testing one two 3 testing 6 p.m. since we've already done the flag salute you can please read the opening statement according to the agenda Mr henb can you please call the roano is absent Dr Capello here Mr citr here miss gulan is absent Mr chaffy here Mr mlan is absent miss paa here Mr Falcone is absent and Miss Falcone Sher presid thank you can I please have a motion to move to Executive session seconded Mr dhano is absent Dr Capello here Mr cich yes M Gan is absent Mr chaffy yes Mr mlan is absent Miss Pacha yes Mr Falcone is absent Miss Falone Scher yes thank you um can we can I please have a motion to reconvene second Mr henck please call the roll Mr Deano is absent Dr Capello here Mr citr here miss gulan here Mr chaffie here Mr McAn is absent Miss P here Mr Falcone here miss Falcone schuber here can I please have a motion to approve the minutes I'll move it I'll second um is there any discussion okay Mr H Mr justo is absent Dr Capello yes Mr citr yes M gulan yes Mr chaffie yes Mr mlan is absent Mr Paul cha yes Mr Falcone yes Miss Falcone schuber yes and I will turn it over to Mr D for his last superintendent report thank you thank you item one is a thank you I spent five years in herac Kon District I have discovered a place that understands me and it is the best place I ever worked and I am very thankful and um I wish nothing but the best for everyone who continues the quest to educate our children um I will keep in touch and um Mr Hollenbeck will be taking over for the superintendent role as well as ba role and um a gentleman who has a significant experience base educational base and he will be fine so God bless all of you I have to say one thing about Friday which was a difficult day for all of us I had to make some major decisions and my listen the people who listened to me for my questions was the secretarial staff at the high school Miss Martinez was not in that day I needed some help Mr Hollenbeck and I both went on our own paths to do things that had to be done and I'm very appreciative of the three ladies in the high school office who assisted me in making decisions I will always remember that and I appreciate that Thomas do you have anything on on your mind to share today oh yes sir we have some of um I'm not surprised ahead sir so I would like to start by saying that our Che leaders they wanted Nationals uh our aort now the state Striker Champions they also won I have some other good uh news but I would like to share them in one moment if you let me he'll share him in a minute yeah get some more good news in a minute he wants to share yeah thank you sir come back just L me to together them really quick thas is a tough boss Item B whereas interim superintendent de benedetto has concluded two years of service and whereas that that is the maximum time he's allowed to serve the district because he's retired be resolved that Mr Jeff hollenbach be named Acting Superintendent beginning February 29 2024 through June 30 2024 this resolution serves as a revision to Mr hollenbeck's assistant superintendent of business contract he will maintain the position as business administrator and receive a 225 day uh dollar a day stien for being Acting Superintendent I would ask the board to vote on that yeah okay can you please call a roll oh we need a second first we need a mo well I guess that is a motion so we need a second by 45 yes okay okay yes sure yeah sorry steroids I'm on okay we're ready now I'm relaxing mran is absent Dr Capello no Mr citr yes yes Miss gulan yes Mr chaffy no Mr McLean is absent Miss Pacha yes Mr Falcone yes Miss Falcone schuber yes motion is passed yeah two five motion passes there are no new hibs for the month of January um for the month of um February and the Hib report is the second reading for January can I please have a motion to move superintendent and hi report go ahead I'll second it there we go can you please call the role Mr halach Mr Deano is absent drella Mr C yes M gulan yes Mr chaffie yes Mr McLean is absent Miss pach yes Mr Falcone yes Miss Falcone schuber yes moving on to acknowledges and correspondence following students were chosen as aacon high school students of the month for outstanding performance in grade eight the student is here please rise Lacy Weber Honorable Men mention was jasine oy Harmon Talia parate Roco Schubert news to me yay grade nine Lilian Zin zley she's here congratulations young lady I'll be I'll be with you in one minute you can have a seat and I I'll get you in a minute get ready for a picture honorable mention was Michael Canali grade 11 was uh Sadi Kester honorable mention Shayla picaro grade 12 Jayla Elias honorable mention Kelvin Fernandez and David Green yes we commend you for being an excellent student who participates in class shows a thorough understanding of material when completing assignments which is eved in your academic Excellence for January 24th Sal look this way too need pictures get all angles one more one more in the back tricky TR I just wrote it down okay you got that then okay Co yeah following students were chosen as a Patong high school scholar of the month girls basketball Abigail written hour boys basketball Anthony narelli and Esports Olivia sash Michael is here Michael is here but but he's an honorable menance so we don't have certificate but we can honor him no there's no right no certificate where is Michael Michael hi Michael congratulations on your honorable mention you in ninth grade think he's hi keep it up the Sussex County Superintendent Round Table student of