##VIDEO ID:ukvWaoJ6POo## uh welcome to a meeting of The Hunton Central Regional High School Board of Education please be advised that this and all meetings of the board are open to the public and media consistent with the open public meetings act and that advanced notice required therein has been provided meeting notice was also posted in the boardroom of the upper school campus sent to The Courier News Star Ledger Express Times and the Hun County Democrat and sent to the clerks of Delaware Township East Amwell Township Flemington burough uh ritton Township and Readington Township this public will have an opportunity the public will have an opportunity to be heard as shown on the agenda may we stand for the flag salute please I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Mrs dougen would you read the uh mission statement for us please 100 and Central is an Innovative educational Community dedicated to the intellectual social and emotional safety and growth of all students while fostering curiosity and promoting Wellness we aspire to create powerful learning experiences establish strong Partnerships and serve as contributing members of society thank you we have three new board members to swear in this evening we have um Mrs Jessica roal from Delaware Township to a three-year term we have Dr Ellen Halper from Flemington burrow for a three-year term and we have Miss Les lacasta from Readington Township for a three-year term um if you would all please stand and with your oath of office all three at the same time and take your oath please together you great everybody looks good everybody looks good no you don't have to whichever way maybe stand there there he can come around if he wants um please raise your hand and repeat after me please I state your name do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear truth true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and this state I will bear true Faith alance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and this state Under The Authority Under the authority of the people so help me God under the authority of people so help me God great I state your name I do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications of membership prescribed by the law do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications of membership prescrib by law including specifically that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs19 4-1 concluding specifically that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs19 as well as I am not disqualified due to a conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a col 12-1 as well as I am not disqualified due to a conviction of a crime offense I state your name I do solemnly swear that I possess the qualif qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of the board of education do you swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of a member of a board of education and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties that office according to the best of my ability so help me God all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God thank you congratulations thank you if you would sign these and return them I would you appreciate it welcome I'm going to do a roll call now Mrs dougen here miss gong here Dr Halper here Mrs Kellogg here miss losta here Mrs Peterson here miss roel here Mr Rymer here and Mrs S Angelo here I'm going to do nominations for the election of the board President we need a a move I do not need a second so I'd like to open the floor for nominations for board president please I'd like to nominate Lisa santangelo do I have any other ones I'd like to nominate uh D Kell I think she is the most experienced and um most qualified board member to be president of this board are there any others okay in your packets you have um ballots for board president please write um on those who would you who you would like to um have as your board president for the next year I will come and collect them and read them into the record sorry did I take over your space you're trip Mrs roal Mrs santangelo Mrs santangelo Mrs santangelo Mrs Lacosta Mrs santangelo Mrs Peterson Mrs santangelo Mrs Dougan Mrs santangelo Mr ryr Mrs santangelo Mrs Kellogg Mrs Kellogg Dr Halper M uh Mrs Kellogg Mrs gong Mrs Kellogg with a vote of 623 Mrs santangelo is nominated as board president for 2025 [Applause] congratulations whatever you'd like to do would you like to move you want to stay there okay just in case you need it okay Mr santangelo if you would open the floor for uh nominations for vice president no so I would like to open up the nominations for the vice president can I get some nominations for that I'd like to nominate Leslie lost [Music] okay any other nominations I'd like to nominate D Kellogg e sorry did you hear okay do you want me to repeat it sure I'm sorry um Mrs rool Miss Lacosta Mrs santangelo Miss Lacosta Mrs Peterson miss losta Mrs lacasta Mrs Miss Lacosta Miss Lacosta Mrs dougen Miss Lacosta Miss gong Mrs Kellogg Mr Rymer Miss Costa La Casta Mrs Kellogg Mrs Kellogg Dr Halper Mrs Kellogg um six to3 congratulations Miss Lacosta as vice president of the Board of Education okay so next um I would like to move into the board member code of ethics so I would like to move those ethics but I'll read through them first okay see if I can see this the Board of Education shall discuss the board member code of ethics annually at a regularly scheduled public meeting each member shall sign documentation that he or she has received a copy of it and has read and understood it resolved that the New Jersey school boards association's code of ethics shall be considered the official code of ethics of the 100 Central Regional High School Board of Education Code of Ethics a I will uphold and enforce all laws rules and regulations of the State Board of Ed and court orders pertaining to the schools desired changes should be brought about only through legal and ethical procedures B I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability race Creed sex or social standing C I will confine my board action to policymaking planning and appraisal and I will help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them D I will carry out my responsibility not to administer the schools but together with my fellow board members to see that they are well-run E I will recognize that Authority rests with the board of of education and will make no personal promises nor take any private action that may compromise the board F I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends G I will hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which