I'd like to call this meeting to order this is a regular session of the boot Township Board of Education held for the purpose of transacting appropriate board business in compliance with chapter 231s of 1975 the notice of this meeting was advertised in the Mars County Daily Record copies of the agenda of this meeting were appropriately posted made available to the public Mrs Bardock here Mr brander here Mrs Cabana here Mr Chen here Mrs Herman here Mr Johnson here Mrs McBride here Mr Mills here Mrs NWI here also president Dr Angelo superintendent principal we have a for thank you please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance IED to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all and at this time I'd like to entertain motion to enter into executive session to discuss issues that war in confidentiality has permitted in the open public meetings act chapter 231 of the laws of 1975 these matters may or may not be made public when the board reconvenes they will be made public when the confidentiality of the subject is no longer warranted the topic of discussions is Bo Township Mountain League sending receiving relationship negotiations second all those in favor say I hi thank you and we will reconvene at approximately 7:15 7:30 thank you okay it's about 7:33 we have returned from our Clos session and this time we have a presentation of the 2024 2025 Ted budget by Mr muray for [Music] [Music] [Music] second [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] okay [Music] okay good evening everyone so presenting tonight the the tentative School bu um than 45 John SP um basic timelines we we have um given the board in previous presentations the governor's budget address was on the 27th of um February release of state aid figures I'll get into the numbers a little bit later tentative budget to be approved by the board is this evening uh for submission to the county superintendent they have um by March 20th so there are a few other things we have to do to get it all ready uh and by April 19th they have to approve the budget and then the next step would be May 1st which is the public hearing and the adoption of the budget November 5th election of 34 seats every year we have 34 seats that up in building a budget you know basically the budget runs all year long the building of the budget the running of the budget approval all that we follow District go I'm not going to go through all these there are some handouts uh this presentation will be on the s tomorrow uh you can follow along and so forth but again some of the goals District goal budgetary goal in preparing the budget considerations in the budget development we have to look at enrollment and projections we know our Revenue sources for a district our size we have very few uh Revenue sources and Alternate sources the the main really is the tax local tax pay so 90% of our revenues come from local tax payers state aid is another 6% to we have a pre a very robust prek program integrated program so that's about4 and then the balance with all the other things but fund Bal any Misan revenue from interest and so forth is about 3.6 on the expense side we look at our contract negotiation and our non-affiliated staff approximately 54% of the budget are salaries and benefits another 33% for add Replacements tuition Transportation cost run another 5% and then all of the other administrative cost insurance and everything else facility runs about 8% and that's the uh some of our disc discretionary funds are involved in there some of the budget considerations we look at the enrollment the RBS enrollment there's a slight increase and it's in concert with our 2022 demographic study we used affirm to do that the Mountain Lakes tuition uh is in based on our uh projection is an additional $182,000 almost 1883 currently we had budgeted 192 for the current year at 18347 projecting 198 students uh at 18714 so it's a six uh six student increase over the budget amount card enrollment sits at about 187 I'll talk about that a little bit later state aid funding we're fortunate enough to get an additional $69,000 um in preparing the budget early on we looked at a status quo we've been held harmless for several years where we did not sustain any decreases so thank thankfully it's it's on the uptake and again our 2% cap tax cap I'll talk about that a little bit later is 21,99 of new taxpayer money from the current year that we cheting and some of the other considerations that we have you know anticipated benefits we're looking at 10 to 12% uh anticipated teacher increase and as we've talked about before to the board one additional teacher in the elementary here at grade level is projected based on our so you know Cost Containment measures we've you know again like to say we've been tightening our bels over the years we we run a pretty lean budget um we've done a number of shared services Cooperative purchasing to try to save some funds that's just a list of some of those and then we have a a very robust shared services program with the township exchange of field use of fields and so forth they do our snow piling and again class three offer so I won't read through the list you have a copy you can see it tomorrow will'll be on the website um the enrollment projections currently were at 405 and we're projecting 413 now it's important to note on the bottom we had projected 47 so that was last year's budget time projection we had eight students during the course of this this year either move out or be out of District so I think the enrollment projections that we had were pretty close to where we thought we were in game uh when you are preparing a budget just the budget just that is that you never can predict really children moving in and out or having to go out of District so those are the numbers we're projecting and these are the sections based on and I did say that we'll need an additional Elementary because of the section that's the reason for uh and there'll be some shifting around of instructors and so again special education won bre through the list but currently we have 16 in the PED District placements we have three currently over $100,000 per student That's not including Transportation that's just basic tuition and maybe some other service um we have five students that are over 100,000 um some of them are not slightly over some are closer to 200 and that's just for one place so enrollment history rejected we have chared put the charter school projecting to current enrollment at the vot tech that we pay separate tuition to those uh that District projecting 11 and again I just give you a a number of years of History so those were the 413 and the 198 come from Staffing just basically shows that we have one additional staff member projected in the elementary level of 3K to8 um and also some of the aster ones covered some of the other support staff some of the things we have included in the budget um our practice has been rather than buying and then having to replace we try to fix it we can we've done a number of things with in wall cafeteria tables it's at the point we've done Replacements of tabletops benches we've welded the metal is at the point right now they are pretty much at the end of the life so we tried to uh save some money by they're still safe but try to save some money by doing those uh things to them time to replace we have money in the budget for technology um Chrome books and teacher ma books and then we also have money in for digital MTH renewals and so forth and reading in the textbook area so tax leval P PL you always hear a lot about 2% what the 2% tax l so we've asked for 14 million in the current year 145 we're asking for an additional 291,000 that's where the 2% caps it's tied to revenues not budgets you can you can have a budget that goes up 5 or 6% but you have to live within your Revenue source which is the 2% so I'd like to highlight down here highlight down here that um joh which one is the laser this [Music] point all right finger is just kid um in in the 2425 budget we're eligible to go above the 2% cap the state allows some allowances for pension cost for increased health Health cost