voices in a couple seconds you are live Mr President I'm just gonna wait to check the audio oh where that's that we could hear me all right and you all right good evening everybody and welcome to our Board of Education meeting happy to see so many of our students here for their recognition to get on to that item before we do we're going to open the meeting with a call of the open public meeting statement uh which reads the New Jersey open public meetings law is enacted to ensure the right of the public to H notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which time any business affecting their interest is discussed and acted in accordance with the provisions of this act and Board of Education policy 0162 the Board of Education of The Bu of Bound Brook has posted notice of this meeting been posted Board office and the bound high school and mailor fact to The Courier News bound south bound Board of Education and any person who requested [Music] [Music] individ yes sir Mr Bell here Mr Dawson here here M Caron Mr Zill here M musen here Mr minhas Miss H here Mr bulmer here Mr janzi here and Miss l president you have a quum present this evening thank you very much we are going to right over the president's comments and get into our superintendent report I apologize I must have an old copy of the agenda we're up to item number 1.4 then we're swearing in our new board member our representative from South Mr yes sir Miss Carlton would you please join me at the pod this is the required oath for for school board members to njsa 18a 12- 2.1 and njsa 41 1-1-3 I Jennifer Carlton do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Saint and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and the state and this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people so help me God so help me God I Jennifer Carlson you solemnly swear or affirm do you solemly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of a board of education for the office of member of a board of education and then I am not disqualified as a and that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs1 19 4-1 sorry uh pursuant to rs1 194 d one one sorry nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense or offense listed in njs 18a 12-1 listed in njs 18a 12-1 and then I will faithfully and that I will faithfully and partially and partially and justly and justly perform all the duties of that office perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God according to the best of my ability so help me God congratulations thank [Applause] you thank you very much thank you thank you m thank you Mr Gori and thank you Jennifer for um offering to serve we're excited to have you on the team all right Dr Freeman up to you for superintendent okay good evening everybody and welcome to our January 31st board meeting it is so good to see everyone out in the audience at this time we're going to do one of our favorites we're going to call out the students of the month if we could have Dr s come on up front and recognize our students from Lamont and lont an [Applause] schools congratulations to Steven Delo currently kindergarten student in Mrs Hon's class um his favorite school subject is math his favorite hobbies are Legos playing hockey going to karate class um his career plans he wants to become a ninja reason Stephen was selected Stephen is such a sweet and smart student he loves to learn and he always willing to help others Stephen has really pushed himself out of his comfort zone this year and is taken on challenges Like a Rockstar congratulations [Applause] Steven [Music] Sten [Laughter] [Applause] congratulations to Via Rosa heras currently in preschool and Mrs chaparro's class favorite school subject is learning letters favorite hobby is playing with toys and her baby brother career plans is police officer like her dad um Mrs Chow picked fetta to be student of a mon she's always quick to offer help um to her friends in the classroom she's also a great friend to everyone in the class and always has a smile to give congratulations [Applause] Veta okay schol have Miss G our first student of the month is Mason diara come [Applause] onuse he's always dressed the N Mason is in first grade he's in Mrs P class he has a little sister he loves math and art his favorite hobbies are taekwan do running arts and crafts and playing with his dog named Chase he wants to drive an ice cream truck or work at shop bre congratulations congratulations and our next student of the month is salame cha Martinez she's from Miss Pago's class grade she has a sister her favorite school subject is math and phonics she likes to draw and watch TV and she wants to be a famous YouTuber and a professional ice [Applause] skater moving so this we're going to miss her so much so she's such a big help so we're going to miss you so much D who's your favorite YouTuber who's your favorite Mr Beast congratulations again next up from small school we have Miss Carone [Applause] okay our first student of the month is Juan B from Miss Perez's [Applause] class dress smile I'm so proud of you Juan is in third grade in Miss Perez's class Juan has a sibling he says my amazing sister she is 23 years old and my nephew Julian goes to small Le with me and is 12 years old his favorite school subject is math math and he says I love being able to count and multiply numbers his favorite hobbies he says I love playing board games with my family his career plan say I want to be a veterinarian to help out all of the animals per our second student of the month is Penelope from Miss poker's class [Applause] Penelope okay Penelope is in fourth grade in Miss coker's class um she has a sibling named Payton who's six years old her favorite subject in school is reading what are you reading right now oh I love that book and your favorite hobby her favorite hobbies are drawing and she loves drawing so much that when she grows up she wants to be an an artist I'm so proud of okay let's go take a picture let another [Applause] round next I'm going to call down Salomon from m Fernandez's class Solomon come on down congratulations okay Solomon is in fifth grade in Miss Fernandez's class for sibling she says I have one brother and he is older her favorite subject in school is math and her favorite hobby is do to roller skate good okay when she gets older she says I dream of becoming a teacher when I grow [Applause] up conratulations [Applause] and our last student of the month I'm going to call down Milani from Mr Osborne's class come [Applause] on okay um Milani is in sixth grade in Mr Osborne's class and they got to go to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia today Milani says I have two siblings one brother and one sister both are older than me her favorite school subject is social studies and she says I love to play basketball and soccer when she gets older she's gonna be very very busy because she's going to be a veterinarian and a baker congratulations [Applause] Alani cookies congratulations and next up for Community Middle School we have Dr s [Applause] Ser Hello everybody welcome welcome so our first uh student of the month the Community Middle School is proud to recognize Mark Palos Mark was nominated by his science teacher Miss catus Mark has two siblings and his favorite subjects are language arts math science and social studies that is a lot of favorites favorite hobby hobby is playing soccer and number one dream is to become a professional soccer player outside of that we're going to figure it out with the job but that's not specified at this time all right Mark come on up on up Mark [Applause] our next student of the month is Joseph Aila Cordo Joseph is an eighth grade student at the community middle school and has been nominated by his science teacher Miss Esposito Joseph has four siblings and favorite subject is math especially likes to listen to and memorize formulas close to my heart I'm a former math teacher so I enjoy that uh favorite hobbies are Taekwondo drawing and video games and when he grows up and I really love this part wants to be a software engineer and take after his sister who is obviously very big role model in his life and he enjoys the information that he shares and I know you'll reach that dream come on up Joseph conratulations [Applause] [Applause] next up from our High School Mr Smith [Applause] all right unfortunately our first recipient um cannot be with us this evening but I'll read his little bio description anyway so we have William Sawyer son of Christina and William uh William is an only child uh William actually interns here with our technology department and does a tremendous job uh so I mean this is a good segue into his favorite school subject which is computer science uh his favorite hobbies are playing I guess I think it's an online gaming site called magic magic the Gathering and his future career plans are to uh to study computer science and cyber security [Applause] congratulations all right next we have Nicole Rivera Nicole okay Nicole daughter of yenia kalas uh Nicole has two siblings uh Kenya and J uh Jean Carlos um Nicole's favorite subject in school is right now is English um favorite hobbies definitely include playing sports especially volleyball and spending time with her mom she hopes to attend a four-year college or university to study Ultra to become an ultrasound technician so congratulations [Applause] Nicole [Music] thank [Applause] you all right next we have a female Sawyer Caitlyn Sawyer Caitlyn here Kaitlyn um daughter of Dave and Francia uh Caitlyn has zero siblings and is an only child correct yes um favorite subject in school is geometry uh Caitlyn enjoys doing homework and watching movies and her future career plans is to become a real estate agent in the future so [Applause] congratulations [Applause] last but not least Darren Allen Linton Niles Darren all right Darren H son of Justin and Dian um Darren has three siblings Jaylen Jenna and Janine uh Darren enjoys his favorite subject in school entrepreneurship Spanish and music he enjoys playing basketball and Building Things which is a good segue into his future career plans which is to become an electrician or a carender [Applause] congratulations thank you one last round of applause for all of our students of and of course for our par without you would be they are today so appreciate you as well okay next up we have our employees of the month I would like to call Dr Essa along with Miss Fisher to receive her award this month's G recipients are dedicated and compassionate school nurse nurse Christina nurse Christina has not only fulfilled the responsibility of a school nurse but has gone above and beyond in providing care support and compassion to our students nurse Christina offers a listening air a Caring Heart a reassuring smile to students who may be feeling unwell her nurturing approach is easy eases the worries of parents and Guardians knowing their children are incapable and caring hands nurse Christina also actively promotes health education and wellness within our school She's organized workshops and events that have empowered her students with knowledge about Healthy Lifestyles and the importance of preventative care her efforts have not only benefited our students but also Foster a healthier School environment in recognition of your outstanding contributions to our school and your dedication to the health and wellbeing of our students we present you with the gem award congratulations nurse Christina thank you for being the heart and soul of our school's health and wellness we are truly fortunate to have you as part of our school family thank you [Applause] good job congratulations we have M and Dr s will [Applause] present the Community Middle School is proud to recognize henness picado as the January 2024 employee of the month for the Bound Brook School District Miss picado is a graduate of Bound Brook High School a graduate of Montclair University and is in the process of enrolling in the Master's progr program for social work at Monclair Miss picato Ser is serving as a teacher associate this year at CMS and is tasked with assisting families facilitating instruction and facilitating instruction for our multilingual Learners in math science and social studies as a fluent Spanish speaker Miss picato is able to bridge the language Gap that ensures students will have full understanding of classroom material Miss picato helps students understand lessons and activ activities clarifies and responds to students questions and helps modify classwork in order to provide appropriate and necessary accommodations the impact our teacher Associates and specifically Miss picato have had in the classroom is immeasurable Miss picado has helped break down barriers to learning that in the past have been a point of struggle for both student and teacher from the perspective of a child who is trying to learn but does not yet speak the language of their teacher school can be a frustrating place with Miss pato's help and guidance students