Laura’s Notes on the 12/11/2025 BHPSNJ Meeting

The last BOE meeting of the year was, dare I say, boring and ended at a reasonable hour. Perhaps this is a sign of good things to come or just a holiday miracle.

Ms. Dipti Khanna was honored by the Board and Administration for her three years of service to the Board.

Student representatives shared the many happenings at Governor Livingston from the Interact Club to the winter sports kickoff.

The District’s audit report was provided by an outside consultant. Although the audit was verified to be representative of factual reporting, the District was found to not be in compliance. The exception to report was in regard to student activity fees, similar to the findings from 2024, citing that several checks contained only one signature when two are required and that not all cash receipts were posted to the ledger.

One member of the public commented on the year over year increases in security costs.

When the Board moved on to the regular business of the agenda, members raised concerns about the clarity and substance of meeting minutes. The Business Administrator noted that it took her secretary 10 business days to transcribe and construct the minutes from the last BOE meeting which lasted about seven hours. Student representatives raised concerns and disappointment that a paid employee is spending 10 business days to write meeting minutes and suggested using a transcription subscription or AI generated minutes.  Additionally, the District could simply turn on the transcription feature on YouTube.

Side note: although the student representatives have always reflected positively on the GLHS student body, the current reps Acheson and Rajimakers take the cake. These students go far beyond reporting on school news and share intelligent and thoughtful opinions on Board business, so bravo.

Finance
Nothing to report. The audit was the main topic of the most recent meeting. Mrs. Bradford also made a public statement highlighting Dr. Foregger’s absence and the failure to request that the minutes be read by another BOE member.

Athletics
The turf field at GLHS is about 10 years old and in need of routine maintenance. There was a lengthy discussion about sports team fundraising and the collection of fees outside of the required athletic fees collected by the District. The seemingly taboo soccer fundraiser was brought up with many BOE members noting they are unhappy that students are driving digital, goal driven fundraisers. The committee also noted that guidance will be provided for team parents going forward on how to effectively collect funds and fundraise emphasizing that no student should be made to feel less than their peers for not paying additional funds on top of what the District requires. Additionally going forward parents will be given the opportunity to opt out of team fundraising.

Technology
UCVTS will have seamless access to sports Google Classrooms and systems have been put in place to notify BH parents with students at UCVTS about delayed openings and snow days. It was also reported by a UCVTS parent that the BHPS alert following the BOE meeting was received by UCVTS parents.

The only item discussed in Personnel was the need for a full time gym/health teacher at GL.

The Curriculum Committee had not met since the last BOE meeting and had nothing to report.

There was a walk on resolution for a settlement in the 2023 case against Dr. Melissa Varley regarding the incident involving a CMS student bringing a box cutter to school. The parties agreed that the statements made by the plaintiff at a school Board meeting in 2022 were not erroneous as originally stated by then Superintendent Varley. A student did bring a box cutter to school which the Board acknowledges is designated as a weapon in the policy book. The plaintiff’s allegation that there was a failed lockdown drill was also accurate resulting in a Memorandum of Understanding. The January Board bill list will reflect whether there was a payout as part of this settlement.

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