Board of Education Meeting 12/10/25

001Good evening everybody. >> Good evening. >> Welcome to the Winslow Township Board of Education meeting uh Wednesday, December 10th, 2025. Public notice of this meeting was given to all board members and associates in a notice dated August 14, 2025. Adequate and electronic notice of this public meeting has been provided and advertised in the Courier Post. Posted in all schools, the administration office, the municipal building, the library, Bud Dubal Center, Edgewood Acres, Elmtown, and the Winslow Township post offices. Our mission statement. The mission of the Winsslow Township School District, a large, diverse, and growing community, is to educate all students to become independent, lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and caring and confident members of of their community. The district in partnership with the community and in a climate of cooperation and mutual respect will provide an academic

002environment which values excellence and diversity and encourages students to strive for personal excellence and assist them in acquiring knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to contribute positively to a rapidly changing world. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> here. >> Miss Drean. Miss Claude, >> present. Miss Martin present. Mr. McManis >> here. >> Miss Peterson >> present. >> Miss Pitts >> present. >> Mr. Thomas >> here. >> And Mr. Shaw >> present. >> We have a quorum. >> Before we do the pledge of allegiance, I just want to acknowledge Mayor Lawrence for being here tonight. At this time, can we do the pledge of allegiance? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> Mr.

003Thomas, could you do our 2025 2026 district goals, please? Sure, Mr. President. 2025 district goals. Number one, student achievement. Continue to implement researchbased best practices for delivering instruction and accelerating learning for all students, including all subroups. This shall include conduct weekly administrative walkthroughs to monitor teaching and learning. Utilize the district diagnostic assessment platform. to analyze student data to inform and guide instruction. To monitor and track medical growth in ELA and mathematics in grades one through nine, to implement creative ways to accelerate student learning by providing additional support throughout and beyond the school day. Number two, promote positive environment for students and staff. Enforce the code of conduct to ensure safety for students and staff and compliance with district policy. Incorporate social emotional learning opportunities for students. Celebrate positive behaviors. develop strategies for students with significant

004behaviors to reduce the interruption of instructional time. Decrease negative action and improve school attendance. And number three, increase stakeholder engagement. Explore and expand innovative opportunities with increase parent communication. Create parent learning opportunities with a focus on how to support their child's learning. Continue to share the accomplishments of window students in all student activities. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Thomas. Moving on to our awards and presentations. Mr. Peas, at this time I would like to have principal Kelly and school 4 present. tonight. Principal Kelly. >> Thank you. Good evening. >> Good evening. Mr. Shaw, president of the board of education, esteemed board members, Mr. Peas, Miss Clement, Mayor Lawrence, and all the parents, families, and community members present here tonight. At this time, we're going to have the students start entering. They're going to enter

005onto the stage. And also some students will come here in front. Board members, you may want to take a seat in the front row. We reserve some seating for you. Oh, thanks. What the All right, as the last few students are filing into their spots here, We are thrilled to have our second grade students from school 4 here this evening to share a portion of their winter concert titled Christmas at the OK Corral. This performance showcases the town's fuel of Winslow as they prepare for their annual holiday festival at the OK Corral. A heartfelt thank you goes out to our exceptional music teacher, Miss Tina Stantha, for her dedication in arranging and choreographing this delightful show. Our students have put a tremendous amount of hard work and they are eager to perform for you all

006tonight. We hope you enjoy the show. Good evening on behalf of Township Elementary School 4. Joyful holidays and warm kinds with the people you love. For Christmas, we celebrate and share tradition of giving and light. Quanza, we family, community, and the seven principles that help us work together and care for each other. For Hanukkah, we remember the miracle of light sh our homes with Ramadan. We honor a time of reflection, prayer, and giving those. No matter which holidays you observe, may this season bring you peace, kindness, and good health. Enjoy your holidays and Under the western sky, under the western star is coming with our humble with our friends. Christmas in the west. It's the best Christmas in the west. Ei. Christmas is not about the distance. It's the most exciting ei Christmas is the

007best. Oh, Christmas is the best. Ei the best Christmas is the best the best Christmas the best away. Either Santa's Help. We need you. We're caught up in a sticky sticky situation. Sticky situation. Stand up. We need you. Stand up. We need to get out situation. Christmas is a precious day and all around. Sticky situation. Take Baby. Everybody, it's time for us to sing. Christmas dance. Christmas in the year. Everybody in the air. Okay. Good job. 3. Okay. You're okay. Wonder up. Wonder. Wonder up. I got I wonder again. There is might be I Quana All right, boys and girls, that was amazing. Ladies and gentlemen, can we give them one more round of applause? If I could, I would like to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to our administration and the

008board of education for your unwavering support of visual and performing arts in our schools. Additionally, let's recognize the school for teachers who are also here this evening supporting our students and the program. And finally, I'd like to invite invite everyone to join me in a round of applause for Miss Tina Stan. She dedicates an incredible amount of time, enthusiasm, and energy in discovering and nurturing the musical and performance talents of our students. Let's show our appreciation for her hard work. Thank you so much, Miss Tampa. And to our audience and families, thank you for being here to support our young performers. At this time, the students will return to the band room. And parents, if I may ask for you to exit at the back doors here, you'll walk down this side hallway and the

009students will be uh meeting you in the band room. So, we appreciate your patience. Thank you so much for being here and happy holidays. This will be our technology audit that was that is being performed and we'll conclude sometime this school year. So gentlemen, time is yours. >> Thank you very much. Really appreciate the time. Beautiful performance. Nice to be able to see. Uh good evening everybody. My name is Ryan Castner. I'm account manager for state local education and government for Aspire Technology Partners covering southern New Jersey which of course includes Winslow Township. Uh I have here with me Chris Clark, director for uh state, local education and government for New Jersey and Pennsylvania, also from Aspire. So wanted to come here tonight to provide you with an update on the technology audit that was

010just mentioned. Uh goal here tonight is to provide you with a high level overview of kind of what's been going on. uh take you through the timeline uh what's taking progress so far, what we're doing currently, uh expected completion dates and expected outcomes from the technology audit. Uh and at the end, feel free, uh certainly can answer any questions anyone may have. So, uh for those that aren't aware, a quick timeline for you. Uh back in spring of 2025, Winsow Township Board of Education reached out to Aspire Technology Partners. We are on a state contract as a technology integrator and consultant to perform a full technology audit of the uh Winsslow Township School District. Uh there's been some connectivity issues and uh they wanted to expand the technology assessment and audit beyond just connectivity to

011also include beyond wireless network data center cloud disaster recovery and security. So in the summer we were contracted to perform the technology audit and worked closely with the technology team and the board of education to determine uh the best start date for the audit. Uh it was determined that because techn or connectivity and wireless was the uh was the first problem we'd like to address that the audit would begin in September while schools were in session. uh when schools are in session. Obviously, the network is heavily utilized. So, we can see what the network was looking like uh during that time frame instead of the summer when it's not utilized as much except for maybe some staff and summer school activities. Uh Aspire started with the wireless technology audit uh and the technology team had

012already started some uh preliminary work here last year before we were contacted. uh the technology team had worked through the federal rate program to purchase some wireless access points about 160 of those uh to provide more robust wireless coverage. So in September we worked with the technology team and the board to perform on-site surveying of the wireless environment. So we have heat maps to show where there is connectivity issues, where the connectivity is robust and where it isn't. Um, we also did on-site interviews with teachers, staff, uh, and administrators to understand exactly what they were dealing with from a connectivity standpoint, specifically as it pertains to wireless, uh, at the time of day on the devices that they're using and what types of issues that they they were seeing and were occurring. uh Aspire did

013a lot of discovery work with a lot of help of the technology team here to do some data gathering uh and understand exactly uh what the infrastructure looked like from not only a wireless perspective but also uh from the network perspective because obviously everything comes together at the end of the day from a technology standpoint. Um from that point Aspire provided uh over about September and October now Aspire has provided some highle overview of findings to uh the technology team of what we found from the initial wireless audit and assessment. So at a high level a couple of things we've talked about is moving access points away from the hallways and into classrooms. We recommend that each classroom has an access point. As you can see from the walls in here, uh it's cinder block

014and concrete as is the case in most schools. So, uh, wireless signal has a hard time penetrating that. So, um, we've we've, uh, we've conveyed that we, uh, believe that there should be a little bit more robust coverage and are working with the technology team and the board to put together how many access points would be needed. Uh, the e-ate program has refreshed here this year. Uh, so we're going to put together a budgetary number, but also how many access points would be needed that can be put out for the -ate federal program going forward. Uh we also talked to the technology team about uh some older Chromebooks. Chromebooks are often utilized in K to2 districts uh and are here in Winsow Township. As the Chromebooks get older, they have a hard time with technology

015uh or with connectivity issues from a wireless perspective. Uh a couple other things is fine-tuning. So uh taking a look at the settings and fine-tuning things on the newer access points uh and those access points that will be coming in in the future. So from this point uh in terms of next steps, Aspire is going to be moving forward with the networking assessment next and then moving on to data center disaster recovery cloud uh and the security pieces amongst others. So we expect over the next two two and a half months that we'll be able to complete the full assessment and then we'll be able to come back with a full uh conglomerate report of every different aspect that I mentioned here. Uh in that report, it'll have our findings, but then it'll also have

016action items and recommendations for remediation. Um through each of these assessments, obviously I mentioned a couple different areas, right? I mentioned that we're finalizing wireless as we speak. Each one will have its own summary that will provide after the assessment individually is done, but then the final report will be very robust, but it'll each also have highle findings and action items for uh each one so they can be addressed immediately. So, I know I throw a lot at you tonight, a lot of information, but I hope that this provides you with kind of an update of where we are, uh, an extended timeline and what you can expect going forward. Happy to answer any questions or, uh, provide anything else if needed. >> Yes, I have a question. >> Sure. >> Talk about access points.