are now more engaged eager to learn and ask questions and have grown in confidence both academically and socially in addition to our classroom responsibilities Miss picato has assisted in multiple mediations with students and conversations with families oftentimes these conversations involve difficult and emotional topics Miss picato participates in these discuss discussions with a level of poise and professionalism that makes it seem as though she's been doing this for many years students and parents alike respond to her kind and compassionate approach and understand that regardless of the topic or circumstance Miss picato has the best interests of children in mind as one of Miss pato's former teachers and on behalf of a grateful and appreciative staff at the Community Middle School I would like to say thank you for your dedication and for making such a remarkable and positive impact on the lives of our [Applause] students one last round of [Applause] applause okay at this time we have one more group of people that I would like to uh recognize now these people aren't in the audience they're actually up here on the stage in honor of School Board of Education recognition month I'd like to take a moment to thank our outstanding board of education for all their hard work and dedication to our students teachers parents and administration working with you over the past year and a half it's been an absolute honor your commitment to working collaboratively to ensure that we as a district provide our students and families with the best education experience possible is such a blessing to our School Community we want you to know just how appreciated you are although there is no amount of compensation that we could give for the valuable service that you provide to our school Community we have left a small token of appreciation next to your name tax when you get a minute to rest again thank you for your service we appreciate you and look forward to working with you going forward let's have a round of applause for [Applause] our at this time why don't we have everybody come down to the front of the room we can take a picture with all the students Andes stage everybody come take yeah m is great watch video of course you watch the puppy video and right there there stairs we'll stand the right in front right you can make a front row in front of us conratulations we're making a back don't thank you sir all right [Music] cheese all [Music] right I just that's your job that's [Music] true District [Music] good it and you unmuted all right guys back in session and at this point we are up to our committee meeting reports we will start with education thank you Mr President uh education committee met earlier this month our discussion this month Focus mostly around the high school program of studies and work that's being done uh Ming to make sure that the course of studies um can be clearly understood by all the state stakeholders in the district and helping our students understand uh the pathways and opportunities that are afforded to them by programming in the district whether they are CP student honors student and AP student and trying to make sure that the programming we offer is understood by all of our students and that their course requests are made in the most informed possible way looking at possibly design future programming around the needs we can identify based on conversations with those students we are pleased to hear that there's a renewed effort to make sure students fully understand our options and how the district can serve them and also how uh we can take a look at how we can respond to the needs of the students in the future and make sure everyone is served in the best possible way it's really exciting work um to make sure that our students and our families and our St are really aware of all the great options that are available to our students in a clear concise way that really showcases all the work that we have uh to offer and how we can support our staff and our administrators and creating the most optimal situation that will let kids graduate college and career ready and do so in a way that everyone understands that is on the same P thank you Mr Pres thank you Mr Dawson any comments or questions for Education all right hearing none we will go over to Mr B for governance okay I have a quite a few small items uh the first thing we discussed was our on boarding procedure for new members which we've talked about before um but this time because we do have a new South Bound Brook board member we would like to make sure that she has everything that she needs as she joins the board so I had attended one of the um sessions I had attended down Atlantic City at the conference was um all kind of gave you a list of all of the things that she a new member should have so I forwarded that list over to Dr Freeman and he was pretty confident that she has uh has been or will be given everything that she needs but if there's anything you need that isn't on that list please don't hesitate to let us know hopefully you got all the emails and everything that you need to contact someone to get that information but going forward we plan to have that ready for all new members hopefully all of us stay you know forever but if we ever board members um you know we have to be ready for that secondly uh we just asked for an update on the strategic planning meetings uh these numbers are probably a bit out of date at this point but as of last Monday we had 23 replies from the link that is not including board members administrators um we had also reached out personally to the um Council where they're they're going to send two members uh the police department will be sending our SRO um so uh we have been reaching out to as many people as we can uh I've reached out to a few people since then so we will see what numbers we get but as of last week we were expecting expecting about 40 could be more than that by now um Dr Freeman has already posted the agenda for the first meeting in board dos if you didn't see it is there now let's see what else okay committee assignments you know this because it was sent out this afternoon um the only change that I was aware of is that Sue wanted to be added to education if there was anybody else who wanted to change or an addition I think we already asked that question but if you want to change at this point let us know before we get going really for the new year and hopefully we can accommodate that change for you but I think we're set at this