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discussion. >> The adequate notice of this regular meeting as required by the open public meetings act was provided on January 6, 2026. This notice was on that date posted on the bulletin board in the township office and the board of education administrative office, posted on the

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board of education district website and filed with the township clerk of the township of Warren. All in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings act. Please rise for the pledge. >> Algiance to the flag of the United States of America to the republic for

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which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Mr. Hegel. >> Right. I will now call the role. Mr. Bratzb >> here. >> Mrs. Dalton >> here. >> Mrs. Granholm

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>> here. >> Miss Keller >> here. >> Mr. Mulfetta >> here. >> Mr. Tor >> here. >> Mr. Valentino. >> Mr. Weinstein >> here. Mrs. Son >> here. We have a quorum. >> Thank you, Mr. Hegel. Miss Keller, >> whereas the Open Public Meetings Act

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NJSA10 board-11 permits the board of education to meet in close session to discuss certain matters. Now, therefore, be it resolved, the board of education adjourns to close session to discuss material the disclosure of which constitutes an unwarranted invasion of individual privacy. Action will be taken

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upon return to public session. The length of the meeting is anticipated to be approximately 30 minutes. Be further resolved. the minutes of this closed session be made public when the need for confidentiality no longer exists. Do >> I have a second? >> Second. All in favor? >> I >> I

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>> opposed. Abstain. The board is now in executive session. Hello. I'm making All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. We are back in open session and uh I will now say that we're

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in open session. Thank you everyone for the for your patience both the people online and the people in our live audience. Uh moving on. Miss Keller minutes >> resolved that the board of education approves the public and private session minutes of the May 11th 2020

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6O boop as amended 2206 uh board meeting. >> We have a second. >> Second, >> Mr. Hegel. >> One second, please. All right. This is on the minutes. Mr. Bratz, >> yes.

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>> Mrs. Dalton, >> yes. >> Mrs. Granholm, >> yes. >> Miss Keller, >> yes. >> Mr. Moffetta, >> yes. >> Mr. Tor, >> yes. >> Mr. Weinstein, >> yes. >> Mrs. Z, >> yes. >> Motion passes 8 Z. >> Thank you, Mr. Hegel. Dr. Mingle. Correspondence and information.

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>> Yes. There was uh the board received one email from a parent regarding an HIV appeal. On the suspension report, there was one suspension at the middle school, three at central school, one at Mount Horb, and one at Woodland. And on the HIB uh report, there was there were

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a total of five investigations, none confirmed, one at middle school, two at Mount Horb, and two at ALT. >> Uh thank you, Dr. Mingle. Um on the agenda tonight is our annual adoptions. We do these uh twice a year. Dr. Mingle, do you have anything on annual adoptions? No. Does any board member

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have anything on annual adoptions they'd like to pull for a separate vote or conversation? >> No. Miss Keller. >> Motion to approve the annual adoptions A through H. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> All right. Does a vote on the annual

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adoptions? Mr. Brophies? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Dalton? Yes, >> Mrs. Granholm. >> Yes, >> Miss Keller. >> Yes, >> Mr. MFetta. >> Yes, >> Mr. Torp. >> Yes, >> Mr. Weinstein. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Mrs. >> Yes. >> Motions pass.

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>> Thank you, Mr. Hegel. Good evening and welcome to the June meeting of the board of education. Uh, just a couple of quick items. Appearing on the agenda this evening as item B12 is the acceptance of part of the opioid settlement award in the amount of $40,000. Thank you to the

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Warren Township Committee for its assistance in securing these settlement funds which will be used to support the youth mentoring and mental health program at the middle school. Appearing on the agenda as item B14 for board approval is one of the shared services agreements that the district regularly

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enters into with neighboring districts. This agreement is with Watung Hills Regional High School and the board fully supports shared service agreements where practical. So, we're thrilled to do this. Uh, tonight as item C7, the board will accept and approve the retirement

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of two longtime staff members. Both Lance Regler, our current IT director, and Kevin Potter, a valued member of our maintenance team, have been with the district for 30 years. On behalf of the board of education, I want to thank them for their service and wish them a

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wonderful retirement. This is the last meeting of the board during this academic year. I know that everyone's looking forward to summer. I want to extend the board's thanks and appreciation to the teachers, guidance counselors, principles, aids, safety

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officers, bus drivers, custodians, coaches, office staff, PTO parents. I'm sorry if I missed anyone and all the adults in our buildings and our schools who have guided, mentored, coached, taught, or merely acted as an example by your meaningful presence. Our students

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are enriched by your commitment. Thank you. We have reordered our typical agenda this evening. Um after superintendent's remarks, we're going to go directly to committee reports so that we can then give what I think you're all here to

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hear a full presentation from the planning for growth working group. So Dr. Mingle, superintendent's remarks. >> Thank you, Mrs. Zan. Uh I do have a little bit more than usual. I apologize for those tuning in only for the planning for growth report, but it is the last meeting of the year. So, I want

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to highlight a few uh points of pride, a few updates, and some well-deserved thanks. First, I'm proud to share that a team of eighth grade students earned first place in the New Jersey State Bar Foundation's annual law adventure contest. Competing against more than 84 submissions from across the state, our

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students case was selected as the top entry. Their winning case explored a fictional dispute involving parents suing a social media platform for allegedly contributing to a teenager's mental health disorder. This was a sophisticated and timely topic, and our students handled it with thoughtfulness, creativity, and impressive legal

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reasoning. The team had the opportunity to present their case before an audience of approximately 200 people at the New Jersey State Bar Foundation in New Brunswick, where they received very high praise and commendations from the judges. We're very proud of their accomplishment and grateful to the teachers and staff who supported them.

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This time of year also brings many important student milestones across the district. We're celebrating preschool students who completed their first formal school experience, kindergarten students as they prepare to move into uh the upper elementary grades and at Warren Middle School, sorry, and our fifth grade students as they transition

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from elementary to middle school, plus of course on Thursday, our eighth grade students as they move on to high school. These moving up and promotion moments are really nice reminders of growth that takes place across many years. And it's really nice to see many educators, families, and staff members who have contributed along the way to all those

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celebrations. Since our last meeting, our fifth and eighth grade students completed their capstone experience, which asks students to present, reflect, and demonstrate important skills developed during their time in our elementary and middle school. Thank you to Mrs. Granholm, Mr. Bratzbies, Miss Keller, Mrs. Dalton, Mr. Tour, and Mrs.

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Z for serving as judges along with 30 or 40 other people from out in the community. Um, and thank you to all the teachers, administrators, and families who help make this experience meaningful for our students. I also wanted to recognize our continued partnership with Feeding Hands. Warren Township Schools is encouraging, as hopefully everybody

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knows, donations at all five schools, which began on each school's field day and a little bit earlier at Woodland School and continuing through the end of the school year. This is a meaningful way for our school community to support families beyond our classrooms. And thank you to our schools, our staff, families, and students for their participation.

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I'd also like to announce, this was shared with the board last week, that we recently received the 2026 local special education determination, which is uh a federallymandated process the New Jersey Department of Education goes through regarding each district's special education performance in four categories. I'm pleased to report that

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we received the highest rating along with a percentile ranking of 81.7% relative to other districts in the state. of the points that we were not awarded, which is just seven on their rubric, three were related to a specific finding in fiscal year 2023 that has been corrected. This determination

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reflects the ongoing work of our special services team, administrators, teachers, related service services providers, and the families uh to support our students. Well, I'd also like to acknowledge that Mr. Hegel, our school business administrator, and Mr. Michael Pate, our director of operations, had a featured

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presentation called Strengthening Your Relationship, the BA and District Facilities Manager at a recent conference in Atlantic City. Even more notably, perhaps is that they co-presented with the business administrator and facilities manager from Kingwood Township where Mike Canella, who was uh our number two

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leader, is now the number one leader there. And it was a really nice opportunity for the two districts to partner. Finally, brand new information. Um, looking ahead to next October 10th and 11th, uh, Somerset County's Journey through the Past. Some of you might have experienced this before. There's actually two or three different Warren

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Township sites on this. It's a free countywide event which invites the public to explore local history sites. I'm excited to share that Central School will be a part of this program in the fall. To our knowledge, the only active K12 school building in the county that will be one of the stops on the uh, journey through history. Thank you to

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Rory Britt, a Warren local historian and president of the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission for making that connection for us. And then in closing, just to echo Mrs. Zhan, some end of year thanks to our students who give us reasons to be proud through their learning, creativity, service, leadership, and growth. our staff, many

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of whom are also on the call tonight, who give us reasons to be proud through um as teachers, par profofessionals, secretaries, custodians, maintenance, bus drivers, technology, nurses, counselors, child study team members, administrators, and everyone else who contributes to the daily life of our

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schools. I had to make sure I listed them all out so I did not miss any. Um our staff, you know, is the epitome of professionalism and care for our students. And then finally, uh to echo Mrs. again, a special thanks to our retirees. They're not all on tonight's agenda. Throughout the last several months, we've recognized our retirees,

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but many of the people retiring this year have dedicated a huge portion of their lives, 30 plus years to uh the Warren Township Schools, and that makes us who we are. Thank you as well to the board of education members. It's a a huge volunteer commitment. A lot goes on

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behind the scenes. Um and thank you for your support throughout the entire school year. >> Thank you, Dr. Mingle. Um, we will go through the committee stuff as quickly as we can to get to the good part. Uh, reports from members appointed to external assignments. Mr. Tour,

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uh, this would be the New Jersey School Board Associate Delegate Assembly. >> It is. Yeah. Sorry, this is slightly longer than the correction committee. Hopefully not too long. So, uh, myself and Mrs. Z attended on behalf of the board of education in the district. Uh, during the opening remarks, I should, uh, >> Dave, can you make sure you're talking

