I'd like to call this uh meeting to order roll call please Mr Bono here Mr Mr foki here Mr medo here Mr Rivero here Mr sabran present Mr Silva here Mr Holmes here Mrs kispa present in compliance with the New Jersey open public meeting law commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law the violent board of education has caused notice and posting of this meeting to be sent to the following announcing time place agenda Etc The Daily Journal SNJ today the Press of Atlantic City V Bueno the clerk for the city of vinand and the administrative office public bulletin board I'd like to call Duran school up now to do the uh Pledge of Allegiance thank you if you guys would just stay there please Mr foke and Mr Holmes have something for you Mr Greco Miss Tomlin come on up for the picture [Applause] Mr mustell is there a resolution for executive session there is now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education of the city of violon school district will convene an executive session for the following reasons is outlined in njsa 10 col 4-12 discussion is about any matter involving any collective bargaining agreement any matter involving a proposed lease and any matters falling within the attorney client privilege to the extent the confidentiality is re required in order for the attorney attorney to exercise his ethical duties as a lawyer do I have a motion and second so move second second roll call please Mr Bono yes Mr foki yes Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs kispa yes motion carries reti to Executive session now uh are we doing presentations first we're going to go into executive session thank you for your patience we have uh two presentations this even evening uh first I would like to call to the podium uh Mr Mike Garcia of Ford Scott Associates LLC uh to present the 2022 2023 audit report we know that you will provide us with a very quick overview of our audit sure I will and um um Mr mustell did um pass out a synopsis of it's a three-page document with a cover that summarizes the information in the full audit report which is um almost 200 pages long um and I will refer to that in a moment but first as a quick reminder when it comes to doing the audit we're doing more than just looking at the numbers we're making sure that the district follows the rules and regulations that the state imposes um the state and the federal government actually impose on all school districts um the audit process will involve at the beginning U evaluating internal controls that the district has reading the minutes of the board um meetings to um determine whether transactions are properly authorized and also to see if there's any discussed in the minutes that might have a financial nature that relates back to um the audit um cash your most significant asset is obviously cash in the bank so we do spend significant amount of audit procedure in time making sure that the cash is properly accounted for deposited into your Banks and reconciled to the general ledger ultimately um monthly Mr mustell um submits to the board the monthly board secretary's report to show all of that activity so we do do testing to make sure that those monthly reports are correct and then obviously also the year end reports um in areas of Revenue um we um on a sample bit well we tie in your state aid to make sure your state aid is properly deposited and recorded in your records your property taxes received from the municipality as well as other special Revenue fund grants um expenditures on a sample basis we test payment payments to vendors to make sure that the um district is following um the rules and that if um payments are made that there is an actual valid invoice um that relates to that expenditure um we make sure that um the vendors are paid in the proper amounts the proper budget accounts are charged and that um bids and quotes are obtained when required um in the area of payroll um we do testing to make sure your employees are paid properly in accordance with their collective bargaining agreements or other salary authorizing um documentation um your employees have various withholdings from their paychecks for voluntary insurances pensions as well as taxes we um sample to make sure that those calculations are done properly properly withheld and then ultimately remitted to the proper agency um or taxing Authority um your employees are required to contribute towards a portion of their health insurance costs and we um recompute those calculations to make sure that that's being done properly the district does maintain numerous Student Activity accounts so we also do testing in those Student Activity accounts to make sure that the receipts and the dispersements are also properly recorded um annually the district reports to the state to the Department of Education enrollment numbers your state aid is based on those enrollment numbers so it's very important that those um um that those reportings be done accurately so we do test the annual submission to the state for both transported students as well as uh as overall um students on role to determine that that's properly recorded So that you get all of the state aid that you are due um your food service fund um your food service fund is um substantially funded through federal and state subsidies so we do do significant testing in that area to make sure that you're following those rules and requirements I will now slide over to the uh um um the synopsis that was handed out the first page is just a cover but then the next page we have where the findings and recommendations are reported um I'm happy to report there are no findings and recommendations so you'll see on this page here in all of the areas where um you know that are summarized the word none meaning there it's a clean audit no findings and recommendations um the next page in this synopsis is a recap of the revenues and expenditures and then the final page is really the item that I want to draw everyone's