WTSD BOE Meeting 4-15-26

001Board of Education meeting. It is a great day in the district of Winslow. And [clears throat] welcome to the Winslow Township Administration Building Conference Room. Today is Wednesday, April 15th, 2026. Um it's 7:00 p.m. Public notice of this meeting was given to all board members and associates in a notice dated January 8, 2026. Adequate and electronic notice of this public meeting has been provided specifying the time, place, and manner in which this meeting is being conducted. It was advertised in the Courier Post, posted on all schools, the administrator's office, the municipal building, the library, and the Bud Duble Center, >> [clears throat] >> Edgewood Acres, Town Center, and the Winslow Township post office. Mission statement. And this is our mission statement. The mission of the Winslow Township School District, a large, diverse, and growing community,

002is to educate all students to become independent, lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and caring and confident members of their community. The district, in partnership with the community, and in a climate of cooperation and mutual respect, will provide an academic environment which values excellence and diversity, encourages students to strive for personal excellence, and assists them in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to contribute positively to a rapidly changing world. Ms. Royal, [clears throat] roll call. Mr. Clark. He's present visually. Present. Ms. Stratton. She will be absent tonight. Thank you. Ms. Floyd. Present. Ms. Martin. Present. Mr. Matthews. Present. Ms. Neavis. Present. Mr. Shaw. Present. Ms. Pitts. Present. And Mr. Thomas. Present. We have a quorum. Pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which

003it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Ms. Martin, district goals. District goals, 2025-2026 district goals. Student achievement. Continue to implement research-based best practices for delivering instruction and accelerating learning for all students, including all subgroups. This shall include conduct weekly administrative walk-throughs to monitor teaching and learning, utilize the district diagnostic diagnostics assessment platform to analyze student data to inform and guide instruction, monitor and track measurable growth in ELA and mathematics in grades 1 through 9, to implement creative ways to accelerate student learning by providing additional supports throughout and beyond the school day. Number two, promote a positive environment for students and staff. Enforce the code of conduct to ensure safety for students and staff and compliance with district policies. Incorporate social-emotional learning opportunities for students to celebrate positive behaviors. Develop

004strategies for students with significant behaviors to reduce the interruption of instructional time, decrease negative actions, and improve school attendance. Number three, increase stakeholder engagement. Explore and expand innovative opportunities to increase parent communication, create parent learning opportunities that focus on how to support their child's learning, Continue to share the accomplish accomplishments of Winslow students and all student activities. Thank you so much. Will there be any more than the presentations tonight? Yes, tonight we have Ms. Dorsha Brooks from Eagle's Landing presenting on her program. Thank you, Mr. P, to um all of the board, school board, I thank you. Uh Winslow Township community, I thank you. And I'm excited. Uh Mr. Pitts, it's been 13 years since I last presented to the board. 13 years too long. Um but it's a it's an excellent opportunity. There's a

005PowerPoint, so I'm not sure if you're going to be able to see it where you are unless you turn, but um and you also have, just so you know, that PowerPoint, you can follow along. I I Here we have it up here. >> [clears throat] >> So, I just want to thank you for Mr. P for this opportunity, for the board, and all of the community that comes out. So, I want to spend a little bit of time um I'll wait for Let me press it up. Here we go. I'm going to be presenting on our middle and high school school-based Youth Services [snorts] program. And for many of us throughout the state, they call it New Jersey's best-kept secret, but not tonight. >> [laughter] >> I want to I want to unveil um this

006best-kept secret so that not only does the board know, even our new board members, but also the community knows exactly what this school-based program does, what we offer, our mission, and what our impact is and has been on this district. So, just follow me along and I'm going to just move through this. Our school-based mission, the New Jersey School-Based Youth Services Program was initiated by the New Jersey Department of Human Services in 1987. We know now it's called Department of Children and Families to help young people navigate the adolescent years, finish their education, obtain skills leading to employment or continuing education, and graduate healthy and drug-free. And the story goes that there were some young people who felt like they needed a safe space. They found some social workers, probably much like Ms. Pitts. I

007know you're a retired social worker. And they had this conversation with them and what their need was and why it was. And out of that conversation birthed a vision between a few social workers and they created this plan and they created the school-based. And I have to say now, um we are 90-plus in the state of New Jersey. We are in high schools that between that 90, we're in high schools. We're now also in middle schools and we're also in elementary schools. This school-based grant wraps around, we call it a wrap-around. We wrap around quality mental health and wellness, academic support, employment, post-high school coaching, and information and referral services to our middle and high school students. We provide services that are both core, they're required services for the grant. These are the These are

008the core services that every program within the state are required to do. And then they have ancillary. These are um services that are based on student population and the evolving needs of each school. So, we have the I'm thankful that the department gives all of us as directors uh discussion with how we develop our ancillary services. So, we assess what's happening in our particular building and our district, and then we create services based on that. So, what you'll see in the ancillary are services that I created based on the need, and that need evolved over time. And I'll kind of talk about that as we go through. And [clears throat] our middle school um is 7 years old. Um I wrote the middle school grant in because the way the system worked um with the

009state, you had to have a high school for a minimum of 3 years. And when the middle school grant opportunity came up and RFP came out, we could apply. With the goal and the idea being that the director of the high school would facilitate, initiate, and oversee the middle school and elementaries if that came out and you applied. I just happened to run into the commissioner who was new at the time um back in 2018. And I was at one of her she's the commissioner for Department of Children and Families, and I was at one of her conferences. Um when she got done, I spoke to her and I told her, "We need to catch the kids earlier than high school." What we've seen is is that we need to catch them at the middle

010school level. We haven't had a middle school grant come out in 10 years. And we really needed it our middle school. And lo and behold, within 4 months later, one came out in the middle school. Not only was it in the middle school, but it was in Camden County directly for us. So, this was her response to the conversation we had. So, I was able um given permission by the board to write for it, and I wrote the grant for the middle school, and we received it in 2019. Um really literally 4 months before COVID hit. And so, they started [clears throat] later because COVID hit. And so, they ended up running the program virtually. So, what we also have as a part of the state requirement our school-based advisory board. I'm sorry, let me

011go back one slide. I want to go back to my staff. Um this is um the school-based team. So, we call ourselves the team. At the high school, it's myself as director. Um this is she's our mental health provider, Mr. Jenkins, Miss Brown. Is there any of my staff here? I see our middle school staff, Gabby South, and I also see Kayla Quarles. They're both actually former students, too. So, isn't that wonderful? Winslow Edward >> [laughter] >> Winslow Winslow, so they're former students. And some of our middle school staff uh is is who's here. So, I I thank them for being able to come here. As many as my staff could come, they were able to come. Um when the when next I get to the advisory board. So, every every um every program is

012required to have a school-based advisory board. It consists of uh an administrator within our schools, can attend as well as families, parents especially, students from each of the schools, uh also local and community providers. And these are the ones that we have for this year. So, we have a great mix of students, we have a great mix of parents. We have our HSA presidents from both the middle and both the high. We have a community program. We have the Perfecting Ministries, a few good men, who sit on this board. We have the um county, Dena Townsell, who's with the municipal alliance, she sits on this board. So, and then we have our students, Alicia Walker and Alimert uh Ali Murphy. Um and then we have some parents. So, it's a great mix, and they kind

013of help us um we meet quarterly. We talk about programming, we talk about what they're doing, we talk about what we can do together, we talk about what kind of things are needed. So, it's a joint effort uh within the um within the within the um advisory board. So, these I talked about our core services. These are the core services that the state requires. Individual, group, and family counseling all of both of our middle and high uh have staff who do that. Uh they're licensed staff or as far as seen by a licensed person within each of the programs. Academic support, employment coaching, healthy youth development, information and referral services. We each have a summer transition program. Our summer transition program for our middle school would be all of any any sixth grader coming into

014the seventh grade. We generally send that information out over the summer. Uh all of the parents get invitations. It's normally a four to possibly six-week uh summer program. And it's really just to get them prepared for coming into middle school to get them started early. At the high school, we take any of our incoming um freshman into our high school program. And the way our program is set up, we like to take those students in the middle school who have been in our Eagles Nest program and bring them in. We call it they started Eagles Nest and they land at Eagles Landing. And that's what kind of that's the way that process kind of works for us. We also have student assistance and support. I'll talk about that. Um so, the the state um because

015it's the Department of Children and Families, they have a budget line which allows uh to support students and families when and if necessary. So, in that particular line item, uh we're able to support students and their families with some various issues. I'll talk a little bit more about that as we go through. Um you'll begin to see what that is. And then we have our lounge stay space. So, every program has to have a lounge stay space. I invite you to come see our facility if you haven't. We have three levels. We have a lounge, for [cough] students, comfortable furniture. If you saw the opening of the middle school, you will have seen what that middle school program looks like. But it is a safe space that they're allowed to access during their lunch period.

