001Please stand al to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, >> thank you so much. I will turn it over to Dr. Muchi for the superintendent's report. >> Good evening and welcome. We have a number of important presentations this evening. We are going to begin first uh with a recognition of our winner of our cleanest school competition and then we will begin uh our recognition for Mr. Martin. And at that point, we'll take a brief break um so that we can spend some time having refreshments and conversations with our guests. We look forward to resuming shortly after the recess to have a presentation on our upcoming plans for a referendum and some capital improvements. So this evening, I'd like to begin by introducing Mr.
002Glenn Miller. Good evening. Um, it is with immense pride and joy that I stand before you today to celebrate a remarkable achievement. The Sussex Avenue Elementary School has been awarded the first annual cleanest school of the year award. >> This honor is far more than just a plaque or a title. It represents the dedication, the hard work, and the team spirit that defines our entire school community. From our students and teachers to our administration and especially our custodial team, everyone has played a vital role in making Sussex Avenue Elementary, care, and shared responsibility. A clean school isn't just about looking good. It's about creating a safe, healthy, and welcoming space where learning can truly thrive. We when we care for our environment, we show respect for ourselves, for each other, and for the place we
003call our second home. This award is proof that when we unite around a common goal, incredible things happen. Every day we see that commitment in action. It's the way our students greet Eden, our building for person, with admiration and respect. It's Caesar's careful attention as he scrubs the desktops. Angela's dedication to maintaining a spotless restrooms and Juan's pride in keeping our floors gleaming. Their work doesn't just maintain our school. It inspires us. Winning the cleanest school award is not only a recognition of what has been accomplished. It's a call to continue this important work. Let's carry this momentum forward and encourage everyone in our school community to follow the example set by our custodial team. Thank you all for your care and your commitment and pride in Cesix Avenue Elementary. You've shown us that cleanliness
004isn't just next to excellence, it's a part of it. So congratulations to Eden, Caesar, Angela, and Juan on a job exceptionally well done. >> All right. Thank you. hang your school with pride and have your >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you so much for all of your work and congratulations on the first annual award. We're very grateful. Um, and now we would like to share a resolution honoring the life and legacy of Christopher Lawrence Donovan Martin. >> I started. >> Yes. >> Um, whereas Christopher Lawrence Donovan Martin recently passed away at age 87. And whereas originally from Guyana, Mr. Martin immigrated to the United States in 1957 and earned a degree in the civil and structural engineering from Howard University. And whereas he began his professional career at Allied Chemical Corporation in 1961,
005where he worked for 20 years building and designing chemical plants and briefly served as the corporation's equal employment opportunity coordinator. And whereas Mr. Martin moved to Morristown in the early 1960s with his wife and children, immediately engaging in public service, leading tenants rights efforts and defending residents of Flaggler Street. And whereas in 1967, Mr. Martin alongside Mr. James Lacader became one of the first African-American members elected to the Morristown Bo board of aldermen, serving two terms which he helped to stop a plan to demolish homes on Franklin and South Streets and challenged the construction of Route 287, later organizing the relocation of homes to the area now known as historic Speedway. And whereas he took pivotal roles in the Fair Housing Council, urban renewal committee and Morris County NAACP advocating against discrimin discriminatory practices in
006housing and local businesses. And >> whereas Mr. Martin's service to education began with his tenure on the Morristown Board of Education, serving from 1978 to 1982, continuing his engineering expertise to the high school redevelopment project and again from 1987 to 1990, acting as vice president and then president of the board. And >> whereas he was instrumental in organizing student busing following the merger of Marstown and Mars Township school systems in 1973. And >> whereas Mr. Martin also served on numerous other boards and commissions including the Urban League, MO Morristown Planning Board, United Way of Morris County, Anti-Poverty Commission, Morris County Park Commission, Latino Soccer League, Historic Speedway Board of Trustees, and as a director of engineering and maintenance for Morristown Housing Authority, implementing modernization of public housing, senior housing on Early Street, and a resident
007center in Manhattan Village. uh Manahan Village, excuse me. And >> whereas Mr. Martin, it was remembered by the community as a consmate public servant and referred to fondly as a Morristown champion and hailed by local leaders for breaking down barriers and ensuring fair representation for the black community. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Morris School District Board of Education hereby extends its deepest condolences to the family of Christopher Lawrence Donovan Martin. Be it further resolved that the board honors and celebrates Mr. Martin's lifetime of service to public education, civil rights, housing equity, and community development. Be it further resolved that the board acknowledges the profound impact of his leadership during critical periods of school redevelopment, desegregation, and district consolidation and his contributions to the well-being and representation of the Morristown community. Be it further
008resolved that the board directs this resolution to be included in its official minutes, shared with his family, and shared with district schools as a testament to his enduring legacy. At this time, I'd like to ask President Cole to please share the copy of this resolution with members of the Martin family and welcome you to add anything to tonight's presentation. Chris love Marstown above all and school district. Sorry. And uh he would be so proud that you honored him in this way and I appreciate it. Thank you. to make it everybody. >> Want to say thank you very much. My father cared very much for the community and like my stepmother said, he would be so proud to see how Marstown has flourished and that he had some small impact on the community. And we hope
009that uh his memory and the memory of others that have formed such a beautiful town, Mars Town, to be so diverse will continue to be so as an example uh for other communities. And so we really appreciate this honor. Uh it's been an honor to serve, I'm sure he would say, the Marstown and Mars Township Committee. granddaughter and my stepson both of whom I think the law school district. >> Thank you very much. We also have um some wonderful guests who have come this night uh and would like to share some time thanking you. We would like to thank our mayors who are in attendance tonight. We have Mayor Carr from Morris Plains. Welcome and thank you for coming. Mayor Carr um also extends his support and was thankful to be a part of the
010reading of this resolution. And we also have the mayor of Morris Town. Oh, there she is. The mayor of Morris Township. Uh thank you so much for being here and supporting this as well. Um we would like to take a brief recess just so we can thank you and share some refreshments and maybe take a few more pictures. Um, so we'll have a brief 15minute recess uh so that we can thank uh our honored guest this evening and resume business within 15 minutes. Thank you. I'm going to give September time. It's not Welcome. that read the calendar. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um before we continue um the superintendent report, we are going to let the students give their reports so that if they need to get to the good work of studying and such things
011that they have time to do that. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. I hope everyone's school year is off to a good start. My name is Garrett and I am one of the senior board leaison along with Daisy. Tonight we will be delivering our report on student government and various events going on around the school. In sports, the football team is off to a 2 and3 start with their next game on Friday at Oldbridge. The girls field hockey team sits at a 6-2 record with their most recent win against Sparta 5 to1. The boys soccer team won their most recent game 4 to3 against Dover to improve their record to 36 and 1. The girls soccer team has also started their season and they sit at 15-1 as they face Sparta at home this Wednesday.
