001Please move. >> Second. >> Thank you. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? So moved. We're in executive session at 402. >> So u Mr. Jess, shall we make a motion? >> Yes. Can we have a motion to return to public session, please? >> So moved. >> May I have a second? >> Thank you. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Any attentions? And we are back in public session at 6:20. >> Wonderful. So we're going to start with a presentation of the class of 2025 outcome data. Hi, good evening. I'm Laura Kaplan, director of school counseling with Allison Grill, our college counselor. We are really honored to be here this evening in this brand new space. I feel like we should get some honor
002for being the first on the screen um and excited to present to you information about our recent graduates, the class of 2025. So here are some of the topics that we're going to cover tonight. And I just kind of want to highlight um the layers of analysis that Ally does every year to put into this presentation. it would be really simple to just run not so user friendly reports that we have um and spit that out, but Ally really takes the time to do a deep dive and look at the data and really personalize it for each of our graduating classes. Also want to give a shout out to Loren Dickinson um who helped us reimagine this entire presentation this year. For those of you who've been around or who are returning um it's looked
003the same for the last 13 years and so it's got a new look all thanks to Miss Dickson. So thank you. So when we look at our class of 2025, we start with um what what are they doing? Um almost just under 95% are pursuing higher education, which is up pretty meaningfully um where it's been in the last few years. When we break it down into those other layers of students who are not pursuing higher education, we have one student who's pursuing a college prep program. They're doing that in hopes of um increasing their chances for athletic recruitment. We have three students, potentially five new information over the summer, who are pursuing a gap year. And that can look different for every student. For these students in particular, someone's doing an internship in sports management,
004might also be attending community college part-time. Another one is doing their um Mormon mission before attending college. And then um two of the are had applied for a program in Germany um which is run by the American and German departments of state where they would live with a host family and to attend a year in a German high school to then integrate into the community with the goal of then um attending a four-year school after both of those students had deferred admission to their four-year schools. And so when we first started this data they were still pending their decisions on that which is exciting. We have um several students, three students doing career education that can look different. Um one is pursuing automotive, one in the culinary arts and then that also includes any of
005our students who stay in district for our 18 to 21 year old program, our merits program. Two students are going into the army. Um students entering employment that includes food service as well as retail while um a graduate is pursuing an acting career. And then we do have uh five who are unknown. So, at the time that they graduated that they give us this information, they just weren't sure yet where they were going to end up. When we look at that almost 95% who are pursuing higher education, we can then break that down a little bit further. So, of those um over 95% almost 96% will be attending a 4-year college. That is also up over the last several years. And then the 2-year rate is at 4.3%. when we all of the in two-year
006students are instate mostly at our county college here in Union County and um of those fouryear college you can see this is pretty consistent um but they're leaving New Jersey u most are looking at private out of state most are looking at private in general and then public out of state and then the smaller brackets are those instate schools um what we've noticed is that our our instate schools um especially are offering opportunities for our students to pursue four-year education due to their financial aid packages um which is helping increase that four-year going rate. Um when we look at kind of the percent that are leaving, it's pretty high. 80% are hopping on out of New Jersey. Um there's a lot of schools a quick ride over the border into neighboring states that students can
007go to. Um, anecdotally, you know, you're when students are looking on TV at those big state schools with um or big schools with big personalities and big school spirit. New Jersey schools aren't always there. Um, and then also New Jersey public schools are not always the most generous um with financial aid. So, sometimes it can actually be more financially beneficial for students to pursue out of state options. >> Specifically, Ruckers, >> sorry, specifically, you got to call them out. Ruckers and the College of New Jersey are not which are tend to be the more competitive public instate options are not really generous with financial aid. Um, fun fact about New Jersey, we export the most amount of college students. So that's why they're all leaving. When we look at where within and beyond the country
008they are going, um, we stay pretty consistently with this year-over-year. The Mid-Atlantic is by far the most popular. um it receives the bulk amount of our students. It offers a lot of diversity and options and it's also a dense area with a lot of options to choose from. Um we tend to see kind of go back and forth between uh the South and New England in terms of who oh I'm sorry the Midwest and New England are competing for that next space. Um and then we have 55 students who are staying in state and that's all of this data is pretty consistent year-over-year. The states that are receiving the most amount of our students are our neighbors for the most part. New York and Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, DC, and then South Carolina. And then getting a
009little further away, California, North Carolina, and Indiana. Something that we're really excited about this year is our international u metriculations have gone up. So, we have 10 students going abroad. Um you can see kind of where they're landing. um Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and then Israel. Um a recent article just kind of came out talking about 8,000 American students applied to the UK universities for this fall enrollment, which was almost a 15% increase over the previous year. So, looking at our stats, we are kind of mirroring that trend of applying internationally and our students are going abroad, which is which is great to see. Thank you. >> Hi everyone. I have kind of the geekier part of the presentation. Um more more numbers and application materials um application summaries. So this
010year we submitted 2492 applications which is 200 more than last year and 400 more than the year before. Um so we are very busy students and counseling office alike. Um you know that just kind of speaks to a lot of trends that are happening. If you open a newspaper, you hear that everywhere. Um, a lot of that is convenience of applying. The Common App makes it easy to add schools and just click and add, especially if there's no extra essay to write. We do a ton of support um, in the counseling office as well as in the community to support every single student in hitting submit if they want to click submit on an application. Um, and now the common app actually has added an extra kind of layer called direct admissions where a student
011can log in to their common app after completing preliminary academic information and it tells them where they're admitted. There are colleges who are admitting them based on some preliminary academic admission um information. If they click on that school, they can apply and they're guaranteed an admission. Uh, so that also drives up some applications meaningful or not. I'll let you decide, but um that could be a way for a kid to guarantee an admission somewhere and and then for a school to get an applicant they wouldn't have otherwise received. So that's going to drive up applications marginally at our school. Our kids are pretty um you know are pretty good about knowing where the meaningfulness of their applications are going. Um oops sorry. Um we also track test optional admissions and so that is students who
012apply to at least one school without test scores. So there are still over a thousand colleges that uh don't need testing as part of their profile. Um that that number is 52% down from last year which was 50 uh 56%. And so that number might creep down a little bit as more schools revert back to testing especially more popular schools uh like Ohio State and University of Miami. Uh so that might dip uh as students have to kind of again begin testing to see if they want to get into those schools and have a um competitive application. um as corroborated in the breakdowns that Laura provided, we love large public out of state schools and 19 of the top 25 most applied to colleges uh are are public. So, let's take a look at that.