attention to because this is this is where you end it up and on that last page I did um handw write some some numbers or some amounts and descriptions in there just to remind everybody exactly what these numbers represent so what we're going to be looking at in the bottom of this page is the um Surplus or fund balance that the district ended the year with quick recap um the state imposes a 2% cap on School District um Surplus for several years during the co pandemic that amount was raised to 4% but we are now back down to 2% whenever a district has funds in excess of that 2% cap now that money is set aside and must be used to fund a subsequent Year's budget so as we go through here the items that you'll that you'll see under fund balance the first item the first component is the maintenance Reserve in the amount of 5,619 64077 cents as a reminder those funds are set aside and can only be used for the repairs and maintenance to your buildings right below that we have an item that's marked reserved for excess Surplus in the amount of 10, 87,88 8865 this is the amount that you were above 2% at June 30th of 23 that amount is now being used well will be used to fund the budget that you're working on tonight the 2425 school budget so those funds that $10 million is now pledged towards that next budget for the um school year that begins on July 1st of 24 right below that we have excess Surplus that is designated for subsequent years expenditures and I've made a note um next to that and that note is um 2324 so the 9,821 th000 this is the amount that the district was above 4% 2 years ago that money was set aside and was required to fund this year's budget the 2324 budget so the year that we're almost done with um right below that we have a reserve for unemployment in the amount of $772,000 those funds are set aside and can only be used to pay unemployment claims we also have an amount that is assigned fund balance in the amount of 4,681 $193 45 I've also made a note there for the board board me members2 324 and that money in addition to the 9.8 that we just talked about was also used to fund 2324 school budget um moving on along we have assigned fund balance for other purposes those other purposes are incumbrances which just means the money was set aside to pay vendor bills that were due and payable for the 2223 year but um as a normal operating procedure the vendors don't get their paperwork into to paid until July or August so that money is ultimately um now been spent for 22 23 purposes finally it leaves us with the unassigned fund balance and I've put a note there 2% because I've got some detail below it when you look at it initially um it's in Brackets the $9 million in Brackets 2% and down at the bottom you'll see in um in a blue box it's important to remember this particular statement does not include the final state aid payments as a reminder the state of New Jersey withholds the June state aid payment for all school districts you ultimately get that money in July the state shifts it into the next fiscal year so we have the negative 9 million but your St final state aid payments are 13 m753 556 um80 when we add those two together net those two numbers that's your true unreserved 2% Surplus in the amount of 4 million $687,500 we're back down to two you have your full 2% plus the reserves that we talked about um and once again just to to repeat the audit itself was clean no findings or recommendations um it's always a pleasure to um to be here in Vinland and I've made the comments on the areas that I think are most important for the board and the public to be aware of in a limited amount of time if there are any comments or questions that you have for me I would be happy to answer them you're very welcome thank you all and good night thank you Mr Garcia thank you next up the one and only Mr Scott mustell business administrator will present the 2024 2025 preliminary School District budget thank you Mr Yano first I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my staff and the business department for the clean audit uh Shannon Cary my assistant business administrator Dave Hart Millie Torres Cara Irvine um Jean Massie all played an integral part in the audit so thank you all so this is the 2425 proposed school budget all the overview is and the items we'll be touching on is budgeting process historical summaries proposed revenues proposed tax levy proposed Appropriations and budget highlights the process is uh the administrative team meets and goes through budget planning meetings principal meetings with the accounting for the school-based budgets supervisors and department heads have have meetings with the business administrator for the District budget and we review the preliminary budget with board members to discuss increases decreases proposals and initiatives we've done that through multiple committee meetings and strategic planning meetings the propos the projected enrollment for next year is going to be 9793 it's five students over what we projected for this year so these are the proposed revenues for next year so you'll see 22 23 all the way to your right uh there are actual figures for tax levy Medicaid state aid Etc the 2324 is in the middle that's what we have budgeted currently this year and the 2425 is what we have budgeted for next year projected we're again asking for a 6% tax levy increase please note that 6% uh results in 2.22 one million uh for a total of 32 07421 and we'll discuss that later as well Medicade is 422,000 in change which is wonderful I I think it's pertinent to let you know that that is not a lottery ticket that is a life preserver there's a lot of items that we thought we were going to have to do uh that we no longer need to do such as cutting all our capital projects using 2.5 million in maintenance Reserve using uh Surplus from our our health insurance fund for a million dollars thankfully we won't have to do those items just to balance our budget miscellaneous