[Music] sh [Music] [Music] than okay [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] w sorry for the delay I call this me to order please rise and salute the flag this meeting is in compliance with the open public meeting law and has been duly advertised in the newspaper as an official meeting roll call Mrs Gardella Mr McCarron present Mrs barokas yes Dr Osman pres Mrs Rivera pres Mrs Cass present Mr P Mar presentent I need a motion for approval of the agenda with addendums motion second discussion roll call Mr McCarron yes Mrs barokas yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Rivera yes Mrs Cass yes Miss triple Mary yes i' now turn this meeting over to Mrs Peril for her superint tenant report thank you Mr promary and again I want to um just thank everybody in the audience for their patience tonight we started late but we needed to take advantage of an opportunity to get this word out even further so I do want to start with the end of the 2324 school year um it was a a very lovely end for our students uh we had our moving up ceremonies that were beautiful we had our promotion of from middle school to high school ceremonies and our high school graduation ceremonies um and we were fortunate enough to be able to have the middle school and high school outside the weather cooperated although very very hot a lot of us melted but it was nice that our families could really open the invite to all of their family members to be able to see the graduates I want to thank all of the staff it is a huge um event that takes many hands in many departments um to put together for a wonderful uh ceremony for our students and our families they were lovely events I do also want to point out tonight before we get into some of the um the budget items here that we had several other things that were beautiful in this District uh recently we had our valid dictorian salutatorians um some of which you'll see uh the slides behind me and congratulations to them uh we also had our Memorial Jackson Memorial Baseball team won the Central Jersey Division uh title 4 Championship that is incredible um just excellent I love the picture of them that's up there uh really demonstrating their excitement the hard work um as you all know we value the importance of our um extracurriculars our Athletics and our activities they're so important for our students not only as a team did they perform well and uh won several other different types of um acknowledgements throughout the season we also had individual students who were recognized on that team just want to say um congratulations to them and to the coaches wonderful job um and what an excellent J just an excellent way to end end this school year um and so I do want to point out that that's what we wanted for our students uh was to end their year in a happy Manner and a successful manner so as I pointed out those activities those extracurriculars are extremely important to the development of every student and we value them here and we're going to continue to fight to keep those things for our students I know many of you are here this evening to hear about the tenative budget uh Mr binsky and I are going to present the tenative budget that I think we've made it clear we don't agree with we don't like this budget um and this is a budget that um we fought against every step of the way and you're going to hear more about that this evening so Mr binsky let's go to the podium and let's share this information so I want to begin tonight by saying that what has transpired over the last seven years with regard to the funding of our school district is is definitely not okay um the reduction schedule put forth by the state has forced an annual painful elimination of people programs and resources that has brought uh our very proud School District to the brink of in inoperability the information that the superintendent I will be sharing tonight uh is the very negative byproduct of a state funding formula that presented prevented the necessary adjustments for a rapidly changing district with some very unique needs please know that we do not necessarily support these reductions or believe that they bring us any closer to providing the thorough and efficient education that our students are entitled to in fact we honestly believe that these reductions unfortunately move us even further from that expectation however tonight the superintendent and I will be presenting a tenative budget that is balanced based on the many recommendations from State and County Education officials and in fulfillment of the legal requirement that we both have to put forth a balanced budget as a 22-year administrator I've worked in almost every leadership capacity with within this school district I have devoted most of my professional life to building and supporting the programs that have helped make this educational Community safe and successful and it breaks my heart to be placed into this position to essentially undo all of that work and much of the work that the people in this room have done that is not acceptable to me and I have no intention of giving up the fight for this school district in short Jackson deserves better than what you're about to see so the purpose of tonight is really to accomplish a couple of things one is to explain the budget process and the state mandated budget timelines uh the impact of recent legislation on budgeting and how that has impacted the budget process um I'm Al we're also going to present the balance tentative budget and discuss the impact of cuts the the Board of Education tonight will vote on a potential tax levy increase that was uh made possible through legislation and also the approval of the tenative [Music] budget so this is a slide that has been up for the last seven years at every single budget presentation that this school district has done including the one that Miss Peril and I did in March uh this illustrates the S years of the S2 Cuts uh and what they have done to our school district over the 7 years we have had to cut 215 positions including a Administration certified staff non-certified staff we've had to increase class sizes we've put forth and had to postpone many curriculum adoptions many needed facilities uh improvements all to accommodate these reductions in state aid and when you look at them face value you say there's $22.4 million in Cuts over 7 years how come the school district couldn't deal with that well one of the things to consider is the compound nature of these Cuts so back in 2017 2018 we received approximately $50 million in state aid this coming school year that's less than half just about half $25 million in state aid and you see every year that reduction so it's not just a one off uh shot to the budget it compounds year toe and reduces the amount of Revenue we have coming into the school district if the School District had just been frozen in 2017 2018 you're talking about a budget that would have had $87 million more dollars over 7 years that's that's more than $10 million a year that would have been a total game changer for this school district if the budget had just went down by an enrollment decrease proportional to enrollment and our enrollment has not decreased anywhere near what the cuts have have indicated uh should be happening we would have had an additional 52 million over 7 years so the compounding nature of these Cuts have decimated the revenue side of the school district and when you look around the state and what the other districts have have have had to endure there really isn't too many other school districts Jackson being the exception that has shown up on this rather Infamous list of the top 10 school districts for loss of dollars in state aid every single year you could see as it moves from the first year of S2 to what will be next year this is not a list we're proud to be on and this is a list that this school district has had to unfortunately shoulder the load for addressing as far as the budget itself we went into this budget process very much in the whole we built a budget last year on a $10.2 million loan Lo that we were seeking from the state and so that was an empty spot in the budget last year that we filled with that placeholder on top of that we had to deal with a very some very significant decreasing revenues other than the state aid you know we have not been fully funded or even near funded for our transportation Aid and our security Aid which shows up every single year on our state aid notice that we receive and every single year for seven years it's the exact same number in fact they even show you what you should be getting every single year and in this year when we received that state aid notice for transportation we should have been receiving on the state aid notice $7.7 million based on all of our figures we received $613 55 the same number we've received for seven years same thing for security Aid same thing I didn't put it up here same thing for special education Aid so those numbers are are generated by actual numbers in the in in in in schools and and for services and we've been well below what we should have been receiving in terms of funding if we were fun being funded uh through that the proper state aid when you look at the co era we received some money for the covid uh during the co time we spent the last $1.6 million of that money basically to create an operating budget for this year in 23 24 it amounted to be $1.6 million of salaries and General Supply and so that we knew that wasn't going to carry past June 30th of this year so if we want to have continue to have those things we would have to find it in the new budget lost Revenue um Surplus let we started the year with a $900,000 surplus for a school district our size that should be more than double that to start a year with Surplus that's like your savings your emergency savings for your for your household we have we're going to be we were at times during the course of this school year thinking think that we were going to start with with almost nothing for the 24 25 school year so we're we started with a bare minimum and built off that and the tax liby Cat every single year this this board has gone to the maximum allowed by law the 2% tax Lim so that is the most that they can raise taxes and so they have gone to that every year in fact this year we were actually going to seek a health benefit waiver to try to even exceed the 2% so this is what we we went into the budget process with in terms of Revenue in terms of expenses you don't have to look beyond what what even is in your own households so for fixed costs out of your control all of them go up and all of them have been going up now keep in mind we can only raise taxes by 2% but you're talking about your utilities diesel fuel natural gas electric special education add of District placements which constantly go up every year um this year our insurance premiums went up very significant um we also you know you saw the transportation Aid our non-public students that we transport transport have gone up 785 since the start of us too all right curricular instructional needs we have postponed curriculum adoptions year after year I know we have a lot of teachers andow Professionals in the room you have felt the burden of having to not to use curriculum resources that are out of date and we are sorely in need of a curriculum adoption and then rising in inflation you're not going to find a 3year period of more rapid inflation that what we've experienced in 2022 2023 and 2024 in recent history all of those things factor into if we want if you need things it costs more and then lastly