the year is Jayla Elias she'll be going to a special function um a little bit in the spring and congratulations to Jayla um congratulations to McKenzie Mau for nomination as the 2024 Sussex County unsung hero that's a very very cool thing that they're starting this year and a it's a it's an honor congratulation to pong middle school students who made high honor rooll congratulations to pong high school students who made the high honor roll and as as Thomas eloquently stated the cheerleaders went all the way over the weekend and uh brought home a very very nice award God bless [Applause] so uh our JB ice hockey team they won their divisional uh championships uh one of our classmates our senior Greg Smith he did his performance and he did a great job so congratulations to Greg um 12 of our students got this seal of by literacy and guidance will be holding Junior conferences soon that will be it for now thank you sir by literacy group was exceptional this year they'll be honored at our next month's meeting thank you for bringing that up that ends my report Madam president thank you um I'd like to invite invite anyone who is here as a parent teacher organization representative to make their report we have Project Graduation here would you like to speak okay but they're just here representing they just want to say come to the tricky trade too because it supports them do you have any other fundraisers coming up for Project Graduation to advertise um not currently we have one in April coming up um we are doing a comedy night um I don't know the exact date yet but it is coming up so look out for that we also have our lawn signs so please purchase if you have a senior and I believe we are also doing seventh grade or swiming up to e8th grade so if you want to buy a loan sign it's $40 orders are in March s final orders I'm also here for ptso I'm doing too God bless you coming out so our so the pcso um Tricky Tray is on the 23rd um we you can go to Dunkin Donuts on Friday and purchase some pre-sale bundles to save yourself some money and doors will open at 1 o'clock and calling will begin at 4 thank you and then Jen did you want to say anything I was do it rest in board comments okay fine anybody else from hepto or different organization okay thank public comment um if you would like to speak and you haven't signed in yet you forgot already handwriting is good sir that's we hold you to the minute there's a lot of seats open tonight 10 seconds I'll put my address at the end okay thank you okay okay we have Miss Linda padulla hi Linda padulla um high school guidance so I know I said it earlier but I want to thank uh Mr D for everything that he's done in the the few different roles that you've had here I appreciate it I've enjoyed working with you so thank you I back at you miss thanks and U Mr HCK I know that we worked together my first year so it'll be fun working more closely with you so good luck with the new the new addition um will we be doing a search for a permanent superintendent soon that's what because I know it's acting now correct I don't know if you can answer but board right now is searching for an assistant superintendent okay would be a full-time employee at the district office so that they'll maintain a three-person force currently it is Jeffrey myself and Miss Miller on Thursday it'll be Jeffrey and M Miller and we'll hire an assistant superintendent to be the third person in that okay the position's been it's posted online so you can okay great oh thanks I don't know why I missed it sorry um I just wanted to note on page six the um names are wrong for the roll call discussed a and then um I don't know if it's wrong on yours but it is it is thank you y and then so I just have a couple other things to say um I want to thank Miss feda Mrs taen and Mr handy for their long um working with us um I'm sad to see them all go I think that they are an amazing asset to our school um I wish them a lot of luck I know that they're going to be really missed at the high school I know that we continue to be in a budget crisis crisis and I understand that I've been here for a while but I'm imploring you to please don't let Miss F's position fade away she is so important to us in the high school as a social worker um she's in integ part integral integral part of our high school and especially for the social emotional support that she gives our students and honestly our staff as well in an age where so many students are struggling with mental health difficulty and crisis it's important and it would be to to replace her and it would be detrimental to our school population to lose that position as a social worker I'm hoping that Miss Tappen and Mr Handy's positions will also be filled we are already at a harmful deficit at the high school I work there I know it's what it's like it's very crazy with the minimal staff that we have so please don't make it worse if at all possible um I know of used strong words imploring integral crisis detrimental harmful deficit but I feel these words are warranted in the situation that we find ourselves in so thank you for letting me talk and please please don't let those positions just fade away thank you thank you m um Mr Brian Collins assciation also would like to congratulate Mr D on your retirement and hope good one had a pretty good time working together as well yes sir settled our first time I've been here we settled our contract before the one expired so uh dis some time I think once but uh it's all been good congratul Mr H congratulations