[Music] I hear it the April 25 2024 open Public Finance meeting of the wber toship Board of Education will please come to order roll call Mr secretary M Anderson here Mr deletro here Mr Muhammad here M Perez here Mr treaser here Mr valz here and Mr Harris here Mr secretary is required by the Sunshine Law please read the notice of meetings thank you Mr President 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 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 25th 2024 emailed to the home News Tribune The Star Ledger and the municipal clerk's office posted in rth Street School number 11 and the Board of Education administration building also published on the school district website thank you Mr wolferman that Miss Board and our vice president's not here just yet so I'll turn it over to miss Anderson for the Clos session statement thank you Mr President in compliance with the Sunshine Law the board must go into closed session in order to discuss subjects Exempted from the public portion of our meeting the discuss discs to be held in closed session will be regarding Personnel matters and the board will receive attorney client advice any information regarding the closed session discussion will be released to the public when the reasons for discussing these matters in closed session no longer exist thank you Miss Anderson do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Miss Anderson seconded by Mr uh tree waser all in favor I any opposed carried uh the board retires to close session will be out as soon as we are completed thank you very much please rise for a salute to the flag at a moment of silence I pled allegiance to the flag the United States of indivisible andice for all do I have a motion to reconvene so motion second I have a motion by Mr Tree waser seconded by Mr Dela Petra all in favor I any opposed carried roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson here miss bouran here Mr deletro here Mr mamad here M Perez here Mr sedon here Mr treaser here Mr valz here Mr Harris here will someone make a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meetings motion second okay are there any additions or corrections I have a motion by Miss perz second to by Mr CH waser all in favor I any opposed carried Mr secretary please State for the record any notices of bids received by the board thank you Mr President the following bids and proposals were received for the 2024 25 school year on April ail 9th 2024 ifb 25-1 asbest baitman and microbial remediation April 17th 2024 RFP 25-1 Environmental Compliance inspection and Consulting Services thank you Mr wolferman Dr maso please introduce our student representative from Wood high school thank you Mr President Stephanie Beford is currently a senior at woodrige high school she's an extremely involved member of the school school Community throughout High School Stephanie has been a member of the tennis team El Dorado BSU jazz band rppa quill and scroll and trim Honor Society Stephanie has also volunteered as a tennis coach and as a manager of the boys tennis team Stephanie has earned her seal of biliteracy in French and is an AP scholar of Distinction she has earned numerous Awards including the PSAT commended student award the Platinum award in the grand conquers and the national African-American recognition award Stephanie is currently ranked number three in her senior class After High School she plans on attending Northwest University as a double major in cognitive science and creative writing thanks for joining us tonight um I'll be reading the activity list for some of the schools in Woodbridge Township starting with school number one students participated in read Across America week a woman's leadership day assembly was held on March 8th and Woodbridge Middle School Sidekicks came to visit grade 4 students an assembly was held with NJ Transit teaching students the importance and safety of the railroad system along with NJ courts speaking on the laws and the importance of leading on the right path to avoid trouble our grade 5 student started the Dare program and quiver Farms delivered chickens and some are hatching in school four and five fifth grade students attended the Holocaust resource center student leadership conference students from the Colonia High School English Honor Society will read to classes as a part of read Across America month tender Smiles For Kids will be doing follow-up Dental appointments and grade 2 to five students participated in morning tutoring sessions grades 3 to five students participated in family writing fifth grade students participated there as well students attended choir band chess club dance club and secl Club throughout the month and the track team is preparing for the elementary school track meet at school 9 students and staff celebrated read Across America week as well students and staff weighs money for the kids heart Challenge and the track team is preparing for the elementary school track meet students in grades 1 through five attended after school tutoring clubs fifth grade students attended the Holocaust resource center student leadership conference at Kan University fifth grade students participated in Dare and students volunteered their time to be part of our gardening club and work together to beautify our school W High School science research students conducted lessons for our fifth and fourth grade students the third grade collaborated with students and teachers from school 21 to participate in the math Olympics at school 11 students and staff participated in bre Across America week the counseling office scheduled visits from Darius the therapy dogs to the classrooms and the gardening club performed its annual spring cleanup fifth grade students participated in Dare students in various grades attended choir band chess club dance club and Club throughout the month the track team began preparing for the elementary school track meet and the fifth graders participated in the Holocaust Resource Center leadership conference the ASI and our Ela stem teams hosted another successful family night as the PTO held a Tricky Tray on MAR 8 on March 8th the counseling office conducted rethink Ed lessons to grades 3 through 5 at school 19 students celebrated Ross America week they also attended the JFK MHS play High School Musical pbsis hosted a family Pizza Bingo night Title One husky hero math academy began this month after school for students in grades 3 through 5 Title One book clubs for grades 1 through three occurred during lunch and dare started in our school for fifth graders this month fifth graders students attended the virtual assembly of the Holocaust resource center student leadership conference at school 25 students parti participated in read Across America students in grade five attended the virtual assembly of the Holocaust Resource Center in student leadership conference students in grade 5 also earned a reward during our March pbsis drawing for their continued Improvement in being respectful responsible and kind