e e e e e all right so the North hhe Regional High School District Board of Education meeting on Tuesday March 19th 202024 is now called to order in accordance with the requirements of the open public meeting Act njsa 10 4-6 4-6 at seek adequate notice of the meeting has been provided by submission of notice of the time date and location to The Star Ledger on December 5th 2023 and the hunon county Democrat on December 7th 2023 subsequent notice of the meeting location has been provided in the hutan county Democrat on March 7 2024 notice and to the extent known the agenda of this meeting had been posted at the North hudan High School in Vorhees High School provided to the municipal Clerks of Bethlehem Township Califon burrow town of Clinton Clinton Township Franklin Township Glenn Glen Gardner burough Hampton burough Highbridge burough Lebanon burough Lebanon Township tubry Township and Union Township as well as other interested parties and posted on the district website fire exits are located in the direction indicated if alerted to fire please move in a common orderly fashion to the nearest smokefree exit at this time please silence your phones and a roll call Miss pagno here Mr Chapman here miss Gallow here miss hint here miss kran here Mr mcac here Mr mik here miss Reyes absent Miss selino is absent Mr Spanton here miss Vato here and Mr for banish here can we please rise for the flag [Applause] salute over there I pledge 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 so I ask uh Mr Peter to come forward for recognition of War's student achievements all right well I have a special treat for you tonight um two of our freshman students uh Brena priest and Taylor zek uh were recently on a ski trip to Smuggler Notch with our ski club before I get into what they did I want to thank their advisers Kira luckart and melony kerr for training our students or what to do in an emergency situation Brennon and Taylor were skiing down a black diamond when they saw two people next to a set of skis in the snow the two people looked confused and worried brenon and Taylor stopped to see if everything was okay the two people one boy and one girl from another High School group indicated that their friend crashed and went off the edge of the mountain Taylor and Brena could hear groans and helps from the woods the friends of the boy in distress didn't know what to do or how to get them help B and Taylor let them know they had the ski Patrol's phone number could help they called ski patrol and gave the dispatcher a very accurate description of the trail they were on what to look for the two friends descriptions and the skis and as much information about the injured skier as they could from the information given ski patrol was able to locate the boy quick the injured man had at least a broken tibia from the fall down the side of the mountain it was a difficult rescue and the mountain had the ambulance coming before the injured boy even got to the patrol room the dispatcher mentioned that if the bystanders did not call they didn't know how long it would have been before someone was able to help the young man so like to thank them for their actions in such an emergency [Applause] you go there [Applause] [Laughter] right so it's my pleasure to introduce uh Brooke and Caitlyn they are nor seniors and they have done an outstanding job this year of uh raising money for our Spike for the event and really just organizing the entire event so our Spike for cure is a day here at North Hunton where we have students compete in a um a competition style volleyball game the at the very end the winning team plays a team of teachers and it's a fundraising event uh for the jasonp shable foundation so this year uh thanks to the help of these young ladies who really spearheaded the effort uh to get students to sign up we had I think 60 teams 6 no 65 teams compete this year and we raised $188,000 for the Jason P Shel Foundation and for those who aren't familiar with the Jason P shal Foundation it's specifically focused on helping families in Hunter County who have who are dealing with an illness in the family specifically related uh generally to a a cancer type of illness uh and pediatric cancer that is so uh these young ladies again were're a big part of making that a very successful event uh so I just want to introduce Brooke vanor uh so Brooke W that's Brooke okay she's going to Penn State this fall but is undecided about what she is doing at Penn State she is on our volleyball team she's a proud member of our national Honor Society and history Honor Society she's also part of our interact Club peer leaders and uh does the Friendship Day event and this really just showcases her dedication to helping others in what that's what the main focus of most of those clubs are and Caitlyn Martini uh Caitlyn is attending college this fall she doesn't know where yet but she knows she's majoring in business she plays uh V City volleyball she's a member of our National Honor Society she's a peer leader and she also has dedicated her time over the last four years in our interet club Relay for Life and Friendship Day so again really focus on help others so big round of applause for these young ladies right we're going to do some [Applause] photos [Applause] okay for motion in second to approve agenda item 5.1 which are the minutes from February 27th meeting second any questions okay voiceful all in favor I think oh I'm sorry Brendon did you have oh I'm sorry BR you have a question no I didn't oh I'm sorry all right so all in favor any opposed any exensions okay and we're good right obviously yeah okay uh okay so uh moving on to our student uh board Representatives uh I guess we'll start Adine so good evening you've not heard from me from a while so let's do a little recap on what's been happening at bores at the beginning of February unified Club met and made Valentine's Day cards sorry we start from the beginning we're all the way over here um okay at the beginning of February unified Club met and made Valentine's Day cards for local nursing and Veterans homes later they met in March and decorated socks for rock your socks day for World Down syndrome day which is this upcoming Thursday our instrumental music department had its annual Pops concert this year's theme was Rock and Roll Hall of Fame congratulations to the the string Ensemble Jazz Ensemble and concert band for putting on a spectacular performance the class of 2024 put on a hilarious Showcase of Mr Vorhees a big thank you to everyone who made this event possible andg congratulations to your 2024 Mr Vorhees Eric Mir the school participated in the week of respect each day students showed off their Spirit by dressing in theme days we weree blue to show our inclusion and ended in comfy clothes showing how comfortable we are with respect the choir put on a fantastic performance at their annual Coffee House performances by concert choir magical choir base choir and freshman choir took the audience on an adventure of exploring the genres last week we had the NJ GPA testing while it was lovely to sleep in for 4 days we are glad to be back to our regular schedule thank you all right hello everyone uh this past month has been another great time to be Aon at North hunon no shade to the Vikings um we've had some great events like the spike for a cure fundraiser that was just touched on another thank you to the great students that ran it and uh many more great events from the National Honor Society blood drive and the trivia bow where the parent team took home a w furthermore in some Club news I'm very excited to talk about the north World Report video club that had our first video aired we will be getting another one out this week so be sure to stay tuned Special Olympics also started which some of you may have noticed on your way in uh I actually have to head out early to help run that in a second but uh moreover I want to highlight a student from North hon Selena Jung she was one of 300 finalists and finished eighth place overall all in a science competition which won her a $60,000 award for Designing and field testing an eco-conscious AI powered artificial tree this project used machine learning to selectively lure identify and kill the destructive and invasive spotted Lantern flly her eco-friendly prototype tree cost her just under $200 to build and she hopes it may be a useful tool in controlling invasive species moving on Relay for Life this year is working to team up with Vorhees and possibly Central to have a very large impact this year right here at North Hunan anyone here in the audience interested in coming please join we are