001[bell] [music] Hello everybody. Welcome to tonight's board of education meeting. Uh we called our meeting to order earlier in our closed executive session. So now we can begin the agenda. Um actually so uh Dr. Adhold do you have any comments to start us off with? >> Sure. Good evening everyone. Um just uh with respect to uh the budget calendar, there's no presentation tonight. Historically, we would have run a presentation on the budget uh followed by a or tenative uh budget would usually be the first meeting in March. Um as you may know, uh Governor Cheryl, um they had a postponement until today of the budgetary address. As a result of that, it was historically the last week in February. Um as a result of that um the state aid numbers are not anticipated until Thursday.
002So it was not possible for us to bring forward a tenative budget by tonight's meeting. Uh however the budget window is been extended. So we will have um a tenative budget presentation at the next board meeting on the 24th of March. So no budget presentation tonight for the reason of the budget address was today. Um we are anxious to hear about um about where funding will land. Um the general overview is last year guard rails were put in place for districts. You could not gain more than 6% in state aid and you could not decrease by more than 3%. That has is being honored moving forward in this budget build. So there are some u guard rails to protect districts from catastrophic losses which was uh great to hear today. Um the other thing is
003they um are going to continue the way in which special education extraordinary aid is calculated based on the idea of actual versus percentage of enrollment. So that is a continuation. That's actually a reason we lost aid last year as a district. So that will continue uh moving forward. So we'll see when the results come out on Thursday. So I know the the finance department myself will be anxiously awaiting uh those numbers and those will be publicly released. Thank you. >> All right. Thanks, Dr. Adder Hold for the update. And now I am pleased to turn the floor over to our student representatives. So from High School South, we have Anna Chen and Alison Doji. And from High School North, we have Ana Samuel and Logan Klein. So I'm not sure who's going first, but go
004for it. Hello everyone. We hope everyone stayed safe during the recent snowy weeks and are enjoying the weather, the warmer weather now. We certainly did as a senior class just came back from Disney World in Orlando today. We had a magical time seeing all the characters we grew up on and the fireworks show in the Magic Kingdom was definitely a big hit. In addition to our school trips last week, our juniors came back from their Washington seminar trip. They were able to explore Capitol Hill, learning the history of the beginning of the United States, and even attended panels from South alumni Josh Cohen at the Department of Treasury. Our winter sports have now finished with our boys swimming team taking first at counties and undefeated CBC champions. The girls swimming team also had a successful
005season taking third at CBC finals and both teams moved on to sectional finals. Finally, at the meet of champions, senior Julian Fang took home sixth place in the 100meter breathstroke event. The winter track team also had an amazing season with many of their athletes beating their personal record in the CBC Champions event. Senior Aiden Hines placed fifth in the 55 meter race and fourth in the 200 meter race. Junior Ahiko Okamoto placed seventh in the 55 meter race, sixth in the fifth meter hurdle race and seventh in long jump. Sophomore Yona Choky placed second in the long jump and fifth in the 55 meter hurdle race. Senior Eli Mills placed fifth in the 55 meter race and sixth in the 400 meter race. And finally for senior Julius Kingsling Kingsler placed sixth in the 400
006meter dash at the meet of champions. The girls basketball team and some wrestlers made it to state competitions and some athletes are beginning to receive accolades. From girls basketball senior Sophia Latifon was awarded second all CBC team and freshman Ry Paula honorable mention all CBC team. Overall we are very proud of her successful winter sports season. To add on, last month during Chinese New Year, North and South hosted their annual China Night. It was an incredible performance with new acts ranging from dance to game show to kung fu and more. Also, our theater department held their musical Legally Blonde. The cast worked exceptionally hard through the snow days, selling out Friday and Saturday night shows. Additionally, the director, Miss Daughter, made her final runs as she retired from South Theater program after 40 years of
007managing. In addition to last month, South Student Council and North's executive board held a joint pickle ball tournament. Many teams participated and it was a great spirited event away from academics. Speaking of academics, academic decathlon recently hosted a competition at South. Additionally, the model UN team participated in a national level conferences like ILM at UPEN and Neon in Washington DC and many students received high score scoring awards. Earlier in February, our teachers showcased their course curriculum, and students are currently in the process of selecting courses for the next school year. We'd now like to highlight Mr. Porter's outstanding effort during Black History Month. Last month, he effectively led his students to become subject matter experts on various pivotal figures, movements, and milestones in black history. In celebration of their hard work and to spread the
