Hillsborough Board of Education - June 22, 2026

001Good evening. Welcome to the June 21st, >> 20 22nd [laughter] 2025, no 2026, Hillsboro Board of Education meeting. In accordance with the state's sunshine law of New Jersey, adequate notice of this meeting of the Hillsboro Township Board of Education was provided on January 6, 2026 to the Hillsboro Beacon and the Courier News. Mr. Eert, can you call the role, please? >> Mr. Eric, >> here. >> Miss Jackson >> here. >> Miss Craig. >> Miss Lenny Beer >> here. >> Mr. Marini >> here. >> Miss Nurse >> here. Miss Stats >> here, >> Mr. Hill and Mr. Davis >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Uh, we're going to move into executive session. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All approved. All in favor? >> I read why we're going

002in. Whereas the open public meeting act chapter 231 of the laws 1975 provides that a public body may exclude the public from that portion of a meeting of which the public body discusses certain matters for which confidentiality is required as permitted in section 7B of the act resolved by the board of education of the township of Hillsboro the county of Somerset and the state of New Jersey as follows. One, the matters to be discussed are an HIB appeal, HBSA negotiations, and the superintendent's evaluation. The matters discussed in executive session shall be disclosed to the public when the need for confidentiality no longer exists. So, we shall be adjourned to executive session. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] Hey, Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] >> N [music] hey baby. [music] Hey, hey,

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006Heat. N. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. >> [music] >> Doo doo doo doo doo doo. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. N. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. N. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. N. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> My name [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] >> [music] >> me. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] me. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hello. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] I feel

007[music] >> [music] [music] >> me. [music] >> [music] [music] >> out of Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. [music] >> [music] >> Hello. [music] Hey, [music] hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] Hey. Hey. [music] Hello. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> I would have had to update her. >> Welcome. Good evening. Uh, welcome again to the board of education meeting. >> Come on, Joel. on Monday, June 22nd >> in Hillsboro. Hillsboro. >> Welcome back. We have returned from executive session. Mr. Eckert, will you call the role again, please? >> Mr. Anrren >> here. >> Miss Jackson >> here. >> Miss Craig. Miss Lanny Beater >> here. >>

008Mr. Morini >> here. Miss Nurse >> here. Miss Stats >> here, >> Mr. Heo >> here, >> and Mr. Davis >> here. Pledge of >> Aliance to the flag of the United States of America stands nationy andice for all. Thank you. Uh we have received correspondence as noted on the agenda and so we move to the spring sports recognition section and um Mr. Marini will be handing out the certificates. So uh good evening everyone. Tonight, we have the distinct privilege of honoring the incredible student athletes and coaches who poured their hearts, sweat, and determination into our 2026 spring sports season. Our Hillsboro teams dominated, broke records, and brought home serious hardware. To our athletes and coaches, you have made our entire community incredibly proud. Tonight we want to recognize your hard work. When your spart

009is called, please come forward to the podium to be recognized. And we welcome a representative from each group to say a few brief words. Uh if that's what you'd like to do. Uh we have a special presentation for milestone and coach of the year. Before we get to our team rosters, we have a monumental individual milestone to celebrate. This spring, our softball program reached an historic peak, and it is all thanks to the leader at the helm. At this time, please join me in welcoming Coach Cheryl to the podium. [applause] coach, please. >> It's an Italian name. It's Ioni. >> Ioni. >> Yeah. >> Thank Thank you. Uh, please stay there while we celebrate you. This season, Coach Ioni received her 500th career win and was named the All Area Coach of the Year. 500

010wins is [applause] a 500 wins is a testament to decades of excellence, mentorship, and dedication to Hillsboro athletics. Thank you so much, coach. Would you like to share a few words? >> Uh, I'm not normally speechless. Go ahead and laugh, guys. Um, I'm not normally speechless, but I I am kind of speechless. I'm humbled. Um, this is very surreal. It's been a long time that I've been coaching here. I've been blessed to be had the opportunity to be here for over 40 years. Uh, and you know, good things happen when you stay long, but good things happen when you have great players and great support system, great great coaches, great families to support the program. So, thank you so much for this honor. I appreciate it. And, uh, hopefully I'm not going to be around

011for 500 more, but hopefully hopefully a few more. Thank you. [applause] softball team. With the softball team please come up to the podium. [applause] This incredible group of athletes proved exactly why they are a powerhouse this year, capturing the Skyland Conference Division Championship. We also had phenomenal individual talent leading the charge representing Hillsboro on the All Skyland Conference First team. We recognize Emma Anderson [applause] Alexis Carlile, [applause] Lily Quas, [applause] Gwen Gizzy, [applause] Addison Whitney. Would anyone from the team like to share a few words? Hi. Is this Can I lower this? Yeah. Okay. >> Um, we're really honored to be here and we worked really hard um for um all the all what we accomplished this year and thank you. [applause] >> Okay, you may be seated. Thank you. Next. [applause] Next. Let's look

012at a program that absolutely tore up the track and the field this spring. Will the girls spring track and field team please come forward? [applause] This program put together an unforgettable championship run as a team. They are Skyland Conference Relay Champions, Somerset County Champions, Skyland Conference Division Champions, Skyland Conference Champions, and the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group Four Champions. [applause] Some individuals we'd like to mention. Ella Zulcowski took second place in the 100 and 400 meter wheelchair events. [applause] Luciana Damiano took fourth place in the long jump. [applause] >> [applause] >> The 4 by 100 relay team which is Emily Manetti, Emma Stibbitz, Stella Martinez, and Luchana Damiano took seventh place. [applause] and our 4x400 relay team, Stella Martinez, Emma Stibbitz, Luchana Damiano, and Ellie Bang claim fourth place. [applause] Furthermore, making all Skyland Conference team

013first team are Luchiano Damiano long jump, [applause] Stella Martinez, 1400, [applause] Izzy Rufa, Javelin, Emma Stiglets 100, 200, 400 meters, [applause] and Payton Wallace Shakput. [applause] These same athletes along with Emily Manetti and Ellie Bang also earned all Somerset County first team honors for their individual and relay performances. Congratulations all. [applause] Would anyone like to share a thought? a designated spokesperson. >> Hi, I'm Cassie. Um, I'm a senior on the track team this year and I've been competing on this team for four years. I've done 12 seasons. I just want to thank our coaches and my teammates so so much for the opportunity to even be able to compete in the first place. And if it wasn't for them and all of our support, we spend so many hours training, a lot of behind thes

014scenes work that we do. So, I just want to thank everyone to I just want to thank everyone for supporting us and especially my teammates and my coaches as well. Thank you. [applause] Thank you. You may be seated. [applause] We'd like to call our flag football team up. [applause] This team had a sensational year capturing the Big Central Conference Division Championship in their first year. Firstear champions. Our all big central conference first team individual honores are Sydney Vamos, [applause] Stephanie Vamos, [applause] Kira Collins, Kelly Collins, [applause] and Kayla Sabedo. [applause] Would someone like to u share a thought? >> Hi, I'm Kayla. >> I'm Mercy. Um, I just want to say thank you for letting us come here and it's a pleasure to be here. We can't wait to come back for next season. [applause]

015>> Thank you. You may be seated. >> [applause] >> Excellent job. Excellent job. Now, let's bring up our lacrosse programs together. Will the student athletes from both boys and girls lacrosse please come up? [applause] >> [applause] >> There you go. First, our boys lacrosse team had a stellar championship season, capturing the Skyland Conference Division Championship, earning all Skyland Conference first team honors for the boys are James Casey, [applause] Kevin Jones, Liam Rerty [applause] and Kaden Winski. Earning All Skyland Conference First Team Honors for Girls Lacrosse are Jules Denuzo [applause] and Jessica McKelie and Mary Kate Toth. [applause] Congratulations all. Would anyone like to share a word? Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Nick. Uh, thank you for letting us be here today. It's an honor. I'd like to say thank you to my coaches,

016Coach Joan, Coach Finer, Coach Mahoney for, and Coach Venice for letting us all compete this year and for helping us out every day and getting us better. And just thank you [applause] You may be seated. Thank you. [applause] Our next championship squad dominated the court this season. Please welcome the boys volleyball team. [applause] Our volleyball team brought home a major title this spring, securing the Skyland Conference Division Championship. Dominating the court and earning all Skyland Conference first team honors are Marcus Bolowski, [applause] Mana Jane, [applause] Alex Susan, and Gavin Walker. Noi, would anyone like to share a word? Hi. Uh, I'm Adam. I've been in the program for four years. I'd like to say it's been a I'm honored to be here. Uh, I'd like to thank Coach Casey, Coach J, and Coach Manning, and

017every other coach that's brought us here. Uh, we had great few seasons last few years. And, uh, thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. You may be seated. Thank you, guys. >> [applause] >> We also want to recognize our outstanding individual athletes who stood out as the absolute best in the conference in their respective sports. As I call your name, please come forward together to the podium. From the boys spring track and field, Joshua Ogalo, please come forward. [applause] Andrew Schwarz and Luke Sudal from baseball. Elijah Daws [applause] from boys golf. Dylan Ludwig [applause] and Logan Stony. Logan Stony. and from girls golf, Ria Capazano. [applause] Each of these student athletes earned all Skyland Conference first team honors for their incredible individual performances this season. You represent the very best of Hillsboro. Thank you. To close

018our evening, we want to recognize two distinct individuals who define what it means to be a well-rounded elite multisport athlete at Hillsboro. Please join me in welcoming our male and female athletes of the year, Emma Stibbitz and Nick Dwarte. [applause] Our female athlete of the year is a standout across three full seasons, excelling in soccer, winter track, and field. And as we saw tonight, a historic spring track and field season. Congratulations, Emma. [applause] Our male athlete of the year is a powerhouse who dominated the grid iron and the mats, representing Hillsboro at the highest levels in football and wrestling. Please congratulate Nick Dwarte. [applause] Would either of you like to share something or both of you anything to say? Well, thank you and God bless. You may be seated. [applause] We're go. We are going

019to take a fivem minute recess, but I do want to remind you that we are still waiting on the final publications for all state and all group four honors. We know that many of the faces you saw tonight will be added to those lists as they are published as anyone who qualifies is already among that elite group. Thank you to the coaches, the parents who drive these athlet athletes to practice and the fans who pack the stands. Most importantly, thank you to our athletes for representing Hillsboro with class, grit, and excellence. Have a wonderful night everyone and let's take a five minute recess. Thank you. [applause] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> concludes the board president's report. we will proceed on the agenda to the superintendent report. >> Thank you

