001The regular meeting of the Keensburg Board of Education will be held in a Bolger Middle School Media Center. Adequate notice for this meeting has been mailed to the Asbury Park Press, followed with the Middle Civil Clerk of Keensburg, posted on the district webpage, and posted inside the office of the Keensburg Board of Education, 100 Palmer Place, Keensburg, New Jersey, on January 10, 2026. Roll call. Mrs. Clayton. Mrs. Frizzell. Here. Ms. Kelleher-Moran? Here. Mr. Minkowski? Here. Mr. Kitchen? Here. Mr. Cook? Mr. Huff? Here. Ms. Ferraro? Here. Ms. Ryan? Here. All right. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. 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. Ladies and gentlemen, there's four exits. If
002there's an emergency, the closest exit may be behind you, so just look around. We have presentations. So this is one of my favorite things to do. Throughout the year, we have student... You guys are still reading here, so they can... Okay, that's fine. I thought I just saw them. They're here. Oh. Okay, so we're going to do the student presentations, then we have an award for them afterwards. So since they're not there, we're going to start on this side. Good evening everyone. As we wrap up the school year, I wanted to share some of the exciting events our seniors have been a part of over the past week. On June 8th, we celebrated many of our classmates at Academic Awards Night and recognized their hard work and achievements throughout high school. The next night, we
003honored our student-athletes at the Athletic Awards Banquet and celebrated their dedication both on and off the field. Then on June 10th, we held our final open mic night of the year. It was a great reminder of how much talent our students have, not just in academics and athletics, but in music, performance, and creativity as well. Our senior class also enjoyed a trip to Pocono Valley, which was a lot of fun and gave us a chance to spend time together before graduation. We followed that up with our senior barbecue, another great opportunity to make memories as a class. On June 15th, we recognized four seniors who will be continuing their athletic careers at the collegiate level. We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments and wish them the best in the next chapter. This Thursday, our seniors
004will participate in the annual walkthrough at the preschool and Caruso School. It's a special tradition that allows us to reflect on how far we've come and take one last walk down memory lane. And finally, graduation for the class of 2026 will take place this Thursday at 6 p.m. at Keensburg High School. Before I finish, I just want to say thank you. It has been a pleasure attending these Board of Education meetings throughout the year, and it has truly been an honor to serve as Senior Class President. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so we're not going to get, okay. So at this time, Mr. Mancalsi and Angelina, we're going to do this right in the center. So it takes a lot of courage to get up here and speak in front of people. I'm a little
005shy. I don't want to do it myself. i'd like to ask the joy the board of education to uh join me in congratulating miss lavery's eighth grade student victoria petakova for earning first place in the monmouth county essay contest what does patriots mean to you victoria's thoughtful and well-written essay stood out among entries from across the county In recognition for her accomplishment, she was honored by the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners. This prestigious achievement reflects Victoria's hard work, writing ability, and dedication to civics values. We are incredibly proud of her success and positive examples she sets for her peers. Congratulations, Victoria. At this time, Victoria is going to read her poem. one inch out of place. Hey, fix the flag. My brother and I hear that as soon as we get home from school.
006Now welcome home, or how was your day? That's my grandfather. If the American flag outside our house in Kingsburg is crooked, even just a bit, it turns into some kind of emergency. For him, this flag is more than just a cloth. He treats it like a responsibility. I arrived in America just six months ago, so pretty much everything feels new. The language, the hallways at school, the salt air of the Jersey Shore, the whole rhythm of Mama of Connie. I'm still figuring things out. However, my grandpa settled in ages ago. His English is still clumsy, but he speaks through actions, so patriotism couldn't be clearer. Grandfather tell us about how his mother would bring home old American magazines when he was a little boy. He and his friends would flip through these glossy pages, staring
007at the world that seemed like a beautiful myth. He's the most patriotic person I know. Citizenship isn't just some gift for him. It's a job he takes seriously every single day. He's got a lot of stories. Years ago, his work in the United Nations community took him straight to a prayer breakfast with President Obama. An immigrant from Kyrgyzstan sitting across from the president. But that is not what makes him a real patriot to me. Real patriotism is what my grandfather does right here at the tennis courts at Hazlet. I've seen him firmly call out teenagers who toss their trash right next to the garbage can. Is this a court or a dumpster? They probably think that he is just grumpy and foreign. To me, he's protecting the dignity of our little corner of New Jersey.
