good evening I'd like to make a motion to reconvene tonight's Board of Ed meeting can I get a roll call please Mr Ser here M Weinstein here Mr P here Mr Keller here Mrs ainson here Mrs ringler here Mrs here please join me in the flag salute United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible with andice for all I have to say it's nice looking out and seeing such a full house thank you everybody for coming um on February 27th we had our budgeting meeting where um all of the principles and supervisors went over their different budgets which are going to um be approved in at our next meeting um I'd like to say thank you to mes on 228 they hosted a game night a bingo game night it was really fun all the kids um that were participating had fun and I love that the idea was prizes over candy um on 229 Ridgeway hosted a successful Barnes & Noble night it was nice to see so many um eager and happy children picking out books uh March 1st many of the board members had the opportunity to participate in read Across America and read at the different schools throughout the district it was exciting time for many of us our April board eved meeting is being switched to Tuesday April 30th the originally scheduled day conflicts with a school boards training that many of us are going to and we wanted to have it later in the month so that way we could have the budgeting stuff on that agenda um tomorrow will be exciting at ntees there's a one book activity um for those who read the newest Dragon book um this weekend you can support our drama club as they perform Rock of Ages and on Saturday you can get out for some family fun and support Ridgeway elementary schools dolphin day um tonight's a very special night um I would like to invite everybody to join me in singing happy birthday to miss Diane Pedroza ready don't make me do this by myself happy birthday birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birth dear Happy Birthday to [Applause] you um I would like to say happy women's History Month to all of our women out here and um Diana is making some women's history in Manchester because on tonight's agenda we are recommending that Diane become our permanent superintendent it TR not to try as I read this on behalf of the Board of Education I am excited to announce that tonight we will be voting to approve a contract for Diane Pedroza as our next superintendent after reviewing many impressive applications for this position and conducting interviews the board decided unanimously that Diane the best candidate for this position in the Manchester District Diane leads blue and gold she has been a dedicated member of the Manchester School Community for 25 years she started her career as an educator she moved on to be vice principal of this very middle school and then principal of Bridgeway Elementary School following her role as a principal she went over to the Board of Education Office where she was in charge of curriculum this November Diane took on an even bigger role not only did she serve as the Director of our curriculum during a q SE year but she took on the role of interim superintendent Diane's servant leadership is commendable she's represent respected and fair she's a team player and she values all staff and students she has proven that she works well under pressure serving our district in multiple capacities since November the Board of Ed feels that Diane is the best candidate to serve as our chief School administrator and we thank her for her hard work and dedication to our Manchester Community and District Diane has a lot of support from the community and district and we are proud to name her our first first female superintendent in Manchester so what I did today is I reached out to a couple people from just various spots in the Manchester District and asked them to share some words about Diane so I feel that Diane deserves to hear some of the beautiful things that were written about her Diane is an amazing leader who inspires empowers others to reach their full potential her dedication to our Manchester families is unlike any other she Fosters a culture of inclusivity innovation and continual growth Diane's dedication to the district is admirable she exemplifies our motto Excellence by example Diane is a dedicated educator a role model for students and staff a Hands-On administrator always reaching to make Manchester the best it can be Diane's leadership has shown us how to lead with our heart as Diane says in the shadow of the leader meaning we should be the leader that we expect our followers to be excellent by example Miss Dian Pedroza is dedicated to the Manchester educational Community she's a compassionate and dedic educational leader that maintains high expectations for teaching and learning makes decisions that are always child- centered and fosters a collegial partnership amongst all stakeholders to benefit all of our students Miss Diane pza embodies and leads with our district motto Excellence by example Manchester is fortunate to have Diane lead the district she will always lead by example and is a true friend and Mentor Diane is a true leader and inspires all those lives she touches Mrs Pedroza is the personification of our Manchester Township School District motto Excellence by example her commitment to the students staff and families in the Manchester Community is an inspiration to us all Miss Pedroza is truly amazing she is the heart and soul of Manchester her leadership is unwavering always Manchester first sorry and this is why I didn't email it to everybody because there's just so many amazing things about you um Miss Pedro's inspiring dedication and profound commitment to the Manchester Community are truly remarkable through her daily guidance she encourages us to excel as a district and promotes growth as Educators her unwavering passion for Education radiates each day as she leads with the empathy and a steadfast dedication to every student's success she exemplifies Excellence by example William Barkley says there are two great days in a person's life the day they are born and the day they discover why Miss Pedroza has lived her why as a teacher and a leader in a career led by integrity and passion for students and her CR she is a gift to this community it has been my privilege to know Diane since she was my daughter's kindergarten principal at Ridgeway nearly 20 years ago both of my children absolutely adore her and I know her as a heart-c centered leader who has dedicated her professional life to the students of Manchester when she stops by my classroom my high school students are always excited to see her a clear indication of how many lives she has positively impacted during her many years of service here she's a consument professional who holds staff and students to the highest of standards which she herself models Dian Pedroza is the embodiment of leadership by example her words Inspire motivate and raise people up her attention to detail is unparalleled she carefully considers all available information and listens to all stakeholders before making decisions and always does what is best for students she makes everyone around her better which makes our district better Manchester is fortunate to have her um Diane Pedroza is one of the most dedicated and hard working people I have ever met I have known her for over 20 years and she's amazing as she travels around the district her genuine care for the students and staff shines through it is evidenced by her positive attitude and smiling demeanor I've also been on many committees Through The Years where I have worked with her she does her research and is extremely knowledgeable yet is always willing to listen to the opinions of