BOE Meeting 3 10 2026

001This is my show. Mhm. I think that's impossible. >> Mhm. >> Good evening, everybody. Good evening, the Open Public Meetings Act and is open to the media and public. Notices were duly posted and the meeting was advertised in the Courier News and Tap Into. Effective March 1st, all legal notices and board meeting dates shall only be posted on the district website in conformity with state code. Formal action may be taken. Can we get a roll call vote? Ms. Cassidy? Here. Ms. Fiore? Here. Mr. Lopes? Here. Ms. Mencer? Here. Ms. Pieros? Here. Ms. Rabin? Here. Ms. Ryan? Here. Ms. Pendell? Here. Mr. Here. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with

002liberty and justice for all. Amen. Okay. So, the next item on the agenda is our student representative report. Mr. Daley, I believe you're going to be coming up along with Area, Ishaan, and Jimmy. Hello, I'm Ishaan. So, the next item on the agenda is our student representative report. Mr. Daley, I believe you're going to be coming up along with Area, Ishaan, and Jimmy. Hello, I'm Ishaan. So, the next item on the agenda is our student representative report. Mr. Daley, I believe you're going to be coming up along with Area, Ishaan, and Jimmy. Hello, I'm Ishaan. So, the next >> Hello, I'm Nisha. I'm Jimmy. And I'm Ira and I'm with the board of events and we're here to present the winter sports update. Give us one sec. There you go. Okay, so the wrestling Okay,

003so our wrestling team uh they had like a solid season and they completed like every match and then they they continued to improve throughout the whole season. And some of the biggest highlights were that four wrestlers finished in second place and there was a couple of wrestlers went first place in the B bracket. And then next season they're looking forward into building on the progress they made this year. Uh and they're looking to improve the new wrestlers that they got this year. Okay, so cheerleading. Uh the highlights. There were 10 new sixth grade girls joining the team. There was one returning eighth grade captain. Uh they cheered for every home girls and girl and boys game and then they learned over 20 cheers. So our future goals are to have more girls join the team

004next year and then have more cheerleaders obviously enhance the team. Then the honorable honorable members are me. >> [laughter] >> I was the eighth grade captain and then Halaina Chagas and then Daisy um Vichas were our two new captains and then Bronya and Karan was our sub captain. So for girls basketball, the major highlights were that the 18B played the playing game. They beat Roxbury in the last minute and they beat like a lot of close games against like JPK, Soule and Montgomery. And the 18 reached to the quarterfinals good event. So we eventually lost. Players who participated in the All-Stars game were Rielle Pierson who actually won MVP, Haley Peggy Massey, Charlotte Prested, Alexa Wilkinson, and Brianna Wilkinson. The records for the 18 were eight and seven while the B team were zero and

005seven. And for next season, four out of five starters will be coming back and the girls will keep on working hard. So on the boys basketball, we had a close game in the playoffs against Bridgewater, and they actually had the most sixth graders on the B team that they've ever had. And in the next season, we're looking forward to maturity and like growth as a team, and you know, but >> [laughter] >> Okay. And then in marking period four, during in math classes, we're learning about exponential functions and transformations. In science classes, we're learning about weather and climate demonstrations. In ELA, we're learning about analysis of speech writing and preparing for graduation speech speeches. And for civics, we're expansion of community engagement across Readington Township. Thank you. >> [applause] >> I KNOW THAT EVERYONE HAVE

006ANY QUESTIONS FOR THEM. YOU GUYS LEFT TOO early to see if there's any questions. That's okay. Thank you very much for your time this evening. All right. Thank you very much for your Uh good evening everyone and welcome. Uh, tonight we recognize the amazing achievements of our RMS students in the area of math. The Association of Mathematics Teachers of New Jersey offers a middle school math competition every winter. They've been doing this for about 14 years. It includes students in grades 6 through 8 math. It also includes algebra one. School teams enter and receive assessments of complex math skills that are then compared to other middle schools in New Jersey. And I did a little research today. It looks like it's only about eight to 10 questions, but they seem to be very detailed and

007very complex math questions. And you have 60 minutes, I'm going to say about an hour to complete them. Um, this year our Brington Middle School placed third overall in the state. And not only that, we had several students receive high praise for their exemplary work as part of the RMS team. I'm here to tell you a little bit more about the competition and honor our students is Mrs. Goodfellow. I think she's in the audience. MRS. GOODFELLOW. GOOD EVENING. I AM SO EXCITED TO BE here and share the exciting news with you. Um, as Dr. Hart said, recently the AMTNJ Middle School Math Competition was held and RMS won third overall in state. Congratulations to our amazing middle school math champions. Thanks to their excellent problem solving and determination, the RMS team earned third place overall.

008And one of our students, seventh grader Jonah Carollawa, is he here? Jonah? He's not. Was awarded fourth place out of all the entire students that were in the contest. 23 RMS math superstars competed to earn the top five scores that would represent our school. Kudos to all the students and special thanks to our awesome teacher, Ms. Betsy Freeman, for hosting the challenge, to our amazing RMS math teachers, Ms. Birmingham, Sarah Chapman, Catherine Way, Phil McGinty, Carrie Ann Hendershot, Jen Sabol, Megan Greco, and Olivia Young for the fabulous job that they do day in and day out. Now, I am delighted to recognize our outstanding mathematicians. Please come up to be recognized when I call your name. Oh, Oh, you got it. All right, here we go. Thomas Amelio placed second. >> [applause] >> ISABELLE BOLIVAR.

009CAMERON >> [applause] >> JAYDEN CHEN JAYDEN, YOU'RE FIRST. >> [applause] >> JAYDEN, you're first. YOU'RE THIRD. RILEY DE I SAY THIS, I'm sorry, Distasio. Is he here? No? Okay. Summer Doughty Bobby Dudley Sydney Greenwald Remy Noel. I know Remy's here. REMY NOEL >> [applause] >> PLACED THIRD. THERE WAS A TIE. CONGRATULATIONS, REMY. I like your shirt. >> [laughter] >> Sorya Lapinski. Is Sorya here? He placed second. There was a tie. Peter Lighted VIVIAN MICHAELS [applause] VIVIAN MICHAELS, LAUREN Mong Michaela Mora Karina Raji Pranav Ramji I'm sorry. Aaron Raina Fedor RAMESH JAIN >> [applause] >> FEDOR JAIN SECOND AS WELL IN A TIE. Henry Schwartz Matthias William Lazar HENRY WALTERS >> [applause] >> AND LASTLY, MAYA WEGLARZ. Maya here? I WANT TO SAY EXCELLENT JOB AND THANK YOU FOR bringing the best to RMS. And if

010we could just join us all in a round OF APPLAUSE, PLEASE. >> [applause] [applause] >> 1 2 3 >> [applause] >> I I DID confirm with the students this is the first year that RMS, I believe with Mrs. Betsy Freeman, decided to enter this competition on their own. Uh so folks, I hope that we do it again next year. And let's uh let's celebrate it again next year. It was great to make more so much. Thank you all FOR JOINING. REALLY >> [applause] >> UH YOU ARE ALL WELCOME TO STAY WHILE I TALK about the budget and public [laughter] schools. Um feel free to stay. Uh this is a shorter presentation uh but you're welcome to get an ice cream if Um I'd like to provide the Board of Education and the public uh with

011the budget timeline and health insurance updates. Uh Mr. Bowman, our business administrator, will um help me present fill in any gaps or anything like that that I miss in terms of our budget presentation. Uh this year is a a unique year. So, our fiscal year starting July 2026 is unique. Um and it's unique and the one thing I'll point out here in our presentation is because we do have a new governor this year. So, our timeline is generally looks like this. From October through December, Mr. Bowman and I meet with the school and departments to create their budgets. By January uh Mr. Bowman and I review all of the budgets and we put everything together in preparation for finance committee meeting, which this year occurred on January 28th. February 10th, the last month at our

012Board of Education meeting, um the departments, our curriculum department, pupil services, transportation, technology, as well as administration, all presented uh their budgets and initiatives that we'd like to include in our fiscal year 2026-2027 to the Board of Education. On February 24th, the districts were notified through a state broadcast that due to uh a new governor and a new administration, the governor's budget address was moved from February 24th to March 10th. This is a key date when it comes to developing budgets for school districts. Today was the governor's budget address. It is within statute that 24 hours after the budget address, the governor releases state aid numbers to the local school districts. So, when the uh legislature gave the governor her authority to move her budget address two weeks because of it's a new administration, that

013then moved our budget presentation back. Uh so, we waited today to hear what the governor had to say about the budget um and we will be receiving our Reddington state aid numbers on March 12th. Now, as some of you may know, tonight was the day that we scheduled to actually present the tentative budget to the board and the public, but we couldn't do that because we don't have state aid numbers just yet. We can't submit that budget because we don't have our state aid numbers. Um last week we reviewed the budget with the finance committee. Tonight we're updating you regarding the governor's address. Uh March 12th, state aid will be released. So, this Thursday, uh Mr. Bowman and I will receive uh notification from the state about our state aid. Uh March 23rd is a