012Additionally, the girls volleyball team recently won their tournament in Old Bridge, placing first in the silver bracket. Around the school, several clubs have started working on competitions, fundraisers, fundraisers, community events, and more. The heritage club has been getting to work on planning events to honor the high school story, history, and previous graduating classes. The club has grown to over 200 members who have delegates who have delegated themselves into committees that focus on veteran recognition, special events, and even a local history project. The veterans committee has helped organize events to recognize Morristown alumni who have served during football games with the home game on the 27th recognizing the airmen who served during World War II, including alumni Roland Brown. Additionally, the club is working with the town to bring to life Morristown's history for the 250th
013anniversary of America. As a deeply historical town, home to George Washington's headquarters, Jockey Hollow, and more, the club will be hard at work over the course of the year preparing to represent the full story of Morristown from its Revolutionary War days through the industrial revolution. I'll now turn it over to Daisy to speak about student government. As for SJO, we're currently developing a structured environment that allows student led groups to collaborate on efforts benefiting the school and community through our outreach project, the roundt led by our SGO president, Sanja. The round table is designed to promote innovation among clubs that may not typically intersect through projects and seminars delegated by the student government. Right now the round table is in its experimental phase with a few major studentled clubs like yearbook and heritage club already
014involved in over a dozen projects brainstormed. Sanjana hosted the first round table last Wednesday and while the project is focused on larger clubs at the moment we plan to welcome other clubs to join later on. SGO is also preparing to host the annual homecoming dance this upcoming month on October 18th. This year the dance is held outside offering a unique opportunity compared to the traditional gym setting. We're still in the urgent early stages of planning, but we've started making progress on promotional materials and decoration layouts. >> In two weeks, students will have their first spirit week. Student government has planned out several fun spirit week themes to get students excited as well as earn spirit spirit points for the pep rally at the end of the week. During the week, we also have several activities
015planned for students to get involved in, such as a scavenger hunt activity for breast cancer awareness, games in the auxiliary gym during lunch, and a food drive for the community. SGO has been working closely with Mr. Manning to plan fun events, and change the logistics of the pep rally to keep the student body engaged. Crowd favorites such as the powderpuff flag football game and class relay race are planned to return as SGO is working closely with teachers, athletes, and the student body to invite participants. School has been a smooth transition for most. Students were initially hesitant about the new smart pass hallway system, but in the past few weeks, they have gotten accustomed to it and grown to like it for its quick and effective application. Likewise, while initial reactions to the new atrium were
016mixed, students have since adjusted to it and generally don't mind the change. With up with homecoming approaching, spirit week themes have been announced, and excitement is especially building among the younger students. Everyone has enjoyed the extra days off that September brought and excited and is excited about the day off on Thursday. Finally, with AP exams free for students this year, both the underassman and upperassmen have expressed an increased interest in taking the exams. With that improvement, we can expect that the AP hub, a study club and tutoring program will increase in membership when it opens again in the winter. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thank you guys so much. >> Thank you. All right. And now we will continue with the second half of part two. Um, so we're going
017to begin with Mr. Miller, um, our director of buildings and grounds. He's going to provide us an update on the over $8 million worth of capital improvements that happened this past summer. >> And then we have one more presentation following that. Good evening. Like to thank the board of education for their continued support, Dr. Mushi for her leadership and vision, Anthony Franco and Dan Wargo for their support and guidance over last year. Uh we had tremendous amount of work that took place over the summer and I'd like to share some highlights. >> Could you just move the microphone a little? >> Thank you. >> So if it falls goes. It goes backwards. >> Thanks. Okay. At the Mortown High School, um we did a roof replacement. About 70% of the building's roof was successfully replaced.
018HVAC improvements. Uh we did new air conditioning units and duct work that's been installed throughout the school. Um, in particular, rooms 102, uh, home room, uh, the costume closet, all received, uh, new, uh, air conditioning units. Interior renovations, we did six science classrooms. The guidance office in the atrium has been fully renovated. Exterior improvements, building has been pressure washed. Um, we did some paving work around around the exterior. Um, painting, uh, we put paint throughout the school, brightening and refreshing the learning environment. Uh, and security enhancements. Uh, we're still in the process of the new security vestible being, um, installed. Uh, we had some manufacturing delays that that delayed that project. Uh, so here's the the main entrance. This is what it looked like before. And this is uh in process >> today. Today >>
019um this is what it looks like today. Uh we're actually uh by this weekend the front of the security festival should be fully installed. Uh atrium. So this was our ceiling. Uh the lighting was was actually very dim. Um, we had 400 watt metal highlight uh lights that lose half their brightness uh over the first year and continually get dimmer as time goes on. Um, also very inefficient. Uh, this is uh processes. Uh, we took the ceiling down and um, they were working on cleaning up the wiring. This is uh, taking up the Trazzle floor. It was like a war zone. Um really was quite a quite a process. Um here's after the floor been uh leveled and prepared for the new floor. Um another picture of uh some of the ceiling um being taken
020down. Um this is our in-house painter. So we started this over spring break. Um the atrim was beige and a lot of and the columns were beige and a lot of people didn't notice that we had painted and changed the color of the col the columns to burgundy. U so um you know it's we're very fortunate to have two in-house painters that work on second shift. We certainly get a lot accomplished with them. Uh and this is the the finished product. No, it's clean, bright, modern, beautiful science classrooms. Uh, so we renovated six science classrooms. Uh, we took out the lab stations. Um, one thing that we found out was the the lab tables were unbelievably heavy. Um, >> was uh quite a process and our our summer students u helped us with the the
021demo. Um so very thankful to have them uh and their support uh taking the ceiling down. Um so we replaced the fluorescent lights with flat panel LED lights and new grid and and ceiling tiles were installed. Um this is prepped in the floor. We also had to do a speestous abatements for uh the the glue underneath the floor tile. This is uh what the room looks like today. um another another classroom. And then uh this was uh we had to took out a sink and um and some cabinetry. Uh so we had to come up with some baseboard covers. So we actually this was these baseboard covers were uh left over from the woodland renovation last year. So uh we repurposed them u for that and and the the maintenance guys did a great job
022fitting them into uh into the classroom. exterior enhancements. Um so the roofing project um quite an arduous uh project over the summer um was a very complicated roof. We had um three different roof um styles going in based on the height of this parapit wall um and uh so they had to use three different styles of roofing. uh you know we process this is the insulation getting uh put down on top. Uh so they use insulation and they taper it to the to the drain so that the water won't will run off. Um really was quite a quite a process. Um so this is uh the beginning of the the the top layer was done over the over the gym. Um and uh they were getting ready to to do the top layer over the
023pool again in in process. So the existing roof was gravel um and they had to to hand take all that gravel off of the roof. Uh so so quite the quite the job in the 100 degree weather. So um again just more in progress photos. Um, this is the paving uh that we did in the back by the visitor bleachers. And we also installed a curb uh up up to the uh trainer's office. Um just neatened up the whole area and um we planted some grass and cafeteria. Uh we uh got some uh nice new tables. Uh we we try to make the area fun and and inviting and more like a student center. Um so we did some different variety tables and um and some school pride um and some booths um guidance offices.
024We did uh we updated the ceiling. Uh we put in flat panel LED lighting and then we built two offices in guidance um or one office and and we made the conference room had a a movable wall. So we made it private and insulated it so for confidentiality. This is the new floor LBT um school colors and this is what it looks like today. Stage enhancement. So um you know the stage is used to put up the sets and they they nail into the floor and and anchor the sets down and over time the the top layer gets uh chewed up and splinters and uh it becomes the safety issue. Uh so we did this in house. Um so we had to chip up the old floor and there was tongue and groove underneath the
025floor. It's the ply the load of plywood that we had to buy. >> Um it's the tongue and groove. um flooring that was existing. Uh so almost probably 100 years old the flooring that was underneath there. Uh we had to replace some of the boards that um had deteriorated. And this is the new floor u almost completed and then we uh we painted the floor black so there was no reflection from the stage lighting. Uh high school HVAC improvements. Um, it's the crane lifting the the new units over the roof and into the courtyard. Um, this is room 102 where they're getting ready to take down the the old existing chill water unit. Um, they removed the entire ceiling. You can see the pile of duck work next to the lift. Oops. But um it's
026all the duck work that went into the project for uh 102 and and the room next to it. This is uh uh homeck uh when they're installing the new duck work. Um so they had to take down this ceiling from last year and uh carefully preserve it and then reinstall it after. Um I don't know how to get this back to full screen. All right. So, this is the uh the costume closet. So, we added a a specific unit there that dehumidifies um you know, so hopefully it'll take care of any issues that we had ongoing in that closet. Realize in middle school, um we did uh so we painted the entire first floor hallway. It started off as a small side project that we were doing on second shift and blossomed into the entire
