okay going to call the meeting to order please rise for the flag [Music] salute aliance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one under God indivisible liberty and justice for all in the event of an emergency all people may exit right or left from this room and proceed to an exit door all doors will open from the inside the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Helen board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published in the north Jersey record news the board's official newspaper on March 15 2024 and April 21st 202 notices of this meeting indicating date time and place for posted public on the door of the main entrance to the school and filed with the clerk in the municipality of gon roll call please Mr Abasi here Mr kala m c here Mr Martinez here Mr Mr Ramadan here Mr Mr web he's muted is he M we M here and this is here okay uh I'm going to turn it over to uh business administrator Miss Augustin for the final budget presentation all right this will be the finald that was originally um approved at our preliminary um Meed on March 14 everyone should have this packet in front of them and it's also projected on the screen so we're going to start off with me going through the budget process and then Roa will um discuss some of the goals for the school and then I will come back on and talk about the um finances for this year next year's budget so the budget process has been you know for the last years we start off with our superintendent and VA and principal and administrators and staff members working together to develop the budget um you can go to the next and um if you take in consideration the other instru instuctional programs State mandates District goals and respect for the taxpayers investment the finance committee meets and uh we talk about what some of the preparations for the budget and superintendent and I go through the budget and let them know what the recommendations are the board um the board approved the preliminary Budget on March 14th it was submitted to the count executive County Superintendent for review she goes through her question process and we get it we got our budget approved on April 9th and today we're here to approve the final budget the budget was advertised in the newspaper for the public to review on April 21st and we'll be approved tonight you know with any questions some of the budget highlights this year is we are do doing a tax levy increase one that has not been done in the last five years um this was part because of um some of the State a being a little bit flat this year and we want to kind of just start off being more fiscally responsible and project for future expenses that we want to maintain we also want to take took in consideration that Essa funds are not will not be in our budget next year that is expiring this year um at the end of this school year so we want to make sure that we can keep some of the programs that we discuss going forward this year our overall um State a increase with 7% but the majority of that comes from the preschool day which you will see in our later um slide this next year we are doing um capital reserve projects some of those projects are include the playground security vest and the continuation of our cameras security cameras for the new addition and other areas throughout the building um we are going to be using a surplus of 97,000 which is a line item that is consistently budgeted every year and it varies depending on the audit this amount is from the year of June 2023 so we have one year lagb when we're budgeting for Surplus so our Surplus is just monies that were left over from a previous year that we used to balance the budget and please note that this line item is used every year to balance our budget going forward so it's not new money it's not new discovered money is money that we need to continue with our program and our budget does depend on having that so in our budget we also are budgeting two Preschool teachers a parently ason and a a full-time secretary the main or office and this is a person that will probably be going from part-time to fulltime once um the negotiations are um finally with that and all our budget support all the programs developed during the Co with Essa funds and we will keep try to keep some of those programs in the 2424 um 2425 school year including the B extended and St yes so just go back one slide though the um the pl I'm going to throw extensively about my report um the security vable that's something that we we got our Architects and Hasting to to draw something up what we want is right now you walk at the Helen public school and then you see the security guard and you show them your ID and then it you know it clears and they give you a sticker and you can go to wherever you're you're destined to go um but we want to make it so that you walk in the first set of doors then you meet the security guard then you show your credentials and once you get approved then another set of doors will let you actually get access into our building um it's just an extra level of safety that we think is important so that's something where we' have to push back that that wall we have do some you know some modifications there but that's going to be really good and then you know the cameras they just started we just got them set up and and and working um and there's a lot more cameras and they're a lot clearer now so uh not only do we have access to that but it's something where if there was ever an emergency um George and the rest of the H police they would have access to our cameras to see what the emergency is we're happy with that um and we just finished our project with our security doors so now every single door at our school is electronic um so once you close it it automatically locks we can start a lock down right from our office or a teacher can start right in their classroom with the phone code um and it gives us a a a footprint of who opened what door when right so uh we think it's just one extra level of safety upgrade that we like and then as far as the the two prek teachers um we're fortunate that we we hustle to get them because it's it's hard to get a preschool teacher because to teach preschool you have to get a Ser that says preschool through third grades it's like four different grad to teach if or if you want to become an elementary school teacher you can get a kindergarten through sixth grade certificate so that gives you seven grades so much more people have the K through sixer that have the prek through second grade CT so we knew we had to rush on that um the first one I on her agenda tonight we actually found her and met her at the William Patterson teacher recruitment fair and she did a great job uh same with the the second one we found at the mon Flair State one when I went with qac a week or two ago so I'm excited that we were able to get that because you know fully staffed is one of our District's you know priorities and think thankfully we've been able to do that um and then the the some of the most all the programs we've had since co uh we brought on the boss program that was very very well received we're going to keep doing that we brought in extended day that's been well received we're going to keep doing that um and then our staff we didn't have a full-time Ela coach uh we had one and our scores went up 7% in ela her first year and she's doing a great job uh our full-time seal counselor were able to keep that so a lot of the Staffing things that we've had we didn't lose them so you know that was a really good thing we go to next slide bill please um just a recap of our goals these are the goals that we worked on together they're the board's goals right this is what the board's going to Value me on and partially value me on um to increase student achievement obviously we talked about students and their you know they and also kid but also the opportunities to increase the amount of extracurricular and co-curricular opportunities and clubs and activities for the kids we kept doing that the school safety I discussed before um and our facilities like I'm really looking forward to giving you guys a report about what the playground is going to look like it's going to look really cool uh and just being sustainable um you know this the construction project that we got going on you know things are really starting to really look like a a new floor right now uh and all the things we could do with that extra area is going to be a big deal um so we can go next slide