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meeting of the South Orange Maplewood Board of Education. Mr. Bing, would you please take the role? I >> think that's today. >> Jeez, I'm just It's so nice to have our >> some fresh some fresh eyes in here today. >> Would you please take the role?

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>> Absolutely. Board member Bennett. Board member Brown >> here. >> Board member Callahan >> here. >> Board member Higgins >> here. Board member Kapadia >> here. >> Board member Meyer or board president

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Meyer rather >> still here. >> Board member Nyer >> here. >> Board member Sak Gable >> here. >> Board member Stefan >> here. >> Awesome. We have a quorum. >> Good. Please stand if you're able for the pledge of allegiance.

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>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please take notice that adequate notice of this meeting Oh, Miss Rena, would you

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beautiful feedback heavy over here? Adequate notice. This meeting was sent from the office of the secretary of the board on July 22nd, 2026 to the Maplewood and South Orange Township clerks and the editors of the news record, Star Ledger, Tap into Soma and

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Village Green. Uh we have a long evening ahead of us. We are starting two hours early for a very specific reason. Uh traditionally in the summer we hold two different retreats uh to look at the results of our board self- evaluation uh

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as well as start developing the annual goals for the board and the district. And today is the first of those two uh goal setting procedures. Uh in order to help us and uh structure the conversation, we have our uh New Jersey

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New Jersey Schoolboard Association field service rep, Jean Clearary. Uh Jean's going to be guiding us through the results of our board self-evaluation, how to interpret it, and how to apply that toward development of our ongoing board goals as we also review uh our uh

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prior year's board goals and how we actually uh uh achieve them. Uh and so we are going to be uh stepping off of the dis and stepping off camera for the next two hours or so to conduct that process. We're then going to come back

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and we're going to uh honor our CHS fencing team, which is very exciting. Then we're going to step into executive session. That's going to bring us to approximately 7:30 when we will pick up with our regular uh July board meeting. So, uh, we're going to step off in just a moment, but I do have to acknowledge

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that tonight is an auspicious moment for our board and for Jean Clearary because this is, per my understanding, the very last, uh, official act that Miss Clearary has before she retires from her service at the New Jersey School Board Association. Uh, I don't know what that

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means as far as the presentation she's going to give us tonight, frankly, but it's our hope that maybe we can sweeten her up ahead of time. So, Gan, we have a couple token gifts we'd like to give you to thank you so much for your service uh to our board and to the broader

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community that you've served. And without further ado, we're going to retire to our conference area in the back and we will be returning to the dis to uh then adjourn to executive session at approximately 6:30. Okay. Thanks

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everyone. Good evening. Thank you for joining us at the meeting. We are coming back into public televised status. We've just had uh 2 hours worth of a board retreat to discuss our board

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self-evaluation and uh board annual goals and uh we are now very excited to have a celebration and a ring ceremony for our boys and girls uh CHS fencing

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team. Uh and I would like to turn the floor over to our uh athletic director, Miss Winstead, uh to discuss further. Good evening everyone. Welcome students, parents, families, coaches. Thank you board members. Thank

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you uh principal Sanchez who was on his way, superintendent Bing and our district leaders. Also would like to welcome our lovely coaches up front. I would like to congratulate the girls and boys fint team for their hard work, dedication and sacrifice throughout the successful season during the 2025 2026

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season. Our boys team won the North Jersey sectional state championship. And the girls team, the girls team not only won the North Jersey sectional champion, state championship, but they are the NJSIAA state champions.

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Again, they are New Jersey and Scholastic state champions. I would also like to congratulate our coaches again for their hard work, dedication, and care. We have coach here, coach Marie Leger, Coach Cam, our first year coach,

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and coach White who's been here for over 20 years for Columbia High School. So, we're going to be really quick with this. This is our ring ceremony because we have uh because of your hard work and dedication. I'm sorry I'm kind of like tilt the wrong way, but I'm go this way. Does this move? Oh, it moves. Nobody

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told me that. Okay. So, with that being said, um we're going to be very fast in this in our name calling. We're going to have our photo shoot outside so the board members can get to work during this summer session. We will have you come up. You cannot look at the rings yet. We're going to do

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it all at one time. All right. Coach White is going to start off with the boys. >> First young man is is Sander Becker. not here. >> He's a He's a senior, so he's not here. >> Zack Coulter,

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>> we're going to be melanating to their parents. >> That ease, >> Luca and Sero. Kai Cuabriat, Julian Fabria, >> their brothers if you didn't know >> Benji Cohall Gareth Ky

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>> he's a senior as well >> Ethan Lavin Henry O'Brien Anuka >> Yes sir and Liam Rojakowski. >> You're going to open the box. >> No. for the girls. Like to call up Carol

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Agila, Ela Bach, Samara Berg, she said, >> Lillian Clark, Chloe Frasier, I don't think she's here. Talia Goldberg, Zoe Moahad,

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>> she's not here, Sophia Plaza, Sanvi Roaki, >> Simone Swingle, Malia Valentine, and Sonia Zenobi. If Mr. Sanchez can come up with me as we present the rings to our coaches and Mr. Bing,

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Robin White, >> Marie Cameron Swervven Swerban. >> Jason Bing, >> Mr. Sanchez. >> Hey, you got to present. You got to present me. You got to present mine. >> Athletic director, Miss Winstead.

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All right, we're going to get one big We're going to do one big picture on a count of three. Three. I'm sorry. I'm going to say three. Three. You going to open up? Get ready to open. >> So, board members, come on up, please. Come up. Come up. Come up. Come up.

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Don't open it yet. >> Let's go. Board members, let's go. >> Don't open it yet. Don't open it yet. Don't open it yet. >> Just take the lid off the top of the box. Take the lid off the top of the box. Wait. And I'm taking correct.

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>> All right. Everybody in the picture. >> Squeeze in. >> All right. Three, >> two, one. >> Congratulations Colombia BOYS AND GIRLS FINTON TEAM.

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Thank you board members. Thank you Mr. Bing. >> Let's go take pictures in the hallway everybody. Let's go. Let's proceed. That was probably the best part of our meeting. Good stuff. >> However, we do have a lot left, so we're going to dig into the rest. Uh, I will

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now entertain a motion for us to enter executive session as permitted under the Open Public Meetings Act to discuss personnel, legal, and miscellaneous confidential matters. Normal action will be taken. Do I have a motion? Bor Callahan. Do I have a second? Board member Stefen. All in favor, show of

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hands. It's unanimous. Uh the board will enter executive session at 6:45 p.m. and will be returning to public session. Any action resulting from our discussions will be taken in public session. We'll see you back here shortly. back to order. The time is 7:35 p.m. and

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the board is now back in public session. Thank you for joining us tonight. Uh our next item on the agenda is to approve our board meeting minutes. Uh we have minutes from the executive and special meeting minutes from uh June 11th and

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the executive and regular board meeting minutes from June 25th of 2026. Do I have a motion to approve? Board Callahan. Do I have a second? Board member Sacket Gable. All in favor? Show of hands. Right. I think that's unanimous vote.

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All right. Uh we now will turn directly to our superintendent update. Uh, and I will uh hand it over to Superintendent Bing. >> I do want to start off by um just quickly memorializing a couple of our

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wonderful staff who we lost recently. Two of our elementary former elementary teachers, uh, both retired, uh, Maryanne Murray and Sandra F. Prince. Um, for Sandra, she began her employment

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with the district in 1988, serving first at Clinton Elementary and then later at Marshall School. She retired in 2009 after 21 years of service uh to the district. Uh, she passed away on July 3rd, 2026. Our best wishes go to her family and we

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thank Sandra for her wonderful service to the uh to our community and most importantly to our students. Um, Mary Ellen worked at Clinton and South Mountain. Um, she started in the fall of 1995 at Clinton. Uh, she then took a

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sbatical and went to South Mountain Annex and she retired in 2019. Again, our prayers and thoughts go out to her family and again we thank them for their wonderful service uh and the their many accomplishments and

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everything that they gave to our kids uh in South Orange and Maplewood. So, please keep them in your thoughts moving forward. Uh, very quickly, I want to talk about the new Columbia High School and Middle School schedule for 2026 27. Uh, in

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regards to Columbia High School, beginning with the beginning this school year, Columbia High School will implement a revised rotating block schedule designed to provide students with longer instructional periods while maintaining daily opportunities to engage in a variety of courses. The

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schedule consists of four rotating days A, B, C, and D, with students attending six instructional periods each day. Class periods will meet for 71 minutes, allowing for deeper instruction, laboratory activities, collaborative learning, and project based work once a week. The remaining three class periods

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will meet for 46 minutes, providing balanced instructional time across all courses. Each instructional period rotates throughout the 4-day cycle so that no class is consistently assigned to the same time of day. Students will continue to have a 45inut period lunch

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with 4minute transition times between classes to allow for movement throughout the building. Uh the school day concludes with 30-inut conference period providing dedicated time for students to receive academic support, meet with teachers, make up assessments, participate in enrichment opportunities,

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or engage in other school related activities. The revised bell schedule is intended to maximize instructional time, increase flexibility for teaching and learning, support social emotional wellness with less transitions, and create additional opportunities for individualized student support while

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maintaining a predictable and balanced daily schedule. In regards to our middle school, uh we firmly believe that middle school is a time for exploration and discovery. So, beginning next year, uh, just like our current seventh and eighth

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graders, our sixth grade middle schoolers will move from a trimester schedule to a semester schedule. Um, again, as I noted, current seventh and eighth graders already have a semester schedule. Students will continue to participate in related arts courses throughout middle school, and their

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schedules will remain very similar to what they have experienced in the past. However, instead of selecting certain related art courses, students will be assigned courses so that by the end of 8th grade, they have experienced all of the related course offerings available in the district. Many students enter

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high school having experienced only a limited number of related arts offering during middle school. By providing all students with exposure to each area, we can help them discover new interests and make more informed decisions about high school electives and future academic opportunities. This model will provide

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students with experiences in art, 2D and 3D art, STEM, drama or dance, uh, investigations, band, chorus, orchestra, and world language. World language will continue to include an element of student choice. Students will have

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exposure to both Spanish and Chinese in sixth grade before selecting the language they wish to continue studying. Beginning in seventh grade, students will choose their Spanish or Chinese and continue their study of that language through middle school and hopefully high school as well.

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Uh part of the new Colombia High School schedule is a common lunch period, that is one lunch period, which will provide all approximately 2,000 Columbia High School students with lunch at the same time creating a shared community experience while offering greater flexibility and fewer transitions

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throughout the school day. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors will continue to have the privilege of leaving campus for lunch, helping to reduce the number of students dining in the cafeteria at any one time. For those who choose to stay on campus, they will eat in the cafeteria, the main gym, or the new

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alumni commons. All administrators will be on duty daily during the common lunch, and we will monitor the three lunch areas. We are purchasing additional cafeteria tables for cafeteria, picnic tables for Ritzer and cafe tables for for the halls outside of the cafeteria for students who are

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looking for a quieter area. In addition, juniors and seniors who study hall rotates adjacent to their lunch period will have the opportunity to enjoy a long lunch providing additional time for meals, collaboration with peers, appointments, or academic support. Our food service provider, Pmptonian, has

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extensive experience successfully operating common lunch models and has been an active partner in planning for this transition. Students were able to order lunches in the morning and pick up their meals at a new grabandgo section. We have also collaborated with neighboring high schools that have

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successfully implemented unified lunch periods, allowing CHS to incorporate proven practices and ensure that the model is both operationally sound and beneficial for all students. uh power professional transition. As you know, we've transitioned to the Delta T

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group from our ESS. Just a quick update on July 9th, uh Delta T group representatives met with our special services administrators to discuss the transition and dispel misinformation

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that has been circling. Uh they were also joined by board member Callahan and the CPAC board. Uh our representatives emphatically conveyed their desire to retain all power professionals that the district sought to keep and reiterated the pay raise for SOMD power

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professionals will be between 20 and $22 an hour. Since that meeting, uh the district has provided delta t the names of the power professionals that building leaders would like to retain. Uh to that extent, we have the contact information for those power professionals. uh as

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they are not our employees, it was provided so that Delta T could personally reach out to recruit them. Uh the district has also scheduled three dates for parent focus groups where delt the Delta T group will continue to entertain any questions and concerns from our stakeholders. Those meetings

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are scheduled for August 11th, August 17th, and August 20th. Uh the district has offered inperson and virtual as well during the day and in the evening to accommodate all schedules and preferences. A Google form was circulated to the community through a power school blast as well as via CPAC

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to ensure that we are reaching as many stakeholders as possible. Uh we are limiting our town hall meetings to 15 to 20 people per session. Currently have around 50 stakeholders who have expressed interest. So we'll have manageable groups and don't need to turn

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anyone away. Uh the district also held recruitment events on July 16th, July 23rd, and July 30th where Delta T representatives were present to provide information on transferring from ESS to Delta and continuing to serve in SOSD.

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These recruitment events were held at Marsha and Columbia High School in an effort to reach as many PAR professionals as possible since a number of them are currently working our extended school year. A flyer was placed on our district website and shared with CPAC to release on the website and social media accounts. As of today,

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Delta T has a total of 166 power professionals ready to start in September, which includes those current power professionals who have expressed interest. We're around about an 85 93% rate of fill. uh Delta T group continues

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to recruit uh those powers uh in self-contained classrooms that our leadership specifically noted they have been reaching out to and they'll continue their recruitment uh throughout the next month.

