all right good evening everyone we're going to get started um as we have additional folks come in please there are definitely still seats um thank you all for taking time out of what is a tremendously beautiful afternoon and evening uh to come out tonight for those of you who I don't know my name is jul a Collingswood res mom a middle schooler schield by day I'm the chief Philadelphia basketball I started my career as a teacher science teacher in Philadelphia uh and then as a teacher coach uh I have facilitation experience and uh I'm certified in the sanctuary model which is the trauma informed organizational framework I volunteered my time tonight to facilitate the Q&A session um to make sure the fol around theable uh had the time and and thought to prepare answers for you all I'm going to run through a couple of items for tonight around purpose of the evening share details on the format um and we'll then have to over um the folks up front so the purpose of our time tonight is really to allow the board to respond to submitted FAQs and answer live questions this evening uh to support the community's understanding of the referend that was proposed uh at the special board meeting presentation on March 26th uh I want to not that not every question asked in fq will be directly answered um but the board will answer the most kind of comprehensive themes to provide as much clarity as possible um additionally we are live streaming this evening um and the reporting will be uploaded after we conclude um the session which is on April 9th should you be interested in read to so to achieve our outcut for the night the board will First share um updates and answers to some of the questions that have come in since the last Q&A on the 9th and um this evening um so thank you to everyone who submitted additional questions and is here to ask additional questions uh following uh their answers to those questions received ahead of time will open um to the audience to ask questions to maximize our time we're going to ask everyone to have a prepared question so unlike public comment at an official board meeting we ask that you reserve your personal thoughts and opinions in favor of asking that question so we can get through um as many as possible I do want to note um that the next board meeting is on Monday April 29th where you will absolutely be able to share those personal thoughts and opinions um and I will if needed politely ask folks to kind of get to their question or to pleas ask a direct question last thing before we get started I would really like to introduce some Community when we come together as a town we have a real opportunity to engage and productive Sport AS former teacher and a current leader who works on behalf of young people every day we really can serve as a model of what positive Civic engagement like um and I offer kind of the following agreements as a foundation for conversation uh so the first would be respect we understand these topics are deeply personable personal and important to individuals in our community we seek to learn from one another and treat each other with respect and civility empathy we recognize that this proposal contains changes that elicit a heightened emotional response we honor that and recognize that emotion curiosity so we engage as Learners and we're recognizing the time went into this proposal while also acknowledging the perspectives that it may be missing we ask questions and seek to understand uh an evolution our goal tonight is going to be to answer as many questions uh that were asked and that are asked live tonight uh 90 minutes will likely not um suffice for that but please know that process is evolutionary and there will be more opportunities uh for engagement we make sure we outl again I would ask that you listen process answer and respond using the sentiment of those Community agreements uh you will hear me using the language throughout the evening I also have the role of asking folks to wrap up or move on and so forth um so I appreciate your grace as I try to manage our time tonight um with that I'm going to ask the folks uh at the tables up front if they'll quickly introduce themselves um and then I will hand it over to Dr start over here Matthew Craig I chair of the finance building Roger Chu I'm the chair of the fre committee Celia ofel Bruce Smith I'm the chair of the Dei committee of so good evening everyone thank you uh so much for being here um before we dig into uh the referendum proposal I would be remissed if we did not discuss what has transpired uh in media as well as in uh in our schools over the last several weeks and so uh we are um fully aware of what the media is reporting with regards to the racial bias incident that took place prior to spring break uh allegedly involving a group of students in our high school um it is also important to note that the information that has been released within the media uh was attained on their own and was not provided by members of the district or members of the high school itself uh and so I believe that it's important for us to be able to talk about these items as they happen uh but we also want to be very mindful that uh because we are dealing with uh young people um the school is currently conducting an active harassment intimidation and bullying investigation which is private and confidential by state law in addition um we cannot nor will we comment on any potential legal proceedings or any law enforcement involvement that may or may not take place and that is also confidential of the underaged individuals uh but we will also uh say that any uh young person uh within our school system found to be in direct violation of our district code of conduct or harassment intimidation bulling policies will be disciplined appropriately so as a Collingswood resident um as a School District Parent of two small children and your superintendent I do find the incidents uh reported deeply troubling um it speaks to the most multigenerational cultural challenges we've continued to experience in our community for many many years and so as a school Community we have made significant progress in the areas of social justice and Equity however we still have a lot of work left to do if we're going to deliver on our robust promise to educate all students uh and respect all students within our schools and so it's also important to knowe that the pursuit of social justice and Equity is very complex because it it affects multiple facets policies practices as well as people so as part of our strategic plan we seek further integration of diversity equity and inclusion Concepts into our district Culture by dismantling the negative stigmas connected between our school communities by prioritizing uh sustainable Pathways to increase the diversity of our faculty and our staff as well as building and developing the cultural competencies of our administrative team as well as our classroom teachers so the road to progress is a long one uh but it is definitely worthwhile so the Board of Education as well as the school district reject all forms of racism as they are contradictory to our fion Vision Values we're also committed to Preparing all students for economic diversity represented throughout every school and throughout our entire community and so all members of our school system deserve a safe respectful and weling inclusive environment in which their uniqueness is recognized in value so we are committed to the dismantling of of all of these challenges uh and building capacity to empower students to be the and so this topic will not be part of our community session today however it is intimately connected to the goals and objectiv that're seeking to achieve this so I'd like to thank you hopefully you turn the mic off um now we're gonna address uh some of the FAQs that came up uh before we turn it over to thank you Julia I I did just want to say um we as a board uh believe that Community conversations about uh race and how we come together as a community to to address these issues are important we didn't feel that conflating the two things wasn't was appropriate for tonight we feel that that deserves its own separate space um so we'll be be on the lookout for for those opportunities and when that will be happening in the future um but tonight we're going to focus on what we we already planned to focus on which is our second info session about the proposed Bond referendum so my uh my task right now is to give a broad overview of where of the um the proposal itself and try to um in doing that answer some of the the questions that have come up for folks um so just first to to remind everyone that if you'd like a detailed um explanation of the proposal you can find that on the website um both in a PDF document and the presentation that was given by Mr Craig and uh Mr Garrison at the special board meeting on March 26 okay so I think it is important to start with defining the problem that we're trying to solve for with this referendum um which is facilities needs um so the problem that has been um the reason that we've had a facilities ad hoc committee for quite some time now that we are trying to solve for is our facilities needs and um we you know we know we have known for quite some time we have aging facilities in this District that are becoming more and more costly to maintain both the