008knowledge, he hosted South African-American Readin on February 26th during school and a family night on February 24th. This event was established in 1990 by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English as a way to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month. Lastly, we'd like to take note of our music department, choir, orchestra, and band collaborated for the building bridges music concert with Grover. Orchestra holding a competition with neighboring students and band went to Atlantic City to perform at a convention for teachers. Later this month, our music department will head to Nashville exploring the city of music and will participate in some competitions. As we look forward to warmer weather and exciting end of year events, we'd like to now pass it on to North. >> Thank you. Thank you
009so much for having us here today. To start off, North Student Council is trying to achieve their standards of excellence award from the New Jersey Association of Student Councils. As a part of attaining this award, we have to get evaluated by another school as well as evaluate another school. On March 6th, our executive board took a trip to Thomas Edison Energy Smart Charter School to evaluate them. It was a fun experience for us and we're excited for our evaluation on March 18th by Bridgewater Ritan. Additionally, our very own Kushim Mohesir wrapped up her term in NJC state office. We hosted the transition meeting between the 2025 board and the 2026 board and we can't wait to see what their future holds. After acce after our success with the north and south volleyball event, we decided
010to ho host another pickle ball event with both North and South students. Hosted at North 32 teams played in a single elimination tournament to win donuts and two Dunkin gift cards. It was a lot of fun watching students play to find the best team. Additionally, North and South Chinese clubs hosted China Night in February. It was an exciting watch with both clubs coming together to share their appreciation for Chinese culture. Additionally, our theater department put on their musical Mamma Mia uh from March 26th to March February 26 to March 1st, sorry. And it was an amazing and fun watch with multiple soldout shows. >> Our winter sports season has wrapped up. Senior Allison Lee broke the winter track record and CBC records in girls 1600 meter with a track with a time of 448. Most
011recently, she broke school, state, and even her PR in the 3200 meter with a record time of 10:07. We wish her the best of luck at nationals. Triyouts for spring sports have started off this week. We wish all students trying out good luck. During ReadAcross New Jersey Week, a bunch of students got to visit old classrooms and read to the next generation of students. Last week, our juniors went on Washington Seminar. They spent time visiting different monuments, visiting the capital, seeing a show, and more. We hope all our juniors had a great time in DC. Belonging Matters Day took place today in the afternoon at North. We are so happy our students got a time to relax, especially with the days coming up this weekend. With the SAT coming up this weekend, there is always
012so much interesting and fun sessions Belonging Matters Day has. Thank you. >> Yes, thank you. Um, obviously you guys didn't let the snow stop you from trips and concerts and musicals and I know a bunch of current and past board members attended the musicals too and uh and a bunch of our kids and uh raved about the shows and um excited for you guys. this is a funpacked year for you and good luck with SATs and thank you guys so much for for coming out tonight. Have a good night. Okay, so that takes us to the first opportunity for public comments. The board invites thoughts and reactions on agenda items and items of concern from members of our community who are present. Each participant is asked to give his or her name and address prior
013to making a statement which will be limited to three minutes in accordance with board policy 0167. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer. This public comment period will shall be limited to 60 minutes. And we have our first comment. >> Hello. >> Hi. >> My name is Dr. Dara Rajeshwar and I'm a practicing pediatrician in West Windsor and the mother of a first grader at Maurice Hawk as well as two younger children who will be entering our school system in the coming years. I'm speaking in support of the reconsideration of the school zoning track of Sherbrook Estates and surrounding streets which is currently under review. While the overwhelming majority of children who attend Maurice Hawk Elementary School continue on as a cohort to Village and then Grover Middle, our relatively small neighborhood attends
