I boards left executive session and then back in regular session just for your notice that this video tape anyone not wishing to be seen on TV may be excused for this meeting anyone please rise for United States ofer the stands indice I hope you don't have anything to throw at me just yet but board has asked to go back into executive session trying to finalize some things that I think are going to be positive for you we haven't didn't finish uh in the last meeting so I'm going to say U made a motion to go back into executive session I'd like to make a motion that we go back into executive session under Personnel to look at personnel and potential of raising taxes we discuss that in executive second second Mrs Baker no Mrs Bloom yes Mrs Chilla yes Miss de Mayo yes Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serrano no Mr Tomac yes Mr Ross no so we have the votes go back into executive session I'm going to try and hold us to 30 minutes and all right e e e e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] I [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] e for for for for for [Music] [Music] for for [Music] e [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for for for for [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] for for for for for for [Music] [Music] for for [Music] [Music] for for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] for for for [Music] [Music] for for [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e e e still you too I don't think I B down Scot okay sorry about that but uh trust me when I tell you was the benefit of as many of you as we can and the board um is in conference to um raise some taxes uh the amount I can't say right now but Pur is to bring back positions and benefits the specific ones I don't know yet but that's what the board will be doing and we'll be meeting with your leadership to uh uh review that so that's all I can tell you about that I can't name the positions or I'm I'm going to say we've been able to do quite a few of them so just bear with us and trust us until the next board Mee hey look we've been we've been working on this okay presentations none at this time any discussion school and community relations no item at this time old business any old business Steve hey every can everyone hear me all right so I want to take this time to say a statement about a young lady her name is Janice Chen she's a fifth grader from Wedgewood Elementary and I want to take time to acknowledge her she was recognized in the first and math program and work hard to attain the following rankings number one first in math wedw Elementary School number one first and Math hold on wa this is this gets good number one first and Math with within the state of New Jersey number two first in math student in the entire United States of America through through the duration of her fifth grade year according to an article published on the Washington Township Public School website janish spent more than 830 hours utilizing first in math and earning 100,000 stickers the first in math program has accelerated Janice's absorption and retainment of fractions decimals and integers as a result Janice became the first female player and the third overall player in first and Math to achieve 10x Grand Champion status since Inception of the program young lady wherever you are I don't know if you're watching I want to take this opportunity to congratulate you on a job well done in fifth grade you have demonstrated singular focus on an overarching long-term goal reverse engineered that goal into a work break breakdown structure digestible enough to achieve the small winds required to maintain your discipline practice the philosophy of delayed gratification and in doing so have now become a champion first girl first girl motivation is the spark that ignites what could turn into a passion a skill and a desire to learn a specific subject sport academic program trade or exercise regimen commitment doing what you said you were going to do long after the mood you set it in has faded and you've moved on to something else discipline doing what you hate to do no matter how you feel what the weather is like what the plans are what your peers family and or colleagues are doing and performing it like you love it Obsession singular focus on a goal and the steadfast mental fixation not only on on the outcome but the person you become on the journey to achieving that goal these raw ingredients when homed in on and homed develop grit intelligence perspicacity and most importantly Mastery Janice you have already have those raw ingredients needed for excellence in life and all your future endeavors and desired goals utilize those raw ingredients consistently and the world will be yours young lady congratulations like oh wait wait I'm not finished I also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the 180 plus Wedgwood Elementary School students who have earned 10,000 stickers and obtained the title of First in Math Grand Champion number one first in math School in New Jersey and the number three First in Math School in the country I wanted to give a huge shout out to Mrs Virginia Greer for leading the charge on this at Wedgewood you are a talented passionate committed and awesome leader Jenny thank you for everything you do at Wedgewood your hard work does not go unnoticed Ralph Ralph we will have the young lady at the next at the board meeting in July to uh to honor her sure okay Ralph yeah go ahead I just like to add to at Wedgewood School person who probably uh is the biggest cheerleader is Dominic reny and the work that he does and I I want to say thank you to Mr Ross uh we had um asked about recognizing her at the board level and uh I'm glad that you pursued it so that we were able to make sure that happened thank you Mr Ross okay any other old business okay uh our student representative Mr M oh sorry about that um first I just wanted to congratulate the class of 2024 um last night ceremony was beautiful and then I would also like to give a few thank yous thank you to Mr Anderson Dr hibs members of the board Town Council Members administrators staff parents students and especially my peers in the class of 2024 for making it a night to remember so congratulations everyone um similarly I would like to thank Mrs Tai and Mrs Graham for their time heading the senior Awards awards night that happened last Friday um this year over $185,000 were given out to various seniors in the graduating class and since taking over in 2019 Miss Tai and Miss Graham have been able to give out over $1 million in scholarship so thank you to them and then finally I would like to thank the class Council advisers Miss Taylor Mrs eor and Mrs morz for uh making balarat graduation and Project Graduation last night so amazing thank you guys for everything you've done okay any other old business I have a motion to open to the public or agenda items only so move second second second second all those in favor all right only a couple this time but Jerry trasi several uh years ago during Co I I told this story and I thought it would be appropriate again and I hope that those of you who are hearing it for the first time that the impact that it's always had on me it will have an equal impact on all of you one day while I was grading papers my six-year-old son interrupted me wanting me to go outside and play I told him that I had to finish these papers and once I was done I could then go out and join him about 15 minutes went by he again came in and asked me Daddy are you done yet this time in a little bit stronger voice I said to him just a little bit longer be patient another 15 minutes went by and once again he returned this time my son's eyes were ready to burst with tears he asked again daddy when are you going to be done please trying to think of something to do I grabbed a magazine and I tore out a picture a picture of the world and I cut it into little pieces like a puzzle I gave it to him and said Son take this picture and put it together by the time you accomplish that by the time you put it together I promise you that I will stop upop and go outside to my surprise within less than 5 minutes he came back to me with a picture totally put together this time his eyes were filled with excitement and joy as he said Daddy Daddy I finished can we go out and play now please I turned to him and said how in the world were you able to do this this so quickly his response is what got to me he said well I noticed that on the back of the picture was the face of a little child and I figured if I could put the child back together then the whole world would fall into place with that I stopped what I was doing forgot about all those papers and I went outside play I had to make a choice a choice between grading those papers or playing with my son those papers were important and needed to be done but my son was much more important as it turned out my son was much more important than I would ever imagine or ever know you the members of the Board of Education have a choice tonight too a choice between allowing this budget to remain as is drastically affecting not only the lives of those who have lost their jobs but remember these people have sons these people have daughters grandsons and granddaughters so you're affecting them as well haven't we made this generation of children suffer in enough have we forgotten already the devastating effects of those covid years years of program cuts years of learning that have been lost and can never be regained so tonight you have another chance maybe the last chance a chance to correct this budget and save these individuals jobs save programs and save more children from losing the Priceless education that say they so badly need how about revisiting this debacle that is decimating our staff our school our community which ultimately is going to affect all the kids make the right choice tonight before it's too late the choice isn't that difficult it's simply reallocating the money that is available make the right choice Mark Twain once said the two most important days of your life are the day that you are born and the day that you realize why make this the day that all of you realize why thank [Applause] you thank you Jer just for a point of order i' like try to keep the the uh individuals that are speaking up to five minutes to hold to the five minutes little bit okay thank you Angela Tusa good evening I'll be quick I promise I have the same ask that Mr tarashi has to please do everything you can to reinstate these jobs these benefits and the hours that these people desperately need I've been speaking to people over the course of the last two months their stories are heartbreaking I know you know that they've come up here and they've told you their stories um today someone told me their story about they're in the middle of Cancer Treatments their benefits are going to end this was one person who lost their lost their benefits for 15 minutes she's in the middle of treatments so we need to have decisions right away we have another person who just had a baby her infant is in the NICU at chop she will also be losing her benefits for 15 minutes so please I'm asking you please make these decisions quickly and make the right decision thank you [Applause] [Music] lzo good evening my name is l Rand dazzel I'm a field representative from the New Jersey Education Association I represent 1300 of the employees here in your schools and I'm going to Echo exactly and be brief uh what Jerry and Angela just said uh I want to thank the board for the meeting that we held on Monday the 10th uh the committee of the board and um your leaders um and we from the association we feel like we have shown very clearly that um the funds exist in multiple ways and we feel that the story has changed from a budgetary shortfall to priorities so we're asking the board again as I've told you in the past at some point in Old business new business wherever you prefer for someone to make a motion not to hire new people but to reinstate the positions to overturn the superintendent's recommendation and for a second and then a roll call vote to return everyone's jobs back this felt like since the beginning uh from our ends an attack on the classroom assistants that work in the district what we typically call Par professionals and we hope that we're not on the road toward subcontracting or privatization of that group but that's what the mass cuts of that group solely has felt like and that is somewhere where we don't want to go not just for jobs but for the impact and the stories you've already heard here over the last three board meetings of how those folks work well beyond the job description to love and care for your