buildings themselves and our field space as well so when an opportunity to uh address or begin to address I should say uh our aging facilities arose with the potential to buy good sheeper that is where uh further conversations started um when it comes to facilities because before that opportunity arose there there wasn't a real feasible way for us to uh be able to tackle some of these um these things so um buying good sheeper came up we wanted to look into what would be required in order to do that we fully uh recognize that it does not solve all of our facilities issues but it does take us quite a few steps forward and beginning to address them so this is the the beginning of of addressing the facilities needs plann at the end the good sheeper building itself would be the youngest building in our district and the largest Elementary School it would allow the district much more flexibility with space for students than we currently have right now in order to obtain Good Shepherd and and this is this can get uh a little confused and so I want to try to be as clear as possible here um since our goal is to try to address some of our facilities needs and this school has become available um we asked our uh architect and engineer to help us um determine what is required by the state in order for us to obtain it and the state requires that the district show a need that is more technical than we'd love this to have more space and so we'd love to buy this building um so we must show that without it we would not have classroom space for close to the number of students that the building we are trying to acquire can have um so to that end our architect completed a full inventory of each of our elementary school buildings to determine which schools would need to be decommissioned in order for the state to approve the purchase of the good sheeper building so when they do this they look at 12 very technical factors that if you would like to um really dive into the weeds and look more deeply at that you can go to our website for the sake of time I'm not going to outline all of those uh here tonight however I will just kind of give a quick overview that some of those things include things like square footage of classrooms uh potential for future renovation um and ADA compliance or the ability to reach ADA compliance uh in a uh more fiscally conservative manner uh and based on all those things the recommendation that came from our experts was that sharp and Garfield are the two schools that should be decommissioned that recommendation was based on the age of those two buildings um being the two oldest in our district and uh therefore making them the most costly to renovate to add on to as a building and to make ADA Compliant so the reasons um for the decommissioning of the two schools that we're decommissioning have everything to do with the recommendations of the architect about what building um are the most difficult for us to improve upon in the coming years the other three elementary schools new be Tatum and Zay North while far from in perfect shape no one is claiming that are the three schools that are either currently ADA Compliant which would be dat North or constructed in a way that makes it much more cost efficient to bring them up to compliance which is new they are also constructed in ways that make things like additions or Renovations uh easier to do and more cost as well which is also why um there's an addition that is being added to Zay north um as part of his proposal to accommodate more students because it's quite easy to uh add on to it based on the way it was constructed in the first place so it has nothing to do with uh a preference of location or buildings or anything like like that or students in the buildings it has to do with the physical buildings themselves but that one with the shape that it was designed in is very easy to mirror on the other side of it um and since cost is a a big part of our responsibility here um we that is why those are the the schools that are in the proposal to decommission and why the schools that are being added on to are the ones that are being added on to um now I wanted to touch just briefly on the field space because that is the other portion of this referendum and it's also identifying um or trying to solve for facilities needs um the field space behind the high school has been insufficient for many years um there's we have limited use of fields uh because of the fact that it's it's grass surface only and we get a lot of rain and the drainage isn't all that great and um so we can't use it as much as we would like to there are currently only porta potties there are no actual bathrooms there's insufficient seating if um if you are in the lower uh section it's hard to see anything other than literally what is in front of you um so if you're going there to watch uh a a game or even more importantly if you are there for an event such as graduation you are most likely um not getting the best uh view of your full space um the track is not up to regulation it is currently a five Lane track a six to eight Lane track would get us to a place where we can actually host um more uh more meets and competitions so this bond proposal allows us to address those needs and better serve all of our middle school and high school students who use it for PE on a regular basis but at the moment are not able to use it quite as much as we'd like them to because of of a lot of the issues that I just mentioned as well as extracurricular activities and townwide recreation activities so finally one of the the last questions frequently asked questions that I'm going to um cover tonight is uh that a lot of community members have asked what will happen if this bond proposal does not pass and the hard truth is that the answer is that things will stay the way that they are right now and we will because we don't have any other options um we've been advised by our Architects and and Engineers that our buildings are only getting older and that it is only a matter of time before uh something a major repair is needed that is not something we can cover in our operating budget or that we have a capital reserve in order to fund it um so we are looking at this as a planning for the future uh where that is some we are able to head off some of those issues at the past um as opposed to kicking the problem to another board or another iteration of our community years later when um things are are in even worse shape right now the schools are buildings and grounds teams phenomenal they're doing the best they can with these with these old buildings this proposal would give us more options and more flexibility um major repairs would be a huge disruption to our students and our staff and we're trying to prevent that in addition to that in the long run the a bond referendum that fixes some of these issues um of space now saves US money because there is no State funding for emergency repairs whereas we do get some State funding for Bond referendums um additionally it would mean that our middle and high school students will continue to not be able to be outside for PE as often as we'd like uh we will continue to not be able to host band competitions Regional meets tournaments things like that because our fields are track and our facilities are just not up to standard um and it would mean that our our opportunities for CommunityWide events for opening up our facilities to Town recreation programs would be as limited as they are now if not more so as time goes on because we are having to let the grass rest um and make sure that it's it's playable enough um for those activities uh sports activities that we have on it um for our high middle school and high school so to to kind of bring it back to um our purpose our purpose is to address facility needs before they get to an emergent nature and we think that this proposal uh gets us closer to where we need to be it's not the end as I said before it's the beginning um and we will be in the coming months talking much more about um uh providing resources for folks about how um how we we believe that we can uh achieve all the other things we also like to achieve and we're going to have some folks talk about some things that are not in this plan because they can't be not because would love them to be um but all of the resources uh that we will be speaking about will be on our website and in in the coming months we'll be holding more info sessions um info for seniors about how they can um potentially apply for tax breaks getting more information out to to all of you um to better understand what this plan entails and also um we from it so with um with that I'm going to turn over to Matt Craig to talk a little bit about some of the frequently the other frequently asked questions thank you and thank you again everyone for coming out uh for both of these sessions it's great to see so many folks out we understand there are a lot of factors that are involved in making decisions in this plan of goals to share as much information and we frequently ask questions um document on the website will be updated after these two sessions so you see some more answers and some more clarity some request for that here are a couple questions that the first one being what are plans to transport families sharp catch element so we we stated clearly our