Board Meeting 8-20-2025

001Okay, Mike, you tell me when you're ready. We're good. >> All right, guys. We're going to just get started. I'm going to do open public meeting, pledge of allegiance, roll call, and then we're going to get right to Mary and have her start us on our goals. Okay. So, New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the 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 0162, the board of education of the bureau of bound has caused notice of this meeting to be posted in the board office at a Bound Brook High School and mailed or faxed to the

002Courier News Bound Brook Clerk, Southbrook Board of Education, and any person who has requested individual notice and paid the required fee. 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. >> Can we do a roll call, please? here. >> Thank you very much. At this time, I'd like to invite our rep from NJSBA, Maryanne Freriedman, to help us set some goals. [Music] Okay, good evening everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for inviting me in. Um in your packet you have a um you have your board self-ealuation on the left hand side along with then the quick PowerPoint that we're going to go through

003for the um the board self-evaluation and the charts and so I'm going to go over those. What did I do with the clicker? So the board self-evaluation, this is a new one this year and I'm sure you've noticed that. And so um it had some new um standards and some new pieces to it. So your board goals for last year were to provide the support and resources necessary to achieve the district's strategic plan goals. Support the exploration expansion of new course offerings and extracurricular activities. Support the administration in recruiting and retaining a staff that reflects our community. And then the board of education will strengthen communication with families and community members by forming an ad hoc committee. So those were your board goals for last year. Within the board goals, you obviously had some some

004strengths and the highest number the highest average that you had. By the way, we're not going to have averages anymore because they really don't necessarily mean anything for your board goals. Okay? it was put in there and I met with our IT department yesterday and I said can we please drop those because generally when the board looks at averages in anything else it's based on a zero to four this is based on a zero to three and that's a little bit different to you know to process so but your strength was in providing and supporting resources necessary to achieve the district strategic plan goals actually all three the top the first three were all strengths the one that you voted yourselves lower on in getting to um actually put together was the um communication strengthen

005communication with families and community members by forming an ad hoc committee. So that's something that we would say is an opportunity for growth and it may be something that you want to continue for this year and work on that a little bit more. Okay, as a board goal. So yellow is the low, green is the high and blue was the average. So when we look at the board scores in terms of the standards, your vision, mission, and goals were 3.63. Now we consider anything in the regular standards, not the board goals, but anything in the regular in the standards that's a 3.0 or above to be a board that's working effectively together. Okay? And you can see you have all threes plus. So your your lowest was policy 3.28. It's hard to say that's low

006because you're still above a 3.0. Okay. So, there are things that you when you go through the actual evaluation that's on the lefth hand side, which you'll be able to do at another point in time. We don't have time to go through the whole thing today. And I do want you to look at the comments because I think that they're really valuable to look at. You'll be able to see what particularly was a strength in vision, mission, goals, what particularly was a strength in policy, what may have fallen a little below the 3.28. 28. The accountability for student achievement was 3.38. Governance team relationships and accountability 3.68. The highest was resource management and oversight which is great. And community leadership was 3.54. And then your overall average in the standards was a 3.54. Also next

007year because we're just had because this is a brand new tool. We've revised this and everything is different in it. So I met with the IT department yesterday and I said everything that we do is with one decimal is is with one decimal point. Can we please change that? That was changed this morning. If I had had my brothers and I wasn't bombarded this morning, I would have reprinted all of these for you so you could have seen what this would look like with just one um one decimal point, but didn't have that opportunity. So, as an individual board member there, all of these were above a 3.0, which is great. Your average over all of them was 3.68. That's really wonderful. Am I in your way? Okay. So, the next thing that we consider

008are standouts or opportunities for growth. So, in policy, the one thing that I think brought that down a little bit was encourages the development of regulations to guide policy um implementation. So, as you know, and you pointed out in your evaluation, the superintendent develops the regulations and then implements those. So, I don't know if that would is something most of you did talk about that, but if that's the case, then that really should be above a three. So, just pointing that out. Okay. In terms of the board goals, there was um something that had to do with the strengthening communication. That was a 1.78. Again, you're not going to see these averages next year, but you would see that seven people, I think it was seven people felt that it was that satisfactory progress was

009being made and two people felt that little progress was made. So, that's something that you may want to continue for next year. And then as individual members um contributions to the team, reviewing the financial reports and ensuring funds are used in efficient and effective manner. That's a 3.2, two, which is still above the three, but it's something that you may want to do. There were a couple of comments about board members really understanding the financial reports because they're very cumbersome and they are. So, that's something that and I was going to say because I didn't know that Mr. Gorski had retired. I was going to say that's something that Mr. Gorski can actually review with you and you could also have in the interim while we're getting you a new field service rep I would

010be happy to come in and work with your new business administrator to develop a program that we both could you know could co-f facilitate that would help you to understand those financial reports better and for me to be able to talk about the board's actual role in the finances. So that's something that we could do together if you would like to and if the board would like. Okay. So what can the board So what what you want to think about in terms of board goals is what can our board do to be more effective in our areas of responsibility? Should any of last year's goals be continued or any part of them be continued? What do we do we need to do anything with policy development or with policy revision? Um is our governance structure

011working well for us? Seemed to be from your board self-evaluation. um communications that was one of the things that you had in the self in the um board goals also that was a little bit lower. Um what are our strengths? What do we do well? What do we need to improve on? And what professional development would assist us in meeting those responsibilities that we have? So these are some examples of board goals. Complete the superintendent's eval within the statutory timeline. Review our bylaws to review and revise to ensure they reflect our current practices. explore ways for the board to improve communication to and from the community and about the district. So, that's something that you may want to incorporate into board goals and then become more effective advocates for public education through PD on advocacy.

012And so now I'm I'm going to thank you for everything you do for your board, for your students, your staff, and your community. And now I'm going to ask if we flip to the other PowerPoint because on the other side, did you um to the other um PowerPoint that's goal setting? Did you want me to go through district goals or is that something that you're going to work with Dr. Freeman about? Because I I spoke to him yesterday about bringing some ideas forth about the development of district goals that then could be a starting point for conversation. So, I don't know if you want to do that or just go to board goals since we have limited time. >> Okay. Okay. So, you're probably very familiar with this because you do this every year. Why

013do we set goals? Because we want to have a course of action over the upcoming year. We want to identify those focal points that need laser-like focus by the superintendent and by the board. So, I always, as I said to Dr. Freeman yesterday, I always talk to the superintendent and ask them to bring forth ideas that they have for what the board, what the district needs to be focused on in the upcoming year because that's the person you've hired. to make those decisions. And then it's a conversation because we do want it to be collaborative. So it's not just the superintendent. I never want it to be that the superintendent is bringing in district goals and saying, "Here, these are our district goals." I want the board and the superintendent to collaborate on those and

014to agree on them because you need to know what you're going to evaluate the superintendent on in the spring and he needs to know what you're going to evaluate him on in the spring. And as you know, the district goals are part of the evaluation process and that's in statute and code that that has to be in there. Okay. And then you know what kinds of things are we doing to address learning gaps? These are some of the things that that we talk about what we've learned about culture and climate, mental health issues for our students and staff and mental health needs, the need for communication and transparency. when you can have that transparency. There are times that you can't be transparent about all of the things that you're doing because they're not fully vetted

015yet or they have their personnel issues or whatever. Um, recruiting and retaining highly qualified staff. That was one of your your goals for last year. What is our what is our funding impact on our planning and on our student achievement and on our our curriculum and instruction? and then what is our parental commitment to the education of their students. We did find out a lot about those most of these things during co. So it was one of the outcomes I think that we benefited from because we learned about these when we hadn't necessarily thought all about them in the past. So it really is a stairstep model of responsibility. And in your packet, you also have all of your strategic planning goals um in there behind this PowerPoint. So, your strategic planning goals really are

016at the base of everything that you do. And those goals and goal statements and objectives are all in there on the right hand side behind this PowerPoint. And then that informs your district goals and your board of education goals. So when you have a strategic plan, your district goals are pretty easy because they're generally going to flow from that strategic plan. Then it informs your board of education goals, your administrators goals, department goals, building goals, teacher and classroom goals, and all of that leads to improved student achievement for all of your students. Okay. District goals have to do with program and instruction, staffing, professional development, facilities finance, often community engagement, things like that. Everyone owns the district goals once they're developed, but it's the superintendent's responsibility to get the work of the stu of the