looking for any Community involvement and would appreciate your support lastly our music department is having their prism concert on March 21st at 8:00 p.m. be sure to come out and support North Hunan for their show thank [Applause] you any questions good all right thank you both I'm going have to run out you may all right moving on to the chief School administrator's report okay thank you Glenn uh I have a few things to read out first um first of all I'd like to recognize two seniors uh that were recognized at our unsung heroes award ceremony on March 14th uh that was sponsored by the Hunter and County School boards Association uh congratulations to senior from North hunon stie who were recognized as unsung heroes for their respective schools it was a great event it was held at Flemington ran um JP case Middle School uh I know Kim and um Christina were there and Tara was be there we're still feeling under the weather uh but it was a really nice event the um jazz band did a nice job with the music at the beginning and um and they did a really nice job with the presentation of awards so thank you to New Jersey School awards for that uh dor High School drama club will be performing L miserab at its spring Musical on 11th 8th through April April 11th through April 14th if board members would like tickets Please contact Joe Reynolds um and he will arrange for you also want to say a big congratulations to the north hon High School Jazz Ensemble who qualified for the group two finals for the New Jersey Association for jazz education State Jazz Festival this is the first time in our school's history that our Jazz Ensemble has ended this prestigious Festival uh the finals are being held on April Saturday April 27th at Princeton High School and we wish the best of luck to our impressive musicians as they head off the state vinals and also thank our teachers for the incredible job they've done in preparing them for this and as a reminder I just want to say schools are going to be closed uh for March 29th through April 5th for spring recess and Glenn had asked me to give an update on Polytech so I met with Todd bonsel today the superintendent from Hunter County polych uh about the project and got some details for you all so right now the estimated completion date is April 25th that's about 4 months behind where they original Ally planned um but they're they're pretty optimistic about that date right now most of the work has been revolving around the retaining walls especially the ones on the tennis court side um because they're trying to get that shorted up so that uh we can open up the tennis courts again one of the things that is related to North hunon is the upper tennis courts had to be closed this week because enough of the earth fell down um where they were Excavating that they didn't feel like it was safe to have people on the tennis court so um they're coming up with the schedule um potentially working with places outside of the school to um make up that time but uh they're working on his retaining walls probably within a week maybe two weeks at the latest if we have any delays and then we should be back in full swing with those uh tennis courts all the footings are done for the entire building footprint um they are all prepared and be will'll be pouring slabs end of this week beginning of next week um so the majority of the slabs will be poured um what I'm told is after that's done then steel goes up and things start moving along D correct me if I'm wrong um they are putting block up for the stairwells and the elevator shafts and so that that's starting to look like something on the site and they also finished their water retention under the parking lot which was um a real big deal for them to be able to get people on that parking lot as well so um so they are moving along lot of progress uh and it's been a very busy site so that's your update on still shooting for 2025 2025 start dat open dat at April 2025 I you know I'm going to be optimistic and say that even if they open April or May of 2025 they'll probably have kids in the building in the fall of 2025 so that's that's what I think we're probably shooting for uh if they're able to open a little early they just get some things tidied up before they open up okay um the softball fields aren't affected the softball field will not be affected there will actually be a staircase that comes down to the parking lot there so the girls might like that because they might be able to use some of that parking to get up to the um softball field I'm not sure if they're allowed to yet but it'll be there just one thing I noticed that more recently the the workers that Park their cars off the road which is helpful I don't know if there's a way to let them know to not have like brick and deliveries when kids are starting to go to school because it created quite the the road block for students try to get around them and everything so uh we have sent multiple reminders um you know as expected you know their schedule is their schedule as well and it's hard for us to control what their schedule is uh they were parking in the community parking lot for the um walking PS over there and I know uh as soon as we found out that was happening we asked them not to do that then they started parking on the road that became an issue and then they're parking now in the median um between um you know where The Jug Handle is so um as long as it stays dry I think that's a good alternative and a good place but again I think they just finished the um the drainage under the parking lot which I that that will give them an opportunity to pull on campus and park in an area on campus and hopefully be out of everybody's way okay any other questions all right so moving on we have our report on harassment intimidation and bullying for this month uh for new cases being reported to the board this month there was two cases one was unfounded and one was founded for um all of the offenders on the case and then call for a motion so a call for a motion and second to affirm the determinations on the Hib incidents reported at the Feb 27 2023 board meeting motion second yes any questions okay all in favor I I any opposed any extensions and um last but not least the monthly reports are there for your review there's any questions let me know okay okay so our um next meeting is May 7th 2024 we where we will have the annual budget hearing and regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. in The District administration office um I'll also add that if you don't know um you may be aware of that a uh request was made to review the book let's talk about it um a committee has been formed it it consists of Administration health teacher a li a librarian a member of the public and myself that committee has already met once to have a kickoff meeting we have our next meeting next week I've asked the committee to complete their uh review of the book um so that we can vote on that book at the May uh May meeting so that means you'll get a report well in advance of that meeting so you can review it um I would ask if you don't have a copy of the book and you please get a copy if you don't if you need a copy reach out to me reach out to Rich but I do think right for you to review the recommendation of the committee it would be helpful to at least look at the book and put the recommendations in context um I would also ask you know seriously please everyone right come with the with the decision to vote Yes or no I don't I don't care how you vote that's your decision but but please you know unless there is a conflict and if you think there's a conflict by all means reach out to me or reach out to the board attorney but otherwise please make every effort to vote Yes or not and not to abstain on the book okay I think it's important and I think we were elected to make decisions and not to abstain and I do think it's an important decision that we make um so like I said we'll I we well I've asked and I do think we can do it we'll have a report in your hand in April that you can have adequate time to to review the committee's report so at this time I'll turn to public comment so during this portion of the meeting the public is invited to address the Board of Education with comments you are requested to sign the register provided for this purpose and to state your name Municipality of residence group affiliation if applicable and direct your comments to the school board president while all comments will be considered by the Board of Education and a response may be forthcoming if and when appropriate individual school board members may not respond to the speakers at the