013So, give you a chance to kind of um check out this this chart. Um 19 of these are public schools as I just mentioned and Ruckers obviously is still the most popular school to apply to as it is our flag flagship school. uh they joined the common app last year and so that caused a spike in applications um and and so that obviously is why we see so many more students applying which also leads to more applications to Newark and Camden because it's all part of the same application. Um Penn State is a big draw for our students. Obviously their school spirit, their sports, the you know the brand name on TV. Distance from home is kind of nice too, right? They can get away but be home in a couple hours. Um there's no
014additional essay and uh there's a diversity of majors. It checks a ton of boxes for our students as uh some of you know in the audience. Um Ohio State is an overlap I would say with Penn State but it gives students a campus near a city which our kids love. Also has no essay. We send a ton of apps there and last year we had 13 students go fewer this year but um that number I want to see how that number changes in applications uh as as they become tests required. Some students may not, you know, submit their scores, submit their apps if they're under a score for the the um score range. Nor Eastern, always popular. Again, no essay there. Great college town, strong liberal arts with pre-professional schools. Um, and students are really
015excited about the opportunity to try and get to Boston. Maryland still cracks the top 25 even though we've had no metriculations in the past five years. I have to figure I don't know what's going on there. Um, one year they didn't admit a lot of kids and I think they got upset about that. Um, but we'll see. we have a lot more interest. It always makes our top 25. Wisconsin has crept up slowly. Um has the University of Michigan gets so selective. Wisconsin is a great overlap option for students. Uh and so we see that becoming more of the uh I got to add if I'm going to put Michigan, I got to add Wisconsin. Lehigh and Syracuse always popular options for our students. They offer that big school spirit, D1 sports, uh diversity of
016academic programs, but smaller environments. So it's kind of that Goldilocks size for for students. So we have a ton of apps there. Um overall the continued trend is of students applying to more public schools for all the reasons we've mentioned. Um these are the most metriculations we we've received. So um obviously our county college always receives the bulk of our class. I think that's been pretty consistent uh year-over-year and that's a great start for students who know they need to start there either financially or academically. So we're we're okay with that being there. Um though we submitted so many apps to Ruckers, we only have eight metriculations. Um it's harder to get into New Brunswick. So we though we had 96 apps, we didn't have as many uh admits. They have great support for the
017lowest income students. Uh but they are not particularly generous with merit aid for our top kids, nor are they generous for our middle-income families. And so to be honest, some private schools um out of state and public schools out of state could be cheaper than Ruckers. And our our families are savvy. They know that. And so they're comparing those financial aid packages uh and and making making choices. So out of 95 apps, we have eight students going there. Um next we have two publics and two privates weighing in with seven metriculations. Uh people aren't scared of the Syracuse price tag. I am. Um however, they may be re-evaluating their distribution of their merit money this year. If anyone read the New York Times this year, uh they didn't meet their enrollment goals because they're a
018little stingy on the front end. They just expect people to pay. Um, and then they had to dig into their pockets in May after deposit day to attract um, more students to deposit. And so I think they might give a little more on the front end this year to meet those those goals by May 1st. Um, Bingmpington, this school is a solid uh, best public school for ROI in our region. Again, three hours away, nice distance, um, and and really diversity of programs and great career outcomes. And, um, our next is a mixed bag in the next group. Five metriculations to each of these schools. Fun fact, I was at Penn State two weeks ago for their counselor event and I learned that Summit High School is the number two feeder school uh for Penn
019State in all of New Jersey behind Livingston. Um and not feeder in terms of number but in terms of conversion rate. So in the number of apps that become deposited applicants and and the rep was saying that's really meaningful to her and their admissions department. Um it means that we're sending the right applications there. students are intentional and and thoughtful and serious applicants which does tell the admissions office you know kids from summit will come here so we can we can take a chance on them um it's al also means you have a great relationship with the admissions department um I just joined their advisory board for this up upcoming two years uh and that helps me and the counseling department help students make better decisions about fit at Penn State there are so many
020programs at Penn State um that it's really helpful to have kind of not an insider you know information because it's very it's clear they're very transparent but um knowing that our students go there and come back with feedback and I can you know talk to admissions very candidly that helps our students uh metriculate and then we have eight schools tied for for four that's just too many uh drops from this list would be Michigan we had seven uh admitted last or I'm sorry enrolled last year we had one this year um you know there were there was a lot of weight list activity last year so that is what our how our numbers creeped up not this year weight list was not generous to students this year and we only had a few acceptances. A
021slower year for Wake Forest. We had 10 like metriculations last year, eight of which were early decision. This year we had three and Ohio State, we only had three this year compared to 13 last year. So it es and flows. Um early decision, so early decision is that binding commitment to a first choice institution. Uh some schools offer two rounds, so you can try and hedge your bets at one school. If you don't get in, you can try ED2 somewhere else. Overall, we submitted 116 applications, which is similar to last year. That's pretty on par. Um, 15 of those include early decision 2. So, those are students who tried to uh get an early decision at a later round. Um, seven of those students applied both ED1 and ED2. That's a total of 109 unique
022students applied early decision, and that's 38.6% of the submitted applicants applied early decision. Uh that's pretty much on par with our highest which was last year at 39%. So more than a third of the class is exercising that early decision um you know the early decision policy and pathway. It it does matter right it can definitely help students. As you can see we had 71 acceptances overall which you know overall is 61% admit rate which is the highest we've had in our admissions history. So our students are using ED and using it appropriately for the most part. uh they're applying to best fit schools, maximizing their chance for admission. Um ED does not always work at unrealistic reaches. I will say that I think a college rep one day said a little tongue and cheek,
023uh it can heal the sick, can't raise the dead. I was like, "Oh gosh, okay, that's a way of putting it." Um so we use ED appropriately and you know, not just kind of, you know, throwing your hat in any ring you're not appropriate for. And and we do a great job. I spent almost two and a half hours today talking to um two families about where to ED and how to maximize and again focusing on fit for the student not just where the numbers say you should go. Um some schools don't offer early decision some offer restrictive early action which mean that's a whole another presentation but um basically restrictive early action means these schools don't allow you don't offer early decision but they also don't allow you to apply early decision anywhere else.
