[Music] good evening we called our meeting into order during our closed executive session and now we can begin the public portion of our meeting um also wanted to wish everyone uh well not every happy Lunar New Year to those who are
celebrating um and I'm gonna turn it over to Dr adal uh good evening everybody um as we start our second uh meeting of the year um I just want to take a moment of pause um this earlier this week the district messaged um the tragic loss of one of our colleagues um and so I just wanted to uh spend a moment talking about the
passing of uh Mr Arthur stubs art was a dedicated educator and coach at uh in wwp and at High School North for the past 23 years um he was involved in a sudden and unexpected medical incident back on the 13th and he passed away from complications uh this past weekend our condolences go out to uh Arts family his friends his colleagues and his students um
and I want to send an special extension of condolences to his children Morgan and art Jr um as I said he was a uh P teacher and coach for numerous athletic teams both at North and CMS he supported our students and their development in the weight room uh he was beloved um by his colleagues and by his students alike um had the opportunity to spend yesterday at high school north um working with staff
and working with student and there is no doubt that Mr stubs left an indelible mark on that school Community um he was a friend he was an advocate he was a coach and and a a mentor and friend to so many um whether it was the veteran staff or second-year teacher um his impact was was evident um while while being there his students talked glowingly and wrote beautiful notes and
letters about him yesterday and thinking in remembrance um so in that end I just want to send our thanks to Arts family for sharing him with us for these past 23 years um want to remind our families that if your children need support to please reach out to our school administration and our counselors uh We've made information and support for families available on the district website um and um while we are um
off tomorrow for our students and our staff with the celebration of Lunar New Year um we also recognize that Services um both Wednesday night and Thursday will be ongoing and we'll continue to support the North Community during this uh sad time so I'm going to leave my public comments just to that in in the memory and thanks to Mr stubs and his family thank you thank you for those words Dr aderhold uh we'll now move on to
the 20 23 2024 annual comprehensive financial report Mr mlen good evening everyone I appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight to uh present the results of the 2024 audit um I did a little something different this year I handed um I sent over a uh package which includes about
a seven or eight page presentation just to summarize some of the uh highlights of the audit and talk about more about what we do during the audit process because they're really your financial statements we just take a look at what you do and put and put an opinion on the financial statements uh the state moved the report deadline to January 15th this year uh your report was filed on time so there's no issue with that uh just compare to uh where we were last year or even this year on January 15th at the end of the
day there were still 25% % of the audits in the state that were still not filed um you are not one of those um last Tuesday night I met with the finance committee and the administration to go over uh the numbers in detail and again I'm just going to go over high level and then of course answer any questions you may have before I get started with some of the specifics I want to thank Dr aderhold uh Chris Bonnie Derek and the team up in the administrative office because we ask for a lot of information whether it be vouchers payroll
information uh student information and so so forth um they're very very good at getting us the information we need in order to get us to the point where um we're able to complete the audit I also want to recognize the board as well as the school district for 16 consecutive years of receiving the certificate of excellence in financial reporting uh that's given out by International asbo International Association of school business officials which is a review of your of your audit report and
your financial statements done by someone that does not live in the state it's a CPA and then they render a decision every year as to whether you qualify or not you're one of about 30 districts in the state of New Jersey that receives that out of the 600 plus um that exist so when we do the audit we just we touch on a lot of different areas we touch on uh the general and school administrative areas uh we touch on instructional areas student services cafeteria um your Capital Improvements your debt service there's a lot of
areas we touch on Transportation we're looking at your drts which is your uh transport students report we look at the Assa which is your application for state school aid which compares the number of students that are reported to the state versus the number of students you have on record uh as of October 15th of every year so it's a very very all-encompassing uh audit that we we meet with a lot of different people in a lot of different departments it's not just Chris's department where we're sitting in the office and doing the work so throughout the course of the
order we look at your internal controls over payroll we look at your cash dispersements and purchasing we look at your cash receipts and revenue and we perform testing to make sure that the controls in place are there to prevent or detect anything from going going wrong and at the end of the day the district provides us with a set of financial records that we have to audit and we have to basically look at that information and render an opinion on those financial statements as to whether it's a clean audit or not and I'm
