with the Sunshine Law notice of this meeting has been appropriately advertised uh roll call please Mr Cho here Mrs Maya here Mrs molski here either one Mrs iino here Mrs Seltzer here Mrs Sherman here Mr tapy here Mr delus here Mrs Caden here please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all a motion to exit executive session so move and a second second all in favor I as I said I apologize uh for the delay we had an important executive session scheduled uh to be able to it's as loud as I can go uh we had an important executive session scheduled to be able to uh discuss the items um on the agenda tonight um so we again apologize for taking longer than expected um before we get to a routine business and public comment the the board wanted to make a brief statement just kind of discussing the point uh or purpose I should say of this meeting before we begin we want to take some time to explain what brought us here today and the purpose of this meeting tonight Dr mcdal and Miss Coleman have been warning of the fiscal cliff all New Jersey districts are facing and that we'd be experiencing the effects of it most acutely beginning this year and that has clearly happened between Rising costs for required services such as Transportation combined with an increased need for specialized Educational Services for for students with IEPs and 504s and annual increases in teacher and staff salaries health care costs and benefits we knew we'd be struggling to balance things Rising costs combined with essentially flat funding from the state and a limited ability to raise local taxes because of the state mandated 2% local tax increase limit makes this a math problem that cannot be solved without making incredibly difficult decisions what brings us here today is that after combing through all non-personnel budget items and cutting where we could utilizing Grant funds for one-time expenses such as curriculum materials and supplies and pausing any non-essential capital projects the only budget area left was Personnel this is a place no District wants to find itself and one that most of us in New Jersey are in this year these decisions were not made in a vacuum once it was determined that Staffing Cuts were the only option to balance a budget District administration worked collaboratively with both the unions to make decisions we must adhere to teacher and administration tenure rules when making reductions in force which means that in difficult situations like this we must part ways with non-tenured and lowest seniority Staff first we know that these rules mean that we are parting ways with some amazing teachers and staff who have personally and positively affected many of our students since last week we have heard from many concerned community members about this very situation let me be clear the board hears you these cuts are not about the quality these cuts are not about the quality of these teachers and staff these cuts are about needing to meet the truly difficult fiscal reality that public schools all across New Jersey are facing these cuts are not happening by choice but by necessity we know how hard every teacher staff member and administrator is working in this District even with the knowledge of budget cuts looming and we thank every one of you for your commitment and dedication to the students of our district a school district is nothing without its people and we know that and it is what makes times like this so challenging knowing that reducing teachers and staff leads to more questions than answers we ask that you bear with us as we work to get you the information you and your students need for next year the district is committing committed excuse me to continuing to meet the needs of all of our students this will mean we have to be even more focused and targeted with the programs and supports that we offer finally it is incumbent upon all all of us as a community to come together to continue advocating for fair funding from the state we wholeheartedly thank those community members who have written to and called their legislatures about the need for increased funding and we hope to organize more concerted legislative advocacy in the coming months to make sure we don't find ourselves in the same place next May our students and our district deserve better with that we'll continue with the meeting section three a motion to approve the minutes of the April 29th 2024 regular board meeting so moved and a second second I'll in favor I that brings us to section four which is our first opportunity for public comment this evening the purpose for this public comment section is to discuss items listed on the agenda additional more General comments may be made later in the meeting the public is reminded [Applause] the meeting can't continue until it's quiet I'm sorry the public is reminded that attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go through appropriate staff members and administrators the intent of public comment is to give the community the opportunity to provide feedback to the board board we will be actively listening and taking notes so that we can take all that is being said into consideration if appropriate clarifying comments may be made at the end of the public comment section for more detailed responses to concerns communication may go out later in the week by the appropriate staff members or administrators or be discussed by the board during F future committee meetings members of the public are welcome to speak and expected to do so with the utmost sensitivity for everyone in attendance In fairness to all who wish to speak there is a strict three minute time limit per person during public comments uh Miss Coleman will be uh timing and you'll start to hear uh her warning please state your name and address for the record and keep your comments to three minutes or less thank you my name is Douglas snowman principal of collinswood High School uh real quick I used to also uh be the principle of Sharp Elementary I think the thing about that Sharp Elementary High School I think the thing about that is um that perspective that I have as far as Elementary and high school has always mattered to me um and you know last week we had um Teacher Appreciation Week um unfortunately last week we also did non-renewals layoffs uh so it made it quite difficult and maybe even it just had that funny feel to try to celebrate when you're laying people off um so that it wasn't on anybody's radar last week but I do want to say um once again knowing KN how Elementary Works knowing how the high school works that we do have a solid group of Educators in collinswood we have folks that care about kids um I have some prepared comments simply because I don't want to really go off script because I could but I think what I'm trying to say I want you guys to understand that um this group has demonstrated time and time student after student that they will work on issues that matter to kids um many of our student centered issues many of our student interests are discussed individually by staff you can hear them in the hallway talking about the things that are right for students you can hear them talking about it in meetings they bring it up in meetings they bring it up in department meetings it's constantly constantly you know ironing iron sharpening iron trying to figure out the best approaches and the best things that matter to our kids and I have to say our kids of all colors right it doesn't matter to them it is what it is what it is um they come to this District because of the diversity strength and they know that that's why they're here they enjoy that part of it um I say all this because we actually care and I want folks in the community to understand that we care you know I was home at one point sick just hearing um I mean actually physically sick but I kept hearing the things that were being said about the high school in particularly and I got to tell you it hurt it hurt listening to the things that folks were saying thinking that you know people don't care that certain comments are being used I've been black black all my life I have lgbtq in my family when I hear things as far as the school is concerned I'm going to deal with it I'm going to jump on it we're not going to allow things to continue you know uh I'm I'm not going to allow comments to just you know continue to make it seem like our staff doesn't care and I think I want folks to just understand that all right I care if I care I know they care and when we're talking about the different things that need to actually happen in this District it's because we care it's because we care we don't play games this is not something I heard that there was a comment about someone saying that these things are happening staff must know and no one's saying anything about it that's offensive that is seriously offensive I don't get into this I don't get into this to let kids get hurt we're not in the business of allowing kids to get hurt we're in the business of finding out when when when and when they tell us things it's like oh okay let's address itk you let's address it thank you thank you guys [Applause] thank you Doug I don't it's work take it off okay Robin Hogan cea president um as Mr Newman referenced last board meeting was rough um the ca is not a faceless nameless organization it's the teachers the instructional assistants the administrative assistants speech therapists occupational therapists social workers counselors and child study team members who day after day are face Toof face with the children of Collingswood Oaky and woodlin every day we have a steadfast commitment to Dei efforts whether they're sponsored by the district or independently led by our own members and we stand against organizations or events that perpetuate hate crime CRI we stand in full support also of Mr Newman and his leadership team at the high school as they lead during this difficult time so thank you Mr Newman for all the leadership that you have shown and your entire team to our students we say that we see you we hear you and we are fighting for you during this budget crisis the cea fully supports District efforts to increase pressure on the state to bring about more adequate funding formula um but the C the ca also looks forward to hearing the Cost Containment efforts that the board is going to undertake to avoid another fiscal crisis next year for the third year in a row because as an as optimistic as I am um and I do believe that we can pressure the state into adjusting the funding formula I worry that we're not going to see a$1 to2 million increase in Aid in just one year and if we don't see that kind of increase we're going to be right back where we are so cutting staff year after toe is not sustainable student learning will be impacted last week the ca leadership team attended 20 meetings to support non-tenured staff who lost their jobs four Middle School teaching positions were cut two math two language arts teachers and this is going to lead to larger class sizes and fewer elective offerings the high school lost three positions and a PE position that will not be filled when Mr Topeka retires all of this once again is going to lead to larger class sizes and fewer offerings revisions to a grant and the exploration of another expiration of the grant led to the loss of an seal coach and a counselor the expiration of a grant also led to the loss of four Elementary mtss coaches we also have been cut by five learning acceleration specialist positions commonly more known as maybe basis skills or academic support um and so small group instruction and tier one and tier three inter tier two and tier three interventions are going to be impacted thank you Miss Hogan okay yep [Applause] just tell me when oh uh my name is Kate KY I'm a member of the ca I believe in creating sustainable Equity celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion in our school that being said a few weeks ago at the last board meeting we heard a simple statement we will have to do less with less there isn't a true statement at this point but I really hope that everyone in this room knows what that really means I speak from a perspective of a colinwood middle school teach teacher so I'm coming from the Middle School I've happily taught here for 14 years as an eighth grade math teacher I taught Trey I taught many of your children um some of them right now M pulski um and they're such wonderful children as you know less with less two less language arts teachers and writing teachers what does that mean less teachers per student we currently average about 22 students per class in language arts with two less talented and dedicated language arts teachers who a quote and this is a quote from one of them I thought I was going to retire in Collingswood they were dedicated for their entire career and now that's gone um the student population would average to about 27 students per year or less with less less electives less theater digital journalism creative writing less with less less teachers involved in the scho school Community a homework club adviser the choreographer and props leader for our school play the crochet Club less with l less now let's go with my favorite subject Mathematics Two less Math teachers we currently average 20 students per class a loss of two dedicated Math teachers increased to about 31 students per class and if you like percentages as I do that's 55% increaseing class size or let's get rid of all the math Support classes which will further increase the achievement Gap that we're working so hard to close less Inc B programs Cub course less electives programming psychology less with less or should we talk about what we'll have more of more students per class everyone's going to talk about that but there's been studies that compare about 15 students versus 22 to 25 The Higher One being 22 to 25 that's what we already have by the way so higher than that it said that not only did the small groups do better the effects persisted for years we disco they discovered something that we all know when kids can't get the help they need to learn they stop trying more teacher burnout how many more valuable teachers can we afford to lose more students dropping out when they can't get the help that they need sorry um that same study confirmed that even four years in small classes increased graduation rate from 70 to 80% but Middle School is cutting math and language arts teachers the only two tested requirements for high school graduation so let's take away all the support classes so that our graduation RS less but less how much more less can H Will Survive let's do the graduating high school less students joining the workforce less quality teachers applying to work in our school how about home values going down less less less I love this more werness that every time I meant to type the word less I would accidentally type the word loss because that's what this is those teachers you've taken from us it is such a loss [Applause] my name is my name is Adrianne Earl and I am a member of the Collingswood Education Association I believe in creating sustainable Equity celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion in our schools I want to comment at this time on agenda item 5.08 two middle school math and two Middle School ELA teachers are missing from that agenda item because their positions are being cut this means we will be down for core tested subject area teachers at the middle school next year in addition to another math position which was cut in last year's budget approval I want the District administration the board and the community to understand the impact that these Cuts you have made and approved will have on our students with this drastic reduction in staff we simply will not be able to offer students all of the courses that we have been for years I spend every summer working on the master schedule for the middle school and when I look at these cuts through the scheduling lens I am at a loss we will certainly have to do less for our students with less instructional staff like Dr mcdal said at the last board meeting first regular Ed Support classes in ela and writing were already cut per Dr mcdow's directive for the 2223 school year and now math Support classes in regular education would also need to be cut seventh and eighth graders have one spot in their course schedule for electives and the following elective options will be eliminated due to the Staffing Cuts programming psychology creative writing digital journalism and theater with the additional cuts to teaching staff at the high school I am concerned that our art and Engineering electives could also be at risk since they are taught by High School teachers who are currently able to share one teaching period with the Middle School cuts and electives would also mean the elimination of inclusion opportunities for students with IEPs which I know is very important to our district if none of this resonates with the board I know that Proficiency in test scores has been a concern and I would ask you to consider what the impact will be on our students scores when you are eliminating four teachers and tested subjects