if the board could take their seats please Mary can you call for a roll please Miss cber yes Miss Kennedy here miss Benedictus yes Miss aan Ron yes Mr Mesmer yes Miss picala yes Miss wreb Mr Edwards open public meeting act notice please the New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to the right of the public to advance notice of and to attend meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act The Brick Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be posted on the administration office bulling board the official District website and channel btv2 and sent to the Asbury Park Press to Brick times The Star Ledger and Municipal clerk's office we need a motion in a second to motion into close session second alley whereas The Brick Township Board of Education has been formed pursuant to applicable New Jersey statutes and whereas the board is charg of a responsibility of Performing all acts and doing all things consistent with the law and the rules of the state board of education necessary for the lawful and proper conduct equipment and maintenance of the public schools and public school property of the Brick Township School District and whereas section seven of the old Public's meeting act permits the exclusion of the public for a meeting of the board in certain circumstances and whereas the board has determined that circumstances exist for such an executive session whereas the board is for I'm sorry and where the board has found the action described below to be necessary and proper now therefore be it resolved by the board on May 9th 2024 that the public shall be excluded from the discussion of an action on the executive session here and set forth the session will be approximately 15 minutes and the general nature of the subject matter to be discussed is harassment intimidation and bullying reports it is anticipated at this time that the above stated subject matter will be made public if and when it is deemed to be in the public interest to do so and the need for confidentiality is no longer required by the board Miss cber yes Miss Kennedy yes Miss D Benedictus yes Miss aanon yes Mr Mesmer yes Miss picala yes Miss wreb put this over here e e e for e e e e e e e e for e e e e e e e e e e e for I mean they're going to be there there hour [Music] [Music] hey hey Walter how are you if I could ask everybody to take their seats please we're going to get started I know you're all anxious so are we um I need a motion in a second to return motion bran second alley Mary Miss seber yes Miss Kennedy yes Miss D Benedictus yes Miss aanon yes Mr Mesmer yes Miss micala yes Miss wre yes Miss magnam thank you Mrs wreb before we begin this evening um you might notice that Dr frell is not with us uh this is one of his favorite evenings of the year however uh due to a medical procedure he wasn't able to join us this evening um we we miss having him here with us and we hope that you'll join us and keeping him in your thoughts and prayers we expect him back shortly at the table at this time could you please stand for the a salute to the flag in a moment of [Music] silence PL aliance to the flag of the United States America Two Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible Liberty Justice for All order on right peace [Music] often it may appear to members of our audience that the Board of Education acts with very little comment and in many cases a unanimous vote please understand that before a matter is placed on the agenda at a public meeting the Administration has thoroughly reviewed the matter with the superintendent of schools discussed it in appropriate Boe committees and only then if the superintendent is satisfied that the matter is ready to be presented to the full Board of Education it is placed on the agenda for Action at a public meeting board of education members are given advanced notice to review the agenda and through the chair ask questions or voice concerns in rare instances when necessary some matters could be presented to the board of education for discussion and vote at that meeting Miss MCA student reps thank you Mrs W at this time we have um a young man filling in for Brick Memorial High School Ben neller Ben good evening I am Benjamin neller and I'm filling in for Christen mcade I will begin with the update from Veterans Memorial Middle School vmms would like to congratulate all the educators of the year and Educational Service professionals being honored tonight the vmms drama club per performed sir Godwin and the green KN congratulations to miss Ash and the students for a job well done stud the student council is holding a movie night on Thursday May 16th 2024 from 6:00 to 8 P.M in the multi-purpose room $5 per ticket includes popcorn and water we will be showing the sand lot one the njsla ELA and science Testing are completed and next week students will complete the SLA math testing in addition team two students won the markting period 3 pbsis challenge vmms also has some updates as spring sports are winding down for the season girls track and field beat Lake Rivier last weekend to take the division title congratulations to the coaches and athletes for their hard work and dedication and for bringing home another title to vmms they look forward to many girls competing in the county championships next week boys track looks forward to having many boys compete in the county championships next week as they finish their season with multiple PRS baseball is currently in first place in the division as looking to secure the title next week softball has had a great year and they are currently over 500 the team is Young and is getting better every day bmms also has many very exciting upcoming events the PTA family fun night is on May 14th from 5:30 to 7:30 this will be a night full of karaoke Jeopardy duct tape a principal to the wall puzzles board games and much more the vmms spring band concert is on May 15th at 6:00 p.m. at bmhs and the e8th grade dance is on May 31st from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. next I'd like to move on to the report from brick memorial High School congratulations to miss ball who will be honored tonight as our brick memorial teacher of the year and to miss West who will be recognized as the brick memorial Educational Service professional of the year the incredible colleagues and remain iconic forces in our school on April 25th brick memorial high school had the honor of hosting a deeply moving and impactful presentation by Gabe John who visit our senior students to discuss the importance of responsible decision- making during his presentation Gabe shared videos images diagrams and a CAT scan of his injuries along with testimony from the first responder on duty that night and friends who supported him through his recovery despite the challenges he faced gabes continues to play the guitar and remain an inspiration to many on Thursday April 26 brick moral High School proudly hosted bring your child to work day welcoming about 40 children to faculty and staff to experience a day in the life of their loved ones the event provided a unique opportunity for students to gain insight into the daily routines and responsibilities of their teachers the day began with a warm welcome from the Mustangs who guided the children through various activities giving them a glimpse into the world of Education it was a fascinating experience for many students to meet the children they often hear about in their parents' stories in addition to shadowing their parents the children had the opportunity to observe classroom activities ging a deeper understanding of the teaching and learning process and we cannot wait for an either larger Cloud next year four exceptional students from brick memorial Christine Prince Ben andrino Luke steinart and Michel Townley had the unique opportunity to present their Innovative research on food sustainability in space to NASA under the guidance of Mr Ben sh a former teacher of the year the students conducted groundbreaking studies on the feasibility of long-term space missions and sustainable food options for astronauts Mr sh renowned for his education to Student Success mentored these bright students fostering their passion for Science and space exploration his commitment to Excellence and education has inspired these young scholars to push the boundaries of scientific knowledge and Discovery brick moral High School is thrilled to announce that kayak Cano a talented sophomore has been chosen to sing with the renowned New Jersey all St chorus this prestigious honor recognizes Kaa as one of the top performers in the state Ka encourages her fellow students to consider en joining the chorus describing it as a welcoming and enriching experience to role in the chorus program for the upcoming school year interested students are encouraged to schedule meeting with her guidance counselors to add it to their class schedule on Friday May 3rd the class of 2025 hosted the junior prom in our gym thank you to Mrs petrula Mrs Decker and the entire class of 2025 executive board for what became an chance night we appreciate all of the chaperons and the administration who made the night possible a huge thank you to Mr LeBron and Mrs boel and the culinary arts classes who catered and organized an incredible cro de Mayo lunch yet another great example of how talented all of our students are on Friday March 3rd we celebrated lunch hero day thank you to Nicole Shor Bush Kelly mingalone carolan dri Barbara coren Anna Fuentes Cheryl diple and Caitlyn Barilla for always smiling in and being so welcoming to all of our Mustangs there is no doubt we have the absolute best cafeteria staff there is our spring band concert was held on May 8th in the brick memorial High School auditorium at 6 p.m. thank you to all who supported these talented performance as they took the stage for their final performance of the year please join Unified sports as they take the field twice as we bring the school year to a close Thursday May 9th for Brick moral High School vers HS River East at the Field of Dreams the start time is 6: p.m. and Wednesday May 29th for the third annual brick verse brick game at the vmms turf field the team arrival is 4m. we hope to see everyone there may is mental health awareness month to honor each and every person's emotional psychological and social health there will be several things going on within the school to promote awareness this includes a Spirit Week awareness videos informational resources activities and trivia the class of 2024 will hold their senior ball on Thursday May 16th at the Southgate Manor thank you to Mrs Stanley for stepping in in as advisor this year and the entire executive board for what will be an incredible night as a senior class gathers one last time before graduation we would like to wish a special good luck to our freshman classes who will be completing the up upcoming njsl State tests beginning on May 20th we know our freshmen are well prepared and will showcase their skills join the classes of 2024 and 2025 on May 28th at 6 p.m. at the football fields as they take the field in the annual Powderpuff game on May 30th the BMA s Student Government will host a fourth annual Alison graa Memorial Color Run the cost is $10 including a shirt sunglasses and color all proceeds will go to Scholarships in her name as always don't forget to follow us on Twitter Twitter at Brick Memorial High School And subscribe to our podcast straight from the Mustangs mouth on your podcast app of choice finally we look forward to honoring our class of 2024 with her annual senior Awards night on June 3rd and the culmination of our school year with our graduation additionally I am very proud to announce that I will be continuing my education at Harvard College in the fall I will be studying cellular and molecular biology I would like to especially thank the Breck Township Board of Education for their guidance and support over the last 13 years I will never forget the experiences and opportunities I've receiv received during my time in Brick thank you thank than you Ben and good luck in all your future endeavors I know they're bright Amaya Dalton is going to speak from Brick Township High School but before she does this is Amaya's last meeting she is a senior and she has been serving uh as the student representative from Brick Township High School all year on the board Amaya uh in in recognition of your service to the board and on behalf of uh Dr frell and the entire Board of Education we have a little gift for you Amaya is going to be attending Boston University and we wish her all the best in [Applause] her good evening and thank you I'm Amaya dalan Brick Township High School student representative we do not have a report from Lake Riviera tonight so I will be jumping right into Brick Township High School's report there are many exciting events coming up for the last month of school this week and next our AP testing is taking place for students in college board Advanced places placement courses these students have been working super hard to prepare for the exams good luck to all this week is teacher and staff Appreciation Week teachers are so valuable to our community and I would love to give a big thank you to all of them especially all the ones here the student government honored our teachers and staff members by giving out reverse dragon scales to students during lunches that they could gift to their favorite staff members staff members were able to use the reverse dragon scales as raffle tickets for Baskets at their faculty meeting yesterday reverse dragon skills were a fun way to give back to our teachers the parent teacher student Association provided a full breakfast for our staff on Tuesday the student government and Key Club teamed up to sponsor a snack cart for staff members yesterday students from the organizations went around to all the classrooms and offices to offer snacks and treats to our staff the student government also hosted Did a teacher appreciation spirit week Monday was spring colors Tuesday was rhyme without reason pairs yesterday was Western Wednesday Today Was teacher student swap day students dressed up as their teachers and teachers dressed like students and tomorrow we will wear green and white student government is excited to announce that we are currently accepting applications for students looking to run for class president vice president treasurer secretary and they're open on the student government Google classroom and due tomorrow these past few weeks have been busy at bths on April 24th all 11th and 12th grade students attended a presentation by Gabe Hurley that discussed the importance of making smart decisions especially when driving Gabe Hurley was a great speaker that shared his story about an accident that changed his life leaving an impact on bth bths students that we should remember with our upcoming proms the future educators of America Club visited the preschool students at Warren H wolf Elementary School to read to them and do activities related to Earth Day and learn about the importance of recycling and reducing waste the Key Club woodworking classes and brick kiani's Club teamed up to create book boxes for Brick Beach the Key Club will also be collecting donations for the Popcorn Park Zoo throughout May the senior football players took on the Brick Township Police Department in the annual Helping Hands basketball benefit game at bths on May 3rd after a tight game the police department took the win over the seniors the bths choir sponsored this year's silhouette singer which took place on Tuesday in the bths auditorium this was was a fun event in which bths staff members gave a performance behind a screen and students and the audience tried to guess who was behind the silhouette yesterday the jrc program sponsored a blood drive with the American Red Cross and bths auxiliary gym the track and field team had a fun Friday night running under the lights at Ocean County relays last week the boys varsity Sprint medley of Jake Hancock Trey Williams Abel revas and Anthony Thomas Place second and the girls varsity Sprint medley of Desire maette Emma Canfield Caitlyn Chandler and Kira McHugh took place third the girls lacrosse team won against Rivals brick memorial on Monday congratulations to Abby and Fuso who celebrated scoring her 100th point last week and Clare Ash who scored her 100th goal on Monday the boys tennis team had big wins last week against brick memorial Howell and Jackson Liberty securing themselves a spot in the shore Conference tournament bths will be active as we close out the school year looking ahead on May 14th the senior drama showcase will take place in the bths auditorium also seniors in the drama club will have the opportunity to perform for one last time Monday May 20th through Thursday May 23rd freshman students will be taking the njla ELA and math test and juniors will be taking the science test bchs will be on an altered schedule during njla testing testing students will arrive at normal school time while non- testing students will arrive at school at 9:45 information will be sent out to All Families tomorrow evening from Dr Cajun the Unified sports kickball team has a game May 2 1st the dragons will be taking on the point burrow Panthers at The Point Pleasant football field on more AV kickoff starts at 5:45 p.m. the junior prom is on Thursday May 16th at jumping bur Country Club from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. the senior ball is on Thursday May 23rd at Southgate Manor from 5: to 9:00 the week following the senior