001thank you all for coming out tonight uh we called our meeting to order and close executive session so we can begin the public portion of our meeting but first I'm going to turn it over to Mr TUS to add some items good evening uh in addition to the items that were noted on the agenda that was preprinted prior to the meeting uh somebody need directions uh the board also discussed uh in exception number seven the matters under uh docket number EDS 0762 5- 2023 and the matter EDS -223 and the board did not discuss uh anything under exception number one which was personnel and student matters all right thank you Mr Tuscano um well this is the last board meeting before the winter break so we just want to wish everybody very happy holidays and
002may you be refreshed and rejuvenated for 2024 um Dr aderhold do you have any comments thank you good evening everyone good evening everyone um this is our first meeting since uh our most recent tragedy in our school community and um I just want to take a moment to uh publicly um send my condolences to Hua family as well as uh deep thanks and appreciation to the Community Middle School Community the staff the students and our parents um as well as um family members that related to and the friends of at high school north um when tragedy befalls a community um it requires a lot of folks to come together to support students and I want to thank all the different counselors clinicians administrators and support staff that supported community in particular and the day of
003and the days following the tragic loss again in our community um so not not an easy transition then to um and so in this time uh as we hit winter recess and we hit the holiday season just want to make sure that we continue to look out for one another and that we recognize that while it is very much a joy season for many it's not for everyone and um so we want to make sure that we're supporting one another and our families in our community should know that each of our schools has a tremendous support network um and there's support behind each of those support networks so that if you know a family or uh a friend uh in need that we encourage our students and our community to make sure we're reaching out
004to counselors and building Administration um so we're supporting uh our fellow colleagues so with that I do wish everyone a uh Happy New Year and a healthy and happy holiday season and with that I'll turn it back all right thank you Dr aderhold next we're going to hear from our student Representatives tonight we have me here and Johnson from high school north and Eliana and we now welcome our new student rep from High School South R Rachel Joseph and uh I'll turn it over to you guys good evening everyone so to start off we hosted our annual fall drama of a midnight summer's dream and while I couldn't go personally it was a really spectacular event it was very successful and a lot of our student body went um the same week we also had
005a mall Congress trip to Yale Mall Congress and our school there won best delegation along with 20 other kids winning individual Awards High School North and South's joint radio show also kicked off that week around Thanksgiving and we are currently airing and producing daily shows every time during school hours High School North also held their annual blood drive for Red Cross especially given that after pandemic a lot of like blood shortages were going on it was very successful event and we were able to help a lot of families in addition we also have our student council hosting the first winter pep rally which will be the day before winter break or December 22nd I believe and it's going to be the first winter pep rally that we held ever since the pandemic years and I'll
006pass it on to M now thank you Johnson starting off strong we have begun planning for our diversity equity and inclusion day as committees for students have started meeting monthly to discuss hosting this event additionally winter sports have been well on their way with basketball having their first scrimmage many seniors are anticipating their first college decision back at back this week so fingers crossed they get accepted additionally continuing off of colleges last of college accept uh college applications are due by the end of this month and sometime between January next week North is holding their Spirit Week for teachers Monday will be pajama day Tuesday will be team tussle day Wednesday will team will be winter wonderland day and Thursday will be Choice whatever you like and Friday will be Jingle Bell Rock day and
007finally PSAT scores came out a lot of our students were happy with their scores they received now moving on to the South's report okay thank you m here okay so South has also had our fall drama our performance was of Romeo and Juliet and as North said um it was it really was spectacular and we had a lot of underclassman as our actors so that's that's a great precedent for future performances we also had out we're also planning our spring musical A Chorus Line and tryouts are already underway uh and we also had several musical performances we had a coral concert where nine students from South South choir was accepted into the cjmea choir we had had a band concert and our orchestra's children's concert this past weekend which I attended and was super entertaining
