[Music] all right good evening everyone welcome to tonight's uh public Board of Education meeting we had we just came from a closed executive session so that's where we called our meeting to order and I'm going to actually turn it over to Dr aderhold if uh he has any comments good evening everyone I wanted to make public comment on on two topics uh this evening uh first of all uh the district has gone through a food service uh RFP which is a request for proposal uh we have to do this every five years um so we put out a bid request um for food service contracts um we had eight companies show interest um of that only three actually responded to the RFP now this is a highly regulated process through um I'm trying to remember which State organization now New Jersey Department of thank you New Jersey Department of a thank you Chris um we had a committee that was created to evaluate the submissions and then ultimately it was decided to bring forward two companies for um in to be interviewed so sedexo who is our current vendor for the past 2 five plus years in a company called Southwest Food Service Excellence um we have brought forward a recommendation to the Board of Education this evening to award it to a new food service vendor for the district Southwest Food Service Excellence for our food service Management Consultant because we believe that their proposal was the best overall program for our students in our community they have a focus on fresh and uh from scratch preparation and a truly diverse menu they also presented many uh attractive and innovative ideas for soliciting Community feedback student feedback as well as working to keep our currenty employees with wages consistent uh to what our employees are currently earning uh from sedexo as well as some employees potentially seeing a wage increase um SF is as what South uh Southwestern is known um Southwest excuse me they go by SF they're a nationwide Food Service management company that focuses exclusively on K12 schools um a lot of vendors step in the spaces of uh uh building and grounds uh cleaning Arenas hospitals um senior centers whatnot SF is exclusively on K12 education uh one of the things that we enjoyed was the customized menus that were created um the fresh ingredients uh they they had und understanding in working with vegan vegetarian and h options and working with students with dietary allergy and other dietary needs uh they have a extensive transition plan um and we're confident they'll be ready to go on July 1st so that's the first part about SF that's on the award for this evening for the Board of Education also wanted to just mention we've talked about uh the new teacher um uh training program or tntp uh this is a program that we as a district have put together to partner with student teachers for the opportunity for paid student teaching um and so to do that we launched um well we've had to partner with all of our college and university Partners uh we put out an application we received nearly 50 um applicants for a fall of 24 of that we extended 24 offers um and we are pleased that we have all all of them coming on board um we one just told us that they have a change of placement to this to the spring so we're going to honor that so we'll actually have 23 paid student teachers um here in the fall um placed throughout of all of our schools um so I have been asked questions by some community members like you know what's the advantage of paying student teachers it sounds like you're wasting District dollars um and and I would just caution that um that thinking in that you know our goal is to um retain the student teachers and employ them as future teachers we're very targeted in the areas that we're looking for um and that we have a sense of where our um vacancies are going to fall in years to come we're also looking at very hard to find certificates and student teachers that have some specialization and to give a larger context to that uh the state has a major um shortage of Educators going on right now um for instance there was only four in the last uh EP report which is Educator practicing provider report by colleges done in 22 at the doe website that goes back to 20 data there was only four student teach four graduating teachers that had earth science in the state um we have one of them coming on as a student teacher um there was only um a handful 30s something biology we have five coming on in biology uh there's only a handful in physics we have one coming on with physics we have one coming on with physics chem and bio um there are certain out there that are near non-existent special ed highly certified mathematics and science 58 specialization which is aert you have to find for middle school math and science special education one of those candidates like there so there are candidates um that we're looking to fill um but there's shortages all the same in 2020 there was only one teacher of German that graduated New Jersey schools in fact there was only nine were language certified Educators in 2020 nine in the entire State um so the shortage is significant and this program is to help us encourage folks um one with training of our own staff uh and partnering and mentoring two our hope is to employee them as future Educators and just remember that A Step Zero higher versus step seven higher like if we have to recruit someone from outside so when I stay step seven seven year six or seven years experience depending on how the the the Sal guides work where they coming from the reality is is we will pay more for someone coming in with experience than we would by giving the sttip in and hire someone in with on a lower end of the guide and then there's long-term savings to the district each year after that so we would be paying one way or another because what we can't have is vacancies in our classrooms so we are going to recruit excellent Educators and we're going to find ways to fill positions but it's going to come at what price point so there is a math part of this equation that comes to long-term fysical health of the district that we have to be very mindful of with this and I'd be lying to tell you different that that that's some of the motivation obviously is to recruit these amazing young Educators but some of it's about um looking at fiscal savings over time those are my two comments I appreciate it thank you all right thanks Dr ader hold next we can move on to the first opportunity for public comments the board invites thoughts and reactions on agenda items and items of concern from members of