from the Middle School at last month's meeting Dr McDow and Miss Coleman presented on the budget explaining the reasons for the impending Cuts Dr mcdal reminded us that we had that he had warned of the fiscal cliff approaching and now it had arrived but I don't believe I am alone in feeling unsatisfied by the explanations provided if our district knew that this situation was coming what was done to prepare for it what what sacrifices at the district level were considered before before what sacrifices at the district level were considered before cutting so many student facing staff members it is my understanding that the reduction in our state funding has actually been reversed and we will now be receiving a small amount of state aid rather than a cut hopefully Miss Coleman can confirm this for us so if there is no longer a reduction in state funding and we knew this was coming for some years now why has the board and the District administration not done a better job at managing our finances to prevent negative impacts to our [Applause] students my name is Rebecca Mueller and I'm a member of the cea I live at 509 Dwight AV Avenue and currently work as the secondary mtss coach as a part of the wellness center one of the great parts of my job as mtss coach versus a classroom teacher is my ability to collaborate with members within and outside the call Collingswood community and frankly I get to brag about the the wellness cent center there is always admiration for the focus on Stu student well-being within a school dis District a clear area of need but one is that is often neglected due to the lack of qualified individuals within a school to provide the appropriate mental health support the fact that Collingswood Public Schools decided that the whole CH child was more important than our test scores was a fact and fig figure that made me proud to be a part of of this District having anal coach set us ahead of the curve it was a proactive not a Rea active solution to help meet the needs of of our CH children without our social and emotional safe safety academics are SEC secondary for most students our seel coach was removed from our grant shanon capro was a biling lingual te teacher with a deep passion for student achievement and promoting our school culture and connectedness she was essential in connecting to our Spanish-speaking fam families and helping students and the fam families feel listened to and heard when they were strug struggling in classes with their attendance or with personal issues her smile and laughter could light up a room but it was her intellect and dedication that unfortunately were not utilized to their full potential efforts to expand seal curriculum at SEC secondary were continuing blocked saying that they weren't needed or staff wasn't ready yet when are we going to be ready the data was not collected because we were never give given the green light to implement an effective screen screener it is clear that relationships are a priority for student achieve achievement yet we're putting it on the back burn burner removing this position from the grant just because our school wasn't read ready which if you've been paying attention it's neat needed um is a travesty to what we claim to be as call Collingswood the teachers need support to include this in their day to today lessons um we need to prioritize the attributes that give us more which is recognizing the kids in a holistic way removing dedicated te teachers and staff who understand the true meaning of the wellbe being of of CH children is not the direction um that I wish we were go going in thank you hello so this is the first time in 22 years I have felt the need to speak in front of the board so please bear with me if I'm a little nervous here my name is Erica Han I'm a middle school math teacher I'm a member of the cea I believe in creating sustainable Equity celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion in our schools I'd like to address the two Ela and two math positions that were cut at the middle school over the course of my career it has been made very clear in a parent that we care about test scores so I just want a little clarification on that I was under the impression that we were going to continue to try to be competitive with local districts and working to improve those scores by cutting four positions from those tested subject areas I'm left wondering if test scores are not a priority anymore I'm hearing Dr MCB and the board when they say we have lost State funding I understand that I'm not understanding why that makes a difference in these four positions these positions have been there before this Administration under Mr Bathurst of course under Dr Oswald so why is it that we are now in this situation and that we are cutting these four positions when they're not added positions this isn't covid money that these teachers were being funded through where did the money go that paid these teachers for the numerous years prior to this Administration prior to the covid money these are not newly added positions but as I said they were in existence under the former superintendent the positions that were not not in existence over the years were the assistant superintendent position the assistant business administrator position and while I'm sure they're very supportive in helping you all do your job these positions are not directly impacting students those salaries would have covered those four tested subject Area Teachers who work and deal with our students oneon-one daily Miss Kaden spoke earlier to the fact that we knew the cuts were coming so why were we not proactive with our spending so just like you I'm here on this beautiful night missing my son's baseball game like all these other teachers are missing time with their families because they care I hope you care good evening my name is Anette kresy and I am a member of the ca I believe in creating sustainable Equity celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion in our schools I am or I was a teacher at Zay North school I began my teaching career over 30 years ago in a very large District close to Collingswood after the privilege of being able to stay home to raise my four children I could have gone right back to that District but I didn't when my position in Collingswood became available I jumped at the opportunity I grew up close to Collingswood and couldn't wait to join the Collingswood family a small District where neighborhood schools meant building relationships relationships with students with families and with colleagues who quickly became friends it was a decision I have never regretted I've been so happy here for the past 22 years but not anymore it makes me sad frustrated and angry to see the district that we all love so much have dedicated Our Lives to on the verge of being dismantled due to the loss of programs and staff I am here on behalf of the Department of Title One basic skills academic support learning acceleration and whatever new name we are given next year I'm sure there are many of you out there who don't know or don't have a clear understanding of what we we do here it is in one word everything we work in all classrooms K through five alongside our teachers for both literacy and math we teach flexible guided reading groups and small groups of students who may need additional attention we run literacy centers and math centers we work with small groups in math to complete the on your own pages with students who are having a difficulty difficulty working on their own we work with 504 students during all testing situations to make sure they receive their accommodations we are members of the inrs and RTI team where we oversee design and Implement individualized programs for tier two and tier three that are specifically tailored to meet a student's needs and we collect the data accordingly we teach kindergarten gifted and talented and we substitute a lot my question is how does the board plan to ensure that our students who have the most academic challenges have their needs met hello my name is Anna Tac and I'm a second grade teacher at Zay North I have my own story to tell but you can read my sign up preview I've been patient for a year so I can wait another meeting just don't make you wait 52 minutes please I'd like to continue a n prky statement due to our time constraint of three minutes in support of my colleagues who support me in a can five school there are six classes multiply that by literacy and math that's 12 classes adding just three TI students with individual needs this year we had more than 10 this is at least 15 classes that need to be covered each day under the district's new plan One support teacher per school with the exception of sharp and Tatum only has 10 periods per day to work with as you can see it is mathematically impossible to fit all classes into one many CL into one schedule many classes will receive limited services and some classes will not rece receive services or assistance of any kind in a letter to the community you stated our Focus for the upcoming year is to shift from academic recovery to supporting rigorous learning environments despite the tough choices made we remain committed to the continuity of student services and support we fail to see how removing essential staff will support a rigorous learning environment or contribute to continuity of student services you may not think that it's a big deal but here's just one example of how cutting this program program will negatively impact student learning in our kindergarten classroom this year 26 students together their teacher and their support teacher have seven guided reading groups and are able to see two groups each per day this means your child is seen three to four times per week for Vital reading instruction while amazing classroom Aid monitors other centers without a support teacher your child's crucial guided reading time gets cut down to one possibly two times per week it may not sound like much but over the course of the year that will be a devastating loss of learning time it astounds us that the district leadership could impose such drastic cuts and yet the expectation for student achievement is certainly not going to be cut it seems to all of us that with all of the staff and program Cuts this board is setting the students the teachers and the district up for failure therefore we implore you to keep the academic Support Program fully staffed thank you for your attention thank you good evening my name is pattio Conor I am a retired Collingswood elementary teacher of 35 years and currently sub for the district that gives me 41 years of teaching here longer than some of you have been alive so you can say I'm highly invested in this District I'm here tonight to discuss the dismantling of the elementary support team known as the learning accelerating teachers forly known as academic support or basic skills with one swipe of a pen you have destroyed a program 20 years in the making Mary Banis and Jen mcpartland work tirelessly to make it the success it is today so the youngest kids get the extra help they need every one of you know how important responsive teaching is as soon as teachers identify a student need they respond by following a series of steps to ensure these needs are met these steps are absolutely crucial to Student Success and without the learning accelerating teachers it will be impossible you are eliminating one teacher from each building that offers this vital support seeing as the district has become so data driven and ring on data and numbers I'm curious to know what data you use to decide to eliminate these five teachers I'm not sure if you truly know how important the Las teachers are to each school so I've compiled a list of just some of the things they are responsible for small group instruction for reading a math K to five data collection for each of the struggling students for the MTS team attend MTS meetings to discuss student plans and implement the RTI for individual students attend child study team meetings I AP meetings and 504 meetings responsible for state and local tent testing Administration work closely with classroom teachers and serve as a sounding board to review their data with them and help them devise the next steps for the class and the neediest Learners and they also communicate with parents teachers and principles about student progress almost on a daily basis again I'd like to reiterate that these are just some of the responsibilities of the Las staff I'm very familiar with this list because I was one of these teachers research shows that if you don't intervene before third grade students with elll deficits will be chronically behind callings with class sizes are already too large to adequately intervene without the support of these teachers believe me when I say eliminating one academic support teacher from every Elementary School will make struggling students fall even further behind and will also leave very little time for classroom teachers to extend and challenge those higher level Learners with the thank m my name is sixth grader at to the Collingwood Middle School my Eli teacher is one of the teachers who who isn't going to be kept after the school year and you think that just because a that doesn't def teacher should be laid off for that Reon for that reason specifically only I believe she is a good I believe she is a great teacher or to hers I hope that it within the next few years that the state will be able to increase the budget it to be for the school so that we won't have to lay off so many teachers so many teachers keep more I he also think that it only my teacher or is is it really impacted by this but also teachers that I might have it in the following years on on this camp on the camp is here or and I think and I believe that it the curriculum will be changed greatly in that way yeah a lot of these teachers that are getting laid off teachers with a lot of potential well let and I really hope that the board knows that yeah I'm done thank you [Applause] you have a great kid there thank you way Rossy 114 East palav I don't think I can follow that that well um so I I mean the retrospect called me a supporter of the administration and I don't know I I hate seeing this situation uh that teachers clearly teachers who've impacted my child are among the ones who are being let go and and it's a terrible situation I I feel for everyone in this room I really do um I the thing that's bothering me about all this is that as we're having to cut it gets rid of one of the things that had been brought up last year during the um during the walkouts and the aftermath of that which was that we need more teachers who resemble our students and that's not to say that I think we should get rid of any of the present teachers but I I do think that that's a problem that continues to need to be addressed and it's going to be harder to do so uh as unfortunately we see reductions in force like this if people don't feel that they can come in and make a a dedication to the to the school district so um that's a concern I I don't envy your task as a board having to balance this budget um I know many of you have the best intentions as far as I know but I I feel that I wish that we weren't in this situation and um I hope that some kind of improvements can be made thank you hi um my name is Sarah Whitman I live at 723 Merck Avenue in Collingswood I'm a cea member and I'm currently in my 10th year as a language arts and theater teacher and I'm going to talk really fast because I have a lot to say um I supervise the Middle School kindness Club the yearbook Club I've directed 10 Collingswood School theater Productions and I'm currently a middle school track coach I also Ser on our serve on our District's secondary Equity committee I love my students with all my heart and it is a privilege to play a small part in their educational Journey last week two of the most devoted English teachers at colle of Middle School were told that they know no longer have jobs here at CMS to say I am devastated would be a massive understatement not only are these two women my friends but they are also some of the most dedicated teachers in our building if you ask a student about Miss Daly or Miss Jacobson some students would likely talk about their welcoming classroom lovingly decorated with flexible seating and affirmations everywhere some students would surely talk about how Miss Dy sacrificed her lunch break for literally weeks to practice tap dancing with the cast members of Shrek a few kids would talk about how they visit Miss Jay and Miss daily before school every morning and how room 203 is their safe space I know one student who would talk about the way Miss Jay has gently checked in with him for the past week after finding out a classmate was mistreating him I myself would say that Miss Jacobson is one of the most eager tolearn patient teachers on this planet and that I have never seen a teacher grow and improve so much in so short a time I learned something from her every time I watch her teach I myself would say that Miss daily stepped in at the last minute to help choreograph our High