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Facilities and infrastructure. So for South Orange Maplewood School District, effective facilities management is essential to ensure a safe, comfortable, and modern learning environment. With the completion of the 2019 bond, critical infrastructure, including HVAC

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and air filtration systems, secure entry points, additional learning spaces, and intercom fire alarm systems have been addressed throughout the district because public school buildings are heavily utilized and serve as a civic hub or often emergency shelters and too

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often are the first and too often facilities are the first item to be reduced from the yearly development of a balanced budget. We must continually maintain and upgrade aging facility infrastructures moving forward. Upgraded facilities like improved HVAC systems, advanced technology, and dedicated adult

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workspaces often reduce stress, enhance academic performance, and boost community morale. With this in mind, the district will be presenting a detailed facility improvement plan for bonding in the 2026 27 school year. This bond will include but not be limited to hallway

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improvements in our schools, bathroom and classroom modernization, richer field improvements, security vestibial completion, playground improvements, ADA compliance and fencing for safety and uh many other long overdue products. Please

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look for that detailed list within the next two weeks um as we move forward with this initiative to ensure that our facilities fully respect not only our community but also our students and our staff. Finally, we

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want to clarify uh one of the issues that uh came up at our last board meeting around trips to Israel. Uh we want to really be clear on this matter that with with regard to the uh staff trips planned to Israel, the district has not sponsored, funded or

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endorsed any such trips. Several of our staff have accepted educational training opportunities on a personal basis and plan to take personal days during that time. While the district has not endorsed those trips, neither are we in any position to forbid the actions of our employees in their personal capacities. Moreover, our administrators

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and teachers are highly educated professionals who possess the judgment and critical thinking skills necessary to thoughtfully engage with diverse perspectives and educational experiences. We trust them to engage with diverse perspectives without being captured by any single narrative. Uh I

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do want to point out that being an education today means navigating some unpre unprecedented challenges from escalating classroom demands to the emotional weight of supporting students through turbulent times. Recognizing the immense strain this places on our staff's mental health and

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professional growth, our district is deeply committed to supporting every opportunity for teachers to connect with peers statewide, nationally, and globally. Engaging in these professional exchanges allows educators to share vital experiences, trade innovative strategies, and find their community.

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The fostering of these local, national, and global connections is essential during these very, very challenging times. All you I think. Do we uh do we now have a presentation regarding our transportation? Yep. We're going to

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throw it right back to you here. >> Unless you want a break. Ready to go. We did want to give a brief update around transportation. As we all know uh on this DAS, the district has struggled

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with transportation for some time now. Uh we've recently hired a new director of transportation who has brought routing in-house. So, we do want to share some of the changes that we hope are going to make a positive impact moving into the 2627 school year and also to make sure that

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everybody knows that we are being uh very critical stewards of our transportation moving forward and making sure that we have a checks and balances system in place so we're not repeating uh past infractions or past mistakes. Go ahead, Keith.

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Uh just a quick reminder, we have new school start and end times uh starting in September. Again, these uh school start and end times were vital uh to our new transportation system and our three- tiered system. It did enable us to take

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around 13 to 15 buses off the road uh and also allow us to be a little more uh efficient with how we use our current bus fleet. Go ahead, Keith. So, some of the things we have announced uh

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during uh 2526 uh we've heard the challenges. Uh we've been very lucky to have our transportation parents email uh and attend meetings and let us know what was happening. Uh I think we've been uh reactive to those issues. I'd

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rather be proactive, but in last year's case, we had to be reactive. Um we've heard um what those issues were. We're hoping that uh some of these changes such as implementing a true three- tier

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system, uh putting in more time between tiers um to allow buses to make appropriate pickup times. Um having a better tracking system for our families. We are making that change as well, which

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we'll note a little while. Um also optimizing uh technology that is out there. So our own transportation department uh has the resource to track all bus routes uh via

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uh computer screen via GPS which they never had in the past and also giving parents a better user experience for tracking their students on their routes via GPS as well. And we've also made an effort to move to actually to minimize

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the amount of vendors that we currently partner with around buses because that has really caused an issue for quite some time. So uh we are now down to about two vendors that we are using for our general routes uh which should significantly help communication uh between our drivers.

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Go ahead Keith. So, as I noted, uh, our new system, uh, Transfinder allows our communicate, our, uh, transportation crew to design, review, and manage student transportation routes in a safer, efficient, and more data-driven manner. One, it centralizes data all in one

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place. For the last decade, we have relied on drivers to call the office in regards to challenges or issues or roads closed or any anything that have popped up. Uh at this point, starting next year, we're able to use technology and

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GPS to actually track those routes in real time. Um we're able to maximize vehicle efficiency and control stop locations. For example, uh if we had two stops on one street moving into the 26 27 school year, we have combined those stops. Um so we're trying to be more

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efficient with our pickup times. Uh and also make sure we're in full compliance with New Jersey state regulations and our own district policies. Um we also will be able to have more key analytics with Transfinder, which will be able to uh evaluate our travel times, our route

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distances in a in a much more efficient manner, as well as our bus capacities. All right, Keith. So, as I noted previously, we have transitioned to a three- tier model, which is one of the main reasons for the

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school start and stop time changes. Uh, this really provides the district uh just a great amount of flexibility to adapt our routes uh and also make sure that we are uh keeping up with enrollment changes throughout the school

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year. and also mitigating the many traffic delays and other common daily operational challenges that occur uh on a bus route. This should help us maintain long-term uh operational sustainability and predictability which has been an issue for us for quite some

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time. So right now all dry runs have been completed by Bair and our transportation department. Next step will be our bus partners uh doing dry runs solo. Um that will start within the next week. We have

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ongoing and actively managed our South Mountain School shuttle request that is still up and running. Out of district routes, all students have been placed in our new transfinder system for the first time. Uh and also wayfinder is expected uh to be delivered to our district the

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third week of August. That means we are getting the new upgraded tablets that our drivers will have that will not only provide subdrivers with uh the route so they could easily have GPS at their fingertips to to accommodate new routes.

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It also will uh allow us to track them and allow our parents uh how to have better tracking of their own children. uh August 15th, which is an important date, Power School system goes live with uh the 2627

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bus routes. Currently, and this is ever changing, we're at about uh 1,527 students uh taking advantage of our transportation. We are actively rooting them now. This does include our out of district students as well. Um, and we do

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want to just make a quick reminder that as of uh this year's budget, we are not providing courtesy busing for our prek students. Go ahead, Keith. Uh, we did want this disclaimer. Sandra urged me to put this disclaimer

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in. The transportation information presented reflects current planning assumptions. Final bus routes, stop locations, and pickup drop off times will be determined based on student enrollment eligibility, rooting efficiencies, and operational considerations. Um, for example, we are

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still rooting incoming kindergarteners, still being rooted. Um, so some of this may change um moving forward. Uh we do want to note as we go through some examples of routing that please

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disregard the colors on the map. The colors on the map do not correspond with the bus colors assigned by the schools. So as anyone on the deis has a question

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about colors, they'll be asked to leave the deis, take their things and just complete humiliation. Uh so you're going to see a lot of colors on these. That is part of transfinder. Those colors are just different routes. That is it. They do

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not correspond to uh the color that you were assigned by your school. So again, Transfinder has colors that are just in the program and all the different colors do are represent the different routes. They do not correlate uh to your colored

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bus routes that are assigned to your kids uh by their school. So for example, uh you will see our Clinton bus routes uh on the screen. Um,

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Clinton has, I believe, no, Clinton is second. Uh, they're behind Marshall. Marshall has the most buses. Clinton is second. So, you'll see Marshall. Uh, you'll see Clinton is currently running 1, two, three, four, five, six, seven routes. Those are the seven different colors that you see in the map. We made

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a concerted effort this year for our early starting schools not to pick up students before 7:15 in the morning. Last year we had stops pickup times for elementary starting at

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7:07. Uh so we made some good strides in regarding pushing back that first pickup time. Go ahead, Keith. Again, the van routes that you note are for our special services. Um you will

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see what we really made an attempt at doing this year. Keith, you can go back to the gened roots real quick. Um the slide before we try to avoid major highways. If you do see buses crossing

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each other again, that means a bus was at capacity. So we had to put another bus on that route. Um that's the only reason why you may see some crossing. It's when buses are at capacity. And right now automatically they are at capacity. We cannot overbook. By law

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we're not allowed to overbook anticipating that students will not use transportation. So if a bus route or bus was at capacity then we had to put another bus into place. So that's where you may see some crossing on the Genad routes. But we have made it a just a

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intentional effort not to have buses going across town trying to avoid major streets. We do not have any buses running for more than 35 minutes this year at all. Last year we had buses running for 45 50 minutes at a time. We do not have any buses going over 35

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minutes. Go ahead Keith. Again, our van routes are for our students with special services. So, unlike our uh general education routes where we're only dealing with one to two vendors, mostly one vendor, we're dealing with multiple vendors in regards to uh

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special education. Uh we're also dealing with multiple vendors in regards to our out of district often. Uh and we are utilizing vans um for our students that are in our schools. uh for TRA for uh

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our special services programming. Uh they will experience the same well uh the same vendor or or or less vendors uh than our out of district students. Uh that is a hard that is something hard for us to control because usually the out of district school has some control

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over that process of transportation and is a large partner in it. So we use a variety of vendors for out of district students. Go ahead Keith. You'll see something similar to deal. You bolded about four roots. The different colors represent the different roots. You will see from this view that

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we tried to cluster uh unlike last year. So if you took a look at last year's roots, they were all over the place. You'll see some sort of cluster pattern as we move forward through the schools. Go ahead, Keith. Again, the van routes for our special

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services children. Um, when we talk about routes that uh may be at the 35 minute mark, they may be some of the vans because you have to go across town uh to pick up students, but uh I would

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say we're at about 85% of our routes are less than 30 minutes this year, which is a huge improvement over the last 10 years. Go ahead, Keith. Again, Marshall, you'll see the different colors representing different bus routes. You'll also see a a pattern of hubs as

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well. Uh you'll see their van routes next. Again, as I noted, Marshall and Clinton are our two biggest pushing districts, district schools, sorry. Go ahead, Keith. And these are our van routes uh for Marshall as well. You'll see the van

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routes for schools such as uh Clinton and Seth Bdon being the highest uh and South Mountain simply because uh South Mountain holds our ML program. So does uh Clinton and Clinton also holds uh

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many of our autistic programming as well in district. Go ahead Keith. Seth Bdon as you note again different colors, different bus routes. So you'll see bright green, that is one bus. You'll see the red, that is one bus. Go ahead,

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Keith. Vans, you will see again our special services. You can go ahead Keith for them. I think there's a last slide. Go ahead, Keith. Go ahead. It

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uh so just to give you a quick perspective of what our software looks like moving forward. So for for us, our next steps are we presented this to our board. Our next steps will be meeting the date slips my mind. It may be August 5th. I don't know why that's coming to

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my mind, but August 5th with our transportation advisory council to go over these revised routes uh once more before we finalize them and get them out to our families. Um so we provided a

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draft earlier this month. uh we got really great feedback from our community members, our board members and our transportation uh advisory committee. Uh so we made some tweaks which was the results I just shared with everybody. Uh

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so then we'll go back to our attack one more time and go through every route. Uh and then we'll publish these routes August 15th as we know August 6th instead of the 5th. Got to be careful here. Any moment. This

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is my day. My daily >> Thank you, Mr. Bing. Um, with the understanding that this is a draft and we will expect to see some more changes between now and when the school year begins, uh, are there any questions or comments?

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Board member Brown. >> Yes, thank you. And, um, I don't know how this compares to the data that the board was set before. It sounds like you made some changes, but I just want to point out that in the data that we were sent, 25 of the 35 routes were 30

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minutes or more. And what I'm concerned about is that I just did some spot checking to see like, okay, they were estimating that from this stop to this stop, it's 3 minutes. And then when I Googled how long does it

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take to drive from that stop to this stop, it was 2 minutes. And so that your estimate is giving one minute for a child to get on the bus, sit down, or multiple children to get on a bus, sit down. So I'm a little bit worried that we're not estimating correctly between

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stops and the 25 routes that we have that are 30 minutes or more are going to all of a sudden become 45 minutes. So I just want to make sure that we're accounting for stops appropriately. So, those both were changed as part of this uh some of the feedback that we

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utilized. Uh we changed the uh loading time for kids. Um and we also made some tweaks to lower as I noted the amount of buses that were at 35 minutes. >> Yep. How >> what are you estimating for the loading time? >> Uh I'll have to I'll check. I know we just we literally just met with Bel Air

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and tweaked it last uh Yeah. So she uh finished driving those routes with Bair and that was an issue that came up and then on the feedback we received that was also an issue that popped up. Yep. >> Other questions or Bennett? >> I had a question about the use of the

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term three tier system. Um as I understand it most of the buses we're having aren't literally running three tiers where they go to an early start elementary school, a middle school or high school and then a late start elementary school. like don't we have um less need for middle school and high

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school busing? So, won't a lot of buses be serving an early start elementary school and then like picking up kids for the late start elementary school? >> Yeah, we'll have the break I can >> I can provide the breakdown for uh how many buses we're utilizing per tier. >> Yeah. So, it's not literally three tiers

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for all buses. So, parents can provide that. Other questions? Board member Callahan. >> Just to pivot back really quickly to what board member Brown had named. You you went back to the loading time. You made changes to the loading time and

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tweaks to lower the amount of buses. I know that uh were those routes run I know you had said they had been run towards the end of the school year to account for school-based traffic but if adjustments were made are we how are you making account for like the lower traffic that occurs during the summer when

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>> we did both so she started uh our our transportation department started riding the dummy routes uh in May and then we continued riding those during the summer. Uh, one of the suggestions from Sussex and also Bair was one of the notes that board member uh, Brown just

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noted that we had too few minutes for kids to load. Uh, so you'll see that reflected and Sandra will break that down for you. But yeah, that was identified as a a larger issue and that was an issue last year for us combined with uh, the lack of time between tiers.

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I think last year was 12 to 15 minutes we had between tiers. Um, it just caused a bit of a disaster. >> Board member Higgins. >> Um, thank you for all that detail. I

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think it's very helpful to see. I wanted to just clarify when you said 35 minutes is that is it that the that is a goal or that is the expectation that every ride will be under? That's the expectation. That's uh when we started developing

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these routes uh that was one of the guidelines or guard rails not to go over 35 minutes. Okay. >> So uh we're not expecting any of our roots to be over 35 minutes. Obviously if a huge accident occurs or something of that nature, but the daily routes should be under 35 minutes.

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>> Okay. So to follow up with that, the ones that did show that they were over 35 minutes, are those the ones you're prioritizing to figure out how to get them underneath? >> Yeah, we just made some changes this morning. We'll continue to make those changes moving forward. We got some good input from our co-op partner Sussex who was able to tweak a couple of those runs

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to help >> get us under. >> And then there's just there was one route that was listed as a zero for Bordon Bdon. So I'm wondering is that like a placeholder or what would be a a zero minutes zero zero stops? >> I'll check that for you. >> Okay. Not a huge deal, but >> what was it?

