good evening it is February 8th 2024 and I would like to welcome you all and to call the order and call to order the meeting of the South run Township Board of Education please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge algi to the flag of the United States of America and repu for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay okay all right I'd like to read the statement advaned notice the New Jersey open public meeting act njsa 4-6 also known as the Sunshine Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon the primary purpose is for board members to discuss and vote on board business in accordance with the provisions of this act the board secretary has caused notice of this meeting 48 hours prior including date time location to be posted in the South Bruns of public library and the board office filed with the Township Clerk and communicated to the home News Tribune and the Star Ledger it is also posted on the district website Mr palowski may we have roll call M Julie farara M Laur Hernandez here miss Deepa Cari here miss Alicia Khan here Mr rajer Krishna here Mr Mike Mitchell pres Mr Barry Nathanson do not make a motion Dr SM the Raj easier this way Mrs Lisa Rogers here am I having a am I having a sound issue with our um Community that's online you're good okay we have a quorum thank you sir may have approval of the meeting agenda Mr Mitchell second Dr Raj thank you all in favor I any nay motion moved okay next order of business is the board minutes of January 18th board secretary Mr palaski drafted drafted the minutes from January 18th 2024 meeting is posted on the board portal are there any corrections to the minutes as distributed FL anything nope no good thank you since there's a no the minutes stand as written and are approved the next order of business is the student representative report Defan Lee all right good evening everyone um this report is rather long so buckle in starting off with some news from the high school on January 26th student council hosted the first pep rally of the year to recognize our winter athletes and showcase the talents of our different School organizations there were performances by the dance team a talented group of Staff our cheerleaders Temptation and we even welcomed a phenomenal performance by our drum line several of our clubs and all of our class councils participated in games during the event and at the end Mr cavi and Miss bu' first block classes won most spirited first block and the class of 2024 earned the spirit cup for overall best school spirit student council is selling Valentine's Day Cardin naations that will be delivered during first block on Valentine's Day with personalized notes we are very excited Ed to announce that contestant registration has opened for Mr sbhs an event that student council hosts annually to showcase the skills and talents of our senior class this year's theme is Mr sbhs goes around the world student council also recently launched the first episode of their tiny talks podcast which will be used to Showcase different events and happenings of the high school student council is also proudly celebrating Black History Month there are several bulletin boards and showcase displays we also recognize National heart health Awareness Day by wearing red on February 3rd our class councils have joined in the Valentine's Day spirit and are selling candy GS and teddy bears during lunches to be delivered on Valentine's Day the class of 2026 is bringing back Bagel Fridays starting February 16th tonight SB Earth is hosting a coffee house with food drinks and live performances amnesty is hosting an art for amnesty event on March 1st where art will be created for human rights and activism the Viking closet presents present the red carpet prom dress event on February 17th with required registration the sbhs art Club is also selling T-shirts and pre-orders can be made through the online form con congratulations to the chess team for winning the Shore High School chess League Capa Blanca division Champions a special congratulations to the top performing seniors on the team ishan Sinha vesh saravanakumar Arian kasab and Frederick rajakumar the team will be competing in the playoffs on Wednesday next week week if you would like to help support this team they are selling apparel including t-shirts and crew necks and orders can be made via a Google form located on Google classroom and their Instagram account HOSA competed on February 3rd in the Southern Regional HOSA competition and came out with 11 medals these include aasil for medical spelling mearaj for Behavioral Health Kel Krishna Mery for medical math s jagasia for sports medicine fiku Anu for dental termin ology Bruce Zang for dental science chiali pandia for prepared speaking Mory ganara for medical law and ethics and the following students came in first place for EMT Kushi Romi and novika Sharma congratulations HOSA the sbhs library hosted award-winning author Jeff zentner for a visit on January 23rd Mr zenner whose book goodbye days is being read by our ninth grade English students presented three sessions to over 1,000 sbhs students thank you to the sbhs PTO for their generous donation which made this visit possible sbhs hosted the first South Brunswick Reeds night last Wednesday evening families from across the district attended and enjoyed listening to guest speakers a presentation by a local author and fun activities planned by district teachers and South Brunswick Public Librarians along with cookies and cocoa provided by our district pto's we hope to make this event in annual tradition now from Athletics Mier viig of the girls basketball team became the newest member of the school's 10,000 Point Club on Saturday February 3rd against Monroe High School as one of our captains Mi has been on Varsity for all four years of high school and helped lead the team to the six seed in the GMC tournament Boris soan broke two school records for the boy swim team in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle Anna rensi broke the junior class record in the 50 freestyle boys and girls swim teams are on their way to the second round in the state tournament the girls winter track and field team won the GMC Red Division title title on January 20th and also finished second overall in the GMC Championship on February 4th the team finished third at the Central Jersey group 4 sectional championship and had six athletes qualify for the group four state championship meet on February 17th that's all I have for everyone today and I hope you all have a wonderful night great thank you very much I appreciate the update next order of business is the report of this uh president so just a couple points on the middle sex County school board's meeting is sched for Wednesday March 6th at 6:45 a.m. it is um known that Senate Ed committee chair Senator Vin goal from MTH uh County will be present uh if you're interested in going registration details were sent to each board member also the South Brun School District member orientation guide has been updated it's been reviewed by Laura Miss Excuse Me Miss Miss Hernandez our vice president please review it when you have the opportunity um also please advise if you find anything that you would like to see added or corrected uh New New Jersey school board's governance training also is underway I know many of you have went but please make sure those that have not please make sure youve followed up with Mariam Murphy for scheduling um the committee meeting um the committee meeting dates I'm sorry they are loaded in the portal calendar so if you haven't seen them yet please make note of them so you can uh you have a note on your personal calendar of the dates that you're required