##VIDEO ID:rg_mtn3ZzY8## e e evening everyone and welcome to the the Board of Education meeting uh we started at 7 o'clock had to a close executive session and now next item on the agenda is the superintendent report Mr beers okay so i' I'd like to ask the board and and everyone in the audience to P please join me in um in honoring Jacqueline Hurley uh from Eisenhower Intermediate School who's one of our teachers who's named the one of the New Jersey does exemplary Educators for [Applause] 2024 okay Mrs Hurley is one of 160 teachers throughout New Jersey to receive this award she's a Bridgewater native graduated from Bridgewater riton High School in 2001 I'm feeling really old right now um and she attended Bridgewater schools from prek all the way through high school she's in her 19th year at Eisenhower school where she teaches fifth grade math uh science and social studies um and and she was also named the Governor's educator of the Year Award winner for Eisenhower during the 2023 24 school year so again uh Jacqueline congratulations on receiving another award and being an excellent representative for the Bridgewater Ron Regional School District and I ask everyone to join me in a round of applause Mr thank you than you appreciate so now can we all go downstairs for a photo in front of the logo let's doing e e e e e e e e e e okay thank you for your patience everyone so it as we know this is our last Board of Education meeting of 2024 and I think it's it's always a good time to to take a step back look at the things we've accomplished as a group and as a district and and also you know uh not shy away from from what's coming up in 202 a as I've said over and over I think this board of education this community our faculty staff administrators have quite a bit to be to be proud of a as we review what transpired into 2024 so if you just bear with me I'm going to take a few minutes to go through some of the the major areas of accomplishment and what we're looking forward to in the future so if we recall we finished 2023 with completion of our district climate survey in 2024 is really when we analyze the results all right and provided feedback to our faculty our staff our administrators and the Board of Education received a report of as well last December uh on the results of this climate survey in turn we use this data to set building goals and really do what we can moving forward to to improve the climate in each and every school in our district and one of the one of the benefits of the New Jersey Sky program and New Jersey Sky platform is that this data could be aggregated by school so it wasn't just one District districtwide survey we can actually look at that that data on a school by school basis yeah we kicked off 20124 with our strategic planning on three separate occasions February 6th the 29th and March 6th we all met to determine a path forward for the school uh and for the I shouldn't say the school the district as a whole and we felt that this was an important Endeavor because we had just passed a a massive referendum the district was moving in in uh in in a different direction and it was really our opportunity to take feedback from our our stakeholders and use that to to set goals as an organization I've got links on the presentation which I'll I'll share with everyone following this um our strategic plan which is easily found on on the uh website and the presentation that we gave um gosh six months ago and and once more this this whole process really helped us with our goal setting goal setting process for 2024 2025 school year and just to to reiterate some of the some of those goals that we set to create a culture emphasizing student achievement diversity and inclusion to provide opportunities that enable students to become active citizens and contributing members of society and and we want to really move away and we're working towards moving away from a deficit deficit model and what that means is as follows uh if we we have students from all walks of life and and we'll use a primary example of ESL students who may come from various parts of the globe we need to look at students for the value they bring right and for the talents they have being that they're bilingual instead of any deficits they may have at the given moment so we've got to really look at the full potential of all students within our our within our classrooms another goal was financing facilities and creating an opt optimal learning environment for our students will create a culture of Pride ownership and accountability in our facilities we're moving towards that as we know the referendum 2023 is a $155 million project that's going to take between four and five years to to complete every project on the list but as we'll see tonight on the agenda agenda we've got quite a few things going on and there's more coming up in in 2025 going back to climate and culture one of our goals was to develop support and cultivate the whole child and diverse nature of our district by enhancing a cohesive and supportive learning environment that means celebrating the achievements of our students identifying the strengths and areas of improvement related to students well-being and Foster an environment that is safe and welcoming for everybody body that's always a work in progress but I I believe we've made great strides in this in a short amount of time and then finally our fourth goal was based on Comm Communications community outreach and engagement to enhance our Communications with the community devel develop Partnerships with local businesses and organizations to benefit our students and parents things we've completed thus far is changing over our website utilizing social media more effectively I want to commend Mr Moran and and uh some of his uh students who are involved with the prowler who have really helped us get the message out to the community about the great things that are going on at Bridgewater Raritan so we should know that that the way we manage Communications isn't just through our platforms but Bruce and his students are in constant communication with other media organizations whether it's the patch The Courier News Etc and it it's really come a long way in highlighting the great things that are going on on in our school district in program updates uh Miss Jones and and her departments have been busy as they always are in updating curriculum and making sure that we are current with our programming for students and and there's quite a bit here we see that they've implemented the ELA and math standards K to2 that was a new initiative from the state of New Jersey Intervention Program adjustments and resources have been have been monitored adjusted to to provide the the greatest level of service to our students we're actively planning for full day kindergarten to the point where we are developing schedules to really plan out what that full day is going to look like primary and intermediate schedules have been restructured and we've expanded dual enrollment opportunities for students at the high school level to earn college credits uh at the High school there are career con concentrations that are in year two and we've expanded opportunities K through 12 for gifted and talented and advanced classes we have more kids participating in gifted and talented um um activities on a percentage basis than we have in two decades and I just say two decades because we don't have data before then social social emotional and student wellness we've implemented uh consistent character education program for K to K to 5 partnering with Empower Somerset uh for suicide prevention uh providing loss and grief specialist training we we've implemented a freshman transition program to support the academic and social uh emotional needs and we're providing professional development for staff on all of these on all of these uh these topics some of the highlights for student achievement we've seen our graduation rate had an an enormous uptick in the past year and that's due to the work and and the programs that we initiated at the high school level AP participation uh Mr marielo in his uh testing report uh showed the public the increase that we've had in participation uh especially for the 2024-25 school year AP scores were excellent we had a 94% uh passing rate meaning a three or above on on those examinations SAT scores in Bridgewater Raritan bumped up after the pandemic where a lot of places tracked in the other direction participation in the Performing Arts is a very important one as well um some difficult program I shouldn't say difficult some some programming changes were initiated two years ago that had some backlash and we said all along the goal of this is to get more kids involved and alas guess what happened more kids are involved especially at the the younger levels when we look at four five and six