001Hello, good evening and welcome to tonight's board of education meeting. Uh we called our meeting to order earlier in our closed executive session. So we are ready to begin and hopefully everyone enjoyed their snow day and at least I'm I know the kids did. Um so we're going to kick things right off and I'm going to invite Dr. for Jessica Smmedley to come up and give us a presentation uh for our special public hearing on harassment, intimidation, and bullying. >> All right. Thank you everyone. So, I'm here tonight to give our semiannual report uh which covers reporting period one for our school year, which is July 2025 to December 2025. So, tonight we'll just briefly review New Jerseys definition of Hib. um take a look at our data that we have uh over these last
002four months. Um and also take a look and talk through our trainings and programs that we continue to do as long as as well as our restorative practices. So quick review for everyone. Our definition of HIV is any gesture, any written, verbal or physical act or any electronic communication whether it be a single incident or series of incidents. Um and so in order to be considered a a founded incident of HIP, it has to meet all four of these. Uh reasonably perceived as being motivated by an actual or perceived characteristic. Um that this incident takes place on school property at any school sponsored function on a school bus or off school grounds. Uh and must substantially disrupt or interfere with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of students. And just to review,
003we we now are um using preliminary determination. We made this change um in the summer of 2024 with the board policy to allow for some principal discretion through preliminary determination that when we get a report that could be uh just conduct or um is found to not be something worth investigating because it doesn't meet those those prongs. Um, and we know that that there is an opportunity for the administration and the anti-bullying specialist in coordination with me as the anti-bullying coordinator to review that case and see uh what action is appropriate and we'll go through those numbers tonight too. So, first off, our preliminary determination, we had 18 total preliminary determinations. Um, and this does include July through December. We did not have any incidents in the summer this year, which is a change from
004last year. So, talk a little bit about that trend um as we get into the patterns and trends. Um but we had so 50% of those preliminary determinations took place at the high school level. Um 44.4% took place in our middle schools and 5.6% in the K5. Our reporting period total so total actual investigations we had 52 so 30 f 35 were found to be founded uh 17 were unfounded and in this period for the first time um that I noticed in taking a look over the three years that I've been doing the report it's the first time we did not have any that were inconclusive um which to me points to having that preliminary determination as a possibility because we've been able to sort of um sus out what might be happening or whether
005it's appropriate to investigate the incident as a HIV um or really just take a look at it from a conduct andor restorative practices perhaps a peer mediation. Um the inconclusive ones tend to be that there um there just isn't enough witness um statement and so it's just an accusation. Then through interviewing um you're able to really get whether or not it can it meets all four criteria or if it does not. Okay. Hip investigations by grade band um we had our highest at 46.2% in K through five. Um I'll talk a little bit about what we see as um sort of or what may be some of the factors involving that when we took an internal look at our data analysis. uh 42.3% happened in grades 6 through 8 and 11.5% in grades 9 through
00612. So those total number of incidents prek to 5 was 24, 6 through 8 was 22 and 9 through 12 was six. Okay. So these are only for founded incidents of hib by location. So not this is only includes our founded incident. we have um 42.3% were in a classroom. Um generally this tracks with the higher highest number or highest percentage being in our K through five buildings because oftent times that reporting form is coming from a teacher. They they suspect something a student may say something to them. And in K to 5, while we uh make every attempt when developmentally appropriate to have the student do the report themselves, we know that our K to5 students need the most help in filing the report. So when you get classroom it's something that happen where
007uh with a teacher they are our most often um informant. Uh we have also have a relatively high percentage of 13.5% on the playground and the same on the school bus. So we know unstructured time. There aren't adults necessarily as close um to monitor but they are still doing the reporting. So these are often incidents that are reported. We have some by bus drivers. Um certainly by this is our highest number of reports by parents because kids get off the bus and let their family know about what's happening. They let us know and we deal with it. Um and our cafeteria aids and our um playground assistants help with that as well. So kind of tracks of where the adults are getting the um the reports that they are then making the report and filling
008out the state form. Um our other categories uh other is really encompasses a lot of outside of school. Um in this case uh it it looks it's 11.5% that is not that many um incidents overall and they are from there they could be from sporting events. So, we have had we've had a few of those where something happens to one of our athletes um or and there's been an ACU they make an accusation that unfortunately even when is it is not tied to our school district as the offender we do still count that in our investigation and our incidents. Um hallway another unstructured time. Lunchroom we also know that's an unstructured time. So hallway and lunchroom both had 7.7%. Um and then the internet which you know could include cell phones too. Cell phone is
009generally texting maybe Snapchat, social media 1.9% and the internet also at 1.9%. A little bit of a trend change that we've noticed over the past um comparing fall to fall. So reporting period to reporting period, but also over the course of the last year, our um our number one distinguishing characteristic is appearance with 38.5%. Um you'll see on here, so these are reported potential acts of HI. None is really just the alleged the ones that we found to be um not founded incidents of HI. So they're and that's generally why they're not considered because there is no distinguishing characteristic. Um our second highest of founded hibs is ancestry at 13.5%. Um gender and wraith and ethnic wraith race and ethnicity are both at 9.6% disability at 1.9% and sexual harassment um is 3.8%. So I'll
010come back to this one in the trends as well. So year-by-year comparison last year, same reporting time versus this year um we are up slightly. So last year at this time we had 42 total reported incidents. This year we have 52. Um founded were 24 last year. Founded this year is up 35. And the unfounded cases were about the same. So we see a little bit of a trend upward which again we'll talk about some of those in in the trends our monthby-month analysis um generally we do see so in September or November we had the highest number of incidents and um this generally has also tracked with what we've seen um that we tend to see so in October counselors teachers were doing um a lot of awareness around um retaching about HIV, the
