Sayreville Board of Education Meeting - 03/17/2026

001In accordance with with chapter 231 public law 1975, this public meeting of the Sayreville Board of Education has been established by sending a copy of the public meeting notice to the Home News and Tribune and to the Star-Ledger. In addition, copies of the announcement of this meeting have been sent to the bureau clerk and a copy of the notice of the meeting has also been posted on the bulletin board outside the office of the secretary to the board. Please rise 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 liberty and justice for all. Roll call, Ms. Prashad. Mrs. Bloom Here. Mr. Callahan Here. Mrs. Trutkofsky Here. Mrs. Hernandez >> Here. Mrs. Maldonado >>

002Here. Mrs. Napolitano >> Here. Mrs. Pabón Here. Mr. Smith Here. Mr. Fernandez Here. Can you summarize the executive session, Ms. Prashad? The board met in the executive session this this evening to discuss student matters, attorney-client privilege, and the SCA grievance from 2526 number four. Any correspondence of note? There is no correspondence. I'd like to entertain a a motion to approve the minutes of both the regular and executive session of March 3rd, 2026. So moved. >> Second. Allison and and Jeff. Oh, Katia. Sorry, Allison and Katia. I gave it to you. So, you looked. All right. >> [snorts] >> Now, for the absolute best part of the evening. Ms. Koontz Good evening, Board of Education members and administrators. My name is Morgan Koontz, SWMHS Student Council Board of Education representative. I would like to begin with

003clubs and activities. Student Council members had the opportunity to read to the elementary school students in honor of Read Across America Week. Congratulations to senior Maya Sandiford for being named the 2025-2026 Middlesex County Secondary Principals Association Outstanding Student for Sayreville War Memorial High School. This prestigious honor is chosen by Mr. Gluhosky, principal of SWMHS, from among the 464 seniors in the class of 2026, making it an extraordinary recognition. Mr. Sayreville will be hosted on Wednesday, March 25th, at 7:00 p.m. in the John Bon Jovi Performing Arts Center. The Mean Girls show was a was a success. The actors, actresses, ensemble, staff, and theater crew worked very hard for weeks to put on this amazing play, and it paid off. The crowd was beyond entertained, and there wasn't a single dull moment throughout the show. Afterburns

004annual St. Patrick's Day set featured tunes by The Dropkick Murphys, The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack, Swallowtail Jig, and Oh Danny Boy. Moving on to sports. The girls basketball team celebrated their remarkable 19-8 season during their end-of-the-season banquet. All spring sports tryouts are complete, and the spring season has officially started. Thank you for your time and support. >> [applause] >> Great job, Ms. Koontz. I'm sure Dr. Labbe has some questions. >> I always do. You know, first a good story. So, Mrs. Hernandez actually introduced me to Maya the other evening. What an outstanding young lady. I'm so proud of her. Oh, yeah. Did you guys go to the play? Did you you have a chance to go to the I did not go to the play. Oh my goodness. I got to say, I mean,

005I'm I'm I know many of you went. I think it's by far one of the best that I've ever attended since I've been superintendent here in Sayreville. Um the performance of the kids were amazing. To have that many students who sing that well was incredible. I mean, it it was amazing, and um I I give um you know, commendations to Ms. Rivera Wu um and and all of her incredible staff, and of course the the the stars and other students who all combined to make it such a a great evening. Uh again, kudos to them. How's track practice going? It's good. Right now, I'm training for nationals, so like my winter season is still going, basically. Oh, nice. I have Adidas Nationals in Virginia Beach on Saturday. What events? The 800. National Elite 800. Oh,

006it's like death, isn't it, running the 800? Yeah. >> like Kind of. Cuz you run out of breath after the 400. >> The last lap hurts. It's it's it's horrible. Yes. Yeah. Good for you, honey. And it's great to have the snow off the track, finally, huh? I know, and it better not snow again. >> [laughter] >> Yes, hopefully. Good yeah, don't say it. Don't say the S word, please. Great job, Morgan. Thank you. I can't wait to to learn how many records you break this year. I'll let you guys know. >> [laughter] >> Please keep us posted. You always make us proud. And I unfortunately I didn't get to make it to the Mean Girls play. You know, I'm a big big advocate of our theater, but I heard it was great, and to

007hear that it was one of our better ones really saying a lot. We've truly had a lot of amazing talent come through that program, and we put on a lot of amazing shows. So, to hear that it's truly truly amazing. >> star was born. The the son of a board member is now a star. >> [laughter] >> He was amazing. So proud of him. He definitely has some moves. He surprised me. >> I was going to ask him for dance lessons later. I'll charge I'll charge for a fee. Minimal fee. >> [snorts] >> Great. And now, Ms. Callahan Good evening, Board of Education members and administrators. My name is Samantha Callahan, Sayreville Middle School Student Council Board of Education representative. Going into the seventh month of the 2025-2026 school year, we have many events going

008on throughout Sayreville Middle School. The PTO will be hosting an International Festival on April 10th at 7:00 p.m. They're looking for people to host a table as well as guests to attend the events. There is a Devils game on April 12th at 7:00 p.m., and tickets are still for sale. The SMS Got Talent will take place Friday, April 12th, at 7:00 p.m. at SWMHS. They're still searching for talent to sign up. The Student Council will be hosting a spirit week leading to spring break. The Middle School FBLA chapter will compete tomorrow, March 18th, at the State Leadership Conference at Kean University. The students have been working hard. Eco started indoor planting prepared the to prepare the pollinator garden in the spring. The club continues to work on initiatives to inform their peers and their community

009members about climate change, such as a proposal for painting a climate change awareness mural at SMS, starting a food waste program, and presenting at the SMS Earth Day summit. Some of the group members are attending Rutgers second annual climate summit tomorrow in partnership with the NJDOE climate grant, where they will learn from their peers and professionals from local partner environmental groups. The Community Service Club will host a Chipotle fundraiser on Wednesday, March 18th, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Community Service meeting will be held on March 18th to host a school cleanup outside. Finally, they're planning for Take Your Child to Work Day activities on April 23rd. There will be a book fair in the library next week. Students will have an opportunity to purchase books and other things with their language arts classes and

010during lunch. Now, on to the Sayreville Middle School Athletics. The boys volleyball team hosted tryouts this week for their first season. The Middle School All Music Cheerleading team took first place at the NJCDCA on Saturday, March 7th. This is their seventh state title. They'll be recognized at the Board of Education meeting in April for their achievement. The Game Day team cheered on the SMS Unified basketball game last week. The girls lacrosse team wrapped up tryouts last week, and they officially started practicing this week for their first season. The track and field team has officially started tryouts. The first day was on the 12th, and they end tryouts on the 19th. Thank you very much for this opportunity to speak on behalf of the students at Sayreville Middle School. >> [applause] >> Dr. Labbe First and

011foremost, congratulations on the All Music Division Thank you. >> championship. That's wonderful news. Seven titles. Wow, I wasn't aware of that. Crazy. Mrs. Lynch will be upset for not knowing. Fantastic. And how's lacrosse? Uh it's good. I made the team. Yes. >> [applause] >> Great job. Thank you. So happy for you, honey. It's great to know you get your athletic talent from your mom. So, I'm really excellent. >> [laughter] >> No, I'm just kidding. Your your your your dad was a great athlete. Great job, Sam. Thank you. Thank you, and both of you. I I know I've said it before, but you represent yourselves not only with incredible grace and poise, you're excellent representatives of your peers, our school, and our community, and I want to thank you both, and especially thank your your parents

012for that, cuz they obviously had a big big part of that. So, Mr. Callahan, please into your wife, Mrs. Callahan, into your parents, the Koontz family. Thank you. Thank you. Now, before I do my Board President comments, I'd like to take a moment, and I want to recognize Carrie. Where she is over there. Sorry, I I lost my bearings there for a second. >> [laughter] >> As as you were as you prepare to leave us, over the past 15th months ser- serving alongside you, I've truly come to admire you. You have consistently demonstrated intellect, dedication, and strong work ethic in everything you've done. More importantly, every decision you've made was guided by what you believed was the best for our students and our community. You also bring the the perspective of a devoted mother and