for other things to be able to go above the 2% Cap Health Care cost because of the increase in year to year we're eligible for 8400 in the budget a year we also have what's called Bank cap last year we generated about 50 59,000 in Bank cap for health care that we could use in this budget we chose not to and as you can see from the next Slide the history has always been here uh to stay at the 2% to live within the means um there are districts that may go to the 1% range it's just going to hurt you in the uh in the foll Years you can see our our tax levy 2% is only about 291b so state aid um you know the projections that the the numbers that were further down were at a much higher level we decreased sort of on the up that's where it represents um State a for the new year of 94 about 734 and again the the way that they calculate the numbers really say sort of meaningless is that if it's based on the number of students if you had if this number changed at all either up or down that number would change and really um $1,500 can we educate a child for that much certainly see other tuition amounts of the 17 18 19,000 again the state says that based on the state a this is how much you're getting state aid per so I'll show you a little of the revenues year to year you won't go through all those but you can see we the 2% of the tax levy tuition that's our revenue from our prek program um the other miscellania are very small those are athletic Fe of interest on some of our investments state aid you can see it's up almost 8% and then some of the other items down the budgeted fund balance so in order to stay within our cap and absorb some of those expenses for salaries for healthare all Transportation cost tuition cost we budget a little bit more fund balance in the in the projected year and again special uh special revenue from state and local sources that's down a little bit so the bottom line budget is projecting of 16,6 454 on the expense side uh what the board would approve what every board approves uh that goes to the county components you have the general fund special Revenue fund on the resolution and how much you're raising in tax L to cover those that budget so basically that's the breakdown current expense budget cap la which covers projects and so forth special Revenue so that's where the 166 comes from again a 5year history so we we've had moderate increases on the on the expenditure side one anomaly is in the 22 23 year we actually get a roof using money from Capital reserves and no additional to the tax so that's that's the relation between the revenue 2% cap and your budget going up 9% but there was no impact on your tax pay we pull that Reser you hear a lot about administrative spending um the budgets when they get submitted to the county office have to be below a couple of components your Regional limit which the state sets $776 the boot and Township current year adjusted limit is 2655 2655 so our proposed budget is little below those it's $232 below the regional limit and it's $111 below our current year administrator so I added a not on the B so in addition to salaries everybody thinks administrator cost just salary the really all the other spending that's in auditing Legal Professional Technical Services postage phone systems um New Jersey Schoolboard du supplies all those are in there and the network servic so there are other things in the administrative cost and then when you're trying to do a cost per CU bow based on an enrollment that could either go up or down it will change the number of your administrative spending so if you lose a few kids you might go over that limit and again that's why it's not really a good Matrix to to use with the state does publish that but again the budget is being submitted within the lower than Li so really you know how does that impact the proposed budget the current year we had a little bit increase in the average home value and these numbers come from the uh the township um if you look at your tax bill again you have a tax rate and you have um you know your rateable so you have to look at really what your ratables are what your tax bill was for the 2023 year and you look at the uh relationship between your your tax rate the one your assessment is under the 24 year then you can kind of compare for yourself what your difference would be but on the average home it's about $161 per and that's it ENT questions I was wondering you mentioned projection for V is it has it we have we projected more this year like the number you want me to go back or basically votch from year to year we never know we have if you have a number of applications where or a student is thinking about the votch so you really can't base it on applications um we've been pretty steady over the last 2 to three years the enrollment there has been pretty steady earlier on maybe several years ago we were at smaller numbers but I think they're offering so many robust programs that you know students are are looking at that's actually about a little over $9,000 for year tuition Which is less than the high [Music] school we have part of the proje is have the people that rolled we just roll them up another grade if they're ninth they go to 10th for next year um and the new folks we probably won't know until um we get the letter from quality enoll stent could be up could be down so if they don't go there they're either going to private school or they're going to M so again that's how you have that fluctuation that they can't really said I don't know the exact number but it's about it's about 9600 I 9800 for next year as opposed to number Pro on tables were replacing what's the expect I don't that was long before I got but I have to guess that 17 years I have to guess that there uh it was probably in 2001 I guess in 2001 when they did the renovation the new edition they probably went through there so I said we baby those we they're old you said they're older then yeah I'm just I'm guessing they've seen aot watches yeah um I have a question on so we haven't used Bank we have we've had eligible Bank cap and it's good for 3 years and then it falls off Falls away so you have to be able to generate each year we have not used the bank cap we have not had a plan on going above 2% just wondering if we chose to use Bank cap that money would um be youd see it on the tax bills basically what would happen is instead of 2% we used all that I think it was 2.47% so we would be asking the township for additional amount of money which would reflected in that assess value and projection for through tax cost so so that's why you're being prent having to live within the tax levy not you know not just putting money in it for the sake putting money in it to go above take advantage just didn't need to take ADV that may be a different scenario down the road as things get tighter if I can't you know make the budget work trying to be of practice [Music] soal [Music] res the capital reserve number is the is the amount that we're putting in the capital reserve which is it's in the capital outlay number um but we have the capital reserve basically the fund that you can only use if you're saving the account you can only use for capital [Music] projects that well that includes was also part of the money was in there in that capital for the cafeteria about 330 right because in there we had in the current years's budget we had money that that was for the last grp project someone to ask about that that was 22 23 we had a 22 23 and we had 23 24 somewhere um expens so and can you just clarify I know discuss referend how much more discuss um right now we're probably at about 30% of the total roof that's in complete out of our own pocket and when you're using it out of your own pocket using it from Cal Reserve fund it's really coming from your savings account so the ones that we had in the referendum we were getting about 40% of State all s across so the district 7% still still has to be completed so again we you know we have an annual maintenance plan that we have to do you know again absent of a referendum we have to make it work patching or you know future local local sources through Reserve