as if seeking an advancement on state aid wasn't enough we had to build in the loan the advanced state aid repayment uh which would would be $600,000 per year into the budget it's a line item in the budget so these are all things that we had to go into the budget process with we presented a budget on March 20th a tenative budget at that time we presented an unbalanced budget which had essentially a deficit of almost 30 almost $31 million $3.9 million that was on March 20th and I think I came to many of the faculties I'm seeing a lot of teachers in here I spoke at those M pilia may have spoken at a couple of them to sound the alarm that this this is a major deficit for this school district on May 7th we were able to uh have a proposed budget hearing between May 20th and May 7th we made $4.2 million and more Cuts we actually cut 27 positions at that point at that time we uh also uh thanks to the uh to the township who took on the full cost of the sro's um and then we had to reduce overtime subs and supplies and we had to co-op make a decision to co-op uh a number of our sports teams at the high school to get down to our 26.6 million do deficit on May 7th when we got to May 14th May 14th legislation passed and the legislation did a couple of things one of the things it did is it restored 45% of our original Aid cut for this year so basically it put $2 million back into the school district budget so you see the deficit going from 26.68% and it also did a third thing which is it pushed the entire timeline for the budget back to the the timeline goes to the the the latest being July 22nd so basically pushes the whole the budget process back by 2 months so the advocacy that our parents our staff our community did the legislation helped us all right that is something that uh you know this community should look at and say you know your voice mattered where we sit now um we still are at a 18.1 million budget deficit an unbalanced budget we have been told in by the county off office and the state via the county office that we must balance this budget and so tonight you're going to see what a balanced budget looks like trying to bridge the final Gap here from $18.1 million it's going to mean large systemic cuts and I'm going to turn it over to the superintendent who's going to talk a little bit about specifically about what's happening thank you Mr Pinsky and I need to Echo the way that Mr pinske started this presentation um we are in agreement we feel the same way um and I think you all know that about us that we this is not something we wanted to do we have fought against this we have um you know we have tried to educate decision makers we've advocated we have submitted countless documents and data to the county office to the Department of Education so that they could seek to understand what is happening here in Jackson and this is a revenue problem not an expenditure problem we have um asked for all of you to Advocate and to write and to email and I want to thank you all I know all of you did those things I do believe it was heard I do believe that they see some of it but it's and I think perhaps in the Horizon there might be some change but it's too late we need help now um and this is we're being this is very painful for everybody in this community and we recognize that this is something we do not want to do but we are being told we must balance a budget it is in code to balance a budget or we cannot operate in the 2425 school year hence we had to put out this information about what a balanced budget would look like so basically that's what this slide explains we were working hard and advocating right up to the last minute right to the last week of school and it was during the last week of school in which we learned that there was no wiggle room here you must balance a budget is what we're being told or you can't operate so we did make a a a very aware decision that on the last few days of school not to make this announcement um to obviously impact our students celebrations from promotion and graduation now I know some people may disagree with that but I think that our students needed to um have celebratory time um and we're going to get further into the presentation here he more about the opportunity for families and our staff um to have a little bit of closure so we do have three very important votes this evening on our agenda We Believe It or Not did not even have a balanced budget um that or I should say we don't we did not have our requested Advanced state aid for the 23 24 school year until this first or second week in June we had asked for the 10 million and every month from the time that we asked we were scrutinized we had to provide data and documents of our cash flow and eventually the recommendation went from the commissioner to the treasurer department and we received $6 million in advanced state aid or as we have referred in the past as a loan to close out the 23 24 school year so the Board needs to vote on that final budget tonight to close that out as Mr binsky mentioned there has legislation that has been passed based on the I I really believe the legislators has responded to some of the uh voices and the education that we were trying to provide uh not just here in Jackson but the other S2 districts that had had been cut and so we have been capped for a very long time in a 2% tax increase every year and obviously when your expenditures continue to go up out of your control and you can only bring in 2% more you're going to hit that fiscal cliff especially when you're being slashed State a by the millions so there was legislation passed recently that will allow a onetime increase to that tax levy at a staggering 99.9% increase um I don't think that's what any of us were asking for um I think it is a very difficult decision to have to make um for the community uh for the board um I should say for the board to have to vote on something like that um that's a lot of of percentage increase in one year that should have been spread upon multiple years um nevertheless what that does is is reduce our uh deficit from 26 million to 18 million uh imagine if we needed to cut 26 million from this budget the other vote tonight is on the tentative budget um as you know you've heard from both Mr binsky and myself we don't recommend these Cuts this is because we are being forced to make a balanced budget should the board uh make the vote tonight and they pass the that's one thing if they do not pass this it then goes to our County office and the fiscal monitor our state monitor to review and make recommendations on whether they will follow what we've put in the tenative budget or whether they will suggest different cuts um and the process for that then would continue on through to our July 17th public hearing which is uh July 17th in which we have a final public hearing and a vote on the final budget oh sorry so what does this mean you all have heard from me last week what it means I'm Jo going to review what this balanced budget looks like it is heartbreaking and it is devastating um and Unthinkable and as Mr binsky said we don't believe it provides the best education we can provide to our students in order to and you're going to hear more about this later on in the presentation but in order to make a balanced budget we did announce the closing of Rosen hour Elementary School and preparing it to sell we also announced 70 positions would be eliminated this includes all positions across all departments and brings us to a staggering 285 positions over the last 7 years that have been lost and as we all know working in the schools that means more work for all of us and helping our students to prepare uh for their education uh it's it's staggering to think that that's okay uh it is mostly going to be done through attrition which means retirements and resignations that are open so that we have very few um positions that will uh people who will actually lose their jobs we're still working through that um and with every resignation we get we shift somebody else into that um that hole so that we can save a position we need people to be working with our students something that is very very uh difficult along with all of this is difficult but this is extremely a safety concern is eliminating courtesy busing um and again you're going to hear more information about that in a few moments but that that concerns the safety of our students and you're going to hear about how that has continually been suggested to us uh and almost every meeting we have had about what should be cut from our budget because it's not required we'll talk more about that in a moment this also means reducing High School athletics uh we have not determined what that looks like yet we'll spend the next 3 weeks doing that but please know we will do everything in our power to have the least amount of impact on our students drastic Cuts uh the schools already felt this we had already announced this before the end of the school year that the 2425 budgets are uh are drastically cut for school supplies uh for um Department supplies up to 50% in many cases um very hard to digest reducing our substitute lines as well looking at less building based Subs using more daily subs eliminating all of the late buses again not required um are mandated eliminating the Middle School Holding Center where our staff would stay after and help students stay safe before they got on the late buses eliminating our after school enrichment program we'll need to figure out a way to do that throughout the day reducing co-curriculars advisers and clubs again we will work over the next few weeks to have the least amount of impact so that our students still have opportunities in these areas we know how important they are and reducing the budget for event staff and homebound instruction as well so I'm going to turn it back to Mr binsky who's going to talk a little bit more about the courtesy busing and then we'll talk a little bit more further about Rosen hour so as Miss Peril said um this has been something a topic the courtesy busing topic that has been continuously brought up in discussions with uh with officials who are are trying to close the budget Gap and giving us recommendations and in fact the first meeting I ever was in was you know well you do have courtesy busing still in Jackson and that's clearly somebody who's never driven the roads or walk the roads or had children who walked the roads or driven the roads in Jackson saying that um because the reason for Courtesy busing and the reason why it could even be considered is is the simple answer to that is because it's not required by law so I I understand why that might be suggested um from an outsider's perspective and in fact there is a cost associated with it we bus we bus um and I'm going to call them non non-mandated Transportation because courtesy busing is only one subset of that but we we are not mandated to bus and we 1,848 students at about a cost of about $1.5 million in our budget now who is mandated to be bust um the the students who are mandated bust are students who reside remote with that is more than 2.5 miles for high school or or two more than two miles for elementary or Middle School uh from their assigned School of attendance so those students uh would be considered mandated Transportation students it also mandated Transportation students are also students with disabilities who reside remote from the school they're assigned to attend or if they're IEP says that they have necessary for transportation and then also the preschool program uh which is a a grant-funded program also requires that we