001I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you okay I'd like to welcome everyone to the South River Board of Education regular meeting of Thursday February 27th 2025 uh in compliance with the open public meeting act chapter 231 laws of 1975 of the state of New Jersey adequate notice of this meeting of the South River Board of Education was provided in the following manner on January 15th 2025 the notice was delivered to the office of the South River burrow Clerk and posted at the Board of Education administration building on January 15 2025 the notice was fact mailed to the following newspapers home News Tribune the star lger on January 15 20125
002the notice was posted at the South River burough clerk's office Mr Rosa would you please call the role Mr basac here Mr budson here Mrs Bush Mrs Bush has been excused Mrs burn Mrs burn has been excused Mrs La here Mr neelson here Mrs Sadowski here Mrs y Yao here Mrs orbanic here Calin samidi uh she's been excused for now have a COR thank you moving into our meeting agenda we have the minutes Mr Rosa of which meetings just January yes yep so no additional items from our pre meeting okay um board members what is your pleasure on the minutes move the reading of the minutes motion by vice president neelson through a second all in favor I I motion passes thank you our use of facilities there have been no additions no additions board
003members what is your pleasure on the use of facilities will the use of facilities in accordance with board policies we have a motion by vice president neelson second second by m l are there any discussion or objections to anything okay all in favor I use of facilities passes our financial report Miss L thank you um the finance committee recommends that the reports of the board secretary and the treasur school monies for December 2024 be approved and ISO moved we have a motion by Mel second and we have a second by vice president neelson any questions on the financial report all in favor favor I I motion passes at this time we're going to turn our meeting over to our superintendent of schools Dr zercher for her report thank you Mrs orbanic um item 3.2 on
004my report is founded Hib number 28576 n which is available um for the board's review uh and consideration this evening um and in my superintendent report today I cover several items have been um happening in our schools beginning with the Early Learning Center and Primary School Preschool who had an opportunity to have a visit from um ramar Representatives who taught our children things like how to fold the napkin um and also um how to make a a wonderful Portuguese dessert called sad Duda I think I did my best with that pronunciation but um this was an activity that coincided with our tools of the Mind curriculum in their thematic unit about um restaurants and food and so on so it was a great way to just really enhance um that curriculum also next week we
005are kicking off read Across America week there are many activities happening throughout all of our schools including several different readouts some thematic um approaches which incorporate our social emotional learning standards as well and um please be on the lookout for our social media Pages which will have lots of reports on what is happening in our schools for read Across America we have some information here for our upcoming curriculum Fair which is going to be May 22nd and we do have some new things um coming to the curriculum Fair we are incorporating the use of our ELC at the curriculum Fair this year which um will be used to hold um a a sub portion of the fair which will be dedicated to Wellness uh Wellness initiatives as well as Community Resources related to um a
006healthy and um and good lifestyle so we are hoping to be able to get the type of prow that we've always had for a curriculum Fair uh and some excited things some exciting things there we are also replacing our Star Lab activity this year and bringing in a new really fun opport opportunity for our students which I will keep quiet for right now um but we will reveal later on in the spring but I think everybody's going to enjoy um this special event we have planned and then we also have our day of service coming up we do this early um June uh this is a day that we dedicate for every single student in the school district to work on a service project um so we are in the works in terms of planning
007that event as well and then also this is February and uh New Jersey statute 18a colon 35- 4.43 um really authorizes um and requires Boards of Education to include uh within their curriculum for elementary and secondary schools um really instruction related to the contributions of African-Americans and so therefore our students did participate in several activities um in this disregard throughout our district classroom activities and lessons morning announcements were used visual displays um a quilt was made at one of our schools as well uh and just really very uh content specific lessons and so we celebrated um Black History Month in that way uh at our schools just as we have each each year and so concludes my monthly report thank you very much do any board members have any questions or comments on the superintendent
008report add something to her report if I may from the American Sign Language teacher yes if I can read the email that she sent out to the parents um Miss rock as the uh as the students caller uh she just had some fantastic news 10 seniors in level four American Sign Language took the Seal of biliteracy exam you need five out of five to pass the test nine seniors out of the 10 scored a four out of the five which in my opinion is a victory because they had no prior knowledge when they joined asl1 four years ago they now sign the language fluently are very well self- assured and understand the Deaf culture one of our ASL seniors Emily L scored a perfect five I cannot stop smiling and I'm so proud after witnessing
009the senior's enthusiasm the underclassman are Eed to take the exam in their next senior year uh this is a win-win so I want to congratulate all those students who got a four out of a five um again you got to remember none of these children children sign language at home it's not like our Spanish ones who get by literacy or ukrainians or whatever other language they succeed with that's spoken at home these children all came in not knowing anything about American Sign Language and I think she's doing great with this program and again it's a shout out to uh Dr Zurcher here for bringing this on board four years ago uh the kids love it as you see every year the class size grows um these are the type of things that we as a
010board are happy see come into the district and as you can see the general public could care less about it but um we're thankful for these programs and we hope to bring more in the future that's all I have to say Dr Z thank you thank you any other board members okay what is your uh pleasure on the superintendent report move the superintendent report is read motion by vice president neelson second second by Mr basac all in favor I thank you okay at this time we are going to open up the meeting to the public to address any item on the agenda there will be a public portion later on in the meeting for other items that may be of concern to the board if you come to speak at the podium please state your
011name and address and please keep your comments to a 10-minute time limit this will be on first call and on second call and on third call this public portion is closed and we are going to move on to the consent resolution Mr Rosa yes the South River Board of Education by means of a consent resolution adopt various resolutions of a routine and non-controversial nature at one time and whereas the below-listed resolutions are hereby adopted by the said Board of Education in whole as if the same were individually acted upon and are under superintendent of schools 3.2 under Finance 8.1 through 8.23 under instruction 9.1 through 9.5 under Human Resources 12.1 through 12.16 and under safety and risk management 13.1 through 13.2 thank you board members your pleasure on the consent resolution move to consent resolution