as well couple quick things as far as uh next year coming up into budgeting season and I'm going to ask and hope that the board is going to use all the money that's available including all the bank cap money that is available for next year's budget um last year received some State money back from the state and then lowered what would have been the tax increase and there is I don't have the exact number but there's quite a bit of money in bank cap available which doesn't require a vote anything like that there for the esing and uh you know it's been almost two years since we almost got a new roof on Tulsa Trail and there some repairs I suppose but there's been no change in the uh indoor rain forest we have going on there and it needs a new roof and something definitely should hopefully be on the uh agenda also um this is question I'm not sure maybe I missed it she asked if there was a plan to hire a full-time permanent superintendent then the answer was we're looking for the part the uh ass super when would the plan be moving forward assuming we found the assistant moving forward when would there be a decision or a search for a permanent superintendent and will be the Mr Hollenbeck will be the this the superintendent taking over after July 1st um we will continue to serve in the ba role for a period of time and um as I said they'll hire an assistant superintendent to help him um next year is the last year of budget cuts our enrollment is going up we expect additional state aid and we might be in a better circumstance um we will get through next year's budget uh State a cuts and um the district is going to be fine and uh again as far as the budgeting and the money goes class sizes as we predicted are way out of control under the current circumstances uh some classes with over 40 kids in them and uh that's just not how you do it that's not how you run a successful District we need to lower the class sizes we need more teachers more staff members and we need a lot and I know I always say I know it wasn't these this board of people who voted 0% for many many many years but it's put us in a very bad spot and I know it's hard thing to figure out but it it's very bad right now the the class sizes are huge huge Collins I've explained many times to you that my first two years there was not not a tax increase but we were losing 150 kids a year in in um enrollment and that is why we did not have a tax increase um your message about the cap is well heard we will we will use uh B Bank cap but uh the 0% it was hard to raise the taxes when we were losing 300 kids in a period of two years I hear you and I've heard that but that's the same argument the state gives us when they say why they cut our uh funding because our enrollment is that largely and we don't accept that as an answer no sir that's not the reason though the reason they cut the funding was due to the law change which says we were overfunded for many years previously yeah and if our enrollment had gone up the state a cut still would have taken place okay it's ugly situation but I I appreciate the teamwork that we did trying to keep our heads above water and apparently we've been able to do that thank you all very much thank you sir thank you thank you um and then the last person I have on the list is Mr Francis all right I hope uh I hope my voice doesn't start trembling because when I get emotional my voice trembles and uh so I'm going to say it's weird being on this side of the Ledger after six years every now and then some something happens for a reason and whatever the heck it is that brought art to this District at the time that he came I can't express to you all enough how important that was and art like I'm going to stick around till the end so I can hug you but what you've done I know you've been doing this 50 years the last five or whatever it's been have been by far the most important that you've ever made an impact on a district I can't thank you enough to someone who sat up there and I hope that the community feels the same way thank you so much appreciate those words wonderful okay um I would like to close a public comments minut go back to where I'm supposed to be okay number 11 finance and I have a motion to move number 11 I move it second is there any discussion hearing none good good okay Mr Hen can you please call the rules mran is absent Drell yes Mr citr yes Miss gulan yes Mr chaffie yes Mr McLean is absent Miss paa yes Mr Falcone yes Miss Falcone schuber yes do I have a motion to move move the rest of the agenda through the addendum I'll move it is there a second second second okay I'll give you all a minute to review items 12 through the addendum and if there's any discussion do15 yeah any discussion discussion okay Mr Hen back the motion is to move items 12 through agendum item J have the motion by Miss PA seconded by Dr capella uh Mr Deano is absent Dr capella I am yes except to 14g I abstain gain thank you Mr citr uh yes to all Miss Gan yes to all Mr Falcone yes uh Mr chaffie yes to all Mr mlan is absent Miss paach yes and Miss Falcone schuber yes board member comment to my right my left right okay want me to go you sure no you um I would like to thank everybody for coming and for our public comments you guys are awesome and I know it's not easy to get up and talk um I know the board has to make our decisions tonight moving forward um know that I am an advocate for due diligence and I am advocating for the children of the district and we're really holding it together okay doing our best