017What would what's involved with moving access points into particular classroom? >> Sure. Good question. So, um, if an access point is not currently in a in a a classroom, uh, we'll need to do a cable run to move it into the classroom. So, uh, if there are is an access point I mentioned, for example, in the hallway that's unnecessary and we can move it over to the classroom, we would take the, uh, cat fiber cable and move it over to a classroom and then just have someone hang it. Once you have the cable run, it's pretty easy to hang access points. But the cable run, you see throughout most of the schools, you do have drop ceilings. So the good thing there is you're just coming from the what we call IDF cabinets from uh

018cable run to each access point. >> Sure. On the front end of that too there there usually is some configuration since you do already have a wireless network. Uh it's just a copy of the configurations and dialing the settings before you put the access point up. >> Sure. Question. Do you anticipate because you said two and a half months from I guess today um budget season we start writing it February we get our numbers late February and in March the tenative budget has to get approved so in order to accommodate some of what you're recommending we might need to get and and I from your last presentation there were some green things some yellow things and some red things and I think we have to hop on the red things, but we would need some

019cost estimates or at least an assessment of the the needs and then we can get a cost estimate to try to build some of that into a budget. >> Sure. >> So, if we could, you know, especially number of access points and uh the data runs if they need them or cable runs. >> Yes, absolutely. Uh great point and uh not a problem. So, as it pertains to the wireless access points, um we've mentioned to the technology team that we should be able to have that within the next week and a half or so of the number of access points that'll be needed and then we can provide a budgetary figure around that as well. Um and also when it comes to a time frame, we the rate uh window for filing a 470 is

020open currently. So, it's good timing for that. >> Um and then to your point as well with the green and yellow and red items, uh what we're going to focus on is anything that's red. So the high priority items to make sure we can get you the not only findings and action items but also budgetary figures surrounding them as well. >> Thank you. >> Sure. >> I have a question. >> Sure. >> Um in regards to once you complete this um in two and a half months and then we come up with what we need to get done for our school district and we approve it. How long will it take for you to get our school on track? >> Sure. It's a good question. It it really depends on the findings of each of

021the the parts of each assessment. From a wireless standpoint, I can tell you that from what we've seen from from that assessment findings, it's really a matter of purchasing new access points uh to put in those areas that currently don't have them and or moving from I mentioned some areas like hallways and moving them to the classroom. So, um lead time thankfully these days on equipment is not long. Uh typically the access points you do them on uh spring break or maybe on a summer break. Um but if it's something that you need to move forward quicker on, you can certainly do them on overnight shifts as well. So access points can be done pretty quickly. It's just a matter of procuring the equipment and then configuration staging. Really it's just a matter of a

022couple of weeks of getting that uh fine-tuned with some of the other areas. Um I mentioned next is networking. So networking goes handinhand of course with wireless, right? because you have your your routing and your switching that then feeds into the access points. Um it really depends on what comes of the uh audit and assessment. If it's something for configuration changes, uh it's a simple for our team or or any team that you want to utilize to uh even remotely configure and change things within the infrastructure. Um if it's a I know that the switching there has been new switching purchase as well through the district. So I don't believe at least on the front end that uh there will be a lot of new equipment on the switching side for example that would need

023to be purchased. So it may just be configuration changes which can be pretty quick. Um in terms of some of the other areas like security a lot of those can uh similarly just be policy changes and implementing um maybe trainings policies and tweaking of things. So those can be done util usually pretty quickly because they're not going to provide any downtime for students or staff. >> So you all have walked through all 13 of our buildings already. >> Yes. Yeah, we did uh from the the start with the wireless uh all 13 buildings were walked and we did what's called wireless on a stick. So it provides a heat map uh within every area of every school uh the board of education building as well. So uh what that provided is and and we have

024these maps is essentially colorcoded where if the density is strong it's green uh if it's weaker it's yellow or if there is none it doesn't show up on the map. So that's what provided us with the classrooms where we know that we need to have some density. uh and additional access points provided >> and you have that already? >> Yes, we do. >> Can you provide that information to us so we know which buildings are green, red or yellow? >> Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Sure. Thank you for your questions. >> Sure. Yeah. Come on up. >> Good evening everyone. Uh my name is Patrick O. as a concerned resident. So, I hear you talk about the access point. So, when you guys did the um heat mapping, what did it show you?

025What I know the the center blocks the density of the building, but um and also I'm a little confused about who's going to do the work. Is it going to be you guys are subcontracting? For instance, when you're putting wireless access points up and you're going through the ceiling, it's no problem. But when you come through concrete, there's also regulations that you know FSMAS, this also standard that you guys have to follow. So for instance, when it goes through a cinder block wall, you know to make sure that things are fire stopped for protection. So and I didn't hear well that's part of the nuts and bolts, but I don't know if you guys are doing that or what have you. >> Can you speak so everyone can hear you please? >> Oh yeah, no

026problem. Sure. So um in regards to uh who would be doing the work, the assessment and audit is for uh we will make recommendations for action plan and remediation. Uh in terms of who's doing the work, we certainly can or the district can decide that they'd like to use whoever they'd like to uh in terms of a partner. Um for us personally, uh we work with a lot of K to2s throughout the state and a couple different states, but we um ourselves do the configuration and set all the protocols within uh the wireless network or whatever it may be, switching, etc. And then uh what Chris my uh director was just mentioning is that uh specifically for installation and cabling we utilize a certified cabling vendor. So go ahead. >> And so the so those

027vendors would do the testing. They would give you when you run a cable of course you know you just don't run the cable and say it works. So you guys would do the testing of the cable provide results to the IT team saying that these things are are working back and forth right now. >> Yep. Yep. That's a great question. So uh what we do is we we provide a statement of work. So every statement of work is going to outline exactly what's encompassing the project. So from the front end be staging and configuration. We have a warehouse at Aspire where we take in all the access points, do all of that on site. So they're not housed within the school buildings or you may not have room as it is. So that way once

028they're ready to be installed, the cable and installer doesn't have to do anything beyond running the cables, making sure everything's correct, and then installing the access points. And then thereafter we do the testing and provide uh reporting not only to the school but we also do a knowledge transfer as well. >> Yeah. So it's back phone tag. So back and forth but uh when you guys do the wireless say for instance is the the cabling are you using cat 6 and is the cabling of different colors so the IT team can differentiate when you're up in the ceiling whether purple or green for wireless and are we doing that? And then the other part of that is once you did the testing when the work day was here, what did the well you answered one

029of my questions. You got new switching, you got new Cisco thing. So um how was the bandwidth? Was it tax or what was that? >> Um so in terms of the cables, yes, they would be uh they're colorcoded to to delineate if it's cat 6, Cat 6C, etc. Um so you so you have no problem there. And then in terms of bandwidth, uh that will really come from the next uh the networking part of the assessment which is which is occurring next. Um there was some other things that came out of the wireless that uh it sounds like you're knowledgeable in it that you may understand. But uh when it comes to the networking piece that's really see the throughput and bandwidth side of things as well. >> Sure. When you started the survey, did

030you see anything that could be corrected on the spot? I mean, what is our team doing well and what needs to be improved? So, Chris, I know that you you've worked closely with the engineers on this as well, but uh essentially um where the where their access points are in the classrooms, they're they're doing well, right? The the new access points um the purchase was a good purchase. It's Juniper. It's a good brand, a good manufacturer. Looks like things are configured correctly. Um I think on the you know recommendation part is really just and and a lot of times this may come down to budgets or something of that sort is that um you know we recommend adding more and and it kind of sounds like an easy answer but you know in other buildings

031where you didn't have cinder block or things like that where you currently have them would probably more than suffice but what's happening is it's just bouncing off of the walls. >> So you want triangle. >> Yeah. Wherever you go, wherever you walk, >> yeah, >> there's signal from >> Yes, you got it. >> And just to add to the question of how the team is doing, uh, Mr. Ponte, Daryl Scott and the entire technology team is doing a phenomenal job making sure that the technology that we have and the challenges that we face are dealt with each and every day. So we make sure that our students have the uh capabilities to do the uh you know electronic uh side of instruction that we need to be successful and to make sure that testing is

032uh is done in a a way that is uh compliant to the state and uh testing regulations. So uh kudos to our technology team. >> Yeah, I would echo that as well. One of the things um I mentioned earlier but I just want to make sure I expand on it is that uh the technology team was taking was and continues to take the right steps. So um you know when we were engaged the first thing we saw was that a lot of new access points were procured um and Mike and the team did mention to us Michael and team did mention to us that uh now that the - budget has refreshed there was always a plan to purchase more access points and then utilizing the audit assessments giving them an even better idea which

033I think is smart move to understand exactly where to go with those so you don't run into a situation where uh you're putting up access points and then having to move them late >> and Just a couple more questions. Um, so this is you're going to be doing this soon, but the disaster recovery. So I'm not sure, Mr. P, you may know, do you guys have an off-site storage for data? And if you do, how often is the the data backed up? And if anybody from your IT team is here, that would be nice to know. And um, yeah, so I like to I'd like to hear more about disaster recovery. Yeah, we're we're not there yet, but we will that'll be a part of it. We'll definitely be able to share that information um

034and make recommendations if we believe it should be changed as well. >> Well, then superintendent, how is the data store? Do you guys have an off-site storage and do you know, you might not know this, but um how are the backups done? Are daily incremental differential? I don't speak technology that well, but uh I'm happy to take uh your name and your information and invite you in so you can uh ask a question to our IT team. >> Yeah, I would like that. Yeah, Patrick Oats. >> The last question is for everybody. So, um and I think u Miss Bo asked the red, green, and blue are the different colors. So, the poll ends plans of actions and milestones. Let just for people that don't know those are findings that they find and they give

035you a certain amount of time to uh fix them and whether it's high or low or medium. Um so that would be in a form of a poem would >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Sure. Yeah. Not a problem. Thank you for your questions and and that's exactly correct. Yeah. We we'll prioritize things uh in terms of the need, right? So obviously it being a a school environment, right? And and testing was mentioned those kind of things. want to make sure that connectivity is the number one goal, but we'll prioritize uh you know any issues that we see. Uh and in terms of remediation, we're always going to let you know, hey, look, this is the most immediate need. This is something that's glaring. For example, I mentioned that security is part of the audit as