ball will begin Senior Week a fun week filled with activities for the senior class on Tuesday May 29th we will be having our senior picnic at Brick Beach 3 from 9:30 to 1: on Wednesday we will walk through the of our elementary schools for Senior Walk all seniors will be provided our bths alumni shirts to wear to the walk Thursday we will have senior breakfast in Cafe 3 at 8:00 a.m. senior scholarship and awards night sponsored by the guidance department is on Thursday May 30th at 600 p.m. in the bths auditorium there are many scholarships and awards to be given out from local donors and staff members senior students being recognized will be will receive an invitation from Guidance the senior class is excited for the opportunity to attend six flogs grad night at Six Flags Great Adventure on Friday June 9th the park the park will close down for only senior classes and shoper own there will be DJ's dance areas dinner and of course the roller coasters this will be a fun night to celebrate before our last week of high school be sure to stay connected to events and inside information by accessing our school website SGA Instagram at bths sgaa and our school Twitter at bths dragons you can always also see all of our happenings monthly through Dr cajun's Dragon review thank you so much for this opportunity to present at the monthly Board of Education meetings this year it has been a pleasure to share recent bths news and an honor to represent the student body this opportunity has helped me gain experience in public speaking and I will definitely use these skills in college and Beyond thank you again to our board of education for working so hard for us students for the last time #g go dragons thank you again Ana now we have Kyle plaus Cadet Colonel PL Kyle plaus from The ROC Kyle thank you good evening ladies and gentlemen board members and staff members as stated I'm kadet Colonel Kyle plas the n22 group commander and I'll be briefing you what our Cadets been doing uh in the last month so on April 26th n22 hosted our yearly military ball it was funfilled um equally enjoyable yet had also professional holding up standards at the United States Armed Forces yesterday at 8th we hosted the bths Red Cross blood drive in total bths donated around 34 pints of blood but hopefully setting a bar for the past for next year and next week um is our change of command and our annual Awards so all of our Cadets get to get our Awards um but that's pretty much it I want to thank everybody here and thank you for our support throughout these years thank you very much Miss MC will you introduce the presentations thank you Mrs wreb at this time uh please welcome Dr Anderson to the mic as she Begins the 2023 2024 Governor's educator of the Year tribute Dr Anderson thank you Miss MCM [Applause] as the Director of curriculum and instruction I'm thrilled to honor the recipients of the governor's educator of the Year program for the 2324 school year let me first begin by saying that um Dr Farrell is deeply disappointed that he's unable to be here tonight um he values every opportunity to celebrate our dedicated and talented Educators and he's asked me to offer his congratulations and let you know that he's extremely grateful and proud proud of the contributions that each of you make each day to the students of Brick Township the governor's educator the year program aims to recognize Educators who have gone above and beyond in their service to New Jersey students this program recognizes Excellence creates a sense of Pride and brings public attention to the work of outstanding Educators the nomination process commences in November when each School Community is invited to nominate teachers and Educational Services professionals using a rubric each school committee evaluates the nominations and announces their school representatives in December tonight we gather as a community to honor these talented Educators as May marks teacher appreciation month first I'd like to Express gratitude to those important individuals who worked highler tirelessly behind the scenes to create this year's Governor's educator of the Year tribute a big thanks to our principls the supervisor of Visual and Performing Arts Jennifer Lane our administrative assistants Kathy Stewart Don sko and Sandy berer the tech team and especially Janine Conlin for capturing these special moments tonight above all I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Fran Bristol our TV teacher who dedicated countless hours to producing this year's video this video tribute not only amplifies The Voice of our teachers and Educational Services professionals but also celebrates their unwavering commitment to our students and the teaching profession I would now like to ask the members of the board and Central Administration to please relocate to the first row of seats so that you can enjoy the video tribute for our Herbertsville Community wishes to congratulate Mr Joseph Lawler as our Governor's educator of the Year Mr Joe has spent his entire 20-year teaching career in Brick Township and he currently serves as a teacher of preschool students Mr Joe understands that each student needs to be treated as an individual with individual needs needs and he has the ability to get his students to express those needs Mr Joe is definitely an asset to our Herbertsville Community I got my passion for teaching through one of my younger brothers who struggled with reading and um he took a long time almost till middle school until he finally got the right help that he needed and that teacher inspired me because I spent most of my life trying to help him and couldn't help him and she added in a couple simple um accommodations and he soared from then on so she was my inspiration my educational philosophy was children first um very simple uh based all my decisions on what is in the best interest of my students our Herbertsville Community wishes to congratulate Miss Jacqueline janick as our Educational Services professional of the year as our preschool coordinator Miss Jackie does it all she has an in-depth knowledge of our tools of the Mind curriculum and helps guide teachers in their implementation of that program our preschool program would not be the quality program it is without her contributions both of our preschools are fortunate to have Miss Jacqueline Janik as a member of our communities I get my passion for teaching I believe for my aunt she was a preschool teacher and I would go visit her in her classroom and I saw her passion and I love seeing those aha movements with students and what she enriched in their lives and and I wanted to do the same thing the most important element of my job is being able to impact more students than just in the classroom I get to impact over 500 students by helping teachers with curriculum and my impact is even greater now my educational philosophy is to not teach children what to think but to teach children how to think and the best way to do that is through play Warren H wolf early childhood development center is proud to announce Miss Michelle Walsh as our governor educator of the year in Miss Michelle's classroom every child is honored for what they bring to school every day both academically and socially Miss Michelle stands out because of the love and affection that she has for her students and the passion she has for teaching when walking into her classroom it is truly magical to see that passion at work I get my passion for teaching from the children every day I come into work I am inspired by their curiosity by their willingness to want to learn and do things their excitement um it brings me great joy when I see the flicker of curiosity in their eyes My Philosophy is that all children are able to learn and they should feel empowered they have a voice and I want them to love learning so it's my role as their teacher to have them love learning and try to inspire them to love uh the process one of my goals is to inspire um the children to know that they are active Learners that they are in it together that they can be lifelong lovers of learning and that mistakes are okay and it's okay to keep trying because you can do it you are important and you are loved the waren H wolf early childhood development center is proud to announce Mrs Heather Scott as our Governor's Educational Services professional Miss Scott has been our preschool coach for the last three years and does an amazing job of supporting our students and staff Miss Heather is always willing to assist a staff member with curricular classroom or particular student needs she supports not only our staff members but also our students Mrs Scott does an amazing job of balancing her duties as a preschool intervention coach to serve our students and our staff to ensure that we are providing a highquality preschool program for our students I get my passion for Education um I'm very self-motivated but I also have an intrinsic uh gratification that I get from helping teachers succeed as I did with students when I was in the classroom in my current position we use practice-based coaching models so it's using um focused observations and reflection so that reflection and feedback conversations that I have with teachers in the building to improve practices I think collaboration would probably be my largest educational philosophy is just working together um I always feel I'm still learning as I'm teaching others to better their practices as well we are proud to announce our Governor's educator of the year to Mrs Jill Kempner Jill currently teaches first grade at drpoint elementary school she sets the stage for Student Success each and every day and always demonstrates a willingness to adapt lessons to meet the needs of her students every student has an opportunity to shine in Jill's care this year Jill has developed and presented workshops for staff and parents focusing on how to best support early literacy Mrs Kempner truly embodies the district vision of student centered teacher-led and Community connect Ed I think the most important element to my teaching style is maintaining a sense of routine and continuity because I do believe that when children arrive at the classroom with a sense of understanding what the day is going to run like and what the expectations are going to be then that frees up their mind from wondering and guessing and allows them to really focus on the learning and the work that I'm asking them to do and gives them a chance to thrive in the learning environment I am here to to help them when they need it and I am here to believe in these children when they might not believe in themselves but I can gently push them in the right direction so that they can discover what they're capable of we are pleased to announce Miss Diana del Rio as the governor's Educational Services professional Diana is a power professional in a first grade classroom at derpo elementary school she approaches each day with a fresh and positive attitude and a dedication that is truly commendable her genuine care for the well-being and success of her students is truly inspirational I love teaching I will say that that's I when I was growing up I never saw myself as a teacher and it's something that it took me by surprise I have an auntie she was a special education teacher and I saw all the loving that she put into her students the most important is to respect each other and to always take make a mind what the person is or the student is feeling at the moment I would like to be remember as a kind and loving teacher who likes to always have fun our governor educator teacher of the year is Miss Lisa desre she is an ESL teacher here she works with students from kindergarten all the way through fifth grade Miss desre has a very special relationship with her colleagues here um she is like a go-to person for all types of supports with our m Els I think Miss des's special talent is her ability to really see how important it is to be part of the school Community not only does she worry about the the academics of the students but she also worries about the social end of it her ability to see that it's more than just coming in to teach and how important it is to be part of the community is what makes her special I think I got my passion from teaching um because I just always enjoyed school I just I could not imagine never being in school you know thinking about adult adulthood when you're a child and thinking about the working the working environment I just imagined myself always being in school and I had really good teachers who were inspiring and now that I am a teacher it's it's the kids that do it for me they every day I just every day is a different Adventure no two days are the same so that I think that keeps me inspired to keep going it really is a team effort it's not my students are not just my students they're all of our students and I think that it really is just it's a big effort by everyone in the school building to help these kids feel welcome feel adjusted and to help them guide them on their learning career Miss Michelle watts is our Governor's Educational Service professional uh member she is a power professional in the building and she has been in this position for about 7 years now she understands she truly understands the unique needs of her students so while she wants to hold them to you know the the right accountability help them Reach their goals she does it with love she does it as if any mother would want their children to be treated and that's what really makes her stand out the most important element to my teaching style is patience uh learning my students wants and needs to make um our lessons individualized for them so that they can be successful in their learning my teaching philosophy is having a strong connection with my students as well as with the teachers I work with uh so we can provide a safe and loving environment for them Lan Mill would love to congratulate this year's Governor's educator of the Year Mrs corbo Mrs corbo is a kindergarten teacher she's taught in The Brick Township School District for 11 years and has been at Lanes Mill for 11 years she has an extremely warm classroom environment very accepting of all of her students needs she is Extreme extremely committed to her students and her own personal education she works well with others and is extremely collaborative she is a Shining Light in the kindergarten uh classroom and amongst her peers she is a positive role model and continually contributes to the culture of lanes Mill Elementary School the most important element to my teaching style is the ability to recognize the differences in my Learners the interests they have um as students my teaching educational philosophy is um based off a student teacher relationship I think that's super important in schools and something that I value my passion from teaching comes from my students I want to be remembered by my students um in a way that they know I believed in them Lan Mill Elementary School would love to congratulate the governor's Educational Service professional of the Year Mrs monzo Mrs monzo is a par professional who works at l M Elementary School this is her seventh year working within the building Mrs monzo is extremely respectful of her students needs making sure all of their academic and social emotional well-being is met throughout the day she is extremely adaptable willing to adjust her teaching methods to meet the various components of her students IEPs I would like to be remembered as respectful approachable and supportive I want my colleagues to say I loved working with her and I want my students to say I was able to support them I get my passion from my great role models I was able to grow up with a grandmother who actually taught in the district for many years and I also have an aunt and a sister in the district so it's like a family affair the most important element to my teaching is to be patient I think it's really important to let the student learn at their own pace my teacher philosophy is to have high expectations I think if you set high expectations that the students will rise to meet them I'm very honored to have Melissa kovaleski as midstream's Elementary School's teacher of the year for the 20203 2024 school year Miss kovaleski is an excellent teacher in our building the best thing about Miss kovaleski is her positive and warm and supportive classroom environment she always has a great way with her students she is a positive influence in their lives and gives her all each and every day Miss kovaleski is always positive she always has great things to teach and also expects a lot out of her students and what makes her the most successful teacher is her relationships with her students I get my passion for teaching from my student successes and helping them overcome any challenges they may face the most important element to my teaching style is the patience and understanding I have with my students some days are easier than others but I try to be as patient as possible with all of them my teaching educational philosophy is meeting the needs of the whole child so not just academics as the sole Focus but also their emotional support um and their social skills I would like to be remembered by my colleagues and students as an energetic outgoing and supportive teacher and colleague to everyone around me I'm so happy to announce that Sandra Co has been awarded the educational services professional of the year for the 2324 school year the best thing about Sandy is her love of her students although she is a onetoone par professional she treats each