001[Music] What the heck? Oh yeah. What are you doing? [Music] Good idea. Hello. How are you? >> How are you today? >> How are you? >> I'm good. How are you? >> Good. How was your >> It was great. Um went to Cape Cod and then I went I played tennis and just drove around. Steph. Good evening. I'd like to call the regular meeting of the Scotch Plains Family Board of Education meeting to order. Roll call, please. >> Miss Vet, >> here. >> Miss Bower, >> here. >> Mr. Benedict, >> here. >> Mrs. Borov, >> here. >> Miss Brody >> here. >> Dr. Kolkowski >> here. >> Missani >> here. >> Miss Williams, Mr. >> Present. >> Mr. Murray. >> Thank you. Pledge of Allegiance, please. Please stand. [Music] >> Let begin. I pledge algiance
002to 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. >> We met in executive session at 7:30. Are there any additions to the agenda? >> Um, yes. So, and I'll go over these in my section, but G9 through G19 must be related to uh Lrand. I've been at it. >> Thank you. Superintendent report. [Music] >> Sorry. Doc, superintendent's report. Dr. Mass. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you. Tonight we are going to be doing a presentation regarding the opening of our schools. So my comments will be included in that presentation. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The business report please. >> Uh same for me but I did want to mention uh enrollment. So from
003October 15th of prior year, we are up 80 students. >> Thank you, Mr. Jones. Board President's announcement. The New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure 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 in written notice to ford written notice forwarded to the leader formerly Union County Hall, the star ledger, the township clerk of scotch plains and the burough clerk of
004Fanwood in the annual notice of regularly scheduled meetings as adopted April 24th, 2025. Thank you. Student representative report, Grace. Hi everybody. I'm Grace and so I'm going to give a few um a little bit about the student report. So school has started back up and everyone is getting back into the swing of things. Um our pep rally occurred our first week of school where we had our cheerleaders, bands, coral singers, and other student leaders who set the tone for an exciting new year. As for sports, we have our tennis girls had a county conference score of 8-1 so far and they're currently competing in our Union County tournament this week as well as our football game which dominated New Brunswick this or last Friday 24 to8. Nice. >> And we also had other wins coming
005from our girls soccer team against Beerley 3-1 boys soccer against Elizabeth 2-1 girls volleyball 2-1 against GL. And we also had girls field hockey won against GL 3 to1. Um, as for clubs and extracurriculars, our college representatives are coming to the high school from schools such as Lehi, University of Maryland, University of Connecticut, and many others um for students interested. We also have our homecoming theme set, which is going to be Great Gatsby. So stay tuned for that. And um just for right now, juniors are kind of starting to study for SAT and we have seniors like myself are getting busy applying to colleges. As for underassmen, freshman and sophomores are kind of just settling back into their classes. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Grace. And we will have our instructional update. Dr. McGary
006>> or Dr. M. Actually, you get a trio this evening on on the instructional update, but it it's really just celebrating the opening of our schools. >> I think everybody will need to turn around. >> So, this is the moment where we ask you to turn. [Music] I have it open. >> Good evening, members of the board, administration, staff, and community, and students. Welcome to our opening of schools presentation for the 2025 2026 school year. We're excited to share the progress and preparations made over the summer to ensure a successful and enriching year for all of our students. Our administrative team kicked off our summer preparation with a productive and forward-looking administrative council summer retreat. The retreat set the stage for the upcoming school year with several key focus areas. A central theme was laying
007the groundwork for our new strategic plan for 2026 through 2029. We began the important process of looking at where we've been, assessing where we are now, and charting a course for where we want to go as a district. We also focused on enhancing our communication skills with a session from Laura Bishop Communications titled storytelling begins with you. This training emphasized the importance of effectively sharing the incredible stories happening in our schools every day. Additionally, our leaders engaged in deep professional learning with sessions on the frameworks for teaching, past, present, and future and the critical role of teacher leadership in driving student success. This retreat was instrumental in aligning our leadership team and preparing us to guide our staff and students into the new school year. Many of our talented staff, both new and returning, were
008hard at work this summer leading our 41st annual creative summer workshops. This fantastic 4-week enrichment program offered a variety of exciting courses for students in grades K through 8. The workshop provided a fun and engaging atmosphere with a wide range of offerings from bucket drums and Legoland to screenwriting and broadcast journalism. The program also included the SPF summer instrumental music school for students in grades four through nine. These summer programs are a perfect example of the engaging, progressive, and challenging educational opportunities our excellent staff members continually provide. This summer, our dedicated staff worked diligently on key curriculum enrich enhancements across all levels. Um, and a single slide with a few bullet points really can't do justice to all the work that went on this summer as as I think Mrs. Serriani will be reporting out
009later on tonight. But for our elementary schools, we refined the integrated pacing guides for science and social studies in grades K through four and updated the K through five mathematics proficiencies. In our middle schools, we're thrilled to introduce several new elective courses. Change makers, which is a service learning course. content creators, which focuses on digital literacy, and project STEM. Additionally, our health education curriculum has been enhanced to include important components on things such as climate advocacy, social media safety, and relationship education. At the high school, we're expanding our offerings with an ESL highintensity BC course for our our multilingual learners and an expanded dual enrollment course in entrepreneurship in partnership with the University of Delaware. We've also updated thematic units across all world languages programs and are implementing a science phenomenonbased biology approach to foster