017district goals accomplished. So to get those goals achieved or as close as they can be to achieving. Then after you develop those district goals, the superintendent and the administrative team will put together the action plans. And the action plans are the how. So the district goals and are what the board wants to see in the upcoming year. And the action plans are the how. The how is where you find the smart part of the goal most of the time. Okay? In business, it's a little bit opposite of that. But in education, so those of you who come from the business world are often saying, well, you know, we need an educa, we need a goal, but it has to have all kinds of data in there and timelines and everything else. That's what the action

018plans do. And that's how the superintendent lets you know how he's going to accomplish that goal. I just want to make sure that everybody has one. Hi. No problem. Hi. You're welcome. So, the superintendent determines with the with the administrative team how he's going to accomplish those goals. There'll be major activities that will be listed. Then, it will be who's responsible for them, what are the resources that we need to accomplish those, what are the timelines for those individual activities, and what is our evidence that this goal that this activity has been accomplished. Okay? And those are all part of the action plans. The board then is responsible for board goals and you can collaborate with these with the superintendent too talking about how our governance structure is. Is it working well for us? What

019are our processes? Are they effective processes that we have in place and procedures and then the board can work on the action plans for those. Okay, the action plans are not rocket science and it's not brain surgery. It's just pointing out a couple of different items that you would like to see happen within a board goal that will lead you to accomplishing that goal. Okay? And I'm going to send you a sample tomorrow of those um action plans and h and what an action plan can look like so you can see that and the board is is really responsible for developing those action plans. So this is that cycle and we're in the June to August. We're setting goals. Action plans are developed by the soup and the administrative team. And then you're going to

020look at those results of the key actions that are in the action plans, those major activities. You'll evaluate the progress of those. Establish periodic updates. We like I like November, January, March, and June. November is a good time to do it because it's the first one, and you usually have some people coming to your meetings in the November time frame. and you want to see what was supposed to be accomplished by say November 15th. Has it been accomplished? If not, when can we expect it to be accomplished? January is a great time to do it because if you have new board members, it's good for them to see what your goals are, what you've accomplished thus far, and what's coming up. March is really imperative because that's when you're getting ready to sit down and

021do the superintendent's evaluation. So, you want the superintendent to be able to provide you with a much more comprehensive update at that point in time so that he knows that you know where he is in terms of all of those district goals. And when you sit down to do the evaluation after he's dropped in the district goals and whether he feels he's accomplished those, whether it's satisfactory progress or little or no progress and puts his comments in, you're not shaking your head saying, "I don't remember when we talked about the district goals last." because you will have that will be the third time you're speaking about them at the at least and then June to wrap up the year. How did we do with everything? Is there anything we need to carry over? Is there

022anything that we need to to continue to look at? So, and then by July 1st, you will have completed the evaluation of the superintendent's evaluation and have that all in the as a wrap, so to speak. So, we set goals for all of these reasons. I think you know all of that. Whoa, [Laughter] that was a little too fast. I think you know all of this because you're doing this on an annual basis. I know you've done them with Gwen. I know you did them last year with Patty. So, these are all things that that you know about. It helps you implement programs. It helps you stay accountable to yourselves. It helps hold the superintendent account. You hold the superintendent accountable to you. and it helps you hold yourselves accountable to yourselves with the board

023goals as well. Okay, so we know that effective school boards define clear goals and have high expectations and shared beliefs about what all students should be able to achieve. Okay, and what's possible for them? So again, what should our focus be? Most dramatically accelerate student learning. All of these different things. And those are things that if we have some time, we'll talk about the district goals, but I'm going to go right to the board goals. Okay? So, just to refresh memories, sometimes the mission and vision gets a little fuzzy. The vision focuses on tomorrow and it provides you with that destination. The mission explains how you're going to get there. Okay. So your mission statement, the Bound Brook public schools is supportive multi is a supportive multicultural community that provides an innovative and academically challenging

024educational program while offering a variety of extracurricular and social opportunities that encourage lifelong learning and citizenship. This is your mission statement. The vision of the Bound Brook public schools um is to provide a comprehensive educational program that will do all of those things. That's what you want accomplished. Your mission helps you to get there. Okay. So, the strategic planning goals that you had were student experience, facilities and finance, communications, community outreach and engagement, and recruit and retain staff that reflect our diverse community. And like I said, in your packet, you have a a more detailed listing of what all of those um what the goal statements were and what all of the objectives were. And then we usually talk about last year's goals. We don't ever want to have more than five. Okay? Because when

025you have more than five, so that's what the action plans will look like for district goals and for board goals. You'll have the activities, who's responsible, what are the resources, what are the timelines, and what are the indicators of success. So when I first came to the association or we had a new superintendent and I had to come off the board because I took the position at New Jersey school boards and so she called me when I was on my way into Trenton. I was using a Bluetooth, nothing illegal. And she said, "So we did our goal setting last night." And I said, "Oh, did you have Kathy come out and do that?" Kathy was the field service rep. She said, "No, the board president decided that he wanted to facilitate the goal setting." Knowing

026who that person was, I said, "So, how'd that work out for you?" And she said, "I now have 36 goals." So, I jokingly say as I backed my car out of the tree, I did not plow into a tree. I said, "You can't have 36 goals. If you have 36, you can't focus on any any one particular things. And you have to run the district on a day-to-day basis also. So I said, she said, "What should I do?" I said, "Take a look and see, try and look at four different buckets and see what you can find are similar into those four buckets." She called and I said, "And then develop an overarching goal statement." She called me back the next week and she said, "I did what you said. I now have four district

027goals. I have a bunch of objectives, but I have four district goals and I can work with that and I'm happy and the board is happy." And I said, "Okay, that's perfect." Because when you have that many, you really can't focus on any one individual thing, much less operate the district on a day-to-day basis. And you have a fairly good-sized district. So, what can our board do to be more effective in terms of policy, in terms of your governance, ensuring comprehensive curriculum and instruction and instruction, communications, enhancing your governance skills and performance, professional development for the board. Okay. We often forget about ourselves when we're talking about professional development. And what can we do to support administration to achieve the district goals as well? You had in your goals for last year to provide the

028the support and resources necessary to achieve the district's strategic planning goals. That's awesome. You could technically continue that goal forever. Okay. Then you had support the exploration and expansion of new course offerings and extracurriculars. Support the administration and recruiting and retaining a staff that reflects our community. That's huge also. That could also be a forever type of a goal. And then the board of education, oh dear, will strengthen communication with families and community members by forming an ad hoc committee. So those were all goals from last year. Is there anything from last year that you would like to continue in this upcoming year? recording. Um, and then one comment platforming off Maryanne's which is number one I think is great and it gets us tied back to the strategic plan goals. Reading the strategic plan

029goals, it seems like what we did was for two, three, and four, we picked out things within each of those groups that we thought were the most important and raised the profile. The only critique that I have of what we agreed on for last year was I think we were a little bit too prescriptive for number four. So saying that we're going to form an ad hoc really is a specific action. It's not really about an outcome. And I would like to see us be, you know, a little bit better in terms of how we how we aim to engage the community or address their needs because that could take a variety of different forms. And in this one, we kind of locked ourselves into one very specific avenue. Um, but otherwise I think that

030the format kind of works and is repurposable. Um, it probably would just be good to spend a few minutes looking at where we should be in the strategic plan in year three. I think we're going into now to see exactly how we might want to frame some of those things. So, >> um, number one, absolutely. You know, that's the thing just to get the kids what they need. And I'm also looking at number four because just looking at the data that was provided, it was saying communication. How are we going to communicate? Um I agree with you. Get out the specifics of ad hoc committee and then we'll do the how you know that'll be those will be our objectives. [Music] I also think >> I get to sing too, right? Um, number two, I'm

031just really so happy with what we have done to just really support, you know, what's been going on in the schools and really looking at what the teachers have brought to us as this would be a great club. This would be a great, you know, just things and and also from Robin with curriculum. It just it makes me feel very uh very proud really. >> Sure. Um, so I'm on board with everything that's been said. The only thing I would like I was thinking about, so I'm putting out in the open for number two and number three, we talked about supporting the exploration, supporting the administration and recruiting, and I feel we've done a really great job in that. So instead of supporting it, I would like to build build on that. So maybe to

