and I'm going to just read a statement in accordance with the provisions of the open public meetings Act njsa 10 colon 4-6 PL 1975 c231 S1 amended 2006 the Board of Education of Asbury Park has provided adequate notice of this meeting by sending a notice of the time date location and to the extent known the agenda of this meeting to the asur park press and the new coaster on May 1st 2024 via email copies of this notice have also been placed at the administration building uh Bulletin Board District Schools Asbury Park Municipal Building Asbury Park Police Department and filed with the city clerk on May 1st 2024 our mission state Asbury Park School District will Pro provide all students with a comprehensive and Progressive education where everyone possesses the skills and character to succeed in a diverse and involving Global Society roll call Miss Glassman here miss linski here Dr Maud here Dr Penna here Mr Remy Miss Ricks here Mr Rogers here Mr gorillo here thank you flag salute flag salute flag United States of America the stands na indivisible all okay thank you everybody for for coming to the meeting um this is a special meeting we um we're going to have uh we're going to discuss the budget um and here uh from the public and then uh after all of that uh we'll we'll go we have some business to take care of an executive session correct so why don't we start with the budget discussion uh Mr Schaffner and superintendent Acting Superintendent jino so the business office specifically Ivy Brown has been working on the budget make it closer I'll start over specifically Ivy Brown and the business office have been working on the 2024 25 budget uh it's been it's been sent to the county office they sent a list of items that need to be reviewed at the same time the budget is still out of balance uh the latest that is out of balance is approximately $1 million uh even though there's going to be a bill that may pass on May 13th that would restore some some state aid uh the district was told today that they have to balance the budget and any cuts that are made can be restored if that state aid is increased so what we're doing what we're doing is going line by line reviewing the budget some lines need to be increased other lines need to be decreased uh we have the uh position control roster that is 100% in balance with the budget that was one of the things that needed to be correct corrected and we're going to continue working on this until the budget is balanced um thinking that it will happen sometime this [Music] week all right so um in terms of what we're going to be uh what we're going to be uh talking about um well I'll tell you what we'll go into uh public participation but in terms of what we're going to be voting on today can you give just like a brief on that because of what you just you will not be voting on the budget tonight okay there is no vote scheduled for the budget some items that that need to be looked at I don't know is uh Township payment towards courtesy busing for safety busing uh the township is responsible for safe passage to the schools and if there are hazardous routs I would hope that they would pay some of the costs of these Transportation on these hazardous routes that's something that's a source of Revenue that would be very helpful for the school district all right thank you Mr Vice President to the extent that the board has not yet uh passed a final budget due to the fact that a final budget has not yet been struck um it may make sense for the board to consider um scheduling another meeting um at which the budget um hopefully once balanced can be pass um just a just a thought that you may want to consider so uh how much time do we need because we need to advertise the the meeting correct so uh if that's the case then we would have to do it it um the earliest next week and do it on a Tuesday so that that right with all the members or just the finance committee no it would be the it would be the full board the full board so um and yeah I mean then we'll get a little bit more clarity as to um if this bill passes on the 13th we'll have a clearer view of what the budget will look like and what we're what we're you know what we're eventually going to be voting for so um can I Hazard to say that if we schedule a meeting for the 14th which is next Tuesday if the no well why don't we discuss uh a date that works for everybody when is your when is your next board meeting our next board meeting is the 23rd which is a Thursday but is that too late so we're late I mean we're already going to be late right my idea is that if we if we b as soon as we balance the budget we send it to the county office if they approve it uh then we can have a adverti budget hearing that's my idea right now cuz you you did you did send to them a a preliminary budget even even though it's not balanced you did send one to it's a preliminary one so what we're doing now is we're making corrections to that and once the county office approves that then we can advertise and have a budget hearing and and finally approve the budget do I think that makes perfect sense so why don't we just hold off until um the 23rd our next our next regular meeting right uh okay excuse me uh Mr Vice President uh since we have people in the seats that want to discuss the budget uh I wasn't here for the last meeting I tried to be uh try to be fully connected but I had some audio issues but I think a lot of people are concerned about a lot of things that are going on that include in making this budget uh work for this community and a lot of information has not fully been uh expressed to everyone uh and stuff is in the paper uh we've had people you know tell us uh a lot of the things you read are correct or not correct uh our budget reflects on many things one of them is uh providing Financial Services to college achieve and if anybody uh saw the article that nj.com just did on uh College achieve uh to see where some of their funding which comes out of us goes to them where they're paying off a uh uh retired or whatever he is CEO almost $700,000 uh for for his Services when uh people's taxes in