001I'm officially calling the meeting to order. Welcome everybody. I'll start with New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law, which was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have an advanced notice of any such intended meetings of public bodies, at which time any business affecting their interest is discussed and acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act and Board of Education Policy 2162, the Board of Education of the Borough of Bound Brook has caused notice of this meeting to be posted in the Board Office and at Bound Brook High School, and mailed or faxed to the Courier News, Bound Brook Borough Clerk, South Bound Brook Board of Education, and any person who has requested individual notice and paid the required fee. Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Miss Lee,
002roll call, please. Yeah. Here. Thank you, Miss Lee. At this point, I would like to recognize Miss Kathy Pollak, who is here from New Jersey School Boards Association, and is going to help us with some training tonight on ethics. So, for the board members, are we going to do slides, guys? Good. So, since we'll do slides, board members, we'll go down into the audience, and then we'll get started. >> Well, thank you for having me tonight. I haven't met you yet. My name's Kathy Fourier. I'm the field representative serving Hunterdon and Somerset counties. I started back in September, so I'm a bit newer to the organization, but I was a board member for about 9 years in Hunterdon County in a small K through 8 district. I was board president there for 6 years and
003actually was president of the Hunterdon County School Boards Association for 2 years. So, I have quite a bit of board experience and I'm hoping to share with you and answer any questions that you have. Tonight, we're talking about ethics and I really take ethics from an educational standpoint. We do not want you to get an ethics violation and sometimes really it can be easy to inadvertently violate the school ethics act maybe you're trying to be helpful, you're overstepping your role, but you don't realize you are. So, we're going to talk about some of those things tonight and feel free to stop me at any point in time, ask a question. We'll have more time for questions at the end, so take it for a learning experience and I know that sometimes I do these presentations
004and I feel like I'm telling everybody a bunch of things that they can't do, but just you can do a lot. It just has to be within what your role is as a board member. And And these are some ethical uh rules that we should abide by. This is our disclaimer. We're not attorneys. I'm not a I'm not an attorney. I cannot give you legal advice. This is information. So, we just have to put this disclaimer up because it's not legal advice. If you need legal advice, because sometimes ethical situations are really fact-specific. Oh, we always recommend that you get that advice from an attorney. Use whatever processes you have to reach out or you reach out to your board president and you can um contact your board attorney if you have questions on a
005situation that you feel might be um in violation of some ethics act or could be, get that advice from your board attorney. So, the School Ethics Act, what was it? It was put into place to ensure that board members maintain the public trust because you are making very important decisions that are regarding the welfare of children and doing the best things for students in your school and your community. And you need to maintain the public trust. And that is why the School Ethics Act was put into place. And it applies to school board members. The School Ethics Act does not apply to other elected officials. And that is a question we get sometimes, too. Like, why can uh your town committee member post something on social media or do this or that or say this
006or that? Because they're not under the same set of um ethical obligations that school board members are under. And that's actually something that is special to school board members because again, you are um making very important decisions that impact the welfare of children. So, who enforces the act? The New Jersey School Boards Association does not enforce the act. The only uh body that um enforces the act is the School Ethics Commission. Uh they are the body that is charged with enforcing the act. They consist of five school non-school official, sorry, two school board members. Although as of fairly recently, and I don't think anything's changed since then, uh both of the school board seats are vacant. So, we have been telling everybody that we do this presentation to, if you are interested in serving on
007the school ethics commission, you can let your legislator know. Again, the New Jersey School Boards Association does not appoint the members of the uh school ethics commission. They're appointed by the governor. It also consists of um two school administrators. Uh one of those seats was vacant. It has since been filled. Uh and it's nine members appointed by the governor for a 3-year term. And only five can be from the same political party. These are just the provisions of the act. So, the provisions that apply to school board members are your mandatory training, your code of ethics, your disclosure statements, and the prohibited acts. The disclosure statements and the prohibited acts apply to all school officials, that means administrators, even NJ SBA staff. But, the ones that apply to just school board members are the mandatory
008training and the code of ethics itself. And we'll go through all of those. So, what training is mandatory? If you're new, hopefully you've completed did work governance one mandatory training. That's your new board member orientation. It covers your basic knowledge and skills, HIV, QSAC, CSA evaluation, all the things you need to know as a new board member. By the end of year two, you'll do governance two training, which is finance and student achievement. By the end of year three, do governance three policy and labor relations. And by um the end of it's the first year of any subsequent term you would do governance four, which are legal updates. So, one thing that we have noticed the School Ethics Commission taking of strict stance on is mandatory training and timely completion of a mandatory training. So,
009make sure that you do it. If you're unsure because sometimes board members don't know, especially if you're in you've been on for a while and you're like I need to take governance four this year and you don't remember. Just contact one of us, contact your BA, you can contact the call center at New Jersey School Boards Association. They will help you out with understanding what training you need to take. And we do try to make it as easy as possible for you to take it. The in-person trainings are great if you can get to them, but there's on-demand online training that you could do at any time in the comfort of your own home. So, we try to make it as easy as possible for every board member to be able to do their mandatory
010training. Financial disclosure statements those are due Well, if you are a new board member, they're due within 30 days. If you are a current board member, they are due April 30th. So, if you haven't done it, go home right after the meeting and do it right away cuz it is due. Um and that's another thing that we've been noticing the School Ethics Commission being very strict about is making sure that everybody has their financial disclosure statements filled out. It's something that school all school commissions have to do. I had to do one as a NJBSA staff member. They're public. You can look anybody's up online, but they're not asking for your salary. They're really asking for where your income is coming from to ensure that there's no conflict of interest. And here we just have
011an example of a financial disclosure case from 2025 where a board member uh did not disclose an organization because this organization that they were involved with and there was a recommendation for a reprimand was found to be a violation of school ethics act. And you have I did send your BA a PDF of this that she can send out to all of you and you can look up any of these cases. If it has a C in front of it, that means it's an an ethics case. If it has an A, that's an advisory opinion which we'll get to. But all of these um are online. You can look them up and read them. They're long. They're pretty interesting. They are long but they're interesting to read and go and read them. Uh the school
012ethics commission does have somewhat of an expectation that board members are really familiar with advisory opinions and just the provisions of the act. Try to familiarize yourself as much as you can if you have the time. Now we'll get into what the actual code of ethics is. So the first one is I will uphold and enforce all laws, rules, and regulations of the state Board of Education and court orders pertaining to schools. Desired changes shall be brought about only through legal and ethical procedures. So this top part comes from the statute. The bottom is the standards that of factual evidence that needs to be met in order to uphold a finding or violation of that part of the code of ethics. And again, you are if you took your roles and responsibilities or your governance
013one, you know that you're volunteers but you're also state officials. You're considered state officials. I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex, or social standing. And again, below that are the standards of evidence that would need to be met for a violation. I will confine my board action to policy making, planning, and appraisal, and I will help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them. Again, you're a policy making body, and also appraisal. So, your most important role in appraisal is actually coming up, and that's your superintendent evaluation. When we talk about your role in appraisal, that
014is your main way that you have of appraisal. I will carry out my responsibility not to administer the schools, but together with my fellow board members to see that they are well run. If you take NJ SBA training, you'll hear this over and over and over again. You don't run the schools, you make sure that they are well run. Your superintendent runs the schools, and you your role is oversight. I will recognize that authority rests with the board of education and will make no personal promises nor take any private action that may compromise the board. And that's another thing that you'll hear over and over and over is that your authority is when you are sitting at the board table in a quorum with your fellow board members, and this is the only time that