024They don't want you to be bound to another school because they can't get you, right? They can't possibly get you if you're admitted. They can't possibly enroll you if if you're admitted there. So, uh, there's some trickery going on in the process. And so, you have to be mindful of that. Um, you know, some schools don't offer it. And you have to really do your homework on the admissions data. How much does ED matter at each school? How much of their class are they filling? Some schools fill over a third twothirds of their their school with early decision, their um, incoming class with early decision. Sometimes the admit rates are triple. Um, so it's really uh an interesting pathway. Now, many highly selective colleges are using early decision to fill institutional needs. They're bringing in
025development cases as well as underrepresented groups. And those groups are minority students, PEL eligible, lowincome, first generation and rural and urban um and which people don't often think about as a um those groups. Colleges lock them in early through early decision. They allocate monies to meet their financial need if that's part of the process. Then they guide them through transition to college through orientation um through affinity groups and that helps with retention. I saw a ton of that um when I was at WashU on their advisory board. They talked so much about the support they give to those to that group through early decision from December through, you know, a to September 1st, right? And so they're helping them along the way. And that's why early decision matters for that group so much because they
026want to help them get there. Getting in is one thing but all the steps to get there is really complicated. Um other groups that come in through early decision obviously athletes are always an important population to colleges. Performing artists, different talents come in that way. Conservatory programs, theater, music, we have some students coming in that way through that pathway. Legacy applicants can often matter um to early decision pools, but that has been waning a little bit as some states have uh reversed decisions on that and said, you know, we don't want to include legacy anymore in our in our um admissions process. um as the tide shifts to prioritize underrepresented students in early decision, right? As colleges seek to build this, you know, curate this class, they do it through early decision. And since um
027the majority of our population are not always those those underrepresented groups, right? We have to acknowledge that um students who are a traditional applicant who don't maybe touch those boxes are encouraged to have a broader balance list and keep an open mind. um first generation college students. So uh this is a group defined as students whose parents have not earned a bachelor's degree either in the US or internationally. This is always self-reported. We we we don't check everyone's backgrounds but um we hope you know that we explain it well in our in our um conferences and that we ask parents and students to to uh respond accordingly. So that is actually lower than in prior years. Um we have 36 this year. I think we had 45 last year. So it's typically around 20% of
028our class. This year it's 12.2% but this group is um going to college at great rates. So 94.4% of our firstgen kids. Um I was a firstgen kid. So uh I did not have this kind of support in my high school. They were great but it was not you know uh it was not as intense as it is nowadays. Um why this population matters right this population is important because college re um colleges have done research that shows that adults with a college degree um on average earn more over a lifetime. They are engaged in their communities. they are happier, right? Satisfaction, life satisfaction is greater. And so, you know, if that conversation doesn't necessarily start at the home all the in home all the time, colleges want to be part of that narrative of
029changing that, you know, that trajectory for that family or that student. Um, so we're really proud of that uh of those numbers. And I will say part of this also is um the strong collegegoing culture we have here in Summit. I think students who, you know, come up through through the elementary school and the middle school come to high school saying, "I'm going to college." Like there's that's what that's what I do here, right? And so that's that's part of of this these numbers. Um it's also a testament to the support we have in the counseling office. And I'd be remiss if I did not mention the support in our community through the PEP program, through Destination College. Um we have feelers out everywhere and and they're, you know, they're texting me at night and
030they're asking me questions and we're we're constantly um dialoguing about these students. If they knew how much we talked about them, they'd be like, "What? Why?" Um, but we do a lot to make sure that they're paired with financial aid programs, that they're paired with flyin programs that um recruit students to come to campus before um in the summers or in the fall to if they can't afford to get them themselves, uh, the college is okay to get them. So, we're doing all this behind-the-scenes work to help these students access college. Similar group, sometimes overlapping in this group are low-income students. Um this is an important group to encourage um education, higher education as a means towards social and economic mobility. Obviously that's kind of you know that's inherent in this. For this report we
031identified those who received free reduced lunch as reported in Genesis. Um so it does not capture everyone who might be in this population. Some families don't complete paperwork. Some students say well I go home for lunch. I don't need free lunch here. Um or I bring my own lunch. You know there are other benefits to it and we try and encourage them to apply. But uh you know from those who applied 62 students which is up from 45 students last year. Um so uh this is you know we maybe this is up because of our demographic is changing a little bit or because of you know dedicated efforts to make sure students are applying. So we're not sure why it's it's up but that's the number this year. Um of this uh 51 are pursuing
032post-secary education which is 82% of the group. It's still higher than national averages. Um, and you can see the the breakdown in other areas as well. Um, we're always looking to increase the number of apps and acceptances for this cohort. Of course, uh, just like firstgen kids, we want students to know that money does not have to be a barrier, especially uh, with our instate um, programs that serve students who u make under or whose families make less than $65,000. Ruckers, Kain, Montlair, there's I can name probably 10 of them. um if your plan makes less than $65,000, you go tuition free. Then there's a graduated scale for 80 $80,000 and so on. And so we see more students choosing those four-year options because colleges are removing that barrier. They're they're saying you don't have
033to pay that much money to go to college. We can make this work. You may have to commute. That's okay for some students. Um but we're seeing this number go up because of those uh those programs. Um but again, those are for the lowest income. Middle income, it's a little tough, right? I got to say there's not a lot of programs for middle- inome families at our public schools. Um the other thing is, you know, we are always helping students interpret financial aid award letters. That I think is one of the biggest barriers that I noticed when when I started working in this in this role um is that students don't know how to interpret financial aid. They don't know how to apply first of all. Uh we how many times do we sit in
034our office with students and we are pushing buttons. We're saying bring in your tax returns. Bring your your parents W2s. What is that? Don't worry. just look for a W2 on top. Like we literally tell them, bring in these forms if their parents can't help them. You know, some kids say, "My mom works three three jobs. I can't get her to sit with me and do this for an hour. My mom doesn't speak English." Right? So, we're doing this with students um to help them understand that money isn't the barrier. Life can get in the way, right? There are some students who choose not to go to college because they have to work to support their families. Um, you know, we have to also talk about some students are undocumented and um, if they have
035not been here long enough, they don't have access to any federal or state aid and that even going to UCJ, our county college, is a barrier for them even part-time because they have to work to pay rent, to pay for their cell phone, to pay for anything, you know. So, so this is a mixed bag, right? Um, but we are doing everything we can to try and pair students with opportunity. Here's um uh some class profile trends over the past five years. Everything is up right in every category. Um the class size is up. I think we are going up a little bit too in class size. Uh GPA inflation is a national trend. So we're part of that as well. Um our GPA are just going up. Our students are super I don't know
036strong, you know, we do really well in school. Um they're conscientious. They're high achieving. They're internally motivated. So they're going up. um kids taking more honors and AP classes. We're offering more honors and AP classes, which lets them kind of build that the the rigor in their in their GPA, but test scores are up as well, which is kind of a fun metric um to see that's for the first time we've tipped into the 1300 as an average. Uh ACT always kind of goes back and forth, not to 30 just quite yet. Um for our students, we do well on testing a because we have a strong high school curriculum. That's just the foundation of good testing. I think maybe we're recovering from a COVID slump where some students didn't access test prep, decide not