belief the power and possibility better integrating challenge created bying sh Barfield is an obacle better connectivity walkability students in the community to our end we have engaged the safe Roots School County planner to analyze the current paths to school and possible fut uh sa through safe Roots they're able to coordinate with State County local better to plan strategize address potential obstacles cross they also have access to funding from the state county for professional impact studies other information that would help us crafting these routs um we are also reviewing our current bking school policy and our scheduling educational experiences led by saers students and ultimately look forward to working with to improve walk bability throughout another question wasin was that the FAQs are vague on the plans for Sharp school as a community center what are the detail definition Community Center what types of programs what facilities aailable to We believe that converting sharp to Gathering space presents an opportunity to continue to use sharp building and bring value add to our account this space will remain a property of the school distri um with the option for us offices or other support offices to location free of space in our other buildings help um we there's no part within our planar tech make building is the other major obstacle that we had up this time is this is a very difficult conversation to have school recognize that to create a community space you have to engage the community want to give time andace L um start to talk about I think we are getting closer to that point and I think that there we have a few opportunities will more in the future the vote to discuss what there are a lot of current services that make a lot of sense this last one has kind of encompassing a lot of very specific questions that we had on the updates to the athletic field um a lot of them basically ask why um we see this this is one of the biggest spaces in town that is dedicated for recreation with this design we eliminate a lot of the Dead spaces Curr behind there not being used and adding more athletic and Recreation space there the main field reorientation will open up a lot of that space by turfing it Ling it for multiple Sports it means that activities are able to take place on there had to back a lot of our approval for outside organization managing ours those fields so that graduation the field is able toate parents students the there will be raised bleachers to help with visibility um we'll be utilizing the space underneath those bleachers by adding B you have to back school to access those spaces um there be session stand ticket booth press boxus TV cameras journalists journalists um those scores and other activities that can happen space see all this will be a space that has a mix of tur grass will be a space that we planing what athletes be able to take benefit of buto want this to be something that is both accessible than invest a lot those three questions that I together and just to go over just a few items before we open up to our community uh we just want to make sure um that we're providing as much clarity as possible so we fully acknowledge that several parts of this proposal include placeholders uh that require a future Community input plan for example U playgrounds field Designs Center all of those core pieces uh re affirmative V before the planning and discussion can begin to take place with our goal being um a full proposal launch or implementation for September of 2027 as it relates with student movement uh and so we have time in order to make sure that our community is at the Forefront of decisions there are also things that are not part of the referendum but are currently on our radar so Mr referenced earlier Transportation discussion safe proc schools issues or challenges in some of our other aging buildings we do have a long range facility plan which includes projects small and large for every building in the district IND and so uh the best way to kind of describe this is that um those of us who recently conducted were perform a renovation in our home uh if you've done a kitchen Rena uh you know there's always a start there's a budget and there's the actual cost it does not mean that the rest of your home is perfect it just means that at that particular moment in time that's the project that you're working on while you're trying to pursue that httv so uh we fully acknowledge that um with aging infrastructure there are going to be challenges Associated so we're not ignoring some of our existing buildings some of our buildings are going to be taken care of using local Capital funds some will be uh addressed using uh uh proceeds from the sale of District inventory uh but the largest majority asking for this proposal is really to support the needs of the shepher as well as the expansion Zs in addition there are also things that legally we cannot include in the referendum for example teacher training uh student programs additional staff uh referendums are construction project fund so it can only be used for Capital expenditures infrastructure sometimes things that happen behind the scenes like hbac Plumbing drainage all those things that are extremely important but are not reallyis so um there's a couple of things that we want to also make sure as we wrap up so with the sale of of District property that gives us an opportunity to address uh some of the other uh projects that are not included in this referendum because our goal is for our buildings to function at the highest level possible for the longest period possible keeping in mind that some of our other buildings are between 70 and 100 years old the average life cycle or expected lifespan of schol building is 35 years and so we know that we're living on borrow time in every one of our facilities but I'll say again um thanks to the robust nature of our buildings and ground crew they do a phenomenal job making sure that we keep our buildings operating at a high level so students um and then the second and the final piece just to to not is that we think about capacity and we think about planning for the future we also want to make sure that understands is that we have the previous Bond referendum debt buing off in 2030 this will free up tens of millions of additional funds for the community to consider future programs um at this time I'm going to invite folks who would like to ask questions to the mic polite reminders are going to ask to keep it to a question we're going to ask folks to keep it to to one question when they're up and we'll try and get through as many people as possible before and we invite additional questions from to already asked my name is mar I'm still very interested in what going inol last time information now do I understand this correctly that at the new in the new model inad ofg will so that one building has kindergarten first grade second grade I understanding that corre yes so there would be kindergarten through third grades at three of the elementary schools good Shephard building would become an upper elementary school serving fourth and fifth grade we we haven't had sixth grade as part of elementary schools for a while middle school starts in sixth grade I know just updating you I haven't been to a PTA meeting in a really long time so there you go so but my question what's the evidence that I didn't hear any evidence last time that that's supported by I I would like to know why you think that's going to change in our school when our schools reflect the divers of the neighborhood I don't see how you can I'm gonna make sure they get to answer that question I don't see how if the community isn't already divers how you can force divers into the classrooms by moving kids so so thank you for your question so quickly answer that that question this is a construction project there's two primary goals and so the primary goal for this proposal is to increase educational space for students secondary goal is to make sure that all of our schools reflect the diversity within our community and so that's an important goal but that wasn't the goal that we started the initial goal that we started with is how do we address being over capacity part of a decade in our elementary schools with this new property that gives us significant flexibility and how pass it to Roger so part of part of again back to the original piece is that this is a Phil's question right but then within this uh proposal to Bringing Shephard is this opport for us to work on racial and ethic we have currently uh elementary schools very differents of different RAC 8% 60% one of the things that that I first I personally that we talked about neighborhood con is less than sare and I remember last would you do M thing is quite frankly we have one and so when we talk about neighborhood kids neighborhood I person I also want to caution to talk about kid because that is historically way which segregation has happened this term of kid should stay within um so this gives us opportunity yes it's about facili about bringing in all of our kidses they deserve and that OPP can you give us your name which Campell is there be a meeting where one especially with this Dei situation there's a lot to that that goes back decades and decades and decades rushing over it and being rushed when people try to ask question