WW-P Board Meeting 06-24-25

001[Music] Hi everybody. Thanks for joining us tonight. Welcome to our uh public board of education meeting. We called our meeting to order earlier in our closed executive session. So, thank you for your patience as we as we file in. Um, really quickly, I just wanted to add that in closed executive session, we did add um a matter involving uh pending litigation and uh yeah, so I'm excited. I hope you all are excited. We're in the last what day and a half of school. Excited for our eighth graders who are going to be uh having their salutes tomorrow and our high school graduates on Thursday. And uh summer vacation is almost upon us. So, I hope everyone is taking precautions uh during this heat wave and uh we are very excited to learn more about our

002board of education candidates to fill our open position and uh I'm going to turn over to Dr. Adhold. Good evening everybody. Um thank you for being here this evening. Um, as Miss McCuin mentioned, tonight we're going to have our um opportunity to interview um several candidates uh from Plansboro with respect to the vacancy uh that occurred due to the resignation of Robin Zovich uh from the board of education. So this evening there have been um seven candidates that submitted um and uh we will go through a process um that was outlined um of an opportunity for each uh candidate. Um if anyone looked back in 2022, uh there's no there's no like process that has to be replicated any every time. So in 2022 when we had a vacancy when Mr. Whitfield uh went to

003the township council in in West Windsor, um we had all we had 13 candidates, 11 came that evening. We had uh two rounds, a round of six and a round of five. Um and they actually took this this particular seats in where the board sits and we sort of went down the road row. We're not going to do that this time. Um we are going to uh we've done a random generator for the candidates. We will have one come up to the podium, give their three minutes for their opportunity to present a statement and present um feedback on their resume, why they want to run for the board and whatnot. That's stated in in the what was posted on the website. And then there'll be four consistent questions that gets asked. We're going to ask

004the other candidates during this time to sit out into in the lobby so they're not hearing. And we're going to ask really uh to honor not um streaming the video, not you know trying to have anyone from inside the room texting questions to the their their friends or family members. Um that we want to have a fair and transparent process for those that are that are trying to fill the seat. Um and we greatly appreciate the seven individuals for putting their their names into the process. Um this particular vacancy because this is an expiring um seat um expires at the end of December. So the individual that gets selected what will happen tonight is the seven individuals will go through a process. The board will then recess into close session. During the time that the

005board deliberates regarding the interviews, uh, a statement will come up onto the board um or Lewis will put it up on the screen just that we're still um deliberating in closed session and we will be returning back to public session. That really will be just obviously for the folks in the room to know, but really for the viewing audience to know that we're still actively uh deliberating because what will happen then is if the board reaches consensus and they'll come back out, make a motion and the individual will be um appointed to the board. They won't be sworn in tonight because to be sworn in you have to be fingerprint cleared. Um and then you can be sworn in by Dr. Russo, our assistant superintendent for finance in the interim from the fingerprint clearance to

006the next sitting meeting. And once your fingerprint cleared and you've been appointed by the board um and Dr. Russo swears you in, that individual will become an active board member at that moment. Um so if we have committee meetings over the summer and the person's already cleared, they can then sit uh in those meetings as a full-fledged board member um and whatnot. So it's really a matter of just timing and process with fingerprint clearance. Um and so we will um from an order perspective, there's the first opportunity for public comment and then we will go through the agenda. Um there's two committee reports this evening. Um and then we will have the the voting sess section, second opportunity for public comment and then before or right around new business is when the the interviews will

007take place. Um and then we'll we'll go from there, do the interviews, then recess into close session for the deliberation, come back out, make the motion. Now, technically, if the board doesn't reach consensus um within the the law, within the rules of how far we can stretch the vacancy, it could be the July meeting still. We're still within the 95 day window. I believe it's 95 or 93 day window at that moment at that time of the July meeting. I don't anticipate that, but technically the board does not have to have a final decision tonight. Um, and so that's the process for this. With respect to the school year, I also just want to echo the comments. Um, we have middle school salutes tomorrow night. We have graduation for North and South on Thursday. Uh,

008obviously we're coming to the conclusion of a year in the middle of a very dangerous heat wave. Um there's been tremendous amount of activities happening in our schools um with end of the year celebrations and parties and PTA functions and want to thank all those volunteers and all the members of our public that have you gone above and beyond in this time period to come out and create those celebrations for our our staff and our our our students. Um and just to wish everyone a wonderful conclusion of the year and a wonderful summer um and a safe summer. Um and with that I'll turn it back to Miss McCuin. All right. Thanks Dr. Adhold. So hang out for through the regular meeting and then we will hear and meet from our uh great panel of

009uh candidates that submitted their applications. And now we have our 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 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 60 minutes. Do we have any comments for this first session? Oh, I saw movement. I thought maybe there was someone coming up. So, seeing none, I will move to close this public comment period and move on to committee reports. So, I'll ask Dana to give us a rundown of administration and facilities. Good evening

010everyone. Um the fi the admin administrative administration and facilities committee met on June 17th. Updated job descriptions were shared with the committee including assistant director of technology and the supervisor of instructional technology. The committee recommends the job descriptions for approval on tonight's um agenda. Next was an athletics update. High school South boys volleyball captured the BCSL tournament championship and advanced to the South group three sectional finals. Boys tennis had an outstanding season, defeating North to win the Central Group Three sectional title and then going on to claim the group three tournament. Tennis coach Rich Arnold celebrated a milestone with his 300th boys tennis win during the state semi-final match. On to North um high school North boys volleyball advanced to the south group three sectional semi-finals and boys tennis made it to the central group

011three sectional finals. The girls track and field team captured the group three sectional championship. So, congratulations to all our student athletes and coaches on an outstanding season. Additionally, the committee discussed enhancements for the high school south softball box back stop that will be completed this summer. The superintendent shared updates on the Plainsboro housing developments. There are three developments anticipated in Plainsboro in the near future. The Forestl Village residential has been approved by the township for an additional 394 apartments within and to the west of the existing Forestal Village buildings and reconfiguration of existing parking. 67 units will be affordable housing. The Princeton Nurseries property is a mixeduse project on a 109 acre parcel north of Forestell Village and west of Route 1. There will be 950 residential units of which 654 will be non-agger restricted,

01296 units will be affordable and 200 will be age restricted. The property will be a mix of apartments, town homes, and single family homes. and fusion at Plainsboro will be a mixeduse project located on a 56 acre parcel between Scutter Mill Road and Plainsboro Road and between the hospital campus and Novo Nordisk. This property will have 525 housing units, which includes 153 town homes, 372 apartments, 26 of which will be affordable, and 40 supportive housing units, one or more bedrooms in each unit. The committee discussed the recently passed sunscreen and sun protection bill which goes into effect for the 200 to 202526 school year. We await guidance from um Strauss Esme on the development of a model policy and our committee will next meet on July 23rd. Thanks Dana. Does the board have any questions

013for administration and facilities? Nope. Okay. So I'll turn it over now to Louisa to give us a report on finance. Sorry, I was just committee met um and we first talked about the re uh reviewing the agenda item. items. The committee reviewed the monthly financial reports. The administration affirmed that no major accounts are overexpended and that sufficient funds are available to complete the year. The committee reviewed the following motions on the agenda for approval. To approve a year-end deposit into the capital reserve fund. To approve the designation of a student accident insurance carrier. To approve the third-year membership agreement with the school alliance insurance fund. To approve the third-year membership agreement with NJSIG. to approve tuition rates for the 2526 school year. To approve lunch rates for the 2526 school year, to approve the sale

014of solar renewable energy certificates, to approve purchases exceeding the bid threshold through pricing cooperatives and the NJ state contract, to approve technology service agreements and renewals, to approve purchases using capital outlay and capital reserve funds for the 2526 school year. to approve the disposal of obsolete equipment. To approve the renewal of a shared services agreement for transportation maintenance services, to approve quoted indistrict summer program transportation routes, to approve staff professional development, travel, and expenses, and to approve the list of contracts utilized during the current school year. Um, next, the committee discussed the second energy savings improvement program. The district is funding EIP 2 through bonds. The district received a AAA rating for the bond sale, reflecting its strong fiscal planning and healthy reserve balances. At Village Elementary School, the old boilers have been removed in

