of the city of Lville stock and advertising. [Music] Senator Bacher here. Marvin Dennis here. Dina Pashetti here. Brian Keys. Kevin Kovaleleski.
Aaron Olri here. Michael Strauss here. Bonnie Todd Marino and Gallagher here. Um so our first order of business this evening is that uh we are going to be recognizing some of our uh staff members who are highly valued and are
retiring. So with that I'll su like so I'm going to start out by just by saying it's an honor and a privilege to present the board tonight our class of 2024 2025. It's a small class this year only two folks. Um, each of our retirees has
demonstrated excellence and an incredible work ethic, dedication, and professionalism during their time in our career district. They have done an outstanding job supporting students, staff, parents, and our community. I would like to introduce two of our
administrators tonight who are going to say a few special words about each one of our retirees. We're going to start out first with our business administrator, Mr. Paragus. Tonight I'm here to honor Pete Neck. Pete Nemik has served West Samuel
Elementary School and the South Hunan Regional School District for almost 24 years. His dedication and his commitment is seen on a daily basis and his impact was felt by all of his colleagues and students. One of our CSOS, Steve Bartsac, writes, "I can say every morning he hit the ground running. Very
regimented, most likely from his time serving in the US Navy. He had a routine in the morning prepping for the school day. Specific tasks at specific times only to be deviated when something unforeseen came up and he had to divert to some emergency within the building. His knowledge of the West Stanwell
building was nothing short of amazing. Everything he needed to know to offset any type of crisis or even an emergency, he knew and had a plan. Pete is an employee who will be seriously missed. He leaves a large set of shoes to fill. Principal David Miller tells us, "Pete's attention to detail, knowledge of our
building, and hard work ethic have made my time as w principal better. Pete's dedication as a firefighter, Navy sailor, and a family man are parallel to his dedication to our school community. Knowing that Pete is a steward of our school building has ensured that we
learn in a clean, safe environment. Pete, I'd also like to highlight that your unwavering commitment to creating clean, safe, and welcoming spaces has touched countless lives throughout nearly a quarter century of faithful service. Through changing seasons and generations of students and staff, you
have been a constant presence, ensuring that our environment reflects the excellence we aspire to achieve. We extend our deepest gratitude and warmest wishes as you begin this well-deserved next chapter. Congratulations. and next our principal of the high
school, Jen Mcnite. It is a true honor to stand here today and recognize the retirement of Mr. Tom Bill, our beloved student assistant counselor whose impact on South Hunan has been immeasurable since he first joined us in 2011. Over the
years, Mr. Bill has quietly but pro powerfully guided countless students through some of the most challenging moments, offering not only his professional support, but his unwavering compassion, patience, and care. He has been a steady and calming presence in our school, a trusted adult for
students, and a reliable colleague for staff. Beyond the walls of South, Mr. Bill has left an incredible legacy in the athletic world, having coached football and lacrosse at Hunter Central for over 25 years. His dedication to young people extended far beyond the school day, and his influence has
reached generations of athletes who have benefited from his leadership, mentorship, and sportsmanship. Tom is the kind of person who will never seek recognition, but deserves all of it. Kind, generous, and always willing to help. Whether it's
listening to a student in need, supporting a colleague, or cheering on our teams from the sidelines, as he enters this well-earned next chapter, we thank Mr. Bill for the profound impact he has made on our school community. And we wish him a retirement filled with the same warmth, purpose, and fulfillment
that he brought to his work every day. got to tell one kind of funny story and it's just that it's might sound like cliche but the impact that that this school has had in my colleague and really I've been so blessed with the
people that I've been you fortunate enough to work with. And the work hard, be kind, you know, has been such a powerful uh phrase really in in our world here and at home and and so much so
that so when I started here, I guess our son Owen was 11, no, eight or nine, something like that. So, I guess it was last year when he called his mother and I and said he was going to get a he was getting a
tattoo. So, we were like, "Oh, you know, okay." You know, then he told us he then he got a tattoo and he got a he got a band on his arm with the word work hard, be kind on his arm. And I just say that in that
idea of what this place has represented, you know, and how powerful those words came into, you know, the gift that that that this school and those words came into our lives and our family and impacted our son in that idea. Far from
perfect, but but fact that anybody, right, whether it's our child or any other child has that in their mind at least a little bit of the day is a pretty good thing. Pretty powerful thing. Thank you very much. So, as Lucas is making his way to the
podium, we thought since we get so much incredible support from the LA that it would be awesome to highlight one of the programs that they funded this year which was physics day. Yes, physics day occurred earlier this
month. So um for this trip our objectives were to collect phys physics data for the uh for calculations and analysis. Uh we also needed to predict and calculate forces for gravit like gravitational force and
normal force on a rider at multiple points during a ride. Um, we also critiqued and calculated different efficiencies by normalizing work and power under varying conditions. We used free, excuse me, free body diagrams to
determine central fetedal acceleration and normal force acting on those riders and uniform circular motion while evaluating energy conser conservation to estimate speeds and altitude throughout a ride.