037to test. And I see more students accessing test prep more than ever. Um, we could see some shifts in the ACT. They're moving to a digital format. They're getting rid of the science section as part of the composite, much to the cheers of many students. And so that number might be going up. All right. Um, the amount of apps increased this year, as I mentioned before. Um, and it's, you know, some kids say, let's just see what happens. It's not a lottery. Uh but that also attributes to this number as well. Um for the most part our students are applying thoughtfully. So though the number of apps per student went up again we talked about why that might be. It's really the convenience of applying. Um our students are not overapplying. We don't have kids
038you know we have a handful of students who overapply a handful. And it's a lot of a lot of money on their end um and a lot of button pushing on our end but for the most part our students apply to a realistic amount of colleges. 10 to 12 seems to be the average like more this is a aggregate but 10 to 12 seems to be like that the middle um and then the college trends. So looking at past years um you know our four-year going rate um is higher than the past no doubt helped by you know some students choosing four-year over two-year ed numbers are still high, you know, I think we're going to stay above that 35 36% for a long time. um especially as early decision becomes more you know more
039advantageous every year um and students are are using that to their advantage but again early decision has to be a family decision it's financial as well um as as personal firstg and lowinccome numbers are are pretty consistent we're always going to be in that 90 for firstgen and I my goal is to stay above that 80% for free and reduced lunch and and you know obviously always looking to increase and so finally just some some continued trends um colleges uh the SCOTA's decision a few years ago to remove race-based admissions, you know, it complicated admissions for for schools to be able to build an interesting class of humans, right? However, it was never about just like checking that box. Um colleges continue to emphasize building a diverse class. I I'm on all the webinars, all
040you know, advisory boards, that is a conversation. They are not deterred by this decision. Um, and these groups cover a lot of different things. Uh, you know, like I said before, beyond low-income, um, students of color. It's also international students, right? Uh, the rural and small town groups are really a dynamic that is is, um, being targeted by a lot of school district, by a lot of um, community um, sorry, a lot of colleges. And then a lot of our larger, I would say, or maybe um, more competitive private schools are looking in their neighboring urban districts. Um again at WashU they've really made a play for the Heartland and downtown St. Louis and so those seats are are you know being held for those kinds of students and unfortunately that will squeeze some seats
041for for our kids. Um the most obvious way I've seen colleges still capture these groups are through new essays. So there are a ton of new essays, you know, much to students chrin, but they are capturing identity and community um of the applicants and and so regardless of again that box that they check, it's it's more about the lived experience within whatever the context of your life is and your life stories, your talents, your skill sets, and how that adds to our campus. And and so um that is how colleges are being very intentional about still recruiting an interesting group of humans. Um let's see you know surges in applications um Ruckers New Brunswick obviously as we mentioned before surges in applications it's surging because there's uncertainty test optional policies means that more kids are
042going to be throwing their hats in the ring the convenience of applying as I mentioned and media hysteria but what happens is it's happening at a certain group of colleges it's not happening everywhere right it's happening in this certain tier that everyone's heard the names and so that's leading to more defers and more weight lists at competitive institutions, these quote unquote most competitive institutions, but that drives a narrative, right? That drives the college narrative that it's so much harder to get into into college. Well, yes, but it's only at a certain group of schools, right? And so, I want to just kind of plant that seed that it's not everywhere. It's in a certain group of schools. Um, out of state public schools, which we love, they are they do prioritize their in-state student, which
043does squeeze seats for our kids. Um there are some new legislative policies that prioritize the taxpayer and um they guarantee a percentage of seats in the incoming class for their in-state student. And so that leads to more defers and weight lists for our student because what they have to do is they have to defer our strong students wait and see who enrolls from their instate population and then look at their class and say where do we have seats to bring in kids from out of state? Um, and so some of those would be Wisconsin, South Carolina, um, and then Texas, UNCC, California, Georgia all have caps, literal caps on out of state enrollment. Um, let's see. Colleges also defer a weight list to protect their yield. Um, they will purposely underenroll to use the weight
044list to build their class. So there I know at least three or four schools that have told me we are conservative with our admits. don't want to, you know, increase our admit rate. That would hurt us in the rankings. So, we are going to undermit and then cherrypick students off the weight list to be able to build our class, right? That keeps their rankings high. That keeps their yield rate high, which is the students who enroll. Um, it also protects not overenrolling, which is a danger that many colleges uh, you know, have actually experienced recently, um, because then they have they're strained with resources and beds and and, um, advises and class seats. So, that's not good either. But that's why we're you're hearing your neighbors saying, "Oh, they were deferred and weight listed." That's
045what's happening here. It's an economic issue. Um, you know, more international applicants, as you heard before, right? We have so much more interest in in that um in that in those um locations in and different places around the world. I was so excited to see that that graphic, that map was so fun to see. I will say I have to give a shout out to um the uh the the the SCF here because the SCF funds a travel grant for us. Every two years we put in a grant to um to travel to conferences and I will say I am often one of the only or one of three or five public school counselors on this group of 40 people who are traveling. Uh Canada, Wales, um John Kat in Rome. Um, I was supposed
046to be on St. Andrews in Dublin, Ireland, but COVID happened. Um, so I have to give them a shout out because that helps me go to those campuses, understand the campus life, the culture, the climate, um, you know, what students are like and come home. And for a student who can't get there and visit every school, I can give them a sense of here's what it's like. Here's, you know, here's the city. Here's there's green space, there's not green space. Everyone speaks a different language. There's enough English speakers around. And so that is really helpful. And so I just need to shout out the SCF uh for supporting us in in those um in those endeavors. Um test optional, right? That I've discussed that before. That is still popular. Students are using it um to
047enroll. We had uh like I said before 52% of the class um but there are schools that are returning to requiring test scores. There are also schools that are annoyingly called test preferred where they kind of say we would like you to submit test scores. Just make a decision. But um you know they have reasons why they do that. So students have to be mindful of the policies right uh some of those schools Emory Purdue Auburn I was on a webinar yesterday with Emory and they said we didn't admit we admitted we didn't admit um as many students who did not submit test scores this year. I think it was only 11% were admitted who did not submit test scores. That's a big number. So you have to know these things. Do the webinars, participate
048in these info sessions and learn where does my where do my scores matter and where where do they not? Um, alternate entry pathways. This is a really big one, right? So, uh, you may have heard students are going abroad before they go to Nor Eastern or I was admitted to Maryland spring connection, uh, spring, uh, spring admit with freshman connection. Schools are finding creative ways to keep applicants in their pool. They want to be able to fill beds when students go abroad. They want to be able to fill seats or beds when students don't retain first semester for whatever reason. Um, they want to keep good kids. They want to get paid, right? They want to keep good students in their queue. So, you're seeing summer starts. Um, Penn State has a summer start as
049well. Um, Clemson has a summer start, very popular with our students. That's before fall of of what be what will be their first year. Then we see a lot of spring starts. We don't have room for you in the fall, but we'd love for you to come to us January 2020 six or 2027. Um, this would be 2026 for this class. A lot of those students. Then we have some schools that say spring start but we're going to send you abroad with our unique experiential program. Uh you're going to go to London or Greece or Paris, right? So they send them to this really exotic destination first um with a cohort of those students from that school. Then they start on main campus. Then we see guaranteed transfer where you go somewhere else for a