I was only inspired by the last question to ask that like this meeting are we going to have like the person can get up for five minutes and say this is what happens in my neighborhood this is what has happened historically or we just GNA have catch phrases and brush over the issue so Stuart this this meeting particularly the purpose is to ask direct questions anyone is welcome at public comment to come and speak and share their personal experience I believe it's three minutes um legally that they're required to do that but tonight we do really want to make sure get to everyone's question I I understand that the last meeting and the meeting before anytime somebody asked a question they were rushed and then when they asked clarifying question it was brushed over and I feel like the public isn't getting a chance to express the answers that they want I feel like it's being rushed and uh that's not even my question I'm just saying like there has to be a point where questions can actually organically come out and we can get the actual answer the question was about the special education program and you guys made her clarify three times and then still didn't answer and it was CA clean day so Stuart again I'm gonna I'm going to say in the spirit of our community agreements we're really trying to create space I know it is difficult and I I emphathize with you that like there is a lot of things that people have on their mind would like to say we're not I'm not trying to rush people but I and I understand that like personal experience and anecdotes really want accompany the question I'm doing my best to make sure we can get to the question and get to the heart of the matter for all of the people that need want the answers to the questions I know folks are are willing to um hear public comment but I am going to push us tonight to make sure we hear questions talking I'm asking specifically the next meeting like is there going to be like I might be able to just again because I the the reason that we're doing these now in March like March April and it's a September vote is we wanted to be able to continue this conversation leading up to the V and and and conversations about what's happening in our schools is is should be every day there are the constraints of the space we fully recognize that and but we want to try to accomplish get through as many questions as we can realizing that we're not going to be able to answer everybody's and there is a lot of nuance and a lot of detail that goes into fully understanding these we're going to try to do our best to share that in a way that is accessible um and I know you another question that I don't know what that I just wanted to like kind of understand the guidelines the last meeting there was a lot of times where people Rush ANS you know and then all the sudden at the end of the night like I understand you guys want to get out of here but like this is a big issue if you're not answering the question that somebody ask a qualifying question way kind of messed up at what point like it's not really communication steuart I'm gonna have to ask you to to we've heard your point and I understand we're gonna I want make sure you get your question and then I want to make sure we get to as so figures on this website especially for phase one it looks like there's going to be 450 plus taxing fund phase one there assessments coming for people's property if you look at across the board studies show when you close school property values go down by almost $4,000 in some cases the next phase for Sharp uh and any like last time you guys said you're going to sell Garfield for 12 million and that'll help fix newbie or whatever everything's getting taked down but what is the funding for the next phases and is there going to be an increase and why isn't all of this like actually explain in detail on the website it's vague and it's hard for people to understand and no let Dr so Mr Camp let me explain that so I I want to be very clear um you're asking valid questions completely valid we are not in a position to answer hypothetical questions so in terms of specific tax impact based on individual's specific home property we won't have that cul until we actually get information back from the state on whether or not we can even come back question and so the rates won't be locked in until then and so you won't have a calculation in terms of home values for future I would say that you know there are different sources um that can combat that and in terms of getting detailed and specific we are again as we shared you know two weeks ago we are in the schematic phase and so the actual design pH comes when funds are made available through the approval process of a of the ballot question to actually fund uh architectural drawings and so uh drafts or schematics are based on industry estimates at the time of the design and so we're not going to be able to give you specific or concrete numbers until the referendum moves forward and we actually are able to have all of that information made ready and available per pending approval from the currently we don't have state so that's the reason why we're at this schematic estimated Stuart I'm I'm I'm gonna ask you you had a large share of the mic and I want to make sure we get to everyone in line thanks hi I'm Becky SE I am a sharp parent of a preschooler first grader um my question I appreciate most of the questions that came before around kind of how we are not a vacuum their broader takeing in terms of finances in the community my question relates to for Sharp I'm curious what impact this will have on the title one funding and related programming and services that students have have access to based on their school uh so Title One funding travels with student And So It Whatever School the the student attends the funding poliy of follow comment's question um will the new assignments for students homeschools be randomized to truly achieve optimal diversity or will there still be catchment areas where students are assigned to near so that's also a great question and so um this topic was brought up by a community advocacy group last week so I'll share with you exactly what I shared it's that once there is an affirmative response from the community on whether or not we're going to move forward then the clock starts for us to work through the community to identify what that formula really needs to look like what goal are we trying to achieve um and so that goes back into one of those hypotheticals and so the goal is to make sure that in every school they mirror the diversity within our community that includes uh racial socioeconomic listic u in an inclusive way uh we currently have 357 uh students with IEPs we also have roughly 60 students that are receiving multilingual learner services in addition to students that are receiving targeted levels of academic intervention as well as the range of socio economic challenges diversity gender identity all of those core pieces and we want to make sure that every one of our schools is what we're seeing in town and so that process um would start post September of this year um it will probably take us about the year in order to engage the community to make sure that we have not only the right variables but we're striking the right balance projecting out what we're going to need and how we're going to hi Teresa marazano um I just have a question about the grade level schools uh why is it somewhat of a hybrid of grade levels K through three and instead of like a k and a one a two and a three and then the upper level school and a pre school was thereason that um and so when we look at what is developmentally appropriate uh and so specifically when we looked at the Good Shepherd which is the anchor of our discussion here this evening the Good Shepherd uh was really better positioned for Bo students uh we also are trying to acknowledge the fact that much of the anxiety that we have experience within our community generally comes second semester of fifth grade as students begin to approach middle school so that has been um an area of intensity for many of our families so when we think about the good shepher as a much larger building um we're we're provided an opportunity for older students grades four and five to see a Middle School La experience so that all of our students if they get two years sooner of coming together and we have the opportunity to be more flexible and more Innovative in terms of instructional models so that the transition to middle school is not so scary and in better positions our students for academic success in terms of kindergarten through third grade we wanted to limit the level transition because grade three is that first uh high stakes testing year we wanted a level of continuity and an additional transition just wanted to add on the other issue it's just a space in the builds and weild know the answer I don't I don't know the specifics that's kind of a b question but I do know the answer is yes and it is buil built into the the soft costs that you would see on the um the cost proposal and the reason that it is often recommended this is just information I have from the workshop I went to um the reason that it is it is often recommended to to do it as a separate U ballot question as opposed to during general election is we want folks to to be fully informed