016So we call it safe space because what we're finding particularly now, it's probably more than we've ever seen, students coming in crying, teachers sending students down in tears, anxiety. We definitely have a lot of students with anxiety. So a lot of those students we already know, so we allow them a few minutes upstairs. We have things in that space for them. There's always relaxing quiet instrumental music, but we also have widgets and fidgets and things that can help in going things that are helpful. We just tell them to go ahead up a couple minutes, work with the widgets and fidgets and begin because that's part of the process for them bringing themselves down from their anxiety. And then our middle school, we have what we call Youth Thrive. This group meets twice a month for

017student leadership and development through workshops, community service, mentoring, and parent engagement. So that's a unique piece to the middle school that was required with the grant that they have this this Youth Thrive program. Next I'll talk about our ancillary services. These are the services that we created based on the need that I saw between our middle and our high school. And our middle school my middle school coordinator Estella Carrillo Coleman is able to identify what trends are happening at the high school and we can create groups. Sometimes they're short, four weeks. Say anger is going on and kids are fighting, you can create an anger group in four weeks to sort of process those kind of things. So those are the kind of things that we have in our ancillary services. We have our Korean

018Trade Expo. That's been a yearly event. We have everybody there, we have all the colleges, the trade schools, the unions, the employers, um municipal services, anybody that has come, we probably have over 60 vendors there um who come. We are actually we were in our 18th year in 2023 uh running that career expo year after year. Um we also have our career conversation with trade professionals. So, that career conversation is now is the new version of what the Korean Trade Expo was. So, what happened was I realized that it wasn't enough for students to walk by table to table and get information from all of them. I decided that what needed to happen now was student students needed a more intimate conversation. So, we created these career conversations and Mr. Shaw and some others came

019out when we had one. We had the carpenters there union there. We had other trades there and it's a more intimate, it's a smaller environment and it's tailored to students who are just interested in that career. We brought We brought all the medical services, we brought Cooper in for the nurses and they were able to just talk to students who were interested in that career. And not only did they talk but it was conversational, it was a lot easier to handle and students could make one-on-one contact. Post-secondary exploration and college tours. Uh we will run college tours in our summer. We just left Penn State University. Um had a great tour there and we run those during the summer and during the school year as well. And part of that was because we realized that

020our students they can just need to hear about college, they needed to actually visit college. And um and we go so far as to make sure that our students also see dorm rooms. I only went to college to be honest with you it's because I knew it was one I was getting out the house >> [laughter] >> under my mom's rules but also when I got on the college campus I realized what I didn't realize in high school that this is where I wanted to be. It was as simple as that. When I saw the dorm rooms I I that's where I wanted to be and that's where I was. So, we we realized this for young people, so we make it a point of doing it. And our college tours, we've been doing them

021for well over 15 years, and I have to say we have had waiting list for our college tours. So, we know that these students do enjoy them. Crisis intervention services um at the high school, we are part of that crisis risk assessment team. So, if a student needs to be assessed for a crisis, if they need to go out, if there's been a suicidal ideation, we make that determination, and we send the student out. Leadership development, this is a personal passion of mine. So, we provide leadership opportunities through group activities and training, through workshops and leadership conferences. So, um I have a passion for leadership. I have a passion for developing young leaders. I think being one over 30 years myself in leadership, um I just have a passion for guiding young leaders and helping

022them to see that really we're all leaders in one aspect or another. You're leading You're either leading them in a positive way or you're leading them in a negative way, but you're leading somebody. You are influencing somebody. So, that's what we try to talk about. So, based on all of our services and what we do, the question I had to ask myself, and that's the next screen, is what's been our impact? Like, what what What's been the impact? We've been around since 2006. Our middle school since 2019. So, that's what kind of what I want to talk about here. A few school-based highlights. Well, we created the high school's girls and guys group. This was the first high school girls and guys group. Our girls and guys group Our girls group meets really where we're

023meeting weekly for about 10 years, and the guys group, and it was open to any student. And we deal with everything that it takes to be a young woman, and we deal with everything it takes to be a young man and able to navigate high school and thereafter. We are currently in our 20th year of running these routes. We also initiated the career expo with over 50 vendors. As I said, 2023 marked our 18th year 18th year. We transitioned it to our career conversations. We've had Turner Construction, the Glaziers Union, the Carpenters Union, the Electrical, the Pipe Fitters, the Medical, the Culinary, the Diving, the Cosmetology. We brought them all. We also brought instant decision days to the high school with universities such as Stockton, Lincoln University, and Bloomfield College with over 30,000 in scholarships

024awarded at the instant decision day. We also connected the Camden County Workforce Investment Board to the district. They brought programs such as the Atlantic City Electric Apprenticeships to our senior students, and they also brought summer paid internships. And I'll just take a 1-minute to tell you a story about an internship. We selected five students to compete for the summer internship internship with the Camden County Workforce Investment Board. All five students got in into that, but what was particularly interesting is two of our students, one of them wanted to be a doctor, the other one wanted to be an engineer. We got them placed, one in Cooper Hospital, and one in Camden County Municipal for engineering. And I have to say that the one who went and got their internship, this was paid, and at the

025time this was about 2000 and I'll say 17, 16 or 17, they were making $20 an hour with 20 hours 20 25 hours a week. Good money when you're in high school at the time. But the medical student who got our student who got into the medical program saw a first heart surgery that they had done this particular procedure. And he went on he's actually a doctor in Maryland, so it worked out well. Our engineering student, that's Ms. Tucker's daughter, she went on after having that engineering stipend and during the summer went on and she's a wonderful engineer with a with the engineering company locally. So, it does work. And that's what they're still doing and we're still doing that because they still have summer paid internships. We also created wellness gardens. So, right after

026COVID happened we saw the impact what was happening with students and masks and we really felt and I felt and I think we all felt the need to be out and breathe and have a moment where we didn't have the masks we would actually breathe and relax. And based on that, there was some additional funding that the state had. So, we applied for it. I applied for it based on a proposal that I wrote to the state. And I was surprised to find out according to my fiscal administrator, they have never given money for a venture like this to a school. But they did this time. So, they gave us well over $50,000 to create a wellness garden and that's what we called it. It was a place it's a place where our students can

027go and like I said it was during COVID and it's outdoors, it's fully seated. There are tables, there's umbrellas. I'm hoping we're going to have a open house at some point soon in the spring. We work this garden in collaboration with our environmental club. They are doing the planting. It's a beautiful space. The middle school has one as well. So, we're excited about that as well. So, we invite you all to come check out our garden. I'll let you know when we get to the open house of that. It's a it's a it's a and it's a place where they're going to be able to go out and kind of relax. We have some activities and some encouraging things that they'll be able to see in that garden. Next I want to talk about our

028our impact on student services. Our high school has served over 4,628 students through individual services. Those are all outlined mental health counseling, academic support, employment coaching, healthy youth development, post high school plans, and distribution of supplies. So what that means is we're allowed to get supplies for students. So we've gotten uniforms when we were wearing uniforms, the students who may have needed them. We have backpacks, we have everything that's needed to to to make it in class. Pencils, pens, binders, all of those things. 4,803 students through our group services and 164,408 students through events. We've had 500 events over these years and 54 students through our distribution of stock supplies. And if you have any questions, just just just don't break cuz I'm going to go through this. I want to give you another look.

029I created this this document because the document before and the numbers before are data that's collected by the state, but I came up with data that we that we collect that we can actually share with the district, we can share with our principals of our buildings. Like what does a year look like for us in our programs? Well, for the high school from 2024 to 2025, which is our last completed year, we had 670 appointments with students. What that means is is that we have seen that many students, 670, for any of those issues. Uh mental health, it could have been >> [cough] >> academic support, [clears throat] whatever those were. We've had 287 students use our safe space lounge. We had 341 students just walk in. So walk-ins are students that don't have appointments.