our community who are present each participant is asked to give his or her name an address prior to making a statement which will be limited to 3 minutes in accordance with board policy 0167 all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer this public comment period shall be limited to 60 minutes do we have any comments yeah you can um please stand at the podium and then there's a microphone there for you and uh don't forget to say your your full name and address thanks hello good evening everyone I'm STI Agarwal I stay at uh for Jagger Road West wior um and I'm here to make a case in favor of introducing uniforms in our school um I'm accompanied today with Kavita and arika who are also both residents of the Westminster district and we are representing a lot of parents and kids from our district who are struggling to cope with the pressure of figuring out what to wear to school every day I'll be making four to five points to put my case forward uh number one uniforms will help Drive Focus where it is needed the most it will eliminate the need to figure out outfits for each day and students will be able ble to concentrate more on their studies and their extracurricular activities number two it will drive equality because uniforms will promote a sense um of equality among students as everyone would be dressed in the same attire regardless of their socioeconomic background it will also Foster a sense of school pride and identity thereby developing a stronger sense of belonging and unity it will go a long way in reducing bullying that a lot of the kids uh encounter every day because of what they wear number three it will reduce the financial and emotional burden in the drive to fit in students often demand specific branded outfits which causes unnecessary financial and if not fulfilled emotional burden on on a on a lot of families fourth Safety and Security uniforms can enhance Safety and Security within our premises because it becomes easier to identify students and distinguish them from Outsiders ensuring that only authorized individuals are present on campus I've heard some arguments in favor of uniforms restricting students ability to express their individuality and personal style but I believe that that's a very weak argument uh against the points that I have mentioned before also this is not a unique situation asking for uniforms all our armed forces have uniforms a lot of services actors have uniforms most of the private schools have uniforms and even some of the public schools in Texas have uniforms so do their kids and those individuals not feel their individualities being cursed no because there's a lot of other ways you can express your personal style even if you are in a uniform hence I really urge the department to consider introducing uniforms in our district and help a lot of children and their parents eliminate this huge burden from their daily lives thank you thank you do we have any other public comments tonight okay seeing none I will close this first public comment period there will be a second one later this evening and now we turn to our Board of Education committee reports uh the first um for administration facilities committee I'd like to invite Dana the chair it's actually going to be list tonight thanks um sorry oh Liz so Administration facilities committee met on May 21st 2024 uh the committee reviewed the following policies and regulations which are recommend amended for first reading at tonight's meeting policy 1140 educational Equity policies affirmative action policy 1523 comprehensive Equity plan policy and regulation 1530 equal employment opportunities and related complaint procedures policy 1550 Equal Employment anti-discrimination Practices uh the committee also reviewed the following policies and regulations which are recommended for a second reading and approval at tonight's meeting policy 2423 bilingual re education and its uh related regulation policy 24 31.4 and regulation um prevention and treatment of sports related concussions and head injuries in terms of referendum updates a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Town Center school media center renovation was well attended on May 9th by students parents and staff final permitting the wof school phase 2 project is nearly complete finishing touches continue for the media centers at the moris hawk and Village School with a summer occupancy expected athletic updates we have some exciting news congratulations to the many high school sports teams participating in the state playoffs uh the softball team won second States game today and it's and is still alive job well done to the United softball team for winning the Mercer County Invitational and to the high school South girls track team for winning the colonial division fall 2024 High School athletics registrations now open through June 30th the fall Sports include boys and girls soccer boys and girls cross country girls volleyball girls tennis girls field hockey and the United Cheer and United football teams um the committee reviewed the 2425 contract for the advancement via individual determination also known as known as AVID program offered at both High School North and South in terms of job descriptions Miss charity CA assistant superintendent for personnel shared updated job descriptions with the committee including for administrative assistant for central office administrative analyst District registar payroll supervisor purchasing specialist school nurse non-affiliated security coordinator and supervisor of accounts the committee recommends the job descriptions for approval at tonight's meeting the next meeting of the committee will be held on June 4th at 7 p.m. at the central office thanks Liz um are there any questions or comments for administration facilities uh oh sorry next um we're gonna hear from ly for the curriculum committee thank you grayan the curriculum committee met on uh May 21st we began with uh Dr Gould who um provide an update regarding student performance in multi-level classes as well as uh describe plans to gather both staff and student feedback uh feedback will be utilized to design professional development for teachers and make curricular and instructional changes as appropriate uh next the committee had an opportunity to hear from Megan O'Brien um she presented her dissertation uh titled understanding uh the teacher implementation of Social and emotional learning at the high school level uh Miss O'Brien's dissertation is aligned with the district's strategic goal uh related to