010deeper student engagement. Here we see some of the faces of our 30 new certificated staff members joining our professional community. To ensure that they have a successful start, all new staff participated in a comprehensive three-day orientation program designed to build a strong foundation for excellence. The program began with a warm welcome from district leadership and board of education president Murray. Over the three days, our new colleagues engaged in critical professional learning sessions focused on creating car caring classroom communities, engaging every learner, and designing purposeful instruction, all grounded in the Danielson framework for teaching. Sessions also covered essential topics like creating safe and inclusive schools for all learners, our commitment to equity, and important district policies. A highlight of the orientation and what you're seeing in these photos was the bus tour of Scotch Plains and
011Fanwood. This tour helps our new staff connect with the community they serve and giving them a better understanding of our district's context. The program was made possible with the wonderful support of our community partners, including the Scotch Plains Famwood Education Association, the PTA Council, and the Education Enrichment Foundation of SPF, who generously provided meals and refreshments throughout the three days. The orientation concluded with new staff meeting their principles and supervisors um and spending time preparing their classrooms and offices for the first days of school. to support our staff and these curriculum updates. We focused on um on robust professional development this um during our our September 2nd and third PD days. Our curriculum implementation focus involved grade level specific sessions in math and ELA to ensure a consistent roll out of new standards and materials.
012We conducted specialized training programs including dyslexia training for multiple staff groups, powers school training for better data management, and training in the nurtured heart approach to enhance student learning and school culture and climate. We're also very proud of um innovative partnerships that we we get to take um advantage of um for professional development such as the collaboration with the Smithsonian Design Institute at the Cooper Huitt Museum for our K12 visual arts teachers who spent a day at the um at the Cooper UI exploring their resources and learning about um how to integrate design into their work. And finally, we continue to emphasize datadriven instruction and technology integration in all our professional learning initiatives. Okay, there we go. So, now turning to facilities and infrastructure. We've been busy making significant improvements across the district to ensure
013our school environments are safe, modern, and conductive to learning. Infrastructure upgrades were a major focus. This included the Nettingham life skills room, flood remediation and rebuilding at Nettingham, a new generator at Nettingham, upgrades to the high school main office and CST space, and replacement repair of flag poles. Maintenance crews handled numerous general work orders, including faculty room touch-ups, concrete and pothole repairs, and playground repairs throughout the district. Other other projects included the purchase of a Bobcat and the replacement and repair of stage curtains. We also move forward on several capital projects such as the evergreen windows, extensive project planning for Lrand and various referendum projects including the high school courtyard egress. Here you can see some of the facilities work in action. Images show the scope of the summer projects from maintenance being performed on
014our school buses to exterior building repairs, flagpole replacements, and upgrades to auditoriums. Uh next set of photos, it illustrates the before and after transformations of se several of the interior spaces. Uh you can see the progress from the demolition to the finished modernized classrooms and offices which are now ready for students and staff. So to officially kick off the 2025 2026 school year, we brought all of our staff together for our traditional opening day convocation. The energy in the room was incredible with wonderful performances from the SPFHS marching band and our cheerleaders and inspiring words from district and community leaders. The highlight of the morning was our keynote address, a truly unforgettable duet presentation by the legendary retired coach Jim Stroker and his daughter, Tony award-winning AC actor Ally Stroker, the first actor in a
015wheelchair to earn this honor. Ally starred in the Broadway revival of Oklahoma and has appeared on stage and on television. Their message was powerful, touching, and profoundly relevant to our work as educators. They shared personal stories and practical strategies, skillfully illustrating the equation E plus R equals O or event plus response equals outcome. This concept resonated deeply, reminded us that while we can't always control the events in our lives or in our classrooms, our response is what shapes the outcome. The impact on our staff was immediate and overwhelming. Many were moved to tears, describing it as one of the most amazing keynote speeches they had ever attended. Teachers left feeling re-energized with one kindergarten teacher noting it was the most inspiring convocation since Harry Wong spoke 16 years ago. Staff members commented that the stroker
016served as a strong reminder that differences don't define us or our students and that Alli's story teaches us that no matter the disability, we belong and can achieve anything we put our minds to. This incredible event set a hopeful, reflective, and motivated tone for the entire school year. And we are so grateful to Jim and Ally for sharing their powerful story with us. And now we come to the most important part of all our presentations, the students themselves. As these images show, the first day of school was filled with excitement, joy, and the promises of a new year. You can see the smiles, the reunions with friends, and the palpable energy in our hallways and classrooms. This year, we celebrated the arrival of 5,813 students across our district. It is an honor to welcome each
017and every one of them to our schools. The number includes 1,555 at the high school, 1,719 across Nettingham and Terrell Middle School, and 2,951 students in our five elementary schools. We also welcomed 152 of our youngest learners into our preschool program and celebrated 442 kindergarteners as they began their educational journey with us. Our district is growing with an increase of 80 students since this time last year. This growth is a testament to our community and the quality of our schools. This slide represents far more than just numbers. It represents the culmination of all our summer efforts. From the curriculum enhancements and professional development to the extensive facility upgrades, everything we do is to create a welcoming, safe, and inspiring environment for our students. It was truly wonderful, a wonderful start to the school year, and