children especially the most needy students with individualized education programs so we are asking you to please make that motion uh this evening again right please to uh again reinstate all of the folks that have previously either had their time reduced lost benefits or have been non-renewed and to bring them back and restore them to their old positions thank you [Applause] hey R Ral Ralph I'd like to say something I don't know if this is on think it is okay um thank you Mr Razzo it was nice to meet you in the meeting I was one of those board members that attended um I think the meeting was about 4ish hours three and a half four hours and we had a lot of discussion um I just want to clear up some misconceptions cu there's a lot going out there um whether it be on social media or just among all of you um and this isn't opinion this is just fact the funds do not exist they do not exist and so I mean you can laugh it's fine I just want to give you my account of the meeting and it's I just want to let you know so we went through line by line of the budget every single line and when Janine explained every single line of the budget the there was no rebuttal of money existing where there was a rebuttal and there was an agreement to disagree was how we our philosophy of the budget and how we budget but there was no the cumulative memo that you put out where it said I don't have it in front of me here's where it's $6 million here's where it's $2 million in that meeting I it's not that I don't remember I don't have it in front of me but we went line by line and there was no rebuttal by the njaa or anyone there at all at the end of the meeting we agreed to disagree of the philosophy of the budget that was the that was what we came away with and then I was the in the memo this I guess I was the surprise person which I don't know it was a surprise that I said do would you agree that if we raise tax is that would be the responsible thing to do because then those people would not be subject to a cut next year and if we do anything different in the lines of those budgets where you were suggesting taking certain places and taking it there and questioning how Janine was budgeting for something and benefits and different things that would still be subject to a cut next year because that's those staff members are not in the budget so when I talked about it at the end and Mr Randazzo after the meeting we had a nice conversation and Mr Yi I had one with you as well and you asked me Mr Randazzo to say that into the mic which is why I'm saying it tonight that in terms of raising taxes is the only way for us to save staff and for them to not be subject to being cut next year because that money would be in our budget that that's what we talked about we also talked about parts of the meeting of that whole uh conversation there was one question that remained somewhat unanswered in terms of the value of staff that wasn't around do we know how much the value of the staff that we're losing it was around the county tax rate that's where the confusion was and there was a disagreement because we were talking about raising taxes so at the end of the meeting that was where we left in terms of this is the question this is what we're faced with to do the responsible thing of raising taxes I personally am for raising taxes if there's a plan to save staff and it's a responsible thing for us to do which is what we were back there talking about and what does it look like and is it sustainable for future years there's no doubt we need to have long-term strategic planning here for budgets we don't have it but that was the the recap of the meeting that I just want to hear and I know Mr Yori I saw you putting a card I just there was no rebuttal back and forth when was going through it and Janine I don't want to tell you what to do but maybe everyone wants to hear that here was what you were saying was stated and here's why that's not extra money in the budget there's the reason why for it so that's what we talked about so I just want to say it in general I'm for saving staff we were back there talking about it and what can we do and that was the recap of the meeting so the extra money I don't know where it is because we didn't find it there that's it just let me re reiterate what I said when we came in we're looking for the money I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised uh when we finalize this I'm sure your leadership will be you know involved with it as well so all right Becky batesy be I called her last time she done she there is your name Becky just that's Becky that is Becky okay good um good evening okay we got it fixed it's okay okay good okay good evening members of the board of education teachers parents and fellow students my name is Delan bat and I am a sixth grader about to enter seventh GR I'm here to share my thoughts and concerns about some recent changes in our school district especially regarding our music programs what I want to focus on tonight is the letter we received about changes to our band Orchestra and chorus programs the letter mentioned that we would have band chorus and Orchestra five days a week next year instead of having b instead of having sectionals the letter the way the letter was written made it seem like this was a new idea but already have banned five days a week what's changing is that we won't have sectionals anymore and that's a big deal for us sectionals are important because they give us the chance to work on our specific instrument in smaller groups this Focus time with our teachers helps us improve our skills learn our parts better and receive the individual attention we need to become better muss without sectionals it will be harder to get the help we need to improve Additionally the letter didn't mention that the reason for these changes is because so many teachers were fired losing our teachers means losing the people who know us and know how to help us the best it's really sad to think about not seeing those familiar faces in our classrooms and not getting the support we've always had music is such an important part of our education it's not just about playing an instrument or singing a song it's about learning discipline working as a team expressing ourselves and finding joy and Crea Something Beautiful taking away sectionals and losing our teachers feels like we're losing a big part of what makes our school special I hope the Board of Education will consider the impact these changes are having on students like me we need our teachers and we need our sectionals to keep growing as decisions please think about how these decisions affect us and find a way to support our our music programs and our teachers thank you for listening to my concerns I hope we can find a way to keep our music and strong and continue to provide the supp that aary thank [Applause] you Tony bichi well my name is Tony Beni I am the orchestra teacher at Chestnut Ridge Middle School Chestnut Ridge has had an excellent string program for many decades next year they'll be 24 eighth graders 18 7th graders and about 26th graders for a total of 62 students because of my retirement this June yay I understand that there will be a substitute hired for the first four months of the next school year in addition to teaching at Chestnut Ridge this substitute will also be responsible for developing a beginning Strings program and teaching Elementary string students in the afternoon these are my concerns who is going to set up the orchestra room in September who is going to set up all the chairs and the stands who's going to take inventory of the instruments and assign them to the students who is going to choose the music who's going to prepare and organ organiz the December concert you need someone who has knowledge and experience with stringed instruments you need someone who understands how to fix a string or instrument when it breaks you need someone who knows how to tune these string instruments the months of September October November and December are crucial for setting up the string program for the Integrity of a program that has flourished over the years I would like to recommend that the Board of Education consider hiring a music certified experienced knowledgeable string educator the string students of Washington Township deserve nothing less thank you Caitlyn ringer ringer Kaitlyn good evening my name is Caitlyn Rinker I'm a student from Orchard Valley Middle School I was a student in The Talented art program and next year will be the first year in Orchard Valley there will only be one art teacher meaning all responsibility for art will fall on that teacher as of right now now the board is trying to combine the eighth grade art class with a regular eighth grade class The Talented art class is taught as a ninth grade level class this is a problem because the art teacher will have to teach two separate classes in one period this takes away a lot of opportunities for the kids that want to be there rather than the kids that have to be there the program is for kids that are passionate about art to get into this class students have to submit a portfolio and wait patiently to get accepted the com the combining of classes increases the chances of students having to retake this class in high school because of the kids in the room that may not take the class seriously and distract them from their education for art I know that this year has been stressful for my teachers so I can't even begin to imagine what it's going to be like for the teach teachers and students that are affected by these changes next year milany Bates Lany Bates all right good evening members of of the Board of Education my name is Becky Bates and I'm a concerned parent from Washington Township thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak tonight I would like to start about 14 years ago when Park testing and common core standards began these initiatives were introduced with a goal to establish consistent clear understanding of what students are expected to learn thereby ensuring that all students are prepared for college and careers when these programs were initially rolled out many Educators and parents voiced significant concerns teachers warned that high stake testing like Park could lead to increased stress among students teaching to the test and narrowing of curriculum these tests rather than fostering a love for learning have often led to anxiety and reduced emphasis on critical thinking and creativity the cost to our school district has been substantial in into implementing Park and Common Core required new textbooks training teachers and significant technology upgrades to meet the testing requirements the state did provide some funding but it was not significant to cover all expenses leaving our district to shoulder a considerable financial burden as of 2020 New Jersey has moved away from Park adopting New Jersey student learning assessments instead while these represents a shift many of the same concerns about high State Testing remain next let's address one1 computer initiative which aimed to provide each student with a personal device to enhance learning through technology this initiative began with the hope of improving personalized learning offering instant access to information and preparing students for a tech driven World teachers had mixed predictions about the its impact they saw potential for increased engagement and indiv individuations of instructions but also worried about potential distractions unequal access to technology at home and the challenge of integrating these devices ly into the curriculum the financial cost to our district has been significant including purchasing new devices maintaining them and ensuring adequate technical support while the state did provide some initial funding it has not been enough to sustain this program without additional District funds currently the 101 initiative has had vared success while it has opened new avenues for learning it has also highlighted issues such as screen fatigue and the need for better teacher training and Technology our district has also invested in programs like e P pass and Dino to streamline administrative tax pass to enhanc security these programs come with their own cost adding to the financial strength the sustainability of such programs is questionable especially given our ongoing Financial pressures given the increased pressure from Common Core high stake testing and oneon-one initiative social emotional learning has become more critical than ever programs are essentially to help students manage their emotions set positive goals show empathy establish POS positive relationships and make responsible decisions integrating seal into our curriculum can