[Music] the May 16th 2024 meeting of lidge Township Board of Education please come to order roll call Mr secretary manderson here M Gordan here Mr delra here Mr Mohammed here m here Mr chief officer here Mr vet here and Mr s here Mr secretary as required by the Sunshine Law please read the notice of meetings thank you m b the New Jersey open public meetings law was smed to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meeting with public bodies in which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the DAT time and place are posted as follows on January 25th 2024 emailed to the home News Tribune the starlinger and the municipal clerk's office posted the nor Street School number 11 and the Board of Education administration building also published on the school district website thank you Mr secretary Miss Anderson please read the close session statement thank you madam vice president in compliance with the Sunshine Law of the board must go into Clos session in order to discuss subject Exempted from the public portion of our meeting the discussions to be held in close discuss will be regarding personel matters and the board will receive attorney client advice any information regarding the closed session discussion will be released to the public when the reasons for discussing these matters in Clos session no longer exist thank you M Anderson I have a motion by Miss Anderson do I have a second second I have a motion by Miss Anderson second by Mr trer all in favor I any opposed carried board requires to close session please rise for a salute to the flag at a moment of silence IED Al to the flag of the United States of America to the for stands Nation indivisible with liy and justice for all do I have a motion to reconvene so motion second okay I have a motion by Mr trew second by Mr delap picho all in favor I any opposed carried roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson here M bouran here Mr deletro here Mr Mohamad here M Perez here Mr treaser here Mr valz here and Mr Harris here will someone make a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meetings no motion do I have a second second all right any corrections or additions seeing none I have a motion by Mr Tre waser seconded by Miss Perez all in favor I any opposed carried Mr secretary please stay for the record any notices of bids received by the board thank you Mr President the following bids and proposals were received for the 2024 2025 school year on May 9th 2024 PSA 9702 for the avanel street school edition and renovation May 10th 2024 ifb 25-2 for athletic supplies and also on May 10th 2024 ifb 25-3 for physical education supplies thank you Mr werman Dr bino please re re excuse me not reintroduce introduce our student representative this evening from Colonial High School Miss and Teresa arganza nice to meet you thank you for being here Mr President thank you an theres arganza is currently a junior who is ranked number one in her class at Colonia High School Anne loves to perform and is heavily involved in the Performing Arts at Colonia High School some of her many talents include playing the alto saxophone for the marching band and singing every choir offered at CHS including women's concert mixed show and AC cappella Anna's been part of the casting in the CHS spring musical since her freshman year this year she played the pivotal role of Jack's mother in the musical into the woods academically and is a member of the National Science moo Alpha Theta and thespian Honor Society she placed first in the Woodbridge set sence Symposium both her freshman sophomore year in category and grade level for her research projects on anti-bubble stability and regularly completes community service through her church she has performed in the church choir every week since she was four during the holidays she can be found singing in various nursing homes and caroling fun and caroling fundraisers while in the Summer She is busy teaching children songs at the St ANS children summer camp and thank you for joining us thank you do Dr mamino members of Colt president Harris and members of the board of education for inviting me here this evening I'll be reading an activity list by different schools at school number four and five there was a PTO paint with me event a grade four trip to the Monmouth Battlefield grade one trip to the Von Thun Farm Green Team spring cleanup Dei showcase spring instrumental music concert on May 16 grade three trip to the turtleback zoo grade five DARE graduation grade 1 reading celebration grade two trip to the turtleback zoo and an NE EHS induction ceremony at school number 20 there were sweeted with someone special a Scholastic Book Fair an assembly with Alec lesnak student author of Muffin Man 2 Ronald McDonald house Dei project Art Show Chorus and band Spring Concert fifth grade class trip to iPlay first grade reading celebration kids heart challenge assembly and DARE graduation at school number 21 Ben ly day was held to support a student battling leukemia there was a wathon and bubbles for autism event a collaboration with CHS baseball team Ben lury was named home run Hero at North Brun Wick community park there was a therapy dog visit a night of the Arts nehs ceremony social media safety assembly with officer Harris Dei showcase and grade 5 science fa at school number 22 25 students were inducted into the national Elementary Honor Society autism acceptance month was celebrated with daily announcements students and staff wore blue during our bubbles for autism celebration Shan Dolly wall and Kaylee nowicki