Thank you for your patience. We'll get started in just a minute. Just a Very sensitive microphones. So we are welcome to our Board of Education special action agenda meeting. Work session. You're calling your meeting to order and please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. Mrs. Sugars, can you please call the role? Mrs. Sheriffane here, Mrs. Gallagher here, Mr. Greenbound. Here, Mr. Mayor. Dr. Rude, here. Mrs. Yeah. Yeah, Mrs. Winters here, Miss Stern. Here, MISSUS SIGGERS, and we are our first order of business is our Chaka poster essay contest. So I turned over to Dr. Morton. Thank you very much, Mr. Stern. I'm very excited tonight to be joined by some special guest. And we will be recognizing students for their participation in the Cherry Hill African American Civic Association's poster slash essay contest. I'm gonna call up Miss Jenkins up to the microphone. Who's gonna share? Information about the contest this year and award. Our recipients. Good afternoon. Well, good evening. But this contest this year was their stories matter. African-americans in our schools and community. And we had just. Some very quality entries. So what you'll see on our front row right here are the persons who were the subject of those projects. So there, I'll let you know as we go through them. So our first award goes to Avery M Congo. From Red Hart and I'm going to ask the subject of her award Francesca Aldrich to stand. You're gonna. Shake hands, you wanted to shake hands. And that was our kindergarten first grade first place. Now for the second and third grade, we had a 3. 3 way tie for first place. So our first first place winner isn't here and that's Lindsay Langman. She is going to be in the sound of music so she's at play rehearsal. At West so she couldn't be here. Our second first place winner. Is Amir Austin. Good job. You know this way. Our third first place winner for second and third is Mason Mcdaniel. Okay. Thank you. Okay, and we'll get your card to you. Our second place winner for the second third grade is Chloe Anderson. Hold on. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Our third place winner in the second and third grade is Baylor Black. Now, this. Well, what we have to tell you is that the person who she interviewed was her mother, Mackay, Hicks Black. She's disabled over there. But Taylor did above and beyond because not only did she do a post or she did a video as well. Okay. Now we have our fourth, fifth grade Chase Williams. Now. The objects, the subjects of these, his interview make and stand is Linda King and Carlton Williams. He did his family members. Alright, we have another Langman and there, Andrew Langman was. Second place in the sixth seventh grade. And he is not here, but first place in the sixth, seventh grade is Xavier Austin. Now, Xavier has been entering these contests since he was this high. So now he's taller than I am. And we have Isabel Kushner, she's the third place winner. So for our eighth and ninth grade winner, we have Logan Walker from Kurusi. I don't know if she's here. But the second place winner is Nim Di Toront. The subject of her. Essay was me. I'm her grandmother. Okay, next we have Elias Kang. He's our third place winner. For our tenth and eleventh grade. Our first place winner is Seiku Terrant and The subject of his, this is Dorothy Wood, she's a very good friend of mine and he interviewed, what was the title, the incredible. Something the incredible Dorothy would or something like that. But anyway. Okay, good. Okay, we have. D. Did I miss somebody's subject? I did. Come on, we'll come back to that. Yeah. She interviewed one of her teachers to Nietra Rogers from East. Right? Oh, I didn't. Okay. Alright, so we're gonna, Xavier, if you can come up again and Alan Trotti, if you can come up to. I didn't know he was here. This is the subject of his essay. So, yes, we're gonna take a picture. Of mirror come back up. The subject of hers, Victoria Carroll. Sharing fourth. Oh, I'm sorry. Here's Jerry Ford. I'll get it right. All right, getting back on track. Sophia Bass. She And her subject was her grandmother who lives in New York. Okay. And the last person is our senior, Kyle. They feel. Hey, Kyle is also the recipient of a a basket by CETA and it's to start you on your way to go to college. So there's some things in there. I'll drop it off. Thank you. Congratulations to all of the students. Hope that you all feel so proud of what you've accomplished. Okay, and we move on to. Presentations and it seems like we don't have any tonight and we also do not have any administrative reports, Dr. Morton. Okay. So now we move on to correspondence. Do any board members have any correspondence they'd like to share? I guess we'll just give it a second. Well, everyone empties the room and then we'll. Okay. Okay, so let's move on to correspondence. Do any board members have correspondence? Mrs. Yes, so I had the absolute honor of attending Chario West Junior Rotc's military ball on Friday evening. It was a really fantastic event. Everybody was dressed to the nines. Everybody had a great time. They even convinced my husband to partake in some of the traditions of the evening as a reminiscent of his time in the military. So it was really nice and I promised that I would give a shout out to the staff at Cherry Hill West for their sick dance moves on the dance floor. But it was a really great evening. Thank you for letting us know. Sounds like. Appreciate you're going there, especially after your very busy week. So thank you. And other board members, This is Niaz. So I had the pleasure of going to the Beauty and the Beast, play at Khrushchev Middle School and then I also went to the Mean Girls. Play. At your least and I have to say as someone who's not even a good bathroom singer. I was very impressed. Our students really put in hard work. They have been practicing for months and I can say it really paid off. All the teachers and the staff for working with them I think it was very good play enjoyed myself very much throughout the whole thing and I really encourage everyone else to go to these place because I think it's very important to show support to our students. There is the sound of music. Play next week, encourage everybody to go. I'll definitely be going. So. It's great. Other board members have correspondence. This Calgary. Last Wednesday I attended the Camping County Educational Commission board meeting. And at the meeting they presented the audit. There were no findings or recommendations. If anyone is interested in looking at the commissions audit, you can go the website. It's Camden, esc.org. If you click under public notices, and then there's a link that says board meetings and agendas, you can look at the agendas and all the attachments that go with the agenda. And then just as another item that was discussed is, So this is located in Clementon. They submitted for a grant to improve their recreational area in the township to, I guess, add pickle ball courts and redo parking lots and basketball courts for the area. It's for a recreation improvement grant. So that was last Wednesday. I also attended mean girls over the weekend with my daughters and thankfully some of the jokes went over their head but they had a great time we all did it was It was an absolutely fantastic. Performance was great. So I recommend, oh, there it's over now. So, but I recommend all the performances. They always do such an amazing job. Okay, and Mrs. Winters. So I am enjoying being part of the LMC, the Labor Management Collaborative. I stopped by as part of their overnight retreat, which was on Friday night and then on Monday I got to go to a full day LMC workshop. Which was really neat. There were districts there from all over the state. We had a good shareholders contingency. There was a good amount of board members there. We took a board member track and we got to learn about how board members can be effective collaborators with the district. So it was a really productive day. And then I just wanted to point out everybody got a copy of East Side. If you open it up, my favorite subject is featured. You all know what it is. It's the math pathways and there's a graphic. So my son apparently listens to what I say because I got a picture of this at 7 o'clock in the morning, I guess, when he arrived at East and he saw this and he's like, is this that thing you were talking about? It is. So if anybody wants to read more about our new math classes that are available at those high schools coming soon. You read about it in East 5. So thanks to East Side for doing that really awesome feature on it. It was really nice to see. Great, thank you. Any other board members have correspondence? So, I have a just a couple. I also got a chance to stop by, the labor management collaborative evening. It was a very short stop in because I had forgotten that I had committed to plans that night and Friday night and I was gonna get in really big trouble if I yet missed another family activity for. Something board related. So. I chose not to get in trouble on the Friday night and instead I just stopped by for a short time. Okay, I'm not really getting in trouble and just, It's a lot, it's a lot time. And then I also got a chance to see Mean Girls and I concur with Miss Niaz and Gallagher. It was a really well done show, very impressive as you know, you said look as they all are. Just very fantastic. It was great. And then, I also got a chance to read as part of Read Across America. At Stockton, which was my my kids own home school when they were in elementary. I read to the fifth graders. And I read a book called Aaron Slater Illustrator, which I have to remind myself by looking up the title. Beautiful book about. A student who struggles to learn. But is incredibly artistic and expressive. And was able to overcome his own. Struggles and was recognized for his different way of success, of having success. And this was in a class that was, a class of students who were, what we call an inclusion class. And I had there were students who. Related to the struggle who talked about their own experiences. With with trouble learning and how far they had come. One student was excited to share. It took him a long time to learn how to read. But he got there and you know again as I think all of these activities whenever we go into the schools and we get to witness all of our students successes. And also some of their challenges. It's just always very humbling and a reminder to me to be in an event like that. And here directly from a younger student. Who has found success and confidence. As a direct result of the fantastic learning experiences that he has in our district. So, you know, we are a district that is inclusive that focuses on making sure all of our students. Have the best success they can and they all learn at their own pace. And it was really lovely that he felt safe enough in his classroom to share that. And the book was was beautiful. I was a little a little more emotionally moved than I was expecting from right across America, but that happens sometimes. So. And those were my correspondence. Any other board members? What was the book called? Aaron Slater, Illustrator, which I stumbled on reading the title because I, I remember my kids learning about reading the title because I, I stumbled on reading the title because I, Illustrator, I remember my kids learning about illustrators and I thought, I, I remember my kids learning about Illustrators and I thought I was missing the title somewhere but that was the title. It was and the artwork is beautiful and the language is really poetic. It's beautiful, but it's relatable. For fifth grade. So. I really recommend you add it to your your list. It'd be great for your kids, probably, their ages. Okay, so. We now move on to first public comment. There will be 2 opportunities for public comment this evening. Open up my view of my window. The first public comment session is for board action items only. There will be another public comment. Section for any topic related to our schools at the end of the meeting. If you are a student in the district, you may comment on any agenda item during first public comment period. If you are a student in the room and you wanted to come and I would ask that you please approach the podium first if you would choose to do so. That way we make sure you go first. If you were online and you would like to speak and you are a student, please just put an S after your name so we know that you're a student and we can call on you first. So if you would like to speak now, please identify the agenda item and clearly state your name and municipality. We will alternate between speakers here in the room and those who are online. Each speaker will be given a maximum of 3 min to speak. The timer on the screen will indicate the amount of time you have remaining. Public common is an opportunity for members of the community to comment on matters relevant to the operations of Terry Hill Public School District. Or within the authority of the Cherry Hill Board of Education. Under established federal law governing reasonable restrictions on speech and public forums. Statements which demean individual community members or groups or which are irrelevant to the operations of the school district or are repetitive will not be permitted. Community members who would like to present information not relevant to the school district are always welcome to communicate directly to the district superintendent. Board president and all board members via email or other alternative means. So we will start in the room if anyone would like to speak on any of our action agenda items, please approach the podium. Anyway, Stanley. I think you know the drill. It's been a minute but if you would say you're in a hospitality please. A lot of new faces. My name is Morton Chirovsky. A lot of new faces. My name is Martin Schrowski. 1108 Hartwood Drive in the Willowdale section of Cherry Hill. I was I worked in a district for 41 years and my last 9 years I was president of Cherry Hill Education Association. Presently I am vice president of the Camden County retirees. Association and I am also very much involved with the Cherry Hill Education Association. Retirees, which is a philanthropic fund. That we go and we deal with and we have for the. For the district and for students in need and you know anything else that's. And. No, and available. I hope I'm at the right place at the right time. Okay, for 9 years I served as the elected. President of the Cherry Hill Education Association. Sorry, Mr. Shropsky, could you just say the action item you plan to speak. Sorry, Mr. Shropsy, could you just say the action item you plan to? Dr. Morton Okay, so it's 7. Let me see that. 19.8. Thank you. So I'm not good. Haven't memorized all the numbers. Thank you, Jenny. For 9 years I served as elected president of the Cherry Hill Education Association. Representing the teachers, secretaries, and the custodial staff. I remember when Kwame Morton became principal of Kilmer School. During that time I got to know him as a fair and knowledgeable principal and educator. Together we dealt with numerous issues involving staff. He was approachable. And he listened to all sides. Of whatever situation needed his attention. He listened to any suggestions that I may have had. And he did so with a very, very, very open mind. Excuse me. While at Kilmer, Dr. Morton allowed the union to be flexible and creative in meeting the needs of the diverse population that is Kilmer School. When he was selected to serve as principal of High School West. He was welcomed by the community because his reputation of fairness preceded him. In my capacity as union president, I had many occasions to work with Dr. Morton and to address and solve issues that arose. His fairness was again. Evident and he had the trust of the staff and the trust of the union. When she, when I saw the search committee was planning to recommend Dr. Morton as the new superintendent at Cherry Hill Schools, I saw the search committee was planning to recommend Dr. Morton as the new superintendent at Cherry Hill Schools. I was I cannot overstate what a wonderful decision. This recommendation is. The district will be getting a man of integrity. Honesty, fairness, and knowledgeable of the workings of the Cherry Go Public Schools. The students and staff of Cherry Hill. Will be getting the best person for the job. I strongly encourage the Board of Education to approve Dr. Kwame Morton. Dr. Kwame Morton as the next superintendent. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Okay, and then we go on to the line and the name on the line is Jackie Kaputo. If you could please state your full name and municipality. Good evening. My name is Jackie Kaputo. I am a resident of Cherry Hill. Kingston section. I am currently the PTA president at High School West. I am here officially to speak on behalf of both high school PTs, but before I do so, I would also like to say that personally I have had the pleasure. I'm sorry, Miss Caputo, could you please state the item you're speaking about? Sorry, I think you said it was 19.8, Dr. Moore in appointment as superintendent. Thank you. Okay. I'd like to say that I've had the opportunity to work with Dr. Morgan as a parent, as a PTA president, as a committee member, and at all levels he has shown himself to be fair. And so caring of our children, he remembers the names of our children. I've seen him in the hallways speaking to kids after they graduate he still asks about my children who are now 27 and 24 years old and I've always been incredibly impressed with his professionalism. Dr. Morton is not afraid to say I don't know the answer but I'll find out and he does and gets back to you. I've also heard him say my bad we've messed up let's fix it and try something else. I strongly personally recommend Dr. Morton for this position and I will go on to say that the. Cheryl High School East PTA Executive Board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton, a superintendent of Cherry Hill Public Schools and Cherry Hill High School West PTAs Executive Board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton, super superintendent of Cherry Hill Public Schools. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we go back to the room. Please state your name and your municipality. Hi, I may know the members and Dr. Morton. My name is Kristen Biglyeta to Chateau Drive, Charity Hill. In reference to item 19.8. I'm the current, chair of Zone PTA. Zone PTA works very closely with the superintendent and we are grateful to the Board of Education for including focus groups. Specifically for Zone and Chisepta in the early stages of the superintendent selection process. Want to share a portion of an email update that I sent to the board recently regarding updates from Zone. And I quote, we have found our relationship with acting superintendent Dr. Morton to be extremely productive. Dr. Morton values open minded thinking is a cooperative partner with us. And we have accomplished more in these past few months than during any time in recent memory. With Dr. Morton's leadership, collaboration, and support, here are some of the issues and initiatives that Zone has successfully undertaken. Zone PTA has made it a focus this year to partner with the district on several technology concerns. The first being cell phone usage at the secondary level. Zone exact board brought this to Dr. Morton who immediately lent his support and facilitated the first meeting between the Zone Technology Committee and the district. Number 2, a huge help to all of the parent volunteers at the elementary level. Is that they are now allowed to have 3 parent volunteers for classroom parties instead of 2. It happened in one quick conversation with Dr. Morton. Because of Dr. Morton's support, Zone PTA now has a partnership with ESS. So that zone can help fill the substitute pipeline in Cherry Hill. Number 4, we were made aware that both high school bathrooms were locked during part of the academic day, leaving no bathrooms open to students. We worked with Dr. Morton to get bathrooms open throughout the day at each school. This is an enormous improvement for the mental well-being of our high school students. Number 5, Karussi is currently the only middle school with a junior National Honor Society. We brought the idea of implementing this at all 3 middle schools to Dr. Morton. Dr. Morton worked with the middle level principals and it appears that Junior National Honor Society will be at all 3 middle schools next year. Number 6, it was brought to Zones attention that the homework expectations at each of the 3 middle schools vary widely, which we brought to Dr. Morton. We are currently working on establishing more uniform expectations across the 3 schools. Number 7, we worked with Dr. Morton to ensure that no homework is given on Thursday nights when dances are held at the middle level for Karussi and Rosa. The zone exact board remains so grateful for the relationship we have with the district, with Dr. Morton, and also the relationship with the Board of Education. End quote. Zones Executive Board has voted and we congratulate and support Dr. Morton in his new role as Superintendent of Schools. Thank you. Okay, and we go back to the line and it's Christy, Please state your name and municipality. There we go. Hi, Christy Pedron, 3 15 Surrey Road. And I am speaking on behalf of 19.8. Dr. Mortens, as a principal over at Kilmer, we would like to show our support and explain and just what a wonderful person he's been at our school and how he's helped out. I was not fortunate enough to have him. As our principal but I have heard amazing things but he also has the backing of our wonderful staff members as well. So on behalf of the elementary school PTA executive ports, I would like to share the following. Claire Barton's PTA Executive Board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as superintendent. F. Cooper's PTA Executive Board congratulates and supports Dr. Moore as superintendent Brett Hart's PTA executive board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as superintendent. James Johnson, PTA executive board, congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as superintendent. Kingston's PTA executive board congratulates and supports Dr. Morgan as superintendent. Russell Knights PTA executive board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as superintendent Of course, man's PTA executive board congratulates and supports Dr. Morneau's superintendent. Thomas Pains, PTA executive board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as superintendent. Joseph D. Sharps PTA Executive Board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as superintendent of Cherry Hill Schools. Richard Stockton's PTA Executive Board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as superintendent of Jerry Helbop Schools. Woodcrest PTA Executive Board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as superintendent of Cherry Hope Public Schools. And finally, finally and resoundingly, the Joyce Kilmer PTA executive board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as Superintendent of Cherry Hill Public Schools. Thank you. Thank you. That's a lot of schools. I'm impressed you could say all that. It was. And I, and I did it under, under 3 min. Thank you. Yes, you did. Well done, Kristi. Well done. Okay. Please state your name. I mean, it's probably the item you're speaking on. Hello, my name is Susan Durmer and I'm a resident of Cherry Hill. I'm commenting on agenda item, 19.8. On behalf of the middle school PTA executive boards, I'd like to show the following. Henry's Henry C. Beck's PTA executive board congratulates and supports Dr. Mourn as superintendent of Cheryl Public Schools. John A. Carusi's PTA Executive Board congratulates and supports Dr. Moore as superintendent of the Cheryl Public Schools and Rosa International PTA executive board congratulates and supports Dr. Moran as superintendent of the Chair Hill Public Schools. Thank you. Thank you. Shorter list, but nonetheless inclusive list. Okay. And when you go back to the line and we have Bridget Palmer, if you could put your, please state your full name and municipality. Hi, my name is Bridget Palmer. 