so participation has gone up significantly and we continue to make progress on njsla finances this past year we were able to navigate our finances with a 2% uh tax levy cap and we should know this is incredibly challenging where you're Capp at 2% in in the age of uh an inflationary cycle so it's really kudos to the business department the administrators teachers everyone involved Board of Education um for developing a budget that provides all the resources that are necessary for our students in challenging Economic Times so and and and I'll say over and over this board has done a tremendous job with the transparency involved in creating our budget we we're governed by Statute as far as when we have public hearings and and when things are approved and the information is readily shared with the public and is easily accessible on our website as far as finances as well managing the referendum it this is a $155 million project and it really takes a team to to make sure that these tax dollars are spent wisely and efficiently and effectively and and I'm happy to report report out that currently we are on budget we we've had to change some things around to put some things out for rebid from time to time but the team is working hard to keep us on budget and on target to complete these projects in the time allotted and this all this improves the the learning environments throughout the district because we know the main goal is to provide effective resources and learning environments for 8,000 students on a daily basis as I said with the referendum looking forward tonight we are going to approve the the uh bid contract for the auditorium and I've got a few renderings that that are up on these slides so they're not they're going to uh replace the chairs the carpet really renovate the the whole area plus fix the outside of the uh of the auditorium because I don't know about you guys but whenever I go there it's always a little bit confusing as far as what door you use and when you see folks come in looking for a performance you actually see them going to different doors so we're going to try to delineate exactly where the main entrance to the auditorium is restrooms phase two that's also going to be approved this evening Eisenhower and Hillside are going to get uh restroom updates phase two of the basalone uh complex will be brought in front of the Board of Education in January or February again Windows Phase 2 is in the planning field phase uh HVAC Phase 2 is in the planning phase kindergarten classroom Renovations will be put out to bid and the Bradley Gardens addition will be put out as well so there's quite a bit going on you know for projects in the next year then Safety and Security is something that we continue to to to uh Advance on and and we continually continually take a look at our operation and see how we can do things better we know that nothing in this world is foolproof but this year the Board of Education I I I'm pleased with the fact that that we voted to expand our security team we we have excellent collaboration with riton burrow and Bridgewater Township especially with our two SRO who are stationed at the high school this is a photo of the secure vestibules that were placed throughout 10 of the 11 schools um throughout our our uh District we've updated our camera systems visitor access systems and and it's under Safety and Security but it's also student conduct one of the one of the major undertakings of school administration the board ofed and me was to really look at our our code of conduct and set those high expectations on how people should behave in a school setting and by having those clear expectations I I do believe I I don't want to report incorrect information but there has been a substantial drop in in uh uh negative incidents throughout the district so we're going to have hard data on that at the end of January once we hit the Midway point but but right now the feedback from the schools is overwhelmingly positive that we set clear standards of conduct we made it clear that there are certain behaviors we are absolutely not going to tolerate and students have responded and then finally the with one and all um you know it's always important and the board and Community have been behind this where if this is our motto we have to make sure we do it and we've added Unified sports programs all three seasons the bright program which is our alternative school at the high school which now has two sections we went through the data today we're looking at 20 plus students all right and and these kids are succeeding in high school school where they were on on the path to not succeed in high school so again we've got to remember that I say it over and over every student has a mountain a climb and the view may be different from the top but that doesn't mean that they didn't have the same challenges and and and the same uh and the same effort to to get from A to B student learning Labs it's another out of- class support for students who are struggling this is at the high school level if they're failing a class we can get them to help whether it's through tutoring or or uh other supports to make sure they're successful as we said these are part of the interventions and supports we have K to 12 uh we've worked tirelessly to put in programs for mental health andal and I've got to say over and over again our graduation rates are are significantly higher I said a 3% rise in the graduation rate and when you're graduating a class of 700 students means that that's 20 kids who would not have graduated who are now walking down that uh walking across that that uh Podium so finally looking ahead to 2025 and what are the challenges um we could have a a challenging budget season in 2024 Governor Murphy and the state have have come out and said that the state coffers really aren't what they hoped they would be and uh the messages that they're putting out towards schools is to not count on additional Aid and even prepare for cuts so it could be a challenge other challenges is that we're we're opening our kindergarten pilot in 2025 both at Adamsville and JFK we're opening our sixth grade Wing um in 2026 so we've got construction and grade shifts K to3 four to five and 6 through eight and also this year we're having our transportation analysis so there is quite a bit going on in the district there's a lot to be proud of there's a lot to be happy about and there's a lot to look forward to and and once more I want to thank the teachers the staff the administrators central office and the Board of Education um for really re remaining committed um to this Mission uh of reimagining the Bridgewater Ron Regional School District and finally couple things we want to continue our focus on educational excellence and equity and I say over and over you're probably tired of hearing it Equity to us means this that no matter what school you enter in kindig Garten no matter where you're from no matter what your circumstance that you have the same opportunity as a kid on the other side of town so we want to make sure that things are Equitable and that opportunity is the same for all kids and look I I I want to commend the tireless work of a lot of people in this organization um we've got a group of folks who don't complain they grind every day they get things done and uh sometimes I'm tired at looking at this list but I I'll end today with with a quote from uh you know big influencer David Goggins who says you know you don't quit when you're tired you quit when you're done and we're not done there's a lot to do here so thank you and let's have a great 2025 thank you Mr beers for that summary um do you want to take any questions or new business I'll question anybody have any questions or want to follow up on that right seeing them we're next on this student report young ladies here good evening so first I wanted to talk about M super attentive beers you talked about the social media increase across the district and I would like to say anecdotally I do feel is working our new college counselor Miss Kaiser has an Instagram page and I heard from a lot of peers um they were hearing about some schools coming to visit from her Instagram and I personally learned from her Instagram as well so that's been very helpful speaking of college applications a lot of the seniors are going to get their early decision early actions um back this week in the coming weeks we also had a student who was recently admitted through questbridge and another one who was awarded the naval RC Marine corpse scholarship so that was exciting for our clubs at this school maldi un just had their parents night where they could have parents come in and talk um a little bit about what the club is so they feel a little safer with their kids going we did an alumni meeting to get the kids really excited about where this club