good evening call to order this meeting of the saal Board of Education February 20th please rise to pledge the flag Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Mr Callahan here Mr Esposito I'm here Mr Fernandez here Mrs napalitano here Mrs pone here miss pyck here Mr Smith here Mr Walsh here and Mrs Bloom here uh Miss Hill will you summarize executive session please the board discussed Personnel including but not limited to agenda items and matters falling under attorney client privilege and is there any correspondence that no there's not okay I will now need to take a motion to approve the minutes of previous meeting so move second Mr Callahan yes Mr Esposito yes Mr Fernandez yes Mrs npal Tano yes Mrs babone yes Miss pyck yes m Mr Smith yes Mr Walsh yes Mrs Bloom yes okay and now are you guys taking turns being here and not being here no okay all right so we are going to since Sean is not here we will start with Ashton from the Middle School good evening Board of Education members and administrators my name is Ashen fondle SMS student council Board of Education representative the student council sold cardians during lunch to raise money for the nja SC charity hugs for Brady carnations were delivered on Valentine's Day the community service food drive with student council were able to donate 1,250 PBS of food to replenish which is a distribution center for middlex County food banks replenish provides food and Necessities to our network of over 150 partner organizations including food pantries soup kitchens and a social service organizations throughout the 25 towns in Middle sex County to ensure that all residents have access to nutritionally adequate foods and Necessities at all times Kasa gift drive with the help of Ms staff were able to buy 181 gifts for children involved in the middle sex County Court System the class Council started the positive impact bracelets together and choose kindness each week a student and teacher are recognized why they received the bracelet over the morning announcements the PTO designer handbag Bingo SLT Tricky Tray will take place on Friday Friday March 15th tickets on sale Family Pizza Bingo night will be rescheduled and the date announced soon save the date for the Harlem Wizards game on April 4th now onto the SVO Middle School athletics and I have no current update for that okay that's it thank you very much play ball in the spring wrest are you a wrestler you're going to turn out this guy great job ashle okay as always buddy excuse me excuse [Music] me um okay good night Ashton good night Mom good night okay president's comments um I really don't have any comments for tonight do you have any comments over there they have lots of comments obviously are we holding a meeting here what's going on excuse me okay I have no comments we will let the vice president read the highlights please there's a lot of them too congratulations to the seral woal high school musician Richard kma who who successfully auditioned for the New Jersey All State band and was selected to be a member of the Bands once again this year congratulations to seral Middle School musicians Nick atex and Austin U on their acceptance into the 2024 Central Jersey music education Educators Association sorry baned in uster this year congratulations to the seral War Memorial High School student and Leo Club member Gian wowit who was recently awarded the 2024 New Jersey clean communities volunteer award which is given to community members and organizations who have demonstrated measurable results in reducing litter and promoting anti-litter education congratulations to S War Memorial High School 11th grader Risha Shaw who recently named a big future Ambassador for spring of 2024 big future by college board Empower students like Risha to explore plan and prepare for higher education congratulations to saille War Memorial High School wrestler Connor Walsh for winning the 285 pound division during the greater middle conference wrestling championship and the njsi AA district 18 tournament congratulations also to saal woman M High School wrestler Robert Fritz for winning the 120 pound division during the njs I AA district 18 tournament and then congratulations to the saille war roal high school girls bowler girls bowler jamaah Myers for winning the GMC individual girls Bowling Championship congratulations to S Mar High School Paul vter will Lewis for winning the New Jersey interactive Athletic Association sectionals also congratulations to the saille War Memorial High School competition Cher team for winning first place in the game day Division and second place in the mega Varsity all music division at the impact cheer and dance competition as well as first place in the mega Varsity all music division first place in the mega varsity game day Division and for being crowned Grand champs for the game day during the Howell High School cheer competition and finally congratulations to the Ser of War Memorial High School boys basketball players Sam Jones chitty CH chakaa and Keithan Schuler for being selected to the greater middle conference all-white division team this is the second consecutive year that Sam has achieved this honor that's it thank you excellent all righty and now our presentations Dr L yes we are going to resume our 2024 2025 budget presentations this evening you are going to hear the transportation budget presentation as well as the buildings and grounds and capital Improvement projects presentation during our next meeting on March 5th we'll finish up with personnel and technology so I know that Dr aguiles is hard at work preparing his presentation but until then we asked that Mr senig and Miss Padia join us here at the podium and I know that we have some special guests here from transportation that are out to show their support Mr snaga take it away good evening so before I start my um presentation I want to take a few minutes to talk about safety culture so since I joined here um as the transportation director one of my goals has been to create a safety program to focus on how we look at what we see and what we do every day not only in work but in our personal lives through the lens of safety um and daily practice practice so we could build a safety culture so building a safety culture does not just happen by saying just by saying it or does it happen overnight it takes months and even years um and it involves everybody we start by making sure that everyone knows the meaning of safety and risk safety means freedom from risk and risk means the possibility bodily injury or damage to property there are many regulations in place that govern the safety of our school buses and because of them only 1% of accidents occur from a school bus that has unsafe conditions and 99% of um accidents in school buses are uh caused by driver uh creating a an effective safety culture uh requires reducing that risk the staff needs to ident identify behaviors that involve risk so we can remove them we're going to focus on doing it right the first time remove the risk and eliminate unsafe behaviors um with this we're going to be starting off every meeting that we have moving forward with a safety message so in spirit of that we're going to start my presentation off with a safety message so tonight's safety message is going to be helpful hints when walking on snow and ice so when walking on snow and ice plan ahead and give yourself sufficient time and plan your route traffic moves slowly in snowy conditions give yourself that extra time don't assume a clear path uh for driving and walking will be available wear shoes and boots that provide traction on snow and ice Footwear made of rubber and Neo print composite provide better traction than plastic and leather shoes wear flat uh sold shoes and avoid shoes with heels products are available with abrace of soles and cleats that provide special attaction for walking on snow and ice and such as uh yacht tracks um they do make uh like like a plastic cleat that you put over your shoes to help walk in icy conditions um use special care when entering and exiting vehicles clim or descending stairs entering or leaving buildings move slowly