001Thank you everybody for bearing with us. I know it's been a while. It's already long day. We still have a lot of meeting to go through. At this stage, the board will be having vote to nominate and appoint someone to serve the vacant position of education. That person will serve until the next organization meeting in January. The unexpired term will be up for another spot on the November ballot. So if anyone either who gets appointed tonight or who did not, make sure to submit your name if you're interested in serving on the board. Submit paperwork to the state so you can run in the November election. At this time, Board of Education, have a motion to open nominations. >> Motion. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Nominations are now open. Do we
002have any nominations to appoint someone to the vacancy of the board? >> I nominate Ms. Christine St. Hilaire. >> Do I have any other nominations? Hearing none, I now close nominations. Can I have a roll call vote for Ms. Christine St. Hilaire? >> Ms. Barba? >> Yes. >> Mr. Bennett? >> Yes. >> Ms. Foral? >> Yes. >> Ms. Brody? >> Yes. >> Mr. Greenblatt? >> Yes. >> Dr. Bukowski? >> Yes. >> Mr. Young? >> Yes. >> Ms. Williams? >> Yes. >> CONGRATULATIONS, ST. HILAIRE. AT THIS TIME, MR. JONES WILL NOW administer the oath of office. So, step on up. This is actually where you announce this. >> Do you solemnly swear that you support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and you and that you will
003bear true faith and allegiance to the name and to the government established in the United States and in this state and to the authority of the people so help you God? >> I will. >> Do you solemnly swear that you possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of a member of a Board of Education and you're not disqualified as a voter pursuant to RS 19:4-1 or disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in NJS 18A:12-1 and that you will faithfully, impartially, and justly perform all the duties of the office to the best of your ability, so help you God? >> I will. >> Congratulations. >> THANK YOU. >> YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO HOME. WHERE WERE YOU HEADED? >> YOU DID NOT HAVE to stay for the paper. >> Yeah,
004I know. >> Uh thank you all for taking this time to set up. I thank you everybody for coming out and those who put in applications for the vacancy position. You obviously are all more than welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting, but I would also like to free you if you do have to head home. Thank you again and just a reminder to make sure to look on the state website for those deadlines for getting in your applications for election in November. From here, the next thing that we're going to move on you do is due to Mr. Murray's resignation from the board as the board president, we now need to elect a new board president. So, we're going to follow a very similar process. When everyone's all set, we're going to
005have a motion to open up nominations, ask for nominations for the board president, and then we'll proceed with the voting. Good to go? Everybody's with me? Thank you, board. Okay, I'd like to I need a motion and a second to open nominations. So, moved. Second the motion. And a second? >> Second. >> Do we have any nominations for president of the board of education? >> I nominate Tony White. Very happy. >> Have any other nominations for the board president? Hearing none, we'll go to roll call. Yes. Ms. Barback? >> Yes. >> Mr. Benedict? >> Yes. >> Ms. Foroughi? >> Yes. >> Mr. Brody? >> Yes. >> Mr. Greenblatt? >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Kausky? >> Yes. >> Ms. Siriani? >> Yes. >> Ms. Williams? >> Yes. >> Ms. Sinclair? >> Yes. >> CONGRATULATIONS. ONE DOWNSIDE TO
006HAVING MS. WILLIAMS elected as president is now that we have a vacancy in the vice president position on the board, and so we're going to need a motion and a second to open up nominations for the position of vice president. Do I have a motion? >> I make a motion to open up the nominations for the vice president. >> Thank you, Madam President. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Do we have any nominations for the role of vice president of the board of ed? >> I nominate Stephanie Siriani. >> Thank you. Ms. Siriani, any other names? Hearing none, I close nominations. Roll call. Mr. Jordan? Ms. Barbe? >> Yes. >> Mr. Benedict? >> Yes. >> Ms. Boral? >> Yes. >> Ms. Brody? >> Yes. >> Mr. Greenblatt? >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Koutsogeorgas? >>