to go to committee meeting um I also just want to um make a note also that the first edition of the district Weekly Newsletter that is sent to the school Community each Thursday contain the first board's Corner report we will continue to provide the community with informational guides regarding board ofed meetings and helpful information for more information you can visit the school district website for each Edition and access to all of the guides regarding Board of Education efforts and finally um the board would like to extend congratulations out to Miss Blair Ean the director of program and professional development um it is our understanding that she is soon to be published for her book and the book title is as long as your heart beats so we want to send our hearty congratulations out to Blair great job and that's all I have thank you next order of business is the report of the superintendent Mr feder all right welcome everyone uh congrats to our VFW sa contest recipients we'll be hearing from them in a little bit um going to just share really quick so the board is in full full um knowledge of the dates we are expecting either this month or the governor could move his address out but by the first week of March we will know our state aid numbers as you all know that is a gigantic issue for the district we are currently slated to lose over $5 million in state aid uh that mounting with the other issues of rolling over a budget and all the things I've shared about a 100 times it feels like at this point results in over $10 million of loss scheduled right now for next year um we are certainly hoping to do that we have an advocacy committee there are hopefully things in the works that will um stop that from happening to that level uh we are working um to try and ensure that something happens that does not allow that to happen to the district so just we'll keep you up to dat on that um we are going to be doing a lot once the state aid numbers come out once the state aid numbers come out we are going to hold forums for the community and forums for the staff what we want to avoid is people being able to correctly say they were unaware I still know people will say they're unaware but I don't want them to be correctly saying that they were not given the opportunity to learn and to know that is going to happen once we know our numbers until then it's all um just not worth doing at this point because there's not enough information to do that but that's coming so just everyone we will advertise we will give opportunity we will let our community be fully aware of um the potential of what it could mean to lose 10 plus million dollars just so everyone's aware um we have kindergarten registration opening on the 24th and 25th um uh for the 25 school year sorry on February 15th it start so if you know kindergarteners we need we need them get them in and uh we'll start taking them in uh next week all right I'm I'm going to ask the board this is um something a dangerous thing for me to do I'm going to ask a question I don't know the I don't know the answer to but we're going to try this so this be a little bit of board participation tonight all right so on Monday on Monday we have a delayed opening okay delayed opening so I'd like to ask the board what they believe the community feels about a delayed opening on Monday dangerous I'm interested in what you believe the community feels about that decision anybody feel free start down there I'll see Laura Laura will start Laura will start um I believe that some of the community does not realize the rationale behind taking that they don't realize that we owe back the teachers the time because they stay for night conferences so contractually we give them back that time that they gave to us to meet with parents to discuss the process of their students of the uh the progression of their students so we kind of looked at it and said okay well you gave us time and you stayed and you met with parents well into you know 5 6 7:00 at night so what would be the best way for us to give you back time that contractually we need to do so we said hm let's look at the dates we can do and with looking at the date they we came up with uh superintendent we agreed to it we voted on it that we would do it on this particular day okay anyone else Miss farar I believe that um it should be a holiday oh wait wait wait wait hold on hold on wait wait wait wait I'm going to rephrase the question please okay simply what do you believe the community believes or feels about us having a delay on Monday um well I would hope that some of them um appreciate knowing that it is the day after Super Bowl okay anybody else Dr Raj yeah so uh it cuts both ways because uh some people you know they need to go to work um they don't get uh the time delay so they will be inconvenienced but uh yeah Super Bowl is a big thing so a lot of people would appreciate that time that extra extra few minutes to smooze okay fair once looking looking at social media once they realized what it was for they understood it there there were some interesting comments that really didn't have anything to do with the day I don't think when we negotiated that we were even the thought even hit us oh that's Super Bowl Monday uh it was just a day to give back time that it was that simple so I don't think it should be a big deal but remember the question I know the question okay okay so first of all I don't believe well I have not received any communication from anybody via email uh phone calls from the community I don't know I don't believe any of you either have because we didn't get anything so the community as far as I know has not responded negatively or positively um via email or notified the board of their uh feelings other than on just watching things happen on social media so as far as I am concerned other than maybe six half a dozen individuals on social media no one has uh concern about it because it is a way not only for the for the district to give back to the teachers that's part of the negotiations but also there are some kids and and that and it's no problem if they choose to do it but prior to this decision they may come in late or they may call out sick so it assists the teachers in ensuring that the uh the the students there's hopefully 100% of the students but the as far as I know no Community problem op other than maybe six on Facebook Okay unusually anybody else okay one of the things that um if you watch TV I mean Lisa manganello our school librarian at the high school how how many where is Pete how many different news outlets have been interested we we were trying to get her a shoe deal I think now a ton about um information literacy and and how to kids manage that so I'm going to do a little that was a premise to see what people are thinking or what you think they're thinking based upon the reality that no one has reached out to us but yet what happens is um social media and with with kids there the the idea of if enough people say it or there's enough likes or there's enough activity around a topic people then tend to believe that that is that is the sentiment of the group so what we did is we took um a social media post on Facebook and we decided to disaggregate the data a little bit oh boy for some fun because I have nothing else to do so I just want to look through data of Facebook um this was the title of the post anyone know why there is a delayed opening the day after Super Bowl fair question now we will ask the public if you actually care about an actual answer this is the worst place to get it Faceook by a thousandfold I have an email it has not changed in seven years and I will answer questions when they come to me promise promise so there were 