happy to report report that the uh audit report this year as it has been in the past years that I can remember it's a clean audit meaning the information provided was materially accurate and the information presented can be relied upon it's in the financial report um we also follow standards of government auditing standards where we have to look at certain internal controls as well as compliance in accordance with government standards and then we also as part of a governmental entity we have to perform audits of your various grants whether they be federal or state grants that we have
to look at on an annual basis on a rotational basis uh in the actual annual comprehensive financial report that I hope I think you've received if not you you'll I'm sure you have an electronic copy there's four sections to that the introductory section is really your section um it gives you as a district the opportunity to praise what you've done internally from a board perspective highlights accomplishments and so forth the financial section is where all
the numbers are the statistical sections are are towards the end which are 20 different schedules that show kind of how you compare year-to year for the last 10 years whether it be from a tax perspective and so forth and then the last section deals with your federal and state grants called the single audit section so what are the results again I mentioned it's an unmodified opinion the district continues to be in very very good financial position and continually to prudently puts funds aside in various
Reser reses whether it be for Capital maintenance and emergency reserves all within the statutory requirements and legally restricted um thresholds from an internal control perspective there are were no control exceptions identified no material weaknesses and no significant deficiencies and from our audit of the grants we looked at from a federal perspective the Child Nutrition program this year as well as the acers program and from a state perspective we look
at the overall formula Aid grants as well as Debt Service Aid which are different from what we looked at last year all of which we did unidentify any any uh items of non-compliance and we also rendered a clean opinion on those financial statements as as on those grants as well uh from a imag Report perspective there were no findings that will require corrective action this year and again I just want to summarize by saying a very very clean audit and again giving credit to the administration for their work and efforts throughout the year it's a it's
a full year process and then it's a several week process of getting the financial statements together and Performing the audit so Chris and his team do a great job and it's a pleasure to do work here because we we expect nothing less than than great financial records which makes it easier for us to audit so with that I'd like it to turn it over to back to the board if you have any questions thank you g make sure I don't take yours thank you for that presentation uh
do we have any questions from the board thank you so much thanks and now uh Dr Russo will uh do our 2025 26 budget presentation
okay now for the good stuff um so yeah this is the first of uh several presentations we'll we'll start to do this monthly as we uh as we move towards the final budget so uh you know every budget's put together with the ethos of the community and
the uh the concepts of the uh Administration uh and the board uh you know with every pretty much every step we take and it is so the you know we start with the Strategic goals we real you know we've read those many times you'll see those with each of the budget presentations and then you have you know we understand that all students have diverse needs and backgrounds we Embrace a rapidly changing world we recognize the students that need balanced social and emotional uh needs and uh we
want to cultivate diverse a diverse and inclusive community so all of our financial decisions and planning decisions take uh those goals into uh into mind what's a school budget it's about our priorities for our students it's about money schools operate in a fiscal calendar from July 1 through June 30th uh the meat and potatoes of the budget are put together from December to February um there's two simple rules the tax revenue must be within cap so there
are caps on on the money that we're allowed to raise in local tax revenue and the revenues must equal expenses that has to be balanced School budgets a planning tool it considers contingencies it manages risk must be fiscally responsible it's reflection of our values and the budget must consider safeguards and buffers so what's the process pretty much I'll say when we approve this on April 29th the next day we'll be talking about the successive Year's budget but a pretty much summerfall Finance committee
starts discussions uh ANF committee uh you know starts discussing Capital project needs the curriculum committee starts discussing program of studies needs uh December we have a Boe Retreat to see where we are at that point midyear budget review happens with the at the County office the county office reviews where we are with this budget what our anticipated needs are for next year we kind of get an update from the county what the state is saying uh at you know regarding the subsequent Year's
budget November to February we meet with the budget managers right now Derek my assistant and sometimes me and you know sometimes Dave and well Dave derck and I meet all the time but people come to either the three of us and share different needs as we realize that they have brought something up us to us we'll meet with them and then we'll share with the other two um January through March right now Boe public budget discussions late February the governor's address will be the last Tuesday of the month state aid numbers will be out the last last uh