011importance of reporting, being an upstander, so standing up when you hear or see something um being said. And so we tend to see that increase. Um it's violence awareness week is celebrated in October, Red Ribbon Week. Um and so and we're out there talking about anti-bullying and so that tends to see a little bit of an increase. It's also the middle to end of October is kind of the end of the honeymoon period if we have one at all which it's some this year felt like we just got started with all kinds of things in first week of September but um it tends to be the end the kids have known each other for five or six weeks at that point. So um much like siblings um sometimes in families you get to know what
012pushes each other's buttons and so sometimes we see an increase of that um and students are better informed about what to do and say if they do see a potential incident of HIV. Okay. So patterns and trends we saw no incidents reported over the summer. So last year in 2024, we did have um quite a few and those were tied to end of the year, which unfortunately we got a a report of several potential victims um and several potential offenders the day before school ended. So then that ends up on the following year's report because we count our data based on when the board approves um the incidents. So we had nothing and which is great because we incre we continue to increase our summer programming for students. So, we have more students engaged in
013our academic programs over the summer. We added a class this year that added a section um and we we still did not have any incidents. So, we're um we're glad about that. I mentioned this, but classroom teachers are the most common reporters of potential active hip, particularly at the K5. Um so, twothirds of our cases were determined to be found at incidents. That is a trend upward. Um but I think you know when we take a look at it the ABS's the anti-bullying specialists and I um sometimes with administr other administrators as well take a look at this data month by month and really dig into what's going on what is happening how are we dealing with things in a restorative fashion um this I believe some of our increase is due to um what
014I would widely ly say internet usage um things like uh even for younger students. So we're see big increase in fourth and fifth grade in those total number of incidents. They also have there are games and apps and things um that are allowing for chat at um at a a younger age. Um we know that some of our students have devices that they use besides their Chromebooks at home. So, we saw that was a pretty um big number of incidents that were happening off-campus. So, that I'll talk a little bit about our training and programs as well. Um I'm sure you've heard the news about um you know, the cell phones and social media and the damage that it's doing. I mean, it's a pretty hot topic. We are seeing that locally here as well.
015Also, um, in several of our incidents, particularly in the 3 to five band, um, we see what I might call retaliatory, like you you're investigating one incident and then you find out in the course of the investigation that you actually have another incident. And so they're sort of like nested Russian dolls. Um, and so you keep uncovering things. And so that happens too where there in a oneweek period we can see like there's three and there's maybe some witnesses that are crossing over or you interview witnesses and you start talking to the kids and they say, "Well, yeah, but this also happened." And so we're always digging, you know, down to the deepest um the bottom of the well to try to figure out what do we have and what do what do the kids
016need? What do we need to do restoratively? What do we need to do in our classrooms? what do we need to even message and perhaps provide programming for parents and and caretakers about um some of the risks that are out there? Our highest number of incidents was in o in November um which I already mentioned. Um so appearance and ancestry were the two most common distinguishing characteristics. Um by and large the number one um is appearance and that's almost exclusively fat shaming. Um and so we can sort of surmise with that or do with that information what we can but a huge increase in that and I am certainly not hip to a lot of um YouTube or social media people but from what I hear several slurs even self um sort of self-inflicted name
017calling um is trending on some of these sites and I think that's I think younger siblings are hearing when we investigate like where do you know how do you know what that word is how do you know some how do you know what fatback is h like it's usually because there's exposure to something that's internetbased so um we are we will continue we are and we continue to combat th those negative messages coming into school and we know that we have tight guard rails on what happens in school it's very hard to have tight guardrails on what happens outside of school, but we will continue to to work on that. Um, and so our trainings, programs, and initiatives um for the fall of 2025, we have um with this work aligns well with our strategic
018goals. Um, our school counselors are out doing lessons um through our in K5 through our SecondStep curriculum which teaches things like empathy, anti-bullying, um, emotional regulation, kindness, um, being a good citizen. So, um, we continue with our professional development and training for staff. Uh, we have mental health and counseling staff available, including our UBHC clinicians. Our culture and climate teams are busy and they meet monthly in their schools as well. And like I mentioned, we have the um the anti-bullying meetings every month where we take a look at and plan for even what maybe needs to go out um in a newsletter. So for example, you know, when um I know that some of our principles at that 3 to five level both and even all the way through have message to families like this
019is happening. This roast this trend of roasting um again seems to be I don't have children of my own. I feel like I have a lot of children but not none of my own. So I don't see this firsthand and so I'm probably not the best person to explain how that happens and where we get that from. the kids even call it that. So again, you get roasting like teasing but this cutting form and then when you have those other characteristics or those other the other prongs that students might be fearful to come to school or they're trying to avoid someone then we that's when we have to step in and get get involved. So, our datadriven approaches to bullying prevention, I talked about our monthly meetings. Um, our universal supports for students. Um, so
020tier one, those are our lessons. Um, our teachers also do that. Um, and incorporated in at the K5 level into their responsive classroom work. Um, our school monthly themes also blend all of these things together. Um and then inclusion of talking about and analyzing what are our behavior supports in our multi-tered systems of support meetings. So um this year for the first year we are really it's the first time we're really blending the two um of when we take a look at and that's just part of our initiative to take a look at the whole child and again not only um victims of of any of these incidents but also offenders pe um kids who need help, right? But we take a look holistically what are we doing for their social emotional/behavioral needs and what