018we are thrilled to have our students back. We also want to extend a huge thank you and a well-deserved tribute to our incredible Scotch Plains Fanwood High School marching band. These dedicated students and their directors sacrificed a significant portion of their summer rehearsing tirelessly during the final weeks to perfect their intricate music and challenging field formations. Their hard work was immediately on display on our opening day. As our staff arrived for the convocation, they were greeted by the wonderful and energetic sounds of the marching band, which provided a truly warm and spirited welcome to kick off the new school year. They haven't stopped since. The band has already thrilled audiences with their dynamic halftime performances at our Raider home football games, showcasing their talent, precision, and school spirit. We encourage everyone to come out and
019support them. In fact, this Saturday, we have the honor of hosting a major marching band competition right here on our home field. It's a fantastic opportunity to see our band and others from around the region perform at an incredibly high level. We are so proud of these amazing student musicians and ambassadors for our district. So just want to take a minute to talk about sports as well. Um so um we want to highlight our student athletes in upcoming fall season. This is a full list of our sports including soccer, field hockey, volleyball, football, and more. Uh we wish all of our teams the best of luck this season. And just as a reminder, all athletic schedules can be found on the SPFHS athletics app, which is available on Android, Google, and Apple uh devices. So,
020with 10 school days already completed, we are looking forward to a productive and inspiring 2025 2026 school year for students of the Scotch Plains Family Public Schools and our families. It's a great time to be a RA Raider. Thank you. [Applause] Not just [Music] >> Thank you for the instructional update. Anyone have any comments? >> I appreciate seeing all the slides of all the students, all the activities that went on in these 10 short days. [Music] Now, we'll head into our first public comment. In accordance with Scotch Plains Fanwood Public Schools bylaws 0164 and 0165, the meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comments, maximum three minutes per speaker. Speakers addressing super superintendent items, business functions, and other board business will be heard first. If time remains, speakers may address other matters. Speakers,
021please come to the mic, state your full name and the town in which you reside. Please note boards use 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 crossexamination 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 a public comment by seeking additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his his or her designate. New Jersey State Board Association. Thank you. Madam Chair, I just uh we see we have a lot of people that haven't been to board meetings before. So, if I could just uh now's the time if anyone has anything on
022the agenda uh that they'd like to speak about, uh we would hear from them first. Again, this is first public comment. There will be another point of the meeting uh where the board opens it up to the public, but that's not until the very end of the meeting. So, if anyone has a comment about anything on the agenda, now would be the time. Uh when you step up again, just name uh say your full name for the record. Uh because it does go in the minutes. Uh and for anyone who doesn't know what I'm doing here, I will be keeping time. You do have three minutes. Uh if you're still speaking when your three minutes expire, my alarm will go off and I'll ask you just politely to to try to wrap up your comments
023and we'll move on to the next speaker. Uh so with that, now would be the time if anyone has any comments for the board about anything on the agenda, uh please step up to the microphone. Thank you. [Music] Hi, my name is Moren Lambertie. I reside in Scotch Plains. Um, a lot of things happened this afternoon with regards to the girls volleyball program. As you can see, we have a very fair representation here from the program itself. I would just like to take a moment to say thank you to Dr. Miller for acting swiftly and quickly so that the program can can continue for these girls. And I hope that whatever approvals need to take place tonight so that these girls can get back on the court and play the sport that they love and
024the parents can cheer them on will be approved. >> We want these girls to enjoy the sport that they love. We want them to have a positive coaching experience. We wish them the opportunities that they should be given as students in this district and the opportunities that they take are within their power to move forward in a positive and um full of love of the sport for themselves as well as for each other. And I hope that the board will support Dr. Miller in the actions that he has taken today. Um, and again, I thank him for being swift and quick and making sure these girls get back on the court. >> Thank you so much. We couldn't agree more. Thank you. We will have another opportunity. But anyone else want to come to the
025mic? >> They don't have to stay till the next one if they want to speak now. >> Great. You probably have homework. >> Okay, moving along to letters to the board. >> Before you go, >> okay, ju just thank you team for for for showing up and just representing how important it is. I know the board hears you and I know the swift action that you're asking for will happen. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> And now go do your homework. Yeah. >> Yeah. You can leave if you want. >> You You're welcome to stay, but you can you can It's up to you. [Laughter] >> Yeah. >> And just a reminder, we are we are live streaming as well, so you actually can watch us on uh YouTube. >> Yeah. If
026you want to say something. >> Yes. Okay, >> we have four public. >> Hi, I'm Rihanna Marie Rodriguez and I reside in Scotch Plains. Um, this is my second year at Scotchland Fanwood High School and as a freshman I made varsity and ever since I've built such a strong and emotional connection with all my teammates. It was not just after school you have an away game or a game at school or practice. It was more than that. It was a second family. And with what happened this weekend, this weekday, and this afternoon, we all felt a certain way of disconnect. We felt that we didn't have the program for a second because we didn't have our coaches. And with whatever is going on, we understand that things will happen. We will find another coach. But