015preparation for the installation of new ones. The building envelope projects aimed at improving energy efficiency have been completed. Additionally, the first construction meeting for the Haw HVAC replacement project has been held with work scheduled to begin on June 30th. The contractor has received all necessary materials to complete the project. The district will sell the solar energy renewal solar renewable energy credits generated over the past six months on July 9th, 2025. The Monmouth Ocean Educational Services Commission will provide non-public services to students who require them. Under cafeteria administration utilized the paid lunch equity tool to determine the required meal prices for the 2526 school year, resulting in a 10-centent increase per lunch and a 5 cents increase per breakfast. Despite the adjustment, the district remains below the minimum meal price recommended by the New Jersey Department

016of Agriculture. In May of 2025, there were two fewer serving days compared to May of 24, which led to a corresponding decrease in the total number of meals served. However, the number of meals served to students qualifying for free, reduced, or NJ income eligible meals remained strong with a 36% increase, consistent with trends observed in previous months. Breakfast participation at the elementary level level continued its upward trend year-over-year. Notably, 85% of those breakfasts were served to students eligible for free, reduced, or NJ income eligible programs. Southwest Food Service Excellence hosted a flavor fest at High School North where 250 students sampled potential new menu items. Additionally, a roving chef event at Milstone River, offered hands-on cooking lessons to 12 elementary students. Staffing continues to be a problem. Unfortunately, two SF employees submitted their resignations at

017the beginning of June. Uh transportation was discussed during section one. The committee is next scheduled to meet Tuesday, July 22nd. And I apologize for being distracted at the beginning that the uh minutes say they were for April 17th when they were for June 17th. Oh, perfect. Thank you, Louisa. And does anyone have any questions for finance? Go ahead, please. Just had a quick question with regard to the lunch rates that are mentioned. Um, I see a reference to adults here under lunch. Is that adult as in staff or is it like adult learners? What is that referring to? Adults as in staff. All right. Perfect. Any other questions? Dana, since we're asking questions about cafeteria, um, can um, someone elaborate on what the paid lunch equity uh, tool is? Yeah, it's kind of like the

018progressive tool that Flo uses for a pricing of insurance. No. Um, sorry. It's a good analogy. It's sorry. It's a calculation. U It's a calculation that the state gives us once they review all the u variables, you know, that they want in the calculation. And it's based on um part of it's based on the October before lunch counts and everything else. Well, anyway, uh it's literally a calculation that the state gives us. We punch in all the information, the variables that they ask for and it gives us the amount that they feel is uh uh I won't say yeah, essentially the minimum that we should charge. And we can it also we can tweak it to to move it to where we can get it to um to where we break even if we're not

019breaking even with the minimum num number. And then it also essentially caps any increase at 10 cents or 5 cents. So well 10 cents we chose 10 cents for lunch 5 cents for uh breakfast. So Ly has a question. Sorry Chris. Um and it was mentioned that there was an increase in free and reduced lunch um to at 36%. So at the end of the school year, everyone that has qualified for this past year, do they start they have to 30 days into next year. So everyone has to reapply again 30 days next year. Yeah, they have 30 days to get their application in month of September into like the first week. It's actually maybe closer to 40 days uh into October. They they have to get and will it be included in Genesis as

020one of the forms that I think it's typically right. Okay. Thank you for clarifying. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay, so um great analogy by the way. Uh we can move on to the voting portion of our meeting. Can I get a motion for administration items numbers 1 through eight? Plus, I have a couple of verbal corrections to add to bullet number two, adding in case number 239-577 GMS0519205 as well as on bullet number five for pen medicine to correct um it should read to perform student and staff drug screenings. Uh motion from um Dana and Liz. Any questions or comments? Okay, we'll start with Miss Krug. Yes. Miss Fineier. Yes. Miss Hoe. Yes. Miss Maliga. Yes. Miss Shetty. Yes. Miss Bonsel. Yes. Miss Mchuan. Yes. Can I get a motion for curriculum and instruction

021items numbers 1 through six? Uh, Ly and Puja. Questions or comments? Okay. Okay. We'll start we'll we'll start with Miss Maliga. Yes. Miss Bonsel. Yes. Miss Shetty. Yes. Miss Chenniera. Yes, Miss Ho. Yes, Miss Krug. Yes, Miss Mcuan. Yes. Can I get a motion for finance items numbers 1 through 48 plus the blue addendum? Uh, Louisa and Schwatha. Questions or comments? Okay, we'll start. Miss Hoe, yes. Miss Shetty, yes. Miss Cheniera, yes. Miss Kroo, yes. Miss Maliga, yes. Miss Bonsel, yes. And Miss Mchuan, yes. And uh before we move on to personnel items, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Adterhold for a quick statement. Good evening again everyone. This evening we actually have two administrative appointments on the agenda and I just want to recognize both individuals as they're sitting in the audience.

022Um first for GMS, our assistant principal um recommendation and Miss Katie Hy. Uh Katie's right there wearing JAG color sitting next to Dr. Dber. Um and um we're real thrilled to to welcome Katie to our leadership team. She's been a teacher at Grover Middle School for the since 2014 in both sixth and eighth grade social studies. U but that's just one aspect of all Katie's involvement. Uh she has led and shared numerous committees including but not limited to the DAK. She's on our district evaluation advisory committee. She also helps run our new parent link program every summer to welcome our new families um at GMS. She is our student council adviser, our eighth grade awards coordinator and a representative on our goal for um equity uh district strategic goal committee. She's a member a board

023member of New Jersey uh assoc state association of middle level educators. She's presented in numerous PDs both in district but also at the state and national levels. Uh she's been recognized as an emerging and distinguished leader at Amley which is the assoc the American middle level educators association. Um and and I believe and I believe this is accurate the first GMS teacher to become a GMS assistant principal since GMS opened. So uh congratulations Katie. [Applause] And we also have one of our colleagues who's been with us for the better part of well almost three decades. Um uh Alan Johnson. Uh Allan is on the agenda this evening. Um with a recognition and a title shift with some responsibility shift. Uh Allan currently is a supervisor of instructional technology, not instructional technology, technology, uh media and

024uh god training. And Allan is being um appointed this evening as assistant director of technology. Allan's been an intricral member of our district team, but his his knowledge of database integration, his knowledge of systems and data analytics is second to none. Um, we're really pleased to welcome Allan to this new role u serving with Peter James as the director of technology, serving with Harry Doctor and serving with uh Dr. Pearson who is our new director of data assessment and accountability. A dynamic team uh coming together and Allan is an integral part of that. So Allan congratulations on the new appointment. [Applause] Yes, congratulations to you both and I Yes, I see the hard work that Miss Haley does every time I I step and visit GMS. So, um so with that, we will officially make

025it uh by can I get a motion for personal items numbers one through four plus the green addendum? Uh Louisa and Schwatha. Uh any questions or comments? No. Okay, we'll start with Miss Hoe. Yes. Okay. M Miss Shetty. Yes. Miss Jenner. Yes. Miss Kroo. Yes. Miss Maliga. Yes. Miss Bonsil? Yes. Miss Mchuan? Yes. Uh can I get a motion for to approve board of education minutes from May 27th and June 10th with a verbal correction amending that uh Jont Sha was present on June 10th. Uh Ly and Dana. Uh, all in favor say I. I. I. Any abstensions? I'm abstaining from the May 27th. All right. Uh, do we have any board of um liaison reports? Liz or Lloyd? Uh, Liz and I are both leazison for the PTAs. Uh, Liz with West Windsor and