others lastly she bleeds blue and gold she's committed to the success of our school district and stands up for students and staff I am so blessed to know her and to benefit from her strong and caring leadership I had the privilege of working with Miss Diane pza for 14 years as superintendent Manchester in these years Diane established herself as an outstanding educational leader and she grew professionally each and every year she not only demonstrated leadership in the district but also gained respect through the county and the state it is no surprise that I relied heavily on her input and her Professional Knowledge but also relied on her as a person Diana is a unique individual because while she has outstanding Professional Knowledge her quality is how she positively interacts with her staff parents and students from prek to high school she genuinely cares about people and it shows she listens to staff about educational issues and listens to parents and students about their concerns it is this combination of Professional Knowledge the ability to lead outstanding work ethic decisionmaking and her compassion for people that makes Diane an outstanding leader in all of my years in education I have never met a person more deserving and more qualified in all respects to be a superintendent of schools than Diane Pedroza the last one because it's made me laugh and I hope it makes you laugh I'm going to try to say something that no one else will say and it could not be more true good things come in small packages she is the best thing that has happened to our district in a long time um not all of the messages that I got came in on time because I had a meeting before this but I would like to thank everybody who contributed I'm sorry if I didn't reach you I couldn't reach everybody but thank you Diane for stepping up to this position we are blessed and thankful to have you W and now it's time for your report not like a little pressure right good evening everybody I'm going to begin my report with thanking all of you for the coming out your kindness and everyone showing me such great support um this evening I'm going to bring to your attention we have a couple retirements on our agenda um a wonderful wonderful man George de primio with us for 41 years while we were retiring he has done a tremendous job he will be sorely missed and so we thank him for his service it works with this next young lady when I had the pleasure of serving as the principal of Bridgeway school to know her is to lover Gina Foss you know [Applause] Mrs she is certainly going to be a loss to our children and to our schools but we wish her all the best uh Mrs Foss has been serving Manchester students for 32 years congratulations to Gina and the high is going to also have a tremendous loss on their science department um will Schmidt awesome teacher handson did some great trips with the kids instrumental in the BASF trips for the students going to see um all of the various things going on there um often Morin Moore would send me videos from Mr Schmidt with deer and wonderful things and coyotes going on and how interesting for our kids so all the best to Mr Schmid he served for our students for 12 years so congratulations I'm going to ask this next young lady to come up she is a remarkable individual if you know um Mrs finow she was nominated and was congratulated this past Friday as the njsca school counselor for our County Ocean County um school counselors are nominated by their colleagues they're selected by their own schools County counselor Association and the award honors the professionals who devote their careers to serving as advocates and often Lifesavers for the nation's students Shannon finow a school counselor from Manchester Township High School for 15 years was selected as the 2024 counselor of Ocean County candidates are selected by their peers they are selected because of their ability to deliver an effective School counseling program but if you know Shannon she is just one of a kind she is truly remarkable she will help anybody at any time and we are so fortunate Shannon to have you so if you would please come [Applause] [Applause] up and as they said we all come in short packages Excellence by example thank you [Applause] for we're going to continue with our presentations before we go into student recognition I'd like to bring up the high school guidance Department if we can bring up their presentation the presenters for this evening is Miss Shannon finow Miss Cena simonelli Miss Chris Kirsten Ganon and Rachel Kelly and will there should be a clicker over there hi everyone my name is shadon and I'm school counselor at Manchester Township High School I wasn't um aware of the previous thing but I go ahead and introduce my great Department um we have Kristen Ganon The Freshman counselor Rachel Kelly and Dana simonelli um we and and myself we have grades 10 through 12 um and we really work together to come up with with a cohesive program um and and to make sure that all students have um various opportunities whether it be to um go into a vocational program go to a two or foure school go into the military we try to work with each student individually to help them out and like I said we work together so we're always bouncing ideas off of each other to best help our students we're going to start with like student ACH a and some stuff that we do and then we'll talk a little bit about our program so we'd love to showcase our students and achievements and some of those special ways that we do that are by the honor rooll recognition any student that gets a or B's for honor rooll and all A's for Principal Honor rooll will'll get put on our academic row it's like our our Hall of Fame in the high school where each marking period we take a picture of their honor um and it gets placed on the academic row and they also get a magnet for their parents to to show off um we also do student of the month breakfast where we invite the parents and Guardians to come and join us and listen to all the comments that the teachers have to say about their students um and that's not just being nominated for academic achievement but also good citizenship uh leadership throughout the classrooms um we also do Hawk of the month which is one student per month it's a little bit um more specified for going above and beyond what's expected as a citizen stud and a friend within the school and that's nominated by any staff member and it's elected by committee so it's a little bit more specialized um we also um give departmental awards every year at the end of the year uh we recognize students who exceed expectations they're going above and beyond um that's including all grades across all content areas and then they get local state and federal Awards and then the last is um scholarship night that's specially for seniors we Shar in the excitement of presenting them with a monetary reward for any student attending a two or fouryear college or trade um trade school and that's a monetary award at the end of the year so after we celebrate our students and um you know talk about all the great things they do we our big piece of the guidance puzzle is to let's plan help them plan for the future so we do many different things um for future planning so like Shannon said we talk about Vocational School College uh trade military um straight to the workforce so we have uh two College and Career Fairs we host our association hosts two College and Career Fairs every year we just had one last night it was a great turnout if you were there thank you for coming um we'll have another one in October for um it's the College and Career Expo so we're the fall one's pretty pretty heavily attended so we