Revenue comes in again at 945 and as Mr Garcia touched upon the use of fund balance is 11,21 he reported 10,087 I think it was uh but there's also um you're also allowed to use your uh excess extraordinary Aid in addition to that so the the total actually comes to 11,021 638 that we've us used from the 2223 school year to fund our total budget which is 1995 million 94466 that's the general fund if you factor in the grant funds which you also be approving um the grant funds are another 28.4 million for a total of 224 mil 391,000 this is a graph of that picture of of of those numbers the revenues you'll see that state a is 77% of our District budget significant and tax levy is 16% and then we have some miscellaneous rout revenues such as use of fund balance and Medicaid so there's a state computation uh they call it your local fair share it's been called other names too uh according to the state our local fair share should be $73,900 463 so that is what the state's calculation says we should be using as our tax levy our proposed tax levy is 32 mil 07421 so we are 419 41 mil 399,00 42 below what the state is saying our fair share is so keep that in mind so our school tax this is the last five years but we'll direct your attention to the 2425 the comparables or the assessed valuations are 3.95 4 million the average home assessment is $161,900 the proposed tax levy is 32,7 421 the proposed tax rate would be 8109 that's an increase of 4.59 c and it equivalate it equivalence to a 6% increase what does that how does that affect your average homeowner it's $74. 35 per anom to the ACT average homeowner I thought it was is necessary to show you the tax rate and break it down between the school County and Municipal for the total tax rate there's five years worth of data here I'm going to go right to 2023 and show you that the County's tax rate is 1.26 3 the school is 765 and the municipality is 1.35 for a total tax rate of 3163 now you'll see the next line tells you the percentages so of our tax rate the school levy is only 24.1 n% the municipality is 35.884827 this is all based on 2023 because that's the only year we have all the data for the county and municipality haven't struck their 2024 rates yet pardon me the school uh last year or this year was 29.8 million and the municipality was 44.3 Million so in essence the county is 65% higher than what our tax rate is and the municipality is 48% higher High than what our tax rate is so I I urge you to uh keep that in mind when voting for the tax increase Appropriations this is our cost centers um 2223 again is actual 22 2324 is budgeted and 2425 is also budgeted and projected for next year now you'll see at the end of the at the bottom of the screen for 2425 8,875 1893 is more than what I told you the revenues are gets complicated but that's because the school-based budget also has money that's contributed from Title One and title 2A for whole school reform so that's why the cost centers appear to be higher than the revenues are um I'm not going to go through all the numbers but out of the 198 Mill ion 54 million is instructional 23 million is special ed uh facilities is 15 million benefits and payroll taxes 43 million so significant areas of cost there this is a picture of that you can see the big red triangle is our regular instructional and categoricals and the big gray is benefits and payroll taxes uh together those two pieces are 49% I thought this was pretty interesting to mention as well uh if you look at our District budget of 196 million 138 million of that or 69.4% is just salaries benefits and payroll taxes while the other 60 million uh is 30% of our entire budget so I wanted to go through some budgetary changes from last year to this year obviously we had a state aid increase I've already talked about that we know that's not a winning lottery ticket and it is a life preserver so 8.9 million there we increased extraordinary Aid uh an additional 500,000 uh the tax levy were suggesting proposing is 2.2 million reduction in vocational tuition is 1.2 million due to some credits we have uh we have a decrease in tuition allocation uh so that that helps the budget by 273,000 decreasing one to1 nurses for 70,000 we have a reduction in backend technology for 200,000 knowing that the following year we're going to have to invest money in our backend technology probably around 800,000 a year year at that point we had uh some one-time facility costs that we were able to cut out of the budget uh to the tune of 49,000 and we had some breakage the health benefits increase comes to about $2.2 million and that includes hospitalization which increased by 8.5% prescription uh of approximately 4% um a nominal dental vision uh projected increase and then we have an increase in our chapter 78 and chapter 44 which is the employees contribution to their head health benefits so this is showing you where all that money comes all that money is going the 8.9 million we received in state aid the 2.2 million we're projecting for um taxes some of the other savings we were able to but now we start get to get into increased costs um increas in insurances in workman's comp like liability and automobile that's increasing we're told by 450,000 or 15% our Pur annual payment for the pension System payment went up by 300,000 uh some lease purchase payments are ballooning at two 210,000 additional money we're adding armed guards to the budget for the 242 5 budget that's uh 1.6 million we're increasing one toone technology at the K to five level to the tune of 250,000 our preschool inclusion amount which is an expense to us and a revenue to our preschool uh is $352,000 more than it was last year we're adding additional special education classes $884,000 there's eight positions that were funded from a sr3 this year but sr3 is sunsetting so we have to fold those positions because we need them into our District budget that's $900,000 pardon me fund balance differential is almost $3.5 million