013wife, and that grounding has always been evident in your approach. Thoughtful, compassionate, and focused on doing what was right. While our time together was was relatively short, your impact has been meaningful. You have been a valued voice of the at this table, and your presence will certainly be missed. On behalf of the board, I want to thank you for your service, your commitment, and your contributions to to to Sayreville. Um and unfortunately, not only are we losing you on this board, we're losing you in our community, um as you're moving out of town. So, um I want to thank you and wish you and your husband all all the best in your new venture. Very kind words. Thank you. Now for my board president comments. As I often start, I want to start with the

014Bombers Beyond Cafe, the happiest place in town, which is truly a hub of activity in our community. I got to tell everybody they now have waffles. Um excellent addition. They're fresh made there. Um Yes, I did sample them. Um and it's just another great expansion onto what they do. Every Every new addition is is always been a home run there. And they have something for everybody. They even have a a gluten-free item there for everybody. So, if you haven't been there, you should really go. Really is the the best place in town. This past Thursday, the cafe hosted a video game night. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend. However, I heard it was a tremendous turnout with the with with great activity. I also want to thank the South Amboy Sayreville Rotary Club, Marie Church

015for their generous donations of a PlayStation system and a TV that helped make this event happen. Looking ahead, March 27th, the Sayreville Historical Society will be hosting the screening of the history of Sayreville at the Bombers Beyond Cafe apparel store. It's a great opportunity for our community to come together and celebrate the history that makes Sayreville special. I also want to take a moment to to wish a happy birthday to Youssef from the Bombers Beyond Cafe. I'll see you soon. I also like to recognize our our our borough rec director, Ryan Van Dunden, who was recently honored for excellence in parks and recreation. This recognition highlights his leadership and the impact he continues to have in bringing programs, events, and opportunities to our community. Recreation is a vital part of what connects this town, and

016Brian's work continues to strengthen that bond. We're proud to see him recognized and proud to call him one of our own, making Sayreville truly proud. >> [snorts] >> I also want to congratulate our athletic director, Jen Padami, who recent was recently featured in the Asbury Park Press as part of a piece highlighting female athletic directors across the state. This recognition is well deserved and speaks to the leadership and professionalism she brings to our district. And just as importantly, it highlights the growing and important role of women in leadership positions, particularly in athletics, an area where those roles have traditionally been underrepresented. Representation matters. Jen's leadership not only strengthens this program, but serves as an inspiration to our students, especially our young women, showing them what is possible through hard work, dedication, and leadership. And finally,

017I I'd like to remind everyone that the Bombers Beyond Cafe will be hosting a transition resource fair on April 14th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. This event will provide families with a wide range of resources, information, help them plan as they move on to the next phase in their in life. Additionally, on April 16th, the cafe will host kindness rock events in part in partnership with the MCUA. This is a free event to all. And as always, I want to thank everyone for everything. And now to a much better presentation, Madam Vice President. All right. So, um first and foremost, uh accommodations to the Sayreville War Memorial High School Art Department students, Gabriel DeJesus, pencil drawing, Gabriella Genovesi, for jelly jellyfish ceramic piece, and Layla Landon, for strawberry mug ceramic piece, whose artwork placed in

018the Middlesex County Teen Arts competition. Their work Their work will now move on to the state Teen Arts Festival in June. Um congratulations to Phineas Goldman, second grader at Truman, Lillian Gendrano, third grader at Wilson, Evan DeNicola, fifth grader at uh the UES, and Peyton Sakovich, seventh grader at the middle school, who were recently awarded the Marissa Tufaro Memorial Art Scholarship, which is highly competitive scholarship to attend a summer art camp at the Rutgers University Zimmerli Art Museum. Also, congratulations to Sayreville War Memorial High School swimmer, Michael Wyszensko, who performed magnificently at the NJSIAA Swimming Meet of Champions. He broke both of his existing school records in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke. He also advanced to the finals of the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:54.77, ultimately finish finishing eighth in

019the state in that event and ninth overall in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.37. I also want to acknowledge, um so I had the opportunity, Dr. Aguliar kindly um invited me to this month's BOE Vision 2030 Culture, Climate, and Safety Committee meeting, comprised of teachers and administrators from all elementary schools as well as the UES, SMS, and the in the high school. Various topics were discussed, including the student advisory committees at the respective schools and status update on the wellness subcommittee, including next steps on the wellness pantry initiative. During the meeting, we reviewed and provided feedback on the initial draft of a parent survey that will be distributed to get better sense of how we can best service our families through this wellness pantry. It was a very productive meeting with a lot

020of excitement exciting ideas. >> [snorts] >> This meeting left me even more excited to see where the initiative will go. So, thank you to Dr. Aguliar and the entire committee for your hard work and dedication to seeing this mission through. I really appreciate it. Um also, I just wanted to give the board um an update. So, I attended the second annual leadership summit for board presidents and vice presidents on March 7th, where [snorts] I had the opportunity to just um fellowship and network with different board presidents and vice presidents. There were talked about key topics, including regionalization and efficiencies, advanced governance and vision-based leadership, strengthening board team dynamics, and strategies for navigating conflict and challenging public meetings. There were many valuable tools and resources shared that I will pass along to the board at a

021later date, but the overall focus was on supporting board presidents and vice presidents in fostering strong governance practices that ultimately strengthen the district and support student success. Um particularly during the networking with other districts, one tool that came up was BoardDocs. I don't know if you guys heard of it, but it's one that many um boards use um to streamline their agendas and addendums and supporting documentation. Um based on what I saw, I believe it's something that it would be beneficial for us to explore as a board to see if it's something that we can we can implement here as well. So, I'll I'll submit, you know, further information about it. Um and that's all for me. Great. Thank you, Madam Vice President. I believe we have no presentations today. Oh. I'm sorry. To add

022to what Mr. uh Fernandez said earlier, um as a school district, we can't thank Carrie enough for I'll get up get up for all that she did for our students and our staff in the year and several months that she's been with us. And I just want to say, Carrie, it's been an absolute pleasure. Um you know, I know that things may not have started the way we wanted them to start, but um I you earned my my respect and my reverence in the time that you've been here. Um your thirst for knowledge um is only rivaled by your proficiency of education and how you apply that proficiency in everything that you did while you were on this board. Uh Personally, your presence in our student discipline discipline committee meetings um was incredible. It shaped

023a lot of my decision-making in those committees, um and it's something that I'll always be grateful to you for and admire you for. So, on behalf of all of the students and the staff of the Sayreville Public Schools, we can't thank you enough for your impeccable service while on our Board of Education. >> [applause] >> Cap, I thought he was going to give you the bill for the budget. >> [laughter] >> No, you're going to get that, Mrs. Thank you so much. That was very kind of you. Thank you all. It been a pleasure. I have a little speech I'm going to say at the end for when you open for any board member comments about anything. >> You'd rather say it now. You >> deeply appreciate it. >> Feel free. Oh, wait. Let me

024open it up. Well, >> Okay. Listen, it's it has been a a wonderful honor and privilege to serve on this board. And truly, it it is funny because as I as I speak briefly with each person or someone comes to me and says, you know, it's been you know, a pleasure and we don't always agree has been the common comment, but it's a good thing because I think that and I've said this that any board where every single board member agrees on every single thing is not a proper representation of the community. There are differing opinions and there needs to be differing opinions on a board. And we get outvoted on things and we agree with things and that's how a board is supposed to work. So, yeah, we started out of the gate disagreeing

025on some things, but that is a good thing and I appreciated the opinions and the positions that everybody holds and I appreciate the process. You know, even when it results in in not winning votes on something, I appreciate the process because we're representing those who voted us into these seats well when the process is respected in that way. So, this has been a true joy and a true privilege and an honor to serve the community, you know, in this in this service role and I just wish you all the very best. And I know that, you know, although we have differing in opinions, one thing is a common thread throughout. Every single person on this board has such a passion and a heart to serve the kids in this community and the families in this

026community. That is that is just profoundly obvious that everyone here has a heart uh to make sure that these kids get an excellent education at that, you know, that every student is protected, that families are respected and that their voices are heard is something everybody agrees on. So, we agree on what we we're supposed to agree on. And the rest we kind of do get out a little bit and that's okay. But, I've appreciated my time here and I'm going to miss you guys very much. I'm going to miss serving alongside of you. It's a wonderful board to serve on. So, God bless you guys. We're certainly going to miss you and uh I just want to want to say something to Carvey. We have known each other before serving in the board, but uh