007Yes. >> Mr. Rionne? >> Yes. >> Ms. Williams? >> Yes. >> Ms. St. Claire? >> Yes. >> Congratulations, Ms. St. CLAIRE. >> THANK YOU. >> AND NOW, WE'LL HEAR FROM THE ASSISTANT TO >> THE NEW JERSEY OPEN PUBLIC MEETING Law was enacted to ensure that the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted at the Board of Education offices located at 313 South Avenue, Fanwood, New Jersey. Such notice was also provided written notice according to the Leader, formerly the Union County Hawk, the
008Star-Ledger, the Township Clerk of Scotch Plains, and the Borough Clerk of Fanwood, and the annual notice of regularly scheduled meetings as adopted April 24, 2025. Additions to the agenda: L5, communication system proposal, all with grant, L7, L8, L9. >> Superintendent Superintendent's report, Dr. Masse. >> So, our students needed to leave because they had tests tomorrow, so I'm actually going to give their report. So, the Spring Choral Concert was last week, and the Instrumental Spring Concert is tomorrow. AP testing is still going on. This is Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and many wonderful things were happening to celebrate our teachers across the district. Um, the Seal of Biliteracy ceremony is coming up. Um, our juniors are stamp testing, which is a way that they show their fluency in their given world language. Um, the students
009are looking forward to Memorial Day weekend in three weeks. And senior music award night, the 27th is senior scholarship night, the 28th. Um, seniors are leaving for senior projects soon and they're almost halfway through the last marking period. That concludes my report. >> Thank you, Dr. Mast. Mr. Jones with the business and operations report. >> Real quick, the grant the grant is going real smoothly. We installed our first floor surface this week on the second floor, so that was a pretty big achievement to have something be final. Um, and on the next agenda we'll have we are going to be getting a bid for some commissioning for the grant, so that will be going out to bid this week and then on the next agenda. That's it. >> Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Jones?
010We're moving along to our first public comment. In accordance with Scotch Plains-Fanwood Public Schools Bylaw 0161 and 0165, the meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comments, maximum 3 minutes per speaker. Speakers addressing superintendent items, business functions, and other board business will be heard first. If time remains, speakers may address other matters. Speakers, please state your full name and the town in which you reside. Please note the board views the public comment period as an opportunity to listen to citizen concerns, but not to debate issues or enter into to and answer or cross-examination between the public and the individual members. Be aware that not all issues brought before a board meeting will be resolved that evening. Boards may respond to public comment by seeking additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate
011the issue to the superintendent or his or her designee. Speakers, please come to the podium. Podium. >> Gary Morris, Fanwood. Um I'm just wondering if if you're aware of the uh the lawsuit related uh in New Jersey about policy 5756. Um I and whether you've uh thought about maybe it would be a good idea to possibly rescind that policy before uh we may end up being the subject of a lawsuit as well. Um that that policy is allows a biological male to play on the uh a a girls' sports team. It allows teachers to withhold information about uh students from parents. I think it's time we we rethink that in uh in light of this uh lawsuit that's now uh working its way through New Jersey. So, uh yeah, if you could take a look
012at that. And I was also thrilled that it came up tonight about in the the candidates talking about the pilots. One of the one of the key things about these pilots is a substantial amount of money goes to the towns. Uh more than they would make if it was traditionally taxed. And obviously the the schools don't get any of that. And so what happens is eventually when the pilot wears wears down, um they're going to have a huge budget shortfall. So in order to keep it going, they have to get another pilot and another pilot. It's literally a Ponzi scheme and that's why we really have to all advocate that pilots must share revenue with the schools. It's for everybody's benefit. You have to start doing that and being loud and clear in every meeting.