020very much, Mr. President. And the first a couple of items under my superintendent report. And one of the things I'm really excited to have here is to have a high school team of people, staff members, students, uh administrators about something they have been approaching me about a long time with the high school schedule redesign. And tonight is going to be the first of several community outreach efforts to answer questions, to look at what we're looking to do for 2027 28 as far as giving our high school students a lot more opportunities than they happen to have right now. Um, our team is here tonight to answer board questions and also to talk about the future and how we will continue to address these questions over a period of time. So, Mr. Dolo, as principal, I'd

021call you up to get things started. >> Mr. Bulby, thank you so much. Board of Education, thank you for having us. We've got some great presenters from the high school for you today. Please know that they represent uh dozens of students and teachers who've worked hard as well as administrators on getting us to this point. And we're really excited about the opportunity and the presentation. Tonight, you're going to hear from Mr. Joe Hernandez, um as well as Miss Julianne Anderson, two of our teachers of environmental science and English. Also Joey Denuzo who is one of our rising sophomores and Skyler Haynes who's one of our rising juniors as well as Christine Silio is one of our vice principles at the high school. Lisa Keel is also going to be here with Dr. Ireland behind me

022as well as others who've been an instrumental part of the team. And with no further ado, we'll let them begin. >> Good evening board members and Hillsboro community. My name is Joe Hernandez. I'm a science teacher at Hillsboro High School. Tonight, myself and others from the high school schedule committee will be sharing with you some of our insights from our research and discovery phase and provide information supporting the implementation of a rotating drop schedule for the 2027 2028 school year. The need for a new high school schedule addresses concerns raised by students and families regarding course availability being academically co competitive and address student wellness through a comprehensive and collaborative approach between students and families, teachers and administration. We analyzed the costs and benefits of several scheduling models and found the rotating drop schedule will

023be advantageous for our students by creating a rigorous environment sorry rigorous educational experience while maintaining a positive work life balance. In early December as part of this research our team visited Ridge High School where students, teachers and administrators experienced a day in their rotating schedule. Our students were paired with their students to gain an immersive experience. Tonight we are joined by two of our students who will share their perspective on the potential new schedule uh potential this new schedule could have for all of our students. Please allow me to introduce rising junior Skyler Haynes and rising sophomore Joey Denuzzo. [applause] >> Hi everyone. I'm Skyler Haynes, rising junior. And as for the student perspective, I chose to focus on the academics because personally with my experience my two years at Hillsboro High School, I found

024myself struggling with fulfilling graduation requirements, which is the career electives, financial literacy, and art, while also integrating classes that I want to take, things that I'm interested in personally, and managing to graduate at the same time. Similarly, I spoke to a lot of my friends and fellow peers who are very academically driven, take a lot of APs, and when speaking to them, as well as students at Ridge, I found that having an integrated study hall period that every student has allows for more time to complete homework, to study for tests, and it honestly is a mental relief that I believe everyone needs and even myself. And in a as a whole, just having this schedule academically is very beneficial for the students. >> [applause] >> Uh hello, my name is Jody Nuzo. I am a

025rising sophomore and as a student, I feel that the new rotate and drop schedule would positively impact student engagement in extracurricular activities, specifically regarding the class cabinet and club meetings. I currently serve as a member of the student council, but this past year, I was a part of the freshman executive board. To prepare for spirit night and plan for future events, each grade level executive board hosts weekly class cabinet meetings at 7 a.m. for students who are interested. Additionally, each executive board meets at the same time a few days prior to prepare. For the freshman class cabinet, we consistently have about 15 students that attend to help brainstorm our themes, design future events, and organize fundraisers. However, the early time poses a significant challenge for everyone involved. Students must wake up much earlier and secure

026reliable transportation every week just to attend a 25minute meeting. This issue however however is not exclusive just to executive board class cabinet and student council meetings. Almost all club meetings take place after school which directly conflicts with students who participate in sports or other extracurricular activities. With the implementation of the new rotating drop schedule, all of those meetings would be held during the school day during our lunch period. So student participation would undoubtedly increase. Students could attend these meetings that they were not able to before without disrupting their morning routines or after school commitments. While this would utilize our lunch time, our current 25-minute lunch periods mean we already deal with a fast-paced midday break. So taking away some of that time for meetings shouldn't be an issue for most students. By utilizing the new

027schedule for club and board meetings, we can make student student activities more accessible, increase attendance, and better support student involvement across the board. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you, Joey and Skyler. As part of our research, the committee found that moving to a rotating drop schedule would make us competitively equal to many school districts in Somerset County that have already made this transition. This move allows for at minimum one extra course to be taken each academic year or two half-year courses. This means students will have access to anywhere from four to eight additional course experiences throughout their high school career. Even though there are top performing districts, the new schedule, even though we are a top performing district, the new schedule has a potential uh has a has a potential of even higher quality of

028education. I would like to introduce Miss Julian Anderson and Miss Christine Silio who will discuss how we are reframing our daily timeline and how we anticipate this will benefit our students. [applause] >> All right. >> By moving to a rotating drop schedule, we increase daily instructional time by 16% while reducing the number of daily transitions between classes. This creates a more focused classroom experience because students take fewer subjects each day. We significantly minimize the mental load they carry. At the same time, this framework gives students the flexibility to c to pursue richer curriculum each year. College and career readiness is a cornerstone of the high school experience. Yet, our current rigid schedule heavily limits student exploration. This new schedule changes that, allowing students to earn up to 160 credits over their four years compared to

029the 140 our current schedule allows. Ultimately, this expanded opportunity makes our students more competitive with their peers, proving that it isn't just a schedule shift, but rather an intentional upgrade to our learning environment. This isn't just about fitting more classes into our students schedules. It's about giving our students the room to breathe, the time to dive deeper into their classes and interests, and the tools to truly thrive in their high school careers. Our mission statement tasks us with empowering all students to excel while finding purpose and joy in every aspect of their educational journey. To successfully support that mission, we need to support the whole student. We need to make sure that every aspect of their learning, including what's available to them during the days and the time that they're in the building, are there

030to support who they are and to get them on the path best path ready for life. With six classes a day as opposed to eight, that means less jostling around the hallways. Uh less cognitive switching, so less times where you're having to switch from being in science class to math class to English class throughout the day, giving students a calmer day with less brain exhaustion and less daily burnout and fatigue. It also means that students can really sustain their focus when they're in their classes because they will be in there for a slightly longer period of time and really be able to dive into the information in their classes. And for many students, it means getting their summers back. Right now, in order for our students to compete with other highly competitive high schools in

031the area, many students take summer advancement courses over the summer in order to remain competitive on their college applications. By having the additional period within the day, students will be able to take an additional course load during the school day, which frees up their summers for career exploration, for family trips, for everything that they want to do outside of their career goals to really help them become more well-rounded people. As for our students who participate in sports, you heard a little bit about the conflicts that occur. For many of our students with sports, they leave for early dismissals right now on a pretty regular basis during their sports season. And although we have tremendous athletes that do a wonderful job balancing their academics and their sports sporting careers, they miss the same class every day.

032That poses a a real challenge for them to make sure they're maintaining their academic rigor and they're following along with their coursework. The benefit of the rotating drop is they're not going to be missing the same class every single day. Which means that that disruption is distributed over a few more classes. Meaning that you might miss miss English class only once during your season. You might miss math class only twice during your season instead of when I was teaching I had students who were on the cross country team and did a great job. And I had one student who missed 21 days of English in the spring. So, it's it's a real problem that the kids have been managing, but I don't know why we're putting them through that stress. It's time to kind of

033look at this a little bit differently with students for academic and transportation struggles. They're also going to be able to get a little additional support. So, because all of our clubs and activities right now run at the start of the day or the end of the day. We have more and more students who although transportation has been improved over the years, struggle with getting to school before or staying late with parents working or other children at home they have to care for. So by putting our activities into the middle of the day, we're going to allow students to have more access to them who wouldn't normally be able to uh participate. We'll also have time during the day to provide interventions for any of our students who are really struggling academically where they don't have

034to worry about getting that extra ride where teachers will be available to work with them without making the day longer. This rotating drop schedule really provides the additional time we need to make sure we are supporting that whole student both academically, socially, and emotionally. >> Thank you, Miss Silio. and Miss Anderson. Fully transitioning to a rotating job schedule brings our vision for the Hillsboro graduate to life by optimizing the school day. This initiative directly delivers on two key priorities outlined in our Hillsboro Township public school strategic plan, empowering student success and building an inspiring culture for learning. This schedule adapts to the student rather than the student to be bound by the schedule. Increasing this flexibility correlates to our strategic objective of optimizing student growth and development as well as preparing for post high school

035success andor career readiness. We are excited to see the impact uh on the culture of learning and the elevation of student success as we move Hills High School into a modernized schedule. Thank you for your time. >> Mr. Mr. J, I don't know if you want to have any final words before I said a couple things. >> Sure. We're certainly, Mr. Vulpi, more than happy to take some some questions. I know you don't have a a huge amount of time for us tonight, but I just want to say a thank you really quickly to the board of education if not for your leadership in providing opportunities. I don't think we would be where we're at today. We have an amazing committee of of uh many teachers, many students, and and um administrators, as I said

036before, who've done some really really wonderful work. We look forward to working with you and rolling out a plan uh in the spring, I'm sorry, in the fall to to get this off the ground for for the next following school year. >> Yeah. So, before we open this up to board questions, I did just want to say I know we've had some conversations in committees about this over the past couple years and this is the first time we've really rolled out a presentation to the public and I was really happy to hear from the high school team. Um when we were reflecting upon our redistricting efforts this year and the community outreach that we had done with that um by having uh at a local cafe uh a morning session, an afternoon session, and an

037evening session to really hear from the public, take their questions and educate them besides in a board of education meeting setting. And I was happy that the high school team was like, "Yeah, we want to do that, too. It was successful with redistricting. We want to do that." So, this is not a oneanddone. Uh we're going to be talking about this at board meetings in public um in committee meetings, but this is the first time that everybody at the same time is kind of getting all of that information. So I'm sure that uh board members have some questions. What I would ask, if you have some questions, please direct them to the high school team. They're here to present to you this evening and to answer your questions. And if we can't answer every single

