Notice as required by the open public meetings act was provided on December 5th, 2025 by posting the notice with the respective clerks of the city of Lambertville, Burrow, Stockton, and the township west and advertised in the Starledger and Trenchon Times newspaper.
Would you all join me for the salute to the flag? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and
justice for all. >> Jennifer Bachelor >> here. >> John Bonani >> here. >> Martha Dennis >> here. >> Paul Signno >> here. Gina Veti. Brian Keys >> here. Aaron Olirri. Ronnie Todd Marino
>> here, >> Michael Shout >> here. If you haven't noticed, we have a very full agenda this evening. So, thank you all for coming. Um, we have been putting off the next presentation for three months now. And I am very happy to
welcome our preschoolers in to do a presentation uh that was supposed to be in January. And there is not snow. It might be cold outside tonight, but we at least don't have snow. So, I'm very excited to introduce Dawn Rhodess, who's our preschool instructional coach and
our intervention and referral specialist. Don, come on up. Okay. So, uh we were asked Oh, there's Patrick. We were asked to come talk uh to the board. So, I have a couple of my friends here. We're gonna have them introduce themselves with the
microphone. Right. Okay. So, we thought it would be funny. Um first of all, I want to thank the board for having us. Um we've grown exponentially over the past couple years, starting with two and now we're at five classrooms in two locations. And
this is just a snippet. I have some of my threes and my fours here. Um, and I'm hoping they uh perform and talk. So, out of the mouth of preschoolers. So, uh, without further ado, if you want to go to the first one, um, I'm going to have
them introduce themselves. >> Hi. Hi, I'm Zoe. Uh, my name is Trey James and And I love my mom and dad. Um, Mr. Asher I don't think is here. So, we'll come back to Asher. Hold on.
>> This is my name is Patrick. >> Patrick and we'll go to the next slide. We have >> My name is Lra. My name is Henry. >> My name is Brianna. >> Okay. So, those are our preschoolers.
So, you know what? Come on over here, guys. We're going to come stand right here in the middle. All right. Miss Rhodess is going to ask you some questions so you can tell our board they don't know anything about our preschool. Are you ready? We're going to go to the next slide and we're going to
see something. So, who can tell me what that is? Who wants to tell everybody what that is? Raise your hand. >> Centers. We do play planning and we and we draw our boards and we and we go to our
centers. >> So, we have to draw our play plan. Does anyone want to tell us what we have to draw during play planning? We draw ourselves and what we're doing. >> And then after we draw ourselves and we say where we're going, what do we have
to do with that wheel over there? Who wants to tell me? Patrick, you want to tell me? >> Pick our clip. >> Go to your center. >> Oh, then they go to their center. Lero, you want to tell us anything else about play planning? >> Um,
e um play You need to put lines on the bottom. >> Oh, you need to put lines on the bottom of our play plan. You know what? Maybe go over Briana. Go over to Miss Leold and get a play plan. She has one for you. Okay. So, we have to draw our
lines. So, the kids are sounding out their words. They're drawing their pictures. This is not your play plan. This was Asher's play plan, but he didn't show up today. So, so over here, you want to show them? You want to show them what we do? So, what do you have to
do? >> Uh, actually, uh, uh, write of what we're doing. >> Right. So, what is a play plan that you can say? I >> I actually play block.
>> Very good. All right. Let's go to the next slide and let's see what else we can tell them about. You ready? Make believe play. So now I want you guys to think about some of our areas and you could tell them about some of our areas that we play with. Okay. >> Um we go to our um
>> nice and loud. >> Uh we we do our our we go to >> I like the the the the um the the cafeteria because I like to
make some stuff there. You like to go to the house area. Okay, Patrick, what's your favorite area? >> I like to go to science. >> Oh, you like the science area. LRA, what center do you like to go to?
>> Orange. >> What's the orange center? >> Um, the vet. >> Well, we're going to explain that, right? It's that orange center is their house area, but we turn it into a vet. We're going to tell them that in one second. What is your favorite?
>> Brown. >> What do you do in the Brown Center? You build with what? >> We build with blocks. >> All right, James, what's your favorite? >> Uh, brown and and I get to build and put the dinosaurs in there.
>> Okay. And Brianna, what's your favorite? >> Kitchen. >> Kitchen. So, uh, if we can go to the next slide. But all of our centers we turn into different themes. So who can tell me? Everyone tell me all at one time. What
theme are we in right now? What is it? Pets and vets. We're in pets and vets. We've had a restaurant. We've had What else have we had? Teachers, help me out. Grocery. medical. We just finished medical. So,
now we're on Pet Vet. So, as you can see, this is uh Patrick's classroom. Um they're doing a lot of stuff with Pet Vet. Um no, that is at the other building.
That's Liam. Yes. All right. We All right. So, I also want to say that some of our moms and dads come into our classrooms, right? So, part of our preschool is we're trying to really make that homeschool connection and have um our parents very involved. So, we do
things like our mystery reader. Whose mom's come for mystery reader so far? I think LRA, your mom has come. I think Patrick. I'm not not yet. But no, Patrick, your parents came for our Thanksgiving thing, right? No, but mommy came for gingerbread,
right? Your mommy came to read. And Briana's mom came dressed as an elf. I just want to say, as you saw in the other picture, >> she came for gingerbread and reading books. >> Yes. So, she came for a couple different things. You want to sing?
>> We we we do the flag and we say the pledge of allegiance. >> Do do that in the morning. Yes. Yes. Okay. So, we do have a couple different events and like I said, we're trying to involve our parents because we figured if they're in our preschool
classrooms, they'll stay in our kindergarten or first grade. Um, and I think I have one more slide of our parents. Just so you know, we've had an overwhelming we do have parents uh partners in learning. So, we've had one of our dads is a dentist came in. We've had a mom who was a therapist that came
in and talked to us about our big feelings. We've had a nurse that came in. Go to the next one. And as you could see, these are our parent events that we have during the day and they are packed. So, we have all of our um this is I believe this was
gingerbread house. Oh, Zoe wants to tell you. >> Um you you take care of animals and and if they're lost, you you if they're stray animals, you help them. Yes, that's one of our areas that we're working on now.
And we'll do just one more pictures of your classrooms or two more. So, we do we've had like about 98% um participation with our parents and we have one more picture of our parents. Okay. So, we're going to have one final comment and then these gentlemen and
ladies and gentlemen are going to get on with their day. But we just wanted to give you a little snippet as to what preschool does every day. Um and how lovely and talking we are every day. Right. All right. So, we have some other ideas. All right. You have to think of one more idea. You can say one more idea
and then you can go back to mom. Okay. You ready? >> Um, we we take care of if there if if people are sick, we take care of them. >> Yes. In our medical center, we did that. Very good, Zoe. Everyone's gonna clap
for you, Zoe. All right, Patrick. We we sit on the rug because the teachers tell us to. >> Thank you, Patrick. >> Um, we take care of
Yep. Go ahead. Go back. Think about it for a minute. Okay. James, do you have any final? >> Uh, we play nice. >> We do play nice. Yes, >> we wash our pets. >> You wash our pets? Yes, we have our pets. Anything else you want to say,
Henry? >> Wash our hands. >> Oh, we do wash our hands. Why do we wash our hands? >> So we don't get germs. And then who gets sick, right? Thank you very much.
