check one two bus check one two JTV bus check one two Robin I'll leave this on e [Music] got how are you [Music] I have guys here some that's m [Music] to [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hi everybody do yet [Music] he [Music] [Music] alysa's in there there like like oh my God she [Music] have for [Music] [Music] well [Music] welcome I call the meeting to order please rise salute the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible this meeting is in compliance with the open public meetings law and has been duly advertised in the newspaper as an official meeting roll call Mrs Gardella present Mr McCarron present Mrs barokas present Dr Osman pres Mrs Rivera pres Mrs Cass present Mr Tri P Mar Pres I need a motion for approval of the agenda motion second discussion roll call Mrs Gardella yes Mr McCaron yes Mrs barokas yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Riv yes Mrs Cass yes Mr P yes before I turn it over to the superintendent I would just like to thank everyone who is here tonight I want to thank everyone who left work and have families who've come out here and supported this District we put in our time because we care so much and this is what we fight for every day for you guys for your kids for our kids and for everyone watching we thank you I also want to acknowledge some of our elected officials here tonight I want to thank you for coming and for your continued support and your continued uh advocating for this District I'd like to thank and acknowledge assemblyman Alex siwicki Mayor Mike Reena council president Jennifer cun and councilman myty Bernstein so thank you for coming thank you all for being here and now turn it over to miss prilly for her superintendent report thank you Mr pom and I Echo the same sentiments thank you everyone for being an attendence it's good to see a full audience tonight I'm going to go to the podium for my superintendent report to give an update just want to make sure everybody can hear me do I need to turn the M there we go I turned it on thank you so good evening everyone uh tonight is what we normally would call a a budget hearing night um however we've had to uh pivot a little bit and change that uh and it's no longer called a public forum tonight for our budget but rather we are going to provide an update of where we are in our budget we still have an enormous budget deficit and it remains unbalanced therefore uh there is no vote on any budget you need to have a balanced budget to vote on that so tonight there will be a public forum for you to provide an input um however we do not have a balanced budget therefore we do not have a budget hearing but rather a budget update and the tonight the purpose of this evening is to explain our funding crisis uh once again the history of Aid cuts the revenue and cost challenges this district has faced the status of uh the district request to the new New Jersey Department of Education for this current school year the 2324 budget which was $10.2 Million request where we stand with the 2425 budget process and what has changed since we introduced the tenative budget for 2425 so let me first begin with a very highlevel view of explaining the funding crisis for the last s years if you have been listening attending or reading presentations online you should have some greater detail that I'm not going to go into this evening so if you are not familiar please go to our website and really dig deeper to better understand what has been happening the last 7 years so this will be a very high level next two slides overview of our budget crisis so basically over the past seven years the district has been devastated with the loss of half of our state aid so half of our state aid has been lost over the last seven years you can see to the right how that has come to fruition year after year in fact uh Jackson is the top top 10 um over those seven years of losing the most amount of state aid so you can imagine after that compounding what it does to a district we have made cuts to our budget every year we have been working the last seven years in a cut model that has included many many Cuts including curriculum activities Athletics we postponed much needed facility improvements we've lost 215 positions everybody here our staff is doing more with less and obviously something we don't ever want to do is increase increase our class sizes and we have also done that um and so at this point we have reached this fiscal cliff we've done everything within our control to not put to not affect our students and to put our students first in the face of these Monumental and compounding funding losses simultaneously with increases in costs due to inflation over the last few years every year we have gone out to the maximum and collected the 2% Levy increase that were permitted to by law imagine 2% is all we can go up in Revenue slashed in state aid and can only go up 2% think about your own homes and how that affects you so we have done those things every year for the last seven years we've s like last year we saw voter approval in November 2024 uh we looked for a special question to bring in more money again the only other way we can bring in more Revenue unfortunately that was voted down as I have said previously we've lost 215 positions that's across the board of all of our staff secretarial custodial teachers administrators you name it those positions have been reduced we have worked to increase Revenue we have sought every Grant that's available and we've been very successful thank you to the staff here who do apply for those grants so we've been able to at least try and pull some of that in and put some of our costs towards using grant money we have avig really hard to try to educate over the last seven years we've testified at hearings at budget hearings at the Senate at the assembly we've sent letter upon letter we've asked for meeting upon meeting to educate the stakeholders and also educate the decision makers on how things are playing out here in Jackson wanting to believe that anybody knew what was happening here they couldn't allow it to happen it's going to affect students so we have done that all over the last seven years with all of that and you think about everything that I just said and the reductions over seven years working in a constant cut model you can imagine how this actually comes to fruition the district is actually with a 2425 budget year they will be spending we will all be spending about $24 million under adequacy which means under what the average school system should be spending according to the state figures so if that doesn't tell you that we have made reductions we certainly have we're under spending $24 million and if you just take a quick note up at the top there you'll see that uh adequate what an adequate budget means this is information that the state puts out that calculates what would be necessary what's the necessary funding um to provide a thorough and efficient education for the students within a school system so we are not overspending the numbers tell us that by way of a note I just want to make sure that I mentioned this this evening so so we have been informed you know we've been using the word alone for the last few years and so we've been informed that there really is no such thing as a loan um but that the New Jersey Department of Ed has explained that the use of the word loan is really not accurate what's more accurate is to describe a request for advanced state aid payment so I want to make sure you hear that this evening so if I'm using the words Advanced state aid payment you know what that means that's really meaning the loan that we've been referring to the last few years what's also important to note here that comes from code is the bottom part of that slide that uh comes from the New Jersey Department of Ed code it is extremely in extremely rare instance instances and only when certain fiscal conditions are met state law empowers the commissioner of Education to recommend to the state treasurer an approval of an advanced state aid payment to ensure the provision of a thorough and efficient education in the current budget year after the adoption of a balanced budget so there is room for the commissioner to help districts that are struggling so I just want to make sure I know those two things so looking now where do we stand for the current school year the 23 the one we're in right now the 23 24 school year and the state aid request right SL loan that uh we have been talking about now for about a year so while we were developing our the current budget 23 24 last spring we included a revenue line of $10.2 million seeking a loan or Advanced state aid from the New Jersey Department of Education because we knew we couldn't cut any further without affecting students programs um and on May 2nd of 2023 as recommended by the ocean county superintendent of schools at that time we wrote a formal request of $10.2 million for assistance from the Department of Ed we have spent spent all year all year participating in diligent review and discussions with the county and the Department of Education in January as you may all know the New Jersey Department of Ed assigned a state monitor to the district and that is required when a district has a budget deficit and is seeking assistance from the Department of Education so all of these things have happened this current school year so where are we now with that request well we still don't have advanced state aid at this point but we are working with the state monitor who is working with us to get to the exact amount of funding she will be recommending to the for the district to receive an advanced State a to support our current budget once that recommendation is made the commissioner of Education will make a final determination on the monitor's recommendation to the treasury Department we are hopeful to have that determination by May 14th board meeting we will obviously keep you updated I do want to mention here that the reason that we're continuing to work with the monitor on this is because we did seek and did get permission U the district has been permitted to use $4.4 million in unspent funds of interest that has occurred from 2002 and 2005 referendum projects to support the current budget this is on the board agenda tonight for uh approval this evening so that will lower the amount of um assistance that we will need in advanced state aid which is great we don't want to have to take that assistance so it's it's good that we have that permission to be able to use that money that's usually restricted money that we need permission for and we were granted that permission so as you can imagine it's been a little tricky we are essentially working in two budgets right now 23 24 trying to solve that deficit and also 2425 so that's where we stand for the current school year and budget I'm going to shift gears now and talk about the 2425 budget we've coined it mission impossible it really is an impossible feat to cut so much money out of a budget um and it's and it's disheartening knowing that we have been articulating have been communicating this to people um at the right places who make these decisions that we would reach this fiscal cliff you can only reduce so much when you don't have extra Revenue coming in so in the face of monumental and compounding Aid losses and after making extraordinary cuts and having cost rise incredibly it it is just creates uh this Mission Impossible um where we're go in order to cut a significant amount of money we will not have a thorough and efficient education for our students so it's a bit of a balancing act trying to figure out how we get to reduce as we have done every year we make fiscally responsible decisions and we operate in a cup model so on March 20th we introduced the tenative budget here that included a $30 million deficit on our tenative budget there was a line item for other Revenue that we put that $30 million in assistance that we would seek from the Department of Education into our budget however on April 4th the Jackson School District was informed by the county office that we were not permitted to include any kind of state assistance in the budget document in order to balance our budget so in other words we needed to cut the 30 million as you can imagine that's where you heard from us when we put our communication out to all of you that's massive to have to cut that amount of money as we said we would do during the tenative budget presentation as I just said every year we've been working in a cut model and making fiscally responsible decision decisions to reduce our our expenses we worked between March and now to identify how we could reduce and get that $30 million down to an a smaller number and you'll see in a minute how we did that the cuts are difficult every year they're difficult there's nothing that we don't want to have to do without nor do we want our students to have to do without so we worked hard to try and close that Gap but even with the cuts obviously we could still not balance bance we are left at a $25 million deficit so basically we were able to reduce by $5 million $5.5 million and I just want to remind everybody at this point this is information sharing this is not the budget hearing this is um not going out for for public vote this is just sharing where we're at at this point so the changes that we've made since the tentative budget the recommendations that we are making are for to reduce by 27 positions they are all through attrition retirements or resignations no individual is losing their job however it's still painful you feel that effect as I said earlier this evening the district has continually our staff has continually worked harder harder and harder with less and less so I just want to point out that the 10 vacant bus driver positions are positions we have been unable to fill all year so there's nobody in those positions and so we're just saying we've been living without them we're going to continue to live without them right now um and so this totals 242 positions over 7 years that's awful it's a terrible number um and it re it results in about $2.4 million in reductions we continue to make some reductions in all sorts of areas I do want to point out that the township and the mayor have agreed to fully fund our SRO so thank you for that that's huge that allows us to keep two SRO in our school district uh we were splitting [Music] cost definitely deserves Applause we were splitting that cost and uh now we will no longer have that expense and have the benefit of our our excellent SRO we've reduced lots of other uh line items our substitute Staffing line item again a hit to our instructional supplies our custodial supplies and our office supplies I mean they are down to nothing we've reduced overtime districtwide uh we have also looked at our participation rates um and honestly in order to ensure that students could continue to participate in both of our high schools and sports we have gotten some um agreement to um have some Cooperative agreements between the two high schools for boys and girls swimming girls bowling girls cross country no athlete will lose the opportunity to play those but rather will have the opportunity um by doing this Co-op between the two high schools and that will save us a little bit of money as well uh we are working hard to increase Revenue wherever we can again with grants and really publicizing the use of our facilities to bring in more after hours to bring in more Revenue so we have also increased the revenue line there and we eliminated the funding um for our summer curriculum work we're actually shifting it to some grant money instead um so that totals about $3 million in reductions with a total of about 5.5 um that we were able to reduce that $30 million deficit [Music] down so as I said we're now at a $25 million deficit still awful we have made the fiscal responsible cuts that I just mentioned but we can't cut any further without sacrificing a safe thorough and efficient education for our students we can't cut any further without Pro providing opportunities that our students so well deserve um and need uh they they lose opportunities they lose scholarship opportunities without these things they lose opportunities to be enriched to make connections in different ways um we just can't do that that's it's just when other students will have those opportunities um so we're stuck at this $25 million deficit the doe through the county office and the fiscal monitor will need to identify how we proceed how we are to close the remaining budget Gap um unless another solution emerges we will continue to work with the New Jersey Department of Education as we have all along to answer any questions demonstrate anything they need to see in our fiscal responsibility and our our budget and we're going to continue to be committed to students because that's what we do here we're Educators this is an awful slide I'm going to start with that this isn't anything like I just said that we are recommending at all it is not being recommended by this District however these are things that are not considered necessarily thorough and efficient these are things that could be a Jeopardy to close that $25 million gas again how is that okay how is that okay class sizes would be up tremendously making it very difficult for our teachers to individualize to teach and to make help students make progress this would mean closing schools not a school schools no Athletics no clubs no band no Theater award we have awardwinning programs here we have Athletics that are award-winning and just incredible programs here it could mean no more Roc in this District reduction in security taking away some of the safety levels we have here courtesy busing as you know the roads in Jackson can be very dangerous we don't have a lot of sidewalks very windy County Roads no academic supports beyond the teacher in the classroom limiting our tiered interventions barely any AP courses no late buses no facility improvements reduction in electives could even mean not having the preschool program anymore it could mean going back to half day kindergarten these are the types of things you need big things like that to close a $25 million gap this is heartbreaking this is why as Educators we can't recommend these kinds of cuts we're Educators our students deserve better we have students with serious mental health concerns who need these connections to these things so that they feel connected to other people and school I think everybody gets the point there is pending legislation so as I said before there may be recommendations to make those cuts but we also hope that something might come through between now and our our May 14th meeting that would help districts like Jackson Jackson's not alone there's other districts in the same position with these massive cuts that they have to close or massive gaps that they have to close rather so there are some pending our legislators are working hard trying to figure out ways that they can help help these