School Musical and helped with so much more so much so that I often walked out of the building together with her at 9:00 p.m. after having arrived at school 13 hours earlier I could go on in response to the loss of these two women I can only assume that the remaining teachers in our department will be forced to take on larger class sizes that electives will be eliminated and that students will spend less time overall receiving Ela instruction from my understanding our Board of Ed is tasked with making decisions based on what's best for our students how are we doing students any kind of a service by increasing class sizes eliminating electives or decreasing the time they spend in language arts and writing classes I respectfully ask you to provide us with clarity as to your plans for ELA instruction in the years ahead and and how we are expected to meet student academic needs after eliminating two incredible people from our department I know it's unlikely that anything I say can reverse the actions that have been taken last week but I also know that far too many teachers and coling would feel unheard and unvalued and losing incredible colleagues feels a bit like the last STW just as we seek to see our students as Unique Individuals teachers deserve to be seen as unique contributors to this District over the past months I've heard an increasing number of blanket statements made about Collingswood teachers including that we are not invested enough that we are master reminding scheduled changes for our own benefit and even that we are perpetuating racism in our classrooms I'm not saying that every teacher is doing it right but I would ask that our community and our Schoolboard consider that for every teacher who's truly doing it wrong there are many more who are actively seeking to better their craft who are practicing anti-racism in their classrooms teachers who are at school well beyond contractual hours to support our kids and teachers who are literally the reason kids come to school teachers like Miss Daly and Miss Jacobson please do not discount these teachers because those of us still standing are losing hope hi my name is Audrey McGinley and I'm a seventh grade student council member here to order you to reconsider the non-renewal of several student teacher contracts these teachers and faculty members are entral pieces of the Community will be dearly missed by people throughout the district they all highly qualified and make learning a lot of fun have done nothing to be deserving of getting fired as I did my research for my speech I came across the document R 3142 entitled nonrenewal nonrenewal of a nonenal teaching staff nwor in paragraph B of page one section one States when a non-al teaching staff member's performance does not meet the standard of the school district the employment would not be offered to the non-al teaching staff member this for the succeeding school year to my knowledge as a student in the K middle school every single teacher his contract is being unrenewed has met and exceeded these standards in a time when holes are appearing our district we need people stitch them together taking away these staff only tear these holes wider and bring even more unrest throughout the district here are some examples of why these teachers are not only deserving of stay staying but are also needed Mr L Mr L is one of the teachers being cut I always see him going out of his way to build relationship with his students these relationships with teachers would make the biggest difference in our Lives having Mr El was one of my main goals for eth grade I would have loved being in his class you'll be dearly missed miss diglet my 10-year-old sister was one of the students of Miss diglet last year when my sister had her as a teacher she constantly came home with a smile on her face as sheal told us how awesome her day was at dinner she'd bring up all sorts of people with all different backgrounds that she learned about in school she'd talk about all their accomplishments in life and other important things that they've done so well miss Bry Miss Bryant is my sister's current teacher my sister always comes home talking about how much he adores Miss Bryant how much she loves being in her class and how she makes the boring things fun when the news first least and S at the school I saw several kids crying in the hallways and just looking generally sad that some of their favorite teachers such as the ones described above would be gone next year I am outraged the teachers could be fired based solely on their tenure and know the reasons about money but how could these teachers even increase their tenure they're just getting removed in saddens me how teachers can be raised so easily I understand the budget that there are reasons for the cuts inflation am I right but this will only make life harded for everyone teachers and students included I don't understand how teachers make this big of an impact would even be considered for Budget C there are several nonessential things the district I can list off the top of my head that we can take away without making a giant impact on the education of students throughout throughout the district as a kid I used to want to be a teacher now as I see how easily new teachers can be discarded I no longer want to pursue that career teachers should not be judged by the time of their teners ship but by the quality of their character and the dedication and impact of the students in the school thank you for your time [Music] hello my name is mie Stinson I'm a seventh grader at Colin of middle school and I would like to speak specifically about Miss Jay Miss Jay was my sixth grade language arts teacher from the very first day I was in her class I knew I would like her as a teacher and as a person since I've met Miss Jay I have always been able to talk to her about anything and everything she has given me tons of great advice that I still carry to the day she always helped me last year to make sure I was focusing and getting my work done her class was a ton of fun and I learned a wide variety of different things from it m always tried her hardest to help us and make the class more fun and entertaining even this year I have not had her as a teacher but she has still supported me nonetheless every day each day I came up to her door to say good morning to her and talk to her if I can't see her in the mornings then I usually come up later in the day and talk to her one day this year I was having issues with a friend and Miss Jay pulled me out of class just so we could talk about it and work it out she let me rant to her about all sorts of things and actually cared and thought about what I was saying she paid attention to me and gave great advice on how to fix a problem that wasn't even hers I will always deeply cherish and love all of the memories I have with her when I came home the day we learned that she wouldn't be coming back next year I found my sister crying on the couch upset that her favorite teacher would be gone next year there are countless people I saw as the as the news rippled throughout the hallways I fully understand there isn't much anyone can do about it at this point however I hope that all the teachers who aren't returning for the 2025 school year understand that the students here do care about them and will miss them next year there is nothing that anybody can do about that that this is the reason so many students are upset and here tonight we and all of the CMS hope that this makes a difference no matter how small and I hope that teachers know we love and care about them thank you you hi my name is Celia and snoke and I go to Garfield and I am fifth grade Miss Bryant is my fifth grade teacher I'm 11 and will be promoted to Middle School in a couple of weeks wow Miss Brian has shown me in my class men's kindness love and fun in the last nine months but that's an embodiment of a teacher right well yes all the teach will let go this past couple weeks were smart bubbly and amazing teachers as well as the ones that were that will be shifted around this following year I believe that it will be a major mistake to let Miss Bryant go she will be she will forever have a special place in my heart as my kind fifth grade teacher the teacher that told me I can do anything my heart desired as and that the world was my playing field full of great opportunities because of the great teaching she has provided it would be a shame that so many other kids in this district will not get to experience class I can speak very similarly about my fourth grade teacher last year while I knew her personally before starting to fourth grade I never knew the potential that I could reach in her class every day she includes a person of the day where she shines a spotlight on someone from history that that corresponds to the month we were celebrating black history women's history deaf history Etc I always love these classes I got to learn about someone in history while still having fun and interacting in the activities she always encouraged me to explore myself my Heritage and everything else while I wish that we could spare every teacher that we let go I would like to highlight these two amazing teachers and my experiences and if we're not able to spare these two great teachers then i' would like to make this speech a thank you to these teachers the ones who are always there for me taught taught me laugh with me and changed me thank you you will forever be remembered and loved as the two teachers that loved us like their own children thank you um hello everyone um my name is penel pharaoh and I'm a sixth grader at CMS and I live at 447 Park Avenue hi my name is MAA Lewis I live on 49 Haden Avenue and we are students at CS today I stand before you not just as a student but as a passionate advocate for the retention of Miss Jacobson despite the budget constraints the purpose of my presentation alongside my friend is to underscore the invaluable cont contribut Miss Jacobson makes to our educational community and why her presence is essential for our Collective growth and success Miss Jay PS plays an important role Beyond academics by providing mentorship counseling and emotional support to her students she goes above and beyond to ensure that her students are not only successful in their academic Pursuits but also in their personal lives she has a unique ability to connect with students and provide them with the guidance and support that they need both to succeed academically and emotionally countless time she has spent a listening ear offered sageing advice or simply provided a comforting present during difficult times as Penny mentioned Miss Jay serves as a mentor counselor and Pillar of Strength for us to the decision to cut Miss Jay's Position will be a grave deservance to our students our school and our community as a whole her impact on student learning mentorship and Community engagement has been undeniable therefore I ask the board can to reconsider the decision and recognize the longterm implicant in losing such an invaluable asset she is always available to listen and her presence is essential for our Collective growth and success and I truly believe that she deserves to be retained despite the budget constraints every morning I walk into her room to get prepared for the day and she's always taught me to love laugh and the day that we found out she was being cut we cried me and a couple of my friends cried in her room for over hours just to be with Miss Jay and some of them skipped practice just because they solely could not pull it together due to the cut of Miss J if you have any time please know that me and my other friend Bri ly have sent an email to Paul to Paul sarlo and soon others on a solution and opinions on this topic please if you have any time read that email thank you good evening my name is rosem Marie faroh I'm a little dry I wasn't expecting to wait two hours to have to speak so pardon my voice uh I live at 10:07 Stokes Avenue I am the very proud grandmother of six children one of whom just spoke to that attend Collingswood Public Schools I'm also Al a retired educator of 37 years my last 11 before retirement were spent as principal at Washington Township High School in glester County I'm very familiar with budgets I had to do it every year and that was for a high school that had 3,000 students I understand the implications when budget cuts are called for but I'm here tonight to speak of the concern I have for this district and what I'm watching and seeing happening in this budget crisis first and foremost I'm looking at what I have to say quite honestly astounded me was the number of District administrators that a district of this size has and the salaries that it is Collingswood supports 2100 students and does it I think very effectively through their students teachers and the staff that they have here who care so much for those students Washington Township in analysis has 7200 students the superintendents of both of those districts are paid almost the exact same salary Washington Township recently in their budget cuts removed an assistant superintendent position with 7200 students they are functioning with one assistant superintendent not to I I simply ask you at this point that I think it's imperative that you start to look at all aspects as you do these budget cuts and I've just heard nothing except cuts of teachers it was always our goal and I know it would be yours and I think needs to be looked at more closely to achieve that that the last place you want to cut is the classroom for instruction so I would implore you as you finish this process or as you look ahead to Future years that you recognize that the cuts you're making to your teaching staff are not going to allow this District to grow and to thrive and to be the place where intellectual curiosity can flourish where students of all backgrounds can be productive students and that they can move forward out of this community and really be the effective citizens that we want them to be so please again I implore you to look a little more closely and look at some of those other salaries and some of those positions and perhaps you might be able to reduce fewer teachers thank you very much hi hi I'm MOS Campbell and I'm an e eth grader at CMS middle school and for the three years that I went to the Middle School two of them were with Miss Mr L one of them Miss Dy and none with Miss J but these three teachers have been beneficial to my middle school career I came into Miss DA's classroom in creative writing in seventh grade crying one day and she came up to me and asked me if I was okay and wanted to go to the bathroom because I was sobbing Mr L has been nothing but kind to me he makes me feel safe and able to ask questions in a subject that I'm not very good at J never had her class but she's one of the nicest and kindest people I know she makes me feel safe Miss Dy makes me feel safe Mr L makes me feel safe and these budget cuts these non- tene teachers just because they're non- tenure they shouldn't be taken I want to look at the future how many kids how many kids that are crammed in a classroom that's too small for the size of the class not have the learning benefits that the kids in past years had how many kids in ela and writing won't have the same the same benefits that we had that me my friends the the kids that came from years before us what will happen for the kids in the future I wanted to be a teacher too now I don't thank you for your time my name is Nicole NRI I am a member of the cea I believe in creating sustainable Equity celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion in our schools I am here to speak directly on the impact of the Board of Education and theer AD sta decisions that have led to the incredible loss of teachers so what's in a name during my 22 years as a colinwood teacher our learning acceleration teachers have had various names BSI bip interventionist academic support and most recently learning acceleration teacher call it what you will they're all exactly the same the people who are in our classrooms with us in the trenches supporting our most needy students so why do I bring light to their many names I want you to know who they are and how their Ro is so very important to our students to many of your children the number of our support teachers has been cut our students will no longer have the opportunity to have personalized support in a small group setting your children will be expected to learn in a class of 25 like I have right now six-year-olds who still most can't even tie their shoes but we'll expect them to learn all by themselves because that's what will happen when it's one teacher versus 25 which we know is not realistic none of us will all that so we will work to the Bone to make sure that they're all getting their needs met um at what point did this become acceptable practice in my 22 years and two administrations before yours it was never acceptable our LS are not and have never been a staffing position in response to the pandemic that is false they have always been a part of our budget they are not an added cost so why now do we need to do less