and every student with the same kindness and respect that students deserve I would like to be remembered as a friendly and outgoing person who's easily approachable to come to when anyone needs something and adaptable for whatever comes my way my passion for teaching comes from my own two children who are now in college and watching them grow up and um hoping that someone would be able to help them out and guide them throughout their schooling when they were younger my teaching and educational philosophy is that all children can learn you just have to find what motivates them best and work with that to help them reach their full potential greetings from osbornville elementary school I am proud and pleased to talk about our Governor's educator of the year for 2024 Mrs Deb Thomas Mrs Deb Thomas teaches basic skills instruction her BSI environment uh consist of a small group semicircle table that has all of the fun instructional tools that are necessary to really build the foundations for reading and writing we are blessed to have her as one of our basic skills instructors here at osbornville my passion comes from my commitment to ensure that all students build love encouraged and valued and that I strive to be a lifelong learner so that I could continue to provide meaningful relevant and challenging instruction my most important element to my teaching style is that I take great pride in fostering an environment where students feel loved encouraged and valued I believe that all students have the ability to thrive and learn in the right educational environment an environment that Fosters an atmosphere where students feel free to explore without the fear of failure and to face challenges as opportunities for growth and my role as a guide facilitator and Mentor is to support this learning environment and recognize each students unique needs our Governor's Educational Services professional Mrs Serena Spitzer Mrs Spitzer is our speech therapist here at osbornville elementary school what I find to be most powerful for our service Professionals in the building is when they recognize that their targeted instruction really impact the global education of the child so once again it gives me great pride to congratulate Mrs Serena Spitzer as our Governor's Educational Service professional my passion for teaching comes from my fifth grade teacher Miss Weiss she was fun interesting kind I just loved being in her class and I wanted to be just like her the most important element to my teaching style is Hands-On learning multi-sensory learning and positive encouragement to build their confidence I believe that learning goes beyond the classroom and I believe that my role as a speech therapist in the educational setting is to provide my students with the skills that they need to nurture and encourage them so that they can become effective communicators to achieve success in the classroom and in life this year's Governor educator of the Year award recipient is Miss Vicky letterly Miss letterly is an ER teacher in grades K 1 and two she began her career at bricks schools around 20 years ago as a volunteer at the PLC she quickly decided that education was her path so she became a power professional she decided to go to school in the evenings to get her teaching certificate Vicki is a calming caring and compassionate educator who always puts the needs of her students first I originally um decided to become a teacher because I started as a volunteer in the school and so um there were many professionals um administrators and colleagues and teachers that inspired me every day to decide to go back to school to become a teacher for me the most important element would be um patience and kindness um I teach a group of students who um need a little extra love and attention and so if I'm able to um meet them where they are and give them breaks and love and attention um that's the most important part of my teaching style this year Veterans Memorial Elementary School is proud to recognize Miss Michelle Larson as our Governor's Educational Service professional Mrs Larson Works in our child study team in this role Mrs Larson works with both students parents and staff to help meet the needs of all of our learners I think one of the most important things for me um in my role is to make sure that everybody feels heard and that they have a role at the table so you know we're all involved in making a difference in children's lives and I want to make sure that everybody feels that their role is unique and special a good part of what I do is working with our children in self-contained program who have emotional and behavioral difficulties and my role is the social workers to really work with the families try to get them the supports that they need for themselves and their child outside of school so I tried to connect them with Community Resources that can help you know navigate them through the challenges that they're experiencing it is an honor and a privilege to speak about our support person of the year and our Governor's educator of the Year Awards uh the governor educator uh the recipient uh this year is Lauren alabel uh Lauren recognition I think is long overdue and Lauren is so humble uh she just goes through her days and her years without ever touting her Excellence of which she is widely recognized within our school Community as being one of our best she's a language art social studies teacher what makes her special is simple it's the love of her students and that she commits to the academic social and emotional growth of those students the most important element to my teaching style is building relationships with my students uh built on mutual respect and admiration I think with those relationships I'm then able to create a classroom culture that empowers my students to not only learn academically but uh grow socially and emotionally as well my teaching and educational philosophy is that all students learn differently and as a teacher I think it's my job to adjust my teaching style to meet their needs uh not expect my students to adjust how they learn to how I'm teaching I would hope that my students would remember remember me as someone who taught them more than just academic standards but additionally Real World skills that they can use our governor support uh Services professional of the year is Kelly fua Kelly is one of uh our student services counselors she knows how to reach the students and she's committed to their growth to their emotional growth uh you know she doesn't see the kids that aren't struggling the kids that come to her the kids who need a helping hand and she always reaches out to them uh gives them the support that they need and then uh when they leave here after eighth grade promotion they don't forget her I love it that students feel that I have created a space where they are comfortable enough to come when they are having an issue I think part of my role is really just helping them navigate the uh life of a middle schooler so I want to be remembered as a team player I you know growing up on team sports I understand the importance of everyone having a role and doing your role so definitely being a team player and being someone who is approachable and when somebody needs help I do what I can to help the Veterans Memorial Middle School Governor's educator of the year is Katie Guthrie she teaches the sixth seventh and eighth grade students Mrs Guthrie is a beacon of strength and support for her students and colleagues she demonstrates empathy patience and understanding with everyone when she encounters each day Katie stands out because she is dedicated to fostering growth both academically and emotionally for each student in her classroom and she inspires those around her to be the very best her commitment to Excellence and dedication make her a true champion for all of her students and this is what makes her so special it all started um when I was 5 years old in kindergarten my kindergarten teacher was just so warm and welcoming Mrs Johnson is someone I will always remember and since then I'd wanted to be a teacher and then it led into me playing school at home and playing with my dolls and my siblings and I have a brother who has special needs he has cable paly and a hearing loss and that led for my desire to be a special education teacher my teaching philosophy goes back to making sure the needs of all of my students are met and really individualizing everything that I do to make sure that each of my students can be successful not giving up on them adapting material as I need to go being flexible with what I have to do day in and day out because things change in the matter of moment in an Autism classroom so really just working with all the staff and students to make sure that the students are able to meet their goals and objectives and their IPs and again being individual and independent and looking towards their future and trying to help prepare them and their families for a future outside of school the Veterans Memorial Middle School Governor's Educational Service professional of the year is Stephanie mtio and she works in our 6 7th and eighth grade program Stephanie is so successful as a par professional because she cares so much about the students and she always wants what's best for them she's dedicated to going the extra mile to provide support encouragement and guidance to her colleagues students and their families 70 stands out because of her commitment to the well-being and success of each student and this creates a positive learning environment in which the students feel valued her knowledge and expertise makes Stephanie a go-to person amongst her colleagues and an invaluable asset to her team I've always wanted to work with children and to be a part of the special ed Community is a bonus I believe the most important element to my teaching style is to be able to adapt to any situation My Philosophy is that each child has the ability to learn and explore various methods to reach their potential I'm excited to bring to your attention our Governor's educator of the Year miss Courtney gof Robinson as a special education teacher Miss Robinson understands the value of tailoring educational opportunities to individual student needs as a result of the learning environment that M Robinson creates students are offer an opportunity to collaborate interact and problem solve together together it is an honor to recognize Miss Robinson as Brick Township High School's Governor's educator of the year one of the most important elements to my teaching style is that I like to give students choice I think by giving them choice they can own their work and they own their learning uh whether it's my English class and we're doing Choice reading and they get to pick the novels they want to read or they're working on Choice assessment menus where they get to choose how they want to show me what they've learned through a unit um or in my teaching class where there's a variety of choices in presenting um their knowledge through uh portfolios and performance assessments so I like the fact that in my classrooms students have a lot of power uh over their learning through Choice my passion for teaching in recent years I think comes from being a parent um as a parent it's not about academics it's about making your children better people and I feel like that translates into the classroom I want my students to walk away with not necessar well I do want them to walk away with the academic information but I want them to walk away better people um I hope that I can impart life lessons for them to help them with their future at this time I would like to recognize P Township High School's Governor's Educational Service professional of the Year Miss Lauren inello as a school counselor missel Works directly with multiple stakeholders to ensure that the most productive outcomes are realized for our students with one interaction you can quickly recognize that she cares deeply for the success of her students as well as the school Community as a whole missel is genuine authentic and supportive she gives our students a voice while continually advocating for their best interests my passion for Education started with my parents who are both Educators as well as my own experience as a student athlete in Brick schools I graduated from Brick Township High School in 2002 and I was involved in three Varsity Sports among other clubs and I just feel that having quality mentors in my life shape me who I am and I hope that I'm able to be a school counselor and a coach who can shape the liveses of others and my goal as a school counselor is to empower students to achieve their full potential and to prepare them for Life Beyond being a brick Dragon our governor educator of the year for brick memorial high school is Sarah ball she teaches special education she is a lot to not just her classroom environment but to our school building and culture as a whole she brings a certain drive for success and has a demanding yet subtle approach that everybody kind of feeds off of and ultimately just creates a positive dialogue and allows for a lot of uh education a lot of success and a lot of learning in multiple ways my most important element to my teaching style um is making sure that my students um they feel loved um they feel that they're important and that they feel that they're capable of doing things that they can every student has the capacity to do great things um a lot of our students come to us thinking that they can't or they won't and my philosophy is to pull that out of them and show them that they can for this year's Governor Education Services professional of the year at bookm Mora High School is Miss Samantha West the unique thing about Miss West and what her role is is she can take any type of situation like it could be like I said a student in crisis and she can just handle it with a calm and a a cool and a collective demeanor which puts everybody at ease and creates a comfort zone for whoever's interacting with her one of the best things that I can say that she does is exactly that she solves problems and she's a great asset to the brook Memorial High School Community I have two important elements in my counseling style that I boiled this down to one is safety and confidentiality I always want people who come into this office whether it's students or adults to feel as safe and as possible like their their rights are protected and and there's um confidentiality in the things that we discuss the other thing that is most important to me is laughter um we got to be able to have fun and um when when appropriate make of a situation and be able to laugh at ourselves and add some humor my counseling philosophy would would more so be um just meet people where they are meet the students where they're at and understand that every single student is an individual going through something completely indivi individualized and that I try to customize my counseling philosophy to meet the student exactly where they are and rather than kind of putting myself in their shoes just walking alongside them [Music] [Applause] [Music] instead okay so um at this time I'm going to invite our Board of Education members our Herbertsville Community wish one more I know you loved it you want to see it again we will make the link available to you because it really was just such such a beautiful tribute to all of you and your accomplishments so thank you all of you so at this time our Board of Education members will report to the stage to present our teachers and Educational Services professionals with their Awards an official portrait with the Board of Education president Mrs wrab Miss mcnamer and our principal will also be taken so when I call your name please proceed down the aisle and Ascend the staircase located on the right of the stage okay from Herbertsville early childhood development center teacher of the year Joseph Lawler an educational services professional Jacqueline Janik from Warren H wolf early childhood development center the Teacher of the Year Michelle Walsh an educational services professional Heather Scott Heather wasn't able to join us this evening because she had um an event for her son from drump Point Elementary School our teacher of the year Jill Kepner an educational services professional Diana del Rio from Emma Haven Young Elementary School Teacher of the Year Lisa desre unfortunately Lisa couldn't be with us tonight but we'd like to congratulate Lisa on the birth of her daughter she was born last week I guess she had a good reason to miss she's here watching over on on the live stream an educational services professional Michelle Watt from Lan's Mill Elementary School teacher of the year Kelly [Applause] corbo and Educational Services professional Heather am monzo from midstreams elementary school teacher of the year Melissa kovaleski [Applause] and Educational Services professional Sandra [Applause] K from osbornville elementary school teacher of the year Deborah [Applause] Thomas and Educational Services professional Serena Spitzer [Applause] from Veterans Memorial Elementary School teacher of the year Victoria [Applause] letterly and Educational Services professional Michelle [Applause] Larson from Lake Riviera Middle School teacher of the year Lauren alello and Educational Services professional Kelly [Applause] fulo and a thank you to Mrs Buco uh Mr Campbell's assistant principal who's standing in for him tonight because he's home is sick at home from veterans moral Middle School teacher of the year Kathleen Guthrie [Applause] and