good evening everyone thank you for joining us for tonight's public forum on the shared services regionalization feasibility study which is being conducted for the school districts of Greenbrook Long Hill Warren wung and wung Hills my name is Bob Morrison I'm a member of the WatchOn Hills board and I'm chair of the shared services regionalization feasibility study committee tonight we will share information about this feasibility study including background goals time line potential outcomes and answer questions you may have some housekeeping for this evening's session first we're using a webinar format so attendees are muted um but if you have any questions you may use the Q&A feature found at the top of the screen and we'll attempt to answer most of the questions to the best of our ability we've created a dedicated web page at the watchong Hills website where we will house all of the information and documents regarding the study uh it's listed on our homepage and it's also under the Board of Education Tab and you'll see it right here where it says feasibility study on the website or again under the Board of Education tab uh this session is being recorded and will be available for replay the link will be on the watch on Hills web page I just mentioned tonight's session will feature presentations from Mark magar who leads the Rowan School regionalization Institute and is one of the authors of the new law that makes this study possible he will be joined by Warren's own cath B hel who is leading the study for us interesting Mr magar has been a fixture in the WatchOn Hills Community including having his children in the Long Hill schools and being active in the WatchOn Hills Soccer um Association as a soccer coach and Kathy was a member of the Warren k through eight Board of Education as well as a senior Field Services representative for the New Jersey school boards Association in addition her children came through our local public school system in addition to Kathy and Mark on the project team we also have Lucille Davy who is the former Commissioner of Education uh Ken green who is a professor at Columbia University and a former superintendent of schools and Brian falowski who's CEO ofo management and a former business administrator and I know Mark will have more comments about the other team members as well we've also established an advisory group of Representatives that come from each of the boards of education and Municipal councils from the communities that will oversee the project those members are from Wang we have Michael Burber who is the WatchOn Hills board president Manny Gonzalez the WatchOn uh president uh Muhammad F who is the Wong Board of Education uh mayor jubin from Wong and council president Christine Eid from WatchON as well representing Warren we have myself uh Heather tror tror who is a member of our WatchON Hills Board of Education uh Patricia Zan who is the president of the Warren Board of Ed along with Natalie fom who's also on the Warren Board of Ed as well as committeeman George lzo from the Warren Township committee representing lill we have Susan obber from the W watch on Hills Board of Education Anne Butler from The Long Hill Board and guy pereria who is the mayor of long hill representing Greenbrook we have Janine Potter from the watch on Hills board from Greenbrook and Deputy Mayor Jim Jim Ben scooter and then representing the administrations we have Dr Elizabeth JWT superintendent of WatchON Hills Mr Tim sty the business administrator at WatchON Hills Dr Julia Glazer who is the superintendent for WatchON and Karen Bishop Johnson Who is the business administrator for WatchON as well a complete list of everyone is on our website so I wanted to start this evening uh by providing some context conversations about shared services and regionalization have gone on for decades in our community with much speculation about the benefits or the downsides many of these discussions have been based on opinions and conjecture a feasibility study will determine whether there are any merits to shared services or regionalization and until recently the only way to find out is that the districts and the taxpayers would have to pay for the cost but recently the state of New Jersey created an incentive program for school districts to conduct feasibility studies regarding shared services and regionalization the main incentive is that the state is going to pay for it furthermore Governor Murphy signed into law a bill that removes a lot of the barriers that existed to even considering such ideas as shared services or regionalization now over the past three years watchong Hills working with our colleagues at the watchong buau Board of Education applied for a school regionalization efficiency program or what's the acronym estre to fund such a study for our community in late March of this year our application was approved and we received $135,000 Grant from the state to conduct the study we are discussing this evening now there are two main reasons for consideration of shared services or regionalization they are in priority order to identify increased educational benefits to our Stu for our students and to determine if there are Prof potential efficiencies that would benefit the taxpayers the feasibility study allows us to explore both of these items now to be clear this is not being done because of any specific need or any district is under Financial stress or of any failure academically we are fortunate to live in a community with high performing schools this study allows our districts to undergo a process that may unlock new knowledge and new opportunities to improve our schools for