014board meeting. It's not It wasn't initially on the calendar, but we've scheduled a board meeting so the board can vote on uh our tentative budget and then submit it to the county office for review, which is on March 27th. April 14th, we have a board of education meeting, which is clarification. Anything that maybe the state provides us in feedback about our budget, we can make adjustments at the April 14th meeting. Our final budget meeting and our final vote will be prepared on April 28th. That'll That will conclude our budget cycle for the next fiscal year. Uh Mr. Bowman, is there anything that I missed in terms of the timeline? No, uh typically right after the final vote, uh we would publish something in the newspaper for the town residents so they would have highlights of

015our budget. Our budget was also posted on our website um along with our budget presentation so you can look back at the history. A small highlight, I don't want to quote the number, but uh the budget addressed today uh after the governor's budget address, uh superintendents, business administrators received the budget in brief, which was only 103 pages. Um that included the governor's budget address. In that address, there's um some unprecedented numbers that the that the governor has allocated for preschool as well as K-12 education. So, I I don't know what state aid is going to look like, but based off of that, it sounds like the governor is committed to funding public education. So, let's hope that that's good news for our state aid numbers coming out in a couple of days. Um so, some

016of the the challenges uh that we're facing with developing our budget for next year, uh a presentation um was held by Brown & Brown Insurance Brokers. All superintendents and board members in the county were able to attend a meeting that happened last week in the evening, where Brown & Brown Insurance Brokers provided boards and superintendents with the landscape of what health the health insurance marketplace looked like. So, this slide in brief just tells you about who are the risk bearers, who are the insurance companies that insure local boards of education. So, the largest um slice here is in the gray slice. That's the um state the state health benefit program. Um the purple slice are the schools hit. The Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Cross Blue Shield, this is private insurance that districts can can

017engage in. The red slice is the Public Employers Trust. And um there are some other self-insured options, as well as Aetna. There's a new um New Jersey Solutions HIF, which is that tiny kind of green slice at the top. Uh we are in the purple slice. We are the SHIF, the Schools Health Insurance Fund. Um but these are all of the risk bearers. Uh so, across the state, this is what the marketplace looks like. And here's the challenge, which is on the next slide. When it comes to insurance risk bearers, um the past 8 years being a superintendent, as well as Brown & Brown's 30 years experience in the health insurance industry, we're typically used to health insurance premiums increasing at a rate of 4%, 5%, maybe even 8%. You can see in across insurance

018risk errors from the state plan to the Fed to shift, we're looking at double-digit health insurance price increases. Um, our health insurance fund where we are in Reddington, we're looking at approximately a 20 to 21% health insurance rate increases. These are unprecedented numbers. Um, Brown & Brown also told us in his presentation as well that this is not a Reddington problem, it's not a Reddington County problem, it's not a New Jersey problem. This is a nationwide concern. Uh, you can see across the state, no matter who your insurance carrier is, all districts are looking at anywhere between, conservatively, a 16 to 18% increase upwards of 31% increases. Is this a lot of money? Uh, this is a lot of money for school districts to insure their employees. And you can see that, um, you know,

019taxes have haven't been able to keep pace with the marketplace when it comes to health insurance. So, it's difficult for Mr. Bowman and I to develop a responsible budget and also take into account the increases in health insurance that you can see for 20 11 12 to now, [clears throat] we've seen about 110% increase over time. Mr. Bowman, anything to add or clarify this, um, No, I'll just say that, uh, health insurance is the district's second largest cost, um, after salaries, and we're obligated to provide, um, insurance to everyone that works over 30 hours, and uh, our board has been committed to offering, um, insurance to everyone that basically works here over the that hour threshold. Um, and the the big difference between our health insurance and the private insurance is we cannot change how

020it is, um, developed and the program itself. So, in the private market, you can offer single-level benefits. You can offer high-deductible plans. Those are not possible because our insurance is governed by the state of New Jersey and the exact format is actually state law. So, we have no ability to change any aspect of our health insurance at all. We simply have to take what the state gives us and then go to the various vendors and ask them to provide a quote based on the exact same plan makeup, that is every district in the state. So, hopefully good news coming out of the governor's office today. Some challenging news when it comes to health insurance premiums, but we are committed to finding long-term solutions to some of the issues that the board is facing. Other budgetary

021impacts, just some things for folks to know. This is the rate of increase of other things that have to be included in our budget. Salaries are increasing anywhere from 3.2 to 3.5%. Utilities are up 13%. Our general liability insurance is up 10%. We're obligated to provide out-of-district placements for students who require special education services that they can't be provided in district as well as their transportation. Our pension contributions for those that are in the public employees retirement system of PERS continue to increase and that obligation is on the local school district, not the state. Our night custodial and refuse contract, we have a a contract with All Clean for our night custodial. In within that contract, there are CPI approximate CPI increases every year. And we know that we've got some enrollment and housing developments.

022We have housing developments being built on the Free Bridge side of town. It's putting impact in enrollment that we're looking at very closely for next year. Uh so, you know, overall we I I guess the governor is kind of delaying her budget address has done us a little bit of a favor. We have a little bit more time to put all of these numbers together and we're looking forward to Jason and I presenting a responsible and reasonable budget to the board and to the public on March 20th. Um that's our tentative budget approval. Mr. Bowman, anything else? No, I think it's you know, the highlight of tonight was really to show how much pressure there is on the budget um and most of it is from utilities and health benefits and the increases that you

023are seeing personally, we are seeing as well and none of us are immune to it and we're doing our best to craft a budget that recognizes those pressures, but it's also cognizant of taxpayers and delivering good educational programs. Are there any questions from members of the board? Thank you all. Really appreciate it. Thank you, Dr. Arty. The next item on the agenda is our first public comment section. It's limited to items that are on the agenda. It's action items. At the end of the meeting, we have a second public forum for anything that may be on or off the agenda. So, this is specifically for things that are being voted on action items on today's agenda. With that being said, I'm now going to open it up to the public. If you want to speak,

024please come up, write your name on the piece of paper, state your name and address verbally, and then you'll have 3 minutes to make your comments. Okay. Um I think somebody here recommended you. Please state your name. My name is Kathy Turner and I live in West Chester. Okay. I'm here for eight years and I live just on the toll way from the school. I'm here to talk about the transportation budget and how it might be blown up this summer rains by this morning Iran. Iran closed the Straits of Hormuz, the passage where 20% of world's oil is transported into open sea. The price per barrel spiked in previous trading session to $100 per barrel and went down to 81 as of this morning. The longer this war goes on, gas prices, diesel, and jet

025fuel will increase and will be all and we will all feel the pain. Here are the basics of oil industry that some media does not explain to the viewers. Pres- Presidents have no impact on oil prices. OPEC nations dictate output. Produced oil has to be refined in refineries that are suitable for a certain type of oil and it's called crude. Here are the basic Here are the Here are some complications. Middle East refineries are being bombed. Its countries decided to escort it If countries decide to escort its oil tankers through the shipping lines, they will be attacked. But even if the oil companies want to ship the oil, the insurance companies will not in- insure the vessel or the cargo. But what about the re- releasing oil from my oil reserves? Well, our president didn't

026work on this issue for the past year. Our oil reserves, strategic reserves, are only at 58% capacity. US does not refill oil. Another point, US does not refill its oil reserve reserves with US oil. It buys oil from where it's the lowest. US refineries, excuse me, US refineries, for the most part, do not refine US oil because their capacity is processing for processing crude oil from Canada and Mexico. As of this morning, >> Excuse me, can you tie this to the agenda? I know you mentioned about gas >> This is This is This is At the end I will tie this to the agenda. US refineries, for the most part, do not refine the oil. And as of this morning, OPEC nations reduce its output to 6.7 million barrels. And as of 3:30 p.m. today,

027Iran is preparing to lay down mines in the Strait of Hormuz. In conclusion, I will tie this all very neatly into a bow. The 100% increase in transportation costs needs to be reevaluated urgently. Whether you like it or not, you might have to incorporate EV buses into our fleet or be prepared to cut or cut some serious corners elsewhere. We are entering a territory that we have not seen since 1970. Global recession combined with gas shortages, sky-high prices, even higher inflation on road and services, all because our president decided to attack a country on only a feeling. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Anyone else would like to make comments for anything on the agenda? Can I address the enrollment? And can I just make a statement or can I ask a question? Um

028it's not on the agenda, but here's a I guess your question. I'll give it a go. Yeah. My name is Lori Fisher. I'm a resident um of Reading for 30-some years. Um used to sit in your seats um back before this school was ever built. And I guess I have a question to you right now. You mentioned um, enrollments. What are you seeing? I know when we were looking back then, uh, we were looking at generational changes, you know, um, but we were also looking at kids that were already in the the trailers. Um, but we would also see them coming up from preschool and kindergarten. So, we really had an idea of what the projections were going to be. The thing that really blows all of that right out of the water is when