were recognized for their outstanding writing at The District's evening with Young Writers CMS student author Alec lesnak read his book Muffin Man 2 attack of the baker's dozen spring pep rally was held to recognize students for their academic and behavioral accomplishments the world showcase was held where students enjoyed learning about the country they researched and the many other countries they visited throughout the day the student council and nehs joined teams with the Colonia High School environmental cleanup Club to do a campus-wide cleanup and planted annuals at school number 23 an art show was held for parents the DARE graduation was held Woodbine Avenue Spring Concert was held their annual science fair was held and their fifth graders went on a class trip to I playay America at school number 24 their National Elementary Honor Society induction will be held on May 22 at school number 27 Lions Color Run was held the student council and National Elementary Honor Society conducted a campus cleanup the school won a contest to have a complete makeover of the teachers's lounge from Walmart and Crayola there's a family math and family stem program that is ongoing field trips to the Liberty Science Center the nehs in uction ceremony was held and the spring concert will be on May 22 at avano Middle School Marissa Sera was selected as njhs outstanding Achievement Award recipient and received a $500 scholarship the dance company had a successful spring performance eight students participated in the firebowl held at the middlex County Fire Academy their annual day of giving was celebrated with donations made to the Woodbridge Township domestic violence Response Team Woodbridge buddy ball organization Meals on Wheels of Edison matachin and Woodbridge be the change New Jersey organization and the Woodbridge Township Animal Shelter at Colonia Middle School over $5,000 was raised for the American Heart Association during the schoolwide American Heart challenge Angelica aranza and Olivia GNE were selected as the NJ HS outstanding award recipients and received $500 scholarships at Colonia High School students collaborated on an art project for autism inclusion month students collaborated on a dance project for autism inclusion month as well surith raal Sky olera and Noah Alvarez submitted a plan to create the environmental cleanup crew of Woodbridge CHS paired up 20 seniors with about 5050 elementary students student students participated in a scavenger hunt while cleaning up garbage around the school and weeded and planted flowers the r Kappa history Honor Society took an overnight trip to Washington DC to explore the various museums and monuments of our nation's capital members of the CHS chess team competed in a cross town tournament with JFK National Honor Society participated in Terra cycling with ecology Club raising the flag at Women's History Month the Red Cross Cross Blood Drive Spring voting registration Drive they donated to the Woodbridge animal shelter and the Ramadan food drive students in sociology classes participated in a research design project related to the topic of adolescence and stress members of the Spanish Honor Society visited with the eth graders at Colonia Middle School to discuss their personal experiences with Spanish courses middle sex dual enrollment information and the Seal of biliteracy Youth Empowerment leaders went to Oak Tree Road Elementary School and Colonia middle school during women's History Month the inter the interact Club hosted a Red Cross blood drive where 49 units of blood were collected the Ceramics 1 class researched the engineering behind passive cell phone amplifiers then designed and built their own the principles of business class was invited to be the Sharks and evaluated each on design ease of use accessibility sound quality volume and more the dance team has been selected as the nj.com Game Changer award finalist for dance team of the year the freshman sophomore and junior class advisers and officers have focused on fundraising selling autism acceptance t-shirts infinity symbol hearts and hosting a bake sale in which all proceeds will be donated to the PAC student volunteers will also be attending the PAC walk at Woodbridge High School the Colonia High School English Honor Society read to students at schools number four and 5 number 20 number 22 and number 27 the mathematics Honor Society hosted its annual stem display in the auditorium over 500 students engaged with our interactive displays through our bake sales during Pi week we raised over $1,000 to fund our stem scholarships the tomorrow's Teachers program of Colonia High School collected hundreds of books to donate to the bridge of books Foundation the CHS guitar Club held the spring coffee house a zoom meeting was held with author and director of perks of being a w a Wallflower stepen chabos the CHS choirs held the spring Coral concert on May 8th the trim music Honor Society inducted 12 new members 14 students were also awarded the trim honor cords for graduation Asian culture C Club is celebrating asian-pacific American month with an aapi fair to be held in the CHS Courtyard the Dei team organized the day of dialogue assembly food grown by members of the ecology Club was donated to a local food pantry the members of the ecology Club C collaborated with members of the science National Honor Society to organize a celebration of Earth Day a student from Colonia High School participated in the student research symposium as a part of our participation in the growing beyond Earth program members of the