and fully focused on what they're voting on in this proposal as opposed to the Bevy of things that they'll be voting on this coming year in yeah we pay for the publishing of the question and the pole workers you she budgeted just under 10,000 think it's going to be that high this is just for everyone watching at home so that they can hear the questions hear the answers so the cost is less than $10,000 so the gr keep up this plan it's part of hi Lindsay AER um thank you for the opportunity um one question that has come up a lot is um what is the plan for widespread communication of the referendum um especially for those who aren't involved in their schools as much as most of us are those without children in the Collingswood schools and also those who do not speak English that's a great question so um in full transparency large public meetings are not always the best to have these types of intimated conversations especially when we're talking about things that are intricate in detail and so uh post this meeting and post us going over all of the uh uh uh questions and posting the most updated FAQs uh we're going to go back to the drawing table and what we believe will be more appropriate uh for a period of time is smaller more intimate settings with smaller groups uh you are correct we have more um community members over the age of 65 we do under the age of 18 and so every Community member of the 14,000 plus it's important that we engage them but we also have to engaged them in different ways so we will be working on building a schedule and increasing opportunities of smaller I live neighbor I Aman build mural outside the school and I donated my services for uh that mural I did not accept anything because it was sharol and what I want to know what you envision will happen to our community when sharp schol is removed yeah U thank you for the question and again for the donation of time the Bure make that this is a lot talk about we talked about the other other options services have you have no plan for to tell the community going to tell the community what was going to the space without actually them about what would be in the space understand cost on and I don't know that that would be have convers not and so that Tak all have so in in looking at the architectural plans and I know some of them cut off there there's the dedicated Library space that is at the other end of cafeteria yes down there um there is also being built in a lot of those small Maring spaces at the end of the first floor know where like the so let me let me answer that so thankk you for the question so I'm going to share again we're currently in What's called the schematic base and so we have mockups just so that there is understanding of what like to achieve and so when we when once we have an affirmative response from SE then real architectural plans measurements will taken to account for some of those pieces and then projections will be made based on the rejected en for September 2027 launch so what I will say is is that there arees not in that initial MOA that would be included and so there's additional space also on the first floor near the library for small gr construction and so we're all of those core pieces will be factored in once we have the resour yeah so I I do want to I do want to refocus the the goal of this uh referend is to help FIB adding I also want to com terms of's a lot us not and just one other point that I I wanted to make just in general is that in order for us to be able to get this plan approved by the state we would have to make the state would have to see that we were able to adequately serve students in all of those buildings the way we're saying that we would so concerns that that may not be the case I hope could be um cleared a little bit that if we truly couldn't fit the students that we needed to fit with the services that are required for them in those buildings the state would say well why would you be buying that school um that's it's not going to work it can't work that way um so there's a lot of as we've been saying there's a lot of nuance to how all of that works we don't know uh who we're putting into those buildings in September of 2027 um we don't the the classroom sizes are the classroom spaces EXC are much larger at good Shephard school um than they are in some of our elementary school buildings that is not to say that we are uh planning to make our class sizes large in fact I think this would help to do to do the opposite of that particularly at the kindergarten first grade level where classes are already quite large but they're not in the fourth and fifth grade level um and so just to clarify that they may feel large for the class space that it's in but the number number isn't not in the grand sche of things um go ahead I know you don't believe me but go ahead if good sheer CLS are larger so um missg you also didn't get the chance to introduce yourself I just want you to Nicole negri I teach at and I have for So based on the referendum zic willas that only so I think I want to go back to that we're talking H part of our students are right but our in September Is Not So when we're talking about one ofces of bathroom all right but what about the other Wing would the other Wing kindergarten has correct so let me let me interject so when looking at if we're going to add additional space so keeping in mind this is a construction project we wanted to add a classroom space with flexible classrooms that could accommodate any number and so each of the new rooms that Zane can accommodate kindergarten through grade five if necessary based on the design and the fact that they have bathrooms so we weren't going to spend several million dollars and not have maximum amount of flexibility so the the bath is so the label as a correct just Poss okay so then ideally that that would be um just wanted a clarification the referendum question the referendum is ref right well the plan that we've given right now is the is the plan the specific question hasn't been written yet plan that's out it's not change not that's correct uh can it be split into two or would it be split it can be split into two questions we are not splitting into question and just to clarify um the potential is sharp would clo from a uh Community Center run by the district to be determined um it will be owned by the district okay uh and um but we would continue and we would close and sell Garfield but we would continue to rent space for from out of the funds from the pre funding Grant which is a separate but we wouldn't own that building and we would continue to rent it correct but that those funds don't come out of our General oper and I just think that's an important distinction that's all that's why I'm repeating it right yep that's right and we will also continue to use all of the prease bases will continue to be used calls at oakin potential new calls at parku and the the Methodist Church correct how the again this is a separate funding source Al together we get we get separate funding from so we do depart we do not yet that is for for next year hi Tyra wood educator but not here um few questions one of them um and so I'm really excited about the potential of new space I have a two-year-old I'm not an assistant yet um but in the process of doing my research I learned that there is not one Callingwood elementary school that has a librarian there are some colinwood elementary schools that do not even have Li space I don't consider shelves or book Nooks Library space um we're creating new space very excited about that talking about a library at the end of a cafeteria which I would need to see what that looks like we have flexibility is there money to allocate to building libraries back into our schools because when I look at our data if some of it's not great and there's a lot of data about the importance of literacy School libraries and Librarians who curate them for Student Success it's a great question and so I I think that I'm G to try to to to be as direct Circle back so what this referendum provides us is flexibility and opportunities to address some of the space issues that contributed to us having to get libraries in the first place and so what we would be focused on building is maximizing the utilization of each and every building including the new spaces um but we we don't we we we're not going to be able to successfully answer that until we know what we're actually planning so the goal is to make sure that we're utilizing every space and so what this referendum affords us is additional things uh that we can add back into our exis schols that currently do not have capacity to do such as libraries uh small group construction spaces uh Etc so as a parent just a quick followup who cares more about literacy than Sports fields and I grew up playing sports this is for me a good faith vote you can't tell me that right it's a good faith vote this is a good this is a good faith vote because at the end of the day we have to engage our community to make sure we're meeting the needs but we need the flexibility and the opportunity to one of the big pieces the space that's has a dedicated Library space and just to remind books uh this bond referend this vote is funds can only be used for buildings at the it wasn't in the cafeteria I just want to make that proba clear no it in the