time of their appearance the public comment period will be a maximum of 30 minutes in length unless there are unusual circumstances you will be allocated 3 minutes to speak and no one will be permitted to speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard please keep your comments respectful and non- defamatory and maintain the level of Decor appropriate for a public meeting where students may be present and in the audience good evening board members I'm Amy Barrett a resident of Highbridge and a retired teacher I'm here to talk about the book donations from Gilson which I think is item 13.3 on the agenda uh Gilson is an organization that supports LGBT youth one way to support these students is to provide them with books about characters who share their own experiences reading about a character who is gay lesbian queer or questioning may help a high school student feel less alone and could even Save a Life Gelson's stands for gay lesbian and straight education Network reading books about sympathetic characters who are different from themselves may also help heterosexual cisgender students develop empathy you might be asking yourself why does the high school library need more lgbtq books most of the novels in the north hund and Vorhees libraries and the hund county libraries are about characters who are straight cisgender and white it's only recently that young adult books have been available with main characters who were lgbtq black Hispanic Asian Muslim Native American or differently abled during The Last 5 Years I taught language arts at unionship Middle School which was 2015 to 2020 roughly I made a deliberate effort to balance my large classroom library with novels that reflected the growing diversity of my student population the the donation of books from gillson is an effort to balance your school's library collection so that all students can read about characters like themselves no one will make your child read these books and reading a book about an lgbtq character will not make anyone gay lesbian or queer but reading these books may help Someone's Child feel less isolated and alone a vote to reject these donations is a deny that lgbtq students have a right to read about people like themselves a vote to reject these donations is book Banning please do the right thing and accept these donations tonight thank you for [Applause] listening thank you Mr President I think you can anticipate that there will be a fairly large turnout for the May 7th Board of Education meeting and I hope that instead of scheduling the meeting for the administration building that you schedule it for a larger venue at least as large as this room thank you very [Applause] much you know my name know hi it's JP Lael from Union Township and I just wanted to thank the board for their time and I wanted to particularly thank president farbes for your comment about abstaining and yes or no you have been elected to the positions that you're in to have an opinion and represent the people that elected you abstaining does not represent that unless it involves your child or your family or something personal uh a yes or no is what we voted you in for thank you very [Applause] much hi good evening how is everyone my name is Alexa offenhauer I'm from the town of Clinton I want to thank you as always for your time I wanted to come up here tonight to talk about something that's been bothering me since the last meeting and that has to do with the no votes on the weeding and culling of the Library resources um there were some questions that were asked which seemed fairly legitimate what are the what is the process is there a process how is it go about these questions were answered they seemed very reasonable um I went ahead and looked at previous agendas and noted that calling obsolete materials not just library books but also in one case 15 pages of Chromebooks um on an Excel spreadsheet um and other technology devices uh treadmills refrigerators uh library books from The English Department in both high schools library or sorry curriculum books from The English Department in both schools and library books from both schools and so the decision to vote no on a process that is engaged in by experts in a field not just the librarian but also the vice principal when there is not a corollary Novo on various in many cases far more expensive and financially meaningful culling of of materials that someone could say well how do you know that laptop is broken how do we know we need new laptops strikes me as an example of the kind of bad faith argument that we're seeing here um and I think that as time has gone on the fact that these are the the argument that these are bad faith arguments becomes clearer and clearer we've heard people accuse the librarian of being literally a pedophile and yet where are those people now if that is something they really believed was happening at this school would they really come for one or two meetings a year make a big noise put a lot of their videos on Facebook and not not show up again I think that it speaks to what we're seeing as a bad faith argument the the books that are in the school library are not chosen at random they are chosen by a entire field of study of Library science they are award-winning they are commonly in school libraries and I want to just say that I hope that moving forward we can see good faith efforts to make sure that all students here feel represented and feel that they are included in the what is happening in the materials at the school thank you [Applause] anyone else like to make comment thank you um thank you for encouraging people I'm Sandra marzo I'm from Franklin um and I also would like to thank you for encouraging your fellow board members to vote Yes or no um I really I personally feel that abstaining is I'm trying to be polite um I feel I feel it's a coward's way out to be honest just have the courage to show what you feel regarding the book you know and read it I mean I looked up on my phone while I was here the North hundon County library system has it has one copy on on the Shelf at the moment and has it has a digital copy for your Kindle device so there really is no excuse I'm sure everybody here has an Amazon account CU most people do nowadays and you most people have Prime not everybody I get that but lots of people do and lots of people who are against these types of books argue that well parents can go and buy it on Amazon not all parents can not all parents can afford it but if that's your argument then you can afford most likely to buy the book to read it for this assignment on the board and I also want to point out Bender's not here again tonight this is the fourth time that I've been here as a parent of a child in this school he's not here superintendent's job is to lead the board the community he not here and it's especially important when there are Hot Topics in the community or times of Crisis and he's not leading and I wouldn't consider this exactly a crisis but this is definitely a Hot Topic a stressful time for for our librarian for some parents in the community I mean I would imagine that the parents that are pushing to get this removed moved feel stressed about this parents who are passionate on the other side to keep it feel stressed and he's not here he's not showing any sort of trying to bring the community together and that makes me wonder what would he do in something even more stressful if we had an active shooter is he going to crap his pants like to be blunt what's he going to do and I have a child in this school and his office is just down in the other parking lot what's he going to do I mean you're here you have to sit here and eat it from the public every time we show up and yell at the board right where is he when's he going to [Applause] come hello I'm Renee Rober I um live in um Lebanon and I've been living in this area for 18 years and I represent the Hun County NAACP and I was going through the monthly reports with which you know you touched on at the start of the meeting and what concerned me was the increase in number of bias acts hate crime and intimidation where there were no acts Sim like that in September there something in October nothing in November one in December and then so many more there were two in January of bias acts one two of intimidation in February there were three bias acts and one hate crime and I haven't seen hate crime before and I'm kind of bothered that it hasn't been talked about or touched on I I very much appreciated the board's effort last year when we formed the ad hoc Dei committee I was a member of that I think there was a lot of of initiatives