050year and if you successful in that school, you guaranteed your seat in that that other school. Mandatory gap years, alternate campuses. colleges are being creative, right? They need to keep students on their campuses or, you know, in their applicant pools. Um, and that's the way that they're doing it. So, long story short, um, students need to create a more balanced college list because of all these things. Uh, but these are things they need to be mindful of. And I think we do a great job of helping kids build lists. Um, I actually will look in December every year before January 1st. I go through every college list and if there are no likely or safety schools on a student's list, uh, I email the student and the family and just say, "Hey, this list is
051a little topheavy. I appreciate your ambition, um, but I might recommend maybe this school or that school that would be a likely fit for you." And then here is the fancy list of metriculations. I don't know if you can read that in the bleachers, but this is our list. Um the aster asterisk indicates multiple metriculants at that school. Um and for those if anyone's wondering uh the IV admits and IV like or IV adjacent admits we have a great balance of athletes and non-athletes. So it's not only kids going to play sports. All right, I'll leave it up there, but >> and that's it. >> Yeah, thank you so much. Um, >> I know this is a lot of information to digest, but really kudos to Alli for diving deep into that data and contextualizing
052this class that we're really, really proud of. Um, >> they're fun, too. Questions return to the >> Yeah, return to that. Thank you. >> All right. That's fine. Okay. Stay here. >> Okay. Stay here. >> So, are there any questions from the board? See if we have >> Okay. >> Ally, you um humbly mentioned that you were on advisory boards for certain institutions. Um, knowing that work, so sorry. Knowing that work and the work that you do, um, I think it's important for you to probably explain to the community why that's important for a public school like Summon High School to have a college counselor who is actually that deeply engaged and connected to institutions. >> Yeah, that's a good point. I take it for granted that people know what that is. So, um, colleges,
053uh, often, you know, they they're they're in the business of marketing. they're selling a product as well, right? And so they need to know how to adapt and change. And though they travel um what many colleges are doing are they host what are called counselor advisory boards where they will recruit counselors about usually it's 12 to 15 counselors from around the country and or world in demographics or markets or areas where a they know there's you know um people who are available to do this and interested in doing this but also where they want more information for that demographic. So I will represent a you know public school mediumsiz public school high achieving public school in New Jersey or at least you know this region kind of you talk for the mid-Atlantic um and then
054they have private schools from all over the world people you know and public schools from more urban large districts um New York City often uh we'll be on the same plane going to this college and we'll say oh you're at a charter school in in New York you have 60 students right and I'm from Summit High School right and so you hear this diversity of perspective which helps inform their admissions processes. Um, and so, you know, I'm learning while I'm sitting there and hearing all this because I'm behind the scenes, but they're learning from us as well. What they're what we're seeing in our communities, what our students are struggling with. Um, you know, how can WashU get more students from New Jersey to visit? That was a big question, right? Why are they not
055visiting? They're getting in, but they're not coming. How can we get them here? I said, give them a voucher, travel voucher, right? Um, so, you know, different things like that. And so, um, being on those has broadened my mind to, uh, different kinds of schools, too. So, I'll be on Penn State. Um, I'll be on Hobart. Those are two very different co different kinds of colleges. And so, I'm learning the ins and outs. Um, but it's it's a really interesting perspective to see what colleges struggle with. They don't always tell you. Um, but that's what a counselor advisory board does. >> I have more of a comment than a question. Just wanted to say having my daughter just go through this process, wanted to thank you both and your teams for the outstanding work and
056support that you do for all the kids. It was really outstanding. Thank you. >> Yeah. Sorry I missed her when I was there for this summer day. I was looking for her, but I didn't see her. I had a very tight schedule. >> Any additional questions? All right. Thank you both very much. >> Thank you. >> So, um we're going to move on with um the president's announcements. Um, so good evening to everybody and I hope everyone has had a restful and restorative summer. Our school district has spent much of the summer preparing for the new school year and the recent cool days that we've had la over the last couple of days feels like a sign that fall and back to school are right around the corner. So, we're very excited for the great
057year ahead. Earlier this afternoon, many of us joined the ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Summer High Summit High School library media center where we're having our meeting tonight. The transformation is remarkable. Um there's more flexible space. There's dedicated areas for steam learning and there's room for students to collaborate and create. And we're just so excited to see what the students can accomplish in these new spaces. Last week, I had the opportunity to welcome our new staff to the district, and next week, our teachers return. Energy is high, and so is our gratitude. I just want to thank all of our administrators, our teachers, and our staff for your skill, dedication, and commitment to our students. We take pride in the work happening across our K to2 schools and summit which benefit our children now
058daytoday and into their futures which we just saw demonstrated by the great results of our 2025 senior class. So to our families and students, welcome back. On behalf of the board, we're ready for a year focused on excellent teaching, strong student support, and engaged families. Thank you. Um, so we're going to go out of order on the agenda just a little bit. Um, Mr. Jess, are there any additions and revisions to the agenda? >> Uh, yes, Madam President. Thank you. There are three additions and one deletion. Uh, for addition, they are all under personnel. Item A, we are adding uh, the appointment of new staff pending criminal history review and background check. The first is Mia Arana. The second is Julia Havland. Under item G, we're appointing the following substitute teacher pending their criminal history
059review, Johnny Jonas, at $125 a day. Under item JJ, we are approving the following fiscal year 26 salary adjustment due to an advanced degree for Abigail Emerson. And under personnel, we are deleting item L. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, and next we have the superintendence report. >> Thank you, President Conn. Welcome to the 2526 school year. As the president had mentioned, we have been working diligently over the summer preparing for the opening. Uh this is the first board meeting of the year and we are really really excited. And one of the things we're most excited about is welcoming some of our new hires. Um so for those of you on the board that may remember, I like to invite new hires to the board and I can announce their names, have them stand up
060so the board can see them and um we celebrate them joining our team and look forward to their contributions. And I'm going to start with when I call your name, please stand up. Jessica Bruner, school social worker, Jefferson Primary Center, Jefferson Elementary School, and Wilson Primary Center. Welcome. Justin Gman, instructional facilitator at both primary and elementary schools. Marissa Brutder, school social worker, Jefferson Elementary School. Josephine Blundo, grade 2 teacher, Franklin Elementary School. Mia Arana, cycles steam teacher, Lton C. Johnson, Summit Middle School. Christine Coleman, math teacher, Summit High School. And I believe Katherine couldn't make it, but Katherine Kowsky, French teacher at Summit High School. >> So once again, congratulations and we look forward to your contributions. So, we would like a motion to approve these new hires. >> So, move. >> Second. >> Any
061discussion? >> Mr. Maha? >> Yes. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hanley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Gunderson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cho? >> Yes. >> Vice President Kelly? >> Yes. >> President Con? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Congratulations. >> Brief recess. >> Yeah, we're going to take a brief recess. so that um all of you who've been sitting here so patiently can um adjourn if you'd like. You don't have to stay for the rest of the board meeting, but congratulations and we're so happy that you could join us tonight. All right, I'm going to continue. >> Let's continue. >> Okay, continuing with my report. Over the summer, Summit held its annual Summit Educator Training or SET program to welcome our newest staff members to the district. Around 35 new staff members participated in a
062lot of important information throughout the week with presentations from administrators on policies and procedures. New hires also met community partners such as the SCF and Summit for the public library. We also thank principles Evan Kak and Dan Healey for hosting one of the favorites of the week, the Summit bus tour. We uh take this new hires around the city in a bus showcasing local landmarks to help new staff members become acclimated to the city of Summit. Summit is excited to welcome all our new teachers and staff back on Wednesday, August 27th and Thursday, August 28th for staff development days. Teacher student teacher assignments will be available to view in the parent portal on Genesis this Monday, August 25th at 3 p.m. Annual required forms are available now in Genesis for parents and guardians to complete.
