Sports exams would apply, things like that. it makes sure that we are compliant and and our teachers and administrators and um staff are protected. So that's where it comes from. That's why it's included in their law in or in their policy. Um I want what I'm going to ask is that everyone look at it again and we will bring it to the next well, you know, we'll get as much information as we can and we'll bring it to the next board meeting. We've already put it on for a first read. So, I would propose that we put it on for a final read. At that point, we have all the information that we can and we make a decision as a board about how we and if it's pull it apart, if it's, you know, adopted as is. Um, I think as we've discussed, this has been ongoing and we do need to get the student privacy policy updated.
So thank you Teresa. Thank you Rich. Um the consultant who pays for the consultant you want to take that or should I? Uh well for certain things um I I think all the invoices technically go to the city. Um they're supposed to so your portions will be coming directly to you once we um straight straighten that out. So the first invoice did come to the city. We had to kind of push it down um to DPS for their portion um but only because it's carved out and I think that was the $3,700 we saw that's um charged against the Okay. Okay. The other question is is um do you meet in person or on Zoom with the with the auditors? It's all it's all um is it? I think it's Zoom um with both CLA. We meet we meet weekly with both uh CLA and with RSM.
In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Miss Piccato assists with guidance mediations, parent conferences, and afterchool family events. Through her collaboration, enthusiasm, and genuine care for the success of each student, Miss Piccadoo's efforts have helped develop and foster a more inclusive and supportive environment for our Spanish-sp speaking families. Please join me in congratulating Miss Henness in recognition of her outstanding service to our community. We're making it hard on Mike. Another another round of applause. Last, but certainly not least, we have Mr. Smith from Bound Brook High School. [Applause] Good evening again. On behalf of Bound Brook High School, the Bound Brook High School family, we are proud to recognize two extremely important members of our school community as they are honored with this prestigious New Jersey Governor Educator of the Year awards. First, we celebrate our teacher of the year, Miss Joelle Smith, whose dedication and passion have made a lasting impact on our students and school.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay, that makes sense. So, potentially potentially. Okay. And then if you do move forward with it, I would s Yeah. Oh, yeah. And I think if you do move forward with it, I would suggest uh or or recommend that you look at identifying like a certain amount of CPC funds, right each year. Yeah. You know, like 50k or something each year that would go towards the program, you know, similar to what we do with the economic development program and budget for this year. Yeah. Okay. Do you is it something that um like because I'm just thinking like if if if if we have this like you know if we're if we're looking at it from both perspectives of like being able to do both things like the historic district and you know some sort of CPC funding mechanism. I think that might help if we bring that together at the same time is what I'm saying.
Um, so that's where we're at with that. And then the very last thing is the restorative practice policy, which is another one that actually needs to be adopted by July 1st. So the we're um asking the shipment that you look at the shipment in Goodwin restorative practices policy and the committee feels that this policy is straightforward and should be adopted as is. This is one of the ones that I was also going to ask because it needs to be adopted by July 1st that we for this meeting do a first read and then at the next meeting wave the 30 days for a second read so we can adopt it on June 4th um so we can be compliant. Um the committee also did recommend that with this new policy the school will work with the superintendent, the new climate coordinator, the principles and create a process by which there becomes expectations and consistency within each school.
Um the only inerson meeting um is when Joanne comes in plus is also her presence. We we do have members from um CLA to get started on efforts that they're doing with us. Um they will come to the office here um for DPS. Um so um at least I can think of at least two or three of their their their folks that have come and met with the team spent um at least a half a day with us um and um to understand what we need them to do for that particular project. And then we will usually continue that um online. Um it's it's very hard to get talent right now in Connecticut and we're we're very grateful. Um two of their local people that can come to us, one of them comes from near the Massachusetts border and the other one is from west I think the Hartford area.
Joelle Smith is the epitome of what it means to be a dedicated educator and role model at Bound Brook High School. As a dynamic mathematics teacher, she inspires students through engaging lessons like scavenger hunts and gallery walks, creating a classroom environment that is both rigorous and welcoming. Her passion for math and genuine care extend beyond the school day with her students often choosing to spend time in her room before and after school. Outside the classroom, Joelle's impact is equally profound. She founded and expanded the school's volleyball program, teaches college level courses that offer students free dual enrollment credits, and juggles roles as a coach, tutor, professor, and mother with relentless energy, and dedication. Within the math math department, she is the senior leader and go-to mentor, generously sharing her expertise, resources, and support. Known for her meticulous organization, Joelle's overplanning and grading routines are matched only by her unwavering commitment to excellence.