37 Chestnut Terrace and I live in Cherry Hill. I'm here tonight to speak on agenda item, 19.8, Dr. Morton's appointment as superintendent. My husband and I have made our home here in Cherry Hill for the last 10 years. And I've worked in the community for, many more years than that. And you know like so many other families are aged the reason we chose Cherry Hill was partly because of the school district. We have 2 kids who are in middle school, they're sixth graders at Kurusi. And what I, saw that the superintendent position was being vacated, I had a lot of concerns about who would be next and what it would mean for, for families like mine who had kids in the middle of their careers in the Cherry Hill schools. But when I saw that Dr. Morton was up for consideration. I thought you know what this is this is the guy and this this is who I want. To serve as my superintendent or my kids are here. I've had the pleasure of watching him. Grow his career as an educator, as an administrator, and, am confident that our schools will be in the best possible hands with him. He is understanding he is fair, he is more than qualified. And I have to say I, my daughter is not someone who is easily impressed, but she commented on how visible he's been and she was actually on a panel of students. That met with him a few weeks ago at Keracy. And when she came home, when she came home to me at the end of the day, she said, Mom, I really felt heard. I really feel like he understands. I really feel like he wanted to hear what we had to say. And you know to me that that's it in a nutshell, right? He's somebody who wants to be involved, who cares what what matters to our students. Who cares what matters to our families? And is going to make decisions that are in the best interest of the district and our kids. Whether it's always the popular decision or not and and that's the sign of a leader. So I will be proud to live in a district and educate my kids in a district that Dr. Morton leads. You know, I applaud the board for. I hope affirming his appointment and, and just, you know, want to say on behalf of my one family, you know, Dr. Morton, congratulations and thank you for your service. Okay, let me go back to the room. You can pattern the cargo, 9 9 one Kingston Drive. I'm not a PTA member. I'm a parent, not even fan of kids in their school anymore. Mrs. McCargo, will you say the, you're talking on superintendency? 19.8. And you know, my husband served on this board and we raised our children and our children came to this school district as did I. Back when I came through the district, I was one of 3 African-americans in a class of 600. So I applaud the board for making this step forward because it shows our community and your community as well that everybody can come up and move forward in the district. And Dr. Morton has every. Tool in his arsenal that will enable him to be an excellent and excellent superintendent. And I urge this board to do the right thing. You were searching for a year, but you came back to Dr. Morton because you knew Dr. Morton would do an excellent job. And I applaud the board and ask you to please. Pass this and do whatever we have to do to make him our superintendent. Thank you. Okay. And now we go to the line and it's Dawn Maria Higgins. If you could please set your name, your municipality, and the item you're speaking on tonight. John Higgins, 207 Rhode Island Avenue and Cherry Hill. And I'm commenting on item 19.8. I've lived in Cherry Hill for more than 50 years. My husband and I are proud West graduates and all 5 of our kids went there. I'm also a longtime board member of the Lions Pride Alumni Association. Terry Hill schools matter to me. I am here in support of Dr. Morton. His tenure with the Terry Hill school system has been long and distinguished. His work ethic is obvious. And we have benefited from it. I believe him to be a man of character and integrity and he has earned this position. He knows us. And we know him. Which can only work to our mutual benefit. I congratulate and support Dr. Kwame Morton as our new superintendent. Thank you. Okay. Okay, and we go back to the room. You know the drill too. Jan Nadio, Cherry Hill. I am here. Miss, I just give a second while we restart the clock. Oh, yeah, do that. Yeah, that's good. Why we restart the clock? Oh, yeah, do that. Yeah, that's good. Sorry, I don't have a lot, but that's good. Okay, Jen Nadio, Cherry Hill. I am speaking on 19.8 and just to make it clear I am here to speak on. 19.8 and just to make it clear I am here to speak on behalf of the Chisepta Executive Board and As an acting superintendent, Dr. Morton. Initiated meeting with Chasepta monthly. We have been meeting with him and creating more objectives and ideas. To assist our students in special education. He is listening to what we say and he works with us to make changes. After meeting and discussing this announcement, the Chasepta Executive Board congratulates and supports Dr. Morton as superintendent of Cherry Hill Public Schools. Thank you for listening to our families. Okay, and we go back to the line and it's Maya Fleck. If you could please state your name or municipality in the item you're speaking on. Hi, my name is Justin Geck. I'm a former cherry home resident and Cherry Hope Public Schools alumnus. I'm speaking in reference to agenda item, 19.8. I'm speaking tonight to let my support for having Dr. Kwame Morton chosen a superintendent for the Cherry Hill School District. I've known Doctor Morton for 16 years since he started in the district as a principal of Joyce Commer Elementary School. I was in fifth grade at the time and could still remember what he was like. From day one, he was always visible and in tune with students and his staff. I can remember him being at the school functions including volley for support, concerts, and family nights. As I continued on to middle school at Rosa and then finally high school West, I still kept in touch with Dr. Morton continuing to keep him updated on my latest adventures, although busy, he would always find time to get back. I would also still see him around a different school functions. Dr. Joe Milage was the principal at High School West when I was a freshman, but at the end of that year, he was moving over to administration. A search for a new principle was underway and was finally chosen. That person, Dr. Morton, I was thrilled to hear this news and knew he would be perfect for this role. As soon as I as he began I could see the positive changes he was making around the school. Again, I go back to the word visible. Dr. Martin was always out in the hallways with the radio, greeting students and staff in between classes and during the lunch periods, he got to know students and always made an effort to ask how family was or an event someone that had told him about. He would treat us like his own kids, which as all of you know, he has many of his own. You would think you would not remember every conversation or family with his own personal life, but for me personally, he would always ask about my mom or my grandmother. I was also the editor in chief of the High School West newspaper and had many interviews with Dr. Morton discussing his vision for each school year and different issues. He was always forthcoming. And with his information and took the time to explain his decisions. I graduated from West in 2016 and can even remember Dr. Morton's commencement speech to my class. He called out several students, myself included, who he had been with and got to know since he started in the district. I couldn't believe he remembered all the things about everyone. You know, during those years, I saw Dr. Morton go from principal to district administration and continue to show his leadership and problem solving skills. I know our district has faced and continues to face many challenges and obstacles and I know Dr. Morton would be the perfect person to be in this position at the homes to guide us through whatever situations that may be. Dr. Morton has earned this privilege and has had more than proven himself. He has risen through the ranks and has excelled at every position he's been in. Dr. Kwame Morton is a man of intelligence, leadership, problem solving. Compassion, strength, and vision. Dr. Moore and I just want to thank you for continuing to be a mentor and most importantly a friend. It's my hope that the word will vote yes to confirm Dr. Wharton tonight as the new superintendent of the school district as the new superintendent of the school district. Thank you. We go back to the room. You can please stay. Thank you. And I'm excited. This microphone is my height. My name is Tina Trudeau Nil and I'm speaking on behalf of the Cherry Hill African American Civic Association. For. 19.8, the appointment of Dr. Morton. Cherry Hill African American Civic Association did send a letter to the board on January, the nineteenth and I will read some of the letter. Cherry Hill, African American Civic Association. Is very excited about Dr. Morton's appointment. Dr. Morton's performance as acting superintendent. Verifies why he was selected as the visionary principal of the year for the school year, 2,021 to 2,022. He seamlessly assumed the position of acting superintendent after Dr. Joseph Milosh. Retired last year. Dr. Morton has superbly supervised our school's 800 plus teachers and met the educational needs. Of our 10,000 plus students. As the acting superintendent, Dr. Morton has taken significant action to make sure that our students feel safe and supported in our school. While a principal at Cherry Hill West. He adopted a policy labeled No Child Is Invisible. This policy focused on ensuring that students at West felt. Or, has enabled him to effectively tackle problems. Sorry. That their school they felt as a safe haven. Most recently, his experience in providing our students with a safe haven or anti-Muslim remarks and behaviors in our schools. Since the start of the Israel-palestinian War. Our schools like many schools around the country are experiencing an increase in hate speech and hate related actions. In response to the problems, Dr. Morton adopted and encouraged use. Of the policy. That our schools are no place for hate. During school board meetings, he was voiced. And empathized. With the district's reminder that all students must be treated equally. Finally, we note that Dr. Morton who was educated of the year in 2,011. Has shown that his commitment to doing great and hard work for our school system. He has been no less. Then brilliant. And hardworking from the time he was hired as a principal at Joyce Kilmer to his work. As principal at Cherry Hill West. To his work as an assistant superintendent. And now as acting superintendent. So on behalf of the Cherry Hill African American Civic Association. Danny Elmore Esquire, who is our vice president, we are excited and we applaud the board to appoint Dr. Morton as our next superintendent. And on a personal note, I would just like to say that I have 3 children, 2 have graduated from Cherry Hill West, one will be graduated in a few months. And I also have grandchildren in the district and I am elated that you will be filling the superintendent role. Thank you so much. Okay, we go back to the line and it's a phone number ending in 7 8 8. Please state your name. Your municipality and the item you're speaking on. Hello, my name is Jeff Hodowitz and I live in Sherry Hill, New Jersey and I'm talking about wait, 17.2. 17.2. Hello? Anyway, that's about the preschool. Resolution improving early childhood preschool budget. 2024, 2 25. Right now I'm looking at something called the total spending detail for the years 2021 to 2,022. Alright, that was 3 4 years ago. And for Cherry Hill, the total spending detail. That's without, without, without debt, without that service because there was before the bond was $24,972 per student let me repeat that number 24,972. Dollars per student. Now that was 2 or 3 years ago. given 540 kids. I'm and given that actually in preschool you need one teacher and one. And one and one assistant and one assistant and they're you know we're talking about also building and structure and roles other things I question that. $7,000,600 that would do the job for 740 students. I don't know what's going on. There are different ways to calculate. What costs are. But if you look at the total spending costs. And it's $24,973 literally. Literally 2 years ago or 3 years ago. I, I would think that that's the real cost per pupil. Probably higher. I see the numbers you're presenting. But like I said, there are different ways to calculate what total costs. Or I guess. That's my question and I would hope that board members would kind of ask. I'm gonna discuss this a little bit more in public comment too. I just saw that but it's about state aid and what's going on, but that's beside the point. Anyway, thank you for listening and you all can look at with your phones right now if you want to total spending detail you could find a you know you have to go to the Do's website and you could find that. It's thank you very much. That's it. Bye. Okay See. So far there's been 3 OCR complaints that have been won. One of them was on their back. Taxpayers over $800,000. So right now after the 2 other OCR complaints that are that are filed. We could be at over a million dollars because Dr. Morton is not listening. A quote from you from a December 6, 2021. Set by the district. Sad and report about September third, 2023. Dr. Morton has done everything to hide this. Putting me off. 3 times. So how does this affect the community? And an email to me he wrote. Black Lives Matter. Yes. Fat-back lies. That in Cherry Hill. They have. Lost $70,000 in overtime. Black Lives Matter has demonized police across the United States. So don't And. Black Lives Matter. This is where the. Hello. I can't hear you. Andy, Mal, Cherry Hill. I just want to commend the board for selecting Dr. Kwame Morden. As a 45 year resident of cherry hill a 19 year parent at Cherry Hill schools for 3 children. My youngest graduated. 21 years ago, they've been involved in the school district. Off and on for the last 30 plus years. I said at board tables in this district in another district for a total of 14 years. I cannot think of a better individual. For the Chariol School District. As superintendent than Dr. Kwame Morton. Congratulations. Okay. Okay, I'm sure. Go on, so first, just wanna say, This is not. And so, And what does that mean? Okay. And we have nobody else on the line, feedback from students, teachers, parents, family members, provide a strong framework for the. We asked for our next superintendent to be engaged, collaborative, trans, someone who encourages and values student voice. So who supports the needs of all students? So I'm looking prioritizes a student achievement at the inclusion and belonging. Some of them, to great integrity at a high level of emotional intelligence. We want them to be respectful and have strong core values. So I'm going to place the student at center every decision. And, So, more, in, in, all of these qualities. I have a privilege of sitting in a small group setting, attending events in scope or simply present and most recently the scope of work was simply present and most recently walk off from child elementary school. After every interaction with him, I told myself, this man needs to be our next superintendent. There would be no other choice. So, I would like to express my Okay. Also, how will you do? Please take your phone. But there's nobody, I'm sorry, there's nobody else on the line. Okay. Thank you for checking. Yeah. And yeah. I'm welcome to, from Cherry Hill also speaking on 19.8 I may need a guard to walk me to my carry hill also speaking on 19.8 I may need a guard to walk me to my car. I may need a guard to walk into my car. I may need a guard to walk me to my car. But I think that if we don't, talk about the concerns on the other side that We can't we can't fix them so I am disappointed in the decision to recommend Dr. Morton for the position of superintendent. It's not personal. Morton for the position of superintendent. It's not personal, but it's about some concerns I have for the district and superintendent. It's not personal. It's but it's about some concerns I have for the district and whether he's the right person at this time for that. Our district does have longstanding issues with ADA compliance. HIV, teacher morale, school violence, disparity and performance between schools, particularly high school. Special education and the relationship with those families. And I feel we're just discarding an opportunity here. I feel like we need someone with a great deal of experience as a full superintendent already coming into it. And someone with a proven experience solving some of these ongoing challenges I just named. I kind of feel like we need fresh eyes and ideas to take on these problems. It's hard to see things when you've been a part of the problem, you know, you've been here while the problems are occurring. We have many good programs and successes that, you know, candidates could. The most candidates could continue, but I feel like we need new insight and new approaches to see and tackle the long-standing challenges. As I said, if we don't, if we can see the problems and we don't name them, we can't address them. Many of us have waited 8, 10 years. For an opportunity for new leadership. And a chance for real change for these important issues. And this chance will likely not come again for another 5 or 10 years. It's it disappoints me personally to see us pass this opportunity by. I recognize I've been around long enough. I know this is already a done deal. So that said, like I said, I wanted to name the concerns. Because then we can then we can do something about them. And all that said, Dr. Moore, and I, I do wish you well. And I challenge you, prove me wrong. I want to come up to microphones say you know that that night I was wrong. But I ask you to please commit. Yeah, if you are selected to. You know, to close that performance gap, increase teacher morale. Our teachers are hurting. They reach out to me all the time. They do not feel heard. Address the ongoing concerns with ADA compliance that's been decades. You know bridge that gap with our families in special education who don't feel heard and their children's needs aren't being met. And take a look at the school violence. I don't want to keep seeing those videos we've been seeing. It was terrible. And HIV, which is related. So I thank you for letting me share the other side. And again, I wish you well. Okay, there's no other hands on the line if there any if there's anybody else in the room. I don't see anybody else in the room. Do you see somebody in the room? Approaching the podium? All familiar phases. If you could please say your name in this official administration. Cherry Hill. I was going to speak on 19.8 and also a question on 17.2. So it was going to speak on 19.8 and also a question on 17.2. So as far as 19.8 