flag the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all you notice that this meeting has been provided to the retrospect as a legal ad on April 26th 2024 call Mr here Mr Richie is absent M rman here here is here can I get a motion to open our public hearing on the 2024 2025 budget well it should open the hearing all in favor all right so tonight is a special meeting slightly different structure and format because the only topic on tonight's agenda is the budget um so that's why we just open with a motion to go into the public hearing again slightly different if you've attended our meetings in the past we're going to start with a presentation on the budget and then we're going to have um questions and comments from members of the public okay welcome everybody uh my question to stand before you tonight uh this is certainly not the easiest budget year here as we are all aware my role tonight is to present uh the budget to the board of education for approval and at the end of this presentation I'm happy to First Take questions from the board and next certainly uh from the community who came out to join us this evening um first slide no surprise it's the same each year it's the expenditure budget by major function um Mrs gold puts these slides together every year each year we go through uh Financial audits um so these figures usually don't change much from year to year and you can kind of see the majority of our budget is spent on personnel and benefits in the bottom right hand corner there uh the next slide is by by category you know unfortunately this is the first year um in the last four that we were actually uh faced with cuts to personnel and programs under un fortunately um and you can see if you look at the pie chart here um certainly that's always the last Reserve that's always the last resort we want to always try to preserve um as many student programs um as possible a year to year but unfortunately when we're in a situation where reductions are necessary there's only so many categories um that we're able to choose from just a little bit of review of this year's budget calendar we started back in January of 24 with meetings with individual administrators to talk about needs um you know for the classroom for the students to have some preliminary uh conversations the governor's budget address uh was February 27th during this uh budget address he championed Governor Murphy champion champion uh fully funding the formula and adding over a billion dollar to New Jersey public school education those actual Figures were released on February the 29th and on March 7th we had a special board meeting for the purposes of having uh a budget review things we came to take a turn for the worst in Township when we received our actual figures um and then we had a a special meeting uh that was online on March 14th and we were require IR to submit a tentative budget which was approved by the Board of Education the Canon County Superintendent uh for approval and here we are tonight for the public hearing on this budget and we do have five votes tonight from the board and tonight's budget will be final with an ashri because you could see at the end of this conversation this budget still could change based on pending legislation so here's some funding sources detail for you um the general budget together with local and state aid aid figures is $38 million $113,000 now in h Township and our state aid for next year is anticipated at 9,156 th000 to the right you'll see what we were anticipating kind of as a worst case scenario and that would be flat the flat figure of 9,992 th000 which is what we are operating the current year school budget on many of you are aware from my emails uh that you know we are facing a unanticipated reduction of $86,000 I'm going to talk to you a little bit about how that's affecting us along with some other escalating costs and factors our fund balance that we're C caring from the 2223 school year fund balance is reserve funds that skip a year and are apply to the next consecutive school year um and we rely on fund balance to meet our um personnel and Staffing and program Pro programmatic needs from year to year and then some other federal and state funds that we have total about a mil $456,000 the tax impact and kind of the name of the game usually year to year with this meeting is how much will it cost our taxpayers and um this year the proposed tax impact is $41 36 of an increase uh in taxes that's on the recommendation from me Mrs Sher and Mrs G uh and the administration that we increase um the local tax levy by 2% key factors in this are of course the decrease in state aid and the increase in our debt Services payment uh of $26,000 total tax rate is listed on this SL side you can see The Debt Service payment is very low and the total tax increase on an average assessed own so a little bit north of $41 and then everyone will recall that it's an additional $20 for the bond referendum so really the community is looking at about $60 more next year I'll highlight and uh some accomplishments uh that we do have in the district for the current year and we're proud to stand uh on these achievements in a nutshell you know looking at the center of the circle we've made a significant investment in early childhood education and we implemented a high quality full day instructional kindergarten program and we were also expanding our prek inhouse program this program is again will be larger next year than it is this year parents seem to be very pleased we are very pleased with the way this program is going it's continuing to grow students are continue to learn the halfday enrichment program that is tuition based is also has also been very successful and we're pleased with the first entry that our students have into pent I think we've had strong success in our Middle School the last few years with a balanced full child approach you know it's not just all about academics at our Middle School um students have character education programming they have enrichment programming in the form of leap teachers are working together in a colle a collegial teaming environment in six in seventh and eighth grade excuse me in sixth grade in seventh grade teachers off team for the first year um but it seems that the building has stabilized and um learning trajectories are going in a positive way and knock on wood there's not been a ton of discipline at the middle school kids seem to be um coming to school ready to learn of course there's Middle School there's always Middle School is always a challenging year there they're always challenging years for dealing with young adolescence but I but I think we've had a strong centered approach um at at Roy middle school high school we have had strong conversations um over the last few months about our grading scale and one of the things that we have done is hours and hours of research reaching out to universities to try to get their perspective Ive on this decision about not only grading scale but our school profile and you know how our GPA is calculated and there's one of the key learning things here is we just keep hearing how successful had Township students are when they graduate from our high school and how well they're doing when they get the university campuses um and we are also interviewing more and more students about colleges that they're getting admitted to seems that the trend is many of our uh seniors are getting into their first choice for their college uh selection you've heard from our student representatives from the for the from the past few months speak to that topic um you know we're wrestling now still with the the GPA and the grading scale in an effort to help students achieve more Merit aid but from an admission standpoint we're really proud of the schools the universities that our students are getting getting into the careers that our graduates are going into and the reputation that we have on college campuses so all of these things I think are are points of Pride and our direct result of the resources that the board of education has voted in past years to provide our schools with this is probably the biggest slide in the deck and the one that has led us to where we are okay for lack of a of of a better phrase um going all the way back to 20 2122 we're coming out of the pandemic and the federal government provided districts across the country with these Esser funds they're also known as ARP recovery and learning acceleration funds and I I will say straight out of the shoot um that we were told that these were one shot in the arm funds and they were to be utilized to help students recover from the pandemic I will tell you upfront honestly we were cautioned about hiring staff with these funds and we wrestled with the kind of the paradoxical question of well how do you help students recover from covid and the pandemic without hiring people because people and programs help students so we did balance spending with our facilities development you could see there um we you know improved the the lower gym the fitness center we have a brand new stage in the high school we put about $100,000 in our Auditorium we spent a lot of money on cleaning supplies and air filters and everybody's having flashbacks right now but there was a strong investment in making sure that the physical environment was safe for students to return and then we purchas as much curriculum resources as we could so when students returned from the pandemic that we would have uh you know a modern standards aligned curriculum and we made a significant amount of Technology upgrades in the form of Wireless switches and servers and everything that we needed to preserve the one toone initiative and this was all paid for by the federal funding at the same time we balanced those funding sources with an additional school nurse coming out of the pandemic what would be a better resource to um employ than an additional school nurse we didn't know what the road ahead was like we hired a math coach because our students were showing to be lagging behind in math two school counselors one at the middle school one at the Elementary School an Elementary reading teacher again to help students recover from Co a gifted and talented teacher cuz we hadn't had one up to this point and basic skills teaching assistants I think there was three or four of them that were employed at the time and then a part-time health and physical education teacher um that all these positions were real assets to our school district in 2223 now here's where things appear to be getting really positive and at the same time have now proven to cause quite a challenge at the end of the 23 school year our enrollment had started to rise we were up almost 100 students from the lowest enrollment point during Co and we received a significant amount of more state aid I think almost million dollar wor state aid at the time and everybody firmly believed it was because of rising enrollment and Rising steady enrollment has traditionally led to strong amounts of State funding so I made the recommendation last year at this time to fold most of those positions that were the SR ARP positions into the general budget and we had no reason at that time to forecast such a such a r such a reduction in state aid or rise in other costs so we were able to fold all of those positions into the general budget except the math coach and the basic skills teaching assistant in addition to four full-time kindergarten teachers and four additional kindergarten a so we took the nurse the two counselors the reading teacher The Talented teacher the part-time health and physical education teacher and the additional state aid and the created a full day kindergarten teacher uh a full day student program in kindergarten and we were successful in implementing all of that for the current year and it's been a a strong year it's been a strong year for students and it's been a very strong year programmatically I know that for the board and personally the last few meetings have been a little bit difficult because there's been a lot of feedback about our high school grading Scout and it's been a point attention that we're working through but from a student perspective and from an academic whole child child School leadership perspective I think 2023 24 has been a very positive year and the fact that we p uh passed the bond referendum I think the Outlook is positive for the future from from the facilities standpoint and then we received the news of the increasing costs in early March which were special education predict on the left hand side this was early in March of 2024 where we were projecting $616,000 increase in out of District special education $639,000 increase in in District Support Services $200,000 more in increase in salaries because you after you bring all these positions into the general budget now you have to budget for increase in salaries your denominator lower so there's more positions um that need to receive a raise we were ready for that one um but we got hit with a projected $389,000 more than expected cost to our health insurance benefits and $40,000 more in Property and Casualty Insurance all of these things total to about $1.8 million and by by raising the local tax levy of 519,000 we knew that we were short ear in early March and we're I'm in the second column there so you have your $1,884 th000 minus your 519 we were short about $1.3 million in the very beginning of March and then we started to look at those special education costs and we started to realize that our projections weren't totally accurate some students at that point we had projected to be out of district and at the same time we had them projected to be in District because we weren't sure how the IEP process was going to go and we were still in the midst of having those parent meetings and once we kind of right siiz our special education production our special education projections reduced all Supply budget lines by 10% eliminated all new curriculum purchases and professional development cost we were able to be down to about an $800,000 deficit I personally felt good about that because I was hoping for about another $800,000 increase the word was out about Governor Murphy championing a billion more dollars in New Jersey Public School education we received almost a million more last year our enrollment was strong there was no reason during this time period that I thought that there was cause to panic and we were trying to remain positive well what happened was we received a very unexpected decrease in $86,000 and at first I was personally shocked um we formally appealed the the funding and our appeal was denied and the reason why it was denied I received this in writing was that because according to the Department of Treasury the residents of hen townships per capit income levels improved at a high rate between 2020 and in 2021 so there's a threeyear lag between a apparently all things that I've learned this is my 10th year as a school superintendent it's the first time I ever became aware and I can also speak for all of my colleagues that serve in similar roles that a resident average income or residents total income have anything to do with uh school funding in the form of state aid uh so this things became really bad now and we became in a we reached a position where we were back where we started with one exception and that exception was we had already cut every Supply budget line by 10,000 by by 10% and we had already done the work of going with a fine tooth conb line by line for the purpose of reductions and we're still facing this significant uh shortage so we have no choice but to tentatively anticipate these reductions in personnel and programs and we attempt to balance them between each level um of our school district so that no one particular level would be impacted more than more than the others so you can kind of see the list of positions and tonight we're only talking about positions we will not have any discussions about individuals um but these are the list of positions on the elementary column we are going to be reduced by a music teacher the counselor the nurse the reading teacher and a gifted and talented instructor we're going to have to find a way to provide those services in other ways in middle school we are