that are going forward to change the the the culture in the school to have a better uh student community and so you know seeing the rise in these acts I would ask that you would continue to to work with the principles to ensure that we're still monitoring you know the culture and the attitudes of our students and continue to make this a priority I don't know if the months of um January and February are just one-offs I will continue to read the monthly reports hopefully you know it's not a trend that continues um and so I really would appreciate the board's attention and support in that area thank [Applause] you hi I'm Eliza I'm from Clinton um I would like to ask the board to adopt um an altered version of a request to take a book out of the library that would require someone to have read the book to make it very I know that Martha made one um and I see no reason why it shouldn't be adopted because for students for queer students for straight students when we are having conversations in Board of Ed meetings about whether or not these books should be allowed that is that's really bad for queer students it's really and these are when people come up here and they argue why these students shouldn't have representation it's actively dangerous for them and there is no reason for this to be happening in this forum but it's going to until the form that people have to fill out requires them to have read the book Thank you anyone else okay so moving on so I need a call for a motion and second to approve action item 10.1 which is authorizing adoption of the 2024 2025 preliminary budget and annual maximum travel expenditures second second any questions for Katie that's good okay I need a roll call vote Miss P here no oh yes yes Mr Chapman yes Miss Gallow yes Miss hint yes M kran yes Mr mcac yes Mr mik yes M re is absent misso is absent Mr Spanton yes Miss Fato yes and Mr farb yesk okay moving on to curriculum uh Beth you have report yes first I want to thank uh Jess vioto for covering for me last last meeting uh the curriculum instruction and Technology committee uh met on March 13th and went through several of the uh board agenda items uh we uh are starting to get contracts for out of placs and the rates for professional consultants for school uh for next school year um the um we also um sorry um have the committee supported the items as um as they were provided on the board agenda uh the other items we talked about uh one of which was the seal of by literacy so the Seal of by literacy is a state program that recognizes seniors who are proficient in English and one additional language uh this year seniors earn a total of 67 seals so it's not done by student but seals because um some students have earned the Seal Seal in multiple languages which is very impressive um the district uses title four funds to pay for the test for students um in order for them to earn the seal and in addition this year he um the the the Schools email Juniors and seniors as well as their parents about the program so that we were able to involve students who speak a language at home even though they may not be taking those classes in school the the positive note is that we are starting to see an increase uh year on year since the uh since the pandemic and it's putting us closer to prepandemic numbers and those do need to be recognized for their accomplishments uh testing update it was provided by one of the student Representatives last week was a busy week uh we were reviewing the spring standardised testing schedule including the na assessment which was new this year um I think we have 50 seniors who participated in that test right um the MJ GPA which is the test that Juniors need to take to demonstrate proficiency for graduation uh AP testing will be coming up in May and the njsla will come up in may as well well um when um AP testing is complete it will review the those results with the curriculum committee uh we won receive the results for the nabp assessment um we also discuss the impact um of the change in our AP policy that it's had on the number of students taking uh AP exams last year was the first year where students earn AP credit um for AP courses regardless of whether or not they took the AP exam um and we've noticed that there is quite a bit of um a number of students who are doing concurrent enrollment options which is where they can get credit at a University at the same time um which is also very positive um we also talked about the tutoring programs uh we reviewed the usage by students uh for this year both for the after school tutoring options as well as a 24/7 on demand tutoring program that were being offered through the Esser Grant this is going to be last year for the eser grants um so if we decide to add the tutor.com program again it would be um at a at a reduced rate but we would still need to pay for that um the students had over 400 sessions or 10,000 Minutes with the online tutoring program and as far as the um the in-person tutoring with teachers we had over 300 sessions with over 16,000 minutes as well um the extra heal is available to students during the school day as well as through the resource rooms um on Monday Wednesdays and Thursdays um finally um something that we had approached U last year but also again this year we're briefly discussing the impact of artificial intelligence and how it's been used in the district uh we're going to take a closer look at this for next month's committee uh committee meeting and um we'll we'll discuss it more at that time [Music] okay so I need a call for motion in second to approve agenda item 11.1 to [Music] 114 any other questions the only thing I want to add is and it was added late is the uh special education Medicaid initiative I don't know Rich if you wanted to say anything about that or no can you yeah we can address there was wording that the county office um wanted us to change just getting a little more specific so we did and it's the same it's the same you approving the same thing okay thanks so tut.com is still getting a lot of use out of it right which one so tutor.com oh yes yes so when would so so it sounds like we have to vote to approve it for next year again yeah that'll come up I forget when we our renewal is but when the renewal comes up that'll come as okay and they'll have the discounted rate right yeah I think we already I think we have the rates already if not we'll be getting them okay rich is a tough negotiator and he's been working with them very aggressively so I have a question the tutor.com is that all subjects or is it just mainly math does it I I believe it's it's more than just math but do you want to it's everything any other questions okay so V uh Voice vote I can speak all in favor I I any opposed any extensions okay uh policy and security committee report I know Kim out Nicole you yes great thank you yeah so the policy and security committee met on March 11th um all board members were in presence um first agenda item that we discussed was um the second reading of policy 7230 um after some discussion we were discussing the dollar limit to allow superintendent to accept gifts or Awards without Boe approval it was decided that we would take this second reading um now and since we're engag in the New Jersey school board we're we're talking about tabling this um and wait for the conversion um for the New Jersey school boards um same thing with policy second item agenda was policy 2530 um further discussions on language pending the njs a policy manual conversion third item um we were discussing the book's material reconsideration form we discussed two forms the first is the material consideration form that a member of the public can request from the principal to request to review a book um according to policy 913 um after the discussion um surfaced around removing the word Library um from the title and keeping it as generic request for materials reconsideration um also in ition addresses all parts the to update the form to make sure it addresses all the parts of Regulation 9130 um specifically section E2 a through f um this form will be kept in the principal's office um and presented upon request then we discussed um the two different forms um reconsideration forms one that the committee will use as a rubric to uh review the book and then there's another form that will be used when they present their information to the board so there's two different form so there three different forms really um the committee is planning to make a recommendation to the board prior to the May 7th Boe meeting so that the board can take action on the recommendation and then the fourth um item