ecology Club conducted a two-hour cleanup of the grounds at Colonia High School members of the ecology Club continue to maintain our pollinated garden and Rain Gardens the ecology Club continues to promote programs that reduce the amount of plastics that end up in a landfill so far we have diverted over 300 lb and finally the Colonia High School Esports team completed its second season of competitive video gaming with Garden State Esports the fully virtual team participating at the JV and varsity levels for both rocket Team Rocket league and valerant the Varsity valerant squad qualified for the playoffs thank you all for this opportunity for me to be a part of this evening's Board of Education meeting thank you thank you Ann for your detailed report you are welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting however if you have other things to do such as homework and you have to leave we we perfectly understand I do have to leave but thank you so much for having me thank you thank you and [Applause] to to recognize Jo joining us this evening is Ann's mother and principal at colon High School Mr Cher thank you for being here both [Applause] Dr mamino please stay for the record the superintendent reports for the month of April 2024 Mr President I submit the following reports student registers and fire drill report suspension reports for elementary and secondary schools bomb threat reports and reports of the attendance officers thank you Dr masa for the public portion of the meeting the wber Township Board of Education welcomes and encourages active productive respectful participation by members of the public and seeks to protect the first Amendment rights of those who engage in the exercise of free speech at this Board of Education meeting members of the public are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of those whose legal rights may be impacted the public is now invited to speak regarding the agendas being presented this evening when you come to the microphone please provide your name and the section of the Township in which you reside along with the specific agenda and item number you wish you wish to discuss as per regulation 1100d comments must be limited to no more than 5 minutes no response will be given until you have completed your opportunity to speak is there anyone who wishes to speak on the agendas this evening good evening before before the time pardon me excuse me one second this thing is not on can you hear I think Bruno is turning it on now okay Brown I'm sorry is this about an agenda item an item on the agenda because there'll be another opportunity to speak after this portion I would like to speak about about an agenda about a response that Daniel Harris then sent me excuse me no I want to speak hold on pardon me this microphone working right yeah so so maybe this works okay this is better so we have two public comment sessions during a Board of Education meeting we have an agenda session where you speak about matters related to the agenda and that's what this is for later and none of none of the issues that I would like discussed are on the agenda so I I am speaking I am choosing to speak this time we so we we'll have you we'll have you come up during the portion of the meeting where we speak about any matter and you can come up and talk about that for your given anything that's not important I will okay thank you seeing none others wishing to speak we'll turn to the super superintendent's agenda Dr maso Mr President have 19 items to present to the board tonight okay do I have a second so motion oh excuse me do I have a motion for the superintendent's agenda motion for the superintendence thank you do I have a second second okay thank you very much I have a motion by Mr CH waser seconded by Miss ban are there any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr wman Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes Miss Perez yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes communication policy and planning agenda Mr Muhammad Mr President the communication policy and planning committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools presents the following eight agenda items I move for the adoption of the forgoing thank you Mr Muhammad I have a motion by Mr Muhammad do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Mr Muhammad seconded by Miss Anderson are there any comments or questions from the board uh Mr President sure if I may m b um number six on the agenda is um it it references the Excellence and education award the um wtef dinner that we held last night in honor of um our teachers and uh non-certified staff we do select a we don't the schools select each a teacher and an non-certified person from each school to be recognized each year uh and our dinner was last night we had um 51 recipients and uh 500 people came out to celebrate them it was a really great great night uh we do this each year it's a lot leading up to it I appreciate the team um that's listed on the uh the resolution that's that helps each year put the dinner together but I but I mostly appreciate the the reasons that we're there without the teachers and the certified uh the non-certified staff these the schools would be nothing and we appreciate everything that you guys do and we appreciate the people that came out to celebrate them so thank you thank you m ban uh uh like many in the administration and on the board I attended the dinner was fantastic congratulations to those honores and for the public uh who don't catch that telecast at the end of this telecast