can take them in the future and what they can do with the skills they learn and we're also preparing for a home conference in January the academic league has just won won their first competition against Somerville and the mathletes have have a competition tomorrow at the school where they're inviting a bunch of the other schools from around the area to compete as well and uh like superintendent beerus mentioned the prowler we had our quillin scroll journalism Honor Society induction ceremony it was first charted in the 80s but we just revived it this year so we're hoping we get um a lot more kids excited about being in this society and expand it to other journalism at the school our theater department just put on their fall play some of you might heard they did radium girls there was really good turnout a lot of people enjoyed it and they thought it was both entertaining and important because it was such a Monumental story in New Jersey's history that happened up north and the theater department has already announced auditions for their spring Musical and finally some updates on our music department the Winter concert for the choir is this coming Monday and they're going to be singing a bunch of Multicultural holiday music with a senior solo celloist to company and as some of you might know today was the winter orchestra concert um in addition um winter sports started two weeks ago they had like two weeks Break um including swimming bowling and um bowling had has a new coach Miss k kusol um winter track basketball ice hockey who actually beat Central last week for the first time in 10 years um and wrestling and um as Mr beers mentioned in his presentation the high school implemented a new freshman transition program and the BR ambassadors are one part of them uh the ambassadors are a group of Juniors and seniors who go into freshman Health classes like once a cycle um to kind of Mentor the students about high school and help them like transition um I think my friend who's a part of this um program she talked about procrastination um in our last um meeting I guess in her last class and how like to combat it how to like you know work around it so yeah and the program has been going really well and it has been generally well received and is very effective um last Wednesday our high school's college and career counselor Miss Kaiser gave the junior parents information about the college process she said that um the parents were instructed on how to start the college search process factors to consider and ultimately helping their child find a college that is a good fit for them um it was held in the large cafeteria and was recorded for those who missed it and in the past the parent uh the junior parent nights um are in uh the junior parent night is in the springtime um but moving it up was especially effective like moving it up to now um because more and more students are applying early action and early decision to colleges and I believe Mr hamburger said it was about like 60% of students this year so it's really helpful for them to help like get started earlier and thinking about it um and lastly to kick off the holiday season the high school sponsored the giving Tree Project a nonprofit organization that supports children in foster care by fulfilling their holiday wish lists um it arrived at the high school on November 21st and will remain until December 18th and student and staff are encouraged to select a tag from the tree um and purchase like the crusted items which a lot of the times are like um Essentials like clothing and like um other stuff like that um and miss schy the uh librarian and the organizer said that every year I never have a tag that's not taken and um it really shows how good and giving the people are here um which I thought was really heartwarming So yeah thank you um any questions do you guys have any questions for well thank you guys for coming you're more than welcome to stay if you'd like but feel free to leave dep part uh wish you all happy holidays to you and enjoy the winter break relax and um any early actions coming next week two days all right good luck on everything ladies you know you you did a good job and you know you you put it out there good luck so thank you good luck you're doing a great job and I I hope you you have a restful holiday break because it's well deserved thank you thank you thank you um so next up is the present support I just have one thing to talk about this evening we have a board member not returning next year um Miss Freelander so um we have some some things for him and let her um embarrass her maybe I don't know um I would like to express the board's sincere gratitude to you Stacy for your dedicated service to our district your commit to providing our students with a quality education and truly aspiring your hard work insightful decisions unwavering support have have made such a sign impact um we're incredibly fortunate you have we've had you as a member of the school board and we wish you the best in all your future endeavors I'm sure you will not be gone from us so we'll see and here for you we also have some special things for you so um Jen has some but on you get a plaque recognizing yeah we can go out there recognizing your service don't trip over that years [Applause] Stacey okay I promise Barry I would be short um so good evening everyone superintendent beers administrators fellow board members guests um as we sit here tonight reflecting on the past three years I'm struck by how transformative this journey has been not just for me but I believe for the students and families we serve 10 years ago I never imagined this moment back then I was just a parent teacher and a passionate Advocate working tirelessly to ensure our youngest Learners had access to full day kindergarten and all of its benefits became a priority in our elementary schools I advocated for the kindergartener struggling to find their footing whose potential just needed the right foundation to flourish I spent many years meeting with superintendents and admin trators working not only towards full day kindergarten but also advocating for character education programs I built relationships within the district ones that I still have today it was this work as an advocate that enabled me to find the footing to run for the Board of Education fast forward to today I'm humbled beyond measure to have spent these last three years sitting on this board advocating for the very same students who inspired me all those years ago this role has been more than a responsibility it is a privilege and an honor nothing has made me prouder than being a voice for our children and families ensuring their needs hopes and dreams remain at the heart of every decision we make being a part of the full day kindergarten referendum was the biggest part of my mission I know I can walk away knowing I did what I said I was coming to do and I'm so proud of this entire board the past three years have reaffirmed my belief that when we Unite with purpose when we choose to listen and to lead with empathy we create a district that not only educates its students but uplifts them and as I think about the road ahead I know the work we've done together has planted seeds that will continue to grow I'd like to encourage other parents and members of this community to consider running in the future many out there have spoken up in so many ways and are true Advocates their voices are much needed now and in the future however I know in these times politics has discouraged many from taking this step I'd like to remind those people that I was subject to the same when I ran but when you know you are in it for the right reasons and you know that your moral compass guides you to the things that are important it is impossible to drown out the voices of those who seek to destroy the good work of this amazing District Rosa Parks once said you must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right I hope to see more people step up in the future and I ask the community to to continue to reject politics in the Board of Education campaigns always thank you to each of you for your dedication you bring to this table and thank you for allowing me to be part of this meaningful Journey it has been without question one of the greatest honors of my [Applause] life I'm going to ask for all the comments Dan if you don't mind if can we can continue if you if you're okay with that thank you Stacy that was lovely um moving forward we have the committee reports the academic committee Mr Joshy great speech Stacy uh the committee met on December 5th at 5:30 in attendance were myself miss kalist Mr Pepe Miss Jones Miss Maia Mr Morello and Mr beers the first item on the agenda was review of uh curriculum text textbook list the committee reviewed the district's approved textbook list which is done annually