So during the day we got to explore many different parts of the park and while doing that we got to ride different rides while also collecting information. So as you can see some of the pictures um are my fellow peers collecting
information during their day. Another more pictures calculating. We have students really getting into collecting that information while observing from afar to get all the information needed. Um on this slide we have
different thoughts and quotes from different students who went on this trip. I'll read read a few. One stating I got real life experience and was able to apply what we learned in class into the real world. Thank you so much.
Another quote, another student quotes, "This trip was a lot of fun and very efficient, informative, sorry. It taught me about a lot about GeForce and how physics affects every movement of our lives." And the last one, the trip was
spectacular. I got to simultaneously learn about how physics can affect roller coasters and their movement while also riding those set rides. Thank you, L. Yeah. Lastly, as um on behalf of all the students attending physics day this
year, I would like to give a sincere thanks to the LEF for funding this trip. Thank you. Besides thanking the LAF, I also would like to thank Miss Brenaza who's the back there because she took the time
Thank Mrs. Kilmer who's next door who took the time to put this together for the application to LEAF. And anytime, as you all know, we can take what's learned in the classroom and apply it to everyday life practicalitywise. It goes a long way as far as our students. So,
thank you to our teachers and the LEAF for their continued support. And Lucas for sharing your experience. Appreciate that. You want to continue on with your recording? Of course. I get this twice. Okay. To start for our sports, on May
7th, the new softball field open um for and had our last home game for our softball field, which resulted in a victory for us. Um Lucy Reed set a new softball or sorry a new school record um for the three uh 3200 meter run setting
at a time of 11 minutes and 22 seconds. May 7th was also signing day for the student athletes continuing their sports into college. We have four this year. Lena Wland continuing at Morgan University for field hockey. Nate
Walton continuing at Gwendaloon Mercy for baseball. Julia St continuing uh Drew University for field hockey and Katie Thleming continuing at Moravian University for basketball. Also for sports this month
are for I guess technically last month we have our athletes of the month. We have Ed Cooper for baseball, Noah Le for golf, Anukica Balog for softball, and Liam Syra for track. Uh lastly for sports, uh middle school
will be finishing uh our middle school finished off their uh spring sports for last week and all high school sports will be entering tournaments this week. Last the last two weeks um we have
our band and choir concert earlier this month. Um both both both our spring choir and our spring band concerts were had with and they were both districtwide meaning that grades 5 and 12 all
performed 5 through 12, sorry. Also, our band and choir both performed a joint piece including the middle school. So both middle school and high school students got to perform alongside each other. Last Friday, our prom. It was a success. My peers and I
danced on the dance floor while eating great food. And our prom royalty was also announced. Prom king is Aaron Pereizy. Our prom queen is Olivia Neimoth. Our prom princess is Anukica Bolog. And our prom prince is Connor
Keys. Last week also concluded all our AP testing and or the finish the end of our AP testing and state testing. And lastly, while we're leading into the last month for all seniors, our senior events are senior sunset at on May 30,
May 30th, and our senior awards on June 4th. Thank you. Number seven, I do. Did you enjoy prom? Yes. Love that. I What is senior sunset? Senior sunset.
