##VIDEO ID:CcPTOGZNa-Y## e okay good evening I'd like to call the September 9th 2024 Long Hill Township Board of Education meeting to order please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance PL alance to the flag the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all adequate notice of this meeting of the Long Hill Township Board of Education was given as required by the open public meeting act as follows notice was sent to the echo Sentinel and daily record on September 18th 2023 notices were posted on the bulletin board in the first floor entrance hall of the School District administration building Gillette New Jersey notices were filed with the Township Clerk and notices were mailed to all persons who have requested individual notice pursuant to the open public meetings act roll call please Mrs Butler here Mrs daily here Mr Foster here Mr grof here Dr Mah here Mrs mclennon here M Nyquist here here Mrs case here m r hey you're here what is why is this why is she an apple I don't know but I like it there has to be a reason for this thanks for the star this here I could be wrong all right so we will get started thank you all for coming uh I hope you didn't burn the bottom of your shoes walking across the parking lot uh apologize for that um but we do have uh business to conduct tonight and some uh back to school year stuff so we're excited to be back I'm going to pass it over to Mr Alexis all right thank you Mrs case so we're very pleased to have our uh some of our new staff here I think we have just about everyone who RS3 ped um but what I'm going to do is I'm going to start with the certified staff and when I call your name please come up front if you don't mind because we're GNA take a picture with the board uh and then and then I'm GNA invite Jerry and you can be in the front Melissa and then I'm going to ask uh Mrs cologne to introduce our power professionals so we we started off on August 27th we invited our new staff and we had a great uh new staff orientation it's an impressive group uh and we're off to a strong start so I'm going to just jump right in with the certified staff and the first person I'd like to call forward is Miranda damr our District counselor who will be working with our Gillette and Millington [Applause] [Music] students good evening Miranda next is Hannah scaner roli she is our new special education preschool teacher and we're thrilled to have her with us oh that's next is Emily Marino a Lea replacement teacher in the first grade at Gillette School [Music] welcome and then we have Regina McKenna nabeli she is our grades six through 8 steam [Music] [Applause] teacher and McKenzie Oliver who is our grades 6 through eight leave replacement counselor [Applause] we also have Mr manderi who I think most of you know already I why don't you come up Mark too he is our new facilities manager and he'll be giving a presentation tonight and then I'm going to invite Jerry to come forward and introduce the par professionals and while she's doing that I just want to say we have so many uh members of our community who are filling these roles of parents past parents uh not just as par professionals but also as our lunch School I mean our our new lunch AIDS but Jerry why don't you introduce the power professionals yeah is that on hi everybody um we have Carrie drenan who is one of our new power professionals at um Gillette but she's actually not here um Laura Russell is also at Gillette if she wants to come on up Vanessa Ayu is one of our new power professionals who will be at Central Middle School Jessica Bole is one of our new power professionals at Millington and Laura McAvoy who many of you know is going to be starting with us on the 23rd of September at Gillette [Applause] [Music] school okay and the folks that were not able to be here tonight uh of our certified staff we have McKenzie hickey the the new uh Ela teacher grade six at Central School we have Becca betel who is in the grade8 ELA leave replacement she also is the same teacher that uh filled in the leave replacement in the spring we have Maggie McGovern uh Speech leave replacement Chelsea marsenic our social worker leave replacement who also worked in the district one time before as a leave replacement and we have Elena Barry um a former parent who is getting back into profession she was a teacher uh years AO go and has returned um and we're thrilled to have her as our part-time basic skills leave replacement uh and we also have Anita did you mention Anita lero she's she's a parent in the district and she'll be serving as a power professional we're thrilled to have her too and then we have the Food Service AIDS Peggy McKenna Melissa Patterson Tracy Wanamaker and Sarah decapua who are all uh serving our lunch serving lunch to our students every day and uh we're very pleased they're all they're all uh uh members of our community and parents and it's been terrific it's been a great start why don't jack can you take a picture yeah so should we you want to get in the'll get the picture we'll go in the back I'll way back wait except Melissa she needs to go somewhere why is she back to school it's back to school she has a zest for life that we don't understand teach day keeps a teacher away I really [Music] to guys ready we're gonna miss you sign sign okay excuse me okay presentations okay we we have Mr manderi uh he's going to do a presentation about the uh summer construction projects here in the district and Jack's going to load the he probably has it loaded already he'll just get it started for us well first off I'd like to say thank you for being able present this to you guys I can't take full credit for this work it a lot of it was started before I got here Robin Adele Uh Frank when he was here Mark for were big help keeping this all on track to make sure we met timelines for the summer to get everything good for the kids to start the year so um we did a lot of painting on the exterior of of central school the gym had a lot of pressure washing needs it was moldy it was mildewy on the outside we gave a nice fresh coat of paint to make it presentable uh we did a steam room over at Central we had new ceilings power cords added for the kids at the workstations they painted new foring blinds so 3D printers it seems to be a nice uh space for the kids to do a steam class the furniture has not arrived yet it's coming later this month so we'll have a nice spread of showing that for the website when uh it arrives but we're currently using the tables and stools from the from the old correct corre uh we did kitchen upgrades for to meet the national school lunch program needs we had to put in uh warming boxes and refrigerators and um so place for the mil cores uh sinks for sanitary reasons Central and Millington were the biggest ones with that but it's a nice space weer two storage spaces to accommodate for this the uh Millington Library received a renovation now it's like a uh it's a full nice flexible space for the kids new bookshelves new furniture a nice space that they can really utilize as more than just a standard oldfashioned Library uh we did a four replacement at Millington and one of the classrooms at older tile it was popping it had some hazardous spaces but uh new tile was laid down and it looks fantastic two of the classrooms at Millington we also had ventilator problems in the classroom they were uh they were completely dead to my understand standing we got two new units put in the air conditioning works great hopefully the heat works fantastic when the heating season comes but it should