offer transportation to the preschool students in the preschool program so these are students who by code are mandated students who have to be transported so the next part of the code is who is not mandated who who can receive transportation in the state would say may be transported all right so the board and the school district uh has the ability to elect to to charge the parent or legal guardian all or part of the cost of the service in accordance with state code and if it's not charged it's what's referred to as courtesy busing and so that is largely what happens here we don't have a subscription busting Service uh we have never offered that in the past um if the district did charge that's what it be considered it' be called subscription busing um there's another subset of this and whenever a district or Board of Education agrees to provide non-m mandated transportation for reasons that are related to Hazard all right though that is what's considered hazardous busing and that's really the situation that we have here uh largely in Jackson not totally but largely um another part of this code is the is the idea that Municipal governments that the township um Can elect to pay for the cost of Transportation of for students who are less than two or 2 and a half miles uh and they could also decide that they want to offer it as a subscription service as well so there is a a bit of a shared responsibility there with the the municipal government and as far as Jackson goes with regard to the Hazardous busing we have a regulation um and it's regulation 8600 and it actually spells out um some of the criteria that would be decided upon with the school district working in conjunction with the township to make a determination that routes were hazardous and you could see the little list of things um and it includes roads that we have here in Jackson traffic volume average vehicle velocity existence or absence of sufficient sidewalk space so these are all factors by our regulation that we should be considering when we make a decision if we are going to provide hazardous busing or not and that is something that can that can and should be done collaboratively with the Township um one of the things that I want to make crystal clear tonight is Is our commitment to the students and parents of Jackson Township we the superintendent and I will not compromise student safety we will consider all possible alternatives to the elimination of courtesy busing for the 2425 school year I remind you that this is a tentative budget we have time until the July 17th final budget and we will provide you with a proposed solution or alternative to many of the concerns if not all of the concerns that all of you have and all of the community members have with regard to the safety of your students because we share that same concern some of the possible Alternatives and I'm not going to say that this is what's going to happen it could be something like this or a combination of this um would be advocating with the state and County to prioritize the restoration of hazardous routes through some sort of funding source uh the rior prioritization of already budgeted items so basically finding something else to eliminate or reduce so that we can pay for all or portion of the courtesy busing uh a collaboration with the township officials to determine which routes are courtesy and which routes are hazardous you should know that the mayor has been nothing but supportive of the superintendent and the school district with regard to his concern for Courtesy busing so the township collaboration with us would be essential um the offering of subscrip of subscription busing not something we've never done but is allowed for in the code should also be considered there are other school districts that offer it and the proposal of a possible special question for voters to approve the permanent restoration of funding of hazardous bus routes this is something that most recently happened in Monroe Township and when it becomes a special question all right and it becomes and it passes as a special question it becomes permanently a part of the budget that can not be removed for future so these are some of the things that are that we're committing to between now and July 17th when we propose a final budget so I'm going to turn it back over to the superintendent to talk a little bit more about yours everyone can you forward my remote isn't working thank you so roseen hour uh we all know this is heartbreaking this is not anything we've wanted to do in fact uh we spoke deeply about this last year we still have students elementary students and trailers um many trailers and what should be happening probably is redistricting um and keeping our schools and eliminating the trailers however we are our hands are tied when it comes to the dollar amount that we need to close this Gap um the other thing that is a possibility that should have could have happened was Leasing and renting um a building instead of selling it so that you have a steady Revenue source that would be ideal those are the things that we we've talked about and planned for um however we have been faced with this massive deficit um and told we have to close this Gap and it's as you heard Mr binsky say there's there's only certain ways that we receive Revenue um and how do you make such massive cuts when your biggest expenses in in a district are Staffing and your facilities cutting supply lines are not going to get us to $18 million um this is not anything we we take lightly uh we are just as devastated [Music] um I'm a 30-year educator and this is not anything that I've ever wanted to do I um believe in expanding programs and opportunities for students and this has been very um obviously difficult for everybody and we um needed to close a gap that was very large and this provides a large portion of funding to close that $18 million gap um in order that we didn't have to cut even deeper there is a process that needs to happen in order to sell a school the school has not been sold the school I've had no conversation with anybody about a price tag of that school there's a process and we will begin that process once we have a final budget which means paperwork through the doe approval through the doe Public Communication about it and I believe there needs to be public board motion um on it as well for approvals so there is a very transparent process that needs to happen and that is the process that we will follow in order to sell that building the next steps for Rosen hour and the staff that are in the audience who were with me yesterday on the virtual meeting that we held um know much of this is that we'll continue to work in the next few weeks uh two to three weeks to make assignments for our students and our staff um and notifications of placements will be as soon as possible we're providing 3 weeks um time for us to do this however if we're able to do it sooner we will we know that everybody's eager the staff will be provided opportunity in fact an entire month to pack their things we'll provide the things that they need the boxes and the labeling and the tape um and the availability to move those things um for our students we will consider reassignment based on the needs um of our students the class size distribution Equity throughout the district and proximity to the students home so thinking proximity of the students home we're looking at placements at like Crawford Johnson and homman that's what would make sense we have preschool students who will be included with those moves uh last year we had started the process of opening a preschool Wing in Memorial High School this building uh a separate Wing that will be separated through doors and separate entrances and fitted for preschoolers we paused that last year because of the budget um and other things but we have put that back on the table and it is happening so that we will have enough room in all of our buildings for preschool students and we can continue that program as well for our community students will be assigned to that accordingly again think about proximity of where the students live so the mjor so the Rosen hour preschool students would be more assigned to like Crawford homman Johnson and our overflow students from Elms and swiit lck would be more assigned to the memorial wing so we are still working through all of those details and we'll get that information to everybody as soon as possible again I know everybody's eager um most importantly we knew we were going to do this um felt it was important for everybody in this community our current staff our past staff current students past staff to have an opportunity for closure of roseen hour so we are planning an event and we're going to work with our staff at Rosen hour our PTA at Rosen hour to plan an opportunity and an event over the summer where everybody can come and have closure and have an opportunity to say um the wonderful things that we know have happened in that building so we will continue to plan that and more information will come the next steps for the district with this tentative budget please remember it is a tenative budget we will continue to work on it continue to try to have the least amount of impact as possible we've done that for six years and we've been very transparent that it was getting more difficult and more difficult which is why we have pleaded and asked people in the decision-making powers to help this District the cuts are too deep we will hold the public hearing on July 17th at the board meeting again presenting a final budget and a vote to the Board of Education we're going to continue to work with our Township and our community and seeking ways that we can help lessen the impact similar to what Mr binsky just mentioned courtesy busting how do we um how do we work having less of an impact how do we have less of an impact on our Athletics and co-curriculars and as always we will continue to Advocate we're not stopping we're not stopping to Advocate we we hope for some miracle but is right now we need to be able to balance this budget and present it and let be transparent on what it means if we have to do all of this this is what this means and it looks like right now we're being told we need to do it I'm now going to turn it back over to Mr Pinsky to conclude uh with some numbers uh for the budget and what that means so this is a general summary of the 2024 20 25 tenative budget uh you see the comparison versus what 20 we had for 23 24 and the change from one year to the next couple notable things one here one thing here is the local Revenue all right we we had our most ambitious uh year for in 23 24 for local Revenue it's you know to try and bring in other sources other than State funding um and we're we're putting it forth a budget that is even more more ambitious than what we were able to accomplish this year um the general fund tax levy that is being presented is the one with the 99.9% but know that that has not been voted on by the school board yet um the state aid from one year to the next you see the state aid decrease and then also you see this in the revenue side the state aid advancement of Aid that we received this year $6 million and because we are putting forth a balanced budget the expectation is that from the from the state would we be that we do not put anything in the budget for a state aid advancement for the 2425 budget um couple other things down the bottom federal state programs you uh you see that decreasing part of it is decreasing because of the Esser funding the co ER funding uh sunsetting also you see there um the funding related