001Good evening and and welcome to the Hillsboro Township Board of Education reorganization and regular meeting of Monday, January 5th, 2026. In accordance with the state sunshine law of New Jersey, adequate notice of this meeting of the Hillsboro Township Board of Education was provided on January 8th, 2025 to the Hillsboro Beacon and the Courier News. Please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> So now I'll read the election results. So, note the election results from November for three three-year terms were Mark Aaron CR with 7,919 votes, Joel Davis with 7,366 votes, John Fluitt with 4550 votes, Danny Lee with 4,676 votes, Janna Hamid with 5,937 votes, and Gene Trill with 6,769 votes. And there
002were also 88 writin votes. So selected to the board for a three-year term were Mark Aaron CR, Joel Davis, and Gene Trillo. At this point, I'm going to call each board member, each of the prospective board members up to the podium with me for the swearing in process. Um, and then we're going to go alphabetically. So, Mr. Davis, if you'd join up at the podium, please. I believe. United States. Just spin around something. Good night. United States of United States of >> New Jersey. The qualifications Not qualified as students. that So at this time we'll take roll call for the meeting. Mr. Davis >> here. >> Mr. Aaron CR >> here. >> Miss Jackson >> here. >> Miss Craig >> here. >> Miss Lanny Beer >> here. >> Mr. Marini >> here. Miss Nurse >>
003here. >> Miss Stats >> here. >> And Mr. here. >> So, at this time, I would like to take nominations for the office of president of the board of education. I'd like to nominate Mr. Davis. Are there any other nominations? With that, I'll close nominations for the Office of President and we'll take a roll call vote of that. So, a simple yes or no vote for this is fine. Um, Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Mr. Aaron CR, >> yes. >> Miss Jackson, >> yes. >> Miss Craig, >> yes. >> Miss Landing Beater, >> yes. >> Mr. Marini, >> yes. >> Miss Nurse, >> yes. >> Miss Stats, >> yes. >> And Mr. Trillo, >> yes. >> Congratulations, Mr. Dav. You're now president of the board soon. Uh-huh. >> Here we go. >> Thank you for
004your confidence. Um, and I I do want to just take a moment to thank Mr. Marini for several years of faithful service. And uh I trust I will endeavor over this next year uh to hopefully conduct affairs as reasonably and equitably as he has at least in my opinion. Thank you so much and welcome to 2026. Office. >> Yes. Do we have any nominations for vice president? >> I'd like to nominate Mr. >> We have a nomination for Mr. Marini. Are there any others? >> Can we take a roll? >> Close nominations. >> I close the nominations. We'll take roll call now. >> Okay. And again, a simple yes or no is sufficient here. Uh, Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Mr. Eric, >> yes. >> Miss Jackson, >> yes. >> Miss Craig, >> yes. >>
005Miss Lanning beater, >> yes. >> Mr. Mariny, >> yes. >> Miss Nurse, >> yes. >> Miss Stats, >> yes. >> And Mr. Ho, abstain. >> So, Mr. Marine is now the board's vice president. The next item on the agenda is to establish board committee appointments and I am going to ask to affirm that tomorrow because there are still a couple of folks I haven't spoken to and I understand that that's okay. I can let >> Yes, if you can let us know tomorrow. Um we could still hold committee meetings I believe before the next board meeting and announce them at the board meeting. Uh for the most part, I would expect the committees to stand pretty much as they are now, but uh I'll let you know tomorrow. Thank you. >> Superintendent report. >> Thank
006you, Mr. President. I'd like to say um welcome to the board, Mr. Aaron CR. Uh welcome to your new position, Mr. Davis, and happy new year to all of Hillsboro. Um, and as we start a new calendar year, it's my privilege to reflect on the milestones that the Hillsboro Township Public School District achieved in 2025. This was a year defined by improved academic achievement, historic safety improvements, and pioneering innovation, all of which underscore our commitment to providing an elite educational experience for every student. Our district continues to solidify its reputation as a premier educational institution on both the state and national level. This past year, NIH ranked Hillsboro number 33 in New Jersey and within the top 5% of all school districts nationwide. This excellence is visible at every level as all six of our
007elementary schools saw significant jumps in their US News and World Report rankings, highlighted by Sunnyme Elementary's move into the state's top 100. Our commitment to equity is also yielding historic results. Recently, we learned that our middle school was one of only 14 schools out of over 1,000 in the state of New Jersey to achieve a 100% passage rate in Algebra 1 for economically disadvantaged students. These student successes are guided by Hillsboro's worldclass educators. We celebrate all those teachers in all those departments including teachers like Anja Ayer who is a recipient of the presidential award for excellence in mathematics and science teaching and Mary Beth Hughes a 2025 NJDOE exemplary educator. We also celebrated our graduating seniors global readiness with 122 students earning the global seal of biiteracy across seven languages. The safety of our school
008environment has seen measurable and drastic improvements this year through substantial investments in personnel and infrastructure. Most notably, our proactive approach led to an 86% decrease in suspensions for fighting at the high school and a similar reduction in total suspensions districtwide. Physical security was bolstered by completing swipe access controls right here at Road Intermediate School and Sunny, installing emergency panic alarms in every building, and securing the high school breezeway to monitor outdoor transitions. Furthermore, our high school security office was upgraded with sophisticated multimonitor system capable of viewing over 40 camera feeds simultaneously. This dedication to a secure learning environment was recognized on the national stage when our school district was recognized with an excellence in safety and security award by the National Association of School Superintendent. Hillsboro is leading the way in the ethical and efficient
