Jackie Bello, the district's director of student support services and programming, delivered the semiannual student-safety report, describing the Student Safety Data System (SSDS) the district uses to report violence, vandalism, weapons, substance abuse and harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) for the Jan. 2025June 2025 reporting period.

"This is a state requirement for all public schools in the state of New Jersey that we must report any serious acts of violence, vandalism, weapons, substance abuse, and harassment, intimidation and bullying," Bello said, explaining SSDS distinguishes alleged incidents from those confirmed after investigation. She told the board SSDS totals can be misleading without that context because the incident total includes multiple founded categories as well as some non-HIB removals.

Bello described how the district analyzes location and timing of incidents. "It's called a hot spot locator," she said, noting the climate-and-safety team reviews that report quarterly and uses it to direct targeted steps such as hallway and stairway monitoring and SmartPass checks at secondary schools to reduce unstructured-time interactions.

The presentation summarized prevention and response programs in the district: No Place for Hate in K
3 schools, Rutgers Positive Behavior Supports in middle and high schools, teen mental health first aid at the high school, ongoing staff trainings on HIB policy and procedure, schoolwide character-education programs such as Shields of Honor, and regular wellness meetings that coordinate counselors and administrators.

Bello also said consequence and remediation practices apply even when an investigation does not meet the threshold for a founded HIB. "When something is not a founded incident of HIB, that doesn't mean that nothing is done," she said, describing code-of-conduct responses ranging from restorative practices to counseling and, when appropriate, removal.

Board members asked how the SSDS data can be disaggregated; Bello confirmed the district runs location-based hot-spot reports and that anti-bullying specialists review findings with teachers, parents and administrators in school-climate meetings. District staff cited examples of immediate changes made after reviewing hotspots, including moving staff to stairways and creating monitoring stations.

The board took no formal action on the SSDS presentation during the meeting; members thanked staff and noted continuing review and training, including an upcoming repeat of training with consultant David Nash.

The board moved into a confidential session following reports and later returned to continue public comment and regular business.