Educational Services professional Stephanie [Applause] mattio from Brick Township High School teacher of the year Courtney Goff [Applause] Robinson and Educational Services professional Lauren [Applause] anello and lastly from brick memorial high school teacher of the year Sarah ball and Educational Services professional Samantha West so please join me in a final round of applause for all our Governor's educator of the Year [Applause] recipients at this time we'll be taking the individual portraits and four group photos um and afterwards I'll ask everyone to take their seats again so that we can introduce the district teacher of the year sorry e e could pretty funny little bu not every got [Music] tellure search thank you have a good night thank you all thank you thank you you so much thank you got it to you take care you oh thank you I appreciate you come up all the time thank you okay so please take your seats and we will conclude our program with our district teacher of the year each teacher of the year candidate undergos a rigorous application process for the Ocean County teacher of the year award a district committee comprising teachers administrators and community members evaluates these applications to select the Brick Township District teacher of the year the committee thoroughly reviews each candidate's professional biography teaching philosophy message and educational leadership qualities this task is quite challenging as all of our teachers are incredibly deserving of recognition in alignment with our District's Vision students centered teacher-led and community connected this year's District teacher of the year stands out as an exemplary leader universally recognized by our school Community she has leveraged her expertise in early literacy to cater to her students needs offer valuable professional development for her colleagues and strengthen Community Connection by designing an early literacy presentation for parents for these reasons and so many more please join me in congrat ulating the 2324 Brick Township District teacher of the year Jill [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Kempner this right here [Applause] thank you I know Dr Farrell is watching so I will start by saying Dr farell Dr Anderson miss mcnamer miss grener Mr kler Mr Edwards members of the Board of Education colleagues family friends and guests good evening I would like to first thank the Board of Education and Fran for presenting such a wonderful tribute tonight um the words of every single person in that video are just so powerful and um it's an absolute honor and privilege to receive this recognition alongside so many dedicated professionals it's very humbling and I want to commend everyone here tonight for the hard work that you do each and every day for the betterment of the students of this town I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my family for their unwavering support and for understanding everything I do and all the boxes and the projects throughout my journey in education their encouragement and Patience are truly my Bedrock enabling me to pursue my passions wholeheartedly because I love what I do I would also like to acknowledge my amazing colleagues yay I am immensely grateful for their encouragement their expertise and their friendship in addition I would like to recognize several of the administrators in this room and some who are watching from home tonight who have supported me encouraged me and validated my efforts over the years I can't pinpoint an exact moment when I made a decision to pursue a career in teaching it kind of feels more like life quietly nudged me in that direction placing me on a path where my passion for Learning and my curiosity and my desire to make an impact naturally converged Looking Back Now I see the countless moments the spark of inspiration the struggles and the victories the profound connections with my own teachers everything that led me to toward a career in education I am curious by Nature I'm a reader at heart and I love learning all the things I feel like teaching picked me and I embraced it with open arms knowing that it was where I was meant to be as I reflect on my career to this point a quote that resonates very profoundly with me is actually by Abraham maslo and you might know him from his hierarchy of needs he said in any given moment we have two options to step forward into growth or to step back into safety this quote captures the essence of My Philosophy as a teacher because it's all about embracing change and moving towards growth even when it pushes us out of our comfort zones and change is unavoidable isn't it it's like the shifting tides of the ocean or the changing seasons and in our field change is one of the very few certainties we can count on whether it's adapting to new curriculum adjusting to revised standards embracing ever evolving technology or navigating shifts in educational policies it's how we respond to these changes that ultimately defines us as Educators from the start of my career I've often not always but often chosen to step forward into growth I've embraced change as an opportunity to learn to innovate and to seek ways to better serve my students it has not always been easy and I haven't always appreciated it in the moment because working with little people is really really hard sometimes but every challenge has been another stepping stone towards personal and professional development but here's the thing I couldn't have done it alone mentorship has played a huge role in my journey sorry I have been so fortunate to have so many mentors who have guided me and challenged me and inspired me to be the very best educator I can be they've been a source of wisdom support some hard truths and encouragement advising me through the many highs and lows of this profession I'm good it's all good when I first started teaching at V C 20 years ago a group of my co-workers immediately immediately took me under their wings some of them are here tonight these teachers helped me learn how to plan how best to communicate with families how to handle challenging situations and how to prioritize and adapt to the constantly changing demands of the job they provided me with a sense of safety and support that allowed me to take risks and Implement new ideas with my students they became my family away from my family and I can see their positive influences that are peppered all throughout my own teaching practices 16 years later I experienced the power of mentorship yet again when I moved from Upper Elementary to first grade talk about a change it was one that I welcomed and a challenge that I definitely felt ready to take on but the opportunity presented itself in the middle of a pandemic lockdown and hybrid learning so I became essentially a brand new teacher all over again only this time with Google meet and suddenly that Google boot camp that I was that I had attended was paying off in dividends luckily I was welcomed by another team of teachers who were patient with me who answered all of my questions who shared their invaluable wisdom and advice and who helped me acclimate to my new role knowing that they were there to guide and support support me allowed me to step forward into Primary Learning and I very quickly morphed into a phonics nerd it's not just about having mentors though it's about being a mentor to others as well I really believe in the importance of paying it forward in this profession of sharing our knowledge and experience with our colleagues because the whole is always greater than the sum of its individual parts we are so fortunate to be part of a district that recognizes our professional strengths and talents of individuals and provides opportunities for sharing them with each other leadership is after all a journey to help those around us rise and teaching should never feel like a solitary Endeavor it's a team effort working together is essential inure in ensuring that we meet the needs of every single student by pooling our expertise and experiences we can develop more Innovative strategies and approaches to to the diverse learning styles and abilities in our classrooms as one administrator here puts it we are all on the same bus riding in the same direction and to that I will add when you begin to feel like you are riding alone peek over the seats and reach out to a fellow passenger through collaboration we can better identify best practices adapt our teaching methods and create truly inclusive learning environments where every student feels valued and supported we shouldn't be afraid to try new things to even fail sometimes and to learn from our mistakes that is after all what we ask our students to do every single day beyond the Practical benefits collaborating Fosters a sense of belonging and camaraderie among teachers novice teachers and Veteran teachers alike and it reminds us that we are not alone in this journey that we have a support system that we can lean on when times get tough and I think we've all pretty much learned just how tough things can get we have been tested in ways we've never imagined were possible from 911 to a Great Recession super storm sand Sandy the pandemic I have to mention because because and now an Educational Funding crisis but when tragedy occurs what do communities do they unite they support each other and they uplift one another and as a profession we frequently acknowledge the trauma that our students have endured and we work work hard and tirelessly to address their social and emotional needs to the best of our abilities but let's not Overlook that we the adults we've experienced trauma as well and we must support each other look out for one another and recognize when someone Among Us needs a little extra care and attention as we celebrate sorry as we celebrate the commitment of our teachers and esps gathered here tonight let us reflect on the profound impact we all have on the lives of our students every day we have the privileged opportunity to ignite their intellect nurture their character and prepare them for the challenges of the Future Let's Not underestimate the impact of our Collective efforts in guiding them towards success let's persist in our pursuit of excellence in the classroom and do everything we can to support each other's professional development so I'll end with one simple message always have the courage to welcome change be open to fostering growth in yourself and others and always always keep learning thank [Music] [Music] [Applause] you thank you so much Jill that was beautiful [Applause] at this time we're going to take a short break and allow you guys to congratulate everyone here tonight and the board on behalf of the Board of Education and Dr farell and the administrators we are so proud of you you do such wonderful things every day thank you again so much and uh congratulations enjoy the rest of your evening [Applause] get that Fe order J did you did you leave a couple out right [Music] yes awesome awesome [Music] told you e [Applause] [Applause] let did you get to thee crimee is that's a brand new one get through that and then there's question I but everything else is that brand new so that they should get you through that but everything else through all the other see it right the sign there and I have to up that [Music] ready ch right turn I think I was supposed to do that I screwed up on turned on Mary but yeah it was like one of your special successory right there you knowbody we hav had meeting everything we have all dat [Music] and what okay I'm going to ask if all the board members and administrators could return to their seats so we can get started [Music] hell okay uh we only have Jim Edwards we'll start with the finance and Facilities reports and there are all the reports we have for this evening committee reports correct okay yeah close the doors please thank you Miss wreb uh the facilities committee met on May 6th attendant Miss Balo miss wreb Mr Mesmer M mcnamar myself Mr Pororo Mr dubovich from fvhd Architects Miss Cashman from spel Architects and Mr yor from Neta Architects first item was Lake R Middle School air conditioning um Mr yor informed the committee that the final closeout is still pending pending the water balancing and closeout documents veterans moral Middle School boiler replacement and air conditioning Mr y informed the committee that the work is proceeding including the transformer pad and Tren work which was completed on May 3rd 20024 to support the electrical upgrades this summer project meetings have commenced as of April 24th and the switch gear is in the warehouse uh we anticipate a four to 8we shutdown of that school for the project Mah Haven's Young Elementary School air conditioning Mr y informed the committee that the they're waiting on the Transformers and electrical gear uh again the job meetings resumed April 24th and same in regards to the shutdown of the schools 4 to8 weeks veterans more Elementary School Mr y informed the committee that the job meetings resumed on April 24th again a 4 to 8 week shutdown period is anticipated and the switch gears anticipated to arrive June 14th jump Point Elementary School boil of Replacements in air conditioning Mr y informed the committee that we're waiting on the Transformers and electrical gear uh it's again a 4 to8 week shutdown Lan M Elementary School Miss Cashman informed the committee that no work has been performed today but the billing electrical shutdown is confirmed for June 14th midstreams air conditioning osbornville air conditioning waren Wolf air conditioning and herbit air conditioning I informed the committee that all four schools are still pending the other projects that I just mentioned uh once the contingency funds on those projects is release we should have the local funding in place to move forward with those projects osbornville Elementary School kitchen Edition Miss Cashman informed the committee that the bid opening came back higher than expected and they're reviewing value at value engineering options to try to bring the cost down they anticipate putting the project back out the bid in September for an award to work to for an award for work to commence in the summer of 2025 Brick Township High School kitchen HVAC Mr pror informed the committee that spel was awarded the Poo to provide the mechanical drawings for permit submission uh Hutchinson provided all the equipment and is on site Drum Point Elementary School kitchen from HVAC Mr Borio informed the committee that the work is complete and awaiting final startup which is an anticipated the week of May 13th parking lot assessment I informed the committee that the review meeting was held with Mr ose and Mr Kelly of Birmington Vernick on May 6th to review the assessment details instructions were provided on preparing the final report to include specific needs and a 10-year long range plan for execution midstream's kitchen Mr y informed the kit informed the committee that the design and drawings have begun uh site visit was performed on May 3rd focusing on the interior and the roof AR drawings will be to the district shortly for review Brick Township High School track and long jump Mr proro informed the committee that the work has been completed on the track maintenance pursuant to the PO that was issued to AT&T the contractor Mr Peoria informed the committee that the project for the long jump is included in the 2425 school year budget and he uh will anticipate issuing the P purchase order upon approval of the budget for work to be completed at the end of June for completion this summer SDA merging Grant needs project Mr Borio informed the committee that the projects identified at brickmore high school and Veterans Moore Middle School are currently waiting for the co-op approval which is on this evening's agenda and as soon as that's done the POS will be awarded and the next meeting is June 12th uh next was the finance committee meeting which was uh right after with Mr Mesmer Miss wrab Miss Malla and myself first item we discussed the 2024 25 budget I informed the committee that the budget would be placed back on the May 9th agenda for the board's consideration next was the community solar and building performance I informed the committee that dco energy uh has begun working on the utility bill analysis um there was a legal matter that Mr mon Mr monegro asked me to discuss with the committee that's ongoing uh Brick Township facilities we uh we were looking at different spaces for expansion of preschool 2024 2025 best program budget uh reviewed with the the committee the budget prepared by Mr paollo I noted the budget includes an increase for the am monthly fees of $24 a month and the PM monthly fees of $15 a month uh Mr Mesmer did inquire about the preschool offerings for that program um for Mr Mesmer that we have looked at that however at the current time it does not appear that the revenues for the preschool program uh for the best program would cover the costs and we also have concerns on Staffing uh committee then concurred that the budget should be on place on tonight's agenda for full board consideration Food Service budget I reviewed the proposed budget with the committee that was prepared by Miss Richardson it includes a 10cent increase in the lunch prices and a 5cent increase in the breakfast prices the committee concurred that it should be placed on tonight's agenda ARP homeless Grant Amendment informed the committee that the district received additional funds that were required an amendment to be submitted to the Department of Education idea Grant amendment