014Maurice Hawk, then Milstone for two of the three years and then goes back to Grover. The zoning affects only the nonDLI students in fourth and fifth grades in our neighborhood, resulting in a handful of children being off track with the rest of the district. This two-year separation from their original school cohort and back again causes a significant disruption to our children's friendships and peer group at an age when stable social relationships are vitally important to their development. Healthy peer relationships have been shown to help children develop empathy, cooperation, and unique problem solving skills they may not get elsewhere. The American Psychological Association states that some of the key work of middle schoolers is finding their footing in a peer group as well as the development of stable one-on-one friendships. As a practicing pediatrician in our
015community, I'm intimately aware of the mental health struggles of the children and pre-teens in our schools. And I'm concerned that this additional unnecessary stressor only adds to the psychological pressures of middle school while dismantling the friendships that children this age rely on to mitigate such challenges. Even in the best of circumstances, on average, children's grades and their self-confidence drop with the transition to middle school. This is made even more difficult if the child is the new kid in school and removed from their well-known support system. In fact, even if successful at establishing new friendships at Milstone, they're again abruptly ended with the transition back to Grover and facing the established so social circles a new. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that adolescence beginning at age of 11 is a critical period of development in
016which adverse experiences affect brain development, noting that approximately 20% of adolescence have a diagnosible mental health disorder and the rates are only increasing. These mental health struggles can in turn lead to poor school performance, substance use, and high-risisk sexual behaviors. Unhealthy peer relationships have been shown to exacerbate these struggles. A longitudinal study published in the Journal of Psychological Medicine in 2024 found that kids from the ages of 8 to 11 who experienced peer victimization and bullying were more likely to experience symptoms of depression, ADHD, and separation anxiety. Unfortunately, warm parenting and an otherwise supportive school environment were not enough to fully mitigate these effects, indicating it is peer factors that are out of direct adult control that may matter the most. We have seen this play out in our own district in this very scenario.
017Another family who's also supporting our request for resoning had such a negative experience with their child's restructured peer group during these two years of being off track. They chose to move a younger sibling out of district rather than to go through the same transitions. Thankfully, a younger sibling was granted an exception and was able to maintain his track and friendships he'd spent kindergarten to third grade building. As the American Academy of Pediatrics states, positive social and emotional development are essential aspects of a healthy adolescence and we're asking you to consider re uh this resoning. >> Thank you. Uh thank you so much. And forgive me if if I didn't catch you. Did you state your address? >> Oh, no. I'd like to withhold it just for the professional concerns if that's okay. >> Uh are
018we allowed to? >> Yes. Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Um any other public comment before >> Okay. So seeing none, we can close this public comment period. Um I'll turn to Dr. Ederhold if he has anything to add. >> Uh just with respect to the public comment, um this matter has been referred to the administration facilities committee. Um Miss Incata, our assistant superintendent for pupil services and planning uh has been engaged in a review um over time and will be bringing forth um this matter uh for recommendation to the committee at in a future meeting. but it's very much on the radar of the administration now that it came forward last summer. >> Thank you. >> Just for the purpose of just procedural um public comment is from the
019podium and then there's not a back and forth. But with respect to just I'll answer the question, but just so you know, the uh committee meetings themselves are closed to the public. They're working meetings for the board of education. But what happens uh when we have committee meetings and they've met, we don't have any tonight that are having reports, but the reports will come out in a meeting like this that you can either watch live by joining us or on Zoom or watching it because we put the recordings up and those minutes get shared uh publicly as well. So you can find out through the minutes and the reports of the meetings uh to the other boards to the board as well. >> Right. Thank you, Dr. Adhold. Uh, next, uh, we don't have any,
020uh, board of education committee reports, so we can move on. And, uh, I'd like to get a motion for the reauthorization of prior meeting motions, uh, from the, uh, uh, February 24th meeting. So, uh, the motion is to approve and reapprove any and all agenda items approved during the February 24, 2026 West Windsor, Plainsboro Regional School District Board of Education meeting that was held virtually. Uh, Puja and Dana, any questions or comments from the board? Okay. >> Yes. And um for more voting um can I get a motion for administration items numbers one through three plus the purple addendum? Uh Liz and Jantaa any questions or comments for administration? >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. We don't have any voting items for curriculum and instructions. So, can I get a motion for finance items numbers 1