So in the beginning of the year we have a senior sunrise. So it's the beginning of our year and at the end we have a senior sunset. So we're celebrating our full senior year at sunset. Yes. At sunset. Very good. Um I do want to acknowledge
uh we've been our brothers student government this year. Um our next board game will come after graduation. So I don't know that we'll see that one. So I presuming this will probably be here last night. I think on behalf of the word say thank you. We've enjoyed having
from you having you and hearing from you. Thank you. With that we'll move on to our second you want to start the flowers. So
we thank you for everything you do. Oh, no. Thank you. And, uh, I'm really glad to hear and see the physics day. Um, we'd love to see the results of the grants that we approve and how what the kids did and how it went over. Um, so, you know, anytime if anybody presents a
grant and, you know, has that approved, we'd love to see pictures and hear experiences from the students on how that went. So, thank you. Um, so in in kind of carrying out with the grants, uh, we just had our May
board meeting a couple weeks ago, um, which will probably be our last for this year. Uh, at that meeting, we approved the music technology grant submitted by Mr. Stevens. So, we're very excited. That's been a kind of long haul, um, but we've been able to work through it. And so, that was approved at our last board
meeting. Um, we also are working through our summer and senior awards. We had six applicants for our summer awards. All six we are funding and approved for their programs. So we're very excited about that. Um we actually had 12
applicants for our senior awards which is a lot a big increase over last year. So also excited about that. So we are working through finalizing our award decisions this week and then we will print present those at the senior awards next week. Um let's see. Uh as we wrap up the year,
we have had some shifts in our board. Um so our longtime members Kim Brazina, Wendy Kamjafi, and uh Janelle Garrow are becoming members at large and stepping away from the day-to-day. Um we very much have valued all their time and dedication over the years that they've
given to our organization and they're they're sticking around. So they're not going far, but just kind of stepping away from the day-to-day. Um so myself, uh Tom Dicki and Kate Mzinski will remain on the board. Um, we do have openings. So, um, always looking for more board members, volunteers, um, to
come help without with the board and go, you know, support all these great things that we're doing for for the school. Um, it doesn't happen without people, so we're always looking for for new members. Um, and then as we kind of go into the summer, we're starting to plan for our next year's activities, um, our
fall fundraisers and other, um, hopefully activi, you know, engaging activities again to support membership. um let people know what we do. Um I think you know there's been a lot of turnover and a lot of um new folks and as we kind of really get into the new
middle school and kind of get to all the other parents um we're looking forward to really engaging more in the community. So um keep an eye out for more to come. Thank you. Hello. Hello. Um, today we had field day at South Elementary and it was awesome.
Um, it was a huge success. Our students and staff had an absolute an absolute blast. Sorry, I'm really tired. Um, I want to say a huge thank you to Miss Burkehead. It's not easy putting on something like that. And if you had seen
her lists and schedules and maps, I mean, it's for someone who's type A, it kind of blew me away. She was she was amazing. We also want to thank our amazing parent volunteers who helped. They helped serve lunch. They organized games. They handed out snow cones. Um
the Bish family for bringing their snow cone truck. Um the Lambertville Fire Department for joining us and they cook lunch for all the staff and students and volunteers. So it's like 420 people and then shop rate of Flemington who donated
everything. So it really helps offset costs for us. Um and field day continues to be one of our favorite days of the year and we're so grateful to everyone who made it possible. Um board elections, the ballots went out last night. If anyone's a PTO member,
everyone's running against themselves, so it's really just a formality, but it it is important to at least get 50% membership votes. So then, kids night out. Um, our final Kids Night Out of the Friday, June
6th. Um, we have the fifth and sixth grade dance coming up. It's next Friday. We've hired a DJ and we've shared a Signup Genius and an Amazon wish list to kind of help us offset costs. and that went out to parents today. And then the sixth grade class trip is scheduled for Thursday, June 5th
at Dornet Park. And the middle school end of year party is June 13th. And we actually had enough food left over from field day that we froze it all so I don't have to buy anything for it. So that's really awesome. And that will follow directly after school. So we'll
keep the kids from like 1 to 2:30, 3:00. Um, and we will do whiffle ball. I got a really cool inflatable obstacle course. And then the Lambertville Fire Department will barbecue again for us. And then fourth grade promotion is going to take place um the morning of June
13th. And they'll also be taking a really fun trip to Del Arcade that we'll be funding. And then the preK field day um will be Friday, this Friday actually. And we um are going to put on a mad science assembly for them too in the
afternoon. And then finally, fifth and sixth grade field day scheduled for Wednesday the 28th. And again, we got a really cool inflatable. It's like a ninja course kind of thing. It's you get it. There's a theme. We really like inflatables. So, and then tomorrow we
have the walk-athon here um for grades 5 through 12. Um it's the first one we've ever done, but it's really cool because we're going to give back 100% of the proceeds to each individual class. So, it's really just free money for them. We've hired a DJ. We'll have fun treats
and wristbands and hopefully it's a lot of fun and the kids like it. Um yearbooks. We they're complete. They're in um we've sold all of them at the elementary level. We have quite a few at the middle school. So if anyone at the middle school has not purchased one or
needs one, they can just email the PTO. We have quite a few copies. So and then teacher appreciation week was May 5th through 9th. I was also testing for NJSLA, which should be criminal, but we were able to put on a
really good week for them. Um, we did events throughout all three buildings. We did three lunchons, three snack days, two breakfast, and a coffee bar at the middle school high school. Um, we hope that the staff truly felt appreciated that week. And then as we wrap up um our first
semester in enrichment and our first full year as a district PTO, I want to take a moment to express um my sincere gratitude to everyone who supported us and thank you to our generous community. Lee and I went over it today and we raised $91,000 this year. Um
thank you. Um, and we started off with our bank account was like $2,000 and we were legitimately freaking out that we were not going to be able to pay our bills, but we've also reinvested 71,000 dollars back into student programming and back into the district and our kids.
