001Executive session regular. Okay. Sorry. I'm sorry. Presentation of architects. I apologize. Yes. I'd like to ask Liam Art please come forward and you can give your start your presentation. Okay, now I can hear myself too. Good evening and thank you for giving us the opportunity to present DMR's credential. My name is Praep Kapoor and he's my partner Kurt Vileik. will be presenting our credential based on what you had requested us to present. So, I'm going to turn it over to Kurt. He's going to present our achievements and then I'll come back and I'll go through the process. Great. Thank you very much for having us back this evening. We're excited to be able to present um additional information um for you about DMR. Um there we go. Um so for over 33 years uh DMR
002has delivered hundreds of school facilities to local districts. Our commitment is to create educational environments that enhance the ability um for students to learn and grow. Um today we want to focus on um these four bullets up here. One creating student focused environments. two, incorporating latest technologies into design. Third, u opportunities for vocational education and then um a little bit about our process on how DMR delivers projects. So um the first is student uh focused spaces. Uh a large part of successful school environment is the interstial spaces that support the classroom work and curriculum. Uh we believe that by incorporating these spaces it helps the students learning and collaboration process to grow. These spaces offer opportunity for students to casually interact and socialize in a less stressful atmosphere. This also opens the opportunity for peer-to-peer
003interactions which helps to foster another level of respect and growth between students. Uh one example of um recently um project that we're working on completing is on the right side there is that collaboration hub um which is in Edison. So on that particular project, we're um we developed a new academic uh building and uh because due to the configuration of the this um new wing um as it related to the rest of the building, we created this expanded lobbycor space and within that space we created this um um collaborative kind of step seating area. So the idea was because of the um the proximity of this building um it we wanted to create a space that was going to enhance the learning environment and kind of create some excitement for you know what's happening in
004this new um classroom wing as opposed to just be kind of a standalone um non um um non-interactive uh space and building. So um so that uh and then we have a couple other examples here as you see um we learning commons where we're creating these uh dynamic um you know a wall of of um space that can be used as a collaboration kind of um learning zone and and then a flex space. this collaboration nook within the hallway which gives opportunity for students to stop and um hang out and again um collaborate peer-to-peer. Secondly um uh I want to talk a little bit about steam spaces. So districts have been putting strong emphasis on providing more robust curriculum here. Um, DMR works with the goals of district to implement these specialized spaces that offer
005the ability for students to grow intellectually and get hands-on experience learning. An example that we um that we have recently completed is in the middle here that uh biomedical lab and um I think as I mentioned last time this is um kind of really new technology to uh the student classroom environment. So this specialized table allows for 3D exploration of the human body and this allows the technology um and the learning to come to life for the students and really get a better understanding of um of particularly um the human body and the anatomy and the whole bone structure and organs and whatnot. So that table is this 3D interactive element and kind of incorporated we've incorporated that into a few actual um districts um classroom spaces. So really gives a an opportunity for technology
006to really enhance the learning process and and then a little bit about vocational spaces. So um recently we've seen you know the move towards the reintroduction of vocational spaces um with a focus on career pathways and career and technical education which is CTE those programs um incorporating programs such as engineering robotics um skilled trades um these all these are you know reemerging um educational programs that are um that are um coming back into um school curriculums. So, we've implemented many of these over the years, these specialized vocational spaces. And um on the left here is u a wood shop, the wood shop and engineering at uh itch high school in Sauokus. Um and that had a very extensive um program of wood shop, metal lab, engineering um and other um other vocational spaces. Uh and
007and then another one I want to point out is in the middle there. That's the um the uh the landscape design facility and that's in parameters of Bergen Tech Bergen County Technical School. So that was one where actually the facility was designed to be able to get hands-on experience with doing um maintenance on on landscape equipment, learning how to draw with CAD, learning how to do landscape design, um learning about um horiculture and the right plants to plant. So that we had um completed that project which incorporates those um again kind of vocational um program needs that are that are um becoming more and more popular today with the advent of um you know not every student is um necessarily on the on the path to going to college and with skilled trades being um
008a very um profitable and um in in demand uh thing um recently I think that's why it's we're seeing more and more of that happening in the educational realm. So and then um Praep is going to come up and talk a little bit about um DMR's uh process in delivering projects. Thank you. Thank you. Good. So as we work on a lot of public projects and a lot of them are schools. So we look at like you know what do we call project a success? A successful project is when you can realize your client's dream what they want to do kind of a project they want to complete. If the project is on budget, that's what you set out to be and the project is on schedule and also when the construction goes around it
009has least problems. So those are the four things which we consider our project to be successful and that's how we have broken down our design and the project delivery process in these four parameters. So what's our approach to project management? So we'll meet with you. We'll understand your vision and we'll put that on paper and so you have a clear understanding of what you are getting and what we are giving you. And this could be uh doing a sharet sessions, design shared sessions, seeing your existing spaces, taking you to different uh facilities we have designed or bringing in the new trends which you can look at to understand how the spaces can be designed and what is the future schools look like. You will also have a dedicated project manager who is going to be
