[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] o [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] come [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a oh [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] la [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] I oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] a [Music] a e e e e e e e e e welcome to the Belleville Board of Education meeting March 18th could everyone please rise for the flag salute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States to the repu okay the board would like to just take a a moment of silence for councilwoman Marie Burke who passed away recently okay Matt Paladino please call the role the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend meetings of this board except where specifically Exempted by law at would time any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this fact the board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having same advertised in the Belleville times also notice of this meeting has been mailed to the members of the Board of Education the burough clerk all elementary schools the middle school the high school Hornblower Early Childhood Center and posted on the district website also this meetings being televised via the district's YouTube and Facebook pages with that said truste darl here trusty msaga here trusty Muniz here trusty Pacho here truste Williams here vice president dtis here and president benini here okay and can I have a motion to approve the minutes from February 26 closed and public session so move second all those in favor I I I any opposed that's right right yes I'm going to abstain from the February 26th meeting I was not here okay and let's just get a report very um right now from our student government representative Ryan good evening everyone starting off with some updates we're pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the battle of the classes Church sale last Friday the 15th the battle of the classes event itself is scheduled for late May in recent weeks the Spanish club collaborated with the culinary arts department for a cross-curricular activity teaching students how to make empanadas last week the Juniors comp competed the NJ GPA over two challenging days wrapping up on Friday the 15th after starting on Thursday the 14th progress reports have been finalized and are now available for students and their parents to review this week kicks off merch Madness a spirited merch sale organizes by the sophomore student council offering a variety of Belleville spirit wear later in the month they will also host an Easter gram fundraiser selling candy bags and delivering them to classrooms looking ahead to April the student government organization will be hosting its second Bingo night of the year on the 7 1th this event is open to all students and staff offering a chance to win various prizes that's all for now thank you everyone have a great night thank you that was wonderful all right I'm moving on to superintendent report we'll take a report from Dr TOMCO and then he will guide us into some great presentations that we have for this evening thank you madam president good evening everyone welcome um we have a pretty packed agenda so let's get right to it um just want to say that uh I appreciate everyone coming out tonight for our uh women's month celebration and also our uh governor and educator teachers of the year um this is just an incredible time uh in all the schools across New Jersey where we get to celebrate um everyone in the trenches who really do the the incredible work for our kids every day so thank you all for coming out but without further Ado let's have uh miss demov miss demov m demov is going to to uh open us up with um a few presentations from our students so thank you m Dem just sign on here good evening Dr TOMCO members of the Board of Education members of our Belleville Community once again I am always honored and very very delighted to stand here in front of you and present our students K on through 12 tonight we have a few women's history presentations and they are coming out of school number four our Belleville middle school and then we have two students who will be recognized for their entries in the Sister Rose theing competition which was an essay competition on social justice so I would like to invite Mrs Peppe to come up please from school number four would you like all four to come up at once okay we have four students in if you can please come up Jasline ton Gabrielle Grant Ariana Santiago and Caleb Johnson the audience yes right oh we also have Mrs kitchell here I didn't realize you were coming I'm Sorry Miss kitchell is also one of our talented and gifted teachers at school number four thank you for coming our school for students are going to be presenting on famous women in history women of their choice do you need help with distribution do you need a distrib who's ready okay who gets the microphone first they speak Hawai are married John ow Dominus and adopted three [Music] children hello my name is am I hello my hello my name is am and I hello my name is an I was born in the 15 bir my birthday is unknown I was born in Bley United Kingdom I spent my childhood in the Netherlands and France I was in my late 20s when I met Henry the and when we got married September 7th 1533 is when I had my daughter Elizabeth the first one of my quotes was remember me when you do pray that hope do fled from day to day I was one of the most powerful women in the 16th century other than my daughter even though Henry VI destroyed everything I had even my birthday and appearance I still went well like tutor a fun fact about me I like tennis I died on May 19th 1536 in the Tower of London my name is Jasmine tan I'm in fourth grade and I chose Amo ly my name is Michelle Obama my name is Caleb Johnson I'm in fourth grade and the person I did was Michelle Obama my name is Michelle Obama my birthday is January 17 1964 I was born in Chicago Illinois my husband was Barack Obama my children by Mar and Obama and Sasha one of my famous books is successful meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like you're own the reason I was important is because I was the first African Aman first lady of the United States few or three different facts about me I exercise for 90 minutes three times a week I wouldn't go out was bar until for to play the game with my brother I left a career Inc corporate law to work [Music] public hi my name is Arana Santiago I'm in fifth grade and I did my project on the Hawaiian Queen Lily OK Kanani I'm Queen Lily Kanani I was born September 2 1838 in Hulu Hawaii I married John Owen nominus and adopted three children John IU Dominus Lydia K hion Pony okani aolo and Joseph Kon I work to bring back power to the W marchy and my people my favorite code of mine is throw away aala or trash from the garden of your heart and my only golden blossoms of a h brother Li Aloha the US overthrew me and didn't have any and I didn't have any biological food I died at the age of 79 on November 11 1917 at Washington Place Kai hi my name is Gabrielle Odum gr and I and I um searched har [Music] tman I'm in second grade my name is Harriman I was born in 1822 in dochester County Maryland I died in 1913 in alurn New York I married Nelson Davis and John tman my child's name is birie Davis I said I will fight for my Liberty so as long as my strength lasted and if the time came for me the Lord will let them take me I was important because I helped many enslaved people escap I was a met at AG of 91 I was and I was a un okay great job and that was school number four our students receive certificates once you receive your certificate you can stand right in front of the stage and your parents will come up and take a picture Jasline toon grade [Applause] four Gabrielle Grant grade two congratulations Ariana Santiago grade five job and Caleb Johnson grade four great job Cale teachers take a picture Mrs cavalo would you like to come up and take a picture with your [Music] students [Applause] my way to go school for thank you teachers moving on I'd like to invite Miss belr to please come up with her middle school students we have seventh graders presenting this [Music] evening they can pass the microphone stand of the stage everyone stand in front of the stage you good evening ladies and gentlemen my name is arel Moro we're presenting the Museum of Discovery history of humans March 1824 my name is kunaon my name is danaa my name is nashla Caba my name is Matias Miranda my name is Diego Fernandez my name is Hillary suenia today we presenting the Museum of Discovery history herings March 1824 Aya Baker let us celebrate Aya Baker the independent black woman who inspired ideas of Grassroots for equal rights civil civil rights and guide Dr King s Christianity leadership while according the student non violent committee for these reasons Baker is the mother of the Civil Rights Movement [Music] Baker the mavel sisters from 19302 1961 thousands of people were imprisoned and murdered on the Rafael tro dictatorship in the Dominican Republic Mel sister LED an underground Revolution secretly named long live the butterflies the courage is fighting many to fight for establishment and democratic government and it threatened The Dictator they were brutely murdered for being woman and [Music] [Music] activist Manuela science is the Liberto of the libertos for her braing and active participation as an activist under the leadership of the Liberator Simon Boliver she played a crucial role in the struggle for the Latin America Independence for Ecuador and Peru in 1822 her Legacy endured as a prominent Fighter for woman's right in South America story and Inspire our