that's just the difference between what we can use in fund balance that $1 million I explained versus what we used last year which was more so that's a negative impact on our on our budget for next year our salaries are going to go up contractually 1.9 million utilities are increasing by 200,000 the Charter School uh tuition is increasing by 740,000 there's an increase in EIP costs um that the supervisors are are requesting to go to the schools 566,000 we have an increase instead of cutting all our capital projects we're actually increasing them by $270,000 some of the budget highlights school security we have revised security services including supervisory structure we're adding armed guards as I mentioned to the budget uh we're increased The Substitute pay rate for security expanded the school security hours to include an hour before and after school we add security cameras in all elementary schools and implementing visitor screening software in all our schools for transportation we're continuing a transfinder investment this includes the student trans student finder which will continue to allow parents to attract their children while on violent buses adjusting tier times is in the plan for next year um expanding training program continuing our investment and modernizing our transportation Fleet and increased volume of garage Services we're doing a lot more things inhouse than we used to and saving money in the process special education we're adding six classrooms as I mentioned uh due to increased classifications we're adding four autistic classes one resource room and one lldd for a total of six in-house teachers and 12 AIDS facilities we've had multiple SDA grants that are allowing us to uh attack the vhn Tanner building sectional roof replacement problem we are also planning on Memorial replacing the memorial 1998 Edition section and we're adding uh Phase 2 cameras which is our elementary schools we're going to go through a districtwide energy related Improvement through an EIP which is an energy savings Improvement plan that's conducted with the state it's all guaranteed uh the idea would be we invest in our infrastructure and our buildings and we would save money on our uh utilities to pay for it V High School North HVAC replacement in the classrooms Dan barcy roof replacement concrete repair at Memorial Winslow and Johnstone some sectional painting at bar SE Winslow W High North End South and some exterior door repair at VHS South some of the capital objects that we're budgeting we have communications equipment $15,000 long range technology plan $15,408 custodial cleaning equipment 50,000 and the construction which is the sectional barcy roof replacement and pardon me vent High School heat pump retrofit for $2 million some budget highlights for the program and curriculum uh critical curricular resources and student options through the following activities continued focus on fundations continue focus on Ela and Mathematics K to 12 support data driven instructional decisions Focus professional learning communities PLC activities uh we're going to focus on improving instruction through evaluation rubric upgrades and training new middle school science program curriculum uh continue to provide professional development for all staff revised curriculum to meet the updating New Jersey state standards for ELA and math uh continue to revise curriculum across content areas to meet State mandates we're going to continue to focus on supporting and expanding career and Technology Pathways for construction agriculture Studio graphic design Automotive health Pathways and cyber security continue to expand portrait of graduate implementation and articulation districtwide uh expand social and emotional learning support for students including restorative practices we're going to continue to implement stem curriculum in the middle schools with Project Lead the Way we're going to continue to implement career exploration exploration in the middle schools continue to encourage and expand teacher advancement with degrees and expand College Partnerships for students seeking early college credits that's the Dual credit program uh I want to say thank you to uh the cabinet Mr Yano Mr Fry Dr sneen Miss God lusi Dr Rossi and Miss Mrs Demari the business office Shannon Cary David Hart Millie Torres Cara Irvine uh all the principles and supervisors and of course our esteemed board uh it was a team effort $196 million plus grants um it's a long process but I'll take any questions you have now I would like to thank you and your team for doing everything that you did I know it's a lot of work and I know before we got the numbers um with the new state state aid um you were really going through a lot to try to figure out how to get us a balanced budget yeah before that it was $1.1 million shortfall and we had to do a lot to get there right and I'm going to ask my board members to please um even if you have questions tonight but please review this talk to U Mr mustell if you have any questions before our next meeting next week um ask questions now if you have any but but please reach out to him from now till then yeah so thank you for saying that uh I don't need to answer any questions tonight if if you don't have them I process the information I've given you if you have any questions over the next week because we're voting on this next week uh but if you have any questions in the interum please give me a contact me we can meet in small groups we can meet individually we can go and answer anything that you need to be answered on any level because we do the public hearing seeing no questions I'm G to take my seat thank you are there any questions or comment on the hi report seeing none do we have any questions or comments on the approval of the minutes February 7th 2024 combined minute combined meeting and February 7th 2024 executive session questions comments do I have a motion and a second so move roll call please Mr Bono yes Mr