001I couldn't shake it. Literally God help me. Okay. Slow down. I think >> I think maybe my feet. Good afternoon, guys. My name is John Pajowski. I'm the director of school security for the Jackson Township School District. I'm here standing in front of the new Jackson Township High School. And for you, the new incoming seniors, we're going to walk through, go over the new traffic pattern for you guys when we come in in September so you can safely drive around the school and park in the student parking lot. So, now we're going to drive around the school to show you the new signage and walk you through on where to drive and park safely. And here we go. Major chief is the back group behind Liberty is now one way to the left. >> This
002applies to both students and teachers. So if you enter the school on either entrance off of Hope Chapel on your way to the student parking lot, you must turn left. Here's what it will look like as you enter the more eastern entrance off of North Hope Chapel Road. >> You turn into the school, continue down the road, and then turn left. >> If entering from the more western entrance of North Hope Chapel Road, >> you turn into the school, head down the road, and you also turn left. If entering the rear of the school off of East Veterans Highway, turn left into the school and follow the road around. Note, you cannot make a right turn where we previously could. That road is now do not enter and one way only coming out. After entering
003the school from any of those three entrances, you'll now notice begin oneway signs. That's where the road begins to be one way only. >> Yeah, except me. >> If entering the student lot, stay to the left hand side of the road and then turn left into the student lot. >> One note, when exiting the student lot at the end of the day, make sure you turn left. It is a do not enter to the right. Once turning left, follow the road around the back of the school towards the exit. If doing the student drop off with your parent once you pass the begin oneway signs, stay on the right hand side of the road and head to student drop off, which is door 16. Again, follow around the back of the school to the right,
004and continue down the road. Park your car on the right hand side >> and your student will enter at door 16. My spirit >> once dropping your student off or after leaving the student lot at the end of the day. The road at the end now is two lanes. Stay in the left lane to turn left and stay in the right lane to turn right. If you keep in mind this new route of one way towards the back of the school, navigating the new traffic pattern should be simple. Should you have any questions, reach out to John Powski, district security director, or Robert Waldrren, vice principal in charge of parking at Jackson Township High School. I used to have to order. That was amazing. Good afternoon, guys. My name is John Pajowski. I'm the director
005of school security for the Jackson Township School District. I'm here standing in front of the new Jackson Township High School. And for you, the new incoming seniors, we're going to walk through, go over the new traffic pattern for you guys when you come in in September, so you can safely drive around the school and park next to the parking lot. So, now we're going to drive around the school to show you the new signage and walk you through on where to drive and park safely. And here we go. >> The major change that you'll notice is the back road behind Liberty is now one way to the left. This applies to both students and teachers. >> So, if you enter the school on either entrance off of Hope Chapel on your way to the student
006parking lot, you must turn left. Here's what it'll look like as you enter the board eastern entrance off of North Oak Chapel Road. You turn into the school, continue down the road, and then turn left. If entering from the more western entrance to North Chap Road, >> you turn into the school, head down the road, and you also turn left. If entering the rear of the school for East Veterans Highway, turn left into the school and follow the road around. Note, you cannot make a right turn where we previously could. That road is now do not enter and one way only coming out. After entering the school from any of those three entrances, you'll now notice begin oneway sign. That's where the road begins to be one way only. If entering the student lot, stay
007to the left hand side of the road and then turn left into the student lot. One note, when exiting the student lot at the end of the day, make sure you turn left. It is a do not enter to the route. Once turning left, follow the road around the back of the school towards the exit. If due at the student drop off with your parent once you pass the begin oneway signs, stay on the right hand side of the road and head to student drop off which is door 16. Again, follow around the back of the school to the right >> and continue down the road. Park your car on the right hand side. >> Oh, okay. >> And your student will enter at door 16. Once dropping your suit in off or after leaving
008the student lot at the end of the day, the road at the end now is two lanes. Stay in the left lane to turn left and stay in the right lane to turn right. If you keep in mind this new route, the one way towards the back of the school, navigating the new traffic pattern should be simple. Should you have any questions, reach out to John Powowski, district security director, or Robert Waldrren, vice principal in charge of parking at Jackson Township High School. Anybody want to watch that If anybody new comes in, I'll send you a text. I just had sending your contact. I realized when I was trying to Mhm. Heat. I'm not actually doing stuff on the bed. the Amazon backs. These are allowing Something's going to come up. I just made sure
009the laundry Goodbye. I just too much modern fantasy. where he talks about this little baby. You never give your my story. >> Hi there. >> You didn't bring your laptop. >> I'm in no place to mess with anybody. I forgot the agendas. >> We're all set. You want to quit for yourself? You want me to? >> Got it. >> We just showed your video, >> the traffic pattern video. If anybody new comes, I'll have to play again. I got to email that out this week >> cuz you and I are discovering there's only They're going to have a winter now, too. So, you should I do cuz I do know how to do it. But I don't because I don't want to hear. Did you show me how to do it? >> I was looking
010I was about to put a table. sit down. You know, people music. Do I want How do you not know how much I don't feel Hey, hey. Heat. Heat. It depends on what it is. All right. You're not I'm the one who I wonder where it's from. It's like Call the meeting to order. Please stand for the salute to the flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> This meeting is in compliance with the open public meeting law and has been duly advertised in the newspaper as an official meeting. Roll call. >> Dr. Osman. >> Mr. Walsh, >> here. >> Mr. McCarron, >> present. >> Mrs. Mrs. Rivera >> present.
011>> Mrs. Baroas >> present. >> Mrs. Gardella >> present. >> Mrs. Cass >> present. I need a motion for the approval of the agenda with addendums. >> Motion. >> Second >> discussion. >> I need to actually first just interject. Miss Cass, I'm sorry. I'd like to administratively remove personnel 32 from the agenda this evening. >> Thank you. >> What about the case? >> That's it. I'm sorry. That's okay. >> Uh, okay. So, um, I need a motion for approval of the agenda with addendums. Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. Roll call. >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> Mr. McCarron. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Barcus. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gardella. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cass. >> Yes. I turn the meeting over to Mrs. Primilli for her superintendence report. Thank you, Mrs.
