[music] [music] >> The April 23rd, 2026 meeting of the Woodbridge Township Board of Education will please come to order. Roll call, Mr. Secretary. Ms. Anderson. >> Here. Mr. Coughlin. >> Here. Mr. Della Pietro. Here. Mr. Lally. Here. Mr. Muhammad. >> Here.
Mr. Sedona. Here. Mr. Tree Wasser. >> Here. And Ms. Borden. Here. Mr. Secretary, as required by the Sunshine Law, please read the notice of meetings. >> Thank you, Madam 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 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 15th, 2026, emailed to the Home News
Tribune, the Municipal Clerk's Office, posted in Ross Street School number 11, and the Board of Education Administration Building, also published on the school district website. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Dr. Massimino, please introduce our student representative
Rushita Peran Jape. Thank you. Sorry. [laughter] From Colonia High School. Thank you, Madam President. Rushita is a junior with a 4.17 GPA who plans to major in data science. She has demonstrated outstanding leadership at
Colonia High School serving as president of FBLA, captain of the swim team, and website manager for the Asian Culture Club. She is also an active member of the Girls Who Code and a distinguished member of the National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta.
Rushita's achievements include earning a gold officer award at the FBLA State Leadership Conference and leading the Advocate for Anthony Initiative, which received state-level recognition. Beyond school, she is a dedicated community volunteer mentoring through Big Brothers Big Sisters, working as a summer camp
counselor, and organizing a card writing campaign for veterans of the Woodbridge VFW. Passionate about expanding access to STEM, Rushita actively mentors younger students by teaching app development and promoting computer science education to middle schoolers. Her leadership, initiative, and
commitment to service make her a strong role model and a valuable member of the school community. Rushita, thank you for being here with us this evening. I would like to thank Dr. Massimino and President Borden for having me here today. Across Woodbridge Township School District, many of our schools celebrated
World Autism Awareness Day with a variety of activities. A large number wore blue to raise awareness. Several of our schools also celebrated Women's History Month with a variety of activities and lessons that included local dignitaries to inspire our students with stories of success here in
Woodbridge. The American Sign Language Honor Society at all three of our high schools attended the ASL Human Rights Symposium at Kean University on March 24th, 2026. Our elementary and middle schools welcomed many local businesses to serve as principal for the day on April 15th
and 16th and speak with our students. Riti Patel won the 2026 NJ Association of Gifted Children Distinguished Student Award for Visual Arts and received an award at the NJAGC Annual Convention on April 17, 2026.
Eighth grade G&T enrichment students from all five middle schools attended the Convocation Symposium at JFK High School and presented a variety of research projects and digital creations. Two students from each of our 16 elementary schools were selected to present their work at the annual Evening
with Young Writers event, where their creativity and effort were recognized. The celebration held on April 14th and 15th highlighted student voices and honored their achievements in writing. At Avenel Street School numbers four and five, students in grades three, four,
and five participated in a talent show on Thursday, April 2nd, 2026. During the months of February and March, students worked diligently at home and during recess to perfect their talents. The show highlighted acts such as singing, dancing, instrumental music,
magic, and sports. At Claremont Avenue School number 20, student artwork was displayed throughout the hallways for families and guests at the annual Claremont Avenue Art Show. Students and families attended the Scholastic Book Fair. The Grand Falloons connect conducted an
assembly for all students on the importance of environmental sustainability, Earth Science, and waste reduction. At Oak Ridge Heights School number 21, school-wide Pi Day was held on March 13th. Students pied teachers and the principal to raise $644
toward their spring activities. Colonia High School ASL students visited third graders and taught them sign language to go along with one of their reading stories. First graders visited Henry Inman Library on April 13th. At Lincoln School number 22, Lincoln
DARE program concluded with a ceremony that included a brief presentation by our DARE officer, student recognitions, and a K to 9 demonstration. Lincoln Annual Reading Incentive Program, Ready, Set, Read, concluded with over 200 students participating and
150 students receiving a prize for meeting their weekly target all four weeks. The CMS CMS Sidekicks visited Lincoln to teach our fourth grade students important life skills that lead to good choices as they get older. At Woodbine Avenue School number 23, our
autism teachers coordinated a school spirit week for Autism Month. Blue Italian ice was sold at recess and almost $700 was raised for POAC. The week concluded with our annual Bubbles for Autism event. Our fourth grade students participated
in a in our annual wax museum. Students researched important historical characters and created displays highlighting their lives. Students dressed up as their characters and presented their research to fellow Woodbine students. We held the annual March Madness Spelling Bee.
