e e e e e e e e e e I'm glad you're here and we're really friendly up here come on you can sit up here we don't bite I promise sit up here so I would just like to call the meeting to order and I would ask Mary for a roll call on attendance Miss Sebert yes Miss Kennedy yes Miss D Benedictus yes Miss aanon yes Mr Mesmer yes Miss picala yes Miss wreb no Mr Edwards the New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Bricktown board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be posted on the administration office Bolton board the official District website and and channel btv2 Cent the Asbury Park Press time start Ledger and Municipal clerk's office thank you Mr Edwards I would ask you to please now stand for the off flag salute and a moment of sileny to the flag of the United States of America to the rep for it stands Nation God indivisible andice for all thank you all right I guess I'm on off oh often it may appear to members of our audience that the Board of Education acts with very little comment and in many cases a unanimous vote please understand that before a matter is placed on the agenda at a public meeting the Administration has thoroughly reviewed the matter with this with superintendent of schools discussed it in appropriate Boe committees and only then if the superintendent is satisfied that the matter is ready to be presented to the full Board of Education it is placed on the agenda for Action at a public meeting board of education members are given advanced notice to review the agenda and through the chair ask questions or voice concerns in rare instances when necessary some matters could be presented to the board of education for discussion and vote at the meeting I'd ask Dr farell to um uh present the amended 20 24 2025 budget thank you Mr Malla um we have an amended uh tentative uh budget presentation with some changes Miss mcar will play it we may need to hit some lights 2024 2025 amended tentative budget the currently approved budget has a tax levy increase of 2.99% this approved budget cut 51 and a half positions and has an average class size of 30 with 17 Elementary sections 31 or more the recommended new amended tentative budget is recommending an additional tax levy increase of 3.4% which would restore 51 a half positions the new total tax levy increase would be 6.4% as stated the current approved budget cut 51 a half positions the amended budget has an additional tax Levy increase of 3.4% or 4,153 se5 and this restores the 51 a half positions at approximately $80,000 per position or per full-time equivalent this also restores additional Elementary class sections to alleviate large class sizes the proposed position I to be restored in the amended tentative budget will have a significant impact on class sizes and programs at the elementary level it will provide for all classes K through five to be under 30 thereby making the average class size in K to2 24 the average class size in 3 through 5 25 the average class size in 1 through 5 24 and the overall class size at the elementary level K to 5 25 presented here is the amounts to be approved to support the amended budget which is also what is stated in the board resolution this will be the first opportunity for public comment and will be for agenda items only the board invites thoughts and reactions on agenda items each participant is asked to give his or her name prior to making a statement all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer which is me today and the board will not during the public portion of this meeting discuss matters involving employment appointment termination of employment negotiations terms and conditions of employment evaluation of the performance of promotion or disciplining of any specific or perspective or current employee Andor students I invite you to come to the microphone if you'd like to express yourself nobody yeah um we're going to take a five minute recess hoping that one of you will get up and um we're just going to wait um for a couple minutes let just discuss amongst ourselves please stay seated e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e if the board members could return to their seats please and U we're going to proceed all right I'll put it on the speaker so you can hear and then be able to cast the vote when it comes no no listen life H life happens we're we're calling into our our board president she she's in a predicament right now and can't and can't get here um she will be here eventually Mr Edwards will you introduce you want to talk now or you want to wait for the second public whatever you want are we still on public comment we didn't close it yeah we didn't close it so we didn't close it so we're we're thrilled to hear from you can you state your name yes sure my name is Lori Cotman I am a brick resident I am a parent of alumni of all brick schools and I am also a teacher at Lan mill first of all I want to thank the board of education for this um beautiful beautiful but budget proposal um I love very much how you considered all of the things that were discussed at our last meeting uh all those ideas that came from the parents teachers uh from the heart and I appreciate that uh we appreciate that you're restoring the positions that were eliminated and that you were able to do it without completely going to the very very top of what we were allowed to do I think that Spirit of compromise really shows that you care about this community and you care about the children that we are here to be le leading since this is a student um centered