008He's the one who taught me that you can claim to love your country if you don't respect its ground. If you're lucky enough to live in a free nation, you owe it your best, starting with the sidewalk outside your own door. We live on land in Mamov County, where people fought for freedom centuries ago, the crossroads of the American Revolution. a place where patriotists and loyalists clashed in brutal, localized civil warfare. Now when I come home, I don't need a reminder to straighten the flag. I reach out and fix it myself. Patriotism is about owning where you live, so as I start my first year here, I'll focus on the small acts. The discipline, the respect, and the care I show the people around me. Patriotism is in founding grammar textbooks. It lives in every
009quiet, stubborn action of someone who knows. A strong country gets built one each out of time. Victoria's parents, Ms. Lavery, Ms. Hasselstaff, Ms. Simmons. Ms. Lavery has copies of Victoria's poem. If anybody's interested in a copy of her poem, Ms. Lavery has copies. Ken Cook is now on the dais. Committee reports. All right, so there was a committee report from the groundskeeper. Ladies and gentlemen, please be advised that for the high school graduation, the grounds committee has done an amazing job. We have a couple things going on. We have the prayer committee praying for beautiful weather. So hopefully it's going to be nice and cool, about 65 degrees for graduation. But we are going to try and do it outside if we can. So again, the groundskeeper. To say is a lack of better words,
010but the maintenance team is doing everything we can to make sure this takes place outside. So that's what I have, and that is it. Moving forward, comments and questions related to the board agenda items. If you have anything you would like to discuss from the packet, please come forward and state your name. Seeing no one, there will be no executive session. Mr. Mankowski? Yes. Mr. Kitchen? Yes. Mr. Cook? Yes. Mr. Hoff? Yes. Miss Ferraro? Yes. Miss Ryan? Yes. Superintendent, the school recommends positive action on the following items. Under personnel, one, refusal of position. Two, job abandonment. Three, resignation. Four, personnel. Five, professional employment. Six, we need to change that from part-time to full-time. That is a full-time position. FULL-TIME LITERACY COACH. 7, SUPERVISOR OF ATHLETICS. 8, LEAVE OF ABSENCE EXPANDED SICK TIME. 9, SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS
011AND PARAPROFESSIONALS FOR THE DISTRICT. 10, SUBSTITUTE NURSES. 11, SUBSTITUTE SECRETARY. 12, TRANSITION PLANNING NURSES. 13, ADDITIONAL PREP HOURS. 14 summer IT assistant, 15 guidance summer hours, 16 crisis prevention institution trainer, 17 home instruction tutors, 18 volunteer tutor, 19 volunteers Keensburg High School, 20 student internship, 21 district webmaster, 22 CPIS PIRS summer hours for Keensburg Early Learning Center, 23 surrogate parent for the district. 24, homeless liaison. 25, district staff extended school year. 26, summer work child study team. 27, ELL summer hours. 28, extended school year speech and OT. 29, coach advisor positions for Joseph C. Caruso. 30, coach and advisor positions for Joseph R. Bolger Middle School. 31, coach and advisor positions for Keensburg High School. 32, before... school breakfast cafeteria teachers at Bulger 33 summer music enrichment program for Bulger 34 Keensburg after-school program 35
012Keensburg after-school program assistance 36 Keensburg after-school program enrichment teachers 37 Keensburg after-school program tutors 38 Keensburg after-school program substitutes 39 Keensburg extended school year revision 40, Keensburg Summer Program Substitute Revisions, and 41, Orton-Gillihan Comprehensive Training for Caruso Revision. Who was second? Was it Kim and Patty? I didn't hear them. Sorry. Patty got second. Thank you. Any questions or comments? I have some, please. Number three, I'd like to wish Ms. Pafano good luck in her new endeavor. She's actually very excited about going to school and doing what she went to school for. On number seven, so I only need two people as the athletic director, Mr. Stark and Mr. Ferraro. And my God, we got such a huge pickup when we got Mr. Ferraro. So it's outstanding that he's staying in that position. And one more.