008and our saxs quintet is playing at the Quaker Bridge Mall next Thursday on December 21st in terms of winter sports uh swimming and the United ice hockey team have had their first game and we're very excited for our swimming program to be back in South practicing in our bubble um we have various clubs uh working to help promote attend at our program so our woman in sports club is working with the student council to promote attendance for our girls and boys basketball program um they're giving out shirts to the first 25 students that attend a home game and that's running for the first three home games in the season additionally our students Demand Action Club is running a toy drive um their slogan is hoop in for the holidays where students donate a toy at
009the girls and boys home basketball games and it acts as a free admission or as a ticket um and working alongside this club we have a holiday collection going around so miss Hayden one of our lovely PE teachers has been organizing it um and groups of students have been going around during lunch asking for collections and donations and all of these donations are going towards the PE eii kids program and the anchor house awesome so a little bit more on clubs our interact Club is also is hosting a holiday food drive and ations have already started coming in we also on November 20th had a faculty meeting for clubs and activities titled students teaching teachers in which teachers we were able to choose two 20-minute presentations to attend um and overall the the event was
010very well received by the staff and I think uh faculty are in the process of planning another one for spring so teachers could choose to attend to listen to talks on topics hosted by students on social justice mental health gender equity and other such topics uh and also activities within our culture Cal clubs have have started Sasa is hosting their mahy night on this Friday on December 15th and China night preparations have already started so yeah oh and as Mahir and Jonathan said early college decisions are coming out this week so that's exciting news um finally just like upcoming this Friday the South student council is hosting their Winter Wonderland night which is acts as sort of a fair or Carnival for um kids k23 um there's going to be different craft opportunity activities available
011we are hosting two little short films in our playhouse um and just snacks and decorations and we're very excited for that and next week is also going to be our winter spirit week which yeah sure so before we head off to break we're going to have our winter pep rally which as Rachel said uh has a spirit we to lead up to it so our themes are Monday sleepy day neon day on Tuesday ugly sweater day on Wednesday Jersey versus Jersey Shore day on Thursday and then finally on Friday as always class colors thank you thank you all that was awesome to hear all of the activities and excitement going on we'll have a good rest of your evening um next we will turn to the first opportunity for public comments the board invites thoughts
012and reactions on agenda items and items of concern from members of our community who are present each participant is is asked to give his or her name and address prior to making a statement which will be limited to 3 minutes in accordance with board policy 0167 all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer this public comment period shall be limited to 60 Minutes do you have any public comments good evening Anne Clifton 18 gston drive I'm representing the West Windsor bicycle and pedestrian Alliance we are an all volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to making West Windsor and surrounding areas safer for bicyclists and Walkers of all ages as part of our mission we'd like to see the school district increase the amount of bicyclist and pedestrian safet education offered to all students uh this is
013especially important after the recent fatality on Rabbit Hill Road the West Windsor bicycle and pedestrian Alliance would welcome an opportunity to help with this effort we are already planning a presentation for one of the ptas that has reached out to us thank you for your consideration thank you an do we have any other public comments okay seeing none uh I'll close this first opportunity for public comments and next uh we turn to our committee reports the first is from uh Administration and Facilities so I'll turn it over to Dana thank you um the administration and Facilities committee met on December 5th first the committee reviewed um several policies and regulations and we recommend them for first reading at tonight's meeting the first one is um P 5116 and its uh regulation um that's education of
014homeless children and youths and P policy 2270 which is religion and the schools the committee next reviewed the policy and regulation 1642.1 which is sick leave and we recommend this one for a second reading and approval at um tonight's board meeting the committee next discussed the proposed drafts of the 2025 2026 academic calendars additional stakeholder feedback will be gathered before approval is considered by the Board of Education the committee discussed and reviewed the Lea plan for safe return to inperson instruction um Phase 2 construction is part of the 2018 referendum at um continues at the wof school with renovations to the main entrance main office and the nurses Suite nearing completion there will be a dedication ceremony for the newly constructed sensory playground at the Town Center School um demolition work for the media center