schematic hi Suzanna bman I have two children at sharp and I'm may very excited about a preschooler coming in next year um my question is about park there was nothing written in the initial referendum about it and then we just kind of saw it in the FAQs about um I'm curious about how many class how do we to SEC it um is the going to be shared with res that are I just wanted to start U I apologize if I made it sound as if calls it part as part of the referendum because it's not that's that's a separate issue all the other and I'm gonna turn it over to Dr to actually answer the question so thank you for your question so to to start our goal um has and will continue to be is to make sure that high quality free preschool is available to every Collegewood resident um so we are in active negotiation with a long-term lease agreement with Park to expand additional 3K seats with brand new classrooms playgrounds and then flexible space uh we're still in active negotiation but the goal is for those to be uh known very soon um and for a September start so right now we would probably be looking to add uh at least three additional CLS so sharp has six school classs so I'm just wondering where the other three would go then so you're talking about a hypothetical in 2027 so our goal um continuing is to make sure that we are meeting the needs and so we're going to continue to look for prechool available space because until we reach what's called our universe so our universe is the state projection of the number of children in your community age three and four that qualify for preschool so our goal separate in apart using the preschool Grant expansion to continue adding space exclusively so that would be separate and apart from our tradition I'd also like like the that's another question I have no I'd also like to add that um I think there's the question a few one of the teachers asked about bs right within classrooms it's really important to that currently in our current usage facilities have to get um waivers from the state because we don't have adequate space for bathrooms in some of our classrooms some ourl classroom right and so that's one of the things we talk about space talk about flexibility talk about improving our space that's what this Rec is about is understanding that yes we may currently needs of kids at times wavers that improve on did you say was going to be built that's not not the one that's there I'm just curious how you're going to secure thegr that's shared with building so they're currently working they're working good with the details which is why we're still in negotiation um in terms of these terms access uh to space parking thank hi my name is robinfield I and I have a and in listening to this in the previous session I've heard a lot of really great questions not just ambiguous right now it's not really to me others now many that believe these same or else we're GNA I want to make sure we get to your question and I I think it was pretty clear it was what is what is able to be kind of inputed on what will that process look like I want you yes and the facts and their are not just a paragraph or a sentence but we will be work with these people don't know one ago two of the schol we know the US US refs all over State how you can give us some information to look at B our op yeah so that's really helpful feedback so I just want to clarify to make sure that I fully so I just want to make sure that I understood it because I think this this could be very useful so what you're if I'm understanding correctly one of the things that you're asking for is that on the website in addition to the answers to frequently asked questions there's also perhaps either links to um a save roots to school plan or charts or graphs that might show what the breakdown might look like some more visuals would would that be accurate to know so kind of who does what is that what you mean who does what and okay that's very helpful thank you so sorry um I believe we're going to talk about later about next steps the beginning process there OPP inform yes we vote Yes can you just share your name that I'm Karina I have a child at um I was just wondering we vote Yes for the referendum we obtain good shepher it all goes during the next so the um the space that is currently a um a parking lot would be good Shephard School actually used this in the same way there's there's a gate there that would be the black toop space for the fourth graders that is I don't know I'm not quite sure what you mean by the phase one and phase two but um once that school right so it it would be um blacktop space that you know lines could be painted to play different um games things like that the wayers use the black top space at the schools that um I I don't know what grade your child is in but um then would not rean also that me again um the good sheeper space has a really nice gym which afford some more opportunities especially during the win I am curious of inclusion that is bug word that's being and students want to be in general education so we talk does this me more opportun for children to be in general education because we're adding more space but no fing So currently the U school district is partnering with the New Jersey Coalition for inclusive education um we're currently piloting um in several of our schools the goal would be uh to work collaboratively um with our Educators at the Forefront of the development of the longterm plan with the implementation partner being the C over a period of time in order to build capacity for Aion so we can say that we we value inclusive schools but it takes multiple years for it actually to fully manifest and so we've already begun that work uh we're doing the feasibility studies now um we're currently piloting opportunities in several of our schools with our implementation Al I'd also jump in I think one of the I think one of your questions there was know there's funding for stat again this this is about the Crea space the funding the funding pie many state legis updates to school so that there isable F so for example currently the state school funding fora dist given a pot of money uh for special education funding based on just a flat percentage C all school districts so every single School District matter how many special education you have get the same percentage of funding so there's currently a bill stuck in in the Jersey senate saying hey let's actually give school districts State funding based upon the actual number of special education that district has based on a generalized that piece right there I know it's not related to ref I I would encourage our community to go out and Advocate to our legislators to have that piece of legislation passed so that we can have that to make space fors so we currently have several of our elementaries and then the latest pilot starts has already started at our mid School okay well and then how will um another teacher brought this up last week or last yeah last week how you'll navigate to and to up and then to five already see what happen any Ty how we're going to navigate at least our thir or um specializ you know pull out servic so we've already engaged our special services department um and those are topics of discussions that the child study team um will be working on um we have time to work through the details and the logistics so at the end of the day we do know that it is a four-year uh age span and so it is already an issue uh in our self-contained classes at the elementary level because from year to year the age of the students that we serve changes and so we're already navigating that challenge right now we'll continue to navigate that challenge but we will plan for multiple contingencies but our special service team child study team as well as our special educators will be leading the development C hi my name is Li young I'm a Tatum parent um so per the njac chapter 26 which is the state of New Jersey Code um the all school districts are required to maintain a lrs or long range facilities plan um which I'm assuming you're all familiar with that long range facility plan um in has very specific details for how you have a five-year student body projection is that correct yes so we keep being told that we can't project what anything looks like because we don't know what our student body in 2027 looks like yet the state gives us very specific requirements for how we can project what that student body will be um um can you speak to that that's going to be more bethan can you speak to the so Liz what what's the actual question so we keep being told that we don't know anything about how our classes are going to break down what it's all going to look like because we keep being told to just trust the process um but it seems like we can very accurately project what our student body is going to look like in 2027 this I think at the end it's where do the state get the enrollment projections that are included in things like the long range facility plan that's like where does that number come from no I I know where that comes from I saw in the code what it is I'm just curious why we keep being told we don't know what the student body will look like when we clearly have to project what it will be the thing to remember is these are like demographic projections out out so just like a forecast weather it is when you it's