001Starting I'm going to start with the open public meetings statement. 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 and at Bound Brook High School and mailed or faxed to the courier news. Bound Brook Clerk, Southbound Brook Board of Education and any person who has requested individual notice and paid the required fee. Can we stand for the pledge? All right, Mr. Gorski, your last roll call. Thank you, Mr.
002Bell. Um, Mr. Bell's in attendance. Mr. Dawson, yes. Miss Gazino, yes. Miss Hy, yes. Mr. Incalcera, yes. Mr. Januzi, Mr. Minhas, Miss Musen, Mr. Vulmer, Mr. Wulmer is here, but taking care of something in the parking lot for a second. So noted. And Mr. Zupco here. Mr. Acting board president, you have a quarum present this evening. All right. Thank you. Um, with my comments tonight, um, we're gonna do something a little special in recognition of Mr. Gors Gorski's retirement. I would like to move a motion recognizing his career and accomplishments in Bound Brook. Um, okay. I think I made the motion, so we just need a second, so we'll go to Miss High. Um, I'm going to read the motion here. It's a little lengthy, so bear with me. Whereas after 26 years of school
003business administration, concluding in Bound Brook School District, Michael C. Gorski has faithfully served as school business administrator, board secretary, demonstrating unwavering dedication, exceptional leadership, and a steadfast commitment to the student, staff, and community. And whereas Michael Corkski has exemplified the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and fiscal stewardship, ensuring the responsible management of district resources, and the advancement of educational excellence. And whereas Michael Corkski's vision, expertise, and collaborative spirit have contributed immeasurably to the growth and success of the district, leaving a lasting legacy of innovation, efficiency, and care. And whereas the board of education, colleagues, and community members join together to express their deepest gratitude and admiration for Michael C. Gorski's remarkable career and enduring impact. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Bound Brook Board of Education hereby honors and congratulates Michael C. Gorski on
004the occasion of retirement and commemorates 26 years of stellar service as school business business administrator with heartfelt appreciation and best wishes for happiness and fulfillment in all future endeavor endeavors. Adopted by the Bound Brook Board of Education at the public meeting on June 25th, 2025. [Applause] Thank you, Mr. Bell, and members of the board of education. Okay, we um assuming there is there are no comments, we need to vote on this motion. So, we'll need a roll call vote. So, noted. Mr. Bell, yes. Mr. Dawson, yes. Miss Gazino, absolutely. Miss Hy, yes. Mr. Enalcer, yes. Mr. Januzi, absent. Mr. Minhas, Miss Mosen, Mr. Vulmer, and Mr. Zupo, yes. Mr. Acting Board President, motion passes. Okay. Um, that with that, Miss Have a few more things. Uh, Mr. Gorski. Oh, boy. Miss Hai, I think you're
005up next. Believe it or not, I have something to say. Yeah. So, um, Mike, we have a a little gift for you for from all the board members. And this is really kind of man cave stuff for you to enjoy. Um, I will tell you too, there is there are two other things coming that will be here shortly. Are you going to be here on the 30th? Yes, ma'am. Okay. So, we will see you before then, but I'm going to hand this over to you. And please know how appreciative we are of all that you have done for Bound Brook. It just touches our hearts very deeply. Miss Val, if I may just say a few brief words. I would like to very warmly express how much the recognition tonight feels. Uh I am so
006grateful to have been offered an opportunity to serve Dr. Freeman, the Bound Brook Board of Education and the Bound Brook community in Boundrook and the capacity of school business administrator board secretary in what may be defined as one of the most progressive and transitional periods in district history. Since I began work uh with Dr. Freeman. Through his and the board's vision, we redesigned the way that the board does business through public meetings as well as the establishment of a board by committee structure. The members work hard in deliberations each month. And as you've seen at the meetings, uh, each chair reports each month, um, the highlights of the meeting and that's shared publicly until formal board action can be executed commemorating the action item. In my opinion, this is the epitome of how a board
007should govern and operate and each member of this board of education um should feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment. Next, we overhauled the financial reporting structure so that the financial reports are balanced, relevant, and reliable. Our audit performance in the past two years has been unblenmished. But it is where the budget resources are being spent and deployed that is the most significant improvement. Approximately 60% to twothirds of all budget spending is now directed toward student instruction. Take a look at the new departments of ESL, bilingual, guidance, special services, technology, the uh various school designs, and especially the facilities department. We are now the envy of many other school districts and our peers. And we accomplished um simultaneously with these uh goals an increase of significant amounts in all of the district surplus and
008reserve accounts. I want to thank my wife and my son who are here. Um Karen, you heard every story, every challenge, every accomplishment. and um in the past 26 years, all the recognition that you hear tonight is truly yours. And certainly, it's without saying that God's perpetual overwatch listening and blessing, without such nothing would be possible. So, thank you very much. I I really cherish the opportunity and the time that I've spent here and the relationships that I'll always continue with and I I thank everybody for the opportunity. [Applause] Mike, I know everyone's spoken. I know we've spoken several times and I told you how much what you've done what you've meant. But in three years, I've watched you do what many times takes a a seasoned business administrator 10 to 12 years to do.