38 comments about that question of those 138 comments um 24 people represented 138 of all 138 of those comments I said six now here's the fun part of the 24 people that had a comment about this topic 17 of them have no kids in the school which means seven people oh had a comment about this topic yet if people are reading it you might believe oh there a lot of activity going on a lot of interest we are we want to teach students how to discern information on social media but I think we have to start with adults sometimes right before we could teach students we definitely have to start with adults and how to discern so of those comments some were simply um explanatory their version of why they think it was some people were right some people made up interesting ideas of why they think they were right some people were like the idea some people thought it was the worst thing in the world but the most angry people would make a dozen or so comments and those comments weren't just an opinion it had to be like as if they were not speaking to humans yeah it becomes degrading it becomes rude disrespectful true anger at something and they would say it over and over again over and over again and then some people would jump in and I'm giving you this example because this is a very innocuous example this is kind of an irrelevant situation I'm not using a real one I mean it's a real situation it's a real data but the anger that people bring and the forgetfulness that they are their name and picture is next to the comments they write and for some reason for some reason social media has made it so people completely black out the concept that I am speaking to other humans they just lose it even though their name picture is there it's a whole different Persona that exists on social media we want our kids to understand that so we're going to keep trying to figure that out to give you another example separate from that on what people will say on social media without considering the humans they hurt now I'll say this I I listen I'm the superintendent I can be a Target I don't care make me a Target do it all you want don't really care but but I'm going to read two comments to you that are about as Thoughtless and inhumane as you get and they are because people either when they write on social media do not understand that when you're on social media and the words you say hurt just as much as if the person was sitting in front of you I don't know what happened to our society that that concept is gone not for everybody but for a lot of people so here's the comment after the horrible bus accident oh where we have three people who lost their lives a bus driver who is suffering from that accident other people who helped who felt that and students that were on that bus there are still people that could care less about that that could absolutely care less in fact this person I'm going to do this person a solid and not use their name but trust me I want to use their name I want it posted up there and I think everyone should see it here's what the person wrote after that accident I raised some concerns about the South Brunswick bus drivers and their driving habits and everyone attacked me on this site I hope the people that attack me are happy now happy what that three people are dead what are they happy about this person chose to go on social media and say I told you so now I actually went deeper and I look back at the comment that same person made two years ago and that person made no comment about the south brunso bus drivers not a one didn't stop that person from completely not caring about about what a comment would do we need our students to fully understand the words that you put on social media are there for people to see and they hurt just as much as if the person was sitting in front of you it's going to be very hard as we keep talking in our schools about why are the students since covid why is their behavior so different why is their speech so different why are kids so free to say things you can't IM imagine coming out of kids' mouths to other students or adults maybe they're watching social media in the South brunic sites maybe that's all they're doing because that's all you do need to do you can watch the adults and their parents making comments that could care less about humans a second person maybe more training is needed for bus drivers how do you think that makes the drivers feel when an accident happens and three people die and you decide this is my chance to say look look at me look how important I am who cares what other people feel it's only social media yes your name and your picture are sitting right there but it somehow forgotten please parents don't model this behavior for your kids teachers keep trying to teach them not to to understand what it means when you do this I actually wrote a full letter to these people that I was going to post on the site but I'm not allowed on that site they won't they won't accept me as a member do not know why but I guess I'm not a resident so I don't count here um but I was going to write it from the superintendent and I did write it I'm not going to read it but as a superintendent I've only written a note at as a superintendent on a Facebook site this would be the fourth time in 15 years that I felt the need to do that that our parents need to be held accountable for both their and their children's behaviors and words so as a result of this we are going to be pushing forward with an idea we got from parents in this community whose child was spoken to in the most egregious manner and they suggested we need to hold parents accountable too I agree and I'm watching and while I can't read Facebook because again I'm not allowed on the site um people have no trouble sending me Facebook posts pretty much daily um and uh we're going to try to work and support this community with both the appropriate use of social media because it could be wonderful but to teach children how to avoid not caring about other people in their words it's so important and it's debilitating what happens so with that said I'm going to move on and I'm going to talk about something far better and more important well maybe not more important but far better and that is um Saturday we hosted a robotics competition so complete segue out of that into more happy um tons of kids were there it was crazy and 41 teams from around the state I think even New York and Delaware and it was a Tournament of Champions and there are private schools who go to that some private schools that cost $50,000 a student and they are awesome teams but it works out they're not quite as awesome as the South Brunswick teams South Brunswick finished first and second and first in the skills competition and I'll tell you this is you got to see it I I I encourage every board member to please make sure you get yourself to a robotics competition uh Mike uh Mike Mike was with me for a little bit there and um it's truly it's what these kids are able to do I don't I don't quite understand it these Robo like climb things and jump and I don't get it I don't know it's amazing but congratulations to our robotics teams um quick other quick note um tomorrow's early release I already talked about Monday but Ed Foundation I'm going to read this because I I need to give them the credit for this Ed Foundation they are they you know they they do their whole Bike Tour and all that's happening in June they have Ed Foundation that's hosting a poster contest that ends on February 29th for those in gr 3 through five we ask that you encourage your students to design a poster to promote and encourage bike riders to join the tour a South Brunswick bike ride fundraiser that takes place in June advise them