030They come in, something's going on, or uh the security has brought a student down. They were in the bathroom crying, they pulled them out. We've gone in bathrooms, gotten students out, >> [laughter] >> and brought them to our space. 14 program events through this through that year, 2024-2025. 178 appointment requests. That's how many students request appointments to see us. And then 73 referrals. Those referrals can come from anyone. They can come from the staff, they can come from parents, and uh and any other outside source that wants to refer a student. Most often, uh what we find now, because we've been here since 2006, our students bring other students. So, they they come themselves. They know where they know who we are. So, we're happy about that. Let's talk about the impact in our middle

031school. They've been They've been around since 2019. They served over 448 students through individual services, 462 through group, 5,483 through events. We've had They've had 87 events um throughout those years, 2019 and 2025. And 16 students through distribution of supplies. And you can see the same breakdown for individual and group uh as well. And then we'll look again at their program data for that last year, 2024-2025. 711 appointments, 513 space safe space lounge students, 341 walk-ins, 14 program events. Those events could be assemblies, workshops. We do quite a few assemblies for for the school. 18 appointment requests and 83 referrals from staff or parents or any outside source. So, this is This is yearly program data. This is good for our schools, our districts to know what we're doing, our high school, our middle school

032principals to know what we're doing, what our contribution is, what what we look like through the year. We keep this on a monthly basis, so at any month a principal can say, "You know, how many students have we seen last month?" Like we can give them that figure. Our impact continues. Next, I want to talk about our total student and then family support. So, this is the line item that we have, and over the years um I got a chance to work a lot with our seniors. I had two seniors >> [laughter] >> uh that was in our in our district, but I realized that senior year is very expensive. Very [clears throat] expensive. It was more expensive in my day, cuz we had we had rings, >> [laughter] >> Remember we had school rings

033back then? So, you had the rings, the pictures, we had a lot, but so, again, this is the ancillary, so this was created based on what I felt like our high school needed. So, we contributed over $58,638 financially, which served 22,565 students. Project graduation, we gave over 19,000. Cap and gown, over 10,000. That middle line is the number of students. 288 students were served. Over 19,000 was given to project graduation. Cap and gown, 246 students, over 10,000. Yearbook support, 123 students, over 10,000. Senior trip, Six Flags, 52 students, over 5,000. Senior picnic, 667, over 3,000. Senior class, 802, over 5,000. The prom, we supported 34 students over 3,000. In high school activities, that would be we did the honor roll breakfast, which was a full hot breakfast, but 336 and 1,800. So, this is the

034impact. This is what we've been able to do. Programs we've been able to support. We are fully integrated within the high school and the middle school. So, we work with various clubs. We probably work with every club. We supported every initiative that we could. So, we've used those funds to support all of those initiatives. Our middle school is still very young, so their budget's a little bit different than the high school budget. So, they have not been able to, but they will this year, hopefully. So, and so this is some of the companies that we brought to Winslow. We brought the International Painters and Trades. I talked about the Glaziers, the Carpenters, FedEx, US Post Office, Millennial Pools, Department of Labor, Atlantic Stores, Offshore Wind, Local 68 Operating Engineers, Superior Court Camden County, and the

035South Jersey School of Etiquette. All of these programs, all of these services have been brought to Winslow. And for me, it's about exposing our students to everything possible. With all the career with all the career possibilities other than college, if that's not your choice, these are the opportunities and we do know and Mr. Shawl can attest that these are good salaries. >> [clears throat] >> We all need electricians. We all need We all need everybody in these trades as well. So, my role is to to look at what's needed and look at the broad scope of our students. And because I've been a 30-something year resident of Winslow, I do have the privilege of not just working for Winslow, but I see these kids in the community. I know their families. I sat on the

036municipal utilities. I sat on the zoning board, I've been active in the community. So, I got a chance to I got a chance to know families, to know students. I see them from when they leave to where they go. And even to this day, I see them at the gas station and I I always say the same thing to them, "You working? That's good." And then I tell them to give me a call because nine times out of 10, Department of Labor has something that I can get them into. And so, that that's that's our goal is is always tell the kids when we meet with them. Uh definitely when it comes to career. The only thing you cannot you can [laughter] you can't do is do nothing when you leave. I'm not going to

037argue about whether you need to feel like you need to work. Some kids say that. Well, I can't go to college, I need to work for the family. That's okay. Let me show you how to get the work that's going to move you up and get you the income that you need. Next is just a few slides. Uh just a few pictures of some of our Instant Decision Day. Um this was our Women of Excellence in Business and Leadership Award Ceremony. Um on in March Women's History Month several years back, we honored three business women. We worked this one in combination with our Future Business Leaders of America program within our school. We honored Lisa Davis uh from the Mona Lisa Spa, Tina Grigoryan, we all know from Bella Deli, and Tracy Medley from Millennial

038State. And this was a wonderful opportunity. We had 100 freshman girls who were there that we brought in just for this. And it this was not just a ceremony, it was a panel discussion. Um several questions were vetted through our Future Business Leaders of America. These students were able to ask them how they got started, what it took for a woman to to make it in business. So, it was a great conversation. It was a award ceremony and they were able to have lunch, all of the 100 students with the women, and have more personal conversation. Next uh I have a just a picture of our ribbon cutting. Where do you go, Ms. Gibbs? That's our official ribbon cutting ceremony for our middle school. And we got that in 2019. Next is just a picture

039of uh middle school Paint with a Twist. They have a family engagement night. It's a wonderful activity that will be coming up soon, hopefully, where we bring the parents in and they really get to to paint and spend some time with the students. So, that will conclude that portion. I want to take one last minute of your time and I want to show a video. I received this video uh I told you I think already that leadership is big for me, so I do take the students on a lot of leadership. Well, for about 3 years we were able to take students to the Elks New Jersey Elks New Jersey Elks had a leadership conference. It's a weekend. It's beachfront. They go Friday, we come back Sunday. They have probably close to 5,000 children from

040across the state of New Jersey. Every culture is there. It's a wonderful experience, but they have a ton of workshops for the students. And we were able to [clears throat] we worked in concert with our National Spanish Honor Society students. We took about eight or nine of them on this trip, but I was there as well as their their advisors were there. Um we all like beachfront. But, it's a wonderful place. It's in Long Branch, New Jersey, Ocean Place Resort and Spa. And uh I received this video and I just wanted to share with you what they came up with. >> [music] [music] >> That's one of our students. We didn't know he could play. Hey, it's Sandra. Um and this past February I had the lucky honor to have been able to attend the

041New Jersey Elks Peer Leadership Conference alongside my fellow Spanish Honor Society officers. So, I just want to say a big thank you to Ms. Brooks. I appreciate all that you do and we're really grateful. That event was so invaluable. I think we all left with a lot of good lessons and a lot of good friends that we still talk to after the event. And I think this cool activity that we did there was when we all had to brainstorm what type of initiative and impact we can make at our so to speak go back. And as the Spanish Honor Society officers, we came up with an initiative that would help new students who speak primarily Spanish. So, I think that was really cool that we could take something back from the conference and apply it

042to like a need that we saw at our school. So, I think the event just had a lot of good lessons to offer. It was such a fruitful event. Like the speakers and all the different mentors and all the connections we made too. So, I just want to say thank you to Mrs. Brooks. Thank you so much for all you do, all the efforts you give to the school and to us students of course. So, we're just really thankful to you and we miss you and we love you. Thank you. Hi, my name is Alana Costa and I attended the Elks Peer Leadership Conference. At this conference, students from all parts of New Jersey and guest speakers came together to learn about building trust, speaking our minds, and just building [music] friendships in general. And

043I was able to learn a lot through the time short time that I was there. I was able to see that people who seem like they might not be going through a lot could be going through the same struggles that I have myself and you're able to just really connect with others, and ground yourself, and create such a positive environment, and support each other. And this is something that I will take with me forever going through college and adulthood because I was able to learn how to build a better support system for myself and the people around me. And I feel so much more confident with being more present in my community as I gained the skills of helping out others. And I think it's really important to know that leadership isn't just loud. It's

044about listening, speaking up for ourselves, and coming together. So, I'd really like to thank Ms. Brooks for giving me this opportunity to attend this conference because it really just changed the person I am today. So, thank you. I've been at Winslow Township ever since I was in preschool, so for the most part of my life, I've been surrounded by familiar faces. I was used to see the same people every day and that became what I was used to. So, when I came into Oaks Peer Leadership Conference, which was an environment full of hundreds of people my age who I didn't know, that was a big change for me. But that turned out to be one of the best experiences I ever had. Being able to meet new people outside my inner circle, hearing different perspectives,