So, where we started and where we are now, I'm really proud of everyone that I work with. I work with some amazing humans and they give so much of their time. So, um, I'm proud of what everyone's accomplished together. So, thank
you for your moving on. Correspondence this week is posted on the website to look at it. Um the item is approval of the minutes from
meeting by Michael second. A second by any discussion on there all in favor. Anyone opposed? Uh, with that, that brings us to our superintendent update. So, I know you're all sitting there with baited breath
ready for me to do my presentation, but we'll take a two-minut break and if you want to go, you're more than welcome to two-minut break and then we'll I'll go to my Don't be bashful. very interesting.
Okay. Can people hear us out there in the audience? mics seem to be kind of No, it's fine. I can hear everybody else. Okay. So, we will uh we will resume our meeting here. Superintendent.
All right. Just a few slides that I have. Um, so I wanted to share this again. I don't know if folks had a chance to see it last week when I sent it out. Um, I posted on Facebook as well, but just
excited as we approach the end of the year with the class of 2025 and you know all the different schools that uh are represented here on the right hand side. Uh and then I also this weekend just kind of went through and all the different majors that folks are going to
be uh you know working towards when they go to the next level. So um this has been a phenomenal class. It's represented extremely well. Um you know there's a wide variety of colleges and universities on this list. There's some technical schools. There's obviously our
armed services. So, you know, kudos to our counseling department for doing a great job and really working with our students and, you know, the college tours and the college fair that we had here was was incredible how many different folks that we had here. Um,
we're doing well. Good stuff to report out. So, I'll continue to pump this out. Probably be in the new budget well, but uh really excited about where we land this year. Just a reminder. So, our annual climate and culture survey districtwide,
building wide, um is going to be coming out this week. So, that comes out via Survey Monkey, and that goes out to all of our parents, all of our students in grades 3 through 12, as well as all of our staff. So, it's coming out a little bit earlier than it has in the past. Typically, we don't send it out until
June. Uh but we decided the board school and community committee decided we were going to send it out a little bit sooner. It will be open until June 30th with opportunity to remind folks. But this is a great opportunity to provide feedback um to what's working well and then areas of focus for us moving
forward. We do take a lot of time administratively as well as at the board level looking through this and it drives a lot of our planning for the upcoming year. So please take a moment and uh fill it out and put the feedback. is extremely valuable for us to get
better. So, just a few updates, the 58 building um some updates on the Westwell Water situation and then the building update and then just something quickly about our performing arts academy. So, when you look at um our 58 building,
so this was actually done with the drone uh that we flew inside the middle to above the gym. Pretty cool. But the gym looks phenomenal. Um, it's complete. Uh, the landscaping has started. Our septic installation has started. So, originally we didn't plan on our septic equipment
arriving until June 1st, but it did arrive over the last two weeks. So, that started. So, that's a good thing. The flooring in the building is complete. Everything is about 99% done over a little couple little things, which is awesome. Our technology installation started today. So, and that will
continue. The window for that is May 19th through May 30th. Um furniture installation starts on June 2nd and the goal for that completion date will be on June 13th. Um and then flexi pave installation will be week of May 26.
Some folks are probably like what the heck is flexi pave? Um so what we decided is um I'll just show this quickly. We've been talking about this at the board level. So, if you um are
familiar with the elementary school, you know that in front of the building, we have a unique curvous concrete um that we're required to have by DP because obviously it permeable and it allows water to go through drainage. It helps with storm water runoff. We've had
some issues with it where some pieces of it, some sections of it have failed. Um there's a lot of different factors that go into that installation. The climate comes into play with the porous concrete. Um if it's a bad batch of the material, all
those different things. So the good news is, you know, Scazeri, who's our elementary contractor, has been awesome. They were on site. They're going to be tearing up parts of it and replacing it this summer. So that's been great. But it did bring up the question of the middle school because in the area that
you see in front of you, the yellow, that is all supposed to be the same material. So when we started to see that this material was was failing, um I got concerned quite honestly about putting it at the middle school because it's a pretty small section at the elementary.
