001Oh, yeah. >> Okay. Okay, guys. Thank you. Good evening, everybody. This is the June Monroe Township Board of Education meeting, June 17th. Can we all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? >> Please be seated. >> Okay. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Ms. Allen, roll call, please. >> Yes. Ms. Alvarez? >> Here. >> Mr. Payne? >> Here. >> Ms. Forrest? >> Here. >> Mr. Marazin? >> Here. >> Dr. Clark? Mr. Pirro? >> Here. >> Ms. Ratner? No. Ms. Sharma? >> Here. >> Mr. Tufano? >> Here. >> Mr. Zaikner? >> Yes. >> We have a quorum. Um in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey Open Public
002Meetings Law, the Monroe Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published and electronic notice provided by having the date, time, and place thereof posted May 17th, 2026 and June 10th, 2026 at all schools, on the district website, the Home News Tribune, and filed with the clerk of the municipality. Pursuant to S4654, a public notice specifying where Board of Education meeting notices are posted can be found on mycentraljersey.com. >> Move. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Any Anybody else have any questions about that? >> Okay. >> Whereas the closed session resolution, whereas the Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq. the Act provides that the Monroe Township Board of Education may hold an executive session from which the public is excluded to discuss matters that are
003confidential or one of the nine subject matters listed section 12b of the Act and whereas that the board hereby declares that its discussion of the following subjects or subject will be made public at a time when the public's interest in disclosure is greater than any privacy or governmental interest being protected from disclosure. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Monroe Township Board of Education that the board shall go into executive session to discuss the following items. Additional items may be determined and announced as needed. One is pending or anticipated litigation and matters covered by the attorney-client privilege. Two, matters involving employees in terms of their employment and contract. And three, HIV investigation involving students. Be it further resolved that said discussion may be disclosed to the public when reasons for discussing and acting upon it
004in closed session no longer exist. Action may be taken on any of the items stated above. I'll make a motion to go into closed session. >> Motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Okay. We'll be going into closed session till 7:15. We'd like to start I have to open up the meeting cuz we were in closed session. Now we're in open session in order to give the awards out tonight. So, we welcome you and thank you and be patient. We have such wonderful awards for all of our wonderful students. And I'll hand it to Dr. Lehman. >> Yes, so this is one of the highlights we have of the year. Uh tonight we're going to recognize our retirees. We're going to recognize student athletes and we're
005also going to recognize some academic and performance related awards as well, as well as our music awards, performing arts awards. So, we're going to kick this off. I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Marolda and the way this will work is all the students and or staff we're going to shake hands down here on the floor. So, we're not going to have anybody walk up the stairs or anything like that. Should make it nice and easy and smooth. Okay? >> All right, good evening everybody. Welcome once again on behalf of Dr. Lyman, the Board of Education and the entire Monroe Township School District, it is my pleasure to once again recognize our retirees from 2026. And all of these retirees have been celebrated in their own way, but tonight at our board meeting, we
006look forward to recognizing them formally as we get ready to close out this school year. We start with a quote by the greatest author of all time, J.R.R. Tolkien, who reminds us that not all that will glitter is gold and not all who wander are lost. Starting off with transportation. It's only appropriate to start this recognition with how we start every school day. One of the most thankless jobs, but one of the most critical jobs in the entire organization, our drivers and our power professionals who assist them. We begin by thanking and recognizing our transportation 2026 retirees starting with Mr. James Dempsey. >> [applause] >> Also retiring this year, another driver, Ms. Linda Manino. >> [applause] >> Ms. Maria Salvador. >> [applause] >> Para professional, Ms. Sheila Smith. >> [applause] >> Driver, Maria Steinberg. >>
007[applause] >> And finally, this year from transportation, driver, Ms. Ellen Vinelza. >> [cheering] [applause] >> Thank you, Ms. Vinelza. >> [cheering and applause] >> Next, we go to Applegarth Elementary School, freshly renovated and ready to get another summer of preparation and another great school year underway. We start by acknowledging para professional, Ms. Lori Konopacki. >> [applause] >> Also retiring this year from Applegarth, teacher of special education, Ms. Carol Dignitaro. >> [applause] >> Barkley Brook Elementary School, 2026 retirees, head custodian, Mark Daldos. >> [applause] >> Teacher of basic skills, Ms. Margaret Del Monaco. >> [applause] >> And of course, teacher of kindergarten, Ms. Lisa McHugh. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Barkley Brook retirees. >> [applause] >> Across the parking lot to Brookside Elementary School, paraprofessional retiree, Jennifer Ms. Jennifer Foppiano. >> [applause] >> My apologies. Paraprofessional,
008Brookside, Ms. Susan Letterman. >> [applause] >> And finally from Brookside 2026, Ms. Deborah Parenti. >> [applause] >> Mill Lake Elementary School 2026 retirees. If Ms. Garcia would like to come up. She out there? Okay. Uh teacher of special education, Ms. Paula De Blasio. >> [applause] [applause] >> And our reigning teacher of the teacher of special education, Ms. Susan Hui Kaloudis. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Mill Lake retirees. Now we move on to Oak Tree Elementary School. 2026 retirees, power professional Ms. Janet Garavente. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Ms. Garavente. >> [applause] >> Also Oak Tree retiree, 2026 power professional Ms. Marie Heightner. >> [applause] >> And finally from Oak Tree, 2026 retiree, teacher of art Ms. Christina Laquay. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Oak Tree retirees. Now we go back across town to Woodland Elementary
009School where everyone's favorite school security officer is hanging it up in 2026, Mr. Pete Klaskin. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Mr. Klaskin. And now we go to the Monroe Township Middle School. If you've ever been in the middle school, you've benefited from the work of this man, lead custodian, Mr. Frank Harselek. >> [applause] >> Monroe Township Middle School power professional Ms. Mary Lowndes. I'm sorry. Sorry, we're going to backtrack a minute. Uh Ms. Luondus, we got Frank coming down here. Sorry about that, Frank. >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you, Frank. Also out of the middle school, custodian Tom McCauley. >> [applause] >> Teacher of math, Mr. Michael Palumbo. And finally, the nervous system of the middle school, the brain behind almost every community initiative, retiree 2026 teacher of social studies, Ms. Kristy Visaki. >> [applause]
010[applause] >> Thank you, Monroe Township Middle School class of 2026 I'm sorry, retirees of 2026. Not there yet. On to the high school, four retirees this year, starting with paraprofessional Ms. Kathy Antonacelli. >> [applause] >> Sorry, Kathy. 10-month secretary in the counseling center, Ms. Roseann Buda. >> [applause] >> And of course, couldn't be here without this guy, Les Lenzak, custodian at the high school. >> [applause] >> And finally, this year's 2026 retiree out of the high school, Ms. Maryann Siciliano. >> [applause] [applause] >> Now we move on to our district and central office employees. First gentleman here is based out of the high school, but he is a district asset, Thomas Chips Chipolous. >> [applause] [applause] >> Hate to see this guy go, security officer, former chief Michael Lloyd. >> [applause] >> And finally, district
011employee out of the board office, pretty important employee, accounts payable coordinator, Ms. Luanne Pecorino. >> [applause] >> Ladies and gentlemen, one more round of applause for the retirees, >> [applause] >> Monroe Township School District 2026. All right. We will now transition to the student and staff recognition portion of the event. Now, before we get started, we close out the school year every year with an opportunity to formally recognize our students and staff before the Board of Education, our teachers, and our community. And while it's important to recognize that these students have all been recognized in their own capacity with their own clubs, at the end of the day, doing this at a board meeting is very important cuz it reminds us what we're all here for in the first place. Now, I also should remind