That was the Thank you and I hope you all enjoyed your snow days not coming to the left too much, but we really appreciate you coming in here. Now, um the next thing on our agenda tonight is a resolution and awarding to our high
honor role. So, this is something new that we started this year. Um I'm going to read the resolution very quickly. I'm going to say the word whereas a lot. Basically this means that we are proud of you and good. So uh whereas the board of education
recognizes the importance of academic excellence and is committed to celebrating outstanding student achievement. And whereas students in grades 9 through 12 who attain high honoral status demonstrate exceptional dedication, perseverance, and commitment
to their academic studies. Whereas high honor role distinction is awarded to students who achieve an overall average of 94 or higher with no individual course grade lower than 90 during the first marking period. And whereas such
academic achievement reflects credit upon the students, their families, the instructional staff and school community as a whole. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education of the South Hunter Regional School District hereby recognizes and commend
a lot of students which we are going to hand that over to uh Mr. Wright in just a moment. But uh before we do so, can I get a motion to accept this resolution? >> So many. >> Lots of people. Let's go with Brian and
Martha. >> Okay. Uh we'll do a voice vote for this. All in favor? >> I >> Okay, Mr. Wright is going to >> Yes, he is. Mr. Wright, principal of high school. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. It is
my privilege to present these students with a certificate for achieving high honor role. We'll start with the freshman, Danielle Brewer, Colton Davis, Isaac Der. Stephanie Marquez Nasco Ava Siraak
Leah Bachelor, Haley Brown. Amelia Carluchi, Julia Dorman, Liliana Ferrer, Brandon Garcia, Emin Hajes. Rook Puli. Nathan Pigeon,
Roosevelt Sandival Hernandez, Matthew Matthew Snider, Adriana Stoodto, Abigail Titus Green, Charlotte Titus, Greed, Maggie Woodside. Now the juniors, Vineas Baker, Tucker Hicks,
Junipe Horses, Erin Oor Daisy parents, Sydney Powell, LC Sheets, The seniors, Anakah, Ba, Tess, Kathy, Jordan, Rosemary Cooper,
Ian Harbison McKenna Healey Ray Horbath Landon Cats Honor keys. >> Alexander Kakowski. Exact Trevor Lingerfield. Degan Manf Freddy. Yes. Lyn Renos.
Lucy Spring. Congratulations. >> Thank you very much, guys. Appreciate it. >> And again, congratulations to you all. Keep up all the good work. Thank you for working hard. Um, and now into another
celebration moment. Um, we we've got a lot going on. So, we are going to recognize our governor's educators of the year. Um, we have yet another resolution. Do you want to >> go ahead >> do that? Okay.
>> Can't say whereas enough. >> Whereas the South Hundan Regional School District Board of Education recognizes the invaluable contributions of its educators and service professionals to the education and well-being of our students. And whereas the South Hunter
Regional School District Board of Education is committed to celebrating and honoring the outstanding achievements of our educators and professionals. And whereas the South Hunter Regional School District Board of Education is recognizing three educators of the year and three educational
service professionals of the year for their exceptional dedication, leadership, and impact on learning. And now, therefore, be it resolved that the South Hunan Regional School District Board of Education hereby formally recognizes and honors the following
educators of the year. Lee Weaver, Dawn Road, Caitlyn Wesner, Shannon Hill, Kyle Hart, and Ashley Williams. Be it further resolved that the South Hunter Regional School District Board of Education extended sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of the educators of
the year and educational service professionals of the year for their tireless efforts and commitment to our students and community. We have further resolved that the South Hunter Regional School District Board of Education will publicly recognize and celebrate the educators of the year and educational service professionals of the year,
honores at our March 23rd, 2026 board meeting that is today. Ladies and gentlemen, can I get a motion to accept this resolution? >> So move. >> Okay. And John, voice vote. All in favor? >> I.
>> All right. Thank you. Of all the moments we share throughout the school year, this one holds a special place. The governor's educator of the year program exists to shine a light on the teachers and educational service professionals across New Jersey whose dedication to students goes above and beyond. And
tonight, we get to celebrate our very own. Our honores were nominated by the people who know them the best, their peers, the parents who trust them with their children, and the students whose lives they shape each and every day. For each of our three schools, a committee
of administrators, staff, and a parent representative evaluated nominees on four core qualities. Exceptional instructional techniques, the ability to inspire students of every background and ability, the respect and admiration of those around them, and a sustained
commitment to improving student achievement and the learning environment. I will now invite our building principles to introduce each one of our honores. Following the introductions, I ask that our educators and educational service professionals of the year have the opportunity to walk on
the inside and to shake hands with each one of our board members. And then you will be receiving a certificate along with a token of appreciation on behalf of a grateful school district. We will start out first with South Hunen Regional Elementary School Principal
Wanda Canyon. >> Thank you and good evening. It is my absolute pleasure to begin with Miss Rhodess. We just saw Miss Rhodess in action and that is Miss Rhodess every single day. I cannot express how proud I am. She is dedicated. She is experienced
and she demonstrates that daily. Miss Rose plays a vital role in bridging South Elementary and on location, which is absolutely essential for a prek program that has grown. Her commitment to her students is truly remarkable and
it is absolutely no surprise she is receiving this award this evening. Miss Rose, your passion and dedication resonate deeply with both colleagues, students, and I'm going to add in their families as well. At South Elementary,
we value teamwork and you are an intricral part of our team. Your contributions make a lasting impact and we are incredibly fortunate to have you. In just four years, you have given so much to the students of South Hunteran,
and I know you will continue to inspire for many years to come. Thank you, Miss Rhodess, for all that you do. You are truly an asset in the field of education. Come on up. All right. And now I will continue with our teacher of the year, South
Elementary, Miss Weaver. We are fortunate to have Miss Weaver, who truly loves and lives kindergarten every day. She works every day to support her students in so many different ways. She ensures we have a creative classroom where students feel
valued and inspired. Kindergarten is often where a child's love of school begins, and this is a responsibility she embraces bold. Miss Weaver approaches her role with positivity, dedication, and a can do attitude. Her classroom is warm, safe,
and a joyful space where creativity, curiosity thrive, fostering a lifelong love of learning. I am confident that Miss Weaver will continue to make an incredible impact on so many more kindergarten students that will come her
way. I'm sure there are hundreds headed her way. Congratulations to Miss Weaver. Good. High five. Next from the middle school, principal Jen Mcnite. >> Good evening.
