[Music] the January 4th 2024 reorganization meeting of the Woodbridge Township Board of Education will please come to order please rise for a salute to the flag and a moment of silence United States of America stands indis now have a roll call Miss Anderson here miss Bordan here Mr deletro here Mr Harris here M Perez here Mr sadonna here Mr treaser here and Mr valz here I will now present the open public meetings law also referred to as the Sunshine Law the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provision of this act the board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place there posted as follows on January 11th 2023 it was EMA email to the home News Tribune The Star Ledger and M Municipal clerk's office posted in Ross Street School number 11 and the Board of Education administration building also published on the school district website the results of the November 7th 2023 School Board election are as follows Board of Education candidates for three-year terms Marie Anderson 6,963 Frank deletro III 7,299 and nazam Muhammad 5 5,485 congratulations to our candidates on their successful reelection and election we are privileged to have the honorable Mayor John McCormack here to administer the oath of office to both our reelected board members Miss Marie Anderson and Mr Frank delpetra and newly appointed board member Mr nazan Muhammad it is my honor to welcome mayor McCormack to our meeting Miss Anderson will you please join mayor McCormack at the podium if any family members care to join you they're welcome to do so thank you Mr wolferman just want to start by saying I'm looking forward to a terrific 20124 and another great year of working together with the Board of Education as we have for quite a very very long time I'm proud of the relationship we have it's un rivaled anywhere in the state of New Jersey and it's because we work together we talk we communicate we get along we understand each other and we both the township and the school district work for the benefit of the entire Woodbridge Community as a whole so thank you very much Marie please raise your right hand to you Marie Anderson solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in the state under the authority of the people so help you God I do do you Marie Anderson solemly swear that you possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of a board of education and that you are not disqualified as a voter pursu to rs19 col 4-1 nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in njs 18a col 12-1 and that you will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of your abilities to help you God I do congratulations thank [Applause] you Mr deletro would you please join mayor McCormack at the podium you sir that's why I recognize you now I know do you Frank deletro III solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the peoples to help you God I will do you Frank deleter the thir Solem swear that you possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of a board of education and that you are not disqualified as a voter pursuant to to rs19 4-1 nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in njs 18a col 12-1 and that you will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of your abilities to help you gu I will congratulations thank [Applause] you I knew I recognized you but I wasn't sure why Mr Muhammad will you and your family please join the mayor at the [Music] podium do you nisam Muhammad solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people so help you God do do you naam Muhammad solemnly swear that you possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of a board of education and that you are not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs19 call 4-1 nor disqualify due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in njs 18a col 12-1 and that you will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of your ability so help you God I do congratulations if you don't mind I just like to offer my congratulations to my colleague in public service Brian molar who just retired from the board ofet as the longest serving active elected official in the township of Woodbridge as long as I've been the mayor he's been on the board so congratulations Brian and now I'm number one [Applause] pal just a special moment uh here uh this evening uh our our newest board member uh I thought of a new tradition as I guess our our ranking member here uh this evening I apologize for not giving everyone a heads up I think I I gave you a heads up to number of you we all have these pins nisam it's uh it's a wber sound Board of Education pin mayor wears a pin state legislators wear pins and I thought we'd make it a new tradition that uh you know when when a new member joins the board that he is pinned by uh his his favorite spouse or or partner here so Alicia would you do the honors and pin and uh you have naam join us here on the board [Applause] once again congratulations to miss Anderson Mr deletro and Mr Muhammad and thank you to Mayor McCormack for taking time out of his busy schedule to administer the oath of office to our Board of Education members do I have a nomination for the office of president of the Woodbridge Township Board of Education for the 2024 term Mr wolman I would like to nominate Dan Harris for board President Dan is an 11year veteran of the board and former president he is committed to the board he is I'm sorry he's as committed to the board as any member that I know and I know he'll do a great job as