districts like ours um so there's lots of things out there we'll keep a watch F ey to see what passes and if something passes we'll meet we'll discuss and see how it can benefit Jackson we'll continue to Advocate we ask you to continue to Advocate and I want to thank everybody who has been advocating it has been a tremendous amount of people reaching out some of you sending me things that you've you've sent out to legislators or the department of Ed um I want to thank the board for all of their advocacy the staff our residents students the council the mayor we need to continue this isn't okay this isn't okay for our kids so I'm going to leave and close my superintendence report with the father of American Education Horus man in a quote is so relevant 1800s right he says this quote if ever there can be a cause worthy to be upheld by all toil and sacrifice that the human heart can endure it is the cause of education and that's where we stand here and Jackson so with that I asked the board um if there's any questions I have a question um Miss Morris can you please explain your roles and responsibilities with being assigned to a district and financial distress basically basically the um Law requires that if a district asks uh the State Department of Education um for an advanced pay payment of state aid uh it must also be assigned a monitor uh and as you know I arrived in January and um with the anticipation at that time that the I start saying loan too that the advanced payment or loan whichever you want to call it um was coming around the same time that that I arrived and there has been as indicated a delay in it there were a number of questions that had to be asked and answered um we are still uh struggling with with some of the um the issues that would involve a decision on that uh the commissioner is awaiting a a recommendation from myself as to how much the um uh Advanced payment should be what the District needs to complete the 2324 school year before we even approach the other uh there is a section in 18a that uh describes all of the authority and responsibility of the uh when a state monitor is assigned I will be very happy to print that out for you and see that you have cop the entire board has copy if you'd like yes please please yes please do so now to your direct question um as far as the responsibility is concerned it's to basically oversee the financial uh issues of the district it is not to step in and actually uh remove those from uh the responsibility of the superintendent or the business administrator uh it's to let you still run your District um and uh hopefully uh that's a relationship that that's built on trust and uh can eventually produce the kind of result you have a very difficult issue here that that sometimes other districts with monitors do not have um if it involves something that uh can directly be corrected by the monitor then and the district that's one thing here you have a revenue issue so finding more Revenue um as the superintendent indicated it's it's not a spending issue it's say there has been no to my knowledge I have seen no mismanagement uh of any kind and the appro appropriate Cuts have been made but finding Revenue to support all of those things you know it it's kind of like I think of it as a perfect storm because uh there are so many factors that impacted your District all at one time even Co um the price of gas inflation all of those things have factored into Financial a financial crisis that the superintendent described thank you are there any other questions yes uh M Morris can you explain how a district would qualify for a loan and and with that um or state aid advancement who makes that ultimate decision the the decision is um well let me start at the at the beginning if you already have a monitor assigned um as in this case um my recommendation would go to the Department of Education and ultimately the commissioner of education has to make a recommendation to the Department of Treasury and more or less that is a request coming from the it would be considered to be a request coming from the department and the commissioner um and I'm assuming um that all of the information that we've been Gathering and um would be needed to support his his request and ultimately bottom line is the Department of Treasury either can say yes or no do you feel that we need a state aid advancement for this year or next year for both we both um certainly uh I would say at this point that we are in the middle of of as described by the superintendent it's been very difficult for um your District employees even who are working with the superintendent and business administrator to um separate because we've been working for with two different budgets um I will withhold my recommendation or indication for one reason and that is because the final uh recommendation coming from me to the commissioner has not been shared with him yet so uh I think that that's where it should go first at the same time that I do that uh superintendent will share it with the board first if you don't make that recommendation are we going to still be on the hook for having you present here and will we still be responsible for your salary yes even if we don't get that advanc if you don't get no correct no no no if you don't have a loan I'm gone so will we get compensated back if you don't make that recommen recommendation you've been here since January not according well that's a good question um um I had thought of it to be honest with you okay if if uh if since it is a very good question um I will ask my boss that okay thank you okay uh more questions okay Miss brockis Miss Morris please explain what the New Jersey Department of Education defines as a thorough and efficient education for students what curriculum programs and extracurricular are included in a thorough and efficient education well I think that the the obviously the um the program that is outlined there is a um a complete it's almost like a booklet of uh a pamphlet I'll call it of what a thorough efficient education is there's a legal interpretation and as we know know the courts have been uh over the years challenged uh to determine whether a district is providing a thorough and efficient education uh it involves a tremendous number of different aspects of of what we feel uh a child should be provided um through the through the public school system um so I I can't recite every one of those tonight or we will be here to tomorrow but I can tell you that it's it's varied it's supposed to give certainly uh an equal opportunity to every student um in the in the system to provide the Necessities to for a um um the ability to to prosper and and and earn a living and and move on um as far as the financial aspect aspect of it as the superintendent said it's it's very foggy in some areas as to um what each person in each family might consider to be a necessity for his or her children um let me give you an example some some very very successful people um you know in the theater in athletics in whatever uh areas um would probably not have prospered if they had not had the opportunity to have that in their educational program to someone who who doesn't and have someone in those fields or in any field might think something else science is the most important or or something similar to that so it's very varied um it's it's trust me in what I tell you that we have been wrestling with that the last few weeks in looking at this budget as to what is absolutely necessary and what is not um I don't know if that I I know that doesn't completely answer your question but thank you Miss Morris um can you explain why the county business administrator Miss Tina trouba suggested to our Administration that we should default on our debt Services Bond as well as not pay our attorney fees for this school year well I I hesitate to speak for someone else I can tell you that there has not been one aspect of the budget that has been not looked at um for a possibility of of U resolving the problem so as far as delayed payments uh concerned that is a possibility if if it's at all uh wise to do that uh that everybody would probably have his or her own opinion on it um I don't think that anybody has actually recommended uh default of anything firmly at this point I can tell you quite hon honestly that everything is is being looked at as to uh the ability to generate uh some Revenue that gets you first through this year um without even looking at next year yet miss permil um have has have we ever defaulted on any loan or purchase order payment before no not since I've been here okay so I guess I guess my question is what's the contradiction of information we're receiving um it seems like the county has some recommendations and maybe some of yours are different um so it seems to be a slight contradiction of information is is we working to get some clarity on on how we can keep us functioning appropriately without defaulting because that could have great credit implications on the district I mean we're looking to uh purchase new buses and we need a loan right a leased loan for this and at this time the nine buses that we're looking to lease the vendor is telling us they're not going to approve that lease to purchase because they're not sure how we're going to pay for it because we don't have a budget this year or next year and these are old buses that we need to replace it's a safety hazard for all of our children in our district so with us even suggesting to default would further hinder our ability to get such loans to have a thorough and efficient education and safe for our children would you would you agree with that or I would agree and and I would tell you let me reiterate every aspect of the budget has been is being looked at and one of them is to defer payments that can be deferred we are not making that selection at random as of I think it was U 3:00 this afternoon I had a a phone conference with a Bo a bond counsel and I explored every aspect of what that would mean for the district and I that is the way we're approaching this the business administrator was with me at the time and we had the opportunity to talk to one of uh the best persons in the state that I am familiar with who handles um bonds she then had put us in contact with Bond counsel and um so none of these I don't I don't want you to think that anyone not the superintendent the business office nor myself is just sitting down and coming up with a list we are exploring every possible area for cuts that have the least impact uh on our children your superintendent has made it very clear to me from the day that I walked in that her first priority in this district is is for kids and I have uh tried to support i h I agree with her I happen to support that and we have been looking at every aspect that we possibly could so we're not I I know you're not suggesting that we're doing this light but I can assure you that we're not U that's not the kind of a recommendation I would make without councel from from an expert on bonding thank you there any other questions um I have one Mrs Morris can you explain how our Transportation Security special ed and MLL funding stayed the same throughout S2 when these particular categories increased significantly in our district for instance MLL Rose over 450% and our non-public Transportation over 750 and those numbers stayed the same the only explanation I have for you is that they became all a part of the formula itself and um when the formula was written it was written for all 600 and some districts in the state and I think um that uh I don't know at the time whether everybody was aware of the impact for each one of those districts but I think the formula did impact each district differently and um I'm aware that that's part of your Revenue problem um and that it is a result of that as your shows indicate tonight as well absolutely I think we all feel that Miss Morris hop hopping on the back of that did S2 mean to get away from categorical like the the determination of S2 funding was it meant to actually get rid of categorical Aid and just consider Equalization Aid um I was not in on the that kind of a discussion ever um as to what people thought they were uh wanted wanted to do or or thought they were doing by the formula itself so I'm not I would hesitate answering that question for you I'm I'm not sure what what it in that way intend it to do so I do have another question um Miss Morris I'm not sure if you would be aware but I have the um budget public hearing that is happening today for the Lakewood uh Board of Education and I was reviewing reviewing it and I found a little a little puzzling um Lakewood submitted their budget with the Department of Education with a loan request which we were told not to do we were told to cut our budget by the $30 million but in their budget it has a loan request for $14 million in there um this is public knowledge so we were told not to put the 30 million they have 104 in there and they're going as planned with their uh budget planning process it seems like it's a little different for us and maybe other districts I know they have a state monitor as well um do you speak with that monitor is there is there a different set of rules schools or how do we balance our budget which is half the size of their and we have 2,000 more students than they do in our school [Music] [Applause] system I'm not going to comment on that thingk all right thank you Miss Morris can I ask you a question I know that you said um um when it comes to a thorough and efficient education that the list goes on and on and on and you can't give us specifics because what's good for one person isn't necessarily good for the next so looking at what our Cuts could potentially be for that 2530 million in your opinion do you think we would be giving students a thorough and efficient education well we would have to to certainly um we'd certainly have to know what the list of the cuts were first I mean we'd have to settle to to be pretty uh exact to come up with the the 25 million um I don't we're in the middle of that right now I don't know if it's possible to get there without um endangering some of those uh thorough what we would consider thorough and efficient um and it would also be interesting to to see if you know if they are in any way acceptable to to the administration and also the the um uh the board I know that your superintendent I don't want to speak for her but I know she feels very strongly as I said before that um kids should be first in consideration so if if it comes down to what has to be cut I would certainly hope that uh they're not but I don't know I I can't promise you tonight that we're going to find $25 million in areas that would almost everything in a school affects a kid really one way or another when you really think about it so I don't know if it's I don't think it's even possible to answer that and say that absolutely no um I have one more question just going back to um what Mr par said um the defaults when you say we're looking at everything including defaulting on loans that we have and debts that we have do you also discuss how that's kind of pushing the can down the road and we're going to have an issue later on are you just going to be setting us up even if we get through this year and next year for issues in the future well that that is definitely under consideration and the your business administrator loves that expression we're just kicking it down the the can down the road so we hear it often and it is being considered yes are there any other questions uh yes I have one um so I know that Mr per Milly talked about this several times but can you explain to us again when we see that we're functioning 23 million under adequacy what that actually means to us and where we're functioning under adequacy well I don't I have the same history that you do maybe your superintendent wants to explain in more detail because she knows what impact that has had every every year thank you I think what I'm getting at is um you know is it this you know the state determines State a and we're under adequacy in state aid or not necessarily in state aid so can you clarify where we're under adequacy in our funding that's a formula um Nicole you can certainly jump in if you'd like that's a formula that's not that's not your determination of state aid right as yes thank you Miss Morris so it is not the determination of state aid it's how we're spending so we're 24 million basically if you round it um spending under adequacy and so uh Mr binsky the business administrator has done an extensive review of that so I'm going to turn it over to him and he can explain how we are really UND spending in every category yeah so so the state puts out a a state adequacy report the last time they put out was 2023 which basically sets forth like ratios for how many uh principles you should have how many teachers you should have how many custodians you should have how much you should be spending in uh curriculars and things like that so based on all of those ratios um that is what puts us at $23 million below adequacy so when you apply our ratios of how many staff members we have in those different categories and what we spend we end up $23 million below what the state deems to be adequate spending for a school district our size where are I guess I'm I don't know if I'm being clear but where are we supposed to be looking for that Revenue so one of the things we'll do we'll post it on our district website uh it's right off of the it's off the NJ dooe site um it's a public document it's called the state adequacy report where is a district who's in deficit and financial distress supposed to come you know like obviously we understand their state aid advancement but how is the state coming up with the fact that we should not have $23 million you know what what's the so basically it applies a calculation to uh how much you should be spending for a custodian how much you should be spending for a bus driver uh it assigns a a a Statewide average for salary and health benefits and then it cranks out I think the the question too I think if I'm understanding it correctly is how do we make up for that yes thank how is the revenue how do we get Revenue right right the answer is we we can't the only two ways that we can get significant amounts of Revenue would be through state aid or the tax levy those are the two big pieces of how you get Revenue in a school district um other than the smaller pieces like we talked about with grant funding but that certainly wouldn't close you know a gap like that and the other piece of that is that it has to be consistent Revenue it can't just be one a one shot deal one you know one year you get this additional Revenue that just creates a bigger deficit the following year so it has to be fixed it has to be consistent Revenue that the district can count on M prilly can I so can I just so how I understand this is the State Department of Education came out with an adequacy report that says we're not spending enough money we need to