012you that it is the end of the school year, and that tonight, as we speak, our seniors, class of 2026, are preparing for their senior sunset, which formally closes off the school year in a fashion that we have become that we have come to love and really look forward to every school year. So, not all of our students will be here tonight. We will read their names regardless, so they are forever memorialized in the minutes of this meeting for their accomplishments as students throughout the school year. So, we will begin Uh we'll pass right over Dr. Layman's opening remarks cuz he kinda already made them unless you'd like to say something else, Dr. Layman. And we will get right into it, and I would it is my pleasure to introduce our district supervisor for world
013language, English language arts, media studies, and everything else in between, Dr. Kelly Roselle, who will speak about New Jersey Seal of Biliteracy. >> [applause] >> Um >> the Seal of Biliteracy is a state and national recognition for students who have demonstrated proficiency in English language arts and a second world language. Ashika Argawal. >> [applause] >> Madeline Akawaly. >> [applause] >> Sarvesh Anan. >> [applause] >> Emily April. >> [applause] >> Raji Ayyavadi Appan. >> [applause] >> Claudia Cacha. >> [applause] >> Alina Chaudhry. >> [applause] >> Nadia Chavarska. Noel Chong. >> [applause] >> Valentina Chiccio. >> [applause] >> Fernando Delone. >> [applause] >> Jordan Getz. >> [applause] >> Justin Getz. >> [applause] >> Min Hong Jun. >> [applause] >> Preet Kaur Khalsa. >> [applause] >> Stanislav Kara >> [applause] >> Lasini Kovari >> [applause] >> Shrihan Kodali
014>> [applause] >> Gokul Krishnaswami >> [applause] >> Christina Latash >> [applause] >> Suraj Malhotra >> [applause] >> Mario M. Alarcon Marzia Mujid Zada >> [applause] >> Kasira Murugappan >> [applause] >> Annette Olachia >> [applause] >> Edson Moreno >> [applause] >> Eshan Patel >> [applause] >> Roberty Portugeezy >> [applause] >> Anya Prabhu >> [applause] >> Miguel Prieto Bolanos >> [applause] >> Ananya Raja >> [applause] >> Ria Ramcapal >> [applause] >> Anna Marise Ramirez >> [applause] >> Jocelyn Reyes Acevedo >> [applause] >> Antonio Rabino Fernandez >> [applause] [applause] >> Luisana Salazar >> [applause] >> Mark Salmon >> [applause] >> Ivana Samuel >> [applause] >> Hannah Schuster >> [applause] >> Shreya Sanadapadam >> [applause] >> Advik Sivakumar >> [applause] >> Ashley Tapia LeBron >> [applause] >> Hey Zeus Baro. >> [applause] >> Mihailo Vince. >> [applause] >> And
015Jane Weisman. >> [applause] >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Roselle, and congratulations to all of our students that earned a New Jersey Seal of Biliteracy. We now transition into the Performing Arts world at the elementary level, and on behalf of our elementary schools, our our supervisor, Mr. Yale Schneider, getting a little feedback here. How's that? Better? Oh. All right. So, on behalf of Mr. Yale Schneider and our principals, Dr. Chedda, Mr. Sidler, and Dr. Graziano, we would like to honor our elementary Honors Band in class of 2026. This is the highest honor an elementary band student can earn. In our district, we begin band beginning band in fourth grade, gives our children an opportunity to advance before even entering the middle school. So, we will start off with the Apple Garth Elementary
016School Honors Band, which is directed by Mr. Chris Shearalorello. And apologies in in advance for any mispronunciations. From Apple Garth, Shivani Adimulam. >> [applause] >> Raunak Arora. Viraj Arora. Navya Hugar. Eshan Indukuri. Rayan Jadhav. Nidhi Jugareddigari. Shaurya Malhotra. Scarlett Fang. And Abhinav Varasmedi. Apple Garth Elementary School Honors Band 2026. At Brookside, our elementary bands are directed by Ms. Lynn Burrell. Brookside 2026 Honors Band members, Sienna Ali. Vedita Basana. Luca Kratschek. Malakia Mukatiar. Mukatidar. Apologies. Amaris Tan. And Aditya Tewatia. Brookside Elementary Honors Band. And finally, Woodland Elementary School Honors Band, which is directed by I'm sorry, the Woodland Elementary School Band is directed by Mr. Rick Fontaine. This year's 2026 Elementary Honors Band members of Woodland include Sanvi Dave >> [applause] >> Dominic Keefe Everly Toes Keller Toes Logan Zawacki and Adriana Zimmerman. Congratulations to all
017of our elementary band students and we cannot wait to see you next year or maybe even this summer at band camp. Now we go on to 6th grade and middle school honors band. Uh by definition, 6th grade is still considered elementary honors band, although they are learning alongside their middle school classmates. So we'll begin with the 6th grade honors band students, which are directed by Mr. Dave Ratner and Mr. Sam Schneider. Mansi Aroju Sophia Ayash Sophia's got a fan club today. Edward Bussierre >> [applause] >> Divyansh Dusire Ryan Fletcher Hiya Gunimada I think I left off at Ion Kapoor. >> [applause] >> Maneeth Kumaraveli >> [applause] >> and Bella Kancharla Aryan Mohanty Rhea Patlori Eesha Saxena >> [applause] >> Vion Sigam Aliyan Siddiqui >> [applause] >> Anch Singarappa Sat- Satvika Sriramnan Srivats Sriram and Amelia
018Wood >> [applause and cheering] >> 6th grade elementary honors band Now in 7th and 8th grade, the Central Jersey Music Educators Association start designated students into middle school honors band and into select ensembles and every year as expected the Manalapan Township Middle School wins plenty of recognition in these categories. Starting with Mr. Deepak Bathini Sready >> [applause] >> Sreethi Binu Avi Deorasriya Jason Frederick >> [applause] >> Meghana Jani Rhea Kuthmikhgar >> [applause] >> Logan Pareek >> [applause] >> Genio Patel Rayan Patel >> [applause] >> Sameer Qureshi >> [applause] >> Alicia Shonaday and Arav Venkat Congratulations middle school honors band under the direction of Ms. Tiana Zarella. Now we will recognize our students who were selected into the select ensembles. These are hand picked students to perform amongst their peers throughout Central Jersey and a all
019star team of sorts of musicians starting with the intermediate region wind ensemble. Ms. Zarella's students. Adav Ajay and Avi Jatana. >> [applause] >> Selected to perform in the internet intermediate region symphonic band, Sanjay Anand. >> [applause] >> And Amogh Diapa. Four students this year were selected to participate in the intermediate region percussion ensemble including Jackson Bercuda. >> [applause] >> Carmine Corona. >> [applause] >> Shiv Dave. >> [applause] >> And Jeric Duran Gerald Duraj. >> [applause] >> Congratulations to our middle school musicians. Now couple years ago we actually asked CJMEA to rename the region choir just to call it the Monroe Township Middle School Region Choir because it seems like we just bring the entire school over there and that's because we have two fantastic teachers at the middle school Ms. Lisa Costantino and Ms. Nita
020Schmetterer who year in and year out fills the longest list on the recognition and that's just because we put out region choir and honors choir students like Dunkin Donuts makes coffee. I drew a blank there. Sorry everybody. All right, let's start with CJMEA region choir. Anya Agrawal Haritha Ahmed Amali Arora Ashani Balaji >> [applause] >> Juliana Burl Danisha Bilson Ganaraj Neha Shala Tuhina Devkumar Anya, I'm sorry, Adya Dudilla Jason Frederick, back up here. Vanya Gandecha >> [applause and cheering] >> All right, Vanya. Tamara Kilondo Shresta Malakapeda Mali Maria Isana Mathew Anjali Menon Shakti Mukundaraj >> [applause] >> Anwita Pullari, Anwita Pullari, excuse me. Christine Rodriguez Kenzie Samuel Alicia Shande Vani Singla Sivonic Tanikella Rayan Tewari Abhinav Vaka and Kailash Venkat CJMEA 2006, excuse me, 2026 region choir. I wish. >> [applause] >> And now we
021move on to the CJMEA honors choir. And we start with Anya Anjur. Harshavanthi Aroush Kumar Sanvi Darji Moksha Vidarthi Devarapalli Anya Fitzgerald Aliya Jaramillo Morrow Here Jhala Gurdeep Singh Kalsi Misha Kaushik Keilani Keith Molly McAuliffe Lochita Motmari Shrithi Mukesh Arya Raja Raja Arna Reo Srinika Rapelly Emily Rosario All right. Sanvi Santosh Risha Shah Raysha CJMEA Honor Choir, take your time, no rush. 2026. >> [applause] >> We're moving on to the high school now. Where our long-standing tradition of outstanding choral performance continued this year and CJMEA and JMEA and at ACDA, which is the national version of these organizations directed by Ms. Riley Aviles, we will start with Region 2 Mixed Chorus. These are select ensembles, very difficult to be admitted into. Five students into this ensemble starting with Emily Kujini >> [applause] >> Kushal Patlori
022Ivana Samuel Sanvi Tati and of course Serena Valentine. In the Region 2 Treble Chorus, Central Jersey Music Education Association, three students this year. Aditya Honda, Lashika Khanna, and Gab- Gabriel Siachi. Gabriel Siachi, excuse me. Extraordinary performance in the CJMEA Select Ensembles can earn you admission into the NJMEA All-Star All-State Mixed Chorus. Several members of our chorus program admitted this year, including Sai Brinda Bamupalar Bapu Turaju, excuse me. Emily Coogini, Mansavi Hugar, Lashika Khanna, Kushal Petluri, Shreya Sandapetian, Sanvi Tati, Serena Valentine, and Vincent Wilson. Five students selected to the prestigious ACDA All-Eastern Mixed Chorus and All-Eastern Treble Chorus. Aditya Honda, Ivana Samuel, Sanvi Tati. That was All-Eastern Mixed Chorus. And in the All-Eastern Treble Chorus, Kanchi Ashar, and Ashna Mathur. Congratulations to this year's honorees. Over to band. I'm frozen back here, gentlemen. There we go.
