we go good evening everybody Welcome to the board of ed meeting scheduled for May 14th will everybody please stand for the flag salute IED ALG flag States of America the repblic for it stands one nation under God indivisible re justice for all Mr Boyce may I have a roll call please yes Mrs Van Horn here Mr seril pres Sir Mr Jess here Mr Carlson here Mr pontillo here Mrs crasa here Mrs Dale here Mr kimmick is absent Mr Garcia here Mrs Fai here all right please note that adequate notice of this meeting in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the open public meeting act has been provided by action of the board of education at its regular meeting on January 3rd 2024 notices of The Courier News and Star Ledger circulated in the school district and a posted notice of its effect on the board of education website and building bulletin board administrative headquarters 51 West Cliff Street Somerville New Jersey uh at this time we are open to the public for comments on the agenda and for comments not on the agenda yes please hi uh Brahman pooi 63 West or Street um I'm here to just share briefly how an incident at Vander last week uh highlighted what I see as a possible security blind spot at the schools um the interim superintendent might be aware of this I cced you on my most recent communication to the building principles um but for the rest of the board a brief summary is that last week I had to pick up my seven-year-old early for a doctor's appointment um he was told by a substitute to leave his classroom um he apparently went to the regular second grade exit instead of the main office got locked out of the school um stood out there crying for several minutes and thankfully an aid happened to be in the hallway saw him let him in um obviously he turned out okay everything's okay but I think it really highight a like I said a potential security blind spot there's apparently no system in place that alerts the public relations officer the building Administration anyone in the main office when one of these exit doors is open and while I understand that there are reasons that staff members use these exit doors throughout the day there is literally nothing in place to stop a child from using one um who's to say that a child doesn't leave during a bathroom break by the time a teacher realizes they've been gone too long by the time they alert somebody in the main office by the time the public relations officer can review the security feed to see if a child left through any of I tried to count the exit doors at Vander I lost County um a child who wanted to leave could have gone pretty far um and perhaps sterer is this means that someone inside the school could let someone in or leave a door unsecure um um personally I spend a lot of hours uh every year volunteering at the Vander book fair I'm one of the committee co-chairs I'll be there for five six hours at a time multiple days a week and I use the bathroom break you know I'll take a break I don't always see a staff member in the hallways um I realize that what I'm saying is an extreme what if scenario um but the reality is all it would take would be one person in the school for a legitimate reason with with a visitor's badge and one minute or less Alone um to let someone in or leave a door cropped open or you know stick the lock somehow um so again this is a this is a big what if but we entrust our children to the schools for many hours a day many days a year you know year round and I think we count on the building Administration and and the Board of Education and then this whole school district to keep our children safe um and that in means that sometimes you have to consider even the most unlikely events so I'm here to just highlight this and ask the district to review this blind spot um at Vander and SMS I know it's a little different at the high school because the students have they're older they have open campus privileges but you know we have these are these are children and we as parents entrust the to keep them safe so I just wanted to bring this to everyone's attention thank you thank you anyone else no all right seeing none we have a motion to close public comment please thank you m cross have second second thank you m Van Horn any discussion all those in favor I any oppos any exension so M pooi I'm sure that um Mr Boyce will discuss it with the finance security buildings and grounds committee and once Mr laiso the new superintendent comes in uh and starts we'll make him aware and get him on board with this as well great thank you I appreciate the the attention you're welcome thank you so much for bringing that to our attention thank you you too all right uh moving on can we have may have approval for the minutes for the April 30th regular session and executive session please thank you Mr cron thank you Mr pillo any discussion all those in favor I any oppose any exstension abstain two exstension miss fitzi and miss CR thank you so much motion carries uh board president report there is none see Luke that's how it's done moving on to the superintendent report drel I had the pleasure of introducing Riley Dano and Ashley Shannon as our student rep so you're all right I'll start us off um so I'll first start by saying the honors award ceremony will be held on Wednesday May 22nd at 7 p.m. Mr Foley will be meeting with students who are attending the ceremony on Wednesday morning during Home Room in the gymnasium sometimes it's hard to hear him call people down during Home Room especially if you're in yearbook or student council often times the home rooms are getting work done so just be aware of that