this evening it's part of the scroll uh woodis channels has provided the names of the teachers and the educational support professionals as per the resolution in our our packet this evening so members of the public can see those uh those terrific teachers and support persons uh who received their their Awards last night no other comments Mr wolferman M call Miss Anderson yes M bouran uh I I'm going to obain on item number six in the name of Susan bouran uh yes to all others Mr delip Pedro yes Mr Mohammad yes Ms Perez yes Mr treer yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes curriculum extracurricular activities of Technology Mr treer thank you Mr President the curriculum extracurricular activities and Technology committee on recommendation the superintendent of schools and the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction prevents the following 17 items I move for the adoption of the foregoing I have a motion by Mr treer do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Mr treer seconded by Miss Perez are there any comments or questions from the board I'll just make one comment this evening on items number one and two on this agenda the district is purchasing Vape detectors for our high schools and our middle schools uh vaping's become uh an unfortunate prevalent uh and and terrible uh Habit of uh students around the country and we are being proactive about trying to deter its use in schools particularly in uh high school bathrooms so we will uh address that and try to try to help our kids not start the bad habit of vaping roll call Mr wolferman Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes Ms Perez yes Mr tree waser yes Mr valz yes Mr Howers yes finance and insurance agenda Mr treaser thank you Mr President the finance and insurance committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary presents the following 34 items I move for the adoption of the foregoing I have a motion by Mr tree waser do I have a second second I have a motion by Mr Tree waser seconded by Miss Anderson are there any comments or questions from the board no roll call Mr wolferman Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes M Perez yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes Safety and Security agenda Mr valz thank you Mr President Safety and Security committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools present the following two items I recommend for the adoption of forego thank you Mr pz I have a second uh a motion by Mr valz do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Mr valz second by Miss bouran any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr wolferman M Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes Ms Perez yes Mr tree baser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes buildings and grounds agenda Miss Perez thank you Mr President the buildings and grounds committee on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary present the following five items I move for the adoption of the forgoing yes excellent thank you Miss Perez I have a motion by Miss Perez do I have a second second I have a motion by Miss Perez seconded by Miss bouran are there any comments or questions from the board no I'm going to make two comments here quick on item number one the colonial high school track will be resurfaced beginning this spring and through the summer I know some residents had brought that to our attention as in being in need of uh resurfacing so that's being accomplished this summer and then uh finally uh for the parents of School 4 and five in avanel uh the award for the construction uh is being awarded this evening uh to a construction contractor usually that takes uh about 6 weeks to two months in terms of staging construction ordering building supplies and then they should be starting construction in Earnest so this will complete the the final project of the 2020 uh referendum so we're very excited about that project and looking forward to its completion any other comments from the board roll call Mr wolferman Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes Ms Perez yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes dining and transportation agenda Miss Perez back to you thank you Mr President the dining and transportation committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary present the following eight items I move for the adoption of the forgoing thank you m Perez I have a motion by Miss Perez do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Miss Perez seconded by Miss Anderson any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes Ms Perez yes Mr traser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes Personnel agenda Mr delap thank you Mr President the Personnel committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the assistant superintendent of Human Resources presents the following 28 items I'll be abstaining on item number 24 and 25 yes and all other items I have a motion by Mr deler do I have a second second I have a motion by Mr delra seconded by Miss Perez are there any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr wolferman did he not move oh sorry um just so we know we're moving the 28 items um Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr delpetra I know you mentioned it but just one more time for the record with the two the extensions on 24 and 28 items yep I'm standing on 24 and 25 perfect Mr Mohammad yes M Perez yes Mr traser I will be abstaining on item 24 and item 25 yes on all other items Mr valz yes Mr Harris I'll be upst standing on