027right now, as a team, we are all trying to stick together. >> And I think just like Miss Lambertie said that Dr. Miller, he came and spoke to us and the way he reassured us that things were going to go back to how they were, it made me feel as a player and as an individual that it was important to have that reassurance because this is not just something I do for fun. It's like something I do want to go in the future and in college hopefully. And I think being able to be with my teammates today and all being with each other, supporting each other through this moment of heartbreak really, I think it was very important. And Dr. Hines and Dr. Miller was there to support us. And with whatever goes on, we
028all I can say we all really appreciate whatever you guys are going to do. >> Thank you. [Applause] Thank you for your comment, Miss Rodriguez, and we appreciate you stepping up and supporting your team, and it's going to be okay. >> Letters to the board. Six emails were received. I'm closing that portion of the public comment. Six emails were received from the public by the board and were sent to the appropriate administrator. I'm moving on to the committee reports. >> I know we had a few of them. >> I mean, I don't care. I'll go first. Um, this is the community relations committee meeting. Thank you. That we had last night. Um, an update on district communications plan with Laura Bishop Communications. The newsletter has been redesigned and each school will submit a blurb for
029the monthly newsletter highlighting happenings within their school. And to date, four schools have adopted the new the new newsletter format. Therefore, moving forward with consistency of communications within the district. The website has been continuously updated and the school and we're working with the schools on consistency as well. Um, there is an ability now for all the schools news and press releases to be tagged on a school site, so you only put it up once. And they're also making sure there's new ADA compliant rules coming through. And they're making sure that that's going to um that this site will be ADA compliant. And they're working on the consistency with community groups as well, such as the PTA. Um we discussed working groups related to the this year's district priorities. One is dual enrollment which um was
030discussed in the opening of schools and um there would be other projects um for the business academy and a possible certification program. We discussed middle school reconfiguration and due to increasing enrollment the admin is reviewing the possibility of reconfiguring the middle schools. the grand school. We discussed and reviewing the job responsibilities of the head administration and the staff. We discussed the refer referendum HVAC and electrical that's going out to bid and we'll be adding an independent project manager to the project overall. The I and RS44 plans are being evaluated to ensure consistency. The strategic planning is coming up and that will be that planning will be started soon for feedback from all stakehold stakeholders. Uh teacher leadership opportunities are being developed to help the administration in charge. Um professional development having model classrooms being the
031voice of the department and these are some of the baseline visions for this role. and AI. Um, a working group is being established on how AI will be used and implemented in this classroom. That's it. That's my report. >> Thank you, Mrs. Brody. Any questions? >> No. M. Seriani? >> Yes. >> Okay. I have a curriculum report. The curriculum committee met last week and we were a very large group. I think there were about 20 of us which is a large meeting for the curriculum committee and that was because we were discussing all of the work that happened over the summer. I think we say every September that um summer is not downtime for our district administrators and content supervisors. They are very hard at work um looking at curriculum, developing curriculum um and um
032engaging in professional development. So I will hit some of the highlights because my report is three pages long and that was the a bridge a bridge version. I think I started at five. So I'm just going to give the highlights. Um but we were we did get updates in each content area and uh Dr. McGary reviewed some of them in in the presentation earlier. Um as far as STEM summer updates, um we for a highlight I I know Dr. McGary again mentioned like updates to the biology curriculum especially in terms of um implementing phenomena based storyline approach um which is an innovative way launching questions to advance learning um and posing student questions as a driver for learning and most of the content areas actually they um updates involved like just reviewing scope and sequence
033pacing guides um so that happened as well Um, in STEM, in social studies, grades K through 4, um, again, there was a look at the pacing guides, um, looking at alignment for science and social studies, um, creating grade level specific guidance documents to ensure consistency across classrooms and across schools. And um as the 250th anniversary of our country comes up, um administrators are also looking at ways to engage students um and engage teachers in lesson planning around the 250th anniversary to engage students in that event. So finding opportunities at each grade level for connection to that event. So that continues to be planned. Um okay, in social studies grades five to eight, um again, Dr. Dr. McGary talked about some additions to electives in the middle schools. Uh last year there were some additions in
034seventh grade. This year there are some new eighth grade electives which is I think it's really exciting how the development of of all of our courses middle school and high school. Uh there have been a lot of new offerings. Um but he I know Dr. Dr. McGary mentioned change makers which um integrates a service learning component into um an elective course which is a great opportunity for students as far as world languages again and ESL. Dr. McGary mentioned the additional um ESL highintensity B class. Last year, highintensity A was a new course. Um and that um is exciting also because that class will be co-taught by an ESL and English language arts teacher for our multilingual learners and world languages. Um there were thematic unit updates uh that took place for Mandarin, Italian, French, and