036well. Um sometimes when doing security audits, things come up where we say, look, this needs immediate attention, right? So, that's going to be something that's going to be red and we're going to recommend immediate action. And there might be some other things where we say look in your long-term plan maybe five 10 year plan we recommend moving towards uh another initiative uh for one of those areas as well. >> Another question. Sure. Yeah. >> No, I'm not. You can't hire me either. No. Okay. >> So, the last thing is the uh standards that every IT organization has to follow the FISMA standards and stuff. So, are you going to be looking at that? For instance, the when you get to the server room, making sure that it's fortified, making sure that u um just different

037things that require the uh a FSMA standards or the N standards 800- >> Yep. No problem. Yep. >> Any other questions? >> I have one more. >> Sure. Um, and I understand uh what you're asking, Mr. Oats, but sometimes we're at the mercy of state aid and budget figures in terms of what we um can do. I know that we have already um did the bandwidth. I guess they ran a and I am not tech, but I know Mike came in and we needed uh to run the cable between the middle school and high school and we got that done. he's now uh looking at me about we need to run from the board office back to the middle school. So, um, always dollar figures in terms of, uh, what we can expend. And trust

038me, I have a vested interest in finding out because there's nothing worse than to come in and you're it's up, it's down, it's up, it's down, you're out, you're in, you're out, you're in. You know, we all want it disclosed. But, uh, again, sometimes it's it's the need is there. We would have to prioritize that. Um, but there are a lot of things on the table. So, uh, and like you said, the 470 window is open and we've been talking to Mike about getting the 470 up and we would concurrently run a bid and let them terminate at the same time and then um, you know, make the recommendations and uh, the - funding that comes back to us, it's significant. So, we want to jump in on that. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. >> Thank

039you, Ryan. Thank you very much. We appreciate your time. >> Thank you. So the audience is uh very lucky tonight. This is the night of audits and audit presentations. So we have Miss Yang from Bulman doing our annual audit report on our financial health. >> Good evening. >> Thank you for having me here to do the presentation of the annual audit for fiscal year ending 2025. Oh, first before I forget, congratulations to the football team for being backto-back champions. >> Thank you. >> The audit started in October after the business office closed out the previous school year and prepared financials records and schedules for the audit. The records being audited include the district's general fund, capital projects fund, federal and state grant programs, student activities, food service, before and after school program. You should have

040received um the annual comprehensive financial report and then a smaller report called the auditor's management report. In the ACFR, there are three required auditor report that we use to render our opinion on the financial statement and the notes to the audit report. On page 11 of the audit report, it's a it's a report on the financial statement opinion and it's an unmodified and clean opinion. On page 153, it's a report on internal control and compliance over financial reporting. There is one finding noted in that report and it's a repeat finding from the previous year related to access cash in the food service farm. And because of that, in the later um part of the agenda, there's a corrective action plan that the board will need to approve and submit to DOE and Department of Agriculture.

041similar to prior years. On page 155 of the ACFR, it's a report on internal control and compliance over major grant programs. And that opinion is also a modified and clean opinion. The AMR report contains information required to be reported to the NJDLE in a format similar for all school districts. It includes ASSA reporting information as well as excess surplus calculation. That report includes the same finding as the ACFR. Are there any questions on this point on the AMR and the ACFR? >> Yes. Can you just explain what the finding is to to the stakeholders? >> Of course. So the the school district's food service program is supposed to be running on a nonprofit status. It means that the school district is not supposed to be making money off of charges that the student pay on

042lunch and breakfast. But on the at the same time the school district is getting reimbured by the federal government and state government for every eligible meal served because of our demographic. um we're receiving a large amount of subsidy from the state and federal government. So at the end of the year, USDA and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture comes up with a calculation or they per they prepare actually they present a calculation and we do the calculation. the cash that we have on hand if it's exceeding three months average operating expenditure they require us to have automatic report finding and because our program is running well we have this finding for the past couple years and part of it started on the co years when the ex um when the reimbursement far exceed what we

043pay for each meal to the food service management company. So the district has over the years implemented corrective action to upgrade equipment when they could um purchase upgrade serving. Oh, actually they upgraded the POS um computers in 2025 and in 2026 school year they just advertised and received a bid to upgrade all the serving lines in all schools. Mrs. spoil. >> We're upgrading the service line at the high schools only. >> At the high schools. >> Yes. And that bid came in at $890,000. >> So all schools we don't have that. >> So hopefully with that when the project um is finished, it will we'll spend down that cash and hopefully we don't have the repeat finding again in 26 audit. >> Thank you. Mhm. >> You're welcome. >> Financially in 2425 school year, the

044school operated on the balance general fund budget. There is a one-page summary called 2025 audit financial summary for your information. This year's budget includes a final revenue budget of 11 million $111 million. In the end, the district realized a little over $115 million. So that's $4.1 million over what we anticipated. Again, the district was being conservative in budgeting revenue. We didn't want to overshoot and then not have the revenue that we said we might collect. Expenditure- wise, we budget fully for all the aids that we anticipate is going to be there. We budget for capital projects that we say we're going to work on. and that amount comes out to $136 million. We did not exceed our budget. None of the budget lines are overextended. Um the business office always try to do um try

045to perform their project efficiently within the legal limit of the state of New Jersey. On page um 82 of the ACFR is the summary of general fund fund balance which is also summarized in the middle of the financial summary. At the end of general fund fund balance is 43,421,000. That's about 12,000 million lower than that of 2024. The balance consists of 20 million in capital reserve. Out of the 20 million in capital reserve, 14 million is being budgeted and used in current school year 2526. That portion of the fund balance is restricted and can only be used in capital projects. Because of that balance, the district is not in need of issuing bonds or borrowing money from taxpayers to fund all of our capital projects. 4.2 million in the 43 million general fund budget fun

046uh fund balance is maintenance reserve. The state allows district to keep up to 4% of the required replacement costs of all school buildings. And again, that's a restricted balance that can only be used to um perform required maintenance on school buildings. Excess surplus is at $5.5 million and that amount needs to be budgeted in the 26 27 school year. So next time the budget opens up that's the amount that we have to use in next year's school budget. Year incumbrance is about 2.7 million and that gets wrote into 2526 school year and it's being utilized currently. Finally the undesated un assigned fund balance is 3.6 6 million and the state limits that to 2% of general fund expenditure. Any questions on the numbers? >> Yes, a question. Um, you've been doing our audit for a

047number of years, at least 15, correct? >> Uh, Art Bowman has been doing the audit for Yes. quite a number of years. >> And since that time, we've only had one finding at per year. Am I correct >> generally? Yes. >> And we have been in the black all 15 years. Am I correct? >> That is correct. >> Thank you. >> Yes. >> Oh. Um I have a question about um going back to the food service and the reimbursements from both the state and the federal. >> Yes. >> Is that net of the unpaid balances from the students for each of the meals that was >> No. So, um, Mr. McManis, um, we're we couldn't write that off. So, that's that was moved over. So, that's inclusive. We're not allowed. So, we moved that money.

048We charged it off, moved it there. Um, and I think we're like uh 600 high. >> That was 500 and something that uncollected lunch balances. >> Okay. >> So, but I couldn't charge it there. So, that's why we are where we are. Um and and we started clean this school year. >> All right. Great. Thanks. >> Finally. Yes, Mrs. Bole. >> Um I just wanted to discuss just briefly uh capital reserve and maintenance reserve. Uh there is a a maintenance reserve that we are permitted to um keep and that's to maintain your budget. Uh I know in the past couple of years we haven't uh stocked it or replenished it. Um we had gotten to the point where we were near the maximum and it's $143 per square foot of each building. So you take

049all the square feet times 143 and that's your maximum. Yeah. But anyway, so with that, we were close and so we had to pull some money out because we were earning interest and we were in jeopardy of going over. So, um, what we've been doing historically in more recent years is at the end of the year, if money is released, we would put it into capital reserve. Um, the maintenance reserve, thank goodness we have it. Uh the board approves that at the end of the year and we'll put it before you transfer to capital or transfer to maintenance maintenance reserve. We are permitted to withdraw from that fund with board approval. So I don't have to go to the state, I go to the board. This year we have a tight budget year because of

050the increase in the health benefit cost. on your agenda, you saw that we had to do a withdrawal from maintenance reserve for some of the damage to this school that the insurance didn't cover. All I need to do is go to the board and say, "Board, this is our bill. They're only giving us I think it was the bill was 196. They gave us 25. I need 171." Any other year I would have taken the knit and needle and gone into every even little nook and cranny and put the lint out, consolidated and try not to do that. This year I'm facing a huge I'm anticipating a huge bill uh in January. So and we've kind of tucked so we can make a withdrawal for that. I cannot withdraw from maintenance reserve to um I

051don't know any normal operating cost. So, let's say we hired another teacher. I can't pull their salary out of maintenance reserve. It's got a restricted use. That's it. Capital reserve is where we tuck money uh and every year we try to squirrel something away so that when there is a project and we say we need security vestibules in our schools, we don't have to go out to debt. We try to um pull it out of capital reserve. Um there is also a cap on the amount we can have in capital reserve and the projects have to be on our long range facilities plan. So there's a lot of checks and balances what we do and and um where where does it come from because sometimes you may not understand what we're approving, but I I

052want you to to know and understand I can't pull out capital reserve money and and fix the floors. That's not that's not the purpose for capital reserve. Once it's there, it's for capital projects. Maintenance reserve. I can go board please and you guys can say yay or nay. And then if you say yay, we can go ahead and you'll see I'll say withdraw from capital reserve. And I'm going to assume I'm going to get a yes. After that, I'll say let's award this contract to the vendor so that I can we can pay for this work that needs to be done. You will see that on tonight's addendum as well. Um, so we we tuck it away. It's an accumulation over over several years or budgets or whatever. Thank goodness we had maintenance reserve this

053year. >> Yes, sir. >> Miss Bole, um, theoretically, >> um, the maintenance reserve budget since it's already an existing system, could that be used to help fund the technology audit upgrade? >> No. It's maintaining the buildings in the original state that they were. What I can do is so we have um we have money in maintenance reserve. If you budget required maintenance and you have to have and you have to have a a a minimum required maintenance for each of the buildings anyway. Whatever we budget I can pull that out of maintenance reserve and fund that. And I think next year it's I think we're doing $830 >> $830,200. >> H >> $830,200 >> for next year >> for 2526. >> No, I'm talking about uh 2627. >> So the budget that >> Yeah. So