Asbury Park are going up um also there's not been a lot of talk about the fact that uh we have not certified all the students who are actually that we're paying for in this district and we're trying to do that right now with college achiev to uh certify how many students uh we're actually paying for and what that cost is to this District now I can get into all day thing I like talking about it the S2 spending spending Fiasco that that is going on and things that have interrelated with pilots and everything else and I would sit down personally and tell people about the S2 bill which talks about uh funding for all school districts but leaves out a portion where people who are living on the ocean front aren't paying their full share of taxes and their income is related to the increase in your taxes which forces us to raise a budget to uh satisfy our kids so all these things or are issues that we're talking about uh uh uh in in our finance committing on a regular basis uh these things are objectifying what our priority is is to get the Asbury Park School Kids an adequate School District but also try to decrease the amount of taxes that we that we need to do it and there's other services of special special needs uh that we're trying to rectify and and and in so many different issues and this is the first time that I've ever heard a discussion like this where we talked about many issues that go into this budget now I can't sit here and go through every each item specifically and like I said I you know anybody can reach me or I can give out my number I will sit down and talk to anything about uh this budget to discuss the issues that have to be discussed in relationship to to this to this to this District we have talked about many issues when I sat and stood at that Podium about uh excessive amount of administrative uh budgets I've talked about buildings I've talked about uh our academic status so all these things are factors that determine how this budget is shaped and one I personally have tried to make this budget the best that I could make it and I think everyone else should be on board to see the same idea ideal that we need to get everything done and the only way you do that is to know the facts you know what needs to get done and to look at that we have a structural difference uh deficit with this state and how financing from this community is being is being put out so there's a lot that this goes in so this is you know this is not the faint of heart and if anybody wants to sit down like I said with me I can give you my personal not the board's perspective my personal opinion on this budget what I'm looking at achieving and hopefully it's the same thing I hope that the board will look to and that's one give a quality education to the kids in this District to decrease taxes as much as can or not raise them as much as we can to facilitate that uh thank you Mr Rogers and I'll just add to that that we just I just learned today that um College achieve their 41 41.7% of their revenue goes to Administration and 41% goes to uh actual education so um and I can tell you that that's not how it is here no matter what people say about uh us being quote unquote topheavy so um it's it's a lot of discussion that's that's going to happen um before I open it up for public comment does anyone else have anything you want to say Express I just want to make sure everyone gets their their their turn okay all right so uh I'm going to open it up to public participation a public comment so in accordance with board policy 01 uh 67 Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and other matters of importance and provides members of the public with the opportunity to express themselves on school matters of community interest the public comment portion of the meeting is not a question and answer session and all public comments shall be directed to the board president or the presiding officer of the meeting members of the public who wish to make public comments must be recognized by the presiding officer and provide his or her name Municipality of residents or Andor group of affiliation all public comments shall be directed to the presiding officer and are limited to 3 minutes in duration members of the public who do not follow the foregoing rules or interfere with the orderly operation of the board meeting may be removed from the meeting yeah sure good good evening John napatan president of the Asbury Park Education Association 8 Old Weathersfield Road Ocean New Jersey Mr Rogers I want to thank you for mentioning the fact that the charter school is paying an abuse of salaries out of the taxpayers pockets it's absolutely disgusting but that guy up there that's the Acting Superintendent fought by my side and a bunch of other staff at the th Good Marshall Elementary School many years ago against this charter school and the abuse that they did throughout the country not the state of New Jersey Los Angeles Las Vegas Chicago Nat to pillage New Jersey and it's disgusting what I saw in that article I knew it was bad I I knew it was bad I didn't know it was that bad a pair a husband and wife a half a million dollars a year to run one school out of your pockets everybody that lives in the city of Asbury Park and I have to sit as the president of my union defend my staff and bust my tail to negotiate a contract so that they can have a regular living wage which in some cases for some of my support staff isn't even a living wage but yet we're forking millions of dollars over to that charter school and I thank you for saying something I thank this Acting Superintendent for joining me in sending a letter to Senator goal to demand an immediate investigation into what's going on with that Charter School it's disgusting it's outrageous and it's unconscionable that this is going on and it's got to stop so therefore I ask every resident in the city of Asbury Park to send these legislators an email or a letter demanding an investigation and I want to thank Senators Ruiz and sarlo you can thank them for blowing the lid off this thing because it's going to be as park that's going to take this