Title 1 a.m. extended day to assist students in grade 3 through 5 in ela and math Title One book clubs for grades 2 through 5 during lunch Title One math competition club for grades 4 and 5 during lunch Title One family stem nights for grades 2 and three were held in March they celebrated World down syndr day by wearing crazy socks and every Friday students are recognized for their learning math packs on reflex our PTO held a family bingo night on April 12th and family writing nights were held for grades 2 and 3 in April and family science nights were held for grades four and 5 in April the national Elementary Honor Society held an outdoor school cleanup at school 28 bubble Day celebration was held classroom collaborations for autism acceptance month were also held grade 5 students attended the virtu ual assembly of the Holocaust resource center student leadership conference the spring concert for fourth and fifth grade students was held on April 18th at WMS gardening club is starting for third grade students and they open two new Outdoor Learning spaces in our Courtyards autism acceptance spirit week from April 22nd to April 26th was also celebrated the National Honor Society students from woodb high school visited the students with autism creating crafts and readings to the classes at avenol middle school over 50 families participated in family stem night three students read their poetry at the evening with young poets event seventh and eighth grade students were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society sixth graders received their last visit from Colonial High School's Heroes and Cool Kids and 15 students participated in pizza and poetry to celebrate National poetry month boys and girls cross country and boys and girls volleyball begins this week students and staff wore blue on April 12th to promote Autism Awareness Month at Ford's Middle School choir Corral and showstoppers are collaborating with dance to put on our spring concert at on April 24th at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria special guests are coming together to add a rock band for our final number celebrated National foreign language week in March with an International Food and culture Fest sth grade honors classes in English will view an interactive presentation on Edgar alen Poe and a collaboration of science occurred to provide the seventh grade science classes with a vaping lab presentation woodb High School Heroes and Cool Kids did a collaborative workshop with our students on April 11th and the spring athletic season is underway for volleyball and cross country at Woodbridge High School the spring musical Sweeney Todd was presented during the week of March 21st to the 24th congratulations to staff parents pit band technical crew and our amazingly talented company of actors on April 17th woodb high school and Colonia Middle School hosted a day of Ally shape and expression with over 200 staff and student participants across all secondary schools abduraman ol DOA president of the woodberg high school black student union and Spanish Honor Society attended a ceremony at princ University where he was presented with the 2024 Princeton prize and race relations certificate of achievement thank you Stephanie for your detailed report you're welcome to stay this evening if you'd like uh however if you have homework or other duties to attend to you're free to excuse yourself thanks nice job thank you very much thank [Applause] you I'd like to recognize this evening uh joining us our uh newest VP at Woodbridge High School Miss Broadway thank you for being here Dr mamino please stay for the record the superintendent reports for the month of March 2024 Mr President I present the student register and file drill report suspension reports for the elementary and secondary schools bomb threat reports and reports of the attendance officers thank you Dr maso Dr maso please provide us with an overview of the tenative budget for 2024 2025 school year absolutely Mr President the budget presentation will focus uh generally on the four main items as we always do uh revenues expenditures our instructional programs and initiatives and our facilities this is a breakdown of our general revenues from our tax levy our state aid our Surplus you can see the jump in state aid which does bring us up uh Mr President to our full funding correct finally after many years so great to see that we are Beyond appreciative for it these are some of our additional revenues uh SX e rate and some of our grants as well as our interest income this is the um analysis of the local tax impact uh when you get to the bottom you're going to see that it's in parentheses uh that means it's a negative number which I will explain when I'm done with the presentation this is a breakdown obviously of our total budget these are expenditures by increase um as you can see the biggest as it usually is is our total salaries and benefits um we have seen increase in transportation costs as well as our our uh private school tuition uh we will continue to make improvements districtwide um from a capital perspective and then of course the increases in security and the custodial contract just to name a few our initiatives uh from an instructional perspective we are looking to implement a new research based K to2 and 3 to5 math curriculum U Mr pasino has been working with our supervisor and various committees um as we assess some of the different options we will continue the services provided by the high impact tutoring Grant um this was a joint effort again Mr Pino and Mr Ali put this together this was a grant we had applied for and received um we believe this is really important for students to continue to offer them um as much extra support as possible so we're are budgeting to expand that scope uh so we can provide our students with with the needed support throughout the school year when the high impact tutoring Grant expires we're also looking to meet the needs of our multi our multilingual learner within the district we'll expend the ESL program to avanel middle and fors middle and the bilingual program to avanel middle and fors middle as well we will continue curriculum writing um for the first two items there are new 2023 math and language arts New Jersey uh student learning standards so we will apply those new standards and incorporate them into our new and existing curriculum and courses for grades K to 12 um and we also provide additional training and supplemental resources to our literacy coaches and interventionists as we you know work toward identify students um in need and give them support in language acquisition and reading competency from a student support some of the highlights uh we're going to seek to add some floating nurses at the elementary and secondary levels um the goal is a Continuum of Care we have um seen you know an increase in students that need um certain Medical Services obviously nurses are difficult to find so we're looking to add these floating nurses as to support