015you can act and you act together as a board by voting. I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups, or to use the schools for personal gain or the gain of friends. I will hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which, if disclosed, would needlessly injure individuals or the schools, and all other matters I will provide accurate information that and in concert with my fellow board members interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community or its school. We always stress confidentiality. What happens in executive staff session session stays in executive session. I you know one who was actually my field service rep, she used to say you can tell your cat, you can tell your dog, don't tell anybody what goes on in executive session, especially
016things that have to do with students. Students are protected under FERPA and other federal privacy laws and staff obviously personnel have very strong privacy protections. So, you always want to be mindful of that and very respectful of confidentiality. I will vote to appoint the best qualified personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer. That's your superintendent. Again, you always notice on your agenda all personnel action comes at the recommendation superintendent because all of the employees report to your superintendent. I will support and protect school personnel in the proper performance of their duties. And this is another one we talk about a lot. I will refer all complaints to the chief administrative officer and will act on the complaints at public meetings only after failure of an administrative solution. And if you're
017a parent board member or board member in a smaller town, I was a board member in a small town, even if you're a board member in a larger district, the people know that you're a board member, they will approach you. Parents will sometimes call you with complaints or things that happened with their children or a complaint about a staff member. And your role, the best thing you can do as a board member in those cases are refer them to the chain of command. So, if they have a problem with their child's teacher, "So, have you talked to your child's teacher yet?" If that doesn't resolve the issue, well then they can take it to the supervisor or the next administrator in charge, all the way up to the superintendent and the board. And if you
018get involved at a lower level, you're overstepping your role. But then you also may conflict yourself out of being able to address it if it ever does come to the board level. A lot of times it won't because your school personnel and your administrators and your staff they're professionals and they know how to handle most issues that come their way. Um but if not, somebody can take it all the way up to the board level and then you'll address it then by voting again. And even if you are a parent board member, you can go through that process as a parent as well as long as you do it in your parent role. You retain all of your rights as a parent to advocate for your own child, but you have to keep it in
019that parent role. But you can advocate in that way too. You just can't as a board member. So what we recommend you do, you hear a complaint, direct them to the appropriate staff member or the chain of command. Then give your superintendent a call, just let him know you received the complaint and you directed it to the appropriate channels. So who may file an ethics complaint? Anybody, really. And now that um board members are or board meetings are being recorded, that's another thing to think about too because anybody can be watching and see an ethics violation and report. So any person can file a complaint with the SCC alleging a violation. The SCC will consider the facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to believe the act has been violated. There is a
020fine of up to $500 that can be imposed for imposed for a frivolous finding. I don't think that happens very often, but um that is the case. They have to file within 180 days of the violation occurring. But again, literally anybody in your community or out of your community can make a complaint. These are the penalties. A reprimand is basically just the School Ethics Commission saying, "Yes, you violated the code of ethics. Don't do it again." Uh censure is a little more serious than that. It's a formal disapproval by the commissioner and it has to be public public publicly read by your board at a regular board meeting as a as a board board resolution. Um suspension, again, a little more serious. You can be suspended from your board for whatever period of time they
021recommend, 30 days, 60 days. And then the most serious, of course, is removal. Advice of counsel defense. So, this is a little tricky. So, you may have something that you're thinking about doing and you reach out to your board attorney for advice and your board attorney says, "Yeah, hey, go ahead. Do whatever thing you wanted to do." But then somebody files a complaint and it is found to be a violation of the School Ethics Act. You can use the advice of counsel defense as long as it meets all of those four factors. And it's a very fact specific and very case specific and they'll consider it for the uh the penal- the penalty but not for whether you violated it. the code of uh Now we will get into some cases specific cases. Again, if
022you see the C there, you can look all these up and I think when you get the PDF of this, I believe they are linked that you might be able to click on, but if not, you can look all of them up on the school ethics commission website and we give you the web address at the end of this. These are just a couple of um of examples. The bottom one I I do go and I cite a lot at board meetings because I think it's just an example of how easy it can be to violate to get a violation uh and it's parent that was involved with CPAC, which is a great organization. It's a special education parents advisory group. But they used their board email to send an email about the CPAC meeting
023and they found that that was, you know, giving a justifiable question that their objectivity was uh impaired. So, when you are on a board, you can't really represent any other groups but the board. You can be involved in CPAC, you can be involved in other groups, you know, PTA, township rec commission, athletic organizations, any of those, but don't ever use your board email to communicate about those groups. Uh if you are on a separate volunteer group, use your personal your personal email or whatever email you have for that. Keep it separate from your board. This is just a board member using their board email for CPAC. And there was a recommendation for a reprimand then. Reprimand there. And then there are just some more uh code of ethics cases. Top one is a board member
024read another board member's text messages aloud at a public meeting providing information about a school official. You never want to do anything like that. They had a recommendation for a reprimand. Um the bottom one was a 60-day suspension and that was a 15-year board member that got very involved in a a personnel matter. So, the action of the board member usurped the authority of the superintendent who's responsible for making disciplinary recommendations. The board member took it upon themselves to go to the employee's home, pick up a letter, presented on behalf of the employee directed to the BA to give to not give a copy of the letter to the superintendent, and then instead of recusing themselves from the matter in which he had a personal interest and personal involvement, the board member advocated on behalf
025of the employee in question the superintendent's recommendation of the employee. And that one was serious. Again, it was a 15-year board member and they actually um had a 60-day suspension. So, be cautious of getting involved in personnel matters. Yeah. I believe it had it was information about school officials. They were reading private text about school officials. But we do if you you can look it up and you can see the read the entire story. Yeah. Yeah, because you can share information and communicate with each other as long as you're not violating uh open public meetings act with your text messages or anything like that. I think I believe it was this information about the school official. Yes. This is something we get a lot of questions on, too. It's when to recuse versus when to
026abstain. So, when a conflicted board member votes, there's a distinction between recusal and abstention. So, abstention is really if you don't have enough information to feel that you should be voting on something, in those pieces it may be appropriate to abstain. Recusal is really when you have a conflict of interest, and in that case you say you're not going to vote, you're not even going to be part of the discussion, you're just going to completely recuse yourself from the issue. So, again, that's another thing we say, if you are wondering if you are conflicted from something, contact your board attorney. We're in CSA evaluation season. A common reason board members are conflicted from that is because they have a relative working in the district. So, if But there are other reasons that you may be
027conflicted from an issue or something that comes pops up on your board agenda. Maybe you're voting on uh something that you're involved in outside of the board. So, your board's voting on it, so you may have maybe a conflict and you may need to recuse yourself. Contact your board attorney. Always get those opinions from your board attorney. Relationship definitions. I did give you a chart of who a relative is cuz it does get confusing. A question we always get asked is yes, you can see there I know, yes, and you you also have your chart. And we always get asked like, is our cousin a relative? Like your cousin's your relative in your life, but usually not for the purposes of conflict of interest under the School Ethics Act. But obviously you know, people are
028immediate family members, your spouse, your civil union, domestic partner, dependent child residing in your household. These are all the list of the relative. And a relative can create a conflict. And then also anyone not listed may be considered an other if a conflict exists. So, again, reach out to your board attorney. If you think there's somebody that might create a conflict of interest for you. And refer to your chart as well. The chart's helpful for again CSA evaluation, negotiations. Get into advisory opinions now. So an advisory opinion, any school official can request an advisory opinion. You can request one on yourself. You can request one for somebody else. But it's basically just saying I want to do this but I think it might violate the code of ethics. I'm not sure. You can reach out.