future Generations manua science is Li Li thank you very much students don't go anywhere yet you have certificates Matias Miranda aracel morocho honey Hillary suguna Diego Fernandez Dana usaka Matias kunala nashla Cabrera and Dominica Dominguez Dominica will give hers tomorrow okay parents if you'd like to come up and take a picture Mr Royal if you'd like to come up and join your middle school students Miss Beltran and we'll take a quick picture for thank you Belville Middle School excellent job students at this time I'd like to invite Mr Velasquez's students from Belleville Middle School to please come up we have four students from Mr Velasquez's class who are presenting on black history as well as women's history hello my name is Sophia pfield I am a seventh grader from the middle l Middle School my name is Sophia valz I'm also a seventh grader from BMS good evening everyone today I would like to bring to your attention Amanda Gorman an inspiring individual who has significant contributions to both black history and women's History Month as we reflect on her powerful words I am reminded of one of her most notable quotes there is always light if we are brave enough to see it if we are brave enough to be it we selected Amanda Gorman's quote because it motivates us to stay optimistic during challenging times and to take courageous action it inspires us to discover the light even in the darkest moments and strive for positive change here are three facts about Miss Gorman she was born on March 7 1998 and is 26 years old today she has written for the New York Times and is recognized as the youngest poet in US history thank you for listening and may women's history month and Black History Month continue even if the days [Applause] don't Justice everywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere this means that this quote means that if Injustice anywh will be allowed anywhere or will subsequently be allow anywhere in the world this Mage is important because it highlights how Injustice uh should be stopped everywhere and not accepted at all one small action can causes more small actions around the world it shows how everyone should be accepted regardless of race gender or religion Martin Luther King Jr was an advocate for equal rights for everyone for his whole life he held many protests to make his dream come true this included his speech and protest in Washington DC he also led a bus boycott that lasted for 381 days all of these protests eventually led to equal treatment for everybody he also went to jail for multiple times because of these peaceful protests even though they were completely legal he was eventually killed with on balcon with his friends in 1968 even to this day Martin Luther King's Legacy lives on and inspires people around the world because of this man the world has less discrimination here are some facts about Martin Luther King did you know Martin Luther King's sa a dream poem was improvised did you also know that he entered college at the age of 15 not only that but he was also arrested 29 times during his his whole life he also survived an assassination attempt a decade before his actual death and after he died his family filed a civil case against the government and won yeah goodbye okay great job Belleville Middle School here are your certificates and then we'll take a picture we have Sophia peni congratulations Sophia valz Jake Lacy and we have Xavier Garcia great job you're welcome Mr Royal come on up picture parents if you'd like to come and take a picture thank you once again bille Middle School great job and those are our women's history and black history presentations okay before we conclude I'd like to invite Miss Oma Omer to come up please two of her students at Belleville Middle School entered the Sister Rose theing literary arts and video competition and the theme was social justice we had a first place winner who was Judah cook Judah would you please come up Judah is in eighth grade yes Judah created a YouTube video and it runs about two minutes we are going to play the clip for [Music] you making signicant influence on others can be very scary challeng Helen was motivated and driven to fight for the rights of women and people of disability at 19 months she was diagnosed with Artic fever which made her Botha and blind could you imagine not just losing one but two of your sensive F once she was a smart and brave woman who became the first death blind person to graduate from college because of her disabilities she knew that people would pay attention to her and aw didn't to other people allowed her to Advocate not only for people with disabilities but also for women's rights birth control and other social issues like Sister Rose she would make a difference by delivering speeches and speaking out lectures to help support these individuals this book by Helen state only thing wor in is having sight and these are fearless words from a true activist this quote by the American author me to never take my fight for granted and to use it as a means to have a big and bright imagination personally I was drawn to Helen Keller because my grandmother is a fellow woman that is a part of the blind Community because of this I admire Helen Keller's commitment and unbelievable courage she changed the perspective of people with disability and for that I pr from Sister Rose fighting for the rights of Jews to Helen Kell fighting for the rights of women we should continue to learn and study the many impacts public figures have made now if it's your aspiration how will you change the world and fight for what you believe in thank you Judah that was excellent here is your certificate I'd like to now invite josanne Ibraham she's going to read a poem for us on social injustice Joanne earned honorable mention in this [Applause] competition hello I am josanne IIM light amidst Shadows the Brave and honorable Nicholas winon a man beyond compare he rescued children from the Holocaust with unmatched care like Sister Rose he fought against Injustice Brave and unfaltering the savior of these children in need with courage unwavering Nicholas winon Brave and true save kids from harm a hero through against Injustice he took a stand guiding children to a safer land and Shadows dark his light did gleam a beacon strong and a world extreme his Caring Heart a guiding Creed a savior in a time of need thank [Applause] you okay thank you once again bille middle school thank you Miss Omar and we can now take a picture thank you very much and congratulations and thank you everyone for listening great job students she [Music] she all right thank you again missov uh let's give all our students a round of applause ex all right so we have some uh additional honors tonight I was talking a little before about uh our incredible staff and um our faculty members our administrators uh it really is an incredible Place constantly working these are just a few of the projects that you've seen from this month but uh we're we're absolutely engaged in all these things that that we know postco that have been and that have been happening uh with regards to learning loss and um you know uh responses to interventions and we're just very proud of everything that uh our kids are doing and also that our teachers are doing in their classroom so tonight we get to honor uh some of those teachers and their their colleagues are here tonight to cheer them on uh but first let's start with uh if uh Mr rhs Mr Pedro could come down for uh we do have uh an honor tonight because bille has a um one of our counselors is here for counselor of the year for the county so I won't steal their Thunder pages of work today than thanks for coming good evening everyone this past March 15th uh at the New Jersey school council Association lunch and I had the pleasure of acknowledging and presenting the 2024 Essex County school counselor of the Year belleville's very own Mrs Marilyn kuchi you're up here miss kuchi come on she's making way I summed up my remarks by noting one of Mrs ki's strengths and that is that she is unassuming and never lets her level of experience all 12 years of it dictate what our students need it influences how she helps her students but it does not dictate because as we all know our students are not the same and so this is one of the many reasons why I believe her colleagues voted her this year's SX County school counselor of the year and we are incredibly proud of you congratul Mrs [Applause] P all right so we're going to change up the order since Mr rhods is right here so we'll start with the High School Mr Caleb rhods Mr rhods thanks for coming this is great I've been here for seven years the first time I get to go first usually I have a lot of you know really really good speeches to follow so uh tonight we we'll first uh recognize the high school Governor educator of the year who this year for the high school is Miss Judy Porter my first introduction to Judy was when I got here seven years ago I'm taking a look at people's offices and I'm seeing this frog there frog on a shelf and a frog on a shelf and a frog on a shelf and I said where's everyone getting these frogs they said I guess you haven't met Judy yet so when I met Judy Judy uh gave me a frog sitting in a Lotus pose which I I guess comes to means something in terms of yoga with being grounded relaxed focused and and so I I do take a pretty much every day take a look at it at some point realize you know stay grounded but that's what Judy brings each and every day to her students she's always there for them uh she she heads up our work-based learning program she helps to play students keep them in jobs uh continue to make sure that they need to do what they need to do to graduate um she truly cares about her