be all great with that uh part of our fire panel replacement with Gillette if some the Y BS we had to do back full preventor work which is all tied with our sprink cor systems and all the fire to make sure everything's safe for the building chette received the whole new fire panel upgrade now all of our buildings are complete up to dat modernized safe so we shouldn't have any issues with the fire systems anymore me to that one and then at Gillette we also did uh rtu Replacements with the rooftops they uh I'm not sure who got involved with the project to start but the direct direct install we save a ton of money toward the district doing this replacement the rooftop units were beyond our life expectancy and now we should hopefully get a great nice expectancy out the new units and then just the files going be a bunch of pictures before Afters just a oh wow if I might be going too fast feel free to say something yeah like the whole top stucco area was all repainted we didn't want we touch the block looks great Mark what is like the lifespan of that like is it every 3 years every two years or or of like power washing and stuff like I mean honestly probably be based upon the prevailing winds the weather how much we really get a lot of but when they treat it they treat with like a mold resistant milder resistant chemical so that it is more um preventative toward it okay do you know in the last time we did it that I don't so a while ago wasn't anytime recently wow that's great I would like to say that's the steam room this is the new steam room yes this is the new steam room and that's our temporary setup with the old steamer benches and tables yeah I want to point out see the sink in the back corner and I know it looks like nothing but it it's it's something it cost a lot bringing the plumbing in there and and putting the sink in this is the um Central kitchen area it used to be like a a storage area for as as I'm not sure myself but now we have a the three Bay sink in there the greas Trap refrigerators the warming boxes awesome this is mington kitchen area maybe the kids could make magnets for the FR good idea perfect for the steam class yeah 3D something there there some before pictures while they were installing the new library Furniture oh wow oh so cool and that's all modular furniture that could be removed into different components and stuff yeah fabulous but the the furniture the way it's mobile and movable so you can do small groups big group and different Arrangements the background but the day we went on the tour they had the um little seats over there and then they had the lion right in the middle the uh or tiger I guess it's a tiger not a lion but it also has Lego wall in there oh the Lego walls in there now yeah that's awesome that I think is that is that the little just off behind the coun can just catch the corner in the uh the little green Speck in the middle of picture on the left I'm sure the kids were excited this was the uh the for there were some popping tiles on the heater in the window area and uh looks lovely could you remind us uh were those asbesto Styles yes so that was properly yeah the ground is coming the ventilators ventilators vors the old with one of the new ones some of the old old fire devices we replaced at Gillette the old fire system you have to save any of the old fire boxes like might have Downs I went off yet for sure no but but for like display in a hallway case at some point I think we have we might have a show a lot of the removal was done before I um before I started so there some of the working with the rtu replacement some the old units being removed with the crane the new unit on the new excuse me awesome [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank are essentially are all the projects completed or we still I know you said furniture all right but just the uh the stem room furniture is the uh the last bit we're waiting on very nice very I think stage curtains too right stage curtains are still coming in yeah oh oh that's like I no I meant like big stuff you know struction at all okay right very good thank you so thank you okay um Communications okay the board received an email uh from a parent thanking all of us for the improvements in transportation this year I replied on uh on behalf of the board Robin and I also received similar emails and informal inperson feedback on Transportation this year all positive which has been wonderful uh very different from last September Robin and the board office staff worked very hard this summer to ensure this smooth transition and all that hard work and preparation really paid off okay thank you brother yeah I think that's don't forget Jack Jack too did a ton and Jack Jack okay uh board committee and leaz on reports I will start with Karen okay uh the Ed Services Commission Morris County ed services had a meeting on August 14th uh the the main the two main items that are of importance I think I had mentioned previously they uh r u are in charge of an administrate a building for their school that is really a state building and one or two other esc's have done this where they purchased the building from the state for the minim anal fee of a dollar and in order to do that there's a whole legislative process that had to go through so consequently we went through it or they went through it and supposedly the approval is sitting on the governor's desk and the important thing about that is when it was U when we're operating under the state very limited in the types of educational services or types of services that could be offered now you know they could expand those Services because there were a lot of empty classrooms in that building and it also worked out very well that um I'm going to say maybe now it's four years ago the the building was completely renovated so you know it's great MoneyWise for the commission right now too excuse me and in line with that we approved um a job description for a an educational director to be able to look at programs that could be brought in and it seems that there's a they want to look into a closer working relationship with Rocka Township because they're up there and they've already made inquiries about how to utilize you know some of their space or rooms so that was good there'll be another meeting this Wednesday which all attend it's virtual so uh governance we met on August 13th and uh did you guys get your survey okay okay so I guess it all goes in and Jack will give us responses okay great we'll look at it at the next uh governance meeting on the 17th I think I read to you the committee goals before Implement a plan to provide governance and committees a CO a Cooperative operating structure review and refine governance committee responsibilities and support the strategic planning and QC processes now with respect to strategic planning uh we're aiming at the first quarter of 25 uh it would be good to get it done in the first quarter for a couple of reasons not the least of which is Charlene is retiring oh and we don't know she doesn't know yet but she encourages us to do it as early in the year as we can so it'd be good to have her because of her experience with us versus having to go through this with you know a new person and also in line with that we're utilizing uh their service to assist us in the strategic planning like planning the strategic planning process and being there as we uh you know work execute it and so you'll see a a a resolution to approve $4,500 for that um excuse me at at that particular meeting we were got to talk about the the