029They'll give you an advisory opinion. They keep them confidential. They don't release names. Some advisory opinions, if they think it will benefit other people that may be in the same situation, they'll release them publicly. When they do that, I think I think 60 days. It's something that you have to vote on. You have to vote on it. And when they do release it again, they redact all the personal information. But the advisory opinions are great to read. You go on and I would highly recommend going on and reading advisory opinions because they're very, very informative. Here's our little police officer because we always say if you get an advisory opinion you should probably abide by it. Because again, if a police officer gives you a warning not to do something, but then you do it,
030you might get a ticket or something. So if you get an advisory opinion and they say don't do that, and then you do it anyway, you're likely to be found in violation of the school ethics act. Just be careful about that. Any questions about any of this? Now we have a whole list of advisory opinions for you and I won't go through all of them, but I mean, I do actually have all of them written out with me in case anybody wants to hear more about any of them. But I've read through a lot of them. Um You can go on and again read all of these. They're all really interesting. And again, these are all the advisory opinions that were released in 2025. A lot of them are like working with a child. Union
031issues. Like positions. They're very interesting. We do recommend that you go on and look at all of them. Benefits. You might have a conflict. These are just benefits. What benefits are in ethics that are like regulations. Uh it's a direct indirect advantage, profit, privilege, or gain. Could be personal, financial, or otherwise. Oh, and then here, we have a case with the Ethics Commission case. Board member spoke during the board meeting about how he was running for General Assembly and was found that he was using his position on the board to solicit support and votes for his personal political campaign. So, you can run for office. You can be a sitting board member and run for other office. That's okay. But you can't use your board member position to create a benefit of yourself at the
032expense of the district. Benefiting your personal political campaign. So, recuse yourself if there is a benefit to you or your immediate family due to business interest, uh your use of your position to secure privileges for yourself or others, a gift, favor, financial gain. Uh again, other considerations are do not represent yourself or any person. Do not represent any person or party other than the board or district in matters before the board. And it's not a conflict if you're not accruing a greater gain than any other. So, an example of this would be if you have a child in the district and you're voting on field trip and your child's going on the field trip. It's okay for you to vote on that because you're not getting any gain that's more than what anybody else is
033doing. There are just a few prohibited acts cases. A board member has a direct or indirect financial interest who votes on or about the law firm that provided her with free representation in the defense of an ethics charge. The board member has a personal involvement with the law firm as it was providing her with legal representation creating an attorney-client uh personal relationship. Respondent had received legal defense without incurring costs in her defense of a personal ethics matter. And then the respondent voted to approve the payment of the law firm that was representing them. So, that was found to be a violation. The recommendation was a censure. And the second one, it was a person that had a a relative and participated in labor negotiations with the union of the administrator who supervises a child. So,
034again, those counts would be a violation with the recommendation of the Sunshine Sunshine Act. So, that one up top had to do with um an ethics violation against another board member. Uh only an individual can can file a school ethics school ethics violation or charge. And in this case, I believe the board filed one together. Uh and then the bottom one was a board member voting in a non-profit with the recommendation of a recommendant. This is a conflict of interest piece that you can read. Again, we would say go on and go on and look through these. Again, a board member getting involved in a personal issue. Coaching. Again, this is more of a conflict of interest and benefits pieces. Conflict of interest and benefits pieces. It's always the same. Things to be very cautious
035about. It's more of a conflict of interest case. I'm not going to go through all of them, but again, you'll have these in your PDF that you can Um the bottom one again, it's one that I think highlights how easy it can be to inadvertently violate the code of ethics because I believe in that case they were trying to clear up something that they thought was confusing on the board agenda, but it had to do with their spouse who was an employee and they contacted the superintendent or the board president and you know, they said that even if the board member believes it to be minor, they should not be contacting the superintendent or the board president in any matter that involves their spouse. So, if you have a relative that's working or that you
036can't hire a relative it's basically you can have a relative that works in the district that may be conflicted in certain areas and that's because an administrator may not exercise direct or indirect authority over their relative. And then if you do have a relative that works in the district, you may not take part in employment matters concerning the superintendent or supervisors in the chain of command between your relative and the superintendent. And then the board member may not take part in a search, selection, or vote to hire a new superintendent or evaluations, post hire contract discussions, and all that. These are examples of the impact on committee assignments when you have a relative that works in the school district. So, the first one was a board president whose child was an instructional assistant. Um they
037could not chair the committee uh or be on any committees that remotely touched upon or directly related to their family members employment, including personnel negotiations, instructional, and finance committee. Uh The board member's spouse works in the technology department and they could not be involved in any and all matters, including service on committees that remotely touch upon or directly related to the spouse's employment, including personnel negotiations or finance committees. Um last one, the board member's domestic partner is a transportation specialist and SEC advisor that we wouldn't not to serve on the transportation committee. So, you can just see all the ways that having relative can conflict conflict you out of certain things. This is a little chart that could be helpful. I don't know where you are with negotiations, but if you are in negotiations, then
038you Okay. Yeah, so there's different rules. So, if you have an immediate family member that works in the district and is part of the union, then you can see on the chart there. You cannot participate in negotiations that would mean being on the negotiations committee itself or vote on the contract. Now, if you have an immediate family member or relative that works outside the district, it may be a bit different. So, if you have a relative, usually if you have a relative or a spouse that works outside the district and is in a union, you typically can't be on the negotiations committee, but you may be able to vote to approve or ratify the contract when it gets up for the MOA. So, there's a different there are different rules depending on the situation. If
039you're a board member that is in the union outside of the district, again, sometimes it's dependent on if you're a teacher and you don't have any heightened union activity, which would mean being a building rep or a leader in the union outside of your school district, you may not be able to be involved or hear about negotiations at all. You may or may not be able to vote um to ratify the contract depending on the case. Ask if this can help you. As far as campaigns and collective uh bargaining. So, board members who receive union endorsements you may be conflicted from collective bargaining if negotiations begin within a year of the election. Um it's not a conflict per se unless a financial contribution is given with the intent to influence and again there are some
040advisory opinions there that you may want to go on and read. Volunteering, we get a lot of questions about volunteering too because usually board members are really really involved in their school and their community and they tend to volunteer for a lot of different organizations and things which is really great. Um you're limited when you're a board member from the ways that you can volunteer in your school building. Now, if you're a parent you can typically do all the things that a typical parent would do. You can shop for a field trip once in a while. You can come in and read. I mean you can come in and read on Read Across America for a day. What the SCC will look at is the frequency and the extent of contact with students and staff.