with less as stated at the budget meeting uh Dr mcdal if we had in the past always supported these teachers in our budgets I have to ask where is their money um during a referendum meeting Miss Seltzer you stated that if we don't purchase the good sheeper building there may be serious academic and other impacts on students what do you think the impact of this budget is going to have on our students how do you all justify the situation we in [Applause] hello my name's uh Dash career Fisher I live at 1017 outra jav and I am a junior at Colin high school I'm g go off scrip a little bit I'm really proud of all the elementary school kidss tonight they are they are um really inspiring and Brilliant but anyway our education has been jeopardized and I will not stand by it due to poor assessment by the board of advisers ever since we have imprudently I'm going to say we as in collection of all of us because this affects all of us no matter how dissimilar our beliefs are and our actions are still a community um ever since we have imprudently considered investing in things like a new several million dollar football field and I've been paying salaries with temporary grants in which if lost the teachers lose their jobs and so forth important courses such as child development journalism journalism is a college major have been cut and teachers and staff like Aaron Dy a former student of CHS and an English teacher have been let go overall the board has the wrong priorities there's a rather ironic slogan to the school it's where you want to learn that each say this facility tutors further away from institution has become a playground for misspent applications which ultimately impacts our education and careers and as students we are defenseless in the face of theis whenever a replacement teacher comes in mid semester do the teachers being cut education suffers because they do not teach the same standard as the prior instructor student educ educations are being compromised because of ill funding and these judgments could be the very caveats that can vender issues down the line students such as not being accepted into a particular College because the student select subject was not offered in CHS unless they have nothing to show for their interest in what they want to major in that is an alterre possibility that I have seen many people face where our funding goes should be focused on education and staff first and foremost because this is a school not a business I want this school to be a place where the sky is Del liit not a place where I have to settle for less because out of anyone's control let's make CHS a place where students want to learn not a place where students are forced to learn and thus every uh decision is made with negligence because no one cares what happens people do care they're here tonight there are those who want a good education and they come to this school and I'm one of them this is the CHS everybody in the district wants and deserves and no matter what happens now in the future we will have what we want what we deserve that's my name is Timothy Kik I'm a sixth grader at CMS M has been a great teacher all year long she made her classroom into a safe zone for many students all of my friends love her as a great teacher she makes her learn she makes the students learning fun and engaging she has always been really kind to the students and help them when they need it she makes all the students feel comfortable and safe in a classroom and I don't want to see her leave next year my name is Juliet Wilson I live at I live at triple1 18 Park Avenue and I go to coling middle school as a seventh grader earlier this week I started crying because Miss da was leaving I love her she she helps me so much she helps my confidence just grow and she really lights up my day I want all the students to have a say in this students love and care about their teachers that are leaving many of these teachers have been essential to our growth many of us have been supported academically and most importantly with our mental health issues after the announcement I was in gym and I heard the news I I can't even describe how everybody was feeling we were all balling our eyes out cuz we heard that our favorite teachers were leaving I don't want to feel like that again teachers have been such a huge impact for me and my brother and I'm so grateful for all they have done these people include Miss Bryant Miss diglet Miss Jacobson and Miss Daly Miss Bryant helped my brother with his mental health issues during the hardest times when he was being bullied he they she took action and he's doing so much better and he has so good friends by there by his side she has helped him grow academically and mentally Miss daily helped my brother and helped me through my through our own struggles and improve in theater and gain confidence he and I would be disheartened to see them leave Miss stiglet is so friendly and kind and knowledgeable I don't know what I would I would do without her in my life she creates such a beautiful wonderful environment for the classroom making everyone feel like they belong Miss Jacobson you helped me and all my friends grow and overcome challenges and fears I never knew you too well personally but I know you deserve deserve to stay my only question to you is why just why where did the money go us the students love them we love our teachers we aren't going to let this go thank you for your time M Earl M Earl I'm going to since there's a line and you've already spoken if you could let everyone else get a chance to speak first yeah that I'm sorry that's okay I'll go to the back of that's just not the way the procedure works that's all thank you I have my comment is about a different agenda item so I can go to the back of the line go to the back of the line yeah okay thank you Mar and Davis 502 had an Avenue I am a proud I'm a proud Garfield parent and a carrent employee at sharp as a clroom and I love it I felt compelled to say something tonight not only to be an advocate for our students but also to show my support for our amazing teachers I specifically want to talk about the positive impacts that my daughter has had because of the mtss and the learning acceleration teachers at Garfield last year my youngest child was struggling a great deal and falling behind in her spelling and her writing she was classified as being on a tier three level of needing extra Services she was a student who needed the mtss coach she was pulled out of class daily for 30 minutes and was provided with one-on-one Services because of the extra support via the oneon-one and small groups she is now excelling in third grade she is lo no longer in need of the extra support she would not be where she is today had it not been for the mtss and a learning acceleration teachers currently at Garfield we have two acceleration teachers and one mtss coach because of the reent teacher cuts come September that will be reduced to just one learning acceleration teacher for the entire student body without these Services every student will suffer students who desperately need these interventions will not have access to it the students who aren't struggling will get less instruction time from their classroom teacher because those teachers are being told they need to step in and provide these extra supports this is a disservice to all of our children what will happen to the children who need these Services I fear for them I fear that they would fall further and further behind in their education I am worried about our teachers who already do so much how will they fit it into one day they won't be able to we cannot ask our teachers to add one more thing to their already long list of what is expected from them I am so grateful for the people who have made a huge difference in my daughter's education I hope that all of our children in our district have access to the services they need in order to become better students we need to find a way to keep these important services in our schools thank you um hi I'm Karen Tanner I'm a member of a cea and I'm a Ela teacher over at the high school um and you have heard numerous testimonials an eloquent request from students and I understand it's hard for you you have a lot of conflicting um obligations that you have to balance here and I'm unfortunately about to give you another one because I after when I am nervous I research that's what I do I I teach research and when I'm nervous I research and I believe that if these Cuts go through at the high school the middle school as proposed we will be in violation of the New Jersey Administrative Code 6A 13-31 and this is class sizes in high poverty districts we are the high school the middle school and sharp are considered high poverty districts and we will we are already some of my classes are already in violation of this code in terms of class sizes and if you they have collapsed one of the English positions in my department which means that my AP Lit class that for years 10 years was about 15 to 17 that was the perfect place I could make sure the kids could hide I could get to them last year it jumped up to 29 those kids knew they knew that Miss creel was going on maternity leave and there was going to be chaos with the subs so they decided not that they like me all that much but they'd rather take the devil they know than the devil they don't and so suddenly my class erupted and they said we are going to make this into two sections and all summer I was planning two sections a week before school start I got a phone call saying you know we don't have ahead of guidance and we're really struggling with scheduling so yes we have scheduled two AP Lit classes ath period and first period but we could only figure out how to get one kid in the first period class so there were two classes of 26 and one which of course is ridiculous so the one was moved afternoon and they revived an old elective that I have which is fine I like critical thinking for the 21st century I think it's an important course but one of the things I teach when I'm in that class um which has very few kids in it because it wasn't on the books because it was supposed to be cancell um is that you have to look at all the positions you have to look at everybody's concerns before you make a decision and I am concerned that we will be in violation of administrative codes and that means that we'll be looking at St fines so not only are we short on money because we're not getting stuff from the state and because um benefits and salaries are going up and I totally understand you don't want to pass on those costs to um community members but we also don't want to be fined because I'm going to tell you that 17 to 15 was a great number you can't do as much thank you thank you Miss [Applause] hi my name is Tom Howard I'm a uh I live at 16 Fraser Avenue in Collingswood I am a parent of Tatum uh uh Elementary School student I'm also a teacher uh not at Collingswood but in another District so uh for a few reasons I wanted to speak uh to support all the fellow Educators that are unfortunately in the position of losing their jobs um obviously it's a very sad situation uh I know the districts in in a little bit of a tough spot to say the least and I know being on the board is is a tough position you guys often have a thankless job that being said I really hope that when you guys were considering who to uh how to deal with this crisis that you really did go through as you claim line by line to see where costs could be cut without going to what should be the last absolute Last Resort which is to reduce teaching staff because as has been said um this apparently was in the the offing for a while uh and as people echoed what kind of proactive measures were being taken to make sure that so many staff would not be where they are today which is looking for you know a new position next year and then as we have heard from not just staff but kids you wouldn't be in a situation where you have no kids devastated my daughter um uh love she's in third grade now she loves all of her teachers her teachers are great at Tatum and she's devastated to hear that her teacher from last year is among those cuts uh last last week on teacher uh on teacher appreciation week uh she dressed up as her teacher from last year that's how much love and and care she has for her um so as I said I I want to I hope that you guys were really prioritizing teaching staff and the effects on the kids rather than looking at other things to to keep instead whether it be administrative uh positions or or other things of that nature uh and I hope that next year you do take more proactive measures so that we're not in a situation this year where on the first day of teacher appreciation week 20 teachers lose their [Applause] jobs hello I'm Liz Wilson I'm a uh 109 East Franklin in Collingswood I have a third grader at newbie and I have a sixth grader at CMS I'm going to be I wrote this down so it might repeat a lot of things that have been said but I thought it was important to show up for the teachers today so my son has a 504 which we worked very hard to get him uh the support staff at newbie has been amazing um and instrumental insuring insuring uring his success his success um he is taken out for testing things like that given extra time we will now have one support teacher for the entire school so I'm not really sure how that's going to work I'm not sure how 504s and IEPs are going to be um fulfilled at this point it's just a useless piece of paper as far as I can tell so that's concerning me it's even harder to swallow that when I look at some of this District's fiscal choices you knew the shortfalls were coming you keep saying and yet you decided it made sense to take out a lease for a building that you may or may not be able to purchase [Applause] a lease that you have held for almost three years at a cost of over $6,000 a month that's right this is all public record look it up we've heard a lot tonight about how losing staff and programming immediately directly and devastatingly impact students I know everyone here wants what is best best for the kids but I struggle to reconcile that with the actions of this body teachers and staff are the very last thing that should be cut and I have a hard time trusting you when you have made these types of decisions hard to follow that okay uh Melissa Hellwig 115 East Browning Road proud newbie parent um I have a third grader at newbie had a whole thing written down notebook in my pocket but I'm getting so emotional listening to everything that I'm hearing tonight that I scrapped it all because everything that was said was better exact examples of why I'm here to support the teachers that are being let go that are being moved out of the positions out of the schools that they 've been in for years teachers that make such an impact every single day I've seen it firsthand I'm in the school a lot like to volunteer whenever I can I'm a former teacher I miss my classes but I love being home with my son so I also get to go to the school and do fun things there and I see how hard these teachers are working and I've seen it with my daughter who started in kindergarten Co and it was a rough year as everyone here I'm sure knows on teachers on parents on students and she had a rough time going back and the school was so supportive she is thriving now if she's awake right now it's because she's reading her book and doesn't want to put it down last year I couldn't get her to pick up a book without a really big fight and a lot of that I think is because of her teachers because I don't get as much time with her in a day as they do do so I do my best but I am so grateful for how much love and support she's gotten in first grade I had to pick her up from half days so much I got the letter that said she was tardy too often because she had so much anxiety about school and held it in and her teachers got her through that and her teachers are the reason that I was able to say hey I need to get her a 504 because they're doing everything they can and they still can't provide what they what she needs and now this year with the 504 in place and she has those teachers that are being let go those teachers that are being moved are the ones that are helping her this year and helped her so that she is now a thriving third grader not a struggling one and so my heart is breaking that next year she probably won't get that support because I can't see how it can possibly happen these teachers are amazing but what you're asking of them is impossible and it is not fair and that's why I came here tonight to just tell them that I love you guys thank you so much thank you to everybody here that is a teacher and amazing and I just wish you would find another way hello Michelle Bennis Kimble 415 Virginia Avenue also a newbie parent of a third grader with a 504 and the support teacher here get us through every day my son did not start kindergarten in the district it was Co we were really struggling with the hours of school and work and everything like everyone else here was making it work first grade we started we thought we were great my son had been in daycare from