to see their art teacher for more info and details other than that everybody I'm sorry to bring a somber tone to this but I got to be honest with you I got $10.8 million to cut out of this budget and last thing I want to do is sit here and and watch parents treat each other the way they treat them and treat staff members because they're public servants to treat them like they don't count so when I see it when it happens then I will respond and that's how it's going to be so feel free you know I it's like it's it's crazy the same people over and over and over again but then other people join in because it's so fun so okay let's have some fun my name is Scott feder scott. Fetter sbschools.org feel free I'm finished thank you is there any comments or questions from Mr feder so I just want to make two comments um first of all again congratulations to the robotics team I also want to give a shout out to all the volunteers not only on this particular team but um all the all the volunteers that help our students in every single school um this these volunteers work also tirelessly so I appreciate all the support that they've been given and they give as well um I do want to um again just note regarding the bus driver that was affected um you are in our thoughts and prayers and um we've commented via email to the bus driver but I just want that individual to know that we're thinking about um her as well as her husband and her whole family as well as the uh individuals unfortunately that were killed in the accident our hearts go out to those families as well from the south Bruno Community I do believe and please correct me if I'm wrong Mr feder that there was a teacher from Monroe that also or was it Monroe teacher from West Windsor Plains West Windor Plainsboro I apologize there was a teacher from West WIS or plains that happen to be there so I also again want to thank um her as well as um their community and their school district and supporting her um and it it is unfortunate what's happening on Facebook but it happens right here in our meetings when people people get up and um it happens every day and it's not the way to teach your children so please do better thank you yeah you can make a comment sure I just want to go backt track a little bit and this is going back to um Lisa when Lisa was talking about um the board's corner on on the website a lot of times the board members we get hit up with certain things about what what they would like us to do what the public was would like us to do what they expect us to do do what we can do one of the things we feel is vitally important is to let the public know what we can do and what our lane is and what our responsibility is as a board member and to you as a community so that was one of the main reasons we came up with the board corner so the public will know what to expect from your board members and what and to put it simply what is our Lane like what do we have privy to curriculum can I tell Peter who's sitting over there certain things in high school no it's his job his job is to run that building so we want to to let the public know because I will be completely honest and this is Laura Hernandez speaking before I got elected onto the board and I have been in education for a very long time I didn't realize exactly what the board members were to do and what they were not to do so we felt that as a board it was very important at um South bwick members knew this so please look on the board corner and see what we put Lisa and I will be working on that so you're informed of what we can and we cannot do great thank you any other comments or questions very good thank you thank you Mr feder again for your update thank you Laura okay moving on um we are going to now um have a recognition this evening and that is with the um VFW the veterans of foreign war contest winners I'd like to now ask U Mr Medina Jack Medina to come up who the supervisor of ela and social studies to the podium to recognize the voice of democracy and Patriots Penn those students along with the teacher of the year good evening everyone my name is Jack Medina I am the English and social study supervisor at the middle school level and today I have the privilege of recognizing a couple of students and a teacher so before delving into the specifics I'm going to invite board president Mrs Lisa Rogers to come up to present those certificates so each year middle school and high school students participate in essay contest two of which are sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars the BFW at the middle school level students opt to compete in the Patriots pen contest each year kids who participate have to respond to some patriotic themed question uh just for some perspective last year there was over 70,000 kids who participated this year's prompt was how are you inspired by America so um just how this works kids who advance past the first round they get to What's called the District round and the state round we had one student advance to the district level so this happens to be a sixth grade student at Crossroads North Middle School um he has Mrs Christina pelat as his language arts teacher and and we're thrilled to honor him so I'm going to be calling him to the stage and that is UD [Applause] day nice and close there we go so we hear that beautiful voice okay hi good evening everyone how are you doing today good good good okay America the land of opportunity has the power to inspire anyone in countless ways from his Rich history diverse culture Freedom equality laws and many more a person could have other reasons to be inspired by America but these are the reasons that I am inspired by America now I am very inspired by America because it's values people's right and and it and it allows people to express themselves freely whether it's through ART sports or other activities these this Freedom encourages kids to explore their passion develop their talents it teaches them to believe in their ability by opportunities and possibilities to achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams diverse culture in America inspires me a lot because it brings to together different cultures from various ways this equality respected in America and their unique Traditions are accepted no matter who they are where they are from how they look everyone is accepted and welcomed to follow their passions in US America laws in Americans peral law because it promotes Justice equality it shows that everyone is TR treed fairly no matter who they are this teaches about the importance of equality and how people should be treated the same way no matter who they are this gives opportunities for people from different gender religions or races to express themelves and their talents the the quote the American dream is that any man or woman despite of his or her background can change their circumstances and Rise as they willing to work by febrary Z Mor this reveals that there is no description of sex religion race when they have the ability to grow in conclusion America inspires me and other people from different races religions and genders to be aware that everyone is treated equally with respect no matter who they are where they come from or how they look these are the most reasons these are more the most important reasons that why America in has inspired me you did a great job great job excellent job excent work all right so thank you very much UD day at this point we are going to be transitioning to the high school competition which is the voices of democracy program which provides scholarships to winning students so for this competition not only do students have to write essays but they also have to record their responses and this year's