021are we doing alongside what are we doing for instructional needs and sometimes we find they're the same students and sometimes we find they are not you know that they they need different things. So we use the tiered approach just like we do with instruction for uh for behavior improvement modification. So, and then of course we just put our district mission up here that we're committed to providing all students with a safe learning environment that is free from harassment, intimidation, and bullying. Um, we adhere to the New Jersey Anti-bullying Bill of Rights. We provide training to all staff to identify, report, and address HIV. We proactively educate caregivers, students, and board of education members. And we work every day to establish and maintain positive school communities. our expectations and commitment to the safety and respectful behavior
022for all students. >> Okay. >> Right. Thank you, Dr. Smmedley. Um, do we have any questions from the board for Dr. Smmedley? I see Dana. >> Hi. Thank you for your presentation. Um, I need you to remind me what the difference is between ancestry and race and ethnicity. And then where would religion fall in? Which category would that be in? >> Religion is its own. So, we didn't have any in religion. That's why it's not on the pie chart. And race, ethnicity, and >> well, it some of this is in the eye of the beholder of of the investigator. I'm trying to decide if I should give you an example or if it's too much for public. So go back to your country might be something more or um making uh there are some incidents
023making fun of food preferences or not preferences. Um some cross into physical appearance um and um country of origin or ancestry more widely. Yeah, >> go ahead. >> Thanks so much for your presentation. Um, I had a question about the slide which talked about distinguishing characteristics. Okay. >> Um, the two biggest factors you said, appearance and ancestry. Do you have either, you know, do you do staff and teachers get or do you have that data aggregated by grade band to see if those two characteristics are the same highest number you're seeing across different grades? >> I didn't do that. I mean, yes, we have it. I didn't I don't have it ready. Um, I would say the appearance is just from reading every one of the reports and preparing the board, you know, reports and
024the for the meetings. I would say appearance tends to be in the three to eight band primarily. Same thing with that with the overwhelming amount of fat shaming. >> Anecdotally, it's the biggest problem in upper elementary. >> Uh go ahead, Lori. You have a question. >> Just a clarification for the summer um reporting. I know you said it was zero this time. For the summer, it's just the WWP summer programs, right? like if there's a camp from the the township that's being hosted in um in our schools, those are not part of they have their they have their own um way that they Okay. Right. >> That was clarification. And then the other thing I had a question about probably related to what you were just saying about maybe the three five third grader to
025five third to fifth grader grade bands. Um, I know you said that there's like a uptick in like internet maybe searches and whatnot and I'm looking at it and like the founded incidents on internet is 1.9 but how does that translate then to the 42.3 in the the classroom? I know you mentioned some instances about fat shaming. Um I guess is there a way in the um the second step curriculum that that's kind of does the curriculum address those kind of things as you see these trends kind of come up year to year you know um is there a way that the school or the district is addressing those upticks I guess if that makes sense. >> Yes. So multi-prong approach to addressing the uptick. Um I would say broadly kindness like knowing second step
026certainly does a lot to teach it's in the empathy unit they call it empathy it's tied to to some amount so the castle competencies which are seal national competencies call it self-awareness that like how do you know if how do you know how you're how it's landing right and so intent we do a lot of work on intent versus impact act and the we hope that the learning takes place there again that's more restorative the first time maybe even the second time it happens but then the if that could look at a tier three like someone who needs more intervention is like what's happening with you um but we do a lot of that that's even emotional regulation what's happening with me now and how is someone right we teach active listening like even watch
027for facial expressions something like that that like that is there it there's a dactic piece of that of like how are we how are we together right now and our teachers do that naturally in their classrooms that's part that's really widely more broadly the like how do we know we're in a climate that we like that we want to be in how are we each of us playing a part in that for staff even at staff trainings what are here are some things we have resources we're using um a middle school and high school program called wayfinder that has easy sort of bite-size pieces of leading a discussion in class that's inclusive. How to how to teach kid, you know, teaching kids to have an inclusive discussion, our sense of belonging. We're committed to that
028as well. And so, um, yes, we address it in classrooms where where I mean the internet like and we could just broaden that to television media in general. they hear it and they're testing it out in so it's not they're not necessarily on a they might be there are a few that are video games like some sort of chatting feature in a video game. Um, and I I know the PTSAs have sponsored um events for um for parents about like do you know what's on there and things like hidden apps and like permissions and tracking and all of that. Um, and I think there's probably a need for us to collectively work together on doing that again. It's changed. It changes so fast that to say like, oh, we did that last year. Well, think
029about how much different last year is from this year when you think about exposure, AI, bots, etc. That um I do think that's something where I know we're talking with um Dr. Dober at GMS, his PTSA has been very interested in this. They've had a grant in the past to bring in information on social media. Um, we are always looking for feedback for additional like parent universities to bring the information in. Um, because like I said, I can tell you all about what we teach and how we do this. I I don't have a kid with a device. I don't really want to know about any of them. I'm not on the apps myself. So, um, I live like sort of a sheltered life, but we see I see the impact of it. And kids
030do need and families need direct instruction in like not hiding. Um not posting things that you wouldn't want your mom or your best friend or a teacher to see because of the permanency of online traffic. I think that is we do it in lessons. There is, you know, there's definitely it happens in school, but I think as a community I think it's going to take a a multi-prong approach. I know that um Governor Cheryl just last week um did do an executive order the day she was sworn in about creating um a task force and an interdep departmental agency with this department of education, the department of health um and has already made the commitment to we need everybody involved. So department of health, you're talking like pediatricians talking about dangers of social media, symptoms,
031you know, things that that come up, signs and symptoms to look for. How do we prevent this from happening? And and like we all play a part in helping these kids grow up healthy, you know, safe and sec and feeling secure. >> Thank you. I agree. It does take a village. So I Yeah, it's definitely all players. Thank you so much. >> Sure. >> Yeah. Thanks. I'm glad you brought up the point about the parent universities because previous uh parent universities where um internet use uh and safety have been a topic are on the district website. So, I know it's hard for people to schedule it in at the time of the presentation, but it's on the district website. It's always good to look back on it. I've been able to attend a few of