help mitigate the Stress and Anxiety caused by testing and Technology finally the plan to fire or cut hours to around 300 uh teachers and support staff is deeply concerning such a drastic drastic reduction will have devastating impact to our students larger class sizes decreased involvement individual attention and a decline in the quality of Education are inevitable outcomes our teachers and Sport for the backbone of our educational system providing the individual attention and support that our children need to succeed is with is also vital to address the frustration of the community when voices are raised and concerns are repeatedly ignored it leads to uh a sense of de de inran could say it earlier de inran thank you and distrust we cannot continue to say yes to initiatives that do not benefit our students we must listen to the teachers parents and students and make informed decisions and generally enhance our educational environment as we look forward to the F future we need a balanced approach to values the academic achievement emotional well-being and overall development of our children this means re-evaluating a Reliance on high stakes testing ensuring proper support for technology integration and maintaining adequate staff levels to meet the diverse needs of all of our students I urge the Board of Education to consider these points seriously and let's work to create an educational environment where every child can Thrive thank [Applause] you thank you uh I just want to go backwards and address uh the concern that came from Tony so we can't discuss Personnel issues here up at the de it's just not appropriate um but there absolutely is a plan uh for next year which I know uh I know Mr crano is in charge of so we'll be happy to exate that plan de aour [Applause] di dear members of the Board of Education my name is Di etor and I've just completed my 19th year of teaching m mathematics at Washington Township High [Applause] School I've been a coach a pedagogy Mentor a chaperon a colleague and a class advisor as well as chosen to participate on several District committees such as DC and the grading Coalition I'm also a product of Washington Township Public Schools I was inspired by my very own teachers to pursue education because of my loyalty strong work ethic and willingness to work as a team I've worked with six superintendents five building principles countless teachers secretaries custodians support staff and assistant principles I say I work with because each one of them has allowed their colleagues to collaborate and compromise to ultimately reach the goal of providing the best supports and instruction for our students in 2021 I was chosen as the junior class advisor I work closely with my co-advisors and my predecessor Carol Costello to sure that many events here at township Traditions are still continued to run with the highest of Standards here are some of the events that the Junior and senior class councils are responsible for the spe excuse me the spirit parade for homecoming football Powderpuff Township toys senior directed Cabaret supporting the Ronald McDonald House of South New Jersey the senior trip the junior prom the senior prom the borate yearbook signing party graduation and Project Graduation these events do not Happ happen overnight they take months and months of planning and preparation we work with student office to to ensure that students can enjoy these time onor traditions and create positive lasting memories their enjoyment and safety is our number one priority over the course of this past school year the other advisers and I were told that Dr Hibbs would like to be more involved at the various events in December we were told that Dr Hibbs would like to attend the senior class trip to Florida we had to reach out several times to attain the required information from Dr Hibbs that is required when you're traveling 3 weeks before departure we were told that Dr Hibbs could not fly out with the 325 students and 23 other adults doing due to having to be at the wtps Board of Education meeting on March 19th due to the initial budget presentation we were then told that he would obtain his own travel arrangements and meet the rest of the group the next day we never received information the Thursday before we left for the class trip on March 14th we are informed he would no longer be joining us on the class trip no other communication was provided to the advisers no apologies nothing we felt a complete lack of respect for us as employees and the amount of work it takes to plan this kind of event in addition to the impeccable teaching that we provide to our classes which the three advisers are tested subjects we prepare our students for National touch tests such as SATs acts and accuplacer exams when planning events EV like the Junior and senior prom it could be comp compared to planning a wedding we sell tickets work with Administration to ensure that the students are eligible to attend organize seating charts work with student leaders choose themes vet per um um make sure we provide uh a budget to help pay for our vendors the night of the junior prom an hour and a half into the event we were informed that doctor hibs would be coming he never reached out to us never showed us the respect of our position and courtesy to see if he would be able to attend Dr hibb stayed for approximately an hour he did not even give us the the courtesy of saying goodbye senior prom was held on May 23rd and we were informed on May 20th 3 days before the event that Dr Hibbs would be in attendance now that we'd had advanced notice we felt it was important for him to have the full experience of the senior prom with over 520 students and he could be the greeter with Mr Anderson and Mr saves Dr Hibbs did not arrive at the designated chaperon time we were told by another person that he would be late that evening he did have the contact number of the senior prom coordinator but never contacted her the prom began at 6:30 and Dr hibs arrived around 9:00 I and another teacher were stationed at the exit stairs to ensure that no students left the prom without administrative and parent consent at the time of Dr hbs's arrival this teacher and I were resolving incidences with students who were feeling overwhelmed and anxious due to the evening we said hello we did not go into into detail of the um event that we had handled but that the teachers and administrators present had handled it he then left our company I remained at this post until the conclusion of the event at approximately 10 p.m. the students were permitted to leave the event we exchanged goodbyes as Dr Hibbs left with many of our students on May 29th I received an email from Dr hbs's secretary that he wanted to meet with me in his office Monday June 3rd at 8:00 a.m. and to bring Union representation when I replied to this email to ask for the subject of the meeting I was told that Dr hibs did not say when I spoken to my wtaa officers I found out that it was related into the manner in which I greeted Dr Hibbs when he arrived to the prom during my meeting with Dr Hibbs on June 3rd he raised his voice at me when I asked clarifying questions because of the length of his questions were very long and convoluted I felt intimidated I felt harassed when the same question was asked in I did not change my response which seemed to anger Dr HS he then proceeded to tell me how I should act and behave that whenever I am in his presence I should drop anything that I'm doing to greet him properly shake his hand and say hello with a positive attitude and tone in my voice with complete disregard for actually happening in my own life after this meeting I have been in Dr Hibbs company for various other class of 2024 school activities each time Dr hibs made a direct point to greet me while I was running around assisting my co-advisors to ensure that I stopped whatever I was doing to say hello each time I have been fearful that my greeting was not good enough and possibly receive another email that Dr hibs wants to meet again I am fearful the retaliation that can still be in store for me after speaking tonight that there could be changes in my teaching assignment and the fact that I had to reapply for my co-advisor position of this junior class advisor even though I have glowing up obervations in both my teaching and advisor positions and my principles have S my name to be added to the board agenda to be approved for the next meeting or could there be something else that I can't fathom I am still shocked at the formal meeting was called which implied that I would be disciplinary in nature that when he asked to speak with me because he felt I was rude to him at the initial greeting at the senior prom I ask you ladies and gentlemen of the board who do you think has been rude here who has been shown the lack of respect and I ask you ladies and gentlemen of word is this the person you would like running our district is this the kind of character of leader that is making Financial educational and policy development for our children and staff in Washington Township Public Schools thank you [Applause] can this close no hold on hold on okay um so let me start by saying and I I literally just said this that uh I'm not discuss HR matters so really guys come on please let him speak yep thank you so number one there is a complete process if anybody would ever like to put forth a full investigation there were other people in that room including Mr Anderson and Dr Nathan that will 100% speak to the truth of what happened in that room this is embarrassing not okay not okay yeah you help me stop this let's let's keep it down please until Dr hips is finished so first off the accusation of raising my voice or intimidation harassing people or in Anger that absolutely did not happen it absolutely did not [Music] happen canace Mor morz hi I'm canace morz sorry emotional um I'm a longtime resident of Washington Township a parent and a teacher here at Washington Township High School I wanted to come up and thank um all those in with Project Graduation from last night last night following graduation approximately 460 seniors participated in Project Graduation a free Event open to all graduating seniors the Project Graduation committee Works tirelessly all year to raise money to pay for this event that costs approximately $50,000 I would like to thank the various committee members and the executive board you put in thousands of hours to make sure the graduating seniors have one more opportunity to celebrate with their class this event is for the entire class yet the amount of people who volunteer is about 3% of the population of the students that are involved we need more people to ensure that this tradition from 1995 continues I would also like to thank the WT sspa despite the huge hit your union has taken you did not hesitate to donate $4,000 to purchase shirts for each graduate the chaperon the bus drivers in our Administration as well as for the wers that you had provided for all of those students who were intended thank you to Transportation the bus drivers Security Administration as well finally I would like to thank all the teachers who volunteered their time to stay up well past 5:00 a.m. this morning your unwavering commitment to the students at Washington Township High School was profound many of you also volunteered at graduation as well so not only did you wake up came to school at 7:10 didn't get much sleep he went right to graduation and went right into Project Graduation some of you have small children so I doubt you had much sleep I know I only had three hours before I was woken up but we were still there because we care about these kids we could not have pulled this off without you finally I would also like to thank or thank you um April renetti I had big shoes to fill and I appreciate your help and your mentorship finally I would also like to thank Di etour and Natalie Taylor for all of your help and guidance your amazing advisers who go above and beyond for the students at Washington Township High School um next I would also like to address the school board I understand the sacrifices that come with being a Schoolboard member you are unpaid and sometimes it can be a thankless job however when you ran you understood the time commitment you ran because you wanted to help the students of Washington Township however the way things are headed now are you helping the students do you have their best interest in mind many of you may not have grown up and spent your whole lives in Washington Township I have I remember a time when board members attended functions at each of the schools they were assigned schools and made it a point to attend events is that still a thing if so I would like