Thursday of the month um last I heard they're still on schedule for that this year March 18th is when the board will take action to adopt the budget and we'll file it by March 20th which is the statutory date uh April 29th will be the public hearing for the final adoption uh of the budget for the 2526 year uh we've received a certificate of excellence from asbo International for the 16 consecutive years and a meritorious budget award for eight
consecutive years certificate of e Excellence uh Derek does a lot of work on it it's based on the audit uh what you know when the with the audit findings and I say that in a positive way because there are no audit findings based on the results of the audit meritorious budget award is based on our budget that we put together where's the money come from comes from local taxes state aid federal aid grants interest tuition budgeted Surplus and res Reserve withdrawals uh important
points on Revenue Appropriations I.E the expenses can change during the year the revenues do not uh we can't ask for for more money we have to spend within the areas within the revenue that we can raise during the year there's a budget cap we can only increase tax Lev year-over year by 2% there are spending growth limitation adjustments for health care and for certain pieces of Health Care and uh
for uh for student increases more than 10% uh year-over year the district has an additional taxing authority to collect Debt Service from sep separate from the general fund that is something we have not chosen to do we collect our debt service within the general fund uh collection where does the revenue go I love this slide um I usually do it on my hand for other people I only name five things and then I get to supplies and textbooks notice supplies and textbooks have an asterisk why why is it that
far down and why does it have an asteris because you have to pay for the salaries and benefits you have to pay for health care you have to pay for utilities repair and maintenance Professional Services technology and transportation tuitions Support Services special education then you can get to supplies textbooks and materials that's the only discretionary piece of a school budget and it's typically maybe 2 to 5% of the total budget then you have capital
projects that's for improving our facilities cost drivers we have salaries we have to follow a negotiated agreement health care we were self-employed uh self-employed self uh self-funded uh health insurance for four years yeah four years I think it was um the reason it was three yeah it because it's mid year I'm confused with three and a half or four it was four years um we were receiving we received a couple catastrophic claims High usage and with
the uh uh with the uh weight loss the oics and these sort of drugs we saw that our renewals for our reinsurance was going going to come in somewhere in the 17 to 30% range so we realized that was was not sustainable anymore were we were able to enter the school's Health Insurance Fund and uh we negotiated with a 2.6% um like safety
margin a 10.6% increase increase uh for the first year so uh healthc care is going up by that much we did realize today that we had 43 new enroll Le in our Healthcare uh just information that we just found out either uh you know coming off of uh waivers or or um aging out at the 26y old so you'll see numbers later they'll have to be adjusted up when all the the calculations are done Transportation we're coming off with two years of very high inflation uh we're
anticipating a 4% increase based on the calculation that we do which is close to a really strong guess um but there it's 4% estimated 4% on an already inflated number if that makes sense transportation's gone from around $10 million to almost to essentially $19 million in the last three years facilities going out for RFP for cleaning services um this again is going to be an inflation an inflated
number based on recent inflationary issues uh no doubt that a company coming in or whether the company that is in currently will try to put together um an RFP that will meet their actual needs uh that's a five-year contract two years with three renewals and our concern is that numbers going to go up about 10% over current Insurance increases as a result of natural disasters theft covid and cyber
security special education we have staff increases due to increase in Special Needs population not only entering the district but bringing our students back from out of District placements um and possible and we're also concerned with special uh reduction in federal funding tuitions out of District providers private outof District providers do not have to follow the 2% tax levy cap uh so we have been noticed by several of them already that the
increases on our tuitions will be more than 10% instead of anywhere near 2% instruction we have Tech platforms you know that obviously through covid we ended up bringing a bunch of new tech Platforms in we're sorting through them what is efficient what's actually working what's not uh and our subscriptions we have language arts arts and Ma language arts and math standards review uh we have to review and that and therefore we we're going to have different resources to to get get us
compliant to where we need to be the original OG training uh DL DLI training mtss intervention uh Orton Gillingham training is OG DLI dual language immersion training mtss multiple tiers um of intervention uh strategic goals and responsive classroom uh are all the platforms now that will uh you know we'll be looking at the costs and we're trying to we're not negotiating as with someone we're figuring
out what they are because they are the programs that we want to move forward with so this number is huge this is our Gap right now between revenues and Appropriations this number is actually let me make sure I feel like I jumped over some no I didn't I'm there this number is actually higher than it is right now but um we weren't going to play with numbers and make them confusing so the shortage between revenue and Appropriations right now is $8.9