please go and just to align our goals so all of our staff at our school we ask them that one of the each staff has to have three professional goals that they're working on each particular year it's called their PDP um we asked that one of theirs be related to one of our districts and our board goals we're all kind of growing in the same direction in that regard we do the same thing with the administration um and and obviously the board members are encouraged to seek professional development and set their goals that are aligned to our district goals we're all kind of going the same direction with that can I go ahead head uh we just talked again about the the statement of priorities determine student achievement seal and opportunity safety and planning for the future those are priorities within our budget and then this is just you know when we submit our uh budget to the county we have to show that you know certain things we have to make sure we're addressing um so we make sure that you know we're we're fully staffed in mathematics science English social studies 21st century stff but we have budget items to make sure that the teachers and the students can get the materials that they need uh so that learning can occur same thing visual Performing Arts Health World languages and it and Technologies now let me take yes so what you have in front of you now is a annual tax levy and a breakdown of um the general fund versus our special Revenue fund our general fund encompasses our tax levy all the revenue sources that make up our total budget our special Revenue fund is our eser funds our preschool Aid that um the title funds s and preschool Aid that we are allotted to get for next year and our total budget overall with that is 2,689 37 with a 2% tax increase of 6,7 7 um 17447 okay next page this is just an overall history of the tax levy since 2015 as you can see at least five six years of no increase that we've had which we've been fortunate to receive um the tax levy to balance of most of our budget and as you can see that our general fund budget was about 23 million is only 6% of that is the taxpayers responsibility to um fund the districts next is just a bar graph of the history of the tax levy next so what do our um Community impact or tax impact or household impact for our tax tax levy increase is this year again 2% is what we're asking the overall dollar amount is 13174 this is an annual increase of $759 C for total assessment value of 231,000 this is $633 cents per house um per month per household if with this proposed budget okay so based on the average assessment home value and held in of 231 $700 the annual tax free is $75.99 per year or $633 per M for each hous next thank you so what is our Revenue breakdown for our overall budget again our total budget is 2,689 137 6 mil7 is um our tax levy which is our 2% increase our excess Surplus which we noted before in our budget highlight is um 40 um when 45% but it's a small piece of what our budget is too so this is technically our taxpayers money from the um previous year of June 2023 we have our annual um interest on our bank account a miscellaneous amount which is refunds or any type of miscellaneous um funding that the district receive each year we estimate what that cost is and we project how much we think we will get from year to year our state state aid our state aid is where we generally have been funded over the last five years but this year the increase was not as um expected or maybe it was expected in from my perspective because U we knew that eventually the state will level this out in some way um this year wasn't as much as the previous year so that's why we proposed a 2% um increase we also have our semi Medicaid Program which is projected by the state and what we should be receiving in that line item and we have our state and federal grants so this fund 20 is specifically for Title One title two and title three and then we have our preschool Aid which is still part of our fund 20 category but we separated it so that you can see the increase of what we've gotten for our preschools um program from the previous year to this year and this is where the two teachers that we're hiring will be paid out of and we have our Reserve that we're funding our preschool project our security VES and any other Capital um items that we need to take care of for the new upcoming year and this is our total revenue the next page is a breakdown of um what percentage of the revenue is um for each Revenue source and as you can see um the stve a is 14 million and it's a large piece of our budget it's 55% the next page is a breakdown of all the state a that we received our Equalization Aid is was was the lowest um amount that we received and this is more of the concern I have on all of this um out of all the categories because this is where the biggest part of our funding comes from in the previous years that has went down transation Aid usually St steady and then we have our special a and that can fluctuate dependent on our programs every year security Aid and our prea went up um significantly too now we have our Appropriations which is our expenses broken down by program from our regular program to our special a program tuition Transportation Aid maintenance and security central office administration technology salaries health benefits special revenues and capital projects okay the next page is a pie chart of all of those expenses and as everyone knows who deals with nonprofit salaries and benefits are usually the biggest part of all expenses for your operating budget okay this is a breakdown of our salaries by program okay then a chart to show me percentage and so this is our positions that we've already spoke about that we're just part of our budget we have our preschool two Preschool teachers our secretary transportation and BMG and our support stab which is our parenton the next slide is our capital projects security projects builds in addition playground and improve then we have at the next slide which is our equipment that's a part of our Capital expenditures next year which is our server room our continuation of our classroom funds our security um camera project and smart wordss for the new addition also we we can get to the comments but also you have a copy of the budget broken down by account lines and also there's a summary on the top of that each category according to each um budget okay any questions the slide said that all the programs were from the S funds were continued and when you're you said some is it all or some it is some is not all right I don't know which ones were not which ones were not boss is coming back extended day there's those are the big ticket items and the the Staffing is a big ticket um I can't recall a program that was cut like we we haven't cut anything so I think that's the most accurate answer question thank you so much Miss A and then we'll vote on this later on in the agenda okay can I have a motion to accept correspondence have a second second mov by Mr Martinez seconded by m f roll call please mras yes Mr K yes m k yeah Mr Gman I want to thank Miss Solomon for her service to our school district she's moving out of state ask for her letter of reservation to South Carolina we wish her the best my vote is yes Mr Martinez yes Mr Mar uh Mr rad yes Mr web yes M yes okay can I have a motion to accept prior minutes by Mr Martinez second by Mr call please Mr I'm gonna Mr yes Mr yeah Mr gar yes Mr Martinez yes Mr Ramadan yes Mr yes yes okay let's see let's open the Flor I have a motion to open the floor to Citizens on agenda items only by Mr Martinez second by Mr Abasi roll call please Mr ABI yes Mr yes Mr yes Mr Gman H yes Mr Martinez yes Mr V yes Mr web yes yes okay the floor is open to Citizens on agenda items only um a couple things about the agenda um I see the report from Kathleen a couple things I wanted to point out is if we're gonna have focus group I suggest having a usual person except having somebody who is affiliated with the town or with the boards or any type of Bo of Education um she states here that uh after remote learning uh there was stress and lingering uncertainties and stuff like that about the report um not for nothing but because of the poor job that was done um with remote learning during the pandemic might contribute to some of that I also to point out that we didn't have any clarification on apparently uh position or with uh the reason why were picking someone from the certified Angel so I wanteded to see if we