063First day of school for students is Tuesday, September 2nd. I'm excited to announce in part of our investing in our future initiative that the middle schoolers will enjoy air conditioning throughout the building on the first day of school. Additional completed projects with investing of our future include this space right here in the high school, the media the library media center, the drama chorus room, the middle school cafeteria, two new instructional spaces at the middle school, the lower tur and the lower turf field. We had our official ribbon cutting as president mentioned here ceremony today for these spaces. And once again, I want to thank past and present board members for their support of this initiative as well as the high school administration, the media specialists who had to be flexible with schedules and alternative spaces
064all last year. Before you know it, back to school nights are going to be upon us. So, back to school night schedule is as follows. The elementary schools will be September 10th at 6:30 p.m. The middle school is September 11th at 6:30 p.m. The JPC is September 16 at 6:30. WPC is at September 17th at 6:30 and Summit High School is the 25th at 6:30. I'm excited and proud to announce that we our year-long process of going through a strategic planning process is almost concluded. We have our five board goals in very important areas uh to guide us for the next few years. The last step of the process is to develop firstear action plans and we're almost there working within the administrative ranks to do that and uh we're really excited for what the
065future holds for Summit Public Schools. I will be sending out my parent welcome letter tomorrow. In that letter, we'll be referencing the new board policy on the student use of electronic devices which includes cell phones. There will be greater emphasis on consistent enforcement of this policy and the regulation at the various grade levels. In addition, the administration has been discussing a healthy balance with the use of screen time in the classrooms. It's actually something that was discussed and valued during our strategic planning process with members of the community. Finally, I want to thank our director of facilities, Chris Pic, and all the custodians and maintenance crew. They work tirelessly to prepare our schools for the school year. Needless to say, our schools are clean and in wonderful shape to welcome our students and staff for
066the 2526 school year. And that concludes my comments, Madam President. >> Thank you. Next on the agenda, uh, agenda item 7B and C, superintendent's recommendations on the HIP investigations and suspensions. Do I hear a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Mr. Maha? >> Yes. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Hanley, >> abstaining. >> Mr. Gunderson, >> yes. >> Mr. Cho, >> yes. >> Vice President Kelly, >> yes. >> President Con? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Next up are our committee reports. So, beginning with the Education and Student Activities Services Committees. >> The Education and Student Activities and Services Committee met on August 14th at 12:00 noon for 1.5 hours. The members in attendance were superintendent Scott Huff, director of curriculum Heather Rockco, board um board members Melanie Conn,
067Leah Justice, and myself. The topics discussed first was the presentation of the standardized test, New Jersey graduation proficiency exam, and the access exam for English uh language learners. And those results were presented at the special board meeting last week on the 14th. The spring 2012 test testing results of the NG New Jersey GPA administered to grade 11 students based on grade 10 standards for English and language arts and mathematics were reviewed. A minimum score of 725 to be graduation eligible in each part. And if they don't meet the minimum, students retake the test in the fall can be deemed graduation eligible based on a minimum score on an alternative assessment such as the PSAT, SAT, or ACT. or lastly an appeal based on the portfolio of work submitted by the school on behalf of the
068students. The results uh for the spring 2025 testing were 93.3% passing in ELA and 79.6 passing uh for math. The uh Summit High School staff works with each student that did not pass individually to meet the standards be it alternative testing or to submit the portfolio work to be deemed graduation eligible. The uh Y access testing is for multilingual learners to assess their proficiency in English. The students uh all students in the English language learning program are tested every year in the following areas: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Based on their performance in the areas, they are scored in the following categories: oral language, literacy, comprehension, and an overall score which is ranges from 1 to six. Once a student gets a 4.5, they're evaluated further to see if they can exit from the program.
069For the past year, in this entire district, there were 185 students in grades K through 12 where in the program evaluated and based on the test results, 56 students exited from the multilingual English language program in 2025 school year, 30% of student population. As uh referenced in Superintendent Huff's comments, the strategic plan goal um updates, they reviewed the process with the committee undertaken the past year with the public input, surveys, group working sessions with all the stakeholders. And then once the uh strategic plan and goals are reviewed and approved by the board, they will be presented to the public later in the fall. Staff professional development. Uh Heather Rockco, director of curriculum, is leading a project, the summit collaborative to update staff professional development plans for the school year and future school years will be
070a multi-year effort involving administration, instructional facilitators, and instructional coaches to create a new catalog of courses covering all aspects of teaching and education methodologies. Each of the four professional development sessions will have a menu of course offerings designed for all levels experience and a full range of topics. uh graduation outcomes. The committee was given a small preview of the presentation that Rachel saw tonight regarding the graduation outcomes for the class of 2025 presented annually by Laura Kaplan and Allison Grill. The uh principal job descriptions, you know, we've had recent uh we had three different principal job sources just included and the staff noted that one additional position requirement was needed to be added. The position description for the building principles were updated to include at least five years of teaching experience as part of the
071requirements for a candidate to be considered. Staff mentoring plan. Each new staff member hired is assigned a mentor. The mentoring plan is reviewed and updated by HR as needed each year. No material changes this year. And as a followup to get feedback, surveys are sent out from new teachers at the end of the year. And then lastly, the curriculum profile template and sample curriculum profile updates. The administration is starting the process to update the links available to the public on the district website for curriculum and state learning standards for K through 12 along with assessment strategies. The updated pages will cover course overview, state learning standards by subject and grade levels, units of study by subject matter courses along with instructional resources utilized for each course. These updates will happen over the never next next
072several years for the entire K through2 curriculum. The goal was to have the district curriculum information to be more easily understood and readily accessible for parents and families. There are no board action items noted for the agenda and the next committee meeting will be September 4th at 12 noon. There are any questions from the board members. >> Thank you, Mr. Cha. Next, the operations committee. >> Uh, yes. Thank you, Madam President. The operations committee met Tuesday, uh, August 19th at 11:00 a.m. The meeting held lasted an hour and 40 minutes, and the members in attending included Superintendent Huff, business administrator Derek Jess, and board members Eileen Kelly, Carlos Maha, and myself. Uh, the items discussed on this month's agenda include the following. Number one, the business administrator uh provided the committee a thorough review and
073update of the various school construction projects as we're about to begin and enter the new school year. First, we discussed the SMS project, which does remain incomplete, and there are disagreements in business terms, payments, and services that have been delivered and have now led the district and the contractor to enter into mediation. It's important for the public and the board members to know the district has remained essentially current in our payments for the work completed but has not prepaid any monies for work outstanding. The primary portions of the project that do remain outstanding and pending the mediation results include the wellness center construction at the middle school as well as completion of the insulating uh the duct work in the cafeteria ceiling. We then discussed the Tadlock Fieldhouse project and that is progressing as expected.