032reward it or to rephrase it and that was strengthening and um the expansion or maybe strengthening the course offerings that we currently have because I we've done a lot and we even have a new one that's on the agenda for today that I'm sure you guys have noticed. So that's what I think what we may need to do for two and three and I agree with your comment about the ad committee uh let's take that out we can focus on the how um but everything else I do agree on [Music] um just going with what you said too it really is looking at um evaluating what we've done so now we have it where we have been supporting so how is it going you know what is being effective, what is, you know, maybe we

033need to tweak that kind of thing. So, I I I think that that's a lofty and a goal that's, you know, that that would be a good goal. So, what I'm hearing is that number one could be to continue to provide the support and resources necessary to achieve the district's strategic plan goals. The second one could be continue to support and expand new course offerings and extracurricular activities. Let me know if I'm wrong, okay? Because I could be not perfect. Um, number three, it could could stay the same. Continue to support the administration in recruiting and retaining. And number four could just be the board um strengthen communication, continue to strengthen communication with families and community members. And then, as we said, the action plans will determine how you're going to do that, whether it's

034going to be by maybe asking the district to do a survey. Did I do that? >> I That was exactly what I thought of. Did I do that? um you know but those then the action plans will include the steps that you're going to take to do it and you can put in time frames for those and what would be the evidence some of those things. So if you wanted the superintendent in the district to put out a survey to community members and stakeholder groups how would you you know how do you feel we're communicating with you? Is it positive? Is it you know lacking? Um and how would you like us to communicate with you? because you know some people may and you may need to use multiple forms of multiple um you know

035outlets for that and you know also is there another way that you would like us to communicate with you. So sometimes you can get a lot of really good information from that surveys are always going to be that the board would be asking the administration to put those out though the board doesn't put those out themselves. Okay. Uh just to build on a couple things. I think number one is broad enough to support a lot of things. Uh for the communication piece on number four, I'm wondering if we can whether it's through the goal or the action plan identify that communication is not just us to the community but the community to us. So, can we say something that will pursue new avenues to expand communication with the community, not just to the community, but

036>> about two-way. >> Yes. And not to, you know, be, you know, a contrarian, but also something for us to maybe discuss is do we want to have something that directly reflects student achievement? So, for example, could we say something broad like um measure the success of the instructional program and identify opportunities to improve it? Not that we have to put a particular number, but something that directly relates to the achievement outcomes. >> So, I like that idea and I would take it one step further without specifying the measure, just saying that we would seek to measurably improve the uh student academic performance. And then we can fill in the blanks later, whether that's number of kids that get fours and fives in the AP test, it's the number the high school graduation rate, it

037could be, you know, NJSLA scores, it could be our internal benchmarks, but I like adding something for that. Yeah, >> that's a little bit more of a district goal than it is a board goal. I mean, you're ultimately going to do those things by doing all of these things, but in terms of Are you okay? >> Okay. I saw a flash of pain. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't the conversation. As long as it's not the conversation that's painful. Okay. Um it you know to be a you're the superintendent is responsible with the administrative team in terms of so you know increasing student achievement. So that would be a district-wide goal. you would be able to support the improvement of student achievement, right? >> Um by and again that's by supporting the and

038providing the resources necessary to achieve the strategic planning goals. You could wrap that right into there. >> I have something for number two uh which was the support exploration expansion of new course offerings. Okay. Could it be continue to support the exploration, expansion and evaluation of course offerings? Does it have to be new or do we want to look at I think it's kind of the evaluation of what is working etc to to gather information on is this something that's you know productive and that we want to continue with >> retire. Yeah. Right. >> So, continue to support the exploration and expansion of new course offerings and extracurricular activities and >> student suggest >> take the word new out so that we can make it looking at all. >> Okay. So, continue to support the

039exploration and expansion of course offerings and extracurricular activities. I also said evaluation but I'm not sure if that's applicable there I and but that would be with the survey etc that would surveys that might come out as to >> so you could then ask the superintendent to provide you with reports you know with a report once a year twice a year whatever you know after fall extracurriculars after spring extracurriculars on how those course those expanded course offerings are working um probably does that anyway? Let you know how many, you know, if you started a new club and you started a new extracurricular and there's only five kids that are that are involved in it. What's you know, are you able to continue with that? Is that sustainable? And maybe it is because maybe the second

040year you're going to get 25 kids because now they know those five kids have really talked about it. So those are all suggestions and things that you would have to discuss and figure out how you wanted to move forward with and the superintendent would be recommending what to do with that also because remember everything needs to come at the recommendation of the superintendent. >> I'm going to ask one leading question and I again I apologize for not sitting still. Um, is there anything that we've talked about over the last 12 months or things or concepts, ideas that we've wanted to focus on that we don't think are adequately reflected in the board goals that we we're talking about right now. Initiatives, I don't see any. I think this reflects the majority of them, but I

041think that's my biggest concern. if we just stick stick with kind of what we had and roll the majority of it forward or are we perpetuating gaps and that's more of a question for you guys to think about I don't really know the answer [Laughter] >> I want my own money um you know I've said this many times you know when you're looking at programs and you're looking at change it doesn't happen overnight >> you know this is something you're looking a good 3 to five years for things to really become systemic. So having these goals and these are lofty goals, you know, these are they have meat on them and it is going to take time to have it just be part of the culture. So I have no problem with sticking with this

042and and just expanding on what we've already done. >> So let me tell you what I have. I'm sorry. Did you have something? >> Thanks. >> I was just saying I I agree with Sue. It it takes time. These are lofty goals. It's and it's they're they're well written and I think that I'm not saying they should be there forever, but I'm saying at least especially number four, as long as I've been on the board, number four has always been a misnomer for us, right? I mean, we've always and but I but the one thing I will say is is that it has to be a two-way street, you know, because it's it's one thing to say we will strengthen the community. I mean, we have done in the past, we've, you know, we've done

043things and the there's no one here. So, um I think we have to give ourselves a little bit of credit for our the outreach we're doing as well. But, um no, I just want to say I I agree and I think that's that's makes sense. I have the mic. I'm not done. >> Okay. So, let me read you what I have. Continue to advance student achievement by providing the support and resources necessary to achieve the district's strategic planning goals. >> Love it. Okay. Um, continue to support the exploration and expansion of course offerings and extracurricular activities. >> Agreed. >> Support the continue to support the administration in recruiting and retaining a staff that reflects our community. That's often a huge huge goal and for the board to be supportive of that is also very very

044helpful to your superintendent. Oops, it keeps going dark on me. And then the the fourth one um continue to strengthen communication with families and community members um for two-way communication. >> Sure. >> Yeah. or I think that you talked about or did you want pursue new avenues to strengthen two-way communication? >> So that was the other one. I mean I think you leave it broad how to achieve >> Yeah. So, you like the pursue part? >> Pursue new avenues to strengthen two-way communication with our community and stakeholders. [Music] >> I don't want to say we can control. But at the end of the day, I have a question. >> Sure. Um, do we feel like there's a need for rep prioritization of these goals? So, if four has been identified as an area of growth,

045would we want to maybe move forward to number one? Is that relevant? Does it does it matter? Does the public see one as what we're thinking is the most important to least important out of the four? >> In my experience, no. But there could you could have that experience here and I wouldn't know that. So they can be bulleted instead of numbers if you wanted. Um and that would make it you know so that each is equally important. We could do that. Yeah, that that seems good. Okay. So I have one comment and then one question. The the comment is we were able to obtain our masterboard certification last year but we know that we have no intention of stopping on continuing education. We haven't identified what that course of study is going to look

046like or how we're going to get there. So as a board I think one it's one of the things we have the most control over and it probably should be represented in our goals in some way shape or form. continue board pro professional development through NJSBA's academy program. >> Great. >> And then my question actually is for Nick. Has Southbound Brook set their goals yet? Okay. Is there anything that you're aware of that's related to Southbound Brook that we should be considering for inclusion in ours at this time? >> Okay. And if that changes, you know, we we figure it out from there. But I just want to make sure that we ask the question so that if there is something that we can and should be partnering on or both have a shared goal,

047let's let's get it in there. >> Say you have five. >> Five. There you go. Maxed out. >> Maxed out. Dr. Freeman, you good? >> Okay, everybody's good. >> Absolutely. >> I'm being serious, too. I understand and I agree because a lot of times we go in and we work with boards and we talk about these things and it's absolute quiet. we don't get any kind of of input and then it's us talking and trying to get something that we can start to see heads nodding and that's when I usually say to a board okay if I don't see heads going like this I'm not leaving and eventually you're going to want me to go home because you have a meeting to do so but no and just even with the the board self-evaluation these

