[Music] good evening everyone we're going to get started welcome to the Hoboken Board of Education public budget hearing for 2024 2025 thank you all for being here if you are joining this evening to speak on agenda or non-agenda items please use the signup sheet located at the podium miss good can you please read the statement of compliance yes this meeting is being held in Conformity to the open public meeting Act njsa 10 col 4-6 proper public notice of the meeting was published in the local papers on April 24th 20124 if any board member or member of the public and attendance believe that this meeting is in violation of the open Public's meeting act the hokan Board of Education requests that they make a statement at this time the board wishes to make those in attendance aware that this meeting is being recorded on video and will be broadcast by the board at a later date on catv Channel 77 and F channel 46 the full meeting recording will also be made available on board docs which can be accessed to the district homepage the Hoboken board of education is committed to preserving the decorum of the public process and is mindful that we live in the electronic age of computers cell phones and other electronic communication devices nevertheless we respectfully request that all participants meeting participants kindly silence their electronic devices dur in the course of the meeting and if use of the device is necessary we ask that you please leave the meeting room if you need to conduct personal business please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance a pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and jce for [Applause] all Miss good would you please take the role Miss Angley here miss katamori here M Dela Mr delator Mr Grana here miss Conor here Mr kille here miss Norwood here M mcer here you have air thank you Miss good uh before we move into our presentation this evening I'd like to speak with you all about a very tragic occurrence that has impacted our Hoboken Public School family as many of you may have heard there was a fatal shooting late on Sunday evening here in Hoboken the victim Damon Murray was a graduate of the Hoboken High School class of 2020 and a much loved par professional having served at both Hoboken middle school and the Wallace school I would like to ask everyone in attendance to join us in a moment of silence for Damon and his family thank you and I I'd like to add that you know when we think of schools and gun violence we tend to think of large scale events like Uvalde Parkland or Sandy Hook Coline they come to mind but the reality is the scourge of gun violence that exists in this country impacts our schools every single day our District's guidance counselors fortitude clinicians and child study team members are available able as part of our crisis intervention plan for any students or staff who are in need of support and I encourage anyone who needs that support to please take advantage of it our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to the Murray Family during this difficult time Damon's Legacy will forever remain a source of inspiration to all who had the privilege of knowing him please keep Mr Murray and his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers and now in the least graceful transition of all time we will transition to our budget presentation which frankly given what happened in the last couple days it really puts a lot of this into perspective so we are very proud to present the budget for the 2024 2025 school year this evening you're going to hear from our superintendent of schools as well as members of the finance committee about the following areas you are going to learn about the teachers professionals students and families who benefit from the community's investment in the district we will share with you the person programs resources and Facilities that your investment supports and why investing in local Public Schools benefits the community at large you will learn about state and local impact upon school funding in Hoboken and why the need for Community investment is greater this year than in years past we will talk about what specifically drives that need and how you can help the district continue to grow Thrive and succeed I will now turn the presentation over to our superintendent Dr Johnson good evening when presenting a school budget it's important not only to show the quantitative data but also the qualitative attributes the qualitative attributes describe who we are as a district and who the children are that we serve our district has a very distinct story The Hoboken Public School District as you know is a comprehensive prek through 12 Educational Center for Learning our district serves prek 3 and four students at at nine different preschool locations kindergarten through fifth grade students at three uh elementary schools 6th through 8th grade students at one middle school and 9th through 12th grade students at one high school our vibrant diverse growing School Community is home to motivated students our district boasts unique programs that our students take around the world learning about other cultures and competing in international competitions while winning championships and earning Awards locally since every learner is different the district Prides itself on offering a wide array of services and programs to meet the needs of each and every student in addition to our John's Hopkins gifted and talented program in response to intervention services the Hoboken Public School District supports English language Learners and will be entering its second year of an allnew dual language Spanish Immersion program pre-advanced placement and advanced basement courses along with Collegiate dual enrollment classes are offered to both middle and high school students our district provides in-class and pullout resource self-contained preschool disabilities and transition life skill classes for students with special needs as well reading Specialists multi-disciplinary child study teams bcbas and job coaches work with our Learners in need of support in addition the Hoboken public school district has full-time nurses guidance counselors mental health clinicians and a Student Assistance counselor our students are supported both in and out of the classroom in an effort to help