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into >> cannot hear me? Okay. Sorry. I won't start again. It was not far from the beginning. Okay. During the opening remarks, the president president of uh NJBA uh did thank uh everybody in the room and more broadly board members across

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the across the state for the hard work they put in. Mrs. Hon and I graciously accepted that because I feels like this is one of the state's hardest working school boards sometimes. Uh before I go on um m you may be interested to know as board members that the the organization

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have launched an AI mentor called coach Cara uh to to mentor current and new board members. And so if any of you would like to be introduced to coach Cara I'm not sure how you introduce someone to an II bot but if you do come to me I have the details. Uh the main

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business of the day was discussing and voting upon six resolutions. uh the resolutions were outlined in the handbook that was sent to all board members ahead of time. So I just want to thank you all for reviewing that and providing me with the direction basically on on looking all of them to

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just vote with the recommendations as they were which we duly did. However, it's worthy of note that we deviated once and the and so there were six resolutions. Five were the pass one failed and I deviated from your direction once and the reason for that

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is a couple of things. So the impact of what this particular school board wanted to do was statewide but it was a statewide impact for a local issue. Um in addition to that it was relating to vocational schools and the school board didn't consult the vocational schools

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association. On top of that, they didn't actually show up to defend and articulate the rationale behind the motion they were putting forward. So on the balance of all of that, it seemed to lack merit and was worthy of not going through. Unfortunately, I was one of the few

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people who thought that and it was passed. So that will now go forward. Um, and I think that was it. It was a it was an interesting morning. Nothing really to report back that impacts on us. Thank you very much for being our appointed delegate to the New Jersey School Board Association

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uh assembly. Um do we have any other appointments to external assignments? No. Moving on then to committee reports, curriculum, technology and committee reports for two dates I believe. Mr. Tor, >> uh it'll actually only be one. Todd and I need to uh I wasn't in the main meeting so he and I will confer on that.

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>> We will carry the other one. >> Thank you. >> No problem. >> So April 27th, it's relatively brief. So a topic was brought up within the curriculum committee as regarding whether we should reassess the use of technology in classrooms. We then discussed that in quite some

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detail and Mr. Kimck, you know, took us through the history of what's been going on over the last decade and the fact that there have been changes along the way. For example, pulling back uh from sending Chromebooks home with students prior to fifth grade and uh not handing them out one to one in kindergarten,

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etc., etc. So, I'm kind of fasttracking through this. we looked more deeply at the history and actually reframe the question and said okay are we using technology appropriately. We had another discussion today uh in which we asked ourselves a further two questions which is you know what would

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be the committee scope because if we review this and we really take a deep dive on technology use within the district is a big big project. So, we're going to go back, take a second look at that. Uh, we'll also do it in the context of what we're going to hear about today for planning for growth and also some other things that are

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happening in the middle school and then we're going to make a determination as to whether we come back to the full board and say here's what we recommend and here's what we think the administration should do or we may possibly take another route but but that's sounds a bit you know vague but that's as far as we get at this point but it is a big important topic. >> Okay.

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>> Thanks. >> Thank you Mr. Tour. Uh the finance operations security committee met Monday, June 8th. Uh we were accompanied uh here at on site at the middle school by our architects. Uh the committee took a look at four possible designs for the

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security vestibule for the middle school. The security vestibule is part of the referendum projects that have already been approved in the past and that's how they'll be paid for. The committee um move chose to move forward with option four. So for our board members who want to take a look at the

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minutes and take a look at the drawings for each of those options, the recommendation is to move forward with option four with one modification and that is that the office space will be conformed to be two distinct office spaces in option 4. Um we had ongoing

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conversations. I think that we're done with this. Um just taking a look at athletic field use for neighboring communities um just to compare uh what we do with what they do. Um the year end projections for endofear um funds uh

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appears tonight as for approval as item B7. Um that came with the full recommendation of the committee for approval. Uh we discussed the replacement of a van that was recently in an accident and uh adopted the the committee supported the recommendation of the administration to replace that

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van. Appearing tonight on the agenda as item I believe B15 is the door lock project for Woodland School and Central School. The other schools are all getting new doors with locks. As part of the referendum, Woodland and Central's

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doors were installed previously. This is to purchase locks to bring them up to conformity so that all of the schools will have similar lock locks. Um the next meeting of the finance committee is August 24th. Ms. Keller personnel.

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>> The personnel negotiations and communications committee met on May 26th. We had two primary agenda topics. We discussed 12 month employees and the use of vacation days for the Friday before Labor Day in the upcoming calendar year. And we discussed minor

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updates to the Strauss Esme language for policy guide 12:30 around superintendent's duties. We have a board approved locally developed job description for the superintendent role and districts that have that do not have to consider policy 20 uh 1230. So the

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committee is comfortable keeping the policy 1230 as is as along with the superintendent job description. Thank you Miss Keller. Okay, we are now going to start the conversations for planning for growth. We're going to start with Miss Keller as chair of that

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committee uh giving a review of the May 19th meeting. >> Yeah, thank you. So, I'm going to uh backtrack a little bit before that. Uh so at the May 11th board of education meeting I provided an important update from the April 29th planning for growth

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working group meeting during which the group unanimously agreed that the current K through5 model of our four elementary schools is not sustainable for anticipated growth and we eliminated this model from consideration of our solutions. This was also communicated to

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the school community via the Friday community briefing on May 15. On the Tuesday, May 19th, planning for growth working group uh had its last uh meeting and during that meeting we discussed details of the remaining two models we

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were evaluating the parallel banded and the intermediate model. I'll defer to Dr. Mingle next and his presentation to provide an update on where we are in that process and the subsequent decision-making. As we conclude this phase of solutioning

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for the planning for growth working group, I'd like to provide a by the numbers review of our efforts since last June. 22 Warren residents have been part of the planning for growth working group. These included parents, staff,

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community members, and local leaders from our board of ed, the high school board of ed, and the township committee. These group members met 13 times since last June, giving over 500 hours of their time. During that time, we discussed the

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current complexities of running the schools, which includes general education, special education, preschool, and facilities and capacity. And we also discussed the updated demographic numbers for enrollment growth as well as updated housing

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numbers from the town. We then moved to solutioning and reviewed five different categories of solution options and 31 individual solution examples. I'm going to spend a few minutes to share the breath of what

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the working group reviewed. This part is intentionally detailed. Do not fall asleep. I will take it personally. I ask for your patience because I think it is important for the community to understand the depth of the process.

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The point is not that every idea on this list was equally viable, recommended, or still under consideration. The point is that the working group considered a wide array of ideas before narrowing them down. So, group one is the category of grade

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configuration and student assignment. These represent changes to how students are organized across buildings. And in this section, the examples are a configuration that's preK through 2, 3 through 5, and 6 through 8. A preK

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through 4, 5 through 8 configuration, moving grade 5 completely to the middle school. Multi-building grade distributions, so preK, K in one building, one and two in another. A model where students stay and grades

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move. Wrap your head around that one for a little bit. Reszoning within the current preK through five, six through eight structure and strict zoning enforcement. Those are the grade configuration student assignment category one. Category two, scheduling

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and instructional model adjustments. So this is changes that increase space utilization without changing building structures. Split session schedules. A 4-day week with longer days, rotating

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or pushin specials, hybrid pushin, pull out intervention models, and increasing class sizes to reduce the number of home home rooms. Category three, program footprint and service delivery. This is changes to

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where programs are housed and how services are delivered. exploring ideas such as the centralized preschool model, preschool expansion to all elementary buildings, preschool through community partnerships,

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designated IEP buildings, centralized resource programs, shared regional special programs, and centralized child study team offices. Group four, repurposing and temporary space and bridge space. So these were

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short to midterm strategies that create capacity within or adjacent to existing buildings, converting non-instructional spaces to instructional spaces, combining art music rooms, modular classrooms or trailers, use of

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offsite space in town, and the fifth and final category was capital and system level expansion. So these are long range capacity expansion through construction or major structural redesign. We considered additions to existing

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schools, minor renovations to increased classroom count, vertical expansion, new school construction, early learning center, an intermediate school, a one campus model, and magnet

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or choicebased structures. Going to do a dramatic pause and drink my water. I know that that was a long list and that is partly the point. The working group looked at far more than one or two possible answers. Some ideas were set

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aside because they did not solve the long-term problem. Some created unacceptable trade-offs and some were tactical adjustments rather than structural solutions. The models that remained were the ones that warranted deeper analysis. Dr. Mingle's presentation will now walk through what

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that analysis showed. the recommendation and the next steps before any board vote. >> Thank you, Miss Keller, and to every member of the working group, Dr. Mingle. This always gets a little awkward. So if anybody wants to turn their chairs

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around to be able to look at screens, we can take a minute to do that before I jump into the the full depth here. And to start from the end, I just want to share that uh this is a relatively lengthy presentation by the standards of what we normally present at board

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meetings. It'll take about 20 minutes or so for me to walk through. Uh it's meant to be comprehensive and yet it will still feel like there are a lot of unanswered questions. At the end during public commentary, our plan is to scribe every comment and question that is raised. And I'll say this later in my

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presentation as well uh and publish an FAQ in this Friday's community briefing that addresses as many of those questions as we can. We know we will not be able to do that at the meeting itself tonight. Tonight, my role is to present the planning for growth final report and recommendation. This presentation summarizes the year-long process, the

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key findings, the recommended direction, and the work that still needs to occur before anticipated board action in September. Tonight's presentation has four purposes. To explain what the planning for growth process studied, to summarize what we learned, to present the

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recommendation, and to clarify what still needs to be answered again before board consideration, which would be on September 28th. Tonight is not the final board action on school organization. It is just a public presentation of the final report with additional planning and communication to follow before that

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future action. This work is directly connected to the district's 2025 to 2030 strategic plan, especially goal 3.1, planning for enrollment growth and space needs. It also connects to student learning and student and staff well-being because clearly the school organization affects

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program quality, student experience, staffing, transportation, and the daily use of our buildings. The work that I'm presenting reflects the time, perspective, and expertise of many people. The working group included parents, staff members, community members, board representatives from both

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the Warren and Wong Hills Board of Education, township committee representatives, and administrators. Many additional staff members and outside experts also supported the work by preparing data, hosting tours, answering questions, and helping the group understand the daily realities

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inside of our schools. The working group was created to help the district and the board study these issues carefully. It was advisory. The working group does not have any decision-making authority. Its role was to review information, ask questions, surface trade-offs, provide feedback,

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and help develop these recommendations for the board's consideration. The working group helped narrow the field of possible responses. You heard Miss Keller go through that list. The final recommendation now comes through the board ad hoc committee review and ultimately full board consideration.

