of the town of Westfield I don't know if I'm look at that testing testing testing testing testing uh happens problem good notice is hereby given of the regular meeting of the Board of
Education of the town of Westfield in the county of Union New Jersey at 6: p.m. on the evening of Tuesday February 11th 2025 in cafeteria B of Westfield High School 550 Dorian Road Westfield New Jersey the board will move immediately into private session to
discuss matters rendered confidential by state and federal law including negotiations the public portion of the meeting will resume at 700 p.m. purpose of the meeting is to transact regular business of the board and to transact any other business to come properly before the board this is to advise the
general public and to instruct that it be recorded in the minutes that in compliance with chapter 2 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the open public meetings act the Westfield school board on Thursday February 6th 2025 calls to be posted at the office of the Board of
Education located at 302 Elm Street Westfield New Jersey and delivered to the Westfield leader The Star Ledger the Westfield Library Town Clerk of Westfield tap into to Westfield and patch.com a meeting notice setting forth the time date and location of this meeting Patty may have a roll call
please rob bonio here Kent Diamond Brendan gallagan here Charles jinus here Lea melli here sonel Patel here Kristen Sonic schmeltz here Julie Steinberg Mary
wickens we'll begin with a flag salute Kent would you mind leading absolutely I pledge 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 I will move and ask the board to approve the following resolution be it resolved that the Board of Education move into private session for the purpose of discussing matters rendered confidential by state and federal law including negotiations and be it further resolved that any discussion held by the
board which need not remain confidential and the results of the discussion will be made public as soon as practicable may I have a second please second sonel a second we can do this uh by Voice vote all in favor any opposed any extensions all right we are an executive
session all right fix because this one are so fantastic and got the 's doys yeah there's a physics teacher here but like some Tik toer found video on
YouTube students this physics test they're all like whatever um andix so weird right yeah I was say in a few months it's been years
Matt how did you like hanging out with uh Rich uh crazy man Freeman texo you hung out with Rich right who's rich Freeman uh he was a principal at
Riverdale Atwood South Orange for he was with he was with you and Matt Murphy and Dr G oh I think I know who you're talking about like a little shorter yeah yeah yeah with you you don't know who it
is he's like a notorious wild man yeah yeah yeah I don't know either you were all parting too much and you forget this Wild Man part I mean perhaps he ghosted you or you
ghosted it all just Blended together yeah well I mean considering I saw you and you were kind of like all right I'm over this night no that was the on on Thursday night I so Wednesday night we went hard yeah Thursday night we ate so
early that like we ate at 5 yeah so by the time after like I don't I cannot do like if you if we start the night and do like cocktails and stuff and then don't eat I'm good eat I want to go to bed like after dinner I am just like so we
ate so early that we were we ate and then went out to another bar another and by the time we got back to house it was like it was only like 8:30 right and I was like I'm I'm ready that and everybody there was no plans like they
were like oh let's just go play poker like I'm not doing that I'm not watching I was literally on the pH of my wife in the hotel room at 9:30 yeah we um my friend like the first day you do kind of get that party atmosphere
like you lose steam well we we we did not do that because UBS we went to the UBS Center on Wednesday night and it didn't start until 7 yeah so we didn't get our entrees until like 10 10:30 at the night and like at that point Ryan's
cooked and done Joe was like asleep at the table and Arvin was like all right what we what are we doing now I'm like uh I'm going to bed yeah yeah yeah yeah we we went to the pool
party class L party at like I guess it was probably like 11: and it was starting to like die down and I was like all right nobody nobody's really doing anything so I was I went up at like 11:30 first night but we had been going
since I think I went I got to raise room at like three so we started with good like8 hours yeah yeah so by that time I shot um Maran do you think that that
Spirit AI like we do so they requested that we send out separate email to everyone yeah no but I but I think we do newsletters well I guess I you know you know me I'm the keeper of all this stuff so my first didn't
know so it's aam running so we're running District yeah it's a district yeah yeah it's not like just some andily be for ours I'm no no
no yeah say by next right yeah I know he requested right and we only need 20 we need I expens would he sent that to us in January
alleged I we had this meeting January it's it's a Tex it's text and yeah I'll ask to do like Mark it for next in my list of
tasks I'll put it right so there is this we could link we could link to this ask yeah for for
for for for e e for for for for for
e for e e right for for e e e for
for e for it's either for for Bon hey you Scar the Jesus out of me what the hell are you so you going to come tell
my kids you going to I didn't organize the thing you said no you gave me 3 days to figure out a uh Allan is why Allan should us more time well I guess
because I mean oh I I I know that but I think because the only person who go not a police officer went to Washington I'll I'll be the no no no this was
a new yorky be excuse with SCH you say that actually has to take not me my contract oh K you coming she speaks
I don't think real oh yeah that part don't see see oh no no just talk yes yes to 26 and first teach get that's what I said
right wow and we as a state a lot of and you hello you yes yes yes I'm 71 and I say
again can't for that's fine fine I don't even like up oh that's a good [Music] space do you have your laptop do
I was going to say we cut out tomorrow at 2:00 easily yeah yeah I don't know it's weird I said stuff to the printer and then I log in and there's no documents when I click secure print weird people having the same
problem right I don't know if it's printer it's a printer Network issue or you have the extension or you not sure yeah I didn't think okay I'll look at it I'll look at it tomorrow I appreciate it no problem thank
you that's not how are you about trucks truck no is this listen I don't pay attention to the weather B I don't know they keep downgrading
it do you live over the bridge I do yeah they still yeah we shall see for than for sorry stop that just you're just
expressing what I'm thinking and feeling you're going it's going to be contagious it's contagious hello how are you ladies Hi how are you you didn't go to Charlie Browns no why she did
at a Andi and I was like wild that thing as a listing set you choose School District ick car children how you feel good got 22