045and building genuine friendships was incredible. I still talk to some people uh >> [clears throat] >> that I met at the conference and I'm really grateful for the chance to connect with them. It showed me how powerful it can be to step outside your comfort zone. And thanks to Oaks, I was able to see a different >> [clears throat] >> diverse group of people. My name is Ty and I'm really glad that [music] I went to Oaks. For me, the most memorable part about it was like meeting all the students from across New Jersey and I felt like that made it more fun having all these students from different part and getting to meet new faces. And I didn't really feel reserved. Like usually when I'm in new places, I'm reserved and I don't I

046like I just talk to myself. But being at Elks, like everybody was so friendly. Like all the events with the guest speakers when they would tell us to interact wasn't awkward. It was really fun. And I really loved the connections I made at Elks. And yeah, Elks really pushed me out. And I really love how the guest speakers like helped us interact and through speeches made us interact with other people. It was like I was really really a fun event. And thank you so much Miss Brooks for allowing the student ASB officers to go. Unity is a state of being united or joined as a whole. The Elks Leadership Conference brought me and my friends together. They paired us up so everyone had a partner. Right as soon as we started, we were told to

047maintain eye contact and put our hand on their shoulder. Although a little awkward at first, the awkward laughing gave us something to talk and bond about. The events are made to make people lower their defenses and get them to talk with each other. Everyone was connected through multiple fun and encouraging events that were made to connect us. I made so many new friends from different schools or even different regions. We bonded and learned from each other's past experiences. And going to the conference was a new experience and I loved how many great friends I met and excellent mentors I took advice from. The Elks Leadership Conference definitely boosts morale and made me learn that life is too short to keep to myself. The Elks Leadership Conference was an amazing opportunity filled with new friends, fun

048activities, and many learning experiences. One of the key elements of the else experience was getting the chance to listen to so many inspiring stories from the motivational speakers today, including Craig D'Allessio, Laura Hayes, and Wes Moore. Craig spread the message of the influence of positive choices and how it can affect your life. His expressive storytelling kept us all engaged and ready to learn more. Laura Hayes energetically shared a powerful and inspiring message and constantly moving the audience, getting us up on our feet to singing and dancing. She had a way of creating a fun, safe, inspiring, and comforting atmosphere. Wes showed us the power that we hold within our own lives, and no matter what cards we were dealt, we can make a change and change our lives for the better. I feel so honored

049to have been able to listen to these speakers' touching stories and gain a new perspective on life as I move forward. They inspired me to be the best version of myself and not take anything in life for granted. Their stories will stick with me as I continue with life, being one of the most memorable and motivating things about the else for leadership conference. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> AND FINALLY, I JUST WANT TO SAY that I just want to thank some people, the Department of Children and Families for continuing to support our programs. Winslow Township Board of Education for supporting us, signing off on all of the initiatives and things that we're doing. Mr. Peace, Mr. Clement, Mr. Marolla, Mr. Shropshire, principals, our school-based advisory board, the Winslow Township mayor, she's never missed an event

050we've held over the last 20-something years. Even Mayor Barry, the late Mayor Barry, never missed an event. He supported our program completely, had my cell phone number when he wanted to donate some stuff, and he did. And he donated a lot of his own stuff and money for some of our programs as well throughout the schools, not even just ours. And the on the Municipal Alliance, they paid for this trip through municipal funds for the students to go. So, most of the students who go to that house um because it's a drug-free program that stresses the importance of having a drug-free life and teaching children teenagers to resist drugs, they have most of those students are go through the alliances. So, most of the alliances who have drug money, this is what it's for. And

051so, our township has said, "This is what it's for. If you don't use it, it doesn't get used." So, we want the children to staff the and the teenagers to use it. And so, they have been more than gracious with us. And of course, I'm sure you probably know they have I sat on the alliance, so I know that as an alliance, as a former municipal alliance member, we paid a lot for the district, for schools, for events, for seniors. And that that's what we're there for. And also, I want those students and staff and families who keep us working. Thank you. >> [applause] >> THANK YOU, MS. BROOKS. THANK YOU. NEXT, I WOULD LIKE to bring up Ms. Michelle Kennedy Kennedy, a senior field service representative from New Jersey School Boards Association to go

052over strategic planning for our board and our audience. Thank you. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. Again, my name is Michelle Kennedy and I'm from the Field Services team at New Jersey School Boards Association. I'm actually filling in for Lori Bonlow. So, I'm just going to take you through our services that we offer for strategic planning and I'll be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have. So, in terms of what is a strategic plan? So, this process will allow you to create your five-year roadmap. It will allow you to have a clear vision into the future. And during this process, it allows for your stakeholders to be a part of this five-year plan that we put together to elevate student achievement. And within this plan, um you know, action plans will

053come out of it. And this is the aligning piece that, you know, we at New Jersey School Boards like because this allows you to plan accordingly. It allows you to align your budget in terms of you know, what the next five years could look like coming out of this process. And then we talk about these key questions that comes out of the plan. So, where are you today? So, that's the baseline of getting the plan started. And then we move into where do you want to be three to five years from now? And that all takes place in a visioning exercise. And then that last piece is, how are we going to get there? So, that basically makes up the road map of the strategic plan. Now, why strategic plan? If you think about it,

054um this will allow a common vision to come out of it because during this process we focus on consensus building. And all of your participants that are in the strategic planning process, we talk about how you have to come to a consensus to help put this plan together for the next 5 years. And then you talk about the visionary leadership piece. And this just allows for some forward thinking because again, you know, you're looking forward to the next, you know, 5 years. So, there's some exercises or activities that will help all of the stakeholders who are part of this process you know, look forward to that visionary piece of it. And then my favorite part is the stakeholder voice because this is the opportunity for your parents, your teachers, your staff. You know, I've I've

055done strategic planning with students who are involved, your community members. So, this is an opportunity for everyone that's a part of the Winslow Township district to come together and have a voice in this plan that's going to, you know, be in place for the next 5 years. And then there's that proactive piece of it. So, now you're not being reactive, you're intentionally thinking about the educational needs for your students over the next 5 years. And then that last piece talks about resource optimization. So again, this is, you know, where your business administration or your your business team will come into place and allocate funds appropriately and accordingly for whatever comes out of that next 5 years." Now, this is just a 3R model that we use. You know, we talk about reflecting because you have

056to build that baseline. So, when you're reflecting, you're going to take a look at what's currently going on in your district now. Okay? And then, you're going to talk about what is it that you envision that the future of Winslow will look like. So, you're looking at your current reality, and then now you're moving forward to the future and coming up with different ideas as to how you're going to get there. And then, that last piece is the actionable plan that will come out of the strategic planning exercise. So, you know, we like to say that this approach will allow all of the stakeholders to come up with the what. Like, this is what we feel that our students will need, and then it's up to the administration team to come up with the how.

057How are we going to get there? So, that stress throughout throughout this process the what and the how. So, everyone can understand, you know, how the process will align to get to the final strategic plan. Now, here is some of the phases of the 3R model. So, you know, we'll kicking off with a pre-planning phase. And this [clears throat] is where we will talk with the superintendent, administration team. You know, some boards have a strategic planning team or committee. So, we'll all come together and just talk about what the process will look like, set the expectations. So, the administration team, superintendent administration team will put together what's called a state of the school or state of the district. And then this is just where, you know, your current realities will basically be talked about um

058during that process. And then we'll also talk about what the first exercise will look like, which is identifying your strengths and challenges of your district. And then coming up with the commonalities of your top 10 strengths and challenges. So, that's all part of the pre-planning stage, which will move us into that meeting one. And during the meeting one, we'll still carry over that exercise of the strengths and challenges. And then when we move into meeting two, this is where the visioning piece will come into play. So, this is where an activity will be put into place where all of the stakeholders can envision that the Winslow Township, you know, won this prestigious award. How did they win it? What made Winslow Township stick out from all of the other school districts in the state of

059the state of New Jersey? So, that's that visioning exercise. And then on the recalibrate or meeting three, this is where you will come up with your goal statements and your objectives to put into place to help form the action plans that the superintendent and the administrative team will take away and finish the actual plan. Now, this is just a summary and timeline um as to what it will look like and this, you know, just taking a look at the month of September. Um when we do a kickoff meeting, again, just going back to what I just talked about, that's that pre-planning piece to talk about the expectations and, you know, what it is that we will need over the next 3 months to um you know, go through the entire process of this plan. So,

060looking at a September kickoff, October would be your first meeting because we like to do three meetings over 3 months. So, October would be the first meeting, again identifying those strengths and challenges activity. November could be meeting two. This is that visioning exercise where you're going to be doing some forward thinking. And then your meeting three could be in December, and that's where the goal areas, the goal statements, and objectives will come out of the plan. And then normally it takes about 2 to 3 months for the superintendent and the administrative team to put the action plans together um based on all of the information that have come out of the meetings. And then March, we come back and we'll final presentation and kind of a celebratory moment where the plan is introduced to the