spend $23 million more and in 7 years they took $23 million from us in funding so it's it's basically the same they took what they're telling us we should be [Music] spending which also proves that we're fiscally responsible cuz we're not over spending right clearly if we're 23 million under well it demonstrates what we've said all along we are fiscally responsible it's not a spending issue it's a revenue issue and there needs to be a fix to this a revenue caused by the Department of Education just remember that wait M I have one more question for Mrs mors so um again going back to delaying purchase orders and paying and kicking the can down the road for next year but if if we're having issues with leasing companies for buses we have Capital Improvements that have been delayed and our buildings are fairly old I mean they're you know they're not young buildings how do you suggest we go forward in being able to secure money or financial loans or leases through other companies when your credit going to be when our credit is not good and and we're not getting state aid that we need to follow through that's that's a huge a huge question um certainly the the interest in the district uh I think that was explained in in the presentation to in my opinion some kind of legisl to make it simple some kind of legislation has to kick in to help the district now I I can't you know tell you exactly how that should be written um I do think that um going back to your question about adequacy uh there there the formula for that um involves the fact that in a in a way the when you look at adequacy what what you're being told is that based on the formula and the way that the state determines Aid the local fair share should be coming uh more from the tax rate than it should be coming from state aid that's that's really uh what's cutting into to this in in when you look at the um under adequacy so that was actually the answer I was looking for pardon me I said that's what I was wondering and I was wondering does you have a specific amount that the local fair share is supposed to be paying there's a formula itself that determines that do you happen to know what percentage it is that the that S2 expects the local people to pay no I don't I don't think it's a it's dependent on each individual's Town Town wealth each go yep it's that's what it's based on SCH District's different does nj8 um a or NJ 6A have any law or statements in there like obviously we're focus a lot on S2 but is there anything in there that would help a district in financial distress no I I again I I think it's it's very you know there's there are a lot of certainly laws uh school school laws that pertain to the financial um management and running of a school district addressing what you can and cannot do um if that's what you're asking I'm not sure I understand the question I'm just wondering if there's others you know obviously if you start reading all the laws it's gets intermingled and I was wondering if there's anything in either one of those state laws or about education right nj1 18a and NJ 6A that says that there's anything to help a district in financial distress those laws were written well before us you well there are there are some um for instance the question that you went out to um to exceed the 2% cap that's in okay in the law that gives the district the opportunity basically what it's saying is that you cannot continue uh to balance your budget this year without exceeding the 2% cap but you can't do that and put it into your budget unless the voters approve it so that's why basically um I understand you was it last year or the year before before last year right that you went out to um the public with that question and the public can come back and say a yes unfortunately you got a no but they if they say yes then you exceed the 2% and you can raise the taxes to support the budget and there are districts that uh that do that every year um who want to exceed that 2% um so there are some laws like that yes is there anything in both of those laws that allows the commissioner to make emergent decisions based on financial distress well the commissioner has a lot of power in that area yes okay yes if you look at the one slide that I just had read earlier it's in there y I'm sorry could have raised the 2% tax levy in our town without a vote oh could the mission commission do that I think no no may can provide emergent relief if determined of a District's in financial distress and there's no no diff you know no one's doing foul foulness or there's overspending or yes that's what I had read earlier yes exactly mhm you can do that okay any other questions yes I just had one more um so it seems to me that everybody's kind of waiting for new new legislation and hopefully that will bail us out in other districts who in similar situations but there's no guarantee that that is going to happen so it's a nice wish list but if it doesn't happen then what well then the the cuts would have to be if you don't have the money the cuts would have to be made and then we would find out the definition of a thorough and efficient education [Music] [Applause] but but we understand Miss Morris you know you're saying that obviously we're putting students first and there is law 6A 15 about MLL services that we provide you know the state requires certain things that we have to have for all students including gifted and talented programs intervention services and you know other items for a students so you know there is an outline for a thorough and official education and I think that you know we're going to stand behind making sure that we're offering one mhm agreed any other questions okay I'm going to go have a seat and that concludes the superintendent's report Mr P thank you Miss pil all right I need a motion to open public forum motion second please sign in clearly and state your name and whether or not you are a Jackson resident each person is allowed a maximum of five minutes to speak no person may speak more than once on a topic until all others have been heard good evening ladies and gentlemen students a lot of students here tonight fantastic can we just stand by the microphone please good evening um thank you board and actually I want to thank the monitor for coming tonight because it's important to hear from really an arbitrator who is looking at the data in the information um do you mind if I asked a question to the a auditor have you seen any districts as well-managed as Jackson or no let me rephrase that on a scale of 1 to 10 10 being the best managed School District from a fiduciary standpoint what number would you assign Jackson zero the worst 10 the best so far from your audit I think I'll pass on that okay thank you thank that's fine that's fine um first of all this shouldn't be a surprise anyone seven years ago I sat in the same room and we heard our budget being discussed and then waila Trenton said oh guess what that 2 million you were going to get you're not getting that right too bad then it continued year after year after year so this really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone if it is you must have just moved the Jackson because this room should be F like this every time there's a board meeting this is serious we're in really financial trouble tonight we have students that we saw recently applying to Princeton selected to Princeton ruter University Army Air Force Marines these students have a great opportunity here it is a very thorough and it's a very efficient system we produce the best students here that's why Jackson is rated 10 on the top 10 places to live in the state because we don't accept mediocrity so think back when S2 was signed it's not just the governor it's the sponsors C Linda Greenstein Lou Greenwald Teresa Ruez and Steve Sweeney that's right New Jersey's own so they put us in this situation and okay maybe after the first year hey this is not working cuz S2 is failed it's a terrible formula we can we know that from the from the discussion about the transportation which is an Abomination now we could have changed then our leaders could have changed looked at what's going on they didn't I even thought this was a a punishment to towns cuz let's face it Jackson didn't quite vote for the current governor but it actually affected a lot of towns that voted for him so this is really A system that is arbitrary and not unique because there are 100 uh districts 120 I believe that are actually going to face uh decrease in Aid and 400 who are going to get increases and those 400 are not going to fight for you cuz they want their money and they're going to get it Newark extra $100 million good for them so again we we've been here with this before we know where we are this is really an information session cuz there's really not much to do but you know hope for the best and I'm really getting tired of begging Trenton for money I don't want to beg let's let's come with a solution that we can solve this we have students in AP courses we have students in the band going to amazing I mean winning Awards award-winning musicians um in this school and we're also extremely diverse if you look around in this town people want to come here they want to live in Jackson I move from Mammoth County so and my wife is long-term Jackson resident I've been here for 20 years so again this is not a surprise again I want to thank the monitor I I hope you know this gets to Trenton hope someone gets this video out to Trenton and they can see that this is a community that's that's important it's worth saving but um that's that's it's a it's a tough one and it's a payday loan I'll say loan it's a loan it's loan okay it's a loan and the problem continues even afterwards again I can go on and all but I'm going to let others speak because I know others want to be heard but thank you for your [Music] time oh and and just one thing let's all be professional tonight in our discussions please we can do that you want to go good evening uh thank you for letting me take a moment to share my heart uh my name is Susan Springfield I a mom of four children who have attended Jackson School since 2006 when our last one graduates from this building here in Memorial we will have been in the school system for 21 years I have held every volunteer position known to man I have been a class mom the PTO vice president at Johnson the marching band parent Association vice president I've helped feed drama kids during Tech week I've spent many hours at band camp football games weekend band competitions and every kind of class trip and manageable uh most recently I spent 5 days in Disney World with our marching band and saw them proudly play in a parade marching their way down Main Street USA not something many people get to experience I don't say any of that to build myself up I tell you this so you understand that I know the kids involved in marching band in drama club and in the Art Academy and one of those is my kid Benjamin Ben started his freshman year here kneee in covid they were so disconnected their mental health and AB ility to connect with others was damaged no doubt about it it was a tough way to begin high school but he was part of the marching band and that little bit of normaly that practices in football games provided helped him find his tribe these kids learned to play music they learn to March they learn to work together for a common goal they learned to cheer on other schools be generous with their words build one another up having spent all these years learning from music and life from Mr Jason Diaz and Mr Eric faraka is a gift he will look back back on with much fondness and so will his mama as the years went on this kid who was reserved in public bloomed into a guy that tries everything kids who are involved in the Arts often Branch out and find other ways to express themselves Ben had many band friends who were also involved in drama and they encouraged him to try it out well that was like a firework was set off in my kid's Soul Mrs Corey Larson took him under his her wing and wow he went from a background fish and SpongeBob his Junior year to the lead role of wodsworth the Butler and clue I had no idea the side of him existed I'm not sure he knew this side of him existed in addition to music and theater he's also enjoyed four years in our Art Academy when he came to me in eth grade and told me he was going to join an academy I assumed it was stem because he's always been really good at math and when he said art I looked at him said babe can you draw um it turns out yes yes he can his ability to create Absol absolutely stuns me in fact his piece on a string is representing Jackson and all of Ocean County in the New Jersey teen Arts Festival next month in addition the skills he's developed under Mrs Lisa Stallone have earned him a spot at Mason gross art school at Ruckers This [Music] fall with an 18% acceptance rate our level of pride is through the roof his application to Mason gross would never have even been considered if not for the Intensive training he was given here in our Art Academy combined with all the extracurriculars that have shaped him he is who he is today because of the majority of programs that are being considered for [Music] termination I have always teased my kids that if I had attended school here I really could have been somebody obviously the academic side of our school system is second to none he's held a very high GPA his entire High School career but for me as a mom watching my child flourish through these extracurricular activities and the Art Academy has been an experience I will treasure as long after his report cards are boxed up and put in storage Math and Science and literacy are super important they give our children a chalk outline of who they will become the Arts however bring shading and color to flesh out their true selves losing any portion of these programs would be devastating to the community of artists that are proudly crafted here at Jackson Memorial High School I encourage you to do everything you can to protect them thank [Applause] [Music] you and I'm just going to break the rules here for one second but that's a thorough and efficient education [Music] hello I am is it on can you hear it yeah uh Jennifer council president um I did graduate from uh this high school I just wanted to say a couple things once I want to just say I want to support you know our Board of our education um the monitor I have a couple questions for you but I just wanted to say why would we ever get advice to default on a loan it it doesn't make sense I I don't why you would be advised to destroy your credit and the school's credit and the opportunity to purchase and get other loans just is baffling to me um it it actually kind of scares me that that's even deferring payments also do not make them go away it it's doesn't wipe them off the books they just come up later so let's just not do that um what um president uh jeppi had brought up about the loan on the budget just adding it in there as Lakewood did why you can't answer that as our Monitor and you know we're paying you I would think that would be something that we would like to get an answer for because us getting that thank you that's that's job security for you you even said it so if we don't get this loan you don't have a job we here anyway so I I would just look into that um and that's pretty much I don't want to take anybody's time but you know I love to see everybody coming out um and supporting you know the kids and and administration we have Council here and assembly men so it's great to see everybody thank [Music] [Applause] you hey so my name is Nate Tolen uh I'm a senior in the Jackson Memorial High School band and chorus programs and I sat in the pit Orchestra for many of our spring musicals I was in the Jazz Ensemble since my freshman year I was the brass coordinator for the 2023 marching band season and I'm in the school's trim music Honor Society I've just been so involved in the school's Performing Arts programs and they've been able to give me so much back through my four years of high school that I just feel like I have to be here and advocate for them during the district's financial crisis ever since I joined the thank you thank you ever since I joined the band program here Memorial Mr Diaz and Mr fer have always just pushed me to be the best musician that I can be whether they were inviting me to join various ensembles through the school or they were helping me audition for regional or state bands and they even helped me with my college auditions uh I've just always felt like there was such a great support system of people behind me and not just the teachers it was just the students in the program as well they were just making sure that I wasn't only like the best musician that I could be but the best person uh this program taught me patience discipline a lot of hard work especially with practicing uh as well as teaching me just how to budget my time between music work school and a lot of other extracurriculars and I've just enjoyed what I've done here so much in four years that I decided I want to do it for the rest of my life uh this fall I'm going to be studying music education so hopefully thank you just so hopefully I can Inspire students to do what they love just like like the school and the district has done for me and just hearing that some students might not get that opportunity is really saddening uh it's not just meant for people like me though who want this as a career Performing Arts programs are crucial to a well-rounded education for every student and studies are showing that playing an instrument uses both sides of the brains and it strengthens the nerves between them students who are involved in music and Fine Arts overall have better performance in the classroom and it's especially true in the development of younger students making it even more critical at the elementary and middle school level in addition to the high school level these subjects boost cognitive development they improve memory and that just proves that music really isn't just an extracurricular it's a fundamental part of a thorough and efficient education um so miss perelli and the rest of the board thank you guys so much for all that you've been able to do to do just keep these programs intact thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] good evening my name is Paul mingi I'm a parent of two students with special needs in Jackson Public Schools I wanted to First say that the teachers at my daughter's Elementary School have done an amazing job for my daughter they've made sure she reads above grade level she's an excellent speller she's kept up with her math honestly I couldn't be happier if these sort of cuts go through however what kind of an inclusion classroom is a classroom with 35 pupils how do you attend to the needs of that child in that classroom for that matter what good is it if the school can only afford to give my daughter speech therapy or occupational therapy once every two weeks or once a month or once a cycle