question was what are the greatest attributes of our democracy so much like the middle school competition we also had one student Advanced to the district level so this is a student who uh and we have the student's teacher represented in the audience today so Mrs Marissa caresi is here and at this point I'm going to call up this student to accept her certificate and we are going to play her her essay uh via the projector so without further Ado please welcome or please welcome me and congratulating Felicia [Applause] toito thank you equality freedom justice these are just a few of the many words describing the government that our framer sought out establishing our nation on the basis of these ideals and creating a system to preserve the Liberties of federal state and local individuals was a crucial aspect of determining the Democracy we have today our democracy is founded on the prin principles of individual freedoms these rights enshrined in the United States Constitution are essential to our way of life including the freedom of speech and expression my father who served in the National Guard for 27 years and is now a part of the Department of military and Veterans Affairs instill to me the importance of protecting these rights our democracy recognizes and honors the sacrifices made by veterans who have put their lives at risk to protect our country without the solid framework of our system the federal government would not have been able to form and maintain a standing army like it does today furthermore the right to vote is one of our most cherished privileges in a monarchy a king or dictator has absolute power and people have no say in the government however in a democracy like ours adult citizens have the right to vote and have their voices heard unfortunately not all countries Grant this privilege to their citizens my great-grandfather came from Sarno a small town in Italy where he witnessed voters being attacked outside the polls and beaten solely for voting for a candidate not backed by the attackers even after moving to this country he was still petrified of voting and forbade his family members from voting as well in his hometown his voice was taken away from him not able to be heard we are fortunate to live in a society where we do not currently have this issue and I look forward to being able to vote without fear when I am of age finally the First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees the right of the media to communicate freely without any restrictions unlike in some other countries The Government Can Be openly criticized and the Press is not subject to sensorship the media has the potential to give people a voice an outlet for their beliefs my grandfather was a reporter who worked up to becoming an editor for Reuters where he served for 40 years he is a knowledgeable and sincere man who aimed to spread his message to readers of his wire service so much so that he would race to a pay phone to be the first to report information back to the news agency without democracy in place he would be prohibited from spreading this information leaving others uninformed about the world they inhabit in summary these three figures in my life have shaped my view of our current government tremendously and made me appreciate the diligent work our framers went through to ensure a righteous Society we must strive to protect the system of government and do our part to continue upholding the values and principles that our founding fathers established through the Constitution it is our duty as Citizens to participate in the Democratic process hold our elected officials accountable when necessary and work towards a better future for ourselves and generations to [Applause] comeing I appreciate you uh you day and Felicia for your your the deep thought that went into your essays and and conveying the values and ideals of this country we're now going to transition to the VFW smart mayher teacher of the year award so so we as a as a Crossroads Community nominated one teacher and that teacher also made it to the district level so this award emphasizes the teaching of citizenship skills so kids are prepared to participate in our democracy uh personally and professionally I've known this teacher for a good number of years and I can attest to not only just the high level of care that she provides for kids but also the meticulous attention to creating resources in order to bolster the curriculum so so I have a few quotes from colleagues that I'm just going to read just so you can get a sense this is a teacher who instills old school American values by creating a classroom of mutual respect where all students take responsibility for their learning and all students feel free to voice their opinions she possesses an unparalleled enthusiasm for history that is truly contagious her fervor for the subject matter is evident in her engaging teaching methods she always finds ways to connect with her students whether it's sharing her newest baking Triumph or her visits to Historic areas so unfortunately this teacher could not be here but I'm privileged to announce that the teacher who reached the district level is Crossroad South social studies teacher Mrs Caroline ventry great so it's always a pleasure to rec ize our you know the efforts of our staff and students at this point I'm going to turn it over to board president Mrs Lisa Rogers thank you so very very much um I just want to just make a quick comment um on behalf of the board to the two students that was an outstanding job it really really was um to know that you've been influenced and impacted by such an important thing is so important not only to this town and to the state but to the nation um you had mentioned your great-grandfather um I I have to comment I'm from Italian descent as well and my grandfather not my great-grandfather my grandfather left Italy for the same exact reason um so that impacted me personally and I thank you for that um but I do want you to know that we are so very very proud of you and to the parents great job I really mean that um you should be very proud of the accomplishments and uh we look forward to great things from both of you we really do and to the teacher of the year thank you um we hear a lot about out you hear unfortunately on Facebook about kids these days don't know about civics or history but I know in this town the kids know and it's because of teachers like um the Crossroad South North High School all the grammar schools to influence our children again appreciated by the entire Board of Education thank you so much um and considering that it is4 to 8 and I know that tomorrow is Friday um you might have some homework to do we if you'd like to leave you can leave if not you could sure stay and watch democracy in happen in action so it is up to you but I I'll take two minutes if you need to leave thank you again we can go no teachers got uh we are going to hear uh reports from the Committees and the liaison um so if I could have the uh following committees provide any report I'd appreciate it so we have um education committee any update Oh wrong way just to looking at Dr Raj sorry about that um no we haven't met this month we meet uh in two weeks okay so very good and the um business operations committee that's down yes uh we met uh uh the other night uh we had a full uh board myself uh Mr Krishna Mr Mitchell Mrs Rogers fed Mr feder Mr palowski uh Mr Redfield our director of build and grounds and M uh Ogman was there the director of Transportation our topics [Music] were uh sending out uh rfps to discuss the Professional Services and the rationale as to why we will put out a request for proposal for services that are uh to the operation of the district