social emotional learning during her study uh Miss obrien hopes to learn more about teachers perceptions and barriers to implementing social emotional learning consistently and with Fidelity at the high school level on the agenda for vote this evening uh first the committee recommends uh authorization for the fifth year of a 5-year agreement with Educational Services Commission of New Jersey to provide uh administration of non-public funds for non-public school students with the within the district in accordance with the State Board of Education guidelines as required so first 1921 193 services for non-public instructional services to non-public school students um within the district in accordance with oh I just said that with State Board of Education guidelines under Public Law uh 1977 chapters 192 uh 183 uh next non-public nursing services in accordance with the New Jersey non public nursing law guidelines under Public Law 1991 chapter 200 226 um next nonpublic technology Initiative Program pursuant to the requirements for the New Jersey non-public school technology Initiative Program uh next non-public textbook services in accordance with the requirement of the New Jersey textbook law njsa 18a colon 58- 37.1 um and following non-public title 3 and title 3 immigrant funds Administration pursuant to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 non-public security aid program funds Administration pursuant to the requirements of the New Jersey non-public security aid program uh non-public idab funds Administration in accordance with the individuals with disabilities Education Act Part B uh next the committee recommends uh approval of the following regarding technology platforms and databases first the third of a three-year agreement with seesaw to provide online student portfolio applications uh grades K to 5 for the 20242 school year at a total cost of $1,150 uh next one-year agreement with the teq SMART Notebook text notebook Learning Suite to provide Smart Learning Suite software 300 licenses from July 1st of this year through Jun June 30th of 2025 at a cost of $975 um a one-year agreement with Adobe education to provide Adobe Creative Cloud software 500 licenses from the 1st of July of this year again to the 30th of June 2025 at a cost of 12 $12,500 and a one-year agreement with Northwest evaluation Association to provide web-based measures of academic prog progress as We Know um map for math reading and language arts assessments for students in English and in Spanish the cost of the materials through June 30th is of this year is approximately 90,000 9,780 moving on to Phil trips the committee recommends uh approval of the following overnight fi trips first for the future Business Leaders of America to the National leadership conference in Orlando from the 20th of June through July 3rd this year the cost of the trip is approximately $22,000 per student uh next High School National History Day students to College Park Maryland from June 10th through June 13th and the cost of that trip is about $500 per student uh next field trip high school health occupations students of America to Houston uh Texas from July 25th through the 30th of this year the cost of that trip is approximately 2,300 per student and last but not least the robo team to Lawrence Central High School in IND Indianapolis um from July 10th through July 14th the cost of that trip is about $500 per student uh next the committee recommends acceptance of a grant on behalf of the district's social studies Department from the New Jersey Department of Education to support the establishment of an advanced placement african- American studies course at High School North and High School South uh in the amount of 12,00 , 305 funds will be used for the period of April 1st of this year through December 31st of um this year 2024 uh next the committee recommends uh entering into agreement with the college board for the purchase of the uh PSAT testing materials so this is just a correction it's going to be for the 2024 2025 school year um for the PSAT Mater testing materials and the total cost of the materials for both high schools are approximately $28,269 hundred and then the second professional development for one AP social studies teacher to attend apsi uh United States history at East Carolina University vers virtually from J June 24th to uh June 27th and not to exceed uh $675 so last but not least the committee recommends approval of professional development Consultants um we're entering into agreement with American Institutes of Research Center on multi-tiered systems of support to provide on-site and virtual training for District employees from uh July 2024 through June 2025 and that cost does not to exceed uh $24,000 the committee will next meet virtually on uh Monday June 3 thank you thanks L uh any questions or comments okay so now I'll turn it over to Louisa uh chair of the finance committee for her report thank you the finance committee met on May 21st the committee reviewed the monthly Financial reports the administration certified that no line item is overexpanded and that there are sufficient funds to complete the year the committee reviewed agenda items for tonight's meeting including the following the 20242 professional rates and renewals service contracts and Technology agreements there are motions on the agenda to approve the following advertiseing RFP for Teacher professional development for the 2425 school year to transfer any interest income from referendum proceeds to The Debt Service fund to offset future Debt Service payments to establish petty cash accounts for the 2425 school year approve the Township's tax levy payment requests approve the 2425 school year lunch rates approve Cooperative purchases using capital outlay and capital reserve funds approve Cooperative purchases over the bid limit approve the use of State contract and instate Cooperative purchasing systems and National purchasing cooperatives approve shared service agreements with local school districts and approve new Transportation agreements along with renewal agreements staff also updated the committee on construction projects for referendum projects wof Phase 2 is in the closeout phase the one remaining item is an agreement between the district and Plainsboro Township requiring the maintenance of the storm water management Basin the agreement states that the district will maintain the Basin and the township will have the right to inspect it a ribbon cutting ceremony was held last week for the Town Center Library