remove snow and water from your shoes when entering buildings use handrails for support try to keep your center of gravity over your support leg use a car for support keep your hands out of your pockets walk on designated walkways as much as possible don't take shortcuts over snow piles or areas where snow and ice removal is not feasible look ahead when you walk a sidewalk completely covered with ice may require travel along its grassy Edge for traction don't text or read while walking and that's good in any environment not just the snow and ice um walk safely on snow and ice take short steps or shuffle for stability Bend slightly forward and walk flat footed with the center of your gravity directly over your feet as much as possible keep your hands out of your pockets be prepared to fall if you fall fall with sequential contact at your hips thighs hip and shoulder avoid using outstretched arms to brace yourself when you fall and bend your back and head forward to avoid hitting your head against the ground uh one time uh it was explained to me the best way to walk in ice is when you walk like a penguin so you stay flat footed spread your legs and then that is the safest way to walk on snow and ice so with that out of the way I was going to say you're on thin ice right now all right um I want to um and my deck is large I know I've heard several comments on it we're going to move through it as quick as possible I I just think it's important for me to take this opportunity to show everybody where we've spent the money that you've approved for us already and um you know how how much we have done and then follow up with where we plan to spend the money that I'm asking for in this budget cycle so we can start off with our uniform Transportation staff um we have uh 62 full-time drivers in 31 bet bus AIDS we're still short for bus AIDS at this point um for this current year and um that's all of them pretty much in their uniforms I'm wearing the uniform tonight uh we've gotten several compliments on it uh the morale is is high with it uh you know in my opinion uh and many others opinion that the uniform brings more respect for the position uh regardless of what role you're in uh you dress you dress for the job um you know we're looking much more professional and our people are feeling more professional um we also uh have um we've uh we we started our uh driver um and bus a appreciation uh we're showing more appreciation for him and this is uh zero dollar impact to our budget so uh this is just just takes a little bit of effort um I'm always making up different slides I'll uh I'll pass them off occasionally to Dr Lobby and ask that he have them posted on social media I'm sure that a lot of people have seen seen that um it just puts a signal out there that you know we know that the drivers are out there doing their job um and we appreciate what they do so moving along we have um fully implementated uh and integrated the stop finder app uh this is out in full force now we did a soft opening with it um before uh winter break uh just to help us get acclimated to the data that needs to go in it to keep it up to date and accurate um and then we followed up with after the winter break we've given them the GPS locations of all their bus routes so as of now any student any parent that rides in a sville owned School Bus has the ability to see where that bus is in relationship to to their particular route uh during the time that their route services for their school and their and their trip um it has um taken a little bit while for it to to catch on I I think our our um our activated members are um somewhere almost 4,000 uh mid 3,000 uh students now that are using it um it's people aren't really familiar with how to use it as much as we'd like them to be so every time we get a call and uh somebody wants to know where their bus is or what's going on uh we'll take that extra few minutes to walk them through the app and help them get it set up properly and they're thrilled uh once they get done they're very happy it's been very well received uh and it's helping to reduce um a lot of the call volumes that we take in uh each morning and each afternoon so are we are you someone anticipating any issues with Taren thing uh dilemas where maybe someone doesn't have custody but they have the app and they know where the kid is anything like that do we talk about that we only Grant access to the um the person that's designated as their primary contact in encourse uh our data is pulled directly from encourse I don't have the ability to assign that to anyone else um if I did put somebody else in there the system would kick it out um on the encourse refresh and send it back to what's you know what's agreed upon or whatever we put yeah the administration accepts in there as their primary contact they have the ability to share the location or share their app with anybody they want to um but that's on them 100% I can't do it you can't do it nobody here can do it only the parent of that child that has that app that was initially sent to them can grant Grant access for somebody else to see it I would think if if you get the husband and wife for a moment the the the father presuming is the father would would have access to encourse because he'd want to see his child's grades and everything like that so he would get the updates I'm I'm just playing Devil's Advocate it wouldn't probably happen in a million years but if it does are we you know what are we ready are our bus drivers like are they you know 100% secure and saying look you're not the person I'm supposed to drop this person off to blah blah blah in any case and if I I can jump in I mean if someone if there were a parent who was still a guardian but there was a restraining order on file they would not be designated as a primary contact anymore true I'll give you another one you're supposed to get your child every Thursday but you decide to get him Wednesday just to break jobs it happens right anybody who knows the divorce lawyers know that happens so my my point is just are they aware the driver's aware of look this could be they're not aware of they're not aware of arrangements like that they're not aware in many cases of you know John gets picked up by Mom and Dad by Mom on this day or or dad on that day in some cases they might be but no they're not that's a situation in which parents are going to have to work that out so if if father picks up the daughter on the wrong day then mother and going to have to work that out but what we're responsible for if father who has a restrain or mother who has a restraining order finds out where the child is going to be and picks them up then then that is on us okay but that would this would tell him in in this particular case as Patrick noted that parent would no longer be a primary contact after the first incident yeah well if we whenever we have something on file right okay and many times we do let bus drivers know if there is a restraining order against a certain person um particularly in grades K through three where it's required that somebody's at that bus stop so and so just to be clear the app doesn't tell our drivers who we can get that child to or not the the app simply says that this child is on this bus stop and this is the time that that bus stop will be there um in the event that there is a restraining order I I I'm going to have to say 100% of the time because I don't know of any time that it's not we are told do not release this child to this person this one can't do that that information that confidential information is then taken to the people who are in need to know basis so we will tell that driver or that bus a specifically not to release a child to this person and of course this is only you know prek through uh Elementary you know middle school ues middle school high school we have no control over that unless there's special needs and then we do have that information on file so the drivers are made aware every single time that we know that something like that is in play and they're aware of it and they'll call all the time even when it's not a part of it um part of anything that we have