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>> Uh it was one of the Bdon buses. Um and then one last question. the out of district placements I my understanding is that the we don't have that is totally separate right the busing we don't have that is not within the district's purview so can you

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explain a little bit further about the how the GPS of that will be working >> they will not our out of district buses will not have GPS it's too many vendors uh and too much of a cost at this point we're dealing with anywhere from seven to 15 vendors for out of district right

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>> um so it'll be quite difficult to to to put the GPS systems in there. Something we could explore moving forward. Uh but right now you're only looking at districts uh that are in district that will have the GPS capability. >> Okay.

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>> And just to follow up on that, I know that one of the key distinctions is that we happen to have a single contract with Bair that is allowing us to have all of our industry routes under one vendor right now. uh and have been able to

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leverage that to bring in the ability to do the tablets I think is a thing that we've found capacity for pretty recently. Uh I think that everyone in the community would love to be able to have that ability for out of district where the distances are of course much

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greater and the kids needs are likely much greater. Um, so I guess do we anticipate that's a thing we can look at trying to overcome as far as working with all the different vendors to get tablets in their hands? >> Yeah. I mean, what's unique about out of district busing is often those buses

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have only one to two students on it. >> Uh, which also is something we have to consider when it comes to cost. That's why there's so many different vendors. So, we are looking at what that may look like moving forward. Um, again, it's it's quite difficult with the different

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vendors because the vendors, as you as you noted, they have to agree. Uh, we only had three vendors last year that agreed uh when we put out the bid. Um, and Bair has been a pretty solid partner for us and they've agreed to do GPS. Um,

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they do not do any other out of district. So, that's that's also a struggle getting the bus vendors to agree to do it. >> Yeah. I guess as long as we can try to prioritize when we're looking at bidding next year. There's so much involved in the transportation bidding to look at see if that could become part of those

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bids. >> Uh any other questions for >> you may have covered this did are all these routes we've tested them we've driven them >> our on our end uh Sandra has driven all

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those routes at Bair. So next step is going to be the drivers do solo >> on those routes and then we get feedback from them. So it's another layer of feedback and obviously the first two weeks we're getting some pretty good feedback. This time we'll also have real-time GPS data which something we

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never had in the past. Yeah. Anything else? Bennett >> in 202526. One reason uh some kids were picked up very early wasn't that their bus route was actually that long, but we had to leave the kids off at an early

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start elementary school in order to make the second tier. And uh we called that the rooster program because the kids would be watched by an adult like in the auditorium. Um with the three- tier system, will we still need to have kids dropped off early at an early start school? And does this mean the end of our rooster program? Yeah. So, with the

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changes in time, uh we won't need that uh as often as we did last year. We needed that quite a bit last year. We're in a much better place with the school changes. >> That's a good thing to share with the public. >> Anything else? Okay. Thank you very much.

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>> Thank you. uh for well no let's actually let's throw it over to our uh assistant business administrator Miss Renault for uh an update from the business office. >> Okay, good evening everyone. I will keep it short and sweet so that we can move

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along with this agenda. Right now the business office is fully engaged in all of the steps necessary to close out the 2526 budget year. uh we want to ensure that all the invoices everything coming in is charged properly to 2526 and if we

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move forwardly too quickly with that then we end up dipping into the 2627 budget to purchase 2526 items which typically is not allowable. It needs to be charged to its proper year. So we are in the throws of doing that. In addition, we're also in the throws of

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opening 2627, setting up all accounts, executing all of the contracts uh that have been awarded by the board, whether they be through board resolution, bid, RFP. Um, additionally, we're getting ready for our preliminary week of audit,

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which will be August the 17th. The auditors will be here for one full week. And moving forward, we are hoping to have an initial view for our FFT meeting as to where we landed, a preliminary look at where we land as of June 30th.

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And um looking forward to providing that information soon. Of course, it will be confirmed after the audit is completed, but again, that preliminary review should be available for FFT. >> Great. Thank you. Any questions,

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comments? Yep. boy Bennett. >> Sorry, it's more of a question for transportation, but I see the superintendent has stepped out, so it wouldn't be appropriate to ask her. >> Anything else? All right. Well, then I'll turn to my board president

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statement. Uh let's see. So, first of all, boy, we've got a lot of great things happening uh right now, including very excitingly uh we have a new business uh administrator beginning. Uh I have to first note uh that uh Tiffan

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Renault you have just done a spectacular job for us uh in your interim role as BA and we are so glad that you are staying right in place. Uh but we are voting tonight on bringing in uh Nicole Showning as our new BA. She is

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spectacularly talented and has a long history uh of working with districts of varying sizes. uh she has extensive experience on our uh very uh intricate complicated financial systems. So uh

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she's going to be a huge asset to the district and uh we are very excited to have her. Uh and as soon as she comes in uh along with uh the rest of the business office, we're going to be kicking off the uh budget process to start off our 2728

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uh fiscal year and school year budget, which uh we are looking forward after uh having a couple years of uh our budgets being a little bit scattershot as we have a lot of different moving pieces of trying to have it as planned out as far in advance as possible so that we can be

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really uh expecting and talking with the community about what anticipated changes there's going to be. As Mr. Bing has discussed, we are uh traversing our way down the fiscal cliff and that does mean that there are going to be another serious set of conversations and uh cuts

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in the upcoming year. So, it's going to be really important that we have those conversations internally in a really organized way and with the community as well. So, that is certainly our plan and we're glad to have a a newly reconstituted and very competent business office going into that. Uh the

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board uh began our meeting today at 4:30 p.m. uh so long ago now uh with a discussion about our uh board self- evaluation uh and planning out our board and district goals for the upcoming school year. It was a really helpful

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discussion. Uh coming out of our uh evaluation, we identified the progress we felt we made on our three board goals for the current uh for this just past school year of 2526. Uh our determination, the majority of folks felt that for all three of our goals, we

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either achieved the goal in some cases or made very significant progress toward the goal. And I know that we have uh a lot of work we want to do in taking that goal in taking the results from our strategic plan and the growth areas that we found within our board

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self-evaluation to pour into that for our new board goals for the uh 2627 school year. We have a second retreat meeting happening on April 18th that we're going to sit down and build those. However, August, thank you. uh but uh

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upon majority opinion and demand I think I would say they want to have another session as well. So we may actually meet sooner in August to continue discussing uh ourselves where we are and and where we're going to go to be best focused on

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supervising the district and uh focused on meeting student achievement. So uh things are moving forward there. Uh most of our committee meetings this past month have been heavily focused on uh 26 27 readiness uh as they have been for

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months. Uh the transportation update here has been uh preceded by many different transportation meetings and asking where are we with these routes. Having sat through two school years that had pretty lumpy bumpy starts to transportation at

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the start of the school year, we really want to make this as smooth and uh uh efficient as possible this year. Uh and we're going to see how we do, but we have all eyes looking at this intensely. Uh so we are um going to have numerous

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additional check-in conversations between now and the start of the school year and more after that especially if we see there are struggles. We're going to be having very frequent conversations to make sure they get resolved. We've also been talking about uh a few other

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pieces. Um the move in the high school to a single lunch period. It caused some consternation among uh various students that we heard from and our student representatives relayed that. Uh so we've had a lot of eyes on that to make sure that on the first day of school every student is uh supported

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educationally but also nutritionally. We want to make sure that everyone's getting fed. Uh so we are encouraged by what we're hearing right now uh and making sure that all the adequate resources are being put into making that happen. Uh we have also been looking at uh what happens to our kids before and

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after the school day and specifically the before and after care that's available. uh our partner with the YMCA uh has really put a lot of effort uh over the past couple school years into increasing capacity with overflow centers uh and making sure they can accommodate as many students as

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possible. Uh we are sitting down uh myself, the superintendent and the uh mayors of the two towns to speak about this with the Y soon to make sure that we are doing everything we can to support uh all of our students born after school. That also was a topic on

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our upcoming uh student and uh family um student and family affairs committee. Thank you. >> It's already late. Uh finally with regard to our elementary schools, one of the uh budget impacts in this past year was eliminating the uh security position

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that was posted at each of the elementary schools which is large was a piece that was created during COVID using CO funds and had been carried over into our uh annual budget. Uh that has been supplanted by constructing vestibules in each of our schools uh

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which allows for a secure entry and exit. But making sure that we are adequately addressing the security needs in those schools uh in coordination with the towns uh has been a priority of us. Uh I'll note briefly anyone who drives

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along Valley Street or is on Facebook is aware of the two trees that uh fell outside of uh Ritzerfield on Valley Street as a result of some sidewalk construction. uh and uh boy that is really frustrating uh especially having

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seen work uh be completed and you look at you say well we know what's going to come next and unfortunately it did. Uh so there's only so much we can say but suffice to say uh the district has been instructed to look into relief uh from the folks who did that work and that is

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um investigation is ongoing. Uh as uh Mr. being indicated. We are uh aware especially as we've seen the uh the localized ceiling collapse in one hallway in MMS. There just are a lot of facilities pieces that we need to

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address. Uh and we are right now in the process of looking at uh that ongoing development as far as all the facilities projects in the district that were left over first of all from our huge uh development project back in 2018 through

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uh just this past year. What remains to be done? What new items are there? Uh and making a plan for what we could submit to the towns uh and hopefully find partnership in uh adequate funds to address Uh and part of that is the the question of the redevelopment as we've

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talked about of our two middle school auditoriums as well as uh Ritzerfield in making sure that we have uh facilities both educationally and for the whole of student life to address all of our programs. Uh and I think I think that's

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about all I have. Any questions or comments? >> All right, board event. >> I have a comment and then a transportation question. Um, we haven't talked very much about early care and afterare in public lately, but if anyone in the public is interested, we have

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increased over the last few years by I think 400 students the number of kids who are served by early care and afterare. Like we saw a document a few months ago that said up to 800 kids are now served by afterare. So it's a lot more than it was a few years ago. So that's good news. Um, even if there's still like gaps in coverage. Um, I had a

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transportation kind of point and question like the presentation we just saw focused on how kids are getting to school because that's incredibly important. That's going to be a priority after several years of bad busing. Um, but I do hope at some point we could have a conversation about like still like who gets to ride because I wonder if we haven't gotten it right. You know,

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there are some kids who are just below the distance threshold um who might need a bus but you know they're 1.21 21 miles away or 1.18 miles away and we do have to have a distance threshold. Um because you know I know it's going to be

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inevitably arbitrary but I think it would be good if we could have like a way to somehow accommodate those kids on buses like you know once like the first few weeks bumps are kind of uh cleared off and you know maybe we find that we do have some empty seats. noted and I think that certainly uh is a

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piece that we could discuss further in our FFTD meeting. Obviously, we know that if we extend it to 1.18, we've got the folks at 1.17 who are frustrated, but that's absolutely worth ongoing discussion. Yeah. Any other comments, questions? Okay. Uh we will now move on

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to our first hearing of individuals and delegations. So, thank you for coming in person and joining us online this evening. We value public comment at our board meetings and while we cannot engage in a dialogue with you tonight, we do take your comments very seriously and your input will inform our work.

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Pause. I do have one more piece of my board president's statement that is related to this. As a practice, we like to have our uh hearings of individuals before the meeting gets too very late, which means that you folks don't get to hear the uh report outs from our committees before the speaks. But I do

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want to just highlight a couple pieces that could be uh of interest to uh folks tonight. Uh in light of a review of uh policies that came out of the policy committee, uh there was a determination that two of the policies that had at one

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point been posted on our agenda will be retracted for additional review. That is policy 2200 regarding curriculum and policy 5561 the use of physical restraint and seclusion uh for students with disabilities uh in light of uh

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review by board members and uh outreach by committee members and by members of the community uh we've determined that those will not be proceeding to first read this evening. Okay. Our comment period is limited to one hour. Each speaker will have three minutes. Uh, I'm

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going to ask you please begin by stating your name and your town. And I'm going to begin, please. Is this page one? Yes, it is. Uh, pretty canal, please. Good evening. My name is Priy Kal and I'm a Maplewood resident of seven years.

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I'm here to follow up on the June 25th BOE meeting where several local residents highlighted the district's irresponsibility in promoting free trips to Israel for teachers and administrators. Fully sponsored by the Jewish Federation. Respectfully, Superintendent Bing, your

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response is not sufficient. I didn't get a chance to speak last time, but I want to say I'm in full solidarity with the other pressing SA school district advocacy that centers students, teachers, and caregivers, including the advocacy over the vendor change for paraprofessionals. And I have

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appreciated the district's efforts on integration and pleased with the positive outcomes that Dr. Gilbert shared. There is indeed a budget crisis across the US impacting our schools. But the way Mr. Bing talked at us last time, you'd think it was our fault as

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taxpaying residents in a place with one of the highest property tax brackets in the country. Why is there no funding for basic education, housing, and community needs? Why is NJRIT falling apart? Why are we all barely surviving in our own

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communities? In the past three years and across political parties, the US has spent 33.77 billion dollars sustaining a violent occupation of Palestinian territories and executing what many international bodies and legal scholars describe as a

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genocide in Gaza. And regarding America's proxy war on behalf of Israel and Iran, democratic lawmakers and some economists estimate the real cost to the US economy at a min minimum of $630 billion. This connects to other causes. S claims

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to care about a group group of American and Israeli companies including Palunteer, Celebrite and Paragon make surveillance technology that hacks phones, tracks social media and compiles databases on people. This technology is used by the Israeli military in Gaza and

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the West Bank and later these same companies and the same tools are sold to US agencies like ICE which uses them to track and surveil immigrants in our own communities. immigrants who have been taken by ICE right here where we live. Now, I'm not ignorant to the fact that

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what I raised today falls outside the scope of your roles. But how do people like us start taking responsibility for the way of the world? What can we do? What is most baffling to me is that through all of this, district administrators found it important to promote free all expenses paid trips to

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SP sponsored by the Jewish Federation during an active genocide. trips that are strategically designed to showcase a distorted version of the facts and to uphold the same systems that allow billions of dollars in funding for genocide and war. This is not only an appalling breach of ethics, it showcases

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your priorities as our communities confront an education crisis. As a taxpaying resident of Soma, I am calling on this board and district to apologize to the community and to guarantee in writing that these trips will never happen again. Thank you.