041So, you have to be really really mindful of not directing staff or directing students because it's beyond your role as a board member. So, you can volunteer you just can't be doing that things in can't be in the building very very frequently. They'll look at how frequently you're in the building, frequently enmeshed in the building. So, you can't again administer schools or be do things that would typically be the role of a staff member. And we always advise that if you are visiting the building as a board member just to give your superintendent a heads up if you are invited in to read or something just let your superintendent know hey I'm coming in to read or I'm coming in to volunteer in this capacity, but I'm here as a volunteer. And then when you
042are in the building volunteering, we do recommend that you make it really clear that you're there as a community member and volunteer not as a board member. And same goes for your parent. You're a parent and you're talking to your child's teacher, you come in for a parent-teacher conference, that's totally fine. Just don't sit down with your child's teacher and say, "I'm a board member." Like Yeah, make sure that the staff is always clear to everybody that you're there as a as a parent or what capacity you're in in the school building. Any questions on volunteering? So then again, whenever you're visiting the school, we do advise that uh you let your superintendent know that you'll be there and refrain from any board discussion or board business and just stay on point with what the
043purpose is of your visit. You want to eliminate the perception that you're trying to run the schools. Social media. That's another big one. So this the school ethics commission will consider the content of your post. You absolutely have freedom of speech as a board member. You do not give up your right to freedom of speech because you're a board of education member, but the school ethics commission will look at the content of your post and whether you can be perceived that you are speaking for the board or posting as a board member. And they will look at that. They'll look at the nexus between post and your role as a board member. Thus, we always caution that you be really, really mindful of what you're posting on social media because your community, they do view
044you and see you as a board member even if you're posting in your personal capacity, you're seen as a board member a lot of times. So it may not be a post that's in your capacity as as a board member. Always be advised of or mindful and uh consider of perceptions. We do recommend a dis- Well, the School Ethics Commission recommends a disclaimer. This is what it says, but the disclaimer is not 100% So, you can put the disclaimer up and post something and there have been cases where someone used a disclaimer and they were found to be in violation of school ethics. So, the disclaimer is the following: "Statements are made in my capacity as a private citizen and not in my capacity as a board member. These statements are also not representative of
045the board or its individual members and solely represent my own personal opinion." There was a case where a member endorsed some board candidates and advocated against a candidate and the disclaimer only indicated that the opinions were his own and did not include people views were not representative of the board. Creating an appearance that the entire board endorsed certain candidates. And when our ASBA attorney was giving ethics presentation at new board member orientation, she was very cautious of be careful if you use we. If you're a board member, you post something and you say we because the we can be the board. And also, be a little bit cynical like nothing's ever really private. When you're posting something, you may think you're posting only to a certain group of people, but anything can be screenshotted now
046and shared far and wide. So, just always be cautious about how your role as a board member intersects with what you're posting on social media. There was an interesting article about this back in January when I was doing a lot of these and I mentioned this article to most of the districts I was doing ethics presentations for, but it was in Spotlight News back in January. But it was an interesting article that had to do with the School Ethics Act and freedom of speech. So, you want the link, I can send it to you, but I'd recommend looking it up. It's interesting. Here are just some social media cases. Again, the bottom one is when a board member uh used "we" to discuss board matters, and the posts were beyond the scope of her duties
047and had the potential to compromise the board, they found. And it had to do with school board elections, again. Um the first one was a board member I believe was talking about books in their classroom. And what they posted was found to be a violation of the School Ethics Act. Both had recommendations of a reprimand. Yeah. So, like Yeah, liking's What from my understanding, liking is fine. What Just simply liking a post or sharing a post would typically not be a violation. It's your statement, you writing something. Now, maybe you can share something and write a whole comment about it. But typically just liking a post or sharing a post wouldn't be a violation. That's my understanding. Again, check with your board attorney. But that's my understanding from our trainings. This is just important information
048to keep in mind. Texting, if you text If you're sitting up there and you're texting, and you might be texting your spouse saying, "Hey, did you let the dog out?" or "Are the kids okay?" "Who won the basketball game, whatever. Somebody could be thinking that you're texting them down there and Oprah requests your texts. So, it's something again to be very, very mindful of when you have your phone out if you have your phone out at your board meeting. I totally understand this. I had little kids in my little board, so I always had my phone out just in case my daughter needed me or something, but you know, now people can file a Oprah request for your texts if they see you actually on your phone texting. So, be careful about that. And again,
049an ethics complaint will need to show a nexus between the action or information sharing and your role as a board member. We always tell you you're your child's advocate first and foremost. So, if you have an issue with your child, you absolutely can still advocate for your child the same way as any other parent can. You can take it through the chain of command, take it up to the board, take it all the way to the DOE if you want to in your parent capacity. You just can't um you just keep it separate from your role as a board member. Um refrain from using your campaign or social media pages for a little bit beyond campaign season right now, but for future, if you have a board member campaign page, which a lot of people
050do now, we do recommend that once you're elected, to stop using it because inevitably people will think you're posting as a board member or on behalf of the So, we recommend that you refrain from using it uh once you're a board member. And then, if you are an administrator of a social media page, like a community page, you could be linked to the content that's posted on that page and so on. Talk about that a little bit. These are all of our resources, the relative shark chart that I gave you, link to the School Ethics Act, some frequently asked questions, advisory opinions, and a link to the School Ethics Commission website, so you can go to all of those websites and read about all sorts of ethical decisions. And again, you can contact us if
051you have any questions. Us, or attorney, everybody. We have an attorney of the day that you can call that can give you legal information. But always feel free to reach out to any of us at NJ SBA. If I have um something that I can't help you with, or I don't know the answer with off the top of my head, there's somebody at our organization will know. So, always feel free to reach out. We're here to help you. We're here to help you. And then, we do really thank you for everything that you do for your students and your district. It really, really does make a difference. People say it's a thankless job, but we always say thank you. We end with a thank you, because more than you More than you know, it is
052so important to the students and your community, and you invest a lot of time and make a lot of really important decisions. So, we are very, very appreciative of what you do and all of your time. Now, any questions about ethics? All right. Well, thank you so much. I hope you have a great meeting. Good luck with your budget. We know it's a difficult budget year this year, but we wish you the best of luck as you try to do the best that you can for your students, and I will see you at the county meeting next week, and I hope to see all of you at the county meeting next week. Um but I hope to see you soon, and feel free to reach out if you need anything. Thank you. >> Mhm. >>
053All right, everybody. Let's get restarted. We are at this point, I believe up to our superintendent's report, Dr. Freeman. Uh the floor is yours. Okay, good evening, everybody, and welcome to our April board meeting. It's good to see everybody out today. Uh at this time, we'll move to our uh student presentations. If I could have Dr. S come on up and introduce our students of the month for Lamont Lamont Annex. She wants to be a teacher. Congratulations, Jaylee. Congratulations to Violet her favorite school subject is math. Her favorite hobbies are playing with dolls with her sister and calling her grandpa. When she grows up, she wants to be a teacher. Congratulations, Violet. And next up from Lafayette, we have Miss Cajas. Good evening. Our first student of the month is Edwin Franco Contreras. Edwin is
054from Mrs. Vargas's class. He has one sister. His favorite school subject is PE. He loves to play with his friends, and when he grows up, he wants to be a police officer. Congratulations, Edwin. Our third grade student of the month is Andrick Vasquez Garcia. Andrick is from Ms. Fitzgerald's class. He has a twin sister, Allison, who's also in third grade uh and two other siblings, Jefferson and Adriel. His favorite school subject is math. His favorite hobby is playing soccer, and when he grow grows up, he also wants to be a police officer. Congratulations, Andrick. Next up for Smalley School, filling in for Ms. Morgan, we have Dr. Heisterman. Good evening. I'm going to announce the students of the month for Smalley first in Spanish and then I also will say it in English. Aaron Mario
055Ricaldi. Um Aaron Dog Man is his favorite favorito. Smalley Um Smalley's fourth grade student of the month is Aaron Mario Ricaldi. Aaron has a brother and a sister. His favorite subject is reading because it's fun. Dog Man is his favorite book. His favorite hobby is to play outside and Aaron wants to be an actor when he grows up. Congratulations. Okay. Um el estudiante del mes de quinto grado de Smalley is Tyler John um Todaro. Tyler. Come on, Tyler. Smalley's fifth grade student of the month is Tyler John Todaro. He has two sisters. His favorite subject is gym because it's nice to get up and move around at school. His favorite hobby is sports, basketball, baseball, soccer, and flag football. He wants to be an engineer or a professional basketball player when he grows up. Congratulations.