teacher-led District so thank you very much I'm sure that was a lot of hard work we appreciate it and I'm speaking for myself but I don't think I'm speaking just for myself when I wholeheartedly hope that this budget passes thank you thank you for your coming oh um Mr blim Kevin ble 478 B Vista Road uh also Brick Township education association's president um first of all I the last meeting I left you guys with an ask I asked you guys to take another look at 4161 and I want to thank you for your diligence and looking into to it and amending the budget to be presented to be voted on um just with that being said that's that's a huge huge win uh for everybody here um as I said at the last meeting this was our last resort what we had to go to we exhausted all other avenues that we went down okay we everybody was fighting for this it it wasn't our fault it was all all had to do with with S2 not the teachers faults not the board's fault or anybody's fault when I look at that budget I was I I almost had tears to my eyes I was ecstatic because not only did you bring back in this budget all the teachers but you brought back all staff we're all one because what this really comes down to is the kids it really comes down to the elementary school kids and the middle school kids and the high school kids the preschool kids everybody that's in this district and the class sizes because it is impossible to teach with 40 kids Plus in the classroom and I think it's a very responsible budget I think again of course I would love to it to go to the max but I'm a realist too okay it's it's it's a tough decision for you guys to make um but I believe you guys did the right thing whoever worked on this budget thank you everybody I know you put a lot of time into it and I hope we send a message to our community and the vote is unanimous that this is what we care about we care about our kids our kids are the PRI our priority our teachers we we're in a nationwide teacher shortage AG so our teachers going to find another job somewhere they may even negotiate a higher salary so it's really not about teachers it's about children and we have to look at what what's it going to cost the taxpayer what a night out a dinner hey that's if that is our kids education is worth that if that if that's I don't know the numbers of how much more it will be but it's it can't be any more than a night out at dinner okay let's spend the night at home with the kids put the technology away have a car night hey order some pizza the BTA has a um we have this um grant that we call it's called Pride we change the name to pep um we use over for we had over $40,000 this year you know go out to one of those nights we had sign night we had um all all sorts of things where you get the students and the parents involved okay so we're putting our part into this too you know it does it's not like it can't go in the budget but us as the BTA we're actually helping out the district um just a couple of things that we have done was um the um in the center of vets L Elementary what what's the name of that what do you guys call that I the the courtyard yeah yeah we donated $10,000 to that I know I can never remember the name of it but uh but anyway the BTA does contribute to The District in other ways other that we can't in the budget so again it's not all about you know greedy teachers you know it's not it's not that it's about the kids so I thank you for for doing that and I just have one more ask and I think I already asked I think you know what it is please vote unanimously for this and let's send a message to our community thank you thank you Mr BL she's GNA get here Michelle chorus 213 orial Trail um speaking not only as an employee of the district but more so as a parent I beg you I beg you for the sake of my son and his friends and all the children in our elementary schools and the schools throughout the district please pass this budget It's a Wonderful budget this makes me so happy to see those class-size numbers come down um hearing of parents think about withdrawing their own kids and sending them to private schools because of the fear they have of what changes will happen in this District a district that that I loved working in so much that I bought a house in this District to raise my son in this District because I believe in our Educators and our principes and the board as a district we have worked below adequacy for decades and then the state punished us we did what we could to fight that I'm sure we'll continue to fight that but in the meantime we have to do what we got to do for the sake of our kids and our our community and what I've seen change over the past few years because of S2 if there is a way that we can prevent that from happening and put Band-Aids on this in any way possible that we can within our control I beg you to do that not just for the sake of employment and my colleagues but for my child and for all the kids in this District so we can continue to provide the tremendous education that this district has always been known for doing so thank you for revising the budget I beg you to please vote for that and on behalf of everyone thank you thank you very much my name's Jim Marvin I'm one of the assistant principls of Brick Township High School and as of July 1 the president of the Brick Township administrators and supervisors Association just wanted to take a moment to thank the board of education for considering the proposal uh which will help all the students of Brick Township as well as the district as Board of Education members we