032them. Um, really helpful information, I think, for families. So, it would be great um for even more people to get that information and learn from it. I'm going to look over to this side and uh Liz and then, >> thank you for your presentation. Just a quick question about the preliminary determinations. So, do those um appear on the student's record? >> A preliminary determination does not. And several of those 18 um I just want to make sure everyone knows like well one in a preliminary determination, it's not an ignoring of it. It's just a taking a look. Is this the right path or is a HIV investigation the right path or is another investigation which our assistant principles and principles are very well trained in is does this need a different path. So, um there
033are at least a third of those. Um I know this sounds ridiculous, but sometimes if you press the button too quickly on the state form, it creates a duplicate. So, sometimes there's there's a duplicate and sometimes parents don't get a response. It's usually with parents, but um they don't get a response fast enough and so they do a second form. So again, a dup a duplicate doesn't happen often, but it is part of that. So I don't but I I don't want you to think there were 18 times that we just decided like this this doesn't seem like it's worthy of an investigation. >> Thank you. I just had a question about um the monthly meetings with the anti-bullying specialist and coordinator. When they're looking at different trends and data, how are they then communicating
034that with maybe the counseling staff? So then the lessons in tier one is addressing those trends. >> Well, luckily although I don't know if they would say it this way, all of our abs's are the counselors. So um in K to 5 all of our counselors serve in that role as anti-bullying specialists. So it directly informs um and we also have it on we do a review like a summary. So in our 6 through 8 and 9 through 12 buildings, our student assistance counselors are uh the anti-bullying specialists. They share that information on the agenda of our school counseling meeting. So they're kind of like the chariots of that. They also bring it back to the school climate and culture teams who are usually the ones planning um like a Grover day or destressfest at
035North. So, some of the again tying it back to what's happening in our school, how could we do that? I know one of the trends um or one of the activities for Distress Fest that just happened at High School North, I think now two weeks ago, um it was in direct um response to a student on the climate and culture committee making a recommendation for a session or an activity um that our student assistance counselor was able to run. Any other questions? No. Um, I just had a light bulb moment that Grover Day is tied to of the mental health since I've heard about Grover Day. I just thought it was, you know, a fun day. But look at that. >> Yes. Yes. Directly. Yes. The SEAL committee and the Grover day planning committee would
036definitely be glad that you know know that. So, yes. So, I was given an announcement that there's a Toyota Camry in the parking lot with the headlights on. >> You drive a Toyota Camry? >> Yeah, I do. Oh, >> guess I'll go deal with that >> hopefully before my battery runs out. Okay. All right. >> That is perfect timing. Well, thank you, Dr. What a perfect way. I like I didn't even pay him to give me an exit ticket. >> So, all right. Well, thanks. >> Off the hot seat. >> All right. Thank you everyone. >> All right. Thank you so much. Uh so that takes us to our special opportunity for public comment on harassment, intimidation, and bullying. The board invites thoughts and reactions on the harassment, intimidation, bullying report from members of our
037community 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 shall be directed to the presiding officer. This public comment period shall be limited to 15 minutes. Do we have uh any public comments specifically rel related to the HIV presentation? Seeing none, I'll close this public comment period. And uh can I get a motion to uh accept the July 1st, 2025 to December 31st, 2025 district semiannual report of harassment, intimidation, and bullying as required by the New Jersey State Department of Education under the anti-bullying bill of rights act. Uh, Liz and Ly. Um, any questions? Good. Okay. So, ready for a >> Okay, we'll start. We'll start. Miss Chenniera, >>
038yes. >> Miss Maliga, >> yes. >> Miss Krug, >> yes. >> Mr. O'Brien, >> yes. >> Miss Sha, >> yes. >> Miss Shetty, >> yes. >> Miss D. Sebastian, >> yes. >> And Miss McCuin, >> yes. That adjourns our special public hearing on harassment, intimidation, and bullying. So, um, that takes us to our regularly scheduled program and, um, we're happy to have Miss Jessica Sinata here as our, uh, administrator in charge this week while Dr. Adterhold is attending, uh, the Fullbrite Finland program along with other educational leaders to learn and share innovative solutions to common challenges. So, uh, good for him. And, uh, somehow we we might have a little bit more snow than he does. Um, so I'll take, um, I'll have Miss Sincada take over. >> Thank you very much. Um, yes, just
039a couple of quick update in Dr. Adterhold's absence today. Um due to our closure yesterday uh for inclement weather and all of the snow, um the district will now be in session on Tuesday, May 26th. Our school calendars have been updated on the website and we will be sending out notification to all of our families officially uh tomorrow, but wanted to give you all a heads up that the website is up to date with all of our information after yesterday's closure. And I would also like to take a quick opportunity to thank our buildings and grounds crew um for all the work they did on Sunday and Monday in order to prepare for today. And I would be remiss if I didn't also thank our custodial staff with Prert um for the work that they
040did as well. Um as we all know probably from shoveling our own sidewalks, it's a lot of work. Um, and then when you look around our facilities, um, to make sure that not only our sidewalks are clear, but that our parking lots are prepared for, you know, staff to arrive as well as all that comes with the cold temperatures and this many facilities. So, they have been working um, working a lot over the weekend and we're really appreciative of all the work that they did. So, thank you. >> Thank you. And now I'd like to invite and introduce our auditor, Mr. Scott Cleland, up to uh give us our 2024 to 2025 annual comprehensive financial report. >> Thank you very much. And I'm happy to be here tonight to uh present the results of the
041audit. Um any chance my lights are on? >> Sorry. Sorry. Um, so I'm happy to be here tonight to present the results of the audit and um, I met with the finance committee last Tuesday uh, evening to go over the report in detail and answer several questions that came up. Uh, tonight I just prepared a brief presentation to give you a high level overview of those results. While she's pulling it up, I'll just I'll just go through it. Um, one, the reports were required to be done by December 5th and then it was subsequently modified to be a 1:15 2026 deadline. Uh, your reports were filed back in December uh, well ahead of the deadline. doing a different presentation format, but that's fine. Everyone has it anyway, I think, right? Or not? No. Okay. Um,