029you have a large development coming in. And you just don't know what proportion of kids are going to be in those units. What are you seeing right now as far as the projections the enrollment projections for the next 10 years? Are they increasing? Cuz I know they sort of stabilized so it down a little bit. Can you address that? Just Is it possible >> make the adjustments well Pardon? We usually make any adjustment after everyone finish after the session. Okay. The reason I needed to bring this up is most of the time we can see it coming. But what would be the impact of a mega development in Readington with a portion of it being senior housing, but a large portion of it not being senior housing in the area of 1,700 units over on

030the three bridges side of town? What impact would that have on school enrollments? Thank you. Thank you. It is something that's being proposed right now at the township level. And that's the reason I brought it up is because at the board level all you can do is react to the children that are here. And I look back at the only way we really can control that is by limiting our knowing, you know, the development rate. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, to get and close out the session. Normally what happens is we there's an item we would like to address, we address any questions at the end of the session. So, I don't know if Dr. Carr would like to join me and address the email or I I can. Um Mrs. Fisher, if I if

031I don't answer your questions, you can feel free to email me, but I have some general answers for you. I hope I can provide you some help with that. Where is where the trend is currently without the development and the affordable housing impact? Yeah, you're the you're correct. The trend First, I'll point you in a couple of directions. Um over the past several years, each August and each January, I've provided an enrollment and housing development updates to the Board of Education that has some numbers in there as well as projections, you know, kind of actual versus what we're seeing when it comes to enrollment each year annually. So, if you go back through board agendas and you look at superintendent reports, I would say the past 3 years or so of superintendent reports in both

032every August and every January, you'll see updates on enrollment. Uh the current housing developments that we've been uh monitoring included the Willows at White House Station, the Ridge, the new development in Three Bridges, and another one that's coming off of Route 22. In the past, when we had no formula to work with, we used the Rutgers formula. There was a white paper that Rutgers put out, I want to say back in 2017, that allowed you to estimate K through 12 enrollment of students based off of housing developments. It's based off of numbers of units. It's based off of how many of those units are market rate versus affordable, and how many beds and baths are in each one of those units. Um we found the Rutgers formula wasn't as quite as accurate for us when

033we were estimating the enrollment from the Willows and the Ridge, which are two of our developments that were recently built. Uh for example, the Ridge has 252 units in uh off of Route 22. And I want to say we probably have 40 students or so that are enrolled in the district from pre-K to 8 from that development. So, 252 units sounds like a lot, right? But when it comes down to how that mathematics breaks up, we didn't see it as much enrollment as we thought we could predict through the Rutgers formula. So, to answer your question, I I need to know more about 1,700 units or so that are going to be built in the the township to better estimate what enrollment projections could look like, but we have some history based off of the

034Willows and based off of the Ridge. Um and those enrollment reports are in the superintendent reports that I mentioned. Um so we monitor enrollment. We have a pretty good estimate based off of the development developments that have been built and the ones that are coming over the next couple of years. This proposed 1,700 um units, I would need to know more before I could actually project um what enrollment would look like. The trend, now that we have preschool, um we service over 225 preschoolers now through our universal pre-K program. That allows us a pretty good estimate to gauge what our kindergarten enrollment's going to look like each year. Um so, that that has helped quite a bit. Um but it fluctuates every year. Enrollment can certainly fluctuate. So, I think that's a partial answer for

035you and I can email you with more details and I can link some of those reports that I've provided to the board. My sense is it would be well over 1,000 children all of a sudden if it was built out all at once. That would be how many classrooms in a new school? Yeah, again, 252 units, we that's the Ridge on Route 22. That sounded like a lot of students. It ended up being Now we're now in our second or third year and we have 40 40 students pre-K through eight. I I don't know how to estimate a thousand, you know, but I if I know more about the proposed development I could estimate better. I I will This comes with an asterisk. I'm not a demographer. I do the best I can with the

036reports that I have and with the estimates that we have. Um I I couldn't tell you if a thousand children is an accurate estimate or not without having more detailed information. But please email me and I can provide you with some of these links. Thank you. Of course. Thank you, Dr. Hart. Our next item on the agenda is correspondence. We received quite a few correspondences over the last since the last board meeting. Many were in regards to policy and regulation 2535. They're all on record with board secretary and the list of them are on the agenda. We received so many on the agenda on the online version there's actually a link so if you click on the link you can actually see the email that came in. All right, now I'm going to move to

037board action. This is where we actually vote. It's very hard to hear you. Okay, how about now? Is that better? That's much better. All right, I think that was a little too loud. How about this? All right, so next item is board action. So it is for the approval of the administrative reports. We have two items, item 101 and 102. Can I have a motion and then a second? I'll move, Valerie. Second, Paul. Okay, any discussion on the motion? Okay, let's vote. Ms. Cassidy? Yes. Ms. Fury? Yes. Mr. Lopes? Yes. Ms. Menzer? Yes. Mr. Pieros? Yes. Mr. Rapp? Yes. Ms. Ryan? Yes. Ms. Pinto? Yes. Ms. Rizza? Yes. Passes. Our next item are approval minutes, we have two items, 201 and 202. Can I have a motion and second this? I'll second. All right. Any

038discussion? Mr. Gasby? Yes. Ms. Fury? >> Yes. Mr. Lopes? >> Yes. Ms. Manson? Yes. Mr. Pieros? >> Yes. Ms. Strad? Yes. Ms. Ryan? Yes. Mr. Pizarro? Yes. Mr. Rizzo? Yes. Passes. Our next item is for finance and facilities. We will have a committee report out on the following two minutes. So, can I get a motion and second for items 301 through 313? Motion. I'll second. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Ryan. So, the committee met on Thursday, March 5th. The first topic that we discussed was the Select Solar proposal. Easy Energy contracted with the district two years ago to expand solar at all four district schools. But, due to issues with financing, Select Solar has agreed to take over the contract with Easy Energy. In order for the project to qualify for 30% federal ITC credits, the

039project must have 5% or more of work completed by July 2026 and be fully completed by December 2027. Select will be able to meet the July 2026 requirements. In order for the project to be financially viable, changes to the project structure were needed. The power purchase agreement is the amount the district will pay to Select over the life of the project. The amount was adjusted to ensure financing can be obtained. The contract with Select will have two options. The district can pay the PPA amount for 15 years, and at years 16 and 21, the district and Select have a mutual option to continue PPA for another 5 years. Option two is the district pays PPA for 15 years, and that year is 16 or 21, the district can pay 20% to 25% of the then

040fair market value to purchase the equipment from select. The fair market value is not known at this time. Changes to the number of panels needed to generate the required kilowatts and location of panels were revised. The flat rate the district will pay per kilowatt was modified, but is still currently below the market rate paid by the district to the utility company. At year 25, the district can keep the equipment or have it removed. The cost of removal and disposal is covered in the contract. The maintenance for the equipment is covered for the 25-year period. By locking in a fixed kilowatt rate, the district will not be subject to increases or decreases in pricing for the next 25 years. This allows for better budget certainty by eliminating the fluctuations in energy expenditures. Expected cost savings occur

041in that the number of solar panels is expected to produce more energy than needed, and the district may receive reimbursement from the utility company for the excess generation. In addition, any cost increases in energy prices above the fixed kilowatt will be reflected in savings for the district. Two options were presented in regards to panel location for White House Station. Based on feedback from the administration, a third option was presented that would change the layout of the panel grids to continue to allow for students to use the outdoor area and also be more visually appealing. The third option was the preferred choice. Grid layouts at Three Bridges and White House are aligned in the outdoor space projects in the bond referendum. The next topic was the 2026-27 budget. The committee reviewed key upcoming dates for the

042budget process. March 10th, we have a board meeting and the superintendent includes an overview of the budget timeline. March 12th, the district receives notice of state funding. March 23rd, a budget proposal for board approval will be on the board agenda. And April 28th, final budget adoption on the board agenda. The administration shared an article for the committee to review entitled Governor Sherald provides grim outlook on state finances ahead of budget speech. The committee reviewed staffing requests for the 2026-2027 budget. And the committee reviewed the March 23rd superintendent budget presentation and made a few suggestions on slide content. Next topic, bus route efficiencies. The committee agreed to table the discussion and will revisit when the administration presents recommendations at a future committee meeting. Next topic, pre-K grade eight non-resident tuition rate. The committee agreed with the

043administration's suggested rate of $4,500. Capacity constraints for preschool are close to being reached due to continued high demand and the district will offer a discount with private providers. Future finance agenda items were reviewed as well as the bill list and the next meetings are planned for March 20th meeting and April 24th. Thank you, Michelle. Any discussion? And Uh thank you. I noticed that a number of these initiatives that we just funded the playground uh renovations, the solar panel installation, and the track refurbishment all in might involve some tree removal um and you know, considering our Trees for School project that Mrs. Freeman um is putting forward, I just want to make sure there was transparency around what trees are going to be removed and what our plan is to make sure that uh we're reinstalling