she will fall behind and because of her special needs she will never catch up again and that's it my son and I'm very appreciative of Jackson for providing the preschool program I understand his classroom is essentially a converted construction trailer I'm sure Jackson would love to put him in an actual classroom and have that space but there's no way for them to afford that so S2 works well for some districts more poorly for others Jackson I could tell you that being in education for a few years now I know school districts for whom S2 works very well who are purchasing two buildings for their preschool programs this year who student for student roughly same size same number of students as Jackson have a significantly higher budget and sometimes you can hear administrators describe their situation as flush with cash good for them as to worked well for some very poorly for us what I hope you can do is help our district until politicians deem it necessary or Dain to fix the S2 formula to better serve school districts like ours you can help us you can help recommend that we have the money to keep going until a formula is changed or made better for school districts like ours so I hope you choose to help us thank you [Music] my name is Kathy deiro my son is a freshman at Memorial you're going to meet him in a minute I am a committee chair in the Jackson Memorial band parents Association I've also been a PTO president of Johnson when my son was young my son is brilliant he's also different he's written and edited space and transportation history documentary since he was six he's been playing musical instruments since he was seven he composes his own music he draws and writes screenplays and directs and acts and creates special effects he dreams of screenwriting directing and composing for film and television someday these are his passions his aptitudes and his future they are also not the core High School curriculum without the opportunities he has had in marching band and digital media Academy there would be no way for him to pursue his academic interests build his skills and show colleges that he has the abilities and experience to excel in these Pursuits Beyond High School my son needs more academically than the core High School curriculum to be challenged and to achieve what he is capable of in his areas of Interest he's an honor a high honor role student with the potential to attend a competitive University to get there he needs a rigorous High School curriculum with AP courses and electives like band and digital media my son is fun and outgoing but has struggled to find other kids who share his interests until he got to Memorial the clubs and extracurriculars you are considering eliminating have taught him social emotional skills and enabled him to build friend groups with the jmhs marching Jaguars he's made the closest friendships of his life learned how to be part of a team working toward a common goal and become a more skilled musician and made countless cherished moments performing on the field at MetLife Stadium and at Disney World with the jmhs Jazz Ensemble he's taken up a new instrument learned a new style of music and performed on local stages JTV the school's the school district's television network run by kids as an extracurricular Club is a community institution that broadcasts everything from sports games to chorus and band concerts to plays to this Board of Education meeting those are students on those cameras and in that Booth my son has learned how to run a camera mix sound create graphics and switch shows live all while being part part of a tightened and supportive group of kids in Air Force Junior Roc he's taken Aerospace his primary academic area of Interest he's preparing for leadership roles he's learned discipline and loyalty with his fellow Cadets extracurriculars have encouraged my risk averse kid to try new things after two years behind the scenes on drama club crew he's decided to try out for an acting role what will happen to my son when he no longer has these social supports and these opportunities to grow and Excel in the areas he loves the most why might our district be forced to cut these programs when other children across the state have access to comparable programs and much more we have shown that we are fiscally responsible We have dealt the best we can with S2 and the fact that the state has not fully funded its mandates in transportation special education and security the NJ Doo's own loan ification letter while our district should receive over $7.7 million in transportation Aid we get 61,000 dollars perhaps the state could start by meeting that funding obligation instead of cutting academics like band and extracurriculars the New Jersey Department of education's mission is to quote support schools Educators and districts to ensure all of New Jersey's 1.4 million students have Equitable access to high quality education and Achieve academic Excellence end quote forcing 25 million in Cuts in our district in one year is contrary to that mission further cuts of the magnitude being discussed in this budget will devastate the lives of these children and be the final nail in the coffin containing their Futures this is not what a Department of Education should be about we must find a better way my child wasn't saved by geometry or English class his future depends on electives and extracurriculars and on the rigor of his high school curriculum all these programs literally everything my child loves about high school band music dma AP classes ROTC drama club JTV are on the chopping block are the arts media community service leadership and social growth not part of a thorough and efficient education my child's dreams the dreams of every child in this audience and in this District are literally in your hands so I lend you with just a question I believe we heard tonight that the commissioner of education has the power to redress some of the Dreadful public policies that have brought us here Miss Morris will you ask the commissioner of Education to come before our community to discuss these issues and answer our questions thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you good evening I'm Michelle mccan oh I'm gonna step back um I just I'm gonna give you a little background I went to Swit School in the 80s and then to gets and then I graduated from Jackson Mor High School in 1993 that same year I received the Lucy Holman scholarship um because I wrote an essay that discussed my desire to give back to my community so as a woman of my word I started teaching here at Memorial in 1998 I've been a staff member since 1998 that's 26 years and a Community member my entire life that's a lot longer my husband and I are both employed by the Jackson School District and just like I did my children attended switlick are currently enrolled in gets and soon enough almost to scene will be Jaguars when my husband and I decided where we were going to put Roots down it was non-negotiable of course we were going to buy our home and raise our children in Jackson why wouldn't we Jackson has built a Powerhouse of which I am proud to call my home so many students have crossed the threshold of these buildings who've gone on to accomplish many amazing things both in and out of the classroom many of them have decided to do exactly what I chose to do every day I stand shoulder toosh shoulder with many former students who are also currently employed by the Jackson School District doesn't that speak volumes about the positive experience that we created in this town for these young people throughout the course of my career I've taught nearly 5,000 students I have taught my friends children former students childrens all siblings in a family and currently I have a student in my first period class who I have taught both of his sisters his aunt his uncle and his mother sadly this will not happen again unfortunately this district is on the precipice of change families who've been here for Generations are moving out because they are concerned about the quality of Education that this district will be able to provide in the future in this Current financial crisis I need to be realistic about what a classroom will look like in the future for me my husband and my children because positions are lost through attrition class sizes will continue to grow from a teachers perspective a class size of more than 25 is difficult to manage 30 challenging and 30 plus near impossible quality will be the first to suffer classroom management the next then from an administrator's perspective totally impossible now from the perspective of the student questions unanswered papers not graded Concepts not understood and not to be cliche but another student falling through the cracks these cracks are only going to continue to grow if an Antiquated formula and lack of school funding If These funds are restored then these cracks can begin to be filled we can start to return to a position of academic Excellence tradition and pride this is just from an academic perspective what about extracurricular activities Sports and clubs unite this community provide our students with opportunity to see the work World outside of themselves provide students with a sense of understanding to let them know that it mattered that they were even here our community has never needed programs more than they do right now students need a sense of belonging and comfort and many of them find it with teams and clubs and not with Idle Hands in the hours after school these young people need a sense of purpose whether in a gym on a field on a stage or in a classroom all of which are being compromised it doesn't really matter how we got here the fact is we are here and in the end who's really winning and losing who gets hurt the children of the district my children and yours thank [Applause] [Music] you my name is Daniel deiro and I'm a freshman at Jackson Memorial High School the main thing I'm worried about is how are students going to grow without the extracurricular activities we've been involved in and how are we going to learn skills that will be essential in our lives for example I'm in the Band the drama club and Air Force Junior RTC even though they are hard work at times they're also so rewarding we share a sense of camaraderie and togetherness and we always work together to make fantastic things reality in marching band we need almost two whole weeks of band camp during the summer and night rehearsals in order to entertain people and put on an amazing show I love band with all my heart and becomes such a better musician in less than a year I was also a member of the all inter immediate band last year where I got to meet and perform with scores of serious band students from across the state the same goes for the drama club where we spend months painting designing moving set pieces and planning to make our magnificent plays and musicals possible and we're always proud of everything we do and RC is the most fun and interesting class I've ever attended and I doubt anything will change that every group and Club I work in is a team and we dedicate ourselves to doing incredible things if we didn't have any of that none of us would learn teamwork special skills and we and we would not have experiences and achievements to put on our future resumés and college applications perhaps the biggest thing to me is the digital media Academy which as far as I'm concerned is the big is the best program of its kind anywhere so many of us put effort into our projects to develop our skills make people laugh and work in groups so we can share our achievements with each other we are learning media production skills that are directly related to Future jobs and we are gaining real experience that can get us those jobs I in fact already know what I want to do with my life I want to combine my talents for film making and music composition to create documentary films on my favorite parts of History mainly project Apollo and humans landing on the moon for the first time you may be thinking can't you just do that outside of school well most of us will not have access to the expensive tools to create our own films or the expert instruction from our teachers if these programs are eliminated and there's no one to collaborate with and if we aren't doing doing this in school together and it's not even possible to to be in a marching band or Youth Orchestra without having it at your high school if these programs were gone from our schools there would be no way for students interested in them to access that education I was recently named the National Youth Advisory Board of the media power Youth Organization largely because of being in the dma could I have done that anyway no the sole reason why I was even able to send my application was because of Mrs sandon my dma adviser who nominated me and the hours I racked up during JTV shoots and in school GMA Productions such as music videos short films and commercials if these classes acms and extracurriculars are completely eviscerated hundreds of students are going to be livid discombobulated and lost because we love these classes and the opportunities they give us to demonstrate teamwork sportsmanship and how you can find an exciting career path that fits your interests and is best for you take that all away and our school's identity is gone as well I really should be home studying for my biology test tomorrow but instead I'm here fighting for my future I hope Mr antelli will understand good [Music] night hello uh I'm a Jackson resident and me and my wife uh both lived in man Albin before we moved to Jackson and one of the reasons why we wanted to live to you know move to Jackson was because of the schools you know as you start a family you look around you look at the towns and Jackson really was you know and still is one of the best uh schools out there and you know we're doing this with our kids so my my daughter is graduated she's in college now and my son is a junior uh he participates in a lot of the many activities that uh that the school gives him he's uh been holding a uh a high honor role all his years at the high school he's a part of the Business Academy and has some wonderful meetings at Ruckers and Princeton and some other uh you know business uh leaders and unfortunately that did have to change a bit you know the uh Cuts did come and they had the academy but they had to really stem it down and they have more just local meetings but they all participated and they all you know uh were a part of it um the main important thing here to realize too is that he's putting all this effort in he's working you know his butt off he's coming home he's putting all this time in and he's in AP classes and that's what's happening in these colleges is that they're looking for kids that are working hard that are part of these AP classes and when they look at for these AP classes if for some reason during a senior year the AP classes disappear they don't care they don't care that the S2 something went wrong with it and the and the algorithm didn't work while the community certain communities grew and other commun unities didn't they don't care about that and this is going to affect not just my son but everybody else here that is striving to achieve and be and be better with AP classes because that's what they're going to see they're going to say well how come there's no AP classes their senior year we're going to put his uh his uh file down at the bottom so these are all really important things that we're concerned about uh you know for his placement and and and you know becoming a uh a college tracked uh professional and uh yeah so you know we're just uh you know really uh want to make sure that he can continue his success in here and and at uh at the school and you know we are concerned with these other districts out there which you may be able to talk to we we they're getting $200 million in funding you know and what are they doing with that money they're building a $230 million high school and and they have no money and and and you know townships that are getting all this money where we're trying our best we're trying our best to to to make cuts and and and make amendments uh for a school and a Township that is known across New Jersey as the best the top 10 as somebody said before so please if you can do your best to continue this and continue the legacy of all these great activities and curricular activities that are available to our students thank [Music] you good day everyone uh just for some background I'm Isaac ellner and my education journey through Jackson was a bit different because they funded me to go to a private school because I have high functioning autism and I didn't really graduate with them uh they I actually graduated at CER which is on the side of the sweatshirt but what I fear will happen if the if Jackson just keeps losing funding in general is that people like me with autism and anything else on the Spectrum won't get the care they need they won't be able to help us as much as they can currently it's really a shame and it's not just us I fear for everyone else in the town who goes to Jackson because if they lose all these electives it's going to be a real pain on the school system I believe because you know the standard Math Science History Etc isn't really it's basically just saying that nowadays there's just more specialization in learning you know it's not as en and if we lose all these electives we're not going to have that much of a uh advantage over everyone else and it doesn't help that we just lost 24 million in funding that's not good because you know it's hard to make 24 million back in Revenue I don't even know if that's possible but it's just still a concern overall as you know as I mentioned all before but what I fear most is that apart from you know cutting electives is what happens to the community overall cuz is if we cut if we cut everything out I have a feeling a bunch of people who would look to move to Jackson for not just the beautiful scenery and the historic nature of it like glories Etc I fear that people will look at the education mainly and and be like well if we're not going to get a world class educa well not world class but still good education if if Jackson can't provide us with an education we'll go elsewhere cuz people have the freedom to move well yeah people have the freedom to move to like other towns like upper freeld and nearby who if as we just saw from Lakewoods budget meeting are getting are have sorry have basically put in their budget that they want to apply for loan well it feels like we're being singled out because we're doing we're doing pretty good for ourselves it's not fair how come we don't get to get our loan but Lakewood does we are I I trust in this thank [Music] you I'll I'll admit I I my family hasn't been on the best terms of the school board we have fault to get me into private school but I still believe I still believe they have the best intentions in heart they truly do want to provide the best education as they can even if that