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From the beginning, the work was not limited to the question of whether we have enough classrooms. Enrollment growth affects a lot more than just space usage, housing patterns, and what that means for transportation, facility use, preschool and special education needs and requirements, class size,

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staffing, fiscal responsibility and sustainability, and the daily experience of our students and our staff. Which is why we started with a big picture of the whole system. But this is really the central issue here. We have sustained elementary

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growth and I'll go through the numbers in a few minutes. But that growth does not affect each of our buildings in the same way. At the same time, many of our programs require very specific kinds of facility space. So flexibility is more limited than it may appear just by looking at a number of classrooms on a

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map, which creates a structural challenge. Short-term adjustments could help for a period of time, but they will not equal a long-term solution. One of the important lessons from this process is that preschool and special education programs cannot be considered

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side issues. They are central to long-term facility planning. What happens now as space pressure builds is that specialized programs, specifically programs like our autism program are the first programs that have to move, which creates disruption for students, their families, and the staff that serve those

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programs. This also affects related services, other staffing, transportation, restroom access, and the daily experience of students whose programs are driven by very specific needs. A sustainable structure should reduce the need for reactive program moves and help us place preschool,

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special education, and all that goes along with them more thoughtfully and more sustainably. As part of that, the working group took facility tours. And these were important because they helped the working group see the difference between spaces that were specifically designed for their use and other spaces that have been adapted

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over time. Some of you have had children in multiple elementary schools and you know there's a significant difference from school to school when there's a music room that is a converted classroom versus a dedicated music room. It's just one example. The former building tours included Mount Horb Central and Warren Middle School and we also had meetings

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at the other schools with tours as well. Those buildings were selected because they helped illustrate several of our key planning issues. Preschool space, special program placement, the difference between retrofitted spaces and others, how what happens when different programs share the same space,

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trade-offs that can be made uh with support services, and how the elementary school growth eventually affects the middle school. At the same time, as I said, we didn't limit the facility understanding to just just those tours. Meetings were held across all of our district school buildings and the group

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reviewed uh information, maps, utilization data, program placement issues, and facility constraints involving all of our schools. So, these tours gave us a concrete frame of reference. Some of our working group members had not been in one of our schools in a very long time, as their kids might have left 20 or 30 years ago,

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while others are in our schools on a daily basis. So this process helped everyone understand that every building has different levels of flexibility, different constraints, and different implications for our long-term planning. Our goal was to establish a shared fact base up front and it showed us several

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important things. First, enrollment growth is real. It is sustained and it is not even across the district. The 2324 elementary resoning was successful, but it bought us time. It did not create a permanent long-term solution. The most

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urgent pressure is at the elementary level, especially because the growth there affects some schools far more significantly than others. The conclusion from the fat base is that a simple short-term enrollment fluctuation is not what we're seeing. This is a structural issue that needs a durable

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response. So, I'm going to stay on this slide for for a while and kind of walk you through the numbers here. We hit our our low point in enrollment decline at a level of 1,537 students back in 202021.

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At the time we commission the demographic study that serves this report, we are at 1,692 students. That's last summer, which was a 10% increase over 5 years. Over the course of this school year, within this school year, we've increased to 1,726

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students. That's another 2% increase within the months that school was in session this year. For the demographic study purposes, the baseline for looking ahead to next year was 1,712 based on what we knew last summer. It should be noted that our number projected as of

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this month is 1,743. The growth is real and it's happening on a daily basis for us. when natural growth and what I mean by natural growth is the number of births to uh families living in Warren Township is combined with remaining round three housing that

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is the housing that's already approved and under construction throughout town we project enrollment to reach just under 2,000 students if all that housing is built and occupied by 2031 which is the time frame we use for our purposes uh you can see the numbers that are on here we then

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added on top of that a stress test using round four housing scenarios And it's very important here for me to caveat that to say these projects are not through planning board approval. They're not, you know, under construction, but we needed to have something to give us a a sense of where things were going. With

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the round four stress test scenario, we expect enrollment to increase to almost 2200 students. The purpose of showing that sequence is to make the planning challenge clear. We have already experienced a significant rebound after a long period of decline. We have continued growth reflected in our

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projections. And we also need to understand whether our models that we use now continue to remain workable if additional housing driven growth materializes as we expect. And for those, you know, I'm sorry if I'm the one that's sharing this news for the first time. There's more housing after that. According to the state of New

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Jersey, there's nothing at the local level to be to be done other than to manage it as best as possible. Again, that round four housing should be understood as a stress test, not a final projection. But even without treating it as certain, our round three housing growth and natural growth confirm that

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the district is facing a multi-year growth cycle rather than a short-term spike. Our working group included a local realtor who has a lot of experience here who believes we're actually underestimating the potential impact of housing turnover in the next 5 to 10 years. This growth is also uneven.

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Housing development and natural enrollment patterns create more pressure in some of our current attendance zones than others others. We have already had to make less than ideal decisions in some cases bad decisions because we had no choice on program placements due to space constraints specifically at

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central school and woodland school is projected to experience significant growth as remaining round three housing is absorbed. ALT Mount Horb and Warren Middle School have comparatively greater flexibility in the near term. It is fair to ask, has Warren served more students

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in the past? The peak enrollment was 2353 students. That was in the 2006 year. So, yes, Warren has operated with more total students than we have today or that we know for sure or that we can project or

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predict in the near term. But capacity is not just total enrollment. During those high enrollment periods, which very few people who currently have kids in the school district remember, certainly not as parents, although some remember as students, things were a lot different in the way our schools

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operated. In order to make that work, the district made real space compromises. In some places, there were no art and music rooms. Those things took place in hallways or on stages. Intervention and support services took place in the hallways or other makeshift

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spaces. That's not the kind of student or staff experience that we're trying to recreate. It's certainly not what our community expects of us. The district also served students differently at that time. More special education students were placed out of district then because Warren had not yet

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developed the level of in district programming that is in place now. And preschool students requiring special education services were significantly smaller than they are today. and the obligations of how we serve students in both of those programs have changed as well. So the planning question is not

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simply how many students did we have and can't we just do what we did then. The better question is can our current structure support today's students, today's programs, today's community expectations and the projected growth in a way that we believe to be educationally sound, operationally

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sustainable, financially sustainable and consistent with the experience we want for our students and staff. Before the working group started comparing all the options, they established an evaluation lens. This these criteria helped the group ask consistent

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questions across each model and surface the strengths, constraints, and trade-offs involved. This wasn't a scorecard, but it was and it was not meant to rank or wait or mechanically select a winner. Instead, these criteria help make trade-offs visible. As we talked about student experience, program

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quality, preschool, special programs, transportation, facilities, organizational change, financial implications, and long-term sustainability, no model is perfect across every criterion. The recommendation required judgment about which model provides the strongest overall balance for Warren at

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this time. This is an AI generated image of what Miss Keller was trying to kind of lay out for everyone as far as the different options. Before the working group arrived at the three models, which I'll go into on the next slide, the district considered a much broader range of possible responses, which included

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construction, additions, temporary space, off-site space, schedule changes, program changes, resoning, gradeband structures, moving grades into different buildings, and other system level ideas. Some of those ideas were useful in the short term or for tactical adjustments.

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Others were impractical, too disruptive, too capital intensive, or did not sufficiently address the long-term challenge. The purpose of the narrowing process was not just to kind of get rid of these ideas. We really wanted to think through each one of them and identify which options were serious enough and feasible enough to warrant

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deeper modeling. The three models that advanced were the current model which I'll come back to in just a second, the intermediate school model and the parallel banded schools model. Those are the models the working group tested through all those different evaluation criteria. So first the

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current model. This is what we have now four K5 schools. However, they would be optimized as much as possible for space use. I'll share some examples of what that would require on the next slide. The second was the intermediate school model where there would be three lower elementary schools with K through three

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students and one intermediate school with students in grades four and five feeding into the middle school. The third was the parallel banded schools model where there are two lower elementary schools K through two and two upper elementary schools grades three through five and middle school staying as it is now. I'm purposely putting

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preschool to the side here because it's under a separate analysis. Preschool affects the decision-making uh but it has its own individual or or unique characteristics that have to be taken into consideration as well. As you know the working group moved away

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from the current model unanimously which is uh significant that it was that everybody based on the data landed on that. It's familiar. It's served us well for a very long time. It's we have there are no concerns about it being a broken model. The concern is that under projected growth, it's going to become

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more and more strained. And continuing to optimize the current structure would require repeated adjustments, annual or every other year resoning, constant program relocation like we did to autism and preschool this school year, repurposing of support spaces, uneven

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sections, staffing pressures, and reduced flexibility. This is also why we can't judge the current model only by what we've done in the past. The question is whether it can support projected growth with our expectations around programs, services, and learning spaces. As you know, the

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working group concluded that continuing to optimize the current model would likely require repeated compromises and reactive moves over time, which is why the working group unanimously removed it for further consideration. Again, not a rejection of our current elementary schools in any way, but a recognition

