[Music] Good evening. The April 17, 2025 meeting of the Werstown Board of Education will please come to order. Roll call. Mr. Secretary. Miss Anderson here. Miss Bourdan here. Miss Perez here. Mr.
Mohammed here. Mr. Treeboser here. Mr. Bles here. Mr. Harris here. Mr. Secretary, as required by the Sunshine Law, please read the notice of meetings. Thank you. Mr. Harris, the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the
meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted as follows. on January 21, 2025, emailed
to the Home News Tribune, the Star Ledger, the municipal clerk's office, posted in Ros Street School number 11, and the board of education administration building, also published on the school district website. Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Wolferman. Dr. Masamino, please introduce our student
representative, Yousef Gazi from Colonial High School. Thank you, Mr. Harris. Yousef is a junior with a 4.2 GPA who plans on attending college to major in engineering. Yousef is an important member of the Colonia High School community with some of his most notable achievements, including being named captain of the Juggernaut's
academic team after partaking in the club since freshman year and leading his team to a third place finish at the high-tech high academic competition and a first place win at the mast pop culture competition. In addition, he has taken on leadership roles such as the co-president of the junior class and a
founding member of the debate club. Yousef has also been an active member of the CHS Student Diversity Council, helping to prepare for various projects, including the yearly celebration of diversity. In his spare time, Yousef enjoys drawing and playing video games. Yousef has proven himself to be an exemplary member of the Colonia High
School community, personifying the Colonia High School core beliefs of character, commitment, and community. Yousef, thank you for joining us this evening. Thank you, Dr. Masamino, members of Colt, President Harris, and members of the board of education for inviting me here this evening. Uh, I'll get right into it. Starting off with our
elementary schools. Um on March uh March 6th, Pen A hosted their annual Right Up our School Family Night. Families donated money to paint cinder blocks in their hallways in creative ways that uniquely represented them. The money is being used to purchase supplies for the Woodbridge animal shelter and angel paws
in Colonia. Uh Penn also held their bubbles for autism event on April 10th. The entire student student body gathered outside, each grade wearing their own color of the rainbow and blue bubbles. The event culminated with the whole school arranging an infinity symbol for an overhead photo. Uh the pen a chorus
had the honor of singing the national anthem at the Somerset Patriots game on Saturday, April 12th. At Colonial Middle School, oh sorry, uh at school four and five, um they hosted their grade three through grade
five talent show on April 10th, 2025. During the months of February and March, students work dig digit diligently at home and during recess to protect their perfect their talents. The show highlighted access such as singing, dancing, instrumental music, magic, and
sports at Claremont Avenue school community uh school. They joined together for several family events in March and April. On Friday night, March 21st, their families enjoyed an evening of candy bingo. Before school on April 2nd and 3rd,
students had breakfast with a special family member/guest at sweets with someone special. The schoolastic book fair was open at that time as well so that students and guests could shop for books during the breakfast. On April on Monday, April 7th, Claremont Claremont
Avenue School course and band held a spring concert for the student body during the school day and performed later that evening at Colonia High School for family and guests. At school 21, the student council members at Oakidge Heights School had been busy during their first half of the year. These fourth and fifth grade students me
uh met monthly with their adviserss, Miss Cassone and Miss Coretti, to discuss school spirit days, fundraisers, and upcoming events. Student council helped to organize ail fundraiser for funds towards their school project, purchasing a new digital sign.
at school 22 uh Linress Elementary School. They were recognized by the sustainable jersey at by sustainable journey jersey as a digital school star. Digital school stars embraces the mindful implementation of effective digital learning and communication tools, resources, and practices. Linress
is the first elementary school in the district to achie achieve this recognition. On April 2nd, Linress heli schoolwide April a autism acus celebration in honor of World Autism Awareness Day. Our entire student
population were blue and blue bubbles to celebrate our significant autism population. Throughout the months, students from our autism program read announcements including facts and tips related to autism. And at school 23, fourth grade students held their annual wax museum last month. Students dressed
up as their favorite historical phys fig figures and presented their biographies and character to other students across the district. Junior youth and government day was held on April 10th at the administration building bringing together selected seventh grade students from each middle school. Participants were chosen by their civic teachers
based on the the strength and feasibility of their proposed community service projects. Each project demonstrated a commitment to civic engagement and the potential to make a meaningful impact within the local community at our middle schools. Starting with Avenel Middle School, they
uh on March 27th, AMS inducted 34 new members into their National Junior Honor Society. On April 2nd and 3rd, the theater club successfully performed an original student written and produced musical titled Detention Through the Decades. At Colonia Middle School, they
hosted a schoolwide PBIS midyear event with the theme of Dancing with the CMS stars. Recent assembly programs at CM CMS included meteorologist John Marshall and New York Times bestselling author Dr. George
Jenkins. CMS's seventh and eighth grade math teams finished in third place in the perennial math regional competition and qualified for the national competition. And finally at Colonia High School, the CHS desk dance team are 25 2025 state champions. The team won
varsity game day division and placed third in the varsity jazz division. CHS competition cheer team are also state champions in the varsity all music intermediate small division. The ID and autism classes started a coffee cart for
the FC at for our faculty called Patriot Park that runs every Friday. The guitar club held its first rock total rock concert in over 10 years in the auditorium on April 10th. Uh Thursday at
6:30 p.m. CHS welcomed alum alumni Peter Go Mula and Ratchet Jane back to discuss internships, networking, college and career opportunities, and Formula 1 racing. CHS student research students participated participated in the
American Waterworks Association's 10th annual water fil filter competition. Freshman students Angelica Argza, Angela Aronza, and Sanjana Ram placed second, and seniors Nicollet Bas Basque and Manhard Singh placed first against
college students from Ruckers, NGIT, and Rowan. The CHS English Honor Society members Marvin Alexis and Rox Roxan Rasan Dak were awarded $1,500 scholarships from the National English Honor Society for their outstanding essay
submissions. Four CHS Future Business Leaders of America members Sierra Kiar Telawu, Joseph Mipeti, Rashida Porin Japi, and Raj Rajput qualified for the 3-day FBLA
state leadership conference in Atlantic [Applause] City. Thank you, Yousef, for your detailed report and to principal Mr. chair for joining us from Colonia High School. You're both welcome to stay, but uh if you have uh other obligations this
evening, feel free to uh dismiss. I will be leaving, but thank you all for this opportunity for letting me be part of this board of education meeting. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Good luck. [Applause] Mr. Ban, please read the close session statement, please. Mr. President, in
compliance with the Sunshine Law, the board must go into close session in order to discuss subjects exempt from the public portion of our meeting. The discussions to be held in close session will be regarding personnel matter matters and the board will receive attorney client advice. Any information regarding the close session discussion
will be released to the public when the reasons for discussing these matters in close session no longer exist. I have a motion by Miss Bourdan. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. I have a motion by Miss Bordan, seconded by Mr. Treatwer. All in favor? I. Any opposed?