um and you have to report to Home Room first for attendance so that's why I say that because you have to listen to the announcement um and then there's going to be another ASA meeting on Wednesday May 16th in the band room right after school um you can come join them to learn about Asian-American and Pacific Islander month and it's celebrated throughout may make sure you have your $5 dues to enjoy um an array of Asian Foods at the meeting and they hope to see you there um the cultural diversity Club will be hosting a joint meeting with all culture-based clubs on Thursday May 16th um you can or please be sure to join us as we weave together the cultures of shs um be sure to bring snacks musics and crafts will be provided um the Somerville high school PTO was offering a spirit wear pre-sale um up until until May 12th and orders will be available for pickup at personalized paraphernalia on Division Street in Somerville or delivered to home rooms approximately June 10th to June 14th um please designate a preference at checkout and then all orders um must be picked up before June 21st 2024 or obviously 2024 I don't know why I said that um the staff versus Senior volleyball game was a success it took place on May 2nd as all proceeds went to the Megan Rose Bradley Foundation um awesome job job by the smack club which is suit movement against cancer um Riley do you know who won I think I think I think the staff one I think the staff one sorry about that one well I didn't if if I were to participate I would say it would have been a different storyy she keeps giving it to you well okay we got to stick up for Riley Riley's a neighborhood girl we got to stick up first she's from our neighbor but come on there Ashley go Riley um congratulations to the newly inducted members of the National Art Honor Society um Victoria Madera Rivera Ellie Wilson Alex Hogan Luke um B Luke B BAC tith Lopez Cruz Lauren Westerman giovan Spagnola and Ethan seasman and then just a couple more notes seniors can pick up their lawn sign and t-shirt if they ordered one tomorrow tomorrow after school it also took place today after school that's the senior after school so 12:10 um and then also tomorrow it's decision day um where seniors can wear their college merch and then the location uh is still being decided whether it's on the field or in the gym it depends on the weather since it is supposed to be a little rain so um and then one last note the senior sunet um it's happening June 5th um 8 to 10 where they'll be showing the movie Ferris sp's day off obviously a great movie and then um you're welcome to bring snacks and blankets all that stuff as the seniors can gather like it's you know they had the senior Sunrise all together now it's the senior Sunset um and then you also can send in photos throughout your high school like um years to the Instagram page um where it will be displayed on like slideshows throughout throughout the event so with that I'll pass it off to Riley um all art club members please C Google classroom for the sign up for the May 15th art club meeting there's no clost for this meeting just come and celebrate Art Club with your friends uh interested in meeting new people and learning new skills the Somerville High School Color Guard will be hosting interest clinics every Tuesday and Thursday in May from 5:30 to 7:30 no experience is required and new members are encouraged to attend they'll be meeting outside the auditorium before it starts uh Key Club is running a clothing Drive nap from now until Memorial Day use your spring cleaning of closets to to donate clothing for those in need all clothes are welcome with a special emphasis on jackets and coats and 1 hour of service for an article of clothing and $5 for a back uh marching band season is underway and percussion auditions were held on May 10th and May 13th in the auditorium no experience is required and an open house will be held on May 23rd in the band room and come out and learn the show make some friends and join the largest extracurricular group in school and prom is this Friday at the H in New Brunswick check-in begins at 5:30 to 6:00 and prom goes till 10 me and Ashley are very excited got our nails done today and spring sports are in the back half of their Seasons not to brag but Bill sofel is 14 and8 ni first 14- win season in a while oh yeah and today they just de defeated Bader 7 to5 and Senior Nicole fitzg reached the 100 career hits Milestone a couple of games ago she was the first player to it since 2009 at least that we know of and boys and girls LAX are onto their second round of counties which was today and state start at next week uh boys and girls track and field had their County championships today at Hillsboro High School baseball also just won their first County game and baseball and softball St at States next week and the eighth grade mixtion will be held at the high school on Friday May 31st it's where the Somerville eighth graders and Branchburg eighth graders mix together for the first time and it'll be led by the current peer leaders and the future peer leaders for next year so yeah awesome all right well thank you ladies thank you ladies appreciate that very much have a great time at the prom this weekend and keep going with softball and the school just right around the corner to the softball stack they pulled off eight of their last n defe opp2 26 is he talking to us no he was giving highlights of your of your record over the past nine games and your total run scored versus given up oh thanks okay I'd like to share a couple of highlights from vaner and the middle school at Vander the