our current nurses um you know multiple students needing something does put a burden on them and we want to make sure that the the Continuum of Care continues we will also be providing uh District level student assemblies with with regard to counseling programs this is our first year with a counseling supervisor so she has really done a good year this year of of observing and monitoring the different programs within the schools and she'll put together a more comprehensive program um so that if a student goes from one school to another they don't miss out on any of the programs that we are offering and the last one is obviously is our our Refreshments for our onet toone student Chromebooks some of our school district projects um we will continue with roof Replacements our Paving project projects H HVAC upgrades uh floor and ceiling repairs and Replacements and obviously classroom and office based Renovations technology also a big ticket item uh we will work on the implementation of a cloud-based fact solution for all offices um Network core switch upgrades District boip phone system upgrades uh which is Big because that will give our classroom phones the ability to dial out um and be uh conform with new legislation that has passed that must be met if you are putting new phone systems in so we have been working with the vendor um this is coming out of the business administrator's office so they they've been diligent in in working with this to make sure that we're compliant and of course network network upgrades uh once we do the new construction at avanel school 4 and five the final budget adoption will will be May 2nd right here at 6:00 and as promised I do want to go back just to talk about why this is a negative number we are going to um we have put forth the 2% tax levy that number comes out and and I will uh turn it over to Mr wolferman because as a CPN or business administrator he says this far better than I can as a history teacher we are the 2% gives us about $3.9 million I hate to keep jumping but I I do want to point it out the tax levy gives us about $3.9 million uh the reason why it's a negative number is because we are going to pay $5 million of The Debt Service so borrowing to 3.9 and change and then paying the five so we will take a million out of the state aid we received to pay down that debt service which will lead to the reduction of $13.20 U Mr wolman I'm going to let you go into the specific details if there are any yeah I can all I can add is the bonds that we're referring to happened back in 2004 um there were 30-year bonds so this year normally the taxpayers voted and they were um voted to pay for that you know and this year we've decided as the board has decided that they're going to have the district cover that cost so it won't be on the taxpayer and that's where that $5 million relief which ends up being $13 savings or reduction in taxes for everybody that's where that's coming from but you pretty much covered ITC thank you very much uh thank you Dr mamino for your presentation as always thank you uh will a copy of that be provided on the website uh beginning tomorrow it's already up all right excellent very good uh this is the open public budget meeting we are required by law to have it it's an opportunity for one the administration to present the budget it's been approved by the county superintendent's office and now it's up to the board to ask any questions make any comments uh any comments or questions from the board on the budget any questions okay well I'll I'll I'll jump in here real quick uh uh budget's always been very much an interest of mine one of the reasons I I ran uh I'm not an educator by profession but uh you know planning and finance and things of that nature here uh I I do spend some time on professionally uh first want to thank uh fellow board members for uh working with the administration asking questions making good comments suggestions and so on and of course Mr wolferman to you and your team for not only crafting a responsible budget but for uh taking the time to answer our questions every year it's a it's a voluminous uh multi thousand line budget so we want to thank you for for answering all those questions to us as Dr I just want to make couple uh statements observations nothing of no no questions you you you can take the rest of the night night off Mr wolferman uh uh but I just want to make a few observations uh the tap into newspaper reached out to Dr maso and I and he had asked for for some comments and and there are two things that I pointed out that there's something historic about this budget and that's one for the first time in our District's history dating back to at least 2008 when the school funding Reform Act was enacted uh and supported by the New Jersey uh Supreme Court this is the first time we're getting our our full allotment of state aid the money for years has supposed to follow the students and for many years the the formula as uh many people know it was manipulated it was underfunded and Governor Murphy in our legislature put it on a track over the past seven years to sort of rebalance or recalibrate school funding Statewide to ensure that money went to the students that followed the students Woodbridge for years and uh a great deal of credit goes to board members community members uh our faculty and staff uh for years you know went down to Trenton testified made a lot of noise about how we were the most grossly underfunded School District in the state of New Jersey uh not as a percentage but as a full dollar figure uh when I started on the board here we were getting about $23.6 million in state aid today we're up to $27 million in state aid and and what is that mean for for the average taxpayer well for years you all uh W all of us up here uh we were carrying up larger share of the tax burden as residents wanting to do the right thing and support our school support our our faculty and staff uh so that trans that you it's a transition to getting up to getting our fair share of State dollars that's state income tax dollars we all pay send to Trenton and hopefully get back as school aid that is finally here 7 years later we are getting our full compliment of school aid for years we we went without we we couldn't provide certain Services uh you know perhaps in in in some good ways it forced Mr wolferman and his team to be as efficient and Innovative as as humanly possible cuz we were we were working with Le and now we're finally getting our Fair shared it's a really big deal really big deal um and as a result of that full funding for the first time at least to my recollection and my knowledge and correct me if I'm wrong we are now funding at what's called what the Department of Education calls adequacy that's the number that the state of New Jersey pegs that every school district should be funding and spending on each student so what that means is we are spending what we should be spending on every kid and that's a big deal because now all of our kids are basically