was a discussion again about 9130 but we decided to table for a discussion on language pen and the Jersey school boards Association so I I just had a question um on the comment about removing Library from the title of the document so what was the intention behind that to allow for reconsideration of any school material yeah yeah instead of it just being like geared just to a library there could be any other kind of materials that somebody would be questioning whether so and I think we talked about this at another board meeting why would a member of the public have the ability to question a [Applause] textbook because there was a book last year that was questioned by a parent of a student that was assigned a English assignment book that he felt crossed over into obscene material okay but that even if that's the case one parent of one student should not be able to make a decision to to put a textbook up for consideration because a parent is not necessarily qualified to challenge and to that too taxpayer money I'm assuming that taxpayers can question anything within the curriculum since they're paying for it funding it I don't agree well I know you may not but some people do there's two things to keep in mind one I believe the policy itself is a materials reconsideration I think there was an element of alignment there um and anything that if a parent I mean the policy is very clear objects to um a book being used in the classroom the first step for that parent is to reach out to the teacher um which I would imagine in situations like that um It's usually the resolution is usually s at that level if there's an alternative text that's appropriate for a kid to use it might it might end right there um and uh if upon that solution aent satisfied the next step is working its way up the administrative chain with the board being potentially the last step for that reconsideration I mean everything there sort of uh yes you are correct in all of those steps um and and I I think we're just trying to align it with the policy which is complaints about instructional and resource materials I I understand that but I don't think we're prepared as a board of education to question the material that's textbook textbooks are written by by very educated individuals who have experience in writing and understanding materials that are in the textbook I don't know anything about math for example um I've also had personal situations where I've had it concern about a book that was assigned to one of my children I raised it with a teacher and was given a substitute book I don't see why we should have to look at reconsideration for an entire population of students because one parent thinks problem with it when there are alternative ways to address it New Jersey school board's um policy instead of it calling it a library material request form it's it's what's it's called the materials so regardless of like removing the library it's called the materials request consideration form so our is said Library so we were just switching from library to materials so the policy yeah then we can determine whether or not that's something that we want to keep in that particular policy yes right now the language change is consistent with our policy right that it's not a library request it's materials request right the other thing I think to keep in mind is that it's it's the superintendent who will ultimately decide if in fact a committee should or should not be formed right so there is some degree of discretion um but it is consistent I would say right also once once we bring in the new forms we can I'm sorry the new policies maybe that's the time to sort of make sure the forms align with the policy that we want to adopt but I I I you so just so it's clear I don't believe that textbooks should be included in that if you want to include right so I think maybe one of the questions is is to look at when we bring the new policies in to see if we can right let's review the policy to make sure we like the policy and then align the forms of the policy so I think that's when does the um when do we start rolling out the the and transitioning into the new policies so we have a kickoff meeting on April 11th with the New Jersey school board representative um we have a questionnaire we're currently filling out now in district office there's some I need to get some answers from a few different people and um we'll get that back to them kickoff meeting on the 11th and then we'll know more at that point can't hear the date I'm sorry April 11th April kick off can you help me understand with the book in consideration for is it being requested for the book to be removed from the library entirely or removed and placed behind a desk that doesn't seem to be clear the request is to remove remove it entirely okay okay somewhat related topic um PA mentioned that we tabled a few things this this meeting and uh and it did was a an area of discussion was are we going to have this like big balloon of things to do at some point when we make this switch and there's every single policy is going to we have to like decide whether we want to accept it the way they propose or not so there's going to be this like M Mountain potentially mountain of policy actions that are going to happen as we try to transition from Strauss ese to to school boards um so that that's one thing that concerns me but another one is that until that point it seems like right now the policy committee kind of feels like we're not going to do anything because we're waiting so basically we're not going to you know we're going to table all changes and I mean I'm sure if there's something in an emergency we we do it but we're going to defer to waiting until school boards comes back and then everything is going to hit and you know crunch over the summer so is going to give us a plan effectively how to make a transition like this yeah they have done this with District so I'm hoping on the 11th again I'll have more information they'll out a timeline and process maybe maybe wait but there will be some work that you know we'll we'll get busy when that manual is presented so so will they help us will they help us adopt a transition plan help us being to help prioritize that is my understanding now they going to sort of we don't really know yet it it I think it is an all or none but we can review those um we we wouldn't adopt their full policy until we went through a review but we can chunk that out into sections review it approve it have the language set review another one have that language set and then when all of those sections are done then we can say okay now we feel like we have a complete manual and accept it to replace our current and maybe one of the jobs of policy is that's my understand he's going to be trying to help prioritize right which ones which ones we pull in sooner than later and certainly you know these seem to be the Hot Topics so maybe these are the ones we prioritize first when when did we adopt St say may was it has it always been 2001 so long time ago I know but I think about it look we're still trying to implement changes under assessment right or is that something that they always do they always do always making changes based on legislation that's come through so they look through and make sure that we're compant to any New Jersey state changes I think the only thing I would I sort of wondered about from the policy committee discussion as well um in recognizing that there were um customizations decisions made over the years to address certain policies and certain issues um as we transition to school boards their policies are going to read differently and don't necessarily have some of those considerations in there and I guess one of the questions I have is when you're making that kind of transition um is there and this might be a both a legal and a sh esate question is the move to hold harmless more or less on many of those um prior conversations adapations customizations or is that the time that you're Now sort of Rel litigating those questions um I guess my concern would be that I would I would hope caution would be taken and there wouldn't be abrupt moves to abandon policy modifications that will work through for various reasons and causes uh simply because school boards doesn't have that language um and that caution would be taken in putting a side language that might not be captured or represented in those new policies admittedly we don't know until we see some of those policies but I don't know if there's sort of a default position of retaining those customizations for some proper time frame of review discussion or if the board