I informed the committee that Miss gringer needs to hire an aid for preschool student rather than utilize funds for out District tuition and therefore an amendment the original Grant application is required MC participation agreement I inform the committee that MC will be starting a purchasing cooperative and that I recommended to Brick uh participate so that's on this evening's agenda and new advertising accounts I informed the committee that Shore District advertising has brought forth three new accounts for consideration first was Plymouth Rock for 16,600 uh for advertising on the website and a banner in each one of the Schools staff parking lots second was US Army for 13300 for a banner at each one of the football stadiums and third was Adamson veter for $5,000 for a sign on the football stadium scoreboard at Brick Township High School next meeting is June 12th thank you Mr Edwards first public comment session on agenda items only this will be the first opportunity for public comment and will be for agenda items only the board invites thoughts and reactions on agenda items each participant is asked to give his or her name prior to making a statement all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer the board will not during the public portion of this meeting discuss matters involving employment appointment termination of employment negotiations terms and conditions of employment evaluation of the performance of promotion or disciplining of any specific or perspective or current employee Andor student do we have anybody for public comment on agenda items Mr Finelli Europe turn the heat up anytime you like okay um gender items number 10 the budget I just curiously after the last meeting I'd like to hear from the three people who voted no on the budget what exactly it would take or what they were looking for to vote Yes was not there that they wanted uh number 15 uh the Food Service budget just curious as to um three items in the in in the Food Service budget first one is you're cutting the payout for perfect attendance by 33% which I'm assuming for some reason you're not going to have as much perfect attendance you're cutting it by 33% you're also cutting the sub salaries by 33 % and you're also cutting the overtime budget and I'm just curious is if if you're not going to have that good of attendance how is it you're able to cut those other two things um and under Human Resources I I just want to check some numbers uh the list of BT teachers is 669 and the list all their salary is at current upto-date information uh the same thing with uh teach teacher aids the number went up once in the last day but uh teacher aids now at 187 is that number accurate and just a comment on other districts as to what they're doing to make their budget and I certainly don't hold up Asbury Park as the Sterling example of what a school district should be but I just noted what they're cutting this year two El teachers six coaches and I'm not talking about athletic coaches I'm talking about academic coaches two special teachers three traditional four teachers four special education teachers two AIDS one secretary and the following positions four out of five of them are gone forever they they're not just added one budget they're not going to have them anymore first one is the central regist the second one is the supervisor of curriculum and instruction the third one is Communications coordinator the fourth one is Director of Human Resources and the fifth one is director of special services don't shoot the messenger thank you my reason to bring it up is they're doing what they have to do okay so you can answer the first couple of questions thank you Mr Finelli um Mr Edwards I guess you're doing the uh number 10 budget Food Services budget Jim do you have all yeah so um the amounts that is are being budgeted M and Fs all those areas could be reduced uh because of what's being spent in the current year so all of those areas are under budget in the current year so she's reducing them for 2425 they're under budget so you're cutting it because they're doing better correct in the current year okay it's a good thing to hear um Mr kler HR numbers the uh btaa teachers those are our current employees that we anticipate returning for next year that are tenured okay it does not include non-tenured and it is next year's salaries you know what the tenard number is by the way un tened I mean um I it's over hundred I'm just curious as to why every else was on there but they weren't non non-tenured will be approved next month okay I'll get the number then okay so the number is accurate number's accurate for currently employed teachers teachers tenure teachers correct vacancies would not be on there because there's no one teachers AIDS uh teacher aids I did add one that was mistakenly left off that list that's why it's Chang 187 that is correct that just seemed High to me I look just look at the number and I say that's one one teacher Aid for every three and a half teachers well it it's the entire district and it does include preschool okay and my first my first question was for the three people who didn't vote on the school budget and um what I will do is allow if they choose to answer that question at the end in their comment that's when they can answer it I'm not going to direct it to them at this point so they heard your question it's a budget question it's on the it's a genda item what budget question it's a budget the budget question is is uh number 10 on the agenda tonight this is a budget question about they're voting on the budget it's the same exact budget as it was last meeting so they can either choose the answer or they can't but this this is the time for them to do it this is the budget question I don't want to use up this time for the end of the meeting when it's anend item this this is not a time this is public this is public comment time now you've raised the question at the time of the vote if they wish to make a statement they can they don't have to or at the time of board comment they can make a statement they don't have to but during public comment just because you throw something out there doesn't mean board members have to keep uh shooting out answers it it doesn't work that way you're not giving them the opportunity I asked the question I I just I just said at the time it comes around for the vote which would be before the vote if they wish to make a statement they can excuse me I'm not asking about tonight's vote I'm asking about last meeting's vote that's they voted last meeting on the budget this is is a budget question that's on the agenda I would appreciate at least the opportunity all three of them can stand up and say I'm not going to tell you but at least do it I'm I'm not talking about tonight I'm talking about this meeting the time I understand what your question is at the time of the vote if they wish to make a statement they can but just because during public comment you want to point questions to specific board members this is not the time for that if they wish to make that comment they can I I am not going to instruct leg explain your your legal terminology or your legal explanation as to why they can't answer it now but they can answer it later explain that to me in the public because that is how public meetings work public if you wish to look at the agenda this is a public comment section don't throw that word comment at me I'm asking a question it's not just for comments we pay the bills we get to ask question well this is how the board meetings work not just this board meeting but all board meetings it is not a public Q&A it is not a debate you have five minutes to tell the board anything you wish we try to answer as many questions as we can on agenda items and later if you have anything else but just because somebody comes up during public comment and starts instructing questions to various board members they are not required nor is that really what public comment is designed for they heard the question if they wish to to answer it you will hear the answer so I don't understand why the problem is when you're going to get it but that's the answer you may not like the answer that's the answer I'll tell you what the problem is you get cut off after five minutes here I'm talking about an agenda item what I talk about at the end of meeting may not be agenda items but this is an agenda item I'm damn well sure you don't go to every school board meeting so you can't stand there and tell me every school board works exactly like that because you don't go to every school board meeting all I'm doing is I'm not grilling anybody I'm asking them they voted all I want to know is what would it take for them to vote they voted no one person talked about class size you you've asked the question three times now yeah and and you've got you you asked the question of of them you asked the question of me I told you when you will get that answer if they choose to give it now you don't like my answer that's okay you don't have you don't have to like it but that's the answer you're damn right I don't like it because you're going to decide what part of the agenda I can talk about and one part I can't this is an agenda item it's not the end of the thing and I'll keep saying that till I'm blew in the face I'm talking about the budget okay thank you very much sit down you don't get to dismiss me either all right your time's up let's move to the the next person you're not the Tim keeper either that's okay Mr Reed Mr Reed's ready to I don't see anything that says my time is up so don't give me that stuff thank you any other anybody else for yes Mr read I guess I don't have to give my name because I'm notorious or inFAMOUS or whatever it is uh is there there a 12:00 curfew for this meeting tonight 11 11 11 okay I I'll take that um not to waste my time but uh your time I should say thank you for volunteering the board members of course I believe you should be paid I don't know who came up with that rule but the amount of time you have to put in you should be paid for it okay my first question is on the transfers there were a lot of 17 pages of uh transfers tonight uh and uh I had some questions on some of the transfers the big items where the money went into uh the first one was on page six emergent Capital need $21,000 uh page eight medical insurance course we heard about medical insurance transferred over $864,000 uh page nine non reimbursed funds non-reimbursable fund 50,000 I don't know what that means and Page 11 Cafe equipment 425,000 and on transfers uh page 11 ACS R which wasn't evidently budgeted for $181,000 so that would be um questions I would hope to get an answer for um just to clarify what they are uh the other um comments I have on the uh agenda items relate to um the way they're ported reported on the board secretary's report and I want to compliment Jim because he got the report out early this month it wasn't due until after the 15th so I was harping on that and I want to compliment him on that I'm sure he was in there with a whip getting those people to get the report done uh so on those uh it relates to you start out with an appropriation and then you have a an expenditure and then you have an encumbrance and then you have an available balance I'm sure uh the board members are all aware of this so in some items I'm a little confused of why there would be encumbrances okay so let's take uh on page uh it's towards the end of the report Support Services General administ Administration so I know we have several areas where there's a legal budget but this is just for General services so the budget amount uh or I should say the appropriation amount listed for this last report of March is 358,000 the expenditures are 133,000 and the encumbrance are 235,000 225,000 so I assume that the legal fees are result of an hourly a billing that has been agreed to in a contract from the board so that that's how you came up with an original budgeted amount or appropriation amount and the expenditures today were about 3/4 of the way through the school year are 133,00 ,000 out of that 358,000 but then there's an encumbered amount of 225,000 so does that mean you already have billable hours that have been submitted to the board if so what what are they you know how could we have billable hours submitted already that haven't occurred so you know in an effort to find monies for teachers you have to look at a lot of other areas like workman's comp we worked on that a number of years ago it's saving the district a lot of money each year uh and now you need to focus on health benefits so so when the when the board is focused on getting money from the state and it's in the 14 million range as opposed to the 17 million range and then you have health benefits which with the transfers now are up to $31 million you you got to start focusing on things you have some control over so when you go to negotiate health benefits I understand collective bargaining but you have to figure out or what are we going to have are we going to have this platinum health care system or are we going to have teachers because the students can't be taught without the teachers and I'm s I'm guessing that the people that voted against the budget is because there's too much money in this budget that has to be looked at more closely and the teachers are the Fall Guy in this whole process thank you any answers to my question yes uh Mr Edwards He's on it he's on it give me a minute yeah give me a second there thank you um so I I was trying to Mally remember I didn't have a piece of paper from me the transfer numbers again because I know I could answer them for you but you started on page six correct yes the emergent Capital need 200,000 right so that's an SDA grant that we got from so when you see the account number when it starts with a 20 20 is a grant account so that's a grant that we got from the SDA uh was approved at the I want to say February meeting uh it's what we're doing we're doing HVAC work at both brick memor high school and Veterans Memorial High School that's a grant uh the next one I believe you well you mentioned the um uhic well go ahead well first you mentioned the cafeteria number right yeah so that's the uh Capital project that we're doing at midstreams we're putting a kitchen expansion on there uh with the that when you see 60 is the account number that means it's cafeteria operations which is its own proprietary fund then you mentioned the medical insurance we which we talked about before the increase that we have in medical that 864,000 is the stabilization funds that we received that we put into the medical account because of the shortage that we are projecting there for the end of the year um and then your next question I believe was on I thought you said 10 AC RS or so AC RS that's um money that again that's in fund 20 that we're getting reimbursed um I think that law occurred during Co correct Miss gr uh yeah so students who are being educated above 24 years old 21 years old until the 24 and uh we get reimbursed for that cost of educating them from 21 to 24 so that's what that fund is so that's again a grant that came to the district okay thank you yep uh in regards to the legal fees so at the be June of this year so will be the next meeting we're going to appoint the attorneys uh we appoint them on an estimated number of hours for the year that number gets encumbered so that's what the encumber is that's what the estimated number was and then when they get bills we pay off of those encumbrance so that's the actual um there is a significant difference this year Miss gringer can be uh thanked for most of that so the um in the special education litigation we had had a board approved 168,000 for that attorney at the beginning of the year uh to date we've spent 19,000 so there's a significant difference that amount is then when we do our Surplus calculation for the 2425 budget we take into consideration where we think things are going to end at the end of the year so that amount has already been considered in the 2425 Surplus for the end of June 30th so it does get it does flow into the 2425 budget okay so the for the general Services which would be covered here I think uh it's all legal fees that are in that account so you've got your labor Council your general Council special special all that is in that one account correct okay so so most of it is estimates you really don't have bills that are in the encumbered right well we know what we've gotten through March and so that we project out for the remaining three months and we think that we're going to have a significant amount of money flow out of that account we think that we're going to have uh 199,000 available that will flow out and that money has been included in our estimate for the 24 25 Surplus but as of the end of March we have zero available it's all tied up in the incumbrances okay so you're projecting right so so when the money doesn't get spent those incumbrances then laps into Surplus okay thank you you're welcome thank you Mr Reed any other uh public comment on agenda yes good evening my name's uh excuse me Charles bacon and I just want to say good evening to the board the administrators and I hope uh Dr Ferrell's on a fast uh recovery couple comments I wanted to make after uh last uh budget meeting that I heard and just want to confirm some numbers uh the the public meeting comment on the budget I believe should be held sooner next year so the residents have a have a a right to ask questions and potentially might make some alterations to the the uh budget