054>> coming up. >> Yeah, the one that's coming up. We're going to pull because we already did our uh required maintenance in M1. So we've already given us given that number. Um, what I can do is pull that out of maintenance reserve, fund that, and that would free up $800,000 for us to do something else. But I there are a lot of needs in this district. Um, if you take a look at the addendum, we never knew and we're going to find out if this is hovering any place else. So, you know, there may be uh other situations that we're going to try to avert and designate funds. Also, we just got to we'll we'll get our findings from um the technology audit so that we can implement some of those corrective plans. So, there's

055a lot of um I don't know there's a a a huge demand on the budget. That's all I can say. And but we will try to try to meet those needs. But if you have questions about the required maintenance and the maintenance reserves, you know, thank goodness we had we didn't have them when we got here. >> It it was approved, but we didn't have anything. So, we've been tucking and squirreing and tucking and squirreing. Um just just the nature of I guess because we were auditors, that's what we tuck and squirrel. I'm chief chief. Um, I would like to emphasize that I received complete cooperation from the district staff, Mr. Peace, Mrs. Bole, Miss Clemens, Miss Davis, and Miss Chico for all their um, assistant during the audit. Um, my team was inside the

056board office for a good part of two and a half weeks interrupting everybody's work. But again, everybody was very very cooperative and we were able to um complete the audit and submit all required um reports through the state's electronic repository system. So the audit is available in public to the public um from the state's website. If anybody has any questions, I'll answer them. Otherwise, have a good night. >> Just have a statement. I just like to thank you and our staff loyal for the impeccable job that's been going on, still going on the last 15 years. The reports are absolutely amazing and our fiscal responsibility integrity is appreciated and I just want to say thank you uh for the job well done. >> Thank you. >> So at this time we could get back to

057some fun presentations. Not that audits are not fun, but uh but at this time we will have uh board president do a presentation to recognize two board members. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> On the behalf of the Winslow back-to-back State Champion District. >> Yeah. Go ahead. This resolution of app appreciation for service Gerard Jerry Mcmanis whereas go ahead give him some whereas Mr. Gerard Jerry Mcmanis has faithfully and diligently served as a member of the Winsow Township Board of Education, demonstrating unwavering commitment to the students, staff, and community of the township of Winslow. And whereas during his tenure, Mr. McManis has contributed valuable insight, leadership, and guidance in shaping policies and initiatives that have advanced the mission and the vision of the district. And whereas Mr. Mcmanis has consistently exemplified integrity, professionalism, and dedication,

058ensuring that the decisions were made in the best interest of all stakeholders. And whereas Mr. McManis has been a strong advocate for educational excellence, fiscal responsibility, and in community engagement, leaving a lasting impact on the district's progress, success, and whereas the board of education and the entire Winslow Township community wish to express their sincere gratitude for his service and leadership. Now therefore, be it resolved that Winslow Township Board of Education hereby recognizes and honors Mr. Gerard Jerry Mcmanis for his outstanding service, dedication, and contribution to the Winsow Township School District. And before it be it further resolved that this resolution be entered into the official minutes of the board of education and that a copy be presented to Mr. McManis as a token of our appreciation and respect on the day on this day Wednesday

059December 10th 2025 respectfully the Winslow Township Board of Education mentioned that the board will also formally recognize Mr. Mattis at the meeting in January. Thank you. Yes sir. Uh we got a there is a lot going on here but I really wanted to thank you. I wanted to thank each and every one of the board members and the administration in particular. Uh this was to say the least one of my greatest experiences in life to be able to be part of this Winslow Township community to be able to see to folks growing and each one of you I want to say this each one of you have really contributed to me personally. Um I came into this not knowing really what to expect but I would strongly suggest that anybody that's ever even considering public

060service should certainly be part of this. This is this is one of the greatest things that has ever happened in my professional career. Thank you. >> At this time, can we have Miss Peterson come up? For a lot of you that are here standing, we all know how much Miss Peterson has given to our Winslow Township School District. Whether she's helped numerous students, attend Rowan University, give advice to our students that wanted to attend college, or just help out a somebody in need in our community. Miss Peterson has always been that mentor or that ear to listen to anybody that wants to talk. >> She is going to be dearly missed from this board. >> And if anybody can see the my eyes are tearing up because if I needed somebody to talk to at

0614:00 a.m. in the morning, my early mid morning call. >> That's right. >> So I can tell you she is going to be dearly missed from this board. Miss Peterson on the just as a token of our appreciation from the board of education. We have the card truly this has been a great experience. Uh it's been said it takes a village to raise our children. I want to thank everyone out there that's standing. Every time I called upon them to do anything for the community. When we lost two parents, they were there and they said, "Yes, I will do it." When we needed to uh take on families during uh the pandemic, we made sure that they had baskets and they did it. So, I want to thank not only the administration, but each board

062member, but my new new niece, and she knows who she is, and she needs to stand. She has me involved in the booster club. So, if my new niece, as she calls me, and I enjoy every minute of it, I thank you for raising my great nephew, my godson, my namesake, Julian Peterson, who will be leaving here and going to the University of North Carolina on February the 4th. So, thank you for all your work, all your love and support, and I ask that you continue to work to make this a different place for everyone to live in. And if you need me, please call me. 4:00 in the morning is great. One more comment. This one I will not I'm a cowboy. >> Yes, danger cowboy. >> Yes. >> Yeah, I remember. >> Yeah.

063Yeah. Oh, yeah. you weren't here. >> Um, thank you everybody for coming out to support uh our board members. Uh, got to give myself a second. Moving on to correspondence. >> Yes, Mr. President, we have one piece of correspondence. It's dated December 5th, 2025. It reads, "Congratulations. You have satisfied all requirements for the new board member boardmanship certification through the New Jersey School Boards Association Board Member Academy. Those requirements include um those requirements include earning a minimum of 10 credits through attendance at Academy sessions, the New Jersey School Board annual workshop, and a variety of county programs. It might be nice for me to pause and let you know that this is to Miss Glaude. Um, the new board member award recognizes professional development in areas critical to effective school board governance. We commend you

064for your commitment to your school district and for dedicating substantial time and effort to improve your skills and knowledge. It is my honor to congratulate you on your achievement and to thank you for your dedication and commitment to the students of your community. Be well and be safe. Sincerely, Dr. Timothy J. Pernell, the executive uh director. So, >> congratulations, Miss Claude. >> And that concludes um correspondent Moving on to our minutes. Um, may I have a motion to approve our following meeting minutes from our regular meeting Tuesday, uh, November 25th, 2025, open and close sess session. >> Mr. President uh move to approve the following minutes for the uh from the board of education uh regular or regular open and closed sessions on November 25th, 2025. >> Peterson second the motion. >> Any questions? >>

065Uh roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> abstain. Miss Dreaden. Thank you. Miss Glaude, >> yes. >> Miss Martin, >> yes. >> Mr. Mcmanis, >> yes. >> Miss Peterson, >> yes. >> Miss Pittz, >> yes. >> Mr. Thomas, >> yes. >> And Mr. Shaw, >> yes. >> Motion has carried. >> Moving on to our board committee reports. >> President Shaw, can I interrupt for a second? Um, and don't want to prolong this meeting any longer, but could we pause for a second? So, Miss uh Peterson can go take a picture with her uh sorority. I know they want to uh take a quick picture uh before they left. >> Oh, no. Go ahead. >> They're going. I think they're still waiting for you out there. >> Go ahead. >> So, just a quick pause. >>

066Thanks. >> No, you're you're fine. Okay. Not that I drink coffee. the neighbor. >> Oh, okay. for it later. She be knocking on your door. >> All right. Four of them were Winslow graduates many years ago. >> Moving on to our board committee reports. Um our student representative told you I wouldn't forget. >> Um November 30th, our high school boys football team were named group four state champions at Ruckers New Brunswick against Bramo High School, defeating with the score of 3421. A parade will be held this Saturday, December 13th, to honor our back-to-back champions here on the Winsow Township High School campus from 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. It will begin at the middle school and will conclude at the steps of the auditorium of the high school. The quarterback, Jaylen Parker, is the New

067Jersey state record holder with 107 passing touchdowns. to add on special congratulations to Jaylen Parker, Naim Powell, Nakira Hilton, Philip Hatfield, and Benjamin Carter Jr. for being named first team all South Jersey. The Winsow Township marching band is having another successful season, most recently placing second at the South Jersey Region Championships at Eastern Regional High School. They also won special awards for best visuals, best color guard, and best percussion. Also at region championships, senior member Samara Thomas was awarded the Mike Heaton memorial scholarship. The 2025 program is titled Out There, featuring the music of Creed, David Bowie, and Pink Floyd. Student leaders of the marching band are Lauren Smith, Hannah Veles, Samira Thomas, Isabella Thomas, Maya Rivera, Daryl Thompson, and Christina Munford. This past weekend, a successful S Santa was held here at the high

068school. The Spanish Honor Society held their induction ceremony Monday, December 8th, inducting 41 new members, being the largest group of inductees. This organization now holds a total of 60 members. National Honor Society also held their induction led by me, the National Honor Society president um also held their induction and other officers inducting many other leaders. Student government is participating in the giftgiving tree for families in need and it ends this Friday. Parents were alerted to fill out the form located in Genesis for their student to be able to receive a Chromebook. That concludes my report. >> Thank you very much, >> Mr. Thomas. Athletic Committee report. >> Yes. I mean, our student rep did such a great job with the athletic report. But I just want to add on another portion to it. I'd like

069to call it academics and athletics and our fall season 2025 GPA report thanks to our interimm superintendent. Just like to give you an update on how well they doing not only on the ball field but in the classroom. The report has follows. Boys cross country GPA 3.6. Girls cost function GPA this is an average whole team average 3.8 cheerleaders 3.7 boys soccer 2.5 girls soccer 4.09 field hockey 3.85 85 and that's state champion back-to back group four football team 3.03 03, girls tennis 3.96, and girls volleyball 3.70. And we have one uh Olivia Okara just committed to Yukon Girls track and her GPA is 4.38. That is my report for academics and athletics. See, Miss Martin, CAC. >> Thank you, Mr. Thomas. >> Good evening, board members. >> Morning. Good evening. >> One of those