Carried. We retire to close session. We'll be out as soon as possible. Thank you. Okay. Uh we will do a moment of silence uh for the shooting today at Florida State uh where two students were were killed and five were injured. And we'll also start off with a salute to the
flag. Please join me. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Do I have a motion to reconvene? So
motion. Okay. Do I have a second? Second. Have a motion by Mr. Treebuster, seconded by Miss Perez. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Hearing none. Carried. Roll call. Mr. Secretary. Ms. Anderson here. Miss Bordan here. Ms. Perez here. Mr.
Mohamd here. Mr. Triboser here. Mr. Veles here. And Mr. Harris here. Will someone please make a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting? Motion second. Okay. Are there any additions or corrections? I have a motion by Miss Perez, seconded by Mr.
Treeer. All in favor? Any opposed? Hearing none. Carried. Mr. Secretary, please state for the record any notices of bids received by the board. Mr. President, no bids were received. Excellent. Dr. Masamino, please state for the record the superintendent reports for the month of
March 2025. Thank you, Mr. Harris. I presented to the board the following reports for the month of March 2025. The regist register of statistics report of fire drills, student suspension report for elementary and secondary bomb threat report and the monthly report of the attendance
officers. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Masmino. Uh, the Wilbur Township Board of Education welcomes and encourages active, productive, and respectful participation by members of the public and seeks to protect the First Amendment rights of those members of the public who wish to engage in free speech. Uh,
at this board of education meeting, members of the public are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of those whose legal rights may be impacted. The public is now invited to speak at the podium regarding the agendas being presented this evening.
When you come to the microphone, please provide your name and the section of the township in which you reside along with the specific agenda item you wish to discuss. As per regulation 1100D, comments must be limited to no more than 5 minutes. No response will be given
until you have completed your opportunity to speak. Wishing to speak on any agenda items, please come up to microphone, please. Where's your point? I don't have that. I don't have any right.
Okay. Yes, Mr. How are you? Good evening. thought would be proper. Uh well, first of all uh I want to thank you all of you. I want to everybody uh about the safety. We talk about it for a
long time and I think uh my first question do we have the funds in the budgets 24 and 25 budget to do such a thing to put those metal detectors in the schools? Uh if we didn't why do we do it before? But I think was a great
thing as you can see every day someplace in the country something's happening and I always said before number one problem that we got is uh probably newcomers like when I came myself I I was a newcomer we have to
be safe 100% not just once all 100%. We got to do anything and everything. Not just that put the metal detectors in schools, high schools. We should think about it. Put them all the schools. I know probably it's expensive. I don't know if you have to rent them or you buy
them. Mr. Far. Yeah. I apologize. Do you a specific agenda item or would you like to speak on this on the uh public sector? It says safety and security. Okay. You're on the safety and security agenda. Security. Yeah. Okay. You're you're on the um the one item for St. Johni, I believe.
or St. James, excuse me. Yeah. So anyway, so my thing would be I know probably it's expensive this or that, but personally you should just stop because of high schools. You got three high schools. You got team behind the schools, behind junior high schools, all
the schools. And my problem was they understand that we always thought that you're going to have a people over here to be security because of the terrorists. Mr. Mr. Mr. Var, could you please stay on the agenda item? I apologize. I'll give you the opportunity at at the public. But for safety and
security. Yeah. Okay. No, it has to be on on the specific item. I apologize. I just want to stick to the rules. Security. What I would recommend is would be to put detectors all the schools. Okay. And another thing I know, Mr. I
apologize. Item number one is just specific to St. James Elementary School purchasing security equipment. It doesn't have anything to do with metal detectors. Just to stick with the rules, can we come back in the public portion? We'll we'll address your your question.
Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Okay. I apologize. All right. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak on a specific agenda item? Thank you, Will, for fixing the uh audio. Thank you. All right.