At the middle school it's 5,000 square feet. So it's a big area and again it's required by the DP. So I started to take a look at some different options. what is something that could meet the DP requirements but maybe is a little bit different from the pvious concrete and I
came across um a product called Flexipave um which is kind of unique. It's fairly new. Um, so what I wound up doing is, and the board has seen this already, but I wound up taking a trip to New Brunswick, right now has a major, if you're familiar with New Brunswick,
right in the middle. Um, they got a major area where they're creating a park and an amphitheater right in the middle of of New Brunswick. And they're using this product in huge areas for sidewalk areas and some other things. So, I decided to take a trip about three weeks
ago and spend about an hour and a half with the contractor just to see it in action to see whether or not it was viable. And I did just record I'll just share quickly a short little video so you can kind of see what it's all about. Um, but it's unique so you can see like
this is kind of like a little walkway area and it's a combination of recycled tires and some other materials. It's all permeable. And you can see in the background this big huge circle here. That's all this material is going to be
going in there as well in this project. So, the nice thing about this material is that um a you can shovel it, b you can plow it, and c you can put salt on it if you need to under when there's dice. None of those things we can do with the
materials down the elementary school from from challenging. Um so, we didn't the board has made a decision actually on our agenda tonight that we will be moving forward with the plexi pave. So there's only two contractors right now in the state of New Jersey that are actually licensed to use the product. The one you just saw there is the one
we're going to be using. So they'll be mobilizing on site week of May 26. It'll probably take them about a week or so and that's the material that we'll see in front of the building and um obviously it meets the D requirements for being and obvious you know anything we can do to help with storm stormwater
runoff we want to do. So I just wanted to share that as an update. So a lot's happening with the 58. We're really excited. We talked a little bit in school and community about a tenative ribbon cutting maybe the first week in August. Um we'll get more information out. I just want to see how the septic
installation goes, but we're really getting close into the into the home stretch. And then I wanted to provide an update on the Westwell water update. And um there's a lot of information I know on a slide, but again, as I always do, I'll be sending this out tomorrow
morning, but I'll just read it for you all. and it's from our the licensed site remediation professional or the LSRP that was hired by Lehi Fluid. So the concentrations of the 14 dioxide at the school have decreased significantly since last July. I'm in the process of
preparing a groundwater remedial action protectiveness bianial certification form for submission to the NJB. Once submitted, this will become a public document that provides a status update and summary of recent activities. Lehi Fluid Power is currently obtaining
quotes from contractors to install a pump and treatment system on their property which would capture and contain the 14 dioxane on the Lehi property. This pump and treatment system will require an NJD approved discharge permit. We are in discussions with the
NJP as to what type of discharge permit would be most appropriate. Once the application for the permit is made, the B review time for the permit approval could be up to three months. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any other questions. And there is a link
here which shows you um some of the results from it's a little tough to see but I'll kind of zoom in. You can see here this is for the Westwell school and you can see back on July 16th 2024 when
this first triggered the results were about 3.17 and then the most recent testing in February was down to 3 point or 353. Um so as I had has mentioned this a couple times in in board meetings. Um, right
now there is no real acceptable level from the D because it's a fairly new chemical. We are going by the EPA number which is.33. So we're still a little bit above it. And then you can see these are all just other areas and other properties. So there are some when you
see uh monitoring wells, that's MW. So you can see some of those, but this is kind of just the scope of where they saw the penetration of the 14 dioxin, some of the neighbors houses, things along those lines. So we are trending in the right direction, although there's still
work to be done and we want to make sure obviously there were zero what we're shooting for, but I just wanted to give everybody an update kind of where things stand. And then that kind of plays right into, if you remember last month at our meeting, we talked a little bit about the sale of the West Annill building,
kind of our next steps. Full disclosure, we're going to be talking more about the legal side of it in executive session tonight. Um, but we have been working with a commercial broker. Um, and we spent a lot of time giving them every piece of information related to the school and especially related to this
particular issue. And this is the most recent communication that we've received from them. As you know, the presence of the 14 dioxane and the active remediation effort currently underway are significant factors that impact marketability. With that in mind, we first evaluated the site as if
environmental issues were resolved to establish a baseline value. Based on recent comparable sales and allowable uses under the current zoning, we estimate the market value to range between 1.23 23 million conservatively and 1.75 million aspirationally. While
it's encouraging that the 14 dioxin levels are declining, they remain significantly above acceptable threshold. Our exper in our experience, buyers will be overly cautious until with a demonstratively clear path to environmental closure. Without that
clarity, the buyer pool remains extremely limited, if present at all, and any offers received are likely to be heavily discounted to account for uncertainty, timeline, and potential remediating cost remediation cost. Our recommendation at this time is to continue focusing on progressing the