009use of modern technology to better serve our community. This year we launched the always on AI powered chatbot on our district website to provide 247 support to families alongside a specialized AI HR assistant to streamline internal staff inquiries. These efforts were so successful they were featured in a national Lenovo case study regarding the roll out of AI tools and Chromebooks. And thank you Mr. Handler. You have a big part obviously to do with that. Through aggressive advocacy and grant writing, we have secured significant external funding to improve student wellness and to maintain our facilities. Hillsboro became the first district in New Jersey to be approved for a part of the $1 million state allocation to provide unlimited nocost online therapy to all 7200 students through Hazel Health. Additionally, after budget season, through our non-stop continued
010advocacy, we secured 1.657 657 million in direct state funding for critical capital projects, including the replacement of our turf fields and new gym bleachers. Our instructional programs were further strengthened by the focus grant for universal literacy screeners and the teacher and climate culture grant, which funded a new centralized repository for lesson plans. One of our financial highlights for this year was when S&P Global Ratings upgraded its long-term financial rating of the Hillsboro Township Public Schools from double A minus to double A. This was the first time this has happened in known school district history. This rare honor reflects a top tier vote of confidence in the district's smart financial planning. This improved rating is expected to save taxpayers money by allowing the district to borrow funds at lower interest rates for future construction or technology
011projects. Complimenting this achievement, the district's annual audit yielded exceptionally positive results, providing the highest level of insurance through an unmodified opinion that confirmed all financial statements were presented fairly. The audit identified no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal controls, recorded a 0% transaction error rate and expenditure classification, and verified the meticulous accuracy of state aid and transportation records. Finally, 2025 was a year where every student found a place to belong and succeed. That's what we're really here for. Our inaugural unified robotics team made school history by winning a state championship in its very first season. We also took significant steps towards physical inclusivity by installing playground communication boards at Triangle and Woods Road schools to support students who use augmentative and alternative communication devices to reflect the beautiful diversity of our community. Our school
012h calendar was updated to officially recognize majoral cultural and religious holidays. These achievements are a testament to the hard work of our educators, the brilliance of our students, and the unwavering support of the Hillsboro community. As a board of education, we look forward to reaching even greater heights together in 2026. Thank you, Hillsboro, for all of your support in 2025. 2026 is going to be even better. And Mr. President, that concludes my superintendent's report. Thank you, Mr. Vulpi. The next item on this evening's agenda is to set and approve our regular meeting schedule. Uh it's attached for board members that there is a an attachment, but you've all received the agenda beforehand. It was also reviewed by governance that >> Yeah, reviewed by the governance uh committee. Are there any questions at this point? Yes,
013Miss >> Try now. Um, with regard to the two meetings in May that are backtoback, is there either a way to space them out or to combine to have the retirees honored in one of those? >> Yeah, I can I can speak to that. We can certainly change the dates if uh back-to-back meetings were too much for people, but I think this was very specifically uh I could be wrong. I think it might have come out of the human resources uh committee meeting that it was thought that with retirees being part of a general business meeting that something was a little lost and the the the thought of having a second meeting in May where it's it points out the one for retirees is to have no action taken. Open a meeting, public comment, honor
014the retirees, public comment, and go home. This way the retirees know that it's all about them. So, if the date doesn't work, um what I might suggest is rather than try to figure it out here, um you guys can always approve the slate as is and then we can work through if there's any issues in committee uh further on rather than trying to figure it out right now. But that was the philosophy of why we wanted to have a second meeting in May. >> Thank you. So, do we have a motion to approve? Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. He. >> Um I have another comment along the lines of Miss Craig. So this past year in 2025 when we were looking to have extra meetings and there were it was difficult to find those dates as
015well as community engagement nights perhaps when we're looking at this board meeting schedule we could also hold some dates that everyone would hold on their calendar so that if we wanted to have a board retreat and or community engagement night we'd already have those dates held in our calendars as another suggestion. I yeah, I think that would be a good thing to discuss in in committee and we can make amendments to the schedule at the next meeting. But uh I I would recommend that we accept uh the schedule as it is with the understanding that we can make adjustments as needed. Are there any other comments? Do we have a motion to approve? >> Second. Mr. Ecker. >> Mr. Davis. >> Yes. >> Mr. Aaron Cray. >> Yes. >> Miss Jackson. >> Yes. >> Miss