035Spanish um areas. Okay. In math, grades K through five, uh profic course proficiencies were updated and aligned with the revised um 2023 NJ uh student learning standards. Um and those are on the agenda tonight for board approval. Um you see there uh grades K through K through five uh math proficiencies. Yeah, we're be we're asking for approval of those proficiencies. Um additional summer work involved um integrating reintegrating um a money curriculum into kindergarten and grades grade one. Um updated climate change resources. updating climate change resources um integrated into teaching math concepts and also the report card rubrics were updated also to reflect new um NJ student learning standards for math grades six to 8. Um again a revision of sequencing guides for all grade levels those tend to be looked at every summer. Updates to
036digital game design and making money moves which were the electives that were started last year in seventh grade. So there was an assessment on how those went um and any changes that needed to be made. Okay. Another exciting thing um in middle school math is that SPF um has access to something called project STEM which is a program through MIT and they offer uh three middle school courses and we were able to select one um that will be an elective for our eighth graders. So the it will be AI in our world um and that will promote um discussion critical thinking about AI applications and not just the use of AI but how AI could be applied in manufacturing agriculture um and maybe ways that students have not thought of. So again, another innovative uh
037new elective, English language arts in the this summer. Um grades K through five, reviewing our um universal screener to make to ensure alignment with uh the Department of Education mandates. Um so this has to do with early literacy um and evaluating our early screening tools and making sure that they are equitable and effective. Um, also report card and rubric revisions, um, reading workshop and reading strategies alignment and, um, New Jersey SLA test prep unit updates. In English language arts, grades 6 through 12, um, a cyclical review. um in grades six through 12 English language arts, they usually each summer will focus on one middle school grade and one high school grade and um you know take a deep dive into the curriculum. So this summer they looked at grades six and grade 12 um creating
038a sixth grade content creators elective course um that infuses social media with psychology, marketing and writing. And at the high school, they looked at enhancing the rigor um of English one, English three, um and unit revisions for AP language and how looking at how people prepare for that exam. Um health and physical education summer work included review of topics and updates to units in grades six through eight. uh fine and performing arts summer update involved um curriculum development for ceramics 2 which is a course that I've discussed um in the past that um students asked for and so a ceramics 2 course was created so curriculum development for that and graphic commercial design um an a music inventory was done um for our instrumental music uh program which apparently um was much needed and a
039lot of work. Um, and video production, there was curriculum updates to include a broadcast journalism and creative storytelling um, unit. And finally, in special services, um, English language arts assessment alignment, um, both for pull out resource class and self-contained classes. that was for pre preschool to four and in grades five through 12. Um again curriculum modification and alignment for our special ed students um across multiple subject areas. So constantly continually assessing um curriculum creating sequencing pacing guides to assist staff in all areas. And I talked about a action items on the agenda tonight. I talked about proficiencies for um for math um also updated proficiencies for ESL highintensity B the course I mentioned um programs of study. The board should have received all programs of study that um you will be asked to approve tonight
040and an additional textbook um a textbook adoption for the course um you and the law. Um, and you should have received information about why that book was selected. And um, we're asking for 50 copies of that book at $11328 each copy. So that was a lot. And our next meeting is October 6th. >> Thank you, Mrs. Serriani. Any questions for >> I just will add that it's just so inspiring to hear about all the work and all. Yes, it was a large meeting of uh that but they represented so many teachers who were involved in that work too. So >> yes, >> hats off to all of them. >> Yeah, >> thank you. So the wellness and equity um committee had a meeting on September 3rd and I just also want to thank Dr. Ayurusi
041who's director of counseling health and wellness. She's very busy, has really secured us a few grants. um for for our district. One being the nurtured heart grant and Kohl's and again will receive um money $1,500 each to use at their discretion and they're using it to staff members to reset boxes, bulletin boards for our students and staff. We also hired a middle school counseling position and she will be sharing her time between Nettingham and Terrell. We also have a grief education grant proposal for a teen mental health first aid. She's working on these grants and they will be they'll be covering manuals and members staff members will be trained. There'll be grants for imagine grief count. I just said grief counselors must be trained. um and dating violence consent and bullying prevention programs working with
042our 11th graders and grants for substance use prevention assemblies. So, thank you again to Dr. Iusi who is working very hard, her and her team. Um our next meeting will be in October and there's nothing on the agenda, no items to be approved for tonight. Thank you. Any other committee reports? Um, I just wanted to say that wellness equity committee, it was amazing to see how, you know, there's something happening at every level. It wasn't just like the high school kids are being taken care of. It was, it was really nice to see how we're trying to support all of our kids throughout the like K through 12. It was inspiring. >> Thank you. >> Moving right along to our superintendence report. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. So item number one, I'm asking the
043board to approve our out of district placements. Two, the HIP reports that were presented on August 26th. Three, our field trip requests. Four, our program of studies that Miss Ariani has mentioned. Five, the proficiencies that were also in the curriculum report. and six, our textbook adoption for a course in practical law that was also in the curriculum report. and seven are annual code of conduct. Um and I will include also um asking the board for um the the personnel report to approve what we discussed in exec and that's the end of my report. >> Thank you Dr. Mass. Can I get a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Roll call. >> Miss Barve, >> yes. >> Miss Bower, >> yes. >> Mr. Benedict, >> yes. >> Mrs. Boroff, >>