remediation environmental reporting as the site nears closure or at a minimum achieve a clear defined path toward um then you will be in a much stronger position to bring the property to market and achieve what we believe to be the market pricing. So the moral of the
story is we need to get a better clear idea of this remediation work and the D and everything else before we put it up for sale as per our commercial broker. So again, we'll be talking about that more in detail, but I just wanted to be transparent and give everyone, you know,
an update on on where things stand. And then the last thing I just want to share, we've talked about the academy, performing arts academy, which we're really excited about. It's going to launch in 25 or 2627 and um when we talk about that if you didn't see this this got launched at
the teen arts festival. Um so it's out there right uh we will be opening up applications on September 15th. Polytech will be um we've spent a lot of time next month probably or the month after curriculum will be coming to the board
to be approved for this program. Uh, and it's really, really exciting that in the fall of 26, we'll be starting the performing arts academy for theater, dance, and technical theater. Um, so more to come on that, but it's out there. There's a buzz. We've already
been fielding questions about it as far as what's the audition process going to look like, when can I start applying? So, we're really excited about that. That's all I have in my Any questions? Board members, you have any questions on
the report? And uh with that we'll go to the period of first period of public comment. Um as always uh we open the meeting for uh to the public for comment. Um we just uh ask that you try to keep your time to
about 3 minutes or so resting the board. Um and that statement on anything of that uh of interest or concern to you. Um without uh any public comment period is over. That's all we see. No one in the audience. Do we
have anything? Okay. Um, there will be another opportunity for public comments later in the meeting. Um, but as I don't see anyone interested in progressive board at this time, I'm going to close this first period of public comment and we
will go into our committee public. Um, so we'll start with buildings, grounds, transportation, finance and safety committee. Uh, that committee did meet on May the 15th last Thursday. Um pretty much uh almost all of the things that discussed in his
report were things that we talked about in the committee including uh construction on the 58. Um the construction on the 58 building and how that's progressing testing system, the concrete issue at the
elementary school and uh the septic and water updates for the West. Um, we also, uh, you'll see on the agenda this evening, uh, under item D, we are approving a new contract for our auditor. Um, and as well as
transportation arrangements that we filled out for some of our transportation needs. Um, with that need a motion. Someone can make a motion items. I think I'm seeking a motion for item.
So moved by Martha. Thank you. Chair simply doesn't make a motion. So thank you Martha for moving that. And now we need a second. Second. Second by Jen. Thank you very much. So now we're open for discussion on items eight. We have
um one item I just wanted to highlight all of them. I pulled it off with letter G. We're getting besides the LEAF music technology grant which is phenomenal but that is going to also play directly into the technical theater aspect of our performing arts academy uh we are
getting a significant uh grant from the Kanis club in the amount of $20,000 uh which pretty awesome uh and we're going to be putting that towards our STEM program at the high school as well as in the middle school with laser
cutters um that we'll be investing 413 building which we're really excited about. Oh, thank you. Oh, that was cute. Great. And I would say going we did discuss as I mentioned the concrete and replacing out the the uh permeable
concrete that we use downtown with that different form which is a little bit more expensive. comment I believe with the consensus of that committee that this was something that we want to move forward forward. Anybody have any questions
on let's vote Jennifer Bachelor? Yes. Dennis, yes. Gina Pashetti, yes. Eron, yes. Michael Strauss, yes. Lonnie Tom Marino, yes. Gallagher, yes. uh personnel
committee. Yes, yes, the personnel committee met uh last week on May 14th. Um at that committee meeting, the superintendent advised of the personnel actions and appointments that you see on
the agenda this evening. Additionally, we were advised that final interviews for the VA position were being held later last week and that an announcement would be made at tonight's meeting. The committee was advised that
anou had been reached with the FHEA. Additionally, uh we were advised that of the non-represented employee salary increases for the 2526 school year. And finally, um, we talked about
the current openings within the district, which currently comprise of one custodian, one cso at St. John's, uh, for prek, and two power professionals. And so with that, I'd like to move items A
and move. Second, thank you very much. Any discussion on items A and B? Couple things I just wanted to say. So, it's it's sad and happy tonight. Um, the sad part is is that you'll notice on
the agenda that Mr. Harrison's resignation is on the agenda. Um, he'll be moving on into another position in another district. So, as much as I'm excited about that, um, I'm going to miss him. uh he's been here in this
position, you know, in the district longer than four years, but with me working kind of side by side over the last four years. Um and he's done an incredible job for us through some challenging times and obviously during, you know, a major part of the referendum
and managing all that. So, um you know, it should be a huge credit to him what we were able to accomplish as a district during his time, you know, handling our finances. He's going to be an incredible VA as he moved on move on to the Princeton School District and they're
extremely lucky to have him. And just from a professional side and a personal side, I just want to say thanks for everything you've done. Um, and the district, our administrative team, our staff word and I fantastic.