years really 22 years from all the [Music] I'm questioning their maity where that is a nice confence I love love [Laughter]
you did say that [Laughter] you're thing about wed [Music] I tell I want to run for assembly I know they
so I said send me the email I'll remember over really [Music] I was say you look familiar I [Music] [Music] I don't even know what open but the
custodian was in the hall ivory [Music] are you we think [Music] are they all connected
how are you I'm doing well how are you good thank you yeah I'm mama mlli yes yes and I miss him so he comes to Pal he comes to Pal yes yes yes [Music] thank you
[Music] from even I have [Music] snow day no marry tonight all right I did get on it but um asking for
code I did it I did it after our meeting I don't remember I ran into you were able to log in I was able to log in I it's a good mind trick you could again I couldn't see very much I saw
some of the stories but I don't other things yeah but I did get [Applause] hey Jackie glad midterms are over yes very excited that they're over that's going to
be that's nice yeah yeah right you're off on Friday right yeah and Monday so nice long weekend and then maybe snow day tomorrow delete opening fingers crossed
yeah he's Del late opening tomorrow nice tomorrow hey you can make the call before 4:00 in the morning you're on the board just break yourself yeah EX all right let's uh get back into session um so we there are no uh announcements
and recognitions today so we will move right to the report by District administration oh we do I'm sorry we do have announcements sorry about that no recognitions yet so let's start with Ken all right thank you is this on student instrumentalists in grades 6
through eight at Edison and Roosevelt intermediate schools were selected for the intermediate region band and Orchestra for central New Jersey competing against more than 400 students for the coveted spots congratulations to the following students who will perform in these highly competitive ensembles in
March intermediate Orchestra James Fu 8ighth grade violin Zane ner seventh grade Viola Emma Wang 7th grade violin emaline young sixth grade violin for intermediate band we had Logan Shane 7th
grade alto saxophone and AR re sheath 8th grade clarinet for the inter immediate Wind Ensemble we had Gabriel Garfield 8th grade trumpet and Annabelle Teo 8th grade French horn and finally the intermediate symphonic band we had
filipos kocis sixth grade trumpet congratulations to these kids uh Brandon yep the deadline to register for Westfield stem Camp 2025 is this Friday February 14th more information including the online registration link is posted under the
news section on the district website and school websites because space is limited a lottery will be conducted for the online registration selected campers will be notified on or before March 1st uh let's bump over to CJ this month as we celebrate the
diverse Traditions within our school Community we recognize Black History Month a time to honor the achievements resilience and lasting impact of black leaders artists Educators and change makers throughout history additionally Ramadan begins at sundown on February 28th and we extend our best wishes to
all who observe of this holy month Julie this is a reminder that the deadline to submit completed petitions for the candidacy in the April 15th Schoolboard election is 4 p.m. on Tuesday February 25th visit the board of
the board election page on the district website for all the information including an updated nominating petition that now reflects new legislation requiring 25 signatures Lea congratulations to Westfield High School 10th grader Nathan Deo who will
perform with the New Jersey All State symphonic band Nate was selected from among several hundred student music musicians during rigorous auditions he will join this prestigious ensemble in performing on February 22nd at the Atlantic City Convention Center and on
February 23rd at the New Jersey Performing artart Center Ken I think you one more yes I just got this late breaking news the Westfield Public School District's Visual and Performing Arts department is a recipient of the 2025 music for all
adverse in action Awards which highlights Educators and programs that have created an exceptional event or idea in their field and community in the entry submitted by vpa supervisor Sean shaa Longo the district was recognized in the nonf fundraising Community
involvement category for arts in our schools month which highlighted student Talent deepen Community engagement and Amplified the benefits of a comprehensive art education congratulations Kristen all Westfield Public Schools
will be closed this Friday February 14th and the full district will be closed on Monday February 17th in observance of President's Day and Son all the next regular public meeting of the Board of Education will be on Tuesday March 4th
in cafeteria B at Westfield High School beginning at 7: p.m. the meeting will be live streamed via the district YouTube channel which viewers can access on the board tab on the district website the complete agenda will be available on Friday February 28th also on the board tab we look forward to welcoming members
of the Westfield High School cast of smile for a preview of this year's spring musical all right now I think we're ready uh for a report by District administration I'll turn it over to Dr Gonzalez yes thank you uh this evening
uh Miss Ramos and myself will continue our presentation of the 2025 2026 budget as well as our update regarding the bond referendum uh what you'll see is a
continuation of what we began last month and with each uh passing meeting we'll have increased details to be able to provide uh but a lot of the information that we are waiting on has yet to be finalized so that's the reason why uh we won't have as many specifics during this
presentation as we will in the coming month uh ahead so this evening what we are going to do is uh speak about the um the two important decisions that will be faced um by the community this coming
April um and that is both the budget vote as well as the referendum and and each of those represent as we had mentioned last meeting um two different and distinct yet equally important funding strategies for the school
district to be able to achieve its goals um the budget uh assists Us in providing the necessary resources to achieve our daily operating goals um but the large scale goals that are associated with uh large scale facility improvements are
what uh are supported by uh Bond referendum so beginning with the budget we are always uh Guided by a set of priorities and moving into this uh cycle we recognize that asking our
taxpayers and asking our community to weigh in on such an important fiscal proposition uh we also needed to be mindful of the um the obligation that we're asking everyone to commit to and and recognizing that a referendum comes
along with a large price tag we were very committed to uh ensuring that our annual operating budget really represented uh a very succinct and concise set of priorities that would allow us to continue our existing programs and initiatives um so that the
work that started uh along with our strategic plan that was launched two years ago would uh continue uh into the coming school year we also were committed to ensuring that we maintained our current Staffing model and and that means ensuring that our programs uh and