013Mr. Jay Blackwell has been in my life since I was about six years old. He taught me how to play baseball. I didn't know his name was Joseph. So for the record, it's Mr. Joseph Blackwell, not Jay. Sir? Any other comments? I don't see them. Question? Ropal, Mrs. Frizzell? Yes. Ms. Kelly-Hare-Moran? Yes. Mr. Mankowski? Yes, but I refuse myself on number 16 and number 24. Thank you. Mr. Kitchen? Yes. Mr. Cook? Yes. Mr. Haas? Yes. Ms. Ferrara? Thank you. Ms. Ryan? Yes. Under General Number 42, District HIV Report 43, NJSIAA Membership Certification, 44, Disposal of Unusable, Outdated, Broken Furniture and Equipment. 45, acceptance of donation, Keensburg Early Learning Center. 46, school bus evacuation drills. 47, in-state class trips. 48, school hours for the district revision for next school year. May I please get a motion?
014I'll make that motion. I'll second. Matt second. Comments, questions, concerns? Sir? Mrs. Frizzell? Yes. Ms. Kayla Hammerin? Yes. Mr. Minkowski? Yes. Mr. Kitchen? Yes. mr cook yes mr hough yes but on 45 can we please make sure to get a donation letter thank you yes miss ferrara miss ryan administrator board secretary report board secretary's monthly certification for may 2026 certifies that no line item has been overexpended in may and that sufficient funds are available to meet the district financial obligations for the remainder of the fiscal year Payroll certifications for May 15th and May 29th. Superintendent of Schools recommends positive action on the following items. One, receipt and acceptance of May 2026 Board Secretary's Report. Two, approve appropriation transfers. Three, approve bills list. Four, approve 2526 home instruction. Five, approve 2526 school year added district tuition.
015Six, approve 2627 school year out of district tuition. Seven, approve school physician. Eight, approve CR assessments. Nine, approve YMCA of Greater Monmouth County. Counseling and social services, 2627 at no cost to the district. Ten, approve the following consultants for 2627. Ten, approve technology renewals. Twelve, approve curriculum renewals. 13, approve the acceptance of the 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. 14, approve acceptance of the Perkins Secondary Consolidated Grant. 15, approval of the 2627 Purchasing Manual. 16, approval of the 2627 Standard Operating Procedures Manual. 17, appointment of school board attorney. 18, appointment for labor negotiators and special education counsel. 19, approval of interlocal shared service agreement with the Borough of Kingsburg. 20, approval of interlocal agreement with the Borough of Kingsburg for tennis courts. 21, approved designation of custodian of public records. 22, approval of qualified purchasing
016agent. 23, authorization for petty cash checking account. 4, approved official depositories. 25. Approve appointment of board officials. 26, approval of designation of official newspaper. 27, approve public information, public records act fees. 28, approve school funds invested for 26-27. 29, approve the uniform minimum chart of accounts. 30, approve appointment of representative to county educational services commission. 31, approve resolution authorizing the procurement of goods and services through state contracts. 32, approve the authorization to purchase. 33, approve the transfer of 2526 surplus to emergency reserve. 34, approve the transfer of 2526 surplus to capital reserve. 35, approve transfer of 2526 to maintenance reserve. 36, approve insurance renewal premium rates for 2627. 37, approve cancellation of stale data checks. 38, approve district copier lease agreement. And 39, approve a ward of professional services contract to update the long-range facilities
017plan. All right, please have a motion. I'll make that motion. All right, please have a second. Do we have any questions, concerns? Sir? Mrs. Frizzell? Yes. Ms. Kelleher-Moran? Yes. Mr. Minkowski? Yes. Mr. Kitchen? Yes. Mr. Cook? Yes. Mr. Huff? Yes. Ms. Ferrara? Yes. Ms. Ryan. Yes. We'll now open the meeting for any public comments, questions related to the agenda. Concerns, please come up. Additional concerns. Additional concerns, please come up. State your name. My name is Shelby Torres. Good evening, President of the Board, Board members, Superintendent, and members of our community. My name is Shelby Torres. I'm a lifelong Keensburg resident and the mother of Lucas Rodrey, who is seven years old. Lucas enjoys watching cartoons, playing video games, spending time with his friends, and being an active kid, like every kid. He deserves to feel
018safe, supported, and excited to go to school. I'm here tonight as a parent to ask for attention and oversight regarding serious concerns involving my son, sorry, that has persisted throughout his time in Keensburg School District. These concerns began when my son attended preschool at the Early Learning Center. During that year, there was an incident where my son was unaccounted for, and I was unable to obtain clear information regarding his whereabouts. He was subsequently removed from school as a parent. Not knowing where your child is during that day was frightening. I attended a board meeting seeking answers and my son was allowed to return to school the following week. While he eventually returned, I never felt my concerns were fully addressed. When my son entered kindergarten at Joseph C. Caruso School, he experienced multiple incidents involving