njsla testing has been completed for grades three four and five in math and English language arts fifth grade students will be completing their njsla science test this month to complete the state testing for this school year teacher appreciation week was celebrated this week in the Somerville prek 8 PTO provided the vdv staff with food drinks and treats throughout the week second grade students attended a field trip to build the Bear Workshop where they got to experience the construction of a teddy bear leading into their how to writing units Ki students participated in Helen D science fair on May 2nd Home Room classes participated in a gallery walk of the science experiments set up in half the gymnasium the PBIS program celebrated an achievement day highlighting sports activities students purchased dur using their Vander bcks this event was in collaboration with the maps program students providing support and participation and in the middle school on April 24th uh 82 eth graders and 21 adults bravely attended challenge day in the middle school gymnasium students and adults were asked to be open-minded and accepting as they engag in activities that brought them through a range of emotions from dancing and cheering each other to sharing their feelings and experiences in small family groups the silently crossing the line when prompted throughout their time together students were encouraged to support each other apologized to each other when when needed manage their own feelings and behaviors and thank anyone that has had a positive influence on them based on what we've shared just that everyone who attended gained something from the day and truly challenged themselves to make a positive change in their lives and the lives of others that's it awesome thank you can I just say something about the challenge day it's me and uh Jason took part of it it was amazing like to see the kids coming in they were like very apprehensive like you could see like the clicks happening and at the end they were all together like hugging and apologizing and it was really amazing it was a great program y really really great program awesome awesome thank you all right with that we are going to invite uh our esteemed Barrister to approach the microphone we have a pres a brief presentation uh this evening from him briefer than our budget presentation hopefully and we'll go from there good evening everyone it's a pleasure to be here pleasure to see everyone and I assume this is also being streamed into the greater Somerville School Community as well and so this presentation is a brief synopsis of uh the importance that the Board of Education places on its policy setting and uh uh observation role one of the most important things that a board of that your board of education does is it sets policy uh one of the re one of the ways it sets policy is that uh you might have heard at various board meetings that recently for example the board um changed a subscription to a policy providing agency the one that the board now has uh contracted with is one called Strauss Esme and the the job of that is to make sure that the board is up to speed on new laws new regulations and how those laws and regulations uh impact board policy sometimes things change in a way that we have a difficult time catching up on and uh here in Somerville I am uh it is with humility and pride that I will report to the board and to the school community that you have employees who have the courage to speak up if they feel that any of our policies are not being adhered to in the way that they believe it should in accordance with the law um in this case I'm going to just highlight very briefly for example that there have been changes recently Rec ly in protections for breastfeeding mothers and what their rights are in the employment setting particularly in the school setting for us uh how that is supposed to be done what the general rules are and how those rules are to be put into place in April of last year of 2023 a new federal law went into effect federal laws impact everybody in the country new New Jersey laws only affect New Jersey people the name of the new law is called the providing urgent maternal protections act the so-called pump act and what it did is it closed some loopholes about a a previous act that had been passed in uh 2010 federal law called the N nursing mothers law and now the federal government closed some of the loopholes with regard to uh break time uh not impacting upon people's breaks that they have to nurse Etc and that is also to be construed in concert with our own state law that uh guarantees that um breastfeeding mothers teachers staff students have rights under the New Jersey law against discrimination as I mentioned we have been made aware by staff that we could do better on on what our policies say what our regulations say and as a result of bringing that to our attention um the board has asked um me and and our uh the attorneys in my firm just to take a quick review at up to speed policies that are consistent with the federal pump act cons consistent with the New Jersey law against discrimination uh the board has been provided with some draft copies of some new updated policies regarding uh breastfeeding rights for um staff and for students and so the community needs to know that this is how the process works the board will look at it the board we have a committee of the board uh the board policy committee it will meet and then make recommendations to the full board you'll recall that whenever we pass a policy we bring It Forward for first reading so that the community can see that that