010working with you from start to finish which is uh from the early programming phases to all the way to the construction. There are people who will come in between like you know Kurt works on a design and there will be production people. There'll be construction people but you will have a continuity of one person who is going to be with you throughout who understands your design process and can bring that continuity. So that's on the project management side. The next thing is is critical for any public project is the budget. How do we stay within the budget and deliver you what you want to do? So I think I had mentioned it last time also but we have in-house cost estimators who used to work in a construction industry. They've been with us for a
011long time now and they prepare budgets on each milestone. So when we are starting the programming we'll do a budget we'll tell you okay this is what you're looking to build this is what it could cost and then at one as we are designing uh most of clients they learn about the project as they're designing they have thoughts they have different ideas so we bring that uh attention to the budget they say okay you want to do this this can change the design it will cost this much so you have that informed decision that what your u in informed information that what your uh changes can do to the budget and then we also then can offer you cost-ffective solutions and ideas that how we can design things differently whether it's with shared spaces or
012whether it's with different type of collaborative designs we have seen or we have designed in other places to do things effectively Oops. Uh approach to the schedule. Now what we have seen in our in my 25 year career here is um the school construction thrives a lot on depends relies a lot on the project schedule. What you can do during summer, what you can do uh during the small uh Christmas or winter break. And the has to open at certain time. So we will work with you to build those schedule that okay what type of project you want to do. Is it a roofing project? Is it a um small addition or is it a roof uh replacement project or and then we'll be able to tell you okay we understand your timeline what's important
013and when this construction has to take place and we will design the project go out to bid get the bids back because lot of school want to do lot of improvement project during summer now right now we're designing so many projects which we are out for bid which we get bids end of this month and they will be lined up to go to construction from June onwards so they can be open in time for um after the school opens in September. So those kind of things become very important for the project schedule. Then we also identify the long lead items. So when we are designing the project from our experience we know what kind of material whether it's rooftop units or flooring or light fixtures or elevator will be long lead items so that we
014can work with the contractor get those shop drawings approved in time and so they can order it and project can stay on schedule. We work with the contractor to help them develop their schedule so the project can be done on time. I mean I just want to I was talking to Charlie before the meeting today. We completed a Sukakus high-tech high school 350,000 square feet building which was massive project $150 million project and which was delivered on time and on budget. So that's what was our commitment was to the project. So last item on this is uh quality control and quality assurance. So uh we have in-house quality control people. They meet with the design. They are sort of like a you know second set of eyes or third set of eyes. They look at
015the project from constructibility point of view from as a contractor would look at. So they're not part of the design team but they are um I call them like a red team. So they are analyzing the project and seeing what could be the either scheduling issue or constructibility issue or coordination issue so that we can identify these problems during the design so that we have less issues during the construction and project can run more smoothly. Um and that helps us uh stay on budget and stay on on schedule. So in closing again I would like to say like you know we have been the pioneer in uh education design since last 33 plus years. We've been designing lot of I think we have designed over 1,000 plus schools over billion dollar construction. We focus on
016providing you what your vision is and um also bring in our ideas and design spaces which are really fun and uh exciting for students to come to school with in um our projects stay on budget. We maintain the schedule and provide you that one-stop shop of your design solutions. So that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Is there a discussion from any of the board members? Does anybody have any questions um for DMR? Correct. That's correct. And there was a lot of efforts put into making sure usually I don't need a microphone. I appreciate Is is there a plan for this to be also something that'll be environmentally conscious? energy efficient that it's going to be something that we would look at or a plan being offered doesn't say we have to
017follow through with that but one would one of your plans have that Sure um I'm glad you asked that question because I it's very close to my heart DMR was the architect for the first lead certified school in New Jersey and I believe we have stayed leader in in lead design buildings um so one thing which we did um and this is before even Hi-Tech High School was in design um we started incorporating lead and sustainable design principle in our design. So whether it's um energy efficiency or bringing in recycle products and um or water efficiency or site categories, we design the projects keeping those things in mind. So if the client ever feels like you know they want to go for certification which lot of schools do and that we don't have to redesign
018it for you. So our cost to redesign for lead is negligible because we have already included those principles. So that is something we actually do regardless whether you will say that you want to design a lead certified school or you want to design regular school you will get that with us. If you want to go above and beyond then we can always talk about solar panels as long as it's an option. I think that trustees should know that there's an option of doing some moving something lead. You mentioned in one of the issues uh security and again I'll bring up high-tech it is an extremely secure entrance. That is good. You know and having been an educator for 39 years this is a growing concern that you have a secure building for the first rule
019of all of us is to make sure our kids are safe and staff are safe every day. So part of what you presented here was secure entrances. Correct. That's a focus on your on your architectural designs. That is correct. So uh as you mentioned uh since um you know Sandy Hook incident lot of schools have become more aware of security. We have been designing the secured vestible in many many school districts. We are working on in carterite in hacken sack in Edison we are doing a lot of projects in tennafly that where we are um sec creating the secure vestibule so that nobody get just walk into the school. What we have done which is little bit above and beyond we have used this opportunity to design give a presence and entrance to the school.