The champions from each class competed against each other until a grade level champ was crowned. Then the grade champs competed until we were able to decide on a school-wide champ. The competition was intense, but friendly, and everyone had a great time becoming better spellers.
At Kennedy Park School number 24, students held a successful fundraiser for Woodbridge Animal Shelter. Students enjoyed a bubble day show on April 22nd and activities culminating with ice cream day on April 24th. At Pennsylvania School number 27, CMS
Sidekicks Sidekicks visited our fourth grade students. Selected fifth grade students volunteered to serve lunch to senior citizens at the Evergreen Center. Brighten Up Our School Family Night was a tremendous success bringing families together to paint and personalize cinder blocks while raising funds for Angel
Paws Animal Shelter. At Avenel Middle School on March 11th and 12th, our theater arts club performed a full-length musical, Seussical Jr., to a sold-out crowd on both nights. On March 19th, the sixth grade class attended an assembly presented by Dan Zarrow, meteorologist
from 101.5. This assembly supported weather-related content that sixth graders are learning about in the sixth grade science curriculum. At Colonia Middle School, Alexis Yumul, Olivia Mullins, Sumitha Rao, and Sana Rehman, and Nolan Zohodnik were selected
as National Junior Honor Society Outstanding Achievement Award recipients. Each student will receive $500 in a 529 college savings account to be applied toward their higher education. Recipients are choose chosen based on their demonstrated work to support the
five pillars of NJHS: scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship. Only 500 awards are given out nationwide with 36 in the state of New Jersey. At Colonia High School, CHS would like to recognize Rishi Dengi, Sumit Kumar,
and Emmanuel Neotist for placing in DECA States held in Atlantic City in March. The students will be competing in DECA Nationals at Atlanta, Georgia in April. The Youth Empowerment Club ran a successful fundraiser where all where all proceeds went to JBWS,
a domestic violence organization located located in Morristown, New Jersey. Nine CHS science research students applied to the Terra North Jersey STEM Fair held annually at Kean University. After the two-day event held on March 21st and 22nd, Suchi Desai was awarded
with the NASA Award for Outstanding Earth System Project, and Sumit Kumar was awarded with the Naval Science Award, as well as an award for finishing second overall for the entire engineering category. Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society celeb- celebrated Pi Day on March 13, 2026 by
by hosting a STEM display in the auditorium. We had about 18 interactive displays and over 700 students participating. Four CHS FBLA members recently competed at the FBLA State Leadership Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey from March
9th to 11th. Rushita Peran Jape, president of FBLA chapter, competed and earned a gold officer award. Rushita worked diligently over the last several months demonstrating outstanding leadership by spearheading the Advocate for Anthony Project, which resulted in Colonia High School receiving
recognition at the State Leadership Conference. Additionally, Tanvi Trivedi, vice president of the FBLA chapter, competed and earned a gold member award. The American Sign Language Honor Society, Colonia High School chapter, met with the Oak Ridge Heights third
grade students to talk about what they learn in a high school ASL class and coordinated an activity with 16 learned basic everyday signs. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Thank you Reshma for the detailed report and thank you to Mr. Chair, Principal at
Colonia High School for supporting your student representative. Tonight, you're both welcome to stay for the remainder of the board meeting. However, if you are unable to stay, we will not be offended. Thank you. Is that me and you? Yeah. Thank you. >> Lots of work to do, I'm sure. Yes. Nice
job. Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> Mr. Treebasser, please read the closed session statement. >> Thank you, Madam President. Blind to the Sunshine Law, the board must go into closed session in order to discuss subjects exempted from the public portion of our meeting. The discussion to be held in closed session will be regarding personnel matters and privacy
interests. Any information regarding the closed session discussion will be released to the public when the reason for discussing these matters in closed session no longer exists. I move we go to closed session. I have a motion by Mr. Treebasser. Do I have a second? >> Second. Second by Mr. Sedana.