when he was nine months old he's been part of school he knows what's happening he knows what's expected of him and guess what first grade wasn't great he could write his name he couldn't read he I know he had a test and I was like how will you be giving the test because he can't read like what are we doing support teachers got us through second grade we're hearing a lot about how it's really difficult to have him maintain his attention and I'm like yeah he's a boy he's first only child doesn't really have the older brother older child to model after we think it's fine he's a great kid amazing loves to learn well they helped us see a lot of things he needed help he needed honestly he needed medication he needed a 504 he needed additional help and those teachers helped us third grade we started off great we're prepared we're ready we're doing amazing things he's learning so well those support teachers get us through every day the teachers themselves so much to do so many kids so many special things that they have to help support teachers are not where you're going to take it from they are here to help everyone people that are need help people that don't like need additional enrichment they are here to make everyone better that is not where you cut we're a school schools have teachers and their students you have enough teachers for the students I've been coming to these me for about a year now there's a big Trend we're growing we need more bigger better how do we do that without the teachers we need today how is there a budget that you did not you didn't plan for this we hear there's a cliff coming a cliff who's planning for the teachers of today we need them my son needs them they made a huge impact on our life and it will never there's nothing that will ever take that away he's thriving he loves to read he loves going to school what more could you want these teachers are not where your cing perfect hey for me um good evening my name is Kristen Tash and I a member of the ca I believe in creating sustainable Equity celebrating diversity and Pro inclusion in our schools going to picky back off a couple of things and add something new uh we understand that many schools across the state have also suffered from the unfair funding formula I also understand that means cuts are necessary for any District that was provided less than expected state aid my concern along with many of my peers is that a deficit in our district resulted in a great loss of teachers and staff which in turn is a loss of programming and support for our students we can't help but wonder how these Cuts will really impact the success and growth of our students the Middle School Ela Department lost two amazing Educators you may see them as just two names on a piece of paper but we see them as so much more the loss of eron Daly and Erica Jacobson means class sizes will increase although many people don't think class size Matters we are the ones in the classroom reading their writing and providing feedback daily things like this are impossible task in a class that is too big in order to stay above water as a department we would have to lose two highly popular electives digital journalism and creative writing it is likely we would also lose theater as well to cover all of the language arts and writing Workshop classes in each grade these are major losses to our kids we are wondering if there is a plan set in place to accommodate the loss to our department does this mean we will max out class sizes and L electives or will language arts and writing Workshop merge into one course in order to keep numbers low and electives alive if the latter will a new curriculum be developed and how quickly will we have access to it in order to plan efficiently and effectively we need a plan of action our kids should not have to do less with less the last time I addressed the board I asked for your help help in regards to teacher retention because staff was voluntarily leaving this district and as the early career chair I want to see our people stay a proposed solution was to offer teachers a stien if they got someone to join our district and got them to stay for over a year but now we're letting 20 plus teachers go I'm not sure how we as teachers can take on that responsibility of asking our teacher friends to leave their current districts to join us here when there's no solution to the budget crisis and no promise that their job will still exist year to year teachers will not apply to come here to do less with less hi my name is Julia pazi I'm a cea member and first grade teacher at Thomas sharp school um so I didn't have anything prepared for tonight but while being here and hearing everyone speak so passion about in support of callings with teachers I couldn't help to stay quiet um so we all know how the pandemic negatively impacted students especially academically um and at my time at sharp school for eight years I love my school and I love teaching in this district with everything um I can wholeheartedly say that the collaboration between the classroom teachers and the academic support staff is what makes student growth possible um with the support from the academic support teachers we made it possible to begin to close that extreme academic Gap that we see in classrooms throughout the district not only does the academic support staff provide in classroom support during the core subjects of math and literacy these teachers also provide daily interventions to many students during the school day 62 children at sharp School are receiving tiered intervention this year just this school year this is half of our student population and some of these students are receiving multiple interventions I know from my experience at sharp School how important these interventions are again 62 students several of my own students Alyssa hetrick my academic support teacher for the 2023 24 school year was let go unfortunately and she is one of the most dedicated teachers I've ever met in my life the work that she does daily and the work that we do together has been one of the most successful school years that I've ever had and the data shows I directly see students how these interventions impact students and students who receive academic support become more confident in the classroom some students start off in academic support groups and then they grow out of them um sorry and not only does the support staff provide these interventions they collect the data to bring to Future mtss meetings to show the growth and take next steps to better serve the students like another staff member previously mentioned tonight the common theme of less less academic support stff less individualized learning opportunities less learning less growth thank you hello my name is Matt Matthew Wilson I am at 825 Miguel Avenue I have two kids in the district one in the middle school and one in Garfield um I just wanted to bring up that I moved from the state of Kansas to Collingswood specifically I chose Collingswood because of the community um and our schools are Cornerstone of the community and the teachers are the backbone of the school we need more teachers and we need to pay them better actually to attract the best teachers and to keep class size small I taught for one year and I took educational psychology and I know that above a certain class size it's not good when you're talking about 20 and plus that's not good it's not ideal as you know um so and I mean this with respect knowing that you are doing the best you can under a difficult situation but as leaders of the district it's your responsibility to ensure that we have enough teachers you didn't do enough to raise a public we public awareness this is a problem you knew was coming where were the alarm Bells where was the public Outreach where were Creative Solutions how are you harnessing this dedicated community where are the political pressure campaigns have you considered fundraising events I just if if we're in this box we can't get out of because of things that are outside of our control there are some things that are inside of our control and we need to think creatively and it's your job as our leaders to do that so I would like you to do as much as you can to step up and Lead thank you hi uh my name is Cara Boer uh 9 East Summerfield Avenue in Collingswood obviously um so I am in a unique position um to witness the loss of uh building staff uh from elementary all the way through high school I have kids at every grade level preschool all the way to high school so uh for my high schooler my oldest who will be entering uh her senior year next year um we got an email letting her know that uh courses that are going to be canceled for next year are journalism creative writing public speaking Child devel Development and financial literacy um on the last one uh this one especially concerns me because as far as I know this is a requirement to graduate and I believe also State mandated my child in order to take this class has to take it online but she did not want to experience the loss of sitting in front of teachers so she's choosing to take it over the summer so that she can meet her requirement and still be able to sit with staff in the building next year here um and then I guess to a a different point um my my uh freshman in high school she um benefited from the the staff uh the extra support staff in thee elementary school she has an IEP um and she struggled all the way up until about second grade and if it was not for uh pattio Conor Miss Francis Miss mayor that were all uh part of her lived experience they pulled her in I was a a drowning parent I was experiencing autoimmune issues I was not paying attention to her like I should have been and they helped me every step of the way and if there were parents like me um they would not have the same support with the loss that we're going to be having in our buildings right now uh second to that I suppose uh it also concerns me because I have a preschooler who experienced lead illness in her infancy I don't know what her experience is going to be like coming up through elementary school so I'm concerned about the loss of extra support for her and students like her as they come up through Elementary School in the coming years thank you good evening my name is jod faraoh and I live at 911 Park Avenue um first of all last June I wrote an email to Dr mcdal as well as to Matt Jenna who is the Zay North principal to give a specific shout out to anac and to Ruth Elias who are probably two of the most incredible Educators that I've ever come across so when I found out specifically that Ruth Elias was not being renewed I essentially asked her can I please have the honor to write you a letter of recommendation because I feel that strongly about you and luckily I had already had something completely already drafted which I had asked in that email hey can this be put into her 10e file because it is that important to me so I would like to just really quickly read you the letter that I have written on her behalf dear hiring committee I'm a parent of four sons in the Collingswood school district and had the Good Fortune of having my youngest child taught by Ruth Elias in both third and fourth grades here at Zay North I am writing this letter to of recommendation to you for which I asked Miss Elias the honor of writing from a place of sadness and regret as I learned just yesterday that her contract with our district has not been renewed my sadness and regret are not for myself or my child but for the future children in our district who will never benefit from her it is a true loss one which is the result of several factors the greatest of which I conjecture though is lack of forethought to the long-term impact that quality classroom Educators have on our schools and most importantly on our students my son was in kindergarten when the pandemic began in March of 2020 as many children did he suffered greatly from the haphazard fragmented nature of vacillating between remote to truncated in-person learning which compounded his ADHD Tendencies by the time he was placed in Miss Elias's thirdd grade classroom we had an ADHD diagnosis thanks to on attack but no further plan to address his AB inability to focus his lagging learning his disruption of his fellow classmates or his diminishing self-esteem I later learned that this was Miss Elias's first full-time teaching position but she was the exact opposite of an experienced within weeks of starting third grade she had coordinated ated with his prior teacher Miss Tac to fully comprehend his struggles as well as his positives she identified his ADHD behaviors and developed a thoughtful and constructive plan complete with clear goals strategies for mindfulness etc etc I'm going to skip to the end simply to say that I Believe Miss CH Miss Elias devoted countless hours outside of the classroom in an effort to see my son positively progress in every aspect she could simply have taken the easy route and shuffled him along but at every opportunity she went above and beyond this was not just for my son but for every single child in her classroom and as a result of her incredible planning and dedication I firmly believe that after talking with multiple other parents in her classes all of the students that had her have virtually erased the majority of their social emotional and academic loss through covid the loss of her is going to be sorely felt in the district but my main point with all of this is that a majority of parents who lose teachers like her not a majority actually they can afford to pay for people to supplement their kids learning however here a lot of people canot and that's going to be the big [Applause] problem hi I'm Lee Troutman 104 East Madison Avenue I don't have any students in the schools anymore but I'm a longtime resident I can't speak of the El with the eloquence that the students and parents have about the staff and about the effects of the program Cuts but I can take a look at statistics very carefully the board has been der in its Duty in coming up with a budget that suits this District you've been dishonest with the public as well some of the facts you have three assistant superintendents now Washington Township only has two Cherry Hill where I retired from has three but they have 11,000 students not roughly 2500 students the uh the business administrator in Cherry Hill makes the same salary as a business administrator here and yet we are talking about writing a budget for that many students and nine buildings versus 17 buildings a 20% salary increase since Dr McDonald mcdal has come here teachers do you have a 20% increase in that time no not at all these are areas as board members where you should be taking a look first the administration upper Administration does not have the same effect on students that the teaching staff does now where do your dishonesty come from you want to sell us a new stadium you're willing to ask us for that money but miss Kaden you said that you are stuck on a 2% budget that is not true you could have come to the town's people when you knew you were in trouble and asked for more money I was on the board when Governor Christy put the 2% thing in so I know how that works it is tough to come to the community but if you think a stadium a new Athletic Facility is more important than your staff I'm not even talking about what you're asking for in buildings or closing down schools we're talking about your staff membership you need to be honest with the public probably if you had come to us even with myself not having students anymore because I believe in paying it forward I would have said yes on the budget assuming that you are being prudent with how you are going to use your administrative staff but quite honestly I can't vote for anything at any time that you come up with because you're just not straightforward with it [Applause] okay my name is Julie Schneider I live at 819 Mill Avenue um I have two daughters that will be in CMS next year at the same time which I'm pretty excited about um since my daughter started in prek um at sharp there have been you know things happening including covid and this is the first time that I am leg legitimately concerned about the future of our district um and partially because this is a crisis that we were aware that was coming but no other Solutions were put forward and I kind of think it's possible that the crisis could continue in the future and I'm very concerned about that um some of the things that were brought up today were um losing electives which we know is a place where creativity blossoms students get a sense of belonging and students that have significant behavior problems and academic problems can really FL flish um so electives are really important um I'm concerned about earlier Intervention which we've heard um that students need the earlier the better I'm concerned that we know that small group instruction is the future of Education actually the present as well and it's going to be reduced because of lack of teachers I'm concerned about the vulnerable students in our district I'm concerned about meaningful inclusion um which again we profess to be very