students and and you know the second part of her job is in the in the culinary capacity so she works our culinary arts program does a phenomenal job with that as well so Judy congratulations very thank and next we have our Educational Services professional of the year who this year for the high school is Jenny Rosell J Jenny is one of our social workers here at the high school she works uh specifically with our no it's not psych psychiatrist I'm sorry sorry psychiatrist um she works with uh specifically with our life skills program she uh really has done a phenomenal job in the time that she's been here uh one of the things I do like to do when I I I uh ask for nominations for these uh different Awards is I ask our teachers to to speak a little bit on what their experiences were with this teacher or or in this case uh our psychiatrist um one of the things that really stood out to me was that Jenny is one of the rare people who is the embodiment of knowledgeable behavioral health professional while maintaining a warm and comforting rapport with our students and that really goes a long way with our kids especially the population that she's working with each and every day and so Jenny thank you very much for everything you do all right one more time for the high school congratulations excellent job thank you let's go to Middle School Mr R how are you sir very well thank you wow this is early for us usually I take bit and peie from right right speeches and make it funny and turnning words against them well listen tonight we'll start with our his case as a court professional I nurse Astra Tapia come on [Music] [Applause] up this actually been a great addition to the middle school we lost our nurse a couple years ago we're so worried about who's coming in next she came in then miss a beat she she comes in she asks a serious question whenever she comes to my office is very serious she knocks I know it's going to be serious but she asks every question one time that's it once she gets the answer she moves forward she's very good at calling the parents I trust her with everything we love her at the middle school she makes the best many what's that empanadas with a special dipping sauce special hot sauce she said delicious in the morning iell L I said yeah I know I know she made those empanadas so thank you very much we appreciate you very much thank you Ash [Applause] congratulations thank you next up we have our educate of the Year longtime veteran come on up dorine molo just like in dorine [Music] fashion listen one thing about D she going to tell you what's on her mind it's usually good stuff usually she has something positive to say so I'm good about the school you know just a great great person you know Last 5 Years she's been crying every been in the school year she knows she's close to retirement I think she's trying to outweight everybody else wait for that 40 years hit that Mark but we will take every minute we can get a Dorene Dorene has always always been welcoming to me seven years ago I remember the first things he said to me came to my office after a month so look Mr r i a to bother you but the staff downstairs has to [Music] go we have many other even during the pandemic our first meeting online dur so from the start said I can't do this I can't how going teach you L the kids in front of me and then by the second meeting she's coaching people on how to can go online and work digitally so she's been wonderful wonderful Edition I even told her this morning she Parks right next to me and today she was struggling with with her lanyard right and so I said do you need help she said no I'll get it and so as I'm walking in the building she said I got it I knew she would have it you always have it congratulations to my favorite parent [Music] professional thank you thank you so [Applause] much all right Miss Calhoun School 10 School number 10 I like this reverse order I was expecting to be one of the last ones so our teacher of the year is someone who makes our school a better place and as you all know or maybe don't know um the teachers the peers the parents the students are asked to nominate our teacher of the year and what they told me about him is that he makes all the students happy the kids look forward to this class and always walk out talking about what happened and waiting for the next one this person also Waits outside with me every single morning no matter what the weather is he never wears a jacket I don't have any refrigerator stories about him yet but there's still time Mr choto is our physical education teacher at school 10 and he's also at school 9 and our kids absolutely love him he handles some challenging subjects when he's talking about health but he does it gracefully not not easy to do for such a large man I had to make a comment and he sets a great example to all of our students about sportsmanship the kids love him we're fortunate to have him I don't have anything but positive things to say about Mr jotto who today is wearing a long sleeve shirt come on up here Mr Kevin [Music] [Applause] [Applause] choto [Music] all right I don't think Mrs CH wants to be in the picture the kids in here too all right our next person our service professional of the year is a little bit unorthodox it's Mr Tom Gazo he is our security guard he actually couldn't be here today because he's recovering from surgery but I did send him the link and he did text me and say the whole family's there watching um he's another one who in is such a small school it's not we don't have a lot of service professionals this guy he welcomes the students every single day he also stands outside with me so I guess if anything if you guys want to be next year stand outside with um he's welcoming he's positive he's more than a security guard he volunteers for everything he decorates all of our fundraisers he you know takes the kids to the nurse he follows all the district initiatives um and he just knows all the kids I mean he's been in the building for a while he's with me three days a week and he knows all of our students he knows what they do he asks them about their day the teachers love him I'm going to accept the award on behalf of Mr Gazo but when he returns from a surgery he'll be excited to get it and I'm sure he'll have a cup of coffee for me [Applause] comp for that thank you uh and yeah I do see some people leaving I understand but just uh I wanted to just mention on the way out or when you came in there's a Refreshments from our culinary students uh they do it every year so I want to give them a round of applause for all their hard work and our teachers thank you so much Mr rotunda Mr rotunda School nine come on down [Music] good evening Dr TOMCO members of the board distinguished guests tonight is my honor and privilege to shine the spotlight on Donna wrench who stands as the the epitome of an excellence and educations as our esteemed teacher of the year quick story about Donna her and I went started in school together at Holy Family in Nutley from kindergarten to 8th grade so she got her punishment now because now she's stuck with me as her boss so I just um not to take up a lot of time but she's the epitome she's our head team teacher she's always willing to lend a helping hand she really cares about our children and she's also for a lot of she's my right hand she tells me about things that might happen in order to get ahead of them um and she's got a really great pulse in our school so this was an easy easy easy she's always in the running every year I should say that's how good she is so I'd like to congratulate Donna please come down Miss Donna wrench thank you thank you thank you and our um Educational Service professional is Antonella Felino parado I had to get the parado in Jeff well maybe she'll change her name eventually but I um this is another E easy one to give Antonella is one of those people who is always willing to help um jumps in whenever there's needed whenever I need you know coverage or lunch to watch the kids at lunch whatever she's always willing to help um just we were sad to see her go this year because she became an interventionist but she is with us two and a half days a week so we but when she told me last year she was we were going to lose her as a full-time teacher it was a little hard but she's still here we still en enjoy having her and she's always like I said goes um head into everything hard worker so Anella please come [Applause] up [Applause] all right thank you very much and school 8 Mr GTI where are you thought I saw you oh there you are I'm looking over there like you kind of like snuck in there it's like camouflage thanks to start I'd like to thank Dr TOMCO the Belleville Board of Education our Beville School Community for being here tonight to honor all of these amazing Educators in our district I'd like to thank everyone that makes up our schoola community for everything that you do every day we would like be able to support educate and care for our students with every person in our building tonight we're here to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of two members of the schoola Community First our governor educator of the Year miss Josephine palmary come on down thank you Miss pal Mar is involved in all things School 8 serving on various committees assisting with school functions she's a dedicated professional she's pass passionate about teaching she's an advocate for children she's diligent caring and thoughtful congratulations Miss [Applause] palmary up next is our schoola ed Service professional of the year just a quick funny story this morning I came back to my office and there was a box of pastries on my desk with a note Mr jetti hope you enjoy these have a great day I didn't understand