##VIDEO ID:jW0jNbLNu4I## [Applause] good evening it is August 22nd 2024 and I'd like to welcome you to the South Bruns Board of Education meeting and call the meeting to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance oh I'm stuck I pled aliance 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 sorry about that I got a little stuck okay all right so now read the statement of advanced notice the New Jersey open Public meeing Act njsa 10 4-6 also known as the Sunshine Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and attend the meetings of public bodies at which 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 excuse me 48 hours prior including date and time and location to be posted in the South Bruns public library and the board office filed with the Township Clerk and communicated to the the home News Tribune and the Star Ledger it is also posted on the district website Mr parowski may we have roll call Miss Julie farara present Miss Laura Hernandez here Mrs DEA carthic present Miss Alicia Khan here Mr rajer Krishna yes Mr Mike Mitchell present Mr Barry nathon here Dr Smith araj here Mrs Lisa Rogers present we have a forum thank you Mr perowsky may I approval of a meeting agenda um excuse me we're going to do the approval of the meeting agenda may I have a motion and second to improve tonight's meeting motion so move by Mr Mitchell second by um M Hernandez thank you Miss Hernandez sorry about that all in favor any nay thank you meeing has been approved moving on next order of business board minutes board secretary Mr porowski draft of the minutes from July 25 2024 and executive minutes of July 25 2024 were posted on the board portal are there any changes or recommendations no and then uh then the minutes will stand as written and are approved thank you Mr powski for that next order of business is the report of the president just a couple things uh please note to board members back to school nights if board members plan on being present please notify the principales and Mr feder appropriately superintendent feder uh 2025 Retreat date has been set for for Thursday Jun January 16 2025 please mark your calendars it will be held at blackor Lane as in the past finally on August 29th at 1M just a note to again the board members there is a webinar that's going to take place with speaker of the assembly Craig Coughlin it's being hosted by njsba the topics that are going to be covered are school funding and teacher shortage so if you have fine if you have time in your day on August 29th I highly recommend that you um that you pop in and listen to what assembly leader Craig coflin has to say next is the report of the superintendent Mr yes I'm sorry sent us an email reminder about that I sure enough can thank you for that okay next is the report of the superintendent Mr feder all right welcome everyone uh first off we get back in business on September 5th Thursday so we'll have our first day full day of school as you know the the staff comes back on the Tuesday we have two days with the staff on Tuesday and Wednesday and then right into it with the students on Thursday September 5th um I have some welcomes here but I I think I share with the board that we'd have um other people here but they are both unavailable so I apologize for that we're going to bring in the two assistant principles at the September meeting because they would like to meet you I'm going to give you a chance to meet with them and and so but we do have we do have two other administrators here so don't worry um this year um Evelyn I'm going to give you the give you the op Evelyn here you you you found these two gentlemen standing around so would you like to introduce them sure Mr F it's been um I have two candidates in front of you we we presenting to the board um high school English supervisor Mr Dan braack High School Matt supervisor Mr Russell Pelini we went went through we were quite fortunate surprisingly we had quite a number of applicants and they came out shining at the top you know the S Brun are Qui so really excited at um the things we're going to do together and it's my pleasure to present present them to the board yeah and so we'd love to have um we'll start with Daniel closest to the mic if you like just introduce yourself and say a couple quick words right over there first part was finding the mic thank you Dan um it's truly an honor to be here in South Brunswick I want to thank Mr feder Dr Maman the interview committee and the board of education for giving me this opportunity I'm committed to this work and I'm looking forward to starting to work with my team so thank you welcome and Dan comes to us both our candidates come highly recommended from their references and now we'll move it over to our supervisor mathematics Russell Pelini yeah i' just like to say thank you to the South Brunswick Community I'm super excited um to join this team and I'm really excited to see uh what we can do with the math department and and all the exciting things that they're already doing to continue them and to make it even better thank you congratulations right all right so again uh Evelyn Evelyn spoke about it but we are fortunate that we get an amazing candidate pool when we post jobs like this and uh unfortunately for these two they have to go through the process of um the rigorous process of of going getting surviving all these steps that we go through not as many as Evelyn had to survive I will remind her of when we put her through but um it it is a process and reference checks are done a lot is done to determine if if if our final candidates are going to be the best fit for us and um these two gentlemen I've had an opportunity to meet with them um this week and these are two strong individuals who are going to do great things for us so welcome aboard gentlemen now your job is just stay here for the next three hours while we finish this meeting so just um okay so um important for our community uh I don't know how many people are watching today but um we recently recently released required prek-12 forms through the Genesis Parent