026myself uh at the Plainsboro schools. We just want to um thank all the PTAs as Dr. at a hold alluded to the beginning all the end of the year festivities, carnivals, beach days. Uh, North just had their senior sunset and with the weather being um uncooperative the past last couple of weeks. I know there was a lot of um um managing of of of all these activities, but the amount of work, time and energy that uh these volunteers put in is so appreciated and it makes a special um environment and special culture in each of the schools. So, um, on behalf of Liz and myself, we just wanted to thank all the the PTAs from all the 10 schools for all the efforts that they've put into making it not only the end of the

027year a wonderful, um, time for students, but throughout the year all the, um, wonderful activities, um, that happen and take place. I don't know if Liz wants to add anything else, but thank you. I was also just going to add that we always need volunteers for all the different roles and committees. It can't be done um, just by a few that always volunteer. So do encourage you to get involved in the community in different capacities not just with the PTSAs but overall here here. Um any other board lesson on reports? No. Okay. Well then 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

028be 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. Uh any takers? Seeing none, I'll close this second opport Oh, never mind. Not yet. Hi. Right at the podium. And don't forget, you know, name and address. Yeah, go for it. We'll speak separately, but we stand together. Okay. Okay. So, we'll each have three minutes. That sounds great. So, hi everyone. I know a bunch of you. Uh, my name is Christie. I'm from two Suffach Lane, Princeton Junction. Kia Opalos is the last name. And basically, I came here to make a comment and also ask for a question. And it's a convoluted one, a little challenging. I know that the answer is more than just, you

029know, two minutes of our time. But my question is, I live in a track where we go in our neighborhood from Hawk to Milstone to uh Grover and then south. We're in a really small contingency of people who do that. Our students um are amongst 30% that go from Hawk to Milstone. 100% of Dutch Neck goes to Village. 100% of um Town Center goes to Milstone. 100% of Wyoff goes to Milstone. So this very small group of 30%. Then you need to parse those children out a little further. Um of those children, the 30% my I I'm trying to get the answer. That's part of my question. Um most of them end up on the community and north track. So there we're left with this really small group of children. And historically it has been

030an issue. It's been a topic of conversation. It has been a challenge for our children who are in our neighborhood of these small neighborhoods that do this little zigzag and very much so specific to my family. I have two older children and they have been through this and it was a challenge for them. Um, one actually went through um and it really uh disjointed her relationships, her social emotional growth. Um, and then when it came time for my second child, um, we opted for a different route, we went to private school. Um, I'm not saying that's the right answer. He had other reasons why we also want to consider private school. But this is a really disruptive um, challenging path and I'm not quite sure why we still hold on to it. I understand that

031from years and years ago, there was a reason between the two towns of splitting and re um, allocating children to create equity and, you know, whatever it was. Um, but I'm not sure. I feel it's a vestage. It's an appendix of an old um divvying up of the two towns that this very small group of children, the vast majority of those very small group of kids are really affected by it. So what I'd like to do is understand better the process why I would love to have a written response as to exactly how many children um do each path and of course more specifically the one that I am a part of um you know so are we is it is it 2% of children of the entire grade that is forced to do this

032zigzag really um because it's not just the 30% because the 30% of children that go to Milstone a bunch of them will then be with their peers for forever so you know it doesn't make sense to move them, but why are we on that path and does it really assist our children's social emotional growth and can we look into that? So, I'd love to advocate for that question about it. And speak further. Thank you. Um, and so Aaron Picarella, I also live on Suffolk Lane. My children will follow the same track, just kind of continuing the same points. So, I submit an exemption for my daughter Riley. Um she is a beautiful, happy, wonderful girl, but she has anxiety and she has had some troubles, documented troubles in school with her pediatrician. It's something we

033deal with. My we were rejected. Um so that was concerning. Um and as I've spent time looking into this more, um like Christy said, it's a very small minority. I think it's actually less than 30% this year. I think it's closer to 25. I know it's less than 50 students, so who are moving to Milstone River. um you know and and I know that the reason they were you know the reason that I got on the rejection was that there were too many submitted. So, my first question, and this is probably a little bit rhetorical, but how many children is how many exemptions are too many for you to not care about the children and their well-being? Um, because I took that personally. And then I think, you know, another a couple of additional questions

034that I have that I'd also like some responses to is, you know, in dealing with the counselors and and talking to the counselors, it sounds like children have had issues before. So, I'd like to understand, has anybody followed these kids? Do they have, you know, to me it feels like they're actually having a disadvantaged career progression within their education? So, has anybody studied them? Is there a dip in their academics as they're doing this? Um, are they seeking counseling out at a higher rate than other children in their peer group who are not being split up? Um because with you know depression, anxiety, other mental and social emotional disorders on the rise in the youth um I'm really concerned about that for my daughter especially, but for all of the children. I think that this

035is an unfair thing that they have to go through that other children don't have to go through. Um and so out of three of four schools, they all get to stay together with their upper elementary or their lower elementary cohort into upper elementary. Um and it really does feel like we're being treat treated unfairly. I'm also curious if are there additional children from our little neighborhood, our little community? Are they leaving to go to private school? Are they moving out of the district at a higher rate than other areas? Um because it does feel like we're we're kind of being disproportionately affected. And you know, our children will be in the minority for both moves. Um which is not the case for anybody else across the entire West Windsor Plainsboro community. It's limited to two

036neighborhoods. Thank you. Do we have any other public comments? Okay, seeing none, I'll close this public comment period. Since there's no other public comments, um I'll just address the the two speakers. Um comment globally. um sending paths have been in place for long uh time in district. Every year we get well over 300 uh requests for exemptions to those paths. Exemption requests can be anything from um bullying to social emotional to um to um concerns with transportation with respect to parent work schedules to questions about proximity. Um as the speaker said stated and uh accurately uh Hawke is the only school that splits going into the upper elementary. Um and that's because why West Windsor doesn't fit in West Windsor elementary schools. That's been the historical concern when we've talked about the number of students

037in WWP. West Windsor doesn't fit in West Windsor. So, we have cross paths and those longestablished um sending paths have been upheld and honored by um assistant superintendents of pupil services and planning. Um and in Dr. McDonald's absence, I filled in in that capacity um in the last 3 months. Um globally I would simply say that when a request comes in and it's submitted through a Google form and it goes to all the principles um that are involved in the request as well as registar and myself. Those requests are then solicited for feedback from the building administration, counselors if appropriate, and um special services if it impacts an IEP or a placement. Um and these come in all all all times of day and night uh throughout this season, but throughout the entirety of the

038summer. Um exceptions to the um exemption requests are are the um are rare. Um they occasionally happen but the vast majority of requests are denied based on our enrollments based on our school paths. Um now to the global the more global issue um that was raised uh can it be reviewed and the answer is yes but through a process an individual assistant superintendent or superintendent even uh can't change the sending path that would get recommended to an ANF committee which is administration facilities committee and that can be reviewed um in you know as we as we look over the summer at our summer agendas which happened in July and in August. um but can't just uniformly change ascending path as we just the administration upholds the paths that are that are um approved um and

039then uh look at extraordinary circumstances for any exemption. Changing a path requires a conversation with the board committee. So, um I'm sure knowing our our committee chair, we'll make sure that this goes into a future board committee topic. Um and then we can review those paths and have that conversation in July. All right. Thank you, Dr. Adhold. Um, so now it is time for our board member candidate interviews and uh I believe we um the number of candidates uh were put into a randomizer uh to figure out uh who's who's going up first. Um do you want to so give us a little bit of space to kind of you know talk through who's staying who's popping over to the to the lobby area. Sure. And I I'll hand it over to our board attorney

040in a moment, but um just for the good of the audience, you saw it with the buzzer um with the candidates. Um Dr. Russo has the ability to set the um timer at 3 minutes. So for the first question that each individual um has the opportunity to make a general statement, talk about their resume, their their why, you'll have a three-minute window. The um Chris, it's going to flash at one minute. So you'll you'll have sort of like a one minute warning and then um it will buzz at the three minute mark. Um with respect to the follow-up questions, uh Mr. Kaches, our board attorney, will read the questions. There'll be the same four questions um asked to every candidate. So um in again in fairness to the candidates, that's where we're going to ask