023Under the direction of Mr. Shawn Nagpaul, CJMEA Region Symphonic Band, Aroosh Abalash, Ava Leong, Maya Pai, Sharvil Srisivan, Manvith Davatam. Davatam, excuse me, Manvith. And Edward Sitsanis. >> [applause] >> In the Region Wind Ensemble, we have Noel Chung and Aiden Lin. CJMEA Region Wind Ensemble, congratulations. In the CJMEA Region Orchestra, we have Namana Datta, Arya Somanjula, Aiden Lin, Sharvil Srinivasan. I'll get it right eventually, Sharvil. Manvith Dathathri. And in the Region Percussion Ensemble, we have Aroosh Abalash, Anbin Anburul, Anirudh Mularum, Henry Alvarenga, and Noel Chung. Several students then proceeded to qualify for the New Jersey Music Educators Association All-State Wind Ensemble include Aroosh Abalash and Manvith Dathathri. And advancing to the All-State Symphonic Band was Noel Chung, Ava Leong, Aiden Lin, and Edward Sitzenstatter. We are also pleased to share that we had four students
024that were selected into the New Jersey Association for Jazz Education. In the Junior Junior Jazz Ensemble, we had Ava Esser and Maya Paul. >> [applause] >> In the Senior Jazz Ensemble, we had Manvith Dathathri, Dathathri, and Edward Sitzenstatter. Congratulations to our musicians. About 10 days ago, we honored in the PAC lobby, I'm sorry, in the Commons of the high school, some of our students that enjoyed extraordinary accomplishments in the field of robotics and computer science this year, Monroe Township Middle School Code Zero competition team qualified for the World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri. This team convic- uh constructed of Sarvath Balaji, Arum Miz- Mirza, Janil Patel, and Arav Venkat went down to St. Louis, Missouri for the second straight year and represented our district amongst international competition and plan on doing it all again next
025year. Congratulations, gentlemen. >> [applause] >> For the first time in district history we sent both a middle school and high school to the robotics world's competition in St. Louis, Missouri. This program under at the high school is under the direction of Ms. Marissa McLaughlin. Four students represented the high school and our district down there right after our middle school left. Saksham Garg, Vedant Haritmani, Nitish Sanuka, and Vivek Suryan >> [applause] >> Suryan Hiraniyan. These gentlemen not only impressed us with their accomplishments, >> [applause] >> they volunteer countless hours with our youngest students and have set the standard and they will be hopefully coming to help us out this summer >> [applause] >> cuz they're all smarter than us. Congratulations to our robotics program this year. Right Right next door to our robotics program, under the
026direction of Ms. Vinita Garshankar, five students competed in the Lockheed Martin Cyber Quest competition and earned third place. It's a highly competitive uh very challenging competition. Our students continue to go down there and represent us very well, so much so that Lockheed Martin decided to come back and follow us back to the high school to evaluate our programs, meet with our teachers and staff, and to find out exactly what is going on here in Monroe that makes our students so damn smart. Let's start with Anch Shinawar. >> [applause] >> Anch Padma. >> [applause] >> Gavin Padma. Arjun Sarasan. And Harish S. Singh. >> [applause] >> Enjoying the senior sunset and preparing for what is next. Thank you, Ms. G. Now, back to the middle school, the Technology Student Association, otherwise known as the TSA, is
027a state recognized career technical student organization. Every year, we go to Trenton State College New Jersey, excuse me, to compete uh amongst other schools in New Jersey. This year, we had several teams do very well, including the biotechnology biotechnology team, which earned third place, which consisted of Rachel Levitt, >> [applause] >> Darshi Sivakumar, Keerthi Sivaram, and Sanvi Tirumala. Great job, ladies, and thank you to Ms. Curran and Ms. Montgomery, our TSA advisors. Also doing quite well at the TSA state competition under the direction of Ms. Curran and Ms. Montgomery, earning second place in the category of flight, Arouje Budhaparo. >> [applause] >> Earning third place in flight, Nihal Vooty. Earning second place in web design, Adithya Devalla. And in digital photography, earning third place, Geetasha Bhattacharjee. >> [applause] >> Congratulations. And in earning first place
028in the category of coding, highly competitive category of coding, Ishan Sam and Rayansh Sahu. >> [applause] >> Here he comes. Good job, Ishan. Over at the high school, we sent a team to the TSA state competition as well. And not to be outdone by the middle school, our high school team finished first place in biotechnology. Congratulations to Manisha Balaji, Avani Aggarwal Rala, Aditi Karthik, >> [applause] >> Bella Sree Rithivada, >> [applause] >> and Shreya Srinivasan. >> [cheering] >> Excellent work, ladies. >> [applause] >> Winning first place in on-demand video, Advait Kulkarni, >> [applause] >> Namana Datta, Arya Sumantula, Ryan David, >> [applause] >> Suhan Deepan Chakravarthy, and Saksham Garg. >> [applause] >> The TSA at the Monacan High School is advised by Ms. Megan Card and Ms. Giovanna Kindred. Third place in software development at
029the TSA state conference include Soham Gupta, Akshay Pentala, >> [applause] >> Suraj Kumar Seth Kumar, Sonit Saxena, and Atharva Dalal Pragada. First, I'm sorry, third place software development. Congratulations, gentlemen. Over to the humanities and the service side of things, we just recognized Ms. Sasaki uh a moment ago for her retirement. One of the biggest legacy pieces that Ms. Sasaki and her team have given to this district has been the support of the Ohm Foundation. And this year in Thompson Park, not unlike every other years, but they raised the bar once again with the installation of a special rock garden. Two recent students specifically stood out for their contributions to this ongoing uh legacy-building project that has come to define our district and community service. Today, we will recognize Sarah Barta, >> [applause] >> Alexa Tatransky,
030and Olivia Lester. >> [applause] >> Thank you for keeping this legacy alive. And now it is your job to make sure that it continues. >> [applause] >> And thank you to everyone in the district that continues to support the Ohm Foundation. Staying in the humanities, Ms. Sarah Palazzini advises several academic competitions. This year at the middle school, we had several students do quite well across all categories. Arush Bao in science, math, history, and geography, all of these students qualified for the national bees in these respective areas. Aidan O'Neill, science, history, and geography. Logan Parekh, geography and history. And Shreyan Daddy, history. And Vion Upadhyay, I think he qualified for everything that exists. Science, math, history, and geography. [applause] Congratulations, boys. Keep in Monroe Township Middle School on the map. Back over to the high school,
031a few weeks ago, we learned that three of our students won best direction and best drama at the New Jersey High School Film Challenge. This seems to happen every year. We're in the mix thanks to the arts and designs of Mr. Boris Lodac and Ms. Larissa Miller, who will likely be helping us in a moment in the media center. Congratulations to Dennis Lewis, Thomas Jude Reichel, and Jesse Wagner. And if you haven't seen the film, it is available on our Facebook page. Congratulations, gentlemen. Speaking of debate team, we had a national speech and debate district tournament here in New Jersey, and I'm happy to share that Krish Krish the Kishatria finished second place in the national speech and debate tournament. Congratulations, Krish. And uh this slide I I apologize if it's not as attractive as
032the others. I just I'm I messed it up. I didn't have it included in the original presentation, but I just threw it in there now because we had come to learn that we had three students who demonstrated exceptional performance at the HOSA competition. If you're not sure what HOSA is, it's an opportunity for future health professionals to engage in academic competitions against their peers. And this year we had three students do quite well. Rohit Challa finished in second place for health informatics. Emily Galella finished in third place for the medical spelling bee. That sounds like a nightmare competition. And in third place, Sanvi Sriram Vedan >> [applause] >> researched per vade persuasive writing, third place. Congratulations, students. FBLA, the Future Business Leaders of America. Much to the delight of Ms. Solomon. Lots of things happening
033in FBLA at the state competition. These students will likely be competing in the national conference at the end of the month. In the category of banking and financial systems, first place, Shuban Byron. Community service project, third place, Arav Kumar. And third place also for the community service project, Sadishka Prasanna Kumar. Part of that team also with Vyath Vyriti Vutla. Dev Patel, also third place in the community service project. Aman Patel, third place in cybersecurity. And Alina Shattery in third place for digital animation. We're just getting started in FBLA. Third place for event planning, Shreyas Mishra with his partner Vikram Ranganath. Second place in impromptu speaking, Harest Singh. That sounds like fun. Deviti Sony, introduction to FBLA, first place. Garati Vutla, introduction to marketing concepts, national qualifier. Saranch Malhotra, marketing, second place, along with Hasini Pasupuleti,
034and Abhinav Tody, all earned second place in the category of marketing. Sadishka Prasanna Kumar also won first place in project marketing. Arun Bhat, third place in retail management. Manvith Davathem, third place also in retail management. And of course, the winner of the outstanding local chapter advisor of the year, Monroe Township High School Zone, Miss Jennifer Solomon. >> [applause and cheering] >> Quick note about these after school business clubs. It There's no way to quantify the amount of hours and time these teachers put into advising these clubs. You see just at the sheer amount of students they have to manage. So, thank you to Ms. Solomon and all of the co-curriculars. These programs have sometimes over 100 kids in That concludes the academic portion of the event. I will now turn it over to my colleague,
035Mr. Steven Berendeg. Thank you, everybody. Have a great summer and we'll see you in the media center. We If you are here for the athletic portion, please do not leave. >> Good evening, everyone. So, our students don't only succeed in the classroom, they also succeed in athletics. Uh we're happy to announce uh our sport awards for our winter sports as well as our uh spring sports. So, I'll begin with the winter. Um for basketball, GMCC all division, Josh Ellis. Girls basketball all conference and all division, Kiera Longo. Winter track all division, Adedetan Aro Bigby. Winter track all conference and all division, James Giordano. All conference and all division winter track, Shashank Kappa. All conference and all division winter track, Nishant Tama. And all division winter track, Denise Pena. Continuing with the winter, ice hockey all
036conference Benjamin Blizniak. All conference hockey Matthew DePalma. All conference honorable mention Nicholas Diaz. All conference honorable mention Aiden Mamaliti. And all conference for ice hockey as well Christian Muniz. Moving on to bowling all conference and all division Preet Kalcy. All conference and all division Aiden Wasikowski. And all division Andrew Wasikowski. The next eight student athletes are all swimmers. All conference and all division Brandon Anand. All division Jacob Barseek. All conference and all division Annie Bashra. All division Jasmine Kimchandani. All division Rory Craft. All conference and all division Aiden Lou. All division Genevieve Warner. And all division Nicole Woo. Moving on to wrestling. All conference and all division Kyle Cappadonna. All conference and all division Anthony Capo Negro. And all division Nick Cavallo. Those were all individual awards. We do have a few team awards as
037well. Uh boys bowling boys bowling, excuse me, coached by Andrew Isola were Central Group 4 sectional champions and Central Group 4 state champions. Sacham Guard. Aiden Happy. Matthew Salerno. Arav Thakkar. Andrew Wisocki. Aiden Wisocki. And Kevin Yovan. Next up we have our unified bowling team coached by Sandra Mascali and Caitlin Myers. State champions. Ayan Ali. Matthew Attire. Yazin Awa. Zeeshan Bora. Joseph Kirk. Adrian Kubek. Dhruv Rao. And Shah. Congratulations. Additionally, a team award, uh, wrestling coached by coach Joe Yurelle, received the sportsmanship award. Next, our competition cheerleading team, NJCDCA All Music Medium Varsity and Group 4 State Champions, Americheer International National Champions and GMC Performance White Division Champions. They wrapped it all up. Kayla Alexandrowski Payton Badiak Oh, they're here. Adriana Callao McKenzie Casey Langston Davidson Gabriella Esposito Colby Fernandez Valentina Gonzalez Isabella Grippa Brinley
038Hoyt Emma Curbonsaid Daniella Mayo Nicolette Mayo Gabriella Petralia Brianna Przbyszewski Alyssa Puglia Bella Rojas Leah Scudi Addison Shay and Delilah Updale. Additionally, we did have some individual awards as well. First team all-state, Brinley Hoit and Daniella Mayo. Second team all-state, Gabriella Petralia and Delilah Updale. All right, moving on to the spring sports. Spring track, all-conference and all division as well as sectional champion in the 4x4, Adedetan and her Bigby. Sectional champion 4x4, Thiago Aresta. All-conference and all division, James Giordano. All-conference and all division and sectional champion in the 4x4, Shashank Kappa. All-conference and all division and sectional champion in the long jump, Ayo Segoe. And all-conference and all division and sectional champion in the 4x4, Nishant Tama. Girls lacrosse, all-conference and all division, Ava Citron. All-conference and all division, Emma Profaci. All-conference and all division,
039Delilah Updale. All-conference and all division and defensive player of the year, Victoria De Souza Emelo. Spring track, all division, Keisha Gandhi. All division, spring track Serena Johnson All division spring track Denise Pena All conference and and division at large and sectional champion in javelin Aman Saidu Boys tennis all conference at large Ranav Guntaka Boys volleyball all conference and division James Braswell All conference and division boys volleyball Ansh Patel All division boys volleyball Ragav Rao All conference and all division boys volleyball Shreesh Santosh Baseball all conference and all division Ben Fagan All conference and all division Justin Mangano And for softball all division Avery Tanjutco Boys lacrosse All conference Jake Aikens All division Marco Amista All division Mac Bruder Ritz All conference and offensive player of the year Jake Evanchik All division, Nana Gyamfi. All division,
040Julian Hughes. All division, Dominic Perna. All divi- all conference, Anthony Santangelo. All conference, Jake Santangelo. And all division, Justin Walters. Flag football. All division second team, Valentina Francisco. All division first team, Denise Pena. All division first team, Mia Marabuto. All division first team, Isabella Rozzano. And all division first team, Isabella Sigman. A couple team awards as well for the spring, very successful. Our boys volleyball team uh coached by coach Victoria Isola um and assis- assisted by Pete Rectorshell and Jen Solomon, red division champions and GMC conference champions. James Bradshaw. Suban Bayram. Manuvir Shaw Reddy Chireddy. Luke Daniel Kostuna. Aakool Gunda. Brian James. Advay Kashyap. Neil Natkarini. Richard Nowraczek. Arav Patel. Manav Patel. Ansh Patel, Advay Pravin, Raghav Rao, Will Ruprecht Shell, Trish Santosh, Aryan Sikri, and Aryan Singh. And for baseball coached by Shawn Field,
041we have GMC conference champions Nico Antonitas, Tyler Bacon, Aaron Chan, Michael Sink, Himansh Desai, Sidharth Desai, Ryan Desmond, Eric Dunn, Ben Fagan, Alex Gibson, Max Gonzalez, Cameron Cappus, Dylan Knight, Matthew Link, Andre Love, Christian Luciani, Justin Mangano, Alex Marcus, Adit Mehta, Robert Profaci, Lucas Ruiz, Adi Shah, and James Rutterami. And two additional team awards as well, both girls lacrosse team coached by Alexa Marshall and softball coached by Marissa Boatman earned the sportsmanship award as well. And I believe that is it. >> Thank you everyone. And before we transition back to the media center, I have a correction to make. I put the wrong photo up for a young man who took third place at conference. The proper Dave Patel, please come up, get on camera, and I will correct your PowerPoint. Dave Patel everybody, FBLA
042third place. in the state conference. My apologies to Dave. Thank you, everybody. Dr. Layman, if they 19, not too bad. And we will see you all in the media center. Have a wonderful summer. >> Okay. Okay, thank you very much. What a wonderful celebration of our athletes and our band and our chorus. It was so nice to give out all those awards. So, congratulations [clears throat] to everyone who received something tonight. Um, next is the approval Oh, sorry. I want to reopen the meeting. Is there a motion to reopen the meeting? Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed or abstain. Thank you. Approval of minutes for public Board of Education meeting May 13th, 2026. Is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second.