027really it wasn't that much. We weren't, you know, that close. Uh working closely with you has given me the opportunity to truly get to know your character, your dedication, and your incredible heart. I deeply admire your wisdom, honesty, ethics, and hard work and it has been inspiring to see how you approach every challenge with thoughtfulness. I also greatly admire your love for God, your devotion to family values, your care for the students, and your commitment to this community. We share the same values, which has been made working together even more meaningful. You have taught me so much and ideally deeply rooted to my convictions. [music] It has has been >> [laughter] >> It has been an absolute honor to work alongside you and I will always be grateful for the time we share on this

028board. You're a blessing in my life and you will be deeply missed. Likewise. Likewise. It has been I mean, it's it is nice to have some individuals that do agree, you know, on positions, but it has been a tremendous blessing to serve alongside you. Thank you. Thank you. And I just want to say that uh although no two two human beings are ever going to agree on everything, I think on the vast majority of times we we've agreed on just about everything. I'd say 99% of the time you've always been on the right side of decision and we've always agreed. So, um I think the the sometimes we disagree things a little overblown. Um I think we overwhelmingly agree on things and and and to your point, no no two human beings should ever agree

029on on every single thing. So, um really you've been hm? Except for except for when you're speaking and then everyone should should agree with you. All right. Anyone else has anything to say? No? All right. So, now we're on to our board discussions. Finance and infrastructure, Ms. Pavone? Last Tuesday evening, the Board of Ed and Finance Infrastructure Committee met. Um we uh were informed that the we received our state aid figures uh later in the week cuz we didn't have them at that time. So, um once they were received, they were going to make revisions to the budget. Um Mr. Jimmy, how do you say Jimmy's last name? Kolmansberger. Kolmansberger. I never knew it was burger. Kolmansberger provided an update on the referendum projects. He informed the committee that he and our architect um continue

030to make excellent progress in completing the individual punch list for each school. Um not to say people in the public, but this um you have to thank Jimmy because he brought this project in on time and on the budget. So, thank God we had Jimmy. Um he in he uh is fixing up the individual punch list for each school. Um March 17th, we're going to be asking you to approve a change order for $60,000 for chalking and filling the holes in the ceilings at the middle school. Uh Mr. Colesburg Kolmansberger? Mr. Jimmy. >> [laughter] >> I'm just going to call him Jimmy. Ordered the wrong ones by acc- um the contracts I ordered the wrong ones by accident for window slashes. In addition, he informed the committee that the conditional the conditioned fresh air units

031will be installed on the roof of the middle school on March 20th, which is in 2 days. Since the HVAC units were installed a couple of months ago, we were very close to having air conditioning in the boys and girls locker rooms and finishing this last part of that project. Finally, he told the committee that we are still waiting for JCP&L to schedule the disconnection of the old transformer at Selover so they can connect the new transformer to the new switch gear. Um Jimmy also reported the progress on the Shorelands is making to finish the solar canopy completion project at the high school and that would be to uh putting all the lights and all that for the solar. Um in fact, he indicated they had begun to install installing the remaining panels and the

032lights for the canopies. We will also be asking you to approve a change order that will potentially allow us to connect the canopies to our electrical infrastructure without trenching and tearing up the parking lot. Yay! He also noted that the high school greenhouse finally arrived was delivered last week. If you don't remember, we've been waiting for this greenhouse for almost quite a long time. All right. So, finally got here. So, he um is going to work with the contractor who's going to be building it and putting it all together. Um the electric sign for Samsel has been installed and later this week the middle school sign should also be installed. And furthermore, he said that within the next couple of weeks we should um both should be connected and operational. And once they are, the

033contractor will install and connect the lights at Orlith and Eisenhower. And just so everybody knows, those signs I did hear some rumbling on Facebook about the oh, why do we need signs? Why do we need to pay this money? Because those signs do illuminate our school and show that we care about our schools and it raises our property taxes when our schools look good. Just so everybody understands. Have a great day. Just a little update, too. We just found out that JCP&L will be [music] disconnecting the power on March 30th so they can connect the transformer at the Selover school to the new switch gear. Thank you, Ms. Pavone. And I can't agree with you more on your comments about Jimmy. Um Mr. Jimmy, I should say. Um what a lot of people don't understand

034is by him taking on that that additional work and doing that, he saved this district almost 200,000 $1,000 from having outsourced that function. So, thank you, Jimmy, for for your dedication. Thank you, Jimmy. Now on to personnel, Mr. Callahan. Mr. President, I wasn't here for that so I don't know if Dr. Labby or Dr. Agules. Dr. Agules. Thank you. You're not prepared? I was actually emailing it to you right now. The the committee met this evening. We talked about open positions including certificated staff of which there are now seven open positions with three positions uh being filled or coming back by the end of March. Our non-certificated staff, we filled seven positions that were open between last month and this month. Uh our career fair will will be holding our annual career fair on Saturday,

035May 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. uh focusing on all open positions both certificated and non-certificated. We discussed our fill rates, which are the number of substitutes that we had between February 17th and March 17th. We took a short dip and we're back on track to where we have been in the past at 75 to 85% fill rates. Uh we updated the job description of the principal secretary at the middle school, which is much more in line with uh the current job uh than was previously uh was previously there. Uh we discussed the career fairs that HR will be attending at the various universities and colleges and that's it. Thank you, Dr. Agules. And now on to the Middlesex County School Board Association, Ms. Baloun. Okay. Well, um right now, of course, our primary

036uh project is the Unsung Heroes Banquet, which Dr. Labby, the county president, Sharon Miller, and myself were at the high school today walking through the cafeteria one more time to make sure that we have everything that we're going to need and where we want it to go and right now everything looks like we're on track to have a beautiful evening and that will be on Thursday, April No, March 26th. I'm getting my banquets mixed up. It's next Thursday. Next Thursday. Thank you. At Sayreville War Memorial High School cafeteria. And that's it for school boards. Thank you, Ms. Bloom. Now I open up the public participation on agenda items only. Welcome back, coach. Can I ask what the item number is? Coach, you got to say your name and your address first. I'd like Dr. answer

037that question. So, your question, just to to clarify, is how are we doing with regards to hiring paraprofessionals? Good, Dr. Aggis. It's It's a challenge, to say the least, but we do We do have, as you can see in the board agenda, we do hire a number of paraprofessionals. Sometimes we do move them around as they're better suited for the preschool versus the high school, etc. But it is a challenge. It's one that we're we're working on, but uh hopefully with the new negotiations, as well as the career fair, which we invite district to the community come and see us, we'll start filling more of those positions. Mhm. Yes. at the candidates tonight. That was the discussion. Maybe a little bit more incentive to work might help with the paraprofessionals. Well, that I can't discuss,

038but >> I know. I know. But I know how important they are. Yes. As as being a former teacher, I know how important and how hard it is to get them. Absolutely. >> was I just wanted to hear personally how how you're doing. Perfect. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. >> Did you have another question about coaches? Uh no, I don't have a Okay. >> [laughter] >> Hello, Mickey Fisher, 58 Kierste Street in Parlin. Um I just had a question, Mrs. Pabón. Um the greenhouse, which what school is that being delivered to? That was delivered to the high school. Um it's actually, you know, going to become a project for the students, you know, like a like a formal um class, I believe. Am I correct? Going to be a resource for all of

039our biology classes and our environmental science classes, where they can take their children into um and actually participate in growing different plants and watching different um living things grow and and so forth. Cool. So, it's not an elective. It's It's helpful It's for the bio students. And environmental science. Uh-huh. It's going to be for all of, you know, all students that are participating in those subjects. Okay, great. And um Dr. Labby, when the JCP&L power is disconnected and then it's going to revert to the solar or how What's going to happen? >> basically what they're doing is they they had two transformers and and Kenny's right there in the back, so Kenny, you're going to If I don't If I don't answer correctly or Jimmy's right there, you can you can do it for me.