I'm just going to uh retroactively go back. Uh Mr. Wolferman, do you have any notices uh received by the board? Thank you, Mr. President. We have one correspondence. Um we're we're in receipt of one notice from the Woodbridge Township Planning Board um for a hearing for block
761.02, lot 3.01, 80 Woodbine Avenue in Woodbridge. Okay. Excellent. All right. Thank you very much. Superintendent agenda. Dr. Masamino, do you have any recommendations for us? Yes, Mr. Iris. I have 47 items to present to the board this evening. Very
much. Dr. Masamino uh has made a motion. Do we have any Do we have a second? I make a motion to move the superintendent's agenda. Excellent. Seconded by Mr. uh Triboser. Are there any comments or questions from the board? Okay. Uh roll call. Mr. Secretary, just
before we do that, um we just need a second. Mr. Chair, I apologize. All right. Sorry. Second. because it feels like a motion, right? I think it feels like you're making the motion. Second it, but Mr. Harrison will expedite the meeting. I'm happy to submit the agenda and make the motion. So, we have a
motion by Mr. Trash. Do I have a second? Can I get a second? I'll second. Excellent. All right. Seconded by Miss Bardan. Are there any comments or questions from the board? M uh Mr. President? Yes. I'd like to make a comment on item number 29. Um, so on
March 19th, we had our prom dress giveaway, our Witch Township prom dress giveaway. We do this to kind of help our families off offset the cost of our of attending proms. Um, I want to acknowledge the student volunteers are getting a resolution tonight that helped
us. Want to acknowledge Mr. Ali helped coordinate that from administrative perspective. We were able to give out 70 prom dresses at our event this year. Thank you. Any other comments on superintendent's agenda? U Mr. President? Yes, go ahead.
I do want to um piggyback on uh Miss Anderson's comment. I was there at that prom dress giveaway and it is like the best night. The girls are just so supportive and happy. Uh Mr. Ali even I'm going to put him on the spot right now. He even made these signs. We said yes to the dress. He really, you know,
he upped our game this year. We had a lot of um a lot of volunteers, a lot of student volunteers, and a lot of uh community come in and donate um jewelry and shoes and dresses. So, we definitely appreciate that. And just just to see uh the support that these girls offer one
another that don't even know each other. They're not even from the same school. Um it was just really great and the moms come in with them sometimes and it's just it's very nice. So, um Marie, thank you for bringing that back again this year. I always want to be a part of that. Yeah. Um my second thing is um I
just want to um shout out to all of our uh teachers, staff, faculty. Um April and early May is a special time of year as we nationally thank our par profofessionals on April 3rd. School bus drivers April 22nd, administrative professionals April 23rd, teachers May
6th, school nurses May 7th. Please join me in extending our appreciation for frontline workers who serve our students, families, and schools in numerous tangible and intangible ways. Yes. Thank you very much. There's resolutions for um for those groups.
Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you. Roll call, Mr. Secretary. Miss Anderson. Yes. Miss Bourdan. Yes. Mr. Mohammed. Yes. Miss Perez. Yes. Mr. Treeboser. I stand on the name and item one of Linda Treeboser. Yes. On all other items. Mr.
Vez. Yes, Mr. Harris. Yes. Communication policy and planning agenda. Mr. Muhammad. Uh, Mr. President, the communication policy and planning committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools presents the following 12 recommendations. Uh, before
I move for the adoption, I just want to recognize uh item number 10 on the agenda for our board members. Uh, Sue Bourdain and Marie Anderson for the time that you took to assist with this event. Yeah, great job and from what I understand is a really good success and
also there are some events also that uh Miss Bourdain mentioned that are taking place during the month. Uh so if members of the public can join in and attend those uh those uh those events that'll be really good showing for the students and for the teachers. Thank you so much. Uh so Mr. President, I move for the
adoption of the foregoing 12 items. Thank you very much. I have a motion by Mr. Muhammad. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. Motion by Mr. Muhammed, seconded by Miss Perez. Any comments or questions from the board? Oh, Mr. President, I do want to
acknowledge our community volunteers that we had and I do see in the audience I see Mr. Glenn Morgan and it was the Independent Club of Colonia that actually collaborated with us for the prom dress giveaway. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Excellent.
[Applause] Miss Perez, I'd like to point out a few calendar changes. Since the district did not use any of its three builtin inclement weather days this year, I remind parents to mark their calendars that all schools will now be closed on the following
days. Friday, May 23rd, Tuesday, May 27th, and Monday, June 9th. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Okay. Hearing no others. Roll call. Mr. Wolferman. Miss Anderson. Yes. Miss
Bordan. Yes. Mr. Mohammed. Yes. Miss. Perez. Yes. Mr. Treeasser. Yes. Mr. VeZ. Yes. Mr. Harris. Yes. Okay. Moving on. Mr. Posino, please provide an overview of the 2024 2025
fall block NJSLA results. [Music] Thank you, Mr. Harris. You're welcome. Our fall block NGSLA is roughly about half of our high school students in grade nine for language arts, algebra 1,
geometry, and algebra 2. This report contains a district analysis with a comparison of the 23 24 school year with our 2425 school year results in the fall and the respective state averages in those same years. It also provides a school analysis with
those same comparison alongside the performance in our three respective high schools. Provides a demographic analysis and intervention measures provided by the district. The public should note that some of the data may be suppressed due to an effort to keep student data private when the number of participants
is represented by 10 or fewer students. There's some promising information contained in the grade nine language arts report which shows we exceeded the state average in moving students who are not meeting or partially meeting expectations by 3% and improved 12% from
last year. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Pra. Any comments or questions from the board on the presentation? Seeing none curriculum extracurricular activities and technology agenda Mr. Tree Boss. Thank you, Mr. President. The curriculum extracurricular activities and
technology committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction presents the following 14 items. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. Thank you very much. I have a motion by Mr. Tree. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. I have a motion by Mr.