048numbers are very very high folks they really are they are showing that you are working effectively together And to say that one is lower than another when it's still a great a great average is, you know, kind of hurts my heart a little bit because I don't want somebody to think that this is, you know, oh, this was the low score. This is bad. It was the lower of the scores, but it's still above a 3.0 and significantly so. So that's why, you know, it's it's easier for me to come in. And I love it when you guys do the work because they're your board goals. they're not my board goals for you. And I hate having to, you know, put things out there as board goals when I know that sometimes they're not. They

049shouldn't be from my lips. They should be from yours. So, the fact and the fact that you want to, you know, revise these a little bit shows that the intent is still there to do to accomplish those things, but we want to continue to do those things and we're going to, you know, whip it up a little bit. So, I think that that's great. So I will type up every I have no idea what time it is because I don't have my watch on. Okay. Um so those were some examples of board goals that we talked about in the previous PowerPoint. Um I will put together these. So your next step and I'll put together a memo. So I'll send that to you tomorrow. It'll be tomorrow afternoon. Um so the next steps is the

050board's going to develop the action plans for these goals. So, under the professional development one through NJ's um board academy program, what you'll want to do is maybe think about a couple of different programs that you'd like NJSBA to come in and provide for you. Okay? And then when you'd like to do that. So, each of our programs is usually about an hour. Goal setting often can take longer. Um but you guys are so seasoned at doing this, it didn't. Um, and so you'll get a credit for tonight and um, then you'll develop those action plans. Then you're going to implement the action plans. You want to be able to adopt your district and your board goals at some point in September. You should see the action plans the superintendent administrative team put up, maybe

051October for that. Okay? Giving him some time because it's almost the end of August. So give yourselves some time for that. Also, you may want to do the action plans through committees and see what you know people want to do. Sometimes a board will say, "I'd like the chairs of of our committees to meet and come up with action plans, action plan items for these things." And then adopt those district goals and board goals at a meeting. And then in November, you want to be able to report out. And I always really, really, really recommend that the board reports out the same night that the superintendent is reporting out. This is not going to be, you know, a halfhour PowerPoint by either of you. Just, you know, this is what we've accomplished thus far that

052we were that we meant to accomplish, you know, what we had indicators for and this is what's coming up next. Our next review of this will be in January after reorganization. It's a great time to do it and for the board to do the same thing. We're not talking about a half hour, you know, update, but that way your community members know, those of you who are here and those of you who might be watching, know that not only did you take the time to come in early to do this tonight, but that and you're focused on it, but that you're still focused on it in November, in January, in March, and in June. And you want to make sure that you're maintaining that focus. And that helps you do that. When I first got

053on the board in 99, we met with our field service rep. She came in and we developed districts and board goals. We had a new superintendent. So, we did all of that. She came back the following year and asked how the superintendent did toward the district goals and he reported out on those. And then she said, and we developed new district goals with his input, obviously. And then she said, "How'd you do on the board goals?" And all nine of us looked at one another and said, and we're like a little frightened. and she said, "Do you know how you did towards the board goals?" And I think I was the one who said, "We haven't talked about them since last year." So she said, "Are you going to now focus on these? Because otherwise,

054why are we going to take the time to do this tonight? Why waste your time and my time?" So we promised that we would. We developed action plans for them. They were exceptional in my opinion. Um, not because I was part of developing them, but because we really went through step by step what we wanted to do with each goal to be able to show that we were accomplishing that. And when she came back the next year, we were able to say, "Yes, we were able to accomplish two of our four goals. Two of them we'd like to continue with because there's still work to do." But what we had in our action plans, we did accomplish. So now we just need to take it the step further. Okay. So that's my story. This is

055what the action plan will look like for you. Again, it's exactly the same as the district one, only it says board goals and objectives and what questions might you have. Okay, please take the time to look at that, review that board self-evaluation. I think it's going to give you a lot of good insight into the good work that you're doing. there are some some things that were mentioned in there about challenges that that you may want to take a look at and address and those you can do. Anyway, um the thing that I wanted to mention on the charts too because the charts are different this year. So, it's at the back of the board self-evaluation and on the colored graph charts, colored bars, you'll see that in vision, mission, and goals, 100% of you

056said that you were either exemplary or proficient in vision, mission, and goals. 89% of you said you were proficient or exemplary in policy. 95% of you said in accountability for student achievement you were either proficient or exemplary. 97% of you said that you were exemplary or proficient in governance, team relationships and accountability. 97% of you said exemplary or proficient in resource management and oversight. And 94% of you said you were proficient or exemplary in community leadership. That's pretty outstanding. The second chart that you see looks very familiar to last year's charts and next year you will have a comparison for this year as opposed to your responses for next year. Okay, I thank you so much for inviting me in. I hope you have a great rest of the summer and a very nice evening

057and I look forward to answering any questions you might have in the interim while we are preparing to give you a new field service rep. Okay, thank you so much. All right. Is this good? Mike, with the f with the microphone, is it good? >> It's on. >> Can you hear me now? Okay. Yes. Yes. All right. Um well, good evening everybody. Um I am here excited to present to you the um access uh reports and do a comparison over the last um three years. Um and I hope that you enjoy it. I know uh at the educational committee meeting I started doing this. I changed some things around so it's going to look a little bit different. Um but I'm excited to um present our results for our students. So just a quick reminder

058um the access for MLS is a English language proficiency test that N uh New Jersey has adopted as our um state assessment for English proficiency. So once a year um between probably the beginning of February and the end of March, all of our multilingual learners are required to take that test. Even the students whose parents have refused services um need to take the test as well until they exit out. Um the purpose is to monitor the student progress in English language proficiency and also to serve as just one of the many criteria that we have to look at to determine if a student is ready to exit the program. Um the English proficiency levels um can begin at level one and all the way up to level six which would be fully proficient. Um most

059of our students will exit between when they reach a 4.5 which is the um minimum score that they they need in order to exit. Um and then at times we've seen students um have like a 5.8. So the previous year they didn't um achieve the 4.5 but then the following year they're five uh.8 or a 5.9. Um so depending on the student they can make different types of gains as far as their language proficiency. Um so let me see the um proficiency is measured in reading, writing, speaking and listening the four domains and the way sorry I'm just looking at two different PowerPoint presentations so I'm just trying not to confuse myself. Um so with the four domains the way that the scores are calculated is 15% is attributed to their listening score 15% to

060their speaking score 35% in the writing and 35% for the reading which makes up the whole access score for the students. Um this is the student individual report. Um so every student has we actually have already mailed all of the individual reports to the homes. The guidance from NJDOE was that we needed to get them to the parents by August 8th. So they were mailed earlier that week. Um they were mailed to the um homes in English and in the home language. So, Spanish um and some port Portuguese. Um I can't uh I can't even remember all the the languages right now, but every home must get their report in their home language as well as English. From that score we get a document or we can get data that is um called the can

061do descriptors which gives us a picture of what the student can do at each of those proficiency levels across the four domains. So a student could actually have a five in listening skills and then maybe have a 2.3 in writing and then a 4.0 in reading. So these can do descriptors when we um access this type of data and put it together with the scores and um provide the teachers with that information that's so valuable because then the teachers can understand what they can ask their students to produce. So the can do descriptors at level two, you know, um they need certain strategies. So that's also stated in there. But then the teacher also knows not only how far to push them, but also like how to push them even further so that they can

062get ahead kind of like um the zone of proximal um development. Yes. Um and achievement. the teachers can also like push them a little bit um harder with their language proficiency. So this these are the um the number of students across all of these years. Last year at this time we had 644 students. Um this year as of last week we have 676 um identified multilingual learners. We do have 70 students currently on our WEDA screener to screen which have been screened um we've screened many groups this week. So potentially if those 70 students let's say were to be identified as MLS potentially we could have 743 MLS um by the start of the school year which means that our student um population 35% of our student population would be identified as multilingual learners. Now

063what we're seeing as far as like um cuz this number even 70 students is a little bit surprising in present times but we're we what we are seeing is that not only are um students from other countries coming in but also from other states and from other districts in New Jersey. So we have a lot of students that were already identified in other districts as MLS and then they're moving into our district. Um so it's it's a combination. Normally you wouldn't see that many students coming in from other districts. So um that is why like to some of us that number even 70 might be a little bit surprising. Um but that's the makeup of that number. >> Yes. Yes. So during that time actually we don't know if it was attributed to like CO