044yes. >> Miss Brody, >> yes. >> Dr. Kolicowski, >> yes. >> Mission, >> yes. >> Miss Williams, >> yes. >> Thank you. Motion carries. If I if I could just do a small addendum to the personnel report knowing that um we're we're looking to approve um coaches quickly. It was posted today and recognizing that our next meeting is October >> in October of we we will we will appoint the coaches that come forward and I will ask that the board will approve them retroactively. So if the board agrees to that tonight, um that that's the approach we'll take. So there's no disruption. 16th is the next. >> Thank you. >> Oppo 16th is our next meeting. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Dr. Mass. Moving along to um board business. >> Yep. >> So number one,
045staff training. Number two, related services for uh special education students. Three is a speestous consultant for 330 South A. Um four is uh approving the non-public budget that was submitted and it this is managed by the Union County Tech Votech uh or ESC Union County ESC. Uh five is fire drills. Six is our financial reports. Seven dispersement listings. Eight payment of bills. Nine theater vendors. Um and then next are about are the grants. So I can give a quick little update on the grand. So uh these are our first uh purchase orders or approvals to start the work on the building. Um in October we will appoint the uh construction manager and also uh approve we out the bid right now for um demo. So that'll be approved in October and then in November we
046will uh approve the renovation. So it'll be coming quick at the next few meetings. So, I'll just go over some of these here. Number 10 is a chimney inspection. 11 and 12 is for playground. 13 is a power washing, which really a fade cleaning, like exterior facade cleaning. Um 14 is for the fire alarm. 15's uh for the burglar alarm. And uh the next three are for actually the referendum items that we paid for. So the f the grand items will be paid for out of capital reserve 161 171 18 that I'll discuss next. It'll be paid for out of the bond proceeds. So the first one is the uh fire alarm at school one. 17 is the Brunner fire alarm and 18 is to start the work for the HVAC expansion and that'll be
047they do we do asbestous inspections um at the schools that'll be first released for the the HVAC one package one that'll be coming up next. Uh 19 is a special education settlement agreement we discussed in exec that I just added uh after exec session. >> That's it. >> Thank you. Can I get a motion? So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. >> All those in favor? >> I motion passes. >> Thank you. >> Moving along to Broadford policies. Oh, that's me. >> Sorry. Um, we met on um September 9th, the board, the policy committee. Um, we mostly it's just a lot of revised policies so that they um to include the administrative code. So, we have P0173, the duties of public school accountant. Uh, we have P 0174, legal services. These are mandatory, but they've
048just been revised. So the wording is just changed a little bit. P0177 professional services. Um the policy and regulations for 1570 internal controls. The pol um P1620 administrative employment contracts. The policy and regulations for 611 special education Medicaid initiative um program. Um the policy and regulation for uh 6220 budget preparation. Um P0141.3 board member number and term for a regional school district. Um P0143 board member um election and appointment. Um there's a new policy that that we kind of already um go by in our district but it's new technically. Um P1636.01 notification of promotion new job and transfer opportunities. Um and then there is P2422 statutory curricular requirements. Um many of these policies are mandatory. Um uh the recommendations for action is just to approve the first reading of the policy um and look at
049look through the changes that we that that were made. >> Thank you, Miss Farvy. >> Thank you. >> Can I get a motion to approve the board policies? >> So moved. Second. >> Thank you. >> All in favor? I >> motion carries. Thank you. Moving along to new board business. I don't have anything any liaison reports. I have one. Um CPAC special education parent advisory group met on September 15th. We always meet um the first Monday of the month uh usually at Terrell Middle School for those wondering. Um it was a a great a fabulous launch to CPAG. We had a very full room um along with Dr. Mast and our new head of special services um Miss Stefani. We had um Miss Meco, Miss Panino, Dr. Fury, Miss Mullman, and um Ryan Miller there
050as well. Um which gives us great opportunity so everyone can hear what's going on at the different um schools and the various initiatives across the district. Um there was an update to the lea zones. Uh rather than doing school leaison, we're doing grade level liaison. But it should be noted that if you're looking for ways to volunteer, there's other ways to volunteer with CPAG, which includes getting involved in some of their event functions um and some of the tables that they do with the PTA. Um so don't be hesitant if liazison sounds scary to you. Um we did have a sort of just a dis a discussion on what things people can expect from this year. So um if you're free on a Monday night or you are busy at home and you want to
051watch online and not come um we topics that we're going over this year is Orton Gillingham and reading executive functioning skills transition meetings dyslexia supports 504s. Um wanted to also mention some of the initiatives that they're doing um just this week across the district. School one had a say hello week. Students getting to know each other. Um there's also I I'm so impressed by this at our schools, but there's um a Tom sorry a calm table um for children who are overstimulated and um just to regulate themselves. And there's also Evergreen has a very similar um inclusive area, a quiet lunch space as well. Um so as a district, I think we're learn from what I'm seeing and hearing is all these various initiatives that are taking place um throughout the district in or being
052piloted almost in one school and then um carried over to the other districts and CPAG as a group is help helping us to really bring this together. So, um, the next meeting is Monday, October 6th, and you can check out anything I may have missed on their website. >> Thank you, Mrs. Bora. Moving along, >> I have a leazison report, too. >> Okay. >> Um, I wanted to report for the Garden State Coalition of Schools. That's a large network of schools that, uh, we are a part of. um it's board members and superintendent and um we have we advocate for um well against things like unfunded mandates and influencing legislation um so so that it's uh not damaging uh when it goes through the pike so to speak. Um we had a speaker today Dr.