uh we are doing this to because uh like Mr feder said we're anticipating a big cut if we could save some money on what whatever Service uh we're going to take that opportunity uh we are looking at the projects for the summer uh due to the budget constraints we are looking to do minimal work uh on the district Roofing uh at at this time so becomes it gets moved to long range planning uh Mr palowski brought up a possibility of additional solar opportunities that can bring in uh money into the district this is available to do changes is in a legislation regarding uh lease agreements and then we were looking at the what we might have to do with the new developments that are coming in town that will impact the district specifically population of buildings and transportation efficiencies the one the one development that's going to hit home as it's built is what no we're not we have no plan at this point that we are able to share at this point yeah we don't have a plan it's on here so okay I won't share sorry about that let's move on okay thank you and the um policy committee did icy meeting and will be providing an update at the next meeting the once the minutes are up it'll be updated to the board portal thank you and finance committee I did that did I do that no fine Mike Madam president the finance committee has not met and will not meet until Tuesday the 27th of this month which will be after the next board meeting so you won't hear from us uh a report from us until March okay and is there any Liaisons that have any update School Liaisons no very good oh no I went to the bronzo gakers um I guess Winter concert it is just so I mean what can you say when you see all those kids up there and they're performing and they're happy and they're smiling and they sound great it was just awesome so that's I just kudos to brunzel gers Great any comments from the board yes Mr Mitchell forgot to mention I had send it to uh two of my liaison schools Cambridge and indian fields there winter concerts as well and um kids did did an excellent job parents were excited so the kids were even more excited so uh it just creates a wonderful environment to see uh parents so concerned and so supportive of their of their young people and and to see the work that they've put into uh to that point put up put put in to up to that point to make it go well so congratulations to all of our our student musicians and singers great back to you madam president thank you so much Miss F yes um I attended the Brunswick Acres science fair and I just wanted to comment on how well the students uh did at the science sphere um they were all really really happy to engage with me and uh I especially liked the simulation on a hydraulic bridge by what was looked like an eight-year-old girl so we're really doing well with the science end of things at Brunswick Acres very good great anybody else no very good then we'll close that section of the agenda uh next is uh public comments so the Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on board School matters excuse me on school matters of community interest complete copies of policy 0167 which govern this portion of the meeting are available to the public at the at the auditorium entrance online or by contacting the board office to permit the fair and orderly expression of comments we ask that participants be recognized by the priding officer and preface comments by announcing his or her name your place of residence and your group affiliation if appropriate please complete the signin sheet at the podium please print legibly or we may be unable to document your name for the permanent record each statement may be made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes no participant may speak more than once on the same topic Mr poas will indicate when you have 15 seconds remaining all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer no participant May address or question board members no discussion between a participant and respondent shall extend the thre minute time limit it is our plan to listen to each member of the public once all questions and comments from all members of the public are made the Board of Ed May respond or respond via email in the most timely and efficient manner available all questions and comments made will be noted Mr Po are there anyone is there anyone signed up we have we have no pre-registrations at this time great is there anyone in the audience that would like to make a public comment on agenda items only seeing none we will move on oh did I miss I'm sorry it went up a little slow please step to the podium I am so sorry the items that we've just that are on this agenda um or the consent agenda what we are going to be voting on this evening so if you'd like to tell us what it is at the podium then we could tell you whether or not it's this comment or the second comment okay we can tell you no problem well I'm not even sure if the matter that I'm trying to bring before the board is on the agenda or not okay that's okay um it it's my personal concerns of things that's going on in the district very good so that's going to be on the second public comment which will be just a few minutes you can see right there there absolutely thank you thank you okay seeing none we'll move on um to Old business so uh just a point on the uh old business we are going to just note the de seating arrangement as you will see that we've tried to stay within the same days that we had last time the the goal is to at least have the uh board members interact with each other um so that it's easier than going back side to side and that it's it's in a more um inclusive environment if you will you all received the document that I had sent out uh showing the S survey results um as well as njsba responses so just to highlight very quickly there were two questions um whether or not you liked the current Arrangement or what improvements that you would like to see um and it was actually a perfect it was almost a perfect bell curve um so we show that there were responses I believe it was four responses if I'm reading this correctly that you're very satisfied or satisfied with the arrangement as it is today there were some that were not satisfied there was also what improvements would you make yes just a question was the question about how we are today or how we were the other day the oh I'm sorry it was the other day not right now but the way it was set up before the um the L we'll call that the L this is a curve okay so a lot of people stated um that we should see one another that they enjoyed being able to see the entire board um and that um it was diff it was easier to see um only two of the members you know on this side versus the entire going back and forth and the ability for board members to speak to each other without craning their neck um also what improvements would you suggest there were a few um which I want to highlight and that is um can we move to the cafeteria and just set up tables for the de and have folks sit around the tables at the high school um one suggested to the left of the President should be the vice president and the original four members the way that we had it originally um and that since we have limited access at the deis would it be possible uh for Kim for the assistant superintendant uh to maybe sit in the audience giving more room here um and then the others uh uh one other comment was that the three board members that were on the L okay so let's remember that uh would not be captured by the camera so those were some of the comments that we received from this board and then you also received some njsba responses because I did send it out to New New Jersey school boards we got about I think it was 13 I