thank you um I just want to thank art for all the dedication you've done um you know I think I've been here two years at this point maybe they're coming up so I have to probably reun again um so thank you for everything you have done um I think it makes being in this position a lot easier um obviously like she said you know we're the children are the most important thing here and we're trying to make sure that we do everything right um and I said be here without a kid because I had my kid last Friday so um yeah okay uh well congratulations on the new baby um proud Che your mom here I want to give a shout out to the chief's competition cheerleaders they went down to Ocean City Maryland over the weekend and they placed first in their division they scored a 93.5 zero deductions only nine teams hit it with zero deductions that day girls came in fifth place overall um I love this town I have to say and after this weekend when the girls came home we had the police department the EMS the fire department they all met him at the at the uh Pathmark parking lot and they gave him a wonderful escort into town at the last minute everybody that lived along we all ConEd every everybody who lived along Lakeside Boulevard H Pat Chong rung and Durban people made up signs they got out there they were cheering all the girls on it is just such a wonderful Hometown feeling for us to come together like that uh the girls were absolutely totally shocked and totally surprised and it just meant a lot for them um and then they arrived at the high school and people had confetti cannons and it was just a fabulous home welcoming for them and I just want to say thank you to the entire town for participating and whether you did something small or something big with it just thank you um I just love Chief nation and then art I saved last part just in case I start getting emotional art I just want to say thank you for your many years of Blood Sweat and Tears you have given this District the staff and the kids it has been an honor to work with you and a privilege um you will be missed so incredibly much um you always did what was best for the kids and the schools and went above and beyond what was asked for you you did it with your heart you did it with your soul sometimes the little things made a huge difference perfect example was last Friday even with all the stuff that had been going on and you had been in the school early you I saw you come running down that Hill I made sure the bus stopped you jumped on that bus and you wish those girls good luck down in Ocean City that meant a lot to them um little things like Project Graduation you got up early you were in that High School you almost got a ticket on the way to the high school you were at that high school at 4:30 in the morning helping us cut up the Hot Bagels and buttering and cream cheesing and welcoming home last year seniors um um when you go when you show up at some of the dances and you're just making sure that the kids have a ride home when you show up at the sporting events and you're cheering on the Chiefs and the soccer and everywhere else that means a lot to the kids that means a lot to the parents and it means a lot to that town and I just want to say thank you for everything you've done and I wish you good luck in retirement again um how long it lasts and um come back I will hug you afterwards I'm I'm starting to get a little upset here and I just want to welcome Jeff well up [Laughter] higher that's all I have I think that's enough that's enough that's enough your turn oh my turn uh thank everybody for coming tonight um the people that get up and talk uh during the public comment portion your words don't go don't fall on uh deaf ears we listen to you and it's it's a difficult position sitting up here trying to balance the needs of the staff the students in the community but we listen and I hear all you loud and clear so as we move move forward we will continue to try to balance that with some of the facility issues that we're working on and you had mentioned Tulsa Trails roof where we're working it's that's a priority in our eyes um but I want to shift this to the men of the hour Mr D you certainly as Scott said you're the man for the job when you Ste foot here uh the past few years it will be forever known as the years that art D was the superintendent of our school district uh I haven't sat in this chair for very long but one thing I could tell this time I've been here that this wasn't a job for you you were 100% emotionally invested um and that that that can't be faked I appreciate what you've done for the community my own children in District and I wish you the best thank you sir all right thank you very much say first and foremost thank you art for your service but also for your heart and I really really saw how much you love the kids in this District when we first met I don't know if you remember about two years ago I was with my girls going up to Durban and we had a little conversation but I could tell how much you love those kids and how you interacted with my daughters and asked them about their education and I really appreciated that so thank you very much um I want to also congratulate James McAllen and the Esports team uh for their Championship um Esports is a growing Sport and I'm really happy to see that haacon is really embracing it uh there's scholarships out for these kids they're are um professional leagues out there that pay these kids so that is a really amazing thing for our students um I also want to