040But essentially, let's see if I get this right, Jimmy. So, the the old transformer, that's what the everything was connected to, the current infrastructure. We have a new switchgear that's there that they installed that's ready. So, first they have to disconnect the old transformer. Got it. And once they disconnect that, that the new transformer that's already been installed, they can connect it to the new switchgear. Got it. Right now, currently um the old transformer has been powering the building, which includes some air conditioning, but it's not enough power to power the entire building with air conditioning. So, when the new transformer is connected to the new switchgear, um we'll have AC in all of our classrooms, >> Oh, nice. um as well as the all-purpose room, which we haven't had before. Mr. Kolmansberger, how did

041I do? All right. I got a thumbs up from Mr. Kolmansberger. Got it, good. And then when does solar the solar kick in? The solar has been working. Oh. The only place the solar hasn't been kicking in has been the high school. Got it. >> And the one difference between the high school and the other schools, so the other schools, the solar was put in as a power purchase agreement. So, basically, the cost to build and and and put those on our schools, the energy we're producing is for a third a third party. And that is offsetting our energy bills. Right. However, at the high school, as you know, we had litigation. Right. And we took that over ourselves. So, when the solar is connected at the high school, we will own that energy Oh,

042great. and be able to sell that energy, as well as offset our energy costs. Oh, wow. Great. Okay, thank you very much. Thank you. Anyone else? See Seeing no one, I I close the open session. Um Dr. Labby, your superintendent's report. Thank you, Mr. Fernandez. Okay, so I'm going to go slow with this because we are making a change to the agenda. So, if you identify item number 15 on finance and infrastructure, please note that we are pulling that from the agenda, and we are asking you to replace it with number 30. So, number 15 was the item for the previous budget that we were asking you to approve. We are pulling that and replacing it with the new budget that we're asking you to approve. That's on the addendum. And if you're watching the

043the, you know, the meeting from home, we will be posting that addendum first thing tomorrow morning on our website. So, we're asking you now to approve the proposed tentative budget for the fiscal year 2026-2027 for the school district general fund budget of $136,159,509, which includes a local tax levy of 78,000 78,639,339. And again, that's on the addendum. We are replacing agenda item 15 with agenda item 30, which is on the addendum. And that addendum will be posted to the website tomorrow morning. Number 16, we're asking you to approve the withdrawal of $1,085,760 from capital reserve. And we were just talking about that for the solar panel canopy completions at the high school. As you know, board members, part of that was being paid for through the ESIP, but the remaining portion of it is being

044paid for through capital reserve. Number 18, which you can find on page five, I think Mrs. Pabón mentioned this earlier. We are asking you to approve a change order to with a contract with Preferred Mechanical, and that's for the the caulking and the patching of existing holes that are in the ceiling that were caused by the referendum projects putting the HVAC and so forth up there. We did have building inspectors go out, take a look at it, and and they informed us that we did have to caulk and fill those holes. So, that's $60,000 of a change order, and that's going to be obviously funds from the bond referendum. All right. Number 19, which can be found on page five, we're asking you to approve the purchase um of teacher and student one-to-one educational devices.

045They're all listed there from CDW Government, and that's in the amount of $439,811. Once again, those are for laptops for the teachers and Chromebooks and so forth for our students. They're one-to-one devices. Number 31, which can be found in the addendum. As we do every year when we ask you to approve the budget since we started receiving preschool expansion aid, we also ask you to approve what's called the preschool expansion aid enrollment budget workbook, and Ms. Burns is Dr. Burns, I should say, has been very, very hard at work along with Ms. Hill in terms of preparing that for you. And that's in the amount of $12,187,984. And just to clarify with everyone, >> [snorts] >> our preschool program is run primarily on preschool expansion aid, not the operational budget. And that's why we need

046you to approve that now. Number 32, I I can't believe this when I saw it. What an amazing donation that a community member has provided us, and I believe this person is a Hall of Fame recipient. Isn't he Mrs. Mrs. Bloom? So, we're asking you to graciously accept a generous donation from Mr. and Mrs. Lou and Kathy Hoffman in the amount of $3,390 $339.70 for registration fees for 15 Sayreville War Memorial High School Air Force Junior ROTC students to participate in the Airforce Junior ROTC Cadet Leadership Camp. And that'll be held at the end of June. And I think we've discussed that before during our meetings. And that's on the addendum. So, we can't thank Mr. and Mrs. Hoppen enough for this incredible donation. Can I just jump in for a second? He is also

047donating $1,000 for scholarships to be given on behalf of the Hall of Fame. It's amazing. So, instead of just giving two this year, the Hall of Fame will be giving four with his. And then I spoke to last one of last year's inductees and she is also giving us $1,000. So, we will be giving six. Wow, that's amazing. Amazing family. And we can't thank them enough. Yeah, right. Are there any questions or comments that you'd like to make on those items or anything else on finance and infrastructure? I have one person and I know lady we were spoke about it, too. Number 17. Why we lease? This was the reason for leasing instead of buying our own. The copiers? The copiers. 17. Page four. >> [snorts] >> Mr. Glockenmeier. I can take that to the

048best of my ability because Aaron usually handles our copiers. Um but over the years, the amount of usage, um wear and tear that we get on copiers during their lifespan, it was not cost-effective to purchase them outright. So, there is a lease along with a management and toner plan that comes with them. Um that has been the most cost-effective methodology of running copiers in the district at least since I have been in technology and since Aaron's been the BA. Um so, that's basically their lease purchase plan. >> It's the equivalent to leasing a car or purchasing a car. Um the amount of wear and tear on these machines, it's far better for us to lease them than it is to purchase them. >> And basically, when you're done with the lease, you know, there's another

049option that to replace them. And machines at that point have seen, you know, battle damage. They're not something you'd want to own at that point. Thank you, Mr. Glockenmeier. Anyone else? Oh, might as well bring it up here. So, now, Dr. Labbe and Aaron, I I truly appreciate you taking out number 15 and replacing it with a revised tentative budget that you inserted in the addendum. Um the tentative budget we're going to probably approve tonight. Um I know I'll be voting for it. Stinks. It's hard. It cuts I think over $11 million out of out of things we were going to do for students and sports and special services and tutoring and transportation out of the budget. It has a lot to do with broken in our system in the state of New Jersey. And

050maybe it's time for residents to get outraged about it and talk to their assembly people and their state senators. The increase in our health premiums this year for prescriptions, I think the state was estimating 35 per 31%, 35 >> Total was 31.9%. So, I mean something ridiculous. Districts around the state and wealthy districts around the states, regional school districts up in Bergen County are sending out letters that they're laying off teachers because they can't afford the health benefits that they're required to carry because the state mandates it. So, I'm hopeful between now and April we can work something out. But I think most of us, if not all of us on the board, could not vote in good conscience to levy a 6% tax increase on the residents of Sayreville because of a broken state

051system. This is going to with these cuts still increase our taxes in Sayreville. It's going to be a 1.82% increase. And I'm hopeful with the members of the finance committee and all the members of the board here we can maybe add some of these programs back in. But we'll definitely fight to keep our tax increase under the 2% cap from this year. And it's unfortunate and it's time for the public to to get outraged about it. So, that's all. I have a comment. Um I would like to explain to the public I am a licensed insurance broker. I've been doing insurance and health insurance is my specialty, self-funded plans for more than 30 years. Um and what Jeff was referring to as the broken system is that the the state Board of Education or whoever

052makes the rules for these plans, okay, has set these plans up. There's very limited um like in a normal plan, you'd have prior authorizations for these drugs, for the prescriptions. And it seems like they they have designed these plans to run deficits because the money that we're collecting from the teachers to pay the premium is not enough to pay the claims. The claims are about at least $50,000 more on average per month than what we're collecting to pay those claims, which means that we're in a deficit, okay? And in order to get rid of the deficit, we could have said, "Okay, we're going to hit the citizens and we're going to go for a 6. percent increase so that we can close the gap." But the problem is unless the citizens of New Jersey, not

053just in Sayreville, but throughout the whole state, band together to stop the state, to get the state to recognize that these school districts, which are funded by taxpayers, me, him, all of us in this room, are paying taxes to somebody, okay? Those taxes are going up and up and up. Not because the a lot of people I saw at the Board of Ed waste money. No, because we are obligated to fund certain things in certain ways. So, until that's changed, we are always going to have a deficit. And that's why I could not vote for a 6% increase on something that is not going away. It was not a permanent solution because those deficits are just going to keep happening because of the way the state has designed this program. It's not Dr. Labbe's fault.