our students we serve through greater collaboration efficiencies and expanded educational opportunities for everyone so some final thoughts before I pass the Baton on to our project leaders first there's no predetermined outcome we have no idea what the study's results will be however we will have much more knowledge to share with the community about strengthening our educational programs at the end second the study does not obligate any of the participating school districts to do anything other than cooperate with the study we all support the collaboration required to conduct this study since the state is willing to pay for it and conducting the study does not automatically lead to regionalization it provides districts with information on the benefits and potential draw drawbacks of shared services and collaboration up to and including full regionalization the study will provide our districts with items like demographic studies shared services considerations and other efficiencies that prior to now districts would have to pay for themselves and as a board of education member we do not even have the authority to decide to Regional regionalize any decision about regionalization will be made as it should be by a vote of the taxpayers and lastly the benefits of the study may include benefits to the taxpayers potential benefits including Health Care savings special services administrative cost savings facilities managements and efficiencies that may occur when several districts work together information we can only uncover through the implementation of a feasibility study and most importantly and this is why we have a former Commissioner of education on our team the benefits of any shared services or regionalization should include improvements to the education quality for our students a feasibility study will help everyone understand what those improvements may be now as most of you know all to well we spent a lot of money on our uh property taxes uh and as a result it's important to understand where those taxes actually go and so I just wanted to share with you real briefly that 18% of your property tax bill goes to the county of uh where we reside and 177% goes to support the municipality operations the the rest of it 65% that goes to K12 funding and as duly elected representatives of our communities we have a responsibility indeed an obligation to explore all avenues that could improve education for our students and to be the good stewards of the hard-earned taxpayer dollars we're responsible for managing and that's precisely what we are doing through this project now it's my pleasure to turn the program over to the man who made all of this possible Mr Mark magar who is the head of the Rowan School regionalization Institute Mark take it away thank uh thank you very much Bob um the the state of New Jersey can flip to the next Slide the uh the uh the state of New Jersey has like always had a leap grant program going back going about going back about 15 years uh leap grants were uh used by counties and municipalities occasional occasionally as school districts to conduct studies on on a shared on I shared services the uh a consolidation for example the the mors county jail with uh with uh uh Sussex where where the uh uh county is sharing uh jail space was a studied through a leap Grant study um on New on New on New Jersey with New Jersey with like over 570 school districts um any state you can drive vend in a two and a half hours um did I did not do any school regionalizations I speak of of for for about a a 30-year period because the the old school of regionalization law really should have been aimed the uh law to prevent school regionalization it was it was something that required uh uh contain no protections for uh uh teachers teachers and staff if if a if a school district regionalized the estate the State education commissioner appointed appointed appointed an interim board there are all sorts of U uh our restrictions I I could actually actually regionalize uh in 2013 the the souund school district regionalized we have recognized that we we needed to change the law and we needed to provide grants that would uh that would um provide for uh for a for studies of like of like how to do regionalization and or how to H how to improve shareed Services uh uh to provide provide educational educational educational improvements one of the key impetuses for this was a belief that a a coordinated K through 12 uh curriculum is a a good good for students there were also districts in the state which is not the case here in a it in the Aang Wang Hills district there were the districts in the state that were just too us small to uh continue and we felt we needed to provide funding to uh to enable them to look at look at our regionalization we we spent about a two years working on the legislation it when it went through it it went through unanimously with a Democratic and Republican support the Democratic and Republican sponsors and with um uh uh and with a full input from the school boards Association Jersey Education Association every conceivable education group uh got to a comment on the a comment on the legislation and agreed that this was the best way to move uh forward um so so from that standpoint we uh created as a a part of the as part of the um as part of the legislation we expanded the existing a a leap grant program which was already providing grants to some school districts for a regionalization and or shared services studies to create the create a create a 100% state state funded state funded regionalization and uh and assured Services Grants theorization efficiency program um in the uh