means sending people to private school yes but I I trust in you guys to give the the best education I know it's been rough I can I can say that it's been rough for my school career but I know you guys can provide a good education if you get the funding but the state's just refusing to fund you because they think they they just want they want all the schools to be self-sufficient somehow and it's a shame because I I mean Jackson's a good Community we all came out here to support you guys but the state doesn't feel like it wants to support you so I'll leave I'll leave uh the that came in with one question how do you expect a greatly functioning School District that got a bunch of great funding and has provided a world class education to its students to suddenly make up $24 million in Revenue to continue supporting their students and not having to default on any debts not having to worry about if they will get a loan and most importantly not worrying to see the future of this Township in shambles thank you for your time [Applause] [Music] [Applause] good evening um my name is Kimberly Morrison I came here tonight to address Miss Morris um I already know that as a parent and a resident I have the support of the Jackson Board of Education and the superintendent of schools so I'm speaking mainly to you Miss Morris um I am a lifelong member of this community I wrote everything I had to say down because I know that this is a very emotional topic for me um Jackson schools have been a major part of my life since I started kindergarten at Johnson School in the 1980s I received my high school diploma right on that stage and I was inspired by the teachers I had in this District to become a teacher myself I never left this town after college I got married and I decided to raise my own family here I have four children my husband and I are proud to support these schools and our children my older two children have both graduated from Jackson Memorial High School they are both successfully attending New Jersey state colleges and they are giving back to their Community every day my younger two children are still here in the district they are students here at Jackson Memorial and I fear that they are going to lose the same opportunities and programs that their sisters had I was blessed to be able to stay home for 9 years uh before returning to teaching and I was able to be very actively involved with many of the parent or organizations that you've heard mentioned here tonight um I'm not even going to name them because my four children are very different so I've done Sports I've done ptn I've Done Band I've done choir I've done Roc and I was a proud member and still am of many of those parent organizations so I got to see from a parent perspective how our schools run I'm not sure that our average taxpayer understands or realizes that just because an event is um School sponsored it is not necessarily schoolf funded it is through the hard work of our residents of our students themselves and of their parents that they have so many of these exceptional opportunities so with a grain of salt every time the taxes go up and the payto playay goes up and another fundraiser comes home we participate and we're proud and happy to be able to do so but our funding continues to get cut and these parents programs can only do what they can do they're going to keep working hard and they're going to do the best that they can to continue to give these children these opportunities finally I am also employed as a special education teacher here in Jackson and my students come to me with greater needs every year I will continue no matter what happens here tonight Miss Morris to greet my students in the morning I will smile at them and I will give them everything that I can they deserve the opportunity to thrive I teach the little ones the first grade special education six and seveny old students our resar Es are becoming more and more limited we need to meet their physical and emotional needs before we can even address their academic needs but we do it some days it feels like we're trying to put out a forest biter with a garden hose but we do it so tomorrow I'm going to show up in my classroom with my garden H and I'm going to work for my students and then I'm going to get into my car and I'm going to drive here and I'm going to watch the JV softball team and I going to cheer on my daughter so I ask you Miss Morris do what you can to help us as a community to help us continue to help our students my children my students and all the other children in this District thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] good evening my name is Chris rury and today I stand before you as a bandad it's my first year my daughter is a freshman here in Jackson Memorial in ban and I can tell you with firsthand experience marching band is so much more than music marching band provides structure and discipline and responsibility it provides a level of coordination and teamwork and camaraderie but most of all it provides something for these kids that they might not otherwise have a sense of belonging at a time in a post-pandemic digital world where we express concern about kids not having interpersonal skills this proposed action would take away our children's ability to develop the those interpersonal skills on a personal note our daughter was one of the many kids lost in the pandemic the transition to middle school was challenging she did not do well in a hybrid setting and School attendance became a real problem for us what brought our dad what brought our daughter back what saved her marching band and a sense of belonging she found her people she found her purpose if you cut these programs along with so many other school activities I worry for the future of my daughter as well as so many other kids thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you hi I'm a Jackson resident for approximately 10 years now I have a lot to say and I'm going to start with Miss Morris from what I've heard you say you did not state a clear strategy plan or Exit Plan I read an article about Asbury there was no strategy no exit I I don't understand where we're going um but I if I do understand you correctly your plan is to leave us in a status of default payment with a lower credit score that's the plan yet we are paying for private school buses not in Jackson we have all received or are receiving increases and property taxes so while our children are getting less while we work hard to pay more and not for Jackson yet all of our taxpayer dollars are going everywhere but Jackson my children have maintained top grades always not never a slip up top grades because of of Jackson and the Board of Education and the teachers here I don't think we need a babysitter I see we have the freedom to criticize certain aspects of our government and government officials so while some governments enjoy free health care free education it is our tax dollars which pay for their free health care and their free education our tax dollars are also going into Lakewood and while we're paying all these tax dollars for everywhere but Jackson I am continuing to watch my family overseas get slaughtered with an ongoing genocide so our tax dollars are going everywhere but Jackson I I don't understand why I my kids get less and my family is being slaughtered and the entity that's slaughtering them has free health healthare and free education so basically from what I understand is that we're looking for handouts looking for donations we're ready to fall in default and for me my family is dying and being bombarded and I'm paying for that entity to have free health care and free education and my kids are getting less so why can't we just keep our taxpayer dollars in Jackson like we live here I don't I don't believe you live here I'm not quite sure if I missed it but who's paying her salary the taxpayers so I'm not sure where else how far my money is going to go it's going everywhere but for my [Music] children good evening my name is is jaline fetta Jory and you heard my husband just moments ago um I'm a Jackson resident of course um I'm sure everyone in this room is aware of the lingering effects of the pandemic this is not news to anyone right our kids were truly lost some of them still struggling statistics show that absenteeism still has not completely recovered our children became more disconnected than ever and some of them were truly lost I stand before you as one of those parents I will not use this time to tell you everything about my child I will tell you that our daughter was not really in school consistently from the fifth grade if it was not for seventh grade and eighth grade band nights where she played with the Jackson Memorial marching band and that amazing program we would not be here I believe in this program I so much that I have been a part of it I see that this program creates a home a per purpose for so many students that don't fit into the cookie cutter programs that are typical in school both my husband and I have been involved and we see firsthand the impact it has on our daughter and so many of the kids it is so much more than bands it is a family as my daughter said I am the executive director of a food pantry and advocacy program that's my day job um we fight every day so people are not hungry and people have home homes this is a very different kind of hunger but it is a hunger we can't take this away from our children please don't take this away from our kids this program and all the other programs they feed Souls they Inspire they form leaders and just simply amazing humans it is so much more than picking up an instrument this saved our daughter I know I'm not alone and I beg you to please do everything you can thank [Applause] [Music] you my name is Paul Herman uh lifelong resident of Jackson 20 plus year educator in Jackson and my big concern is everything that everybody else has said I reiterate and I back everybody else's statements worried about the programs particularly for my own children but I'm also worried because of the people I work with this is going to drive people away from the career and from this District to work and I've worked with some of the best administrators teachers and my kids have the best teachers whether it was switlick or GS and I look forward to them working with my friends that I've known my whole life plus my administrators that I've known and trusted and they've trusted me so I want you just let the state know that when they complain about the teacher education shortage and people running away from this career this is part of the problem that they created not us thank [Applause] you hi everyone my name is Jessica Wilder um my husband and I are both lifelong Jackson residents graduates of jmhs I am a second grade teacher at Johnson Elementary School um I have had the pleasure of teaching some of the children of the board members and I am also a parent of two Elementary enged students at Elms Elementary School um I speak tonight as both a parent and an educator um there's been a lot said tonight about high school and I feel very strongly that education uh elementary school should not be left out of this discussion um we build the foundation of learning for every student who excels in those high school programs that have been highlighted tonight uh at the elementary level we are Curr currently using an outdated and failing literacy curriculum I fear that the new literacy curriculum we are hoping to implement will be on the chopping block of $25 million in Cuts uh we have large class sizes already they are increasing year after year I am not sure how I could even fit 30 students within the dimensions of my classroom my colleagues and I work tirelessly day in and day out we cannot work miracles with insufficient funding and programs as a parent I worry about the foundation of learning my children are receiving uh they are in third grade and first grade they have many years to go um I encourage the Monitor and the state to please recognize the needs of all of the students in our district not just high school and please restore funding to give all of our children a thorough and efficient education from K kindergarten onward thank [Applause] [Music] you hello everyone my name is Veronica Bernette I am um a teacher in Jackson I started teaching in Jackson in 1988 if you're doing the math that's 35 years I have also always I'm a music teacher um I have always coached I have coached for 35 years at the gets Middle School I have also coached at the high school currently for the past 10 years I have been involved in uh the drama program at Jackson Liberty High School um in the vocal department and as the Director of the shows um first I just felt sitting here compelled to come and say a few things um there have been very few times in 35 years that I have come to a board meeting where I have heard the entire community so unified um and having a common goal and that is encouraging to me that we are all saying the same things and appreciating the same things I also would like to say thank you um to you guys for making the hard decision that you are not going to cut anymore that you know it would be bad for the kids that you are entrusted with and that if the state isn't going to do what we feel needs to do then let them be the ones who ruin the children's lives but what I would like to say to Mrs Morris and I feel a little bad I feel like you are you know the the villain here and and you're just a human who has to look at the numbers and I get that um and I just want to say to you um to to just try to remember that we cannot feed a child academically and starve them aesthetically that all of the things that make a successful human are equal parts of academics Athletics theater music you know I would be nothing without music don't ever ask me to do the math part that would be a bad thing but I know you have decisions to make everything that's going to be cut is somebody's favorite thing everything that's going to be cut is somebody's most important job and that is quite a burden on you to know that the decisions that you make are going to affect some people so deeply so the things that I am worried about are that the state might wait till the very last minute to decide in our favor but by then some of our best people might have moved on and even though we haven't cut things our kids are still not going to get the same level of the elevated experience that they could have had so I am urging you please whatever decision maker you speak to please advocate for them giving us this loan or this assisted Aid directive thing please ask them to reconsider to reinstate that to give us that money we will pay it back but we don't want to eliminate any part of nurturing all of the students in Jackson thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you hiy you doing um my name is Tom Riley I live on Fox Drive um my wife has been a Jackson resident for almost her entire life I grew up and went to school in Lakewood uh her fondness for the education she received here made the decision to raise our kids here very easy my daughter is a second grader at Johnson many of of her friends are in Miss Wilder's class they do a terrific job over there my son will start preschool next year there are no ancillary cuts that will close a $30 million budget Gap dozens of faculty and staff are going to be laid off the thought of my daughter having 35 in a class is nauseating if you've ever been to Johnson school you can't fit 35 in a classroom every teacher will tell you that very few of any children will learn effectively every child will fall behind yeah thank you should these Draconian Cuts come to Jackson I hope the community will come together and do everything in our power to provide support for our kids I don't play an instrument I'm Shakespeare ill literate but what I do is I teach science at the college level I will volunteer to teach chemistry to your kids if need be I'll teach them at the library if necessary it may not count toward graduation but those kids will be ready for College I hope it never comes to this but I hope those here and at home with the necessary skills would join me in the spirit of volunteerism to thumb their nose at the state who has deemed some districts more fair than others for the sake of the [Music] children hi my name is Laura Spencer and I'm here tonight as a 22-year resident of Jackson and a proud mother of three boys who have been lucky enough to be students in the Jackson School System first thank you to superintendent pilly our administrators and Board of Ed who have gone above and beyond to fight for our district and keep our students needs first I truly appreciate it I have always been very pleased with the education and experiences my boys have received here fabulous teachers a rigorous curriculum enrichment programs AP classes and so much more have set them up hopefully for a successful college and life experience as important as the academic experiences have been it honestly is the extracurricular ones that have made the most positive impact on their lives as we know building connections working as a part of a team all while pushing yourself to be the best you can be is so important for mental health as well as physical health we already know know the negative effect of not having these activities as seen during and after covid both of my older boys were part of the jmhs swim team for four years this year was a challenging one for the swim team due to last year's budget cuts the bus to and from practices was cut as a result swimmers and parents had to drive to the YMCA every night for practice Additionally the position of assistant coach was cut however due to the love of the sport and the team the team showed up every night and amazingly the assistant coach displayed his dedication to the team by volunteering his time to get to the pool every day and still be the assistant coach unpaid as my sons completed their college applications and essays I was able to further see just how much being on the team impacted their lives it was more than just swimming they developed friendships new skills leadership opportunities and more swimming a new sport to them became a highlight of their high school years attending the end of season ceremonies and hearing the seniors and the coaches give speeches it was clear to see that this truly was a wonderful and impactful experience for all involved a few years ago my youngest son became involved with the drama clubs at gets and Memorial seeing him and the other students spend so much time rehearsing and then performing was an incredible experience for all the bond these students make with each other the skills they learn the way they push themselves outside of their comfort zone is amazing to watch the dedication of the wonderful teachers involved is something to behold as well they start their school days so early and then spend many of these days still working on the shows past 9:00 at night we can all agree that the performances are outstanding however