054It's not the Sayreville BOE's fault. It is the policy makers in Trenton. And the only way this is going to get fixed is if we do something about it at that level. We can fight, we can disagree, we can say we're not going to pay for this, but that is not going to fix this issue. So, if you're here tonight and you care about it, send a letter, something to our local representatives telling them that you can no longer the citizens of every town in New Jersey can no longer afford to fund the the health insurance benefits the way they're designed. And that, my friends, is the truth. So, unfortunately, as a board, we are going to have to make a nasty, you know, a bad decision. Not a bad decision, it's a sound decision

055because we're protecting the taxpayers. It is a tough decision. So, it's not one easily made. But the fact is is that until Trenton fixes the problem, that problem will not go away. And it's not a funding issue, it is a policy issue. So, please do something about it. If we want to band together, we should. That's it. Anyone else on finance and infrastructure? So, I'll just say this about the budget. I mean, over the next board over the next month, I know my fellow board members and I will going to work diligently reviewing each line item to ensure that we not only maintain fiscal responsibility on this, but to ensure that we give the best possible education to to our children and ensure that we protect the most important items on here as well. So,

056we're going to find the right the right balance to protect both our kids and and our taxpayers. And the realistic thing about this budget we're still replacing teachers that are leaving. We're still paying our teachers. We're still paying our administrators. We're still paying our school nurses. We're still paying our support staff. We're still paying our transportation people. So, we're still giving Sayreville residents a quality education without some bells and whistles we would normally like to give them. Okay, if there are no more comments or questions, let's move on to student achievement. Unfortunately, we are asking you to approve the long-term suspension of a student number two which you can find on page 15. By the way, number one you could also find on page 15. Uh we're asking you to approve summer learning acceleration at

057the Samsel Upper Elementary School. We mentioned Camp Excel, I think at the last meeting. Now, it's [snorts] summer learning acceleration. Um again, just hearing that makes me think of summer and forgetting about this horrible winter we've had. So, I can't wait for it. Um it begins on uh July 6th and ends on August 6th. And of course, it's funded through our our um elementary and secondary education Act grants. Um any questions on student achievement? No? All right, so then let's move to governance. Uh we have two on there for you to approve, numbers two through four um on pages 17 through 19. This is something that we just routinely ask. There are some employee groups that do not have the school calendar um for their days off. So, we ask you to approve their calendars

058for vacation days. And then number five, um we are asking the Board of Education to deny Sayreville Education Association grievance 2025-2026 number four, just cause. Any questions on governance? >> [snorts] >> All right. All right. Uh in personnel, we do have a couple of bittersweet moments. I promise I won't take too much of your time with them, but I will skip over them for a moment just to point out that in number seven and eight as well as 28 through 31, and I think one of our community members recognize this. We are asking you to hire new certificated non-certificated staff not only for this year, but also for the next school year. Dr. Aguleson and his incredible team in HR have been working to begin staffing us for next year already. So, we can't thank

059them enough. Numbers nine and 10, which you can find on page 22. By the way, the the previous I said was you can find them on 21 and 22 in the addendum. But nine and 10 are on 22. We're asking you to approve the transfer of certificated and non-certificated staff for this school year. And then numbers 13 and 14, which you can find on page 23 and 24. We are asking you to appoint some new coaches with their stipends as well as some volunteer coaches. And predominantly that's for the spring. >> [snorts] >> Okay. So, we do have three amazing employees that um have decided to um go on to bigger and better things, the next chapter in their lives. So, um this is the moment where we get to thank them for everything that

060they have done for our students and our staff and and the entire community. Um so, we are asking you to accept the retirements of Lillian Nunes, who's a special education teacher at the middle school. Um Donna McDonald, um who is a teacher at the Samoset Upper Elementary School. And Patricio, or as we belovedly refer to him as Frank uh Hernandez, who is a campus security monitor and has mostly been working at the Salover School. So, let's begin with Frank, Frank Hernandez. In preschool, safety of course is everything. Parents must trust us with the most important people in their lives every single day. Mr. Frank, as they call him at the Salover School, helped to make sure that this trust was well placed. From the moment families arrived in the morning until after students went home,

061Mr. Frank was there watching over them and the building. Greeting families, making sure everyone inside was safe and sound. He was often the first friendly face students saw in the morning and his simple good morning, high five, or smile as they walked into the building had the power to turn a child's day completely around. Mr. Frank has also been a reassuring presence for the staff. Teachers knew they could rely on him, whether it was taking in a delivery, keeping an eye on things during dismissal, or telling one of his silly dad jokes to make the day better. Working in a preschool means being surrounded by laughter, curiosity, and a little bit of chaos. Through it all, Mr. Frank handled each situation with patience, professionalism, and a genuine care for the children and adults in the

062entire school. Thank you, Mr. Frank, for your dedication and kindness. While we will miss seeing you each and every day, we we are excited for you for the next chapter of your life. And we hope it brings plenty of relaxation, happiness, and time to enjoy all the things you love, which we know are his grandchildren. So, um we can't thank Frank Hernandez enough for all that he has done for all of our students, our staff, and of course the community. And Frank is actually very popular in the community. Um I'll never forget during the pandemic while we were delivering food, Frank was always outside uh holding court with all of his neighbors as we were making our deliveries. So, um he's as loved in the community as he is loved in our schools. Lillian Nunes

063has been a devoted and influential member of the Sayreville Middle School community for the past 13 years. And her presence has truly shaped the heart of the middle school. Lil's passion for her work, her unwavering professionalism, and the depth of her expertise have allowed have have a last have left a lasting mark on the students she has awarded and the colleagues she has collaborated with. Her commitment to understanding and meeting and meeting the diverse needs of every learner reflects who she is as an educator, which is steadfast, compassionate, and exceptional in every sense of the word. Lillian approaches every day with that quiet strength and a desire to make a difference in all the young people she serves so impeccably. It is that spirit that has inspired all of us. Her leadership, her thoughtful guidance,

064and her relentless dedication to doing what is best for students have improved our school community and the greater school uh the greater Sayreville community. We will deeply miss her, especially her warm heart, and her tireless drive to touch the lives of every child who is fortunate enough to have been educated by her. So again, we wish Lillian Nunes all the best in the next best chapter of her life, and we thank her for all that she's done for our students, staff, and community. And finally, Donna McDonald. After a a remarkable career of service to the Sayreville Public Schools, Donna McDonald has shared her intention to retire effective June 30th this year. For more than two decades, Donna has been a dedicated special education and academic support instruction teacher whose work has touched countless students and

065families. She began her journey at the Arleth School and has spent though the last 22 years at the Samoset Upper Elementary School where she has been a steady, compassionate, and deeply respected presence. For many years, Donna has volunteered her time to beautify school grounds and bring agricultural experiences to our students as a lead teacher for the beautification committee. She has also served as the Willoughby advisor, sharing her knowledge and of and teaching our Samoset students how to make positive decisions. We are grateful to Donna's commitment to Samoset and the entire Sayreville community. Donna describes her time in Sayreville as a privilege, one defined by collaboration with exceptional faculty, staff, and administration who share a commitment to learning and the care of the borough's children. While she looks forward to the next chapter, she will be

066greatly missed, especially by the colleagues and friends that she has made at the Samoset Upper Elementary School. Therefore, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Donna for her dedication, professionalism, and the trust she has built with students, families, and peers throughout her illustrious career. Her contributions have made a lasting impact, and we wish her all the joy and fulfillment she deserves in her retirement. So, we can't thank Donna enough as well for everything that she's done for all of our students and our staff and the greater community, and we wish her nothing but the best in her retirement. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Dr. Labbe. Any other comments from any board members? Motions. All right. So, I'll entertain a motion to approve the agenda items. So moved. Mr. Smith and Mr. Callahan. When you're

067ready, roll call, Ms. Prashad. Mrs. Bloom. Yes. Mr. Callahan. Yes. Mrs. Citkowski. Yes. Mrs. Hernandez. >> Yes. Mrs. Maldonado. Yes. Mrs. Zambolotano. Yes. Mrs. uh Hepburn. Yes. Mr. Smith. >> Yes. Mr. Fernandez. >> Yes. Motion carries. Now, I'll open up to public participation on any items. Seeing none. Any any anyone like to make any comments for the greater good? Yes, if you don't mind. Um I would like to say that I had the absolute pleasure of participating in Read Across America over the last two weeks. I read to little ones at Arleth, Eisenhower, Salover, and Cheesequake. They are absolutely adorable. But God bless those teachers because I could not do it. They were very attentive. They enjoyed the books that I brought. Um one was about a cat, which they loved, and I wore my

068cat earrings, and I wore my shirt that has colored pencils on it. So, I asked if they knew what I used to teach, and they were all very smart. They said, "Yes, pencils. You taught drawing." And one kid said you taught art. So, they're And this is like three and four years old, very cute. So, that was wonderful. Uh I also had the great pleasure of teaching two workshops at the Teen Arts Festival at Middlesex County um College last week with the glass etching, and the students were wonderful, and I love doing that, and I thank Donna Annison every year for giving me that opportunity. And I would like to thank Carrie for her service and say we wish you well and hope that you're happy in your new home and come back and visit