goes, congratulations Dr. Moore. I know I said it's the other day. The fact that the Board of Education probably has not had an email from me. In several months is probably the only endorsement that I really need to say. I haven't sent you guys one of my famous emails that Mr. Green probably review to make sure the codes that I'm citing is accurate or whatnot. And I will say that that is because I've had concerns over the past few months. I've had some very, very deep concerns. I had a major concern within the past few months that I had a year before that. And when that concern was presented. I had a call back within a day from Dr. Morton. We had a phone call. He brought in another administrator to sit on that call. When I pointed out something that I had pointed out a year ago and was not addressed. It was addressed. Dr. Morton said, you know what? You're right. And he Fixed the issue as far as I can tell because the same thing that I was concerned about has happened 3 more times in a classroom. Since. The original incident that I called him about, but it was handled in a completely different way going forward after I spoke to Dr. Morton. So those are the things that I am here to say I appreciate Dr. Morton. I appreciate you listening to me. My other concern was 17.2 it was the preschool budget. I don't want to be a Debbie downer on preschool. I am a former preschool teacher. I am just concerned seeing that it looks like. We are putting up 7 million something dollars for preschool. And we were just stripped of 7 something 1 million dollars. Please think about it very carefully. I know you guys are spend a lot of time planning, but I don't want to see our current students affected. Because we're trying to be game changers and ahead of the game with a preschool wagon if we can't support the students we have, we need to think about that before we push on new programs. For the students that we're going to be getting. Thank you. Okay, and we have nobody on the line, so and keep going in the room. You're on a, cherry field. I'm talking about 16.9 and also just to change things up. I also want to add in 17.3. That I think addresses some of the concerns that were up. The LMC, the fact that our past year to president, current union president have all spoken. It's game changer. There's not much more that can be said in this grant that will allow us to do even more and more money coming from the state for us to address those challenges as a teacher myself now. Those challenges are real. But I can tell you that every moment, Dr. Morton knows those and recognize it. He has not forgotten his roots as a math teacher. Since as many days as being an administrator, he takes that approach as someone who still understands the classroom setting and what teachers do. Not every administrator can do that. As they get further and further away, they forget about what the classroom experience is. That is not the case with him. I reached out and emailed this to, right after we got the horrible news and the budget cuts. But I think it's really important to raise that we have this with Dr. Morgan. We can ask our superintendent be a person who truly listens to the constituents and takes all kinds of feedback, even the worst kind of feedback, where you've got major challenges. And does uses that to make the best decision through their process. We can also ask a room not to say, to say I don't know and I need to learn more. That vulnerability is really important. We're education. We're teaching our students every day that we don't know everything and that we're learning. We are lifelong learners in Cherry Hill. We have talked about this in this room. Countless times. That is what Dr. Morton preaches. We can ask our superiors to care and be passionate about our district. I cannot meet somebody more passionate than Dr. Morton about our district. I cannot meet somebody more passionate than Dr. Morgan about Cherry Hill without somebody else living here. That he loves this district. He knows it inside and out. He speaks to it. And it is incredible. As someone who is a lifer in this community, I have never seen someone with this level of passion and this level of foresight for all 19 schools. Finally, let's ask our serving to be an advocate and so long is to all was in their power to make education the best. That's what he does. That's what he did. West, that's when you did Comer. As a parent, now would come. I can't tell you how many staff members are there that he hired. And you know a mark of a Dr. Morton higher because it is a caliber that he is at. He knows how to find talent, attract talent, maintain talent, and everything about that on a personal note as a father of 6 to a father of 10. It's incredible for me to have somebody to look up to like that. Who still has children going through the education because it keeps you grounded in reality because every question you make and you take yourself is what would this do for my kid? And what would you do if I was a parent sitting there and Dr. Morgan brings it all together? I am so excited for my case to be here. I hope we are still here when the last one graduates in 2040. Your wife might not like that. But I'm really excited for my kids to be able to go through and see your vision. I thank the board for doing this. Not always easy. You go in thinking we're gonna have a national search but it turns out we've got a national candidate right here. That it was just homegrown talent and Sherry Hill has been the best place to find home grown talent. Thank you. Okay, looks like we have. Nobody on the line, so we are still in the room. And I know in Cherryo, New Jersey. So it's my tradition to give each new superintendent a big bottle extra sense. Oh, 19.8. You sorry. I'm so well trained. But anyway. I usually give them the extra Lloyds about all exercising tunnel, but I did wanna do that in a public form because I didn't want anyone to think I was cur in favor with you, but I wish you well in the days to succeed. My favorite story about Dr. Morton is the fact that He took Cherry Hill West, he turned it around with the number one thing it's because of my music educator son. That he did was instill pride. In the Cherry Hill marching band and finally getting them uniforms. So they could be an integral part of the community. Perform. To their expectations. Thank God you did that before Jim worked retired. So from the bottom of my heart, I will always be grateful for that and instilling that sense of pride in a school that desperately needed it. It's really easy to stand here and blame everything on the superintendent. But having sat on the other side of this microphone, I can tell you it's up to the Board of Education that sits before us to make sure that the schools are run well. It's a partnership. Okay, so we can be mad at certain things and I certainly have my own issues. With the district on certain things, but it's a partnership. And I'm hoping that now that we have a full-time acting full-time superintendent that we can start to move forward. I hope we will have a board that stays in place for their current terms. Because that's also been an issue. The last couple of years in my humble opinion. All I can say every day is a journey. People ask me, how am I? And I say, well, I got up to today. And at my lofty age, it's a blessing, okay? Everybody struggles with many, many things in their personal life. You're all human beings. I'm a human being in the people of the audience. People have issues that have children, you know, as parents, we only want the best for our children. And sometimes the passion comes through in such a negative way that The education of our children in Cherry Hill gets lost in that conversation. So I hope that every day is a great day for you. Every day is going to be a challenge and you already know this from the last few months. All right, I want you to know, my brand new, for you. I won't dance because it would be a sham. I wish you nothing but the best and our community, nothing but the best. Thank you. Okay, still no more hands on the line. It doesn't look like there's any but the microphone. I'm gonna close public comment one. And now we move on to our board work session. Mrs. Winters, could you please start us off with giving the curriculum and instruction report? I would be happy to. So the CNI committee met on March fourth. We began in closed session discussing the SAC program, but then we came into open session. And we had 2 major things on the agenda. The first was the summer reading books. Talked about the summer reading theme for the high schoolers is mystery and thriller which I'm very excited about. And the sixth, seventh and eighth grade books. There was one additional book, I believe. For middle school that was added as well. If anybody's interested the full presentation is on the website if you click on board of education under board presentations that presentation is there if anybody is excited to read some of the reading books, some reading books ahead of time. I'm thrilled to say that I asked other board members who are not on CNI to do some reading with us. So we're all gonna have some book reports for you probably next month about the summer reading choices. The other thing was that we received a full presentation from the middle level principals on schedule revisions at the middle level. There are just a couple things I want to highlight. And like I said, the full presentation is available under board presentations if you would like to review it online. The first major changes that we were going to review it online. The first major change is that we are going to add some time back to the advisory. The first major change is that we are going to add some time back to the advisory period. And the reason why this is really important, one So our band orchestra and chorus kids meet during advisory. When the current schedule was implemented, advisors shrunk, and so there wasn't as much time in the day for music, which is something, as you know, I'm a big supporter of. So I'm thrilled that the music. Students will get more time for that. The other major change. Is that there's going to be added a period. Dr. Morton help me. I want to say it's I and E is that correct? Yes, thank you. I was thinking about that elementary school, but it's true now too. So there'll be an I and E period added at the middle level for the middle school students for them to receive both help and enrichment. And that will be a period that happens during the day. It will be other half of their lunchbox. So they'll have lunch for 26 min and then an I and E period every single student in the school will get that. So if you would like to see the full revisions to the middle level schedule, again, that presentation is online and the hope and expectation is that will be implemented for September. As a parent of a current middle school student, I am very excited about the schedule changes. I think it will be a net positive for our middle-level kids. And then in new business, we discussed cell phone usage in school. So I'm going to kind of jump forward and backwards in time. I actually had the honor of tearing PNL. Right before CNI and we had that conversation there as well. So both committees simultaneously were talking about cell phone usage and the way that the committees decided to move forward was that we were going to ask the parent ask the teachers first. What they're seeing with cell phone usage in schools and how it affects the classroom experience and especially during instructional time. So that was the first step that the committee has decided was important is to ask our teachers what they see on the ground. After that, we're going to move forward to have discussions with more far-ranging discussions with students and the larger parents and community. I know Dr. Morgan has started discussions with our students through the interactions he has with them. At the middle and high school level and gotten their impressions of how they feel cell phone use impacts their educational day and he shared that with the committees. But both committees seem to be in favor of moving forward and looking at the impact of cell phone usage in the school district, especially at the middle and high school levels. I also just want to add to that that technology is a much bigger conversation than just cell phones. So that's where we're starting. But I think especially on CNI, there's an appetite for looking at how we use our Chrome books that are now one to one in general. Because my understanding from PNL is that the current technology policy was implemented prior to us being one to one with devices with Chromebooks for kids, which we now are. So I think there's an appetite to look at how we're using technology overall, but also specifically focusing on. Cell phone use. So we are going to take a look at that. There are no concrete recommendations yet. There's just an interest to explore the topic more and sort of get feedback from our teachers as to what kind of support. They think would be most helpful. And any policy changes if needed would then come through PNL. To any other CNI members have anything to add? Okay, so that was CNN. Oh, Mr. And I'm sorry. No, it's okay. I just wanted to add, you know, it's okay. I just wanted to add, you know, we had all As you talked about, you know, with the middle level conversation, I mean, all the principals were there, there were other staff there from middle level and they were all very clear about this being the right step forward for middle school. You know, we, had some serious conversations and questions. Previously and that night a lot of questions about the changing of the schedule. Because it wasn't that long ago that the schedule was implemented and it was very clear there was unity and about the positive value of the schedule. Which I for one was really glad to. Here having 3 kids go through middle school. So I had the I had the experience of having my oldest be a sixth grader during the previous previous schedule and then the change happened for him during seventh grade. So I got to see the current. Little level schedule implemented the change for him. And really these changes are looking to make at this point are more tweaks. To the schedule that's been running for a couple years now, I think they wanted to see how it went. And again, I think the move to a longer advisory period is beneficial and not only for music, but there's a lot of other things that happen in advisory. Things like social-emotional learning, things like collaborative projects that are interdisciplinary. These are the kinds of innovative things we want our middle schoolers doing and now with an advisory period that's back to what it was before you'll have more time and space to do those things. And I think a specific intervention period is key for our middle-level students so they can help get the help and support they need. Because the thing is an advisor, you never want a middle-level student having to choose between going to orchestra or getting extra math help. That's a really hard choice for them to make when they're 12. So now they'll be a dedicated time during the day and we'll also get dedicated enrichment, which I think is really key. As they're sort of growing into who they're going to be at that middle school level. So I'm really excited about it. Like I said, the full presentation is online if anybody has any concerns or questions, but the intention is that these tweaks to the current schedule be implemented in September. Okay, thank you. And now we go to Mr. Greenbaum. If you could please give the business and facilities report. Thank you. So in a moment, I will throw this over to Mrs. Sugars for a presentation on the budget summary and recommendations. After that, we'll talk about advocating for school funding and, wrap it up with some. Hopefully good news with bond construction summary. So with that I will hand this off to Mr. Sugars. Okay. So first I want to say I'm really glad we we scheduled another budget meeting because we have lots to talk about that we didn't anticipate we were going to have to talk about. So first, I know that we've certainly had discussions with the board and many people have seen. Headlines about our funding and what happened. So I wanted to start the conversation by just kind of going over what happened, where the number changed so that people understand what we're looking at. So each year when the state determines what the aid should be, they start by calculating what a district's adequacy budget would be. The adequacy budget is based on our enrollment. They wait our enrollment an elementary student is waited at a one A middle school was waited at a 1.0 4 a high school student at a 1.1 6. So they take our, our, so enrollment and then they wait it based on the number of students that we have in those various grade levels. Now this year also the total base cost which is a number that the state provides each year. Was increased by the state-determined CPI of 5.8 1%. So one would think that that would be a good thing because the state is at least recognizing that costs are going up. They also then wait students for different factors, one being at risk students, which would be students that are eligible for free and reduced meals. Limited English proficient student special education students and speech only students. So they take all of those, wait our students, times that by this total base cost. And then they have what they call a geographical cost factor adjustment. Which accounts for the cost of living in the county in which the district is located. So this factor then. Adjust costs across the different counties. Obviously, the north northern part of the state is gonna have a different factor than the southern part of the state is. Once they determine what your adequacy budget is, and again, that is based on your student enrollment and all of the things that we just discussed, then they have to determine what the local cost share is. So what they're looking at with the local cost share. Is what is the district's ability to pay. For their local fair share. And that is determined by taking a look at our property values. Which they which they multiply bay by a property rate multiplier. They divide that in half. And then they look at our district income that's times a income rate multiplier and divide that by half and take each of those halves and put them together. Now the property values that they are they were using in our calculation in 2425 were from October of 2023. And our district income that they were using was from 2,021. You will recall that we were in still coming out of the pandemic at that point. So in this particular year when they released the 2425 state aid figures, 146 districts had their state aid cut. And Cherry Hill was the second largest aid cut in the state. So if we take a look at. How some of those numbers changed. So the reason I provided the resident enrollment and the asked at risk student number is so that You can see that this is not really based on our enrollment. Our enrollment has fluctuated within the same range. Even our at risk students have fluctuated within the same range. Over the past couple years. If you then take a look at our adequacy budget. You can see that that has gradually increased. It increased last year as well. And then took a fairly large jump this year again accounting for that 5 point. 8 one CPI. Then if you look at the next column and you look at the local share, you can see that that local share has increased over the past years. It took a fairly significant increase in 2324 of over 22 million dollars and then I'm sorry, that's our equalization. You can see that it took a fairly large increase between 2223 and 24. From 151 million to 160 million. And then a large jump, 2324 to 2425. Of a hundred 60 million to a hundred 82 million. What's interesting here is the fact that in 2223 we actually received more aid and you can see that our total aid was significantly higher than it was in 2223. And then you can see again in 2425 how we took that. That downturn in what our aid is. And again, if we take a look at this, again, as I stated, when they're determining our local share, they're looking at equalized valuation. And they're also looking at district income. So if we look at our equalized valuation. We can see that we had a significant increase between 2324. And, we went up over 12 billion in 2425. Now this average ratio assessed to true value number means that in 2420, again, these are numbers from October of 23, but as they're calculating our 2425 aid. The assessment value of homes were 64% of what the market value was. So essentially what that means is that a home that was assessed at $200,000. Was selling for about $300,000. And so. That was a factor that indicates wealth. And then you can also see there that our, equalized valuations jumped 11.4 in 2324 and 16.7 in 2425. Keeping in mind that in 2324 we saw a significant increase in aid. And that part of the calculation is due to the decrease that we saw that year in our district income. So if you look at our district income over that same timeframe. We saw a decrease going from 2223, of About 8% 314 million dollars. And then going into 2425, again coming out of the pandemic when you would think that there may not be a large increase. You can see that our district income was calculated as over 4 billion and had a 485 million dollar increase. That increase I believe in the equalized valuations and particularly in the district income. Is what affected our equalization numbers for this. Budget year. So if we look at our state aid numbers over the past couple years, you can see that in 2324, we received. Additional equalization aid again. Predicated on those changes and equalized valuation and district income. We also received additional special education aid that year. So total aid that we saw an increase in in 2324 was just under 6.8. 