Portal and that means that when parents log in to see things on Genesis they have to they have to go through the process those of you that still have kids in the school you know your deep get your done SMA work on this make sure those forms are signed up then once you get through that process you then have access to see the bus bus information schedules placement all that information so it's really important to do that um usually the first month where track people down that do not do this and what what that tells us unfortunately is they're not even looking at schedules they're not doing those things so we really encourage families to to do this and and stay with their with their students program so that's all going to be coming out and um Suzanne's office make sure that all goes through and that everything's up and running um bus assignments they we don't mail them anymore we have not mailed them in in a number of years they will all be Al also on Genesis and confirming all of that and what what Jill ask us to tell all of our families remember to check it the night before there are changes that happen out of our control sometimes we work with contractors that we need to inform parents so people should check that the night before the first day just to make sure and if there's any changes after that we of course reach out and tell families uh bus by bus if there's anything that we need to tell them but first I I'll be honest the first day of school when I was a principal was a nightmare it was a nightmare you didn't know if the buses were going to come you were we're hoping kindergarteners got to your school not somebody else's school and we really have very minimal with Jill with Jill here I mean it is really well under under control doesn't mean it'll be perfect uh but it will be close so uh a lot of work goes into this our drivers do what's called dry runs where they do the routes including our contractors they have to do a run and do the whole route one or two times before they can start the year that's all happening uh next week and our drivers that are new to their own routes do the same we have some drivers that are doing the same routes obviously they don't need to do dry runs but Jill knows who they are and and how to manage that um happy to tell you we are fully staffed as as usual in our bus Department that goes to the quality of that transportation department as well as we're an attractive place to be we have great kids great families and so we do not have any transportation um challenges at this moment and we hope to stay that way so knock on all the wood there is to knock on um just a quick big thanks um if if you walk around the buildings uh even if you saw the wax in this building these buildings are shiny you know our our team's do an incredible job so on the custodial and maintenance side things are ready to rock then your secretaries are you know they work 12 months so they're here all the time getting all this done we have all the new students the transfers all of it nurses who have to work over the summer to make sure the kids that coming in are safe and all their programs are updated we have child study team members that work through the summer we have Paras we have the esy program working some we had summer Institute working we have literally about a thousand kids a day for about four to five weeks on on site in the summer so we we are almost a 12-month program here um and it really goes to all the people that work on that the administrators are nonstop in their buildings as well so kudos to all the people that make that possible H okay now some real business on the agenda tonight is a calendar revision we have shared this with the board we've heard back from um certain members that did respond and um we're going to go ahead and make this revision so on the agenda tonight I am recommending to move the devali observance from October 31st which is Halloween to November 1st we have a letter prepared that is going to go out to the community explaining the why behind this um basically both days are observed in in different elements of the faith and uh when we did our checks last year if you remember we had these conversations last year we originally did have it this way November 1st but what we were learning in the process was that um October was more appropriate as it works out we would literally be by ourselves as the only District which would hinder our families who are an observance of that and also it's a lot cleaner on the calendar let's be real I'm not going to pretend it's not it's a cleaner calendar to have off on the Friday which attaches to the full week off versus that but that isn't the reason in other words if Dali was not celebrate it all on November 1st we would not be doing this you have to understand that we would not be just making it easier for the calendar that'd be like saying well we're not going to do Christmas on the December 25th this year because it doesn't fall right for us we're going to move it and celebrate on a different day or we're going to move yapor on this day we're going to move Eid to this day we're just going to pick days that are convenient for the calendar we're not doing that here this is one of those that is um when you when you look it up if you check on Google right now you'll see it comes up both when you check with clergy it comes up both there's no right or wrong answer so we're going to go ahead and make it cleaner and support our families that might have friends or faith in other other areas not in South Brunswick that would make more sense for them so that's on the calendar um as a as a as a um revision um if that approves tonight as I said we will be putting out an email tomorrow to the community and informing everyone um of this change it does mean students will be in school on Halloween which for the Elementary grades they would appreciate that and I know teachers would appreciate not being in school the day after Halloween uh and being in school on the day of Halloween um is is cleaner for everybody but again only because it does work in