For South Hunter Middle School, Mrs. Caitlyn Wesnner has been named South Hunter Middle School's educator of the year in recognition of her exceptional dedication to students and her unwavering commitment to highquality special education practices. Miss Wesner
consistently creates a structured, supportive, and inclusive learning environment where all students are empowered to grow academically and personally. Her ability to differentiate instruction, build strong relationships, and collaborate effectively with colleagues and families ensures that
each student receives the individualized support they need to succeed. In addition to her work in the classroom, Miss Wesner serves as South Hunter and Middle School girls soccer coach where she fosters teamwork, perseverance, and school pride amongst her student athletes. Beyond the classroom, she is a
positive force within our school community, demonstrating professionalism, compassion, and steadfast belief in every student's potential. We are proud to honor Miss Wesnner for her outstanding contributions and meaningful impact she meet she makes each day.
Mrs. Shannon Hill, child study team member and school psychologist at South Hunter Middle School, has been named the governor's educational service professional of the year in rec in recognition of her outstanding service, leadership, and commitment to students.
Mrs. Hill is a trusted collaborator who works closely with teachers, administrators, and families to ensure that every student receives the individualized support they need. Her ability to build meaningful relationship with students allows her to not only address challenges, but also empower
students to grow in confidence and resiliency. She is a strong advocate for inclusive practices and is instrumental in creating systems and supports that promote a positive and equitable school environment. Her thoughtful student- centered approach and dedication to
continuous improvement have made an impact on the South Hunter Middle School community. We are proud to recognize and celebrate Mrs. Hill for this well-deserved honor. And finally, the principal of the high school, Mr. Adam Wright.
It is my profound honor to present, and we'll start with Mr. Hart. And Mr. Kyle Hart has been a dedicated member of the South Hunter community, having spent his life connected to our schools and our programs. As a high school PE teacher, he brings an energy, creativity, and a strong commitment to helping students
develop healthy habits, teamwork, and confidence. Beyond the classroom, Mr. Hart serves as a trusted adviser and an influential coach, building meaningful relationships with students and supporting them in reaching their full potential. Mr. Hart is the driving force behind Night at the Nest, the schoolwide
spirit program, which brings together students with various interests and backgrounds. He consistently models leadership, sportsmanship, p and perseverance, leaving a lasting impact on those he works with. All of this and so much more. Congratulations on the well-deserved honor of Governor's
Education Educator of the Year, Mr. Kyle Hut. for our educational service professional. It is my privilege to acknowledge Mrs. Ashley Williams. As a mental health counselor, Mrs. Williams has made a meaningful impact on supporting students in strengthening
their overall wellness. She recognizes that each student is unique with their own interests, strengths, and challenges, and works thoughtfully to help them build the skills needed to support their emotional and mental well-being. Miss Williams has worked with students across multiple grade levels, providing guidance tailored to a
wide range of needs. She fosters an environment that is warm, supportive, and grounded in high expectations, empowering students to grow with confidence. Congratulations, Miss Williams. Mrs. Williams on this well-deserved recognition as the Governor's Educational Services
Professional of the Year. I'm Walk. Okay, congratulations to all of our winners and um also just a a thank you to everyone for coming and thank you to all of our educational professionals for all you do every day in these halls. Uh
we are going to take a five minute break so that we can take some pictures and uh then we will come back and get the fun part of the meeting going. If we could have all of our educators of the year honores in the hallway just so we can get a group shot before you
leave. >> Some of them left. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. No problem. No, you're going to start with our report from
United. Good evening everybody. >> So um past few weeks at South Hunteran as always been filled with a lot of success academically, socially and athletically. Um academically today marked the final day of NJGPA testing for the juniors at South. So everyone
else, me being a senior, got to sleep in a little bit which was nice. Furthermore, just last week, we hosted our annual college fair, which is a great opportunity specifically for juniors and also sophomore to get some more knowledge on colleges, uh, future opportunities, um, our ROC, anything
like that. Our largest fundraiser, Night, the Nest, was a great success. Brought together a lot of the community and of course resulted in a win for the blue team. Um, we got a chance to watch the high school play into the woods, which was super entertaining. Um, it was a cool experience and we got to see a
lot of different talent at South Coming up, we've got another great fundraiser, which is our blood drive. Um the key club has been helping out with that and they're also going to be assisting with snacks, everything. If you're donating tomorrow, they're going to be down there um kind of walking through the process. Um peer leaders as
well has been active. We're doing a um values based presentation in the middle school coming live this week where we're going to do like a couple different activities in the middle school gym kind of teach them about like honesty, integrity, different things like that. We also did the kindness cereal box
domino one I think I talked about which was kind of a similar thing. This one's a little bit more like in-depth. We recently had a interesting and engaging presentation which was the second year we did this on the dangers of drunk driving. It's kind of like a game showesque type of thing. It was it was
it was cool. Um beginning of the month spring just started. So, obviously softball, baseball, golf is all starting up, which is cool. And students are just gearing up for spring break as we get closer and closer to the home stretch final marking period.