so having the budget meeting basically the day before the budget date it's kind of like what's the point of doing that the PowerPoint presentation I appreciate it the the time and effort that went in it what be very helpful for a lot of us is if we could get that in advance next year for the budget so we can kind of review those numbers a little bit and help digest that and another thing uh I would recommend for next year as well is the potential of a Citizens budget advisory committee uh there's many talented uh business people in the town and Mr Reed is very knowledgeable in a lot of these areas that would be willing to look at the budget and I do respect and understand the sensitivity of some of the person matters that are involved in that which would have to be deidentified but again it's just another set of eyes with the amount of work that goes on now uh some of my comments that I heard a couple weeks ago that um in one in particular it seemed like the teacher ratio at the grade school level uh a teacher per student was a little bit high and something I think needs to be addressed potentially with an action plan is to see if we can get some some of those uh a little bit more support level down in the grade school levels and maybe increase the ratio of a teacher to students in a high school as they prepare to go into more advanced studies um there was a lot of comments made about the budget and the problems that you're faced with totally respect and understand that and a lot of it Center around S2 obviously since 2018 and the challenges you have there and there's a couple things I do want to get on the record about S2 that I think are important and we've heard a lot of these things obviously you've had to deal with it since July of 18 and there was a lot of comments made between the governor Murphy at the time and Senator Sweeney about our fair share in our district and the funding formula and it was modified uh I think in part of our declining enrollment and uh Mr Edwards I want to thank you for your comment I I do realize that this is one of the districts that sued and from what I understood that you said two weeks ago was that yes the formula was released but there's some type of special program that is really needed to read it and we don't have that program at least that's the way I understood it and uh there's other things and they you know I I believe and I I might even stated this a couple weeks ago and I've stated in public in other sessions uh I I firmly believe it was done out of malice and not fairness and then there's a lot of things that have been out in the public domain as well about some of that reallocation of that funding money that didn't seem to make sense and you know my concern about the funding formula not being fully uh exposed so you can review it is my first reaction to that is they're hiding something and the other thing that really bothered me I got to be honest with you uh going back on October 29th of 2021 four days before the election the reelection of uh Governor Murphy he actually awarded $6.5 million to Brick so to me that looks like a political play in front of an election that was pretty tight at the time and it kind of is to me a stunt that proves the S2 legislation was in my opinion nonsense now a couple other things that came up last week or two weeks ago which I appreciate and I heard some things and I call it uh elll enrollment I don't know if that's the correct uh terminology we use but it seemed like over the last few years we went from 90 to 600 uh ell students and it was also confirmed uh Dr Anderson I believe we have 18 different languages circulating in the district all right so when I hear things like that it's a challenge for our Educators or support staff to properly support these students and one of the things uh if you just finish your thought you was the title three funding that is needed around the immigrants right and I also heard I believe our special needs enrollment has increased and requires additional funding too in Clos this is what I I say you should demand from our state legislators as well as our Senator is to demand a meeting with Senator Booker and Governor Murphy's administrative staff they should be in this District in public so folks like you can speak to them parents and other people in the township I think that's extremely important if they do not honor that then I think you should get this at an elevated social media Med level thank you for the extended time enjoy the rest of your thank you any other public comment and I'm sorry Jim did you want to make any comments on that uh no I didn't hear any questions he just coms wanted to make sure if there was anything okay um any other public comment yes good evening Susana bergfelt 49 Neil Avenue I have questions regarding class sizes from the budget presentation is this an appropriate time okay please don't mind me I'm reading off my phone unfortunately I was unable to attend the last meeting but I did have a few questions pertaining to the information provided my questions revolve around classroom sizes the table shown within the budget presentation laid out the proposed classroom sizes for the next academic school year across all elementary schools some of which exceed well over 30 students in a classroom it's my understanding that classroom sizes are up to the superintendent's discretion is that accurate if so then I asked Dr Farrell if he feels as though these classroom sizes are acceptable and conducive to meeting the needs of our children it was made very apparent that the maor majority of you also do not agree with these significant class sizes so I beg of you to find a better solution for our kids and I hope that my questions encourage you to think just beyond the number itself what current supports do you have in place in the elementary setting to assist classroom teachers in meeting the needs of all Learners gifted and talented struggling Learners those with behavioral concerns ml students will these supports be in place for the next academic school year and then what what additional supports will you be putting in place to help the assist classroom teachers in meeting the academic social and emotional needs of all Learners as you're increasing their class sizes substantially what is the fire code maximum occupancy for these classrooms having been inside these elementary schools I can't imagine that these classrooms are built to hold such a vast number of students at one time currently and I think another gentleman attest um pointed that or spoke on this but how do we hire substitute teachers is it currently through a separate company or do we do it in house um and what is the current percentage of teacher absences that are filled through substitutes on a daily basis if a classroom teacher's absent absence is not filled how is the absence then covered if the use of other classroom teachers or support teachers is used how will the needs of their students be met I can imagine that with class sizes as large as you are projecting that teacher burnout will occur much ear earlier in the academic year than previously previous years in the previous meeting Dr farell had mentioned that if he could he would hire a VP for each of the elementary schools to assist with discipline and hibs the Hib process is quite extensive if you're unfamiliar which I'm sure you're not and requires an investigation each time an accusation is made with growing class sizes it's pretty safe to assume that the number of Hib cases will likely increase who will assist the principles and I assume the guide guidance counselors in these investigations if our guidance counselor's time is inundated with hip investigations how will he or she be there to assist our students in other ways I ask all of these questions because I have had nothing but amazing experiences with the teachers and staff members I've have encountered thus far in my short time as a parent within the district I ask the questions because these individuals are the direct line to our children receiving the best education that we as a district can provide to them these classroom sizes are just unacceptable as an educator myself in elementary school setting I can't fathom how our teachers would be able to continue to make the impact that they're making now without additional support even the best of the best Educators would have difficulty meeting the needs of all these Learners as I said without some of the additional supports in place thank you thank you Miss magnam thank you Mrs wre and you're right we uh we would love to see smaller class sizes uh unfortunately with the uh Financial restraints we have uh our class sizes have risen and it's it really is um part of U an entire picture that we have to look at in terms of balancing those class sizes the uh the one class size that we have to hold to by law is at kindergarten uh we cannot go above 25 in terms of the other class sizes that's related to the number of teachers we can afford uh to put at each level and those teachers are then based upon their different certifications and the needs of the children in those classrooms so if a classroom needs to have a regular education teacher as well as a special education teacher or reg education teacher and an elll teacher we do provide those um but again the financial cliff that we're experiencing has reduced the number of Staff members we can provide at each of the levels um in terms of support I I have to say that Dr Anderson and her curriculum and instruction supervisors and coaches do an amazing job they've imp implemented the multi-tiered systems of support uh for all teachers to be trained in that model and to provide those supports across the board to all students regardless of their need needs and those Sports have been put in place and are doing very very well um in terms of our elll staff they've been trained uh significantly and we've also begun to train all of our teachers in the sheltered instruction model so that they have support for giving to those students who have risen from 90 to almost 600 at this time your question about HIV each school does have an Hib specialist and your right it is one of the counselors um we've we also trained all of our administrators and we've trained some lead teachers as well um so why we would love to have more counselors at each level once again the finances don't allow for that um we try to give as much support and time to each of our administrators and each of our counselors um and we support them with a district person uh in terms of HIV as well so when they are feeling as though they can't accomplish all they need to accomplish uh we do have a district HIV specialist who then goes to the building and provides that kind of support um our support coverage for substitutes is an outside company um we have experienced a little bit better coverage this year but as you know there is a national substitute shortage it's not just in Brick it's not just in New Jersey it's across the board so we are all experiencing that substitute coverage um problem challenge however you'd like to look at it uh we um we've worked very hard to recruit I have to commend uh Mr kler and the HR team for continuing to put out for substitutes to come on board at Brick uh we try to be a very welcoming and uh inviting learning community so that more people come anybody listening wants to sign up to be a sub we use ESS uh we would love for you to come um you know we we think we run a wonderful Educational Learning environment here and we would welcome folks to come on board as substitutes uh when we don't have a sub it is covered internally um mostly during times when staff has prep so we are not taking away from the instructional time in the classroom I think that I hit all of your points uh you did ask about fire codes um we are bound to those fire codes I'm going to let Mr Edwards speak a little a little bit more to that Mr Edwards yeah there's a there's a square footage per room that you're bound by so certain rooms certainly can't hold 40 kids other rooms can so I mean we we have to take that in consideration when doing the planning okay thank you very much thank you any more public comment okay seeing none I'm going to close that Dr Anderson curriculum and instruction thank you Mrs wab the superintendent recommends that the board approve the following items one through three I need a motion in a second motion Nicole second Fran any board comment seeing none Mary Miss Sebert yes Miss Kennedy yes Miss D Benedictus yes Miss aan room yes Mr Mesmer yes Miss picala yes Miss wreb yes Mr Edwards operations yes thank you uh superintendent recommends items 1 through 20 I need a motion in a second motion Victoria second Fran any board comment uh yes um I umum I look through everything I've been on the finance committee for years and um I'm really stunned with numbers 15 and 16 the Food Service budget and lunch prices that Janine Richardson um handles for our children and the the program she runs and the support she gets um um and each year it brings surpluses in um from how successful her budget program is and I just want to say that that's so good for the district and the same could be said for the best budget uh on number 16 um as far as number 10 the budget um this is a balanced budget achieved by much hard work and um careful consideration of our Administration and staff and principles and teachers and support teachers and our students and as a board we make cuts the priority for our superintendent is to make cuts that have the least impact on students teachers and programs so I would urge everybody to support this balanced budget tonight any other board comment uh yeah I want to make a comment ahead Mike on the question would this be the time to answer the question um so why I voted no for the budget um at the last meeting basically besides the reasons I gave at the last meeting was I wanted to bring awareness Ness at a state level that I don't agree with the amount of funding and the amount of energy and effort they're providing this District I think we're getting short changed thank you Mike any other board comment I have one it's very go ahead yeah um so it's it's on 10 as well um we as board members are supposed to vote on a balanced budget well I'm here not just for the money I'm here for the people these are students these are teachers these are taxpayers and 37 38 kids in a class with one teacher that's not balanced we are now as was said this is May this is this is mental health awareness our kids do not have the proper mental health right now they are in an horrible state so what do we do we cut the funding for mental health we did we did and this is not balance there is no balance because money unfortunately yes we need the money for our schools to work but we also need the people and I'm tired I'm sorry I'm so over having dollars and cents running everything we have to be able to look at people and not just zeros and and decimals and commas these are humans and if we just need to scream out as Mike said we need to be heard our kids need to be heard we have screwed them over for 4 years and what are we doing we're doing it again we're doing it again it is messed up what we're doing for a future generation and I'm done we need to stand up for our teachers we need to stand up even if you don't have kids here if you don't have students here okay do you know how much our great school rating has gone down I moved here in 2019 the school was an eight we're now down to like a four what is that going to do do when you're trying to resell your home nobody's going to want to buy a house in a four we need to do better and for that we need to do better we need to be better any other board comment I also have something I'd like to say m um I voted no for a number of reasons a um there's no way we should have 38 to 40 children I'm sorry there's no way we should have 38 to 40 children in a classroom there's no way we're supposed to be giving a thorough and efficient education there's no possible way to do that with that and and many different languages we also have um teachers who have behaviors in the classrooms we are throwing this on our teachers it's ridiculous it it it the the amount of students you just can't give an educ ation I know our teachers are fabulous look at all of them they're wonderful they're hard workers don't blame it on the teachers but the stress that they're getting is ridiculous and I had a lengthly conversation today with someone who told me that when they spoke to someone in the state or the county that um we didn't have an answer how to change the budget I would have had an answer of what changes I wanted in the budget if I was told before the meeting that that's what I could do we were not informed that we could give our ideas and when I said that well I was told that's bad on me no it is bad on you and it's bad for the children and it's bad for the teachers it's bad for the taxpayers in this town what they've come up with this as an assembly Bill where um in order to make our budget or give us more money is to increase our taxes 99.9% without a vote on it that they can just do that I don't want my taxes raised another 99.9% to balance a budget there is money in the state we deserve it we need to beg for it or do whatever we have to do because we need those teachers you could say whatever you want shame on you if you think that 40 children in a classroom even in the most informative years that kids need an education it's not going to happen our test scores stink but we're working hard