012Cass. So, before I get into uh an update on how things are moving forward here in the district for opening of schools in just a few weeks. Uh we do have a few annual reports that happen every year at this time of the year. So I would like to move forward with those presentations first and then I'll give everybody an update after that. So this evening I'd like to start with the annual school nursing report that Dr. Godleski, assistant superintendent will be uh providing the board of education. So the presentation will be behind you. You'll need to turn around. Okay. Good evening everyone. Uh each year the New Jersey Department of Education requires uh all school districts to annually present the district nursing plan uh focusing on staffing and levels of acuity within the buildings.
013Our school nurses have a great responsibility for every child in the Jackson School District. And nurses in every building are responsible for many things. They're responsible for the maintenance of all health records, mandatory reports, which are entered into a statewide database, the implementation of health plans, creation of health plans, the use of all life-saving equipment, as well as the coordination of health outreach and referrals. Um, in addition, our nurses teach and certify staff members in all of our buildings on the usage of EpiPen and glucagon. So, uh they're very busy in ensuring that our students are safe and healthy at school. Uh this second slide shows the frequency of nursing visits um for the past school year. So, uh in the left hand column you'll see the school. The second column is the population of
014the school as of June 9th is when these numbers were pulled. and then the number of nurse visits in 2024 and 2025 and the number of um nurse visits last year. Uh as our school has been undergoing restructuring, you'll notice that you know some school populations went up a lot in the past year, so probably their nursing uh numbers went up as well. Uh but some of our populations went down. Um maybe reducing our nursing visits a little bit. So, uh you'll see some of them have a a bigger discrepancy than others, but I just want you to consider the fact that we have restructured and the total um visits from the year prior uh was 89, uh 952. So, a little less. When we talk about acuity levels, uh the nursing report has four
015acuity levels presented with the intensity of nursing care needed to sustain the school population. So there's four levels of acuity like I just mentioned with level one being the most severe. In this first level of acuity, care is provided on a onetoone basis. It's the most complex and dependent. Uh the bullets on the left hand side could give you a few examples of some of the conditions in which a a nursing dependent care would be required. Level two is um daily interaction and skilled care often with close home contact and that's considered major nursing involvement. Acuity levels can include toileting or other personal care functions and skilled nurses are essential for both of these levels. Levels three and four, moderate nursing involvement and minor nursing involvement. Um have monitoring students occasionally when health issues arise.
016Uh usually with regard to their comfort or function could be um prescribed medicine. uh having a um to respond to a seizure disorder even if the child has no med meds at school, uh concussions, um mental or behavioral diagnosis that might require some health intervention from time to time, and level four is minor nursing. Uh that's occasionally the student may require going to the nurse for a headache, first aid, minor illnesses, uh a temporary accommodation. So uh just to note that the vast majority of our school population falls into levels three or four or lever four rather. So when we talk about that level of acuity, it's helpful to also see the number of students that fall into each of the different categories I just described. So nursing dependent uh level one of acuity these
017are the number of students that are characterized as that level of acuity in each of the schools. Uh level two same thing the number of students that are characterized as that level of acuity in the second column three and four. As we get ready for a new school year, obviously the staffing of our nurs's office is incredibly important. And on this chart, we show our current nurses and floating nurses uh that are employed to support our staff and support the health of our students. Uh so I won't read this side by side. We do have a um a personnel motion. So, one of our TBDs uh we're hiring into and we're actively seeking uh an additional nurse for Jackson Township High School. Some points of emphasis for 2526. Uh school nurses is definitely a high
018needs job. It's it's a there's a critical shortage of school nurses. So, uh we still have a need for full-time floating and substitute nurses to support our schools. uh and uh increased advertising for and hiring school nurses remains a priority. We've had a posting up almost all summer for a school nurse. Um we are responding to an increasing amount of medically complex students. Uh the number of our nursing visits has not um reduced um in the same correlation as our population has reduced because we are seeing more medically complex students. Uh and that's a reality. We um have our nurses to continue to satisfy our health related trainings for staff members. Uh our nurses also can renew the CPR and first aid training for our nurses get that every year. Uh we also have an
019athletic trainer. Uh we have two at the high school. So this one of the athletic trainers can support athletic nursing needs. for instance, processing physicals, return to play protocol after a concussion. Uh we worked last year and will continue to work this year to build capacity of our health offices by training additional staff to be certified CPR instructors. We have a lot of staff members, far more than just our nursing staff that are required to be CPR certified. So that's a huge um help to our capacity building when we have an in-house uh person or people who can provide this training for our staff. Um we want to always increase parental involvement in the area of wellness for our youngest learners. So, we have a a prek dedicated nurse who works on parent involvement nights
020for our prek population and supporting student mental health concerns uh by having nurses play an active role uh in IEPs, 504s, INRS, and the school climate team. And that is all. Does the board have any questions? No. Okay. >> Thank you, Dr. Gleski. very informative, good information. So, also this evening um we have the second report period from January to June 2025 for our violence, vandalism and hip report and also our self- assessment reports that we do on HIV every year. Um we have our director of security John Pajki here to present both those reports this evening. So again, the slides will be behind you. Please turn around. Good evening everyone. Thank you for coming out tonight. So tonight's presentation is the semianual report. Uh first one's going to be on harassment, intimidation and bullying
021uh for report period 2 which runs from January through June of 2025. Our school district's commitment is uh to create a safe learning environment for all of our students, investigating all complaints of harassment, intimidation, and bullying, and preventing all acts of harassment, intimidation, and bullying as well. We're also committed to being proactive and prepared uh through behavioral threat assessments uh training for staff uh for teams uh both district and school understanding school violence uh training uh district training for all schools in ABS on policies procedures for addressing and reporting HIP violence and vandalism and substance use. our uh anti-bullying coordinator and our anti-bullying specialists have meetings to review HIP policy uh data as well and investigation procedures. These are our ABS's at each specific school. Obviously, it's going to be updated as of September. Um