what not all people get to see are the tears that flow after the last performance of each show the students don't really want it to end even though they know they'll be back performing again in the future at least we hope so I wish you could all hear the speeches after the last show or the ones they give at the banquet my heart breaks to think that due to these extremely unfair budget cuts these activities and others are in Jeopardy our students deserve all of the clubs teams and experiences that make our school District so wonderful I hope we will receive the appropriate funding our students suffered for years from covid restrictions and the district our district has the students teachers and staff willing to do all that they can to ensure a fantastic educational experience for our children but we need the funding to do it please do what is right for our children thank you [Music] [Applause] hello my name is Jonathan Myers um I have a son who will soon be attending preschool in the district and I also have a daughter that's in kindergarten right now shout out Miss Temple if she's not here I'm sure she's watching um I reiterate everything that everyone said I don't want to belabor that point I think everyone's kind of made the point on that I grew up with the Arts and all that 100% agree on that um but my background is I'm an engineer so I'm definitely a numbers guy like the crunch numbers so my question to Miss Morris is what is the S2 funding formula and I know it's been sued about in court and the state has never actually released the full funding formula so I ask you as a state representative for Better or For Worse what is the funding formula exactly by the [Applause] way if the court hasn't released it I don't have it so it's taxpayer money and it's proprietary information do you agree with that does that make any sense you mean like an Oprah request well it was it was Oprah request and basically the state said it's proprietary information and we can't give this but I'm asking you just personally do you think that that's that's fair if it's taxpayer money it's my money and I can't find out how it's being used do I personally think that I I don't personally think that no but I that's I was not in on on the reasons for that or the decision and that's not passing the buck I just don't know the answer to your question no I I know it's it's rhetorical but I'm just saying so kind of towards the board are we still suing to get that actual formula does anyone have an update on that because I know Jacks was one of six or so towns that was suing about that is there an update to that actually the case is over um so the districts that were part of that including Jackson did receive eventually a form that was difficult to even understand asked for numbers that were being plugged into that formula and we did not receive those numbers so at this point the case is over uh it was before I stepped into superintendent but I know that there was an ending to that case and basically no nothing logical for us to work off of so I guess the next question is is there followup or is there going to be followup to that to make the state actually account for how they're using our money well it all went through the court systems so I believe at this point there has been a closure to that it would be up to the districts to then appeal that further there already was one appeal they would have to continue to appeal that which as you can imagine cost District's money considering we've lost tens of millions of dollars I implore the uh school budget board here to push for that please obviously I found this this came as recent news article I I don't want to point fingers and say some districts are better than others but I found this interesting meanwhile the state's largest school district Newark which we know is basically a black hole has seen eight increase of 67% from $750 million in 2018 to $1.25 billion this year $33,000 per student we get on the order of M to what $3,000 a student and we're arguing here about $30 million obviously the state funding formula is not working we need to sue because we can basically do what everybody else does right there's 3 something Abit districts they all sued and they all got money so I'm imploring again everybody we should also be suing for this because this is BS [Applause] essentially apart from parental involvement the number one deciding factor on how well kids do in school is basically classroom size so we're talking about possibly if this stuff goes through we're going from a classroom size my daughter's classroom size right now is 24 and we're going to go to 40 something that's absolutely asine to say the least that doesn't work and again if anyone's been to switlick as other people have said how you going to fit 40 something people in those classrooms I go in there and it is like this as it is and I'm getting asked to bring in simple things as like copying paper as the other day and coming in helping out with the classroom because the teachers cannot support the amount of students that we have already and now we're going through this BS that we're going to have 40s something kids to the classroom that is a knife in the heart that will kill the district and that is the end of the story so this cannot happen thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you hi yes Joyce joliff um you know some of the things other said people said uh with I grew up in Howell without steam uh I would not be in the architectural industry as I exists today um like other people my husband and I moved here Bel 20 years ago and hopes to raise a family and one of the main reason was because of the school district and we thank you guys for continuing to to care for our children um unlike most the parents here today who have spoken who are seem to have children in the middle school and the and the uh high schools my son is in kindergarten so what's sad here me standing here knowing that we moved here to create a family here because the school district was rated one of the top schools what does 10 years when my son's about to go to college or halfway through high school going to look at look like Miss moris with this situation as bad as it is I don't know well what's happened in other districts is is there a precipice uh sorry a precedent for this type of situation what has happened in other districts you mean that have that where the state took millions of dollars away from them we can't close a budget Gap we've done everything we humanly possibly can what happens when we can't do it well then the state has to look to to other options and I don't know all of them I don't know what all of them would be certainly in some instances districts have been combined uh they you'd have to do a complete analysis of of the entire financial situation and come up with a plan that would address them I think I think that's I think that's a question that's fair but I think it should be asked of several different governmental agencies not just the Department of Education okay so you would combine a 60,000 person town with another town we're one of the largest towns in the in the state um also um as someone who's worked with the ABA districts in architecture out of the 31 ABA districts that exists I don't know if anybody can answer this question for me at all it's not just necess to Miss Morris how many of them received funding through the S2 anybody a done an analysis on that out of all the Abid districts call SDA now how many of them received funding because they get usually 22% higher than most students in the State per of money I I don't have that information in front of me to be able to uh factually say that but I would say majority majority right mhm so if we can't function right does the state have to step in and we become an abbid District so that's a major thing I don't don't know if you guys know how serious that is or what an Abid district is the state comes in and takes over our entire school district and we're and they're the ones who runs it it's very serious so we really need to look at that because yes we have issues you know now and two years from now but for our children who are in kindergarten now it's really bad and I hope you consider that you're making your decisions thank [Music] you if if I can just one moment please um I'd like to just motion for a 5 minute recess that we've been up here for a couple hours some us need to use the restroom um 5 minute recess I need a motion second all right we'll recess for about 5 minutes so much time to SP talking I'll get the I was coming to see h [Music] AB [Music] no [Music] [Music] spe [Music] [Music] [Music] there for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I just want to say one minute one minute warning we'll we'll commence in one minute [Music] [Music] man [Music] if everybody can start taking their seats again please [Music] all right order we are going to commence again she's right here thank you sir thank you oh all right thanks yeah my name is Tom Smith um I'm a Jackson resident for 34 years uh three children in the school system um and having come from Central had a little band that tried to be HT at halftime to what I've seen at these two schools with the band directors M I've just been astounded and it's not like a small special interest part of the school it's it's a big part of the school I had never seen anything like it until my kids were involved in it uh Mr Kon and Mr Diaz what they put together and the parent involvement and it makes a community where they have to travel for the marching band uh what I've seen for the Jazz Band I just could not believe um my dad toured with the El jazz band so he knows a whole lot more than I did about it he was too ill to travel to ever see them when my kids got involved but we brought videos to him and he was just couldn't believe it um you know he suffered from Alzheimer's when he saw the songs he immediately remembered whose songs they were who they were performed by um and it's just those parts of the school it's almost like that movie Pleasantville things start to fade to gray you know uh I just think there were a lot more people here before um still if there was 6 or 700 people my understanding there just over 18,000 students in the Jackson Public School System and it needs to be a much bigger wave you know when push comes to push back and a lot of people Shar memories tonight and I think that's what has to go into these letters I know there's a lot of contact information posted uh with some form letters but people need to share their memories concise important memories because they have to be read and if you have to you shame um tell them to find some gold bars tell them some you know any anything you can think of to make a memorable statement and and I just think we need a wave a much bigger wave of people um involved in this I know they're available I know it's hard to get here um this shamefully this is the first time I've come out and but I will be involved going forward and and uh people just need to talk and make sure that their their friends and neighbors know about this and to get more people involved so that's all I wanted to say thanks hi I'm Michelle Dro I wasn't going to get up and speak but everything that everybody is saying today has been moving and I just wanted to come here and just say I'm a Jersey girl born and raised in New Jersey I came here and shows for Jackson to me where I raised my kids they've been going through the school system and they've had amazing teachers and this right here is my son's very best teacher ever talks about her all the time the bonds that they have with the teachers from middle school and from elementary school going on there's still a part of their lives we still talk about her some of their other teachers they go to their extracurricular Sports at the middle school at the high school and they go to the wreck games they made friends everybody forgets like yes Co has impacted them but our children have also started school in a world where they do drills for active Shooters in kindergarten like it's a very different world than when we grew up and people forget empathy and people when they're not in that situation forget what it's like when you had kids in the system so I'm just asking you to think about if your kids were in this school system and you're hearing what everybody's saying about this community and the teachers like these extracurricular activities really do make a huge difference for the children being in school meeting their friends they then meet groups of friends who are involved in things outside of school and then they want to do that like Jackson football Friday Night Lights tackle football basketball my daughter is in middle school now then my I have twins they're in middle school now my daughter didn't do anything my daughter is playing field hockey she's doing you know she's doing basketball she they're doing track my son's doing basketball like these are very important things our children don't know how to communicate and how to express their feelings when I came into the Jackson School System one of the things that was huge was that the teachers want to talk about social emotional and the kids need that because the the world we live in is very different nowadays and honestly I like to live in my own little bubble because I feel like the way that the world is I don't want to even be here but the children are supposed to be our future and this is a very sad future for them them and for us if they don't get the education that they need so thank [Applause] [Music] you good evening my name is Maya minti I'm a sophomore here at um jmhs and um I'd like to talk about how how the Arts programs have led me to be um a a student of our STEM Academy here um to start off um music is one of the fundamental concepts is counting and pattern memorization and I think without that I wouldn't have the skills that I have to be in this position and I don't think I could even get up and talk today without some of these programs that I've been in since I was really little that have given me a space to feel welcomed and loved by my peers and that have given me the confidence to speak today um I know that some of these programs are on the chopping block but they're just as important as our Common Core um literacy English English science math classes and that's coming from somebody who values those highly as well because that's where I see my future it's just as important because it gives these kids a space especially ones that want to go um into music and theater it gives them a space to express themselves and develop as a person and cutting those away like it drastically will have a negative impact on all of our Lives because we're not going to be able to have these programs that we love so dearly and we have friends in and have help us helped us grow as a person and I feel like I can personally relate to that because these programs have basically like rais me I've been in music music since I was really little and I think without having those programs like I I can't imagine what my life would be like right now and I feel for the young kids who are in like Elementary School who may not have those who aren't going to have the opportunities to pursue that pursue that interest and they can't even necessarily have the interest if it's not an open door to them so thank you [Applause] [Music] uh how you doing I'm a Jackson resident I have two boys in the school system uh my oldest is in high school now 4.2 GPA high honor role uh AP classes also play sports for the high school my younger is in elementary my Wonder is where these programs will be when my younger son gets to high school and I'll give you the reason why why I didn't grow up in Jackson if you can't tell by my accent okay I grew up in New York in the ghetto and I was one of those kids who went to a classroom with 40 kids in it and I was one of the kids that fell through the cracks along with many of my friends okay so when you talk about cutting these programs and these kids falling through the cracks I lived it I was there that's why I moved to Jackson because I I wanted a better life for for my kids I didn't want them to grow up like I did I wanted to grow up in a better environment a better Township a better school now here we are my younger son is is on the precipice of coming out of elementary school not knowing where he's going what he's going to do what programs are going to be available my older son is looking forward to to college but without these classes where are his options what is he going to be limited to you you know I tried to call Governor Murphy's office several times apparently he had Dental appointments and hair appointments I could never get a hold of him I don't know where he was but no one has an answer for this money nobody has answers to the 2% tax increase does that stay in Jackson how about this the poorest districts get the most money hypothetically if Jackson stopped paying his property taxes will we get more money for our kids where's the solution so you you go to work you pay taxes you try to better your life and your kids' life and you get punished that's not the country I grow up in that's not the country I want for my kids and Miss Morris you made a comment earlier which I found kind of ironic you said that every home should be able to choose what's best for their kids and yet here here the governor is or the the powers that be they're going to take away programs and not give those kids and those families those choices you're taking them away so if it's in family's best interests to decide what's best for their kids then why not leave these programs alone why not share the revenue over all the townships even equally at this point not well you do well in your Township you're income level is higher so we're going to take more money share the revenue it's like the temporary Devil Ray there are horrible team they get Revenue sharing so what our kids do well in school they get good grades they go on to good colleges let's Hammer those kids let's punish them let's take their programs away why do you want to make this school the school district worse do you want to make it like failing districts I don't understand Murphy has a bill on now he wants to spend $250 million for a French Museum in Trenton anybody here speak French I know I don't I don't care about a French Museum take the $250 million from there how about putting it in schools and let teach the kids about the French how about we do that I I I just to me when you when you come after my kids and this is what I take it as as an attack on my family on my kids to me I I go to the Grave for that that's the way I was raised I don't understand how everybody else was raised but I don't take that lightly and that's what you're doing you're taking away our kids future and punishing them for getting good grades I I just I it's unfathomable to me why why they would want to do this you need more money for for another District let that District raise it or we'll Revenue