069us. You can sit in the audience, and we'll give you three minutes. >> [laughter] >> No more. Thank you. Anyone else? Well, before Carrie >> you don't go. Go ahead. Oh, I'm sorry. Lady first. >> No, I was just going to thank you, Carrie, too. I mean, we got along very well on this board. I was so pleased to to meet you and get to know you. You have brought a lot to us. You have brought great conversation to the board. You have brought great insight to the board, and your heart has always been in the right place, even if we didn't disagree. You brought a lot for me to look at and maybe look at things a little bit differently, and I appreciate that. You will be missed. Your husband will be missed with

070his questions in the audience. >> [laughter] >> I'm surprised he's not here tonight. And and I truly do appreciate the time with you on the board. Very much. Thank you. Same here. Same here. So, Carrie, I just wanted to say um I second what everyone else is saying here as far as just your First of all, the amount of respect I have for your wisdom, for how you carry yourself, how you address everyone always with respect, doesn't matter how you you know, how they come to you, but you're always very respectful. Um I appreciate that. I've learned a lot from you in this time. Um I think there's been a misconception of us um when we ran that we were besties, but again, like Katia, I mean, if she knew you a little bit, I

071knew you less. And we're neighbors, right? So, it's crazy, but in this short time, you have really become more than, you know, a mentor. You have become like a sister to me. So, I just appreciate your dedication and passion in serving in this board, and always being willing to, you know, listen to what other people have. We I mean, again, we ran on the same ticket, but we don't always agree on the same topics, but you know, you're always willing to listen to our side and and do the research accordingly so we can have a respectful dialogue. So, I just um wish you the best of luck. We will miss you on this board, but I hope that we could will continue to maintain in touch, doesn't matter where you move to. Um and just

072thank you for always always being there for not only myself, Katia, the rest of the board, but just for our students and our community. Thank you so much. I do have a closing thing, if I may. >> [laughter] >> And I just want to say first to the thousands that are watching and everyone here that uh the timing of this was not planned. It The fact that it coincides with my last meeting is truly um could be seen as coincidental. Um okay. So, I I will be asking the board uh uh for a vote to rescind policy 5756, but I want to explain why I'm bringing it up at tonight's um again. Uh so, if I may. So, before discussion, I just want to briefly explain this from a legal and a governance perspective. So,

0732 weeks ago, the United States Supreme Court uh handed down an opinion on a case in California. I've been watching this case, and I've been watching a few other cases closely with regard to this issue, just to see what the courts in our country are doing with it. Um and this is an important one because this is the highest court of our land that handed down an opinion. So, I just wanted to share this, and I do want to hopefully open up uh a dialogue with my fellow board members before uh we do take a vote, but I want to explain this. Um so, there's a case in California that went to It appealed up to the um Supreme Court. Uh a uh family that was suing the Board of Education um with regard to

074uh a policy similar to what we have on our books, 5756. Uh because they were not informed of um you know, pronouns being used in the school and such. This was the kind of case that this is, and you guys can can look it up to get more details about it. It was appealed up to the Supreme Court level. And the Supreme Court voted 6 to 3 in favor of the parents, in favor of putting a stay on the policy until the case settles completely, which is going to take another 2 to 3 years. It's a complex case. This was not a decision on the case. It was a decision by the request of the parents to put a stay on the policy so that the school would no longer withhold information about the students

075from their parents while this case is going on. That's the decision that was handed down. But when the the Supreme Court voted on this and handed down this decision, uh uh Judge Barrett wrote an extensive opinion on it, and this is you know, if you follow the Supreme Court decisions, they get about 7 to 8,000 appeals a year. They choose about 50 to actually give an a decision on. They chose this one. That's significant. The other thing that's significant is when Judge Barrett uh wrote an extensive opinion on it. That's another thing you really don't see, and especially from Barrett, from Judge Barrett. It's unusual. So, it's something to look at. It's like, this is something I need to read because this is extremely uncommon. Um they handed down this decision in favor of the

076parents. So, the reason why I'm bringing this up tonight, we have discussed this issue at length from all of the different facets involved with this policy and with everyone's position on it. But at this point, this is something now that is indicative of the trend that our country and our court systems are going in. It's no longer an issue that remains what is your ideology, what is my ideology, what's your opinion on this policy or mine. It's now a question as a board of whether we keep a policy on the books that now the Supreme Court has rendered an opinion on this type of case when it's brought to them. Judge Barrett said explicitly, "Any cases that come to our court with regard to parental rights and information that information that is withheld from them

077about their children, we will decide in favor of the parents and parental rights." She said it explicitly. It's not an interpretation I'm getting from her opinion. So, basically, that means if, hypothetically, a family in Sayreville sues us because we withhold information about their child wanting to use different pronouns in school or making any decisions along those lines, that we don't divulge that to the parents, we are liable. This is now a legal uh decision that we need to make, a decision based on the legality. Can we defend this policy in a court of law? A local court might might decide in favor of of the board. A state court may. A district court may. An appellate court may. But when you go to when it if it's advanced to the Supreme Court level, we will

078lose. And this is this is established. This is the point I want to bring to the table tonight that other arguments for taking it off the books are not what I'm talking about tonight. This is the most important one because we are now liable. And the types of cases that have settled in favor of the parents in the past few years as an example of what we're talking about here. Uh in Indiana and Virginia, each state, respectively, um uh had to pay the family $650,000 and $575,000. In Ohio and California, the settlements were $450,000 and $360,000. These are not isolated outcomes. They they they It's a picture of the trend now. The pendulum is swinging towards parental rights, and I I as I believe it should, right? But this isn't about what my personal opinion

079on it is. I am encouraging and exhorting this board to vote in favor of taking this policy off the books, sending it to governance, and having them devise a policy that will protect this board and this district and taxpayer money to protect us from a settlement like this hitting us because we still have a policy like this on the books. All we need to do is just remove the part where we withhold information from parents. That is the sticking point that I've always talked about. That's the point. So, I want to encourage you to think about this for a moment. Do not give a rush knee-jerk vote on this because you don't agree with what the Supreme Court has said. It's not for us to say we're going to keep a policy because we simply

080don't agree with Judge Barrett. And by the way, her opinion is not her opinion. When when a Supreme Court uh judge renders an opinion, they're representing the entire Supreme Court. So, it's representing all nine members of the Supreme Court. So, that is my encouragement that, you know, we thoughtfully discuss this. Uh and that's the consideration. Um is can we keep something on the books that is no longer as airtight defensible as it may have been a year, two, three, five years ago. That's no longer true. Uh it's not about making assumptions or overcorrecting. It's just about reducing our legal exposure um and reinforcing that collaborative relationship between families in the school district that should be in place. So, I do move to rescind policy 5756, to direct the governance committee to draft a revised policy

081that explicitly incorporates appropriate parental involvement and notification. Thank you. Seconded by who? Can I Can I say something, too? has always worked openly with parents, and we have not hidden information from them about their children, and I truly appreciate that commitment to transparency. However, policy 5760C, as it's currently written, could allow situation where important information is kept from parents. That is something I am not comfortable supporting. Recent court decision, including from the Supreme Court, as Carrie mentioned, have made it clear that hiding information from parents raises serious legal concern and may even be unconstitutional. Even if this has not happened in our district, having a policy like this could put us at risk. Um Parents have a fundamental right to be involved in their children's life. Our goal should be to support every student, protect

082our children, and make sure parents are fully informed. For that reason, I believe we should carefully review policy 5756 and consider changing it or removing it to protect our district and maintain and the trust of our community. Thank you. I just want to mention that, you know, we spent uh a good amount of time uh discussing the potential tax increase, how we made an effort collectively to uh you know, not adopt a budget that's going to be a 6% increase, but to lower that that hit to the community to 1.8 potentially, you know, before discussions and that might be revised a little bit, but we we are so so careful with the dollars, with the tax dollars that are put in our care to be good stewards of of the tax dollars of the community,