041folks to sit outside so no one has an unfair advantage over hearing the questions in advance. Um when Mr. Jay-Z is done reading the question. Chris will then hit the timer and the one minute point will start. Will that beep in advance? It just goes one minute. Straight one minute and then it will buzz when it's over. Thank you, Chris. Jeeoff, I'll turn it over to you. That works. I guess at this point, um, we're going to excuse Do we have Do we have I have seven candidates. Are they all here? Do we know if they're all here? I do I do not know hands maybe. Yeah. One, two, three, four, five. I see looks like it. Yeah. Oh, there. I'm sorry. I didn't see it in the back. Okay. So, we'll we'll keep the

042first candidate uh in the room and then the other six can go into the the lobby. Correct. Right. And actually, Mr. Taro, um one of our colleagues is going to join you out there in case there's any questions and just to make sure someone's out there with everyone. Okay. The the first candidate u is Hanife Payak. So, um, before you begin, and you please feel free to go up here if everyone else can just leave the room. Can you tell us who's on deck just so they have a sense of when they're going? Do you want me to give them the order? The order. I think I think they'd appreciate that. That's fine. Um, next will be and I apologize for my eyes. I got to I got I need a bigger font. Uh, Deborah

043Vavona will be next. A uh Ubidia Paul O'Brien, then Jerry Makin, then uh Jiotti Venicontraman, uh Kashbu Mahandrew was last. Okay, I apologize if I butchered anybody's name. that. Okay. Uh Mr. Pak, am I saying your name correctly? Yep. Thank you. Um I think everybody's out of the room. So, uh as Dr. Adderhold has stated, you'll be able to give an opening statement. You have three minutes for the opening statement. Uh Dr. Russo will be timing. uh you'll get a one minute warning for that. So, it's up to three minutes. Um you don't have to use the entire three minutes, but um if you would, the board wants the board wants to thank you for submitting your application to serve on the board of education. Like to learn a little more about you. So, you

044have these three minutes uh as to why you're running for the board. Um you can elaborate on your your submitted letter, your qualifications or any areas of priority. Um so, the floor is yours for your opening statement. So, uh good evening. My name is Hanife P. First of all, uh I would like to thank all the board members, Dr. Erhold and all the WWP admin staff who provided me opportunity to speak with you tonight. Uh my family and I have proudly called Plansboro home uh over last 10 years. Uh we moved uh when our older like eldest daughter uh like ready to go to the school, we moved uh to Plansboro. We chose because of the academic uh performance of the school district. Uh today one of my daughter goes to the uh high school

045south. Uh the second one goes to the uh Milstone River. Uh both uh have benefit from the WWP's uh diverse academic programs, vibrant school life and a the strong support for the athletics as a a like I'm a dad of the student who plays the lot of sports my daughter. I've seen uh firsthand how uh the balancing the academics uh her extracurriculars and social growth and this kind of like essential to education like as a well-rounded child. Uh over the years uh I have involved in a various activities in schools and communities. Uh I have participated in a various uh PTA events, local town events. I a building a like you know events for the community where you unite our town. Um I'll be also serving in a as a treasurer in a um MRSPTA

046for next year. Uh I remain uh committed to like any initiative that helps students and our schools. Professionally uh I bring over 23 years of experience in cyber security. I worked for like Fortune 500 companies uh universities, government agencies to secure their critical infrastructure. In my day-to-day uh like work, what I do is like I combat the cyber threats, manage the project budgets, solve the complex technical issues u that technically provide me a experience that will help uh you know support the students data, keep our school secure and efficient uh in the like you know we are living in the AIdriven world right now. It has a uh advantage and then there are lot of complexity coming with it. Uh I want to help the district um responsibly like you know harness the technology to

047enhance the learning and use it for the positive way the AI. Um last year I ran for a board of education. Um I knocked almost 3,000 doors in Plansboro. I spoke to uh like almost hundreds of families and past students and they they they heard their concerns like you know they they they also have their share their hopes their dreams with the district. um that experience like you know continues to guide me today and I believe that leadership that puts the students and educators uh first remain um that like you know in every step of the step um I'm not a politician I'm a parent uh neighbor and a problem solver I care deeply about the academic excellence uh mental health uh student well-being and supporting of our educators thank you Hanife that was three

048minutes so I we have more questions Oh, sure. So, as as previously stated, uh we're going to have a four questions for you. Each uh you can give up to a minute response. Uh again, M Dr. Russo will be timing the responses. The first question is, what particular experience or skills prepare you to serve as a board member? So one thing I say is that like I'm been uh like I'm a I'm very good with the budgets. Uh I I serve in a very like various places as a treasurer. uh I uh like you use like I used to serve in a various board where uh and provide the stuff and I personally use for my particular business right so where I have to provide quarterly and yearly budgets and that kind of like you

049know skills uh provide like you know it will help me um the good age of to serve in a board I'm also a very good at the technology uh 23 years in cyber security so I'll definitely help on that also u to serve this position Thank you. Second question is, is there a specific issue that motivates you to serve on the school board? I don't have any specific issues. The board does a tremendous job. Like one thing I want to say about board like you know last year when I did my um campaign I walk over those houses. I met a lot of like past students and they mentioned to me that you know when we went to college we were so well prepared by the district. Uh the the base created by the district

050was so good. So that definitely helped. So district did a really good job with that. One thing I would suggest the district can do something better on it. It probably like you know our district has a lot of uh immigrant parents. they first time coming to us they we have a lot of good programs and uh policies they probably don't know not aware of it if we can provide some education some webinars and stuff like that that would be great but other than that I don't have any concern okay thank you uh the next question is the New Jersey school boards association emphasizes that a board member role is not to administrators of the schools but to ensure that they are wellrun through policy and planning how do you interp interpret this distinction and how

051would you apply it in your actions as a board member? So I understand how the board works. Uh so technically if I interpret as enterprise he kind of a CEO of the company and we are kind of a board who works with the policies and stuff but u CEO or admin has to improve like put that policy in the place to the so I understand the the responsibility of board and and the admin and your last question is what are the top two or three strengths of our school district and what are the most significant challenge challenges you believe it currently faces. How would you propose the board address these challenges in the next 3 to 5 years? Uh one challenge I see is that uh earlier uh she mentioned probably that there are new

052houses coming in our our community rightly 3,500 housesboro has 1100 and um Westminster has 2400 houses coming in there. So uh that will be a challenge for uh district to accommodate all the students right uh what you uh we doing good is that uh like one of the thing I would mention is that like in this year 2025 we got a 10 educator like best educators award which is kind of shows the stability of our educators uh what we have it here and I guess yeah and the other thing I just mentioned earlier that you know the student say that they are well prepared the base is created properly And you know what I I what I would say is that every student come back to the parents in 10 years after that and come

053and say thank you for coming to W like putting me in WWP made me like you know well prepared for the life. All right. Thank you. Um yeah I was just going to say the same that concludes. So um you're welcome to take a seat and stay if you'd like. Thank you. Thank you Mr. P. All right. Now we can please. Uh, I'm sorry. It was Deborah Vavona. Good evening. Hi Deborah. Um so over here that is a good trick, right? That was a good trick. So um just to kind of reiterate what Dr. Adhold had said earlier, you're going to have three minutes to give an opening statement. Dr. Russo uh will be timing you. I believe there'll be a one minute warning. Um so you have a one minute warning so you know

054we have one minute left. After that there will be four questions with uh one minute uh each time to respond. Um so uh from the board to say thank you for submitting your application to serve on the board of education. Uh the board would like to learn more about you in three minutes. In a three-minute statement please introduce yourself and tell the board why you are running for the school board. You can elaborate elaborate on your submitted letter, qualifications, and areas of priority. Floor is yours. Great. The mic is on. Yep. Yep. So, good evening. My name is Debbie Vavona. I've lived in Plansboro for 31 years and I have been a parent of a West Windsor Plains student for 24 years. My last child, I have five children, is a sophomore, almost a junior.