Tree, seconded by Miss Bordan. Was that you? Did I hear? Okay, great. Thank you. Are there any comments or questions from the board? Hearing none. Roll call. Mr. Wolferman. Ms. Anderson. Yes, Miss Bourdan. Yes, Mr. Mohammed. Yes, Miss Perez. Yes, Mr.
Triboser. Yes, Mr. VeZ. Yes, Mr. Harris. Yes. Finance and insurance agenda. Back to you, Mr. Treewer. Thank you, Mr. President. Finance and insurance committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary prevent presents the following 21 items.
I move for the adoption of the foregoing. Excellent. I have a motion by Mr. Treeasser. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Motion by TWA. Uh, Mr. Mr. Tree Waster seconded by Miss Anderson. Any comments or questions from the board? Hearing none. Roll call. Mr. Secretary. Miss. Anderson. Yes. Miss
Bourdan. I abstain on item number one in the name of Susan Bordan. And yes on all others. Mr. Mohammed. Yes. Miss. Perez. Yes. Mr. Tboser. Yes. Mr. BZ. Yes. Mr. Harris. Yes. Safety and
security agenda. Mr. Thank you, Mr. President. The safety and security committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools present the following one item and I'll move for the adoption report. I have a motion by Mr. VeZ. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. Motion by Mr. Vez, seconded by Mr.
Treeer. Any comments or questions from the board? Hearing and seeing none. Roll call. Mr. Wolferman. Miss Anderson. Yes. Miss Bouam. Yes. Mr. Mohammed. Yes. M. Perez. Yes. Mr. Tree? Yes. Mr. VeZ? Yes. Mr. Harris? Yes. Buildings and grounds
agenda. Miss Perez. Thank you, Mr. President. The buildings and grounds committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary present the following five items. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. Excellent. I have a motion by Miss Perez. Do I have a second? Second. Okay.
Motion by Miss Perez, seconded by Miss Fan. Any comments or questions from the board? Uh Mr. President? Yes, sir. I just want to give a shout out to our administration and our buildings and grounds people. Um they're moving on item number three. the Ford's middle school parking lot. It was in need of some repairs and probably a redesign. I
know there was some drainage problems out there and uh we're going to correct that and move on. I appreciate taking care of that. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, that's definitely due and thank you so much. Excellent. Any other comments or questions? Okay, hearing none. Roll call. Miss Anderson, yes.
Miss Bordan, yes. Mr. Mohamd, yes. Miss Perez, yes. Mr. Treeboser, yes. Mr. VeZ, yes. Mr. Harris, yes. Dining and transportation agenda. Miss Perez. Thank you, Mr. President. The dining and transportation committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator
board secretary present the following 10 items. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. Excellent. I have a motion by Miss Perez. Do I have a second? Second. Second. Okay. Motion by Miss Perez, seconded by Miss Bordan. Any comments or questions from the board?
Hearing and seeing none. Roll call. Mr. Wolferman. Miss Anderson. Yes. Miss Bourdan. Yes. Mr. Mohammed. Yes. Miss Perez. Yes. Mr. Treeboser, yes. Mr. Vez, yes. Mr. Harris, yes. Personnel agenda, Miss Gordon. Thank you, Mr. President. The personnel committee on recommendation of the superintendent of
schools and the assistant superintendent for human resources present the following 19 items. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. Excellent. I have a motion by Miss Bourdan. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. Uh motion by Miss Bordan, seconded by Miss Perez. Any comments or
questions from the board? None. Roll call. Mr. Wolferman. Miss Anderson. I'm going to abstain on item number 17 in the name of Nia Anderson. Yes to all other items. Miss Bourdan. Yes. Mr. Mohammed. Yes. Miss
Perez. Yes. Mr. Triboser? Yes. Mr. Vez? Yes. Mr. Harris? Yes. Hope. Do you have any uh legal advice for us this evening? Nothing. No. Very good. Wanted to give you some action there. Is there any old business that should be
brought before the attention of the board? No. All right. Any new business, Mr. President? Yes. Um, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the parents and students for their cooperation and patience with the new metal detectors at the high schools.