going to reduce by one social studies teacher and a counselor and a part-time fizet teacher High School Chinese uh Mandarin language teacher the media specialist position um I will say with an asra because I have her permission to share this that um this individual has served as our media specialist will remain in District as a uh as a classroom teacher next year and we hope to bring the media specialist position back it's a it's it's an important role we're redoing this this space um as part of the referendum I hope that this is a short-term uh reduction I hope all these positions are short-term reductions uh so just a reminder that we're talking about positions not individuals we have several non Replacements at the high school level a science teacher has re is relocating and that position will not be replaced we have a retirement in the English Department and a secretary at the high school those positions will be absorbed by the regular budget administrative costs we have a network technician this individual will have legal bumping rights into a classroom position transportation coordinator and a bus mechanic are roles that were you know exploring ways to save the district money and consider alternate ways to have those Services provided uh we also have a non-replacement for a facility's position there is hope there is some hope here okay and I would like to personally thank assemblywoman lampit who's been incredibly responsive every time I've reached out to her she's been willing to talk um not only on Zoom calls over email and um she's been very supportive in helping push this bill uh it's not perfect but it aims to restore two3 of the state aid reductions which in our case would be about $536,000 through a grant approval process this bill is already passed through the assembly and it now requires a positive vote in the Senate and Governor Murphy's endorsement the Senate vote could happen as early as next week if successful the aid will bring back some of the Staffing and programs as soon as possible and my um recommendation would be that we bring back as many of the Staffing positions as possible we will not be discussing tonight which positions could or should be brought back um that's a conversation and a recommendation for another meeting after those funds are secured we have plenty of work in front of us right now I think it would be ill advised to um get into too much of that um hypothetical discussion it's just not fair uh at this point um but we are certainly hopeful that that bill will pass and um there are a few details of that bill that the board should be aware of one of the details is that if we receive that money back that it it must be spent to maximize the total number of Staff members and part of the bill says that should make all attempts to not reduce staff at all that's certainly not in our ability to do so because as you can see by this presentation not all of our shortages were because of the state aid reduction um but we will make an attempt to certainly maximize excuse me to minimize the amount of cuts and maximize the return of student programs the next part of that bill as it is right now is that the board could decide to then increase the local tax levy by more than 2% to generate more Revenue because the state has basically said to us that because of the increase in your communities income levels that your local fair share taxpayers ability should be to pay more it would not be my recommendation it will not be my recommendation to exceed the 2% ta this year we um we're going to 2% we've already asked our community to pass a bond referendum if we receive this $536,000 back my recommendation would be to try to preserve as many of these programs and personnels we can and to open our doors in September um with the following goals and the goals these are tentative and board I you know I apologize usually we have much more discussion about District goals before tonight so I put these down here as tentative goals and priorities these certainly may change in 10 years as a superintendent this is the latest that I put goals before the board but it's been a pretty busy spring so far um and it's been difficult to get into the goals while facing the current reality of of such a drastic surprise and reduction in resources first and foremost we' have to utilize our existing resources to grow students socially emotionally and mically couple things that stand out there I think we need to invest in our AIDS our support sta with more training um and considering some scheduling adjustments to empower our support AIDS because if we're going to have less professionally certified staff members then we're going to have to have more of an investment and training opportunities for our for our adults that support that we have to use data to develop to develop differentiated learning opportunities for students so we're not going to have the same level of intervention services so our classroom student our classroom teachers are going to have to uh face the challenge of using more data to differentiate um instruction according to student strength and needs and our teachers have asked for more training and without the you know two counselors in the budget our teachers are going to have to receive training in you know on trauma informed practices and we're going to have to ask our current staff Administration and teachers alike to meet our students uh emotional needs uh at at a at a different level next year we want to continue to prioritize and develop student learning environments we uh would like to improve staff horizontal articulation of between our five elementary schools and um I think it's important over to continue to organize and improve our school district safety procedures uh system principal rising and assistant principal greway have taken over in a CO co-o as our school safety specialist and they have some recommendations for implementation for next year and lastly soly not least is we have to pay attention and stay diligent in helping to plan and execute the bond Construction and project alignment when the bond vote passed uh everybody was very positive and very celebratory and and the reality set in soon and we realized that now the actual real work starts of really managing these projects to make sure that they're done correctly uh according to our vision and and design that's the end of the presentation board what I'd like to do now is I'd like to take any questions from the board um and then turn it over to the public John okay so it would seem to me after all of this the breakdown seems to be between as you said the state treasurer's office and the legislature because the legislators know what the students need the governor knows the students need and somehow there was a breakdown when they came out with the state aid figure for not only Haden Township but many other districts so it would seem to me that for the future we ought to emphasize to the legislature hey look you better get with this Treasury Department and agree on something better that over the long term is going to benefit the students in all these districts and not hit the school boards with a sudden drop like this so it would seem to me that there's a breakdown of communication between this Treasury office and the rest of the legislators so I think there in lies the rub so unfortunately you know we have to deal with what's now and it it really hurts and it's really rotten and sickening to have to pass this kind of a budget we have to pass it or everything falls apart I have to pass it I mean you can't not pass it but it's just a terrible situation and I know you've worked very hard you articulated everything very well and Jen and Shantel and all of the administrators have worked very very hard on how we can try to patch this thing up we pray and we hope we we get that funding that's coming through with this next bill but it just it just so frustrating and I just and then there's a reporter here I hope and pray that the legislators we ask them to please get with this department of the treasury people find out what what's the problem why we can't get solid funding from year to year without getting this sudden enormous drop and shock to the system all of the children of New Jersey need the funding to have the resources that we need so you can quote me on that thank you listen I think it's well said I think long term that that would be great I would be happy if they started by just telling us what the formula was right just telling us what the formula was what's really disheartening is the figure that they utilized to cut our Aid was a figure from 2021 that's that's that figure was in existence somewhere a long time ago but to use it to cut our budget in in March I mean with very little time to prepare for impact it's really tough you know Monday morning listen there's I personally share responsibility in this right you know I recommended these positions in 2022 23 I have to tell you honestly I was cautioned about using yeser and ARP money for positions I was cautioned again about folding those positions into to the the general budget um at the same time when we were making an investment into our fol day kindergarten I thought it was the right thing to do based on the information that we had and no reason to suspect a cut was coming and no reason to suspect that such significant cost things would increase so much after Co the price of everything has going up so much and that's really hitting us health insurance premiums special education costs out of District placements costs have just gone really high everywhere um but I I'm not in a position where I want to dial back on full day kindergarten right this is something where um Community has asked for this for a long time since since the first week I walked in the door parents were making appointments with me requesting Phil day kindergarten it's been a successful program I don't want to walk back backwards there um so unfortunately the recommendation that I put before you tonight is difficult but the aim would be to you know try to be efficient as we can next year and thoughtful and deliberate about trying to add some of those positions back in first if we get the $536,000 back and then in future Years hopefully um these reductions will be returned to us we'll see I don't want to paint a picture of Doom and Gloom but if they're going to continue to use the same formula next year as this year and the year after there is this year I'm not getting a sense that our community's residents income have gone down since 2021 so if we're snake bitten from a 2021 Department of Treasury report I think we better be really careful about repeating um what's in our rear view mirror and that is I think we grew pretty fast from a program and Personnel standpoint so can I just follow up one question you want to go you Ahad so I would have hesitation and concern about if we get more money in to back fill those positions again knowing that we're going to be in the same spot this time next year right so i' would be hesitant to vote Yes on that I just think if we're going to go through the pain and suffering of going through Cuts now to go back and do it again next year doesn't really solve the problem I mean that's just my opinion and secondarily I'll put my paren hat on um and I don't have elementary school kids but how do we are we sure we have enough coverage on the nursing side for the elementary schools losing a nurse uh and I have three more so if you want to handle a nurse question yeah we're going to go back to the same C exact coverage that we had uh prior to co okay and then I know we're not talking about individual people per se but how are we and we all got the the board members all got the same email how are we addressing the the diversity and the other issues associated with st reductions well I see this you know we look at every single Factor when we consider reductions the reductions that are before you tonight are based on U finances understood I just might as well get with 800 kind of grow in the room deal with it right now uh my other concern is and we've had this concern for a while now but our special ed costs keep on going higher and higher yet we don't seem to have any real way to bring them down it always feels like a mystery to us on the board side that every year we go into it and there're always an escalated I'm not blaming anything at all and I know it's a tough nut to crack but I think when when John's know asking for more State money I think that's where the state money should come from quite frankly is that those are the costs that cost us a lot I mean some of these things we just can't control because they're beyond our we we know we're subing these folks out I should these students out and they're going to different programs that are that cost a lot that's the part where I think if we're asking for help that's the part we should ask the help that's I didn't get into that CU I was con of how long I was going to talk tonight but the the special education funding part of the formula is also flawed because we're not funded on a per puple uh basis we're funded on a percentage on a on a census not actual numbers there are multiple bills in the legislature right now to change um the funding formula around special education funding which would have a pretty significant impact on our budget in a positive way because it would pay us for the expenses we already have and our um the costs that we're already putting out um for the students that we have here I was I was reading a report today from the education Law Center uh currently the state is underfunding districts who have higher classification rates by 389 million per year and overfunding a whole bunch of other districts to the tune of $287 million so there's a way to just kind of like bring that together based on actual special education classification rates and needs in District and can you you explain quickly to the folks that aren't here because to me if being a board member and kind of understand Municipal Finance can you explain how we went to a referendum and ask for more money and we're having reductions can you just explain at a high level so the folks that want to go back and just because it doesn't translate I mean it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense that we're on one side we're taking step down and we're building to so if you could just explain on the left side of the kind of equation there is $30 million raised um for a referendum and on the right side of the equation is uh reductions in force of how many positions were up there 15 total um the answer to the riddle is that money raised from a referendum can only be allocated for capital projects it cannot be aligned with any type of personnel or um salary item so we can't take money from the referendum and restore these positions not even one them do you want to go on sure I had a few questions actually okay and also just a comment that I think when we went out for the referendum we also had no expectation that this was coming down like a few weeks later no so and I also wanted to say that I think you know you can always hindsight is 2020 but I think you made the right decision holding those positions in while we had the money because I mean that's a whole another year that our students were able to benefit from the services that they wouldn't have otherwise and I feel like we need to do the best with what we have time when we have it um but my questions were um first can you um after these proposed reductions can you say how many counselors we would have at each level like Elementary Middle High School one tell to help uh help me out off the top of my head as I go through my kind of Rolodex here I think there would be three at the uh Elementary um one two I'm sorry two at the elementary one great if if we continue in the same format it would be two at the elementary we may move some folks around oh okay so don't assume that you know if we're cutting a middle if we're cutting an elementary counselor that or we're cutting a middle school counsel that we're still only going to have one right you know there may be some some movement with the Su right but if we didn't do any transferring or borrowing or sharing I think that we would right um there'll be two at the