061board um and then the board can approve the plan at a later date. So, in terms of that final presentation and celebration, um this is an opportunity for all the stakeholders to be a part of this, to see that plan and all of their work um that they've put into it over the the 3 months um of the time together. Also, within that plan, um everyone who was a part of each meeting will will be recognized, their name will will be included in that final plan. And you know, this is just an opportunity to um celebrate the success that have [snorts] come out of these three, you know, three, four months um of hard work that was put in to looking at what Winslow will look like for the next 5 years. These next few

062slides, these are just some pictures and testimonies um of other districts that have taken [clears throat] part in the strategic planning process and just, you know, hearing how it was very beneficial for their district and it allowed opportunities for all the stakeholders to come together and contribute to um what the next 5 years will look like, which [laughter] will help to increase or elevate student achievement. So, that's it. Um >> [clears throat] >> You might not recognize any of these districts because I cover Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem counties. So, these are um you know, some of my home for some of the testimonies. So, can I answer any questions for you about the strategic planning process? Yeah, I do have one question. So, the information gathering from the stakeholders, who is responsible for

063that? Who will coordinate those meetings? Well, the information that you get from the meetings and and gathering and making sure that the people that you need in the meetings are there. Yeah. So, when we have our pre-planning meeting, we'll talk about different advertisement techniques um that most districts use to get the word out and to encourage stakeholders to come and be a part of that process. And after each meeting, there are outcomes that are put together in a report um to share out so you can have that data over the next two to three meetings and that's how we're we're building the um strategic plan. And what is the district responsible for? So, of course the space, advertising, you know, getting the people to come to the meeting, but New Jersey School Boards will be

064there to run all of the three meetings. The superintendent will need to have a state of the district or the state of the schools available for meeting one to talk about on the things that are going on, the strengths and the challenges that are going on in your school district, and then New Jersey School Boards will coordinate the rest of meeting one, two, and three. And then goes back to your superintendent and administrative team to kind of take those goals and objectives that are going to come out of meeting three to formulate an action plan as to how all of this stuff will be accomplished or achieved. Board members, do you have any questions? >> [clears throat] >> Yeah, how much does this facilitation cost? This is 4,500, 4,500, and it could be split over

065two school cycles. So, it could be part could be paid if you're looking to start it in the fall, you could do half in the '26-'27 and then the '27-'28, if that's what you need to do. We've done that for for quite a few other districts. Can you explain just how the school boards kind of keeps the mission and the goal of the strategic plan in place when you have different personalities in the room and you know, someone's wants and needs may be totally different than what the board or the school district is able to provide, and how you provide a realistic approach to a quality strategic plan. Yeah, so that's a great question. So, with all of our strategic strategic plans, your mission statement is in the forefront. We we promote that. We tell

066all of the stakeholders that you have to keep the mission statement in mind. And then we also talk about consensus building. That's in all of our meetings. That's very important that, you know, you have to understand that this is about all of the students in your community. So, we have to come to an agreement, right? You may want something. The person next to you may want something else, but at the end of the day, it's about the consensus as to what's best for the students within your community. So, we promote that, you know, we walk around, you know, we listen in on the conversations. If we see that the conversations are going in a totally different direction, which I have seen plenty, where sometimes, you know, people start to teeter in into the how, right?

067And that's the role of superintendent and administrative team. You know that as board members. I served as a board member myself for 18 years, right? So, we have to sometimes, you know, pull people back in to let them know that, you know, that's not your purpose, you know, this is your purpose, but, you know, we we do that in all of our meetings and we never really had any pushback. It's just the process of getting people to understand their role in this strategic planning. I think it's also important that, you know, we want our stakeholders to be a part of this process. That's This is what makes it work, the strategic plan. And but I think they also need to be clear on the how piece. The how is definitely coming from the administrative team

068and the teachers that are the boots on the ground when it comes to implementing a quality strategic plan. Yeah. No, absolutely. And that's something, you know, we stress. And um, you know, I just think sometimes, you know, when you have people who never been a part of strategic plans or or thinking it's one way and it's not. I think once we communicate and go through, there's a PowerPoint presentation at every meeting. Once we go through it and talk about it, I think the light bulb sometimes go off and they realize that, okay, we're part of this process. We're giving ideas, we're giving feedback, but it needs to be a consensus approach. Question. So, when you when you say advertising, so when you're advertising to the stakeholders and if we're advertising, would that allow more than

069four board members to attend? Yeah, so that's up to you. So, if you want all of your board members to attend, you just you just advertise as a meeting. You just have to open it up as a meeting. But, we do like to say, you know, if board members are there, allow your stakeholders you know, to speak and you know, allow them to do a lot of a lot of talking first and then of course, you know, feel free to jump in. That's that's the only thing we ask. But yeah, you just advertise, open up, close and you know, all board members would be attending could attend if you have four or more. Last time I was a part of a strategic plan, Jesse Adams was still working for you for the department and he

070always was running a tight Yeah, pretty tight. Kept people online. So, it's important that ground rules are up front and people understand the process of doing strategic plan. >> Yeah. And we also talk about paraphrasing too because, you know, sometimes, you know, you may be saying the same thing that the other person is saying, but saying it differently. So, sometimes the strategic plan there may need to be some tweaking done, some wordsmithing done. So, we talk about that as well. So, people won't get offended if they see, you know, their exact word is not there, it's because, you know, we had to work Smith it or you know, do some paraphrasing. Board members, any questions? Uh does it any board members have any objections to this moving forward? Can I Can I Can I get

071a nomination to uh bring this service to the Winslow Township School District for 5-year strategic plan involving all the stakeholders of Winslow Township. I make a motion to nominate um to bring in the 5-year strategic planning involving all the stakeholders as involving all of the stakeholders to be involved in the 5-year strategic planning. I second that. I second that. Any questions on the nomination? Who Who did the second? It's a It's a motion. Only motion to accept the program. Accept the program. So, Miss Gload, did you second? Miss Gload did it. Motion, who did the second? Matthews. Matthews did the second. Now, I'm asking if if there any questions on the motion. Roll call vote. Miss Gload. Yes. Um Mr. Clark. Yes. Oh, yes. Oh, Amos Clark, how are you? I'm doing well. Um Miss

072Gload. Yes. Miss Martin. Yes. Mr. Matthews. Yes. Miss Nevel. Yes. Mr. Shaw. Yes. Miss Pitts. Yes. And Mr. Thomas. Yes. Okay, the motion has carried. 5-year strategic plan, here we come. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right, so next steps, we'll just keep the contract open. Did you hear that? I probably will be working on this moving forward, so We'll have this committee. We're going to We're going to develop it. Can I ask Mr. Matthews to chair this committee? I'm going to be on the committee. Mr. Webb The Webb is going to be on the committee. Miss Falcon will be on the meeting, but we're going to open it up for every meeting, for every school board member to participate. Oh, that's awesome. All right. All right. Thank you. Looking forward to talking

073with you. All right. Great. Have a great night. You too. Thank you. All right. >> [clears throat] >> Moving on to correspondence there, Mr. Peters, do we have anything or was that correspondence enough? Uh Mr. Ford, do we have any correspondence? None this evening. All right, we're moving on to the minutes. I'm looking for a motion to approve the following meeting minutes for the Board of Education. The regular minutes, Wednesday, March 20, 2025 to 2026. Open session and the regular minute, Wednesday, March 20, 2025 to 2026 closed session. Can I get a motion? Motion to approve the following meeting minutes for the regular meeting session on Wednesday, March 25th, 2026, both the open and closed session. You have a second. Any [clears throat] questions? Roll call. Mr. Clark. Yes. Thank you. Ms. Gload. Yes. Ms.

074Martin. >> Yes. Mr. Matthews. Yes. Ms. Nevers. >> Yes. Mr. [clears throat] Shaw. Yes. Ms. Pitts. >> Yes. And Mr. Thompson. Yes. Motion has carried. We're going on to the board committee reports. Any reports out of our action committee? I got a second. Yes, second set of minutes. Okay, looking for a motion to approve the following minutes from the Board of Education special meeting, Thursday, March 19, 2026 open session, and special meeting, Thursday, March 19, 2026 closed session. Can I get a motion? I'll make a motion. Uh motion to approve the special meeting minutes from Thursday, March 19, 2026, both the open and closed session. You have a second. Any questions? Roll call. Mr. Clark. Yes. Thank you. Ms. Gload. Yes. Ms. Martin. Yes. Mr. Matthews. >> Yes. Ms. Nevers. >> Yes. Mr. Shaw. Yes.