to know how many events you have attended this year as a board member and not as a parent or a relative of a student if this doesn't take place anymore it should be brought back as this is integral and knowing what is going on in the schools we have several teachers who volunteer their time beyond the school day for dances award ceremonies and who sacrificed time with their families looking out at balarat and the senior Awards on Friday night it was shocking to see no school board members there in attendance although I did see a board member on Friday at the senior Awards as a parent I am a child of two former board members who made it a point to be present in the schools they were there for the students they sacrificed time away from their families because they knew the importance of these events I remember previous boards my mom sat on that although they may not have agreed they never lost sight of their purpose the children they did not have their own personal agenda my parents built relationships with the teachers the support staff the administration what relationships have you built we tell our students to think about their legacy what Legacy are you leaving [Applause] behind I I just want to clarify one small thing too um I I did definitely attend both proms which I'm I'm getting called out for um I definitely did communicate with the building principal um which honestly is is a typically normal thing and the second one that you're referring to not that I need to explain myself but my son played in a playoff game and I missed an absolute ton this year so I made it a priority to go watch my son which I would do in a heartbeat and I left and I went I went directly to to prom right from there so I literally just went home got my suit came right on and went to Atlantic City so that's that's why I was late to the senior prom it's because I was watching Dominic play lacrosse in the playoffs which I missed almost all of all year Laura regon hi good evening um to the board of education and dror hibs my name is Laura regon and I have been a teacher in the district for many years um I am a teacher of B school I was a second grade teacher for many years and then became a basic skills teacher in math I have been honored to work for five different principles in my career and everyone was amazing we were so fortunate to have the principal of Mrs juny Greer for about 10 years so when we heard that she was leaving our school last June many of us were extremely devastated we didn't know through the summer who was going to be our leader and then when we did finally find out Justin caros was also amazing as well um Mr Shan Gerson came to our school and from the day that he started our school he was a leader he made sure that the staff members felt that we were going to be supported and he cared about everything that each staff member felt as a person and our goals for our students at Bell School throughout the year he has been supportive to the students he's been supportive to the staff members and he cares about each and every one of us uh as like other schools BS is a family we are all family and he has made us part of his family like we have included him as part of our family I am here tonight actually my mother-in-law just passed away this morning so I'm a little bit nervous but I'm here tonight to stand up for Mr Sean Gerson um he had a heart act to file after Mrs Greer but he has done amazing and superb job as acting principal I'm asking that he be nominated to be the principal of my dear Belle school um and also he also besides Mrs career was because I'm a math teacher he loves math he um has business experience which I personally believe is important to be a teacher and he has also been extremely supportive in our first math program at Bell school and we've been number two in the state for the last few years so I'm asking you personally if you would consider Mr Gerson to be our principal thank you [Applause] Mark Lopez good evening my name is Mark Lopez and I'm a Spanish teacher at Orchard Valley Middle School I deliver this speech as a proud ass Association member in solidarity with my fellow Association members and leaders in a concerted effort to restore the lost jobs and children's programs I wish to approach this matter by speaking about family and how family members should treat each other the family that I wish to address is the Washington Township family I wish to share three examples of how some of our Administration family members have made decisions that have caused harm to the family some of these Administration family members are very new to the family While others have been a part of the family for many years the first example is the lack of transparency with regards to the disputed budget crisis on February 29th the state released its financial aid package to school districts and it was not until two months later on April 30th that the township family was put on alert of a supposed budget crisis why was Township family informed so late Cherry Hill notified its family on February 29th lenpy Regional March 1st Collingswood in Oakland March 8th had in Township March 26th these districts also created advocacy plans that included contacting state legislators and or busing people to Trenton to speak to advocate for funding for its family's children why didn't Township do the same for its family's children this is my fourth year in Township and up until April 30th of this year I have not heard of any looming budget crisis I believe that this is because there is no budget crisis instead I believe that the budget has been constructed to reflect the priorities of the District as set by the superintendent and is approved by the Board of Education the second lack of transparency and stakeholder participation is with regards to how the children's programs would be negatively impacted by this disputed budget crisis an example is the elimination of Elementary French and German and all of sixth grade World Language it was recently shared with me that an administrator said that eliminating World language in sixth grade will not have a negative impact because students will learn the content in seventh grade this statement is contrary to the research supported statement on page two of the online New Jersey state standards for World languages that states and I paraphrase the number of years spent studying a language and the frequency of instruction impact the level of proficiency acquired in the language the data showed that programs offering a minimum of 540 hours of articulated instruction in classes that meet at least three times a week throughout the Academic Year produce a majority of students who can speak at the novice High proficiency level or higher consequently The Establishment Andor maintenance of quality well articulated language programs at the elementary and middle school levels as required by the New Jersey administrative code is critical for building the capacity of high school students to achieve this novas high level of language proficiency required for graduation the third example is the lack of transparency and stakeholder participation with regards to the proposed new Middle School schedule Administration held an optional after school meeting for staff at each of the three middle schools to share the proposed new schedule that they created they handed out a sheet of paper for staff to read to themselves it was on this piece of paper that world language teachers finally and officially found out that French German and Spanish are to be eliminated for sixth grade that the art teacher found out that advanced art would no longer be a separate class and that all Middle School teachers found out that class periods would be reduced from 49 minutes to 45 minutes which would result in a loss of 84 hours for the year of all student required instruction in exchange for few student optional extra help opportunities during lunch and after school administration did not meet with staff before making changes to the children's programs or to the middle school schedule these changes were instead made in closed door administrative meetings this approach has caused the instructional staff family members to feel hurt disrespected and to not trust their administrative family members the good news is is that all of this is not Beyond repair when family members hurt each other they should own up to it with an apology and a corrective action this is the path forward for healing and I am publicly calling for administration and the Board of Education to follow this path thank you Mr Ross Miss Baker Senor satano and Mr Tomac for supporting children in your opposition to the budget Miss Deo I know you to be pro-child Miss Bloom I hear that you are pro children also Mr Lindsay I hear that you are pro labor and pro Union Mr Li Liberty I hear that you are pro transparency Miss Chilla I hear that you are anti-corruption what you are witnessing here are two labor unions uniting to fight for children transparency and against very questionable and concerning administrative decisions once again I State the Spanish proverbes tell me with whom you walk and I will tell you who you are I implored the district's Administration and the board of education to please start that path to Healing tonight do not delay thank you Mr yordi hold on one second Mr Yori please allow me to respond sir um first off I want to talk about the advocation piece which we absolutely did we actually and I we've said these conversations so we actually did we reached out immediately to have uh a meeting with our legislators and the conversation with our legislators which you can reach out and have the same conversation I encourage you to was that we were overfunded for years and that we never right sized the district that is straight out of Senator Mor 's mouth please reach out to him and have the conversation so we did because I reached out immediately to try to restore funding and I was told emphatically that there is no funding uh to restore so we absolutely did begin that advocacy process it's a little different from the other districts who were S2 districts that got hit harder on you know we were we actually received money this year as opposed to getting harder which is why that the Board of Education can't use the first part of Governor Murphy's Law they can only use the second part of Governor Murphy's law to use that money to to raise taxes so they're they're very different circumstances um but we did that advocacy right away but we were told very clearly in the very beginning parts of that conversation and I believe Mr Ross was in the room as was Mrs weter that we're overfunded and that this should not be a surprise to anyone those were not my words but what we had to hear emphatically so we did we did reach out to do that um you know I'll stop it there all right Greg all right uh Greg you and Ja research had no intention of coming up here and speaking tonight but I am going to as I said that night when we were meeting Mrs Baker Mr Serrano Mr Ross Chilla superintendent ba assistant ba and Mr Schneider that numbers don't lie and my partner Pete brought up Pete Vala and Jaa research brought up the fact that the only thing we have is our reputations so I opened up the night because I'm going to tell you exactly what happened opened up the night with the superintendent going out to every school to the faculty meetings and implying that Mr Randazzo and myself are not being truthful to the members of both unions here and that is a fact that's what I opened up with and the only comments we had at the end of the night Miss Chilla were that that you agreed with me that was wrong along with another administrator trashing me in public to where a board members in Pitman are coming to my defense on that next I talked about the fact finding I did for the Washington Township support with Mr uh Bob goldshmid as superintendent Mr Joe Bentley is the attorney and uh Peg me as the ba all the numbers I gave in that book which I had with me were all factual it's exactly what happened across the state those numbers are never disputed you let me go through my presentation because I made annotations on everything which you can also see at wc.org SL show-me-the-money it's right there that everything because as Dr Hibbs was saying our claims our claims our claims then when I was done we made the agreement that we were going to let both sides speak there were no questions because I believe the comment which was made and Mr randazzle can agree or Miss Baker Mr Serrano Mr Ross was that we are not disputing those numbers anymore and it's more of we have it but we would be uh Reckless if we were using that money Reckless and I can go back to the budgeted fund balance that's $ 11.5 million Peg me and when she was the ba she was able to live under 9 A5 million why does it have to be $2 million more unrestricted miscellaneous Revenue $3 million in the budget the audit shows $7.2 million the only thing I brought up that night that was new which I'm going to put on record right now is your total grants and entitlements 2324 you budgeted 7.4 million I missed it when we went through the audit actually shows you had 10.8 million or another $3.4 million more then you presented at the end of that we had questions we absolutely had questions and the main question was as Dr Hibbs opened the night and said we're down to 11 teaching staff members and 37 Paris Mr Valor asked the question well what's the total amount of all of that and the response was we don't know so when I go buy a car the first thing I look at it's the new car is the window sticker If I go buy a used car I'm going on Kelly Blue Book if I'm going to go buy a house I'm going to look at comps how do you not know the cost of that but eight days ago you told us you would get that number to us we're still waiting just like we're waiting on the health benefit information we have still not received that health benefit information but you are changing Health carriers and as my expert of health benefits Sarah favinger said there is going to be savings here not $2 million more not the $3 million you thought in salaries which we disprove to you off of your own information so I can stand here and say you don't need to raise taxes you need to tighten the belts and figure it out that's what you need to do we andja has never said you need to raise taxes it's about choices and as I said that night and you will all agree the choices of all the brand new tables and chairs in the board as Mr Randazzo brought up all the new desks for all the administrators sitting in the back there choices it's all about choices but I don't deal about feelings and insecurities I deal with facts and those are the facts so as we said I don't sit here and Bash people reputation uh Mr Lindsay as a union member I would hope that you would stand up for a Union with us and stand hand in hand cuz it is embarrassing that we are being trashed information is being given out to these members out here these good union members which is not factual and it's absolutely happening and that is what happened and that's the only discussion I had with you at the end of the night Mrs Chilla where you came up and you apologized to me and said that is not acceptable okay and I've went over five minutes and I did forget my watch tonight so I don't want to go any further so thank [Applause] you thank you Mr randz I have motion to close to the public Ralph Ralph before you close Ralph before you close I just like Mrs Jo so Mr yordi I apologized to you that you came to the table and you said there was someone that was speaking ill of you in your town you talked about your you being attacked and walking with your children in your town and you said that someone at the table was doing that and I said I'm sorry that that happened to you because it has certainly happened to me here and you can all be be upset but it happened to me and more importantly it's not really about me I'm an elected official and I'm going to sit here and you can say whatever you want because I'm a grown I'm a grown woman but in terms of children being attacked I understand that all right and so I apologize to you that that happened to you well I'm I'm going to continue to speak so I apologize that that happened to you because no one should be attacked and at any point it shouldn't be personal you're doing your job as an njaa rep and for you to be attacked for doing that job not fair and that's what I said to you cuz no one should be attacked correct that is absolutely so that's what I said because I meant it listen and I'm being I'm Excuse me a minute I'm being told that I'm all in a hostile environment and I'm I'm I'm getting wait a minute I'm getting this from not only from board members and I'm going to tell you as the president if somebody gets up to speak and say something I'm going to let him speak regardless of what some of my colleagues up here say because you have something concrete to say I'm not going to cut you short I would hope you stay with your five minutes but if you go over the five minutes I don't I'm not trying to create a hostile working environment or uh situation like I've just been accused of because I don't believe that you people are on the on the hook you got a right to say what you want I've been I've I've heard from people on the right I've heard from people on the left that to just let them say they five minutes and let's move I'm not I'm not doing that and if I get criticized for it by my colleagues so be it go ahead and talk okay so can I that's yeah I don't I don't I mean I don't know who's being hostile I'm just responding I think we're allowed to have a dialogue back and forth I don't think there's anything hostile about it I mean but but I would like to finish though but I would like to finish okay so my account of it and Janine feel free free to comment if you would like you had talked about the numbers and our numbers are our numbers 100% accurate we don't disagree on that but the numbers that you looked at at that given point in time were not accurate your number was accurate but it's like if I pay my electric bill let me just explain if you want to hear it's fine if not I won't if I pay my electric bill and it show knows that I have you know $100 in my account well if it hasn't been drawn down yet I still have the $100 but I really don't because I have my electric bill that's going to come out so Mr yordi Janine went back and forth and explained the numbers that you shared were not wrong no one's disparaging you I don't think at any point anyone did I'm not here to attack you and say you were wrong I'm saying that the extra money or the hidden money where you're saying there was Janine went and there's no vote of no confidence with Janine I believe you all have confidence in Janine as the ba you should and the CPA that's doing her job that said this is exactly where the money is she did that line for line I mean I'm just saying that was the meeting that I attended there was no attack it wasn't unprofessional but at the end of the meeting we disagreed and Mr randad you said the same thing we're going to agree to disagree on the philosophy of the way we budget going to into different help benefits and budgeting on hope hope that we get a few million that would be awesome but we have no way to know that because this the first year with that benefit program we don't know that yet so for us to budget differently without knowing there's no one in the room that was more qualified than Janine as a CPA and a business administrator in that room I did my homework on everyone in the room there wasn't so when our ba and our CPA is giving us the recommendation to say this is what I would advise because this is following the guidelines this is best practice this is the what we have to do that's the reason why we are in this situation in terms of trying to rebuild and trying to have a better strategy with the budget in one year there's no way we have a $7 million shortfall we do but we have to address it and that if you look back at other board meetings this was addressed in other board meetings by other boards by other superintendents about having a shortfall if we didn't begin to tighten the budget we had the county superintendent that set communication that said this is the best budget he's seen in 15 years we had our auditor look at it so when I make a decision I'm a taxpayer too I have well now I have one kid coming to the school I want to make the best decision that I possibly can as a taxpayer so I also don't want to have what happen this year happen next year so if we need to put positions back in the budget and we can do that with as many people as we can and being responsible then we should do that so next year they're in the budget that is the reason why this whole meeting when we talked about it I thought we were on a good footing in terms of where we were going in what direction and what's the responsible thing no one disagreed with me about raising taxes if that's necessary to save people and staff that we need to save no one disagreed at the table which is why Mr randu you asked me that hey speak into the mic when that if that happens and I am so I'm trying to dispel and say this extra money or hidden money in different lines of the budget isn't real money that we could touch we have about a million dollars in banked cap 2019 we had Mercury in our floors we had that was I think it was like 2.1 or 2.2 million that we took out of bank cap which was the right thing to do because it was not safe for kids not safe save for staff and we took it right out of bank bank cap cuz I asked those questions if that happened now we don't have that money to do it we don't we have $1 million if a boiler goes it's two million so those are just some of the decisions that I look at when I look at the budget I've looked at it several times but Mr yui there was no disparaging you and saying that you were saying something inaccurate it was just explained I never said that happened in the meeting never said that it was it happened at your faculty meetings out here and I'm sure people will shake their head yes it was verified by Mr tarashi sitting there at the table but I thought you were going the other way because I apologized to you in our conversation there at the end for where you were leading your conversation about what had happened yeah I just thought the meeting was respectful I didn't think there was anything I'm not here to sling mud I I think it was just explained when Janine went through it you were only you had the information that you had at that time time unfortunately it was just a timestamp in that moment you didn't have the benefit of the explanation of the where the money was going I was not alluding that you wrong so when the $3 million unrestricted miscellaneous Revenue this year comes out to be6 million then what what I'm gonna ask answer thank you um yeah I I just want to speak up as well I look we stand by how about now yeah yes okay um it's a this a horrible situation I don't know how to explain it any better um I think there's been lots of information presented lot and lots of research done on both sides um I myself I've looked it over right I'm not I'm a MBA no business I dug into it as much as I could and you know if there was more money frankly I'd put more money in in our cap Reserve as uh Carol was saying we got 1 million going into cap Reserve which is dangerously low so if there was more money anywhere you could see more going into your cap Reserve um you know nobody want I don't think anybody here wants to raise taxes but it's the thing that's under consideration because the only way we can see of potentially saying saving folks um you know might a number come in lower than what's budgeted maybe I hope to God it does because if it doesn't we're not going to be able to put any more money into the cap reserve and we're going to have some big problems next year too so this is not just about planning for this year it's about for next year um we're not even going to be able to take advantage of the rod grant money that we're getting from the state the 40% that they're going to match uh on our cap Reserve projects and we just can't keep neglecting the buildings this is is going to come in snowball so it's not like there hasn't been a lot of thought put into the budget and a lot of debate and and a lot of tough times but I think it's the best that we can do with what we've [Music] got um hang on y I'm just further explain it's on is that working okay I'm just going to further explain and maybe just go through all the points and just summarize what we talked at the meeting I think that would help um a lot of people so again um we're not disputing that the numbers were pulled from our documents it's just again there a snapshot in time and there was no consideration as far as some of the numbers were from 202 23 or the 2324 budget so then we further explained Where We Are right now um and then also just addressed the um tally of money that you know it is is is not available um so I'm going to just start with um the unanticipated Surplus that was just mentioned or the $3 million and I'm just going to give a just a quick recap of the different categories of fund balance we have so fund balance is created when you have unspent funds from your budget or if you receive Revenue over and above what you anticipated that goes into one pot at the end of the year and then it gets