074The next phases of work are the following. Number one, the work on the lacrosse locker room will begin in November that will follow the locker room work will be the remaining portion of the fieldhouse will be completed in time for the football season of fall 2026. And a note here that given this facility is shared with the city, the district administration continues to prioritize communications with the appropriate city officials to stay aligned. So the committee discussed that. Uh next at Braden School uh you are well aware of the HVAC project most likely where the equipment was damaged by flooding in midepptember and finished by December. Uh the additional FEMA monies that are being applied for uh to fund these replacements remain pending as reported by this committee in June uh to the public. Also, additional
075work has been completed installing a new fire alarm system at Brighton as the old system was failing and required replacement. Uh the work will be completed next week. The cost is $120,000. However, local grant funds were available, so no use of district reserve or general funds were required. Uh the committee unanimously approved the expenditure and submits it to the full board for its review on the Jefferson playground. That was the next topic. The equipment has been put in and is awaiting final inspection. Once received, the rubber playground surface followed by the asphalt for the basketball court and play area will be installed. That is expected to be completed by the end of next week and the project therefore is projected to be completed by the start of the school year. Uh the last project discussed
076on to this area was the Summit High School handicap ramp. The construction is done this week and we are awaiting the delivery of the railing to be installed. should it not arrive prior to the start of the new school year, the plan is to install a temporary railing and make the ramp functional. Uh the committee then went on to the second major topic of discussion and that was the fiscal year 27 budget calendar that was designed by the business office. Uh and the committee reviewed it in detail and asked questions. Uh you may recall at the last operations committee meeting uh the uh discussion was around we conducted a post-mortem on the budget process that was completed in March earlier this year. The committee agreed to and reported out to the community several new or
077modified processes that were to be adopted to improve and enhance the budget planning process accompanied by better transparency and communications to the community. So the business office took that feedback and that postmortem and presented that uh to the committee the new revised budget planning that incorporates those recommendations agreed upon. In addition, the business office compiled and presented various district budgets and per student spending amounts amounts along with recent budget increases from surrounding community communities and peer districts for the past two years. Uh board members of the committee asked for the information in the last meeting for more context to understand where summit stands versus its peers in overall spending and recent increases in our budget. Uh the next topic we discussed at the committee was the Pmptonian food service P&L and the menu pricing was
078discussed and reviewed. Uh please note the district remains on plan for its food service P&L on a monthly basis. Uh next the process of setting the district food service menu and allocart menu pricing was reviewed. Uh the committee discussed in great detail the balancing act of providing students the healthiest food choices while also offering a broad array of options that many students and families want in a menu. Uh specifically a question regarding menu options being published in the annual district survey uh to get parent student feedback was a suggestion so that we could further inform our choices and that suggestion will be considered uh by the district for inclusion in an upcoming survey. Uh the committee reviewed and we unanimously approved the alle cart menu pricing and we recommend that for full board approval. Uh
079next, the fiscal year 2025 books were discussed as they have now been closed and that the auditors will be on site in late August and again in late September. The business administrator's office notably received a notification of award from ASBO International for its financial reporting for the fiscal year ending June of 2024 because they met the organization's standards of excellence. So the business office was commended by the committee and should also be commended by the full board for uh their success. Lastly, uh various additional items were reviewed and discussed that included one uh there are a huge shared facilities and services between the city and the district. They include things like Tatlock Field mentioned earlier, the Anderson Fieldhouse, Cornhog Fieldhouse area, and the DPW maintenance of certain equipment. Recognizing that many, if not all, of
080those maintenance responsibilities and corresponding expenses have historically been managed via handshake agreements with the city over a long period. These have always been constructive and positive relationships for both sides. But to ensure these agreements continue as time passes and administrators change on both sides, they are gradually working to be formalized and documented so there are no surprises or discrepancies in the future. and for the benefit of clar clarity and transparency for administrators on all sides. Uh the committee reviewed and unanimously approved moving forward with just such an agreement with the summit department of public works for the maintenance of district vehicles and the services provided. Uh we also recommend that the board full board do the same. Uh finally the committee also reviewed two different reports on our roofs that are not currently under maintenance
081or replacement of which there are four. Uh the discussion went uh into some detail about additional timing, planning and budgeting to maintain those roofs. Uh and they were considered with no action taken. Finally, the committee simply reviewed several years of data for the federal fund flows that have made their way to the district to understand the trends and patterns and while and to consider those trends for future planning. Um so the committee recommends in summary the full board approved the move to formalize the working arrangements with the city's DPW for maintaining our district equipment mainly vehicles. We also recommend the full board approve the allocart pricing and menu by Pmptonium for the upcoming school year and we recommend the full board approve the replacement installation of the new fire alarm systems at Brighton to replace
082the old and failing systems. Again no general funds or capital maintenance reserves uh were required. Uh we established a new meeting schedule which I won't go into in detail but suffice it to say all the operations committee meetings will be held on the same day as the policy committee meetings uh one the Wednesday prior the week prior to the full board meeting. So you will all get my uh the committee minutes on a much more timely basis so you are more informed sooner so you can ask better questions even than you already do. So thank you very much. Madam President, turn it back to you unless there are any questions or additional comments from any of my fellow committee members. Thank you, Mr. Henley. >> You bet. Thank you. >> Next up is the policy
083committee. >> Thank you, Madam President. The policy committee met on August 13th for 26 minutes. Committee members in attendance were Superintendent Scott Huff, HR Director Rob Gardella, and Kathleen Murphy, and then board members in attendance were Mark Gunderson, Eileen Kelly, and myself. The committee discussed several policy related topics. The policies discussed with key points denoted are referenced below. Policy 1620, administrative employment contracts revised. This policy has been revised to address the requirement of the executive county superintendent review and approval of employment contracts for superintendent, assistant superintendent, and school business administrators. The mandated revisions include language cleanups and updates to code citations. Policy 1648 um.15 recordkeeping for healthc care settings in school buildings COVID 19 abolished. The state of New Jersey no longer is enforcing these recordeping and reporting requirements for CO 19. Policy guide 1648.15
084should be abolished. It is no longer in effect and we are all very happy to hear that. Policy 5339.01 01 student sun protection. New school districts are now required to develop a policy concerning use of sunscreen and sunprotective clothing at school or school sponsored functions. This is a new mandated policy. The policy will not take effect until after second reading in October and will be communicated to all families. Policy 5516 and regulation 5516. Use of electronic communication devices revised and use of electronic communication devices new regulation. Policy and regulation 5516 have been revised to incorporate new provisions prohibiting or limiting the use of electronic communication devices during the school day. The revised regulation 5516 provides general requirements and redefineses electron electronic communication devices to include but not be limited to cell phones, smartwatches, tablets, earbuds,
085wireless headphones, and other devices. These revisions were based on a full review of recent practices in our schools and include permissions and consequences that the administration has deemed appropriate by level at this time. The policy revisions and new regulation will take effect for the start of the 2025 2026 school year and will be communicated to all families. Committee recommendations, first reading of policies 1620, 1648.15 and 5339.01 and policy and regulation 5516. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, September 3rd at 9:30 in the district office boardroom. Any questions from the board? >> I do have one question. Uh maybe for you Alto or superintendent um regarding the policy on sun protection um was the committee or the administration able to assess and and discuss what what is the uh how are we going to enforce that?