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>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Carrie Gordon. Hi, my name is Carrie from Maplewood. My kids attended SOMD from kindergarten to 12th and I was a PTA president at Tuscan. Last month, I read a statement from community members regarding the

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Jewish Federation sponsored trips you approved for administrators. I wanted to speak personally this time. Last night, Israel bombed tents and residential buildings in Gaza as Palestinians were sleeping, killing and wounding many, including children. I debated about

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bringing images of their bloodied, burned, and mangled bodies so you would understand what we had been witnessing for over a thousand days, a live stream genocide. I wanted you to understand the horror, disgust, and anger about these propaganda trips that justify genocide

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and whitewash apartheid. Our concern is that there is an expectation of quidd proquo from these expensive trips as it is uh people with influence in our district that take these trips. What could uh quid proquo look like? It looks like lesson plans that call genocide for

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pal of Palestinians a war and their ethnic cleansing complicated. It looks like using the trauma of the World War II holocaust to justify the Holocaust of today. Palestinians being starved and burned alive intense. It looks like admin not following through with reports of bullying of students that advocate

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for Palestine or Palestinian students being called terrorist supporters by teachers. It looks like no professional development about anti-Palestinian racism or Islamophobia or how to facilitate a classroom discussion of current events. It looks like condemnation of statements like free

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Palestine and ceasefire on bathroom walls and conflating it with anti-semitism along with threats of prosecution. It looks like no action taken or statements when institutions with district preschool facilities host soldiers that participated in genocide. It looks like

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many, many, many statements condemning anti-semitism with concern for only one group's feelings and almost no statement supporting your Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities. It looks like silence on genocide. Would you ask black students to have constructive dialogue

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about racism with those that support the KKK? Would you have lessons on LGBT LGBTQ plus rights that both sides and justifies homophobia? Why is there that expectation for your students that oppose the genocide of Palestinians? Why

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must Palestinian humanity have to be justified to Zionists? Why is the racist supremacist ideology of Zionism permissible when it goes against all our district policies? You need to immediately retract your approval for these trips and not allow them and end

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them completely. We demand an apology. Your excuses are gaslighting. Shame on you. Thank you, Miss Gordon. Next, we have Noren Act. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Noren Akar and I'm the public

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affairs director for the Council of American Islamic Relations. the largest advocacy organization serving Muslim Americans uh New Jersey chapter. Our office is in Newark. I'm speaking tonight on behalf of Care New Jersey to express our strong opposition to the

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board's prior approval of an all expenses paid trip to Tel Aviv, Israel for administrators James Mano and Phil McCormack. This trip fully sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Metro West is not a neutral educational endeavor. It

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is a targeted, privately funded excursion designed specifically to influence our school administrators perspectives on Israel and Palestine. Allowing district leadership to participate in this trip raises serious concerns of impropriy under New Jerseys

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school ethics code. The code strictly prohibits school officials from acce accepting gifts, favors, or things of value over $250. and all expenses paid international trip drastically exceeds this limit.

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It's wholly inappropriate for administrators to accept this travel from organizations seeking to shape the district's views on a sensitive international and human rights issue. By approving this travel, the board is allowing external political lobbying to

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masquerade as professional development. It compromises the imp impartiality of our district's leadership and breaks the community's trust in their objectivity. Students deserve an educational environment completely free from this

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kind of paid external influence. We urge the board to reverse course, resend its approval of this trip immediately and uphold the integrity of the school ethics code. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss. Next we have Marsha

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Kaiser. Good evening. My heart's just pounding over what I'm hearing. I have great concern for these turbulent times, but I have great concerns for our school libraries,

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and they matter in this moment. I am speaking as a grandparent of a second grader at South Mountain and a sixth grader at South Orange Middle School. I've taught for 40 years, 13 of those as a library teacher. I understand school

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libraries. I understand that elementary school librarians introduce students to a carefully curated world of books and research and literary choice. Here is where students connect to the library through one-to-one experience with a

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librarian who knows them and gets to know them better every year. I understand that middle school librarians bring students safely into the world of research sites, more challenging titles whose purchase she has overseen, and

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literary discussion, and a guide into a world that some students might otherwise overlook. I understand that high school librarians whom we do not provide provide invaluable services to our teens

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delivering the curriculum, overseeing the purchase of materials, working with students at this most critical time when screens are pulling kids into unsafe spaces and questionable information. I Googled Soma library curriculum and

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this is what I found. We use the Atlas online platform focusing on integrated research, digital literacy, and digital citizenship. Some things were missing from that. I would add that sharing current titles

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across all subjects, which updated library collections do promotes citizenship in general and gives you intelligent information to debate topics as the ones I've just heard. How is this accomplished without a dedicated,

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certificated high school librarian? Our town is currently spending millions of dollars on our updated library. Will our kids care? South Orange is known for our outstanding art and music programs where

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students can pursue what they love and either make it their career or simply enjoy it for the rest of their lives. Libraries do the exact same thing. Introducing kids to books, books they may not have at home and information and

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research strategies and philosophies beyond their subject classes and beyond what they might learn at home. They have choice and they have the chance to do a deep dive with or without help if they need it. Our writers and our deep

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thinkers come from this space. Please turn the couch cushions over and find the funding for our school librarians who help our kids navigate these days of book banning and questionable news and as the superintendent said

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before supporting students in these turbulent times. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Ger. >> Next we have Tanya Moore. Tanya Moore. Hi, my name is Tanya Moore and I've

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lived in South Orange for 16 years. I um am a taxpayer. I'm a grandmother of uh a ninth grader, a 12th grader, and a sixth grade seventh grader in this

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district. I also was an educator for 45 years. And so I understand about how important the work is that you do and I understand how important the budget is and how far it has to go.

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I'm a longtime member of the friends of a library and we know how important libraries are. The friends of a library make it possible for the library to really operate.

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We buy the books and we pay for the programs that the library offers. I'm also for the past 10 years I've been on the foundation to raise money to build a new South Orange Library.

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We've raised over $2 million and we're still working on it. We have money from the state. We have money from the town. We are part of this school district. Maplewood presently has a state-of-the-art

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library. We will have one very soon. All you have to do is ride down uh Scotland Road and you can see that something great is happening there. It is very very important for there to be librarians in schools. They're not

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just um there to make sure the kids behave. They're there to offer a a prescribed curriculum. Many children don't have parents that go to the library for a

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million reasons. Many children wouldn't have the opportunity to understand the library to to use the library without having the instruction. It's been there for ages. It's not there

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by mistake. High school librarian. I I subbed in the in the high school once I retired every Friday for five years. I used to be an achieved tutor. I know what goes on in the library.

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Students need help. They need a librarian. somebody who's been trained, not a clerk, not somebody who can check in and check out books, not somebody who can keep kids from putting their feet on the table, but they need someone who can

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present what's called library science, getting to know how to touch the written word or even the word online. I hope you'll reconsider. Sharing a librarian between the middle school is a

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horrible idea. I can understand how on paper it seems like, well, you just divide it in half. Having an elementary school librarian go to the high school, one one librarian each week to cover the

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high school library. >> Thank you, Miss >> doesn't work. >> Thank you. Next we have Cassie Mel. My name is Kazzy Mazdell and I'm a former educator and I'm now a child psychologist um locally and like many

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people have been changed forever by the images out of Gaza. Um before I share my ideas, I just want to share that having worked in the public schools for almost a decade um I find the personal day

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explanation really confusing. Um, never had I have I experienced a group of teachers taking up to four personal days consecutively in a group. Um, that sounds like a very generous perk. Um,

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that I wish I had known about. Um, Israel is an apartheid state and has perpetuated genocide. This is no longer up for debate, so I'm not going to spend time elaborating on that here. As educators, we know how to examine

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evidence and follow the data where it leads. The most important thing we can do to end apartheid is to divest and boycott. This is the single most powerful thing that we can do to help.

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When the world finally turned against apartheid in South Africa, it was not governments that led. It was universities, unions, and schools that divested first and forced the politicians to catch up. Institutions of

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learning were central to that struggle. In 2005, over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, unions, refugee networks, women's groups, professional associations jointly called for boycott

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and divestment, explicitly modeled on the South African president. It was not appeals to international law or diplomatic pressure that changed South Africa. Economic and institutional isolation is what finally ended

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apartheid in South Africa. Palestinians have specifically asked that foreign institutions, including schools, not lend legitimacy or revenue to Israeli apartheid because normalization is part of what sustains

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it. And it's absolutely heartbreaking to think about who is making this request of us. These are people with no real army, no state power, no freedom of movement, no seat at the tables where

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decisions about their lives are being made. And yet they haven't given up. They built a strategy deliberately modeled on South Africa because it is one of the only forms of leverage available to them. When people in that

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position tell us that a small specific action, like not sending teachers on a school trip, matters to their cause, I find it unthinkable that we would turn away. Sending educators to Israel or accepting

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trips to Israel or forwarding an email about a trip to Israel is simply unconscionable in this moment. Just a few months ago, I moved from a neighboring town to this town because of its social justice commitments.

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>> Thank you, Miss Baza. >> It would be last sentence. It would be great if Soma schools were the first among many to become schools for Palestinian freedom and to say and the first to say from South Africa to

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Palestine, no school trips to apartheid. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next we have Verna Hul. Hello, I am Vera Hulcom. I live in South Orange. I am this year serving as the president of the special education

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parent advisory committee of South Orange Maplewood. Tonight, I want to bring attention to policy 5561, use of physical restraint and seclusion techniques for students with disabilities. Thank you for pulling that back for

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review. As you all know, because of the email from the CPAC board, we're aware of the current New Jersey law making physical restraint and isolation of a child seclusion legal. Please do better than the state of New

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Jersey and protect our students. At the very least, if one is locked in a room, notify immediately the parent or guardian after that seclusion the same way that you do for that we are required

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to do for physical restraint. I also want to comment on an earlier claim about CPAC board members having been so disrespectful that the superintendent and assistant superintendent of special services had

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to leave a meeting. We would like to know when this happened because none of the current or previous board members have any awareness of this incident. We in CPAC apologize when we find ourselves having made a mistake

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and we value our relationships with everyone in the district, our students, our teachers, our paraprofessionals, our staff, the administration, and the board. And we will do our best to nurture those relationships so that we

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can best serve our community. We hope that every member of the board and the administration will do the same. Thank you, >> Bern. I want to I do want to acknowledge acknowledge the apology that CPAC did

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give us uh from the first meeting this year. So, I want to acknowledge that that that was done. So, thank you very much. Much appreciated. Gingus. Good evening everyone. I'm Jessica Mingus, Maplewood resident

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and founder of the Soma Peer Support and Action Network for IEP and 504 families, which currently has over 550 local members, all parents of children receiving special education services in our district.

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I know lots of people. We're here to read a statement representing a broad coalition of special education families, local organizations, CPAC members, and paraprofessionals, over 285 people who care deeply about

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the experience of our special education students, and who have been organizing collectively since prior to last month's board meeting. Our community remains deeply concerned about the transition to Delta T group across three areas.

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Accountability for failures of the process, transparency about the decision and roll out, and urgent harm mitigation to protect our most vulnerable students, classroom stability, and the retention of skilled professionals who make that stability possible.

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First, Mr. Bang and this board owe our community accountability for the process failures of this decision. District leadership failed to engage or even notify the community, including CPAC leaders, prior to terminating the ESS

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contract on June 11th. None of the spring budget emails or presentations provided clear or explicit communication announcing the vendor change. Equally concerning when community members expressed dismay, Mr. Bing made statements contradicted by the

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documented record. He stated the PAR transition was shared with CPAC for months. Yet, we've confirmed that CPAC first learned of this decision on June 18th, the day after our paras were notified by ESS their contracts were

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terminated. He claimed updates were shared across public channels. No written budget communication named this transition was actually happening and not a single parent or CPAC member in our coalition recalls it being raised elsewhere. He suggested low attendance

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at the final budget hearing meant parents missed the signs saying we want to hear from you sooner and we did feel chastised by the tone in which he made these remarks. Across every spring budget email, paraprofessionals were mentioned exactly

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once, a single sentence about intent to rebid contracts for security, custodial, and paraprofessional services. Rebidding a contract is not the same thing as replacing a vendor. Nowhere was it disclosed that ESS would be terminated or that paras would be hired as 1099

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contractors through another vendor. Had this been properly communicated on an appropriate timeline, far more than five people would have been in that room. What has been publicly claimed by Mr. Bing, simply does not match the record.

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We were stunned and appalled to learn at the June 25th meeting that board members, including the president and special services chair, did not fully understand why what they voted on on June 11th. Yet, when this surfaced, not

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a single board member motioned to enter executive session for legal advice before voting past 1:30 a.m. Why did the board allow itself to be pressured into a vote without proper due diligence and oversight?

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Our community needs a full public accounting of how and why these failures occurred and how they will be prevented in the future. >> Thank you, Miss Mingus. One last sentence >> for 48 seconds. >> I know that our board president said

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nothing about paraprofessionals and his report tonight speaks volumes. This sort of systematic disregard is why we're afraid for the safety of our children and the retention of our special education teachers.

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>> Next we have Rachel Hennis. Um, Kim Tekk, we're all part of the same open letter. >> Sure. >> Um, I am a Maplewood resident, a parent of a Tuskcin kiddo, as well as an apple core kid. I'm going to continue with our

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open letter. Second, with respect to transparency, Mr. Bing owes us an explanation for why moving to Delta T was deemed best without collaborating with families or educators. Delta T hires Perez as 1099 contractors with no

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benefits and lower pay than ESS. While in-house hiring is a stated long-term goal, it will not happen by September. The near-term impact is severe destabilization. The worst case scenario is playing out right now. Multiple paras have told us

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directly that they cannot afford to return to delta t's rates losing benefits diapering stipens seasonal unemployment and union protections. We have confirmed that certain self-contained classes so far have zero returning paras. Failing to retain these

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integral paras will compromise IEP implementation, destabilize classrooms, and increase safety risks. When experienced paras leave, years of trust vanishes. Reckless destabilization yields adverse mental health outcomes,

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stress induced regressions, and physical safety risks. That brings us to the urgent need for immediate harm mitigation planning for this transition in the fall to protect our students. We know that brief professional development is planned, but

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realistically a single day of training and a student cheat sheet cannot replace years of institutional knowledge and trust and relationship that is being lost. To mitigate this harm, we implore the board to hold Mr. Bing accountable

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throughout this transition by committing to the following. One, take responsibility publicly for the harm and mistrust this process has caused. Mistakes happen. What matters is what comes after. We're asking Mr. Bing and the Borne to own this and commit to

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doing better by families as he has done for busing and transportation. Two, commit to bringing at least one anchor veteran parah inhouse for every self-contained classroom by September,

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doing so at Sumea's rates if necessary. This is an essential fundamental safety issue. Three, providing parent created resources to PAR professionals. Mr. Bing has already promised that if parents share about me one pagers with their

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teachers in advance of the school year, they will be shared with the Delta T paras. This is an important commitment and we request that the board ensure that the district follows through. Four, robust data collection and transparent reporting of that data in

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the fall. The success of this transition must be measured with data, and that can only happen if we dis if this district commits to robust data collection analysis, including IEP student absences, use of restraint and seclusion, hip complaints, disciplinary

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data involving IEP students, mental health needs among students with IEPs, each measured against last year's baseline. >> Thank you, Mr. >> Five. Almost done here. We also need a robust and immediate reporting on parah retention, including what percentage of

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that 166 paras are returning and how many self-contained paras are confirmed to be returning. The board should be demanding this now. >> Miss Hennis, are you available now? >> Okay. Rachel Hennis. >> Yes.