view of State officials it it is not only it it it is not only the recommendations that are are pursued but that we will learn a lot as we do the studies there are there are a specific re requirements under the under the law for these uh studies first of all um we had always felt that we had needed to uh put Education First the real focus is on enrichment of like educational programs for us for students and looking at looking at how we can provide a curriculum better uh curriculum uh uh coordination uh one of the one of the advantages of a larger uh larger districts is H it is it is the ability to assure Services the studies provide districts with a free studies of uh of their current and and and projected uh staffing needs and our costs t look at uh takes look at the salaries and a terms of a condition under the various uh various collective bargaining agreements that are in place throughout the districts one of the most important things that it provides for a school districts is a free uh uh demographic study uh uh uh looks looks at enrollment a Trends a demographic changes in the student population projected changes in class size the ability of um uh uh what is the uh uh what is the uh capacity and Facilities to uh handle I do handle demographic changes this is this is more and more important as that new as that New Jersey's been at taken a leadership role on on a national level in the expansion expansion of uh preschool um also requires stud also requires us to do projections of a state aid and uh a state aid for a five years out a tax revenue up uh projections we look at cost sharing methods of apportionment and and a potential cost savings or like increases allocation of existing school at thatb as I mentioned earlier a facility a facility utilization um if regionalization goes forward if at some point the district decides to pursue our regionalization we U uh put together regionalization options for a for a governance and for um and for cost sharing it be considered by the uh uh by the uh by the advisory committee and by the and by voters it's a um uh it provides us with uh it'll provide the district with h various options and we have provideed a menu a menu of options in the S studies uh the srf recommendations are themselves they're are are a comprehensive we are uh provide a range a range of uh recommendations that can be looked at in a whole or in part you could be looking at at a regionalization you could be looking at a ways to share a particular services or to or do a regionalized services such as a a special education uh there there are various there are various options that are be reports and we also look like educational educational educational improvements and efficiencies one of the things is that uh the a watchong Hills School District obviously and it's uh and it's a member districts warrren Long Hill Greenbrook and and aung are are are good high achieving districts that being said that being said having a a fresh look a fresh look at from the outside is always is like always is like always helpful and we have a a a pretty good team to do it the other thing that's important important to recognize one of the things that Bob talked about earlier in the meeting was the broadly a representative ad advisory committee that is being a put together uh the the advisory committee works works with us over the over the months ahead to i' help us uh shape the studies and and to decide where to focus also I mean there are there are districts that we have worked in where where the board members have said look we just don't we just don't think the way we have a a special education organized is the best way of uh doing it you provide us real love recommendations on us on a special education reorganization and and that District that has becoming one of our our major focuses the other thing is that this is going to be a a very a public process this is the first U uh a first video uh town hall meeting uh we want to get ideas from the public from uh from our parents um uh uh uh whoever uh kids in school from teachers on on what we should be looking at um and then finally just to put us in a perspective on on um on the uh program uh within a year after the passage of the bill a voters in Henry Hudson Atlantic Highlands and and Highlands I created the first new a coordinated uh a pre pre2 a school district in the state in in a couple decades uh it was a first school regionalization of like any kind in 10 years um Henry Hudson L Highlands and and Highlands are very different from watch Young Hills uh One S SI is not fit all on these studies alog together the AA District have us have a 750 of students which would be smaller than than a than a green BR but it uh but it provided it provided real option provided a real option that that a voters in those towns felt felt that made sense other districts we are working in may have choose to just like Implement a specific shared of services recommendations as part of any regionalization study we have provide a recommendation sitting a wide range of like educational areas and uh and the district may decide to and move forward just on a couple of specific recommendations um just to put it in a perspective with our group um Kathy helaa were lucky to have Kathy who's a a former Warren Warren school board member who who knows your knows your town and knows your District I know your athletic fields from like having a a coached in the watchong Hills Soccer Association on uh but but uh but again we uh we know the area can agree a former superintendent up in Newton and a professor at Columbia will be working directly on the study Lucille Davy the former