070long day, I know. Okay, I'll be brief. Uh, the CAC met uh December 4th. Uh we met started at 6:30 ended at 7:45. Present were myself, Miss Martin, Miss Claude, Rosemary Hoffman, Marcy Thomasello, Gregory Wake, Jennifer Moss, and Mr. Peace came to visit us as well. So that was a a nice surprise. Uh topics discussed was the academic and arts hall of fame. Uh we discussed the scope of the CAC's mission is to give recommendations and not to carry out the how. So we had some discussion to ensue how to best move the mission forward on both the academic and arts hall of fame. Um recommendation on that is coming but CAC members are welcome to sit on a committee for either hall of fame. Uh there was concerns regarding vaping and the continued restriction

071of bathroom use at the high school. Uh concerns regarding the uniformity of policies across the different schools in our district. Case in point, the previously mentioned issue of the passing out of birthday invitations. Uh Mr. Peas was also introduced to the CAC, its purpose and structure. Uh there was discussion regarding the continued efforts to include parents in the community uh to foster community involvement uh and pride in our school district. Um it was noted that Dr. Carter's monthly emails at school 5 going out to parents letting them know what's going on in the schools have been very well received by parents. um discussion regarding how to increase community participation in the CAC as a worthy and necessary committee to the board and in helping there will be a continued bridge between the community and the

072board. Uh there was two items I forgot to put on my report. I apologize. Uh one was regarding a literacy initiative brought up by uh Miss Rosemary Hoffman. The reading assist that's happening I believe Magnolia School District is adopting it. Uh, I know at the next CAC meeting she did say she would bring in more information. Um, trying to think there was one more thing. It'll hit me. Something to do with tutoring, but I will follow up with that. And we only had two recommendations um during this meeting. One was to allow students to serve on the CAC moving forward to bring more young people into being involved. Um, and also the second recommendation in regards to the Hall of Fame was to partner with the district and the township to put out a um

073kind of a call to action to form those committees so we can move the Hall of Fame for the arts and academics forward. Um, and I just want to say it's been awesome being chair of the CAC this year. Um, I know they'll do great. And I just want to say to my CAC members, we put together a lot of good initiatives. Some that the board did take us up on. One being the technology audit that was actually a recommendation out of the CAC at the beginning of the year, the Hall of Fame, some teacher retention initiative. So, I think a lot of good came out of the CAC. So, I would encourage anybody in the community to please come out and be a part of that organization because we need community voices. And that's

074it for my report. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Can I ask a question? >> Sure, Miss Neves. Um, for the for the CAC, the uh is there a date that you need to know information from the from folks so that they can apply to be on the CAC? Okay. For some reason, I thought it was the 19th of this month. Okay. All right. Uh, that's it. There's always the next one. >> Moving on to the education committee. Um, Miss Martin, >> meeting scheduled for uh December 16th at 400 p.m. via Microsoft Teams. >> Thank you, Mr. Mcmanis, marketing committee. Uh, just one one uh small point. Um, there as a reminder from the last meeting that there is an open call for the uh folks there's a committee forming for both for

075the halls of fame for both academics and arts. operations committee um polic Thank you Mr. Treton policy committee >> Mr. President the policy committee met uh today uh in district at 6 pm present was um our interim superintendent Mr. Peace our director of human resources Mr. Davis board members Mr. Clark, uh, Miss Claude, and myself. There were approximately seven, um, policies and regulations that we reviewed. Um, policy and also regulation 2530, which was uh, had to do with resource materials. It had to also do with the new um, law that is the right to read. Um and these these particular policies have been formulated already by the state and we as a district have the option to either revise our own that we have in place or accepted the state and the board's recommendation policy

076recommendation is that we accept the board's um the um the state's um newly uh revised policy and regulation. We then moved on to policy and regulation 2535 um which has to do with um accepting library material both of which are new and the policy committee is recommending that we accept them. We then moved on to policy number 7250 which dealt with the school and facility names which as you know we already had a policy in place. It was revised and in the final um the final revision uh edition uh the policy committee is recommending that we accept a revised edition. We moved on to policy 9130 and regulation 9130. Both um dealt with public complaints and were revised. At this point, the policy committee um is recommending uh that we um review as a board

077the policy and regulation 2530, policy and regulation 2535, policy 7250, policy 9130, and regulation 9130. Uh, and we also recommend that these particular policies and regulations be placed on our agenda for first reading at our first regular board meeting January 2026. >> Thank you, Mrs. Pittz. >> Mr. Thomas, um, the two township committees, uh, the economic development and the municipal drug alliance. uh for the economic uh development. I don't have an official report, but I just want to give report on uh about several weeks ago, uh same uh commissioner, Mr. Nash, that made a rendering and an announcement of development that there partnered with the township to build a on a 80 acre parcel uh uh football stadium, I believe, and a track. That is a good neighbor policy. I just want us to be

078on the radar for that and offer any collaboration uh that we can to make sure if any that that partial that they building on Route 70 uh on Route 70. >> Thank you, Mr. Thomas. Um, as far as the planning board, there's a planning board meeting tomorrow, um, at 7 PM. Uh, real quick before we move on, uh, Saturday there was a we had, uh, NJSBA legislative committee meeting, um, uh, via, uh, the Zoom or WebEx, one of those online platforms. Um, just a couple of things to keep an eye on. um the the legislature are going to be pushing for a universal financial disclosure form. So that way if you serve on different boards or committees um the financial disclosure forms will look universal from now on um if this goes through. So that

079way they won't you know if you're on a planning board, school board, or whatever the case may be, they're all going to be the same if this goes through. Um, that's something that will be, you know, make things a little bit easier. Um, they're also going to go back to looking at district consolidation. Um, so that's something that we, um, as school districts across the state should keep an eye on. That's coming back up. Also, um, school funding formulas. They're going to try. They got two bills in the state house right now in in lame duck that I don't think are going to move right now, but when the new session comes back in and all the assembly and uh, everybody gets sworn in, they're going to be going back out looking at the state

080uh, the school funding formulas. So, that's something we also need to keep an eye on. So those are a couple of the big things that you know and Vin Capel from LD11 was the guest speaker and he made it a big talking point to talk about that for about a half hour. So we we should really everybody should keep an eye on the uh school funding formula as we move forward into the uh new uh legislative session. >> May I add something to that? >> Yes. with the school funding formula is with more emphasis on mental health and special education as well. >> Yes, those are going to be they're going to bring back a uh some of Senator uh Sweeny's uh special education um initiatives to try to fully fund special education. Thank you

081for reminding me, Miss Claude. My notes are a mess from that meeting. So, um, moving on to the superintendence report. Uh, can I have a motion to approve the superintendent report from the top of page three to the bottom of page six? Mr. President, uh, move move to approve uh, superintendent report from uh, the top of page three all the way down to the bottom of page six. >> Second the motion. >> Are there any questions? No questions. All right. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Dreaden. >> Miss Glaude? >> Yes. >> Miss Martin? >> Yes. >> Mr. McManis? >> Yes. >> Miss Peterson? >> Yes. >> Miss Pittz? >> Yes. >> Mr. Thomas? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Shaw? >> Yes. >> Motion has carried. >> May I have a

082motion? I'm moving on to the business administrator board secretaries report. And I have a motion to approve the business administrator board secretaries report from the top of page seven to the bottom of page 13 as it's recommended for approval by the business administrator board secretary. Mr. President, um move to approve the business administrators board secretaries report as it's written from page seven all the way down to the bottom of page uh 13. >> Can I have a second? Peterson move for the second for approval of >> question. >> Yes. >> I'm just I just want to clarify um page 11 uh number 23 and page 12 number 25. But that's safe to say that these capital projects will be starting very soon in the tune of almost $12 million of upgraded HVAC. >> Yes, sir.

083>> Thank you so very much. Point. >> Any other question? What's that? >> I said point of order. We had a second. >> Yeah, Miss M. Peterson was >> Yes. >> You finished seconding it, right, Miss Peterson? >> Yes, I did. Okay. >> I just want to make sure because I know Mr. Thomas had his question. >> Um, any other questions? >> All right. Um, roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Dreaden. >> Miss Glaude, >> yes. >> Miss Martin, >> yes. >> Mr. McManis, >> yes. >> Miss Peterson, >> yes. >> Miss Pittz, >> yes. >> Mr. Thomas, >> yes. >> And Mr. Shaw. >> All right. You have this written down. So, I'm going to say this. >> Oh, that's right. >> I am abstaining from on letter, was it

084letter B? um number 6A POS's number or number A or item number um N843 PO's number 62963 62 964 and then item number 6380 uh PO's number 62-657 62 659 >> and then numbers 23 25 and 27 and everything else is yes >> thank you the Motion has carried. >> Moving on to the personnel report. >> And I have a motion to approve the personnel report from the top of page 14 to the bottom of page 16. >> Mr. President, uh, move to approve the personnel report as is outlined on from the top of page 14 to the bottom of page 16. >> And I have a second. >> Peterson second the motion. >> Any questions? No questions. Uh, roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Dreaden. >> Miss Gloyd? >> Yes.