All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? None. Carried. Please rise for a salute to the flag and a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Do I have a motion to reconvene? So motion. Motion by Mr. Treebasser. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Sedana. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed?
None. Carried. Roll call, Mr. Secretary. Ms. Anderson. Here. Mr. Coughlin. Here. Mr. Della Pietro. Here. Mr. Lally. Here. Mr. Mohamed. >> Here. Mr. Sedana. Here. Mr. Treebasser. Yes. And Ms. Bordan. Here. Will someone make a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting?
>> So motion. Second. Motion by Mr. Treebasser, second by Mr. Della Pietro. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? None. Carried. Mr. Secretary, please state for the record any notice of bids received by the board. Madam President, there were none this time.
Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Dr. Massimino, please state for the record the Superintendent report for March of 2026. Thank you, Madam President. I present the board the following reports for the month of March 2026, the student registers and fraud report, the suspension reports for elementary and secondary schools, bomb threat reports,
and reports of the attendance officers. Thank you, Dr. Massimino. The Woodbridge 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 who engage in the exercise of free speech 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 for those whose legal rights may be impacted. The public is now invited to speak regarding the agenda items 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 number that 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. Anybody wishing to speak about the
agenda items? Okay. Moving on, Superintendent's agenda. Dr. Massimino, do you have any recommendations this evening? Yes, Madam President. I have 37 items to present to the board this evening. I make a motion to pass Superintendent's agenda. I have a motion by Mr. Treebasser. Do I have a second? Second.
Second by Mr. Sedana. Do I have any comments or questions from the board? Roll call, Mr. Secretary. Ms. Anderson. Yes. Mr. Coughlin. Yes. Mr. Della Pietro. Yes. Mr. Lally. Yes. Mr. Mohamed. Um Madam President, uh with the
exception of item number 35, I abstain in the name of Rutgers University. Yes on all the other items. Thank you, Mr. Sedana. Yes. Mr. Treebasser. Yes. Ms. Bordan. Yes. Communication, policy, and planning, Mr. Coughlin. The Communication, Policy, and
Planning Committee on the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools presents the following 18 recommendations. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. I have a motion by Mr. Coughlin. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Della Pietro. Are there any comments or questions from
the board? Madam President. >> Yes. Yes, on this agenda, I wanted to just comment and I wanted to thank Mr. Ali and our committee for our successful prom dress giveaway extravaganza that we had on March 18th
at Woodbridge High School. Uh we were able to give away approximately 90 dresses, but I also wanted to thank those that are listed here that are getting their resolutions. I wanted to thank the Colonia High School Parent Teacher Organization, as well as JFK's
Parent Faculty Forum, Woodbridge High School's PTO, as well as Livingston, Ox & Reid Law Firm for all of their donations. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Anderson. It was a truly wonderful evening and I look forward to that every year. Thank you. Thank you for your assistance
as well, Madam President. >> Love it. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay. I I have a motion by Mr. Coughlin. Do I have a second? Oh, sorry. Any comments or questions? We're done with that. Roll call, Mr. Wolferman. Sorry, lost my place. Ms.
Anderson. Yes. Mr. Coughlin. Yes. Mr. Della Pietro. Yes. Mr. Lally. Yes. Mr. Mohamed. >> Yes. Mr. Sedana. Yes. Mr. Treebasser. >> Yes. And Ms. Bordan. Yes. Curriculum, extracurricular activities, and technology, Mr. Sedana. Thank you, Madam 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 29 items. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. I have a motion I have a motion by Mr. Sedana, a second by Mr. Treebasser. Are there any
comments or questions from the board? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Secretary. Ms. Anderson. Yes. Mr. Coughlin. Yes. Mr. Della Pietro. Yes. Mr. Lally. >> Yes. Mr. Mohamed. Yes. Mr. Sedana. Yes. Mr. Treebasser. Yes. Ms. Bordan. Yes. Finance and Insurance, Mr. Treebasser.
>> Thank you, Madam President. The Finance and Insurance Committee on recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools and the Business Administrator Board Secretary presents following 15 items. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. Motion by Mr. Treebasser. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Ms. Anderson. Are there any comments or questions from the board?