038question tonight, I guarantee you we will get the answer to you at some point. So, at this point, I'd like to turn it over to uh any board members with any questions to to ask of this uh this great team you put together. >> Yes. I have two questions. Um I was just curious as why the rotating drop schedule versus block scheduling and then also does that mean with the implementation that there will no be no more late arrivals or early dismissal for children? Two great questions. So, block candidly has had some mixed um success rates. We looked at it as an option, especially three years ago when we were doing a paper review of local schools. uh we considered as an opportunity in some areas like science, it does allow for some really u

039important additional time. But as you can see in the drop schedule, if you look on uh on this one student's example on the one day, you'll see how that takes uh 25 minutes out of their um uh lunch period, that one in four days, right? That provides for what a block allows for, which is that extended learning. But we found in a lot of areas that actually 100 minutes or 120 minutes depending upon what the block uh theory looks like is too long. We lose kids after a certain amount. A lot of this is based on science. The success rate uh for 60-minute classes at the high school level and we're talking about 58 to 60 minutes here um has a great deal of success. Schools that have gone to this have have had it

040many instances for 20 or 25 years and not reverted back. It gives us that 50 minutes in the center of the day as well. I apologize. You as a second question. >> Um the late arrivals and early >> dismissals. So you'll still have the opportunity to be a uh a student who's taking a um study hall either in the afternoon or in the um morning it but only one of those four days will you be able to leave early or arrive late? That is correct. >> And I I forgot to if it's not written down I forget. Thank you very much for the presentation. It was very informative and helpful. Looking forward to it. Miss status. >> Yeah, thank you for the the presentation. Um, what I really like about this schedule is the the

041rotating part. Not just uh the effect of the last period for the same class every day, but also the first period is not always, you know, at 7:30, you know, always hitting their English class or math class or whatever. So, that's great. So, they can be tired and just a different class every day. Um, >> to your appointment, Miss Stats, what we're going through attendance appeals right now. we disproportionately have students absent from their first period class by a a ratio of two two to one uh and some in for some students much greater than that and so this takes that out divides it by four and I agree with you that's a a great side effect positive for for the schedule as well >> and and I also like the uh that that uh

042lunch uh access period for all the the reasons you said um I think that's wonderful and we'll hopefully have even more students involved in extracurricular activities and taking advantage of extra help and all that. Um, and I was wondering, um, will this also help the, uh, the scheduling of science classes with labs? Hasn't that been an issue because it goes into borrows from fizzed? >> Miss, as you're alluding to, there's a lot of devil in the details and kind of subpieces. So, Miss Ke's here and she's going to help talk to us walk to us a little bit through that. >> She's been doing a lot of work in this area as have many of our others. So thank you uh Miss Ke. >> Good evening. Yes to your your answer is an overwhelming yes.

043Um and the fact that uh with this type of schedule it will open up a multitude of opportunities for the students um and reduce our summer we were talking about uh students that are taking classes during the summer that they're paying for um we feel is not equitable to others that cannot. So, this also opens that to them and they can take more than one science since it's not tied to their PE class and uh we wouldn't then have the reduction in PE minutes since they have to meet that requirement. >> Thank you. >> If I could just add to that, thank you Miss Keel. the um the scheduling at the high school. It we it the connection between labs and physical education. People don't necessarily realize our students who live it every day and

044our teachers. It wres havoc on this on a master schedule and it creates a disjointedness for fizzed teachers for the importance of physical education. The study's out on 30 minutes of of um exercise even just walking and and the effects that that has on our learning etc. I know something that you know well so that's certainly an area of import here as well. Um, and I'm really thankful for all the work Miss Ke's been doing in that area, especially. >> Mr. Marini, >> just a quick question. This is not for the plan is not for next school year. It's for the following school year. >> That's correct. We we certainly would love to move to it at at the rate in which uh would be most advantageous, but yes, we're looking at the 2027 28

045school year for a roll out. Miss stats. >> Um, was this has this entire uh all this information been already provided to the entire staff? >> So, we did vet this three years ago with a a full inquiry to the whole staff at that time survey based. We have over 40 teachers who were involved in the process from a variety of different areas over the last two years either on committee or visiting the the two school visits that we've done. when we are situated in a way folks have seen this schedule. They've seen the timing of it. They've been able to to um give feedback. We've had little uh pockets of departmentwide meetings to identify concerns and and uh write those down. We will be doing department meetings starting this fall where there were specific

046focus is on the new schedule, getting teacher feedback. At this point, what we don't want to do is we don't want to make some general kind of sweeping survey of hey, what do you think of this? It's more it's more nuanced than that. So I want to actually go with representatives from our group actually sit with teachers in you know for a science teacher this is going to look like something very different than it is for a math teacher and so on and so forth. And certainly elective teachers you know have have a a lot of um impact here as well because we're going to see students opting for additional course offerings that they weren't perhaps um be able to avail themselves of previously. And so we want to make sure that we're we're giving

047teachers time to ask good questions that are relevant to them. >> But they h have already been provided all of this information. >> They've been provided the the detailed schedule, but there's more here that we're going to continue to roll out. Absolutely. >> Um >> yeah, this schedule that you're seeing here has been uh something we've been presenting to the faculty and uh staff for the last three years, two and a half, three years. One of my concerns is um okay like this schedule repeats itself every four days. Correct. Correct. >> Okay. So in the current schedule over a 4-day period there's 50 minute uh classes or 4 day uh cycle. Um so that's 200 minutes. Okay. Whereas with the proposed schedule over 4day period each class meets three times. So I did the math

048and that would be 174 minutes. So that's a difference of 26 minutes every four days. Now the what I've been told is um well there's one less transition to go through you know to start a class ending class but as a teacher myself I did not spend 26 minutes you know with introducing or do now or whatever as well as ending the class. Um so I I'm concerned about that. That's a significant amount of less instructional time which I would be okay with if the there's uh less smaller curriculum because I do think at at speaking as a for math teacher that there was too much in the curriculum. So I'm wondering will there be anything eliminated from the curriculum so that there can be a deep dive. I do agree going more in depth

049as as opposed to having the breath of material. So is that going to happen? If you don't mind, I'll take that. Um, we have talked a lot about this, um, especially with certain curricula and overwhelmingly the teachers agree that those eight minutes in the middle of the period, do more than more minutes outside in a separate class because even though it doesn't take six minutes or whatever to do a 26 minutes to do a do now in a closure, the students take time to get into the learning. And so we find that those eight minutes add more time than just eight minutes because you're able to really dig deeper into the content. And lessons that might have been split out of necessity over two days no longer have to be split to those two days

050because you can actually access the deeper learning within the class period without going back and reteing or reminding students. And so there's a little bit less time, but it also allows for students to spend that off day with homework that engages them in the curriculum and really allows them to practice on their own and bring back questions. Also, this access period that we have, we call it a study hall access period. It allows for intervention. And so a lot of what we're missing is those tier two and tier three kind of more intervention type um what strategies. Thank you. Uh that allow this the students who are struggling to catch up. And so having that time built in to a lunch allows teachers to access students who are falling behind and catch them up rather

051than moving ahead with students who aren't. So, I think like with the access period, you're gaining some of that time back with the classes that you need, but the teachers themselves, we're going to be providing, Miss Silio was going to talk about this, but we're going to be providing professional development for how to restructure the lesson um throughout this coming school year to ensure that we can hit the curriculum more effectively in the time that we have. Just to add a little piece on that, we have been working with the um curriculum supervisors to make sure that this was feasible within the curricula and how we were going to look at different elements of the curriculum. So, one of the things I'll be working with them on in the upcoming year is going through those

052pieces, figuring out what professional development is needed for the individual departments to make sure that we're really maximizing the instructional time. >> I don't know. I'm just going from my own experience as a math teacher. >> Uh you know, >> Miss St. I didn't teach math and and I and I I feel like I don't want to say this sometimes because then it seems like it's coming from me, which I I assure you it's not, but I I had the uh benefit of teaching both in a traditional schedule and in a rotating drop schedule over the 15 years I was up in West Morris. And what I'll tell you is I was surprised I I'm concerned, same thing you were concerned with, how much of the curriculum I was able to get through um as

053a teacher with the additional eight minutes. Now I went from 48 and we're 50 currently. the eight minutes is which we're looking to go to. And what Miss Anderson said about this idea of the eight minutes being in the kind of the center of the lesson, not the two or three minutes it takes us to to get kids quieted down and etc. I'm sure for you it was less than that. For me it was a two or three minutes and the two or three minutes at the end where the kids are getting um you know antsy and anticipating the end of class. I was surprised. At the end of the day though, you're absolutely right. We're taking 11% of that classroom time out of for each to add this additional class in the schedule. That's

054an important thing. It's not that we're giving kids less instructional time. We're actually giving them more instructional time. It's just with more course offerings, right? So, um, you're right. We're going to have to look at the curriculum in some areas and year after year re-evaluate the schedule. And that's the most important piece I want to walk away with your question from is is that we are committed to having an implementation committee to actually convert this committee into an implementation committee that re-evaluates the elements of the of the uh schedule to see how we can um work on teacher concerns annually and see if there's ways we can improve the uh the instructional um experience for for students and teachers. Am I also correct miss stats that because and my I'm usually good at math and

055I'm sitting up here and I can't figure out how to figure but because you know that what your original calculations are are 100 let's just say 180 days divided by five days is um 36 cycle like in today's schedule it's like 36 of each class right whereas because now we're on a condensed 4-day cycle we do make up some of that time because we have an extra day each week that we're seeing another rotating cycle. I can't figure out how to do that. I know it's 45 cycles versus 36 cycles. I cannot get the math uh for how much actual time for >> We can certainly share some of the math with you to to walk you through. Um I'm not sure that this is the perfect venue for that, but but I I appreciate

056the question very much. And also um we were told that the majority of the students want the opportunity to take an extra class. How is that determined? >> Yeah, that's wonderful. I would say it's wildly anecdotal for a lot of for a lot of us. What I could tell you is every student that we've brought with us either on the committee or um their involvement in conversation when when we went to visit one of the schools, the overwhelming uh experience has been why don't we have this already? Um, and at at two instances, I had to speak to our our own home of school forum at the high school where parents have been sharing with us, hey, we heard that, you know, so and so, one of their their child's friends went to uh Ridge

057High School, etc., and they really loved their schedule and so on and so forth. Why aren't we rolling this out immediately? And, you know, I I had to let uh Mr. Vulpy know that like, you know, we're trying. I don't I don't want him to think we're kind of creating some kind of subversive here. Um, it's just there's a lot of enthusiasm about it. uh and so but no if your answer is hey uh Mr. Where is the actual uh proof of those numbers? We can certainly pull the the student population a little bit more deliberately for that. >> I I do actually know some of them because I can tell you how many students course requests are denied because of conflicts in the given schedule, particularly due to the um PE and science overlap.