055Two more days. Um, so, uh, that's a little bit about my time here in Plainsboro. Um, I'm by education, I'm a teacher. I've taught in the classroom for over 10 years. Started teaching in Michigan. Um, then, uh, Illinois. Then I did Peace Corps. So I was in Cameroon and then I came to New Jersey. When my third child was born, I moved out of the classroom and started a home daycare business. I did that for about 14 years. Um when my last child was in third grade, I took over our family businesses bookkeeping. So, I have experience with oh, payroll, insurance, transportation, all those kind of similar but different things that we do here on with your budget. Um, so I continue doing that. I also do volunteer work in the community. Um, I've been

056a scout leader for 23 years. I currently run a girl boy scout troop um in Plainsboro. I have to go home and pack. I'm taking 18 kids for a week of summer camp on Sunday. Uh that is my favorite thing to do is give youth new experiences. Um that's my connection I think with the board. I'd bring that um firsthand connection with the kids. Besides that, uh we've raised three dogs for the CNI. The CNI is a guide school for the blind. So they do the professional training of the guide dogs. Firsthand. I really miss what small accommodations and and accessibility does to someone's life. Um more so than reading about it, being able to see that happen. Um besides that, I'm on my um homeowners association um vice president. I've had a lot of

057opportunity to collaborate with neighbors and collaborate with other board members and work on that decision making as a group. I've also worked with the planes rescue squad after COVID. They had low enrollment and the chief approached me. We are friends through scouting and asked me to come board and get adults to volunteer from 6 pm to 6:00 a.m. to sleep in the squad house and do about a 100 hours of classroom training to get trained. We were very successful. We were able to fill the gap and now we're just kind of at a maintenance level where we bring in adults everywhere. So I'm not really Is that three minutes? Wow, I did three. All right, questions. So now, um, sorry. Are we good? All right. Sorry about that. Um, so now we have four questions.

058Like we said before, you'll have a minute each uh to respond uh for each question. The first question is what particular experience or skills prepare you to serve as a board member? Um when I think of my skills first I would say organizational skills. Um I'm able to do all of these things plus work. W work is mostly part-time but um because I'm organized uh kind of ran the family. My dad is retired Navy. So I grew up in a Navy household. Schedules, duty rosters are kind of my thing. So I arrived places early or what my dad would call on time and that would be the first thing. My teaching experience, my continue work with kids, my continued work in the in the community. Now is a good time. I'm down to one kid

059who should be getting her driver's license next year. I actually have a few minutes of extra time. I would imagine I don't know 10 to 15 hours a month. uh between board meetings, researching topics, kind of, you know, doing what I need to do to catch up. So, it's a good time for me. The next question is, is there a specific issue that motivates you to serve on the school board? No. Um, I think putting five kids through the district, living here as long as we have, it's kind of a payback, pay it forward. You guys have taken care of my kids. I have kids in STEM. I have kids in the trades. I have kids who went to fancy schools. I have a kid who went to, you know, public um college. So, I've

060seen the gamut in my own house. Um, we have a very changing community, which I'm aware of. I don't know if anybody knows what the right formula is, but I'm here to learn and listen and make the best decision we can. Next question is the New Jersey School Boards Association emphasize emphasizes that a board member's role is not to administer the schools but to ensure they are well-run through policy and planning. How do you interpret this distinction and how do you apply it in your actions as a board member? So I think it goes back to keeping those committees on schedule, accountability, followup kind of things that are something that I do naturally. Um, like you said, we're not here to make the decisions, but just make sure we're efficient and um, support the superintendent

061um, and support the teachers and the buildings and everyone else. Okay. And the last question, there's a sub part I'm going to warn you. Um, what are the top two or three strengths of our school district and what are the most significant challenges you believe it currently faces? How would you propose the board address these challenges in the next three to five years? So strengths um we just heard how well our athletic clubs are doing. We know that our academics are top-notch. So I think the diversity I know I have a kid who's in ceramics class now. So we are we offer a lot. We have wonderful musical programs. So that that breath with challenges there's that cell phone policy coming down. mental health. Um, you know, the mental health issue is affecting my own

062family, my own kids. Um, I think how are we going to take care of AI coming in using it as a tool? Maybe education is going to change a lot because we'll be able to implement ways to have individualized plans for every kid. I think a lot of change will be coming. How we address it um will be it but not sure if I answered it exactly but um we do a lot of the stuff that's good and I ran out of time. It's perfect timing. Thank you very much. Um thank you. Thank you. Welcome to stay and next the next uh I'll go back uh is sorry a going a oh I'm sorry Ash. All right. I and please correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Upadilla. Up. I That was pretty close though, right?

063Um, sorry. Sorry. Uh, as we we Dr. Adherald had said earlier, uh, you're going to have the opportunity to make a three-minut statement. Uh, Dr. Russo will be timing you. You will get a one minute warning. um for conclusion of your statement. After that, we'll be asked a series of four questions. You have a minute each to respond to those each question. Um with that said, uh the board thanks you for submitting your application to serve as on the board of education. The board would like to hear more about about you and the three-minute statement. Please introduce yourself and tell the board why you're running for the school board. Uh you can elaborate on your submitted letter, qualification, and any areas of priority. Time's yours. Oh, sure. All right. All right. Um, hello. Uh, my

064name is Ashady and I am running for the board because I want to address one concern I see is that the overuse of technology in lower elementary. I'm the parent of a second grader and it seems all they do is use the uh their Chromebooks or they're watching videos. last year they were watching videos on how to do addition. It's what is the point of the teacher if they're just watching videos. And I think with all this uh screen time, they're not learning how to one uh focus on the teacher, learn from the teacher, and two, they're not spending time with their friends. So, I went to Middle Sex County or Middle Yeah, Middle Sex County Public Schools 30 years ago. I started in uh second grade and we didn't have all of this and

065I still am technology literate. I did electrical engineering and I think this emphasis on technology is a great disservice to the students and there is so much bullying that's going on in lower elementary. Um I've spoken to the building administration. I've talked to Dr. McDonald about this and I think uh the students are not having enough time to spend with each other. So on the playground it's just it's a essentially a jungle and it seems there is a counselor in the school but the teachers are no longer handling the problems like they used to even 20 years ago. And I want to fix this. I want to get this technology out. I want the kids to go back to the basics, learn how to form their letters, learn how to form their numbers, learn how

066to be kids again, not just staring at a screen all day. And I feel the education I got, so I graduated 22 23 years ago from Middle Sex High School. I went to college and I was ready for the world. And I'm not sure that this education now is going to prepare the kids for the same type of success that I've had. That's it. Thank you. Um like I said before, we're now going to ask you four questions. You have a minute each um for your response. First question is, what particular experience or skills prepare you to serve as a board member? Um so one, I have been through the public school system in Middle Sex County and I'm the parent of a student going through it and I see problems. So I think that's

067all the qualification uh I feel is uh needed. Right. Uh next question. Is there a specific issue that motivates you to serve uh on the school board? Uh yes. So like in the opening statement, the overuse of technology and I think the bullying that's happening. So if I had to pick one, I would say the overuse of technology is causing all these issues or at least some of these issues and they could be addressed if we just went back to the old ways. Third question. The New Jersey School Boards Association emphasizes that a board member's role is not to administer the schools but to ensure that they are wellrun through policy and planning. How do you interpret this distinction and how do you apply it in your actions as a board member? Uh so in

068my first job out of college uh we there was a dis like a separation called vision strategy execution. So the board is responsible for the vision, the superintendent is responsible for the strategy and uh the assistant superintendent and the teachers are responsible for execution. So I think the board's policy should be that let's figure out how to uh ensure our children are successful and then we can work with the schools to figure out how to implement that policy. So my view is let's have the teachers go back to teaching. Let's have them uh teach proper behavior. Let's have them teach penmanship and then we can work with the administration to figure out how to best uh implement that. Last question. What are the top two or three strengths of our school district and what are