043>> All those in favor? Opposed or abstain. >> Closed session meeting May 13th, 2026. Is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor? Opposed >> abstain. We did the retiring recognition. Correct, Dr. Layman? >> Yep. >> And the student recognition. Student Board of Members report. >> Good evening, everybody. So, we're going to start with Millic School. Millic is closing out the 2025-2026 school year with excitement, celebration, and school spirit. They kicked off June with their first-ever Millic Woodland PTO-sponsored color run, which brought students, family, and staff together for a fun-filled community event. The students also participated in several memorable field day experiences. Millic proudly joined the district unified field day at the high school, um, and won for and also hosted two outstanding school-based field days.
044One for the preschool and kindergarten students and another for in first grade through third grade. Organized by the exceptional physical education teachers, the days featured obstacle courses, bouncy houses, tug-of-war competitions with parents, and a popular dunk tank where students successfully dunked several teachers. And they extend their thanks to the many parent volunteers who support helped make these events a success. On June On June 9th, the first and second grade students enjoyed a special visit from members of James of the Jamesburg Elks Lodge who shared their through engaging read-alouds and conversations about the importance of literacy. They greatly appreciate the partnership and commitment to supporting young readers. A special thank you goes to Ms. Danielle Drost and her eighth grade students um and teachers for planning and hosting a wonderful America's 250th birthday celebration. The Mill
045Lake kids thoroughly enjoyed this engaging and educational experience. As the school year comes to a close, students and families are enjoying a variety of end-of-year celebrations, performances, and special activities, including the first-ever third grade music assembly and numerous classroom celebrations organized by teachers and the PTO. Finally, they would like to recognize two outstanding veteran teachers, Mrs. Susan Hoy Calucci and Mrs. Paula DeBlasio, on their retirement. Their dedication, compassion, and commitment to students has have made an everlasting impact on the Mill Lake community. They are deeply deeply grateful for their years of service and wish them health, happiness, and fulfillment in their well-deserved retirement. >> Now moving on to the Woodland Elementary School, students participated in an exciting and active field day filled with team-building activities, outdoor games, and friendly competitions. This was a wonderful day
046and an incredible way to end their school year. The district unified field day brought together all students with different abilities to participate in inclusive games and activities that emphasize teamwork, kindness, and collaboration. The band and chorus spring concert showcased the musical talents and hard work of their students. Family and staff enjoyed a wonderful performance featuring a variety of songs and musical selections that reflected students growth and dedication throughout the school year. Student council sponsored a dare to donate fundraiser which collected a total of $120 that will go towards the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The upcoming third grade class middle grade students visited Woodland. This was a design to familiarize them with the building and staff to help children with the transition to Woodland. The PTO generously sponsored a fifth grade breakfast for the fifth grade students who
047will be moving up to the middle school. The fifth graders enjoyed this time with classmates and they were signing yearbooks. Students participated in the Title I end of the year ready to rise celebration to recognize academic growth, student achievement, and family engagement throughout the year. >> An Apple Garth students shown at the spring concert held on May 21st at the Monroe Township High School. Fourth grade went on their field trip to the Franklin Institute on May 26th. Apple Garth School was honored at the county level as being number seven in the county for food donations for the Replenish Food Drive. Mrs. Lizio, one of the student council co-leaders, attended the presentation in New Brunswick. Mrs. Borkwist and the Makerspace Committee at Apple Garth held multiple maker challenge days in the months of May and June.
048The PTO sponsored book fair took place on June 11th and 12th. Principal's book club from for Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library was held on Tuesday, June 16th. Fifth graders are practicing for their moving up ceremony on Friday, June 19th at 9:45 a.m. Apple Garth School gave a sizable donation to Blood Cancer United after a student council Penny War fundraiser. Apple Garth field day was held on beautiful June 2nd at the school. Thank you to Mrs. Flusher and Mr. Bell for organizing. >> Now moving on to Oak Tree Elementary. June was a very busy month at Oak Tree beginning with a unified field day and their own field base field day. Third grade students showed off showed off their inventions and portrayed famous inventors at different parent events throughout the month. Their annual wellness night took
049place on June 4th with the evening ending with a star-studded mass singer event. Oak Tree students learned more about our country's 250th birthday with the help of eighth grade students who visited each classroom. Their kindergarten students showed off their signing talents during their moving up celebration proving they were very ready for first grade. Their students participated in a mix it up lunch yesterday at which they were able to eat together as a grade level picnic style outside. >> And now moving on to Barclay Brook Elementary School. Students participated in several memorable events including the school-wide field day, the district the district unified field day, a kindergarten visit from a penguin from Jenkinson's Aquarium courtesy of the Monroe Education Foundation, a first grade trip to Von Thun's farm, and a second grade Eyes of the Wild
050program sponsored by the PTA. The second grade students also strengthened connections with fourth graders at Brookside through the Barclay Brook and Brookside Buddy program. They exchanged pen pal letters throughout the years and now students had the opportunity to meet in person, read together, and participate in partner activities. They were pleased to welcome volunteer readers from the Jamesburg Elks who shared stories with several classes and helped foster a love of reading during the final week of school. >> [snorts] >> Finally, Barclay Brook would like to congratulate retirees Margaret Del Monaco Del Monaco and Lisa McHugh. They are very grateful for their many years of dedication and service to the students, families, and school community and they wish them all the best in their retirement. >> Now moving on to the Brookside Elementary School. The third and
051fourth graders had a great experience at their field trips. The third grade students attended the Six Flags Safari in Jackson and the fourth grade students visited Cornelius Low House Village in Piscataway. The band and chorus [clears throat] students did an incredible job performing at their spring concert. The concert took place on June 2nd at MT uh the middle school. Brookside held its fourth annual book Brookside Day on May 29th. The day was a huge success. Students from the different grade levels worked together on activities in the morning. Following these activities, the students had a picnic lunch and a pep rally. Brookside held its annual field day on May 28th. The students had so much fun. And Brookside's moving up ceremony will take place tomorrow. >> And the middle school, the one and only, the annual
052middle school eighth grade award ceremony will take place on June 18th. Over 100 students were joined by parents and staff to celebrate their achievement. Once again, the middle school made the annual Special Olympics torch turn a huge success. Thanks to the effort of PE teacher Misty Drake, they raised $3,572. On Wednesday, June 10th, the the middle school held its last student of the month ceremony as they celebrated the students of March, April, and May. Students were joined by their parents and a chosen staff member to enjoy breakfast with them as the administration of middle school handed out the awards. On Thursday, June 11th, they had a very special retirement party to honor the long-time eighth grade history teacher, Ms. Christie Visocky. Ms. Visocky has been a staple of the Manalapan Township Middle School for over
053two decades and has left a lasting legacy. Uh the middle school held its sixth grade orientation for the incoming sixth graders and parents of Applegarth, Woodland, and Brookside on June 1st and June 8th. They received amount of information regarding this middle school. The police department also came to present their LEAD program and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office shared information on internet safety. On Friday, June 5th, over 60 of the Manalapan Township Middle School students participated in the annual law enforcement torch run, joining the adult torch runners for a short segment of their run to celebrate and support the Special Olympics. >> Now, moving on to To high school, which had a lot for this month. Final exams started on Tuesday, June 16th, and high school students have early dismissal scheduled for this entire week and
054Monday, Tuesday next week being the last days of school. Senior graduation is scheduled for Tuesday, June 23rd at 2:30 p.m. hosted at the Cure Insurance Arena in Trenton. Rising seniors, the class going into senior year, have until June 23rd to complete their self-reflection surveys so their counselors can write them letter of recommendations. Then congratulations to junior a junior Anjana Martha who has been selected as a New Jersey students Technology Student Association president, leading a competitive STEM organization of over 14,000 members. Congratulations to Srini Tammana who attended the YMCA Changemakers Summit. He was also chosen as a senior fellow for the Riley's Way Summit receiving $2,000 in funding and named one of 15 New Jersey recipients on of the Gen Z Making a Difference Award, which includes $5,000 scholarship. Freshman Bella Shrivastava earned honorable mention as
055a semifinalist in the prestigious Genes in Space Competition. Ziana Zeaomb Alam was recognized by the United States Nation United Nations Association of the USA with the 2025-2026 National Community Service Award for contributing 115 hours of dedicated service. The class of 2027 successfully organized a Crumble Cookie sale generating over $500 in total revenue. Carnival Para Carada present presented jointly by the Italian and Spanish Honor Society. This was a charity festival that took place behind the high school with an entrance fee of $10 and was very successful and raised a lot of funds. And then the MTHS Spring Course Concert took place on June 1st at 7:00 p.m. And that wraps up our student report. Thank [clears throat] you. >> Thank you both very much. If you could all indulge me for a minute, I have a