president thank Youk do I have a motion so motion and do I have a second Mr wolman I would like to second and I would like to Echo um Miss bordin's um sentiments regarding Dan Dan has been phenomenal he actually is my role model and um I'm very confident that he will lead us and be a great leader very confident congratulations there any other nominations do I have a motion to close the nominations so motion motion by Mr tree boss do I have a second second second second by Miss Anderson all those in favor I I any opposed nominations are now closed I'll perform the roll call Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Harris yes Mr Muhammad yes M Perez yes Mr Sedana yes Mr treaser yes and Mr valz yes at this time I will be turning over the meeting to our new board president Mr Dan [Applause] Harris offici thank you very much here R staff thank you all right we'll conduct our our business first here and then I'll I'll make some remarks and I know some of our other members wish to do so as well let me just raise my seat here there we go now now we're official all right the nominations are now open for the position of vice president Mr Harris does the board have any recommendation nominations for the office of vice president Mr treas Mr Harris I would like to recommend Miss bouran as the vice president of the Board of Education Su has been on the board for quite some time and has uh expressed interest in taking a more of a leadership role and I think that she will be uh quite well suited to do a great job okay I have a motion by Mr tree waser do I have a second second okay well we got a couple seconds there for Mr sadan we'll give a third to M Perez uh does the board have any other nominations for the office of Vice President seeing none we'll someone make a motion to close the nominations so motion okay I have a motion by Mr valz do I have a second second second by Miss Anderson Roll call Mr secretary M Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Muhammad yes Miss Perez yes Mr Sedana yes Mr tree waser yes Mr valz yes and Mr Harris yes congratulations miss bouran our new vice president thank you very [Applause] much going to continue on with our usual agenda here the weers toship Board of Education welcomes and encourages is active productive and respectful participation by members of the public and seeks to protect the First Amendment rights of those who engage in the exercise of free speech at this Board of Education meeting members of the public are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of those whose legal rights may be impacted the public is now invited to speak regarding the agendas being presented this evening when you come to the microphone please provide your name in the specific section of the town in which you reside along with the specific agenda item and item number you wish to discuss as per regulation 1100d comments must be limited to no more than 5 minutes no response will be given until you have completed your opportunity to speak anyone wishing to speak this evening please come to the microphone okay Mike I think she's too young uh policy and planning Miss ban oh right I'm policy and planning um policy and planning committee on recommendation of sup of the superintendent presents the following six items I move for the adoption of the forgoing I have a motion by Miss ban second well yeah uh second uh by Mr treer thank you I apologize I thought I had to go to the comments or questions first but that that is next are there any comments or questions from the board on any of the agenda items seeing none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr delra yes Mr Muhammad Mr I would have to abstain on all items yes M Perez yes Mr Sedana yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes negotiations committee Mr valz thank you Mr Mr President the Board of Education committee for negotiations present the following one item and I move for the adoption of the foregoing I have a motion by Mr valz do I have a second second second okay I believe I heard of second from Mr Sedana there are any comments or questions from the board saying none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr deletro Mr President I'll be a stating on all items Mr Muhammad Mr President I abstain on all items Miss Perez yes Mr Sedana yes Mr treaser I abstain on all items Mr valz yes and Mr Harris I abstain on all items as well thank you okay in keeping with our past practice we will open this portion of the meeting for statements from the public if you wish to say something please come to the microphone provide your name in the area of the Township in which you reside and please limit your comments to no more than 5 minutes in accordance with regulation 1100d no response will be given until you have completed your opportunity to speak there any general comments doesn't have to be specific to the [Music] agenda Brian mnar Port ring New Jersey well different but uh I just wanted to come tonight I wanted to congratulate Miss Anderson Mr Del Petro on your re-elections Mr Muhammad on your election I wish you nothing but the best I know this board is in good hands and I also want to congratulate the new leadership Miss berdan stepping up in the VP role I know you're going to knock it out of the park and Mr Harris I know you've done this before and you I the board has nothing to worry about with you at the lead and I just want to congratulate everybody and wish you all a Happy New Year thank you thank you thank you Brian seeing no other comments I'll