019other students spitting on him, physically assaulting him, stabbing him with a pencil. I repeatedly reported these incidents and requested intervention, but I did not see... meaningful action that reassured me that my child was protected. Following that one meeting that I requested to discuss these concerns, a teacher took my son's backpack and a lunchbox after that meeting concluded. Additionally, although the principal had approved the meeting, she declined to attend despite my request to speak directly with administration. These experiences left me feeling that my concerns were not being taken seriously. Unfortunately, this pattern has continued during first grade. My son was again physically assaulted multiple times. At the same time, I experienced ongoing difficulties communicating with the school administration. There were instances where I felt dismissed when attempting to discuss concerns about my child's well-being. And the
020comments were made in front of my son that I believe were inappropriate and unprofessional. Now during the second grade, the situation has escalated even further. My son has repeatedly been jumped by other students on two different occasions. sorry, along with multiple other physical assaults throughout the school year. Despite numerous reports and repeated requests for assistance, I remain deeply concerned about the effectiveness of the school response and whether adequate measures are being taken to ensure his safety. I'm not here tonight to create conflict or to assign blame. I'm here because these incidents span from preschool through second grade and that taken together represents what I believe a long standing pattern of unresolved safety concerns and communication issues that I deserve board level awareness and review. As a parent, we entrust our children at the school district
021every day with expectations that they will be safe, supported and able to learn when repeated incidents occur over multiple years parents deserve transparency accountability and confidence and appropriate action being taken therefore i respectfully request that the board review the history of the reported incidents involving my son examine whether the district policies and procedures were followed properly evaluate the district's reason to report reasons to reports of bullying and physical assaults review communication practices between school personnel and parents ensure the appropriate steps are being taken to protect my son's safety and educational well-being moving forward my goal is simple i want my child to feel safe at school i want to ensure that no family has to experience these same concerns my son no longer feels safe in the district he deserves to receive an education without
022have to without he deserves to receive an education without having to worry about his safety every day he walks into school For that reason, I am also respectfully requesting that the district considers replacing my son out of district at the district educational program at the district's expense for the upcoming school year so that he can learn in an environment where he feels safe and supported. Lucas is not just another child in the education system. He is a member of our community, and he is part of the future. Every child deserves the best opportunity to succeed. And I believe that it begins in school when where young minds develop and grow. Every family deserves to know that they can entrust the people who pay, who play such an important role for their children's lives and not
023have to worry every time they receive a phone call from the school. Thank you for your time and your attention and your service to the students and families of Keensburg. I appreciate the opportunity to speak at this, speak this evening and respectfully ask for consideration of these concerns. Thank you. Thank you. anybody else wishing to speak please come up state your name and address see you know and we're going to close that portion new communications we're going to start with mr kitchen i would just like to thank and congratulate the student representative representatives that we've had i know some are moving on to college or other avenues some are moving from middle school going up I would like to thank the Kingsbury Police for being here tonight. Also, I would just like to say that