042so before I get going any further, I want to recognize the staff for a job well done. Again, um I'd like to thank Chris and Derek and his team and Bonnie in the business office cuz we're there quite a bit for several weeks doing the audit. Probably when it gets towards the end, they want to say, "Uh, when are you getting out of here?" Um, try again. Bonnie, you want to just click? Anyway, I was recognizing the uh the staff for getting us all the information we needed to finish the audit and get it done on time. Um there were about 20% of the audits in the state that were not filed by the January 15th deadline. Uh you were definitely not one of them. And I also want to commend the board as well
043as the administration for the ASBO certificate of excellence in financial reporting. See if it works. There we go. U for 17 consecutive years this district has applied for and received the certificate uh which is awarded by Uspo International. It's a review of your internal records and your financial reports and determining and determining whether you are worthy of it. And again, in 17 consecutive years, probably about 25 to 30 districts even make an attempt to get this. And again, you should be commended for 17 straight years of getting that award. In terms of the audit, you think, okay, they're giving us an order report, but there's a lot of areas that we look at from a revenue and expense perspective. We look at the general and school administration costs, instruction, student services, transportation, support operations, your
044enterprise operations, which would be your community program, as well as your food service program, your capital improvements, whether that be through cap reserve or through a debt issuance. And we look at your expenditures related to your debt service. What are the objectives of the audit? Well, our primary goal is to take the numbers that are provided by the district, ask for ask various questions, ask for various documentation to support those numbers and then we have to render an opinion as to whether those numbers represent fairly uh the numbers are represented fairly in ter in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and that it would be reasonable to a reader to assume that there's nothing wrong in the presentation of the financial statements. There's a second layer that we have to look at as well and
045that's internal controls and compliance. That's required by government auditing standards as well as the New Jersey Department of Education Division of Finance. And then there's a third layer of what we're supposed to do during the audit process. That's to look at your federal and state programs. So annually we have to perform an audit of your major federal and state programs. That would be defined as a program with expenditures in excess of $750,000 on a given year. So we do that on a rotational basis and I'm happy to report that we did not have any items that we identified of findings for the uh testing of the federal or state programs during the 2025 audit. These are the various areas where we have to follow regular governmental standards, regular generally accepted auditing standards. We follow federal
046guidance, state guidance, and also state regulations in the large document that I believe you received either uh hard copy or as well as PDF. There are four sections to that. The introductory section is an unudited section which is basically your opportunity to show what the district has done from a non-financial perspective, talk about your accomplishments and so on. The second section is the financial section that includes our opinion. It also includes an MDNA which I recommend definitely taking a look at because it gives you a good overview of the current year's operations where compared to the prior year and actually gives a look back to the third year. The statistical section is 20 different schedules giving histories 10 years worth of history regarding tax levy um expenses revenues enrollment cost per pupil etc. And then
047the last section is a single audit section which represents the state and federal grants that we look at during the audit process and which ones we did look at. Overall audit results, good financial position as usual here in West Windsor. Uh the independent audits report is an unmodified opinion which is a clean opinion. Um there are four levels of opinion that can be provided. This is the highest. Um your financial outlook is very very good from a reserve perspective. You have fund balance at the end of the year of just over $15.9 million of two over 2%. You have capital reserve funds set aside for capital or debt service purposes of 25.5 million. You have maintenance reserve for use for maintenance purposes of 1.6 six. And then you have funds set aside emergency reserve for
048a million which is the maximum that reserve can be uh which is mainly set aside by the state um for use on large increases in health benefits was the major reason that was a reserve established by the state of New Jersey. uh in looking at your internal controls, we had did not identify any material weaknesses or sign significant deficiencies from a major federal and state program perspective. It's an unmodified opinion there as well. We did not identify anything that would um be raised up to a level of a finding. The federal grant we looked at this year is IDA. Uh the past couple years we spent so a lot of time looking at your COVID money and how that was spent. uh obviously because that was a big part of your federal aid. Um your
049annual IDA program is usually your largest program outside of COVID. And then the state grants we looked at is extraordinary aid which is the state program where you get reimbursed for special ed costs greater than 40 or 55,000. And then the other grant we looked at was transportation aid. Again, no findings from the uh expenditures we looked at for any of those programs. And then also from a uh management perspective, we also have to issue a smaller 20 some odd page report and there are no findings in there that would require any corrective action the board will have to uh take action upon. As usual, very good report, clean opinion, good financial position at the end of the year. I'm sure there's a lot of districts out there now, you've probably read about a lot
050of them having some financial difficulties and it's out there. It's for real. Um, a lot of districts that have usually had pretty good financial position and and fund balances are down below 2%. And worried about the upcoming budget and what's going to happen with state aid, which again, we have a new governor, so who knows what's going to happen with that as well. But, um, you at least have set yourself up to be in a good financial position going forward, which other districts may not have done that and they're struggling right now. >> So, with that, I'll open up to any questions you may have. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Uh, anyone from the board with questions side? No. All right. Thank you so much. Really appreciate your audit and uh kudos to
051Dr. Russo and your team. Um, congratulations on the 17th annual award. It seems it's become an annual award for you. >> I want to say thanks and I have to point my finger at at at Bonnie and Derek who is not here but you guys know well. So, they run the show. Cool. >> Nice. Go Bonnie and Derek. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Have a great evening. You too. Stay warm. >> So that takes us to our first opportunity for public comments. Uh 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 to making a statement which will be limited to three minutes in accordance with board policy 0167.