044them um and to keep in mind that building shade is nice, but tree shade is even better for keeping keeping uh playground attendees and athletic activity attendees cool. Stephen, do you want to elaborate on that? Um yeah, so in our um we haven't had kickoff meetings yet for the projects that are starting in summer of 2026. Um, but we have discussed that with the specific vendors um, that impact uh, particularly the track. Um, and there's also some at White House school relating to solar. Um, so the trees that are at White House school very likely be relocated. Um, versus the the ones at the track are very likely going to need to be placed somewhere else. They're they're not going to be able to be removed because it's a forest. It's a forest where the

045track goes right now behind the trees. Um, so to make that area level, to make it an official track, um, they will have to remove those and then they'll have to submit those plans to the township, we'll have to review it and approve it. And then we'll make sure to include obviously We we discussed potentially replacing the trees in the section that is adjacent to the triangle, which is behind the track right now, um, and a few other areas that would provide some shading. But that definitely something I'll make sure to include in both projects moving forward. Okay. Any other questions? Yeah, I I um, for item 3.12, the solar panels, I just wanted to say that I'm so happy to see this moving forward. This is a project that we started probably 3 years

046ago at this point, at least 3 years. Um, and a lot of hiccups along the way and I I said it in the green committee, but I just want to say it in public, just a thank you to Mr. Baum and his team for just moving this forward after all the hiccups. So, thank you. Um, it's a a huge asset to our district uh, for budgeting for the next 25 years, we will know our utility costs for electricity. Um and the goal the green committee goal several years ago was uh 85% uh solar or um gosh, you usage I can't think of the word in all four schools. So, after we complete this project, we will have met that goal. So, that's very exciting and after many years, thank you. Thank you, Jessica. That's work.

047Any one else want to make any comments? Mr. Lombardi, roll call. Ms. Cassidy? Yes. Ms. Fury? Yes. Mr. Lopes? Yes. Ms. Mentor? Yes. Mr. Pieros? Yes. Ms. Rad? Yes, from the upstairs room 3.08. Ms. Ryan? Yes. Mr. DeVitto? Yes. Mr. Rizzuto? Yes. Passes. The next item on the agenda is education technology section. We do not have a committee readout this month. We do have 10 items to We have items 4.01 through 4.10. Can I get a motion and a second? Motion. I'll second. Any discussion on the items? Mr. Lombardi, Ms. Cassidy? Yes. Ms. Fury? Yes. Mr. Lopes? Yes. Ms. Mentor? Yes. Mr. Pieros? Yes. Ms. Rad? Yes. Ms. Ryan? Yes. Mr. DeVitto? Yes. Mr. Rizzuto? Yes. Passes. The next item is personnel. We will have a committee readout. We have six items 5.01 through 5.06.

048We need a motion then a second? I'll move down. Second. Okay, thank you. Christina. So, the committee met on February 20th and the first thing we discussed is staffing updates. We are currently experiencing a period of stability with no staffing changes at RMS, HBS, TVS, or High School for the preschools. We have received one paraprofessional resignation resignation and we'll begin the process to fill that position. Transportation is fully staffed at this time. We also have one FMLA leave that we will need to cover. The committee discussed staffing for the 2026-2027 school year. The committee also discussed non-tenured staff 2026-2027 school year. In regards to registration and preschool enrollment, we currently have six open preschool seats. Of the 253 total seats, 15 are designated for special education and 238 are for general education. We then discussed

049the district will be establishing a district evaluation advisory committee that includes a diverse diverse group of stakeholders. The goals of the goals of this committee meeting are: Review the current educator evaluation process and identify state approved flexibilities, recommend the state approved flexibilities for the 2026-2027 school year, discuss protocols and forms as samples for state approved flexibilities, recommend alternative rubrics for educators such as child study team members, counselors, coaches, etc. The first meeting will be held at Mark on March 30th at 4:00 p.m. And the committee also discussed a personnel matter. Agenda items are new hires and we set our next meeting on March 16th. Excellent. Thank you, Christina. Any comments from anybody? Discussion? Okay. Roll roll call, please. Ms. Cassidy? >> [clears throat] >> Yes. Ms. Fury? Yes. Ms. Veloz? Yes. Ms. Mentor? Yes. Ms.

050Fierros? Yes. Ms. Rad? Yes. Ms. Ryan? Yes. This is the big dog? Yes. This is Rizzo? Yes. Passes. All right. The item is a policy communication. We will have a committee review. We have two items to move 601 through 602. Can I have a motion and second? I'll move to approve. I'll second. Okay. We met on February 9th. The first item we discussed was alert 236. Um policy 1552 and regulation 1552 sexual harassment staff. Strauss Esmay has developed new policy and regulation guides 1552 to address the topic of sexual harassment of staff in the school district. Policy and regulation guides 3362 and 4352 previously addressed this issue but did not address Title IX which also applies to sexual harassment of staff in the school district. Policy and regulation guide 1552 incorporate two separate federal regulations

051requiring action by school district in response to a complaint of sexual harassment. First federal regulation that addresses this issue is the Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the section the second is Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Both of these federal regulations require written policies and grievance procedures which are included in the newly developed policy and regulation guides 1552. Upon receiving a complaint from a staff member alleging sexual harassment, the district shall review the alleged conduct to determine whether to apply the grievance procedure for Title VII or the grievance procedure for Title IX as outlined in regulation guide 1552. Strauss Esmay recommends the district consult with their board attorney anytime a sexual harassment complaint is filed by staff member. Federal law requires written policies and procedures to address uh and

052remediate complaints of sexual harassment of staff in the district making policy and regulation guides 1552 mandated. Um a board member asked if this policy also covers volunteers and unpaid positions in the district and Dr. Hart explained that they would most likely follow policy 9130 for public complaints and grievances. We then discussed policies that will be abolished. Policy and regulation 3362 sexual harassment of teaching staff members and policy regulation 3352 sexual harassment of support staff members will be abolished with the adoption of the new policy and regulation 1552. We then reviewed the Straw Sesame audit. Dr. Hart reviewed the audit of our manual up to the 3000 series so far. He created four categories. Category one, the policy was updated but was not reflected at the time of the audit. Category two, the policy was updated

053but it was not reflected in the online system yet. Category three, the policy needs to be updated but is not mandated and we opted to not adopt the policy. And category four, we need to update the policy. Committee discussed how to best utilize the audit and integrate it with our tracking document. We decided to create another column in our tracking document for the new category numbers. We will each go through our assigned sections and compare our notes to the audit notes and highlight which policies and regulations are highest priority, which will enable us to move through the manual faster and more efficiently. We then discussed the social media report. Our consultant Lori Curlow put together a social media report for us. This report included our goals, performance overview, audience insight, interactions, top and low performers.

054The performance overview showed that from May 1st to August 24th of 2025, we had 3,634 views and 16 interactions. And from August 25th to December 15th, 2025, we had 119,420 views and 1,949 interactions. Our top performing posts were the ones that focused on our students, staff, and awards. Using purposeful and balanced content that includes photos will work best for future posts. We are looking into linking the Facebook account to the Instagram account as well. We then reviewed our policy tracking document. We started reviewing the 3000 series. We reviewed policy 3124 employment contract. There was a question about the number of days notice for non-tenured positions. Dr. Hart will perform the update. Policy 3125.01 employment of non-represented employees. We do not currently have this policy and neighboring district has this policy. We will check the audit

055and look into it to see if we should also have it. Policy 3130 assignment and transfer. Dr. Hart will look into whether or not our needs ours needs more details for non-teaching staff and also review neighboring districts policies as they seem to have a few more details than ours. Policy 3134 assignment of additional duties. We consider including extra safety requirements for coaches and club advisers. Include statements similar to um neighboring districts that have athletic coaches and club advisers covered under the negotiated agreement as a non-athletic extracurricular activity. Must hold or be able to obtain a current CPR and AED certification as well as first aid certification prior to the start of the season in which they are coaching or the first session of the non-athletic extracurricular activity. All outdoor coaches must attend the record safety

056course. Um they only need to do that one time. Coaches must also complete an annual concussion training as well as heat acclimation training prior to the start of the season in which they are coaching. Coaches and club advisers must provide documentation of all completed requirements prior to the start of the season in which they are coaching or the first session of the non-athletic extracurricular activity. A teaching staff member can accrue non- no tenure or seniority rights in an extra day in an extra duty position and is not entitled to reappointment to an extra duty position. Dr. Hart will review this and get back to us. Policy 3143 dismissal. Consider cases where the district terminates without notice. Um this will also be reviewed um and Dr. Hart will get back to us. Policy 3150 discipline. The