activities as well as our courses and and classes would continue to operate within the guidelines Set uh forth by the uh the board and the administration we also recognize Iz that the upcoming school year presented an opportunity for us to introduce a new master schedule at the secondary level both at the
intermediate and high school and along with that there were uh additional requirements for us to be able to make uh some investments in order to ensure that that uh schedule would be possible so the priorities included um the
necessary aspects of um the new Master schedules in order to make sure those would be implemented and then last but not least uh we always maintain um opportunities to continue our work to invest in our schools and our buildings and grounds through the use of capital
reserves maintenance reserves and and other um resources so looking at the 2025 26 uh budget we're looking to continue our work we're looking to uh maintain the momentum and certainly look forward to um seeing the the foundation
that we've started to to continue to grow so now uh what's in the 2526 budget so as Ray had mentioned the curriculum writing professional development and resources that we started to invest in we're maintaining all of that and you can see the growth of the last three
years in those areas we are also adding two uh bus drivers because we just got our we have our first bus second bus is coming the grade two furniture replacement last year we did grade one we're going to continue on with that throughout the district and the last
thing is cafeteria furniture and equip equipment for the implementation of the block lunch here at the high school there's going to be some upgrades and different areas that'll be utilized for eating that come along with the block schedule the next page shows our
potential tax levy increase so as of right now we still do not have state aid that that's expected the last week of February what we do know is that we are getting a health adjustment in our budget which is equating to a little over a million dollar and what that puts
us at is our base budget at 2.92% and our additional spending proposal right now is at 69% of the budget these are all things that are currently in our budget not things like additional prop additional asks like we
had in Prior years this is the continuity we are maintaining our current budget anything like the cafeteria furniture that is coming out of reserves as Ray said so the importance with the differentiation between the bond and our reserves if we can have the bond pass we
can continue to build reserves to do things within our budget like the cafeteria Furniture other projects like what we just had at the high school happen this this past week um with the sewage pipe breaking underground we we're able to do that
with our reserves if we H if we don't pass a bond and we have to do Ma major repairs to the to our HVAC and other things we won't be able to continue growing our district so moving on uh to our bond
referendum the uh the update uh isn't as detailed as I as I mentioned before unfortunately we continue to wait for the Department of Education to provide a uh final review and determination of our uh Debt Service Aid eligibility
uh it's not a matter of if we uh expect to be eligible it's just a matter of uh determining when we're going to get that notification uh I've been in touch with members of the County Office of the Department of Education as well as the State Department of Education directly
uh encouraging them and reminding them that this is a proposal that includes uh bringing full day kindergarten to the um to the community which also aligns with our Governor's uh priority as well hoping that that encouragement uh will will um uh assist
in their uh Expediting of our of our project application but we continue to monitor it closely and in the meantime um once we uh get that information we will have the specifics necessary to calculate uh tax impact to calculate the
specific numbers that would uh be um accompanying the the ballot language that would ultimately appear um in the uh on the ballot in in April but in the meantime um there are a couple things that I do want to highlight one is that we have begun our scheduling of uh
Community engagement session so um there's no need to wait to continue our efforts to educate our community inform our community um while the earlier um presentations about the referendum may not have the level of specificity that's
the reason why we have about 30 engagement sessions so what we'll do is uh Begin by uh actually as recently as this coming Thursday uh here at the high school we will Begin by meeting with as many Community organizations as many uh
parent teacher organizations um as possible in order to provide um the basic framework of what it is that we are looking to do what we are looking to accomplish and what that impact would mean um academically socially uh as well as programmatically
uh for our community uh we do have and and we will certainly share the um the details of what we know uh regarding the fiscal impact um but the actual tax impact uh would have to wait until we get the the final determination from the state so those Community engagement
sessions you'll see uh in a few slides uh have been scheduled and are open to members of the community um they're both in person there are some that are are remote we have them during the day we have them at night so if you're not able to make it um at a time that works for you we we encourage everyone one to uh
take advantage of the alternative um opportunities that are available to them on our website we've uh listed a banner uh available uh immediately when you log on to the Westfield uh website that will bring you to our portal but we also have
a nice easy Westfield do uh westfieldnjk12.org vote um to to quickly and easily bring you to the uh necessary information and then last but not least over the past uh several um weeks we've continued
conversations and certainly welcome the conversation to continue here um among the board members about looking to um identify all of these referendum projects um into two ballot questions one ballot question would uh consist for
the referendum uh specifically one ballot question would consist of full day kindergarten the construction and Renovations associated with that and then the other would be all the other projects as um that were uh being proposed now one aspect of the work that
we are going to be doing is not only educating our community about the proposal but also educating their the community about the importance of being able to exercise their vote um and their voice both in person and in mailin uh
form so we recognize that the April 15th um uh vote is not ideal as it falls smack Deb uh during our Spring Break um that is not a date and I I want to make sure it's clear that is not a date that the district selects that is the date
that the state assigns so we do not have the ability to um to change that date uh and as a result we want to encourage as many members of our community to go out and vote so we are certainly encouraging uh the use of mail-in ballots um if at