009What I admire most about you is one of course your financial stewardship as you call it, but the fact that you put children first. If ever anybody wanted something and they said kids needed it, you made it happen. That's what one of the things I admire most. And the second thing is you're just a great human being. you're you're from the old school in terms of being polite, thinking things through, and wanting to help people, and I appreciate that. I'm going to miss you very much. Um, but I know we'll stay connected. Miss Scorski, I want to thank you because you allowed us to have him the all those weekends he worked and those nights staying on the computer. So, we appreciate that and your family. But Mike, going to say on behalf of the
010whole community, we're going to miss you. We thank you for what you've done. And uh this won't be this it's not over. We'll stay in touch. Okay. Well, actually uh Mr. Superintendent, you are up next with your report. Okay. That was my report. All right. I believe we have a presentation. Yes, we have a presentation. Um Mr. Ross. Okay. for the presentation. We usually go down there so you can see the screen. We're coming down. What? I'm talking No, we got Yeah. Yeah, it's it'll open. We hope. So, as we transition here, I do want to echo everything that was said about Mr. Gorski. Um, I've been in this show for 30 years. Um, 28 actually, and a very impressive person as a human being, but also as a professional. So, enjoy all that you
011do after this journey. Now, and with that, we're going to look at our HIV report. This report is really about 23 24 and how we did, but I brought forward 2425 results so we have something to compare and understand. And I wanted to start with blue screen because that's what we're all familiar with. We're just waiting. Um, it's the blue screen of death. Remember that. Hey, you know, we've been there. We've done that. Um, so once it pops up, what we'll see is the tale of two wolves. I wanted to start off with that. It's a Cherokee um, story and HIB is really the goal is to help students better manage their emotions and make sure that they are seeing how the power of words can infect impact themselves and other people. So this tale
012when it comes up. So, the tale of two wolves. I'll read it for you and it'll pop up here at the screen. So, one evening an elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about the battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside all of us. One is evil, anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It's joy, peace, love, serenity, humility, kindness, bene benevolence, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. As Mr. Gorski reminded us of the grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather which wolf wins. The answer to that the grandfather said simply the one that you feed the one that you pay attention to. So for us, this is what we're trying to do.
013Teach students with social emotional learning to pay attention to and to feed the wolf that is joy, peace, love, hope, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. So I feel like we're going to have scene soon. Um so HIP numbers he's restarting. So what I will do is I will just start over here. It'll appear up there in a minute. So this is what you have to do. teach students how to improvise and manage as you go on the fly here. So, all right, perfect. So, we can switch over. So, there we are. Um, let me make sure. All right. So, then I can go back. Well, is it going back? Okay. And there we go. All right. So, we're back. So, I did want to start off with that tail to show you that we
014have focused on HIV training over the past year. So, together we thrive. There's communicative action, which is what we just talked about. What is it that we're feeding? What are we paying attention to? Uh that's been a major theme throughout. So, when we look at our HIV numbers, there's core elements that the state wants us to review. It's training, professional development, its curriculum and instruction, um and its instructional and staff engagement. So, these are the things that we needed to pay attention to. Last year's scores um helped us figure out things that we should do differently. So, we've done year-long HIV policy training for specialists. Um we targeted specialist training through state programs. We added um we'll see soon the high school two specialists rather than one to help us out. Those numbers will be
015something that we should be very proud of. Um the data that we viewed had led to conversations and now in Somalia in the high school we're working specifically with Dr. Joyce who you may have heard of who's dealing with social emotional and empowering students to believe in themselves. So one not only just the victim of HIV is being you know um helped but also the person who is the offender the you know proverbial bully who can then think about how they are acting impacting others. So another major component is the superintendent report that we give you on a weekly basis. The feedback between Dr. Freeman, myself, the lawyer and the board has really helped to change the structure of that and that I think has helped us address what we do with students and also
016how we present it. Um the curriculum we've revised the social emotional learning so we've moved beyond just the character the pillars of character for students and we have social emotional training. Um we have ongoing collaboration between all the specialists at the different schools smallie CMS and the high school. Um and then the SEAL programs courses are embedded into the classroom as well. Um so you can also see that there's uh annual districtwide HRB training. We've increased responsiveness to staff feedback. That was one of the reasons why we added two specialists at the high school rather than one. So, the other components are personnel structure enhancements. We had two new specialists at H uh at the high school. We've expanded multilingual um guidance staff. That's also helpful for supporting all of our students. We've increased access
017to student services through multiple specialists. So, we're targeting students uh needs, not just waiting for things to happen. um with the reporting and investigation process. We did school H uh level HIV incident reporting protocols. We've established those. We've reviewed those on a pretty much monthly and weekly basis. The other part is um we've re revised our investigation procedures where the counselor doesn't have to work with students who are on their case load. That was an important shift. So same thing with Sally. if the counselor is working with a student on their case load, they don't have to do the investigation. That was a very fruitful transition. Um, and again, the superintendent HIV reports that the board reviews on a weekly basis has become a very important component for us to think about and reflect on
018how we help students. Um so to that degree the HIV reporting culture is important that students feel comfortable coming forward that parents feel comfortable coming forward staff feel comfortable coming forward and saying something about it if they are feeling bullied harassed or intimidated. So I think we've done an important job with that. Um we've increased the collaboration between the principal myself um and the superintendent to make sure we're doing things. So here's a quick view of the numbers as a comparison. So this is a bit of extra not required by the state for this presentation but I think it's fruitful for us to get a sense of the changes that happened since last year. So from our 23 24 we had to 80 total HIVs reported. This year we only had you can see 57.