075Ms. Pitts. >> Yes. And you, Thompson. Yes. The motion has carried. Now I can go to the committee reports. Anything coming out of the Athletic and Arts Committee? Ms. Cloud? Yes. Um I'd like to give a um end of the seasons with the winter winter athletics end of the season 2025-26 high school sports recap. Wrestling, head coach Jones, three athletes make regional sophomore Noah Young, freshman Shiloh Fleetwood, and junior Messiah Washington. Shiloh also made it to group three NJSIAA state championship. The program is steadily improving. Um there are nine graduating seniors. Their conference record is one to seven. Overall record is 10 to 13, and team GPA is 3.01. The girls head coach The girls basketball head coach Jordan, the team qualified for NJSIAA state playoffs as a 15th seeds. They lost the first round

076to Cherry Hill West. They are graduating five seniors. The program has improved 11 14 to 2025. The conference record was three to 12. Overall record was 13 13, and the GPA of the team is 3.46. The boys basketball team, coach coach Ellis, the team qualified for the NJSIAA state playoffs as a 11th number 11 seed. They lost to lost in overtime by two points to Ocean City, group three state champions, in round three. Last year's record was 18 to 11. The team will be graduating six seniors. The conference record was six eight. Overall record was 14 12, and GPA is 2.81. And the girls indoor track, head coach head coach Brown, the team will be graduating eight seniors. The team was crowned multiple championships during the winter season, and the team's GPA is 3.89. The

077Olympic Conference champions, the NJISAA Group 3 South Jersey sectional champions, at the sectional championships, the ladies outscored second place Ocean City 114 to 67. This is the most points ever scored in the Group 3 sectional meet. The ladies scored in every event that they completed they competed in. Special congratulations to the super sophomore Jasmine Jackson for winning three events, and sophomore Annabelle Cassidy for setting a new school record in both the 1600 and the 3200 meter runs. The NJSIAA Group 3 state championships champions, the ladies outscored second place to Ridge High School 66 to 40. With the win, the ladies scored their 11th state indoor championship, scoring the second most points in Group 3 history. The 11th state championship win is also the most wins by the public by any public school girls team in

078New Jersey history. This has truly been a historic her-storic season. Jasmine Jacken Jackson >> [laughter] >> two state champion 55 meter hurdle, third place 400, third place 55 meter dash. Messiah Browner, second time state champion high jump, fifth place 55 meter hurdles. Nyla Williams, fourth place pole vault. First time in school history scoring scoring at a state meet. The 4 by 400, Olivia Okoro, Leah Joseph, Nyla Lovelace Crump, and Sanai Robinson first place won first place. New Balance Nationals, 10th grade Jasmine Jackson second place 55 meter hurdles at Nationals. The shuttle relay her- relay team of Jasmine Jackson, Messiah Browner, Sanai Robinson, and Justice Green placed fourth place competing amongst the nation's elite. The 4 by 400 relay team of Mariah Amira Arango, 56.37, Sanaya Robinson, 55.17, Olivia Okaro, 56.70, and Jasmine Jack- Jackson, 55.12.

079They who broke their own South Jersey record and are third in the country overall running 3:43.3 while finishing at the top public school team in the race. On signing day, Leah Joseph signed with Saint Joseph's University. Olivia Okaro, University of Connecticut, Yukon. Messiah Browner, Kentucky University. And the boys indoor track head coach Curtis Curtis, the boys won the Olympic Conference Championship and had several individual placements at NJSIAA sectionals and state championship. The team will be graduating eight seniors. The team GPA is 3.26. >> Ooh. Placed second overall as a team at the state championship meet. SHR 4 by 55 meter relay champions at the state championship meet. Koran Ali, 400 meter champion at the state championship meet. Elijah Delaney, meters um sectional championship. Freshman Kayan Ali placed second in the state championship meet. 4 by

080400 champions at the sectional and state championship meet meet. Vincent Perry currently broke the school's record in the 1 mile and 2 mile. And I'm going to give you the middle school recap and I'll be almost done. The girls basketball team for the middle school, though we were off to a rocky start, by the end of the season the seventh graders really stepped up in leadership. We had several girls playing for the first time that had had a facility for the sports and became team leaders. Even though our season even though our season was short and the games got cancelled leaving us with a one and three record, these girls showed a lot of heart and did it to represent heart. This team worked. Record was one and three. The boys basketball team boys basketball

081ended four and four on the season same highlights from the seasons where our 72 to 70 22 victory over Glassboro Middle School. Dwayne Glenn's their 23 point game against Williamstown. Kwame McGee 15 points game against Woodbury Middle School and a dramatic one point loss. Although we started zero to three, we preserved and went on to be a four-zero run. Record was four and four. Wrestling individual wrestlers Jeremy Jackson finished regular season and tournament undefeated 14-0. All wins were pinned. Savion Fuller finished regular season with record of seven and one. End of the year tournament we have four wrestlers finished with medals. Jeremy Jackson finished with a first place. Savion Fuller finished with a fourth place. Carter Pitts finished with a fifth place and Braden Leary finished with a sixth place. Record was zero and 11.

082Um basketball we will be voting on installing a shot clock for the varsity team at the NJSIAA legislation voting season. And wrestling officially confirmed girls are now official independent sports for boys. They cannot wrestle against boys or alongside of boys during matches. Girls wrestling programs must have a separate schedule and a regional state regulations. Flag football started 20 20 20 2026-2027 season with its own competitive structure schedules including the regional and state tournament regulations. The boys lacrosse will be voting on the start of the shot clock for all varsity games at the NJSIAA legislation voting season. And athletic conference updates, the conference division will be re-aligned for girls basketball next year for the 2026-2027 season, moving from division three divisions to two divisions. This will be a huge disadvantage to our girls basketball team. They

083will go from having eight to one conference games to having 12 to 16 conference games. And that completes my um end of the season um report for the Winslow Athletic Department. And for the theater department, um the ship The Play Chicago was uh a superb um um theater presentation. If you didn't go, make sure you make the next one because our theater department is on fire. And that concludes my report for the athletic and the theater department. Such a phenomenal report, Mr. Williams. Thank you for the intensity and your enthusiasm while we celebrate our students' achievements. Really appreciate it. >> [clears throat] >> We're going on now to the citizen citizens advisory committee. Anything coming out of that committee? >> [clears throat] >> No minutes at this evening's meeting. You'll see those at next meeting

084in April. Our next meeting is uh May 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the administration building. Thank you. How about our education committee? Anything coming out of that committee, Mr. Weaver? Uh not at this time. Our next meeting is set for April 29th. Thank you so much. Marketing committee, anything coming out of that marketing committee? Yes, Mr. President. Our marketing committee will meet uh on Thursday, um April 29th at 6:00 p.m. just prior to our regular board meeting. And uh Mr. President, if you have the time, if you can fit it into your schedule, uh I would like for you to attend that. Absolutely. Thank you. Negotiations, Mr. Shaw, what are we be doing that? We got everything Everything's still negotiated out. Fine job done there. How about the operations committee? Anything coming out of operations?

085Mr. Evans is not here. Anything, Ms. Boyle? None at this time. Policy committee, anything, Ms. Shaw, coming out of policy? Um only thing we're um we're still waiting for the um the final um drafts of the new policies that needed to be updated um from Strauss Esmay. Um we also are going to be having a a a meeting on 4 22. I will email the policy committee the time and how. Either we're going to do it in person or WebEx. Once I speak to you and see which one is more convenient for each of you ladies um and the administration, I will let you all know. Thank you so much. All right, thank you. How about the technology committee? Mr. Clark, you got anything for us? Mr. Clark, you may want to add Yes, sir.