085>> Miss Martin? >> Yes. >> Mr. Mcmanis? >> Yes. >> Miss Peterson? >> Yes. >> Miss Pitts? >> Yes. >> Mr. Thomas? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Shaw? >> Yes. >> The motion has carried. >> Moving on to the addendum. >> Sure. The addendum is necessary simply because we're dealing with the middle school and the repair that was made on the uh pipe that broke required additional work. We had our engineers and our experts come out and assess the damage and it was recommended that we uh do additional work on that entire area. So, because of that, that is a cost that we're responsible for. We're going to use our uh funds and maintenance reserve and we're requesting a board approval. The reason why it was late, we were waiting for our uh vendors to

086provide the pricing on this repair and we basically just got that pricing number today. So, sorry for the the delay, but it's something that is necessary to move us forward with the completion of the uh middle school repairs. >> If I I may, Mr. fees also so the board's familiar with it. Um, this actual piece is not covered by insurance. We've done a heck of a job led by Mrs. Bole in working with our vendors and our contractors and our insurance company and our excess liability insurance company to um get the work done that needed to be done with respect to the middle school. of believe it or not in all these policies in when you have a flood the actual cause of the flood is not insured. So the pipe that actually burst was

087not covered. So that's something that happens frequently. It's in most policies, but that's what we're paying for here. the work that we specifically had to do and this is what caused the flooding and we're repairing that on our own with with some guidance and suggestions but otherwise the lion share of what we're incurring is all being covered by insurance which passes through Mrs. Bole through for a review before uh it gets distributed comes to the board for your review before it gets distributed Mrs. Boil was told that she didn't have to do that, but she insisted that she is going to do that and she stuck to her guns because she wanted to make sure that the she was transparent with the board on what was being spent even though it was insurance money. At

088one point it was going to go from the carrier right to the vendor. But um Miss Bole wants to make sure that the folks are doing the work they say they're doing before they get paid. >> Thank you. the question. Isn't this the part of u the piping that has been in this building for years? >> I believe it was. Yes. >> And it also uh doesn't come up to code. That's why they're replacing it with copper piping. >> Yeah. I'm not sure if that's the particular case, but I would suspect it is. I hadn't heard the specific reasons, but I know that it's more than they expected once they exposed what had transpired. Miss Peterson, we had made a repair. Uh, but when we found out it was on us, we called our um

089architect out and he sent a mechanical engineer to assess it. It was much worse than what we had initially seen and discovered. This is replacing about 500 feet of of PVCP and and P >> which is no longer being used. BCP you can but we also had oh god there's another one >> CPVC >> you can which is allowed but PVC you are not we found PV as well >> and then there's a water hammer which makes the whole thing shake and so this is to replace uh 500 it's 410 to 500 feet with copper and restrapping and hammer airator you So, >> this is a good fit before we put a ceiling tile back up and let the children through that area. >> Also, Mr. President, I think it's important to uh uh Miss

090Peterson's point um as we all have a list of the ages of our buildings with regards to this particular building. The middle school building was built in 1970. So, it's a those are pipes are 55 years old. so we can kind of understand um the need to replace >> rather than just to repair. >> And I'd like to say something else. I would like to thank Mr. Peace and Miss Bole and this and the team for your due diligence for doing everything possible to make sure that we're not just repairing it fast, we're repairing it right. So, thank you so very much. >> Thank you everybody. Um, can I have a motion to approve the board secretaries report as it's recommended for approval by the business administrator board secretary um on the addendum? >> Mr.

091President, move to approve the board secretaries report the business administrator board secretary recommendation. Um, period. >> Peterson second motion. >> Any questions? All right. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Dreen. Miss Glaude, >> yes. >> Miss Martin, >> yes. >> Mr. McManis, >> yes. >> Miss Peterson, >> yes. >> Miss Pittz, >> yes. >> Mr. Thomas, >> yes. >> And Mr. Shaw, >> yes. >> The motion has carried. >> Moving on to open public records act requests. >> Uh, we had none this time period, Mr. President. >> Thank you very much, Miss Bole. Moving on toformational items. >> Thank you. So guys kind of stole some of my thunder in regard to the work on the middle school. We are definitely pleased with the work that is getting done and we

092are excited to start to see the uh finish line on this project. So, we once now that we've gotten this uh report and uh a vendor ready to do this work on the pipe, we should be able to get our students back in here as soon as possible. So again, I don't want to give an exact timeline because we are deal dealing with an older building and as we all know, every time we fix something or move something, you know, we discover something else to uh to repair. So I'm hoping that uh all goes well with the repair of this pipe. Also want to recognize our parents and our students uh throughout this process. This is these are the individuals who are really uh showing the courage and the perseverance to overcome a serious challenge

093and I I thank them for their patience and their support along the way. Also like to thank Miss Bole, our CEM, Miss Pennock, her team, Mr. Shrop Shrier and his team here at the middle school and the administrative team at the administrative office for the attention to detail the the care in which this project is getting done. Next, I would like to inform the board that our reorg meeting is scheduled to be here in the middle school, but we would like to move it to the admin building since it will be a smaller meeting and a very quick meeting. So, we would like to move that to 6:00 Wednesday, January 7th at the admin building. So, we can discuss that and see if that's okay with everyone. Just to piggyback on our student report, uh,

094Miss Hazelton is a officer for the National Honor Society and I had an opportunity to be at the induction ceremony and I was blown away by the the magnitude and the ability of our students and our our educators there. This was an event showcasing the best of the best Wins of Winsow Township High School. I was impressed by each student's passion and commitment to be great. It was equally impressive to hear how these students were impacted by the teachers of Winso Township High School. Kudos to Mr. Mela and Miss Paparro for putting together a wonderful night showcasing academic achievement in our school district. There were 41 inductees, 18 juniors, 23 seniors. There are 35 current members. And the criteria to be in National Honor Society, you have to have a weighted GPA of 3.6, display

095leadership, service, character, and having my son there that night, he was very curious about the whole process. And I can only hope that my son encounters or has the same experience that these students are having here at Winsow Township and be exposed to some of the great teachers like there are in Winsow Township. So it was very uh inspirational night for me. Congratulations to all of our inductees and current members. Board members, you'll find a complete list of these amazing students in your board packets. Also in your board packets, you'll also find the fall athlete report that Mr. Thomas reported on. And finally, as we close out 2025, I'd like to remind everyone to be well, take care of your mental and physical health. Be kind. It's the best gift to give and it's free.

096And go Eagles. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Peas. >> Mr. President, I just want I have two small No, I don't I just want to I don't know how I missed this. Uh and Miss Claude, you probably can give us the detail on Window. They're playing in the national game this week. Our youth football team there is playing nationally as well. And also, I had the opportunity to go by to see the girls basketball team start up their scrimmage day. And I just want to let everybody know Miss Bray Lewis about 105 points away from a thousand points. So, that should be an exciting moment for her to get a th000 also. >> And I have anformational item for the community. Um, the village of Camden County will be doing a truck giveaway on

0971220. Um, for anyone that's in the community that needs like household goods, pillows, health and beauty aids, um, all kinds of nice things that can help you along the way. Um, please come out on 12:20 at the Winslow Center starting at 10:00 a.m. in the morning. Um, and any people that you know in the community that may need some items um to go into this cold winter, we're giving away blankets, pillows, like I said, health and beauty aids, um, uh, all kinds of good things, household items. So please um pass it around to the community and let them know to come out so that we can share um the wealth um with the community to make sure no one in Winsow Township or surrounding townships suffers this winter. Thank you. >> Moving on to old

098business. Anybody have anything for old business? um for new business. I just want to give each and every board member an opportunity to you know say something if they want to for the 25 you know year. Um they have anything they you know they'd like to say about you know their experience on the board this year or just if they don't want to say anything they don't have to. Um so you know cuz as we move off you know into the 26 calendar year um and we like Miss Peterson's leaving us um and Mr. McManis already left us um I just you know because we we had a lot of ups and downs this year and you know we had a lot of good good things that happened this year. So, I just figured it'd

099be a time where every board member if they wanted the chance to say something be a nice opportunity really quick to say something. >> I guess we can start with me. >> Yep. >> So, being a board member for this first time starting in January, I found it to be a complete honor so far to serve this first year of my three-year term. Um, I can't wait to see what we can do as a board, as an administration, as a community, and as the family, and the f the parents to continue to move our school district forward. That is my main goal for being on this board. I have 5,000 children. That's every single student that's in here, and that's who I represent. And I will fight to the end to ensure that our students

100have the full accesses from my one perspective. um the full accesses that I can bring to this board and share with anything that's innovative and new so that we can continue to move Winslow Township to be the number one in the nation. That's what I look for, not just in ath in the athletic department, not just in the arts department, but also in the academic department. So, I look forward to working with everyone in this community and I hope that parents come out and be a part of us growing this school district and positive mo moments. And I'd like to thank Mr. piece who's our interim superintendent who have come in with Miss Clement and they are giving me receipts and I am enjoying it. So, and hearing from some of the parents from the

101parent conferences, they're doing their job. Our team, our teachers are doing their job. Um, and we're going to just keep striving for excellence. So, thank you. If it's my turn, I would say after 15 years, if you do not know all the achievements the district has made in 15 years, when I walked through the door and actually did an audit myself with um our superintendent and some others and went to the high school and saw the computer systems, I was appalled and to see all the good things that we're doing an audit now. If you were there 15 years ago, you said we need to close up shop. I'd like to thank them for having the vision to look at making safe vestibules. As you listen uh the news, people coming into the school district,

102we don't have that problem. And I thank them. I thank them for all the work that they do. I would love to have a magic wand to have parents and more work together with their students beyond just the academics. I'm one that has been in education say how long I'm a licensed school psychologist but I believe that we can turn this around if we work together. >> Oh, is it my turn? >> Yes. >> Well, good evening everyone again. Let me just say that um for my years um on this board that began in 2006 um I have seen this district grow. I have seen these um residents who have come on a board grow and my um hope um is that as board members that we stay focused on why we are here that

103is to uh explore the potential uh to add to the growth to look towards the achievements of our students >> and that this board going forward will remember what we said that we were going to street and we have t-shirts um that explain what we're going to do and our t-shirts say team wins. That's my message 2025. >> Mr. McManus. >> Oh, um if I can echo the words of my new found >> that go ahead. >> I was going to say if I can echo the words of my new found friend this year. Um, my tenure lasted from 2025 to 2025. Um, but it's been uh it's been a it's been a great ride. Really has. And the honor to get a chance to know each one of you is something that I will

104never forget. Uh we all the nine of us come from different backgrounds, different professional experiences, different life's experiences, but we all made a commitment to come in and to lay whatever we have aside and come together as a group to be able to collaborate to be able to make Winslow Township better place to live and a better place to have your children come to school. So I just want to thank each and every one of you because I did I learned from each and every one of you here on this board. Thank you. Good evening. Um, I'd just like to take this opportunity to say um, thank you to all of our board members because starting in January right up until today, we have had many challenges that we have had to face. We faced

105them and we overcame them. Um, we still have a lot of work to do, but I just say thank you to all of them. And most of all, I want to thank our students for the fantastic job that they've done. Um, going back to June of 2025, remembering all of the scholarships that those students received as they prepared to go to college, um, up to and including our football team, making the second round on being champions. And I think that it says a lot about what our children are capable of doing and what they are doing. So hopefully 2026 will be just as great. I'd like to start out my first year on the board. Like some of the other new members said, you don't really know what to expect. And uh I would like

106to thank the board members for their patience and their willingness to share knowledge with me. uh many people on the board have much more experience and uh know a lot more about some of the things we're dealing with, but they've been patient and very kind and the professionalism and the diligence on the board has been something that I've appreciated and learned much from here in this first year. Uh I say this as a whole, no school district's perfect and we're working to make it better every day, but there's a lot to be proud of here in Winslow and I'm excited to be here on the board for the next two years and continuing to make improvements uh as we work together. So, First and foremost like to thank the students, staff, community and the stakeholders.