058So students right now can only take two advanced science courses in a year. There's no way to really fit them in. There's a couple of sciences that if you line them up just right, we're able to get three. And many students are being turned away from science electives that they want to take that they cannot take. The other piece that's frequently turned away is a student if they want to be in choir or band. There's other electives they never get to take because they have to run concurrently with choir and band because of the PE and um uh science connectivity. That really locks our day in because we only have like three periods in the morning, three periods in the afternoon and so you have to have two periods. So they have to slide in

059and out. It's complicated. I want to get on all the details of it, but every year there are hundreds of course requests that we are not able to meet. And the board of education, you guys have been wonderful about offering so many additional curriculum opportunities for our students. We have the DJing class coming up. We have a lot of things that students are really excited about and we really want to make sure that we're able to give them the opportunity to explore those things. So, if it's anecdotal, I just wonder if they're, you know, we're talking about over a thousand students being in favor of this if it's most of the students. Um, and I just worry that, uh, if we're considering all kinds of students, I keep hearing about students in AP and advanced

060courses. I don't think that's a majority of our students. Um, are we are students going to be required to take an additional class? So, for most of our students, I'm going to actually flip that just a little bit and and I'm not trying to um subvert your question, but what we really want to look forward to is making sure we're meeting all students needs. And right now, we don't have the ability to, let's say a student comes in from the middle school and their math skills are really low or their English skills are really low. We don't have the ability for them to meet the graduation requirements and to put an additional math period into their day if we need to. And that's something that as we go along and we improve the process and

061we continue moving forward, I personally would like to see us start doing is having that opportunity to put those in. We also have the intervention period in the middle of the day. Um I do know that for next year's schedule, I believe it's greater than 30% of students who are taking those AP level courses. So it is a significant portion of the population. But for most of our other students, they want to do something fun and exciting and get some of these electives in that we're offering and they're just not able to do them because of the PE science versus all the other state requirements for graduation. >> But like you said, it's anecdotal. So it sounds like you're hearing from the majority, but I I do wonder if that's true now. But but are

062will they be required to take an additional course? >> Yeah, we can survey the students. I can tell you I can pull the data from Genesis that actually tells you the number of requests that are not granted over the course of the year. I can certainly get that for the board. We can also do a larger survey of the students if that's what we're asked to do. Um, but we've talked to, like I said, it's been a good cohort of kids that have come through and they've all been supportive of this. So, it just there's going to be different people that have different opinions about this, but overall it's in my mind, we have to offer opportunities and this creates more opportunities for more kids and takes away some of the limitations that some of

063our kids face with transportation um with being involved in the building. >> Well, I I I do love that that uh lunch access period. That that's wonderful. That addresses a lot of that and also the rotation. students will still be able to take a study hall if they so choose. So that's certainly an option. >> Well, right now some students are already taking a study hall. So you might end up having students taking two study halls. >> Well, you know, the 25minut access period, you know, right now it's it's this schedule's for 25-minute lunch and 25 minute access period. So if you want to call that a study hall, we're using the study hall kind of a simultaneous, you know, um >> loosely. Thank you. uh with access period. It's a 25m minute window as

064opposed to a full 58 minute class period. But yes, if you wanted to take it, you could take a 58 minute study hall and uh and you could take that for half the year if you wanted. Maybe you want to take the first half the year and then second half of the year do a uh an elective program. >> Thank you. >> Especially an athlete in season is what I'm hearing from behind which is >> Hi, I have a question. So, I echo Miss Stats's concerns regarding the um the length of um classroom instruction time and I'm curious about AP, but especially what I'm curious about is your experience yourself as a teacher in the classroom with this rotating drop. Um what Ridg's experience and Bridgewwater's experience was with respect to the AP classes and

065like it's a set curriculum with the shorter amount of time. How did they handle that? Uh yes. So we we spoke with some of their AP teachers. Um I actually spoke to I teach AP environmental science and I spoke to the counterpart over there. Um at first they did have some concerns with the timing of it. And really what it required them to do was to streamline and to really kind of focus on more lab application. It really required them to think strategically about the topics that they were doing and being able to layer the topics and being able to um circle those topics and kind of loop it back. Um and I think that is a great strategy to do with the AP course because the AP course uh really should have a component

066of in independent um focus and independent study within the students. So topics that could be addressed independently by the students like for instance I do a lot of the energy stuff um independently because it's pretty easy. It's wind turbines procon you know that type of thing. Um, so something like that would be a little bit easier for the student to uh kind of access on that that independent component of it on that drop day, giving them assignment, having some them doing something like that, working in groups, uh, jigsawing activities, th those type of things. It's really just looking at how are you attacking the instruction and making sure that you're streamlining that and really not losing any of the content, but just presenting it in a different manner. So, does that mean for AP AP

067classes that there'll be more summer pre-work for the students from Ridge and Bridgewwater's experience? >> Um, they I did not speak with them about that. Um, but I would not see that changing too much because that's really just a prerec of making sure um, you know, that they understand the content coming in and they have a good base coming in and that would be really more dependent on the teachers because the teachers designed that that summer. So if they're doing those things of layering and building that curriculum with that looping content in there, they should be setting up that summer assignment to establish that in the very beginning. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Um, another question that I have is with respect to again Ridge and Bridgewwater since they were the two examples, how does

068their course offerings align? Like how are they similar to Hillsboroughs? For example, the education and training course that we have here in Hillsborough, which is like a four period class. Do they have something similar? and how do they handle if they have it and how would this be handled here? >> Dr. Ireland's been doing a lot of wonderful work on this. So >> I know I do preschool too. I'm just that kind of guy. The um so a lot of schools unfortunately with family and consumer sciences with the certification issues in the state and then other schedule formats like whether you pick block or rotating drop schools have been forced to close preschool programs. That is not our intention um with doing the rotating drop in the way the periods fit. We can still maintain

069the preschool schedule in the morning. The high school students will be rotating in and out you know with the students throughout the morning. Uh but our high school students I mean our preschool students uh get assigned a buddy and with our preschooler they have two buddies because our students have uh there's a block of two periods with one set of high school students and a block of two periods with another set of high school students. So our preschoolers are used to working with two high school students. Um that won't change. uh the students, they just might be there for period one and two one day, they might be there for two and three, the next day. It'll it'll spin with the schedule. Uh the preschool students will still have the same experience and we're able

070to pull it off. Um our preschool program historically was an hour and 15 minutes when I first got here. We've increased that to three. Uh we'll still be close in those parameters. Uh might be two hours and 45ish minutes, uh depending on how we roll that out and what it looks like with the final times of the schedule. So, we're still going to be better off than we were a few years ago when I started. and still maintain a good program. So, I'm pretty happy with that compared to other schools that just said it's too complicated to figure it out and we have to close it. So, >> but I don't think I understand it because just I'm looking at the sample schedule that we had here. There's not So, what I think what I'm

071hearing you say is that it might not be four periods per day. It might be something smaller than that. >> So, for our high school students, it's still four periods. Students would still be one set of high school students would still be assigned to periods one two. another set of high school students would still be assigned to periods three, four. And that way as the periods rotate throughout the morning on that schedule, our high our preschool students will always be covered. Just some high school students will be there for one period of the day while others are there for two. Uh that rotates out and I get you the math on that. We actually rotated out throughout the entire entire school year uh to make sure that the experiences of our high school students were

072going to be similar uh in the course and uh they were. So there was no there was no significant uh change that caused concern that the students were going to get less opportunity in education and training by going to the schedule. >> So preschool runs twice a day. There's a set of students that do it for two periods in the morning and a set of students that do it for two periods in the afternoon. >> Oh, with this new program? >> No, currently. Currently, >> the way I understood it, my so my daughter's in that program. The way I understood it is that it's like periods two and three and then like four and five something like that. >> Four, five, six, seven. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So I don't understand like based on this

073like how you would have the consecutive four periods just because it looks like there's lunch in the middle. So it sounds like maybe it's reduced. >> It will be in the morning. So it might start a little bit earlier than it is now, but we'd have the same amount of time. >> Okay. I'm Sounds like you. >> So it would go let's say a student have it. I'm I'm just going to pick the the day one rotation because but the students would be able to have it one, two, three. All of the preschoolers would still be there, but the students would rotate out as to what time they're actually with their preschoolers. So, they would still have two buddies and they would just rotate through their buddies on given days. >> And as an example,

074preschool right now, the students come in by 8:15. We'll be able to do that by 7:45. As the buses clear out, we'll have the parents come and drop off. So, it'll be a little earlier, which is in line with all the science when we talk about sleeping that the little guys are up a little bit earlier. So, we'll be able to get them in and uh and with the rotating, our high school students will be a different level of freshness every morning because we'll have some different students in there. >> Amazing. I'm so glad that you mentioned um the sleep schedule. So, I'm curious during this um discussion of rotating black, has there been a discussion of maybe pushing back the start of high school? I mean, if we're going to change the schedule, maybe

075push it back by even 30 minutes, an hour. >> We've met several times with the healthy start time committee that that is here in the township. Wonderful group of people doing wonderful work. We are absolutely open to whatever Mr. Bolin board of education sets forward as far as adjusting the high school in the future. This schedule doesn't have any bearing on that per se, although the the ability to push back the start of high school by 30 minutes works equally as well for for this and certainly something we're interested in looking more deeply into. >> Thank you. >> Well, thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. I looks like the questions are closed. So, Mr. Vulpi. >> Sure. So, this isn't going to be the end of this conversation. This is the beginning

076of a conversation, but I think it was important like I had said for the entire community to get the same baseline knowledge. Um, these people will be finding these people this uh this crew at the high school be finding ways to reach out to the community and in the immediiacy tomorrow uh at some point we will be clipping this presentation putting it out through social media so people can refer to it at any time. So we look forward to the future conversations and thank you all so much particularly our two students who came out tonight and it's getting a little late. very much appreciated what you [applause] were able to do tonight. Thank you, high school team. You are done for the evening. Still continuing with the uh superintendence report. Uh it is now time