why they were there and then I remembered she was getting honored tonight so maybe a few extra nice words I don't know um our interv our ed Service professional of the year is educational interventionist Miss Gian [Applause] kabellis Miss gellis prepares engaging in Creative lessons uh for her students on a daily basis she's one of the brightest and most dedicated teachers you will find she's a true professional and involved in the entire School Community she's also genuinely one of the nicest people to work with congratulations Miss [Applause] kabellis thank you so much you thank you School eight School number seven Mr Belton School number seven come on up the parot family is leaving here's a pa poo girls they leaving good morning everyone thank you Dr Tom Co and disting Board of Education thank you Trustees for giving us this event to present to two of our amazing staff members over at school number S I do like embarrassing them so with our 2023 24 educational service provider of the year can I get Miss Nicole Marella come on up [Applause] please and Miss Marella is here miss Marella is our r interventionist over at school number 7even that works also at school number five RTI is a program at its infancy stages but this person to my left has left an an amazing imprint on what that program is it is safe to say that Nicole has made a lasting impression on the development of the entire RTI process but more importantly she has left a lasting impact on the students she serviced by providing them the highest quality of Education Miss marshella is a professional educator that is dedicated to her craft to provide all students with supports to maximize their abilities to gain confidence from the endless data Dives to parent meetings to the late night conversations with our RTI coordinator Miss Dali to supporting teachers within the classroom to providing focused support in areas they need and to correlating data to support supp students potential Miss mcll does it all a few words from her colleague Miss devali Nicole is truly cares about school number seven students she is eager to develop strategies collaborate and share materials to allow students to the ability to learn and in a more multi-sensory approach Nicole is warm 100% to all of our students and most importantly to the parents now for me me the word advocate is torn around education a lot with that she truly embodies all of those characteristics because she wants to make sure every student receives the best quality education not a day goes by that Miss Marcel does not influence a students life with her commitment to her craft she is constantly motivating students to utilize their problem solving skills and strive to maximize my the the strengths of our students it's my distinct honor and privilege is here to present this award to one of the most dedicated workers at school number 7 I [Applause] appreciate I I'm not making fun of yough big round of applause everyone okay now I've been waiting for this one for six years uh so Miss Christine menes Mendes come on up she is our 22324 educator of the Year ready all right okay Miss Mendes is our fourth grade ELA writingscience instructor here at school number 7 that displays unparalleled commitment to our students and to school number 7 to display very important potentials to make sure they are both working to their ability inside the classroom as well as outside each day Miss Mendes pushes herself to be the best educator she could be but to make sure all of her students are provided with the best opportunities to succeed in life Miss Mendes is an educator that when you when she walks into the room you notice she is in the room and her presence and her unique ability to feel the temp temperature of the room I mean literally she's yelling at everybody it's way too cold way too hot in our rooms all the time so she keeps me on my toes with that Miss Mendes also is an educator that really promotes and working with her is extremely important because every day is an inventure in a good way while making faculty and Skip meetings entertaining to say the least most by starting every meeting with her announcing that she is here and she is ready to go that's 5 minutes late to the meeting as well I'm just kidding just kidding you're on you're on time all the time now miss Mendes has a way to connect with her students and maximize the abil the abilities of her co-workers now one of her closest colleagues Miss nicodemi I'm not going to say how many years they have shared a room and an area together at school number seven but they've been teaching in the same rooms as they once started in the same position without one disagreement Miss Nic ademia wanted me to tell everyone it lasts a little bit longer than most marriages because it's 20-some years I believe 23 years so they do a great job together but miss nicodemi expressed that Miss Mendes has the unique ability to make a lasting impression on every child that walks into her classroom and the School turns into the most wonderful place for that child to be at that time her passion and dedication are on display every day and most importantly evident through the actions and accomplishments of her students that she inspires on a daily basis each day her students leave her classrooms with their heads held a little bit higher knowing that they could accomplish any task that is given their way her compassion and persistence to making an impact on each student regardless of their skill makes them feel very important and unique is what makes Miss Mendes our teacher of the year congratulations Miss [Applause] mend all right School five Miss [Applause] Gilligan hello good evening everybody thank you for being here for honoring all these great Educators um tonight School five is going to be honoring Miss IET opont our power professional misset come on down Miss evet is our power professional uh in one of our special education classrooms on over Miss evet Miss evet is exceptional at what she does serving our students with special needs the entire class and teachers depend on her daily to assist in keeping the room running smoothly following routine and addressing any problems that might arise and she addresses them quickly and efficiently Miss aant has a reputation for being firm but fair during the nomination process one colleague stated IET has my utmost respect and I don't think our power professionals hear that enough but that was a great line Mr Pont never misses a day of work and we sometimes take that for granted but it's not intentional we just get used to Dependable people always being there that's why these awards are so important it makes us stop to intentionally let our staff members know just how much we appreciate them and that certainly holds true for misset Missy vet's presence in the classroom and in the building provides stability for students especially being there every single day what I love most about my power professional is the way I see her handling challenging situations I agree with a staff member that wrote Miss Evette always remains positive yet firm she executes her job with skill and a wonderful sense of humor laughter cannot be underestimated and with Miss IET around there's never shortage of that Evette for your dedication and your work in the classroom and for your undying sense of humor under varying circumstances you are our 2023 2024 educational therapist professional of the year congratulations I'd be lost without [Applause] you oh okay and also I'd like to honor tonight thank you Miss Tony castellani for our educator our Governor's educator of the Year could you please come down Miss [Applause] castellani Tony is our fourth grade ELA teacher she is known in our building as being hardworking and conscientious she is also known for being a bit of a perfectionist anyone who has worked with Tony knows she only wishes to do what is right in all circumstances one teacher commented that Tony does her work well and thoroughly all the time Tony is also reflective which means she's always looking to approve upon her own practice she will offer different ways she could have executed a lesson and good just isn't good enough for Tony so very often we go into the classrooms we we we walk through see what the teachers are doing thing you know maybe an observation and then we we sit and talk but before I can even get started she'll sit down now I know I know I could have done this better you know what I should have done this and all I wanted to tell her was that was really a great lesson Tony but she like Rises herself all the cloes so she's very very reflective that's the only thing I would say about Tony she's very hard on herself and she does a great job Tony also taught kindergarten she was a math teacher and I don't know if there's any specialist in the room but she went from math to teaching fourth grade ELA so she's done a lot of things and she does them well because she's so incredibly hardworking and reflective of her own practice Miss castellani is also always in communication with her colleagues who share her students in order to ensure they get what they need to be successful this is putting into action the true Spirit of a teacher who cares about her students and when Tony speaks about her students she knows every important detail about them this is a clear indication Miss calani is paying attention she's attentive to her class and all while all the while appearing enthusiastic and happy when she's teaching it's a pleasure working with Miss castellani and it's teachers like Tony that makes my job easier for these reasons and many more congratulations miss calani you are our 2023 2024 educator Governor's educator of the [Applause] year all right school for miss cavalo miss cavalo