hope to see you there um we had ocbs just join us um two monay ago maybe three month dayss ago we did a little career fair in there showing showcasing all the programs that ocbs offers we work pretty closely with them um because we do have the shared time program and it's super beneficial to our students if you know any students in the vocational program it's it's awesome um we do small group student meetings you know one on ones we talk about what their plans are what their goals are we try and get the plan in place um we use naan that's one of the tools we'll talk a little bit more about later we're take we've taken a few field trips um just took chain University um we have a couple more plans just to show showcase all the different um opportunities that students do have we are um hosting a direct employment fair in a couple weeks um where our seniors who are still undecided can go and you know kind of see some other things that are out there that might be right up their alley um we do small group meaning like we we do our Junior planning meetings with small groups and just kind of try and help them pave the path for their future and and those are that's all encompassing that future planning piece of what we do in the office so next is a big piece of what we do um it's not something that everybody loves but we have to do it so um we do starting off right in the beginning of the year we offer the SAT school day for our seniors um and for some seniors it's the first time theying because they may have not thought that they were College B and now they decided hey I want to go to school and now the past few years tests have been optional for many schools anyway so it's still kind of one of those things that they don't necessarily have to take but we do give the opportunity for them to take the SAT each year grade eight U sorry grade nine 10 and 11 they do the PSAT um grade 11 is where the PS count for a possible National Merit Scholarship qualifier and some of our students have been Rec um for various Awards um and and they kind of communicate and have um extra opportunities through college board um the AC Placer is used to be the test that was given as a placement test for uh Community College but now it is one of the tests that um can be used towards a State graduation requirement so we've been using that as well for some of the seniors um also higher level math in a college sometimes college will require a student to test the Acer um a specific math test the NJ GPA we just finished that that was our Juniors um they had to test one day for Math and one day for ELA um and you know they did a fabulous job of really concentrating so we're hoping many of that method Mark there um the NJ SLA is given both in the fall and the spring and that is for ELA and math um for specific by subject algebra one geometry Algebra 2 and English nine um and then for juniors they also are mandated to take the science njsla which will be given um in April um finally if a we do give for military placement we do also offer the ASAT so if students are thinking they'd like to go into the military we do set that up they come in and they give the test uh to our students who want to go into the military and finally folios for students who were not successful in meeting a State graduation requirement um there are several different options but finally if they really are struggling test taking they will complete What's called the portfolio process um some students only need to do it in math some need to do it in English and some need to do both um and so we finished that uh process we're all signed and ready to go so that's an exciting moment um for us but it's it's a little allom responsibil but wait there's more we go so we're getting ready to ramp up scheduling um students tomorrow morning are going to be requesting so anyone who's got a high schoolers are going to be requesting their courses for next year um then after spring grade we'll be sitting down I know I'm kind of jumping around but we'll be um timing is is perfect we'll sit down with them and just has out the requests but in addition to scheduling um dual enrollment we offer um um close to 30 classes I believe dual enrollment wise so students can earn the college credit while in in high school um as well as at OC so that's a a great option that they have to get some early college credits um and then we do come in all [Applause] differentes she talk about Mee but we're constantly meeting with theid on is one-onone always tracking their graduation progress and their attendance and then Apex and Credit Recovery that's something that we have in place for students that you know are falling behind our credits they didn't pass a class it's a way to redeem those credits through certain circumstances failing a class maybe it's attendance things like that so it's a way that they can recover and then for summer scheduling I know all of us at some point have done summer scheduling but that's a time where we can do some hours be available for parents and families when we're doing through the master schedule with us so um that's that part of so next next week we have the eighth graders coming in to tour the high school and we'll be working with them oneon-one to create their schedule Mrs too and I already met with the eth grade students and the Laker students to go over our program and studies and explain to them what courses are available to them um so that's happening next week and then um so I work withh students and parents and we have a freshman orientation that already occurred um I created a brochure with all of our courses and um Athletics and we talk about clubs and how important it is to get involved in the high school and then we also have a freshman seminar class where I go into this to the classes um and work with them for um social emotional learning I incorporate um study skills organizational skills conflict resolution skills and I work with the school social work to go in and bring in some guest speakers as well as the health department came in this year already um so I worked with the the teachers a lot with that and I also went in and talked about Navan and one of the other counselors mentioned Navan it is a great tool for our kids and I noticed that um I'm new to the high school this is only my second year there but I noticed that the Freshman didn't really know what Nan was and it's a tool that we provide them um and they weren't using it until sophomore junior year so I go in and explain what Naviance is and this year we did where they could get to know what their interests are a little sooner than than sophomore engine here and at least it introduced that program to them and they can start building the resume and learning a little bit more about that all right so now we're on to sophomore year so so I'm basically these are some highlights for sophomore year but we're always meeting with them for us as far as Shannon Rachel and I the 10th graders are new to us because we have a freshman counselor so it's always the introduction in the one-onone and academic progress that's always happening and tracking an attendance but um we now have Teen Mental Health First Aid we just actually got our PD today um with the staff that's something that all the sophomores are going to be able to um go through and get certified through um there's a committee that's doing it to uh I can that teacher our our teacher um ocbs ocbs has a presentation in the fall where all the 10th graders they come in they present to all them just so they're aware of what's available for them regarding the trade schools um and then there for this spring um Mrs F oversaw them coming in they came into the media