069the most significant challenges you believe it currently faces? How would you propose the board address these challenges in the next three to five years? So, I think the biggest strength the school district has is money. I see uh how much we spend per student and uh compared to even where I grew up, it's uh significantly more and uh yet I feel with I think this money is not being spent where it's needed especially in the early childhood education. So, I would say let's eliminate the technology and let's bring in more teachers. And if we need more counselors to help kids learn better behavior, then let's use the savings and pay for more counselors. One counselor for 300 students is not sufficient. So, we need to empower the teachers and we need more counselors. That concludes

070the questions. Thank you very much. Um, you're welcome to sit in the audience or whatever you'd like. Next is I said thank you Paul. Paul Hello. Hi, Mr. O'Brien. Um, just to reiterate what Dr. Adterhold had said earlier, you're going to have three minutes to make an opening statement. That'll be timed by Dr. Russo. Uh, you'll get a one minute warning, which I believe is up on the podium there. Um, after that, you'll be asked four questions. You have a minute to respond to each question. Um, with that said, the board would like to thank you for submitting your application to serve on the board of education. The board would like to learn more about you. So in these three minutes uh please introduce yourself and tell us tell the board why you are running

071for the school board and you you feel free to elaborate on your submitted letter qualifications in the areas of priority. Time is yours. Great. Thank you. Is the mic on? Yep. Thank you. Good evening members of the board of education. Thank you for this opportunity to elaborate on my letter of interest. As a longtime resident of Plainsboro and a parent of a child in the district, my interest in serving stems from a heartfelt commitment to our schools. My experience, particularly in supporting individuals who may not always have a strong voice, has instilled in me a profound importance of listening, demonstrating compassion, and truly meeting people where they are. This commitment to meaningful community engagement is evident by my service as president of the Northern Knights marching band boosters and as a founding member of the

072Plainsboro business partnership and as a DJ at various Girl Scout Scout dances. I'm here with a sincere desire to serve, to contribute collaboratively, without a specific agenda, and to ensure our schools are well supported. My work history has helped me develop skills necessary for this role that has involved navigating complex regulatory landscapes and collaborating with expert third-party consultants and diverse stakeholders, a skill set directly applicable to being a board member. Furthermore, my experience in coordinating largecale renovation projects demonstrates a proven ability to manage extensive undertakings, oversee budgets, facilitate seamless communication among all parties involved, which is critical for the effective oversight of district operations. Across my career, I've consistently demonstrated strong leadership, strategic planning, the ability to foster highly collaborative environments. Understanding the vital role of the board, I commit to upholding the principles of

073thoughtful governance, educational excellence, and inclusive decision-making. As outlined in the school ethics act, the board's responsibility is to focus on policymaking, planning, and appraisal, ensuring the schools are well-run rather than micromanaging daily operations. My contribution would be centered on leveraging my expertise in planning, financial oversight, community relations support to support the superintendent and the administration. I aim to contribute to sound long-term planning, responsible resource allocation, foster strong, transparent relationships between the school and the diverse community it serves. I'm confident that my unique blend of experiences, skills, and unwavering commitment to community service makes me an ideal candidate. Thank you. Like I said earlier, um now we're not going to ask you four questions and you'll have a minute to respond to each question. The first question is, what particular experience or skills prepare you to

074serve as a board member? So, I've covered a bit of that, but I have a diverse work history working with individuals with developmental disabilities, brain injuries, um various other uh ailments that have afforded me a sensitivity to folks who uh may not have a voice. Um, also as a consultant in the senior housing space, I'm able to interact with a broad base of individuals from various backgrounds, socioeconomic, educational, so forth. Um, I'm a good communicator and I connect with people. Next question is, uh, is there a specific issue that motivates you to serve on the school board? uh you know if you ask uh one of the more popular WhatsApp groups it'd be to polish out or hold shoes but that's uh that's not the point. The point of the um board member is to

075make sure that the schools are wellrun. Next question. Um, the New Jersey School Boards Association emphasizes that a board member's role is not to administer the schools, but to ensure they are wellrun through policy and planning. How do you interpret this distinction and how would you apply it in your actions as a board member? Yeah, it's not what I as an individual am looking to accomplish. It's what support we can offer the district in vetting contracts, evaluating the superintendent um and and really managing what is coming to us. It's it's not that we are out there looking for things to accomplish. And the final question, uh, what are the top two or three strengths of the of our school district and what are the most significant challenges you believe it currently faces? How would you

076propose the board address these challenges in the next three to five years? The top two strengths. Wow. Um, managing growth. I think uh, right now it's a challenge, but I do think that we've done an awful uh, good job of managing the growth. We heard earlier that West Windsor um you know has outgrown its belt um for for the schools here. Um hearing all about the growth happening in Plansboro um presents another challenge. Uh I'm not sure of what the distribution of one two bedrooms. I heard there might be some single families. I don't know what that impact is to the school district um and what challenges that faces our capacity to serve this new group of people coming in. Uh the second um strength of the district I would say uh has to be

077its basketball team this year. Uh what a fantastic time we had uh watching them go on their run. That concludes the questions. Thank you. Uh, you're welcome to stay if you'd like. Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you. The next applicant is Jerry. Hi, Mr. Min. How are you? Oh, hello, sir. I'm Oz. Oh, okay. Sorry. I'm the wizard. Yeah. When I was in basic training, I got lost in man navigation. My apologies. So, um before we begin, I do have uh one uh ask of you. Um, if you could just provide the board because I don't think we have it uh with your address. Oh, 3703 Quail Ridge Drive, Plainsboro, New Jersey 08536. Thank you. Um, as Dr. Hatter had stated earlier, uh, you'll have three minutes to provide a statement to the board. Dr. Russo

078will be timing you. Uh, those three minutes, you'll get a one minute warning which will be on the podium. Um, after that, you'll have four questions that will be asked of you. You have a minute to respond to each question. Um, with that said, the board thanks you for submitting your application to serve on the board of education. They'd like to learn more about you. In your three-minute statement, please introduce yourself and tell the board why you are running for the school board. You can elaborate on your submitted letter, qualifications, and areas of priority. Okay. Thank you, sir. Sure. My name is Jerry Min. I'm running for the school board because not only do I love my own children, I love other people's children because I know collectively they'll be our future. And the greatest

079investment we can ever do is model to them the respect they're not only putting on their culture's name, but their family's name and anyone who's ever invested and attempted to love them and persevere into greatness. It won't be easy, but I want to model what it's going to take to be truly successful, truly diverse while maintaining your individual integrity. It starts there, then it goes to family, then it goes to the greater nation, and we can always learn and benefit from one another. So, I try to model that. Um, my background is I'm an older guy, have a BW in social work, uh, thanks to my time in the military. I'm first generation college graduate with my family. My family dynamic was strained, but it was very valuable and that's why I always teach respect

080to parents and those who invest in you. Huge in mentoring. Started an organization called Making Mentor Academy. It's a nonprofit that really encourages mentorship, leadership, etc. I currently teach. I'm a K12 educator New Jersey. Um I have contract teaching assignment, but I finally decided, you know what? But it's time for me to get back to full-time teaching and accepted a position at Eden Autism where I get to work with a population and enjoy their successes on their level and share those successes with their parents. Um, I usually work middle school, I work with uh quote unquote at risk youth, but actually in my 33 years of experience 16 as an educator, I worked with all types, all backgrounds. And it's gave me a both a macro and a microlevel approach to everything and to everyone.

081And it's given me tough skin. It's given me balance. It's given me fairness. It's given me grace. It's taught me I learned from any and everybody from a baby to someone who's about to take their last breath on earth. I find everyone valuable. I've learned to to maneuver and grow as a person. Um if you so basically not to waste anyone's time prior military um educator social services background a lover of people ecclesiastically endorsed but no particular um disrespect to anyone's religion because that's what the chapency training in the military taught me. Respect everyone's religion, respect everyone's background and find the commonality of basic respect. I like to close my three minutes with an email from a former student um to try to, you know, bring it all together who I am as a person.