022they are responsible uh for HIP events and initiatives uh prevention assemblies uh focusing on explaining what when it comes to bad behavior. Uh classroom lessons, grade level activities, character education, all the different uh programs they have with that social emotional character education, diversity and equity programs uh both parents and students for social emotional evening and presentation of mindfulness. uh district-wide suicide prevention and education and climate and culture meeting surveys to strengthen the use of data to target our programs and approaches. All right, so we have the columns here from 2023 uh 2024 school year and then 2024 to 2025 school year. Uh these are at our elementary levels and those are totals uh both for period one and two for both years respectively. This is our secondary. So it includes our middle schools and our
023high schools. Again, 2023 2024 school year, 2024, 2025 school year and both periods one and two respective for that years. Now when it comes to HIP there's different categories classifications. Uh the right column demeaning offensive text messages name calling offensive comments mocking teasing taunting and physical. Additional to that there's motivations of founded hibs. Uh those are the categories for that. Outcomes of all investigated hip incidents. Uh consequences and remedial measures. And then location of founded hibs. uh the different categories for that. These are our self assessment grades uh that the ABS's uh conduct at the end of the school year. Um there's a bunch of uh questions for each category that they have to answer respectively and then they give themselves a score. It calculates for themselves. The max score is uh 78 and these
024are our elementary schools and those are their scores underneath the max of 78. Same thing. This is now for our secondary schools. So it's our both our middle schools and our high schools from last year. Again, max score would be 78. There's their scores underneath that column. And then our district grade for this year was uh 70 72.25 uh compared to last year was 70 73.2 which is a bit of a drop. Uh however we uh they grade ourselves a little bit harder but we are continuously making ourselves better to help our students and we should see higher uh grades for next year for for this score. When it comes to HIPS, there's u complaints and we investigate everything. Uh the submission uh complaints are received in person, telephone or email or via links located
025in our district website. HIP form 338 provides a means for parents, guardians or a school staff member to report an incident of HIP in a confidential matter 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And again, all HI complaints are promptly investigated in accordance with the district policy 5512. Uh for that's harassment, intimidation and bullying students. Was that that's it? We're done. Okay, take it. still have to do the violence vandalism report. Where you going? You can't go anywhere yet. >> We told you he was done. >> All right. So, the next report, um, report period two for our school district, uh, it's for vandalis, violence, vandalism, substance abuse, and weapons offenses that occur within the Jackson School District. Again, this is report period 2, January through June 2025. So this information the state of
026New Jersey began collecting uh back in March of 2002 and the objective is to collect and report incidents data concerning serious students misconducts in the areas of violence, vandalism, HI weapons and substance abuse. So the chart to the right uh it's conse it's consecutive for the this report period two with the previous report period one and then the previous school year's report period 2 and those are the numbers for the categories. This is for the elementary schools. Uh so the categories are fights, assault, threats, sexual offenses, hip alleged and confirmed. And again this is for our elementary schools. And these are totals uh for these categories. This is for the secondary schools that includes our both our middle schools and high schools. Again, same categories and these are the totals for those. This is for
027the vandalism and substance abuse. Again, period report period two. Um again it starts with the previous report period from previous school year uh report period one for this past school year and then report period two for this past school year as well. These are substance abuse u. So the categories that the state requires are marijuana, alcohol, prescription drugs, substance suspected and refused exam and then that's under the influence and then substance possession of is marijuana, drug per paraphernalia and alcohol. Um there is undetermined and that is where unfortunately whatever the student is uh suspected to be in possession there is no category for that. So it's not like it was marijuana or alcohol drug paraphernalia. Um so that's why we have an undetermined category. Uh again if it doesn't fit in any of the three
028then it gets automatically put into the undetermined. These are weapons offenses and this is the for all schools. So weapon uh included any instrument readily capable of lethal use or of inflicting bodily injury. But the category is not limited to handguns, rifles, knives, clubs, chains, slingshots, leather bands studded with metal fillings, razor blades, stun guns, and any device that projects, releases, or emits tear gas or any other substance, i.e. pepper spray, and that is intended to produce temporary discomfort or permanent injury through being vaporized or otherwise dispensed in the air. So those are some of the examples of what a weapon is considered. So this category is a action taken by the school district. Uh the categories are police notified, no complaint filed. What that means is the police were called. However, they investigated without
029any type of formal complaint against uh the student. Uh police notified with complaint filed. That means the police handled the investigation and charged the student with something. Uh in school suspension and out of school suspension, those are for the actions and then the impact sorry the impacted students is the number of student offenders um that were involved in all these incidents and then the student victims. the student number uh the student offenders is is tad bit higher because it could be an incident where there was one victim and two offenders um or three offenders, one victim or two victims. So that's why the student offender number is a little bit higher. We will continue to strive to ensure safe district and school environment by bringing school district safety teams and school anti-bullying specialists together to
030review data using that data to plan programs and inform practices approaches and curriculum. Building strong partnerships with the Jackson Police Department, specifically with our school resource officers, uh, police officer Tom Ki and police officer Matt Kangelo. providing training for school administrators on the effective preparation and response to violence, vandalism, and substance use, educating all state stakeholders on how they can make Jackson school safer, and providing community events to educate parents, guardians about safe school. Any questions? Did we change uh policy there? I see out of school suspensions went down significantly and in school suspensions skyrocketed. >> Yes. So with that uh to be more inclusive uh with students obviously you know to learn you can learn better in school than it is out of school. um to involve those students, you know, just because they
031did something, they got suspended, maybe, you know, having them in the building with uh different talking to different people for whatever reasons, you know, reduce that number. >> We find that it's it's uh we can have remedial measures um and education in school in school suspension uh versus out of school suspension. So when they're with us, we can educate them on better choices. So yes, we have changed our approach significantly on that. >> It'll be interesting to see next year's data because the numbers went up, you know, not just of out of school versus in school. Obviously, the in school suspensions went up, but at the bottom when it talked about like how many people offended versus how many victims also went up. So it' be interesting to see if it starts to go back