015Renovations at moris Hawk and Village School will begin shortly our Athletics update included that the Cooperative Sports application for the United football program for the 24 25 and 26 seasons is under review by the njsia and was approved by the C by the CVC the committee discussed possible next steps reg regarding um a possible start of a cricket program um Spring High School registration will open um on January 17th and we'll go through February 26 Middle School spring Sports is registration will be open February 1st and closes on March 88th um remember spring Sports include baseball softball lacrosse um boys volleyball boys tennis golf and track and I might have missed one um the committee discussed the proposed recommendations of the school starttime committee which is presented by Dr McDonald at the November 14th board
016meeting the ANF committee will next meet on Tuesday January 16th thanks Dana do you have any questions from the board okay moving on to the curriculum committee l thanks Kayan the curriculum committee met on December 5th we began with a discussion um with Dr gold who shared with the committee um updated enrollment data for our English language Learners or um my multilingual Learners uh in addition the committee discussed programming for K5 68 and 912 students um next Dr G shared with the committee the poten a potential partnership between um our district and middle sex Community College regarding dual enrollment in um offering high school students the opportunity to earn college credit while taking High School courses which is great uh the district is taking the next step in the process and hoping to enter into
017partnership for the 2425 school year all right next to be voted on um this evening uh first we have uh our high school program of studies the committee recommends approval of the 2024 2025 High School of um high school program of studies uh second uh the committee recommends acceptance of the following uh for use by our District's music department one con alto saxophone one Sumer Mark 7 alto saxophone One Summer Mark 7 tener saxophone one Shore microphone for use with the saxophone and uh one microphone stand with the with boom uh third regarding technology the committee recommends um an agreement with brain pop El's LLC to provide grades K through 8 licensing from January 1st of 2024 through December 8th of 2025 at a cost not to exceed $6,999 um next with regard to fi
018trips the committee recommends approval of the following field trips first one for Community uh Community Middle School uh math counts to math counts national team finals in uh Washington DC from May 12th through May 13 2024 and the cost of that trip is to be covered by the organization um High School athletics High School cheerlead the high school cheerleading squad to Pine Forest cheerleading camp in gy uh Pennsylvania from August 20th through August 23rd of 2024 the cost of that trip is approximately $400 per student uh the committee will NE next meet on January 16th all right thanks ly do we have any questions from the board okay then we can turn to the finance committee uh Louisa the finance committee met on December 5th uh Mr Scott Scott kelen from pkf oconor Davies the
019district's audit Firm made a presentation about the 2223 and annual comprehensive financial report and audit he shared that the district is in good financial position the financial records are clean there are no audit findings for fiscal 2223 the committee reviewed the financial reports for the month the administrative CER Administration certified that there are funds to complete the year the committee then reviewed agenda items for tonight's meeting there are motions for the following to authorize the submission of the statement of assurance form for the district's 2324 health safety evaluation of school buildings checklist a small change order for the High School North culinary arts area and media center to close out the project purchases using State contracts and Cooperative pricing agreements to dispose of obsolete equipment to approve Transportation quotes for special ed routes and field
020trips staff reported that the district will sell the solar renewable energy credits generated in the last 6 months the High School South system has been down for a while parts to repair it should arrive this week the Administration has started meeting to discuss the 2425 budget in Earnest inflation will greatly impact the 2425 annual budget staff reviewed the budget calendar with the committee next staff updated the committee on construction projects the woff HVAC Improvement project is waiting on the contractor and Snyder Electric to agree to pricing on the final controls integration The wof Phase 2 project is experiencing the same issue this pH of the project received its temporary certificate of occupancy this week at Town Center Media Center Renovations continue with renovations to the small group instruction areas HVAC balancing has occurred as well
021the contractor is waiting on light fixtures casework and doors to be delivered for installation for hawen Village demolition meetings for the media center Renovations have begun asbest abatement will occur over the winter break demolition at the the hawk library is scheduled to start over winter break staff updated the committee on cafeteria operations they reported that the number of breakfasts served year to date is up to 7,200 from last year to 8,377 the increase is because breakfast is being served at all schools this year the number of lunches served year-to date is down 2,758 from last year to 24,800 the number of free meal Serv is still low at 258 but is up 16% compared to last year the number of reduced meals served is also low at 61 which is an increase of 20% compared