020So as you will see lot of the uh security vestigle project we have done we have also taken that opportunity since you are doing the construction make the entrance look more exciting make the entrance looks more new. So we have done that in many many schools as we're updating our long range facility plan. We're looking at growth in the district and different needs and uses is the design you're coming up will have flexible use as a construct of that where we'll be able to say that this room could be used for different events for either teaching or for meeting place. Is that something you also do you develop flexible use space? So the way we have been doing in which is similar to what you are asking for but we will create a master plan
021with you. So long facy plan purpose is to submit to DOE that you are in compliance with what your needs are. But what we have been doing in other school districts, we are coming up with a master plan which is even above and beyond long ridge fiscally plan so that you can see how you can use the space based on your curriculum, based on your growth, based on what you see. So we will work on that plan with you on different um uh schools. And one final question as you're doing you mentioned vocational programs I know the state been offering funds for sixth, seventh and eighth grade vocational programs to encourage districts to start teaching the students vocational programs to sixth, seventh, eighth grades. Are you familiar with any of that kind of stuff? Should
022the district be reaching out to you say what kind of programs, what kind of funding might be available so we incorporate that into our program? So in these cases actually school came to us. school came to us and said okay we want to introduce this program and we prepared the application and we submitted to DOE and DOE approved it and the grants which were available we work with them but like I was saying earlier we can bring you ideas that what we are doing in other schools because each school I would say the demographic is different the needs are different but we will work with you to come up with you know that plan thank you very much sure the other trustees have questions question. Do you have any questions for us? Um, just want
023to know when you will make the decision. So, we look forward to this evening with you. Oh, that's great. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for coming out. Thank you very much. Have a nice holiday. Thank you very much. Have a good night. Good evening everyone. Yeah, presentation mode. Okay. Now, I'd like to introduce Lan Associates to do the next presentation. All right. Well, thank you for having us back. We'll introduce ourselves. Thank you for coming back out. Our pleasure. We're really happy to be here. Grateful for this opportunity. And we'll uh jump right in. I believe we have 15 minutes, right, to uh present. Very good. So, um, we'll kick off with, uh, reintroductions. Uh, I'm Matt Wolf. I'm assistant vice president, help run our architecture team, have over 20 years of experience,
024and I'm a licensed architect based out of our headquarters in Midland Park, and have a long history of doing a lot of board of ed work, and a very diverse portfolio of work. I'd be your project exec um, engaged in all aspects of, uh, projects serving your district. Good evening, everyone. Uh Matt Fank, Atlanta Associates, um licensed architect, certified interior designer. I've been with my firm my entire career actually. Um and I look forward to being project manager. We work with the district. I be your day-to-day contact and assisting all the projects and moving forward. I won't make the same Matt joke that I did last time. Tom Wigard. Um I've been at Land Associates for 23 years. Uh my whole career. I'm a professional engineer and a registered architect. I head up all of
025our uh MEP department uh and projects. Um I'll be on the engineering side for any project that requires uh HVAC, electrical, plumbing. Um K through 12 is about 60% of what we do any given year. So it's right in our wheelhouse for uh the projects that you have coming down the road. Looking forward to learn more about your district and how we can help you. So LAN Associates, we've been around approximately 60 years. You know, we are architects and engineers. A lot of firms say they're one-stop shopping, um, but they really sub out a lot of their work. We actually have mechanical, electrical, plumbing, civil surveying, land use, construction administration, architecture, and interior design all under one roof. Uh, you would be dealing with, you know, myself or Matt as your main point of contacts.
026Um, for all those types of projects though, whether it's a civil engineering project, engineering project, you know, we it would all funnel through us. We about 130 people, five offices. So, we have a really good uh deep bench of professionals and we are really well positioned, you know, to serve your district. Uh here here's a bit of an or organizational chart. Uh like I mentioned, I'd be um a project executive engaged in all aspects of project planning, budgeting, high level um teaming, and just uh making sure that we're servicing you well as a district. Um on the left side, You see Matt Frink who just introduced himself as a day-to-day project manager. You see on the the top right Tom and then we also have on the bottom left environmental, land use, and civil. And
027bottom right is is civil. So we have a team, you know, curated, you know, specifically to serve you guys, uh, regardless of your needs. So Atlanta Associates, we have three main offices. One in Midland Park, one in Goa, New York, one in Borhees. From our Midland Park office, our corporate headquarters, we do a large majority of our work in Northern New Jersey. Uh up on the screen, you see our partial client listing of some of our educational clients. And a lot of these we've been with for multiple decades. Um we've been passionate about this marketplace and we've had some strong bonds with a lot of our districts. And as you'll see, we've had a lot, you know, encompassing this general area again for a large period of time. This is where we get to the
028seat to school district. Uh up on the screen, you'll see a few of your various buildings, but this is a starting point. Uh we really look forward to learning more about you, learning about your facilities, learning more about your staff, and creating one team. By one team, I mean our team and your team working together towards a common goal. Um, so while there's a lot to learn, there's a lot we can do together to make a very successful learning atmosphere for all the students in the entire district. Next, we're going to talk a little bit about our design process. You know, a lot of folks that may not work with architects and engineers regularly think that we just get hired, we do our magic for a few months, and then we come back and give
029you a finished product. And then that's not the way we work. Um, here's a little bit of a snapshot of of what the process is. You know, our design philosophy is based and grounded in collaboration. You know, we really want to, like Matt was saying, know your needs, know what your objectives and drivers are. you know, for all types of projects. And then we we typically start a project off with a kickoff meeting, occasionally a visioning session, maybe with teachers, could be with students, faculty, administration. And on the top left, you'll see some sketches, inspirational images. That's how we like to kick off, you know, the visioning for many of our projects. From there, once the scope and the general vision is agreed upon, we go to the next item, which is plans and elevations.