the list of respons responsibilities that's on the website you know all the committee's responsibilities and go through those and review it but we didn't so we'll do that at the next meeting like I said which is September 17th and um Charlene will be attending that meeting for us with us so and that's it and you're GNA love this one Finance report is going to be given by an apple this year this time so okie dokie any questions for Karen what kind of apple was that is it a delicious of course she's delicious sweet one a okay let's go then to Danielle uh yes so we had a community um relations meeting on August 27th it was myself Mr Alexis uh Kim case Tom grov Justin Foster and we spoke about um uh some prek um things that are going on on any updates with the state um I know the district was looking at possibly doing a a preschool webinar coming up um before the new year um we also spoke about any more ideas kind of planning ahead um for the Sterling Street Fair um we spoke about the new lunch program and um transportation um this was all before the start of the new year um we also went ahead and agreed on our our goals um I do have to still send out the minutes so you'll see that when when it comes out um and our next meeting I believe is going to be October 9th and I think it's at 4 or 5: PM because we did change the time I think it's 4 October 9th it's 4 pm yeah um that's it okay thank you any questions for Danielle no okay Crystal nothing to report this month doie doie an um so the uh student achievement and curriculum committee uh met on September 3rd uh myself Kim case Katie mclennen Crystal Mah Dr Jones and Mr Alexis were present um so we did approve our our uh goals for the committee which are one to monitor academic performance related data and communication including efforts to deepen student understanding through inquiry based strategies personalized learning and critical and creative problem solving as well as efforts to improve student attendance and two to prepare for and participate in a successful qack process and strategic planning process as appropriate to the committee's work um in our discussions under academic performance uh and that goal uh we had an update of the PD sessions at the welcome back to the school for when our teachers were in the first two days prior to the students arrival um we had an update uh on the I ready training that our um administrative team uh went uh through with uh representatives from irti uh That Was Then TurnKey in the teachers uh to their IR uh professional development um we had an update on the summer curriculum writing which we will also discuss again at our next meeting in October actually I think we moved it to the I think it's October 1st okay October 1st I was going to say the last day of September yes so October 1st uh and the curriculum is being transitioned from a program that was called Rubicon Atlas to uh Google Drive uh with the idea that it's more accessible and also more cost effective for us in storing the curriculum documents uh we are hoping to get some feedback from the teachers about their curriculum writing process over the summer uh at the next meeting uh in discussions of student uh attendance and improving student attendance uh we just had an update on the plans for the attendance campaign um some discussion of Statistics at support the importance of attendance and being in school and really the Outreach from the um administrative team and our staff to the community and the families to emphasize and and really educate that that it's important to be here and uh there's a various approach that I'm sure we'll be updating further uh you know talking about um routines at bedtime and in the morning to help facilitate kids to come to school uh tips for communicating with your students uh you know and your family your your kids when they come home about school and the learning in school so that the family and the parents and uh adults at home are becoming more involved in those conversations with the students and so that uh there's a focus on building uh that important relationship of kids feeling seen heard and appreciated in their school um we're uh talking about raising family engagement uh so we had uh we the district uh administrative uh had team had two parent information sessions uh so there was the um one that was on transportation and lunches and there were over 70 participants in that uh and there was another session on study support and preparing students uh and helping the students with the school year I think we had about 15 participants in that one and both were uh virtual and are posted on the district website if people would like to look at them and get that information uh there were two kindergarten orientation orientation sessions for new students as well as a Millington open house for new students um we talked about the launch of the new website which went smooth ly and has more accessible user features uh and we're talking about um unified communication from the schools so that when there's communication going home from the different principles uh there's going to be some streamlining uh there you know ju just to make sure the communication format is consistent uh throughout those years uh it looks like there's going to be some use of Google classroom in grades three through 8 and then there's going to be a different approach in grades K through two um I think that's that's pretty good the CAC uh process the administrative team had met with the county office and and there will be training sessions uh in each domain that are in September and October uh for cusac uh and um the lunch Service uh we had an update on that and it went very well on day one there was a thought that there may be some minor adjustments here and there but overall an excellent roll out on day one our upcoming meeting October 1st any questions questions uh the uh Watchung Hills Regional High School regionalization feasibility uh committee if I got the full title of that correctly will be meeting with ascending districts on September 30th so I'll have an update for that for you at the next meeting okay I encourage you to read B I mean what Ann said read the notes because they're so good the minutes from the meeting and it's really like a a map towards what we're focusing on for this year so um everybody will have good information along the way okay Tom thank you uh meeting minutes from the technology committee read as follows there was a new website launched the tech team recently unveiled a new website our new website uh there may be a few unintended glitches but for the most part comments have been enthusiastic uh there have been questions where there have been questions they have been quickly resolved District staff will be trained by the the Website Maintenance vendor final site this month new computers were installed in Gillette and Central Middle School 60 new computers were installed over the summer there were no there are no more old computers being defined as 5 years or older remaining in the district the tech team managed what was projected to be a three-year effort down to one with this team push with this Push by Jack and the tech team um all of the districts computers are now Windows 11 ready well ahead of the 2025 deadline in put in place by Microsoft this commendable effort does not create any worries in the district that one day there will be a glut of computers coming to the end of their life and then have to be all replaced at the same time the wave will continue and they'll flow in and out uh Gillette School