>> I got >> Thank you. >> All right. >> Thank you everybody. We will. >> Yeah. >> And then the do we have >> Good evening everyone. My name is Lee Russo. I'm the treasurer of the PTO. Uh
this past month has been very busy and successful for the PTO. We wrapped up our G Gertude Hawk fundraiser coin wars and our middle school book fair. All were great successes and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped make them possible. Special thank
you to Corey Mell for organizing the virtue fundraiser and to Marcela Roso along with all of our coin counters who assisted with coin wars. Our K through4 students especially enjoy participating in that fundraiser and we continue
working on ways to increase engagement at the middle school level. Thank you as well to Mrs. Davi for helping with the middle school book fair. It was a great starting point for what we hope will continue to grow into a strong and wellsupported event. Building PTO
involvement at the middle school level remains a priority as that support helps fund important events such as field day, eighth grade promotion, and other activities throughout the year. We also held our first pretzel sale last Friday at the middle school which was very
wellreceived. Um, upcoming pretzel sale dates are April 10th, May 1st, and May 29th. They're at the end of the day. The pretzels are a dollar. Um, and we're going to increase our order to meet the demand for next time. Yearbooks for South Elementary are currently on sale
through April 30th. So, get your yearbooks. Ordering information can be found via email that went out through um our platform MTK and our Facebook page or on Parent Square. Our April kids night out has been
rescheduled to Friday, April 24th due to a scheduling conflict with baseball opening night. Enrichment clubs at South Elementary are underway and going very well with 48 students participating on Wednesdays and about 45 On Thursdays, we
will begin planning for the fall suit. After our April PTO meeting, we will send out a survey to preK through four families to gather feedback on programming, offerings, and pricing. So, um, please look out for that and participate if you're able. We will also
be reaching out to teachers for interest shortly after that. Our goal is to have all clubs planned and scheduled by June so that we can the year off with a clear plan in place. Looking ahead, South Elementary Field Day is scheduled for
Thursday, May 28th with a rain date of May 29th. Volunteer tier signups will be shared via parent square following our April meeting. Our touch a truck event for preK through four students will take place on Friday, June 5th with a rain date of Monday, June 8th. We have an
exciting lineup of vehicles planned and we thank the American Legion for generously allowing us to use their parking lot. The eighth grade trip to Dhy Park is scheduled for June 11th and the PTO will be providing breakfast for students before departure. Trivia night
at Nomad Pizza and Lambertville is Wednesday, April 15th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. It comes with a suggested donation of $10 per team to support the fourth grade fund. It's a familyfriendly event. Um the pizzas that night will be 20% off
um with the mention of South and PTO and that I believe is dine in and take out too. So if you can't stay for trivia night but you want to get pizza, you get 20% off. We have also begun planning for teacher appreciation week and will follow a similar similar format as in previous years. If you are interested in
helping, please look out for a signup genius and zoom meeting link with more information. As always, we encourage everyone to support our ongoing fundraisers by saving your Macaffry receipts, purchasing from Mabel's labels if you need labels for anything, and scanning receipts for box pops for
education. And finally, um we welcome any ideas from our middle school families on how to increase engagement and involvement. Please feel free to reach out to us via email. We would really love to hear from you. Thank you very much. >> Thank
We don't have any correspondents uh this evening. Uh we do have to approve the minutes. So I get a motion. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I
move on to our superintendent updates. >> So I actually have two updates tonight. The first one that I'll do um is As we move to close out the referendum from 2021, I did want to share some final um figures and information of kind
of where we landed. So, just as a little bit of a refresh, um we originally were set to sell bonds for the 2021 referendum in January. Um and obviously, uh interest rates at that
time in January of 2022 were below 3%. We did have some litigation that we had to deal with, so we didn't sell the bonds until August 17, 2022, and we wound up coming in at 3.82%. Um, we didn't go out to bid on both projects until March 2023, which is
about 14 months after the referendum passed. So, without litigation, more than likely probably would have went out about a year earlier. And during that time, um, we all know the construction cost significantly increased. So, at the time of the referendum vote in November of 2021, construction cost for around
$350 a square foot. By the time we went out to bid, they were closer to $500 square foot. So, just a reminder, the total amount the taxpayers approved was 33,412.
Um, we did receive 6,763993 from the New Jersey Department of Education for this project. um based on different you know renovations and things that we were doing. So the entire 33412 didn't fall on the taxpayer minus that six so almost
7 million. Just a reminder of how the process played out. So for the elementary schooler construction was our lowest bid at 8 million261243. There were a lot of items related to the referendum that were not in the bidsp spec for scaderi and I've listed these
out here and I'll explain why that was the case in a second for the middle school. Bach construction came in at the lowest bid 19296 and then obviously we had a lot of things that were not included in the bid spec as well for the middle school
project. So when we kind of put all that together, um, basically when you add up the elementary school bid and the middle school bid, we had 5854757, so close to $6 million to use for all
the other things that I listed out that were not part of the bids. So the question comes up, why wouldn't you include them in the bids? Well, New Jersey public bid laws allow for substitutions by contractors. So we wanted to make sure that we avoided that and that we had what we wanted for key
parts um for each building. So for example, we at the high school did an upgrade several years ago on our security system and we use a product called Ricotta as our software program. We wanted to make sure that we got that same program and the same cameras that we have in the high school, in the
middle school, and the elementary school. If we included that in the bidspec, there is a potential that the contractor can come back and say, "I'm giving you a similar product. It's just a different product." and we didn't want that obviously so we have a consistent software program across the district. So that's just one example. Um also when
you go out for co-ops which we did on many of these things and that's when basically school district join together to generate purchasing power um typically you'll get better pricing than we would if we included in the bidsp spec for the contract. So that was the reason why we made that decision.
I just want to clarify that the rental St. John school was never part of the referendum budget. Um the total rental fee was $470,000. If you look back, the lease was approved by the board of ed on June 26, 2023 and
the referendum vote was in November of 2021. So we had no idea at that point what the price was going to be and obviously was not included in any of the referendum planning. We improve we planned all along to include it in our operating budget and that's what we did.
So, we paid for that out of our 2023 24 operating budget. I do want to note that we also came in at a 2% tax levy um on that year. Talk a little bit about the LPS roof, right? The former LPS. So, that was not
part of the referendum. Um, so just a little bit of history, the roof on the LPS school was actually installed during regionalization in 2014, and it included a 20-year warranty until 2034. So, as we planned out the referendum, it's not something that was really on our radar
because of the warranty that went along with it. Um, at the time when the referendum was planning, the roof wasn't good shape. Um, it wasn't included in the referendum for that reason. And then about two years later in the spring of 2023, we started to get roof leaks around the main office. And upon
inspection, we noticed small bubbles that started to form on different sections of the roof. Some of the bubbles were leaking and others were not. The warranty company came out and fixed the ones that were leaking, but would not touch any of the ones that were not. The bubbles continued to get worse. When the roof was installed back
in 2014, it was actually done by three different contractors. The first two were actually kicked off the job for substandard workmanship that did not meet established standards and code. And the contractor who finally completed the job is actually no longer in business.
So in order to try and get the roof replaced, we would have to take the warranty company to court since the contractor was no longer in business. At the same time when this was happening, the New Jersey Department of Education put a broadcast out that they
were going to offer something called ROD grant, which are regular operating district grants for the first time in about 10 years. That's not something that we had the opportunity to get. A ROD grant is basically a state funded initiative providing financial assistance to school districts for critical school related construction,
renovation, and health and safety. And the advantage of the ROD grant is that if you qualify, you get 40% of your project paid by the state. So, we decided to apply for a ROD grant for the roof just to see what would happen. Um, at the same time, the HVAC unit over the
gym uh was starting to act up after several repairs, we decided to put in a rod grant for that as well. And then a few months later, we were notified by the NJ DOE that we were awarded rod grants for both projects. So in other words, each project we would get 40% of
funding from the state. So we had a decision to make. We brought this back to our finance committee and we made a decision. We really had two decisions. One decision was let it ride, hope for the best with the warranty and fight it out with the warranty company and hope the roof didn't get any worse
or do we accept these rod grants and look to basically replace the roof on a building that we were going to do a significant renovation on. So the finance committee decided that we should renovate the roof and put a new roof on. So we accepted the grant and also the
grant for the HVAC upgrade over the gym. We went out to bid on the entire roof which also included the 5500 foot addition that Skazeri was responsible for putting on because we didn't want two different contractors on the roof, right? We didn't want the 5,500 square
foot to be one contractor and then the rest of the roof to be another because then there's issues. So with the rod grant, basically the 40% the total cost for the roof replacement was $777,000 for the district because of the 40%.