develop the whole child the Hoboken Public School District provides robust co- and extracurricular activities from strings in theater to band and CH our students have so many opportunities to show their creative sides on the athletic fields they shine competing in a multitude of njsiaa sports and their participation in clubs and micro and macro institutes allow students to explore their passions as well investing in our schools will make all of this a reality our vision as you know is to be recognized as a premier educational choice and widely known as a best practice model for academic growth high quality instruction Innovative and Equitable programs engagement facilities and personalized Pathways that are essential for college career and life preparedness in our everchanging interconnected Global society and our mission is to prepare confident and resilient graduates who value academic achievement Embrace challenge honor diversity appreciate collaboration and respectfully contribute to their local and their wider communities we have made academic gains locally earning a top spot countywide in math and in ela in comparison to all traditional K12 districts across Hudson County and our prek enrollment has grown by over 38% over the past 8 years we've grown from 2,542 students to 3,52 students this year we have a few accomplishments um but certainly not limited to uh things that we would like to boast about we have 41 AP college board Scholars 334 K through 8 John's Hopkins cty math and Ela Scholars 54 Grand honor Scholars 37 seal of biliteracy recipients in Spanish French Dutch and Italian $18.1 million in college and university scholarships were earned by our class of 2024 to date and this class has already been admitted to 113 colleges and universities this incremental progress is leading to large scale successes that we are very proud of from qac high performing status to rankings Among Us news and World Report to pltw distinction NJ dooe Lighthouse International thesbian Nam best community for education and NJ Sia sportsmanship recognition we will continue to build upon these successes year in and year out good evening we would like to address two important questions what are we the district investing in why is investing in public education a moral imperative we also have a few testimonials from a staff parent and student that we hope you enjoy hi my name is Madison Wally Peters and I'm a junior at hobokin high school as an active member of the student government and someone who's been part of this District ever since kindergarten I can emphatically say that the support for this uh budget is extremely important for our overall educational experience as someone who's part of the varsity volleyball team student government and has participated in various competitions including the USA bio Olympiad I can state that without this funding I wouldn't have been able to um pursue so many academic opportunities and become as well-rounded of a student as I am [Applause] today our budget will continue to to support our award-winning programs academic programs and curriculum debate which includes Harvard model Congress mock trial and model un the Arts our district is one of the few districts that continues to invest in the Arts including art music and theater program from K through 12 as it contributes to a well-rounded student and lastly our Athletics program in middle school and high school [Applause] [Applause] hi I am mine V and I'm a proud teacher for the Hoboken public schools and a resident of Hoboken supporting this budget enables our staff to continue to grow professionally and to provide students exactly what they need to be the best students they can be dedicating tax dollars towards our Public Schools is an investment in children in our city and in your own real [Music] [Applause] [Music] estate what are our significant cost drivers oh yep number one our largest expense is salaries and benefits for our dedicated staff qualified and motivated teachers are the most pivotal part of a student's schooling experience they are part of our students growth and development as a whole and instill in them processes of lifelong learning to invest in students we must 100% invest in our teachers number two we have three charter schools in our mil Square including Ola Hoboken Charter and allean number three our growing special education and transportation costs number four maintenance of our aging buildings three of our buildings demeris Connors and brand are over 100 years old so you can understand the continued work required to keep them updated and safe is costly and lastly Rising insurance and utility rates unfortunately we as a district are not insulated from inflation as it does play a part [Music] too amongst amongst the [Music] amongst the items that will be funded by this budget are the following just to highlight a few um we will initiate an expanded Orton Gillingham teacher Academy for those who don't know Orton Gillingham is a research-based multisensory reading program that we've already begun implementing in our elementary schools expanding the program will reach all of our students and help to ensure that they are reading at or above grade level this will continue our overall progress as you saw in a previous slide and proficiency as well as that of each of our students in English language arts we will open new classrooms to accommodate enrollment growth as exemplified by a previous slide our enrollment has risen a staggering 38% or about a thou or by about a thousand students since 2015 and continues to rise the Hoboken Public School District happily takes all students from Hoboken then enroll we turn no one away that is the purpose and responsibility of the public school system and necessitates the hiring of additional teachers and the preparation of classrooms for an expanded student body in order to continue to provide a complete education to the community's children we will update curriculum as part of our evaluation and renewal process we will and must Continue to update curriculum and programming as part of our required evaluation and renewal process education and best practices continue to change and we must do the same we will offer new classes in the middle and high school programs of study as the world changes so must the way we prepare our