the observance of the volum any comments on that or questions Barry are we the only one that's doing this in the area well right now we're the only one that has to because people already move theirs so other districts when we first look at the last year they were with us but at some point in the process they they changed and didn't tell me so when we did another recheck we realized that we were kind of left on our own and that's not really the way to be uh on this kind of topic so we didn't and and being that it's a cleaner issue for the calendar we don't see that there's going to be too much concern over this but um it it seems to be the right thing to do for our families so that's that's where we're going to recommend going thanks bear um okay another oh sure sorry I mean does have to do with the buses but um when will parents know about class assignments and teachers sure um class assignments and Suzanne tell me if I'm wrong but I think class assignments start next week August this home room and units at the middle school and then the Middle School Ladder into the mic so our prek through five home room assignments will be published on Monday next week and our Middle School units Monday as well and then Wednesday believe that's the 28th you will see your high school student schedules and the middle school schedules that day as well and so one thing is important to us and it's it's a it's a move I I I think I I might have changed when I got here CU I'm very opposed to anything coming out on a Friday afternoon at 4 when it gives parents no opportunity and then what it happens if they're unhappy with something it's festering some people like the idea but festering because in it calms I think festering boils and makes it worse so we do this now at the beginning of week so on the Wednesday so we have multiple days for parents to respond and for people to be on site to answer questions and support kids and families and this is through Genesis also yes all that's through Genesis okay thank you thank you thanks okay I have a few more things sorry um okay so you know how we get the nice book for the calendar every year mhm we're going green we're going green however you're not you get your calendar don't worry we did order 200 calendars that are still going to be available to the kids that did the artwork they get one schools are going to get some and you all getting yours we're going to try this see how it goes it does save remember in budget season when we were doing budget we're doing everything we can to save money and we want to make sure we have things in place that are make sense and the thing that makes the most sense about the calendar a calendar is not static so printing a calendar in today's age is not technologically smart is not is useless in many ways that calendar after after the day it's printed so it'll be it'll be hyperlink to the district calendar I know that Evelyn is currently working on that with Sheila and uh Sheila does all this work with Evelyn in that office along with a lot of other people but kudos to Sheila make sure you give her thanks and buy her pastry tomorrow all right she likes Pastry donuts maybe Amish Donuts are nice they're very good we'll see that in color now too you then and they'll be in color not in black and white so yours will be in black and white sorry but the ones online will be color and hyperlinks on the calendars and it allows everyone to have it at their fingertips you can walk around with a calendar on your phone and you have access to the calendar uh the website is going to be updated as well and um we think it's a good idea let's see what happens happens as we go through it but saves what 3 to 4,000 bucks I think about that about that so Scott Scott one quick question on the calendar sure didn't we have a company that used to override the uh yeah not not not not right now we don't so donate donate yeah no we don't have anyone donating that money right now so but the reality is if they want to donate US money give us money I'll do something else with it honest this is I I I don't want to keep printing a book at this but if you noticed at the end of the year we did graduation was digital right you know it's just a way to go is it's it's not a place to keep spending money if we don't have to we used to have some kind of bank or something that used to yeah I'm not sure but um no more let's see how it goes if there's you know we'll see we we'll we'll get feedback if there's any negative feedback with that and my last bit of news Cricket if you recall we had a visit from about 20 25 students along with their coach and that's in the real world and we actually had a we have like a world class Cricket player in our district a kid who middle schooler that's like on a national team I believe we also have a national golfer actually on our team separate issue I do digress um we are in the process of getting this going great so when I mentioned it last time we were fledgling CJ um our athletic director is moving uh actually um West Windsor Plainsboro reached out and offered uh any support because they just started last year so we can take some of their takeaways from what worked what didn't work and CJ's been interfacing with their athletic directors over there to to make sure we're on the right track we also have Edison Monroe very small group of schools but uh it will start as a club sport we expect by Fall um it is not a recognized athletic sport in the state at this moment so it will start as a club sport um CJ is currently working on how to do that advisers and all that we'll work that out with with with our with our staff as well to figure out the best way to do that um you know we we we did this with um robotics started that that way as well I mean robotics to me is a sport at least the way our our district handles it but it's still handled by an adviser and then we have some really you know Powerhouse parent volunteers and even ex- student volunteers that support that program and then our paa um our Middle School teacher um is is is awesome and she she she runs program