don't remember the exact number of comments from other districts and some of the other districts did state that they actually alternate um in different schools during the school year but they cannot videotape it for obvious reasons they can't carry around the equipment um this allows um interaction um there are some that use a LGE meeting room at the board admin complex so in our case we could go to Black Horse Lane when like we did the retreat U so that was another option so that we would have an actual you because we are not presenting to the audience we are having a meeting um and then a couple others just made this comment that uh they use very similar to ours it is difficult because it's not u- shape and then um others stated that um I'm just looking real quick at the school auditorium at the high school or the middle school they were on the stage in the U shape so those are some of the comments that we received back and I just want to open it up for about five minutes at the most excuse me for about five minutes at the most to discuss what you guys think about the old format the L format and then this format so I would just like to open that up for comments Mr Nathanson I like this format you like this format correct because all the board except for you uh and Miss Hernandez are together and we can all look at each other and whatever I I prefer this format the last format I didn't like it all the L shape you didn't but to give you some history uh when I first started we were at the high school in the cafeteria in a u shape it wasn't any better than uh this you couldn't really talk to uh any more people than what was on the end and the biggest problem what you brought up uh uh Madam president is there were issues taping the uh uh the meeting plus there were issues with how the public was sitting okay so because they had we had chairs on the same level as us yeah in the cafeteria so when this was built we moved here it allowed us to film the way it is now uh and it it's actually gotten better over the years because we went from com Comcast with our access channel to actually being on YouTube that you could see it when you can okay and uh I think this format being this format is good and staying here is the best okay very good M fera uh I just want to say that I I think that the President should be in the middle of the table I still I still feel strongly about that because she is the chair of the board and um I feel that the board members should flank her on either side that's just my my belief very good anyone else Mr Mitchell I agree with Mr n nickon Madam president that this format here this setup is is good it's conducive um had we gone to the well we went to the L for one meeting and I just it was just uncomfortable looking to me I'm s uncomfortable looking was uncomfortable looking okay I've been uh a lot of people don't know before coming here I've been attending my own District board meeting for many many many years over 20 years so it's just a little awkward to me but I like this this particular setup here and I noted what Miss Ferrera said I just want to add that as a comment are you do you have any comment about where the president of the vice president sit um I think she I think uh Miss Ferrar has a point okay I think the President should be in the middle okay along with the vice Barry what about that president in the middle it doesn't matter you technically you're kind of in the middle anyhow so I don't know what the middle does for the president really and truly okay you you're controlling the meeting where you are and vice president's next year it's and and you're on camera you I looked at last meeting and I've looked at other meet I look at all the meetings and it it last meeting was not good on camera this would be flow better okay and you you being next to the superintendent is important that's important right and and you're having your Vice uh president next year is fine all right I don't you know moving one chair is not going to make a de okay any other comments deas Dr Raj no Miss caric sorry I used the first names and my apologies to the board members we should use first names because that's what we used to so I just want body know that if at sometimes I'm looking this way it's not because I'm distracted or I'm not listening to you because my neck yeah you know if I have to like for 2 hours if I have to look this way I'm probably going to have going switch Yeah so I so I will be like you know looking all over just sort of because you know it's not practic neither would you be able to look for the next two hours towards me so I think that's what that's what it is ideally if you could have really had an L but then we would have to worry about that Podium there we' have to worry about a lot of things and then we don't have enough room to back up here right to create that space so I don't know how we are going to work this so what is your what would your recommendation be for now I mean I'm comfortable with how this is okay but I just want you to know that if I'm not looking at you constantly when you're speaking of when Mr feder speaking or somebody it's not because I'm distracted or anything it's just because it's hard to look continuously in One Direction all the time are you going to be ascended if she looks okay and I completely understand what you're saying I appreciate that anyone else down there Miss Hernandez yeah um I I like the comment that you make that that this is a meeting this is a board meeting that we're not you know it's a board meeting that has the public attending and it's really a meeting that we're having with nine people plus the superintendent the ba and and the assistant soups I feel like now that I'm sitting next to Lisa that's great but I'm still at the end like the entire board's over over there so I'm still at the end constantly looking this way um all the board meetings I've been to I know we talked about taking out this front row where people just don't sit so we have a a you shape I like the U shape I think that's great I also and I will be the first one to admit it suggested that um the the assistant soups maybe sit in the audience as opposed to having this table so long um here that we would have sorry [Laughter] uh this this table's so long so we're having an actual meeting that the public is viewing as opposed to us having a performance in front of the public okay all right so what's going to happen is and we're not going to do it tonight I will send out an email wrapping this up I'm going to see if we can make a decision with that email and then for the next meeting that's that'll be the format that we use moving forward yes please cannot be any discussion about this topic via email period no no no no I'm going to send out the notice that says these were the ideas and this is based on the comments tonight um it's a one-way communication summarizing the meeting it is not a back and forth conversation correct correct yes yep any other comments on this issue yes Dr Raj I tend to agree with uh uh Miss Hernandez is what Miss Hernandez I I tend to agree with Miss Hernandez she agrees okay okay has got something Madame President even uh you know if you could like the student uh rep who come is not actually actively participating in the meeting so if she's part of uh you know I know we have a seat for her which is the right thing to do but if we could think since we have a space constraint if she could when she provides a report obviously after that she leaves the board meeting we could have her sit in the audience so that we have a little bit more space to sort of maneuver with one less seating space okay the student rep by law has to be at it has to be at the Das has to be at the