elementary uh one at the middle school and three at the high school we also have a sack um we have social worker is here tonight behind me again um so there's counselors there's school counselors and then there's other individuals particularly the high school that also provide Counseling Services even though they're not school counsels okay um so another question was I know in the original assembly version of the bill which I my understanding is now it was removed and may be removed from the sen version there was a requirement to exhaust basically all the adjustments that you could make which would allow you to increase the tax levy above 2% to accommodate like increases in health care costs and things like that how does that work exactly and cuz I'm not really familiar with what that is is that something we could have done in the past and we didn't or something no it's not we not something that we could have done in the past okay uh I think we may have had a very small amount maybe $100,000 somewhere in the recent years and maybe Jen can correct me if I'm wrong um and that bill I think what was what was removed was a requirement to exceed the 2% cap I think what is still in that buil pass is the ability to in to exceed the 2% cap to minimize um to minimize these Cuts but not a requirement I think what you're referring to is when the health costs increase by a large amount is what that generates is the ab the district's ability to have what's called Bank cap we don't have any Bank cap that can be applied for this school year coming up 2425 um but based on what just occurred we may have some for 25 26 but that's not free money what bank cap does this gives us the ability outside of that law to exceed the 2% cap does that make sense yeah and I'm not saying we should necessarily do that I'm just trying to understand what the options are um and then I had one additional question that's escaping me right now so I'll let you before we go to the next question did I get that right is there anything going to add or subtract is that accurate yeah you you said it exactly right so Dr fikar one of the things that you noted and this is probably one of the most infuriating things for me as a board member in the time that I've served is we don't know the actual funding formula right it they have never been transparent about it there's no way for us to proactively plan for it it it just it every year this is probably the most challenging part of of our work as as board members is is figuring that out can you explain for individuals who aren't sort of as entrenched as we are in the budget work why using a 2021 income level is so problematic just our inab as a school district to be able to recapture any of that funding kind of what cuz when this first came out we looked at 10 years worth of home values in our town as well as other towns that got huge increases in funding and there was no pattern to it listen it's it's not an error in the formula it's an egregious eror it's a it's a mindboggling era right I mean we have an energized parent Community who has brought some things to the the school School District based on grading and Merit Aid and and things that we are going to look to improve to help kids get more Merit Aid based on a GPA where there's a formula right I keep relating to that because that conversation is freshing my head right now but imagine a formula where they're using an an income level a rais an income level from three years ago to determine state aid funding if everyone in the room hit power ball 12 months ago and everyone lives in high Township in the same house that you're in now and you went and you bought second homes and Ferraris and boats and whatever you want to do on on vacation we would still not have any ability to collect more taxes on the revenue side there is no mechanism for a school district to collect taxes income tax there is no income tax that support School District a school district taxes on property values on property tax it's the only way to tax the fact that they're using income level to determine school funding is an egregious mindboggling era that is so difficult to believe that I almost didn't believe it until I saw it in writing because it's not logical um and not now uh the the legislature understands the era and now they're trying to Fast Track a bill that would allow for a school district to increase the property taxes by more than 2% if if this was part of the formula that should have happened many many years ago we should have never been CED 2% so I hope that does the job hope that answers your question see how frustrated yeah I do think I mean the formula itself is clearish right we know what the formula is they tell us you can see it in writing the way the formula ultimately gets calculated and the inputs the source of the numbers completely unknown even when we've asked for clarity we haven't received it we've had our assembly persons ask for clarity like what are the sources of the numbers that get plugged into the formula specifically around uh the income um and like District value um and nobody knows our assembly people don't know where it comes from and we asked the Department of Education to give us that information they just said we double checked your formula and it's right it's like okay but so we don't have the ability to go and just even double check the math because we don't know the source of inform I've taken many school Finance classes I've been a part of you know a decade's worth of training uh participated in the new superintendence Academy I I was never trained or understood that income levels would be part of a state aid reduction there are well there are multiple bills in the just lure to redo the funding formula because it is kind of widely acknowledged at this point that it is broken it is not meeting the needs of our students across the state and so you can call your legislators about that there are several different types for the task force completely redo the funding formula so different um entry ways to approach that um there is also in the process of the funding formula there are some like odd pieces to that as well so when Governor Murphy talked about fully funding the funding formula he was actually referring to Equalization Aid which is the largest part of the funding formula he wasn't talking about the full funding formula Equalization Aid technically should be we take into account what the district tax levy can provide and then we provide the rest from the state that's the way the formula is actually meant to work the state does it in the opposite direction they say this is how much we can give you this is how much you just now need to figure out and make up so they flip the order of the process from what is actually meant to be in the formula itself I skipped the very last bullet of the last slide I'm sorry the extraordinary Aid figures will not be uh expected until July this July and I told you when this first started that we won't know exactly what the budget is until July so we still have some months to go but I think before this will fully play out here's what this means in a nutshell right we're budgeting $830,000 in extraordinary Aid it's actually retroactive so we be applied to this school year if that number comes in higher if it comes in in a million dollars $170,000 more that $17,000 can be utilized for next year so it could be 536 $536,000 back that will be used to my recommendation would be to restore some of those Staffing and programs and then we could use the 170 should we deem it uh appropriate um if it comes in on the number 8:30 then it's it's it's status quo and if it comes in under it's not good but it would be applied to this current Year's budget but there is still some mystery around what that number extraordinary Aid is Another Broken part of the funding formula I'm going to be surprised to no there's pending legislation around that um we are supposed to get 100% back in our extraordinary aid though there are some like criteria about above $40,000 and cost about $55,000 cost depending on where at the students in District versus out of District um but historically they fund at about 72% um of what they should be giving us and is required in statute and that's based on how much the legislature um allocates to the extraordinary Aid so we are and every District who has extraordinary Aid has historically been underfunded and not getting the funds that we are supposed to get from the funding formula that currently exists although that has increased over it has increased it hasn't increased to the number yeah can I say something's going to be very popular in the room right now but we we couldn't we we got money at what would why us to hire folks and that we knew it was a grant and we knew it was going to go away and yet we're we're trying to bring money back in but we could we couldn't afford those positions going forward right I mean at some point in time our money was going we we we our revenues are X and and our costs are why that we got extra money and they covered their revenue part of it but now we don't have the extra money so we have to go back to where we were I don't I'm I'm still perplexed don't why we're trying to like we're trying to solve for a problem and and I feel very 100% bad for the folks that where there's cuts and I'm please not not thinking this at all but this is just one of those things like I've been on this board almost 10 years now we we go through these es and fles of this process and it it it yes it's perplexing it's mysterious and it's magical but at the same point in time it's it's this is what happened and that's what happens when I we talked about before we have when we hire people off of Grants this is what's going to happen we can't afford to keep going forward it we keep adjusting our bottom line and our bottom line can only carry so far and I know it's not popular and I know people don't want to hear that but we just can't continue to that's why they have I mean again I'm speculating here but that's kind of why the formula sort of goes back and forth because everyone will just keep going School budgets would keep going and rising and the state would just keep paying for it all so it seems to me like this is just the way to you bring things back in line to what you can afford and again I know it's not popular and I'm probably wrong but it just feels to me like we're trying to Sol for something that we knew going into it we were going to have a problem going into it so your your theory from two years ago it's proven accurate that theory you just said has proven to be accurate yes we gave kids two really good years come back and agree and I'm I'm very happy that we did it and I wish we continue to move forward with it we just can't afford we can't continue to just keep going forward and I just it's just one of those things that I don't I'm not again I'm not saying anything that I respect all the teachers in the room right now but our bottom line is our bottom line and it's hard to go back and adjust the bottom line and I don't know I again just more just to the point where at some point in time we can't just keep trying to chase the magical unicorn because it's not going to be there anymore right we know we know what she's going to quote me on this too so it we we know what our our revenues are I mean it's not you know every time we we're we're surprised by the state aid figures but we just can't continue rely on the state aid all the time I mean the system is clearly broken I do think Jim to your comment about like we can't as costs go up we can't just expect the state to continue paying more my taxes go up and I am I have to pay them they they are never going to go down and the expectation of me as a taxpayer is that I always always have to do that like why can't that be the expectation we have of the state who ensures that we are in a place where our taxes continuously rise but to your point though is that they literally said we're getting positions with Grant TOS that aren't going to be funded yet we roll them into our budget knowing that they weren't going to be funded and we're asking for the state to fund those positions it doesn't it doesn't make economic sense to me right we knew that we were get those revenues and yet we're asking for those revenues back and I just again I just have a hard time it it's it's and I'm not blaming anyone this is just the of Education right I mean I don't know but last year we did get ancree and other areas got cut and then so when the other carriers that get cut we didn't write letters so the other districts they got cut we were happy and you know but this year we got cut so now now the formula that got us money was okay last year but the formula that didn't give us money this year is broken I don't know I just I just to me we're I don't know you know we're dealt with a bad card and then we just have to kind of roll through it yeah I think we're we're dealing with both shortterm and longterm questions and issues right now in this same conversation which is kind of hard to toggle between the two here's where I partially agree and disagree with you so we knew going into Esser funding and those Staffing decisions that it was going to be a shortterm situation and we were very public about that in our board meetings in the when we approve those positions as well as the deliberation that we got into around whether to fold those in as fulltime positions now we have to reassess what our students need what our budget can meet in proportion to those needs and I will tell you I work with schools and districts on the opposite end of the spectrum who have millions of dollars in Sr funding left that they now need to expend before September 30th and it's completely irresponsible it's an inappropriate use of funding so while the made the decision to make some of those choices years ago I truly believe as a leadership team we use those funds to invest in our students needs at the time and we continue to make responsible decisions about our students 100% agree and listen I voted yes and I I will stand by that but at the same point in time we can't look we can't be surprised when we lose money I that's just to me is just it's it's it's there's there's never there's never been a clear formula there never will be a clear formula you could I quote that too but at this point in time I it just feels to me like there's like been doing this long enough to know that there's there's there's no there's gives and there's takes sometimes we get sometimes we lose and this is just a very bad time and and it's unfortunate it's unfortunate for the people that are losing their their their their their their jobs quite frankly but the flip side is that they were probably going to lose their job a year ago right one the money ran out so we Carri to Chris's point we carried as long we could we just can't continue to carry so I I wouldn't be surprised if it was if our enrollment is shrinking if we lost state aid I wouldn't be surprised if the government came to us and say you know we're going to to take money from some middle class or some upper middle class districts and to send it you know to other parts of the state where there are poor communities that need more resources that wouldn't surprise me that's happened based on demographics I'm very surprised that they looked at rate of change on income and in many cases they're taking making money out of middle class or upper middle class communities and it's being sent up the road um to wealthier districts in Northern parts of the state of New Jersey with that don't have the same uh that have higher demographics than some districts like P C that's surprising I've never seen that before Christ so I found my question and I had a comment um so reading the retrospect earlier today I saw um a review of collingwood's budget hearing and it said that they had look did their own research and determined that the residential income numbers the state that used were incorrect do we know where they got those numbers treasury yeah and I open them and our numbers are off by $177,000 I don't I can't speak con of I know they did the same thing I don't know how much their numbers were off okay so not significant it was not significant [Music] now can we at least get those 1,000 