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that that model can't absorb projected growth without repeated disruption and significant program trade-offs. Which brings us to the two finalist models. After the current model was removed, we landed with intermediate school and parallel banded schools. Both

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were studied very seriously with in with uh in-depth looking at the tra strengths and trade-offs. They both have meaningful strengths and trade-offs. The intermediate school model offers a balanced response and has a more manageable scale of transition. The parallel banded schools model offered

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some strong long long-term alignment in certain places but had greater transportation and community transition challenges. Again, preschool placement kind of on a separate plane for this part of the conversation. So, let me get to the recommendation. After reviewing the working group's

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feedback and the district's analysis, the board ad hoc planning for growth committee determined that the intermediate school model should move forward as a recommended model for board of education consideration. For anybody who zoned out anywhere earlier, this is the main recommendation

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of the final report. Uh, and on the district website tomorrow, there will be a 30 plus page document with all of the backup for why this is how the where the the planning for growth committee got to this recommendation. The implementation details obviously need additional planning before any anticipated board

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action in September. The recommendation is not that one or the other was not viable. Uh the parallel abandoned model was also a viable option but intermediate brought meaningful strengths. Uh and it's believed to be the the option that has the most strengths for

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the district at this time. It addresses the long-term structural challenge while requiring less communitywide reorganization than the parallel abandoned model. It creates a focused grades four and five experience, makes strong use of existing space, and provides a clearer path to implementation. It was also used in the

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district for a short period of time previously. The parallel abandoned model offered some strong-term alignment like I said, but it required even greater structural change and community disruption. For those reasons, the intermediate school model is being recommended for the board's consideration.

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There's kind of three related reasons within there. Space, program, and implementation. On space, this model uses existing classrooms more flexibly. We project being able to serve several hundred more students than we serve today with the same number of of home

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room teachers that we have in place today because we can be more efficient with the way classes and sections break. Right now we have a lot of inefficiency when one school has a break of a class on space that allows us to not lead to more disruptive options like building a

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major addition or a new school in the projected time frame when growth is uneven the way it happens now. One building gets really strained even though there might be room in another building. This allows us to more flexibly address that by organizing grades four and five together and balancing the lower elementary

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enrollment across three schools. We can be more strategic about maximizing, for example, classrooms that have bathrooms in them for younger children. On program, the model creates a focused experience for our students in grades four and five that can support stronger grade level collaboration, more coherent

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scheduling, and a developmentally appropriate bridge between the primary elementary years and the middle school years. On implementation, the model addresses the long-term challenge with less communitywide reorganization than under parallel abandoned. No doubt it is still a significant change, but it

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provides a clearer and more manageable path forward. And that combination is what led to the recommendation. So what does that look like? Warren Township schools would operate three lower elementary schools, three K3 schools, one upper elementary school, which we've been using the term

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intermediate school to describe, and Warren Middle School would remain a grade 6 through 8 middle school. The district is targeting implementation for 2027 2028. That target is contingent upon board approval and completion of lots of planning and responsible

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implementation which we will talk more about in just a minute. I also want to be clear about what we are not at a place to talk about yet. This recommendation identifies the preferred structural direction. It does not decide implementation details. There are major open questions that need to be addressed

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before the board would make any vote in September. Obviously, the biggest one is which school is the intermediate school? Where should preschool be placed? What is the appropriate assignment of K3 students? What does it mean for transportation and school schedules, staffing, room, room use, and programs?

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I'm naming these now, not because we have the answers, but for transparency purposes. These are the major questions that have to be answered before the board takes a vote. Let me come back to preschool because I keep putting it off and I want to make sure that uh those of you with with young children know what we're talking about with preschool.

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It's important to be clear about what we are and aren't recommending here. We're not recommending what is known as preschool expansion aid for some people uh who may work in other communities, especially as educators. Uh the state had a program to expand preschool access in school districts. When we analyzed

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that, the amount of additional space and cost that would require on our local taxpayers was so exorbitant that it was taken off the list of things that should be considered. It would create more problems for us to to solve in from a structural standpoint. So, we're not suggesting full preschool expansion as

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part of the planning for growth recommendation. We're simply proposing to continue doing what we do now to meet the state requirements and support our integrated special education preschool model. The immediate preschool question is where it should be housed within that

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structure. We have a couple of options. It could be it could stay in one location as it is right now at Mount Horb School or it could be distributed across the K3 schools. Each option has implications for staffing, related services, transportation, bathrooms, transitions, and all kinds of available

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K3 space issues. And we need to analyze each of those implications carefully before making a recommendation. The period from tomorrow until the end of September when the board meets to to vote on a recommendation is we're referring to as the decision readiness

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period. The purpose here is not to finalize every single implementation detail, but we want to make sure that the analysis, the input gathering from staff, community, etc. And the board review that is needed is all done before the board is asked to make a vote. That work will include administrative

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analysis, topic specific work sessions, review by the board's ad hoc committee, and opportunities for staff, family, and community input. For example, at all of next year's back to school nights. The board is expected to have public checkpoints at its meetings on July 20th and August 31st before the anticipated

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action in September. The next phase of work will focus on the decisions that have to be made before that vote. Which school should be the intermediate school? How should preschool be addressed? The general concept of how K33 K through three students would be assigned. what it means for transportation and school

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schedules, special programs and student services impacts, and the preliminary staffing, financial, and facility implications. Some of these decisions need to be very specific so that the board has that information uh when it votes and the community understands exactly what the board is voting on.

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Others will be at a lower level. They're very important, but they're not for September. uh things around how do we make sure students who might be changing schools are cared for the exact student assignments that sort of thing. The implementation work would include

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final student assignments, transportation routes, school start and end times, roomby room program placement, staffing plans, transition support, facility adjustments, furniture, technology, classroom setup. It goes on and on as you can imagine. and importantly continued communication with staff, families, and the wider

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community. Again, the goal of the decision readiness period is to make sure the board has the information it needs to make an informed decision. Okay, for public communication, input, and engagement, this part is important for everybody who's uh tuned in tonight.

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This will continue throughout this period. We felt it was important to make sure that we were ready to make this presentation tonight while people were still tuned in before they went on summer vacations and that sort of thing. No decisions are being made until after everybody comes back, but a lot is going to happen in that interim period during

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the summer. And it's important that you know where you can find information and how you can give feedback if you wish to. The final report and this presentation will be shared publicly tomorrow. A letter will go out to all of our parents and staff tomorrow pointing to links to those places so that

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everybody is aware and we will update communityf facing materials on our website as major planning questions are answered. Questions and input can be shared at communitywarbe.org. Those questions will will shape the FAQ, identify areas where we have to do a

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better job of explaining things or where we haven't even attempted to yet and inform the work that has to happen over the course of the summer. As we refine those details, we expect to have additional opportunities for everyone to hear more and to ask their questions. The purpose of this recommendation is

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not just to solve a short-term facility problem. The purpose is to create a long-term structure that can weather that enrollment growth in a way that leads to better outcomes for our students even as we go through a transition period. The intermediate school model is intended to help Warren

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move from a system that is becoming increasingly strained by uneven growth, space limitations, and program placement pressures towards a structure that better supports student learning, program quality, staff collaboration, and sustainability. This work is about about planning before we're forced into

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making reactive decisions. Is about creating a structure that gives the district more flexibility, more coherence, and a stronger foundation for the years ahead. And to close, I just want to step back. Uh although I didn't grow up here, I don't live here now, I've done my homework on the history of Warren

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Township and the schools, and I think it's an important moment for us to reflect on where we stand in it and what our role is. So, aside from the models, the numbers, the timelines, uh this story is important. The structure we know today has served Warren well, but it is not the only structure that Warren

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has ever used. Warren schools began with one room schoolh houses then came together at central school. Over time as the township grew the district expanded, opened new schools, created Warren Middle School, closed schools during periods of declining enrollment, reopened schools when enrollment rose

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again, and throughout each of those changes made changes to which grade levels were at which schools and how the buildings needed to change to reflect the time of the school that it was in. The point of this slide is not to suggest in any way that this is easy.

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And if you go back and read any of the board minutes, it was not easy then as they went through those changes. As Warren changed, so too did its schools. And that is the moment we are in again. Our responsibility, one I know the planning for growth working group and the board of education takes very

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seriously is to make sure that we shape the next chapter thoughtfully. That means honoring what has worked, being honest about what has changed, and planning in a way that keeps our students and our staff members at the center. Throughout this process, the guiding principles have been consistent. Student needs first, inclusive learning

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environments, responsible and sustainable use of resources, proactive data informed planning, and a comprehensive view of the student experience. Again, it's about building an even stronger experience for students and staff and doing so with purpose, care,

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and enough foresight that we are shaping the future rather than simply reacting to it. I'll rejoin the uh the deis with the board and be happy to answer questions. >> Thank you, Dr. Mingle. >> Thank you, Dr. Mingle. >> Yes.

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So, uh, I know that this was literally, you just said it, a lot to digest verbatim. That's what I wrote. Uh, especially to those parents, uh, who may not have been tracking along with the progress over the course of the year and in the community briefings and our

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meetings. Um, since the ad hoc committee had finalized its recommendation for the intermediate model, uh, all board members have been given an overview of how we arrived, um, at that model in preparation for tonight's meeting. Um while we are not voting on this until September, administration and the ad hoc

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committee will need to spend significant time over the summer developing detailed plans. Uh so this is now the board's opportunity to ask questions, provide comments, thoughts in advance of that work. So >> all right, everybody's waiting for me to

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talk. Um, so I started out on the planning for growth uh working group uh last June as a parent and community member. I was not a board member at the time. Um, as Dr. Mingle reminded me at one of our

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meetings, I still am a parent and community member. Um, I would we put a lot of work into this. Um, and I don't take ownership of it. I this is this is a group project. Um but I would say I I would tell everybody

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this was a a thoughtful and thorough process. Um there was no predetermined outcome or hidden agenda at least that I could identify. Um there was a lot of valuable input from a ton of people with

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different viewpoints and different experiences and different interests. Um, I will say I wish that we could keep things the way they are. Um, but I would tell you that that's neither realistic nor responsible. Um, doing nothing is is

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just not a viable option. Um, I support the intermediate model and I thought it'd be helpful, you know, I I I do like kind of hearing myself speak, but to share why I support that model compared to the other options. Um,

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I think it most clearly resembles our current neighborhood school model, which I value, and I think based on the surveys we did a couple years ago, the community values. Um, instead of four ele elementary schools, we'll have three. It's still a neighborhood school.