new policy and I just want to uh share with um the board with the community with the staff of the Somerville School District that um uh we are hard at work as we speak on making sure that this particular law is up to speed for any and all staff who may uh need the protections of the pump act and of the New Jersey law against discrimination as it pretend sorry as it pertains to breastfeeding um and the rights therein so again thank you to the board for its commitment uh for its policy um and thank you to the staff who it's not easy to come forward and say I I think I think we need to do this better and we had staff that did that um and we can assure that staff and any staff that they do so um with their full respect and protection of this board of education as it pertains to uh the importance of doing so and so first of all we thank you for you know jumping on this and for revising our policy and for getting us up to Snuff uh we thank our staff for coming forward as well and and saying hey let's get a move on here so that that certainly helps and this policy or these four policies are on the agenda tonight for first reading because they are mandated by law New Jersey and federal law and we need to update them so that's why they are on and as Mr Stern mentioned first reading means everybody gets it everybody has the chance to review it if anybody has any comments or concerns then those are taken into uh consideration prior to a second reading the policy can be redrafted if needed revised again and then put forward at second reading so with that being said I'm going to ask do any board members have any questions or comments for Mr Stern at this time about what he said or what he has provided with us no okay thank you very much thank you it's a real pleasure thank you easy all right so moving on to report of board ends and committees uh this evening we are going to do a consent agenda and what a consent agenda is it's where we move move and second the entire agenda at one time and vote through everything since we have a representative from Branchburg here we're going to do that in two parts we're going to do the portion that we will vote on without uh which branchford can vote and then the section which branchford can vote on however prior to doing that we also want to give our committee chairs the opportunity to do their reports tonight because I know there have been some meetings so that being said I'm going to ask Mr Carlson first if he has anything to report for Security Finance Billings time did all the work are done awesome thank you Mr Dale for curriculum technology and um I actually do not have a report this month because we are meeting tomorrow ex and who's going to be joining you tomorrow for that our superintendent to be will be joining us excellent we're all very we're all very excited that Mr lisco will be joining the committee um he has had some from my understanding some very good conversations with Mrs Dale who's the chair and so we're looking forward to that partnership moving forward and hopefully as we have discussed come September or early October having a pilot program for the new reading program so we're looking forward to that as well uh against my better judgment I'm going to ask Mr seril if you would like to give your one minute presentation which you had stated earlier you had a short one yeah it's only going to be one minute thank you Mr President Madam vice president hey I'll just hit some quick dots tournament NE tournament track and field huge success KN of jazz filled everyone with the spirit of Music um just add to softball which was very well covered um but when I look at the Skyland rankings I could not help but notice that we have Mina batra number three in hits okay Riley Dano is third in three Baggers and Nicole fit Simmons is number two on the Run leaderboard so when I see those athletes in the top five in this Skyland stat board it's worth noting um girls girls LAX Advan the second round of the tournament and they Crush W young Hills 1711 but I want to highlight Marin shilko sophomore goal tender with 12 big saves okay boys LAX coach love joy they've been tearing all four and five after crushing Montgomery 18 and two so that is it um I just wanted to also say um there are three very proud board members here uh one not here today but uh Miss Kristen for Bry Mr DJ Jazzy Jess our president and Bill kimick BK himself um Bill's daughter Janie's graduating this year and is going through Liv Ville by example at Ruckers University and graduating from Mason Joe Mason Gro excuse me is Brianna Fitzy and then one proud dad my friend whose daughter just graduated from sacred art and Hospitality management I want to say congratulations to the three of you and I'm looking forward to hearing about your kids success with that that's my report my friend well I don't know whether to thank you for the brevity of your report or thank you for the congratulations for all of us but thank you nonetheless Mr seril much appreciated in all fronts um policy committee we I have no report for this month um so that being said at this time I'm going to ask for a motion for the following items Finance items 1-7 curriculum technology items 1- 10 the Motions items 1- six and Personnel items 1- 22 and those are uh items which do not require a vote from Branchburg thank you Mr Carlson may have a second second thank you Mr Van Horn is there any discussion I know it's a lot on any of these items no seeing none Mr Boyce please yes Mrs Van H yes Mr seril yes Mr Jess yes Mr Carl yes Mr P yes MRSA yes Mrs Dale yes Mr Garcia yes awesome thank you and at this time