John answer your question or comment I do want to point out to the board at 7 o' the community came we do want to give a chance to ask some questions and we have the middle school I I can go back to the board for questions as well but the Middle School Madagascar PL is starting and I know that some folks want to kind of do kind of a two for one here I think tonight look I simply wanted to State it's like we're a victim of our own success because now because we're such a great District people that have the resources to buy the homes here are moving here because we are so good great and so in a way we're a victim of our own success and that shouldn't be so I'm simply saying I guess what we all feel is we hope that the state legislators uh and this Treasury Department and all of them can maybe finally come to some kind of a formula where you know these incredible drops won't happen it'll be somewhat level so we can plan from year to year okay thank you said my peace uh majority of the left side of the room is staff and me the staff should this none of this information should surprise anyone that's on staff uh in terms of the funding um I had this conversation in front of uh the htea that's a blow maybe five weeks ago now um not much has changed since then it's a little bit more organized in slides I went here uh any other questions or kind of anything Joy tab leadership not much new here um so I guess staff would be anybody in the staff questions about the actual um process to which this deficit is I has occurred I I I would like to say go Ahad just to Mr Lex that the positions that we're talking about at this point are beyond what was funed funded by Esser so that's kind of where the shock is coming from in addition so it's beyond that initial funding and I understand your point but I don't want to not mention that that these were previously funded for many years positions that we're talking but but Joel the one thing that was s or plus it was it's the full that inart okay it's the S positions plus the full that inart and okay Community just raise your hand no need to state your name you know uh we should we do still need to follow the rules of okay I Y um so please state your name and address limit your comments to 3 minutes and again this is a comment section not a question or discussion I think they can ask a questions public hearing they they they can ask questions we may or may not be able to answer them depending on the content okay if if it applies to the budget and what was heard here if any needs to be clarify on really exist yeah we cannot speak about any individual staff member there's actually a process if we're going to discuss as a board individual staff members um that we have to follow and so we cannot do that tonight ma'am I don't know your name good evening board Dr ficaro and members of the community I am elpa chero I have I live at 433 East Emerald Avenue here in Westmont and I've been very happy to live in this community for well over 40 years as such my children were raised in Haden Township and I've had the Good Fortune of seeing my children succeed not only you've the had in Township School District but also in their college careers and post colle careers as well what I want to also inform you of is I am a retired educator I worked 35 years for a large Urban School District a school district that incorporated many of these Cuts not all in one fell swop but was slowly chipped away inch by inch throughout the years music programs were cut librarians were cut nurses were cut counselors were cut these aren't the extras that are currently in the budget these are these are positions that are are valid and are needed in our school district when I began teaching back in the Stone Age in 1974 the school I went to was an inner city Junior High School the needs were great we had adequate counselors we had at least two nurses just for the School through almost every school in that school district had at least one nurse several counselors a functioning library with a certified librarian and in many cases also a li Library a when I retired in 2009 most of those Junior highs in high schools had no libraries at all counselors have been cut drastically College counselors were practically non-existent to help those students get into postsecondary educational institutions nurses were cut drastically sharing of nurses nurses that not only now have to medicate students also have to monitor an asthma attack I am sure that if your child is having a severe asthma attack in school you don't want to have to wait for the nurse to show up to help that student are many more things that go into the educational system and believe me I feel for the board I feel for Dr ficaro I feel for the teachers I understand cuts are hard but the individuals that are currently moving into this municipality as Mr Kendall said are going to require and demand more than what we are currently offering if our students are going to exceed even more we're going to seriously have to look at expanding not cutting back when students get into high school to get into the best colleges possible you're going to need to expand your college board um offerings AP courses advanc courses so I know my time is up I would ask you look to the Future learn from the past and also learn from other school districts thank you thank you thank you I have something to say I don't know who I'm supposed to say it but what are you going to do me so my name is Lisa Huff 1323 new Avenue and anyone who's been to an elementary concert or building concert knows that I do everything I can to make myself invisible and spotl the students it's about them not me I facilitate I polish I encourage but they're the ones doing the hard part so it feels very strange to you know be here and talk myself when I left my 10-year position in another District I thought I was coming home I'm a member of Haden Township class in 2001 it was here that I received my first flute lesson from Sandy Mah in the library of Jenning School learned and developed as a musician Jane Trent Bob F and Joe Fallon and first experienced that feeling of connection and joy that music inspires this is my dream job I had hopes to continue the work of my mentors and nurture the next generation of had Township Arts students until I was informed that I was being let go I want to express my profound disappointment that my value as a teacher is only seen as a price bag I had hoped my value would be measured by the impact I have of the 900 students I teach every week and the educational continuity that would have been achieved that I've been allowed to guide them through the whole of their Elementary years by the value of my students knowing that representation Matters by learning from a diverse teacher who can Aid them and transforming into people that show empathy Embrace differences and promote fairness and justice for all I'm an expertise and skill set owned by my 17 years as a music educator that allows me to do my job well and with passion or measured in the countless small action to build trust among teacher student and Community it saddens me to realize that my accumulated wisdom experience instead of being appreciated and valued makes me a Target when budgets need to be balanced but what is devastating is the lack of Creative Solutions for example Cherry Hill is losing an immense amount of buding but we'll proceed with minimal cuts to their instructional staff to my communities of families at Edison Jennings stoy straw and Van skybert I would like to say thank you for the privilege of hearing for your children we have sung danced played learned laugh together I have shown slug videos listen to jokes examined many loose teeth applied Band-Aids fixed hair tied shoelaces white noses held hands and given hugs I've heard about your pets vacations luses and birthdays believe it or not I even know all my students names and only occasionally mix up siblings and when I do they know I owe them a quarter my biggest regrets are the promises I won't be able to keep such as the deal I made with a certain student at Jennings to include a heavy metal holiday song next year's Winter concert in exchange for his cooperation singing its ringing talking this year I would also like to express my gratitude to everyone who has written letters made phone calls and advocated for your children's musical education and for the visual performing arts department and to all of my students I Le I like each each and every one of your faces you know what that means I'm going saying hi to you every week but you can still say hi when we see each other PR mon thank you thank you I'd like to speak my name is Alan Huff I also live at 1323 Newton Avenue so you may be able to guess on the husband up um so I'm a resident a husband and the parent of a child of color and I know how disappointed my wife is to be asked to leave her students her children she loves her job and she excels at it she loves her students and leaving is not something she ever wanted to do but I'm here to express my anger concern and disappointment I'm angry because this represents broken promises and larger concerns about equity in this District I know not many years ago when concerns were raised about the district failing to attract teachers of color it was said if only teachers of color would apply the district would hire them when my wife interviewed to come back home to her District she raised concerns about giving up a tene position as a mid mid-career teacher she was reassured that it was a difficult position and it was a required position by law so she was Secure and was hired on the spot during her interview cut to this year where the teaching staff is generally not any more diverse and despite reassurances my wife the most experienced staff member in her Department was the only one cut what's left is the most demanding position in the music department a historic revolving door that'll be left to someone who didn't sign up for that kind of challenging position as well as disproportionate culling of the district's already minuscule staff of color I'm also concerned because I know what my wife has experienced in Haden Township as part of a very small community of color both as a student growing up in the district and as a teacher in both instances being one of the very few faces of diversity left to call out instances of insensitivity to take advantage and to take advantage of opportunities to educate on issues of equity Miss's position was seen by all students so our elementary students of color would see their faces in at least one teacher during their educational experience in hand Township and understand that they actually do have a place in the classroom I'm very concerned about the message being sent here by the district that while students will continue to attend the same music class each week their District chose to replace one of the only teachers of color with the less experienced ones I'm concerned because being despite being in a community with both townwide and District level Equity initiatives a major inequity is moving forward without consideration over the impact of our students of color as well as the impact of a virtually all-white education on our students I'm disappointed that these Equity initiatives have not been given meaningful have not been meaningfully embraced by this district and allowed to have a positive impact on the district which it truly needs I hope the community examines what will take place and bring much needed and unachieved equity in our schools and finally just this um just this year residents supported by a 2:1 an increase in property taxes to support several facility upgrades that are nice to have but frankly don't improve education that said I can hardly imagine the community would oppose a modest increase now given the major shift in education funding that's taken place especially given that its purpose is to keep necessary teachers in our already overcrowded classrooms I think the referendum shows the support our schools enjoy in the community if only the district would show the leadership and come to the table in a way that prioritizes the education part of our [Applause] schools uh Missle I would I would suggest and out of respect for um the last two individuals that spoke one uh as an employee another one being a spouse i' certainly do not want to be respectful and I want to to provide um them with the space to express whatever they want to say tonight as an employee and a spouse and employee however there's no uh there should be no discussion about individual staff members this presentation tonight is solely about positions the meeting where a renewal list will be put before the board for which individuals are going to be approved for next year and not approved is May 16th and individuals that are not able to be renewed do have a due process uh ability to exercise the right um of the hearing before the board to talk about um anything that they would like to discuss related to their performance and um opinion of the school district or their current situation um but we should not uh have conversations uh that pertain to individual employees the date that a superintendent must notify staff members that their position is not secure for next year is May 15th so I'm supposed to notify uh teachers before or any individual before May 15th if they're not in the budget I chose to do so as soon as possible as soon as the administrative uh team and I uh came up with those recommendations um but we're not there tonight from a process standpoint this is solely about positions there will be a time um for formal hearing before the board should employees um choose to exercise that option but if you as a board president think that we need to go into executive session um to discuss this is really about questions pertaining to the positions that are in the budget not for individuals so again I did not want to disrespect anyone and I want certainly did not want to interrupt the last two speakers um but tonight is not the the purpose of this and I'm not comfortable with any more um comments about individual employees because there's been no formal um there's been more no formal notice provided to anybody yet regarding renewals or non renewals the next year those for those formal notices have not yet occurred thank you Dr um I'm Carrie kitchen Santiago 345 Avendale Avenue just the question in terms of the positions that were chose these positions were these the positions that were created with the money a few years ago plus some or like how was it decided which position yeah we when we first were notified of the cuts we we didn't automatically go to the es of positions we we looked at every position school by school um and and then we ended up coming back the first thing we came back to you know the last positions that were at it were not the SR positions the last positions that we were at it were the kindergarten positions so the first question that we asked as an administrative team uh with my assistant superintendent uh was can we go back to half day kind right and and you know we contemplated on that contemplated on that and we just didn't see that as a a fair proposal given that we had such strong sentiments from the community through so many years worth of surveys and so once we um looked at that uh then you know we ultimately came back to uh the Esser roles um and we tried not to affect um student programs uh so that's how the that's how the positions were decided we we tried to minimize the impact of cuts to actual programs so like let me give you an example you know at the high school there and I know our media specialist um provides a service to students and there's a lot of co- teing and sub Al instruction that happens in the media center through that role but at the high school our largest student population at the high school there's 600 students at our high school and you know we're looking at a um you know a million to cut the the only program program that we're going to lose is the Mandarin program which is one year old you know um probably one of the programs that we will look to if we receive some funding back because then programmatically the high school could potentially be right sized from a student program standpoint your English and your science