016Craig. >> Yes. >> Miss Lanny Beater. >> Yes. >> Mr. Marini. >> Yes. >> Miss Nurse. >> Yes. >> Miss Stats. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Trillo. >> Yes. >> Motion is approved. Next, we have a motion to approve executive session minutes and public meeting minutes from the previous meetings. Uh, do we have a motion to approve? >> So, move. >> Second, >> Mr. Eert. >> This one is still in favor. >> Oh, this is all in favor. All in favor? I >> I Any opposed? I think the eyes have it. Okay. Now, the big challenge. I get to read the disclaimer. I am not going to attempt to do it in 10 seconds. Uh but we are open for public comments. Uh we very much welcome input from the public. During board meetings, there
017will 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 to write their name. Before commenting, please state your name and address. There is a threeminut 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
018meetings act and the privacy rights of public employees encompassed therein do not permit the board to discuss personnel issues in public session. So if there are any uh public comments at this time, please come forward. Good evening. Steve Wolf Drive. Steve Sloan, Tenwolf Drive. Um, congratulations to a newly elected board member as well as the returning board members. And I wanted to bring to the board's attention that I observed on the governor's website uh that the uh Department of Education as well as the Department of Community Affairs is urging school boards to apply for funding for what's called the school regionalization efficiency program. It's for a feasibility study. And uh if you do a feasibility study and you find out that it's not feasible, you're not obligated to go through uh with any of the
019recommendations. But the feasibility study is to see whether or not it would be suitable to merge to a countywide school district or perhaps maybe uh a regional school district. Uh it the press release didn't indicate whether or not it would be for smaller districts under 500 students or larger districts like Hillsboro which is about 7,500 students. But uh the reason this is relevant to the budget is that the funding is for fiscal year 2026. There's no guarantee that there'll be funding for this visibility study in fiscal year 2027. So, I believe that the Department of Education and uh Department of Community Affairs is urging school districts to make a decision soon on whether or not they're going to apply for these funds and launch the feasibility study you prior to June 30th when the uh
020fiscal year 2026 would end. And those are my comments. >> Thank you. >> I will follow up with the board. >> Thank you very much. Seeing that there are no other comments, uh, >> the action agenda. Yes. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I'd ask for the board's consideration to approve the following motion in the area of education. Uh, professional and travel related expenses. Do we have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Is there any discussion as we discuss whether or not there's discussion? >> Seeing none. >> Mr. Eckert. >> Mr. Davis. >> Yes. >> Mr. Aaron CR. >> Abstain. Miss Jackson. >> Yes, with exception. Um, I am a no for the London Youth Model UN. >> Miss Craig, >> yes. >> Miss Lanning Beer, >> yes. >> Mr. Mariny, >>
021yes. >> Miss Nurse, >> yes. >> Miss Stats, >> yes. >> And Mr. Ho, >> yes. Except no one lens in trip. Item 12, human resources. >> Thank you. In the area of human resources, I'd ask for the board's consideration to approve the following motions. Retirements, appointments, leaves of absence, 2026 summer enrichment program staff, and extra coverage. >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion, Mr. Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Mr. Erin CR, >> yes. >> Miss Jackson, >> yes. >> Miss Craig, >> yes. >> Miss Lanning Beater, >> yes. >> Mr. Marini, >> yes. >> Miss Nurse, >> yes. >> Miss Stats, >> yes. >> And Mr. Ho, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> So, uh, motion passes. >> Thank you. in the area of operations. I'd ask for the board's consideration to approve
022the following motion designating the public agency compliance officer. >> Any comments? >> So moved. >> Do we have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mr. Eert. >> Mr. Davis. >> Yes. >> Mr. Aaron CR. >> Yes. >> Miss Jackson. >> Yes. >> Miss Craig. >> Yes. >> Miss Lanning Beater. >> Yes. >> Mr. Marini? >> Yes. >> Miss Nurse? Yes, >> Miss Stats. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Yo, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Motion passes. >> We have our second public comment period. We very much welcome input from the public. There is a clipboard for all participants to write their name. Before commenting, please state your name and address. There is a threeminut limit on public comment. Please understand that our public forums are not structured as question and answer sessions, but
023rather 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 you'd like to address the board or make a comment, please come forward at this time. Seeing that there are none, Are there any comments or questions on the part of any of the board members? >> Student member Cassie, do you have anything to report to the board? >> Today was our first
024day back at school after which break. As all of you know, it went good for me and I think for a lot of the other students in Hillsboro High School. There's a girls basketball game tomorrow that student council is going to be fundraising at. So, it's against Franklin if anyone's interested in that. Apparently, it's going to be really big in the student section. And then also with student council, we're going on a field trip on Wednesday um to the student council leaders of New Jersey convention at TC&J and we're going to interact with the other student councils and see how they run their schools and then hopefully get input from them and learn more about ourselves. And that's it for me. Thank you. >> Other comments, Miss Nurse, >> I just in following up, I
025think that we received an email today about a uh women's wrestling match this week on Wednesday the 7th at 5:30. I think it's momentous time for it. It's the first Am I speaking? >> It's the first home dual meet for our girls wrestling team. Yes. >> So, very exciting. Anything else? So, do I get a motion to adjurnn? Yes, you do. >> Do we have a motion to adjurnn? So, move. >> So, move. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> So adjourned. >> Mr. Davis.