057board will endeavor to protect the school children of this district from the influence of unfit employees. The Board of Education shall challenge the continued employment of any employee who demonstrates inefficiency in the performance of his or her duties, is incapable of performing those duties, violates by unbecoming conduct to the unbecoming conduct, the public trust placed in employees of this district, or by other means fails to exhibit the good behavior necessary to sustain employment. When the charges are filed against a tenured employee by any person who will challenge or determine their gravity and permidity in accordance with the statute. This is different from other districts, Dr. Hart will review and get back to us. Policy 3151, assessment and pay. The other districts do not have this policy. Dr. Hart stated we do have a need for

058this policy and this will also be reviewed and we will review any changes made. Policy 3216, dressing. Uh dressing remains staff. The policy was reviewed back in 2022 and it was determined that no updates are needed. Policy 3223, evaluation of administrators including principals, vice principals, and assistant principals. This is a mandated policy. Dr. Hart Dr. Hart will review this policy for missing definitions of administrator, collective bargaining statement, and construction of rubric. Policy 3231, outside employment as athletic coach. Dr. Hart will review this additional policy to see if we should add it to ours. A staff member who wishes to accept employment as an athletic coach in another school district must request and receive permission to do so from the superintendent of this district and the staff member may need to request any special accommodations from

059this school district to fulfill their coaching responsibilities in another school district. A special accommodation may be considered for a requested duty assignment, temporary work schedule adjustment, and or other considerations. A special accommodation will not be considered if it would violate any provisions of any collective bargaining agreement within the district. The staff member's request to the superintendent must be in writing and must indicate with specificity the accommodation that may be required. The the superintendent in consultation with the staff members, building principal, and her immediate supervisor will evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis. For policy 3232, tutoring services, we do not have this policy, but we should consider it. Um this will be reviewed and um Dr. Harper will get back to us. The agenda items are approved policy and regulation 1552, abolish 3362, and 4352.

060And our next meeting is Monday, March 16th at 3:30 p.m. Thank you, Ellen. Any discussion? Mr. Stone? Ms. Gaskin? Yes. Ms. Fury? Yes. Ms. Salotes? >> Yes. Ms. Mentor? Yes. Mr. Pieros? Yes. Ms. Rad? Yes. Ms. Ryan? Yes. Ms. Pinto? >> Yes. Ms. Rizza? Yes. Passed. Thank you. Our next item on the agenda is unfinished business. We have three items. One is an overview of board goals for 2025-2026. Um over the summer, we actually passed board goals. Um and we took it as a board to periodically review them and see how we're doing. We had our first review at our December meeting, and this is going to be our second review to see how we're tracking against the goals that we did over the summer. So, Ellen and Pam have maybe done some analysis on

061this paper. You want me to get started to give you your Sure. Yeah, thank you for >> [laughter] >> wasting your rest. Uh we have four goals. So, if you need me to take any notes or any updates, uh everyone's free to comment and let me know if you want to add anything to it. The first goal is academic achievement. Uh I'll read the goals. The board will ensure academic achievement is a central focus in decision-making by creating and implementing systems and frameworks that prioritize academic success. The board will work with the administration to prioritize teacher retention, training, and recruitment to support achieving academic success. Our March update is that the mid-year diagnostic review of i-Ready data highlighted significant academic growth. The data indicates the district is on track to meet annual goals for student

062growth and a reduction in students requiring intensive intervention. The board received PSAT data from 100 Central showing that the majority of our former eighth-grade students are prepared and performing well when they take the PSAT. The board is considering the purchase and implementation of Universal Design for Learning UDL, which will complement and enhance the current MTSS. Student representatives have presented at our board meetings providing updates of academic clubs, music, field trips, and among more happenings at the middle school. They will possibly expand this report to include all schools in the district. So, thank you for helping us meet our goals, you guys. Um the next topic is safety and security. The board will work with the administration to upgrade and refine safety and security measures to ensure student and staff safety and continue to maintain a

063positive school climate for all students to thrive in. Our March update is that plans have been approved for fire alarm upgrades, security lock sets, doors, and parking lot lighting. These upgrades are funded by the referendum. The IT department continues to prioritize cybersecurity for the district. Newly collected SEL data and teacher assessments helped to identify and offer additional services to students who need additional support in this area. The findings will be shared with parents during parent-teacher conferences. Let me take the last two minutes to check if I got a good number. Um Our next goal is governance protocols. The board will conduct a comprehensive review of existing committee protocols and communications across committees and implement recommended actions. The board will update the policy guide and implement a schedule for reviewing policies. Um so, for March uh

064up until March, the board now shares committee meeting agendas and all attachments in advance of each committee meeting for the full board to review. The policy committee completed its manual review and is now reviewing the Strauss Esme manual audit and comparing it with our notes in the policy tracking document to create a priority list of policies to address next. In January, the board reorganized and re-adopted its code of ethics, bylaws, committee structure, and meeting schedule. And the board approved, effective March 1st, 2026 onwards, all legal notices and board meeting dates shall only be posted on the district website in conformity with revised state code. Our last goal is referendum and strategic planning. The board will collaborate with the administration to launch enhanced communications to inform community members of the referendum. The board will empower the

065finance committee with the administration to create a capital project plan regardless of the referendum outcome. The board will facilitate the implementation of the strategic planning process in coordination with the administration. So, through March, the board launched a new strategic planning process for the 2026 to define long-term district direction. The board hired Judy Wilson as our consultant to help us put our plan together. Individual stakeholder interviews, stakeholder surveys, parent, staff, student, and community forums are underway and many have completed. Core and action teams have been formed and have been meeting. Referendum projects have been prioritized and the following will begin this summer: fire alarms, security locks, smart boards, playgrounds, parking lot lights, storage roof replacements, life skills suite, track, and windows. The referendum project progress will be monitored on our district website, available under the quick

066links tab. One second. Thank you. Very comprehensive. Any comments from the board? Good. Our next item on the agenda is green committee meeting. All right. Um, forgive me, this is my my first committee I'm sharing, so my notes may be a little extensive. Uh, we met on March 3rd. Uh, the Green Committee is comprised of teachers, staff, administration, Board of Ed members, and community members, and who might see in the audience, and thank you for attending. Uh, our first topic was strategic focus for the 25-26 school year. Mr. Bowen provided updates for Green Committee's 25-26 goals in the action plan tracking document. Committee members offered suggestions and execution strategies for each of the three pillars, linking school district strategic planning sessions to the sustainability initiatives laid out in the action plan. For pillar one, which

067is reduce environmental impact and cost, Mr. Bowen presented a referendum update providing public links to the school referendum progress website and status tracking for the first wave of projects funded by the referendum. The district is in process of selling bonds by June with funds anticipated in July. Outdoor spaces are a main focus for this year, with in playgrounds at TBS and White House School already approved for purchase, followed by the HBS outdoor track, HBS life skills suite, and parking lot lighting improvement. Um, those funding are proposed at upcoming board meetings. These projects require minimal planning and design with short lead times and are estimated to be completed this summer through the fall. Mr. Bowen and Dr. Hirsch shared information on the five-year strategic plan and the letter from the board president to communicate strategic planning

068input opportunities. Advertisements were placed in the Chronicle, a strategic plan website was launched, digital survey has been distributed, and multiple in-person and virtual forums scheduled in March for district parents and community members. The strategic plan is targeted for approval in June 2026. Green Committee members offered input on linking a sustainability goal to the five-year strategic plan by embedding the high-level three pillar strategy into the strategic plan goals. Readington has historically demonstrated that investing in an energy conservation consultant and training students and staff has reduced electricity costs for the district. Using a similar baseline and monitoring energy consumption in the district will prove that green energy initiatives save money in addition to the environmental benefit. Uh pillar two was to improve the health and wellness of school students and staff. Mr. Bone provided an outdoor spaces

069update for Ms. Freeman, who has several grants pending approval, including a drones project for students and staff to learn coding and operate drones in a secure area with FAA licenses. The trees for schools for schools project grant is approved and will commence at RMS in April. Volunteers are needed to help with planning, preparing the site by clearing, grading, and fencing the property, and planting trees. Committee members shared that the public Department of Public Works and approximately 20 watershed ambassadors are engaged to support the project and further suggested reaching out to Readington residents to advertise the volunteer opportunity and build community connections. New Jersey Monthly is interested in documenting the trees for schools project at RMS since tiny forests and walking forests are growing in popularity, and Readington is the only school district pursuing this initiative.