019So when we think about it I did a little bit of math and it's goes back to the story of the wolf right. What do we feed and and what are we focusing on the good or the negative? So when you think about it this year 57 total reported HIVs for 1,400 students right because mostly it's small CMS and the high school that's 1400 students 450 in smallie 250 in CMS 700 in the high school so 1400 students let's say they have 60 interactions a day right with anybody that's small that's 84,000 there's There's 180 school days. That's 15,120,000. So out of 15,120,000, we have 57 issues. One is too many. But it's what we feed. And I think we've done a very good job of addressing some issues. One thing I really want to
020highlight up there is you look at the high school from last year to this year, there is a dramatic drop. I think that's due in part to the process with the superintendent report. We have a new guidance department where we have a bilingual three bilingual um counselors. I think they also are very supportive in learning how to manage SEAL better and support our students. So I think that's been a very good piece. Um you can see that you know we've had a reduction in all HIVs. The main concern is still looking at the students in the fifth and sixth grade. That is probably one of the most I think difficult times as a young person. Why? Because you get the world of social media meeting you know um your inability to manage your words. And
021I think that's what we're trying to look at as we do this. So I wanted to show you that what we're getting is the great scores last year should be even better because we had nearperfect scores last year in 23 24. Um smallie is the one place last year where we were missing four points because you know there were a excessive number of HIVs but so here um unfortunately it's cut off the way it goes. So at Lamont annex it was a 78 out of 78 right we did not have any um HIVs last year at Lamont we did have one HIV this year so Lafayette again 78 out of 78 why no HIVs last year no HIVs this year so small was the only one where we scored four points off why because at
022that school we were seeing an increase in confirmed hi IBS uh from 23 24 we've seen the decrease as I showed you this year because of all the things that we're doing. So this report is really the verified data of 2324 and also I'm giving you what we did with that data which is to make distinct changes that are seen in our numbers and it's something I think we've talked about in executive session. Um, and then in the high school that was a 76 last year because we had 27 HIVs. But that's why I really wanted to and I'll end with this. Go back to that screen. For me, we had 24 HIVs reported last year at the high school. A high school is a very difficult time as well. um but nine reported and
023I think that really comes from the pieces that we're putting in place. We have Dr. Joyce, we have counselors who are having more um proactive conversations with students and I think we have the social emotional learning going on. So that's where we are for this report. So I think for me the key is together we thrive, right? That's really the main part of our whole strategic plan and we're seeing that in numbers, real numbers, and the reduction of HIVs, the reduction in confirmed HIVs, and for me, the way that we're supporting our students so that they feel safe to learn. So, are there any questions about that and where we are for 23 24 as well as you get a snippet of 20 ft of 2425? Yes, sir. So looking at the numbers I I
024see a really big decrease as you pointed out 29% in reports. Yes. The confirmed only a difference of five from 38 to 33. Yes. So my question is twofold. Number one, is the state more concerned with reported or founded? And secondly, what are we attributing that to in the report? It's such a big difference in reporting because it seems like I just look at the numbers, we're getting less less unfounded reports. In other words, it's as if we're getting better at reporting the right things and not the wrong things. So, what's the state and what are we how is that happening? So, you asked the question and kind of answered. I think we're doing a better job of again we can't control when a HIV is reported because a parent can report it at any
025time we are doing better right and I think for me um what may have hap you know when I start to look at it the teachers reporting is something that's more direct and focused so that's something where I know one conversations that I did have was you don't articulate that could be an HIB to a student in passing right it's not something that you say. So, we're being much more conscientious about, like I said, the words that you choose are important. So, teachers need to understand that that's not something that we utilize as a sort of way to um sort of manage. It's not a classroom management strategy to say, watch out, that could be an HIV because then again, that could lead to us having to have an HIV. So, I think we've done
026a better job that way. upsetting me at this. So I think you're you are right for me the key for us is to really go into the founded ones and understand what it is that's consistent amongst them and then try to support it that way. Is that based on both? It's a combination of both. Yeah. So it's it's that whole idea of for me when you get increases from year to year and it's also we're self-reporting this. Yes. Yeah. So and we self so this is all self-reported. So we are you know telling them what we have and what we found. Y that's where we are. Any other thoughts, questions, concerns? Yeah. Yeah. Well, technically there's 2200, right? So you could say 2100, but what you know what I was looking at was you know
027where they get reported most are small CMS in the high school. So that's 450 250 700 rounding up and that's about over 180 days. thinking about all the interactions that you're having during the day with other people. Yes. So we so no we do have a few students who are three or above and we really at smallie we have one or two students I mean anecdotally I can say we have one or two who are at the three. So we had two students this year who had three or more. I mean so it was three not more. Then we had right when you get three or more we have to create an action plan which we did. So at CMS we had one at the high school we had none. So we had three students
028who had who had you know three or more. So the others are one or two. Yeah. Yes. Yes. I mean, some of them are at this late of the year. Yes. Did they get followed in the next Great question. Absolutely. Yeah, that was one of the main pieces. We had a few within the past month where they hit the three mark like you said. So, we've already set up on the schedule for September 9th the meetings to have a mentor set up for a couple of them. we will literally have a mentor. We actually have students coming down from the high school to work with those students as a way of supporting them um and you know to to build camaraderie and to teach them pieces. So that was a component that we do. So
029literally I have on my calendar three meetings from planned for September 9th to do that. So we will be focusing on supporting those students. Yeah. discipline. Sure. something like year. Yeah. And like I said, our collaboration is ongoing and we just started another collaboration. So for me, I could sit down with the administration at each place and say, let's look at some of your discipline records and then break them down by category. Um, again, discipline can, you know, not necessarily lead to an HIV, but we could, yeah, absolutely. We could analyze the discipline and then compare it to what we see with the HIVs. Yeah. And I need to be really reinforcing that this is where parents could be doing this. So there multiple places where these reports could have come from. It's not just
030from students. A parent could have been making these. So we we are setting up I think an environment or a culture where parents are being supported um and their students are being supported and they're not need feeling the need to go to this road. So parents could be doing it, students could be doing it, teachers could be doing it, administration could be doing it. So those who can report in HIV are multi-layered. So it's not just relying on a student to be doing it. Oftent times it's really not the students. We do have a lot of teachers. We do have a lot of parents. And then of course the students do report it. But so that I think is an important element. Again, we're back to the wolves, what we focus on, what we feed.
