brunswick High School. I'm here tonight representing our school librarians, a number of whom are here in the audience,
and to invite you and all our school community to our third annual South Brunswick Reads Night on January 15th. South Brunswick Reads is a tradition that we are very proud of. For the past 16 years, in
partnership with the fantastic librarians at the South Brunswick Public Library, our school librarians have selected a story, a book, or a theme to inspire our community to read. Three years ago, Dr. Evelyn Mammon challenged
us to create a literacy event to encourage all families to participate, and SB Reeds Night was born. Last year, we welcomed just over 1,000 people to South Brunswick Reeds Night, and we hope for even more this year. To connect to
our district theme, rooted in resilience and rising with purpose, we hope to focus on encouraging our students to find their reading roots. I'm proud to share our launch video to kick off this year's reading initiative. Reggie, can
you play our video? Philosopher Machona Daluo said, [music] "A tree's beauty lies in its branches, but its [music] strength lies in its roots." In South Brunswick, we believe [music]
that reading anchors our students for a lifetime of discovery, imagination, [music] and growth. Books allow a safe way [music] for our students to explore the world,
satisfy [music] their personal curiosity and build empathy. Reading hones critical thinking and expands vocabulary, growing roots for academic success. To strengthen our roots [music] as
readers, the 16th South Brunswick Reads partnership between our schools and public library will be strong roots, strong readers. As a community, we will [music] read to
increase our personal resilience. Reading about those who persevere and overcome adversity can help us to learn to better navigate our own challenges with strength and [music] compassion. Find our purpose. Books provide
knowledge, spark critical thinking, and illuminate [music] pathways for personal improvement, inspiring us to rise with intention [music] and purpose. Create a caring community. Reading together creates positive
[music] memories and common ground that fosters a stronger, more connected community in our schools [music] and our public library. We will cultivate our reading roots through thoughtful readalouds, [music]
book recommendations, shared events, and connected activities. We hope that all our students and their families [music] will join us for our third annual South Brunswick Reads Night on Thursday,
January 15th at South Brunswick High School from 6:30 [music] to 8:00 p.m. The evening will include read alouds, presentations from local authors, and activities that will strengthen [music] our roots as readers and grow our
community with enough cookies and cocoa for all our guests. Please visit [music] our South Brunswick Reed site to learn more information. Join us as we strengthen the roots that make us a community. Because strong
roots build strong readers [music] and I want to echo my music colleagues to say that what you see on the screen wouldn't happen without all of you. you really the support that you show your librarians and literacy in this district
is without compare. So, thank you to all of you that are planning to come that night and we hope we see you all there to either join us just for fun, for Coco, for some music or to read. Um, the RSVP form will go out to our community starting tomorrow and we're looking
forward to lots of attendance. So, thank you again. Thank you. It's a lot of fun. I encourage all of you to come out if you can. All those in TV land out there, if you can come, bring your kids. It's really a lot of fun. It's a great
community um function to attend. So, next up, we are bringing up Miss Blair Eisman, Mr. Peter Ratine for our school safety report and our HIV report. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. Blair Eisman, director of programs and
professional development. And in my role, I am also co-anti-bullying coordinator along with Peter Ratin, director of special projects. And Mr. Raphael Morales, I know he's making his way around and in, director of student services. He's joining us for this
report tonight as well. So, the information here that we're going to be sharing with you this evening is what is required by the state for us to share out publicly. We are going to be sharing information specific to harassment, intimidation,
and bullying, and school safety data for January through June of last school year. We're always reporting one period behind because we're currently in the report first reporting period for this year, which ends December 31st. So when we return in the spring, we'll report
out of of our current data. So just keep that in mind as we share this evening that this information is for the second half of last school year. The anti-bullying specialists in each school really lead the charge in all
things HIV, including conducting investigations and many of the initiatives and programs in place, which you'll hear more about shortly. These ABS's are those that were in the seat for the reporting period we're we're
sharing out on January through June of last year. These names, our current ABS's are always available on our district website as well. I'm going to turn it over to Peter Ratine and he's going to get into some of the data.