1 million dollars. And you know I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by that increase. I we did not anticipate typically when we are planning our budgets we start out at flat state aid and then if we receive additional aid that's always good news. Certainly this year when we started out, we started at flat state aid. We certainly did not anticipate. That we were gonna see a 6.9 million dollar cut in our aid. And you can see here that in 2425 that. Reduction in our general fund aid of 6.9 million. Came in the equalization aid category. At the bottom we have 2 new sources of aid that we are receiving from this from the state one being debt service aid that is because of the successful bond referendum. That we had. We are now given debt service aid to pay back the principal and interest on those bonds. We have an increase this year in the principal and interest that's due and therefore we had an increase in the state aid that we are receiving to pay that back. And we also implemented a full day preschool program last year. We have an increase in aid and that is based on student enrollment. So we received additional 8 in that category. However, those 2, portions of aid, those 2 types of aid are for very specific purposes. And cannot, you know, cannot be applied to the general fund. So therefore, as we're going in and planning our budget for next year. We need to account for that difference. In our budget. So. As we were planning our budget. And again, if we look at total expenditures, and again, these are draft numbers for 2425 and final numbers for 2324 because we are in that budget year. If we look at the total expenditures and again this was based on flat in terms of additional staffing. This was basically creating a budget that was status quo from the 2324 budget so if you look at total expenditures and you say to yourself, hey the budgets going up under $300,000 that's great. But unfortunately, you have to take a closer look at some of the things that were going on in the 2324 budget. So if we flip over out of expenditures and now we look at the revenues that we're using to support those expenditures. And we keep those relatively flat as well. There's 2 areas that we have. To take a closer look at one being the capital reserve amount. And the other being the decrease in the state aid. So planning our budget for 2425 we have right now expenditures of 254 million. And basically if we compare our revenues that we would use to support that budget to the revenues that we use to support the 2324 budget. And leave them relatively static. We have to take closer look at the capital reserve. So capital reserve in 2,324, we used a significant amount because we had the opportunity. To take advantage of some rod grants, both for regular district needs and for preschool needs. And so we allocated this significant amount of capital reserve last year to support those rod grants. This year our capital reserve number would be lower. Part of that money would be used to offset some of the impact of the debt service that we have to pay back. But the projects that we need to do in 2425 are significantly lower. So what you have to keep in mind about capital reserve is that It's on both sides of the balance sheet. So it's on the expenditure. Side and it's on the revenue side. So, if we reduce, you know, if we had to make a reduction because we weren't spending as much on the projects that we were going to be doing. And that's about 9 million. Fund balance about the same, started out with our 2324 taxes at the same. Level the cap that we can increase our taxes is 2% and that's 3.7 million dollars. We added that in. Subtotal there you can see we've got a different of about 4.8 million And then state aid had we had. You know, at least level state aid. You know, we still would have had to make some cuts. We still would have had to adjust some things. But, certainly losing that state aid now makes that gap between our revenues and our expenditures much larger. And at the bottom I put down the numbers without the capital reserve so you could kind of see just if we're just strictly taking out those projects and just looking at. Operational costs. Salaries, benefits, day-to-day operations, you can see that the budget is increasing about 9.2 million. 3.9%. And while that's a large gap that we would we would have to address. It's still below the CPI. It's still not a terrible increase given the size of our budget. But you also need to note that, you know, That would have been a large gap for us to clues anyway without the loss of the state aid. So, so that's something that we need to think about. As we move forward and as we try to address the issues that we're dealing with for this year. So we have a couple different scenarios that we can take a look at here. The first would be. What can we do to try to minimize the educational impact or the programmatic. We do have one shining little star in all of this news and that's the fact that our health care provider has frozen their rates for 2425 so our health Cost will not be going up for next year. In terms of premiums. So that is really good news. We have non personal area personnel areas that we will look at first. We always look at our non personnel areas that we will look at first. We always look at our non personnel areas first. Our goal is always look at our non-personnel areas first. Our goal is always to maintain as many positions as we can. And so the areas that we typically look at first are buildings and grounds, technology, extracurricular and athletic supplies and services. We did the breakdown a couple of months ago of how much discretionary spending we really have and we all know that we don't have a lot of discretionary spending when we take things like. Tuition and transportation and utilities and those kinds of things out of the mix of our non-personnel cuts. But. There certainly are areas that we will take a look at to make cuts in that area as well. And the other thing that we will do is we will look at our revenue side as well. So 2 areas that will take a hard look at is our use of fund balance. You know those of you that have worked with me for the through the budgets the past couple years know that I tend to Want to keep the fund balance at a low number, but we can take another look at that and make some adjustments with how much fund balance we're using. We can also take a look at our extraordinary aid. We tend to be cautious with extraordinary aid because we never know it's a next year item for the for the state budget. We never know exactly how much they're going to. Allocate for instance we haven't even done the application yet for this budget year in 2324. So we tend to be cautious with how much we use in our budget in the event that we wouldn't get that much. But we do budget below what we'd normally get and we can certainly take another look at that. The other thing that we can consider as we're looking at adjusting our budget for next year is the fact that we have banked cap. Now banked cap is not a pot of money, it's taxing authority. And the reason we have bank cap is because we did not go to our full 2% increase in previous budget years. So we know that we have about 2.7 million in additional taxing authority. That we will let lose in 2425 if we don't use it because it it has a 3 year cycle that it goes through. The tax impact of using that is about $77 on the average assessed home. We also have banked cap from 2526. That we can use as well. That's about 1.3 million. The tax impact of that would be about $38 and 65 cents. Now, we look at the overall tax impact. If we were to to put these measures into place. We're looking at the 2% tax levy increase is about $107 on the average assessed home. The debt service tax levy increase, which really isn't part of our budget process, but we talk about it. Each year at this time because of the impact is about a hundred one dollars. And the total impact if we were you to use bank cap would be about $324 on the average assessed home. We would still need to make some staffing reductions. We're probably looking at about 18 to 25. Our goal would be to look at our current vacancies and start there. What, you know, do we have vacancies that we have not been able to fill and do we need to fill them. And then also look at our retirements. Who do we have that might be retiring? Would we have an opportunity to hire somebody at a much lower salary than maybe the person that is retiring. So we can look at the breakage that we would have between. Those who are retiring and those that would be coming in. And if we can focus on those areas. We think that we can minimize the impact on current staff. So that would be one direction that we could move in as we tackle this deficit. The second area that we could move in, which would be to focus more on the tax impact. Again, we were starting out with good news with the health care provider. Again, we would absolutely focus on not non-personnel cuts. We would look at adjusting the other revenue sources. However, we would limit the tax impact to the 2%, increase in the tax levy. And between that and the debt service you would be looking at about a $208 tax impact on the average assessed home. However, you would also be looking at, reducing positions and right now we're estimating that that would be about 53 to 60 positions. And we know that that would absolutely impact class sizes at the various levels. What we can offer at the secondary level. You know basing some of our staffing levels on what's required not necessarily what's needed. It would definitely affect many of the positions that we've hired in the past few budget years that we have implemented to address student achievement. And also our operational staff. So it would be across the board. It would be, hitting each area. As we would try to spread the impact of that out, again, focusing on vacancies and retirements to try to soften that impact. But definitely without using the bank cap, I think we are going to have to be in a position where we're cutting significant numbers of positions where we're cutting significant numbers of positions. Some of the capital reserve things we had talked about now when I talk about using additional fund balance in the, in the budget. My concern with that is that not right now. I don't think there's any issues right now, but in the future, there could be issues with how much money we can put into our capital reserve. We take it out, you know, we have to replenish it. If we're using more fund balance in our budget, it will affect the amount that we can put into the capital reserve account. We have to think about that as we move forward because although the bond will address many, many of our facilities issues. It will not. Address all of our facilities issues and we will not be having a bond anytime soon. So that's one thing that we need to think about. This was the list that we had presented a couple weeks ago. We will go back and take a look at this list. And decide whether we can move ahead with these. We are focusing on things that have to happen. I spoke about the backflow preventers that has to happen. We are also focusing on projects that will complement the work that we're already doing through the bond such as the bleachers. And so we'll go back and take a look at that. And decide. You know if we're comfortable with moving ahead with those or not and how that will affect our capital reserve account. So as we plan as we move forward, obviously we have issues this year that we need to get through. But I think also that we need to think about moving forward. We were on that nice trajectory where we were receiving additional aid each year. And if equalization and district income values are going to have such an effect on us, it's definitely going to hinder our ability to plan for the future. You know if those numbers if we had that large of an increase in 2,021 what is that going to look like in 2,02223 2320 24 moving forward. As we got further away from the pandemic. Pandemic. We were fortunate this year in negotiating with our health care provider. That's not going to be something that we can count on every year, so we need to think about that. 70% of our budget is personnel costs. So if we continue to see cuts like this. You know we can only cut the non-personal area of the budget so much. If these kind of reductions continue We are definitely gonna have to take a hard look at our staffing. And then again, as I mentioned, the fund balance, you know, how that will affect debt repayment. We've made a commitment to offset the debt repayment. And how will that affect capital reserve contributions in the future? Right now we're earning a lot of interest on the bonds that we had issued so I'm not overly concerned about that at this point. Could become an issue as we move forward. If we assume a higher extraordinary aid number, then we're gonna be counting on that being our number each year. And so we we have to make sure that we're comfortable with that. The other thing is that we're kind of using all the tricks in our bag to address this issue this year. So if we use all the bank cap. That's good in the sense that our taxable base increases. But we won't have that sort of as a, soft place to land moving forward. And also I think, you know, as you can see as you look at these number, the 2% tax levy cap does not cover the annual increases. In the in the budget it will cover about 1.5 9%. And so that's something to think about also as we move forward. You know, increases in the tax levy is not necessarily going to sustain. The increases in the budget that we will see and that's really more a bigger conversation at the state level about you know. Making changes in the formula and perhaps making changes in the tax levy cap. So those are things that we need to think about. As we move forward. Not only with this year but future budget years. So our process is a 2 step process. We have an initial submission, mission budget. That's due to the county office on March twentieth. We have a board meeting next week. On March nineteenth where we will need to approve at least at this point the initial submission budget, get that submitted so that it can be reviewed by the county office. Once they review and approve it. We advertise it, we finalize it. We have the opportunity to make adjustments at that point. And then we hold our public hearing, which right now is scheduled for April thirtieth. And then we have the final board adoption. So. Even if we make some decisions now should there be changes you know at some time in this process we have another opportunity to make changes before the budget is finally adopted on April thirtieth. And so I know that's a lot of information all at once. So I'm gonna open it up for any questions that you have. Mr. Sugars, I just want to clarify with you one question. So because we have this discussion in business in our BNF committee. We really focused on the tax impact of new tax impact. That would be the. The 2%, which is the cap. And then the bank cap. Yeah, I see in the presentation that you have included. The tax impact we. Have already experienced right due to the the bond which was you know voted on in past by the public. So those increases have already come into effect. People are already, that's already incorporated people's. Tax, correct. So, if you look at our debt service repayment schedule, we, we have an increase next year in what we're repaying. So we go from about 23 million to 27 million. We then jump up to 29 million in 2526 and then we drop. Back down to 26 million. Of that 101 is additional money that will be paid towards the debt service. Again, it's not part of the budget and it was already approved through the referendum process, but when we're looking at the full picture, I think it's important to include that information. Okay, thank you for clarifying that. That's helpful. Thank you for that presentation, Miss Sugars. I'm just looking at closing the gap. Non-personnel cuts. What would that look like especially concerning? Extracurriculars and athletics, would that be? I guess. Less field trips rolling back, stipends for advisors. It would probably be looking at different offerings and looking at participation in those offerings. Are there things that maybe aren't as subscribed to as much as they used to be? Are there things that are really expensive to run that maybe don't have as many participants in it as it did at one time. So we would be focusing kind of on those areas in terms of extracurricular and athletics. Mr. Grim, I just. At some point when it mentioned the efforts that. You know, we've been discussing not just on the actual sorting out of the budget in the right direction we want to go in with the budget. Dealing with the cuts, but also the efforts in the community and administration on the board are making 2 Let the state know that we're not happy. Is this an opportunity for me to do that or? Certainly. Oh, go ahead. And I'll follow up with the call to action. Go ahead. So I just really want to make it clear. And this comes from my own experience with. People who are in the room who have sat with me. Side by side, through previous, you know, pushing for fair funding. Several years ago, who've been to budget hearings with us together, pushing for fair funding. You know, the effort was not so coordinated back then and that was as a community member. I know I didn't understand that. It's a different time in Cherry Hill. And I want to be really clear that. The board, the administration. Our PTA, our fair funding committee, folks. Are all coordinating our discussions and each doing our different parts. To. Strongly push back. On these cuts. What that means very specifically is real conversations with our representatives. Multiple conversations. Back and forth. Explaining where we're at, what we need, what doesn't make sense. Why this is a problem. And we are definitely being heard. Our Cherry Hill is being mentioned in committee meetings it's being mentioned we are being included in conversations at the state level and in certain ways. We have we're and those of you who are at their RBNF committee, Mrs. Sugar spoke about conversations with our township. This is just a kind of a, as I call, a full court press. Everyone is working together to coordinate and to really advocate for this district. And to really call out how unfair this is. After all this time to question the formula the formulate. That's not the right terminology, not the formula itself, but to question the conclusions that have been come to that have come to that the the decision was based on and to challenge and to ask for relook. Every year districts that have been dramatically, you know. Affected by their budgets have done a similar, made a similar effort. So I just want to be really clear that We are absolutely very engaged. It's thrown a wrench into many of our calendars that we weren't expecting but we're responding and I just really want the community to understand that. This is not something that we are sitting back. And saying, well, someone else has to work on this. This is something we are all working on together and I really just want to express my great gratitude. To our community for stepping up. And being engaged led by fair funding through zone PTA, critical critical force, specifically Dr. Morton, along with Mrs. Sugars, And also, again, folks at the township who are in support of our efforts. So I don't want anyone to be under the impression that we are not working very hard. To do what we can and I also want to Express my appreciation on a personal level to, you know, the willingness of our local leaders to take our phone calls to have the conversations to. Look at the information that we're. Bringing and hearing, you know, our concerns and you know, engaging in these dialogues. So, I have nothing more to report at that point at this point. But just to say, This is not okay and we are not. We are not, we're not backing away from making that very clear. I'm not sure exactly who the question is for, but, in a perfect case scenario, do we know what a timeline would look like if you're all of this advocacy for Terry Hill? Somehow gets through to the people that need to hear it. What that would look like. Sure, I can answer that. So, as you know, my background was I worked with legislature, I worked on budget. Staffing for lots of years. So I can tell you that changes can and do get made. The budget, the state budget that we have is proposed as proposed by the governor of the legislature actually has to adopt a budget. They adopt that June thirtieth. But in better news than that, last year. The districts who got shortchanged and complained got a supplements of appropriation to go through. It went through very quickly in March and they received a supplemental aid the first week in April. If that timeline were to hold for us this year and they got 66% back of what they lost. So it would be if if they were to do that again for us which I don't know if they will but we're trying our hardest. We could potentially be notified of that prior to. The budget hearing and we could make adjustments to the budget before we have to adopt the final budget. However, we still need to adopt the initial budget on time next week so the initial budget is going to look like what it looks like. With the allocations the way they are. If We are successful in our advocacy and things change. Hopefully it will change in early enough timeline that we can adjust that. That is certainly what I'm hoping for. Just also wanted to add and I apologize for Ms. Gallagher. I was remiss and also not recognizing as I'm looking over to that side of the room, our CHA and all of our collective bargaining units are also a big part of this effort. So I apologize, it did not mean to leave that very large group of folks out. So, thank you for, please understand. Just been a lot going on. So anyway, sorry about that. Ms. Gallagher. Yeah, so based off of the the factors that go into equalization aid. Do you see this potentially being an issue in the future years? Absolutely. Again, shocked last year that we got the increase that we did. Shocked this year that we got the decrease that we did, because if you look at, like I said, our projectory, it certainly did not include those kinds of things. When I spoke to the township tax assessor, you know, his concern was, well, okay, there's been a real estate boom, but it's not limited to Cherry Hill. Why are, you know, why do our numbers seem to be out of whack? When you look at the across the state so Yes. I think it will continue to be an issue. I think that. There has to be something done where districts can be held harmless or there could be guardrails put up. Either in a rolling average for the equalization or rolling average for the district income, and maybe parameters built around how much aid can be taken away all at once. You know, to assist us in, in just being able to plan. How do you in good conscious hire staff? And then. You know, know that you may not be able to maintain that staffing. And then I have a question. So obviously we're receiving. 