told them and they see somebody new at the bus stop that they didn't recognize they'll call into dispatch we'll do the research for them and we'll let them know whether they can release that child to that person or not yeah another reason why we want our own drivers driving our own buses well that's my next question I would like to know just for the record that if we did not have our own bus drivers and we were you know leasing the buses from another company would we have dysfunctionality no we wouldn't have as much control on it and and to be honest with you I would be a little apprehensive about how much information that I would release to that contractor uh not knowing what they're going to do it I mean they have the same obligation and and liability legal liability that we do for confidentiality they you know they're under the same o that we are um but you know I I can't attest to that that's what's being followed through and um you said that parents are enjoying this have you gotten any complaints from parents about this technology other than they can't use it other than frustration Lear other than their initial signing up after the fact have you gotten complaints from parents saying hey I don't really want to know where my kid is anybody said I don't want to know where my kids are I just want that thank you I I think those are people that wouldn't even bother calling me because I'll take I'll take it a step further the you know normally when we have a snowstorm or we have days after snow and there's been so many road closures in saille for the past several months normally we'll get an email email I'll get many emails from parents saying you know my my child was out at the bus stop for you know 30 minutes what's going on how come we didn't get any notification and so forth well I don't get those emails anymore because for the most part parents are on the app and they're they we still have delays obviously but now they know when the bus is coming so their their child is not out at the bus stop for 25 minutes in the freezing cold they know when that bus is coming so they they get them there just about time the bus arrives so I have definitely seen a reduction a huge reduction in negative parent emails about delays and and those are the parents that will call us and complain and we'll walk them through um the process of using the app um so you know that call doesn't occur it doesn't happen anymore and the funny thing is you know I'm not I'm not a social media guy I I I don't go on Facebook I never did until recently because because I just felt like I just had to like hear what's going on in s right so you probably better off no you didn't you didn't to smarter stay often that now on the delayed openings and the school closures there are advocates for stop finder app out there and they're saying you should you should download the stop finder app you know it tells you you know where the bus is and everything now so it it it's definitely a great addition um and it's something that we can continue to build on and we talk about that a little bit later in the uh in the presentation ask you one more question sure so since you've um implemented the stop binder right since that time how many times has the Saville police been out searching for one of our buses I don't know I haven't heard of any all right so zero right yeah but um again it will it will it it's not and it's kind of like segue to something else I'm going to present further to budget but it tells us what time that bus was at that stop if we needed to know what it does not tell us is who's on that bus right so and that's where a lot of the confusion happens when there's a Lost Child somebody puts a kid on a bus that we didn't know didn't belong there um and or got off at a stop that we really didn't know if they should have gotten off at that stop or not you know we drivers have a list of everybody there but depending on the load of the bus and and the age group it's you know it's very difficult to keep track of every single kid who's on there you know they they'll count and do numbers but as far as names you know it's something that's very difficult to do I only mention it because previously the police did have to search for buses because we had no clue where the bus was so my point here is that this is a great Improvement not only does it give the parents the ability to see where the bus is it gives us the ability to see where the bus is so we could avoid all of that yeah we have the ability to see where every single one of our buses are at any given time I you know I I could pull up myself from right now and tell you where any one of our buses is good parked we hope this sounds like a great thing yep um so I was trying to speed things up sorry so um how about if we let him finish and save our questions till the end he's on thin ice so um parents need to know moving on to um our our next uh 22 24 budget expenditure was uh Fleet and maintenance so um we we did hire uh the one bus mechanic and um we did uh finally get our long awaited uh Fleet Service vehicle a picture of it the slide there uh we did purchase five new 54 passenger buses we uh two two new 29 passenger buses and one new wheelchair bus we also secured our school bus safety and driver training program um we now um have the ability uh to uh have both inperson training or if we needed to or we wanted to at any point uh maybe a driver missed a uh uh a safety meeting and there are required uh to attend them we could give them a u virtual module or we can have them come in and sit in our office and run the program uh through the computer so we ensure that each person is receiving the safety training program that we're putting out um so we have that out in full blast right now and uh we'll start moving forward with that and that's is one of the other things that you know was big uh for me to get a accomplished once I first came here have you seen a lot of bus AIDS transition to drivers through this program uh we do we we've had so actually um we've had a large um influx of uh driver applicants and many of them are not drivers you know right now or currently so what we do is we hire them as bus AIDS and then we send them through our uh Outsource training program program um eventually you know now that we have this program in place and if we can you know facilitate the space and everything that we need we're going to take that outsourced uh School Bus licensing process inhouse and this this sets the groundwork for that as well um but yeah we are training uh AIDS throughout the year continuously to become bus drivers great all right so that's where we are and this is where we're headed the addition of wayfinder is a a is an add-on to the transfinder programs which is route finder um and this is an app that will allow us to eliminate inhand paper in hand and uh radio Jam ups that occur when drivers need to learn new stops trips or covering other stops trips or routes um it gives us the ability to send any routing information directly to the driver on the school bus um it will offer us the ability to capture and share when and where each student gets on and off the bus each day day it will um let us know it can let us know uh the driver know that if an unauthorized student attempts to board the bus um so happens a lot at the upper grade levels um at the high school where it's just flat out the kids just want to get on different buses uh they want to go somewhere else uh and ride another bus home it could be for any reason it could be for you know they want to do it to innocently they just want to go hang out with their friend after school or you know they could want to beat somebody up on that bus like in the upper grades we've seen the kids get on the bus and you know and then they go on and there's a fight on the bus or we get them off we let them off the bus a fight on the side of the road uh there's many reasons why we need to know who gets on that bus uh in the lower grades um it happens when um a a a younger child gets put on a bus and and the driver doesn't know who this kid is if they really belong on the bus um this will flag that student right