032down. Can you just go over just like for the public what a behavioral threat assessment training like what it entails? >> So with that I do I do have a little bit of experience with that being a school resource officer for over 20 years. So um so with that uh behavioral threat assessment it you have information provided whether through the school or through somebody else that comes to the school where uh a student might be presenting maybe they want to harm others or someone or themselves for that matter and there's a a team of employees um specifically trained for this to one look at the students history um to include like e exterior like at home um environmental issues Um and also to talk to the students specifically and also other teachers to get a
033good picture to see the different levels of of whether it's a threat or not. And then if it does meet that criteria, there's a whole different process after that um to then obviously to get the kid help um to prevent something to others and also for themselves too. >> Thank you so much for the presentations this evening. Okay, so moving on with the superintendence report. Um, just providing some updates of where we're at in the district. So, recently the extended school year and the childcare camp have successfully wrapped up their summer programs. Um, and thank you to the staff who uh facilitated and worked those programs for our students. They were very successful. Um, and students not only were learning but having a good time, too. Um, so as you can imagine, it's been a
034very busy summer for us. It's, um, hard to believe we are welcoming staff and students back in just two weeks. Uh, really has gone quickly. Um, and we've had a tremendous amount of work and tasks on our plate this summer with the restructuring. We had to prioritize our tasks in restructuring the district. Uh, two months, like I said, is a short period of time. Uh, to make such this such large-scale changes. The priority this summer has really been to ensure that our classrooms, our office spaces, uh, with that they have everything that they need with over 450 transfers of staff and teachers. We need to make sure that desks were in the rooms and in the offices, phones were all aligned, as you can imagine, all those phones that need to change. Um, and thank
035you for being patient with us if you've tried to reach us and we've had to bump you a few times over to a couple of different different phones. Uh it's been a challenge, you know, making sure that people have the right keys for their spaces um and that all their uh spaces are cleaned and that the boxes arrive that have been packed in the right spaces. So that has been the priority. Um and the people and the folks who have been doing all this work have just it's just phenomenal what they have pulled off. Um the classrooms are clean. The boxes for the most part have arrived into the rooms um and ready for unpacking. Um and already we have seen staff come in um when we're ready for them um volunteering their time and
036creating these welcoming spaces for our our students. Um our schools have some some of our schools have new names and they're receiving updated marquee signs to identify the school by the correct name. Um you may have seen some of the slides um if you were here before we walked in the room that Miss Owen had put up. Uh board members, you might want to turn around. They're they're on the screens right now. These are the ones that we are waiting to arrive any day now for installation um so that we are ready for for the opening of school. Um so all of those signs will be changed. Um we will be working hard on making sure that students feel welcomed as they come in the into these new buildings. And although we have um signs
037changing, please note that we still will have the names of our original names of our schools on those buildings because we want to honor the history of those schools. But at the same time, we are also working on a new history and legacy for our new schools. Uh we are starting to form right now some small committees and beginning to make some some of those that work begin. Um it's real important to us that we honor the history but also build forward. Um and we want to make sure that we do it with a lot of thought and a lot of input. So we'll be um forming committees, some small committees and making decisions about what should stay with the schools, what should be moving um to the new locations. And those committees will be
038made up of staff, parents and administrators. So more information um it will be a year process for us to ensure that we make the transition of all those things thoughtfully and with input. So please be patient with us. Um just like to point out an example of some of the work that some of um the parents and the leaders have have done for unity and making some of those decisions already. I'm going to use the band as an example here. Um the band leaders and the parent groups have been working well together. They've made a plan to take the most recent um awards and trophies that Memorial Band um has earned and they are all going to line up. But there's and the music space is a massive wall as you can imagine. On one
039wall up high all those trophies will sit. on the other wall, all the Liberty recent ones will sit. And then there is a wall that connects the two with the shelf where everything that they earned together as one band will sit. Um, and so they've done a lot of things like that to bring unity together. Uh, one band, one sound is their their motto. Um, just really some wonderful things that they're doing to honor history and legacy and create new. And that's how we want to move forward. But we want to be very thoughtful in that process throughout this year with those decisions. So again, busy, busy, busy. The admin teams and staff have been working on student schedules and our transportation team is, you can imagine, diligently working to finalize a lot of bus
040routes. Um, all of those things will be published soon. Check our website for the dates that schedules will be released on the portal and bus passes. And we're also moving forward next week, believe it or not, with um orientations and open houses in our schools as well. So again, check the website. Again, some of the slides behind me um do cite those um dates and times of those events happening. Um so please check the website. We um oh as a reminder for anybody who perhaps is listening who has moved. If you have not contacted our registers office, please do. Um we do there is a process when you move to remove your your students from the district, receive um if you need information to be sent to the new school. Otherwise, you still sit on
041our our rosters until we deem that you really are not here anymore. And that usually takes us at least a month or two to figure, you know, to get to that final decision. So, it's helpful for us and helpful for you if your child's moving to a new school, please unenroll your student. And if you have been listening, and hopefully if you're listening, you are registered, but please make sure that you've registered, too. We want our students to start on the first day of school. So, if you know anybody who's moved, who is here, new, encourage them to register, please. Um, on tonight's agenda, you will see a resolution for the board to approve on the sale of Mclliff School. Once that is approved this evening, we will be able to go out to bid