is is requesting a specific review rather than sort of a wholesale cleaning or scrubing so I just I would ask that that's something that we very much keep at the for of our mind in the intent of doing this um I know coming on here the the consideration was first brought up by the superintendent in January at that first policy meeting and um in many cases because of the the level of the detail and the constant changing in stress as me and I know that school boards often does have a more user friendly version of it um so I I understand it from that approach U but I just want to make sure that other things aren't sort of lost in that transition and maybe that's the work of the conversion and what's brought to your attention yeah I do know where in the meetings we had one of the one of the things we have to watch in making the transitions is see which policies we customize personally right and that's part of the I I agree that that's part of the exercise right and certainly 9130 is one of the ones that we've customized to us yeah listen I think anything right anything in whether here or in our business lives right when we make transitions it's going to be work right we all I mean mean having done policy for several years now I would say Strauss set makes hard to read they have inconsistency inconsistencies in the regulations of policies causing us to ask questions and that's just not acceptable for the amount of money we're paying so I mean so right we're trying a more standardized right this these policies are are reviewed by the larger larger public so I I'm not going to disagree with a lot of work but certainly I don't think stress estim is providing what we need so I think the other um added benefit besides the twice a year delegate is our County meetings because we have all of the members from school boards legislation they discuss everything new and how it pertains to policy so um it's it's helpful so we we it's we're getting um a focus on a monthly basis um as it pertains to our our County um and then as our our different schools in the policy so I think it'll um I think after the hard work is done um it'll be a A plus for our district any other questions okay so moving on to um Finance thank you Glen um I guess uh we've already adopted the preliminary budget but I still wanted to uh go over it that that was the uh majority of our our conversation at our when our committee met last last week um so I'd like to thank Katie and the rest of the administration for the work that goes into this this is something that's just done uh halfhazard so appreciate the work you did so as far as some of the drivers for our budget um payroll um that that makes up the largest percentage it's been roughly 3% increase the last several years so you know we have to consider uh at least a 3% increase um going going forward uh health insurance is up 8% uh security uh for this coming year is up $100,000 uh liability insurance is up 13,000 transportation is up roughly 10% which is around $350,000 so those are of numbers that are are pushing our budget uh up um no longer this year can we rely on some Bank cap um or um referendum savings which that's something else we've used the last couple years to to minimize um the increase uh you know as we as you know we're permitted 2% increase uh without a without a referendum question um we're also granted for this this year another 313,000 Bas on a health benefit adjustment the state gives us that leeway since um health insurance is up substantially so um that that gives us roughly um a two 2.6% um to work with uh to um before we have to maintain you know Institute any Cuts or or removing anything from our our services that we provide so nothing is being eliminated the status quo is going forward additionally we had some help uh this year we were required to use an extra million dollars out of surplus that we were no longer able to carry over um also um we were fortunate I think I misspoke last meeting uh there there was no loss in state a we have experienced several years of uh declining state from uh New Jersey uh this year's actual increase so uh and then also going forward we should have seen more step Downs like we had been experienced the last number of year so state aid is is stable uh for now um concern for the future budgets um expenditures they out they're outpacing our our increases in available Revenue um so we're going to be looking towards um revenue from the new Polytech building tuition Revenue that is uh imp budgets that's going to be how we're going to U help to balance these budgets uh in future years so we look forward to completion of that building and many many students involved there so um we've already voted on the preliminary budget but obviously the uh the committee had recommended um adoption of the budget uh at the May 7th public hearing will uh will finalize that uh that budget and our committee will meet uh late late April to make any final changes because uh after tonight the county office and will review that preliminary budget so that's all I have on the budget as far as other items on the agenda that we addressed uh bloomsberry um regionalization um on the on the agenda you'll see a proposed send Reed contract for uh the year 2425 freshman uh pending Bloomsbury successful litigation with Philipsburg to to uh release the and this would be only for freshman students starting in that year so anybody any bloomsberry students that are already at phur high school they they'll stay there so this is a send receive starting with that uh incoming freshman class so the next step um and this is a lengthy process we started this several years ago when Bloomsbury approached us um and I think number of students we're talking about I think K through 8 is like 100 students is that roughly plus or minus yeah plus or minus but not many so it's it's it's not many so with the send receed they don't receive uh voting representation on this board however um if all goes to plan we can eventually get to the point where um we would need a successful vote of our districts as well as they would need a successful referendum vote to approve this merger at which time then they would get representation probably the um most likely scenario would be they would get an extra tenth of a percent vote to go along with the Bethlehem Township position since they are you know neighboring Bethlehem Township um and another point that has come up regarding this is have a be added expense of Transportation because as we know Transportation keeps skyrocketing um we feel that uh they can piggy back with the Bethlehem Township busing uh without much added you know with with no need for a new rout uh to cover those students so you see resol resolutions on the agenda regarding this bloomberry uh uh regionalization effort but uh it will go on uh you know it'll will be updated periodically as they proceed uh the last two things um we addressed on the agenda was the acceptance of a book donation and an acceptance of NJ SDA um emergent needs Grant in the order of 55 and the committee was in favor of both of those so that's my report um certainly you might have some budget questions if I can answer sure could I just had a question about the lindbur what given the process that would have to happen do we actually anticipate that you would have freshman coming in 20 for the 24 or 25 school year right we do think that that would happen or well has yeah have to align what I'm trying this is setting this is setting us up for that litigation this is setting us up to possibly do that so is there a cut off date by which we would need to know that everything was in the clear in order to deal with the administration and having the students come in and insuring buses are set up and all of that or if they told us on August 21st that we was go we'd be ready to go August 21st be a little late but I would say the amount of students you know mon month and a half 16 okay how many students was that from depends on the grade level that's in K to8 so for us it would it would be an impact of maybe 30 to 40 students um some grade levels have S some it's rolling right the students in 9 through 12 that are going Tober stay there en roll nth graders in 91 and so so they're not switching fromberg directly [Music] to the other thing you should be aware of is that um lbry had similar resolutions on their board meeting last week um and they also unanimously adopted similar resolutions um having done this once before in another District do we have any insight as to sort of the the litigation um only because we planned for it and it went a year longer than because of the ability