030Um, sometimes they're two-dimensional drawings, many times they're three-dimensional drawings. You'll see later in our presentation how much of what we do is now in 3D. Drawings are not just flat, you know, anymore. Most of it's three-dimensional, whether it's the architecture, the MEP, the structural. Um, majority of our work is done in a program called Revit, where it's all three threedimensional drawing. Uh, you'll see the third bubble up there is photorealistic renderings. uh our team is equipped to develop photorealistic uh renderings all throughout the process you know from concept through you know construction documents. We can update and produce renderings that are really believable. And you'll see in a later slide how many of our renderings actually mimic what the finished product product is really really well. And then the last bubble on the right is
031virtual reality. Uh, normally when we have a little more time, we actually show you an example what a virtual reality experience would be and we show a little animation. Tonight we actually cut that out just to save a little time, but the technology is there. You could put on VR goggles. You could take an iPad and and kind of look around and see what the the environment uh looks like. So the technology is at our fingertips and we're equipped to um guide you through the design process in a very integrated integrated collaborative and and virtual manner. Making your vision a reality like I mentioned on the left side are renderings and the right side in the middle of the page are finished photos actual finished photography of actual projects. So you'll see great resemblance and
032And actually it's difficult to decipher you the rendering from the photograph in many of these instances. So the the virtual tools we have at our fingertips are really good design aid and it helps you know students and faculty and administration to visualize what they're going to get. So Matt touched on this a little bit earlier. A lot of what we've been doing has been fully modeled uh in the computer using Revit building modeling software. Um so what you see on the picture on the page here is a three-story building, two stories and a basement um about a 100-y old uh building that we had a stuff with all new technology, new HVAC, plumbing, electrical uh everything was fully modeled uh from the building components down to u you know down to the receptacle level. So
033everything was fully modeled, rendered, coordinated uh clash detection so we avoid all those hits that turn into change orders and RFIs in the field. We we deal with them in the computer before it gets out to the field and out to the contractor. All of our projects uh for the last several years have all been done using Revit uh fully modeled with all the different disciplines in house. Um we mentioned that earlier is everything is in house. So all the MEPs, the architecture um these these people are right down the hall from one another. So it's not a phone call, it's not an email, it's not a week reply. It's it's an immediate response. They can walk down the hall, talk to somebody, collaborate immediately. Um, and you know, these school projects are always going
034100 miles an hour. There's always a deadline. Uh, so we can crank these out much quicker. Uh, with the Revit, we kind of clean up a lot of that construction questioning. QAQC is improved. The change orders are reduced. The RFIs are reduced. The exciting slide of MEP improvements. Um, it's not glamorous, um, but it's been very prevalent postcoid the last several years is HVAC improvements. Um, we've been doing a ton of air handlers, rooftops, ventilation, exhaust, uh, improved filtration, uh, classroom level to system level. Uh, some of the photos you see here are just some air handlers, rooftop units, boiler replacements. We're replacing a lot of these, you know, ancient 50, 60, 70 year old, what looks like a locomotive in in a boiler room and replacing them with something the size of a large
035filing cabinet, cleaning up these boiler rooms, freeing up a ton of space. Uh but we've seen a ton of interest and a ton of uh improvements postco trying to improve fresh air with the improvements to fresh air and the ventilation is the addition of air conditioning. Uh once you add air conditioning, we're increasing the electrical service so that we can have an electrical service upgrade in a lot of these districts. So we've been working with the utilities and and getting all these planned out and planned out with the districts just with the demand throughout the state and and throughout the region of how long these projects sometimes take. Uh we've been trying to get things released sooner, working with the district to kind of understand that there are some issues with equipment lead times uh
036due to this huge demand in in service upgrades. But uh there's been many studies postcoid and pre-COVID on air conditioning and cooling and temperature control and ventilation in classrooms and improved test scores. Um, so as as boring of a topic as it sometimes is, it's a very important uh discipline to kind of help those buildings breathe properly, help the students learn and avoid issues like mold and some other uh building related issues like that. I'll let Matt talk about this one. So last time we met, I stated that I came from a long line of educators. Uh and at LAN we want to make sure that it's part of our process as one of our uh you know key market sectors. Knowing the educational trends uh is of the utmost importance. You'll see a few
037images up here of things that have been emerging, things that have emerged and then there's a few things on the way. Uh but it's integral to have these in the whole design process. I'll speak in a few slides about steam labs but from my standpoint actually um we've tried to move beyond steam labs as it's a constantly you know uh rearranging acronym we've tried to do personalized steam spaces that way as it does evolve the space evolves with it. There's been numerous studies on utilizing natural light but at the same time we try to create these spaces that blur the boundary of a classroom that anywhere should be a learning space within the you know the sight limits of the property. Uh so there's an example up on screen that while there are classrooms behind,
038there are more informal spaces out in the corridors out in these gray areas. So any type of learner, any type of uh teaching style can be performed. Uh like Tom said, we've also seen a rise in uh you know, ventilation as well as learning outside the classroom. uh tying into bofilic design and again opportunities beyond. We've seen new outdoor learning classrooms that we've provided all over the space all over the place as well as maker spaces. Uh you'll see a nice little QR code there. One of our recent endeavors is into wellness within education as well as wellness within design. We've done a few actually wellness centers now where we have the opportunity to connect both the body and mind uh improving not only the day-to-day functions of the student but also the quality within
039the uh the overall district as well as what they bring home. Um so you'll see a few pages from now some of these emerging wellness spaces that we've been uh taking part in. Back to me with the exciting projects. So Matt and Matt are going to talk to you about all these great projects we've done. and you saw some photos already. You're going to see some more uh you know these big grandiose projects. Uh in reality, your budget is mostly consumed with capital improvements of roof replacements, window repairs, uh parking lots, secure vestibules, athletic fields. Um and just kind of beat a dead horse is we've got all these uh all these disciplines in house. So we've got the engineering for the fields, the roofs, the architects are handling the roofs. Um we've got the