082Have I had my one minute warning yet? Basically, I sent you a message a while ago. I'm a senior this year with a 4.3 average. A big reason is the chunk strategy you taught and the leadership courses that you provided helping me to navigate the difficulties with students and incorporate everyone in my leadership style. Thank you. Um now like I said earlier going to ask you a series of questions four questions. First one is what particular experience or skills prepare you to serve as a board member? um collectively everything u from the aforementioned I've had a chance to work with diverse populations uh socioeconomic statuses and the bottom line is when you have the courage and the leadership style that's inclusive you also can pull people together everyone has to be disciplined everyone has to

083grow but people learn and grow in different styles different settings different circumstances if you can be a great communicator i.e mainly by listening, mainly by not disregarding immediately, but seeking to understand even if they're barking up the quote unquote wrong tree. Sometimes it's just a shift in dynamic dynamic in perspective can take you from the wrong tree to the right tree or a tree that's better for society in general. We'll take that same energy, that same effort that might be misplaced, put it in its proper place, and help everyone elevate. But you can't do that if you're going to be quickly dismissive. and you won't go through the entire steps, the complete steps of a process to help people grow and develop. People will fire themselves, but at least give them the chance to. Thank

084you. Next question. Is there a specific issue that motivates you to serve on the school board? Um, yes. Um, we have to understand that we're modeling for our students and love without discipline is really not going to help a student grow. And discipline doesn't mean violence or um poorly speaking of a of a young person. It just simply means to tap them on the shoulder, provide the training necessary to make them question or rethink the way that they're thinking their their uh current set of values and use their resources and their own intellectual prowess to study and come back amongst other concerned mentors, mentees, educators, parents, teachers to help them just expand the way they currently see things. That redirection, that disciplehip, that mentorship will help us elevate our students and not waste the talent,

085not waste who they are because they are growing up. They're going to make mistakes. But how do we safely or safe as possible grow them into the adults that they need to be, no matter how it appears, look past the appearance, look at the heart, and see if it's salvageable. Thank you. Uh the third question is the New Jersey School Boards Association emphasizes that a board member's role is not to administer the schools but to ensure that they are wellrun through policy and planning. How do you uh interpret this distinction and how do you apply it in your actions as a board member? Accountability. I think a excellent board will just simply hold all the stakeholders accountable. I think that accountability can be done with respect even with a touch of admiration but the standard

086must be set. The standard must be upheld. Again there will be moments of training. There will be um um confusion sometimes even I don't want to say the word fight but disagreements that mature adults or leaderships amongst the board can help push past that so we can still hold the accountability and keep mu pushing forward because that's where the standard of excellence really is. If we're on this board, we too have to be willing to be accountable. And if we're on this board, we have to execute the accountability in the most respectful and graceful way possible. Um, and the final question, what are the top two or three strengths of our school district and what are the most significant challenges you believe it currently faces? How would you propose the board address these challenges in

087the next three to five years? Well, our school district is awesome. I think it reputation in the state and beyond is pretty much impeccable when it comes to academics success, college achievement. Nothing should ever change about that. We hold an excellent standard. We're excellent models. Also like the dedication of the teachers and the staff, um the coaches, uh the volunteers, the parents, the community is the most together community of progressive thinkers and learners that we have. Um, so those things, those two, those two items are clear and distinct, but we need to take a look at the underbelly or the underside or the things that are not so cute or uh not so savory sides. That part we want to hide. And sometimes in in our community, there could be a misunderstanding and a misrepresentation

088of uh population groups that you're really not that familiar with. and um uh appointing leaders from those communities, understanding hurts and traumas, and we all have them in one way or another. Trauma escapes no one, but trying to work through that to our best of our abilities. Thank you. Um that concludes the questions. You're uh thank you for your time. Uh you're more than welcome to stay if you'd like. Thank you. Sit over there. Sure. Thank you. Jotty's next. What's that? Ji Ji. Yeah, this too small for me. I have to go to this page because so I can see. I know. I Jy Jy Dr. Adhole knows my my glasses are in my bag. Oh, I only have one left. Hi. Oh, over here. Oh, okay. Uh, Miss Bankman. Um, hopefully I pronounced that

089correctly. Close enough. Close enough. I tried. Um, as Dr. had stated earlier uh you will have three minutes to provide an opening statement. Dr. Russo will be timing you. There is an indicator on the podium that will indicate when you have a minute left. Um and then after that you will have a series of four questions. You have a minute to answer each question. Um that said the board wants to thank you for submitting your application to serve on the board of education. The board would like to learn more about you. In the three-minute statement, please introduce yourself and tell the board why you are running for the school board. You can elaborate uh on your submitted letter, qualifications, and any areas of priority. Thank you. Sounds good. Hello. Okay. Um thank you and good

090evening members of the school board and the school administration. Um thank you for the opportunity to speak here. I'm Joti Wen Trauman. I'm a resident of Plainsboro. I'm a first generation immigrant who calls this beautiful state and country my home. My professional career has been in the nonprofit sector where I'm passionate about social justice and health equity. I hold an MPA from the School of Public Service NYU, a post-graduate degree in health management and an undergraduate degree in microbiology. A career in nonprofit career and expertise in multiple social justice issues has equipped me with a wide range of skills and here are some ways how I see that adding value to this space. expertise in understanding systemic inequities, root cause barriers, and ensuring policy solutions address and eliminate them. I see this helping and guiding

091the district's vision in ensuring every child has an equal opportunity to succeed regardless of their background. Deep understanding of explicit and implicit bias that affects decision-making, which can guide the advancement of fair and equitable practices. expertise in interacting with diverse underserved communities which I see as skills that can help guide the engagement with parents, teachers, students, diverse groups, hear their concerns and build support for school initiatives. A familiarity with policy and governance which requires skills like datadriven decision-m, understanding of governance structures, diverse stakeholder engagement. I see these skills broadly supporting the role boards play laid out by the state laws and by your own governing laws. While I have found a profound meaning in public service through my professional roles, I've also been involved locally in our community by volunteering in PTA boards, um, board

092roles, formal board roles like secretary for Milstone River School and CMS PTSA boards, um, volunteering for book fairs, PTA events, and I'm also the Girl Scout cookie um, manager for my troop. So I see this opportunity to serve here as a school in the school board as a continuation of my commitment to do public service more locally. In terms of priorities um what really resonates for me is ensuring that we maintain a rigorous academic programming with a holistic um infusion of SEAL skills and a dedication to equity. So those would be my priority areas. In conclusion, thank you for the opportunity to speak. Wishing my fellow candidates good luck and wishing the board members the very best in your decision- making process. Thank you. Thank you. Uh now, like I said earlier, we're going to

093ask you four questions. Uh we have a minute to respond to each. First question is, what particular experience or skills prepare you to serve as a board member? So, I've worked on a wide range of social justice issues and in the nonprofit sector per se. So I'm very familiar with boards, different types of boards, governing boards. Um, working in the social justice issue, I bring a lot of intersectional lens and understanding how things converge and how inequities kind of show up. Um, as I mentioned, I have skills and understanding root cause issues. Um, understanding of bias and how that informs decision making, expertise interacting with diverse um, communities. Um I also do a lot of datadriven decision-making, a lot of policy analysis, stakeholder enga engagement, holding institutions accountable. Um I am on the uh Jagna

094Council for the Robert Johnson Foundation New Jersey department. So that's like a community advisory board um kind of ensuring the New Jersey department's uh programmatic areas are you know focused on equity. So that's another expertise I have. Oops, sorry. please. Okay, next question. Is there a specific issue that motivates you to serve on the school board? Um, I think what motivates me is just my commitment to public service. My professional career is pretty much dedicated to public service more in the nonprofit sector. I'm passionate about ensuring no matter your zip code across the state, you have access to clean air, clean water. So, that's my professional career. What motivates me to serve here is a continuation of doing that public service role more locally serving our communities. I've already been doing that as part of