and there were no questions item two was change in high school social studies sequence Miss Jones explained a change in the sequencing of high school social studies courses which will begin in September 2025 students will take us one in n9th grade the academic or the honors portion which will allow students to move forward uh move from honors to APUSH which is apus history Us 2 in 10th Grade the district will also introduce AP World for the class of 2029 which isn't currently offered finally AP human Human Geography will be offered next school year as an elective and this was um widely discussed during the uh strategic planning this came up a lot so we will have geography uh textbooks will be piloted in the spring and recommended for September the committee supported this change any questions okay number three instructional schedules for K3 and four four fourth grade and fifth grade Miss Mia reviewed the first iteration of the proposed K through third grade and fourth and fifth grade schedules the goal of the scheduling committee um is to create optimal Master schedules that reflect opportunities for Equitable high quality instruction that meet the needs of students and align with our District's values this includes meeting all mandates such as 150 150 minutes HP and implementing World Language WL and increasing time for science social studies intervention enrichment small group in uh instruction there was feedback from the committee regarding the length of some periods based on feedback from the committee and administrator team schedules are continuing to be revised the next step is sharing possible schedule with staff any questions on that okay item four the BRS brhs Arts education course proposal Mr McCarthy reviewed uh proposed changes for third 3D Visual Arts and two new music electives at the high school the visual arts recommendation is a Rebrand of existing ceramic courses that creates an opportunity for students to explore a wider range of 3D art and design applications semester music electives will increase the accessibility of music education to a wider segment of brhs student body any questions that okay item five was uh Miss Jones provided an update on counseling programs including partnering with Empower Somerset to implement the lifeline suicide prevention program and providing loss and grief specialist training through imagine grief counseling center and it's on our agenda for tonight any questions on that okay our next meeting is to be determined any other questions seeing none we have congratulations Miss kist uh the next meeting is to be determined um Finance facilities and transportation Mr singer we met on December 5th at 5 o'clock in attendance was myself miss suuna miss lochran Mr lumy Mr beerus via telephone Miss Goldman our uh architect and Mr Leto our projects coordinator Construction Construction manager thank you uh up first on the agenda was a discussion of our project updates uh Miss Goldman of solutions architecture and Bob Leto our referendum construction manager thank you uh informed the committee of the three uh five bid openings that took place in the recent weeks uh the five bit openings were for uh electrical upgrades the Bradley Gardens cafeteria Edition the auditorium renovation uh Eisenhower and hellside toilets and HVAC at a number of elementary schools we had a discussion of current projects change orders that uh took place for their following projects Windows project phase one all schools are complete with the exception of adenville and Eisenhower which are expected to be completed in by February the uh secure vestibules projects A and B and the Middle School restrooms and basalone Fieldhouse site work are all substantially completed and in the punchless phase the change or orders needed for secure vbl door thresholds and electrical repair fire alarms for basone projects HVAC projects at Hamilton JFK and Van Holton are expected to be substantially completed over the summer uh with regard to the Grand stands there was a grand the grand project saw delays in receiving the certificate of occupancy uh the discussions took place between the architect and the Department of Community Affairs DCA on the interpretation of the building code requirements for the storage portion of the grand stands and it was determined that a fire alarm installation and removal of a portion of wall panels would satisfy the building code a change order was discussed to address the additional work needed to obtain the Co in the addition of a mesh banner will cover up any open areas that's on the uh tonight's business agenda discussion of two Renovations at the high school uh to convert storage space to a guidance counselor office and renovate an engineering lab classroom are also on today's agenda for uh the architect uh approval of the architect costs the committee supported award bids awarding bids for the High School auditorium renovation and the eisenh and Hillside toilet renovation projects the other bids are going to be rejected and rebid the committee also supported the change orders use of contract allowances uh to and and to engage the architect to design and submit to the Department of Education the two proposed High School Renovations which will be act will be acted upon at tonight's meeting that was a lot are there any questions um on the band stands it was my understanding that the delay was due to codes that were unique to Bridgewater that it wasn't really an oversight that these have been installed in a lot of different places but the codes in Bridgewater were different than than other places is that correct there was definitely a different interpretation but yes that's correct that this is unique to us so as a matter of fact I think that the contractors and and the suppliers of this have said they they've never had to do this before but hey we we work I think it's an example of he we work through what we need to work through and and hindsight's always 2020 and it was one where hey the plans were approved and we were able to go through and construct this but then on final inspection there was a problem and uh likewise it would have been a little less painful if we knew where things were upfront but but look things happen and it's a large construction project and we move on and a bright side uh that mesh band that's going to be on the back is going to be branded so that'll look nice any other questions on that so I have a question about the the codes we actually heard to the state codes and the national codes correct so the Bridgewater codes they're not local codes so we get here to is that correct I just clarify what Jen said and it as Steve said it was the interpretation of the code the the the state and National building codes and our architect spoke to uh uh interpreters on the state and international level okay so thank you next on the agenda was the business agenda review of tonight's business agenda the business administrator revie reviewed the draft action items for tonight's meeting with special attention to the purchases section and the consensus of the committee was to approve the action items any discussion can of course be done during the business agenda portion tonight uh next we talked about a 2024 clean School Bus uh rebate program Mr lumy informed the committee of a federal rebate program available to school districts in which funds can be awarded for the replacement of a diesel powered school bus with an electric powered school bus and the consensus of the committee was to support the rebate submission um we discussed that it doesn't uh it doesn't obligate us to do anything it simply uh if we get that if we win this award uh we can then decide whether or not it's uh worth doing based on the amount of money that is awarded to us but it's a good thing and uh Mr lumy brought us it to our attention and we're very happy that he did any questions on that next we talked about the budget update and calendar for the 2526 school year the Mr lumpy shared anticipated revenues for the 2526 budget and reviewed the structur structural budget issues that are typical of all districts working Within in a 2% budget cap expect the exceptions to exceeding the 2% uh tax levy cap were also discussed the uh committee recommendation is that the state aid expected to be received at the end of Feb well right not a recommendation state aid information is expected to be received at the end of February and the tentative budget will be reviewed at the March meeting any questions we then discuss the we organiz ation date Mr lsky discussed the changing of the reorganization date from January 2nd to January 7th and then other matters the committee welcomed Mr lumy as our new business administrator to the district and offered their assistance should it be needed we adjourned at 650m and our next uh committee meeting like all the others