Yeah, >> the adequate notice of this regular meeting as required by the open public meetings act was provided by the posting mailing delivery and filing of this notice on January 9, 2025. This notice was on that date posted on
the bulletin board in the township office sent to the courier news echoes sentinel and tap into Warren 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 of
allegiance. >> Pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Mr. Hegel.
>> Right. I will now call the role. Mrs. Dalton >> here. >> Mrs. Granholm >> here. Miss Keller >> here. >> Mr. Mfetta >> here. >> Mr. Otto >> here. >> Mr. Tor, Mr. Valentino
>> here, >> Mr. Weinstein >> here, >> and Mrs. >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Miss Keller. >> Resolve that the board of education approves the public session minutes of the November 17th, 2025 board meeting. >> Second.
>> I will call the role in the minutes. Mrs. Dalton, >> yes. >> Mrs. Granholm, >> yes. Miss Keller, >> yes. >> Mr. Metta, >> yes. >> Mr. Otto, >> yes. >> Mr. Valentino, >> yes. >> Mr. Weinstein, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Zan, >> yes.
>> Motion passes. >> Thank you. Correspondence and information. Dr. Mel. >> Thank you, Mrs. Zan. Uh, nothing to report here in correspondence. On the HIV investigation report, there were five investigations, uh, all unfounded. Three at the middle school, one at ALT,
and one at Woodland. And on the suspension report, there were three inschool suspensions at the middle school, one inschool suspension, and one out of school suspension at central school. Thank you, Dr. Mingo. Good evening, and welcome to the final meeting of the
board of education for 2025. Thank you to Save a Tree for its donation of services valued at $1,750 for a beautifification project at Woodland School and which appears on tonight's agenda for approval as item
B8. Thank you also to the Warren Township Committee for its adoption last week of resolution 2025-187, which provides $90,000 of opioid settlement money to the Warren School District. The valuable assistance
offered by this funding agreement will support a comprehensive mentoring program for designated students in grades 6 through 8 who would benefit from adult mentorship to achieve academic and social emotional learning goals. The funding agreement will also support the expansion of services
provided by university behavioral health care and Ruckers University. The proposed programs are intended to address the underlying social, emotional, and mental health factors that can contribute to substance misuse by at risk school age children. The
proposed programs support the Warren Township School District's recently adopted 5-year strategic plan, specifically goal 2.2, strengthen mental health and wellness supports, and will enable the district to continue and expand services to students and their
families. And the funding agreement represents yet another instance of the elected officials on the township committee and on the Warren Township Board of Education working together to support the residents of Warren. Congratulations to Annabella Santos
owner on her retirement at the end of this academic year after serving the Warren community since 2001. Congratulations also on the retirement of Kathleen Hadu who has taught in Warren for 32 years. We are grateful for
their many years of teaching Warren students and wish them the very best. That's all. Dr. Mingle. >> Thank you, Mrs. Zan. Before I move into other comments, I want to briefly acknowledge an incident that occurred at Warren Middle School last week. Families
at the middle school have already received communications from Mr. AR regarding the discovery of hate-based graffiti during an investigation on Friday. I want to be clear that symbols of hate have no place in our schools and stand in direct opposition to our district's values of respect, inclusion,
and belonging. We take incidents like this seriously and our response is grounded in established professional guidance and a focus on student safety and support. The matter remains under investigation and our counseling and administrative teams continue to support students as needed.
just want to say that I appreciate the professionalism of all of our staff members and the partnership of our families as we work to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for all of our students. I also want to thank our staff and families for their patience, cooperation, and professionalism during last Friday's bomb threat investigation
and the delays to dismissals that that led to both at the middle school and at our late elementary schools. The calm and supportive response across our school community and the support from the Warren Township Police Department and other first responders helped ensure a safe and orderly outcome.