Everyday weight times and our efficiency have improved. And I want to thank the administration again for um swiftly moving. Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you. And uh I know we'll be getting a question about that as well momentarily. Any
other new business, Mr. President? Yes. Um I'd like to let the community know that kindergarten registration for the next school year remains open online. Uh please spread the word with parents of children of our uh kindergarten age. Um registering early is very helpful to our
district. So we would appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Mr. Harris, if I may. Oh, absolutely. I share that. So, this isn't new business. Um, this is news and it's sad news, but I I would be remissed to not share it. Um, today we laid to rest a community
member, uh, Stu Brandau u at 100 years old. He was a fixture in our community, a World War II veteran. Um, it was over a decade ago that we were lucky enough to dedicate the rock uh, uh, Claremont Avenue by the flag pole in his honor. I was fortunate enough to be the principal
there. Uh he's been a friend of uh my families for quite some time. Uh spent holidays with the man. One of the most decent human beings I've had the privilege of knowing and working with. And I say worked with because he came to the schools and spent time at the Evergreen Center with students and
shared his story. So um disappointed not to see that that didn't make the news of all the things we talk about. Uh it would have been nice to see that be celebrated. 100 years old, World War II veteran. um would have liked to see some something get published in his honor but
in lie of that um I would be remiss to not recognize him. He attended our Veterans Day celebration for decades. Um visited our schools and and was a fixture. So he will be sorely missed. Um I considered him a friend and part of my
family. So personally it is a loss but uh it is a loss for our community and our students and staff as a whole. So I did want to give uh Mr. for Brandau and his family the recognition I believe he deserves. Thank you for the time. Of course. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Uh any other members wishing to speak? Uh I I did have just just two quick items. Um I'm very active on social media as uh anyone who follows me and I know many of the board members do as well. Uh one of the there was a question I saw floating
around today about uh tomorrow. Tomorrow is Good Friday uh within the Christian faith. It is a early dismissal day. It's not a day off. Perhaps other school districts do give that day off. We as a school district and we've we've uh upheld this position for some time that
we only recognize federal holidays uh for uh you know for for holidays and days off so we could keep a congruent uh calendar throughout the year. Uh so that is the reason why it is only a early dismissal day which was actually
negotiated uh with our collective bargaining units. That's the reason it's a early dismissal day. Um and so federal holiday is not a federal holiday. It is a a Wall Street holiday only uh as well as a Christian holiday. And then um the early dismissal
is a result of negotiations with our employees. So I just wanted to provide that clarity. There seemed to be some criticism of that. Obviously, everyone's always welcomed to their to their opinions, but that has been our our position and I think we've been pretty consistent with it every year when we do the calendar. Uh I I hope you can
respect that. Uh however, every year, of course, we we always take a fresh look at the calendar and are open to to ideas going forward. Nextly, I just wanted to cover school breakfast and lunch application. It's a federal program that provides free and uh free lunch and
breakfast as well as reduced price uh breakfast and lunch for uh people of uh of a certain income. Eligibility has been expanded uh by virtue of the state of New Jersey kicking in some money to get more students eligible for free uh breakfast
lunch. Um that application is open year round. Uh, I would encourage any parent who thinks they may or may not be eligible to apply. That information only stays within Woodbridge Township. It's not shared with anybody and it could entitle your your children to a free
lunch or free breakfast. Um, I think it's certainly a worthwhile uh savings if you do qualify. Uh, one of the reasons I bring it up today is that the summer is not far far away for families who are eligible. If you don't sign up,
you're you're not going to be eligible for the summer meals program. It's a a program that launched a few years ago where the uh federal government passes along about $120 to uh each student that's eligible for the free lunch
program and they receive a EBT or SNAP card in the mail uh each summer. For some families, affording food throughout the summer break when school is not in session and there's not a a breakfast or lunch program. That $120 can be a
significant amount of money. And uh if you don't apply, you're you're leaving money on the table, money that you know, your tax dollars are are coming back to you. So, I would encourage you to fill out that application. It's it's online. Our district is is uh unlike some other districts where we have an online
application as well as a paper application. So, if you go to the Genesis page, it's right there on the homepage for Genesis, or you could talk to your school um your school front office, your principal's office, and they could get you a paper application. So, I would encourage you to do that. Fill it out. If you're if you're not
eligible, you're simply not eligible. There's no penalty for applying, but certainly uh give it a shot. Any other comments from the board? Seeing none, we will move on to the public portion of the meeting. Uh I'll I'll read the same statement I read previously. We will now
open the meeting for public comment. If you wish to say something, please come to the microphone. Provide your name and the section of the township in which you reside for the record. Again, members of the public are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of
those excuse me, those whose of those whose legal rights may be impacted. Please limit your comments to no more than 5 minutes in accordance with regulation 1100D. No response will be given until you have fully completed all of your comments so as not to interrupt your five-minute opportunity to speak.
Please come to the microphone name and the section of the township which you reside and you can speak on anything. This is public portion. Mr. Morgan. Good evening. There you go. Good evening. My name is Glenn
Morgan. I'm from the Avenel section of the township and I am also the chairman for the human rights commission. I am also a member of the independent club of Colonia as well. I'm here to talk about
DEI and this is one of the last times you'll hear me refer to DEI as an acronym. That is because we have outside forces trying to turn it into DI pushing their own agenda in order to
keep our society fragmented as opposed to what it actually is. So I'm here to talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Are you aware that scholars and the
National Bureau of Economic Research indicates that white women and veterans have benefited the most from diversity, equity, and inclusion. Diversity is a presence of difference. It's one of the things that
contributes to Woodbridge being the best town around. our neighbors, black, white, Hispanic, Southeast Asian, East Asian, and more. We're Republicans, Democrats,
independents, rich, poor, middle class, straight, gay, white collar, blue collar. So, when you say you're against diversity, be honest. Which of these groups are you against? Because to be against diversity
means you're against the presence of difference. Now, equity. Equity is about meeting individual needs. Things like sidewalk ramps for our neighbors in wheelchairs. Smaller class sizes for
students with learning disabilities. Tutoring programs for students who underachieve. gifted and talented programs for students who need an extra challenge. Meal accommodations in
recognition of religious practices. Translation services for those who need it. Providing busing for students who live far from their school or can't safely walk to it.