095the PTA and Girl Scout and volunteering. So, this was just me taking a leap of faith and trying to bring the public service work that I'm doing more at a state level to more at for our own community, a community that I call home. Okay. Next question. The New Jersey School Board Association emphasizes that a board member's role is not to administer the schools, but to ensure that they are wellrun through policy and planning. How do you interpret this distinction and how would you apply it in your actions as a board member? Um, so as I mentioned, because of the work I do, I'm very familiar with how distinct board roles can be and what boards are governed by. Um I know you have statutes, state laws that regulate what exactly boats can and cannot

096do. Um there is strong code of ethics. So you have to know how to hold those code of ethics, be familiar with conflict of interest. Um so I'm already coming with some um what I would say a understanding of the board governing structures etc. So I see that as all positive skill sets that can help me kind of serve in this role. Um I have been part of state task forces which is a different type of role. Um but that was part of my professional work where I was representing and again that was governed by rules. So I'm kind of familiar nonprofit world we deal with a lot of boards governing boards. Um it's pretty much over there. So I sometimes I think I live and breathe board rules. Okay. Uh last question. What are

097the top two or three strengths of our school district and what are the most significant challenges you believe it currently faces? How would you propose the board address these challenges in the next three to five years? So top two things, two three things that I think the district does really well. I have really appreciated this philosophy of whole child every child global child. To me that is really encompassing this holistic approach. So it's not just your academic grades, it's also social emotional learning. My former worker ro and my current worker roles, I know the vital importance of that. I think the district's doing really good in that by infusing SEAL skills. I've seen at elementary grade worksheets that I have to sign where they have to reflect on how did you understand how you did

098as learning it. So I thought that's great. the programming that's being offered for parents. I lean on some of those resources to reinforce SEAL skills back home. So, I think that's really great. I think the rigorous academic programming and the variety of opportunities and options to me is really a standout. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I chose to be here and have my kids go through this schooling system. I don't think I answered that question. Thank you very much. Um, you're welcome to stay if you'd like. Y Thank you. Thank you. Only one left, right? Hi. Hi. It's amazing. It really is. every listen you can keep looking at him that's fine I know how to throw my voice I could be I should be a ventriloquist sorry so uh uh Miss

099Mahandrew uh as Dr. Adterhold stated earlier uh you'll have three minutes to give an opening statement Dr. Russo will be timing you. Um for those three minutes, there's an indicator on the podium that will alert you when you have one minute left. After your your statement, um you'll be asked four questions. You have a minute to respond to each of those questions. Sure. Okay. So, the time is yours. Thank you. I don't know if my statement is three minutes, but we'll Okay. Thank you. Good evening, board. My name is Kushw Mihandu and I'm a proud longtime resident of Plansboro Township. I work full-time for a medical device company which is also headquartered right here in Plansboro. I've been involved in the community and had had the privilege of serving as a PTA president at Town

100Center Elementary when my son was in kindergarten. I'm here today to express my interest in serving on the our school board. I want to acknowledge the remarkable work already being done within our school district. Our academic achievements are a testament to the dedication and talent of our educators. The teachers in this district are truly exceptional. They consistently go above and beyond to foster a challenging and supporting learning environment for our students. My recent experience chaperoning the sixth grade outdoor ed school trip further strengthened my admiration for our teachers. Spending that focused time with them outside the traditional classroom setting allowed me to witness firsthand their incredible commitment, patience, and genuine connection they forged with our students. It was truly inspiring to see their passion in action, managing the logistics of a large group while still

101ensuring every student felt engaged and cared for. We are incredibly privileged to live in such a diverse community. And this diversity is one of our greatest strengths. The varied backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences that our families bring enrich our schools in countless ways, offering unique perspectives and broadening the horizon for our students. I'm here today present and willing to contribute my time, energy, and commitment to our district. I believe my perspective, coupled with my genuine desire to support our schools, would be a valuable asset to the board. I'm eager to collaborate with all of you to continue building upon our successes and ensure every student in our district has the opportunity to thrive. Thank you. All right. Now, uh like I said before, I'm going to ask you four questions. You have a minute uh

102to respond to each. First question, what particular experience or skills prepare you to serve as a board member? Uh I I can walk you through my educational background. I went to school in India uh high school, graduated in India in 2002. Uh I went to design school after that and college uh during the pandemic. Um I decided to switch careers. I am in import export right now. I'm a licensed customs broker with uh uh CBP, Customs and Border Protection and uh my current job is data management being um accuracy data accuracy um import export regulation reviews making sure we are compliant. So I have a compliance background in this current uh career that I have. Okay, next question. Is there a is there a specific issue that motivates you to serve on the school board

103to be a part of this community? I have seen my kids grow in this district and who wouldn't want to be a part of this community and I think that's the reason why I'm here to be more connected and to see how I can serve. Thank you. Uh, next question. The New Jersey School Board Association emphasizes that a board member's role is not to administer the schools, but to ensure that they are wellrun through policy and planning. How do you interpret this distinction and how would you apply it in your actions as a board member? Um, I would say the school does an extremely well administrative job with our kids running the district, with our teachers, and whatever that comes with. As a board member, I'm here to um follow or lead by example of

104what is already being done. We are already doing great things and I am just here to support the board in all the initiatives that they've already started with. Thank you. Uh last question. What are the top two or three strengths of our school district and what are the most significant challenges you believe it currently faces? How would you propose the board address these challenges in the next three to five years? Oh uh I don't know much about the challenges but I have to say that my students are happy they enjoy their classrooms their teachers are very very well connected to them um I receive feedback good or bad um whenever there's something going on both from both sides from the teachers and the students and I like the open communication that the teachers have with

105the parents and how they act. Thank you. Um you're welcome to take a seat. Yeah. Thank you. But that concludes the interviews. Thank you. Thank you, Jeff, for for asking all the questions and I'm glad everyone finally figured out where you're sitting. Um wow, we had a really great group of candidates. This is going to be a very difficult decision. And so I want to thank each and every one of you for your time uh and your your willingness to serve and give back to our community. And now I have to to read uh read the statement uh so we can recess into closed executive session. Whereas the open public meetings act authorizes boards of education to meet in executive session under certain circumstances. Whereas the open public meetings act requires the board to adopt

106a resolution at a public meeting to go into private session. Now therefore, be it resolved by the Westminster Plainsboro Regional School District Board of Education that it is necessary to meet in executive session to discuss certain items involving uh the board of education vacancy. Be it further resolved that any discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential will be made public as soon as feasible. The minutes of the executive session will not be disclosed until the need for confidentiality no longer exists. Be it further resolved that the board will return to open session to conduct business at the conclusion of the executive session. Uh so so we will be back and now I'd like to ask for a motion to adjourn to the closed executive session. Uh Puja and Ly. Uh all those

107in favor say I. I. I. Uh thank you again. And uh so feel free to I guess hang on here and wait or alternatively if you do need to to leave you know this will be uh live streamed. Right. All right. Thank you. Hello. Uh can I get a motion to return to public session? Uh Puja and Ly. Uh all in favor say I or yes. I I All right. So, uh I know you've been patiently waiting. Thank you for your patience. Now, can I get a motion to approve Paul O'Brien to fill the vacant Plainsboro Board of Education position through December 2025? Uh Louisa and Schwa. Uh uh roll call, please. Okay, we'll start with Miss Hoe. Yes. Miss Shetty, yes. Miss Chenniera, yes. Miss Krug, yes. Miss Maliga, yes. Miss Bonsel, yes. Miss

108Mchuan, yes. And I just want to thank every single one of the candidates. This was a really difficult decision. Um, you all came forth with um great answers to the question and very interesting backgrounds and experiences and uh I think what we really appreciated was your your your selfless um desire to give back to our community. So I just want to remind everyone too um that you know this November there is another um cycle another election and the deadline to fill your petition is July 28th. So that is coming up very quickly. So I do encourage everyone to participate in the democratic process and I really want to thank all of you for coming out tonight and for your patience and congratulations Mr. O'Brien. Welcome. And um now can I get a now can I

109get a motion to uh since we don't have uh another closed session uh needed, can I get a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting? Uh Dana and Liz. All those in favor say I. I. I. Thank you so much. [Music]