052All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer. This public comment period shall be limited to 16 60 minutes. Any comments? Come right up. >> Hi, good evening. Dan Weiss, uh 15 Canoe Brook Drive, West Windsor. Uh just wanted to let you know that uh the Westminster Council had their reorganization meeting uh on the 15th of January where we assign and reassign committee appointments. And I will continue to be the leazison for the Westminster Council to the board of ed. um my job really is to relay the information that happens at these meetings back to our council, but it's also can be a two-way street. So, if there's anything that I can do to help um answer questions, anything, you know, that that uh integrates with the township business, um please don't hesitate to reach
053out. Thanks so much. >> Thank you, Dan. Uh any other comments? Good evening. Ann Clifton, 18 Gston Drive. I'm the president of the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance, an organization, an all volunteer organization, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making our community a better place for all to walk and bike. And part of part of our educational effort is to remind people how to make themselves more visible to drivers at night or in low light conditions. And we emphasize that just because you can see the car's headlights doesn't mean the driver can see you. Another part of our educational aspect is to remind drivers how to drive safely with cyclists and pedestrians. So, I just want to provide a short update on what we've been doing with the schools since October. And again, I'm very
054grateful for these opportunities. Um, at the end of October at High School North, just before the clocks changed, uh, working through one lunch period with the PTSA, we we distributed a hund uh, reflective tags for kids backpacks. Uh, 185 in all. Also, a safety flyer about using lights, using the pushing the buttons at uh, for the beacons to flash at crosswalks, using lights on your bikes, um, wearing reflective gear. We did the same thing in December at High School South during a lunch period. 250 of these tags we gave out. Um earlier this month at Community Middle School, we gave out themed reflective stickers uh to 225 students who are waiting to go to their afterchool clubs. Uh some of these materials were purchased either by the school, the PTSAs or by the West or
055Bicycle Skull and Pedestrian Alliance. Last Friday at Village School, one of our student adviserss pres gave 20-minute presentations to nine of the fourth grade classes, about 190 students or teachers combined. Um, we also gave to the students uh reflective stickers that they could put on their backpack or their um bike helmet or their scooter or their bicycle seat post. We reminded them that they're not for water bottles and Chromebooks. Um, and the T with the uh the tags, the tags that we gave out to the high school students, if they didn't have a didn't want to put on their backpack, jacket zipper works pretty well, too. Um, as far as uh driving, one of my colleagues, Jerry Foster, a retired transportation safety safety educator, uh, presented to high school south sophomores in driver's ed to
056all six periods, so about 300 students according to the faculty who is there. um a a slide presentation with actual pictures that he has taken around town either Princeton, Montgomery, Plainsboro, West Windsor of actual scenarios with drivers interacting with cyclists or pedestrians, either things that were done well or not done well. So, we're trying to make the point with the kids, not the kids, but the the youth, but just before they get to, you know, they get their license, this is how you want to drive uh more safely. So, we are very grateful for these opportunities and I'm very grateful to the to the principles who hosted the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance, their assistant principles, PTSA, who coordinated all this. And if I can just finish up one second. Um, and we look
057forward to continued partnerships with the school district in our mutual efforts to keep students safe. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Anne. And we are appreciative of you, especially uh some of us either have sophomores currently in driver's ed or uh recently uh licensed drivers in our households here on the board. >> And if I may also thank Elizabeth who gave me some of the introductions to the High School South PTSA. Thank you. >> Nice. Thank you. Great job, Liz. Um well, seeing no other comments, I'll close this public uh comment period and move on to uh committee reports. So, first I'd like to invite Liz for our administration and facilities committee report. >> The administration facilities committee met on January 20th at in the central office. The Miss Sincada had provided an overview
058of the administration facilities committee while highlighting frequent agenda items including the review of the board of education policies and regulations agreements and contracts, school safety and security, human resources and athletics as well as the district's strategic plan. The committee reviewed as first reading items, policies and procedures. Uh the first one was regarding nepotism policy 0142.1. This is an existing policy that's been recommended for readoption without any material revisions. It is being updated to better align with the New Jersey administrative code. The second policy P1220 employment of the chief school administrator is also an existing policy with minimal material revisions. The committee reviewed the above policies and recommended them for the first reading at tonight's board meeting. We then discussed uh athletics. Miss Anata provided an overview of um athletics at the high school and middle
059school levels. This overview included highlights from the winter season as well as discussions that the committee has had in the past engaged around our athletic program. The committee was uh um presented by um Miss Melissa Lavine who is the director of special services to discuss a program called Angel Sense. She shared that the purpose of the one-way and two-way talk system that is being used by some parents in school districts in order to support student safety and location. Further research will be done by the district prior to any policy change that is being brought to forth to the committee in the future. This is just a preliminary discussion. The next meeting of the committee will take place on February 18th, 6 7 p.m. at the central office. >> Thanks, Liz. Any questions for administration facilities?