classes are going to be a little bit heavier on student enrollment but program wise students would have the same number programs at the high school if you know if some of that money came back and we decide I'm not saying that we we will um but that's an example of how we aim to minimize that's the program look at the middle school the social studies teacher again unfortunately it's we're going to have to lose a position but the students will still have social studies so there is a position at the high school we have a retirement and right now that position is still in the budget because we don't want to lose that program I I had a question about elementary school yes uh with sorry name oh sure I'm sorry my name is Sarah MCD do you need me address address my address is 401 strawber thank you um Elementary School nursing yeah you already don't have a nurse in the elementary schools every day so are the teachers BLS certified what do you excuse me are the teachers BLS certified and what do you do in an emergency like my son was sick he went to the nurse he had to sign in and it was just when the nurse gets there we're going to take you in order so now 2:30 comes along half an hour before they're done he gets called down to be evaluated so how on Earth are you going to cut a position that isn't even there well we we have a nurse at Edison in the case of strawberri and the nurse would have to come if it's an emergency they come straight over from Edison that seems absolutely unrealistic absolutely I mean I live directly next to St bridge and I've seen an ambulance there a number like you need are the are the teachers BLS certified BL basic life support CPR certified yes not no not I can't we do have certified staff in each building yes but not not all the teachers are have that certification if you're not going to have a nurse in the building shouldn't the entire staff be certified something happen I I don't know that certification medically I can't answer that question our head nurse is here tonight it's something something that we can consider La BS to I just wanted to go off of something that Caren said in terms of how you determine these cuts and I think it goes along with what you were saying that you all want transparency transparency from the state I think what parents and I don't know I can't speak the Educators but want more transparency in terms of the criteria that you take to determine with what goes into the positions being cut along with what Lisa had shared and from what we know probably another teacher or staff member of color that's been cut and how you think about diversity and Equity moving forward with retaining and hiring um staff members of color I also think it's important um with the middle media specialist I mean that is a huge loss so if you're saying we have time to reimagine and you said that with the counseling like oh we're not sure where the counsels are going to go we can reimagine maybe that's something to consider because every single student from the Middle School to the high school comes through this Media Center it is a huge place um for a variety of reasons from college essays research um choosing books having diverse books to choose from talking about there the list is endless um I think that's really something to go back into to consider and the other part of the presentation that caught my eye was the administrative part and I know it's an administrative not Administration so it doesn't look like from what we're seeing tonight that there's anything being taken account into administrators or possibly reimagining or making up any type of deficit or lost within that Staffing area all good points I mean I will tell you the first I think there was a question in there how do we determine we look at every piece of information that we have but is there like a criter is there a checklist is there a rubric or some sort of formula that you all use we Ober we observe staff every single day of the school year sure and we look at um every single factor that we could possibly look at these recommendations are not done in the vacuum they are not solely the recommendations of the superintendent or Personnel committee or ba you know the ba is not looking at the most expensive people you know just we look at multifaceted every piece of data that we can and we do it in a team approach and we don't always agree okay and at times we have to have tough conversations and we meet in both small groups and uh large groups so administratively we have four different teams we have an elementary uh Team we have a middle school team a high school team and then we have uh we call Team Four which is our athletic director our buildings and grounds uh facilitator and our uh technology um coordinator and and so we have small group administrative team meetings um and then we also have a large group uh ministrative team meetings and through that process together with personnel and policy committee meeting at the board of education level and then we utilize the executive session with the Board of Education which we did last month to talk about Personnel um we make uh the very best decisions that we can in in this case you know the certainly very challenging and at the end of the day it's on my shoulders as superintendent to look at all the recommendations uh and to uh compose the renewal list before the Board of Education uh for the next meeting and before we get there together with the ba to compose the budget in a way that the um the revenue and the expenses align anybody else um Nicole suton 53 E green would have you a concern that I have is that many of these positions that are listed are already positions that are split between multiple buildings so I I really um what you said earlier resonated with me like I moved here for this I could have gone home I'm not third generation had in Township you won me over I I live here but now I live here where the PTA funds the playground equipment when it breeds the PTA funds and staffs the library the guidance counselor the nurse the principal or split between buildings this is a district that is already doing everything it can with what it has so when you say doing what you can with what you have you're that's not sustainable like you you are already asking parents to step in for certified positions that high school media specialist is not just for your high school it's for your middle school and I know she does digital citizenship classes in the elementary school because I asked you for that I am so Furious as a parent because is nothing I can do about this but to all the sth we rely on you we appreciate you my daughter is a nudge she's a tough kid thank you for bring her of her quarter today she doesn't let me take her picture or her video and you have an email coming your way we are reliant on the staff we have because they were wearing many hats how is this being communicated to the people who decide the funding you can talk numbers with them but I know a good campaign got us Bond referendum all these parents who sat at those Community meetings we were out there telling this story I truly cannot accept that we just sit here today and pass this budget and hope that this funding comes through which is a grant like are you kidding me like there has to be more that we can do as a community you are attracting people who are making more money but we and we are expecting more but I think we need to do more to leverage that population because I can't sit through this year after year there are lots of I I sat and Bonnie told me that F day preschool would never happen she told me to go find some parent to shook my kid around they told me filate kindergarten would never happen I sat right here they told us it wasn't needed as like all these parents it like we're here it's clear we can make change like please leverage us because this is the most frustrating thing I have ever said for like there has to be a way we can communicate that story effectively thank you our board president has been a Tren to testified herself do you want to talk about your experience yeah I mean there's lots of advocacy efforts I know I've been posting some things in different Facebook groups and my own Facebook for folks I know not everybody is on Facebook or get their communication that way but if we want a more coordinated advocacy effort at the state that's where cuz the answer is either the state gives us more money the federal government gives us more money or our taxpayers give us more money that she's such for the programs that we need and what we're trying to achieve and what we know our kids deserve and our staff deserve we're not happy about the situation we're in we're not happy about any of the positions that we're losing we we thought we would have all of them and potentially more um and so if folks want to do a coordinated advocacy I'm ready to help to support I like pour over the legislature what bills exist what changes are happening in build all the time and I'd be happy to be part of that help lead that effort let me know how is best to get a contact with folks who are interested in that um so that we can do that together okay and thank you for asking me for that apprciate it works in Cherry Hill yeah so no reason can't work Elizabeth Morales 317 Memorial Avenue um I don't I know this whole thing is very complicated I don't have any questions I don't have any answers alls I can say is when I look up there and I see some of the things that you guys are going to do with it concerns me my kids are at the high school level I only have two years left but Elementary and Middle School those are formative years and you're talking about taking away like counselors and music and reading like that to me is just devastating and then I feel like you take that away and then you're asking those teachers who are already stretched already you're stretching them even more cuz I think I heard you say something about trauma form coun or and training and man like you're asking them to be a nurse you're asking them to be a counselor you're asking them to be a teacher you're asking them to be a parent you're asking them to fill a lot of roles so not you're taking you know that away from them but you're also adding to their rules and I know that their paychecks aren't getting any bigger and I know how hard it might kids I adore the teachers I I cannot complain about not one teacher my kids have ever had and they've all adored them and appreciate them for everything that they've done but once you stretch them they're going to not be able to do as much as they typically do in the past for each kid yeah I didn't hear a question but I'm going to give you an answer any but I'm going to give you an answer and I'm looking at the list I don't say I don't even know look at those first three columns when you look at those first three columns I hired every single one of them all right and I believe in those positions I brought the position in before I hired the individual I went to the board and created the position because there was a need so we're on the same team in terms of the the purpose and the importance of every position that's up there we're everyone here is lot step right the only reason that these positions are at risk that at this point cannot be part of the budget is because the county superintendent will not accept the budget that's not balanced we we're not allowed to spend the money we don't have there's no mortgage for the future we have to pay our bills one year at a time we're only allow we're not able to open our doors you'll have state monitoring here in September you won't have a school board yeah know I understand that's what I said I have no answers I'm just saying when I look at that it's very concerning and I don't know if there's any other way of like other people have said to to reevaluate and maybe take out from somewhere else I have no idea I don't know I know it's difficult I'm just saying that I look at that and that's devastating and again it's a hard position to be in Mrs Cronin hi I'm Lisa Cronin 51 rosette I'm a mom and a teacher um I'm my four one is now finally in the high school so I've been here on all time um I would like to go on record to say Kelly I will do whatever you need to help you with that and I um reposted a lot of the things that you put on Facebook on my personal page and um I'll go on record to saying that it's really sad that there are less parents here tonight than there are about a grading scale you should be more more interested in this than that because next year there could be people that are not here in classes that are not here for that 10p point raing scale this is where you need to be and I will help you with that and um I also want to say for my counselor friends that um I understand that you said that there could be movement around and all but have we looked at if we take those two counselors away what is the added amount on to or what is the ratio for a counselor to student when we're down by chip we the exact same level as we were before Co can I ask a question about that why we're here so I just got say your name again um Kim mlin um 900 Redmond Avenue I kept hearing though that our enrollment has gone up so I have to believe that those ratios have also been gone up my moments right back again right back to where it was prior to co Jen I wasn't here right before Co but the sweet spot's 21100 right it was down to 2000 about four years ago we were panicking from an enrollment standpoint this could have been a lot a lot worse then we were giving money and then the enrollment went back up and we were giving money again so I think we're right where we are in The Sweet Spot at one point I believe this District was at about 2200 yeah I can definitely look at up at some point but yeah still I think a 100 down from our Peak after this Middle School was built but I think the point that is understated in my response is first smartphone was 2010 it's 2024 student needs emotionally mentally student needs coming out of Co are significantly dramatically more state has to recognize that um we recognize that that's why hired these positions to begin with it's not it's not Apples to Apples you can't just look in enrollment I can't say you know the kids in 2024 not what they were from an emotional need standpoint the world's more difficult on them you know certainly as adults you know we reflect back on you know most of us reflect back on what it was like I I suppose going up um when we did and now the pressures that the kids are under with the smartphones and the social media it's not the same world that it was and we're trying to align resources to meet the additional needs this is not the year right now where we're able to have the resources to be able to continue hi 206 so um I want to clarify some things that youve said one of them that you were trying not to eliminate programs and I believe the example You' cited was the Chinese man my I was we minimized we try attempted to minimize cuts to Stu student programs and I used an example of right now there's only one student program at the high school that will be affected that's the mandering program that we just started right and believe you said it earlier though if the funds are restored that's something that you would consider bringing back quickly because you didn't want to lose programing for students I think I think we have to have the conversation you know hypothetically if the funs were was for restored you would have to have a conversation that if the mandering program was brought back the result would be a an impact of Net Zero program reduction of the high school it would not necessarily be a recommendation that program has been successful and it is uh important and it is uh something that uh I think is important to students that are taking the class I wouldn't prioritize that in front of anything else right now because tonight's not about what programs would be brought back or those conversations had had not have not been had yet I used it as an example when for the criteria that we utilize to identify reductions in force we prioritize student programs over everything right I did then given what you just said about the importance of student mental health the impacts of the pandemic the impacts of social media on students