items number 24 and number 25 voting yes on the remaining agenda thank you Mr Bush do you have any recommendations for us this even thank you very much is there any old business that should be brought before the attention of the board is there any new business that should be brought for the attention of the board Mr President yes Mr President I would just like to take the opportunity to mention that the poak walk U that was referenced earlier by our student um is uh on Saturday May 18th at Woodbridge High School from 2: to 11: and 2 to 11 I've had a long night last night um 11 to two I wish it was 2 to 11 that'd be fun um from 11 to 2 at wber high school um poak is parents of autistic children we are uh they are considered like a a poak um let me reset for a second a partner district with us where um they do trainings uh for our Our First Responders they do days out of for fun for our kids that are involved in our special needs community um and they do allow every student that's in our special needs Community um to attend they don't just have to have autism so we encourage everybody to come out and support them as they support us and our community um and that is the 18th from 11 a.m. to 2: p.m. not not the other way around um and I mentioned the wtef uh dinner last night which I wanted to just mention again um a lot of really great uh teachers and uh staff were uh celebrated last night and um the the the other thing about that dinner was we had a lot of businesses in the community donate um uh goods and services to our Tricky Tray last night which um the money that we raised uh from the Tricky Tray and the little bit extra from the dinner goes straight back into our schools uh We've in the past given money to uh the high schools the Middle School the elementary schools this year will be circling back to the middle schools and they'll be receiving um whatever money divided by five that we uh that that we have left over from last night and also to three scholarships one to each High School in the uh the name of Emily green she was an um an educator in the district and she was the former chair of the uh the committee many years ago and it's uh it's it's an honor for me to U be sitting chair of of the committee after all the great things that I've heard about her it's it's no easy shoes to fill as my predecessors will will tell you um but I want to just uh give a shout out to all the businesses that donated not only to that dinner last night to but to all of the community events that we have and each month uh the businesses um do giving nights where they do anywhere from like 15 to bubus does 25% back uh so we appreciate everyone that visits those nights and supports our schools that way so thank you to the businesses in our community I think Dan's putting together a comprehensive list so we can you know properly thank you so that's all thank you thank you m Bordan any other members Mr President sure hi Miss just want to give some options to our parents for summer camp the first summer camp that I want to bring your attention to is at the Woodbridge Community Center summer camp that's for grade for children in grades p prek through 6th grade um if you have if you want additional information the camp registration is now open please call 732 596 4170 to speak to a Woodbridge Community Center guest service associ if you have any questions middle sex college is also having Camp middle sex that is for ages 5 through 13 their Camp is running from June 24th through August 16th and if you want additional information please call 73296 2556 for more information thank you thank you anybody else Miss perz yes Mr President I'd like to highlight an event as well um in Woodbridge Township it's our support our troops rally that's going to be taking place on Wednesday May 22nd at 6:00 p.m. it's going to be at the monument between the Woodbridge Library and the Woodbridge High School um and um just to give a little tbit like your support helps our local military families know that their sacrifices in defense of our freedom have not been forgotten and if you know of anyone in the township who served in the military please contact our fifth W councilwoman Debbie miem and you can contact her at the colonial Corner ATC comcast.net again that's going to be on Wednesday May 22nd at 6:00 p.m. at the monument between the Woodbridge main library and Woodbridge High School Mr Del yes on June 24th uh on June 24th to June 28th the Woodbridge fire department across the street is having their sixth annual junior fire academy uh runs from 9:00 to 2:00 um the kids uh go over the equipment they go over accountability officer roles physical fitness they come down to the fire academy in sville and they do a tour they learn about teamwork ladder placement uh they get certified in CPR uh with the American Heart and they do a lot of other uh other other stuff so if the kids are looking for anything to do um they can call 732 602 6050 extension 6174 uh space is limited so if anyone if anyone is interested contact them and uh you know get them signed up but it's it's a good it's a good program for the kids it's a absolutely any other members wishing to speak turn it over to the public portion we'll now open the meeting for public comment when you come to the microphone please provide your name in the section of the Township in which you reside as per regulation 1100d comments must be limited to no more than 5 minutes no response will be given until you have completed your opportunity to speak good evening I'm aralu I live in hopon I have two children