away so we could set this system up where it has an RFI RFID reader on it every student ID as we have them now so we won't have to add additional IDs or whatever we can incorporate it into our student IDs they'll go past the RFID reader um it'll pop that kit up on the screen and it will say whether they're assigned to that route or not um and you know we can knit that right in the butt and then to the um the other scenario where uh sending a kid out or calling the cops because we have a lost kid we will know exactly where and what bus and what time that child got on and exactly where that child got off the bus and uh when you know down to the second um this is you know this is this is the next step in technology that will give us full visibility as to where our children are at every Point going a transportation trip you answer my question how are we how how deep are we into looking into that um program where the kids scans on and off how close we I'm fully budget you think we can do this next year if if we restore it right now it was cut but yeah it's in this budget it's just an add-on it's a matter of purchasing the the software and there is a hardware purchase that would be required um that you know I I've been in discussions with Eric uh in technology we we've looked at different options and different price modules we do have numbers that Pro that worked into the budget um if that's the route that we decide to go to and every student in District would need an ID we're already piloting that in many of our schools but we would have to make sure that moving forward even our preschoolers they all have IDs that they the kid loses his ID which uh my children tend to do every couple of weeks are they still going to be able to get on the bus is there how do we it it might be an issue if the bus driver doesn't recognize them if the bus driver recognizes them it probably won't be an issue but we wouldn't be able to track your child getting on the bus and getting off the bus so I was curious we want to make sure that the child gets a new ID as fast as possible so and also you know to that the there is an increasingly large uh issues or or a large amount of issues with language barriers um and we don't understand um what this child even they're telling us their name you know especially with the younger kids they don't even you know they whether whether they can say their name or they're just too shy to say it um you know when when that happens we try to you know look for some sort of identify Market on them we'll try to go into their backpack we'll try to see if there somewhere where we can get their name um even with some of the older kids where you know they not they're not speaking the language um and they can't communicate to us where they live or who they are this takes all that out of the picture you know this this this like puts us all on the same playing field we'll know exactly who everybody is whether they can communicate it to us or not um and then also in the event of an accident or something like that we immediately know who was and was not on that vehicle whether we can have the ability to communicate with the driver that ask them or not we have it we have it the school will have it uh anybody we Grant access to it will have that information so with that um it does require um that we do have um connectivity uh whether that be uh via cellular or Wi-Fi on that vehicle to transmit that information um that is in the budget uh as well uh should we go that route we already do have the GPS um what I'm looking at uh doing and exploring is on the next slide uh is with u a a company called samsara so samsar is um will be able to supply us with all the technology um that we are using today and moving forward um everything that we're talking about now and then everything that we'll be talking about in the future requires a reliable adaptable and affordable platform to operate um so through my research I've come across samsara um samsara is a nationally recognized platform that can provide us provide us with all our connectivity issues um through Wi-Fi uh on all of our buses um it will uh also include a uh a maintenance program for our Fleet that includes uh remote vehicle diagnostics the GPS tracking and safety scorecards um the initial uh cost of this is actually a no-brainer providing that it does work um we are trying to work out a pilot program they've agreed to um give us 10 units uh with fully open to us full you know seeing everything that it can do and run it on a side by-side comparison of what we are using now um for no charge and if it does work out and then we move on to it then you know we'll explore that uh process of bringing them in but the price on that alone um is significantly cheaper than you know what we're doing right now um so I hope that it works out the way that we want to um but again I won't know until we actually do a side by-side comparison with what we're doing right now and we're working on it um you know I'm with with Aaron uh probably twice a week you know what's going on how we doing it but we're getting there we made a lot of we made a lot of Headway I think on that today um so we'll see what happens um so with this um there is an an additional feature available and is the uh integration of AI artificial intelligence um it's a uh through through an available Dash can that will focus on a driver um uh driver safety through monitoring safe habits and with real time incab coaching on risky Behavior so we spend a lot of time and money watching the children on the bus and how they're reacting um and we have very little visibility as to what our drivers are actually doing out there um this is a this is a great program I I've done something like this in the past in my past life um I didn't agree with the way that they did it but the concept is terrific um in the past the uh we had you know we had a system called drive cam and the drive cam is monitored through a third party um and they would monitor any driver activity and report it back to us and then we would have to act on it um the method that we used in my past life was very Draconian it was a clearcut you broke the rules we got you we fired you I don't agree with that right I don't I don't think um even with the biggest infraction to cell phone use even if a cop pulls you over on a cell phone he doesn't you know throw you in jail right you get fined um you get a ticket um if that happens again then you're going to lose your license and you can luse your live and don't get me wrong I think cell phone use on a school bus is probably the most egregious offense that you can do um it is almost as bad if not where it says you know driving Under the Influence um but what this program will allow us to do and this is being adopted now in in many different organizations across the country there are schools that are doing this there are um municipalities that are doing this um it will give the driver coaching as it's happening so it gives them the opportunity to correct their ways um right now we find out when a driver's doing thing if we get a complaint and we we're we're forced to pull a video and look at it really that's the only thing we can do we just don't have enough time to sit there and pull every single route every single video watch hundreds of hours of video every day it's not possible this system will do that for us let the driver know that hey you're doing you're following these vehicles too closely you need to adjust your your vehicle and they do with an audible tone or audible words or pulsations whatever we tell it to do however we tell it to notify the driver if they pick up their cell phone we see a handheld device the camera sees a handheld device in there and says hey put your phone down it tells them it actually sees them and tells them to do it so this gives them the opportunity to to correct themselves and again comes that safety culture right so the you just need to be told time and time over again you need to embed it into them and then they will get to do it and hopefully understand it if it does if they don't and they ignore it and with continuous you know we see you