understand the efforts you do to do what's best for our community as well as the students in that Community this proposal will help the students and Inter the community which I know means so much to all of us so thank you for your consideration and thank you all for all the work you did on it thank you Mr M I'm looking for a um parent or taxpayer who might want to get up and express their um feelings tonight come on we don't bite you that no I know um my name is O'Neal I live on too drive um I have uh twin boys in fifth grade at leans Mel and I have a daughter who'll be entering seventh grade at um that's midle so I am thrilled to know that my children or at least my sons will not be in classrooms with over 30 students neither of which I think will be successful um in that setting um I I would disagree with the person who said it's not about the teachers it is about the teachers it's about the teachers equal with our students if we don't have the teachers our students don't learn so I think it is a 5050 um I'm grateful to see that you've looked at this budget that you've put back and restored what was coming out I guess my question and my challenge to you is why can't we go more if you put it up to a vote to this town about will they support our schools I don't believe they would we asked them to give us money for safety measures across the district before Dr frell was here and it failed so to me as a town it's up to you guys so if it is Reach for the Stars year it should reach we should be reaching for those Stars I I love that my taxes aren't going any higher than what they are but I would happily pay more to get more back for our classrooms to restore the programs that have been dismantled to give back more to the teachers at work 247 to give back to our students who benefit from their hard work so if that's a half a percent if it's a full perc if it's 99.9% and I'm sure I'm in the minority when I say that we've taken so much for them all of them all of you for five years this town has got to step up and it it it's sad but if you actually put a vote out there I believe on a ballot it this measure would fail at the percentage that it is now and if you disagree well then you're much more positive about it than I am but I don't think it would and if it's it's got to be this community these teachers these parents that are willing to say it's our time it's our kids are do this we're all do this they are the future of our town they are future of our state and they are the future of our country and we owe it to all of them thank you thank you very much hello my name is Kimberly suek I reside at 640 Hill Drive Brick um I am a resident as a resident here um taxpayer it it is what it is we have to do what we have to do so I appreciate what you have put together and when I first saw it I saw it but I didn't want to believe it because I don't want to get too excited so as a teacher I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart as a parent I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart and as someone who resides in the town I want to say to you thank you from the bottom of my heart we weren't um we're just excited about it so I know the group that I am with um saw what was up there and got very excited because a lot of us are affected by this a lot of us that w were not expecting to be affected by this R so to see those numbers up there thank you we know that it wasn't easy we know that a lot of decisions still have to be made and we're hoping that you will see that this is best for the children to restore these classrooms and to bring these teachers back um when the numbers get as high as they are it's just glorified babysitting and we as teachers do not want to have to be babysitters because we're all better than that so once again thank you and we appreciate you putting this together for us thank you hi um I don't know what to say I'm a parent uh my name is Megan McAn I live 438 Carol Avenue I have a fourth grader coming up and a kindergartener at vets I'm also vice president of the PTA so the PTA does a lot and everything in the school but it really is the teachers that matter my daughter started in first grade here because of the pandemic she went to a private school um her teachers have been amazing she's had three really great teachers and her class sizes have been 24 students which I think is more than enough um I don't see teachers being able to take on much more than that I'm actually a trainer for a bank and I have like 10 people in a class and I train adults and that's hard enough so I give teachers all the credit in the world because they have so much patience they do so much for these kids they spend out of their own Pockets parents and PTA try to donate what they can but this budget needs to get ped because I have two kids now coming into this school and I really need them to be able to get the correct education that they need and the attention from these really amazing teachers that we have here so please if there's anything you can do to pass this I know what the other woman was saying with it being hard to pass through the town we do have a big senior community um but hopefully a lot of the grandparents pitch in and everybody can vote you know for the town if the taxes go up I'd rather it's go to my kids instead of something else so if my taxes go up I got the notice the other day if it goes to the kids that's fine so thank you thank you for your [Applause] comment hi my name is Brandon parado I reside at 52 tiller Lane um most importantly I am a parent of