056El estudiante del mes de sexto grado de Smalley is Nikolai Vera Medina. Um, su materia favorita es matemáticas porque es bueno en ella. Su pasatiempo favorito es dibujar. Le gusta dibujar a Mickey Mouse porque veía este programa >> Small is sixth grade student of the month is Nikolai Vera Medina. He has a brother and a sister. His favorite subject is math because he is good at it. His favorite hobby is drawing. He likes to draw Mickey Mouse because he watched the show with his cousin. He wants to be a police officer when he grows up to do the right things and to help people. And next up from Community Middle School, we have Dr. Santa Sermond. Hello everyone. Will he's joined me in welcoming Sophia Rosario Rosario, our seventh grade student of the month. Sophia
057was nominated by her teacher Mr. Marcus. Uh Sophia has one sibling. Favorite subjects in school are math and social studies. Uh favorite hobby is playing volleyball. And when Sophia wants to grow up, she wants to become a NASA scientist. >> Please help me welcome our 8th grade student of the month, Kyle Shin Galura. Kyle was nominated by his teacher, Miss Rudd. Uh Kyle's an only child. Favorite subjects are integrated language arts and social studies. Uh he enjoys the outdoors, watching YouTube videos, and playing soccer. When Kyle grows up, wants to become a chef and own his own restaurant. Congratulations, Kyle. See you again. So, congratulations to Quinton Holly. Come stand Quinton. All right, my friends. Let's see. So, Quinton is in Miss Perina and Mrs. Melo Circles class. Quinton's favorite school subject is playing with
058his friends in the dramatic play area. His favorite hobby is watching Godzilla, and when he grows up, he wants to be a truck driver. Congratulations, Quentin. Okay, at this time from our high school, we have Mr. Schmidt who is filling in for Mr. Smith. All right, on behalf of Principal Smith and Boundbrook High School, I'd like to honor Shanette Brown as our ninth grade student of the month. Shanette has four siblings, um, Aliyah, Lynette, Angel, and Michaela. Her favorite subject is math. Her favorite hobbies include reading, which I'm a huge fan of, exercising, singing, and when she grows up, she'd like to become an accountant. Congratulations, Shanette. >> All right. Our 10th grade student of the month is Elijah Bearfield. Elijah has a sister Amani, a brother Taishaan. His favorite subject is biology. He enjoys
059painting and games. And when he grows up, he'd like to become a pro track and field athlete. Congratulations. What event? There it is. There we go. Our 11th grade student of the month is Julian Rodriguez. Julian has siblings CJ and Gabe. His favorite subject in school, English. Great subject. Favorite hobbies include photography, basketball, baseball, and hanging out with friends. Uh when he grows up he wants to be uh make a lot of money with a degree in business. Congratulations. All right, and to round out the honors, our 12th grade student of the month is Manuel Vasquez. This must be Sophia. Uh has a sister Sophia. Uh favorite subjects anatomy. Uh he enjoys playing baseball and playing with his dog. Career plans for the future include to complete and get a degree a degree in athletic
060training and physical therapy. Congratulations, Manuel. Congratulations. >> Okay, at this time I would like to call our district employee of the month to come forward. Mr. Schmidt, would you please make the announcement? All right, when Principal Smith asked me to be here tonight, uh I couldn't say no uh cuz tonight we're honoring a really special member of Boundbrook High School, Ms. Maureen Ryan. So, uh Mr. Smith, Principal Smith had prepared a statement for me to read, but I'd also like to share that when I first got here, uh Ms. Ryan was like one of the most important people I had to get to know. She was involved in almost every aspect of the school uh and creates these incredible opportunities for students uh that really makes history come alive and really connects them with history
061and the community. Uh and she's just part of the fabric of the district. So, uh I'm honored to read this message that Principal Smith had prepared. So, it is my pleasure to recognize Maureen Ryan as our staff member of the month for her outstanding dedication to students, staff, and the Boundbrook school community. As assistant robotics advisor, she has been an invaluable support to the program by taking on numerous responsibilities, assisting students, attending meetings, helping secure sponsorships, and contributing to new initiatives such as promoting bicycle safety within the community. Beyond robotics, she is deeply committed to creating meaningful experiences for students through her work work with the Rho Kappa Honor Society. Most recently organizing the History Happened Here Tour, which brought local history to life through visits to significant Somerset County landmarks. Maureen has consistently uh
062supported school events by volunteering for activities such as drama club, ticket sales, and always finding ways to help students beyond the classroom. In addition, her care for colleagues is evident through her involvement in organizing baby showers and other staff celebrations. Maureen's reliability, initiative, and genuine kindness make her a tremendous asset to Bound Brook High School and truly deserving of this recognition. It is for these reasons and many others that Miss Miss Maureen Ryan is being selected as BBHS Staff Member of the Month. Congratulations, Maureen. Another round of applause for Miss Ryan. And one more round of applause for all of our students of the month. And last but not least, students of the month don't become student of the month without their parents. Let's have a round of applause for all of our parents. Okay,
063at this time I would like to call up all students of the month and their families to take a group picture on the front of the stage. >> Gas station sushi is the best. Nothing better. Hopefully, you better work on that. >> All right, everybody. Why don't we go ahead and move on to agenda item number 2.3, which is the adoption of the 2026-2027 final budget. I will turn the floor over to Ms. Lee to take us through. Thank you, Mr. President. Um as we move from our previously approved tentative budget to final budget adoption tonight for the school year 2026-2027, I would like to highlight there's some key points and the summary for this budget. This budget continues to reflect alignment with the district's mission and strategic goals. Our focus remains on providing a