It's hard to transition out of that statement, but I also want to say thank you to all of the board members for your service over the course of the past year. Uh to Mr. Otto who's uh finishing his term on the board, thank you for your counsel and your your volunteerism over the last uh several years. I know
we'll recognize you more in just a minute. Thank you to Mrs. Zan and Miss Keller for their leadership on the board over the last year. As as you all know, it takes a lot of time for board members to do the work that it that comes along with being a member of uh this volunteer body, but being in the leadership roles
takes even more time with preparing for agendas, being present at all kinds of events, and it's very much appreciated uh by all of our staff, but certainly by me uh for what you do for us. And in preview for 2026, I did just want to mention that we have a couple of very important presentations that'll happen
right when we come back in January. So on January 5th, we will make a demographic study update presentation so that people uh in the community are aware of the information that we have about our enrollment for the next five years. And we will at that meeting also publish the full demographic study for
everybody in the community to to read along if they would like to. And then at the second January meeting on January 26th, uh Mr. Kimick, Mr. Hegel, Mrs. Lang, and I will be presenting a mid-year update on the implementation of our strategic plan goals so that everybody can see how things have been
going uh for the first half of this school year. With that, I turn it back. >> Uh thank you, Dr. Mingle. Um we have a presentation this evening, and so I'm going to drag Mr. auto to the front so that he can be seen prominently by
everybody. >> So Scott, Mr. Otto Warren Township Board of Education Resolution of Appreciation. Whereas Mr. Scott Otto has served the children and community of Warren
Township as a board of education member for three years. And whereas Mr. Otto has served the board as a member of the Finance Operations and Security Committee. And whereas Mr. Mr. Otto has served as vice chair of the finance operations and security committee and
whereas Mr. Otto has served the board as its representative to the Somerset County Educational Services Commission and whereas Mr. Otto has served the board as its liaison to the Warren Township Committee and whereas Mr. Otto
has established in the teaching staff community of parents and administrative team a reputation of trustworthiness, fairness, and commitment to the district's high standards. And whereas Mr. Otto has served as a
champion for excellence in all areas with particular intention to enhancing the relationship between the district and Warren Township while serving as the board's liaison between the two governmental entities. Now therefore, be
it resolved that the Warren Township Board of Education on behalf of the entire Warren community does hereby extend its sincere thanks and gratitude to Mr. Otto for his service to the children of Warren and does hereby wish
him all the best in all of his future endeavors. >> Thank you so much. I am going to give any board member who would like to a moment if they'd like to say their thanks to Mr. Otto, now's the time to do it.
>> Thank you, Mr. Otto. >> Um, It's a lot of work and um Scott does a lot of other things. So, we're very grateful and the time that you've given to us has been so important and so valuable and I've had you on the finance committee now for all three years, I believe, that you've been on the board
and your contributions have been really invaluable and have been very helpful. So, thank you and uh hope we see you around um because uh again you have a lot to offer. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone
else? Okay, we do not have any discussion items this evening. Um, and I do not believe that we have any reports on external assignments. So, moving on to the curriculum and technology committee. Miss Granholm, I
believe you're standing in. No, we will carry that. Okay. Moving then to the finance and security and operations committee. Um the finance committee met December 15th to begin our
2627 initial budget discussion. In truth, budget discussions are ongoing throughout the year. The finance committee and the board review and discuss all adjustments that occur throughout the year as we work with the administration to maintain the highest
attention to fiscal management. This meeting at the end of December, however, typically is our first hard look at where the next year's budget is likely to fall. So, a big thank you to Mr. Hegel and his staff for preparing the memos on the reserve accounts and on
the 2627 budget process and key budget drivers. Both members appear memos appear as attachments to the committee minutes and should be reviewed by all board members for the public. The process of building a budget is
timeconuming and we are months away from a formal presentation. However, information already available makes it clear that the 2627 budget will need to account for dramatic increases in some large line items, most particularly health insurance costs.
This is a reality also being faced by other public bodies. The Warren Board of Education is working hard to balance our commitment to the highest quality education and a fiscally responsible budget. So stay tuned. More to come very soon.
Also briefly discussed at the meeting was a update on repairs to the central school ball field fences. Um those will be completed in time for spring use. Um, and we did discuss the Warren Middle School mold remediation.