024we saw a lot of things online. Of course, that's alarming, but please come to school board meetings. I saw a lot of people saying don't come. They don't do anything. Please come and speak to us. We're here. Nobody's lashing out at anybody. Just please come and speak to us. I know it was a confusing concern, but questions can be answered better here than they can online. That's it. Thank you, sir. Ms. Fussell? I just want to say congratulations to all the graduates this year. Good luck to Michigan. Ms. Rowe. I want to congratulate all the students. Ms. Ryan. I just first want to congratulate the graduates of both Boulder and Kings Park High School. I regret that I am unable to attend tomorrow night's graduation due to a prior work commitment, but I did want
025to make sure that everyone knew that I wanted to congratulate them. I want to congratulate Victoria on her award. That was a very outstanding essay. That's it. Thank you. Mr. Cook? Thank you, Mr. President. I want to first congratulate all the student reps that have come out throughout the year. Your dedication has definitely gone unnoticed. I know it's long hours. You have your schoolwork, but we really appreciate you all coming out for all of us. Victoria, great poem. Fantastic. I think it's going to inspire a lot if you keep going and pursuing that career and that type of inspiration for others. congratulations to all the graduates i look forward to seeing all the graduations and i also want to congratulate mr bennett and mr gross you guys have always been there for years and years
026and you've always done the great jobs guiding keensburg school district so thank you for all your hard work that is all thank you mr moran Everybody plays a part of security. Our parents that come to our meetings, that we hear your voices, it makes a difference. We have athletes this year who come so far. If you look at all the programs we have, we have more children going to college and the best schools out there. And they're not only being accepted to one college, multiple. I mean, that's a testament to the hard work that we get the recognition, as well as our administrative team. Let's talk about security. We hear craziness all over the world. We have safe schools. We have safe schools, and they do a hell of a good job. We work with
027the police department. We work with the community, the mayor, and council. We need to be united to protect our children. We have to be advocates for all children in this town. And instead of judging people, I think that we have to work together, talk to each other face-to-face. Don't write it. Come speak it, and let's work together. We are all available. You have our phone numbers. You have our email address. We need to get to it. Mr. Groves? Mr. Bennett? Sir? Sir? A couple of things. First, the awards, both the academic and the sports awards. I do apologize I'm not able to make those. Unfortunately, I'm in the city more often than I wish to be at this point in time, but I am looking forward to graduation tomorrow, which I'll make sure that I'm
028at. I do want to congratulate everybody who was there. It's amazing that we have four athletes that are continuing on to college and going to top-level schools at this. Congratulations to Jayden. Again, I can't say MIT enough as we continue to sit here. Which brings me to really our student representatives, our high school and middle school. Several years ago, we started having the student representatives start to come and talk to us. We did it before it was required by law. The state followed us by a couple of years. And even at that, only high school students come to regular board meetings. The middle school doesn't have a voice at most tables. It's a two-way street, though. The students are allowed to come here and speak, but they're also allowed to bring their opinion and talk
029to us about things that are on the agenda. as well as bring that information back to their student council so that they know what's happening at these board meetings so they understand that that's happening i do want to thank the business administrator one of the things i'm stuck at as i continue to go through is i see a number of transfers of surpluses to reserves that's a nice thing to see is that we're not overspending anything and and hopefully budget time that'll that'll come out to be a benefit for us Also, a lot of things with shared services, we're constantly looking for in the VA, and the administration is constantly figuring out ways to work with other parts of the community or other entities so that we can reduce our costs, including with our business
030administrator and our board secretary, the way that that works. I do want to thank the police department for being here tonight. when it was first discussed about having someone here, it took a matter of minutes to find out that someone would be available to come to the board and to be here to answer any questions. I'm not gonna belabor anything that was online too much, but I'm... I'm struck by a couple of things that people said that we the school didn't take things seriously The entire reason that we're here talking about anything that has to do with this is because the school took it incredibly seriously The police were immediately called the police came took over the investigation and the police chart placed charges The only reason you're hearing that is not because we brushed