083that truly um leaving us open to this type of risk where, you know, a case could settle in the favor of parents, uh you know, a family in to the tune of what we're seeing with these settlements. It's not 20, 30,000 dollars. These are hundreds of thousands of dollars. You know, we need to also be considerate of that. You know, like we don't want the taxpayers to have to pay a lawsuit like that because we didn't consider this. You know, so I just wanted to mention that and just remind everybody. Let's be careful with all of the tax dollars we're given. Um I I appreciate that, Carrie, and I appreciate you you bringing it up. And I'm not a lawyer. Um but reading the laws of New Jersey, right now it was a stay. It

084wasn't a change of a policy or a law. It was just a stay. Nobody has successfully challenged and overturned New Jersey's anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws, which are among the broadest in the country, even more so than California. And outing a person in New Jersey, if it might bring them harassment, bullying, intimidation, is illegal under the anti-harassment laws of New Jersey. I can't out somebody as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, anything without their permission under the laws of New Jersey. And I will keep voting under the laws of New Jersey as long as I stood up there, put my hand on a Bible, and swore to uphold the Constitution of the state of New Jersey. To be clear, I just want to clarify that we're not discussing changing any state laws. What we are discussing is removing

085a policy that at its onset was optional for every district in New Jersey. Uh the board voted whether they wanted to adopt this policy or not, and the board voted to adopt it. So, this was an optional policy, not mandated. We're not talking about changing state law, and I don't want to confuse the issue in that way. We're just discussing removing a policy that we put on the books that was optional and revising it, not >> I not removing protections from kids, >> I appreciate that, but as much as you say you're not you you don't want to change it due to state law, you want to rescind a policy that we voted on due to a federal stay ruling. So, if we're going to base a decision on a federal case that hasn't impacted

086the laws on the books in New Jersey yet, I can't vote to rescind it. I I understand the point you're try you're you're making. I think that a board needs to be extremely careful with having anything on the books that a Supreme Court has handed down an opinion saying they will uphold parental rights on cases that come before them. We're talking about litigation. We're talking about exposure to uh lawsuits like this that that will, if they if they're appealed and, you know, parties have the right to appeal decisions. If they if they're not, you know, if it's a negative decision uh that's not in their favor, they can appeal it up to the Supreme Court. And and it it should not be taken lightly. Lawyer or not, we can all understand the point that the

087Supreme Court has said that they will settle in favor of parental rights when it comes to this particular issue and policies like these that are on the books. It's not something that It It's the reason I'm bringing it up. It's significant. I've been waiting to see what the the uh if it would even be heard by the Supreme Court. It's thousands of cases, and I've been watching this, and it's significant, and it is a risk to keep something on the books that could open us up to litigation like this and and and uh and uh uh a settlement, you know. I think it's important to note also that the the motion is not to remove it and put nothing in have nothing in its place. It's to replace it with something that, you know, is

088able to keep the the center of what we're protecting here, right? The student and their families. That's number one. We already have and and we talked about this before. We have protective policies in place, so there's never going to One is never going to outrule the other. We're always going to make sure that the integrity of the of the student and their household is protected. That's number one. That's crucial, right? So, teachers have a a right Well, not a right. Have uh they're mandated reporters. So, already there's edge cases, and these are edge cases where they suspect something's happening, they're already going to be reporting that, right? So, understanding that the idea with this is not to replace and put nothing in else in its place. It's to say, "Okay, how do we get to

089that?" And I think I had shared, I don't remember when, a couple of months ago, but one that was um instituted in a different town where they did just that, talking about how to bridge that gap. And I think having unofficial conversations here, we already we understand that that's not happening as far as like us not When it comes to to students, again, when it comes to students not um I I don't know how to explain it, but what I'm trying to say is, at the end of the day, if a student if we have that that concern that a student is going to be outed and they're they're in danger of something happening to them, the teacher will follow the pro proper protocol. So, that is not what we're talking about here, right? We

090have policies in place, and I've shared that with you guys before. The idea here is to replace it and remove it. Remove the one that's currently in place and put one where the parents are a part of the conversation and they're helping their child navigate that that concern. Because at the end of the day, the the kids are here from 8:00 to 5:00, whatever it is, let's say. But at the end of the day, what Well, you know, they have after-school activities, so they're here longer. But when they go home, the parents are still the parents are still the the you know, there's the the main um protectors, right? So, how do we work together, the district and the parents, to be able to help those children? That is the idea behind, you know, replacing

091and putting something else in place. And keep protecting the kids, the students. >> Well, how are you protecting the kid when the you're taking the the the only protection in that policy for that child is the fact that you're not going to out them to their parent when they're afraid or they feel that they they're in jeopardy, okay? >> worth it? That's the point I'm making. We We do not live in that house. Let me finish talking. We do not live in that house. The child lives in that house. And let me tell you something, a lot of people are bigoted and behind their closed doors. Out in the public, oh, they love everybody. Behind the doors, they don't. But guess who knows that parent what they really think? The kid does. So, when the

092kid is afraid to come out, whether they're homosexual or trans, okay? It's our job to protect that child to make sure that that introduction that information that's going to be relayed to the parent is done in a very good way, okay? Right now, the only policy that the policy I don't know why everybody's so against the policy because the policy just guides us to to say, "Okay, so if there's if it happens over here in this class, it happens over here in this class or in this school, different all different things." Everybody in the district follows the same policy. That's what that policy is for. So, I don't understand how you think that you could protect kids by taking the only protection from them. We've had many people and people on Facebook don't like what

093I say. When it comes to this, I really I'm not going to be concerned about what people like or not. The fact is is that we've had many people come to that podium with very racist and prejudicial statements, okay? Do I want And And I've been made fun of because I didn't want to send somebody home to one of those people. I mentioned, "Would you send your kid home to that?" And I have been ridiculed for saying that. The truth is, I wouldn't send a kid to one of those people who have those kind of attitudes, okay? And that's that's we you don't know it. You can you don't know what that house is like for that kid. You don't. And you could think that it's like your house and it's everybody's great and happy

094and stuff. That's not every kid in Sayreville. So, I am for protecting the kid and I am not going to vote against the policy. So, I appreciate your opinion on that and it is one that you have been consistent with for the past year that I've served on the board. And it is important, like I said, for each, you know, for boards to have differing opinions cuz we need to look at every facet of every situation, every policy so that what we do put on the books is something that represents, you know, the community properly. Well, I all due respect, were you to testify in a court of law with your opinion as you stated it, and were that case to be appealed up to the Supreme Court, it does not stand because you're what

095I do know that. >> know every case's outcome on the Supreme Court. I'm sorry, but you don't. If if I may, this is my point. The Supreme Court has handed down a firm opinion on this, explicitly spelling out in their opinion that cases moving forward along lines with this this type of policy, when it is something that is violating parental rights, which they stated in their opinion, are constitutional rights to direct the upbringing of their children. They explicitly stated that they will rule in favor of parental rights because they deem it constitutional. So, I understand what you're saying and I understand your passion. >> rights, too. And what what what are they going to do? What what What is your opinion that the Supreme Court is going to do when the child sues the district

096because they weren't protected? >> That's not what I'm discussing right now. I want to circle back to this discussion. It is, but I want to circle back to my Let's keep one person talking at a time. >> that I brought this up, the point that I'm making is that we have expressed different rationales for our positions on this. The the the what I'm talking about tonight is the risk of litigation. That's my point. And is anyone's opinion here worth saying, "This is my opinion and if we get sued, we will lose if it gets appealed up to the Supreme Court cuz they have expressed that, but I'm willing to to have tax dollar money be risked in that way because this is how I feel. I think it's reckless as a board to open ourselves

097up to litigation that is pretty firmly, you know, the outcome is firmly set if appealed up to that level. The state of New Jersey would rule in in favor of the boards of education. I know that, right? But it but families have the right to appeal. And it'll appeal outside of New Jersey and what then? So, we can stand in front of a microphone in front of a judge and argue these points and they're valid points. But when it I'm talking about the litigation risk, that's what I want to talk about tonight because I think that we cannot be as reckless with taxpayer money when it comes to this situation and what the Supreme Court has handed down. It's significant and and we can't say, "Well, I'm going to vote against it, you know, because,

098you know, Mrs. Czekalski, I still don't agree with you." I'm not asking you to agree with me or not. I'm saying this is this is now I'm talking about our court system in our country and where the trend is leaning now. I've quoted cases that have ruled in favor of the parents. I didn't quote the nearly dozen cases, and you can look these up on your own, that the judge that the court systems ruled in favor of teachers that were forced to use pronouns, that were suspended for not using pro pronoun the the requested pronouns or fired or the the cases that went to court where teachers sued the board of education were ruled in favor of the teachers. They were restored back to their position. Some of them had monetary settlements that were small,