the cheering [Applause] section Miss thank you good evening everyone I just like to start by um thanking my school for staff you're all here and that means the world that just goes to show you um what a school for a family is and here we are so I am so grateful for all of you I really really am that's for you so having said that um tonight we celebrate we recognize but we celebrate all of you but we definitely are going to celebrate Ashley Watkins because if you think you're not going to come up here come on ash let's go come on I told you you were going to come up so Miss Ashley Watkins is our Educational Service professional for school four Yeah Ashley is um one of the most wonderful one not no wonderful people you have ever met she is our speech teacher but she's more than that she is dedicated and she's loving and she's always smiling and even on the toughest days and we've had tough days we've definitely had some tough days at four and and she smiles and she's resilient and it makes me so proud to have you by my side as my colleague and honestly just educating our children this is what we want with our children right here so congratulations you are amazing and I love you thank you so [Applause] much you're in the middle congratulations congrats congrats okay Miss randoo on my other Ashley come on [Applause] up you also knew I was going to do this right okay so Ashley has worked with me for quite some time now a few years right about nine about nine nine years um when I first met Ashley she was in prek with the little guys and just um making it happen there um Ashley's done a few different things but right now we're working with all our special children who um really really need Ashley I really need Ashley school 4 really needs Ashley and um what you do every day Ash is amazing she steps up there is never that's not me I'm not doing that that's not my job I never hear that never she volunteers when she sees that it's getting complicated she really tries to uncomplicate things and if you think I don't notice I notice a lot um both of my Ashley right um are so dedicated and so compassionate and so loving and that's what makes them special and I grateful to have you by my side congratulations this [Applause] is Miss berer school [Applause] three good evening good evening Dr TOMCO Belleville Board of Education and the Belleville Community I would like to ask Miss Lita cugno to please come up and join me at the [Applause] podium come over here Hi We Gather tonight to celebrate excellence in education and to honor remarkable individuals who embody the very essence of teaching greatness it is with great pride and admiration that I stand before you to congratulate Lita for being named Governor educator of the Year Lita your dedication passion and commitment to your students have not only enriched their lives lives but has also left a mark on our school Community your Innovative approach to teaching your tireless efforts and genuine care for each and every student sets a standard of Excellence that inspires us all Lita on behalf of the entire School Community I extend my heartfall congratulations and deepest gratitude for your outstanding contributions to education thank you for your extraordinary work your enthusiasm your dedication to shaping the Future Leaders of Tomorrow you are an inspiration and very fortunate and we are very fortunate to have you as part of our team congratulations once again miss kugo on this well deserved honor thank you thank [Applause] you okay so next up for school three is um unfortunately our uh next will not be able to be here tonight so I will be accepting the award for him um tonight I'd like to honor of recogn I have the honor of recognizing an individual whose dedication commitment to safety has been a Cornerstone of our school Community it is with great pride that I present the Educational Service professional award to Mr Brian Kars School 3's security officer and I hope wherever he is tonight because I know he couldn't be here I'm hoping that he can tune into this link at some point and watch it Brian we just want you to know that your villance professionalism and commitment to ensuring the Safety and Security of our students our staff and the visitors has not gone unnoticed your presence is more than a uniform it is a symbol of trust and reassurance for us all Brian on behalf of the entire School Community I extend my heartfelt gratitude for your outstanding service your dedication is truly commendable and we are very fortunate to have you as an intrical part of our team congratulations Mr Kars on this well-deserved honor thank you for your tireless efforts in keeping our school safe and secure you are a true asset to our community and we are very deeply grateful for all that you do congratulations [Applause] again he's never missed a meeting here first one he's ever missed so he did that on purpose I think and last but not least heck [Applause] mishari good evening everybody so it is my honor to present uh hex Governor educator of the Year this year to miss geryn [Music] lza miss lza is an exceptionally talented teacher and professional she always arrives at the building with a smile ready to welcome her students and the day with the same positive outlook this extends to contributing to the building culture as she's always fun to be around Miss latza consistently goes above and beyond for her students and for Hornblower she chairs our gardening and Butterfly committees she's often the first one to volunteer or to take on to any challenge or task Miss lota skillfully plans and implements lessons that engage her students in a fun creative manner that supports all of their individual needs she's flexible in her decision making and thinks outside of the box Miss latza demonstrates care and understanding in a calm and nurturing manner she's a dedicated hardworking educator and we truly are fortunate to have her as a member of our [Applause] family and now to honor our educational specialist professional of the Year miss Brianna tropiano our school nurse Miss tropiano is our beloved nurse who not only leads our building in medical measures but is a constant presence of help and support throughout the day mainly to myself Miss tropo provides consistent Medical Care and is an informative resource for families and all staff members she delivers interventions in a calm kind manner always making students and parents feel comfortable Miss tropiano develops relationships with each of her students and their families always maintaining confidentiality and sensitivity to suit every need she's Dependable a great team member who leads in times of Crisis Miss tropiano is a true asset to Hornblower and we could not run our building without her from the Hornblower community and staff thank you Miss tropiano for everything you [Applause] do all right let's give everybody another round of applause for our teachers of the Year our service Professionals of the Year all of our teachers that are here thank you very much we appreciate everything um we're going to continue through the meeting so if you all want to stay we're going to have Mr Bliss come up from our accounting firm e thank you Dr TOMCO good evening board members it's a pleasure to be here tonight to uh present the audit for the year ended June 30 through 23 um one of the main uh goals of the audit is for us to express an opinion on your financial statements and express an opinion on your compliance with state and federal grants um I'm happy to report that our opinion on the financial statements are unmodified or a clean opinion meaning the financial statements are fairly stated uh they're prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and there were no scope limitations in performing the audit our opinion on your compliance with federal and state grants was also unmodified clean meaning a clean opinion meaning you complied in all material respects with your Grant compliance um unmodified opinions on both the financial statements and your Grant compliance is an absolute must in an audit um anything other than unmodified means there is an issue with financial statements or your compliance with uh grants there we are also required to report on any material weaknesses or significant uh deficiencies in internal controls I'm also happy to report that we had no findings that Rose to the level of a material weakness or a significant deficiency um with respect to the financial condition of the uh District um you ended the year with approximately uh 9,969 th000 uh dollars in fund balance which was broken out uh in capital reserve of4 mil 07789 these are funds that the board has set aside by uh board resolution to fund Capital expenditures if you want to follow along uh with the numbers it's on page 80 of the uh bigger book what I'm reviewing is starts on page 74 goes through uh page 80 where the summary is is the budgetary comparison schedule of your general fund uh general fund is the major operating fund of the district it's where probably 98% of your expenditures uh are accounted for um if you look at the end on page 80 is the summary of fund balance and fund balance is important to board members because as you prepare uh for the upcoming budget you want to know how much money you have and what those monies are for um and as you see uh we ended the year June 3r to 23 with 9,969 172 uh capital reserve funds of 4,778 98 and those are funds again that the board has put aside by resolution um to fund capital projects that are in the long range facility cours those monies are restricted for those purposes can't use them for tuition costs health benefit costs or operating cost uh strictly restricted for Capital reserves that Reserve increased approximately 440,000 over