all possible and if you certainly expect to be away uh during the April 15th uh actual vote Patty do you want to talk about the two questions um as Ray had mentioned we've U gone out to our community
Advisory Group our ad hoc committee and gone over in different other committees also how to break out the questions for this ballot for the bond and what we're at so far is the first question would be the renovations and improvements so our
HVAC our bathrooms the whs auditorium renovation uh media centers at the intermediate and high school level small group instruction spaces special education program space at the high school and our multi-purpose Room Editions at Franklin and Jefferson for
enrollment uh the second question then would be the construction Renovations that would be associated with implementing full day kindergarten and that's where we're at right now in terms of question one and two for the bond referendum one thing we want to
highlight is that these represent uh truly important needs for for our school district this is not um in any way prioritizing uh the first or second question as being more important than the other but recognizing that these represent priorities uh in very distinct
ways the the feedback that we have received over the past uh several uh months really since the uh committees and Community advisory committees have met as Patty have mentioned really helped to inform this list that you see um and as well the the breakout of the
questions as I mentioned earlier we do not have the specific numbers that are associated with uh with this at this time um because now that we've determined what is going to go into each question we now have to break out the cost associated with each of those
they've been lumped together in in in a single uh list now we have to identify of the renovations of the construction how much of that was specific to kindergarten and of everything else that we proposing for renovations and construction of space What would then be
um relegated to the other question and we're using specific language we're we're talking about a referendum question versus a ballot question because on the ballot you will have many questions you're going to have a budget question so that would be the additional funding proposal that uh Patty had just
mentioned earlier then you're going to H be that's going to be followed by your first referendum question which is listed here your second referendum question and then there's also happens to be a um Board election so board candidates will also be part of that that uh ballot as well so there's a lot
of important decisions that need to be made by this community but we want to make sure we educate uh everyone as clearly as possible so the community engagement as I mentioned before this represents just a screenshot you don't have to to memorize it uh this is all available on
the website um in the portal that I had alluded to earlier uh as you could see here A whole host of uh times and locations that bring us um all the way up to the second week of April right before uh heading off to spring break so
without a doubt we are going to take advantage of every opportunity to um to reach out to our community we are also going to make sure that we use all forms of media to get to you we're going to rely on our partners in in um in print and digital media we're going to work on
social media we're going to have uh as many videos and um and virtual options that will be recorded for folks to access but we also know and as many people have have uh expressed time and time again um given the amount of
information uh we're finding that people read a lot less unfortunately and we want to make sure that we respect everyone where they are and the time that they have so we're going to try and provide as much detail as possible and we are also going to provide as efficient uh information as possible
with infograph eics and other means to make the proposal as as clear and concise but also comprehensive for those who want to dig deeper so by all means we encourage you to uh go to the website and and explore as many of the the details as possible moving forward uh
what we see is that in March we will be finalizing our decision-making around the actual language that will appear on the ballot so that includes the budget vote as well as the referendum so by the end of March by the second meeting in
March we will have finalized the uh the wording that will appear on the ballot that will include not just the projects but as well the dollar amount that goes along with it that will then be transcribed onto the ballot that will then be placed uh before the uh
community on April 15th or via the mailin ballot um and certainly look to um get as many people out there as possible so we encourage all of you anyone who's watching um to really encourage your community members your neighbors your friends your family who
who live in town who are eligible to vote to please uh exercise their vote on April 15th and certainly reach out to us if you have any questions uh all of these um these dates and times uh are are really important
for all of you just to know where we are in the process we have about 60 days left uh a little over 60 days left before that April 15th there's a lot to be done uh and certainly a lot of opportunity for conversations to be had but most importantly is that we we ask
all of you to um to help us grow our district we ask all of you to encourage uh your neighbors to take an active interest in in uh the growth and opportunities ahead of us um by exercising their vote on on April
15th if you have not uh gotten a chance to check out our uh our website that includes our um our referendum and budget portal uh there is a opportunity for you to submit a question so that if you do not have the opportunity to um
interact with any member of our staff um to ask a question we certainly uh encourage all of you to reach out and submit a question there we'll certainly answer that question but also use those questions to help inform our FAQs that concludes our presentation
this evening and certainly uh open that up to questions from the board Ken okay sorry just to highlight so if the full day passes then another 18 months or so down the road we have to put another vote for teachers salaries and all that correct if the bond for the
kindergarten passes the year before kindergarten is slated to open that April we would have the vote to do the Staffing for the The Proposal we are currently working on that now with the um hopefully the passage of a 5-year contract for the teachers union we'll
have concrete numbers to base that off of okay anyone else the only thing I'll I'll I just want to add and it's just it's it's in the course of the discussions is something that sort of struck home with me and hopefully struck strikes home with the public many of the renovations
that we're talking about in the additions we're talking about are things that we're going to need in our schools anyway and in fact are probably well well well well overdue um in the case of especially in the case of a lot of the mechanical repairs the bathroom work you know space for you know additional space
for students additional technology you know more space to provide for the students we have here more space to keep some of our students who are sending out of District at home where they belong all of these things are things we need for you know just we just need um the