it's aage we wouldn't go you know we wouldn't go and uh build out classroom rosters based upon I understand that but I but you're asking your community like I am projecting what my future budget is going to look like when my taxes go up and I'm being told that my school district isn't planning ahead for how it's going I'm ask you to to hold the personal comment and thank you for asking the question so uh and so the piece there is again the the goal of of the this referendum is to give us one of I think one of the important pieces of this referend is that it gives us flexibility within the spaces that that we're adding um to adjust as and so kind of the discussion earlier about uh building the addition to those those classes were very purely built in such a way that accommodate multiple different what need that's one of the main pieces of this ref usil that we do not have right now in our facili again for whatever the the demographics are when they come five six 10 years think it is what do set to more years Dees right and I get that and I think like getting good shepher can I just jump in real quick I I I can completely understand the frustration of feeling like why can't they give us more specific information but then I guess we're trying to um to be able to answer your questions as best we can but also not give you what could be interpreted as inaccurate information because we don't know yet right so we can we can project the way uh the state does but if we were to come and say right now we are going to be doing X Y and Z five years from now and then we're not able to do that that's that's not responsible of us either so I I completely understand as someone who would like to always know everything that is going on and once my calendar to be perfect and wants to know where everything is like I'm not saying that in a derogatory way at all but that it's very frustrating to not be able to be like I want to know how to plan for this why can't I know how to plan for this and to have the answer be we don't have enough information to give that and I completely um but I guess what I would hope that folks um are hearing from all of us up here and from knowing that there are many many um things put into place to make sure that we are not um asking you to put up money for a plan that is going to not serve the students um that you know even if you don't necessarily trust all of us or know all of us up here that there are things in place through the state through the county that if if this plan was not going to be able to serve your kids or to house your kids in an appropriate manner the state would not allow us to do it um so they are going to look at all of those projections and those numbers to determine whether um the spaces that we're talking about can can be utilized the way that we're saying that they can right but the state still only I'm G I'm going to move us forward there's still a number of people in line um I'm also going to ask that um we're uh it is approaching a but I'm going to commit to getting to everyone in line who has not asked a question yet hi Cara boiler I have kids across all the grades um so I I had a really quick question I this um lens on hypothetical but I I think that a lot of people are interested in a potential answer um so right now in the elementary schools we have um different special services uh each Elementary School addresses a separate need so is there um an idea about with the free marine remaining elementary schools um how we're going to address PLL or um isolated classrooms are we hoping to have it at all the schools the remaining schools or would there still be individual schools so that car that's a great question so the original goal um of this is to make sure that all of the the uh services are provided so that um for example a child that uh lives uh next door to a school but that school doesn't have that level of service that child has to go somewhere else we're trying to avoid that and so our goal is to make sure that multilingual Learners special uh needs students students that are medically fragile um can all attend all of the schools and so that would be the overarching goal longterm trying to achieve great thank you Lisa have one daughter atfield um just a question more on um good sheeper purchase and just some of the logistics there so I was looking in the plan and of the the majority of the cost of renovation but I think for land and building it's set around 4.5 million I think you've mentioned you kind of alluded to talking how kind of how where how have those conversations pressed is there something in agreement that we feel confident with that pricing or is that more kind of architect assessment um just want to understand kind of the confidence and the agility there of if this how you know how Che is answer that question so back in22 we entered into agreement to rent the space at uh good sheeper we negotiated a purchase price at that so we locked prices what you see in plan so that is the agreed upon that as long as the referend pass that purchasing the land so I had a followup question but I think that might kind of answer it if referendum didn't pass as the dases kind of mentioned what are other options that schooler probably just remain vacant but right now it sounds like they're kind of waiting on the ref anything they wrote into renegotiated within the lease of the space to have the flexibility we didn't know when we leased it when we would be able to go out for referend question so there is flexibility there if it does not pass r that's a great question um and the the answer to that is that this is actually um something that the the experts should decide and that is not necessarily all of us up here but that's the teachers um so the building offers us the ability to have all of fourth grade and colum together and then the um kind of speaking for Dr Mell but I know he said this already that um that the determination about best practice and what would be best for that age group will come come from um the staff and what uh they think would be best for them so I know that there's there's kind of a goal of a combination of um having them come together earlier uh meeting those needs and then also some more Middle School Readiness things I'm not quite sure we're going as far as Lockers in in the school I don't believe that's part of our plan now and I would imagine it's probably not something we're going to put into it later um but you know they can all together in fifth grade practice opening uh blocks before they go to to sixth grade uh the following year that sort of thing but the that's a long way of saying we're not the ones that are going to fully make that call um we're just kind of talking about different options that are out there that this would allow for uh uh teachers to specialize um and teach uh only writing if or only science if if that's what is deemed um the best model for for whether fourth and fifth grade or just fifth grade but that is something that the to help us say I think we're gonna turn that back to you Miss yeah so I look forward to being a part of the conversation Rachel Hennessy I'm a newbie parent I do have a question and I think we can all agree that we need a referendum that we need Improvement and that change is scary and everybody is completely overwhelmed all the data and things like that so I my question would be is there any way for us to do any kind of early polling or early surveys and kind of to kind of go up what someone said earlier about like how are we toate that aren't invested I'm invested I have children are I want to go to public don't want to go so I'm investing I'm going to be coming now I'm in but people who are not who are from like how much of our population is how do we get them engaged and want to support this and then I worry that we get to September and there's a vote and there's they going to v no and then here we are starting completely over wasting more time that we're not Wellness I think uh ask you to perhaps consider uh putting together a community group that might be interested in educating um folks on why they they think that this plan is important and I only say that um or I don't I say that as a joke but not really I'm actually serious you might want to think about it but something that the only thing that we as board members can do or as a board and District can do is go out and educate about the plan um often times what will happen um in communities for for referendums is that there will the groups that will form to go and and kind of stump for the the referendum itself um why it's needed why it's important that sort of thing we can um be there to answer questions we certainly will be sending out informational things like informational mailers to reach um people who are not uh members of our school Community already that sort of thing um but that's the tricky part is is figuring out all the different ways that we need to engage folks I mean as Educators and I'm not an educator but and I understand that you know the unknown is scary so everybody doesn't know and they're not understanding when I have I'm so I just worry that people AR Fe of not understanding you're going to No and then again like kindergart is going to be affected by that because she would going so just is there like some kind of plan come up I I can add to that