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It's just a little bit bigger of a neighborhood. Um, it addresses growth, I think, in a sensible and sustainable way. Um, it provides an opportunity to improve and innovate

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how we educate our children. Um, I'm excited to see how we can better educate our kids in a more narrowly focused environment. Um, and I'm I know they won't want to hear they don't they don't want to hear this, but

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I will hold them to account on that. um because it's so important to me and I I think it's important to everybody up here obviously. Um and I think it's fiscally responsible. Um it I was concerned at the outset of this that there was going to be a push to build a

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new school which I strongly disagree with. Um I think this is a smart way to attack this very real problem. Um, and I think it I'm hopeful that it's also going to result in some operational

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efficiencies. Um, I recognize that families, staff, and community members are going to have significant and valid questions and concerns. Um, I've spent a year on this and I have questions and concerns. Um

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but I can say that I'm comfortable that the process that we went through was a good one and the solution is a wise one. Um and then finally as we move forward I encourage all stakeholders, staff, students, families and community members

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to be engaged on this and share your thoughts, questions and concerns. Um, we are all impacted by this population growth and this planning for growth process. And I, as a community member, I hope that you are assured that the

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people up here and the people that work for this school district are dedicated to making our schools the best they can be. >> Thank you, Mr. Broads. >> Me too. >> Any any other board member? >> Yeah, I have two questions.

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uh based on the demographer projections, how much time does this reco get us before another change? And if that's a question for the demographer, then we should ask. So the the we believe that based on the known factors, this gets us through everything that I presented to

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you tonight. What we don't know is natural growth and housing turnover after 2031. Obviously, we we'd have no idea how many babies will be born next year and the year after and that sort of thing. Um, one way I'm stealing your thunder perhaps is this is probably the

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last move we have right >> before we are out of classroom space. If we grow faster or larger than the projections are, we will not have as much time as if we grow as we are projecting. And to that point and I, you know, we demographers are making very

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well educated guesses. Our demographer has been phenomenally accurate to this point. Uh currently we're I think one student off from next year's projection based on our actual enrollment. Um and so we feel as confident as we can but okay >> sooner or later there will be a strain.

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>> Yep. Okay. Thank you. Uh the other question is what does this or does this not do to the current class sizes? >> Thank you. That probably should have been in the presentation. Uh this maintains the current class size maximums as they are currently in place which is just so everybody's clear 20 in

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kindergarten, 22 in grades 1, two, and three and 24 above that. So that and that was one of the things we actually asked a demographer for. In order to use class size as the lever to solve the problem, we would have had to go up to numbers that nobody in this room or online wants to hear me say like 30 or

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above. Uh and we that was off the table for the committee. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Other board members comments, questions. >> I echo Mr. Brody's on all fronts. um and support moving forward with the work that needs to be done over the summer to

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put the intermediate model before the board for a vote in September. Okay. All right. This is where you guys get to join us. Um we're going to move into the first opportunity for public commentary.

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Um, we have a lot more members of the public here both uh in person and online on Zoom than we typically have. I have a standard how we do this speech. I'm going to go through that and um but I'm going to go through it slowly in case

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anyone doesn't know how this typically works. Um, this is the first of two opportunities for public commentary. Um the second opportunity is at the end of the meeting and that opportunity is for anything anyone wants to bring to our attention. This opportunity is

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specifically for items that appear on tonight's agenda. That does include the planning for growth things. So this is your opportunity if that's what you'd like to speak with us about. If you have other things, there will be another opportunity for that. I'm going to ask that you raise your

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hand if you wish to speak and uh wait to be called on. Um we're going to start with everybody in the live audience first out of respect for them having shown up. Um when everyone in the live audience has had an opportunity to speak

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once, we will move to the Zoom audience where I will ask that you use the raise your hand feature in Zoom to be recognized. If anyone has a second comment they want to make, we will come back to the live audience after the Zoom audience has had an opportunity to

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speak. Um, each speaker is asked to limit their remarks to 3 minutes. Um, please begin your comments by stating your name and address and directing your comments to the presiding officer, not to each other. Um, please know the board

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welcomes and encourages input from the public. Public commentary is intended as an opportunity for the board to receive this input, but it's not a Q&A session. Following public commentary, if appropriate, the presiding officer or the superintendent

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um may provide some response, but even if we don't provide a direct response to your question, we we are taking all the questions down and this is going to form the um the seeds the the the first set of questions that are going to populate the FAQs which will be available

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publicly and online. So, as you speak, I know sometimes it feels a little awkward. you're up there, you're speaking, you have a question, and you don't get an immediate back and forth. Um, trust me, we we are taking that question. Um, and if it's something we're able to answer, we'll answer after

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all of the public commentary uh has closed. Um, so with that in mind, I'm going to look first to the live audience. Do we have anyone who would like to address the board of education on any item appearing on tonight's

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agenda? There's a start right here. Um the podium back there. >> Hi everyone. Um can you hear me? If you speak up just a I'm sorry. Yeah. And then name and address first please.

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>> Can you hear me now? >> Yes. Thank you. >> Okay. Um my name is Nicole Garcia. Um, I live at 11 Gregory Lane in Warren, um, with my husband and my three daughters who are ages 11, nine, and four. Um, I'm

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also a pediatrician in Warren. I work with Summit Health in the Warren location. Um, and I'm very proud to be a member of this community for the last several years. Um, I spend my

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off hours listening to my children rave about the Warren public schools and also of course complain about how difficult it is to be 11, 9, and four, respectively. Um, and I get to spend my days talking with Warren families and and helping um, parents to take care of

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their kids, which is like my passion and my joy and I love it. Um, this is a lot of wonderful information and I'm so appreciative of it because I have to admit I didn't really have a grasp of sort of what the different factors and

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considerations are. Um, it seems like a lot of decisions have already been made and they're well substantiated. Um, I guess my concern um is twofold. as a parent, my concern is that you're

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breaking up my family. Um, and um, I think that's that's just going to be hard for a lot of families. Um and I think my perspective as a working parent is that um I think that being a working

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parent has changed a lot in the last 20 to 30 years and the demands on us as parents but also as professionals has increased and I think that we work very hard um to try to be present for these

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really important moments in our children's lives because a recorder concert, you know, doesn't seem important for someone who's not a parent, but we know like a recorder concert is important. Um especially when you're playing the Rocky theme, which was really impressive this year, by the

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way. Um so my concern is that I think that this decision, albeit very informed, um is um it's going from making a working

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parent and being present for those moments. It's going from making that difficult to making that nearly impossible. Um because for us to be present for two pickups, two drop offs, sometimes

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three pickups, drop offs, back to school nights, PTO's, field days, career days, international days, right? Like these are things that are not tangible, you know, when we think about this at a at a population level. Um but there are

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things that really affect us so much um at a family level. Um and I guess my question speaking more as a pediatrician in this community is that I think that everyone knows the benefits

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developmentally, socially, cognitively, emotionally that come from being around not only your peers but being around people kids who are older. the mentorship that comes with being around kids who are younger and partnering with them and teaching them what it means to

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be a big kid. I think there's so much value in that. So, um I guess my hope is that that doesn't go away. And my question for the board as this planning continues, it sounds like this is a question still to be answered is like is

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there a way to try to maintain that mentorship um that our children have right now? So I think that's it. >> Thank you, Dr. Garcia. Anyone else in our live audience?

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Uh deputy mayor Hi, good evening. My name is Vanessa Kan and I live on three Overlook Drive. As a member of the working group, I want the community to know that this recommendation was not reached quickly or lightly. Over the course of many months,

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we examined a wide w range of options, reviewed extensive de data, asked difficult questions, and carefully considered both the short-term and long-term implications of each potential path. What impressed me most throughout this process was the seriousness and

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commitment of everyone involved. There were differing perspectives around the table, but we shared a common goal, ensuring a strong, sustainable future for our community. Every recommendation was evaluated through the lens of what would be best served for our residents,

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students, taxpayers, and future generations. The conclusion we arrived The conclusion we arrived at is a result of thoughtful datadriven process grounded in facts analysis and extensive discussion.

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While change can be challenging, maintaining the status quo also carries consequences. The reality is that we must make decisions today that position us to meet future challenges responsibly and effectively.