I'm going to share with you the investigation data that uh we're required to report out. Uh so for that same reporting period, we had a total of 41 investigations in the district and we had 17 of those HIB investigations
confirmed as acts of HIP. At the elementary, we had 28 investigations and 14 confirmed. Middle school, we had seven investigations with one confirmed. At the high school, we had six investigations with two confirmed. We're also required to break it down by
school. And so, instead of me reading each one of them, I'm just going to leave it up for a moment for you to take a look at. We do expect from year to year and we see this as a trend that these fluctuate um depending on what happens in and acts unfortunately at each place. Just want to point out that
DA and DE is Dayton and deans. Those are our preschools. And I'm going to share one last piece with uh regard to data. There are protected categories. This is a an important part of harassment, intimidation, and bullying. And so we're
required to report out protected classes that were in any of the confirmed HIPS. I just want to be clear on this that there could be more than one protected class in a HIB investigation. So these numbers won't match up to if you add them up, it's not going to add up to the
number of confirmed HIPS. And just want to be clear on what also at the bottom other distinguishing characteristics are. Those are things like uh weight, height, physical features or appearance, intelligence. Another example the state gives is like being a vegetarian. Things like that
could be other distinguishing characteristics. And just to give you an idea um where it says 11 were other distinguishing characteristics, eight were appearance, two were weight, and one was intelligence. And then we're also required to share
the type and nature of uh discipline that had been imposed. And so you'll see that some common ones that were in these HIP confirmed were detention, in school suspension, out of school suspension, loss of privileges, there were some removals, restorative practices, uh,
which is a newer component to South Brunswick that we're implementing for mediation, conferences, uh, seating changes are often needed when there are things that occur like this. uh conferences and contracts and occasionally there might be a law enforcement conference and then there's
intervention services and certainly there's other consequences that may align with the student code of conduct as well. So as a district we always aim to be as proactive as possible to build community within our schools to teach students
important related skills. The next few slides have a number of just some of the things that our anti-bullying specialists, our admin, our teachers, all staff in the district really play a part in working to prevent
incidents of HIP. Again, these are for January through June of last year. conversations with admin and staff to address student concerns, our responsive classroom approach, which emphasizes the importance of the social and emotional
well-being of children, not just the academics. We also had a parent academy last year on the anxious generation. Peter and I meet with our anti-bullying specialists several times a year to align, talk trends, offer training.
We have a district seal committee, lots of spirit weeks. The last three on this slide are actually specific to preschool. So, age appropriate or developmentally appropriate preventative measures at preschool, lending libraries or books
the kids get to take home tied to SEAL themes. They're learning to be super friends and how to be kind to one another. crisis team meetings, sharing of resources with parents, pride events. The last two speak to Crossroads North,
a mental health fair, which I know also happens at our other secondary buildings as well. So again, a lot of efforts to be as proactive as as possible to prevent incidents of him. I'm going to now turn it over to Raphael Morales for school
safety data report. Good evening, members of the board. Dr. Braen, central office colleagues and student representative. [clears throat] My name is Raphael Morales. I'm the student services director and my office manages the state uh reporting uh two
times a year for uh our SSDs uh data. Uh this information goes uh from our system to the NJ DOE and is required to be reported two times a year. and um uh shared here tonight. Here what you're seeing is a snapshot of
the uh areas that we report at the elementary level. Uh we report our um incidents uh that are violence and vandalism related uh incidents of substance abuse or or possession and uh weapons on school grounds um as well as
our suspension numbers. Our SSDS data also reports the uh HIP uh alleged and confirmed uh but you heard that in in this uh evening's report. As you can see, it's extremely low incidences across the elementary level and no
incidences around substances uh abuse use or weapons. Here you're seeing the same data for our middle school and our high school. And as a snapshot, it's uh doesn't tell a whole picture. it it gives us just a