064co kind of like winding down but it is not only this districts across the United States across New Jersey they experienced a influx of students coming in. So, um I think as far as like identifying the students, I think, um this district had pretty much identified the students. Um so, it that I'm thinking is just something a phenomenon that was happening um maybe due to CO. Okay. So, um I'm going to do a comparison at times. is going to be two years and then you're going to see actually an overview over the three years. So just bear with me because I think um it's it's good data. So this year we tested 587 MLS. So this number excludes our preK 3 and four identified multilingual learners. So 587 students from grades kindergarten all the way

065through 12th grade. Um out of those 587, 18 were parent refusals and 40 of our students this year exited the program or not exited the program because I'm going to correct myself because our dual language students do not exit the program. um even if they get that exit score and are proficient and could be exited, they are um they're not identified as MLS. They're identified as exited, but they remain in our dual language program. Because we have to remember that the goal for the dual language program is for our students to become biliterate. And for that to happen all the way through sixth grade, but also in middle school and high school. So we don't want to provide them this great program and then stop it just because they exit. But the guidance is that

066yes, we can deidentify them as MLS, but they will will remain in the program for as long as we have it and for as many grade levels as we have it in the district. But I did um and we had eight students that took the alternate access test. Those are special education students that um take the DM. they qualify for the alternate um access test, but also we can have students that are in the lower elementary like kindergarten, first and second that can take the alternate test if we get together as a group, special education, our department, the teachers, the ESL teachers, and if we're in agreement that that would be best for that student, um then we I send the code to um NJDOE and then they approve for that student to take the

067alternate What I do want to point out is that Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you guys were looking at the graph. I'm so sorry about that. Um, okay. So, this is everything I've been talking about. What I want to point out is that the we had 40 students that exited, right, that had that 4.5 score and are actually excelling. Most of them actually were in the five, 5.0 to 5.8, eight. But um from first through sixth grade, we had 29 of our students exit from those grade levels. And I wanted to just stress that because I know the misconception when we have a dual language program, when students are being uh receiving instruction in their native language, is that well, they need to learn English. they're not going to learn English if they're receiving instruction

068in Spanish. But 29 of our elementary students um exited the program. That means that the the research does show that the more proficient the students become in their native language, the quicker they're going to pick up that second language. So I was just really really happy um to see this number because it's just more data to show that we are doing the right thing for our students. So these are our students that not just those students but the dual language students that's why they can excel even higher than expected when they get to the upper elementary then the middle school and then the high school. So, three of our exited students were from the middle school and eight of our students were from the high school. Any questions about this? Okay. So, I'm going to

069share with you um just an overview of the access results from 22 to 23. And this was before we um implemented a full-time bilingual program here in Bound Brook. So ju this is just an overview of like um kindergarten through 2 grade. You can see that at kindergarten um they were emerging and in grade one and two they were developing. Now, sometimes the question is, well, how can those kindergarteners already be at that emerging level? It's because um even up until right now, our preschool three and four is all in English. They receive English instruction. So, those students, their conversational English, um even though they might not speak it as much and are a little um apprehensive about speaking it, they're understanding a little bit more. So they come into kindergarten and we think, wow,

070like they're really um becoming fluent in English and then it can still they can still progress in grade one and grade two. Um but then we see just the data change as far as like their proficiency levels starting in grade three. So now you see that the third graders that had been in those programs or not in the program but like identified as MLS now they're at emerging fourth grade we see a little bit um increase in their proficiency levels as a whole and then we see what research has shown over and over again after fourth grade if the students are not provided with a program that will help them be biliterate it um in their native language and in English. As much as we can think that fourth grader is understanding everything and they're

071on point, the content becomes too difficult for them. It actually starts in third grade where they that's when they start getting lost. So you're going to see that for the following grades they don't really leave that emerging um um stage of proficiency. So this is um what 7 through 12. Okay, hold on a second. Nope. Okay. 3 4 3 4 5 6 there. I I got myself confused. Okay. So, 7 through 12. So, as you can see here, all of those grade levels, really from grade five all the way through juniors in high school, those students did not go up any levels as a whole um until they got to 12th grade. And this is why if you remember um last year when I presented it was sad to know like we have a lot

072of long-term multilingual learners at the high school and this is the reason why like the content is too difficult for our students who did not have a proper bilingual education program. Um so this this data is from from the district here from Lincolnit. It shows the proficiency levels by grade and you know that's I wanted you to see that picture because um there has been significant progress in in my eyes as far as like the last two years but it's because our students are finally getting the appropriate program for them to be able to succeed not only in language proficiency but also academically. So, this data is a little bit different than what we just looked at because this data shows this year um this past spring and then the first year. So, 23 24

073where those kindergarteners now in 2425 this past spring were in first grade. So, this shows I I'm gonna have to take this off. So, this shows um look at the the um success that they've had in language proficiency where in kindergarten 62% of our kindergarteners were at an entering level. And on the right side, it's exactly the same students that we're looking at. So it's a comparison student for student. So the entering went down to 22%. 22% um emerging from 16% to 36% developing from 16% to 40%. So to me as somebody who's always looking at these proficiency levels, this is phenomenal that our students in one year, really one and a half years of having instruction in their native language and in English could actually go from those lower levels to all the way

074up to expanding. So we have first 2% of our first graders reach that level of expanding. Um, same thing for first grade. Um, our our current second graders, uh, 40% emerging, 42%, not that big of a difference. Um, but the entering 26% went down to 7% in that same cohort and then expanding again. Um, our current third graders went from 27% emerging then to 11% this year, 42% developing to 53% developing and 18% expanding to 25% expanding. So, it's just that normally students don't make this big of a leap in such a short amount of time. It usually can take 7 to 10 years, some researchers say, or 3 to seven years. But it's phenomenal to me that our students are up to this task and are really really excelling in the program. Um our

075fourth graders we have um 22% 7% this year at entering where last year was 22%. This year 7% emerging 16% emerging um last year but the developing and then look at the expanding. So this year, 36% of our fourth graders are at that level of expanding. So you can see why we had 29 of our first through sixth grade students exit the program because they're reaching those higher levels and 6% um bridging. Um this the 3% are at the entering where last year it was 10%. Um and then 53% are at that expanding level which is a 4.0 to 4.9 and last year it was 39%. And actually the last year's is still pretty good for a firstear program, right? So I think that's what makes this more phenomenal is that they they did have

076a lot of gains the first year, but now two years into the program, it's even greater gains. So this kind of looks a little bit, you know, the same. There's a few percentage points here and there, but the entering 8% went down from 19%. Um, seventh grade it kind of just looks a little bit similar. Um, this is where we see like sometimes our students are going to struggle especially because remember at the middle school and the high school we don't have a dual language program. So this year 7th graders 51 are developing but last year with one year of um bilingual education they were at 43%. Our eighth graders 52% developing 36% were developing last year um and then emerging 15% this year where they were 40% last year. But we do have 6%

077of those that are in the bridging um level. Our current ninth graders, 50% of them um developing, 30% last year were developing. 20% emerging where last year it was 40% emerging. And then we do see some of like the 3% that are bridging, which are probably those students that did exit at the high school. 10th graders, there wasn't really that much movement. Um, and but we have to keep in mind that this is where we did have a lot of newcomers last year at the high school and also is where the long-term multilingual learners are. the first graphs that I showed you from 2022 to 2023. This is what you know those students this is actually um they have increased their proficiency but not as much as we would have liked for them to um

078increase it at this point. and 11th grade. We have 19% of um the 11th graders this year that were um fell into the expanding proficiency um where last year it was 3%. And 19% emerging, last year 12%. And then our um current seniors we have 8% of them um scored in expanding or fell in the proficiency level of expanding. Last year there was 4% the entering 42% um last year and then this year's 12th graders are 38%. So that so this is the presentation of the access scores. I am going to give you a little bit more data on the different things that are happening throughout our district. But before I do that, are there any questions regarding the access the access reports? Any questions or comments? Yeah. Oh, thanks. Um, thank you so much

079for all this information. It's really great, but it also kind of breaks my heart a little because I think about the kids that are in high school now that didn't have you guys uh the support and that's why you're seeing these scores. And I thought it was amazing to see how many high school level kids we had in Bamber that started here in kindergarten and got all the way to to 12th grade and did get that support. And that we're doing it now is amazing. So I can see where the numbers aren't going to be as high in high school because those kids never had that from the beginning. And the fact that our kindergarteners and our first graders are showing so much improvement just over a year. I'd love to see, it's going to