022to last year the district has installed more of the equipment that was purchased using the last two New Jersey Department of Agriculture grants and local cafeteria funds this includes a new steamer at High School South a new refrigerator warming unit and shelving at 72 Grovers Mill two new milk coolers at milstone Riv River and new indoor folding tables outdoor picnic tables and new outdoor beastro tables at High School North we have spent 342,000 of the 412,000 supply change assistance funds for foods that are locally grown or minimally processed foods we expect to receive an additional 192,000 in the fourth round of this grant once the Grant application process opens of the $27,000 in local food for schools funds Grant the district spent $3,700 81 on NJ Farm Fresh Foods in October and 7,366 was spent
023on Thanksgiving meals for families in need in our community the foods were all grown in New Jersey we had 40 families receive their Thanksgiving meal boxes the remaining 15 meal boxes were donated to Mercer Street friends staff noted that there are quotes on the agenda for special education transportation and class trips the committee reviewed the draft agenda for the January second board meeting which is the annual reorganization meeting um and there is no other business added the committee will next meet on Tuesday January 16th all right thank you Louisa do we have any questions from the board Finance go ahead Liz Qui question if you can please remind me during the winter break with the mer you know the we're providing some support to families in need with meals what's our plan yeah historically we
024work with Hunger packing and um additional some Bridge some Bridge meals are sent home with Families Our Food Service team has worked to help identify families that opt in just like we did with Thanksgiving we work to help to provide some meals over break as well all right thanks for that question isz now we can move on to the boarding of voting portion of our meeting um um can I have a motion for administration items number 1- n and the Pink Agenda Dana Liz any questions or comments okay Chris okay we'll start with Miss bonso yes Miss chiera yes Miss ho yes Miss KW yes Miss malga yes Miss Shetty yes Miss oich yes m m yes motion pass now can I get a motion for curriculum and instruction items number one through four uh
025L and Pua any questions or comments okay okay we'll start with Miss chenera yes Miss ho yes Miss KW yes Miss malga yes Miss Shetty yes Miss oich yes Miss bonsel yes M McAn yes now can I get a motion for finance items number 1 through 16 plus the blue addendum Louisa and sha any questions or comments okay we'll start with Miss hoe yes Miss KW Yes except I will abstain on item one A and B item one a okay and and okay we have Miss Krug and Ne next is Miss maliga yes Miss Shetty yes Miss zovich yes Miss bonsel yes Miss chenera yes Miss McAn yes great now um can I get a motion for personel items number one and two uh plus the green addendum um Robin and Liz any questions okay
026Chris okay we'll start with Miss Krug yes Miss Mala yes Miss Shetty yes Miss zich yes Miss bonsel yes Miss chenera yes Miss ho yes Miss McAn yes and before we move on I would like to acknowledge two retirements that we just voted on the first is Maryann mcamera she's an elementary school teacher of millstone River she's resigning for retirement after 25 years in the district and Joyce uh shenker from CMS a math teacher who is retiring after 20 years in the district and we want to thank you for your dedicated service to wwp and we wish you the best of luck in your retirement congratulations um now can I have a motion to approve the minutes from November 14th um ly and oh no uh Dana and Tra all those in favor say I
027I any extensions I have to obain perfect that makes sense um do we have any board lays on reports pleas go ahead um so L and I were invited by Thea to attend their family movie night and it was really nice to see the number of families who are out there this the staff and the PTSA really partnered well there were there were two rooms filled with children of all ages on a Friday night and it was just very nice to see the snacks and everything it was also very nice to see how it was like not cost prohibitive it was I think it was like $5 per family or something like that what a great way to get the families together on a Friday night that's awesome I love movie night um do we
028have any other board leaz on reports okay any new business okay now we can move uh to the second opportunity for public comments the board invites comments from members of our community who are present each participant is asked to give his or her name and address prior to making a statement which will be limited to 3 minutes in accordance with board policy 0167 all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer this public comment period shall be limited to 15 minutes do we have any public comments tonight okay seeing none I will close this public comment portion and move to adjourn so can I have a motion to a journ uh Pua and Louisa all those in favor say I I I well have a good night everyone thank you