021through five plus the blue addendum? Uh Dana and Paul, any questions or comments? >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. Um, can I get a motion for personnel item items number one plus the green, yellow, and pink agenda? Uh, Schweta and Sharon, any questions or comments? >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. Um before we move on, I would be remiss if I didn't recognize uh the many retirements we just approved. Um okay, so hold your horses. We have lots of years combined um of um of service to our district. Um the first we have Nancy Anne Lowry who is our special education teacher um from across the district and she's retiring after 32 years of service to WWP. Katherine McInness, our language arts teacher at Community Middle School, is retiring after 27 years in the district. Mar Amarie
022Hughes uh who is our teacher resource specialist for instruction and intervention is retiring after 13 years at WWP. Laura Nash, who is our school psychologist over at Morris Hawk, is retiring after 21 and a half years at WWP. Wendy Allen is retiring after 26 years in the district. She is our student assist assist assistance counselor at Grover Middle School. Barbara Walling is our teacher resource specialist for instruction and intervention, retiring after 31 years in service to the district. And and we have another teacher resource specialist for instruction and intervention, Terresa McClendon, who is retiring after 33 years of service to WWP. Mark Beno, who is our music teacher at High School North, is retiring after 33 years at WWP. And last but not least, we have Deborah Rice, a bus driver across the district who
023is retiring after seven years in the district. So, we wish you all well and we thank you for your many years of service to the district uh serving our students and our community. Next, uh, can I get a motion to approve the board of education minutes from February 24th? Uh, Ly and Ajanta. Uh, all in favor say I. I. Uh, and no abstensions. Uh, do we have any board leison on reports this evening? Oh, okay. Seeing none, uh, any new business? Nope. That takes us to our second opportunity for public comments. The board invites comments from members of our community who are present. Each participant is asked to give his or her name and address prior to making a statement which will be limited to three minutes in accordance with board policy 0167. All statements
024shall be directed to the presiding officer. This public comment period shall be limited to 15 minutes. Looks like we have we have one comment at least. >> Hi, good evening. Dan Weiss, 15 Canoe Brook Drive in West Windsor, council lays on to the board of education. Um, it occurred to me that I should probably just mention that last night at our council meeting, uh, the council approved uh, seven new zoning ordinances that are um, in support of our affordable housing commitments in the fourth round of affordable housing going forward. Um, and it's a little premature to start planning for those folks, but um, I know and I know it's something that um, you always take into account when you're doing budgeting and and such, but um, this round of affordable housing, which is a 10-year
025plan, um, so 2025 to 2035 in West Windsor specifically, we're looking at about a total of about 1,800 new residences. Uh they're mostly um high density um types of of buildings, stacked town homes, apartment complexes, and actually the majority of them are on what would be considered the west side of West Windsor. So that's um specifically the area around Route One and even west of Route One. So uh all the people that have Princeton addresses but are still in West Windsor um that's where the majority of the development will occur. Um, correct. Yes. Uh, and they're, you know, quite frankly, they're they're not [snorts] really familyfriendly buildings. Um, because they're, you know, high density, uh, apartment complexes. I mean, there are, um, as per required one, two, and threebedroom units in that. Um but there's
026uh no single family homes that are being built as a as a result of this. Part of this, you know, West Windsor is um often sort of at the short end of the stick in these processes. This is all state driven. Um we are both blessed and cursed with um a very healthy um community here, a very healthy economy within West Windsor and still um quite a bit of um undeveloped land that's available for development. So we got hit with we were in the we had the highest um obligation in all of Mercer County. And if you look at all 500 and some odd municipalities in the state, we were in the top 20 as you know the the number of units that were >> say again. >> Not that I'm aware of. >> Yeah.
027Um and they're they're being scattered. It's not like there's one giant development with all 1800. There's a bunch of pockets in um a variety of places, which is why there were literally seven different ordinances where we had to do zoning changes to allow a residential building there. So, just wanted to put that on your radar. Thanks. >> Thank you, Dan. Thank you for the update, the information. Um any any other comments? Okay. Well, uh, hearing none, I can close this public comment period and, uh, move to adjourn. So, can I get a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting? Uh, Sharon and Liz. All in favor say I. >> I. Thank you. Have a good night.