to our title 1-4 we always budget as a as an acceptable practice 85% of of the the previous budget so that brings us to a grand total budget uh of $65,625 th000 for the 2425 school year for the taxpayer um that would mean and remember this is the tax impact the budget that I just presented includes the 99.9% increase in the tax levy with that 99.9% increase in the tax levy the average homeowner which the average homeowner is an assessed value of $330,000 in Jackson would be impacted by $146 increase for one year for the average homeowner because of that 99.9% increase in the tax Le so just to close um you know we've been through difficult times during the last few years um I want to give um respect to our super tenant who has been our leader through some of those very very difficult times um but we have always pulled together to protect our students education and experiences U we can get through this difficult time by supporting one another so that our district remains a strong place for Learning and connections for students so the superintendent and I are going to return to our seats and we're going to take any questions from the board [Applause] so I asked the board if there are any questions about the tenative budget that we do not agree with I have a question for Mr ginsky do you happen to know like with your presentation when you were talking about subscription busing that other districts do what on average would that cost apparent the the cost has a limit you can't charge more than what it costs for the route um you can't like charge more than what it costs for the actual route for the student on a per pupil basis but uh I've seen other school districts that do it set really any dollar amount it could be $200 $400 could per student right yeah MH it's a per it's a the you know the school districts that I've seen they do it on a it's a prute p cost okay and then um my other question is hazardous bu I think I missed it I think you said it but I think I missed it is that paid by the town or the parent it's it or combo yeah hazardous busing when we if we would determine routes uh you know routes is hazardous we would be responsible to bus the students okay at a cost to the to the district and or to the township so that's where the special question would come in if a special question could be what's that courtesy yeah yep we could do a a special question would potentially pay for set a dollar amount that would be have to be built into the budget to pay for Courtesy busing and just like when we did the special question for armed security in the elementary schools once it gets approved by the voters it has to be funded it's funded it's part of the the the tax levy and it's it has to be funded in perpetuity but is it too late because you have to wait for the next election cycle what about September the the window of time to run a the next special election opportunity would be in September and the timeline for submission to the county clerk's office would be July 19th okay if you would if the board decided to submit a special question gotcha thank you are there any other questions from the board Mr pom that concludes my superintendent report thank you Miss pril at this time we'll have our standing committees that met uh previously before this meeting uh to go over uh their uh committee agendas we had buildings and grounds meet chairperson Mr McCarron yes Capital Improvement projects uh that happen districtwide uh at Liberty the nurse's office New HVAC compressor was installed hullman had a roof repaired over the new section Breezeway area to the gym switlick prek new exhaust fans with LED lighting installed Crawford new control panel installed for the sewer lift station Liberty and Memorial Home side stadium bleachers were power washed and gets a 60 ton HVAC Chiller was repaired uh Memorial Transportation Paving project scheduled to start on June 24th an elementary school playground project uh start date was June 20th nothing further thank you Mr McCarron and we had a policy chaired by Miss Cass the policy committee met on April 29th um the members in attendance were myself um Mrs barois Mrs Gardella Mrs pilly and Mrs Gody we met to discuss the table policies from the May 15th board meeting these policies are mandated by the state um policy 2260 verbiage was streamlined and follows the state guidelines according to the mandate policies 1140 1523 and 5750 were reviewed and our mandates as well we are compliant with the mandates thank you Miss Cass I need a motion for approval of policy first reading motion second discussion roll call Mr McCarron yes Mrs baroas yes yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Rivera yes Mrs Cass yes Mr pmer yes I need a motion for approval of the minutes the official board meeting May 7th 2024 special budget overview meeting the close session meeting May 14th 2024 and the official board meeting May 14th 2024 business meeting motion second discussion roll call Mr McCarron yes Mrs barokas yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Rivera yes Mrs Cass yes Mr pmer yes I need a motion for approval of the bill list motion second discussion roll call Mr McCarron yes Mrs barokas yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Rivera yes Mrs Cass yes Mr P yes I need a motion for approval of treasurers and board secretary reports motion second discussion roll call Mr McCaron yes Mrs barokas yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Rivera yes Mrs ver yes Mrs Cass yes Mr P yes I need a motion to open the public forum on agenda items only we will hold another public forum during this meeting for or other questions this public forum will be for questions on agenda items only second please sign in and state your name and whether or not you are a Jackson resident each person is allowed a maximum of three minutes to speak no person may speak more than once on the topic until all others have been heard my name is Kathy Lynch I am a Jackson resident I'm also a Jackson teacher a Jackson parent and a Jackson alumni I attended elementary middle and high school in the district as did my husband when we decided to buy a home in Jackson one of the reasons we did was the school district I completed all of my student teaching in Jackson beginning with third grade at rosenhauer I taught in another district for 12 years but my heart brought me back to Jackson I gave up tenure and seniority to take a position in Jackson third grade at Rosen hour in 2019 it was a full circle moment for me to return to the district that educated me to educate the future generation of Jackson it has been an honor and a privilege to teach at Rosen hour these Last 5 Years however it has also been very difficult as a teacher and a parent to witness firsthand the impacts of us two the cuts have been devastating and our students deserve so much more I deeply invested in this District as we all are we need the state to invest in us too thank you my name is Dawn loer I've been a teacher at rosenow school for over 22 years you can see I'm around so long I still use paper and Pen I'm heartbroken for myself for my students and my all my friends at Rosen our school and the families I know I'm preaching to the choir cuz I know many of you have had your children there and have worked there right alongside of us um I just wanted to share a quick story with you uh recently at a retirement party um one of the retired teachers who's been a proud Johnson teacher for many years asked our wonderful music teacher Miss Mason so which school do you like best do you like Johnson or do you like Rosen hour best and she said without hesitation Rose an hour and the teacher said to her well why why is that what's so great about Rosen hour and she said it's just the staff it's the students it's everything and she said when you walk in those doors it's like coming to a second home and that is the [Applause] truth barbar and Dera I live in Jackson and I worked at the Rosen now school for 35 of my 40 years as a power professional I call it my family because at Rosen hour we're not a staff we a family from our principls and I worked on the six principles to every one of us we I we made many friends there during my years I worked under six principles and all of them became part of our family their office doors were always open no problem was too small just knock on the door and you would be welcomed inside it's hard to explain how great roseen now was to someone who has never visited there I also remember the sad times and in my 35 years and under the six different principles that we every time there was a budget cut roseen hour was the first thing that was said and that's why it's hard for us right now we live through all that for all those years and it wasn't because we were told we were never told that was happening and that made it a little bit sadder for us but when we heard we would always go back to school no matter what was going on keeping the kids Happy teaching the children seeing the smiles on their faces each and every day the children always came first not how we felt I will always treasure the time I SP spent at Rosen hour let me say this to my family with retirees and the teachers that are still there they can take us out of Rosen hour but they can never take Rosen hour out of our hearts we are the Rosen hour family for now forever proud and strong thank you sorry I I'll go first and you signing her name um I'm Isaac I was here at the public uh something about this budget and I'd like to start off by I'm just want to offer my condolences to those who are losing a very valuable School in our district it must be extremely tough on you and it's very unfortunate that we're losing Rosen hour because as it's been shown it seems like the Department of Education just doesn't seem to care about us yeah I looked at the bu it up there on the slid losing an extra around 3 to 4 million that is very tough and it's very concerning about the future because if you weren't worried now I me before you could be worried now because there could still be further Cuts I don't know how long it's going to be that they're going to keep cutting cutting away till we may not have anything left there may be no district for any future students it's very concerning also bus subscriptions don't do that we don't want another subscription service we don't want bus flicks that does not sound good for anyone here overall it's just a terrible situation cuz it seems like we don't have any control over our future while people who haven't probably even been to Jackson before are making all the choices saying you can't do this because it's bad when there's a logical reason like like hazardous busing cuz there are literally no sidewalks to get to schools and I even did some research uh when I went to Crawford before I went to private school I decided to measure and figure out would I be affected by this and I discovered by2 miles I would have been affected by that and that is not good it's going to cause a lot more traffic just to get students to schools cuz now you don't have hazardous busing there is literally no public transport Alternatives cuz we are in the middle of literal nowhere and it's very unfortunate especially to those at Rosen hour who for the kids there they may be separated from their friends depending on what school they go to whether it's Johnson hullman switlick or any of the other it's like I said po terrible situation and I don't really have any answers on how to solve this but in conclusion it's sad situation I don't have any answers and really the only answer I do have is if possible go on strike I don't