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East Brunswick Township School District board meeting, Sep 10, 2026

2 h 52 min · 1 public speaker

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 2 h 52 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

East Brunswick school board fields community questions, approves revised school calendar 2:52

  • The board opened its public session by reading questions it said community members had sent, covering free preschool, a new high school and redistricting. 2:52
  • District staff and board members discussed state aid limits and conditions at the high school, including a crowded hallway called the terminal and hot classrooms. 22:04
  • The motion on items that included policies and a revised school calendar carried. 2:10:31

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and closed session 0:13
    • The secretary called the roll, and the board recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 0:13
    • The board read the open meetings notice and a resolution to recess into closed session for an estimated 1 hour. 0:51
    • The motion to enter closed session carried. 2:52
  2. Community questions on free preschool 2:52
    • A staff member said the district would not qualify for state preschool aid because of facilities rules, such as bathrooms attached to classrooms and square footage per student. 4:30
    • A staff member said the state's share of preschool funding has decreased over the years, so the program might be free for attendees but not for the district. 5:52
    • One board member said the Edison school board rejected a $2.3 million pre-K grant and said a program would not be in the best interest of preserving the district's programs. 14:30
  3. Community questions on a new high school 15:55
    • A staff member said the state bases construction aid on $143 a square foot while new construction costs $500 to $700 a square foot. 22:04
    • One board member said crowding in the terminal hallway is borderline a safety issue, and another board member said rushing a project of this magnitude would be a colossal mistake. 39:18
    • A staff member said the preliminary purchase order issued to the architect was approximately $950,000, with about $600,000 spent, and a staff member also said the process from start to finish could take 6, 7 years. 50:17
  4. Update on redistricting 57:40
    • The superintendent said the district would not move on redistricting without a strategic plan and that work on routes and fiscal impact was ongoing. 58:26
    • A staff member said the district would use an October 15th snapshot, give an update in November and plan for changes in September 2027. 1:05:07
    • Anna Braun said the last large-scale redistricting took place during Ronald Reagan's first term. 1:06:48
  5. Questions on student devices 1:08:35
    • A staff member said the district buys about 450 Chromebooks each year for K-4 and that laptops do not cost the district millions. 1:08:52
    • A staff member said district policy prohibits students from using personal devices in place of district-issued devices. 1:18:26
  6. Questions on the tax increase 1:19:56
    • A staff member cited a 22% increase in health benefits and $110,000 in excess surplus for a district with a $200 million budget as factors behind the 6% increase. 1:20:07
    • The staff member said tax increases averaged about 2.4, 2.5% over 10 years and could not predict next year's increase. 1:22:43
    • One board member said the district could have avoided a tax increase by cutting all sports but said the board was not saying it would do that. 1:25:30
  7. Lunch periods and block scheduling 1:28:02
    • A staff member said lunches are 26 minutes and a committee at Churchill is looking at whether 80-minute blocks could be shortened. 1:28:40
    • Laurie Herrick said the subject came up at a subcommittee meeting where research on class schedules was described. 1:31:13
  8. Superintendent's report 1:33:12
    • The superintendent described the district's first convocation for staff and said the Irwin School roof replacement was a few weeks from completion. 1:33:19
    • The superintendent said 5 high school students were named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists and that the new bell-to-bell cell phone policy is in effect. 1:39:51
  9. Student representative report 1:43:54
    • The student representative report listed an activity fair on September 16th and Senior Parent Night on September 24 at 6 PM. 1:44:04
  10. Public comment 1:48:02
    • A speaker at public comment reminded the board of an event on November 15th. 1:49:10
  11. Policies and bylaws 1:50:39
    • One board member asked the board to support renaming the curriculum committee the Academic Affairs and Outcomes Committee. 1:51:05
    • Antoinette Evola asked why math assessments make up 75% of the final grade, and a staff member said it was a department decision that the district is looking at. 1:51:53
    • Louis Figueroa asked whether a change to Policy 5512 allowing a principal's preliminary determination on bullying reports would put principals at legal risk, and a staff member said it would not. 1:53:28
  12. Travel report and business items 2:11:29
    • Board members recused themselves from their own entries on the travel report during the roll call. 2:12:01
    • Timothy Cummings said an amount appeared to be $353, and a staff member said this was the first time the district had to bid the service, which was previously provided through the township. 2:13:26
  13. Curriculum and instruction contracts 2:15:33
    • Timothy Cummings asked how often students would be given access to a computer-based assignment, and a staff member said students use it 30 minutes a week on average. 2:16:50
    • One board member described a pending federal lawsuit involving the iReady vendor and said they would vote yes on the contract. 2:18:06
    • A staff member said dual enrollment credits rose from 3,592 in 2024 to 5,272 last year. 2:25:27
    • The motion carried on a voice vote. 2:32:00
  14. Staff development and student services items 2:32:00
    • The board took votes on human resources, staff development and student services items without discussion. ~2:32:16
    • The motions on the staff development and student services items carried. 2:32:47
  15. Committee reports and board comments 2:33:17
    • Antoinette Evola described bills A5206 and A5208, including one that would allow boards to create a cost stabilization reserve account. 2:35:44
    • Liwu Hong announced an October 7th county school boards meeting on rising health insurance costs. 2:41:34
    • The final motion of the meeting carried. ~2:51:17

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “East Brunswick Board of Education Meeting - September 10, 2026”