031Thank you for the idea. We will focus on that. Other questions? Thank you. Thank you. Yep. [Music] You good? Are you sleeping? I guess. [Music] Okay, everybody ready? Okay. [Music] Okay, up next, uh, we have our student board member report. You have anything for us, Mr. Russell? Hello. So for this month for sports news, girls softball has ended their season as the sectionals group one state champions as well as second in all team conference. Congratulations to these ladies for working so hard this season. Really putting Bound Brook on the map. Three of our Bound Brook softball athletes, Rachel Gereski, Isabella Maruziaak, and Kate Kuno were selected for first team all-conference athletes. This award honors athletes who show outstanding performances in their sport throughout their season. So, congratulations yet again. The spring boys and girls track
032and field season has come to an end with many athletes placing at sectionals moving up to groups. One of our top athletes, Dawson John Baptiste, placed for New Balance Outdoor Nationals and gave me the following sentiment about it. He said that New Balance Outdoor Nationals was very exciting. The stadium was big and there was a lot of people in the audience. He got to the sand pit and it was just the jumpers and basically the whole field was empty. There was a lot of opportunities for college coaches and recruiters to reach out to the athletes. Hopefully, track and field will be able to continue this and send athletes to more opportunities such as outdoor nationals next year. The boys soccer team has had their first practice today at the field, beginning a new and hopeful
033season with many new players and even more returning players. As for our school school news, we've had a lot as the year has come to an end. So, first we have graduation. On June 18th at the football field, the graduating senior class of 2025 got their diplomas and celebrated their hard work and dedication towards academics. They also celebrated senior awards which took place in the theater on June 5th with many of our seniors earning scholarships and prestigious awards to honor their hard work over the past four years. Bound Brook has had their first ever friendship day on June 12th at the field which was a field day full of fun activities with the goal of spreading positivity and enhancing our school's environment. There was also the varsity banquet which took place on May 28th celebrating
034the hard work and dedication of varsity athletes here at the high school. We also had our third blood drive of the year which took place on June 3rd with 86 total donations. The junior and senior prom took place at the Park Villa on the 22nd of May with over 150 students coming together to celebrate and dance with their friends. There was also a National Thespian Honor Society induction on June 12th, which honors performing arts students who has put at least 100 hours into their performances. There was also a National English Honor Society induction on June 10th, which honored students who excel in the English language. And finally, many students from the high school took part of the annual New Jersey torch run, running from the start of the high school all the way to Shopright.
035And that's it. Thank you. Uh I also want to point out since you mentioned softball that I think it was just yesterday I saw online that uh coach Duca was also named the Courier News softball coach of the year this year. So [Applause] and thank you for your report. Any questions for Mr. Musen? No. Okay. Then we're going to move to uh committee reports. We're starting with education with Mr. Dawson. Thank you, Mr. Bell. Uh, we had an awesome education meeting a couple weeks ago. Uh, we had the pleasure of hearing from some of our high school students in the AVID program. Um, and we were to say we were impressed, I think, is an understatement. Uh, so the kids told us all about the program and how it benefits them. And a few things
036were were really clear to us. One is that it's it's more than just the program. It opens opportunities for our kids, teaches them about options they may have after high school in many cases brings their family along for the journey as well. Uh it exposes kids to college career options and also really important skills uh particularly executive functioning skills. So the kids are able to share with us um some very practical ways the program helps them. They have a standardized uh way of taking notes. they have a a formal way of identifying um what's causing them to be confused or misunderstand a concept and how to uh seek help. Uh it's clear the program has a lot of alignment and it was neat to see uh the perspective of the freshman all the seniors and
037it's clear that the teachers are aligned in their practice and that the students are indeed growing and progressing uh through the program. The students were uh articulate, positive, enthusiastic, and we were all very excited to hear about their experiences um and excited that our district offers that program. And that was our uh education meeting. Thank you. Anybody have any questions, comments for Mr. Dawson? I was in attendance of that meeting. I have to say it was it was very impressive. the the presentations were were really great, very impressive. Uh I'm next on governance and it was very short. This will take just a minute. Um we first discussed the superintendent evaluation which you know has been completed and will be uh presenting to Dr. Freeman tonight in executive session. We also very briefly discussed um
038our next options on board trainings. Uh I'm going to be reaching out to some of you just to get some ideas. We're thinking as a committee, are there any other resources besides NJSBA that may what we might want to go out and look for? We don't know that they exist. I I did a quick Google search and didn't find anything, but they may be out there. Of course, our concern then would be, do we get the credits for them if we don't go through NJSBA? And we don't know the answer to that. So, I'll reach out to all of you through email. Uh I do have to dig up that um I took that survey maybe it's been a year ago at this point of what what content we'd like to be trained on. So