million um you see uh the ABM custodial uh you know we assume that's going to that's going to be 687 th000 that's uh that's an increase healthc care would be about 3.1 million increase but based on the information we got right before the close of day today um that number is going to be four uh Insurance you know trans Transportation you know uh we'll see that might go down a little bit buildings and grounds will be stay there
purs will probably go up a little higher than what we have there technology might go down a little bit special ed they'll be right in that area energy is a wash no increase and that's because of our uh esip and our energy sa prior energy saving programs um clubs and activities the the the the contractual stiens and rates changed uh that was that change was not budgeted in this current year so we have to budget it in this year so right now we're trying to make up
a shortfall of Revenue of about $8.9 million that's a topic that we'll see in February once we receive our state aid and we can actually dig into that number capital projects one thing that's great here we try to keep our facilities uh uh looking good and being efficient and safe roof replacement at Town Center we're waiting on hopefully a rod Grant uh
you know we put in for a rod Grant this is a last year full year ago um there was a uh essentially a the down there was a mix mix up and a download from our uh from our uh architect so we did not get the first round we're hoping and we've spoken to the uh people in charge at uh you know at the school facility's office and said that essentially um our roof project would have been in in a
tier one program and it was not because of the submitt there was a mistake in the submitt uh we should have been allowed to remedy that the state did not allow us to remedy that it is in their own bylaws and their own procedures that it can be remedied they did not allow us to remedy it purchase Pathways 72 Grovers Mill it's the first year we have two years fourth and fifth year this is the fourth year we can actually purchase it uh robotics room electric this is to split some of the circuits in that
room High School North uh Theater seating and flooring we worked on the light um the lights this year meaning the uh the uh stage lighting this year we're going to work on the seating uh and flooring in next year's uh budget High School North various projects and this is in the culinary arts lab to uh to improve it we want to do electrical upgrade uh we want to do a culinary uh we want to do the hot water uh a separate Standalone hot water system for that and then the PA for the entire building the
electrical upgrade for the uh culinary room is uh the plug in um separate items along the outside wall on the countertops uh for uh more home style kind of uh instruction um you just for the sake of little you know little pieces but anyway High School auditorium technology upgrade uh GMS 4year upgrade uh EIP 2 contribution uh which may
or may not H will stay in the budget but we may be lucky enough when all the dust settles on the calculation that won't be needed but we do have to budget it because if not we would not be able to go forward and uh Dutch neck HV HVAC for an improvement in um an area that's lacking right now that's the mean and potatoes and budget some exciting I call it exciting news it means more work but it's exciting um esip 2 so so and EIP
is uh has an investment grade audit so the investment the first investment grade audit was done 5 years ago and that's to see the projects in which in the area in in the district in which we could improve through esos I mean esos through ecms energy conservation measures and uh so we have that audit when we did the first esip we were not able to include all of those energy conservation measures in the savings we could not save enough to pay pay for
them if if that's the short version so we're allowed to take another bite of that Apple you know in this EIP 2 the funding mechanism for the EIP 2 uh or the solar car ports um that will produce you know that will reduce our energy electricity usage or you know for the Off the Grid and it will uh that will produce enough savings for the uh a complete new hva hva
system in the Mars Hawk Elementary School New Gym there's four units in the gym at Grover new boilers at Village a new heat pump at High School North and integrate more of the HVAC equipment onto one control system the finance the project the uh firm doing uh Schneider who's handling our uh who's handling the process not the company doing the solar car point point carport but the company helping us with the Energy savings Improvement project project is putting
1.1 million in their corporate tax savings from the first project get donating it back to the district for the second project and then we're budgeting a half million dollar local share SE when this is done 71% of the District Electric supplied will be supplied locally three to four schools will be at roughly Net Zero electric usage um little sidebar I have to go there um we wanted to do this parking lot the utility company wouldn't allow us to do it we wanted to do over utility company
would not allow us to do it because of the grid stress on the grid Town Center roof same thing had we were we able to do them seven of our schools would be at Net Zero electric usage so um we're not going to be able to get to that until you know um the grid is enhanced but uh you know there's no reason to um not do what we can do questions this is the first presentation there'll you know be several more and then obviously
March 18th is the big night thank you so much for that thank you so much for that presentation do we have any questions from board members cool okay thank you so much now we're going to the board now will be uh the first opportunity for public comment uh the board invites thoughts and reactions on agenda items and items concern from members of