are TBD um one question I forgot to ask before sorry the um the federal rebate program for um the replacement of diesel powered school buses how long does that go for is that one year basis or you can over as of now the deadline is January and that's the last one that we know of any other questions just checking um leaz onelic reports oh personel I'm sorry person as Freelander oops I skipped you well it's okay um the Personnel committee will be meeting again in January after reorganization thank you Le and Del reports anybody have any okay um I I would like to report something uh so um on November the 14th uh at the Town council meeting there was a proclamation issued to I Lata for um honoring the life and service of him um Emil was the crossing guard for B two decades and per the proclamations language am um selfly selflessly protected and guarded our community's children enduring calling them my kids and ensuring safety passage of count students at Manon school and he was uh loved and uh known as grandfather of Sony Brook um Amo passed away on June 20 June 12 2024 he will be dearly missed and uh remembered the cross uh that he had guarded was named uh amil's Crossing at this Proclamation I want to say thank you to Amil amil's family and the community members like Amil for the support of our schools and kids anybody else yes I have uh two two updates uh this Saturday uh was the semiannual delegate assembly for the NJ SBA um there were 75 districts in attendance um there were uh a couple of things that uh delegates were asked to pass along to their boards the first is that uh new member board uh new member or or inperson orientation uh a weekend long conference will be held on January 24th through the 26th and February 21st through the 23rd and register it's a great program uh and it is free for board members uh who are new and registration for that is always goes fast and opens on January 2nd so if there are any new board members who happen to be out the audience uh you definitely uh take advantage of of that um also one of the things they asked us to bring back to the board was a reminder that there is a connections platform as part of the njsba website essentially a message board to interact with other uh boards and other board members from across the state um there's a lot of conversations that um mirror what's happening uh in boards like ours um so it's a good place to go to ask questions or to get feedback or thoughts on to how uh districts and individual board members are approaching some of these issues um so there's one main uh Forum essentially and they are uh about to be rolling out two new ones specific to questions for new board members and a platform specific for board presidents and board leaders uh so that is on the njsb website with your login and I encourage everyone to check that out whether you participate or uh just go ahead and read that there were seven uh resolutions considered uh six of them were passed on topics from um uh increasing Financial wealth education uh excusing absences for uh military enlistment kids who are going uh to the to the military to make sure that they have the days off they need to go and uh complete their enlistment and go through that process uh changing the bylaws to try to get resolutions out to boards a little bit sooner uh there was also a lot of discussion about a that did pass uh about a resolution to consider how to move forward with the open public meetings act considering that very that at least The Ledger and a number of other print media are going away in the very near future and it's anticipated that who knows if there will be any in the next uh few years uh so again these were all resolutions for things that the njsba will be advocating for at the state level there was also a um resolution passed on involving school districts in in Pilot discussions when towns uh are considering passing Pilots which leads me into my rared and burrow uh liaison report uh last at their last uh at at the last two board meetings of the r and burough Council not board meetings Council meetings there were a there was a res there was an ordinance introduced to introduce a pilot program uh relating to the Redevelopment of the raran mall uh even though it hasn't gone through the full process it is expected uh pending the a few meetings of the planning board that a 275 unit or so apartment uh will will go up um also be some retail space and that will include um um lower income housing and um at their next meeting it's expected that there will be uh uh agenda item for final passage of that pilot project um just putting that out to the board Mike do you want to explain what a pilot is because I mean we're not flying a plane here right it's not you're not piloting a plan so so pilot as I understand it is a feel free to correct me is payment in Le of taxes so when there's an area that is in need of designated and there are criteria from the state as being in need of Redevelopment it's not necessarily advantageous for a developer to go in and redevelop that without um there's a good chance they won't make back their their money when you consider uh if they're paying the market rate for property tax so you can go in uh again following a bunch of criteria from the state that I don't completely understand and you can set a portion of your profits or a portion of the entire project costs paid to the municipality and a little bit to the county over the course of time usually around 20 to 30 years so it locks in a consistent payment for the developer so they can which encourages them to uh complete the project and reinvigorate the economy in a certain section of a town or a certain area how how was that well what did you leave out there well the well one of the things is that the the money goes as I said to the um municipality and little bit to the county but the schools are not automatically um a part of that so I'm not sure I know in limited cases there have been instances where districts have negotiated um portion of that to go towards the schools whether in a one-time payment or for a specific thing uh specific item that they're interested in acquiring or you know like a playground or a I think U I think Warren Township got some printers out of a pilot deal that went through um as far as I know I've not seen the the potential pilot agreement as far as I know it does not include anything for our school district um but I would be happy to uh look into it with the district's help and this board's help because there does while in while these units are not expected to bring in a large number of students certainly there are almost certain to be some exactly and and one of the suggestions that I'll have for the board and and it depends on board leadership and how how the whole unit wants to to go is that we we need to take a look at the community relations committee that we currently have and really get people on board for that committee where instead of what we've done previously to really go and say hey let's let's develop these contacts let's develop these relationships with our municipalities so at least we can begin having the discussions on what the potential impact is on these projects the difficulty right is even the the project in ritin I mean what are we talking five years until it shovels in the ground right there's environmental remediation there are all these things so it's difficult to really argue the hypothetical but where it did districts have been successful in negotiating with communities is is when they say look we've we've built x amount of homes in the in this pilot program and we are we're gaining let's just I'm throwing a number at 100 students look this is the cost of those 100 students is there any way that we can we can do that and some districts like East bronswick have have been able to to do that um now nothing's foolproof or what have you but I but I think it would really be uh something that's positive if as a as a board we had members and and at least we have those conversations as we're going as they're going on because look the municipalities uh they have a challenge as well where they have to the fourth round of affordable housing came out and they have to produce x amount of units to be in compliance with that statute and that's not easy as well and we know the the uh the ratio a lot of times when people build housing units it's either 8020 or 90 to 10 to make sure that the numbers work out so the builders will do the project and make a profit so anyhow I mean it's to be continued right but I don't know what anyone's thoughts are and going back to your report in the delegate assembly there was a resolution the passed in the delegate assembling to go in the policy book to Advocate that the school boards get a a a some negotiation on the pilot committee correct that passed am I correct yes that