080take, you know, 12 years, but I'd love to see a side by side with our graduating class this year or or even last year compared to the kids that are going to come up through the district and do a sidebyside so we can really see our accomplishments with it because um yeah, it was very surprising to me, but it also reflects um I'm going to assume it reflects our overall grade point averages and scores within the district, too. So 35% of our students getting this much support and feeling accomplished and feeling developed um should really make a huge impact on the district. So >> yeah, definitely what you guys are doing. >> You're welcome and thank you for saying all that because um we know that that is where our heartbreaks is at the high

081school. Um, but we also have put in a lot of supports and you're going to see also this year it's going to be a little bit different for our MLS at the high school. So, I'm excited that you're going to be able to see that as well. >> So, Claudia, >> last year when you gave a presentation, I used a word, I'm going to use it again, humbled. I'm humbled at the progress that our kids have made. I think when I look at these numbers, you're advocating and you're giving a voice to those kids. Those kids are kids >> and you have every right to be proud and your your staff is phenomenal >> and we are truly truly lucky to have you and to have this program because when we look at the numbers

082it's you know a chain is only as strong as a weakest link, right? and we're t we're we're we're pulling our kids. They're all together, you know, and and that's what I like to see. And and you're giving a voice to people who have not had a voice. So, I want to say phenomenal work. Keep up the great job. And uh I I think I can speak on behalf of the board to say that we are extremely extremely proud of you and your department. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. Uh we all want to comment. Oh, I I'll wrap up the comment. >> You sure? Okay. >> So, sorry about that. Um, >> you had mentioned 18 um kids. Uh, their parents sort of refused the program. >> And I go back to one

083of our board goals we just talked about earlier about communication. And I feel like this might be a really big area that we can as a district and a board really um influence our parents and our community to not walk away from this, to take it. It's it's not a punishment. We're not punishing our kids by supporting them. And I'm not quite sure maybe the parents aren't aren't understanding or they have their own self um confidence that it it maybe it reflects on their their confidence level a little bit. So if maybe we can put something together as a community, you know, a communication from the district of take it, it's it's proving successful and your kids are only going to be better from it. >> Yes, definitely. Thank you. >> Um, I just want

084to build on some of the comments the other members have have said and um, on behalf of the board, I I I hope that you and your teachers know how proud we are of the work you're doing. Um, and just to underscore a couple things that um, I think might illustrate that a little bit. Just three years ago, um those of us on the board were told that things like a dual language program wouldn't work in Bound Brook. They weren't possible. We can't do that here. >> Um and you've totally changed that perception. And if anybody's tried to ever learn a language other than English or if English is your second language, it takes most people six or seven years, right? And if you ever heard me try to speak Spanish, you probably say, "I

085need another six or seven years. But to see the amount of growth that the kids are making in just one year really speaks to the amount of professional development you've arranged, the amount of support you've provided >> and those teachers battling through that that change and change is difficult in education >> to get those results which are really incredible and they could put our district on the map um if we keep going in that direction. And I just want to underscore the teachers as well. Um, finding teachers who can work in these programs with the right certificates is really hard. Um, so for example, in the school that I work at, I was recently trying to hire a classroom teacher. We put a job posting out there about 60 applicants. Also had to hire a

086bilingual teacher. I had one applicant. So the idea that you've built this program with I believe over 20 teachers in three years when a lot of schools struggle to find one teacher in three years is illustrative of the way that you've gone about trying to find people with your colleagues in the the schools in the central office. That's a huge feat just to find the right people to staff this program. So, um, >> please take a moment to send our thanks to all of the teachers. Let them know we see their great work, but also to reflect upon your own work that we're really proud of what you're bringing to our district, and we're grateful on behalf of our kids and our community for for what you're doing. >> Thank you so much for all

087that. And I wanted to add too I remember when you were going and trying to get teachers to you know really this is a great thing and you're like okay and it really started and that's huge just getting that buy in and again you know getting ch you know change and just that mindset of where you're going to go. I also want to say for me I love seeing an appletoapple comparison. We're seeing these kindergarteners as first graders, then we'll see the first graders as second graders. That data is very rich and it's it's just so nice to see and you truly can see the progress. So, thank you for all you're doing. We appreciate it. >> Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Um, so if you remember, uh, this was the first year where we

088actually did a Spanish placement test, not only for our eighth graders at CMS, but also Southbound Brook. Um, and we actually decided to just give all our MLS the placement test as well at the end of last year because we are going to be providing Spanish language arts for them, hopefully the beginning of a dual language program at the high school. Um, but you're going to be so pleased um at the results of 148 MLS and where they placed as far as their Spanish um literacy. So for this year and we already have all of these courses in play for this year. Um you can see we had Spanish we have we will have Spanish for heritage speakers levels one and two and we have 14 and 19 students that's um placed in that type

089of program that would be best suited for them. um three in Spanish language arts one, language arts, Spanish language arts 2 35, but look at the Spanish honors three. And I just want to remind you that these are students where their native language, they haven't even had an opportunity to actually show us what they could do. So, the fact that they could take a Spanish placement test, which was created by our Spanish language teacher, so it wasn't an easy one, but that we have 40 in Spanish honors 3. We have 19 in Spanish honors 4 and four um 10 AP Spanish and then four Spanish 1 CP and then four in Spanish 2 CP. So, this is now where like it is sad that our students were not um served in the way that they

090needed to be served at the high school, but when I see this, it's it just makes me so happy because I cannot wait to see where this is going to lead. And then remember, the more we strengthen their native language, you're going to see those access scores go up for their English proficiency as well. Um, also we have the data for this year of our multilingual learners who were recommended for honors and were recommended for AP and are also in dual enrollment courses this coming year. So these are the MLS um that are going to be in our honors courses. We included the Spanish three and Spanish four honors but you can see the the other courses where we will have some of the MLS honors geometry pre-calculus English US history modern world environmental biology

091chemistry and a lot of these MLS were actually recommended by their teachers to go into honors and our ESL teachers as well work very hard to make sure that the students are prepared to take honors classes from their ESL classes. Um this this is a number of students although it's not as large but this is just the beginning um of students that are in AP courses. So we have one student that is in AP statistics then AP English um AP US biology physics computers and then AP Spanish. And then the number of MLS um that are in dual enrollment courses. Stockton University, Raritan Valley, Raritan Valley Community College. Um and you can see the different courses that are on there where they are taking the dual enrollment. So this makes me really happy because it's

092specific to the high school. It's specific to our MLS that deserve to have an opportunity like this. Um, so I hope that that gives you a little bit of, you know, happiness because I know it's sad to see sometimes the data. Um, but this I just I'm very excited for our high school, for our whole district, but specifically for the high school to see what these students are capable of doing. Um so in closing, everything that you see in red is um what we're going to be implementing this coming year. So for preK um we met as a team and we decided that it would be best for us to start this coming year to start the dual language program at preK4 and start it in January where hopefully we'll have enough classrooms. Um but

093then we will take se uh September through December to take that time to make sure that our preschool teachers are totally trained in dual language immersion. So um I think that that's a great plan. We all felt really good about it. Um and then we we will continue with the K6 full-time um dual language. And at the middle school, we are going to have Spanish language arts which will be given by our world language teacher. Um we're going to provide that to our seventh grade dual language students because um sixth last year at the end of their sixth grade these students were wondering and asking their teachers wait what program are we going to have at the middle school when we leave here when we leave Small. So we heard them. This is what happens

094with dual language students. They just start thinking and they they advocate for themselves. So, we're happy that we're going to be able to provide that for them. Um, and then for our ESL program, we will have the ESL levels one through three. So, we will have an advanced ESL at the middle school for the first time. And we also will have the integrated English language arts levels one through three as well. And then that will put them um in a path for success once they get to the high school. And then at the high school, as I mentioned, we will have Spanish language arts one and two for our MLS and then the Spanish for heritage speakers levels one and two. And we'll continue with the highintensity ESL for our students. Um, and then I

095just wanted to give you a quick overview of um the staff. So, we have um as of right now 14 bilingual um Spanish world teachers and some independent world teachers there. We also have seven English world teachers um in our dual language program. And for our ESL staff, we have 13 ESL teachers from um grades K through 12th grade. and world language. We have seven world language teachers, one of which um is French. So, we're going to continue with the sheltered instruction training for our new teachers who newly hired for this year, as well as keep training the current um staff that has been here in the district to make sure that every single teacher, especially at the middle school and high school, are um trained in sheltered instruction training so that they can make