if disclosed would needlessly injure individuals or the schools in all other matters I will provide accurate information and in concert with my fellow board members interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community for its schools h i will vote to appoint the best qualified Personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer hang on I I will support and protect School Personnel in proper performance of their duties and Jay I will refer all complaints to the chief administrative officer administrative officer and will act on such complaints at public meetings only after failure of an administrative solution so with that I would like a motion in the second move second any uh comments or discussion okay can I get a roll call Mrs dougen yes Miss gong yes Dr Halper yes Mrs Kellogg yes Miss losta yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs rool yes Mr Rymer yes and Mrs S Angelo yes all yes motion carries thank you all right so next we just have correspondents received this was actually a very nice um thank you note from one of the staff members regarding the cookies and cocoa that we had um participated in as a board and it was in recognition for the staff and administration for all the hard work they did um so thank you for everybody's participation I think Paula did an exceptional job pulling everything together uh Aon did an excellent job as well um Sue dougen in coordination and also Jessica celosi and um it was well attended everyone had a great time the uh Wellness bags were well received and it was just it was a really nice way to kick off the holiday so that was what that was about um next we're going to move into the organizational items so these are standard items that we um address at each org meeting so with that I would like to um move items 1 through eight can I get a second second okay can I get a roll call Mrs dougen yes Miss gong yes Dr Halper Mrs Kellogg yes Miss losta yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs roel yes Mr Rymer yes and Mrs S Angelo yes so yes motion carries before we move into the superintendent report I just wanted to mention with regard to the board committees I will send out an email tonight asking for everybody's interests level um where they would like to participate as well as their availability so I will send that out tonight and with that we'll move into the superintendent's report Thank you Lisa and good good evening everyone happy New Year I hope everyone had a nice holiday um as you know our students and staff returned from winter break last Thursday um we're settling back into the rhythm of the school year similar to what I think our organizational meeting tonight is set for um I want to welcome our new board members Ellen Halper Leslie Lacosta Jessica Rael we re Rew welcome you to your new ter and congratulations to Lisa and Leslie for your elections to President and Vice President positions I have a short update for you all tonight uh following up on my report from December really as I noted then we're well into preparing for next school year believe it or not starting this week we will begin to visit our sending districts middle schools to welcome our incoming n9th grade students the class of 2029 we will include our presentation and resources for families on our website for parents and also for our students to write reference additionally please remember that we will host a world of possibilities open house and electives exploration on January 16th current parents and e8th grade parents are invited to attend starting at 6:30 p.m. to explore elective offerings speak with teachers to our campus and there will also be a special presentation for our eighth grade parents our Communications officer maren smala just sent out detailed information today so I hope to see some of you at our January 16th world of possibilities event we will resume our normal meeting structure and reports uh next time when we meet at our regular board meeting January 27th so I will conclude my report thank you all and I'll turn the meeting back over to you Lisa thank you Jessica all right with that we're going to move into our first residence Forum this is for um public comment on items on the agenda so if anyone would like to come up you have five minutes we we would just ask that you state your name in municipality okay seeing none we're going to move into um operations and transportation committee items Sue okay we just have um four items on the agenda for tonight the first one is to um accept a New Jersey stem month mini grant that was awarded to the robotics team in the amount of $500 the second is is to move forward with a bus valuation with hunon County Educational Services Commission and this is not to exceed a total of $5,000 the third is um $135,000 of District state aid this is to accept the aid and to use it towards um transportation of regular buses and the fourth item on the agenda is for two service providers um where we just need to uh yeah just update their professional service contract Omega Laboratories and total compliance Network and with that I'd like to move o items 1 through four can I get a second second second roll call please Mrs dougen yes Miss gong yes Dr Halper Mrs Kellogg yes Miss losta yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs roal yes Mr Rymer yes and Mrs santangelo yes all yes motion carries all right we have our next um committee which is the Personnel committee we just have two small items to move one unfortunately is a resignation and the other is an appointment for six block stien so with that I would like to move items one and two can I get a second any comments or disc discussion okay seeing none a roll call please Mrs dougen yes Miss gong yes Dr Halper Mrs Kellogg yes Miss losta yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs rool yes Mr Rymer yes and Mrs Sant Angelo yes all yes motion carries all right lastly we have additional business um additional board business is anything that we would like to see go through our committees for new discussion are there any additional board business okay seeing none we will move into our final residence Forum this is for General comments for the public if anybody would like to come up you have five minutes we would just ask that you state your name in your municipality is there I put it up there is it there oh maybe I didn't get I didn't get P I'm so [Music] sorry sorry maybe good all right that working okay cool thank you uh Joff lemington burrow good evening members of the board welcome to 2025 we're here for better and for worse and most likely a little bit of both the start to a new year