013Thank you. >> Are there any other speakers? If not, we're moving along to our committee reports. Are there any committee reports? Is there a committee report? >> Yep. >> I don't have one. I don't know if you can can you hear me? >> It it picks you up. It just >> Oh, just Um student athletics and activities met on May 7th. Um we got a good overall uh look. Ryan Miller gave us sort of a window into next year and into some of our sports and where they're at as far as registration. So girls flag football, we had approximately 40 athletes this season. It's officially adopted as a sport. I think we're supposed to vote on that. Um and then financially speaking, um there isn't a minimum cost involved because transportation is covered. Um and
014so the coach costs is $8,600, which is comparable to positions based on hours and students. Um and just a note that Ryan put in there that I think is a fun fact, SDF is the second school to have a female make a touchdown in a men's league. Um all right, moving on to lacrosse. There were 15 athletic athletes per level. Freshman is still ranging in a lower level of about eight to nine people per year. So, therefore, um having a freshman specific team is not necessarily responsible, but we're going to continue to encourage our incoming freshman to try out and play with the varsity and JV teams. Um, we've as I know we've had a lot of talk at our our board meetings about um various women's sports, wrestling, lacrosse, flag football. Um, so first
015off with girls golf, right now we have one female golfer um, who we are currently working with um as we are continuing to show them opportunities to grow and be supportive and play together. Really cool for anyone who does not know this, anyone who signs up for golf um regardless if they make the team, Shady Reservation has agreed to allow any student to play at no charge for the season and into the summer, which is incredible. Um, girls ice hockey, we have about two to three girls playing per year um in the boys league. There are about eight or so females interested um in there being a female league only. We need about 15. Um, and the startup costs are pretty significant, so for now we're going to keep doing what we are we've been
016doing um just encouraging um girls to continue to play with the boys to learn to continue to practice their skills. Um, and to hopefully we'll grow that to beyond the 15 needed to the future. Um of note budget importance, uh basketball, there was an official statewide vote um making it mandatory that all schools put a shot clock and install that into your gym at a lovely cost of approximately $28,000. >> Wow. >> Um so that is a requirement voted on by our efforts. Um I think that's really it. We still have a really great breakdown. So it's it's really important um gave us a good perspective to take a look at both um middle schools, all of the different activities that they have, field trips, as well as um sports and activities that we could
017just do an overall sort of audit. >> Thank you. Any questions for Mrs. Swora? Moving along, um number two, enrollment report. Number three, letters to the board. Two emails were received by the board and forwarded to the appropriate administrator. Um Superintendent Regula? >> One is our out-of-district placements. Two is the approval of HIBs from April 30th. Three is field trip requests. Four is the memorandum of agreement for our um our partnership with Kean University and the the Holocaust Resource Center. Five is our comprehensive equity plan. Six is our personnel report that was discussed in exec. >> Um can I get a uh motion to move the superintendent >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Mrs. Jones moved on. >> Ms. Barber? >> Yes. >> Mr. Benedict? >> Yes. >> Ms. Boroch? >> Yes. >> Ms. Brody?
018>> Yes. >> Mr. Greenblatt? >> Yes. >> Ms. Kolokowski? >> Yes. >> Ms. Soriano? >> Yes. >> Ms. Williams? >> Yes. >> Ms. Zickler? >> Yes. >> Ms. Passant? >> Moving along to board business. >> Yep. >> So, number one staff training. Two, related services special ed students for our next year. Some of the items will be up. Um number three is uh the grant resolution for third floor of land and this resolution just includes the um the amount for the education adequacy review fee. Uh number four is for air phone system that will bring. Number five is for area of rescue it's called um communication system that will bring. So, the third floor of the grant for this upcoming school year um will be we won't have pre-K students cannot go on the third
019floor per statute. So, the third floor will mostly be for um faculty room and meetings. Uh and our staff will be uh say renovating the uh the you know, painting and uh replacing ceiling and ceiling tiles and things of that nature. So, cleaning up, getting it ready. Um so, these are just some items and I I expect in the next couple meetings we'll have additional ones. Um that's what this is. Number seven is projector for the MPR that will bring. Number eight again for the third floor. Um number nine is custodial equipment most of it is for the grant and then of course supplies as well. Number 10 again is for school one material alterations and this is including the fee for the educational adequacy 11 is our new bus route that we're going to
020need for our burner. 11 is a sidebar small agreement Teamsters. 13 is our health insurance. is the bargers. This will be a roll call and that's not on the agenda. >> Can I get a first Can I get a first? Can I get a second, please? >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Ms. Barber? >> Yes. >> Mr. Benedict? >> Yes. >> Ms. Worrell? >> Yes. >> Ms. Brody? >> Yes. >> Mr. Greenblatt? >> Yes. >> Dr. Polcastro? >> Yes. >> Ms. Irianni? >> Yes. >> Ms. Williams? >> Yes. >> Ms. St. Fleur? >> Abstain. Moving along to the board minutes. I >> Can I get a motion to summon? Thank you. >> Second. >> On favor? >> Aye. >> All opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carried. Any new board business? >> Other board business, Liaison reports?