042for that school. Um, we did have a ceremony uh recognizing the strong history of that school. If you missed it, we did there talk about um again the traditions and honoring um everything that has and memorializing the things that have occurred in that school. Um, and so I just want to repeat that we will be doing that. um with McCull of things such as there is a quilt there that was put together that was signed by astronauts. Um obviously that's not going to be sold with the school. We're moving that that will come over to the board office. So those kinds of things are being decided now, but the school will be um out for bid very soon. We are in um on a different note, we are in the midst of some other change
043on transitioning to a new system for our board meeting agendas and how we put those agendas together and how the public will see those agendas as well. Uh many districts use this system, it's called board docs. Uh we are in the process of transitioning to that and for our September meeting um for the public when you go on to the link you will see then a link to board docs and be able to see the agenda. It'll look a little bit different. the format will look a little bit different, but it's all the same information. It's just helping us be a little bit more paperless and helping us to create the agenda a little bit more um smoothly. So, on one final note tonight, and I did mention this a little bit earlier in my
044report, uh just the tremendous amount of work that has happened. I can't say it enough and every time, right, I get to see you or our directors or our supervisors and facilities and grounds and maintenance, I thank them. I thank the administrative teams in the buildings right now. Um, supervisors, everybody who has just been handson rolling their sleeves up and making sure that we are ready for opening. I'm just truly impressed with the people here. And I know I say it all the time, but I really seriously see it this summer. It's incredible um what is what has been done. Um things that would take another district a full year, six months to do, we're doing in two months. Um, and so I'm really really proud of our team and I just needed to thank
045them again and say how impressed we are with you. Um, so teachers, like I said, are starting to show up at school. Their administrators are letting them know when they're ready and we're seeing classrooms be set up and we're moving forward together. Um, building one Jackson school district uniting for excellence and it's going to be a good year. So with that, I conclude my report. Thank you. Standing committee reports. Um, buildings and grounds. Mr. McCarron. >> Yes. Buildings and grounds met on August 11th. Uh, people in attendance were myself, Miss Cass, Miss Rivera, the administration team, and architects. Uh, we uh received updates on building moves and readiness for opening of schools. We received an update on closure and sale of the Mclliff School. uh updates on local government energy audit for the school district
046and also discussed the possible bond referendum and facilities uh master planning and discuss two possible funding scenarios of referendum or county improvement authority. Um some capital improvement projects districtwide. Uh Jackson Township 56 electrical work was completed on the new and new chiller for 200 wing. Um old home economics economics room renovated into new CST offices for September. Main water recirculation pump was removed, repaired, and reinstalled at Elms. Electrical repair made to main transformer awaiting quote from modern generator for rebuild. Jackson Township Middle School room 404 the meeting room removed all electrical poles and replace floor tiles. Johnson school had roof drain redirected by plumber to divert the water from handicap ramps for safety. Uh, Switlick School room 7 electric heat element replaced for the HVAC system. The HVAC unit metal filter screens were cleaned and
047had summer maintenance. Exterior host pickets were installed at door 30 by a plumber and trailer area restoration was all completed. Jackson Township High School, four HVAC unit coils were cleaned for summer maintenance. New parking lot cutout for bus ramp for bus entrance and staff parking and C kitchenitch. New walk-in fridge, new compressor and evaporator were installed. Crawford school, the fire system placed in new Crawford walk-in. And districtwide, all generators filled with diesel fuel for school start and all elevators were inspected for service. Annual fire inspections completed by Kenor. Elevator and fire securities were all ready for September start. Thank you. >> Thank you. Ad hoc committees um policy report. There was a meeting on August 13th and in attendance was Mrs. Pormilly, uh Dr. Godzky, Mrs. Barois, do Mr. McCarron, and Mrs. Gardella. Um, regulation
0489191, booster clubs. We made a they made a revision to eliminate a max amount for the carryover, which is on tonight's agenda. Policy 5111, eligibility of resident non-resident students. It was discussed and will continue to draft revisions. And policy 235, which is the acceptable use of generative artificial intelligence, otherwise known as AI. First reading is on tonight's agenda. Anything for advocacy? Nothing. Right. Okay. >> I need a motion for approval of regulation adoption. Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. Roll call. >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> Mr. McCarron? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baroas? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gardella? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cass? >> Yes. I need a motion for approval of the minutes. Close session meeting July 16th, 2025 and the official board meeting July 16th, 2025 business meeting. Motion
049>> second >> discussion. Roll call. >> Mr. Walsh. >> Abstain. >> Mr. McCarron. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baro? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gardella? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cass? >> Yes. I need a motion for approval of the bill list. Motion >> second. >> Discussion. Roll call. >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> Mr. McCarron. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baroas. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gardella? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cass? >> Yes. I need a motion for approval of treasurers and board secretaries reports. Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. Roll call. >> Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Baro, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cardella, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cass, >> yes. I need a motion to open the public forum on
050agenda items only. We will hold another public forum during this meeting for other questions. This public forum will be for questions on the agenda only. >> Second. Please sign in and state your name and whether or not you are a Jackson resident. Each person is allowed a maximum of three minutes to speak. No person may speak more than once on the topic until all others have been heard. >> Seeing no one come forward, I need a motion to close public forum. >> Motion. >> All in favor? >> I. >> No, that one doesn't say second. Okay. Second. >> That's right. >> Second. Okay. You have to do a roll call. >> No. >> You do favor. >> All in favor? >> I need a motion to move finance. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. I
051had a couple questions on finance number four. Um, which declares items as surplus. I was just wondering if there is something that we're going to be doing with these items once we declare them as surplus. I didn't miss the question. >> Yeah, >> I'm sorry. I This sounds off tonight. So, if we I get the surplus. I understand. Item four, right? >> Item four has the surplus listed as And I'm wondering like what are we doing anything with it once we are tonight approving this as surplus? Like is it going to go to gov deals? Is it out for auction? Um >> does it go to the scrapyard? Like what happens? >> Yeah. Because it has no value, it's it's not going to go deals. You have any VHS's? >> Everything's for sale on eBay.