divvied up okay there's only a couple different places it can go one of them for us there's there's many different reserves that um school districts can use to save money we only use one of those and it's capital reserve so we try to take unspent money and put it in capital reserve and then we can use it in the future to support capital projects either in our budget which we've done the past several years and I'll explain that um some of it a small portion 2% of our operating expenses go into a category that's unassigned and what that is it's the recommended amount that you should keep for cash flow issues and emergencies for a district R size our budget is $170 million that's only 4.1 million that's all that is anything else we have over and above that is set aside and it has to be used to balance a future budget so we do rely on Surplus to balance the budget right now it's about 10 A5 million and I'll explain the uh 11 and a half million that um Mr Yi just referenced um in one of these bullet points so again there's just those categories there um the one C category that we talked about is the unassigned Surplus again that's the 2% that you would never want to use and you would want to keep for um emergencies and cash flow um again it's 4.1 million just to touch on the cash flow for a second what happens in schools number one all of our grants most of them we have to spend first and then request the money later so you can see where if you have large expenses that could be an issue if you if you don't have the revenue stream coming in also in June the state withholds our state aid payments they do not give us our June payment until July so obviously we struggle sometimes we have to map out our payrolls and our bills to make sure um we can pay everything that's coming due also in the summer as many of you know we're ordering supplies for the following school year we're trying to get capital projects done so our expenses tend to be a lot higher in the summer so that's just one good reason that again for our district it's just 4.1 million approximately that you would want to set aside um and okay so the unassigned Surplus first of all the the that number was used incorrectly a little bit because it's actually the unassigned balance that's it's projected it's not what we budgeted that's that's incorrect to use it that way um and then um we did have a revised budget of 7.2 million and in the document that we were given it said that it was 4.2 million more than what we expected so we were we had $4.2 million extra to close that hole that's not true because what wasn't mentioned in that document is that um $4.2 million was budgeted to support our 2425 budget you can clearly see that on um our budget document if anybody um happen to to get their hands on that out there so the 7.2 million 4.2 million we budgeted that leaves us with an estimated balance again this was pulled from the budget document of um I think it was just over $3 million so again that projection is lower than the unassigned $4.1 million that we should be keeping for emergencies and that's what's been happening in our district as S2 has come into play and we've had to cut our budget more and more we've cut a lot of things right so when you're cutting a lot of things at the end of the year you have less and less money left over so we have not been replenishing the money that we've set aside for emergencies set aside for capital projects and used to to balance the budget that's a dangerous spot to be in because not only would you be tapping into your emergency money but then the 10 a half million that we use to support each budget if we don't have that and let's say we close out the year we're a little bit short and we only have 9 a. half million you're already you already have to cut $1 million out of your budget and we try to keep ourselves out of that position so again just going back to the document um the $4.2 million that it was noted we could use we already used in 2425 and dropped below the balance that we really should be at um so that's that uh let's see um next is budgeted fund balance again I I mentioned this a little bit we used approximately 10 a half million um of our unspent money or again excess revenues so um again in this document it was pointed out that we were anticipating 11,496 th000 or 996 th000 more than the previous year that's true but what that money was in 2324 the state gave us an additional um 996 th000 in supplemental stabilization Aid and the way we had to account for that is in that budget we actually um had to amend our budget increase the budgeted fund balance and then appropriate those dollars so again that was another million dollars that was mentioned that we have and we do not have it because it was already budgeted in 2324 we had to use that money that way and that's why the budgeted fund balance went up it wasn't because we had this money sitting around um then I want to touch on um unrestricted miscellaneous Revenue so it was also pointed out that we could um I guess in a nutshell what this is saying is that we could be more aggressive in budgeting our Revenue so if we budget a certain and this is unanticipated revenue so that means we don't have a definite figure for state aid for taxes we know exactly what that number is going to be for unanticipated Revenue we have to project what that is based on a history you have to be careful about being too aggressive with that because just like I mentioned if we don't have the unspent funds if we budget to aggressively and anticipate that we're getting revenue and we never do that's a shortfall for the next budget year we have to be careful so while we do look at the trend and what our average is we also look at our current year information and make sure we're not being overly aggressive one of the um a big portion of of our um miscellaneous revenue is or or the excess Revenue receive is something called extraordinary Aid that's where um we can apply to the state for additional Aid to support uh cost of some of our special ed students we don't know what that number is going to be we're actually not even allowed to apply for it until the year is almost over and then we don't know what percentage while we may be able to estimate what the cost is we don't know what percentage the state is going to reimburse us and we don't know the full dollar amount until August the August after the year has closed so you can imagine it's you don't want to be you wouldn't want to be over aggressive in in there and then one other example that was used is tuition so our district does get some tuition Revenue um it's it's not something we can easily project because the only tuition Revenue we get are for special education students that come into one of our programs from another district and also um homeless students that can vary greatly from year to year so one of the things that would was pointed out in this document is that um we've been budgeting the past couple of years about $400,000 and our 10-year average is 650,000 um so again that was another example of where we could have budgeted $250,000 more more and had more money to spend however the number for 2324 that we're projecting is only about $434,000 so had I budgeted $650,000 that would have been a $250,000 whole into the next year um just one other thing I want to mention about um revenue and you know again not being overly aggressive if we were replenishing our fund balance because we had a ton of excess Revenue then I could see that point but the amount of money that we have at the end of the year that's excess is declining it's declining to the point where we cannot fund our capital projects in our own budget we have to rely on that savings and we're not even able to put money in that savings anymore so that's very risky and that money is not available and we cannot do it um state aid was also brought up um over again S2 we've been losing uh millions of dollars for for you know six or seven years now in the 2425 budget we did get we expected one more year of cuts in the category um in in one specific category we did not get cut in that category but we got additional money for um special education Aid so that number was also kind of reference that that money was available um to bring back staff that was a blessing that we got that money if we hadn't got it gotten it and we didn't have that Revenue to budget we would have had to cut that many more staff members um our Esser funds were also referenced um so and we talked about this several times erer money as everyone knows we've gotten a couple of different buckets of that um since just prior to covid each year we kind of like assess our needs and revise our budget as needed um you know in the beginning and the needs have changed so in the beginning we were using it for a lot of PPE then you know kids were coming back and the needs were a little bit different and then we got into academic recovery whatever the reason was each year we have to resubmit an application to the state and allocate how we're going to spend um the number that was referenced in the packet is simply the number that the state hasn't paid us yet but the way we structured our 2324 budget was to fully allocate every penny of that money and almost all of it is completely spent what's left that hasn't been spent are things that primarily we would wait until the end of the school year like benefits for example and make sure we had the actual actual cost of whoever was in that position we also have to um calculate a tpif reimbursement to the state that we don't even get that memo until J what is it July July or August and then we have to go back in so we have all that money allocated some of it we haven't drawn down which is the number that's being discussed furthermore even if we didn't allocate it as of June 30th you can only spend it through September 30th so to say that that money is available to bring back staff is is not correct it's already spent okay um grants and entitlements was also mentioned and there's mention of us budgeting a certain amount and then actually receiving a much higher amount that happens every single year and it happens to every school district some of our entitlement grants where we don't know what we're going to get until after the budget is done and we're only allowed to budget 85% of the current Year's allocation and then like I said we get the we get our allocation after the budget is done and then we amend our budget to include the the additional funds um another part of that is our preschool funds that has been mentioned that that's increasing it's not really fair to say that we're budgeting a certain amount then all of a sudden it's increasing it's increasing because we're expanding our classrooms we're servicing more kids and we get a certain dollar amount for each student all the entitlement grants are to be spent for a specific purpose so it's misleading to say we only budgeted x amount of dollars and then we got more yes that's true that's how grants work but you can only use them for specific things um I mentioned preschool I mentioned um there was also mention of um actual revenues over expenditures and although most of most of this was talking about how we had excess money this this kind of paragraph actually said that we were spending more than we were taking in um you know which was a little contradictory but it referenced three different uh quote unquote transfers that we were making and this was just um the accounting the way we have to account for specific transfers one of which is a transfer that we make every year and we have to budget in order to support the food service operations so our food services um the fees that they charge and bring in do not support the operations so our operating budget um helps fund um the Food Service uh uh uh Department in our budget and then that's that's the accounting of it so at the end of the year those funds are transferred over the other transfer that was referenced was a transfer for preschool again this is simply the accounting of it when we get the preschool funds it's accounted for in the grant fund our operating budget has to include the portion of preschool related to special education students so whether we got the grant or not that would be something that was in our budget then the state just again accounting wise we physically move that money over um you know to to the special Revenue fund and then finally a transfer for capital projects uh I just want to talk about this for a minute because again it's simply the accounting of us bringing money in to our capital reserve to fund projects so another thing that's concerning that we've been doing the past couple of years is when we draft our budget instead of