096that content comprehensible for our MLS in general education courses. um we'll continue the dual language training. We actually today was um the second day of dual language training for our newly hired teachers. So it was uh Monday and today with Dr. Will. So it was wonderful to see those teachers, three of which Robin and I actually um interviewed on the spot when we went to the career fairs last um I think it was May and June. So it was so good to see them there as well. Um and we one of my biggest goals for this coming year is the increased um parent engagement. Last year was a little bit difficult because of current situations happening. Um, but I'm hoping that this year we're going to be able to reach those parents and like you

097were saying, you know, because of the success of the dual language program already, hopefully that will motivate them to want to get involved more in education. Um, so the goal is to have the bilingual parent advisory committee established again and then to offer at least three parent workshops throughout the school year for our um, multilingual families. And um that's it for the presentation. So any questions on the second half of the presentation? No. Are you a little happier? Okay. Yeah. It makes me happy too just to see like all those students taking those courses. So but thank you so much for your support and for your comments. um and encouragement. Thank you. So, since I saw Don make his way for the exit and we've been going now for probably close to two hours, why

098don't we take five minutes for anybody that needs a break and uh get settled and we'll reconvene. Hey Christine, how you doing? >> Hey, how are you? [Music] What are we doing? >> I don't think we have a lot of public comment today. >> It's too late for them to stay. Do you know if we have a executive session today? >> Yeah. Should be pretty short. >> Yeah. There's no hips, so it should be real short. >> Oh, okay. very excited that the in a few days we're going to have students and teachers back in the in the halls uh ready to welcome them back. We're very excited about this year and the great things that are going to happen. We also have on August 30th, we have our community day where we're partnering with

099Middle Sex to uh have a backpack giveaway. We're also going to have um activities for students, face painting, games, uh food trucks, everything you can imagine for a fun day to try to get the community together to come out. We're going to try to make it an annual tradition where we start the year off celebrating and having a good time with each other before the year starts. So, if you can please join us. We realize a little late notice and um it's on that weekend. However, great opportunity to get a free book bag and some supplies as well as have a good time. >> Excellent. Thank you, Dr. Freeman. Um our student board member Harrison is not with us this evening. He uh actually uh sent his regrets earlier and also gave an update that

100there wasn't much to report since school's currently out of session. So looking forward to having him back and hearing his first report in the month of September. Uh that's going to bring us up to committees. Uh Mr. Dawson, you're up first for education. >> Um I will keep it brief for the board. Uh our committee spent some time with Dr. Heisman reviewing the uh presentation that we just received as a board. So obviously very exciting work. Uh we're going in a great direction with our our multilingual kids and the world language program uh within the district. So we're all pretty excited about that and can't wait to see what next year brings. >> Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Dawson. Any questions on education committee? >> All right, we're up to governance committee in place of Mr.

101Bal. I believe Miss Hy will be giving an update. >> Okay. I too am going to be brief, but I think you beat me, Sid. Um, in the committee this uh the past when we met in uh the first week in August, we really went over um general policies and regulations and it really went from a a number of things. There were eight policies that were reviewed. Um, and it went from, you know, uh, number of board members, terms, board elections, um, this public school choice, mandated curriculum requirements, etc. And yes, even the use of sunscreen, that is a policy. Um, and then it was very specific to um the business administrator. the there were also eight policies and it just was you know um the school accountants, the auditors you know being peer reviewed

102just legal services etc. So we just went over everything that was mandated and the regulations and those are all on the agenda tonight >> and that's it. >> Any questions regarding governance committee? All right, let's stick with Miss High for HR. >> Okay, this one, you know, we we have our um spreadsheet that has all the positions that we need and the uh the leave replacements, etc. And it really is, I say it every time, it's a living document. There were 19 positions that needed to be filled and that has been whittleled away. There are a number of new positions on the um agenda tonight, you know, for the um well, actually for all schools. Um very excited after that presentation to now have a new Spanish teacher coming. So, these are all good things

103that we're excited about. Um, also on that in our committee, we went over the job descriptions for an assistant BA just looking at the revision of qualifications just to have somebody who would be coming in and just have a a very wide broad knowledge. One of the things, you know, we were looking at specifically was their work with grants. You know, this is just very very helpful with um getting things moving along. Uh we also um looked at the um cheerleading because we had a um a group that really has grown you know tremendously and this is considered a sport. So there was a sidebar agreement that too is on tonight's um agenda and I'm very excited about this because this started from a very small group and just has expanded greatly and it's just

104so nice to see the kids getting involved with these things. And that's it from me. >> Thanks, Sue. Any questions regarding the HR committee >> hearing? None. We're up to Mr. Zupco for operations. Well, unfortunately or fortunately, it was one of the longest meetings we had, the operations meeting, because there was a lot of good stuff that we spoke about. So, I'm going to try to keep it as uh as quickly as possible. So, we spoke about a couple things. The first one was the preschool modular site permit. We had a deficiency letter. Um, oh, to make a long story short, um, basically the D, um, is using flood data from 1988. They're using maps from 1988. Um the uh engineer uh and our architect are looking into submitted paperwork. Um we're working with the

105township um and uh applied for a hardship waiver to build higher once a D updates their new maps then this should not be an issue. Uh this may cause a delay in relation to the modulars but uh we are waiting on all of this to see exactly where this goes. So uh that was number one. The second one and I want to give a shout out to uh our maintenance department who always they always do a phenomenal job. Um our maintenance department uh especially last it was about a last month when uh we had uh committee meetings and and all of us drove through uh like the torrential rains to get to the board office. Um there was uh flooding at the annex. Uh we had an emergency approval letter from the county. uh contacted

106the insurance adjusters. Um we may get uh they're looking at getting compensation for that. Um um we were shown pictures of uh the damage that occurred at the annex and everything is being adjusted. Um HVAC, teacher equipment. There was actually a door uh that we was was blown out due to the amount of water. Uh that is all being taken care of. the football field was amazing to see. There were we had seen pictures of it was like a sci-fi movie where the the turf was actually bubbling up. Um, and that had to be addressed as well and it is being addressed. We also talked about shared services uh with South uh Bound Brook in relation to uh transportation snow removal and uh we're going to be having some there's be some possible meeting dates

107to uh discuss uh those services a little bit more in depth. Um talking about I'm going to steal a little thunder from Sue about the assistant BA position. Um we're looking uh updating a job description for that. The uh business office staff uh and the you know the uh eight the position is is something that will definitely help us out. were interested in getting that filled as soon as possible to try to help out. Um, RBA talked about some health insurance. Health insurance was a big topic. Uh, health insurance is going up everywhere. There's increases 15 to 25%. Uh, we were looking at different options uh for different companies. uh we talked about various uh claims that were submitted and how we're adjusting and dealing with that uh dealing with uh possible uh consortium that

108would help cut costs. Um so we're we're the administrative team is doing a phenomenal job in looking at alternatives to help out uh our teachers and our district custodial services. Uh we're back with Pritchard. That is something that hasn't uh changed. So we we have our custodial services set and uh we also talked about public relation uh firm uh to take a look at where we are and where we need to go. Uh we talked about a current public relations firm um and other firms that could possibly uh guide the district in the future in different directions. So, uh, we're going to be looking at where we're at for this year and, uh, Dr. Freeman and his administrative team will be uh looking at throughout the year. Uh some other options in relation to what

109other directions we need to go to uh really highlight like tonight the incredible news that we heard tonight in relation to our um you know our dual language multi- language learning program. I mean that's just phenomenal. The numbers that we saw tonight phenomenal. I mean, then that would be something that I hope would make our public relations uh uh list. So, I mean, there are so many good things happening within the district. We just want to uh focus all of those good things and make sure that um everything is taken care of. Finally, um we talked about the website and the website roll out. Um it is being done differently this year. Uh I didn't know if all of you had got a chance to take a look at the website. Uh but it's definitely

110something that uh I know that uh there's a lot of stakeholders involved for the departments. Uh we're going to try to make sure that it is uh more user friendly and and is has a better description than uh in the past and I'm excited to find uh this year for the website to even to be even better. I know there was a lot that was discussed. Do we have any questions or comments? If not, I'll hand it back to you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Mr. ZupCo. Any questions for Roger on operations? >> I can see how that meeting might have run a little bit long. That was a lot. >> Yeah, it was it was it was good. Uh little bit long, but good. All right, with that complete, Sue, do we have a