040civil engineers for the the asphalt and the parking lots. Again, the for the HVAC upgrades. Uh so all of these routine projects that kind of seem mundane, but they take up a big portion of your budget um is really what we do day in and day out with most districts. Um you know, the additions and the brand new schools are are great. Uh there's not a lot of free area in New Jersey left. So there's not a lot of brand new schools or big additions, but um you know, the renovations, the capital improvements, the roof replacements, those are the things that we're we're doing dayto-day um with every district. Now we'll talk about the fancy ones. So uh next few slides are actually uh real project examples. You know we've been giving you a broad
041overview of our expertise, our background, our expertise and in-house expertise. Uh next three uh series of slides are actually project case stories. First one we wanted to share was Cliffside Park Board of Ed. We've been working in that district for a number of years and doing a wide variety of projects. You'll see in the top left was the high school gym that we just refinished. That was uh all new finishes, new maple strip flooring, new windows, new HVAC ceilings and lighting, bleachers. It was a full gym gymnasium upgrade. Uh the bottom left is actually um a new gymnasium entrance vestibule. So, it was a two-story iconic uh vestibule that that serves as a as a main entry coming off of the um main sports fields into the building serving the gymnasium. So, that was a
042very successful project in incorporating signage, branding, and and a new entrance element. And then the top right is just an indication of some of the roofing, HVAC, and window projects that we've done. Next project. So noted before, we've had the pleasure of working with Cranford for decades. Uh in the past year, we've actually passed a $75 million referendum with them and the theme has been continuity that they have eight different schools and they want to make sure that each school receives the same and that all treat spaces are treated equally. Uh they are one of the few districts within the state that actually that does not have full day kindergarten. So, as part of the referendum process, uh we are providing new kindergarten additions uh for the entire district. What you'll see up on screen
043is also the renovation work that we're providing. Bottom left and top right will be working within their middle schools to provide new culinary arts labs and new steam labs that we'll be calling the C3 studios. Um as well as new media centers and other uh spaces for multiple types of learning. This will be, I think, at least a fiveyear process as we start construction now on the additions and some of the other uh uh renovations, but the idea is to make sure that each school throughout the entire process receives the same upgrades and within the same timeline. Again, Floren Park is another district we've been working with for a long time now. Uh what you see here are additional renovations to some of the more unique spaces within the district. Looking at the bottom left
044and the uh top right, this is what we call the forge, which is their new steam lab. This was originally a catchall. It was their storage space. It was their home act space. It was their wood shop. It was a little bit of everything with low ceiling heights. It was our job to provide a larger than-l life space, but one that is truly flexible. Uh you'll see some modern branding. You'll see some new furniture designs and then overall flexibility throughout as well. branding graphics. Then on the top left, we have their new media center. Um, back in the day, this was actually a gym in I think the 1960s or so. We found that out once we removed all the flooring with all the basketball striping, but since then we've made it a new larger
045than life uh media center with multiples for different forms of engagement. Uh, you'll see build bars in the back or, you know, areas for small groups to uh collect. You'll see a large group zone in the uh middle that hosts also uh board meetings and then more private spaces nestled between the bookcases on the periphery uh just so we can bring multiple classes in at a time for multiple forms of engagement. Just two more brief slides as we wrap up here. Um our core values are a big driver for our firm and our firm culture. you know, loyalty, uh, continuous focus on innovation, integrity, company pride, and insanely responsive are some of the big big drivers of what motivates, keeps our staff accountable, and and really helps our company culture thrive. One of the um,
046values is probably our biggest differentiator these days is insanely responsive. So many clients tell us that they they call their architects, engineers, and they don't get a response for days, if not weeks. You we're hearing this more and more frequently. Uh our our mantra is we want to get back to you in the same day, if not within hours. So insane responsiveness is one of our drivers, one of our differentiators, and that's really a commitment that we make to to every district. And then in conclusion talking about the land advantage, you know, we're a continuously growing full-ervice architecture and engineering firm. Like we mentioned earlier, 130 people, five offices, but we really have a unique team tailored to service you guys well just about 20 25 minutes from from here. Uh second item, uh K
047through2 is our core market. You we're passionate about education, passionate about creating environments to serve the next generation of leaders in our communities. And third, our clients are long long-term partners. Our goal is to become your trusted advisor, collaborator, and partner. So, with that, you know, we're thrilled to be here. Really appreciate this opportunity. Um, we look forward to the opportunity to to serve you. We think we're the right team to do to do that. And with that, if there's any questions, we'd be happy to answer them. Do any trustees have any questions? I just wanted to code and there's a lot of very valuable information there with us moving forward with our long facility. You cover a lot of issues we should be looking into when we're designing new space, you know, as far
048as like being on the cutting edge of what we're looking to do for the students. So, I appreciate that. Thank you. Anybody else? Do you have any questions for us? Uh, not directly, but we'd love to work with you guys. So, how quick are we gonna find out? Tonight. Tonight. Oh, nice. Wonderful. Well, thanks again. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. We look forward to your uh update and thanks for coming out. See you soon. Thank you for coming back. Okay. Thank you. You too, guys. Okay. Student representative Just one second, Paul. Let me Let's just wait for them to walk them out. All right. Um, to start us off, I'd like to talk about what happened at the end of last month. There was uh the junior prom. So, the class of 2026 enjoyed their junior