039I'll reach out to all of you on that. U we do know that there are consultants out there but again we have to find them and we just don't know if we'll get credit. So that was really all we discussed at governance. It was very short this month. Any questions for me? All right that brings us to HR Miss High. So, we start every HR meeting looking at um just the spreadsheet with new hires, resignations, etc. And just happy to say that we're on our way to filling the open positions and you're going to see a number of them tonight um on the agenda. Um and we're encouraged to see the number of applicants that are looking to to join into Bound Brooks. So that's an ongoing process and it truly is when they say
040a live document, it's a live document because it's forever it's ever changing. Um we also discussed extracurricular amendments and it was um addressing some corrections. There was one where we had two coaches for one position. So that pay had to be split between the two. So that was one of the things and just ensuring that all the clubs uh and the extracurriculars were listed accurately. Uh we also talked about the uh job description for the ESL supervisor and we uh just discussed the draft of that and which now has been uh implemented and our ESL supervisor is going to help to bring all the aspects um that to the department that are mandated so that we are following everything that we need to for the state. Um there's also going uh an HR title change
041which will be an HR change to HR specialist. And with this change, this person will then be reporting directly to the superintendent. And that is it for HR. Okay. Thank you for your report. Does anyone have any questions for Miss High? Miss Hy, by the way, while I have your attention, uh was there some county this this month? Yes. Okay. Okay. We stand by. Next is operations with Mr. Zupkco. Okay, operations was a great short meeting. So, uh we discussed three main things. We discussed the high school sign. Committee members deliberated on their district initiative to replace the old high school sign. They discussed the style and design. They also uh considered funding opportunities and additionally the district initiative to replace all the remaining electronic signs was discussed. Contract Legacy Studios for photo and yearbook
042services. As per the request of committee member Miss Gazino, the committee discussed specific disappointments with the previous year's yearbooks as they discussed the possibility of switching vendors. I've also had a number of constituents come up to me and discuss this as well. Dr. Freeman was will also collaborate with the yearbook adviser to express the committee's expectations. And finally, collaborative discussion between Dr. Freeman and the M municipality. Dr. Freement entertained the committee's interest in shared services with the town. He mentioned the outcome of recent meetings intended to share mainly facility upgrade costs with town. More communication will continue as progress is being made. And that ends uh Mr. Vice President operations meeting notes. Any questions? Wow, Mr. Zupa, that was great. Very concise. I was I was under an hour. That was well very well done.
043Very well done. Any questions there? Okay, Miss High, we're back to you with Somerset County Ed Services. Mine is not as brief. I'm sorry. So, we met on uh June 4th and the Somerset County Ed Services Commission, they do their reorganization in June. Unlike us, we do it in January. So, we went through all of the things that need to be addressed there. and they had the election of the board of directors and this is comprised of representatives from each district that sends students to the ESC. Um, oh pleased to share with you that um I am going to be serving as the vice president. So well thank you thank you and in addition going to be on the committee uh serving NJSBA as well. Um the enrollment presently at ESC is 165 students. They
044started the year with 135. So that's a pretty good increase. Um there were 28 graduates this year. They had two ceremonies. They had a um the the graduation ceremony for the seniors and then they had the eighth grade um move up. It it's a smaller population, but it was a very it was just a nice nice ceremony. Both ceremonies were very nice. Um, their ESY program has 60 students presently. Um, there was a new vice principal hired. So now there is a a principal and vice principal on each of the floors. Uh, for the facilities, they're updating um the classroom capacity. Uh, they have reorganized where the counselors are to make more room for students. And that is it. That wasn't too bad. Okay. Anybody have any questions for Miss High? And lastly, we have
045Mr. Incitara. Anything from uh southbound this? Yes. Actually, on June 13th, we had the eighth grade graduation in Memorial Park. At our most recent board meeting, we released our NJSPA strategic uh strategic plan. We accomplished our superintendent review and we prepped for the roof which is going to be starting in two weeks. Materials are being delivered currently. That's it. Okay. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Encotera? No. Okay. Then we move on to section five. Uh we are up to guid um excuse me open to the public for agenda items only. Um I will read the rules just in case anyone would like to speak. In accordance with district poly policy 0167 public participation in board meetings. Members of the public are required to sign in either at the podium providing their name address and