actually uh wanted if we had any other people that actually appli to the go um he also back sorry um determining where Cuts me needs to be made and um she said they the group of people said that it was for sure to preserve the the counselor for the which is not entirely true there were people that were upos to it and again once again I'm going to say that we only had 10 parents that came out um we also had teachers that were also including including the person so why would they say anything against their Ro she's sitting in the same room doesn't make any sense to do that um the goal is to get I mean I get that we had a focus group and I'm okay with that and I feel like that's a good thing that we have opinions of parents however we need to do it the right way there's other there's focus groups and there's doing it the right way as far as um getting the parents in the room just having the parents not the superintendent in the room if you want to do that in one group setting that would have been okay but again these are maybe 10 parents that came out and some of them were repetitive like myself I went them so my opinion was definitely noted again I want out the certifi umire we not have anybody else that apply for that before we address any comments I want to get all any other comments and then we'll close the floor that's it okay can I have a motion to close the floor second second by Mr Martinez seconded by Mr Abasi call please Mr yes Mr K yes Mr yes Mr G yes Mr Martinez yes Mr Ramadan yes Mr web yes Mr yes so um The Parent Academy report is on the agenda and we are going to discuss it any questions that board members have or any questions that the public has we can discuss that during new and old business um and as far as the parent Le on can we say how many applicants we have we received multiple apps I can find that exact think she like her attention yes so we did get applications um probably at least 10 um some of them were were from staff members some of them were from people in the community um and we pick the person that we think is going to be really good for that role okay and again this is also on the agenda so if any board members have questions about that position uh when we get to personnel and management we can ask those questions then um anybody else want to yep Mr Gman I remember at the last inperson meeting that I was at I literally gave a dissertation as chair as chairperson of personnel B board let's expand the certified program they are proving themselves in afare let's expand certified this program to also take over uh parent coordination where they would hire a parent coordinator they would handle that aspect according to our school administration requirements so I just want to point that out be more than glad I can email you that entire thing that I read last the last meeting um and it should be in the minutes too okay understood um but uh yeah that's that's all I have on that um also Al um I do have some comments about the budget but I'll wait till it comes up okay all right yeah Kathleen hell is not affiliated with New Jersey school boards any longer so she's a consultant that has done she was our liaison when she was or our rep when she was um with New Jersey school boards Association and she did a very good job and now she has been come back to work with us as a consultant um so she's not affiliated with New Jersey Schoolboard Association or she's an independent consultant thank you um all right so committee oh no so now I think uh oh yeah we're going to do the committee reports first we'll just go through the list and then we'll uh approve we'll vote on the budget so let's start here uh so first um my report a minute here okay uh so good evening everyone thank you for joining us tonight first and foremost I want to acknowledge the passing of former Helen Board of Education member and former uh board president Mark MOSI uh Mr MOSI served on the HPS Board of Ed for 17 years six of those as president he was also involved in the Nights of Columbus was a hailed in pal softball and baseball coach and was a cup Scouts Mentor so uh I didn't know him personally but what I've learned about him he I got the sense of a person who was deeply committed to his family and to his community as to Mr M's family um and especially to his wife Joanne who worked many years in the HPS cafeteria uh and we give thanks for his years of dedication and service to our district and may He rest in peace um secondly I want to thank our business administration administrator Miss Augustin for her hard work and expertise on our new school Year's official budget it's not an easy task to Crunch all the numbers and cover all the critical fiscal areas of the district that a district needs um and though there's going to be a 2% tax levy increase this year this is still a strong budget and it's a successful budget um next I want to welcome Mrs poano to the HPS Administration as acting vice principal Mrs poano has been a dedicated teacher and HPS faculty member for many years and she was here long before my time at HPS began uh and I'm confident that she'll do a good job as acting vice principal for the remainder of the school year I also want to note that the permanent position of vice principal has been posted and remains open for staff to apply until May 1st the official start date for the position is July 1st um and speaking and while we're on staff I want to also thank our two teachers who will not be coming back uh for their um service to our students and our school Community um Miss Solomon and Miss Reus um next I want to give a few shoutouts to our amazing students and staff for a jam-packed month of Stellar activities and I know that Mr W already posted about a lot of these events on the face the HBS Facebook page but since I attended many of these events I wanted to give my own personal Kudos so I had the pleasure of attending the HPS dinner and show event that featured performances from our chorus orchestra band and drama club and students did a great job of showcasing their hard work and their talent while the audience enjoyed the music as well as grap food and even better company I also loved watching hbs's rendition of Guys and Dolls Jr the cast was not only skilled in their acting and singing skills abilities but they were enthusiastic and they were professional Bravo to all the student performers and their directors teachers and mentors miss nento Mr Morris Miss Catz and Mr de philippus um and though Mr waga is better at using the athletic vernacular than I am I also want to congratulate our boys and girls baseball and softball teams on their recent wins and their commitments so far this season uh quick kudos to your dedicated coaches Miss SAA uh Mr Mayor Hower and Mr hackbar and athletic director Miss pin uh lastly I want to give a shout out to the helden PTA for bringing us a fun evening of high excitement pro wrestling there was a really good turnout and the proceeds benefit not only the H um the held of PTA but also stve jud's children hospital um next I want to thank Mr WKA and facilitator Miss Hela and of course our HPS parents teachers and staff who participated in the forart par and Academy which discussed school programming and areas of importance for the coming school year Miss hela's comprehensive summary report is on the agenda tonight and it reflects the thoughtful conversations and input that came out of this project um this feedback will be put to good use in planning for the new school year and any questions or comments um that the board members have uh can be discussed during new and old business um next I want to mention that Mr Waka Miss Hela and I met last we to discuss the agenda for the um upcoming Bo Retreat on June 1st um so we'll be reflecting on our goals from this past year and looking ahead to new goals and how we can continue to make progress as a board and also an important note this is going to be a pot again so so for anyone who wants to show up their cooking skills start thinking of your the dish that you want to bring um and lastly I want to point out that we have a meeting date change in May uh I didn't realize that the May 29th board ofed meeting conflicted with the last Caya County uh School Board Association meeting so this County meeting will be extra special because two of our board members are getting a board member certification Mr MCO and Mr Gman so um I'm asking those that the May 6th meeting and the May 29th meeting are cancelled and we're have we have a new date of May 