so if you really want fun remember I always say go go go to the robotics program it's really what an amazing day when we host a giant like 30 or 40 team event um but Cricket on the table our expectation is this year so we'll start slow and then we'll let it grow as it grows but I want to give you that feedback I know that we're can to have a happy bunch of kids and families and but we have some work to do this is not an easy thing to do for example we don't have Cricket field and um but the the town does so CJ's going to work on that and we do have space if we do decide to go that route but that's that's money and that's a different question so as of right now um that's where we're going I did want to share that and keep you up to date you you guys asked for me to keep you up to date you're up to date and um it's a good way to start the year some good stuff happening so welcome back everybody and I'll turn it over to you president Rogers thank you thank you for the update any further questions for superintendent feder we good okay thank you so much for your update moving on board committee and liaison reports um we'll just uh start from my left to my right Mr Mitchell any update from your committee uh we haven't met we are looking to meet in September if I'm not mistaken um so once we've met I'll have a report for you very good next Mrs Hernandez m Fernandez why get I'm having a problem with name's up yeah here I'm so sorry it's still so we the education committee met on August 8th and uh Evelyn and Suzanne gave us a bunch of stuff to ponder and we did talk a little bit about um the multi uh lingual Learners and some of our staff went for a three-day PD to uh you know work on how we can address th those students and help them better um we also discussed AI a little bit and the direction in which our district is looking to go um Suzanne went over the NJ GPA and broke it down in um the three tiers to get our kids the the third our Jun Juniors to pass this test if they don't pass it then we do this and you know so she she went over everything on how we support our kids to get them going and we have a really high percentage right suzan of our kids that passed this so you know for the that very small percentage we're we're ready to rock and roll to get them to pass this also and then Evelyn went over a few curriculum updates for us that we will be voting on and that same night I had asked her to send to the full board um those changes so you were the whole board was well aware of the changes so before and that was on August 8th so that we had time to read it for today's meeting to vote on it and the end very good thank you so much next Mr Nathanson update uh we don't have an update similar to Mr Mitchell and finance we haven't met since uh the change in our cafeteria supplier our food supplier uh just a note for everybody that's sitting here there is food across the way please take there's like tons of food in there so uh and uh which is nice is the presentation what they did just for us it's it's amazing so uh on next meeting and sometime in September like Finance so very good I will note that the food tonight was donated by masio so that they could give us a sample of what our students are going to experience during the school year and and also include how the elementary kids are getting that yep which is so awesome that the elementary kids are getting that also please extend our thanks to them we'll do um on behalf of the board and the food was very good it's great to see that options we look forward to seeing great things from them so thank you uh Miss Khan policy committee met prior to this board meeting and I will have an update ready at the next meeting okay anyone else any comments questions to the committee chairs on the board yes I just want to tell Miss Mammon the pop culture uh elective looks very interesting thank you yeah that the second ask of students to have um an elective like that that really looks at culture so that they can be engaged in a different way and I just my thanks to the teachers who put their heads together and um came up with the curriculum and the classes already uh we have have the sections are filled nice any other comments or questions for committee chairs or anyone on the board nope very good we will close that section of the agenda okay moving on is next public comments on the agenda item as an agenda item excuse me the Board of Education recognize the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest complete copies of policy 0167 which govern the portion of the meeting are available to the public at the AUD entrance a Auditorium entrance I apologize online or by contacting the board office to permit the fair and orderly expression of comments we ask the participants be recognized by the presiding officer and preface comments by announcing his or her name place of rence residence group affiliation each statement B made by a participant shall be limited to 3 minutes no participant may speak more than once on the same topic Mr parowski will indicate when you have 15 minutes all statements shall be directed to the presiding off officer no participant May address or question board members no discussion between a participant and respondent shall extend through minutes Mr POI anyone register for public comments on the agenda we have no registrations is anyone in the audience would like to make comment on the agenda items seeing none we will move on next is okay next is old business we have no old business at this time next is new business and that is a review of the 2023 24 Bo board goals as well as initial review of 2425 all board members have received a copy um that I had sent out of a review of the board goals I'm just going to highlight them for the community to hear um if anybody has any questions or comments additions or deletions um after I go through them while I'd appreciate any comments so I'm just going to highlight um the the main three last year from 20 what did I say 23 24 yeah yeah yeah we did the presentation the board goals okay we oh that's right we did I'm