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Hi, I am Rachel Hennis. I am a parent to two district uh children, a rising seventh grader at PS and a rising third grader who is out of district. Six, a central office point of contact

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for parents to report transition related challenges with a commitment to swift district response. >> Kevin, sorry. Could could just you repeat that one more time? Sure. >> Six. Thank you. >> Six. A central office point of contact

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for parents to report transition related challenges with a commitment to swift district district response. Seven, a central point office point of contact for educators and robust procedures to ensure that teachers who elevate issues do not face retaliation

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for doing so. Eight, increased classroom supervision and presence just as Mr. Bing has found time to ride the buses to attempt to solve the issues with busing. We really implore Mr. Bing and Miss Jesse Maria to make the time to be present in the classrooms that will be most impacted by

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the transition. And lastly, specific performance metrics and deliverables for Mr. Bing to hold him accountable for serving special education students and families with the same care and respect afforded to every other student and families in the

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district. I also want to thank you for taking more time to think through the policy edits to 5661 on the use of physical restraint and seclusion for kids with disabilities. And we will be sending our guidance on multiple points on that. And

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as a parent of a child with disabilities and a social worker who has worked in schools that employ these practices, I want to just say two things. First, it is a total failure of education and based in a profound misunderstanding of students behaviors that leads to these

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policies in the first place because the last thing that a child in distress needs is to be subject to seclusion and restraint. The impact on children can be profound and lasting and I've seen this firsthand. The district should be serving as an example of what education based and

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current understanding of traumainformed care and multi-tered support could look like. And there is guidance out there. Also, this decision, the decision that has been made to change Paris and the vendor that reduces benefits and pay directly, that I'm sorry, that reduces

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benefits and pay directly puts our students with disabilities at increased risk of seclusion and restraint because these practices are used when adults do not have the skills and training and support to effectively deescalate situations and keep kids safe. And what

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makes students, particularly students with disabilities, feel most unsafe, is disruption of relationships, is unexpected transitions, is adult chaos and overwhelm. All of which is on the table now with

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this change. It did not have to be this way. and not being careful and thoughtful and upfront about this change, having time for input from the people that understand and could have helped you all most was not just shortsighted. It was dangerous and it

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has put our kids more at risk of seclusion and restraint. >> Thank you, Miss Hennis. >> We will be paying attention to this and we are here to partner with you. We need accountability. We need support. We need respect. >> Thank you, Miss Hennis.

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Did you mention the legislative body? Legislative body that passed this. >> Hey, Rachel, did you mention the legislative body that passed this? >> Yeah. Did you mention >> I think we're going to get a copy of that letter, right?

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>> Yeah. If you could just highlight that, that would be great. >> Next, Danielle Thorne. Hi, my name is Danielle Thorne. I am the mom of one brilliant seven-year-old in the self-contained ERRI program and one adorable four-year-old in district prek.

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And tonight, I am mad. You voted last month to switch vendors despite knowing the district had no plan in place to provide stability to self-contained programs. We told you the highly trained paras who support our self-contained classes could not stay with Delta T's rates. And we were right. Not a single

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parah in my son's class is returning. That means that my son's teacher will need to train five new paras on the highly individualized needs of 12 students in a single day of professional development before the start of the year. And he will have to do that without one parah, Miss B, who has been

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with him for the entire time he has run the ERRI program. Running that program without her expertise is a challenge of literally unknown proportions. It is entirely unreasonable to expect him to pull off that herculan task, especially

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without Miss B. Kids like mine rely on the stable, familiar, confident presence of the qualified adults around them to regulate. The very presence of a new adult can profoundly destabilize my son and his peers, and you are now forcing them to adjust to five

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new faces. If you do not have a disabled child at home, you likely cannot appreciate what an unfair ask that is of our kids. You also likely cannot appreciate the consequences. And it is families like mine that will bear the cost. I can predict with virtual certainty what that cost will look like

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for my kid. It will look like what you might call increased school refusal where my child's nervous system registers school as such a danger that he can't leave our house in the morning. It may even mean he cannot get dressed in the morning as his sensory system goes into overdrive and his safe clothes become intolerable. On days I get him

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out the door to school, it will look like explosive meltdowns when he gets home. It will look like me spending my nights after work shielding my preschooler from violence his big brother cannot control. Violence that disappeared when he felt safe at school. When my son's classroom is stable, he is

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too. And you are stealing that stability. And let's talk about his brother for a second because damn it, he matters too. He is a student in this district, too. At best, my younger child will have to witness his brother go through intense, heart-wrenching mental health episodes before and after school. At worst, my older son will scream at

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his brother, attempt to hurt him, and I will be the one standing in the gap. And you will still expect him to show up to school regulated and ready to learn. And if he displays increased dysregulation in his preschool class, you'll want to meet with me to talk about his behavior when it's your decision on June 25th

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that will have caused it. I co-sign every ask made of you in that open letter. But tonight, I am speaking for myself and my sons because those asks will do nothing but document the damage of your short-sighted decisions. You made a decision you can't take back, and my babies are collateral damage. I and

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every other family with a child in that class need you to take every immediate action in your power to bring Miss B in district by September. And don't you dare dismiss us because only six of our 285 members are here tonight. Many more would be here if child care for our kid

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for kids like ours were available. We're here on behalf of way more than 610 of 1% of families. Our kids matter. >> Thank you, M. >> Next, we have Yolanda Span. Good evening. My name Yolanda Span. I

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work at Columbia High School. I've been in district for 21 years. And there's a new company that just came in called Pritchette. If y'all not familiar with the new company, well, I've been out of work for three weeks now. I filled out the

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application. Um I um had to bring my ID, my social security card. Couple of days later, I was told, "Okay, you cannot work." Um get the other ID. I did. I haven't

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been paid. It's been three weeks. And like I said, I've been here 21 years been in this district. Columbia High School is my home. I've been in all the districts working. I work every day. Come to work every day. Everybody that knows me in this district and this new

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company that just came in, God knows they wicked. Very wicked. And I'm out of work. They've been talking about, "Oh, you got to do the application over." We done all I' done everything. And I'm home now. Been 3 weeks cuz it's

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new company. Um I just went the other day, sat there all day from 9 to 4:30. They see me, they talks to me. This that 5 minutes. Oh, wait till HR send us a thing back so you can do your application.

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Sitting there, nothing. I text the secretary. Nobody sent me an email yet. Oh, she said, "Okay." He comes and walking by me. I'm in the cafeteria. Is everything okay? Is they going to send me, you know, no, nothing? When I finally gets up to go to the office,

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lights off, they going home. They went home. Thank you. I can't do it no more. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Brown. >> Next, we have Sabina Fox. >> Good evening, superintendent being

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members of the board. My name is Sabrina Fox. I have proudly served this district for over 20 years as a dedicated custodian and a member of 32BJ SIE SEIU. I am standing here tonight because the

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district subcontractor Pritchard Industries is seriously violating our union contract, exploiting our workers, undermining the stability of our schools by playing with our livelihoods, violating the law

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regarding our pay. We have worked from July 1st to July 24th without pay until July 24th and then we were rece we received a check for 13 days. Then on on

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our line of service I'm sorry I'm so nervous. It says that we don't get paid again till August 7th. We are weekly paying employees. We have always gotten paid weekly. It clearly states in our contract, many of us are struggling to

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put food on the table and pay our rent and our bills right now because of Pritchard payroll neglection. I'm sorry. Pritchard is completely ignoring our contractal um seniority rights. It has taken out of

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it was taken out of my pos I was taken out of my position for the summer being told that there wasn't any work at night because um they didn't have a night shift when in fact they did. They cut me from being a full-time custodian to four

359
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hours a day. I have seniority and other workers do not. They are getting paid for eight hours and five hours. Our contract strictly protects us against layoffs. It it gives us um I mean it I'm sorry.

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It it protects us against the layoffs. It lets us about our hours being cut. Pritchard uh feels like they can just bypass the rules. We fought for dedic >> I am so sorry. I'M JUST GOING TO TALK

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FROM MY HEART. I've been here for 20 years. I'm not the only custodian for 20 years. I love my job. I work in Wayne during the day and I come here at night. I used to be a head custodian here. I worked in um South Orange South Mountain

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School for 13 years. I don't like the way we're being treated by Pritchard. We have no help. We went to the union. We went to everyone else. I came here tonight in regards to please because you have employed them. I'm asking if you can just help us out in any way. It's a

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lot of people that livelihood is being just disrupted. They can't pay their bills. They're crying. They're calling me from well, I'm on my other job and I'm just trying to help myself and everyone else. So, if you can kindly look into that and just help us as much

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as you can. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Shantel Taylor. >> Good evening. And I'm Chantel Taylor and um I'm also a custodian. Um one thing I want you guys to understand is when you

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do we we're custodians and every two to three years we change management right so every management that comes in they come in with with like more pressure and

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anger with them. Okay. So when they come in, it's everything has been turned upside down. For example, like Sabrina says, you know, we have issues with getting paid on time. That's always an

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issue with new companies management, you know, getting uh paid on time and also when when they come in, it's it's just too much to deal with. It's always something going on. It's always they're

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very reluctant in doing whatever needs to be done that's written, you know, for them to do it. They're just not complying with anything at all. They're just not complying with it. So, you know, and we have, like Sabrina

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said, we have uh workers that including myself, you know, not getting paid on time, uh bills to pay, uh uh you know, everything is just backed up right now. Everything Everything is just backed up

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right now in your personal life, you know, and then to come here and be pressured and bullied into working. You took away our um >> breaks. >> Breaks. You took away our breaks and you

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want us to just work, work, work until it's time for lunch. We have half hour lunch and then we're back to working again. So, it's just every time a new company comes in here, they do not do what they are supposed to do. They do

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what they want to do. And they will tell you that as well. They will say that they will do what they want to do regardless of what is written in writing or not. They will do what they want to do. Thank you for listening and have a

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good night. >> Thank you, Miss Taylor. Next, we have Alicia. And I apologize. I'm going to have to last name. Perig. I probably butchered that. I'm sorry. >> Good evening, everyone. Um,

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>> oh my god, I'm so nervous. >> Say that again. >> P A R U A. Good evening everyone. Um, I'm a custodian. I work at the same district like my colleague. I work for five years

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and as you my colleague said that the company change over from the first I fill out the application and I work up to the 24th. I never get paid that and the boss he called and said that um do

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not come to work until he get my ID. So I asked him when is it he going to get the ID for me? He said he don't know. I've been keep calling and calling. When is it I'm going to get paid? They don't know. When is it I'm going to return to work? They don't know. So that is the old situation. I'm

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at home right now. Nobody know when is it I'm going to return to work. Says that's the old situation right now. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And I believe there are no more names on that sheet, but please tell me if you have signed up. Otherwise, that does uh

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end our uh hearing of individuals and delegations. We're going to move on now to our committee reports. Uh much of the work that our board does happens in committees. The results are brought to the board meeting for action and detailed minutes of each committee meeting are posted on our website. We

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encourage you to review them. We're now going to hear from the chairs of each of our committees with a few brief highlights from this month's meeting. Uh and we're going to start off first uh board member Nyer with a readout from the finance facilities and technology

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committee. >> Thank you. Um the FFT committee met on July 22nd and we had three or four different key topics on the agenda. The first was an update on facilities projects that are

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underway at the district this summer as well as um projects that will occur in the fall. The first is the boiler replacement at Tuscin and SAMS which was approved and um the plan is to price out the bid by midepptember and have the

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project substantially complete by December 15th. Um the second uh topic that we discussed around facilities was um the roof assessment. Um we reviewed a um updated report from October 2025 um

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with respect to roof conditions across much many of our buildings. Um we had a discussion around how we would finance the immediate repairs. They are not currently in the budget, but we will be the district will be working on a plan

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to um uh raise money to do so. Um and Henry is at this point working on identifying the key priorities with respect to the roofs. Uh next we discussed uh Ritzo. Um we talked about

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uh a plan that involves uh one multi-purpose field um leaving the remaining portion of the field as a grass field. A lot of work needs to occur between now and whenever we decide to bring this for a vote around further

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planning um scoping and so on. And so no no really no decisions were made about an immediate um bringing this to the to the board. So um we are just anticipating another report from the district in the coming months on this

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project. Um we also got an update on concrete and paving projects underway, some of the summer projects um as well as the QAC audit um that is also underway. Next we talked about uh security um and

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we reviewed a a memo that was prepared by Mr. Morgan summarizing the evaluation and recommendation process for selecting a visitor management system. Um the process seemed pretty uh robust looking at a number of criteria um in

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collaboration with various stakeholders and in the district and keeping in mind community input and feedback. The district has recommended the services be provided by Hunter Technologies Safe Entry 911 inform. Um and that is the

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district's recommendation. Um, we also talked about the um, CHS belt schedule. Um, and I think we talked about that a little bit earlier, so I'm not going to spend too much time on that. The administration will be doing two virtual town halls and we'll also

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provide a information at back to school night and prepare an FAQ document. We also touched on transportation. We reviewed a version of the um, presentation that we all saw earlier this uh, at this board meeting. And then finally, we approved a a few leases um

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and discussed the solar um PPA RFP uh scope. >> Real quick, we met with the pavers yesterday uh specifically to discuss we have some shared uh space at SS which uh the South Orange

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Pool as well as the North Ridgewood uh apartments utilize some of those spaces. So, um, we called up the town and also called up, uh, the apartment complex just to let them know that we'd be giving them specific dates within the next couple days when that, uh, paving

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will happen so they could notify their folks. And depending on the weather, you're looking probably at 3 days, uh, according to to the, uh, vendor, but uh, we'll get more information on that moving forward. >> Any questions, comments?