turn it over to any members of the board if you wish to make any remarks Mr President yes thank you oh good evening first I would like to thank my family that's here with me tonight um to witness my swearing in I want to want to thank my husband Jim Anderson I want to also thank my mother-in-law Jackie Anderson as well as my uh brother-in-law councilman Kyle Anderson and my sister-in-law Denise Anderson I have one of my S Wars a Fanwood Council woman Gina Barry thank you for being out here coming out here tonight um I just want to say that I am very grateful and I want to acknowledge my running mates I want to acknowledge and congratulate Frank delap pitro nazan Muhammad congratulations on your reele on your election to the board I look forward to working with you and Frank I look forward to our continuous um relationship uh to Central Administration I want to thank you for your support and again I also look forward to the work that we're going to do during this this term um I want to congratulate Brian molar he's still here again your expertise um has you have been a mentor your expertise and knowledge has been very valuable asset to the board so thank you again for supporting me I want to thank mayor McCormack and the town Council um their unwavering support has been the Cornerstone of our journey and why we are why we have a successful relationship with the Town Council um to the voters of WD Township thank you for your support it is an honor to serve you I will continue to provide an out uh I will continue to work to make sure that our students get a well-rounded education to prepare them to either go to college or enter the workforce I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy prosperous New Year God Bless America thank you nicely said Marie anybody else yeah I I did have a you know just just about an hour of remarks uh that I wish to address here should be more like that right um first of all uh congratulations to Bernie Frank and nisam welcome aboard uh naam look forward to working with all of you for the next three years um I just want to thank my fiance Taylor for joining us here this evening my brother Mike and my uh my niece Lucia and uh very good friend of mine councilwoman Elizabeth De Jesus who wasn't previously recognized thank you all for being here uh I believe that that doesn't for that um and and thank you to my fellow board members for electing me and uh showing trust in me as your board president look forward to it sue Jenny thank you for the kind words appreciate it look forward to working with you to the administration faculty students staff residents it's a privilege to serve you and I look forward to the year ahead in the year 2024 uh for those of you who are here and watching from home and who do so regularly we we thank you for your interest in participation in our school district we uh I've said this many times before it's uh you know said uh probably for centuries that that it takes the village to uh you know to raise a child and you know it's a it's a sacred Duty and honor and responsibility of all of us uh all of you as parents to to raise good upstanding uh citizens and uh and hopefully good students as well so thank you all for for your interest and your participation uh my main goal this year as president will be spearheading a new long-term strategic plan for our district uh Dr Mato said this this quote to him the other day I know you used to work for him at some point in your career uh Woodbridge mayor Jim mcgrievy used to say plan your work and work your plan uh the last plan we crafted was a strategic plan in the early months of 2023 right right as I had started as a board member know John and Frank were here with me then as well and here we are 10 11 years later I think it's time to revisit that plan and plan for the next 10 years and Beyond this year about approximately a thousand students entered kindergarten we need to ask ourselves what should our district look like like when the class of 2036 graduates it's 12 years from now or 12 and A2 years from now at this point together with the board the administration District employees and the public we will solicit your input and issue a plan um my goal is to substantially complete this plan or complete it around the time of September so uh stay tuned um I have many ideas but we're going to go about this in a democratic process hearing from everyone including the board the administration and we're going to get started in Earnest uh later this month when we hold a board retreat and uh more on that later and um you know please members of the public please please let us know what you think where should we be 5 years 10 years 15 years 20 years so on so with that um that concludes my remarks uh thank you all for being here the next Board of Education meeting will be Thursday January 18th we look forward to your continued participation are there any further comments or questions from the board Mr President yes I just want to thank um the board for their support in uh my vice presidency I am uh nervous but I know that I will be uh eagerly Guided by all of you I want to thank Administration for their future support me in this role Joe Knows very well what I mean um and I want to thank everybody for being here tonight I look forward to a great year thank you thank you Mr Bo the chair will entertain a motion to adjourn so motion second all right I have a motion by Mr Tree waser seconded by Mr Dela Petro all in favor I I okay all right meetings and Jour have a good night everybody