know what that solve but it prove a point saying that hey if you keep further on us there won't be anything left of us thank you [Applause] [Music] Deb Jones I'm a Jackson resident and an employee and before I go anywhere I have to say I don't believe in coincidence I followed that young man the last time I was at the mic and he has proven himself yet again that you are not just a student you have carried yourself again with dignity and professionalism so kudos to [Applause] you I also I have many things that I have questions about but for this point the 9.9% cap and maybe I'm not understanding it but as Jackson taxpayers we have already paid our school tax and we are not seeing that in our budget and now it's left to you guys to have to say let's raise it another 9.9 and again I'm going to say that's on top of our already going up um Township taxes we all being reassessed what is our guarantee that that 9.9 Levy is going to be seen in our budget we're leaving it to them to vote on the state is putting every single person on this board and our administrators in an awful position and where's the guarantee I I've said it at other meetings I would not want to be you but unfortunately our govern Governor has left it in your hands as well we need a guarantee I am not okay paying 9.9% more if I don't even know that it's coming into my school district is is that something we could I is that something we could like talk about because I feel like there's some misinformation out there cuz that's a local okay good evening my name is Allison cheer I've been a Jackson resident for 19 years both of my children um one has gone through Rosen hour she's now going into High School my son would um be going into fifth grade at Rosenau and to address not tell telling your staff and not telling the parents that we were not going into that school in September is not okay because teachers were making preparations for the following Year my son specifically was a safety and training now that is going to be taken away from him how do you tell a 9-year-old he earned something that he will no longer have how do you tell a 9-year-old that he is going to a new school possibly without his friends that he has been with since kindergarten how do you explain that to a nine-year-old adults can survive and they can understand that but a child is different Especial Especially children who suffer from anxiety there was one thing that was said earlier addressing students needs some of that is in black and white and it is on your papers in the school districts other children internalize things and to shut the doors without any preparation you are giving yourselves one month to redistrict 250 children and to keep class sizes somewhat down where they can learn efficiently I don't understand how that's going to work my recommendation would be to try to reassess this keep Rosen hour open for at least one more year and make plans make a plan that is effective for the success of these children make a plan that all these staff members have a place to go the following year that is what I would suggest my daughter going into high school had the foundation of Rosen hour that small school that no one talks about the first one on the cutl cut list because it's not as pretty as the other ones that have two stories and Atrium ceilings and all this stuff that is unnecessary and learning what matters are them that's what matters they deserve to know the children deserve to know and they need time so that would be my suggestion to you is to try to figure out how to keep it open so they can have proper closure I believe that the children here in Jackson deserve better and my daughter in middle school was in advanced math Advanced literacy she was on the Junior Honor Society the art Honor Society because of them your little school in Rosen hour the foundation that she had and the staff here in Jackson so I would ask you to please reconsider rushing the decision to close down roseen hour one more thing I think I'm running out of time but as far as hazardous Transportation if you watch on Facebook the tri count scanner news there is at least one to two accidents on our roads leading to these schools every single day in this town it is not safe for these children to be walking on these streets and parents should not have to pay a subscription to ensure that their children get there safely thank you my name is Cindy crl I'm a 37e resident in Jackson back in 1991 my three older daughters went to rosenow and it was a wonderful school I adopted two little girls and my two little girls the first day I was bringing them to Rosen hour said I love this school and how do you know you love Rosen hour you've never even Ste foot in it because Emily Olivia and Amanda had such a good time and such a good experience I know I'm going to love Rosen hour my older three daughters they're very accomplished because of what they got in rosenhauer and my middle my second daughter's kindergarten teacher is here still my two daughters my youngest daughter she's special needs I didn't even know but there was a teacher who came alongside of her and me Mrs LaVine and she said I know what we can do to help her and my daughter now is making such progress because this little school came alongside my daughter and helped her and it's going to be a real shame if you let Rose an hour go it is a family it's just an amazing school and I want to know if they get registered my daughter last night slept in her Frozen hour shirt and cried herself to sleep okay if she goes to Johnson where does Johnson go does Johnson go to gets or muli if she goes to Crawford will she go to mccul her older sister's going to mccul next year but where will she go if she goes to Johnson will she be redistricted again when she gets to middle school you Pro I mean I know that's three years in advance but those are things they're thinking she also was a safety and she said I I'm not going to be a safety now she worked hard she came from standing in the back of the classroom rocking to being a safety and now that's going to be taken away from her I don't think I understand you guys are in a tough position I can't imagine and Mr P my daughter was in school with your daughter I can't imagine how you're feeling right now and I I appreciate everything you're doing but these kids are affected they're wondering is the kid down the street going to be in school with me is my friend down the street going to be in my class with me this year I don't even know they're afraid are they going to have an opportunity to go to the school that they're going to be taken to and look at it and and walk around to the school so they understand they have familiarity with it before the first day of school CU they did that with the muli kids the kids in fifth grade going to mccul they went over there a couple of times times and these kids are they just going to be thrown into another school put on a bus and sent to a school those are all things that they're worrying about my daughter was in we build is she going to be in we build next year she's so concerned and scared she told me last night mommy I'm scared because I don't know what's going to happen and I'm trying to be positive and I'm trying to encourage her but they're scared and I think it's a shame that the state did this to our school and I think the state needs to look at why some some towns are getting more money than we are why I don't understand it but they're affecting children little children's [Applause] lives are there any additional agenda questions or comments there will be another session for public comment but anything on agenda items see you no one come forward I need a motion to close public forum motion all in favor I miss permil is going to respond to some of those uh questions I really wanted to point out um two two main points one is these students who were assigned safeties will still have the opportunity to be safety we've already discussed that we will make sure that happens we also will provide opportunities for our students to have orientation and opportunity to go to their new schools see their new schools tour their new schools you know we I think we can all agree here we all care about our kids and that's what's important here is making sure we can make this as smooth as possible um I know that there was um some questions about the 9.9 so I just wanted to mention that the 9.9 is the tax levy so think about the 2% cap we have every year that's what we're allowed to raise the Jackson taxes to to bring in directly from the township taxes to the school so Deb those those monies go directly from the township to the school there's no in between there um so we would if it passes you would strike the 9.9 that money would come directly to the school through the tax levy through the township yes it is a law um and it is a onetime legislative action so it's for the one year that 2% cap would go back into place the following year Mr beins anything to add to that I think I captured that right okay um and I just want to reiterate our Rosen our staff and families are wonderful fabulous there is no arguing this and that this is not something we want to do thank you thank you Miss Peril I need a motion to move Finance motion second discussion roll call Mr McCaron uh for me under their Finance number five and number six are going to be a no all other is going to be yes Mrs baroas um for me um everything is a yes except for um I'm voting uh yes for number five but I am voting no for number six and I just want to mention mention that um I do not sleep at night making this decision um does not come easy um it disgusts me what our um state has done to our children um it just disgust me that there are mandates that have to be followed that no longer fit the narrative in our state the biggest narrative that we must that it's important to our children and it says here the constitution of the state of New Jersey states that the legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all children in the state between the ages of 5 and 18 years we are not doing that at the moment so I just wanted everyone to know that is where I'm coming from thank you Dr Osman okay I am V voting yes for everything except number five the tax levy is a no and the budget is a no I want to explain why I'm voting no so there are four reasons that I'm voting no for the tax levy and obviously the budget um I don't believe that the state allocated funds fairly and in my opinion it's unethical to say we messed this up we didn't send it to the correct places so now we'll give you this wonderful opportunity to dou tax you right um and even with that 10% 99.9% increase you watched the presentation you're still losing everything that they said there so we're still not providing a thorough and efficient education um the second reason I'm just not comfortable with closing schools increasing class sizes losing busing losing the Arts losing Sports losing programs um basically giving the taxpayers less and then charging them more even if it is only a one-time thing the third reason is I feel that all districts should play by the same rules they should apply across the board and I don't want to bring names of other districts in here but if you you know look to your East we could see very clearly that this is not the case and I have a big problem with that it should be equal rules and following the same steps and you know fairly Distributing and then the last thing is you know it's I find it hard to during a time of where inflation is crazy and everything costs more and we don't know If people could really afford