I've been in contact with some members from the state and to theun Center and we will be starting in the end of May going every two or three weeks senior uh information sessions where we'll go over referendum what the benefits are and also from the state go over the tax they can get from property taxes going up and there is other community groups that are coming together that's figuring out how do we reach to your point um citizens in town who don't have kids or kids aren't in school system and Sen so there is going in and that will be more to come I think we just everybody here wanted to be really focused and trying to answer as much as we can start I mean you're toally you're doing great I don't I don't yeah I don't envy you at all um especially when you're dealing with me but um yeah like just some like informal type of things you can kind of engage in dialogue like I don't want to torture my kids friends you know and I I think we want to thank you and people like you because we get a lot of ideas how to reach different members of the community through different means through different media through engagement like this so we're going to do our best to keep listening right and keep hearing the really good suggestions that are coming from the community about how to reach the most people about this plan that we possibly can so thank youi we're going to I that regardless of something that we need to continue discussing because currently have um students from all over town going through all five of our walk trans question question far yeah one thing we've been saying to one another is that kind of question doesn't wait until fall 2027 so it's on our radar hi I'm Adrian Earl um I have I think two quick questions um one is um just to preface like um I wasn't surprised about with Bond referendum being about good shepher but I was I think many of us totally blindsided about closing of the schools and I I hear all the explanations as to why that Happ to be part of it my question um was when was that decision made for um because I know this has been work on for years that it's process when was the decision made that was going to be schols would closed and sharpen would be closed um and then my second question um to be quick with that is since it's been mentioned that garfo will be sold and there have been a number of things that have been mentioned like the renovation of Shar Community Center um lastly using that money to funds to schools possibly using that money to fund Renovations at newbie and other schools um how much do we think we're looking for those I I can say in terms of we started engaging 2022 about without shepher at that time we didn't fully realize what was going to happen that has really something that we've been sitting by January how how we actually use that information how do we decide where we're going to go with that some of Reas why from then now we are um in terms of purchase I I'll maybe not the I think so in terms of of purchase um it all hinges on once we have an affirmative response in sept it then District responsibility to bring in professionals that can help assess what the actual value is help facilitate see you have another question but given that we're After Time and everyone got to ask a question I'm into second questions to clarify questions that I've asked asess is of the that good shepher hadn't been available we wouldn't be speaking and we are in scha I think called it so although we have some figures we don't have access toig to those are hypothe don'ts get buildthe it seems trying to get simple details I last time how did the engineer come to theost what Shar was going to do turning it into a Rec centering it the whatever let me let them let let them answer those question so in answer to your first question so when the good shepher unfortunately closed during the pandemic that created an opportunity that we did not have and so let's be just very clear the Good Shepherd is almost 45,000 square feet to build the Good Shepherd in Collingswood in 2024 we're looking at 75 to 80 billion completely unaffordable no way that we have that level of Mobility as a school district when we began discussing in good faith efforts with with the ad hoc facilities committee trying to address some of the issues that have been presented for many many years by our commun about the absence of usable educational space we did not have an answer in 2021 until the Good Shepherd became available so when we began engaging in discussions uh it took roughly nine months of negotiation in order to actually get to a viable um agreement with the dicese and then we began the process of thinking about how do we not only purchase the building didn't want a building that would just sit vacant but also uh we wanted to be able to come back to our community with a of and so in September of 2022 we made the Public Announcement uh in a a virtual meeting because we were still under some of the covid restrictions our intent to purchase the Good Shepherd but making sure that we did not make the errors from the 2017 2018 referendum by having a an unaligned quest for the community to in terms of our Architects and our Engineers as we shared a little bit earlier we asked the simple question what can we do to add additional space in every building in our inventory and so that took six to to eight months for them to do the analysis through the Architects and the engineers to assess and determine what could be or could not be done in each and every building and what was the estimated cost based on um industry expectations at that particular time and so that's what we've been working on so when we talk about hypotheticals and so to be able to answer one of the questions that was asked we receive enrollment projections year over year in December and January for that upcoming school year so when we're talking about who we're going to have what their academic needs are going to be for September of 2027 we won't have that information until January for December of 2027 and so it's not that we don't have a rough estimate of numbers but numbers don't tell the full story of what our children need so if we have children that have significant academic needs as determined by the data their IEP or new families that move in um we have to be responsive to that so in answer to your question in terms of hypotheticals we are using the information that we have available to us from our professionals Architects our Engineers our building Specialists about what we can do with our buildings but your the Crux of your initial question was is that if there were no good shepherd would we be here no not thank you so um I'm gonna ask Dr mcdal and Reagan to may share out next steps and what folks can expect post this evening um and then we will make sure that everyone so thank you once again to everyone for coming out um Tuesday night uh to listen to all of this and um we appreciate the engagement and we've gotten some really good feedback about things that we can add to um our list of things to do as well as to the website so that is one of the things that you can look um for down the line as well as more uh informal information sessions uh that are uh for smaller groups um not with microphones and things like that um as well as then once me right or Julia's facilitator even though she's done a wonderful job um yes um and volunteered her time uh for for it uh in addition as Bruce said we'll have some uh events for seniors to make sure that they are aware of the tax impact and what they could potentially do to offset some of that and there will be uh hopefully uh some community members maybe some of the ones that came up to ask about it who will help to engage more with um various members of the community to make sure that uh information is getting out to the largest amount of people possible then closer to the uh the actual vote um there will be a much more robust information campaign um that will go out with uh mailings and uh even more information on a website we'll have more information to be able to give you closer to to the actual vote than we have now because as Matt had said we wanted folks to have this information to process earlier rather than later but there's still quite a bit of time until the actual vote and uh quite a bit that we still need to hear back from the state about um am I missing I just I I I just wanted to publicly thank all of the uh community members that are currently in attendance those that are watching online or will watch uh on YouTube um the one thing that connects all of us is that we love and we care about this community and we love and care about our children and so that's the thing that brings us all together so I would just encourage us to continue having conversations about the how we do that um with that single-minded focus and what are we uh uh seeking to build for the future of our kids of our community the place that we've all moved here intentionally the place that we love and so keeping in mind that everyone in this conversation um has value and so we want to make sure that we're honoring all of those uh pieces of feedback as we move forward so there are going to be continued opportunities for us to engage small more intimate settings that are more aligned with having authentic conversations and so please stay tuned but thank you for this evening