064high-quality, equitable education experience for all students while maintaining fiscal responsibility to our community. One of the major highlights this year is the increase in state aid, whose rose which rose by 7.3% to approximately $42.6 million. This additional funding support programs expect program expansion and helps offset the impact on local taxpayers. The 73% of this budget is dedicated to instruction, staffing, curriculum, and professional development, reinforcing that majority of our resources directly support teaching and learning. As Ms. Griffin presented during the last tentative budget presentation, some key investments include the implementation of the new K-6 mathematics and middle school science programs, expanded AP course offerings, and ongoing professional development. Turning to the tax levy now, the proposed levy is a $16.13 million. This was developed with the allowable adjustments applied. Most notably, a $1.33 million healthcare cost
065adjustment due to rising insurance expenses. To minimize the impact on taxpayers, the district utilized available fund balance to offset expenditures and apply the bank cap from prior years to provide a flexibility in addressing current needs. Along with increased state aid, these measures helped to reduce reliance on local taxation. As a result, the estimated impact on the average homeowner is approximately $39 per year, reflecting a fiscally responsible and strategic approach. Since the tentative budget, there was one change, um which was higher than anticipated carryover of $919,802 uh 919,802 in PA grant. These additional funds will be strategically utilized to expand and strengthen our preschool program, including supporting additional staffing, enhancing classroom resources, and extending learning opportunities. As the board and administration concur that this budget constitutes a comprehensive and that comprehensive budget and that it uh
066pro uh prioritizes the investment in our students, reinforces the equality and sustainability of our programs and upholds fiscal responsibility while remaining attentive to the interest of our community. We respectfully presented for approval and adoption as the final budget. Before concluding, I would like to extend my appreciation appreciation to the board for their guidance, support, and commitment throughout this process. I also want to recognize our administrative team for their collaboration and dedication to meeting the needs of our students and staff. Finally, I want to thank our community for their continued support and partnership which plays a vital role in the success of our schools. Thank you. Um and then now I'm going to read the resolution. After I read the resolution, I need a motion and a second. Be resolved that the Bamberg Board of Education,
067upper recommendation of the superintendent, accepts the 2026-27 final general fund budget be adopted in the amount of 66 million 822,710 dollars and a final general fund local tax levy in the amount of 60 million 128,208 dollars and a final special revenue fund in the amount of 5 million 129,444 dollars and a final debt service budget in the amount of 1 million 642,663 dollars and a final debt service local tax levy in the amount of 736, 568 dollars whereby the final 2026-27 budget totals 73 million dollars 73 million And whereas the Bamber Board of Education has been notified of a state aid amounts and whereas such a state aid amounts are for 2026-27 equalization aid is $34,861,165 and for 2026-27 the school choice aid is $110, $546 and for 2026-27 the categorical special education aid is
068$3,179,955 and for 2026-27 the categorical security aid is $904,627 and for 2026-27 the categorical transportation aid is $187,069 and for 2026-27 the preschool education aid is $2,425,220 and for 2026-27 the debt service aid is $875,492 and whereas the Bamber Board of Education has estimated of state aid amount pursuant to application and for 2026-27 the estimated extraordinary aid amount is $180,000 $ and whereas the Bamber Board of Education recognizes school staff and board members will incur travel expenses related to and within the scope of their common responsibilities and for travel that promotes the delivery of instruction or furthers the efficient operation of the school district. And whereas NJAC 6A colon 23A-3.3 Um, stated requires board uh board members to receive approval of these expenses by a majority of the full boarding membership of the board, and
069staff members to receive prior approval of these expenses by the superintendent of the schools and majority of the full boarding membership of the board. And whereas the Pompton Board of Education established the $57,500 as the maximum travel amount for the current school year and has expended $16,594 as of this date. Yeah. Now, therefore, be resolved the Board of Education approves the travel and related expense reimbursements in accordance with N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-7.3 to maximum expenditure of $57,500 for the 2026-27 school year. Be further resolved that the school business administrator shall track and record these costs to ensure that maximum amount is not exceeded. And whereas that the Board of Education includes in the final budget the adjustment for increased cost of health benefits in the amount of $1,335,344. The additional funds will be used to pay for
070the additional increases in health benefit premiums. Whereas that the Board of Education includes in the tentative budget the adjustment for the bank cap on the amount of $6,263,084 in accordance in accordance with N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-10.3B, the district has fully exhausted all eligible statutory spending authority. The adjustment will be used for the tuition paid for Vo-Tech programs. The Board of Education will complete this by June 30, 2027 and acknowledges that it cannot be deferred or incrementally completed over a longer period of the time. Whereas the the Bamberg Board of Education approved the tentative 2026-2027 school district budget on March 23, 2026. And whereas the Bamberg Board of Education received approval from the Somerset County Executive Superintendent of Schools to advertise the 2026-2027 school district budget on April 22nd, 2026. And whereas pursuant to PL 2020 2020 C11,
071the Bamberg Board of Education held a public hearing on the proposed 2026-2027 school district budget on April 29, 2026. And whereas uh board members and the community were provided the opportunity during the public hearing to ask questions or raise concerns regarding the 2026-2027 proposed school district budget. Now, therefore, be resolved that the Bamberg Board of Education hereby adopts 2026-2027 school district budget and authorize the superintendent and school business administrator to complete and forward statement eight of the budget statement certification to the Somerset Executive Superintendent of Schools, which certifies that the 2026-2027 adopted budget remains unchanged from the original budget approved for advertising. Now, therefore, let it be resolved that the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary file the required documents with the executive county superintendent. So, can I have a motion? Motion.