this or not people are struggling to begin with and then you open the newspaper and you see districts spending over $50,000 who were given funding to have team building projects team building parties and so I cannot support this budget or a 10% increase to my neighbors for those four reasons and there's many other reasons but those are the main four so I hope you can understand where I'm coming from and the state needs to do better I just want to clarify so yes to everything no to five and six yes no to the budget no to tax Mrs Rivera items five and six no yes everything else Mrs Mrs Cass um I vote not to number six um I do not support this budget at all you the rest is yes say that one more time the rest is yes no to number six no to no to six only six yeah M and Mr P so Finance number five is the 9.9% tax levy increase that the state would like us to uh to pass they're giving us this wonderful one-time shot to increase residents taxes you know Jackson residents already pay an income tax well over $60 million a year that income tax is supposed to be repurposed to the to the school district to fund the schools however well over 40 million of that is being repurposed to other districts and now they want us to increase our taxes again I'm a no vote for number five number six is the tentative budget that you just saw today that's going to include closing rows and hour eliminating 70 staff positions increased class sizes and all the rest I'm a no vote to that we have kids in trailers we should not be closing schools until we get our kids out of trailers so I'm a nobat to five nobot to six yes to the rest so just to clarify so resolution number five and number six under Finance uh did not pass Mr P as the state monitor I'd just like to explain uh something and then a decision um in order to have this budget proceed in the process that's required by the state um the purpose obviously of the dates involved in this process uh have to do with when your tax levy is determined which means whether or not there's going to be a tax increase that will of any kind that will support your school system and have the money there collected by the Township in order to transfer to the school as the school year goes on in order to do that and strike that tax levy um it must be approved by the county uh Department of Education and the county has reviewed and worked uh with me and also the administration um to get this requirement by the state it's not a local requirement um of a balanced budget presented by law um from the superintendent to the board of education for their vote which is what you've just seen um and what just happened um the defeat of that stops the process again and means that we have to go back uh and start all over without time being there to do that and with a directive from the commissioner of Education that is requiring every school district in the state of New Jersey to present a balanced budget so I must inform the board tonight that I as the state monitor are overturning your vote on number five and number six there is no choice here if this process is to move forward it means that the budget and the process itself will now go to the county for approval uh by the uh County Superintendent uh and the business administrator and that the uh January 17th meeting then will present this budget for final adoption by the board and you will have another vote at that time thank you Miss Morris for updating us I do want to let the residents of Jackson know that we're not done yet yet I promise you we're not done [Applause] yet at the end of this meeting I am going to ask that we go back into close session for client attorney um what's that privilege I need a motion to move facilities motion second roll call Mr McCarron yes Mrs baroas yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Rivera yes Mrs Cass yes Mr triple Mar yes I need a motion to move programs motion second discussion roll call Mr McCaron yes M Mrs barokas yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Rivera yes Mrs Cass yes Mr trimer yes uh before I motion for students I need to turn it over to our board attorney Mr zider so we have a two additional student resolutions this will be students number 75 uh resolved that the board affirms the finding of Hib in case number 26554 n jlh 0507 2024 be a further resolve that the family shall be provided with a written decision along with information on the right of appeal to the commissioner uh 76 will read uh resolve that the Board of Education affirms the finding of Hib in case number 264 922 LHS 043 0204 um and be it further resolved that the family shall be provided with a written decision along with information on the right of appeal to the commissioner thank you I need a motion to move students motion second discussion roll call Mr McCaron yes Mrs baroas yes Dr Osman yes Mrs Rivera yes Mrs Cass yes Mr yes before I motion to move Personnel I want again need to turn it over to our board attorney Mr zider resolved upon the recommendation of the superintendent that the board resends the appointment of employee ID number uh 234-241 15104 591 for uh 10day um summer work thank you Mr Z I need a I need a motion to move Personnel motion second discussion roll call Mr McCarron yes Mrs barokas yes Dr Osman these three names they were deleted from here MH yes Mrs Rivera yes Mrs Cass yes Mr Pome uh motion 38 document 1A number 23 I abstain yes to the rest I need a motion to open the public forum on any topics pertaining to the Board of Education motion second please sign in and state your name and whether or not you are a Jackson resident each person is allowed a maximum of 3 minutes to speak no person may speak more than once until the topics until all topics uh have been heard Deb Jones still a Jackson resident um I'm really speaking to you Mrs moris because if I speak to them I'm preaching to the choir and I understand that you have a job to do and I can accept that what I can accept is that our governor has left the burden to fall solely on you so with that I think there's things that you need to know like the students and the families that are part of Rosen hour those parents in many cases can be very active in their children's education because our neighborhood school they do not all have the ability to drive there they can come into classrooms for to read to their kids classes they can come in for parties they can come in for the moving up ceremonies and the end ofe parties that we graciously welcome them with and you take those kids those students you're moving them through the district and I say you because by us not getting our funding it does fall on you and that puts students isolated in their new buildings not by the staff not by the other students in the building but because they are now separated from what their parents can and cannot do as part of their school career I'm not okay with that and I don't think you should be either I also I don't understand how closing a school could be fair to anybody especially when I've heard it from you we have been fiscally responsible Jackson School District and every single person that represents us has been fiscally responsible Governor Murphy has not been fiscally responsible he has been fiscally responsible to the districts that he wants to be that's not okay we are part of New Jersey we are taxpayers we are Jackson I'm just not okay with it if our district was treated fairly we wouldn't be standing here having to do this we wouldn't have to be having our administrators and our Board of Ed sit there as The Fall Guys of the people ripping the carpet out from under our Learners our Learners who work hard every single day it's not okay you know our hands might be tied as a district Governor Murphy's hands are not tied he's choosing to keep them at his side again not okay you know and I know to put it into a sports thing they talk about pay to play Murphy needs to start paying to play he's playing in our town he needs to give us the money and I do not mean it with any disrespect to you but again he put you here and it's not okay I understand you represent him but you're really representing every person here staff student family taxpayer and we need someone to fight for us so I appreciate everything you did but I would really appreciate you working a little bit harder for us thank you uh Isaac ellner surprisingly still a Jackson president as of 10 seconds ago I was not expecting to be back up here but in light of what just happened I do have some questions and comments first off what does overturned exactly mean Miss Morris do you mean that the budget is still going to be enforced or is it going to arbitration so the county will apply the budget if it's passed we will respond ask as many questions as you want within your 3 minutes time frame and then we will answer them when you're done I don't want it to take away from your time okay because that's like the ma one major question cuz if she just overturned your decision that is just a threat to democracy we voted for you not me CU I was not old enough at the time but we voted for you we did not vote for you you were instated by the New Jersey government and I don't like the decision that you just overturn their decision they represent the people you don't so please let their decision stand and I and the second question to be asked after I finish speaking is if the budget which I assumed you did not approve if that does not get approved on July 17th and the deadline passes what exactly will happen to the Jackson School District cuz I may have been the guy to say go on strike but there is obviously still need to operate the school district what would exactly happen if the de passes does the district just stop operating what happens to the students but overall I was not expecting any of that voting stuff to go the way it did and I do stand behind your decision because obviously we have not been treated fairly by the department of of Education as it was revealed the last time I was here Lakewood could apply for a loan but for some reason we can't don't know why that's the case but that's the case welcome to New Jersey the unfair state [Music] and I've had this comment bre brewing in my head and this this this should just be the Mandate Public Services like schools shouldn't be expected to operate like companies and make a profit that's unreasonable I don't know why we're treating Public Services like New Jersey Transit schools utilities why they're like companies they should be be serving us not the people who own them to make a profit that makes no sense at all and it's very that's the exact reason why we're here because apparently the Department of Education is the Department of money management now it's not about educating our students anyways in conclusion I support your decision but be careful because I have no clue what exactly happens after if the budget doesn't pass and yeah thank you for your time [Applause] um Alexis Kleinman I'm a Jackson resident I'm a retired teacher from a private school in another town and um this year my first year of retirement I um was privileged to be a daily substitute in Jackson and I want to tell you I really have been impressed with the the level of Education going in and out of all of these classrooms and the dedication of the all the teachers um I came up here because I am extremely troubled by the fact that we have elected these men and women who are serving us diligently they in our Democratic Republic cast a vote and with one word that vote was overturned and I think we really really have to think about that [Music] I'm Kathy toiro Jackson resident