know acious offenses then you know then that leads to forther disciplinary action but this this gives us the ability to know what that driver is doing out there if that driver's acting unsafe we'll get notified that that's what that driver is doing and that driver will be notified at the instance that it's happening um and to me that's priceless you can run a report then each quarter and show what the we report daily whatever anyway how many infractions how many how many drivers who they were that were doing this you know how many you know that were were doing making harsh turns there's been different variations of this over the years one time we used a a company called Green roads and um there was a and there was a gyroscope in the bus and it it didn't film them for um for whether they're paying attention to the road or not what it did was it it recorded the way that they drove and we actually used to put screen up in the dispatch with everybody's score and it gave them a score so if you made a turn that was too fast or a break that was too hard or an acceleration that was too fast and it lit up a red light and if you did everything good you kept your light in green so that's where the name green roads came from and it turned into a competition like who was the safest driver um and they would see it every time they went into there that that was like an introductory level to this that occurred probably back 10 15 years um this I think is great um and this is where it gets a little bit costly um this technology does not come cheap but it is a tack on to Sam Sara that is available to us um so even if we don't get to this point and we did go to Sam S and it does work out well this is an option that we have to always add on at any time and to me this is just the beginning I mean AI is you know everywhere now so uh I mean it it could in theory monitor the behavior of the children as well this PO let us could this potentially decrease our um insurance cost if we have this feature our our our bus Insurance um our bus Insurance our transportation insurance is very very low so I doubt it I think it's only like $35,000 a year for vehicles that we have they don't even like 35,000 a year for all of our vehicles it never goes up for how many vehicles we have it's very low so I doubt we can I pay that by family say listen the Private Industry I was pay a year per bus Patrick any parallels to wech I mean can we If the parents can get a app that you know with this right that weight is it way wayfinder wayfinder my part of um could this take the place of wayfinder or is it two separate entities no this is this doesn't have it and this is not to be shared with anybody other than us we do not want everybody involved in in in disciplining and you know managing our employees yeah no no no no I meant the app for the for the uh parents to know where their children are at the same time could you is it all in one what you have to have w w what the hell wayfinder so wayfinders attack onto our routing software this is just a platform that will give us the connectivity issues that we need right um and replace our Uh current maintenance program which we are having a problem with the company sold to uh an international company we can't even get service on them or whatever but uh that needs to be replaced anyway uh that comes included in this this system the way it stands with without without the um Dash cab is uh $19.50 per bus per month um we pay more than that and for that we get GPS yeah we get um the Wi-Fi connectivity we get um the um the Wi-Fi connectivity we get the maintenance program and we'll also get um like different coaching program or whatever that's in the base model that is included for the 1950 month we don't pay for the equipment purchase it and it's a self-installation okay so but the whole to that's that's why I say it's a no-brainer right so we pay we pay way more than that for our GPS service right now but the AI is the the whole thing here is is is what it does for the drivers to say hey you're a little close whatever the case may be that that's what makes this really great this this is yeah this is the other stuff is you know the other stuff is what we we need to operate every day yeah this is something that we should be doing so this 19 a month per bus what if you throw AI on how much is that AI the AI uh right now I believe is $40 per bus per month okay what do we we don't have anything like that no but for for our our GPS the service we use now you said this is cheaper because it gives us the connectivity the maintenance program everything for $19 a bus yes and how does that compare to what we're doing now we do not have cellular yeah you have GPS we just have GPS and serviceing GPS don't have that price available to me but I could tell you that um it is much more than $19.50 do you find that there's any push back from the drivers being videotaped or they don't all right so we we pay our drivers to do the job to be safe responsible out there uh there's not a driver out there that um that we tell to not be safe you know and we're not spying on them um we want them to be safer we're not going to use it as a method of um you know termination or whatever we're use listen sounds great I was just curious like if anyone else put this in and they noticed like we got a lot 10 drivers left once it came in in my past life we got a lot of uh push back on it but it was because the way they rolled it out and the way they implemented it right so it was like hey you broke the rules you're gone right right um and you know without going and saying where I was or who I was working for at some time I was working for a company that was servicing Cal schools and they did not have enough drivers to cover routes you guys felt the pain here because they had such a stringent rule on that and and yes driver did quit because of it and a lot of drivers got fired because of it um so it's all about how you implement it um there's not a driver that works for me that thinks I'm out there to get them I am their biggest Advocate I appreciate what they do I let them know that I appreciate what them do and even when they do something wrong they're brought into my office to talk to with either myself or staff uh and we talk to about them about what happened and how we can prevent it from happening again uh we are not Tak an approach that we're just we're looking to you know cut your feet off from underneath we need them uh and we like to think that they need us so so much for being quick um more to come on that so also in my budget for this year I'm asking for um an additional secretary this secretary uh is to be shared between my office and the maintenance office so keeping our data up to date is essential to produce real information available through our technology we're only as good uh spinning out information is the information that we put in uh and it every time we add things like this it just you know we have to make sure that the data is correct and that it's updated on a regular basis and we just need another person to do that uh especially more so in the maintenance department because our Fleet is growing so much uh and a lot of the maintenance information has to be put in manually so that's quick on that um also in our budget for this year we have um uh in for seven new 54 passenger buses one new Mini buus two replacement mini buses one of which is a wheelchair uh an additional um school bus mechanic to bring us um up to uh industry standards for uh mechanic to uh School Bus ratio uh we talked about this last year in the budget presentation we knew that this was coming uh after this year we will be um 100% inhouse in District routes so um we're there you know it's been a Road Long Road working on the past few years this is the final stretch uh barring anything you know that gets crazy enrollment and it changes you know although it could you know they're building all over sville now but we should be uh we should be good to go after this round of uh purchasing vehicles um and um there's a couple of items in there for the shop um the power washer uh battery chargers and some portable shop lights