ball to the end and finish them off because enough's enough our kids have been robbed of teachers really good staff that I've represented over the years and it's sad but at least I had a discussion with this guy about the cuts that we were seeing and it was not as bad as it could have been believe me and I guarantee this board right now that if he did not repair the damage that was done with Senator goal I don't think we would be looking at any money that's the God's honest truth all we can do is go but up at this point so I urge everybody demand and investigation into this Charter School everyone needs to do that thank you good even good evening uh Tom mmore 1308 fth Avenue uh I also want to learn more about this uh College achieve situation here um and my questions really are so they've apparently purchased property in Middletown um they're going to move to school I think that's good for them uh their heart and soul was never here and um but what happens to us when that happens are we still obligated to make a payment to a school that's now 20 M away from us I mean that doesn't make any sense whatsoever and our poor kids you know now they're going to have to get on a bus and travel you know maybe even an hour with traffic uh to get to school every day so comes out of our tax dollars by the way Transportation yep exactly so there's there'll be an additional cost associated with that so I I agree uh with John that we really need to fight this thing and figure out uh how we can stop it um and is there any way of getting out of a contractual agreement that we have with them none that's a typical New Jersey situation yeah we we um if they move to Old modern day high school and our students are going there we will be paying for our students attend and we will be paying for the busing to bring them up there there is no contract the state just says you're paying uh we've been on I been on a call with the Department of Education we pleaded our case and we're directed to pay yeah I mean it just doesn't I mean if we have to if the children still want to go to the school uh God bless them but um you know and I I can't be opposed to paying for that but what about all these administrative things and all the other programs that are going going on that uh our kids are not benefiting from you know it just it's broken and uh we got to figure out how to fix it but um you know our taxes here you know we don't even really need to talk about them they're extremely high right now and um you know we got to do everything that we can to to make them reasonable here otherwise everybody's going to be leaving Hasbury Park thank you thank you [Applause] anyone [Music] else my name is failure Kendall I live on 4th Avenue and of course I like everybody's here I'm here for the budget Miss Kendall I'm sorry can you put the microphone closer okay oh yes as they say right again failure Kindle 4th Avenue and like everybody here I'm here about the budget uh I didn't know that whoever uh Elise Brown was the board secretary who was working on it I oh and forgive me I keep getting this I don't know where to get answers from if that I can't have a question and answer period here and I heard you read it so I know but where then do I get answers when I have questions any questions that you have you you I mean look you can email us and we'll refer it to the superintendent but the best thing to do is to is to email the superintendent or go over to his office uh I mean you could you could you got to do right but I think I think sending an email gerbino G RB i n o map boe.org um is the the most direct way to get an answer back oh okay well now what I didn't know about is I did read something about that college achieve school and when I saw something it was about the salaries of some of the people there there and then it was a salary of somebody who was like was over half a million dollar for one person but then the other two people made up about half a million dollars you've got to [Music] know I since I and I didn't know about them moving or anything like that but that's why I'll keep coming to the board meetings to find out but if for some reason College achieve helps the children who go there I'm talking about actually helps them I and and I am a retiree so don't get me wrong I'm not working when my property taxes go up just got to do something different um but I keep seeing things that happen here at least I keep seeing workshops that have been done but once the workshops are done if the people the teachers who went to the workshops come back then we'll see like the great results for our children in Asbury Park because that is my only only concern is the children who go to this school district sorry time's up I'm sorry your time is up that's Miss Brown who you mentioned before yeah got it thank you thank you m Kendall hello edley victorin speech pathologist in the district Union County um I just wanted to make a comment because I I heard people talking about Co College achieve and just charal schools in general and I know a couple people that work at Charter Schools and just from my own experience I think what people don't realize is that you know not to take away from what they do but this is a an establishment that takes Public Funding but don't have to follow public rules right so for like they're not for example our children with IEPs they're not obligated to give them any Services right and then our also our children who are beh old they get kicked right back after they've already taken the tuition so for me children first right you deal I mean children are children they have their behavioral issues their children who have IPS who have who need assistance who need extra whatever it is and when you're an establishment who again takes Public Funding money out of your pockets right but doesn't have to follow Ida or those rules that's a problem especially when they refuse to verify so I should be addressing the sorry especially when they refuse to verify what students were actually paying for so we don't even know what we're paying for and when you know I wouldn't want my taxes to go up you