Um, we do have a commitment from the construction vendor to pay 25% of those remediation costs. The administration supports that agreement and the committee supported it as well. Um, and then the final thing that you'll
find on the minutes is the proposed 2026 um, schedule of finance committee meetings. The last thing said there and I will say here as chair of finance is to extend again my um thanks for the
support and the hard work of the members of my committee of the committee um Mr. Otto, Mr. Valentino and Mr. from Alfetta without whom um the the very very very hard work of making our way through the
um financial well-being um in you know supported by the administration um would be so much harder. So thank you. Thank you gentlemen all of you. Um that's all I have for finance. Um planning for growth working group Miss Keller.
The planning for growth working group met on November 19th to continue the analysis of long-term enrollment space and program needs. The group received an update on the draft demographic study findings from the district demographer. The working group examined architectural
concepts prepared in 2024 to better understand the capacity and limitations of each elementary school and then reviewed how restroom equipped classrooms influence preschool, kindergarten, and special education program placement across the district. The group also established the
evaluation criteria that will be used to compare models to handle anticipated enrollment growth and identified the specific modeling and data needed for that analysis. The working group met again on December 16th to review the updated enrollment projections prepared
by the district demographer. Dr. Mingle presented projections showing how enrollment is expected to increase over the next several years due to both natural population growth and new housing development. The review included projections by school and grade level, identifying which schools are likely to
experience the greatest impact and which are expected to remain more stable. A Q&A followed to discuss and clarify the information. The group is using this demographic study as a foundation for deeper analysis, including the evaluation of organizational and facility options and their educational,
financial, and community impacts. The district is planning a public presentation of the full demographic study results in early 2026, where community members will have an opportunity to learn more about the data and ask questions. No decisions have been made. The district remains committed to a thoughtful, transparent
process focused on student needs. Educational quality and long-term sustainability. Materials associated with all working group sessions are available on the district website. Thank you, Miss Keller. Um, at this time,
um, we will move into our first opportunity for public commentary. I ask that anyone interested in addressing the board please raise their hand or use the raise your hand feature in Zoom. Each speaker is asked to limit their comments to three minutes. Please begin your comments by stating your name and
address and by directing your comments to the presiding officer. Please know that the board of education welcomes and encourages input from the public. Public commentary is intended as an opportunity for the board to receive such input, but is not intended as a Q&A session.
Following public commentary, if appropriate, the presiding officer or the superintendent may provide some response. For this first opportunity, we ask that your comments be limited to items that appear on tonight's agenda. There will be a second opportunity for
public comment later in the meeting. Um, we do not have a live audience. So, moving to Zoom, is there anybody in our Zoom audience that would have like to address the board on agenda items? Seeing none, do I have a motion to close public commentary? >> Motion to close.
>> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstain. First opportunity for public commentary is now closed. Dr. Mingle, do you have any comments on agenda items? >> The only thing I want to mention is that
uh item A2, the 2627 calendar is as it was presented last month. There have been no changes. Uh I did share with the board through the ad hoc committee in an email exchange that we did check in about the date of Eid. Um we ultimately went to the mosque in Burners Township
for advice and we are following their recommendation for the date. It is there are different communities following a different dates for that holiday but we thought going to the most local mosque made the most sense to follow. And then I also wanted to point out that item C8 and C9
which are about um job description ch approval to create an approval to abolish positions. I just want to explain what this is a little bit more for uh the board and the general public. A few meetings ago we approved an extended day paraprofessional job description. And what that actually
means is we are reassigning existing paraprofessionals to also ride the bus before or after school. That's the extended part of their day. So they're serving as both bus monitors and paraprofessionals. Not only does that create more consistency for the students who might
need a bus monitor on their bus, but it allows us to u do essentially an extra job with one less person. So we're able to u highlight staff members who are willing to take on that extra responsibility. It's hard to fill those bus monitor jobs a couple like you know an hour in the morning and an hour in
the afternoon. And so this allows us to really double down on our existing staff. So credit to Mr. Hegel and his team, Escorski, on coming up with a creative way to to solve that challenge. >> Uh, thank you, Dr. Mingle. We do have a request to pull item C6 for a separate
vote. Other than C6, does any board member wish to pull any other item for a separate vote or discussion? Seeing none, Miss Keller, I'll do all the other ones first. Motion to approve items for board consideration A1 through
A5, B1 through B9, C1 through C5, C7 through C13, and D1 through D2. >> Second. >> All right. Um, going to call the role on the consent agenda minus C6. Mrs. Dalton.