point um the next one Lisa this is mostly for you actually um we talked about the atoc Committees that we had added yours being the only one at this point and whether or not we want to continue them and we figured Mr uh Januzzi thinks but we wanted to confirm with you that you've kind of reached the goals that you had set at the beginning of the committee meetings but we wanted to talk to you and see what you want to do as far as continuing with that committee and that's not something you have to answer this moment of course but how do we want to move forward with the Athletics and extracurricular committee is our question to you as the chairperson okay so let us know if that's something you want to do every month if it's something you want to do as needed or something you think can end at this time it's really you know more of a group decision than than me and Mr Januzzi sitting in a committee and talking that you you can just be on that decision as well okay thank you okay and the last thing that we discussed briefly was Mr zuo's favorite Topic at Council so um without boring you with all the details Dr Freeman put forth a really good plan of what Ed council could look like um that's something that we have to probably discuss with the Bea as well so there's no need to really discuss it here yet until we talk to them but he does have an idea of how we can make things run a little bit more smoothly so we're hoping that maybe if everybody agrees we can bring that back in some form or fashion as you know it is in the contract so it's something we should probably look into and that is the end of my report thank you Mr B any comments or questions on [Music] governance it be something that I would like to discuss with Dr Freeman privately problem because story and it's just it's interesting so we'll talk about sounds thank you Mr Z any other comments or questions right thank you Mr we are moving on to Human Resources so one of the other committee assignment changes that we had soon be stepping forward and serving as chair of our H committe this year so thank you soon for that and with that I will let you take it away with your report okay Community um we had a few things going on with HR and one and you'll see on the agenda that there a number of new hires that really just so happy to see director it school psychologist lbtc span High School Etc um and along with hes you also have some resignations here and there um it's all in this week in this month's um agenda we also discussed in the meeting it's called muru health and this is uh an online program it was launched out and it really is a counseling program and it has been received very well by the uh by staff and it's open to employees to their spouses and children um just a wide range again it's gotten a very favorable review so far and HR continues to just reach out to them any questions and F is going to be s have periodically to staff so that they don't have a million things all at once but they have some readings that are perent and again any questions that they have go right through through HR they have a six we and an eight we program so it's pretty comprehensive we're also one of the things with HR that is uh continual really is just looking at the responsibilties job you just Dr ions Etc and it was looking at prior to having candidates come in just to look at to make sure that all certifications are there so that when they do come for interviews it's very clear and very everybody's just ready for um for interviews contracts uh all go through HR and also and should beers from staff they go right through HR and all those processes are being streamlined just so that it's easier to understand uh really to get through also in there's a creation of um the data secretary and just again looking at the qualifications because from the GetGo really to have um a strong description of what is needed to make the district really move forward so there were a couple things that we discussed just um language fluencies um just expertise and writing reports and being you know very analytical with the data but not only being analytical but being able to share that data so that it's very easily understood by all and I think that's it very enjoy we do have we are still going ongoing with um negotiations with the association and we're going to be having a meeting in a week or so and now that's it all right thanks very much to any questions from the members on the all right thanks very much Su we will shift over to Roger for so this is going to be a shared sort of presentation because I was not there so I'm going to go off some excellent notes that Sue have taken I'm also going to then uh do my normal bunding it m so about the first thing was Insurance pre updates and Mr Cory please uh before I get into the budget or you get into the budget you can you know add add your two cents the insur insurance premium updates uh in relation to flood insurance was already budgeted talking about two categories do you want to further get into that yes sir we have um two categories as you mentioned Property and Casualty Insurance which includes flood and also health insurance and some of the preliminary information that we've received from the carriers as far as premium projections for next year are somewhat unfavorable the Property and Casualty um projections are increasing anywhere from five to 20% depending on the policy and that's because of increase in property values um bus prices that gone up the used prices and the replacement value goes up and um some of the claims experience in the district uh with property damage has also contributed to some of the property increases workers comp is one of the lower ones to go up because our facility director does a great job of maintaining safety and and um for our staff and the schools and one of the more troubling ones is the most material of the premiums which is health insurance um last year you may recall we had a 0% increase that was because of a year of advantageous claims and very aggressive negotiating with carriers and giving competitive quotes this year our claims experience has uh really fallen off the cliff and has been one of the worst claims years in about seven um the reason for that are specific catastrophic claims and and even though they are they are covered by a catastrophic claims insurance policy separate it's still issued by Horizon so when they renew you're still paying for it somewhat in premiums and where aggressively negotiating that and we have a very