052>> I'm sorry. Um, number eight, um, and nine, there are two items where we did sell stuff on GV deals, and I was wondering if, um, those items are earmarked or if you know what you're going to be putting them towards. I want to make sure I heard your question correctly. You're asking what the money will be used for when we >> I was wondering if it's earmarked for something. >> Yes. So, we are using that money to help offset some of our signage. Um those things were not budgeted for in our budget. So, any kinds of banners, the flags that are going to be at the high school to hang on the polls, we're using um some of that money for that towards students. It goes right back to the student stuff. >> Great.
053Thank you. Um, sorry to ask these questions, but uh, number 10, there's a lot of transfers that were carryover funds. Do they go right back into the same grant fund categories to be used with those title funds again? And meaning um, it's title one and title four or five funds. Um, >> title one through four. >> Yeah. Uh, they go back to that same pro program for the following year. So if like you're transferring $10,65320 back to the same account, is that like used has to be used for that same program? >> It does. So this this is covering expenses. As you can imagine, when you have to first set your plan in the beginning of the school year for the use of this money um in our online systems for the state, you changes
054can happen throughout the school year. So the money either doesn't something doesn't cost as much um and then it's cheaper and then we have to transfer money so then we can put it to another account to spend that money. So that's how those transfers occur for those reasons like there's a change somehow and we need to change to transfer that money so that we can spend it because the important part of this grant is that you spend all of that money >> but it's not like in the general fund. It has to be towards that grant program. Correct. >> Yep. From one grant fund to another grant fund, not general budget. >> All right. Um, number 12 through 26, we did all these resolutions with max amounts that we're approving. And I just wanted you
055to clarify. I think I know the answer, but I'm just asking you to publicly clarify when we put these max amounts with these vendors, what the purpose is. >> That's right. So, we So, when we approve like a co-op or a vendor, we approve an up to not to exceed amount. Um, and then uh as we It doesn't mean we're going to spend that much money with that vendor. It just it just puts our own little threshold onto that and then if we're going to exceed that then we have to come back to the board and ask for um you know an increase in the in the the max amount. >> I'm almost done. And then um number 27 I I had a question. We're moving the Memorial Athletics and the fee Mclliff account name
056and we're balance we're moving the balance transfer to the general fund in in the other areas we moved it to like the high school and the middle school or the 56 building. What was the difference on those two top ones that they didn't get moved to the high school? >> Yeah. So, the so the the ones that are coming back in the general fund are uh like uh the uh participation fees that uh the district has uh for athletics and then there's also fees related to participation fees at Mclliff. Um so that's why it's coming back to the general because it's not a school-based account. Um it's it says for uh Memorial Athletics, but it's athletic participation fee that comes back to the uh to the district >> to be used towards students. >> It
057comes back to the general fund and then the entire general fund goes to students. So >> um never mind that I'm done that I moved on on accident on my on my sorry that was my last question. >> I have a question about number six carryover there. Is that from last year going to be be put in this year's budget for the preschool or did that go back to the state? >> This is an adjustment to the submission of our preschool grant. Oh, this is including our carryover. This was an adjustment. So originally the carryover money the state took that from us. We petitioned the state and appealed it and won it. So this is the money back to us that they were out those >> cash. This is a plus for us then. Okay.
058>> Yes. >> Also on number 12, there was some verbiage there. We don't have to go out to bid for something according to that that resolution provides the board of education without advertising for bid. >> I thought we had to That's because if you're using a state contract, that's a general resolution regarding uh use of a state contract. >> Okay. So, if we're pulling it off of a state contract, we don't have to advertise for a bid. >> That's correct. >> Okay. >> All right. Anybody else? >> Um I have a couple of things myself. Um, so I always told you that I would give you our negative lunch balance uh for the school and it is currently 129,66.38. So we're still hovering there. But in addition, what I really want to highlight, so that's
059129,000. Um, we've been mandated, as everybody knows, by the state, we have a state monitor. There's not one sitting there tonight. Um, we're actually getting a new one. Um, however, Carol Morris, just so you know, was paid from February of 24 to May of 25 $19,000. $194. Okay. So, the second monitor that we just had that is no longer with us was paid $35,536.25 25 from June of 2025 to August 7th of 2025. So I want to highlight that for a couple of reasons. Um a step one teacher makes roughly $59,000 a year. He made $35,000 in 2 months and this is mandated by the state. He worked four days a week. He worked double our previous state monitor. And in addition, we also had to pay partial of his cell phone and his travel
060expenses to and from Trenton. Um, I also want to highlight that the state monitors make more per hour than our superintendent. So, um, I find that a gross misconduct by the state. Um, so as of tonight, um, the board is actively discussing recouping at least half of what was paid to the last state monitor because it was an absurd amount. Um, so it it was excessively charged and there is no reason that we should have to foot that bill. I totally understand. We have a loan from the state. Yes, someone needs to oversee and make sure we're not overspending or embezzling or doing anything that we're not supposed to be doing. Um, but I don't think that you need four days a week to do that. I mean, I myself, I do accounting. I do
061bookkeeping. You You can't pour over that many. It's the same reports. We have a meeting once a month. We get the bill list. So, someone just needs to make sure and verify that the things we're doing, which has time and time again been proven. We've been audited how many times? We had two outside auditors plus the state monitor. I could go on and on. You all know, but um I just wanted you to know those figures. I wanted that on public record. Thank you. >> Thank you, Tina. Anybody else? Uh roll call. >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. Mr. McCarron, >> yes. >> Mrs. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Baroas, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gardella, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cass, >> yes. I need a motion to move facilities. Motion. >> Second >> discussion. Roll call.