positive of the referendum is these costs are what these costs are and we can either try to spend the rest of our time factoring this into an operating budget and doing these far more slowly or we can do this in the course of a referendum which will create far more far more greater efficiencies as far as
cost goes but also it enables us to get some contribution from the state for what we're doing so you know in essence we can either pay for this all ourselves or we can pay for it in part for ourselves and get some of the tax dollars that we all spend you know back into the district and keep them here so
it's just something to consider as you're doing your math and deciding you know when you see these numbers is this something I want to support or not um you know again these are things you know the haax are going to break you know all this stuff needs its work so the question is what's the most efficient way to get that done uh and you know
obviously you know I'm certainly in support I don't think that's a that should be a mystery by anybody um but I just think it's something important to think about from a voter perspective yeah Rob that's uh about 50 years at our current rate of spending on capital projects 50 years to get the projects
done okay so that's a little wild longer than the 30-year Bond yeah so our kids grandkids will be here by the time we finish oh Julie sorry yeah I just wanted to reiterate um something that we discussed last time or that I brought up last time which is um contingency
planning um you know last time I asked the question of Dr Gonzalez and and Patty about our contingency plan and our contingency plan is uh you know we don't really have a contingency plan our concy plan is to really dip into our Capital fund and our Capital fund is is thin um
we don't really have a large Capital plan our other comparable districts have a much larger Capital plan we've been recovering from from various things and we have what like $8 million maybe in our Capital plan $8 million is is a lot of money but it's also you know for some
some folks a really healthy retirement plan um so uh we we really need to think about that um and think about you know whether or not we are going to kick the can down the road or whether or not we're going to slide back on an $8
million Capital fund um and and how we're going to move forward as a district if we're going to make a a plan to move forward with something bold like this or whether or not that we're going to fall back on an $8 million Capital
fund I wish that we had something in between there as a contingency but that's just not the choices that we have here um and I I think that that's that's just the state play that we're in and I think that when we're voting we need to
think about that as well um that that these are you know that sometimes there are there are choices and those are the choices and what that's like financially in your personal life when you have to make those choices do you want to make the the bigger Bolder choice or do you
want to constantly be sliding back until there's nothing left thank you all right uh with no further questions any further report from the district okay then we
will move on to our high school student report James good evening as Westfield High School enters the second half of the Year students and staff are looking forward to a nice long weekend ahead after successfully completing their midterm exams Saturday the Westfield High School choir Department held their
annual night of love songs this event was super successful and lots of people came to support our singers looking ahead student government and the community service Club are planning for April's activity period during community service week a large part of that activity period revolves around students packaging toiletry kits for St Joseph's
and Elizabeth a group that helps those in need over 1,000 kits are planned to be assembled each containing everyday Necessities like toothpaste deodorant and soap to gather these supplies and Amazon wish list is currently open you can find the link on our Instagram at
whs sga1 those donating should make sure that they Select sgaa Care of Allison mcdermit when checking out to ensure that that the supplies are delivered to the school also as part of community service Club week uh WS students will face off against the teachers in a
basketball game as the entire School cheers them on assments for both students and staff are currently open finally Westfield High School is starting to smell a little better now that professionals have come in to fix the pipes that were leaking sewage into the hallways and class classrooms while the issue is being handled many students
and staff were upset with the slow response time and lack of transparency provided by administrators while the second semester or with the second semester underway students are excited and can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for us thank you thank you very
much uh let's move then to our board committee reports we'll start with curriculum instruction and programs Kristen good evening the curriculum and instruction committee convened on the morning of February 3rd to discuss several updates and initiatives the
meeting began with a presentation by The District's enrichment teachers who introduced the committee to the new enrichment program this program is designed to provide meaningful learning opportunities for all students and consists of two components the first component tier one enrichment ensures
that every student in K through five classrooms have access to enrichment opportunities enrichment teachers visit all classrooms districtwide every other week to deliver engaging lessons focused on Divergent thinking computer science and reasoning skills the second
component tier 2 is currently under development and will include small group pullout sessions for students identified as needing more advanced challenging challenges in language arts and Mathematics this tier aims to meet the needs of students who Thrive with more
complex and rigorous learning experiences the committee also heard from Tom Patterson the district's K through2 Science and Technology education supervisor who presented for new curriculum proposals slated for board approval tonight among these are
three new high school elective courses robol laab home technology and food science each of these elective courses is designed to equip students with 21st century skills while fostering an awareness awareness of STEM related career Pathways additionally Mr
Patterson Patterson introduced an updated Intermediate School course stem 8 robotics which provides eighth grade students with Hands-On experi experience in robotics and Engineering Concepts next the committee reviewed an application for an overnight field trip
to Atlantic City for the district's Deca Club this trip will allow multiple students to participate in the state competition showcasing their skills and accomplish accomplishments the meeting concluded with an overview of the proposed 2526 budget for the office of
curriculum and instruction presented by Dr Bolton the budget aligns with the district's strategic plan particularly goal one to deepen the learning experiences of all students to prepare them for the future the budget includes funding for the development of new curricula across various departments