you know we usually at least since I've been here have had like a million one and a half million in capital projects not even large things I'm talking about you know replacing individual HVAC units or cracked flooring and those types of things we got to the point with S2 where we were not able to fund those ourselves in the budget we had to bring money in from savings that's not a good Trend and now we're at the point where we're not replenishing that savings again not a good place to be in so the million dollar transfer that was referenced for capital projects was simply the accounting of bringing that money in through savings so we could do necessary projects that we really couldn't support in our budget um we talked a little bit about salary um budgets and scattergrams and um salary analysis where um and and and I guess what I can say there is the salaries we budget go year-to year so every year we take the current positions that we're funding then the person in that position and roll them forward with the appropriate raise or increase um we also look at sometimes there's differences from one year to the next because um a person retired and then we hired a new person our budget act um our district has always budgeted for breakage so we take our total salaries and reduce it because we know we're going to have breakage and that's a trend that the district has always done and have to do or else there would be more cuts um so that was it for the packet but I did just want to go back to a couple of the comments that were made um tonight uh I mentioned the supplemental stabilization Aid um I just wanted to reference the positions so and not knowing the dollar amount and just the explanation there and I know Dr hibs and and perhaps m Mr Sweeney will um comment on this also when we went to the meeting um the purpose of the meeting from our standpoint was to go through the packet that was developed by the njaa and made make sure that we clarified the numbers that were pulled and where we are at this point so again numbers being pulled from 23 2223 and 23 24 and where we are um I want to clarify because I think there's some confusion here we did didn't add any positions back to the in the budget when we opened up that meeting we talked about the fact that the certificated staff positions that started at 36 that were cut now we now are 10 only 10 that doesn't mean 10 people that doesn't mean we added back any positions but because of retirements resignations people transferring into different positions there's 10 certificated staff um you know people that were cut that still don't have a job um and when we were we were asked about the dollar amount that was changing in the process of changing every day as we were figuring out bumping so that wasn't a dollar amount that we had readily available it wasn't that we didn't care it wasn't because we didn't calculate it it was it was again a number that was changing daily and the point of the meeting wasn't to talk about that number it was to clarify um some of our numbers ERS um I did want to just mention the um health benefits um I received an email on March 15th and or I'm sorry May 15th with um some requests for information on May 18th I answered a majority of that request except for a health benefits scattergram that I was asked for as of May 15th that document has to be created from our HR department it's not information that we can readily pull it it does have to be created that took a little bit of time and I did provide that information in an email um on June 5th the morning of June 5th I did send that information so I wanted to make sure um I clarified that and then also at the meeting um somebody BR we were talking about health benefits and it was mentioned tonight that um we are moving into a health insurance fund which is basically a bunch of school districts that kind of pull their resources so you have better purchasing power and you do tend to get uh better um rates so when we La this current year were directly with aera health and we weren't happy with the increase we were being told we were going to have so after doing some shopping um going into this Health Insurance Fund did save us money but I want to clarify that when we were doing the budget we knew what that savings was going to be and we built our budget around the exact rates that we were given by the new health insurance fund so there are savings but they've already been accounted for in the budget so there's not excess money sitting there um there was also talk about um that one positive about another positive of the health insurance fund is that you can get dividends so again this is a pool of schools that kind of like own all the money so what happens is at the end of each year as all the claims are being paid the fund looks at what money they have so if they collect money from all of us as premiums but don't pay it out in claims they actually give the money back to us that's a wonderful thing and it's positive for our district and some districts our size do get back $1 to2 million and we're very hopeful that happens to but we won't know that until after well after the 2425 school year so that's not something that we could have worked into the budget so again it's a positive in the future that once if we know the number we would absolutely consider it in the budget but it's not something that's available um for for 2425 and I I want make sure you guys clarify the whole position conversation there's a big difference between positions that we eliminated and then the people that were affected um which is all a horrible a horrible budget so we started off with um 36 certificated staff positions that were eliminated they were always eliminated like Janine said that changed and and is it is lowering by the day when we had the meeting it was at 11: since that meeting we've we've saved another staff member to take it to 10 and we're going to continue to try to do that all the way through as much as we physically can to help our folks as far as the um the assistance that number was 55 uh I believe Mr Sweeny it's Whitted to 36 currently right and then we place held every position that we had to Kindle for our internal staff so that number could go all the way down to 23 and hopefully that will keep going lower as well but to me make the claim that you know look they found money it really didn't exist it's just that's outlandish we would never do that this you know you talk about where we were this is this is real if it wasn't real we wouldn't be doing it and you're going to see that we put Less in the maintenance Reserve in the capital reserve at the end of the year because we're already forecasting not even a million or a million-ish and then the amount of money we have from year to year has been diminishing year after year it's it's a real thing have a motion to close to the public move second second all those in favor I those opposed I committee reports HR Mrs Baker yep uh the HR committee met on Friday was a very short meeting three of three of the people had to leave in an hour uh present were uh Dr Hibbs Mr Sweeney Mrs Chilla Mr Ross Mr Serano myself uh we we talked about topics uh such as race notices grievance updates anticipated hires administrative position eliminations building and grounds job descriptions employee discipline and uh contract negotiations coming up with the supervisors and principles that's it thank you business committee Mr L liberty y just so everybody can hear me all right we met uh for business on Wednesday June 12th it was uh myself Mr Ross Mr Tom Zac M bloom uh Dr hibs Andor um items we talked to we talked to the status of the energy audit U we are waiting for all the draft reports to come in for all the locations the walkthroughs have all been completed so we're hoping that we'll have some good news from that soon uh just a reminder that's where we brought in this outside firm who looks at potential energy savings they're going to give us the reports and hopefully be able to identify uh some monies that we can take advantage of to um not only improve energy but uh hopefully some improvements to our building so that'll help us with uh future there of uh projects uh we talked through the budget discussion we did talk through the number in the meeting that was held with the NG njaa um we talked through dollars associated with different positions tax impact options we could do with taxes with uh the bank cap as well as the additional money we could take due to the recent um law passed by the governor um we also talked through timeline that we'd have to submit for Budget changes um and when that would be uh talk through some upcoming purchase items professionals with the auditor engineer legal and health benefits our annual lease bid talk through the bid for the windows which was part of the rod Grant which is a reminder we get 40% match from the state on that so um we got two bids those are being reviewed right now by the engineers and uh through some rfps that will be coming up for nursing Services Drug Testing Services some additional bids uh senior class trip Reid and and a few others related to Food Service talk to the health insurance renewal like uh M Ward said also discussed parent Square hopefully you've gotten emails about that that's a new system that's replacing Swift and um respond and uh ALS and remind sorry and we'll also generate a small amount of savings um and uh talk through St for Genesis for the transition to Genesis um and uh the annual report for chapter 47 which is a annual report you have to list all the contracts that we anticipate renewing and uh talk through some cap Reserve transfers and that was it thank you IIA committee Mrs Bloom uh we've talked about a lot of things with the two things that I'm going to talk about are summer testing of new students at all levels and we talked about who would be doing it um we will be voting on that tonight we talked about professional development opportunities this summer for our staff and how there's a new system that they can actually log in in RSVP online for the courses that they want to take and another new thing that's great for the staff is that it will keep track of the hours that you need to put in every year you won't have to be doing that anymore your on your submited at the the end of the year it will keep track for you that you get to your 20 hours with 100 hours necessary in five years that's all thank you no report from policy report of the superintendent I as ask for a motion and a second to approve the hi report as per policy 5512 second discussion roll call Mrs Bloom yes Mrs Chilla yes Mr Mayo yes Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serrano yes Mr Tomac yes Mrs Baker yes Mr Ross yes thank you um instructional Affairs no items policy no items Student Activities no items Human Resources ask for a motion to approve Human Resources items number 1 to 72 do you have discussion wait we wa do we uh get it approved yet okay so moved have a second have a second second okay discussion yeah I have a discussion item um I have a number six job descriptions uh I have a question on clarification ation as well as an observation um I just have to on the clarification for the teacher job description I just want to ask that uh where it says appropriate New Jersey teacher certification standard or eligibility um do teachers in the preschool have a certain certification for preschools Like Preschool to third grade like you have Elementary and secondary I just want to check on that pre they have to have a pre okay all right so that's just implicit in that we don't say it out loud but correct Bas there other options like so for people who are of my age you may have an N through eight like so the certification ages and spans have been renamed over time okay from the state okay just wanted to make sure because it wasn't like spelled out but it's implicit um when I looked at the when I looked at the website on the department of Ed Under the grant for preschool I noticed when I look at the supervisor certificate it clearly states a lot about having a background uh with prek or Elementary it's pretty it's pretty loaded there in terms of what you need to know about preschool when I look at the assistant principal job description description um I don't see anything listed there and and on the department's website under supervision and principal Administration it talks about the fact that they should have a background in preschool or Elementary and I noticed that on the assistant principal it just says a minimum of fiveyear successful teaching experience and Elementary preferred and I'm just wondering why this job description isn't pointing more directly to the fact that the person should be have