to fund those but as contct think what you said is important that we don't get by using any other questions if not we will move on to the report we hi spring sports are about to begin boys and girls lacrosse Boys Tennis baseball softball TR field all starting boys and girls golf starts next week the Z Club competed in States last week nine students were recognized as ambassadors and the club won the level of membership and marketing we were one of only few of the 120 New Jersey de programs to have won this award three students qualified for Nationals and an in April congrats to the entire club for performing very well the band and fire went to Disney last Friday to this morning where they performed the third annual college fair was on March 5th over 80 colleges came some from Europe as well as some secondary opportunities and Technical institutions was great thank you thank you very much and as always we understand if you have other places to go thank you very much for your report and that BRS us to business motion one and two is there any questions comments or discussion if not questions on business motions while those in favor say I I anyone oppos say no any exensions here thank you and that brings us to administrative report starting with the business administrator board secretary I just have one item report W this um on Monday with the a lot of power lost in in the town we lost a very large tree in the in the playground by the goit I've been nurturing that tree I've been pruning it every year and it just uprooted landed on and it crushed two to three I think three damaged pickle tables and landed against the facade so thankfully the trunk didn't but the top branches um we're waiting for our tree expert to come in and remove it we've already notified the insurance company it would be covered however only have a 5,000 doable but the cost for that you know once they remove the tree I can see actually what happened in the roof so that's the only thing have all the other systems appear to be up and running we haven't had any serious leaks the past week but we still do have buckets out and to disperse thank you very much and that brings us to the superintendent's report Dr Angelo okay good evening everyone just to piggyback off of uh Mr Murray's comments about the trade what is most important to note is that the Gaga pit has remained intact say yes right so the Gaga pit is safe um unfortunately with tree there though right now it's not in use but will be shortly music in our schools a concert for students in grades prek through grade two will be held this Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. and we're as always looking forward to hearing our younger students perform a reminder that our spring musical Mary Poppins is next weekend on Friday Saturday and Sunday the 22nd 23rd and 24th so you can reserve your tickets now through the virtual backpack online or through the Ed foundation's website um um again looking forward I know that our kids have been practicing daily working so hard on that performance and as always I'm looking forward to to seeing all that come to fruition for them parent teacher spring conferences will be held Wednesday the 20th next week from 5: to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday and then Thursday the 21st from 1: to 4:00 p.m. those are halfday schedules for our kids the HSA sponsored book fair is next week with evening hours for everyone on both of our conference days on the 20th and 21st the Education Foundation is hosting their golf outing on April 22nd and we're still looking for golfers and sponsors so if you're interested information can be found on the Ed Foundation website that's linked to our own website vbs.org and as always just continue to look for other important announcements and events on our website and both on the virtual backpack this online not only text to our parents but the BB is online and check our website as well and that concludes my report great thank you that brings us to the nurses report attendance reports which you all had a chance to look at and back Dr commendations okay commendations for the evening a thank you to miss Andis and Mrs barback for offering the steam challenge to fifth and sixth graders last month students had fun while in a Hands-On learning environment and were able to utilize prior knowledge while making new discoveries a thanks also to the Education Foundation for funding the evening with supplies a thanks also to the Ed foundation for sponsoring the readathon contest this year we appreciate the annual push toward Leisure reading and reading for fun a shout out to Mrs Fox our librarian for adding to the fund with special theme days and wonderful guest readers during read Across America week a congratulations to eighth grader Braden Long for being recognized as one of the Morris County New Jersey school boards Association unsung heroes at a special award dinner he will be recognized next week on the 20th fing high in fourth grade for February congratulations to Colton Harris Sienna curan tan bitez Zachary Gusman and Amber woo Spotlight on student work for February congratulations in preschool to Natalia kramitz and Carter Winters in kindergarten Gina Campos Max gadian Audrey hson Henry schlett and will Tark in first grade Ashley beer Meister Leilani Larn Mila mcer and Kyler and Stratton in second grade Alexander chernowski Jake Lang and Maguire Lynch and in third grade Kylie Barba Charlie Burke Caleb dusza Victoria giv and Anthony San Filippo and to our Falcons of the month for February congratulations to fifth grader mil de Roa sixth grader Skyler Burns seventh grader Zoe fight and eighth grader bra long and those our are our commendations for the even great thank you and you all had a chance to review the correspondence 1 through Tour on the agenda and that brings us to open session number one but before we get to open session number one I would like to provide a BRI update on our M Points negotiations regarding our sending receiving relationship consistent with the statements made under our last board meeting our board is willing to continue negotiations with Mountain Lakes to that end our board attorney reached out to the Mountain Lakes board attorney to determine if the Mountain Lakes board of education is willing to consider final Tuition Options that are not substantially tied to actual cost per people our attorney advised that the m l education is not willing to consider such options since Mountain Lakes continues to insist on setting a final tuition rate tied to actual cost for people puon Township has asked for supporting documents and asked questions about how Mountain laks calculates this cost to date some of the most important questions have gone unanswered our board still hopes to continue negotiations with Mountain Lakes and to determine a fair tuition rate for both communities and we will continue to explore opportunities to do so we must also be realistic and begin exploring all options available to our district this may include a feasibility study which considers other school districts to receive our high school students in addition since our districts have not reached an agreement on tuition petition with the commissioner of Education filed by m links is now moving forward and with that I'd like to move to open session number one the first public comment period will be limited to agenda items only the second public comment period will be open to any topic please be mindful that public comment periods are available to enable the public to give comments and feedback to the board personal matters and day-to-day operations are not appropriate subjects for board meetings these can always be most effectively resolved with the appropriate staff members or administrators according to the chain of command concept questions may be directed to the appropriate School Personnel or Bo through email please state your name and address for the record and all for 5 minutes and at this point would anyone like to address the board on agenda items or I just R course since that's now part the agenda I would Mr bner Kirk cruss 5 Eagle Rock Drive and boot