good broker who is a great assistant and we're going to go to the marketplace and get competitive quotes carriers on Etna being one of them because they're most similar to Horizon and we're also waiting for other months of claims um information for December so we can complete the whole annual um look at that so we're on top of it it's just that we've facing headwinds for bed claims both in property casualty and healths excellent thank you for your your addition to that um the next section that I was really happy to look at was the bus driver compensation we're looking currently against because it was not at the meeting was 25 an hour and it's looking to go up exp yes if I recall correctly it's going up to $30 an hour EXC um for bus driver rate which is the new Norm U as far as colleagues are are increasing too so to track the best drivers with the best safety records that's a comparable the third section of the operations meeting was budget now this because I was not there you are the budget and I will then let you take the budget U issues so we discuss our updates thank you I may be the guru assembling the budget but Dr Freeman's the one providing the vision and simar to last year this budget is focusing heavily on curriculum and instruction because there have been years of underfunding in the district and there's a lot of pin up demand particularly in special ed bil programs so we are adding new programs we're adding staff and um this is the last year of increases in state aid to bring us to full funding under the revision to the school funding formula called S2 so hopefully when State a is released at the end of the month we'll have an attractive increase like last year which will afford for a lot of programs that the principles and directors have put into the budget uh thus far and I would be remiss if I didn't thank all of the principles and directors for all of their hard work with budgets the input into our budget software program has been uh very comprehensive and to my recollection Dr Freeman and I have not made a single change so far but that is subject to the state a award course thank you Mr I know that um as long as I've been your budgets have been contentious and have had a situation everyone in by nails but I uh I am and I I believe I speak for the board we are very confident in our Administration and thankful thee of time Rel and dealing with the budget doing the best possible situations that you Pres so appreciate that everyone has doing um I do know there was also talk about a school sign update design uh in relation to the small schol so that seemed interesting on that yeah maybe I can take that one for you um so there was storm damage at small school and the larger sign actually damaged so we're in the process buildings and grounds in the process of replacing it in conjunction with that we've been looking at U our branding around the district and trying to standardize wherever possible so we are trying to take the opportunity presented here to create kind of a new standard image for school districts and um something that we can reuse from school to school so uh that's still I believe in the design phases but likely we be done very shortly and hopefully we'll get a nice sign up at small school very soon excellent that sounds phenomenal um there were also discussions in relation to Broad Grant Mr zco if you would humor me I I have a to that with the um resolutions board action because there's a number of resolutions and I want to just simplify we will get back to that and finally fenes at the football field wring very nicely appreciative of that um final topic I have here off school of water we need the third party to come in assist yes Mr zuo we had two referrals today from the architect of record for professional service providers I believe they're engineers and we are soliciting quotes from both of them to come out and just offer a third-party assessment of the problems with the water seepage into the basement that we've experienced so far and if the remedies provided by the contractor um is going to satisfy that long term and give the board an Community value on that investment to that expansion excent I thank you everyone I appreciate it and Mr President that is the meetings for this week thanks very much any comments or questions from the members regarding oblations uh Athletics and co-curricular we now meet this round and the Somerset County Educational Services Commission uh meets in the first week of February so we look forward to that report during our meeting in February so before we wrap up any other comments or questions in general regarding commes uh again a great job um I have the pleasure of do most of the community me got the opportunity governance this time so a plus but um again I'm very appreciative and get done by our Volunteers in these meetings to really issues understand the right way to move forward so just making sure you all know how much I appreciate that at this time we open to the public for agenda items only in accordance with District policy 0167 which governs public participation in board meetings members of the public must sign in at theum or online provide their name addressing affiliation uh public participation is limited to 3 to five minutes imation and no participant may speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been at this time are there any comments from those seeing none I will ask if there are any online getting ahead not that there are none there are none so we will close it five and move to item 6.1 be it resolved that the bound Board of Education all recommendation of the superintendent approves the minutes of the following meetings this is regular and executive meeting minut of December 20th 2023 as well as item 6.2 which are the minutes of our reorganization meeting for January 3rd 2024 I have a motion thank you Missi second second thank you miss any discussion hearing none Mr gski canoll call yes sir sir and let the record show that Miss Carlton is now officially Seated on the board and she'll be replacing um can't hear my uh my microphone Miss Carlton is now seated at the board after being sworn in and she's going to replace Miss Le Mr pal yes Mr Dawson yes gazino yes Miss Carlton so noted Mr zuo yes Miss M yes Mr minhas yes Miss High yes Mr Palmer yes Mr Januzzi yes motion passes thank you item 7.1 resolve that superintendent recommends for approval the resolutions as outlined in District Personnel resolutions this is item 7.2 through 7.44 and I motion