that attend Port Reading School Number Nine and uh my statement is in reference to the response that you uh Daniel Harris provided uh I would like for you to rectify your email the wording on your email my children did not choose to use and experiment with drugs two I have a question uh I know that from working in school districts and from other experiences I have an older child as well that actually went to the school district in Woodbridge a few years ago um what is uh Joseph massino's role because if we're getting communication important communication about uh how we're going to prevent drug distribution in our districts uh given by nurses um I it's my understanding that it is the role of the superintendent and the assistant superintendent to provide this important communication these are sensitive issues and my concern as a mother uh are legitimate and are not to be undermined I think that anyone of you who is a parent would understand that I am upset I am upset because this issue has been ignored and now you added insult to injury by saying that my children chose to use and experiment with drugs there has been no wording about another child provided the drugs there has been no communication to indicate how these parents were addressed yes the prosecutor's office was contacted and yes maybe there was not a lot of EV evidence and I'm not looking to charge or to be punitive about this I am looking to prevent future events from happening to my children as well as other children in this community that is my main concern and I just feel like this has been a slap in the face because no one addressed me it wasn't until I reached out to channel 12 news that morning that Mr Joseph mamino uh reached out to me to call claiming that he didn't know anything about it you knew about this at 10:30 at night when it happened and I know exactly if you want me to go into detail about how I know you know um I can but you do know yeah yeah that's why you have that smirk on your face let me tell you something Joseph if this was a child of yours let alone you disclose that you have two children thank you for sharing that because that is valuable private information and we should all protect our children but why is it that it's so insignificant when it's somebody else's children I asked each and every one of you I directed myself to you I came to three meetings I heard nothing about this okay no one has mentioned it my daughter's classmate last night said to me I only found out because my daughter told me that a kid in school had a seizure and had to be taken to the hospital which is inaccurate information why don't we educate our children our students accurately I know that when tragedies take place when other events take place in other areas their teams put together to inform to make sure the children have accurate information to protect them to inform families parents of how things happen that they don't have to hear through a third party why is it that the Woodbridge school district is being so secretive about it it's going to be known no matter what I don't want you to perceive me as an angry parent that is disgruntled I want you to see me as a parent that is concerned that has lived in this community that has owned a home in this community for years and loves to live here and I value my children's education and I value their safety when they leave the house in the morning I want to know that they're safe okay they're walking you have a responsibility on your shoulders you as a superintendent your assistant superintendent and you as board members elected board members know that the responsibility the safety and care of our children is in your hands when they're in school so why is it that this is not being discussed appropriately and why is it that you Daniel Harris chose those words I need you to rectify that please thank you very much yeah sure I'll I'll turn to you thank you very much I uh you had emailed me I I had responded I'll I'll take a look at my response there was no way I think when I was referring to experimentation it was in the broader sense that that's what children teenagers adults do okay just ma'am just let him finish please I I I didn't want to address your your child I I was concerned I expressed that concern I'm glad they're feeling better and I wasn't trying to be accusatory I was trying to be constructive I've told you all the things we do and how we have responded uh for example the may excuse me April 26 letter that we issued to the district uh Dr mamino and I had discussed uh my response to to your and to you and and if I offended you in any way that was certainly not not my intention I appreciate your uh your passion and your concern for your children as well as all the other children and we will continue to do whatever it takes as a district and and I know we have in addressing any kind of drug usage we certainly don't want it to happen uh as I had pointed out to you in the email and mentioned during tonight's meeting we're installing Vape detectors to try to deter you know another form of uh of legal uh legal drugs so um you know we're doing what we can and I will be happy to continue to to discuss ways in which we could further address that Dr masino you have M Ru I just want to address a couple of the statements you made um number one when you said you talked to the prosecutor's office and they didn't give you a whole lot of evidence I agree with you they didn't give us a lot a whole lot of evidence either and unfortunately for for us to take action in certain Arenas we do need evidence