Then we went back to Skazeri and said, "We no longer need you to do the roof on the 5,500 square ft. So you need to give us credit for that." So they did in the amount of $186,000. So all in we paid 591 for a roof that was originally bid at 1.295 295 and we
use capital reserve for that per for that project and now we have a 30-year roof with the same warranty over the entire building. As far as the HBAC, we used a co-op. So again, we used as I described before our
purchasing power. So we had a quote from Bur Contracting that came in at 494651 and25 for that HVAC unit. With the Rod grant, we paid 296790775 using our capital reserve account. By
using Murray contracting, we were also able to use the same subcontractor for the project that Skazeri was using for all the other HVAC work. So, the advantage there is that we had the same contractor for all the HVAC work throughout the entire building.
in reference to change orders. So, just to give you, you know, a little bit of background, if you look at the bottom, um, you know, a change order is basically if a, uh, a contractor decides something that comes up that wasn't actually in the plans for whatever reason. So, the original bid for Skizeri
was 8,261-243. We wound up all in paying them 8,487278. So, we paid a total amount of 225,984.88 in change orders for the elementary project, which quite honestly is not uncommon when you're doing a renovation
compared to new construction. The original bid for Bach was 19,296. We wound up paying them 20,73 and 792. Keep in mind that the total amount of change orders um that basically came
into play as far in reference to delay claims was 645,583. So if you recall back and we turn the clock back, we had issues with D. We ran into some delays with the township. Um and then basically what can happen is a
contractor can file a delay claim. And the delayed claim is basically a formal request for additional time and money for something that's impacted the project that didn't have any bearing on the contractor, meaning it was outside of their control. They didn't call the delay. So with that, obviously, you
know, we got delay claims from the contractor, from concrete, electricians, all the way through. Now, when you look at the final statistics for a school construction or a referendum project, boards and auditors generally expect around 2 to 5%
total in change orders when a project's complete. Anything approaching 8 to 10% usually prompts questions from the board, the public, or our auditors. So, for our project, the elementary school, it was 2.75%. For the middle school, it was 4%, but
that included all the delay claims. If you take those out, it was 6%. In reference to change. So I think we landed in a pretty good place. So when we talk about final cost, the overall final cost including the 645583
delay claims was 36,15744 and 39. The total amount approved by our voters was 33,412. We also earned an interest 2.2 262118 from the New Jersey ARM account. So just
as a reminder when we got the 33,412,000 we invested the money in an NJRM account which is basically geared towards municipalities and school districts and we weren't going to be paying contractors for a while when we first got the money until construction started and then throughout the project as we
did pay apps. So we invested the money so we can get interest on it and we made that amount of interest which was very important based on the cost per square foot going from 350 to 500 from the time that we actually approved the referendum to the time that we actually went out to bid and all in using that interest from
the NJRM that left us with a negative balance of 483,62614 and we use funds from our capital reserve account to close that gap which we did as far as board agendas and resolutions and everything else which has allowed us to be able to do that and
as far as adopting the budget as well on an annual basis when we had that language in. So that's where we landed with the final referendum cost. This presentation is linked to the board docs. So anyone who wants to go back and take a look at it um but as we close out
the final piece of the referendum I just wanted to be transparent as far as where we question. Thank you for the trans. >> So transitioning. Um if you've been following along, the board had a work session about a
week and a half ago. Um from there, we had our state aid figures and tonight we are bringing forward a preliminary budget on the agenda. Um the preliminary budget is voted on by the board this evening. It's been submitted to the county superintendent by Friday. the
county superintendent reviews it and then there'll be a public hearing on the budget on April 27th when the board will vote on the final budget for 26 27 school year. So what I'm going to do tonight is kind of walk you through just an overview. I'm not going to go through
all the slides that we did um as part of our work session. They are available on our agenda uh for the work session if anyone's interested. But what I am going to do is kind of just give you some high level um of where we landed and what we
are presenting this evening. So first just a couple things I wanted to share. Um and this may be a little bit difficult. I was looking on there to see but like I said I'll read it out loud and then obviously you have access to it on board docs. So, one of the things that we were confronted with right out of the box, and we're not
alone in this is rising costs, particularly with health care, um, has been having a significant impact on school districts across the state. If you've been following online, reading any article, you will know that this has been a crisis over the last two months for school districts. There are some districts in the state of New Jersey
that had up to a 35% renewal on their health benefits. Um, for our district, we came in at 18%, which is still a heck of a lot higher than it was last year, which I think was about 11%. Um, along with that and our contractual salary
increases, right, we have all of our collective bargaining agreements that we've already had that we have to, you know, obviously build in salaries for next year. We have heating and fuel. But we all know what's going on right now with fuel um with prices and our operational expenses created some
significant challenge. The biggest challenge probably since I've been here in the district with budget maintaining a 2% cap levy at this point is just not feasible under these current conditions. If you've been following along, there's many districts that are facing difficult decisions, including
substantial layoffs, program cuts, tax levy increases that are significantly higher than 50% for next school year. There are there are different districts out there that are cutting middle school programs, high school programs, athletics, all kinds of different things just to make ends meet with their
budget. We've been working on this for months. The administration and the board, and I thank the board for their patience and all their hard work, have crafted a budget that maintained educational standards while keeping taxes as low as possible. Uh we've
worked diligently to develop a budget going through line item by line item analysis. The finance committee doing that, the full board doing that, exploring every possible option that we could contain cost while maintaining the quality of
our program. So just to give you an idea when we look at neighboring school districts right now in Hunter County, right? And I don't have their names down because Nothing's been finalized, but as I gathered data
from my colleagues, you will see where people are landing as far as their proposed tax levy increase, and they are nowhere near 2%. All right, this is also, you know, kind of a microcosm of the state. Just talking to some colleagues this morning for Percher
County, it looks like their average tax increase is going to be 5.83%. Talking to some colleagues in Camden County, it looks like they're going to be at least 57 to close to six% as far as an average across the whole county. Um, due to all the things that I
mentioned, basically, we did the line item analysis trying to find a reasonable balance between overall our student experience and our tax levy increase, but we are going to still remain one of the lowest in Hunton County. when you see this list in a few slides where we landed. Uh we're trying
new working together with the board streamlining expenditures while ensuring that we have the quality of the education that's so important to our kids. But it's been challenged. So this year the board spending authority, so in
other words, how much can the board raise the budget without going out for a vote? So you have the 2% tax levy increase which is 41868485. Our health benefit adjustment. So what happens is the state of New Jersey when
health benefits are extremely high and as we learned at our work session from Jim Finn who did a presentation from Brown and Brown who's our health benefits broker. This is the most volatile he's seen health benefits in 30 years doing this work. Um so with that