046group affiliation if applicable. When addressing the board please state your name and address and limit comments to agenda items only directed to the presiding officer. Each participant is allowed three to five minutes to speak. No individual may address the same topic more than once until all others wishing to speak have had an opportunity to do so. Is there anyone who would like to speak on agenda items? Okay, come on up. Sign in for us. Good evening. My name is Constance Charleston. I live at 219 West High Street. My son just graduated and I still have one child left in the district who's in the high school. Um I am glad to see that under operations there was mention of the yearbook. When we received that for the substantial price of $75 per yearbook, I spent
047$150 and I did question what did I purchase? Um, pages 30 to 31, there were two full pages of what was quoted camera shy seniors. So, I was a little surprised to see the number of seniors. I'm sure there were other factors that went into that. Looking at the um time frame, we start in September. You know, we end in June. My expectation was there would have been some mechanism to accomplish perhaps getting those pictures taken. And of course, I don't know all the details regarding that. The second thing was that on page 119 there were 14 clubs that were camera shy. Number 14 was the yearbook club. That to me spoke out very clearly that there is an issue because if not even the yearbook club which should have been to my knowledge meeting
048on a regular could assemble to get a photo opportunity. You know that just spoke volumes to me. Um, I did not expect to see the yearbook club listed there. Um, there were other locations where I thought that you would have listed the name of club members. So, there were some spots where they were listed, some not. I mean, there's obviously there's been notice taken. There were various areas. The other thing is I'm a person who happens to like a lot of color. I've been to back to school nights and different events. you have some very artistic and gifted students and it would be nice to see some of that presented on the pages as backgrounds. I mean, even if it's something that's not um on a canvas, whether it's a photograph, I mean, another item,
049if somebody does some type of a clay vase, you can photograph that. That could become highlighted. You know, just some suggestions, but that is the one item that spoke to me um very clearly. And I thought that I'm very happy to hear you're going to look at another company um going forward. Yes. In addition to that, we're going to put some uh some timelines in place and some measures to take care of just the issues that you discussed. It was uh really discussed extensively at the committee meeting and the same concerns were shared. So, we're going to put a plan in place for next year to make sure that doesn't happen going forward. Thank you very much. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay, that moves us to item 6.1, which is approval of minutes. Be resolved
050that the Bound Brook Board of Education upon recommendation of the superintendent approves the minutes of the following meetings, regular and executive meeting minutes of May 21st, 2025. Can I have a motion? Is that Mr. Dawson? And a second motion. And thank you, Mr. Zupkco. Any comments, concerns about the the minutes? Okay. Can we have a roll call, please? Mr. Bell, abstain. I was not here that meeting. So noted. Thank you. Mr. Dawson, yes. Miss Gazino, yes. Miss Hy, yes. Mr. Inc. Mr. Minhas, Miss Musen, Mr. Wulmer, and Mr. Zupkco. Motion passes. Thank you. We move to item 7.1. Be it resolved, the superintendent recommends for approval of the resolutions as outlined in district personnel resolutions 7.2 to 7 point. This might be a record 73. So hopefully you've had time to read them over. If
051you haven't, I'll give you a second to take a look in case you have notes and you want to comment. But uh can while you're looking, can I get a motion? Thank you, Mr. Incitera. And a second. Thank you, Miss High. I'll give you a second before we ask for comments. Okay. Did anybody have any comments or questions on those 72 items? Yes, I have to abstain from 7.40. Okay. Anyone else? Don't want to go too fast on this one, but seeing none. And we have a roll call, please. Yes, sir. Mr. Bell, yes. Mr. Dawson, yes. Miss Gazino, yes. Miss Hy, yes. Mr. Incalcera, yes. Mr. Minhas, yes. Miss Musen, Mr. Fulmer, and Mr. Mr. Zupco, it's noted you're abstaining on 7.40. How do you vote on the rest? Yes. Thank you, sir. Motion
052passes. Thank you. Moving to 8.1. Um, approval of district education resolutions. Be it resolved, the Bound Brook Board of Education approves the resolutions as outlined in district education resolutions. These are 8.2 just to 8.5. Can I have a motion? Thank you, Mr. Analatera. And a second. Who was that? Was that Mr. Minhas? Thank you, Mr. Minhas. Any questions? Congratulations. We're all good. Okay. Can we have a roll call, please? Mr. Bell, yes. Mr. Dawson, yes. Miss Gazino, yes. Miss Hy, yes. Mr. Incalcera, yes. Mr. Minhas, yes. Miss Men, Mr. Wulmer, and Mr. Zupkco, yes. Motion passes. Okay. 9.1 uh board action resolutions be it resolved. The Bound Brook Board of Education approves the resolutions as outlined in board action resolutions. This is 9.2 through 9.55. Can I have a motion? Thank you, Miss High. Second.
053Thank you, Miss Gazino. Any Well, I'll give you a second on this has 54. So, go ahead and take a second. So, I have a question on uh 9.7. Is this the same organization that we've been with? It is. And uh go ahead. I just have concerns. Uh I'll leave it at that. Yes, Mr. Gorsy. Mr. Bell, motion to table as a priority motion. Who moved the motion? Who wants credit for the motion on tableabling? You could put table it. Is that your motion? Okay. Miss High for the motion and a second and Mr. Minha seconds. Who was the one who moved the motion? Miss High. Miss High. I beg your pardon. Okay. Moved by Miss Hy, seconded by Mr. Minhas. Uh, we'll take a roll call on tableabling the motion. Mr. Bell, yes. Mr.