056resolution to read tonight for Siana Patel. Whereas Siana Patel has served with distinction on the Monroe Township Board [clears throat] of Education, and whereas through her leadership, the Monroe Township Board of Education has gained fresh insights into student concerns, student priorities, and what is on the mind of young people in the community. And whereas she has further contributed to the community by serving as a valuable spokesperson, sharing the student perspective at board meetings. Siyona is exemplary, has exemplary commitment to fellow students and the district, has promoted clear communication between the board, district [clears throat] administration, and the student body. She has demonstrated a commitment to advancing the education of all students without neglecting her own responsibility to strive for success in the classroom. Now, the Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Monroe Township Board
057of Education recognizes Siyona's dedication and commitment to advancing educational opportunity and open communication between the board, district administrators, and the student body. And be it further resolved that the members of the Monroe Township Board of Education extend their sincere appreciation to Siyona for her dedicated service on the Monroe Township Board of Education. And be it further resolved that members of the Board of Education extend best wishes to you and all your future endeavors. I DO. >> [applause] >> THANK YOU SO MUCH. I DO HAVE A PLAQUE FOR her also. We should be putting [clears throat] it into her her dorm room, right? So you can show everybody. >> course. >> It says, "In sincere appreciation for your dedicated service to the students of Monroe Township while serving as a student board member representative of the
058Monroe Township Board of Education from July 2024 through June 2026. THANK YOU >> [applause] >> THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE serving and I hope that Aditya and whoever comes next can suffice too. >> [laughter] >> Thank you again. Uh number nine is a public hearing on the amended employment contract for acting superintendent of schools. Is there any discussion between from board members or board members just board board members? Any discussion amongst the board members [clears throat] on this one? And then if we have none on the board, is there anyone from the public who would like to speak on this amended employment contract for acting superintendent of schools? >> This is the public hearing. This is the public hearing for the amendment. >> Okay, seeing none. >> [clears throat] >> Okay,
059can I have a motion and a second to >> Motion. >> Second. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Well, I'm sorry, roll call. >> Questions, discussion, thank you. I'm so excited about this. Any discussion? >> I just want to thank Dr. Lehman for all your hard work this year. We appreciate every single day. Thank you. >> THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> I ALSO WANT TO THANK DR. LEHMAN. HE is so easy to talk to. He is easy to answer back any questions that you have and um he's very easy going, which I wish I had a little bit of that, Dr. Layman. So, thank you very much for moving this district forward, especially with our full full-day kindergarten and the finishing of Apple Garth. Thank you. You've done a lot for this
060district. >> I have something to add. >> Oh, sorry, Mr. Marazin. >> Uh while I am going to vote in a few minutes to approve this, um I think it's inappropriate that now we're paying two superintendents. It has nothing to do with you, Dr. Layman, but it just has Now we're going to pay two superintendents, one to stay home and do nothing, and you to do, again, double job. And you're So, you're not getting paid as the assistant superintendent and the superintendent. You're just getting paid extra to be superintendent, which we still have no superintendent, and I'm just, you know, disappointed and you know, has nothing to do with you, has to do with my fellow colleagues here. That's all I have to say. >> Anyone else would like to speak? Okay. Yes, Charlie, did
061you have your hand No? Okay. Roll call. >> Yes. >> Ms. Alvarez? >> Yes. >> Ms. Forest? >> Yes. >> Mr. Marazin? >> Yes. >> Dr. Peck? >> Yes. [clears throat] >> Mr. Pierro? >> Yes. >> Ms. Sharma? >> Yes. >> [snorts] >> Mr. Tufano? >> Yes. >> Mr. Zikner? >> Yes. >> Mr. Payne? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Okay, we're up to committee reports. I was given Ms. Rattner is not feeling well tonight, so I have her report to read. Um the legislative advocacy and community engagement committee met on June 9th. The Board of Education members present were Ms. Rattner, Ms. Forest, Ms. Sharma, and Mr. Payne. The district administration was represented by Dr. Layman and Mr. Moralba. The committee began with an update from the delegate assembly held in May. Then they received
062several legislative items impacting education that were discussed at NJ School Board Legislative Committee meeting earlier in the month. There was a brief discussion regarding federal legislation and the committee discussed continuing to focus on this topic in future months. The committee finished with an overview of articles published in the recent Monroe News that highlighted various accomplishments throughout the district. Is there any questions from Ms. um Rattner's report? And I have her policy report. Is that okay if I read that now? Is Okay. The policy committee met on June 9th. The Board of Education members were Ms. Rattner, Ms. Forster, and Mr. Payne. The district administration was represented by Dr. Lehman. The meeting agenda for this meeting was focused on updates that were recently sent by Strauss Esmay. There are several policies on the agenda tonight for
063first read, as well as a few policies that will be abolished due to being no longer relevant or covered within a different policy. The committee also briefly discussed continuing our policy manual wellness check as our goal for the upcoming year. Do I have any questions on this report? Okay, any other committee reports? Ms. Alvarez. Okay. The Finance and Shared Services Committee met on June 10th, uh 2026. Present at the meeting were Dr. Lehman, Ms. Allen, Dr. Peck, Mr. Pierro, Mr. Zeikner, and Mr. Payne. The committee reviewed annual transportation contract renewals for the upcoming school year, including both daily student transportation routes and transportation services used for athletic events and field trips. Under the terms of the existing agreements, annual price adjustments are permitted based on the consumer price index, which is approximately 3.6%, administrative administration
064reported that Emanuel requested the full amount [clears throat] based increase, while Gat Garas Garas proposed a lower increase of approximately 2.5% below the maximum allowed under the contract. The district is also renewing contracts with Emmanuel for athletic trips and field trips using the same CPI based adjustment. The committee reviewed a proposal to retire and sell eight school buses that are no longer needed in the district's fleet. Administration requested permission to sell the vehicles through GovDeals. They noted that previous bus sales generated approximately $300,000 for the school district. >> [clears throat] >> The committee agreed that selling retired buses through competitive online auctions helps recover value from aging equipment and offset future transportation costs. One of the primary topics discussed was the district's annual contract renewal process process which occurs in June. Ms. Allen explained that
065additional contracts continue to arrive daily and that more renewals will be added to the board agenda before final approval. Many vendors are either maintaining current pricing or requesting modest increases tied to inflation and rising operating cost. Notably, Bush Lov Group, the board attorney, will maintain its current rates for the upcoming year with no increase. Thank you for that. The committee reviewed several proposed increases from professional service providers that support district operations. Administration explained that many vendors are facing increased labor, insurance, and operating costs particularly in specialized fields such as health care, environmental consulting, and architecture. Among the increases discussed, Environmental Safety Management, the district's industrial hygienist and indoor air quality consultant proposed increasing its hourly rate from 175 to 195. However, just today we found out they provided us a new proposal and there is
066no longer a rate increase. So, yeah, we will now be back to the 175 per hour. >> [snorts] >> McCabe Environmental, the district's um environmental consultant of record, requested several hourly rate increasing increases exceeding 5%. Bayada Nurses requested 5%. Oxford Consulting, which provides student-related services, also 5% for certain in-home services. DMR Architects, the district's architect of record, proposed a 5% increase in hourly rates. Committee members discussed how many of these increases reflect broader workforce shortages and inflationary pressures affecting healthcare, environmental consulting, and other specialized professional services. Administration noted that many of these contracts involve services that are necessary for regulatory compliance, student support, facility operations, and environmental monitoring. The committee also reviewed a resolution authorizing the district's annual lease purchase program, which allows Monroe to acquire major equipment while spreading payments over multiple years rather
067than paying the full cost up front. The proposed [clears throat] 2026-2027 lease purchase package totals approximately 3. 95 million and has already been incorporated into the approved budget. Administration explained that the repayment schedule is designed to align with the useful life of the equipment being purchased while preserving flexibility within the operating budget. The committee reviewed annual costs associated with the district's expanded use of the Genesis platform. Uh in addition to serving as a student's district student [clears throat] information system, Genesis is now being used for payroll and human resource functions as well. Administration reported that the district's total Genesis-related costs for this for the upcoming school year will be approximately 95,000, which includes student information services, HR functionality, payroll services maintenance fees, data backup and various integrations. Some of these costs reflect the district's continuing
068transition from older systems and implementation expenses associated with bringing payroll and HR functions into the Genesis platform. Committee members discussed ongoing issues associated with the transition to Genesis payroll. Uh administration acknowledges some implementation issues remain and that obtaining support from Genesis has occasionally been challenging. At the same time, district officials highlighted several benefits of the new system including electronic timesheets, digital approvals, improved record keeping, and better integration between payroll and human resource functions. As part of the transition from the previous CSI payroll system to Genesis, the district will continue paying approximately 7,000 annually for read-only access to historical payroll records. And finally, toward the conclusion of the meeting, committee members discussed beginning budget conversations earlier in the year so that priorities can be identified well before the formal budget process begins. Several members expressed support