ensuring all students, no matter their background or identity, have a chance to see themselves and what they study and who has contributed to making this country great. So, when you say you're against equity, please be
honest. Which of these are you against? Because to be against equity means you're against meeting the specific needs of your neighbors. Last, inclusion. Inclusion is the practice of
ensuring individuals regardless of background or identity feel valued, heard, and included in decision-m. It benefits everybody. Looking at course offerings
to make sure that the electives offered include things that students are actually interested in. developing the cultural competence of the people teaching students and leading schools which can lead to better
relationships with students, parents and the community. inclusion is having this meeting here in person, but also streaming it live and posting posting it back for playback so
that community members can view or participate in a way that works for them. Things like the opportunity we are provided to speak at meetings like this and the fact that even those with no kids in the district and people who
don't even live in the township are allowed to speak. So when you say you're against inclusion, be honest. Which of these things are you against? Because to be against inclusion means you're against ensuring our neighbors, regardless of their
background or situation, are heard and valued. So no, I don't believe most people are against diversity, equity, or inclusion. Even the ones who are most vocal rallying against it.
So, I challenge you to learn for yourself what it is and what it looks like in our schools and community. And if you do, you will be fighting to keep it, not
lobbying to make it D I E. So if you have any interested in taking this conversation further, I welcome anybody that wants to come to the human rights commission meetings. We have them at the uh council chambers and
our next one is on May 12th. So I would be glad to talk with anyone. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hello board members. Excuse my voice. I'll try to speak up. I picked a heck of a week to get
laryngitis. Hello, my name is Robert Frell. Except for my college years of I'm a lifelong resident of Woodbridge Township, the Colonia section, uh 66 plus years now. I was also a K to2 student of our Woodbridge Township school system. Like Glenn Morgan, who
just spoke before me, I'm also a committee member of the Woodbridge Township Human Rights Commission. Um, I'm a short-timer. Uh, first I would like to clearly state that I am in 100% agreement with what Glenn Morgan so clearly and eloquently stated before me.
Um, the rest of my remarks will not be as eloquent as his, but I'll do my best. Uh, this is my this is my attempt to put my money where my mouth is as far as uh the way things are nowadays. So that being said, I stand here this
evening speaking for myself alone, not as an HRC member or anyone else, but as a proud and gravely concerned American citizen and Woodbridge Township resident. Next, I also want to make it clear that I believe any attacks or attempts to abridge the basic human
rights and dignity of any one child is an attack on the basic human rights and dignity of all children. and also an attack on the basic human rights and dignity of all Americans. Contrary to what some factions in our country would like us to
believe, protecting the rights of those with special needs, minorities, the poor, the underprivileged, the underserved, etc., etc., does not diminish the rights of the so-called majority. Human rights are not a zero
sum proposition. Protecting the rights of others does not abridge or dim dim diminish any of my rights or anyone else's. To paraphrase a movie scene some of you may recognize, when one Marine asked another why they were convicted of
conduct unbecoming a Marine, quote, "Because we didn't do anything wrong," the other Marine replied, quote, "Yeah, we did. we were supposed to fight for those who can't fight for themselves." At this point in history,
we need to stand up and fight for the rights of all children and all Americans. In conclusion, I would simply like to state my opinion that we can't wait until the danger is in our own schools, our own town, and our own backyards. At that
point, it is simply too late. We need to stand up now for the rights of our children. To stand up and fight for those who can't protect themselves. Sometimes there is only one chance to be on the right side of history. And now is the time to be on the right side of history. Thank you for
the opportunity to speak this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak this evening? set my five minutes if I may. Anthony Mara from Edison here to speak about
policy 5145.7. I've been here before, not a lot of times, but been here before. Others have spoken as I have as I will tonight. You cannot thumb your nose in God's face time and time again repeatedly and
expect him to ignore it. 5145.7 dishonors mom and dad. One of the ten commandments says honor your father and your mother. There are other commandments in
there. I have them on my phone. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You should not bear false witness. In other words, no lying, no coveting, no adultery. I'd like to think we all agree that these are things these are wrongs,
lying, stealing, murder, and so forth. How is it that the fifth commandment has slipped through that one? If you remove the the phrase ten commandments from that, I suspect everyone here, in fact, even if you do, we all know that those are wrong, those sins.