Seeing none, [clears throat] roll call, Mr. Wolferman. Ms. Anderson. Yes. Mr. Coughlin. Yes. Mr. Della Pietro. Yes. Mr. Lally. Yes. Mr. Mohamed. >> Yes. Mr. Sedana. Yes. Mr. Treebasser. >> Yes. Ms. Bordan. Yes. Safety and Security, Mr. Della Pietro. Thank you,
Madam President. The Safety and Security Committee on recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools presents the following one item. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. I have a motion by Mr. Della Pietro. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Coughlin. Are there any comments or questions from
the board? Roll call, Mr. Wolferman. Ms. Anderson. Yes. Mr. Coughlin. Yes. Mr. Della Pietro. Yes. Mr. Lally. Yes. Mr. Mohamed. Yes. Mr. Sedana. >> Yes. Mr. Treebasser. Yes. Ms. Bordan. Yes. Dining and Transportation, Mr. Mohamed. Madam President, the Dining and
Transportation Committee on recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools and the Business Administrator Board Secretary presents the following 11 items. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. Motion by Mr. Mohamed. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Treebasser. Any
comments or questions from the board? Roll call, Mr. Wolferman. Ms. Anderson. Yes. Mr. Coughlin. Yes. Mr. Della Pietro. Yes. Mr. Lally. Yes. Mr. Mohamed. >> Yes. Mr. Sedana. Yes. Mr. Treebasser. Yes. Ms. Bordan. Yes. Personnel, Mr. Della Pietro. Thank you, Madam
President. The Personnel Committee on recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools and the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources presents the following 29 items. I move for the adoption of the foregoing. I have a motion by Mr. >> Second. Della Pietro, second by Mr. Treebasser. Any comments or questions from the
board? Seeing none, roll call, Mr. Wolferman. Ms. Anderson. Yes. Mr. Coughlin. Yes. Mr. Della Pietro. Yes. Mr. Lally. >> Yes. Mr. Mohamed. >> Yes. Mr. Sedana. Yes. Mr. Treebasser. Yes. Ms. Bordan. Yes. Mr. Bush, do you have any recommendations?
>> Nothing to talk about, President. >> Thank you very much. Is there any old business that should be brought to the attention of the board? Is there any new business that should be brought to the attention of the board? Madam President. Sir. Uh a few weeks back, we had an incident at
Colonia Middle School uh where we had a fire in the art room. I got the call at 1:45 a.m. Um when I arrived, the Colonia Fire Department and other local fire departments, as well as Wood- Woodbridge PD, were on scene. Um I was there with
our coordinator of security, Mr. Small. Uh I don't want to go into all the details uh because it was an exceptionally early morning and a very long day. What I do want to go into details about was how diligent um and tremendously responsive the fire departments were. Uh
I don't want to go into the specifics of of each one cuz I don't want to miss anybody. I wouldn't dare insult them. Uh what I will say is the response time and the efforts to contain that to one classroom uh was nothing short of tremendous. So,
we were able to um get in that day and and work with our insurance adjuster. Um all of the necessary parties that have to be a part of of rectifying an issue like that, which you can imagine. We canceled school that day. We were
able to go remote that Thursday and Friday and and through the work of the company that we had brought in along with our tradesmen, we were able to have school on Monday. That weekend the Colonia High School PTO actually had a tricky tray. So,
I just need to give a special shout-out to the Colonia Fire Department and all of the first responders that were part of it. They jumped in when you see firefighters with with squeegees helping get the water down the hallway and setting up fans and and doing everything they can do. You see them as firemen, but you realize
they're husbands and fathers and community members and and they have a vested interest in our school. So, I've never seen anything like that. I've been in this town my entire life. I've been in education for 24 years. I've never seen a response like that. So, I just want to personally give a shout-out
to the Colonia Fire Department, the first responders, everybody that was a part of it. Containing a fire like that to one classroom in a building like Colonia Middle School, which there's a courtyard. That gets to the courtyard in the middle of the building.