former education commission will be doing the uh the illegal in governance section Brian fosi will be uh I will be working on the finance section and a Georgia sundell will be doing the demographic study but but one of our advantages is we have put together the Roman School regionalization Institute most studies before passage of of the legislation were were being done by uh by attorneys and by our law firms we wanted to put together a a group out of the Roman College of like education that that uh that would clearly put education for first and uh bring together a top education uh uh professionals to uh conduct these studies um I would like to I will answer a questions questions at the end obviously but I'd like to turn over to Kathy helaa from our team to uh talk about the study uh process thank you very well thank you so much Mark and it is a delight to be with you all this evening and to sort of kick off what we're about to do which is a marathon it's not a Sprint but it's a very exciting process um because really what we're looking at here um in in my hometown and our surrounding towns is all about optimization and making what is already um certainly in surely in your op in your um opinion and mine as well what is already an excellent educational product and seeing where else we could possibly go with it and this legislation and this process gives us an Avenue for that so it's really my joy to be able to serve um my former Board of Education and my town and our surrounding towns and the district where my daughters went to school in this way and to see what possibilities await um but again I do want to continue to emphasize what Bob and what Mark have also emphasized and that that this is um this is just an exploration of what is possible we're not the decision makers here that belongs to your constituents to your voters so along the way I think it's going to be a pretty interesting and enlightening journey and I'm very pleased to be a part of it i' just like to take a few moments in the next few slides to explain to you the areas that our group will be examining um there are four domains so I'll walk you through them um and again as Mark mentioned we can take questions at the end um but in this domain where we examine governance and law uh we will be looking at constitutional statutory and case law to see you know what to be clear on what we can do and why um we'll also be looking at the election process and Board of Education composition uh we'll examine the number of board members um and the compositions of your current Boards of education and also what um if regionalization turns out to be the option that you go for what that board might look like um you know what the apportionment will be as far as how the towns will be represented in the projected abortion um we'll also take a dive into the qac status of the of the districts in the cluster um cusac is the New Jersey quality single accountability Continuum and it's the method by which the state of New Jersey determines whether or not your districts are high performing I think we'll see some pretty um affirmative results in this area no surprises here but but important to examine and we will also look at what you are telling us stakeholder input is going to be a really robust part of this process um this tonight is just our first step but you can expect to have student and parent survey data we will be interviewing stakeholders in all of the districts we'll be holding focus groups we will be doing a lot of listening and a lot of recording uh recording as in you know taking things down noting it for the study and putting those results out for the boards for your constituents to all examine about what those Trends are in student and parent opinion and concerns and what your educational professionals experiences are and what their observations are that can help to guide us in our study and to help you all determine what the best decision will be for your students so that's unique to every district and I'm really looking forward to hearing what that's going to turn out in this particular study going forward okay we'll also look at transition and implementation features um for the various scenarios that our survey will that our study will uncover um our second um and also other political and legal issues that may arise and concerns that we need to be Avail aware of um those are different for every study so we'll look forward to seeing what comes to the Forefront on that um our second domain is demography also mentioned um in his remarks that we will be doing a demographics report so you can expect to see Community profiles in here an overview of your community populations and distinguishing characteristics of those populations and just a general context um and birth data um if you've seen a demographic study you're probably familiar with this we'll also be looking at housing starts current and approved developments which certainly will be interesting in this particular area I real iiz that we will also look at enrollment history Trends over time impact of choice and Charter enrollments um we don't have charter schools in our footprint but we do have choice schools um and also Charters um you know don't necessar do not necessarily have to be within the footprint to attract enrollments from other districts so we'll be looking at that uh we'll also be looking at enrollar projections which of course is a Hallmark of any solid demographer study um and racial impact and other disaggregated enrollment impacts all part of what we're going to be doing for you our next domain is education and program um this is really um the heart of the study