center all those trades had tables every student in the school it's targeted to the sophomore because that's when they're able to go um into a trade for 11th and 12th grade but we did get all the students through that career fair and then we have a visitation week so any student that did apply for the vocational school there's an opportunity for those students to then go and actually take a visit to see if it's something that they really definitely want to commit to and then the Hugh O'Brien Leadership Foundation Mrs F handles all of our scholarships amazingly but um Hing is for a sophomore that exhibits like leadership know that's and then following year um junior year is pretty big because most of our students are thinking about okay what am I doing after graduation so we try and make sure they're on track number one make sure they're on track to graduate then we do our small groups give them the options how to start looking at colleges if they're going the college route how to you know by the um ocbs all the different options um so we did a we had a big Junior planning night recently um just to explain to parents exactly what's to come um financial aid was uh is spoken about um we have Junior parent conferences usually around this time as well where parents can come in and meet with us oneon-one with their child and then we can you know kind of hash out the plan lot of planning if you haven't figured out the theme here um boys and girls state is for junior students we actually are two we have two girls who were named delegates just yesterday two days ago um Jamie popek if you guys come board meing I know she comes in she talks for SGA and her s so those two were named and they already know it's not a surprise so congratulations to them voice date um the interviews are next uh her after spring break so that'll that's coming up and like I said before we have our fall and spring College and Career X fol as well and then what's after junior year senior year so we talk a lot about Trans in college great because we have a wonderful working relationship with our Senior English teachers so we work with them to go into the classroom and basically get the kids ready for their next steps um and again it's it's individualized with the seniors uh teachers the English teachers do incorporate some writing in their curriculum where they will do their college essays they'll do college resumes and so we'll go over all of that we also um in by October know our official Rank and then we give the New Jersey Stars report which is free um pretty much free OCC tuition um Community College tuition for the top 15% of the graduating class um we go over navian and how we use it because we do send our transcripts through the secure portal in Navan our transcripts and recommendation letters and then again scholarships is huge we have moved to a Google classroom for our scholarships now and stud can check that uh we recommend checking it every few days because we are literally uploading these scholarship applications kind of probably at least three times a week at this point so there's tons of scholarships that are available um departmental awards they're invited you know at the end of the year to get their Awards and then um direct employment career fair which we talked about and finally to celebrate where they're going to be going um decision day we call it where your future at our school the seniors to wear something to represent what their future is going to look like so um we do that may first so you do have a senior encourage them to um do that and we'll be having like some backdrops and taking pictures and posting that all right so Navan is the career planning tool career and College and Career planning tool that we use all the students in school have an account they have access to it so these are some of the features of it which is the career interest profiler and the Career Cluster doing the Career Cluster interest profiler we usually do with our sophomores that's ways to look at kind of funnel way of saying what college super match is a college search within it has a way to build the resume um all the college applications it it speaks to I use the word speaks to the Common App which is anytime they're using the Common App those um go together and we're able to send letters of recommendations and their transcripts OC BTS we could talk about this before but we had a wonderful um presentation and if we can say enough about our relationship with h BTS um the instructors there and uh the kids that came to present their um trades it was just wonderful and then we ta it off Chef out to support their foundation and it was great to see the instructors there um so it's nice to kind of network that way but um I thank lucs very much um and then just so you know we try to keep an open line of communication I know all the parents in here are not just High School parents so we will have your children at some point so we want to make sure that you know we're trying to communicate with you as through any through all means possible so we have newsletters um we blast out text messages thank you to Mikey and Chris for the the text blast I'm sorry if it's too much but we want to make sure you are aware um f time blast on the social medias the website we update um you know I know so so many different ways um and then different ways parents can get involved we invite parents to come to our Junior planning night our financial aid that's part of it um senior information session at night OC um OCC comes but we also speak about financial aid again um and then Tre orientation parents are invited to that and then um senior prom PL the senior prom parent meeting is also something that um parents are actually required to go to so we want to make sure everyone's involved we don't like conflict together aess Dan and team work as a team for investigations and hipster is our second with to L of the the paperwork there ful but um but I think it's a it's a good tool for us to kind of keep trsin our school something we need to focus on yeah they actually working Mr Adams and Mrs G worked on a video so that way we can have it more available to the community and how that whole reporting goes and what it's about because it's something that I think is we're still educating a lot of parents and families about so it's just another resource oh so counsel oh that's me so counseling services so this is basically what we're offering as as school counselors It's I mean this is such a big term like it's the theal theortical part solution F Focus Counseling like it's brief we're getting them where they need to go academic progress conflict resolution deescalation skills and then there's a lot of collaboration also with our child studies um and then the next one is so resources and referral so um we basically I I we put this slide in the way of how do we refer within our school first so miss eer is our sa she's a Student Assistance coordinator she's great and then we were able to um missini is now her second year she's a mental health specialist so we have these two great people in our building that we can at least refer to within the building and I think it's been awesome and then the next step out out of um our building is NJ Forest Compass so I don't know you are aware of this but it's a new I believe it's Grant funded but it's a way for us to refer out and at least get uh students to get Mental Health Services because there's such big weight lists out of like preferred Behavioral or bright Harbor um so they come to the school we have six Active students and a little bit of a weight list so we are taking advantage of it and our students are um perform care is more mobile response