027ourire hallway over the summer. Uh cafeteria was renovated equipped with brand new tables. Um boiler room upgrades with new boilers, pumps are installed in the boiler room. Uh accessibility and security enhancements. We put in a new elevator. Um that was a project that was started a couple years ago and came to fruition this year. Um and then the uh new vestibule that's being installed for security entrance interior renovations. We did three classrooms um in the teacher room. So we did flooring and and paint in the classrooms. And same thing with the teachers room. We added a sink into the teacher's room. Um new refrigerator and and flooring and new tables and chairs. Exterior improvements. We did uh paving around the campus. Um so uh this is uh before and after this is the beginning of
028the construction for the security vestibial. Um this area here was um had a drainage issue. We installed a new a new drain um and made access for the students to get to the e exterior um lunch area. Uh it was a really just was a hard area. It was always wet. Um so we ended up paving it with the new drain. So now they have nice access. And um and this was uh the paving that we did by the the lower field and the fuel pumps interior. Um, so this is the lunchroom before and this is it afterwards. New LED flat panel LEDs that were installed in house. Um, new flooring and and the new tables. So, the hallway um this was when I we were doing the the stripe. So, we the original stripe
029that was there, we we lowered down um a couple blocks and uh try to uh change the look and then we just carried that theme throughout the the first floor. Um so, this is what it looks like now. And uh new bleachers were installed uh last week. Um so, we got uh nice, modern, safe, code compliant bleachers. Um, put the school emblem on the side of the bleachers for a little school pride. Boiler replacement. This is my one of my favorite jobs here being a Navy guy. So, uh, so there's the old things. I think that's the battleship New Jersey right there. Uh, here's the new the new So, those four boilers replace those those big monsters. Um, and this is the new pumps. Um, so the pumps are a variable speed. Um, so they
030only spin as fast as you need on demand. So very energy efficient. Um, so the whole system, the the boilers are around 94% efficiency. So uh going to be a tremendous energy savings uh with this new boiler room. Alexander Hamilton um we side parking lot was fully repaved and we painted the the library. Um, so this is the side parking lot. Um, we also put a curb in the back um lane because we had a issue with uh people always driving over the grass and things back there. So uh we added a curb to try to deter that. And there's the painted library. We painted the bookshelves and and the library. Normandy Park. Uh we did uh roofing repairs and uh we changed the the the sidewalk to the main entrance was paved and was
031um a little uneven. So we uh we changed it over to concrete and tried to dress up the the main entrance. Sussex um we did a a new office in the library and uh we had the gym floors completely sanded and refinished. Um, so, uh, this is the new office in the library. It's, uh, we blend it right in. So, it actually looks like it's always been there. And we did the, uh, the carpeting and everything we did in house. And there's the new floor. Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. We, uh, so we had an old uh, pull out fuse panel. um that was probably from the the beginning of the school. So it was was got quite hot and um so we uh we updated it to a modern panel. Um and then we did
032a two classrooms. We put new we did a speestous abatement did um new new LVT flooring. Um and then we had uh a collapsed storm drain that that we repaired. So this is the new floor. Um, another shot of it. Albert Veil. Um, we did that new flooring uh in the teachers room. Um, we pressure washed the the building and we did a lot of pressure washing throughout the district on on the buildings and we had a steam pipe leak that we had been chasing since the winter. We'd fix one leak and then we'd find three more and then we fix those and more would um the pipes are almost 100 years old and they're um they're literally buried underneath the school. Um so uh we we limped along until we could get out of
033heating season and we replaced about 40 ft worth of piping. Um, so one it ran through the bathroom, so we had to jackhammer up the floor and then our in-house technicians um retiled the floor. Um, and this is the the teacher staff room. Uh, so we repainted the staff room and put uh and put new flooring in and uh brighten the place up. Hillrest Elementary School. Um entire roof was replaced. Um and then in in-house we um completely replaced the walk-in freezer and refrigerator with our our HVAC technicians. Um so that included um new package units uh on the roof and inside the the freezers, all piping and all new wiring. Uh so they're they're literally brand new units and uh tremendous cost savings. um by doing it in house. This the roof uh under
034under the war zone. Um they have an army of people and it's just amazing the process to watch over the summer. And this is a completed roof. Um, so what's left at all the roofs is the the metal capping which they do um they take the final measurement after the roof is finished and then they order it and it's usually a four to six week um lead time on that. So, uh, the medal for for this building showed up today. Um, and we're about two weeks out for the metal for for Hillrest. And this, uh, main entrance, um, was kind of overgrown and, um, we had paint peeling on on the panels. Uh, so we got the grounds guys over there and our painters and then we we fixed it up. got two of those
035sets. Uh internally we did uh so that Hillcrest has a long ramp and it was tiled and slippery. Um and the tile every time it came to a flat spot the tile was cracked. Um so we did a sheet vinyl. It's one piece with no seams. Um and it has a a bit of a a texture to it so it's not slippery anymore. and and and it it blends in nicely with the existing floor tile. Woodland. So, we did a lot at Woodland. Um still finishing up some of the the things from last year. Um so, we did new carpet throughout the hallways. Um LED lights have been installed throughout the school. Um installation of the new security vestibles underway. Um and we did the walkway to the main entrance. So, LED lights. Um, so
036there's a lot of programs out there. So, we were looking at the direct install program and, um, we ended up doing a prescriptive lighting program. So, um, prescriptive lighting programs through the BPU and we got various rebates depending on which light was replaced and it's a light forlight replacement. So, when you average in all the percentages, we averaged a 52% rebate on on the entire job. Uh so this is the old carpet and um so we had quite the surprise uh when we were doing the security of we found a gigantic void under the main entrance. Um it uh was 6 to 8 ft deep and about 20 feet wide. Took four trucks of cement to fill the hole up underneath. Um, and it it wasn't a a structural issue because this the slab is
037structural concrete. So, and and the building is built on on pylons. So, wasn't an issue there, but it was um an issue that water was getting underneath there. Um, so we we decided to to fill it and and take care of that once and for all. Um, see the old carpet being pulled up. Um, the floor underneath This is Al checking out the void when we first found it. And this is the finished carpet. Um the main entrance before uh during the process. You can see um uh you know be before they started doing the vestibule or they were just doing the preliminary site work for the vestibule. You can see the the uh duck work for the HVAC systems. Um, and this is what it looks like now. So, um, there will be a
038woodland sign that goes up on the the top there and, um, there will be a storefront that connects the the two pillars in the in the front. Lafayette Learning Center. Um, you know, we did some exterior upgrades. Uh, we had a volunteer group that came in um from a local church and we um pulled out some of the bushes and did some plantings with their help. And that was a fun day. And uh we did a lot of receding and then with the drought a lot of this a lot of it died. So we put in uh just recently in house we put in a small sprinkler system and uh we we receded it and we actually got the grass is starting to grow now. So it's nice and then uh so the only thing
039that we did of of note was in the um security vestible the entrance uh we installed a heating and air conditioning unit. Um that was uh it was quite hot in the summertime there. That's it. Oh, any any questions? >> Any questions? >> I just want to say Glenn, you and your team have done such a surprising prodigious amount of work in this short summer. All of that took place this summer. Most of it is completed. So, it just boggles the mind that you were able to do all that so efficiently, effectively, and it turned out beautiful. Thank you so much. >> Great. >> Thank you, Glenn. And and um Mr. Miller went through all of those projects. I think we have to remember that that's on top of regular summer meetings. That's on top
040of gutting every classroom, cleaning out every HVAC unit, and doing all of the outside projects that are routine for the summer. So, under the best of conditions, a summer is the most challenging time for our buildings and grounds team. And um Len gets to hear me often saying, "Well, could we just add what about as long as we're doing this?" And one of the things that I need to say about Mr. Miller and his teeth is when you're walking through and you see the work and you think about another adjustment or another thing that you'd like to add, Glenn regroups and says, "We can do that." and his focus is always on what is going to make the best learning environment for our students and um uh the classroom experience, the hallway experience, the aesthetic
041of the building not deterred by droughts nor fires nor nothing um can keep him from taking and as much as we have talked about and appreciated u we've heard Mr. familiar to Seth how old some of the buildings are 100 um year old pipes that are well buried below the building and that has started a conversation that we've been having for the last number of years saying um can we do this with just a very ambitious summer after sun and the board uh has uh come to a conclusion of we might need some more strategic uh long-term planning to be able to really restore all of our buildings um to their historic charm and beauty, but also to make them functional in today's educational world. So, we have invited uh Laura Bishop from Laura Bishop