077for everybody's favorite part of the board meeting where we try to continuously educate the public and board members about school finance, school budgeting. So, we are going to our second day of school finance thoughts with Jerry Eert. Today, Mr. Eker will be briefly talking about audits to both the board as well as the community. Mr. Eckert, >> good evening members of the board and residents of Hillsboro and Milstone. This month's edition of school finance thoughts is on annual audits. At the conclusion of every fiscal year, we are required to go through a comprehensive audit that follows the New Jersey Department of Education's audit program, which can be found on the New Jersey Department of Education's fiscal policy and planning website. The program for the upcoming 2526 audit has not been loaded onto the site yet,

078but it should be published in the coming weeks. The 20242 audit was completed in August and September of 2025 with the results of that audit being presented at the October 25th, 2025 board meeting. The 2425 audit received an un an unmodified opinion, which is the most favorable result for an audit. Some highlights of the 2024-2 audit were it was a third straight year without a recommendation. It we reduced the general obligation bond debt by 1.515 million. Our food service operation has continued to be a self-sustaining program and does not require support from the general fund. We have implemented costsaving measures including energy reviews, workers compensation, dividends, and strategic use of federal funds. and we have maintained our reserve accounts for capital projects and required maintenance uh totaling 400 $4.3 million at the conclusion of the

07923 2425 school year. MVAC who is the auditing firm for the district since 2022 will begin their fieldwork for the 2526 annual audit in August and will present the results at a future board meeting in either October or November. And that concludes this month's edition of school finance thoughts. Thank you much Mr. Eert. So essentially we are audited every year and if you have any further questions about audits or the process you can reach out to Mr. E Mr. Eert's office and he'll be more than happy to talk to you about that process. Again thank you Mr. Eert. Finally, to conclude my superintendence report, the it is statutoily required that the uh HIV uh determining grades under the anti-bullying bill of rights act for the previous school year needs to be put out to the

080public before the end of the current school year. So, posted on the agenda are the 2024 25 district and school grade reports for any member of the public or any board member to look through. Should anybody have any questions about this report that is done annually, please reach out to my office and we can further answer those questions for you. But again, this is a statutory requirement that we are fulfilling by putting it on the agenda meeting tonight. And Mr. President, that concludes my long superintendence report. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Vulpi. Uh we'll move on to committee reports. Let's begin with the ET committee with Miss Jackson. The ED committee met on June 9th. Um, we discussed 17th we talked about a personnel matter and then discuss the process of interest for clubs

081and teams coming from students and administration. So it was a brief meeting. >> Thank you. Uh operations committee Mr. Marini. Sure thing. So, uh, we met on Wednesday, June 17th. Um, a couple items that we discussed was, um, stale checks that need to be voided and reissued. Um, the next was this topic of self-insurance, which was an interesting one because we spent years kind of looking at that, and I think we're finally at the point where the risk is worth the reward. Um, our max potential payout is close to what we're paying now, I believe, with a potential for significant savings to the district. Um, so we agreed to move forward uh looking at that. Um, there was a discussion on the Auton Road sound system upgrade. I believe due that did a variance on

082the quote increasing that's been tabled at this point. We'll continue to discuss uh as a future item. Next was a discussion on the work conditions for bus mechanics at Bloomingdale. Uh there was a request for the choir um to perform I believe uh at a future meeting. Yep. Okay. And then my notes here. Uh yeah, I think that's it. >> Thank you, Mr. Marini. Uh the governance committee met on uh June 17th and uh one of the items we discussed had to do with uh advocacy for school funding. One of the board members was concerned, you know, what are we doing proactively to uh either be down in Trenton or speaking with our local representatives to advocate for a more accurate and for better uh better funding for Hillsboro Township. Um, also during that meeting

083we discussed uh some news items actually and how they apply and whether or not they apply to our township. Uh, this had to do with uh boys and girls sports for example and what kind of an impact does that have or might it have and other policy concerns uh along those lines. uh there are no definitive actions taken but those were the items being discussed. So those are the committee reports. So now we want to move ahead to public input. Uh we very much welcome input from the public during board meetings. There will be two 30 minute periods of time that the meeting will be open for public comment where members of the public are invited to comment which they may do if they are attending in person. There is a clipboard for all participants

084to write their name. Before commenting, please state your name and address. There's a three minute time limit on public comment. Please understand that our public forums are not structured as question and answer sessions, but rather are offered as opportunities to share your thoughts with the board. In instances where the board believes that there is a misunderstanding or inaccuracy, the board president or superintendent will address the comment. There may be times when a member of the public makes a comment or asks a question about personnel or hiring decisions. Kindly note that the Open Public Meetings Act and the privacy rights of public employees encompass therein do not permit the board to discuss personnel issues in public session. If anyone would like to make a comment or address the board, please come to the podium. Being seeing

085that there are none, we'll move to the next agenda item. This has to do with the approval of minutes uh for both regular meetings and executive session meetings. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Moving on to item number 11. >> Thank you. I ask for the board's consideration to approve the midyear reorganization meeting items including designation of signitories, official newspapers, depositories for school funds, board auditors, architect of record, school physicians, insurance brokers of record, mid-year motion appointments, board policies, job descriptions, school district curricula, field trip destinations, a strong plus model for evaluations, participation, in the NJSIA and Skyland conference, identifying the board secretary, purchases from state contract vendors, approving bond council service agreements, approving professional service agreements, approving board attorney retainer agreement, and approving a

086second board attorney attainer agreement agreement, advertising bids for goods and services, as well as cooperative purchasing. These are all part of our typical midyear organization meeting. >> Have a motion. So moved. >> Second. >> Any comments or questions? I would just like uh for clarity, why do we have two uh attorney retainers? >> Sure. So last year we had went out um to an RFP to speak for our attorneys and one attorney is our label labor and board council and our general counsel and then we have a specialed council as well. Um I'm recommending to continue that uh moving forward uh that we have our special education council on board as well as um the council that you typically deal with as board members. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? Mr. Ecker, >> Mr.

087Erin CR. >> Yes. >> Miss Jackson. >> Yes. >> Miss Craig, I'm not here. Miss Lanny Vader, >> yes. >> Mr. Marine, >> yes. Miss Nurse, >> yes. >> Miss Stats, >> uh, for 11.12 field trip destinations, I abstain and yes to everything else. >> Mr. Ho, >> yes. >> And Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Thank you. In the area of education, I'd ask for the board's consideration to approve the following motions. professional and travel related expenses, affirming the superintendent's HIV determinations for cases, approving a book, approving new and revised curriculum, approving curriculum writing and training, stipens for summer science institutes, staff for summer credit recovery program, staff for full day kindergarten planning and scheduling, affiliation agreement with Walden University, approving staff member for Sunnyme Title One summer program, uh motion to accept the ACCF

088FL Vista classroom microrant in the amount of $300. Accepting an NJPSA school grant won in the amount of $10,000 by Dr. Christopher Ireland for being the visionary supervisor at the district level. Motion to approve chronic absentee correction plan for Amsterdam Elementary School. Another one for Sunnyme Elementary School. Another one for Triangle Elementary School and one for Woodurn Elementary School. Approving professional development long-term plan with Living Yes LLC. approving concurrent enrollment agreements, approving textbooks, proving the long-term suspension of a students whose name is on file in the office of superintendent. Mr. Record, is there one more to add or based on closed session or No, there's not. No. Okay. And that is all in the area of education. >> Have a motion. >> So move. >> Second. >> Any comments? >> Miss Stats. Um, regarding um

089item 12.17, motion approve professional development long-term plan with Living Yes LLC. Um I'm I'm just this was motivated by it stemmed from uh what was obtained from stay interviews which I think is a great idea the stay interviews um where um staff wanted to be uh more involved with presenting and and that seemed to be the motivation but it seems like this is um a doesn't seem good uh to be way beyond addressing that and for the cost I uh I believe 25,000 is that the cost um and some of and some uh when I read about it it just seemed pretty nebulous in a lot of areas um so I right now I am not going to go along with it for those reasons >> which item was that >> 12.17 17. >> Okay.

090Thank you. >> Okay. >> Any other miss? >> I um I also have a concern with um that training. Uh I think with the first thing was uh for approving a contract without having a scope of actually what was being done. So, um, after the fact, after we had some conversation in in the ED committee, um, the minutes were supplemented with, um, additional information. There are three items on a list of topics of professional development may include equity, implicit bias, and restorative practices. So not knowing um exactly what perspective they take, these three items are um controversial. Not everyone shares the same opinion of what they are um and even whether they should be included within the school district. >> What are the three items again? >> Equity, implicit bias, and restorative practices. and restorative

091practices being ways to address behavioral issues um I guess um when incidents happen. Um so um that's one of my concerns. Uh the community the board has the right to raise property taxes on everyone. All it takes is five board members whether we like it or not. So, the community is paying a greater portion of this district. >> I don't think we should be um I think we should have some transparency here and let the community understand exactly. >> I'm going to have to address that very very specifically. As far as transparency, I did bring this both to the education committee as well as to this board. This is beneath the bid threshold. If I did not want to have transparency, I could engage in this contract without the board's authority. So the mere fact

092that I am bringing this forward for a board discussion is proof of my transparency. When people hear that administrators aren't being transparent, that's a very loaded statement that you are making. I want to make that very clear. >> I didn't make a loaded statement. And what I >> you said we needed to be transparent. >> There has to be some transparency. I can address that too to the content of what would I can address that too. I can >> I would like I'm sorry Mr. Vulby, but I would like to hear what Elaine is saying before you respond. >> I would like to be able to respond afterwards as well. >> Absolutely. I just can't hear both of you at the same time. >> I I my my perspective is this because there's not a

093100% agreement on these three topics and I'm sure there are more. I [clears throat] think out of fairness to the taxpayers and out of consideration for the fact that the way these are interpreted could impact how children are taught, how relationships develop. That's really where my concern is with respect to this content. Okay? I didn't say you weren't transparent about putting it out there and I understand it's your right to approve it without board approval. Okay? That's not my point about transparency. The point I'm making is this. After we had the conversation, the content in the minutes included extra information. Okay? And that's really where my concern is, is that to approve this now is just saying, "Okay, go ahead." And even going back to a plan, just approving a $25,000 contract with no structure

094around it is is not it. It's just I just feel like we owe the taxpayer a little more um little more explanation. If more explanation was first of all I I would ask to you to reflect what did I say to you as superintendent was my intent in engaging in this practice during the education committee meeting. >> I'm not following your question. >> What did I say I was going to engage with this contractor about? >> Professional development. >> Yes. And getting the best out of our staff and being able to present to others. Good. >> Furthermore, that was part of her what you're reading is part of her boilerplate contract. I didn't say we were going to be going down and speaking about any of those things. Furthermore, I do want to say to