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I believe this recommendation reflects care careful planning, fiscal responsibility, and a commitment to long-term sustainability. Most importantly, it represents the collective effort of a group that took its charge seriously and worked

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diligently to identify the best path forward for the foreseeable future. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Kim. Anyone else in the live audience? Yes, please. Hello, Courtney Villanova. Uh 13 Brierwood Drive East. Uh I want to

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acknowledge the work that has gone into the process. I know planning for growth is a very complex process. Um but I think this is the moment we need to pause and ensure we are aligned with the families and taxpayers we represent before moving forward with decisions that will shape our schools. In November

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21, the district surveyed the community. When asked about building configurations, over 67% supported maintaining the current K- through5 model. That is a clear majority. And the priorities were clear. Nearly 66% said having siblings in the same school is very important. And over 61% said

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familiarity with staff is very important. So my question is simple. If this is what families told us matter most, why are we no longer doing everything we can to consider the option that best supports these priorities? As a working parent, this isn't theoretical, and it's not about resistance to change. Right now, I can

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step out between meetings, get my children on the bus quickly at the same time, or drop them off just minutes from home and stay engaged because school is so close. I can get them to activities like band in the morning, and volunteer for a quick lunch here and there when needed. That proximity is what allows me

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to keep a full-time job. If schools are separated across grade levels, that extra potential 20 minutes isn't just an inconvenience. It creates real hardships for families by making daily logistics harder and limiting participations like parent involvement. I'm also not seeing the data that

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clearly suggests that the K through5 model is not possible. There may be inefficiencies, but that is different from whether it can work. If this if it remains viable, it should be more fully explored before being removed. We needed

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to make trade-offs like in 2006 and they might not be ideal, but is that a trade-off our community is willing to make? The working sessions most recently relied on small group discussions involving a very limited subset of parents on the committee with even fewer who would be directly impacted rather

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rather than broad community engagement. More broadly, the recommended um options impact a large number of families across the district all at once. In contrast, adjustments like resoning over time tend to affect smaller groups, often with nearby schools, and preserve what families said have matter most, siblings

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together, familiarity with staff, etc. If our demographer is so accurate, why can't we resone once more in 28 or so, and that will also hold us to 2021? From a community perspective, the conversation is just beginning and moving through summer and toward a fall decision does not allow time for

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meaningful input. So I respectfully ask that before any decision is made, the board re-evaluate the removal of the K- through5 model, expand engagement so families can meaningfully weigh in, not just hear about decisions or submit questions, but actively participate in shaping the direction and ensure the

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direction reflects what the community has said matters most. because the work done so far should not outweigh the voices of the community and taxpayers. If we already know what our community values, then our job is not to work around it. It's to work toward it. Thank you. Thank you.

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Do we have anyone else in our live audience? Okay. Well, we'll come back afterwards if anyone rethinks that. Okay. Moving to our Zoom audience. Please use the raise your hand feature on Zoom if you would like to address the board on an agenda

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topic. Oh, >> Melissa Morano, please. >> Hi. Can you hear me? >> Yes, we can. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. Um, I just wanted to ask a question. Uh, regarding

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>> I'm sorry. Could we have your name and address first, please? >> Yeah, sorry. Uh, Dr. Melissa Morano, 7 Ellsworth Drive in Warren. Um, my three children go to ALT. Um, I'm I just wanted to ask about the transition support for some of the students because it sounds like if we're going to be

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doing three K through three schools, there's going to be a lot of transitions with the students. I have a daughter who's in first grade. So based on the projected um based on the projected changes, my daughter will probably transition from K

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through three to a different school, then back again. So, and I know she's not the only one. So, my biggest question is what support are we providing to these students? I know children are resilient, but a lot of change is also very difficult for children, especially when they know

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their peers and then they get relocated several times. So, just a general question. Thank you. >> Uh, thank you, Miss Morano. Do we have anyone else in our Zoom audience? >> That's Christina Lynch.

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>> Ash, I can hardly read it. >> I'm sorry. Ashley Freighus. I apologize. Ashley Freighish, please. >> No worries. Um Ashley Freighus 32 Red Hill Road obviously Warren. Um so I was just looking at the numbers and I know

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historically we went over and said that in the past we have reached the 2,000 you know student mark that was before all of this new construction all these new town houses and everything. Um, I would just love to ask the demographic

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guy what what makes us think that we're gonna not very much go over that number in the future if we have all this new housing in Warren that we never had before. So, I think I I mean obviously I'm hopefully this new plan will cover that, but I just wanted to mention that

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or ask that. >> Thank you, Miss Fredus. Other questions from our Zoom audience? Is that Mr. Valentino? Literally phoning it in. Mr. Valentino. >> Hi everyone. Sorry I can't be there tonight.

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Sorry, turn off my radio. Um, I just want to say it's awesome to see everybody here um in the meeting and I know in several months past we've had very limited um engagement from the public. So, it's awesome that we have this engagement tonight. I just wish that we could have this all the time so that

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hopefully I know I've seen a lot of people out in public and people talking to me and sending me emails and stuff kind of surprised that this is going on. Um, the more involved the public is, you know, monthto month, the more we can get accomplished. So, I just want to thank everybody for being here tonight and for being in the audience and being on Zoom.

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I think there's like 160 of us on Zoom, which is awesome. Um but just keep on being involved and then you know we can handle all these things a lot more efficiently without as many questions and uh have more community engagement. So thank you all for being here.

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>> Thank you Mr. Valentino. Uh Miss Gobo Trout. >> H yes I'm Kianne Scobbo Trout at 43 Old Smelly Town Road. I was just wondering um with the intermediate model if special programs breaks and ages would

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then reflect the breaks and ages for the larger general ed setting so that students would have inclusion opportunities and also curriculum exposure opportunities. >> Okay, we've taken that question. >> Thanks. >> Thank Okay, thank you. Um, Rebecca's

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iPhone. >> Hi. Uh, Rebecca Baron, 23 Origi Drive, obviously in Warren. Um, I just want to say I grew up in Warren. Um, I know that we have done redistricting before out of the three models. I do think this one is

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the best. Um, I'm just putting a little input in there that I don't think that the fourth and fifth grade should maybe be a replica of the middle school. Maybe switching over to letter grades, transferring classrooms. Um, just a little input for when they do get to the middle school, being a little bit more

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prepared um for for themselves. So, just wanted to throw that out there. >> Thank you very much. Um, Stephanie Cesar >> Cesar. Yes. Hello. Um, Stephanie Cesar.

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I'm at 15 Fox Glove. Um, I've been a resident of Warren for 5 years now, but in the public school district for two. Um, thank you very much. I appreciate the committee's work um, around this topic. I know it's very emotional and

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there's a lot more to be discussed. Um, and I apologize. I may have missed some of the earlier slides as I was popping in and out. Um, but a lot of what I've seen tonight has been, you know, more on the operational or logistical fixes as we're planning for growth rather than

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say student outcome focused such as, you know, the strength and their academic performances, moving from a unified K through five model, social well-being, emotional well-being. Appreciated Dr. Garcia's input on, you

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know, moving siblings around, the mentorship. Um, I know a lot of this will be discussed and and thank you for the opportunity for the community to really share these outcomes, but you know what I'm would really appreciate and like to understand and and feel very

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confident in is how will my, you know, incoming kindergartener in a few years, her day-to-day be stronger than what my current son who's in, you know, will be going into second grade will be. um you know and and I appreciate the historical narrative of you know where Warren has

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come from but you know it's been generations of a K through5 model I think over 50 years and it's been quite successful so that's a lot of strong data um and I'd really like to understand how going to an intermediate

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um model segmented in a way how that will be more beneficial than where we've come from. >> Thank you. >> Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Miss Cesar. Um, do we have anybody else in Zoom?

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>> Um, Miss Scobot Trout, your your hand is still up. Did you wish to speak again or >> No, I'm sorry. >> That's quite all right. Um, Alicia DRS. >> Sorry, hold on. My Hello,

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>> there we are. >> My name is Alicia Dros. I live at 18 Old Dutch Road in Warren. I do appreciate everyone's work on this committee and the building for growth. I do have two questions. Um, one is I currently work

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for Rucker Center for Literacy Development. Um, but I spent a lot of time in schools across the state. Sorry. One of my questions is I've seen the maturity level of kids change depending on the breakup of school. So, has there

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been studies about the emotional and developmental stud uh developmental what happens to kids when you create a four or five school? Um, I know we live in a world with Tik Tok and kids grow up very quickly and my main concern is when

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we create a four or five school, we are forcing those little fourth graders and fifth graders to grow up a little quicker. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Draws. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Do we have anybody else in our Zoom audience?

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Going once for the Zoom audience. Okay, I'm going to move back to our live audience for your opportunity. Last opportunity during first public commentary. Yes, please. >> Hi, my name is Jenna Stein. I'm at 22 Riggy

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Drive. Um, I currently have a kindergartener and a third grader. So, when this all comes to fruition, I'll have kids in two different schools. I know it's not ideal. I'm also the president of the PTO over at Central. Um, and I just know that this has been a lot of work on the planning committee

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and for the board of ed. So, thank you guys for doing everything you're doing. Um, one of the things I do want to mention about the PTO's and I know I've talked to the other PTO presidents about this about how we'll manage the new the

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2728 school year on the PTO front, the volunteer front. It's going to be difficult, but we'll definitely be working together over the course of the next school year and trying to figure out how to navigate that aspect of this change. Um, so I just wanted to put that

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one out there. And I know it's not the best situation and being a central parent as well, we went through this reszone my daughter's kindergarten year. It's going to be her fifth grade year. It's a lot of changes. I know there's a lot of emotions running high right now. Um, but I just wanted to put that out

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there that we'll hopefully all work together to maintain the volunteering aspect for all the parents, whatever school you may be at. Thanks. >> Thank you, Miss Stein. Anyone else in our live audience?