foke yes Mr Medio thank you Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs kispa yes motion carries do we have any committee reports Mr foki good evening the finance committee met Tuesday March 5th at 8: a.m. via Google meet in attendance was Mr mustell Mr Yano Miss KY miss kespa Mr Silva Mr Riva and myself following topics were discussed uh grants and Aid advanced placement International balaria course expansion following bids and rfps student Support Services there was only one bid and it's going to be rejected plumbing and HVAC Was Won by faska mechanical before and after school there was seven bids uh valuations are still pending electrical service bid will be open on 3 6 painting bid will be open on 3:13 uh Transportation supervisor has been selected and will be on the agenda tonight for approval uh camera project we are doing a change order to include Winslow saer and the annex for exterior site cameras uh also for tonight um approval for RFP to go out for the EIP program the riseup cafe is up and running and lastly we discuss the state a increase and budget update thank you Mr Holmes the curriculum and instruction committee met uh on Monday the 4th presid were Mr Yano Mr marchie Dr sneen uh Mr Silva miss aosta Mr sabran miss galuski Mr Stanger and myself we discussed schools in comprehensive and targeted status we discuss uh sending a Google form to view interest in piloting iPads in the classroom grades 3 to 5 special education programs for the 2425 school year gifted and talented program for K through 8 and the summer curriculum writing Transportation committee met on Tuesday the 5th present were Mr mustell Mr Yano Mr Rivera miss aasta Mr Bono Miss Blakeley and Miss O'Brien and myself driver a recap for 2324 there are 150 drivers budgeted 140 Route packages or drivers needed 137 filled positions 13 subs and six drivers in training average absences in the morning is 19.90 averages absences in the afternoon is 23.8 registrations 22 open registrations PK enrollment has officially started there are no joiners to act accidents in February team concept December meet and greet director was on leave we'll resume once position is filled the garage new backfield mechanic starting soon turbos buses we are close to receiving two buses we are pricing the Outsourcing of routes to help with the transportation times due to attendance issues uh tonight on the agenda there's a new director Miss Betty O'Brien for up for a board vote V our priorities are Outsource discussion tier times for next year consolidating current routes and trans finder thank you can I I'd like to amend that agenda or that those minutes I apologize it's my fault uh Miss aasta and Dana Blakeley were not present at the meeting thank you Mr Med was thank you thank you any further committee report yes I have one more we had an ad hoc meeting with sedesco a profess at the meeting it was myself Mr medo superintendent janana and business administrator Scott mustell we went over um some um suggestions for after school activities uh with bagged meals for any extracurricular sport related activities um any after uh a certain time where you're get into the dinner hour um we talked about that and then we talked about um possible usel uh Wallace School uh production kitchen for the food science um C CTR or CTE excuse me uh curriculum and we have another meeting on Tuesday um to go over that as well thank you anything further board solicitor none we don't have a student representative comment tonight um public comment on agenda items or any other matter please limit your comments to three minutes do we have any yellow sheets yes we do Steven soloff regarding communication Mr soloff Steven pevans uh regarding Community School at saer okay my name is Steve pevans and I know a lot of the guys on the members of the board some I don't know and I'm from viol I was born and raised in violand I graduated from vient high school and I was president of my high school class at violent High then I went way to college but I'm here to just that was an in little introduction I'm here uh uh to talk about the sabotage School the community school um I want I want to just go over a little bit about my background I was director of recreation for Prince George's County Maryland for 11 years and I had four Community Schools under me which I started I organized and I supervised and also my graduate work my masters is in Recreation and after school activities so I wanted to share with you you know my experience in that area and how good these schools did for the community Community also believe it or not I had a after I had a um school I had a community school right here 20 years ago at Landis Middle School and it was called broaden your horizons I was the president and CEO of the organization and we utilized the gym and the classrooms around it for the program when he had the gym open five nights a week we had kids come in and play ball and we had other programs in the gym and in the classrooms we had programs like modeling I I you know uh partnered with barbazon modeling and I got four or five girls professional modeling jobs dance we had dance we had drama we had tutoring all in the classrooms around it and this particular program broad your horizons uh turned into the violin Boys and Girls Club it was a local organization turning into a National Organization Boys and Girls Club found out about it their New York office came down looked at it and that's how we got the boys and girls club you know here but also I want to mention that um I was on the original committee for the sabot school and I I wrote up a lot of the uh you know uh Charter stuff about the school and the sabotage school right now isn't run the way we originally set it up you know and my goal is you know to have it how we originally set the school up and we we we had it set up where there would be you know uh administrators organization that would administr administrative school and after studying