I think it's important to have that as a Yeah. And then another thing I also think we should remember, I thought probably the most compelling argument uh on behalf of the historical commission was actually made by the last speaker who talked about actually living in a home that was in a historic district who had to make improvements herself to her property and really did not find it to be that ownorous u process or an expense. Um, so I think I think as you're thinking about subsidies for this type of stuff that should al like I mean is is a subsidy actually required, right? Yeah. Yep. So those are just the thoughts I would put forward. Is it something that you think that you want to talk to town council about? Is it something that we should talk to town council about? I mean I don't I think we can we can do that.
This however would not come from the board. This would not be a board issue. This is just would be our recommendation with the policy um to you know at the building level look at the restorative practices and the new climate policy that we just put in place does define a lot. This is the restorative practices works in tandem with that policy. Um so it's on for a first read tonight. It's very straightforward.
So so when we do ask them to be on site, right, we're consciously asking for another two hours almost right potentially available time versus being able to do something remote. So I understand uh in the past uh what we experienced um they would ask for certain documents we thought that was it and then it wasn't until 3 4 months down the road well we need these documents uh during co it was awful awful trying to get a handle um through Zoom you know through remote it was just it was just difficult I I think that was a difficult time for everyone one um everyone was adjusting to working remote and um gravitating to as much as you could to a paperless um society. Um I in my past um thing before here, right, we struggled also um and getting to the point where you could do a 100% of your business um remote, right?
For her leadership, creativity, and deeprooted passion for teaching, Joelle Smith is more than deserving of recognition as teacher of the year. And we are proud to have her represent Down Brook High School as the recipient of this prestigious honor. Joel, you are truly limitless. Congratulations. [Applause] Next, I would like to introduce our educational specialist of the year, Miss Deb Pollson. Miss Pollson serves as the Bound Brook High School student assistance counselor. Her unwavering commitment to supporting our students well-being and success has truly made a difference in our school community. Deb Pollson is a compassionate and dedicated educational specialist whose steady presence and thoughtful contributions have made a meaningful difference at Bound Brook High School. Through her leadership of Red Ribbon Week, coordinating the ThinkFast interactive presentation on substance abuse, she brings creativity and purpose to promoting student wellness using engaging activities, daily messages, and schoolwide participation to spark important conversations around health and decision-making.
Okay. And I think also I mean I think uh I think once once we reconvene there going to be some other ideas. We want to kind of open up um the discussion around some other ideas. So there's going to be some I predict like there'll be some ideation. There'll be some more suggestions you know. So I don't think I think folks watching this or listening to this right now shouldn't think that oh this is how we're going to solve this. This is a discussion. This is something that we're going to have to work on together. This is an option um a possibility that we can explore. But we really have to get some of these ideas out on the table, kind of figure out, you know, how we're going from there. So, I I suspect I say all that to say that I suspect that we'll be talking to legal legal counsel quite a bit over the next few months.
If you have any questions, uh you can let me know or you can if if I could just add um yesterday and then maybe two weeks ago the administration has been together by school already working on procedures and following the law and getting themselves ready for this. As you know, um I provided a detailed uh slideshow back in November on this and we've also have Ed Advance supporting us. Um and Mrs. Fious is actually already arranged administrative professional learning um in late August that can then be turnkeyed over to our faculty and staff. So, we're really staying very much on top of this. As you all know, we're paying close attention. If we can go back on the um the physical examinations for a second if that doesn't move forward. Just a suggestion that we haven't really talked about. Um we've gotten responses from legal and could always invite legal to a meeting or have them join by phone or something like that.
It's it's it's a very difficult transition. Um from an audit program perspective um because I've been on both sides, right? Um, sometimes they will ask for information, you fulfill it and fulfilling it just possibly leads to more questions and and you want to satisfy them. So, um, what could happen is um they could see something um and then decide, oh, we need to see we need to see more of this. They could get something and they could decide we need to sample more. We want to make sure that this particular thing which is a a control uh we want to see that it's executed in multiple places right and then once you make an adjustment if there's any audit adjustments that are made which that can be a pretty regular um experience that increases or decreases your population. Okay. So we especially see this on the single audit which reports for the entire city all of our federal and state grant monies that come in.