>> Yes. >> Mrs. Miss Granholm, >> yes. >> Miss Keller, >> yes. >> Mr. Mfedith, >> yes. >> Mr. Otto, >> yes. >> Mr. Valentino, >> yes. >> Mr. Weinstein, >> yes. >> And Mrs. >> Yes. >> Motions pass 80. Thank you.
>> We're going to move and second C6, but before voting on it, we'll open it up for comment. So, Mr. Valentino, would you like to make the motion? >> Thank you, Mrs. Don. Yes. I would just like to congratulate Miss Ordner and Miss Hadu again on their retirements from a long happy career with the Warren Schools. And this is especially uh
important for me. Uh Miss Hadu was my second grade teacher and she was I was her first class the year she graduated college. Um and all three of my children have had Miss Hadu for second grade and they all love the experience as much as I did. And we're fortunate that our youngest child, Collins, is in her final
second grade class. So, kind of brings it home for us. And I just wanted to extend my congratulations to Miss Haydu once again. Um, you will be missed, but we uh we loved having you as our teacher. Thank you. >> That's an amazing testament. >> That's pretty cool. >> Yeah, that is very cool.
>> Um, great. That's it's wonderful that we are raising children in the kind of district that keeps teachers that long >> and multigenerational. Thank you for sharing that. >> Thank you. >> Um, anyone else? Do I have a second on the motion? Second.
>> Okay. And with that, Miss Kell. Oh, actually we have a motion and second. So, Mr. Hick. >> All right. So, this is C6. I have Ryan Valentino as the first and Scott Otto as the second. >> Yeah.
>> All right. Mrs. Dalton. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Granholm. >> Yes. >> Miss Keller. >> Yes. >> Mr. MFetta? >> Yes. >> Mr. Otto? >> Yes. >> Mr. Valentino? Yes, >> Mr. Weinstein. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. >> Yes. >> Motion passes 80.
>> Thank you. Um, we do not have any um unfinished or new business. So, we are moving on to the second and last opportunity of for public comment in the year 2025. So, if we have anybody who would like to
address the board on any topic, um, again, please limit your comments to three minutes. uh state your name and address at the beginning and again we have no live audience so we'll move directly to the Zoom audience is there anyone in our Zoom audience that would
like to address the board on any topic last chance seeing none do I have a motion to close public commentary >> motion to close >> second >> all in favor I >> opposed abstain Second opportunity for public comment is
now closed. Miss Keller, >> whereas the Open Public Meetings Act, NJSA 104-11 permits a 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, 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 10 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? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. Obstain. The board is now in executive session. just going to read the same thing and you're just going to write.
>> You're just going to say I got it. >> I don't know what the exact wording is. >> Nobody's going to be fine. Just there >> because we have to do that whole thing and we go back into executive >> for a different reason.
>> You won't be rich. >> I do. >> Um, do I have a motion to return to public session? >> Motion. All in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. We are now back in public session. We are going to call for a second executive session, Miss 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 issues of public safety. Action will not be taken upon return to public session.
The length of the meeting is anticipated to be approximately 10 minutes. Be it further resolved, the minutes of this close session be made public when the need for confidentiality no longer exists. Second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I I opposed abstain. We are in our
second executive now. Thank you. to go back into public session. >> Motion to go back into public session. >> Second. Anyone? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. >> Abstain. We are now back in public session. >> Motion to close. >> Mr. Otto.
>> Go ahead. The last time your last. >> No. Go ahead. Scott Motion to do >> I have a second. All in favor? I opposed. Abstain. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Quanza.
Happy New Year. Everyone have a great winter break. Thank you. You're welcome.