Township uh because you raised the issue I'm sure many people here are concerned about the status of the sending receiving relationship uh I have to go on record as a resident a longtime resident of this town uh that uh in social media which is full of misinformation but from other sources outside of social media yesterday outside of this town I had heard that there were negotiations that may be considered with botin high school as one alternative and kelan as another and I would just like to go on record that I would be most disappointed if botin High School were considered as a an alternative the other alternative I can understand but boen High School would cause major problems with property values and I know that this board is interested in top quality education and I'm not sure that boen high school would provide that thank you thank you I can say that our board will not comment on rumors and social media but I can also say that our board has not authorized anyone to reach out to other school districts to discuss if possible send send receive relationship at this oh I do have one other question what is a Gaga pit Mr how long you got now unfortunately we do not have ample Lighting in back but if we did I would challenge well I'm sure you can explain what a Gaga it is essentially an octagon where the kids it's it's not dodgeball but the kids are allowed to use their hands to smack a soft ball below the waist and catch the ball to come back into the game they have to exit outside of the Gaga bit so we were very fortunate that that was our big fundraiser last year with the home and School Association so it was fully funded by the generosity the home and School Association but also the hard work of all of our parents um who were so giving during that time of fundrais thank but it's it's the kids love it so much so that we have to actually schedule time for the Gaga pit that is specific to grade levels during recess thank you thank you thank you very much anyone else like to address the board on agenda at this time hi uh Brendan Ellers 337 powerville Road um you mentioned in your statement that because there wasn't a send receive agreement in place that the Mount Lake sport ofed petition would be moving forward could you explain what that means and what the process is from here uh what that means is uh that we um they have a petition in place that is um I guess seeking the difference between what they're asking and what what we are providing to them and so they pile a petition in court and our attorney has to hand file a responsibity at this point all I can say about that at this time uh are there any other questions yes please Mary Leo blor dve I just have a question on tenative enrollment for next year and how in fifth grade next year it's tentatively 29 children but three sections that's not even 10 section any consideration to I know you're adding an instructor is that looked at I guess that I don't something you like to I I could I could speak a little bit to the fact that I think the extra teacher is in the lower grades and then so Mrs Leo without getting into too many of the specifics and I'm happy if you want to email me or I can talk further about it but when we committed back in 2014 15 to um moving to math and language arts 8 times a week for our students in grades grades 5 through 8 what it necessitated was actually hiring a dedicated teacher for math and language arts in grades 5 6 7 and 8 one addition staff member in each of those because you had shared staff members so fifth and sixth grade math seventh and eighth grade math and what that did was it essentially locked us in to three sections with the way that our schedule works three sections in all grade levels 5 through 8 okay so we obviously have to be concerned about student enrollment while at the same time providing the best possible education for kids but I will say that unfortunately it of an anomaly when you look at the number of kids that you have with such a small grade level it would be very difficult for us to say in one year Or Another We're going to move to only two sections here and then the next year have to move back to three without eliminating staff and we're that's not anything that I'm interested in doing so it's still a fifth sixth grade team and a seventh and eighth grade team it is it's still a fifth and sixth grade team and a seventh and eighth grade team but the only area where you have a shared staff member is in social studies and World Language so and and science so but in language arts and math because there were tested areas we moved now this predates me it was the year that I started here but we had moved to a situation where we said eight times a week is what is most prudent to demonstrate quality education in the tested areas ultimately but but it is still divided by fifth and sixth grade team in for those two grade levels and seventh and eighth grade team in the other because sixth grade I mean sixth grade next year also is three sections with 42 so that's 14 kids in class too so we're kind of getting close to a private school education and um not that I'm against that I just just something when we concerned about budgeting I didn't know how to look at and we also do use our math and language arts teachers for basic skills instruction so we have them there for basic skills support too and we're you know we're committed to that as a source of remediation for our kids but you're right yes it is a very parochial look um but but I think there's something to be said for that I don't think that folks want class sizes of 25 26 and I know that you're not suggesting that um but but I that it's it right now is a we're a consequence of the numbers right now thank you sure thank you uh anyone else like to address the board Ona only yes good evening richm of 14 Street Township um kind of tagging on to Mr Krauss I don't know if that's accurate or not but I wouldn't be opposed to option b as well um but um a quick question for you I happened to uh I was asked to look at the video from the Mountain Lakes meeting and I found it very interesting they talked about their budget and how much per student they're expecting from Bo Township which didn't really drive with Mr Murray's numbers up there I guess that's one of my questions how that's going to work into your budget and and to Mr Eller's question what does the the petition how does that play into that at some point there's going to have to be a happy media um that being said as a long time previous Mountain Lakes resident and current Bo Township president who's had four children go through the schools which makes me nothing but old but um I will say I I think people would agree with me that the how do I say this politically correctly um the education is not what it used to be so I would urge this committee to look at a 5-year agreement instead of getting tied into a 10-year agreement because I think at some point you're going to see that that kelan if it's an option is going to be just as appealing as Mountain WS that's okay well thank you the issues you did mention uh have been discussed and there they are handled you know by by the business administrators and and Department of Education staff prob that's about all I can say but we're aware of those differences and they they will be handled thank you are there any other questions uh on agenda it at this time yeah ien branner and I'm a dve um this is more of a point of curiosity but in um in the budget presentation the votch enrollments are those fouryear enrollments or are they share time or are they both or there's a combination I can answer that question there's a combination but uh we have fulltime and I think we have three shared time okay thank you for getting me out that very difficult [Music] situation I knew those numbers off the top of my head to address the board on agenda items at this point if not we'll move to Le our report starting with the of Education okay so um the last their last meeting they have their audit presentation um it's a second year in row there are no finding which is about those questions you can get um there there are never really any