very efficient. And then with that, um, we also have an appointment that's on the g the agenda tonight, which I'm excited about. So, um, Gina had mentioned that last week we did two rounds of interviews for business, business administrator
candidates, and I'm excited to announce that Dr. Peter Lutchko, who's in the front row right there, um, will be joining us as our VA. And Peter has been in a data manager/ special projects role um and has a wealth of experience even
beyond South Hunan before he got here. So we're really excited to recommend him for approval this evening. And the best thing about it is that it will make the transition much easier than having someone from the outside coming in. number one, he can begin that transition as early as tomorrow and obviously be
ready to take that seat as of July 1 rather than waiting for other candidates to come. And then the other thing is is that like I had mentioned before, he brings a wealth of knowledge in a variety of different areas. So um I'm excited that Andrew will have the opportunity to transition him and kind
of break him in over the next couple weeks and then we'll be ready to rock and roll July 1. So Peter, congratulations and welcome to the the table. Thank you. And then the last thing I'll just mention quickly is besides all the other individuals that
are on the agenda, I'm just really really excited that we're approving and recommending for approving tonight a Spanish and a French teacher because I was really worried about that pair two very very difficult positions to fill.
Um you know I I was anticipating that we would be going late into July looking for those positions. the fact that we have individuals on on here and I believe one of them definitely is a former graduate um of South Hunter. Um it's nice to be able to go into the end
of the school year knowing that that is covered and we're in good shape of those two. Very good. Any uh any other questions or discussion on Dennis? Yes. Pushet. Yeah. Aron Olri, yes. Michael Strauss, yes.
Fashion, yes. Todd Marina, yes. Jim Galler, yes. Uh, curriculum and technology. So, the curriculum and technology um committee met on May 8th. Um, as Mr. Suzo mentioned, we received an update that the technology would
begin installation in the middle school as of today, uh, 5:19. Uh we also got an update from Miss Lennon on uh the performing arts academy advisory committee meeting. Um 4:30 was that second meeting. Um one of the major
pieces in there was that TCJ is going to be um signing an articulation agreement with us. Um as a secondary partner for both dance and theater. Um and then we would be getting materials to Polytech
at the end of last week. Um, I also kind of find it very exciting, um, that the Polytech students and for graphic design are actually in the process of making the logo for our performing arts academy, which I just love that there's kind of a a
educational crossover there. Um, Miss Lennon also talked about summer curricular writing. Um we are authorizing 20 hours um actually just did authorize 20 hours for um middle school target for next year. Um the goal is to have these
written fully over the summer um so that we are limiting class disruption so we're not pulling teachers out of classes to do that. Um and we will be approving in the August meeting. A cool feature this year is that all course
work is going to be going directly into encourse. Um so that that will be our new housing for um for curriculum. And over the next five years, so we we try to do this on a five-year cycle. Over the next five years, we will be getting all of our coursework into um one
singular database, which is um a cool thing. Miss Lennon will be working with our teachers who are writing it to train them to get it into on course in June. Um there's a listing of all of what we're doing a little bit later on in our
minutes. Um we also discussed our program of studies which um I will be moving to have approved by the full board. Um, so the middle school program of studies is going to be focusing on five and six being exploratory versus
elective in seven and 8. So it's a true middle school curriculum. And um there's a few small minor changes in in the way that um social studies and science are going to be carried out in because of that. Um we also are going to talked
about foundations three. Um it was very near and dear because fun uh we be putting in um cursive writing will be included in foundation's third grade um starting for next year. And we talked
about the homework policy one last time in the curriculum committee. Um, and I am very happily handing it over to Martha after this. Um, and we will be making that reference over so that the policy committee can handle it from here
on out. Uh, with that I would like to move item B, the program studies. So move. Could I have a second? Any discussion on
discussion? Gina Pashetti. Yes. Liry. Yes. Michael Strauss. Yes. Jennifer Bachelor. Yes. Martha Dennis. Yes. Ronnie Todd Marino. Yes. Jim Gallagher. Yes. Policy committee.