sorry my apologies so just I'll just wrap it up real quick we had continued to address the fiscal challenges which there was several accomplishments which you all received improv stakeholder communication several accomplishments that we re that were done as well as improved committee Effectiveness which were many accomplishments which I'm going to address one though and then of course the ad hoc committee which was the advocacy committee which was a huge success again thank you to Mr feder and the administration for pulling that together and just really quick um well let me move on so just some thoughts were given for the 2425 goals um you all received a copy of them um I'm not going to have a debate tonight I think it would be good for everyone to have a moment to absorb thoughts on paper and please um before next meeting we really need to wrap that up I would like to have a vote on that next meeting for the 2425 goals um just very quick quickly uh we I've listed uh four um Mr feder and I had a conversation on one of them which was quarterly updates and review of administration District Mission V and goals which we he has agreed to do a quarterly update which is wonderful and we could um put more um tactics below each goal if we feel the need to uh for the budget very high level comments continue to communicate strategically transparently and effectively to the community continue to support District in identifying Innovative and alternative ways of funding for the district to improve the revenue stream uh continue to monitor revenue and expenses monthly both in committee and as a full board to ensure the Financial Health and student achievement around continue stakeholder communication I think we've got we got some good we got a good start on um the board's corner and we'd like to I'd like to see that continue if you all are good with that U monthly updates to the parents very difficult which I discovered and Mr feder coached me on this is to really do weekly it's very very hard at full-time job family it's really hard even to get the monthly one out so I think we'll stick with monthly and please I encourage board members to send me ideas because there are times I sit with a blank screen and I look at it and I go okay what am I going to talk about and then something will come to me but it's really helpful if anybody if you've got ideas please shoot me an email um I would I always pass it by Mr feder we we talk about it and then we can get it out to the community uh the second is the chain of command really really important I think that um we um push and pursue the continued effort around chain of command this must be supported by the entire board and the community when a parent comes to us we do not act because we are one away from board the board the only time we are board members is behind this desk we act as a full member board so the best course of action of course is the chain of command right to send that parent family whomever it is to the lowest level where there's a problem right so in the area of Education we would start with the teacher right then if the teacher maybe the supervisor whatever that chain is same with Athletics start with the coach maybe before you go to Mr Hendrick so on and so forth Mr feder should be the last person period That's give a yep Smitha the other day oh did it exactly right SM exactly right so a parent a parent emails a board member the board member rightfully would respond to the parent and give them the recommendation of where they should direct their question the board member should not direct the question to that person correct and the board member should not copy me on that communication instead exact EXA L how SMA did it she forwarded it to me so that I at least know what happened so if the parent like let's say emailed Smitha and Mike and and Laura and said hey we have issue with bust 17 okay well that's going to go to the transportation department you don't forward it to the transportation department and say we'll take care of it you tell the parent to direct their question to the transportation department then send it to me hey Scott receive this email just giving you a heads up I will then generally alert the right person that this could be coming their way so that they're prepared that's that's the cleanest way and that's exactly how Smitha did it the other day sent it to me and we then were able to respond to the parent not saying the parent going to be happy with the outcomes always but it does allow us to communicate cleanly and allows you to follow that chain of command and help that parent get to the right place any questions on that and just a quick I have a question for the board would it be helpful if you had a specific amount of a specific verbiage so you could copy paste in the email it's something that you might want to think about we be more than happy to pass it on as well so think about it no need to respond tonight but if that would help you absolutely we can send it out to the entire board which will help you feel confident in responding appropriately to the to the person that's asking you the question so just let us know and then finally uh committee Updates this is one area that we do need to enhance um very very important that after you have a committee meeting those minutes must be posted to the portal um so that the entire board me the entire all the board members excuse me can review those committee minutes and question the chair if they so see you know if they need to question Mr feder whomever but it's really really important so I'm going to ask the chairs currently please review the portal see what minutes are missing I know we had we had cut a lot of meetings out because of the budget which of course makes sense but it's also important to make that comment that this meeting was canceled okay so we' have a trail of information so if there's a meeting that happened minutes go up if the meeting was canceled just State you know May 29th a meeting canel okay yes M caric I just want to revisit the chain of command uh comment that you um you know