095the whole committee and anybody who was there, if you had concerns about the presenter or what she was going to be doing, if you remember, I had the presenter at the ready >> ready to come. content was not >> Can I Can I finish to Can I finish if that there were any concerns that anybody had at the education committee? I had the presenter at the ready to come on and speak to us at which time you could have asked any questions that you wanted. I asked the committee, "Do you want her to come and speak?" No one on the committee wanted me to. So, I'm having difficulty understanding if I'm bringing things forward because I want transparency and things that I don't necessarily have to bring forward and if I'm bringing the person forward

096to come to the education committee to speak about these things. What else is it you would like me to do so that I can answer your questions? >> Well, maybe you can explain to me why I would have had the idea to ask about any of this. I I mean to to me the existing description that we had in the agenda really was very generic. I I wouldn't know what kind of questions to ask. You supplemented the information after the fact, but now you know now it's time to talk about it. I would not have I would not have known these specific topics. I I thought it was um I guess I didn't think that we would go into some of these areas >> because it was it was the purpose of this was to

097kind of train the trainer. >> Yeah. I and and that's what I've said. I I I don't I don't think you're hearing me that that's exactly what I want to be doing. What we wanted to talk about was getting the best out of our staff and then rather than bringing in other people to always present our professional development to create a climate and >> I heard that. But this is more information that I would not have known to ask at the meeting and now I'm bringing it to your attention. I'm just concerned with how this translates into creating an environment for the students and whether or not people agree with what this would actually come to fruition in in impacting the classroom. Then I I guess at this point the people who are in the

098education committee and the full board will have to decide if what I spoke about in the education committee was what I'm going to follow through on or am I am I trying to sneak something past the goalie? If I was trying to sneak something past the goalie, it's not something I had to bring to the board to prove. >> I didn't make that accusation about what you were doing. Okay. My point is this. This was this detail was provided after the fact. >> The the contract was provided at the time >> and contract was provided. >> I did not get this out of the contract. >> Well, it's the same it's the same document. >> We [clears throat] can we can >> I don't want to go back and forth. Can I just need clarity

099now because I I'm understanding that the intent I think I'm understanding the intent is to have our staff do staff develop provide staff development. >> We correct. >> Yes. I think one of the things that came out of the the stay interviews was that there were problems with staff development and before we can just reach out to our staff which I have done um and we got about 20 between 20 and 40 responses I don't remember off the top of my head for next year. I think we have to create a culture where pe where where our PD changes where people are comfortable taking risks where people who aren't our people who come and speak and and present all the time have an environment where uh they want to do these things and the first

100thing that I need to do is train my administrators in order to do that and then I want um a person to be working with us over the course of several months in in order to do this. That was the intent of everything that I had spoken about um at the education committee meeting. >> So the the safe no the living s >> yes correct >> living yes was to come to train administrators to help make staff members feel comfortable to present. >> There's going to be a six-month process. Step one is to train our administrators. Step two is she's going to be coming to do our keynote speaking. And step three is over the course of the next four months after that to work with small pockets of um staff members that can also

101be trained in a cohort with other school districts to see what their practices are in order to move us in that direction. And is it the keynote speaking that we're talking about, Alen, that has topics that you >> It says administrators will work with staff to develop school teams to attend professional development and assist in implementing strategies. That's fine. Topics of professional development may include SEAL, mindfulness, self-care, wellness, trauma and healing, equity, implicit bias, and restorative practices. So, some of it would have been what I had expected, but some of it was not. >> It's a a boilerplate contract that she has, and that's why it says May. Um, and I've made clear what what my expectations are and I didn't want to get into any kind of, you know, confrontation about this, so I'm

102sorry if you took it that way, Lane, but that was attached to the education committee um agenda in advance. >> But that So that's your objection to that item. I just I I think again first and foremost I it was a contract and it didn't have all the detail I would have expected and what was discussed was that the the content would be developed by a handful of staff members over the next couple months. They would put the time in and structure it again from a high level. I would have expected the opposite. I would have expected the plan and then the request for the contract. That was my first instinct when I looked at what the request was. It was kind of reversed for me what I would normally expect. And then the the

103education committee meeting minutes which was out there for everyone were supplemented with a lot more information right about an alternate estimate that was given for another group and other various comments and it just it just did not it's not what I had expected. I had expected a different >> Thank you. >> perspective on this, >> Miss Stats. >> Uh we were provided the the some some uh an overview of the contract uh with the education committee agenda. Um but the there was those additional topics included in the minutes. So yes, there was new information included in the MI minutes. To me, that's sort of a moot point. I think a lot of that what what those topics were um to me go beyond what is necessary to to encourage staff to or to prepare staff

104to be presenters uh for professional development. Um I to me if you have 22 or so uh staff that's already going to be doing uh professional development um or presenting professional de development topics in November um as their peers see that happening that could motivate more more people to to come forward. It just seems to to go beyond um what the purpose of the initial purpose of of uh this uh process. Um it goes way beyond it and I don't think it justifies the cost. >> I can understand people having different opinions. I totally can. I just want to make it clear that part of the reason why I felt I had to speak up is because I feel that this is the definition of transparency. Whether you agree or disagree, me bringing something to

105the board that I don't have to, I think defines transparency. I also think when I have the person ready at at the ready to speak to board members firsthand, that that is also transparency. Agree or disagree, I have no problem with that. But I've worked hard over time to try and be as transparent as possible. And that's why I want to make sure if the board feels they're not getting the information that they want, tell me what it is that you want to bring in the future and I will try to do so. >> Thank you, >> Miss Nurse. >> Um, I'm just, you know, I I I do remember reading this and and seeing the contract. I don't remember what was in the minutes, so forgive me. I guess I my feeling is aligned

106with uh James with this that um our staff pretty much presents every day when they are presenting lesson plans and I think they do that very well and um I I do feel that it is an expense that we probably can do without at this point and we can see how our staff does and if it's effective then I think we're on target and and it's a great opportunity for our staff to learn from each whether it's been done in both districts that I've worked in in the past without external intervention in helping. Um I think the staff is already great at what they do and if they're bringing their passion and their expertise to teach others that um they can probably handle coming up with many lessons or you know a couple hours worth

107of uh professional development. >> Thank you Miss Stats. Just a couple points and I think our staff has already been doing that and hasn't I think you've shared with us Mr. Vulpi about how they've really loved that and that in turn has motivated this >> some people yes some people >> and also as far as um yes you have been very transparent about about about this particular idea um and on the other hand um I do uh Miss Jackson I think you're also using the word transparency correctly. However, in today's environment, the word transparency is so loaded with um judgment. Um uh we have to be careful how we use it. I guess >> as I recall, Mr. be this presenter that you're suggesting here, how you came across this person or how you encountered

108this person which led to your recommending her in this role was that you saw her presenting or as a speaker in an event? >> Yes, Mr. President, you are you are correct. Um in Manville has done a really good job with some of their professional development. Um, and they invite outside school districts to come in. And I did see her at the Insight Manville conference along with several of our staff members who were literally sitting right next to me. And uh, what inspired me when I was thinking about starting to look at the results of our stay interviews, when I had a teacher right next to me who said, "Hey, can we get her to get involved with our school district?" I said, "I'd look into it." And that is what um, made me look

109into this. Yes. >> Thank you. Are there any other questions, Miss Jackson? >> Uh 1219. Uh the textbook textbook approvals. Um uh again, it was short notice and it was acknowledged that way. Um and then in looking at the brass tax for last week um looking at some of the topics in the biology um book I have some I do have some concerns um they are again two two subjects global change in environment and um the emerging pathogens which isn't concerning but it is the co 19 conversation um And so without having the opportunity to look at least at the biology book, I would have been more interested in seeing what the narrative was, especially after looking at the history AP uh version that was ex was voted on and accepted. >> I would have

110liked to have had a chance to see that too, partly because of, you know, textbooks aren't as as of the last five minutes. You know, it's hard to keep textbooks up to date. And >> with things like I'm sorry, climate change and the COVID history and things that have gone on, you know, there's a lot of information that's still rolling out. It's still in flux and uh how to have a balanced presentation and and inform students uh is quite a challenge. I would have liked more time to review these texts >> and that is that is yeah that is um a completely although I still am advising that we can move forward with this I completely understand um not having had a chance to see it you know I talked with Dr. of membus about

111this and this was information that came to us late and in knowing that our next board meeting isn't until July uh before we approved any curriculum work we wanted to try to get those approved but yes to be clear uh this was not vetted by the education committee I just put some um notes in a memo out to the board to look through if it's not enough I completely understand uh because typically we do try to bring it to the education committee when we do have that stuff in advance >> sure yeah any other questions about section 12. So, Mr. Eert, Mr. Errance, no on 1217 and no on 1219. The rest are okay. Miss Jackson, >> I am a yes with exception. I'm a no on 12.3, no on 12.17, and a no on

11212.19. >> Mr. Lenny Beater. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mariny. >> Yes. Miss Nurse. >> I am a yes with the exception of 12.17. I am a no. >> Miss Stats. >> I'm a no for 12.17. Yes. For everything else. >> Mr. Hail. >> I'm a yes. Um with abstension on 1217. >> And Mr. Davis. >> Uh I'm a yes with uh a no on 1217. >> So all items carry except for 127 which fails. >> Thank you. In the area of human resources that ask for the board's consideration to approve the following motions. Resignations and retirements. Appointments for 2526. Appointments for 2627. The reappointment of district staff for 2627. Revised appointment for 2627 revised appointment for 2526 revised AP proctors leaves of absence change in employment co-curricular stipens six period coverage extra coverage student teacher

113school wait room staff for 2627 summer athletic camps summer work for 2026 approving the extended school year program staff for 2026 summer planning time for professional development day presenters 2627 7 fall coaches 2627 and motion to authorize the superintendent to make appointments of non-administrative personnel over the summer months. >> I have a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any comments? >> Mr. Eckert. >> Mr. Eric. >> Yes. >> Miss Jackson. >> Yes. >> Miss Lanning Beater. >> I'm a yes. But for 13.3 I need to abstain. >> Mr. Marini. >> Yes. Miss Nurse. >> I am a yes to everything but 13.3 I also need to abstain due to knowing someone. >> Miss Stats. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hail. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Davis. >> Yes. >> Thank you. In the area of

114operations, I'd ask for the board's consideration approve the following motions. monthly bills, monthly financials, financial status, line item transfers, disposal and sale of obsolete equipment, tuition agreement with Union County ESC for 2627, accepting a donation, awarding a waste disposal contract, approving an agreement with Catholic Charities for 2627, awarding exterior masonry control joint replacement at various schools, awarding plumber services for the 2627 school year, awarding professional service providers for the 2627 27th school year. Approving capital maintenance reserve transfer. Approving the use of the school facilities schedule for 2627. Authorizing the cancellation of stale outstanding checks. Approving the 2627 school year parent transportation contract. Resolution for New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission payments. Approving a resolution to set costs per policy 2468. Approving the joint transportation agreement with Delaware Valley Regional High School for the 2627 school year.