snapshot of what we're seeing uh in discussions in preparation for today. I I think it's appropriate to um move for moving forward share uh reporting periods one and two uh yeartoear uh we now have data post post
um COVID when when the these numbers were were were not comparable from 2022 to 2024. we we have that data available and we'll share that moving forward so that we can see a a timeline of this uh uh of this data. But I did want to leave
you tonight uh with some with some good news. The district, as uh you may have heard uh at board meetings, has had been previously identified as having a disproportionate representation uh related to suspension of our black and our Hispanic students. Uh we were
identified as overly uh suspending those those two groups. uh recently the state uh notified that that is no longer the status in our school district. The efforts that we've made around uh reforming how we discipline, how we
manage our um incidents uh related to SSDs and and uh um suspensions um have yielded a a much better result. um we're we're no longer identified as being proportionate and don't have any obligation to the department of
education uh for that. We'll obviously continue to monitor uh those numbers and make sure they don't they don't creep up. Uh but uh I do want to give the high school um the middle schools as well some accolades for uh their work to address those issues and and bring down
that that number. That concludes my uh report for this evening. If there's any questions for for him or or for me, I'll be here. >> We have question for you, Mr. Morals. >> Can you uh give an example uh for the
weapons and uh substance abuse substances used in the abuse? to do that. >> All of the weapons ones were related to a to a a knife and uh it it meets a definition that's identified and sometimes it could be a not a large
knife per se, um but it meets the definition. So, we we must report it. Uh substances are are are for the most part positive um for uh marijuana in school. That's the majority of of those that that we're seeing >> in middle school as well. uh middle
school. It's it's it might not be um confirmed. There's situations where students don't test and uh we report it as confirmed. So, I'd have to look at them specifically, but they're mostly related to marijuana and the vaping epidemic. >> Vaping. Okay. Thank you. >> No problem.
>> Have the substance abuse and the weapons gone down from last year? that number hasn't gone down uh or up over the over the few years. Like I said, when when we look at it by reporting period, it's not so easy to compare it period to period. Um this period, if you saw the dates
align with the end of the school year, so the uh the crazy months of of May and June are what we're seeing here. So comparing that to period one would make it hard. Uh the idea that moving forward we'll we'll compare yeartoear may give us a better uh view of that. But I I have that for the last two years.
I have a question about state reporting. Could you elaborate a little bit more on that? Uh as far as what what um processes you've used to bring that number down. Uh the high school has gone through training and um worked on
their approach to disciplining uh using restorative practices using ways of uh really trying to understand the situation uh before just suspending and and removing the student. Uh a lot of talk and a lot of uh work around disproportionality and um wanting to
address this from for the right reasons and and I think that's yielded. I'm very familiar with restorative practices. Uh we use that in my own district. So I totally appreciate the fact that we have it here and and and I'm hoping that we can continue to use
that and that it will make a difference if everyone buys into it. I think it can be very effective. >> It's a wonderful approach. I agree. >> Thank you. >> I just I remember uh maybe two years ago we had
this We had the substance abuse uh we had I think it was a parent academy if I'm not mistaken where we had the specialist who had come in and they had a sort of uh you know they educated the parents also how you know because this is a school and a home sort of a
combined effort to ensure that we you know we tackle this challenge that we have and it was an amazing uh workshop that we had where you know parents were educated as to uh to track for signs to see what you some code words might mean just you know so that parents are aware
because as a parent I myself live in perhaps my own bubble right and I think that was a very very useful I think Blair you're nodding you remember that it was very useful and I would really recommend that we bring it back every year because we have we always have a new batch of parents and memories fade
and we forget things and it's it was an amazing uh workshop I really highly recommend that you bring it back every year to handle >> I know somebody I could recommend to Yeah. >> Good. >> Thank you. >> Great. Anyone else?
>> Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Okay, moving on to our board committee and liaison reports. Uh, Miss Khan, policy, >> no report at this time. >> Finances, Mr. Palowski.