How is it that the fifth commandment, honoring mom and dad, which is what 5145.7 violates, how is it that that one isn't isn't honored? 5145.7
says, "Students who do not want their parents," and I'm reading from the policy, students who do not want their parents or guardians to know their transgender status shall be addressed on a case-bycase basis. I'm going to jump down a few more sentences. The school
counselor shall balance the rights of the student needing support and requirement that the parent students be excuse me the parent guardian be kept informed about the child. Who is it this what right does
this counselor have to keep mom and to decide I have to balance these? Talk about dishonoring mom and dad. Would you do that with these other commands, lying, stealing, and so forth? No. But
somehow mom and dad get the are to be trashed. God says, "Have you not read?" And this is words from Jesus Christ. Have you not read that God that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? For this reason a man shall leave his
father and mother and be joined to his wife and two shall become one flesh. In other words, just two genders. This is not BaskinRobins where we go and choose amongst a dozen or so genders. Is the student counseledled about the
risks? You know, we have X Y and X X chromosomes. No surgery, no home bunker is going to change that. The student is lying to himself. That student needs counseling. Is the student counseledled
about about the risk of not having children in the usual way? Because you have surgery and hormone blockers, you're going to do a serious damage to your reproductive organs. Is a student council about the increased risk of suicide? The NCAA has changed this
policy and that's a big organization, National Collegiate Athletic Association. Please abolish this policy. Adopt a common sense policy that says we're going to counsel our students about the risks of trying to change
genders. Risk of not being able to have children, which they may regret in the future. They're children. Do they really know? Do they really know what they're doing? They don't know reading, writing, arithmetic. That's why they're here to to learn. Do they know what they're
doing? I submit to you that they do not. Abolish policy, replace it with a common sense one that counsels a student of the risks of trying to change genders. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak this
evening? Uh John would be chicken. I just John wooden prepper. Uh I just never thought I would speak something like over here but again uh I told before about the security about uh but I'm talking about
DEI and I'm listening for years and people do I went to communist school I graduated government communism and we know that stuff before going to school we were taught by
parents elderly we didn't come to school to learned how to respect, how to honor other people, how to help other people, how to feed the other people. We were poor, but we share. We didn't wait to govern to tell us. By the time government comes to tell you, it's too
late. This could be told that kids we should told before they even come to school. We come to high school and become next a graduation military, it's too late to teach at the DI, equity, illusion, everything else. So M port is
I think maybe I don't see we wasted our time. I understand some people do not have our parents or mentors to actually teach them those quality how to treat people. Yes ma'am. No ma'am. Yes sir. Thank you. All those things see somebody's hungry feed them. See
somebody's able help him. That's what is brought. Maybe some people don't go to church but I don't go myself to the truth but I do believe in God. But again this is what it is. We have to kind of uh get by it. We're all good people. We don't have to be taught
and reminded do this, do that because it's in your heart if you kiss somebody. We we protect animals. We protect anything else. But why can't we protect each other? We don't look at what color you are, what religion you are, or anything else. Your own heart tells you
what you got to do in case you have to do it. So that's what I'm saying. It's beautiful to try to do again. But again, it's sad the kids are not ready before they get to school and you got to teach them how to from day one from kindergarten how to say yes ma'am, no
ma'am, no thank you. That's say it. So I want to go to other things but again I congratulate people over here for they uh reminding that people those things should be done at home before they go to school if you can do it. If you don't have parents again, they comes mentors,
big brothers, so to speaking, even church or anything else to be done. But let me go back to the uh security and I want to say thank you everybody again what was done Mr. Mr. you know uh everybody else as you know all over the
world every day things happen and understood un understood at first that we were there because what about terrorist and then I realized that you can't just put a person in a building and be protected from terrorist we need
any kind of whatever device you got to protect us I don't care was a cameras. I don't care if it's a metal director, anything else to be able to do it. And my question would be, did we have a in a budget 24 I mean 24 and 25 to pay for those metal
detectors in Woodbish high schools in goodish high schools. But again, I believe we should put them all the schools and I grew up in the country. uh I don't want to somebody do something in memory of somebody because somebody
might died or or or something because of the negligence or you know something could be done before uh you know some of my friends would have killed during the war the parents build something in the church in the
memory what I would recommend if you can put to people that want to contribute I know those metal detectors or something would be a lot expensive But it would be great if you go to some corporations for example or some individual people that do have a to buy
it in memory. If we give it to the schools that be one of the biggest monument that you can put in the school safety for the kids that it would be great idea if you can push towards the ESDA people and again but I would recommend them to put in all the schools
and just started if you can do wood other towns would do it because kids not just in wood we got protect we protect everybody in the in in the world so they'll be big because unfortunately war is still war is still to come. So, let's make our kids safe.
You people did a great job and uh it's a good start and uh thanks God uh nothing was happened that would happen but that's why we should work on it and if we can get people that would be willing to do something like that. I don't know how much it would cost. I don't know if
you release them or maintain them and things like that. So, I would thank thank you for time. Thank you, Mr. Var. And uh you know to your comments, we've rolled out the metal detectors to our three high schools. Uh it's been a week now. We've learned a lot uh within and
then I know Dr. Basmino and our team have been uh working with other surrounding districts that that have implemented metal detectors and we've learned a lot from them. Uh Dr. Masamino is very wellversed on this subject matter. Did you want to speak to any part of Mr. Var's question? No. Okay.
Thank you. Was there a question uh about expanding it to all all levels of school? It still in discussion. We're try we're trying to get the high schools sorted out, work out the kinks, right? Um you know, this this was something that we thought we would have this spring and this summer to roll out.
We've been seeking demos uh meeting with other school districts. I was at a a school district this morning in in Union County. Um expansion is obviously something that we will have conversation about, but you know, we're starting our three high schools. there is uh there are parameters that we're operating within right there are uh economic impacts
there are personnel impacts there's a collective bargaining agreement um in place for the teachers and and I don't know that the I don't know that the administrators and the teachers at our at our three high schools could have been uh more flexible. I say that in the same vein that I say I don't know that
the parents could have been more supportive. I'm exceptionally grateful for the parents of the three high schools. Um, I had some wonderful conversations, some spirited conversations, but uh, the support was was overwhelming. So, I I am super appreciative to the to the parents in our community at all three high schools.