on trying to get them up there they've gotten every program they can miss uh Dr Anderson is doing everything she can but it's impossible to teach that many students in a classroom and it's impossible impossible even for the most wonderful teacher to make sure that those students get an education that's why I voted no and so that my taxes don't go up but unfortunately if it gets passed they could do what they want up to 99.9% that's why thank you anyone else um on number 12 and number 13 the donations from Exon Mobile and brick schools cafeteria program from an anonymous donor I just wanted to say thank you for those donations um I wanted to welcome um our new people to the board meeting tonight it's always nice seeing new faces and um every budget cycle that we sit through and it's really different for me to sit here than it was for me to sit there a few years ago um brings out new people with new passions and I hope that we can direct the passion to Trenton where they need to do some things to help us um I want to thank our Administration for doing the best that they can with what we are handed um but in the meantime please take your your passion and your frustrations and your anger and bring them to Trenton that's where we have to make things happen thank you anyone else did we get everybody okay um Mary Miss Sebert yes Miss Kennedy yes Miss St Benedictus yes on everything except for number 10 which is the budget that is a no Miss um I abstain from number uh number 5 21315 21385 213 238 213 279 and also on number 20 and no on number 10 the budget Mr Mesmer no on 10 yes on everything else Miss picala yes Miss W yes Mr kler Human Resources thank you m wreb tonight under Human Resources the superintendent recommends items number 1 through 37 for approval I need a motion in a second motion Victoria second Aly any board comment I just wanted to uh comment on human resources number 7 8910 11 12 13 14 and 15 um uh this is the hiring of our staff for the coming year our tenur staff and um I'd just like to say you are all worth your weight and gold thank you for making our students first every day and um meeting their needs um Mr kisler I just wanted to say um this is a really full agenda and and you're really um you're really stepping it up these days any other board comment seeing none Mary Miss Sebert yes Miss Kennedy yes Miss Ste Benedictus yes Miss aan room yes Mr Mesmer yes Miss picala yes Miss wreb yes second public comment section this is the second opportunity for public comment each participant is asked to give his or her name prior to making a statement all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer comments shall be limited to 5 minutes and each speaker may only speak once the board will not during the public portion of this meeting discuss matters involving employment appointment termination of employment negotiations terms and conditions of employment evaluation of the performance of promotion or disciplining of any specific or perspective or current employee Andor students do we have anybody from public comment yes I actually get up to avoid the force fight but it is cold in here I'm telling you anyway uh John sler 950 silia cour I just have a couple quick questions mainly it's your area so if you don't mind uh you mentioned you need substitute teachers last time they mentioned they needed substitute bus drivers what do they get paid can you make it so people know it instead of just saying you need it because I mean you know I don't know what they get paid and how they get paid or what they get paid you know uh that's really what it is I know we have a shortage but basically those two it's not the teachers it's not the regular bus drivers it's the substitutes that were short I guess okay thank you thank you any other public comment Mr Finelli first of all thank you for sharing it's all I asked I'm sure the attorney's not happy that you did that but he doesn't get to run the Schoolboard meetings gets the wise on legal matters only and I don't want to hear from you thank you I don't want to hear from you legal matters only just to be clear I told you you would get your answer if they chose they did not have to respond to that they do not have to explain don't have to respond they do not have to explain their vote you don't have to respond either okay thank you um a quick comment first of all there was a lot of discussion on class size during the budget presentation a comment was made the average class size for classes 1 through five is approximately 30 students for all of the schools that was in the in the presentation not exactly an accurate statement if you look at the averages for grade one it comes out to 28.3 if you look at grade two it comes out to 28.6 now by the way I realize average and averages isn't a pure science but it's close enough if you look at grade three the average is 28.5 when you look at grade four the average is 29.2 and when you look at grade five the average is 31.1 so only one grade level in in the whole school district is at or above 30 the rest are below 30 and three of them are below 29 so keep that in mind secondly when you're talking about class size you got to have all the kids in class to make that size and you are so far away from that it really shouldn't even be a discussion secondly last meeting I was talking about absence I'm not sure what how far I got with my presentation but I'll just summarize I talked about the U 21% of the students missing over 18 days a year it's 1,641 students I went over to schools with the students that missed between 11 and 15 days the best school was 42% and the worst school was 54% so keep them numbers in mind um anybody know what 1,829 days represents on the school performance report no I know you don't 1,829 days missed due to out of school suspensions you are creating your own problem I read that number again because it's astronomical 1,829 days missed because his kids were sent home I don't know what you think that's that's fixing but it's sure creating a problem with your absence you might want to review that and look at it last but not least couple of questions um we talked about absence I'm curious as to Dr F was here last time he mentioned that was year 2023 okay so how are we doing this year this year school year is almost over how are we doing an absence this year question number one question number two this is just a comment five years ago when we talked about minority teachers somebody on the school board asked the question how many minority teachers we had 3% commitment was made we're going to do a better job well guess what 5 years later we're still at 3% no change and last but not least I guess this is a question for Mr Edwards if in fact the courtesy busing has to go on the ballot to get rid of it and we've known for seven years about S2 and we're spending money on busing that you really don't have to spend on busing courtesy busing you're not legally required to do so how come it's not been on the ballot in the last four or five years to get rid of that courtesy busting because you can't afford it then three questions absence no actually two questions absence and the busting thing Mr Edwards do you want to start sure I that wouldn't be my decision to make if that would be really something that would come from the board if the board wanted to pose a question back to the community and no board has ever brought that they wanted to bring that question back I direct the question you she did yeah so I mean the question was something that was passed in 2007 I not remember here and 2007 Mary saying yeah so I mean that would be a question that would have to come back from the board to say we want to put that back out to the voters then I presented as something to think about I mean you paying for busing that you don't have to pay and you don't have the money okay um oh my goodness Miss mcir sorry absences for this year thank you Mrs wreb Mr Finelli we're currently looking at all of our absence data for the year uh we believe that uh We've made that a goal for us uh in District over the next several years is to improve in attendance of our students and we believe we are trending in a positive direction but I want to refrain from giving you an actual number until I have collected all of the data for the year and can present that to Dr frell on the board okay so what what I'm hearing you not say is although you have a very serious absence problem it's really not being tracked until the end of that's not correct that's not what I said you're incorrect say what you said what I said was that the data we have to date is trending in a positive direction but until I have all of the data with all of the administrators working on it and we have a final number for the 23 24 school year I will refrain from giving you that number until I've had an opportunity to examine the data presented to Dr farell and to the board of education at that time I will happily present you with where we've landed for the 2 a positive direction we're trending in a positive direction that's the best I'm going to do tells me nothing tell I'm sorry you feel that thank you Mr Finelli okay thank you Mr Finelli is I've got one other comment and then I'm done all right last one I've said this before and I and I'll say it till I'm blue in the face you have $162 million budget you get to decide how that money gets spent all $162 million of it you knew what S2 was coming you knew what what cuts were coming yet you still find yourself where you want to complain about class size but you decide how you're going to spend that money you decide every dime how that's going to get spent you decide when to hire teachers you decide when to give pay raises when you shouldn't give pay raises and everything else it's on you right I understand budget cuts but you got what you got that's it thank you Mr Finelli and you're not doing it any other public thank you that was the time any other yes sorry it is cold um I actually wrote what I was going to say down this time I'm sorry my name is Kristen stz by the way um and it may sound like a little bit of a broken record because a lot of the points I wanted to talk to about tonight have been said and I actually want to make sure that it's known I can't over there go for it that end of the board over there I appreciate all of your answers thank you so much um I think we do have a lot of same viewpoints um and this is going to sound like a broken record well I do understand there are challenges with the continuing of budget cuts due to S2 I do struggle to see what What alternative Solutions have been made to ease these hardships except for another year of substantially cutting faculty um I'm not going to ignore that this is very challenging hand that you guys have been dealt and the misappropriation of how funds are being dispersed throughout the state but our teachers are the ones that have been facing these repercussions of the of these cuts for years and they continue to show up each and every day to provide the best educational experience for our children sorry we cannot continue to accept these larger class sizes as a norm this will not only end up burning out both of our students but our sta the next paragraph I'm going to admit because I know we're not going to talk about um who you are and who you are not firing it's a sensitive subject to me but I must say it's a little upsetting when we have teachers that are special education certified when we know this is going to be a growing Trend amongst our students it's been proven time and time again I don't even understand why they're even up for consideration of possibly losing their jobs I just I couldn't imagine CU my son is in one of these classes and he's been in this class from first grade through fifth and he's heading into middle school and I don't know if we could have made the progress we did without these amazing teachers one of them tonight who won the award for Teacher of the Year miss kowaleski I cannot thank her Miss Schmidt Miss Nobel miss pel all of them for everything they have done um okay oh sorry this is just hard um and when I looked at that presentation people are focusing on the number of the classroom sizes in that bottom right hand corner it said average average 38 that means there's potentially even more 40 I don't I can't understand how one teacher even some with par of professionals could have to put up with not only being able to teach our students act adequately but then they have to deal with the classifications the IEPs the behavioral issues we're going to lose really great teachers if these things don't change and I don't really know what that solution is it's not going to be changed in a day but something has to happen so I ask you this since our last meeting on April 25th what changes have you guys made as a board to our state to start putting some plans in motion or you've guys done as a board locally here to start making these changes happen because we have really great teachers that don't even send their own children to Brick schools that live in this District they go to Catholic schools they go to private schools they don't even want their own children here what else can be done and I I was a really I came a lot to the meetings when my son was at Herbertsville when S2 started and I didn't come for a long time and that's shame on me and I will make a Better Effort of coming to and informing parents at our own school and even our faculty to try and attend because I think everybody deserves a voice and I don't feel like teachers should feel like they can't come to the set of repercussions of possibly losing their job for speaking and having an opinion if something doesn't change I feel that our people are hopeless that our elected officials should be inspiring and enforcing change for the better of our school district and if that means us coming together as a community to do so even though we do have differences of opinion on certain topics I would like to help in hopeing move that Trend forward sorry that is all thank you any other po yes Mr Reed okay we do this all the time when it comes to the budget and it gets back to the state okay I talk about the property tax relief fund the history I think I mentioned it before so you know about it and I handed out two sheets at the last meeting it showed you where all the $20 billion goes to the different departments down in WR and the second page showed you if you wanted to move $2 billion over to something else uh other than where they're spending it now where that two billion would come from okay so I you're into education I'm into education I have a 501c3 public educational charity that I started about 3 years ago now and I have to get the message out so all the people that should be in here that are parents PTA people they're not here so how do I get the message to them that the only way they're going to change this is if they have a different Governor why is that because the governor sets the budget for the state he has a lot of power in New Jersey he sets the budget so it's a political thing he sets the budget he has line item veto so all the misspending I'm going to call it misspending rather than pork projects which they really are uh to get reelected because everybody in Trenton wants to get reelected they don't care you know that the class sizes are going up astronomically so it's really an educational process so there's not enough of us to make a difference the people themselves across the state have to realize that the property tax relief fund monies are $20 billion I spoke to somebody last week that was at a an event for PTA sponsored by the New Jersey school boards Association and they didn't believe there was any such fund that was $20 billion okay so nobody knows about this fund I've been talking about it for three years nobody knows about this fund so how do we get the message out how do I speak and you fill this room to to make the message I'll speak to any group any size anytime anywhere so uh that's the challenge I give to you so you don't have to go through this every year you need a new governor that talks to the property tax relief fund and brings it to the uh educational schools that need it you know this is ridiculous it's absurd thank you thank you any other public comment yes Bren Swanson um I never miss at the PTA meeting but I always do it virtually um I just I don't have anything to say that hasn't really been said tonight but I do think that when you see something that's drastically wrong you have to say something um I'm defin Ely thankful to a lot there's a handful of very special teachers in this District that have made huge impacts on my children and they're very much thriving because of them and they're the ones that are going to take this hit which they're just not they're they're just not that's not the way it should be the people who are sitting at this table I thank you for everything you do it was it was mentioned at the last meeting that are there administrations that are taking raises this year and no one answered that question it was just kind of like pushed under the rug I'm I'm sorry the administration like are they getting raises and then teachers are getting fired are there people everybody these are all um these are all negotiations with unions so yes there are union contracts in place that teachers um all of our tww all of our unions have it within their contracts that get increases yes I understand that that's just the way it is but it shouldn't be just the way it is under circumstances like this um I just don't think