resources to support instructional programs and professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators these Investments reflect the district's commitment to advancing student learning and ensuring educators are well equipped to provide high quality education the next meeting for
sip will be held on February 24th at Roosevelt Intermediate School thank you okay no questions we'll go with uh report from the finance and Facilities chair Brandon finance and Facilities met
Friday morning uh discussed mostly the budget because that's budget season um we got a nice presentation the last couple board meetings as to how that's shaping up but we I did want to highlight that we are tracking uh the status of federal grants that we receive
uh with all the news coming out of Washington every day it's just worth tracking uh so we in Westfield we get two two federal grants Esa grants and uh idea grants uh for the esa we get about 83,000 a year and but from idea we get
1.7 million a year uh we've been advised by the state that if anything happens to the federal level what we've been allocated this year will be for this current school year will continue through June and to go forward we should plan on getting about 70% of the grants going forward uh
we always budget a little bit less than we receive but this this is the first time the state's telling us don't expect what you actually what you've been getting in the past uh so again that's about 70% or a reduction of about 300 uh actually about $600,000 in federal grants that we're
not expecting to get next year um we do have a tenative budget draft we talked about that uh we are we're anticipating Flat state aid but we haven't been given our actual state aid award numbers yet uh we get those later in the
month uh Health state health insurance was a little higher last year so we are allowed to exceed cap by the through a healthcare waiver uh works out to approximately what $800,000 Patty a little over a million little
over million in in waivers excellent uh that reduces the amount that we have to ask the voters for uh every every move we can get to get that number closer to zero is better uh we also talked about the referendum uh the reason we don't have firm numbers yet is that we're waiting
on the state department of education's Facilities Review to go through the plans and ass sign us a preliminary award number uh we submitted the plans back in September a month earlier than we needed to and we expected results by December it's now February we still don't have answers uh they are working
on it but they're behind schedule uh and lastly we discussed two policies that are on the agenda for tonight one is policy 511 which is the eligibility of nonresident Resident and non-resident students and policy uh
8,500 lunch so with that if there's any questions happy to answer them otherwise all right okay we'll next move to uh the policies personnel and governance committee report I think that's Lila
the policy personnel and government governance committee met on February 6th from 3:45 to 5:30 uh in attendance were Dr Gonzalez Dr Greer um as well as myself Mary sonel and Rob the committee
began by reviewing job descriptions the maintenance worker job description was updated to reflect the most current responsibilities associated with the role additionally with the the recent purchase of new buses to support IND District transportation job descriptions
for bus driver and bus Aid were created to Define expectations and responsibilities for these positions next the committee received its annual review of non-tenured staff from the administration while no immediate action is required by the board at this time final recommendations
regarding annual staff renewals will be presented at the May board meeting the committee also reviewed the most recent policy alert which included revisions to several policies to align with the memorandum of understanding between law enforcement and the school district
updates were discussed for policy 5512 addressing harassment intimidation or bullying policy 5533 concerning student smoking policy 740 7441 related to electronic surveillance and school buildings and on
school grounds and policy 9320 which governs cooperation with law enforcement agencies Additionally the committee reviewed the introduction of a new policy policy 9163 which establishes a spectator code of conduct for inter Scholastic events
as is now required by the njsiaa in response to questions regarding the Hib process brought up at the last meeting the committee conducted a review of the superintendent's Hib reports upon ceral examination it was determined that the reports remain
compliant with District policy and demonstrate consistency in their application no irregularities were found and the committee Express expressed appreciation for the work that our counselors and administrators do when implementing the complex law and
concluded that no further action was needed before adjourning the committee addressed informational items and reminders for board members members were encouraged to review the Westfield board handbook and submit any recommendations for revisions additions or deletions to
the PPG co-chairs for committee review additionally all board members were reminded to complete the njsba board self-evaluation through the provided email link any issues with accessing the evaluation should be directed to Patty
for assistance lastly due to a scheduling conflict the March PPG committee will be need will need to be rescheduled a new date has not been red determined yet and updates will be shared once available all right uh next we will move to a report I'm
sorry did you no the ad hoc communication right I got that one I remembered that's no don't worries good it was good to have backup uh so next is a report by the referendum Communications committee chairperson this is the ad hoc to talk about the referendum that's on all the referendum
Communications committee met on January 22nd uh Mary Kristen Rob and myself were in attendance along with uh Mary and McAn and Patty Ramos the meeting focused on three key topics the first topic centered on an update from the community Communications advisory based on their
January 13th meeting a major point of discussion of the members of The Advisory Group was the need to effectively communicate the rationale behind F day kindergarten to ensure Clarity and understanding within the community in support of this effort updates to the online information portal will continue to roll out every few
weeks providing additional details as they become available the committee emphas Iz the importance of encouraging community members to visit the portal regularly and to share the information widely with family friends and neighbors with the referendum vote scheduled for April 15th during spring
break there was significant discussion on the need to raise awareness about mailin ballots and voter turnout efforts the committee recognized the challenge posed by the timing of the vote and stressed the importance of proactive Outreach to ensure community members are well informed and have the opportunity to participate the next meeting of the