important I'm concerned about students leaving for other schools where they perceive there are better programs and better opportunities um I'm concerned about worrying about that for my own daughters which has never been a concern um I'm concerned about teachers leaving due to burnout of less with less because we all know what that means teachers are already working incredibly hard and recently have been treated very poorly by the public um so I am here to amplify the voices of our students and of our teachers especially I feel guilty that I haven't done more earlier and I would specifically like to amplify the voices today of Mr Newman Miss Hogan Miss Whitman who are speaking a lot of truth of how much they care about our students and they're doing for our students but they need the support of leadership hello my name is Brenda Berg 234 Haden Avenue here in Collingswood um first first I'd like to thank all the teachers and happy Teacher Appreciation Week and staff um I really adore and love all of you I mean we started out when my son when we moved here he went to Garfield he graduated in 2010 Belinda she's graduating this year she went through newbie middle school high school so I went to I've got to know quite a few of you and you are all appreciated and loved can't say that enough now I would like to ask the board to please dig deeper okay look over the budget again and please look at the numbers again because you know there is more there you know you can do more especially with the staff but also with the curriculum you are cutting programs that are very meaningful to the kids here they need these programs and you are just cutting them putting them online I mean are you actually talking to the students I don't think so I mean I hear you're going into classroom saying to teachers while a class is going on oh we've heard from the community we're going to cut your program we may be cutting you too I mean that's kind of disturbing having you know your administrators going into classrooms in front of the students doing that so I ask you not to cut the programs really look them over do not just throw them online the students need your teachers and your staff okay so think about it there have been hard times for boards before I mean you look what happened after 911 you look what happened when things crashed 2008 you looked at what happened recently with covid there have been tough times when the governors have cut you know across the board but we've made it work without cutting the teachers without cutting the staff you can do it again okay you can be creative okay I mean you appreciate your staff yes right I mean that's pretty loud a little louder for everybody in the back okay well just let you know you're appreciated by the community and we thank you and thank [Applause] you my name name is Mike paluchi I am a CA member and a member of the secondary Equity Council um I'm also a resident I live at 357 Park Avenue um as others have pointed out we knew this Cliff was coming and my question is why wasn't more done I'm echoing the sentiments of others um it seems like over the past few years um the tides of Education have also reached Collingswood and everyone's acting like Billy Joel like they didn't start the fire but you are charged with doing something about it we can't just Institute policies without the emotional intelligence required to measure their effectiveness this is a district full of people not statistics tonight you've heard from a diverse group of students faculty support staff and administrators and parents all unified to support our teachers in our schools I want to let the community know that in spite of everything that has plagued our profession and our district that we are united I know that many members of our Schoolboard are good at politics you organized had great signage sharpened your policy positions and stated your case clearly to Residents so knowing that this Cliff was coming why not use those political skills to get treatened to Bear witness to our extreme predicament I see a lot of outwardly Progressive individuals in front of me content to allow our district to be run like a faceless Corporation rampant rampant with Bean rampant with Bean counting and box checking but short un meaningful initiatives next Sunday I will attend the closing ceremony for my beloved College Cabrini University a small Catholic liberal arts school that is facing financial difficulty losing my college uh is where I a place where I learn the values of what they call an education of the heart courses steeped in the virtues of service social justice and a tiess dedication to the common good virtues we were instructed to go forth and carry out into the world the reasons for the close are multifaceted but among them are the toll of the pandemic po administrative choices and the fact that the largest major at the school is education and too few students these days are entering the teaching field and while I'm heartbroken for the loss of an institution that means so much to me it has long been a reality that the sustainability of small-sized Institutions are not guaranteed we have to fight for their survival including this one I'm losing one cherished institution in my life but I will be damned if I'm going to lose [Applause] another good evening my name is Jennifer Oren M sorry I'm a little nervous I didn't plan on speaking tonight Jennifer and Beth and twistle since my marriage my students know as Miss gray I didn't plan on speaking tonight because I've been struggling to straddle the line between parent and faculty member I work at CMS as one of the building substitutes most people think substitute teacher and they see you know the person who comes in throws on a movie I am at CMS four days a week I see every single one of our students I have done long-term subbing and daily subbing in the high school more than that I'm speaking as a resident I'm speaking as lumus my mother went to Sharp school I went to newbie School my son came through newbie school and is now at CMS in three generations of living in this town our family has seen struggles we've seen this board previous boards previous administrations go through hard times I graduated in 2007 I know what that looked like but that didn't look like cutting new Young teachers with fresh ideas who care about and identify with students the hard choices they made back then was offering early retirement to some of our older teachers who were willing to step aside for the new generation that was better able to identify with our young students it looked like administrators doing hard things themselves instead of asking our teachers to Bear the burden I'll be honest as a student I didn't really remember the name of our superintendent took somebody saying Miss Bathurst tonight for me to even remember but I remember Mrs Fino my my kindergarten teacher I remember all the way up to Mr olivary who taught me AP Euro in my senior year I spoke with Mr olivary earlier this year he asked me to take on and I did a long-term subbing position for Miss Kel when the high school was going through that nonsense and in that time I discovered really truly how much I love being around our students so much so that Mr olivary and I discussed me using my degree which I'm currently working towards an English degree he discussed with me whether I would like to go education alternate route education be a teacher at Collingswood after what's happened over the last few weeks seeing an introduction email from a new assistant superintendent and then two weeks later seeing teachers cut when I finish my degree when when I go alternate route I had every plan of being in Collingswood as a teacher to give back to the community that's given so much to me it's not going to happen I can't trust this board not to do to me what you've done to Erica my colleague what you've done to Erin what you've done to Tony Mr L who's not here tonight or to Matt Mr T I can't trust you anymore hi I'm Jennifer Woodring Shay I live at 17713 leev I have lived in this town for probably over 20 well close to 20 years I've been a sub in this District often on for those probably 15 years I'm a teacher at another school I have a fourth grader at Zan and I've seen I've heard and seen all the crap that all the boards before you have done and talked about and proposed and I just want to know you put so much energy into this refer referendum and you have the nerve to come here to sit there two months ago and ask us to raise our taxes which are already extremely high and you ask us to pay more for all these extra things well you knew you had to know that you did not have enough money for the teachers that are here now and if you were going to ask for money such as this gentleman said that's the money you should have been asking us for I've been here for the stadium I've been here for all the crap but you know what doesn't change in Collingswood is how the superintendents treat the teachers some of these teachers I can recognize almost every single one of these teachers in this room because I've subbed so much they are amazing amazing people when people would badmouth Collingswood on me social media I'd be the first one to stand up and say are you kidding me Collingswood has some of the best teachers in the world but you know what we lost a lot of those in the last four years and now we're losing more and you're going to lose all the families in this town that mean anything and make it what it is hello my name is Lori jaac and I am a member of the CA and a fourth grade teacher at zorth I believe in creating sustainable Equity celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion in our schools with that being said how is it Equitable to reduce the amount of support teachers in schools less support means so many students will suffer we we will not meet the needs of every child how would you feel if your child received 50% less Services how will that increase V rigor it's less simple math the kids in the middle new support will you be prepared to allow students to fail this is a disservice to the children of Collingswood I've been a teacher in this district for over 30 years why because I love it here I grew up here our students have always come first not just to me but to every teacher in this room and every support staff in this room I asking you to reconsider the cuts to our academic support staff not for the teachers but for the students it's about the students it's about my kids it has always been about our kids one of my for former students is here in this room Erin Erin da and I just want to say I'm very sad to see that she's on on the list of not being renewed I recently saw her in a couple of the shows choreographing the shows so I was very excited to see her working in Collinwood this breaks my heart always will be one of our kids she grew up in St North and all the kids here we love this is why we're here she's an amazing teacher um oh and one more thing how thoughtful of it thoughtful of you to cut teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week hi my name is Angela kek and I'm a member of the cea I believe in creating sustainable Equity celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion in our schools I have been a learning acceleration specialist for third through fifth grade at Mark newbie Elementary School for the past 11 years additionally I am one of the two PLC leaders for our group of Specialists I am speaking to express concern for the reorganization of Las formally known as basic skills or academic support we are respectfully requesting Clarity and transparency in the decision to reduce the support staff from 17 to 7 some background information for the community is that Las and the mtss coaches provide hundreds of elementary students across the district with extra small group instruction in math and reading additionally we discuss determine and then implement the tier 2 and tier three interventions for the neediest Learners then track their progress to make informed decisions to Target their needs lasas and the classroom teachers are Partners we analyze data together to help plan tier one instruction we are part of 504 teams teach kindergarten gifted and talented administer small group State Testing administer formative assessments to drive instruction and assess new students to the district or to the district as they register how many students will this reduction in staff impact Las and mtss coaches counted the number of students on our reading math and tier two and tier three response to intervention case loads across the district while a number of our students overlap in reading math and or RTI the number is 439 439 interventions these interventions some individual some in small groups are being implemented by 17 learning Exel ation Specialists or mtss coaches after notification of reorganization of Las and the reduction of building coaches from 5 to 1 there will now be seven learning acceleration Specialists to implement those interventions seven to implement 439 interventions is impossible how have we gotten to the point where we are considering sacrificing the educational success and the wellbeing of our students I look forward to your response good evening Jack McMullen president of the collinswood principles and supervisors Association the cpsa what a heartbreaking evening as Middle School principal I do have to say I I'm so proud of the amazing students who spoke spoke from the heart this evening and I just would like to thank them for that our professional associations the CA and the cpsa believe that providing students with exposure to rigorous Rich varied academic experiences and a supportive and positive educational envirment constitute the core beliefs and top priorities of our professional associations that being said I'd like to reiterate the concerns that I expressed last year regarding the budget challenge that we faced at that time and which fortunately we are facing at the current time due to the current budget challenges we will experience reductions both teaching staff and school-based administrators in the upcoming school year this reduction in Staffing levels will negatively impact student learning and social emotional growth and development of our students there is a serious concern these staff reductions coupled with the Nationwide shortage of teachers and administrators will only increase the level of difficulty in filling future vacant positions these reductions will potentially further negatively impact the school district's ability to recruit and retain staff collinswood public schools has an incredibly talented and dedicated staff and we are very fortunate that we do and on a positive note just as these same school-based administrators and staff members Rose to and successfully met the challenge of a worldwide pandemic we will do everything within our power to meet the current budget Challenge and work tirelessly to mitigate these reductions and reduce resources allbe it at a great personal cost we plead with this board of education and Central Administration to be proactive in addressing this and future budget challenges and respectfully request that you prioritize your support for school-based administrators and staff so that we in turn can continue to provide our students with r ous Rich varied academic experiences and supportive positive learning environments as you enter future deliberation regarding the budget we urge you to further scrutinize the 2425 budget and seek any ways to further decrease operational cost increase cost savings establish Cost Containment strategies and ident and identify revenue streams and additional funds that will offset staff reductions that directly affect teaching and learning if funds are recouped through this process we sincerely hope that an attempt will be made to fill as many vacancies as possible the school district's budget directly communicates to the community the underlying beliefs and priorities of that school district as you self-reflect please ask yourself what is the message we are communicating to our community hello good evening my name is Melissa gross I've been in the school districts for my entire career which is 24 years um and I'm in the middle school currently and teach uh stem lab formerly known as learning lab as you've learned as you have heard countless times tonight the loss of our valuable staff across both the elementary middle and high school will have a vast and lasting impact in the academic and social emotional needs of the Collingswood Oakland and Woodland students this impact will surely have lasting ripples which we cannot yet predict in my department stem we are also losing one of the best supervisors I've ever had the privilege of knowing and working beside in my 24 year career at Collingswood six years ago I was ready to leave this District despite loving my job and the students I teach when Sean Kendall came to the Helm of the stem Department he was the breath of fresh air our department needed he treated us with professional respect and was supportive in all ways possible even when on top of the stem Department he was tasked with supervising both fourth