Who knows what would have happened. First and foremost, there's not a loss of life, right? We can fix property. Life is is is the most precious thing. So, first and foremost, we're glad that that was not the case, but their ability to contain the fire and then control the impact of the damage was was nothing
short of tremendous. So, I just want to give them a shout-out. I hope they're listening and if they're not, I hope somebody tells them that we're acknowledging them because it's certainly worth it. So, that's it, Madam President. Thank you for the time. Thank you very much and yes, I applaud the efforts and I was amazed when you were telling me the
details. Incredible. Thank you so much. Madam President, may I say something also? Of course. Yeah, I'd like just to echo Dr. Massimino's words to the first responders. Excellent job. But, I also want to acknowledge the really great effort by Dr. Massimino in making a
decision on on such a short notice to go virtual for 2 days. So, I just want to commend you on making that decision, which I think was the best decision under the circumstances. And thank you so much for that. So, thank Thank you, Mr. Muhammad. On that note, just please notice we did
adopt a calendar change. We will make up that that day for Colonia. I believe it's June 2nd. It'll be a half day of school. They will be the only school in session that day. Um, but, you know, considering the potential impact of that
kind of incident, I I think we we got off about as lucky as you can get off. So, we will make up that day for Colonia Middle School on June 2nd. It will be a half day. We will have information going out to the parents as we get closer from Colonia Middle
School, but Mr. Muhammad, thank you. And and just please take note of the change in the calendar. Thank you. Thank you. I also want to shout-out to Buildings and Grounds for an amazing job. I understand by this week it's the the classroom's just about ready to go. Am I right? Just the flooring and that's a that's not an us
thing. No, once we were able to get the room ready, our B&G department, specifically our trades, you know, Mr. Impaglia and Mr. English, they were there all weekend. They were there all week. I don't know that, you know, part of me was wondering did they sleep there because every time I went to bed, they were there. When I woke up, they were
there. So, to see a team effort, you know, I think that's what makes our community so special. And and and it was I I got phone calls from town hall immediately. Hey, how can we help? I spoke to many of of you on on the day as today. So, it is humbling. You
know, it's always tough to when when you see something like this, but to have everybody rally up and and see the community come together is um, nothing short of tremendous. And nothing negative at all. Like really nothing. No negative feedback. Nothing negative from anybody.
Um, I think our B&G team did a really great job. So, I just want to thank them as well. All right. Okay. Anything else? That's all. We're good. Okay. That was big. We will now open the meeting for public comment. If you wish to say something, please come to the microphone and
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 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 are have fully completed all of your comments so as to not interrupt your 5 minutes to speak. And we as always as we've done so far this year, we open the microphone to the students first. Thank you. Good evening, board members. I am Liam Chang.
Hello, I am Shivani Nandanbakam. And I'm Ishri Patel. We're all from John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in the Iselin sector of Woodbridge Township. We're here today to advocate for FCCLA. On March 25th and 26th, New Jersey FCCLA
hosted their annual state leadership conference. This conference consisted of competitive events, workshops, inspirational keynote speakers during multiple sessions. This conference was hosted by Ishri and I alongside the New Jersey State Executive Council.
At this conference, our JFK Mustangs chapter had a great deal of success in the competitive events. We are extremely grateful for all of our seniors and their hard work and commitment towards FCCLA. The work we have done together has truly been amazing and I wish the best to of luck
to all of our graduating seniors. For me, the state leadership conference was such a unique experience. It pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and I loved meeting new people and learning from others and being part of an engaging community. Overall, this experience helped grow my confidence and
build my leadership skills. Now, we're really excited to announce the results of from our competitive events. So, JFK received 39 gold medals, six silver medals, and six bronze medals. We'd also like to say that
everyone medaled because at these conferences, it is not a guarantee that you get a medal. You do have to get a minimum score of 70 and then above to determine what medal you get, but we're really proud of the fact that everyone was able to medal. The following
students received first and second place medals and qualify to be able to attend the National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. this July. Aishwarya Ganesh Kumar, Isha D'Souza, Pearl Shaw, Marisol Velasquez, Alex
Delgado, Sachi Patel, Vanshika Tangri, Karina Patel, Jaylin Singh, Annabella LaQuanti, Shivani Nandanbakam, Haniya Johnath, Demi Oyen Kolade, Riley Rodriguez, Nishant Bendal, Tejas Pawar,
Reddy Patel, Radha Patel, Joshiya Singh, Kainath Latif, Pernali Patel, and Yash Ignacious. We would like to say that we had quite an immense group of people that qualified. However, only 12 of 12 of us will be going to the National
Leadership Conference. That is from July 5th to 10th and we're really excited because we're taking a bus this time. So, we're not flying and it's much closer and we're excited to explore just such a historical city. We are also just very proud of all of our members for the success they had in
their competitive events. This was a result of months of hard work leading up to this. Members got to learn many important skills such as public speaking, time management, collaboration by competing. It's a big thing and especially the amount of success we've
had, it's just really turned out great. And lastly, we would like to thank Miss Santana, Miss Della Pietro, Dr. Perry, Miss Fury, and Mr. Ran for all of their help and support. I would also like to add on an initiative that I concluded this last
month into this month. And it was my Books for Taiwan book drive. I was able to coordinate this amazing event with both of our FCCLA and our National English Honor Society chapters to raise over 450 books for underprivileged peoples in Taiwan.