I think the students are doing an excellent job acclimating. Like I said, this is a process that we're we're learning as we go, but I don't know what the cost for keeping children safe is. Um, I don't know what the time frame is or or how much it's worth. To me, they're both immeasurable. there is no there's no value you can assign to to
the responsibility or to the lives that we are you know in charge of of keeping safe. So I I will uh continue to work with the board. You know they've also been tremendously supportive uh when you know the incident happened on a uh on one day the next day the the metal
detectors were ordered. I don't I don't know that we could have moved any swifter. Um the rollout's the roll out right. We're we're working with waiting for them to get delivered, getting information out to the parents, and then working with the resources we have. And I am exceptionally grateful for all stakeholders from the board being
supportive to the conversation I had with parents to the students, you know, doing their part and and and really, you know, the vast majority following the rules, getting there early, putting all their stuff in the bag. Um, and and the teachers and the administrators are are getting there early, you know, they're they're working hard. So, I do believe,
you know, I I say at the honor society speeches, it takes a village. I don't think this is any different and and I'm appreciative for all the support we've received from our stakeholders. Thank you, Mr. Thank you very much. Mr. Lund, good evening. Paul Londlon, I just have
two questions. Uh, number one, through an Oprah request, I noticed that Mr. Ali's job title has changed. Um, there's some very superficial changes. I'm just wondering why you you tweaked his title and his job description, number one. And number two, I'm curious, how much uh
does our district get in federal funding? That as well. Sure. Uh just going back a month or two that we we made the job uh title change. It was January, February uh that we did it. And I think it was simply an evaluation
between Dr. Masamino and Mr. Charie's department that uh in the 4 and a half 5 years that the position's been around, it's evolved and we thought it was time to uh to make a title change that was reflective of the role. And I actually asked Mr. Wolf from a similar question
regarding the federal funding. If I remember correctly, I don't have my papers in front of me. It was about $1 million between title one, title two, and title three funding. Perkins grants. We get few hundred thousand dollars a year for Perkins's um stomp pancakes. Uh which is a long running joke on the
board here. Uh it has to do with uh job training uh grant programs that named after the first labor secretary for Francis Perkins. Got it. And I'm sorry it's kind of cheating, but just to be clear, it used to be director of direct of uh equity um diversity, equity,
inclusion. What's the new title now? It's uh director of student access and engagement. Did I get it right? Got it. So it's not not DEI anymore. No, no, that's correct. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Have a good night. And have anybody else wishing to speak this
evening? Mr. President. Yes. After they're done, I don't want to forget to um recognize the National Honor Society students. Oh, sure. I didn't realize there was people coming up. Hi, my name is Liam
Chang and I'm M. Patel and we're here to represent FCCLA. We are currently both 11th graders at Johnf Kennedy Memorial High School which resides in the Islam. We uh have been lucky enough to been elected to the New Jersey State Executive Council for New Jersey FCCLA.
We are two of nine representatives um chosen throughout the state. I am currently ser will be serving as your vice president of membership for the 2025 2026 term. Mishu will be serving as our vice president of community service. Uh as uh state as uh members of the state executive council, we make
decisions that will not only uh affect hundreds of students but thousands. Um and today we are here to talk about our recent state leadership conference. Um, our state leadership conference was on March 19th and 20th in Cherry Hill,
New Jersey. This conference had over 800 members, advisers, chaprons, and alumni. I would like to recognize RJFK Mustangs, chapters accomplishments at this conference. We received the Red Rose Chapter Award on the first day. This
recognizes chapters who go above and beyond. Our second award was was awarded to Miss Santana, our adviser. She received the spirit of advising award during our recognition dinner. She's the perfect recipient for this award as she puts countless time and effort into the
success of her students. The first day of this conference included of workshops. One of them was about sustainable fashion which was led by me and Miss Santana. There were also competitive event presentations going on on the first day. And that was our first day.
The second day we started a business meeting similar to the one that you guys are having now. And then we had a fashion show and awards. 29 students from JFK received gold medals. Um, five students received silver medals and three students received bronze
medals. 10 students received first place. And mind you, they're competing against more than 20 chapters. And each chapter is allowed to have two teams. So they so they beat out over a 100 students to get first place. 10 students received second
place. And then lastly, two students received third place. 18 members from our JFK chapter qualified to attend the National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida this July to represent the whole state of New Jersey at this
national conference. Last year we went and we had pretty good success and we plan on going again this year. Even though 18 people qualified, not everyone will be going due to financial issues, but we've held several fundraisers and plan to continue holding these new fundraisers and we would like to thank
you for your time today. Thank you. Good luck. Good luck in July. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. Anybody else wishing to speak this evening? Seeing no others, the chair will entertain a motion to Oh, excuse
me. Wait, sorry, just real quick. I just It is uh National Honor Society season and um I just want to congratulate all of the students um that have received the National Honor Society uh induction this year. It's been I I was able to attend three ceremonies where I saw
probably more students this year than I have in the past and I just it's very impressive that these children want to work uh towards this prestigious society. Um they have to dedicate their time outside of school and maintain honoral status which I think is a more than I could ever
ever. So congratulations to all the students who have received awards this year and uh if you did not receive the award this year uh try again next year. Yeah. All right. All right. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you, Miss Bordan. And yes, congratulations to all those students and families who uh made that
achievement. Seeing no other hands motion. The chair will entertain a motion to adjurnn. So motion. Okay. I have a second uh motion uh by Mr. Tree West, second by Miss Bordan. All in favor? Any opposed?
Garage. Meeting is adjourned. Have a good night everybody. We'll see you on May 8th. If not beforehand, May 1st, we have our open public uh budget session uh right here at six o'clock. Take it easy. May 1st. Thank you. This is it.
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