Hello again readers!  

For those who may have missed it, June 3, was our local BOE meeting. 

The meeting started with celebrating our amazing local students. The VFW Auxiliary 2833 in Kenvil presented the winners of the following awards:

Winner in the 2023/2024 Three-Dimensional Patriotic Art Contest

Winner in the 2023/2024 “Get Excited for the Red, White and Blue!” National Anthem Singing Contest

The 2023-2024 Performing Arts Honors Ensembles were recognized as well as the Roxbury Melodies, who are students selected to represent the best of high school treble choirs from across 13 states in the Northeast at the 2024 American Choral Directors Association Eastern Region Conference in Providence, RI (in February this year)

The Roxbury High School Valedictorian & Salutatorian were recognized, I really enjoyed Principal Miller’s enthusiasm for his students. 

We have some amazing and talented students, and it was great to see them recognized!

Check out the livestream to watch yourself. 

The board then got into agenda items. The first was travel items for staff. 

Several board members were approved to attend the 2024 New Jersey School Board Association Workshop in Atlantic City in October.  The workshop is held every year and is a networking and professional development event for Board members and employees. There are trainings, workshops, and the opportunities to speak with other district BOE members. 

This year’s theme is “Quest for Student Success,” which is stated to “embody our collective mission and passion for seeking the best for our students.”

Board members Coakley, Colucci, Scheneck and Staples were approved to attend (as well as other BOE employees). Noticeably absent are our newest members Galdieri, Bonilla, and Milde (MacGregor has been unwell, so her not traveling to the retreat understandable, and this author wishes her well)

In 2023, BOE members Coakley, Colucci, Macgregor, Purcell, Scheneck and Staples also were approved to attend. In 2022, Coakely, Colucci, Danielson, Masi, Scheneck and Staples attended. Hopefully our newer board members can make it next year. 

Public comment was then held, the first person to speak was local resident Tom Seretis who spoke about the possibility of a middle school soccer team at EMS. The program would have a 3 year probationary period, and the district would then take over costs. 

He then had to throw in his feelings about the Freedom to Read Act when he was told he had 5 seconds left…… not surprising. Please check out OurSchoolsRoxbury Instagram account for more information about the Freedom to Read Act. 

Then several students spoke about their wish for the board to agree to a middle school soccer team. The kids did a great job speaking and advocating for themselves. 

The board then voted on the following extra curricular club agreements. The following clubs received unanimous yes votes to continue. 

RHS Academy for Sports Medicine Club, RHS Aviation  EMS Peer Mentoring. 

Approved for year two – RHS e-Sports Club, EMS Fellowship of Christian Athletes, RHS Future Educators Association, RHS Indoor Color Guard, RHS Indoor Percussion, RHS Tri-M Music Honor Society. 

Approved for year three: EMS Baseball

Approved for year two: EMS Softball, RHS Unified Flag Football Girls Spring Sport. 

Then for some reason that was not explained, Milde, MacGregor, Purcell and Colucci voted no to starting the following club – EMS Equal Rights Advocacy Club (ERA). 

I am unsure as to why they are specifically against that club. Are they against Equal Rights and Advocacy? For what reason?  We will likely never know.  Thankfully others voted yes, so the group was able to be approved to start. 

In the meeting in April, Milde, Colucci, and MacGregor also voted against our High School librarian attending the NJ Library Association conference. I am not sure why anyone would vote against any staff taking any professional development. BOE members are also required to recuse themselves from votes that may cause a conflict of interest.  It has been mentioned to this author that Milde may be in a relationship with our local M4L member, who is currently in litigation with the HS librarian.  If that were to be true, he should absolutely be recusing himself from that vote. He should also recuse from any votes that involve any potential conflicts of interest which he did not appear to do at this meeting. 

So much for transparency and accountability!  

Our next Board meeting is 6/24 at 7:30pm.