062>> Wait one second. >> Did I go too fast? I'm sorry. Back to discussion. Number >> number four. What is the alternative method of compliance? >> Sure. If you want >> it's regarding the toilets in and out of the classroom. >> Yes. So what that So for example, I'll give you an example that'll help. So the preschool we're supposed to by code they ask for us to have bathrooms in the classrooms but they also allow for this alternate method of compliance so that if you don't have them in the in the um classrooms that you could provide a plan for um those bathrooms to be closely to you know related to that classroom for example across the hallway. So, what's your alternative plan? If they're not in the classroom, you're across the hallway with supervision
063from a paraprofessional. Um, so that's basically what it is. It's an allowance to override a code that's in place that the state allows, but we have to submit what our allowances are every year. >> Very good. Uh, you just answered number five, too. >> I'm sorry, say that again >> about bathroom facilities. I was going to ask in number five, and you answered that, so >> Okay, good. Anyone else? Roll call. >> Mr. Walsh? >> Yes. >> Mr. McCarron? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baroas? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gardella? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cass? >> Yes. >> I need a motion to move programs. Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> I had a question on item number six, which is us approving the district mentoring plan. And I just noticed when
064I was reviewing the um the uh attachment of the plan that uh the district surveys the staff who participate and I don't know that we ever watched a presentation on it if it would even be something that we would know but if there was any um insight on like a global trend on how that program since being instituted has been a benefit or if you know what I'm saying. I was just curious the feedback on it >> on the mentoring. Oh. Um, well, yes, that's something that gets done every year and we've had positive feedback. >> Okay. >> I'm mentoring. So, I mean, are you >> I don't remember seeing a presentation. >> Oh, no. We didn't do a presentation. Okay. >> There's no presentation on it, but we're we're happy to if you want
065us to. >> No, no, no. I just wondered. It's positive. Everybody's >> Oh, absolutely. We have an incredible program. Um, two assistant uh superintendents over there oversee it. We have teacher leaders who help run and facilitate it. And um we do workshops every month as it's relevant to those teachers. Um for example, conferences, right? So um right before conference time, there'll be a workshop on how to hold effective conferences, those types of things. So we support our the teachers throughout the year. >> Great. >> And the mentor teachers here who sign up are fabulous mentors. >> Question about number eight. With those literacy grants, we're applying for them. When will we know whether we get them or not? >> Dr. Godleski has been working tirelessly on those grants. Would you like to answer that? It's
066>> a dramatic mic turn on. Uh September 15th. It's a very quick turnaround. They were actually just released. They did technical assistance and the due date is tomorrow at 4:00. And we've been assured that we'll know by September 15th. And for many of these, the grant period is September through uh June of 2026. The coach one is five years though. >> Five years >> for the coach one. >> Okay. >> I just want to make sure that everybody saw item number three that uh awarded um Shaina Brener from Elms Elementary the second place for what she's done with um the sustainability contest at Elm. So, that was something that she brought in. It said second place was $1,000 or no, $1,500. So, that's great. She's, you know, has worked very hard there. >> I'm glad
067you pointed that out. Um, she has led a lot of our sustainability initiatives and is doing a fabulous job. >> Anyone else? >> Roll call. >> Mr. Walsh? >> Yes. >> Mr. McCarron? >> Yes. >> Mr. Rivera? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Barus? >> Yes. Mrs. Gardella. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cass. >> Yes. I need a motion to move students. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> This is a numbers question. 1 A 2A. Same school, different tuition. >> I'm sorry. Which one motion are you on? >> Okay. Students 1 A and 2 A. 1 A 2 A. Both of them are Neptune. >> Sorry, >> it's pro-rated. >> Okay, >> that answered my question. >> It's pro rated. >> Yes. Okay, somebody answered it for me before. Okay. All right. Thank you. >> You are
068good. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Walsh? >> Yes. >> Mr. McCarron? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baroas? Yes, >> Mrs. Gardella. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Cass. >> Yes. I need a motion to move personnel. Motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> Mr. McCarron? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rivera? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baroas? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gardella? >> Abstain from 212 C. Yes. everything else. >> Mrs. Cass, >> yes. I need a motion to open public forum on any topic pertaining to the board of education. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Please sign in and state your name and whether or not you are a Jackson resident. Each person is allowed a maximum of three minutes to speak. No person may speak more than once
069on the topic until all others have been heard. Okay. Hello and thank you all for being here and all that you do. Um, I had a few questions written down about the state monitor situation. And I wanted to know if the state explains why they have these new appointments. uh and also do they come in up to speed or is it once again a further burden on administration to bring the monitors up to speed? And then also um can we send out to New Jersey media or something these figures that you just stated? Um, it just I can't even think of appropriate language to describe the figures you just uh shared. Um, anyway, so those are my questions about whether or not these monitors come in up to speed and what exactly it is that
070they do to justify those figures. But why I came today is because I'm very concerned about this new uh state testing that's going to be rolled out, this surprise announcement, or at least it was a surprise to me as a parent. Um I guess mainly because of our financial situation. I'm concerned about the technology portion because it did state in the article I read that districts would be responsible for bringing their systems up to speed should they not be on par with this new technology. Um I also have a question about the training. When are our teachers going to be trained on the new tests? Also, how much time will be involved with that? How much time will our kids be away from learning in order to bring this new system of testing up to
071speed? And then also the whole adaptive thing I find very confusing. I always thought standardized tests were going to just, you know, they're they're norm based and everybody gets the same thing. Depending on disabilities, there might be a different way of completing the test. But this adaptive thing that they're talking about seems really strange to me. If if a student answers one way, then the next question is going to be applicable to however they answered. So I'm just wondering how adaptive state testing how that works. Um and thank you all for your time and all your efforts. Sorry, that was Christine McKinley. >> Anyone else? >> Seeing no one come forward, I need a motion to close public forum. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> Well, Mrs. McKinley, we have