6.1 million in preschool aid. How much out of our general budget needs to go towards the preschool expansion. So there is a certain amount that the district is required to, put towards, when we build our preschool budget, there's a certain amount that the district has to allocate towards it. Which basically I believe the intent this is our first year going through it the intent is because preschool education aid is only for regular education students and you have special education students in an inclusive environment. There is a certain factor that we as a district have to factor in when we're doing that and I believe that number was just over a million dollars. On top of that. In order to cover some of the costs we had to allocate an additional 500,000 or so on top of that. If you look at the difference in the resolution between the total budget and then the allocation that's the That's the general fund contribution. But it's broken down into the 2 pieces, the piece that we're required to have because of inclusion and then the additional man on top of that. And then what about busing costs? Busing costs are not included. We last year spent about 1.2 million. Now that was for all of our preschoolers. That wasn't just our regular Ed preschoolers. That was all of our preschoolers in district. Being sent to our contractor providers and also our special needs. Preschoolers. So, we are anticipating that's going to be around 1.4 million for this year. And I asked our transportation supervisor, She's in her, she's feeling that it's about 50 50 split between our special needs students and our in district and our regular education students. And then of course there's the facility expansion money as well, correct? Yes. So last year we, applied for a ride grant. We were given a rod grant. So That's actually in the 2324 budget year. They provide 40% of the funding. We have to provide 60% of the funding. And I think that, you know, at this point we've, we've been awarded the funds. We've started to look at, you know, the expansion, what that's gonna look like in terms of. Kilmer and and Malburg. And so, you know, as long as there's a commitment to preschool, I feel there should be a commitment to keeping students in district as we are working with the contract to providers. And seeing what the allocations look like from the state. I think it behooves us to. Keep as many in district as we can. And then one last question. Not preschool related. So now of the capital reserve. So my question, so technically, so I see like. 16 million, that's not the current, is that the current balance? Or is that the amount that we transferred into the account for capital reserves? So for capital reserve in this budget year, 2,324. We had set aside 16 million now 12.8 the 12 million is for the broad grants. We weren't awarded all of the rod grants. So 3.7 million did not get transferred over because we did not get the rod grant. For some of the non preschool items that we had applied for. 4 million is used for debt. So. That's why the number was so high because of the rod grants. If we look at this year, that's 7 million dollars, 4 million is for the debt repayment and the actual projects are a little over 3 million. Okay, that was the question I was gonna ask. Is it the 4 million for the bond repayment comes out of that 7 million. Correct. Okay, so that kind of reduces that balance pretty significant. I get 3 million is if we're if What is like? What do you want in? I mean, obviously infinite amounts of money would be nice, but like, what's like a standard practice for capital reserve funds generally? Well, I think it really varies because, you know, not every district has 19 buildings to think about, not every district has 19 buildings to think about. I think, as I said, you know, at 1 point. We really relied on it heavily because we didn't have any other resources and our buildings were. As I used to joke paper gum and bubble, you know, bubble gum and paper clips trying to keep fifty-year-old unit ventilators going. You know, as we move through the bond projects, we will certainly have a lot of improvements in the district. It won't be as critical. But you know, it's not gonna cover everything. We're not going to be doing a bond anytime soon. And as I mentioned there, as we go through these projects, there's things that you know, either because the scope expanded or because you know like as we had put in there we're gonna do the cruci gym but there's isn't money in the bond to do the cruci bleacher as well. You know, let's finish the project and do it right and you know, so we would, you know, need funding from someplace else to cover those kinds of costs. So looking at the minimized staff reduction bullet point when You mentioned that we're going to review current vacancies and retirements. Do you have any anticipation how much or how many more? People we are looking at. You know, reducing our workload by. So. That's a good question. I mean, we're looking at our first thing to do is to look at any position that we've had. Open for some time that we just have not been able to fill, which you know, in this day and age is a reality that we have positions that we can't fill. There's some positions that we can't not replace. And then there's some positions that we can take a look at and say, well, is there a different way that we can do this? I've had a position in my business office that's been open for some time. We've been able to reallocate, in the absence of that person. Reallocate some of those duties. So we feel comfortable that we can probably eliminate that position. So we're still kind of sorting through all of that. We're still looking at, potentially making some programmatic changes that would affect that number. But our goal is to try to minimize the impact on actual people that are, that would have to be ripped. Minimizing that as much as we can. I don't really have a question, but I have a couple of opinions that I feel like I want. Make. Unfortunately, the room is filled with people who mostly already care an awful lot. About this process and are already doing things, but. You know, hopefully we can expand this out to people that aren't in the room and, and haven't traditionally. Put in as much, but you know, I think what this date has done through their little formula is pretty unconscionable. And Looking at the numbers. I see at risk students has grown by 10%. Well, even though our our towns Overall income has increased quite a bit. I don't know about most people's households, but my household sure as hell has not undergone any major increases in revenue. So I don't think that this increase in town revenue is really spread evenly, evenly across the district and based on the number of at risk students I I would. Wager of bet that at the bottom of the income scale people there's probably there's even more people hurting and really that income is happening at the top of the income bracket. Another, and that's a point that needs to be made, I think, to the state a second point to be made to the state is cares if housing prices have gone up. Does has does anybody that wants to be in Cherry Hill benefit from that right now? Like you have to sell your house to get any realized value out of that. Just because your housing value has gone up. That actually means you have less money because that means you're over, you know, depending on assessment. I mean, my house just got reassessed. So I'm paying more already on that. So increase in housing prices is meaningless to the average person. Their income hasn't increased. We don't have more purchasing power because our house is worth more on Zillow. Like that's, and that's a problem in my mind with using. I mean, this is this is getting a little too opiniony probably, but using housing prices as a measure to estimate these things I think is really in equitable because it really is It's putting the pressure on the middle class homeowner. You know, a rich person can buy a $300,000 home and pay minimal taxes. You know, that that's not a fair. Distribution of the burden of. The school budget. So I'm really personally against the idea of using housing prices as as a measure to distinguish aid. Housing prices are also very market flexible. What I mean by that, and I'm not a realtor or a business person. But what I mean by that is it's arbitrary. Like, you know, you can go in and offer $50,000 below, you know, the asking price, you know, and they either take it or they don't. And nowadays people are paying. Without tens of thousands of dollars overasking prices and that's what's driving prices up. But those are kind of like fake numbers. Those are because everybody wants to get more for their house than they bought it for. That's not an equitable way to decide how to pay for educating children. In my mind, it's really terrible. And I think, you know, pointing these flaws in my mind, it's really terrible. And I think, you know, pointing these flaws in the system out to our legislators. It's really one of the few things that we can do. And I think that it's just really important that everybody is getting in on that. Because our options that have just been laid out that we're gonna the board's gonna be thinking about an awful lot is we can either pissed people off by increasing taxes a lot and I hope it does make people angry and I hope that anger is directed at the right place, which is the state formula and get it. Terry Hill has been historically underfunded. The state has not given us what we were owed. By the by their little formula and now they're just And now they're, you know. Setting us up for failure with all with our initiatives, you know, what a bad decision, formula aside, what a bad decision. To give a community a A, a grant for. Preschool expansion and rod grants and all of this stuff and then undercut their actual budget. By 7 min. Almost 7 million dollars. Stupid, stupid. So. I hope that by saying this, you know, I'm not just blowing hot air into the microphone and you guys in the audience who I know are already involved. And that's part of the problem is we all care already. We have to get other people to care because I think, you know, what I've always been told is that the legislature doesn't listen very well unless they hear from a lot of people. And the other thing I've been told is they don't really care what we say as board members. They want to hear from community members. They want to hear from the people who are actually harmed by these. By these things. So I think it's really important that that message gets out. The only way this gets fixed. Is by people complaining to the state by people reaching out to their legislators, by people participating in fair funding activities to show a show of force to the state. And I'm sorry I'm just kind of going on and on, but that's my take on the numbers. That's what I see here. We either increase taxes upsetting and make people mad or the other side which in my mind is worse. We're doing, you know, we've. You know, for 2 years I've sat here and we've been talking about how do we improve outcomes in the district? Well, sure hell isn't cutting all this money from the you know, cutting but people from our budget. It's not getting rid of our math coaches that we just hired. It's not getting rid of all of our, you know, various. Support staff. You know, teachers, obviously we need teachers in the classroom, but they need their, they need support. And making those big cuts and we will have to make some cuts and that's hard but the more cuts we make the more our students suffer. For that and the more we undo some of our really important gains that we've gotten. So that that's my piece. So thank you for listening. If I can just amplify what Dr. Rudj said. This is not hopeless. This is not hopeless. I have seen it happen. I have seen people go to Trenton to the budget committees and make real change for their districts. It happens last year. Districts who went and were loud. And expressed what was going to happen to the students in their districts. We're able to get an extra appropriation to help them with their budgets. I do, I think we're going to get every penny back? I do not. Do I think any penny we get back is going to be maybe something else we don't have to cut. I absolutely do. So just to amplify, this is not some pie in the sky. Thing. This is not utopia. This is reality. The legislature will listen if we all show up. We always talk about how we have such a huge community. A large school district and sometimes you will talk about a negative way. Here's the moment for us to make it positive. We are the eleventh largest school district in the state, and we got the second biggest cut from them. Let's show them what that means in terms of impact to our students. Because none of the 9 of us around here got elected or appointed. To cut teachers and raise class sizes. We got elected and appointed because we believe in the public education of our kids. The governor says he believes in it. He says he fully funded education this year. That's great, we agree. Let's fully fund education this year. Okay. Got the room, and everybody else. It is a true thing that we show percent of, you can all go and if you can if they allow you to talk that'd be great but it's not observe your find I was there with 1 million. 5, 6 years ago. And unfortunately, this time I cannot make it. But I would like as many people as they can go there and support the Cherry Hill Township. Thank you. I just like to support, basically everything Dr. Root said. I forget who else it was that, asked, Could this be an issue in the future? But it definitely could be if we continue using this formula then if we just use like a reactive solution where we had just had to go to the the state assembly each year and ask for more funding. This is not going to really solve the issue. Mean that we're scrambling to kind of. React to the issue as it comes up because as we've seen it's been extremely unpredictable, our funding from your to year. So because of that, I think, one of the biggest efforts that we should focus on is really making our concerns with the system used to determines state aid known that way this isn't an issue in the future. I'm also like happy to say that a Colin and I are working to organize the contingency of students to go to the state assembly on March twentieth so I'll be happy to testify and attend there. Later this month. Very grateful to you guys and I'm sorry that you have to take time out of your weekday of your school day, to be honest. I mean, I know you're seniors and so. Not sure how much school work is is very, intent and heavy right now, though it might be kind of a lot of exams and stuff coming up in May. But, I do want to thank you guys and I do want to say that several of us are, you know, But every board member has been invited after several of us are going. This is, am I stealing your thunder, I'm going to stop and turn it over to you, Mr. G. So I think this is a good time to interject with a call to action to help advocate for school funding. I think this is a good time to interject with a call to action to help advocate for school funding to help advocate for school funding. There continues to be some amazing collaboration between board members, to help advocate for school funding. There continues to be some amazing collaboration between board members, students, administration. There continues to be some amazing collaboration between board members students, the administration, Zone PTA, there continues to be some amazing collaboration between board members, students, administration, zone PTA, the fair funding committee, our mayor, our local legislators. They are here, they're listening to us. One way to get involved just through the fair funding committee. They've been doing a really great job at getting information out there on what you can do with specific actions, phone numbers, email addresses, scripts. You could find them on Facebook. There's a fair funding Facebook page very easy to find. If you go to the districts website, you can go under the community tab and that'll bring you to the fair funding website. Little different information than on the Facebook page, but it has the same call to action on it. There are opportunities to testify in front of the assembly. I know I'll be there next week on the twentieth. It looks like slots that you can reserve to testify are all filled up, but you could still go there in person if we show up in numbers. It spreads good optics that, Hey, we're here. We all care. Please give us some more funding or I should say restore our funding. There's also Tuesday tweets, Friday phone calls. I know I started last Friday making calls to all of our lawmakers following a simple script and they were very receptive, very polite and pass those messages along. I think that covers it. Please get involved. The more people they hear from, they don't just want to hear from our leaders they hear from they don't just want to hear from our leaders they want to hear from everybody. They don't just want to hear from our leaders. They want to hear from everybody. The more they want to hear from everybody. The more people reach out, the more hopefully they will hear us. The more the more people reach out, the more hopefully they will hear us and restore funding. I believe the funding formula is getting revisited next year. I believe the funding formula is getting revisited next year. If we can communicate to them, I believe the funding formula is getting revisited next year. I think the piece about showing up in numbers, whether or not People are testifying because they the the committee has asked us to limit our our actual time and testifying because there's a lot of other people who are testifying too. So, but you know, having a business town referenced, I mean, having gone to. Budget hearings and seeing small districts that have a thousand students show up with 50 people in matching shirts and Cherry Hill. I think our greatest number of the one year we might have had 12 people, 15 people, which was great. But very small compared to a lot of other districts. And it was noticeable that we were absent. Relatively absent for our size. That can't happen this year. We, we really, really need people and I know it's hard. Many of us work full-time, full-time plus and we have kids. I'm in the same boat. You know, if you can be a presence in the afternoon of the twentieth, that is our testifying time is in the afternoon of the twentieth. That is our testifying time is in the afternoon on the twentieth up in Trenton. And then there's the Senate hearing, which is online. Is that the 20 sixth? 