Dr. Lydia Furnari was publicly welcomed to the Somerset Hills School District (SHSD) as she led her first Board of Education meeting as interim superintendent. On February 22, 2023, the Board of Education held their monthly meeting in the media center. This meeting was filled with passionate public comments amongst finance discussions, programs, and upcoming events. Dr. Furnari has served across New Jersey public school since 1984 and hopes to “use that experience as a support to the community and district.” She will fulfill this position until the end of the 2022-23 academic year. As this school year is well in the second semester, the Board of Education (BOE) released the calendar for the 2023-24 year. Spring break will fall on the first week of April again. However, board member, Mrs. DeGrampre, shares that “there has been ongoing discussion about potentials of when spring breaks will be in the future. We have been considering the benefits and fallbacks for each choice.” With this considerations and debates constantly circulating, the BOE will continue working to determine if this shift will occur in future years. There has been suggestions to decouple spring break and Easter break, as well as moving spring break to March. Similarly, suggestions of a later daily start time for the school day have been made in recent meetings. Just as the discussions regarding spring break, the benefits and consequences are actively being weighed. Mr Baker shares his input on the topic, stating that “as a district we should continue to monitor what other districts are doing. We shouldn’t be so keen to make a change, it is not a quick or easy decision.” As trends of later start times continue to spread throughout districts across the states, there is a likely chance that a later start time will eventually become state mandated. With greater knowledge and awareness on childhood development, brain development, and overall health, it is an accurate assumption by Mr. Baker. On the discussion of school changes, on February 16, the school will officially begin its plans of new turf reconstruction. The school and architects will be working closely with the Athletic Fields of America, a group that the district has worked with ample times in the past. With a new field, the BOE is actively working to acquire permanent lights for the turf field. A community session will be held in the spring, in which the public will be provided with background information, details, and planning as well as room for public input on the topic. Vice President, Mrs. Santoro shares “there is still a ton of information to gather, a lot of guidance from attorneys before making any decisions. This cannot be a quick decision, but we are working hard to see these changes.” A significant change from last BOE meeting to the present is the change in negotiation status. Ratified by SHAY and the BOE, both parties came to a tentative agreement on settling new teacher contracts. Current BOE president, Mrs. Frenda, shares “We are very happy to have reached that point.” The next BOE meeting will be held, as always, in the media center on March 15th. The public input and action will begin at 7:30 PM. The agenda and actionable items have yet to be released.