community Communications advisory took place on Fe feary 10th and our committee will receive a report on their discussions when we meet again on February 19th the third topic of discussion concerned the structure of the ballot questions while awaiting the final determination from the NJ doe the
committee reviewed the process for Bond Cil to begin drafting the ballot language a key consideration was the number of questions and their content based on feedback from the community the consensus was that adding any additional measures to the full day kindergarten question could diminish support and potentially jeopardize its passage as as
a result the committee agreed to limit the referendum to two questions the first being construction and renovation projects and the second being the full day kindergarten the current plan is to list the budget first followed by the comprehensive referendum question and
concluding with the full day kindergarten question these discussions will continue as the committee refines messaging and strategy in the leadup to the referendum our next meeting is scheduled for 4M next week February 19th all right with no further questions
there we will move to the first public uh comment section of our meeting uh during this portion of the meeting District residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on agenda items only these are the items listed in red blue green purple and gold on the agenda there will be a separate
public comment period at the end of the meeting for items that are not agenda action items so if you have nothing on the action please hold those until then as a courtesy please allow current students and staff of Westfield public schools to speak first the board requests that individuals sign in and
state their name Municipality of residents and group affiliation if applicable for the record the specific action items they are commenting on and asks that all remarks be directed to the board president or designed not to individual members or staff the board asks that members of the public be
courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel matters are discouraged Ed and cannot be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility
nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public if a matter concerning a District staff member is of Interest or concern to a resident that matter should be referred to the responsible building principal superintendent of schools or the Board of Education either by telephone letter
or email although the board may not respond to items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statement continued disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment
of the meeting each speaker statement will be limited to 3 minutes in duration all right um seeing no comment on the first public comment session we will close that uh and we will move to some board action items uh first um I'd like to make a motion to approve
the minutes of the January 21st 2025 regular board meeting and executive session we have a second Kent um we do just a Voice vote on that one please all in favor any opposed and I will abstain for the record I was unfortunately able to make
that meeting um next we'll move to governance items uh sonel I'd like to move item a under the governance section of tonight's agenda can I have a second thank you Mary go can we vote let's move to vote
then Rob bonaco yes Kent Diamond yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus no Leila melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic
schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg no Mary wickens yes all right we'll next move to the Personnel items on the agenda that's Mary yeah that's me thanks I'd like to move items a to t
under the Personnel section of tonight's agenda I just want to point out at item o this is the final year of flag football before its recognition as a New Jersey State inters Scholastic Athletic Association Varsity Sport the first two years we were funded
by the New Jersey New York Jets Grant moving forward it will be included in the budget can I have a second Kent right before the vote I think Dr Gonzalez may have a a comment yes so this evening um we do
have one retirement uh to announce Jody Anderson is a member of our um tech department Jody has dedicated 25 remarkable years of of outstanding service to the Westfield School District where she's been instrumental in keeping our technology running smoothly most
recently as a system administrator when jod started in technical support technology and education was in a completely different era think dial up internet noisy modems and Windows 98 throughout her career jod has seamlessly adapted to technological advancements
ensuring that both teachers and students had the necessary tools to thrive in an ever evolving digital landscape but Jody's contributions go beyond just maintaining systems her real impact has been on the people she supported she has been the go-to problem solver for
teachers during lessons the hero for students when projects were at stake and the calming presence in every Tech crisis with patience and dedication jod has been more than just a tech support specialist she's been a Cornerstone of our educational community and as jod
moves into retirement we reflect on her incredible Journey a journey marked by Relentless dedication problem solving and a generous spirit that has left an indelible mark on us all we wish Jody all the best for a happy and healthy
retirement Rob if I might sure uh so the tech department isn't one that interacts with students and teachers on a regular basis all that much or at least it wasn't when I was a student Jody's different uh back in 2005
uh myself and a couple other students through an independent study credit ran a genius bark type thing for teachers to help get familiar with the laptops they were given jod was our Point person for that uh so just you know she's been
involved at a higher level than most in that in her department for 20 plus years I just want to call out and recognize her for that thank you all right let's move to a vote then on items 8 through T Rob bachio yes Kent
diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jalus yes Leila melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickins
yes okay um I'd like to move item u under the Personnel section of tonight's agenda that includes the um wa contract for tonight second okay Brendan did a second first I didn't even call it yet can I have a
second Brendon um Rob all right all right this is always fun um so so yeah so just just a quick matter of discussion just for the public so um for the last uh few months we have been been
in negotiations with our uh you know the Westfield Education Association on a uh on a new contract uh we reached agreement on a memorandum um which was signed January 9th 2025 uh we the board was briefed on uh
the memorandum earlier uh I know members of the negotiating team are here today uh you know I I thanked earlier our District administration and our board members who are part of the team but uh a negotiation definitely is a um is is a two-way Street um and one of the things
I can very safely and very easily report to the public as these negotiations went is that um and we know this already right we know that our teachers are extremely supportive extremely thoughtful and generally put their kids sometimes above their own in their own lives and that came through very much in