Policy. We met on uh May 5th. We have two items for first lead which is policy 5460 on high school graduation and also policy 5512 which is updates to our kid policy. Both of these are mandated revisions. The first one includes a new
graduation requirement. So for 256 27 there is now a requirement that students and parents or guardians complete a financial aid application as a requirement of prerequisite for graduation. This is consistent with the board's obligation to um implement
graduation requirements that prepare students for success in postsecary degree programs career or otherwise and the inclusion of that financial obligation and access to financial aid was part of that. So uh that change is included in section D counseling to
confirm that they're they're ready for this. Um there also removed the provisions in the graduation requirements uh for 2018 through 2022 that are no longer relevant. So those are being eliminated and we included the section that we will be adding um seal
of by literacy to student diplomas as applicable for the policy. Um the uniform state memorandum of agreement between education and law enforcement includes a section that gives guidance on the rules when student conducts be investigated both by law enforcement as
well as as violation of the criminal code as well as school as a violation of the anti-bullying uh bill of rights act. So the policy has been updated to include that detail and requirements for notifying parents and guardians and the procedural guidance when the school um
may need to have a a stay or a pause in their HIPP uh investigation while the law enforcement process and investigation is being carried out. So those revisions are in section O under reports for law enforcement. We are also making changes in section A to be
consistent with a prior policy change and replacing natural parent with biological parent and replacing parental rights with legal authority. And for our second read, we have policy u 8500 on food service. This
was a change in language as a result of federal working-class families and anti-hunger act. um it primarily new terminology and um also some changes to income eligibility for students who qualify for free meals and some additional parental notification. Also,
it was noticed that the acronyms that were used in the policy for the uh US Department of Agriculture and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture were incorrect and those have been updated to be correct. I would like to move um the two items for first read to second read. I
do note for the board that these are very long policies and if there are any items that you would like to review and change, please go ahead and read those early. They are very lengthy and then let me know and we'll take it to our next meeting and then move our second
read on food service to hear it. I'm hearing a motion to approve items A and B. Correct. And uh second second any discussion on the policy remember the first three policies
once we approve them you still have the opportunity online and suggest any changes for but since I don't see anybody further then let's go ahead and Erin Olyri, yes. Michael Strauss, yes.
Jennifer Bachelor, yes. Martha Dennis, yes. Gina Petty, yes. Bonnie Todd Marino, yes. Jim Galla, yes. All right. School and community met on May 13th. Um, as Tony mentioned, we discussed the ribbon cutting for the um,
middle school. Hopefully, you know, looking at the week for the first week in August for the event. We also talked about the performing arts academy and the way that the polytech is has launched the marketing c campaign for that. Um, and that there we're looking
at potentially some other activities including an audition boot camp and maybe even a summer performing arts camp here at South. Um, but those are things that are very much pending and in the works. Um and then we also talked about
um while we were were marketing the performing arts academy, we also uh talked about how student retention is important when we have youth at in middle school who are considering whether or not to come to attend high school at South and what are we doing to
really um help people help educate the students and families on what are the benefits of attending South and we have had an informational video put together by students where students talked about the benefits that they've experienced. Um, so we're we're considering expanding
upon that. Um, and really, you know, giving an opportunity for people to to learn more about what do you get when you're when in a in a small school. Um, there's a lot of advantages that um, we can we can highlight. We also talked about the homework regulation uh as
everybody has and a supporting um FAQ for that. So um that really would would support the roll out at the beginning of next school year um helping parents understand their role within um the uh the homework regulation and how to best
support students with that. and we reviewed a draft of um an article for upcoming publication about the after school enrichment program and that was it. Nothing to anything I would just
say of Mr. Bell talking about the impact of what something really Okay. Um, we do have a need to vote on a um accepting a harassment, intimidation, bullying report. This is the report that
we discussed in the executive session at the end of last month's meeting. Um, so uh we will need a motion and a second to vote on that. So move by. Thank you very much. And second by Jen. Thank you. Um, any
discussion on that? indicated that we'll actually say there about please vote all in favor I I opposed anyone abstain um the uh fire drills and safety drills
were held on the base and we're also fine uh enrollment for yep our normal monthly enrollment for the plan for you where we are each grade level okay with that we come to the
second period public comment. Um, same rules for the first. If anyone has something like bring the board, we encourage you comment. Um, anything online? No. Okay. Um so with that then uh appears that no
one has anyone anything to bring before the board second period of public comment. The board does have a need to go into executive session this evening uh for the purpose of discussing you know HIV as well as other matters. Um there will be no action taken after we come out of
that executive session. I anticipate that will probably take one 25 minutes. Uh you're welcome to stay here. Um with that we will take uh uh a motion to go into executive session at 8:03 p.m. So moved by Aaron. Thank you.
And second by all in favor I want to vote. Uh we will take a five minute uh