054Dawson, yes. Miss Cazino, yes. Miss Hy, yes. Mr. Incalcitara, yes. Mr. Minhas, Miss Musen, Mr. Bulmer, and Mr. Zupo, yes. Item has been tabled. Okay. Were there any questions or comments on anything else in section nine? So, has it 934 was that? Yeah. Mhm. [Applause] We're going with another company and we couldn't we don't start with them until July. So, they're going to give us that month. Okay. Anyone else? I know there was a donation. Oh, there it is. 43. Yes. Wanted to publicly thank them for their donation of movie tickets and candy from My Good Works, Inc. And um one of the things that are on that's on the agenda this um this month is and I'm looking for the actual one. I want to say it's 52. Um it's the the donation from
055the alumni association for the athletic hall of fame. This is huge. If you look in the by the gymnasium where all of that is. I mean it goes back years and years. And I'll tell you truly, it's something that everybody who has come to Braai is so proud of. But the alumni association is redoing the entire thing and in a really big way. Um the it's their contribution. Can I say how much it is? It's in there for $45,000 that is going to really update this thing. It's going to look spectacular. Yeah. The renderings are amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And yes, and thank you for all the graphics that really showed how um how it's going to be executed. It's just very exciting to see that and that the position of it like you you'll see
056the gymnasium and boom, you'll see it right there. It's just going to be wonderful. So, a big thank you to the Bound Brook Alumni Association. Thank you so much. Definitely. Um Mr. Gorski, question for 9.10. Does there have to be an abstension on the members that will be attending? Yes, sir. Uh if that's the Atlantic City workshop or school board's workshop, I think it is. It's always recommended to uh abstain. So, we may have a pro. We do. We have enough people to vote in that case. I one, two, three, four, five, five of us are attending. Is that okay? If five of us abstain, you would be abstaining on your individual participation, not the group vote on the whole resolution. Oh, okay. There would only be one abstension for you personally and it would
057still pass. So, I would need to abstain on 910, but only on yourself. Just just on myself, right? Just on myself. So, not on Okay, that makes sense. and who are you know anything else is an eventful section nine Mr. Bell yes if I may just highlight two um items in the report 9.44 is a very detailed technical resolution to approve the lease purchasing financing subsequent to public bidding where Webster Bank had the low bid of 3.57% for an interest rate for a 5-year lease purchase. And 9.48 is the culmination of a very interesting bidding process for custodial services. And what had happened here was the the low bid, the second lowest bid, and the third lowest bid all refused to accept the contract when offered it. So we are now at the fourth lowest
058bid who happens to be Pritchard Industries for a slight increase to where their rate was this year. So it's still well within the budget. Um but it was just a a very unorthodox process to get here. I'm just curious as I'm not familiar with these process. Is that common that they would put a number to bid and then not accept their own number? That seems very strange. table that no that uh not recommended to be tabled because we need to award that. But um we're not going to have schools cleaned on July 1st. The good thing is I confirm with Pritchard Industries they are able to perform the contract that still their staff they're assuming back and they'll be paying some acred wages and acred bonuses to these staff that simply put was unattractive to
059the first three low bidders. Mr. Mayorman, would you like to add? Yeah, I mean you're in this position right now. Um theoretically you could award it to one of the other low biders with the understanding they're going to refuse to perform. The problem you're going to have is July one, you'll have nobody in the schools and until you either force that uh vendor to honor the contract, which they've already acknowledged they're not going to. Um, so you would basically go down the list which uh come to Pritchard who is willing to honor their bid and they're currently the vendor. So I think in order to evol in avoid the problem that for the summer you have no custodial services um I think um I would join with Mike in recommending um the you know next
060low bidder with the understanding that the other ones have acknowledged in writing that they are not going to honor their bid. [Music] Okay. Anything else from section nine? No. Okay. So, with that, we need a vote noting that 9.7 has been tabled. Mr. Gorski. Yes, sir. Okay. Uh, Mr. Bell. Yes. I'm I'm sorry. I beg your pardon. on uh 9.10 my own travel expenses. So noted Mr. Dawson. Yes. Miss Gazino. Yes. Miss Hy. Yes. So noted. Mr. Inc. Mr. Minhas. Yes. Miss Musen. Yes. Mr. Wulmer. Thank you. And Mr. Zupkco. Yes. extension on and these extensions are clearly just for your participation, not the rest of the group in the resolution. Yes. Thank you. Um Mr. Acting Board President, motion passes. Okay. Thank you. Um that brings us to 10 uh other matters to come
061before the board and new business. I didn't hear anything, but does anyone have anything to bring to the board? I just wanted to congratulate administration uh the upper administration uh principles the graduation ceremonies for 8th grade in the high school were incredible the students were fantastic the public was incredible it was you couldn't have asked for a better um situation and uh I think and I I had mentioned this to Dr. Freeman. I think going forward, uh, the high school graduation at night was really spectacular with the lights. Um, and I was just I I couldn't tell you how excited I was for all of the parents in the in the audience how um it it just everyone was just was was just so excited. And uh the security the we uh want to thank
062the Bound Brook Police Department, they were there and EMS was there. So, it was just an incredible night and I just wanted to thank the parents, uh, the principles, administration, but specifically all of our students that did such a great job representing Bound Brook and and I know that I speak for the board that we want to wish everyone uh well and uh and uh you you've done us proud. So, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Zeppco. And I I agree that the the night ceremony was great. I know that was a a difficult decision at the time. We weren't sure indoor later with the with the weather what was going to happen and it turned out really well. Better than I think we we had hoped. And uh not that our our vote counts for
063much, but I agree. I think I think an 8:00 ceremony going forward would be awesome for sure. And it was a little bit cooler. Yes, it has been hot out there some years for sure. Anything else? Okay, then we are going to go to uh section 12. I'm not going to read the whole comment again, but it's the same rules, 3 to 5 minutes. Uh does anybody have any anything from the floor? Come on up. Constance Charleston, 219 West High Street, Bound Brook. Um both are referring to graduation. Um one of which was for the high school. Um, personally, I would have liked to have known, for example, when I got the notice for high school that gave details on how my son could decorate his um, cap and if he could wear a stole,
