Watchung Hills board hears student-safety report and committee updates on JROTC, vacancies and facilities

At the Feb. 3 meeting the board heard the mandated Student Safety Data System summary for July 1–Dec. 31 and updates from the education, personnel and operations committees.

Student-safety summary: The presenter said the district reported 4 incidents of violence, 1 incident of vandalism, 0 incidents involving weapons, 8 incidents involving substance abuse, 10 other incidents that led to student removal, and 1 alleged (0 confirmed) HIV incident for the reported period. The presenter cautioned that year-to-year comparisons are affected by differences in detection and reporting protocols and described this as a snapshot required for public reporting.

Committee updates: The education committee reported research into JROTC program requirements and concluded a full JROTC program is not feasible at present, recommending alternatives such as a JROTC club or enrollment in neighboring-district courses; it also described ninth-grade visits and an incoming family curriculum night. The personnel committee reviewed staff counts and retirement-notice deadlines (contractual retirement notice required by 03/01/2026 for a June retirement to receive sick-leave payout), discussed policy updates to align harassment and Title IX requirements into a new policy/regulation numbered in the transcript as 1552 and listed current vacancies. The operations committee updated building projects (rooftop units, completed chillers, track asphalt and ongoing electrical work) and discussed formation of an education foundation and credit for contractor corrections on memorial lettering.

Public comment following the committee reports included questions about parking-permit continuity for juniors, experiential-learning absences and community-service programming led by the union. The board acknowledged the comments and noted further work at committee level.

The board adjourned at 9:00 p.m.