two young girls girls who one will be entering Warren Wolf and the other one is going into first grade at drump point I am also an educator at osbornville elementary school um and I myself went through the brick public school system from kindergarten graduated Old Brick 2004 my experience with education as a student in Brick is something that I know myself and all of my classmates hold and cherish um my handful of friends friends the places that they have gone is amazing and we always say it's because of what was built here at Brick and now teaching I have seen the ups and the downs but I would hate to see it dismantled and I fear with the old budget that is where we were going um our Town's Administration and Town Hall has done a beautiful job of being kind to us with taxes but now's the time we need to something has to happen because I want my kids to experience what I experienced here in Brick All Those Years thank you thank [Applause] you would anybody else like to um discuss their um perspective I just want to clarify the process so everybody knows this doesn't go to the to constituency for a votee uh like we said two weeks ago we would probably have a special meeting to have this tentative amended budget which we vote on in the resolution it goes to the county soup and then in two weeks from tonight our regular meeting on July 16 which I encourage you all to come as well on July 16th that would be the vote to adopt it and we would actually um renew many of the staff that were non-renewed at that that meeting if that's adopted so I just want and then that's it so it does not have to go out th those days are years ago and over where you went out to the public uh for a complete vote so that that would be the process so July 16th would be the final adoption of this so and I'm kind of glad that we just have this resolution on tonight like we spoke about and it was a few board members idea just to have a you know a very transparent open meeting that just had this resolution and we'll have that same presentation again um we really didn't need to do a presentation tonight from the the doe guidelines but we thought it was important to do that so you see what the class size would look like for that and then um have it um for the 16th of July which is two weeks from tonight and all the summer meetings as like last year are 6m just a reminder thank you thank you so we can close public I think so any other public oh sorry uh family situation that couldn't be helped um any other public comment seeing none we'll close the public comment portion Mr Edwards yes thank you Miss wreb uh this evening the superintendent recommends item one um I need a motion in a second second alley any board let's vote seeing none Mary Miss Sebert a million percent yes Miss Kennedy for the kids and for the teachers yes Miss de Benedictus yes Miss aanon yes Mr Mesmer yes miss picala your turn yes Miss wre absolutely yes thank you this is the second opportunity for public comment each participant is asked to give his or her name prior to making a statement all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer comments shall be limited to 5 minutes and each speaker may only speak once the board will not during the public portion of this meeting discuss matters involving employment appointment termination of employment negotiations terms and conditions of employment evaluation of the performance of promotion or disciplining of any specific or perspective or current employee and or students is there anyone for public comment seeing none we'll close public comment um any board comments Mike so I just wanted to say uh so my mindset throughout this entire process with the you know 25 different proposals that we looked at um my I I always wanted to make sure that we would not lose a single position that was always the mindset of myself and I'm pretty confident I won't speak for everyone else that was always the board's mindset so I'm really happy that was a unanimous vote and I think this is a win for the district while limiting the impact of the taxpayer as much as we possibly could so that's it thank you Mike Madam yes I also would like to thank everyone for attending tonight it's very important to us because this was not an easy decision for all of us from the beginning we said we wanted to keep class sizes down that was the most important thing to us second was the most important is saving all the jobs um the burden on the taxpayers it's there because this is just our burden for them with the schools but our children do have to come first we've said that from the beginning we've seen the changes in the schools we've heard what you're going through and um we have been getting millions and millions of phone calls so it we work together it was tough it was a very very very tough decision um again my my grandchildren are in this school I went to this school I work for this town and I see the change and you people are very important and I'm depending upon you we're putting ourselves out for you thank you thank you meline um Fran thank you guys again for coming out I want to see more of this but um thank you guys so much for coming out yeah this was not easy um the amount of concealer I have on the bags under my eyes from all the sleepless nights is like caked um but thank you guys so much and thanks um I'm a mom my husband is uh Old Brick class of 99 um and you know we did this for the kids it's not easy and but we also have to have this crazy balance of okay the kids and the teachers who we adore and everything but we also