our community who are present each participant is asked to give his or her name and address and address prior to making a statement which will be limited to 3 minutes in accordance with board policy 0167 all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer this public comment period shall be limited to 60 minutes do we have any public comments hi anuraga blash
resident of nine Chestnut Court West Windsor good evening uh members of the board and School administration and everybody else on November 25th 2024 an allegation was made against a lunch Aid at the Dutch neck elementary school regarding inappropriate student contact during lunch the aid was immediately suspended pending a district investigation on December 4th the investigator from the state
of New Jersey's institutional abuse Investigation Unit conducted a thorough inquiry concluding that the allegation was unfounded specifically the report stated that the child was not abused or neglected and the child was neither harmed or placed at the risk of harm subsequently on 10th of January 2025 the lunch Aid met up with Mr Duncan and Dr aderhold expecting a fair discussion to
provide context and respond to questions instead what happened was far from a fair discussion he was shown a video clip of the incident and informed of the intent to terminate him because his conduct was inappropriate and unacceptable he did not get a chance to present the context in which the incident happened he came out of the meeting with tears in his eyes for the past 10 week this audio has been
an immense source of stress for this 78-year-old lunched who happens to be my father at this point I speak not to contest his termination but to highlight the lack of due and fair process he was not given a fair chance to access the fundamental details of any investigation such as even the complaint any investigation details or the final investigation report additionally as English was not his prime primary
language he requested my presence to support an effective communication which was denied at this point I seek answers to three questions first what policy document of the school district outlines the process for such investigations particularly when the state findings deem the allegations unfounded second what policy document of the school district sorry second
how does the district Define inappropriate student contact specifically when a child is not abused or neglected and the child is neither harmed nor placed at the risk of harm caregivers and staff sometimes make physical contact with students to ensure the safety of these students sometimes to perform their own duties effectively and sometimes for their own safety it is crucial that such interactions are evaluated fairly and
with context my third question therefore is in this incident how was the context of the incident understood and how was the understanding of the context used to determine it as inappropriate thanks so much I conclude thank you do we have any more public comments hi good evening my name is Dan Weiss 15 Canoe Brook Drive in West Windsor I really just
came here to introduce myself um for those who don't know me I am a councilman here in Wester Township I just started the second year of my first term and in our reorganization meeting uh earlier this month I was appointed as the council lay is on towards the Board of Ed um so I just wanted to really just introduce myself I know some of you but not all of you and um I'm going to apologize in advance if I don't remember names one of the
skills that I'm still learning is matching names and faces um so if I ask you to reintroduce yourself um please um don't be offended by that um I plan to participate and attend um all your meetings and um um happy to help out wherever I can um my door is always open my you know you can call me email me um and um I'm also very um much willing to participate in any um subcommittees or wherever um my services can
be used so thank you so much thank you do we have any more uh public comment no no oh oh uh seeing none um I'm I'll close the first opportunity for public comment uh thank you
councilman Fort your introduction tonight and welcome um I'm not going to go too far in response as it's a personel matter in front of the Board of Education this evening I'll simply speak to process um any investigation that's conducted is conducted lawfully and appropriately in compliance with the law set forward by the state of New Jersey um in general when an allegation comes forward um if
an allegation is uh impacts a student um the school district the Administration has a responsibility to notify two agencies one is the law enforcement second is dcpm division of Children protection and permanency dcpm determines if they are going to accept and review a matter in in any case when that happens an individual the district has to make a determination whether individuals stay on grounds or not depending as a result of
the fact pattern in front of us if dcpm has a finding has to meet a certain definition by their definitions um their definitions differ than District definitions so conduct could be such that the district finds something inappropriate that dcpm does not find the standard of what in their terms abuse that would lead to potentially criminal charges that does not mean that every action by an individual that results
in a referral to dcpm is an appropriate action for a staff member to take with a child 5-year-old um and so things that we might be looking for might be video that shows restraint shows marks shows nurses record of injury you could have a student injured in which dcpm determines that there is not a finding of
abuse but that does not mean that the student wasn't injured by an individual and doesn't mean that the district would condone such actions so hypothetically if a student was harmed marked injured restrained inappropriately it doesn't mean they would be found to be criminally liable for set injury to the point of being charged by the police or found to be an abuser by dcpm but it doesn't mean that wwp has to employ such