motion thank you Mr second second thank you Mr uh just to kick off the discussion I will for remember that this pieces one of them is noted with an asterisk those are for Middle Elementary items so those are things that would affect and then anything that's not mared that way would apply to the high school and or the district in its enti any comments or questions for seven I just had a real quick one um just that I really like 7.13 and 7.31 just to see the internships that have taking place and the mentoring experiences because that is so important to have somebody just there to model for you to answer questions I'm just always happy when I see that we have volunteers in the district thanks any other comments or questions yes question on 79 710 with the njpa tutoring s Tut is it is this strictly voluntary or is it mandatory kids teachers so the kids um they don't have to come but it's it's an option for them to come but they they will be encouraged to come it's not mandatory how how do we or how far we encouraging those who needed to come is it just so just com out say hey you want to come and get it or we actually proactive saying Tommy this is something you really really benefit from like to see you do actively go to the classrooms for graders I just want to know how we're how we're promoting it so that the kids that really do needed can get it the parents who the the uh students who really need it what happens is the the letters are sent home to the parents the parents are called to of the importance and where they where they are in terms of their progress they're strongly recommended that they attend now we can't make a parent bring them if they don't come but it's strongly recommended it's tied into their progress and the uh benefit of attending is is strongly impressed upon them they have a pretty high success rate both during the year and after school but so uh that's that's how we go about getting into thank you and if I could just maybe ask one more followup question this is in regards to tutoring above and beyond any instruction or support that the general students are receiving during the regular school day because I believe there are some programs embedded within the classroom and the coursework that are supposed to prepare the students to take these tests yeah so this isn't done after after school hours this is an additional like a tutoring session um for students and last year when we did so this is a repeat from last year last year when it was done there was um like a line out the door of kids who wanted to be a part of it so it's a very popular um and effective yeah so test strategy skills environment as well so we're teaching how to manage tests and it's been a very successful piece and we do go to the classrooms and we promote it over and over again what time where to show up where to be um and for the NJ GPA we had actually we had so many people that we had to create two rooms so it's been a very successful event other questions or comments I was going to ask in the in the next section when we approve but this is at no charge to can't hear you can't hear I'm sorry I was gonna ask in in SE in the next section this is at no charge no the only cost is for us to um hire the staff members to work extra hours to do this but the students have no charge we'll talk about range coverance next time you guys on the left key you didn't hear Jo was asking about incremental cost to the participants and Mr no cost to participate only the cost that obviously Ur to staff any other questions or comments hearing none call please Mr B yes Mr Dawson yes M Gino yes M Carlton Mr zco yes mus yes Mr manhas yes Miss H yes Mr gmer yes Mr Januzzi yes motion passes excellent we are up to it 81 have resolve that board of education approves the resolutions as out District education resolutions these are items 8.2 8 have a motion thank you Mr Ben a second second thank you Miss H discussion um I'm very encouraged about all these social events especially with all the cultural diversity and awareness um is really um very enthusiastic to to see that the one comment that I have um maybe it's just something that was glaring for me was um section 8.5 I mentions about a French bakery um I don't know if you guys are aware of this but haris Vette is is actually a South Korean bakery it's a South Korean CH so maybe it's just an fi it's I mean I have no problems with folks wanting to go to a bakery but to be calling in a French bakery I just want to correct well I'm looking at I reading but itation AI forer French teacher to take the star program to Paris again so was the French teacher taking it yes so but it's not it's it's not what I'm saying it doesn't say that's a French if you look at the attachment along we have to that yeah that's all it's when I saw it I'm like wait a minute I know my so um but no um overall with the cultural awareness and the diversity really awesome to see thank you thank you Mr any other comments or questions I have one it's um 8.3 and it really goes along with the you know helping the kids after school this is with the SAT program the T I was just wondering how is that received you know do you get the numbers for that too the program um we had to expand last year we had one classroom something we started last year we had to expanded two standing moment so who knows this time they have three or four but students are really taking advantage and it also it definitely in a short period of time has an impact because we all know that sometimes it's not just knowing your content but it's knowing how to take test which is what an SAT prep class does so it makes a difference to add to that I when I was a kid I took sa an SAT tutoring prep and with test taking advice and everything it really helped me a lot because I'm one of those kids that got real nervous and T taking time especially with like something like this at National level orate so far personal experien and again no charge to the [Music] K any other comments for Section Mr B yes Mr Dawson yeso yes M Carlon so noted Mr subco yes m m yes Mr Minas yes M High yes Mr bmer yes Mr Januzzi yes motion passes thank you item 91 being resolve Board of Education approves the resolutions as outl action resolutions these are items 9.2 931 motion motion thank you Mr Z second second thank you Mr M I will open the discussion just by thanking the many donors we are graciously donating both funding and resources to the district this is B Police Department sub County Mr Sil the donor choose project Mr and W