if you're in crisis the family can reach out and then um o County achievement Center is a relationship that we've forged while we don't want children to sign out but it's a way at least they can go and get some job Wess career tools um they study for taking U not the GED but to get their diploma um and then Community agencies is just all of our referrals if substance abuse or mental health okay so just to wrap it up thank you so much for your time I'm so sorry we thought it would feel a little bit quicker because we were so nervous um but bottom we here for our kids we're here for our parents we're here for everybody we just love to problem solve I was a math teacher so this is right up my alley we're problem solving all day um we really do work together really really well especially with CST our admin like they really they have our back and you guys thank you so much for your support um and then one more special congratulations to Shannon for great job great job fantastic [Music] job again thank you to our guidance Department from the high school give Ace Round of [Applause] Applause of great information thank you so much and that PowerPoint will be placed on the website for anybody who needs to access it at a later time so this evening we're going to recognize some of our amazing students at each School some of them are groups some of them are individual students but we're going to start calling up the children from MC and they were involved with parts around the world the postcard project so if we could have ja come up Ariel Luna and Nathaniel give them a nice round of [Music] [Applause] applause so congratulations to these cuties they actually are here [Applause] [Music] representing SPL the the world post project it became it began simply as sharing postcards from family and places they visited and has turned into a collection of over 100 postcards from around the world 100 that's me these young dragons even received Postcards From the entire High School in Arizona [Applause] congratulations thank you Miss car a proud graduate of Manchester High [Applause] School next child is representing Ridgeway Elementary School Cameron you want to come up congratulations so this is really interesting Cameron developed implemented a math game called let's go look for her classmates the game focused on division using the big seven you like that Mr treas on her own time she decorated a lunch bag for each classmate to hold their earn points brought in a deck of cards to use to track points and even provide a prize for the winner guess what happened that her classmates decided they wanted to engage and enjoyed the game so much they started creating their own gam scaffolding the points and going from there we're so impressed with her effort she even inspired other classmates to develop games and activities for the class congratulations wonderful teacher is here too what benefits you're getting from that game right Melissa congratulations thank you [Applause] so so Mrs swi this reminds me of when we used to work at the middle school because we used to help with the recycling club and I'm nice to see nice to see it happening at whing elementary school so these fifth graders and I'm going to ask to come up Scott Elijah and Jake if you come we also [Applause] H so these are F readers that represent Mrs Ryman and Mrs rash class you're asking I know her last name because Mrs rashit was my student that's not easy to say but we will tell you we are so grateful for what you do there the lighting Elementary School they get they got to work making posters and presented what's recyclable and what's not to the classrooms and inform the staff and students of how our recycling program works every Friday before this missile three students work together to empty the recycling bins from every classroom in an organized manner so then our schooli do the last step of bringing it outside to the recycling t students Vol their time tole and committ to ring waste at the school and improving our school's impact on the environment we're very proud of you and a special thanks to Mrs Triana who helps steerhead these asset so thank you very [Applause] muchat well done next we have this cutie representing Regional Bas school and our student of the month and congratulations to [Applause] stepen stepen is joined by his teachers this evening and mother and that his mom this Mighty preschooler has shown a lot of improvement with PEX and if you ask what PEX is it's the Picture Exchange communication system and his imitation skills he has recently learned how to imitate clapping marching and jumping he's participating in class and music therapy and loves to dance and we are so proud of him nice round [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that is fantastic thank you so much great job we're going to continue with the middle school and I think I saw Mar out there is mar here up Marana she's an exemp School in out of she's straight A student who exhibits an excellent work ethic in school and at home she also is an amazing role model and lay is on for the elll population she is bilingual and has become a great resource for her teachers and the elll students in her class she's able to take this additional responsibility without impeding her own learning or becoming a distraction others in class she is a a true joy and a pleasure to have in class and in the middle school so congratulations and here are our Middle School student athletes and we are extremely proud to have Sam and Christine who represent our Middle School student athletes for the month of mar they are both eighth grade leaders of our baseball and basketball and softball and soccer basketball team and work just as hard in the classroom as they do in the athletic Arena they are both excellent examples of what it means to be a young student athlete and thank you guys for [Music] being we're going to continue now with our high school and this is such a tremendous you know feat for us I think I see Mrs aone here this evening I don't know if she's here but if not I just want to recognize the deja 2023 who was under the advisement of Mr and the financial advisor Mr Schmid the yearbook of Manchester Township High School was selected as a captivating and Innovative yearbook piloting its creative excellence and journalistic excellence and it was actually um chosen volume 10 of possibilities representing this evening we have the students we actually have co-editors but they couldn't be here because they are graduates so Abby and Alexis Ser actually were the co-editors but the students that are here this evening to receive this award is Isabella Ashley Audrey Anda congratulations and thank you for [Applause] doing thank you excellent job D thank you so much for working on that and we'll continue with our athletes of the month from the high school and I think I saw fi and Dominic back [Applause] there so these are the examples of extraordinary talks right they are they bring enthusiasm everything they do with positivity and they share experiences with all of us the was a member of our winter Challenger league for basketball where she led the Hawks as a player she also enjoys horses in her spare time and you can see her up there riding Dominic has participated with a Special Olympics basketball programs but he's being recognized tonight for volunteering to help coach the girls and and talks the boys basketball teams throughout the season and you can see him up there in action he's very animated very very seriously and he does a great job than [Music] [Applause] to so I'm gonna just continue a little bit so obviously I like to do a quote this month you know with women's history and I often read