060Okay. So, I'd like to invite for uh curriculum committee report. >> Thank you. Um the curriculum committee met on January 20th. Uh Dr. Gaul reviewed the purpose and functions of the committee and welcomed our new member, Sharon D. Sebastian. Uh Dr. Gold reviewed the summer courses offering with committee members which are scheduled for approval tonight. All summer courses will be for four weeks and in person. Families can sign up through community education beginning on February 2nd. Dr. Gold also reviewed the structure and some of the offerings for the district's February 13th professional development day. The curriculum committee recommends approval of the professional development consultant for Don't Diet Dietitionians LLC to provide a 90minute transforming student wellness innovative interventions for food, body image, and nutritional challenges PD workshop to district staff on February 13th at a
061cost not to exceed $950, which is paid through title 4 grant funds. Um the curriculum committee also recommends approval of the following summer courses. District financial literacy course um at a cost of $500 per student and upon successful completion students will receive 2.5 credits. Introduction to discrete math course at a cost of $500 per student. Um student will also receive 2.5 credits. Discrete math part two at a cost of $500 per student. Student will receive 2.5 credits. And then introduction to data science course at a cost of 500 per student, 2.5 credits. District marine science course, also at a cost of $500 per student, 2.5 credits. And the district Asian-American Pacific Islander studies course at a cost of $500. and 2.5 credits. The curriculum committee recommends acceptance of a donation of one 14inch um viola
062donated by Lissa Lee Lun of West Windsor resident for use by the district's music department. The curriculum rec committee recommends approval for teacher travel one district math supervisor to attend integral nu n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n numeracy solutions advantage virtually at a cost not to exceed $1,340 which is partially paid through contractual funds and one district administrator to attend LRP National Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana um at a cost not to exceed $4,500. $100 partially paid through contractual funds. The curriculum committee also recommends approval of the field trips for High School North Future Business Leaders of America to San Antonio,
063Texas from June 28th through July 2nd. The cost of the trip is approximately $2,000 per student and the West Windsor Plains United cheerleaders to the National Conference Championship in Orlando, Florida from February 5th through February 9th. The cost of the trip is approximately $1,200 per student and the next meeting will be on February 18th. All right. Thanksa. Uh any questions for the committee? Um I don't have a question, but I do have just have a brief comment that I appreciate seeing how um the district is making datadriven decisions. um after the presentation we just heard and the uh recommendation to approve the professional development on student wellness and food and body image. So that's really nice to see. Anyway, uh moving on, I'm going to invite Dana to give us a finance committee report. >>
064Okay, good evening. We um we also met on January 20th. Um we also got an overview of what our uh committee does and we reviewed our agenda items. The committee reviewed the financial reports for the month. The administration affirmed that no lines were overexpended and that there are sufficient funds to complete the year. The budget spending is tracking similarly to prior years. The following are on the agenda for approval. Uh approval of the 2425 annual audit, the sale of solar renewable energy certificates or SREx, the acceptance of a water improvement infrastructure grant, the disposal of obsolete equipment, the results of the transportation quotes that were recently received, and travel and related expenses for staff professional development. As far as SREx or solar renewable energy credits, there will be an auction on February 11th and there
065were uh 111 SREs created for sale. Many of these are uh SREs created for N for High School North are class one, which means the system has reached the end of its useful life and the value will be much less than the SRX received at high school south. The 2026 2027 budget process and updated budget calendar was um next discussed and the administration shared that the mid-year budget review was held at the county office of education. The current year's budget was reviewed along with discussions around the development of the 2627 budget. The uh calendar was also provided, the budget calendar was also provided to the committee and the administration continues to work on the budget. Cafeteria, which you've all been waiting to hear about, um the number of meals served to students continues to increase
066year-over-year. As of December 2025, with one more serving day, 4,95 more breakfasts have been served compared to last school year. The number of lunches served during the same time period has increased by 11,221. Overall, there's been a 5% increase in the number of lunches served to students eligible for free reduced and New Jersey New Jersey income eligible meals. The number has risen from 459 students to 480 students. The average daily lunch lunch lunch lunch lunch lunch lunch lunch lunch lunch lunch participation has increased by 2% for the month of December year-over-year from 2287 to daily breakfast in the classroom at the elementary level use usage increased year-over-year for the month of December by 21 with 76% of these meals going to students who are eligible for free reduced or New Jersey income eligible we al
067served 39 lunches on the half-day pilot and that was done at um Maurice Hawk on December 23rd with 49% of those meals going to students eligible for free reduced or income eligible meals. We in we anticipate um transition transitioning to a new healthy vending machine company during the month of January. These machines will offer healthy snacks and beverages. uh transportation administration shared the results of recent quotes for special education and student activities for students starting internships and for the music department to travel from high school south to Grover Middle School. We had the audit presentation which we just had here. Um the auditor presented the audit to the committee. He shared the district is in good financial shape and that there were no audit recommendations. Um he shared that the district does a very good
068job handling the district's finances which we also heard a few minutes ago. Um the next uh we also discussed uh tenative finance committee meeting dates and other business. The district received the certificate of e excellence in financial reporting from the association of school business officials for the fiscal year ending 2024. Work on EIP 2 has been completed, which mostly consists of an entirely new HVAC system at Hawk Elementary School. New rooftop units over the gym at Grover Middle School and new boilers at Village Elementary School. Design meetings continue regarding the structure of the construction of the solar car ports that will help fund the EIP 2 facility improvements. We will next meet on Wednesday, February 18th. Thanks, Dana. Any questions from the board for finance? Um, okay. So, that takes us to the voting portion