042Communications uh to be here this evening and talk to us a little bit about what can you do when you have more work to do in your buildings but they don't fit um within the general planning budget. So, I'd like to welcome Miss Bishop now. Um, and I don't know if it's easier. We maybe turn this a little bit. It's fine for me. >> Oh, sorry. Know it's easier. So, you don't want to have your basket. student. >> Well, thank you um so much for um having us here this evening to talk with you about uh bond referendum communications. I can tell you um Rose and I looked at each other um when during your presentation because that is such a great message um to have when you're going out for a bond referendum to
043communicate that the district has been um good stewards of the finances but also of the buildings and worked within the budget um to do as much as possible and Glenn that's so impressive um to do as much as possible to maintain the facilities because often Often we'll hear occasionally we'll hear um what's been going on with the buildings that they've gotten this bad like what but this in this case we definitely are able to have that message that a bond referendum is a way to um complete some major uh capital improvements while securing state aid which is um important financially. Um we talk about a bond referendum being not it's it's not your your back against the wall. you're planning forward and it's a it's a smart way um to improve the facilities and maintain
044and maintain the district. Um so our um Rose this is Rose Pazuti. She's the account manager working um with um with more Morris school district. Um we have um we're a relatively small firm but we continue to grow. It's about 18 of us now. So um Rose and I will be involved but there will also be a team. We have uh graphic designers and um video and so we do an entire uh campaign um for the referendum. >> Y >> good. Okay. >> Okay. So, we just kind of wanted to start out. A lot of times some people are like why like why are we communicating this beyond um letting the taxpayers know what we're doing, but this is a great opportunity to really engage with the community um beyond the school community. It builds
045that transparency and trust, builds upon the community pride. Um, and like we said, it it really just engages the community and um gives us an opportunity to showcase what the school is doing. Um, we've worked on a lot of referendum throughout the years. Um, yeah, I'd like to add to that. So, we have um 90 referenda that we've worked on with districts from Burden County to Kate May County. Um, and we have about an 86% rate um, success rate working with districts. Um, I personally have worked um, I'm not an educator, but I've worked with educators for over 35 years. So, I continue in addition to referendum, we do general communications, but I continue to learn and we we really um, enjoy the work. Um, and we um, it's really important to engage the community
046because we understand the components of the strategies for a bond referendum, but we don't know your community the way you do, the way the board will does, the the way your community does. So, we that's, um, very important to us. >> Okay. So, uniquely, um, we're on board for a pre-referendum work as well, which we always love because not only did you have the strategic plan that gathered community feedback, and of course, we always point to that, um, it's great that we're also doing some pre-referendum work to see kind of the community's uh, feedback before we even take that next step. So, right now, we're in that stage right now. We put out um some surveys um through press releases, through emails, through social media. Um and really we're going to take that uh feedback,
047analyze it, and then do the focus groups to really see kind of what the community's perspective is and see um how they feel about uh you know the next steps. But really this after that it'll be time to um you know educate the community, engage with them and then um we always say motivate. Um so this is leading up to we have a year um if all goes well um so and motivate to to vote right >> motivating to vote. Yes. >> Yeah. If we if they don't get to the polls then all of this for us. So we really drive that register understand the ways you can vote, understand what to do when you get to the polls to ask for a provisional ballot if you're turned away. We spend a lot of time
048with that and we want as many people engaged, the entire community as possible. >> Yeah. And another thing that we we we love um a lot of the statistics that we see when you know LBC is brought on since we do we have we have the time to kind of take it off everyone's plate to do a full campaign where you know um a lot of times like a superintendent has that full-time job. They're not going to have time to you know do the full campaign that we do. Um but we do see a large um increase in that voter turnout which we think is so important because we don't want to come across like you're sneaking a vote by or we win by one. Like we want to make sure that the community is
049behind this and engaged and you know as a whole really wants this to go through as well. So we know that's really important. So again, um the great thing about what we're doing right now, we're already starting to engage that community. Um and then we're also going to understand what what they want to prioritize. Um and it's great to have that transparency and be able to listen and those communication channels open already. Um and then from those results, obviously, we'll take it to the board um and district administration to think about the next steps from there. Um so now we get into the whole bomb referendum communication tactics. Um like we said we do a full campaign. So along with um media relations which would be like press releases and tap into and the local
050patch and things like that. We have social media. We have a full robust website. Right now we have a limited it's only two pages. It'll be about five pages of information. Um, and that'll be a whole hub that all that information kind of points back to. Um, we do in-person andor virtual forums again to just make sure we're really getting out there and making sure people can ask whatever questions they want. Uh, and I'll add something about the in the the forums. It brings together the professionals involved in the in the referendum. So the architects, um the bond council, the financial advisors, um you know, the superintendent and people um you know, anybody and the professionals and the administrators involved in the ref in the um referendum and the virtual is uh seamless and honestly
051I actually don't know how it's done. I'm sort of this sort of magic. my the whole team knows how to do that better than I, but it's behind um it it's a virtual forum where um it it can be an hour or two depending on the district and the interest and we take questions from the community that um the the professionals there's a presentation the professionals answer the questions um and there's a there's a um like an NC coordinating the whole the whole presentation and we found that it's really uh terrific to engage the community. You can have as many as 150 community members involved which is a high number for um you know a forum and then it's then it lives on your website and people can go back and watch it and we
052have the it timed so that you know if you're interested in in facilities all the information about that it's there finances at another time time spot. So um it really engages the community and and um gives them all the information they need in that form. And then we have the inperson so that the community members can talk one-on-one with the professionals as well. >> Yeah, I love the inersons because not only are you getting that face toface time, but besides maybe some parents like a lot of times like community members aren't really in the schools anymore. They don't see the facilities face to face. So, you know, depending on the amount of facility projects, I always think that's important. Yeah, the tours are great if you think that's something to show. >> And then probably
053most importantly is this communications committee. Um like we said, we're we're the communicators. Um and this committee kind of knows the ins and out of your community. So, um it's it could be business members, it could be people on the township committee, parents, alumni, um parents of young children who have yet to come into the district. And they kind of are our eyes and ears. So, they're um listening to community and bringing back feedback as well. And then vice versa, when we go to put out information, they help us push that information out. Um whether through their channels and their organizations to their neighbors and things like that, it's good to um you know, get that feedback from a variety of people rather than, you know, just the school community. Um and lastly, video. Um,
054in this, uh, age of technology, um, it's always important to have, uh, different ways for people to access information. And, uh, we do a full-blown video that's 3 to four minutes. Um, that's an overview of the projects and, um, the bomb referendum as a whole. And then we also break it out into social media clips, so, you know, 30 seconds a minute for people who want to listen to it that way, too. So, like we said, it's it's a very well-rounded campaign that is um targeted at the entire community and ways to make sure that, you know, we're saying 100% that we've reached everyone in the community. Um and lastly, with that being said, uh we also very highly encourage a postcard and that really marks that that um ticket that we did because it'll
055go to every single household um in the community. So, Um, that's always good. And then with LBC comes a whole graphic design team. Um, an in-house graphic design team. So, these are just um actually from the September votes uh this last uh a couple weeks ago. Now, um we have a few campaign examples here of some lawn signs, some stickers, buttons, we've done bookmarks, we've done t-shirts. Um that bottom right one is a postcard. We've done banners. So, really whatever your community needs, as in collateral, we we can do it. So, and the team is amazing and they love coming up with um unique designs that match your district, right? And then I'm not sure if we're able to play the video. I don't properly, but maybe not. And we we'll send some examples so
056you guys have them as well. I don't know if it linked properly, but um we'll send you an example. That was what we were talking about of the overview video um that really summarizes a campaign in under four minutes. And interestingly, this was Morris Town in Burlington County. >> This was a a long long lead time with them as well. And in fact, they had an interim superintendent. Um and then um Courtney came in the new superintendent last summer and we had to actually shift some things um you know just some from feedback from the community and they we they postponed from March until September because they had to make some changes um to when they heard feedback from the community but um it passed by a wide margin. was it was a a difficult
057campaign and demanding, but it it passed and we were engaged with the community like that like you vote and so they they really like to tap into um different messaging. So it it um it went really well. >> Yeah. In that bottom right hand corner we have the messaging of state aid. That's something you'll see over and over again. Like we said, every summer you can try and squeeze as much projects as possible, but even if that was the case, you don't get the advantage of the state aid. So that is a talking point that we tap into over and over again. >> Yeah. And I want to explain to that you vote I did kind of overlook that. We engage the alumni um typically the the last four classes because they're still engaged. They're