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>> Let me close public commentary. Okay. one. >> Oh, I I have somebody else popped up on >> No, >> popped right down. Okay, I'm I'm gonna give a last call to both um venues, both the Zoom and the live audience. Last

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call. Um this is a reminder there is a second opportunity for public commentary at the end. I Whoops. Well, there we are. We have somebody on Zoom. Uh Hillary Cohen, please. >> Hi. Yes. Um my name is Hillilary Cohen. I'm a resident of 12 Sandalwood Drive in

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Warren. Um, thank you for the presentation tonight. I just had a quick question about if other school districts in Northern New Jersey have done something similar and if we've studied how successful it has been transitioning

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um, and if there is a reason that the transition is happening so quickly if you're talking about 2027 school year. Um, and that was it. But thank you very much. Thank you, Miss Cohen. Okay, again, last call

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for Zoom and the live audience. Okay, do I have a motion to close first opportunity for public commentary? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. The first opportunity for public commentary has now closed. There

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will be a second opportunity if anyone has other topics or wants to revisit this. Uh Dr. Mingle. >> Yes. First, thank you for the the questions and the comments. They were extremely helpful in helping identify which are the areas that need different

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or further explanation, which is which is super helpful. So, I appreciate all of that. And there were several people who shared uh personal or professional backgrounds that would also be helpful to our work. And so, if you are somebody who feels so inclined um if you email communitywarante.org

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or to say you know I'm willing to serve on a focus group. I'm willing to be brought in to share my expertise. Um that is how we put together the working group that we have. And so we are very much open to those uh ideas. The people who served on the working group are not only current staff and parents. And by

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the way all the staff on this on the working group are also uh residents of Warren um who either currently or in the past had their own kids in our schools. Um but we have people there representing the National Institute for Early Education Research. we have people there who um are leading other school

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districts in the area at so we would be very happy to have that expertise in the targeted area. So please um communitywarbe.org share your contact information and kind of what areas you might be interested in. We we do not mean to overburden anybody but we know that we don't know

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all the answers to these questions and we'll be stronger if we can get the input from people who have that expertise. So that's the first thing. As far as the specific questions, I think none of them were so small that I can just in a quick, you know, minute respond to. So, I do want to take my time to make sure that we're giving you

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the information. The things that I immediately want to be able to follow up on uh in this Friday's update and in the FAQ are more of the background data I hear. So, right now on our website, you can read the entire demographic study. It's very long, but it has all of the

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demographers assumptions and how he reached the conclusions he reached, including um the the rates that we use for new housing are based out of um the Blousein School at Ruters University. And there's all kinds of tables across the state based on the number of

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bedrooms, where those bedrooms are located, whether it's low, moderate, income, or market rate, in what community is the housing going up in. So that you know, there are models to kind of do this. you can see all of the math so that it's it's all out there for you to read. Um, I know it's a little bit

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overwhelming for people, but it's there on the website. There's a planning for growth link and it has a handout from every single meeting of the group, including a summary of what they, you know, what the group talked about uh, and whatever backup we can provide. But I'll try to figure out some shorter versions of that information that'll help people see that. The other thing I

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did want to highlight which I talked to but maybe it's a little bit too tangential is um sort of the question about waiting or why why 2728 in instead of longer. I just want to reiterate something I said in the presentation which is we are already making less than

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ideal decisions and unfortunately those decisions affect the most vulnerable students in the community and so it doesn't affect everybody and so there's a feeling of like well I haven't had to see this so maybe it's not happening but moving our three-year-olds from central

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to Mount Horb this year was not easy for those children for their families for the staff moving several classrooms worth of students with autism from central school to ALT was extremely challenging for those children, their families, and the staff.

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And we were able to do that, but only because we didn't have another choice. We were out of room at Central School. The current kindergarten enrollment at Central School is significantly larger than projected um from from the 5 years ago enrollment information. And so it is

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true that five years ago the the community made a decision about reszoning to try to to to balance this but there were 40ome people on that working group and we said in that room at best this will buy us 5 years. The recommendation then was also to realign

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the grades that went to schools. The community uh was heard and the board at the time made a decision mostly because of the proximity to the COVID return to it's too much disruption right now. let's just buy five years and deal with this later. Unfortunately, we're in

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later now. And um I can't, you know, and like I said to Mr. Weinstein earlier, we can't promise what's going to happen five to 10 years from now. Um but as uh Mr. Brozby said earlier, this is the model that gives us the the best fighting chance to uh make a sustainable

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decision for at least the medium term without building a brand new school. And we haven't talked about dollars and cents, but the estimates for acquiring enough land to build another school and building that school are probably in the

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50 to $60 million range. Uh, and would take at least 5 years. We would still have to start making bad decisions to solve our problems until then. And the inefficiency of running five small schools is significant. And so um I just want to reiterate that this isn't a

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recommendation because everybody was hoping for a way to get to this model. It was what is the best option we have in a way that is responsible not only to parents but also to taxpayers who don't have children in our schools which is a lot of people and their voices were represented in this process too. That

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doesn't answer most of the specific questions. I just wanted to share that additional context and um as others have said this feedback is really helpful. The questions you ask will help us make sure that we're as strong as possible. The questions about what are the potential benefits are the ones that we are focused on as well. Uh we have to

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make a lot of logistical decisions obviously. Um but we want to get through a transition and then have our students in a position where they're even stronger as a result. Uh we do know um the way we came up with the list of all the models to consider is we looked at what every other school district in New

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Jersey that is like us currently does. There are a lot of districts that use a model like this. will be able to point to them, learn from them, understand what does and doesn't work. It's a little bit trickier to find places that went through the transition to this model more recently, but we know of at least a couple. And actually during

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resoning, we went and visited one and we learned from parents there mostly what they didn't like about the transition and tried really hard during our own resoning to address those things. In some cases, we were successful. In other cases, we learned lessons that we can apply here. Um, but that's just a little

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bit more context if there's any other questions. But I we did write uh type out every single question and comment that was raised so that we can get it into an FAQ for the future or future public information sessions. So thank you. >> I I want to make sure that absolutely everybody gets heard. This is a super

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important topic. Typically we wouldn't open this back up to board members, but Rich, you had something specific. Yeah, I just um you know as a parent as well and and not just being on the board but worried about how it impacts the kids. The intermediate model does allow some

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of the same benefits that we had in the K through five model. Um I love the mentoring component that was mentioned earlier, but we've got that K through third grade and you have those third graders that can mentor there and then we're still undecided on what's going to happen with preK. It's a larger discussion. So those fourth and fifth

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graders have the ability maybe to mentor them if that's where we wind up landing as we know we're still in that process. Um the other thing that I was thinking about as we kind of navigated through this process is you know we see our sixth and seventh graders having a that that those early years of middle school

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being a tough adjustment. you know, coming into all of these other students and how they combine with them and what those changes that they're going through um present them with what challenges um you know, socially, academically um and just I think having the ability

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to kind of come together in fourth and fifth graders when they're a little bit more malleable, maybe they're still a little bit kinder at that age, right? They're they're still a little bit more innocent. I think it presents a really good opportunity to prepare them to be more successful in a sixth, seventh, and

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eighth grade. So, there's those opportunities to look at as well. >> Thank you, Mr. Mulfetta. >> You're welcome. >> Um, since I opened it up to board members again, does let anyone else anyone else want to say anything? No.

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Okay. All right, then. Um, we are going to move on to items for board consideration. Dr. Mingle. No further. >> Nothing further. Uh, does any board member have any item um for board consideration they'd like to pull for a

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separate conversation or vote? Seeing none, Miss Keller. Motion to move items for board consideration A1 through A8, B1 through B16, C1 through C27, and D1 and two. >> Do we have a second?

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>> Second. Mr. Hegel. >> All right. I will call the role on the consent agenda. Mr. Broz, >> yes. >> Mrs. Dalton, >> yes. >> Mrs. Granholm, >> yes. >> Miss Keller, >> yes. >> Mr. Mulfetta, >> yes. >> Mr. Tor,

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>> yes. >> Can I call Ryan? >> No. >> Mr. Weinstein? >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Zand? >> Yes. Okay. We do not have any unfinished or new business. So, we are moving into our second opportunity for public

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commentary. Um, again, please state your name and address. This is on any topic you would like to draw to the board's attention, including any topic that's already been discussed. Uh, please limit your comments to 3 minutes and I will start again in the live audience.

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Anybody? Seeing no one in our live audience moving to Zoom. Do we have anyone in the Zoom audience that would like to address the board on any topic? Ms. Andrews. >> Hi everybody. Nancy Andrews from the uh

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Warren Township Education Association. So, as the summer is nearing and we are about to end, I just wanted to send a congratulations to all of our retirees on behalf of the entire Warren Township Education Association. We do have a large number of retirees this year. So,

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I wanted to thank them for their countless lives that they've touched and the lessons that they've taught and the care that they have shown to all of the staff and students at Guin over the years. And we wish them a new chapter filled with relaxation, adventure, laughter, and all the things that they

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never had enough time to do during the school year. And we hope that they enjoy every minute because they certainly earned it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Andrews. Anyone else in our Zoom audience that would like to address the board? Okay. Anyone in either forum? Yes, we

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have a live person. Could you would you mind so that it's captured on the video? Well, >> hi, I'm Alana Steel Marshki, 15 Noddingham Way. Um, I apologize to miss

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the beginning. I was at a Gota dance recital and if any police are listening I very safely drove here as quickly as possible. Um I did not hear at the beginning so I apologize if this was already discussed but I was curious if there was an option

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for an addition to the schools. I know you said that obviously there was a tremendous amount of fee for building a new school but I didn't know about adding on to a current school. So if that was said already I apologize. Um I also was curious about uh any remedies

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that can be done through additional buses or busing through two different schools in order to remedy any unevenness within the schools. Um the other thing is is that you mentioned Dr. Mingle also that there were things that parents didn't like when you asked them about models in other towns. So my

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question would be what would be those things? you mentioned it, but I would love to hear what those things were that did and didn't work and people who did like those models, what what they did because I have failed to see any benefit personally to to anything that I have

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read or seen. Um, and I just also wanted to um mention two other things. Uh, my daughter who just who was in kindergarten last year is now just finishing up first grade. And then I have a preschooler who would start kindergarten when that current child is

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in third grade. So I'd have a kindergarten, third grade. So obviously I have a vested interest in them being together because my little one has been dying to get on the bus with her and join her in school for as much as long as possible. Um my daughter loved the mentoring aspect. So whatever winds up

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coming to be, I will say that that was something that stood out with her both in the bus and at school, whether it was the reading component, the being the safety patrol, like all these things that maybe would no longer come to be