072I don't get to make the motion. I never get to make the motion. Second, please. Second. I think it's second. I'll go Mr. Dawson. Okay, now we open the floor for the public hearing. So, any any one from the public, um they can ask questions or if there's any comments. Okay, now we see. Now we are on proposal for the discussion with the board. I would like to thank you and your team in the business office and all of the school staff involved in preparing the thorough and comprehensive budget. Nicely done. Thank you. We are now um We are now to vote for the final budget. So, I'm going to do roll call. Mr. Ball? Mr. Dawson? Ms. Casino? Yes. Ms. High? Yes. Mr. Incalcaterra? Mr. Genovese? Yes. Mr. Menas? Mr. Mosin? Mr. Volmar? Motion
073passes. Great. Congratulations. All right, well done. Thank you, Ms. Lee. That brings us up to item number three, our student board member report. Mr. Mosin, the floor is yours. Okay, so it is approaching the end of the year, so I have quite a long report, but I'll try to go through it quickly. So, just bear with me a little bit, okay? So, for sports news, starting off strong, our softball team has had a very good season so far. The record is six and six, and some highlights include their nine to two win against Union High School, their three to one win against Somerville, and at that um match, Isabella Morisiac hit a two-run home run. And Isabella Murriziac is also nominated for New Jersey's top softball senior pitchers. So, you can go vote for her
074on nj.com. Moving on, our baseball team has had some highlights this year including their win against Belvidere last Thursday, April 23rd. Their next game is tomorrow, April 30th against Delaware Valley High School. Our boys volleyball team has had a good season so far with some highlights being their two to zero win against Timothy Christian High School and their two to one win against College Achieve Central. Some standout players include Carlos Hurtado who surpassed 100 career kills and Jamir Connor who has surpassed 50 service points just this season. So, congratulations to them. Moving on to our track team, our track team has also had a successful season so far. Their most recent meet was yesterday. It was County Champs and they had many standout athletes including Dawson Jean-Baptiste who placed first for triple jump and Dylan
075Jean-Baptiste who placed first for long jump. Jake Markey also placed second in pole vault. So, congratulations to them. Our unified track team has been developed a lot since last year. So, for those of you who don't know what that is, it is basically people from the track team mixed with our STARS program. So, we had our first ever home unified meet. So, that took place April 22nd and we went against Parsippany Hills unified track team. And it was very successful, lots of fun, lots of smiling and yeah. Our next and last unified track meet will also be here in Bound Brook, May 14th against Hillsborough. Moving on, two Bound Brook athletes, including me, Harrison Masson and Allison Cespedes were honored at a luncheon banquet this Monday as a Skyland Conference scholar athletes for maintaining high
076GPAs and being varsity athletes. Similarly, today two more Bound Brook athletes, Dawson Jean-Baptiste and Rachel Grzywaczewski will be honored at a dinner banquet for this year's Boundbrook Somerset County Scholar Athlete. This includes a plaque and a scholarship award, so congratulations to them. Finally, the Boundbrook boys tennis team has competed in many matches since the start of their season with some highlights being their win 3 to 2 against Warren Hills April 21st. And some standout athletes include senior Diego Reyes who won four first single matches so far since the start of his season, so congratulations to him. Moving on to school news, so first we have Smalley. So, Smalley Elementary School hosted a TikTok night where lots of students came to party, have fun, and listen to fun music and dance. They also had their first
077ever play, The Wizard of Oz. They did three performances during the day for students to see and one at night for all their families to come watch. It was very well attended and the kids did a very great job after four months of rehearsal. Smalley's also having a family STEAM night this Thursday, April 30th, where families will come and complete a STEAM challenge together. Moving on to the high school, Boundbrook robotics has been very active in the community outreach and activities. So, some of their recent activities include participating in the BAE Systems Bring Your Child to Work Day. Um so, students um participated through modeling with Legos, programming Spike robots, and building paper airplanes. They also showcased their innovative robots at the Warren County Tech Showcase April 27th. And today, they participated at STEM Education
078Day with um the Somerset Patriots. So, they've been very successful this season. Um moving on, so the graduating class of 2026 continues to be accepted and committing to universities. Um this includes Northeastern University, Rutgers, Moravian, Fairleigh Dickinson, Boston University, Rowan, Caldwell, Ohio State, and many, many more. Moving on, the student council, in celebration of spring, is hosting a spring spirit week. This um is actually this week. It'll take place April 27th to May 1st. May 1st is commitment day, so seniors will dress in college and workforce related attire. And tomorrow is the spring pep rally, where students will come together to celebrate the warm weather, spring sports, and overall share school spirit. Moving on, the um annual prom will take place May 21st at the Park Villa in South Plainfield. There was over 150 juniors
079and seniors going, and ticket sales have now concluded. Next week is the start of AP testing. It'll start May 4th, and it will conclude May 15th. So, good luck to everyone. Moving on, March 27th, about la- last month, our BBHS Performing Arts had their annual spring show, and they performed Little Shop of Horrors. Rho Kappa, our social study honor society, joined the class of 2029 history classes on a trip into Philadelphia. They visited the National Constitution Center and enjoyed lots of Philly cheesesteaks. Then, our Spanish honor society also had a field trip this Monday. They visited New York City, and they saw the American Museum of Natural History. Um and yeah, that's it. That's enough. Well done. Clearly a lot going on. Always great to hear the updates. Thank you very much, Harrison. Any questions
080for Mr. Musick? All right. Hearing none, we are up to our committee reports. First up is education committee, Mr. Dawson, the floor is yours. Okay. Uh we had a great uh education committee uh meeting earlier this month. Uh three main topics of our committee were looking at the high school science curriculum. We had a wonderful um presentation from one of our teachers, a very enthusiastic teacher about a program called Physics First, and generally the idea is that the freshman students would have physics as their first high school science class. Physics is a good foundational course to understand the other sciences, and it also pairs really well with algebra, which most of our ninth graders are taking at the first level. There's wonderful opportunities for collaboration and learning between those two disciplines. We were all excited
081about the idea and the potential that it has for getting kids really excited about science. We also heard from our technology team. The district has done a lot of work in researching how we can leverage the use of AI in education. What was impressive about these ideas was that they were really collaborative in nature. The district's technology leadership has done a lot of work with our teaching staff to gauge their comfort level with using AI and design a really differentiated approach to how we can design professional learning around that, what resources our staff and our students might benefit from. So, we're all very excited about the things that are coming out in the next few months in the upcoming school year that will deepen our knowledge of that. We also heard great news about our
082preschool program and the addition of some additional dual language sections. We're excited about the work that has been taking place in the dual language and the preschool program. Information just came out. This is my spokesmodel version. This evening about parents who can learn more information about the programming at the preschool level and some upcoming sessions. If you have a preschool age child, we would encourage you to attend and learn about all of the wonderful programming that is available at the preschool level. So, very exciting meeting. We left really encouraged and excited about all the work that's happening within the district. Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Dawson. Any questions or comments regarding education? All right. Hearing none, we are up to governance. Mr. Bell is not with us tonight, but Mrs. High has generously offered to give
083us a report. This is going to be very quick. We had very We had one item on the agenda, and that was dealing with the cell phone policy and usage in the in the schools. We're It's on hold until we receive a little bit further information from the state. Um and it's just we're looking at use of instructional non-instructional areas. So, that's something that we'll fill you in as soon as we get filled in. Thank you, Mrs. High. Any questions regarding governance? All right. Hearing none, we're going to stay with Mrs. High for human resources. Okay. Um as always, we started off with the personnel just as status updates. And right now, we're looking at filling six positions and are in the process of interviewing. Um and it's you know, for teachers, maintenance, ESL coaches,