064you know, what was appropriate. um with that much detail. It would have been really nice to have known ahead of time this is this is the backup plan and it you know how many people would be allowed to attend if the backup plan was enacted ahead of time. Um we're in a position this year where we have several family members out of state who due to other health concerns etc were not allow able to come but we also have our New Jersey family and you know sometimes we have people who are driving you know in excess of an hour hour and a half so for us you know and that's personal it differs from person to person but it really would have been nice to have that clearly stated somewhere this is a backup plan
065this is where it is. And to be honest, my son came home with his cap and gown on a Friday. He had four invitations. My first question to him was, "So, if this is held indoors, we've had a lot of rain. Does that mean you get four people attending?" He goes, "No, I don't know why I have four. I think it's only two." So, I did clarify that with the high school when I called the following week. But, you know, to me, that made sense. If I have four invitations, that was my first thought. I don't know if any other parent had that thought. So, that is something going forward. It'd be kind of nice to have that clarified. The second item is, and I had spoken with Miss Jordan at the high school, but
066I've noticed this because um I attended both the eighth grade and the high school graduation. Both times there was somebody taking photos on the field. Um, a couple parents had mentioned it to me who had eighth graders. Um, and some of the response they got was, "Nobody seemed to know who this was." When I spoke um with Miss Jordan at the high school, nobody knew who that was. Maybe somebody from the career news um what I put out to her was that I don't I understand clearly when she shared with me the budget is already set for next year. Um this district doesn't do some districts do a bigger project graduation which is totally you know much bigger than what I'm proposing. But she said if I had any suggestions to contact her because I
067was thinking along the lines of wouldn't it be nice for graduation if and I'd be willing to work with somebody through the school or if we could get some other parent volunteers um to have somebody photograph each student as they take receive not take but rather receive their diploma. And you know what? Um, I actually kind of did a little research because, um, somebody I haven't looked into this, but somebody said there's something called class wish. Um, I'm not certain if that would cover anything towards any type of photographer fees or, you know, we can get somebody locally to donate some time because the other thing would it be it would be nice if a parent had the option to purchase that photo. Um, I know that there's New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
068I don't know if through the year, this probably isn't the time of year that they would be posting. If maybe that's somewhere where there'd be some type of funding. Um, and there's the New Jersey Schoolird Association. Um, I know they have something innovative projects. I don't know if that would pertain to graduation. Um, as I said, I just started looking at it. Um, but I did tell her I was willing to assist with something. And you know what? Even if it was something smaller that as you come in the gate, if we had three balloon arches where if people can do like a two, three minute pause and a photo with this with their, you know, child in the gown or something. I mean, you know, if we get something bigger accomplished, um, I just
069want to put it out there that I'm more than willing and I don't know how long volunteer fingerprints are valid for. That kind of slips my memory. I was val I, um, was fingerprinted last year for the eighth grade trip. Um I had to have knee surgery did not go but I don't know if I would need to be refing but if we can I would definitely be interested and you know work with somebody towards something because I think that every year at graduation our students even when my kids when my last one graduates in three years I think every year is important for our students. So I just wanted to put that out there. Okay. Thank you. Points well taken. Well, um I think you have really good ideas, something we had talked about
070after the graduation, but uh we'll definitely um look at putting those things in place and I'll reach out back out to you to let you know if you how you could help us. Okay, great. Thank you. I would greatly appreciate that because I mean to me the sooner and I would more than willing be absolutely. Thank you. Hey, thank you. Thank you for your comments. Okay, anybody else? Okay. Then our next item is to move to executive session. Resolve the Genber board of education. Enter executive session as allowed by NJSA. Sorry about this. 10 4-11 for the purpose of Mr. Marman number 147 and 8. Big one tonight. 147 and 8. Can I have a motion? Thank you, Mr. Incalcera. And a second. Second. I believe we just go all in favor this time, right,
071Mr. Gorski. Yes, sir. All in favor? I We are in executive. Okay. So, I'm going leave that and take a walk with me to close session. Okay, we are back from executive session. Um, the first thing that we need to do, I need to um ask for a motion uh to formally recognize that we met with the superintendent and reviewed his evaluation. Uh motion for Mr. Encoter. Give the second to Miss High. Do we uh roll call that? Okay. Yes. She had to step out. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Uh we do not have to move anything on 14 because we didn't have any high school hips this month. So we move to 15. Uh item 15.1. Be it resolved the Bound Brook Board of Education the approval of the resolutions as outlined in approval of
072HIP cases under middle and elementary schools. That's 15.2. Can I have a motion? Thank you, Mr. Dawson. And a second. Second. Thank you, Mr. Zupkco. Can uh any I guess we don't have comments on Hibs, so can This is the last roll call for Mr. Gorski. Yes. Because a German is not a roll call. Yes. This is it. [Music] It's a lot of pressure. Mr. Bell, yes. Mr. Dawson, yes. Miss Gazino, yes. Miss Hy, yes. Mr. Incalcera, Mr. Minhas, Miss Musen. Uh, Mr. Wulmer, Mr. Zupkco, the last one. Yes. You know, you could have just held it and he would never leave. Acting board president. Motion passes. And a sincere and heartfelt thank you to the board members for all of your service to the board. Okay. And with that, the Bon Brook Board of
073Education adjourns. Can I have a motion? Mr. Zubco in a second. Uh, yeah. Before we adjourn. That's right. Actually, our new BA is actually in attendance and has waited all this time. So, welcome officially and congratulations to you. You Thank you for waiting while we sat in there for an hour or whatever that was. That's very And she's kind. How nice. Okay. Uh we had a second. I think it was Miss Gazino. Okay. And all in favor of adjournment. I we are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.