High rates of anxiety that kids are experiencing and I would add too that our classifications have doubled in special education over the last year is that correct in any case it seems if that is the case there's going to be an increased burden on our counseling staff that is now being produced so I wonder if you could explain to me along the lines of what Lauren is saying and what Carrie is saying how that consideration was made when you're making the cuts to sa something like a Chinese Vander program which affects I'm not sure how many students versus counseling position which affected many students the Middle School the elementary school I not make a recommendation to save the chin family pram I purely use it as a hypothetical of how we value minimizing cuts to student programs I specifically said at the beginning of this presentation that we're not going to discuss if the state fund comes back hypotheticals about which programs will be added [Music] in I just wanted to elaborate the point on the point that you made which is a point well taken about the impacts of mental health and what that looks in our district given I hope we classification is I I can find out the number for you I would agree I don't think it's doubl or classification number is but Mr I'll make I'll make your point for you right without saying that it's double you don't need to say that it's double your point has already been made on this slide look at the F so there's your point I can see it right look how much more money that we're have that we're projecting in special education CS for next year we understand it I think you know a comment was made about being devastated looking at this where devastated to and I know it feels different from the seat that we sit in um from SE the other folks sit in but this is not where we want to be we don't think we will do the best we can and we think we will deliver a really strong and solid educational program for students next year and it is not what we want to be delivering we don't want any of these Cuts we wouldn't have chosen any of these Cuts we love the Personnel who are going to be affected by this they brought so much value to the District but we have to cut it we have to find places to do that and it's unfortunate there's no like ideal scenario in a non-ideal situation like this so we're feeling the same Devastation because this isn't a place we want to be these aren't the conversations we want to be having we don't want to be reducing supports for students mental health needs when we know that mental health needs have increased and and every position matters for for every kid every student's different so for some students some positions might matter more than others but you know the one position that no one's asked about tonight is the bus mechanic kids got to get on the school bus they come to school right before we even talk about what type of education they're going to receive if we don't have a bus mechanic to repair the school buses so they pass the inspection we can't even get them the school so every position either in front of the scenes or behind the scenes it's important all our students we're all disappointed but you know this is not a situation where the school board is deciding not to go to 2% cap or to reduce staff to save taxpayer money this a situation where we're forced to play a bad hand this year last two years played a pretty good hand this year it's not it's not there right now go ahead sir uh my name is boms 303 hour avue um I had kids that went through the school district I read the proposed budget in the uh retrospect kind of stunned because I feel a little bit Gob smacked on hearing information that was actually not what appeared in the proposed budget was printed I looked at the line because I was a professional librarian I was a chief librarian C library system for over 20 years years or 20 years there 30 career I'm retired down I was very happy to see the part of the bond uh affected the school media area I empathize with this board having to make Cuts you got to do it I don't think anyone's in the wrong I think there seems to be a little bit of an essence of feeling to have to defend yourself you don't have to defend yourself in my opinion you're trying to do the best you can with the information that you have you made a point earlier about the the the problem that arose when you didn't have complete information about how the 2021 figures I empathize with that too I feel bad that that happened to you but we have to acknowledge that there is a possibility that you're not operating with full and complete information when decisions are being made um I like very much this gentleman's uh point about when you do get uh funds that are are are you know Grant you know Grant and they say they may go away they probably have to have an asri there that says okay if this goes away this position is being eliminated if it's not then this is being eliminated you have to really plan that out because it's not permanent I'll go back to there there's can and there's don't want to you can't eliminate the school meeting specialist you legally can I'm sure that your board knows that the administrative code of New Jersey requires a a full-time certified registered licensed school media specialist this is the job that is one of the most academically required you know this first master's degree specific courses certification you can't it's actually there now there's been a disturbing Trend in New Jersey when a lot of less aent school districts and some smaller school districts were ppoc Cuts they they tried to circumvent this they eliminated middle school and Elementary School where they tried to do other workarounds not necessarily above board legal but if you look where these schools are rated rent that did this it's not a good look Camden County it's Camden City Char Hill we looked the Cher Hill and I've heard many references you know how many school media Specialists they have 14 fulltime one per building one per building 14 they understand what's happening they understand what's happening in professional literature they understand what the state need they understand what the legisl and assembly is doing we're just trying to get more school Specialists back here I can just finish this Administrative Code says you can't you can't remove it I'm sure you wouldn't do anything that would be an ethical violation to go against Administrative Code going you have to keep the school media specialist here the the the thing is the the law that's actually proposed right now is to actually increase the number we would be bumped up with, 1500 plus person to requiring two so this is going to be a hard undo if you actually try to go through with this you're not only going to have to bring it back you're and I don't even know the violation how that even affects funding because you don't have a lot of full information about funding so I don't even know how what the penalty phase factor is usually it's a funding thing you know if you violate F so I implore you I came in here because I thought I I thought it was funded I saw that it was I want know we the cop was I see this I'm like no you can't um so whoever made that decision they weren't accessing the full Collective of information if they reached out to me I would have been happy to help uh I I I know bit about this stuff so I empathize I don't criticize anyone but I hope you can act upon that piece of information I could have spent more time also telling about the value and importance and how that affects our profile and ranking it's not hard in this but it is I'm sorry you're well over your time sorry okay I'm sorry I'm sorry I appreciate your passion think the one thing I appreciate your passion I think the one thing that you you may not be accurate on is I don't believe that there is any in Administrative Code that says You must have a full-time media specialist Med District okay I know the requirement is to have the services of the media special um but the the current code does not require a fulltime how is that different supposed to have the services could be a part-time could be a consultant um there's a lot of different ways to meet the requirement of the code we're going through qac in the fall um I'm in consultation with the Department of Education on this topic but I don't believe that the code says that you must have a full-time media special now me halfway we want one okay and the media specialist That's here this year will be here next year just not in that role as of right now okay but she's going to remain in the district and the reason why she's going to remain in the district is because when we make this one of the nicest high school media centers in the county okay and we put 33.5 million into that someone's going to have to run this Media Center yes the individual that's going to run this Media Center 3 years from now whenever it's done is the individual that's in this room tonight so there's no argument there this is about next year and trying to survive one year maybe two years depending if this budget turns whether or not you're right about what's in the code or I'm right what's in the code the halfway meaning point I hope everyone wants this position we're not going to have a bond referendum with almost a $4 million media center and no full-time media specialist it's just not going to happen in September I just don't understand then why that's up of all the positions that you be looking at we looked at every position we went position by position and with all that money with all that money riding on this you decided that one was kind of expensable to move I don't think exp and I will talk to you about the administrative code in misinterpretation later it's actually that's why they're rewriting the code but they haven't yet it's proposed as leg I know it's proposed yeah I don't disagree with it but it's not it's not written yet it actually is it depends on your interpretation so know what listen you don't want to lose the position we can't afford it I don't understand why that one of all the positions is being moved with all this money coming in here and with the known requirement that we're going to need it how much you save it it's personal I can't give you the person's salary come on well actually you can but I I don't you find out what I could look it up online yeah um I'm not that's it I'm I'm done I didn't mean to get to a dialogue but I'm just this seemed to be a lack of transparency incredible transparency because none of that was in the retrospect but remember I'm not saving that person salary because that person is going to be in the district next year so you have it under the line school media Specialists okay so the school Media budget line that was published in Friday's paper has the has that salary can't speak for that it has salaries in it yes there's other other Sal it's like 400 and something that whatever I'm assuming looking at the last two years I school media specialist you can't take the money out of that line and P do job okay I mean you probably can but you should we're going to go through monitoring starting in September we're going to find out I mean I will say that we've had Outreach to the department that about these all these issues but Point receips ma' Michelle mue I have a question about the thought process being can you come around the board can't hear thank you um I just have a question about the thought process behind cutting uh the reading interventionist and the counselors in light of the fact that um you're suggesting that there'll be an increase in special education expenditures next year when we're removing pre-referral interventions and also removing Personnel that are integral in implementing this interventions and also um and monitoring implementing the accommodations in 504 plans that sort of are stock cast for many kids um to special education why that makes sense I think we budget for what they value um and I think that's clear that some things are valued more than others like there's I don't hear anything about my kids um participates in sports but I don't hear anything about that I hear um people that are housed within the context of the school day being cut that are um they have their hands on they have their hands on kids every day and they are for everyone whereas other programs um and administrative cost also I mean I think we we've heard that over and over again that there's there doesn't seem to be anybody um in leadership that is losing their position um or there's no position being combined for example in years past there used to be like the athletic director and the technology coordinator were a combined position we small District we have 600 kids in the high school um it just concerns me that we are talking about that Val in mental health and we're cut we're cutting mental health positions while also suggesting that trauma informed School practices will do the trick because they won't they won't I mean they are a start and everybody should have them but it's not going to do it and um the fact that these sorts of positions music library counseling nursing are even a consideration I'm I'm deeply disappointed and I'm I'm I'm having a hard time understanding the thought process behind the as I can see as many other people are as well I mean you mentioned Athletics I I go back to I mean this is the slide there there are there could be some positions that we had may not still may not be completely even so we have had some discussions about in athletics um individuals may to have to maybe have to pay for some cost Associated Athletics maybe it's a uniform fee or could be a participation fee there's more work to be done in some of these areas here um towards the top of that pie chart but you can see the actual cost there may be a transportation run that we're looking to bring back into the district there's still more work to do we just had we didn't have a lot of time between the time we were notified about the St reductions and the time where the budget need to be submitted to the county so there still maybe some work to do in some of these other areas as far as administ ly District lawon Administrative Elementary supervisor positioned a few years ago um you already have four schools that don't have a full-time principal um I don't know any other school district in Cy county has four elementary schools without a full-time principal there's four schools out of five that don't have a full-time principal I looked at administrative positions I didn't see one that could possibly um be reduced to bring back all those positions that you just mentioned in through counselors the reading teacher the nurse the music teacher but the loss of those positions will cost you money yeah they'll cost you money like so that will result in increased identification of special education students I'm a school psychologist I know how this works if kids don't have access to good pre-referral interventions and supports by people that are in their building on a regular basis it increases the likelihood that they're going to be identified as a student with special needs and thereby increasing the cost that you're talking about I agree with you that's why we hire those positions but did the first on the CH I don't there's nowhere else to go I'm sure people where we'll be at where we going to be at a year from now okay and folks aren't going to want to hear this but I think where we're going to be at a year from now if we get caught again is we're going to be into administrative roles and we're going to be back back to school district reconfiguration we're going to be back to consolidating consolidating schools and consolidating servic is that great what we value and it's students receiving direct support every single day not maybe a nurse not standing in line to get medical care not maybe talking to a counselor like parents moved to this District to get this kind of intimate support that's been promised and now that is gone or it maybe we'll be gone and maybe we'll come back like this we've been doing this for years I understand but I heard when I said consolidating schools and reconfiguring schools I saw your head go up it down you understood it some folks over here said great idea but when we tried that work four four years