Jackson Township School District board meeting, Jul 15, 2026
1 h 21 min · 2 public speakers
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 1 h 21 min.
- Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened
What happened at this meeting
Jackson board takes up flag football as high school spring sport 1:08:42
- The board heard three presentations during the superintendent's report: the semiannual district HIB report, the semiannual violence and vandalism report and a chronic absenteeism report. 39:31
- The assistant superintendent said the district had over 1,700 students chronically absent out of an enrollment just under 7,000, over 25%, compared with a state average of 14.9%. 50:45
- Megan Gardella called for motions on policy second reading adoption and on finance, followed by a roll call on finance. 1:04:51
- One board member pointed out an agenda item to adopt flag football as an interscholastic spring athletic program at Jackson Township High School, and another board member said of the program that I'm absolutely behind this. 1:08:42
Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →
Item by item (13)
- Opening and agenda addition 35:01
- Megan Gardella called the meeting to order, led the Pledge of Allegiance and called for roll call. 35:01
- Megan Gardella said there was an addition to the agenda under students, number 8, and a staff member read the resolution. 35:50
- Megan Gardella asked for a motion to approve the agenda with the addendum, and a roll call followed. 36:28
- Superintendent's report 36:49
- The superintendent said the middle school and high school graduations were held in late June, and the summer ESY program began July 6th. 36:53
- The superintendent said childcare registration closes July 30th. 38:10
- The superintendent said a changed e-bike law goes live on July 19th and that the Jackson Police Department will enforce it starting that day. 38:52
- Semiannual HIB report 36:53
- The district anti-bullying coordinator said elementary schools conducted 33 investigations with 17 meeting the legal criteria, and the secondary level completed 25 investigations with 9 founded. 39:59
- The coordinator said investigations in the second half of the year increased from 53 to 58, while founded cases decreased from 28 to 26. 41:24
- The coordinator said the most common motivations involved appearance and race and most incidents involved verbal behavior. 42:08
- Violence and vandalism report 42:51
- The director of security, attendance and truancy presented data for the January through June 2026 report period on violence, vandalism, HIB, weapons and substance abuse. 42:51
- Allison Barocas asked for an explanation of an increase in substance abuse numbers, and the director said state treatment of juveniles and marijuana makes students believe they will not get in trouble. 48:12
- Megan Gardella asked whether the suspension figure of 600 counted days, and the director said the figures were incidents from January through June across 8 schools. 49:35
- Chronic absenteeism report 50:32
- The assistant superintendent said chronic absenteeism means missing 10% or more of enrolled school days, which is 18 days of a 180-day year, and that the state requires districts above 10% to develop a corrective action plan. 50:45
- Megan Gardella asked whether students who moved mid-year without unenrolling affect the district's data, and the assistant superintendent said such students can count against the district. 59:53
- A speaker said attendance awards for younger children could end up hurting attendance rates and asked that this be considered. 1:00:35
- State monitor and committee reports 1:01:42
- A speaker said there was nothing to report for the state monitor report. 1:01:47
- Erica Osmond reported the curriculum committee reviewed ActiveLearn for secondary social studies and new high school courses for the '26-'27 school year, including AP Research, AP Cybersecurity, AP Human Geography and a podcast elective. 1:02:13
- Erica Osmond said final exams will be kept with their current weighting and no exceptions. 1:04:08
- Policy, minutes and reports 1:04:51
- Megan Gardella called for motions on policy second reading adoption, minutes from June 17th, 2026 and June 29th, 2026 meetings, and the treasurer's and board secretary's reports. 1:04:51
- Public forum on agenda items 1:06:21
- Finance and facilities resolutions 1:07:41
- Megan Gardella called for a motion to move finance and then a roll call, and a motion to move facilities was requested afterward. 1:07:41
- Programs and flag football 1:08:37
- Megan Gardella said agenda item 13 is the adoption of flag football as an interscholastic spring athletic program at Jackson Township High School beginning in the 26-27 school year and that it is recognized by the NJSIAA. 1:08:57
- One board member said the program is growing quickly in popularity in New Jersey districts and said of it that I'm absolutely behind this. 1:09:31
- Allison Barocas offered congratulations on putting together the presentation and said flag football is the fastest growing sport in the country. 1:10:21
- Students and personnel resolutions 1:11:06
- Motions were requested to move students and personnel. 1:11:06
- Public forum on any topic 1:11:48
- A speaker at public comment asked why buses used for summer recreation and camp routes do not have air conditioning. 1:12:21
- A speaker at public comment said two NFL teams were willing to talk about helping with finances for flag football. 1:14:57
- A staff member said the transportation department has one 54-passenger bus with air conditioning, which was out of commission, and offered to meet with the speaker and the transportation director. 1:16:37
- Board comments and adjournment 1:18:08
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
Other meetings
Other meetings of this board
Video: posted by the district as “Jackson Board of Education (BOE) Meeting - 7/15/2026”