uh and the rest of it is just to sustain extra uh the existing items uh the uniforms that we have in place the training programs that we've rolled out our Transportation Route vehicle and video Management Systems everything that we currently have in place um that's really all that's in that budget uh you know there a couple of of bigger ticket items but not a whole lot um so um our 24 to 25 goals uh is pro to promote a safety C uh 100% in District routes improve driver safety introduce a Linder U hire the additional drivers and bus AIDS uh and to hopefully adopt this samsy platform the challenges that we have um into this budget is um into this budget cycle and the next school year is uh time as always our biggest issue um and um hiring and maintaining a stable uh bus a roster we're always struggling for bus AIDS U Dr Lobby he knows that probably better than anybody else because he's actually been out there and been a bus aid for us a few times um so uh that is a challenge and um of course the lack of space to maintain and service our Fleet uh we have some ongoing issues with the uh DEA systems uh in our newer buses and uh the workload for maintenance staff and also will throw in there that um staff time out uh time off has been a little bit of an issue for us uh we are there with our driver Staffing numbers on paper but we do have a lot of drivers that have um you know been out for one reason or another um and sometimes a lot more than we can handle so we still have those issues where we may have to double back her route or not uh but it's not because we're not fully staffed we are staff uh we just need to now start working on a lot of the drivers seem to feel that um they they've really stepped up over the U past when we were so short they've never been able to take any of the time off that they wanted to we always put the guil trip on them they see where we are in Staffing so you know they're quick quicker now to ask for that time off and they deserve it I get it but um we need to work with them better uh in scheduling that time on so so question last one um the ratio 25 to1 uh so if you get a fourth mechanic ballpark 75 buses if my math is right we're around 18 to one now we bring that down considerably right the way it should be so we are and I I did um put that in my notes I just need to find I'm just asking so we have like the right number of mechanics go moving forward that's the number if you can ask for more next year so we are um I think and and I I I was certain I put it in my notes but I don't see it I think the industry standard was somewhere around um 16 and a half you said 15 to 20 here that's right it's PR yeah where wherever I put it it's on your challenges underneath okay yep there it is yeah so um so that should bring us right into the ratio where we should be one mechanic unless unless my mou so it will so if we uh based on the on the hiring the additional mechanic I think the number put us at like 18 that's what I have okay about 18 to one and that puts us right in the recommendation of where we should be um you know 25 to one is is not good you know you get away with it for a while but now that you know the we're start we have buses that are starting to get older and older and that's when it really Falls in um especially comes into play when we're getting ready for state inspections which are um coming up next week for us uh where the state will come in and spend at least a week with us uh and they go through every single bus uh head to toe it's done twice a year and uh getting getting all those buses in and looked at before the inspectors come and start doing their inspection is challenge and my next slide is the end so any other board members have any questions no but I do want to have a I want to make a comment um since you joined our group here you know as the transportation director um you've done a good job and you really have made a big difference for the children of seille who were on buses because of the fact that we were we didn't have our own drivers they were subject to being lost and you know not found and you know the whole bus not just one kid but the entire bus so you really have made a good Improvement and I thank you for that thank you I appreciate that um it's not an individual effort um you know you know I'm able to be the leader of great management great staff below me and the drivers who really care about it and want to do a good job so um I I'm happy to take credit but you know it comes from everybody beneath it thank you drivers now yeah thank you Patrick done and thank you to uh our wonderful staff of drivers and M as thank you Patrick thank you and thank you to Stephanie back there too why is Rick driving the bus that doesn't get you any extra credit in you see that you're driving the bus there Rick look at that the driver has Rick on his shirt my my my wife has to see that he's kissing you've never done that job here besides every other one no I I i' i' I've asked Patrick if I can get my uh CDL maybe that's the next thing I work on oh stop we will not let you drive buses okay so let's keep moving along Mr colenburg is here and he's going to present to you with the assistance of Miss Hill I'm sorry Mr Mr comberger has got the whole deal uh buildings and grounds and capital projects sorry Patrick took your time so okay it was nice seeing you got that minut yeah can I have a three minute clock please there you go I think you can do it Jimmy I'm not going to talk about ice and snow trust me okay that's not fun for me um all right I'm going to start with our achievements that we made um like always I have to thank all my staff for uh helping us through uh the referendum and all the other projects that we have if it isn't for them we really couldn't get half the stuff done we ripped AP part schools and we got them back together in time for school so that's a big accomplishment and uh with the hiring of Kent Sadowski has my assistant it really uh made the uh referendum work a lot more seamless for me um all right starting at the middle school we uh finally finished B8 we got it all painted um new flooring looks really nice uh we still have work to do in there like once we start the HVAC projects and we'll get that to what we really need it to be um in the nurses room we we actually put the sink where it belongs so it's up to code outside the the bathroom we also took down a wall inside the bathroom to make it more handicap accessible it used to be a shower area it's no longer a shower area and we have a full bathroom in there and we also added a nice machine to uh for the nurse for little boo boos and stuff like that for the kids um over at Slover school we replaced five classroom floors and we did the allpurpose room and honestly I know Rick said this in the past if you really want to see something special you really should get out to Slover School the work that's been done there is incredible we painted all the hallways also over the years over the summer with the staff our staff and uh it does look pretty amazing when these projects have done you should send us pictures should we're not going to visit the schools more than like you know right you're right I so I'll go on a photo shoot this weekend um over at the high school the auditorium work has started with the sound system it should be done by today tonight or tomorrow um it's coming along great I don't know what it sounds like to be honest with you it's not my thing can't be worse right it's definitely not um I got a call today we're going to be starting the high school sound system on Friday to start installing that so that that's a great progress there too um and then that's a stadium the stadium the High School stadium yeah the High School stadium will'll be starting just the sound not the lighting just the sound the lighting is still coming in on order and once it's in we'll I'll work with Jen and the schedules to try to do it our plan is with that just so everybody knows we'll probably go one poll at a time so we don't lose all the lights at one time um I did miss something with the uh High School auditorium we did in improve all the rigging so it's