since 2006 Sun Memorial um I have three questions so I'll just State those questions um why is the state permitted to not fully fund its transportation and security mandates therefore costing the district somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million um my second question is whether I should infer from the overturning of the board's vote that the state is okay with a 5-year-old walking 2 miles to his Elementary School on a 45 mph road with no shoulder in January when it's 10 degrees and my third question is what are other districts in this situation doing that have 20 million dollar or so Tom's River $100 million Lakewood what budgets are they submitting and where is that money coming from if the state is not giving it an A in Lop thanks and as a former Johnson PTO president president if in fact Rosen hour closes I promise we will love you and your [Applause] [Music] children Amy howls Jackson resident I was not prepared to get up and speak but I can't sit there I'm outraged outraged disgust trusted that we're in this situation um my youngest just graduated rosenow All of These Fine teachers and back there helped her from this tiny shy little kid just Blossom and Bloom my older daughter went through rosow she is in middle school she gets straight A's because of all of these lovely teachers um I don't understand how you're going to just take all of these kids and just plop them wherever we need time you can't just close a school in a month and then say hey we're just going to figure out and put them here and there the whole District needs to be redistrict every student needs to to find their home and figure it out you're going to take roll now put them here and put them there and just separate them all can't do that you need time to prepare I loved your idea about waiting a year if that's ultimately what has to happen to Rosen hour but I am not for cl cling rows an hour these teachers are amazing I sat here a few months ago when miss and I even last year sat here when Miss premy said selling it does ites sells it for one year what are you going to do after that it's one year of of of money we're not it's not continuing the busing situation horrible exactly how do you have a child an elementary school child walking to school 2 miles have you driven around Jackson there are are no sidewalks here there are crazy drivers everywhere even when there is sidewalks and crosswalks I don't trust my children to hardly walk anywhere because of the non-safe roads that we have I think this entire situation is disgusting pulling all of these programs teachers losing their jobs what happens to all of these wonderful Rosen hour teachers are you just going to plop them anywhere they're just completely out of a job that's what I want to know what happens to all of this them that have been here for years supporting our children I I just I'm so Furious you need to go back and you need to figure out how to make this work for us we are not getting our fair share and to just overturn a board's decision is not okay we need help this Township needs help why is Lakewood allowed to do stuff why is Newark getting you know a billion dollars and we get nothing this is ridiculous thank you Miss cilly thank you Mr P thank you Mrs cat and the entire board for what you're doing we see it we appreciate it please don't give up this fight we need help from the state thank [Applause] you hello Alicia ther um I've been here my whole life 37 years my mom was a teacher she retired she was at gex my mother-in-law is a substitute teacher at Liberty right now and my husband and I went all through Jackson schools together we did everything here my biggest concern is that I live on the corner of cooksbridge and beam so I don't know about if you know South Boston is a cut through so it just makes our road a highway right there I mean you can even ask Jeff hemba you know the I think he's Sergeant now right he just became start whatever but he knows all the time he had cops sit there all the time trying to help the people just blow by the buses even the stop signs are out the lights are on it doesn't matter and it's all over Jackson I know it is it's terrible but if there's accidents all the time I don't understand like someone else said that's a 40 mph 45 doesn't mean people are doing that they're going way faster than that I have a one-year-old and a 5-year-old that now I'm going to have to walk to school I'm only two blocks away I have to cross cooksbridge and Manhattan doesn't sound far it's not far but it's going to be a nightmare I'm going to have to run with a stroller in all the weathers dark light doesn't matter it's just the traffic here is horrendous and it's going to and we're already backed up all down Manhattan both ways when people already dropping off and picking up the kids and it's every school I know so it's going to be terrible just that but it's just the point now do we have crossing guards cuz we also don't have sidewalks either so only one car can fit down our road if people are parked so I'm going to have to come into the street with my kids every time there's a car parked so do we have crossing guards to get across these highways and like the safety of everybody even just the parents trying to get in and trying to get to work and doing the daily activities so that's just my question do we have crossing guards how are we going to get all these kids safely to school every single day and it was kind of a little slap in the face that you just right away just said no to everything it would have been great if we maybe said heard no a different day but like to hear everybody pour their hearts out these poor women I was sitting behind them I know they've all been crying the whole time time this is terrible this is absolutely terrible for the students sta everybody but such a slap in the face it's just like going to any meeting in Jackson we all know how that goes you could say what you want we could all stand up and fight for this town and nobody listens and it's sad and now the kids are feeling it so hopefully you'll change your mind thank you everybody okay Alison cheer Jackson resident thank you to the board for voting no um we really do appreciate that and we do understand your hands are tied again I'm going to turn my attention to you Miss Morris I do think it's pretty insulting that you had 48 hours to think that over and to take into account everything that was said tonight all that you asked for all the numbers they gave it to you parent concerns we all gave it to you and less than 30 seconds you turn them down that's really really upsetting because we have to remember these are children they're not grown adults and these children like I said before who knows them best the teachers who's redistricting are you going to redistrict them are you going to put that on them to pull them away from everything that they've known that makes no sense to me so as a Jackson resident for 19 years I would like the ability to choose if you are going to close down our school I want to choose where my child will attend in September and I believe being a resident for 19 years paying all the taxes to support these schools I think I should have that right so I'm asking for one of two things give us time to figure this out with the understanding that an hour will close after next year and give us time to properly District these children so they don't feel lost and alone in a bigger building or at least let us parents who know our children best choose where they go in September thank you [Applause] did she hi my name is Eileen zalinsky I've been in Resident probably for about 20 years now Mrs Morris let me ask you something if you were in our shoes when your kids were little how would you feel how would you feel that a State monitor came in and overturned all their hard work how would you feel knowing that the school that your child went through for elementary school we all love Rosen hour these teachers are amazing they are all angels to our children how would you feel if you were told sorry Governor is not going to give you any more money deal with it because that's exactly what you did to us when I moved back when I moved down to Jackson 20 years ago I chose to allow our oldest to go to a private school excellent education went on to M mates excellent education my husband and I moved out then we were surprised with another child we move back to Jackson he has special needs we were told go back to Jackson by Children's Specialized Hospital Jackson Township Schools are the best in the state for your child's needs we deliberately found a house within the Rosen hour District because we were told again it is the best school for your child it is one of the best schools in the area you can't ask for more these angels my son is going into 10th grade he gets A's and B's on his report card he no longer needs Physical Therapy he no no longer needs speech therapy all because of those teachers and because of Jackson Public Schools and for you to be so and I I don't mean to be disrespectful but to make a decision that overturns all these hardworking men and women and all Us taxpayers in literally 10 seconds you need to go back to the governor not these people to a table and figure out what to take away again you need to go back to the governor and you need to say hey you did Jackson a wrong and you need to fix it and we need to get our money back we need to keep Rosen hour open we need to have busing have you ever tried to walk down a street in Jackson trust me you don't want to because you're taking your life into your hands you can see buses picking up kids whether it be going out of District or in town and you have people flying right past those stop signs doesn't matter that there's blinking lights and a stop sign doesn't matter when there's a radio car nearby it doesn't matter that there's crossing guards in the small areas that we have it people just drive right by how are you going to feel knowing that you've said yeah you don't need busing when a child is struck and killed are you going to go to the parents and say I'm sorry are you going to go to the funeral are you going to pay the funeral expenses are you going to go to into the elementary school and say I'm sorry kids I'm sorry that you lost your friend but it's all about the Almighty dollar to the board thank you so much thank you for an amazing education for our son and Rosen our teachers I love you guys thank [Applause] [Music] you any other comments questions good evening my name is Caitlyn LaVine and I've been a Jackson resident for over 30 years I'm a former student of Johnson gets and Memorial I'm an elementary teacher here now and I'm really disgusted with how this has been handled L I'm so sad for my son my daughter my nieces my nephews and all of my former students within the district that they will not have the same educational opportunity that I had where is the equity this is for you Miss Morris where is the equity why is it that we're the ones who have to fix this this mess was not created by us us it was created by the state the commissioner of education and the governor so where are they why aren't they here tonight why are we all here why did they have to fight for us if Jackson doesn't clean up the mess that New Jersey made for our district we're not going to be allowed to open what's going to happen to my children to all of our children and to all of the talented and dedicated Educators within our district thank you for your [Music] [Applause] time any other questions or comments seeing no one come forward I need a motion to close public forum motion