This was once again thanks to the seniors and members who helped to donate. Thank you. Yes, okay. >> [applause] >> You guys always impress me. Every meeting, everything you say is so impressive and it makes me feel so good
that you are our future. And and the things that you're going out and doing and a lot of this is on your own time and we really appreciate you all being here each month and sharing with us your successes. So, thank you very much and congratulations to your crew. >> [applause] >> It's incredible.
That's incredible. Paul Land Hope Land. Um, not to repeat myself, but I I still have a concern that despite the change of name and I'm going to hit the DEI topic
again, diversity, equity, inclusion. I want to see it dismantled. I want to see it completely gone from the school district. I believe that it's still hiding in the fact that my friend Tom Marris did an OPRA request, saw the job description that Mr. Ali has,
did not see a great expansion of duties, but did in fact see three words basically changed. Diversity became different. What remained was equity. So, in my mind and again, this this is what I'm seeing. In my mind, you still give a wink and a
nod to the state which mandates you to have equity commissions. And you're still changing the name so that the federal government will see that you've gotten out of DEI supposedly and they won't sue you or withdraw their $13 million of funding which will hit
our special ed a committee the hardest. You do know that DEI has been under fire. A lot of corporations that that had embraced it are withdrawing from it. At the very least, you got to admit it's controversial.
Diversity creates tribalism. There's no emphasis on unity when you talk about our different tribal groups based on sex, religion, gender identity now. Some people in this country can't even agree. I I can understand why it's hard
to unify. You can't agree on what American values are. You can't agree on what a woman is. You can't agree on on how many genders there are. I'm of the mind that there are two sexes. I'm of the mind that it's cruel to lead children to believe that they
could be born in the wrong body. It's not true and it's not scientific. I will cite yet another study from Finland, one of the early adopters of the affirmation model, and did a longitudinal longitudinal study meaning
long-term that affirmation of a delusion is actually harmful and creates more suicidal ideation. I want to confirm that we indeed still have a version of 5756 that allows boys to use the girls' room and allows the
state to put tampons in the boys' room. I want to confirm this. I want to confirm that equity is still a centerpiece of a lot of your philosophy. That you have affinity groups. You talk to some students about whiteness as being some kind of mind virus. You talk
about some groups being oppressors and some groups being oppressed which robs those oppressed groups of any agency and self-determination when you make the claim that the system is against them. Even if it were, it is not a healthy
attitude to play the victim. This I know. This is not my opinion. DEI and LGBTQ affirmation is on its way out and I want to wake this board up to that fact before we get hit with parent lawsuits and federal lawsuits that us
weary taxpayers end up having to bear. Thank you for your time. Madam President. Ms. Anderson. Uh Mr. Lund. Ms. Anderson, I think you should still give your response because that was very rude. I I just want the public to know that can't see that Mr. Lund um has left
the building. My comment was in reference to the position. Um this there's a separation of the what he was saying and a lot of it was false and I didn't want that to just be the last thing that the public heard. Um our position is the director of student access and engagement. We do
not have a a DEI position. The job description is a is gone. And so, I just want to make sure that that was clear. Um that's all I need to say. All right. Thank you, Ms. Anderson. And go ahead. Thank you, Madam President. Um just a couple things.