renovation project for the village Media Center renovation project ceiling tiles have been installed carpet is scheduled for delivery by the end of May and casework installation is scheduled for June for the hawk Media Center renovation project sealing grid work is complete light fixtures have been installed and painting is progressing the district slates a variety of capital projects for the summer meetings have begun about the following summer projects for wof gym floor moisture remediation for CMS the emergency rate enhancement system and for South to replace the walk-in box for the cafeteria the district is pursuing a second Energy savings Improvement program the committee reviewed possible sites for additional solar arrays an RFP for a solar power purchase agreement will be forthcoming for advertisement next the committee discussed cafeteria Services three proposals were received for the Food Service management company RFP one company was eliminated in the first screening and the two remaining companies were invited for in-person interviews both companies presented to a committee composed of two building administrators a board member and three District administrators as to ongoing cafeteria services in the month-over-month comparison April had four more serving days than March resulting in 525 more breakfast served totaling 3,159 there were 10,228 more lunches served in April totaling 48388 the number of free reduced and New Jersey income eligible lunches saw 9% increase in April over the prior year the total of these categories was 334 average lunches up daily up 28 from the prior year sedexo hired four new staff members in April and May the district has spent 526 thou 528,000 of the 621,000 supply chain assistance funds which are designated for minimally processed foods the district received an additional $ 4,236 in local food for schools bringing the total to 31,000 of which 7 ,000 has been spent this summer 2500 will be allocated to purchasing fresh local fruits and vegetables for the elll program The Breakfast program in the elementary schools continues to see an increase with an average of 106 daily meals served in April 78% of these meals are served to students approved for for free and reduced meals Transportation was discussed during section one in other business the committee reviewed the hourly rate chart for the 2425 fiscal year the committee will next meet on Tuesday June fourth all right thanks Louisa any questions or comments okay so now that means we can move to the voting portion of our meeting can I get a motion for administration items number numbers one through 10 uh Liz and Robin uh questions or comments okay we we'll we'll start with Miss chenera yes Miss zovich yes yes Miss bonsel yes Miss ho yes Miss malga yes Miss Shetty yes Miss Krug yes Miss Juliana yes M McAn yes now can I get a motion for curriculum and instruction items numbers 1 through six uh ly and Pua any questions or comments okay we'll start with we'll start with Miss malga yes Miss bonsel yes Miss chenera yes Miss hoe yes Miss Krug yes Miss Shetty yes Miss zovich yes Miss Juliana yes Miss mccuan yes and now can I get a motion for finance items number one numbers one through 66 plus the white addendum uh Lisa and scha any questions or comments okay we'll start with Miss hoe yes Miss Shetty yes Miss bonsel yes Miss chera yes Miss Krug yes Miss migga yes Miss zich yes Miss Juliana yes Miss McAn yes all right now we'll move on to Personnel can I get a motion for personnel items numbers one through five um just note that there is a typo in number five uh uh school year 23 to 24 should say hourly rates 2024 to 2025 um as well as the green yellow and pink agenda um was that uh that was white Finance agenda yeah thanks all good all good yes there's there's a few different agendas so hard to keep it all straight um oh so for that motion uh Rachel and uh sha any questions or comments okay we'll start with Miss bonsel Miss Chen yes Miss ho yes Miss Krug yes Miss malga Miss Shetty yes Miss zich yes Miss Juliana yes M yes and before we move on I do want to acknowledge a couple of retirements that we just approved with the Personnel items uh first is Shane bissinger uh who is an ESL teacher at Grover who is retiring after 21 years in the district and next we also have um samita baa uh instructional assistant at Millstone River who is retiring after 26 years in the district uh we thank you for your years of service and dedication to wwp and congratulations and enjoy the retirement years uh now we will move on to approving the Board of Education minutes um can I get a motion to approve the minutes from our May 14th meeting um Liz and Robin all those in favor say I I any extensions all right um do we have any board leas on reports not tonight okay uh any new business well that means we can go to our second opportunity for public comments the board invites comments from members of our community who are present each participant is asked give his or her name an address prior to making a statement which will be limited to 3 minutes in accordance with board policy 0167 all statements shall be directed to the to the presiding officer this public comment period shall be limited to 15 minutes do we have any public comments tonight going once going twice so um seeing none I will close this second opportunity for public comments um and thank everyone for for attending tonight's meeting um we um will be recessing into to close executive session after this whereas the open public meetings act authorizes Boards of Education to meet an executive session under certain circumstances whereas the open public meetings act requires the board to adopt a resolution at a public meeting to go into private session now therefore be it resolved by the West Windsor Plains board Regional School District Board of Education that it is necessary to meet an executive session to discuss certain items in involving matters of uh Personnel issues um in in this case it will be the superintendent evaluation be it further resolve that any discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential will be made public as soon as feasible the minutes of the executive session will not be disclosed until the need for confidentiality no longer exists be it further resolved that the board will not return to open session to conduct business at the conclusion of the executive session and now um can I get a motion to to the Clos executive session uh Louisa and L all those in favor say I I I all right thank you everyone for coming out tonight