for read Across America the story of Elizabeth Blackwell I thought it would be really important for us to to let our your young women know that you do not wish to give women a first place still less the second one but the complete freedom to take their true Place wherever it may be and if I can be an example you put your mind to something you have work ethic you can do anything that you really put your mind to so dream have a plan and execute it well and the sky will be the limit for you I used to tell my students at reu school your best fo forward you do that and you can do anything you need your family your support your community and we're all here for all of you so I do want to say a couple of things um try to keep this short Mr [Laughter] TR but I I do want to encourage all of you as Mrs M said we have performances of Rocket PES this weekend we also have dolphin Fest we also have a wonderful um Family digital safety and mindfulness Workshop which will be on March 27th so please mark your calendar but I would be remiss if I did not express my gratitude to the Manchester Township Board of Education and the entire Community for having confidence in choosing me as the Manchester Township School District superintendent of schools my professional career has been dedicated to the students the staff and the families of Manchester for over 24 years it has been my pleasure and my privilege to have spent my entire career educating students and supporting the families and staff of Manchester it is and it will be taken very seriously an incredible honor to serve as your superintendent I started here in the middle school as an English teacher and I slowly moved out and I became the vice principal of this wonderful building um and later I became the acting principal at Mt I was then chosen as the principal of Ridgeway Elementary School in September of 2008 before stepping into the role of director of curriculum in the fall of 2015 I bring to the position of superintendent of schools my extensive professional experience paired with a deep dedication to the students the families and the community of Manchester Manchester pride is woven into who I am and really everything that I do I believe that when it comes to education it takes a village and I am grateful that you are all part of my Village um together we are going to Foster Excellence by example and keep it in the Forefront of everything we do I I would be remiss if I did not thank the man who allowed me to really believe in me and do all of this and there are two men Dr defale gave me a chance as a teacher and Mr treway gave me a chance as an administrator I'll never let you forget it Mr try I was your first admin hire you know and I also want you to know soccer is a sport I I I have to thank all of you my team has been exceptional my husband my my secretar my my Tech Team just thank you to all of you the board has been really truly exceptional um Craig has been my right hand the administrative team I just can't thank you enough um I hope I don't forget anybody um my dad passed away a couple years ago and he always said you know dedication and hard work ethic it will pay off and I am the example of that you put your mind to something you work hard you can make it happen we will make mistakes trust me but reflection and really thinking about you know the way you can do things and improve it I'm going to have I'm going to have challenges but I also know that I have a really supportive team and I can't know any to everything Mr used to it's important you build your team I don't need 10 Dian fosas I need several people that have expertise in different areas and I rely on them and that that is confidence and that is also the willingness to know this is a big job it cannot be done alone so I thank all of you for your love your support your encouragement and I want you to know I take this very very seriously I will do everything I can for your children for our staff for our community so thank you so much [Applause] [Applause] congratulations again at this time we'd like to take the report from our military ambassador hello GL follow that up you're you're good normally I'm very short winded but today I actually have some announcements uh just a couple things that are coming up with the uh the base and uh as it relates to to the school Community uh March 26th so next Tuesday we have our month of the military child Proclamation uh on the base at 10: uh it's an opportunity for to remember children's roles in strengthen strengthening the mil milary family uh the depart Department of Defense recognizes military children because of their service commitment uh and sacrifice in supporting uh the missions that that we do as service members uh I believe we're sending some students out a bus we are we are y um so working with um commander holer on that and we have children coming to all the functions but that in particular awesome thank awesome uh and then the next big one uh before next I guess next month's meeting is uh the uh 305th student engagement career day it's kind of like a miniature uh air show without the like static displays and stuff yep I believe we're also sending folks out to that and then uh they bring your child to workday so the military folks will be bringing uh some of us will be bringing our children to work so yeah thank you so much thanks thank you thank you for all you do at this point time we'd like to hear from Jay Jones our student government representative good evening everyone my name is J Jones and I'm the executive Student Government president um and I'm here to inform the board with important information about the activities and events that have been planned at high school since the last meeting um and here are some of the events that we have been working on for the executive board we have the someone special dance which is Sunday June 2nd this is a day of fun where younger students can participate in dancing face painting and more with there someone special grownup for the senior class we have senior gifts we're trying to think of senior gift ideas um for graduation and we have e prom which is May 17th at the mainlands um we are in a good spot with money but we're also trying to think of more fundraising ideas we're trying to think of um possibly a student versus staff basketball game for the UN class their PR day is May 31st they are still working on the details but their day is set in stone for the sophomore class um they're working on a food fundraiser exactly sure what it is yet but they are working on it and they are doing a COR tournament in the spring for the Freshman Class they also getting active and they are planning to do a spot tournament and they are trying to plan a movie night but that is still in words I would like to thank you for allowing me to representment and thank you can we have your report please I'm going be honest I wish they let me go first because nothing brings the like the rep but um all right so first I I'll get through the longer one first uh so we have our tenative Budget on the agenda tonight for approval uh just to give you a little information about where we're at at the at the moment uh the budget that was submitted was originally $6 million higher than our current budget this year um the majority of this was contributed by nine items in our budget salaries and health benefits out of District tuition Charter School tuition liability insurance technology needs aen Loop contracted services for transportation and contracted services for special education so these nine items represented about 92% of that $6 million uh the good news uh the district did receive $614,000 an additional state aid this year uh this what this