ago not everyone was saying great idea right still have Scar from that meeting was that let's still have Scar from yeah so listen we want to come out with a school it was it was the reason why I didn't go that direction is the community wouldn't stand for it and it was a sounding emphatic more than a majority it was you know we still have the surveys from those strategic planning meetings it was it it wasn't mild opposition it was the strongest opposition that uh that that we have encount that I've personally encountered in the last four years and it was the first three months that I wasn't going to job now can you can you talk to the community about what it would look like so if the Community Schools came back what would that look like in terms of being able to maintain some of these positions that are integral to Student Success you would consolidate you would consolidate uh schools you consolidate Services um like for example we have an elementary school next year we did this the solid line doit line methodology that even class siiz out but like we have a school an elementary school with a low class size of 13 so those kids if we Consolidated classrooms and we may have to do that anyway um you know that would reduce a classroom teacher you know if you know we Clos the school you know and moved all students from one school and dispersed them the four four other elementary schools that would potentially save an administrator or up to potentially reduce the need of an administrator that would certainly induce the need of a nurse right if we went if we if we the Assumption building the nurse um it could potentially streamline elll Services instead of running our elll teacher all over the place from school to school we trying to do elll lessons online you have your e teacher in in one building um Mr Shorty basic skills probably becomes Consolidated get it Talent it becomes Consolidated all Early Elementary probably becomes consolidated um but there's challenges in then your your transportation costs go up okay cuz then you have to transport kids in different parts of town and if you're going to have an Early Childhood Center then all those kids must get transported and if you're going to have an Early Childhood Center there's only one school that could possibly become an early child Center there's only one school that's one building that's one story that's van sky and Van skyver is too big just to be prek K so now there's a scenario where van skyver could become prek K1 now all those parents that live in the van skyber neighborhood kind of lose that Elementary School in that neighborhood for second third fourth and fifth grade um now we have to transport them to different school right so it was a when we looked at this it was a situation where there were some savings but there were some costs but the reason we didn't continue in those conversations is because the majority I'd say at least 75 % of the community 80% of the community was aggressively against this idea I think like there's creative opportunities to figure out how to make things work you propos that and I I I appreciate that I appreciate that who was working in heights yeah and I think we're losing too many people not to reconsider something like that Michelle I I like the phrase creative opportunity I think there is too but there's never creative opportunities when you have 30 days to figure it out right now that's what we had this budget now we don't have 30 days so we're kind of on the clock I would think now right for next year for 12 months um so you know I think now with time you know we have to prepare I mean if this is really based on income I think everybody would agree that income levels probably didn't drop in 2021 so we better prepare and you're right that is a challenge for me and for the board and administrative team to look towards creative opportunities but we just we didn't have the time to consider those types of aggressive shifts for this school year just a just the closing one to two years is a long time in elementary student's life so like a budget like let's get through the next two years that can profoundly impact outcomes for students especially for our Learners that are elll or who have had um that are shown signs of learning disabilities that the impact is profound 100 % agree every year matters and that's the exact reason why we took those positions that we knew were supposedly only supposed to last one year when those individuals were hired they were informed that this us your money and would likely not be permanent and those positions that were supposed to be do for one year like the math coach or the basic skills teaching assistant we had it a pathway as the slide says to make them last for two years permanent stretched them two years we're just we're just we just don't have the ability to the runway to continue but that's why we hired him to begin with and provided those services for one year and then a second because every year is unfor man I just want to say something to advocate for the counselors we moved here about 6 years ago like not third generation had a Township or anything like that like we were one over as well small town field personalized education that's what we thought we were get getting when we came here um did you get it for a little while more um I will say that elementary schools look like they stretch pretty thin I have a junior in high school and I have a fifth grader how long have you been in t six years um I want to say that Briel Fredericks and and Fernandez have been vital in our existence here in Haden Township so I know that my son is leaving Strawbridge but to if you lost Pam Fernanda that would be an insane loss to this community she has been absolutely amazing Belle same thing and that's really all I want to say is that such an insanely important you're right okay but we we can't we can't talk about individuals all right tonight all right but I'm sure they appreciate the compliment I agree with the compliment I didn't notify staff members that there was going to be any public comment about any particular position so it's it's not legal for me actually to engage with that with you so I'm going to ask that the public does not talk about individual positions I have soft permission to do so from our media Specialists right before the meeting because I thought this might come up but there's a legal requirement before where you talk about individuals in public that they must be notified that that conversation should happen but it's a compliment it's not a problem I understand it I agree with it but we have to be caues there thank [Music] sorry 23er Avenue um just a small it's not a small point to me because my son lost his Latin teacher at and fath grade switched to the Mandarin program and now Mandarin program seems like it's going to be ending as well so he's being deprived of 5 years of continuous education in a foreign language that other students are going to get um it's frustrating as a parent that that was seen it was so heavily promoted as such a wonderful uh addition to our foreign language education and now it's so quickly being uh tossed away so while I'm very aware that the money by the bond M and those for capital projects and you can't support ongoing uh budget um costs um many of the Capital Improvements were designed for the counselors and the media Specialists and the music teachers that we had and now we won't have so I did ask the to be at one of the bond referendum information sessions how will we stop and program this additional space that we're adding um given our already tight budget situation at that time my concerns were were brushed inside I felt um so we're adding robotics we're adding a CAD room and we have been and we have now no a path purchase curriculum or higher Staff for those spaces will we be left with very expensive empty rooms empty counselor's offices counseling was considered important enough to build a dedicated tweet for the middle school with two offices for Middle School counsellors but now they're they seem to be Expendable a state-of-the-art multi million dollar Media Center that you just mentioned was such a priority and now it's not I just for us as taxpayers it kind of divid logic what good are the flashy moving mobile shelves in an otherwise empty Media Center I would have been all in to pay more taxes for music for social emotional learning and a nurse in every school and for the gifted and talented resources that are this District's long neglected legal igation to our students but now I'm paying for lacer rooms to impress opposing teams new showers that will probably never see a drop of water and toxic plastic rag that will only increase our spending in perpetuity feels like waste respond is another magical uniform that one of our bom members referred to that unfortunately now we must ride into a very uncertain future so I had in Township in 2223 anyway ranked fifth in our County for median Administrator salary I wouldn't be surprised if we had recently moved up in the rankings so it's disappointing to me that all this is such a big surprise to our administrator to our administrators you are charged with judicious stewardship of our tax salars and a rigorous decision-making process and we've had a lot of talk about riger over the past few months especially in the context of the grading scale change that we are proposing and we've also talked about what it needs to be a school district for excellence but riger and Excellence have nothing to do with grading scales or football football stadiums and I think it's telling that we lost a music educator and a foreign language teacher before we lost a football coach or an athletic program riger and Excellence have everything to do with our Educators and our academic programs to please prioritize restoring these academic positions and our nurses and our counselors and consider whether cups could be made in administrated administration Athletics or other areas thanks for the extra time is I didn't hear a question I was listening for one um I gu how are we going like long term I think it was I couldn't see I it was J LA but you know year after year we're we're sort of like right on the edge now we've added all the space how are we going to are we going to be here here up to here or what is the how are we going to develop a comprehensive plan to fund our district for the future I think I spoke to it already media the media center I take time for the states reorganized well long-term plan is to absolutely having Media Center Specialists full-time in this in this District in this space in terms of the counseling the work that's being built in the Counseling Center whether we have two counselors to the middle school or one counselor to the middle school we still can't have counseling in the main office and that's where counseling is occurring right now in the main office so whether it's one person or two person that individual needs to move right um down here social worker right here her office is put down hallway here the social worker will probably be good bring social worker position or the equivalent also to um this area to communicate with the U Middle School counsel I right now we have a middle school counselor operating next to the principal's office and po of social worker operating next to the child study team along ways in different schools a matter of fact so the space whether it's the number of counselors we still need a different space for counsel this Media Center needs to change and we need you know not only we need this space to continue it needs to fun a higher capacity um said there are no there are no there were no um reductions to the emerging Technologies lab or any other program that we're adding the robotics I asked the bot sounds great I the cabin sounds great what how we the curriculum that we're going to use how are we going to be to hire teachers and you were like yeah absolutely the robot the robotics have started as a club in terms of the emerging technology Labs I Envision that being taught by the teach that we have now as an integrated program not as a separate course to beginning so well another thing I look for and trying to prepare for this and that is what's the I know the recommended ratio of school counselors to students it's 250 to1 right so we're not going to be anywhere near that now please that but what's the recommended ratio of like School principles to students because preschool principles for 600 students seems like a lot I don't think there is one I think it's buildings it's buildings and so there's five and what what really frankly is one building right the middle school and the high school are pretty hard to tell when you're in one part and not in the other part there's five administrators in one building yeah about a th kids I mean is that as that the ratio that's a lot a lot well there's two principles for this pretty much the same amount of know I don't know 450 here how many in the Middle School versus 450 in the Middle School 600 in the high school it's it's it's not easy it's not easy if you think of principal job let me tell you something every job in education is do there's no easy jobs they're all hard we have additional comments or questions from folks we haven't heard from just as a reminder um folks are able to speak once during each public comment section of the evening and we will have another one um after we vote on the agenda tonight [Music] before we continue can you just clarify I guess for us and for the public on exactly what we are and are voting on tonight so like um Dr pharo said that you know we aren't voting on specific position cuts or specific position individuals tonight so correct we are voting on the budget as whole and it is is required to be a balanced budget so our expenses and our revenues need to match um we will vote at the May 16th meeting on renewals of positions we will not vote on non-renewals but we will vote on the renewals and folks who will be asked to return next year on May 16th so tonight is just the overall large budget numbers in different buckets of the budget what's our general fund what's our special Revenue fund what's our debt service fund what's our total base budget so that's what we're voting on today I just Christina shy 230 Morgan Avenue so you have missing board members here tonight so they don't come into play at all they don't have like an abente vote nothing they're not here so they don't vote correct we did this is we previously voted on a draft budget folks are unable to to make it tonight are not able to vote on this budget we do need to have a um a yes vote from a quorum of the full board which is five um yes votes from the board and then in May the board members who are in attendance will vote on that thank can I just say two more things before we move in um listen if anybody has potential Solutions um that you know I hear your concerns if there's things that you think that we may not have phone if you have suggestions of different ideas that you may have for either now in the future whether they're shortterm or longterm reach out to me or any member of the administrative team if you have ideas for Solutions I understand your cause for concern I share in them the other thing is if you have ideas to like set up this room better the whole time I'm talking I didn't know what was happening behind me so um I apologize that we didn't have enough seats I don't know if we need to turn turn to you or start to put seats in the back there you didn't actually see the slides I'm going to send them out um tomorrow uh for over the weekend uh so maybe if you have an idea for how room should be set up so folks can actually see the screen as well so thanks for coming out tonight uh had couch is uh couchet is a great place not only because of all the commitment to education um people really care right that that that's you know I'm not going anywhere I'm planning on coming back next year I hope they be here for a long time uh but if something happened to me on the way home tonight you know I would say that and this is my last night in the district I would say that uh and it's not right but I would say that people care and and the reason listen we have disagreements right we have different ideas you know I have a recommendation before