and fifth grades simply put he was spread thin but despite it all he continued to be a wise calming energy with which if you know anything about stem teachers we we desperately need this district will lose not only valuable staff members through these Cuts but a leader who could have had a lasting impact on our future staff thank you my name is robal Thompson I'm an instructional assistant in the middle school I'm also a three season uh coach here at the middle school I've coached soccer basketball and track so I get to work with these amazing students in a different environment in the classroom either way it is a great privilege but this past week has been difficult these kids they come to me and uh they're they're defeated they're discouraged and it's it's very disheartening I am a positive person I'm always positive I stay happy in front of the kids even if I'm having a terrible day I don't let them see that but this past week it's it's been really difficult and all I ask of you guys is to Recons what's going on from middle school the few Cuts it's it's terrible we've got incredible teachers all over the middle school I I'm being honest with you guys all these kids they they trust me I'm I'm young I'm new I'm close to the age and a lot of teachers but I've heard zero bad things about any teachers you see behind me were not here tonight and especially the ones unfortunately being cut Miss Jacobson Miss Dy these kids love them and I'm defeated seeing these kids crying upset or planning to go somewhere else that's not what we want so I need that to be known that these kids they're incredible but seeing them destroyed and upset destroyed me because that's why we're all here is these amazing kids we get to work with in this District so whatever you guys do going forward you guys got to keep the students in mind as staff were affected the community is affected you've heard a lot of things tonight and it's a lot trust me at least 50 to 100 people have spoken I get that but these are the most important thing and that's why me and my amazing co-workers either elementary middle school high school why we're all here and we need to do what's best for them and I I'm trying to trust you guys and I hope I pray that you guys do that thank you hello uh Jeff Herman I teach here at the high school my e year uh grew up in Collingswood Z North Middle School High School back here to teach um a lot of the things that have been said tonight I'm not going to repeat um I feel exactly how all these people feel um but I did want to mention something that has not been brought up tonight um and that is the AVID program that was going to be coming to the secondary level next year um so Kim Howen back our Uh current supervisor of counseling um was brought here on the notion that she would help to bring this AVID program to uh the high school and she got a bunch of teachers at the high school level um to sit in learn about what AB it was and we actually did a school visit to Woodbury High School back in February um and every one of us that went to that school visit was extremely excited about what the possibilities of this program could look like for Collingswood and for the students uh that it could serve and it's just a shame that uh earlier this week Kim emailed all of us and said that that program would not be coming here so I just wanted to bring it to the board's attention that we've not only lost staff but we're also losing programs and supports um that could look really really helpful and promising for the students of this High School um and not only is that program going but Kim is also going we will be functioning at the high school level next year without a supervisor of counseling so just some concerns that I have um and some some sadness that I'm feeling tonight thank you congratulations Miss Earl for making it to the end I'm sorry I wasn't trying to cut the line um so different agenda item my name is Adrianne Earl and I'm a member of the ca still um I believe in creating sustainable Equity celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion in our schools I would now like to speak as a member of the Secondary School counseling team on agenda item 5.27 regarding the absence of a supervisor of School counseling specifically Kim hollenbach I want to stress the importance of the supervisor of School counseling position as well as the need for the person in that position to have experience in School counseling or student Personnel Services in general Dr McDow as you may recall after our previous supervisor Miss Taylor resigned we sat in meetings last year to discuss the importance of the supervis res School counseling role if Miss hollenbach is removed from her position this will be the fifth adjustment to the position since March of 2023 first was Tracy Taylor second was an absence of a supervisor for an extended period of time third was Betty Joe Prince fourth was Dr Debbie Vesper and then fifth was Kim hollenbach who has now been let go the supervisor position and the counseling office as a whole re reques consistency it requires someone with knowledge of School counseling testing the master schedule at the secondary level along with many other aspects please note that if someone new is added to that position the counseling office will be starting from scratch again the High School counseling office has a brand new Administrative Assistant who is just learning the school as well as the office while the school counselors are currently working hard to make sure that we are addressing the many aspects and responsibilities of our roles just to give a brief idea of the r responsibilities the supervisor is responsible for and this list does not include even close to all the responsibilities but first all schoolwide testing including PSAT sat school day NJ GPA njsla and AP testing these tests are not simply day of responsibilities not by long shot um all tests require weeks of preparation sometimes months also the creation and development of the high school master schedule in coordinated Nation with me at the middle school um the creation development and organization of the high school program of studies and the coordination and implementation of dual credit NJ Stars scholarship ceremonies summer school option two and 50 for coordination for the district Miss hollenbach came to the Collingswood in November with all of this experience plus more in addition to the items listed above Miss henck has many years of counseling experience which has helped our office when we are all unavailable there are times when a student may come down in crisis and no counselor is available Miss hollenbach has jumped in to help and as a result built relationships with many students Miss Hollenbeck also came to Collingswood with the intention of building the AVID program which Mr Herman already spoke about so that I hear my time is up Ray y than you m that worked out thank you um first the thank you to everyone who um came in boat thank you to the students for um taking the time to share their uh experiences with their teachers that um takes a lot of Courage it's not easy to speak in front of a microphone um so we appreciate hearing from them um a couple of things that I thought might be important to clarify based on some things uh that were said about uh possible options to have filled holes in the budget um in other ways we and Miss pan please correct me if I'm wrong here we are no longer allowed to offer early retirement packages and we also did ask to go to that was actually one of the first things you did was asked to go to uh the community to raise uh the above the cap and you want to talk a tiny bit about that please you're much more yes I sorry this this working um I spoke with the county office on two separate occasions to ask them if there was an opportunity to go above the 2% um statute is written that I can't ask the taxpayers for anything that um is currently in the budget and anything that they consider uh required for t& so that was the first thing they said was no so I called around to different counties because you again you're relying on the county superintendent County ba to read the interpretation of the statute so I said well all right so I'm it's not required for TN my first suggestion what's T I'm sorry thorough and efficient education sorry it's Ed you speak but basically what they consider to be required to provide an education for children so right away you're like all right can't put teachers out can't put instructional assistance I can't put tuition okay what can I put out so I call so I call them back I'm like okay how about I put out all sports and co-curricular because that would generate about 1.5 million and that would save basically a lot the county Camy County interpreted that because Sports and extracurriculars were already in our budget I couldn't go out I couldn't ask the tax ERS to pay for that separately so there was the only thing I could ask for was anything new which in our situation I mean like so um basically it was it was Dead on Arrival um as far as the 2% so to clarify we wouldn't have been allowed to go out to ask the public for the the money to fill in the gap for the no that would have been a separate proposal to the budget and the county superintendent was not approving either of my requests okay sir public comment is over um finishing yeah the Gap in the budget was can you talk about that a little bit was much more than the the state $42,000 oh about that I did I did read that that the the the law that got passed to the Senate was going to the the governor to sign um um the way I read it um so thank you but the the we Lo only lost $42,000 so the way the law is written I can only ask for the 42,000 that's it um and okay we had all right um just to go over where we were when we started this budget our increased costs are about $4 million and the r may increase in Revenue everybody says you know try to plan forward that's what we did last year we used all of our Surplus last year and took advantage of some positions that left and we just closed some holes through attrition so that we didn't have to let anybody go but once I spend my Surplus it's gone it's like your savings account I spent it I don't have the Surplus the audits on the website so it it verifies I had no Surplus to put into this year's budget to to maintain you know what what we did last year so um thank you Miss um we're moving on um now to section five the Personnel committee Miss Sheran Celia uh wanted to be here she unfortunately had to travel for work um the Personnel committee reviews all recommendations for teaching and staff employment considers co-curricular employment and considers all professional development opportunities for staff members uh 502 is 502 503 excuse me are uh substitute or and long-term substitute replacement teachers 5.04 is the appointment of a social worker um for the period September 1st to to September 30th 2024 uh 5.05 is the approval of all pre preschool through grade five staff tenured positions for the next school year 5.06 is the approval of all preschool to grade five teaching sta tenured for the next school year 5.06 is grade six through grade eight teaching staff tenur for the 2425 school year 5.08 is grade six through grade eight teaching staff non- tenured for the following school year 5.09 is a high school and District staff that is tenured 5.10 is High School District staff non- tenured 5.11 is the preschool through grade five instructional assistance uh 52 is the preschool through grade five instructional assistants that are part-time the other was full-time 5.13 is grade five to grade eight instructional assistant that are part-time 5.14 are District High School instructional assistants 5.15 are district and high school instructional assistants that are part-time 5.16 is preschool through grade five office and service Personnel that are 10mon staff that are tenured 5.17 is preschool through grade five office and service Personnel staff 10-month non-tenured 5.18 is preschool through grade five office and service Personnel staff that is 12 month non-tenured uh 5.19 is grade six through grade eight office Personnel 12 months tenur and 5.20 is 6 through eight 12 month non-tenured office personnel 5.21 and 5.22 are the approval of high school district office service and Personnel 12 month tenur and tenured 5.23 uh High School District staff uh 10 month non nope yes tenured I did not read through this ahead of time because I forgot Chris was not here apologies 5.24 is preschool through grade five administrative staff that is tenured 5.25 is preschool through grade five administrative staff non- tenured 5.26 is grade six to eight administrative staff that is tenured 5.27 is High School District administrative staff tenured 5.28 are uh 2024 summer hours for 10mth secretaries and 5.29 is the same uh 5.28 is Elementary 5.29 is summer hour 10mon secretaries um or an additional one so that is we are looking for approval of items 5.02 to 5.29 motion to approve set items so move and a second questions or comments from board members um I just want to take a moment to uh thank everyone who spoke um tonight thank you for um providing so much insight as to the impact of these Cuts moving forward and um I'm looking forward to having more discussions about what we can do to tackle this in uh the coming weeks months and year I like to Echo Miss molski and thanking everyone for for speaking about the the very real impact of um what this budget means uh for our staff and and for our students um and thinking about much of the stuff that was said um I think there's a sense that you know folks need to be reassured that the district has been working to try to figure out as ways possible to uh uh avoid cuts to staff um and I think part of the the the service that sort of the the board structure does is that a lot of those discussions and and the work that's done in the background uh isn't isn't presented you know at all times to to everyone uh one of the things you know I know one example at least from from uh my work on the board uh we lost um uh director of curriculum right um uh Mr mland um I think she retired in was it August or or September and uh understanding that that that uh retirement was coming and that the fiscal situation was tough uh the the the district decided very uh intentionally to not fill that position for a year to save I think would end up being uh two position while Al all while also building in the capacity to bring that required position back right we're a school district we need a supervisor curriculum bring that required position back uh through riding in uh the funding through several different grants in order to have that position uh in the following years when we need it frankly for status State uh State assessments and and other pieces those are are I think minutia of the of the work that I know has gone into trying to figure some of this stuff out that I I know that is it's it's really like inside baseball very much like in the weeds that is not shared publicly often but that from from my uh position having been uh privy to some of those conversations at least I know that those conversations in terms of trying to ensure that the uh that many things all different stones are are uh to see different um options is is done the other thing too I I want to mention is that like you the the fin you know one of the things that I also want to point out is that our our budget is really tough It's really uh difficult and um I think we do the entire community of disservice when we say that it's because funds have been mismanaged um the public budgets are are always public as are all are the annual audits right and so if there's been any malfus in the uh the management of the of the budget there are so many different ways to uh that that is supposed to be caught right my point being that what I'm hearing from folks is is more of like well given this tough situation given that the we don't know what the state going to do how do we move forward and also do our best to prevent additional cuts and additional uh uh issues in the years to come right because nothing I think out there right now is saying that this is not going to be potentially a problem in Futures and that to me I think is is is a huge issue um that frankly I I quite know exactly how to to uh squore that Circle always and I think there's definitely a requirement by the state that we have that we have to go to right and and continue to Advocate there because this is an issue in terms of Education funding and and what we can ask our communities to fund um that that is plaguing I think New Jersey as a whole right now and I don't know that we can solve this on our our own unfortunately I was just going to say I think that there was a lot said tonight and I think obviously um a lot of passion shared about uh teachers rightly so um and I think that as a teacher I recognize that teachers have been just pummeled for the last it feels like number of years and this is just this has just got to have been so hard um and it just it just showed um and so I just wanted to say I think we all recognize um that it's just we