last year so you put uh increase that Reserve by putting monies in there you also had maintenance reserve of 1,666 N1 of those are funds again that are put aside by board resolution to fund cost related to required maintenance of school facilities uh those funds can't be used for Capital expenditures and they cannot be used for instructional expenditures uh they could only be used for required Mains of school facilities uh cap Capital expenditures are different than required maintenance and capital adds life and value uh to the facilities where maintenance keeps the facilities in their current working order uh you also have an unemployment compensation reserve of $3,755 and those are funds that are set aside to pay unemployment claims um the district has elected many many years ago to self-insure its unemployment claims so when people go on unemployment the claims come into the district it's reviewed if you agree with it uh we pay those claims dollar for dooll uh there's two sources of funds there's the district monies which is here the 213 and then there's uh monies that the employees contribute that's in a different account uh that Reserve increased $9,250 the next two items uh committed year-end incumbrances and assigned year incumbrances of 1, 31572 and $782 $782,500 five represent open purchase orders at the end of the year for goods and services that we have ordered or awarded contracts for but those goods have not been received and those contracts have not been completed we don't really owe anybody money because we didn't receive anything but once those contracts are performed and those goods are received in the district those incumbrances roll over into the budget and they get expensed as a expenditure uh in the next year in all reality the 1,311 and the $782,000 it has been committed in a sawing for specific specific P purchases and by this point in time of the year those POs uh have been liquidated um this the contracts have been rendered serviced and the goods have been received we also had designated for subsequent year expenditures 93556 that's the portion of fund balance that the board chose to use in the 2324 budget to balance that budget so when the district um prepared the 2324 budget you had all your expenses you had all your revenues and to balance that budget you used the additional 93556 to balance it those funds are no longer available going forward to fund future expenses they're funding expenses in the 23 24 year you you also had what's called Insurance Recovery uh expenditure Reserve of 165 361 these are monies that came in from insurance claims where we received the money but we haven't spent the money uh for the purpose that the claim was filed so as we take care of those repairs or those Capital Improvements These funds will be appropriated to the budget and spent on those uh repairs or uh Capital expenditures to uh to fix the district facilities um 165 361 is what has not been sent spent of all the insurance claim funds that have been received that leaves you with the unassigned fund balance these are the funds that are available going forward to fund future expenses um any type of expenses could be Capital could be maintenance could be salaries could be health benefits um it's 1,658 434 um it's the maximum that the district is allowed to have in that uh unassigned fund balance it represents 1 and a half% of your budget which is roughly 1 milon 390,000 plus an additional about 270,000 of unbudgeted state aid uh that we received during the year um overall financially uh the district is in very sound stable condition um has some uh reserves set aside for Capital Improvements as well as maintenance uh you have the insurance recovery uh Monies to carry out the uh those claims as well as you have the maximum amount you're allowed to have an unassigned fund balance so both Financial aspect uh district is in a very sound condition if this no questions I'll go through the general recommendations and that's you'll find in the smaller report the last page page 15 is a summary of f uh of the findings we had uh overall six findings uh again none which were considered material weaknesses or def or uh significant deficiencies in internal controls uh the first one under financial planning accounting and Reporting um deals with uh procedures related to approving uh the June monthly report uh in the statute the board has to approve that report within 60 days of year end it has to be submitted to the county I Believe by August uh 10th um we a little bit late in doing both of those so uh in the future we just met to make sure that we approved that report timely and we sub submit it to the county timely um at year end under School purchasing we had a recommendation regarding uh continuing our efforts to improve our purchasing procedures which have been uh greatly improved over the years uh we just had some uh issues where uh State contract vendors and Cooperative contract cont ract vendors although we're not required to go out to bid for them um we need to get the contract documentation from the co-ops to make sure that the contract is in effect and that the vendor is charging us the prices that were in that Co-op contract award under co-ops another uh government entity goes out to bid on certain products and certain services and you're allowed to piggy back off those contracts and that and therefore you not required to go out to bid uh the only thing is they they maintain the co-ops maintain that contract documentation so we got to get that in house um we had one situation where a minor situation where a uh a vendor went over the bid threshold uh at the end of the year we just need to watch that and if that happens we've got to go out to bid following year and then finally in the purchasing just your resolutions um you approve many contracts and services in the minutes uh there was just a couple that didn't identify how you procured those goods meaning did you award them through a Cooperative did you award them as a professional service were they awarded as an emergency um so if the resolutions could just be more descriptive in saying this is a professional service contract award or or this is purchased under a co-op or state contract or it's an emergency purchase or it's a competitive bid um that would be helpful uh to us as the Auditors School food service we had three recommendations there the first item uh deals with reconciling the sales that are on the Food Service management company's reports and the sales that get deposit into our accounts there was a difference between what they said the sales were and what the district said the sales were we need to reconcile those two records uh second item on the Food Service uh somehow during the year uh the contract guaranteed profit was amended uh the contract that was approved by the board was 400,000 guaranteed uh profit the uh operating statement from the Food Service management company said 250 um there was no resolution approved by the board to change that uh that has to be reviewed with them to see uh how that was changed then finally in Food Service uh we just had a situation where we had uh certain expend Capital expenditures that were made out of food service fund that required to be approved by the Department of Agriculture um certain Capital expenditures such as building improvements uh you have to get their permission to spend those funds and then we had some catering services um that weren't reimbursed from the other funds so if the services are not for the school service program if they're outside catering services they have to be paid for from other funds or other entities uh to make the Food Service fund whole and then finally under student body activities those are the accounts that are maintained at the school sites uh they account for uh School uh activities School clubs organizations and athletic events um we noted that we need to develop some formal procedures to establish uh accounting and reporting for donations collected at sporting events and we have to make sure those monies are deposited timely um in checking the the receipts uh for the year there was only two deposits related to sporting events um it's unlikely that there were only two events where money were collected so we got to tighten that up as well um that's my report uh six recommendations uh again no material weakness no significant deficiencies and uh unmodified opinions on both your financial statements and your Grant compliance thank you Mr BL you're welcome questions thank you good night everyone all right just uh recognition of the students of the month that are on here as well um and um was really it I want to thank again everyone for coming out tonight uh the administrators the administrative team in the back who's here every month thank you so much for all you do guys um you work really hard and you're always here supporting us supporting the board so thank you very much uh and progress that's it thank you Dr TOMCO uh do we have any reports tonight from the state monitor Thomas Egan do my best Mr rean impersonation that I can uh Mr Regan's watching as he always does via the district's social media platforms uh he's reviewed the agenda that's being presented tonight supports all recommendations uh that the superintendent and myself have uh presented to the Board of Education in regards to Personnel purchasing and finance uh he supports the budget initiatives uh being proposed by the superintendent and myself that are uh on the agenda tonight uh but he'll take into consideration any input uh as we head towards the public hearing uh that is uh offered by the board um he's all for doing what's in the best interest of the district and then lastly uh he's very pleased with the results of the