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Board member Kapadia. So to the FFT readout on Ritzer, what I'm trying to understand is why we're reopening a plan that we unanimously approved last year and in partnership with the township. In fact, the Ritzer

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project was approved as far back as 2015. We have a plan. It's D2. We voted. It passed. So what's the intent of this new consideration? um obviously what has changed because the more that we delay the more expensive the project and the more students have to wait. So I'm just

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trying to understand what has changed in the situation why we're bringing a new consideration to us. Um I think I mean I can and Jason please jump in but it is cost. I think the cost of D2 has just continued to to grow

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especially with all the storm water management um scoping that needs to happen um and also the complexity of it. The storm water management system is more complicated and with this plan that was uh that we looked at it is a simpler

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scope of work. It also leaves room for further development down the road. So it was I think a cost and a complexity issue, but I'll have Mr. Bing add to that. >> Yeah, I'll echo those statements. I'll also state that I agree with board

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member Bimmel that um the board landed on a project that we thought would meet all of our needs. Uh eight months, >> year. Yeah, just over a year ago. Um,

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we also uh did a courtesy meeting with the board of school estimates to get input uh from them on that plan. Uh, and I believe we made appropriate adjustments. Also just recently met uh with uh some stakeholders across the way

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as well. Um, I can only speak from the district's perspective. Uh, that original plan met all of our needs. Uh after speaking with uh both towns, it is my understanding that a compromise has

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being asked of us at this time in order to get Ritzer passed. Um our plan on our end is to do a couple presentations on Ritzer over the next month or so. uh hopefully at uh some common spaces like

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the library uh and uh our high school uh just to make sure our community is better understanding uh our initial recommendation and uh where we currently sit, >> you know, and just to add on to that, we are at a a difficult crossroads where on

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the one side we know that this project and D2, I think for for folks been watching for a few years, could be described as a a compromise in its own right. Uh and I think it has been uh marked out in financial analysis subject obviously to ongoing analysis, but it

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was could be roughly be easily under $100 per year tax impact for the average residents over the course of the bond, which is certainly not nothing uh by any means, but it also uh we're not talking about a real blockbuster. Um on the

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other hand, I believe there has been a sense of some amount of political pressure for a demonstration of austerity and we know we are in austere times uh given what we're seeing in municipal and schoolboard budgets and

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the pressure of um health care increases, salary increases versus we can get in revenue. I think the real question is and so well there's been an intent to look at what type of additional compromised plan uh as board

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ren mentioned there is this concept of a single field which would by definition then remove this second field the dedicated softball field that had been expected to be the sort of varsity field that would be the more full-fledged uh

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and by removing it the question is what savings you get. Uh, and we're still waiting for final numbers, but it does look like the savings you would get would not be nearly commensurate with the amount of field space, for instance, that you're losing. Uh, and so the uh,

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you know, the cost per square foot, if you're looking at that way, would most certainly increase. I think it's a question of how much austerity, if this is saving, hypothetically speaking, $10 per year on a taxpayers's bill over the

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course of the bond, is that worth eliminating this piece of infrastructure? And that's going to be an open question. It's a question for this board. It's a question in looking at the uh the political body, the board of school estimate that's going to have

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to take this on uh and approve it. And I think I'm not necessarily in favor of having a a a protest vote that we know for certain is going to get shot down, but I think everyone is, we're all rational people and we're looking at this and I think we have to make a determination jointly what amount of

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money is going to be appropriate for the right project. Uh and do we want to save a nominal amount to have a significantly reduced amount of uh of capacity? Um so that I think is the ongoing conversation we have. I think part of our work also and we'll draw this out in some detailed

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plans are the bonds that will be dropping off over the next three five uh eight years uh that are paid off. Um and it's also we have to emphasize that

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we are you know I don't like using this word we are unique in the fact that we have a board of school estimates and we just don't go out to vote to the public. So that's also, you know, another factor to consider moving forward.

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>> So for clarity, the township is pushing this for us to make this way. >> I wouldn't say that the township is pushing it, but there have been conversations. Obviously, the board of school estimate is composed of board of education members and members of the two

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township governing bodies. So, uh, that would be the body that would need to vote up or down this project. You're correct on that. >> Board over Higgins. Oh, I'm sorry. Board member Brown. >> Go ahead.

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>> Um, so this is just related to what you had said earlier that we will be seeing the sort of work list of um, sorry those public speaks were rough. um the work list at the LRFP where we're looking at all the different buildings and a schedule of all the

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buildings and what's going to happen this year versus next year versus the following year. I kind of just wanted to make sure my expectations are set with that. I don't imagine a completely comprehensive plan being ready by August, but what should we expect to see in that um FFT committee? Like what

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level of detail? Are we talking you know monthly, yearly? Is there a total you're looking at? I have a lot of questions so I'll give it to you from there. Yeah, we well the district as I think many people know we had a comprehensive audit done of the buildings in 2019.

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Um I would say about 25% to 30% of those items were under the 201920 bond. That includes uh upgraded HVAC systems, uh clean air, um some uh boiler

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replacements, uh additional classroom space, which was a big big part of it. uh fire alarms um and intercom systems as well as safety vestibules which were all part of that original 2018 audit. Uh about 70% of things as part of that

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audit were not addressed. Um and some of those things have been addressed in public comment in regards to the shape of our bathrooms and some of our buildings, especially our high schools. Uh we have already completed that audit uh with photos. Um, at this point we're

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combining that audit with what our uh new director of facilities has observed and his crew. Uh, so we have we'll have a list to the board within I would say 14 days >> of where we should move. Uh, we're hoping to meet with Todd in between

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those days and get some pricing on things. Todd might have to come out to take a look at uh some of those items. Um, but they're all from that 19 audit and anything above and beyond that Henry noted such as uh some CQAC issues that

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have to be addressed, some ADA issues. Um, part of our work obviously as I noted will be around playgrounds that were never completed from the 2019 bond, fencing for safety that were was never completed. Um, so I think we've been listening pretty attentively over the

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last six months from folks of what really they prioritize and I think bathrooms are at the top of that list, our athletic fields to meet our athletes, uh, hallways, ceilings, paint, uh, classrooms so they look modern. Um,

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so we're we're probably looking at a bond of anywhere from 55 to 75. Um, and again, we won't know that exact number until Todd Speel comes in and does some of that work. Uh, but we can guesstimate using the 2019 numbers that are in that original audit. But that that's where we

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want to stay because it makes sense with the bonds dropping off. And as noted by Bimble and also noted uh uh by Will, uh we're hoping to keep that tax impact at at a minimum. >> Sure. So I guess just to follow up with that, you know, think the description of

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all the buildings and what they've gone through even in the last six months. There is a lot on this plate to get done. And it's not that I don't think the district can do it. I actually think that this district can do it. But it's making sure that we are all staying hyperfocused on getting all these

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projects done and not letting any one of these projects fall behind for another and staying in touch with the people that are directly impacted, which are the bodies in the buildings. So I think as long as that is part of sort of the presentation, then I think we're I would

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think we're in a good position to move forward step by step. Yeah, I do. I will shout out uh Director Bonds who's done a wonderful job heading the uh CHS project. We were just over there today doing a check-in. Uh if you've had the

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chance to go over the high school, it's filled with new upgraded lights and boxes all over the place and wires. So, uh the infrastructure has been done. They are now going to finish the lighting, uh which should be completed by late August. Um, and so I'm really

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proud to say Mr. Buns facilitated that project in a quite efficient and swift manner, uh, and was a great project manager. So, we're hoping with the same effort moving forward. Uh, and it'll acquire a lot more people because we'll have multiple projects going on throughout the district. But again, I

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think as everyone has noted here, uh, it's a need and something that's been ignored for quite some time. Um, our auditoriums are part of were part of the original uh approval uh of D2. We also

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had the secondary auditoriums in there. We took the high school off but left the middle school in there. So, we'll need to do some auditorium work as well. And I think I sent out a little update with the recent uh weather issues. Uh we had some water damage in a couple of our

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elementary auditoriums. So, uh, I think we're moving in the right direction to really invest in these buildings and just show the respect that our staff, community, and kids deserve. >> Board member Brown. >> Um, yeah, I think

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I guess, you know, certainly if um, members of the town have asked us to look at a different plan, we should we are doing that. Um, and I think to board to President Meyer's

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point, um, it's going to be significant playtime reduction. It won't be that much savings overall. And it's a little bit frustrating that the district has worked so hard for a year to come up with a plan that works with our

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operating financials and is best for serving our students in terms of the playability that they need. Um, you know, I think the other thing to consider is that plan D.0, to the president's point, was a compromise. We

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added more grass after speaking to people. Now, this new proposal is basically letting one of the fields just be grass. And again, where does that maintenance come from? Our annual operating budget. Where are we going to cut? Does that mean we're going to cut

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teachers to maintain grass that doesn't provide the playability that our students need? Um, you know, this continued back and forth is a drain on district resources and time. It is not student centered. To be honest, it feels like a continuation

444
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of a long-running debate about grass and turf. Period. And our job as board members are to make decisions that are best for students, not politicians, not politics, students. And so I really hope

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>> student centered government. exactly what we just got training on. So I really hope moving forward we do not have to continue to relitigate a debate we have been having for years and this past year in particular we have done so

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much outreach and re and received and been so receptive of feedback and made changes to drainage. Um so I just at some point I don't I feel like it's just like this is just perpetual. It's grass turf, grass turf. It's not actually

447
04:55:23.200 --> 04:55:39.440
about the subject at hand, which is that our kids need a field. They deserve a field. And um I guess I'll just end with I hope that when we eventually do bring this to Bose that they also are student

448
04:55:39.440 --> 04:55:54.798
centered. You know, there were not austerity measures taken when the Maplewood Library was done. There were not austerity measures taken when the Barrett Center was done. They're doing the South Orange Library. Those are all I mean I haven't seen the South Orange

449
04:55:54.798 --> 04:56:09.920
Library is not done, but the li the Maplewood Library and the Barrett Center are beautiful. The community loves them. And I hope that our students will be afforded the same opportunity by our township leaders. Um, and I guess I just I'm gonna end with one question, which

450
04:56:09.920 --> 04:56:27.760
is why can we not move forward with Richer and the auditoriums because we've had everything approved by the state and then in a couple months when we fully thought out to um board member Higgins point the rest of what we need bring

451
04:56:27.760 --> 04:56:44.638
that along. We there's no rule that we have to do all it all together, right? So, so what what is our why why why why wait, I guess, is my question. >> On our end, I I'll go back to what I said. It's because we're one of two districts that has a board of school

452
04:56:44.638 --> 04:57:01.840
estimates and we can't just as a board go out to vote and get the public reaction on it. Um we have to navigate and work with uh board of school estimates members and that's really the job ahead of us. uh and one of their bigger requests was to take Ritzer and

453
04:57:01.840 --> 04:57:18.638
also bundle that with major projects that have to be done in the district. Um so I think as Will noted I think more discussion has to be had and I'm I'm very happy that this was brought out tonight as well. So I thank

454
04:57:18.638 --> 04:57:34.560
board member Bimmel as well as board member Brown and board member Will for bringing this out. I think it was an important discussion to have. Any other pieces on the FFT readout? Board member Higgins. >> This is a bit I think it might be more

455
04:57:34.560 --> 04:57:49.840
of a request but also a clarification. Has when it comes to third party vendors, is that something that goes in the FFT committee discussion or is it separated out into different committees? because I wonder if there's we should

456
04:57:49.840 --> 04:58:06.160
maybe highlight that as something to discuss around quality checks and transitions when we go out to RFP which is we have to do sometimes but that transition is really important and I think hearing about that from the district of how are you moving from one

457
04:58:06.160 --> 04:58:22.080
company to another what's that planning that is well in advance I I don't know what committee that goes in though my mind would say FFT >> yeah that's that's FFT What was >> Oh, >> yeah. It would be FFT, but most of the

458
04:58:22.080 --> 04:58:38.560
vendors we bid out and there's like a very specific set of things you have to cover in a bid, right? >> So, and that's I think like mandated. I don't know Tiffany if you can speak to that a bit more. So, >> well to clarify my question, I think it's more about like not so much the

459
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bidding process itself, but the impact to the students, to the building, to the people who currently work here. and then could maybe not or yes or the transition I think is what I'm trying to get at >> yeah on our end or or any public district um and not being here for that

460
04:58:56.718 --> 04:59:13.680
history but my understanding is about 10 years ago the district uh privatized all of its services am I correct in saying that security custodial transportation food service I'm missing something

461
04:59:13.680 --> 04:59:30.320
uh lunch aids Um that happened about a decade ago. Um most districts that have privatized services, it's a it's a best practice to every three years go out for RFP for services uh just to keep one vendors

462
04:59:30.320 --> 04:59:46.480
honest. Uh and also just to be stewards of the tax dollar. Uh in some circumstances we get feedback about our vendors which is also an impetus for going out for RFPs as well. >> Yeah. So in a in a situation we can say

463
04:59:46.480 --> 05:00:02.560
hypothetically though of course we've heard from folks tonight when we are aware of concerns about performance by a vendor what is the process that the district is going through in tracking that down and addressing it? Yeah, I I'll just speak specifically well I

464
05:00:02.560 --> 05:00:17.360
don't want to speak specifically about a vendor but uh if we're talking uh security we had monthly meetings with our security vendor on a regular basis uh utilizing data that they supplied and also data that we collected in regards

465
05:00:17.360 --> 05:00:32.878
uh to how we felt the uh their what their job was doing comparing that to the specifics uh criteria in the RFPs and that's really the big the important step in this it's what what did we put in the

466
05:00:32.878 --> 05:00:51.360
RFP and we've employed on our end uh Mr. Shupe who is the most renowned expert in creating RFPs uh when we went out for this round uh to ensure that our RFPs held our vendors uh accountable uh in a way that we could

467
05:00:51.360 --> 05:01:07.440
enforce. And so when we're looking at for example uh busing contracts, our custodial contract, our paraprofessional contract, will a similar review process be used on an ongoing basis as we observe performance?