086How are we going to maintain that policy enact that policy? I mean what does that look like if you have any idea or thoughts towards that? So, we did have a little discussion, but since that's a policy um that will go into second reading in October, it has more to do with the permission that would be asked um from parents in reference to whether or not the sun protection would be applied or would be used in any way. So, there would be permission from families for that to happen. It's not something where the school would decide we're going to put sunscreen on your child. That would be a permissive only type process. But, we have we didn't talk in detail about that part, but that is a piece of that policy. >> Okay. Okay. >>
087Sounds complicated, >> but I am sure when it is communicated to families, we will be explicit in explaining how that process works. >> Great. Yeah, I was just curious. That struck me. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you, Miss Justice. >> Um, and communications committee is next. >> Thank you. Thank you. The communications committee met on August 12th for 39 minutes. Uh board members in attendance were Miss Eileen Kelly and myself, Superintendent Scott Huff and cabinet member Lorine Dickinson. Tatlock renovation update. Renovations at Tatlock, part of the bond project, were postponed due to logistical issues with temporary shelters for the football team. The shelters were deemed inadequate, leading to a decision to start renovations after the fall season. Coordination with the city ensured alignment. It is anticipated that one locker room will be
088completed by spring for the lacrosse team to avoid displacement. This plan saves the district approximately $200,000 by avoiding temporary shelter costs. Communication was sent to high school parents, families, and coaches with further updates planned for spring sport families. Investing in our future update. Today we had our ribbon cutting ceremony for the new media center and following uh that that followed the issuance of the certificate of occupancy received a couple weeks ago. Courses will be scheduled in this new space. The ceremony also celebrated the middle school additions and the HVAC upgrades with air conditioning fully functional by the start of the school year, covering 90% of district spaces. Strategic planning update. The year-long strategic planning process concluded involving parents, parent meetings, workg groupoups, and over 1500 uh survey responses. Detailed firstear action plans are being developed
089with assignments to administrators to be shared at the September board meeting. The plan is communitydriven involving parents, teachers, administrators, and the board. The board will review goals in August and vote on adoption in September. Communication survey. The committee reviewed the annual communication survey results, noting lower participation this year, yet providing valuable feedback and insights on school-based communication. Surveys were split into staff and parent groups uh parent reports. The committee discussed various suggestions to enhance communications and take advantages of opportunities. Meetings will be scheduled with principles to discuss survey results and encourage sharing with staff. The communication survey results will be posted on the district website. Upcoming communications principles have begun to send out their new year their new school year's communications and Superintendent Huff will send an opening day communications to all parents. Back to
090school nights have been scheduled and principles will be sending out reminders and procedures for these events. The committee has no recommendations at this time. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 2nd at 12:00 p.m. Is there any questions? >> I do have a question. uh the survey responses if year-over-year it was down do you have a number in context of down from what to what percentage >> they were reduced percentage-wise >> or numbers >> yeah was it close maybe like I don't know if it was like in the teens or close to 20% >> I don't think it was quite that high >> I'm not sure was it that high >> top Mr. We have data from the last three years in the reports of how many respondents >> and and I'm and I'm
091partly asking because we also referenced a survey uh earlier about the the strategic goals. Was this one in the same last year in the survey or they were two separate surveys? >> Two very separate. >> Okay. And yet we're doing an annual survey and we've got that survey. And I'm curious if in my prior life we were very cautious about not doing surveys too frequently because we would lose impact and we would start to get people to to ignore it. And I'm wondering if that there might be a numeric trend showing if the data was down and that's just simply something to think about as we go forward. >> Thank you. Yeah, it it was a it was a significant reduction but not significant enough that there weren't enough insights gleaned from it. So, it
092was still very valuable and meaningful >> but yeah. >> Okay. >> But that info is is in the uh >> in the report itself. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Thank you, Mr. Mah. >> Thank you. >> Um negotiation and personnel committee did not meet. Are there any liaison reports? >> All right. Thank you very much. Next on the agenda is public comment. Mr. Jess, can you share the procedure? >> Uh, yes. Uh, anyone wishing to speak shall first seek recognition by the presiding officer. Please come to the microphone and state your name and address in a clear audible tone for the record. Please direct all comments to the board president and not an individual member of the board. And please remember to conduct yourself with the quorum and respect when speaking and addressing the
093board unless additional time is granted by the board president. And please be respectful and keep your comments of three minutes or less. In addition, please note that this portion of the meeting is for public comment and not meant to be a back and forth. Upon closure of public comment, information that is available to answer questions will be provided. If information is not readily available, the question will be answered by the superintendent or his designate as soon as the information is readily available. >> Thank you. So we will begin with public comment on items that are on the agenda. Okay. Um so public comments on items not on the agenda. Yes. Good evening, President Conn, uh, Superintendent Huff, members of the board and staff. I'm Jim Bennett, bennet, 38 Fair View Avenue. I appear tonight to
094address the budget process that recently took place, which initially proposed a tax increase of almost 9%. It was a model of opacity and I appreciate the post-mortem analysis that Mr. Haney presented on June 12th, 2025. The six points Mr. Haney communicated represent a good start on substance, but the school district can improve opportunities for resident input. You need not look far for a model. You have one with Tammy Baldwin at city hall. Each year a capital budget workshop meeting takes place in December and like the city the school district can anticipate its capital needs without reference to Trenton. In early May each household in summit receives a four-page budget snapshot from the city. The snapshot announces the date for the budget hearing and the district can if the district can now furnish a budget in
095February, it could send a similar snapshot to residents announcing a budget hearing. The municipal budget is only 20% of the tax bill, but the district budget is 50%. The district budget receives little fanfare despite being more significant than the municipal budget. Implementing my suggested changes will alleviate any pressure to move from an appointed school board to an elected one uh due to any um uh pressure due to dissatisfaction uh with transparency. There was a referendum in the 1970s and I remember it because my father was the mayor then uh seeking an elected school board and summit. If that had passed, two regrettable changes would have happened. First, the mayor would have lost her ability to appoint board members based on the need for a particular skill set. Secondly, the residents would have voted on a
096school budget. Now, what's the matter with that? In Paripony, where my wife taught years ago, residents routinely voted down school budgets, throwing the process into chaos. Fortunately, the referendum was defeated. Today, a switch in time to improve public input will potentially save millions from resident dissatisfaction with the process. I call on the board to follow city hall's example for public input. Thank you. Take this All right. Hearing no other public comments, we um is there a motion to close public comment? >> So move. >> Second. >> Um >> all those in favor. >> Any opposed? Any abstension? Motion carries. Thank you. So, um, next on the agenda is the approval of the board minutes. >> Do I hear a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> All those in favor? >> I.
097>> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion carries. Agenda item 13, curriculum instruction program uh items A through F. Do I hear a motion? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Any discussion? >> Mr. Maha? >> Yes. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hanley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Gunderson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cho? >> Yes. >> Vice President Kelly? >> Yes. >> President Con? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Agenda item 14, finance items A through UU. >> Do I hear a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Mr. Maha? >> Yes. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hanley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Gunderson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cho? >> Yes. >> Vice President Kelly? >> Yes. >> President Con? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Agenda item 15, school board operation items A through
098C. Do I have a motion? >> So move. Second. >> Is there any discussion? >> Mr. Maha? >> Yes. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hanley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Gunderson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cho? >> Yes. >> Miss Kelly? >> Yes. >> President Con? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Agenda item 16, personnel items A through O. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Any discussion? >> Mr. Maha? >> Yes. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hanley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Gunderson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cho? >> Yes. >> Vice President Kelly? >> Yes. >> President Con? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Agenda item 17, policies and regulations as put forth in the committee report for first read. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion?
099Mr. Maha? >> Yes. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hanley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Gunderson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cho? >> Yes. >> Vice President Kelly? >> Yes. >> President Con? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. And we are at adjournment. So is there a motion? >> Moved. So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Any abstension? Motion carries. We are adjourned at 7:42. Thank you.