safe and up to code and and past inspection um there's a bunch of other stuff that I don't have in here that we've done throughout the years like cleaning all the schools and all that I'm sure everybody knows what we do um getting different areas painted but for the most part the referendum which is I want to talk about next is which took up most of the summer we ripped out pretty much everything out of Truman School uh replaced all the pipes in the ceiling we took ceiling tiles out if you looked at it you would have probably been like oh my God I we're never going to get it open and we did it U not me me and our guys but the contractors were great um we were able to get the nurses suite and some offices the main office we figured out a way to get power to them so they had the air conditioning heating from the new stuff that's going in so that was a big accomplishment and that took us a little longer than we expected but in the long run it ended up being great for the environment there um we still have a lot of work to go there um the projected date is probably mid April when uh we'll be able to start doing more work um we're going to have another summer that's going to be eventful because we still have more pipes to take out and all the old Nesbit units that are in the classrooms have to come out after we put the new ones in and like I said I'm hoping to do we're like two to three rooms at truman because of the the size of the school and where we can move kids while we're working and that will happen after the we finish the upstairs at the high school um part of the was the high school the high school same thing we ripped out ceilings we got all new piping in there we did Duck work we did we moved sprinkler systems and now we're starting hopefully next week we're going to start in the d-wing and start adding the new univ ventilators that have the air conditioning and we're going to do so many that we' done it looks like four rooms comfortably we'll be doing we'll start with four once we finish them four then we'll go on with the next ones um then we went on to the windows now part of the windows that's slow is also the security vestibule this Security vesu is coming along great um they're saying the storefront which is the main front doors probably another couple weeks before that's available once that's done then they'll be able to close it in take that lovely plywood away and it'll look better um the the front of the school there there's panels which we picked blue it should look more prechool is and um we Blended the the colors of the hallways with what was picked and it's coming along the bathrooms in the school also was part of that um the nur's room's almost complete we're waiting on fixures like toilets and stuff like that we're due for our uh overhead inspection same thing with the lower bathrooms we turned the two bigger ones into like three room three bathrooms two for students one for staff um coming along and it looks beautiful no I don't have pictures I should I will I will get pictures though and then hopefully we're the projected thing is in two weeks taking down the barriers that we put in so we can get the hallways back open so hopefully that'll go smooth and we be going there um as far as Windows we started arith also uh arith is probably 65% complete they're going to start back up tomorrow um and they say they should be done by next week with all the windows that have to be done which is the whole as I call the new section or the slanted roof section of the building after that we're going to move unfortunately back to Slover and and start uh making n's uh life a little bit more challenging and they're figureing two weeks to three weeks because of the auditorium we're going to be redoing them windows also um and then the middle school is probably going to be miday because of how many windows are in the middle school and doors and it'll be a long uh three minutes is up lead time that was my 3 minute time all got to Roofing uh at the uh we completed arith and that's all the shingled roof the rest of the roof was already under a warranty um we started working here we got all the repair work most of them we do have leaks here and there but we're going to get to it at once the weather changes um the high school all the roofs have been replaced that needed to be replaced I know it what it looks like and the metal is coming I some of the brake metal was brought in and there might start next week okay then of course them lovely blue panels that you see um that's part of the metal once that's in it'll no longer look like it's falling down and also part of that contract once I got the um we did a change order recently the coin on the side of the building is going to be redone and rewrapped once I get the artwork approved by um see somebody on this side of the table I will uh forward it on and I'll start making the uh getting that and then finally our capital projects that we did was the sus which is here the new parking lot extension and uh I'll tell you if you ever want to have a great day join Rick on the directing buses it was one of the most fun Summers I've had directing traffic with buses and everything with eating dust yeah was fun wasn't it and you must wear Sun blocks just so you know when you're doing it in the summer but if anybody has any questions on any of this and and I learned never to stop a motorcycle going up a hill yes in the sand anything on uh this all right uh yeah I do have one question Jimmy what about the sign at the high school are we looking is that we're looking into yeah there's a lot of vendors that we're trying to find to uh repair it a lot of them aren't part of the contract cheaper or more practical to get a new one then try to repair that one um until I get quotes in on it looks like either someone a smashed it or maybe guys cut in Grass put rocks through the uh LED boards but it is a very Antiquated sign the library has a beautiful new sign right and that's what we're looking we're looking to see if we can potentially replace it this year okay maybe we can ask them for money I'm just kidding I should have said that I apologize um guess we'll move forward to what we would like to do next year um slow school I would like to continue with all the floor replacements in the hallway if possible um if like I said I'll get pictures and uh show you the difference between what we had and what it is now and you'd probably agree that once we replace all the floors it will make it so much better for the children and the staff because we're getting away the as as bestus out of it um I would like eventually to do that to all the schools but financially you know it's a burden um then uh I would like to start repaving Truman Eisenhower and samon's lot uh we did part here but not the rest of it is old and we got some potholes foring and part of Eisenhower which is in capital you'll see that we want to do an expansion there too for more uh to try to get the buses to come out at a more safe instead of right in front of them here um arlet school we would like to upgrade all their student bathrooms the same thing with the upstairs bathrooms at the middle school um they're like the last few bathrooms that we have to install and if anybody's been in arls you'll understand what I'm saying these front two bathrooms are pretty I think when they've been needed it and this would be uh probably one of my top lists of what we should if we're going to add stuff back into the budget the bathrooms at ARL would probably be my first choice uh Middle School like I said the upper uh thing and then um also in the um one science lab we would like to take and make it into like a more stem take out all the old science tables and gas and that's in there and make it more into a stem lab and then the drainage at at here and at arth uh every time that it rains heavy our stock room kind of get flooded out because all the water comes in through the bottom doors and goes in and then we learned in that one flood that um at arith all the water came in underneath the gym doors and got into our gymnasium and I believe some I think you were there when it happened I'm not