questions for your business administrat um they their fiscal year for 2425 budget with anticipated revenues was um discussed uh their tuition is 30% of their District revenues so about 12.8 million um which is not common those districts they have Lake Drive and they have us um among other um students and um they they chose to in their budget to use uh CPI plus 1% based on off of the number that they wish to have received last year so in total this coming up to be $20,000 um per student this their budget um they have a fund balance from prior year surpluses um they had 99 ,000 from last year and they're projecting for this year a fund balance of $794,000 um and in their Reserve account they have 1.4 million for their capital reserve maintenance and tuition um and um just another announcement is uh most uh they've been working very hard me to the last U month to uh identify any superintendent and they'll be announcing that on Monday and we're thrilled and that's very exciting and I can't share the news but I'll leave to them on Monday um and uh and there was also significant um crowd coming out to speak on behalf of of the science of reading um so if you have watched the videos that lasted quite a long time um and there were excellent questions asked by the community um but it was um focusing on the science of reading ver balanced um approach to so um and there's new legislation that has also come down in favor of science so it's a lot for us we be keeping our eyes and learning about it I'm sure in this on this um that the highlights great thank you very much that brings us to New Jersey school boards Association uh no relevant updates thank you and that brings us to moris County School boards association yes um happy to report that at the meeting next week on Wednesday March 20th this is the annual unsung heroes award meeting and we have our own Braden Long who will be celebrated at this meeting um just to remind everyone an unome hero is someone who makes your school a better place simply because they're part of it and who may often be overlooked even under more tradition recognition criteria criteria so that is next Wednesday the 20th 6:30 to 8:30 board members I hope it's not just Barry and I sitting there Barry did you register I will I you have to do it tonight because it's this because of the event um we should all have some information our email if do not I can speak with you afterwards um it is at County College of Mars there's a not provided ahead of time and then around 63 so hopefully we can all join and I hear Dr L will also be there supporting great thank you and that brings us to the Educational Services Commission of moris County their meeting this month it was today I missed it because I was here and that brings us to the botin township special education parent advisory group some updates special the that next week Tuesday March the [Music] members2 surve results [Music] [Music] April elizth transition process from high school to college foral students for a long time at this point [Music] [Music] great thank you very much and that brings us to the ucation foundation the only update is the Dr Angel Mary Poppins 22nd 23rd and 24th that tick oh yeah you're right there is an anual April 22 all all the updates so that's it you're welcome thank you and that brings us to the Rockway Valley School Association so there has not in a meeting however I believe the fa is early next Monday Tuesday Wednesday th Thursday okay there you go thank you and Township of okay think to report out there will be a free covid-19 vaccine clinic on March 19th from 11: to1 at County College of Mars registration information at Putin township.com the Easter egg hunt is Saturday March 23rd at Leonard Park 10: a.m. sharp rain date is Sunday March 24th at noon sign up for summer camp registrations and credit card payments now accepted online atut township.com Earth Day River cleanup is Saturday April 20th any group interested in participating should contact Rec director Kristen at Rec director boen township.com Township wide garage sales will be Saturday May 11th if you'd like to participate sign up information is available again at BO township.com the municipal budget was introduced on March 11th this is the fourth year with no increase in the tax rate the budget hearing and adoption will be April 8th at 700 p.m. budget information will be available by Friday on the township website and in person at the municipal clerk's office and then the Green Team I don't want to are you going to speak about that next all right I won't I won't even do that that's that's that concludes my report great thank you that us to the boomship pr team can can she use the mic can't hear her at all sorry I can't hear you so um the Green Team met on March 2nd at 3 p.m. and it was attend the session with Township of milary Cabo and Township Police Department chief Thomas K both in attendance as well as other regular members uh the discussion center around finalizing the installation will beable mization of the R field as well as D planning of the upcoming Township anyone interested in joining the cleanup is invited to meet us this coming Saturday March 16th at 10: a.m. at which time we will disperse to different areas of the town to tackle the wi problem information regarding the cleanup and access on Facebook VI the Towners group as well as Township newsl that sorry you said 10: a.m. Mee 10 a.m. 10 a.m. your meeting of the municipal gr okay great thank you and that brings us to facilities and transportation first second committee there has been no meeting since the last thank you and that BRS us to facilities motion number one I'll move is there a second second any questions comments or discussion if not the questions on the adoption of facili motion number one all those in favor say I anyone say no any Finance motions motion [Music] please of course so good evening everyone happy to report the finance committee met this week uh to review the tenative 2024 2025 budget the finance committee was there along with Mr Murray and Dro uh we spent probably a little over two hours going through not only the presentation you all just saw but also reviewing a line by line Pap term the entire budget uh we reviewed the revenues expenditures rolled data Staffing and administrative spent and you know I think Mr Murray kind of stole the Thunder of my report but as you can see we've seen increases in salaries Health Care out of District placements but happy to report the administration is doing an excellent job of staying within the 2% tax level for the town so all in all it was a very good meeting um I think they're doing a great job the budget and U we forward to seeing how the F budget met thank you very much and now we have fin motions through S motion please is there a second any question comments or discussion I a question um the budget of for legal accounting Engineering Services certain numbers then it says intended approves those so this curious why the just well that's a resolution that comes from the state they just say you can't exceed that percent so basically a number that you cannot go so which number are we going we we also our our cost are within administrative cost and we're saying for our projected budget the numbers that you have are they listed right I guess my question is why do we have to then go above that 12 you're not allowed go therefore resolve ucation Maxim Professional Services L 120% of what number are weing the number the numbers that are in bware right they're saying you you can go up to that we're not they're saying you're not exceeding I think comes from like the state [Music] and again it's a way to control have District control any other questions comments or discussion if not the question on the adoption of Finance motions 1 through 7 and this Mr yes Mr Brandon yes Mrs Cabana yes Mr Chen y Mrs hery yes Mr John yes Mr McBride yes Mr Mills yes wi motion carries thank you that brings us to Personnel so our last meeting was February 26th we discussed a resignation of a pair of professional which is on the agenda this evening and the need for more PR of professionals we discussed staff