099some large, some none, but they ruled in favor of the teachers because the teachers had a religious right not to be forced to use pronouns when it disagreed with their with their religious principles. So, even those cases are being ruled in favor of, you know, faculty that feel that their rights have been violated when they're forced to abide by and by the way, yes, 5756 on our books as it stands today states that if a child chooses alternate pronouns that faculty need to use those pronouns. So, that does factor into the litigation argument that I'm presenting tonight. That's what we're talking about. So, we pivoted. It's not a pivot. I'm sharing with you. >> the the the reason that you were before you even ran for the board, okay? You've never mentioned legal challenge or

100or you're worried about a law. >> weeks Guys, guys, we're all we're all interrupting each other and I just want to remind everyone of of Robert's Rules, which is which is part of our board here, right? When a matter comes up and a board member speaks on that matter, we allow that member to speak, but then that member doesn't speak again until every other member has an opportunity to speak on on that matter. So, So, then speak up, people. Yeah. No, I absolutely and Eileen, I don't mean to cut you off, but I abs- we absolutely want want want to hear you and Mrs. Czekalski, we want to hear you as well, but let's let's keep in mind the same thing that that we teach our kids in school. Let's have this conversation civilly without

101interrupting each other and giving everyone an equal opportunity to to uh speak. I know Mrs. Czekalski has spoken, Miss Miss Eileen has spoken. Mr. Hernandez, may I? What's that? May I? >> Yes, please please, Ms. Bloom. I want to tell you that I absolutely respect your opinion. I respect your research, but I would also defer to our lawyer and our legal advisers that we pay to take us through this. If they feel that this was necessary, I think they would have brought it to our attention. So, thank you. Mr. Balzano, Ms. Callahan, would you like to say anything else? Okay. I'll just I'll just make this one comment. As as Ms. Bloom point pointed out, we do none of us here are lawyers. When we do pay a lawyer who's an expert in in this

102field, um and I respect everything you said. However, when you say that the judge has ruled on this, by your own admission, they haven't ruled this. It's only It's only It's only a temporary stay. Their final decision may be completely the the opposite. We don't know what the final decision's going to be. And although I haven't read that that case, I know it would be unethical for any judge to presuppose what the what what they would decide in in a in another case, even if it's similar cuz each case has its own unique set of circumstances. So, whether you're talking about abortion, civil rights, or or any other case, no judge would ever say, "This is how I would rule in in in a similar case" because every case is is is unique. If a

103judge ever did um presuppose how how how they would judge in in a case, that would that would be an ethical violation because they would first need to actually hear the the uh case. And the case in California, again, may be a totally different situation than we have here. Although there there may be similarities, as they say, the the devil's in the in the in the in the details. Um our the laws in New Jersey have have not been overturned by the uh Supreme Court. Um and I know as as uh Miss uh Madan pointed out, some other districts have changed the policy and I and and you you've sent me some of them and I've looked at them and and Matawan was one of them. They did rescind 5756 and they did change the

104uh policy. However, in their version of of their policy, they actually restricted parental rights even more than 5756 did. If you actually read it after a lot of different verbage, their their final line in there states that regardless of all their other efforts to to reconcile with with the parents, if the child says they do not want the parent to know, they will absolutely not tell the parent, which is more restrictive than 5756 does. So, in in in Matawan, there would there would be a number of cases where they would potentially not tell the parents, where in Sayreville, we would. So, and the and there've been court cases that have been decided on 5756 that have have upheld it. So, again, when we're when we're looking at liability, we have to look at the cases

105that have been settled, that have been specific to 5756 and what our our attorney, who's an expert in this area, who we pay as as Ms. Bloom stated, we pay to give us our opinions, has given us. So, that's why I'm going to vote the way I do based on all of those factors. Anybody else have anything to comment on? Roll call? I'd like to actually just uh respond to a few points that you made. Okay. Uh because I think there might be some confusion as to where this California case is and where it's going. Uh what went up to the Supreme Court was a stay. The family is in litigation against the Board of Education, the district in California. The family uh went to court to put a stay on the policy so that

106the district would no longer withhold information while the case is going on, which could be, you know, two to three years is the estimate. Um the Supreme Court rendered a ruling on it, putting you know, in agreement with the stay. Their explanation for that, and this is where I brought up Judge Barrett's opinion on it, is that she stated that the reason they voted to uphold a stay on the policy is because it violates parental rights, which are constitutional. So, when you say they're not going to give a preliminary decision, that was not a preliminary decision. They rendered a decision on a stay on a policy based upon the fact according to their opinion that it was unconstitutional and it violated parental rights. That's not going to change and with with regard to and I

107wish you had read it. With regard to Judge Barrett's opinion, she further elaborated and she did state that any cases that do come before them that violate parental rights, they will vote in favor of the parents if their parental rights have been violated specifically to do with the protection of the fact that parents have the right to to direct the upbringing of their children. It is specific to this. So, it is not something to say, "Well, they didn't actually settle that case." No, the case isn't settled, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the opinion that the Supreme Court that the highest court in our land gave and the explanation that they gave for it. So, again, you know, you guys can can vote against, you know, having this policy revised. The only

108part we would be removing is, you know, that we would withhold information from information from parents because it regardless of what you know, the state law laws protecting students is not what we're talking about. I'm making that distinction. We're talking about a an optional policy that we voted on to put on the books. If this policy was mandatory by the state, you wouldn't have voted on it. It would have been, you know, you would have voted on it to adopt it, but it would have been mandatory. This was optional. Do you think that a policy that is required to be on the books by the state of New Jersey because of the language in it is what protects our kids? Do you think that they would have made that optional? It was not optional. So,

109I I need you guys to make that distinction and not not confuse people who are listening and watching. And and to not confuse people that are listening and watching either. In Judge Barrett's Justice Barrett's decision, she said based on the merits that they had seen, the parents probably would succeed. And that that was a very quote preliminary decision by her in her opinion. Because they don't have all the information in the case. It was an emergency stay. The opposition The opposing three justices in their decision wrote how they didn't even feel that the emergency action that was being applied in this case was the correct emergency action to apply. So, they didn't argue any of the case before these judges. It was an emergency action to stay to stay a decision or a policy. >>

110Right. And Judge Justice Barrett thinks that the parents may succeed in their case ultimately, but also stressed that this was a preliminary decision by the Supreme Court. Right. And in in in her opinion, she elaborated that our country from its foundation has maintained that parents have the right to the upbringing of their children. That this is a historical premise in our country that any policy on our books should not be undermining. And I do believe based upon the cases that have settled in large monetary amounts, we would be remiss not to consider that in our vote tonight. Anyone else have any other comments? Let's vote, please. All right. Ms. Perchado, roll call, please. Mrs. Bloom? No. Mr. Callahan? No. Mr. Mrs. Hernandez? Yes. Mrs. Maldonado? Yes. Mrs. Napolitano? No. Mrs. Pabón? No. Mr. Smith? No.

111Mr. Fernandez? No. Motion is defeated. >> You forgot You forgot Carrie. Mr. Chekhovsky eating popcorn. Oh, I'm sorry. Mr. [laughter] Chekhovsky? Yes. Yes. She should absolutely He's not gone yet. No, she should have the right to vote yes on her last vote. >> Three yes and six no. All right. Can I ask a question? Is there any limit to one topic being voted on? I mean, how many we voted on this thing several times already. And we keep saying no. Is it Is there like a limitation? You had a motion on the floor and you had a second, so you have to vote on it. Okay. So, any As many as we could do this every single week? >> If it comes up again, you can table it. >> Yeah. I can table it. says

112on table unless the motion is substantially changed, it cannot be voted on again in the same session. Okay, good. Thank you. Thank you, Carrie, for bringing it up though. I would ex- I would expect nothing less. I really appreciate it. >> I I do want to say that Motion to adjourn. One a second. Our next meeting is Thursday, April 9th. It's going to be a special meeting and on Tuesday, sorry, Tuesday, April 9th. And then Tuesday, April 14th, we're going to have the the best meeting of the year, which is Let the Children Lead, which is the only reason why I'm on the board of ed. Just just for that meeting, by the way. All right. Well, Motion to adjourn. Thursday. So, Motion to adjourn. No, not you. All right. Who second Do I have

113a second? Second. All right. I I I All right, guys have it.