I'll ask for uh a motion on the following items which do include a branch for vote Finance items 8-4 curriculum and Technology items 11 through6 policy item 1 appointees items 1- 12 and Personnel items 23- 29 moved thank you Mr Carlson may have a second second thank you Mrs Van Horn is there any discussion on any of these items no all right Mr Boyce please yes Mrs Van Horn yes Mr Serio yes sir Mr Jess yes Mr Carlson yes Mr pontillo yes Mrs crasa yes Mrs Dale yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs fabit yes awesome thank you moving on to Old business do we have any other do we have any old business at first I'd like to first of all thank Mrs crasa for her work on the farmers market and bringing the farmers market that was at Duke Island Park back to Somerville or into Somerville it's a really good market and I've heard that the last two weeks has been very successful we encourage everybody to go out and support uh the farmers market as well but thank you for doing that you stole mine I was going to actually say well I thank you so now you can give us some more information the somerside county regional Farmers Market wants to thank the board for allowing us to use the parking lot and it has been uh first two rainy days but has been very successful so great see it all there thank you that's awesome when's the next it's every Sunday Sunday until when until when till November 24th till no oh so right before right around Thanksgiving yeah okay excellent that's great anyone else yes I'd like to bring up something um so I'd like to bring up some concerns regarding policy not the policy that Mr Stern spoke about but some of our previous policies that we've discussed uh so the last time the policy committee met was actually last year November 2023 3 at that meeting we discussed meeting again soon to consider a cell phone policy we never ended up meeting so then this past February the board voted to send the lice policy back to the policy committee after a specific board member had some concerns about it I have asked for this meeting several times since March and as much as I know we've had a lot going on it has not been made a priority so I am now asking that the policy committee meet before June 30th and if that isn't possible because the policy committee members do not have the time to meet I ask that we discuss these two policies either now during public session or possibly next month where people have some time to prepare during public session but I do think that it is our job to discuss this policy and not push it off any longer since we have discussed bringing these two policies um up again and bringing them through the policy committee so at this time I'm going to call the question which means there is no more discussion on these items this evening um the policy committee will probably not be able to meet for the remainder of this school year but we can discuss it at the next meeting we will not discuss it at this meeting um and as I said earlier these two policies are not mandated so these are policies that the board could Implement and the reason that I have said that we won't meet on these policies is because we do have comments which we've given to Mr Stern for him to incorporate into the policies but we've asked uh our incoming superintendent Mr laiso to have the opportunity to review them and to have input on them as well and since his input really we need to wait for him until he starts that's why we have asked to wait for these so is there any other old business can I ask will it be discussed next month uh that will remain to be seen so and again I called the question so there's no more discussion on this topic so that being said Is there any old business what do you mean call the question when you call the question it means that the discussion that was happening is over at that time and that's according to Robert's Rules of Order so that's why I called the question so we've had some discussions about this in the past you know these policies are not required Mr Stern is reviewing them and when we have the opportunity we will wait and we will defer and talk to them so is there any other old business at this time seeing none may have a motion to close Old business please thank you Mr Mr Carlson is there a second second thank you Mr Van Horn any discussion all those in favor I any opposed any exstension so move any new business to discuss seeing none may have a motion to close new business please so move thank you Mrs car Mrs vanor may have a second thank you Mr Carlson any discussion all those in favor I any oppos any exensions so so move we do have a need to go into executive session and that is to discuss a Personnel matter uh the minutes of the executive session to the extent permitted by law will be made available to the public once the issues are resolved subject to confidentiality requirements there will not be any action taken and the board will not return so what we're going to do is we're going to have a motion to go into executive session and then we're going to have our motion to adjourn the meeting and then we'll be an executive session to discuss the Personnel matter so can I have a motion to go into executive session please thank you Mr Carlson I have a second thank you Mr shil any discussion all those in favor I any opposed any extensions so move in executive session at 7:03 and can we have a motion to adjourn please so move thank you Mrs Van hor we have a second thank you Mr Carlson any discussion all those in favor I I any opposed any extensions so move thank you everybody now we'll be here for executive session the