001Okay, that that was you. >> Yes. >> Okay. Um and then can I have a motion to go into executive session? >> Second. >> Perfect. th meeting of the board of education of Branchburg. Please be advised that this and all meetings of the board are open to the public and media consistent with the open public meetings act laws of 1975 and that advanced notice required therein have been provided. This is a meeting of the board of education of Branchburg at which formal action will be taken. The public will have an opportunity to be heard as shown on the agenda. Can we please stand for the pledge of 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
002all. >> Thank you. Have a seat. >> Can I please get a roll call? Mr. Mr. Blousestein >> here. >> Dr. Criy >> here. >> Mr. Halenback, Mr. Krishna Murdy >> here. >> Mr. Mater, >> Miss Smith >> here, >> Mr. Tuma >> here, >> Mr. Sai >> here, >> Mr. Carpetier. I will now hand it over to Dr. Burton for the superintendence report. >> Okay, we have a couple of uh spotlight recipients this evening. Uh Natalie Kirkpatre uh from Stonybrook, grade five teacher. Uh the person who acknowledged the spotlight award said that Natalie exemplifies kindness, dedication, and professionalism. Her positive impact on students and colleagues helps make Stonybrook a welcoming and supportive place for all. And also we have Emily Ronssky. Um Emily is a special education teacher here at BCMS. Um Emily exemplifies
003dedication, teamwork, p compassion, and professionalism. Her positive impact on students, families, and colleagues helps make BCMS a welcoming and successful place for all of our students. Okay. Each year, the Somerset County Board of Education presents the State Board of Education Outstanding Achievement Award to a student who demonstrates exceptional character and service. On the morning of March 18th, after being alerted to a fire by his mother, this courageous fourth grade student sprang into action. With a baby brother at home and a rapidly spreading fire in his apartment complex, this brave student went door to door to alert his neighbors. ensuring their safe evacuation. I can almost not even say this. This evening, on behalf of the board of education, it is my honor to recognize the recipient of this year's state board of education outstanding achievement
004award. A distinction given for his extraordinary bravery and quick thinking goes to fourth grade Stony Brook student Noah Sutton McMillan. As part of this, we have a proclamation to celebrate the level of courage and maturity that he showed. So, I'd like to read it in the face of this honoring Noah Sutton McMillan for his heroic efforts. Whereas on March 18th, 2026 at 5:45 a.m. fire tore through his apartment complex. Noah Sutton McMillan made the courageous decision to go door to door knocking to alert neighbors of the fire. And whereas a swiftly alerting his neighbors to ensure that they were aware of the rapidly spreading fire, Noah through his quick thinking and heroic actions, many families were safely evacuated. Whereas his courage bravely ensured that the 23 families who were living in the in that building
005suffered no injury despite the devastating loss. And whereas he has been selected to receive the summer county state board of education 2025 26 outstanding achievement. out there complaint guy superintendent of the board of education and the township board of education hereby recognize Noah Sutton McMillan's current and outstanding performance in the emergency situation quick response helped to ensure that many families were evacuated safely CONGRATULATIONS YES, we'll be taking a short recess. Thank you. I'd like to acknowledge I'd like to share the uh annual school wellness report on an annual basis. Uh we as a district are required to share with the board and the district's progress towards student wellness, nutrition, and physical activity goals in compliance with policy 855. This evening, I'd like to acknowledge some of the key accomplishments and a few program highlights. Uh
006we are fully compliant with the federal school meal and healthy hunger-free kids act of 2010. Uh this is the federal law that sets strict nutritional guidelines for child nutrition programs. We have met the smart snacks standard, leveraged USDA local foods for school funding and the New Jersey farm-toschool grant to increase fresh locally grown produce by way of the harvest of the month tasting and farm to school week. Students participate in menu planning through the food advisory committee with Mashios, our food provider. Our cafeterias are age appropriate, use age appropriate signage and strategic placement to encourage healthy choices. Our K8 uh health instruction is aligned with the NJSLS and is taught by certified staff. Core concepts range from breakfast benefits in grade two, balanced eating choices in by grade five, and analyzing nutritional wellness habits by
007grade eight. Regarding physical activity, daily recess is maintained at all three of our buildings. There are also supplemental supplemented by classroom brain breaks. Extracurricular clubs are available districtwide with competitive sports at BCMS. Classroom food items again are vetted by our administration and nurses to manage allergies and onampus food fundraisers are avoided. The district wellness committee again met four times this year to review progress. And as they look to the future, they are considering additional initiatives such as a studentled winter wellness presentation, districtwide wellness week sometime in March for family activity nights, water bottle filling station hydration challenges, and options for review for donating unopened and unneeded food. Overall, Branchburg is in good standing with the USDA and NJDA. The full report uh will be noted in tonight as part of our official meetings for tonight's
008uh meeting and will also be accessible on the district website homepage. Couple other items just to giving congratulations to all of our students with regard to their sports, the musical, music, and art. Sports teams are looking to wrap up their seasons as well as our students who have been uh taking part in their building concerts uh not too long ago, the middle school musical, music in the parks, and teen arts events. Congratulations again to all of our students for their dedication to practicing being part of a member of a respective team or ensemble or group and taking part in being connected to their school beyond the school day. And finally, just wanting to share a great job on completing the NJSLA. Our grade three through eight students are required to be assessed annually in elements