069for beginning financial planning earlier so that district needs, capital priorities, operational challenges, and budget goals can be identified well in advance of the formal budget development process. That concludes my report. >> Does anyone have any questions for Ms. Alvarez? Yes, Mr. Martinez. >> You said it's going to cost 7,000 a year for the the previous records. How And how long will that be for? Just forever? >> Um Tynisa, um >> Um we do go back several years. Um just to even have the history. Um Genesis was unable to um upload the records from our previous payroll company. So, it probably will be several years um that we will need to main you know, pay that fee. >> Okay. Maybe there's something we can look into that would maybe alleviate some of that, you know, obviously
070>> Yeah, we we are working um, with our tech department to try to um, get some get some of those records, um, but it's um, you know, just get them in and and just basically have them here, but it's not going to be the same as going in and looking things up on your own, um, >> I understand. >> little different process. >> Any other questions? Committee reports, Mr. Perot. >> Yeah, on June 9th, uh, the building grounds transportation committee met. Uh, present was myself, Mr. Payne, Ms. Alvarez, Mr. Marzin, Dr. Layman, Mr. Tate. Uh, first we spoke about the Honeywell ECEP project update. Uh, committee members reviewed a weekly update report provided by Honeywell, which highlights completion status of the various projects. The LED lighting upgrades are completed throughout the district. Boilers, chillers, and
071HVAC unit [clears throat and cough] replacements are near nearing substantial completion, and commissioning the project closeouts, uh, will be completed in the upcoming summer months. The ECEP solar project update, administration shared, uh, construction site plans for solar installations at O'Tree and Apple Garth school, and photos of construction solar fields at the sites, which began, uh, this past week. Work on the rooftop solar arrays at the other sites will begin once school lets out to avoid disruptions to the, uh, the school operations. So, if you drive by Apple Garth Road now, you can see the whole field on the side of the school where they started putting all the framing up for the solar field there. >> [clears throat] >> Uh, the Apple Garth, uh, road grant update, administrative provided an update on a previously reviewed
072roof damage issue at the 1979 roof section. The contractor will return after school lets out to add an additional roof drain at the area of previous structural remediation. The architect and roof manufacturer issued a sketch and specification for this work. A change order will be presented to the board action at the next public meeting to cover this work. The cost is included in the project allowance and will not increase the contract amount at all. Administration provided an overview of ongoing HVAC work noting that the work on the second shift is near substantial completion and will wait until school is out to bring the contractor back for complete remaining work. Current HVAC work is focused on startup, commissioning, punch list, and contract closeout. The committee reviewed and endorsed the schedule recommendation for the replacement and restoration
073of various types of flooring that were impacted by construction operations. A change order will be presented for board action at the next public meeting to cover this work. The cost is also included in the project allowance and will not add any additional cost uh for this work. Uh also at Arthur L. Johnson High School, the underground storage tank project, administration provided an overview noting the project will be undertaken this summer when school is out. The UST is being removed um as heating oil is no longer required since the building renovations changed the heating and cooling fuel source to electric and natural gas. Uh this project will also be overseen by the NJDEP. As for transportation, the committee asked that the transportation director attend the next committee meeting and be prepared to discuss the DRTS reporting
074system and the district's efficiency rating, which um over the past uh couple years seems to be lower than we are originally our rating was. Um that's the conclusion of my notes. >> Any questions, Mr. Pierro? Yes, sir. >> Not a question. I just like didn't want to interrupt, but it's been an honor working with all of you this year, and I know this was probably going to be one of my last meetings for this year at least. I will be returning next year as the senior Board of Education representative. Fortunately, I wanted to stay for the rest of this meeting, but I have final exams like tonight, I mean tomorrow, and then the day after that. So, I just wanted to leave, but let you all know that I've learned so much working with all
075of you, and I really appreciate everything you guys do for this school community. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Good luck with your exams. >> Good luck. >> Thank you. >> No No other questions for Mr. Piro? Um Mr. Zickner, you have curriculum? >> Yeah. Uh the curriculum committee meeting was held on June 10th from 6:06 to 6:40 p.m. Present were Dr. Layman, Gail DuPain, Carmen Alvarez, Kate Rattner, Dr. Amanda Peck, Dr. Jim Misuraca, Susan Gasco, Janelle Dressed, uh Dr. Kelly Rosell, Jen Rowland, Zach Moralas, Salvatore Ingona, uh Yale Snyder, and Charles Zickner. The agenda covered the accounting 1D curriculum, followed by textbook adoption for trigonometry, Spanish 1, Spanish 2, Spanish 2 honors, and chemistry honors. Mr. Moralas presented the accounting 1 curriculum document. He highlighted its relevance to the 21st century, noted
076that the redesigned course provided solid foundation for advanced business studies, post-secondary education, industry credentials, and future careers. He also described the skills students would gain upon completing the curriculum. He noted that the curriculum included an assessment component, addressed ethics, draw on related curricular areas, and emphasized decision-making. A subsequent question was then addressed. Next, Miss Susan Gasco, uh Mrs. Susan Gasco, discussed the selection of the textbook for Dynamics of Trigonometry. She highlighted that the upcoming 2027 edition, scheduled for release in the summer, was chosen because it covered Algebra 2 through Trig and Precalculus, making it a valuable resource for students who find Algebra challenging. She also noted that the book included a language learning component. >> [clears throat] >> Dr. Kelly Roselle introduced the textbook selection for high school Spanish 1 and 2 and high school
077Spanish 2 Honors. She reviewed how the selection process was conducted and emphasized the importance of Spanish teachers' involvement throughout. They all agreed to first identify the non-negotiable components that had to be in the textbook. Other areas were then identified as needing inclusion in the selection criteria, such as differentiation and other components. Mrs. Danielle Drost introduced the Honors Chemistry textbook. She noted that the book offered greater depth and aligned well with the curriculum and New Jersey standards. >> [cough and clears throat] >> He also discussed some of the technology incorporated into the text, such as PowerPoint and questions. Next, Dr. Layman noted that Ms. Danielle Drost was involved in coordinating projects and other activities for our country's 250th anniversary. Ms. Drost then presented some of the activities underway across the school district. Mr. Yell Snyder provided
078details about the concert season, including the three jazz bands had performed at the senior center in Monroe Township, and that the Honors Percussion Recital would take place before the end of the school year. Additional information is available at the curriculum video meeting for June 10th, located on the Monroe website, monroe.k12.nj.us. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you, Mr. Zeik. Any questions for Mr. Zeikner? Thank you, all board committee members for we have good reports tonight. Uh the next item is our public forum agenda items only. Anyone from the public who would like to come up and speak at the podium and list your name, where you're from, and you have 4 minutes to speak. Anyone interested? Seeing none, [music] we'll go to item 12 assistant superintendent's report. >> Sure. So, assistant superintendent and superintendent
079report will be combined as we have done recently. Uh just a few highlights. We had hundreds of students, student athletes, staff uh recognized tonight. So, that is a as I spoke earlier, one of the highlights of the year. Um some other highlights. Last night was our final performance in our spring concert series. It was the uh percussion uh ensemble performance. Um percussion class and performances here at the high school in the uh commons out front. And tomorrow, believe it or not, we have our first moving up ceremony starting at the elementary schools. And we begin rolling into the moving up ceremony at the middle school or the graduation ceremony on Monday at the middle school and our high school graduation on uh Tuesday down in Trenton. So, we are certainly wrapping up the end of
080the school year fast and [clears throat] furious. Uh tomorrow we also have the eighth grade awards assembly uh and recognition ceremony and that's in the afternoon. And as our student board members have noted, we are now all on 4-hour sessions. So, that that is the true sign that we're at the end of the school year as we have begun the 4-hour session uh school days. Outside of that, um I'm going to get into the report. So, under the personnel items 10 member vote, it's recommended that the board approve the attached personnel items A through BL. A through BL. Second. >> Questions Yeah, questions or comments. Questions or comments on that section? Ms. Allen? >> Yes. >> Ms. Alvarez? [clears throat] >> Yes. >> Ms. Forrest? >> Yes. >> Mr. Marazzini? >> Yes. >> Dr. Peck?
081>> Yes. >> Mr. Piero? >> Yes. >> Ms. Sharma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tufano? >> Yes. >> Mr. Zeikner? >> Yes. >> Ms. DePane? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Under personnel items, nine member vote. It's recommended that the board approve attached personnel items BM through DM. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Any questions on that section? Ms. Allen? >> Yes. >> Ms. Alvarez? >> Yes. >> Ms. Forrest? >> Yes. >> Ms. Ms. Mr. Marazzini? >> Yes. >> Mr. Piero? >> Yes. >> Ms. Sharma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tufano? >> Yes. >> Mr. Zeikner? >> Yes. >> Ms. DePane? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Under board action, 10 member vote. It's recommended that the board approve the attached board action items A through AB. A through AB. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Are there any
082discussion on that section? Ms. Allen Ms. Allen Ms. Alvarez? [clears throat] >> Yes. >> Ms. Forrest? >> Yes. >> Mr. Marazzini? >> Yes. >> Dr. Peck? >> Yes. >> Mr. Piero? >> Yes. >> Ms. Sharma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tufano? >> Yes. >> Mr. Zeikner? >> Yes. >> Ms. DePane? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> And under board action, nine member vote. It's [clears throat] recommended that the board approve the attached board action items AC through AG. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Are there any questions or discussion on that section? Miss Allen? Miss Alvarez? [clears throat] >> Yes. >> Miss Forrest? >> Yes. >> Mr. Marzian? >> Yes. >> Mr. Pierro? >> Yes. >> Miss Rattner? Oh, sorry. Miss Sharma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tufano? >> Yes. >> Mr. Zeikner? >> Yes. >> Mr. Payne?