be being treated like every other kid in the state of New Jersey so that's a big deal I'm almost emotional about it uh I don't know why I'm a crier up here I don't know what it is um but but it is a big deal because you know I can think of Dr Crow I can think of Dr zega I can think of all their predecessor board member John you've been around the longest uh up here you know people down to Trenton they testified they they made a lot of noise and and parents you I can think of the Cubs parents you know there a parent group that made a lot of noise about our kids deserve just as much school aid as any other kid in the state and we're finally there so all right uh I'll compose myself here um and and you know really one of the things I've been barking about for for some time and we really just couldn't get there was property tax for leave and you know Mr wolferman I think was tired of hearing for me and and you made it happen uh through uh an Innovative way of paying down debt on one hand and taking Surplus and and ensuring that you know people w s you're going to get a tax decrease uh you know this year that's $13 on the average household if I'm not correct so you know if you're if you're a larger size house uh and you're paying a larger share in property tax $13 you're going to be getting more than a $13 break that's a that's a big deal not a big deal and and finally just just some compliments on on the budget that I'm very pleased with uh continuing the Federal grant that that's that's expiring the end of June we're going to continue you know um you know there are some students who we've identified who perform below uh you know State assessment you know uh perform below average you know it's not a not a knock on those students but what we're going to do now the high impact tutoring that Dr mamino alluded to we're going to provide them some additional support we do that during the school day but now we're going to continue to do it outside the school day to help those kids on math and language arts and catch up on you know some of the things that they're they're they're not quite getting during the school day and and making sure that that they're they're performing as as best as they they possibly can so that's that's a really good thing uh you I said this to the newspaper reporter as well that I'm pleased about the budget that like every year we're constantly um investing in updating the care curriculum making sure that our students are getting what I call a 21st century education and we're preparing them for the workforce and higher education you got to keep refreshing the curriculum thanks on that uh and since no one else raised their hand I'm just going to keep uh you know knocking down the the highlights here uh the budget there's not a there's not a lot of new stuff which is okay but we're funding what we've been funding for years we're making sure we have arts and and sports as extra extracurriculars for our students we've we've bulked up our security uh over the past couple years we have police officers and uh 28 security guards uh you know protecting our students faculty and staff on a daily basis and and finally we're um you know not not the sexiest stuff on the on the planet but we're we're investing in our infrastructure you know listen we've we've done a number of schools uh you know we've done you know the roofs and the boilers and things of that nature but our schools for you know um the reality is there many most of them are over 50 years old uh and for years we frankly didn't have the money as I've alluded to to replace things like doors and maybe do some painting and do ceiling tiles and uh you know flooring so those things are being addressed in this budget so I'm very pleased with it don't have a single criticism of it which is unusual for me Mr wolman Dr mamino but we'll take it so I want to thank you for that board members did I say anything you want to jump in on Mr thank you thank you so much uh Mr President uh Dr masino I just want to congratulate you and your team for really doing a great job with this budget especially Mr wolferman uh you you moved mountains or you moved numbers you know debits and credits and Dr mamin know if I were you I would probably just keep slide number what is it five I think up there with that uh the the uh number tax the tax impact on there and I I just want us to digest that for a little bit because you know based on on on on what happened in in in Trenton and we're getting our full share that I think a lot of that was attributable uh to this this actual tax decrease of $13.20 and I I think the challenge Dr mamino and Mr wolferman what happens next year how are we going to top this next year and I think we'll cross that bridge when we get there so we have set a standard right and this is really this is really quite an accomplish and I must say in my first year on the board this is something that I I think uh well as because it happened it happened because of me I was on here I'm going to take that too so I just wanted to share that thank you so much to you and your team Dr M Mr President yes yes M I may I just want to thank um Brian U for his quick responses we did get together and talk over um and had some questions and Brian gave uh very thorough explanations to our questions um we're going to keep them coming but uh Brian always seems to have uh good explanations good answers um and takes our questions very seriously so thank you Brian and and thank you Dr masino for uh a great budget good job anybody else presid Mr President yes yes M I wanted to say this is extraordinary work so I want to give um recognition to Mr wolferman and Dr mamino this is extraordinary work I just have to give you Applause thank you so [Applause] much so Mr President if I may uh the the central office leadership team sits down with Mr wolferman and he has the um unenviable task of meeting with us individually and as a unit to discuss what we need for our own specific and you know we we it's a team right it's a hybrid sometimes there's overlap and there should be overlap that's how you know there's redundancy and that's how things are getting addressed and enough fall through the cracks um the $13.20 all credit needs to go to Mr wolferman because he is tasked with funding our vision right we we are all Educators um none of us are accountants there's there's one accountant there is one CPA there is one BA so uh we run through this you know I I give credit to my colleagues you know every one of them is very conscientious of the of the students needs and and how we go about meeting them so um thank you for the kind words this is a true group effort there there's no eye in this um but the the genius behind this I would be remiss to not specifically acknowledge Mr wolferman um I am not an accountant so I can balance my checkbook and do things that everybody else does but when it comes to the next level thought and how we are responsible and efficient um I I have to personally also thank not only my team for