individual so any such allegations that the district doesn't file due process of law would be wholly inappropriate by any individual that may come up to a Podium with lack of fact pattern furthermore if an individual's involved in employment matter they have right to representation that representation is through their Association assuming they are dues paying member to such Association what they don't have is an unfettered right to bring anyone they want for
whatever reason they want whether related or unrelated further if a student a staff member involved in an incident has requests for translation services they would need to make such request in writing to which there may or may not be any such record or I'll say in this case no record of such requests for an employee that was employed for numerous years in District and never once requested translation at any point
at ever so I'll stop there so what's in front of the board stands as a as a recommendation from the administration thank you Dr Idol we're going to now move on to the board of ed committee reports we're going to start with uh the administration and Facilities committee Dana thank you um good evening everyone uh the the Administration and Facilities
committee met on Tuesday January 21st our the first item we discussed was on was several policies and regulations for first for first readings we discussed um policy and regulation 9320 which is cooperation with law enforcement agencies next we um for first reading we discussed um policy and regulation 7441 electronic surveillance in school buildings and on school grounds and
then uh the next one was policy 5533 student smoking and it's ACC companying regulation for a second reading we reviewed the updated school facilities use policy and regulation which is 7510 and Dr McDonald presented to the committee costs incurred by the district and rules about District facility use by Community groups and local organizations the committee reviewed this policy and is and its accompanying regulation and recommends them for a
second reading and approval at tonight's meeting as for a referendum update the media center projects at um Morris Hawk and Village Elementary schools are complete for athletics winter sports are well underway with many students and teams doing very well highlights include um High School North boys basketball team who I don't know they have a game right now so maybe they I don't know what the result is um who
before that game are 14 and three on the year um while the girls winter track captured the group three state championship in the distance medley relay and we wanted to congratulate High School South coach Jessica Bidwell on her 200th win 100 for boy swimming and 100 for girls Spring High School sports reg registration is now open through February 26 high school student athletes can choose to participate in several
spring or many spring sports girls and boys golf girls and boys lacrosse girls and boys uh Spring Track and Field boys volleyball Boys Tennis baseball Cricket which is a co-ed program and softball which is a co-op with North between North and South the committee discussed an update to the 2025 2026 academic calendar and um several proposed drafts for the 2026 2027 academic calendars
the committee recommends amending the 2025 2026 calendar to include fall Middle School Conference dates additional stakeholder feedback will will be reviewed before approval of the 2026 2027 calendar is considered by the Board of Education we next discuss a proposed list of committee meetings for the for the year and we will next meet on Wednesday February 12th thank you Dana do we have any questions
Dana now we'll have the curriculum committee report L thank you Pua the curriculum committee met on January 21st uh we began with uh several presentations I'll just list them right um right now first we had a presentation by Michael Catelli uh and he was presenting his diser dissertation topic which is from the superintendent seat to classroom worksheets um uh and his research uh dissertation centers
around um Civics education the committee engaged Mr Catelli in a discussion uh next we had uh Mr Kevin Lynch who presented uh a case study analyzing stakeholder perceptions of primary stressors for incoming middle school students in a diverse suburban school district um and he presented his doctoral dissertation research around stakeholder perception of student stressors during um that transition between elementary and middle school and third uh shanaz Ahmed um hers was
titled math anxiety and high school students a survey study of students uh opinions students opinions and feelings about mathematics and when she presented her dissertation research um about learning more about students feelings regarding uh learning mathematics in an effort to incorporate strategies in the classroom to further support student learning um we also discussed the district professional development day the district's uh PD day is on February 14th uh will provide Educators an opportunity for professional learning around a
variety of topics aligned with the district's uh strategic goals sessions will be facilit facilitated by teacher leaders administrators and um a few external guest speakers which I'll mention a few later all um are looking forward to a great day of inspired learning next on the agenda um are items for voting tonight first uh the curriculum committee recommends approval of the Community Education Spring Summer 2025 Youth and adult program programs
um which are listed on tonight's agenda next uh professional development Consultants we recommend the following um approval of the following first child MIND Institute to provide a 90minut selective um mutism and anxiety disorders professional development Workshop to District staff on the February 14th at a cost not to exceed 2500 and that would be paid through title for Grant funds uh we have norin Nim Rodriguez to provide a full day education for Equity integrating