When I was in high school, we had a character education program. Um pure mentors and we talked about people coming from different backgrounds and having different religions and and still being a part of our community. I I struggle to see where that's a bad
thing. Uh I will continue to struggle to see how we don't embrace um the things that make us different often make us stronger. So, I uh wholeheartedly disagree um that there's a wink and a nod and we're teaching oppressors and um because there's not a
room full of parents here saying that this uh illicit brainwashing is going on. That there never has been. Um I am the superintendent of this district. I'm also a father in this district. My wife is an employee of this district. So,
I do have my own personal family values as I would imagine everyone would, but when we come to work, there is a a responsibility to provide our students with access to to the best education possible. So, if if that kind of equity is not what we're
celebrating and is not what we're looking to support, uh then then I would question the what purpose we serve. I I wholeheartedly disagree with that summary. I I appreciate someone taking their personal beliefs and trying to fit them into a district narrative, but um
it's just completely inaccurate. So, yes, I we will continue to embrace our differences. Um I I do struggle with the concept of only you know, you talked about different uh religions, races. I I think
you have to have that. I think that's what makes us so great and I think that's what makes people feel accepted. So, um the second that that kind of equity isn't celebrated, well well that will that will be the day that I think we have to rethink our purpose. So, um I wholeheartedly disagree and I thank you
for your time, Madam President. Thank you, Dr. Massimino. And I just want to add that um I'm not sure every every month he comes in says the same thing and his the questions have been asked and answered by everybody here on this on this dais. Uh it it's an insult to us.
I never really speak up about it, but you know, my family is a It is not true the things he says. They are opinions. They are not the facts that he says that he brings to table because as Dr. Massimino said, I believe that there would be more people in this room discussing
um the things that he's saying. And as far as Mr. Ali's position goes, you know, Mr. Ali was a uh you know, a integral part of the prom dress extravaganza. He brought in Levinson Axelrod who donated dresses, donated um purses to the girls, donated other items to the girls. Mr. Ali it does the
cultural showcase at the end of the year that you know, it it doesn't all fit even in one evening anymore and the evenings are long and fun and you know, make it your business to check it out. Mr. Ali, um do you know off the top of your head what the dates are for the showcase? Uh it is May 27th and May 28th. And I
and at the community center. Correct. And I think that, you know, if you want to see what Mr. Ali works so hard on all year long, it is that you come to that and you see what these kids work on. They work tirelessly all year in in their own time. Um
and it it's just the incredible things come out of what Mr. Ali does and I think it's unfair, very unfair to keep saying what he does is wrong. It it is absolutely right. Thank you. Madam President. Sir. Uh I just like to um just to offer my thoughts if you don't mind.
>> I don't mind. Um so, the term DEI, diversity, equity, inclusion, we know that has been weaponized uh in the past. Um you can go straight to the English dictionary and get a definition for each of those words. And I just want to point out you can just walk outside into the parking lot and
you can see examples of DEI. I'm not allowed to park in a handicap parking spot. That is there for a purpose. That's DEI. The railings that are on the stages and on the steps for me to come up and down, that's DEI. That's making an accommodation for every So, you take a
look around us. Elevators in buildings, escalators. Anyway you can you look to see where you can make sure everyone is included. That's if someone has one leg or someone doesn't have any legs. If someone is afflicted with a disease or breathing disorder, you make
accommodations for the people. All of those things are DEI. So, the fact that, you know, we we listen to this quite often on a month-to-month basis, I I think the public knows better. I think everyone in education knows better. I think Woodbridge knows better. And uh
you know, we we need to to to push back against that type of narrative. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. That's fine, but don't push it and don't force it on anyone else. We're we're smarter than that, I think. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Muhammad. Anybody else? You good? Okay.