an elementary background or a k to3 background in dealing with a preschool um thanks for the question we developed the job description that we felt was best for the district I'm just wondering that when you look at the when you look at the department of Ed they clearly point that out that that important but we you're saying then we felt it wasn't important so we we have various sites and locations that we're expanding to in preschool and we have enough coverage according to pea which is the preschool education Aid that of people overseeing the program that hold that certificate so we're fully certified we're really looking for coverage in terms of building so anybody who has building leadership experience would suffice thanks okay thank you any other questions roll call hang on I also have another another one 63 I'm sorry number 63 hold on a minute Mr Baker We got someone else Mr Li Liberty guide yeah I just had some retirements to recognize so we have uh Katherine L Monica with 25 years thank you very much Kimberly melet 14 years Charlotte basso 25 years and Kathleen jks eight years thank you very much your service thank you Mrs Baker at number 63 I just wanted to ask um it's an appointment for um a a p a person that would be called a relief teacher yeah a relief something what is that sure conrat you want to take that a relief teacher can everybody hear me great okay so a relief teacher is a position in pea uh it is because we don't have specials in preschool so we don't offer art music physical education Etc um but we do have to require teachers to have a prep so a relief teacher comes in and teaches a part of the curriculum uh which we've determined to be the gross motor component and that affords the teacher their contractual prep so the relief teacher is in essence um in teaching a part of the curriculum we make that part consistent so that that teacher become skilled in that area of the curriculum and then they uh basically are relief because they're providing prep for the teacher and we also have relief teacher assistance for the same purpose makes okay any other questions um I got just real quick I have a few things I have to abstain on uh due to my conflict with my teacher being a wife my wife being a teacher you know what I a roll call Mrs Chilla yes m Mayo yes Mr Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serano yes Mr Tomac obstain on 27 28 40 41 and 67 and yes to the rest Mrs Baker uh number six a no to the uh preschool assistant principal job description and yes to the rest Mrs Bloom yes Mr Ross Yes finance and Facilities can we give Sean a big hand he's in the back ER where's er sorry Eric back there too congrats guys Erica stand up real quick this is going to be the new principal of heri Erica wave hi Erica don't take this the wrong way Sean's GNA get more cheers than you Sean stand [Applause] up okay finance and Facilities ask for a motion to approve items number one so moved second discuss roll call Mrs Deo yes Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serrano yes Mr Tomac yes Mrs Baker yes Mrs Chilla yes Mrs Bloom yes Mr Ross Yes special education a motion to approve items number one to three moved second roll call Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serrano yes Mr Tomac yes Mrs Baker yes Mrs Bloom yes Mrs Chilla yes Mr de Mayo yes Mr Ross Yes negotiations no item at this time new business any new business nothing okay motion open to the public to any any item a motion so moov second all those in favor I I okay all right I have one card Rob [Applause] scardina this Rob Scardino Executive Vice President wtea I've been asked to read a joint statement for both the wtea and the wtssp Washington Township Education Association Washington Township Schools Support Services Personnel Association a joint resolution by the combined members of the associations whereas superintendent Eric hibs overall attitude and decision-making have negatively impacted the educational process and learning environment in Washington Township Public Schools since his arrival in May 2023 and whereas Eric Hibbs has done nothing in his position as educational leader to inspire or motivate the staff and whereas Eric hibs was has hired Sean Sweeney and Pamela Nathan who've taken steps to undermine our staff our students and our programs and whereas Sean Sweeney coordinated over 250 non-renewal notices being sent out to our staff via email during the middle of the workday during Teacher Appreciation Week endangering the welfare of our students including notices to every single classroom assistant in the district and whereas Pamela Nathan has lied about cuts to programs Staffing and the grading Coalition has overseen Cuts in music First in Math Elevate middle schools BSI instruction and the removal of tiered support and has announced little or no training in the new and upcoming curriculum and no training on the new teacher evaluation system and high school interventionalist were removed from the supplemental instruction with the students for 7 weeks to run State Testing and whereas for the 2024 2025 school budget as presented in the spring 2024 there was falsely claimed a $7 million budget shortfall which has led to at least 35 subsequent staff cuts which will increase class sizes and negatively impact student learning and whereas Eric hibs has spent money on new furniture and administrative buyouts while spending no money on library books in some buildings and no money for elementary science all while cutting staff and whereas Eric hibs has created an atmosphere of intimidation of staff and targeting individuals intimidating two National Honor Society advisers to resign micromanaging staff and inserting himself into the NHS appeals process against the national Charter and lowering the requirements for students to enter the National Honor Society thereby lowering student expectations and attempting to imidate intimidate two prom advisers to resign and micromanaging the high school theater program and whereas Eric hibs has violated the contract with the ass Neo iations and has resulted in Grievances and arbitration being filed against the district and whereas Eric tibs has engaged in anti-union activity and a sham non-renewal process to avoid contractual riff language violating the collective bargain bargaining laws of the state of New Jersey which in the process of an unfair Labor practice is being filed against the district and whereas Eric KB's lack of leadership and anti-union animous has negatively impacted the morale of teachers and educational support Personnel disrupted the learning environment of our students and created an overall diminishment in the quality of Education in Washington Township Public Schools and whereas Eric hibs has continually assassinates the character and credibility of the associations and its representatives and whereas Eric hibs has suggested a change in middle school schedule threatening adverse ramifications if it is not changed while ignoring the high school schedule's expiring negotiated terms and whereas Eric hibs perpetrates a negative climate through disingenuous appreciation emails including A Mother's Day email after overseeing a delivery of hundreds of non-renewal emails to staff and character characterizing the expansion of allowable sick time use for the staff is a strain on resources and whereas Eric hibs reduced the middle school student learning communities from 18 to 9 changed Elementary counselor's assignments to traveling and reducing their familiar contact with students and Chang the high school substitute teacher structure leaving multiple classes together in the main Performing Art Center with minimal supervision putting them at risk and also violating the district's own acceptable use policy for laptop computers and whereas Eric hibs has shown a severely lacking knowledge of the district as displayed by multiple board aducation meetings when questioned by the board and community and through a lack of communication between parents staff and the community and whereas Eric hibs has created a toxic atmosphere that has led student and staff morale to hit the lowest levels and whereas the previous three Board of Education meetings have seen hundreds of employees and community members in attendance speaking about all of those injustices therefore let it be now resolved that the Washington Township Education Association and the Washington Township Schools Support Services Personnel Association determined they have no confidence in the leadership of superintendent Eric Hibbs Human Resources Director Sean Sweeny or assistant superintendent Pamela Nathan [Applause] we're done is Jennifer George still here hi I met you Dr back in October we had a special ed meeting with the parents I think my biggest concern is Jennifer out of comp Jennifer Jennifer would you just mind one second because I can't would you mind you said we won't be out of compliance for next year but we most certainly are out of compliance this year there are plenty of children including my own that have gone with an aid you know my son left school early to find his bus he's legally blind and walked out into the parking lot with no Aid that is on your head going forward if you're going to keep cutting staff it's against the law you're not following the law we we sat we talked to you we cried you talked about how you like Township pride and how all the parents the kids rallied around the football players you're out of touch completely with our community because our special ed Community we're a family and we're going to fight for our kids no matter what cost no matter what cost and the thing is this whole board all I keep hearing is the risk the risk if we do this with the budget but I never hear one of you say the risk of what you're going to do when you cut all this staff to these children to children like mine and children like a lot of my friends so the risk the risk is on your head if we go to find out next year you're resourcing out you're cutting 15 minutes here cutting 15 minutes there you tell us to go and talk to a handle it with an nette well you guess what you cut her at her kneecaps by doing this she can't help us I'm so disappointed I thought maybe you would have listened listened to us but you didn't you didn't you cared about the football players and the railing around and the township Pride you left there with your little pad and you wrote down what you wrote down and the thing is I don't want to blame all this on you you probably walked into this big storm of someone who really did the budget very bad years and years over but you took the job you took the job and you know what one of the big questions I have is did anyone tell you the truth about the budget when you came in and you were hired because as they said Scott is about transparency were they transparent with you because maybe some of these parents wouldn't be so mad at you if you let us know you didn't know you didn't know how bad the budget is maybe hearing about the bleachers wouldn't tick so many people off maybe hearing about the bathrooms wouldn't tick so many people off but it does because there is no transparency here and it's our kids that are at risk risk not yours ours so what I'm asking for this board to do is to really think about it are you going to want to hear about next year the legally blind child getting hit by a bus because you didn't have an A think about it thank you thank you have a motion to close executive close public session all those in favor I I um I don't know if you want to go in executive session I think I have things to say but is the board all right go back into executive session I want to talk about what just happened I think we think Motion in order to go into ex motion to go back to go into executive session what are we going back in for I want to go into executive session to talk about what just happened need discussion on I think just you have to do more specific for purposes making a resolution and US understanding session discussion topic obviously and someone has to make a motion to exective session what I'd like to make a motion to go back into executive set executive to discuss Personnel second second all those in favor I'm going to resend my motion why can't you make Mo I want to go into executive session cuz CU I want to talk about what just happened you're right is that a reason to go into exective I have I'm going to resend I have to resend my motion all right make a motion to go in executive second all those in favor I opposed I am raise your hand if you're opposed please Carl second Steve all right going to Executive session come out there'll be nothing that we're voting on no action will be taken so you don't have to wait around for any action e