031it on the rug and tried not to let anybody outside of here We brought in the police the prosecutor's office and made it completely public. So I'm a little bit confused. Security is paramount here. We have a close working relationship with the school. I've been there when we've had lockdowns, when we've had to have between Mr. Hoff, liaising with the police department, has released students out of Caruso, my child being one of those, to make sure each of those students made it out to their parents. We have an incredibly close relationship with them. I have kids in the school, and I can tell you I feel incredibly safe. We let any of my kids leave the house each morning knowing that they're in the hands of our teachers, knowing that we have SROs in each
032one of those schools. and knowing the relationship that we have with the police department. And with that, I'd like to thank the teachers, the administration, and everything for all the hard work that they've done. And I look forward to, what do we have, two more days before graduation? And then everybody enjoy your summer. Everyone says all my notes. I'm going to hide my notes at the beginning of the meeting. So, Mr. Kitchen, thank you for saying what you said. Sir, thank you for saying what you said. I said what I said, and we'll leave it at that. Thank you. The awards were an amazing night for the scholarships and unfortunately I could not attend the sports awards. Again, I don't see them in the crowd, but Mr. Henry, we're gonna miss you and we're gonna
033come to your Board of Education meetings. Don't worry, we will be there. Sports, the Bulgers softball team made a deep run into the playoffs. They came back and won against Union Beach, but we lost in the finals. Congratulations to Ms. Lee for doing an outstanding job. Ladies and gentlemen, if you didn't come, their butterfield was amazing. You're not supposed to mention names, but... We did have some, we're going to call it the Fernandez family because everyone from the baby, baby until the grandmother dressed up and we're in the hallways helping our kids. That's an amazing. I know there was a ton of people. Mrs. Minkowski was dressed up and did air. So everybody who helped set up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. But the Fernandez family, they, they, thank you. The PTA, again, an
034amazing job. The staff that was there to come see our students. I saw her out there. Where is she? She can gave her award. There she is. Miss Simic. I thought a rock star came into the cafeteria. Everyone went running. I was like, oh, my God, Harry Styles is here. It was Miss Simic. And the kids were amazing. It was simply amazing. I love being part of this food line, and it's incredible to see them get all that sugar in them and then go dance. We have two huge graduations coming up. And we'll start with the first one, these eighth graders going into ninth grade. We happened to, Ms. Ferraro, and who else was there, Ms. Ferraro, when we went and saw the students speak about what it means to be an eighth grader, believe
035in. Ken, you're right. I'm sorry, sir. So it was incredible how some of these eighth graders said, one of the questions was, what would you do different? Some of them said, I wouldn't have been that hard on myself. Some of them said, I would have made more friends. Some of them said, I have to lose friends because I'm choosing a different school. But it's incredible how they said time went by so fast. So in four years from now, we're going to be giving them diplomas. So that leads us to Thursday. Again, the groundskeepers have done an amazing job on the field. The church team is praying for a 65-degree, 75-degree day. We think it's going to happen. To the parents, thank you. Thank you for allowing your kids to come to school every day and
036allow our amazing teachers to teach them. Again, we have a gentleman right here. Yeah, we're going to pick on you again. Going to MIT. He just didn't get up yesterday and say he's going to MIT. He started when he first came here. And everyone, he says, everyone believed in him. So with that being said, I believe in every one of my teachers. I believe in every one of my security guards. I believe in every one of my kitchen workers. I believe because, again, our children, we're here for one thing and one thing only, and that's called education. So with that being said, we're going to celebrate 250 years on the 4th of July. The Borough of Kingsburg is going to have a huge, I mean huge, firework display on the beach about 9 o'clock. So
037if anybody's available, please come with that. For those who... it can't be at graduation i wish everybody a happy and safe summer and we'll see you ain't there a song see you in september with that i'll take a motion to end thank you second all second all in favor