13th Monday May 13 so I'm asking every board member to please do their very best to attend this County meeting number one to support our board members who are getting their certification and number two so we can start earning credits towards our bir board certification as a whole so as I've noted in the past um attendance by the entire board or a majority uh at SBA meetings and professional development um events earns Us credit towards our whole board certification so I am just note I I'm aware that Mr gizman has a conflict with that date that he had mentioned quite some time ago but uh hopefully the rest of us can attend it should be a good good meeting uh and that is it for my report so I am going to turn it over to our chief School administrator Mr W thank you Mr board president I agree on Mr M's passing um I work with daughter that's I first met him when I was at pcti and they're a wonderful family um so thank you for bringing that up um today J main uh myself M had a very productive meeting with our project uh vendor that installs every aspect of playground flooring and Equipment uh the bottom line is that the absolute best month for this project to begin will be in August it takes about two weeks uh sup To Nuts to install the playground matting and the equipment and August is great because we don't have very many kids at school during that time of the year and uh the temperature will be over 50 degrees each day and that's something that they whatever they need to do with the rubber they can't do it if it's below 50 degrees um so we're going to be working with our construction team that's doing the big project over there uh to see if there's if there's a way we could create some space in August so we can get the the the playground put together and then installed at that point uh we're going to look to get rid of some of the more outdated playround equipment in addition to redoing the entire floor matting because the floor matting um as they're currently they're on their last the matting's on its last legs it's very worn down um and I was going to show you pictures tonight of what we project the playground is going to look like it's going to look fantastic um but we I had asked for you know I want there just to be an inclusive playground I want that to be a core part of it and the drwings we got back there was one or two pieces that were inclusive but I I said listen this is this is not a cosmetic thing we we want it to be inclusive playground uh we uh so we're looking to put in harmony Chimes sensory walls um Team based playground equipment that promotes face-to-face eye contact so students must work together to play we're also going to include drum roller tables roller ball tactile equipment uh as well as other team based seesaws that require students to sit in chairs and move together as a team in order to make the equipment move um it's going to be really neat once once we get the drawings put together and we actually see it in but I'm looking forward to showing you guys once we get those artistic Renditions um once we get to the next phase of the project like I said I'll share the visuals um but I think it's going to be really really neat um so I'll get you more information on that as to when we expect to start that project but it's going to be one project to another project to another project you know um which is good um we also now have a cut through near The Cliff Street that is open in the morning and the afternoon so that parents staff and students do not have to walk all the way around the building to enter through the front doors um we appreciate the advocacy of all those that helped us get this in order I know the he police are very helpful with that U now that the construction has taken a phase whereby we're not going to need steel anymore we're not going to need frames anymore uh they were able to make room through this cut through and uh it's been well received thus far by the staff and hopefully by the parents of the students item three State Testing started today uh this process will go on for the next few weeks we're pleased that our scores jumped by 7% 5% resp effectively in ela and math last year and based on the data we've received from our first three benchmark assessments uh there's good reason to their wild cats will continue to show improve skills uh Miss Troy and Miss Ramos have done nothing short of a fantastic job as academic coaches and the bottom line is that we have very good teachers at the H public school and I'm proud that we have them in our team helping our students uh as Lisa mentioned Friday night we had East Coast professional wrestling and it was it blast the crowd was at least double the size of last year probably the more and the the skill of the wrestlers was amazing there's pictur of them flying off the top ropes and doing all crazy stuff and the PTA uh did well selling uh food and drinks for their own profit so I want to thank everyone that helped out uh with this um I want to Echo George's comments on Miss Solomon she was such a she is such a good art teacher um I hope she changes her mind it doesn't move to S to South Carolina but we were really lucky to have her for as long as we did she'll be missed um and here's something I want to discuss that may come to your attention as board members um in the past when we selected dates for high school graduation for our Middle School graduation the first thing I would do is I'd look to see when John and the Manchester crew was doing their graduation date then I looked to see what pcti was doing because I didn't want to have a situation where a parent might have to choose between what child they they go to the graduation um and that was never a problem till this year and the problem is because pcti has simply got is so big that they have multiple graduation dates and multiple graduation times that that's that's the truth of it right uh and this makes it incredibly difficult for us to guarantee that our graduation night will be on a night that PCA doesn't hold one of its many graduations um so this was the first year where um there's there was just so many there's only so many days in that week where everyone's through the graduations across the state and there's only so many days that we're going to work and we thought we had one that was working but then there's now the the Diana leasco STEM Academy and they have their graduation the same day and that's not even part of the one of the main pcpi graduation it's a separate high school but still somehow still the same district up there um so I get that the parents there's one or two parents that are in that conundrum at this point we have we know in our school Community there's parents that there grandparents that fly in or make plane reservations we we can't change it at this point no matter what um we'll do our best to try but it this is going to be a itical issue you know if moving forward that we'll try our best to try not to double book but it's it's going to be very hard is there has the date been announced yet so our graduation date has been announced yes um it's just that we didn't factor in the the now their other their other new graduation that they have and it's just they have graduations there two or three days that week and that's what it is that's my report Mr Walker any questions from Mr Walker okay um thank you madam president um you have already mentioned about the board um meeting change day so I just want to just again reiterate that we're only having one meeting in May May um 13th in the May 6 and the May 29th meeting is canceled the notice already went out to the newspaper if you got anyone has any time from uh I wanted to also note on the agenda today that the work work shop the New Jersey school board Workshop in the fall is on October 21st to the 24th I've already um did the registration there's an early registration that goes out for attendees up to 25 and it's a discounted amount of $2,100 for um early registration individual registrations are 550 a pie so that's why we usually do it this year in the current year even though it is for next year just wanted everyone to know that's we took the liberty of registering everybody and if anybody does not want to go just let me know the price still will be the same because that's the overall cost for up to 25 candidates when you do the um ear registration I can just take your name out if you guys are not going but this is why we U register every year early um you'll also see on the agenda that you everyone