all in favor I we now have board comments starting with Mr McCarron oh oh I'm sorry Miss uh Miss pery would you like to answer any additional questions sure yes so to the young man who asked a question about what does it mean to I think you asked what does it mean to overturn what does it mean certainly so um under New Jersey Law when um a school district gets an advanced loan payment like we did state aid payment uh the state appoints a state monitor to oversee the finances of the district that person is obviously Miss moris by Statute uh if Miss mors does not agree with a financial decision made by the Board of Education by law she has a right to reverse or overturn whatever decision was made and that's what happened tonight so the board voted no on those two resolutions the 99.9% or n whatever it percent increase uh on the tax levy as well as the budget she reversed both of those decisions which means they will go into effect assuming it happens at the July meeting which kind of piggybacks to your next question what happens if the board votes it down again in July the final budget that is presumably I would speculate Miss Morris would assuming do the same thing reverse the board's decision and adopt a budget for us which is her statutory right okay Miss Morris I think you wanted to respond to some other issues yes yes I would like to explain um a couple of things I was appointed and came into the district uh I think it was at the middle or the end of January I have been here every week two or three days um mostly I would I would think uh too um since January every just about every hour that I have spent in the district since I was uh first assigned I have been working with your superintendent and your business administrator and their staff uh on this budget so I would like although I know you disagree with my decision I would like to explain that I did not simply hear this within the last 10 seconds and overturned it I had to be prepared tonight for this process to move on for your superintendent to be able to prepare the kinds of things that you've been talking about whether it be the reassigning of teachers or the reassigning of children she has to move on she has moved every day that I have been here um with different proposals that she has run by me and it has been as painful for her um this evening and for the business administrator as it is for you trust me when I tell you that I've seen and I'm sure you know um as an older person in education I've been associated with and seen a lot of people in in different school districts she is a child advocate and she is very very disturbed as has been her whole staff by what had to happen tonight so this was not simply something than I did off the top of my head in answer to the lady's question that asked how would I feel if this where I would be as outraged and as upset as you are if it were my children yes I understand it your superintendent has done everything including personal emails to the commissioner as I have meeting with the staff in Trenton um communicating with them steady on a steady basis this is not something that was done overnight or done quickly and as she has indicated between now that the process is moving as of tonight between now and July 17th all of these proposed possible Cuts will be Revisited and they will be again assessed and your concern and your opinions will be taken under consideration I I can promise you that um but I also uh hope that you will understand and I and I do I know any attack on a school system when you're a part of it hurts whether you're a parent or whether you're a teacher and I I appreciate I've heard your comments I I can tell you right up front there are very very few of them that have not already been communicated there are just certain laws uh and bills that have been passed that regulate this system including the time frame that we're looking at so I um I wanted to share that with you um and turn it back over to Mrs per Miss per did you want to add anything to any questions or you okay okay board comment starting with Mr McCarron please I just wanted to say uh shame on the state uh for putting the responsibility on volunteer Board of Education members to raise taxes within a community that's already paying their fair share um to overturn our vote I think was totally improper we are the elected people that the residents trusted we know know the community a little bit better than a state monitor does and I would have lik to see what we voted on stand I would ask that before you vote on a full budget that you walk the routes to the schools and see what you're cutting I have nothing further um so the first thing I want to say I don't know your name but the young man who speaks at our meetings I think you really should go into some advocacy work and even think you realize that you're an advocate but you truly are and you can hone that and do something with that um so great job as far as tonight's meeting obviously we're all really disappointed in how this turned out and I can't help but think like the state has pumped money into failing school districts for as long as long as I could remember and it doesn't seem to be fixing those failing school districts and and I'm kind of curious what Miss Morris thinks like is the state just trying to get good districts to be brought down so that they could turn around and say look it worked we pumped all this money in there and now everybody's even because I don't really understand what the endgame is you're just going to be creating more and more failing schools that have no programs no extracurricular activities and there's no way that the state could say that this is producing round you know well-rounded students and that they're getting a thorough and efficient education so I apologize to everybody here tonight and people who are watching us at home you could see we're trying to do all that we could do but this is what we're up against it's very sad the state really needs to do better and I encourage people to really think about who they vote in next time around I want to thank everyone who came out and live stream their input comments during this very difficult time congratulations to all the graduates on their moving up ceremonies and their promotions everyone needs to continue their advocacy work and everyone have a safe and wonderful evening um thank you to everyone who came out tonight for um all your speeches I'm just uh so moved by everything you've all had to say um disgusted at the state I say it all the time and my tagline is I will not cut from our children so that I can drive other children to school I think the mandates again as I've repeated the mandates don't fit the narrative in the State anymore and the people up above they have the ability to fix the mandates and fix the laws but they are too bu busy fighting amongst each other and for those of you who have who have the time maybe you'd like to join some of some of us for the Walks from our houses to the schools and you can film them and send them to our legisl later and show them what that walk look looks like and I had no idea but I live in Hampshire Hills and I'm apparently two I'm in that two mile range so I will be walking with a bunch of people to show how ridiculous it is that there's no sidewalks I can't even imagine if my children were still going to Johnson so thank you and uh like I always say we may I may be little but I am fierce so and I don't like to lose um I want to start off with the good stuff so I want to say congratulations to all the graduates um I want to thank Larita Winery for their generous donation um of iPads and stands to the district I want to thank everyone for coming out and speaking as a hockey fan I need to give a huge shout out to Anthony stolar for hoisting the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers he was a jaction graduate so uh I think that's pretty amazing um now the rest you all know that I get emotional um diversity equity and inclusion we've all heard those terms there State mandates um that are implemented um but the state mandates that school implements these measures however the state is not following its own guidelines Jackson certainly has diversity in fact our elll population has grown by Leaps and Bounds however the state is taking away the equity for those groups and all students they are forcing us to cut the very programs that will give this diverse population the tools for success for their future we had a thriving District that gave many students wonderful opportunities we've had students accepted to some of the top colleges um in throughout the United States however by continuing to cut our budget our students will not only be afforded those will not be afforded those opportunities any longer yet other districts are receiving enough extra funding that they throw staff parties for over $45,000 um can you imagine that and we we have the state monitor they don't they Al allowed a twerking contest in their high school again we have the state monitor who overrules us I I don't understand we need to cut student programming they throw a party somehow that's okay which brings me to the inclusion term the state has chosen which districts it wants funded and clearly which it does not and apparently Jackson is not part of the inclusion in state funding S2 has failed Jackson and we continue to do so unless the state finally recognizes us we have begged for mercy we have actually begged for them to visit us the government the Comm the governor the commissioner the Department of Education we have invited them time and time again and yet they don't come so apparently Jackson they have deemed us ir revolent and for our 7700 students it's not only disheartening it's appalling thank [Applause] you ladies and gentlemen as we conclude this meeting I want to express my deepest gratitude to all of you for your dedication to our students teachers and Community it is no secret that we are facing significant challenges due to the unfair State funding model that has been forced Upon Us despite these hurdles we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing the highest quality education for every child in our district our schools are the heart of our community and inequitable distribution of State funds threatens to undermine the progress and achievements we have worked so hard to attain and not just we but there are many people looking at in these front few rows that work that hard every day for these children it is essential for everyone to understand that these funding disparities are not just numbers on a budget sheet these translate into tangible impacts on our students educational experiences opportunities and future successes we are advocating tirelessly for a more just and Equitable funding system our children deserve the same resources and opportunities as those in more favorably funded districts we have seen firsthand the incredible potential within our schools and it is our responsibility to ensure the potential is not stifled by systemic in inequities I urge you all to continue your support and advocacy reach out to your state representatives share your stories and make your voices heard together we can drive the change needed to secure a fairer and brighter future for our students thank you for your unwavering commitment and support let's Stand United in our mission to defend our district and fight for the fair treatment our children deserve thank [Applause] you I need a motion to adjourn motion I'm no I i' I've decided to to rethink that for another time I need a motion to adjourn motion by acclamation I I for