468
05:01:07.440 --> 05:01:24.320
>> Yeah. So I'll use transportation. We meet monthly actually be twice a month with our Sussex co-op to go over roots to go over driver driver issues. We have uh implemented some of the consequences that were in contracts uh last year when

469
05:01:24.320 --> 05:01:39.520
we've been having trouble with buses not staying at stops long enough showing or showing up 5 minutes early and then leaving when no one's there. So we have implemented some of the consequences that were in those contracts uh against those vendors. Uh we also have been

470
05:01:39.520 --> 05:01:57.360
working uh closely just like with Delta uh and also with ESS with the owners of the company as well. So uh we meet with them monthly and we'll continue to do that with our our new vendors as well. >> Okay. Tech Gable.

471
05:01:57.360 --> 05:02:12.400
>> Yeah. Thank you for that. And so Mr. Mr. Bing, if you can just um just help us understand even further like you meet with them monthly, but if there are emergent situations like what we heard tonight with the custodial staff, um

472
05:02:12.400 --> 05:02:28.400
what is the process there that they can follow to have their situation resolved? >> Yeah, for for any private vendor, the district has a liaison team that we go directly 247 to. I mean, we've literally called some of these vendors at 3:00

473
05:02:28.400 --> 05:02:44.160
a.m. in the morning once we heard a story, something happened. They're our first call. Um, and I can I can uh say that all of the vendors that we have dealt with so far have been very attentive. Uh, and whether it's anywhere

474
05:02:44.160 --> 05:03:00.878
from uh releasing employees to enforcing consequences such as uh fining. uh we have done that and we'll we'll continue to enforce secretarier but I can say every vendor that I've worked with so far in this district has been quite

475
05:03:00.878 --> 05:03:20.560
attentive to any issues or needs that we may have had um and I I'm hoping for that sort of service moving forward as well. >> Um I had two things to add about the context of our history with outsourcing. Um, two of the most controversial

476
05:03:20.560 --> 05:03:36.878
outsourcing decisions the board has made were in 2010 when we outsourced prior professionals and then like the gradual outsourcing of all of our busing. And um, in both cases, something they have in common is that since the outsourcing decision or decisions were made, the

477
05:03:36.878 --> 05:03:53.440
service has actually really grown. If you read articles from 2010 when the big when the most controversial outsourcing of decision of all was made, the outsourcing of Paris, we only had 76 Paris at the time. And right now, I think we have 196. Um, if you look at like minutes from the early 2010s, like

478
05:03:53.440 --> 05:04:10.000
when we actually would bid bus routes, which were for Marshall, then Jefferson, Seth Bdon, um, we had like in 2010 only like 10 roots at the time. And now, of course, as we've just seen the discussion, we have dozens of roots. So, a lot of people lament the outsourcing we've had. They say it like affects like

479
05:04:10.000 --> 05:04:26.638
educational quality and transportation quality. And of course, like I agree with that. They say it's like not fair um to like our out employees. And I think that's also like not fair. I agree with that, of course. But um you know, if we were to undo those decisions that actually it would cost much more than like whatever the original savings were

480
05:04:26.638 --> 05:04:42.718
because the services have grown so much since those decisions were made. >> Thank you. Anything else for the FFT readout? It's a popular one tonight. >> Port member Brown. >> Um, can you remind us what the

481
05:04:42.718 --> 05:04:59.120
what the order of operations is if theoretically we have we have we're going to put together this huge thing. um we have to take that back to the state and then before we go to Bose what's the

482
05:04:59.120 --> 05:05:14.160
>> I think as discussed in the most recent FFT meeting uh every item uh and it needs to be parcelled out into pretty small trenches of a project each gets submitted to the state for a review I believe once that project is packaged

483
05:05:14.160 --> 05:05:30.480
and submitted the state gets 60 days to review then they come back with their preliminary approval letter if we're not uh challenging it. We go back and estimate convert it to the final and then that uh is a demonstration that we know that we have funding at X

484
05:05:30.480 --> 05:05:45.840
percentage from the state for that project that we can then carry forward into what we would vote on as a resolution for the amount we're seeking to bond with the board of school estimate. Okay. So there is a detailed timeline I think as far as approximate

485
05:05:45.840 --> 05:06:02.160
months that we got from the architect very recently and if it hasn't been circulated we'll make sure it is circulated but it's that demonstrates it there is a a period of months to have this uh mega project put together. >> Okay. So we're talking probably realistically like 6 months before we go

486
05:06:02.160 --> 05:06:18.000
to Bose I would say. So, I guess I would ask that the district talk to the members of Bose and see if they're open given that we're looking at an alternative plan as well to moving forward with the auditoriums in Ritzer

487
05:06:18.000 --> 05:06:33.040
because we already have that all reviewed by the state. We can move forward with those at the same time that we're pursuing this larger bond. Um because otherwise everything including the auditoriums, the field, nothing is

488
05:06:33.040 --> 05:06:51.760
getting done until like I mean we would even vote on it probably for six months. >> Okay. Anything else on FFT? >> All right. >> Oh, >> go ahead. >> Um if anyone wants to follow better what we're discussing regarding Ritzer, there

489
05:06:51.760 --> 05:07:08.000
is a link in the FFT committee minutes to like the latest plan for Ritzer. so you can uh keep up with what we're doing there. >> Thank you. And I think as this conversation goes on, especially with regard to the the uh you know cost benefit, cost per square foot, etc., we

490
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are going to have to do a a sidebyside at some point. But yeah, uh definitely worth looking at. All right, we are going to move on to special services board. >> All right, the special services committee met on July 9th. All board members on the committee were in

491
05:07:25.840 --> 05:07:42.480
attendance along with Miss Jess Maria and superintendent Bing. The district was joined by CPAC president Verna Hulcom wherein we discussed middle school math options, deltat t prior professional transition and some challenges that are present in ESY transportation. Also in relationship to

492
05:07:42.480 --> 05:07:57.360
communication and family engagement, um a reminder if you've not already done so to complete the family experience survey that the district disseminated. Um, additionally, just another plug for the focus groups for Delta T August 11th, 17th, and 20th. Please do RSVP if you

493
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would like to attend one of those. The committee reviewed a rollup of end ofear data, including trends in parrofessional assignments over the last several years out of district placements and student classifications. Discussions highlighted the continued use of criteria and data to align parrofessional support with

494
05:08:12.958 --> 05:08:28.160
student need. uh projected future reductions in out of district costs as students are aging out of services and ongoing efforts to expand in district programming where appropriate. Uh members also discussed opportunities to better understand out of district placement trends through additional data

495
05:08:28.160 --> 05:08:45.120
analysis and noted continued investments in staff training and instructional programming that are designed to strengthen the district's continuum of supports and increase in district options for students whenever feasible. The committee also received updates on several in district programming initiatives. discussion included the new

496
05:08:45.120 --> 05:09:00.718
middle school ERRI program opening at SMSS, including plans for family walkthroughs, a meet and greet uh upon the teachers hiring and internal mentorship opportunities with experienced DRRI staff and external professional development opportunities as well. The committee also reviewed

497
05:09:00.718 --> 05:09:16.638
updates on the Marshall autism classroom and noted that based on current enrollment projections, this planned expansion of the C CHS uh transition program, excuse me, will be paused until the 2728 school year. Looking ahead to the new school year and upcoming goal development, the committee began

498
05:09:16.638 --> 05:09:33.280
discussing uh developing frameworks for understanding how our specialized indistrict programs are monitored and evaluated and continuously improved. So that might include things like quality assurance measures, excuse me, implementation fidelity, student outcomes that would help inform future committee oversight as specialized

499
05:09:33.280 --> 05:09:50.560
programming continues to expand. Uh the committee also received an update on the exploration of a potential afterhare program for students in the district's autism programs. A parent interest survey has been distributed to eligible families and those who receive it are encouraged to complete it. Uh survey responses are going to help determine

500
05:09:50.560 --> 05:10:06.240
interest and inform the development of a potential p uh pilot program, excuse me, for the 2627 school year. With regards to policy 5561, the use of physical restraint seclusion techniques for students with disabilities, it had been scheduled for a first reading this evening, but as discussed earlier was

501
05:10:06.240 --> 05:10:21.840
pulled to correct an identified error. As board president Meyer noted earlier in the meeting, the district will maintain local language uh that doesn't conflict with updated policy requirements um and will conduct an additional review in partnership with CPAC to consider further feedback and ensure alignment with the related

502
05:10:21.840 --> 05:10:37.440
policies including our district's corporate punishment policy. Um finally, we received uh or sorry reviewed feedback shared by CPAC including discussion from the June 9th meeting between Delta T representatives, CPAC board and district representatives. We also discussed the importance of

503
05:10:37.440 --> 05:10:53.520
establishing clear metrics to evaluate a successful transition as well as upcoming opportunities for community engagement. I do want to thank the caregivers and advocates who joined us tonight this evening and shared their thoughtful constructive suggestions and personal experiences. Your voices will continue to inform and strengthen our

504
05:10:53.520 --> 05:11:10.638
work. So, thank you. >> Questions? >> Any questions? board Stefan. >> I just I just wanted to highlight something that was shared at the special services committee meeting this month, which is that from two years ago, we actually have 29 fewer out of district

505
05:11:10.638 --> 05:11:28.000
placements. Uh which is uh a fiscal savings, but more importantly, it's it means that there's more students whose needs are being met in district. That's really hard work. Uh it requires building up programs, working with families. Um it's been uh a very slow

506
05:11:28.000 --> 05:11:44.638
and steady effort by uh the special services team and by the superintendent. Um and so I just wanted to highlight I think that's really important progress uh that's worth celebrating. Yeah, I do want to thank you, Paul. Just shout out Kathleen who's

507
05:11:44.638 --> 05:12:01.360
works 247 uh to ensure our students are getting the proper programming and to make sure we're expanding programming to bring our students in district and keep them in district. And it's it's a lot of work. >> Yeah. >> Board member Brown.

508
05:12:01.360 --> 05:12:18.638
>> Yeah. Um I just you know earlier tonight when we were talking about our strategic planning um one of the ideas was about developing kind of one pages of potential you know potential areas where we can

509
05:12:18.638 --> 05:12:33.760
make budget decisions. And I think one area that we really should explore um is this idea of bringing back and I know this the committee has talked about it as bringing back certain paras. And so I would really love the district to

510
05:12:33.760 --> 05:12:49.360
kind of start to thinking about like you know even if we can only prioritize a small number right now like what would that look like from a cost perspective? Who would you prioritize? And so that, you know, when we're getting into a place of having our final budget from

511
05:12:49.360 --> 05:13:04.160
this year, looking into next year, we can have that as u as a decision-making factor as we're making trade-offs because I it it would be nice. I know we might not ever get to the, you know, to the point that you made, board member Bennett, of

512
05:13:04.160 --> 05:13:19.760
of fully being in house, but um for some key positions, I think it would be nice if we can get try and get there. >> Yeah. Just to note that that work was started about a year and a half ago when Kathleen first came in. Uh we just

513
05:13:19.760 --> 05:13:35.680
recently had a change in in leadership uh on the sea side of the house. So we have now re-engaged those conversations and Patrick is now our legal counsel as part of those conversations as well. >> Board member Higgins.

514
05:13:35.680 --> 05:13:51.920
>> Yeah, I'd just like to echo um board me board member Brown on that for sure. And I think I wanted to go back to um your superintendent update that there's 166 ready to start, some are returning and there's like an 85% rate of fill for the

515
05:13:51.920 --> 05:14:07.920
pair professionals. Do you happen to know of those return? It would be helpful to see the numbers of returning staff to maybe provide some um a feeling of like there's families that get the support that they're looking for. Yeah, that's part of part of our ask for Delta

516
05:14:07.920 --> 05:14:22.878
is to keep us a breast of those numbers because they just finished uh their outreach for extended school year. So, we wanted to wait until they got those numbers in. So, we'll we'll keep the board a breast. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions, comments?

517
05:14:22.878 --> 05:14:42.160
>> Okay, we're going to move on to uh board Higgins personnel. >> I know it came fast. Um, so the personnel committee met on Monday, July 27th, 2026 from 6:35 to 7:14. Uh, we didn't have personnel committees for or

518
05:14:42.160 --> 05:14:58.480
committee meetings for the two months prior. So, there was something on the agenda that I'll bring up um that we did want to talk about a little earlier. So, I'll bring that up in a second. Board members, myself, uh, Shaina Sacka Gable, Melanie Nyer, and administrative liaison, Mr. Bing, Dr. Kevin Gilbert,

519
05:14:58.480 --> 05:15:13.600
and Mr. Tundai Adoyan. On the agenda were the personnel resolutions that we are voting on tonight. The district is working on and focused on filling any and all vacancies before the start of the school year, but they have plans ready if those vacancies are not filled.

520
05:15:13.600 --> 05:15:28.638
A high-level overview of the exit survey data was shared to help inform goals for the future. There was also a discussion around the shift uh or information around the shift from Frontline to Genesis to streamline evaluations as a cost savings measure.