Asian-American and Pacific Islander voices professional development Workshop to District leaders on um in February 13th at a cost not to exceed 1500 15 14th uh next Friday trueu heart Consultants to provide a half-day African-American history professional development Workshop to district teachers on April 2nd at a cost not to exceed $1,000 and that will be paid through the AP aasa Grant funds that were received next uh don't
diet dietitians LLC to provide a 1hour what's eating our students and what to do about it let's untangle food and feelings professional development Workshop to district teachers um on the 14th of February at a cost not to exceed $650 and that would be paid through title fund grant grant funds as well um next TSO trainers to present two scup Institute professional development sessions to district teachers April 7 7th through 8th of this
year um at a cost total cost not to exceed $8,400 including travel and this would be paid through title 3 Grant funds next summer courses the curriculum committee recommends approval of the following uh 2025 summer courses First District financial literacy course at a cost of $350 per student upon successful completion students will receive two and a half credits uh introduction to discret math at a cost of
$500 per student upon successful completion also will receive two and a half credits uh introduction to data science cost again $500 and when completed two and a half credits will be received successful completion um discret math part two $500 for uh per student and uh two and a half credits when um successfully completed District Marine Science course um $500 two and a half credits upon successful complete for students $500 per
student and then um the district Asian-American and Pacific Islander studies course uh at a cost of $500 uh per student and again two and a half credits uh received after successful completion next um the curc committee recommends approval for Apex learning to provide an online platform to host the financial literacy summer course at a cost not to exceed $125 per student
um next we have a donation and the curricul committee recommends approval to accept one Yamaha trone from Ross Chapman a former student of wwp um for the use for use by The District's music department and then we have non oh yes um non non-public technology expenditure the curcum committee recommends approval uh of this year the fiscal year 2025 for NJ non-public school technology Aid initiative to to um French
American School of Princeton for $527 125 and then we have travel recommendation for one District science teacher to present at the National Science conference in the Phil in Philadelphia on March 29th the cost of that trip not to exceed $420 $20 including travel and that is partially paid through contractual funds uh and last but not least we the we have a tentative list of
dates for the curriculum um instruction committee to meet for the 25 26 school year which is listed on the agenda the next meeting for our committee will be February 18th thank you thank you Lor do we have any questions now we'll move on to the finance committee report Louisa great thank you so the finance committee started off by reviewing the monthly Financial reports the administration affirmed that no major accounts are over overe expended and that sufficient funds
are available to complete the year the committee reviewed the following motions on the agenda for tonight's meeting for approval to award and reject proposals for Community Ed enrichment programs to approve the disposal of obsolete equipment to award Transportation quotes to and from school to approve staff professional development travel and expenses next staff reported that we are still awaiting final contracts for the Energy savings Improvement program and the power purchase agreement the energy conservation measures which are the
projects designed to save money are currently under review and verification by a third party the New Jersey Department of clean energy has approved the overall project including its scope and design on January 15th 146 solar renewable energy credits were sold at $197.00 each totaling $ 28,8 35 next staff reported on cafeteria operations the daily and monthly number of lunches served continues to lag behind last year's levels however the number of breakfasts served
has increased year-over-year the average number of lunches served to students in the free reduced and NJ income eligible categories has risen by 36% year-over-year increasing from 337 students to 460 students participating on average Southwest Food Service Excellence is serving 223 fewer lunches per day compared to last year in the elementary schools however they are serving an average of 32 more breakfasts per day with 8 1% of those
breakfasts provided to students designated as free reduced and NJ income eligible they are still facing Staffing challenges in December and January five new staff members were hired while three current employees resigned additionally students enrolled in the sent hoger packing program received a $25 gift card for the winter break next staff reported that work on the 2526 budget is ongoing the state has released the fy2 2026 budget calendar which aligns with our previous prly established meeting and submission
dates a district calendar highlighting progress to date was shared with the committee members um the committee discussed Transportation earlier in the meeting um proposed dates for monthly committee meetings were presented to the committee and in other business the committee reviewed the facilities use rates and discussed the district Staffing requirements for events the committee will next meet on Tuesday February 18th on a personal note I would just like to say that when I was a child um going to school Lunar New Year was