to sort of um I I know it has to go to the commissioner I know the the the district Philipsburg can can contest the loss and that has to go through a process as well yeah so there's probably legal analysis I would probably let leave that for executive session let talk to rather than question not to say it's not a good question not question but just to John Katie for the budget work explaining if I my notes right you said that with the state a the budget's going you think the budget in the 2% limit we we're going up 2.6% then you name a bunch of things that are going up by more than that well yeah it's I just I just named a l drivers and then one Savings of the Surplus that we had to take in this budget so that was the savings um but we're using the two% allotted my law without the referendum and then the state was also giving us roughly a 610 of per allotment to increase because of the uh the level of the health benefits increasing that's good good I I wanted to say thank you Katie and John and the committee um a couple years ago when we took on the task of looking at health benefits we this year we've had an 8% increase but if we had stayed where we were it was over 16% so right there that works so even though it might not seem like it but in time all the hard work is greatly appreciated it helps us still thing I just want to call out and then Katie never says it right so 13.2 for that Grant and right 55,000 a lot of money this again k going out and trying to find Grand onqu right so I I know she never calls it out person but I you know this has happened last year also she's constantly going out and finding grant money that others aren't finding and I will tell you I think other towns see this and then follow her lead so again I have to I'm just K right for doing this and 55,000 is a lot of money especially basic budget so again thank you any other question questions okay so a call for motion and second to approve agenda items 13.1 to 13.9 second second all in favor any opposed I vote no to 13.3 133 and any extensions okay okay community relations uh community relations didn't meet this month because of the unsung heroes um so there are four different uh clubs yeah there's there are four clubs um and they're all self-explanatory one of the clubs though is a 20 Credit One because of the academic component of it and Rich you can address that a little bit or it's just the biology clubs at AR Club to start with um and that replaces a biology competition club that was here prior to co and now they're just trying to come up with new ways to have these students do competitions again so and the other three are voler right so we would um even though we didn't need proposals are there and they meet all the qualifications so would you like to do a vote so was this a student was that one a student decision to do the club that way to do which club the um Biology one that's awesome so they're all driven by students the academic one sometimes it's a teacher encouraging students you know to say hey we could start this up again um and I'm sure in that case that that was what happened um but typically clubs are student driven students want to start a club they have to find an advisor they have to find 20 students that are interested in it and they have a little form they fill out to present to Greg or Ron and then they um send it to us and we send it to you question okay so a call for motion in second to approve agenda items 141 to 144 Bron all in favor any opposed extensions good uh delegates and ad hoc committees can you talk to both yeah um we uh delegate is a May 18th uh New Jersey the hunter County School boards had the unsung heroes Rich was there and Christina went and I know Kim had attended um and it's such a wonderful event to recognize students in the K through eights and the the high schools um and then our next meeting will be at the Mountain View Chalet on May 9th but there's also a virtual component so if you'd like to attend uh just go on to school boards and register um it the dinner starts at 6 and then the program starts at 7:00 but it's a great way to go out and meet other board members especially from our sending districts will attend too so um and that's it for delicate and okay right Personnel Personnel committee met on the 13th we discussed the Personnel agenda perfect okay so I H call for motion and second to adopt resolution 031 9242 for executive session to discuss M matters falling under categories seven and 8 as reflected in the attached resolution the board expects to be an executive session for approximately 1 hour and upon return to public session action will be taken first all in favor the opposed the extension okay executive session e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e motion second thank you to reconvene public session motion Tera second uh all in favor I all opposed any extensions nope okay a call for a motion in second to approve agenda item 1911 192 192 and to include hand carries which are none motion second so second roll call Miss two for two Mr Chapman Mr Chapman yes Miss Gallow yes Miss H yes M kran yes Mr mcisaac yes Mr mik yes Mr Spanton yes Miss VI yes Mr farb uh yes to 191 abstain to 192 I wasn't here okay all right any old or new business something um an old business I think we discussed I was last board meeting or the board meeting before um line item 15 it keeps saying delegates and ad hoc committee we no longer have an ad hoc committee can we remove that just keep her delegate so people don't think that there is going to be a committee report aren't we supposed to be be following up with the principles on a quarterly basis um as part of the due diligence of the ad hoc committee to find out what they're doing with de and activities and I did think of that when we had the speaker and um I was wondering we have not had an update in several months so my understanding at the last meeting was that we would make it part of the community I always forget what the name of it is Mee so maybe what we do Tara is we um ask the principles in advance of the next meeting so that we can report out on the principles were giving us actual reports maybe they could actually speak to what's going on in their schools so they were supposed to and then I think Jeff wrote the reports the report that we got um well that's a little I thought it was that's a little less than what we expected yes I thought it was decided when we had the last one meeting that if there was something to report after something if there was if there wasn't anything then it would give more like effect to when something really was done more so than just reporting out like nothing to report or so I mean I would think that in light of the comment that was presented today that it's worth a followup on what actions are being taken especially since it happen I think North yeah the hate CRI I mean see if to see if anything has been done as a followup other than to get the police involved I think it still under investigation right Rich still under investigation no it was I don't know if we should talk about a student issue right now in public session what were the um when that committee made its recommendations were there were there activities that just apparently we have some sort of periodic update or reporting um I I I know some of it involved clubs I know some of it involved staff training um I just don't know what the what the reasonable expectations could be for something so I think what was originally intended was that we would be notified of whether they chose to implement any of the recommend the recommended steps um and if not okay but what other what other things were they doing along the lines of um taking steps to improve um the situation in the schools so we we have same thing they were going to implement training for for the staff we were not notified I think in one instance we were notified that they were going to have some training for staff but it would have been the kind of thing where they would have said yes and we implemented this for the teachers and that kind of thing um um there was um some push back on whether that was something that we should continue to do or if we should just become part of the community relations but it is it's neither now I know I know so it's it just didn't he report on a lot of the the remember you had updated and you added some stuff specific to each school what they were doing more so you were adding to what he had written but and I thought that in there addressed a lot of the things that what were done have been done and looking forward to being done yeah and when we have committee we can add