iPads 100 new iPads have been deployed there are five carts with 20 iPads each ready to be rolled into action as needed the goal of one: one in Gillette school will be close to being met in 2025 with actual goal attainment expected in 26 in addition to the Gillette roll out 15 new iPads have been put in service in the Central Middle School sche lab that's a good Instagram due to changes during the Twitter X acquisition the tech team has determined that X Twitter is no longer a suitable media platform for our district Instagram is going to be the primary social media platform used by lill Township School District moving forward information regarding each school's Instagram account will be communicated out by building Administration when ready um online payments pay schools pay schools is current platform here in the school district there are plans to accept electronic payments via credit cards or a uh in the future additional information will be provide will also be provided by the business office when we are closer to that eventuality uh Chromebooks update with the implementation of the Chromebook student usage agreement the tech department has seen a large drop off in device damage as per the agreement students are only charged for damages deemed above normal wear and tear this this summer a new Chromebook vendor was selected vacity Tech the district acquired 170 Chromebooks from vacity as well as new screen protectors and cases for all of our one to1 take-home students grades 5 through eight which we're ready to go on day one thank you Daniel Dan sorry do I I call you my apologies um ready to go on day one the tech department has received very positive feedback on Botha the cases and the screen protectors from staff let me take this a little bit further um Jack and his co- cohorts took old machines put the cases and the screen protectors on it jumped up and down on them threw them down the stairs threw them at the walls did you ever fix that wall but very little to almost no damage uh these new new these new Chromebooks also boost eight gab gigabytes of RA of ram which will greatly increase the performance of each device when compared to existing devices um I'd like to take a a minute out that's not in the meeting minutes just to say that Yan's work was done by Jack and his staff over the summer you didn't even give us a clue it was coming but you got it all done good work thank you and uh that's all I have to report our next meeting is December 5th okay any questions for Tom when you say Jack stff you mean there there's only one other person but you did have it's a great twom man team I got to tell you oh I'm sorry nice good work okay Justin nothing to rep oh actually I just wanted to slightly make a correction p schools is in in is in use currently I believe it's for the um tuition but it is coming for other things yes that's I thought you said just wasn't it's being it's being School open for sports too MH yes yes so it's not just tuition but yeah it is also used for preschool tuition yeah okay all right well it's on the website right information okay all right Melissa oh I am the is that what you would like to pick off I the W Hill apple and the reason I'm the W Hill apple is because I'm not running for re-election so I'm going to do what I want to do for the next fewe and today it was dressing up as an apple to honor the um students and teachers and all the staff uh George has begged me to give this to him after today I am absolutely going to beic to you in addition to the headband which I expect you to wear the great thing about being superintendent is that I can delegate that to someone else now the caign correct so um so yeah I'm gon to do these this report my way as well oh yeah okay so uh the committee goals this is finance committee uh we approved the following goals which were included uh in our agend which will be included in our agendas going forward and that's to explore additional Revenue sources including potential grants share service opportunities that align with our operations uh the successful implementation of the food lunch program and to assess that going forward to Define and support the committee's role in qac and we're not including it but it's implied throughout all the goals is to get rich so as far as Personnel is concerned for the national school lunch program we've hired four of the five interviews are ongoing for the fifth um we will know soon who will win the coved SP so all food personnel as well as school administrators and office staff receive the necessary training here it was quite the rager 30% of the student population enrolled in the lunch program in the first week of school as of September 3rd we have 51 volunteers who are assisting with the program The Hired Personnel are working directly with the volunteers and uh fun fact soggy nuggets are the result of condensation in packaging and what can we done about this probably nothing but we're going to try and um well I know WR is going to try she's not letting that go so but the food's been excellent everyone's been very happy with it obviously you have the picky students um it's like any typical household we did have an emergency two children wanted to eat their corn with forks and fortunately Robin and her team found forks and they ate their corn because we will give anything to a child to eat their vegetables so so certification and inspections uh we anticipate receiving all the necessary certifications and passing inspections because we're awesome free and reduced lunch students uh we have 79 free and reduced lunch students this is 99.2% of the student population now a lot of you may remember that what was the percentage Yeah we're now as of today we're at 90 okay so we we at 10% oh oh oh aren't you lucky so this is why that's so significant because when we hit 10% we have to offer a breakfast program So within a year of reaching that percentage and Robin is probably going to go missing as a result of that so um but amazing roll out have fun next year so all students are now allowed to purchase an additional slice of pizza on Pizza days and additional chicken nuggets um but at a cost so and that cost for this addition food is even for the free and reduced lunch students an extra slice of pizza is 260 four extra nuggets is $3 five extra nuggets is not an option don't be greedy School lunch prices the higher the price the larger the meal so for elementary school we're at $4.75 for Central Middle School is at $5 um and for an adult portion is550 and Robin is keeping a very close eye on the portion sizes uh she was a little bit upset at our meeting because she really feel feels like the low main portions didn't increase with the price level but she's keeping a close eye even though it was delicious and can I say one thing okay so I checked that out and what they told me is that they are giving the larger portion to the smaller kids so they don't have to do it so everybody's getting the larger portion which is why we are not seeing a difference between the the the sizes well is that a one- siiz fits-all lowain option I think that is be expected Robin the low down on the low main so there was an online Forum with the community held on uh August 27th it addressed food service and transportation it was very well attended 88 people participated they were really nice and asked great questions there were 77 views after it was published online and we anticipate in Emmy nomination for the production as far as transportation is concerned thanks to the very hard work of our Ba's office administration