058still coming home. So we tapped into that with that messaging. um you vote um and some you know very often now there's a there's a uh social media group just for each class right so Instagram and so we tapped into that and and got those alumni to to be involved in both awesome >> um so this is just another example I know we've brought up a few um but Willingboro um kind of had similar proposed projects a lot of facility uh improvements along with that extracurricular and athletics Um so we worked with them for a while and um what really kind of pushed that forward was that uh the communications committee and the board members really getting out there and you know knocking on doors to make sure everyone understood that this wasn't like a
059nice to have. Yes, there was um some athletic upgrades but it was about how that reached every single student. Um so really um emphasizing how you know it's not one group that's getting benefits um and things like that. >> Yeah. And their track program is is very big in Willingboro. Um and they um that was the second question. We weren't sure about that. That's why they moved it into the second question because would it be something that the community would really support and they did. They so they have an indoor track and um gym annex now. And since it was in the second question, we're sure that it was uh supported rather than someone saying I I have to vote for it because it's part of the other work that's necessary. So that was a
060good strategy for that. >> And we're here if you have any questions. >> What do you typically look do you look for an off standard election date for it? I noticed all September 16th versus doing it in November or June primaries. >> Well, we don't do it in June. That's not one of the options. You may not have September, November, December, January, and March. Those are the five dates you can have a referendum. >> Um there was a um a study done not too long ago by a law firm that and it was uh published in the NJSBOS. all almost all the dates there very very little difference between all of the dates >> on voter turnout >> on voter on passage of the of the referendum. >> Okay. So in November isn't any higher
061voter turnout than >> it may be higher v voter turnout but you also have to work harder to make sure people remember to to vote on that. So we do we we've had success in that. Um and we have >> I think we have we had five in September and I believe we have five in November. >> I think we have five in November. So yeah. So there'll be November um votes too. No, but we always work hard to make sure people remember to that the ballot that this is on the ballot as well. So you know like whether it's graphics just to remind people look down don't forget to vote for to your vote. >> Okay. Thank you so much. Good information. We also we also have bond council and the architects here. So
062if this is a time based on the timeline and the information that was just shared, if you have a question for bond counsel or for the architects on anything that was presented this evening, now would be the time for board members to ask those questions. And just to be clear, the board has met B bond council, Laura Bishop, the architects multiple times and you've shephered us through to getting to this presentation uh and this level. Now, I just wanted to reiterate uh that it was another opportunity to ask questions if you had any. I >> I just want to make a comment. We're we're actually targeting September of 26 to go to the voter. So when uh Laura referenced the fact that we have a year, that's our that's our runway from now until next
063September when the um when the question or questions are on the ballot. Um and we do have a laundry list of projects prioritized and grouped by category that our architect has uh helped us put together. Um, so there's a lot of beh I'm going to call it behind the-scenes work that's being taking place. We're at the point now where we'll be uh going public starting with our uh survey and our focus group sessions later this month and from there it's going to be run run because it's going to be that year is going to go really fast for us. And um we appreciate everyone who's here tonight listening to our story. We hope we can engage you as one of our key communicators and help us get the message out to everyone because I'm pretty
064sure we're going to need all the help we can get and we would appreciate whatever contribution you can make. >> And would this be the time to talk about the FMS edition as well? >> Uh, no, because we haven't made any. No. >> Oh, okay. I'm sorry because it was in the Okay, I got you. >> Any questions audience? >> No, not yet. >> Questions? >> Yeah, that public comment. >> Awesome. Um, >> I just have one other item for the superintendent update prior to moving into um our committee reports. So, you may have read some communications uh working on the draft calendar for 2026 2027. As we think about any calendar that we plan, it's important to remember the challenge we face. We have to fit 184 days into 9 and a half months
065where we also have holidays, professional development and the needs of our families um to be met. So this year we had the goal of creating a calendar that base balances several competing priorities. We work closely with teen and teen is the teachers association representatives and they were supportive of our draft proposal calendar particularly starting a bit e earlier in August. By doing so, the idea was to offer a full week off in November because in recent years that one week that has two days for teacher convention and then also election day has become very fractured and we've seen a number of families who elect to take vacation that whole week and sometimes student attendance is not as strong as we would like making the continuity of instruction difficult in that week. We also had uh
066our spring holidays a little bit earlier than usual. So when we were looking at the uh calendar, we responded to feedback about the start of the school year. In past years, we had a lot of calls uh from parents of younger family members, younger children saying that having the beginning of the year with a full day is very hard for the little ones, particularly uh in our early childhood grades. They're very tired when they get to school. They have trouble getting through the day. They're falling asleep on the way to school, on the way home from school, on the bus, and it's exhausting. So, we built some half days in at the beginning of the school year to ease the transition for our youngest learners, figuring that on the other end of the spectrum in
067the high school, half days at the end during exam time so that students have less exams to focus on per day is also easier. So when you have that whole K12 continuum, you have high school parents who are saying, "Let's come in earlier because 85% of our high school families are here in August practicing for sports." And then they'd like to get out earlier or as early in June as they can uh because so many have uh experiences for college camps or getting ready for the college of their choice starting early in June. Uh we recognize no calendar is going to be perfect for every family, but we want our process to be as deliberate and open to feedback as possible at every step. So I want to be clear, although we've circulated the draft
068calendar for 2627, the board is taking no action on a calendar tonight. Uh you can email me directly. you can respond to the email and send it to Miss Suarez, my assistant, who's helping us uh compile all of the feedback. Then I'll take all of the feedback, share it with board members. We'll look for some commonalities trying to uh acknowledge also the points that we have heard from team and then we will have either the same calendar or a revision of the calendar that was presented will be shared out with board committees and if the board committees uh once they select the calendar that we've developed together we'll send it to you again in advance. Um, so prior to our October 27th meeting about a week before, you can anticipate getting the exact calendar that'll
069be presented to the board for adoption. We always welcome people to offer public comment at a board meeting. We can accept the comments here or you can email me or Miss Suarez. And that's all I have for my update. Thank you. Um and I will just add gratitude for um a number of community members who looked at the draft, shared feedback, and again reiterate that um that is a work in progress and all of those responses are being collated so that the board can consider them as we review the calendar. Um and it's good practice as um Miss Murphy shared that um we really are looking to be as inclusive of feedback. Um and so I'm grateful for the people who either found individual board members or reached out specifically to the office or responded
070to the survey. So um thank you for that engagement and with that we will move forward to um committee reports and we will start with um Susan if you can give us a curriculum update. >> Sure. >> The curriculum committee met on September 17th and we approved the following items. the August 13th meeting minutes, various field trips across grades two through 12. A full list can be found under educational matters mo motion number for four, summer curriculum writing. I would like to thank both Mr. Alex Gentle, grades 6 through 12 supervisor of mathematics and Dr. Cara Duma, supervisor of English language arts for joining us and reviewing the curricular updates. Summer curriculum writing is educational matters motion number five. We also approved two MEF grant summaries. One is for a mentorship bridge between middle school
071and kindergarten students. About once each marking period, Freeland Heisen Middle School students will visit Hillrest classrooms to read age appropriate books and lead related educational lessons. These lessons focus on literacy, emotional regulation, social skills, numeracy, and more. The second is an advanced telephoto sports sport lens grant. This grant will enable the purchase of two advanced telephoto lenses specifically for doing sports photography. It will directly impact the upper level photography students in grades 10 through 12. These grants are under educational matters motion number six. The committee also approved the community school ski program. This year students from Freeland Heisen Middle School and Marstown High School in the ski program will be going to Mountain Creek during January and February 2026. This is under educational matters motion number seven. The MSD professional development plan under educational matters