107I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior for placing me among the disciples of education for wisdom counseling and giving me the opportunity to carry out his will his way to impact his most precious and prized possession the children. I pray that when it's all said and done, I will give you job well done. >> Mr. President down there, would you like to say something? >> Yes. Um, so with this being my first year being Senate President Government, I knew that I'd have to come and report every board meeting. And my first board meeting, I was very shy and scared. you know, I didn't know anybody, but you all welcomed um made me feel welcome. So, I thank you all for that. And um I look forward to coming to every board meeting. Excited to

108share my my little report. >> Thank you so much. mouth about the bees. >> For me, this is my first year as the board president and I can honestly say it's been an up and down for year for me. I've learned a lot. I've I've had great mentors as for my whole time on this board for everything that I've learned this year as the board president from Miss Peterson, Miss Pittz, Miss Dreaden, um Miss Bole, Mr. Long, Mr. Thomas as the VP. I can't thank them all enough. From our leadership with Dr. Potit, uh Dr. Caramo, Miss Clement. Um, I can't thank everybody enough for all this all the information that they've loaded into my head. Our community, our our staff, each and every individual that works in Winslow Township. I cannot thank each and

109every one of them enough for educating each and every student, every coach that has worked tirelessly to create a culture of champions for every athlete inside of our district and then ultimately end up where we are now to have a wonderful assistant superintendent. The man sitting next to her, Mr. Davis that works tirelessly for our district. And this gentleman sitting next to me, he is absolutely a rock star. And this one next, we wouldn't be where we are without the financial genius with Miss Chico and Miss Bole. You can't do we can't do anything without them. So I I I this is my my family. This is these are my rock stars right here. Every time I step sit down and hit that gavvel, I know we're in good hands because of the people that

110are here helping make sure that Winslow is champions. Winslow is, as Mr. Thomas says, Winslow winning. This is what we do. This is what we're going to continue to do each and every time we sit down and we get together and we go forward to make sure that our student achievement is going forward the way it should because we have leaders that sit down in that seat, those seats over there. So, I just want to thank everybody and wish everybody a happy holiday season and when we fin when we end this meeting and we get back together next year, we're going to go back at it again 110% like we always do. So, thank you very much, >> Mr. Long. Public comments. >> Thank you, Mr. President. The Winslow Township Board of Education highly values

111the input of citizens in making important decisions that affect the children of our community. We believe in the rights of citizens to observe board meetings and to ensure that all of our citizens have the opportunity to attend schoolboard meetings and offer comment and to ensure that the board can conduct the important business of the district. We ask that speakers follow the guidelines for making public comments. 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 schoolboard meetings must treat each other and the board with respect. Two, please state your full name and town of residence. Your street address is not required. Three, please limit your comments to four minutes. Four, in the event we're unable

112to answer your question, please provide your name, address, telephone number, and email address where you can be contacted, and your questions will be answered within a reasonable time frame. And lastly, individuals offering citizen comment are not permitted to make personal attacks on any district employee, board member, other testifier or member of the public. Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion to open public comments? >> Mr. President, like to make a motion to open public comments. >> Peterson second the motion. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Miss Bole. >> Mhm. U Melinda Ramsay Hughes. >> Evening everyone. >> Uh you hope everyone is doing well. You guys sure do stay up late, but uh Melinda Ramsey Hughes, Cichlerville, New Jersey. Uh he said I didn't have to give my address. Correct.

113Perfect. Okay. Um, I've had the pleasure of working well with Dr. Potit and Dr. Caramo in the past and I understand this is new administration. So, I wanted to come today to introduce myself. My name is Melinda Ramsey Hughes, born and raised in New York City, but now a proud member um and resident of the Winslow Township community. I've had the priv privilege of mric m metriculating three children through Winslow Township School District. one Drexel University graduate, one Howard University graduate, and a current high school junior. I'm not new to this. I've been here. By day, I am a commercial insurance litigation manager for a Fortune 500 company licensed in 32 states, but you wouldn't know it because I'm always at one of these schools. My husband is a local business owner, Noise Galleria Power,

114located at 519 Cichlerville Road. And I only mention this because our uncompromising integrity is extremely important to us. Over the past 18 years, I've served in various leadership roles, including team moms for little league football teams at Co Lions, Winslow Eagles, uh, Winslow Mers, team mom and fundraising chair for the Winslow Township High School varsity track team, HSA president for school 2, five, and the middle school. Harassment, intimidation, and bullying. parent liaison under principal Stella Wanguma. Um, members of the high school HSA for multiple years and most honored and delighted to be the president of the Winslow Eagles football booster club where I've served for the past five years. I am passionate about supporting our students and strengthening the connection between families, schools, and the community. I wanted to share share some information about the

115booster club and the important role it plays for our football team and our athletes. The booster club is a volunteer-driven organization made up of parents, alumni, and community members who work together to provide additional support for our football program. We raise funds through events, sponsorships, and donations. We help cover costs for equipment, uniforms, travel, camps, food, and other program needs. We aim to promote school pride and create opportunities for families and the community to come together to support our team. We look to provide um opportunities and our efforts ensure the students have access to additional resources and experience beyond what the school budget can provide. During the season, we also provide the team with communication equipment such as headsets, cameras, dry cleaning services, um, snacks, meals, other miscellaneous items requested by the coaches. Why get

116involved? By joining the or supporting the booster club, you'll make a direct impact on the athletes experiences. You'll help strengthen our community and our and create lasting memories for everyone involved. On a public note, I'd like to thank thank Noise Gallery Apparel, Miss Julie Peterson, Mr. Tony Smith, Mr. Eric Walden, and Mr. Kenneth Parker for their continuous generous financial support. We don't get a lot of community I'm sorry, we don't get a lot of corporate donations, but um hopefully that will change. If any of you have any corporate sponsorships or know of anyone, please if you'd like to learn more about how you can help participate, donate, if you have any affiliations at all, please feel free to reach out to me. Our uh business email address is wins eaglesfcgmail.com. I am happy to provide

117my personal telephone number upon request but not publicly. Absolutely. It's wins eagles fbcgmail.com. >> Thank you. >> Together I believe we can definitely make a difference and um I am here to answer any questions that anyone may have. >> Miss Melinda. Ma'am, >> after speaking with you um our extensive conversation, I just want to extend my my complete appreciation for the things that you have done for our Winslow football team because without your commitment and dedication to them, feeding them before practices, camps, providing them the necessary things they need um at the request of the coaches, um you are an asset to their win and I thank you so very much for your undying commitment to our team and our students. Thank you so much. You're here. >> I appreciate that. >> Well done, Miss

118Could you just make sure that anything that we can do and keep us informed that any or anything that we could be a part of? >> Absolutely. Donations are always appreciated. Any other questions? >> Thank you guys. >> Thank you. I'm going to apologize upfront. Miss Lakesha, thank you. >> Hi, I'm Lisha Jlham and I want to say happy holidays to you all. I'm a parent here and I wanted to come before you on behalf of some of the stuff I'm going to say is on behalf of the high school HSA and some of it's going to come from me. You'll figure out which one it is. The the high school HSA's biggest fundraiser is Santa Saturday. We started to have competition a few years ago with surrounding town events, but this year our own

119schools within this district duplicated our event, and it showed by the low turnout. It's the lowest funds we've ever raised. Our primary goal is to raise funds to cover a venue for project graduation. We pay for the seniors to get bus on graduation night from the high school to the selected venue which this year in the past few years it's been Dave and Busters. The price range anywhere from$7,000 for these venues to 15,000 um for the venue and that's because we negotiated this year but it's usually it used to be anywhere from 14,000 to 25,000. The point is I signed a contract which it needs to be signed every year around September and October time frame for the graduation night. We have a contract and a payment plan. Our next payment is due January 15,

1202026. I tell my employees, don't just bring me problems, bring me solutions. So, here are some solutions that I'm proposing. The first one is to ask the other schools, both past, present, and the future ones that are planning on holding a Santa Saturday or venue or holiday party to um look at the profit and send us half. Send it to um the HSA at Winslow Township High School, 10 Cooper Folly Road at code, New Jersey 0804 with the check may made payable to Dave and Busters by January 10th. This might be a no, but I had to put it out there. The second one is I would like the board to create a budget line item for project graduation to help offset this year's cost and then starting next year the superintendent and assistant superintendent

121to decline all the other schools from having such a such an event. Allow the high school HSA to remain the staple that is allowed to do this event because of the cost and the long-standing tradition. The HSA has to pay for an officer for events that total more than 75 people. This cost us $110 an hour. So, we paid $440, but this year the principal said that he would pay for he would offset this um this cost for us by paying for it this year, but we've been doing it for the last two years. Um this this started to be a burden on us and it's the cost is subject to increase. So, we're looking to see if we can get that in your budget somehow. Last, there is usually a surplus of funds that

122we try to raise from one year to another. If we wipe out our account, we will forego Santa Saturday at the high school and project graduation will be in jeopardy. We all have decisions to make and I have printed the signed contract, the invoice showing the balance, a recap of the recommended um proposals in case anybody have a little bit amnesia. I have it all printed out here. And then um so and if and we're open to any kind of suggestions to help us offset this cost and any future costs because we need the help. Now the question is what's the next step and who will get back to me. >> Don't go get quiet now. >> I'll get back to you. >> Thank you. And um one other just side note, were you guys