049prom to end off end off the munch the month of March. Thank you to Mr. Medina and Miss McGee for making this unforgettable night possible. Um over 100 students enjoyed great music, dining, and the company of their peers and teachers. Senior Evan Papadopoulos has been officially recognized as CC Caucus' unsung hero, an award annually given by the New Jersey school boards association. Criteria is based upon um students impact on their school community through their act of service and leadership. The science club has recently received three birdhouses purchased by the town. Students will paint these birdhouses and hang it around campus. We had a uh similar thing last year and there were um birdhouses like in the front in front of the science room and there were a few other ones around campus. So um yeah,
050we're doing that again. Our literary clubs hosted their fourth annual poetry competition this month. We had our first place winner uh who is Marel Mgala. Our second place winner, Elias Ford. our third place winner, Sia Chopra, and our honorable mention, San Die. And in the beginning of this month, from April 6th to April 12th, the National Honor Society hosted events during lunch for eligible seniors to register to vote. As they filled out these forms, students were reminded of their civic responsibility to actively participate in society. On April 3rd, students in Sale hosted the senior citizen prom spring, sorry, spring fling in the pack. Over 120 seniors and 60 students ate great food, dance, and even voted for prom king and queen. Um, there are other superlatives as well, like cutest couple, best dressed, and other
051things of the sort. Also, students were invited by dream opportunity to attend the supply side connect trade show at the Melands Expo Center. At this event, students spoke with CEOs, scientists, entrepreneurs, and directors who exposed them to the world of business and gave insight on how to thrive in the modern workforce. Last month, uh last week actually, our foreign language honor society hosted our annual cultural lunchon. Our FLHS adviser, Miss Daneiro, had her room packed with students and more importantly, delicious food from various cultures around the world. Last Saturday, the sophomores held the annual Easter Bunny breakfast. It was incredibly successful. Uh students enjoyed breakfast, took pictures with the Easter Bunny, and played games ran by students. Thank you to the adviserss, Miss uh Kookuski and Miss Darco, the parent volunteers, and the students who
052made it all possible. And uh finally, congratulations to Drew Katadia, this year's valadictorian, and myself, this year's saludiatoran. Thank you. Thank you. Very nice. Correspondence. No correspondence. Acting superintendent report. Good evening, everyone. I hope everyone has a good spring break. about six or seven weeks left to the school year. Pretty impressive how fast time goes by. Um I have to announce the suspensions from September to now. The total number is 42 and the highest we've had is 10 and one more. So that's where we're at now. Let's hope we close out the year with zero. Um, as far as where we're at, couple of things that have been going on. Um, you saw the presentation for the architects. We do have a few projects that we need to take care of here. Um, we listed
053them. The budget process proceeded very efficiently. Um, started out a little rough and I think we figured it out. I think that was collaborative that and I'm very proud to say that you know all of the schools right now when when I see everybody listen buses pull up kids go to school I walk through the hallways everybody's active classrooms are going we have big tests coming up after the break I wish all the kids well our APs will be starting soon all the things that what we do. We're We're right in the home stretch here. So, let's finish it strong. Charlie, is this administrative board secretary report? Oh, hold on. We have to do No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was And they can make a motion to accept the harassment, intimidation, and bully findings
054as reported by the acting superintendent and are available at administrative offices for review. Second. Discussion. Call the RO. Mr. Bartletta. Yes. Mr. Bolanino. Yes. Miss Detta. Yes. Mr. Dere. Yes. Miss Skella. Yes. Miss Howard? Yes. Mr. Lewis? Yes. Mr. Lions? Yes. Now, business administrator report secretary. No report at this time. What's that? No report. No report. Wow. All right. Uh, public forum agenda items. None. Moving right along. Governance committee personnel. The chairust meeting. Uh we discussed some full-time hires including one for special education. Several positions on the agenda for PDM substitute teachers and also we discussed any requests for leaves and one retirement. We thank the employee who's retiring from service. The policy manual has numerous updates that have been submitted for approval by Strauss estate, which is the company that takes care of our
055policies. We pay them to keep them updated. Uh various policies are listed in the agenda book as being removed, which must might be discerning to some people because it looks like we're taking them out, but we it was explained to us by the interim superintendent and the business administrator that they've just been consolidated into other policies so that everything remains in there. might say removed, but actually in actuality it was just updated so that it was put into a more appropriate place. Nothing has been taken out. One policy change is on the agenda that addresses safety on our school buses and the expanded use of cameras on them. Interim superintendent Boris explained the reasons for these changes which were all based on safety and security. Regarding uh policy number 5306, health services nonpublic schools, we
056were told that this is because we currently have no students that are receiving these services. That's the full report. Does anyone have any questions? I'm going to make a recommendation to accept the acting superintendent approve and adopt resolutions R101 through R12 and motion M101 as described below for the following. Second discussion. Call the roll. Yes. Mr. Bolanino. Yes. Miss Doddetta. Yes. Mr. Deombre. Yes. Miss Skella. Yes. Miss Howard? Yes. Mr. Lewis? Yes. Mr. Lions? Yes. for policy uh to accept the recommendation of the acting superintendent approve and adopt resolutions R2.01 through R2.02 as described for the following second discussion call the roll Mr. Bartletta yes Mr. Bolanino yes Miss Detta yes Mr. Deombre yes Miss Geller yes Miss Howard yes Mr. Lewis yes Mr. Alliance. Yes. Education curriculum. Uh good evening all. The education committee
057had a monthly meeting on April 8. Uh I would like to share with you the updates we received. Um the 2023 school performance reports are out. The detailed report will be presented to the community during our board meeting in May. March and April have been packed with a lot of events. Both of our elementary schools had their science fair. Congratulations to all the winners and participants and good luck to the students going to the Hudson County Science Fair. We are cheering for you. The High School Musical Spongebob was a mustsea event of the year. Congratulations to the talented cast crew and to Mrs. Dea Cruz and her staff for creative for creating another amazing and memorable show. Truly well done. Um, and just a side note, I've been seeing a lot of the show for