so just an amazing outpouring from the community um and can't express our gratitude any no no no uh question on 9.14 just a little clarification on that yes sir um on this uh board agenda there under board action there's resolutions 9-14 to 9-22 they all pertain to the board's acceptance and commitment of Rod grants which I'll outline in a second the verbiage in these resolutions comes ex exactly from the New Jersey SDA and they warn you in the guidelines don't deviate even a word or a tense or anything so they're copied and pasted exactly from the SDA and we triple check all of the project numbers for accuracy and again these um Awards do number one they commit the 9.14 to 9.2 14 about election that's also related to the same thing okay the the New Jersey schools Development Authority wants confirmation that the board of education has removed the court election previously from November to April April April April to November which which this board of education has so we need to just confirm that in um it's not changing the the election that's previously been done it's just confirming no that's not I just um it also authorizes the business administrator to supervise the construction on these projects and it again it commits the Board of Education to these projects and and their willingness to accept the grant Awards and last week we received from the New Jersey SDA the acceptance and authorization for these grants that are as follows we applied for 14 grants for boilers security upgrades bathroom upgrades and um they approved the most material of the projects which are the boilers I think the state maybe underestimated the amount of volume of the grants and the scope of school district's construction needs so they really narrowed in on the skin of the facilities uh projects which in our case uh was approval for what I had hoped for the most was the boilers because school boilers are one of the most expensive pieces of equipment in the school and these are projects that are generally done through Bond referendum to replace because they're too costly to put in an operational budget we're very fortunate because we're able to do these in the operational budget because of the state participation of 66% of reimbursement of all costs the high school is getting boilers and related equipment including hot water heaters costing an estimated $991,000 and the state's going to reimburse the district 65649 Lamont Annex is going to receive boilers and related hot water heaters costing $338,800 and the state reimbursement is $555,500 Lafayette is going to receive boilers and related hot water heaters costing 900 $7,800 and the state reimbursed $42,988 and small e school which has one of the more system spaces is going to receive um boilers and related cost of 1,834 240 and the state reimbursement is 1,214 1852 th000 that's a total project cost of about 4.6 million the state reimbursement is about 3 million so bar um Bound Brook share is only $1.5 million to replace the worst boilers that are in need of replacement and long overdue in the district these are going to be new equipment they're going to be greener they're going to save on utility bills going forward as opposed to these 1970 turn them on and open the windows they only have one temperature style boilers and uh this is a very large project in scope it's a material upgrade to these buildings that will serve this community for at least 30 years to come and um if anybody has any questions about these I'll be happy to talk about it the the next steps for this process is tonight's hopeful board award resolution passing for these um then certify the resolutions and submit all of the signed grant paperwork then once we receive back the fully executed Grant agreement from the njsda we will go out to bid and then the board of education wor the bids and then we can begin construction it's expected that that those latter steps will happen in this school year so Mr gy just on behalf of the board let me say thank you to you and your team for the work that you've put in on this I mean all the way you support us an engagement in architect Architecture Firm to draft all these new agreements which was no small Fe itself um I AP to to draft off the project all our entire wish list didn't conf funded by the state clearly a significant portion what the district needs did um and it wouldn't have been done without all the hard work that your team put in um so thank you for that I know that you know from from the community whether it's the the maintenance team or teachers and students in the rooms I'm sure that they will all be happy to have a little bit more control over uh the temperature that they have to to work in during the weeks or months um uh and and just again I want to actually say thank you to our senior members on the board who've been here for a little while as well as uh our predecessors because you know we were in a financial position to actually take advantage of the r grant program from the state in part because of the diligence of the prior board Administration that we actually had the fund to go forward and say that we match uh and fund these projects out of pocket if necessary uh which was all part and parcel of actually receiving the awards so plos to you guys for making good decisions in the past as well thank just like to echo on those comments and commend Dr Freeman and Mr gy and their teams for their work I'm not sure the average person understands uh the level of complexity and ocracy that is associated with these grants and they're wonderful um unities that the state has provided us and we're so happy that district has pursued but they're very very difficult and I think there's probably quite a few school districts throughout the state that are still reading the instructions trying to figure it out they make it Beyond complicated and there's so much value in having professional people who know the buildings but also know the system how to advance things through the process appropriately and our district is benefiting to the tune of millions of dollars um that will be upgraded services for our building so thank you for your work and uh for stewarding us through this Grand application process and it's as easy and as um delightful as the government might make it sound we are very um I wanted to say something too it was almost ago that Lisa and I met with mik and we went to each of the buildings and saw the boilers and everything it was actually very Tas and to think from that initial walkr of what