we were able to if the board decided to increase the budget by another 660,254 just because of the 18% increase that we had in health and then bank cap. So bank cap is simply unused spending authority
that can be saved for three budget cycles. So what you're going to see on this is right now without a vote the board has the ability to raise the budget 7.5% or 15751 17685 without a vote. So that is spending
authority. >> A little bit. My understanding is >> one sec. I'm sorry. Can you just repeat that? >> Yeah. No, no worries. So, bank is concept. >> Correct. It's not a cash. So just like I kind of went through with this slide
that the board right now has 1575 176 or 7.5%. We are not obviously proposing a 7.5% increase tonight. So whatever we propose minus the 7.5 is additional spending authority that the board would have for next year. So for right now,
just to kind of give you numbers from the, you know, 202526 budget, the board had 99,38. Um, I'm sorry, the board had 99,38 that will expire after this year's budget, right, from three budgets ago. Then we
had 12284 that will expire after next year's 2627 budget. And then another 271,916 that will expire after the 2728 budget. So, that was all money that we didn't use. In theory, tonight based on what we're proposing, some of that money
we will lose, right? That money that's rolling off at the end of this year, that 99,000, we will lose that. Does that help? >> Yes. Um, all right. So, after a full budget review, the board is submitting a draft budget with
an increase of 3.5% among the lowest proposed increases in the county. Just a few things to highlight from the board. So, in order to get the 35, we cut $900,000 out of our budget. All
right. When we took the health benefit increase, salaries, operational costs, fuel cost, utility cost, and we rolled all that into our budget to say, "Okay, where are we?" We were well past 3.5%. All right? So, we had to really do the
best we can over the last two months to try to come down the lowest we could and still be able to preserve programs. And that meant cutting $900,000 out of our budget. So, with that, it's five full-time employees, so a special education teacher, three general education teachers, one paraprofessional
position. We are adding a new coordinator position for the new pathways program, which we talked about at the high school, which will be an incredible experience for our kids starting next year. And then we do have based on IEP needs a required special education position at the elementary
school that we have to fund. It maintains all of our mental health supports for students and staff. Separate bus runs for our middle school and high school students. So this was an important thing when we did come up with our plan with the middle school and the high school that we wouldn't have five fifth and sixth graders on the bus with
10th and 11th graders. And that will maintain itself for next year. And that's for all students. We will continue to have late buses four days a week for our 5 through 12 over 65 extracurricular and co-curricular clubs and activities. We provide home internet
to any families that have financial challenges and financial hardships and then also professional development which is so important for our staff and eventually for student achievement. If you look at our class sizes for next year, they're in line of what they've
really been over the last several years. kindergarten right now is TBD because we're still taking it in registration, but you can see based on our class sizes where we're going to land in grade one through eight. And then you can see based on historic what we've been over the last four years as far sizes. You
could also see what the DOE recommends as far as class size and we are under those numbers with this proposed budget. So for tax impact, basically what you're looking at here, and again I if it's difficult to see, you can obviously see it on board docs,
but we're looking at the three different municipalities. Um you can see the difference on here with what our current budget is, what the 3.5% is, and then what the 7.5 would be if we went off the board made the decision to use all their spending authorities. This is based on
the average assessed values for each one of the municipalities which you can see down at the bottom. So basically for Stockton we're talking about a monthly increase of $14.31 for Lambertville $15.54 and for West Annillwell $205.
And then this is where we landed compared to all the other districts in Hunton County right now. So we're the green. You can see we're very close to the bottom, which is a good place to be. And you can see where all the other districts are right now, pretty much
maxing out their full spending authority in order to avoid massive cuts. And I will tell you, all these districts are still cutting. Even though they're raising their tax levy 4%, four and a half, 5%. There's one district that's going all the way up to 10% right with their spending authority. They're still
cutting just because they can't maintain program with the amount of deficits they have based on their health benefits. As I mentioned before, we're fortunate that we came in at 18%. There's some districts that came in at 30 and 35%. Which has been catastrophic. And then just as a reminder with the
West Amwell School, we signed the contract with our new buyer on February 26th, 2026. We're currently in the due diligence period, so they're having done all their inspections. The property has been surveyed. There's been inspections already. We have septic inspection scheduled for next week on Monday and
Tuesday. And the board, I just want to reiterate, is committed to taking the sale proceeds from the West Animal School and providing relief to our taxpayers by paying down referendum debt of the 2021 referendum. Just to kind of show you where things
land with the referendum debt. You can see this just illustrates that we were peaking over the last several years because we still had the old referendum debt from the West Annual School, but we made our last payment in February of this year. So now we're going to we
plateaued at the highest. We're coming down and now as of July of 26, there'll be a decrease because that old referendum is now off the books. So based on our projections, right, and these were based on the assessed values back in 2022 when we sold the bonds for
the referendum. You can see in each one of our municipalities what that type of relief will look like come July of this year. So that's a good thing. So just in conclusion, the board is submitting a draft budget with a tax
levy increase of 3.5%. The budget increase will be amongst one of the lowest in Hunton County. The additions of district-wide initiatives, the maintenance of our current programs, and the commitment to our small class sizes ensure students, you know, have an excellent experience in a quality
education. And the reduction of district held debt will help slightly offset the increase of the long term. So we are fortunate this year that we have the debt that's rolling off and obviously with some of the challenges that we faced with our operating budget for 2026
27 specifically with the incredible healthcare cost increase which I think not only in education but in all industries everyone's facing right now. So I know we have all been in this and for those of you in public this has been
a process for our board as well. We put a lot of effort into really going line by line. There's been a lot of effort by both our finance committee and individual board members in in getting there. But I want to leave it open. Do you guys have any questions before we
move on with this? Okay. Uh that brings us to our first period of public comment. Thank you, Mr. Um so just a reminder um If you would like to make a public comment, you are welcome
to. Um, we have a threem minute limit. If you could just introduce yourself, uh, name and municipality, we very much appreciate your comments. Anyone? >> Hello, I'm Taylor Labau. I'm a teacher at the elementary school. Family
literacy night will be held on Wednesday, March 25th from 5:30 to 8:00. This year's theme is reading rocks. This is an exciting community event that the South Hunter Regional Education Association has been hosting for over 10
years. It is funded by the NJA Public Education Partnership Grant. Families are invited to come watch as their child participates in activities such as rock painting, karaoke, bracelet making, whle, bingo for books, and more. After
students participate in the activities, they can return to the book tables where they can choose free books to bring home with them. At 7 o'clock, there will be an author visit by author and illustrator Jay Cooper. He is known for many books, including The Last Kids on
Earth, Bots and Sticks and Stones, Sticks and Scones, sorry. We are thankful to have a community of readers and for this opportunity to share literacy skills both at school and at home. And we look forward to seeing you there. Hello.