often symbolizes a time for change so I'd like to spend a moment on just that change when I graduated high school in 2018 18 I didn't believe in evolution climate change or same-sex marriage sure I learned about these topics in school but I also grew up in an extremely conservative Evangelical household I was taught by my parents and my church to disregard certain lessons that I was taught in school as they were worldly and of the devil I even distinctly remember a student poll in high school right before same sex marriage was legalized and I answered enthusiastically that I did not support it before leaving home I was expected to believe and obey everything my parents and church leaders told me without question I was not allowed to read or listen to sources that my church did not approve of I was encouraged to EV evangelize to everyone while also making sure not to be tricked by the worldly ideologies of my peers and if I did not obey the only possible consequence was an eternity of fiery suffering blind obedience is not understanding and it is not education yes I've changed a little bit since then and yes I went to a liberal Arch college and got that liberal Arch education from the outside I'm sure some of you would accuse me of being brainwashed by that communist gender ideology However the fact of the matter is that college didn't tell me what to believe I was just finally allowed to determine for myself what I believe I was allowed to go out into the world explore different ways of thinking and meet new people of all kinds and as I realized that all those people who are different from me are just as human as I am after all closed-minded beliefs rarely hold up when you finally meet the humans it's been targeting however certain groups want nothing more than blind obedience New Jersey project being one of those the majority of you sitting here have been endorsed by this hate group whether you like the fact of that being pointed out or not you don't want to be called out for being endorsed by a hate group great tell us explicitly why you don't agree with them and don't want their endorsement I am not here to shout you into silence I am asking you to speak for yourself I am not saying um I'm saying that you didn't ask for it or you didn't know why you were endorsed it's not an answer it's a copout you may not like being repeatedly asked why you are linked to a hate group but that doesn't make it any less valid of a question especially when you have done absolutely nothing to convince the public of your inocence words without action mean nothing the reality is is not not everyone was endorsed by a hate group if this endorsement is just something they give out indiscriminately why weren't Miss Kellogg Miss gong and Dr halor nominated I think we all understand the politics being played here even though some people at the table want to pretend otherwise you are asking for a level of plausible deniability that you do not have and you will not be granted it I am not going to stand here and pretend like I have all the answers or the perfect ideology because I don't there's not a single person in this room or any room that does but at the end of the day we're all here together in this room in this school working for these students we're all here together as we write out whatever change the new year brings us our community members who are immigrants and people of color are here and they're not going anywhere our community members who belong to a multitude of faiths are here and aren't going anywhere our community members with disabilities are here and they aren't going anywhere our community members who are queer and transgender aren't going anywhere people of all kinds with backgrounds of all kinds who come from places of all kinds are here together and they're not going anywhere so my question is what are we going to do how are we going to make sure that each of those groups has a place to sit at the table and an opportunity to be heard how do we maintain accountability when we miss the mark even when it involves difficult conversations how do we change the ever to meet the ever evolving needs of the students and the community this school district serves again I don't have all the answers and I don't expect you to either but I do hope that as we move into 2025 the board's Focus will be on working it out together for the benefit of all of the diverse community members that call Hunter in our home thank you thank you anyone else yeah I wasn't going to speak but the smiles on the faces in the audience kind of prompted me um Noel odonnell Flemington burrow yeah I I want to thank you Jay Cuz what you said was important um and I I didn't spend six years on this board um learning things and and being honored you know to serve constituents to sit among people who lie when you ask them if they're end endorsed by the New Jersey project and when you say what does it matter why is it that important it's important because it's a hate group it's important because they called the NG NJ EA the devil um it's important because there are kids here who are offended and who were threatened by leaders who ascribe to that group who deny knowing what that group is and who lie so um if you think that's funny then that's interesting um Jay is much more hopeful about 2025 um and the other thing that's not going anywhere is me so have a good night is there anyone else interested in speaking Sandra deor riton Township uh first I wanted to just um let everyone know I know that Miss Hof a few meetings ago also brought up the fact that uh New Jersey project was a hate group um um which I believe that came from the southern law poverty Center which is nothing more than a morally bankrupt smear Factory and I think that is an organization that needs to look um in the mirror and look at its scandals over sexual harassment racial discrimination um and also if you go on to the New Jersey project I believe on the website it says that it doesn't endorse anyone these are parents recommendations for school board members so I just wondered to level set that thank you all right anyone else interested in speaking all right seeing none we'll close out the um public session and uh we do not have executive session tonight so we will be adjourning the meeting so can I get a roll call to adjourn or should we just do so before we adjourn excuse me Madam president before we adjourn does the board get to make any comments no we do not have board comments on the agenda tonight so we're just going to adjourn so can I get a second second all right roll call please or all in favor okay all in favor I I all right all right