audit as was just presented this evening by Mr Bliss and Applause the continued uh successfulness of the business office under the leadership of the business administrator that's all I got for him his report thank you Mr Paladin and report for Mr Paladino business administrator yeah just to give the board a couple of up updates since we didn't have a committee meeting um last week prior to the board meeting the Middle School AC project is complete we're working on um Closeouts the high school AC project is moving along uh pretty nicely uh keep just to remind everybody there's uh a new air conditioning being put in in the gym and here in the auditorium uh the Middle School uh Expansion Project uh we're still on target to go out to bid by the end of March uh I'll keep you uh posted as we get closer hopefully to the end of the month uh the property over at Ralph Street uh the two the condrick uh lot two lots that that we purchased next to school number nine uh we're in the process of upgrading the inside of the house and uh we're looking into some uh bids uh proposals for uh renovating the the parking lot so that we could hopefully move all of Transportation down there by the start of school in uh September and then uh lastly just want to congratulate my office um their DED dedication and their efforts um the main reason reasons why we did so well on the audit and we continue to do so well financially that's all I got thank you Mr Paladino y thank you madam president uh I just wanted to mention uh also go over a little bit of the technical review um for the budget that's on the agenda um because I know you're going to open up in a minute to um public comments on agenda items only so just Ser it understands what this is I've been saying it now for the nine years that I've been here um and all of my years as an administrator 25 years now uh technical review is just exactly what it says it's a technical review of the budget items um that the administration in working with the board uh want to get to the county for approval we have two um we have two levels of approval here because we're still under State monitor uh we have to go to the county and the state so it's a little bit more um you know arduous for us for Mr uh especially for Mr Mr palino but I want to commend Mr paldino we did an incredible job um working on what we uh put together which we think is a uh uh a very aggressive uh budget that you see uh for the technical review so how this works is we sit down in committees with the board and we basically see uh what this uh what this board who basically acts as the barometer for the township um what uh we want for the district in the upcoming year uh one of the things that you'll see there is um there was a there was a thought process several months ago um of the board to possibly um since our free and reduced numbers are pretty high and we were on a um we were basically on a campaign to try to get parents to fill out free reduced lunch forms because we do have a number of parents uh who still have not filled those out and um we still have a number of students in a rear um their accounts for lunch that um the board uh uh challenged us to attempt to make meals free for all students so that's what you see in this technical review um so part of this review has a certain amount of monies in there so that every child eats for free every day all 180 days um we also have some um increases for Health Care obviously we were just notified I think today Mr paldino had the incredible news that uh we're going to be anywhere from 15 18 to 20% increase uh which is a very large number uh for healthcare increases we have bargaining unit um contracts that are settled that when we're also negotiations so so that was it to we have enrollment increases Etc um just to be um very clear to even with this higher number um we are still uh about $4 million under adequacy uh you may not think that that's possible with some of the aid that we have and and whatnot but there are a lot of there are a lot of increases in uh Transportation cost especially for special ed students outside of District uh astronomical increases there um Governor Murphy's uh I guess breakdown of monies uh first time in a long time or maybe ever I don't M maybe correct me the equalization Aid uh was kind of capped at a certain amount uh some money had to go specifically to security Aid Etc so there are some differences that didn't let us use all that money towards Equalization um so again even with that higher number we're still um under adequacy the board will uh hopefully uh approve the technical review tonight then go to the county then go to the state and then over the next several weeks we will again sit in committees and uh basically break this down to the best we can for the township uh also don't forget the uh eser monies or special monies for covid or Co money if you want to call it are now no longer uh in between that time this board was committed to adding numerous positions for RTI uh more interventionists coaches Etc um all of those now have to be funded through the tax levy so um so there are some uh interesting conversations that need to happen uh with regard to this budget after the technical review however uh I would imagine that uh the pencils are going to be sharpened and uh I don't think this is the budget that will be presenting to you as a community uh in a few weeks but again if you don't put everything in it you can never put it back so that's why tech technical reviews in my opinion um should be uh a very moderate or at least a liberal piece of uh budget or fiscal um you know fiduciary responsibility for the simple fact that again you can add stuff so when you start out not with everything it's very hard to cherry pick on what you're going to keep and what's important to the community um so that's where we are just so everybody sees it uh right now the average um increase I think we're over 10% right uh the average increase on a house is uh an assess house is 430 436 433 $413 is the average increase right now um so that's where we're at uh we also wanted to point out before we turn it back over uh that in the nine years I've been here this board has been very uh critical of cutting budgets I don't many know of many that we've been over 2% that's why we have such a high Bank cap but I know I sat here last year telling everybody who was here everybody out there and it's definitely on record somewhere um in the uh in the metaverse out there uh that uh this we were going to be in this situation uh as you keep cutting and cutting and cutting and going under 2% um you just you know keep drowning and drowning and drowning so uh we are definitely passed that point we were at that point last year and we cut one more time so uh we are going to have to make up some of that money this year regardless so just everybody's aware of that okay I'm not saying it's going to be where we are now but that's where we're at for the technical review so thank you all right thank you Dr Tona um let's open up remarks from citizens on agenda items only can I have a motion motion and a second I'll second all those in favor hi and we have one person signed up Michael Sheldon are we still using the three minute rule good evening Michael Sheldon 47 Floyd Street uh one agenda item that I'd like clarify 12.14 this is $46,500 for Solutions architecture that is the firm that uh is designing the wouldbe shared services parking garage that's supposed to be constructed next to the Middle School uh since the initial round of bids were rejected early last summer there haven't been any new plans uh issued at least publicly I'd like to know where things stand at this point because over the last several months there have been continuous promises that next month next month next month the new version two of the parking garage would be released so I'd like an update on that the uh C and AMR reports that were just uh presented tonight by Mr Bliss I trust those will be posted they will be made public uh hopefully later tonight or at least tomorrow morning on the on board docs that I won't have to file an opena request to get those documents uh Mr C Mr Bliss pointed out that the general fund balance as of June 30th last year was nearly 10 million the year before it was 11.4 the year before that it was 9.7 and the year before that was 7 million so point I'm trying to make here is that uh due to prudent and responsible fiscal management the the bud the district has been been supporting very healthy budget surpluses each year which then leads to the ple once again we need to move the Board needs to move to return autonomy to the district we've had a state monitor here now for 10 years the I think the last payment for the state loan that was extended to us back in 2015 that will be finished next year number of you have campaigned on that promise that you were going to move to get rid of the state monitor I'd like to see some motion on that ASAP and as far as the uh uh introduced budget for tonight I guess I was right when I publicly posted over the weekend that as things currently stand the uh tax increase on the meeting assessed home would be about $400 you guys said 413 thereabouts but this is outrageous Governor Murphy announced last month in his budget address that every school district District in New Jersey including Beville would be fully funded for the next academic year he's giving us another $12 million next year on top of the extra 10 million he gave last year I think the total amount of state aid now bille will be receiving next year is close to $70 million there is no way in the world you guys can justify another tax increase best Cas worst case scenario should be a z tax increase ideally you should be