their diligence but Mr wolferman for his commitment to really making sure everybody's interest including the taxpayers were represented so thank you thank thank you good congratulations Mr wel I've got my long nor anybody else before I move on all right I got my long normal Spiel that I have to cover here the wers 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 wishing to engage in the exercise of free speech oh well I lost my uh my spot at this board of meeting I apologize 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 this portion of the meeting is now open to the questions and statements from the public regarding the budget when you come to the microphone please provide your name and the section of the Township in which you've reside 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 see no comments on the budget I have one more small blurb to cover the public is now invited to speak regarding the agendas being presented this evening when you come to the microphone please provide your name and the section of the township 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've completed your opportunity to speak anyone wishing to to speak on an agenda item this evening no seeing none superintendent's agenda Dr mamino do you have any recommendations for us Mr President yes I do I have 35 items to present to the board this [Music] evening do I have a motion for the superintendent's agenda so motion second do I have a second uh thank you uh I have a motion by Mr trew seconded by Mr Sedana are there are any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr wolferman Miss Anderson I'm going to abstain on item number 19 in the name of Marie Anderson yes on all other items Miss bouran I am going to abstain on item number 19 in the name of Susan bouran yes on all others Mr deletro I'm also going to abstain on item 19 in the name of Frank Del Petro yes on all other items Mr Mohammad Mr President I will abstain on item number 19 in the name of nazam Muhammad and item number 35 in the name of redis University all others I'm good Miss Perez I also will be abstaining on item number 19 in the name of Jenny Perez as well as item number 35 in the name of ERS yes to all other items Mr Sedana same as everyone abstaining on item number 19 and yes on all other items Mr treaser I will also be abstaining on item 19 in the name Jonathan treaser yes on all other items Mr I'll abstain on item number 19 in the name of Joseph valz all yes on all other items and Mr Harris uh I will be abstaining on item number 19 and voting yes excuse me item number 19 in the name of Daniel Harris and voting yes on the other items for the Public's knowledge uh all nine of us abstain on item number 19 it's a it's for uh professional development of the New Jersey school boards Association puts on a conference every October where we all attend that so just want to so you all know all right uh communication policy and planning agenda Mr Muhammad Mr President the communication policy and planning committee on recommendation of the superintendent of school presents the following 14 items I move for the adoption of the forgoing okay I have a motion by Mr Muhammad do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Mr Muhammad second by Mr delap pitro any comments or questions from the board anybody um I just oh you going to point out the calendar say again yes well I was going to mention it did you want to okay okay all right uh ladies and gentlemen uh item number 14 the long awaited and delayed uh I will take uh blame or or credit for the delay on the uh student calendar for next school year we were investigating a number of different ideas taking our time just to make sure we got it right so uh ladies and gentlemen I know many of the the Facebook groups the moms groups were all asking when the student calendar is out it is now going to be uh voted out uh take a look at that that'll be on the district website as soon as possible so thank you Roo Mr wolferman M Anderson yes M Bordan yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes Miss Perez yes Mr Sedana yes Mr tree baser yes Mr valz yes and Mr Harris yes curriculum extracurricular activities and Technology agend Sedana thank you Mr President the curriculum extracurricular activities and Technology committee on the 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 forego I have a motion by Mr sedan do I have a second second right I have a motion by Mr SED seconded by miss bouran any comments or questions from the board roll call Mr wolferman M Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes Ms Perez yes Mr sedan yes Mr tree Blaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes finance and insurance agenda Mr tree Blaser thank you Mr President the finance and insurance committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary presents the following 16 items I move for the adoption of the foregoing thank you Mr Tre waser I have a motion by Mr Tre waser do I have a second second good I have a motion by Mr treer seconded by Mr Sedana are there are any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr wolman Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran I will be abstaining on item number one in the name of Susan bouran and yes on all others Mr delip Pedro yes Mr Mohamed yes M Perez yes Mr sadonna yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes the Safety and Security agenda Mr valz thank you Mr President Safety and Security committee on Rec recommendation of the superintendent of schools present the following five items and I recommend for the adoption of the foregoing thank you Mr s Mr valz I have a motion by Mr valz do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Mr valz seconded by Mr Sedana any Com or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr wolferman Miss Anderson yes Miss Bordan yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes M Perez yes Mr Sedana yes Mr tree waser yes Mr valz 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 presents the following three items I move for the adoption of the foregoing M pz just a heads up it's just the one item those numbers sort of throw you off just want to make sure everyone's okay I'll take that back not a s just moving item number one motion by Miss Perez do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Miss Perez seconded by Mr Tre waser are there any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr wolferman Miss Anderson yes Miss Bordan yes Mr deletro yes Mr mohammd yes M Perez yes Mr Sedana yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes dining and transportation Miss Perez thank you Mr President the and transportation committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary presents the following let's make sure we got this right the way that this is printed out is it nine n nine or we're doing oh funky yeah it's nine n what I have okay we're going to go with nine I move for the adoption of the foregoing I have a by m Perez do I have a second second I