was this is the last year of Senate Bill S2 so we were slated to lose some money but uh with our changes in enrollment that we have here uh we did receive an additional 64,000 in uh State a I am asking the board to tape uh two spending growth limitation adjustments in our budget uh they are they are approximately $825,000 these are permitted uh tax levy adjustments uh they are for health uh health benefits and for enrollment we actually do have we actually had a fairly large R enrollment increase since last year so we are qualifying for an adjustment um we are adding some new Revenue to the budget this year Revenue that we've never recorded before uh the first one is uh nonpublic Transportation need uh our our nonpublic transportation has been so small in past years we've never really had a need to budget it but because it is much more significant now in our budget we are budgeting the revenue uh we are budgeting additional interest income uh if if you've looked at your bank statements lately interest everybody's making a little more money on their money so the same is happening here so we are going to include that in the budget um our tuition income from Lake HST is staying relatively the same uh we don't see a big change there ratables in the town actually decreased this year which is kind of uncommon uh the reason for that is uh the township had some tax appeals and uh some assessment adjustments so rbl did go down a little bit but the town is expected to go through a uh reassessment in 2025 uh the average home value of Manchester did not change a heck of a lot uh it went from 21,400 last year to 202,000 some of the biggest cost drivers in the budget this year you know unfortunately this is kind of like a broken record but it's the same thing every year um health insurance costs they're expected to increase 12 to 14% uh our transportation costs are still higher than normal although we do have more bus drivers this year than we had last year we are still short bus drivers uh so we are Contracting out more Roots as I as I stated earlier our our Aid and L which are payments that we make to families that send their children to private schools within a 20 mile radius uh of the district if we cannot provide them Transportation uh we we do have to pay them uh this year was it was $1,165 I believe uh per student student now the district is responsible for $710 of that the rest of it is received through through aid but that number has gone from 34,000 in 2021 and we're projecting 700,000 next year so that's a fairly significant increase in our budget the other one the other one uh that we are dealing with now that that is new to Manchester is Charter School tuition uh two years ago we had we had no students in charter schools we currently have 25 students in Charter School uh at a at approximately $21,000 per student uh so that's an estimated $580,000 that we have in our budget next year for Charter School tuition liability insurance estimated to go up 30 30 to 50% majority of that is in workers comp the reason being is that uh the way workers comp works is they they they take a three-year snapshot so we are coming off some Co years where we had uh much much much fewer claims uh now we are essentially back in full swing uh we have many more claims so our experience rating is is worse so our premiums are are going up uh special education is another one special education here has been on the rise uh just since January of 20 this January we've added eight eight new students out of District which is unheard of I don't think it's happened here since I've been the business administrator here um we are seeing more and more students coming in with severe needs and need time nurses W to WS so this is has played a huge impact on on our budget minimum wage is going up one more time in January so that will have an impact on sub rates and and and you services that we get from our vendors uh we still have a shortage of substitutes across the board uh at all levels so we are doing we you know we are paying for more overtime more class coverage and those types of things um we have also our ESL population has increased tremendously in the last year and a half so again so we are required we're requiring to bring in more staff more programs more things for that for those students and the last one which is a big one is over the last three years we've had Federal funding essentially covid money through various different federal grants I mean it was millions of dollars so over those years we've we allocated things that we used to pay in our local budget out to the Federal Grant so that we could save programs and staff in in our budget now that that funding is gone we got to start bringing some of that stuff back into the local budget so we are in the process of making decisions on those things but that's having an impact on this budget so how did we get to cap so if you if you heard earlier we had we had a cut a little over $3 million out of our budget this year um and that's a fairly significant number um and you unfortunately when you have a number like that you can't you can't do without reducing staff um so this budget as it as it stands right now is estimated to have a reduction in staff of about 18 staff members um I can't talk specifically about it yet because I do believe we can reduce this number before the public hearing our public hearing is in five weeks so between now and our public hearing we do have time to make budget adjustments and I am confident we can get this number down the goal is you know to reduce staff dur attrition so that we do not have to have riffs or layoffs um I can't promise that yet but we are working on that um one of the things we were able to do is we were able to reduce our out of District tuition uh by about $500,000 through working with our child study team uh we are will'll be able to bring four students back into District next year that are out of District this year which represents about a $500,000 cost uh we moved about $430,000 of technology equipment needs out to one of our federal grants we have to spend the money by September of this year so we are going to move that money into the grant so that it does not hit hit us in the local budget uh we'll be looking at reduce reducing some of our lunch AIDS lunch Aid or or hours uh we've moved as much stuff as we can into leases and things like that like you you know the old days you could buy a textbook you had a textbook for 10 years and then you bought you bought a textbook 10 years later now it's not like that anymore now you're paying for Li lies it's once a year these are they are fairly significant costs so what we try to do is we try to group those costs together put them in a lease purchase and then spread that cost over a couple years so we did that everywhere we could we eliminated just about every equipment purchase that was requested uh and then the rest just came from straight line budget cuts essentially going through uh looking at looking at the budget looking at our spend over the years and just essentially doing an analytical review of the budget and making reduction to get to cap so what's next um like I said tonight we are approving a tenative budget to be submitted to the county office it that is required by Statute um but we can make changes between now and the public hearing which will be in about five weeks uh we're going to continue to work through the budget to find relief uh we are reviewing everything that we're doing in The District programs after school transportation Athletics clubs uh looking at all these areas and try to find anywhere in the budget that we can reduce spending to save staff because that's our goal