>> Hello, Andrea Little from Westlaw Township. I want to say thank you very much for sharing the referendum um balance sheet today for really for our entire community to see what all these years uh what was put forth and um the
completion. So that was really appreciated. Um I did have a chance to look it through and it was really great to see like and then you have the budget that you're now proposing. So they were kind of side by side. Um one thing I like to do is pull things
together and When we did the referendum, um the two s the two purposes were academia as well as financial. Um we know there's a lot of strive toward academia. It's good to see that, you know, we're not having a lot of cuts. Maybe there were retirements, whatever
it is for the five positions. But what I'd like to understand more, and I think the community would like to understand, and maybe you could share this in April when you do your budget, is what's the tiein? like what were the savings and reductions of what we thought we were going to get from the referendum and how
is that applying to the go forward. So things like, you know, savings in administration by putting the synergy of the two schools next to each other, minimizing the Westwell School, classroom synergies, meaning pulling grades together in the elementary schools. What kind of savings
has there been there? Um, operational costs, having two buildings on one property. Where are all those savings going? And I know operation costs and fuel, I mean we go through this es and flows every single, you know, every couple years, but like where are those
synergies and how are we seeing those as a reduction? Um because the fact is costs are rising. We have lower enrollment and our operational expenses per student just continue to be a big obstacle for our district. So what's the
long-term game plan here? Um, and maybe right now you're only doing a budget for next year and that's what you're adopting. But I think if we can just tie the two um, presentations together to say, okay, this referendum is done. How do we now utilize this in our budget?
Uh, we got 5% from the state, I think, uh, you know, things like that. We know that there's health costs, but how are we going to handle this as our population is showing and continues to go down in our district and and what's our long-term game plan on how we're going to manage that? Thank you very
much again. Appreciate it. >> That's little anyone else. >> I know we did have an online we have one online Mike Spiel
from West Ann. Tonight the superintendent published the 2021 final referendum cost analysis which closely mirrored my own documents submitted to the POE this year. In it, the superintendent admits to exceeding the voter approved referendum budget by
millions of dollars, illegally using, I didn't use the word illegally, using the NJRM interest for part of the overage and then spending almost another half a million from capital reserve to cover the balance also illegal. Please thank Mr. Suzo for putting his in the board's
financial malfeasants and writing for the state DOE to review. >> Thank you foring that, Mr. Suzo. And uh that let us close this period of public comment.
So moving on to committee reports. Uh curriculum technology is up for school. >> Thank you. The curriculum technology committee met on March 11th at 6 p.m.
Um there were uh no items for board approval on that agenda. So the entire deadline was based on off of discussion items. The first of those was the committee discussed developing committee goals for the upcoming year. There are
some preliminary concepts that were suggested that included updating a schedule for updating curriculum and supporting and developing curriculum for the new pathways program at the high school. the committee members decided to come to the April meeting with additional ideas for discussion
foration. Mrs. Lennon um talked about uh the winter benchmark data and there was in-depth discussion surrounding the various benchmark tests that are given the purpose and type of information that is gained from those tests and there was
a request for some additional information regarding the different kinds of testing and how Um the programs are used by teachers. There was discussion about the March 6th inservice day. The teachers had an
inservice day on March 6 that focused on the character strong program which will be implemented in the fall of 26. It's um train it's was a training for grades K through eight.
And then also there was a disc discussion of the use of AI um in the high school predominantly but really districtwide. Um Tony and Jane Ellen have been taking classes on AI use in the classroom and they also been working
on an AI policy for our district. This includes the use of AI in instruction and also assessment as well as AI literacy training essentials for teachers. Tony advised that he's created an AI policy committee um in the district that's made up of teachers and
administrators which have already met. They've had the best conversations um with a number of varied perspectives on what the appropriate use of AI is in school. There are ethical concerns, online safety concerns, effectiveness of AI in the learning environment as well
as the maintenance of academic integrity. Um these are all matters of concern also. Um just from the district's perspective, there's a desire to maintain a focus on individual critical and analytical thinking as well as the ability of students to learn from
one another and develop interpersonal skills. Um all these things will increase in importance as AI becomes more and more prevalent throughout our world. That's an ongoing conversation
obviously. Um there was a really um interesting and inspiring discussion of the community classroom um how there have been connections to the Whiten wisdom curriculum in the first grade. The first grade teachers have been using the community classroom initiative to
enhance the Whiten wisdom curriculum by welcoming a number of parents and members of the community into their classrooms to demonstrate jobs for students that are related to books and concepts that are being taught in classes. Um the committee discussed expanding this model to other
there was some old business on the agenda but um alas we ran out of time and so it'll be >> robust discussion. Next up, personnel. >> So, personnel committee met via Zoom on
March 18th. Um, we discussed specific things. Recommendation from superintendent to approve this evening, including several appointments, a resignation, and a retirement. Couple leaves of absence.
approval for two substitute teachers and appointments of extracurricular extracurricular appointments. So with that I move items A and B
and B. Yes. Okay. Discussion. >> I just noticed one of our is that is CSO one of our >> chance to see if you >> Oh, okay. >> He's back now. He's out. We were
rotating >> over. Okay. >> He returned last. >> One thing I wanted to mention too, I'll just point it out. You'll notice on the agenda, our a teacher, Matt Monaco, will be leaving us at the end of the year, which unfortunate. Um, but I'm very
excited to say we found a replacement because that is one of the most impossible positions to fill. So, the fact that we found someone, Stephanie Grub, who I'm really, really excited about. Um, and we're approving that person now for next year is huge because
I was very, very concerned that we were going to have trouble finding cabin. So, Matt was phenomenal. We wish him well. Um, but the fact that we locked that in in March, It's not something you have to worry about for the next four months. I'm very happy. >> Uh John Manani.
>> Yes. >> Martha Dennetti. Brian Aron Bachelor. >> Marino. >> Yes. >> And Michael. >> Yes. >> The policy committee.
policy committee did not meet in March to the great disappointment of all committee members. Um we did not have any items for first read. There were no mandatory changes or recommended changes for our third party provider. So we had the items for second read uh which are which we reviewed at our last committee
meeting there. All of these are mandated changes and they don't read any significant change to the text. So I will not re those. There were no comments from the board members on any of these changes. Um you do have an item B. I see the um request to abolish
abolish the existing policy for regulation on sexual harassment. Those are being replaced by new policy and regulation sections. We did go through those at the previous meeting. This is just eliminating those policy and regulation sections that are now super. So with that I would like to move items
and discussion. Great. Let's vote. Paulo >> yes >> mashetti. >> Yes. >> Brian Ke. >> Yes. >> Aron Jennifer Bachelor. >> Yes.