072motion number two was also approved. The New Jersey school climate improvement NJCI culture and climate survey was approved. This survey is a statewide initiative designed to gather feedback from students, staff, and families on key aspects of school culture and climate. The survey measures perceptions of safety, relationships, teaching, teaching and learning, and the overall school environment. Results provide valuable insights to help districts identify strengths and areas for growth, guide decision-making, and ensure that schools foster welcoming, inclusive, and supportive environments for all members of the community. The survey will be administered in early October. It is an optional survey for all stakeholders including students and copies of the survey will be available for families to to review ahead of time. This is educational matters motion number three. Our last two approvals are for the NJPSA FEA transforming
073early childhood leadership professional development and the NJPSA FEA fall conference on October 16th and 17th. Dr. Dr. Mucci shared an article about the MARA school district being awarded the trees for schools grant by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in collaboration with Sustainable Jersey and the College of New Jersey. This $22,400 grant will provide MSD with the opportunity to plant and care for new trees on our school grounds. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Matt Kryley, director of elementary education, Glenn Miller, um, director of buildings and grounds, Sha Tree Commission Chair Kristen Ace, and Jennifer Sube of TCJ's sustainability institute for their instrumental roles in helping MSD secure this grant. Dr. Dr. Mucci and Mac Riley informed the committee that the state will administer an NJSLA adaptive field test in ELA
074for students in grades 4 through 10 and in math for students in grades four through high school, including students who took algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2 based on course completion during last school year. MSD students in these grades will participate in this trial assessment from October 27th through the 29th. The test is adaptive, meaning the questions adjust based on how students respond. With regard to the spring 2025 NJS NJSLA, families received their students results on Friday, September 19th. And that's about it. Thank you to everyone for a great meeting. And our next meeting is on Wednesday, October 15th. >> Thank you. >> Um, Linda, can you give us a finance update, please? >> Sure. We met on um Monday, September 22nd, and I'm pleased to announce that we have um an agreement that we're
075um voting on tonight, motion 7 under business matters with the Educational Services Commission, which provides for bus parking at the Central Park School, which is located um over by Freeling Heisen campus. It's going to give us um 11 spaces as well as access to employee parking. Uh the cost is very reasonable. It's a 12-month agreement that can be renewed. Uh it's $10 per bus, so 10 time 11 is what the cost is. The boy parking is free. It's a win-win for everybody. Uh it's going to be really helpful to us to have extra space for our buses. Uh motion 10 on the agenda, also under business matters, is our normal surplus assets sale. It's a a poperri of things, a bunch of miscellaneous items, everything from a truck and a plow and a mini fridge
076to uh the furniture that came out of uh the high school, which you just heard about being replaced. So um if you're interested in the details of that, it's in the agenda. Um, we have also worked with our architect to get some updated drawings for the uh, Freeling Heisen turf field that's being proposed in the front of the parking lot. Um, there may be some additional design changes as we um, as we work to locate dugouts, batting cages, walkways, the position of home plate, etc. So, there'll be a few more changes perhaps before we settle on the final version. Um and at the meeting we also decided to go ahead and pursue a DP submission for the heart of road fields in preparation for future work. Um that letter when we get it back from
077D is good I think for 5 years if I'm not mistaken. So that gives us a longer runway to decide what we want to do there. Um we also uh want to announce that um our um Colonial Corner and WJSB radio station which are um headed by Mr. Lance Armstrong uh are are looking to introduce a sponsorship program which is uh taxdeductible because both of those are nonprofit, one is a video and one is a radio production. were looking for some corporate sponsorships. Um very reasonable 500, 200, and 100. That gives them access to um announcements associated with both of these um um uh studentled video and radio productions. And um more to follow on that is being def further defined as we speak. Uh but you'll be looking to see something come out on
078that pretty shortly. And I it's the very creative thinking on the part of Mr. Mr. Armstrong. Um, I want to give a audit update. Our auditors, uh, PK Alpha Carter Davies are on site working on our annual audit. We go through this every single year. The preliminary testing was done in August. They're currently auditing auditing financial statements including our balance sheets, revenues, and expenditures for all funds. And uh, they'll be looking at our annual comprehensive financial report um, which is due to uh, the Department of Education by early December. Um we also were able to um specify personnel by name and salary uh grant salaries for our preschool educational aid grant. Uh so that covers everything from teachers and subs to um uh bus aids and uh custodians who are working uh with the program.
079Uh some of those most of those are 100% the support personnel some of them are 50%. But anyway that's a very specific thing and um it's on the agenda under what motion is that? I didn't think I'd put it there but um anyway uh it's going to be approved in October. It's going to be uh when it's submitted it's included excuse me the grant salaries are included on the agenda for board approval tonight and the salaries for the grant will be board approved in October. So, this is like a two-stage thing. I also want to thank the uh class of 1974. We gave them alumni tours last year associated with their um reunion and members of that class came back recently and made a donation of $1,300 to the high school heritage club in appreciation
080for the support that we gave them last year. Uh we do periodically see uh rewards like that coming back and I'm going to say the kids of the Heritage Club always do a fabulous job. So if you're an alumni and you want to tour, sign up. >> Um I don't have to say anything more about summer projects. Glenn did a fabulous job on that. Um so we'll pass over that. We had quite a lengthy conversation about that as well. And um I do want to comment um there there was a um a discussion about the high school admission process for football games and uh what we did was uh have a discussion and clarify with Smitty Horton that we encourage all students and families to purchase tickets in advance through the application. It's done online
081through the Mars um school district website. Um, however, uh, no, our policy is that no student will be turned away at the gate if they're unable to pay either by the app or by cash. So, if there is a student who for whatever reason is is not uh able to do that, uh, they can still attend the game because we have at the root a barrierfree access to our football games. Um, I want to add that we have not to date received any single complaint about students being um unable to access, but we want to make sure that it's known that that we're accommodating uh anyone who feels that that's a challenge for them. Um, it is important to note that admission to other athletic events that require tickets such as the um NJSIAA state
082tournament games that's determined by the state, not by the district. So, uh, there are tickets sold for that. And, um, the other thing that we did, uh, because we've noticed for the night games especially, a multitude of unsupervised middle school students who love to come to the high school football games. Um, but we reminded the families through the FMS newsletter and also with some afternoon announcements at the school that they're welcome at the games, but we would appreciate if they have a chaperone who's an adult. Um transportation as usual uh motion number nine uh we are approving our hazardous routes. Routes are determined to be hazardous uh based on population density, traffic speed, the lack of sidewalks, curves, bridges and overpasses, train tracks, etc. Um and we do that annually. So um uh so that's
083on the agenda tonight. and we have successfully implemented our live feed video system across the entire bus fleet. It's already proven valuable in multiple instances by helping drivers and aids address any student related problems. Um and uh from a professional development standpoint on September 9th, New Jersey Transit actually came and presented our drivers and aids uh through the Operation Lifesaver program topics such as how to handle railroad crossing types, safety procedures, and responding effectively in emergency situations. So that was very positive. From a food service standpoint, Palonia is now fully staffed. They uh hired a cook for Alfred Bale and another food service worker at the high school. Uh our in-house HBAC tech completed rebuilding the freezer at which you just heard about and are now investigating rebuilding the one at the high school. And
084um we continue to process free and reduced uh lunch applications daily. As of September 16th when this report was written, 2,255 students qualify for lunch. And um so uh families who have yet to be certified or signed up are being contacted directly by the school staff at Carla Walker. Um I want to make a note on uh we look every month across multiple committees at our uh district and individual school counts. I just want to note that um between August of last year, the August report last year and the August report this year, uh there's been a reduction of about 150 students and it looks primarily to be associated with Freedling Heisen in the middle school when I looked at the numbers, but uh it really is across all grade levels. Um so I just
085did that out of curiosity to see what it looked like. 50 is um not a huge number but it also has an impact um how we decide to set up classes and how we plan our transportation routes and so on and so on. Um and then we talked of course about the long range facility plans some of which you heard about tonight. There'll be more to come on that. So please come to the next meeting you'll hear some more. Uh our next meeting is going to be October 20th. >> Thank you. Um Melissa, do you have a HR update? >> Oh, I didn't mean to hit that. I'm sorry. >> Uh yes. Uh HR met on September 24th. And just two things I want to highlight and Dr. Mucci and Katie already mentioned the calendar.
086Um after reviewing the calendar, the committee had recommended that we give our community a lot of opportunity to give feedback. So we didn't just say let's ask for feedback and vote about it on Monday. Let's push it to the next month. So it was all very intentional and um two communications have already gone on to parents about that and we're collecting all that information which is great. And then the only other update, my mouth is so dry right now. is um to help us um better manage budget planning. We are um changing how we do our retirey incentive. So for this year only um if someone has lets us know by December 1st, they will get a bonus of $2,500 so that we can more properly plan uh for the budget for the next year.