and the threat of the fire of a thousand suns burning upon our bus company Transportation has thus far been very smooth buses are clean um and air conditioning the drivers are all experienced this year the parents uh for the most part are pleased we do have some parents um that are not very pleased with the bus stop locations but due to budget constraints um we cannot hire personal limo drivers to go door too so Robin is doing her best to um respond to many many many inquiries about the bus stop locations to that end um we we have looked at all the stops I don't know who the guy I was starting to zone out at this part of the meeting to be totally honest there was a guy named Frank Romano he may or may not be some type of expert in bus routing he was he was Morris County ed services there you go he came in and he lives here in town hi Frank thank you for helping and he suggested some minor changes but he said we're really doing the best we can do so all we can do is pray at this point we budgeted about $55,000 for subscription busing Revenue at this point we anticipate receiving about $62,000 understand that each bus route costs about $50,000 to do at least um our buses are just about at full capacity um we aren't Savages we can't put k on floor so we are very very sorry for um those who would really like subscription busing but they're just isn't a lot of room with the buses at full capacity right now so um milling and Paving schedule so whose bright idea was it to schedule Paving during the first week of school it was not ours in fact we did not know until the Friday before school started but fortunately Robin um Robin sweet talking resulted in a truce they will allow the buses through but no one else shall pass them so as far as Hudson way we have six science tuition students in exchange we have 17 little Geniuses in our district who are interested in taking mentoring classes and that's Central School only right okay uh wellness program a survey went out to all District employees to see if they would be interested in participating in a wellness program most seem to like the idea we all agree that we must keep our teachers healthy and vigilant to avoid a hostile takeover from the preschoolers our audit is completed Auditors were in the office for about three days last week they had a lot of questions and they were quite pleasant as pleasant as Auditors should be uh we looked at the qack requirements too we don't have any concerns because we're awesome direct install agreements there is a direct install that I think this is what the buildings and ground committee really needs to look at with utility companies that can result in a huge savings if we lay out the costs um from our Capital reserves this is what essentially happens so try to follow me the utility companies pay for a large part of the type of repair that we would need we pay for the remainder but we can do it monthly interest free from our Capital reserves so this would result in energy cost savings um all of the roofing cooling heating systems would be tied together we would stop throwing good money at bad to address the inevitable and ongoing repairs we've been dealing with and and according to Robin every District would envy us as if they already don't so get on this buildings and grounds committee um we are putting out the RFP for um the bcba services uh Treasury and board secretary report now you might notice in this week's report this is not Oceans 11 Do Not freak out you're going to see a about a million dollars missing but it's not really missing from Capital reserves we had to move it from Capital reserves to fund 30 to show that we had the money available for our Rod Grant so it will eventually be replenished with excess fund balance and reimbursements that we will eventually get from the Ron Grant um we disposed a lot of science uh textbooks they were gross uh we also dispose of other miscellaneous obsolete damage disgusting items that had no resale value we are uh on the agenda today we're approving a residency investigator so Inspector Gadget will earn about $50 an hour if we ever need an investigation we have a joint Transportation agreement with Somerset Hills I zoned out for this part Robin will throw you all in vendors and purchases I you kind of dealt with this um Tom so I'm not going to deal with it it's just that we um we went over the $44,000 not that we went over budget but we're just required to the board is required to approve when we go over 44,000 for any particular vendor that was for the iPads and and the sinks and everything for the lunch program let Robin know if you would like to attend the Morris County SBA meeting this is for the board on Wednesday October 2nd atan Township High School uh our um Administration and Robin would like an Entourage and felt guilty she said she would go I resisted strategic plan 3D model contracts I don't know uh I think I was trying to find more paper for this part so R will fill you in and and I reviewed all the bills which were of course in pristine shape as always our only concern was that George was asking for a reimbursement for a trip to the coliseum in Las Vegas to see a weekend with the Del performance where he was apparently Rolling in the Deep and setting fire to the rain so our next final meeting is on October 2nd 2024 it's Bob Lui I kid we're not at it was quite a trip I will say that this is actually what she said is Tamer than what she has written well if it was Mar she would throw me out already but Kim thank you for entertaining me I'm yes um I'm I'm just wondering if you should submit that to the echo so they can know what to do there was no concert oh my goodness um we used to have a spoof paper at College I don't know if you guys did every year they did it on April Fools and like there'd be these crazy so that's what it really reminded me of are there any questions from Alissa I think we okay um all right Katie thank you so um I'm going to oh policy I'm so sorry policy we got some um to the committee we got some policies tonight pushed that to the October meeting we're ahead of the game anyway so we will just go over are um the the ones that we were supposed to go over last month that's why you don't see a lot of policies on the agenda but we're in really good shape I'm in the process of drafting a policy manual for the next policy committee so um we can keep going on on the good work that we're all doing meeting tomorrow there she is okay uh any questions on that okay good I'm sorry thank you Katie um I'm not as exciting as Melissa because I am um I anyway um I will start with A reduced um build in grounds um review because Mark uh did a great job in going over most of the stuff we discussed but I will reassure you that the um pain Advance um direct incentive direct incentive program is on our our radar and is in the process of being handled so yes we are definitely looking into that um so we had a meeting the buildings ground committee meeting was on August 27th it was at Millington uh myself Mr Alexis uh Kim case Karen Nyquist Tom grov Robin buer Adel Valentine and Mark mandki um attended we welcomed Mark to the team he is also known as Mark 2.0 new Mark Mark the sequel Mark uh Return of the mark and um we're just really glad that he came to join us and um he is um a great addition to the district um and as I said he went over most of the things that we're going to and the one thing that we are very excited is Adele gave us a update on the sale of the dump truck and um it went quite well I'm surprised it wasn't in your report and we