Markino. >> Yes. >> Okay. Buildings, grounds, transportation, plans, and safety. >> So, we met on March 17th. Um, a large portion of our discussion revolved around the budget um update. So, we had
a just to note um presentation that we looked at today um before putting that We had quite a long working session and a lot of discussion um occurred that evening um and that was
then followed up in finance committee. Um so there was uh quite a bit of good discussion and sharing of thoughts and ideas um that went into the uh what we're going to send to the to the
uh we we were able to really kind of dive into the reasoning behind C suggestions of leaving in, taking out, what can we do? Um, so I can I can say that we we've all put in a lot of uh a lot of time and effort and discussion on
that. Um, we also talked uh about the turf work has restarted. We've got about four weeks of work left. The main issue is that the ground needs to dry. The weather is just working against us on
that front, unfortunately. Um, but the ground does need to be dry in order to set the base for that. Um, we're having a similar sort of time with the softball dugouts as well. Um, we need the ground to just dry out so that we can bring in the appropriate equipment to get that
started. Uh, we talked about closing out the referendum. Um, the bills list includes the negotiated payment to LBJ Flory to make that final payment for the terms that we uh agreed to last month.
Uh we talked a little bit about the sale of West Amwell. The window of due diligence is open until April 9th. The buyer does have an option to extend, but they would have to give us additional deposit money. In this 30 days, inspections are being scheduled. And as
those happen and move along, if all goes well, we would have a tenative closing date of June 11. Um but real estate transactions are what they are. Um and then in our update. We talked about by annual
inspections that happened um in which we found some inconsistency with paperwork and logs and as part of a corrective action plan. Uh more random periodic reviews of logs and the paperwork on the buses will be performed by our
administr. And then we have our normal list of items for the month. um the bills list our financial reports and all of that. And then of note is the item J which we talked about in superintendent update is
our preliminary budget um for the year. Uh we also have a resolution to approve our preschool expansion aid. Um that was another note that also was addressed our working session just to highlight that we did receive we made out pretty well with the state aid um which was a big to
our budget. Um, we have some winning bins from our continuing work with municipe that we're disposing of. And that'll bring us to items ak. >> Yes. John Bani
>> Mark Denno >> Marino. >> Yes. >> And Michael. >> Yes. >> Todd Marino. I believe >> I'll do the update for school and community. So couple things we talked about. We worked on a one to two page
document in reference to the budget. Um something that we could share the comm with the community just for and have a better understanding about what's included in the budget. Obviously, there are rising health care costs and the impact on the budget. Something else we talked about is by now hopefully everyone's aware of the new
internet enabled device law that will be going into place in September. So, I have put together a district committee of parents um to discuss implementation of this new law. We met one time in February. We're meeting again on
Thursday night this week. Um I also did a focus groups of students grades 9 to 11. So as a little bit of a homework assignment um I told the students they would be meeting with me in about four or five days and I gave them the law and I said I need you to read this on your
own. It's four only four pages and then be prepared to discuss it when we meet. So we did meet um the beginning of the meeting they first thing they said is they are not in favor of the law and how do we change it? and I said, "Well, that's not really an option right now." So, now we have to think about how we're
going to implement the law. So, we did talk a lot about a bunch of different ideas. Um, one of the things that we did talk about, which took some working towards, but we got in a better place by the end of the meeting, was collecting the devices and then redistributing them at the end of the school day. That
helped put them in a good situation. Uh, we had a good conversation about how do we set them up for success? And in the beginning of that conversation, they said, "We'll just keep it away and let us hold on to them." And then as we talked about it more and more, they started to discover that that may be
harder than they thought. So maybe it would be something that we should think about as far as collecting them on a daily basis. One of the biggest things they were most concerned about was losing their music. So they like to listen to music during lunch, things along those lines, and not having the
device. So, we had all kinds of good discussions about that and they were going on Amazon and finding, you know, u iPods, MP3 players, all kinds of things from back in the day, which I didn't know you could still buy. Um, but we're going to continue to have conversations
about that um until we eventually bring a policy forward to the board by later in the school year. We also talked about a survey that we'll be administering partnering with Montlair University in the department of health um specifically for seventh and eighth graders on uh
substance abuse as well as mental health. So the plan will be to survey seventh and eighth graders sometime before the end of the year, probably later in May. It will be during a health lesson. Parents will receive information about this. Um there will be an opt out for any parents who don't want their
child to take it. There'll also be the opportunity for parents to view the questions in advance um if they want to see the questions. We're just working on locking in a date in May for the actual survey to be administered. The nice thing about the survey is a lot of times when we get approached by about surveys,
it's more global data that we don't necessarily get access to and how it impacts us as a school. This data we will get, you know, a summary of a profile for us which will be extremely beneficial for our program planning in the future.
Uh we did talk about upcoming press releases. So we're in the process of working on press releases for community classroom program, the pathways program that will go into effect next year at the high school as well as the implementation of character. And then just for an open discussion
item, we did discuss um for those that may not be aware, I held a parent meeting in the beginning of March for a group of seventh grade parents um where students specifically were having conflict that was a majority of it was coming from social media. So we had an
opportunity to meet and we had a great turnout. I had about 17 parents who came and met for about two hours. We talked about some of the challenges that we're facing and we agreed to develop a digital reset with our students. What that meant was is that I actually
created a contract and I had the parents buy in along with our kids which I will tell you some of them were not happy but you know so far so good where they were willing to give up i.e. Snapchat, Tik Tok for a period of about five to six
weeks. All right. Just to see the impact it would have and that the world would still move on and we could all survive without it. Uh we are meeting again on April 9th the parents when we come back from break just to do a little post analysis of how things are going and how
they went. Um, I know that there's been some challenges along the way with students kind of, you know, falling off the wagon to say, um, and and trying to get access to those social media apps, but overall, I think it's I will tell you some of the challenges that we've
seen at the school have absolutely minimized since we had that meeting. So, it's something that we're continuing to work towards. that builds into the whole internet enabled device policy and kind of again, you know, really trying to focus on what's best for our kids. My
our elementary parents hopefully got the wait to eight that I had sent out. We're really trying to encourage starting in preschool for parents to wait till 8th grade for the cell phones um for a whole heck of a lot of reasons and I probably don't need to tell you any of them know what they are. So um those will be
continued discussions moving forward. Nothing to move. >> Thank you. We do have to accept emers are welcome. member never had before. I thought I thought about
>> it has happened. >> Not from the >> No, not um >> you have something to share. I don't think >> I mean if you you can introduce yourself as member of the public address. >> That's what Yeah. Okay. Go ahead.
>> I just wanted to call fell signal from Westwell as a member of the public. I wanted to say something about the phones. The PTO had a great outing at the dance, the middle school dance on Saturday and I talked to a number of
students and they were they had a great time and some have said that it was un unprovoked from an adult said that it was because of the lack of the presence of phones. So I want to thank the the
leadership, thank the PTO for pulling off something that was that the kids enjoyed and juxtaposed from last year was a great success. So thank you. >> Okay, final call for the gallery of public comment. We do have the need
for executive session tonight. Um we do not anticipate taking any action posts. So for those of you are hanging out, thank you for doing so. And uh can I get a a uh motion to enter?
>> Okay, John. >> Second. >> Brian. All in favor? >> Uh wonderful.