021>> I have the Liaison report. And I apologize it is going to be brief because it all took place last night and I haven't looked at this yet. So, congratulations to Suzanne Schneider and we have now the co-president and Brian Clark for being nominated for PR and marketing. We had an overall meeting just discussing transitions. Ms. Masco discussed uh various transitioning opportunities for elementary and middle school, specifically walking tours that are available. The specific changes is just independence through electives. Middle school to high school, the big significant change is block changing, block scheduling. Sorry, I'm tired. And no changes. And then post-secondary, we we had a discussion just about how you know, the the age of discussing transitions. And questions came up about transitioning back into the district. What I would recommend because these transition
022meetings that they have are super helpful and filled with great information and great Q&A. So, what I would recommend is going on to the SEPAC website. They have all the minutes from their previous meetings up already. And really take a look through that. Their next meeting is June 1st at Carroll Middle School at 7:00 p.m. It's their final meeting. But definitely I really recommend for everyone to take a look at the SEPAC site to get a good idea of their questions and to come to the next meeting. >> Thank you, Ms. Morra. Any questions? >> I think we can take them. >> Okay. >> Sorry. >> Uh Field Light Advisory Board, they we reached out to them at our meeting. They are happy with everything and how it's going. So, they declined to have a
023year meeting scheduled. That's good news. >> That's great news. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Request to attend any workshops or workshop reports. Seeing none, there are no resolutions. We are moving to our second and final public comment in accordance with Scotch Plains-Fanwood Public Schools Bylaws 0154 and 0101640165. The meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comment, maximum 3 minutes per speaker. Speakers addressing superintendent items, business functions, and other board business will be heard first, and remaining speakers may address other matters. Speakers, please state your full name and the town in which you reside. Please note, board views the public comment period as an opportunity to listen to citizen concerns, but not to debate issues or enter into a question and answer session or cross cross-examination between the public and the individual members. Be aware
024that not all issues brought before a board meeting will be resolved that evening. Boards may respond to public comment by seeking additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his or her designate. Speakers, please come to the podium and state your full name and the town in which you reside. >> Eric Felsen, Scotch Plains. And uh first of all, I want to congratulate you for your appointment. Very well done. Well, great pick. Um congratulations to Mr. Serriani on on your new appointment. And Ms. Williams, congratulations. Um two questions I have. Uh this might go to Ms. Baro. Um Can you elaborate on the um what you mentioned with the children uh not children, the students participating. So, they are allowed to participate in the practices. Is that on
025all sports? And uh so that and then also elaborate um so anybody that that applies for a team, a varsity or JV, is saying that the uh all those teams in the school will allow that person to participate in the practice sessions. Um and is the school Is there any liability issues or risk if that student gets hurt since they're not on the team? That I don't know. And then a little bit more on the golf. I'm interested for my son, he plays golf. Um is that only if you try out for the golf team or if you're a student here, can you still play golf? Um that I'd like to know more on. And um shot clock, $28,000. Just did a Google search over here, came up with like under $10,000 for a shot
026clock, nice shot clock. So, I know there's cost of electricity involved and and whatnot. Um so, I would love to see the quotes and what you're getting this uh this crazy price from. So, uh I'd love to see that and uh I'm happy for the floor the way it is and I feel that our volleyball team will not lose any more coaches now. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Fallon. Are there any other comments? Closing out this portion of the um comment section. Upcoming schedule meetings. Tuesday, May 19th, um staff and student recognition. Wednesday, June 17th is our regular regular public meeting at 8:00. 7:30 is executive session. And we are at the good of the order. And I have something. >> Oh, congratulations, President Tony Williams. Congratulations, Vice President Stephanie Suriano. And congratulations, Christina