521
05:15:28.638 --> 05:15:45.680
And in August, we will receive the state of the state on where we are with recruitment and retention. And in September, we will learn more about the Aspire program. It's a leadership training that is being reworked and discussed. The last item um is one that I just want to emphasize. This is just for

522
05:15:45.680 --> 05:16:02.560
discussion. It's just a suggestion. There's no motion or movement tonight. Um but it's kind of a roadblock we've sort of hit in the personnel committee. Um a lot of the questions that come up tend to actually fall in the different committees. So who we have in personnel

523
05:16:02.560 --> 05:16:19.760
is HR, our superintendent and then our um sometimes our super uh assistant superintendent of schools. But some of these questions are related to professional development. Some of these questions are related to special services. Some of these questions are culture and climate. Some are budgetary and then some are strictly policy and

524
05:16:19.760 --> 05:16:36.798
governance. So something that we were kind of brainstorming is potentially not having a personnel committee anymore, but taking those personnel items and adding them to the agendas of the other committees. So therefore, there would be a line item in all the committees that

525
05:16:36.798 --> 05:16:53.040
says personnel. And so those items would be discussed with the departments that it actually affects. And if there's any other questions that kind of fall somewhere in the middle, potentially we maintain our personnel tracker. we sort of learn about that and see if there is a a grouping of questions that requires

526
05:16:53.040 --> 05:17:09.680
an every other month or a quarterly meeting to cover those items. But this is something we're kind of talking about because you know time is also precious. Um we want our admin to be focusing on our students and so it just felt like this committee was asking a lot of questions about specific things that

527
05:17:09.680 --> 05:17:29.360
really HR isn't involved in. So I thought from there I would just open it up for discussion if anybody has questions right now but also happy to um talk about it another time. >> Yeah sack cable. Yeah, I would just just add that um when you listed the buckets

528
05:17:29.360 --> 05:17:46.000
of categories where a lot of agenda items fall within personnel, the other categories, the bucket of things we can't talk about in p the personnel committee that we need to speak about in executive session anyway. Um and so that those conversations would still happen

529
05:17:46.000 --> 05:18:05.040
obviously in Exact. >> Yes, exactly. Right. So, um, to to piggy back off of that, there would be the non-confidential items being discussed in committees and then the confidential items would remain in executive session like you said. >> Other comments? I will say I appreciate

530
05:18:05.040 --> 05:18:20.958
the the innovation that you've done here and I appreciate our our set of back and forth conversations to kind of define the shape of what this would look like. Um, we have had a lot of conversations about gosh, we have a lot of committees that we're running right now. And there are some boards that have personnel

531
05:18:20.958 --> 05:18:37.040
committees and some that don't. Uh, I think as long as we can figure out a way that's not going to miss a personal item through obscurity. For example, we created that student family affairs committee because we decided there were all these issues that were sitting at the periphery of other

532
05:18:37.040 --> 05:18:51.680
committees and never really hitting them. But I think intentionally adding a personnel section to committees to hit those pieces um could make sense. So I get the sense that in our next couple retreats where we discuss uh our board

533
05:18:51.680 --> 05:19:07.360
goals and there's been general desire to discuss sort of the shape of our committee structure. Um so that can go in there as well. Uh and perhaps if you can uh want to flesh out a uh a proposal to send around to the board for discussion that would be super.

534
05:19:07.360 --> 05:19:23.280
>> Yep. I'm happy to do that. >> Any other comments? No. Okay. We're gonna move right along to boards Gable for curriculum and instruction. >> Sure. Thanks. So, uh, the CNI committee met on July 20th um, with board member

535
05:19:23.280 --> 05:19:39.200
Stefen. Thanks for joining us. Um, subbing for board member Kapatia. We missed your presence. Um, and everyone else was there. So, um, we received updates on the district's progress towards this year's goals. SLT is still receiving some of that data and taking

536
05:19:39.200 --> 05:19:54.160
time to analyze it. However, I will just highlight um chronic absenteeism in relation to freshman academy. Um the chronic absenteeism rate there is expected to fall below the state's 10%

537
05:19:54.160 --> 05:20:10.080
benchmark, dropping from 11% to 5%. And there has also been about a 65% reduction in suspensions, bullying incidents, and physical altercations among freshmen. Um, and again, this is limited to the freshman academy, but CHS

538
05:20:10.080 --> 05:20:25.600
leaders and supervisors are now working to think about how to expand those successful practices from freshman academy to um the other areas of the high school. So, that was to note. Um,

539
05:20:25.600 --> 05:20:40.958
as far as items that are up for board approval tonight, we have we received updates on out of district travel for professional development. Um, we there are a couple of staff members who are going

540
05:20:40.958 --> 05:20:57.840
to a workshop on creating a work-based learning program. Um, a couple of others were added since our meeting. There's the Onward Fall Conference, which is NJPSA's annual fall conference, and there's an arts supervisors meeting. Um, that's for

541
05:20:57.840 --> 05:21:13.840
state art supervisors. Um, and both of those will be supported by ASCA funds. And we reviewed several policies that are CNI related that are up for first read tonight. Um we did discuss 2200 on

542
05:21:13.840 --> 05:21:30.878
curriculum but as we heard earlier that one was removed for some other uh considerations to be looked at over the next month or so. Um but we are voting to approve in first read 2260 equity and

543
05:21:30.878 --> 05:21:45.440
classroom practices 5460 high school graduation and 5461 and high school diplomas all of which we had discussed before. Um, and of course there are a lot more details that are available online. Um, and our next

544
05:21:45.440 --> 05:22:02.160
meeting will be on August 10th at 6:30. >> Any questions, comments? >> Okay, very good. We'll move on to board member uh Stefen for policy and governance. >> Thank you. The policy and governance committee met on Wednesday, July 8th. In

545
05:22:02.160 --> 05:22:20.480
attendance were Mr. Bing, M. Just Maria, Dr. Gilbert and board members Brown, Higgins, Meyer, and myself. Uh board member Sack Gable just mentioned some of the items up for first read, policies 5460 and 5461 as well as policy 2260. Uh

546
05:22:20.480 --> 05:22:37.200
on that last one, I want to note that the committee was uh very careful to preserve local language that uh ensures that students can use restrooms and participate in sports teams uh that align with their gender. And so I'm I'm very glad we were uh pretty unanimous in making sure that those uh asurances

547
05:22:37.200 --> 05:22:53.520
remain in our policy. Uh we also have several items up tonight for first read that have to do with the use and accounting of federal monies. That's policy 6112, regulation 6115.01, policy 6115.02,

548
05:22:53.520 --> 05:23:10.240
and policy 6311. Uh there are three items up for second read. Uh, two of them have to do with adequate public notice for board meetings. That's policies 0162 and 0162.01. And then policy 1643, uh, which tracks

549
05:23:10.240 --> 05:23:26.560
state law changes to eligibility for family leave. Uh, several members have already mentioned policy 5561, which was previously on the agenda and is not going to be on the agenda tonight, but will be in the future. Uh, I want to echo our thanks to CPAC for their input on that policy. Uh members of the

550
05:23:26.560 --> 05:23:42.080
public, by the way, are always welcome to uh write in and share their thoughts on policies. Uh for those of you who are not intimately familiar with our practices, everything will come up for first read uh and then the following month it'll come up for second read. And so there's always that month window

551
05:23:42.080 --> 05:23:58.320
between first and second read where people are are are more than welcome and invited to give their thoughts on what's coming up for a vote. Um so you can email uh jbing soomsd.k12.nj. us and also uh BOE members at

552
05:23:58.320 --> 05:24:15.200
soomsd.k12.nj. us. >> Our policy chair's emails. >> Wow. >> Yeah. No, exactly. Uh any questions, comments? Or Higgins? >> What's our policy chair's email? >> I if you email all the DOE members, I

553
05:24:15.200 --> 05:24:31.600
will get it, but I am pstan at soomsd.k12.nj. us. >> No s at the end. Just p stefin just to be clear. >> Yes, correct. comments, questions. Okay. Uh then that concludes the discussion portion and committee reports

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of our meeting. We're going to move on to the action portion of our meeting, which always sounds a lot more fun than it is. Uh we will be handling tonight by consent agenda uh resolutions 4994 through 50005.

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That's going to cover 4994 personnel resolutions of 495 substitute and coaches. Uh 4996 out of district placements, 4997 our financials. 4998 the transfer and removal of non-domiciled students. Uh 499 uh

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affirmation of our uh HIB findings. Uh resolution 5000 that's policies on for second read. Res uh resolution 501 uh policies on for first read. 502 is uh our confidential settlements. 503

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emergency virtual or remote instruction plan approval. 504 is the approval of our revised academic calendar 2627 and uh 505 a correction to a settlement agreement. Uh do I have a motion for consideration of this consent agenda?

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Board member Sack Gable. Do I have a second? Board member Callahan. Open for discussion. board member Higgins. And I'll actually I'm sorry. I'm going to make just a quick call out first. I just want to call out there is uh as I noted policy

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or resolution 504, the revised calendar. Uh I want to make sure I get this right, but I believe we had previously announced that our graduation was going to be on June 15th. Uh and the venue has since become

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unavailable. Uh, and I believe we are moving our graduation to June 16, 2027. Is that accurate? >> That is. >> Okay, that's it. So, that is the uh the update that you're going to see, but just be duly informed. Uh, Porter Higgins.

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>> Yeah. And resolution 4997B, um, it's the attendance and workrelated travel and workshop expenses. There's just a note that there is a correction. So, I was curious what the correction is. if it's financial location what that adjustment was.

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It's just the first time I've seen it. So >> 4997B is in book >> correct. >> I'm just checking to make sure that I have seen >> I think that was because of cost. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> That's B in

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>> uh yes B is because of the cost. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Oh okay. So that was that was item three. AP Spanish language for the new AP teacher. There's a correction in what the estimated cost did. So I assume the cost listed will be accurate. >> Okay, >> we'll just pause a second.

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June 16th is graduation. Is that correct, Lyanna? >> Great. I think I said that, but Lyanna knows correct. It's the 16th. >> Yeah. Just a quick note, West Orange School District kind of controls the ranks or we're at their beckoning. So, uh, they choose their dates first and

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then we we come. I mean, in a perfect world, we would align our last day of high school with graduation. That that's what we would want, but that's usually what West Orange >> does. Correct. >> Uh, any other discussion on this consent

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agenda? Board member Higgins, ask all you want. Don't feel bad. >> Okay. Um, on 4997D, um, I was just curious with the data cabling and then the minute man versus safe entry 911 informed we got. So, let

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me back up. Um, those two things just sort of caught my eye of with the data cabling. I remember in June we voted an estimated 250,000 and then now we're seeing the contract of 119,000.

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So, that's where this is on our way to that 250,000. Okay. >> Uh, and they're one of our providers for security cameras and the wiring. You just noted they do a few different technology. Okay. >> Jobs in the district.

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>> And then if we did hit that 250,000, there would be another vote to approve that >> another resolution. >> Okay. Got it. Then just same thing, the Minute Man security technologies and then I know we're bringing in safe entry 911 informed. How do those two work

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together as far as security goes? Is one people and one is cameras? I don't I'm just not familiar. >> There he is. >> Oh, there he is. >> He's coming right to the mic. Thank you, Keith. >> Um, >> for Minute Man Security, uh, they are

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the company that does our security cameras. So, the elementary schools have age security cameras that we're replacing. Uh, so that's the labor cost along with the back-end infrastructure to support those cameras. Some of it includes structured cabling for wiring.

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Uh so that wouldn't be covered under some of the other um uh services that you voted on earlier. That's dedicated just for the security cameras. Um 911 inform was more for the visitor management system that did not have anything to do with this and Mr.

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Morgan can provide additional context if needed, but there were two separate systems uh completely. >> Thank you. We're not voting on the visitor management system because it's under 53,000. >> I'm going to get some clarity here. >> Men?

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>> Yeah. >> No, the cost for it was around $78,000. So, no need to put it on the agenda. >> Great. So, under our under our purchasing guidelines, that is well under the amount that goes to the board. >> And I know this is not in the resolution, but just if Mr. can

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speak to the 911 system and the concerns that the community had raised around >> because this is a response to the concerns about rap. >> Yeah. Can can you maybe just speak a minute about how this system addresses the community's concerns

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>> the uh cla the classroom >> uh the visitor management system right so uh well Mr. Oregon. >> You get out of it first. >> You wrote a good five-page memo about this.

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>> Okay. Keith tried to save me and here here I guess my lucky day. So the 911 informed system uh safe entry. U what we did to address the community concern is we asked the company to come uh develop a product where it's totally um our

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system and our information. So every day they'll do like a data dump that becomes just ours. So no one else has access. It's not stored in the cloud. It's in the cloud while it's happening during the day. Uh at the end of the day, it becomes our information stored on our

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hard drive. So no one else has access to it. And I'll note that this has been a discussion item on the board for a number of months now. And uh I think all administration has gotten awfully fed up. Everything is in the cloud. You can't not do cloud. They've done

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tremendous work though to actually find a vendor that is doing this local which really addressed uh concerns that the community had and so we greatly appreciate the efforts you put in here. >> Thank you. >> And also whoever signed me up for the Raptor mailing list. It's well played.

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It's very funny. Um >> wasn't it wasn't us. >> Okay. Anything else for Mr. Morgan? Okay. Anything else generally Higgins? >> It's my last one, I promise. Um, so in

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4997s, the I think this is a lease for Chromebooks. Um, let me just scroll down to it really quick. Yes. To Webster Public Finance Corporation. So over this year, we had Chromebooks. Are we Is this

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additional Chromebooks? Are we replacing what is Okay, thank you. >> They're they're a replacement cycle. >> Yeah. If you have well many some of you have elementary children and you have commented on the shape of their Chromebooks. So yes there there's a replacement cycle that uh our technology

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team utilizes and we've also taken in consideration how we are trying to dete at the lower level. So that's also been in consideration in regards to this bid. >> So is this 2200 is it the same? Is it more or less than last year like just roundabout?

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>> Roughly the same. Okay. Thank you. All right. Any more questions? Board member Higgins or any other board member? Okay. Uh, hearing none, I'm going to ask that uh, Mr. Know, would you please call the role? >> Absolutely. Board member Bennett,

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>> yes. >> Board member Brown, >> yes. >> Board member Callahan, >> yes. >> Board member Henus, he >> Sorry about that. Board member Kapatio, >> yes. Board President Meyer, >> yes. >> Board member Nyer,

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>> yes. >> Board member Sacket Gable, >> yes. >> Board member Stfan, >> yes. >> Motions passed. >> All right. And that concludes the action portion of the meeting. Uh we will now begin our second hearing of individuals

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and delegates this evening. Wonder if someone would volunteer to take a look at that sheet and see if we have anyone signed up to speak. Thank you, Mr. Morgan. And I'm just going to triple check our online sign up as well. We do not have anyone there. So, that will conclude our second hearing of individuals and delegations.

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Uh, is there any new business this evening? Seeing none, uh the board will meet again in public session on Thursday, August 18, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. Uh that is

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uh our uh board retreat to address our uh board goals. And uh hang on a second because I don't even have down here our next board meeting. Anyone can help me out here.

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The monthly board meeting. So you see my phone crashed. The 25th. August 25th at 6:30 p.m. where action will be taken. Uh and it looks like we may be scheduling another >> August 27th. >> Wow. August 27th. And graduation is on

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June 16th. August 27th. We're going to have our next uh monthly board meeting. And we may be scheduling another interim uh board retreat date. And we will uh duly notice that in the town papers on our website when that happens. With

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that, do I have a motion to adjurnn? Board member Gapatia. Do I have a second this side now? Board member Brown. All in favor? Show of hands. Thank you. We are adjourned at 10:11 p.m. Have a wonderful evening.