115Ward emergency contract for Hillsboro High School. Approving the shared services agreement with NJ Strive for the 2627 school year. Approving the Hun County Educational Services Agreement. Approving the agreement with Blue July Films, Inc. approving the resolution for bathroom waiverss for the 2627 school year. approving out of district placements for the 2627 school year and authorizing the resolution for a transition to a self-insured health benefits program which Mr. Marini uh recognized during the committee report. Do >> I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any comments? >> Mr. Currency any comments? Mr. Heck. >> Mr. CR. >> Yes. >> Miss Jackson. >> Yes. >> Miss Lenny Beater. Yes, >> Mr. Marini. >> Yes, >> Miss Nurse. >> Yes, >> Miss Stats. >> Yes, >> Mr. Trillo. >> Yes, >> and Mr. Davis. >> Yes,

116>> we are at our second public comment period. We very much welcome input from the public. During board meetings, there will be two 30 minute periods of time that the meeting will be open for public comment where members of the public are invited to comment, which they may do if they are attending in person. During the first public comment period, members of the public may comment about items that are listed on tonight's agenda before the board votes. During the second public comment period, members of the public may comment on any school or school district issue that a member of the public feels may be of concern to the residents of the school district as per by law 0167. Before you state your comment, you'll be asked to provide your name and address. There is a

117threeminut limit on public comment. Please understand that our public forums are not structured as question and answer sessions but rather are offered as opportunities to share your thoughts with the board. In instances where the board believes that there is a misunderstanding or inaccuracy, the board president or superintendent will address the comment. There may be times when a member of the public makes a comment or asks a question about personnel or hiring decisions. Kindly note that the open public meetings act and the privacy rights of public employees encompass therein do not permit the board to discuss personnel issues in public session. Thank you. Bob Fencer, Hillsboro High School, Somerville, New Jersey. The final exam grade in US history one honors is a capstone essay written over the course of four months. It's designed to assess the

118research, writing, analytical, and critical thinking skills students have developed throughout the course. Long-term projects like this teach students to evaluate source credibility, identify and organize relevant evidence, compare competing perspectives, and revise their thinking over time. Meanwhile, AI can produce a highquality paper from nothing more than a prompt and a rubric. But the goal of our capstone is not the final paper. It's the process that leads to the paper where students do the actual learning. This year, three teachers assigned the capstone to 280 students. After spending considerable time investigating suspected unauthorized AI use, we identified 77 violations of our AI policy, and those are only the cases that we could prove. Determining which students violated the policy was not easy. I reviewed document histories. I used third-party software that identified external pasts and recreated the drafting

119process keystroke by keystroke. I requested Gemini chat logs from it because I knew students had easy access to Gemini. I even reviewed web filter records when necessary. What was most surprising was that much of this activity was occurring on districts Chromebooks often during the school day using tools the district has chosen to make available. For example, students can use Microsoft Copilot anonymously or tools like Notebook LM to generate text from sources they've never read without creating a reviewable record of these interactions. It took me 60 hours of investigation to determine whether my students writing was their own. For those 60 hours, I was not a teacher. I was a digital forensic investigator. When my colleagues recom requested records for students they suspected of violating the policy as I had, they were told that the volume

120of requests made this level of review impractical. The consequence was that students in different sections receive different levels of scrutiny. When suspected violations exceed our capacity to investigate them, we are no longer dealing with isolated incidents. We are dealing with a systemic problem. When concerns over student use of AI are raised, the response is often that education must evolve. I agree. But evolving education should not mean abandoning the very skills we claim to value. The danger is not simply that some students are cheating. It is that we are losing the ability to know how much of the thinking was actually done by the student. We cannot ask teachers to choose between being educators or being full-time detectives. I never imagined I would say this about what I consider the single best assignment I have created

121in 32 years of teaching. But after what I experienced this year, I am no longer certain that I can continue assigning it. That's why I'm asking the administration to pause and take a long hard look at how these tools are being used by our students, what they are doing to the learning process, and whether the trade-offs are ones we are willing to accept. Uh earlier tonight, I emailed a an extensive report to the board, 24 pages, uh of information about what happened and uh encourage I I appreciate you taking a look at it. Thank you. >> Thank you. My name is Britney Hamilton. I am a Hillsboro resident and a middle school teacher here in Hillsboro as well. Um, I'm just here to share that I'm really disappointed that 12.17 did not pass this evening.

122I was thrilled to participate in this day interviews and had a lovely chat with Mr. Vulpi. Uh, it was refreshing to feel like I was being truly heard and that my opinion as an educator mattered. I am one of the staff that asked for quality professional development. I think that voting this down is a shame and many staff are not only interested but would benefit greatly from a program such as this. While we do present to groups on a daily basis, doing so to adults is a drastically different skill than doing so to children. I urge you to reconsider this motion in the future. Thank you. Hi, my name is Jean Bates. I'm a teacher at Amsterdam and the HA secretary. Um, just as Britney shared, I'm very disappointed with the decision to turn down

123the PD. Um this is an area that is vital in making sure our teachers are up todate. Um education is constantly changing. There needs to be quality professional development. Um there is a framework that is created that sets PD apart because it is not like teaching children. There are specific components that need to be part of professional development and unless you are taught those components, you are not aware what they are. What happens then is a two-hour PD becomes a sit and go and that professional development, the knowledge that was gained during that time never sees the classroom. The ultimate goal of professional development is that teachers are learning. they are bringing that knowledge back to their classrooms and ultimately student outcomes and their achievement is what we see. Please reconsider this. It is probably

124one of the most important things that you need to do for teachers to keep them up to date with the latest and ways of reaching their students so that all students are engaged. Thank you. My name is Heather Boyce. I live on Newwell. I have one student here and one student at BOTK. I'm sure you all saw my email. But what you don't know is that my issue with your district residency started in January of 2012 with a promise of every superintendent to answer my question. Every two years, I'm come after and forced to sign a paper in order for my kids to attend school that says that I am a temporary resident. I am not a temporary resident. I was born in the house that I live in. My children are the fifth generation

125that live here. I am not the only family like this. Last year was the most shocking when I got, and I'll be courteous, and I won't include the employees name, a letter from a district employee telling me that I had to prove yet again that I lived here and that or that they were going to throw my kids out of school. I had to call the Department of Education, the county superintendent, and the governor's office. Do you know to date, I still have not heard back from anybody from my board office apologizing to my children? I'm here yet again with another letter to proof. You write in here, if I lie, then I'm going to pay you tuition. You're forcing me to sign a letter that says that I'm a temporary resident, a family, temporary

126living. I'm not temporary living anybody. I went to school like this. This is how it is. I shouldn't have to explain myself that they're the fifth generation in this house. So, I would like someone from 2012 to now I'm in 2026 to find a way to answer my question. I know it's not a question and answer session, but I want to know because yet again, I'm on the phone with the Department of Education, the governor's office, the Assembly, and education attorneys to find out why there's a constant threat for my kids to be removed from your district. >> Thank you. Good evening. Amy Salinger. I am a teacher here at Road and I'm the HA first vice president. I'm going to echo the sentiments of my colleagues about um the um the non-pass of the

12712.17. When I first heard about this potential PD, I looked up the presenter. I was very impressed. I checked with colleagues from around we were and I know a lot of my colleagues here were very much looking forward to having a keynote speaker again. It's been a while since we've had a nice dynamic one. Um and with the whole plan and everything just coming together and I want to repeat what everybody said, but this just seemed like all steps forward. I've been in PD that this district paid for that was irrelevant to what I do and yet I had to go to it and sit through it and similar to what Miss Bates said and nothing happens after. This was a chance to do something dynamic, do something that would be helpful for all. People

128were looking forward to it. I was um respectfully but especially um saddened to see two fellow educators vote this down as well because I know you know how important PD is and how important dynamic PD is. So I do hope that this gets reconsidered and that we are able to um to get the quality PD that we all are asking for. On a separate note, I also want to echo the sentiments of Mr. Fencer. I think we need to be very careful about how we embrace AI and that we do it properly because even at this level, sixth grade level, students are using it in ways that they shouldn't and it's going to affect the way they think and what's going to happen as they grow up and are we going to have a real

129future or a fake future? That's a genuine concern of mine. Thank you. Good evening, Henry Goodwill, Hillsboro Education Association, as well as a Hillsboro parent. Um, as you're not surprised to hear, I'm here to speak about the non-pass of 12.17 as my colleagues earlier did and to perhaps give some education to the board on the history of PD in this district. For those of you who haven't been here, or perhaps even those some of you who have, and perhaps you haven't been told accurately what's taken place in the past, in the past, PD has been very compliance driven. It's been sit in this room, do this thing because we said so, or we're not really sure what to do, so go do this instead. And members have come to loathe PD. And I will give

130credit to the administration that they have gone out of their way, this administration has gone out of their way to try to figure out how to undo some of that work. And I think a great step forward in doing that was finding a dynamic presenter who was a leader, a nationally recognized leader in the field of PD to come in and start changing the culture of what goes on in this district with PD to make it actually meaningful to our members. And if you underestimate the power of that, I don't know what to tell you. And the fact that we had a conversation here about, well, can't they do it for themselves? We're already buying our own supplies. We're buying our own tissues. We're doing everything else because of budgets and just the realities of

131public education. So now we should fund our own PD too through our own sweat equity. I find that not only offensive but educationally inappropriate. Your words matter in this room. They echo outside of this room and you have sent a very detrimental message to our members. You have told them that their development for the sake of the students is not important. It's not worth whatever earmark was on there. when much money goes to other places. This would have benefited countless students, countless educators, and the board decided it wasn't worth it for whatever reason. Whether it was because certain words were viewed as red flags, I mean, to to claim that restorative justice is controversial, I don't know what definition of restorative justice was shared to come to that. But essentially, for those of you who

132haven't heard that before, what that means is that the district seeks to use not discipline in a punitive manner, but to recognize the dignity and humanity of students and seek to rebuild them so that they're not caught in a permanent cycle of being suspended, ending up in the timeout room, wherever else so that we can have them in the room to teach them, which is you talked about the schedule and you said, "How much time are we going to get out of that? How much time are we losing because of discipline?" not being implemented appropriately. I don't see how that's controversial. I do see how what you did tonight is educationally malpractice. And I'm incredibly disappointed that this happened and I urge you to rethink your steps in the future. Any other comments? Oh, okay.