has a um expenditure amount please just know that that's a conflict so don't vote for yourself doing that um agenda item and that is between 9.6 and 915 and that is it regarding the workshop but as far as um other things that are going on into the district this month month of may we have our food service vendor um bid opening that's happening so on May 15th if anyone is interested in coming to do the walk through all interested vendors will come and walk through the capitalia and see if they would like to put in for that so that will be May 15th at 9:30 the actual bid opening of the RFP opening is on May 22nd at 11 A.M uh Mr W or you mentioned some of the projects that I was going to note but we do have a few other ones that were fixing the soft softwall fields on May 4th there we're going to be getting new INF new bases new PCT Mount and it will start around May 4th the playground we mentioned the cafeteria will be painted during um the summer months for upgrade we're also looking to do other projects for the cafeteria because right now we have a surplus in the um in the um in the the budget and how it works is that we only can really have up to three to four months of a surplus in the cafeteria and we have to um do something with those expenditures so the State doesn't allow us to have um a certain amount of money that's in there but we could use it for upgrades in projects or equipment that we will need for the project so we're going to be sitting down with Mr Walker and jerine and figure out what other projects that we can do to upgrade the cafeteria okay uh other things that are happening is the master keys I think you've already mentioned that we are doing lead testing threeyear lead testing has come up this year that will be done in June one school out so every three years we're required to do a lead testing in um the district so we're um I think expires in September but we're going to do it in June so while the kids are not we thought that was a better time to do it and then we're going to be changing out the cool changing out the cooling from the heating and getting this the system ready for the summer or at least and other items on the agenda tonight we have have our safety Grant which we approve annually and this is from our insurance company we put in um a request or they reach out to us to see if there's any projects that we can use any grant money for which is um usually around $2,000 this year is 2300 and every year I pretty much use it for upgrades of anything that has to do with security and we're using it for the security Des or we apply whatever um monies that we have less towards um the camp project and we also have on the renewal of our Horizon Dental plan which um we selected we have the option to to select a one year or two year the one year is 0% so I usually select that and see you know what happens next year so that we don't have an increase there but usually when we do the one year they is for the last two years I think it's been 0% so we're going to keep that training to changes ofse and then we have our application payment for our construction project application number five for $400,000 and that is all I have I have a question yes so you know Mike about the njsba thing and I was surprised because I hadn't even signed up I get why Lois would have signed me up it would make sense for that but I I appreciate you did that um it's one of the things though for me I might go for a day maybe two but you know being out four days the reason I'm not going to the superintendent Conference next week just too much for me to catch up on so I just wanted the board to note that it's it's very like it might only go for a day or two and if everyone has a custom um you know request of you're only going to go two days or three days or one day just let us know but I've learned in the past like soon as the email came out even when we tried to book oceans it was already booked everything so I just booked everybody I registered everyone and I also booked the hotel because last year we just had a hard time getting everybody all the want so we can always cancel it's enough time to cancel um with the hotel we we don't have to pay right now but the registration doesn't change so the registration is $21 $2100 regardless of five people or more it's just more expensive to do individual registration is $550 per person okay yes I just have one question it says up to 25 but we're not on the hook for 25 people so it's up to 25 that they required to pay for 25 positions right I just want to make sure the registration for $2,100 it's from five people to 25 so you can have 20 you can have six this is still the same price thank you question budget it's it's July the June the year July 1st to June 30 okay so the the playground starting in August is part of the playground improvements Capital project fine so anything doing with that we're doing Softball field you mention Bas amount stuff counted for this year budget no that's going to be done in the summer that's next year the the mount no the mount yeah that's no I'm sorry that's first that's account for the current I thought you I I jump yeah I switched topics real quick on yes okay moving on to reports um personnel and management Mr gizman yeah if I may um please please don't confuse uh my passion for public service with the me being upset or anything like that but I'm very passionate about this you know when someone comes up here and says did a poor job during covid-19 I'm sorry but I can't sit here good faith and not respond back um what I saw during covid-19 is a school district that delivered the most instructional hours in person in the entire region without one outbreak of covid-19 I saw a school principal at the time in Mr waa driving around our entire School Community while everybody was scared with their masks on and we were inside we folks were scared Mr Waka was out there living delivering packets to children in the community risking his life I saw a VA come in during the public health emergency and hit the round the round the ground running immediately in m m AUST you know we lost our director of physical plan and operations during that time and I saw superintendent who came in here and L a cabinet meeting and made sure that our school district was resilient during that time that is one of the most toughest one of the most craziest times that we will ever see in our lives and I feel that this school district 100% delivers for our community you don't believe me go ask any other surrounding surrounding jurisdiction okay the the proof is in the pudding what other school district didn't raise taxes for five years straight without no cuts and services without and remaining debt free a new playground a new addition that is unprecedented I challenge each and every one of you I challenge the members of the public to go look around the state for a school district that's our size with our demographics that's been able to accomplish what this school board has accomplished as a team I challenge you so for someone to come up here constantly and deliver negativity that's that's one thing I'm all about you want to come here and you wanna you want to keep us on our toes checks and balances I think that's a beautiful thing and please keep coming but I'm not going to have no come here and deliver lies to the community and I'm going to stay shut because I'm not going to stay shut because that is not true the truth of the matter is that this board has given their heart and soul to the school Community especially our superintendent nrba and our entire Administration all our teachers every day they come in every day they give it they off day in day out night in night out for someone to come here and say we did a poor job during covid-19 are you kidding me give me a break agenda items only thank you Mr Gman and I I I I feel the need to comment um I agree with everything that you said but especially the covid-19 I think we did a great job I think our district did a great job I think our board did a great job and I'm very proud of that so go ask these other parents that had to leave their kids home alone with a grandmother who maybe didn't understand how to work a computer we kept the school open for those children so they're not home alone so we don't have to deal with juvenile delinquency in our neighborhoods I can and on that note I'm sorry but I I lost an officer this morning and there's we're getting together tonight to uh commemorate him Madam uh president if I canc if I canum