students for this for Success out in that world that begins in Earnest in middle school and through high school and necessitates new classes and programs to keep our students competitive and we will Implement a new Middle School a new middle school after school program structure and Athletics program the Middle School currently does have an after school program but it's being r amped um and it will now include a competitive Sports PR program as well as other programs to keep our middle school children active and engaged at this pivotal time in the development and in their lives so you see here as Benjamin Franklin said a follow philadel a fellow Philadelphian um an investment in education always pays the highest returns as I said before we educate the Hoboken community's children regardless of the socioeconomic background ethnicity race religion or special need an investment in all of these children trans translates into the health of our community these children are our future workers parents leaders and caretakers a fullsome education in the present secures their Futures and ultimately our and hoboken's future our own older years our town and our world will be supported and shaped by them there is a thread that links us all and investing in them is imperative for the future short and long term and if you don't want to listen to me I'll quote Alice koses who along with her husband Jim with were the who along with her husband Jim were the Charelle Pollock aim hire honores at last year last year's age bef Gala Alice spoke eloquently about public education and reminded us that we do not pay property taxes merely to send our children to school we pay property taxes to live in an educated Society [Applause] [Music] so now we'll spend a few minutes talking about that tax environment our investment in school taxes here in hoken and where specifically your tax dollars are needed so policy around education funding here in New Jersey is set at the state level and that's the case for Hoboken as well as most of New Jersey's 564 municipalities the bulk of the funding for public schools comes from the school tax levy of the local municipality and that's for most of the municipalities Hoboken is a little unique in that it's classified as an SDA district there are 40 sorry 31 SDA or former Abbott districts here in New Jersey and they are provided with remedies to ensure that their students receive public education in accordance with the state constitution they were created in 1985 as a result of the first ruling of Abbott versus ver Burke which was a case filed by the education Law Center the ruling asserted that public primary and secondary education in what was considered poor communities at that time throughout the state was unconstitutionally substandard since the time of that decision the economic climate in Hoboken has changed drastically while Hoboken ranks as the most well-educated community in the state and has the seventh highest property valuation we still rank at the bottom of Hudson County and at the bottom of the state of New Jersey for both our school tax rate and the percentage of our overall tax bill that goes towards education here in Hudson County we rank number two only Union City puts a lower portion of their overall Municipal tax bill towards schools the increase in economic Vitality here in Hoboken is evidenced by our growing population both in schools and in the city and increased property valuation has been coupled with several legislative landmarks that have impacted school funding Statewide and here in Hoboken in 2010 the statutory Levy cap njs a 18 a7f 38 was established in order to mitigate the overall increase in local property taxes this 2% cap can be adjusted for certain waivers or for banked cap banked cap is best thought of as an unused taxing Authority and that can come in the form of tax increases from a previous year that were not taken or as in the case here in Hoboken increases in an SDA District's local share this Bank cap is automatically calculated in budget software and the district has accured $170 million in banked cap based on that local fair share I want to be abundantly clear this is not money that we have but rather it's unused taxing Authority above that 2% cap that the district is able to access if needed for the school tax levy the increase proposed in this budget utilizes 4.4% of the unused taxing Authority waivers are also available for enrollment increases Healthcare cost increases and deferred pension crost increases following the 2010 statute S2 legislation passed in 2018 this is again legislation that aimed to make school funding more Equitable in the state of New Jersey locally here in Hoboken that led to a loss of close to $2.9 million in state aid that had to be made up through increases to the local tax levy due to the covid-19 pandemic the impact of S2 may not have been felt all that strongly to the individual taxpayer because it has been somewhat mitigated through American Rescue plan and Elementary and secondary school emergency funding that provided the district with over $6.1 million now as we move into the budget for the upcoming year with both ARP and Esser exhausted we have to look to the local tax levy to ensure that the Hoboken Public School District continues to provide a thorough and efficient education for each and every student now I'd like to talk to um our Revenue news so go to the next slide as you can see 81% of the funding for the district is provided by the local tax levy paid by the taxpayers of Hoboken roughly 10% of our budget comes from state aid about 6% from our fund balance miscellaneous revenues at 2% and extraordinary Aid at 1% so the money that taxpayers and hobo can pay is what's really driving the engine in the schools here in town okay before we get to where your tax dollars are needed I want to quickly talk about the budget process this year um versus previous years this year's budget process was approached a bit differently than in the past typically the business office would collaborate with building principles and administrators to understand student needs for the following school year they would then request review requests work with principles to prioritize spending and propose the necessary expenditures as part of the budget to sustain academic and co-curricular