know so I'm I think that you know a lot of people you know they look at us and see us as the problem but I'm like there's a greater problem here and some people were asking what should they do exactly what John said call them write emails write letters some of the staff have already done that you know because I think it is a crime especially when some of my kid and these parents they they bring their kids to these schools thinking oh you know this is better for my kid but guess what when that deadline hits you know cuz they always do it up until whatever the state requires that oh we get to keep the tuition up to this date and then all of a sudden we get an influx of those students back into the district and that is a disruption of Education right there and then when you read about salaries and what they're making and we're like we can't even verify what students were paying for that's a problem you know so I there's corruption on levels when you're unwilling to respond to hey how many students actually go here I think that's a red flag and again I encourage everyone to please write a letter email call ask for an appointment whatever it is that you can do because it's not even just about your taxes it's really about the kids really and uh thank you this is just okay all right thank you thank you so hold on so just just to be clear when we talk about Charter Schools you're right we they do not offer the services to our students that we can offer them they can't do it they claim they do but they don't I have personally been on the phone with Senator gopal I have spoken to the county office I've talk spoken to doe about my concerns and not sure if there if I'm being heard or listened to but I am making my concerns I'm putting my concerns out there we were having difficulty trying to verify the number of students they say they have from Asbury Park they refuse to send their parents to us with the proper identification so we can verify they live here in Asbury Park not that I want to throw a little more fuel on the fire but understand they've had students register here in Asbury Park and go to college chieve to play basketball this past year so that is what's happening with the money that should be coming to us but I have been on the phone I have been Zoom calls I I've been doing this back since 2016 when I stood in front of College a cheve over what I'm not sure what road that is the church on Grand EV uh with my staff picking what was going on out in the snow for several days my voice wasn't heard but I'm only one voice so it's going to take everyone here to speak up because it's your money thank you anyone else that wants to make a public comment this is your chance okay all right with that um I'm closing uh public participation um before we uh vote to go into executive session uh Mr jini would you just go real quick through the rest of the the agenda the B1 I I would like a consent Jenna for B1 and B2 we'll take a vote on it now right I'll move it second discussion okay roll call Miss Glassman yes Dr Maud yes Dr Penna yes Mr Remy yes m rcks i abstain and I recuse myself from anything having to do with the wards on item number two because I am conflicted thank you Mr Rogers yes Mr gorilla yes pass okay uh now we will uh someone make a motion to go into executive caucus make a motion move [Music] it second M Glassman yes Dr Maud yes Dr Penna yep Mr Remy yes Miss Ricks no with an explanation because I don't like how I'm spoken to enclose executive session so my vote is no Mr Rogers yes Mr gorilla yes okay pass so uh I'm just read a quick whereas here whereas the open public meetings act allows for the exclusion from discussion at the public portion of a meeting of certain matters is outlined below and whereas the Board of Education wishes to discuss such matters made and will make such discussion public when a proper conclusion has been reached now therefore be it resolved that the Aur Park School Board will hold a closed executive session on this date May 7th 2024 at asur Park New Jersey for the purpose uh as outlined below and Mr Weiss what are you could kind of board's going to be going into Clos executive session to discuss employment matters contract matters and to receive attorney client advice it's anticipated that the board will be an executive session for approximately 20 minutes the board will will not be taking any formal action while it's an executive session to the extent that there's going to be any formal action it will be taken out here in the public in the sunshine upon the board's return from executive session so for the members of the audience that are here and those watching at home the board will be going into an executive session for about 20 minutes we will be returning to the public session after about 20 minutes at which time it's expected that we're going to adjourn but everyone is welcome to stay and wait for us to return thank you thank you [Music] everyone okay thanks everybody for your patience um motion to go back into a regular session move it second roll call Miss Glassman here Dr Maud here Dr Penna here Mr Remy here M Ricks here Mr Rogers here Mr G here [Music] okay um so before we go uh upon recommendation of the Acting Superintendent um I'd like to approve the medical leave for employee number 994 4528 second who made it first effective today effective today yeah excuse me [Music] sorry Miss Glassman yes Dr mud yes Dr Penner yes Mr Remy yes I can't say Miss Ricks cuz she wasn't there right Miss Ricks I'm going to abstain I don't have enough information Mr Rogers yes Mr gorillo [Music] yes passes okay and um and also to upon recommendation of the Acting Superintendent um uh appointing employee 33004 318 as acting principal of the high school until the end of the year or until employee 94450 28 returns effective today effective today yes second Miss Glassman yes Dr mud yes Dr pen yes Mr Remy yes Miss Ricks abstaining I don't have enough information Mr Rogers yes Mr gorilla yes pass motion to adjourn second uh all in favor sorry shuffling papers here Mr Remy you voted twice have a good night everyone thank you very much for