sold it for $116,000 oh my gosh which is a very alarm not alarming a surprising amount and um we are very excited because we will put that to good use um actually Robin will put that to good use um and she can tell you more about that um our next meeting is September 24th um I don't have a time but I think it's 2: p.m. um and uh that will be via Google Meet The Long Hill Education Foundation um our next meeting is um September 26 at 8:00 pm via go Google meet um course registration is currently ongoing until midnight on the 19th currently we have 10 classes at Gillette there's actually nine and we're adding a 10th because we did not have a physical like a physical education um course available and um Carolyn our um administrator found a tumbling class that will be added as one of the options so that's really exciting so there'll be 10 classes at Gillette 18 at Millington we currently have four at Central plus the um the uh Central and robotics team has their first meeting tomorrow at Central it's for 4th through 8th graders it's at 6 p.m. in central at room 7 um so there's a lot of after school activities um available for all of our students um it starts in prek 4 just because it's a very long day for those three-year-olds so we our venders all prefer that they're at least four years old to start um and then uh so that is that and uh we also have a tentative date of October 26th for the family movie night it'll be at Central um the movie will be to be determined um and also we have a October 1st deadline for our first round of uh Grant and we're hopefully going to get some Grant um opportunities for our um our schools and then also October 1st is the deadline for our sponsorships we're are having really generous businesses and parents donating to sponsor our programs um and also we also have our um our Gala on November 1st at the um Embassy s thank you Embassy Suites in Berkeley Heights um it's a beautiful venue it's uh in this glass um room and it's it's absolutely beautiful and it is a a masquerade Gala um and there'll be uh Tricky Tray and um live music and we really hope people will come and that is everything and uh thank you okay any questions for Katie no all righty so we're going to move to superintendent report okay most of my topics were covered but me just start by thanking the entire staff for an absolutely great opening last week uh their commitment to our kids our students were was on full display um last week as they embraced the kids with warmth and excitement on September 3rd the week before we welcomed back our staff on August 28th uh and had two days of meaningful professional learning and collaboration as mentioned we also had uh our first two parent information sessions and they are on the website and the website looks absolutely great and Jack and Andrew did an outstanding job with that and they contined to uh update it with based on feedback um and Robin is right uh Jack did a ton of work this summer on the bus routes and I do want to recognize him for that and nalia has been a you know hard at work making sure everything is working every day Fielding inquiries getting back to families right away and just um making it uh go very smoothly uh we have more parent information sessions on the way uh they were very successful the first two we're excited about that uh let's see I'll let Robin address the lunch program but she's also she's adopted a new title also and that's taster and chief because not only is she supervising all program and laid the foundation for it she's now about as Vigilant as you can be in making sure it's a quality experience for everyone uh and we're pleased to support the with Grace initiative again this year uh you'll see the resolution approving a collection drive at the end of the agenda and one Millington specific announcement last year we had such a successful spring with Bugsy Mr Simo seeing ey puppy and training that he's returning this year and he'll be joined by Mr nestler Puppy Peter so we'll have two puppies in training from the cingi uh this year at Millington last I want to thank the police department for all their support as we begin a new school year they were so helpful uh with busing and especially with the interruptions in the routes and uh always there to support us and I'll end with a thank you to the PTO for the faculty breakfast at each school on Friday was such a nice way to end the Great first week of school uh and that's it for me great any questions for Mr Alexis no okay business administrator report okay so I'm just going to update you a little bit more on Transportation it's been going very well not on wood um lots of work again we I know we mentioned Jack but Jack did a great job routing people Natalia has been absolutely wonderful answering emails um questions please remind everybody if anybody has any concerns I do have a Google form up on the website under transportation where we are logging in concerns I'm using that as the main place to look for it it's hard when you get a lot of things through email so that gives me a good thing that way I can track what my response is um it's only going to be up another week we told the bus company that we we're trying not to change the routes the next bunch of changes and there's not going to be a lot of changes will be from Monday and hopefully after that the routes are pretty set the routes are very full um especially Gillette and Millington um the middle school not not as much jeton Millington have about 48 49 children on the bus so we are getting to a point on some of the routes that if you request subscription busing or if you're free and reduced requesting busing might we're not even going to look at we can't entertain it because should a new family move in where they are further than two miles we have to have the seats right I can't take somebody off a bus to do it um so those routes are as I said particularly full the routes in general are less than last year in time um lots of children um on Corners so parents are being asked to yes if you have a kindergarten I know the bus goes by your house you still have to walk your child to the corner because the bus goes by a lot of houses we can't stop at every house um so there's just that that little bit of understanding in general the community has been wonderful we've gotten some really nice responses and I'm so happy to say that it's not last year that so that's a really good thing um for the Food Service um if we are Food Service AIDS are fabulous they have really taken the program um under their wing we did about a thousand meals on the last four days 250 meals a day I will remind everybody we've only had the program for four days okay I am personally eating every single one of those meals I have tasted everything I have tast we the L I have tasted yes the Lade actually was delicious we think um some people were saying the top was crunchy we think we had our ovens on maybe a little too hot and some's got but in general it was very good the chicken was good in it the broccoli was good um some of the things parents are saying are a little soggy I did meet with Jim from misters today along with Mark along with dom in my office um and we sat down and talked about what people are telling us through email so one of the things that we're going to look to do for October we can't change the menu for September but for October we're going to try to do like broccoli it was delicious because it's steamed right what they're having trouble with is when you put it in the left Stover dish it gets a little bit steamy so we're going