so we will be doing a deep dive into the profiles of all of the school districts in the cluster we'll be looking at your configurations the number of schools um the um the grade levels in in each School the locations and your existing send receive Regional relationships we will also be looking at curriculum and instruction we are excited to examine such a high quality array of offerings in these districts we will be doing research we will be talking to stakeholders and educational professionals and doing deep dives into what might be potential improvements in curriculum coordination potential enrichment M of educational programs subjects and course offerings what might be opportunities for optimal class sizes and structures and schedules for each of the core subjects so again this is going to be a pretty comprehensive report and a substantial amount of work will be done on that but we'll also be doing as part of of our study looking at assessment results um that includes standardized assessment data student growth data internal assessments um our graduation rates and our postsecondary rates also Dropout rates um we will look at also School culture and climate uh part of that is chronic absenteeism and discipline rates also of of great interest to us and we'll also be looking at the programs for our most vulnerable students among us our special education students um our intervention and referral services commonly known as inrs and our response to intervention structure in each of the districts which is commonly known as RTI we'll also be examining the experience of our English language Learners um those are called elll students in in the jargon um and other unique programs to each of your districts how you serve your students we'll also look at extracurricular activities that's a huge part of the learning experience and the educational experience in our cluster so we'll be looking at what each District offers what students can partake in those offerings and the timing of them so that'll be a pretty robust part of the study as well and we will also be looking at Staffing which is crucial so we'll look at school staff information of course we mentioned we'll be taking input from school staff and we'll be looking at projective needs administrative structures District level personnel and professional development we'll also look at facilities like your libraries technology access and the length of the school day so those are some other things that will be examined under education and program a pretty comprehensive look um finance and operations of course we've mentioned that that as responsible stewards of the school districts you need to know where there could be potential savings so we will be looking at state aid and local tax levies state aid projections and Trends choice and Charter impact which I spoke about earlier um but this time from the financial side local tax projections and Trends cost sharing opportunities apportionment methods equalized valuations and enrollments we will also be looking at operating expenses very closely the budgetary costs and peer ranks potential cost savings and increases for each of the districts we will also be looking at debt allocation and your borrowing margin we will be looking at collective bargaining agreements for all of the districts we will be looking at shared services this may yield some fruit here we will examine what's going on now and what might you know what might be a good um arrangement for you in whatever areas of study uncovers of your proposed Regional districts and we will also be looking at contracted services so we'll look at student seat time which means the travel time that students are actually sitting in the bus right and the distance that they'll be traveling and and what potential cost savings might we expect in transportation under the different um structures that we'll be examining we'll look at Food Service and we'll look at other contractors Services too such as custodial and maintenance and things of that nature we'll also of course be looking at tuition um we'll be looking at tuition rates tuition cost and adjustments as well and reserves in tuition and maintenance and capital reserves as well and facility utilization our NE and our next steps of the study of of the of the process um so you can know what to expect as we go through this together because this really is a commu uh something of great interest to the community and we'll have a fair amount of community involvement we couldn't do it any other way um we are looking at a timeline beginning this month that will go through April or June of next year um and so and the first steps is to develop a an outline of the proposed study with the steering committee that Bob identified at the beginning of our time together um everyone from our partner districts will be working with us we will also be let's see Bob you have a oh yep again one that is something that we keep coming back to that's really important is that we will be communicating communicating communicating we'll be communicating about our progress during the process and we will be gathering input we'll be starting over the summer with this um and we expect robust participation and we have uh we are ready to listen and we are ready to record and to digest we are also looking to gather data relevant to the study from that's already existing from public sources and District records we'll be doing site visits to your school and to your District so that will be ongoing and we will also be as mentioned producing governance legal and demographic analyses we will also as just mentioned be producing educational and