086You got anything coming out of the technology committee? We had a meeting last night. Uh Ms. Davis, can you read those minutes for me? Yes, I can. Okay. Um so we did meet last night uh from from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. via Teams. Present were Mr. Peace, Ms. Clements, Mr. Clark, Mr. Matthews, myself, which I forgot to put here, uh Mr. Lazaro of Aspire, who are the key individuals who are doing our technology audit. Um so the Aspire team has completed the vulnerability, governance, and risk assessment portion of the audit. Uh they stated compared to other districts and entities they have worked with, they advised that we were in pretty good shape compared to most. Uh scans were done on all devices and servers. >> [clears throat] >> Mr. Aponte noted that the few critical

087areas areas that needed to be addressed have already been addressed or the equipment has been ordered to remedy as soon as possible. As far as the Wi-Fi in the district, prior to the audit even happening, we had ordered 100 access points. Those have since been installed and we've been able to work with our internet provider, uh to have a second internet connection established. Uh looks like we're in a good shape for state testing, which will be starting soon. Um there are no final costs for all the other fixes that the audit um has uncovered up until this point. Also discussed um was a possibility of having wired phones in classrooms. Uh that's something we'll look into for the summer, particularly in schools where we know cell service is an issue. Um we also had some

088discussion in regards to the Chromebooks. This year was the first year we all middle school and high school students uh were issued their own personal Chromebooks to go back and forth between home and school. Um Ms. Clements reported that as of right now, just in the middle school alone, we have 137 damaged Chromebooks, and these repairs are in excess of $13,000. Um so this is something that I think we're going to have to to look at how we're rolling this out and and what's best moving forward and is going to be most Um There was also some discussion in regards to the digital backpacks. I think they're finally starting to catch on. Parents are are aware of them. Um and it was also brought up in the CAC as well that not every school there's

089there's a lot of old flyers on there or they're in alphabetical order, so it's not easy to see what's there, what should be there, what's the most current. Um so we talked to Mr. Peas about fixing that. Um We also had some discussion regarding having a district calendar with all schools' events on it. Makes it easier for parents who have children in multiple schools, for the HSAs to coordinate so they don't plan certain things on the same day, and have that made available on the district's website as well. And that concludes that report. Excellent report, very informational. Seems like that technology committee is really digging in deep, and I really appreciate it. And thank you there, Mr. Clark, for putting that We go down to the Economic Development Council meeting. There's no report coming out

090of that. We put a Township Drug Alliance. Mr. Matthew, is there anything? None at this time. Thank you. Mr. Shaw, anything coming out of the Planning Board? Uh not at this time, but there is a Planning Board meeting >> [laughter] >> um tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at the Municipal Building, and I will report out on that on the on the 24th. Thank you. Any of the Township School Board Any school board representatives want to talk about their school? I will say something about School 4. School 4 is having a dine to donate at the Texas Roadhouse, and that's from Tuesday, May 12th, from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. You get 10% donation night, so go to the Texas Roadhouse Tuesday, May 12th, 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 and go get yourself a steak. 10% of

091that will go to the Winslow Township School District, and that's how they get their money what they're doing over in the school. >> [laughter] >> Thank you so much. Moving right along to the superintendent. I have School 5. Okay, go ahead. That's what I wanted to hear. Oh, you you [laughter] let me serve it up a little bit. Okay, all right. >> you start. Uh so, School 5, not to be outdone, yesterday they had their family fun night for the fourth grade. I know I drove by cuz my son had T-ball, and I was talking about a very full so that looked like that went well. This Friday, they are actually having their first annual color run, so it'll be interesting to see how that will go. Um if everybody can come out, our spring

092band and orchestra performance, this is School 5 and 6 combined, will be April 28th at 7:00 p.m. I want to say it's School 6. That's probably the only thing I didn't look at, which I probably should have. That would take my time. Um so, they'll have that. >> [laughter] >> You got to be there. Um so, last month they had their read-a-thon as well and they managed to raise $4,691 during their read-a-thon. Minutes read by all students who participated, 96,945 minutes for all the students who participated. They also had a book drive last month which got a little competitive from what I am told and they brought in 4,071 books. Outstanding. School 5 seems to be bringing in a lot of resources over there down at School 5. They like to read at School 5.

093Good stuff. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Ms. Poole, I like to just make an amendment to what the minutes on number two. I would like to abstain from the minutes from the special meeting of March 19, and March 19, 2026 open and closed session. I would like to abstain. The change is doing that. Abstention. Thank you. Moving right along, I'm looking for a motion to accept the superintendent's report that begins in the middle page three and goes all the way over to the top half of page seven. Motion to accept the superintendent's report at the middle of page three to the top page seven. Do I hear a second? Any questions? Roll call. Mr. Clark. All right, we might have lost the connection for a moment. Ms. Gallop. Yes. Ms. Martin. Yes. Mr.

094Matthews. Yes. Ms. Leanders. Yes. Mr. Shaw. Yes. Ms. Pitt. Yes. And Mr. Thomas. Yes. Motion has carried. All right, now we're looking for a motion to approve the business administrative board secretary report. That's at the bottom middle of page seven and going all the way over to the back of page 14. To the end. Motion to accept the board secretary board administrative report at the middle of page seven page 14. You have a second. Any questions? Roll call. Ms. Floyd. Yes. Ms. Martin. Yes. Mr. Matthews. Yes. Ms. Neather. Yes. Mr. Shaw. You you have my my list, right? Miss Floyd from abstentions. >> Yes, I do. Okay, so I Yes on everything except for uh letter B 6A on the vendors list of every the list of that I gave you for abstentions. >> Okay.

095Mr. Clark. Yes. This is for the business administrator. Ms. Pitts. Yes. And Mr. Thomas. >> Yes. Motion has carried. Miss Miss Clark, yes, respectfully can I um point you to page 13 item 21? I would like for you to pay for you to consider abstaining abstaining from that particular Yeah, I understand. Thank you. I'm abstaining from page 13 item 21. Thank you, ma'am. Yes. All right, now we're at the top of page 13 the personnel report we're looking for motion to approve the superintendent's approval of the following action beginning on page 15 at the top and going all the way to page 18 to the middle. Motion to approve the personnel report on the top of page 15 to the top of page 16. To the top of page 18. 18 No, we're not we're

096not stopping at 16. 16 Where is it? 16 Bottom of 16. Bottom of 16, good call. Can I get a second? Any questions? Roll call. Mr. Clark. Yes. Yes. Ms. Glori. >> Yes. Ms. Martin. >> Yes. Mr. Matthews. >> Yes. Ms. Ms. Nevers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Shaw. >> Yes. >> Ms. Pitts. >> Yes. And Mr. Thomas. Yes. >> Motion has carried. No amendments. Any open public records? Good question. Yes, we received one from Sunlight Access. They wanted copies of the most recent contract agreements, amendments, and renewals by Winslow Township School District from January 1st, 2020 to January 29th, 2026 uh in connection with the following vendors. That data was compiled and uh submitted. Thank you. Any other informational items that we have in here? Yes, uh just want to make sure everyone is aware

097that this is World Autism Awareness Month, Library Recognition Month, and also Stress Awareness Month. Ooh, >> [clears throat] >> for those who are stressed. This is your month to De-stress. >> [laughter] >> But I also I like to remind our parents that preschool and kindergarten registration, you need to get your paperwork in. Uh as that time is quickly uh passing us. So, if you haven't done so, please make sure you turn in all your documents. Also, like to thank our HSAs and PTOs and PTAs for their hard work and their communication with our principals and providing excellent activities and programs in our buildings. Also, uh like to announce that our championship jackets for the football team and track teams will be getting processed soon, and those jackets will come accordingly to allow parents to connect

098with the company to put orders in if they like. Also, I like to announce that Winslow is also uh including a new program through our officials uh scheduling, and this program will allow our officials to be paid at a more expeditiously rate. So, we're excited about that, and that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you so much. Uh moving on to old business. I have an informational item. Go ahead, Mr. Allen. >> informational item. Um this Saturday, Winslow Wilson Progress will be having a a spring a spring fling for the youth at the Bud Duble Center at 5:00 p.m. They'll be having a chess tournament, funs, food, and games. And the Fields to Kids and Family Growth Circle and the VFW Post 303 will be having a home buyers workshop on April 25th at 4:00

099p.m. at 506 Dekalb Avenue at 4:00 p.m. So, if you're interested in buying a home, buying investments, or a new home, um we will have a loan organizer there, credit advocate, and a broker salesperson from Keller Williams um to give this workshop, and there will be many more like this um probably possibly every quarter so that we can try to get some new home buyers to start purchasing homes. And that concludes my informational items. Does anyone else have any informational items they'd like to present? Mr. Thomas. Yes. Um I believe the township's still having their career fair on the 25th uh at 10:00 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 12:00 p.m. over at the Bud Dubel Center, so Um look out for that. Uh I forget how many different employers will be there. I know a