share with all with them but give us the money we need for for Jackson I don't I what's the hold up I just I for the life of me I can't figure it out I wish somebody could give me an answer as to why and how thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh hi my name is Henry Torres I'm a freshman of jmhs um I'm an athlet and a band kid here for most of my life when I was little I started playing for the ayf football team but I had it was a choice between band and football so it was tough for me but I decided to go with ban and that's where I met a lot of a lot of my friends and instead of doing football a physical sport I did wrestling which I started in eighth grade but the reason I started wrestling it's because my sister she is part of the lady Jags here one of the best girls wrestling in the state they went six girls or eight went to this year Atlantic City and they came out with six girls being State placers my sister was one of them she came out as six in the state for her weight class 185 she's a great wrestler she said one day she was bored out of her mind during Co years said I want to start a new club or sport so she decided to go to wrestling she talked to the coach coach lumy amazing guy and she said oh can I join sport cuz before then it started getting newer cuz not a lot of kids or girls wanted to do it and the budget is going to affect that when all these young girls if they want to try a new sport a physical sport cuz a lot of them were male dominant but now they're giving giv them an opportunity to do a physical sport and wrestling was one of my sister's first sports and that inspired me to do wrestling she inspired my cousin she's a sophomore but she sadly moved to PA she's still wrestling there um and I do wrestling so I can keep my grades up cuz I'm not the most intelligent and it honestly helped me keep my grades up to get out of classes small classes cuz I was in Small classes most of my life so I did Sports to help my grades and if the budget is not going to let me do that like what was the point for me doing doing putting all that hard work my mom paying she a single mother her paying all that money for nothing and I met a lot of my friends from Sports and from being there's some fing um young girls right over there who are my friends and Rosie amazing person they always helped me they're there I went to Disney sadly I was in a wheelchair for like five four they they were pushing me there and I honestly don't know what would I do without all of this with sports and my elective cuz I want to be a pist some people are surprised from that they think oh he wants to be a lawyer but no that's not my career that's my sister's career she just got accepted to a college and Pa she worked hard she's on a she's in some AP classes and if the school district is not going to help us with that what was all that work for for my sister to okay just did okay but she's a nice girl I'm really hoping she goes long and far for me not to see her too and my mom told us work hard in school don't just sit down do whatever get into sports or activities my sister is I think a president for the honors National I don't know that one but she I know she's the president something and if it wasn't for that I wouldn't be up here all these um people today actually got me up here too so thank you [Applause] [Music] my name is Deb Jones I am a resident in Jackson have been since I have been in fifth grade I am also an employee of the township the Board of Education and I have something to say about being the taxpayer and the education employee but first to the young man please don't ever speak the words that you are not intelligent because you stood here and you defended the school district and every educator who has ever spoken into your life and you are created perfectly so please don't ever say you are not intelligent on a totally different side of it as a taxpayer I really I can't can't wrap my brain around I've heard many people speak to it I heard you speak to it Miss moris that Jackson has been fiscally responsible so in my brain I can't figure out how fiscally responsible and the fact that we have to talk about all the things on the chopping block when I pay my bills and I meet the obligations that I have when when I have a need whether it's a new car whether it's a bill I have to pay because I'm fiscally responsible that's when I will get the help that I need so if Jackson as a Township has been fiscally responsible I don't understand why we're not getting the help and on the total opposite end I am in the school district every day and there's a lot to talk about our curriculum our Sports we have great programs but more importantly I serve with an army who are on the front line every day dealing with the social emotional needs of so many students and I understand your job is hard and I wouldn't want to be you to be honest but like we tell our students day in and day out we need to do what's right even when it's hard so I'm asking you as a taxpayer as an employe and I know it's going to be hard but they need you to come alongside of them you need to grip arms with them and help further a district that has done everything right we're not perfect we're humans we're never going to be perfect but we've done everything right we've dotted our eyes we've crossed our tees and day in and day out people are going into the schools and sometimes we're the first person that St students are saying hello to that are getting a greeting that are getting a hug in the morning because their parents can't necessarily be there they have to be out working and doing things to help support them so we are essential workers whether we're in a crisis in this country or not we are always First Responders at the doors of our schools and they need to stay open and they need to be able to offer the kids we always have so I just ask you to come alongside of them even if it's not easy just do the right thing and you can never go wrong even if people frown on it if it's the right thing thank you for your time hi guys um so I am Ros Al maio and I'm a part of the band Marchman program and I suffer of St it all right um it started since um since I got was small and like in mid Middle School uh so like I didn't want want it to speak is cuz I hated it so much um I I wanted to like blend in not not speak uh so do do do everything that that I could to stop that from happening um so when I moved sorry when I went into a Jackson Memorial High School March program um I met so many like really good people that like maybe like think like hey Al so maybe like like I do want to speak maybe I do want to like share my thoughts maybe I want to like smile and have fun um so like that's what like have happened I have had um a really good time and and like it's saying for for some of these kids who joined March too so some of them are like s suffering for like other problems that that like they face and like they go they draw a band March band a drama uh so course and like um e like and a teams to like help help help help them and like o open their eyes and like yeah and like um and we can't take these these away from like kids is cuz they hold hold opportunities for like scholarships to to like to like make friends and stuff um and like also in in like M middle School uh so I was wasn't smart um my grades were not the best and and like after went to join band uh so that like made me want want like to to like to like I'm work hard that that like made me want like to to like try my best in in like these classes so so like overall so band teams clubs is like not just just like for for fun like like it helps um like students with with with so so social and like academically thank you [Music] [Applause] hello my name is Dante Martin I am a sixth grade student at gets midle school I have been in the Jackson School distri since kindergarten at swick with the most amazing teachers making more Cuts would impact impact our schools tremendously our school is already overcrowded I cannot imagine having more kids in a class how would we learn effectively my teachers are amazing because I because of them I have been able to make high honor Ro and Excel academically I am also an athlete playing basketball and track forgets has helped me mentally and physically get through the year playing sports is a part of our school experience and cutting Sports is unimaginable having played football for Jackson since I been five I dream of playing for Memorial I won't be able to do that if sports are cut please help for school district the students and teachers deserve it thank [Music] you good evening my name is Angela Miron I am a mother of two children of Jackson Memorial High School excuse my English as it's not good I only have a few words for you I want to ask you to please help the Jackson District not die I moved 13 years ago go from Lake to Jackson in regards to the education of my two children I am single mother but that has not prevent me from supporting my children in achievement the dreams I had I have had to work 17 hours a day per day I'm sorry yes you hear me write 17 hours per day six days a week so I can so I can cover the expenses for the sports clubs trips apparel where and more stuff so so that in sorry so that in the future they can have better life they my kids can have better life in the future my my daughter is a senior at Jackson Memorial High School she's going to attend to usus college with a the big married scholarship thanks to her great career she obtained a Jackson Memorial my son is a freshman and I hope he has the same opportunity my daughter is in a extra activities like uh music like my son said she's she was a wrestling girl she went to States last year this year she her her elbow she St was wrestling like that my son even he a good boy he worked so hard I PID for uh football because his dream was to play football in in in high school but he has to decide even uh football or marching B he picks marching ban right now we was worried about if the bud is going to cut I don't know what's going to be his future my daughter is done she's going to the college but I still have have another son and I'm so worried about him not just him every single kid from Jackson please help us to keep the kids dream up thank [Music] you uh good evening I'm assemblyman Alex swii uh I represent uh Jackson as well as 15 other school districts within legislative district 12 uh I'm here tonight uh not only as your assembly member but as a father uh I am also the son of a retired Jackson School teacher uh I'm married to an elementary teacher uh I am the proud father of uh two high school students including your next speaker uh who is a senior here at Jackson Memorial uh I graduated from Rosen hour gets and I'm a proud of class of 89 from Jackson Memorial uh I'm here really to uh try to uh maybe give you a glimmer of hope uh I want to make sure that everyone does understand what state aid is you know we talk about state aid like it's this number up in the cloud and uh and it's it's very clear what the problem is here and I'll I'll try to explain it um also let you know what I'm doing for Jackson and uh how I think um this could get somewhat resolved and and I think it's going to be legislatively uh the State caused this problem make no doubt about it um not the people up here I want to make sure everyone knows that the state caused this problem without a doubt and the only way it's going to get fixed is by legislative uh measures not not through anything else and with all respect to our our um State Monitor and I and I mean that um I have no doubt you're going to recommend the right things to the Department of Education I have no confidence in the Department of Education actually do the right thing I want to be clear about that um I met with the commissioner of the Department of Education last week um really asked him and to be clear said I want to work with you not against you all right um I got nothing so I think this is going to be a legislative solution not a Department of Education solution um state aid so everyone's clear is the income tax you've already paid you've already paid it um the proportion of it coming back to your children in the school district all right the latest numbers we have are from 2021 Jackson residence all of you paid $68 million in income tax the district's getting 23 million you paid 68 they're getting 23 we heard about the New York City School District collectively larger larger town right a lot of lot of people 115,000 tax returns filed in 2021 they paid 44 million we paid 68 they paid 44 they're getting 1.25 billion in state aid okay and I've been on record saying nobody wants to see the resident or the children I should say of Nork do any any less than any other child in the state they're all children right but you don't destroy good working school districts by sending all of your income tax to one city all right collectively somebody mentioned stats earlier 140 school districts lost funding this year 140 totaling 104 million dollar norc got a raise of 1 101 sorry 101 of that 104 went to the New York City School District this year all right that's your tax dollars plain and simple this it's the only way it happened all of your income taxes went to norc and other school districts like it all right so that's the problem the formula caused the problem for if you don't know what we call S2 is Senate Bill 2 it was passed in 2018 it was sponsored by then State Senate President Steve Sweeney who just so everyone is aware has is has indicated he wants to run for governor next year you said think about that all right so the gentleman that caused this problem wants to run for governor next year all right it was his bill and by the way the the number S2 I I've come to learn being in the assembly for 18 months only the special bills get numbers like that all right you know we're up to about 4,500 in terms of bills in the assembly this year alone all right they reserved the bills the ones they know are the real zingers the real the real bills all right S2 was one of them all right it has taken funding away from our district the department of education's own report when we talked about uh state inade or inadequacy for the District of 23 million the department of education's own report says that their own report says that we're inadequately funded by $23 million right it also talks about categorical AIDS uh Aid that a lot of the board members reference Jackson should be getting $7 million in state aid for transportation they're getting 600,000 right they're getting 2025 $5 million less in special ed right I have another school district the superintendent who's fairly new was is ready to submit a budget that cuts all sports teams all of them right they've already cut all of their clubs all of them because I can't pay the stiens for the clubs all right so this is a this is a district-wide issue it's a Statewide issue and I will say it's it's an issue on both sides of the of the house right both both Republican and Democrat there are a lot of Democrats who are getting hit hard with this last thing I'll leave you with They just added a voting session for this Monday wasn't scheduled typically that's because they know they've got to pass something all right they also added committee meetings for this Friday they don't typically do that unless they know they have to get something through committee and then vote it on on Monday I do think at least the budget will be delayed in terms of the timing that's one thing I think that'll happen why you may not think that helps that much it helps to get other legislation in all right so legislation like the bill I have to have the state pay for the state monitor as an example could get in and the bill that I have that actually calls it alone is is up as well so I'm hoping that gets in and that you can actually take and apply for your loan before you actually submit your budget so those are the things that I'm fighting for all of you and for all of you and for all of your children thank [Applause] [Music] you my name is Gracie Wiki I'm a senior member at Jackson Memorial I'm a member of cross country indoor and outdoor track I am co-president of triam I'm a member of NHS social studies Honor Society an executive member of World Language Culture Club and like many others I'm part of the Bandon performing arts department my family has been in Jackson for decades my Aunts Uncles and Dad all went to this High School my grandma was even a teacher in this District I have a younger brother who is a freshman I was at home watching this broadcast for over an hour me and my brother were actually talking about it listening to everything everyone has to say and I realize I really should share my experience with this I'm a member of band and will be happily continuing my study of Music past High School something that I'm extremely lucky to say is Vis school has given me the opportunity to take several levels of Music Fury preparing me for more than more than more than many other our musicians at this age can do last year I took AP music Fury this class was cut this year I know people who want to take this course but couldn't because it had to be cut my math course this year had about 30 kids in it I could not imagine fitting anyone else in this room and I fear for next year if you have to fit up to 40 I don't even think you'd be able to fit another desk in this room and it was a pretty big room this school has given me amazing opportunities this year I was able to even be part of one of the most competitive High School honors bands in South Jersey which I well know I would have never been able to do without the help of the band program I'm also a member of the Jazz Band a section leader in the marching man wood inquire and pitford a musical I'm graduating next year but I have a younger brother who's not I have friends who aren't my younger brother has one class he's been excited to take since last year which is AP World my brother is not going to be able to get this opportunity if APS are cut next year even more this year I have never heard my brother talk as passionately about a topic than he has when he became part of the band program this year I'm so glad he gets these opportunities at the school and it' be horrible if he has well so many other students who have passion that they have gotten from this school who'd have to give that up even since elementary school I've always been told how wonderful this district is how at the high school level especially we will be given such wonderful opportunities how we are one of the top public high schools how we will have we have people who go to Ivy Leagues someone in my grade is going to Cornell how do you expect people to compete with other high schools and get to top colleges we have no extracurriculars no EPs and electives I feel like that's going to be very hard or near impossible thank [Music] you uh my name is Patrick okalan um my son goes to switlick and I'm pretty damn pissed off uh I always hear Governor Murphy talk about inequities