009of ELA math science. uh it's number of hours again that they are required to sit and take these assessments and we want to let them know that they did a great job in persevering through the many hours of testing that is required of them. That concludes my report. Thank you Dr. Burton. Um this brings us to public comment on agenda items only. Okay. The board of education recognizes the value of public comments on educational issues and school matters of community interest. In support of this position, the law establishes a period a period of public comment at every board meeting. Individuals wishing to speak must state their name and place of residence. Comments are limited to three minutes per person for a total of 30 minutes. An individual may speak a second time after all others
010who wish to speak on the topic have been heard. Please understand that our public forums are not structured as question and answer sessions, but offered as opportunities to share your thoughts with the board. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer and no participants may address or question board members individually. All speakers are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy rights of others whose legal rights may be affected. Please note, while it is not the board's intention to stifle comments on matters of legitimate concern to the school community, the public should be aware that if their statements violate the rights of others under the law governing defamation or invasion of privacy, they may face personal liability to the injured party. If speakers are uncertain of
011the legal ramifications of their comments, the board board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their own legal advisor. Public comments. All right. So next on the agenda is governance. Uh there is no report. However, we do have some voting voting items. Uh one, approval of minutes. Two, approval of harassment, intimidation or bullying investigative reports. Three, approval of harassment, intimidation bullying findings report. And that's it. Uh can I have a motion to move these items? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Correct. Any questions or comments? Great. Can I please have a roll call? >> Mr. Blousing? >> Yes. >> Dr. Celebrity? >> Yes. >> Mr. Krishna Murie? >> Yes. >> Miss Smith? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tuma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Desai? >> Yes. >> Perfect. Next on the agenda is policy and I do have
012a report. Uh the policy committee met on May 7th and you'll see on first reading today we are uh voting on some items. Um a lot of these are just revisions um as advised by Strauss Esme. Some of them are out of date for in the first few are out of date and we're just updating them. Um, some of them we are just changing some like words in there including changing pupil to student which you'll see a lot of them for and that's all we're changing. It's just that verbiage in there. Um, and then the last we are abolishing. Okay. The one that we are abolishing you'll see here that are going to be abolished are ones that are either out of date or we're not able to do such as remote board meetings. Some
013of them are uh is repetitive of another policy that we have. So, we replace that entirely. Um and the last one that you'll see is a school security program. So, I just wanted to kind of read something off of that. Um the policy committee had a discussion on the school security program as it relates to the security officers. We had an in-depth discussion on the requirements, certifications, and trainings that will be required as they begin in the fall. We will have further discussion in preparation for the first reading at the June board meeting. Okay. Um so we are voting on one policy and regul first reading and two policy and regulations that we are abolishing. Any questions or sorry can I have a motion to move these items? >> Perfect. Any questions or comments? >>
014Perfect. Can I please have a roll call? >> Mr. Blouse. >> Yes. >> Dr. Criy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Christian Mury. >> Yes. >> Miss Smith. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tuma. >> Yes. >> Mr. Desai. >> Yes. >> Next we have curriculum and instruction. Mr. Christian Mury. Do you have a report? >> Uh, no report. >> Perfect. We do have voting items on this as well. One, conference and travel. Two, approval of student teacher. Three, approval of revisions of contracted service. Four, approval of acceptance of out of district students for 2026 2027. Five, approval of service agreement and six, approval of contracted service. Um, any questions or comments on that? >> Sorry. Can I have a motion to move these items? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Any questions, comments? >> Who second it? >> I
015then can I please have a roll call? >> Mr. Blouse? >> Yes. >> Dr. Criy? >> Yes. >> Mr. Christian Murdy? >> Yes. >> Miss Smith? >> Yes. >> Mr. Tuma? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sai? Yes. Okay. Next we have personnel um report right now but we do have voting items. One, approval of 2025 2026 substitutes. Two, approval of revision of mentoring. Three, approval of leave. Four, approval of revision of personnel. Five, approval of 2026 2027 black seal stipens. Six, approval of precision of personnel. Seven, approval of summer hours. Eight, approval of personnel. Nine, approval of 2026 2027 substitutes. 10, approval of additional ESY hours. 11, approval of extra duty hours. 12, approval of 2026 2027 substitute teachers and substitute instructional aids. One second. Sorry. 13. Approval of vision of a unified sports hours. Did
016I miss something? 10. Approval of additional ESY hours. 11. Approval of extra duty hours. 12. Approval of revision of co-curricular club. 13. Approval of revision of unified sports hours. 14. Approval of additional unified sports hours. And 15 approval of revision of leave. 16. Approval of 2026 2027 substitute teachers and substitute instructional aids. Can I have a motion? >> Motion >> to move these items. Okay. >> Second. Um any questions or comments? >> Just one quick one. Uh on number five, what is the distinction of a black seal stipent? >> So these are our um custodial staff that they need to have that in order to by law you have to have a black seal in your so we just taken it out because it's a statement. >> Excellent. >> That we pay for. >> Okay.