Nada. Uh, business operations, Mr. Krishna. Everybody's looking at me like I'm nuts. [laughter] >> Nothing. Mr. Nathan, education. >> No, it's been pretty quiet. We were hopping there for months and months and months getting this gentleman in place.
So, the last month and a half, it's kind of been like, wow, we really haven't seen each other in a while. So, uh we'll be kicking in after in uh January when we have our reorganization meeting and everything else will be coming coming along. Uh we have no old business at
this time. No new business at this time. So we are now uh going on to our consent agenda walk through. Mr. Palowski. >> Yes. I have an over and under on the time tonight for the board meeting. So this will be an hour and 15 minute consent
agenda walkth through. Here we go. Uh we have a board business business office. We have some approval of some transfers, some financials, a bills list. We're approving the acceptance of uh funds for chapter 192 and we're approving a non-public technology order. We're doing
some transportation contracts and awarding some bids for transportation. We have a um state contracts for vendors. This is a new uh motion provided uh the board through our uh auditing firm. when they looked at state contracts, they wanted us to for the
board just to be aware of some not to exceed amounts and the fact that we were actually utilizing these contracts through um um New Jersey ESC. So, just be aware um these are state contracts. The not to exceed amounts are are never going to be met. Um if we do have an
issue, um you will definitely put that in front of the board. We we approve every contract up to a certain uh anything over $45,000 to $44,000. Even if it's state contract, we board approved that. So, you'll see those on the on the agenda if that does come to
uh fruition. We're approving the bus sale through Hunton County ESC. We have a um a 2011 16 um bus number 16. It's a small bus went for $5,800. We're approving some 403b and 40 uh 57B. uh
just an agreement with Omni and our agreements with the South Brunswick Township Board of Education. Uh those have to be updated every four to five years and and this is that u that schedule. We're approving master collaborative educational services agreement. Um that's that agreement with
the U collaborative educational services with the ESC. We're also approving an articulation agreement and we're approving the disposal of some property. Um what are we doing? We also just one second here. Equipment. Yeah,
it's technology equipment. We're approving the appointment of our representative Dr. Braan to the Educational Services Commission. And we're approving Lisa Maganelloo, our school media specialist um to the as the alternate to the South Brunswick
Township Library Board of Trustees. and we're reappointing Lori Bindu uh to our high school faculty member to serve as the South Brunswick Township Commission on the Arts effect of January 1. We have a uniform state of memorandum of agreement with the education and law
enforcement for um South Brunswick um police department. We're also approving our out of district placements and our students tuition contracts. We have some travel related expenses, reimbursements. We have some student field trips
and we're also uh board approving our harassment, intimidation, bullying reports. And finally on this agenda, we're approving the certification of the election results for our board of education uh three-year term from January 1, 2026 through December 31st,
2028. You can see uh Miss Khan, congratulations. Highest number, 7,578 votes. Miss Laura Hernandez, 7,521 votes and Mr. Deon Patel, 5,668 votes. We [clears throat] also had uh Mr. Barry
Nathansson. Um he's going to uh finish out a two-year term, it's unexpired term, and he received 7,352 votes. And that is your consent agenda this evening. >> Thank you. Um, before I have questions,
I I like to just kind of um state that so everyone knows that we the board always gets all of our consent agenda items ahead of time. We have time to review them. We have time to read them. We send emails. We make phone calls if
we have any questions. So, this is not the first time that your board members are hearing this or seeing this. But with that being said, do we have any any follow-up questions for Mr. Palowski on any of these. Okay, Mr. Palowski. >> Roll call vote.
>> Roll call. >> Can I Well, can I get a motion? >> Some move. >> Second. Miss Caric. >> Caric. >> Miss. Julie Fara. >> Accept. >> Miss. Alicia Khan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Raja Krishna. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Mike Mitchell. >> Yes. >> Mr. Barry Nathansson. >> Yes. >> Dr. Smith Raj. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rajes Sony. Accept >> Miss D. McCarthy. >> Yes. >> Miss Laura Hernandez. >> Yes. >> Consent. The agenda passes. >> Okay.
