Board will also hear 2026 graduation data and consider advertising revenue and a new energy broker.
The East Brunswick Board of Education meets tonight, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. For parents and residents, the main items are a rewrite of the district’s grading rules following the end of midterm and final exams, a presentation on 2026 graduation data, and the next step in the district’s effort to raise advertising and sponsorship revenue.
Grading rules rewritten, and the exam weighting removed
The Board is scheduled to give final approval to a revised Policy 2624, “Grading System,” and first-reading approval of a new Regulation 2624.
Most of the detailed grading rules move out of Board policy and into the new regulation. That includes grade symbols, letter-grade ranges, incomplete grades, pass/fail rules and the weighted GPA system.
The most significant change to final-grade calculations is the removal of midterm and final exam weighting. Under the current policy, last revised in September 2025, each marking period counts for 20 percent of a full-year grade, and the midterm and final exam count for 10 percent each. Seniors with high marking-period grades could be exempt from finals. In the marked-up version of the new regulation, all of that language is struck. A full-year course grade would be based on the four marking periods, and a semester course on its two.
The agenda includes no memo explaining the rewrite. The struck passages are the ones describing the exams the district has now dropped.
Other rules carry over unchanged, including letter-grade ranges, the 15 and 25 percent GPA weights for honors and AP courses, and the limits on late-work penalties and homework added in 2025.
The regulation also adds, for the first time, a written grade appeal procedure. Key provisions include:
- A student or parent who challenges a grade first meets with the teacher.
- An appeal can then go to the Principal, who is to give “every reasonable deference to the teacher’s professional judgment.”
- A Principal who changes a grade must record who authorized the change.
- The regulation bars reprisals against a teacher who stands by a grade.
- The Superintendent may hear a further appeal but will overturn a school-level grade only “in the most extraordinary circumstances.”
The documents may be inconsistent on one point. The revised policy still sends appeals to the Principal “and subsequently to the Assistant Superintendent,” while the regulation names the Superintendent.
How midterms and finals ended
The end of midterms and finals at East Brunswick High School and Churchill Junior High School was not a single Board vote. It developed over several months.
At the Board’s June 4 meeting, a report from the Board’s curriculum committee said members had discussed “the purpose and effectiveness of midterms and finals.” The report noted that high school focus groups of administrators, teachers, students and parents were being consulted, and that no decision had been made.
At the July 23 meeting, the committee reported that exam review and testing took about 16 instructional days a year. Administrators said a letter explaining assessment changes would go to families. Eyes on EB reported on that discussion at the time.
On Aug. 20, East Brunswick High School Principal Dr. Edward Bucior presented the reasons for the decision. He cited:
- research favoring frequent assessment with feedback over single high-stakes exams
- the instructional time recovered
- district data showing students generally scored lower on midterms and finals than in their marking periods
He said students will still take challenging tests during regular classes, including cumulative common assessments, and administrators have said state tests and AP exams continue. The district has posted an FAQ on the high school website.
Board members who spoke on Aug. 20 generally supported the change, but several described questions from the community. Some said they had fielded calls from worried parents after the district’s initial announcement. One said the explanation should have come before the decision. Another said he had been skeptical at first. One member asked why the district didn’t simply reduce the weight of the exams instead; the answer given was that doing so would not recover the lost instructional time. Eyes on EB wrote about that presentation afterward.
No resident addressed the issue during public comment at the July 23, Aug. 20 or Sept. 10 meetings.
The Board’s formal action came Sept. 10, when it approved a revised 2026-27 school calendar, 8–0 with one member absent. The calendar “reflects the elimination of midterm and final exams.” January’s exam-period single-session days become full school days. Graduation for the Class of 2027 moves to June 17, 2027, and the last day of school is June 18.
2026 graduation data
The agenda lists a presentation on “2026 Graduation Data,” along with a presentation from East Brunswick High School and the student representative’s report.
No slides or data are included in the agenda packet, and Eyes on EB did not find the figures posted elsewhere before the meeting. Board records since 2022 show no previous presentation under that title. The figures are scheduled to be presented tonight.” It avoids implying certainty about whether they have ever appeared somewhere else in another format.
Advertising and sponsorship revenue
The Board will vote on authorizing the School Business Administrator to begin competitive contracting for “advertising & sponsorship sales representation services,” meaning a company that would sell advertising and sponsorships for the district. No advertising, sponsor or ad location is up for approval tonight.
The step follows revenue discussions dating to the 2025 budget season. In August the Board adopted Policy 6163, “Advertising on School Property,” 8–0, describing it as a way of “expanding revenue sources.” The policy lists four options: signage on district property, including around athletic fields and on district vehicles other than school buses; ads in district publications; ads on the district website; and ads in district-produced media. In the adopted version, none of the four is checked, and no district document says which, if any, will be pursued.
Under the policy, the request for proposals itself must come back to the Board before it goes to vendors, and any contract needs Board approval.
A separate 2008 Corporate Sponsorships policy lets companies propose support in exchange for acknowledgment; Board records from January 2022 through September 2026 show no sponsorship approved under it. The new policy adds a different model: pursuing advertising revenue through an outside sales representative.
Energy broker
The Board will also consider naming Hyperion Energy Partners LLC as the district’s exclusive broker for electricity and natural gas supply. Under the proposed contract, Hyperion’s compensation “shall be paid by the winning energy supplier and built into the supply rate,” and the district “shall have no direct financial obligation to Hyperion.” The agenda does not state the amount. The arrangement has no end date; either side can cancel on 30 days’ notice.
Also on the agenda
- Coats for students: a wish-list request to Operation Warm for 100 new coats for at-risk students and two $500 shopping sprees, tied to Nordstrom Rack’s Oct. 27 East Brunswick opening.
- Election Day training: three staff workshops for Nov. 3, when schools are closed. Two are paid ($4,000 and $1,200, both federal Title II-A funds) and one is free.
- Wrestling tournaments: fees for the Bears and Lady Bears Invitationals (Dec. 28 and 30) at Churchill: $10 per spectator, and $55 per wrestler or $600 per team.
The agenda also calls for a closed session, estimated at 90 minutes, on cybersecurity, a legal update and two personnel matters. The Board is expected to return afterward to take action.