017Thank you. >> Can I have a roll call, please? Mr. Blousey. >> Yes. >> Dr. Celebrity. >> Yes. >> Mr. Krishna Mie. Yes, >> Miss Smith. >> Yes, >> Mr. Tuma. >> Yes, >> Mr. Sar. Yes. >> Okay. Next, we have finance and facilities. Mr. Tuma, do you have a report? >> Uh, quick report. Uh, the finance and facilities committee met last Thursday, the 7th. Um, the discussion revolved mainly around Old York and the upcoming referendum, which will be brought forward at a later date. We did a quick review of the items on the agenda. Everything is pretty routine. So, thank you. Thank you. Um, we do have some voting items. One, we have a bill list and payroll. Two, secretary and treasurer reports. Three, line item transfers. Four, approval to enter into an agreement
018with Educational Data Services, Inc. to purchase school supplies. Five, approval of donations and grants. Six, approval of purchase of interactive flat panel flat panel displays. Seven, approval of tenative 2025 2026 re Somerville resource room rate. Eight, approval of network switch upgrades through NRI networks. Nine, approval of Unim disability insurance. And 10, approval of agreement with Delta TR North Jersey. Can I have a motion to move these items? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Great. Any questions or comments? >> Okay. Uh, can I have a roll call, please? Mr. Blousey. Yes, >> Dr. CBI. >> Yes, >> Mr. Krishna Murdy. >> Yes, >> Miss Smith. >> Yes, >> Mr. Tuma. >> Yes, >> Mr. Desai. >> Yes. >> Okay, >> next up is public comment. Um, anyone coming for public comment? Good evening everyone. My name is
019Teresa Centersonen and I reside at 232 Carol Gene Way here in Branchburg um for about eight years now. Um first I just want to say I wasn't aware of the the young boy being a hero. So that was really nice to see as I walked in today. Um I'm here tonight to represent the PTO as their current vice president to update you on the exciting events happening between now and the end of the school year. As you know, we are celebrating our teachers and staff all month long through teacher appreciation month. We already received positive feedback from teachers as they were happy with the Chipotle and bagel lunch over the last week and a half. I would be too. Uh just this afternoon, we restocked snacks in each staff room of the schools and it's
020all set up for tomorrow when they walk in. Next week is Muffin Friday and we'll end the month with a sandwich and wrap lunch. So, um, overall we did a a different theme this year. We did it as a month instead of a week, um, which we think, uh, is really positive, um, and gives everybody a chance to really enjoy and be able to give feedback. So, um, going really well this year. Believe it or not, the end of the school year is approaching rapidly, which means our board and coordinators are working hard with the schools on the fun events to end the school year with a bang. We have our third grade and fifth grade celebrations and field days in early June as well as 8th grade dance and graduation midJune. Doesn't seem like
021a lot but there is a lot of coordination and efforts going into it as well as you know when students transition from one school to the other it's a it's a big part of the family. So we we try to to help that out through these events. uh for the next for next month's meeting. We are hoping to share our finalized finances and updates on next year's board open positions. Until then, we appreciate your support throughout the school year and thank you for giving us the opportunity during these meetings to provide these updates. Thank you again. >> Thank you. >> All right, we're going to close public comment. Moving on to board liaison reports. Miss Smith, do you have anything for the Somerville leaison? >> Yeah, just one item for Somerville. The high school is
022doing a school climate improvement survey right now. So, all high school parents should have received an email with a link on how to get into that survey if you could please do the survey. >> Thank you. Um, thank you for the PTO update. Um, next we have uh see who's here. Mr. Blowstein. Um, do you have a report for the NJSB? Yeah, just briefly, um the unsung superheroes uh nominations are uh up uh up in June. So if we wanted to nominate somebody from our uh school district as as an unsung superhero of education, they need to be nominated by June 30th. Um also the delegate meeting is on Saturday and I think Mr. Duma is going to be in attendance for us. So thank you for that. And that's it. >> Thank you. Mr.
023Tuma, do you have a Branch Park Township update? >> Just a quick update. Um, I attended coffee with the mayor on Saturday, last weekend, and the township committee meeting on Monday. Um, nothing really pertaining to education, but um, we're keeping in touch and we're maintaining ties just in case anything comes up. So, all good. >> Okay, good. Um, Mr. Christian Morty, do you have anything for BEF? >> Yes, small updates. Um BF is not as busy as the PTO for the next month or so, but um Sunday, July 12th, Somerset Patriots game. Uh please join us there at TD Bank Park where portion of the proceeds will go to BEF. Um also BEF as always, they're looking for volunteers. If anybody's interested, please look at the website. Thanks. >> Thank you. Um I do not
024believe we need a second executive session. So closing, can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? Motion second. >> All in favor? >> I