that to the agenda yes so we we we probably since we don't have a April we were going to maybe talk about switching it because we didn't hold it this month because one is for June but we can have one before the May meeting if there's something so I think we should have one before the May meeting and then we'll put that on the agenda yeah and if we can ask the principles to provide update on train what they what was done in light of the uh the the bi incident or the hate crime um if any on schools that kind of thing yeah okay okay we'll put that then and then we'll be able to report out in men yeah great Tera are you are you suggesting adding that for some sort of regular updating on them well within that committee I think it'll be as is um Marin with our agenda um that was the intent that you know as things come up to to add them to and discuss them so well I guess maybe where I'm wondering about it to Jessica best point um I guess as long as there's Community question and or awareness or concern we might have a responsibility to just keep keep reporting um and if um just done I also think we don't know what we don't know exactly so we have if if we have a climate that allows or that somebody's committing a hate crime in and um we have a climate where it you know somebody finds it acceptable to you know have biased behavior and actions um I don't know that de is working I agree um and we don't know because we don't have any updates on it that's right and it was very very important to our community last year um I just feel like it's the Dei work is never done and we can't say we're not going to talk about it because there's nothing new to talk about there's a ton of new stuff to talk about all the time in the you know as it relates to anything to do with te and you know anti-Semitism anti-racism anti by you know equal rights whatever it is there's always something that's going on and it should be on the agenda as at least in community relations um because the public has their children here they know what's going on I don't have kids in this school anymore and I it's I I don't know how to pulse check it unless we get so why don't we why don't we pulse check it through community relations right I agree and right and if and let community relations and if maybe if it's warranted let community relations decide whether or not there should be a more formal readout at at the next meeting right IE Administration maybe should make a Brie statement yeah that sense we don't meet monthly anyway it's it's more you know spread out which is exactly what the original reporting was supposed to be was really on a quarterly basis anyway right so I think that might work well but we need something y and especially in response and which we did not you know especially in response to what happened exactly recently um so the other one I was thinking of and I was chatting with Rich today was I know given that what's going on with you know everything was going on Polytech would anyone I thought maybe it' be worthwhile to having um um the super polych yeah Todd bons Todd thank you do a presentation to um Finance to sort of give an overview of of his perspective of how the construction is going does anyone think that's helpful not helpful I think that's a great is it worthwhile shooting for May or I mean I think that gives that's a big chunk of time right for yeah okay so May or June yeah yeah I'll ask him what is availability is a May if we can get them in in May great if not June isn't that far away I agree okay Zoom yeah May's going to be busy be very long very busy well we'll do we'll do it at at the committee meeting right we'll do it at committee yeah not a presentation May's meeting earlier than 7 early uh no I think it's still 7 it's still at 7 o' yeah no um yeah but it's May 7th it's earlier in a month in right it's earlier in the month I just didn't realize if we were starting earlier like time you were still starting at 7 yeah I thought we still I thought we yeah they did the presentation of it you did go set goal setting so goal setting so since you raised that with my other question so we didn't do right goal setting got postponed last year and by the time it came back on the radar we were already halfway through the year so does anybody want to do goal setting with when this year at this point well not for this year for 2020 2425 right meaning I.E I think we engage in the process over the summer over the summer in Jun goal board goals I guess the question is are we if we're going to do it we have to obviously you know Implement them um so do you want to re-engage Gwen to do help us do board setting I'm sorry goal setting in the June meeting yes yeah June or July or Junu August that's something I said you said up get that going depending on her availability yeah we can reach out to Gwen just I'll keep you okay all right so we'll shoot for either June or August okay rich I have one other question you may it may not be something that you know the answer to but um was mentioned tonight um do uh do staff maintain classroom libraries uh specifically in English Department I don't know if it's a practice that's um utilized um or or something that the district has financed or or done or just left to sort of teacher discretion I don't know of any official um financing or setup of a classroom Library U but I do know that teachers have resources in their classroom some of those being novels some of those being other you know resources they might have periodical and things of that nature but you don't know about like maintaining sort of a classroom level Library where kids are browsing and and taking books out on sure I I I don't believe we do I mean there might be somebody doing it but it's not something that is a um sanction kind of thing that we are aware of so typically if a student wanted to find a resource they would go they use our library rich I I have something in addition to the board goals we have a fiveyear strategic plan that has finished 2023 so what are the next steps with they're sending I know chsb Township right now is in the midst of their 5 strateg that's we super you'll have put that together because it's the it's the community they set up the Strategic plan fiveyear plan and we're due this year I can ask when about both of those things okay um which is um setting up board goals and also what our steps would be for strategic planning we have used School boards to facilitate in the past um if we want to continue using School boards facilitated I when would be the person that we contact um I know some School District use some other entities to do that but I think school board do always served as well so it I involved in you had sat on it right Brandon last year yeah so was it school boards at that time or oh you're talking about when we did it here last school boards it was it wasen okay but who did you use at um there was someone else at Clinton Public centenum we used at Clinton Public Judy yeah Judy I don't remember the last night was centenum was was firm um so I know there were other ones and Ed centenum Central also okay that that process is a long process it's it usually involves soliciting input from community members uh teachers you're really trying to get all voices in and you're establishing sort of a five-year direction for the district it's meant to sort of be very forward looking not necessar idealistic but you know future oriented um and in theory it's designed to out any one of us as a board member as Charter Vision ad M District going forward I know I can't remember the year that it happened here but I know in many places I mean the pandemic just knocked all of it sideways like schools began that kind of work and then uh a lot just paus because of the reality of that work and um could one of the goals this year is to reage so that's my question prioritizing do the board goals first and do that second yeah I mean I'll talk to when about both of them but I think yes in in the order of things that's how probably how it would play out so good thank you Rich uh rich and ktie if if uh the issue with the retaining walls at the courts if we incur any kind of significant costs because because of that because we have to bus kid somewhere or find another place is that something that you would um look to either Polytech or the contractor to get reimbursed for yes we would look to polych because our lease is with them and then responsibility to handle okay great thank you okay any else all right call for a motion and second to adjourn so moved yes second okay Voice vote all in favor oh Voice vote ah thank you all in favor abss okay we are adjourned