was needed to now just signing off on this actually seeing this happen it's just phenomenal um it just is Kudos I I wrote a note here thanks Mike I mean it just and the teamwork you know Dr Freeman you know grisy just a wonderful team and it it really is benefitting the district thank you so much right and certainly the operations committee led by Mr a lot work a lot of review especially early stages and project considerations narrowing it down most conseal listen if my ego wasn't big enough now that definitely makes it no seriously but thank you everyone it's uh it's just you know what is we have a great team all around we have thank you Mr that I just wanted to switch quickly to 9.23 the fundraiser for Katie's Place I wanted to say whoever who put that together student I have to say uh Kudos I wanted to say thank you and uh it reaffirms the hope we all have for our youth and for our community and for how caring our you know when you look at TV and social media you hear you know a lot of the negative but what incredible positive things coming out of our high school coming out of our middle elementary schools and this is just an example of Mr Smith I I can't tell you my hats off your kids are great our kids are great and and this is just an example of you know one little you know my grandfather used to say the water flow begins with a drop of water right and this is just exceptional so my head off to [Applause] person ium again I had two things on here one was 9.23 which the so kudos for that again and also the annual dodge ball coming up oh except I don't want to take another ball for the back of the head [Applause] [Music] part of the game yeah the other thing was um 9.7 cplus property of a mini tour bus what's the mini tour bus Miss H we have a older bus that was just replaced by one of the two newer ones that we just purchased and initially we thought we could keep this this one and it's a smaller bu that's why it's called a m keep as a spare but um one of our drivers and the mechanics involved took a a closer look at it and it needed an engine it needed a transmission it needed so many material parts that the replacement of alled them would have made it worth it and it became to the point where it was unreliable to even use as a backup so we're going to um use a school approved auction cyc called go deals to put it nationally we've had success getting decent bids on those in the past thank you any other comments or questions on Section n hearing n we'll close the discussion and ask for a roll call Mr B yes Mr Dawson yes Miss gazino yes Miss Carlton ex thank you Mr subco yes Miss Moen yes Mr Minas yes Miss High yes Mr bmer yes Mr Januzzi yes motion passes thank you business anything that the committee members would like to raise that was not on the agenda question um we had a family that was impacted by a fire I'm sure and um I was told that we gave them some gift cards and I'd asked the question is there any way that the the district can authorize an individual or a team to go to the shop rights the costos the targets and solicit gift cards for people that have kns um I say this because I have a friend of mine who was with the Salvation Army and the word SE director coordinator and he was always getting donations I it's nice to give them $100 gift pay for a motel for one night but that's we are a community and I'd like to think that we in school are a family this is a family member that's heard and I think that there's ways that we can reach out to the local businesses and say we have a need we got 10,000 people in this town and a significant number of us go to Costco to Costco still help out I don't know what the process procedure would be but if we got any families that that really need some help I think to be somewh to explore so we did take an active um measure in that way we have multiple counselors from small and social workers as well reaching out to both the local services so we reached out to the local um police contact here as well we reached out to shite to Costco to other places to ask for donations um we also have davidman who's our business contact reaching out for donations as well so we are taking your advice and we have a point person in Emily at a counselor connecting with all the different populations out there but working directly with the family so we've brought them to various resources um we certainly actively have been on this since the day after we the day after it happened so what you just said yes and more is amen than [Applause] you uh any other items for new business froms that's I was trying to remember what I was going to bring up but that's what it was so we talked a little bit at the operations committee if you all can see up above about the beautiful stained glass uh windows that are in the ceiling panels of the auditorium here and we learned um from our director of buildings and grounds that there actually were lights up there so tonight we actually have them on so everybody can see what they look like um and while it does appear that there are some sides of Aging you could probably uh use a touch up in certain places it's a beautiful element you know to the auditorium one that's not common in the area so um robberto if you are watching or seeing this on replay thank you very much for making that out great all right so if there's no other new business we will open to the public for open discussion any comments from the room good Tom do we have any comments online um just refresh the page I am not seeing [Music] any uh he resolve Board of educations enters executive session as by can I have a motion motion thank you Mr B second second thank you Mr all in favor your [Music] return all right you're live all right everybody we are up to item 14.1 be it resolved that the B Board of Education approves the resolutions as outlined in hi cases on our high school this is 14.2 14.3 can I have a motion motion thank you Mr Dawson second second thank you Miss High Mr B yes Mr Dawson yes M Casino yes M Carlton yes Mr subco yes m m yes Mr benas yes m h yes Mr Palmer yes Mr janosi yes motion pass thank you we are up to item 15.1 resolve that b board education approves the resolution says outline HIV cases on the middle and elementary schools this is item 15.2 15 [Laughter] motion this goes further can we Mr B yes Mr Dawson yeso yes M Carlton thank you Mr zco yes Miss musen yes Mr minhas yes Miss High yes Mr Balmer yes Mr Jan yes motion passes thank you item 16 which is motion thank you Mr second second thank you Mr