programmatic and financial and operational analyses and as a result of all of that work ultimately our group will make recommendations based on the analyses and we'll review a draft with the steering committee prior to publication and produce a final document that will tie all of this work up into a systematic and easy to understand report for our constituents and we will present those findings to the public and assist you in pres implanting the next steps but again we are a resource for you we are not the decision makers we're just very pleased to be able to Shepherd you through this process and to work on it as diligently as we plan to do we can go to the next slide I think that kind of does it for us yes so we are going to open up um our uh rest of our time together for questions from the group you can use the Q&A feature in which was probably located towards the top of your screen I don't see any questions in the Q&A location just now but if anyone has any questions that they would like to pose to myself and Mark and our group and Bob by all means please do we're also available to answer your questions that come up after you've watched this presentation or as you talk about this with your uh with your colleagues with your friends with people people in town and if there's something that you need to know you will find that information on the website that is right here um which is located on the wung Hills Regional School District page I believe other districts will have a link to this page this Landing site will have frequently asked questions there and you'll also have information as we progress uh progress through the study about what our steps are that we are currently undertaking and what we anticipate to be undertaking um in the near future and over the long call we'll also have a video of tonight's session so you can replay it and again if that generates questions that you would like to um to ask us by all means use the email on the bottom Boe whrhs.org and those questions will be given to our group and we will uh do our best to provide robust answers to them I'm wondering if yeah and if you're if you're bashful about putting something into the Q&A uh you can raise your hand and we'll unmute you and you can ask your question that way so we've got a great attendance here and I know that there are no not too many Wallflowers attending this evening so please if you have any questions whatsoever uh no question is is unimportant we want to make sure that uh anything that you have that either we answer the question for you or that we get the information and share it with you after the fact so Bob your instin a couple in there now yeah we do have some questions so Bob you're you're antennas are working great um I will read them aloud because I know Bob you can't see them from from uh your Viewpoint um but our first question is um directed to the group how many of these studies is Rowan working on right now or maybe do you know how many of them are being done in general right now in New Jersey I think that's a question that Mr magar can answer both of those items sure uh uh there have been there have been a number of studies that have been U that are being done throughout the state the uh the Henry Hudson regionalization was uh done as a uh was uh uh done I was done following a elap grad funded study the the arone squiring ation Institute this is our fourth us study that is currently on that'll currently be underway we are just finishing up a a study with Dy Regional down in Gloucester County we are um we're also working with a a a a badier and it's a beler which is a k through 12 up in up in Warren County and uh uh uh three of its ascending uh districts we also have a study underway with Sterling Regional in a Camden County which is a a little bit like watch Young Hills in the sense it's a a 9 through 12 uh Regional High School with um actually with five school districts that that uh that sent with uh four of which are k through eight and then there's a k through that send it seventh and eth graders to on one of the other K through 8s um we expect um we expect the state to approve uh studies for H Central Regional down in Ocean County and with um and with uh and with uh walkill Regional up in up in our Sussex um one of the things be because I was because I was involved in developing the developing the legislation I've been a meeting on an ongoing basis with uh school districts around the state as they consider whether whether to move forward on on a regionalization and uh quite often as in as in the case here this has been a discussion that's been underway in watch Young Regional for for several years many of these studies I develop um over p a couple years before before before a a towns in districts that decide to move let's move forward on them I would expect that by next year there'll probably be about eight or 10 studies underway involving uh 20 some school districts maybe 30 of school districts around the state and Mark if I might kind of piggy back to that question I I think and I don't mean to put words in your mouth but I think it's fair to say that since the legislation has been passed as you mentioned these studies are really picking up um and I noticed that our group and I think that that really speaks a lot to your expertise and the expertise of our team that we're getting more and more requests to look into this um and I think what's really beautiful about working with this group is that we're all you know we're all immersed in public education and in student achievement and that's our lens so um I think that that's also an attractive uh feature for school districts and and