classroom observations that have been completed by Dr Angelo Dr lendis and Mrs wary and we discuss evaluations of staff that are due by April at the end of this year that's it thank you and that BR us personal motion personel motions one through motion please is there a second any questions comments or discussions not the questions on the adoption of personal motions 125 this is call Mr Fara yes Mr Brandon yes Mrs yes Mr Chen yes Mrs Herman yes Mr Johnson yes Mr M yes Mr to program which I will report on uh we've discussed various things we discussed hosting spring concerts [Music] April discussed the UN hero award we discussed cross America week uh we discussed the b b the trash assembly that was held on March 7th we discussed an upcoming assembly uh presented by someone who's like to talk about the upcoming Eclipse which you've all heard of in the news districts are that you may have read about and also we discussed our some of our students are attending the student council Middle School Leadership Summit AT team University through a program that our school has partnered with and we also discussed some special ed issues and with that we have program motion number one have a motion please is there a second second any questions comments or discussion if not the questions on the adoption of program number program motion number one all those in favor say I I and oppos say no any exensions that just policy okay the policy is on for first read this evening the first policy uh the fifth actually it's last one here uh so let's start with 4121 and 4123 both of those um were older policies that needed to be renewed the policy 4151 uh we currently did not have this policy so this is um the adoption the first read for the adoption of this policy and 5142 uh we have staff members that are trained in these procedures and it was something suggested um from our qap review to have this policy and that is on for first read as well thank you and there are no policy motions for approval so that us can I just add one comment on that I know it was brought up from the 5142 maybe we could just consult with cpag just to see I know there was a note on that I think it might be good I get why we have the policy why it's out there but you just your them outen just suggestion also have a question on that Z referen several times in the policy um policy regulation 5561 which was not on our website so I don't know if we don't have a 5561 but how what can you explain so the policy that we're using as our you know standard that we were going to use is Mountain Lakes um has this policy and we advised by the county office we should have it as well the policy we're working off of is from Mountain Lakes um school boards does does have a model policy but it's two pages long which makes it extensive um we wanted one to be more assistant and spoke to the deescalation techniques that districts um employ and it protects this policy kind of protects both the staff and the students um in both cases so it's something that again it was recommended from qac and we looked at the Mountain Lakes policy um and that's what we're using so if there's references um can we grab that one and it might just be a proof reading do we have also no no there is no 5 it or it yes yes I'll that likes using stess as me believe for their their sample policies you know we primarily abuse New Jersey school boards Association but both both are you know very good sources of same policies and time we do pick others and with that we have come to open session number two the second public comment period will be open in topic please be mindful that public comment periods are available to enable the public to get comments and feedback to the board personal matters and day-to-day operations are not appropriate subjects for board meetings he can always be most effectively resolved with the appropriate staff members or administers according to the chain command concept questions may be directed to the appropriate School Personnel or or through email please St your name and address for the record and all comments are lied to 5 minutes would anyone like to address the board on any topic yes hi H laar 28 Mook Road um I have a few subjects that I wanted to bring up um so one is the science of reading uh you know with sort of uh the national tenor and you know various States adopting a uh different type of way to teach reading than what we currently teach here I understand that it is a bit of a lift in order to train teach teachers on how to sort of go into this more scientific method um of teaching and that you know basically this balance balanced literacy is being being debunked so structured literacy I get the names confused myself but you know that that that might be a more robust and well-rounded way to go about it and you know I hope that through the curriculum planning the board is considering options with ways to sort of improve and provide access to all of our students um with regards to uh structured literacy and not being caught by surprise should it pass through legislation in the state of New Jersey um I want to thank the board for their transparency with all these handouts with accommodations written out on the back you've saved my hand thank you very much it is really welcome to see this level of detail provided um I also wanted to say uh if we could I think there were a few things that were mentioned in the cpeg um committee report and it was not heard by the audience so I was hopeful that perhaps after this we could just reread that that would be really grateful for that and um because there was important things and I I know I could not hear them enough to write them down and then the last thing was in the policy we list these various policies here especially the ones that are first read policies is there a way that um the public has access to read them before they go through the final approval process like if if they are available where would I find them and how do I get to see what they are there these are already listed on the website okay thank you ask before you know so I guess you know thank you for your comments literacy that's something our program committee can can take into consideration as we discuss program uh I think your question was answer about policies that are the first policies are usually on the um Board of Ed website under the agendas and under you know for this meeting so you'll find it those there for in between now and the next meeting so if anyone has comments or suggestions we welcome them just email can email me and uh sure I all your questions perhaps after the Open session we could just go over those special events seag are hosting so that at least the camera can catch it anybody reviewing it can have it sure so the main takeaways for C are that on March 19th at the United Methodist Church uh there's going to be a meeting where the survey results are going to be shared and discussed then April lanting a month later there will be a curent listening night and all you know interested people who are um you know who have uh who have to do with um special education issues are invited to come and attend ensure their thoughts and provide feedb and that's going to take place at [Music] 7:30 and then in April also but we don't know the date yet there's going to be a virtual presentation and it's going to be on transition process from high school to college for special education students thank you sure okay thank you very much uh is there anyone else for the public that wishes to address the board on any matter of this time yes uh Rich make use of fourth King Street I just want to take a comment about something you said very in your statement about the negotiation um and you mentioned that M Lakes is sticking to the per student cost and that's something that you're not looking to at least not looking to entertain or at least at the level they doing and I I just want to make a comment from the Committees um I think you're kind of in the driver receipt there because let's face it if you take the 198 kids out that Mr Mur sing and have $3.9 million that's all incremental costs their budget's not going to go