sure but we had some floating cones and stuff so we would like to correct that problem um and of course we're going to continue with the uh referendum in all the schools that's the plan hopefully everything comes in under bid and um we have bids coming in we just did the window bid and we got the slow um samsil and Middle School bid in for hbac and they are under budget I believe they're within the budget yeah and um the rest of them will come in then of course we have the electrical upgrades which is going to be a long task um we're having some issues with that but I think hopefully now that we got a little Sterner with the cont with the contractor hopefully the stuff will come in and we could start this summer with doing power shutdowns and getting the electricity that we need and the power infrastructure that we need to continue on with the referendum and then finally Capital uh projects for next year would be the middle school parking area and Eisenhower to make it more friendly for all the staff and give us enough parking for all of our staff student well not students the middle school but you know what I mean all the staff in the where the buses are now currently and we'll have more places to park and safer and then finally our High School stadium upgrades which is making the whole front of the stadium more appealing to everyone coming in and and adding security stuff into there so the fans and Spectators and everybody are safe that's really all I got um I'm sure there's more on some people's list doing a fine job Jimmy and I want to thank you for the lights out front you're wel it was light when I got here but it will be dark when I leave so thank you for the lights that's it and I'm sure the bus drivers thank you for the liks as well yes they did any more questions for Mr colbur I have any questions but the same thing as with the uh bus guy you do a really good job your St does a great job um on a shoe sting a shoe a Sho string budget we really keep this school district put together so thank you very much yeah I'm very fortunate with the staff I have and like I said with Kenny coming on it helped out a lot with doing all that and of course the support of all you guys we would not be where we are today and it's come a long way since I've been here since 1986 so we' come a long way 30 something years yeah 38 to be exact well thank you thank you thank Jimmy and Mrs Bloom that concludes our reports okay our presentations I should say um we will now move on to board discussion um finance and infrastructure Mr Smith well we can keep the finance meeting real short it's pretty much Jimmy's presentation there you go okay we accept next next um anything you want to add no okay no okay Miss pilot Personnel please sure the Personnel committee met earlier this evening we reviewed open um positions for both certificated and non-certificated staff uh discussed our career and job fairs um that are going to be happening this spring and that just about sums it up okay and oh now that's me uh middle sex County School boards Association the next meeting will be virtual on March 6 if you're interested interested you definitely need to register for that and then after that in April is the unsung heroes banquet and that will be on the 18th at Oldbridge high school as it has been the past few years and we have our we do kids in there okay excellent we submitted you had to submit by last Friday we submitted I think on Wednesday okay so that's that's it for that all righty okay um moving right along public part participation on agenda items only seeing none we will close public and move on to the superintendent's report and I'll be brief let's turn our attention to okay start go go page three number 13 on finance and infrastructure we're asking you to approve a very special Grant the submission of the 2024 expanding access to climate change education um it's an inter disciplinary learning and Community resilience project grant for $ 31,8 75,000 $ 31,798 a primary focus on grade seven in social studies science mathematics and English language arts any questions on that motion or any other motions on finance and infrastructure all right seeing none let's turn your attention to student achievement page three number three and we're asking to approve the actually I that's incorrect starts on page eight I think seven page page seven I'm sorry about that so number three on page seven we're asking you to approve the Middle School Credit completion summer school program during our last meeting we asked you to approve the learning acceleration at Camp Excel and Camp Excel programs now we're asking you to approve the Middle School Credit completion summer school program those classes will begin on July 1st and they'll end on August 8th any questions on that or any other items on student achievement all right seeing none this time I'll turn your attention to page nine which I believe is the correct page number number two on governance we asking to approve the 20252 26 School District calendar and I thank you all as well as some of our collective bargaining units that provided me with input on this very challenging calendar it's not perfect but I think we have a solution any questions on that motion all right and finally Personnel beginning with number six and seven as well as 27 which you can find in page 12 and the addendum we're asking you to hire new certificated and non-certificated staff for this school year number eight which you can find also on page 13 we're asking you to approve the transfer of non-certificated staff for the school year and finally numbers 11 through 13 which you can find on pages 13 and 14 we're asking you to appoint paid coaches with their stiens as well as volunteer coaches for this school year as well as for next school year and that can concludes my report Mrs wow I told you I'd be minute 35 yeah that was well under minutes I had that internal clock moving as I was doing it okay um I just would like to point out to the public uh on page four in our buildings and grounds that there is a financial advisor who is going to hold a free college planning workshop for parents at se W Memorial High School on Tuesday April 2 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the library so I think that's important in case someone doesn't hear it I'm sure they'll get information but maybe they'll watch this and hear that it's a free Financial College Planning and and they are a patron they're not it's not a it's not a a service to which you know we went hadn't gone out and got um they don't represent the school district right right private Patron that they're paying to important so they're coming in to provide this yes and I also wanted to point out that 13 of the other 14 items are um the Board of Education and the sville school board providing free space for the sville recreation department activities absolutely okay we need a a motion to accept the superintendent's report show moved second all right so I have Mr Callahan and Mr Smith I think I think I think Mr Walsh be to it uh Mr Callahan yes Mr Esposito yes Mr Fernandez yes Mrs napalitano yes Mrs Pabon yes Miss pylo yes Mr Smith yes Mr Walsh yes and Mrs Bloom yes okay any other comments from anybody for the good of the order yeah I have a couple comments on one a few updates I like to give did you want to do public first Sor I'm sorry oh yeah uh anybody from the public want to speak on anything at all seeing none we'll close public Mr fr end this thank you madam president um I like like to just mention this past week the second annual iHeart horror event took place which raised $8,600 for a wonderful cause which saves many lives at the Bor Heart and Lung also the rotary recently held the father daughter dance where we had about a 100 of our students and family attend I like to give a special thank you to one of our own missarah Ras from we Caterers who catered the event did an excellent job and they always do an excellent job so I just wanted to thank her and her staff thank you anybody else no okay can I get a motion to close sove second okay all favor okay we're adjourned next meeting March 7th I'm sorry March 7