I'm sorry. Dwight Glenn, Woodbridge proper. I'm a member of the Woodbridge Domestic Response Team. We are all volunteers that required to go through extensive training in domestic violence. The police call us on all domestic violence cases. We provide support and guidance
to victims of domestic violence. I recently retired from Department of Children and Family Services where I witnessed the aftermath of physical and mental abuse against children, adults, and sex trafficking of children. 99% of the atrocities never make it to the public. Therefore, people don't realize
how devastating domestic violence is regarding to adults and teens. After speaking with a few young female victims, it was revealed that they were dating the perpetrators since middle school into adulthood. I asked if the school health class
ever discussed DV or teen dating. The victims stated they never discussed DV in health classes. When I explained the progressive aggressive behavior of a DV perpetrator, the victims stated they were not aware of these indicators. They
would have stopped dating that person years ago. I spoke with nine students from Woodbridge, Colonia, and Iselin. Not one student confirmed getting any information about teen dating or the consequences of DV. My area of expertise was working with
teens and adolescents. While interviewing young victims of DV, they all they all said the same thing, I never thought it would get this bad. Power and control can happen to anyone. It also may lead to teens being sex
trafficked. Their their self-esteem, family, and friends are slowly removed by the perpetrator. Young people learn from repetition. Academia should not wait until high school before informing adolescents of
the dos and don'ts of teen dating and the consequences of making the wrong decisions while dating leading to lifelong prosecution. We need to be proactive instead of reactive. By being proactive, those in
authority can strategize on how to get valuable life-saving information to these adolescents and and parents that will benefit them in the long run. Families can share this information with others. Question, how would you react if your
child, grandchild, niece, or nephew were being abused or disappear only to find out he or she has been trafficked. Preventive measures are available. Don't wait until something someone dies before action is
taken. Many times we see that's the only way things happen, and someone has to die before the people in the political arena take take take notice. I asked a few officials here in Woodbridge, who grooms the children into turning away from everything he or she
loves? Both gave the wrong answer. And these are people with with acronyms after their names. The concern is that teens are not receiving ongoing information pertaining to safe dating, bullying, sex trafficking, and the consequence of
making bad decisions while dating. I ask every parent to take these concerns serious. We must stop the cycle of domestic violence. Think about how many lives you can save. I would like the board to provide teen
dating and DV information to students starting in middle school. Many people say, well, not in my neighborhood, not in my household. But yes, domestic violence does not discriminate.
Someone right next to you can be involved in domestic violence. The kids, there's nothing worse than a kid being trafficked. I worked in the area. Parent come home and the kid never arrive never comes home and come to find
out the kid's been groomed for months. Many times you ask adults, did you notice a child being groomed? No. These are the steps of information get out to parents and to the school system by the school system providing. It doesn't cost a lot of money. You can
just repetition, start in seventh grade. By the time they get into high school, it'll be set in their minds on how to how how to pick up on these indicators, how to get rid of that person before it gets too serious.
Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Glenn. Um Mr. Glenn, will you be here after the meeting? Yes, we will be we will be here. Okay. Perfect. Is it okay if I speak with you after the meeting? Sure. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Walt Pierson. I
am a member of the Woodbridge Domestic Violence Response Team as well. The Woodbridge DVRT was set up in 1993 as an advocacy organization for victims and survivors of domestic violence.
Our mantra, as Dwight had said, is to break the cycle of violence. Most often people assume domestic violence is specific to physical violence. The truth is that it also includes emotional, economic, psychological, and
sexual abuse. We know that within families where domestic violence occurs, the children are more likely to repeat those same learned behaviors. As to them at a young age, these behaviors are their normal. This dysfunction carries them through
their formative years into high school, college, and adulthood. These middle school children are 85% more likely to become the next generation of abusers and victims. Now, we have been providing educational
theater productions at the high school level for our three high schools for the last number of years with the performance of The Yellow Dress. It's a cautionary tale about It's about dating violence. We have also
provided a few middle school classes through educational theater production, which are strategies for healthy relationship skills, respect, boundaries, and communication skills, and red flags to look out for in relationships.
These middle school interventions reduce later high school dating violence by shaping norms before harmful patterns take root. Unfortunately, post-COVID, the educational theater is no longer able to provide actors from Massachusetts
to continue providing these classes. Here we go. Okay. We have partnered with the Stephanie Parze Foundation. I don't know if anybody's familiar with Stephanie Parze. Okay. Thank you. To provide presentations to the middle
school students covering a curriculum with the goal of providing lessons which will give the children skills to avoid domestic violence and abuse. Our ask is for your endorsement allowing us to work with the schools and counselors to introduce these lessons at
no cost to the township or board. We'd like to move forward with this upon reaching consensus on content and timing. I'm happy to speak with you afterwards to talk about how how we go about doing that. Excellent. Thank you. Any questions or
Great. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Anybody else needs to speak to this evening? No? I entertain a motion to adjourn. Mr. Treeboster and Mr. Della Pietro.
All in favor? Any opposed? Carried. >> [music]