070Mr. Bone reiterated that referendum communications will continue as related to this pillar. Pillar three is provide environmental education, STEM civic skills, green career pathways, and more. Mr. Bone provided an update on the solar projects at all four Readington schools. Since our last meeting, the financing and following through with Easy Energy, the contract with the district two years ago. Solect Energy has offered to take over the contract and is attending the finance committee on March 5th to be heard in order to meet the July 5th deadline for financing credits and intend to build the solar infrastructure by December 2027. Solect Energy is a Canadian firm working primarily in Massachusetts and northeast New Jersey and trying to expand further into the New Jersey market. With energy rates rising dramatically, this contract would offer a 25-year warranty, a

071flat energy rate for the next 15 years, and an opportunity for buy out after 15 years. The entire committee thanks Mr. Bone for his tireless efforts to pursue the completion of the solar project which will bring continued value to the district for decades. Thanks, Bone. The proposed biodiversity audit was reviewed as little progress has been made to date, although it's benefit although it benefits each of our schools through 10 Sustainable Jersey credits. The district will have an additional year to make progress on certifications and Sustainable Jersey will be on pause for school districts next year. Mr. Bone shared a sample school grounds biodiversity audit instruction and record with the goal of the audit to improve biodiversity on school grounds, provide hands-on ecology education and awareness, and potentially reduce mowing and landscaping. Dr. Moss offered to

072begin the audit at HBS, and Dr. Hart proposed using HBS as a pilot to assess the scope and success of the biodiversity audit of school grounds prior to expanding to the other schools. Dr. Higgins offered TBS as a second location for the biodiversity audit beginning in September after the forest hill project is complete. Ms. Furey emphasized that the audit must be executed between April and September to maximize plant identification, and after school to engage both volunteer and student participate participation. Local experts in plant and animal identification and interested students both in Readington and Hunterdon Central and community members are encouraged to participate in planning and audit execution. Ms. Swirling recommended photographing plants and animals to create a Readington field guide to identify local species. Under finished and new business, the committee reviewed multiple proposals for

073the $4,000 funding allocated in the 2025-2026 budget for a green coordinator. The funds must be approved prior to the June board meeting. The committee considered using it for energy monitoring, although Mr. Race already tracks energy use. Dr. Hart recommended it be used as a stipend to an interested staff member to coordinate the biodiversity audit. One green committee member volunteered to take this role and will pursue further with administration to lead this initiative. Ms. Betterman shared how air quality monitoring programs are being implemented in the high schools. Inexpensive Wi-Fi-enabled air quality monitoring devices are several hundred dollars to purchase and install, measure particles in the air, and can provide long-term STEM education tools to connect students to publicly issued air quality ratings. Mr. Zwirling suggested building upon the original energy plan developed by an outside consultant

074and proposed crowdfunding to source donations for green initiatives in schools. Ms. Betterman asked about planned Earth Day activities at the schools. Dr. DeRosa has dedicated a new newsletter to the green scene at White House School. Dr. Moss mentioned that Holland Brook School is holding assemblies starting with Grand Canyon's Earth Science Circus program focused on sustainability. Mr. Bone shared Mr. Foster's Fresh Air Fresh Fun newsletter with local outdoor activities, which will be further distributed in Dr. Hertz's community newsletter. Our next Green Team meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5th at Thank you, Pam. Any comments or discussion? Just a one. Pam, did you want to highlight the volunteer opportunities? I have them if you want me to read them out or Um the Green Committee has some volunteer opportunities that will involve the possible community members.

075Our message is looking for volunteers to plan and participate in the Trees for Schools project led by Betsy Friedman. The district is looking for volunteers to plan and participate in the biodiversity audit of each of the school grounds starting at Holland Brook School. Several referendum projects are either approved or nearly approved and will be starting this summer. And those will be highlighted, but those don't need those don't need volunteers. Yeah. So, it's those two volunteers if anyone's interested, um talk to your friends and send them our way. Thank you, Pam. And then was the stipend also considered to apply toward the strategic planning cost or I don't know if that was brought up or mentioned. I know that had been originally proposed um, and it was in the agenda items, but I think the committee

076itself is really focused on using it towards these particular initiatives. Um, and I believe that the committee preferred the biodiversity audit that it supports, so that we can execute that with like those 10 sustainable Jersey credits for each school. Okay. Sizable. Okay. Any other comments or discussion? Thank you. The next item on the agenda is your strategic planning board committee meeting minutes. I will be reading these out. As you may know, at our January reorg meeting, we created an ad hoc committee to support the strategic planning process. On that, it's Pam, myself, Rich, and Linda. So, we attended the first meeting, which was on February 19th. Dr. Hart was also present, as well as Judith Wilson, who is our facilitator for the strategic planning process. Um, the first thing we did, we went over a

077process overview. Mrs. Wilson reviewed the proposed strategic planning process. The key steps include an introductory letter, survey administration, one-on-one meetings, forums for parents, staff, and community members, a core team meeting for goal development, development of actions, and then board review and approval. So, that's the process we're going to be going through through the strategic planning uh creation. The next item we discussed were the surveys. They were sent to us on the week of February 23rd to review, and the surveys have been sent out. They are six surveys. One is pre-K to second grade for parents and faculty. Uh, faculty. The The one is three to five for parents and faculty. The third one is 6 to 8 for parents, faculty, and students. The next one is grade 5 students. We have another one for pre-K

078to 8 support staff, both instructional and non-instructional. And then the last one is community members without children in pre-K through 8. Ms. Wilson is also conducting a series of one-on-one interviews, 15-minute interviews with various people. The groups that she'll be interviewing are all BOE members, all administrators, private preschool providers, members of the HSA and RTE A, and then the Hunterdon Central superintendent. Um the next thing we discussed was to ensure each constituency group is heard and represented. We came up with some recommendations about doing crossover between groups. Now, these are just recommendations. People can attend the groups, but this is some recommendations we came up with. One is um BOE member BOE members can optionally attend any of the forums, but since they're being interviewed one-on-one, it is recommended they not attend any other forums,

079for example, as a parent or community member forum. Another example we came up with is administrative and staff members can optionally attend other forums, such as a parent forum with their children in the district, but we recommended that they only attend one forum, either the parent forum or the staff. Parents can optionally attend the parent or community member forums, but we're asking that or recommending that they only attend one, either the parent or the community member. The next item we discussed was the core team. The core Ms. Wilson recommends a core team of 27 to 30 members representing various statistics constituency groups. To make up the core team, we're going to have 29 individuals, and actually it changed to 30 after that. So, we're bringing in someone from the NJSBA hosting this meeting. We Lori

080Parlin, I think her Yeah, she's our communications director. So, we're going to actually have 30 meeting members of the core team. It may or may not include two students. Dr. Hart's going to follow the parents and staff to see if students can miss two days of school or if they can only attend certain parts of the meeting. So, that's to be determined. Four members are part of the committee. Myself, Rich Payne, and Linda. Dr. Hart, of course. Um we're going to have two community members. We're going to have six parents and students in the district recommended by Dr. Hart. And then, we're going to have 14 Remington School District administrators and select staff selected by Dr. Hart. Ms. Wilson's going to gather the information from the various surveys, forms, and one-on-one meetings. The data will

081be presented to core team on April 29th and 30th. Ms. Wilson will collate the data from the one-on-one meetings and forms and present it in raw data format for the core team to review. The survey data will be collated, will not be collated except by group, but also be presented in raw format. The reason why we're doing raw is so the committee gets to see the data without being filtered. Um the only filtering Ms. Wilson's going to do is to ensure the names and any other data that can be identified to a community member, field member, BOE member, student, or district employee is reworded to remove any identifying features. Um prior to the core team meeting, superintendent and the BOE president's going to review the data presented by Ms. Wilson. They will only review the

082data in regards to confidentiality and identifying personal information and may ask for counsel for review of any items related to that's concerned. Once again, if we're not filtering any data at all, it's going to be raw data presented to the core team. We went over some timelines and dates. The first one is related to communication surveys, public forums, core team meetings, and golden action items. The items we discussed earlier, we went over the dates for them. If you want to see all the information on our website in the superintendent's corner, there's a section called strategic planning process 2026. If you click on that, everything I just read to you is actually on that website with much more detail. So, that's where I actually got a lot of this information from. So, it's a great resource

083for you to go to. But, some of the key dates that we have are the surveys are going to be sent out between February 23rd and they're going to close on March 13th, so this week. The virtual and in-person information sessions begin on February 24th and end on March 9th. The core team meeting will be held on April 29th and 30th. We're going to develop goals and action plans in May, and we're going to have review and approval of the strategic plan in June. Dr. Hart and Mr. Rizzo will send out an introductory letter to Readington student families the week of February 23rd. Communications to community members without children in the district will be addressed via an article in the upcoming Chronicle newsletter. And any communications will come from the strategic planning committee. We will

084keep the communications committee and other members aware of the items discussed. We have no agenda items. For our next meeting, we have none planned. We'll all be at the core team meeting on April 29th. Um, so that will be our next five meetings. Okay. Lastly, we'll discuss any items for discussion. I just had a couple of questions. I was wondering what type of a response you've received to date. I don't have any access to the surveys. Judy Wilson has them all, so I'd have to check with her. I do know that I plan on this week sending out reminders to staff and parents to make sure they answer the survey. Great. My other question is, is there any conflict since us as board members will be interviewed to fill out the survey as a parent?