the different groups in violin uh I found that the pal would be a great you know organization to do that they already have a contract with the board but I've studied their program and it's an excellent program also right now I'm meeting with the uh County prosecutor's office with Jennifer Webb and we're trying to set up three Community Schools in the in the county one vinand one milville and one Bridgton and vinand the sabotage school would be a perfect setup for that and uh funds you know come through the County prosecutor's office and also to mention when I had the after school program here Mr pven I have to ask you to please finish up okay I'm finishing up I tried to uh you know go over everything but my goal is to maybe form a committee or to continue this talk because I think it's going to be you know a real plus it's a treasure of Island community to set up a full community school at the Abit school and I like to see that you know continued on with a committee all right thank you very much superintendent recommendation yes thank you requesting discussion in approval of regard in personal item 1.1 as noted on our agenda do we have any questions or comments I have one comment um to everybody retiring there are almost 230 years combined Mr cardo 38 years I'm going to really be sad to see you go Mrs John Mr Mrs Johnson is also leaving at yes we wish you well um Good Luck to whatever you decide to do but congratulations on your soon to be retirement roll call please so moved sorry motion a second roll call Mr Bono yes Mr fi Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes and congrat ctis I'm sorry thank you and congratulations to Miss O'Brien yes and congratulations Mrs O'Brien congratulations Miss O'Brien Miss O'Brien would you like to say a few words you knew that was common you can't you can't be surprised thanks um I just really wanted to tell everybody thank you thank you for giving me the opportunity um I have over 10 years experience in transportation starting off as a driver and working my way up so I'm hoping to bring all my ideas and knowledge and coming from a big District to you know size-wise student wise to this one's bigger GE graphically but bringing that and hopefully making improvements that we need that we can use and making it a better Department making it a happier department and more successful so thank [Applause] you requesting discussion and approval of procedures and operations uh I would like to move 2.1 through 2.4 questions or comments do I have a motion motion second second roll call please Mr Bono yes Mr foki yes Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs cisotti yes motion Carri requesting discussion and approval for finance items 4.1 through 422 it's quite a large group as noted on our agenda thank you questions or comments Mr Mia student services at uh item number 4 20 no no no 4.20 is approval rejecting the following contract for student supplemental services and we've decided not to we decided to abandon the project for Provisions or performance of the goods or services thank you any other questions or comments do I have a motion so move roll call please Mr mono yes Mr fi yes Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs cisotti yes motion carries there are no regular agenda items um proposed items for review or discussion or adoption by board members I see none approval of the itemized bill pay list for January 2024 do I have any questions or comments do have a motion so move second second roll call please Mr Bono yes Mr fi yes Mr medo Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs cottis body yes motion carries are Marg items none old business none new business uh we have the superintendent evaluation process that will begin the evalu evaluation pre-conference is tonight the superintendent will input his information and it'll be due by March 29th 2024 the board members will then go in and complete their online evaluation the superintendent that is due by April 19th 2024 the board president and njsba will compile it by 4 202 42424 the board will go into an executive session um to meet and review the data that'll be due by May 1st 2024 the board will board president and design will develop um an evaluation summation with New Jersey school boards and we will share it with the superintend intendent prior to the summary conference that'll be before June 5th 2024 and the board and superintendent will have a meeting and go into executive session on June 17th 2024 to go over his evaluation in the meantime everybody here the board should go in and do their self- evaluation also okay board member comments I'll start with Mr Rivera good evening everyone I'd like to thank the Duran dolphins safety patrol that came and let us in this flag saloop Fins Up um I'd like to congratulate all our retirees um Mr cardo congratulations on your retirement I just recently within the last year or so was able to get to know Mr Kamar a little bit and now you're leaving so I hope it wasn't because of me um but congratulations Mr cardo uh welld deserved thank you for your service to this school district and all the retirees thank you for your service to School District um last week we a few of us were able to attend the CTE carnival at vion high school tremendous event um I'm so proud of the team over at violent high school that put together this this Carnival um it really showcased the program uh all the the the the available choices and and options for our students to engage in and and to be part of and I'm really excited for what that's going to do for our school district I'm really excited what that's going to do eventually to the economy and to the of this city and to this and to this County um it's really something special something that you know puts us above other options that may be out there for our students so if you're really thinking about it I really encourage parents to really um educate yourself more about the program really really uh tell