their negotiations you know obviously they were you know their negotiating team was fantastic they obviously you know did the hard work to make sure that you know the teachers got you know the benefits that they were looking for but that was also met with a level of understanding and thoughtfulness and
putting the district uh first which is which is what our teachers do uh and sometimes when that is what people are used to it's what they tend to expect but it doesn't mean it should not need to go unrecognized so it was a a very thoughtful negotiation we're certainly
you know from the negotiation team's perspective very happy with that um and I know the the union president will want to speak a bit after but uh I won't hold up the vote for that much longer but I did just want to make sure sure that the uh the public knew exactly what a what a a positive process this was uh and that
we came to a great agreement that's going to benefit uh all of us but our students in particular so with that Rob bonio yes Ken diamonds yes Brendan gallan yes Charles jinus yes
Leila melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Mary wickens I mean Julie Steinberg sorry yes Mary wickens I obain and with that I don't know if the
president would like to step up thank you on behalf of the West Education Association I would like to thank the board for their continued support of the work that we do in the classroom each and every day this contract is not just about numbers it's
about recognizing the value of our teachers we appreciate your partnership in making our schools a better place for our students and our Educators thank you as well to the administration at Elm Street in particular Patty and Dave we very much
value the positive relationships and Rapport that we continue continue to share year after year a special thanks to Rob to Brendan and to Kristen for the many many many hours that you spent with us at the
table your commitment to a your commitment uh and professionalism made the process much more manageable and productive your willingness to listen and engage in thoughtful discussions did not go unnoticed our community is very
lucky to have you serving on our Board of Education I know at times that being in a leadership position can be very challenging please know that every single one of us appreciates all that you do the time you devote to the board
for our students and to our staff in the Westfield Public Schools is beyond appreciated and is recognized by all of us thank you thank you hey let's do it again in 5 years what do you say all right um next let's move to uh
finance and Facilities items Kent thank you uh I'd like to move items a through I on tonight's agenda uh unfortunately there's no donations to report tier uh can I have a second please Kristen thank you any questions
comments okay go bonio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Leila Morelli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie
Steinberg yes Mary wickins yes all right Leila I think you have policies yes um I'd like to move items A and B under the policies section of tonight's agenda do I have a second
Mary Patty Rob bonao yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jelus yes Lea melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie
Steinberg um no to A2 yes to all others okay and Mary wickins yes all right Christen uh curriculum instruction and programming I'd like to move items a through C under the Sip part of the agenda tonight A is for the approval of
the curriculum that I referred to in the um report B is for five field trips and C is for a student intern student teacher at Roosevelt next year can I um get a second second
Sono um good batting Rob bonao yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes Sono Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes
Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens yes all right I will call the board's attention to the notes for the record there was no unfinished or new business submitt for the agenda so we will move directly to Liaison reports if anyone has
any um I will give one just quick uh quick report um I had the pleasure of being invited to the Westfield Chinese American association's celebration on Saturday of the Chinese New Year um it was it was a blast I got to tell you um
you know a lot of great food a lot of Great Performances uh and a significant amount of participation from the community especially from students at the high school had to be at least 12 to 16 students who volunteered in all forms whether it was performing whether it was
helping for setup and breakdown um whether it was just being part of the stage and the lighting crew um it was really a a just a fantastic event an absolute pleasure to be involved and I would encourage our community um they happen it happens every year uh please come out and uh and be part of it it's
open to anyone in the community to come especially the performances um and please uh please continue to support it but it was really a fantastic evening and congratulations to the association for for an absolutely outstanding event and uh and a thank you really for sharing the gift of the culture with
us uh next we will move to recognize the public uh for any uh any items uh during this portion of the meeting members of the public are invited to address the board of education on any topic has a courtesy allow current students or staff of Westfield public schools to speak first the board requests that
individuals sign in and state their name Municipality of residents and group affiliation if applicable for the record and ask that all remarks be directed to the board president or design not to individual board members or staff the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking
specifically comments regarding Personnel matters are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public if a matter concerning a District staff
member is of Interest or concern concern to a resident the matter should be referred to the responsible building principal superintendent of schools or the Board of Education either by telephone letter or email although the board may not respond to items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered please note
that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statement continued disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment of the meeting each speaker's statement will be limited to 3 minutes in duration all right seeing no rush to the
microphone I will close this public comment session uh and I will now ask the board to approve the following resolution uh be it resolved that the Board of Education move into private session for the purposes of discussing matters rendered confidential by state and federal law including harassment
intimidation and bullying incidents and be it further resolved that any discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential and the results of the discuss session will be made public as soon as practicable please be advised the board will not be returning to public session may I have a
second uh second Kent uh Again by Voice vote all in favor any opposed any extensions all right we are in executive session