072some of those same questions about testing. Um, we received information in a broadcast last week. Uh, was a surprise to us. Um, obviously you've seen the articles in the paper. It was a surprise to the educators um that we were um moving to this type of testing and that field testing was going to have to happen this fall um and that full implementation would happen this spring. Um, and so we are in the same boat as every other district trying to figure it out, trying to get more information because there wasn't a lot of information. Um, you know, the team over here has been diligently trying to find out more. Um, as far as technology goes, I I think we'll be fine. We're pretty up to speed. I'd be surprised if we weren't. Um, because
073if we aren't, then this state's really going to have major problems. Um, as far as the adaptive testing, I'll make a comment and then I'll obviously turn it over, uh, to the two assistants. But, um, adaptive testing has been happening forever. Um, since I was in the classroom, we did something called map testing, which was always adaptive testing. You know, the qu the next questions come at the same level. If, um, they give move on to a harder question and student gets several of those wrongs, they'll bounce back to a lower level to truly get the instructional level of the student narrowed down a little bit more. So adaptive testing is not a bad thing, but it is to your point much different from how standardized testing has ever been done here in the state
074of New Jersey. So I would imagine it's going to take a long time to work through those kinks and really get some valid data. Um so but the fact that such a major move and shift into how we're testing was not rolled out and educating the educators on it um is shocking is shocking. Um so I you have our commitment here that obviously we're doing trying to do everything we possibly can do to find out more information and that we will roll this out in the smartest way we possibly can. Um but it's going to be very taxing on our district and our testing coordinators. Um it's way short period, unbelievable. I mean fall testing and it's it's it was not rolled out the way that it perhaps should have been. So anything to add
075to that? I mean I know we've been lamenting about it since it happened. I think the only thing to add I mean things we've heard are not things that have been documented or shared with us from the department of ed so they're not appropriate to share in any sort of forum because they're certainly not vetted and rumor at this point. Uh but something we've discussed is, you know, to make sure we're carefully looking at our local data pieces because we use we put a lot of weight into data and making decisions and determining the efficacy of our programs and making instructional adjustments. So the fact that the test is changing and changing to an adaptive format in getting results that we won't be familiar with and can't be compared to the results of the prior
076year means we really have to rely on the data that we use. And that's what's something we're really proud of is we have a lot of data points. Uh we don't have singular ones. We triangulate everything and and I think that's really to our benefit when changes like this are made without any warning really. And just to support Mrs. Premier's point, um I've spoken with our technology department. Uh the company that is going to be rolling out this testing is in many states and throughout the United States right now. Um and our our what we have our infrastructure should be able to handle whatever it is that they have. So there shouldn't be any additional technology costs or kids are all still onetoone with their Chromebooks. Um these assessments I know can be given on
077on Chromebooks. So there shouldn't be any financial impact on us as far as implementing testing. Thank you both. So, in regards to the fiscal monitor appointments, um it is within the Department of Ed's um right to change fiscal monitors when they um so choose um for whatever reasons that they may have. Um they shift people around and and you know move people accordingly. Um it does put a burden on us. We have to bring them up to speed. I mean they are in some cases they do speak to the prior fiscal monitor. Um but it does it takes a toll on our offices specifically uh Mr. Beginsk's office this last time. Um really had to answer a lot of questions. A lot of that staff was pulled offline to address questions, get documents and things
078like that. Um so yeah, it's a burden on us every time it switches. Um so we do the best we can obviously and um to Mrs. Guess point, we have not had anybody find anything that's wrong with what we're doing here. It's truly a revenue issue. >> And if you ever speak to a local politician, Alex Ziki did put a bill forward that the school district did support last spring that had the state of New Jersey paying for the bill the salaries of state monitors for districts where there was determination that there was no fiscal mismanagement. I mean, in addition to not having fiscal mismanagement, we're obviously in a situation where we need to borrow money from the state. And now you're making us pay additional fees, which are exorbitant fees when again, you know,
079I gave you a teacher salary. It affects our curriculum. It affects our programs. It's it affects a lot of things that we our lunch balance could have been paid, you know, more that was more both of those salaries were more. So, it's it's disturbing on many levels. >> Anyone else? >> We'll do board comments. We'll start down that way. As an old teacher, there's an old saying, and the state pushes it like anything. Monitor and adjust. Monitor and adjust. Monitor and adjust. We'll adjust just like the kids will adjust, the teachers will adjust, and we'll be all right. Have a good night. Just want to say thank you for coming and everybody watching at home. Uh appreciate the admin again with everything that you've been doing. Uh I'm excited to see the school year start.
080I know football's starting soon, another week. So anxious to see the teams get out there and see what they could do. I want to thank everyone for coming out this evening, viewing us on live stream, the presentations and comments. Thank you for all the staff for your hard work, flexibility, and dedication to our district. Everyone have a wonderful and safe rest of summer. Have a wonderful evening. Um, so first I wanted to thank our uh our staff and everyone working really hard to uh get our schools ready for the beginning of the year. Really looking forward to it. hearing some really positive stories coming out. So, it really makes me excited. Um, we also started the official start to our fall sports started this past Monday. I'm looking forward to attending games as I usually
081do uh throughout the season. So, good luck to our student athletes and their coaches. And for those of you that are following local politics or maybe not, um uh my seat and uh Mrs. Gardella's seat are is up and uh we are going to be running for our seats again. So, um we are looking forward to hopefully uh serving you for the next uh three years again and uh thank you to everyone who came out and um have a good night. Um I just wanted to say as the community is aware the bo board filed a lawsuit against the state in regards to the school funding formula. The state recently made a motion to move the hearing of the case from Ocean County to Mercer County, um which is where Trenton is located within that
082county. Uh the judge who heard the motion in Tom's River determined that our case will remain to be heard in Ocean County. Um and we see this as a positive result as we move forward and we wanted to share that. Uh >> I just want to thank everyone for coming. I want to thank obviously our staff and our administration um for getting everything ready. Um, I know you guys have worked extremely hard in addition to a new monitor that came and went. So, it's just been, you know, just compounded, but um, so with that, and I just want to wish our students, you know, you go back to school in, uh, two weeks, so I think that's great. I think they're all looking forward to it. And, um, just want to wish everyone a great
083year. Thank you. Have a good night. >> Motion to adjurnn. Motion. >> Second by acclamation. I >> I