down by $3.9 million so I just want you to keep that in the back of your head as you're discussing this amongst yourselves because at the end of the day if if we wind up going somewhere else which that's not what I want um I don't think there's a lot of people want that it's not this um but if that happened and they're probably the best case scenario 2.9 Million in a whole so think about that as your as your negotiator thank you thank you for your comments thank you and yes Mar pasella at 12 Dogwood Lane could somebody speak to the defeat of the referend happen now um yeah briefly um you know of course we're going to uh review review the process review you know um you how how things you progress from beginning to end we'll evaluate the projects um at this point we're going to since things evolved in a way over the past year where everything sort of landed in our lap at one time we're going tobly you know not we may pursue things you know uh in at the committee level but we're probably not going to roll forward in in anything public until we resolve our not L's issue we have to focus our attention on on establishing a tuition rate you know for high school students so right now we're going to focus our attention on that we will absolutely review um you know what about the referendum and and the you know the projects within and you know we learn the projects need to be done so we will you revie you know what we kind of can do and certainly move forward with a new is any is the state money affected by this or does that you still retain it or do you lose it or what happens to that pce what happens with the referendum process is if you know at some point down the road if we you know proceed with another referendum package um we submited new application to the state um I believe typically there are funds available you know for these projects um so you're you know put in a new pool of applications and hopefully the same amount of money would be there and and you know for projects that qualify for the matching funds they they would hopefully be matched up at that time so we believe that is still you know would happen down the road based on I guess experience but that money is lost yeah this particular project you you go through the process you know brand new again and you know the presumption is there will be money in the later you know budget years with the state for for the projects you know because school districts all over the state are constantly need in need of Capital Improvements to those those funds so we presume that those funds will be available to the extent they were this time for a new application so you won't be discussing it until I mean will you be talking maybe in parallel with your negotiations with Mount Lake m l i mean that you see will you still be talking about the referendum or you're not even going to touch a subject until that relationship is settled there's nothing I think we wouldn't want to roll something out to the public uh until that is resolved um because that may have certainly impacted you know the you know how people felt about voting on The referendum but we would likely have discussions of course you know amongst ourselves you know in committees and otherwise to you know move forward of course the projects do need to be addressed so we're absolutely going to continue discussing those projects um and and and hopefully at the appropriate time you know come up with a new new plan to get some of those projects done was the was the pr firm hired already or was second down I mean was there any PR firm involved with this whole passage right now so is that relationship I mean did we actually pay them out that full sum or was it prated or where does that stand am I correct that that sum was about 6,000 no okay not all thaty to the architect is the rest how much was spent for the pr FR approximately 45,000 45,000 what was the scope of their work it's it was a voluminous Mr Pas I could not tell you in in providing like an itemized list of everything that they did but I I have approximately 800 emails that were traded back and forth between the public relations firm myself and other people in the district over a two- Monon period leading up to the referendum of things that we obviously did to help facilitate the process and what I can just say if you don't mind Mr I'm not speaking on behalf of the board obviously I'm very disappointed in the outcome um but with anything you have to reflect and now we're in this reflection phase of okay why didn't it work and I think as Mr Brer indicated it was a perfect storm of sorts with all the things that are going on between the municipal complex between uh the negotiations with Lakes so I just think there were a lot of forces that were at work we obviously have no way of knowing how people voted the way that they did but certainly as you reflect on this you try to find out in general why people voted the way that they did and perhaps it was a project based perhaps it was this perfect storm perhaps we need to look down the road at how we modify these projects moving forward maybe we leave some in maybe we take some out but those are the discussions that I think now what will happen is obviously in committee with the board we'll have those discussions but to Mr Brenner's Point what we have to focus on right now is yes the the the boote was was unsuccessful we were defeated in that endeavor but we have to focus on mountains and you know see where we're going to head there but I don't want the public to think that we just take this as all right or certainly I don't that it's defeated and we're done not trying to but I have two more questions if I may was a PR firm responsible I for Designing those little signs that were out on the road for vote you didn't like them Asal here's my issue and yeah and yes they were but you can blame me because I ultimately approved was just too much onad photo and then the wind came and knocked out some of the signs that were on the side of the road but yes ultimately they designed it but I was responsible I responsible because because I have an issue even with Town Hall with their bizarre designs all over the place I mean you know you want to get a message of Cl a flash like you know a picture boom so you see it not like trying to figure out what was that I said consul I just but thank you yes Mary leborn drive so for the past two summers living like behind the school I've seen them working on the roof for two summers and only a third of the roof roof was completed in two summers is that correct it's it's a little more than a third okay probably about 35% at a cost of in one year was in in with all design phase and with the actual construction about 800,000 and about 900 another year again postco and and supply chain we never expect the kind of costs that are but that's the reality it's 1.7 for about 35% so we're up to maybe another 4 million so we're having a $5 million less than that again but I'm just trying to say by by the time we're all said and done it's going to be $4 million I'll say that for another flat roof there is more of a pitch to these roofs okay so where the new faal board the new aluminum is is that parts that they've done where all where all the new is yeah so B basically they did the uh lower gym roof they did the area up by here all around this whole area the bigger portions that have to be done are the upper gym uh this past summer they did the whole Middle School wing that was a leaky uh leaky faucet there and they're going to do the wing going down through grades four and five all the way down to music room so forth that's the biggest portion uh So within the funds we have we were trying to fit in what we can do sure so since you had that money previously for the past two summers to work on is there any money this year to work on it uh again we'll have discussions in in facilities and finance there are funds available again local funds but because of the timing you'll never get a design you'll never get Trenton to approve anything for this sum no I understand that I'm just saying we had money before I didn't know if there was any kind of money to even