084pre-K TAs, etc. Um we also looked at the updating of two two job descriptions. One was a central office secretary who actually started last week. Um the previous uh policy or excuse me, the previous job description was outdated, and so it was recently updated just to um really encompass everything that this you know this position entail entails. We also updated the student information specialist {slash} data support policy. Um just so that people know who to report to where you know just with uh student information Genesis the state reporting just so that it is very well defined within that person's role. And the last thing that we discussed was the FMLA updates. Um this is something that uh will be implemented in July of 2026. Um we just went over the what the current law was
085with um illnesses, taking care of family, etc. etc. and the time limits required on that. And that's all that I have. Very good. Any question for Mrs. High on human resources? We're going to stay with Mrs. High, the queen of the committees, for operations in place of Mr. Supka. All right. Um so we had a a very interesting um presentation and it was on the uh insurance costs and this is something that is on the on the agenda tonight. It was Integrity Consulting Group presentation and it was very informative. It was um we had a lot of questions and as you know the cost of insurance has gone up quite a bit but this was a way that we could keep it within within reason. It was very very uh it was it was very
086high quality presentation. We also uh one of the things we discussed, which which is also on the agenda and discussed in the budget, there was a it's called the P carryover, which is the preschool, and that was $900,000 more that we carried that we carried over. It's going to go with new playground equipment, upgrading some things that um Miss Miss Lee has already explained to us. And actually, those were those were the only two items during this operations meeting. So, that is that. Questions for Mrs. Hein on operations. Thank you very much for carrying the banner, Sue. All right. We need to have no report for Somerset County Educational Services Commission this meeting, so we will move to item 4.6, South Bound Brook report, Mr. Incalacaterra. On March 30th, the school district and the uh
087Sorry, police. Uh accepted the donation from the At Ease Foundation, uh director Pasquale Grillo, uh the donation of a Jersey Tactical Emergency Preparedness Locker and supplies for entry and first aid. And then that was about it. All right. Any questions for Mr. Incalacaterra? Any final comments or questions regarding the committee? All right. Hearing none, good work. And we will move on to item 5.1. In accordance with district policy 0167, public participation in board meetings, members of the public are required to sign in either at the podium, providing their name, address, and group affiliation, if applicable. When addressing the board, please state your name and address and limit comments to agenda items only at this time directed to the presiding officer. Each participant is allowed to speak 3 to 5 minutes. No individual may address the
088same topic more than once until all others wishing to speak have had an opportunity to do so. Any comments from the public regarding agenda items only. I know you're waiting very patiently. Give us 5 minutes. I promise we'll get through the rest. All right. On to item 6.1, be it resolved that the Bound Brook Board of Education, upon recommendation of the superintendent, approves the minutes for the following Board of Education meetings. This is regular and executive session for March 23rd, 2026. May I have a motion? Thank you, Mr. Incalcaterra. A second. Thank you, Mrs. High. Any discussion? Okay, hearing none, can we have a roll call, please, Ms. Lee? Ms. Guzino. Yeah. Ms. High. Yes. Ms. Uh Mr. Incalcaterra. Mr. Janosek. >> Yes. Mr. Minhas. Ms. Molson. Mr. Volmer. Motion passes. Thank you. Item 7.1,
089be it resolved that the superintendent recommends for approval the resolutions as outlined in district personnel resolutions. This is a big one. It is 7.2 through 7.50. May I have a motion? I'm going to go with Mrs. Guzino for the motion and Mrs. High for the second. We are open for discussion. All right, hearing none, can we have a roll call, please? Mr. Dawson. Ms. Bezena. Yes. Ms. I. Yes. Mr. Incalcaterra. Mr. Genovese. Yes. Mr. Menendez. Ms. Musson. Mr. Balmer. Motion passes. Thank you. Item 8.1, be it resolved that the Bound Brook Board of Education approves the resolutions as outlined in district education resolutions. These are items 8.2 through 8.18. Have a motion? Thank you, Mr. Dawson. A second? Thank you, Mr. Incalcaterra. Discussion? Hearing none, can we have a roll call, please? Mr. Dawson. Yes.
090Ms. Bezena. Yes. Ms. I. Yes. Mr. Incalcaterra. Mr. Genovese. Yes. Mr. Menendez. Ms. Musson. Mr. Balmer. Motion passes. Thank you. Item 9.1. Ooh. I'm on the right page. There it is. Be it resolved that the Bound Brook Board of Education approves the resolutions as outlined in board action resolutions. These are items 9.2 through 9.35. Have a motion? Thank you, Mr. Dawson. A second? Thank you, Ms. Musson. Any discussion? Here, here. Me, too. I I'm just very appreciative of all the work that goes into grants. You know, just applying for them, it's very it's it's quite a process. So, just to see, you know, just the amount that has come to us from those grants. So, thank you for doing that. Also, thank you, Mrs. Hyatt. Any other comments or questions? Hearing none, Ms. Lee, roll
091call, please. Mr. Dawson. Ms. Bezino. Ms. Hyatt. Ms. Deniccotera. Mr. Genovese. Yes. Mr. Menendez. Ms. Mosson. Mr. Balmer. Motion passes. Thank you. Uh I'm not aware of any other matters that have been submitted to come before the board. So, we are up to new business from any board members who would like to open a discussion on items that have been on that new business. Go ahead, Ms. Hyatt. You know, I'm not sure where this goes, but we were talking about we have the um upcoming Memorial Day parade that is coming. And if you look, the banner looks great. You know, that was, you know, the thank you so much, Ms. Winters, for just getting that done for us. Um but, you know, thanks to to the schools because we have football team, cheerleaders, um the
092drama club, the I know I'm forgetting some, the uh there's going to be music you musicians coming also with the drama club. But, there are a lot of different groups, baseball, a lot of kids from the district who are going to be involved in that. It's just very, very nice to see. And, you know, that's something that we as a board are always so in tune with, just connecting with community. So, this is a wonderful way to do it. Agreed. Any other matters for new business? Okay. At this time, we are open to the public for discussion. Would you like to come on down? It's okay. We don't get guests very often, so it's very exciting for us. Hi. What was the name that you were looking for again? My name is Josephine Lacey, PTO
093President. And I just wanted to come by and thank you for everything that you guys have been doing. It's amazing to see, you know, the Board of Education working together in goal of getting, you know, the school district working well. So, it's very nice. We appreciate you guys. The parents appreciate you. And I just wanted to extend the invitation. I know we have Memorial Day parade coming up. The PTO will be there. But, we also will have our end of year bash on June 19th. So, it would be really nice to see the board there. It has become a bit of a large event. We are going to have a very special section dedicated to Charlie. And we It's open to the community. We have involved the borough as well, fire department, and police department.
094So, it would be really nice to see you guys there. I just wanted to extend the invitation. There you go. Yeah, thanks for coming out. All right. We are up to item 13.1. Be it resolved that the Bound Brook Board of Education enter executive session as allowed by NJSA 10 colon 4-11 for the purposes noted in the agenda under items 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8. Full agenda tonight. May I have a motion? Thank you, Mr. Dawson. A second, Ms. Cozzolino? There you go. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are adjourned to executive. >> Mhm. >> All right, everybody. We are back in session. Item 14.1. We have tonight No, we don't have tonight. Am I mistaken or there's no 14.2? So, Ms. Lee, we're skipping 14? Um, yes. Very good. So, it's actually
095item 15.1 that we are up to. Which is Just be it resolved the Board of Education approves the resolutions as outlined in approval of HIB cases on the middle and and elementary schools. Just item 15.2. A motion, please. Thank you, Mr. Incalcaterra. A second. Thank you, Mr. Dawson. A roll call. Mr. Dawson. Mr. Ms. Cazzino. Yes. Mr. Hay. Mr. Incalcaterra. Mr. Januzzi. Yes. Mr. Minhas. Ms. Morrison. Mr. Volmar. Motion passes. Thank you. That leaves us just with item 16.1. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Thank you, Mr. In Calcatara. Second. Thank you, Mr. Dawson. All in favor? I. We are adjourned.