027St. Hilaire. >> Um I just want to say that I was lucky enough on May 1st to be at the Somerset Patriot game where Nettingham Middle Middle School jazz band played for the opening ceremonies of that game versus the Somerset Patriots and the Portland Sea Dogs. And then on May 4th, I was able to be present for the ribbon cutting for the new studio that the EEF has graciously provided in our high school's media center uh from donations from Johanna Rodriguez and her children were there to help celebrate as well as some of my current good long-term friends. So, we want to thank Johanna and the EEF for such a wonderful opportunity for our students. And the first recording was the Alma Mater, which I was so happy to be there for it, and it
028was absolutely beautiful. Thank you. >> I just want to acknowledge all of our our teachers at the um finish of Teacher Appreciation Week. I was able to see on social media throughout all of our schools just the different celebrations and acknowledgements and many very creative acknowledgements and some from the PTA, some directly from the students. It's really touching to see. So, um thank you to all of our teachers. You deserve acknowledgement every week of the year, but Teacher Appreciation Week is is always fun to to see. Um yeah. I also want to congratulate Ms. St. Hilaire. I'm glad to have you on on the board. And I want to acknowledge all the candidates who came out tonight. It was really inspiring to see such a great turnout. Um so, I just wanted to say to,
029you know, all of the community members who um came to to answer uh questions for us tonight. And um I also was at the um dedication of the recording studio at the high school. It blew me away. The equipment it was absolutely incredible and to just see the students step in and someone was like sound editing and mixing and you know there were singers or other of the students of our choral singers were singing the alma mater as as Dr. Kowalczuk said and it was just an incredible donation and an example of the great work that the EEF does in collaboration with our schools. >> I'm drunk off this crazy. Be careful out there. This is Dr. Cool. >> Just hot off the press because this will happen before the next board meeting but the
030high school's production of Guys and Dolls has been nominated for six Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Stars Awards including outstanding performance by a chorus, outstanding achievement in music direction, outstanding achievement in hair and makeup design, outstanding performance by an ensemble group the Hot Box Girls, and outstanding performance by a female identified supporting role as Sophie Spencer as Miss Adelaide, and outstanding overall production of a musical which means that the cast will be performing on the Paper Mill stage on June 9th. So hopefully next board meeting will have lots of accolades to share. >> Thank you Dr. McGarry. Thank you. >> I also want to echo what Mrs. Sirianni said. You know it was nice to see all the candidates come out and just get a very diverse perspective and congratulations to Mrs. Mrs. St. Hilaire and
031also to you Stephanie. And thank you and congratulations to Mrs. Brody on 10 years on the board. >> Oh thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Um real quick, shot clock. Um So, the shot clock is connected to trying to develop high school sports for college and for pros. Um, they currently don't play on a shot clock. The cost of the shot clock is for um both of our gyms. So, it'll cover both of the two locations. In addition, we have to um of course meet the uh payroll wages for the install. Um, in addition, um you have to, you know, any options we buy cuz you have to buy a shot clock that integrates with your scoreboard. Um, of which there are not many that do, and you could maybe buy a different shot
032clock for cheaper, then you'd have to replace your scoreboard. So, unfortunately, um of course we will meet all the compliance rules, which is getting multiple quotes, um making sure they have the proper paperwork in. Um, we'll do everything we can to keep the cost as low as possible. >> This is exciting. Okay. Can I get a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> So moved. >> So, we're ready to >> All right, so nice to