have a motion by m Perez seconded by Mr Sana any comments or questions from the board roll call Mr wolman Miss Anderson yes Miss Bordan yes Mr delra yes Mr Mohamed yes M Perez yes Mr Sedana yes Mr treer yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes Personnel agenda Mr deler thank you Mr President the Personnel committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the assistant superintendent for human resources present the following 43 items I'll be abstaining uh in the name of Frank in the name of Linda deletro uh on item number 35 yes on all other items thank thank you uh Mr delro I have a motion by Mr delro do I have a second second I have a motion by Mr Delo seconded by m Perez any comments or questions from the board think none roll call Mr wolferman Miss Anderson yes Miss Bordan yes just to confirm Mr Del Petro you're abstaining in 35 and your own in Linda delap Petra's name and yes on all others yes thank you Mr Muhammad yes M Perez yes Mr Sedana yes Mr treaser I will be abstaining on item three yes and all other items Mr valz yes and Mr Harris I will be abstaining on number three and number 26 voting yes on the remaining agenda all right Mr Bush do you have any recommendations for us this evening I don't but I would defer under legal to Mr wolferman on this thank you uh Mr Bush uh the board of educations presents the following item the one item is be it resolved that after careful consideration of the report provided to the Woodbridge Township Board of Education on March 14th 2024 by special councel judge Daniel isenman retired the board hereby accepts the report without modification and dismisses the grievance for that for the reason set forth by judge isenman the board secretary shall notify the compliance the compliant and each complainant sorry and each of the respondents of the this action by the board be it further resolved that the board acknowledges receipt of Correspondence dated March 29th 2024 sent by judge inman's associate and the recommend recommendation set forth therein and directs that the recommended actions be referred to the board communication policy and planning committee for review and recommendation to the board regarding any actions the committee May deem to be warranted I send it back to Mr Bush or Mr Harris for vote yeah at this point um Mr President I would just ask for a motion and a second and all those in favor second okay all those in favor I any opposed thank you Mr Bush is there any old business that should be brought before the attention of the board that any new business president yes okay just just a couple of things absolutely okay like to uh thank the um wge Township firefighters local 290 that represents the career firefighters in wge Township they uh they provided the funding for the after after the fire program that's the um Sean and Al come from uh po about the seat and Hall fire U that was held at um last Wednesday over at Wood high school um I like to thank principal OS more for arranging the uh the logistics for getting the other um high schools to go to Woodbridge so that we can have all three high schools uh see that presentation and I want to thank um Mark selli for providing the busting Logistics uh getting the kids there on at Tomy matter uh in that morning and Dr masino for your for your help for getting that uh that program off the ground um the kids learned a lot was a um most of the morning not a dry eye in the place so it goes back to the seat and Hall fire back in 2000 uh where three students died in a dormatory fire um this is the last time that the fire department gets to see the the the kids before they graduate and go on to uh go on to college if you guys if you send your kid to college in New Jersey all our dormitories are suppressed they have sprinkler systems once they leave the state we don't know if they're sprinkler so it's a program just to make them aware of you know the dangers of um of of fire you know um when they're in their in their dormitories uh during their college career so again I like to thank everybody who made that that happen that that that's uh in the fire service that's that's uh huge for us thank you thank you Frank and you know you just you don't get enough credit for for that relative to you know making sure you that that happened at seen Hall University it was probably people in New Jersey know more about it than than any other state and you know really thank you for for what for what you've done over the past 20 plus years and uh you know th those individuals who were scarred by the fire you know they deserve a lot of credit for making sure that kids don't don't forget and your spot on really after Elementary School fire safety just is is isn't quite the same right so so thank you very much oh thank you no problem uh any other members new business Mr President yes um Frank I just want to um Echo uh president Harris's sentiments and I heard a story today of a student who did not go here but and goes to college out of state and it could turned into a situation like that and there were no instructions she they didn't know anything and they're trying to teach turn this into a teachable moment and I did bring up the seat and Hall fire and said you know this needs to go Nationwide because it could have been very very very bad what happened uh the story I heard today so I appreciate that you make an effort to make sure our kids are educated and when they go out of out of state they bring that knowledge with them so thank you um I also have a couple of um shout outs as Dan likes to say um last week uh Jenny and myself were fortunate enough to go to woodrige high school for the day of expression um over 200 kids and faculty uh were there and I I couldn't tear myself away I really enjoyed being there I was only planning on going for a little while um and I just found it so valuable and and I know that uh it's the these days are going to continue and the discussions are going to continue um so Mr oi and to you and your crew I really appreciate uh all the time and effort that was put into it it wasn't done in a in a minute it was very well thought out um and I appreciated being there I appreciated that it was uh random groups placed together and they all like found commonality no matter what their background no matter what their age their their their gender no it didn't it didn't matter they they it was a good group of kids and I I I applaud the the kids that were there and um took it seriously um today I was fortunate enough to go to the Adaptive track so miss bear I appreciate all that you and your crew did to put that together um and the vice principal over at uh JFK that um that facilitated and the the host JFK they did a great job the kids are just outstanding the day was really fun it started out a little chilly but it turned out to be a really beautiful day it was obviously one of my favorite things to attend as a board member I'm very privileged to be able to go to that so thank you Miss bear um I also went to bubbles for