1226. Thank you. That's online. So you just have to log in and write your name and Cherry Hill after that. I won't ask you if you're actually listening or not. You just got to be online. Okay, don't let anybody know I said that. This is being recorded. Oh well, too late. It'll be our secret, right, Mr. Kate. Thank you. So, you know, please get the word out and yeah. That I just wanted to add that. So thank you. Thank you. Very much. So hopefully we'll see a bunch of you out on the twentieth, but definitely look up fair funding, follow some of the actions that they share throughout the week. Hopefully by showing up in numbers and calling and emailing and tweeting. They see that we we mean it. We need we need our funding restored. All right, with that, I'll move on to some good news with Bun construction summary because no matter what they do to our budget they cannot touch the bond funding. That money is allocated for those projects and cannot be used for anything else but also cannot be taken. I'll give a little briefer summary than I had planned because we've been talking for a while. Roofing projects, have been done for a long time. But we're finally receiving close out documents from all 3 contractors. The Privco contract close out I believe is on the agenda tonight. You may have seen a lot of great improvements at the high school east stadium. Lots of great work there, including Grandstand Pressbox risers. Everything is fully accessible. It's something that's important to me and to a lot of other people, including removal and replacement of squares of sidewalk that were not compliant just due to the slope. Close to the finish line they expect substantial completion by March twentieth so next week and should be usable in time for the game on April second. Lot of great progress on APRs, 5 out of 6 building pads being completed. There's some site work needed. To prepare for that, the soil condition was the biggest unknown. So. Not expecting a lot of change order requests moving forward, but saying that out loud probably just invited. A lot of new challenges. Electrical contractors started second shift work running new conduits. It's going to be some abatement work. That needs to be done when tying into some of the schools but still on schedule for May of 2025 some even sooner. I'll give a disclaimer that's not an official date. I'll give a disclaimer that's not an official date, but that is the current expected timeline. Kerussi and plans are out to bid for work as of February 20 ninth. There's a lot of interested parties hoping for competitive bids. The office of the state controller gave approval to to post it so hoping for some competition there which hopefully means better pricing for us. Unions are fully engaged on abatement effort starting this summer. Kursi has a lot of abatement work. We're looking at 2 crews from 2 companies. To ensure work is completed on time while the buildings are empty. Early childhood additions, that's the preschool expansion at Melburg and Kilmer. It's actively being worked on. With site drums and construction documents being reviewed. Critical H fact that we talked about recently. East Boiler Room has a small amount of abatement that's going to be done on March 20 ninth during spring break when the buildings are empty it's necessary to be able to prepare for future work over the summer. East is the biggest project but also working in 10 other buildings this summer in order to do critical HVAC repair and replacement. At Rosa, schematic drums are out for construction reconfiguration for the rest of the building and that's expected to go out for bid in September. With West Sitework at our last meeting we talked about a recreation grant those submitted to offset the costs which includes accessibility improvements that's work already being done, but always appreciate our administration or construction company for going after every last penny that we could find. And lastly, something interesting that came up is at high school east in an intro to engineering class. There's a request for garrison architects to come in and work with the students to teach him what this construction work looks like, how they prepare. Show them how this works in the real world. So, Garrison talked about how he's excited to work with the students, talk about reviewing the process, probably using F-wing as an example. And I think that about covers it. Thank you very much. Thank you. And now we move on to human resources, which is. The art. That's the committee that I lead. And so as people know, there's really not a lot I can usually say. But I can share that we focused our discussion in job descriptions. Which we will be voting on tonight. So. That's pretty much all I can say. Obviously recruitment is a big thing, although challenging times to talk about recruitment. Meeting occurred before. Our funding numbers came out. So. That's it. And now we move on to, policy legislation. Mrs. Winters, if you could please give the committee report. Sure. I subbed in for Joel who is judging DECKA I believe. No, he's at the work. No, at PNL. And I something as chair for piano. Yes. I'm right. Last week he was in Atlantic City doing dug in today. He's in Chicago. Correct. He was in that that's right. It's like we're off. Where in the world is Joel? So I got to chair piano, which was a lot of fun. We were excited to welcome Ms. Nyz as the newest member of the committee. Ms. Weddington started by giving us a legislative update. And then we moved into some policy updates from Strauss Asmay. I did teach Joel quite a bit about the number of policy updates he left me. This was not something he told me was going to happen. Before I said I would southern as chair, but fortunately most of them were quite easy and just updates of the language. So we had a few. Minor questions, but nothing huge with that. After that, we moved into the comprehensive equity plan, which Miss. Wevington explained to us and gave a copy to us to review. We then went into old business and which we discussed one of my favorite things to discuss, which is the school calendar. Ms. Gallagher and I, of course, had opinions about how spring break should be conducted. What can we say? We always provide entertainment for the crowd. But the 2627, I'm sorry, the 2425 calendar, which is next year was discussed at an LMC meeting that I was at. With Dr. Morton, a lot of other people and the LMC put together some ideas for next year's calendar, including moving to 180 student days and taking the 2 additional days and using them for professional development. Because there's a huge need for that in the district. The LMC agreed that was a good idea. It was presented to PNL, the PNL committee also agreed it was a good idea. So that looks like it's in process with the final calendar. We then talked about the following year, which is, 2,627, which is, 2,627, which is going to be another year where spring break looks like it might be split because Easter and Passover do not align. So we suggested that the LMC and all of their wisdom take a look at that as well since the process worked so well for the 2425 calendar to see what the best way of managing that is. So that's coming out. The last thing that we did and I touched on this in CNI is we discussed the cell phone policy. So it was across committee discussion and collaboration like I mentioned before. Both committees agreed the best idea was to discuss with the teachers first and see what their experiences are and then move to the students in the full community. Anything else from PNO members? Did you mention that those extra PD days eliminate the half days in high school? I did not, but that is an excellent point. Thank you. It's a team effort. Yes, so the Friday half days that we put in this year for extra PD and collaborative time at the high school with the addition of the 2. Days that we'd be giving teachers for PD. We wouldn't have to do that anymore. And I think it also will significantly help with our preschool program because a lot of required PD for that program as well and the teachers were asking for additional time to get up to speed on all the requirements, the things they have to do. So I'm really hopeful that that's going to make a big difference for our teachers next year. Any questions, other questions? Colin. I probably misunderstood you, but the early dismissal PD days for next year. They're going away. And you're gonna get 2 additional days off. You're welcome. Oh, you won't. You graduate. Sorry. My son was also quite confused. He's like, you're taking away the half day Fridays. I'm like, it's not taking it away. It's substituting in the 2 additional days. I'm sorry you'll miss that excitement. I think that we were talking about which days those were going to be and I don't believe that there was a conclusion fully come to that's going to go back to LMC. There were a couple of ideas floating around this to what would be best the most productive. Some of the things they were thinking about is positioning the days. Earlier in the year that way the teachers can get the most impact out of the professional development and then deploy that to the students. I was talking to some board members when I went to the LMC. Training and they were saying how their district does all their PB after school ends in June and it's totally not productive because everything you learned like June, twentieth and you have to wait till September to implement it. Whereas we tend to space them out throughout the year that way people can take what they're learning and immediately try it out. Which is kind of neat. Any other questions, thoughts? I'm really excited about it actually. I think we're really investing in our teachers and I think also just the collaboration with the LMC of the teachers. And the not just the teachers, the teachers, the administration, the educational assistants, everybody being part of the conversation is I think really interesting because you get that perspective from everybody and that makes the decisions better and easier when we all come together and discuss it. There are things that I absolutely did not know or ever think about about the school calendar, but when you're sitting in the room with all the stakeholders. And you get that input in collaboration, then the decisions make a whole lot more sense. Like an old board member used to say she used to say make it make sense miss on more stratton So I'm trying to make it make sense all the time for you now. Anybody else? All right, that's piano. Okay, great. Thank you. And now we move on to Dr. Rood. If you could please give the strategic planning report. Sure, try to be brief. So the first thing we talked about was the demographic study that the district is having done. Dr. Grip has completed his study. And there is a plan to, He plans to present that on the April ninth board meeting. So we'll hear about the demographic study that of course is important. In kind of planning for the future and kind of trying to get an idea of the number of students in district and the kind of distribution throughout town so that we. Can kind of think about. Enrollment numbers. The next thing was the communication audit. Phase one of the audit audit which is focus groups and surveys is complete. Both, district administration and the in the auto company were very pleased that there was a very large number of surveys completed so that so thank you to the community for contributing your your voice to to this audit let me see. So our, administrators are in conversations with the auditors. It says in my notes next week, which is this week. In their hope we're hoping to get a draft of the report. Sometime in May. So we should be hearing about that communications audit, which is a comprehensive survey of communication in the district. And this in this audit they'll be making recommendations. For based on all of the feedback that they received for making a positive improvements, to the district. Next we heard from Alison Stefan. Who spoke about a climate change education and resilience grant that the district submitted. On February 20 eighth the application is part of a larger grant opportunity throughout the state the state has put up about 2 million dollars and plans to split that into about 80 awards. So it'll be a nice little pot of money if we receive the award and the. The idea that they put forward in the application was building off of a project done at Rosa Middle School last year where they put together pollinator a pollinator garden. And so we're hoping, and so this grant would allow for institution of pollinator gardens at most of our districts building building district buildings. I think that's the plan. And, that would kind of integrate nicely with what the district sustainability committee is currently working on with their plan to. To provide a sustainability. Plan for the district so that they were consulted. On this and. The pollinator gardens They're kind of I think a really fun idea for kids and they offer a lot of opportunities. That meet a lot of our district goals. They offer educational opportunities. They help teach kids about wellness if one of If you follow the biology in. News. We often hear about failing populations of bees and that may seem kind of like, you know, like, oh, who cares about bees? Well, We all do because bees are important for crops and all kinds of things. So without proper pollinators. Crops fail and people starve. So it's an important problem around the world and something that our kids are able to make a little bit of an impact. At their home schools. If we get this grant so that's really exciting. And it also there's there will be interactions with different it would enable interactions with community garden centers and and that is of course fits in with our kind of a career and technical training initiatives and getting kids to interact with other groups in the community. So a lot of good things in that grant application. It sounds small, but it's really be a really nice thing for the district. Let me see. We briefly in. Old business mentioned cell phones only to say that our thankfully our discussions in strategic planning have moved up to policy and legislation and curriculum and instruction and we're taking a more active look at cell phone usage. Especially kind of building off of community feedback through. So that's that's a really good thing. And during public comment, we talked a little bit about the decline in Bs. That's, any questions, any other comments from other strategic planning people? Okay. Comment that I really appreciate. How active and significant the work you guys are doing. And strategic planning is, you know, there was a period of time where strategic planning didn't have a lot of substance to the conversations. It's just completely different and I really appreciate, you know, you guys in the committee and doing the work that. But yeah, they, you know. We're doing so thank you. Okay, now we move on to our special action agenda and we will start with curriculum and instruction. Mrs. Winters, can you please move the CNI agenda? I would be delighted. The superintendent recommends and I move the following, 17.1 approval of attendance at conference and workshops for the 2324 school year. 17.2 resolution approving early childhood preschool budget. 2024 2517.3 resolution authorizing submission and acceptance of the teacher climate and culture innovation grant. And 17.4 approval of professional service agreements for the 2324 school year. Do I have a second? Dr. Rood, are there any questions? No questions. Miss Schippers, can you please open the voting? Board members you may catch your votes Now you make a question. I'm voting no on 17.2. I will be no voting lines I point to as well. I'm gonna vote no on 17.2. Okay, other than the 3 no votes on item 17.2, the motion carries. We have. All of the items, Karen. Thank you. Okay, we move on to business and facilities. Mr. Green Bam, can you please move the BNF agenda? Thank you. Superintendent recommends and I move the following. 18.1 approval bill lists 18.2 resolution of the cherry Hill Board of Education accepting the whole of the work of Praveco Inc. On bid. 2, 2, 2, 3, desk 3, 4. Do I have a second? Yes, Stern, any questions? Mrs. Sugars, please open the voting. Would members you may cast your votes. And the motion carries. Okay, I'm gonna move the CNI. I'm sorry. Human Resources agenda. Acting superintendent recommends and I move the following. 19.1, termination of employment certificate. 19.2, termination of employment non certificate. 19.3 appointment certificate. 19.4 appointments non certificated, 19.5 salary change certified, certificate. 19.6 assignment salary change non certificated 19.7, other compensations certificated. And Mr. Green is is the right language. Still apply of the I need to read out this whole I should read this one out separately is that correct for 19.8 it's not necessary technically, but you certainly can. Okay. Then I will leave it at 19.8 if it's not necessary. And Do I have a second? Mr. Green Bam, are there any questions? Ms. Gallagher. A question about 19.8 for point of order. Is this a simple majority or a majority of the full board? It's a simple majority of those present and do abstentions count per? Abstentions are not votes so they don't count. Towards the Are there any other questions or comments? This is winters. I'd like to comment on 19.8. So about a year ago. We all woke up on a Monday morning to the news that Dr. Malash was retiring as superintended. And I should have expected that because I had said to my husband the night before that it was going to be a quiet week. As we all absorb the news, the board members quickly came to the realization that hiring a new superintendent to lead our district was quite possibly the most important decision we would ever make as a board. We resolved to do it well and to find the right person to leave Cherry Hill forward into its next era of success for all of our students. It was really important to us that community voice be paramount as we moved forward with the process. To help us, we hired a professional search firm. So that we could be sure to accurately capture the aspirations our community has for a new leader and for the district as a whole. We asked and you answered us. I want to thank every single person who took the time to give us input. We know you're busy and that there are many competing demands on your time every single day. But we also know that this is a community that cares deeply about its public schools. And we'll always step up when needed. Over 1,300 of you completed the survey. And more than half the respondents, the largest stakeholder group was our students. The second largest group, almost 30% of respondents. For parents. Many more of you attended focus groups of meetings to tell us what you hoped for in a new leader. And this is what you said. You asked us for a leader who would foster a positive professional climate of mutual trust and respect among faculty, staff, and administrators. I have watched Dr. Kami Morgan use the labor management collaborative to create exactly this kind of environment. Joel and I are now the board representatives to the LMC and have seen up close how much better things are when all of the stakeholders are working together in a collaborative environment towards mutual goals to move our district forward. You asked us for a leader who would understand to be sensitive to the needs of a diverse student population. Dr. Morton has a history of this. Through his tenure as a principal up until today. He's an empathetic leader who seeks to understand the diverse backgrounds of all of our students. And create an environment where everyone is included and belongs. He has implemented the NJ Sky Climate Survey in all of our schools. And is now using that data to create school-based plans. So that our students can feel safe and welcomed in our school communities. You asked us for a leader who will provide transparent communication. Under Dr. Morton's leadership, the district is currently conducting a communication audit so that we can improve our communication with you. I can also say that on a board level, the transparency and communication between the board and the administration has been excellent. The robust conversations we have had around the end. You asked us for a leader who demonstrates a deep understanding of educational research and emerging best practices and can implement strategies. Under Dr. Morton's leadership, Cherry Hill is on the cutting edge of innovation and education. Hi impact tutoring, universal preschool, and of course, our well loved high school math pathways are just a few examples of systemic and data-driven initiatives that Dr. Morton has implemented in just the past few months. And finally, you asked us for a leader who would provide a clear and compelling vision for the future. Dr. Morton's heart is truly here in Cherry Hill. He knows and he loves this district and it's students. He has watched the district change and grow over the past 16 years. And has concrete plans on what we need to do to continue to evolve into the Cherry Hill of the future. Cherry Hill, you asked. We listened and we delivered. I could not be more thrilled to work with Dr. Kami Morton. To continue to move towards the future of this wonderful school district. We are so incredibly proud of. Mr. So I'd like to share a moment I found inspirational while working with Dr. Morton. When we are in the process of putting together the application for preschool expansion aid, I asked a number of practical questions about funding streams, transportation. Logistics and I got satisfactory answers for all of my questions but that was the how. When Dr. Morton responded, he spoke to why. You talked about the importance of early childhood education and the advantage children with access to it have over their peers. You spoke about closing achievement gaps. And how we can't just focus on adding supports at the middle school and high school levels, but also need to close the opportunity gap. When it comes to early childhood. He talked about the importance of special education and early identification of any supports that are needed so children have the tools they need to succeed when they enter kindergarten instead of trying to catch up on lost learning later. He understands why we do what we do and he brings his passion for education to everything he does. And he embodies the characteristics the community said they were looking for in a superintendent. For these and many other reasons, I'm excited to select Dr. Morton as the next superintendent of Cherry Hill Schools. Is this your fame? I was asked to not comment on my vote tonight, but I see that other people are commenting on their vote, so I would just like to not comment on my vote tonight, but I see that other people are commenting on their vote so I would just like to know that the vote I would just like the public to know because accusations seem to have already been made about what potential votes could be. My, my vote tonight will be under the oath that I took when I first was appointed back in January under the New Jersey Code of Ethics for school board members. Section 18, a colon 12 dash 21.1 dash H is the reason for my vote tonight. The board members. I have a. A comment that Mr. Mayor asked me to read since he was not here tonight. He asked that I read it on his behalf. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not that I don't do scripts and don't draft comments or speeches. So it's ironic that I'm drafting this one now. One that I wish I could give in person. But I'm conducting resiliency training outside of Chicago this week for public school teachers. And I'm grateful for that opportunity. Though not for the timing. I am completely in support of advancing the contract appointing Dr. Morton. To the county superintendent for her review and approval and thank the team at Hazard Young Anatia. For their hard work and expertise. And working with community stakeholders to craft the candidate profile. In fielding a robust and varied list of interested candidates. From across the region and country. For carefully vetting those candidates. And for applying their expertise and experience to provide the board with a truly impressive list of finalists. Even with Hua's assistance, this was difficult and time consuming work. But it should have been. It's that important. Thank you to my fellow board members for your countless hours. Your attention and your dedication. The work was hard, but in the end, for me, the decision wasn't. In the several months that I've had the privilege to work and observe, work with and observe Dr. Morton in his capacity as acting superintendent. I've seen unwavering passion. Short and long-term strategic thinking. A comprehensive grasp of the many and varied needs and challenges faced by this district. And a stunning capacity for identifying growth opportunities. At the staff and programmatic levels. Dr. Morton is a leader among leaders who earns the respect of his peers and the district staff. Every day. I say all the time that's settling for success. Will only hold you back. Dr. Morton, you don't settle for success. And because of that, with you at the helm. Cherry Hill Public School District. Will not be held back. Those are. Mayor's comments, not mine. However, I do have my own. And I'm thrilled to be able to share them. 8 months ago, we embarked on a daunting journey to find our next superintendent. We carefully chose the highly regarded national search firm Hazard Young at and associates to lead this journey. HYA rigorously conducted an inclusive engagement process. Of Cherry Hill stakeholders. And I want to take this moment to thank the Chary Hill stakeholders. Some of whom are in this room tonight, some of whom are online and some who are out there who I've never met. To thank them for their time. And engagement. Out of that process, they developed the desired superintendent characteristic. Posted on, which is now posted on, which was posted on our website, which became the board's guide to hiring our next superintendent. The community's charge was clear. Cherry Hill wanted a strong educational leader. Who is engaged, collaborative and transparent, words we have heard over and over and over again tonight. Someone with leadership experience in districts of comparable. Of comparable size and complexity to Cherry Hill. A relationship builder, a transparent communicator. And someone who has a track record of closing achievement gaps among diverse groups of learners. HBA presented materials from the 38 candidates who completed their applications. Drawing from 13 states. HYA brought a slate of 10 recommended highly qualified candidates. For the board to carefully review. And then choose. Our top 5 to interview. For the first round and then 3 for the final round. Let there be no doubt that every board member participated in each step of the process, sharing honestly and openly about our assessments of the candidates. Their materials and their interviews. Comparing that with the desired characteristics that the community gave us. With 16 years of demonstrated leadership in our large district. As a systems thinker who uses best practices and data to improve student achievement. And with the added strength of having a background in business and budget management, which very few people may be aware of. Dr. Morton's competencies. His vision and his strengths clearly differentiated him as the right leader to take Cherry Hill public schools. To new levels of success. Dr. Morton said this about the cornerstone on which he serves. And I quote, by merging and understanding of educational research. With a systems thinking approach. I have been able to utilize a deep understanding of sound business principles to create 20 first century learning communities. Committed to equitable outcomes for all students, unquote. And indeed in his 16 years in this district his actions as a leader in our district. Demonstrates this. I am thrilled. And I was tough to, I'm a tough critic as you certainly know. That's my fellow board members now. I am thrilled to wholeheartedly. Support you as the right leader. In the best interest of our students in this district. And to send your contract. To the county, executive county superintendent. Any other board members? Any comments? A student who like to make a comment, please feel free. Back in. In May when I interviewed for the board reposition. The question was raised. What are you looking for in our new superintendent? And I said a compassionate leader. And that's exactly what we have in Dr. Moran. Whenever Dr. Morton is in the building, he's talking with students. He's getting to know them, he's getting to know what they like, and I see it. And it's great to see that. The students get to interact with an administrator from such a high level and and feel heard and feel understood. And I think it really says something that, the great work that Hazard Young and Andatia did. In our nationwide search and we still ended up right back here in Cherry Hill with Dr. Morton. I think that says something. Thank you. Congratulations, Dr. Martin. I'd also like to start up by saying, congratulations, Doctor Morton. I remember back at started this year when we had the focus groups with the How's your young and the TN associates? And one of the most common things that students were talking about was the importance of the new superintendent, the importance of the new superintendent, the importance of the new superintendent, the importance of that role of having someone who really understood. What the Cherry Hill community was like the size the diversity and the structure the emphasis on the educational system. And I really was worried about. The idea of taking someone from outside the district because that's such a difficult process of kind of a customing someone into an entirely new community. As which is already a difficult process for anyone to come into a new rule. So I just like to say that I'm very thankful that we have someone who has such a proven track record in the district. You guys years of service to. Our school district. And another very very heavily repeated phrase was the idea of like listening like Colin said. And through everything that I've seen from dr. Morton and everything I've heard about dr. Morton service I think He embodies that, truly, truly embodies that. So, thank you. Thank you. Alright. This is sugars, can you call it both please? Board members, you may cast your votes. Sugars I have to abstain from 19.1 for a conflict of interest and I will be a no on 19.8 Voting no in 19.8. Mr. Sugars, I am abstaining from 19.6. And 19.8 2 2 conflict of interest. Mr. Tricker, I need to abstain from 19.3. In 19.8. Okay, for 19 point. One, we have one abstention, 19.6. We have one abstention, 19.3. We have one abstention. 19.8 we have 2 no votes and 2 abstentions. All motions carry. Thank you, Mrs. Sugars and Dr. Morton. We are very excited to be able to say that we are advancing the contract. To the County Executive Superintendent. More to come on that. Okay, we move on to policy and legislation. Mrs. Winters, can you please move the PNL agenda? The superintendent recommends and I move the following 20.1 approval of harassment intimidation billing investigation decisions. 20.2, approval of harassment intimidation and bullying, hearing decision. Do I have a second? Mr. Fain, are there any questions? Ms. Sugars, can you call the vote please? Members you may cast your votes. The sugars I will be abstaining from 20.1 and 20.2. Here we have 3 abstentions. Mrs. Neaz, Dr. Rood and Mrs. Tong. The motion carries. Okay, we have 21.1. I'm sorry, 21 strategic planning. There's nothing to move on that agenda. Now move to new business. Is there any new business? Mrs. Gallagher. They make this really, really short. I've just been like reviewing policies and stuff and our bylaws need to be updated. They don't reflect changing that we've changed some policies over the last couple of years. So our bylaws do need to be updated. So I think Would that go to like PNO, I assume? Yes, if you could please take that back to the piano and you're on PNL, is that correct? Perfect, yes. So if you could get with the panel chair, Mr. Mayer and have that conversation. All right, perfect. Thanks. Any other new business? Okay. And do we have any other old business? We now move on to our second public comment. Turn my page over. This is our second public comment section during which you may comment on any school related topic. If you would like to speak now, please clearly state your name and municipality. We will alternate between speakers here in the room and those who are online. Each speaker will be given a maximum of 3 min to speak. The timer on the screen will indicate the amount of time you have remaining. Public Common is an opportunity for members of the community. To comment on matters relevant to the operations of Terryho Public School District or within the authority of the Cherry Hill Board of Education. The board welcomes diverse opinions on relevant matters. Under established federal law governing reasonable restrictions on speech and public forums. Statements which demean individual community members or groups or which are irrelevant to the operations of the school district or our repetitive. Will not be permitted. Community members who would like to present information not relevant to the school district are always welcome to communicate directly with the acting district superintendent, board president and all board members via email or other alternative means. So, as always, we offer students to go first. I, at 9 45 at night, I really hope there aren't too many students who want to make a public comment but if there are they're obviously going to be first and if you're a student and you're online and you'd like to comment, To deter you, I just hope that you have. Been able to get, you'll be able to get some good sleep. But if you are a student and you're online and you like to speak, please put an S app your name so we get to you first. We will start in the room. So if you'd like to speak, make a public comment about matters relevant to our school district. Please approach the podium, state your name and municipality. Hi, my name is Cole Allen Johnson. I am in Morristown, New Jersey. I'm not too far away. I'm coming to you all today, in regards to an issue I'm very concerned about. And that is our children's unprecedented access to hardcore internet pornography. Right now there are no regulations stopping children from accessing this contents. And any child can go to these websites, only 3% of them even ask you if you are 18 of the ones that do, you can click simply just click yes I'm 18 and gain access to site. This is absolutely wreaking havoc on all of our children's mental health. Their loss of innocence at young age, it's causing them to engage in sexually abusive behavior with one another, body image disorders, lack of drive for real instrument partners, isolation from family and friends, to just name a few of the mental health impacts that it has. When I'm coming to you today is to see if you would all be interested in supporting my initiative by calling an assembly of the parents of the children. On, an off day when the kids aren't here at night, I'm simply offering it to the parents that I will come and speak and spread awareness about a piece of legislation which passed in 8 states in 2,023 alone where adults have to provide photo ID or some proof of ID to gain access to these sites. And, you know, this is really the only way to get the word out about this legislation since the media isn't covering it at all. At this point, I've literally talked to over a thousand people about this issue. Nobody knows that this legislation got passed in in 8 states in 2,023 because of the complete media blackout on the issue. Meanwhile, we know about every single state that pays, pass the legislation, legalizing marijuana, instantly it's all the media will talk about, but this for whatever reason they're totally silent on. So this is the only way we can get the word out about it. I think it's the most crucial thing is preserving our children's innocence and we just simply can't say that we're doing it it makes absolutely with with the way things are right now. It makes absolutely no sense that you should have provide ID to gain access to a strip club. But any 12 year olds can hop on one of these sites where they will see content that is far more graphic than anything they would stumble across in a strip club. So, the average age of the child is exposed to this content is at 11 years old and most kids aren't just gonna be exposed at an age, they're going to get addicted to it as I was and many other children my age were. So I would encourage you all to consider possibly giving me an opportunity to once again speak to the parents of the children of your school district possibly giving me an opportunity to once again speak to the parents of the children of your school district, on and off night where I can give them a presentation about the legislation, how they can all help to get it passed in the state. So, thank you guys so much. I appreciate it. Okay, we go to the line and it's a number 7 80. I'm sorry. You cannot hand those out to us, please. If you could have any material specs, you can hand them to Mrs. Sugars, please our business administrator, board secretary. Thank you. The number is. I'm gonna wait a second. Hi, my name is Jeff Padowitz. I live in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. So we go to the line and the number is 7 8 8 as soon as the timer is up we'll get started I'm sorry. Okay, my name is Jeff Potter. It's I live in Chariole, New Jersey. First, you hear me? You hear me? First, please read the transformation of state aid since 1,990 NJ education aid on his blog July, the twentieth, 2,016 since 1,989 to 1,990. All right. We have been the cherry hill has been the biggest loser in dollars of state aid. All right. For the whole state. The state, the states had a lot of money as a result and we paid the cost. And that's on NJ education aid. He wrote that, we were the biggest loser as of 2,016. Remember that the total spending per pupil in Sherry Hill, 2,021 2,022 was 24,972. Okay, we're talking about funds for preschool expansion and they don't pay for students with disabilities. I think that's totally wrong. I do, but however the state wants it accounting to make sure that this doesn't happen because they're so against the kids with disabilities. God forbid any of the money goes to those kids. So the state, demanded accounting. So why don't you give us accounting? Find out. Well, what I want to know is I know last year they gave us 3.4 and this year we're getting 6.6 6.1 and that's for 540 students will give us a full accounting how much money totally will we be really spending and and even that as if the total accounting just like this is a total accounting the total accounting of how much money that is. That's what I'd like to know. We're getting 3.4 million. Next year we're getting 6.1. We have 540 students. 540 students. Just so you know, Vories is getting, has about, is getting about 6.4. They don't have anything close to 500 to 540 students. In fact, they're only responsible totally for about for about 500 suits so right at this point they don't have 100 540 they obviously are getting more money by people than we are how great school district as far as I know from their from their plan they have they're getting 500 students this year at the most 700 but I read 500 that was that was what they that's what they they went for they're getting 13.7 million in preschool expansion so a lot of people getting more money than we are and I maybe you could think about dialing back the preschool expansion from 5 40 to maybe 400 That may not be such a bad idea. That may save us some more some money and probably is a good I is a is a good idea. By the way, kids with disabilities should get, hey, then again, it definitely should matter. Thank you. And we move on. Your time is up. Thank you. We move on to the next person. If anyone would like to speak, please approach the podium. And I'm here in Sherwood in Jersey. So I am very confused when you're speaking about the budget earlier. I got it up to 3 million dollars in actual dollars for the pre-K expansion. What I did not hear. What I would really like to know and the current proposed budget that you voted on, how many dollars district dollars in district dollars, not the grant, not last year's funding source, whatever you're calling it these days. How much is devoted to pre-hake expansion, 2425 budget. Hey, a dollar amount. Cause I think that when you're talking about a 7 million dollar loss, people try to warn. The succeeding the board before this about the expansion regardless of the dollars. I wouldn't count on the next governor giving you so much money for anymore for pre K. But as a citizen who pays taxes in this town as we all do, I would like to know a dollar amount that you're submitting to the County Commissioner. Tonight. Exactly, Mrs. Tong, I don't understand. How you can abstain on the position of superintendent of our schools without at least giving an explanation. He certainly worked with him for a while. I can't believe it would be a conflict of interest, but quite frankly I'm insulted. So that means you either didn't attend. These interview sessions for the superintendent. Or I have to make the assumption. I'll just say that I person will make that assumption. But if that's the case, then that's not fair to us for the students in this district. Nor to any qualified Canada that would be our superintendent, regardless who it may be. So I'm sorry, I mean, it's not just, it's just not professional. I would like to hear a dollar amount tonight and I think the public deserves it. Because if you're talking about cutting programs for our other kids and staff members, which quite frankly could get really high. Okay, we're in trouble. Thank you. Okay, we go to the line and, Laura Pendergast. Hi, can you hear me okay? Yeah, I'm sorry. We start to restart the clock. Could you hold on a second? Go ahead now. Thanks. Sure. I had meant to call during first public comment, but I was transporting kids places. Didn't work out. So I'm Laura Pendergast, Cherry Hill, and I just wanted to call to congratulate the board for making a great choice. And also using a equitable process. I think it was the right choice to do a national search. And it seems clear to me that that national search has been successful and has yielded. An excellent candidate. And congratulations to Dr. Morton. So thank you so much to everybody who was involved in that process. I really appreciate. The seriousness with which the board. To the process. Thanks so much. Okay, we go back to the room. Jennifer Nadio, Cherry Hill Resident. I'm sorry, just Jen, Mrs. Nanu, hold on. I'm sorry. She's been very busy lately. Sorry. She's been very busy. Sorry. She's been very busy lately. She's got a lot to do in the meeting. Thank you. Go ahead. Sorry. Jennifer Nadio, Cherry Hill resident. I'm speaking on behalf of my family and all my fellow families who have been affected by cuts for years. I've been asked in the past not to make this statement, however many of us have been fighting for our students for over 15 years. And we will now continue to fight now that we've lost more funding. When we lost funding during Governor Christie's government cuts, special education was cut first. Students lost their one to ones speech PT and OT, etc. Case managers at the preschool told my family that we couldn't have these services because they didn't want the district to see they spent money. After I started bringing my recorder to the meetings, they stopped saying that. One of our twin sons needed an augmentative speaking device as he was physically aggressive to communicate. Our speech teacher stated, he has words, he can use them. He couldn't tell us his needs and wants or what bothered him. Hungry, thirsty, bathroom, headache, etc, communication devices only work when a school and a family teach it together. They didn't want to pay for it because they didn't have the funds. My son is still non-communicative. He was restrained so much throughout the years that he is receiving home instruction due to his PTSD. Students with disabilities didn't learn to read. Many of these students