just the fact that you know you can get um such a deep dive into this type of research um that really doesn't that doesn't have the the price tag attached to it that without the legislation I think it would be rather prohibitive for a lot of districts is am I getting that right yes absolutely you know and just one quick followup uh uh uh Kathy Kathy is the lead investigator on this study she is only doing this uh this study as a as a lead investigator one of the things we do have the we do have the advantage that that we can rely on the on the expertise across our entire team but uh uh but we but one person is the uh is the elite on each study and we do not uh uh stretch our our team thin by having them do a more than one generally yeah yeah um and that kind of leads beautifully right into um our a second question that was posed which is do we have a timeline or a schedule for the study um so again uh this is look we're we are not looking to get things done in a hurry this has been a long time coming so our aim is to get this done right for this District um and with that being said uh we're beginning in in this month we're going to be spending most of the summer um making appointments talking to stakeholders um and also uh we're looking at um a an ending uh if you can call it an ending date of of of April 2025 I believe Mark do I have that um and Bob that that sounds like a reasonable timetable for us to deliver the finished product so that you can really discuss it with your boards and and determine what you're you know what the results of the study will will look like for for the people who live in the Wang Hills Regional School cluster yeah I think that I think it's fair to say that that the uh the process itself will probably culminate sometime within the second quarter of 2025 so that's why it's that April to June time frame April May June um but again as Kathy said uh we want to be thorough uh we don't this is not about being fast this is about being right uh so we're going to make sure we take the time to get the information the proper information share it with all the districts uh and you know that said as we're moving through the process as as different information begins to reveal itself uh that information will be shared with uh the folks on the study team um and that could you know certainly influence some of the thinking as far as budget preparation uh in in future years but as as far as the big you know final result of this work it's really going to be the second quarter of 2025 that April to June time frame okay good all right other questions yeah I don't see any other questions right now um we'll give everyone another minute or so yeah our last question was the timeline one that was posed about seven minutes ago um I think you know but again uh this is really you know we do appreciate and and thank you so much Bob and watch Young Hills for making this online Forum available for everyone I think it's really convenient I think that the option for replay is a is a beautiful feature and and I would urge all of us who are on the call tonight to share this with interested constituents with your neighbors who uh you know who want to know what this means um we're really looking again but keep the word optimization in mind we're looking at excellence in education here that's the driving force behind this um and that landing page on the website will be a really good place for you to become familiar with because the steps of the study and our timeline will as it takes as it as it formulates will be accessible to you over there so if you don't have questions this evening it's certainly you know again this is not a oneand done this is an ongoing process I live in town I'm your neighbor I want to hear what you have to say I want to engage with these conversations with you and with my team so um by all means if you please don't feel that if you don't have a question this evening that the door has been closed it is it is open it will remain open this is uh this is going to be an exciting and very um and very participatory process great thank you Kathy thank you Mark and again a uh replay will be posted on the website of tonight's session uh it probably be up in the next 24 hours or so uh the website URL is up on your screen there it's uh under the Board of Education TCH but it is also has a button right there on the main homepage you can see right there on the left hand side and if you have any questions whatsoever concerns ideas thoughts you can also use the email address VOE whrhs.org uh and send us your question that that mailbox is monitored and you will get a prompt reply we'll probably forward your question to the appropriate party to answer it um but we uh we will certainly get uh get back to you very quickly uh looks like we have one more question we do thank you so much Bob yes a participant who dropped off uh momentarily but was able to get the question in before we close for the evening um and that question is whatever the outcome of the process might be what could the timeline be for implementation so I think that's um you know it just it it I think it depends right so there's going to be a lot of information that we have you know shared services um you know those things can begin to be implemented depending on their complexity you know they could be they could start being implemented right away once the boards you know agree that that's a direction that they want to go in together so then it's a matter of then figuring out what's the timeline and to do that what is involved you know some things are going to be simpler than others so say for example um if there was a