Autism Awareness Day at Matthew Joo school today which again is one of my all-time favorites I love getting to see all the kids they're happy they're all together they're um you know blowing bubbles for Autism Awareness um it being uh towards the end of the month um autism is year round it doesn't mean it's just in April uh I just want to make sure that we all uh you know look at each other with um with kindness autism or any other difference that we have I really truly hope that we can we can be better by um appreciating each other for who we are um speaking of that the poak walk is coming up on May 18th at woodrige high school from 11: to 2 uh you can go to poa.net to find out more about poak is a as parents of autistic children um but they allow since we're a partner District any uh activities that they do poak is always welcoming to uh the Woodbridge students um the special education students to come and um participate they do a lot of fun days out for our kids and they do a lot of seminars in District and outside of our district um it's POA net and you can find the Woodbridge walk on their page there uh if you'd like to donate if you'd like to come down and participate it's it's a pretty fun event from 11: to 2 on U May 18th president's council meeting will meet on May 8th from 7: to 8: on Zoom um the email is uh email president Council or president Council WB atgmailcom to find out more information or look on your um your school's uh website it should there should be a flyer on there and last but certainly not least Nicole you are amazing yesterday was administrator's day and I think I can speak collectively how much we appreciate you and how much you do and how you you take my crazy and you turn into something that's maybe not so crazy you don't make me feel it I leave you some pretty like I don't know messages and you just you're you're phenomenal and we appreciate you you had big shoes to fill with Peggy and I know that it's it's you're you're definitely you're definitely doing it so I just wanted to publicly thank you um and I think I can speak on behalf of the board for that so Nicole thank [Applause] you nice job Miss bouran Jenny yeah Mr President just one item sure the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center in Edison will be hosting a great event for parents whose kids might be interested in a career in construction or building trade industry the event is open to the public and will take place on Tuesday May 28th from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. additional information can be found on their website uh the Expo Center website thank you thank you Miss Perez anybody else Mr President yes Miss Anderson yes I'd like to share information about an event that's going to um promote awareness about mental health awareness to kind of help end the stigma that's related to mental health so mental health day will be on Saturday May 4th from 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Woodridge toown Hall they're going to have free health screenings those Health screenings include blood pressure glucose testing blood oxygen they're also going to have um some guided meditation and there will be some food trucks as well so I wanted to just um share that information with everyone thank you thank you M Anderson did I hear yeah AJ hey thank you Mr President president uh this is just an expression of gratitude towards the administration and central office you know when you're please excuse this bad example when you're driving down the highway and it's a smooth perfect Road you never think in your head the road department did a great job um so when things are going smooth the programs that are running and they're going as planned um meetings are going as planned things are running smoothly we're getting all the information that we need for whether be negotiations for uh the board meetings or whatever it may be uh I believe some of or a large part of your your day goes into doing things that are not recognized or in some weird way are thankless so I just want to thank you for that I think um I think your team stepped in during covid I believe um if I'm not wrong right after and um I just want to say that the trickle down effect I'm liking what I'm seeing so that that's all I can say I think that's it's a collaboration of hard work uh it's a collaboration of smart work and as a result we're seeing the improvements in our district we're seeing um the things that you know obviously Mr Harris has his shout outs U but at the same time I want to express my gratitude to all of you for doing the things and making it work I know we discuss a lot of things here uh close session public uh and it's usually the things that are not you know it's always in the in the in the purview of a teacher to circle the error and just check the the correct things right there's a lot of correct there's a lot of good happening and for that I express my gratitude and appreciation to all of you thank you thank you Mr sadana anybody else I just had a couple real quick ones uh just a shout out real traditional shout out here to midix college last uh Saturday they had an open house I thought they did a great job publicizing it uh they obviously offer programs for students right out of high school but also non-traditional students uh they had a packed house it was a really well organized event so I want to thank Middle College they're a good partner of ours and uh many of our students go go on to Middle six College uh for for varying uh reasons and and degrees and certificates so congratulations on a really great event uh want to give a a PSA if you will uh regarding summer EBT it's new federal program that the federal government is funding it's a EBT card electronic benefits card for students who are on free or reduced lunch parents can very easily sign up for this program and what will happen is in the mail you get a $120 gift card if you will for lack of a better term to purchase groceries over the summer uh our school district District through the federal uh free uh breakfast and lunch program provides meals effectively September through June on school days but unfortunately during the summer months for some families affording groceries is is H is a challenge so $120 it will be per student that is eligible between the ages of six and 16 they'll be uh they'll be uh benefited with that $120 per student to learn more to find out if you're eligible uh if you haven't already done so uh check your eligibility for a uh through the free lunch application uh you can find that through through your school or on our district website or you could visit NJ New Jersey nj.gov Sumer EBT okay and last but not least kindergarten registration it opened on February the 20th if you haven't already registered your child who will be eligible for kindergarten in September of 2024 be sure to register all registrations done online just go to our school district website under registration you can sign up and that concludes my comments for this evening