Das yeah so who are the people who don't need to be at the Das by law I didn't hear your question superintendent I'm sorry I really didn't hear your question I said uh Mr fed just made a comment that the student rep has to be at the Das by law right are all of us required to be by law at the table everyone of us here who's not required by law to be at this table okay all right let me follow up on that let me I I don't know that answer okay okay um all right and I'm also going to speak with Mr feder on this too to make sure that um especially when it comes to the three assistant superintendents um if we should or should not we'll have a discussion offline yeah I just thought of the student Tri because I thought that was a you know yeah but by law yeah they have to sit here okay all right let me just make a note for assistant all right any other comments yes Alicia um Sorry Miss god um I just want to know that I agree with uh Mr Nathanson and Mr Mitchell that I prefer the u- shape and I think the the L shape was a little bit awkward last time I don't have any problem seeing anyone right now this more v u shape is good okay any other comments anybody else okay very good so we're not going to close it out it will be finalized next uh meeting and then I'll close this off of the old business any other comments none very good thank you so much for your input I really appreciate the time that you took uh the next order of business is new business seeing none we shall move on to the consent agenda review by Mr poosi please good evening everybody we have a um quick uh agenda for us this evening we have a bills list some Transportation contracts uh we awarding and rejecting some bids we have uh a service agreement through the e- rate which uh with light pass we're moving away from Comcast um seeing some Savings in that um RFP that went out through our eate consultant we're approving a non-public technology order for uh one of our uh private schools in the district we're approving some funds for that's chapter uh 193 we're also accepting a donation for the PTO over at Brooks Crossing we're approving a resubmission of an application for our impact tutoring Grant we have a donation from the Education Foundation for South Brunswick that is a donation that was made once already but we are uh reupping the motion to uh include also our middle schools we have an outof District tuition we're approving some related travel some student field trips an HIV report we have a HIV report uh um or a case that we are uh changing the ruling resending the uh resending the original uh ruling we have an approve an extension of uh services for our special education population and we have a settlement agreement and a general release great thank you other than that it's personnel and that's your consent agenda this evening thank you very much for that update any comments or questions for Mr palowski seeing none may we have a vote Mr pki roll call can I get a motion in a second oh I'm sorry my fault the appr may have a motion mve Mr Nathanson Miss Ferrera second no do that mind roll call Miss Julie Ferrara accept M Miss Laura Hernandez yes Miss Deepa carthik yes Miss Alicia Khan yes Mr Roger Krishna yes Mr Mike Mitchell yes Mr Barry Nathanson yes Dr Smith araj yes Mrs Lisa Rogers yes motion carries very good thank you so very much okay moving on we are going to now move on to the second public comments this is the second opportunity for the public to comment on any matter you are reminded of the previous statement made by made regarding public comment rules of policy 0167 again at the podium please state your name spell your name and announce your place of residence and or your group affiliation if appropriate complete the signin sheet and you are again limited to 3 minutes Mr palowski do we have any members of the public who are pre-registered we have no pre-registrations but we have somebody here that's eager to share with us yes ma'am you may step up to the podium thank you thank you for your patience okay sorry it's a lot stop the chair okay my name is toana Peterson that is spelled TW w n a Peterson p e t e r s o n I live here in South Brunswick um and my son goes to Brunswick Acres school thank you I have a few concerns regarding hip loss and what exactly the boards place or what what is it that they do or can do um my son um has been called the nword twice two separate hip laws that had to be conducted and today he has locks in his hair and today another hip law was opened because um another student now said he looked like he has Cheetos in his head um and they also said he's he's gay due to him hanging out with his friends to own too much um I've brought this concern to and I don't know if I can I I know the first time you said I can't address anybody so I just I guess I'll speak in general I brought this concern to um transportation because some of the incidents happened on the bus I've brought the concern to um jail light Transportation whoever on South BR on Transportation lady is I brought it to Miss T um we've sat down and had a conversation with Miss Turner and Miss T and that was for the first incident um I brought it to the superintendent the super the superintendent secretary um and I truly feel like I'm not getting the response that is needed for this this is one child he's 10 years old and being subjected to ignorance let's just put it out there he's being subjected to all of this verbal abuse and I I heard heard Mr um feder earlier said you know sometimes you have to do things so the parents can um have the parents to be affected by it as well because at this point I'm at a loss I'm not going to get up and just uproot myself from South Bruns just because you know this is happening but at the same time I'm expecting the administrators to do their part and I truly feel like no one on the administrative team is taking it seriously I'm being asked questions like well what do you need one us to do something this is one child three hi law investigations three two in which he was called the nword it's unacceptable and I will not tolerate it what when I'm writing emails back and forth It's like oh you know what again what do you want us to do or we hope you respond more more positively as a parent from the beginning I've been positive but what do you expect it's only February the whole school year having we don't even go a whole 12 months first and foremost but the whole school year hasn't even finished in three times my son is being targeted you're you have three minutes um there's not a line so we can hear you extend you for another minute if you'd like look I the only thing I'm asking is something be done okay something be done and it not be put back on me as a parent cuz the same question I've asked all everybody that I said I spoke to the same thing I asked them was how am I supposed to teach my child not to be biased is what am I what as a parent I'm supposed to do now when he saying well mom why is they doing this what does this mean why what am I supposed to do the administrators are doing nothing in my opinion I've asked for meetings since December nothing I'll leave you guys with that thank you for your comment thank you ma'am for your comments thank you you're welcome changes happen okay is there anyone else in the audience that would like to make a public comment seeing none we will close this portion of the meeting okay there is no further business to be discussed please note the next scheduled Board of Ed meeting is set for Thursday February 22nd 2024 may I have a motion to adjourn and second a motion uh Dr Raj move M uh Mr Mitchell second all in favor I thank you and the meeting is now adjourned at 8:15 thank you and good night South Brunswick