I think it's it would be helpful if we have sort of a parent Academy topic on this particular issue because I think there is certain amount of confusion and that's why parents are still reaching out directly to board members for resolution on complaints or things like that you know maybe they're not entirely aware of at what stage which complaint finally lands up at a board for you know for discussion or for sort of looking into if you will so I think a parent Academy on this would be hugely helpful uh it would kind of dispel some of those confusion that we have will bring Clarity to the process and will also make the community understand what exactly is a role of the board at scope of authority in res you know in resolving any sort of grievances or complaints that they may have and what is that entire redressal process that they have you know we did that on board's Corner we have but um how about if we do that again at The Retreat and we can do that a thorough examination of that and that's something we videotape and then could provide that as a link to the Community as well with an explanation yeah whichever ways you want to do it I was thinking if there's a a specific Parent Academy on this topic it's parent acad is I bet it I'm sorry um okay we did have that on the on the board's corner on on our website it's stated you know but people don't look at it as right exactly but I'm saying that's one thing that we could direct them to also so that's that's fine that's something we always do you but I think what happens in that case is a parent if you have a Academy the parent has an opportunity to come to such an academy and ask questions of the administration okay what can I do if I have this kind of a complaint where can I go what can I do you know and then that kind of brings some clarity to the whole process also yeah you know and Mary Mr I see you um I don't know if Genesis has the capability to put anything in there that states something about more information if you have questions you know go to the chain of command is there something that the parents can see at the start of school school that helps also communicate the chain of command so that's just I'll put that out there for administration to think about Mr Nathanson yeah the only problem with the parent Academy is something like this you're not going to get it turn out anyhow so it's not going to go anywhere so that's why Mr what Mr feder said is probably a better way to go here here's one thing about when people don't show up I'm going to be honest when we offer and you choose to not attend we've done our due diligence then the ability to say referencing this Parent Academy that's that's what you get right like that that's why sometimes those things are helpful the portal it just it gives everyone a chance to come and be be informed and when they don't choose it's kind of like you know if you don't if you don't do something but you've been given the opportunity to learn or listen to it and you choose not to you've been informed I can't make you what they say you can bring a horse to water but you can't make them drink it so if we provide something like that if that's a common I don't think it's that common for the district to get that many from the board however it could be a way to say look we're trying to do all of these things to share our way of operation here and that way if people don't it's hard to then complain about the outcomes right when when you don't so it's just I'm not saying Barry it's good or bad it's it's something to consider I I I'm actually drafting an email to my team to say when we look at all the things we we're looking at for Parent Academy to see where this one would fall and if we can't do it that way we can always maybe do it as a point of contact at this board meeting and do a special presentation on at the meeting if we can't get a whole Parent Academy because it is on the website and and highlight it yes and highlight it that we're going to be doing it on this night the other thing that you might want to one one small comment to what Mr fedo said and I think he explained it very beautifully uh you know once you provide that information it's already out there it's out there for the parents it's an opportunity for them to come and understand you know the the chain of command and the escalation Matrix if you will that's number one the second thing is just like we had the uh Parent Academy for for Hib you know for for HIV and anti-bullying I think that was very well received by the community we had a lot of parents who came in who asked questions so I think that just it's it's a way of bringing more transparency and more clarity to the process and another thing and I'll just throw this to Mr feder as well this might also be something that maybe the teachers can include in their back to school night discussions I don't know but it no okay that's an a no let them just get there let's just cross they have their world so we have some ideas if we have other ideas let's put it together and um there is I think what I have to do is on the board goals I have to think I have to open that to edit to everybody I'll do that yeah IED access yeah I'll make sure that that's editable I think let me just write that down please put any ideas you have there yeah all right and we'll I'll also set a date for it Lisa is that a date oh I will on I will I will I've got to look at my calendar um I'll also put it as a board comment the board's Corner again to reemphasize to parents okay good good discussion great any other discussions on board goals yes Dr Raj um it certainly um uh reminded me that uh we had agreed uh for all the committee chairs to share the agenda with the entire board um uh before the meeting um so that is something that maybe let's add that on there yeah should we clean that part up yeah let's U make sure that we do that if you don't mind just put your thought down on that because um you have your thoughts as to how you want to present it um I give me um just let me get it tonight I'll make it editable tonight when I get home