and at long last we get to the public portion of our meeting read my usual blur up here we'll now open the meeting for public comment when you come to the microphone please provide your name and the section of the Township in which you've reside 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 please come to the microphone any public members hello hi is it on yes okay yeah Bruno is turning it up now all right I'm going to stick to reading my comments so that I don't exceed the five minutes sure just to introduce myself I'm Dalia e a resident of the Ford section of Woodbridge Township and apparent of a middle schooler at Ford's middle school and a second grader at lafayett State School 25 and a graduate of the Woodbridge Township School District myself I want to start by commending the leadership in our district for its ongoing commitment to diversity equity and inclusion efforts um sorry over recent years I've participated in the Dei committee at the local level at my younger son's school and have seen firsthand the important work the district is is doing to make our schools a safe space to be who you are whatever that may be for everyone's identity and to feel a sense of belonging when you bring your whole self to school so thank you for all of your efforts I know that your work as public servants is never over and I say this as being one myself we are always looking to improve on the work that has come before us to forge a better future for those we serve for years to come very briefly just sort of a a mini education lesson which I'm sure you all know this already but in Islamic faith there are two main religious holidays ID fit and AD F follows the month of fasting called Ramadan occurs two months and 10 days afterwards and is the culmination of the pilgrimage of uh each year to Mecca from Muslim pilgrims across the world there was a day long ago in this very Township when I was threatened to be kicked off of the school band because a concert fell on the same day as Eid and when I couldn't participate we've come long way and I'm very proud of that and that is amazing um and not but we still have more work to do today I want to share my wish list as a Muslim American parent of school age children in the very same Public School District that I was raised in attending number one and I'll keep it brief I wish that our Public Schools would be closed for Eid just like neighboring districts such as Edison so that my children can enjoy our holiday without fear of being penalized as unexcused absence and knowing that they may have work to make up I understand that the demographic data may drive decisions on closing schools for certain holidays and if I can be of any help in any way I'd be happy to support your efforts in doing that research number two if number one can't happen if schools do remain open on Eid I ask that our teachers across the district be asked to refrain from scheduling any tests or major assessments on Eid and please don't schedule State Testing on those days or graduations which may be the case in my son's eighth grade graduation this uh this June um because it's a lunar calendar the days May alter so um graduation may very well be on ID and please don't schedule like I said the State Testing I know there's a little bit of leeway there's a window of time just be mindful of those days so that you know children don't feel that they have to miss more work by having to make up a state test because they're being pulled out of other classes because they missed it for the religious holiday which was the case a few years ago with my son he didn't want to go to Eid because he didn't want to miss the State Testing because he didn't want to be pulled out of his classes to have to make up the test um and finally number three e fitter as I said is celebrated at the end of Ramadan is a three-day festivala is a 4-day celebration and while the state list of excused religious holidays lists it only excuses the first day the state sets this list as a minimum standard for New Jersey schools and I ask you to consider excusing not necessarily closing for all three or 4 days but excusing students for the full three-day or 4-day observance for those who choose to participate those are the two major holidays for Muslims all year round um I can keep going with my wish list but I'll stop at these I want to thank you all for hearing me out and I want to thank Mr Ali for our conversation on similar issues last week I feel heard as a parent when you know when you call me back um and I appreciate that and I appreciate this open space and and time to share my concerns and Thoughts with you and I'll repeat what I said to Mr Ali please feel free to count on me as your resource and as an ally for all of your efforts in Dei work and helping to make these wishes come true so thank you thank you thank you very much Delia great seeing you as well the fellow state employee here it's good seeing you uh we Mr Muhammad uh brought forward a number of your ideas we had a spirited conversation at the communications policy and planning committee uh We've uh committee I know is pledged to to continue to uh to to work through uh perhaps reopening the concept of of incorporating religious holidays back onto the calendar for at least about five uh six years now we've we've stuck with a with a Federal holiday schedule only uh in the interest of uh of of equity which which sound it sounds sort of uh counterintuitive of of doing a a no religious holidays uh instead of all religious holidays uh because of the the the challenges of of trying to to make everyone feel uh you know appreciated heard and and and seen so we uh that has been the direction of the district and the committee for at least the past five or six years but but uh my pledge to Mr Muhammad and and an email to him uh just the other day was to was to work together and uh find ways and and and Dalia your some of your suggestions were were really you know items two and three were things that hadn't hadn't yet come up and are really helpful for for the conversation so thank you very much for bringing forward uh sometimes at the board meeting we often just hear criticisms and not necessarily constructive uh ideas uh about how to uh you know find compromise and agreements so thanks for for doing that we look forward to others doing the same are there any other members of the public wishing to join us this save day yeah all right with that I just want to uh going to add this to my my repertoire here is for the month of May we have two meetings uh Thursday May 2nd at 6 PM is the budget adoption right here at Ross Street School 11 and then uh two weeks later on the same day Thursday May the 16th at 6 p.m. will be a regularly scheduled board meeting 6 p.m. right here at Ross Street Elementary School the chair will entertain a motion to adjourn motion second good I have a second uh by Mr Delo uh motion by myself seconded by Mr Dela pacher all in favor I any opposed carried have a good evening everybody [Music]