to change some of the things we're going to make it things that are very good steamed right not so much um they're also going to order new tops that vent so let some of this steam out so so that we're going to get sporks for the kids um these food AIDS thought of that idea he said not a problem we'll get that so know that it is a work in progress that we're it's going to get better and better as time goes on and it's been four days so please just give me a chance to to try everything and and and alter it you know so but um in general we have 90 children when I when I see they are getting fresh apples they got fresh oranges today they promised me bananas they they got a grape broccoli they got grape carrots they got good corn you know it we're feeding 90 children so the fact that we're we're doing that like I said and the program is going to get better and better as we discover what works for long haill it's just a little bit of a work in progress and I'll just keep tasting some of that some of those issues though wouldn't they have been worked out with Warren I mean like they had to go through the same thing yeah he's saying you know they're not complaining about some of those things you know I have to say the chicken nuts so yeah they're sot but got to be honest it's like when you microwave a chicken nut they were tasty they were they were not Grizzly at all they were real chicken um you know so well they're not fried right like the what the kids were getting so I could see why there's a like a big difference well think about when you make lunch at home right you make the lunch at home and you put in the kids thermos when they get to school it's not the way you got it out of the oven you know and that's what's happening so we just have to figure out what our kids like that and and go toward that um you know so like I said four days so we're we're going on it it's going to be good I think you guys are doing great okay Melissa I being on the finance committee and see and when this came up I I cannot believe how quickly I know you moved and what this project really took from the Ba's office on top of everything else they were doing this was this was I I think people need to appreciate this was monstrosity of an undertaking like it was huge and the reality is that I hate to make but this is only the beginning of the school year there's a lot of parents who are waiting it out to see how it is and then you'll get even more students so the parent volunteers the work that you and your office has done phenomenal I it's it's shocking how much the Ba's office has done thank you so much I so appreciate that I also want to talk about our Community for a second that when we put our our our word out that we were looking for food service AIDS okay and I was really concerned right as as a lot of people were that we would get people we got 68 responses I then asked for resumés and letters of interest and I got 28 of those so that was fabulous when I ask for volunteers we have 51 responses of people saying now they're not saying they're doing it every day but some you know yeah I can do it once a month I can do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays I'd like to do Jette but 51 responses I mean that means our community is involved I mean guys it takes a village and and we're showing we've got a community here really really nice that so I thank everybody really nice to be supported I just want to piggy back on what Melissa brought up not only the the fiscal stuff about the equipment and dealing with the vendor she had to go through training and the one who's considered the director has to go through training and I think you had to go through training yeah we said Mark down to Bo Town hours there's behind you this is like government required there's a lot of other stuff behind it there's also new training of the business office staff because now we have to right now that everybody's ordered now we have to figure out how to do the reimbursements and get the right reports to do the reimbursements in the right amount of time that's that's the that's the next step and I think um what I'd like to say is first of all thank you for the undertaking and thank you to our community but I think um as it has seen given time and uh the ability to to work with other people you know we solved the issue of the bu say and for the most part and that was a rough transition last year it was a very very tough year for transportation and now we started this year and it was pretty seamless knock on wood so I think you know I I really you know I understand everyone's concerns and everyone's frustrations with the beginning of the year but as you said it's four it's four days and you know I I think we can say that um Robin really cares and she's going to get to the bottom of this and and make it as as good as possible and at the same time we also have to bear in mind that it is a school lunch program it is not a school Gourmet program and um it's it's good healthy quality food we're going to get the wrinkles out but at the end of the day it's doing its job and that is bringing food you know at an affordable price to our community on a daily basis so you know hopefully we will get to the iron things out and um people will be satisfied so thank you very much I I left out of my report something because we got to the five we have to do the free and reduced lunch program if we get to what 5% okay so I we spoke about this at Finance we are now up to 10% and and what we were wondering was how did we jump so quickly well one of the reasons is because there was trying to take me seriously looking like an apple one one of the reasons is because the rules change that include recipients of Medicaid yes right as um eligible for free and reduced lunch so with that rule change it jumped big time so it added even if we didn't do this this year we would have had to do it next year and but we'll now we're looking at once you get 10% we have to do which we are at we have to do a free breakfast program so um and summer EBT I think we're are we at 10 or are we at about 99.3% like we're close to 10 I thought I what's our enrollment right now is it like 865 so yeah we have children I think we're we're over there oh we are at 10% okay so we're looking at breakfast yeah when you said EVT what do you uh that's the the um summer card that the the families get where they get like $40 on a credit card to buy buy food for their children during the summer okay go ahead uh one thing to speak to also Robin you were saying this is not your your grandfather's Public School lunch that in fact that there are State guidelines and these meet you were saying that they must get a a one starch at least once a week or once every two weeks once a week yeah once a week there are salt limitations these These are really healthy foods it's not some of those nightmares that you've heard about there's even a weight thing I was asking you know on the weight of it I was asking on the grilled cheese sandwich he goes oh it has to have the two slices of cheese it can't have three it can't have one because of the protein requirement yeah like like crazy but yeah that you know not that's that's my thing but there there are a whole bunch of tick-off boxes that you have to do they can't have like green beans and peas can't be served in the same week I don't get it but that that's a thing yeah any other questions all right thank you thank you Robin and your staff thank you uh George for leading the charge on that too um it's it's exciting to see it's it's uh and it's