Moving on to our public comment on any topic. The board of education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest.
Complete copies of policy 0167 which govern this portion of the meetings are available to the public at the auditorium entrance online or by contacting the board office to permit the fair and orderly expression of comments. We ask that participants be
recognized by the presiding officer and preface their comments by announcing his or her name, place of residence, group affiliation if applicable, and by completing the sign and sh sign which is up at the podium. Please print legibly
or we may not be able to document your name for the permanent records. Each statement made by the participant shall be limited to three minutes. No participant may speak more than once on the same topic. Mr. Palowski will indicate when you have 15 minutes
remaining. All statements shall be directed to the preciding 15 seconds. >> Oh, 15 seconds. [laughter] It's a long day. Uh, all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer. No participant may address or question board members. No discussion between a participant or
respondent shall exceed the three minute time limit with a total limit of one hour. It is our plan to listen to each member of the public. Once all questions and comments from all members of the public are made, the board of education may respond or respond via mail in the
most timely and efficient manner available. All questions and comments will be noted. Please note, differences of opinions are always welcome. Disrespect is not Mr. Palowski. Do we have anybody pre-registered?
>> We have no pre-registrations at this time. >> Okay. Well, we have someone at the podium. Hi, my name is Vanessa Dumbar. I live in Kendall Park. Um, good evening everyone. Welcome to South Brunswick. Dr. Reagan. Um
curious to know why the board is approving items on the consent agenda prior to hearing from the public as well as no clarity in previous times where you would have discussions of the agenda
um for consenting beforehand. Now it's done in private before you used to have clarity for the public to hear. Um, okay. So, [sighs] I am extremely nervous speaking at the podium tonight, especially since my husband works for the district. I do not
want retaliation against my husband who was a mechanic in transportation for the past 10 years. However, was moved to a night shift custodian on July 1st this year for possibly budget issues. I'm a taxpayer. These are my own concerns and thoughts and not those of my husband. I
have questions and concerns. On the agenda this evening, you have two different line items at $15,000 each, totaling $30,000 for vehicles to be repaired at Circle. For those not familiar, practice has been to avoid sending any repairs out
unless absolutely necessary. Repairs should be completed in house to save taxpayers money. Is this cost possibly due to not having enough manpower in the garage? You have a lead mechanic making $103,000
which is supposed to lead others in repairs but yet it is $30,000 in repairs you are requesting on the agenda. Is there other increase in the cost in the public is not aware about. Maybe look back at how much the district
cost the taxpayers on sending repairs out the last few years compared to sending repairs out since July 1st of 2025 and re-evaluate the employees in the garage with the year's experience and certification not just based on a referral of a friend or who you know not
taking into consideration what you know to the new superintendent based on what I have read in the papers about you I hope you truly review what is happening in this district and many are afraid to speak up. I hope you dig deep and repair this district as it is
broken in the eyes of the community. Thank you. Do we have anybody else that'd like to come up to the podium? Okay. With that being said, we close that portion of uh the meeting. Please
note that the next scheduled board of education meeting is set for Wednesday. This is a little different um because it's a Wednesday, not a Thursday. Uh January 7th, 2026 right here at 7:00.
So before I gave out, um for those who celebrate, merry Christmas. For those who celebrate, happy Hanukkah. And for everybody, every all of us, have a happy, healthy new year. Sorry, Barry.
>> Just a quick comment. Okay. [clears throat] I learned today that uh uh a person very close to the district uh passed away and that's Rose Greco.
uh Rose Greco and her husband Chris Greco uh have been involved in uh uh the educate p the education association since the start of the education
association. So she battled cancer uh very gracefully and and passed away today. Her daughter uh Stephanie is a coach and a teacher at the high school. So, I want to wish uh my condolences to
Chris and Stephanie. >> Okay. Sorry. All right. With that, good night, South Brunswick. >> Oh, motion to adjurnn. >> So move. >> Second, >> Dr. Raj. So be it. Good night.