do the gym CU that's all I keep hearing about is how you know awful that is and you don't want kids to slip and fall and all that kind of stuff so I just didn't know since we've done it before the referendum if there's any money moving forward to every year do a portion I can answer yes but that that would take you know a number of years and again you so we have a maintenance plan now to to address that in the interum okay that's there are plans and recommendations going forward to and as our contingency plan how do we deal with these issues those will be discussed okay thank you thank you very much I remember Mar complain um as part of you do the reflection as just something that you may not think about like I was looking at the numbers of who voted and I guess I'm always curious how much of the school population parents actually came out to vote and that can be identified and I you know I don't know if there's any appetite to even go take a look to see like hey did we even get our did we get our parents to get out and support this at this point so I would suggest that that is an Avenue to look at I mean you know it might be something an eye opener say boy you could even get the parents out and and TR me maybe but maybe you did I don't know no no we have not but trust me that is something that we will look at in the coming months you know it's it's it's one of those things if I can just speak very candidly you know you work this hard I'm speaking for you work this hard on this project you don't see it coming to fruition it's disappointing and years ago when I coached when I was a high school coach football track and field and coached my kids with lacrosse I always had a rule with parents and the rule was very simply good bad or indifferent Win Lose or tie give us 24 hours don't approach us right away within 24 hours because one way or another you may have someone that's unhappy someone that's happy you know so this this is one of those moments where it's like we need 24 hours to just digest this with with what's happen and then we're already in the works with the reflection process and what we can do to think about how we want to move forward if that's what the board chooses to do if that's what the board wants to Endeavor towards but as I said you know there are a lot of other considerations right now but among others it would be reaching out to those in the community not just parents all others in our community former parents seniors whoever it is students that are able to vote right now and just getting an an idea of why you felt strongly one way or the other and what we can do to help effectuate change with projects and otherwise down the road that that'll be important for us right thank you for your question and is there anyone else that wish to address the board on any Topic at this one yes uh Brendan Ellers 337 powerville Road um the one comment I I wanted to make on the the referendum is um I thought that the actual education and opportunities that you guys provided were really really excellent I thought the the tour that we did through the school was very informative and I thought the virtual Q&A session was um hopefully well attended but very informative as well uh my only suggestion might be considered doing possibly more and earlier in the process I feel like it took a lot of a lot of Education to convince people to come around to these projects cost what they cost and the high numbers are just what they are and maybe earlier in the process may have given more time for more people to come around to to yes great thank you those comments you know we appreciate that well thank you is there anyone else yes uh Rich m is of for King Street Mr Mills kind of asked this question to to Mr Murray they weren't enough handout so I'm not so sure if it's on there but talked about the reserve and and tying into what these ladies were speaking about the referendum getting defeated in the gym roof um when I was involved across the border there was a a recommendation by the state in terms of how much Reserve you have I guess my question is I didn't see the number but Mr Murray which have you followed that recommendation with this budget because obviously the gym grof is going to be done um and probably some other things I'm just curious how much of that Reserve is is uh you how I guess I'm a big fan of reserve my wife not so much um so I'm just curious if you follow kind of that recommendation the the state I'm answer that question the state basically will tell you the maximum you can put into res which is up to the amount in in our in your facil long range facility plant the number in our facility plant is $10 million that's the maximum and again you're talking about the state it's a ma you can put in we have enough reserves to do projects again timing of projects uh you know planning project getting down Tren but we have funds available on a local level again no State money local level to do some of the projects that we have to discuss with facilities Finance but again Plan B absent of the referenda is to see how we can do these but to answer your question about reserves uh I've made a plan over the years and the board is very receptive of it to to put money in reserves for those particular reasons and and uh districts are allowed also to keep money 2% is is the limit for Surplus Reserve un Reserve fund Val those things are the rainy day funds for you know capital capital can only be used for capital projects your rainy day fund if we ever have an un unexpected uh boiler or something else like that again that could be Capital but we also have have a district placements of the canas so you don't want to dip into that savings account but the reserves for Capital um we want to you prudent about it but we want to use it effectively to do this project thank you thank you and would anyone else board on any matter e Bron and I dve um just building on what Brendan said too um and what Dr Angelo said that when you're looking and reflecting um and asking on the community stakeholders and you know um students and to go here everyone that was mentioned please do also include um cpeg and um special education um parents I know that um you know with things like three sections of kindergarten coming up it does present space issues with some of our special education children um I know that there Dr Lind has has been amazing with her creativity and um Conjuring up some space for our kids but in the Upper Grade 7eventh eth grades for example there were maybe eight or nine kids who did not have dedicated classroom space um they did find places to learn and I think that I'm all for creativity and making that happen but that was a serious consideration for the special ed community of which there are upwards of 60 parents voting members of the community so please I know that discussions take place in committee meetings behind the scene and programming but please do also um please include um people like Dr lendis Mrs Vorhees Amelia Endy and myself to alesser degree but please do um keep us in the conversations thank you m I think we'll include you more not L as you said that that is there are there any other comments on any matter questions or comments on any matter would like to gr okay if not that brings us to whole business I will I will take the opportunity which I should have done earlier to thank all of our school staff administrators all who were involved in the referendum in from beginning to end and I know every time I came here over the last many months you know there is a flurry of activity going on behind the scenes that many of you don't see but um you know there's a lot of effort that went into U creating the referendum and and going through the process and you know I want to thank all the folks that were involved very much for all their hard work and I know a lot so thank you all and with that is there any other old business before board is there any new business to come before the board and I don't believe we have a need to go to close session again so with that we have a motion to adjourn is there a second neb say I thank you thank you very much all for coming and