053Peter Mazagatti who's the director of the office of educator effectiveness. He really spoke about um flex options for flexibility in the way that teachers are evaluated. Um and that process uh so um it was a very well attended meeting. Uh the first meeting of the year is always in person. Um, and there were a number of people eager to hear him and to ask questions. Um, I wanted to just mention that a number of things were signed into law since last May and um, everything from um, mandating full day kindergarten by 2030. Um, requirements about no fee options for paying for school lunches, a number of different things. I won't mention them all, but what I want to say is we're very fortunate that we're ahead of the curve with these things. We already have
054full day kindergarten. Um we have um options for no fees for paying lunches and so forth. So, you know, it's a credit uh to the district and the administrators that we're in such a good position. Um, one of the things that uh there was a lot of discussion about was um what some people are calling the August surprise uh which was that the Department of Education uh announced in the middle of August um new state standardized test um and uh so that's a surprise for all the school districts. Um the new tests are being produced by a new company, Cambium Assessments. Uh they're owned by venture capitalist and um so and they are adaptive test. So uh all of this will be new. There's no pilot. Um I mean they're doing a field test in
055the fall, but it's with every district in the state. Um and uh it is both a graduation uh there's a graduation proficiency assessment as well as um the student learning assessment. So there was a lot of discussion around that also um a discussion about the fact that once the election is over um there will be a very active always a very active lame duck session because uh all the bills that are introduced um if they don't get passed and obviously the legislators uh um who introduce them want them passed. If they don't pass before the governor's inaugurated, they have to start the process all over again. So, um the end of the year after the election should be uh a time for all of us to pay attention to what's going on in Trenton. And
056uh the next meeting is a Zoom meeting and you all will all receive notices about it October 15th uh at 9 in the morning. And uh also the uh Garden State is uh presenting at at the uh school board's fall conference. Um and also uh we're always a part of the legislative session. So there'll be a number of things with Garden State um at that conference. And do you want to add anything? Sonali was >> No, that was perfect. >> There's a lot to learn. >> Thank you, Mrs. hour. Any other leazison on reports? Thank you. Request to attend workshops or any workshop reports. Seeing none, moving along. Um resolutions. October week of respect. I move that the board of education adopt the week of respect for October 6th to October 10th. All three school
057violence awareness week. I move that the board of education adopts the school violence awareness week October 20th 24th 2025. And lastly, national principles month. Move that the board of education adopts national princip principles month for the month of October. Oh, one more. >> Teachers. >> Okay. Teachers and administrators and support staff resolutions. Move that the board of education approves the following tenure teachers, administrators, and support staff resolution. >> That's it. Can I get a motion? >> Thank you. >> I made the motion, right? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Mod. >> Okay. >> All those in favor? >> I >> motion carries. Moving along to the approval of the minutes. I move that the board of education approves the August 26, 2025 regular public meeting minutes. >> Second. >> Thank you. All in favor?