did pass Pretty solidly I think it was one of the more overwhelming passes of the uh 3% you get there of the morning and they're also bills working their way through the legislature um to that through through the state legislature to that effect as well now those bills may have may come up every year that I'm not sure about but there does seem to be a push towards at the very least involving the school district if in the conversations if not necessarily giving them a a final set yeah I mean and that's I think and it's so in this conversation we're not alone in this conversation it was numerous districts that have you know referenced it I think um what was that where was that one from Mike do you know that came from I believe it was uh Verona in Essex County so Essex County so what's happening in Essex happening in Union it's happening in Somerset and it happened here there there was a this board in 2019 I believe passed a resolution um advocating for again not demanding a say but just wanting to be part of the conversation with the with with rid and brigewater um I'm not sure of those conversations happened it was sort of right up against uh the global pandemic so that's understandable but um might be good to look go back and see if there are any conversations that have happened before and if there's any uh way to maybe restart some of them for the benefit of of everybody great so uh Mr beers thank you for that idea I think it's a good uh good good step forward in in General and also if there are more of these moving forward any other delegate L on reports all right seeing none item 10 approval the mins approve is there a motion to approve the mins of the November 12th meeting of the regular session of the Board of Education I forgot about that yes sorry about that excuse me open to the public individuals Ander groups are invited to present their concerns comments and requests regarding the the following action items the board of education at this time in accordance with board policy member of the Public Public is allotted one opportunity to address the board for a maximum of five minutes during this per period of the meeting please be advised that a video recording of this meeting will be post on the district's website all right seeing none item 11 on the agenda approval of minutes of the November 12th regular session meeting of the board of education is there a motion is there a second any discussion seeing none can do a just voice that all those in favor all those opposed motion it's approved action items Personnel 25-14 through 25 through 15 is there a motion is there a second second is there any discussion seeing none k please miss freedlander yes Miss Huna yes Mr josi yes Mr singer obain Miss Lee yes Mr Pepe uh abstain on Personnel 2515 and yes on Personnel 2514 Miss kri yes Miss lockran yes Mr Walker yes motion carries passed yeah passed thank you curriculum 25-37 through curriculum 25-41 is there a motion second Miss redlander is there any discussion you beat me to yes sorry was there any discussion see on Jeff Kevin can you call the r please misser miss Asuna yes Mr josi yes Mr singer yes Miss Lee yes Mr Pepe yes Miss kry yes Miss lockran yes Mr Walker yes U motion Carri business 2566 through business 25- 84 is there a motion so moved second any discussion I'd like to to thank the AIL Crim Hamilton Hillside schools we're forgetting the from the Sam Simon Hillside student grant for $500 uh the van Holton PTO the van Hol PTO and the bridge middle school PTO for their donations we appreciate it and I I thank you for helping to impact our students learning any other discussion see n Kevin call the rule please miss Fred ler oh wait do you have a question oh Luc oh sorry I didn't see it we're here you uh um this is uh 2580 uh I think uh it's in our um Go notes and in the committee report mentioning a portion of that fund comes from the uh allowance I wonder like uh uh what's the other portion that would be come from 258 okay oh there is yes um so I was trying to ask um from the committee report and from the uh gold notes that uh were reading uh there was a uh um explanation of what the the this this uh allowance would would cover part of that and I didn't see like if there's a area that mentioned 2580 there's no is a bid so the allowance that you're talking about uh part of that is for well we're using the allowance for um the the grand stands right is the question on the grand stands or the Middle School addition uh let me see I have to look at my notes but I I think Steve knows what I'm talking about or is it 279 um if it's the grand stands then it's um part of its use of allowance and then the access which I believe is a few thousand doll is over budget okay over the use of allowance so it's a true change order so that would come from trange V from uh I just want to understand the process how that might eventually work out we uh how how does that change of order work out eventually so that's under 2570 right now the Fieldhouse Renovations that's what that is and then under Nickerson it says Grand stance that's the change order and then the arrest is the allowance okay so looks like you have all figured that out in the committee and we the committee was informed of the change orders and the allowances okay all right that's my question thank you any more questions see n Kevin K roll please miss Fred Lander yes Miss Asuna yes Mr josi yes Mr singer yes Miss Lee yes Mr Pepe yes Miss kri yes Miss lockran yes Mr Walker yes motion carries special Services 20 25-16 is there a motion so MO is there a second second second any discussion if so might have to be done close session any discussion see none Kevin cover roll please miss freedlander yes Miss Huna yes Mr josi yes Mr singer yes Miss Lee yes Mr Pepe yes Miss K Street yes the Walker yes motion carries other 25-17 through other 25-18 motion is there a second second any discussion this would have to be done in close session if there is seeing none Kevin you call the RO please miss freedlander yes Miss Asuna yes Mr Ji yes Mr singer yes on other 257 no on other 2518 Miss Lee yes Mr Pepe yes Miss Street yes Miss Locker uh abstain on 257 no to 2518 Mr Walker yes motion carries policy 25-10 is there a motion so so moved second any discussion I want to make a comment not the discussion um I want to thank the district for uh making exchange to this policy I think it will be a welcoming um and inclusive um practice for our homeschool communities thank you any other questions or comments seeing none Mr lomsky can you call the role please miss freedlander yes Miss Huna yes Mr josi yes Mr singer yes Miss Lee yes Mr Pepe yes Miss kri yes Miss lockring yes Mr Walker yes motion carries now we're up to the second open public comment area individuals Ander groups are invited to present their concerns comments and requests to the board of education at this time for any matter in accordance with board policy members of the public are allotted one opportunity to address the board for a maximum of five minutes during this period of the meeting please be advised that a video recording of this meeting will be posted on District's website please state in name and town where you're from and you should sign in also thank you all right okay yeah uh good evening um my name is James arario I um live in Bridgewater in the Bradley garden section um my concern here is what you briefly touched upon and that's Transportation analysis um I live on a corner that over the years has become a lot more congested and a lot more active um my wife and I have raised concerns to the transportation um transportation coordin coordinator um and quite frankly if if we don't follow up there's no follow through right we we don't get any emails back unless we email that them um and the reality is we were requiring we were requiring busing for our our children there is a street there at Brahma Avenue that has no sidewalks in fact a lot of the if anybody's from Bradley Gardens or not a lot of the streets there do not have sidewalks or there's sidewalks on maybe only one side of the street uh nevertheless constantly all we do in the morning or in the afternoon is see children walking down this street um you know with no sidewalk um we live on the corner and across the street from us is is a sidewalk however there's no crosswalk there is no sign that children may be Crossing there's no crossing guard um they said that for my children to walk to school they would have to basically jwalk you know from my driveway to another person's driveway um and then again across that same street um at a later point to reach another sidewalk to then go all the way around and walk to the back of the school take go very a long time but it's never here or less it's really the it's the safety that I'm concerned with um and so after we reached out they had said that okay well