that that's that's fair my other question is I had a um a fourth grader last year with 31 kids in their class and I was a class mom you could not walk in that class when we had a party you physically could not do anything in that class there were backpacks on the floor there was not enough places to hang coats coats were on the floor it was a disaster what is the square footage if you're looking at making it larger than 31 I mean it was such an issue that now that got broken up those those fifth grade classes became 20 something but now you're backpedaling so what is the square footage for the fire laws because physically I saw last year it was not possible to to fit that many desks and that many backpacks and that many kids in a classroom that's that's one question if you want to keep asking then I'll have I don't really have a lot of questions I just know that when something's not right you should say something and this is just not right it's not right and we've said a lot of things to the state we were out there years we were out there years ago and the fact that there's only like 10 of us in here is sad we went we went out listen up until the last two or three years there were parents that would come in here that would say how did I you know I didn't know anything about this what do you mean you're losing all this money there was 20 um articles from one newspaper another 20 15 I mean I had actually asked the reporters how many articles that they wrote on S2 we took a trip down I know you have I'm just saying there's a lot of there were a lot of people in the community that had no idea of the money that we were losing and this was before they even started um started it we were we knew it was coming we knew it was coming um so you know none of us like this I have children and grandchildren in the district you think I like I don't I'm just saying that if it's like the right thing the right thing I mean maybe there I mean I understand there's unions and I understand like I mean you're all working hard but so are these teachers so like to say like you know what I'm cool I'm not going to take a raise this year just so we can have three more teachers that might be the right thing to do even though you have a contract and even though you have a union it just might be the right thing and sometimes it's nice to just do the right thing well being that there is a contract we can't force anybody to do anything so if anybody would like to volunteer a portion of their salary back I mean that would be wonderful come come back around to you I I know plenty of corporations that people who own the company they just they just forgo it I mean it isn't like they're not going to get it but eventually it'll have to level out but but that would also have to Mr Edwards that would also have to be opening up contracts and negotiating that again so I mean it's just not something's got I mean I understand I I understand but it's I mean we can all just say oh well that's just where the chips fell I mean I don't nobody's saying that it's just that this is what we're saying it is what it is there's not no one can seem to do anything about it so we've I mean we have done a lot of things and and Dr fer actually just recently went back that I've spoken in front of the senate committee Mr Edwards has spoken in front of the senate committee Dr Farrell H went down just in the last month and a half and spoke in front of the committee and quite honestly they were if you watch it it was online did you see so many other districts I mean a losing n teachers you know no one's listening in no because they say we're not paying our Fair share and that we should be paying the community should be paying the taxpayer should be paying more so they're saying no you know this is there are there are and and I always say I don't you know I can't be concerned so much of what's other districts are doing but there are other districts in Ocean County that I mean they're having quite the hit this year quite the hit this year yeah know it's you know so we and and even though this is so devastating but when you look at others some of the others it's like we're not even the worst M which isn't the isn't the answer either no like hey uh could be worse you know that's not the answer either part of 85% of our budget Jim what's the exact number of our budget is salary about 85 right about 85% % of our budget is salary people because that's what we need it's the people teach our children and you know we talk about them learning um in a classroom with these sizes I mean my biggest concern is and and I I felt with my son has been in this District since preschool he's now an 11th grader um and I think one of the things that I loved more like you is the fact that that these teachers are fabulous the things that they they've done my I was told my son would never speak you can't get him to shut up you know um he loves to go to school loves it every day loves to go to school but Mr finel when he gets sick he's out for 12 days that's just the type of child that I have um doesn't get sick often but usually when he does it hits him hard but when you look at these class sizes what concerns me even more is a big part of what these teachers do and want to do because they're here because they love children they love education this is what they love to do and what really aggravates me about this is how do these teachers who have gotten to know our children because they happen to be in a smaller classroom um how do these teachers actually get to know the kids in the way that they want to know know the kids and notice things and engage in things and really really help them not just on the academic level but in so many other so many different levels and you are absolutely right we are asking and putting a ton on our teachers and it's not fair it's not fair in a perfect world I'd love to get back to what 15 to 20 students in the classroom we we got them down there when I yeah 20 to 22 sorry 20 to 22 that would be wonderful and we've asked and we've went down and we we were there with signs it was um me one or two other board me members and a couple of principles and I think there were some Buss of students and I think there was one other Community member one one and we put that out we put everything out and it was in the papers and it was everything one so you the state's ignoring us they say we should be paying a bigger portion of our share and they're ignoring us and we make phone calls and he makes phone calls and emails and everything but they are ignoring us they do not believe that we need that money and if we need that money we should be giving it back to the taxpayer the new bill that's coming up it puts it on the board of education if it passes to increase to that maximum what is it 9% that um is going around they put it on the board of education they're not making that decision for them they gave a they they put the 2% but they're not going over that so they're going to put it on the board of education and if you want the class sizes to go down the state's not giving us any additional money what are we supposed to do in order to make up that difference raise the taxes now what the state will say is you haven't raised the taxes you didn't do everything you could do look we gave you up to 9% it's your problem I don't hor answer either you're looking yeah I I I'm just saying this is what we're all this is what we're all sitting here going back and forth there's been a lot of ideas that have been kicked at us and we have sat with every legislator that has come up with a different idea and was like great let's go what what is the fire code do um Mr Edwards I don't know that off time I had apologize I would really because I'll go I'll next time I'm in a classroom we can email that thought it's not it's not 38 by far cuz 31 was was busting out of the seams literally yeah so the the fire marshal for Brick Township that's we have to follow their regulations so they inspect all the schools and we have to tell them the room occupancy but I mean I can get that information from the yeah I would really I would really like that because I mean I we can email it to trying to fit a square peg in a round hole I mean it's just not but you you know you have to also remember that our salaries you know across the board we had W members that were not even making in some cases minimum wage okay we have teachers and administrators that were ma making less than around the county you talk about keeping our Educators you need to pay them you need to pay them you need to show them that they're valued you need to show the teachers though too we no no that's what I just said we did ask for money they're just asking for what they need in order to I understand that and we're doing the best we can with what we have with what we have and it's frustrating how do you think you know it's frustrating for all of us it's frustrating for our ministry it's frustrating for the president of the btaa when we have to tell him and talk to him about these different things and and the tww and our administrator Union when we have to sit down and say there's cuts that me need to be made or positions that need to go and if it's not even bodies but positions and I know Dr Farrell Miss mcnam and all the administrators here have tried to concentrate on losing positions opposed to losing bodies they're doing everything they can there's not there's really not that much left to get creative with if we're not going to get the income or the assistance from the state there it's just not and it it stinks yeah it's aggravating it makes you angry it makes you exhausted it's depressing it's horrible but State don't seem to care because it's not their problem it's ours we're not paying paying our fair share so I appreciate your comments it's nice to see you thank you thank you any other public comment seeing none I'll close that any board comment I just want to say one quick thing to all of our amazing teachers to the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world thank you so much for what you do um we appreciate you more than I have words for which is not happening very often so that's it any other board comment yeah quick comment mik I just wanted to say the teachers in our district are incredible uh I know a lot of them personally uh and one thing that is really concerning to me is the teacher retention as the audience member mentioned before definitely a concern um we just got to keep fighting I know everyone on the board Administration you know we we don't know where to go next I'm I've met with state legislators already um going to continue to do so and we just got to keep fighting so that's it thank you Mike mine in echoing Mike um I've received many many calls and many many teachers coming into my work telling me that they can't work under these conditions we tried um we're hoping to help you we're hoping that it gets a little bit easier but um I too would like to know the square footage for the fire code um I also have something I want to read um I wrote this because I've had a lot of thoughts and I've been very anxious um I'm so disappointed that the to balance a budget we have to lose so much teachers having to teach classes up to 38 to 40 students multiple languages in the classroom with a possibility of one or more students having behaviors how are children going to get a thorough efficient education Governor Murphy said in a speech that he was making the the most significant investment in our public schools in history when giving his budget address to lawmakers he said that he had a simple reason for keeping his promise it was because we need to cultivate the potential of every student any way he could from cranberry to Camden you know all right every district will get the amount of money needed to provide a thorough and efficient system of education for every student I want to know why Governor Murphy feels we don't deserve any funding we are trying to give our students a thorough and effic efficient education we are trying to follow every little thing that is thrown at us yet we are not getting efficient funding shame on you Governor Murphy shame on you for kids and teachers need your support not a bill like a 4161 I've also been two assemblymen I've also been two senators and spoke with them every Bill they've tried to pass without raising our taxes was put down but now all of a sudden a bill that's going to raise our taxes 99.9% pass the assembly with no problem we need your help we need to get a bill that will pass that will give us the funding that we need without raising the taxes it's not unheard of the money's there we have towns getting money that are putting in swimming pools because they don't know what to do with the money the other towns are doing just whatever they want while we're not able to give our kids the education that we want to that they deserve that oh by the way Governor Murphy says every child should have instead another town is putting in a pool another town is doing something else who knows what I do want to say kudos to our teachers you're all wonderful and my heart goes out to you you work very hard and thank you for doing the best you can do and again I have to praise Dr Anderson because she works with them as hard as she can to make sure your children are getting the best education they can unfortunately it's really tough thank you have a good night thank you meline anybody else friend yep I just want to reiterate we have some of the best teachers um I'm I moved here from California because the school system stunk I had a kid that was just an emotional wreck because she wasn't being paid attention to trying not to get Mom tears here but it's not going to help and we move here and we have some of the most amazing amazing teachers that told her she could that tell your kids they can and they will and they stand beside them and it's just kills me that because of as I said before dollars and cents and and commas and stupid stuff like that that our kids they're not going to get what they need and I adore all the teachers cuz we we seriously we have such amazing teachers we have teachers who I saw here crying because they are so frustrated and I know they're amazing humans and they are trying trying to educate and better our kids and it's it's it's our future generation I say it all the time and it sounds so cheesy but it is these are the Future Leaders and we're not doing right by them we're not doing right by us either because we all need to fit together it's all a puzzle and this puzzle just is missing all these pieces and it's a shame and you know know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result well we keep doing the same thing over and over I don't know what the change is that needs to happen but something needs to happen we need to change cuz it's not working something needs to change thanks Ren anyone else um just uh I do want to say I spoke to a me a member of the Senate education committee this week and um you know we just have to keep plugging I um I want to give a quick shout out to Amaya for a full year as the Freehold Township High School rep she came to every meeting she was sweet she was great she was encouraging go dragons um I'd also like to say thank you to all the teachers and support staff for your outstanding efforts for the students of brick every single day I want to say woohoo celebrate you we celebrated you tonight just keep that momentum going keep encouraging one another to do great things for our kids and finally on the calendar on May 18th is the Brick Township green fair at 5:15 Herbertsville Road from 10: to 2 at the B anet cultural art center this year's theme is cradle to cradle come to learn come for the giveaways but most importantly come support our brick students who are coming out to show all the wonderful ways their teachers have inspired them to save the Earth and uh it's going to be on the website if you need any more information and um uh I do have the privilege tomorrow to go to the New Jersey School Board Association spring conference our topic is going to be Student Success School Safety and public relations public relations how many people talked about parents coming out tonight so I um I look forward to attending that and learning more how I can contribute and help and I really think that the focus um is on our kids and on the teachers and the programs they provide that hasn't changed thank you thank you um okay so May 27th we have Memorial Day School will be closed June 6 and 7th early dismissal for high school students only June 10 11 and 12 early dismissal for the district June 12th uh Lake Riviera Middle School's 8th grade promotion and Lake R Lake Rivier middle school gymnasium which will be which is now air conditioned um so five there's going to be two one at 5:00 p.m. and 1 at 7:00 p.m. and then Veterans Memorial Middle School 8th grade promotion 5:00 p.m. um Veterans Memorial Middle School Turf uh rain location will be 5:00 p.m. at brick memorial high school gymnasium June 13th is the last day of school early dismissal Brick Township High School graduation 4:30 p.m. at the Bri Brick Township High School football field um and brick memorial high school graduation 2:30 p.m. um at The Brick Memorial High School football field June 18th is our next regular meeting back at our old location um can I get a motion and a second motion Victoria second Aly thank you Mary Miss cert yes yes Miss Kennedy yes Miss Steve Benedictus yes Miss a r yes Mr Mesmer yes Miss picala yes Miss wreb yes thank you everyone