have to make sure that these kids maintain a roof over their heads and nobody's losing their homes because of the massive tax increase and it's it's not easy um so yeah I'd love to say yes give them 30% because we want to have all the things um but it's just it's not possible but thank you guys for being awesome teachers I see a lot of my kids teachers um but thank you guys and yay we did it thank you friend um Ally real quick I just wanted to thank Mike for our phone conversations to help break things down for I am not a numbers gal so I do appreciate the time on the phone to explain and um uh Mr bleam with your suggestion of staying in one night I think would be an amazing fundraiser or or event for the PT to maybe hold a parents night out so you take our kids and we could just stay home cuz we can't go out and have drinks anymore because we just got a little tax increase so you know just put that out there maybe just saying um and thank you it's so wonderful to see all the teachers thank you guys we know it's summer I hope you're enjoying the beach I work in a school I'm a 12-month employee so I sit at my desk all day and answer the non- ringing phone um that's it and parents thank you for coming we appreciate you Fran and I were actually discussing and then I'll be done that we used to be on that side and we sat for years as the only ones on that side with Mr Finelli and we need Replacements so any of you parents that are here today we would love to see you on the other side maybe with some chatting up at the lecturn during the meeting but we need we need we need to see more of you guys so it's important to us so thanks for coming thanks Ellie Nicole thank you that's it it's really we say it's all about the kids they're first obviously I have two kids in the district you know most of you have taught them or know of them but it's also about you guys the decision goes about you guys too you know you're teaching our babies you're in control of our babies you're in control of their future and it wasn't just the kids that went into that decision it was all of you and what you guys bring to the table so thank you you have my support a million perc my husband's mad that I raised my own taxes so this is what we do but I would raise them all for you guys just to keep every single one of you in more but thank you for coming out hopefully we didn't pull you off the beach too soon thanks Nicole Victoria I would just like to say that this was not a difficult decision for me we the Board of Education had the opportunity to give to our kids and our Educators Way Beyond more that the state would ever give them and I want you to know that I feel there should be a new standard I support the parent that got up the two parents that got up you young lady and um I I really think that when we invest in our students and our school system everybody wins our property values go up our um our prestige in the Ocean County Community goes up and I I I think it's all about just looking at the students and not um you know a $10 a month additional tax credit uh payment I'm sorry so having said that I really appreciate how hard Dr farell I don't know if you all know he has an MBA in addition to his Ed um Dr frell worked very very hard on this and he colled and um he really wanted the board to reach consensus and I'm glad that we did um and I'm proud that our teachers feel supported and I'm so thrilled to see each of you tonight I'm so glad the parents came out I'm so glad Mr tell me how to pronounce your name Kevin ble ble Mr bleam is here I'm so I say blime what but it's but it's an e it's an eim right bleam I got it so I would just like to say again thank you for coming to all of our administrators who came out tonight who know how much it means to our teachers uh for us to pass this budget I appreciate your presence tonight thank you very much thank you Victoria um I just I'm not going to make this any longer than than we have to but I'm very proud of the district and proud of um all your parents coming out and the Educators coming out to really um give us your feedback and especially La at last month's meeting um it's important when you guys come out and give us uh some of your perspective how much it does help us when we're having conversations and really trying to figure out what is in um the best interest of the district and it also helps us um sometimes there's another perspective that we may not have thought about so it would be great if all you guys came back on July 16th uh our regular public uh hearing uh for the budget and regular meeting at 6 pm here and then August 29th we also have our next regular meeting I want to thank the board for all their hard work I was uh in Texas for 3 weeks my daughter I have another grandson my fourth uh grandchild um and thank you and I really Victoria and Mike did a great job um on the finance committee really um communicating and talking and working together with Dr Ferell and then I appreciate Mike you really as our chair taking uh the lead and making sure that you touched base um with other board members we had a great conversation when I got back I appreciate um it was really the first time that I've really got to to take a break uh for a family uh matter and I appreciate you really stepping up and really handling that all that while um I was gone so I need a motion and a second uh for adjournment motion Fran second Ali Barry Miss cber yes Miss Kennedy yes Miss D Benedictus yes Miss aanon yes Mr Mesmer yes Miss PCA yes Miss W yes thank you everyone see you in July for