give a shout out to the high school cheerleaders um you said uh first in their division fifth in the uh fifth highest score I mean just amazing also the warrior cheer the Warriors cheerleaders who came fourth place in the spirit Brands national championships I had to write that down to make sure I said that correctly um thank you for everyone coming out and um please do know that Tulsa's root is definitely first and foremost in my mind I I've I've I I lose sleep over that because I have kids going to this district and I want to see that fixed Jeff can you see if um Joe wants to say anything if he's still on yeah Joe anything to say for you yeah just real quick you're all man every aspect we've interacted miss your passion meetings um your Italian St the I said you're all Jeff congrats I know you're the right job you weren't know I wouldn't have voted yes uh I'm looking forward to working with you um you know and turn this District down uh District around one day at a time so um that's all I have thanks everybody for coming out thank you Jill okay just a couple of things um I do appreciate everybody in the audience and your comments and I do think it's important to note that we are still in the situation that we were in when we went to the town and said hey we need money for a referendum and it was voted down so we do still need a roof on Tulsa Trail um we still need the windows and the security doors fixed um we still have oil tank issues and plumbing problems and that stuff hasn't gone away and as you know as homeowners when you can't fix the problem when it needs to be fixed it just gets worse so please keep that in mind cuz we are not done planning um some initiatives to hopefully um secure some money so we can fix the things that we need to um but I also want you to notice that there was a big uh item on our agenda tonight that is going to save us money and um going to probably Jeff make Jeff lose a little bit more of the more hair um he is taking on an Acting Superintendent role for $225 a day a substitute teacher in the district makes $110 a day now I'm not saying it's easy to become a substitute teacher you come into a new classroom every single day dealing with a whole new set of students and you have to manage the classroom it's almost like being um you know the not a babysitter but when the babysitter comes in the parents aren't there and the kids are testing the water so it's a hard job but Mr halbach has agreed to lead the district as the Acting Superintendent for $225 a day and that is a savings and that savings is allowing us to keep staff here and even though our class sizes are larger than we're used to we're not at 40 okay keep that in mind money doesn't grow on trees we know it we don't have it we need to figure out ways to get some in here and Mr halbach has secured some grants that are going to help us but we do need enough another referendum and we need um the teachers and we need the parents and we need our community members to understand that need to help us rebuild we can't do it with nothing okay off of that Soap Box um congratulations to everybody who is retiring I wish you the best um everybody that we lose is a is a loss to the district and it's getting harder and harder to replace people like um the people in the guid's office and like Mr D because I don't know if you've seen it but people are leaving education in Mass numbers so that's another uphill battle that we are facing um and then to our chief you will always be our chief in my eyes um two memories of him that I will never forget is when I first got on the board I came up to the office and he was weed whacking outside with Mr pickerell and then um my husband and my kids and I showed up to uh hudon Max him to move it and there he was in jeans I could say CU I'm Italian a guinea te a headband and like 12 boxes and walking up and down the stairs and everybody was looking like is this guy going to make it meanwhile he's running laps around us that is the picture of Mr D and what he has done for our school district he was us he embodied hop pakong um I'm going to take you to get your H tattoo when we leave here because it's in his blood and I will never ever forget all the things that he's done for us and he won't be long he won't be gone long 6 months and he can come back he's gonna be begging to come back trust me I know him but really um Jeff has big shoes to fill but he could do it Jeff can do it Jeff can do it he knows this school district inside and out literally Brick by Brick whenever we are in a meeting he can tell us the specifics the specs um he's a smart guy he has been here for the majority of his career so we are in in good hands the hands are not what I'm concerned about it's the funds so I'm going to keep saying it and we all need you to help us and you're here so I know you're in I know you're a part of it as well so um continue coming continue sporting us Spread spread the good news let us know what we could do better we want to make things better um we can't see everything you're our eyes so thank you all for coming thank you for your service and thank you all my board members for doing your due diligence and um always being oh and okay yeah I mean I on speed dial now um so thank you again and with that can I call Mr D's last meeting you in his last meeting I have a motion a motion I won't do it okay we're here all night sorry they're not gonna do it motion please I'll move it second all in favor thank you all Liv era for six months yeah you God bless you that