we do need evidence to proceed we also do not comment on active police investigations which is why I called the board attorney and had a discussion with him about how we would interact with the prosecutor's office I wouldn't put any student information whether was someone that had been accused of something or someone had fallen victim to something in a newsletter districtwide that is not something that I would do you never contacted me directly you did not send me an email you did not call me you sent the principal an email on April 15th requesting a meeting with me but you never contacted me directly the email was forwarded to me that Friday when I got the the request from news12 for a comment I had followed up with the principal from school N I never said to you that I didn't know about it what I said to you was I did not know that you wanted to meet with me we have almost 14,000 students I'm not aware of who wants to meet with me which is why my email and my office line are on the publicly accessible website when the email was forwarded to me by the principal and I saw your request and you hadn't reached out I asked the principal did you give her my contact information even though it is publicly available and she said yes she did okay despite you not reaching out I did reach out to you and within hours we had a meeting in my office we called your husband on his cell phone so he could join in as well and I did sit and listen to you I explained to you then I cannot send anything out while there's an active police investigation nor would I be inclined to unless I had evidence or things to go off of I did tell you that we were redoing how we administer medication and that it would be an opportunity of us to talk about some other items specifically in the letter and I'll read this section another pressing issue affecting our community is the ingestion of edible cannabis marijuana by children the following should be considered both a warning and guidance to parents Guardians of the danger of drug Lac products that are being accessed by children edible cannabis has some different risks than smoked cannabis including a greater risk of poisoning with the legalization of cannabis in New Jersey for medical and recreational use the accessibility of these products has increased edible cannabis products often look just like regular candy baked goods and drinks like soda and tea they may contain high levels of THC the psychoactive ingredient cannabis and can lead to dangerous symptoms in children THC poisoning can happen if children get a hold of these products as they may be highly concentrated or contain more than one dose children who eat cannabis Edibles can become very sick and may struggle to walk sit up and breathe normally the New Jersey poison information and education system recommends the following to mitigate the risk of accidental exposure to cannabis products store edible products in Secure locked place out of sight and reach of children and pets limit the amount and number of edible products you have in the house at one time be aware of the potency of the Edibles you have at home and only purchase products containing cannibus from licensed dispensaries should you have any further inquiries please reach out to your healthcare provider the Woodridge health department at 732 8556 or the New Jersey Poison Control Center at 1800222 21222 if you think someone has cons consumed too much cannabis contact the New Jersey Poison Control Center immediately for medical treatment or advice or call 911 for an emergency thank you for your attention to these matters and your commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of our students should you wish to discuss this further please feel free to reach out to your school's respective nurse that was the letter that I said we would send out when we revised the policy I do believe it addresses rather comprehensively the fact that cannabis is readily accessible unfortunately to people that are not of age to get it we talked about what it looks like how it can be mistaken how to store it and then what to happen if there is a a consumption and there is an adverse reaction we don't share specific information about students in district-wide correspondence and I shared that with you I also shared with you that we couldn't take any action against anyone without guidance from the prosecutor's office because their investigation had not been complete and they had not given us any update so there is no action to take against the student that you are alleging gave your child I'm not saying what did or didn't happen I am not the investigator from the prosecutor's office I'm not a law enforcement official I do think it is disingenuous for you to say that I didn't reach out to you I don't reach out to parents there's 14,000 students I reach out to parents when there's an issue I followed up with the building principal to say how are the students doing are they back in school do they need to meet with the counselor because the principles of all our schools have those conversations with their respective stakeholders If the parents would like to speak with me subsequent to that conversation again my information is publicly available and any parent that has reached out to me gets an email a phone call or a meeting back which when I did call you I set up that day so I I want to clarify some of those things I do appreciate you saying that the prosecute office said there was minimal evidence because we received the same and I do need that evidence to take any formal action against any