your kids and have your kids look into it um because it's a really special program and it's offered here in violent nowhere else so um thank you for that for the team that put that together uh had opportunity today to go to a couple schools to read uh to some preschoolers over at Theo and uh some third graders over at Durand and it's that's always a special event to go see the kids is why we do this is is why the reason the number one reason why I wanted to be a part of this board is because of those kids and those kids make it worthwh every every time they smile and every time they give you those high fives and they all want to hug you at the same time um it's it's great it's great to have these kids their smiles and see the impact that you have in them um other than that thank you so much for everything that you do the school district the staff the teachers um everyone uh we're looking forward for the rest of the year where we can we have a lot of things coming up um a lot of exciting events coming up and always it's always a good time so thank you and have a great night Mr sabran uh thank you to the group from Durand um I had the pleasure of also reading there today Mrs fok's fourth grade class first I thought it was a joke because they gave me a book known as stga so it tested what little Italian I know but it turns out that everybody almost everybody got one of those books congratulations to our uh retirees especially you Mr Mardo cardo you're one of the last last one standing from when I was an employee um unless my memory really Fades wasn't that at the adult education center across the street which is now what I don't know what's is there a supermarket there again well whatever but always enjoyed working with you and your dry sense of humor and thank you for your service in the military as well um looking forward to a little better weather today was the kind of day I don't like going outside but I I do Miss beinging with the kids that was always the most rewarding part of the job and whenever I was wasn't in a great mood but if I had to go take a picture somewhere just the energy of those kids um you know kind of gave me a boost and uh I I I do miss that but that was a very well- behaved class they were very attentive and I even got them to fess up on what their career aspirations were which it's kind of cool since it was only fourth grade um so that's about it thank you Mr Silva yes I'd like to thank the Durant students for the flax salute I'd like to thank Mr musell and his staff for a clean audit report um Mr musell I know you're putting in a lot of work um in this budget cycle um so we do appreciate your dedication thank you um congratulations to all the retirees Mr cardo had the pleasure of meeting you in the early 2000 in the technology department it was a pleasure working with you so I wish you the best best on your retirement um that's it for me thank you Mr foki yes just want to thank uh Mr Mr Mell and his team for the thorough presentation they put together I know there's a lot of work that goes into that um but it's much appreciated and congratulations to all the retirees as well thank you Mr medo I'd like to Echo the comments of the four previous board members there's no reason for me to repeat them I think we all agree wholeheartedly on everything that was said um Mr pevans came forward tonight about a program he wants to implement at sabater when sabater was originally awarded to vient the idea behind it was to make it a community school and have access for the entire community on a expanded basis and what he's talking about is exactly what the original plan involved that would involve taking students uh and bringing them into the school at night participating in not only Sports in the uh gym but also as he said having different classes having different um presentations have them meet people um we have a role model breakfast at several of the schools he's probably talking about reimplementing what he did before and having actual Role Models come in on a weekly or bi-weekly basis so I imagine that well that also involves pal and I guess the main point with all that would be if students are being supervised by adults if they're you know enjoying thems eles and participating in something good and healthy that's that much less time that they have to get themselves in trouble so I'm very anxious to see what he brings forth in that thank you Mr Bono okay thank you to the students of Duran Elementary for the flag salute um I uh weekend of February 23rd 24th and 25th I completed the uh required governance number one year one new board member orientation it's a great weekend I don't get many weekends off in my uh field but it was a very nice weekend weather-wise but I was stuck inside learning about awesome School Board stuff so thank you to the uh V the public schools for that opportunity um I also attended the uh CTE Carnival uh last week held at uh VHS South what an awesome event for those students experience to learn about the CTE program that violent high school has to offer uh the Educators and administrators have put that together together great job um I'd also like to congrat congratulate Mr cardo on your retirement uh best wishes to all your future endeavors thank you for the years of service provided to vion um also like to uh congratulate van high school and the collaboration with rcsj attended that event as well at V High School South uh on uh the collaboration between the two to create a pathway for our our student base to graduate potentially graduate with an associates degree what an opportunity for our students i' also like to uh congratulate VHS swim teams both men's and women's on a successful season they both made it to the playoffs uh the women's team made it to the second round um and they had some really uh great swimmers this year and uh good job to all the coaches involved keep it going and last I'd like to thank uh Scott Musto on putting the budget together uh un