thank you George um because we started talking about Co our teachers came to work even though some of them many cares our teachers didn't do uh you know those no confidence because they had to come in they didn't do organized souts that other districts you know had done um and it was scary trying to do remote learning they' never been trained for it and they did a great job at the start and they kept getting better uh because it was brand new and they they performed for this community when we needed the most and and not every District could say that um so I'm very proud of not what what I did but we couldn't have done we did if it wasn't for the board and the teachers they buying it and their their just desire to do right by kids so that's all I want to say let's see curriculum and Technology Mr web items only policy and public relations it security and safy agenda items only Community engagement ex Mr Abasi yeah there's a there's three things on the agenda we kind of spoke about the parent Academy already um just one thing on there or a couple things it was mentioned um in there there was a request from the parents based on the report um that parents and family need to be provided with resources to support um advancement of the children's learning at home um for some of those enrichment programs um and then there was a section about for the next section talked about the extended day program of the summer enrichment um just highlighting that there's there's no charge for help students um so we should encourage parents to take advantage of that and it showed how the involment has dropped um so I don't know if we can if there's something we can do um to try and encourage that's a great point I think the impetus of this new parent Lea on commission and one of the reasons why it became very attractive to hire someone that is still in our building is that it we we want to kind of have someone that's going to be just another mouthpiece or communication instrument or utilize communication instruments to get information directly to parents about hey there's free summer school or free you after school enrichment Shoring um so we're hopeful that will will drive up the enrollment um yeah I totally agree I since you mentioned not not necessarily tied into Community engagement but the app Aon during the budget meeting you talked about um the pdps that each each teacher has is there anything for the parent gon position so it's not a certified staff member so Jeff correctly if I'm I'm wrong they wouldn't fall under the achieve NJ law which requires a PDT um it's something that we have to create an evaluation instrument to evaluate because everyone needs evaluation the year you know to show they did we we don't have that yet um but it's something that you know we we'd have to we'd ask the employ to make goals but it wouldn't just be through the same exact format is that right Jeff right the job description does say alignment though so I think it just a different format but we do want the same alignment and the administrators to evaluate this so maybe if if you brought up the curenton with regards to um trying to support these programs maybe we if we look at the enrollment if it increases maybe that's something that's a great metric break there I agree and you know I was going to bring this up after but since we're talking about this now um you know the and and to Miss's point about having groups of parents uh without necessarily somebody from this you know the administration involved you know so parents can speak more freely um or somebody from the board involved which is you know by the way one of the reasons why I didn't go to those first few uh Parent Academy meetings because I just kind of wanted to stay you know stay back um and let people speak a little bit more freely that's also another you know me this position is um there's a lot of potential here you know for the for this position and it's new so it's you know we can kind of crafted as we go you know as as the needs come up right yeah and I think too like we we talked about the data a year or two ago but like every year if you're a haing public school student even if take away the preschoolers the kindergarteners coming in take away the eighth graders that are going to go to high school there's a 25% chance you're going to leave throughout the year or come in throughout the year like our our turnover ratees really really high people coming to so you know it's easy for us to fall into the Trap and say we made this message last year we promoted this program but yeah not a people issue there's a whole there's a whole bunch of new faces and new community members and you got to do it again right so it's easy to to kind of forget that sometimes I think having someone who's whose primary job is to do that I I think it'll help yeah and and I have full confidence in your the the choice there's a process that's in place you know it it it goes through the way it should and I have full confidence in the person who has been appointed and in in your decision making okay uh so um thank you Mr aasi okay and now finance and physical PL um it okay um I did have a question about um you know what I'll wait until we vote I have a question for that wa until we vote all right for state and County um so on April 19th Miss quadrado and I had the pleasure of attending the New Jersey Schoolboard association's inaugural women's leadership conference um there was a great keynote speaker there were interesting sessions to choose from and there was a panel discussion um the women's speakers and the session moderators were all successful leaders in their professional Arenas and uh their experience their advice their feedback they were really valuable and inspiring to me I got a lot out of it um m p do you want to add anything it was very informational I I really enjoyed it yeah it was it was a good conference and I I they had a great turnout so I'm sure that they will be continuing um you know and it wasn't just about the women in the room it was about moving your District forward and you know um and moving female students and nail zes and everybody forward you know it's it's it's a big part of it was you know equity and inclusion and um that's important you know all around for everybody okay um the other two main things that are coming up are um the prequel to the workshop so the um pre I guess they're calling it the pre Workshop um which is taking place on Friday May 10th and that's like an all day um event with different sessions going on um that's going to be at the merer County Community College um Conference Center and then of course as I mentioned the uh the Wednesday of the the last faade County SBA meeting of the year and I really hope that you can all attends um that's May 29th um if you want to go there is a hybrid um option uh but if you want to go in person you can have dinner it's at the uh black hole steakhous um and I don't have the time here but they usually it's like dinner is 6 o' and then the the the agenda starts the program starts around 7 um and that's it for for that okay so let's go back up to okay so let's see personnel and management Mr Martinez uh agenda items I'm sorry we're moving y 8.1 oh I'm sorry you know what I I miss I skipped the oh I'm sorry I I forget I'm sorry uh but you know what before we do that hold on did I where is the we have to vote on the budget yeah okay so I apologize um so okay can I have a motion to pass uh no no no I'm sorry can can um yeah can I have a motion to pass the budget so move second okay so moved by Mr Martinez seconded by Mr Abasi roll call please Mr Abasi yes Mr Keta well I am grateful for the past several years we have not increased the tax Budget on the or the tax levy on the voters I don't think that we should continue to pass a budget that includes no Cuts so when you're asking it's like no one cares about spending other people's money because whatever we'll just spend everybody else's money most of the budget is made up from a gift from the state that if the governor changed tomorrow it's not guaranteed there's not a single step taken to look at what would happen and while I grateful for the work everyone in this room has done there was nothing special that was done by the board of hailen regarding getting the state aid that was given on a formula from the governor's office that's it so my vote is not mrada yes Mr Martinez yes Mr Ramadan yes Mr web my vote is yes I just want to thank Miss Austine and her team for the hard work