087And our next meeting is on October 22nd. Excellent. Thank you. Um Beth, would you like to give a policy update? >> Yes, surely. So, we last met on September 19th and uh we revisited a policy uh 5336 therapy dogs. Um the board will recall that at our uh I believe it was our last meeting, we previously approved a district-wide permission slip. Um we are going to continue that permission slip with PK uh through 8. However, um due to the sheer numbers at the high school and the the um fact that we have uh more visits with less lead time at the high school as well for the therapy dogs. Um it was requested that there be an alternative to these uh permission slips. So the committee agreed to use an opt- out Google form andor
088paper slip uh for the high school level only. Um you will see in the minutes that uh additional language has been added to the policy to reflect that decision and there was also a sample of the Google form for you to check out. Um that policy has been and the new updates have been approved for first read in tonight's agenda. Um gosh I keep getting that. Then we moved on to our policies for periodic district review. We had 13 policies. Um as the board knows, no additional updates were from Strauss SMA on the policies alone un below unless they were noted in red typically. But we did make um a couple revisions and/updates to uh two policies 4324 the right of privacy as well as uh protection against retaliation. So you can look for those.
089Um all of the above were approved for first read on tonight's agenda. Then we got to our mandated um continuation of policy revisions and new policies from Strauss SME. Um basically the entire chapter um of NJAC6A23A fiscal accountability efficiency and budgeting procedures was uh recently revised and adopted by the state board of education um which affected many policies and regulations. So we went through and we had tackled um two policies, one by two policies and their corresponding regulations as well as one bylaw uh that needed to be update. All of those were approved for first read this evening. Uh then we had a general policy and regulation update bylaw 0143 board member election and appointment. Uh the same was also approved for first read this evening. And then as usual, we went through our district
090and individual c school counts report as of August 29th. Uh as Linda mentioned, she already went through the additional notes regarding uh the free and reduced lunch. Um and then we also went through our K5 section counts. And our next meeting is October 17th where we will tackle many more policies. >> Thank you. Um, and Linda, I believe Meredith shared a governance update. >> Yeah. So, Meredith Davidson is not able to be with us tonight. She asked me to uh read into the record her meeting notes. Uh, the last meeting was September 18th. Um, uh, we approved the meetings from um, August with no uh, questions or additions. also reviewed the report that lays out um BOE presentations uh such as what you saw this evening. We always like to have a headlight view of
091what's coming at us so we know how to how to um plan who to invite and so on and that's been working very well I might add. So we looked at that um including the two um honor honor um ceremonies that we held here this evening. Um, we talked about the negotiations timeline. As was mentioned, we're moving into uh renegotiating contracts with our teachers union and our supervisory staff. So, we looked at the timeline and details of the process. More to follow on that. Um we also have been working every committee chair has been working on putting together committee calendars of statutory or critical dates for the area of responsibility and um we use those um materials not only to plan our activities and look for things that are coming up on the agenda but
092they're also part of our orientation package for the new board members. So anyone new joining the board can see immediately, you know, what what's coming up on um on the schedule month by month uh through the school year. We um are working also through the chairs to develop narratives for every committees that specifies what their role and responsibilities are. Those will also be made available for access to existing and new board members. Um and then we talked about completion of the self-evaluation. We do an annual self-evaluation of our own activities as board members and we'll be talking about that in an upcoming retreat which is scheduled in early October and um we uh have rescheduled our ethics training to the January February time frame so that we can have um the time we need for
093the topics already on our October retreat schedule. Uh otherwise we'd be there until midnight which no one wants to do. Um, and we um we are reaching out um I want to go back to the negotiations uh timeline. We're we're actually reaching out uh to NGSBA uh to um excuse me, this is action and ask NGS submit the contract, complete the survey and ask for uh salary guide analysis. So that's that's underway as we speak. Um, we should be hearing the results of our board self-evaluation at the retreat on October 6th and um there's a series of uh virtual trainings available to board members that we discussed and that was about it. Um the next meeting Oh, next meeting is um November 13th. >> Thank you. Um, and we will hear from Morris. >> Excuse
094me. October 9th, excuse me. Um, and we will hear from Tina next time. Um, and with that, we will move forward. Um, oh, and I just would update that the MEF had their retreat on Saturday to kick off the goals for this coming year. So, we look forward to hearing from them in the future. And with that, we will u move into public comment. Before we open the meeting to public comment, we wish to remind you that our meeting is now video recorded and publicly aired. While the board welcomes and encourages public comment, we ask that you be respectful in including in any comments you might make about staff. The board does not endorse any comments made by a speaker, nor will the board be held liable for any comments made by members of the
095public. The law prevents the board from speaking about specific students and about personnel matters. For this reason, the board will not answer any questions on these subjects. Finally, the board's policy limits each speaker to three minutes. We ask that you respect this policy in the time of your fellow community members by concluding your comments once you reach 3 minutes. Public comment is open for an hour or until public comments are complete, whichever comes first. At this point, I would like to invite any members of the public to come forward and to please provide your full name and address. We can all come up together. Good evening members of the board. Um, my name is Avi Meta and I co-founded the Budget Bridge Foundation alongside Rohit Vishwanoth and two other individuals that are not present today,
096Shu Par and Evan Schwarz. What our nonprofit entails is we're a financial financial literacy nonprofit and we spread awareness and education to young adults on personal financial literacy uh topics. We've been to we want to make sure that um every high school and every student graduates graduates not just with a diploma but with the skills to manage day-to-day finances. And we believe that personal financial literacy is one of the most important topics that one should have in their career. and we've been to a couple of board meetings in the past and we're here um to address the Morris uh district school district to address a few issues about the loopholes of the personal finance uh New Jersey um graduation requirement and the courses that Morris Hill School District offers. So, I'll turn it over to
097these two to talk about. >> I'll just introduce our two wonderful speakers tonight, Alex and Uvraj. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh good evening members of the Morristown High School Board. I'm Yuvra Morotra, a senior at Paripony Hills High School and I have recently joined Budget Bread Foundation because I truly believe in what this organization stands for and that being financial literacy for all. Before I get into details, I want everybody to picture this. A future where a large majority of adults aged 18 to 25 have no idea how to manage their money, file taxes, and have no plan for their financial future. Unfortunately, this is where the country is already headed. The purpose of a financial literacy requirement is straightforward. To make sure students graduate high school ready for the financial responsibilities of adult
098life. But when that requirement can be met through courses like AP economics, we create unnecessary confusion not only for students but for teachers and fan uh families. Additionally, over 50% of surveyed students who fulfilled the financial literacy requirement through AP economics rated their preparedness in personal finance at a three or lower on a five-point scale. The most common reason cited was a lack of real world personal finance content. These classes were never intended to teach everyday financial skills. I've taken some of them myself. And while they were engaging and valuable, they didn't show me how to file taxes, open a Roth IRA, or manage credit card debt. They're strong academic courses, but they're not replacement for a dedicated personal finance class. If we truly want every student to leave school financially prepared, the courses we
099offer must reflect that mission. Right now, this system allows classes that aren't focused on personal finance to count towards the requirement that weakens the the standard and leaves many students unprepared. This is also an issue of equity. Some students may pick up financial lessons at home, but for others, school is their only chance to gain these skills. When expectations are unclear or diluted, it's those students who lose the most. By requiring a true personal finance course, Morristown has the chance to make financial literacy a universal foundation, not an advantage only some students receive. Thank you for your time and dedication to equity and educational excellence. We hope you'll consider closing this loophole and making a Morristown a leader in preparing students for real world financial success. >> Thank you. So, I just like to elaborate
100on what he had to say. So, good. Do >> you mind just giving your full name before you start? >> So, yeah. Yeah, I'm Alexander Kodio. Um, so yeah, I'm Alexander Kodio. I a senior at Paripony Hills High School. Uh, and I'm here with the Budget Bridge Foundation. So, in New Jersey, students learn how to solve for X, but not how to file taxes, budget, budget rent, or manage debt. Without adequate personal finance education, students may graduate lacking critical skills to manage individual finances. The nonprofit I work for is dedicated to ensuring every student graduates with with essential personal finance skills necessary to thriving as an adult, like budgeting, handling credit, and managing debt. We believe policies enacted by uh the school district have undermined this vision. In 2009, New Jersey mandated two and a
101half credits of financial literacy for graduation, explicitly aiming to equip students with practical financial management skills. Uh we understand that Mortown High School currently mandates financial literacy uh a financial literacy course uh but loopholes in the requirements uh allow the following courses to be offered as a replacement for those for personal finance. AP macroeconomics and entrepreneurship courses like AP Macro teach students how to think about money like policy makers and not individuals. Uh entrepreneurship teaches students how to develop business ideas but not necessarily how to properly manage their bank accounts. Only a standalone personal finance course uniquely aligns with the intent of the 2009 policy by explicitly teaching students uh practical finance skills. Specifically, the entrepreneurship course at Morrison High School fails to covering fails to cover the following standards. uh that are covered in