083>> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> And before I conclude my report, I just wanted to congratulate Ms. Katie Winn as our next APPLE GARTH PRINCIPAL. >> [applause] >> GOOD LUCK, MS. WINN. AND THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Winn. >> So, before we get into the business administrator's report and recommendations, I'm going to read the doctrine of necessity. Whereas Dr. Shari Chandler serves in the capacity of superintendent for the 2025-2026 school year, and whereas the board must consider certain matters concerning Dr. Chandler's employment, and whereas upon the vari- upon review of the various conflicts of interest of the current board members, it has been determined that six of the members have conflicts of interest pursuant to the New Jersey School Ethics Act. Whereas pursuant to policy 0163, when a quorum of
084the board has conflicted interests, the doctrine of necessity may be invoked in order to allow conflicted board members to participate and vote only when the Board of Education has fewer non-conflicted board members than are required pursuant to statute to take action. And whereas when invoking the doctrine of necessity, the board shall state publicly that it is invoking the doctrine of necessity with the reasons for doing so and the specific nature of the conflicts of interest. And whereas the board policy further provides that it shall read the resolution invoking the doctrine of necessity at a regularly scheduled public meeting, post the notice of the resolution for 30 days, and provide the school ethics commission with a copy of the resolution. And whereas the School Ethics Act NJSA 18A:12-2-21 et seq. was enacted by the State of
085New Jersey Legislature to ensure and preserve public confidence in school board members and school administrators and to provide specific ethical standards to guide their conduct. And whereas the School Ethics Commission has provided guidance regarding the invocation of the doctrine of necessity when a quorum of the Board of Education is not available because members of the Board of Education have conflicts of interest on a matter required to be discussed and voted upon. And whereas the Board intends to conduct votes concerning Dr. Chanley, whereas members of the Board have conflicts of interest that would prevent their participation in and vote on the matters related to Dr. Chanley are as follows: Carmen Alvarez, Gail LePain, Peter Pyro, Usha Sharma, and Charles Zeikner involved in litigation with Dr. Chanley. And Kate Ratner's husband, David, is a teacher employed by
086the Board. Whereas as a result of the foregoing, the Board does not have a quorum to vote on matters related to the Superintendent's employment and the Board's counsel and the Board have determined that it is necessary to invoke the doctrine of necessity. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the above paragraphs are hereby incorporated by reference. And be it further resolved that the doctrine of necessity is hereby invoked with respect to the Board's public votes related to Dr. Chanley. And be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution, having been read at a public meeting of the Board on June 17th, 2026, be posted in accordance with the Board's standard procedures for not less than 30 days, and that the Board Secretary reflect the same in the minutes of the meeting. And be it further
087resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to the School Ethics Commission. Can I have a motion and a second? >> Motion. >> I'll second it. >> Any discussion? Questions? All those in favor? >> Roll call, please. >> Yes. Um Ms. Alvarez? >> Yes. >> Ms. Forrest? >> Yes. Mr. Marazzini? >> No. >> Dr. Peck? >> Yes to all. >> Okay. Yes. Mr. Pierro? >> Yes. >> Ms. Sharma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tufano? >> No. >> Mr. Zeikner? >> Yes. >> Mr. Payne? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Um okay. So It is recommended that >> [clears throat] >> board action items A through AB under the 10 member votes be approved by consent roll call. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Is there any discussion? >> Is that the votes? >> Questions? >> It's everything.
088>> Everything from What was that again, Ms. Allen? Yes. Um A through AB, 10 member. Okay. Yes. Okay. Um Ms. Alvarez? >> No. >> Oh, I'm sorry. That's okay. No questions or comments, right? Mr. Pierro Mr. Pierro? >> Yeah, I would like to know if we are going to um look at the possibility of exploring tenure charges. >> We're not [clears throat] discussing that in public. >> Okay. >> Dr. Chanley um has been raised. She's not requested that anything be discussed in public concerning her employment, and so um we should not be discussing that. >> Okay. Any other questions regarding this section? Roll call, Ms. Allen? >> Yes. Ms. Alvarez? >> Okay. Yes to all, but I need to recuse on number 10, number 51, and on the bill list, check numbers 16 It's a
089no to check numbers 16449, 16450, and 16451. >> Okay. Um Ms. Forrest? >> I um yes, but I abstain on 16449, 16450, 16451. >> Okay. Mr. Marazzini? >> Yes to all, no on A1. >> Okay. Um, Dr. Peck? >> Yes. >> Mr. Pierro? >> I need to uh abstain recuse on uh 51. >> Okay. >> And I may no on checks 16449, 16450, 16451, and I need to recuse on check number 16032. Yes on everything. >> Okay. Ms. Sharma? >> Yes to all and no for check number 16449, 16450, and 16451. >> Okay. Mr. Tufano? >> Yes to all, no on A1. >> Mr. Zeikner? >> Yes to all except check number 16449, 16450, and 16451. >> Okay. And Ms. DuPain? >> Yes to all, but no on check number 16449, 16450, and 16451. >>
090Okay. So, motion passes except for check check numbers 16449, 16450, and 16451. Okay. Um, let's go. Okay. It is recommended that board action items AC through AD under the nine-member vote be approved by consent roll call. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Questions? >> Nope. >> Okay. >> Ms. Allen? >> Yes. >> Ms. Alvarez? >> Yes. >> Ms. Forrest? >> Yes. >> Mr. Marazin? >> Yes. >> Mr. Piro? >> Yes. >> Ms. Sharma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tufano? >> Yes. >> Mr. Zeikner? >> Yes. >> Mr. Payne? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. That concludes my report. >> Thank you very much, Ms. Allen. >> You're welcome. >> I I would like this passed out. I um we had talked about this uh New Jersey School Boards Association is urging all schools to uh adopt
091this resolution regarding public school employee health care costs. So, can we if we could pass these out to everyone? And I'd like us to vote on it tonight, Mr. Dr. Layden. >> Yeah, I mean it's the board can discuss it and then >> You can Yeah, any discussion, but we can vote on it. I know um Middlesex County um School Boards Association just voted for it also. And I know that I think the second or third paragraph, it says public market, and I know there was some questions about that, Mr. Weiss, I think. I don't know if it was Mr. Ratner who asked you, but we I think are in the public market. We're going out to um Etna. So, that would include us, but I think we have to just support this for everybody
092cuz you never know in what way we might be involved in this health care situation cuz I have a report on a health care situation that I got from a Saturday meeting that was not very encouraging. It was very dismal. So, if you could all read it. >> I mean, in summary, what it does is it highlights that health care is an issue. There's rising costs. Uh it specifically identifies the School Employee Health Benefits Program, um but also just speaks it generally to health care overall. Uh it encourages uh the governor to take some action in trying to get a handle on health care costs. This is something that New Jersey school boards put put out a couple months ago. We were going to put it on the agenda for the last meeting. A few
093board members brought some concerns about with whether whether they're conflicted to be able to even take action on this. And this is something it's a general you know, let's advocate for lower health care rates. And that's basically what this does. It's let's try and get a handle on this. And uh As Mr. As Mr. Payne said, many many school districts are taking action on this. And it's something for you guys to consider. >> Mr. Tufano. >> I just I wish they put this same effort into schools, you know, fast school funding. This problem arose and boom, it's getting, you know, attention, which is good. But real problem is we don't get fair funding in this district and many other districts. So I wish they would you know, show vote for that, too. >> I think
094we all agree with you on that, so. Did everybody have time to read it? Everybody in favor of it? Is there anyone who's opposed to passing this resolution this evening? So then the past the resolution will be passed. And yes, I know. Someone will make a motion. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Is there any further discussion on this resolution? >> I just want to thank you, Dr. Lima, for clarifying just for the public's sake that even though some of us are part of the health care plan, we're not conflicted on on this. >> Now, um I attended a county association leadership >> I'm sorry, roll call. >> Roll call? >> Uh Ms. Alvarez? >> Yes. >> Ms. Forrest? >> Yes. >> Mr. Marazin? [clears throat] >> Yes. >> Dr. Peck? >> Yes. >> Mr. Pierro?
095>> Yes. >> Ms. Sharma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tufano? >> Yes. >> Mr. Zigner? >> Yes. >> Mr. Payne? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. I don't know. We I attended a county association leadership meeting virtually on Saturday and the superintendent from West Windsor-Plainsboro and Westfield spoke. Uh if I could write down whatever the gentleman Dr. David from West Windsor-Plainsboro spoke about, but it was very dismal. Actually, his wording was healthcare is not going to get any better. It's going to be within the next 10 years. It could go up as far as 67%. Healthcare. Boards of education can do nothing about it. We have nothing to do with it. He said it'll actually get to the point where hospitals, urgent cares, and all those people will be affected by the healthcare issues, and then all
096of our payments, us personally, whatever insurances we have, are all going to be going up. They called it the fiscal death cliff, which I thought was a little scary, but I think he really wanted everybody to remember to advocate, get together, advocate about this fiscal responsibility with healthcare. And that was it was very enlightening. Um He also said, like I said, the board of ed cannot do anything. It's out of our control. Eventually, boards of ed will have to cut things that they don't want to cut. So, down the road, we might have to cut some um clubs, pay to play. You don't know. But it's all going to healthcare costs are all going to affect this in school districts. None of us are exempt from it. So, it was really a wonderful um enlightening,
097scary conversation between the two gentlemen and um I just wanted to let you know that as much as we try >> Sorry. >> That's okay. As much as we try hard and we have and we tried hard with $400,000 less this year, we still passed full-day kindergarten. But we don't know what's going to happen in the future. And I just wanted one other thing um I want to congratulate Mr. Weiss. He was just elected and I don't know what the title of your organization is. >> New Jersey Association of School Attorneys. >> Thank you. I was close. >> Very. >> He was just elected president of the New Jersey Association of School Attorneys. >> Oh. >> So I'd like to thank him for all his hard [applause] work. >> CONGRATULATIONS. >> AND I MEAN JUST
098ONE OTHER thing to add to his little hat that he has and uh Yes, Mr. Zeiker. >> Yeah, I just I don't want to take away from from congratulations. It's wonderful. Um you know, this is all well, but did they dis- did they discuss a solution? >> No. So what we're getting now is and I think don't misunderstand me. I think this is a good step. However, the only way they're going to I mean there's a solution. There's a solution to anything. If you look and you come up and you have some creative people come up with creative ideas. Solution to this. And I and I won't get into it because I don't want to get into the politics of the whole thing. But here are solutions and they need to start to address solutions.