need to go out of district to obtain their needs. Many families whose children are getting close to aging out or aged out years ago were affected and they're coming to you every week. Dr. Pottowitz, you need to listen to Dr. Pottowitz. You're blowing them off! Please listen to the history of these families. None of you were active in that fight for the budget because I would have seen you there. We were told that we needed to fight to my husband and I've been advocating for 18 years and we've not been alone. Please listen to our families. Many families whose children started school in 2,006 and going forward have been paying for their own services. Families started getting tutors to get help because the district couldn't meet their need. It's the job of a school district to educate all children so they can be productive members of the community. It wasn't until the buildings started to decay that the district started fighting for the money. But many of our children in special education lost services and the opportunity to receive a quality education. Please think before you deduct. Thank you so much. Okay. You are back on the line. I believe it's a hand that was. Already had spoken. The number so we have each person has an opportunity to speak one during each public comment period The phone number is 8 9 1. Have you already had it? Okay, the hand is down now. So that might be the case. That was right. This is Back to the room. We have no more hands online. We go back to the room. If anyone would like to speak. I would just hold on, we get the, there we go. Laurie Neary, Cherry Hill. I can't believe I'm devastated to be standing here speaking about budget cuts and funding cuts after the fight. That we talk to the state budget committee, Senate committee. At that time, Commissioner Replets office. Screaming about the funding. It's beyond devastating to me to be speaking here on this again. I'm terrified. I'm beyond angry. I'm absolutely terrified at what I saw tonight. In the budget proposal. I'm upset about preschool because the governor had the audacity to come here. And put on a display. For us to put the money out up front. To get it later, which means we are taking from students that are here now. To stand here to then hand us that aid package. With a 7 million dollar cut and then say find it. After 10 to 15 years, we begged for the money while our buildings crumbled, our students suffered the programming suffered, and I can't agree with you more, Mr. Root, and everything you said. Because it's not wealth, trust me. Because somebody's got magical home value that if the market dissipated tomorrow, it's gone. So I am so concerned to see this. I don't want to see. Staffing cuts, I don't want to see programming cuts. But I tell you an extremely urgent cautionary tale. You will not be able to tax your way out of this. In fact, it is a very dangerous proposition to tax your way out of this. I will give you one word, Swedes burrow. That is a community that was doing quite well. They were building homes. Their taxes were low and they tried to make up for their budgetary deficits when that funding formula came forward and they were not appropriately funded for the influx of students. And they foreclosed. We are one of 10 counties called out that may face serious foreclosure rates. I caution you, Bank Cap looks easy. This is a funding spiral. You want to look for other cuts. We have a police department. That no other school district has. What is the liability coverage to have armed officers in buildings? That should be outsourced to the appropriate parties that do it, our Police Department of Cherry Hill. There are significant costs associated with that. I tasked you to take a look at it. We need to start making hard decisions. This is not a one-year problem. Mr. Sugars is right. I've looked at it. This is a many year problem. So I caution you don't look to tax your way out of it if you don't want to look like Sweet Sparrow. Thank you. Okay, we go back to the lines. And no hands are up online. So we go back to, oh, I take it back. There's a hand. Christina, if you could please say your full name and your municipality, please. And as soon as the timer goes up on the screen, you can get started. There we go. Hi, Christina, I just wanted to second and third the comment that had been made about the budget for proposed budget and the, issues that we're facing because of the state. Hudson funding. I was one of the folks that was was was concerned about proposing preschool expansion and Last year we were discussing it and the comments I kept hearing publicly were we're gonna get stated we're gonna get stated they're gonna fund us and I just I don't I think I'm flabbergasted and baffled myself. And I just think it's something that we need to again to second Mrs. Neary that she's just speaking, I can't say it any better than what she said and eloquently I do budgeting for a living and we need to this is gonna be a multi-year faculty issue that we need to take the long-term view on and we need to realize and we need to cut our losses. Earlier rather than later and dig ourselves into a cheaper hole. Thank you. Okay, we go back to the room. Just wait for the timer to restart. Sure. Current on more Strat and Cherry Hill. I just want to echo again Cherry Hill African American Civic Association. The our message board is just once again say congratulations to Dr. Morton. Thank you all for passing those votes. Just a sidebar, not on behalf of Cherry Hill Shaka, just on behalf of my family, the Ward family and the Stratton family. Congratulations. We're very excited to see what you do and to see if you stick up to all the things that you have said that you want to see happen in the district. And then just for, my export meets and for the current board that's sitting, it's, it was a little bit disheartening sitting over there in the corner and hearing some of you like publicly kind of like coming against your own board mates. You guys are a team and you're not only a team with just the those of you that are sitting on this dais but you're a team with those folks over there and when you show this dissension amongst each other. Publicly and when you use this platform to do so, it also feeds out into the cyber universe and the people that are listening in the community and they jump right on it. And so I encourage you all to find some way. Whether it needs to be a retreat or it needs to be an open conversation or as we call it at my nonprofit, I'll come to Jesus beating because that is like super rude for you guys is disrespectful to you is disrespectful to us as a community to see that you guys have so much dissension. And that you guys are borderline breaking your own oaths by. Talking about conversations that happened. Behind us. So I just wanted to say that to you all because you're all professionals. You guys are better than that. And I know that you are up at night working hard on these things and there's other ways to have those conversations. Besides doing those in public. So that was just one thing. The other thing is You know, history over time has shown that leaders once they're placed in, they're always inheriting all of the things of all the other leaders and the achievement gap that's not new. The things that need to happen with all of the disparities we have from East to West. That's not new. All of the things that you want that everybody is saying, oh, Kami is not prepared to take on, they're not new. And guess what? He also didn't create them. And neither did the folks sitting over there create them. Those are the things that have been happening for the last 1020, 30 years. So I challenge you to actually offer them the supports and help that they need, whether that be through resources through the budget or whether that just be resources through relationships and outside help. But give them what they need and do not hold them to all the past people leaders that they did make mistakes but give them what they need so that they can be the future and do what you want them to get done. So it's good to see you all. Have a good night. No other hands on line. So we go back to the room. Rick Sherherry Hill. I'm just gonna kind of piggy back off that. I don't agree with a passport member. I think you aren't fighting between each other about. Fair funding. I think the one thing that we can all agree on in this room is that we want to see the best for the Abbott districts. You remember most of the money is going to the Abbott districts. The thing that I hope would roll up Dr. Rood and everybody else in the room is that We're giving them a hundred 1 million dollars. But their academics isn't getting better. So I think we can all agree in this room that we want to see the best for New York. We want to see the best for Camden. We want to see the best for all these kids. But these Abbott districts that get millions and millions of dollars. They're not held accountable and they're their academics isn't rising. All right now, now on to my comment about the appointment of Good soon to be superintendent. Was a comment made about, one of our board members abstaining. Well, if you know the history of the Cherry Hill Public Schools, you would know that Mrs. Tong also abstained from the African-american vote. And she might have abstained for that. I can't tell her what to do, but you know, for quite a long time I've been saying this whole African-american thing is just one big ideological scam. So back when I was talking about Dr. Kenday who just perpetuates racism. Everybody else was still going for, bore ahead. So I come to you as, as our new superintendent and I ask the same question. The question is, Dr. Morton, can you, 10 schools in the United States that DEI has improved. Because I myself believe that DEI separates. And creates more racism. Now on to, some of the bond issues, you know, security is supposed to be the number one concern. So the question is, is why are we not Taking the 300 million dollars and hardening our elementary schools. Now you've already gotten an email from, 1212 or 15 parents asking to do this. You have the money but you're not hardening it. Why aren't you doing anything with this budget with bus safety after a student almost dies? I mean, does a student have to die before you get serious? I mean, it is just Crazy. I'm sorry. I'm getting a little riled up because I don't want to see another injury, you know? Like, Okay, next question, towards Dr. Rood, Dr. Rude, why are we not, doing the outside windows of the Cherry Ho West we have 300 million dollars we both can agree that we want better green why are we wasting so much energy at West? Why aren't you asking these questions? Now, again, getting on to the Stockton project, Stockton project is a disaster. It has potholes. It's it's missing curds that was supposed to be replaced. It's missing bullets that was supposed to be installed. I have 5 s and it's missing a fence around the thing. What is going on? We go back on the line and there are no hands online so we go back to the room. Just, Eileen Doran, Cherry Hill. A couple little things. One, I do agree that, if someone's gonna abstain they should give a reason. You know, conflict of interest I heard for some things, but definitely if you're gonna abstain to give us to gives a little bit of an idea. I, it is disturbing to me to hear that. Certain board members may have been, I don't know if it was directed, asked. Recommended whatever not to speak about their vote. My feeling is every one of you is valuable. Every one of you brings unique skills. Some, you know, sometimes I agree with you, sometimes I don't agree with you, but I value all of you and I think that it's either everybody can share or nobody can share. I don't think that it should just be the people that are voting. The way of the majority that gets to share. I think everybody should have to share their vote or nobody shares why they voted. So I don't know what the ethics are behind that, but just in terms of integrity. You know, and also giving, we talk a lot in this district about the importance of everybody's voice and we got, we got to do that right from the top. So everybody's voice matters and I want to hear all your voices. Ending on some positives. I thought you know hearing about what Garrison is doing working with our students. That's exciting to me. And I hope in this, this bond preparation, I know we've, looked at like the continuing, I forget what the calls, but the technical education opportunities and things, maybe there's some ways to also show some of our students a little bit of the work that electricians are doing or HVAC is doing. I know we have to consider safety and liability, but you know, anywhere we can to show the little pieces, the plumbing, you know, all the different things to show them. And I had the pleasure of being at. The strategic planning meeting and hearing the staff in full presentation about the the gardens, the Pelination gardens, it sounds like such an exciting project and I can't wait, I hope we get the grant and I know the staff is committed to doing some of it. If we can't, if we don't, even if we don't get the brand to doing some with it, but I just think it's so exciting and I hope you all get to hear more about it and I hope we get that grant. So thank you for letting me speak. Okay, we go back on the line. There's no hands on the line. We go back to the room. You're only Irish Cherry Hill. I just want to give a shout out to Ms. Winter. Thank you for sharing East side as I'm proud of you. This week also sat in on a journalism advisor meeting where I'll be coming at my new school. I'm very cool. We've got to do that with gags who with my advisor at least. Eastside is a gift that keeps on giving. Our student journalism here plays dividends. Everyone talks about that. We have writing that you got from your English classes, but the writing you get from journalism takes it that much further. And our support of having that at both comprehensive high schools is huge. Middle school schedule change. That's great. I am just deeply concerned about the world. Language sections, especially when you've got the LC houses or teams depending on which middle school you're at, having the 2, those 2 groups together. I know some classes at Rosa are very high. And over 30 and we are desperate for foreign language teachers and world language teachers. Could we explore adding different languages in based on who we have in our community. We've got a growing Jewish population, a growing population. IR speakers should potentially bring that in and get them to go through the alternative route rather than looking at, I hate to say old school, but French and Spanish are old school. In terms of the approach of things that maybe we need to evolution we are a forward thinking district. So look at more options that apply into what we have in terms of who's available. I would like to use some of the bank cap. I don't know. I agree. I don't want to use all that and tax our people into oblivion trying to cover for what Tretton did. And not make it our taxpayers problem. I think using some of it is physically responsible. Can we do more shared services with the township? Especially if we're looking at building grounds to see what they can take over because the township slush and they've got less restrictions in terms of how they can fund move thumps. Compare what we are. It's state really life hamstring school districts with limitations, whereas townships are given much more free range. I assume at some point we're gonna have to talk about increasing the participation fee at the secondary level, which has been held on a cap. I just think it needs to be had during this discussion now while we're talking about budget challenges, giant shout out the unified front between CHGA, Chasa, each. The district fair funding has been incredible. It has never happened this way before and it says a lot about what our district has done over the last couple of years that we launched a full spludge campaign in 3 days. And then it's great and we're getting new names and new people coming up who haven't been out there which is even huge because now we can bring these people in after this to be more engaged in the process. So yes, this totally stinks. But there is a silver lining and we're getting more people engaged and more people are engaged, better things happen. I thank you to all of you. You guys put in overtime, beyond over time over the last 6 months during the search, your family has made sacrifices beyond sacrifices. I thank them. I hope the community thanks and thanks to you for everything you did. This wasn't what any of you signed up to do when you ran. No one knew that we're going to be doing this process and that you were going to be spending your Saturdays. The Lewis building? You were. And just thank you so much. Your results pay dividends and I just want to say how much we appreciate that. I've covered it for now. Thanks. Okay, we go back to the line. There are no hands online. So I go back to the room if anyone else would like to speak. Not a whole lot of people left at. 1015 and 9, 1014. Okay. I'm going to close public comment. And I'm going to Just make a quick clarifying comment that tonight's budget discussion was a presentation and a discussion. And just for the community to understand that discussion continues. And on the nineteenth will be our public budget presentation meeting and. Both on at that point in time the initial budget submission. So people can feel free to come out then and, yeah, we'll have more information by that point. Okay, I turned over to Dr. Morton for acting superintendent. Thank you very much, Mr. And I will not be long tonight. It is very late. But I definitely want to say thank you to everyone who gave public comment. It is very late. But I definitely want to say thank you to everyone who gave public comment this evening. Thank you for your perspectives. The beauty and the democratic process is that we have an opportunity to share our plans, to share our thoughts, and you have a right to do so. And I respect, you know, what everyone has to say. And I think, you know, everyone has to say. And I think everyone else has to have respect for everyone's opinions. Thank you to the board for its diligence and this entire process. I know it's a tremendous amount of work for you just as you know last public comment said very lengthy and long process and you put sincere and passionate effort into it. On behalf of those who love this district and love Cherry Hill, thank you for the approach that you that you took, whether I was a candidate or not, I'd say thank you for the approach that you took and the effort that you put into ensuring that our children have the best. A leader for moving forward. You know it's important as I've visited schools this past week and since the announcement our kids continued to show up with the same vigor passion and excitement. That they've always had. They're none the wiser to be quite honest with you about budget cuts and deficits and things along those lines and they're looking to us for a great experience. It's our job as the adults to insulate our kids and give them the experience that they deserve. This time calls for tremendous focus. This is not a time for us to be picked off by focusing on internal things. Internal things that may be happening within the district. As it relates to funding. Calls for focus and focusing our efforts and our attentions on where they need to be directed. The bottom line is that we have been underfunded for many, many, many years. The bottom lines that are underfunding has required is required this taxpayers in town to adopt the largest most historic bomb referendum in the history of New Jersey to ensure that our buildings and our facilities are suitable for our kids. And that they reflect 20 first century needs and that they reflect just basic things such as roofs and and H track systems and things along those lines. We have been underfunded for far too long. Yet again, as Ms. Neri said, we're back in the same situation. Please join us as we as we begin to make our voices. Heard, join us as we begin to go to our legislators and tell them about our displeasure with what's happened and we demand action to take place. We've been circling the wagon. You know, we're meeting with our township. Thursday I'm going to be presenting in front of the Senate Education Committee. The week after on the twentieth, we have a group of unified folks going forward to present to the assembly. You know, we need those type of momentum and that type of effort and moving forward. Let's direct our focus where it needs to be. We need our fair share of funding. That's what we're asking for. That's what we're demanding and moving forward. The general find contribution to preschool for next year is 1.5 million dollars. Please keep in mind that we've had a preschool program for a very long time. There was a general contribution for the preschool program. Our program itself has moved from half day to full day as we've expanded. But there's been a contribution that's been required over the years. I can't tell you the exact number right now, but there has been. One for for many many times. It's the month of March. We're moving quickly into spring. Positive weather coming out. Our kids continue to do great things. Let's be optimistic positive and let's work together moving forward to get you know what what we need and what we demand and as fair funding. Thank you, talk to Martin. Okay. Make a motion to adjourn. Do I have a second? Dr. Rood, all in favor? Alright, motion carries. Meeting is adjourned.