rolling back the taxes I don't know how in the world you're going to get away with this with the tax increase any tax increase during the next year but of course this isn't the end of the story as Dr TOMCO said you're submitting the the budget to the county to Mr Zara and the state for technical review you still have to have a public hearing but I hope for everyone's sake that when you finally announced the the the final numbers after you talk to your manager in the back of the showroom and you know come back two week two weeks later that the tax increas is at in the worst case scenario scenario zero dollar otherwise you're going to have a hell of a lot of explaining to do to the community so that's it for the first session oh God I made have just s with one second to spare okay thank you moving on to suggested resolutions on Personnel can I have a motion for 9.1 to 9 oh I'm sorry motion to close so move second second all those in favor I right uh and moving on to personnel and resolutions recommendations from the superintendent 9.1 to 9.23 can I have a motion moved and a second any discussion okay hearing none Mr Paladino can you please call the role trusty daro yes trusty massagi yes trusty yes trusty Pacho yes trusty Williams yes vice president dtis yes president pamini yes okay and I see none for curriculum and instruction so moving on to resolutions for board action and board policy 11.1 to 11.6 can I have a motion and second who made second uh any discussion W you guys are all right Mr Paladino can you please call the rooll trusty daro yes trusty msia yes trusty monise yes trusty Pacho yes trusty Williams yes uh vice president dtis yes president benami yes and resolutions on purchasing and business services 12.1 to 12.16 motion motion second second and any discussion hearing none Mr palino please call the role trusty daro yes trusty masagi yes trusty monise yes trusty Pacho yes trusty Williams yes vice president dtis yes president benini yes and resolutions on finance 13.1 to 13.19 motion motion second second and any discussion on finance none Mr Paladino please call the role trusty daro yes trusty msaga yes trusty monise yes trusty Pacho yes trusty Williams yes vice president dtis yes president pamini yes all right in public comment section on anything we have two people scheduled to speak Michael Sheldon first can I have a motion to open up this part of the comment Mo second all those in favor I I Michael Sheldon I I know good evening again Michael Sheldon 47 Floyd Street I just want to start off by saying I was hoping that with the U uh Changing of the Guard so to speak with the board this year that um this Draconian three minute and five minute rule would be uh put aside um Gabby you are the first board president to also have a colle college degrees probably in the last 20 plus years so I just want to uh reference if you haven't already looked at it board policy 0167 section two which says that in the event it appears the public portion of the meeting May exceed 45 minutes the presiding offer officer which is you may limit each statement made by a participant to not less than three minutes duration so I would hope that you would take that into consideration for the next meeting and when you have this many people present this is the reason why you have these few people because they know that basically lip service is given to community participation in these events but I'll put that aside that's a subject for another another day um during Mr bliss's remarks earlier tonight he said that there was a significant discrepancy in the guaranteed profit for the Su food service contract um I would hope that the board would provide a written explanation for that before the next meeting there's a difference of $150,000 there that's not chicken feed but um you in the grant scheme the board's budget it's also relatively small but nevertheless you should give us an explanation for that discrepancy uh when I asked during the first public session about the parking garage situation uh there was no response I'd like to know when are you going to uh go out to bid again for version two of that garage you owe the state you're contractually obligated to build a garage following that b Bond ordinance that was rushed through the process by the Town Council in April on April 12th of 2022 so U I'd like U some update on that matter uh the Oprah the um the badgering part of the agenda the ba the Oprah section where you report the cost I think my last entry in there amounts to over $2,000 essentially what I asked for there was an update on the salaries for staff which is something you guys automatically provide to the public usually in every May sometimes in June when everyone is reappointed but yet when I asked basically for an update of that same report ahead of time as we entered this new calendar year somehow it cost $2500 including almost $400 for legal review makes no sense I think you're just making to be honest with you I think the numbers are BS you're making up numbers to suit your own political agenda you want to dissuade people especially me from making Opa requests but we'll put that aside I have less than two minutes according to my clock here so I want to address the uh the elant in the room we all know what happened last week Garfield made the announcement that uh starting July 1st their new superintendent will be none other than Dr TOMCO there's been no no official statement as far as I know on the district's website on its social media pages about Dr TOMCO leaving now I realize according to his contract as long as he gives you 90 days at least 90 days advance notice everything is good but one of the things I'd like to ask tonight the board president the chair of the personnel and the finance committees uh when Dr TOMCO leaves us on June 30th what other monies will be given to him will he be able to cash in unused vacation days un unused sick days there's enough wiggle room in the contract where it could be argued that because he's leaving uh uh four years ahead of time he could wind up with three months times four years which amount to one one full extra year of compensation as he bids farewell to to Belleville so I'd like to know if you're not prepared tonight fine but I'd like to have an email within the next few days and I think you owe it to the community to publicly post it what exactly is going on here what a confirmation tonight from Dr TOMCO that yes he unfortunately is leaving Belo to go to Garfield come July 1st but I'd like to know how much more Beyond his regular salary benefits will Dr tono be receiving after he departs Belleville I have 13 Lucky 13 12 seconds left now I'll end it here I hope you guys will answer some of my questions thank you by the way I know I haven't been at the last couple meetings but unfortunately at the beginning of last month I saw my shadow and had to stay in hibernation for an extra few weeks yeah uh thank you Mr Sheldon um just want the uh the public to know that uh the parking garage will go out to bid again at the end of March so we're looking at another week or two we're just finalizing some things so we'll we'll make that public thanks I believe so yeah okay and Maria Rodriguez you want to come up to the podium just say your name and your address okay is Miss Luna still here do we know okay okay okay okay okay thank thank you for coming to speak to us today just um I don't know if we have a translator here and if we don't would it be possible for you to write down your remarks okay or email them to the superintendent okay she says true okay so so um she's oh yeah of course Aven Aven sorry my name is Maria Rodriguez and I live in F50 washing in B Avenue in in B is a a years ago my family have happened something bad to [Music] us um they don't she doesn't have any solution about the happen with her song [Music] Dand last year on February 7 uh Dandy was punished because he behave bad and they put it outside of the building in in the the temperature was very very low and he he he was very cold in the feet he don't feel the feet that day he she doesn't uh pick it up um she noted about that um a o in the night the next day she going to speak with the principal of the school is school number [Music] four um next day um Mrs kitney said to her husband U what she did to Dandy because Dand behave B and that was the consequence put it outside in the cold weather um she say if it Dandy was stay more longer with there the consequences was very bad for him we come to talk with Miss tonko three [Music] times there is M St um only said to her to her to put a retention to go to the school and send somebody from the school to screaming to her in the door her in her house um she didn't have respond about what happened and she keeping uh waiting for the response the solution like m t Mr tonko was take Dandy from uh School number four and put it to the school number uh 10 gra she say if she can finish her her her yeah her time is her time is up okay okay okay you want to translate oh um this okay so we're not going to be able to respond to this obviously my Spanish is nowhere near uh acceptable so I'll just say in English that we're not able to respond on a student matter publicly it's a private student matter obviously the mother can speak about her own child but the board and its Representatives can't speak publicly about her child but we will speak to her uh the school officials will speak to her directly thank you and a motion to close public participation second all those in favor great okay and before we did do anyone have any comments before we close tonight everything going on okay hearing none um can I have a motion to close tonight's meeting so move second second all those in favor I I great have a good night