As the adviser of the Pride Club, Deb fosters a culture of acceptance and inclusion, helping all students feel valued and supported. She is especially gifted at building genuine, trusting relationships with students, offering them a safe space to be heard and understood. Always willing to step in and support her colleagues, Deb is a reliable and respected member of the school community. Her leadership, care for students, and commitment to creating a positive school environment make her a strong and deserving recipient of this recognition. Deb, you too are limitless, and congratulations on this prestigious honor. Congratulations to the both of you. Thank you. Let's have another round of applause for all of our educator and support people of the year. Okay, before we move on to taking our um picture, our group picture, what I would like to do, I want to recognize another group of people, not necessarily to call them up for award, but to recognize them for a tremendous accomplishment that they achieved in the last couple weeks.
It's CPC funds could just be another tool in the toolbox, right? Exactly. To make this Exactly. out of many. So, yeah. You know, yeah. Good. A lot of discussion. Yeah. Good. Yeah. Okay. Good. Wonderful. Um, moving on. We have up. I'm sorry. Go ahead. I don't think so. I think, you know, I don't think we need to take a vote. I think she's offered to do it. And Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for checking. Yep. Um, okay. Update on the 40B projects. We have three of them now here in front of us. Two are moving a little bit further along. One, the comments are due by the end of May. And at our seats when we came in were the the draft comments letter from two organizations for the newest 40B project. But Michael, go ahead. Yeah, sure. Um, so I will briefly mention 10 to 60 Main Street and 61 uh Waverly.
Uh perhaps Dr. Garcia might be able to help us with this as well as a pediatrician. You know, have him come and join join a meeting. So just so you know, just just an idea to think about if it if it isn't approved going forward. Yeah. Even just discussing what an opt out is going to look like, right? So, what does that look like? Um, or even from a district standpoint, like what are we going to give parents to know that they are checking a box, that they're okay with, you know, the entire the policy in its entirety or can a form be given where they can actually tick off what they're comfortable or not comfortable with? Yeah. Whatever legal recommends, we can, you know, I'll put that I I have that in my next Sarah. to ask that it behooves us to make sure that parents understand.
Um, if you have an adjustment to any of those grant expenditure lines, even by a small amount, it can move your entire threshold for a major or minor program which can then drive um a resampling um of the of the information. I'm going to just give the one one example just so you understand. Um, adult education has two pieces to it in the grants fund. I might be getting a little more detail, but I think you guys are asking for more of this kind of detail. Um, we did we discovered that the piece of adult ed did not need to should not be reported on that single audit. So, you take you take that back away from it. What that does is it changes the entire population of what's being sampled by the auditors, right? So, um, so that's a that's a situation where they we took away from the expenditures, but it it it lowers everything and then just changes the threshold of what you're testing.
For those of you who haven't seen the Instagram post, recently our board of education, uh was chosen by the uh Somerset County School Boards Association to receive the Carol E. Lararsson Master Board certification, the highest distinction a board can achieve. This is an extraordinary honor as only 5% of the boards across the state reach this level of achievement. So, I'd like to give them a big round of applause. them receiving the award was only fitting because I've never seen a board that's so dedicated comm so dedicated committed to the community and so engaged. So it's only fitting that they received this award and are placed in the five top 5% of the boards of education in the state. Now in addition to that award we received that night there were two other recognitions. One was for board member Danny Minhas who earned his new board member boardmanship certification, a key milestone for him in being an effective board governance.
I know with 10 10 to 60. Um, so for those who are unfamiliar with the process, you know, the applicant submits plans, the peer reviewer has an opportunity to review those plans and provide comment. Um the applicant then has the opportunity to address those comments either by making the requested changes or providing a response. Um I think if you uh look on the website the planning website which Albero has done a great job of updating making sure all the latest documents are up there. I think you will see um the applicant's response to the peer review letter uh for both the traffic um concerns in the peer review report as well as the civil review report. So I think you'll you'll see those um 61 Waverly I think they've just started that process as well. So so there's a lot of information there. Um, you know, I have not had an opportunity to really review the 61 Waverly one that much, but I have looked at um the mill site quite a bit.