desire to uh regionalize just special education right so that all of the districts are collaborating on a single special education uh program together you know that would take some time to research and collaborate and and to put the structures in place uh if it's something like uh Transportation doing something around shared services around transportation that may be a little simpler uh to to do so it just depends on you know what the recommendation is what the boards decide that they want to do and then how they want to move forward you know if it is something regarding you know regionalization itself that has to be done by a vote by the public so that has to go out to the public as a referendum uh and that would you know the timing on that would come out you know again I think um if that's the direction you know folks are heading um we would know more about that you know as as we get get toward the end of the process uh with the the final U the final reports and presentations so you know some of the the easy stuff could be done right away the harder stuff is going to take a little bit more time and if there is a recommendation to go to the public on full regionalization that would require a vote by the public thank you very much Bob and and um as we do uh we did a lot until a a few more minutes on this we do have a participant who has has their hand raised um okay yeah so so I can I can uh I see that's uh let me disable the microphone did that work are you able to Anthony can you try to unmute the person with their hand raised yes it's uh there you go she could she could speak now thank you I think this is this is our uh our bu president from WatchON CHR there I apologize can you hear me yes okay I'm so sorry thank you so very much I appreciate um all of your time and and all this information I'm just curious um are all the sending districts up to date on all of their payments for their current enrollment of students and how does that affect um how the school operates and moving forward with a lot of the different decisions that are going to be discussed and considered well as far as I know everybody is up to date on payments um but if there's something more specific we can we can certainly have a a sidebar conversation about that but I think you know the you know I think all of our districts are updated on their payments okay um further follow-up question or questions from our participants this evening I think we might have something I see something that says new posts um uh we received a thank you for the answer on the timeline for implementation and a followup um let just notes so could so this could be ye so it says so this could be years out into the 2030s into the year 2030 if broader if the rec recommendations are broader reaching yeah I don't necessarily think that they would be that far out again if we're talking 2025 you know if we were going to regionalize I mean if if we were going to regionalize something like special education services um that would probably take a year of planning before they then work toward implementation so we're you know we're talking a few years we're not talking five years um I think the harder things will take a year or two uh the simpler things the people will be able to implement right away uh I I think the at the end of the day it'll be dependent upon what the study itself reveals and then based on that what the districts look at and and determine that they want to collaborate on or not collaborate on or you know which direction they want to go which is you know again this is going to be a very organic and iterative process there's no preconceived outcomes uh we are going we're going to go where the information takes us and we're going to bring that information back to the public and that can then inform all of our discussions on on how we can look to further enhance improve uh and uh increase the the educational um uh quality and programs that we're providing for all of our students across all of our districts well said thank you wonder if there anything else questions I don't see any um Mark are are you seeing any on your end no uh that's it at this point I don't see any other other hands raised or anything new in the uh Q&A um uh uh thank you very much this is a as we said this is the this is the first stage in uh Gathering up a public input and and uh and laying out the uh uh process and um it's not the it's not the end there will be other there'll be there'll be other forms there'll be other in a of of person at and or virtual Town Halls so this is uh it's important to get ideas it's important it's important to uh get ideas and each of these studies I earlier about U with a question earlier on the number of studies the uh studies are different based upon what the perspectives of the community are communities are and what the perceived needs are and that reshapes that shapes what our studies look like so thank you very much great well Mark thank you Kathy thank you we're so excited to be working with you and and your entire team uh on this project together we're really really grateful for your time this evening we want to thank all of you that are here uh as well as all of you that will be watching this uh on on the recording again video replay will be available on the website the website link is uh at the Watchung Hills uh website uh at the feasibility study button or under the Board of Education page and if you have any questions whatsoever you can email Boe whrhs.org I want to thank you all for joining us this evening and hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend and enjoy your summer as well thank you thank you very much