student regardless of such I would never publicize any student scenario or student name because I wouldn't violate that confidentiality I would lose my job if I did so I sent out the letter that I told you I would sent out and included as much information that was pertinent to the concern that we both share as does everybody up here regarding the availability and accessibility of cannabis and unfortunately the times where students are going to consume cannabis as they unfortunately do other Controlled Substances you want you want an assurance that it won't happen again I cannot search nor would I legally be able to every student's belongings every day I I don't know of a school district that does do that we try to educate our students we try to educate our parents we try to share the relevant information the news2 ran and said many of the same things that we included in our letter I understand you're upset and I told you in my office I do have two children and I would feel the same way regarding my concern if they ingested something and they got sick but I also told you I have to wait for the prosecutor's office to give me direct information before I can take any formal action against anyone I'm not sure what you're asking me to do beyond all of the steps we have taken and we will continue to take I told you about the counselor we counselors we have added to every Middle School we talked about the Dare program in my budget presentation I talked about how this year we I brought in and the board had the vision to to discuss it with me collaborate and support it a supervisor of counseling services so that things like bullying and things like uh elicit drug consumption could be addressed so we do take it very seriously and we do take all the proactive measures we can the reality is we can't search every kid every day and all of their items we cannot for any for any any of that I I don't know if there's a if you have a different suggestion that I can legally employ like I said to you my office I'm all ears I told you I would include it in the letter and I did I'm not sure what other communication you're looking for and I and I say that honestly I too have lived in this town my whole life and I too take great pride in this in keeping students safe so any presumption otherwise is insulting what do I do I do a lot and I have a lot of conversations there are legal constraints regarding searching students I cannot go through every student's lunch bag that is not something I can do if I did I would have a room full of people with attorneys suing me and I would probably be out of a job very shortly we are taking all of the legal measures we can to be proactive and unfortunately sometimes we are also reactive we're doing the best we can to educate our students and our parents because I do believe it takes a village and it is an it's an exceptionally unfortunate incident and I shared that with you and I said to you I my heart goes to you and I'm sorry that you had to experience I did say those things to you so to paint me as someone who didn't respond to you when you didn't reach out to me is is not accurate you never reached out to me when I became aware of your desire to meet with me my first question was why didn't she email me because she knew how to email news12 and email everyone else and my email is right on the website it's on every letter I send so I don't know why you didn't reach out to me directly I would have been happy to have the conversation whenever you would have liked but I don't know that you want to talk to me unless you tell me that when I did find out I called you and said when are you available today by all means please come in can I call my husband by all means man please put him on the phone I I want him to be part of this conversation and I apologize for any shortcoming from the principal to the nurse or any anything else because you were upset and and you deserved an apology for simply the issue happening the reality is we we don't have any factual evidence provided by the prosecutor's office that it was given in school that does not exist so I can work on all of the things that I can work on but I do need the evidence to take certain formal action and I do have to continue to operate within the eyes of the law and our policies and regulations moving forward if there is a concern I would ask as I tell all parents reach out to the principal or reach out to me my information is available thank you excuse me ma'am your time your time your time's expired thank [Music] you okay is there a need for well I don't need to cover that anybody else wishing speak yeah uh good evening and Namaste everyone uh my name is sugandha Ganesh and I'm resident of fors uh today I'm representing Hindu swok s HSS has been collaborating with Woodbridge Township for last few years we thank everyone for that the month of May being teachers appreciation month HSS would like to thank all the board members members teachers Educators uh coaches and all the awesome staff which supports our school district in Hindu culture gurus have highest regard the word guru has two syllables goo and Ru guo means darkness and Ru means REM so on behalf of HSS I bow down to all the gurus who remove the darkness of ignorance with the light of knowledge and wisdom Namaste and thank you thank you thank you thank you very much chair will entertain a motion to adjourn second all right I have a motion by I think I heard Jenny and uh seconded by Mr delao all in favor I any opposed carried have a good night everybody we'll see you in June [Music]