counteract the inequities he always mentions that every one of his speeches and I can understand why I went online I looked at some of the towns that are you know got the most Aid Newark Patterson Elizabeth Trenton Irvington playing field I can understand you know you know but one stood out really well for me Edison I grew up in Edison North Edison is a very wealthy Town let's go back to the word again inequities I can't figure that out how Edison got $94 million increase of $20 million in equities huh all right so you break it down uh JP Stevens is a 27th rank School District in the state of New Jersey 27th they were with state aid they received $561 15 per student Jackson memorial is ranked 212th in the state they're going to receive we receive $3,077 I I don't go back to that word inequities how's that now I go back to cnck 98% increase in their funding my uh sister-in-law applied for a job there and when she applied there while she was waiting they had chauffered lemon zes for the children to get to class supposedly this is inequities Murphy always says all the time so I'm just trying to figure out why this S2 crap this formula that really doesn't work and Governor Murphy always talks about inequities when col coln which is one of the top school districts in the state receives a 98% increase and JP Stevens 27th rank School D in the state reachs 94 effing million doll increase of 20 million and our school district is 207 200 212 on the list of school districts so it's it's almost like a you're looking for a lawsuit like a all of us should get together and if if you can't figure this out I think it's it's almost like a borderline corruption that all these democratically controlled uh towns got so much money especially Edison which is not one of the wealthiest towns in the state so maybe you can answer that question where the inequities come from when a wealthy Town receives so much money is you have any answer for that no sir no so why is this formula is this all political crap that I'm dealing with all the time you know I'm worried about my son he's he's 11 now he's going to sixth grade so when he I know like some school districts you know I'm worried about like if he goes to class he's going to even have a uh when he gets to high school he's going to even have a a teacher in English or or math I can hly my blood pressure is like usually it's like 120 now it's like 150 now cuz I have to worry about my son if he's going to get a proper education huh and my family died for this country in battle so my H my son can have a substandard education system because of Murphy and his inequity order I need order I know I understand I understand my wife told me to stay calm my sweet wife you know so you know it's really I I find it quite interesting that we have this conversation $23 million whatever underfunded why don't you increase this is this is my idea there's 5 million taxpayer paying taxpayers in the state if you say to them let's say we're increase it $10 that's $50 million that's 20 cents a week if Murphy was a true governor who represents all of us not a certain section of the state that kisses his ass sir do on the side sir order yeah okay second time sir I'm going to need to sit down please your time has been removed what's that your time is over okay thank you I said enough hi um my name is Lauren Hernandez and I am sorry I didn't think I could ation sorry I am the product of a 35 Plus kid classroom I grew up in New York City I know what it's like to fall the cracks my husband and me moved here specifically to Jackson so our children will not experience what we did Growing Up not having funding not having school books having to share with five or six kids not having desks not having the Arts not having anything I didn't want that for my children so we moved here my son is a fourth grader at Holman Holman holds so much in my heart those teachers and the Educators in that building are they treat all those children like they're their own their own children my son calls at his second home he's already in a class that's pushing 30 kids there's no room the teach there's already two teachers in that classroom and they've said they can't get to every kid there are children in that room that need extra attention and they can't get it already and it's not fair his favorite history his favorite subject is history and I fear that we won't have the capacity to teach these children their favorite subjects his two favorite specials are art and gy and if the classroom sizes get any bigger how will they have the space to appreciate the Arts or gym he has some learning challenges and with the dedication of his teachers guiding and improving he's improved almost two full grade levels in the last 6 months and that's mainly due to them filing for grants for extra reading he would go in the morning he would go in the afternoon and he was able to jump two full grade levels in six months without that he would be failing and we fear that his friends will not have that opportunity to be able to grow educationally with these Cuts I fear that my son will not have the same opportunity his sister has she's a junior at Liberty she is part of dma and she is a proud JTV member hi kids JTV basically saved her she found her people she's matured into an amazing and I don't say that lightly an amazing young adult and she's made many lasting friendships not only at Liberty but at Memorial she's also part of the drama program that is at Liberty with the high school and the middle school and if there's budget cuts we won't have that I was able to be at an award ceremony last night and I watched the passion that these kids have not only for drama but the crew the kids that build the sets the kids that get to direct we may not have that I'm Sorry by being in dma she has learned that not only the Arts are important but that education is important and I fear for her and for all the children that will come after her my son has told us that she he wants to follow in his big Sissy's feet and be part of JTV but he's only in fourth grade it may not be there in four years when he would have the opportunity all I'm asking is to please just do the right thing by the kids that were now in school and the kids that are going to come and follow them later on thank [Music] you like my mom said my name is Kyla and I am a junior in Jackson Liberty and I am a proud dma student along with that being part of drama club doing audio and also being part of JTV all of these programs have helped me to become the person that I am now I just moved here from napin from my fifth grade and I was coming into a new district and with learning the harsh ways of one middle school and finding new people to be with I struggled in school both academics and my social life fast forward to 8ighth grade and I attended an internship for JTV where I met both Mr fr and Mr Noble I finally found my spark in life film along with that my freshman year I was brought into to do audio by Mr fr A new challenge for me that I came to now love and appreciate the opportunities that I get not only from theater but from JTV and film I come to school every day happy and exciting knowing that I get to do things that make me happy both JTV and theater have helped my social life my confidence and along with that I have made friends the people standing back there and up in the booth and I always feel so loved and appreciated with everybody and it feels like a second home to me both in JTV film and and Theater I wanted to speak up and if I didn't do any of these I would have not been able to speak up because I suck at speaking but anyways um I wanted to speak up because they've given me a spark and I fear that if we don't go forward we're going to lose other kids Sparks JTV and theater have given me a reason to go to college and I'm not a fan of school at all I sucked always I'm doing better now but um taking these things away from the kids fears that we're not going to have kids a fan of school and we will lose interest for kids a lot of kids are motivated by electives not only JTV and film but also in the Arts in theater and in music and I fear that if we get rid of it we will lose that spark thank you good evening my name is dianaa Pine I've been in Jackson for three and a half years I have three grandchildren in the school system one in elementary school one in middle school and one in in high school and I'm very concerned about their future here um they are um straight A students High honors athletes and they are thriving and happy in this school system um and I do have a question for Miss Morris um I wasn't planning to speak tonight so this might not go as smoothly as I might otherwise like it to but um somebody earlier said what's going to happen if the money isn't there in the future and your response was that there would have to be a complete analysis of the situation and a plan isn't that happening now do do we not have a complete analysis and if we don't isn't it a little late in the game and we need a plan secondly I'd like to know who your report is going to is it going strictly to the board of education is that where the final decision is being made or who are the decision makers and who is going to see your report the report will go to the Department of Education um it will go to your county office here in um in Ocean County and I will share it with them the recommendation will go to the commissioner of education and he in turn will ultimately be responsible for deciding uh how much money he is either going to ask the um uh Department of Treasury for or reject the report that I give him what he he really has the authority to do what he wants with it okay so as the assemblyman just pointed out a little while ago he's he got no response from the Board of Education and that seems to be a dead end so my question then to the board is have you invited any of any of the legislators or anybody who could be in a decision-making capacity to attend a meeting like this because everybody who stood up here we're all in agreement it's like preaching to the choir and but what has to happen is instead of a piece of paper which they never see to begin with or a report um looking and seeing and hearing right here in this room the compassionate speakers you know it it that makes all the difference in the world I think so have you invited any of these people who might be able to do something about this to attend this meeting yes good question um the answer is yes we have an advocacy committee uh chaired by Miss gardela a board member and that committee has spoken with uh over 15 um different assembly people and state senators on both sides of the aisle this is a bipartisan situation and and issue here um and they have invited them down here we've had other uh uh public officials here we had some this evening uh we speak to them quite frequently and uh of course we invite them always to attend listen as well and we're working with everyone that is willing to work alongside us as well and they have refused the invitation no we've also I just wanted to add to that we've also been asked by legislators to provide feedback into um bills that they're trying to write to assist great so we have been involved in the process okay good um another possibility since they won't come here um what about editing the the videos of the the people who spoke and putting something together for them to watch not two hours worth obviously it wouldn't happen but you know just editing it down so that they can see the the the compassion and and of these people I mean this this is an awful situation that's all I have to say [Applause] yes I'll be super quick because it relates to what you're saying I Christine McGinley I want to let everyone know Trenton is our house okay so we're all here and people have made wonderful speeches but you can take yourself to Trenton you can sign in you can ask to have a meeting with your uh legislator you can go to committee hearings so um you know go to the website and Trent and look when their education committee hearings are look who the sponsors are show up in Trenton knock on their door maybe that would be a Wonderful class trip to organize these Arts students to have a visit to Trenton parents will drive don't have to pay for buses but show up in Trenton um CU they're not going to come here they're not going to come here so that's my two cents everyone thank you for your time and thank you for your time see when no one come forward I need a motion to close public forum motion all in favor I need a motion to move Finance motion second discussion roll call M cordella yes Mr McCarron yes Mrs barokas yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Rivera Mrs Cass yes Mr P yes we will now have board comments starting with Mr McCarron just wanted to say thank you to everybody that came out tonight I appreciate everybody's passion when it comes to our school district obviously we all share in everybody's passion um we're going to continue to fight for our district and hopefully get done what's right thank you thank you all for coming out tonight and for those of you who stayed the duration it was a long night so you know we all agree with you we all we all have students in this District ourselves and to me you know I I moved here when I was in eighth grade I I decided to raise my family here um and what scares me with this with if we do have to make these Cuts it's almost trading in one problem for the next because to me the scariest thing is young people who have too much time on their hands and so I feel like the state needs to take that into consideration as well that you might be able to balance a budget by cutting everything but you're just trading it in for kids who are going to be home before 2:00 who are teenagers with parents who work and then what is the state dealing with it's just trading in one issue for the next so I do encourage everyone to continue to come out to meetings all the students who spoke tonight Bravo to you use your voice to as a tool to help produce positive change in your communities it's worth fighting for and I hope that everybody realizes that we are fighting with you we have our own children in this district and we feel the exact same way so thank you all for coming out I want to thank everyone for coming out and viewing us on live stream um I want to thank like everybody's comments on the budget presentation like Miss perelli um I wanted to thank the staff and Miss Perell for your dedications and commitment and the emphasis on students I want to thank Miss Morris for the clarification inquiries that you are able to answer I'm wholeheartedly pleading not to close any schools where we have 36 classrooms in trailers considering that they're K to8 and there's issues concerning security and sa safety um and the class size what happen to No Child Left Behind with all the cuts children will suffer everyone have a great and safe evening good evening thank you for everybody who came out um it was really moving to listen to everybody's story I think that everybody in the room probably has a similar story and we can all relate and that's to say that Jackson School District is not alone in New Jersey you know there's a lot of districts right now struggling with the same type of deficits um and in the end ultimately our students whether they're in Jackson plumed brick Toms River Nutley the list just goes on they're all the pawns here that are going to suffer and you know I appreciate legislators coming out and offering bills upon bills to fix ultimate problems um in the end what's become clear you know I've read more educational law than I would like to say that I need need to and you know for us it's imperative that we continue to have small class sizes for fundamental Learners we need access to activities for self-seeking teens and we need career paths for young adults and we need a commissioner who understands that he has the authority to help an emergent situation so thank you Miss Morris for helping us tonight and preaching our story I know that you too are on our same page and you know um I think together we'll do great things thank [Applause] you hi everyone thank you all for coming out tonight thank you to those watching thank you to those that came up and spoke um it takes a lot of courage to come up and speak even myself I get nervous I want to give a big thank you to Governor Murphy for putting $33 million next year towards free preschool after all who doesn't like anything that's free even my own niece is going to be using our free preschool program here in Jackson however at the rate you are cutting funds from districts throughout the state especially in Jackson decimating our schools there will be no K through 12 schools for these preschoolers to attend thank [Music] you I too want to thank everyone for coming out to tonight and especially the young speakers it does take courage and um your stories were heard they were appreciated so we're very thankful for that um it was stated tonight that there was no mismanagement on our end so it's really disheartening as many people have said that we're basically being punished we've done nothing wrong and our students are going to suffer I mean we have award-winning programs our kids go to top colleges we have curriculum um AP classes is we just have amazing things and a thorough and efficient education encompasses many things and the state social emotional learning seems to be a big you know hot button topic that's always talked about but if you take when you take into account a thorough and efficient education you need to take in that social emotional learning which includes those extracurricular um activities those teams the team building schools uh you know students having class Siz that work we cannot as someone said and it's true you cannot have huge class sizes in elementary school and be preparing these children to go on to further their education or become great humans of society they're going to suffer um so it's it's disheartening um and we just I want everybody to just keep writing keep advocating to your legislation there's not much else we can do but keep fighting um and keep speaking thank you I would just like to start with saying Jackson you showed up tonight thank you I want to thank all the parents residents and teachers that have sent emails to our governor legislators and Department of Education and thanks to everyone who came out tonight I want to be clear this board and this Administration will not approve cuts to anything that will negatively impact our students we will continue to Advocate strategize and put the time in to get it right there is too much on the line for anything less we we will need our community's continued help and involvement Founding Father Thomas Payne once said I prefer peace but if trouble must come let it come in my time so that my children can live in peace trouble is here in our time let's get it right so our children can live in peace thank you good night I need a motion to adjourn motion by acclamation I woohoo [Music]