the before the uh Community tonight and you know maybe 50% of you thinks they stink right I mean I we did the best we could with it right and that's fine at least you show up and you care and you're honest and you and you tell us what you think and in other districts a lot of places they don't care as much right so at the end of the day it's not easy right and no position is easy um we made this budget in good faith with the students interest um first um none of this was taken lightly it was all with careful consideration many sleepless nights not just from the superintendent I'm the spokesperson for this this isn't my budget right I'm the spokesperson I'm the leader it's on my shoulders if these decisions weren't made in the vacuum right and spoke to the team structure that we had I'm not going to hide behind my administrative team at the end of the day ultimately than my recommendations uh but whether you showed up tonight to say we agree or whether you showed up tonight to say we disagree or whatever I do thank you for showing up I I would never take that for granted because showing up means you care so thank you I am going out to just get a few answers for you but I just wanted to share this because the question came up um right now the standard for administrators per students it's about 14.3 students per administrator in the state of New Jersey but we will'll do a deeper dive and we'll get all of it all right we are going to move into section five of our agenda finance and Facilities this is where we will vote on adopting the budget for next year can I get a motion to approve approve item 5.1 the final 2024 2025 budget adoption motion approve second any questions from the board roll call Mr Kendall yes Mr L yes Miss Robin yes Miss G yes Miss anle yes all right we're going to open it up to our final public comment section of the evening same um as before please state your name address and hold your comments to 3 minutes um anyone who has off spoken is welcome to speak again dur comment period i a question Alan H 13 um I was just curious in the presentation um it sounded like it was the um decision to not consider going above the 2% cap was there a reason why had Township was like legally prevented from going above or was it just a preference of the administration I think it's appropriate question I think with the bond referendum it just WR my recommendation with the bill that is proposed that looks like it's going to pass the board would have the legal ability to exceed the 2% cap um I wouldn't recommend it uh just because of bond referend that we had advertised that your taxes are going to go up by a certain number based on assessed home with the understanding as for a decade we've operated under the 2% tax of c and I think that that has supported us y the referendum the op that the board is doing something unfair underhand even law change so I think it's something that the board could to consider but at first uh that first blush I would be concerned with um diminishing returns for Community Support were we able to go above the 2% this year with our increased healthare costs that didn't meet the criteria no there may be some Bank cap for next year but it was not for this year there was $300,000 that we could have so there was no no way we could have gone above 2% until the potential Bill allows that correct there was a small small small percentage small adjustment that we could have gone over got it and chose not to chose not to thought I mean I think it's at least something worth considering because you know I mean overwhelmingly you know what I've been hearing tonight is everybody is very uncomfortable with these kinds of cuts you know they're not just you know the fluff the Superfluous stuff that you know you could easily just sort of lose and nobody really notice um you know I my wife's a teacher I know in elementary schools especially how how stretched the elementary schools are and several people have those sen here um and you know head in Township is a certain kind of community it's the kind of community that you want to draw people to and people are being drawn to um you know I I don't think that you can cut too much personally in my opinion um an educator so I decided to this work um I I don't personally think that there's a whole lot more that you can cut from this District without losing the appeal that hand Township has to attract residents um I don't think it's any surprise that New Jersey the number one thing if you're parent when you're choosing where you're going to live is a school district so you know people get the overwhelming feeling that the schools are overwhelmed underst staffed underresourced um which I think with this budget there's a very low risk of that I think it's going to become very quickly apparent to the people in the district and people looking to meet into Township so um I think it's just something to be aware of a school district is really I think personally the most important feature in a town in it's it's long-term success consistent stability Ellie I just wanted to say that uh if the bill were to pass first of all hasn't yet so how much would we have to raise how much percentage interesting to to to restore all these we're not required to raise any we are allowed to raise our taxes in order to be equivalent to oneir of the funding we lost oneir of the F that's the bill mhm because the bill would as it's structured would provide 2/3 of the funding back so then we could increase the tax levy for that final it's part of that same bill yeah it's almost like the they're thinking somebody's thinking oh yeah hypothetically oh we give two thirds and they can raise a third there is a separate bill that is just about raising the tax levy that I have not spent as much time in um just because we've already asked our taxpayers to raise their taxes so but we can look into that for go ahead yeah let's keep it to members of the public and then we'll get to final four questions um I second with what Mr H said I think that um your priorities your values do are reflected in your budget I think this is a town that as Dr cares very much about education um I think it's really worth looking at this and I'd also love to know B percentages you just gave in terms of the um being able to raise the the tax dollar amount wise per hous down to and perhaps you don't have those numbers now but they get something should [Music] know probably give you the 3% right the 2% is $41 3% $20 a $20 per 3% is 41 I mean I'm sorry 2% is $41 yeah 3% would be around $20 house that way know what the percent is we would have to figure out the percent right 2% of the tax L is $519,000 so oh got it so basically that 1/3 is basically half of that yeah 2% so it's another percent right likely roughly another perc roughly another per yes and S I'll wait till the end hi n Su 53 e Greenwood Avenue quick question about the healthcare costs are they rising at such a rate because it's for coverage of a small district and if that's the case could you like partner up with other small districts to create a bigger block to have more negotiating power and drive that down absolutely please so we already in we're already in a in a fund that we are with other districts in our both in our property casually and on our health insurance fund so we go in as a okay I thought that might be the case I know for people outside of Education sometimes it helps to hear that like that is not just small yes thank you other questions or comments I just want to name because this is a public hearing about the budget it has felt a little bit different the comment um the public comment sections and that's been intentional because there were a lot of questions so I know if you've been coming to meetings may be like this feels a little bit different we will go back in our regular meetings to what it typically is but appreciate kind of the the back and forth and the questions reason any other someone else has so just to be clear what was approved because we don't have like a text in front of us was it what was published in the newspaper or was it what was published in the newspaper plus some additional literature like what was on the slides it's the second thing so it's what was published in the newspaper because that's the budget that was submitted to the county office on March 20th after that budget was submitted to the county office we then made other adjustments so that's why your question about where that was was budgeted was still in that line item not allowed to change that without handing office approval I I can think that answers my question so we still don't know what actually got so basically it was what was published U you said with those with those CS that [Music] that or this evening but we released the tonight and that to be available to everyone I don't want you to think we were trying to do like a b no no I'm I'm just trying to understand where somebody can say hey let me see the budget right right and the process is very because of the timeline that's the process no I I understand just a clarification because I think a lot of people are like what exactly did we pass right so what what they're passing tonight is what our funds are for the budget so the budget adoption if you look on our agenda is is the general fund budget the special fund budget and the total the total budget yes it's not look down into individual line items in what we've approved so the detail going into build this budget does exist but try to be up front and proactive letting folks know like what the situation is I think it would have been legal for us for me just to ask the board to approve the budget with 15 positions and not to decide until May 16th what those actual positions were sent everybody a letter on May 14th put spreadsheet before the PO go new executive session for an hour before the meeting cut these 15 positions and asked them to vote that night and deal with this backlash in June right that would have been perfectly legal other districts operate like that but as soon as we know that there's a problem like we try to move in an effort to give the board as much information as as we think we can so they're informed let the community be informed what's in state because we're asking you to Advocate the state for on our behalf for the funding for our kids we also did this in an effort to let the staff know that if their position wasn't secure for next year there's a billion more doll in education in New Jersey just not there's positions in other districts it's in good faith that if their position's not secure you know a long time that you let them know so they have an opportunity to another J so there's no kind of you know if what was in the newspaper match the slides like they didn't have they didn't have to do the slides they did the slides and I talk to these people ahead of time they met with un just yeah I'm sorry I didn't mean to imp I just I was just going to get clarification [Music] so question so Kim 900 Avenue and this is probably not popular so Jim you and I hang out together um so somebody made the comment earlier about it's a shame that there aren't that many parents here that have been here to support the grading scale change and I certainly um appreciate what the board does but I'm very disappointed in the number of board members that are here tonight um that is as telling to me as the lack of parent Support over the grading scale and I think we as constituents should recognize that when it comes to November I'm I want to comment on that I usually don't um we've already got a board this board is engaged this board was committed uh this board uh shows up right you don't know what the indidual circumstances are I'm asking you to give the board members that are absent the benefit of the doubt and not misconstrue their absence as a lack of commitment of caring because this is a committed board and I know weing not here okay and I'm just asking you to give me a benefit that [Music] so just make sure we're public any other questions or comments Mr K hypothetically if this bill were to pass and hypothetically if you were to decide to ask the public for more than 2% you know it doesn't say in the bill when we would do this when would the vote be uh it says in the assembly version of the bill which is the most updated version that this would be effective immediately so the funding would go into effect the process to apply for the funding as a grant is supposed to happen immediately now it's still government so I don't know exactly what immediately means um or would look like when they start to implement a process but they they recognize the time crunch we're in for decisions for next year and what that means for us they just can't necessarily move fast enough to me all their well I just want to clarify not clarify but bring up that I may be one of the only ones in the room that remember when we used to vote on the budget every year as a me I I started on the board in like 1993 and so every year we voted on the budget and the great people have had in Township all but maybe like once that I remember in all those years that actually voted turned it down so we tried it maybe they would pass it and if they don't they don't think there would be a vote there there wouldn't be a vote there's not a voting mechanism in the bill I thought you said they would vote to go over 2% you wouldn't have to vote we would the board we don't have to ask the well that clarifies it okay so so okay so there's some trepidation because we just passed the bond referend correct do you remember during the last budget cut when you and I were at the delegate assembly and the proposal was on the floor to allow districts that had cuts to be able to vote among the board to go beyond the 2% cap it's the same type of thing but they're essentially binding it in the same bill okay well if they pass it I guess we got some thinking to do y given what we've learned over the course of the past 4 weeks is it possible at this point for us to submit a second oah request for the 22 income numbers I think that's going to be a part of the equation particularly if these other pces continue to3 I don't know what 23 tax beinged if 23 would be available yet but we should certainly be able to get with that 22 number is anything else for members board um so this what we voted on was this resolution correct so this is public right so yeah I don't know what um folks saw on their on the public side of the agenda so if you go into theenda I mean we could read it to folks if that would be helpful to know exactly what was shared yeah right but that only solves it for one p it up it's on the public can we open screen again Mr we need can we put the screen back up you may and then if you go um to the link on the website to the board agenda to there if folks are interested in being part of organized advocacy efforts just come speak to me give me your name and email after this that would be great and we'll provide a mechanism for you to opt that later as well and propos this course so early in the meeting I wasn't clear so Dr physico you said that we couldn't have increased Beyond 2% and then miss SC you said that we could have 300,000 so we could extend this year next year we have Bank cap that we just received a large increase in Bank 300 389,000 that will reflected next year we Bank C that if we want to increase the budget a substantially more this year looks like that we may have been able to exceed the 2% oh sorry well I guess my question is why was the board informed of this possibility before we talk about that we did talk about that one our meetings cor was it just at finance committee we talked about we talked about the budget meeting we talked about we talked about that we talk about increasing the taxes we talked about a lot of different things okay so at least I remember that but I don't know if that's thank you yeah okay we talked about and we went back and forth about increasing taxes so probably just item scr down 5.1 51 that's the real that's yeah this is what we approved on the screen now that folks have seen that any further questions done public comment well but because we had to this out all right can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting motion to adjourn second all in favor I I thank you all