099I mean just saying whereas this is going to happen whereas that's going to happen. It's not going to do it. >> Well, like Mr. Tufano said and you just said, I stuck between a rock and a hard place between your school funding formula and the health care costs. So what is the board supposed to do? Make sure that we take care of the children, the staff and everyone else, and give them the best education that we can. It's the state's issue. I mean, I don't know what our governor is doing. I read that she wasn't addressing education immediately. And I thought with her putting that woman from Tennessee, I think, as the director or the head of the education I haven't read anything recently on anything good about it. But they had a lot to
100say on Saturday, let me tell you. And uh it it was enlightening, like I said, and frightening. So, um that's my report for this evening. >> Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. >> Yes, Mr. Tufano. >> Ms. Payne, I I would Ms. Payne, I would implore implore you as the board president to contact school boards and ask them to take our fair funding just as serious as the action they took here. There should have been another one of these papers that were passed around tonight helping the funding formula in this state. So, if we want something done, maybe we should be the district that initiates it. >> I totally agree. I guess Ms. Ratner would agree with you, too, cuz she's she's on legislation for NJASB. Yeah. >> what I'm saying to you as the board
101president, can you contact school boards and ask him to write another beautiful thing like this and whereas save our schools with some fair funding? >> You got it. I will do that. >> Thank you. >> Actually, even Mr. Addonizio said the one that Senator Gopal has out it's not a good uh whatever he put out regarding health care and fair funding was not a good I don't remember. He a bill or whatever he just proposed, he said don't go by it cuz it's not really good for us. >> Senator Coughlin also has a bill out that he wants the state to let us know what our funding is for the following year, so that we're not staggering at, you know, at the last minute. >> Senator Coughlin Coughlin c o u g h l i
102n, I think, right? >> Yeah, cool. >> I love that. But knowing that we're not getting any money next year is just as bad as getting no money next year. >> Exactly. Exactly. >> But one of these written up from school boards might help a little bit. So, we'll see what happens. >> Hey, someone also suggested that regarding um this, that also something like this should go out to the community. And let keep the community apprised of what's going on in this state with healthcare rising costs cuz I think sometimes the community thinks that we can control it. We can't. That was his final words, school boards cannot control this. So, I hope our community is here and paying attention that we try our best with what the state is giving us or not giving
103us. >> suggested a few years ago and I don't know what came of it, but to have the residents in this town students can take it home a letter you know, expressing that we do need more fair school funding and have all the parents sign it and then we can send it to But we we didn't do that. >> But it's on the website. >> Yeah, but we should send a letter home cuz a lot of people don't go on the website. So, when they get a letter home from with the their [clears throat] students, they pay attention to it. And then maybe we get more signatures. So, maybe we we could try that. I mean, it's worth a try. >> It's worth a try. Anything's worth a try. >> Right. >> I mean, sometimes
104the kids come home with paperwork and they don't come home with the paperwork. >> [laughter] >> So, I but I think the majority of our students are our parents are intelligent enough to look through their folders and see that, but I think that's a great idea. Um I think I'll speak to Mr. Ratner about that cuz we do have a letter on our website for advocacy through the Consumer Advisory Council, I think it was, and through her legislative committee. It it's so hard to get the other districts around us with what you need. You need to get a lot of people together and say something about it. But >> Well, how do we set up meetings with other districts? >> I I don't know. I would love to look into it and find out. >>
105This is what I spoke to about during the budget vote. Eventually people not going to be able to afford all the raises that we have to give them. So that was my argument about the budget. So something really need This that's a to me that's a bigger emergency than the health care right now is the tax rate but we're going to have to raise people next year if we don't get funding. And then there will be cuts because >> Yes. He said that. He said there will be cuts down the down the road. >> think anybody in this district even though a lot of us don't get along, nobody at these at this dais here wants to see anything cut in this district because we just saw tonight all the awards given out to those
106wonderful children. And I don't want any of those programs cut because the smiles in their face when they got the awards is priceless but some people just can't afford to pay any more in property tax. >> Right. >> And it's not fair to them because we're not getting our fair share. >> Okay. I'll make a note of that and I'll write a letter, Mr. Tufano. Thank you very much. Is there anything you want to email me or let me know what you would like in it? >> Let me tell me what you'd like in it also. >> Okay, thank you. Other Board of Education business. Does any board member have anything they'd like to say tonight about anything? That was quite a lot. I'm Yes. Mr. Farrell? >> Yeah, I I would just like to
107clarify some things. There's a lot of misinformation being spread on a uh Facebook page about myself. So the the true thing what happened is that when I became a board member last year, I'm not familiar with the forms filling them out and stuff. And I think that any new board member should be assisted in the beginning filling out the disclosure forms or any other forms. Um so, I didn't fill the disclosure form out properly. My mistake. And uh I voted to pay overtime to police officers for sporting events they worked. And um I was filed a complaint by uh Miss Kerby. And I got a reprimand for filling the form out wrong. I actually called the state when I got the uh ethics complaint and I asked them if I could correct it. And I
108was told that I could correct it the following year when I filled the form out. So, it's okay. So, uh I had no idea that I couldn't vote for that and I just like asked Dr. Layman, have I ever ordered you or anybody in this district to hire police officers? >> No. >> Okay. Cuz these lies are being spread on Facebook. So, I just want to clarify that. It's my mistake. Uh I I received a reprimand which is the lowest level of punishment you can get for an ethics violation. And and that's it. It was so Just please, if you have a question, come see me, ask me a question, but don't believe the lies that are always spread on Facebook cuz there's a lot of them by page run by Miss Kerby. Thank you.
109>> Thank you, Mr. Piro. I'm sorry that happened to you or if it happens to any of us. >> And I think that any new board member should be explained like what you could vote for, what you can't vote for. >> Right. >> Filling the form out first time, the disclosure form, so it's done properly. Uh I feel like I turned it in into central office and it's I just find it odd that she filed complaints against me like right away. Like she knew I did it wrong. >> Good. >> So, I just find it very strange. Um there's other members who filled it out incorrectly, but she doesn't follow on that, so very interesting. >> Thank you, Mr. Kerr. Any other board members business would like to speak tonight? We're going to go to
110the public forum right now. Anyone from the audience that would like to speak on any issue not the agenda, please come up, state your name, where you live, and you have 4 minutes to speak. >> Hey, good evening. Mike Weiner, 9 Sequoia Court. Imagine that your child comes home from school and tells you that they didn't do well on a classroom assessment. So, you reach out to the teacher about the assessment and ask that they send it home so you can review it with your child, and they tell you no. Okay? Uh they won't send it home, and if you want to review it, you have to make an appointment to come in to the school district to review it with the teacher. How would that sit with any of you? I ask because that's
111exactly what I'm going through in Monroe Township School District right now, this year, this school year. Uh This has not only been with my daughter's language arts teacher, Mrs. Avant, but also with the language arts supervisor and with the administration at the middle school. Uh they've repeatedly denied me the opportunity to help my own child with her academic progress by refusing to return completed and graded work for review. I know this sounds ridiculous, but this is actually what I've experienced this year. The assignments I'm referring to were essay-based assignments where students had to read a text, complete a series of multiple-choice questions, and then in a second class session, complete a writing piece using the text as the basis for the writing. In multiple instances, my child didn't do as well as I would have
112liked on the multiple-choice portion. The first time this happened, I reached out to the teacher that day that the reading and the multiple choice was completed and put in the grade book to see if it would be possible to get the text that night so I could review them with my daughter before she took the essay portion the following day. I was told no. In this instance, I wasn't really surprised because I could see how reviewing the test with her before the essay portion of the assignment might be viewed as an unfair advantage, but on the other hand, I didn't feel it was fair that she had already been given a negative grade for the multiple choice that reflected she struggled to understand the text, but then was going to be required to write a
113narrative piece worth 100 points that was based on a text she clearly didn't understand. I then reached out to the teacher after the assignment had been graded and posted and was still told that if I wanted to review the assignment, I would have to make an appointment to come into the building to do so, which still doesn't give me an opportunity to review the work with my daughter. I followed up with the language arts supervisor and the administration of the middle school who supported this. In another instance, which occurred just last week, despite the situation being exactly the same, I didn't reach out until the grade was posted for both the multiple choice and the written portion and was again told that if I wanted to review the assignment, I'd have to make an appointment
114to come in and meet the teacher. This is just simply unacceptable. It's just unacceptable. Maybe if we were talking about a state test, I would understand this position, but to me there's no reasonable explanation of why a basic classroom assignment can't be sent home to a to a parent to review with their student. Does this school district really expect me to take time from work to come in and look at a simple assignment? That's ridiculous. It should be duly noted that while I understand this to be the case, I also understand uh I'm sorry. On top of this, to my knowledge, these assignments were never returned. They weren't ever given back to the students and they were never reviewed. Okay? So basically, my daughter struggled with these assignments and is told to move on. It's
115not acceptable to me. It should also be noted that while I understand this to be the case, I also understand that this same class is spending the final week plus of the school year watching Harry Potter. Okay? It's what they're doing in class. What a what a serious misuse of the valuable limited time our students have in the classroom. I wanted to make you all aware of this. Quite simply, it needs to change. A simple policy about returning work to students and parents would easily clarify things. I almost want to go so far as to say it's a parent's right if I if I want my child's work. It's my right to see their work. Who who is anyone to tell me I I can't see my child's work unless I make an appointment to
116come in. I implore you all to address this. Thanks. >> Thank you, Mr. Weiner. I know you reached out and uh >> [clears throat] >> after 3:00 I'll give you a phone call cuz that's your schedule. Um and we'll go over it, but we definitely have uh expectations that assignments are shared, um but we do have some assignments across the board whether they're benchmark assignments, midterms, finals that we do keep, you know, records and things for. So, um I'll follow up with you to get some details and um I'm pretty sure the assignment you're referring to and and we can do a better job communicating which ones those are so you're not necessarily expecting certain work to come home and things like that. Um but I'm pretty sure that this was a benchmark assignment which
117multi-day piece um and we're looking for in student independent work. Um we do scaffold assignments, we send them home, we do uh work that is done at home. You know, you definitely I know you're very active supporting your children um >> I'm also a language arts teacher so you all know that. That's why I wanted it cuz I'm a teacher myself. So, if anybody's going to help my kid, I want it to be me. >> Yep. And and and I know that very well. Yep. >> I'm just going to say whether it's a benchmark assignment or not, if it's not a state test, it should be able to come home. If you guys have concerns about the work being given out or repeated or something like that, copied, you know, then then tell the teachers
118to switch it up. Tell them to switch it up. It's that easy. You know, that's it. I mean, I I I just feel like I have the right to review my my child's work. That's it. That's all I want. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else wishing to speak this evening? Okay, the next scheduled board meeting is July 15th. Do I hear a motion to close the meeting? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Is there any discussion about that? >> Yeah, can we close the meeting? >> Okay. Before I even say that every every time, everybody's gone anyway. Uh all those in favor? >> Aye. >> Okay. Everyone enjoy. Summer's coming this weekend. All the dads have a nice Father's Day. Please enjoy basking your children and love your children and enjoy your children.