I'll shoot an email out with a deadline and to do that okay are we good with that yeah great thank you excellent all right moving on thank you that was really good good okay oh and I am going to request I'll have the deadline to finalize the goals all right so that we have a discussion at the next meeting or a vote for them okay all right next order of business is the consent agenda by Mr POI Mr palowski you're on all right everybody pretty typical Sunday or Sunday summer uh it's a summer agenda not a Sunday agenda typical summer agenda we have approval transfers some financials business office office um particulars uh Champion schools Grant accepting funds we have chapter 192 we have approval technology orders for our non-public we're approving non-public nursing Services we have a withdrawal from maintenance Reserve to do some projects around the district uh that are just been neglected over the years uh some Paving and um some work at um some of the elementary schools we have a contracts over the bid limit we're approving contracts that went over the bid limit even if we used the uh State contract just so our Auditors can say that you guys knew about them uh you'll see the totals we do have one in here for 243,000 for um some Paving that needs to be done again that's at the elementary schools uh we went out for bid for a lot of our transportation this is a heavy Transportation bid um consent agenda you can see all of the bids that were received we can see the lowest one that we chose uh you're going to to see um some of the best bids that we had for um out of district U runs we had one for uh it look like almost uh 20 $210 or $28 a day which is unheard of uh those out of District replacement runs we're usually running around $500 $600 a day so some really good prices and some really good bid work by our transportation department we have um educational Consulting Services we have some preschool curriculum staff professional development services we also are approving our transportation contracts for Parental transport when we have uh parents drive their students back and forth to school we have a jointure with another school district we're approving our local Mentor program uh District local Mentor program development plan professional development plan uh we have an assurance for our professional development plan and a code of conduct we're uh approving the adoption of our curriculum this evening we have have uh well just point point we're only approving changes to the curriculum not the whole curriculum all right we're approving our interlocal agreement uh revised school calendar some sidebar agreements related expense reimbursement uh student field trips harassment and bullying um we also have some student tuition contracts that's a big agenda and our out of District tuition adjustments and uh some professional uh services with recers uh medical school and Frontline Technologies and then you have your personnel and that everybody is your consent agenda sir any questions yes um Miss F yeah it it says um that we are approving the curriculum on agenda item 1.27 so is it just revised you said it yeah it's not it's not it was just commented that yes it's just some revision okay it's the revisions that were sent to you by by yeah I read those yeah yeah that's that's what it is okay just wondered Mr Mr Krishna David just clarification could you just explain what is the note under Point 1.21 what was the number H 1.21 when it says that the rout will be a bid for November 1st starting the remainder of the year so this grp will be bid for a November one start for so this this student yeah so for this particular bid um the student wasn't going out until uh November 1 so they weren't they weren't going to be educated or transported in September that's what that looks like that would be an IEP driven Raja that would be the IEP calls for that program to begin on November one so it doesn't begin with the not not right so when so depending on what the reason which I couldn't get into right now the the IEP drives that decision the transportation then follow suit with the iep's um uh language so in this particular case the IEP is directing that that placement if that's what it is would start at that point if for all three of them it's the same situation anybody yeah no it's a it's a quote so yeah I'd have to look a little bit more into that but basically what this is is that this this route is not starting this route's not starting till November 1 it looks like it's it looks like it's already being contracted with roots Transportation uh for September 1 through October 31 for 40 days total so a change it's a change so it's a it's a new it's a bid for somebody we we have examples where kids need Transportation immediately so we trans we contract with roots transportation to do September 1 to October 30 and then we put it out the bid and say going to be from no one for the remainder of the Year okay I believe that that's what that's just what whatever they are all the routes are aligned with IEPs so if if there's ever a change in that our responsibility is to provide the transportation as directed by the individualized education plan yeah okay you can see in the you can see in the actual um motion that the contract with roots Transportation EMS East uh East Mountain School September 1 through October 30 for 40 days total yeah that rates 2344 for a contract total price of 9360 this route will be bid for November 1 start through the main year they might only be doing the route for 40 days and told us they couldn't do it after that's a possibility too okay also uh 1.22 uh could you show some light on the mentor plan local Mentor plan what exactly it is the local Mentor plan 1.22 that's our that's just our local Mentor plan where we have the teachers Mentor students what do it say just just appr two yeah so every year Raja um teachers that are not certified um there have What's called the provisional certification Statewide when they get hired with a provisional CT we are required to Mentor them and there's a whole plan we have to