of putting together the budget um especially after the lacking of funding that we received this year so my vote is yes Mrs uh yeah I want to point out that the 2% tax Lev increase is going to only yield an average annual cost of 7596 per household 633 monthly for average so I think it's it's a good budget and I vote Yes okay so now let's go on to our uh committees um and now personnel management Mr Martinez so I'd like to move 8.1 through 8 [Music] second mov by m Martinez seconded by m p roll call please Mr can I just ask one question on 81 what what's the bcba good question so that's a a behavior specialist I forget what the it's Behavior something Behavior Analysis Behavior speci something like that um he's he's not a a certified teacher we've had him for a couple years he's done a really good job we've had the behavior position a number of years but because he's not a classroom teacher he had to be rehired through this method okay so it's not a it's not a new position or filling somebody else here yes Mr Question on 814 can 84 the parent L is on what is that under the duties I mean it's not in a personal attack however we I asked about it personally before this isn't it fall under the op the obligations and the job of the chief School administrator as well as the multiple other Vice principles that we have I don't think again you just asked to raise people's taxes but we're going to give somebody else a job for something that literally should fall under your actual duties that we're already paying for but no one cares we'll just keep spending money answer part of my job is this commucation P absolutely and I think you do a very good job it's not a personal attack I voted to approve the contract you remain it's not a personal attack but it's frustrating where it's always very frivolous and everyone votes the same all the time I'm literally the only person that's not voted the same as a board in the two years I've been on the board it's very frustrating when no one asks any only one person on the board I ever see asked question no uh yes for everything except a for okay so I'm going to address that because uh there's some something to be said for apparently aison who justes is not affiliated with the administration is not affiliated with the staff or the teachers that's important that's important people will feel more comfortable with somebody in that position yes by definition they're Affiliated they're an employee of the school that literally makes zero sense by definition the person would be Affiliated that's like me saying that we're not affiliated you are affiliated even though your duties are different they're not going to come to you same way or me the same way they would come to it's literally just another person to just give money to to do a job that we're it's not another person to give money to it's a role that that's their main responsibility their responsibility is not to oversee the school it's not to teach children it's to it's it's to deal specifically with the parents and we have the funding for it we're not it's that's funding that we're using and that's gone next year this is federal so this is federal title title one so it's not even the bottom line to everything every said is fair the bottom line is know this board had approved had asked and approved to create this position in the previous meeting we we posted the job three weeks went by someone have to be hired for that job so that's you know the the conversation about whether we we want the position or not it's a valid conversation but that was the conversation for five or six weeks ago this this is about we have to hire somebody to know this is the person we hired also want to say that well go ahead because this I was say I think so what we started to talk about earlier the discussion of what person's going to be doing and how they're going to be evaluated would help decide heyy next year do we need this position so I think that's pretty important to see I'll create I'll create proposed evaluation group chair of the board there a mas6 our next meeting good I want more time I also want to know that this didn't create this position this position was from the federal government so they gave this they gave this two job descriptions one if you want to certificate a staff member or non-certificated staff member so we didn't make this up this is something that they said here here's Title One mon money and you can do it for this position it was so worthwhile that they have they even have gave us a job description that we we almost took 100% yeah and I think there's a lot of value in that position especially in a district like Helen the other thing I'm going to say is uh no other board member knows what conversations or what questions the others ask specifically to Mr Waka specifically to miss uh Augustin so uh I think it's unfair to judge and say that nobody else asks questions because you don't nobody knows that just because we're not asking a million questions at the meeting if we're asking beforehand what as we're going through the agenda you know that's nobody else necessarily will know that so I just want to you know point that just because not everybody's asking questions here doesn't mean that they're not asking questions on the back end before the meeting takes place okay let go let's move on M P yes Mr Martinez yes Mr Ramadan yes Mr web yes Mrs yes okay so uh see now curriculum and Technology web I like to move 9.1 through 9.15 are they all going to have to no we can just automatically just just just reflect that the U the extensions will be made for the individual okay all right so you don't have to abstain for your own you do have to abstain we're like in a minute but you don't you don't have to to do this for we'll just not it automatically so you can say yes you have to so Omar [Music] prefers first okay so can I have uh so I'm sorry Mr web move can I have a second seconded by Mr bosi roll call please Mr I do a couple question on 9.1 um what is the brain spring training oh yes so that's orgon gingham is a phonics based reading program and uh pulowski she's one of our three uh literary specialist and she's going to work with kids uh whose assessment scores demonstrated that they're a bit behind with reading uh Orton Gorham is is is pretty much considered one of the the the strongest program training programs you could have if you're looking to work with kids and teaching the fundamentals of reading and brain spring is the the name of the company that's offering this training for her so to me this was a really good thing to have for and then just a note on 94 I know we're adding the or we're getting the day off around Memorial Day and I know the pre schedul the proof calendar noted that if there's extra days it would be returned surrounding Memorial Day weekend but just the an FYI or not uh from the Muslim Community e the second is likely going to fall on June 17th which is a Monday so just be prepared to have a lot of people calling out when would we know again depends on the moon so it's hard it's hard to project next year when it would be but if weend the rocket ship the move how do we not I can give you the best guesses all right when when you think it's a reasonable time you know because I I know that on the we had the one U one holiday where yeah we had about 300 or so kids that was that was a couple years ago yeah 300 kids out it's enough where you know there was kind of crickets here for a while that day um so the board this year you know so we did have we did have first off yeah which was extremely I mean I I know from a bunch of people from the Muslim Community they sh great for so it was good to see once you know once you give me Moon update and then I'm I will abstain from 9.7 um so yes Mr K I just have a simple question on 9.1 under one of the employees theist shared 50% with Manchester another employee who I believe is a shared employee the last name Mr Man on here he shared that so why why are certain expenses is there a reason why certain expenses are shared expenses and others are not versus you know is there a criteria as to why it's done or I have look at the contract we more than likely we do a good job in the board me um office of sending invoices to each school so we won't go because technically you're technically your your paycheck is Ban Regional right that's your that's yeah but we that's why you're not on here right okay correct well I'm not on here so but we're invoicing school for the correct um Services