123consulting the um the teachers when you start to think about the Chromebooks? Are the teachers consulted and given um feedback or updates on the status of it? And because we already have a shortage of Chromebooks in the classroom. So my concern is if a teacher doesn't have a Chromebook, then they're depending on the students to bring the Chromebooks to and from. So if there is a test or something that's um being done um we there should be some type of contingency plan. So I wanted to bring that to your attention in case you did not know. >> No, we are aware of uh the Chromebook concerns. We are definitely uh putting plans in place to deal with students who don't bring their Chromebooks to class. So um that's all in uh in the works right

124now as far as uh rolling that out into the high school. >> Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Sure, >> Miss and I'm just going to call you A. Miss A, what how much is the next payment that's due? Your January payment? 7,000. I do because I'm gonna make that >> that's that's coming from me as a person and not the district. >> So I'm going to give Mr. Beast the contract and also a copy of the invoice. Thank you. No, thank you. I'm sorry. Tiarara Habia. >> Hello. Good evening. Tiara Cavia and um I am a Cichlerville resident. Originally I wanted to come up here uh to ask the question like what's going on with the HVAC in the school because I know that school six I have a few uh um my children attend

125and I know that there's an issue with the HBAC system. But as I was flipping through the uh agenda here, I did see that there were approvals. Um I guess I don't know if the question will be how soon that will roll out cuz uh Cherish she is one of my one of my children and she's been in the school system since kindergarten and it's always been an issue. So although we have this approval um what do you project time frame? I understand everything is going on here at the middle school but I just wanted to know a little time frame on that if you have that. Uh according to the um architect's plan and the bid that was submitted, they should be done and it this this is for schools five and six. So

126uh their substantial completion should be in August of 2026. So, we've awarded the vendors after tomorrow can order their equipment, get it in, and then during the summer, it's going to be a mad house here because we'll have at least at this point two of the building under construction. >> Okay. And one other thing, as I was sitting here, I didn't really prepare to come up here to speak. It was just something that popped in my mind, but um on October 10th, uh Mr. uh issue. You you sent out an email which this high school had a bomb threat and uh we received phone calls. Um I also received emails. Uh the students were actually dismissed early from school that day, but I was a little concerned because it didn't apply to the athletes. Um

127I received the phone call, I got the emails, but as a um and I'm nervous, so excuse me. I don't speak as well as Cherish, but um I have a concern as a parent. I understand that, you know, the the athlete athletic programs, you can't just switch it around so fast. However, as a concerned parent, I think that those early dismissals should also apply to the athletes. Um, I also feel as though uh it was very worrisome and I kind of felt like the coaches were a little dismissive when it came to well why are you still there? You know um again I do understand that it is last minute changing the schedule but I would like to see maybe a policy implemented for the athletes or you know if they have those emergency situations

128um how you can revise you know their schedule. So just to answer your question or just to comment on your uh statement at that point in the day the emergency was basically cleared and that was the only reason why we were able to continue with our athletic programs at that time. I was in contact with uh AD Lane and uh Principal Mela to make sure that if we had enough time after the emergency was cleared, we can continue with the athletic schedule. Had it not been clear, those students would have went home as well. But we received enough information from the sheriff department and the uh uh the uh bomb threat uh team that the building was completely clear and it was safe for our students to return. >> Um I would like to say

129that it wasn't cleared from me speaking to her. Maybe it's filtered down late. Um but me still having uh communication with my daughter at that time the buses were leaving and at that time this the uh coaches did not have an update. Um so to me it seems like the non-athletic students were basically important but I also feel like the athletic students are just as important. So, I don't know if it again was filtered down late, but they were already bust and gone and she was still in the I want to say by the track. That's where they were, you know, dismissed to. So, um I don't know where the disconnection was, but uh you know, that is concerning to me. >> We'll definitely look at that, you know, as part of our safety plan

130as far as how we want to handle our uh extracurricular activities. So, we'll definitely consider that and make sure that communication goes out timely to all of our parents to keep them up to date on what was going on. >> Okay, that's it. That's all I have to say. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> A J Paul Hill. Good evening. So, I just have three quick things to go over. Um, so based on my attendance to um conferences, I have three children in the district. And so what I've been seeing is that the children have been learning two different ways. One way is that they are being taught to learn according to state testing versus being taught um well they are still being taught at like what they need for their grade level. But it

131is confusing that the children are being tested more to make sure that they are meeting marks for standardized testing versus what they need academically to excel in to the next grade. So that is a concern for me and I'm just curious on the district's goals for students like is our goal to focus on testing or are we focusing on their life skills and them going to the next grade? Well, our goals are uh focused on standards and the standards set by the Department of Education and through those standards, you know, we're tested each year through our state assessments, but we're also using those standards to make sure that our students meet the those benchmarks to be successful to make sure that they're on the right path to graduating on time. So, it's it's a uh

132juggling act in regards to how we balance that, but we follow the standards. >> Okay, great. I'm glad you answered that. To clarify for me, I am going to send you a copy of some homework that I was given um to review with my children. and those um worksheets aren't um in alignment with what you just said. So, I want >> again, did you did you meet with your child's teacher and principal to discuss the alignment of this homework assignment? >> I just said that I went to the conferences. So, yes, I've met with their teachers. >> Okay. So, um, also because Miss Melinda is here, um, now I know who I can address my concerns to, um, I just wanted to be noted that I am a parent of a student athlete and so

133I would like an itemized list on some funding that was raised by parents um, for after school activities. So, I just wanted to know what that funding was going to, but we can discuss that. I don't Okay. So, when they did the double goods fundraiser at the beginning of the school year. >> No, no, no. I do know that because they send out an email that states that. >> Can you guys have this conversation? Thank you. That's why I said now that I know who to contact. >> Yeah, that's fine. >> Okay. So, for my third thing that I wanted to address is I told you guys that I would be back if there was another incident involving my son and bullying. So, we are now on the seventh incident after having a discussion with

134the assistant superintendent, after having a discussion with the director of pupil personnel um services um and the building principal in regard to the six incidents that I came here for. So, now that we're on incident number seven, um no one has been able to give me um assistance. So, should I seek assistance elsewhere since there has been no resolution given thus far? I'd appreciate just one person deciding to do their job in an effort um to protect the emotional well-being of my child. If that is not a priority, I can stop trying to be collaborative and seek resources to do what is stated as your mission statement. Um, but bullying is a word I'd util I would not utilize for mutual respect and as mentioned as mentioned in your mission statement. So, who should I

135contact about this seventh incident? Because I've told you who I had my last meeting with. >> You need to work with your building principal. >> That hasn't been working. We're on incident number seven, sir. I'mma schedule a meeting with you. >> We've been scheduling meetings, right? And so we said that we were building a team to to to fix this issue. My child is still coming to school and every time I have a meeting the next week there's another issue. >> Okay. But we can have a meeting to discuss uh the issues and what we've put in place already and come up with a new plan. >> I think that that would be great that we come up with a new plan because my next step is going to be very different. Patrick Oats So,

136the hour is late. As a preacher says, I won't be before you long. So, couple things. I went to a play a couple Saturdays ago for the uh drama team. It was I just I didn't hear recogn recog. But the play was excellent. I took my wife and son saw a few people there. So, I want to commend the school, the drama team. It was really really good. So that's the first thing and there's a lot of good things going in Winslow and I even see a change even with the dialogue here. So thank you Mr. Peas for the starting to see a culture change and the openness and the transparency and I see the caring for the students whether it's the pet therapy whether it's informing about the building and stuff like that. So

137that's appreciative. Thank you for that. Uh, Miss Bole, I want to say thank you for what you do and for us to be in the black for the number of years and hear you talk about the well mentioned the five-year plan. So, Winslow has a plan. So, I thank you for that and thank you for explaining the maintenance costs, the maintenance versus the capital because that made sense there. So, it leads me to one question on the addendum item number two, the 164,000. Did the contractor that's currently working on that uh pay for that or did you go out and bids for that? >> We used a co-op vendor >> where the bid is already um has already been struck like a time and material bid. Uh we are members of at least co uh

138three co-ops. So we've reached out to them. We have to go to their primaries first. uh if the primary vendor cannot do it, we could go to the secondary. So, we did uh reach out to uh one vendor was primary on two of the co-ops. A second vendor was primary on one. So, both came out. We told them we had a tight deadline. I had to have that information because the board meeting was tonight and we received that from the primary. I believe it was an ED data vendor. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. I appreciate the the job that you you and your team are doing. And the last thing I have, I want to thank uh every board member uh that here for supporting me and giving me valuable knowledge and

139spending time just to talk with me. U we're all different backgrounds and I appreciate the love. When I start from the left and look all the way around, each one of you guys have sewed things into me and I want to say thank you. And this is not an easy job, but your value, that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Thomas Williams Jr. Oh, he's not coming up. Oh, we're getting a no. Okay, so that concludes those that have signed up. Um Mike, anybody? No waiting list. Okay. >> Can I have a motion to uh close executive not executive public comments? >> Uh yes, Mr. President move to uh close public comments. >> Second the motion. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Executive session. Mr. >> Thank you, Mr. President. And in accordance

140with the requirements of the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act, we will be adjourning into executive session this evening, December 10th, 2025, at approximately 9:35 p.m. With respect to the nine exceptions upon which we can go into executive session, there will be two we'll be utilizing tonight. Uh one is item eight matters relating to employment appointment termination of employment terms and conditions of employment regarding the transportation department as well as a brief update on um some closed litigation and a matter under the attorney client privilege. I expect it will be 45 minutes in close session. Thank you Mr. Shaw. Can I have a motion to move into executive session? Motion to move into executive session. >> Second the motion. Uh, >> roll call. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Dreaden. Miss Claude, >> yes.

141>> Miss Martin, >> yes. >> Mr. McManis, >> yes. >> Miss Peterson, >> yes. >> Miss Pitts, >> yes. >> Mr. Thomas, >> yes. >> And Mr. Shaw, >> yes. >> The motion was carried.