102the personal finance course. Standard 9.1.12 CDM3 determine ways to leverage debt beneficially. Standard 9.12 CDM5 identify the types and characteristics of predatory lending practices and the importance of collateral. Standard 9.12 CDM 7 calculate a mortgage payment based on type of loan down payment, credit score, and loan interest rate. Standard 9.1.12 CDM8 compare and compute interest and compound interest and develop amortization tables using business tools. These are just a few of the topics that students in the district may fail to learn under the current requirements. Uh and the current policies make it so students many of whom would like to buy a home one day may graduate without ever learning what a mortgage is. This gap can create student can make students unprepared for financial responsibilities that await them after high school. Tonight we ask that
103you restore what the law intended practical and meaningful financial education for all local districts or you guys have the autonomy to make decisions in the best interest of the students and we ask uh to lead for you to lead by example. Classes like entrepreneurship and AP economics should absolutely remain a part of the curriculum because they are enriching and rigorous uh but they should not be treated as a substitute for the personal finance class. The topics taught in a standalone personal finance course aren't just skills, but they're found they're the foundation for a financially secure future, and every student deserves access to that. We urge you to close this loophole by ensuring that only a standalone personal finance course fulfills the state's two and a half credit requirement, allowing no substitutes. And I thank you
104for your time. >> Thank you so much, >> gentlemen. Thank you for your research. Congratulations on launching your nonprofit and really taking a look at the curriculum that we offer statewide, reflecting on it and offering the dimensions to us about the standards that most concern you. I think everybody here in the room can relate to many of the points that you've made. Um, so the way things work from now is uh I didn't get the whole name of your nonprofit and if I can find you online, can you repeat that for me? Budget Bridge >> Budgetbridge Foundation >> if you can. So if you provide the website and social media to me, what we'll do is we actually have members of the curriculum committee here. Uh we'll review the information that you presented and we
105will get back to you. But most of all, I want to really thank you for inspiring us um to think about curriculum the way you're thinking about it and to be so tuned into such an important topic. You're incredibly well prepared. Anybody on the board want to add anything else? Uh other than you can expect to hear back from me in a couple of days about next steps and Paripany should be very proud. >> Yeah. Thank you for your advocacy coming to me. Thank you, gentlemen. >> I just want to say you're singing my song in terms of personal finance literacy. Uh I have two grandchildren that uh are getting some assistance at home with that learning, but I I actually didn't realize that we had so many replacements for the basic skills. So, thank
106you for bringing that up and doing all that research. Uh we definitely are going to take a hard look at that. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, gentlemen. Good evening. My name is Katie Peliseri Parks. I live at 9 Willis Spring Drive in Marstown and I was extremely distressed by the proposed changes to the calendar for 2026 and 2027. As a working single parent, I feel completely disregarded by these proposed changes. It is far easier and cost-effective to extend existing child care throughout the summer than it is to find child care for an entire loan week in November. The reference to quote family travel plans unquote clearly indicates a certain demographic of Marstown families that is certainly not all-encompassing or representative of my family. Frankly, the insinuation that all Mar school district families are able to
107fly off for a week's vacation each November is out of touch and insensitive. My child is a student at Normandy Park and is pulled for small groupoup instruction, which never starts until October. Is the plan to move all of that up, or will we waste six weeks of needed instruction for her instead of four? She also does not benefit from missing long periods of school. the malign quote fractured week unquote in November is far better for my child than missing an entire week of any type of instruction. Altering the calendar to assist with voluntary absences for a certain demographic at the expense of at risk children is unacceptable. As I have stated, these proposed changes do not offer my child any educational benefits and in fact may harm her education and present a financial and
108childare hardship for me. I have also become aware that these changes have not been discussed with or agreed upon with the majority of our teachers, which is concerning on its own. My school district has always relied on its teachers to provide our children with the best education and support. I've never been let down by them, and our community would not be the same if we let them down now by not consulting with them as well. I also find it disheartening that the wording in the initial letter was framed to imply this would not be discussed at all until the 10:27 meeting, but now appears to be an issue for tonight's meeting, which many of us working parents cannot attend on such short notice, again excluding us as stakeholders in these decisions. I'm an alumni of
109Mar School District and have always known it to strive for excellence for children of all needs and backgrounds. The tone and implication of these proposed changes is a disappointment and does not represent our community well. I hope you consider that when you go through things. Right. Thank you, >> Miss Parks. Thank you for making the time to be here this evening and thank you for identifying your comments in such a clear way. Certainly was never our intention to insult any segment of the community. I do want you to know that part of our conversation also entailed how we can do better on breaks in general, not just changing things for November. Um, and one of the things that we looked at was working with Sunrise and Sunset and also the local YMCA to talk about
110all different times when child care can be facilitated by the school district whether it be a half day, an unusual closing and that's very much at the forefront of our mind. It is difficult to speak to every single teacher about what they would think about the calendar and that's why we work directly with the leaders of team which is the organization that represents the teachers. Um so I do want to indicate that we don't poll all the teachers but we do take our draft calendar and present it to the union leadership which has been elected by the teachers and that's the way they have a voice um in the calendar. Uh it really uh also want to let you know that the feedback that we've been receiving, we're recording every single one will include any
111comments from this evening. Uh and then the board will review all of the comments in terms of people who emailed back to the first email last week or to this email. Then we'll review all of those comments and prior to voting on any calendar. Um, we'll have that sent out to the public. Um, I do appreciate all the points you made and I also appreciate you coming here after an evening of work. We always welcome people at the board of education meeting, but know your voice is also equally heard through email, through reaching out to us. Um, and we'll consider all of that. but it means a lot and it shows the importance to you personally that you came here to give those comments and we really appreciate it. >> Um and then I would
112just also add that um it is very very much the board's intention that there is more time which is why no action is taken tonight um because that does feel rather quick for people to be able to process and give that feedback for us to process. So that was the intention of it and um I do hope that you know that you understand how much care that we will put into that and I also um appreciate you know noting the difference between intention and language and and and the impact on each person which is why we want additional stakeholder feedback. So, thank you so much. If there's no additional public comment, um we will close public comment. Um we will not have the statement this evening. So, we will go directly into um business matters.
113>> Okay. Um, moving minutes motions one and two. Second. >> Thank you. Any discussion? >> Okay. Please call the role. >> Mr. Lloyd, >> yes. >> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pedalino, >> yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fota, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wall, uh, >> abstain motions one and two. >> Mrs. Cole, >> yes. Okay. Moving policy motions one and two. A second. Thank you. Any discussion? >> Okay. Please call the role. >> Mr. Lloyd, >> yes. >> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pedalino, >> yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fota, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ball, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cole, >> yes. Moving educational matters motions 1 through eight. I'll second. Thank you. Any discussion? >> Okay,
114please call the RO. >> Mr. Lloyd, >> yes. >> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pedalino, >> yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fota, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wall, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cole, >> abstain number six. Yes. To all others. Moving pupil services motions one and two. A second. Any discussion? Okay. Thank you. Please call the vote. >> Mr. Lloyd, >> yes. >> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pelino, >> yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fiona, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wall, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cole, >> abstain on number one. Yes. To all others. Oh, moving human resources motions 1 through 33 with amended motion six. Second. Any discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mr. Lloyd, >> yes.
115>> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pedalino, >> yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pota, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wall, >> abstain number 16. Yes. To all others. >> Mrs. Cole, >> yes. Moving business matters motions one through 15. Second. Thank you. Any discussion? Okay. Please call the role. >> Mr. Boyd? >> Yes. >> Miss Murphy? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Pedalino? >> Yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez? >> Yes. >> Mr. Smith? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fiona? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Wall? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cole? >> Yes. >> Okay. Any new business? I have >> I would just like to take this opportunity to wish educators uh students and families a great learning year. And because this is Hispanic Heritage Month, I want to recognize and applaud the Spanish
116language and our and culture in our school district. Thank you. Um any other new business? All right. Um, could I get a motion? >> I will make a motion to adjurnn. >> Thank you, Susan. All in favor? >> Thank you. Who we are journ