012we have a motion by vice president neelson second second by Mrs Sadowski all in favor I so moved at this time we're going to go through our committee reports starting with our Athletics Mr busen it's not the j i congratulate Al storing this 2000 Point only third person in s history do so the restler eat ch 17 District 17 that's all I have thank you grad will be wrestling Friday night up in hunon County he finished third in the 190 weight class and um my son Thomas took fourth in the uh uh 120 weight class so all our wrestlers that were seated in up five and above all placed where they were where they finished for the year and I think it's great I think Ethan's got a great future ahead of him he's a
013very good wrestler as long as he continues to go to clubs uh I think s River wrestling's got a future maybe some of the younger kids will see how well Ethan does and uh you know want to follow in his footsteps thank you Mr bsen for that thank you our buildings and grounds vice president neelson nothing to report tonight Madam president thank you for finance Miss L thank you um I'd like to do a brief summary and then read into record so um the agenda includes the appointment of the 25 architect engineer of record approval of tax sheltered annuities employee Financial Protection benefits and multiple Rod grants for school facility improvements we have various Grant applications and amendments included additional contracts cover occupational therapy nursing Services security upgrades lawn maintenance autov visual improvements uh and
014Technology along with our usual Financial approvals for Debt Service taxes and budget transfers so having said that the finance committee after review of all items on this month's agenda and upon recommendation of the superintendent recommends approval of the items 8.1 through 8.22 with additional item 8.23 on the agenda as listed including routine items and that is all I have for this evening okay thank you uh how about if you just continue on with the instruction as U Miss Bush um normally um does she summarizes Dr T's um superintendence component of the superintendence report so Dr T shared that the high school students have been recommended for their 25 26 courses with opportunities to adjust placements through counselor meetings and an annual course information session was held to introduce elective and AP options the elementary and
015primary schools are piloting two literacy programs with teacher collaboration guiding the final selection for potential adoption next year and additionally curriculum revisions are ongoing across various subjects ensuring all courses align with NJ doe standards which are required so the agenda includes um approvals for professional development travel expenses field trips lots of field trips and outof District student placements Additionally acknowledges the acceptance of a donation of garbage cans for the percussion Ensemble of the high school band which I thought was very nice so the instruction committee after review of all items on this month's agenda and upon recommendation of the superintendent recommends approval of items 9.1 through 9.5 with no additional items on the agenda as listed including routine items and that covers both components thank you so much thank you there are no items under
016negotiation policy and legislation Mr busen there nothing on the agenda for this month okay thank you under human resources Mr basac thank you Mrs orbanic the human resources committee after review of all items on this month's agenda and upon recommendation of the superintendant recommends approval of the items 12.1 through 12.11 with additional items 12.12 through 126 on the agenda as listed including routine items thank you safety and risk management Miss Sadowski thank you the safety and risk management committee after review of all items on this month's agenda and upon recommend Commendation the superintendent recommends approval of items 13.1 through 13.2 with no additional items on the agenda as listed including routine items thank you thank you and do we have a report vice president neelsen from the school board burough Council leaon committee I reached
017out to uh councilman de santz I gave him the information that Mr buzen gave to us tonight I talked to him about the um biliteracy test ERS and um he seemed to be uh willing to dispense it at their meeting so hopefully we can keep these lines of communication open he's doing very well for the short amount of time he's been there thank you I have mad pres and our PTA Lea is on Mrs Sadowski thank you so for the ELC and primary schools February um they had a they hosted a family glow party last Friday night and they had a heart-shaped Pizza fundraiser I move this I can't see sorry they are looking for photos to be included in the yearbook um they also started a ger Hawk fundraiser last week all the paperwork
018came home um ordering information is also can be found on the eam um next week as Dr zercher mentioned is read Across America week and I know the PTI has several items planned for next week um there is a red robin fundraiser to take place on March 4th and your books are on sale and planning for Funday as well as um they're doing a second grade I guess moving up ceremony or a little gathering that planning is under way um for elementary school again there is another grard talk fundraiser um your books are on sale they are hosting a book fair from March 31st to April 4th and they are also looking for baby photos from all the fifth grade students to incorporate into the yearbook that's all I have thank you thank you uh
019residency report Miss y ya there are no items on the agenda this evening okay thank you our South River Public Library Lea is on Mr busen upcoming events are p on Fridays at 3M march3 is Dr Seuss magic show March 6 breed breeding uh program uh March 10th at 6:30 is paint and Si March 11 New Jersey coming this out lecture March 15 11 p.m. they're leing to a therapy call the adult camp is March 8 18th at 6: PM that's all I have thank you is there any old or new business to come before the board and do we have anything from our attorney for this session from Monday but we do have an executive session discussion okay thank you um Mrs L payment of the bills thank you the finance committee recommends that
020all bills presented have been certified by the school business administrator board secretary be paid as listed and ISO move we have a motion by Mrs L second second by vice president neelson all in favor I I motion carries thank you so once again as promised we are now going to open up the meeting for the reception of visitors uh the public at this time May address any concern or comment they have for the board when you come to the microphone please state your name and address and please keep your comments to a 10minute time limit this is on first call and on second call and on third call we will close this public portion and at this time the board is going to retire into executive session so be it resolved that pursuant to sections
0217 and 8 of the open public meetings act the following subjects be discussed at a session of the Board of Education close to the public and that subject is attorney client privilege uh it is presently anticipated that the items to be discussed in closed session can be disclosed to the public when resolved is there a motion neon motion by vice president neelson and second second by Mrs Sadowski all in favor I thank you