the right thing and it's progress and I love seeing that for Long Hill cuz I feel like we were in a little stalled pattern for a little bit um and I feel like moving forward is good for kids and good for parents as well do we have any comments from the public okay on agenda items at least okay uh we have a proclamation um that um we wanted to uh adopt it's for um September 2024 being attendance awareness month this aligns with one of the uh goals for this year around um decreasing absenteeism um so I thought we could go through and read it out loud um I have everybody has a little Clause so we'll start with Karen with the first whereas whereas the nation is experiencing a school absente ABS absenteeism crisis making good attendance more essential than ever to student well-being achievement and graduation Daniel whereas students and families are more likely to show up and engage when there are positive conditions for learning at school including physical and emotional health and safety a sense of belonging connection and support academic challenges and engagement and adults and peers with social emotional comp competency Crystal whereas reducing chronic absence missing 10% or more of school for any reason requires a comprehensive trauma informed approach that starts with prevention and early intervention including developing routines and trusting relationships that create a sense of belonging rather than responding with punitive action which research finds is not particularly effective whereas improving attendance and engagement takes schools families elected leaders and other Community Partners working together to rebuild regular and trusting Communications and to identify and address barriers to being in school whereas taking attendance daily and caring consistent manner is essential to identifying when students begin to miss too much school and for noticing as soon as possible when students are starting to miss too much school and engaging students and families with needed support and resources Justin now therefore be it resolved that Long Hill Township Board of Education stands with the nation in recognizing September as attendance awareness month we hereby commit to focusing on reducing absenteeism and addressing the factors that cause students to miss school in order to ensure all children an equal opportunity to learn grow and Thrive academically emotionally and socially we recognize that we must work together to to build an engaging School environment that motivates attendants and sets the message that learning can and must continue Melissa specifically we will one improve student attendance by engaging students and families and promoting a sense of belonging in our school Community resulting in at least a 97% attending Katie two engage students families staff and the broader community in working together to identify remove barriers excuse me identify and remove barriers to regular School attendance and develop meaningful strategies to ensure all students continue learning I'll do three affirm and promote the importance of consistent regular attendance and active student engagement through unified communication with families and in furtherance of our commitment to student achievement thank you thank you and thank you all for your support with this it's important and it's going to it's going to pay dividends for us thank you okay resolutions we are going to start with uh the minutes number one Karen will you move those in so moved second any questions roll call please uh Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes Mr Groff yes Dr Mah yes Mrs mclenon yes Miss Nyquist yes Miss rubo yes Miss case yes um Danielle will you move in financials numbers 2 through 19 so moved second any questions okay roll call Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes Mr grov yes Dr Mah yes Mrs mclennon yes Mrs Nyquist yes M rubo yes Mrs case yes uh Crystal move in Special Services number 20 through 28 so moved second any questions roll call please Mrs Butler yes Mrs daily yes Mr Foster yes Mr Groff yes Dr Mah yes Mrs mclennon yes M Nyquist Excuse me yes M ralo yes Mrs case yes and will you move in Personnel numbers 29 through 46 so moved second any questions okay roll call call please Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes Mr Groff yes Dr Mah yes Mrs mclennen yes Miss Nyquist yes M rubo yes Mrs case yes um Tom will you move in curriculum number 47 so moved second any questions roll call please Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes sister Foster yes Mr Groff yes Dr Mah yes Mrs mcclanan yes Miss Nyquist yes M rubo yes Mrs case yes Justin we move in policy numbers 4 through 50 so moved second any questions um go ahead Daniel well no actually I'll wait till maybe I'll just say it now okay because I wanted to say something okay um specifically with um policy 6140 MH um I just wanted to say something as it pertains to this policy curriculum um since there are some sensitive topics here specifically mentioned in letter L uh I just want to say that the specific wording that is written here is directly adopted from the New Jersey state law and our policy committee does a fantastic job at ensuring that we are completely up to date and we're following all the laws um but our policy here is not able to add or edit the wording as this would be changing the policies my understanding and altogether it would just change change it entirely to a new policy which um would be changing what the legislature has put forth so this is a mandated policy and I wanted to just highlight this again for the sake of transparency for the parents and towns people who may have concerns with this why are we adopting this policy and the way it is written and if people do take issue with that um or any other mandated policies they really should not be directed at this board rather than to the legislature or the government 's office okay any other questions see okay roll call please Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes Mr Groff yes Dr Mah yes M mclenon yes Miss Nyquist yes M rubo yes Mrs case yes okay Melissa will you move in other numbers 51 through 55 move second any questions roll call please Mrs Butler yes Mrs Daly yes Mr Foster yes Mr gof yes Dr Mah yes Mrs McCannon yes M Nyquist yes M rubo yes Mrs case yes okay that is it sorry Kitty you got left out of that one but we'll get you next time okay any items for discussion unfinished business I don't know if it's not an item for discussion but um one thing that came up in governance is that every committee should be well we'll try to help you but start to really think about their qack involvement you know and number two um we had talked about it a while ago just sometime put it on your agenda to look over those responsibilities that are on the website to make sure that they align with what your committee does I mean it hasn't been I guess it's been about two or three years they've been up so should really look at it that's all okay any other unfinished business any new business okay any comments um I sent an email to everyone just a reminder there was an event for um Scott lavender um honoring his um dedication to the uh Boy Scouts in our community um the board has all been invited I forwarded that um information out if anyone plans on attending please let me know um I appreciate that so thank you thank you thank you um okay any comments from the public no thank you for coming can I have a motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor any opposed any extensions okay thank you you're welcome I for