069of our meeting. Um, can I get a motion for admin administration items numbers one through six? Uh, Liz and Agenta. Uh, any question? Oh, >> purple agenda. >> Oh, I thought that was under personnel. My bad. Thank you. Thank you. A good call. Oh, I wrote that down wrong in my notes. Yes. So, administration items numbers one through six, plus the two purple/ lavender agendas, numbers one and two, Liz and Ajanta. >> Uh, questions or comments? >> Okay, we'll we'll start with Miss Cheni. >> Yes. >> Miss Sha, Missy Sebastian, >> yes. >> Miss Krug, >> yes. >> Miss Maliga, >> yes. >> Mr. Mr. O'Brien. >> Mr. O'Brien. >> Yes. >> Okay. Miss Shetty. >> Yes. >> Miss Mchuan. >> Yes. >> Just one note. >> Um just please note >> that uh there
070should be uh just abstensions um for Mr. O'Brien um and for Miss D. Sebastian for uh addendum item number two. >> Number two. And I think that just got mixed because we originally had it in personnel and it just got moved. So that's why >> and did I accurately reflect the vote for the abstension for those? So my apologies, Dr. Russo. Sorry. >> Makes sense. >> We're good. >> I just lost my train of thought. Did we do Yes, we just voted. Okay, so we're good. We're good on this one. Okay, we're good. Okay, so now >> No, thank you. Thank you for keeping us straight. So we're all good on that one. Okay. Uh, can I get a motion for curriculum and instruction items numbers one through four? Uh, Schwatha and Sharon. Any questions
071or comments? >> Okay, we'll start with Miss Shetty. >> Yes. >> Miss M. Sebastian, >> yes. >> Miss Maliga, >> yes. >> Miss Chenner, >> yes. >> Miss Krug, >> yes. >> Mr. O'Brien, >> yes. >> Miss Sha, >> yes. >> Miss Mchuan, >> yes. And can I get a motion for finance? Now, I so bad want uh to have a little song that does that. I can't think of the the song that's in my head. Motions carry, but that's not the right words. But anyway, >> okay. So, can I get a motion for finance items numbers 1 through 14? Uh Dana and Paul, any questions or comments? >> Okay, we'll start with Miss Krug. >> Yes, except I abstain on 14B. >> 14B. Okay. Mr. O'Brien, >> yes. >> Miss Dispatch, >> yes. >>
072Miss Jenny, >> yes. >> Miss Maliga, >> yes. >> Miss Sha, >> yes. >> Miss Shetty, >> yes. >> Miss Mcuan, >> yes. Can I get a motion for personal item items number one and two plus the green, yellow, and pink agenda. Uh Ly and Ajanta, any questions or comments? Go ahead, Liz. Um, I also believe for 14B I should be abstaining since I'm also >> for the last motion. >> 14B. >> I have it. >> Uh, well, I haven't written it down, but I have it in my head. >> Thank you. >> I'm not there yet. Uh, okay. There we go. 14B. >> Thank you. >> The snow is throwing us all off, right? We've got snow on the brain. >> I have a little rust. >> Yeah. >> A little oil. Um, >>
073okay. Yes. Now we're on to personnel. >> All right. >> Lena Jont. >> And there were no comments for this motion. >> Right. >> All right. So, we'll start with Miss Maliga. >> Yes. >> Miss Sha, >> yes. M >> Miss D. Sebastian. >> Yes. >> Miss Chenier, >> yes. >> Miss Krug, >> yes. >> Mr. O'Brien, >> yes. >> Miss Shetty, >> yes. >> Miss Mcuan, >> yes. >> Motion carries. We like to have fun with this. Um, and before we move on though, I do want to we do want to acknowledge two retirements. First is David Serraetti, our community middle school art teacher, who's retiring after 25 years serving WWP, as well as Kimberly Nati, our community middle school secretary, who is also retiring after 25 years uh serving in WWP. We thank
074you for your dedication uh lots of years of service and we wish you well on this new chapter of your lives. So thank you. And next, can I get a motion to approve the board of education minutes uh from December 16th, 18th, and January 6th uh Dana and Ly, all in favor say I. >> I. Any abstensions? One second. >> I abstain. >> Abstain from December 16th. >> December 16th for Mr. O'Brien and the two December dates for Miss D. Sebastian who is not yet uh a member of the board at that time. >> Perfect. Uh do we have any board liaison reports? like we >> I would just like to say as um you know very much appreciated the presentation that was made today and I know all the different PTSAs have been very
075actively involved uh with ensuring the safety of students and um you know the some of our kids had attended that driver's ed program and it was you know a lot of important content for them to receive. So, it's very important to see how much they're engaging uh the the um bicycle and pedestrian alliance group. They're really making a concentrated effort and really engaged. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh go ahead, Dana. >> I almost forgot. Um we had uh last Thursday we had uh the Mercer County School Board Association uh meeting. it was virtual and we had um three superintendents from Mercer County come and talk to us about um superintendent and board relations. So it was um a very uh well attended um uh presentation and uh got a lot of good information insights.
076Um and also upcoming and you're all invited to this as well is the um unsung heroes which is going to be at High School South as it has been for the last two years. And um this is on uh March 19th and um this is where we honor students who don't um don't regularly get uh acknowledged from you know sort of the the standard kinds of uh recognition programs we have in um in the district and we want to honor them for their their dedication and their um perseverance and support. Um, so we'll be doing that for the entire uh county. Um, each student there's going to be one student from each high school who will be a senior who we're going to honor in that way. It's a really nice event. So, you're going
077to want to come. It's great. Thanks. >> Yeah. Thanks, Dana. Yeah, it's really really inspiring to hear the stories uh from the students who who get honored at that event. So, yes, highly recommend. And uh one last thing, unless anybody else has a or leazison report. Nope. Um, a couple of us were able to go to the um, Muslim Heritage uh, program. It was an educational event um, at the uh, Muslim uh, uh, Greater Muslim Center of Greater Princeton. >> I think I might added a couple extra words there, but um, yeah, that was also a really good um, um, learning moment and and a way to connect with the community. And do we have any new business? This takes us to our second opportunity for public comments. So, the board invites comments from members
078of our community who are present. Each participant is asked to give his name uh and address prior to 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 shall be limited to 15 minutes. Do you want to go again? >> Okay. Seeing none, I'll close this public comment period and move to adjourn. Can I get a motion to adjourn uh Paul and Sharon? Uh all in favor say I. >> I. Excellent. Thank you and good night.