058>> Motion carries. We are moving to our second public comment. In accordance with Scotch Plains family public schools bylaw 0164 and 0165, the meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comments. Maximum three 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, state your full name and the town in which you reside. Please note, boards use a 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 course 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
059delegating the authority to investigate the issues to the superintendent or his or her designate NJSBA. >> Hi, good evening. Uh my name is Samir Swami uh uh resident of Scotch Plains. Uh we moved to Scotch Plains as a family uh about 4 years ago from Jersey City. And as we were making that decision about where to buy a home, we chose specifically Scotch Planes because we heard a lot about good things about the school district and the program and how well it is run. Uh unfortunately our experience uh and qualify you know to provide a little bit of background. Uh we have one son who is in the special needs program. He's just transitioned from the elementary school to the middle school program this year and unfortunately the level of support that we're receiving uh
060it's it's quite disappointing to say the least. Uh we were talking about metrics and you know datadriven the process of placement and how decisions regarding the placement and child's curriculum especially in special education how they're being made it's completely opaque to parents. It's not data driven or metric driven at all. Not that I mean we haven't seen any and when raised questions to the child study team about the resources available it's unfortunately always devolves into this adversarial kind of a relationship which we were not frankly expecting at all but it's always like our way or the highway this is what it is take it or leave it and uh as we're tapping more into the CPAC community with the other parents in the town we kind of are realizing that's almost like a pattern which
061keeps repeating on and on and that's what being advised by other parents who've kind of been in our situation and have had to gone through this get external help you know counselors and bring in lawyers and everything which we were hoping to avoid you know given like you know uh that's not what we what you know our main focus is so and you know it was like really good to see like you know Dr. mass like you know you invited uh somebody with special needs to come as the keynote speaker because you know given the right level of resources provided to these people you know like to anybody right they can really flourish and really achieve their potential which we don't I mean in our case uh it's just not happening and we're just like
062you know having getting no support at all from the child study team uh the school principles it's always just like you know just get turned around so I just you know wanted to bring this up just to uh see make make sure you know that that's not a blind spot for this board that you know few folks are aware that you know that's kind of a pattern which we see like which it's happening for us and the more we connect with people in the town that that sort of repeats. Uh so you know if you guys can like you know look into that please you know and just see what if there's something we can change and especially this dynamic between the child study team and the placement and what the right thing to do
063by the kids is uh there's just no correlation at all between what the kid needs versus what he's been given because it's like this is what it is and you know you just have to live with it. So that's just one I want to bring up. Thank you. >> Thank you. So ju just just a brief comment. Um it it was good to see you at CPAG and I think that the the special education parents and the the 504 parents certainly recognize that you know it we we have a new director. I know she was very open to to reach out to you in particular. So I I think that you know we're on it. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for your comment, >> Brad Herman, Scotch Plains. So, uh I thank uh Mr. Jones
064uh for the update on the uh Lrand renovation progress. Um, one thing I do want to mention though, um, I saw from a neighbor's Facebook post that there was demolition pre-bid that went on Monday at 3 p.m. I think there should have been a little more transparency. I don't know if it was just buried somewhere in the agenda from the last meeting, but it probably should have been announced at the last meeting that, you know, this was happening. There was a walk through. So just a matter of communication with the public would would be good especially you know a lot of uh a lot of debate went into the referendum and that actually brings me to uh my next qu it's like a question for the board. Um are there going to be other referendums
065planned in the near future in the next year two years? Just curious if there's more planned because, you know, I know that uh numbers keep going up and more need is expressed in the district. And then uh the uh 5,813 uh enrollment figures. Just wanted to know if that uh is that the number that's going to be reported to the state on October 15th. Um you know, I know that's up 80 from last year. So, thank you for the update. And then um the other item I wanted to uh ask about um is you know we just unfortunately experienced a very public assassination of a high-profile figure this last week uh Charlie Kirk and um you know I know back when George the George Floyd incident occurred teachers had all kinds of lessons and talking
066points. I have not heard of any of that. Uh in the case of Charlie Kirk, now whether you agree or disagree with his politics, he was a very high-profile figure and actually um even young teenagers who disagreed with him admired his his uh work and his outreach to the youth. So, you know, a lot of teenagers that are, you know, contemporaries of my son, you know, were very stricken by uh his his death and realize that we're in an era now where um these these videos are out there, you know, back in the olden days when something bad like this happened, it was edited out by our media. these kids are seeing this, you know, Charlie Kirk getting assassinated and all the goriness that went about it and it really struck them. So, I think
067it would be good if some of the teachers just came up with some good talking points. No politics involved, but you know, I think it should be mentioned and acknowledged that, you know, our kids did observe a trauma. >> Thank you, Mr. Ryan. Certainly to to your last point, recognizing how public the trauma was, our our mental health team um has really, you know, had an eye on that and certainly reaches out and is available for our kids and and also we were we were very aware that that that trauma could come into the classroom and teachers were prepared. Thank you. Any other comments? >> Any other comments? >> Seeing none, closing out the final public comment session. Upcoming scheduled meetings. >> Candidates night, but I I don't know if that's the date for now.
068But now it is. Okay. O Tuesday, October 7th, candidates night. And um our next um board meeting is October 16th which will also be celebrating the teacher and staff tenure. Anything for the good of the order that looks at me. Um it's crazy at at drop off. Just be careful out there. I would also just um we didn't convocation was we haven't talked about that since have we well we did here okay we covered it >> I just want to say um I stopped by the offices the admin offices the first Friday of the school week and it might have been the comma I've I've pretty much experienced it so I hope it has remained that way there >> anything else for the good of the Just wishing lash to um those practicing the Jewish
069faith next week. >> Thank you, Dr. McGary. Okay. Can I get a motion to adjurnn? So moved. >> So second. >> Thank you. [Music] >> We are journ shout out the marchman competition, but Dr. Mass already covered it. the marching man competition. But Dr. M already talked about it.