085I don't think so. Okay, I just wasn't sure. >> They answer as a parent the parent survey and you had your one-on-one interviews with Judith Wilson as well, so yeah. The answer is yourself individually as a parent. Exactly. And it's all anonymous as well, so it's not like any board member can be identified. The interesting thing about the surveys is means there's a bunch of questions up front and at the bottom there was I think four or five open-ended questions. So it gives an opportunity for the different groups actually verbalize or write what they're thinking on it's not just um selecting an answer on another form. Any other comments, discussion? Okay. Do we have any new business from the board? Mhm, I agree. I I can share quickly. Princeton Coalition of Schools met on February

08618th to discuss both secondary education in New Jersey and how to retain students our best students in New Jersey. Not a whole lot to do with pre-K to 8 district, but I was thinking that they mentioned a few recommendations that we could consider for strategic plan around giving credit for life experiences and encouraging teamwork and communication through sports and other activities. So really focusing on some of those uh non-academic activities we do but that do bring tremendous value to the whole student. Okay, thank you Charles. Any other items? Good. Our next item on the agenda is our second public comment section. Now, this can be five on or off the agenda. Similar to before, you have 3 minutes to make comments. If you have any comments, please come up to the podium, write your name

087and the town you're from, and verbalize it as well. Please come up to the podium. Hi. I'm Melissa Bielaw. I'm here speaking to you today in my capacity as the RTEA liaison, a Readington resident, and a language arts teacher. Usually when I address this board, it's out of praise, thanks, and admiration. Following the last board meeting, I felt it necessary to address the tension and perceived dismissal of the concerns presented. It was disheartening to hear the board characterize emails from over 100 residents as mere templates and claim a lack of communication from teachers. A group from RTEA has been attending meetings recently, yet our presence and input seem to be ignored. Please understand that attending these meetings is not a matter of entertainment for us. We begin our days before 7:00 a.m. and often remain

088here till after 9:00 when in attendance. We choose to be here because we care deeply about our work, and we wish to collaborate with you as a team. To have those efforts dismissed feels profoundly disrespectful. Our environment and our morale are unfortunately being negatively impacted. As the BOE liaison, I have received feedback and questions from teachers expressing concerns about using their professional judgment when selecting a text for their class. Please remember your actions and your words have impact on all of us. Thank you. >> [applause] >> MY NAME IS JOYCE MCGINN. I'VE TAUGHT IN THE district for over 20 years and I'm here tonight to also talk about the freedom to read policy. I had no intention of speaking. Marilou Vance spoke on behalf of all the RTA members for the last two meetings. She

089spoke for all of us, but to hear people sit the members say that you know she they haven't heard from any teachers at all. It made me think, "Oh, they really do want our opinions. They want to hear from the people on the front line." So, I want to thank you for the invitation to come and speak to you tonight and to give our side of things. Um so, the decision decision to modify the wording on the the policy and regulation was troubling to many teachers for many reasons. Number one, the seeming dismissal of public opinion at the last meeting was concerning. I'm an RTA rep. I was elected to this position to represent my members, to speak on their behalf, and to ensure due process. Just like you were elected by the community for

090exactly those same reasons. But, is that happening? Is dismissing over 120 emails as cut and paste? That seems to disregard the genuine feedback that was in those emails. There was a message there people took the time to do that. So, I just feel that dismissing so much public feedback, are you really representing your community the job you were elected for. Number two, freedom to read out protects the access to library materials. The insertion of the phrase sensitive material appears to undermine the actual intent of that policy. Which is to avoid arbitrary censorship. Isn't that a dangerous precedent to set? There was an almost it seemed almost an intentional way to undermine what they were trying to to protect. And if board members are doing that, hopefully what interpreting them contrary to the intent. What if

091district members do that? What if they just or choose to misinterpret policies you make? Because that's part of your job. We follow your lead. That concerns me. At the last board meeting, it was repeatedly claimed that adding the phrase sensitive material didn't change anything. But clearly, it does. Well, I assume positive intent. The phrase alters the policy for everyone and not just librarians. Most of the talk has been about the impact on librarians. What about all the classrooms with classroom libraries? Almost every elementary school teacher has a library in their classroom. Since sensitive material is subjective, it invites varied interpretations. Staff are already talking. They are afraid to let children read books in their classroom library. Afraid to let children read for pleasure. Because they don't know if their interpretation of sensitive is the same

092as yours. So, while your intention was good, the intention was to protect the children, I fear the reality is it's stopping children from reading for pleasure. So, I know we're the fight, but I urge you to seriously consider the repercussions of your decisions. The repercussions on children, admin, budget, and many other things, and respectfully ask you to think about are you representing your community and think about the rewarding of that policy. Thank you. >> [applause] >> GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS LAURA MAHONEY. I HAVE been a teacher in Readington for 21 years. Over the past 3 months, this board has spent significant time debating the benefits and wording of regulation 2535. I do want to thank you for engaging in robust discussion, and I especially want to acknowledge those members who raised concerns about unintended

093consequences. That concept has stuck with me in the weeks since, and I think it's important for the board to know that many of the concerns raised are already being felt by the teachers. The rationale for the regulation, its vague language, which even board members could not consistently define, and the brushing aside of existing policies that already allow parents to opt their children out of certain texts, along with several actions over the past few years, have increased unease, insecurity, and anxiety among staff about how the board views our professional judgment. While the stated purpose of the regulation was to support and guide our librarians, the result has felt very different. The intent may have been to support them. The impact, however, has been to question their professional and expertise and to suggest that they are not

094already taking steps to consult with supervisors when difficult decisions arise. In this process, did the school librarians or any other language arts teaching staff specifically ask for support in making tough decisions? If not, the extensive time spent on this topic, while disregarding feedback urging caution, sends a clear message that our librarians' qualifications are not enough to ensure their thoughtful decision-making. This concern was repeatedly voiced by community members and even board members, but was ultimately not reflected in the outcome. When a board positions itself as the final decision-maker on undefined sensitive materials, it sends a troubling message that the professional expertise of educators is not enough. This is especially concerning when those materials have already been reviewed by highly qualified specialists, supervisors, and our superintendent. This perception has fueled claims on social media that there is,

095quote, pornographic reading material in our schools. Claims that are untrue and unfairly disparage the integrity of our educators. Parents absolutely have the right to decide if their child is ready to read more sophisticated topics, but that right should not extend to limiting what all children may learn and explore. Parents and teachers are concerned about the books in our own classrooms. Because the regulation never defined sensitive materials, teachers now worry about potential backlash simply for recommending a book that helps a child grow as a reader. I urge the board to reflect on this decision-making process and to listen more deeply to the concerns brought forward. Remarks that over 100 emails voicing concern, quote, didn't count, give the impression that community feedback was not fully considered. The children of Readington Township are smart. They are capable. They

096are our best and brightest hope for the future. It is our honor to teach them and to know them. Readington teachers take that responsibility and privilege seriously. We ask that you show same respect for the skills, expertise, and professionalism of the educators who serve them each and every day. Thank you. >> [applause] >> TOM CURISH, READING TOWNSHIP. I have the tremors, so I can't write my name. I think it's important for everyone to recognize that folks are board members because the community felt that you best represented their values and the things they wanted in the education system in town. So, they elected you folks. So, with all due respect to the professionals that are here tonight, um I think there was an issue that really brought this to a head. And that was the fact

097that there was a book in the library, and it currently still is. It's called Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. And if that does not have profanity in it, then nothing does. And I'll spare you some of the language used in there, but the F word was used 54 times within the text. Um the S H I word was used 50 some odd times. The mother blank was used seven times. This uh committee was formed to review whether that book should be removed or not. And it was decided that it had enough cultural and artistic value to keep it in the library. So, I think that speaks to this idea that there is no uh uh material in that library that shouldn't be there. As far as uh you know, parents' right to have

098their kid kids read what they want, that's fine. They can go to a public library, they can go to the internet library, they can get that stuff anywhere they want. But, why it has to be in our school library, middle school library with 11-year-olds to to 14 at top year-olds, why someone would want that kind of material in there is beyond me to understand. I really don't. Now, people have said that oh, this new board has an agenda. Be honest with you, anyone that wants that book in the middle school library, I believe has an agenda. So, again, the point being you people were elected because I think the community felt that you best represent our values and desires. And I hope you continue to do that. Thank you. I'm going to deliver the same

099speech I delivered last time because I am that passionate about censorship. Excuse me, please don't start the clock while I'm without my glasses. Once again, my name is Kathy Czerniak. I come here in court to tell you a cautionary tale. And for those who did not hear this speech, I think it'll be poignant and I wish it would stick to your head what I'm about to say. My family survived Nazis and I survived an oppressive communist regime in Poland. Censorship is very near and dear to my heart as communists love to keep their people in the dark. Is that what are we doing here? In Poland, we had a a we had a censorship office that controlled books, press, and entertainment. Are we creating a censorship office here? We were forbidden to learn about certain

100parts of history, like the Russian massacre of 22,000 Polish military officers and intellectuals. We could not learn other cultures and forbidden to learn anything opposing our government. And of course, we were never >> [sighs] >> We were never to learn about anything about sexuality. Censors remove sentences and paragraphs for the softening of the text. Librarians were systematically purged. And authors and authors were forced to write communist propaganda. Is that where we're heading? But I'm here also to highlight censorship in another country. Nazi Germany. In 1933, the book burnings began. It was initially done by university students, but eventually carried out by other groups. This was not done on the behest of the government, but the German citizens themselves embracing the Nazi ideology. Whose ideology I would embrace here? Whose? Speak. The books that were purged

101were written by Jews, criticized the war, and were pro-leftist movement. That sounds familiar. The Germans saw this as a renewal of German nationalism. They demanded that the teachers be screened to ensure that their thinking was in line with German spirit. Many of these authors had EITHER THEIR CITIZENSHIP REVOKED. ISN'T that where we're heading to here? Escape the country or were killed. Are we going to be screening people here, too? Are our librarians going to be screened? Are teachers? Perhaps someday you will be screened. In conclusion, the Nazi censorship campaign was seen as a triumph of the world view I of over competing ideas. Well, we are here because you support suppressing ideas. God damn. Just that that the language is so horrific. Lastly, to the librarian, don't give into this authoritarian Please don't encourage this.