know you support your colleagues and just it's just after so many years of it being so hard and then this and it's just had to have been so hard so I just wanted to say that as a show of support I have a couple of questions um I I I first I want to thank um everybody that's spoken up tonight so far and I also want to um shout out to you guys who are acknowledging that that there's a loud voice in the room that we have not really been hearing um seemingly so I appreciate the fact that we're speaking up and talking about how much we really do actually care about all these people that sit in front of us tonight um can you speak a little bit to uh I I can't remember who said it but somebody mentioned that we may have gotten some more State funding um that we weren't aware of could you speak to that maybe that's one piece of it um also can you speak to um Miss tanard to comment about 6813 31 in the administrative code and how that might be impacted uh in terms of the class sizes um I guess I'll take the first one that's in reference to the law that the governor has yet to sign and the way it's written is you can apply to the state to get the state aid that you lost um you get it through stabilization Aid um from the state so if we were eligible we would get the $42,000 that that we lost and that that we would we would be limited to that and then it also allows you if you don't do stabilization Aid I guess in next year's budget or I don't know if they're going to open this year's budget but allows you to go above the 2% for the state aid that you lost so again it would be the $40,000 any information on that Administrative Code that was talked about so um Collinwood is not a high poverty District um we do have students for Title One services and support but as a district we are not a high poverty district and therefore um that Prov we don't it doesn't apply to colle okay I want to add I need everybody in the audience to to stop talking when it's not public common I'm sorry but that's the rule um I'd also like to um first um say how proud We are um of the students and also the staff uh for advocating for a very challenging environment uh this is not where we want it to be um and I think that there is no amount of data facts pertinent information that is going to address uh the very real pain uh and impact of the loss that we are experiencing and so um we're not going to try to um we uh knew in October there was going to be a challenging budget season uh we did not know until late February um the uh scope and scale of what we were going to be experiencing and so um it does not provide Solace or Comfort uh that other districts are also experiencing this and so let's not focus on them either um but the loss of any staff member it's a painful one um the impact um is tremendous uh as the son grandson and great grandson of teachers um it's important that along the way I didn't just have teachers impacting my life in my household um I would not be here without uh Rita Kon my seventh grade teacher I wouldn't be here uh without uh Miss Penny my sixth grade teacher I wouldn't even have gone to college without Claudia kochman who was my art teacher I would not have uh established myself as a leader or even had the confidence to speak in public without Mr McCully who was my assistant principal or Mr Mason who I got kicked out of class almost every day my last three years of high school and Mr Mason is the one who kept me in line and so I can go on and on and on about the impact that Educators personally had in my life um not to mention being the child of lifelong teachers uh but the impact of losing any of our friends and colleagues is not something that we wanted to experience and it's something that we will not know the full impact or measure of that for several months uh but we're committed to working collaboratively in order to uh demonstrate our continued commitment to put the needs of our students and our staff first thank you so I appreciate that and I want to say that I just sat back in the room with you for a good hour and a half and I felt that everything you said was very genuine um I don't know how the people in the room feel but I can tell you that from my perspective I I appreciate that and I thank you for that at the time too um I know tonight that what we are voting on is is the direct approval of the people that are on paper we're not voting just so everyone's clear what we're not voting to cancel out anybody or to um take you know not renew anybody's contract that's not within our purview as a board as I understand it so tonight what we're doing is approving the people that are actually on the list um which I would imagine you'd probably want us to do um that being said I challenge every one of us to do better um and to try to figure this out and to work more collaboratively like we have talked about over and over again at nauseum tonight um and I have spoken up very many times about the about the State of the State of Affairs here and the frustrations that I have and the frustrations that I feel uh I take home with me on a on a regular basis um from crying at going home crying from the last meeting to you know just waking up every day trying to figure out how we can make it better um I feel after our conversations tonight that I you all feel the same way and I'm glad to hear that you say that publicly um so I just challenge us to do better you know and try to figure this out and if there's a way that we can go back and look at the budget again and if there's anything that we can do to help that process even though that's not something we're really directly involved in we we need to be told that that's there's something that we can do up there if that's possible because we we really do want to help any other questions or comments from board members roll call please oh I'm sorry Sarah I mean I think it's already been covered but um I'm really um as a teacher disheartened to hear so many students say that they're not considering going into education anymore and as a teacher like many of my colleagues on this board whose districts are also facing cuts um it really makes me worried for the future public education in general and I appreciate the the cander and the um comments from the students so thank you Mr CH yes Mrs Maya yes Mrs molski yes saino yes Mr Selzer yes excuse me Mr Sherman yes Mr tab yes Mr doas Yes except requir toate mren yes moving on to section six which is miscellaneous 6.01 is a listing of a few job descriptions that are being abolished um and that is the instruction grants and special projects supervisor of instruction special education and preschool supervisor so I need a motion to approve item 6.01 which is abolishing those job descriptions so moved and a second second questions or comments from board members roll call Mr J yes Mrs Maya yes Mrs molski yes Mrs saino yes Mrs szer Mrs Sherman yes Mr tab yes Mr doas yes Mrs Gaden yes moving on to section seven our second opportunity for public comment um I don't know that I need to read the whole thing again other than to say um questions or comments should first be directed to uh the appropriate staff or Administration um please keep uh in mind uh that you we are we need to speak with the utmost sensitivity for everyone in attendance and in to all who wish to speak there is a three minute time limit you'll he hear Miss Coleman's timer go off um please state your name and address for the record don't forget your timer can you come to Mike for the video it's it's for the the video yeah yeah people at home I just to let you know that I emailed the data that has Collingswood Middle School high school and sharp identified for the 2003 2004 school year as high poverty schools so if this is information that is this is information from the state and so I literally just sent it to you so you have a of that okay Leah Foreman 501 South Vineyard Boulevard um I want to Echo that I'm heartbroken um Miss Bryant was helped my daughter Payton after school with math and she's one of the reasons that Payton loves math and so um the cuts are just devastating and I am sorry that we're in this position and that as a nation we have undervalued our teachers and schools so much that we are here and I want to I emailed in March when Dr mcdal sent the text about the budget cuts to every legislator that would listen to me and I had one response um I will happily email and call again um because this is terrible and this is certainly not where I expected us to land um if there's anything else that we a group can advocate for please let us know um I think it's important that we understand that this is you know it's we're in a very real terrible position but I do think that if there's any way that we can use our situation to Advocate nationally for more we need it um our teachers deserve more and we deserve better callings would deserves better thank you Jack McMullen president of the colle with principal supervisors Association I just wanted to um publicly acknowledge and thank the members of of my Association who have been voluntarily covering the vacated responsibilities of the assistant superintendent throughout this school year um volunt at no additional cost to the district um kind of mindful of the the budget constraints that we are facing um unfortunately some of those individuals will not be with us next year but I think it's important that the public realizes that those individuals were assisting uh with those vacat roles throughout this year so thank you to those members of our association for that um okay so it looks like there's no more public comment um before we adjourn I think Kelly wanted to say something I wanted to say one more thing go ahead I just had a quick question I I a Community member just got up and and spoke about calling and emailing Trenton and um we really appreciate all of that and we I've seen a lot of that going on down on social media a lot of people sharing um you know over and over again how to do it and just not not complaining so much just getting getting it done right we have to get it done um but I I wanted to ask is there a process in which you guys go to Trenton and you advocate for that and what do you have to prove in terms of um you know the ability to have already handled the budget and maxed out everything that you could possibly done to cut is there a process that you guys go to Trenton because I know that you do a lot of hard work and I really appreciate all that you do um but tell us tell us about that process if there is a process for that um I submitted testimony to my State Association who I know speaks on be on behalf of all the school business officials so I know they argued with um threaten over the state funding but I volunteered on several phone calls with several Senators because the state funding formula has expired so obviously they're going to be working on a new one and I know I said this during the budget presentation and I was told I was going to get a phone call and I haven't gotten one yet um but did say it like you I volunteered I said I will volunteer to sit on any committee because I really think that um whether well-intentioned or not the lawmakers don't understand how school districts run and I think they need people in the room who know how they run to describe to them how they should be funded um so I know I volunteered I was told I was going to get a phone call I still waiting for that phone call um but I did email several senators and I am getting all the emails from the community they are copying me so I know that I know it's happening I know um people are out there parents and the like emailing all the Senators and I encourage everybody to continue um to do that because that's probably not that they they can easily ignore me but they can easily ignore School administrators but I think community members I think you guys have a a much much better voice than I do because sometimes it seems like all I do is complain when I go to Trenton which is probably true um but I think you guys you probably have a better voice I was going to say you've been here a while I'm pretty sure you've been threatened before yeah I have testified um to the Senate before um back in 200 been here a while I think it was 28 2008 2009 we went up and we testified um I'd like to say it was a respectful procedure it was not um but I did it um I would do it again and I know Dr McDow would um so yeah but I continue tell everybody just inundate the inboxes of the so that it's not like I said the governor has to pass his budget in June and once his budget is is passed I feel like um all the all the news and all the traction this issue is getting is just it's going to get quiet right everybody's going to go on summer and it's going to be quiet and then we're going to be back here in October again and I'm going to be like ah you know we gota you just got to keep at it you know don't Don't Let It Go quiet is what I would recommend so at the Su at the superintendent level we have been advocating for the greater part of two years both at the county and at the State uh Department of Education um we've also gotten our uh state level Association to Advocate um they have uh lobbying groups um and political uh uh actions that are also taking place and so I know that um all of the education state level education associations are all fighting this battle and so I know that Anda are also fighting for fair funding because it directly impacts all of their members as well and so if we put sufficient pressure on the lawmakers um and the representatives we believe that we can begin to turn a page um but as bethanne shared we we have to we have to crank up the intensity um because it wasn't just um an inconsequential number of schools that were impacted we're talking about um hundreds of thousands of children um who are going to experience real harm based on this flawed um way in which we fund education in the state of New Jersey and just to wrap up for tonight um wanted to say one more time that we uh excuse me we really do appreciate um all of the teachers we have in this District many of us if not all of us most of excuse me sitting up here have um students that have been taught by many that spoke or sitting in the audience or U maybe will be taught by them in the future and um to say that we we absolutely understand the impact that teachers have many of us have been teachers or are teachers now and this is the last place that any of us wish that we were tonight um and the this is a really tough meeting really emotional meeting and we really do appreciate everyone uh who came and advocated and let the teachers know that they were um cared for and will be missed um and so I'm just ending tonight on a thank you for coming out um and taking time out of this lovely evening to um have your voices be heard because that's what matters yes I say one more um sure so as we um back ex session when it comes to Future builders and'll get detailed addition also those include any discussion of possible additional csing measures collaboration um with the building personel as well so um yes we will be uh as a as a senior leadership team um and some of our curriculum leaders will be meeting tomorrow um to make sure that we are um identifying um all of the Investments uh and and the ultimately the uh identified impact um of the reductions um what programming will in terms of implementation that's going to be a much longer conversation um because those conversations cannot take place U outside of the building level and so we're going to be looking at what's in the budget what's no longer in the budget what may be able to come back into the budget if circumstances change uh and then we will be able to share uh what is included within the the budget I think it's also important to note that the budget um yes it's a financial exercise but it affects real people's lives and so it can't be looked at as AI as a solely as a financial component um it's the culmination of experiences of resources relationships um outcomes uh for students and staff uh and it is going to take a significant amount of time in order for us to make the necessary adjustments uh to honor what our students need but also honor the very real uh reality um of having to do it without some of our colleagues uh and so but those meetings uh will resume tomorrow and we will provide uh details both publicly and in writing for the May 20th Bo meeting thank you everyone here just wants to they want to trust us and I mean I think Mike said it best when we're we we act like we're really D we didn't we didn't start the We Didn't Start the Fire we we know that we didn't start the fire but we really need to take proactive action in order to make sure we it and um at the end of the day everyone here all they want from us is is is their TR all they want us to do all they want us to do is work hard for them and they want to make sure that they can trust us and that's that's a common theme that I heard tonight that I think is really important that we carry with us thank you everyone uh section 8.01 motion to adjourn the meeting this evening so moved second second all in favor good night everyone