and your team um I know it's a lot of work a lot of numbers and uh yeah good job thank you y Mr Holmes nothing at this time superintendent yes thank you I want to congratulate Daniel we're guidance counselor at many's elementary school for being named to 2024 starfish award recipient and to Mindy Roman for receiving the child study team case manager Award of Excellence thank you for all the support you provide to our students and their families uh it was already mentioned we had a wonderful morning with uh rcsj a lot of our uh board members and community members came out to help support our dual enrollment pilot Grant from the New Jersey Department of Education super excited about the opportunities for our students in that program uh on February 9th we had our Community Partnership action committee our first one of the 2024 school year uh the focus is was on uh food and housing insecurity featured uh representatives from throughout uh the district the county the city who shared Resources with us about what is available in the community it was an excellent day and very informative we had our second strategic planning meeting on February 28th the event had a great turnout more than 60 participants we identified four areas uh that will form the goals of the Strategic plan the F uh the third meeting the final meeting is on March 19th at 6 pm here at Landis uh looking forward to having a great participation again as we round out our strategic plan the carnival was amazing I'm surprised Mr Rivera did not tell you about the superintendent's attempt at singing a Rihanna song uh and karaoke uh it was a a great day uh but we really uh saw our student shine and it was exciting to see our students kind of navigate you know through all the different CTE programs so thank you to uh susette deari Kim Rivera and the CTE team our teachers our students for the work that they put together uh to just kick off an amazing event and I'm also appreciative for all our board members uh who made it out that day to see our Kids In Action uh CPP and Dagger Club performance of We Are All Stars a Comon of age review this Thursday and Friday night 700 p.m. VHS South let's pack the house it's going to be an amazing evening and support our amazing performing arts department I also want to say uh quick thank you uh to Mr boner Mr medo Sodexo profess Patel Mr mustel where we had a meeting about how we can support our students in the after hours who spend many hours you know on their way to different programs athletic events or practices we want to make sure they have uh food and snacks to keep them and hold them over for their events uh that meeting was organized with the assistance and the participation of Mr medo and Mr Bono uh it was a good conversation and hats off to our uh Sodexo partner and Professor Patel uh for kind of putting the details together in our athletics department uh Mr Haynes who's our um substitute athletic director and Sylvester chaalo Ashley sale for putting in the logistical work behind the scenes to make it all happen we we're getting all the pieces together so we can launch it this spring uh again it's been a outstanding start of the month we're looking forward to to continue in to celebrate all of our students with read Across America activities our board members it's great to catch them reading to our students when we go into different schools they are exciting uh times with our students and our staff members when we get to see our board members engaged with our community it's a wonderful day when we see that happening support and literacy thank you I'd like to thank um Duran Elementary School for being here to Leading the flag salute um thank you Mr pevans for coming out and sharing your ideas to our auditor thank you for your presentation Mr mustell and your staff um thank you again for your hard work and your dedication for putting together um the budget presentation you are appreciated our Central administrative team is appreciated as well as our entire staff our our principals our teachers um our security guards our bus drivers everyone our main I I don't want to leave anybody out so our entire staff we do appreciate you um to our retirees congratulations uh Mr cardo Miss Johnson thank you so much for your your service um you will be missed along with the other retirees I'd like to remind everyone that is it is that time of year again to start registering your preschool students um for preschool um I've asked that the information be shared on the website and social media and I believe it's already been has been done I had the honor of attending the signing ceremony for the Doan Rob rment program between VHS and rcsj this is such an exciting time for us um this is going to I think present an opportunity for students that might not have been able um to do some things so I'm really excited I had the opportunity doing the strategic planning it's looking it's very interesting my partner over there probably won't be there Mr Rivera so he won't be the reporting reporter or the recorder um I attended Black History Month along with Mr Rivera at Cunningham I've read at numer schools last week I'm still reading this week I just love to see the kids faces and they just love to talk I had a fifth grade class yesterday who will be emailing me their ideas as to what they believe the district should have and shouldn't have so I'm really looking forward to seeing those um Miss cat Rivera um miss demarie the whole team the staff at the high school I cannot tell you how excited I about the CTE the carnival and the program the students were phenomenal showing us all around the staff that was there uh they were great had a great time with the little games that we played and everything kind of you know culminated into what it was about I'm excited to see how we can grow that program um I don't believe there's anything else so I'm wishing everyone a good night God bless everyone do I have a motion to adjourn second second