102Because censorship begins in authoritarian regimes and not here in America. And to the members of this committee who support censorship, someday you too will have a starring roles in history books and will not be and will be compared to the Nazis and the communists of the past. I will not stand as my beloved AMERICA FALLS INTO THE fascist wannabe's hands. Okay. Are there any more adults that have comments? Yeah. I have one. Uh Gail Wong, Reading Township. I'm a little concerned that when you say you're going to you know, the board gets to review these books, you know, for content, right? Don't you trust your parents to keep an eye on what their kids are reading? Don't you trust your librarians and your teachers to have appropriate [snorts] materials in the school? Why don't do

103certain people get to determine what other parents get to have their kids read in the school? This this isn't just an issue of appropriate material that you get to pick, right? For your kids. It's whether somebody else is is imposing what they think is appropriate onto your children. Taking your choices away from you. That is profoundly disturbing to me. That is it. Within time. Hi, my name is Katherine DeLuca. I'm a Readington Township resident, uh District 6. Um I wanted to first thank the board uh for reading my correspondence at the last meeting. Um I did deeply appreciate it. And I was also heartened to hear the communication and discussion um that seemed very intent on encouraging curiosity um and also development of school children. Um in that spirit, I wanted to come and speak

104at this month's meeting uh to follow up from my email from last month. Um as has already been mentioned, and I won't spend a lot of time on it, um there were a lot of distressing things. Uh namely, the wholesale dismissal of the email complaints that were sent. Um one of the reasons I felt I had to come today is to demonstrate that the emails have people behind them and not just like machines or anything like that. Um if we are getting emails in, um they can be quantified. So, I think that knowing how many emails are coming in from the community, um we know which are from residents, if there are form fields in them. So, that's information that I think can be shared. Um it was also extraordinarily disheartening to see um not

105only community comments, but feedback from educators um in the community disregarded it. And another thing quite honestly that I found profoundly upsetting was the chair's assertion about how this is probably how the process worked. Hearing that this is probably the way something is demonstrates not full awareness of how it actually is. So, a lot of the questions I raised in my communication were about what the existing process was. You know, are we introducing redundancies when there's especially times when we are so close to what our budget, you know, limits are and that's very much in consciousness. Are we introducing processes that don't have any value? Um, I am very glad that the gentleman had brought up the one book that has been challenged, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, because at the March 14th,

1062023 board meeting it was identified that the challenge originated from a person who's currently a member of the board. Um, that would seem to me to be a conflict of interest. Um, why do I care? As I had mentioned before, I don't have children in the district. I spent grades K through five in private school, grades six through 12 in public school, and I can say that my public education was foundational. So, in my capacity as a community member, somebody who supports teachers, librarians, educators of all stripes, prior to today's meeting I did provide the board administrator, Mr. Bohm, with a pro se petition of appeal against Red. That was my three-minute timer that I set personally for myself. That was for Red 2535. So, there has now been a formal challenge that has been

107filed. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> SORRY, I FORGOT MY NAME. ANYONE ELSE? I I am Garbiella Correa. I want to introduce you me as a Reddington resident, a parent, master of all this of this school system. And uh an employee of this district. I'm also a 2024 Huntington County Teacher of the Year. And um I'm standing here because it's uh just as a parent, I wanted to stand here and salute her teachers, her librarians because when she was out of Reddington into um you know, looking for jobs, internships, and today she is a very productive citizen of the United States of America. So is So are her Reddington friends that she's been in touch with. So I I stand here saluting her teachers who have Some of them have retired, some are still coming back

108as subs, some are still in the district, and all the librarians of all four of all four schools because library some somehow weaves into all subjects. You're good. Today um as uh a teacher in my classroom, when I teach, my first priority is are the kids in front of me. And I look at their social emotional health before I can introduce any any uh content. And I feel like the board has ignored that health, the social emotional the emotional health of the staff. And whatever happened last week from the part where public could speak at the beginning to the end, I felt like all our comments were ignored. And there was a part where I talked to myself, okay, today ego is overriding mindfulness. You were not mindful of the emails you received. You weren't

109mindful of the comments that were made standing here. You weren't mindful of Mary Vance coming here talking about how you're destroying our moral morale. You weren't mindful of the RMS librarian who stood here and had to defend her um all her degrees and what how she is able to how she qualifies for her position. So, it is hurtful. And today I stand here saying that when I teach and I want to take up new initiatives, it doesn't feel and I feel for staff sitting there. Thank you. >> [applause] >> OKAY, ANYBODY ELSE? ALL RIGHT. JASON DELUCA FROM THE Redington Redington. So, I figured I'll take my time to uh read from uh the Redington website. Code of ethics for school board members. A school board member shall abide by the following code of ethics for

110school board members. I will uphold uphold and enforce all laws, rules, and regulations of the state board of education and court orders pertaining to schools. Desired changes shall be brought about only through legal and ethical procedures. I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex, or social standing. I will confine my board actions to policy making, planning, appraisal, and I will help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted with those who will be affected by it. I will carry out my responsibilities not to administer the school, but together with my fellow board members to see they are well run. I will recognize that the authority

111rests with the Board of Education and will make no personal promises nor take any private action that will compromise the board. I refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interests or partisan politics or to use the schools for personal gain or the gain of friends. I will hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which if disclosed would needlessly injure injure individuals or the schools. In all other matters, I will provide accurate information in concert with my fellow board members, interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community of the schools. I will vote to appoint the best qualified personnel available after consideration and recommendation of the chief administrative officer. I will support and protect school personnel in proper performance of their duties. I will refer all complaints to the chief administrative off- officer

112and will act on those complaints at public meeting only after failure of the administrators to do so. I hope that you are all acting in the best interest of the school, of the children, and in these ethical guidelines. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Anyone else in the We do have one email that was requested to be read at the meeting, so We also have a comment online from an ad wow now John funny how a lot of people look uncomfortable on the board because they know it's true about the smudging. Um, I also have an email here from an Andrea Caballero. You can't hear? Dear members of the Readington Board of Education, as a long-time Readington Township resident, I am writing to express my strong opposition to the board's attempt to alter the language of

113the Freedom to Read Act passed by the state in 2024. The addition of the phrase "sensitive material" in policy and regulation 2535 is a vague term open to individual interpretation. This inclusion undermines the original intent of the policy, which is to protect intellectual freedom and ensure access to age-appropriate materials. Such language appears to be an intentional loophole to allow for the arbitrary banning of books. Furthermore, it is highly concerning that the board president publicly states his opinion before an official vote takes place. This is an unethical procedure that appears designed to influence other board members rather than upholding the standards of the office. I request that the board reflect on community feedback and reconsider the amendments to policy and regulation 2535. The policy should be adopted in its original form to protect the Freedom to

114Read Act as intended by law. I am unable to attend the next meeting, therefore I would like to read this read aloud into record during the public comment section of the meeting. Sincerely, uh Andrea Caballero. Any other comments before we close out the session? Okay. Well, thank you very much for coming out today and making your comments known. I'm now going to move to executive session. We have a motion. Um, motion to adopt the following resolution. Resolve to adjourn to executive session in accordance with the Sunshine Law to discuss a legal matter and two HIVs for approximately 30 minutes by which time the board expects to return to public session where action shall be taken. Matters discussed will be made public if and when the circumstances requiring confidentiality no longer exist. However, it is not

115presently known when such circumstances will exist. I will move this. Can I get a second? >> I'll second. Okay. Can we do a roll call? Ms. Gaskin? Yes. Ms. Ford? Yes. Ms. Lopes? Yes. Ms. Vincent? Yes. Ms. Spiro? Yes. Ms. Rabb? >> [clears throat] >> Yes. Ms. Ryan? Yes. Ms. Pinto? Yes. Ms. Rubin? Yes. This is Okay. Well, we're going to be moving to executive session, so thank everyone for coming out today and have a good evening.