ladies in the office do a good job yes Miss yes Mr Martinez um yes abstain from 9.2 Mr Ramadan yes 99.14 Mr web yes this is so yes and since everyone's up standing I'll St on [Laughter] 911 okay um Community engagement um Mr aasi I'd like to move uh motion to move 12.1 to 12.3 second move by Mr bossi seconded by Mr Webb roll call please Mr bossi uh yes and I hope we can get more folks to take advantage of some of the program Mr Keta yes Mr B yes Mr Martinez yes Mr Ramadan yes Mr web yes Mr yes okay and now okay so uh Mr Ramadan um finan physical plan yes motion to move 13.1 to 13321 have second second moved by Mr Ramadan seconded by Mr aasi roll call please Mr aasi yes Mr P yes I'm gain from 13.5 and 1316 U purchase order 4 629 everything yes okay Mr Martinez yes Mr Ramadan yes Mr web yes Mr I did have one question so 13.7 and 13.9 those are both um vendors that provide uh fisal therapy occupational therapy and I was just wondering why we have two I know that we usually have the um northern region Educational Services commissioner but now we have kids plan so is there a difference in the services that they're providing I can find out what the difference but I'm sure it is it just depends on what the kids okay okay I think it's an additional option too okay um other than that yes okay so okay so new and old business um I mentioned that you know we could discuss the U Miss hel's report on the parent Academy does anybody have any questions about her report or the recommendations or the feedback I mean I think it would be worthwhile at some point maybe it's in a committee meeting to discuss um how we can provide resources to support the at home enrichment since that was one of the uh the requests that came out that report from parents I think that's what um would that be curriculum in technology that be in that committee I think you could put it in curriculum technology you could put it in uh Community engagement I mean the the the two summer programs were Community engagement so okay so Mr bosy if you would like to convene a committee meeting to kind of talk about that no that'd be great okay any other questions okay any other New or Old business um it looks like there's G to be another conflict in the educ meeting for October 23rd since we'll be in the workshop yeah but we didn't have the dates um for the workshop when we did this so okay so we'll have to um I can get you some suggestions and then whatever think you think is best to break appr okay thank you for pointing that out and we'll have to come back to that um anything else anybody just I'll offer I know before uh commissioner kman left mentioned I guess you lost police officer this morning so my condolences uh the community and family of the officer thank you I I do believe it was somebody from I don't think it was a helden officer yeah but [Music] absolutely anybody else okay so um and I have a motion to open the floor to um citizens second mov by Mr Basi seconded by Mr Keta roll call please Mr oassi yes Mr Keta second yes M yes M Martinez yes Mr Ramadan yes Mr web yes yes uh and I think I forgot to mention when we opened the floor before please state your name your address we have three minutes and uh we'll start with the folks who were here and please um make sure that you um speak loudly so that everybody can hear thank you that Mr government decided to show everybody maybe because he didn't decide to vote on the budget he really about um I said that there was a problem with remote learning and that for my little woman and if you want to go around and ask every other school they rug was open was open they all had were open and they all had I did not accuse you guys and some of you weren't even here during uh that period of time I did not say that W was a bad superintendent so the little Al is a two-year-old behavior and I can care less about it um also um being honest on the record count you guys are may be asking questions um email or whatever it is on side on the meetings the public does not see that so what they see is that you guys are all yes that's what they see I I'm just going based off of what I I come here I listen to you guys all the time and I go like Bey behind the scenes and stuff like that which I totally agree with but what it looks like here is everybody is saying yes and nobody asking any question so um so I just wanted to point out that the little Al course was obviously due to some things but it wasn't due to my things please move on but uh we're gonna we're gonna like I'm gonna say what I have to say and that's my experience with my children having a remote learning when everybody wased Co wasn't going to be a great experience especially with trer so if if you had a better experience with the upper classroom then that's your experience that's not mine period good evening everyone John kello principal of Manchester Regional High School 70th Church Street um I just dropped by tonight uh one thank you for taking care of the children of hen really appreciate that we appreciate you up at Manchester um secondly wanted to publicly thank your PTA PTA here is absolutely phenomenal at their last meeting they had myself our superintendent uh multiple board members including our board president um as well as our president of rptsa uh we're here to present the programming at Manchester uh they welcomed us with open arms and and really just we're we're wonderful hosts uh right here where you all you were sitting um so thank you um those are wonderful Community Partners and we were so blessed to have them um invite us to their meeting um and third some opportunities for your families and for your children um on June 8th Saturday June 8th we'll be having our seventh annual Color Run and walk um the cost for that is $25 if you want to do the run and walk and we we also have $5 Carnival wristbands there'll be a whole Carnival with bouncy houses and all sorts of fun stuff for the kids that's $5 to partake and all of that um for the day so we invite you to that I brought some flyers to give to Mr Waka and he also has that electronically I know it went out thank you Mr W for that uh we also have new program coming up for all sixth to eth graders this spring um it's going to operate uh for five Tuesday starting May 28th until the end of June and that is our new flag football uh program for grade six through eight and for those sessions all of those sessions it's only $30 for a family okay and that money will go directly to the Manchester football program uh we're hoping to connect further to the community and to the children and to offer more um Springtime fun uh for the youngsters as well as to promote our program and use those small fees to again bolster what the high school kids are doing on the field so I brought some flyers for that as well again we appreciate you and thank you for all that you do thanks is there anybody online close can I have a motion to close second have a second moved by Mr Martinez seconded by Mr roll call please Mr yes Mr yes Mr yes Mr Martinez yes Mr Ramadan yes Mr web yes and Mrs yes um I do want to make two points um well number one I want to thank Mr Kelli for coming and sharing the information I was at that PTA meeting and um it was a really good presentation and it's really great things that are going on in Manchester you guys are you know get having a lot of um valuable programs and programming that you've added and um a lot of extra activities you guys are doing a great job and thanks for coming and sharing that at our PTA meeting um and I also wanted to point out that during Co and it it feels um kind of surreal that we are talking about Co so much but uh parents have the option families have the option to send their kids to school they didn't have to keep them home they had the option to send their kids in every day if they wanted to so um now I wish I had that option foro that we we have an executive session um it says it right here that's just accepting it's a new one4 that's the most recent okay okay so uh actions will not be taken we will be I think about five 10 minutes is that GNA be quick okay so um can I have a motion to go into executive session by Mr Martinez second by call please uh yes yes yes Martinez yes yes Mr Webb yes this is yes so you're welcome to uh come back after the executive session uh but thank you if if you don't thank you for joining us thank you Mr coming in person okay so can I have a motion to ajour moved by Miss Quad seconded by Mr Martinez all in favor any post okay good night everyone