133Hello, Licia Gabriel Bis. I live in Hillsboro. Um, I'm also the current still president of the middle school HSA. Just wanted to remind you that read us we have a fundraiser on Wednesday the 24th. It's a half day. So from 12:30 to 3:30, come by, support us. We support the school, our teachers, our staff. Um, just thank you for that. Taking that hat off. Just wanted to remind you that the next board of ed meeting seems to be July 27th. Uh, and on July 9th, it seems that Valley Road may be heard. Uh, that's a new development that they're thinking about doing. If you have not taken a look at their community impact statements, I would encourage you to do that. I have two from Valley and uh, Toll Brothers Voicebrook in front of me.

134And I just wanted to make sure that everyone is aware that when you have building, they say, "Oh, you're going to have this much in tax tax revenue for the schools. Here's how much you're going to have, how many students we estimate." They look at an old uh budget and say, "Okay, this is about how much per pupil it's going to be." They multiply the number of students they're expecting by that number of the dollar amount and they say, "Okay, so here's how much we're expecting it to cost." And again, they said, "Here's how much in the school district revenue we're expecting it to come from the taxes." And they said, "There's going to be a surplus." So, everyone understands there's going to be a surplus, right? No, there is no surplus. Not for the

135schools. Not for the schools. if you would like to um stand with me. I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it to the July 9th meeting, but you could have a a note sent to the township and the planning board just so they know this is not how it works on the school um budget. It works this way on the municipal side. They have the option to go above their 2% tax levy for the new construction. It's very easy to see. You can search for tax levy, but the schools do not. And it's important to rec to to remember this um for multiple reasons. I could get into that if anyone's interested um just you know reach out but again I just really think that's important for everyone to understand and

136I don't think everyone does but thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Any board members have any comments? Allison Bader? >> Um, I wanted to report on I attended the municipal alliance meeting that took place on June 12th and um one of the SAC counselors from the middle school was there to share um uh results. Um the the middle school sort of piloted um vape detectors in a couple bathrooms. Um and they were successful in tracking down um children who were in the act of utilizing them. Um again it was a pilot. It was just a couple bathrooms in the middle school, not all of them. Um I am encouraged um that they you know they did prove with some success and I would hope that um the middle school will continue and I would

137love to see it um piloted in the high school as well. I know there are many factors to it and responding time but um I think it's definitely something to continue looking into. Miss Stats was also there. I don't know if you wanted to add anything. >> Thank you, Mr. Heel. >> I wanted to just comment on something that um was during the presentation for the Hillsboro High School rotating drop schedule, which was that um like one I forget who it was, Missilio, maybe one student or some students who left school early for their athletic meets missed English 21 times in a in a year. >> Like, that's shocking. I mean, for all the stuff that I talk about with field trips missing educational instruction, I did not know that. And I feel like that

138is something that we also should look at even though we're part of NJSIA. Like that's just that does not seem appropriate at all. I mean, for our goal as a school district, you know, we talk about 180 days. Um, I have problems with with the last day of school where our attendance for the high school is very low. Like on the order like we we reviewed this years ago, it's like about 100% for seniors and 20% on that range for the rest of the high school. So it feels like this is like all all connected in terms of like what is the purpose of public school? like are we going to hold 180 days and how can we allow students to miss 21 days of their last period class that does not seem like I

139feel like we failed those students in my opinion. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Marini. >> So, I came across something interesting this week. Um there's a proposed bill out there in the New Jersey Assembly. I [snorts] think it's called the school budget transparency act that's being proposed that would require the state to provide a minimum budget guaranteed budget amount in December. So at least you'd have at least a preliminary number no less than this number uh as well as as part of the bill. Obviously these need to be go through committee and negotiated a portal with a formula where you could put in and do estimated taxes etc. So it's something to keep an eye on. It is Assembly Bill A3881. So, if anybody's interested in following along with that, um, semi-promising. >> Thank you,

140Miss Nurse. >> Um, two things. One, um, going back to what Mr. Fster brought to our attention. um the numbers were shocking and I'm hoping that that goes to education committee um at our next meeting and maybe a partnership with technology um department and and Mr. uh Handler is really important. Um, so that was one thing and the other thing is I just want to be clear and if you know I I want to represent us as a whole but also myself. So if I misrepresent any of you please jump in but I don't think anybody's sat up here tonight and devalued PD at all, professional development at all. Um our decisions were based on financial responsibility. My decision was based on financial um was a financial decision. I from my understandings of these discussions

141about what it was going to look like and and and no in no way sweat equity. U my understanding was that uh staff members were going to be paid to do these workshops. Um, I've seen it done in multiple districts very successfully without somebody from the outside coming in to to teach people. If that's what we need here, maybe we do need to re-evaluate. Um, but I know plenty of colleagues who have done wonderful jobs in presenting what they are experts on. So, I do not ever want to be seen as somebody who devalues professional development. I know its importance. I I I know its purpose and its value. Um and I think people here can do a great job. I think to have choice in professional development and interest in professional development is is

142very important. That is my knowledge of what I thought was um going to be happening and it probably still still can with or without um live. Yes. Uh so I just wanted to be clear that I highly value professional development and I think the practice that was explained to me can still be implemented and be very successful and purposeful. >> Thank you Miss Stats. >> Uh a few things but first regarding the prof professional development I I do agree it is different presenting to students as opposed to adults. Um and I I also highly value professional development and I have gone through some really bad ones. Um I could tell you stories. Uh what I had a problem was this particular uh proposal. I didn't think it was a good fit for the purpose of

143uh assisting um our staff to to be presenters for professional development. But on another note, um, uh, Miss Jackson, Mr. Vulpi, and myself, we were at the senior awards night on June 4th, and that was quite a positive experience. It was great seeing uh, so many students being um, uh, awarded uh, scholarships and uh, awards. Um, on June 12th, um, uh, Mr. Aron Crrants, Miss Trujillo and myself, we went to the community coffee at Amsterdam where special needs students um served us coffee and snacks and that was very exciting. They would uh I think they would sort of dance and sing anytime you gave them a tip and pretty much everybody gave them tips. So they were always dancing and singing. Um and then on June 17th I went to the locks of love assembly

144at Amsterdam and that's where students and staff um I think there were 15 donated their hair at least 10 inches 10 to 12 inches of their own hair uh for uh other people that uh lose their hair for uh various reasons especially cancer and was such that was another very wonderful positive experience. Um I they also included some math. They said uh there were 16.2 inches of hair donated that day. And over the years, I think Amsterdam's been doing this for 21 years, there's been a total of 6,486 inches donated. >> Excellent. Cassie, >> this just adds back on to your comment about the rotating drop schedule, Mio. um as a student athlete, I've missed 22 um periods of my 10th well 22 10th period classes this year. So this like this year. So just

145coming from that perspective, I also would advocate for that. So even though I wouldn't get to reap the benefits of the drop schedule, it definitely is something to consider especially for those student athletes. I think that we had a meeting today before the um presentation went out. I think that there are 1500 student athletes in the entire school of 2400 students. So that's a pretty good majority. And yes, not everyone has early dismissals period 10. But especially considering the girls track team, we have around 100 stu sorry 100 student athletes in the spring just on the girls side. So that's 100 students that are missing class um 10th period class a significant amount of times throughout the year. So yeah, >> thank you. Anything else, Cassie? >> Oh, Miss Jackson. Yeah, I I want to

146echo the sentiment of understanding the value of professional development. I'm not a teacher, but I have worked professionally and the plan itself. I think it would have been nicer to have taken more time to discuss it and to see a structure for it. So, I think it's it's a good it's well intentioned, but unfortunately it didn't go off as it could have. So, that that's my biggest and however it came across this evening. Um, that was the biggest concern. It is it's a sizable amount of money and it was a plan that was put in too quickly without having the detail that was needed. And I just want to assure um I just want to assure you that before I pulled restorative justice, I did go out and look at the pros and cons of

147it, what it was. I made sure I understood what it was. I had an idea. I made sure I understood what it was and I literally pulled out what are the pros and what are the cons. Um and I think I saw enough of the cons where it's not a cut and dry topic. So if it was ever a a something that had to be discussed, it really has to be discussed in detail. I mean, I could even tell you what the cons were. One of which was classroom destru disruption and increased demands on time and resources, as well as it it places an unfair expectation on victims, survivors to talk to those who harmed them. So it's a very deep conversation. It's not something that should be taken lightly. I know that goes off

148on a tangent, >> but you know, maybe sometimes to understand me, >> that's where I come from. It's not as though I didn't do my research. It's the fact that we shouldn't be putting something in without having the right amount of conversation and consideration. And that's all I wanted to clarify. >> Any other comments? >> I just want to thank Cassie uh for being our board member all year long. Congratulations on your graduation. [applause] It'll be a pleasure to hand you a diploma in just a couple days. >> I did just want to say I'm so so so grateful for my time on the board. I've made many oh I've learned many lessons that I will carry with me throughout my college career and I'm assuming my career after that too. So [laughter] thank you

149guys so much. >> Thank you for being with us. So that's the end of our comment section. Uh there are information items on the agenda and uh [cough] instead [clears throat] of uh the standard motion to adjourn, Mr. Eert has given me an alternative which I will read for you. And this is a motion to move into executive session and adjourn the meeting. Whereas the open public meeting act chapter 231 of the laws of 1975 provides that a public body may exclude the public from that portion of a meeting of which the public body discusses certain matters for which confidentiality is required as permitted in section 7B of the act resolved by the board of education of the township of Hillsboro and the county of Somerset and the state of New Jersey as follows. One,

150the matter to be discussed is the continuation of the superintendent's evaluation. Two, the matters discussed in executive session shall be disclosed to the public when the need for confidentiality no longer exists. And three, no action will be taken at the conclusion of the executive session and the meeting therefore will be adjourned. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second, >> Mr. Eert. Or is it just an I? All in favor? I I >> Thank you all and good night.