058the past probably 10 years, and every year is a big wow. So, we are truly blessed to have our theater program. Um, April is Autism Awareness Month. Our district autism acceptance fundraiser raised over $4,300 for Spectrum Works. Thank you for your generous donations to this great cause. Also, please mark your calendars. On May 4th, our district is participating in the Lin Tano 5K challenge to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics programs in New Jersey. It's not too late to register and be a part of this amazing experience. Uh also on May 17th, our district is participating in a Harmon Cove Tower stair climb fundraiser for the Special Olympics programs. Uh please consider joining. Um it's it's a very fun event and very memorable. Okay. Uh we also have two resolutions to vote on
059tonight. I motion to accept the recommendations of the acting superintendent to approve and adopt resolution R3.01 approval of field trips and resolution R3.02 approval of the public speaking curriculum. Second discussion. Call the roll. Mr. Bartletta? Yes. Mr. Bolanino? Yes. Miss Diodetta? Yes. Mr. Deombre? Yes. Miss Geller? Yes. Miss Howard? Yes. Mr. Lewis? Yes. Mr. Lions? Yes. Operations Committee finance. At our meeting this month, we had discussion about uh buildings and grounds. school dude um had 301 completed tickets. Uh the interviews have been completed for uh a new custodian at Huber Street School and Milford School. Uh the new locks are on all the doors uh for all the doors are now completed. Prometheium boards are installed. Um will be installed over the break. Um we're working uh with the town uh on a possible grant
060to upgrade and beautify the back of the school. Uh we started uh preliminary planning uh on um on moving special needs uh students to Huba Street School uh at Claron School. Sal Electric will be working through the break uh replacing outdated smoke detector heads um with the help of the DPW. We will be upgrading the courtyard over the break. Uh Prometheium boards are being installed uh at the middle school and high school. Uh there is u upgrading of the outside of the middle school entrance. Uh Spectrum Communications will be uh coming out to move the radio antenna uh from its current location on the balcony of the pack to the roof of the pack. Uh both gas and water meters will be changed over the break. Uh chemicals uh upstairs in the labs uh need
061to be properly labeled and stored. We're going to have a company come out uh to do that and uh dispose of any expired chemicals. Um all the external locks in the high school, middle school, and pack will be updated um hopefully being finished over the break. Uh there's there was in two-way mirror installed at the uh high school main entrance and then during finance um we got updated on uh budget and all the financials for the month. I make a motion to accept the recommendation of the business administrative board secretary to approve and adopt resolutions R 4.01 through R4 4.09 as described below. Discussion call the roll. Mr. Bartletta yes Mr. Bolanino yes Miss Dietta yes Mr. Deombre yes Miss Geller yes Miss Howard yes Mr. Lewis. Yes. Mr. Lions. Yes. Safety, security, buildings, and
062grounds. I make a motion to accept the recommendation of the business administrative board secretary to approve and adopt resolution R 5.01 as described below. Discussion. Call the RO. Mr. Bartletta? Yes. Mr. Bolanino? Yes. Miss Dodetta? Yes. Mr. Debre? Yes. Miss Skellar? Yes. Miss Howard? Yes. Mr. Lewis? Yes. Mr. Lions. Yes. Ad hoc committees. There are no there were no meetings um for any of the committees. Um at this time, I'd like to call on the committee chairs to schedule May meetings for all of the committees. Um except legislation because I believe we have to adhere to certain guidelines with that one. Um and negotiations. Um there are none at this time, but the other committees if you could schedule for May meetings. Thank you. Public forum general. Nothing. Board member comments. Alex, I just want
063to congratulate again. The kids did an amazing job. Such incredible talent that we have in this district. I'm so happy that we have an arts program in the high school that's going to keep grow. And Uh secondly, I just want to congratulate CPAC on their uh Easter uh century uh event that they had 30th. Um it was a great event and enjoyable setting for uh children to uh be with Easter Bunny. They had activities for the kids. They had treats for them. It was a really great team that works there led by Fabby Fabiana and Robert. They do an amazing job. and the kids and uh the staff that are there helping out again just an amazing job. Uh Mr. Roman kept in character as the east front of the entire event was pretty impressive.
064So uh again kudos to them. Thank you. Thank you, Alex. Um I'm I'm going to build off of that. Um I've heard really great things about that event. Um the CPAC event. I think it's great that they did that. Um, I even suggested in the education meeting that maybe we can incorporate that next year into the breakfast with the Easter Bunny that the sophomore class hosts. So, we talked about um, you know, possibly doing that. Um, also congratulations um, on the Spongebob performance. Miss Lamantina and company always does an amazing job. So, congratulations to all involved in that. I wrote notes here, so bear with me. Um, congrats to the poetry winners. Um to Evan Papadopoulos, I hope I pronounced that correct. Um that is a a great honor, a great job. Um the district
065is so proud of you. Um congratulations to the sophomore class and a big thanks to the class advisors, uh Miss Dearco and Mrs. Kjuski. Um they did an amazing job. Um it was well attended even though it was a very rainy day, but it was well attended and very successful. Um, congratulations also to the junior adviserss for hosting um an excellent uh prom that I heard that everyone had a great time at their junior prom as well. And last but not least um so proud of you Paul for your honor. I look forward to attending that dinner with you uh with the county. So that's that's a great great job and your counterpart that also won Drew. Okay. Um Kotata. Congratulations to Drew Kotata as well. I think that's everything. Um, I'm just going to
066say my accolades and then I'm going to go back to something. Um, I just on behalf of the board want to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday. Um, and wish the students, the teachers and staff an excellent spring break and enjoy your week off. I just want to before I turn it over to the rest of the trustees want to discuss a letter that the board of education received um from the CPAC committee regarding some issues that they had and concerns that they had. Um I just want to not get too much into the letter, but I will say that um our director of special education will be uh responding to that email and will address all of the concerns. But one of the concerns that that is affects the board that I want
067to discuss tonight was um the suggestion to create a special education committee. So um it is my position and and I've said this, you know, um I don't know if I've said it publicly, but we've we've talked in executive session about this as well. I believe that we as a board have a responsibility for equality in education and we have an education committee which handles all of our students. Um so I don't believe it necessary and we do discuss we do have a um a special education portion of that meeting that we discuss. Tatiana is the chair of that committee and we have been dedicating time to discuss all aspects of education. Um so I just I just want to put that out there. So in the letter it was suggested um by the CPAC