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when you have schools with such young children looking after a grade or two below them. Um, the other thing I wanted to mention also was my how things like PTO's and family events would be because I like that right now at Mount Horb, my

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daughter, my littlest one, is able to join things like trunk or treat. She's able to join things like um the family reading nights, uh, the family movie nights, all those type of things. So, as things potentially transition, the thing that I would most be interested in is

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even if you are going to do any type of separation, any time where you're able to bring all of those families together, even if it's not in your grade function, if you can do it in their space to at least have some events where multiple

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schools can come back together and those families can participate, whether it's school dances, uh family movie nights, trunk or treats, and it helps parents so they don't have to go to seven trunk retreats and all those other things as well. And um just off the top of my head, those were just a few things to

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mention. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Zoom audience or live audience? Anybody? >> Uh there's iPhone 209. >> Hi. Yes. Uh my name is Sandra Natal and

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I'm at 81 King George Road. Um, again, I understand this is all decided. I did want to just I I want to put my input um on all this. I am a a teacher myself, not in the district, um, but not too far

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away. Um, and I've been speaking to other parents about this and this still becomes a huge concern. I I do agree to maybe consider what the previous uh resident just said is maybe you know at a different school that I used to work

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at. They had um it was basically like they were like trailer like trailers outside of the classroom I mean outside of the school. Um, and again, I don't know I don't know logistics and stuff, but what I want to say is that many of

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us understand that the enrollment numbers and staffing challenges are difficult realities to manage. However, our concern is not simply about logistics. It's it's about the impact that these decisions will have on young

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children. and I teach elementary and I I I struggle with different types of transitions and I've seen it firsthand and frequent transitions between schools, teachers and peer groups can be challenging for any student especially our youngest learners who are still

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developing socially and emotionally and when you talked about you spoke about um you know co and stuff like that. I mean we saw that was that was a clear example. I mean like and and then we started to move towards seal because we saw so many of these children impacted

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by those huge transitions during that time. I mean families are are worried about you know our children having to adjust multiple times being separated from siblings losing like established support systems navigating new environments repeatedly. I mean, you

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just reszoned and if this was something that was talked about and you guys already knew what was happening, I mean, it kind of for many of us leaves us a little bit in the dust because you just reszoned and now you're going to do it again. And I get it. I listen, I understand it's very hard what you do

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and I appreciate it and I really do. I I'm just I'm talking now more from a concerned parent as well as an educator myself like and there has been different models that have been done in the schools that I have wor that I have worked in that are similar to this that

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have not worked and it has not gone so well and while I you know I do appreciate the efforts that are being made to find solutions I just hope that the board carefully considers not only the financial implications because that's what I heard Dr. Mingle Express, but also the social emotional well-being

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of the students who will be directly affected by these changes, you know, and again, we're still, you know, dealing with children from COVID that are still dealing. I mean, the again in my school alone, the rise of children, and again,

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this happened before CO, it started happening before CO, but CO really put a push on everything. Um, I mean, we have just so many challenges now with children. You know, I again, I know I'm probably sounding like, you know, just repeating myself

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with everything that's been said. I understand that you've I just wanted to voice my concern and I'm not the only parent when I tell you that there are I'm on five different chats with 30 people and and and and everyone is just

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really really really um distraught about all of this and and the fact that this was all made these decisions were made without really allowing us to really talk about this as a community. I mean it's it's decided. I I understand that. I can see that this is

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already decided. Um we're just asking for a plan that prioritizes stability, minimizes, you know, unnecessary transitions, and provides just clear supports for students and families throughout throughout the next two years or the next, you know, whenever this is

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going to go through. So, >> okay. Okay. Thank Thank you very much. Um thank you. >> Thank you. Um, Susie Vieira. >> Hi, good evening. Uh, so this is Susie Vieira. I live at 58 Green Valley, uh,

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Drive here in Warren. I've been a resident for about 5 years. Um, I'm a parent of three young children, very close in age, so two and a half, six, and seven. Two of them go to ALT. as a family and I and I know this has been reiterated several times among

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different parents on on the meeting tonight. As a family navigating the daily realities of the school system, I truly truly struggle to understand the rationale behind this changed and as many people as Sandra just mentioned, there are many chats happening in the

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background and it feels like more of a surprise versus and clearly this has already been decided on. Um, so I'm just here to voice my strong opposition really to this proposed model. Uh, the administration has framed this as a medium-term solution, but in reality,

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it's a temporary band-aid is what I'm looking at it and seeing it as. Given the volume of multif family and fair housing developments currently in Warren's pipeline, our demographic growth is inevitable along with other towns that are close by, too. So, people are constantly moving. And just as

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myself, I moved here for the school system. obviously not anticipating all these changes in such a short term the way I'm feeling. I'm sure there are many others who have just recently moved to Warren that are feeling the same way. Um

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and then furthermore, I did not appreciate uh pointing out to past presidents where families were split across buildings. I don't think that just that justifies future regression, right? So families again invest in Warren specifically for the stability and cohesiveness and community centric

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of this K through five school model. A lot of them have really close age children um that depend on each other. Saying that a third grader is going to mentor a kindergartenner or a second grader or first grader is not realistic to me. They are still children in my

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eyes. So very not a good point. Um, but really what my call to action is instead of adopting this short-term fix that avoids the real conversation about infrastructure, I think we need to we need some sustainable planning quite honestly. And you know, I will

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definitely be reaching out to be part of the working group and I look forward to future conversations. >> Thank you, Miss Vieira. Final call for comments in either the Zoom audience or our live audience.

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Going once. Seeing nobody else. Do I have a motion to close public commentary? >> Motion. >> Second. All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. The second opportunity for public commentary is now closed. Dr.

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Mingle, >> I know we lost a lot of our audience after the first one. So, I'll make sure that any thing I answer here is also in the FAQ, but there were some quick questions in here about um like what did what did we learn from other districts about the models. The the feedback we got was more about the process and the

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transition. So at that time we were just doing resoning. So we weren't asking them about we weren't changing our model. But the number one thing we heard from people in that community was that they felt um that things were rushed. So the board there talked about it publicly

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for the first time in May in May and they implemented in September. So they announced at a board meeting like this one next week you're going to get new school assignments and that's what they did here. And I highly encourage anybody who feels like they didn't have information ahead of time,

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please go on the website and go to the planning for growth link. There are 13 months of updates. We put them in every single Friday community briefing where there was a new meeting. We worked really hard to make sure people had information accessible to them. And I know and obviously people will feel the

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way they feel but I encourage you to go read that stuff now because as you go back you'll see it kind of lays out the process along the way and a lot of the facts that people are asking for. We'll do more to you know communicate that again going forward but a lot of the answers are there to why can't we wait

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longer or how will this solve the issue. We definitely as a planning for growth group looked at not only new building but also additional uh additions to the the buildings. the the district's architect of record came and showed the options. One of the challenges we face and this is on one of those month

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summaries is that most of our schools even when they look like they have a lot of land do not have buildable land. The middle school for example is almost entirely surrounded by wetlands. We are only we went all the way to the D to try to get this clarified several years ago. There's enough room to build one more

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classroom. Uh questions come up about things like well can we add on? None of the buildings were designed to be multiple stories. Can you knock down a wing and build a new two-story wing? Absolutely. But all of those things have trade-offs as well. And so that's all outlined in those places. We can outline them in the future when there are

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additional questions. Um, and we will certainly talk about the a lot of these ideas are kind of about what happens once a final decision is reached. And I just want to reiterate what I said in the presentation. The board is not voting tonight. They're not voting until the end of September. There will be, you know, there are two more board meetings

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between now and then, plus the communications that we already do. I know that there's a million distractions and challenges and all of that. The uh in the summer, we try to keep the community briefings to a minimum. Uh I really ask you to try to to read through them. We keep them as short as we can

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and then we'll link to more information for people who want it. Um but we do try to get that information out to people. And again, you can go back not only in this process, you can go to the information from five years ago when we explained the decision we made about resoning was going to last us about 5

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years. That is what where we are. Um, and we said at that time there are solutions that could last a lot longer than 5 years. And the feedback from the community was we don't want to do those things now. And so that is where we were. Um, the recommendation here is to get us as far as we can as far as we can

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foresee. I definitely can't promise it's forever. Um, but it's as far as we have data to support. And again, we'll put all that up. You know, any data that's not there that I'm referencing, we're happy to get for for the public. >> Thank you, Dr. Mingle. Thank you to all of the members of our community that

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attended tonight virtually and in person. Um, please keep coming back in, you know, interact with us and with this process. Go to the resources Dr. Mingle has has sent you to talk to board members. Uh, be involved. We do want to hear from you. And with that, Miss

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Keller. >> Whereas the Open Public Meetings Act, NJSA 104-11 permits the board of education to meet in close session to discuss certain matters. Now, therefore, be it resolved the board of education adjourns to close session to discuss specific, prospective, or current employees,

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unless all who could be adversely affected, request an open session. Action will not be taken upon return to public session. The length of the meeting is anticipated to be approximately 60 minutes and be it further resolved the minutes of this closed session be made public when the need for confidentiality no longer exists. Do I have a second?

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>> Second. >> All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. The board is now in executive session. Look at this. in the trash. >> Cannot possibly be anybody left in

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there. >> Probably. >> Wait, somebody really is. >> Motion to return to public session. >> Wait a second. And I have to write down motion was >> Laura Keller. Who do I have a second?

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>> Second. >> For gosh sakes. >> Kevin Broz gets the second and I was the only one who didn't say it. >> Exactly. All in favor. >> Opposed of state. We're not done yet. We're just back in open session. >> Oh,

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>> okay. At 10:42. >> 10:44. Okay. Motion to adjurnn. Do I have a second? And >> who wants that one? Bridget gets that one. >> Thank you. >> Um, all in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. We're done.

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Very good.