not a school holiday and as a result my family had very limited celebrations of Lunar New Year and when my kids attended the wwp schools they went to school on Lunar New Year and I followed the pattern of my childhood and our Lunar New Year celebrations were modest so I really appreciate that for Westwinds or Plainsboro kids now they do have the day off and having the day off matters thank you Louisa we will now move
into our voting portion of the agenda can I have a motion for administrative items 1 through 7 Liz and Dana I'm frogging my Thro all of a sudden okay we'll start with we we'll start with Miss chenera um Yes except
I abstain from item number five policy 7510 and regulation 7510 okay okay and next we have Miss Krug yes yes Miss ho uh yes I abstain on policy number five the policy and the regulation okay thanks okay next next we have Miss migga yes Miss sha yes Miss Shetty
yes Miss bonsel yes okay motion passes we'll move on to the finance items can I get a motion for finance items 1 through n and plus the blue addendum um aenta and Louisa okay we'll start in the Sha yes Miss o yes Miss Chenier yes Miss Krug yes Miss migga yes Miss Shetty yes Miss
bonsel yes but I abstained from item 9B okay n b and now we'll move to the Personnel items can I get a motion for personnel items 1 and two plus five agenda the green yellow tan peach and purple um
scha and ly okay we'll start with Miss Shetty yes okay Miss chenera yes Miss ho yes Miss grug yes Miss malga yes Miss Shaw yes Miss bonsel yes I just want to acknowledge that um we voted on a retirement this evening for um Miss marann Mansfield she is resigning after 21 years of service to the district um
as an instructional assistant so just want to congratulate her on her retirement and thank her for her service to the district we did not we did not vot we're gonna vote on
uh the curriculum instri items now can I uh can I get a motion for curriculum instruction items one through five uh ly and scha okay we'll start with Miss malga yes Miss Shetty yes Miss chenera yes Miss hoe yes Miss Krug yes Miss Shaw yes Miss bonsel yes and where are
we did we did um now we'll move on to the approval of the Board of Ed minutes um for December for December 10th 2024 for December 17th 2024 and for January 7th 2025 all those in favor
say I I any abstentions I yeah I abstain I abstain from uh dece the December 10th minutes oh wait to call right now sorry uh can I get a motion to approve the minutes so sorry can I get
a motion to approve the Board of Education minutes Liz and Louisa um all those who are in favor I I any extensions yes I abstain from December December okay and I abstained from the December 10th meetings do we have any board board leaon reports Dana hi everyone again
um as the vice president of the Mercer County Schoolboard Association I would like to give an update on Mercer County Schoolboard Association recent and future activities this past Thursday January 23rd the County Association had its virtual winter meeting the topic was an introduction to artificial intelligence in an educational environment we um hosted a dynamic
speaker Dr um Derek trankina he's the director of Mammoth ocean Education Services Commission and he conducts professional development workshops around the state on um artificial intelligence and how it can be used and managed in school districts um next on March 20th uh West Windsor Plainsboro will be the proud host for the second year of the Mercer County School Board association's unsung hero ceremony which is um will be at 6 o00 at West Windsor Plains Royal High
School South um in theater the student honies for the Mercer County um School Board Association 2025 unero unsung heroes recognition will be students who make outstanding contributions to their schools and communities but are often overlooked by other traditional student recognition programs the ceremony promises to be a memorable occasion filled with inspiration recognition and the company of student in the company of students and their families faculty and
some Schoolboard members and the final Mercer County Schoolboard Association U meeting of the year will be on May 12th at 6 um it's it's hybrid they're actually they're all hybrid except for the one um in person on March in March and the January and February meetings are always um virtual um featuring that that meeting will be the spring celebrations dinner and the um recognition of the county teacher of the year and that will be at Lawrence school thanks thank you
Dana any more reports Liz um thank you just wanted to mention that uh the hawk PTA held a bingo night recently and uh from all the photos and everything you can see that it was really a fun interactive event great way to bring uh parents and the schools uh Community together also wanted to mention that attitudes in Reverse is holding its 2025 uh air t-shirt
design contest open for to students attitudes in Reverse is a local community group that is devoted to helping especially youth to be aware of mental health and wellness needs and how to ask for help for themselves and those who need it also wanted to acknowledge that during MLK Day of Service that the sent hunger packing organization with the west windser human relations um group had jointly hosted an event very well attended very good speakers and appreciated the presence of students from
our community both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who participated help so thank you thank you Liz do we have any new business now uh we move to the second opportunity for public comments the board invites comments from members of our community who are present each participant is asked to give his or her name and address prior to making a statement which will be limited to 3 minutes in accordance with board policy 0167 all statements shall be directed
to the presiding officer this public comment period shall be limited to 15 minutes do we have anybody for public comment seeing none I close the public comment section um and now I'll move to adjourn this meeting can I get a motion to adjourn ly and agenta and then all
in favor I I thank you [Music]