111report for SCEESC? >> Okay, please take it away. >> Okay. Um, so with Somerset County Ed Services Commission, um, some of the things that are going on in their operations, their their building updates, they have completed their roof, which was which a biggie. Um they also did some reconfiguration of the space. The multi-purpose room renovation is on target. They have uh seven new offices for guidance counselors, three stateofthe-art classrooms, um a sensory room that can service um 30 elementary school students comfortably and they are just right now awaiting inspections to have that all okayed. So they have their cert to open it. Um they continue all year with student intakes. They've had uh reorganization within the um within the school which is just looking at the responsibilities um you know with the LDTC working with

112teachers and uh drawing up IEPs. Um they were talking specifically that you know IEP intakes can take one to three hours and they're doing about three a day. So, it it's a very busy time for them. All of their counselors are now sack certified, which is really nice. Um, they are looking for a building and trades person in the career center. They just hired um music technology or they're starting a music technology program. And this isn't just music, it's the technical work. It's all aspects working on instruments, working on speakers, on just the sound systems, etc. They also created uh an employee handbook which um Mr. Dunavage was happy to share with anybody who would like who would like a copy and he was also voted in as superintendent of the year. He's a great

113guy and welldeserved. So um they'll be celebrating that later on. And that is it for ESC. >> Excellent. Thanks Sue. Any questions on Somerset County ESC? All right, last but not least, Mr. Incalcera, anything to report for Southbound Brook? Uh, >> the uh asbestous remediation has been finished for this section for this year. The roof is a week away from being finished and everything is rolling along smoothly. >> Good to hear. Any other comments or questions for committees in general? All right, hearing none, we'll complete that part. So, we're up to item 5.1, open to the public for agenda items only. It doesn't look like we have anybody here, but we'll offer if you do want to make a comment, come down to the podium. Uh, record your name, address, and affiliation. And, uh, everybody

114has an opportunity to speak. And please limit comments to three to five minutes. Great. Item 6.1. Be it resolved that the Bound Brook Board of Education upon recommendation of the superintendent approves the meetings of the uh the minutes of the following meeting regular meeting minutes from July 23rd, 2025. Can we have a motion? >> Thank you, Mr. Dawson. A second. >> Second, Mr. Guino. >> Any discussion? Hearing no discussion. Can we have a roll call, please? >> Yes. Uh, Mr. Dawson, >> yes. >> Miss Gazino, >> yes. >> Mr. Hy, >> yes. >> Mr. Incalcera, >> yes. >> Uh, Mr. Januzi, >> abstain. Okay. >> Uh, Mr. Minhas, >> yes. >> Um, Miss Mosen. Oh, she's absent. I'm sorry. Mr. Bulma, >> yes. >> Mr. is up. Go >> abstain. >> Motion passes. >> Thank

115you. Item 7.1. Be it resolved that the superintendent recommends for approval the resolutions as outlined in district personnel resolutions 7.2 through 7.57. Can I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Thank you, Mr. Zupkco. A second. Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Incalcera. Any discussion? I just real I just want to say real quick um when I was talking before about the amount of work that goes in from the administrative team to get this going for September is incredible. >> So to see all these you know the the new hires just very happy to see this um also with um >> is it in this or the next one with the uh professional development. I love seeing that. >> I'll tell you, I was so impressed myself with the fact that we, our administrative team did a

116lot of professional development, several days, but they were still able to get back and fill some of these crucial positions, but we hired today two very crucial positions, which prevented us from having to change a bunch, make a a bunch of serious schedule changes. So, I commend them for that, you know, and tonight you guys will have the next couple days off. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, you have those days off. All right, for that extra article, but I appreciate you. I just wanted that to be known. Well said. All right, where are we at? >> I I had one more thing. >> Sure. I I really really enjoy seeing when we have the um the student teachers come in in the mentoring that that's such an important part, you know, for us to I'm I'm

117so happy that our teachers are receptive to having kids, you know, kids having these students come in really to learn how to be a teacher, you know, to see that and to see it with the different universities. I thank you. I just love seeing it. >> And I'll just add to that, maybe this is the night to give all this praise away, but um Robin worked really hard because we had gotten to the point we weren't getting student teachers and that was a a a pool for us of people that we knew who we saw their performance so it was easy to hire them. But she talked to Ruckers, she talked to different universities, and now we're back up to a significant number of student teachers who we will eventually be able to hire as

118our permanent teachers. >> That's great. >> You picked the right meeting to attend. Kudos. Nice job. >> Any other comments or questions? I think we're still in section number seven. We are. >> All right, Miss Leo, roll call, please. >> Yes, Mr. Dawson. >> Yes. >> Miss Cazino. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hy. >> Yes. Mr. In Katatera. >> Yes. >> Uh, Mr. Z. Uh, Januzi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Minhaz. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wulmer. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zepkco. >> Yes. >> Uh, 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 8.35. Can I have a motion? Thank you, Mr. Inc. Alcatera. And I have a second from Miss High. She'll finally get

119one. >> Open for discussion. >> I can't stop tonight. Go. >> Oh, okay. Um I'm so curious because I want to see the handbooks. I love seeing those and like um the one from ESC that too. So, if we can get a copy of that, I'd really appreciate it. >> Okay. Just wanted to do a shout out to our special services department. I love the manual, the updated, the clarified uh the protocols. I think it's phenomenal. It's easy to read and uh I think it's it's uh it's it's spoton. So, I just wanted to say excellent work, special ed department. Thank you. I'm going to ask a question, but hopefully it's the answer is correct. It looks like our planning for social events and class trips. We're a little bit further ahead of the curve

120this year than we have been in the past. Anything you want to add about that or maybe just throw some kudos to the team for, you know, getting us further ahead in that cycle? Yeah, I think I it's part of a uh part of just the development of the district, you know, the business department and the coordination between the schools in terms of asking to get those things on, making sure we have things appropriately funded, make sure we have the transportation. So, the team worked really hard in unison to kind of get those things on as soon ahead of as soon ahead of time as we can and obviously did a pretty good job of it because things are on very early this year. >> That's great. Hopefully it makes it easier for everybody throughout

121the year too. >> Absolutely. >> Good. >> Any other comments or questions on section 8. >> All right. Hearing none. Miss Lee, can we have a roll call, please? >> Sure. Uh, Mr. Dawson, >> yes. >> Miss Gazino, >> yes. >> Mr. Hy, >> yes. >> Mr. Inaka, >> yes. >> Mr. Januzi, >> yes. >> Mr. Minhaz, >> yes. >> Mr. Bulmer, >> Mr. Zupkco, >> yes. >> Motion passes. Thank you. Item 9.1. 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 930. Have a motion. >> Thank you, Mr. Dawson. A second. Miss High. >> Second. >> There we go. Any discussion? going once. Going twice. Just um I just saw this now. I just wanted to we wanted to

122thank uh the uh donation that we received for the backpack and u gift card. Uh we really really appreciate it. Thank you so much. >> Yep. Absolutely. All right, Miss Lee, roll call, please. >> Sure. Uh, Mr. Dawson, >> yes. >> Mr. Gazino, >> yes. >> Mr. Hy, >> yes. >> Miss Incatara, >> yes. >> Mr. Januzi, >> yes. >> Mr. Minhas, >> yes. >> Mr. Wulmer, >> yes. >> Mr. Zupkco, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Thank you. Uh, I have received no other matters to come before the board. Uh, that moves us to number 11 and we are open for new business. If there's anything one of the members would like to raise that was not otherwise addressed on the agenda. All right. Hearing none, we are open to the public for discussion.

123There are no members present. So we will move on. Do we have a need to go into executive session this evening? >> Yeah, just number seven. >> Just number seven. Okay. So resolved that the board of education enter executive session as allowed by NJSA10 col4-11 for the purpose of number seven. Can I have a motion? >> Thank you Miss High. A second. >> Second Mr. Minhas. All in favor? >> I. We are adjourned to executive. [Music] First, huh? Okay, everybody, we're all back. >> Returning from executive session. Since we have nothing to move in items 14 and 15, we're skipping right to 16.1. And I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Thank you, Miss Guzino. A second. Thank you, Mr. in Calcater. All in favor? >> I We are adjourned.