submit to the state on what our plan is to Mentor the teachers in their first year and then then they get um the provisional sert becomes a standard so that's for anybody who is employed under a provisional certification has to go through a mentor plan we need to provide the state with our Mentor plan you're approving that Mentor plan it's in the The MENTOR plan is in the backup thank you yep question um on 1.37 for out of District placements um it looks like we're spending quite a bit um I wondered is there any discussion of how to lower the cost of our out of District of placements that's a that's a that's a whole conversation for another day I think we're looking to how we're going we didn't hear the question we wanted we had a question on 137 on how we're going to control our out of District placement costs okay what's specifically is the question I just wondered does the district uh shop around for a lower uh cost for placement it I was looking specifically at uh the celebrate the children place placement um and possibly the uh Cranford public school placement they just seem uh a lot greater than what we spend per student here in the district I just wondered like yeah added District placements are significantly more expensive than in District placements correct they are driven by an IEP which is an individualized education plan which is developed by a team of Staff as well as the parent and if there are any other specialists involved in that process so when a determination is made they make a determination about um providing fape which is called the free and appropriate public education and if it is determined to go to one of those schools it has been determined that that is where Faith would be met so are these private placements some of the private and some are other public placements okay any other questions accept one and I apologize I meant to call you on this today I the day got away from me under um athletic supplies just a question we it shows here number of items that was recorded and then what was awarded um is a lot less and is this for the entire year or is this just for fall and winter sports it was one point excuse me uh b a hold on 1.11 C I believe yeah so I just I just was wondering um we requested almost was it close to 250 250 number of items and we received about 200 about 200 200 items little over the the not all of the vendors bid on all of the items so BSN Sports uh bid on 197 items and they won 107 107 of those okay um mfac LLC bid on 25 and they won three Sportsman's uh Johnson pa uh bid on 201 and they won 109 right so we take the lowest bid of the item right but the items I they're not equal and that's I'm just wondering because they're not going to bid no because all of the bid the the vendors aren't going to bid on all of the items that we put in they're only going to bid on the items that they can bid the lowest on or that they have that they carry got it I completely understood what happens with the items that we wanted to have B on I mean what they bid on all of them they they did bid on all of them 23 it's 397 you're to your your largest bid was 2011 right right right but that you have one that's 19721 25 and 38 unless I get is your question what happens what happens we purchase them off State contract off State contract okay that's that's where I was going I just wanted to understand where the remainder are being pulled from thank you thank you thank you any other questions no all right yes questions regarding uh I think there are some uh projects that we're doing uh for flooring and for uh asphal MH if you can just elaborate a little bit on that uh what exactly are those projects about we have pop holes and Roads and parking lots that have holes in them so the asphalt's going to replace and repair uh damaged roads from snow ice salt um the carpet is we have a couple of rooms at the high school that are going to receive new carpeting and we have some other items going on at the elementary schools um that are going to be repairs as well we have a roof project going on at Cambridge uh but that's already been approved um and we have concrete going on uh at some some concrete repairs sidewalks curbs things that have just been damaged over the years and these are for various schools in our district right excuse me they're all for various schools in our district right yeah absolutely we would only do schools in our district I lost a page anything else no very good all right if we have no further questions may have a motion uh and second Mr Nathanson second I second Miss Hernandez for a motion and consent agenda a second for the consent agenda may I have have roll call Miss Julie Ferrara accept Miss Laura Hernandez yes Mrs Deepa carthik yes Miss Alicia Khan yes Mr rajer Krishna yes Mr Mike Mitchell yes Mr Barry Nathanson yes Dr Smith the Raj yes Mrs Lisa Rogers yes motion carries very good thank you thank you thank you all right moving on next item agenda is second opportunity for public comments on any topic this is the second opportunity for the public to comment on any matter you are reminded of the previous statement made regarding public comment rules of policy 0167 again at the podium state your name spell your name announce your place of residence any group affiliation you are limited to three minutes Mr palowski do we have any members of the public who pre-registered nope no pre-registration is there anybody in the public audience in the is there any member of the public in the audience that would like to have a comment made on any item no we will close this portion of the agenda okay please note our next scheduled Board of Ed meeting is set for Thursday August 22nd 20 oh that's today that's to I for I forgot to change it it's in September um on behalf of the South Brunswick Board of Ed enjoy the remaining days of summer good luck this year to all of our staff we will see you on the first day of school may I have a motion and excuse me excuse me may I have a motion to adjourn Miss Ferrara motion second Miss Khan All In favor I any Nays thank you and good night South Brunswick