programs along with any new initiatives planned for the following year this year however every request from principles and administrators was included in the tenative budget presented to the board at the March 19th meeting before discussions on prioritizing spending occurred it's crucial for the board to understand the full range of requests versus what should be prioritized to ensure responsible use of Hoboken taxpayer dollars just like any budget whether personal corporate or for this District there are wants needs and essential expenses to uphold the district's success for our students by prioritizing needs we can ensure our students have the resources they need to succeed academically and personally while remaining responsible to the taxpayers so now that we've talked about the process it's important to understand the components of the budget as you can see here salaries and benefits for the Hoboken Public School District make up the largest portion this is typically true for all public school districts and make sense given a District's mission is to educate students this reflects our commitment to Quality education with our dedicated teachers and staff going above and beyond for our students every day and recognition and gratitude for their tireless efforts during the covid-19 pandemic to keep schools open 5 days a week this spend also includes new hires to ensure Staffing for our growing student body the second largest expense is funding for the three Charter Schools alian Hoboken Charter and Ola the Hoboken taxpayers support the traditional public school and three Charter Schools through their contributions to the school tax levy special education and extended year learning are also significant budget components with costs Rising due to increasing needs of Hoboken student population as a public school district we are required and committed to providing the necessary support for all students to succeed maintaining and upgrading our aging buildings is another critical expense with three out of six buildings over 100 years old facilities spending is essential to ensure the safety and security of our students and staff the remaining budget is allocated for co-curricular programs Transportation instructional materials and general Administration in total the budget including funding for the traditional Public School District and three Charter Schools is 88 83.3 $3 million okay so next let's take a look at what's changing when we compare the 2425 budget back to the 2324 budget we're seeing a 5.4 million increase in salaries and benefits um due to negotiated contracts and a rise in Insurance costs costs for special education and summer programs have increased by 1.6 million this cost increase includes out of District placements for both district and Charter students maintenance of Aging buildings and increased Insurance costs will drive a 1.9 million rise in facility spending instructional programs will see a $528,000 increase while curricular activities will see a $21,000 increase as for savings the 2425 budget reflects Savings of 372,000 in general Administration and 209,000 in Charter funding your tax dollars support the growth of the whole child this budget expands academic and co-curricular programs ensures that we have adequate Staffing for our growing student enrollment provides funding for teacher and paraprofessional training upgrades our instructional spaces technology infrastructure and maintains our aging facilities and introduces new tools to better engage students families and community members [Music] [Applause] so we presented uh many achievements and successes as well as uh some of the financial realities we face so how do we ensure students continue to succeed and achieve in the face of these challenges we invest we invest in our public schools with the return on investment being successful students prepared for their roles as Citizens in our community and the world of course that investment is not voluntary it's paid through property taxes and this year's tax levy increases 8.8 million over last year's budget for the average Hoboken homeowner this will result in additional $385 per year in their property tax that number is based on the average assessed value not the market value which according to the office of Hoboken which which is according to the office of the Hoboken tax assessor is uh $526,000 some homeowners will pay more some will pay less now if you're like my wife and I you probably think in terms of monthly expenses and that $800 $385 breaks down to $32 per month and though it's tempting to say only $32 a month it's not an inate amount to us but neither are our responsibilities to our community our public schools and the children they serve thank [Music] you before we move on to public comment I'd like to thank all of you for attending and let you know that we'll be hosting two Q&A sessions around the budget on May the 7th the first will be held at 10:00 a.m. at the cabro school and the second will be held at 600 p.m. here in Hoboken middle school or as it's better known Demorest the budget adoption will take place at the board of education's regular May meeting on May 14th should you have questions about the budget they can be sent to hpsd budget at Hoboken k12nj do us I'd like to thank the superintendent of schools Dr Christine Johnson the business administrator Joyce good assistant business administrator Vicki Lopez and the finance committee for their contributions to the budget process and to tonight's presentation since we don't have a consent agenda for tonight we'll move to public comments and I don't know if any of you had a chance to sign up but if someone has an interest in making a comment please feel free to come down and we'll wait a minute or two before we take the [Music] [Applause] [Music] sheets all of this information will also be available on the website so the the presentation is already posted as long along with the uh userfriendly budget [Music] [Applause] well with no comments um we were going to be going into executive session we were awaiting some legal matters that we thought we might be able to discuss um but that did not materialize for today fingers crossed it will in the coming days so um that will conclude our meeting do I have a motion motion second all in favor say I I thank you everyone [Music]