our goal is to save as much staff as possible uh and maintain our programs and extracurricular activities so I wish I had better news this year but um you know we've we've been able to sustain our staff and programs all through the years of S2 um you may have heard this out there you know everybody's talking about a fiscal clip where we're at it um and you know this year and the coming year we're going to have some challenges to face and we're going to have some decisions to make uh but like I said our goal will be to to save as many programs and staff as we can between now and uh the Public Presentation at the end of April all right I got a couple more these are just uh agenda items just so you guys are aware um just get there couple items on the see um couple things uh we have the we have the Lakehurst send receive tuition agreement on the agenda uh that that is part of our budget if some of you don't know Lakehurst does send us their high school students so every year we have an we we we come up with an agreement a tuition agreement for those kids it's on the agenda there's a there's a credit change order on the agenda our ridway window project is complete uh the project came in under budget so this is going to put money back in our grant uh the Township Recreation Department is requesting buses for the summer this is something they do every year uh they're requesting six bus buses we have limited the amount of drivers that they can coach from us uh in the summer because some because we do have we do have some challenges finding drivers for our summer programs uh they are responsible for all the cost of buses Insurance repairs gas all that stuff uh in the summer we just allow them to use them um there is also a resolution on the agenda uh I have to have the board approve it first before I could request it I am requesting uh from the county office that we are able to allocate unbudgeted were un under budgeted Revenue into the 2324 budget so that we can pay for some of the unanticipated costs um in uh and again Sim similar cost special education services um Aiden L and Charter School tuition um for example our Charter School tuition when we received our report from the state they told us to budget 166,000 it looks like our tuition is going to be about 450,000 this year so what what I'm going to need to do is I'm going to need to allocate Revenue into the budget that we didn't originally allocate so that I can put that money into the budget to cover those expenses so I need the board to approve that first and then I got to put that submit that request to the county and from what I've heard they will uh approve that for us but I need the board to uh do that first and the last thing is we are in our fifth year with pom tonium Food Service uh that means we are required to go out for proposals so that will be advertised on Friday um with the goal being to board approve whoever whoever the Food Service Company is going to be in April at the latest May um does anybody have any questions okay thank you thank you [Applause] Craig at this point um I would like to see if there's any members from the community that would like to speak on agenda items only do we have any board member reports [Music] ahead um I was I was one of the one of the participants of read Across America which is always an extreme pleasure for me as a former School librarian I really enjoy being with the kids and and encouraging them to read and I want to thank the um High School choirs they came to to Leisure Village West to perform and they were fantastic so thank you very much there any other board member reports um I want to say too I participated here Across America it was a great time with all the kids um also the penguin plung is coming up the regional day so I'm looking forward to run in the water and freezing it's fun every year for a great cause and uh you know congratulations to Diane again anyone else is there any old business or correspondence uh there's no old business no corresponds okay please go to section one a superintendent can I get a motion motion motion discussion congratulations again Diane can I get a roll call please Mr Ser yes Miss Weinstein yes Mr P yes Mr kellerer I have to abstain so his wife is a district teacher that's why he has to abstain Mrs ainson yes Mrs wingler yes Mrs yes [Applause] congratulations letter B new business numbers 1 through four can I get a motion motion second any discussion can I get a roll call please Mr Ser yes Miss Weinstein yes Mr P yes Mr ker yes Mrs ainson yes Mrs wingler yes Mrs M yes letter letter C through e can I get a motion second any discussion can I get a roll call please Mr serman yes M we yes Mr P yes Mr Keller yes Mrs Aon yes Mrs wiber yes Mr yes letter F budget items for 2024 2025 numbers 1 through four can I get a motion please MO discussion got that any discussion can I have a roll call please Mr seret yes M Weinstein yes Mr P yes Mr kellerer yes Mrs ainson yes Mrs wingler yes M yes letters g through J can I get a motion please second any discussion can I get a roll Please Mr seret yes M wiinston yes Mr Po yes Mr ke yes Mrs ainson yes Mrs wiber yes M yes section two administrative numbers one through five can I get a motion please discussion can you just explain a little more about the uh preschool expansion Side Bar yeah so so one of the things we do every year since this program is new to district is we meet once a year with the association and just discuss the program things that are going on some changes so uh that's all this is It's essentially just reapproved the sidebar for another year uh no major changes this year uh you know but we had a very good discussion Lori and I and Dan and his team uh just talking about things that are going on things you know that are working things that might need some adjustments so that's what the side was for thank you any other discussion can I get a roll call please Mr Ser yes M Weinstein yes Mr P yes Mr kellerer yes Mrs Aon yes Mrs wingler yes Miss Mar yes roll call sorry not sorry Personnel numbers 1 through 37 can I get a motion please motion second any discussion I'd like to congratulate everybody who's retiring thank you for your service to the Manchester School District can I get a roll call please Mr seret yes M Weinstein yes Mr P yes Mr Keller yes M ainson yes M wiler yes to everything no to six no to did you say no to six yes and then Mrs Mountain yes student Personnel numbers one and two can I get a motion please motion second discussion can I get a roll call please Mr seret yes M Weinstein yes Mr P yes Mr kellerer yes Mrs ainson yes Mrs wiber yes Mr M yes special services number one and two can I get a motion please motion second discussion I have a question on number two the termination is that student coming back in District this this that terminate that student that attends uh commission blind part time so it's the student already here but he goes there so yeah we're just terminating the placement at cat okay any other discussion can I get a roll call please Mr Ser yes M wein yes Mr P yes Mr Keller yes Mrs ainson yes Mrs wingler yes Mrs yes section three Finance numbers one through five can I get a motion motion any discussion I Just Want to Thank You Craig for all that you do with our finances especially at this time of year with the budgeting hassles your hard work is appreciated can I get a roll call please Mr Ser yes M Weinstein yes Mr P yes Mr Keller yes Mrs ainson yes Mrs wingler yes Mrs M yes at this um time of the meeting the floor is open for public comment would anybody like to come to the microphone I'd like to make a motion to adjourn our meeting second all in favor thank you everybody for coming out tonight