100bunch of the trades will be there. I'll be there with the carpenters, so um that's a great opportunity for anybody in Winslow Township that is looking for employment or looking to join a trade to come out and you know, good luck. Thank you, Mr. Shaw. Anyone else got any informational items? All right, we're moving on to old business. Anything on the old business? Seeing none. New business. Anything under new business? >> [clears throat] >> Seeing none. Public comments, Mr. Conley? Thank you, sir. The Winslow Township Board of Education highly values the input of citizens in making the important decisions that affect the children of our community. We believe in the rights of citizens to observe board meetings to ensure that all of our citizens have the opportunity to attend school board meetings and offer comment

101and to ensure that the board can conduct the important business of the district. We'd ask that speakers follow the guidelines for making public comment. The board secretary will recognize those individuals in the audience who wish to make comment. We'd ask that you respect the following procedures. One, all members of the public attending school board meetings must treat each other and the board with respect. Two, please state your full name and only your town of residence. Three, please limit your comments to 4 minutes. Four, in the event we're unable to answer your questions, please feel free to submit them in writing to the Board of Education with your name, address, email address, and telephone number where you can be contacted, and your questions will be answered within a reasonable period of time. Uh lastly, individuals offering

102citizen comments are not permitted to make personal attacks on any district employee, board member, other testifier, or member of the public. Thank you, sir. All right, >> [cough] >> Mr. Conley. Can I get a motion to go into public [clears throat] comments? Motion to open public comments. Give it a second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Public comments. It's open. Um, Ms. Laquisha Ajibola. Correct. You said it right today. >> [clears throat] >> We've been practicing. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> So, Laquisha Ajibola, Sicklerville, New Jersey. I was very surprised. So, you guys released a little bit of my stress because I wrote in and Mr. Kennedy read my my speech last month about um the jackets for the students from 2025, correct? >> Mhm. And I appreciate that. So, that was that was good news today.

103So, that that's why I came. I I delegated all my responsibilities and I said, "I got to go and make an appearance." So, that's great to hear. You know, you're ready to go back to your seat. The stress reliever is mine. >> [laughter] >> It's just relief. So, I really appreciate um you taking the time not to just listen, read, and do everything, but um to to actually make a difference. So, it's I don't speak just to hear myself, you know? So, I appreciate you um taking the time to So, on behalf of all the track parents, the busy moms and dads out here, um we thank you for listening and and also um giving back to the students because it's really important that they that they feel recognized, they feel, you know? So, cuz

104if we if they do something bad, we want to punish them. So, it's important for when they do something good that we reward them. Yes. >> So, thank you for the reward. I appreciate it. Yes, thank you. Have a good night. Uh Jasmine Bridge. Jasmine Bridge. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jasmine Rich, and I am from Winslow Township, a little Sicklerville. I had to come to this meeting today when I found out that Ms. Brooks was talking about her program. My, oh my, let me tell you something. I used to volunteer at her program, and boy, is it awesome. Let me tell you something. The greatest creation God ever made was woman. If you don't believe me, ask Adam. As soon as that woman appeared, what did he say? "Wow!" You [laughter] see, sometimes

105women don't know the influence that they have. And where would this world be without our women? You know [laughter] what? Let me tell you something. Ms. Brooks' program is there to motivate our women, and I've been honored for many years. I think it was 13 years. I've lost count. That I used to be able to volunteer. I would speak to our young ladies. First of all, if you walk through our high school um hallways, you will notice that the young men would be looking at the freshman girls because the young men have an idea, "Okay, I'm going to get those girls." So, we had a program where we would talk to them. We would get a chance to explain to them, "Watch out for the young men. If they say, 'Baby, you're so beautiful,' say,

106'Yeah, well, what else is new? I know that already.'" Watch out because they have another plan in their mind. We were able to tell them to be careful, watch out for the lines cuz we didn't want to have any teenage pregnancies. And some girls, if they're not told how beautiful they were, if they didn't have a father growing up, then the first guy that comes and says that to them, then they just fall for it. So, you know what? We were right there. We volunteered. And you know what? I used to do the presentation on the virtuous young ladies. And this freshman young lady out of out of one of my uh presentations came to me. And you know what she said to me? She said, "You know what? My parents always said to me,

107'Don't do it. Don't do it.'" But, she they never explained to me why. And she said, "You did." She said, "I'm going to keep myself virtuous until I get married." So, I was like, "Are you serious?" That was, to me, the best news I've ever heard. But, not only that, but you know, we we would do sessions where we would teach young ladies how to walk with confidence cuz sometimes they might not have been in a situation growing up where they were confident. Come in, shoulders bent over, and we would teach them to stand up straight, and teach them how to walk, you know, teach them how to sit in front of a person if they're going to go for an interview for. And we, you know what was so awesome that we did with

108our young ones? We would do role plays. And those young ladies from Ms. Brooks' program, they were able to leave the high school with confidence that they never had. And I am so thankful to have been able to be a part of that because, you know what? Children are our future. And we need to have people in place that will continue to motivate them and bring forth those programs like Ms. Brooks does. I have never seen anything like that. Even my husband would say, "My God, when I was coming up, they didn't even have anything like this." I said, "That's Ms. Brooks. She's a woman of excellence. All her programs are of excellence. And I'm just so thankful to be a part of that." Now, I brought a young man to her once because he

109was not really into his education. He grew up thinking his aunt was his mother, and he really had a rough life. So, he went, I when I brought one of his one of Ms. Brooks' opportunities to present to him, this young man went from making $12 an hour to $60,000 a year, and now he's an engineer making over 100,000. So, I'm telling you, don't ever underestimate the value, if you have children or family members or friends, do not ever underestimate the value of being a part of Eagles' Landing. And it's so wonderful that it started in the middle school. So, I am just so thankful to be able to come here and express that, cuz that program is awesome. Thank you so much. Um, do you have any questions for me? Thank you. Can I

110make a statement real quick? Absolutely. So, I will tell you right now, Ms. Brooks already knows what I'm going to say. My niece is a proud recipient of Ms. Brooks' love from Eagles Landing, and she gets married next Saturday to a wonderful, [applause] wonderful young man that I absolutely adore, and she probably wouldn't be where she's at if it wasn't for Eagles Landing and Ms. Brooks' attention to her. Because my my niece was a very troubled young woman when she came to Winslow Township. So, Eagle I We owe Eagles Landing and Ms. Brooks a lot in my family. So, I can tell you that. >> [applause] >> Thank you. We We really do. We don't even recognize her like she should because she's such a beautiful person, you know, beautiful >> [cough] >> person, but

111she her program is awesome. She is a woman of excellence herself. And you know what? You're going to get nothing but excellence when you come to Eagles Landing. I'm so sorry that I don't work there anymore. I That's the one thing I miss, being able to volunteer for her program. Thank you for giving me this time. >> Thank you. Bye. Bye. Yes, we have one more public comment that came in over um I guess the computer or the network. Uh, unfortunately, the back end is cut off. So, I'm going to read what what's visible to me. Uh, it came in from Rose Williams in Sicklerville, New Jersey. It reads, "Good evening. We want to acknowledge the work of Winslow Township Advisory Board led by Ms. Darcel Brooks." It looks like maybe this is I'm thinking

112they are doing a great job of bringing programming and activities that best fit the needs of the students. Uh we I don't know what's next but it's off and it says Harmel H A R M E L Harmel Social Services is looking forward to an opportunity to share our programming Teams in Charge. I can't see what's left but choose. So if we're charging shoes, I'm on board with that in the new the near future. Thank you, Rose Williams, Executive Director. Thank you. Is that it, Ms. Boyd? Yes, that concludes those that have signed up. >> All right. Any questions or comments? All right, I'm looking for a motion to adjourn public comments. Motion to adjourn public comments. >> Yeah, I second. All in favor? Aye. Executive session now? Yes, we do have a a a

113brief I believe a brief one. Um in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act, we'll be adjourning into executive session on Tax Day, April 15th, 2026 at 8:40 p.m. In case anybody forgot, you still have 3 hours to get your tickets. Uh of the nine items, uh this matter will be um items related to conditions of employment, item eight, with the respect to the Winslow Township Transportation Department. And I would guestimate approximately 30 minutes. So before a motion to go into executive session. Uh motion to go into executive session. Yeah, I second. All in favor? Aye. Roll call, Ms. Boyd. I'm getting there, sir. Mr. Clark? Yes. Ms. Flowers? [clears throat] Yes. Ms. Martin? Yes. >> Mr. Matthews? Yes. Ms. Neathery? Yes. Mr. Shaw? Yes. Miss Pitts? Yes. And Mr. Thomas? Yes.

114Motion is carried. Thank you. Yes. >> [laughter]