this is a longstanding you know historical uh mapping for busing we asked for them to raise it they did they sent the the police out police came you know Bridgewater Police Department came out they took a look they agreed with us that a lot has changed in the neighborhood um Sycamore Avenue is a main ottery to get to 202 now from the back way a lot of people go that way um and to be polite about it um people you know they drive slightly fast there all right which is being very kind right um there's no like I said no stop signs or anything like that no even painted lines on the on the street that would indicate anybody would be Crossing um so the the police completely agreed with it they wrote a report and sent it back um and then I waited weeks wife reached back out um and they had said oh well now we need to get the township engineer involved like okay and then I I just sent them an email asking okay can you just like can you just lay out the timeline for us like like what's comes after the engineer like what what's our just to set our expectations kind of got no no response at all um that was and I have the email Communications here that was on um okay the fact that were going to reach out Bridgewater Township engineer was on October 9th this all started in the beginning of September obviously the beginning of school year um so on October 9th they said they were going to reach out to the engineer just to see their thoughts um which we you know thank them for and then that was October 9th I followed up with an email on November 22nd because I didn't hear anything since then um you know just kind of know voicing you know explaining my concern obviously like the whole way um and then that was November 22nd the response I got was on November 26th and at that point they said oh I just you know reached out to the engineer so month and a half went by no engineer was contacted um and it's just indicative of everything that we've been dealing with if I if we don't follow up there's no follow through like I won't hear like if I don't if I don't follow up now and that was November 26 if we don't send an email again we won't hear from it and it's just it's just it's frustrating I know a lot has changed in the neighborhood and I just don't want us to wait for something bad to happen to a child before we take action that's really my piece and looking for any help that I can get know leveraging anything that you guys can do to you know get some kind of movement or communication here um like I said the police department agrees with us that things have changed and anybody that's driven over there knows exactly what I'm talking about thank you thank you thank you thanks hi my name is Laura Crest I'm the president of the Bridgewater R and education associate iation and um I know that when we have celebrations the people run out of here because you know does anybody really want to sit in no so um so anyway I wanted to congratulate Jackie I also uh wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season have a nice break um looking forward to next year um I'm think I'm looking forward to negotiations it'll be my last one so I I am looking forward I I feel like we um you know we've built a relationship with over the last few years and though we may not agree on anything every no not anything whoa every every right oh okay that we may not agree on everything I think that we at least respect each other and uh so I'm looking forward to uh working together on that and uh you know we have little change happening here with the board so you know we'll see what happens so anyway just that was it and Stacy that's another re sorry we're going to miss you okay okay thank you hey everybody it's been a long time since I've been here uh my name is Dean NY I am the Director of Education advocacy with the New Jersey Coalition for Learners as a parent who once had children Walk The Halls of your schools I understand the tremendous value of the educational opportunities provided by our district as the Director I am personally and sorry I always get nervous when I have to talk I am personally hand selecting the best districts in New Jersey to invite to participate in the 2025 New Jersey education Expo on January 25th 2025 which is a Saturday everybody last year was a Friday in Trenton this year it's a Saturday in Somerset so at the Double Tree we will have vendors we have Charters we have private we need Public Schools public schools are very important to the conversations that we are having now every conversation that I have had with National School Choice week in Texas they do things a little bit different out there they can just up and decide hey guess what we're all going to go I don't know if I'm going to get the bid in two years I work very hard to get my bid for this event um it's going to bring families and Educators together to have a full-on discussion celebration talk about all the different models that we have how they impact all our children and how we can better serve them so thank you thank you any other public comment see I'm going to close that um next on the agenda um old business is there any old business to discuss I just wanted to um I had asked Mrs Jones uh if she could uh expand a little bit on what Empower Somerset was um I think it's a really important program and I'm happy that we're bringing it to the district um along with all the other support that we that we have and I just thought it was uh important and Mr beerus mentioned it in his report but I thought it would be good if we could have a couple extra sentences on it just so that it was made known thank you yes especially because we adopted the memorandum of understanding tonight um yes so the partnership with Empower Somerset is actually um a grant so they have they partner schools with the trainer and the trainer comes in and they provide um training for a cross section of our staff so counselor CST at some point it will be all the HP teachers administrators and it's really three it's evidence-based program there is um curriculum involved too but it's really prevention Suicide Prevention suicide postvention and suicide intervention and depending on like the stakeholders role in The District you might receive different levels of training so some people will receive all of it and there are people who will be doing preventative lessons there are people who are on our um crisis teams who will receive different training um but it's ongoing it'll start actually this spring and it will continue through next year um so that's what it is thank you m Jones I just thought it was important for all of us and the public to know and I think it's great that the administration brought it to us it's an excellent nonprofit organization it's been around Somerset County for 40 or 50 years evidence based but I think I think our um guidance counselor was very instrumental one of our supervisors instrum bringing them in Christine the director is lovely I know her well so on the my friend's the president of the board so it's an excellent organization I'm glad we're working with them any other old business shoot um I know it's already been brought up but the radium girls play Sorry play that was this past weekend was um tremendous but something of note is after the show on Saturday I was there my daughter was was a part of it I was taking pictures at the stage and a woman came up and was I thought apparent and she was taking pictures they had a gravestone of one of the women who had died one of the radium girls and she was taking pictures of it and she wasn't taking pictures of any children just the gravestone she was the great granddaughter of Katherine sha who was one of the radium girls and she heard about the show and came and wanted to see it here and we were one of three districts that put on the show in the past two weeks um but I thought it was tremendous that she saw it it was advertised and she came to be a part of it and it was very important to her to see that gravestone and it was it was interesting that she came y any other new business hold um yeah I also uh I went with my daughters uh we we couldn't stay to the whole thing because it was a little too much emotionally for us but what we saw of it was brilliant we learned a lot actually historically um and also the um the coral and uh and and band programs at the elementary school was was really profound and an ATT Testament to the talent of our teachers uh in this District um and I and I wanted to comment on both you know Mike uh the delegates assembly I'm so glad that you you were um Del lays on for delegates because you've brought so much um back and I I think um in terms of like the uh Community Relations Committee going forward I think it is a great opportunity to look into and uh and I look forward to discussing it more kind of just to follow up on that