068committee that a special education committee be formed. So my suggestion and I just wanted to publicly say this because I know we'll be closed for a week and I will follow up by uh speaking directly to the um head of the CPAC committee but my suggestion is for the board to appoint two liaison to that committee to represent us. Um and that would then um I feel be what's in the best interest of both the committee and the board and the district and the special education students. Um I will my suggestion for the liaison uh would be Miss Skellar um since she is the chair of the education committee and uh Mr. Lions. So I don't want to presume that that would be something that they would want to proceed with. So I am just
069putting it out there that I will be reaching out to the CPAC committee to see how they feel about that and further discussions um will be made on that as well. Also, um, regarding the architect, um, I should I let everybody say their comments and then get back to this? Do you want me to address this now? Okay. So, as far as the architect, are we prepared to make a recommendation um, at this time in public after we were able to see the presentations? Is everybody ready to make to do that? Everybody's ready to vote. I want to go over everything. You want to speak? Yeah. Go ahead. Okay. So, you got to think about the projects and the potential projects that we're going to see soon. So, as you all know up here, the
070move which with roughly 21 students going from the Clarin side to the Hubert side, they'll be in their home schools. We'll evaluate enrollment, which is a very important part of where we're going, and then we're going to see what the needs are. Right now, the projects that we're looking at, there's some sight issues. We have some things outside the bleachers, things like that that are Can I Can I just jump in, Charlie? Um, I think what's the most important thing at hand is that we have to move forward with a long-term facility plan, and we have a deadline for that, and we need an I'm sorry, I I didn't mean to jump ahead. We we need an architect record on that. So, we need a a long-term plan. So, when you look at our other
071issues, engineering issues, we have all kinds of mechanical things that we need to start addressing. There are needs that we did go over with the committee. So, I'm I'm willing to listen to what anyone else has to say. Does anyone want to speak? Does the superintendent make the recommendation for an architect or is that from us? Does the superintendent make that recommendation is the question? So the superintendent may make a recommendation but it is not necessary for the board to appoint the architect. Make that appointment without the superintendent's recommendation. There are very few decisions that the board makes that doesn't require the superintendent's recommendation. Architects and attorneys are two of them. I think everyone that wants to say something should say whatever they want to say. I'm ready to make a recommendation. Okay, Ro. Yeah,
072you said yes. No, I'm saying are you prepared to vote tonight? Yeah. Tatiana, I'll abstain. Okay, Melissa. Yes. Okay. All right. You want to make a recommendation that Okay. Are you prepared to make a recommendation? Okay. Um looking at looking at this over the last couple of months, I think our issues become more and more on the engineering part. Um if you think about this the the HVAC's our lighting um our outside site work you know fencing meadow type things. So a one house deal is in my opinion land my recommendation is land. I think they're a one-stop shop. I make a motion to accept that recommendation. Discussion. Call the RO. So the recommendation, if it's approved, would be subject to a architect of record agreement. I would draft and then submit to the board
073for approval at the May meeting. Bless you. Call the roll. Mr. Bartletta. Yes. Mr. Bolanino. Yes. Miss Detta. Yes. Mr. Deumbre. Yes. Miss Geller. Abstain. Miss Howard? Yes. Mr. Lewis? Yes. Mr. Alliance abstain. Back to the board member comments. Bill, want to speak? If I could. Yes. Through the chair. Um um President, I'm glad we brought up the long range facility plan because I believe it's expiring next month and I'm hopeful that we'll have everything done in time for that. The architects uh both discussed issues that we should be looking at when we're developing the long range facility plan. So, I'm glad they got to present to us tonight. Um um thank you for bringing up the letter from the special education parent advisory group. It was an extremely well-ritten, very detailed, very informative letter
074and I appreciate you moving forward allowing them the opportunity to invite us to be part to partake in that and if not possibly discuss what else might be done. Uh I was able to be a judge for the youth kindness institute. It's a part of a service learning program within the hygiene project right here in Squauus which was started by a Sikauus High School student from the class of 2008 and Mr. Kevin Williams. Approximately 25 students presented what they did for community service, including getting food to shelters and to people in the community, collecting things like cans of soup and and socks and doing presentations on, you know, what people go through around the planet who don't have enough water. It was extremely well done and I'm hopeful um that we can work in conjunction
075with that group uh to try to get more of our students familiar with what's going on there because the students that presented it was incredible. Some of the students are third year working on that. very very very well done. Um and as we were told last week and thank you President uh Diodetta for bringing us together for the board retreat and I think it's important that we have meetings like that for us to discuss what we do so we can be proactive and at that meeting they discussed that we should be recognizing people from our community for things that are well done. And I I think that this group, these 25 kids, all Sika students, um would be able if they came and we gave them just had them come and hand out quickly, you
076know, certification to tell them how much we as a board appreciate the fact they're doing this for our community. Um I will schedule the shared services meeting as per your request for uh sometime in May. And I want to wish uh President Doddetta and Miss Howard, Trusty Howard, a very happy birthday. I know that our BA brought in a beautiful cake for them, but we got so caught up in our meeting that they didn't get to taste the cake, so I'm taking it home. Thank you very much. Thank you, Jerry. I just wanted to add one other thing. I forgot to mention. Um, my notes were on a different page. Um, congratulations and happy retirement to Sharon Holston. She's been with the district for many, many years, and we wish her well. And also regretfully
077um we are losing um Ryan Gray who um in a very short time that he's been with the district has made a huge impact on the kids. So he will be missed as well. Uh Kelly, may I add something? Yes. Yeah, sure. Uh question. We have the visions committee. Do we have any of the CPAC parents in that committee? Yes, we do. Yes. Okay. I just have one comment. I also have been seeing all of our uh seniors and them committing to their colleges. So, it's very exciting to see how many of our seniors are going to college number one and and some of the college they're going to is is very very good. So, congratulations to our seniors. Thank you, Melissa. What else to adjourn? Motion. All in favor? Easter celebrating.