maybe folding in some of the functions that the legislative committee would perform along those those lines yes exactly that and I I should also say for the delegates assembly thank you for uh Miss Lee was also in attendance personally and uh Mr singer was watching from afar so it's always good to have feedback and uh back and for with both of you during the uh during the proceedings so thank you both for supporting me um as I represented the district thanks any other old business new business is any new business just that I shared a tentative Board ofed calendar for next for next year so I was hoping everyone could take a look on it and look at it and provide feedback so then if if we have the votes we'll we'll certainly Push It Forward in in uh January at the r York I have a question on the one that you sent out um in August there's the 26th regular session and then in parenthesis it says District goals is that are we doing the district goals at that session or you're anticipating to have a retreat to do goals it would be up to the board okay past practice has been done in a separate Retreat so that's been past practice I know some of the board members have suggested that we put those in the calendar now so I had just one comment and then you know you you can incorporate that if you want though um I had reached out to the njsba field service representative to do the ethics training they book up very quickly so I asked her her availability in February March and she was only available on the 25th of February which was the previous day so I had tedly scheduled that with her and let Mr beers and Mr lomsky know that so at that date could be you know we I let Bob know earlier today that's the one item that I brought up as a change to the calendar that would be something we could easily change yeah just that's the only and June 10th would be the superintendent's evaluation so that is no public session but that's on the calendar okay I Al it's also worth noting for the public that there's a proposed change to 7:00 for regular meetings under this calendar uh I think that's a positive move I remember when the meetings used to be before I was on the board were at 8:00 which was quite late and 7:30 sometimes also feels a little bit late so I I know that when we do have members of the public here usually there's a group here before 7:30 and I know most of the board can make it for our close sessions to start before then so I think that's a a good move for the staff and the board and the community I like this third U iteration of the schedule um so I've raised concerns about um reducing the number of meetings before uh under this calendar and this I think is uh certainly a better compromise uh towards from having it once a month uh but right now like looking at between September and October there's like a five week Gap in between meetings and it just seems like a lot of time and uh I'm concerned about that that the extent of that Gap when there are other uh weeks for example February has two meetings and then the three-week Gap and the three-week Gap to April and I think that's a little bit more appropriate um so I just you know just looking at October there's it's there's nothing until the 28th and uh that just struck me so is that due to the um convention yeah right conventions the 20th through the 24th 14 so are you looking for us to just uh respond to so we're ready to go for January sure perfect and like some of the comments that were brought up this evening as far as all right we we've got Board of headed training scheduled tentatively for February 25th so I I could go ahead and make that that change from February 18th to the 25th that makes sense um Steve suggestion of um October he five weeks may be a little much so to go from the 28th to the 14th to incorporate changes like that I appreciate that and um that will then though be the five we between October November I but we usually I can tell you November December are kind of slow business months so to speak we know a lot a lot comes on in August September as well as March and April um was uh there any consideration to changing the um public comment to earlier in the agenda that would be entirely up to the board or whoever board leadership is because look we know by Statute you need one public comment by by you need one you don't need two and I mean traditionally I think it's always been done here once for agenda items one is after but you could certainly at the beginning just have public comment and then you go on with your your agenda is that what you're talking about so it could be a public for agenda items and any item just in general so then these folks who were here tonight wouldn't have to wait two hours right especially if the meetings were longer because they would more likely be like likely like more likely to have a longer agenda more presentations and and what have you any other comments on new business if I can try me on this calendar as well I feel like our board meeting is the occasion that the board come together to do business I think it's important that we have it on a regular basis I feel uh the the board of meeting serves the purpose uh while we do board business we're also connecting with the with the commune because the commune members can come and speak with us during this time as well uh irregularity with expectations like every other week uh gives this uh anticipation and and people can plan uh if they would need to speak to us I think a a longer time in between or a somewhat different uh schedule to change around makes it harder for that channel of communication that's my additional concern in uh in addition to what have shared in the past meetings thank you sir you're asking for more meetings less meetings IR regularity what are you asking for I think we used to have like a bi-weekly meeting like every other week we would have one there's regular it to that it also gives us the opportunity by monthly right yeah by bi-weekly we're not going to have by monthly yes thank you every other week all right I'm like just checking just checking by monthly and and okay and there were times like over the summer since I've been here there's never been two over the summer that's fine but people all understand what during summer things are slowing down and our schools are not in session but during our school time uh I I feel like this regularity helped our board and and help the community um yes that's in addition to what I have Shar I think what we have been doing in the past years have worked and uh uh it should continue to work we can always do better yes I think I think the way that's proposed to change is not necessarily better I think what we've been doing is in my opinion is better any other new business Stacy yeah um we uh we have uh just you know had a lot of different stories together and uh we started off like doing a charity and then we were opponents in an election sketchy election and um and then you know we've agreed about things we've disagreed about things and and thanks to you I'm I got a scholarship to to do something that was always a lifelong dream so uh I'm G to miss you man I'm G to miss you so much and I hope uh I hope you enjoy the free time same Stacy thank you for your friendship advice and guidance uh you have really supported me um six years ago when I first R um and I think I've gained a true friend lifelong friend and we'll be in touch thank you Stacy thank you for being an excellent role model as a board member for being an advocate for everyone in the district and for encouraging me to do this appreciate it thank you just thank you for you know always working constantly on behalf of children everywhere in our district um and for just welcoming everyone welcoming me to the board when I came on and um we'll miss you very much thank you very much but but keep in touch uh let me know if there's any new hot sauces coming out so also want to say a few words of thank you to Stacy uh it's been honor and pleasure to serve alongside with you and on many issues that we either agreed on or disagreed on thank you for listening and the mutual respect and working together collaboratively thank you very much anybody I'm GNA have one last statement uh I'd like toise my thanks to everyone for a fantastic first half of the year we should feel incredibly PL proud of the amazing things that are happening in our district thank the in the hard work and dedication and achievements of our students staff and families I'd like to wish everyone a joyous happy holiday C filled with peace love joy and happiness um May the new year bring you your health prosperity and continued success we look forward to another year working together and Stacy you would you like to uh have the last motion yes please motion to adjourn there are second second all those in favor I motion we're adjourned thank you